ã€ŠRoyal Secret: I&#x27;m A Princess!ã€‹


 Chapter 1 - LOVE ME TO DEATH

    [FIRST LIFE]

    [MY PSYCHO twin brother killed me in my first life.]

    She was born Princess Neoma, the twin sister of Crown Prince Nero. They were the children of Emperor Niki de Moonasterio¨C the ruthless ruler of Moonasterion Empire.

    [Nero inherited the "psycho genes" from that dude!]

    After their mother died from giving birth to her and her twin brother, their scumbag of a father abandoned them in the Luna Pce.

    The servants in their residence showed obvious preference for Nero since he was the crown prince. Thanks to that, she grew up jealous of her brother. And because of her growing hate for him, they grew distant.

    When she was five years old, she identally saw an assassin posing as a maid put poison in her brother''s food. But because of her envy, she didn''t tell anyone. The crime was only exposed when Nero''s power awakened because of his deteriorating health.

    When Emperor Niki heard about Nero''s "awakening," he took interest in her brother and moved him into nco Pce¨C the residence that every crown prince in history had used.

    Nero, who held a grudge against her for keeping her silence instead of helping him when he was being poisoned, abandoned her in Luna Pce despite her pleads to take her with him. When the emperor came to take Nero with him, their father didn''t even look at her once.

    And so, she spent many lonely years in Luna Pce. The servants practically ignored her and only gave her the bare minimum care that she needed while growing up.

    That kind of treatment broke little Neoma.

    ***

    WHEN Neoma was twelve years old, she was finally able to escape Luna Pce when Duke Rufus Quinzel, the emperor''s cousin on the mother''s side, adopted her.

    That was the time she found out that only the servants in Luna Pce knew about her existence. The rest of the empire thought that Nero was the one and only child of the emperor. To keep it that way, her douche of a father asked Duke Quinzel to take her in.

    [But I thought living as a duke''s daughter is better than being treated like shit in the pce.]

    The duke and his wife Duchess Amber Quinzel lost their eleven-year-old daughter the year before they adopted her. When the duke discovered her existence because of Nero''s slip of tongue, he talked to the emperor and suggested that instead of keeping her in the pce, it would be better for her to grow up as a duke''s daughter.

    She wouldter find out that it was actually the duchess'' idea.

    [Anyway¡­]

    The servants in House Quinzel treated her better than the servants of Luna Pce did. For the first time in her life, she felt that she was a princess. Even the duke was kind to her. After all, he was her biological uncle.

    But the duchess was the problem.

    [She treated me like a recement for Hanna, herte daughter.]

    Neoma was forced to dress, talk, act, speak, and even eat like how Hanna did when she was still alive. If the duchess didn''t like something that she said or did, she would tell her that "Hanna wouldn''t do that.?? To please her new mother, she surrendered her own identity and lived as a dead person''s replica.

    But she endured because she liked thefortable life that House Quinzel provided her.

    The duchess may only see her as Hanna''s recement. But Duke Quinzel genuinely cared for her and thanks to him, she was able to breathe a little in that household.

    Still, Neoma felt lonely.

    ***

    SIX yearster after Neoma became "Lady Quinzel," she received a marriage proposal from Lord Rubin¨C the heir apparent of Duke Samuel Drayton.

    She was eighteen then and the young lord was only two years older. Aside from that, he was also known in the empire for his "pretty" face and good manners. So when the duke and duchess encouraged her to ept the proposal, she did.

    That was the biggest mistake of her life.

    She didn''t know that Duchess Amber made a deal with Lord Rubin. If the lord married her, then the duchess would adopt Lady Regina Crowell, the daughter of a poor baron. ording to Lord Rubin, Regina was a childhood friend that he wanted to help rise up in society and have a better life.

    She sympathized with Regina because she, too, had lived in misery before she was adopted. And she wanted her new friend to have the same fortune as her.

    [I was stupid to believe then that Rubin and Regina were only "friends."]

    Too bad she only discovered the two''s indecent rtionship when she was already crazy in love with Rubin. She was willing to ept his affair with Regina because it was only natural for some lords to have a mistress.

    But then, she found out that Rubin and Regina were nning to kill her a month after their marriage and make it look like an ident. And once she was dead, Rubin would marry Regina who would soon have the status that would allow her to stay with him.

    After all, once her marriage with Rubin was registered, Duchess Amber would officially adopt Regina.

    [Rubin used Duchess Amber for his n.]

    So the story went like this: Duke Drayton wanted Rubin to marry her, a duke''s daughter, instead of Regina who was only a baron''s daughter. Rubin didn''t want his father to kill Regina so he sent a marriage proposal to her.

    But what Duke Drayton didn''t expect was the deal Rubin made with the duchess.

    Neoma told Duchess Amber about Rubin and Regina''s evil scheme. But the duchess didn''t believe her. She even used her of being jealous of Regina.

    That was when she realized that Regina had already brainwashed the duchess. The bitch acted like the perfect replica of Hanna¨C something that she had failed to do over the years. Because of that, Duchess Amber believed that Regina was the "reincarnation" of Hanna.

    [The duchess'' mental health wasn''t stable then and Regina was a goddamn actress.]

    She tried to ask for Duke Quinzel''s help but the duchess had cut off hermunication with him. That was the time that her adoptive father rarely went home because he was busy being Nero''s swords master.

    And so, Neoma felt helpless.

    ***

    NEOMA knew that she would be killed if she didn''t do something to protect herself.

    She might have been abandoned by her estranged father and brother, but she was still a de Moonasterio and the twin sister of Nero. During her lowest moment, she remembered the forbidden book that she read in the shabby library back in Luna Pce.

    ording to that book, a pair of twins born in the de Moonasterio family was a curse. That was because royal twins like her and Nero could bind their lives together if a proper spell was used¨C a forbidden spell that would unite their life forces forever.

    [That means if one of us dies, the other will die as well.]

    She thought that if her life was connected to Nero, then he and the emperor would be obliged to protect her. They had to if they didn''t want the crown prince to die with her. It was funny how desperate she was to live even though her life was pathetic. Maybe it was because she didn''t want to die unloved.

    And so, with that in mind, she sought and threatened a ck Witch that could perform the forbidden spell.

    Unfortunately for her, Nero found out about her n¡­

    ¡­ thanks to Regina.

    [That bitch hired an assassin to spy on me!]

    Nero, who was already known as a violent prince during that time, came to kill her. But it wasn''t just because she wanted their life forces to be tied together. He told her that he would take her life as punishment for "touching the wrong woman."

    Apparently, the ck Witch that she threatened to perform the forbidden spell was the woman that Nero was obsessed with. If she remembered it right, the ck Witch was called ''Dahlia.'' She didn''t know that her brother was crazily in love with that woman.

    And just because she threatened Dahlia, Nero stabbed her in the heart with the sword that their father, Emperor Niki, gave to him as a present when he was officially dered as heir apparent to the throne.

    [It felt like both my father and my twin brother killed me.]

    Nero killed her as if he was just killing another insignificant enemy. His eyes didn''t show an ounce of emotion as he watched her slowly die of blood loss.

    ["I only gave you a quick and painless death because you look like my female version. I don''t want to see my face writhe in pain," Nero told her as he was leaving, his voice void with emotion. "You should be grateful that you have a generous older brother, my poor little sister."]

    That wasn''t the worst thing that happened while she was dying.

    She hated the fact that Regina showed up at herst moments just to mock her.

    ["It''s so easy to manipte everyone around you, Lady Quinzel," Regina said with a smirk that she wanted to rip off of her ugly face. "Rubin, Duchess Quinzel, and now His Royal Highness Prince Nero." Sheughed softly while shaking her head. "It was so easy to turn them against you because they never really loved you, Ne-o-ma."]

    Neoma vowed to herself that she would rise from the dead just to kill that bitch.

    ***

    [SECOND LIFE]

    UNFORTUNATELY for Neoma, she didn''t get reborn as Neoma de Moonasterio.

    But luckily, this time, she was born into a loving family.

    [The only thing I canin about is the fact that my parents named me ''Neoma.'']

    Anyway¡­

    Her parents in her second life were both famous celebrities.

    [My mommy is a seasoned anchor while my daddy is a veteran actor.]

    Thus, she grew up in the spotlight.

    The memories of her unfortunate past life were vivid to her. So she promised herself that she would change and do anything to be loved in her second life.

    She tried her best to be a lovable child. Since her mental age was that of an adult, she grew up as a "smart kid" that was adored by many. Eventually, she became a famous child star that everyone in the country loved.

    But she didn''t want her fame to get into her head so when she started high school, she took a break from the entertainment industry. She focused on her studies until she finished college.

    After that, she went back to acting.

    But after a few years, she decided to quit as an actress to be a vlogger on a site called WatchMe. She became famous for her "mukbang" series. Many were awed by how she could eatrge quantities of food without getting fat.

    [My metabolism is fast, y''all.]

    Eventually, she gained 9, 999, 901 followers.

    [And herees trouble.]

    She organized a countdown party with her other vlogger friends to celebrate her milestone once she reached 10, 000, 000 Specs (this was what subscribers of WatchMe were called). When she reached 9, 999, 999 Specs, she drank three sses of coconut wine¨C a challenge from one of her subscribers.

    Neoma died of coconut wine poisoning.

    ***

    [THIRD LIFE]

    WHEN Neoma opened her eyes, she was back as Princess Neoma de Moonasterio.

    A three-year-old Neoma to be precise.

    She could tell that she was three because of the untouched strawberry cake on the table. It had three candles. That was how simple their birthday celebrations were at Luna Pce.

    "N-Neoma, I-I''m sorry."

    Neoma turned to the crying little boy sitting beside her on the floor.

    [How pretty!]

    The boy had tinum white hair, big ash gray eyes, and pale skin. He was tiny but his cheeks were chubby¨C the kind that would entice anyone to pinch them.

    [Who''s this super duper cute baby boy?!]

    "I-I''m sorry I ate your strawberries," the boy said in tears. "D-Don''t be m-mad at me¡­"

    Her hands automatically moved to gently pinch his cheeks. She gasped at how soft and smooth his skin was.

    [What a blessed baby!]

    "W-What are you d-doing, s-sister?"

    She froze at that.

    [""Sister.""]

    Her eyes widened when realization dawned upon her. She let go of the round cheeks as if she was burned.

    [This cute little angel is Nero?!]

    She was shocked because it had been a long time since she saw her psycho brother''s baby appearance. What stuck to her were his cold eyes when he stabbed her emotionlessly. He looked so demonic to her at that moment that she forgot that he was once a cute little baby, too.

    [How tragic. This adorable brother of mine will turn into a psycho killer someday. And he would even end my life¡­]

    WAIT!

    They were still babies right now. She could still change their future! If she became a good sister to Nero, maybe he''d learn to love her. And if they grew up as very close siblings, her survival rate might increase.

    [Our father listens to Nero. If my twin brother bes fond of me, then he might ask the emperor to bring me along with him at nco Pce!]

    Maybe making Nero grow fond of her wouldn''t be enough¡­

    [Then, if that''s the case, I have to make this little boy depend on me until he thinks that he can''t live without me.]

    Now she could put her acting skills to good use.

    "Brother, Neoma isn''t mad at you," Neoma said in an annoyingly childish voice. And yes, she spoke in the third person to act cute. [Well, I am just as cute as Nero.]

    Like her twin brother, she also had tinum white hair, round ash gray eyes, and milky white skin. And yes, her cheeks were just as chubby. Thankfully, even if the servants were rude to them, they still fed them well.

    "Neoma likes Brother more than she likes strawberries," she continued, still acting cutesy. It seemed to work because Nero already stopped crying. "What Neoma owns belongs to Brother as well," she said. Then, she held his tiny hands with her tiny ones. To end him, she gave him her most charming puppy dog eyes. "Does Brother like Neoma, too?"

    His face lit up. Then, he nodded eagerly. "I like you, too, Neoma."

    "Neoma is happy!" she said in an exaggerated happy voice. Then, she hugged her brother. "Brother, I heard that it''s the job of an older brother to be kind and caring to his little sister. Does it mean Brother will take good care of Neoma forever?"

    "O-Of course," Nero said in his small but determined voice. Then, he gently tapped her back with his little hand. "I will protect you forever, Neoma."

    Neoma smirked at that. [That''s right, Brother¨C you have to love me to death this time!]

    ***

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 Chapter 2 - RED FLAG

    [NEOMA, four years old]

    ***

    WHEN Neoma was sure that the maid assigned to babysit her already left the room, she got up and stretched her arms.

    [It''s time to practice.]

    Thanks to her little legs, it took her a while before she sessfully and carefully got down the king-size bed that she shared with Nero.

    [Speaking of my twin brother¡­]

    Nero was in the study now with his teacher that was in charge of basic learning (read and write). Her poor brother''s schedule for today was tight because of other his sses like math, history, etiquette and swordsmanship.

    Yes, at four, Nero already had to learn how to hold a sword.

    Lucky for her, she only had two sses: basic learning and etiquette.

    After her lessons, her nanny called Marie would force her to sleep so she could secretly meet with her lover (a kitchen staff in the pce).

    [Marie will return before dinner so I have a few hours to myself.]

    Neoma sat in a lotus position on the carpeted floor in front of the floor-to-ceiling ss window. She was facing the huge but dull garden that was poorly kept by the gardener. But thanks to that, she was confident that no one would see her meditating.

    She closed her eyes while her hands were sped together as if she was praying.

    [Let''s concentrate.]

    Female de Moonasterios were born weaker than the males. But still, they were still stronger than average people with Mana. Because ording to the legend, the royal family was descendants of Yule¨C the God of Moon that their empire worshiped.

    Since they had Yule''s blood, they were physically stronger than average humans. Plus, once a de Moonasterio reached twenty-five years old, they would start to age really, really slow. Aside from that, they were also blessed with physical strength and immunity frommon spells.

    [Well, that''s the case for de Moonasterio men.]

    Neoma remembered that from her childhood as a princess, she was told by her teachers to suppress her strength and Mana. Because ording to them, a girl didn''t need to be strong or powerful. That her main purpose was only to be a "good wife and mother."

    [B*llshit.]

    But since she was a na?ve little princess then, she believed them.

    And as a horrible result, she didn''t have the chance to utilize her power as a de Moonasterio.

    [If I knew I would be betrayed, I would have made myself stronger and killed every b*tch that hurt me in the past.]

    Oh, she had that chance now.

    "Neoma?"

    Neoma opened her eyes when she heard a knock on the door at the same time she heard Nero call her. "Come in, Brother," she said in her cutesy voice. "Neoma is awake."

    The giant doors opened.

    She stood up when she saw Nero enter the room. He asked the maids to wait outside the room. When they were finally alone in the chamber, she ran towards him.

    "Neoma, don''t run," Nero lightly scolded her while walking towards her. "You might trip."

    As soon as he said that, Neoma tripped on purpose.

    "Neoma!"

    She wasn''t hurt but she sniffed and pretended to cry anyway.

    [Behold my acting skills, my dearest brother!]

    "Are you hurt?" Nero asked when he got down on one knee to check on her. "Let me see your knees."

    She nodded then she sat down and stretched her legs. Fortunately, she was wearing high socks so her knees weren''t scraped. "Neoma isn''t hurt, Brother," she assured him. "Don''t worry about Neoma."

    "Why did you run?" he scolded her again. "I told you not to, didn''t I?"

    "Neoma just wants to be with Brother the fastest," she said in a sad voice while looking up at him with tears. "Neoma missed you, Brother."

    He smiled shyly. "Do you like me that much?"

    She almost rolled her eyes at that.

    Also, she remembered that she and her brother could talk normally to each other. But in reality, in adults'' ears, they were speaking like how babies their age would talk.

    "Yes, Brother," she said in an annoying pitchy voice. "Neoma likes Brother the most in the whole world!"

    He looked pleased with that.

    [How gullible!]

    "Brother, can you tell Neoma stories?" she pleaded while giving him puppy dog eyes again. "Neoma wants to hear what Brother learns." She acted like she was making a huge circle in the air. "Neoma wants to know how Brother makes sparkles this big."

    She was talking about his Mana.

    Her twin brother once showed her a silver hole that he made from his Mana. She wanted to learn how to manifest her Mana as well so she was sucking up to him.

    [That''s my life for the past year.]

    "You''re too young to understand but since you''re begging me, then I''ll tell you," Nero said with a proud look on his face. "I''ll tell you the basics."

    "Yehey!" Neoma said in an exaggerated happy voice. Then, she hugged her twin brother tight. "Thank you, Brother!"

    ***

    [GOSH, Nero sucks at teaching stuff.]

    Neoma couldn''t concentrate while meditating because she couldn''t understand what Nero said to her the other day.

    This was how her twin brother exined how he managed to create a manifestation for his Mana: ["Just imagine that you''re standing in front of a full moon. Then, slowly wrap your arms around it. Once you feel the warmth throughout your body, that''s it. When you open your eyes, you''ll see your Mana manifest in a silver hole."]

    She didn''t get it but she''d give it a try. That was why she was sitting on her favorite spot in her room in her usual lotus position.

    [Let''s imagine a full moon.]

    Surprisingly, she was able to imagine it easily. She saw herself floating in an endless dark sky. In front of her, she saw a full moon as small as a tennis ball.

    [Is it supposed to be this small?]

    Well, whatever.

    She wrapped her tiny arms around the small moon. When it touched her chest, she felt a different kind of warmth that flowed throughout her body. A few heartbeatster, she suddenly felt like her whole body was on fire.

    [Hot!]

    She opened her eyes and when she did, she thought the room was spinning.

    Then, she fell on the floor while catching her breath. She still felt like she was being burned alive. Worse, her throat was too dry to scream for help.

    [What''s happening to me?]

    She closed her eyes tight and tried another way to ask for help. And at that moment, only one person came into her mind.

    [Brother, help me¡­]

    She was hoping that Nero could hear because they were twins. In their past life, they didn''t have a strong bond and a link in their minds. But her twin brother seemed to like her enough in this lifetime.

    Maybe this time, their minds would be somehow connected.

    "Neoma!"

    She was relieved when she heard Nero''s voice.

    When she opened her eyes, she smiled weakly when she saw him running towards her with a worried look on his face.

    That was the face of a big brother who was worried for his little sister.

    [Ah, he already fell for my charm.]

    "Neoma," Nero called her again when he kneeled beside her. Then, he gently lifted her head and put it on hisp. "You have a fever. Where''s your nanny? Why are you alone here?"

    Neoma just smiled and touched his chubby cheek with her tiny hand. "Neoma only needs Brother."

    "I know that," he said. "But a little girl like you shouldn''t be alone like this."

    ["Little girl?" Pfft! We''re the same age, Nero.]

    "How long have the servants been treating you this way?" Nero asked in a cold voice, his face suddenly turned serious. For a four-year-old boy, he seriously looked intimidating. "Come to think of it, you were also alone when I went to visit you the other day. Don''t tell me your maids leave you to fend for yourself when I''m not looking?"

    [Yes, Brother. They''re treating me like I''m invisible when you''re not around."

    But she didn''t voice that out. Honestly, Nero''s angry face was scaring her at the moment. And she was too exhausted to speak.

    "They must have lost their mind," Nero said, still angry. Then, he looked up at the servants in front of her. There were three maids and three knights in the room. "You," he said rudely to the servants.

    She blinked in surprise at her twin brother''s sudden change of attitude.

    [Justst year, he was a shy crybaby. What happened in the past year?]

    Did he mature fast because she was depending on him too much?

    [Gosh, did I create a monster?!]

    "Find Neoma''s nanny and bring her to me," Nero said with a murderous look on his little face. "If she doesn''t kneel and beg for my sister''s forgiveness, chop her limbs off one by one."

    "Brother!" she eximed in a panicky voice. She was so shocked by his words that she was able to use her voice even though her throat hurt like hell. "You''re saying something scary."

    She wasn''t the only one who felt that way.

    Just before she looked up at her twin brother, she saw the servants shiver in fear. It was scary how a four-year-old boy was able to make adults feel that way. And it wasn''t just because of her brother''s words.

    The room was actually heavy because of the silver aura hanging above¡­

    ¡­ and it was oozing from Nero''s tiny body.

    In her past life, her brother didn''t have this kind of power yet when they were kids.

    [What have I done?]

    "Don''t worry, Neoma," Nero told her with a smile. But the glint of evilness in his eyes made the smile look creepy. "I''ll protect you, remember?"

    It was official: Neoma''s n backfired on her this early.

    [I have to fix this ASAP!]

    Yeah, but how?!

    ***

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 Chapter 3 - CROCODILE TEARS

    NEOMA believed that a woman''s tears could be used as a weapon.

    So she cried¨C loud.

    [Just like how babies my age would cry.]

    Nero obviously looked startled when she cried. "N-Neoma, what''s wrong? Why are you crying? Are you hurt?"

    "Brother is scaring Neoma," she said in a shaking voice. Gosh, sometimes she could really surprise herself with how good she was at acting. "Brother''s face looks scary. Neoma doesn''t like it."

    Nero looked like he was suddenly pped back to reality. It seemed like he was also surprised by his sudden change of attitude. "Oh, I didn''t mean to scare you. I''m sorry," he said. Then, he touched her cheek. When he smiled, he returned to his usual angelic face. "Are you still afraid of me, Neoma?"

    Neoma smiled and shook her head. Then, she put her little hand on top of Nero''s hand on her cheek. "The brother Neoma knows is back."

    ***

    WHEN Neoma opened her eyes, Nero''s sleeping face greeted her.

    [Ah, yes. We still shared the same bed at this age.]

    But they had separate y and study rooms because their schedule were different from each other. They were only together during breakfast, lunch, dinner, and sleeping time.

    [In my past life, Nero would sleep on the other side of the bed with his back turned on me.]

    But right now, he slept on his sides to face her.

    [I didn''t expect to change our rtionship this easy.]

    Well, in the past, she was gloomy and aloof. She harbored hate against her twin brother so she was very bitter to him. And as a result, Nero grew distant from her.

    But when she came back in time, she acted like how she was in her second life: cute, lively, and very positive. She was a ball of sunshine. Thankfully, her attitude changed when she was born into a loving family.

    So technically, she wasn''t really faking her bubbly personality now.

    But every time she wanted to capture Nero''s attention, she would switch to her "actress mode." She had been doing that for a year ever since she came back in time.

    [Luckily, it''s easy to change a child''s heart.]

    Still, Nero''s action a while ago scared her for real. She saw a glimpse of the craziness that he had disyed in her past life.

    [Was it possible that his mental health problem started in childhood?]

    Gosh, now she suddenly felt protective of him. She had a bad history with him but that was already in the past. They have a good rtionship now so she didn''t have a reason to hate him. Plus, she wanted to get along with him this time.

    [Most of all, my mental age is older than Nero. I should protect my brother. I''ll make sure that he won''t grow a psycho as he did in the past.]

    "Neoma?" Nero asked when he opened his eyes. Then, he smiled at her. "The royal doctor said you had a light fever a while ago. But he made a medicine that suits our body. How do you feel now?"

    "Neoma feels better now, Brother," she said with a smile. "Thank you for taking care of Neoma."

    He just smiled. "I already fired your nanny. She''ll be reced by the head maid."

    That was a surprise.

    In her past life, Stephanie (the head maid), was in charge of Nero. Well, the old woman eventually became her nanny when Nero was transferred to the nco Pce. Thanks to Stephanie, her life in Luna Pce became more bearable until Duke Quinzel adopted her.

    She was only a bit shocked that Stephanie became her nanny earlier than expected. But maybe she should stop being surprised. After all, she was changing her destiny.

    [Anyway, Stephanie is strict but she''s better than the other maids here. Plus, in my past life, she was really unaware that I was being mistreated because she was too focused on raising the crown prince. But when she found out about how rude the maids in charge of me were, she fired them all.]

    "Brother, will you be okay without Stephanie?" Neoma asked curiously. "She''s your nanny, isn''t she?"

    "I''m a big boy now so I don''t need a nanny. Alphen is enough," Nero said. ''Alphen'' was the head butler that acted like her brother''s secretary. "I''ll make sure that you won''t be bullied again, Neoma."

    [Gosh, he''s really changed.]

    "Thank you, Brother," Neoma said with a big smile. "Neoma can''t live without Brother so please stay as my guardian angel, okay?"

    [In short, please don''t turn into a nasty psycho, Nero.]

    ***

    [NEOMA, five years old]

    [GOSH, I''m so pretty.]

    Neoma couldn''t help but admire herself in the mirror.

    Right now, she wore a cute pink sailor dress with white socks and ck doll shoes. Her tinum white hair now reached her back. She decorated it with a flower crown that she made when she yed in the garden a while ago.

    She only stopped admiring herself when she heard a knock on the door.

    "Come in," Neoma said, fully expecting Nero toe in.

    She wasn''t wrong.

    When the door opened, Nero came inside with a gentle smile on his face.

    Ever since she told him that she didn''t like his "scary face," her twin brother never showed his anger in front of her again. And she was making sure that it wouldn''t happen even though she wasn''t looking.

    "Neoma, are you ready?" Nero asked when he was walking towards her. "It''s time for lunch."

    "Yes, Brother," Neoma answered with a smile. "Neoma is ready."

    He offered his hand to her. "Let''s go."

    She held his hand and let him guide her out of the room.

    They were followed by Stephanie and three other maids. There were also two knights behind the maids that served as their personal bodyguards.

    [But they''re weak. I remember them dying easily when the pce was attacked.]

    That was why she couldn''t entrust her life to the low-level knights in Luna Pce. For the past year, she did nothing but improve her Mana control. She would ask Nero to tell her about his magic ss so she could copy what he learned.

    So far, she could make little "airwaves."

    Her thoughts were cut off when they reached the dining hall.

    The knights helped them sit on the little chair on top of the big chair. When their food had arrived on the table, her twin brother turned to the maids.

    "You may leave now," Nero said with a smile. "We feel ufortable when you watch us eat. We''ll just call you if we need something."

    "As you wish, Your Royal Highness," Stephanie said while bowing.

    Then, everyone left them alone.

    [Finally.]

    "Let''s eat," Nero said while switching their tes. "You really like my food, don''t you?"

    "Yes, Brother," Neoma said while nodding eagerly. "The maids don''t let me eat meat because they said I can''t be fat."

    That was true.

    Her diet was harsher than Nero''s. Only a small portion of meat was served to her and she was forced to eat a sd every freaking meal time. She was only five years old!

    [The standards for princesses in the empire are highly impossible.]

    When she told Nero that she wanted to eat his food without the maids knowing so she wouldn''t be scolded, he came up with that n. Every meal, he would ask the maids and the knights to leave them. Then, he would switch their tes.

    "It''s so yummy, Brother," Neoma said after she ate a portion of his steak. She wasn''t lying. Nero''s food was always superbpared to hers. "Thank you for giving Neoma your food."

    Nero smiled and patted her head. "Once I be powerful enough, I will make sure that no one could tell you what you can and can''t eat anymore."

    She just smiled at that.

    To be honest, there was a reason why she slyly made her twin brother switch their tes.

    In her past life, this was the year Nero was poisoned.

    Unfortunately, she couldn''t remember the face of the assassin who posed as a maid in the pce. And so, she decided to eat the food Nero was served instead.

    She was confident that Nero wouldn''t let her die anyway. Plus, in the past, the food poisoning caused her twin brother''s power to awaken. She was risking her life for the chance to awaken her power before Nero did.

    [I need to be powerful enough to protect myself.]

    She stopped thinking about it when her heart suddenly thumped against her chest hard. It was so painful that she dropped her fork and steak knife. Then, she clutched her chest tight.

    "Neoma?" her twin brother asked worriedly. "What''s wrong?"

    "My chest¡­" Neoma said. She was in too much pain that she forgot to speak "cutesy." For the first time since she went back in time, she actually felt fear for her life. "Nero, it hurts¡­"

    Nero looked shocked while looking at her. At first, she thought it was because she called her by his name. But when he spoke again, she realized that it wasn''t the thing that caused the surprised look on his face. "Neoma, your eyes turned red¡­"

    ***

    "YOUR MAJESTY!"

    Niki raised an eyebrow at Glenn¨C his personal knight¨C when he rushed in his office with a bewildered look on his face. "What is it that caused you to forget your manners, Glenn?"

    "My deepest apologies for raising my voice in your presence, Your Majesty," Glenn said while bowing low. When he told the knight to rise, he looked up at him with a distracted look on his face. "We have received an urgent message from the Luna Pce."

    Luna Pce?

    Ah, right. He had children there. And he almost forgot about them.

    "One of the twins has awakened," his knight informed him. "Your Majesty, your child must be a genius to have been awakened this early."

    He wasn''t the least surprised or interested to know that. "Even though his mother is nothing but a lower noble, the royal prince still has my blood. Why are you so surprised, fool?"

    "It wasn''t the royal prince, Your Majesty," Glenn said while shaking his head. "It''s the royal princess who has awakened her powers."

    Niki wouldn''t lie¨C that news stunned him. "The royal princess awakened before the royal prince?"

    Now that was unprecedented.

    ***

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 Chapter 4 - FIGHT ME, SOUL BEAST!

    NEOMA woke up in the in white room.

    No, it would be more appropriate to say that she was inside a giant cube and all the sides were white. She was standing in the center while facing a ck shadow beast that was shaped like a dragon. But it seemed like a baby dragon because it was just a little taller than her.

    [But a dragon? How clich¨¦! I want something more magical!]

    "A little de Moonasterio, huh?" the shadow dragon mocked her in a deep, menacing voice. "I didn''t expect that you''d awaken at such a young age. The question is¡­ can you handle me?" His long snake forked tongue came out of his huge mouth and wiggled like it was supposed to be intimidating. "If you can''t, I''ll eat your soul."

    [Let''s see¡­ how did Nero handle his Soul Beast again?]

    Every de Moonasterio was supposed to have a ''Soul Beast'' inside. It served as their guardian but not everyone could summon or use its power. ording to the legends, the Soul Beasts were picky when ites to choosing their masters. Just because she was a de Moonasterio didn''t mean that this shadow dragon would serve her.

    But in her past life, when Nero awakened, he was able to control his Soul Beast that came in the form of a shadow wolf. Thankfully, during that time, Nero told the emperor how he was able to control the Soul Beast.

    And thankfully, she still remembered what Nero said then.

    Every single detail was stuck in her mind because, during her first life, she tried to summon her Soul Beast. Sadly, it didn''t heed her call. Maybe it was because she was weak-willed then.

    [But now, I have all the motivation I need.]

    Neoma cracked the knuckles of her small hands while rotating her head slowly from side to side. "Hey, clench your teeth," she said. "And no hard feelings, okay?"

    The shadow dragon, even though didn''t have a face, appeared to be confused.

    She used that moment to run towards him as fast as her short legs would allow her. Then, she raised her tiny fist and punched the shadow dragon in what appeared like its throat. She thought her fist was going to get through but fortunately, she hit a solid body.

    And as soon as her knuckles connected to the shadow-y throat, her punch sent the dragon flying until it hit the white wall. The impact was strong enough to put a crack on it.

    Neoma blew on the top of her fist like a badass that she thought she was. "I''m the boss here, `got that?"

    ording to Nero, the Soul Beasts resided inside their soul. Thus, the name. Duh.

    That meant that the "cube" she was in was the deepest part of her soul. And the master of her soul was her and no one or nothing else. To "tame" the Soul Beast, all she had to was take control. If she thinks that she''s stronger than the dragon, then she''d be stronger than it.

    [In short, willpower is the answer.]

    In her past life, Nero said that he beat the wolf into a pulp until it called him "master."

    [My twin brother is so violent.]

    Well, it wasn''t like she was one to talk.

    [Damn, it seems like violence runs in our veins.]

    "Hey!" the shadow dragonined when it got up from the floor. "You punched my throat, you little b*tch!"

    [Oh, right.]

    Nero also said that their Soul Beasts would have the same personality as them.

    [I have a bad mouth so this little shit also has one, huh?]

    "Listen, you shadow-y bastard," Neoma said while cracking her knuckles again. "I don''t want a dragon¨C I want a unicorn!"

    Gosh, it seemed like her mental age had retrograded back to that of a child''s!

    ***

    "GREETINGS to the empire''s one and only moon," the servants said in unison. "Wee to Luna Pce, Your Majesty."

    Niki ignored the maids, butlers, and royal guards that greeted him when he arrived at the pce''s dining hall. He walked past them and went straight to his children. Of course, Glenn was walking closely behind him.

    He found the royal prince standing protectively beside the royal princess who was sitting on a chair, almost lifeless.

    The little girl had long tinum white hair and red eyes.

    [Red eyes are the symbol of a de Moonasterio''s awakening.]

    "Greetings, Your Majesty," Nero greeted him with a solemn look on his face. Oh, he could talk without stuttering. The child didn''t even appear intimidated by his presence. And most of all, he could look straight into his eyes without shaking in fear. "Are you here to help my sister?"

    [Rude.]

    Well, that was also a sign of being a de Moonasterio so he didn''t mind.

    And he hated to admit this but looking at Nero reminded him of himself when he was his age. They looked alike. Even the sharp look in their eyes was simr.

    [Heh.]

    "Unfortunately, I don''t have the ability to stop the royal princess''s awakening," Niki told his son. "An early awakening like this could only be caused by two things. First, you can awaken if you''re a prodigy good enough to summon your Soul Beast. Second, you can also awaken if your life has been put in danger. What do you think caused the princess''s awakening?"

    "It''s probably thetter," his son answered. "The cook checked Neoma''s food and he found poison in the steak sauce. I already asked the guards to capture everyone who was present when our food was made. Also, the guards chased the one maid that ran away when the princess got into this state."

    Niki was impressed.

    He heard that the royal prince was diligent and respected by the servants. But he didn''t expect him to be this smart and have great leadership skills.

    [I wonder how he made the servants in this pce obey him.]

    "As of this moment, the royal princess may have met the Soul Beast inside her," Niki exined to the prince. "Let''s just hope that your twin sister tames the beast because if not¡­"

    "What?" the princeined when he paused. "What will happen to Neoma if she fails to tame the Soul Beast?"

    "The Soul Beast will eat her soul," he said to the royal prince who red at him. He smirked at his son''s reaction. "Your poor twin sister will die if that happens."

    As soon as he said that, the royal princess suddenly coughed blood.

    The royal prince looked shocked when he saw what happened to his twin sister. Worrying was obvious in his face as he tried to wipe the blood off the princess''s mouth. "Neoma¡­" He turned to him with a desperate look on his face. "Your Majesty, tell me what I have to do to save my twin sister."

    "You can do nothing but wait," Niki said strictly. "It''s a battle that the princess must ovee herself. Why don''t you just trust your little sister?"

    "Neoma can''t fight," Nero said in a frustrated voice. "My baby sister is a sweet little angel that can''t even kill an insect."

    ***

    "DIE, you beast! Die!" Neoma screamed while punching the shadow dragon in the face. "I won''t stop hitting you until you give up!"

    To be honest, Neoma was just as beaten as the shadow dragon. The beast attacked her a while ago and b*tch-pped the hell out of her using its tail. She ignored the pain and fought back as hard as she could.

    So now, she was straddling the shadow dragon while throwing strong punches at it. Even though she was tiny, her strength as a de Moonasterio was no joke.

    "I give up!" the shadow dragon screamed. "I acknowledge you as my master, Neoma de Moonasterio!"

    Neoma stopped her fist mid-air. Then, she smiled sweetly at the dragon. "Then, can you do what I want?"

    "Give me some time before I shape-shift into a unicorn," the dragon said in frustration. "It will take time before I can change into another form. Especially now that my energy is depleted after you beat me to a pulp!"

    "You shouldn''t have threatened me in the first ce," she countered. "I felt like my life is in danger so I had to resort to self-defense."

    "Self-defense my foot!" the Soul Beastined. "Let''s talk once I recovered my strength. For now, let''s bid each other farewell." It pped its own tail against the wall. "See youter, Master Neoma."

    Before Neoma could even talkback, a warm light engulfed her body, and the next thing she knew, a strong force was already pulling her down.

    ***

    NEOMA gasped after she felt like she was gutted hard in the stomach.

    "Neoma!"

    When she opened her eyes, she was greeted by Nero''s worried face. She wanted to assure her twin brother that she was okay. But her attention was caught by the handsome and tall man standing behind Nero.

    tinum white hair, light ash gray eyes that almost looked like silver, pale skin, and an unbelievably handsome face.

    She gasped aloud.

    [Emperor Niki de Moonasterio!]

    Her scumbag of a father.

    To be honest, she resented the emperor in her past life.

    Even now, she hadn''t fully forgiven him yet for abandoning her. She wanted to curse and yell at him. But she held back because she knew venting out wouldn''t solve anything.

    So she swallowed her anger and smiled at the handsome scumbag.

    "Papa!" Neoma said in a very sweet voice that made her want to puke. But instead, she got off the chair, ignored her brother, and ran towards the emperor. Then, she clung to his leg while looking up at him with puppy dog eyes. "Are you here to take Neoma with you, Papa?"

    When Emperor Niki raised an eyebrow at her, Neoma felt like she wanted to punch herself in the throat.

    ["Papa," my foot!]

    ***

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 Chapter 5 - MY FATHER IS A SC*MBAG

    IF NEOMA was going to write her life story and give it a title, she''d definitely call it ''My Father is a Sc*mbag.''

    After she awakened and asked if her father would bring her with him, he just looked at her, shook his leg until she let go of it, and then turned to Nero. Yep, he acted like he didn''t even see her even though she gave him her most charming smile.

    [Ungrateful d*uche.]

    "Nero, work harder to awaken your powers as a de Moonasterio," Emperor Niki told her twin brother. "From now on, I''ll carefully watch over your development."

    Okay, Neoma was surprised to hear that.

    [He took an interest in Nero even though I was the one who awakened first?]

    It seemed like she wasn''t the only one who was surprised by the emperor''s deration.

    The servants around them looked proud and happy. If His Majesty had taken interest in the prince, that only meant that from now on, Luna Pce would receive more attention from the emperor. More attention meant a bigger budget for the pce.

    And of course, the servants would feel honored if Nero became the emperor''s official heir apparent.

    [Whatever the case is, I''m still being ignored here!]

    "I''ll work harder to protect my sister, Your Majesty," Nero promised the emperor. He was smiling but his words were as cold as the look in his eyes. Gosh, her brother was indeed a monster in the making, huh? "Thank you for your concern. Now, if you have nothing else to say, I''d like to kindly excuse myself with Princess Neoma. I''m sure she''s tired from her awakening."

    The servants and the knights who heard the prince gasped.

    Even Neoma was shocked.

    [Oh my. Nero got balls. In my past life, he couldn''t even look the emperor in the eye when we were kids. But right now, he''s talking to our father as if they''re equals.]

    Wait, this shouldn''t be about her twin brother.

    [I should be the star this time!]

    "Papa, Neoma saw a monster in my dream," Neoma said in the cutesy voice that Nero couldn''t resist. Also, she gave her father the best puppy dog eyes that she could muster despite her urge to punch his throat. How could the emperor be this heartless towards a cute little girl like her?! "Can you tell Neoma about it, Papa?"

    Emperor Niki gave her a look that said he was disgusted by her. "I don''t want to talk to a princess who can''t even talk properly."

    Okay, that made her cheeks burn from embarrassment.

    The servants even looked away as if they didn''t want to make her feel ashamed even more. But what the hell? The damage had already been done!

    "There''s nothing wrong with how Neoma talks," Nero dered. Then, he looked at her and gently pinched her cheek. "Don''t worry, Neoma. The way you talk is fine."

    Neoma forced a smile. "Thank you, Brother." She still refused to give up so she looked up at the emperor again. "Papa, I will talk properly from now on. I promise."

    Emperor Niki just gave her a stoic look before he turned his back on them. "Strengthen the security around Luna Pce and add more royal knights," he ordered to Glenn, his personal knight. "Make sure that no harm will befall the royal prince."

    Glenn bowed at themand. "As you wish, Your Majesty."

    She waited for the emperor to add another order that would somehow show that he also cared about her. But it didn''t happen. His Majesty went out of the dining hall without even looking back once.

    Neoma felt a stab in her heart.

    [Is he saying that he only cares about the prince?]

    What a sc*mbag of a father.

    ***

    "NEOMA, how do you feel?"

    "I feel great, Brother," Neoma assured him. Then, she patted the space next to her. "Let''s sleep now, Brother. I''m sleepy."

    Nero smiled and gently pinched her cheek. "I''m d to see that you''re still as energetic as before. And thankfully, your eyes have returned to their original color."

    That was true.

    A few minutes after her awakening, her red eyes returned to being ash gray. After that, she felt very hungry that she was able to eat three tes of big steak in one sitting. Thankfully, her nanny didn''t scold her for eating "too much."

    Anyway, right after having dinner, she felt sleepy. So Nero asked her maids to give her a bath and prepare her bed right away.

    And thus, here they were now in their bedroom.

    Neoma and her twin brother were now wearing a matching pair of yellow silk pajamas. Usually, Nero would read a thick history book before sleeping. But for tonight, he seemed to be determined to look after her because he didn''t bring a book.

    "Neoma, can you tell more about what you told the emperor a while ago?" Nero asked while he was sitting beside her, his fingers ying with her hair that was scrambled on the pillow. "Did you really see a monster in your "dream?""

    Neoma nodded. Now that she was lying on the bed, her eyelids were starting to feel heavy. "Yes, Brother. I saw a shadow monster that looks like a baby dragon."

    His forehead knotted in obvious irritation. "Did it hurt you?"

    "No," she lied while shaking her head. "I cried loudly until it got away from me. It seems like the monster hates loud crying noises."

    "That''s a relief," her brother said. "Neoma, just because your power awakened doesn''t mean you have to fight to protect yourself. You don''t have to do that because I''m here for you."

    She smiled and nodded. "I know that, Brother."

    [If our father isn''t such a jerk, I wouldn''t have cared about this "awakening" shit, you know? I wanted to live as azy princess loved by her powerful brother.]

    "I''ll work hard to awaken my powers as well," Nero promised her. "Neoma, once I be the official crown prince, you won''t need to beg for the emperor''s attention. When I grow up and be more powerful, I can overthrow him anytime."

    Sheughed nervously at that. Was Nero seriously thinking of overthrowing their father in the future? If someone else heard her twin brother, they would probably think that Nero was nning a coup! "Brother, why would you need to overthrow the emperor when you''re already the crown prince? Being in that position means you''re the heir apparent."

    "I can''t wait for His Majesty to die before I ascend the throne," he said with a smile. Oh, my. How could he smile like an angel when he was saying cold things that onlye out of a devil''s mouth? "I can''t just sit back and continue watching him treat you bad, Neoma. I want to end it as soon as possible."

    [And for that reason alone, you want to overthrow the emperor?!]

    Gosh, what a violent thought for a five-year-old baby!

    "Brother," she called him with a scowl. "I want us to get along with our father. We''re a family, aren''t we?"

    "The two of us are family," he insisted. "We don''t need the emperor."

    "But I want us to get along with our father," she said with a pout. "He''s also our family, Brother. I''m greedy so I want to be loved by everyone."

    He let out a frustrated sigh. "Alright. I''ll try to get along with the emperor."

    Neoma smiled and opened her arms. When her twin brother gave him a hug, she kissed his cheek as a reward. "Thank you, Brother."

    Nero''s face lit up. "Anything for you, Neoma."

    ***

    WHEN Nero was sure that Neoma was already deeply asleep, he silently sat up and got off the bed. Then, he carefully pulled up the nket until it covered her pretty neck. [I''ll be back, Neoma. Sleep tight.]

    After making sure that his sister wasfortably sleeping, he quietly left their chamber.

    "Guard the princess well," Nero coldly ordered the two royal knights standing by the door. "If something happens while I''m away, I''ll have your heads. Is that clear?"

    The two knights bowed deeply. "We understand, Your Royal Highness."

    He turned his back on them and started to walk away.

    Alphen, the thirty-year-old head butler with brown hair and dark chocte eyes, followed closely behind. He even put a silk robe over his shoulders. "Your Royal Highness, the assassin is in the cell now. Based on our investigation, she was alone when she entered the pce as a mole. Are we not going to report this to His Majesty?"

    "The emperor doesn''t care about this issue because it wasn''t me who got poisoned," Nero said coldly. "And I can deal with the assassin on my own."

    He hadn''t awakened yet as Neoma did.

    But he was confident that he was the strongest five-year-old boy in the whole empire. Aside from his natural physical strength, he was also gifted with a strong Mana and a great talent for swordsmanship. Even though his body was tiny, he was full of potential.

    And of course, his desire to protect Neoma only made him stronger.

    [Speaking of Neoma¡­]

    He had a feeling that her twin sister knew that his food was being poisoned. That was definitely the reason why she asked him to switch food with her.

    [I should have noticed that.]

    He wanted to question Neoma about it but he didn''t want to force her after she just awakened her powers. Once she had rested enough, he would slowly begin to question her. But of course, he''d be very careful since he didn''t want to scare her.

    His thoughts were cut off when they finally reached the basement of Luna Pce. It was a secret cell that he only found out about recently. When he asked Alphen where he could torture Neoma''s irresponsible nanny before, the head butler brought him there.

    Oh, right. Killing Neoma''s irresponsible nanny was his first kill. And now would be the second.

    "Your Royal Highness!" the assassin, still wearing her maid uniform, kneeled and bowed until her forehead touched the cold ground of her cell. "I beg your forgiveness! I was being ckmailed by Marquis Severano! I didn''t want to harm you or Her Royal Highness!"

    Nero smirked. He didn''t know why but the scent of blood and the feel of cutting flesh with his sword made him feel excited. Ah, he was the only five-year-old boy in the empire who felt that way. "I don''t care who ordered you. The fact that you''re the reason why I almost lost my Neoma is enough for me to kill you." He extended his hand to Alphen. "My sword."

    Alphen bowed before he ced his short sword in his hand.

    "Your Royal Highness!" the assassin cried helplessly. "Please have mercy!"

    Nero smiled sweetly while pulling out his sword from the sheath. "I don''t have mercy for people who hurt my precious Neoma."

    Filthy blood was spilled that night.

    ***

    NIKOLAI smirked when he heard Glenn''s report.

    Apparently, Nero had been killing every servant in Luna Pce who dared to disrespect him or the royal princess. No wonder he had the servants wrapped around his little finger even though he was only five years old.

    [Fear is one great tool to use if you want people to follow you.]

    To be honest, he didn''t expect Nero to rule over the Luna Pce. Neglected children like him were often mistreated by servants. But his son found a way to rule the pce, huh?

    [He''s really my son.]

    "Your Majesty, what should we do about Marquis Severano?" Glenn asked. "It seems like the original target was Prince Nero and not Princess Neoma."

    "I''d like to ask for Nero''s opinion on how the foolish marquis should be dealt," Niki said. "Tell the royal prince that I want him to join me for dinner tomorrow evening."

    ***

    NEOMA was lying on her stomach on the carpeted floor while drawing. She was mindlessly coloring a stupid sketch she made. For her "drawing assignment," she drew a stick figure of her, Nero, and her sc*mbag of a father.

    [Why is it so hard to get close to my father?]

    Her thoughts were cut off when she heard a knock on the door, followed by Nero''s voice. She told her brother toe in.

    "Neoma, you''re not yet done with your assignment?"

    Neoma smiled when Nero entered the room. She sat up and showed him the paper that she was working on. "I''m done, Brother."

    Nero smiled and sat beside her. Then, he looked carefully at her drawing. Particrly, he was looking at her stick figure holding the hand of his stick-figure version. It seemed like he was satisfied by it because he smiled when he looked at her. "Your drawing has improved, Neoma."

    That was b*llshit because she knew her drawing sucked. But she smiled anyway.

    "Thank you, Brother," Neoma said sweetly. "Are you done with your sword training?"

    He smiled and nodded. "We can y today."

    She pretended to be thrilled and raised her arms while screaming happily. "Yehey!"

    Her gullible twin brother looked satisfied by her reaction.

    [Heh.]

    Their happy moment was interrupted when Alphen knocked and entered the room. The head butler was carrying a giant box in his hands.

    "Greetings to the royal prince and the royal princess," Alphen greeted them with a bow. When he raised his head, his attention was focused on Nero. "Your Royal Highness, His Majesty had sent you clothes to use for tonight."

    Nero''s forehead knotted. "For what?"

    "His Majesty is inviting you for dinner, Your Royal Highness."

    "How about me?" Neoma asked excitedly. "Did Papa send me clothes as well? Am I also invited to that dinner?"

    "My deepest apologies, Princess Neoma," Alphen said with a bow. "His Majesty only sent clothes and invitation for Prince Nero."

    Nero''s mood instantly turned sour but when he turned to her, his eyes widened in shock. "Neoma, are you crying?"

    Neoma didn''t want to cry, damn it!

    Gosh, she was very aware that her father never loved her in her past life. She also knew that gaining his favor in this lifetime would be very difficult. She thought she was prepared to be treated like sh*t again by her father. But she didn''t expect that it would still hurt.

    [Just what did I do for that stupid emperor to hate me this much, huh?]

    ***

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 Chapter 6 - CHALLENGE ACCEPTED

    "I''M NOT crying, Brother," Neoma denied while blowing her tears and snot were rolling down her face like crazy. "These are tears of joy. I''m happy for you."

    God, why was she crying like a baby?

    Well, technically, she was a baby girl. But her mental age was that of an adult. Living in a modern world as a modern girl in her second life taught her that she didn''t need validation from men! She was a strong independent woman, okay?

    [I don''t need my father''s approval to feel and live like a human!]

    Stupid tear ducts.

    "Leave," Nero ordered Alphen. "Tell His Majesty that I''m grateful for the invitation but I have to reject it. I don''t want my sister to have dinner alone."

    "Brother, I''m fine," Neoma insisted. "I can eat on my own."

    "No."

    "Brother, I want you to get along with our father," she said while hugging his arm and giving him puppy dog eyes. "Please have dinner with His Majesty. Please? Please? Please?"

    Her brother went to her and wiped her tears using his hands. Then, he pulled his dainty white handkerchief out of his breast pocket and put it over her nose. "Blow your nose, Neoma."

    She did as she was told.

    It was gross but Nero didn''t seem to mind. He just quietly cleaned her nose and folded the hanky inward before putting it back in his pocket. "Do you really want me to have dinner with His Majesty?"

    She nodded eagerly. "Yes, Brother!"

    "Are you sure you won''t get lonely while eating alone?"

    "I won''t," she assured him. "I''ll miss you, though. So pleasee back early."

    Nero seemed to be satisfied with her words because he smiled warmly while caressing her cheek. "Okay, I''ll do what you want." When he turned to Alphen, she noticed that her brother''s face turned serious. "Tell His Majesty that I''ll join him for dinner."

    Alphen bowed. "As you wish, Your Royal Highness."

    After saying that, the butler bid them goodbye respectfully and left the room.

    "I''ll tell the chef to cook all your favorite meal tonight," Nero promised her. "And don''t worry about your diet. I made sure that Stephanie and the other maids won''t scold you."

    That made her half happy-half nervous.

    Was it just she or Nero was really turning into a little tyrant?

    [I need to soften up my brother with love.]

    "Brother, you''re really kind," Neoma said sweetly. "I know that brother is kind to everyone, right?"

    Nero only gave her an awkward smile.

    [Uh-oh.]

    ***

    "BROTHER, you look so cool!"

    Nero smiled at Neoma''s praise.

    He also liked how she looked at her with big, shining eyes. Whenever his twin sister looked at him that way, he really felt loved and appreciated.

    [That feeling is very addictive.]

    "Your new clothes are so nice, Brother," Neoma said while admiring his outfit. "You''ve always looked elegant but this time, you look extra expensive."

    The clothes the emperor sent him were a tailored tailcoat, dress shirt, and dress shorts in gold. And oh, his shoes were obviously expensive.

    He was also adorned with other luxury essories like gold cuff links and buttons, a gold brooch, and a customized pocket watch with his initials. To simply say, he was covered in gold and other luxury gems.

    His outfit was very different from his twin sister''s.

    [God, how can they treat my Neoma like this?]

    Neoma wore a simple pink sailor dress. Her hair was flowing freely on her back. The only decoration on it was a pink headband. Her essories were all very simple, and so were the old pair of shoes she had been wearing since she turned five.

    Of course, his twin sister was lovely whatever she wore.

    [But still, simplicity doesn''t suit a princess like my Neoma.]

    His precious sister deserved all the best things in the world.

    "Brother, why are you looking at me like that?" Neoma asked while tugging at the hem of his tailcoat. "Is there something on my face?"

    "Yes," Nero said. Then, he gently pinched her chubby cheek. "You have cuteness on your face, Neoma."

    She giggled at that. "Am I cute, Brother?"

    "You''re the cutest in the whole empire, Neoma."

    And Neoma hugged him as a reward. "Thank you, Brother."

    Nero smiled and kissed the top of her head. [Don''t worry, Neoma¨C I''ll give you afortable life soon.]

    ***

    "YOU look like a proper prince now," Nikimented while watching Nero eat steak with an elegance that didn''t make him look like a child. Now, he wouldn''t regret his decision to invite his son for dinner. This was the first time after so many years that he allowed someone to join him in the grand dining hall of his pce. [And of course, the tailored clothes I sent him made him look like a royal more.]

    "I''m not your only child, Your Majesty," Nero reminded him in a cold voice. "The royal princess also deserves to be dressed luxuriously."

    "The empire doesn''t need a princess so I don''t see the benefit of investing in your sister," he said to his son, colder than the tone his child used on him. "Nero, you''re going to move into nco Pce. The arrangements have already begun."

    "I''ll only move to another pce if Neoma is with me."

    "I''ll send the princess to House Quinzel," he said. "My cousin, Duke Quinzel, has a daughter the same age as your sister. The princess will stay there to study bridal lessons."

    The prince snapped the knife in his hand into two at the same time his aura turned menacingly. "What do you mean by "bridal lessons," Your Majesty? Neoma is only five."

    "Youngdies as young as that can already get engaged at that age," he countered. "But of course, she will wait until she''s sixteen before she can get married."

    "Who did you choose for Neoma to be her fianc¨¦?"

    "House Drayton has a son two years older than you," he answered. "Their family belongs to the Royal Faction and they''re very rich. The young Lord Drayton would be a good match for your sister."

    "No," his son said angrily. "I won''t let you sell my sister off to an unknown family at such a young age."

    "If you don''t like my decision, then feel free to try and kill me," Niki said with a smirk to rile up his son. Maybe angering him would awaken his power. Before he dered Nero as his official heir, he wanted him to be awakened first. And it was embarrassing that a mere princess had managed to wake up her Soul Beast first. "If you be the emperor, then maybe you can make aw that will prevent your precious sister from getting married."

    "I''ll steal the throne from you even without your provocation," Nero said firmly. "You better enjoy thest remaining years of your reign, Your Majesty."

    ***

    NEOMA felt nervous while watching the maids pack her things.

    ording to Stephanie, the emperor would be sending her to House Quinzel for her bridal lessons. Even though the head maid didn''t say who''d she be engaged to, she had a feeling that it would be Lord Rubin Drayton again.

    [This is seriously scaring me. Everything is happening fast. If I get sent to House Quinzel now, then that means I''ll meet Hanna who''s still alive this time. Will the duchess be kind to me if her real daughter is around?]

    But on the other hand, meeting Rubin this early could be an advantage to her.

    [Rubin and Regina are only two years older than me. Maybe Regina isn''t as rotten as she was in my past life during this time. And if they''re still children like me, I can "innocently" destroy their rtionship by purposely charming Rubin. Plus, even though I''m not neglected, I''m still a princess. I''m sure House Drayton would choose me over a lower noble like Regina for their son.]

    She would use her acting skills to charm Rubin''s parents so they would choose her side eventually.

    And of course, she would "seduce" Rubin. She would make him crazy in love with her until he dumped Regina. She wasn''t sure if their rtionship would change this time but one thing was certain: she wouldn''t let Rubin and Regina make a fool of her again.

    [But would Nero be alright if I leave him alone here?]

    Well, she was sure that her twin brother would be properly treated as a crown prince. But she was worried about his violent nature that was starting to show as early as now.

    [How can I watch over him if we were apart?]

    "Your Royal Highness, are you feeling alright?" Stephanie, who was kneeling before her to reach her eye level, asked. She looked formal as usual but she could see a hint of worry on her gentle face. "I understand that you may have been shocked by His Majesty''s order to suddenly send you to House Quinzel. But please don''t be scared. Duke Quinzel is your biological uncle. He also has a good reputation so I''m sure he''ll treat you well."

    ["Better than this pce,"] she could almost hear Stephanie add.

    "I''m fine, Stephanie," Neoma said cheerfully. Even though the servants weren''t exactly friendly to her, she would still always act kindly to them. She knew that they were starting to warm up to her and Stephanie was no exception. Good thing she used to be a child star in her second life. She knew exactly how she should act to get the adults to like her. After all, whether in this world or the modern one, good-mannered and bright children were always favored. "I''m sure Papa only wants what''s best for me."

    [God, give me strength to punch that sc*mbag of a father someday.]

    Stephanie gave her a look of pity, then she hugged her as politely as she could. "Oh, Your Royal Highness. You don''t deserve this."

    [I know, right?]

    ***

    NERO was forced to stop walking when he felt a pang in his chest. He leaned against the wall when he lost his bnce. Also, he was starting to get dizzy.

    "Your Royal Highness," Alphen, who was now squatting in front of him, asked him worriedly. "What''s happening?"

    He just heaved a deep sigh.

    [The poison is probably working.]

    Ever since he got a hold of the poison that Neoma consumed, he started to mix it in his own food just like what happened to his twin sister.

    It was his own way of punishing himself for failing to protect her.

    And moreover, he decided to consume the poison to see if he would awaken the same way that Neoma did. He was being impatient because he wanted to be stronger to protect her. Once he had awakened, he would start his n of overthrowing Emperor Niki.

    "Alphen," Nero called his butler. "Catch me."

    He copsed after saying that.

    [Now, let''s see what kind of Soul Beast awaits me.]

    ***

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 Chapter 7 - PRINCESS NO MORE

    NERO smiled when he woke up inside a dark, unfamiliar room.

    Standing in front of him was a white shadow-y beast in the form of a wolf with two tails. It must be his Soul Beast.

    "Hi, there," Nero greeted the white wolf. "Will you lend me your power, Mr. Wolf?"

    "I know that Soul Beasts like me exist to serve a de Moonasterio like you," the Soul Beast said in a metallic voice. "But I don''t feel like following an order from a brat."

    He didn''t expect that it would be easy to control a Soul Beast.

    [But Neoma is special, of course. She''s very cute so obviously, not even a Soul Beast can resist her charm. My precious sister is really the best.]

    "Well, I have sh news for you, Mr. Wolf," Nero said with a smile. "I don''t take "no" for an answer."

    ***

    NEOMA was worried about Nero.

    Her twin brother was now lying on the bed, unconscious but his now red eyes were opened. ording to Alphen, it was a sign of his awakening.

    [So, this is how I looked when I awakened, huh?]

    Alphen and the maids gave Nero a sponge bath and changed his clothes into pajamas. Then, they left her to sleep. They asked them to look after him.

    [ording to Alphen, it was Nero''s order to leave him in my care.]

    It felt good that her twin brother trusted her now.

    "Good night, Nero," Neoma said to her twin brother. Then, sheid on her side and put her hand on his tummy. She gently tapped his stomach while humming a luby. "Come back safely, baby brother."

    Well, technically, Nero was older by a few minutes.

    But her mental age was old enough for her to act like his mother. She may be acting cute to suck up to him and survive. But at the end of the day, they were still siblings. And she didn''t have a reason to hate him in this lifetime. In short, she was genuine with her intention to get along with her twin brother this time.

    [I won''t let you be a psycho, Nero.]

    She intended to stay awake until Nero woke up.

    But unfortunately for Neoma, she still had a body of a child. She failed to fight her drowsiness and soon, everything went ck.

    ***

    NEOMA woke up when she felt strange coldness in the room.

    She got up and opened her eyes to check on Nero. Much to her shock, she saw a man d in ck standing on Nero''s side of the bed. And the intruder was pointing a dagger at her twin brother''s heart.

    Neoma gasped aloud. "No!"

    Not that the assant would listen to her.

    Instead, the masked man stabbed Nero in the heart.

    It seemed like the dagger was alsoced with magic. She saw the de turn into fine ck dust, then entered Nero''s mouth. Right after that, her twin brother coughed with blood.

    That snapped her back to reality.

    "Guards!" Neoma screamed at the top of her lungs. "We''re being attacked!"

    The way the assassin calmly turned to her told her that he was confident no one would being to save them. That only meant one thing.

    [The knights are dead.]

    When the assassin walked towards her with a new dagger in his hand, she immediately stood up on the bed and punched the dagger using her little fist.

    Thanks to her awakening, her body was now sturdier than a normal child''s.

    The assassin looked shocked when the de broke into two because of her punch.

    [God, that hurts!]

    She was cut a little but she didn''t have time to dwell on the pain. As soon as the assassin threw the dagger''s holder, he moved to attack her with his fist.

    As if she would let him hit her.

    Once again, she used her super strong fist and gutted the assassin. She heard his ribs broke when her tiny fist connected at his side. Before he could recover, she jumped and kicked him in the face. She poured her strength in that kick so no wonder she sent the assant flying until he hit the wall.

    [Gosh, I''m like a superhero.]

    "N-Neoma¡­"

    Neoma turned to Nero. He was already awake but he obviously looked like in pain. His chest area was also bleeding profusely. "Nero, let''s go," she said, then she helped him get up. "I know you''re in pain but we need to run first."

    Nero nodded, then his gaze went past her. His eyes widened in fear. "Neoma!"

    She turned behind her and when she saw the assassin who was about to stab them, she covered Nero with her body and closed her eyes tight.

    [Is this my end?]

    But a few seconds passed and she didn''t feel any pain yet.

    "Your Royal Highness!"

    Neoma quickly opened her eyes. She saw Alphen and Stephanie running in their direction. When she turned to the assassin, she noticed the white-ish light wrapped around his body like a rope.

    Considering that Alphen''s right hand was glowing, she could only conclude that the head butler saved them in time.

    [I''m alive!]

    She turned to Stephanie who came to their side in a hurry. The head maid was holding a dagger as if she intended to fight. But when she turned to Nero, she looked shocked when she saw the blood in the prince''s chest.

    "Stephanie, carry Nero," Neoma said in urgency. "He''ll be fine. He just awakened."

    Stephanie nodded and immediately carried Nero in her arms.

    "Neoma," Nero said worriedly.

    "I can run, Brother," she assured her twin brother, then she jumped off the bed and ran with Stephanie.

    Alphen stayed in the room to capture the assassin.

    [Oh, god.]

    The hallway was filled with dead knights and maids that the assassin definitely killed before getting into their chamber.

    Neoma''s "ace" in that lifetime was the memories of her past.

    [But this didn''t happen in my first life!]

    ***

    NEOMA was hiding in the treasure room with Stephanie and Nero.

    They failed to leave the pce because one of the knights in hisst moments told them that the assassin wasn''t alone. Plus, moving around wasn''t good for Nero. They had to find a hiding ce first to give her twin brother first aid.

    So right now, Stephanie was doing her best to stop the bleeding from Nero''s chest by pressing clothes in his wound. The prince looked really weak and was barely awake. She had a feeling that the dust that entered his body a while ago was wrecking his insides.

    [We need a Healing Sage!]

    But first, they needed to get out of there.

    Neoma kept on pressing the gem in the brooch that Stephanie gave her when they got in the treasure room. ording to the head maid, it was an emergency device designed to contact the emperor''s pce. She had already sent a signal before so she assured them that the royal knights from her father''s pce woulde and save her.

    [They''re f*ckingte!]

    "This is bad, Your Royal Highness," Stephanie said with a terrified look on her face. "The royal prince''s wound won''t stop bleeding. We need to get him to a Healing Sage or else¡­"

    The head maid didn''t need to finish her sentence.

    Judging by Nero''s pale face, she knew that her twin brother wouldn''t make it if they just waited in there to be saved by the backup knights.

    [I need to save my baby brother.]

    Funny, wasn''t it?

    Nero killed her in her past life. She should have held her grudge longer so she wouldn''t feel this way. But how could she hate a little boy who showered her nothing but love? He might be a little off. But in this lifetime, he loved her genuinely.

    She knew what she had to do.

    Neoma grabbed the dagger attached to Stephanie''s hip.

    The head maid gave her a questioning look. As a response, she held her hair in one hand. Then, she used the dagger to cut her hair until it was as short as Nero''s. God, she loved her long hair so much that it hurt to cut it that carelessly.

    But she needed to do that for their survival.

    "Stephanie, take off Nero''s clothes," Neoma ordered the head maid. Then, she took off her nightgown until she was only in her underwear. "I''ll switch with him."

    ***

    AFTER Neoma wore Nero''s clothes, she silently and carefully exited the treasure room.

    When she was sure that no one saw here out from that chamber, she ran away from it as fast as she could. To be honest, she didn''t know where the exit was even though this was her second time living in Luna Pce.

    In her defense, the hallways were unusually dark. Plus, she wasn''t really paying attention to her surroundings because she didn''t want to look at the dead bodies lined up in the corridor. God, the assassins murdered everyone they saw in the pce!

    [How merciless!]

    "There you are."

    Neoma was forced to stop running when a masked man blocked her way. She tried to run to the other side but another assassin appeared. Now she was trapped in the dark hallway where two assants blocking her possible exits.

    Now she had no choice but to fight.

    [Hey, Soul Beast! Shouldn''t you help me during times like this?!]

    But then again, before she left the Soul Beast, it told her that it would go on a "hibernation" to change from being a dragon into being a unicorn that she requested. That meant that her stubborn Soul Beast was asleep inside her.

    [God, why did I ask it to be a unicorn again?!]

    As soon as she asked that to herself, Emperor Niki''s smiling face entered her mind.

    [Ah, that''s why.]

    In her past life, she made the emperor smile once.

    It happened when her father asked her what she wanted for herst birthday in the pce. During that time, she was about to leave her residence to be adopted by Duke Quinzel. She was too shocked when the emperor asked her what she wanted for the first time. So she blurted out what came to her mind first: a unicorn.

    Emperor Niki smiled faintly and told her that it was too "childish" for a twelve-year-old girl. She was embarrassed so she took it back and said she wanted pretty clothes and shoes instead. But at that moment, she knew that she already received the best birthday gift that she could ever ask for.

    And that was to see her father smile for her.

    Neoma suddenly felt emotional. "God, I''m about to die again," she whispered while shaking her head. "If only I could see him smile oncest time¡­"

    "Kill him," the assassin behind her said. "Kill the royal prince!"

    She knew that she couldn''t win a fight against two adults but she didn''t want to die easily. Despite everything, she still went on a fighting stance and hoped that her punches would do digits on the assassins.

    [Here goes nothing!]

    She used her arms to cover her face from the attack that she would receive.

    But all of a sudden, the heads of the assassins fell off the ground. Their bodies, without the heads, still continued to run towards her. But she managed to get away from them until her back hit the wall behind.

    She gulped while watching blood spurt from the headless neck.

    [Gross.]

    "For a girl, you''re smart and brave."

    Neoma looked up at the owner of the cold voice.

    It was indeed Emperor Niki. Based on the bloody sword that he was holding in his right hand, it was obvious that he was the one who saved her.

    [Heh. He saved me?]

    "You''re not as useless as I thought you''d be," Emperor Niki said. With just one shake of his sword, the blood in the de magically vanished. Then, he put the sword back in the sheath attached to his hip. "Neoma de Moonasterio, the first princess of Moonasterion Empire. From now on, you''ll live as Prince Nero''s proxy."

    [The hell is this psycho saying?]

    Neoma, despite her confusion, still smiled at the emperor. "Father, what do you mean by that?"

    "From now on, Nero would be targeted by assassins sent by my enemies," the emperor exined. "Until he''s strong enough to protect himself, you''ll pose as your twin brother."

    Her smile froze but she still acted innocent. "But Father. If I take my brother''s position, then wouldn''t the assassins mistake me for him and¡­"

    She stopped talking when she realized that was exactly what the emperor wanted her to do.

    [This sc*mbag wants me to be a bait?!]

    "You''re no longer a princess, Neoma de Moonasterio. From now on, you''ll live as Prince Nero de Moonasterio," Emperor Niki said coldly while looking down at her with glowing red eyes. "Try to survive until your twin brotheres back to take his rightful ce, understood?"

    Neoma was too shocked to react.

    [Are you f*cking kidding me, you sc*mbag?!]

    ***

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 Chapter 8 - EMPERORS ORDER

    {A FEW minutes after Neoma left the room¡­}

    WHEN Nero woke up when he smelled Neoma''s scent. He opened and eyes and realized that he was being carried by Stephanie who was running as fast as she could. He looked around and found out that they were already outside the pce. To be precise, they were in the garden. "Where''s Neoma?" he asked in a weak voice. "Stephanie, where''s my sister?"

    Stephanie sobbed before she answered his question. "The princess sacrificed herself to give us time to escape, Your Royal Highness," she said. "Her Royal Highness posed as you and lured the enemies away."

    He gasped in surprise.

    That was when he realized that he could clearly smell Neoma because he was now wearing her nightgown. There were also long strands of Neoma''s hair on the dress. Did his precious sister cut her hair and wore his pajama so the assassins would mistake her for him?!

    He hated to admit this but it was a good n.

    Nero and Neoma looked alike because they were twins, duh. And since they were still both kids, their bodies weren''t fully-developed yet. To simply put, it wouldn''t be impossible for the assassins to mistake Neoma as him if she cut her hair and wore his clothes.

    "Why?" Nero hissed. His body felt heavy for some reason, and the anger in his chest was making it harder for him to breathe. "Why did you let Neoma do that?!"

    "Forgive me, Your Royal Highness," Stephanie said between sobs. "It was His Majesty''s order that if the pce was attacked by assassins, our top priority is to protect you. He also told us that if we were put in a situation where we have to choose between Her Royal Highness and His Royal Highness, we must choose you."

    To say that he was angry to hear that would be an understatement.

    [What''s wrong with the emperor?!]

    "Stop," Nero ordered Stephanie in a cold voice. "I''m going back in the pce to save Neoma!"

    "Forgive me but I can''t follow your order, Your Royal Highness," Stephanie said tearfully. "It''s my duty to protect His Majesty''s only heir."

    He knew talking wouldn''t work so he just used the remaining strength that he had.

    As soon as he released his Mana, Stephanie literally froze in where she stood. The pressure from his unleashed power was enough to stop the head maid from moving. Her arms automatically lost their strength¨C causing her to identally drop him.

    Despite his aching muscles, he forced himself to stand up and run back to the pce.

    "Found you, Your Royal Highness."

    Nero stopped running when the emperor''s personal knight suddenly appeared before him.

    Then, all of a sudden, he was surrounded by royal knights.

    Glenn got down on one knee to even their eye level. Then, he gave him a relieved smile. "Your Royal Highness, allow me to bring you to you to the royal doctor."

    "No," he said firmly. "I need to go back to the pce and save Neoma!"

    "You''re not going back in that pce, Nero de Moonasterio."

    He froze at the coldness of the voiceing from behind. He didn''t need to turn around to know that it was Emperor Niki.

    "Glenn, take the prince to the royal doctor," Emperor Niki said. "We''re leaving."

    "Don''t touch me," Nero hissed at Glenn who stood up and tried to walk towards him. Then, he turned around to face the emperor. He could feel the wound in his chest opening up again, the blood sticking to Neoma''s nightgown. If he''d be honest, he''d say that he was about to pass out anytime. But his sheer willpower and desire to save his precious sister kept him standing. "Your Majesty, I''ll onlye with you if you bring Neoma with me to the royal doctor."

    "I already sent some of the royal knights inside the pce," the emperor said. "If it isn''t toote yet, then the princess would be saved."

    "Neoma is still alive. I can feel it," he said firmly. "And I don''t want the knights to save her. Do it yourself, Your Majesty."

    The emperor looked surprised by his request.

    To be honest, he wanted to save Neoma himself. But at his current state, he knew that he couldn''t do it.

    He didn''t want to admit this but he noticed that Neoma was attached to the emperor. In that situation, he didn''t have to guess what his precious sister was feeling right now. She was definitely scared.

    Neoma would be relieved and happy if it was Emperor Niki who would save her instead of him or the royal knights.

    "I''ll save the royal princess," Emperor Niki said. "But in return, you''ll follow my orders from now on."

    Nero didn''t like that but in that situation, he didn''t really have the luxury to act high and mighty. "Let''s talk after you saved my precious sister, Your Majesty."

    ***

    NIKOLAI found the assassins ahead of the royal knights he sent to the pce in advance.

    No matter how the assassins conceal their presence, they couldn''t hide itpletely from him. And most of all, he could sense Neoma''s presence.

    [I have to admit that it''s impressive for a princess to awaken her Soul Beast.]

    He was supposed to let the assassins live for interrogation. But since they were about to kill the princess, he decided to kill them instead. There were other ways to investigate the case and trace whoever sent the assassins to kill the prince.

    To be honest, he was expecting Neoma to freak out after the gory way he killed the assassins. She looked horrified at first, but calmed down right away.

    [Impressive.]

    "For a girl, you''re smart and brave," Niki told her.

    Neoma, who only noticed him when he spoke, looked up at him.

    He was quite taken aback.

    Neoma and Nero were twins so naturally, they looked alike.

    But now that Neoma cut her hair short and wore Nero''s clothes, it was hard to tell that she was a girl. It wasn''t just her appearance though. The amount of Mana that she possessed was the amount that one would expect from the crown prince.

    [No wonder the assassins were deceived.]

    "You''re not as useless as I thought you''d be," Niki told the princess. Then, he shook off the blood in his sword with magic. Once the de was clean again, he put the sword back in the sheath attached to his hip. "Neoma de Moonasterio, the first princess of Moonasterion Empire. From now on, you''ll live as Prince Nero''s proxy."

    Seeing how Neoma could perfectly pose as the prince made hime up with the best way to protect his heir until he was strong enough to protect himself.

    This wouldn''t be thest time that enemies would attempt to kill his heir. He could hide Nero if Neoma would stay in the pce to pretend as the prince. Only a few people knew that the prince had a twin sister. Some of his enemies probably knew that as well. But all he had to do was kill them to keep the princess''s identity.

    As long as his future enemies targeted Neoma instead, Nero could safely hide ande out only when it was time to dere him as the official crown prince.

    [The prince''s life is more important than the princess''s.]

    Neoma, after gaining back herposure, smiled at him. "Father, what do you mean by that?"

    ["Father?"]

    It seemed like Neoma was still a bit shocked because she wasn''t acting cute right now. Despite her effort to behave as lively as before, he could tell that she wasn''t in a good mood because of her sudden politeness.

    "From now on, Nero would be targeted by assassins sent by my enemies," Niki exined. "Until he''s strong enough to protect himself, you''ll pose as your twin brother."

    Neoma continued to smile at him despite the obvious confusion in her eyes. "But Father. If I take my brother''s position, then wouldn''t the assassins mistake me for him and¡­"

    The princess stopped talking.

    Obviously, she already realized what he wanted her to do.

    [Ah, she''s indeed smart for her age.]

    "You''re no longer a princess, Neoma de Moonasterio. From now on, you''ll live as Prince Nero de Moonasterio," Niki dered, making his red eyes glow to intimidate her. "Try to survive until your twin brotheres back to take his rightful ce, understood?"

    Expectedly, Neoma looked shocked by his deration.

    But surprisingly, she didn''t look intimidated at all.

    Niki already noticed this before but Neoma had never looked at him with fear. Sometimes, she would even look at him as if she was an adult. To be honest, her gaze oftentimes made him feel ufortable.

    "Papa, I''ll follow your order because I trust you," Neoma said with a smile. It seemed like she had already calmed downpletely because she called him "Papa" again instead of "Father." "But in return, will Papa try to love me if I be a good daughter?"

    Earlier it was Nero who demanded him to save his twin sister. Now it was Neoma who was demanding him of something that would be hard for him to give.

    But despite the eerie feeling that the princess gave off, she was still a child, wasn''t she? Making her believe that she would get what she wanted would make it easier for him to control her. And if he sessfully controlled Neoma, then Nero would listen to him as well.

    [Neoma has Nero wrapped around her little finger. But it''s obvious that the princess wants my affection. If I use that to my advantage, then I''d be able to control Nero by using Neoma.]

    "If you follow me like an obedient daughter that you should be, I will shower you with all the luxurious things I could offer you," Nikipromised.

    "That''s so vague, Papa," the princessined with a pout. "How about you give three wishes instead?"

    "Alright," he gave in. He was confident that he could give anything that a five-year-old little girl would ask for. "As long as it is in within my power, I will grant you three wishes."

    Neoma gave him a polite curtsy. "Thank you, Papa."

    ***

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    ***

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 Chapter 9 - PRINCE NEROS THREAT

    NEOMA ran towards Nero as soon as she saw him. She ran past Emperor Niki¨C who was walking in front of her¨C to get to her twin brother.

    Nero was lying on the ground while being engulfed in a strange golden light. He was also surrounded by several royal knights. The old man dressed in a white cloak with a wooden cane must be the royal doctor, aka the best Healing Sage in the whole empire.

    "Nero!"

    Nero tried to get up when he heard her voice. But the Healing Sage immediately got down on one knee to stop him and make him lie on the ground again.

    "Your Royal Highness, you cannot move yet," the Healing Sage said. Then, the old man red at her. "Princess, please do not disturb the royal prince."

    "Don''t talk to my sister that way," Nero warned the old man.

    The Healing Sage looked confused when he turned to the prince. "But Your Royal Highness¨C"

    "Let the royal princess stay with the royal prince," Emperor Niki ordered. "Bring the royal twins to my pce."

    Neoma was kind of shocked by the emperor''s order but she ignored him for now.

    She kneeled beside Nero. When her twin brother looked up at her, he looked shocked. He obviously didn''t like that she cut her long hair as short as his.

    "Neoma," Nero said sadly. Then, he touched the strands of her now short hair with a pained look on his face. "You did this to protect me even though you loved your long hair so much¡­"

    It was true.

    She liked how pretty her long hair was. It pained her when she cut her hair but now that she had confirmed that Nero was safe, it didn''t matter anymore. Her small sacrifice to protect her twin brother was worth it.

    "It''s okay, Brother," Neoma said with a smile. Then, she held his hand and ced it on her cheek. "I love Bother more than I loved my long hair."

    She wished she was just saying to suck up to her twin brother but sadly, she had gotten attached to him for real.

    [Gosh, I''m such a softie.]

    ***

    NEOMA looked at her reflection in the mirror long and hard.

    Right now, she was in a guest room in Yule Pce¨C the emperor''s residence. Yes, the pce was named after the Moon God that their citizens worshipped.

    As expected, even though it was only a guest room, the chamber was luxurious. The huge paintings had golden frames, and so were the windowsills. The antique vases and the other decorations also looked expensive. The room had also its own bathroom and toilet.

    But the "star" was the huge bed, of course. It had four posts and a sheer drape. The mattress was super soft and the bedsheets were elegant andfortable.

    She wasn''t in the mood to appreciate the luxury though.

    [I really cut my hair, huh?]

    To be honest, she was kind of surprised at how simr she looked to Nero. Even though she was wearing a nightgown, it would be easier for anyone to mistake her for her twin brother.

    [Nero is super pretty for a boy.]

    And yes, the prince looked feminine as well. But they were still kids so it would be safer to say that Nero looked androgynous for now.

    [In my past life, adult Nero still looks pretty but no one would mistake him for a girl.]

    But maybe she should stop thinking about her first life.

    [This is so different from what happened in the past.]

    Posing as Nero would definitely be dangerous.

    That meant assassins woulde after her throat thinking that she was the crown prince. Of course, Emperor Niki would try to protect her until Nero was powerful enough to protect herself. But knowing her father, he probably wouldn''t exert much effort to keep her safe.

    To the sc*mbag, she was just a pawn that he needed to buy Nero some time.

    [But I''m sure that my father would need me as a proxy for a long time.]

    Nero was still in the "infirmary" in the pce.

    When she told the Healing Sage that she saw the assassin''s de turn into dust and entered Nero''s mouth, the old man was shocked. Apparently, it was a dangerous spell that would kill anyone from the inside in the most painful way possible. To be precise, it was a spell that would make a person''s insides rot slowly but surely.

    Worse, the spell also served as a seal to one''s Mana. That meant as long as the spell was inside Nero''s body, he wouldn''t be able to unleash his full power. Not even his Soul Beast.

    [Poor baby brother.]

    When she heard that, her resolve to take his ce for the meantime strengthened.

    "Take all the time you need to heal, Brother," Neoma said under her breath. "I''ll try to survive until youe back."

    [Now, let''s think about the three wishes I''ll ask from His Majesty.]

    ***

    "NO," NERO told Emperor Niki defiantly after he heard his n for him. Right now, he was in the Yule Pce. But the room he was in was simr to a hospital room. It might be the private infirmary wing in the emperor''s residence. "I will not leave Neoma alone in this pce. I won''t even let her pretend like me! Are you insane?"

    Glenn, who was standing behind Emperor Niki (who was seated on the ent chair beside his bed), looked shocked at the way he talked to the emperor. The knight seemed like he was about to scold him but Emperor Niki raised a hand to stop him.

    "You heard what Marcus said, Nero de Moonasterio," Emperor Niki said. ''Marcus'' was the Healing Sage who looked after him. "The spell that was used on you was an ancient one. It''s dangerous enough that not even Marcus could heal you. The only person who could save you is the saint. But the saint isn''t allowed to leave the Astello Temple, so you''re the one who shoulde to him instead." He raised an eyebrow at him. "If you die now, you''d abandon Neoma de Moonasterio as well. Do you want that to happen?"

    Of course not.

    But still¡­

    "Can I not bring Neoma with me?" he asked desperately. "If it''s His Holiness''s temple, then wouldn''t it be safe for us? The Holy Knights protect the church after all."

    "Don''t be ridiculous," the emperor scolded him. "The saint wouldn''t allow just anyone to step foot on his temple without a valid reason. Even if we are the royal family that rules the entire Moonasterion Empire, we don''t have much power over the church. We even need permission from the saint before we enter Valmento."

    Valmento was the proper name for "Holy Land"¨C the small country where the saint lived.

    Although Valmento was within the territory of Moonasterion Empire, it still functioned as a separate country. ording to his History teacher, the royal family couldn''t touch the saint or the church because the saint had the citizens to back them up.

    Most of all, the saint was believed to have the ability to talk to the gods. Angering the saint was said to be equal to gaining the wrath of the heavens.

    "Does Neoma really need to pretend as me?" Nero asked bitterly. "You don''t care about my twin sister. I''m certain that you''d only do the bare minimum to protect her."

    "That''s not true," Emperor Niki denied. "Once Neoma takes your ce, I''ll treat her like how I''ll treat my heir. I''ll give her the best protection that I could give her. If I don''t do that, then the enemies would realize that she''s just someone pretending to be you."

    "Will that really work?" he asked dubiously. "There had been spies in the Luna Pce. That means there are people outside the pce who know that I have a twin sister."

    "I''ll deal with them," his father said confidently. "The servants in Luna Pce, save for Alphen and Stephanie, had already been taken care of."

    That meant the poor servants were killed except for the head butler and head maid.

    [Neoma shouldn''t know about this.]

    "The general public doesn''t know that you have a twin sister," the emperor said. "When you were born, only the birth of the prince was announced to the public. Even within the pce, there are only a few that knows about Neoma''s existence. We can pull this off."

    To be honest, he hated to agree with his father.

    But right now, he didn''t have the power to protect Neoma. How could he do that when he was slowly rotting inside? He had to be healed quickly if he wanted to return by his precious sister''s side right away.

    "I''ll go to the temple," he said firmly. "Make sure that you''ll protect my twin sister properly or else¡­"

    "Or else what?" the emperor asked with a smirk. "You''re going to kill me?"

    "No," Nero said seriously. "If Neoma dies before I return, then I''ll kill myself to follow her wherever she would have gone to after her death."

    Emperor Niki looked shocked by his threat. But in the end, he smirked as if he was amused by what he said. "I can''t let my heir kill himself, can I?"

    ***

    NEOMA blinked several times to make sure that she wasn''t dreaming.

    But no matter how many times she blinked, the boy straddling her hips didn''t disappear.

    [Who the hell is this dude?]

    The "dude" in question was a handsome young boy who was probably aged eight or older. He had silver, slightly gray-ish hair and golden eyes. His skin was as pale as a canvas.

    He looked too pretty but still, she couldn''t trust anyone in that pce.

    So she did what a girl ought to do when she woke up in bed being straddled by a stranger: she sucker-punched him in the gut.

    The young boy flew and hit his back against the wall.

    And damn, the part of the wall that caught the impact got wrecked. Was his body made of steel or something?

    Neoma''s eyes widened in shock. "Who the hell are you, little boy?"

    "Girl," the weird, handsome boy said in a monotone tone. Then, he pointed a long and slender finger at her. "Princess, not prince."

    ***

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 Chapter 10 - AM I A THERAPIST?

    "PRINCESS," the strange boy told her while pointer a finger at her. "Not prince."

    Neoma''s forehead knotted in confusion. The boy looked older than her current body. But what was with the strange speech pattern and action. "Who are you?"

    "Lewis," the boy said, then he pointed a finger at himself. "Prince''s butler. Me."

    [Butler?]

    "Your Royal Highness," said the manly voice from outside her room. If she was right, it was Glenn¨C Emperor Niki''s personal knight. It was natural for the knight to be there because right now, she was at the Yule Pce. "My deepest apologies but I believe a stray child entered your room without permission. May Ie in?"

    "Yes," she said. "Come and pick up this strange boy, Sir Glenn."

    The huge door opened and Glenn, in his chic ck and gold military uniform, entered her chamber with a flustered look on his face. As soon as he saw Lewis, his face turned red as if he was embarrassed that he failed to look after the child.

    "I apologize, Your Royal Highness," Glenn said while holding Lewis by the cor. Then, he put his hand on top of the child''s head. When the knight bowed to her, he also forced Lewis to bow. "We will ept any punishment that you deem appropriate for this incident."

    "Help me decide what punishment is appropriate, Sir Glenn," she said while standing on the bed with her arms crossed over her chest. "I woke up with that boy straddling me."

    Just for the record, she wasn''t power tripping.

    Yes, she was a brat. But her anger right now was justifiable. Even though the boy was still young, it was still wrong for him to enter a girl''s room and straddle her while she was asleep!

    Glenn gasped as if he was shocked by what he heard. Then, he momentarily turned to Lewis with a re before he raised his head. Then, much to her surprise, he kneeled down with his head hanged low. "Your Royal Highness, I know that Lewis deserves a death punishment for what he had done. But I''m begging for your mercy. The child might act strange but I assure you, he didn''t mean any harm. Please forgive him, Your Royal Highness. If it will appease you, you can punish me heavily since it''s also my fault for taking my eyes off him."

    "I will not give the boy a death punishment," she said. "But tell me why you''re willing to sacrifice yourself for him. Who is he, Sir Glenn?"

    "Lewis is thest surviving member of the Silver Fox n," the knight said. "His Majesty chose Lewis to be your personal butler once the nmences."

    The "n" he was talking about was the one where she would pose as Nero.

    But that wasn''t what caught her attention.

    [Lewis of the Silver Fox n? Sounds familiar. Have I met him in my past life?]

    "Lewis was chosen because he''s the strongest child closest to your age, Your Royal Highness," Glenn continued exining. "He is supposed to be His Royal Highness Prince Nero''s butler but due to our n, Lewis will now be serving you, Your Royal Highness."

    That was when she finally realized who Lewis was.

    [Lewis¡­ Lu!]

    ''Lu'' was Nero''s pet name for his butler in their past life. Eventually, ''Lu'' would be a knight. Naturally, he would serve Nero as his personal knight.

    [Lewis was definitely that ''Lu!'']

    She gulped when she remembered what kind of person was ''Lu'' in her first life.

    [He was just as crazy and as violent as Nero in the past!]

    And now that she was taking Nero''s ce, it also meant that all the people that were supposed to serve him would serve her instead.

    [Nero is leaving soon but I guess I''ll be stuck with another psycho, huh?]

    "Lewis grew up in istion so please excuse hisck of manners," Glenn continued with his pleas. "I swear this is thest time that this would happen."

    "I''ll let it slide this time," she said. "I''ll trust you on your promise, Sir Glenn."

    Now that she knew that Lewis was "Butler Lu" in her past life, she already understood why he acted the way he did.

    [As far as I remember, Lewis was stolen from the Silver Fox n and was sold as a ve. His "owners" didn''t treat him like a human. Those bastards literally treated Lewis like a pet! They made him live in a cage with their dogs.]

    That was the reason why Lewis didn''t have a basic human setting.

    When Emperor Niki invaded thend where Lewis''s owners lived, the child was rescued from his horrible living conditions. The emperor took interest in Lewis because of his powerful Mana and so, he brought the kid to the Royal Capital.

    [Lewis might be a psycho in the past, but right now, he''s just a poor little boy.]

    The knight raised his head and gave her a grateful smile. "My utmost gratitude for your generosity, Your Royal Highness."

    "No problem," she said. Then, she turned to Lewis who was just standing there, spaced out. "Hello, Lewis."

    Glenn turned to Lewis. "Lewis, introduce yourself to Her Royal Highness properly."

    Lewis looked at her with a nk look on his face. Then, he pointed a finger at himself. "Lewis. Me."

    That was definitely not a proper greeting. But considering the life he lived before getting here, he already did a good job. If she remembered it right, Lewis was rescued only a year ago. Learning to talk in that span of time was already an aplishment.

    She should be kind to the poor boy¡­

    ¡­ and make sure Lewis wouldn''t also end up as a psycho in this lifetime.

    [Gosh, is being a therapist for these boys the reason why I came back here?]

    "Hello, Lewis. I''m Neoma de Moonasterio," Neoma greeted the boy with her "signature sweet smile" that captivated Nero. "Let''s be friends, okay?"

    ***

    NEOMA wasn''t happy after the maids of Yule Pce dressed her up like a boy.

    The matching dress shirt and dress shorts she wore were obviously expensive, and so were the pair of shoes she had right now. But she wasn''t really happy now that she looked like Nero''s carbon copy.

    [I''m not cute!]

    Well, not really.

    Nero was very cute, of course.

    What she meant was her outfit. As a girl, she enjoyed the dresses she used to wear. They weren''t as expensive or luxurious as what a princess should be wearing. But still, as a girly girl, she loved her dresses.

    She may act like a tomboy now but deep inside, she loved dressing up in girlish clothes.

    [Well, actually, I was a very meekdy in my past life. No wonder I was fooled several times. Being reborn in a loving family in my second life helped me gain confidence. So now, I ended up with this attitude.]

    And she didn''t regret that.

    "Your Royal Highness, it''s time," Stephanie told her. "His Majesty wishes to see you."

    Ah, right.

    While she was at the Yule Pce, aside from Glenn, only Stephanie and Alphen came to serve her.

    [Understandable.]

    After all, her acting as Nero''s proxy was a royal secret.

    "Let''s go," Neoma said. "I can''t wait to see Papa."

    [And tell him my three precious wishes.]

    ***

    NEOMA was surprised when she was brought to a parlor instead of Emperor Niki''s office or throne room. She was asked to wait inside alone. But Glenn, Alphen, and Stephanie were all waiting outside.

    [What am I supposed to expect here?]

    Her brain hurt from thinking too much so she forgot about that for a while.

    She just sat on the sofa and enjoyed the snacks prepared for her. Also, the tea served for her had honey in it to probably suit the taste of a "child." But even without sugar or honey, she could still drink tea.

    [I''m an elegant adult inside, you know?]

    "Neoma?"

    Neoma was surprised when the door opened when she was just about to take a bite of her macaroon. But since she heard Nero''s voice, she knew that her twin brother wasing. She turned to him with a smile. "Brother¡­"

    Her smiled faded and she dropped the macaroon at what greeted her.

    "N-Neoma?" Nero asked nervously. "Do I look weird?"

    She was too shocked to react.

    Nero had a wig on¨C a tinum white wig that was as long as her previous hair. And most of all, he was wearing a very pretty pink dress.

    She felt like she was looking at herself in the mirror.

    [Wow, we really switched ces, huh?]

    "Brother," Neoma said with a smile when she regained herposure. Then, she got down from the sofa and walked towards him. "You look very pretty!"

    Nero smiled as if he was relieved of what she said. When she stood in front of him, he cupped her face in his hands. "You still look pretty even if you''re dressed as a boy, Neoma."

    "Thank you, Brother," she said between giggles. "I look pretty because I look like you!"

    He smiled and gently pinched her cheeks. "Neoma, don''t forget me while I''m away. Eat all the food you want and stay healthy. If someone or something bothers you, just send me a letter."

    Her forehead knotted in confusion. "Brother, why are you talking like you''re saying goodbye to me?"

    "I am saying goodbye to you, my precious sister," Nero said with a sad smile. "Today is the day I''m going to the saint''s temple."

    Neoma gasped, her chest unexpectedly tightening in pain. Unconsciously, she grabbed Nero''s hands and held them tight. The next thing she knew, she was already speaking in a desperate voice. "Please don''t leave me, Brother."

    Wait, did she just beg her psycho twin brother to not leave her?!

    ***

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 Chapter 11 - MY THREE AWESOME WISHES

    "PLEASE don''t leave me, Brother," Neoma said desperately. [Gosh, what am I saying?]

    It looked like she had gotten attached to Nero more than she liked.

    [Am I softie inside?]

    "Neoma, I''ll be back before you know it," Nero promised her. Then, he touched her face. "I will write to you as often as I could. His Majesty already asked for the Saint''s permission to allow me to call you via Virtual Call twice a month."

    ''Virtual Call'' was equal to modern time''s "video call."

    To perform a Virtual Call, there was a need for two pocket watches embedded with magic. If you put in the right "time" in the pocket watch, it would connect to the matching pocket watch. Then, the ss inside the pocket watch would act like a video camera where the owners of the pocket watches could see and hear each other.

    [It''s a very advanced magic in this world and so, each pocket watch that can function as a Virtual Call is very expensive. Only higher nobles can afford it for now.]

    "Do we have a pocket watch, Brother?" Neoma asked curiously. "Is Papa going to give us our own pocket watches?"

    "His Majesty already did," Nero said. Then, he pulled out the ne that he was wearing from the inside of his dress. So, it wasn''t a ne. It was a golden pocket watch. "Here''s mine." He pulled out another pocket watch from the pocket of his dress and wore it around her neck. "And that is yours."

    [Cool.]

    "Our pocket watches are already set," her brother continued. "You just have to press the diamond inside to call me. To reject the call, press the ruby gem. And to receive my call, press the emerald gem. But only call me if it''s an emergency, okay? The Saint doesn''t allowmunication devices in the temple. Thankfully, His Holiness made an exception for me."

    "Okay, Brother," she said, then her forehead knotted in confusion. "Brother, why are you dressed up as a girl?"

    "His Majesty was worried that there might be a spy in the Holy Hand," he exined. "To prevent the enemies from following me, His Majesty created a fake identity for me."

    "Oh. Then, who would you be now?"

    "I will be known as ''Lady Nara Quinzel'' from now on."

    Her eyes widened in shock. "Q-Quinzel?"

    There was only one Quinzel n in the empire and that was Duke Rufus Quinzel, the emperor''s cousin on the mother side. It was also the duke who adopted her in her first life.

    "Duke Rufus Quinzel, the emperor''s cousin, adopted ''Nara Quinzel'' so the fake identity I''m taking could have legal papers," Nero exined to her. "Duke Quinzel will also be my guardian from now on. In fact, his family even moved to Valmento so that they could visit me in the temple every weekend."

    That fact didn''t surprise her.

    Even in her first life, Duke Quinzel had been very loyal to Emperor Niki. The duke would go to any war if her father asked him to. Moving to Valmento with his family to be Nero''s guardian was something she could see the duke doing for His Majesty.

    And Emperor Niki probably promised the duke something as a reward.

    [But wow, Nero and I definitely switched ces for real.]

    "Are you okay, Neoma?" Nero asked worriedly. "You suddenly fell silent."

    "I''m just wondering why His Holiness allowed you to fake your identity," Neoma lied. "I thought saints don''t lie."

    Heughed softly and pinched her cheeks. "Oh, my na?ve little sister. Let''s just say that the saint is doing this for the sake of the empire. After all, His Majesty intends to dere me as his official heir someday."

    [Oh, to be a crown prince who''s adored by the emperor just because he''s a dude.]

    "I don''t really understand but I''m d that you won''t be alone," she said with a smile. "I hope you get along with His Grace and his child."

    "How did you know that the duke has a child?"

    [Oops.]

    "Well, you said he moved with his family," she said as an excuse. "I assumed that the duke has a child."

    "My Neoma is really smart," he said while patting her head gently. "You''re right. Duke Quinzel has a daughter around her age."

    "Isn''t that nice, Brother?" she asked him. "You''ll have another sister."

    His face turned sour. "You''re my one and only sister, Neoma. I have no rtion with Duke Quinzel''s daughter."

    "What are you talking about, Brother?" she asked between giggles. "Duke Quinzel is Papa''s cousin. That means the duke''s daughter is our second cousin."

    "You''re my only family, Neoma," Nero said in an eerily serious voice. Then, he touched her face while looking at her with a warm gaze. "Let''s keep this goodbye short. It''s not like we''re not going to see each other again. I want to be healed as soon as possible so I need to go now. My Neoma is smart so she understands, right?"

    Neoma smiled and nodded. "Take care of yourself, Brother. I''ll pray for your fast and safe recovery."

    They ended their farewells with a tight and warm hug.

    ***

    NEOMA was sad that she wasn''t even allowed to send Nero off outside the pce.

    She heard that Duke Quinzel came to pick him up. But since she was locked up in her room, she didn''t even get a glimpse of the duke.

    [I wanted to see Duke Quinzel again. The duchess may have been a terrible mother to me. But the duke treated me like his own daughter. Although he was absent for most parts of my previous life because he was too busy, I would never forget his kindness.]

    Her thoughts were cut off when she heard a knock on the door.

    When she let them in, Alphen and Stephanie entered the room with Lewis. Ever since she was stuck in the pce, only Alphen and Stephanie had been the ones looking after her.

    [And now, Lewis.]

    "Greetings to the First Star of the Great Moonasterion Empire," Alphen and Stephanie greeted her in unison with their heads hanged low.

    Except for Lewis who was staring at the ceiling, obviously spacing out again.

    But never mind the fox boy.

    She was actually surprised that Stephanie and Alphen greeted her as the "First Star." That was the title reserved for the crown prince.

    [Ah, my role y as Nero has begun.]

    "Hello," Neoma greeted them cheerfully. "Please tell me I can go out now. I''m close to dying of boredom here."

    "His Majesty wants to have tea with you, Your Royal Highness," Stephanie informed her. "We''re here to pick you up."

    "Your Royal Highness, starting from today, Lewis has be your official butler and bodyguard," Alphen added. "Lewis knows the royal secret and to keep that from everyone else, he''ll follow you around wherever you go. But rest assured, he won''t do something inappropriate to you, Your Royal Highness."

    "I''m not worried about that," she said while looking at Lewis. "I trust the boy."

    And she could take care of herself anyway.

    "Anyway, we should go," Neoma said cheerfully. "I don''t want to make Papa wait for me for too long.??

    ***

    [AM I really going to be safe with this boy?]

    Neoma could only shake her head while watching Lewis y with butterflies while they were walking in the royal garden.

    Only the two of them were allowed in the royal garden because apparently, the emperor didn''t want peopleing in and out of his garden. There weren''t even royal knights around. But she would bet that it was still the safest ce in the whole pce.

    [After all, His Majesty is the strongest person in the empire.]

    Neoma stopped walking when she realized that Lewis wasn''t following her anymore. When she turned around to face him, she could only sigh at what greeted her: Lewis was just standing there while looking at the butterflies around him.

    [Why are those butterflies attracted to him anyway?]

    "Lewis," she called him. When he didn''t react, she raised her voice a little. "Lewis."

    Lewis blinked before he turned to her. Then, he walked towards her and stood in front of her. "Yes, Prince????

    [Prince? How casual. I don''t mind though.]

    "How old are you?" she asked curiously.

    Lewis raised both of his hands. His left hand was open while his right hand had three fingers raised. "Me."

    "Eight years old?" she asked in surprise while looking up at him. "Gosh. You''re only eight years old but you''re so tall."

    As she expected, he didn''t react at all.

    "Let''s go," Neoma said before she turned her back on him. "And don''t get distracted again."

    [Gosh, why do I feel like I''m the one who should be protecting my butler instead?]

    ***

    NEOMA gave the emperor her most charming smile.

    [You should be honored, Your Majesty. This is the smile that gained me 9, 999, 999 followers in my second life. Soon, you won''t be able to resist my million-dor smile.]

    Well, that was easier said than done.

    Right now, Emperor Niki looked as poker-faced as usual.

    Gosh, his nk face didn''t fit the serene and beautiful ambiance of the royal garden. But even though he looked grumpy, she couldn''t deny the fact that his handsome face was still nice to look at. Plus, his elegance was oozing even though he was just sipping his tea.

    [I guess his royal upbringing can''t be overlooked even though he''s scary.]

    Heh, she was talking to herself for thing long because her damned father hadn''t uttered a word ever since she came.

    [I wish Glenn and Lewis are here instead.]

    Glenn and Lewis were standing at the entrance of the garden. Far enough not to hear their conversation, but close enough to reach them if something bad was to happen.

    [My butt hurts.]

    Sitting on a stool ced on top of the chair was ufortable, you know? But because she was still too small, she had to use double chairs just so she could reach the table properly. It was hard being a little child.

    "Papa, how are you?" Neoma asked him cheerfully. "I''m lonely now that my brother has gone to the temple for his recovery. But I can endure it because I want Brother to be well as soon as possible. And you''re here so I''m not going to be too sad, Papa."

    Emperor Niki just looked at her, then he elegantly put the cup down on the table. "Tomorrow, you''re moving to nco Pce."

    That was the pce used by every crown prince in their history.

    In her past life, Nero was moved there when they were five years old. But now that she had switched with her twin brother, she was now the one destined to live there in this lifetime.

    "Okay, Papa," she answered cheerfully. "Thank you for providing a residence for me."

    "You''re now the royal prince of the empire," the emperor said. "It''s only natural for you to use nco Pce as your residence. Stephanie and Alphen will be the new head maid and head butler of the pce since they know your real identity. I asked them to choose a handful of servants that they can trust. Everyone in your new residence will keep your secret. But even if they already know that you''re the princes, you still need to be extra careful."

    "Yes, Papa."

    "I''ll soon ensemble your own knight squad for your protection," the emperor continued. "But for now, I will assign Glenn as your personal knight."

    "Sir Glenn is your personal knight, isn''t he, Papa?" she asked worriedly. "Who will protect you then?"

    "I can take care of myself," he said confidently. "Starting the day after tomorrow, you''ll continue taking up lessons that Nero left behind. But you won''t get the same teachers that Nero had. They have met your twin brother so they might notice the difference. To avoid that, we got new teachers for you."

    "I understand, Papa."

    "Nero''s former teachers said that the prince is smart," he continued. "You know what I''m saying, right?"

    "I won''t embarrass you, Papa," she said even though she was a bit offended that he questioned her intelligence. To forget about it, she changed the topic. "Papa, can I say my three wishes now?"

    He nodded. "Go ahead."

    She sipped her tea first to hide her smile. As expected, her tea had honey in it again. After she had controlled her expression, she put the cup down on the table. "Papa, my first wish is to be free to choose whom to marry. So please cancel my engagement with Lord Drayton''s son."

    "Princesses are only good for marrying off to rich and powerful families," the emperor said coldly. "Once Neroes back to take his rightful ce, what will happen to you if you refused to be married? Do you think I will let you live in the pce forever?"

    [I know you won''t, sc*mbag.]

    "That''s where my second wishes in Papa," she said with a smile. "Once Brother Nero returns, I will step down as a princess." Once she was no longer a princess, men wouldn''t bother her with proposals anymore. "But in return, I want you to make me a duchess and give me my own territory. I don''t care if you give me the smallest or the most barrennd in the empire. I will be fine with it as long as I''m the duchess."

    "What good your title as a duchess will be if yournd is barren anyway?"

    "Don''t worry about it, Papa," she said cheerily. "I''m confident that I can make anynd prosperous. I''ll prove it to you someday."

    She just needed freedom as a high-ranking noble even though it was just a title.

    [I have to save up though. I''m sure my sc*mbag of a father will really give me a barrennd. I should be rich by the time I leave this goddamn pce.]

    "It''s unpleasant to hear a child talk like an adult," Emperor Niki said. "I guess you inherited something from me."

    She justughed it off and pretended that she didn''t understand what he said. "Papa, myst wish is the most important of all."

    Emperor Niki raised an eyebrow at her. "What is it?"

    "Papa, spend time with me every day," Neoma said in a sweet smile, with her most charming smile ever. "I want you to spend one hour of your day with me every day, Papa."

    ***

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 Chapter 12 - DONT CALL ME PRINCE

    "YOUR ROYAL Highness, please wear this choker."

    Neoma looked at the piece of jewelry inside the box that Alphen was holding in front of her. She couldn''t really move because she had her arms open while Stephanie was busy buttoning her jacket. Gosh, wearing a suit every day sucked. "What''s the choker for?"

    It was a ck band with an embedded diamond in the center. The choker looked nd but obviously expensive. Plus, she could feel a strange energy from it.

    "The choker is embedded with magic for voice modtion, Your Royal Highness," Alphen exined politely. "Once you wear this, your voice will change into the real Prince Nero''s voice. Before the royal prince left the pce, the Supreme Royal Mage¨C the only one among the royal mages who knows your secret¨C copied His Royal Highness''s voice to make this choker. It was made under His Majesty''s order."

    [That sc*mbag is so meticulous.]

    But he did the right thing. Although she was still a child, her voice was already too pitchy for a "prince." Changing her voice was only a logical thing to do.

    [But it still pisses me off.]

    Not that she could do anything about it.

    "Alright. I will wear it," Neoma said with a bright smile. Then, she turned to Stephanie who was now putting a brooch on thepel of her jacket. "Stephanie, help me wear the choker."

    Stephanie bowed to her. "Of course, Your Royal Highness."

    To be honest, talking to older people casually was making her ufortable. But as the empire''s "crown prince," she was "above" them. Having lived in a modern world, she had learned to hate the injustice of social hierarchy. She still hated it.

    But she couldn''t change the system of Moonasterion Empire just because she wanted to. Even though she was an adult mentally, right now, she was just a little "prince" that could still be taken out anytime. Before worrying about the people below her, she had to worry about herself first. She wouldn''t be able to save anyone if she died early, right?

    [Gosh, I deserve a medal.]

    "It''s done now, Your Royal Highness," Stephanie informed her, then she stood up and bowed to her. "May we hear you speak to see if the choker works?"

    Neoma smiled before she spoke. "Is it time for my sses already?"

    Alphen and Stephanie smiled as if they were satisfied that the choker worked. Then, they bowed and answered to her at the same time. "Yes, Your Royal Highness."

    [Oh, they have good rapport.]

    ***

    "OH MY god," Lady Belmont, the countess in charge of Neoma''s basic education, gasped in surprise while looking at the result of her "first test." "His Royal Highness must be a genius!"

    Neoma stopped herself from smiling haughtily. Instead, she remained properly seated behind the mahogany table while her teacher was standing in front of her.

    It wasn''t easy since she was a naturally arrogant person. Since she lived as a famous online celebrity in her second life, she had developed a big ego. But she knew how to y her cards well. Being too arrogant was a no-no. Having confidence was a big yes though, especially if it was backed up by her beauty, talent, and wits.

    That was why 9, 999, 999 followers loved her.

    [The only thing I regret in my second life is dying before I reach 10 million followers. Gosh, if I return to my second life after this, I''d strangle whoever it was that made the coconut wine that killed me!]

    "Your Royal Highness, you already mastered ournguage," Lady Belmont said with astonishment. "Your vocabry and grammar are very good. Your penmanship could use some work, but the content of your essay is what matters most. You''ve exceeded my expectations, Your Royal Highness." She bowed respectfully to her. "It''s a huge honor to share my knowledge with a genius like you."

    At the start of their ss, Lady Belmont asked her to write an essay about what she learned from her previous teacher so she would know where to continue. Of course, Lady Belmont wasn''t aware that she wasn''t the real prince who had taken lessons with another teacher before.

    Thankfully, she was born academically smart even during her first life. Well, Nero was still way smarter than her back then. But she was better than the otherdies around her.

    This time, she was armed with the memories of her two past lives. The knowledge in her head wouldn''t fit a five-year-old, naturally. And she didn''t have any intention to hide it. So no wonder the countess thought she was a genius.

    [Well,pared to the exams I had in my second life in a modern world with advanced science and technology department, the lessons in this world are simpler.]

    "Thank you for the praise, Teacher Belmont," Neoma said gently with a smile. "But I didn''t achieve this by myself. It''s all thanks to my previous teacher''s guidance. And of course, your clear instructions of what I have to do also helped me, Teacher Belmont."

    Being smart was okay but being arrogant about it would damage her.

    [No one likes a smartass kid.]

    So of course, she had to acknowledge the efforts of other people who "taught" her the things she knew. A prince should always be modest, right?

    Lady Belmont looked pleased by her ttery. "Thank you for thepliment, Your Royal Highness," she said, then she bowed politely to her. "I''ll dismiss our ss early for today so I could look for better materials to teach you with, Your Royal Highness."

    Neoma smiled brightly. "I''m looking forward to it, Teacher Belmont."

    ***

    NEOMA''S facial muscles were already tired from smiling all day.

    Right now, she was waiting in the parlor room of Yule Pce. She was scheduled to have afternoon tea with the sc*mbag. But the emperor was still in a meeting with his advisors.

    [He should have rescheduled our appointment instead of making me wait.]

    Anyway, she was alone in the parlor because only members of the royal family were allowed in the parlor. Lewis was standing outside the room with the other royal guards. But she was fine with it because she liked talking to herself.

    And she was busy looking back at her day.

    All her teachers praised her and called her a genius. Of course, she had to deny it and praise her teachers instead. Also, she had to lie and say that she loved reading books.

    [Well, I do enjoy reading. But not academic books.]

    Whenever she was in the library, she would look for romance or crime novels. She would secretly read them inside the thick academic books that she would use as a cover-up. Anyway, the romance books she had read were okay. But she had read better books in her second life.

    [Should I write a book and sell it using an alter-ego? I need to earn money after all. But I have to wait for a while because no one would believe that a five-year-old like me could write a novel. Plus, the genre I want to write is BL.]

    She enjoyed reading and watching BL or Boys'' Love stuff in her second life. During that time, she was a huge Kpop fangirl. She would write fanfics of her "ship" in the boy groups that she was a "stan" of. That was one of the reasons why she became online famous before she became a full-time vlogger.

    [A five-year-old writing a BL book would only damage my reputation. I''ll save that option forter.]

    Her weird thoughts were cut off when she heard a knock on the door. When she asked the person behind it toe in, Glenn''s handsome face greeted her.

    "Greetings to the First Star of the Great Moonasterion Empire," Glenn greeted her politely with a bow. When he raised his head to face her properly, he gave her a bright smile before he spoke. "His Majesty is waiting for you, Your Royal Highness."

    "What a relief." Neoma smiled even though she was pissed at waiting that long. "I can''t wait to see Papa, Sir Glenn."

    [Eww.]

    ***

    NEOMA had to smile even though Emperor Niki was as stoic as ever.

    This time, instead of the garden, they were having tea in the tea room of his pce. Because he didn''t allow just anyone in Yule Pce, Lewis was asked to wait at her pce instead. The emperor said that Glenn would send her hometer.

    [I hope Lewis doesn''t get lost while waiting for me.]

    "Your teachers are singing praises about you," Emperor Niki said when he gently put the teacup on the table. "They''re calling you a genius."

    Neoma smiled sweetly at him. "Am I making you proud, Papa?"

    "Being smart is only expected of a royal prince," he said coldly. "There''s nothing to be proud of it."

    [Stingy.]

    She smiled anyway and tapped her shoulder.

    The emperor''s forehead knotted in confusion. "What are you doing?"

    "I''m tapping my shoulder as a way to tell myself that I did a good job," she said in a disgustingly sweet voice. "Regardless of what you think, I still believe that I''m doing a good job as Brother''s proxy, Papa. If my brother was here, I''m sure he''d praise me."

    She knew she was being cheeky but thankfully, the emperor didn''t look offended. He just raised an eyebrow in amusement.

    [I remember that in my first life, this sc*mbag liked it whenever Nero would talk back or fight him head-on. Because ording to the emperor, he didn''t need an heir who couldn''t think or stand up for himself. So let''s push our luck more.]

    "But it''s okay, Papa," she said with a smile. "I don''t expect you to praise me for something I didn''t inherit from you."

    "And what do you mean by that?"

    "I read from a book that a child''s intelligence is inherited from the mother," she said cheerfully. "I don''t know who my Mama is but I bet she was smart."

    ''Was'' because she and Nero were told that their mother was already gone.

    "Don''t," Emperor Niki warned her coldly. "Don''t you dare bring up your mother again, Nero de Moonasterio."

    ["Nero de Moonasterio."]

    She didn''t expect that she would still call her by her brother''s name even though they were the only ones in the room. It was very solid proof that the emperor was really treating her as a mere recement for Nero. Maybe he was being lenient to her because he saw her as the royal prince and not as the royal princess that she was.

    Ah, she also didn''t expect that it would still hurt even though she was aware of how much of a sc*mbag her father was.

    "I''m sorry, Papa," Neoma said with a smile¨C a smile that was probably sad now. "I won''t talk about Mama again."

    ***

    NEOMA was surprised when she saw Lewis''s beat-up face. His lips were bleeding and he had bruises all over. It was obvious that he didn''t fight back and just let himself get beaten into a pulp. "Who did that to you?"

    Lewis blinked several times and when recognition crossed his eyes, he bowed to her. "Wee, Prince."

    "Lewis, you should greet His Royal Highness formally," Glenn scolded her butler.

    The emperor''s knight walked her to nco Pce as promised.

    And when they reached her pce''s entrance, Lewis greeted them with that face. There were two other royal guards with the young butler.

    "What happened to Lewis?" Neoma asked strictly to the two guards. Acting cute was her main weapon but she also knew when to be strict and intimidating. "Who did that to him?"

    One of the guards bowed to her before speaking. "Your Royal Highness, the children of Count Thompson and Marquis Alberts went to see you. They were about to leave when they saw Lewis. And then¡­ they ganged up on him and beat him to a pulp."

    "Why?" she asked in an irritated tone. "Why did they beat Lewis?"

    This time, the other guard bowed to her and answered her question. "The noble children were insulted when Lewis failed to greet them properly, Your Royal Highness."

    "And you didn''t do anything to help MY butler?"

    The two royal guards flinched, then knelt before her and spoke in unison. "Forgive us, Your Royal Highness!"

    "No," she said coldly. "But I might reconsider if you bring those insolent children before me RIGHT NOW."

    The two royal guards froze for a moment. Then, they looked at each other. After a few seconds, they stood up and bowed to her. Like what they did earlier, they talked at the same time again. "We will bring the noble children to you, Your Royal Highness!"

    She waved her hand casually. "Do it now."

    The two royal guards bowed before they ran in a hurry.

    Neoma then turned to Glenn with a smile. The knight obviously looked surprised by her sudden change of mood. "Sir Glenn, thank you for taking me back to my pce. Lewis is here now so you can back to Papa''s side. See you tomorrow."

    Glenn knew that he was being dismissed and he didn''t resist it. Instead, he smiled and politely bowed to her. "See you tomorrow, Your Royal Highness."

    And after that, Glenn left.

    Neoma removed the choker around her neck and talked to Lewis using her real voice. "Lewis, I have three orders for you."

    Lewis just bowed to her.

    "First, remember my real voice," she said firmly. "Whatever voice modtor I use, you must remember my real voice so if even I ask for help without this stupid choker, you''d still know that it''s me who''s calling for help. Can you do that?"

    He nodded as a response.

    [Well, he''s a fox so I can trust his sharp senses.]

    "Second, don''t let other people beat you up again," she scolded him. "You are my butler. If people look down on you, it''s the same as looking down on me."

    "Me," he said, then pointed at himself while shaking his head. "Can''t hurt humans, Prince."

    "I''m your master now so I''m the one you should follow," she dered, then flicked his forehead with her fingers. He looked surprised, and that was the first time she saw him react that "vividly." "And don''t call me "prince" when there''s only the two of us."

    "Me," Lewis said, pointing at himself again. Then, he pointed at her. "You. Not prince?"

    "My third order is for you to call me ''Princess'' when there''s only the two of us," Neoma said sadly. "I need someone to remind me that I''m a princess and I want it to be you, Lewis."

    ***

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 Chapter 13 - LESSONS LEARNED THE HARD WAY

    "PRINCESS," Lewis said, then he pointed a finger at her. "You."

    "Yes," Neoma answered cheerfully. "Call me "Princess" when we''re alone. Can you do that, Lewis?"

    He slowly nodded his head as a response.

    "Good boy," she said.

    She tried to pat his head but for some reason, he suddenly backed away.

    Then, much to her shock, he suddenly got down on his knees and bowed until his forehead touched the ground. She also noticed that his body was shaking.

    "F-Forgive me, M-Master," Lewis said. "S-Sorry."

    Her forehead knotted in confusion.

    ["Master?"]

    That made her think that right now, Lewis was seeing another person instead of her. Was his trauma triggered because she tried to touch him? She wasn''t sure because she never heard much from "Butler Lu" during her first life.

    But she didn''t need her memories of her past life to know that the poor boy was traumatized.

    [Who was his former master again?]

    She couldn''t remember but she would find and punish themter.

    "It''s me, Lewis," Neoma said patiently. "I won''t hurt you."

    He still didn''t budge.

    She squatted down in front of him. "Lewis, I''m going to hug you."

    It seemed like he understood that because he raised his head in surprise.

    She used that as an opportunity to "attack" him with a hug. He didn''t catch her though. Instead, he let himself fall until his back hit the ground. And so, she fell on top of him.

    "Princess?"

    [Ah, he''s back to himself.]

    "Yes, I''m your princess. Good job remembering my order," she told him. Then, she raised her head to look at him. Finally, he stopped shaking. "Are you okay now?"

    He just nodded.

    "I have a new order for you," she told him. "Forget about your old master."

    He looked surprised by her order. "Forget?"

    "Yes," she said firmly. "From now on, I''m your one and only master. If your bad memories start to pester you again, just remember my face."

    "Princess? Face?"

    She nodded eagerly. "Yes. I''m pretty, am I not?"

    "Princess. Pretty."

    "Very good," she said. "So whenever you feel sad, scared, lonely, or angry, just think about me. I''m sure my loveliness will make you feel okay."

    "Princess," Lewis said. Then, his hand reached out to touch her face. "Lovely."

    "Can I touch you, Lewis?"

    Fear crossed his eyes for a while. But then, suddenly, it was reced by determination. "Okay."

    She slowly reached her hand to touch his hand on her face.

    He closed his eyes as if he was trying hard not to react.

    [Ah, he hates it.]

    "Sorry," she said. Then, she let go of his hand and stood up. "It''s okay now, Lewis. Stand up. We still have bullies to puni¨C" She stopped when she realized that the word "punish" might trigger Lewis''s trauma. "I mean, we have children to teach a lesson."

    Lewis opened his eyes. Then, he stood up and put his hands behind his back like the proper butler that he was. He just bowed to her as a response to what she just said.

    "Let''s go," Neoma said cheerfully to hype herself. "Let''s teach some insolent kids a lesson they would never forget."

    ***

    NEOMA smiled sweetly at Byron Thompson and Harry Alberts¨C the insolent children who mercilessly beat Lewis to a pulp.

    [They''re already twelve years old and yet, they still ganged up on a child?!]

    She was so pissed but she had to control her emotion and show a charming smile.

    Right now, she invited the two brats to an afternoon tea with her. Her pce prepared all the best pastries and snacks for children their age. Plus, she also asked the chef to put honey in their tea. Although she wasn''t sure if the two boys were already used to drinking regr tea.

    [Whatever.]

    Anyway, at first, she thought that the two dudes were twins.

    Byron and Harry both had blonde hair and blue eyes. But then, she realized that almost every noble had light-colored hair and eyes like blue or green. It was rare to see people with dark hair and dark-colored eyes in their empire.

    [Well, the setting of this empire reminds me of the Western countries I''ve been to back in my second life.]

    "Hello, Lord Thompson and Lord Alberts," Neoma greeted them with a smile. "Do you know who I am?"

    "You''re the illegitimate son of His Majesty," Byron said haughtily.

    [Wow, how blunt.]

    "Everyone knows that Her Majesty didn''t have a child before she died," Harry added.

    That brat was talking about the empress, the woman that His Majesty married but never loved. She died of sickness a few years before she and Nero were born. ording to the rumors, the emperor had never consummated his marriage with the poor empress.

    So no one was happy when a lowly woman gave birth to the emperor''s "son."

    [Yes, that sc*mbag never acknowledged that he has a princess!]

    Anyway, the two had the courage to talk to him that way because her attendants were standing a few meters away from them.

    Lewis was the only guard standing right behind her.

    "Your snotty attitude tells me that both of you are born with noble parents," Neoma started with a smile.

    [Gosh, my face hurts from smiling too much.]

    "Of course," Byron and Harry said in unison. "Both our parents are higher nobles."

    She smiled and sipped her tea before she spoke. "So what?"

    Byron and Harry looked confused by her arrogant tone.

    [You''re not the only one allowed to be arrogant here, brats. Learn from me.]

    "My father is still a de Moonasterio," she continued with an arrogant smirk. Then, she elegantly ced the cup on the table before looking at them haughtily. "The royal family has the purest blood of all the families in the empire. WE are descendants of Yule, the Moon God. That means we are different from mere mortals like you. So even if my mother was a lowly woman, it doesn''t change the fact that I am a de Moonasterio. The blood of a god is running through my veins and it''s purer than thebined blood of simple nobles like your parents." Even without looking at her reflection, she knew her eyes turned red and glowed menacingly. She wasn''t raising her voice but she could feel her anger in every fiber of her being. No wonder the two brats looked scared of her now. "The Soul Beast inside me is proof that I am a de Moonasterio. Anyone who says otherwise will be swallowed by my beast. Do you want to be my LOVELY PET''s snack?"

    In fairness, the two brats looked like they wanted to answer.

    But their little bodies were shaking too much. They could definitely feel the heavy pressure from her Mana. A few secondster, they dropped to the ground while holding their necks as if they couldn''t breathe.

    She raised a hand to stop her attendants and knights toe and help the kids. They bowed to her and remained where they were.

    Neoma looked down at the two kids on the ground. They were now crying while scratching their necks. "Lewis, listen to my new orders."

    "Me," Lewis said behind her. "Listening."

    "I''m giving you the permission to hurt the humans who hurt you," she said coldly while looking down at the two brats who were now looking at her with fear in their eyes. "Always return the favor tenfold. Do you understand?"

    "Me understands," Lewis answered in a t voice. "Prince."

    "Good," she said, then she smiled. Now that she had calmed down, she was sure that her eyes already returned to normal. As proof, the brats also started to breathe again. Ah, it would be more appropriate to say that the two boys were now catching their breath. "You''ve heard me, Lord Thompson and Lord Alberts. The next time you hurt my butler, WE will return the favor tenfold. So you better think twice before touching my people."

    The two brats nodded eagerly, tears brimming in the corner of their eyes.

    Byron and Harry tried to run away but she stopped them.

    "Sit," she said with an overly sweet smile. "Finish your tea before you leave or else, I''ll ask Lewis to run after you."

    Byron and Harry sobbed, but they were forced to sit down anyway.

    [Good.]

    She picked up a macaroon, then she turned to Lewis and smiled at him.

    Of course, he didn''t react and just looked at her with a nk face.

    "Open your mouth, Lewis," Neoma asked him. When he opened his mouth, she put the macaroon close to his mouth. "Bite this." He did bite the macaroon but he didn''t chew. She decided to be more patient with him. "Chew it slowly before you swallow."

    Lewis nodded, then he slowly chewed the macaroon.

    Neoma smiled and gently brushed the crumbs at the corner of his mouth. She touched his face as lightly as possible to not startle him. Thankfully, this time, her touch didn''t trigger his trauma. [I need to help Lewis.]

    ***

    "I HEARD what you did to the young nobles yesterday."

    Neoma forced herself to smile at what Emperor Nikimented. Right now, they were having breakfast at his pce. But she was the only one enjoying her pancakes. The emperor was only having tea for his breakfast. Not that she cared. "Papa, if you''re just going to scold me, please forget it. I don''t want to have a stomachache. But if you''re going to praise me, go ahead and make my day."

    "You''re getting more and more arrogant, Prince Nero," Emperor Niki said. "Are you trying to test my patience?"

    "No, I''m using my male privilege against you," she answered brightly. She could talk freely like that because aside from the two of them, no one else was in the dining hall. Not even Glenn. "If I were the real Nero, I''m sure you''d praise me. I only copied what you often do, Papa¨C and that''s terrorizing your subjects."

    "Bnce it," the emperor said, obviously dismissing the fact that she was being so rude to him. "Too much fear would create hatred in your subjects'' hearts. You have to make them fear and respect you at the same time."

    "Thank you for the advice, Papa."

    "I''ll be your personal trainer for today."

    She almost choked on her food, forcing her to gulp down a ss of juice. "What do you mean by that, Papa?"

    "I''m giving you the attention you''re desperate for," Emperor Niki said with a smirk. "I''m going to teach you how to use your Soul Beast."

    Neoma almost threw up.

    [Is he nning to torture me as a punishment for my rudeness?!]

    ***

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 Chapter 14 - A MILLION-DOLLAR SMILE

    NEOMA was kind of nervous.

    After Louisa helped her change into training clothes (linen shirt, pants, boots), she asked the head maid and the head butler to leave the room. The only one she allowed to stay with her was Lewis. And that was because she had another "mission" for him.

    "Lewis, my life might be put at riskter," Neoma said to her young butler. "You have to save me."

    Lewis, standing in front of her with his hands behind him, nodded. "Me. Save. Princess."

    "Very good," she said. "But Lewis, tell me. Who do you like more? Me or His Majesty?"

    "Princess," he answered without missing a beat.

    "Very good," she said with a smile. "Then, will you save me from His Majesty if you have to? Will you fight him even if it means being a traitor?" She gave him her best puppy dog eyes. "Will you do that for me, Lewis?"

    Lewis nodded. "Anything. Princess."

    She squealed in delight and was about to hold his hands when she realized that he wasn??t used to sudden physical contact. So instead, she just hugged herself. "Thank you, Lewis. You''re the best boy ever!"

    As soon as she said that, Nero''s "smiling" face suddenly crossed her mind.

    [Nero will probably get mad if he heard me say that.]

    Well, whatever. Her twin brother wasn''t here anyway.

    "Let''s go, Lewis," Neoma said cheerfully. "Let''s kick some royal ass today."

    ***

    [GOSH, does His Majesty have to be that handsome?]

    Neoma was now on the training ground with Emperor Niki.

    Her father was wearing the same outfit as her but of course, the emperor was one hundred times better-looking.

    She hated that her father had a face that could be considered a national treasure. Plus, he had a good built. In short, even though he was a jerk, his physical appearance was a big reason why other people would find it hard to hate him.

    [He''s a god''s gift to women.]

    Was that the reason why her mother gave her everything to this sc*mbag?

    "Prince Nero, are you spacing out?" Emperor Niki asked while he was rolling the sleeve of his linen shirt up to his elbow. "Spacing out during training could get you killed, you know?"

    [I know¨C especially if the instructor is you.]

    "I''m not spacing out, Papa," Neoma said with a charming smile. "I''m just wondering about what kind of training we are doing today."

    "I want to see your Soul Beast."

    Her smile suddenly froze.

    "Didn''t you hear me?" the emperor asked. "I want you to summon your Soul Beast and try to attack me using it."

    "Papa, aren''t we supposed to start with the basics?" she asked, hoping that her charm would somehow affect him. "I thought we would begin by learning the basics of swordsmanship."

    "Swordsmanship is only secondary to a de Moonasterio. We are naturally strong so we don''t necessarily need weapons," her father said. "We must hone our magical ability first by training with our Soul Beast."

    "Uhm¨C"

    "What''s wrong?" the emperor asked with a knotted forehead. "Don''t tell me you can''t summon your Soul Beast?"

    "I can," she said abruptly. "There''s just a super itsy bitsy problem, Papa."

    "What is it?"

    "I asked my Soul Beast to transform," she said, tearing her gaze away from him. "My Soul Beast is originally a dragon. But it''s somon."

    "You consider a dragon mon?""

    Neoma finally got the courage to face her father properly. "Papa, I want a unicorn so I asked the dragon to turn into one."

    She fully prepared herself for the insults that her father would definitely throw at her.

    Knowing him, she knew he would find her "childish" even though she was literally a child now. Worse, the emperor might evenpare her to the real Nero. Or maybe he would attack her for being "feminine" even though she was a girl.

    But none of that happened.

    Instead, Emperor Niki graced her with a rare smile.

    She didn''t have a heart problem but she felt like she just had a heart attack.

    [He smiled.]

    In her previous life, the emperor only smiled at her once in her whole life. And that smile happened when she also talked about a unicorn. Was he fond of that mythical creature for him to smile again when she mentioned it in this lifetime?

    Whatever the reason was, she couldn''t deny that Emperor Niki''s genuine smile was seriously pretty.

    [Talk about a million-dor smile.]

    If the emperor lived in the modern world and he decided to be a vlogger, she was sure he would gain millions of followers in just a few days.

    "When I was your age, I also wanted a unicorn," Emperor Niki said. "I can''t believe you inherited that naivet¨¦ from me."

    She didn''t know how to react.

    This was the first time that he talked to her about his childhood. She was happy, but she also didn''t want to get swayed easily.

    [But damn, I definitely got my pretty genes from him.]

    "Did you get a unicorn, Papa?" she asked with a smile. To be honest, she wasn''t in the mood to smile but whatever. She needed to suck up to him even if he only saw her as Nero''s proxy. "Do you think I''d get the chance to own a unicorn as well?"

    The emperor''s facial expression suddenly turned grim. "If your Soul Beast really turned into a unicorn, I will kill it."

    Her smile froze at that.

    "You''re the crown prince of the empire, Nero," Emperor Niki said coldly. Looking at him now, she wondered if she really saw him smile a while ago or it was just all in her head. "You don''t need childish things like a useless unicorn."

    Neoma smiled even though deep inside, she was screaming in annoyance. Gosh, the emperor''s mood was so unpredictable. She almost softened up when he smiled. But now that she witnessed his awful mood swing, she put her guard up again. "I will not ask my Soul Beast to turn into a unicorn, Papa."

    [Hmph!]

    ***

    CONCENTRATING to get to the ce where her Soul Beast was a piece of cake for Neoma.

    Ever since she was three years old, she had already mastered the art of concentrating. That was probably why she awakened first before Nero. Sometimes, she thinks that she was born a genius and her talent was only repressed by her tyrannical father in her first life.

    But in this current lifetime, she had no reason to hold back.

    "Hey, Mr. Dragon," Neoma called out to her Soul Beast. Right now, she was back in the strange "dark room" where she met her Soul Beast for the first time before. The room was small and right now, she couldn''t see anything with her. "Come out while I''m still asking nicely."

    "You really talk like an adult thug!"

    She turned around to face her Soul Beast with an expectation that it was still in the form of a dragon. After all, the Soul Beast told her that changing its form to a unicorn wouldn''t be easy. That was the reason why she couldn''t summon it when her life was in danger.

    But much to her shock, a white unicorn that was the size of a pony was standing in front of her now. It looked so adorable! And the unicorn even had tiny wings.

    "No," she said, then she covered her mouth when she gasped. That was because she remembered that her father said he''d kill her Soul Beast if it turned into a unicorn. Now she felt guilty for being childish. But that anxiousness onlysted for a few seconds. She wouldn''t let her father kill her Soul Beast! "Get ready, my dude," she told the Soul Beast, then she punched her fist against her other hand. "We''re going to kick my father''s royal ass."

    "Uhm, how about no?" the Soul Beast said while slowly walking backward¨C away from her. "I don''t want to die yet, you stupid thug princess!"

    "I''m not asking for your opinion, my dude," Neoma said with a sweet smile while walking towards the Soul Beast like a predator. "It''s an order from your master, you one-horned donkey."

    "Hey, I''m a unicorn!"

    ***

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 Chapter 15 - RED IS MY COLOR

    NERO let out a deep sigh while looking outside the window of his new room. He was sitting on the windowsill while holding a locket in his hand. That locket had Neoma''stest picture. But he didn''t want to look at it anymore because the more he did, the more he wanted to go home.

    [I have to endure for our future.]

    It had been days since he arrived at his new home in Valmento (the Holy Land) with the Quinzels but he couldn''t say that he had already adjusted. Even though the duke and his family were nice to him, he still couldn''t say that he wasfortable in that ce.

    First of all, wearing clothes and essories for girls wasn''t something he could get ustomed to easily.

    But the hardest part was living without Neoma, of course.

    [I miss you, Neoma.]

    "Nero?"

    His thoughts were cut off when he heard a knock on the door, apanied by Duke Quinzel''s voice from outside.

    Nero stood up before he spoke. "You maye in, Your Grace."

    The double doors of his new room opened and Duke Rufus Quinzel entered.

    But he wasn''t alone.

    The duke brought Hanna, his "adoptive sister."

    [They look alike.]

    Duke Quinzel and Hanna both had ck hair. But instead of the duke''s golden eyes, Hanna inherited her mother''s green orbs.

    He wouldn''t deny it¨C Hanna was pretty.

    Not that it mattered.

    [Neoma is still the prettiest girl in the whole empire.]

    "Greetings, Your Grace," Nero said politely, then he gave the duke a curtsy instead of a bow. Then, he turned to Hanna. "How do you do, Lady Quinzel?"

    Hanna''s cheeks turned red but she quickly gave an awkward curtsy. "I''m fine, Sister Nara."

    He just smiled at that. [The way my Neoma does a curtsy is cuter.]

    "Ah, my apologies," Duke Quinzel saidter while looking at him. "I shouldn''t have called you by your real name."

    He smiled at his uncle. "It''s okay, Your Grace. I know it''s not easy to get ustomed to my new identity."

    "But I should try harder," the duke said, then he turned to his daughter. "Our Hanna here reminded me that I should get used to calling you by your new name." He patted Hanna''s head gently. "You did great, Hanna."

    Hanna just smiled with her cheeks as red as an apple.

    Their conversation was interrupted when Duchess Quinzel arrived.

    Duchess Quinzel had dark brown hair with red hues and green eyes. Before marrying the duke, Duchess Amber Quinzel was a daughter of a marquis. In short, she had always been a higher noble and it showed.

    Duchess Quinzel''s beauty and elegance were overflowing.

    [Was our mother as beautiful and as graceful as the duchess?]

    And what kind of woman would be willing to give birth to the children of a jerk like the emperor? Was it for money? Status?

    "Nara, I''m going to prepare snacks for your afternoon tea with Hanna," Duchess Quinzel told him with a smile. "If you have a specific dessert that you''d love to have, please don''t hesitate to tell me."

    "It''s okay, Your Grace," Nero said with a smile. "I''m not a picky eater. And I''m certain that whatever you prepare for us, it would be tasty."

    "You speak well, Nara," the duchess said, obviously pleased by his eloquence. Then, she turned to the duke. "Darling, we should leave the children alone and let them y."

    "Oh, you''re right, darling," Duke Quinzel agreed. Then, he turned to him and Hanna. "Befortable with each other and don''t fight, okay?"

    He and Hanna just smiled at the duke.

    After that, Duke and Duchess Quinzel really left them in his room.

    [What am I supposed to do with this child?]

    Well, he was only a few months older than Hanna. But still¡­

    "Sister Nara, would you like to read books with me?" Hanna asked shyly. "I love reading storybooks with big pictures."

    "Don''t call me ''sister,''" Nero told him with a smile.

    "Oh," she said with an embarrassed look on her face. "Right. You''re still a boy. Do you want me to call you ''brother'' when there''s only the two of us?"

    "No," he said. "I want you to call me by my proper title when there''s only the two of us."

    "T-Title?"

    "I''m the one and only prince of the empire," he reminded her with a smile. "Don''t forget that, Lady Quinzel."

    Hanna, whose face was very red again, lowered her head in embarrassment. "I u-understand, Your Royal Highness."

    Nero just smiled at Hanna, then he turned outside his window again. [Neoma, I hope you don''t feel too lonely without me.]

    ***

    NEOMAughed like a dying hyena when her Soul Beast, now a white unicorn with wings, suddenly turned red in an attempt to return to its original form. "You look like tteokbokki poured in a sauce with gochugang."

    Tteokbokki was rice cake and gochugang was Korean chili paste. The uncooked rice cake was white while the chili paste was red. So when the white unicorn turned red, she was reminded of tteokbokki being poured in spicy red sauce.

    [And I miss Korean food so much.]

    "Shut up, you thug princess," her Soul Beast hissed. "I''m trying my best, okay?"

    "That''s enough," she told him. "We can fight even if you''re in a different form. It didn''t change your attribute, right?"

    "How did you know about that?"

    She shrugged. "I''m smart."

    Well, not really.

    She just had the memories of her first life and thanks to that, she knew that each Soul Beast had an attribute.

    If she remembered it correctly, Nero''s wolf had the water and ice attributes.

    [Yeah, my twin brother has two attributes when average people with Mana are only given one at birth.]

    "What''s your attribute?" Neoma asked her Soul Beast. "If you''re a red dragon, does it mean that your attribute is fire?"

    The Soul Beast gasped in surprise. "How can a thug princess like you be smart? I thought strong humans are supposed to be dumb."

    "I''m not smart. I''m just mentally old," she said with augh. "Anyway, now that I know that you''re a red dragon with fire attribute, it''s time for me to give you a name."

    "I can''t trust you, thug princess," heined. "You''re going to give me a weird name, aren''t you?"

    "Of course not, Tteokbokki."

    Tteokbokki looked horrified by the name she called him. "Tteok¨C what?"

    "Let''s go, Tteokbokki," Neoma said cheerfully. "Don''t worry¨C I''ll protect you from my crazy father."

    ***

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 Chapter 16 - GIRL, I SNAPPED

    WHEN NEOMA opened her eyes, she was greeted by Emperor Niki who already looked impatient while standing in front of her with his arms crossed over his chest. [Hello, Mr. Grumpy.]

    They were still in the training ground and aside from her and the emperor, only Glenn and Lewis were there as their guards. Emperor Niki actually wanted to make her butler leave when they arrived a while ago. But she insisted that she wanted Lewis to be there.

    [Lewis is my final "lifeline."]

    "If it will always take you this long to summon your Soul Beast, you''d be dead in a fight," Emperor Niki scolded her.

    "I apologize, Papa," Neoma said with her trademark charming smile. "But Tteokbokki, my Soul Beast, is now ready."

    The emperor''s brows furrowed in confusion. "Tteok¨C what?"

    "Tteokbokki, Papa," she said brightly. "That''s the name of my Soul Beast."

    Her father didn''t have the chance to react to that because Tteokbokki finally appeared beside her.

    But her scaredy-cat of a Soul Beast hid behind her.

    [What a disgrace!]

    "A unicorn," Emperor Niki said, obviously unimpressed. "Nero, have you forgotten about what I said if your Soul Beast turns out to be a stupid unicorn?"

    "Don''t worry, Papa," she said with a smile even though she wanted to curse at her father for being so mean. "Tteokbokki isn''t stupid. Plus, I know he''s strong."

    "Thug princess, don''t give me too much credit," Tteokbokki said with a hint of fear in his voice. "I''m nothingpared to His Majesty and his Soul Beasts."

    Her smile froze, then she turned to Tteokbokki and whispered. ""Beasts?" With ''s''?"

    "Are you dumb, thug princess?" Tteokbokki whispered in a frustrated voice. "Don''t you know that your father holds the Four Holy Guardians? His Majesty possesses the Azure Dragon, the Vermillion Bird, the White Tiger, and the ck Tortoise."

    She almost choked on her own saliva after hearing that.

    Of course, she knew that her father was the strongest person in the empire. But in her past life, she wasn''t interested in war and she wasn''t taught about the power that the royal family possessed. She knew that the emperor had a Soul Beast but only now did she find out that her father actually owned four.

    [The emperor is so overpowered!]

    "Tteokbokki," Neoma said, then she gently patted the unicorn''s cheek. "I''ll give you a proper burial."

    Tteokbokki hissed at her.

    She justughed it off. "I''m just kidding."

    "Nero, what are you whispering with your Soul Beast for?" His Majesty asked in an impatient tone.

    "I won''t let His Majesty take anything from me," she promised her Soul Beast before she faced her father again. "Papa, I won''t let you kill Tteokbokki. He may look like a funny red one-horned donkey. But he''s still the unicorn that I''ve always wished for."

    "How foolish," Emperor Niki said, then he raised his hand. "The crown prince doesn''t need a disgraceful Soul Beast like that."

    When the emperor snapped his fingers, a strange white and golden light appeared before him. A few momentster, the white and golden light formed into a beautiful White Tiger with gold stripes. And oh, it has glowing red eyes.

    Also, it was probably thrice bigger than an average tiger, unlike Tteokbokki who was only the size of a regr pony.

    [Okay, now I kind of regret asking him to turn into a unicorn.]

    "West, kill the funny-looking horse," Emperor Niki said to his Soul Beast.

    The majestic White Tiger named ''West'' roared in response.

    Gosh, the ground shook from that loud roar.

    "If you don''t want to get hurt, get out of the way," the emperor said coldly. "My Soul Beast won''t stop until it kills that stupid unicorn."

    Was he telling her to abandon Tteokbokki?

    [Ah, what a sc*mbag.]

    She would admit that she wasn''t taking the situation seriously a while ago because she thought that the emperor wasn''t serious about killing Tteokbokki. That was why she was still able to joke around. But she should have known better.

    [That sc*mbag doesn''t know how to joke.]

    And now, she was super pissed.

    "Papa, I''m not like you," Neoma said with a bright smile. "I won''t abandon people close to my heart¨C and that includes my Tteokbokki."

    ***

    NERO identally dropped the spoon he was holding when he felt his heart thump painfully against his chest.

    [It hurts¡­]

    "Nero, what''s wrong?" Duchess Quinzel, who joined him and Hanna in their afternoon tea, asked worriedly. "You suddenly went pale."

    Nero wanted to respond to the duchess but the pain got worse until he found himself clutching his chest tight. Neoma¡­.

    ***

    NEOMA turned around when she thought she heard her twin brother''s voice calling her name. [Nero?]

    For some reason, her heart started to beat erratically against her chest.

    [I didn''t have coffee so why the hell am I having palpitation now?]

    "Thug princess, do you have a n?"

    Neoma turned to Tteokbokki again. Her conscience kicked her when she saw how distressed the Soul Beast was. He wasn''t kidding when he said he was afraid of the emperor, huh? "Tteokbokki, can you outrun the White Tiger?"

    Surprisingly, the White Tiger hadn''t moved from its ce yet.

    But she could tell that it was sizing up Tteokbokki with its glowing red eyes. She had a feeling that once her Soul Beast moved, the White Tiger would attack immediately.

    "Of course not," Tteokbokki answered. "The White Tiger is the god of the earth. How can I outran a being like that?"

    "Then, can you breathe fire or something?"

    "Not yet," he said with a hint of embarrassment in his voice. "If youpare me to a human, then I''d be a newly born baby."

    "Gosh, you''re useless."

    "I''m not!" he insisted. "I''m in this state because you''re a baby, too! My ability is dependent on your Mana, you know?"

    "Enough with excuses," she scolded him lightly. "Anyway, we have no choice but to run away. I''ll buy you time to go back to wherever you''re from while I distract the White Tiger."

    "And how do you n to distract the White Tiger?"

    "By fighting it, of course," she said while cracking her knuckles.

    "What?!"

    "Just go," Neoma said to her Soul Beast while stepping away from him. "See youter, Tteokbokki!"

    "Thug princess!"

    She didn''t look back.

    Instead, she charged at the White Tiger who roared and charged at her as well.

    She would be lying if she said she wasn''t afraid. But Tteokbokki was now her responsibility. And she was the only one allowed to "bully" the poor unicorn.

    [This is my apology for forcing you to change your form, Tteokbokki.]

    When she was close enough to the White Tiger to hit it, she screamed at the top of her lungs and threw a punch with all the strength that she had in her little body.

    [Here goes nothing!]

    As soon as her knuckles connected at the White Tiger''s face, she felt the bones in her fingers broke.

    But even before the pain settled in, she felt a strong arm wrapped around her waist. Then, she found herself being carried by someone away from the White Tiger. When she turned to her savior, she was surprised to be greeted by Lewis''s nk face.

    Not only did he pull her away from the Soul Beast.

    Lewis also kicked the White Tiger as if he was just kicking a ser ball¡­

    ¡­ but surprisingly, the "Holy Guardian" was sent flying by that zy" kick.

    She covered her mouth when she gasped. [Lewis is this strong?!]

    "Princess," Lewis said nkly when he put her down. "Reckless."

    When relief flooded her system, she giggled and was about to joke around again.

    But her smile disappeared when she felt a chilling presence behind her.

    The next thing she knew, a sword was already pierced through Lewis''s chest. Then, her butler fell on his knees while blood was dripping from his mouth.

    She was too shocked to react.

    ???Who told you to interfere, lowly fox?" Emperor Niki said coldly behind her. "That is your punishment for your meddling."

    When the emperor pulled the sword out of Lewis''s chest, the young boy fell on the ground unconscious.

    At the same time, she heard Tteokbokki''s loud cry.

    Her Soul Beast was now being mauled mercilessly by the White Tiger.

    Neoma felt her heart thump against her chest again. This time, it was louder, faster, and more painful. But now, she knew exactly the cause of the erratic beat of her heart.

    She was f*cking angry.

    "Nero, this is a lesson that you should never forget," Emperor Niki warned her. "If you want to be the crown prince of this empire, you better behave like one."

    "Shut. Up," Neoma said in an eerily calm manner. When she turned around to face her father, she saw the shocked look on Emperor Niki''s face. But she was so angry that she didn''t care about blowing up her "cutesy" fa?ade anymore. "I am so done with you, sc*mbag."

    ***

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 Chapter 17 - SAILOR NEOMA IN ACTION

    TO SAY that Niki was shocked by what he heard from Neoma would be an understatement.

    [Did that tiny human just call me a sc*mbag?]

    He was well-aware that most people call him several names behind his back. But this was the first time that someone had the nerve to say it in front of his face.

    [And that person happens to be the royal princess, no less.]

    He should be insulted to be cussed at by his own child. But for some reason, he found it quite entertaining.

    Ah, no.

    It would be more appropriate to say that he found the royal princess amusing.

    "Your Majesty," Glenn said as soon as he appeared behind him. "Shall I restrain His Royal Highness?"

    "No," Niki said. "Go and make sure that no one else will enter the premise. Only I can deal with the Soul Beast anyway."

    Even without looking at the knight, he knew that he bowed to him.

    "As you wish, Your Majesty," Glenn said before his presencepletely disappeared.

    And so, he was left alone to deal with the royal princess.

    "Calm down," Niki ordered Neoma. "Calm down or else, our deal is off."

    "I don''t care! I''m so sick of your tyrannical ass," Neoma continued in an angry voice, her eyes starting to turn red. "I won''t forgive you for hurting Lewis and Tteokbokki."

    "What will you do about it?" Niki asked with a smirk. "Kill me?"

    "Yes," the royal princess answered. "I''ll f*cking kill you, sc*mbag."

    His ears almost fell off upon hearing his child curse again and again.

    "Language," he warned her. "Using vulgar words is unbing of the future crown prince."

    "To hell with that," she hissed. "I''m a princess!"

    Upon yelling those words, the royal princess''s eyespletely turned red now.

    Not only that. The strands of her white hair had also turned the color of blood. That was something that shouldn''t be possible at her age and yet, she did it.

    [This is getting serious.]

    The royal princess was definitely not herself.

    He raised his hand and tried to summon West, the White Tiger. But much to his shock, he heard a loud roar that didn''t belong to his Soul Beast.

    When he turned around, he got the shock of his life at what he saw.

    The red unicorn had turned into a huge red dragon. It wasn''t as big as the adult dragons yet. But it was already the size of a two-story building.

    Just like the royal princess, the red dragon was also out of control.

    "Burn the White Tiger, Tteokbokki!" Neoma yelled at the red dragon at the top of her lungs. "I want to eat a roasted tiger for dinner!"

    [This little¡­]

    The red dragon growled and then breathed fire at the White Tiger.

    West roared angrily but failed to avoid the orange me that engulfed it.

    As the White Tiger''s owner, he felt the heat of the me as well. Since the royal princess''s Mana was still weak, the me didn''t hurt him or his Soul Beast. But it definitely made him and the White Tiger feel very ufortable.

    "Stop it, Nero,??? Niki told her sternly. "If you keep that up, the royal knights wille and¨C"

    "I''m not Nero!" Neoma screeched angrily. Then, she jumped in the air with her left fist ready to punch him. She already broke the fingers of her right hand when she punched the White Tiger a while ago. No wonder she was using her left this time. "In the name of the moon, I''ll punish you!"

    [What¡­?]

    He didn''t have the chance to figure out what the hell the child was sprouting this time because in the blink of an eye, she was already in front of him. To be honest, he underestimated the royal princess. He didn''t avoid her attack because he was confident with the protection around himself¨C protection that wouldn''t allow anyone to hurt him physically.

    But surprisingly, Neoma broke the barrier easily and her punchnded on his face.

    The punch didn''t hurt but she managed to make his nose bleed.

    This was the first time that his blood spilled after a long time. Of course, he was pissed. He was never known for his patience anyway.

    [It''s time to put this tiny human in her ce.]

    "Enough," Niki said firmly¨C firm enough to make the ground shake. But instead of losing her bnce, Neoma actually froze mid-air because the Mana that he released literally held her in ce. That was the same with her red dragon that was now being pinned down by the White Tiger on the ground. "My patience has run out, Neoma de Moonasterio."

    ***

    "IN THE name of the moon, I''ll punish you!" Neoma quoted her favorite anime series back in her second life.

    Then, she charged at her sc*mbag of a father with her fist of justice ready.

    [S*ilor M*on didn''t raise me a loser, you know?]

    Plus, for some reason, she felt very powerful today. Was it thanks to her wrath? But whatever it was that boost her Mana, she was grateful for it.

    [It''s payback time!]

    She said that but as soon as her knuckles connected at His Majesty''s nose bridge and saw blood drop from his nostril, she suddenly snapped out of whatever it was that pushed her to go out of control.

    In short, she suddenly went "sober."

    And at that moment, she knew that she f*cked up.

    [Did I just punch the emperor in the face and made his nose bleed?]

    The answer was yes.

    "Enough," Emperor Niki said firmly.

    All of a sudden, she was frozen mid-air. She couldn''t even move a muscle. It was as if an invisible string of Mana was tied around her small body.

    [Gosh, this sc*mbag.]

    "My patience has run out, Neoma de Moonasterio," His Majesty continued with a scowl on his annoyingly handsome face.

    She wanted to say that it was her line.

    But for some strange reason, she found herself smiling despite her current predicament.

    "Finally," Neoma said with a genuine smile. "You finally called me by my real name, Papa."

    Emperor Niki looked surprised by her reaction and his face actually softened up.

    But she wasn''t sure about that because her sight suddenly became blurry, followed by a painful thump in her chest. The next thing she knew, she was already coughing blood.

    There was only one clear image in her mind then: Nero''s somber face.

    "Nero," Neoma whispered while losing consciousness. "Check on him, Papa."

    ***

    NERO felt like his insides were being twisted. It was very painful. No wonder he was coughing blood now.

    "Darling!" Duchess Quinzel screamed in panic, then she turned to the knights and the servants standing behind them. "Call the duke!"

    "Sister Nara," Hanna said in a worried voice while trying to hand a handkerchief to him. She looked like she was about to cry. "Sister Nara..."

    "Nara!" Duke Quinzel said as soon as he arrived. Without wasting time, he immediately rushed towards him and put a warm hand on his chest. As soon as the duke did that, he felt his Mana flowing through his veins. But it didn''t make Nero feel any better. "This is bad. My healing magic isn''t working," he said in a worried voice. "We must bring Nara to the temple."

    "Neoma," Nero whispered before closing his eyes. "Make sure Neoma is fine¡­"

    ***

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 Chapter 18 - THE CAT IS OUT OF THE BAG

    TO NIKOLAI was about to catch Neoma who started to fall from being suspended in the air.

    But all of a sudden, the foxy boy appeared and caught his daughter instead. Then, he jumped backward while carrying the unconscious royal princess in his arms. Then, he red at him as if to warn him not to touch Neoma.

    [He''s still alive?]

    Not only that. He also noticed that the foxy boy''s chest wound was starting to heal on its own. Ah, he almost forgot that the fox n had fast regeneration.

    [Why is this fox boy so loyal to the royal princess?]

    And apparently, it wasn''t only the young boy.

    In the blink of an eye, the red dragon¨C that has now returned to its "regr size"¨C stood protectively in front of the royal princess. The red dragon looked very weak and very scared and yet, it looked like it wanted to protect Neoma at all cost.

    [She has already received her Soul Beast''s loyalty?]

    Neoma de Moonasterio was a force to be reckoned with, huh?

    "I won''t hurt the royal princess," Niki said, then he turned his back on the children and the Soul Beast. "I''ll have the royal doctor check on her."

    When he left the training ground, Glenn returned to his side.

    "Ask the royal doctor to check on the royal princess and the foxy boy," he told the knight.

    Glenn blinked in surprise. "You no longer intend to kill the child, Your Majesty?"

    "The royal princess will rebel against me again if the foxy boy dies," he said while shaking his head.

    "I understand, Your Majesty."

    "Take care of the royal princess and her servants," Niki said while walking away from the knight. "I''ll check on Nero."

    Glenn bowed politely in his direction. "As you wish, Your Majesty."

    ***

    "YOUR ROYAL Highness, how do you feel?"

    Neoma was greeted by an old woman with a gentle face when she opened her eyes. She blinked several times before it registered to her that she was back in her room. Glenn, Alphen (the head butler), and Stephanie (the head maid) were also there.

    She hated it but she remembered every single thing that she did when she was super angry a while ago.

    [God, I wish I was drunk to have an excuse for my stupidity!]

    "Your Royal Highness?" Glenn asked worriedly. "Are you alright?"

    Neoma forced herself to smile and act like the lovable prince that she should be. "I''m fine, Sir Glenn. Thank you for asking," she said cheerfully. When she tried to get up, Alphen and Stephanie were quick to assist her. After she wasfortable in her ce, she turned to the old woman and smiled at her. "May I know who you are, Madam?"

    The old woman bowed politely at her. Now that she was looking at her properly, she realized that the old woman had gray hair and blue eyes. Also, the stranger was wearing a white and blue uniform that she had already seen somewhere. "Greetings to the First Star of the Great Moonasterion Empire," the old woman greeted her. "I am Judy Hammock, the Healing Sage that His Majesty chose to look after you, Your Royal Highness."

    "You can rx around Madam Hammock, Your Royal Highness," Glenn said cheerfully. "The madam is one of the few people who know your secret."

    Ah, that was probably why His Majesty had chosen a female doctor for her.

    [So, the sc*mbag knows how to be considerate, huh?]

    "I''m relieved to know that," Neoma said with a smile. "Please take care of me from now on, Madam Hammock."

    The Healing Sage smiled warmly at her. "How are you feeling now, Your Royal Highness? You coughed blood a while ago because your Mana started to overflow. Your little body wasn''t able to handle the huge amount of Mana that you released. Thankfully, when your Soul Beast returned in your body, it became easier for me to seal your power again."

    "Is that the only reason why my body suddenly acted that way, Madam Hammock?"

    "Yes, Your Royal Highness," the old woman answered. "Do you suspect other reasons for what happened to you?"

    She nodded, then she clutched her chest tight. "I think my twin brother''s life is in danger. Do you have news about Nero''s condition?"

    "My deepest apologies but I do not know how His Royal Highness is doing right now, Your Royal Highness," Madam Hammock answered with a bow.

    "His Majesty is in contact with Duke Quinzel now, Your Royal Highness," Glenn told her. "We''ll know about Prince Nero''s condition soon."

    She just nodded at the knight''s report.

    [I hope you''re okay, Nero.]

    She gasped when she remembered another person that she should be worried about. "How about Lewis?"

    "Lewis is alive, Your Royal Highness," Madam Hammock said with a smile. "Right now, the fox boy is resting in my private hospital."

    "That''s a relief," Neoma said, then she smiled sweetly at everyone around her. "May I request everyone to leave the room now?"

    ***

    "I BROUGHT the prince to the saint, Your Majesty."

    "How''s Nero''s condition?" Niki asked his cousin Rufus. "Did it get worse?"

    Right now, he was in his office.

    He was talking to Rufus Quinzel via Virtual Call using the golden pocket watch in his hand. Because of that, he could clearly see his cousin''s face in the round mirror inside.

    "I haven''t heard from the saint yet," Rufus said. "We''re lucky that His Holiness just came back from the temple. We can safely assume that Nara¨C I mean, the prince¨C will be fine."

    "I see."

    "How about the royal princess?" the duke asked. "I don''t know why but before Prince Nero lost consciousness, he asked me to check on Her Royal Highness."

    "The royal princess is safe now."

    His eyes widened in shock. "So, something bad really happened to the princess? Twins'' telepathy is scary. Your Majesty, your children are awesome."

    He didn''t want toment on that.

    "Call me after the saint is finished checking up on the royal prince," Niki said. "I need to check on the royal princess.??

    Rufus smiled cheekily. "Your Majesty, are you trying to be a decent father now?"

    He just hanged up on his stupid, nosy cousin.

    ***

    NEOMA could finally breathe properly now that she was alone in the room.

    Luckily, the adults agreed to let her rest without their supervision. She needed privacy for what she was about to do.

    "Tteokbokki," Neoma whispered while gently tapping her chest. "Come out."

    [I can''t,] Tteokbokki answered in her head. [My body is too weak to move. I need to take a long break to recover my strength.]

    "Are you okay?" she asked worriedly.

    [Somehow, I am], the red dragon said. [But I will never do that again. If you want to have yourself get killed, don''t drag me to it.]

    "Tsk," sheined. "You can''t even roast a white tiger for me."

    [Shut up, thug princess], Tteokbokki whined. [What do you want from me?]

    "I need you toe out and hit me in my head," she said firmly. "I want to forget every single thing that I did a while ago. Come on, hit me with your tail or something, then give me amnesia!"

    A silence ensued.

    Then, came the Soul Beast''s roaringughter.

    [You''re really crazy, thug princess!] Tteokbokki said in an amused voice. [I''ll dly hit you with my tail but it can''t erase your memories, you know?]

    "You''ll "dly" hit me?" she asked in a menacing voice. "Come out and let''s see if you can do that, you douche of a donkey¨C"

    "Language, princess."

    Neoma almost choked on her saliva when she heard the emperor''s voice. When she turned to the direction of where the voice came from, she saw His Majesty leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed over his chest. "Papa, you should have knocked first. Practice what you preach. Plus, eavesdropping is unbing of the emperor."

    Hah! It felt good to throw his words back at him.

    "Normally, I would have," His Majesty said. "But I heard your interesting conversation with your Soul Beast."

    Speaking of her Soul Beast, that scaredy-cat Tteokbokki already cut off their mind connection.

    [I''ll deal with youter, you ketchup-colored donkey.]

    Right now, she had to deal with the fact that His Majesty had already seen her real nature.

    [Well, I guess I don''t have to pretend now.]

    "Is this the real you, Neoma de Moonasterio?" His Majesty asked with a smirk. "A foul-mouthed princess with a nasty temper who can''t even respect her own father."

    "Respect is earned, not imposed," she said. Of course, she was afraid for her future now that her real self was exposed. But she didn''t want to go down without a fight. Being the most bashed online celebrity in her second life made her snarky, you know? "If you want me to respect you, how about you try and be a decent father first?"

    She wouldn''t be this brave if she didn''t have n B.

    Of course, it''s a bum to start all over again. But to be honest, it was a huge relief that she didn''t have to suck up to the sc*mbag anymore.

    "Hearing those words from a child makes my skin crawl," he said with a scowl. "I really hate children who act too mature for their own age."

    She just smiled sweetly at that. "Your Majesty," she said formally, dropping her "cutesy daughter" act now. "If you can''t treat me like your child, then should we just be business partners?"

    His Majesty''s brows furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean by that, Neoma de Moonasterio?"

    Neoma''s smile turned sickeningly sweeter. "Please allow me to present a business proposal that will both benefit us, Your Majesty."

    ***

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 Chapter 19 - ROYAL BUSINESS PROPOSAL

    NEOMA was amazed that both of her hands were fully healed now.

    Right now, she sat on a high chair while facing her vanity mirror.

    Stephanie stood behind her as the head maidbed her now short hair. It was also Stephanie who helped her change from her pajamas into a formal wear.

    [I have a business proposal with His Majesty so I have to look professional.]

    Neoma now wore a gray pinstripe suitplete with pinstripe jacket, gray shirt, and white ascot tie with diamond studs for a cravat pin. She wanted to wear cks to look more professional but her legs were too short for them. So instead, she opted to dress shorts again. It was okay though. Her high socks and expensive leather shoes still made her look ssy.

    Thank goodness she didn''t wake up with thick bandages on her hands or else, that would have ruined her outfit of the day.

    Speaking of her hands¡­

    [If I remember correctly, I broke the fingers in my hands when I punched the White Tiger and the emperor.]

    As expected, the royal doctors were quitepetent.

    "Your Royal Highness, do you feel any pain in your hands?" Stephanie asked with a hint of worry in her voice. The head maid probably noticed that she was staring at her hands. "Do you want me to call Madam Hammock?"

    "No, I''m fine," Neoma said. "I''m just relieved that my hands are fixed now." She looked up at the head maid who looked genuinely concerned about her. That somehow warmed her heart. Atst, her cutesy act seemed to be working perfectly on other people. "Stephanie, how''s Lewis now? Is he already awake?"

    "I heard from Alphen that Lewis is already conscious," the head maid said. "But the child is not allowed to see you until his probation is lifted, Your Royal Highness. His Majesty ordered to put him under house arrest for a month as punishment for interfering with your training session."

    [Gosh, that sc*mbag doesn''t really stop giving me reasons to curse at him.]

    "Thank you for telling me, Stephanie," Neoma said with a smile. "I''m ready to go to Papa''s pce now."

    ***

    NEOMA wasn''t really nervous about meeting Emperor Niki.

    She had been through more nerve-wrecking situations to be nervous around a tyrant. Heck, she even died twice. The first time, she was brutally murdered by her own twin brother. And then, her second death¡­

    [Never mind. My random death sounds like a premise of a N*tflix si.]

    Come to think of it, she was mentally older than Emperor Niki if she added her ages from her first life to the current one together. As far as she knew, the emperor was currently twenty twenty-five years old.

    [Gosh, Mama and that sc*mbag conceived us early, huh?]

    Anyway, she really didn''t know where the uneasiness she felt came from.

    "Wee, Your Royal Highness," Glenn greeted her brightly. "His Majesty is waiting for you in his office."

    "Okay. Thanks, Sir Glenn," Neoma said cheerfully¨C matching the knight''s energy. Then, she turned to Alphen and Stephanie behind her. And there were also several other maids and knights behind the two. "Just wait here. I want to talk alone with Papa."

    All her servants bowed to her. "As you wish, Your Royal Highness."

    She just smiled at them before she entered the emperor''s office.

    His Majesty''s office was as nd and as boring as his personality. Of course, it looked luxurious. But the furniture color scheme was as dark as his soul. And the space? It was as big as his ego.

    "Papa," Neoma greeted him with a big smile. "How are you?"

    Emperor Niki stopped signing whatever paperwork he was doing at the moment to look up at her. Then, he smirked. "You''re not calling me "sc*mbag" today, Princess Neoma?"

    Her smile froze.

    Yeah, he called her name. But it was full of sarcasm.

    [Gosh, someone wants to get punched again.]

    "Please don''t make me call you "sc*mbag" again, Papa," she said sweetly. "But if you insist¡­"

    Emperor Niki frowned. "Keep the act."

    Her smile grew bigger. "As you wish, Papa."

    After that, she went to the lounge area and sat on the sofa.

    Surprisingly, the refreshments were already served. The pastry stand was filled with yummy snacks, and the tea prepared for her had honey in it. Gosh, it would have been a perfect moment if she wore a pretty pink dress instead of a boring gray suit.

    [I love girly stuff. What about it?]

    "It is considered bad manners to start eating or drinking first in the presence of someone higher in position than you," Emperor Niki scolded her when he sat on the sofa across from her. He even had the gall to give her a disapproving look. "Do I have to punish your etiquette teacher for failing to teach you good manners?"

    "My etiquette teacher does a splendid job teaching me good manners, Papa. Just in case you haven''t noticed yet, everyone who knows me loves me already," she said with a sweet smile. Yes, her cheeks hurt from smiling too much but she enjoyed the fact that she could be this snarky around the emperor without being scared for her life. She thought that if her father let her live after she punched him in the face, she was certain that she wouldn''t get killed for being sarcastic. "Only an iron wall like you is immune to my charm so I already gave up on you. And thus, I decided to treat you like how you treat me. So, my dearest Papa, if you want to see me apply my good manners on you, then please show me some respect first."

    See? She said "please."

    [That''s on good manners, girl!]

    "I guess this kind of rtionship suits us better," Emperor Niki said before he picked up his tea cup in an unnecessarily graceful manner.

    [Gosh, he''s oozing with elegance.]

    "I agree, Papa," she said cheerfully just to annoy her stoic father. "And I''m d that you brought it up. Actually, my business proposal has something to do with our "rtionship.""

    "I can''t wait to hear it, Princess Neoma."

    [Gosh, is he going to die if he stopped being sarcastic for a minute?]

    "Papa, before I present my business proposal, I need to ask forpensation first."

    He was supposed to sip his tea but stopped mid-way to give her a stern look. "Excuse me?"

    "You almost killed my butler-sh-bodyguard, Papa," she reminded him sternly. Wow, it seemed like freedom made her nerves turn into steel. "I''m aware that Lewis is doing fine now. But I won''t settle for the bare minimum. Aspensation for hurting my butler, I want you to give him the education that nobles his age receive."

    "Rejected," he said before he sipped his tea.

    She stopped herself from cracking her knuckles.

    Instead, she took a deep breath to calm herself.

    [I already expected this anyway.]

    When she opened her eyes, she smiled at the emperor who was looking at her with calcting eyes. "Papa, you don''t have to spend your money on Lewis'' education. I''ll take care of it."

    "I won''t let the royal prince pay for a servant''s education."

    "I won''t use my money," she said. "Not that I have it anyway."

    Plus, education in this empire was very expensive. That was why only the nobles had ess to it. Thankfully, there were kind-hearted nobles like Duke Quinzel who had started to financially support smart and talentedmoners.

    She wanted that for Lewis.

    "So, how do you n to support the foxy boy''s education then?" the emperor asked as if he was challenging her.

    "Papa, remember the shitty little brats that bullied my butler?"

    "Did you just say "shitty" in front of my face?"

    She gently bit her lower lip as a punishment for herself.

    Gosh, her filthy mouth just wouldn''t shut up, huh? She really couldn''t help it because her second life was still vivid in her memories. In that life, she had the privilege to live like a normal person in a world where cursing was pretty normal.

    Well, not really but at least, in that world, she wouldn''t get executed by simply saying some nasty words.

    "Let''s do it this way," Emperor Niki said after she fell silent for a few seconds. "I will allow Lewis, a lowlymoner servant, to receive education in two conditions. First, you''ll take care of the expenses. Second, you''ll refrain from cursing in front of me¨C especially not around other people. I don''t care if a five year old child cusses like a sailor. But don''t let me hear it."

    Okay, that was one tempting offer.

    [Yes, I should seriously stop swearing. I won''t be able to act as a cute and innocent angel if people find out that I curse like a sailor.]

    "epted," she said. When the emperor just nodded, she continued. "Papa, I n to "persuade" the family of the boys who bullied Lewis to let my butler study with their sons. Of course, they will take care of the expenses aspensation for raising bullies."

    "Good luck on that," he said indifferently. "Now, I want to hear your "business proposal.""

    She cleared her throat first before she spoke. "Papa, I don''t want to work for free anymore."

    "What do you mean by that?"

    "I risked my life by agreeing to be Nero''s proxy because I wanted to gain your love and attention," she confessed. "But now that we both know that it''s not going to happen anymore. So I decided to work for you instead. I''ll only continue ying as Nero if you agree to pay me for my acting skills."

    She needed to earn money as early as now to survive on her own once Nero returned. To be honest, she wasn''t sure if the emperor would grant her the first two wishes that she asked for. But regardless of whether he gave her the title of a duchess or not, she still needed money.

    Because I''m 100% sure that if ever this sc*mbag did grant me the duchess title, he''d definitely give me a barrennd for a territory.

    He smirked at her¨C obviously not pleased by her business proposal. "If you refuse to continue posing as the royal pce, then you''d be nothing but a worthless princess to me. I can marry you off or kick you out of the pce if you don''t prove your use to me, "Princess Neoma.""

    "Do it, Your Majesty," she said, her smile gone and her voice as cold as the sc*mbag''s heart¨C if he has any. "Marry me off. Kick me out of the pce. Heck, you can even order my execution right here, right now. I don''t care anymore. But from now on, I won''t allow you to boss me around without gaining a single gold coin from you."

    The majesty turned as serious as she was. "There you go again, speaking like an adult. Do you know how disgusting you sound right now?"

    "Like I care," she said casually.

    "Do you have a death wish?"

    Sheughed at that.

    Gosh, was he really talking about death to a person who already died twice?

    "I''m not scared of dying, Your Majesty," she said with a bitter smile. "I''m more afraid of losing myself in the process of gaining the affection of an undeserving sc*mbag like you."

    For the record, she didn''t want to die. She sucked up to Nero and Emperor Niki because she wanted to live a longer life this time.

    But she didn''t mind losing her life either if it meant being freed from the sc*mbag.

    In short, she had nothing to lose.

    And she knew that Emperor Niki could see it in her eyes.

    "I can''t believe that I''m talking about death to a five-year old royal princess," His Majesty said while shaking his head. "Alright, let''s have it your way. Name your price."

    "I''ll settle for a bag of gold coins weekly, Your Majesty," she said with a sweet smile. "Plus, you have to spoil me. At least, on the surface."

    His furrowed brows told her that he wasn''t starting to run out of patience. "And why do I have to do that?"

    "The crown prince that is favored by the emperor will gain more power, Papa," she said cheerfully. She was back to her cutesy angel role now that the emperor epted her offer. Plus, she needed to change her tone now because she didn''t want to test his patience more than she already had. "If you want the nobles to support the real Nero once he returns, we have to solidify his position as your heir apparent first. We can do that by showing everyone that we have a good rtionship. Plus, we need to rebrand your image from an indifferent tyrant to a doting father. I know that you''re a capable emperor. But it wouldn''t hurt to improve your image." She gave him double thumbs up. "Trust me, Papa. We will both benefit from this."

    Emperor Niki looked at her as if he was studying her. Then, a few momentster, he let out a deep sigh. "epted."

    She smiled and stood up to walk towards the emperor. Then, she stopped in front of him and extended her hand to him. "Do we have a deal, Papa?"

    His Majesty took her little hand in his for a professional handshake. "Yes, it''s a deal, Princess Neoma."

    She smiled when she noticed theck of sarcasm in his tone this time.

    But that smile faded away as soon as she felt her heart stop beating for a moment. She didn''t know why but for some reason, she already knew what that meant.

    And it was enough to make her cry silently.

    Emperor Niki''s furrowed brows showed his confusion. "Are you acting again?"

    "Papa¡­" Neoma said in a cracked voice as her tears roll down her cheeks quietly. "Nero''s heart just stopped beating."

    ***

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 Chapter 20 - LETS GO! (GO WHERE?)

    "PAPA, Nero''s heart just stopped beating."

    Niki''s eyes widened in shock when he heard that. "What are you saying?"

    "I felt it," the royal princess said, then she dropped his hand to clutch her chest tight. "Nero''s heart isn''t beating anymore. I don''t know how but I just know."

    He couldn''t dismiss it easily because he knew that the twins born in their family had a strange but strong connection. "I''ll check on the royal prince''s condition," he said, then he stood up and went straight to his desk. He grabbed his pocket watch and called Rufus using Video Call. After a few minutes, his cousin finally picked up the call. The duke''s sullen face already gave him a bad feeling. "Rufus, how''s Nero?"

    [His Royal Highness''s heart just stopped beating, Your Majesty], Rufus informed him in a formal but sad voice. [The saint is doing his best to revive the prince. We''re still waiting for the good news.]

    "It''s back," Neoma eximed suddenly. "Papa, Nero''s heartbeat is back!"

    He turned to the royal princess. Despite the excitement in her voice, her face still looked worried. "Then, why do you look like that?"

    "It''s weak," the royal princess said. "Nero''s heartbeat is very weak."

    [Your Majesty, the High Priest just arrived to inform me that the saint sessfully revived His Royal Highness!]

    He turned to Rufus and he saw the relief on his face. "Is the royal prince awake?"

    Rufus fell gloomy again. [That''s the problem, Your Majesty. His Royal Highness is still unconscious. The saint doesn''t know how long the prince willst. It seems like even his divine power isn''t working on His Royal Highness.]

    "Alright," he said. "Call me again if Nero''s condition changes."

    He hanged up even before Rufus could respond to him.

    "Papa, let me go to the saint''s temple and visit Nero," Neoma said in a cracked voice. "My twin brother needs me."

    [Finally, you''re acting like a normal child.]

    "No," Niki said. "The royal prince can''t leave the pce without a valid reason."

    The re Neoma threw at him was so sharp it gave him shivers.

    [This kid probably just cursed me in her mind.]

    ***

    NEOMA was fuming.

    She wanted to beat the crap out of Emperor Niki but she didn''t want to waste time with him when her twin brother was in danger. So instead, she walked out on the sc*mbag and asked her servants to bring her to where Lewis was.

    Only then did she find out that her butler was already out of the hospital.

    Alphen brought him the annex where the butlers lived together. Much to her annoyance, she realized that Lewis didn''t have a room. Her poor butler was living in the small attic all this time!

    In fairness, the attic was clean. But it was empty. Lewis didn''t even have a bed. He was just lying on an old mattress with a thin nket. There was a big cab in the corner of the room but that was it.

    "Princess," Lewis greeted her when he opened his eyes.

    "Don''t move," Neoma ordered the butler when he tried to get up. When Lewis didn''t move an inch like what she asked him to do, she turned to Alphen. "I want Lewis out of this annex as soon as possible. Make the chamber next to mine his new room."

    Alphen bowed to her. "As you wish, Your Royal Highness."

    "Leave," she told the head butler. "I want to talk to Lewis in private."

    The head butler bowed again before he left the room.

    As soon as Alphen was gone, she ran towards Lewis and kneeled beside him. She carefully removed the nket covering his torso to check on his chest wound. Thankfully, the wound was gone as if he didn''t get stabbed in the first ce.

    [ording to Madam Hammock, Lewis'' physical injury was already healed. But his Mana needs some recovering time, thus he can''t move properly.]

    She didn''t want to bring him along with her but she had no other ally that she could trust.

    "Lewis, can you move?" Neoma asked in a soft voice. "If I asked you to run away with me tonight, will you?"

    "Yes," Lewis said without even missing a heartbeat. "Me. Anywhere. With princess."

    She smiled at his disy of loyalty. "Thank you, Lewis. I''m sorry if I have to ask you to apany me when you''re supposed to be recovering." She raised her right hand as if she was making an oath. "I promise to take care of you."

    "Me protect princess," he said, then he pointed at himself. "Me. Job."

    "I know that it''s your job to protect me," she said with a softugh. "But as your master, you''re now my responsibility." She wanted to hold his hand but she remembered that he hated too much physical contact. So instead, she just lightly hooked her pinky finger with his. He looked surprised, but he didn''t pull away. "Lewis, I''m sorry that you got hurt because of me. But I want you to know that I''m really grateful to you for saving my life. Thank you so much."

    For some reason, Lewis''s face turned red. Then, he turned his head away from her. "Princess. Pretty. Blinding."

    "I know, right? My face is glowing," she said yfully. Then, she unhooked her pinky finger with his. "Anyway, pick me up in my room around midnight. Don''t let anyone catch you, Lewis. We''re running awayter in stealth mode."

    He finally turned to her again, then he nodded.

    "See youter, Lewis," Neoma said with a smile. "Rest well for now."

    Again, Lewis''s cheeks turned red. "Later, Princess."

    ***

    NEOMA was satisfied with the outfit that she found in her closet.

    For tonight''s escapade, she wore a in ck turtle neck shirt and gray shorts. Too bad athletic shoes weren''t invented in this world yet. So she had no choice but to wear the mostfortable boots avable.

    Anyway, after dressing up, she went under the bed to unearth Nero''s hidden piggy bank. She hated to steal from her sick twin brother but she needed money to get to him.

    [I''ll pay you backter, Nero.]

    She was busy putting a bag of gold coins in her pocket when she felt another presence in her room.

    "You''re right in time, Lewis," Neoma said, then she stood up. "Let''s go¡­"

    She trailed-off when she realized that it wasn''t Lewis.

    "Go where?" Emperor Niki asked in a somewhat low voice.

    She also noticed that instead of his usual sleepwear, the emperor wore casual clothes tonight: dark linen shirt, trousers, and boots.

    But despite his low profile outfit, he still looked very handsome and elegant.

    [Thank you for the pretty genes, Your Majesty.]

    "I''m going to the temple and stay with Nero until he wakes up, Papa," Neoma dered firmly with clenched fists. "If you try to stop me, I''ll fight you again."

    He let out a frustrated sigh. "Let''s go."

    "Go where?" she asked with widened eyes.

    "Let''s go to Nero together," Emperor Niki said in a t voice. "I already expected you to do this anyway."

    "Gosh," Neoma said, then she took a step backwards with her arms crossed. "It''s creepy when you''re being nice, Papa!"

    ***

    AUTHOR''S NOTE: Hi. I made a Ko-fi ount: ko-fi/s_c

    I posted a colored sketch of Neoma and Nero on my Ko-fi ount. Check it out, y''all. And please buy me coffee if you can~

    Random fact: I love memes. :D

 Chapter 21 - THE ROLE OF A TWIN

    "YOUR MAJESTY, I received a report from Alphen."

    Niki continued buttoning his linen shirt. "Did the foxy boy escape like we expected?"

    "Yes, Your Majesty," Glenn said. "Lewis is on his way to the nco Pce. But don''t worry, Your Majesty. My squad will apprehend the boy."

    To be honest, if the foxy boy was in his top condition, he doubted if his royal knights could catch the little guy. But since the foxy boy was still weak because of his injury, he was confident that the knights under Glenn''s squad could deal with the young butler.

    Anyway, it didn''t surprise him to know that his hunch was correct.

    The fire in Neoma''s eyes when he told her that he wouldn''t allow her to go to the temple told him that she didn''t have any intention to listen to him. When he heard that the royal princess visited the foxy boy before she returned to her pce, he knew she was up to no good. That was why he asked his knights to monitor Neoma and the foxy boy''s movements closely.

    [And I was right.]

    "Alright. Deal with the foxy boy and make sure he won''t escape to follow us," he told the knight. Then, he turned to him. "I''m going to the temple with the royal princess. You know what to do while I''m gone, don''t you?"

    This wouldn''t be the first time that he''d leave the pce without telling his advisors and Glenn was already used to it.

    "Your Majesty, I can deal with your advisors and hide the fact that you''re not in the pce," Glenn said in a worried voice. "But are you really going to do it¡­?"

    Aside from his cousin Rufus Quinzel, Glenn was also someone he trusted.

    He told his knight the reason why he was leaving the pce with the royal princess. And that seemed to bother Glenn.

    [What a softie.]

    He grew up with Glenn and he had always known that the knight had a soft spot for kids. So he wasn''t really surprised when he questioned his decision.

    "A prince is more important than a princess," Niki said indifferently. "Nero is my heir so I can''t let him die. If sacrificing Neoma''s life is the only way to save the crown prince, then I''ll do it."

    Every pair of twins born in the de Moonasterio family had a connection and bond stronger than ordinary siblings.

    [That includes sharing the same life force.]

    "I only kept the royal princess alive because I know that her life force can rece the life force of the royal prince if the need for it arises," he continued. "I''ll personally check on Nero''s condition and decide the next course of action. And if the saint''s divine power still doesn''t work on the royal prince by the time that we arrive in the temple, then I''ll take matters into my own hands."

    "I hope the royal prince''s condition gets better as soon as possible," the knight said and he sounded hopeful. "Your Majesty, I don''t want us to lose the royal princess that way."

    "You''re doing it again," he said while shaking his head. "When will you learn to not get attached to the princesses born in the royal family?"

    Glenn let out a deep sigh. "I just don''t want Princess Neoma to end up like the former Princess Nichole, the Princess Royal."

    Hearing his older twin sister''s name again after a long time unexpectedly gave a tug at his heart. But of course, he just ignored the tightening of his chest. Grieving for a person who was already long gone was a luxury that he couldn''t afford as an emperor.

    "Princess Nichole fulfilled her duty as Princess Royal by sacrificing her life for me to live," Niki said, his voice sounding cold even to his own ears. "And now, it''s Neoma''s turn to save the future crown prince of the empire."

    ***

    NEOMA couldn''t help but give Emperor Niki a suspicious look.

    [His Majesty isn''t a kind person. I''m sure there''s a reason why he''s being "nice" to me.]

    Plus, the emperor knew that she was nning to escape the pce. But instead of locking her up in her room, he offered to go with her instead.

    "What''s in it for you, Papa?" Neoma asked seriously. "You won''t help me for free."

    "I have no obligation to answer your question," Emperor Niki said. "If you don''t want my help, I won''t force you. Let''s see if you can leave the pce on your own."

    "On my own¡­?" she trailed-off, then she gasped aloud. "What did you do to Lewis?"

    "My knights apprehended your little butler," he said. "He has no business sneaking in the royal prince''s pce at this hour."

    She let out a frustrated sigh.

    [This sc*mbag is worse than all the evil mother-inws that I''ve seen in Kdramas.]

    "Alright, I''ll bring you with me," she said haughtily, pretending that she wasn''t bothered by his hidden agenda. Of course, she couldn''t trust him easily. But forcing him to answer his questions would only make the emperor put his guard up even more. "But no funny business, Papa. I''m keeping an eye on you."

    "I should be the one saying that, Princess Neoma," her father said, the sarcasm in his voice as he called her by her title was back again. "Anyway, let''s go to the temple the fastest way."

    She didn''t know what the emperor meant until she saw what he did next.

    The emperor opened his hand and then, a transparent golden key emerged from his palm. When he wrapped his fingers around the key, it turned into a physical key.

    [Woah, that was cool.]

    "This is the key to Valmento," he said when he noticed the awe in her face. Then, he walked towards the door of her room. "Follow me."

    She immediately ran towards her father. "Papa, are you going to use that key in an ordinary door?"

    "It doesn''t matter what kind of door I use," he said. "As long as I open it using this key, it will lead us to the Holy Land. Aside from the key to Valmento, I also possess more keys leading to different areas of the empire where I have ess to."

    "You''re like D*raemon, Papa," she said with amazement. "D*raemon has a door that can take him anywhere he wants as well. That''s pretty useful."

    The emperor remained passive but she could tell that he didn''t get what she said. "I don''t know what you mean but having this key is indeed useful."

    "Gosh, being equipped like that makes you appear like a proper emperor," she teased him.

    As expected, he red at her. "I am the emperor."

    "Really?" she said in an exaggerated surprised voice. She even gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. "I don''t think an emperor should bully his only daughter that is as cute as and as innocent as an angel."

    "I''ve never seen an angel in my life yet," he deadpanned but she could see a tiny glint of (dark) humor in his eyes. "But I''m pretty sure that an angel wouldn''t call her father sc*mbag¨C much more to punch him in the face."

    "That sounds like what a survivor should do against her abuser," she said with a sweet smile that took the humor in her father''s eyes. "If you''ve been subjected to years of verbal and emotional abuse, you''d snap as well, Papa."

    "I can''t believe I''m being told off by a tiny human that I can easily step on."

    "Papa, let''s not fight," she said with her most charming smile. She didn''t want to waste her energy fighting with her father when she was about to meet Nero. "Let''s get along well during this trip," she said, then she extended her little hand to him. "Shall we?"

    He raised a brow at her. "I can''t tell if you''re being sarcastic again or not."

    Well, to be honest, she wasn''t sure.

    She wouldn''t deny that was rude and hostile towards Emperor Niki. But in her defense, she had to protect herself. Acting cute didn''t work on him so she gave up on sucking up to him. And as a result, she decided to act tough instead.

    But if they couldn''t have a normal father and daughter rtionship, maybe they could act civil since they were now "business partners."

    [Though if he bullies me, I''ll bite back.]

    "Okay, I decided to give you another chance," Neoma said with a smile. Her choice of words earned her an eye roll from her father. She justughed it off. "Let''s be chummy business partners from now on, Papa."

    "Alright. Request epted," Emperor Niki said, then he finally took her little hand in his big and warm hand. "Let''s get along well, Princess Neoma."

    [How I wish, Papa.]

    Neoma wouldn''t admit this but deep in her heart, she was still hoping that someday, her father would finally ept her as his daughter and treat her kindly.

    [A girl can dream, right?]

    ***

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    ***

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 Chapter 22 - THANKS, ITS THE TRAUMA

    "PAPA, this is very suspicious," Neoma said while looking at the long and dark alley ahead of them after they entered the emperor''s "Anywhere Door." She couldn''t see the end of the alley and that made her nervous. "You''re going to abandon me here, aren''t you?"

    "Nonsense," Emperor Niki said, then he started to walk ahead of her.

    Scared that he might really abandon her in that cold, dark ce, she ran after the sc*mbag and grabbed his hand.

    [Eww.]

    The emperor stopped walking to give her an annoyed look as if he was telling her to stop clinging to him.

    "Papa, a cold human being like you needs human contact sometimes so you wouldn''t turn into an ice sculpture," Neoma said in the most innocent way possible. Although it was probably useless since the emperor already knew that she was a cunning foul-mouthed brat. Still, she had to make an excuse as to why she was clinging to him for dear life. She was scared of dark alleys, okay? "I''m just helping you."

    "If you''re afraid of the dark alley, just say so."

    She scoffed at that. Of course, a big liar like her wouldn''t expose her weakness to an enemy. "Gosh, where did that usatione from?"

    The emperor just gave her a dire stare. Then, he used his other hand to pull out a handkerchief from his pocket.

    [What is he up to now?]

    Her father pulled his hand away from her grasp. Then, he held her by the arm and tied the hankie on her wrist. And yes, the heartless emperor held the end of the handkerchief as if he was walking a dog or something.

    [I am so done with this sc*mbag.]

    "Papa," she said when they started to walk again.

    "What?"

    "My mother definitely didn''t carry us in her womb because of love," she said in a t voice. She knew that it was somewhat taboo to bring up her mother. But right now, she didn''t give a damn. "I''m 100% sure that my mother only slept with you because of your face and body."

    Much to her amusement, the emperor suddenly had a "coughing fit."

    When she looked up to see her father''s face, she was pleasantly surprised to see his cheeks and ears turn red. Well, he was still trying hard to remain pokerfaced but he failed topletely hide the flustered look on his face.

    [Heh, nice try.]

    "Where did you learn those words?" Emperor Niki asked "coolly," but he couldn''t even look at her in the eye. "I know that the de Moonasterio children mature faster than average kids. But you''re mentality is way too advanced even for a de Moonasterio, Princess Neoma."

    "Just call me genius, Papa," she said proudly. "I know how babies are made."

    He took a deep breath as if he was asking god for more patience before he strangled her. "You definitely got that insolence from that woman."

    "You mean my Mama?" she asked excitedly. He didn''t scold her for bringing up her mother so she wanted to test her luck. The servants in the pce weren''t allowed to answer her questions about her mother. But still, she was curious about the woman who gave birth to her and Nero. Sadly, even in her past life, she didn''t find anything about her mother. Maybe this was her chance to do so. "Papa, what''s my mother''s name?"

    Yes, no one was allowed to mention her mother''s name¨C then and now.

    "I don''t remember," her father said coldly.

    [What a big liar.]

    "Gosh, now I know why I''m so good at lying," she said. "It seems like I got it from a certain someone''s bad genes."

    He turned to her with a cold look on his unnecessarily handsome face. "Let''s stop talking about a dead person."

    "Harsh," she said. Well, she was upset but not as angry as she should be after this sc*mbag talked that way about her mother. She hated to admit this but she didn''t feel that much connection from her mother because she never met her. Heck, she didn''t know the name of the woman who gave birth to her. "Papa, you should take care of your face and body well. Your good-looks are your only saving grace."

    "Will it kill you if you don''t talk back to me?"

    "I was born this way because of you, Papa," she argued. "I''m pretty sure that I got all my ugly and rotten traits from you. So if you''re angry at my attitude, me it on your genes. And while you''re at it, question my upbringing as well for the way I behave now."

    He let out another frustrated sigh. "You really have a say at everything, don''t you?"

    "It''s the trauma, Papa."

    "''Mona.''"

    "Hmm?"

    Emperor Niki turned his gaze away from her. "''Mona,''" he said in a soft voice that she didn''t expect from him. "That''s your mother''s name."

    "''Mona,''" Neoma whispered to herself softly. She didn''t expect that she''d feel warm in the chest upon hearing her mother''s name for the first time. Before she knew it, she already a big smile on her face. "Mama''s name is so pretty."

    ***

    AS SOON as Nero opened his eyes, he became aware of his condition.

    Every fiber of his being hurts like hell. He couldn''t even move a muscle no matter how hard he tried to. God, he felt like dying.

    [No], he scolded himself. [I need to survive for Neoma.]

    "Your Royal Highness?"

    A man with long-ck hair and light blue eyes hovered over him. The stranger wore a white and blue robe with Yule''s crest. Yule was the god that the empire worshipped so this person was probably the saint.

    [That means I''m in the temple now.]

    He had to guess because he couldn''t move his head to look around. All he could tell was he wasying on a soft bed in a poorly-lit cold room.

    "Greetings to the First Star of the Great Moonasterion Empire," the saint greeted him politely. "I am Dominic Zavaroni, the saint."

    "Greetings, Your Holiness," Nero said in a weak voice. He might be dying from pain, but he couldn''t forget his manners. "May I know my current condition?"

    "You''re in a terrible condition, Your Royal Highness," Saint Zavaroni said in a worried tone. "Your insides are rotting fast and the ck magic cast on you is eating your Mana now."

    He expected that much, but it was still a huge blow to him.

    [I don''t have any intention to die and leave Neoma alone.]

    "Can you save me, Your Holiness?"

    "My divine power isn''t really working on you, Your Royal Highness," the saint informed him. "I managed to slow down the ck magic''s harmful effect on your body and Mana. But that doesn''t mean that you''re already safe, Prince Nero."

    He could only let out a heavy sigh.

    [If the saint himself can''t dispel the ck magic that''s killing me, then who else can help me?]

    "Don''t worry too much, Your Royal Highness," Saint Zavaroni consoled him. "His Majesty and Her Royal Highness are on their way here."

    Okay, that surprised him. "His Majesty and my precious little sister?"

    The saint smiled and nodded. "Yes, Your Royal Highness. Once His Majesty arrives, we''ll talk about the other options that we can do to save you."

    That made him feel like his heart was in his throat.

    Emperor Niki wasn''t the kind of father that would bring his daughter with him to visit his son. Right now, he could only thing of one valid reason as to why the emperor decided to bring Neoma to the temple.

    Unlike his innocent and angelic little sister, he knew the dark secrets of their blood.

    "No," he said while shaking his head even though it hurt to move like that. "He''s going to kill my Neoma."

    Saint Zavaroni''s furrowed brows made it clear that he was confused. "What do you mean by that, Your Royal Highness?"

    "His Holiness, please help me," Nero said in a cracked voice. "I won''t let His Majesty sacrifice my Neoma for me to live."

    ***

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 Chapter 23 - TOO MUCH LOVE WILL KILL YOU

    NEOMA''s heart started to thump against her chest loud and fast.

    [Nero, are you feeling restless?]

    "We''re here," Emperor Niki said, then he dropped the handkerchief.

    Neoma''s arm fell to her side. But she didn''t have the time toin because she saw a blinding white door at the end of the not-so-dark alley now. She also noticed that the door was surrounded by white butterflies. "Papa, is that the door leading to the saint''s temple?"

    "Yes," Emperor Niki said. "That''s the only door that Saint Zavaroni allowed to be connected to his temple."

    "Zavaroni?" she asked. "Sounds like macaroni."

    "I don''t know what you''re talking about but watch your manners," the emperor scolded her. "Only the saint and High Priest Dave Wellington know that you switched ces with Nero."

    [High Priest Wellington?]

    Gosh, that made her hungry.

    She was reminded of the beef wellington that she had when she once visited Chef G*rdon R*msay''s restaurant in London. She was a vlogger in her second life and her content back then was mostly mukbang videos. As a foodie, she loved reviewing different varieties of food.

    Too bad her joyous second life had to end so soon because of coconut wine poisoning.

    [Gosh, my cause of death sounds pitiful.]

    "Everyone else in the temple thinks that your brother is Lady Nara Quinzel¨C Rufus''s adoptive daughter," Emperor Niki continued, driving her thoughts away from food. "That means every single person in the temple thinks that you''re the royal prince." He turned to her with a warning look. "You better act ordingly, "Prince Nero.""

    "Yes, Papa Boss," Neoma said cheerfully, then she gave him a thumbs up. "As per our deal, I will act as the perfect future crown prince that will make a normal father proud. But since you''re not normal, I guess you''ll always find fault in me. I''m prepared for that, though. Although I can''t impress you, I''ll make sure that everyone else will be blown away by my god-tier acting skills, Papa Boss."

    "You say too many nonsensical things," her father said while shaking his head. "And now you''re giving me a weird nickname."

    "It''s not weird," she reasoned. "You''re my Papa and my boss at the same time. It only makes sense that I call you ''Papa Boss'' from now on."

    "Do whatever you want," Emperor Niki said. "Just make sure that you won''t say weird things in front of other people."

    "Understood, Papa Boss," Neoma said cheerfully. But deep inside, she was wondering as to why Emperor Niki seemed to be generous and lenient to her now. [He''s not dying, is he?]

    ***

    NEOMA squinted when her eyes hurt from the well-lit room that greeted them after Emperor Niki opened the white door. Her eyes gotten used to the dark alley so being suddenly exposed to the light hurt.

    [Gosh.]

    "Wee to the Yule Temple," a group of loud and firm voice greeted them. "Greetings to the one and only moon and the First Star of our Great Moonasterion Empire."

    When she opened her eyes, she was surprised to see the famed Holy Knights lined up on either of their side. She couldn''t see the knights'' face though because all of them woreplete armor from head to toe.

    The squad was led by a man with short blonde hair and green eyes. Based on the white hat and the white robe with golden embroidery, she could tell who it was right away.

    [High Priest Beef Wellington.]

    Uh, sorry. It was ''Dave Wellington,'' not ''Beef Wellington.''

    [Gosh, I''m craving for some good meat.]

    "It''s an honor to have you here, Your Majesty," High Priest Wellington said to the emperor with a bow. Then, he turned to her. "Greetings, Your Royal Highness."

    Neoma smiled brightly. "Thank you for the warm wee, Your Eminence."

    The High Priest smiled as if he was impressed by her clear speech.

    "Enough with the greetings," Emperor Niki said in a cold voice, once again proving how much of a sc*mbag he was. "I want to see His Holiness now, High Priest Wellington."

    [Gosh, he didn''t even look for Nero first!]

    ***

    NEOMA didn''t have the chance to meet the saint''s whose name she had already forgotten.

    [But I remember that his name sounds like macaroni.]

    Anyway, she was on her way to Nero''s room now. She was being apanied by two quiet priestesses and three Holy Knights. It was amazing how the knights wore heavy armors but their footsteps remained very light. She could even barely feel their presence.

    [They seem to be very capable of protecting Saint Macaroni and High Priest Beef Wellington.]

    "We''ve arrived at Lady Quinzel''s room, Your Royal Highness," the two priestesses said in unison while bowing politely.

    "Thank you for apanying me," Neoma said with a charming smile. "Please wait here. I want to talk to my cousin in private."

    The two priestesses bowed to her. "As you wish, Your Royal Highness."

    She just smiled at them before she entered the room that the knights opened for her.

    Even though she was excited to see her brother again, she walked as calmly as she could. But when the door behind her finally closed, she ran towards the huge bed.

    "Big Brother," she said when she reached her twin brother. "How are you?"

    Nero looked so weak while lying on the bed. But when he saw her, he smiled as if he was trying to look strong for her. "I missed you, Neoma."

    She didn''t expect to be emotional while looking at Nero''s terrible condition.

    [Poor baby.]

    She climbed to the bed and carefully sat beside the prince. "I missed you, too, Big Brother," she said sweetly, then she held his cold hand. "Why do you still look weak even though you''re in the temple? I thought His Holiness can heal you."

    "I''m fine, Neoma," he told her, then he squeezed her hand weakly. "His Holiness managed to slow down the curse that''s killing me."

    "But that''s just band-aid solution," she said in frustration. "We have topletely dispel the curse the enemies put on you."

    He smiled despite his condition. "Thank you for worrying about me, my precious Neoma."

    She smiled back at her brother, and then her stomach growled loudly. "Oops," she said, embarrassed. "The name of the saint and the High Priest made me hungry, Big Brother."

    Gosh, now she was craving for some macaroni cheese and beef wellington.

    It was obvious that he didn''t get what she said, but he chuckled anyway as if he still found her cute. "I asked His Holiness to prepare refreshments for you," he said, then he pointed at the night table beside the bed. There was a tea cup and a tray of snacks on it. "I rmend the tea, Neoma. It tastes divine."

    "Oh. Good timing. I was thirsty anyway," she said, then she reached out for the tea cup prepared for her. She smiled when she saw that the tea was pink and it had some little flowers in it. "This tea is pretty."

    And familiar, to be honest.

    "Isn''t it?" her brother agreed. "That''s why that tea reminds me of you, Neoma."

    She just giggled.

    But while staring at the pretty pink tea, her smile vanished as she suddenly remembered where she had seen it.

    [I''ve seen this tea in my first life!]

    How could she forget?

    [In my first life, I discovered this pretty pink tea in a forbidden book in the library of Luna Pce.]

    ording to that book, a pair of twins born in the de Moonasterio family was a curse. That was because royal twins like her and Nero could bind their lives together if a proper spell was used¨C a forbidden spell that would unite their life forces forever.

    [That means if one of us dies, the other twin will die as well.]

    And to perform that forbidden spell, she sought and threatened a ck Witch who happened to be the woman that Nero was obsessed with in her past life.

    ["Lady Quinzel, you just have to drink this pink tea for the forbidden spell to activate," Dalhia, the ck Witch, told her in the past. "But the spell will only bepleted if His Royal Highness Prince Nero drinks the tea, too."]

    "Big Brother, did you drink this tea before I arrived?"

    "Hmm?" Nero asked, obviously confused by her question. "I did. Why?"

    "I''ve read about this tea in a book back in the Luna Pce," Neoma said seriously, then she looked at Nero straight in the eye. She wanted to act all innocent in front of her twin brother. But the memories of her first life was making her feel so edgy that she couldn''t think straight. "Why do you want to bind our life forces together, Nero?"

    ***

    Author''s Note: Hi! Sorry if I can''t post regr updates yet. I''ve already said this in my other story but for those who aren''t reading it, the reason I can''t update regrly is because I''m busy with my day job. My mother needs surgery soon so I''m working hard to save up for it. So please bear with the slow updates for now. Sorry. T_T

    Also, for those who can, I''ve started a donation pool on my Ko-fi ount. Please buy me coffee if you can. Thank you!

    Ko-fi ount: ko-fi/s_c

    ***

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 Chapter 24 - THE ROSE AND THE GLASS GLOBE

    "WHY DO you want to bind our life forces together, Nero?"

    Nero was surprised by Neoma''s question. He didn''t expect her to know about the forbidden spell that could tie their lives together. But he should have expected that. If he found the book in the library of the pce where they both lived before, Neoma could do that as well.

    And he had to remind himself that like him, she could also read and write now.

    [My precious little sister is smart, indeed.]

    But he was surprised to hear her call him by his name instead of "Big Brother."

    "Don''t worry, Neoma," Nero assured his twin sister. "I asked the saint to tweak the spell a little. If you die, I''ll die with you. But if I die, all my Mana will be transferred to you so you''ll be fine even without me."

    Neoma''s eyes almost popped out of her head. "Nero, are you serious?"

    He nodded before he answered. "I am very serious."

    At first, Saint Zavaroni refused to perform the forbidden spell on him.

    But when he told the saint the reason why he wanted to do that, he had sessfully convinced him to help him save his sister. To be honest, he wasn''t certain if his hunch about Emperor Niki sacrificing Neoma to save him was correct. But it was better to be safe than sorry.

    He could and would die for Neoma anytime.

    But he didn''t want his little sister to die for him.

    [After all, big brothers (and sisters) are born to protect their younger siblings.]

    "But why would you do that for me, Nero?" Neoma asked as if she was confused by his decision. "Why would you want to ensure my safety by risking your own life to do so?"

    Nero, despite still feeling weak, raised his hand and touched Neoma''s chubby cheek. "It''s because you''re my only family in this world, Neoma."

    To hell with the emperor.

    ***

    [HE SAID ''family.'']

    Neoma almost cried at what Nero said.

    She was¡­ touched.

    [Argh, I''m turning into a softie.]

    To be honest, she couldn''t really see Nero as her "older brother" since her mental age was already that of an adult. Whenever she looked at him, all she saw was a child that needed help. She also never expected him to "take care" of her because aside from their "age difference," she still couldn''t forget the fact that he killed her in her first life.

    But right now, she suddenly felt like a baby that she was supposed to be.

    [So this is how it feels to have a decent older brother.]

    In her second life, she had loving parents so she didn''t really care much about Emperor Niki now.

    But unfortunately, she wasn''t given a chance to have a sibling back then. So it wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that she didn''t know how to handle having an older brother that actually cared about her. She suddenly felt emotional.

    [I should stop treating Nero like a random kid and start epting the fact that he''s my twin brother.]

    "Big Brother, do you love me?" Neoma asked with the best puppy dog eyes that she could muster at the moment."

    "I do," Nero said without missing a heartbeat.

    "Then you shouldn''t keep secrets from me," she said with a pout. "If we''re really family, you should tell me stuff that has something to do with me." She held his hand and hooked her pinky finger with his. "So, Big Brother. Please tell me why you felt the need to tie our lives together through a forbidden spell."

    "I don''t want your little heart to get broken, Neoma."

    "Big Brother, I''m stronger than you think I am," she told him.

    Heughed softly at that. "What are you saying? You''re as frail as a flower."

    She almost rolled her eyes.

    Well, it was her fault why Nero thinks she was "frail." She was too good at acting like a baby-in-distress after all.

    "But even if I''m as frail as a flower, I won''t wither easily," she said, and then she remembered the ssic children''s book that she had read during her second life. It was called ''The Little Prince.'' "I''m a unique rose well-protected by a ss globe. And that ss globe is you, Big Brother."

    He smiled as if he liked what he heard even though he didn''t get the reference. "You have a point."

    "So, will you tell me now the reason why you''re being so overprotective?"

    Her twin brother nodded before he answered her question. "I have a feeling that His Majesty brought you here to steal your life force and use it to extend mine."

    Okay, that was a huge blow.

    Now she finally understood why Emperor Niki was considerate to her all of a sudden. So, the emperor wasn''t dying.

    [Instead, he wants to sacrifice me just for Nero to survive.]

    "Neoma, are you okay?" Nero asked worriedly.

    She shook her head. "I don''t want to die, Big Brother."

    "I won''t let you die, Neoma."

    "But I don''t want you to die when I die," she said firmly. "There must be a way to save you without anyone dying."

    Nero''s brows furrowed in confusion. "Do you have anything in mind?"

    "Yes, but I need to consult Saint Macaroni¨C I mean, Zavaroni first," Neoma said while her mind was busying up with different strategies to save her butt. [I don''t intend to die without getting rich andfortable in this lifetime.]

    ***

    "WHAT?" Niki asked the saint after he told him the reason why he couldn''t sacrifice Neoma''s life for Nero. "Are you serious, Your Holiness?"

    "I am, Your Majesty," Saint Zavaroni said, then he sipped his tea before he continued. "Prince Nero asked me to perform the forbidden spell that will tie his life force with Princess Neoma. But His Royal Highness doesn''t want the princess to die once he does. So instead, the spell that I cast will kill him if Her Royal Highness dies. But if Prince Nero dies, his Mana will be transferred to the princess. If it isn''t clear to you yet, that means that His Royal Highness wouldn''t let Her Royal Highness die just for him to be saved."

    The whole tea room shook when he released a dangerous amount of Mana to threaten the saint. He knew that the Holy Knights would rush to His Holiness''s side but unfortunately for them, they wouldn''t be able to break the barrier that he put around the chamber.

    Right now, he could kill Saint Zavaroni and no one could stop him.

    "You know that I can''t afford to lose Nero," he said in a threatening voice. "He''s my crown prince, Your Holiness."

    Much to his annoyance, the saint remained calm despite his menacing aura.

    Saint Zavaroni calmly and elegantly put the cup down on the table, then he looked at him straight in the eye. "Your Majesty, do you know what my biggest regret in life is?"

    "Do I need to know?"

    The saint just smiled sadly before he answered his own question. "Your Majesty, I still can''t forgive myself for helping the previous emperor sacrifice the Princess Royal''s life to save yours."

    He smiled bitterly at that. "Are you saying that you regret saving the life of your emperor? That can be considered as treason, Your Holiness. Even though you''re the saint, you can still be executed for treason."

    "You know that''s not what I meant, Your Majesty," the saint said in a very patient tone that annoyed him even more.

    [The saint really never loses hisposure.]

    "Princess Nichole was a beautiful person inside and out," the saint continued, unabashed "She was elegant, intelligent, and very kind. The princess was like a ball of sunshine. She had a bright future ahead of her."

    "Saint Zavaroni," he warned the saint coldly.

    "I know that the royal family looks down on princesses because you think so little of women," His Holiness still continued despite his warning. "But if the Princess Royal had lived, I''m certain that she could have changed the royal family for the better. She would have changed thew and be the first crown princess in the history of Moonasterion Empire." The saint gave him a sympathetic look. "Your Majesty, you just got lucky that you were born a man. If it wasn''t for the thing between your legs, you couldn''t hold a candle to Princess Nichole."

    He smirked bitterly. "Is a saint allowed to say something as vulgar as that?"

    "A saint is only a human that just happens to have divine powers," His Holiness said with a smile before he sipped his tea again.

    Now he realized why he hated Neoma''s attitude.

    [The royal princess reminds me of Saint Zavaroni''s sass.]

    The saint may appear "gentle" to most people because of his "angelic smile."

    But he knew better.

    The saint was probably one of the most sarcastic people that he had met in his life. His Holiness could insult the hell out of someone with a big smile on his face. But even if he exposed the saint''s true colors, no one would believe him.

    "I have a feeling that you''ll get along well with the royal princess, Your Holiness," he said while shaking his head. "She''s a sassy one."

    The saint looked pleased to hear that. "Just like Princess Nichole and Lady Roseheart."

    The ''Lady Roseheart'' that the saint mentioned was Mona Roseheart¨C Neoma and Nero''s mother.

    "Your guilt over Princess Nichole''s death isn''t a valid reason for you to prevent me from saving my crown prince," he said firmly. "As the emperor, I order you to undo the spell."

    "That''s not the only reason why I want to protect Princess Neoma, Your Majesty."

    "I want to hear your reason then," he challenged the saint. "Depending on your answer, I may or may not get you arrested for treason."

    "Your Majesty, I opened the gates of my temple to Prince Nero not because he''s the future crown prince," His Holiness said firmly. "I decided to help you because I need to meet the royal princess. I already saw this happening."

    His forehead knotted in confusion. "What do you mean by that, Your Holiness?"

    "I received an oracle a few days ago, Your Majesty," the saint said seriously. "I didn''t announce it publicly because I know that the oracle will only bring chaos to the empire. But since you''re the emperor, I thought you ought to know it."

    "Get straight to the point, Your Holiness."

    "The future has changed, Your Majesty," Saint Zavaroni dered seriously. "The one I saw sitting on the throne wasn''t Prince Nero¨C it was Princess Neoma."

    The saint''s words sent a chill down his spines.

    "The oracle can''t be right," Niki argued angrily. "A princess can''t rule the empire!"

    ***

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 Chapter 25 - IN SAINT MACARONI WE TRUST

    [I FORGOT that I''m quite dumb sometimes.]

    Neoma already ransacked her brain but she still couldn''te up with a new n.

    Nero already fell asleep after they spent an hour in "brainstorming" that resulted to nothing.

    So right now, she was lying down on her side  Cleopatra. Watching Nero sleep was making her feel sleepy as well.

    "I''m d that you seemfortable here, Your Royal Highness."

    [Who the hell¡­]

    Neoma immediately got up and turned to the direction where the voice came from.

    And wow, a handsome young man greeted her.

    He had long ck-hair and blue eyes. The cloak he wore had the crest of Yule¨C the god that the empire worshipped.

    "Your Holiness?"

    "Greetings to the Second Star of our Great Moonasterion Empire," the saint greeted her with a smile. "My name is Dominic Zavaroni, the current saint of the church."

    "You called me ''Second Star,''" she said, then she sat properly. "But of course. You epted Nero in your home because you know exactly why he''s here in the first ce."

    "You''re wrong, Your Royal Highness."

    She blinked several times because of confusion. "What part did I get wrong?"

    "I know that you''ve switched ces with His Royal Highness," he rified. "But I didn''t ept the royal prince in my home because of my loyalty to the royal family. There''s only one de Moonasterio that I respect."

    Her ears perked up in interest. "Oh, spill the tea. Who''s the only de Moonchester that you respect, Your Holiness? I sure hope it''s not the emperor."

    Saint Zavaroni looked surprised by what she said, then he let out a softugh. "Would you like to have some tea with me, Princess Neoma?"

    Neoma smiled and nodded. "I''m not sure why but I feel like we can be friends, Your Holiness."

    ***

    NIKOLAI needed a drink so after the saint excused himself, he stayed in the tea room.

    But instead of tea, he asked for the strongest alcoholic drink that the temple had. Unfortunately, they only had white wine. He didn''t have any choice but to take it.

    So now, he stood by the window while having a ss of white wine.

    ["Brother, I want to live."]

    He shut his eyes tight when he heard Princess Nichole''s voice in his head. Still, the voice continued ringing in his mind.

    ["Brother, why do I have to sacrifice my life for you?"]

    ["Father said I am more important because I''m a prince."]

    ["Don''t you feel anything now that you''re about to absorb my life force?"]

    He remembered that at that moment, the Princess Royal smiled sadly at him.

    ["I''m cursing you, Brother,"] Princess Nichole said with a faint smile. ["One day, you''re going to love a person more than your own life. But that person is going to die for the throne. I hope that when you experience that, you''ll realize how f*cked up the royal system is."]

    Niki opened his eyes and smiled bitterly. "Ah, now I know where Princess Neoma inherited her dirty mouth."

    ***

    NEOMA went to a different tea room with Saint Macaroni¨C uhm, Zavaroni.

    The saint said that they shouldn''t disturb Nero while he was having a much needed rest.

    She was usually doubtful of the adults around him. But for some reason, she didn''t feel that way with the saint.

    [Is it because I love macaroni?]

    "Your Royal Highness, do you know that His Majesty had a twin sister?"

    Okay, that shocked Neoma. "''Had?''"

    Saint Zavaroni smiled and nodded before he answered. "Princess Nichole, the Princess Royal, was the older twin sister of His Majesty. The previous emperor sacrificed her life to extend your father''s life when he almost died in an ambush."

    "That was terrible," she said in a soft and sad voice. "Does the royal family really see princesses as mere tools? If not to extend a prince''s life, it seems like our only role is to be married off for allegiance or wealth." Her heart started to feel heavier when anger reced the sadness she felt a while ago. "Those f*ckers¡­" She bit her lower lip when she realized that she cursed in front of the saint. "I''m sorry."

    Gosh, she should seriously watch her mouth in front of other people.

    Nobody knew that she had the memories of her first life so she should do a better job at acting like a proper five year old child.

    Much to her relief, the saint justughed it off.

    "You inherited Princess Nichole''s foul mouth," His Holiness said in a delighted voice. "She cursed like a sailor, too." He sipped his tea before he continued. "I don''t mind it, but you should be careful, Your Royal Highness. You''re acting like Prince Nero now. You can''t make mistakes that the enemies could use against your family. Even though you hate your father, you need to be a good proxy if you want to survive until you''re old enough to leave the pce."

    She blinked in surprise. "Your Holiness, you know that I want to leave the pce?"

    "No sane princess would want to stay in that hellhole, Your Royal Highness," he said with a faint and bitter smile. "Princess Nichole wanted to escape the pce, too."

    She smiled in agreement. Also, she noticed something. Whenever the saint talked about the Princess Royal, his face would soften up. She knew that look¨C and it was more than a look of respect. "Your Holiness, did you love the Princess Royal romantically?"

    He looked surprised, then heughed it off again. But when he spoke, his voice was filled with longing and sadness. "Perhaps the love that I have for the god I serve is greater than the love that I had for the Princess Royal."

    Her heart ached for the saint.

    She didn''t know what to say so she just sipped her tea.

    [I like reading a good BL angst in my second life. But hearing a "live-action" angst moment is quite painful.]

    "Look at what I''m saying to a child," Saint Zavaroni said while shaking his head, then he gave her a meaningful look. "Your Royal Highness, why do I feel like I''m talking to an adult when I''m talking to you?"

    "My father said that the royal children mature faster than average kids," she lied smoothly.

    [Sorry, Saint Macaroni. I like you, but I don''t want to trust anyone 100% yet. I''ll keep the secret of my rebirth with me unless I find the need to expose it.]

    "That''s true," the saint said, then he changed to topic. "Anyway, I saw that the tea I prepared wasn''t touched. Why didn''t you drink it, Your Royal Highness?"

    "It''s stupid," she said. "I know that Nero just wants to protect me. But if tying our life forces together wouldn''t save him, then it''s useless."

    "You care about the royal prince, don''t you?"

    "I''m just being practical," she insisted. There was no way that she would show her vulnerability to the person that she just met. Then, she changed the subject. "Your Holiness, is there something that I can do for Nero without losing my life?"

    The saint looked at her carefully, his eyes glowing for some reason. "Your Royal Highness, I can tell that your Mana is very enormous. In fact, it''s overflowing."

    "Okay. But what about it?"

    "If you transfer some of your Mana to Prince Nero monthly, it can help slow down the spread of the curse in his body. After all, as a de Moonasterio, your Mana is something akin to my divine powers¨C but your aura is purer than mine since you''re a descendant of a god. Thus, your Mana would act like an "antidote" to the ck magic in your brother''s body," he exined. "It isn''t a permanent solution but that''s the best thing you can do for the royal prince without sacrificing your life for him."

    "Alright," she said. "Let''s do that."

    Heughed softly. "Aren''t you going to ask me first if there''s going to be a bad side-effect on you?"

    She shrugged. "I just have a feeling that you won''t suggest it if it''s going to harm me, Your Holiness."

    "Don''t trust anyone too much, Your Royal Highness," he reminded her lightly. "Well, giving some of your Mana to the royal prince monthly wouldn''t harm you. But you''ll get weaker the more you give your Mana to him. After all, your power isn''t unlimited. Are you still going to do it for Prince Nero?"

    "Of course," she said immediately. "It''s better than dying."

    Saint Zavaroniughed heartily as if he found her amusing. "I wasn''t there when you were born, Princess Neoma. But it''s not toote to give you a blessing." He raised his hand as if he was showing her his five fingers. "Power, intelligence, charm, wealth, and luck. Choose one, Your Holiness."

    She tilted her head to one side. "I already have all of that, Your Holiness."

    "I know, Princess Neoma," he said with a smile. "But whatever you choose, I''ll bless you so that you''ll have more of it than normal people. For example, if you choose intelligence, I can make you more intelligent than any schr that the empire ever had."

    "Sweet," she said. "But why only one, Your Holiness? Why not just bless me to be an overpowered princess?"

    "As much as I like you because your personality is like Princess Nichole''s, your face still bothers me," the saint confessed. "I can barely look at you without getting annoyed, Your Royal Highness."

    "Excuse me?"

    Saint Zavaroni let out a deep sigh before he exined. "You look like His Majesty, Princess Neoma."

    "Gosh, I''m offended," Neomained. Though she wasn''t offended because even though she hated Emperor Niki''s trashy personality, she was still grateful for his "pretty genes." "My beauty is god-tier, you know?"

    ***

    NOTE: Sorry for theck of update. I''m currently writing a stockpile for Royal Secret: I''m a Princess. That means we''ll have mass release soon. Please wait patiently~

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 Chapter 26 - MIC DROP

    "THANK you for the generous offer but I have to turn it down, Your Holiness," Neoma said. Then, she sipped her sweet tea first before she exined. "I mean, what''s the catch? Why do you need to gain my favor?"

    "Princess Neoma, I''m just fond of you because you resemble thete Princess Royal," Saint Zavaroni said. "She was close to my heart and since you are her one and only niece, I want to give you a present in her ce."

    [Miss me with the b*llshit, Saint Macaroni.]

    Well, at first, she really felt like she could be friends with the saint.

    But just now, she felt her warning signs ringing. She wasn''t saying that Saint Zavaroni was a threat to her. She just felt like he was hiding something from her and that was a deal breaker.

    Plus, Saint Zavaroni told her that she couldn''t simply trust anyone.

    [I''m just following his advice.]

    "If you really feel that way, you would have been by my side since the day I was born," she told him coldly. But still, she said those words with a smile. After all, princesses were supposed to smile all the time, right? [Of course not.] "You know how princesses in the royal family are treated. If you really care about me, you would have at least showed your face once. As the saint, I''m sure you have the power to visit me even though our birth is supposed to be a secret. But if you don''t have that kind of power, then I pity you." She put down the tea cup on the saucer before she smirked at the saint. "I don''t need a powerless saint by my side."

    Boom, macaroni!

    If she was in the modern world, she would have even acted like she was dropping a mic after saying that bad*ss line.

    It sounded bad*ss to her, at least.

    Saint Zavaroni, after falling silent for a few seconds, smiled before he spoke again. "After losing Her Royal Highness Princess Nichole, I told myself that I wouldn''t get too attached to any member of the royal family again."

    "Alright," she said, then she sipped her tea again. Now her hunch that the saint needed something from her was practically confirmed. If he decided to stay away from the royal family, there must be a reason as to why he was trying to get her favor now. "So, what made you decide to get close to me this time?"

    "I saw a prophecy, Your Royal Highness," the saint finally confessed. "Your role in the empire is going to be important in the future."

    [Ah, so that''s why he wants to "take care" of me now.]

    The saint would probably benefit from that prophecy or something.

    She would admit that she was kind of disappointed to know that the saint really had a hidden motive for acting friendly with her. But at the same time, a bulb lit up in her head when she realized that she could use that "prophecy" to her advantage.

    "Your Holiness, did you tell His Majesty about that prophecy?"

    He nodded. Judging by the way he looked at her, she could tell that he already knew what she was thinking. "Yes, I did," he confirmed. "I know what you''re thinking and you are correct, Your Royal Highness. Because of that prophecy, His Majesty wouldn''t try to kill you for now."

    ""For now?""

    "I already told His Majesty that we could use your Mana as a temporary solution to Prince Nero''s predicament," the saint said. "As long as the prince''s doesn''t worsen again, the emperor wouldn''t try to sacrifice your life to extend Prince Nero''s life."

    That meant that when the timees that Nero would seriously need her life force, then the sc*mbag wouldn''t hesitate to sacrifice her despite the prophecy.

    Well, at least the prophecy would buy her some time.

    "Can''t you really not do anything to undo the ck magic in Nero''s body, Your Holiness?" she asked curiously.

    "As of now, there''s nothing I can do for His Royal Highness except to slow down the harmful effect of the curse," he said. "But I am and won''t stop looking for a way topletely heal him."

    "Then, I will entrust my brother''s life to you, Your Holiness."

    He paused, then blinked several times. "Princess Neoma, aren''t you going to ask more about the prophecy that I mentioned?"

    "I don''t believe in prophecies," she said with a sweet smile. "Only I will decide what I''m going to do in the future."

    "Are you saying that you can change the future on your own, Princess Neoma?"

    Sheughed heartily at the silly question. "I already did, Your Holiness."

    His furrowed brows made it obvious that her statement confused him. "What do you mean by that, Your Royal Highness?"

    "Noment," she said, then she covered her mouth with her hands when she yawned. "I believe that it''s already my bed time, Your Holiness. Can we start transferring my excess Mana to Nero now? I want to go back to the pce as soon as possible."

    After all, she was worried about Lewis.

    [I hope the sc*mbag''s men didn''t hurt my butler.]

    "I will prepare the necessary arrangements now, Your Royal Highness," the saint said, then he gave her a curious look. "Princess Neoma, my offer still stands. I know that you hate the reason behind what I offered. But my blessing can help you protect yourself."

    "I know that I don''t have the luxury to be prideful given my situation," she started carefully. "But still, I don''t want to receive a blessing from someone whom I don''t fully trust yet. I can get by without enhancing the things that I have right now. Maybe if you offered something more tempting, I would have considered it."

    "What can be more tempting than the things I offered, Your Royal Highness?"

    "If you offered me the blessing of gaining the heavens'' favor, I would have dly epted it," Neoma said with a smile. "Only something as enormous as the love of the gods could satisfy my greed, Your Holiness."

    Saint Zavaroni looked surprised. But after a while, he smiled as if he was satisfied by what she said. "You''re definitely a de Moonasterio. Only the royal family members can be as greedy as you are," he said with a hint of amusement in his voice. He also spoke casually to her, but she let that slide. "But I''m d to know that you won''t settle for less, Princess Neoma."

    ***

    NERO thought he was having a nightmare when he saw Emperor Niki''s grumpy face as soon as he woke up.

    Annoyed, he closed his eyes again.

    "Open your eyes before I get angry, Prince Nero," Emperor Niki said in a menacing voice. "One insolent child is enough."

    Nero opened his eyes to give the emperor a cold look. "Neoma isn''t an insolent child, Your Majesty. She''s kind, well-mannered, and verydy-like. My sister is a proper royal princess."

    "I think the ck magic is already causing you brain damage," the emperor, who sat on a chair beside his bed with his arms crossed over his chest, deadpanned. "And perhaps, blindness."

    He just let out a deep sigh. "Why are you here, Your Majesty?"

    "You know why I''m here, Prince Nero," he said coldly. "Why did you want to tie your life force with Princess Neoma? If she dies, you''ll die as well."

    "I thought I already told you that if my sister dies, I''ll take my own life as well?"

    The emperor let out a frustrated sigh. "Now I understand why some people think that the maturity that the royal children possess is a curse."

    Nero''s teacher also told him before that the royal children could never be treated as normal because their brain develops faster than the average kids their age. That was why their empire had produced the youngest emperors in history without bacsh from its citizens. After all, everyone knew that a de Moonasterio heir was a cut above the rest.

    ording to the books, their early maturity was a present from Yule¨C the God of Moon. Their history suggested that Yule blessed the royal children with maturity because he knew that a lot of people would always be after the life of a de Moonasterio. In short, it was to ensure that the royal children could protect themselves at such a young age.

    "I consider it as a blessing though," Nero said. "After all, thanks to this brain of mine, I can protect Neoma properly."

    Frustration was now written all over Emperor Niki''s face. "Nero," he called him casually but in a firm manner now. "It''s not a crown prince''s job to protect a mere princess''s life. Wake up, will you? You''re my heir apparent. And one day, you''re going to inherit the throne."

    "How can a man who can''t even protect his twin sister be the emperor?" he asked his father bitterly. "Can an emperor who can''t even save the life of one person protect the lives of his people?"

    The emperor who looked stoic for most of the time, looked shocked right now.

    Of course, he asked those questions with the intention of attacking his father. Unlike his innocent twin sister, he knew the dark history of their family¡­

    ¡­ including the story of Her Royal Highness Princess Nichole.

    [Our father''s older twin sister.]

    "I''m going to grow up as a better brother and a better emperor than you, Your Majesty," Nero dered, then he closed his eyes. "Mark my words."

    Of course, the prideful Emperor Niki just scoffed. "Let''s just see where your arrogance will take you, Prince Nero."

    ***

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 Chapter 27 - THROW THE WHOLE MAN AWAY

    "YOUR ROYAL Highness, please rest here for the meantime," High Priest Wellington told Neoma as he ushered her to a parlor room. "We will summon you once His Holiness is done with the preparations needed for the Mana transfusion."

    Neoma sat on the sofa and looked at the High Priest seriously. "Your Eminence?"

    The High Priest smiled gently. "Yes, Your Royal Highness?"

    "Yourst name is Wellington, isn''t it?" she asked curiously. "Is there a chance that a dish was named after your family name? Perhaps, a pie made of fillet steak coated in pat¨¦ de foie gras, wrapped in puff pastry, then baked?"

    She was proud of herself for memorizing the W*kipedia description of a beef wellington. Back in her second life, she had a phase where she got so obs*ssed with G*rdon R*msay that she watched all his cooking shows. Thanks to that obsession, she got so curious of his signature dish¨C the beef wellington¨C that she even tried to replicate the dish.

    Thus, she memorized the recipe and the definition of beef wellington.

    Reminiscing a part of her second life made her realize one crucial thing about her current personality.

    [I got my dirty mouth from G*rdon R*msay!]

    After all, the chef was known for cursing a lot.

    [And I mean, like, A LOT.]

    Gosh, she should have just watched P*ppa Pig. If she did, maybe she had gotten her dream British ent back in her second life. Well, G*rdon R*msay was also an Englishman but the chef cursed way too much that she couldn''t really appreciate his ent.

    "I apologize but I''m afraid I don''t understand your question, Your Royal Highness," High Priest Wellington said. "The origin of my family name has always rooted from serving the church and the gods. The third saint of the empire was Saint Wellington, my ancestor."

    "Oh, I see," Neoma said, cutting-off the High Priest with a smile. She was no longer interested in his family name''s origin now that she knew that it had nothing to do with beef wellington. "Thank you for bringing me here, Your Eminence."

    Knowing that he was already being dismissed, His Eminence smiled and bowed to her before he left the room quietly.

    She was yet to getfy in her seat when the door opened¡­

    ¡­ and then Emperor Niki entered the parlor room.

    [My day be fine then boom! A wild sc*mbag appears.]

    "Papa Boss, I want to stand up and greet you properly but my short legs are too tired," Neoma lied. Well, she was tired but not to the point that she couldn''t stand up. Still, she felt toozy to move just to greet her father. They were alone in the room anyway. "Let me give you a salute instead."

    She really did give the emperor a salute.

    Emperor Niki, who seemed to be already used to her shenanigans, just ignored her salute and sat on the sofa opposite hers. "Why didn''t youplete the forbidden spell that will tie your life force to Prince Nero?" he confronted her. "That was your only chance to ensure your survival for the rest of your life."

    "How did you know that I didn''t tie my life force with his?" she asked curiously. "Did Nero or the saint tell you, Papa Boss?"

    "They don''t need to tell me anything," he said. "As someone who executed the same forbidden spell a few years ago, I can tell whether you did it or not."

    Ah, right.

    Saint Macaroni told her about Her Royal Highness Princess Nichole who was forced to sacrifice her life for her father.

    "Are you trying to gain my sympathy, Princess Neoma?"

    Sheughed at his usation. "Papa Boss, never in a million years would I try to gain your sympathy. I know that you don''t have a heart. Much more empathy."

    He raised a brow, obviously offended. But he also probably knew that she just stated the obvious. Hence, he remained silent.

    "I didn''t agree with Nero''s n because my moralpass can''t stomach it," she said. "But don''t get me wrong, Papa Boss. I don''t n to die anytime soon. And you can''t kill me either because Nero needs my Mana."

    "That''s right," he confirmed and that surprised her.

    [Wow, someone is being agreeable tonight, huh?]

    "The saint already told me about the Mana transfusion," the emperor said. "Apparently, only your Mana is suitable for Nero''s body because your Mana is quite simr to your twin brother''s."

    She didn''t make it obvious but she was relieved.

    [It sounds like His Majesty doesn''t have any intention to kill me.]

    Now it was time to push her luck.

    "Your Majesty, the Mana transfusion will happen once every month," she said. "I want to bepensated for that. But instead of gold coins, I want you to grant me a wish every time I give my Mana to Nero. So after the Mana transfusion tonight, I want you to give me something."

    "What do you want?"

    "Lewis''s freedom."

    The emperor looked quite surprised by her request. "Do you understand that if I give back themoner child''s freedom, he will no longer be supported by the pce? I epted the foxy boy in exchange of his servitude. If he bes free, then there will be no reason for him to stay. That also means he can''t be your butler anymore."

    "I will hire Lewis as my butler and official personal knight once he''s free," she said. "I will pay his sry using my own money. And my pce will provide everything that he will need."

    "The royal knights will definitely get offended once you choose the foxy boy as your personal knight," he said firmly. "He''s not even a squire. And most of all, don''t forget that only nobles are allowed to be royal knights."

    "Then change thew, Papa Boss," she said casually. "You''re the emperor, aren''t you?"

    Emperor Niki gave her a dire stare, then he let out a deep sigh. "Fine, I will release the foxy boy. Once I do, he''ll be your responsibility. Let''s talk about his position when we get back to the pce."

    Neoma smiled brightly. "Thank you, Papa Boss."

    ***

    NEOMA woke up when she felt a warm hand on her cheek. When she opened her eyes, Nero''s bright smile greeted her. "Hello, Big Brother," she said in a sleepy voice.

    "I''m sorry if I wake you up, my precious Neoma," Nero, who sat beside her, said. "But how do you feel? You transferred some of your Mana to me so you must be tired."

    She covered her mouth when she yawned. It kind of registered to her that she wasying on the bed beside Nero. They were in a different and more luxurious room this time. "I''m okay, Big Brother," she assured him. Then, she got up while looking at her twin brother worriedly. "You''re already up. Do you feel better now?"

    He nodded. "Thanks to your Mana, I''m feeling better now," he said, then he held her hand and ced it on his cheek. "Thank you for saving me, Neoma."

    She pouted because she knew she didn''t deserve his gratitude. "Mana transfusion is only a temporary solution, Big Brother."

    "Don''t worry, Neoma," he assured her, the he squeezed her hand. "I already made sure that His Majesty will never let anything bad happen to you."

    "What did you threaten Papa with, Big Brother?"

    "You don''t have to worry about it, Neoma," he told her with a smile. But then, he suddenly fell gloomy. "His Majesty was here a while ago. He said you''ll leave the temple once you wake up. Apparently, both of you have to be back to the pce before dawn breaks."

    "Don''t be sad, Big Brother," sheforted him. "I will call you every night. And we''ll meet once a month for your Mana transfusion, too. Plus, everything is temporary. Once you''re fully healed, we can be together in the pce again."

    That seemed to cheer him up. "Be careful in the pce, Neoma," he told her. "If His Majesty does anything to you, don''t hesitate to tell me."

    "Thank you, Big Brother," she said in a sweet voice. "But don''t worry too much about me. I can take care of myself now."

    [Plus, if the sc*mbag puts my life in danger again, I''ll throw the whole man away.]

    "Why do you sound so confident?" he asked in an amused voice. "Did you find a way to ckmail His Majesty?"

    She couldn''t tell him about the deal that he made with the emperor.

    So she just made the first excuse that entered her now exhausted mind.

    "I have a butler-sh-knight now, Big Brother," she told him cheerfully so he wouldn''t worry too much about her. "Lewis is only three years older than us but he''s very dependable. He''s a little weird but he''s a good boy. Plus, he''s very strong so I know that he can protect me."

    "A boy around your age has be your butler and knight?" he asked with a somewhat eerie smile. "And his name is Lewis. Is that right?"

    She nodded, but for some reason, her twin brother''s smile was making her feel nervous. "Yes, his name is Lewis. Why do you ask, Big Brother?"

    "Oh, nothing," Nero said, his smile became wider but also creepier. "I can''t wait to meet Lewis and thank him for protecting you, my precious Neoma."

    Neoma smiled but deep inside, she was getting a little paranoid.

    [Why does it sound like Nero is threatening Lewis?]

    ***

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 Chapter 28 - IM BABIE >.<

    NEOMA waited for Nero to fall asleep before she left his room.

    She groaned in frustration when she realized that her body felt very heavy. It must be because some of her Mana was transferred to Nero.

    To be honest, she didn''t know how the Mana transfusion was done. She was asleep the whole time, so was her twin brother. She didn''t feel any pain but now that everything was over, the exhaustion from that long night has finally caught up to her.

    No matter how mature her mind was, her body was still that of a baby.

    "Your Royal Highness," High Priest Wellington greeted him when she came out of the room. He had three Holy Knights behind him. "I will escort you to where His Majesty is waiting for you."

    Neoma nodded, too tired to talk now.

    And so, she walked side-by-side with the High Priest. It looked like he noticed that she was exhausted so he didn''t make a small talk anymore. Plus, their trip was only a short one.

    A few momentster, she realized that their destination was the door that Emperor Niki used to get to the temple. And lo and behold, the sc*mbag was already waiting by the door with Saint Zavaroni. There were plenty of Holy Knights behind them.

    [Ah, it''s time to go home.]

    "Your Royal Highness, please ept this," Saint Zavaroni said, then he squatted in front of her to match her eye level. Then, he extended his hand to her. There were three candies with colorful wraps on his palm. "These candies are infused with my Mana. If you eat one before every meal tomorrow, the fatigue you feel right now will disappear."

    "Thank you, Your Holiness," Neoma said in a tired voice. And since they were surrounded by other people, she still forced herself to smile brightly. "I will make sure to remember to take these candies tomorrow."

    Orter, since it was already past midnight.

    "Please take care of Lady Nara, Your Holiness," she said. The saint and the High Priest knew the truth, but probably not the Holy Knights. "She''s my favorite cousin."

    "We will take care of Lady Quinzel," Saint Zavaroni said with a smile. "Have a safe trip back to the pce, Your Royal Highness."

    "Thank you, Your Holiness."

    The saint just smiled and stood up.

    After that, she turned to High Priest Wellington and thanked him. After that, she politely thanked the Holy Knights for taking care of her while she was in the temple. Then, she bid them goodbye like a well-mannered kid that she should be while posing as Nero.

    But of course, her sc*mbag of a father just stood there like a statue.

    [Gosh, he can''t even say goodbye to everyone properly.]

    "Let''s go, Prince Nero," Emperor Niki said curtly.

    She almost rolled her eyes at his rudeness. But then, despite her exhaustion, her mind was still very active. She just thought of something brilliant. "Papa, I''m tired," she said in the sweetest voice she could muster. Then, she raised her arms to let him know that she wanted to be carried. "I''m afraid my short legs will slow us down at this rate."

    The emperor looked at her as if he was asking if she was serious.

    She smiled sweetly as a response¨C a smile reminding him that they had a deal where they would act like they had a good father-and-"son" rtionship in front of other people.

    Her father got the message.

    [Heh, got `ya.]

    Emperor Niki let out a sigh, then he leaned down to pick her up. He held her by the waist and lifted her.

    Neoma had a feeling that he would drop her on his shoulder as if she was a sack of potatoes. So before he could do such evil thing to a tiny baby like her, she immediately wrapped her arms around his neck. Then, she pretended to yawn. "I''m going to take a nap, Papa," she said, then she buried her face against his neck. She hated to say this but damn, despite the emperor''s trash personality, he smelled very good. But you know, despite her father''s warmth, the way he held her in his arms still felt cold. "Good night."

    ***

    "YOUR HOLINESS, you gave the royal princess your blessing, didn''t you?"

    Zavaroni smiled at Dave Wellington''s question. Right now, they were on their way to the prayer room. They would pray for Prince Nero''s fast recovery before they sleep. That had been their routine ever since His Majesty entrusted the royal prince''s life to them.

    "You can tell?" he asked the High Priest.

    High Priest Wellington nodded before he answered. "I noticed the divine glow around Her Royal Highness before she left. I''m pretty sure that it came from you, Your Holiness."

    "Actually, Her Royal Highness turned down my blessing," he confessed that made the High Priest gasped. "But I saw something in her that made me want to secretly cheer her on. So I gave her my blessing even though she didn''t want it."

    "And I''m guessing you offered none to the royal prince."

    "The men in the royal family are already favored by the society and the empire''sw," he said firmly. "I don''t want to give my blessing to the future crown prince since he already has what Princess Nichole liked to call as the "male privilege.""

    "I don''t think it''s something a saint like you should be saying, Your Holiness."

    He justughed it off.

    "Your Holiness, may I know what kind of blessing did you bestow upon the royal princess?"

    "I wish I could give the royal princess the thing that her heart desires," he said vaguely. "Unfortunately, despite my divine power, I''m nothing but a mere human. Still, I want to root for her. So in the end, despite her refusal, I still blessed her with the luck that she needs to survive in the pce. After all, reality is harsh for princesses born in the royal family."

    "Just the mere fact that Her Royal Highness was blessed by you is already a big blessing, Your Holiness," the High Priest said. "It seems like the royal princess caught your attention more than the royal prince did."

    "To be honest, I didn''t care about the twin royals before," he said. ??But after I met the two of them and saw how different their bond is from the rest of the de Moonasterios, I had a change of heart. From now on, I''ll carefully watch over them. I will personally keep an eye on the royal princess."

    "What do you see in Her Royal Highness, Your Holiness?" High Priest Wellington asked. "Have you seen something that you haven''t told me yet?"

    Zavaroni smiled, not wanting to share the prophecy that he saw to anyone else other than the emperor. After all, Princess Neoma stubbornly rejected her fate. He wanted to see if she would be able to change her destiny like she imed. "I just have a feeling that our boring days are now over," he said. "I want to know how Her Royal Highness will change the future."

    ***

    NIKOLAI was irritated while being forced to listen to Neoma''s loud snore.

    [God, what a disgraceful princess.]

    Neoma was very different from thete Princess Nichole. His older twin sister was the epitome of elegance. Unfortunately, his own daughter didn''t inherit an ounce of elegance from their blood.

    The royal princess was brusque and rude.

    But fortunately, she did a good job acting as a proper prince whenever other people were around. The royal princess was indeed a very efficient "employee."

    "Wee back, Your Majesty," Glenn greeted him when he arrived at the royal princess''s bedroom in the nco Pce. The knight looked relieved when he saw Neoma sleeping loudly while clinging to his neck like a little monkey. "Wee back, Your Royal Highness."

    He ignored Glenn and went straight to the royal princess''s bed. Then, he put one knee on the mattress and dropped Neoma on it. Her tiny body slightly bounced because of the softness of the mattress.

    "Your Majesty," Glenn called him in a scolding voice. "Please be careful with the royal princess. She''s still a baby."

    ""Baby," you say?" Niki scoffed. "You should hear the royal princess''s "colorful" words when she''s talking to me."

    He was about to get up when suddenly, the royal princess grabbed him by the cor and pulled him down. Thanks to his fast reflex, he was able to pin his hands on either side of her tiny head and prevented himself from crashing her.

    Much to his shock, Neoma suddenly opened her eyes and red at him.

    [Did she hear what I said? Or was she mad because I dropped her on the bed carelessly?]

    His thoughts were suddenly cut-off when all of a sudden, Neoma pped both of his cheeks with her tiny but heavy hands. He wasn''t able to react due to shock. If it wasn''t for the loud smack that the pping made, he wouldn''t have believed that it happened.

    [What the hell just happened?]

    On the other hand, Glenn let out a loud gasp.

    He could understand the knight''s reaction. After all, this was the first time that he got physically "assaulted" as an adult.

    "What are you?" Neoma asked in a sleepy voice, making him realize that she was half-asleep. The royal princess was acting like a drunkard mumbling gibberish things. It got worse when she smirked. God, he hated how that smirk resembled Mona''s arrogant grin so much. "Yes, you''re an idiot sandwich."

    An idiot what?

    [Wait, did this tiny human just call me "idiot?"]

    And right after "attacking" and insulting him, Neoma went back to sleep and had the audacity to look like an innocent angel while doing so.

    "Y-Your Majesty, please forgive Her Royal Highness," Glenn said in a nervous voice. The knight must be thinking that he would punish the royal princess for pping and insulting him. In normal cases, those were enough reasons for Neoma to be punished or even executed for threatening him. "Children her age usually sleep talk and they often don''t know what they''re doing when they''re half-asleep¡­"

    "Enough," he said, then he got up and fixed his clothes. "I''m not that petty to punish the royal princess for that. It''s not like her tiny hands could seriously hurt me."

    "A-Are you sure, Your Majesty?" the knight asked, still uneasy. "Your cheeks are very red. It stings, doesn''t it?"

    "It doesn''t," he said firmly, not wanting to admit that Neoma''s heavy hands did a number on his face.

    "Shall I prepare some ice for your cheeks, Your Majesty?"

    "No," he said, then he red at Glenn. "Just call the head maid and tell her to change the royal princess''s clothes."

    He bowed to him. "Yes, Your Majesty."

    "Ah, one more thing," he said, causing Glenn to raise his head and look at him properly. "I want to rece all the maids and butlers serving the nco Pce and rece them with people from my pce. Tell the head maid that I want her to thoroughly search Princess Neoma''s belongings and see if she''s reading books that she''s not supposed to read at her age."

    Glenn blinked in confusion. "Is there such a book in the pce, Your Majesty? I thought all the banned books in the empire were already burned."

    "I''m not talking about political books," he said, annoyed that he had to exin further. "I''m talking about erotic books, fool."

    The knight, a full-grown man the same age as him, blushed like a virgin maiden.

    [God, I can''t believe this is the same man that mercilessly kills enemies in the battlefield.]

    "D-Do you think that Her Royal Highness is secretly reading e-erotic books, Your Majesty?" Glenn asked, face still very red.

    He nodded before he gave an exnation. "I also suspect that the royal princess has seen and heard scandalous things from the servants in this pce. Otherwise, I don''t know where else she could have learned about sex."

    And that was why he wanted to rece all the servants in the nco Pce.

    The knight shook his head. "The royal princess is still too young to learn about that stuff."

    He nodded in agreement. "That''s true."

    Although he knew that his children mature faster than average kids, it still came as a shock to him when Neoma mentioned the thing about her mother sleeping with him for his face and body, if he remembered it correctly.

    "I will make sure that the head maid and the head butler will take care of this matter right away, Your Majesty," Glenn said seriously. "We have to protect Princess Neoma''s innocence."

    "Princess Neoma isn''t an angel so stop treating her like a fragile ss," Niki said, then he turned his back on Glenn. "I''m returning to my pce now so you take care of the rest." Using his Mana, hemanded himself to disappear and in just a few moments, he was already back in his own room. Now that he was alone, he touched his cheeks and winced. Neoma''s p stung, but her words offended him even more. "Why the hell am I an "idiot sandwich?""

    ***

    [NOTE: This is the message that I posted in my other story. I just edited it a bit to personalize my message for Neoma''s readers.]

    I decided to quit/let go of one of my projects/jobs to focus on writing Mommy Viiness and Royal Secret: I''m a Princess. But don''t get me wrong. I DON''T earn that much here on AllNovelFull (that''s why I''ll probably regret quitting one of my jobster, haha) and I''m not a top author.

    But I still decided to risk it (even though I needed extra ie for surgery fees) because I want to be moremitted to what I have started here. I never leave things unfinished. It''s for my peace of mind.

    Sorry for the TMI (too much information). All I want to say is now that I have more free time than before, I will posten often before the mass release.

    Hoping for your continuous support.

    Thank you for everything. T_T

    ***

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 Chapter 29 - SWEET CHILD OF MINE

    NEOMA woke up feeling refreshed.

    She was in a good mood because she had a very nice dream. In that dream, she pped Emperor Niki on his unnecessarily handsome face and called him an "idiot sandwich." It felt very real, and that made her happy.

    "Princess?"

    Neoma turned to the owner of the voice and smiled. "Good morning, Lewis."

    Lewis, for some reason, was kneeling beside her bed while looking up at her with a relieved look on his face. Well, to be honest, the boy looked stoic as usual. It was only her who decided that he looked relieved. She wanted to think that he was worried about her, okay?

    "How are you, Lewis?" she asked when she got up. Then, she stretched her short arms. "Did the knights who caught youst night hurt you?"

    Lewis shook his head, his eyes never leaving her. "Me. Fine. You?"

    "I''m fine," she assured him. "Were you worried about me?"

    He blinked as if he didn''t understand her question.

    [Right, this boycks emotional intelligence.]

    "Lewis, you should know that you care about me because I''m the second person that you need to protect and take care of in this world," she dered.

    "Princess? Number two?" he asked, obviously more confused this time. "Number one who?"

    "You, duh," she said. "You should protect and take care of yourself first, Lewis. How can you guard my life if you''re not in your best condition?"

    "Me. Strong."

    She scoffed at that. "I will acknowledge that you''re strong once you beat my father. He almost killed youst time, didn''t he?"

    He obviously looked disappointed himself.

    "It''s okay, Lewis," she consoled him. She wanted to tap his shoulder but she remembered that he hated sudden physical contact. So she withdrew her hand and just stretched her arms again. "We just have to work hard. I need to be super strong, too."

    "Princess. Strong now."

    She smiled at hispliment. "Thank you. But I need to be stronger."

    When she turned to her night table, she found the candies that the saint gave him in a ss jar. She didn''t remember putting those candies in her pocketst night. But then again, she was now in her pajamas. Stephanie was the one in-charge of changing her clothes so she was definitely the one who put the candies in the ss jar.

    [Should I really trust the saint?]

    She opened the lid of the ss jar and took out one candy from it. "Lewis, you have sharp senses," she said, then she extended her hand to him, the candy sitting on her palm idly. "Can you tell if this candy is dangerous or not?"

    Lewis leaned forward, then he sniffed the candy for a few seconds. Then, he looked up at her and shook his head. "Candy. Divine. Safe."

    "Then, can I eat this?"

    He shook his head. "Candy simr. Mine Marble. The Marble. Me. Strong."

    She took her a while before she understood what he said. The thing that made everything sense was the "Marble" he mentioned. She remembered that in her first life, there was a rumor that circted about how Nero became powerful.

    Apparently, Lewis gave a "Fox Marble" to Nero back then. She just couldn''t remember what happened after that because it happened around the time before she was killed.

    [Anyway, if it was simr to the Fox Marble, then this candy could make me stronger.]

    Huh.

    It seemed like the saint wanted to make it up to her.

    [Okay, I''ll let him make it up to me.]

    She unwrapped the candy and put it in her mouth. Then, she bit it in half, chewed it, then swallowed it. "It tastes like a normal candy."

    Lewis just stared at her with a nk look on his face.

    Her peaceful time with her butler was cut-off when Stephanie and Alphen came. They always did because that meant it was time for her to start her day.

    "What''s my schedule today?" Neoma asked the head maid and the head butler after they gave her their usual greeting. "And why is Lewis in my room this early?"

    "Starting today, Lewis is no longer a resident of the butlers'' mansion, Your Royal Highness," Alphen said politely. "Under His Majesty''s order, Lewis will now be a resident of nco Pce. He''ll be upying the room next to yours. So in case of an attack, he''ll reach your room faster."

    "Okay, that''s convenient," she said.

    "His Majesty also cleared your schedule for today, Your Royal Highness," Stephanie added. "His Majesty said that you can do whatever you want as long as you don''t leave the pce."

    "Good," she said, then she looked up the head butler. "Alphen, I want to invite Count Thompson and Marquis Alberts for an afternoon teater. I''ll write a letter for them before I take a bath. Send the letter to them as fast as possible."

    The head butler and the head maid looked surprised by her order.

    "Your Royal Highness, please pardon my insolence," Alphen said carefully. "But it''s rude to invite guests in such a short notice."

    Well, even in the modern world, it was rude to do that. But what could she do? She had a very tight schedule. Today was her only free day. Still, she had a reputation to protect. While thinking of a way to invite the noblemen without appearing rude, her brilliant mind came up with an excuse.

    "Byron Thompson and Harry Alberts invited me to have lunch with their fathers," she said that obviously confused her servants. Lewis remained pokerfaced though. "And today is the day that they promised to introduce me to Count Thompson and Marquis Alberts."

    "Your Royal Highness, did the young lords really say that¡­?" the head butler asked worriedly.

    "Maybe, maybe not," she said coily. "But I''m sure the little kids will "remember" that if you remind them about it."

    She remembered how scared Byron and Harry were at her on "that" day.

    That was why she was pretty sure that those two brats wouldn''t deny whatever she said. If she did it that way, it would appear like she set a lunch date with Byron and Harry¨C and the boys just forgot about it.

    "I understand, Your Royal Highness," Alphen said with a bow. "I will prepare the necessary tools and your stamp."

    Her smiled vanished.

    [So, Nero already has a stamp?]

    She didn''t have any. Well, she practically didn''t exist in the royal family. Still, that was a harsh reminder that she was nothing but Nero''s proxy.

    She got depressed for a second, but she reminded herself that beggars can''t be choosers.

    [I''m livingfortably and I should be grateful for that.]

    At least, for now.

    "Okay. Let''s do that," Neoma said brightly. Then, she turned to Lewis. "Go to your room and unpack, Lewis. I''ll call you when I''m done changing."

    Lewis nodded, face still nk. "Okay. Prince."

    ***

    "GOOD MORNING, Papa Boss!" Neoma greeted the sc*mbag cheerfully. They were alone in the dining hall so she was free to greet him that way. "Did you sleep well?"

    "What do you want?" Niki asked without even taking his eyes off the toast he was eating.

    "A grand gesture from you, Papa Boss."

    He finally looked at her to give her a disgusted look. "A what?"

    She took a bite of her fluffy souffl¨¦ pancake first before she exined. "I have an afternoon tea with Count Thompson and Marquis Alberts, and their bratster."

    His brows furrowed in obvious irritation. "When did you send the invitation?"

    "Before I went here."

    "That''s rude, Prince Nero," he said, emphasizing her twin brother''s name to remind her of her "job." "Inviting guests on such a short notice is unbing of a royal prince."

    "Don''t worry about it, Papa Boss," she said. "I''ve got it covered."

    "If you mess up, our deal is over."

    She just gave him a big, fake smile. "I know, Papa Boss."

    "What are you talking about a while ago?" he asked seriously. "What kind of "grand gesture" do you need and why do I have to give you that?"

    "It''s part of our deal," she insisted. "We will act like we have a strong father-and-son rtionship, remember? I need to show-off to Count Thompson and Marquis Albertster. If they see how you "cherish" the royal prince, I''ll get what I want from them."

    He smirked as if he found her amusing. "What do you need from people lower in rank?"

    "Count Thompson and Marquis Alberts created a study group for the noble children under their cute little faction," she said. "I want Lewis to be a part of that study group."

    It was a study group where only boys were allowed.

    To be honest, it wasn''t that bad. The de facto leader of that faction was Marquis Alberts whose family was known to produce schrs. Their group was also known to be loyal followers of the emperor.

    [Count Thompson and Marquis Alberts are quite famous for being "decent" noblemen. I wonder what happened to Byron and Harry.]

    Well, maybe all families had problematic children.

    "Why do you need to go that far for that foxy boy?" the emperor asked in a cold voice. "If you fancy that boy, I will really kill him this time."

    She rolled her eyes at that. "Lewis is my son."

    "I shouldn''t have asked," he said while shaking his head. Then, he sipped his earl gray tea before he talked again. "I''ll ask Glenn to send you a gift in the middle of your little tea partyter."

    "I want flowers," she said excitedly. "My favorite flower is¨C"

    "Princes don''t need flowers," he cut her off rudely. "You will look effeminate if I send you flowers."

    "When did flowers be exclusive to girls?" she asked in a bored tone. ""Effeminate," my foot. Papa Boss, if you''re a real man, you won''t care what other people think of your gender. Even if you like "girly" stuff like pink, flowers, dancing, clothes, makeup, or whatever the stupid society decided to be "feminine," if you''re confident with yourself, those things don''t matter."

    "Not when you''re the future crown prince of this empire," he said indifferently. "Your ideals don''t apply to any child born in the royal family. We have a lot of enemies and they are just waiting for you to make a mistake. If they see a hint of femininity in you, they would use that as a chance to ruin you."

    "And what are you they going to do?" she scoffed. "Use "gay" as an insult when it shouldn''t be?"

    He nodded firmly. "They would even spread a rumor about how the future crown prince fancies boys."

    "They can do that to a child?"

    He nodded. "The nobles and the citizens won''t ept an effeminate crown prince," the emperor said. "Prince Nero is the one who''s going to suffer if you don''t protect his image properly."

    Neoma gave him a dire stare. "I still want flowers, Papa Boss."

    "No," Emperor Niki said. "I''ll send you something else."

    [Sc*mbag.]

    ***

    "LEWIS, you''re eight years old now," Neoma said while she was sitting in front of her study table. The count and the marquis (plus the brats) would arrive in a few minutes. She was still in her room while writing the recipe of beef wellington. She''d give it to her pce''s head chefter. "Since I''m your mother, I decided that I want you to enter a study group." She turned to Lewis who was standing beside her with his hands behind his back. "I know that it will be very difficult for you to mingle with other kids. They might even bully you again. But I really want you to receive proper education, Lewis."

    Sadly, she couldn''t simply ask the emperor to put Lewis in the same sses as hers.

    After all, the education that the royal prince received was exclusive only to the MALE children of the royal family.

    "Please endure it, Lewis," she said seriously. "If you want to stay by my side forever, you have to learn how to be a proper "noble" even if you aren''t. I know that a person shouldn''t be judged by his educational background. But unfortunately, I am not powerful enough to protect you from the sc*mbags around us. So I want you to help yourself fit in this society for now."

    To be honest, she was this concerned for Lewis because she wanted him to live like a normal person. Right now, she wasn''t sure how long she would be allowed in the pce. If ever something bad happened to her, she wanted Lewis to be able to take care of himself.

    She was far from being a good person.

    But at least, she wanted to be nice to the people that she was using to survive. That included Lewis and Nero. She was using the children for her survival and while it left a bad taste in her mouth, she couldn''t stop because she wanted to live.

    "I''m sorry if I''m deciding things for you, Lewis," Neoma said with an apologetic smile. "I''m a bad mother, am I not?"

    "You. Not. Mother," Lewis said metallically. Then, he pointed a finger at her. "You," he said, then he ced a hand on his chest. "My princess."

    ***

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 Chapter 30 - MY PRECIOOOUS... GIFT

    "YOU MEAN LEWIS, the fox boy?"

    "He''s a fox?" Nero asked in surprise. Right now, he was in his room in the temple while having tea with Duke Quinzel. Thanks to his precious Neoma''s Mana, he has recovered enough to be able to get up from the bed and have tea with his guardian. "Neoma didn''t mention anything about her butler''s identity."

    Duke Quinzel sipped his tea before he spoke again. "Lewis is thest surviving member of the Silver Fox n."

    "Do you know him personally, Your Grace?"

    "No, not really," the duke said while shaking his head. "For the past years, His Majesty and I have been working together to hunt down the people behind the ck Market in the empire. Justst year, I got a tip about an illegal auction house that sells ves to nobles and other big shot personalities from different parts of the world. When we raided the auction house, Lewis was one of the ves that we rescued. That was how I got to know the fox boy."

    "ording to the history books that I''ve read, the Silver Fox n used to be one of the most prestigious ns in the empire," he said. "What happened to them?"

    "Well, humans are cruel to those who look quite different from them," his uncle said with a sad smile. "The previous emperor used that to push the people of the empire to discriminate the Silver Fox n. Knowing that they were feared and unwanted, the n went into hiding. That was when the previous emperor asked his men to hunt them down. He wanted more power so he stole and ate the Marble of every Silver Fox that his knights caught."

    "What are those Marbles?" he asked curiously.

    "Apparently, Marbles are the life force and Mana that the Silver Foxes had cultivated all their lives," the duke said. "It is believed that if a human ate the Marble of a Silver Fox, that person will be very powerful."

    "And the previous emperor ate more than one Marble?" he said, then he smirked when he remembered something. "The history books taught me that my grandfather died because of an unknown disease. Could it be that he died from his greediness?"

    "Your Royal Highness, please don''t talk that way about the previous emperor," Duke Quinzel scolded him. "He was still your grandfather."

    "Why are people not allowed to "bad-mouth" a deceased person when the dead in question was really a sc*mbag when he was still alive?" he asked with a smile. "If you don''t want people to speak ill of you when you die, then live a decent life."

    "Tell that to yourself, Na-ra," the duke said with an equally sweet smile¨C emphasizing the sybles of her fake name as if to remind him of his current position. "If you don''t want me to tell people in your funeral that you were an insolent child, then please watch your attitude."

    His smile instantly faded when he heard that. "Have you forgotten who I am, Duke Quinzel?"

    "You are Nara Quinzel, my daughter," the duke said with a smile. "And as long as you have my name, I''ll raise you like you''re my own child."

    That meant that the duke wouldn''t treat him like the royal prince that he was.

    He couldn''t find a retort to that.

    Duke Quinzel chuckled as if he knew that he won that petty argument. "Anyway, why are you suddenly curious of Lewis?"

    "He''s a boy around Neoma''s age," he said bitterly. "I can''t believe that His Majesty allowed that fox boy to be Neoma''s butler and knight. Even though my sister is pretending to be me, she''s still a girl. What if Lewis fancies my Neoma?"

    The dukeughed softly. "What if it''s the other way around?"

    He scoffed at that thought. "Impossible. Neoma will never get married," he dered confidently. "She''s mine."

    "You don''t own Princess Neoma," his uncle reminded him in a serious tone. "Just because you''re the future crown prince doesn''t mean you have the right to own people."

    "I don''t want to own every single person in the empire," he countered. "I only need Neoma. Her existence is irreceable to me."

    "That thought is far more dangerous, my dear nephew," Duke Quinzel said with a sad smile. "Thest time an emperor tried to own the most unique rose in the empire, he lost everything."

    Nero couldn''t help but feel like he knew who the duke was talking about.

    [Is His Grace referring to His Majesty?]

    But what kind of "rose" could cause an emperor to lose his everything?

    ***

    "YOUR ROYAL Highness, are you sleepy?"

    "No," Neoma said, then she covered her mouth with her hands when she yawned. It was fine to act that way because she was still in her room. Aside from Sir Glenn and Lewis, Stephanie and Alphen were the only people there. In short, everyone in her chamber right now was aware of the royal secret so she could act a bit freelypared to when she was surrounded by other servants. "Just a little bit."

    Sir Glennughed softly, then he got down on one knee to match her eye level. "May I carry you, Your Royal Highness? It will be dangerous if you walk in that state."

    Before she could respond to the knight, Lewis stood protectively in front of her.

    "You''re too young and too small to carry the princess," Sir Glenn told Lewis with a softugh.

    Well, Lewis wasn''t "too small" for his age. Even though the fox boy was only eight years old, he was already almost as tall as Byron and Harry who were already twelve years old. But of course,pared to Sir Glenn who stood more than six feet in height, she could see why the knight said Lewis was still "too small."

    "It''s okay, Lewis," she told her butler. "We can trust Sir Glenn."

    Only then did Lewis step aside.

    When she raised her arms, Sir Glenn carried her until she was sitting on his arms. To secure her position, she wrapped her arms around his neck.

    "Sir Glenn, is it okay for you if you carry me like this?" she asked when they were already in the hallway leading to the main entrance of the pce. Walking behind them was Lewis, Stephanie, and Alphen. "Won''t people think that the royal prince is weak if they see me being carried by a knight?"

    "Of course not, Your Royal Highness," Sir Glenn said. "It''s a norm for royal and noble children to be carried by their knights or aids around."

    "Oh," she said. "No wonder kids in this empire act like snowkes."

    "I apologize but I don''t understand what you mean, Your Royal Highness."

    "Never mind," she said with a smile, then she covered her mouth with her hands when she yawned. "I want to end the afternoon tea as soon as possible and continue my dream fromst night."

    "Is it a good dream, Your Royal Highness?"

    She smiled and nodded. "In that dream, I pped the person who bullies me and even called him an idiot sandwich."

    The knightughed softly, then he whispered. "Was it His Majesty?"

    She gasped and whispered back. "How did you know?"

    "It wasn''t a dream, Your Royal Highness," Sir Glenn whispered again in a cheery voice. "Last night, you really pped His Majesty and called him an idiot sandwich."

    Neoma gasped aloud. "Oh my gosh," she said in disbelief. "You should have taken a video of the momentous event, Sir Glenn."

    ***

    NEOMA''S cheeks already hurt from smiling but she had to endure.

    Right now, she was in the rose garden of nco Pce while having tea with Count Thompson and Marquis Alberts. Of course, the brats Byron and Harry (who couldn''t even look at her properly) were there.

    Recently, she found out that Count Thompson and Marquis Alberts were actually first cousins. No wonder Byron and Harry looked like brothers since they both had light blonde hair and blue eyes. They also looked like their fathers, obviously.

    Count Thompson had blonde hair (tied in a low ponytail) and ocean blue eyes. He had a medium build and he wore a pair of round sses.

    Marquis Alberts also had blonde hair (clean-cut) and dark blue eyes. He was lean and obviously tall. He didn''t wear a pair of sses but he looked just as intelligent as the count. And of course, he had the air of dignity that most higher nobles possessed.

    [They kind of look intimidating.]

    Thankfully, Lewis stood behind her so she didn''t get that nervous.

    Sir Glenn and the other servants were on stand-by at the entrance of the garden. Plus, ording to Sir Glenn a while ago, there were hidden royal knights around to make sure that nothing bad would happen to her.

    "Your Royal Highness, we must apologize first," Marquis Alberts said. "Count Thompson''s son and my son forgot to tell us that they made ns with you."

    "It''s okay, Lord Alberts," Neoma said with a smile. "Brother Byron and Brother Harry are busy with their studies so it''s understandable if they forgot."

    The old nobles looked surprised when she called the brats "brother."

    On the other hand, Byron and Harry flinched.

    It wasn''t like it was forbidden for her to call older kids "brother" or "sister." In fact, it showed how "close" she was with the brats. But of course, once she became the official crown prince, she couldn''t call them that way anymore.

    "Your Royal Highness, I didn''t know that you''re close with Byron and Harry," Count Thompson said in amusement.

    "Oh, we had a misunderstanding at first but we fixed it when we had tea together," she said with a smile, then she turned to the brats. "Right, Brother Byron and Brother Harry?"

    Byron and Harry both didn''t react.

    But when she discreetly pointed at Lewis with a warning look on his face, the two brats immediately smiled and nodded.

    "We properly apologized to His Royal Highness and he generously forgave us," Harry said with a forced smile.

    "We became friends that day," Byron, with a forced smile as well, added. "His Royal Highness is fun to hang out with even though he''s younger than us."

    "Thank you, Brother Byron and Brother Harry," she said in a sweet voice, then she turned to Count Thompson and Marquis Alberts. Her cheeks already hurt from keeping her business smile so she decided to go straight to her goal. "I wish to spend more time with Brother Byron and Brother Harry because I feel like they will be a good influence on me. If possible, I want to join their study group with my butler."

    The old nobles looked surprised by what she said.

    "Your Royal Highness, we will dly wee you to our study group," Marquis Alberts said. He nced at Lewis with a nk look on his face before he turned to her again. "But I''m afraid that your butler can''t join us."

    "We''re just abiding by the rules, Your Royal Highness," Count Thompson added. "Ever since the study group of our faction has been established fifty years ago, only noble children have been epted to join."

    She smiled even though deep inside, she felt like she was in deep sh*t.

    [Gosh, when will the sc*mbag send his gift to me?!]

    As if on cue, she heard Sir Glenn speak loudly.

    "Attention," Sir Glenn said in a firm and clear voice. "His Majesty Emperor Niki de Moonasterio has arrived."

    Count Thompson and Marquis Alberts looked shocked, so were the brats Byron and Harry.

    Of course, she was just as shocked.

    Neoma turned to the entrance of the garden to see if she really heard it right.

    Lo and behold, the sc*mbag had really arrived. He even wore a stylish and extravagant set of dark clothes that looked one hundred times cooler because of his one-shoulder red mantle.

    When Emperor Niki met her eyes, he smirked arrogantly at her.

    Neoma almost puked.

    [The gift he said he''d sent me is himself?!]

    ***

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 Chapter 31 - RETURN TO SENDER

    "YOUR MAJESTY, Duke Sloane has arrived and he''s requesting for your audience."

    Niki stopped writing on his paper work to look up at Count Kyle Sprouse¨C his personal aide.

    Kyle was a tall,nky man with blonde hair, green eyes, and huge eyebags. His whiteplexion didn''t look normal anymore. It looked like he turned pale due to exhaustion. Still, despite his obvious haggardness, he was still dressed sharply.

    [All nobles are careful when ites to taking care of their image after all.]

    "You''re only a few years older than me but it looks like you''ve aged so much since thest time that I saw you," Nikimented while leaning against his chair. "What happened to you, Kyle?"

    Kyle rolled his eyes at him, finally dropping the formalities. "Whose fault do you think it is that I''ve aged this much, Your Majesty? I just arrived at the Royal Capitalst night when Glenn informed me that you went to the Astello Temple with Her Royal Highness. You didn''t even bring Glenn with you."

    The count was one of the few people who knew the royal secret¡­

    ¡­ and one of the selected few that he allowed to talk to him that way.

    "I had to stay up all night and use my Mana to make sure that no one will notice that you''ve opened the portal, Your Majesty," Kyle continued in an exhausted voice. "And I had to do all of that when I''ve just returned to the pce after a long mission."

    "Are youining?"

    "I am," he said with a firm nod. "I don''t get paid enough to deal with your recklessness, Your Majesty."

    "Too bad you can''t quit," he said with a smirk. "You know way too many secrets about the royal family that I can''t let you go alive."

    "Whether I stay with you or not, I''m pretty sure I''ll die early anyway. I''d rather die rich though so I''m sticking with you," the count deadpanned. Then, he must have realized that he was being too casual so he added: "Your Majesty."

    He just smirked before he changed the subject. "Why is Duke Sloane here when he didn''t make an appointment with me?"

    The aide let out a deep sigh. "You know how unpredictable Duke Sloane is, Your Majesty," he said while shaking his head. "And it''s not like we can simply ask him to leave. After all, he''s still the brother of thete empress."

    "Thete empress is long gone so Duke Sloane should stop acting like he''s still a part of the royal family," he said, then he stood up. "Tell the duke that I have an important matter to attend to so he should juste back another time."

    "Your Majesty, you already finished all the important matters that needed your attention," Kyle said, obviously nervous about what he nned to do this time. "Where are you going?"

    "To the royal princess''s tea party," Niki said while reaching for his jacket draped at the back of the chair. If his reason for not seeing Duke Sloane was "Prince Nero," then the duke couldn''tin. Plus, he had an excuse to see the royal princess anyway. "She''s expecting a gift and what else could be more precious than my existence?"

    ***

    HAVE you ordered an item in an online shop and waited for it excitedly? But when your item finally arrived, you realized that the product was very different from the photo posted by the seller. You felt scammed, didn''t you?

    Well, that was exactly how Neoma felt at the very moment that Emperor Niki arrived at her tea party. She was expecting a gift¨C not a trash.

    That was definitely an "expectation vs. reality" moment.

    [Can I ship him back to the hell he came from?]

    Despite Neoma''s inner feelings, she still had to stand up and smile to greet the sc*mbag.

    Count Thompson, Marquis Alberts, Byron, and Harry all stood up and bowed while greeting the emperor. "Greetings to the one and only moon of the Great Moonasterion Empire."

    "Wee to my tea party, Papa," Neoma greeted the emperor with a big, business smile. As long as they weren''t in a formal setting (like a meeting), she was allowed to call the sc*mbag casually. "Let me tell my servants to bring you a chair."

    "No need for that, Nero. I won''t stay long anyway," Emperor Niki said in his usual indifferent tone. Then, he turned to the entrance of the garden. "Bring them in."

    Much to her shock, several male attendants of the emperor came in holding big boxes wrapped elegantly. The one leading the attendants was a tall andnky blonde that looked like he hadn''t gotten a proper sleep for the past century.

    [Wait, he looks familiar.]

    She had seen those eyebags in her first life. If she wasn''t mistaken, the sleep-deprived noble was Count Kyle Sprouse¨C the emperor''s personal aide. As far as she remembered, the count was also one of her father''s childhood friends.

    "For the royal prince''s new friends, I prepared all the best study tools and new equipments for swordsmanship," the emperor said.

    Byron and Harry looked too shocked to react. But when Marquis Alberts cleared his throat, the kids bowed right away and spoke at the same time. "Our utmost gratitude, Your Majesty."

    The emperor just nodded. Then, he turned to the old nobles. "For Marquis Alberts and Count Thompson, I''m giving you the advance copies of all the books that the schrs of the empire will release this year. They will be avable at the end of the year but as a token of gratitude for looking after the royal prince, you''ll be one of the few people to get their hands on the books first."

    Marquis Alberts and Count Thompson both looked delighted by the emperor''s presents. Then, they bowed deeply. "Thank you for the honor, Your Majesty."

    Emperor Niki just nodded again, then he turned to her. "Of course, I also prepared a present for the royal prince''s tea party," he said with a smirk, then he turned to Count Sprouse. "Count Sprouse, show it to the prince."

    Count Sprouse bowed to the emperor before he opened the elegant rectangr box in his hands. Inside it was a beautiful golden key. "Your Royal Highness, this is the key of the new library that His Majesty built for you."

    Her eyes widened in shock. "A new library?"

    Okay, she was shocked.

    The nco Pce had already a library. Why did the emperor give her another one?

    "I turned the Sapphire Pce into a new library and study hall for you, Nero," Emperor Niki said. The Sapphire Pce that he mentioned was the smallest pce in the estate. It used to be a ballroom, but it had been ages since the emperor threw a party. "Now, you have a ce that you can use for the Book Reading Club that you mentioned to me before."

    Neoma''s smile froze. She didn''t remember mentioning a Book Reading Club to him before. Or was it originally Nero''s idea? Well, whatever it was, she had to y along. "Thank you, Papa. I can''t wait to open my Book Reading Club."

    The emperor smirked. "You can invite your other friends to join the club if you want. It will be lonely if the only members of the club are you and Lewis."

    She almost raised a brow at that.

    [The sc*mbag finally called Lewis by his name and not "foxy boy."]

    "Pardon me, Your Majesty," Marquis Alberts said in a somewhat confused voice. "But how can amoner join an exclusive club organized by the royal prince himself?"

    "Lewis will no longer be amoner soon," Emperor Niki said in a firm, clear, andmanding tone that befitted his position. "Under my order, the Silver Fox n will be recognized as part of the nobility again. Once thew is passed, Lewis will be given the title of a knight. He''ll be known as Sir Lewis of the Silver Fox n by then."

    Okay, Neoma was impressed.

    Wasn''t it justst night when she demanded her father for Lewis''s freedom? And now, the emperor already thought of a way to make her butler a noble.

    Technically speaking, knights were a part of the nobility and not the peasantry. But they still sat pretty lowpared to other nobles that belonged to the higher society. She wasn''tining though. As long as Lewis''s lineage would be epted as part of the nobility, her butler would be treated better than how he was being treated like amoner now.

    [But this sc*mbag should have at least given me a heads-up.]

    ***

    NEOMA couldn''t believe that she got what she wanted.

    While lying on her bed, she reyed the events that took ce a while ago.

    After Emperor Niki left her tea party, Marquis Alberts suddenly changed his attitude towards Lewis. He agreed to let her butler join the study group with Byron and Harry. The marquis said that she didn''t have to pay for Lewis''s education, but she insisted that her pce would fund it.

    In exchange of allowing Lewis to join the group faction, she invited Byron and Harry to join her Book Reading Club.

    [Should I teach those brats the joy of readingics?]

    Well, that would be hard because as far as she knew, there were no avableics in the empire yet.

    [Hmm¡­]

    Her thoughts were cut-off when her stomach growled.

    [Gosh, I''m hungry again.]

    She rolled on the bed until she was lying down on her side -Cleopatra. Then, she turned to Lewis who stood stiffly beside her bed. The knights and maids in-charge of her well-being were all waiting outside her door. "Lewis, is it time for dinner yet?"

    Since she didn''t have any schedule left for today, she was just waiting to eat again. She was living the piglet life right now and she was loving it.

    [I''ll just ask the emperor about the library and the Book Reading Club tomorrow.]

    "Dinner. No," Lewis said while shaking his head. "Princess. Just eat."

    "I know, right?" she agreed with a sigh. "I just had an afternoon tea a while ago and I''m already hungry again. I''m such a pig, am I not?"

    "Princess pretty pig."

    Sheughed at hispliment. Lewis, as her butler, kept spoiling her. Anyway, she got serious again when she remembered something. "Lewis, I''m sorry. I didn''t know that my father has a n to "resurrect" your n as part of the nobility. Are you upset that we''re making decisions for you and your n?"

    He shook his head. "Me alone. No n. Me don''t care."

    Aww, that made her feel sad for him.

    She was about tofort him when all of a sudden, the pocket watch on her side table vibrated. Knowing that it was Nero, she got up and picked up the call by opening the lid of the pocket watch.

    As soon as she did, Nero''s smiling face greeted him.

    "Hello, Big Brother," Neoma greeted him brightly. "How are you?"

    Nero''s smile got bigger. "I miss you, Neoma¡­" His voice trailed-off and she noticed that his gaze when past her. "Who is that boy behind you?"

    She turned to Lewis before she faced her brother on the "screen" again. "Oh, it''s Lewis. He''s my butler-sh-knight that I mentioned to you before, Big Brother."

    "Ah, I see," her twin brother said with a big and (kind of overly) sweet smile on his face. "Lewis is quite handsome, isn''t he?"

    She nodded in agreement. "His face is a national treasure, Big Brother."

    "Yes, and a boy with that kind of face is in your room, Neoma," Nero said. He was still smiling but for some reason, she was getting a creepy vibe from her twin brother. "How cute."

    That sarcastic remark sent chills down her spine.

    Neoma, out of instinct, closed the lid of the pocket watch¨C effectively cutting off the call. She felt horrified when she realized what she just did. "Did I just hang up on Nero?"

    ***

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 Chapter 32 - GIRLS RUN THE WORLD

    [I''M BABIE but not baby.]

    Neoma reminded herself that despite being a super duper cute five-year-old princess, she was still an adult inside.

    [An adult who got crept out by a child''s smile? Hah! You''re an embarrassment, Neoma de Moonasterio.]

    Her thoughts were cut-off when all of a sudden, the pocket watch in her hand rang.

    [Gosh, that surprised me.]

    She took a deep breath, then she picked up Nero''s call by opening the lid of the pocket watch.

    "Neoma, what''s wrong?" Nero asked with a worried look on his face. "Why did you hang up on me?"

    [Oh, he looks normal now.]

    "You scared me a while ago, Nero," Neoma said seriously. Her twin brother looked shocked by the sudden change of her mood. Still, she continued. "I understand why you''re worried about me. I''m very cute, charming, and loveable. It wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that I can get any boy that I want. You''re worried that Lewis might fall in love with me, right?"

    Nero nodded even though he looked confused by everything that she just said. "Yes. I don''t want you to be romantically involved with your butler."

    "Brother, I''m only five," she reminded him. "Don''t be silly."

    "But you''re too lovely, Neoma."

    She smirked haughtily. "I know, Big Brother. But don''t worry," she said while waving her hand in dismissal. "I''m not attracted to Lewis, and so he is. We just have a mother-and-son bond."

    "A what?" her twin brother asked with furrowed brows.

    "Lewis is my son," she dered proudly. "I''m raising him to be a decent human being."

    Nero fell silent for a while before he broke into a wide smile. "Ah, I get it now," he said while nodding his head. "Anyway, I need to go since Duke Quinzel is waiting for me. I just wanted to see your face. Have a good night, Neoma."

    She smiled and waved at Nero. "Bye-bye, Big Brother."

    After that, she closed the lid and plopped on the bed.

    [I should do something about Nero''s protectiveness], she thought to herself. [It''s good for me that he likes me. But I don''t want to be choked by his love].

    Who was it that made Nero love her to death again?

    [Me], she answered her own question. Then, she wrapped herself in the nket and rolled around the bed while kicking her short legs in the air. [Gosh, this is what I get for being too charming!]

    "Worm."

    She turned to Lewis with a confused look on her face. "Hmm?"

    "Princess," Lewis said, then he pointed at her. "Worm."

    Was it because she wrapped herself in the nket while wriggling on the bed?

    "I''m not a worm," Neomained lightly. "I''m a burrito."

    ***

    "NERO, you seem to be in a good mood."

    Nero smiled at Duke Quinzel''s remark. "I talked to Neoma and my misunderstanding has been cleared."

    Right now, they were in the carriage. Since he was already okay, he decided to go home with the duke. He would juste to the temple again if needed.

    "What kind of misunderstanding is it?" the duke asked curiously.

    "It''s about the fox boy," he said. "I was worried that the fox boy might try to seduce my Neoma. But after talking to my precious baby sister, I realized that she doesn''t even see the fox boy as a human."

    Duke Quinzel''s brows furrowed in confusion. "Then, how do Her Royal Highness see Lewis?"

    "A pet that she has to raise," Nero said with a proud smile. "From now on, I will treat the fox boy as Neoma''s second Soul Beast."

    ***

    NEOMA was surprised when she was summoned by Emperor Niki for tea after dinner.

    Since it was already night time, they had tea in the royal tea room. Sir Glenn and Lewis both stood by the door.

    Anyway, she wasn''t a fool to think that he just wanted to have tea with her. It was okay though. She wanted to talk to him anyway about her having her own stamp. That was why she brought a sketchbook and a pencil with her.

    "I heard that you gave the chef of your pce a new recipe," Emperor Niki said while elegantly cing his tea cup on the coaster. "He sent a letter to my pce to ask my permission if he can cook the dish for you. Attached to his letter was the recipe that you made."

    She wasn''t surprised that the pce chef had to ask her father for that kind of permission. After all, she was the "royal prince" and her diet was very important. The food that was being prepared in the royal kitchen was tested first for poison before being served to her.

    "I want to eat that, Papa Boss," Neoma said while putting sugar cubes in her tea. She got so used to sweetened tea that she couldn''t drink it normally now. "I''ll call the dish ''Beef de Moonasterio'' instead."

    [Sorry, Mr. Wellington who invented beef wellington.]

    "Who gave you the right to use the royal family name for that?"

    She let out a frustrated sigh. "Fine. Let''s just call it ''Beef Niki.''"

    "Excuse me?" he said, obviously offended. "You know that you can''t use my first name carelessly, don''t you?"

    "Fine," she gave up. "Let''s just call it beef wellington."

    Thankfully, the emperor didn''tin this time.

    "I have a job for you and your foxy boy," Emperor Niki said. "I want you to be close to House Thompson and House Alberts using their children."

    Ah, so that was the reason why the emperor gave her "too much" gift during her tea party.

    "Okay, Papa Boss," she said. "What do we need to do?"

    "House Thompson and House Alberts are both known to produce the brightest schrs in the empire," the emperor said. "Although they pledged their loyalty to the royal family, they still have a lot of things that they hide from us. Can you guess what it is?"

    "If they are families of schrs, then the thing that they must have been keeping from the royal family is knowledge," she said while nodding her head.

    "Oh," Emperor Niki said with a faint smirk. "I''m impressed. For a girl, you''re quite smart."

    "Girls are smart, strong, and awesome. You''re just too misogynistic to see our potential," Neoma retorted with a smirk. "Papa Boss, I bet I can run the whole empire better than you do."

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 Chapter 33 - SWORD LILY

    EMPEROR NIKOLAI''s smirk vanished. "Do you want to?" he asked threateningly. "Do you have the intention topete with Prince Nero for the throne, Princess Neoma?"

    "Nah," Neoma said right away. "I just want to be a truedy of leisure in the future."

    In short, she just wanted to be a rich duchess once she escaped from that hellhole.

    "Good," he said, satisfied by her answer. "Don''t even dream of bing the empress."

    That pissed her.

    She suddenly had the urge to change the f*ckingw so she would have a chance to be the crown princess just to spite her father. But nah, the sc*mbag wasn''t worth it.

    "So, what''s the job you have for me, Papa Boss?" she asked, changing the subject.

    "Find the Devil''s Grimoire."

    "Woah," she said, impressed. "That sounds badas¨C I mean, cool."

    He just gave her a dire stare before he continued. "The Devil''s Grimoire was originally owned by the royal family. But my grandfather deemed that the book was dangerous and shouldn''t be in possession of any human. He tried to burn the book but apparently, it suddenly disappeared."

    Wow, what a cool story.

    [I remember so many anime and weics series.]

    "My father tried to look for the Devil''s Grimoire but he didn''t find it," the emperor continued. "Although before he went insane, he imed that he found a trace of the book in the old library that House Thompson and House Alberts built together. When the marquis denied the previous emperor''s im, my crazy father burned down the library."

    [Gosh, the crazy gene in our family is strong.]

    "Despite my father''s deteriorating mental health back then, he was still the emperor who wouldn''t lie about things like that," her father continued. "That''s why I believe that the Devil''s Grimoire might be in the possession of either House Thompson or House Alberts. I''m not interested in the content of the book. But I realized that the cure for Prince Nero''s curse might be in there. That''s why I want you to find that book for me."

    "Sure," she said. It wasn''t that she was confident that she could do the job given to her easily. She just had to do it since she was a mere "employee." Plus, he wanted to do that for Nero. "But can''t you just ask them to hand it over, Papa Boss?"

    "If I do that, they will demand to know where the book will be used. I don''t want House Thompson and House Alberts to know your secret. I''ve always been wary of them because I feel like they''re too keen about the royal family''s business," Emperor Niki exined. "And I don''t think they will easily admit that they have the Devil''s Grimoire. After all, a lot of dangerous people with ill-intentions want the book." He sipped the tea before he continued. "And so, I want you and the foxy boy to retrieve the Devil''s Grimoire in secret."

    "Gosh. The mission sounds very dangerous and you want two children to do it?" Neomained, then she let out a deep sigh to calm herself. Sure, she agreed right away to take the mission. But she didn''t know that the book was sought by dangerous people. Fine, it was her fault. She should have known better. But still¡­ "Are you out of your mind, Your Majesty?"

    ***

    [SHE EXPLODED like a bomb, just as I expected.]

    By now, Niki was already used to Neoma''s short temper. It didn''t faze him anymore. He was also d that she didn''t curse at him this time. "I know that it''s dangerous but the two of you aren''t ordinary children," he said, then he put down the tea cup on the coaster. "And I won''t let you die. I''ll make sure that Glenn will keep you safe."

    If he was the one to make a move, House Thompson and House Alberts would tighten their security more.

    That was why he wanted Neoma to "infiltrate" the two houses by getting close to Byron Thompson and Harry Alberts. The two young boys weren''t the heirs of their respective families. That meant Count Thompson and Marquis Alberts wouldn''t keep an eye on them.

    "Use the young nobles to find anything that you can about their families'' collection of books," he told Neoma who was still fuming. "Once you have a clue, tell me. I will ask Glenn to steal the Devil''s Grimoire."

    Hearing that she wouldn''t be the one stealing the book made the royal princess calm down.

    He wouldn''t put Neoma''s life in danger. If she was hurt or killed, then Nero would definitely kill himself. He couldn''t lose his heir so he must protect the royal princess.

    "Okay, that sounds fair. If I only need to use my brain and charisma to get information, I can do it," Neoma said. Then, she sipped her overly sweetened tea before she continued. "I thought you''d ask me to steal the book, too."

    "What if I did?"

    She raised her tiny hands as if she was showing them to him. "You''d catch these hands."

    Again, he didn''t understand the royal princess. "Your words are confusing, Princess Neoma."

    "That''s just a part of my charm, Papa Boss," she said with a (fake) smile now. "Anyway, since my job this time is dangerous, I''d like to ask for an advancedpensation."

    That didn''t surprise him anymore. "What do you want this time?"

    "My own stamp," she said with a smile. "I don''t trust you 100%, Papa Boss. So to make sure that you won''t retract our deal, I decided that we need a proper contract. And to sign that contract, I need my own stamp."

    [Smart girl.]

    "Sounds fair," he said.

    "I already have a design that I want for my stamp," the royal princess said excitedly while opening the big sketchbook that she brought. "I want a diolus flower to be my sign."

    "That''s the first time that I''ve heard of that flower."

    "Don''t worry, Papa Boss. I drew it for you," Neoma said brightly, then she showed him the page of the sketchbook with a poorly drawn and poorly colored flower. "diolus flower ismonly known as the ''Sword Lily'' in the empire and??"

    The royal princess stopped talking midway when he dropped the tea cup in his hand.

    It shattered instantly as soon as it hit the floor.

    "Your Majesty!" Glenn yelled worriedly. In just the blink of an eye, the knight was already beside him. "Are you alright?"

    "Sword Lily¡­" he said in a whisper, ignoring his knight.

    At that moment, all Niki could hear was the loud, erratic beat of his heart. He shut his eyes tight to calm himself. But he wasn''t able to do that because suddenly, he heard the voice of the woman that he wanted to forget most.

    ["Niki, you have a face as pretty as a flower¡­ but a personality as dirty as the soil."]

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 Chapter 34 - TEMPER OVER FLOWERS

    ["YOU ARE as beautiful as a rose but your tongue is as sharp as a thorn, Lady Roseheart."]

    ["If you''re going topare me to a flower, thenpare me to a Sword Lily instead of a rose"], Mona said with her signature arrogant smirk. ["Sword Lilies stand for strength of character, faithfulness, and honor"]. She walked towards him, then caressed his cheek gently. ["I want it to be your reminder that women are strong¨C that we have unlimited potential even though we don''t have the thing between your legs."] Sheughed when she saw his face turn red because of the vulgar things that she said. ["Why are you blushing, Your Ma-jes-ty?"]

    "Stop!" Niki yelled in hopes of making the bitter memory disappear. When he opened his eyes, he was greeted by the royal princess whose eyes reminded him of Mona. Neoma had the color of his eyes but the way she looked at him reminded him of the lowly noblewoman. That irked him. And so, he stood angrily, then he smacked down his hands on the table. "Get out of my sight!"

    Anger shed the royal princess''s eyes.

    Much to his shock, Neoma stood up (on the chair because she was small) and smacked down her tiny hands on the table just like what he did. Then, she red back at him¨C her eyes as fearless as Mona''s. "Why the hell are you shouting at me, you prick?!"

    ***

    NEOMA hated being yelled at¨C especially not when she didn''t deserve it.

    She spent her first life being treated like sh*t by everyone around her. Thankfully, she gained back her confidence during her second life. Thanks to her parents back then, she learned to value herself.

    And now that she knew her worth, she wouldn''t let a chauvinistic sc*mbag treat her like this. She didn''t care if people would see her as a weird "child."

    People would always tell children like her to never talk back to their parents. In her second life, she couldn''t remember an instance where she talked back to her mommy and daddy. And that was because even though she was their child and she was supposed to be "inferior" to them, they still treated her with respect.

    [If adults want to be treated with respect by the younger generation, then they should act like proper adults.]

    Emperor Niki was far from "proper."

    "Listen, Your Majesty," Neoma said in an annoyed tone. She wanted to call him by his first name but she was afraid that Glenn might suddenly draw his sword and point it at her. After all, calling the emperor by his name was still a grave sin. "If I said or did something wrong, then tell me. I''m not a mind reader and I don''t have the time to figure out why you''re suddenly throwing tantrums. You''re an adult, aren''t you? Act like one. Communicate with me, dammit!"

    She literally wheezed after letting out her pent-up frustration.

    When she calmed down, she noticed that Glenn looked pale as if he was suddenly afraid of her. Well, the knight might be scared for her safety after shouting at the emperor.

    But when she looked at her father, he knew that he wouldn''t ask her to be killed.

    Emperor Niki looked quite surprised by his outburst. But at least, he seemed to have calmed down now. Also, she noticed the glint of amusement in his ash gray eyes.

    "Now, let''s talk," she said in a calm tone. "Did I do or say something wrong, Papa Boss?"

    "Yes," the emperor said without missing a beat. "I hate that flower the most."

    She didn''t know why but when he said that, it sounded like he was referring to a person and not the Sword Lily.

    Plus, she noticed that he was looking at her as if he was seeing another person.

    Someone that he seemed to hate with a passion.

    She could only think of one "detestable" person that the emperor could remember because of her.

    "Did the flower I choose remind you of my mother?" she asked carefully.

    The emperor remained silent but it was the kind of silence that screamed "yes."

    [Gosh.]

    "Papa Boss, if you need someone to listen to your woes about my mother or your tragic rtionship with her¡­" she said while tapping her chest. "Then, that person is not me. I don''t care about your emotional baggage." She let out a frustrated sigh, then put her hands on her hips. "Don''t treat me like sh*t just because of a trauma that you haven''t ovee yet. I think you need to see a therapist, Papa Boss."

    An awkward silence ensued.

    "Tea time is over," Emperor Niki said, finally breaking the silence in the room. "Go back to your room, Princess Neoma."

    "Thank god it''s over," she said, then she gave the emperor a business smile. "Good night, Papa Boss."

    When she turned to her side to see if she could jump from the chair, she was surprised to see Lewis. Her butler suddenly held her by the waist and wordlessly lifted her up. Then, he carefully put her down.

    "Thank you," she said to Lewis.

    "Your Royal Highness, let me walk you back to your pce," Sir Glenn offered.

    "Thank you, but you don''t have to. I''m safe with Lewis," she said to the knight. "Please stay with His Majesty instead, Sir Glenn. It seems like you''re the only person who can stand him for this long."

    The knight stifled hisughter by pretending to "cough."

    Emperor Niki, on the other hand, red at her. "Good night, Princess Neoma."

    That was a polite way of saying "leave now."

    She smiled at her father and bowed before she left the tea room with Lewis.

    "Gosh," she said while fanning her face with her tiny hands. "I always lose my cool whenever I''m around my father."

    "Princess."

    She turned to Lewis. "What?"

    Much to her shock, Lewis initiated a physical contact when he gently patted her head. "You good burrito."

    "I''m not a good burrito," Neomained with a pout. "I''m a pretty burrito, okay?"

    ***

    GLENN was amazed at the scene that he witnessed a while ago.

    Now he understood what His Majesty meant when he said the royal princess has a ???colorful" choice of words.

    To be honest, he was shocked at how Princess Neoma talked back to the emperor. But he was even more shocked when he realized that His Majesty didn''t get angry at the princess. In fact, despite his annoyance, he looked quite amused.

    "Your Majesty, are you alright?" Glenn asked the emperor worriedly. "Aren''t you going to discipline Her Royal Highness for talking back to you rudely?"

    "If I punish her, I''ll just prove her right about my "tantrum,"" His Majesty said, then he let out a frustrated sigh. "I''m going back to my room," he said, then he stood up. "Bring me a bottle of whiskey, Glenn."

    He bowed to the emperor. "As you wish, Your Majesty."

    To be honest, he was relieved that the emperor didn''t punish Her Royal Highness. After all, he had a soft spot for the royal princes who had thete Lady Roseheart''s spirit, and thete Princess Nichole''s "interesting" way of speaking.

    [His Majesty can tolerate Princess Neoma despite that.]

    And that gave Glenn hope.

    [Princess Neoma can bring back the old Emperor Niki that I know.]

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 Chapter 35 - WELCOME TO MY BOOK READING CLUB

    "MY SON, how was your first day of ss?" Neoma asked Lewis excitedly. "Did you have fun? Did you learn a lot? Did someone dare to bully you?"

    "ss okay," Lewis said in his usual monotone voice. "No bully."

    She waited for her butler to talk more but he didn''t.

    [Oh, well. Lewis is Lewis.]

    Right now, they were on their way to the "Prince Nero''s Royal Library." Sir Glenn and Lewis were walking half a step behind her. Stephanie, Alphen, and three other maids were walking behind the two.

    She spent half of the day apart from Lewis while she was on her daily sses. On the other hand, her butler went to the study hall of House Marquis to have sses with Byron and Harry.

    Lewis went back to the pce after that.

    And now, she would spend her afternoon with the three boys for her Book Reading Club.

    [ording to Alphen, it''s Nero''s original idea.]

    Of course, her father wouldn''t build a library for her. She wasn''t disappointed to know that the library was built for Nero because in the first ce, she was never interested to have one anyway. Plus, this was just work for her.

    [I''m a professional.]

    Anyway, she wasn''t that impressed when she arrived at the Sapphire Pce. Of course, the pce was elegant and luxurious. But it paled inparison with nco Pce¨C which was understandable because her pce was built for every crown prince born in the royal family.

    When they entered the royal library, she was quite surprised.

    The bookshelves were really huge and each shelf was filled with different books. Gosh, just looking at those already made her feel sleepy.

    She remembered that during her first like as a weak princess, she did nothing but study so that she wouldn''t feel irrelevant. When she was reborn in the modern world, she didn''t devote herself to studies alone. She learned the importance of bnce thanks to her loving parents in that world.

    [Mom and Dad taught me to study hard and y harder.]

    This time, she just wanted to be a woman of leisure.

    [I can''t wait to be a capitalist that will exploit the overly wealthy noble families in this f*cking empire.]

    "Greetings to the First Star of the Great Moonasterion Empire," Byron and Harry greeted her when she arrived at the second floor of the library.

    The butlers behind the young noble children also bowed to greet her.

    "Good afternoon, Brother Byron and Brother Harry," Neoma greeted the boys brightly. She decided to greet them casually because she needed to get close to them. All for the sake of her mission, of course. "Shall we begin our first book discussion?"

    ***

    NEOMA raised a brow when she saw the thick books in front of Byron and Harry.

    Right now, they were in the study hall in the second floor of the royal library. They upied the table in the middle of the hall. She sat in the center while Lewis sat in her right side. Harry was in her left side and Byron sat beside Harry.

    She asked their servants to wait in the first floor because she didn''t want them to hear the story that she chose to "read" to the children for today.

    "So, what books do you suggest that we read today?" Neoma asked with a big smile while looking at Byron and Harry. Of course, she already decided the "book" that they were going to discuss. But of course, it was only right to ask for the noble children''s opinion first. You know, for the sake of formality. "Let''s hear you out, gentlemen."

    Byron cleared his throat. This time, he didn''t look scared of her. He actually looked excited. Harry, too.

    [They must be book nerds.]

    She shouldn''t be surprised. After all, Byron and Harry were both from a schr family. They must have inherited their bloodlines'' love for books.

    "Your Royal Highness, I would like to rmend the Ancient Tongue by Sir Lucas Weston," Byron said proudly. "It''s a history book that tells the story of the magical kingdom that apparently existed before the Moonasterion Empire was built. Allegedly, the ruler of that kingdom was a demon lord that pretended to be human. The book suggests that the Snian Language, thenguage that the royal family speaks, came from this kingdom."

    She covered her mouth with her hands when she yawned.

    Of course, she had already read that book. She could also speak and understand Snian in her first life, although she must be rusty by now. Maybe she should study thenguage again and learn some Snian cusses that she could throw at the emperor if she needed to.

    "Can you speak Snian, Brother Byron?" she asked, then she spoke thenguage. "[If you can understand what I''m saying right now, then we can discuss that book.]"

    To be honest, she didn''t know if her pronunciation was correct because it had been a long time since she spoke Snian. Even in this lifetime, the emperor had never talked to her using thatnguage. Maybe her father thought she couldn''t speak Snian because she didn''t have a Language teacher yet.

    But it looked like she didn''t have to worry whether her pronunciation was right or not. Based on the clueless look on Byron''s face, it looked like he didn''t understand what she said.

    "I apologize, Your Royal Highness," Byron said, his cheeks red from embarrassment. "I will be more careful in choosing a book next time."

    "It''s okay, Brother Byron. This is just our first book discussion anyway," she said, then she turned to Harry. "How about you, Brother Harry?"

    "I brought a geography book that depicts the expansion of the empire throughout the years, Your Royal Highness," Harry said in a somewhat shy voice. "But I think we should discuss the book that you want to talk about for our first discussion, Your Royal Highness."

    Byron nodded in agreement.

    Heh, this was the moment she was waiting for.

    "But Your Royal Highness, I don''t think you brought a book with you," Byron said with furrowed brows. "Or is it in this library?"

    She smirked at that. "Brother Byron, I??m the book," she said proudly, then she pointed a finger at her temple. "I don''t need a physical book because the story that I will discuss with you is imprinted here."

    "Ohh," Byron and Harry said in unison, both looked excited.

    [In the end, they are still kids.]

    After she threatened Byron and Harry for bullying Lewis, they learned their lesson. Their arrogance was gone and they didn''t look down on her butler anymore. Now, they were acting like puppies because of their love for books.

    [I won''t disappoint you, my children.]

    "Before I begin, you must take an oath of silence first," she said, acting like she was dead serious. "The story that I will share with you today is a story passed down to the children of the royal family. But since Brother Byron and Brother Harry are friendly with me and Lewis now, I decided to share it with you. But only if you promised that you won''t share it with anyone else. Because if you speak of it to another soul, you''ll get cursed."

    Byron and Harry gulped at the same time, then they both nodded. "We promise to keep this a secret, Your Royal Highness."

    "Good," she said with a bright smile. "The "book" that I''m going to share with you is an Epic that depicts Friendship, Effort, and Victory."

    She loved J*mp''s concept, okay?

    Anyway¡­

    "The story is called Blondecat Chases Edgelord to Hell," she continued with her storytelling. "Blondecat is a ninja who grew up in a hidden vige called Maple Leaf. If you don''t know, a ninja is a covert mercenary. Anyway, Blondecat is an outcast because unknown to him, a monster was residing in his body¡­"

    She stopped and nced at Lewis who still had a nk look on his face.

    To be honest, she was about to say that the monster was a nine-tailed fox. But she remembered that Lewis came from a fox n so she just didn''t specify what kind of monster that was. She didn''t want her son to think that he was a monster.

    Neoma cleared her throat before she continued her storytelling. "That monster destroyed their vige in the past and so, Blondecat grew up being hated by most people. Because of the maltreatment that he experienced, he became a troublemaker. He dered that was he was going to be the next Ultra Ninja. But when he entered the ninja academy, he met his rival¨C Edgelord." She leaned forward to capture the boys'' attention even more. "Now, do you think it''s possible for Blondecat and Edgelord to work together in a team?"

    [Sh*nen J*mp, please don''t sue me.]

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 Chapter 36 - WHY CANT (SOME) PARENTS SAY SORRY?

    NEOMA''S voice was hoarse when the book discussion turned storytelling time ended.

    For three hours, she did nothing but talk about N*ruto. She ended up telling the whole story of the first season. Thankfully, Sir Glenn came back to pick her up to prepare for her dinner with the emperor.

    "Can I skip dinner?" Neoma asked in a hoarse voice. Currently, she was lying on the sofa of her bedroom -Cleopatra. Lewis was standing behind the sofa, Stephanie was in the bathroom while preparing her bath, and Alphen was in the next room¨C the giant walk-in closet¨C while preparing her clothes. She always had to dress up extravagantly whenever she had a schedule with her father. "I don''t want to see Papa."

    Sir Glenn, who stood in front of her, smiled kindly. "Are you still upset because of the argument you had with His Majesty, Your Royal Highness?"

    She nodded eagerly. "I can''t believe that Papa got upset just because I reminded him of my mother." She got up when she remembered something. "Sir Glenn, is there a picture of my mother here in the pce? I want to see her."

    In her first life, she didn''t even have the chance to know her mother''s name. After all, it was forbidden to talk about her. She died in her first life without knowing who gave birth to her.

    [At least, this time, I learned my mother''s name.]

    "I have a picture of Lady Roseheart," the knight answered with a sad smile. "Actually, it''s a group picture. Do you want to see it, Princess Neoma?"

    She nodded eagerly. "Yes, please."

    Sir Glenn smiled brightly at her. "I''ll show it to you after your dinner with His Majesty, Your Royal Highness."

    Neoma groaned inint, then she plopped back on the sofa. "You''re a trickster, Sir Glenn."

    ***

    "STARTING tomorrow morning, you''re required to consume poison with your food."

    Neoma almost chocked on her white truffle pasta because of what the sc*mbag just said.

    Gosh, she was just starting to enjoy her luxurious dinner but then, the emperor had to open his mouth and ruin her nightpletely.

    "Why are you acting surprised?" Emperor Niki asked indifferently, then he sipped his red wine before he spoke again. "You''re at the age where you should start consuming poison little by little so your body would develop immunity against it. Since your body is different from average kids, you won''t die as long as the amount of poison you take in is right. Madam Hammock is in-charge of that."

    The emperor was a sc*mbag but this time, he wasn''t saying that just to be mean to her.

    In her first life, after Nero was poisoned, he began taking different kinds of poison to strengthen his immunity against it. But even if her twin brother wasn''t poisoned, he would still have to do it at that age.

    After all, it was a custom for every prince born in the royal family to do so.

    Since she was acting as the royal prince now, she had to follow the practice in ce of Nero.

    "I understand, Papa Boss," Neoma said. When she epted that job, she knew the responsibilities that came with it. As long as she knew that a task was within the scope of the role that she epted, she would do it withoutint. "I will do it."

    She''d lie if she said she wasn''t scared.

    In fact, she could even say that she was traumatized because she died of coconut wine poisoning in her second life.

    She often joked about her "pathetic" cause of death because she knew that it must have been funny to outsiders. But to be honest, deep inside, remembering the pain that she went through until her final moments was anything but funny.

    [Let''s not think about it.]

    "Aren''t you going toin?"

    She turned to the emperor who was throwing her a suspicious look. "I know that this is a part of my responsibility when I epted your job offer, Papa Boss," she said direly. "I''m a professional child actor. Plus, I''m not like a certain someone who throws tantrums when things don''t go his way."

    He just rolled his eyes at her "shade."

    "Aren''t you going to apologize to me, Papa Boss?"

    He raised a brow at her. "Why would I do that?"

    "I have a long list of things that you need to apologize for," she said. "But I want an apology for thest argument that we had, Papa Boss. I really hate it when I get yelled at for no valid reason at all. I get that you hate me because of my mother. But it''s not my fault that I was born as your daughter, is it?" When he didn''t react, she continued. "Believe me, Papa Boss. If I had a choice, I wouldn''t choose you as my father."

    If she could choose a father, she would choose her dad in her second life again and again. Her dad back then might not be an emperor¨C but he treated her like a princess.

    [I miss my mom and dad.]

    "The stamp that you requested is almost done," Emperor Niki said, obviously changing the topic. "Glenn will discreetly send it to your pce once it''s finished."

    The emperor was acting like how some Asian parents act around their children. Instead of apologizing, some of them simply acted nice to their kids.

    But in Emperor Niki''s case, he wasn''t acting "nice."

    He was using his wealth to shut her up.

    Neoma let out a sigh while shaking her head. "Papa Boss, you''re so bad at being a father."

    ***

    "SIR GLENN!" Neoma called excitedly when she saw the knight waiting at her outside the dining hall. "If you''re a knight, you should keep your promise."

    Sir Glenn chuckled, then he got down on one knee and put his hands on her shoulders. "Your Royal Highness, shall we take a walk before you head back to your pce?"

    She nodded, then she turned to Lewis who stood quietly behind her. Whenever she would go to her father''s pce to have a meal with him, she would only bring her butler because the emperor didn''t want more people in his ce. "Lewis, go home first."

    Lewis didn''t move as if he didn''t want to leave her with the knight.

    "I''ll be fine," she assured him. "Be a good boy and I''ll tell you a new story before I sleep."

    Lewis''s eyes sparkled, then he bowed to her.

    "Good boy," Neoma said, then she turned to Sir Glenn with a big smile. "Shall we, good sir?"

    ***

    WHEN NEOMA sat on the bench in the rose garden in front of her pce, Sir Glenn got down on one knee and looked up at her with kind eyes.

    "I''m only going to show you the picture once, Your Royal Highness," Sir Glenn said with an apologetic look on his face. "His Majesty doesn''t know that I''m still keeping this picture. He''ll probably kill me if he finds out about it."

    "I understand, Sir Glenn," Neoma said, then she raised her right arm. "I promise that I will only look at the picture once."

    He smiled in relief. "Thank you, Your Royal Highness."

    After that, Sir Glenn took out the pendant of his ne from the breast pocket of his uniform. It was a in tear-shaped silver locket. When he opened the locket, a projector-like transparent cube appeared above it. Inside the transparent cube was the picture he promised her.

    There were four people in the photo.

    Emperor Niki sat on the red sofa beside a woman with pinkish hair and light blue eyes. Sir Glenn stood behind the emperor, and a handsome knight with ck hair and golden eyes stood behind thedy.

    The only woman in the picture was obviously her mother.

    Her first thought was that her mother was beautiful.

    And then, she thought the woman looked familiar.

    A sense of dread filled her as she realized that it wasn''t only her mother who looked familiar to her. She also recognized the face of the knight with golden eyes.

    [No¡­]

    Her heart started to thump painfully against her chest.

    She didn''t recognize them right away because of their strange hair and eye color that didn''t naturally exist in the modern world. Back then, the two had natural ck hair and dark brown eyes¨C just like how she looked like in her second life.

    [This can''t be¡­]

    She felt gutted.

    She couldn''t breathe.

    And then, her body started to shake uncontrobly.

    "Mommy¡­" Neoma whispered in disbelief while looking at the pink-haired woman that looked exactly like her mother in her second life. And then, her blurred gaze shifted to the knight with golden eyes. That was when her tears finally rolled down her cheeks quietly. "Daddy..."

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 Chapter 37 - TWO DADS AND A MOM

    NEOMA, back in her second life, was born with loving parents.

    Her mommy was Mrs. Areum Kim, a seasoned anchor. While her daddy was Won-shik Kim, a veteran actor. As far as she remembered, both her parents were half Korean-half English. Because of that, they barely looked Asian.

    Also, they were more used to speaking in English than in Koreannguage. That was why she also grew up calling them "mommy" and "daddy" instead of "eoma" and "appa."

    Still, they weren''t the only family in Korea who had foreign blood in them. Aside from their mixed race, they were just like any ordinary family in that country. She never noticed anything strange from her parents.

    Ah, maybe except for the name they chose for her.

    She had always wondered about howe her parents ended up giving her the name that she had in her first life.

    And now, it seemed like she already found the answer.

    "Princess Neoma!"

    Neoma blinked several times when she finally came back to her senses.

    She still couldn''t breathe properly and her body couldn''t stop shaking. Thankfully, the photo was gone. It probably disappeared when Sir Glenn closed the locket to attend to her needs. After all, when she "woke up," the knight''s hands were already on her shoulders.

    "Your Royal Highness, please take a deep breath," Sir Glenn instructed her.

    She nodded, then she did as she was told.

    "You''re doing good, Princess Neoma," the knight said. "Please do it again."

    She took several deep breaths before she finally calmed down. It probably helped that she could no longer see the photo of her mommy and daddy. She was still a little shocked, but she forced herself to get her sh*t together.

    "I''m fine now," she assured the knight who looked really worried about her. "Thank you, Sir Glenn."

    "What happened, Your Royal Highness?" he asked worriedly, then he handed her a white handkerchief.

    She epted the hankie and wiped her tears off with it. "Thank you, Sir Glenn," she said before she exined. "I was just touched by my mother''s beauty, and then I got sad when I realized that I can''t meet her anymore."

    It was a lie but it seemed like Sir Glenn bought it. He even gave her a look of pity.

    "Sir Glenn, may I know who the other knight in the photo is?" she asked curiously. She wanted to know if her Daddy Won-shik was still alive in that world. But to not make Sir Glenn suspicious, she came up with another lie. "I haven''t seen him in the pce. Plus, he''s wearing a different uniform than yours."

    Sir Glenn smiled sadly before he spoke. "The knight that you saw in the photo was Sir Gavin Quinzel," he said. And she didn''t miss the use of past tense. "He was themander of the White Lion Knights¨C His Majesty''s elite army¨C before he died."

    Her heart thumped painfully against her chest when she heard that.

    And then, she suddenly realized something.

    ""Quinzel?"" she asked in surprise. "How was themander rted to Duke Quinzel?"

    Come to think of it, Sir Gavin Quinzel and Duke Rufus Quinzel both had golden eyes.

    The knight''s face smiled sadly. "He was Duke Quinzel''s older brother. Sir Quinzel was the heir apparent of their family when he was still alive."

    Okay, she didn''t how to react to that.

    [My father and my daddy were cousins?]

    She had no doubt that in this world, Emperor Niki was her father. Her face and her Mana couldn''t hide her blood.

    [But howe Gavin Quinzel became my father in my second life?]

    Could it be¡­

    "What was themander''s rtionship with my mother, Sir Glenn?" she asked, her heart beating loud and fast against her chest. "They seemed close since he was standing behind her in the photo."

    She didn''t know if it was just her imagination but she thought the knight smiled bitterly before he answered her question.

    "Sir Gavin Quinzel was the knight that His Majesty assigned to be Lady Roseheart''s escort before," Sir Glenn said, then he smiled and changed the topic right away. "Princess Neoma, it''s time to return to your pce. Shall I carry you?"

    She just nodded. Knowing that Sir Glenn wouldn''t answer any of her questions anymore, she decided to give up for now. Plus, she wanted to sleep and clear her mind.

    Neoma wrapped her little arms around Sir Glenn''s neck when he carried her. Then, sheid her cheek on his shoulder and closed her eyes. Even though she didn''t want to think about it, she still couldn''t help it. [Did Lady Roseheart cheat on Papa Boss with Sir Quinzel?]

    ***

    THE SIDE effects of the poison that Neoma took this morning were headache and vomiting.

    It wasn''t as bad as she thought it would be. The terrible hang-over that she had back in her second life was worse. But of course, the side effects were light because the portion she took was only in small quantity.

    To build-up her resistance to poisoning, they had to start with a little amount of poison.

    "How do you feel, Your Royal Highness?" Madam Hammock, her personal Healing Sage, asked. The doctor was standing in front of her bed with a gentle smile on her face. "Can you still handle the pain?"

    "I''m fine, Madam," Neoma said in a groggy voice. After having her breakfast, the symptoms of poisoning instantly kicked in. So right now, she was confined to her bed. No sses for her until she recovered. "Thank you for taking care of me."

    "You don''t have to thank me, Princess Neoma," the older woman said with a smile. "I''m just doing my job."

    She just gave her a weak smile. "Madam, can I ask you questions about your ability."

    "Of course, Your Royal Highness."

    She thought about it all night.

    There was a high chance that Emperor Niki and Sir Glenn wouldn''t answer her questions about her mother and Sir Quinzel. And so, she decided to investigate the story behind her mother and two fathers.

    [I have a feeling that the three of them were entangled in a tragic story.]

    "Can a sage look into the past of other people?" she asked Madam Hammock seriously. "Is there a way for me to take a peek inside another person''s memory, Madam?"

    The Healing Sage looked surprised by her questions.

    "Most sages have the ability to do that. But probing into one''s memory can only be allowed if you have the consent from that person, Your Royal Highness," the doctor said. "They also must not be intoxicated or coerced from doing so."

    There was no way in hell that Emperor Niki would allow her to take a peek into his memory.

    "What if I want to see the memory of a person who''s long gone?" she asked instead. "Is there a way to do that, Madam?"

    This time, the Healing Sage looked hesitant to answer her questions. "Your Royal Highness, may I know why you''re very interested in this matter?"

    "It''s for research for one of my sses, Madam," she lied. "I was asked by my teacher to study about spells that catch my interest.

    [Wow, I''m such a big liar.]

    The madam looked relieved to hear that. "If that''s the case, then I rmend the Royal Grimoire that you can find in His Majesty''s royal library."

    Ah, why did she only think of that now?

    A grimoire was a book of spells and it typically had instructions on how to perform magical spells. But¡­

    "Does the Royal Grimoire include spells that are forbidden, Madam?"

    Madam Hammock shook her head. "The spells in the Royal Grimoire are all approved by the Royal Tower, Your Royal Highness. Forbidden spells are banned in the empire so they aren''t included in it."

    [Then, I don''t need the Royal Grimoire.]

    Neoma then realized that there was one more grimoire that could probably help her uncover the truth about her parents'' affair.

    [I need the Devil''s Grimoire.]

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 Chapter 38 - Iâ€™M A SHONEN MANGA HERO(INE)

    [MY LIFE story could be the next hit shonen manga. Tags: time travel, reincarnation, action, fantasy, gender-bender. I should definitely exploit my struggles and use it to create money for my dream of bing ady of leisure someday.]

    Gosh, since when did she have a capitalist mindset?

    [I''m scaring myself.]

    "Princess."

    Neoma turned to Lewis who knelt beside her bed with a worried look on his face. She smiled weakly at him. "Don''t worry, Lewis," she assured him. "I''m not dying."

    She had been stuck to her bed for the whole day and she hadn''t eaten anything solid yet. Aside from antidote, all she was ever fed was soup. Thankfully, she didn''t feel hungry. Anyway, the sun just set and Stephanie had already changed her pajamas for the third time because she was heavily sweating the entire time.

    Anyway, aside from the difort that she felt all day, she was still a little grateful for the "break" that she had. Her brain came up with a few ways to look for the Devil''s Grimoire.

    Disimer: she wasn''t book smart.

    But the memories of her first life surely helped her get this far. Plus, she had read too many m*nga and w*ics series in her past life. They served as her guide.

    [I was raised by S*ilor Moon, w*ics, and Sh*nen J*mp m*nga series.]

    Anyway, she had to focus on her mission while locked up in her room because she didn''t want to think about sad things. Sad things like Duke Rufus Quinzel''s "kindness" to her in her past life might not really be kindness. If the duke''s older brother betrayed His Majesty, then his "loyalty" to the emperor could mean another thing.

    [It could be atonement for the sin that Commander Quinzelmitted against Papa Boss.]

    "I think I''m feeling better now," she lied to drive the sad thoughts away, then she got up and leaned against the headboard. "Lewis, can you do me a favor?"

    Lewis immediately stood up and nodded.

    "Thank you, Lewis," Neoma smiled sweetly at him. "Please get me my writing tools."

    ***

    "YOUR MAJESTY, Her Royal Highness sent a letter to you," Glenn informed His Majesty who didn''t even raise his head.

    Well, it was understandable.

    After all, Emperor Niki was reading an important document.

    [I wish he would pay more attention to Princess Neoma.]

    As an emperor, His Majesty was a great ruler. But as a father, he had to say that the emperor hadn''t gained the right to be called one so far.

    "Read it," Emperor Niki ordered him.

    "As you wish, Your Majesty," Glenn said, then he carefully opened the royal princess''s letter.

    He had to stifle augh when he scanned the content.

    "What is it?" the emperor demanded.

    When he raised his head, he realized that His Majesty was already looking at him. The emperor probably got curious when he held back hisughter. "Your Majesty, I''m afraid that I don''t have the right to utter such words in front of you."

    "Did the royal princess cuss at me again?"

    He shook his head. "Thankfully, Her Royal Highness didn''t cuss at you, Your Majesty. But the royal princess''s choice of words is unbefitting of her position."

    "It''s fine," the emperor said. He was obviously very used to the way the royal princess would talk to him. "Just read it. We both know how the royal princess talks anyway."

    "Are you sure, Your Majesty?"

    He rolled his eyes. "Yes, so read the damned letter now."

    [And he wonders why Princess Neoma has a bad temper?]

    "I''ll read it now, Your Majesty," Glenn said, then he cleared his throat. ""Dear, Papa Boss. Every inch of my small body aches like hell. Will you kindly bring the Royal Grimoire to my room? Don''t throw tantrums, okay? It''s for my job. I need it now. As in n-o-w. That''s all. Ciao!"

    Not that he knew what "ciao" meant.

    His Majesty looked stressed after hearing the content of Princess Neoma''s letter. "It seems like the royal princess needs to learn how to write a formal letter.???

    "I think Her Royal Highness knows how to write a formal letter," he said with a smile. "The royal princess just doesn''t want to use formalnguage on you, Your Majesty."

    The emperor nodded in agreement. "She''s treating me like I''m her friend. How rude."

    [But you don''t seem to mind it, Your Majesty.]

    He suddenly remembered Princess Neoma''s face when he showed him Lady Roseheart''s photo. It was unusual. He also didn''t believe it when the royal princess said that she was just sad when she realized that she would never meet her mother.

    [That look wasn''t sadness. Her Royal Highness looked shocked and scared. She wouldn''t hyperventte like that if she was just sad.]

    Most of all, he noticed that she didn''t even nce at His Majesty in the photo.

    He felt like the one the royal princess called "daddy" wasn''t the emperor but Sir Gavin Quinzel. But he couldn''t wrap his head around it. After all, Princess Neoma had never seen the formermander before.

    Not that she would have a chance to meet Sir Quinzel.

    He felt a painful thump in his chest when he remembered how the lives of Lady Roseheart and Sir Quinzel ended.

    [Stop], he scolded himself. [Don''t sympathize with people who betrayed His Majesty.]

    He decided to just shrug it off. Maybe the royal princess was just confused, considering how lost she lookedst night.

    "Let''s go," Emperor Niki said, then he stood up and grabbed his jacket. "Let''s grab the Royal Grimoire from the royal library."

    Glenn smiled in relief. As he though, His Majesty could really tolerate Princess Neoma. There was still hope for the two to fix their strained rtionship. "As you wish, Your Majesty."

    ***

    "YOU''RE still alive?" Niki "greeted" the royal princess as soon as he entered her chamber.

    "I''m sorry to disappoint you but I''m still alive and kicking, Papa Boss," Neoma said in a fake sad voice.

    He just smirked at his retort.

    When he reached her bed, he quickly checked on the royal princess from head to toe. If she could still talk back to him with her usual sass, then that meant she was really fine.

    "Next week, we''ll increase the dosage of poison that you need to take," he said, then he sat in the chair that Glenn pulled for him.

    Amazingly, the royal princess didn''tin at what he said.

    "Don''t look at me like you''re expecting aeback from me, Papa Boss," the royal princess said. "Like I said, I know my responsibility."

    He didn''tment on that. "What do you need the Royal Grimoire for?" He needed to know that before he handed her the book. "Just so you know, it''s not something that even the royal prince could easily get a hold of. I''m merely making an exception because you said it''s for your job."

    "I haven''t seen a grimoire in my life yet," she started to exin. "I mean, I know what it looks like. But I need to touch it and find out what makes it different from ordinary spell books. I figured the Royal Grimoire could share some simrities with the Devil''s Grimoire. If I know what makes them special from other spell books, then maybe I''d recognize the Devil''s Grimoire once I see it."

    He nodded in agreement. "For a girl, you''re quite something."

    "Stop saying "for a girl,"" she snapped at him again, her eyes clear as she red at him. "I don''t need your backhandedpliment."

    [There''s that look on her eyes again.]

    God, why did the royal princess have to inherit that lowly woman''s eyes?

    "Papa Boss, why do you hate me so much?" Neoma asked with a dangerous glint in her clear, round ash gray eyes that she got from him. "Is it because my mother hurt you really bad?"

    Glenn, who stood behind him, gasped loudly.

    Niki, on the other hand, suddenly felt numb.

    Every time he was reminded him of that lowly woman, all he could think about was the day that she ran away with the treacherousmander.

    [F*cking traitors.]

    "If I say that you''re right, then what will you do?" Niki asked in a cold voice. "How will you atone for your mother''s grave sin, Princess Neoma?"

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 Chapter 39 - HEART-TO-HEART WITH PAPA BOSS

    "HOW WILL you atone for your mother''s grave sin, Princess Neoma?"

    [This sc*mbag is really making me angry.]

    Neoma smiled brightly, then she turned to Sir Glenn. The knight was good to her so she didn''t want him to hear her curse. "Sir Glenn, can you give us some privacy?"

    Sir Glenn smiled nervously at her before he turned to the emperor. "Your Majesty?"

    [Right, the emperor is still his big boss.]

    "Leave," Emperor Niki said.

    Sir Glenn bowed to them and politely excused himself before he left the room.

    Now that she was left alone with the sc*mbag, she prepared her heart for another blood-boiling confrontation with him. She took a deep breath, then she turned to her father with a dead serious look on her face.

    "Are you high, Papa Boss?" Neoma asked in the most sarcastic tone she could muster. "I heard that the previous emperor, my grandfather, was a crazy ruler who almost drove the empire to ruins. Would you atone for your father''s sins? Would you apologize to the families of every single person that he had killed during his time? Would you beg the forgiveness of the kingdoms and nations that he invaded before? If you would, then I''d atone for my mother''s "grave sin." But if you wouldn''t, then let''s just drop this nonsense."

    The emperor looked shocked by her long rant.

    "If you still don''t get it, then I''ll be straightforward: I have nothing to do with my mother''s sin," she deadpanned. "Whatever happened between you and her in the past, it''s none of my business. In short, you can''t punish me for my mother''s sin." She let out a frustrated sigh when she remembered something. "And why are you venting out your anger only on me? Nero is also my mother''s son. But I never saw you treat my brother the way you treat me."

    "Nero and you are different," he deadpanned. "Nero is the crown prince."

    She rolled her eyes at hisme excuse. "I look like my mother, right? You hate me because you see my mother in me."

    This time, he didn''t have aeback.

    "I see it now," she said while nodding her head. "You haven''t moved on from my mother yet."

    He looked offended by that. "Excuse me?"

    "If you have truly moved on from my mother, then you wouldn''t punish me for her alleged sins," she insisted. "Papa Boss, there''s a thin line between love and hate. Make up your mind."

    He red at her.

    She opened her eyes wider in return. "Will you please stop being mean to me now? I''m not even asking you to like me. If you want to prove to me and to yourself that you''re really over my mother, then let''s at least be civil to each other."

    To be honest, she understood if Emperor Niki became a sc*mbag because he was hurt badly by her mother''s betrayal. Even though she loved Mommy Areum of her second life, she couldn''t say the same for Lady Mona Roseheart.

    [Well, I''d like to think that they are two different people for now.]

    She hated cheating and she would never tolerate cheaters even if it was her mother.

    [Cheating means you don''t respect or love your significant other. It''s not a simple mistake¨C it''s a choice. And there''s no other way around it.]

    However, she had only heard Emperor Niki''s side of the story. She wouldn''t judge her mother until she discovered the truth behind the past. Usually, she''d easily side with the person who was left behind by a cheating partner.

    [But my Papa Boss isn''t exactly someone you can trust.]

    Argh. She was being biased against her father. But she couldn''t help it.

    [Gosh, if he isn''t so mean to me, I would be more generous to him.]

    "This is thest time you''re bringing up your mother in a conversation," Emperor Niki said sternly. "The next time you do, I won''t let it slide."

    She didn''t p back this time.

    [Papa Boss couldn''te up with a proper response so this is my win.]

    "I''ll lend you the Royal Grimoire but only for a few hours," the emperor continued. "You have to return the book before tomorrow midnight."

    "Okay, Papa Boss," she said brightly. She was relieved that he didn''t throw a tantrum this time. Even though she could handle his bad temper, it was tiring on her part. "Where''s the book?"

    "Give me your hand."

    She extended her hand to him.

    Then, he dropped a small and round mirror on her palm. She was about toin when all of a sudden, the in mirror turned into a huge and heavy book. Because of its unexpected weight, she almost dropped it.

    [Wow, it''s so pretty.]

    The Royal Grimoire had a golden hardcover. Also, the title ''Moonasterion Book of Spells'' was written in Snian Language.

    "The Royal Grimoire would only show its true appearance when touched by a de Moonasterio," the emperor exined. "It can recognize our blood and so, only the members of the royal family can use the Royal Grimoire."

    "That''s cool," she said, impressed. [And that proves that he''s really my father.]

    It was a pity.

    "Remember to return it to me before midnight," Emperor Niki said, then he stood up. "Now, rest."

    "Thank you, Papa Boss," she said. Then, she put the Royal Grimoire on the night table before she covered her mouth with her hand when she yawned. The emperor was about to leave when she remembered something. "Wait, Papa Boss."

    "What is it?"

    "Once my stamp is done, I''m going to write a formal contract of our deal," she reminded him. "I will put a use that says you can''t bully me."

    "I''m not bullying you," he insisted as if he was offended by her usation. "What am I, a child?"

    She nodded eagerly. "Lewis is more mature than you, Papa Boss," she said. "Don''t worry. I will raise you as my second child."

    "You''re speaking nonsense again," Emperor Niki said, then he turned his back on her and walked out of the room.

    "Tsk. My life would have been easier if he was just a tsundere," Neoma mumbled to herself. A tsundere was someone who was cold on the surface but would eventually show their soft side. She was 100% certain that the emperor wasn''t like that. "He''s just an outdated mean dude."

    ***

    NIKOLAI drank alone in his room while looking at the full moon outside his window.

    He couldn''t sleep because Neoma''s words kept ringing in his ears.

    ["If you still don''t get it, then I''ll be straightforward: I have nothing to do with my mother''s sin.]

    He knew that, of course.

    But he also couldn''t help it. Every time he looked at Neoma, her eyes bothered him. The royal princess inherited his eye color, but the life in them was definitely from that lowly woman.

    ["You haven''t moved on from my mother yet."]

    He almost crushed the ss in his hand when he heard what Neoma said a while ago.

    "You''re wrong, Princess Neoma," Niki whispered to himself. "I will prove to you that I''ve moved on from your mother a long time ago."

    Would it make a difference if he made an effort to look at Princess Neoma as herself and not the replica of that lowly woman?

    [I can''t believe a child could control me like this.]

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 Chapter 40 - PATIENCE ISNT MY VIRTUE

    "TTEOKBOKKI,e out," Neoma called her Soul Beast. "I have a job for you."

    Right now, she was alone in her private training ground. It was just a huge quadrangle behind her pce though.

    [Ah, I''m notpletely alone.]

    Lewis was there and he was currently setting up the tea table that she asked for. She also requested for a giant umbre because it was a hot morning. She didn''t want to have sunburn.

    Anyway, aside from Lewis, she didn''t allow anyone else to apany her. Not even Louisa and Alphen. They didn''t insist to apany her when she said she''d train with her Soul Beast. The servants knew that the Soul Beasts didn''t like appearing to people who weren''t members of the royal family.

    "What is it, thug princess?" Tteokbokkiined as soon as he appeared before her. "Are you in trouble again?"

    Sheughed when she saw that her Soul Beast was back to his white unicorn form in the size of a donkey. But this time, he had red patches all over his body. "You look funny," she said between giggles. "What happened to your dragon form?"

    "Taking up my dragon form is energy consuming," the Soul Beast exined. "Anyway, what do you need me for?"

    "I summoned you for two urgent missions," she exined. Then, she pulled out the mirror from her pocket. As soon as she did, it transformed into a proper Royal Grimoire. "Memorize every part of this book, Tteokbokki. The texture, the smell, the energy, etc."

    "I''m not a dog."

    "Do you want me to hit you with this book?"

    "That''s animal abuse, you thug princess!"

    "So you agree?" she asked with wide eyes and an evil smile. "You agree that you''re an animal?"

    Tteokbokki groaned inint. Then, he plopped on the ground. "Give it to me."

    She put the Royal Grimoire on the ground. "I''ll leave it to you," she said, then she turned her back on the Soul Beast to face Lewis. "My son,e here!"

    Lewis walked towards her. "Princess???

    "Lewis, help me train," she told him. "I saw you kick my father''s Soul Beast before. And even though you kicked it with ease, you still sent it flying. You''re like One-P*nch Man, but you use your feet instead. Should I call you One-Kick Lewis?"

    The butler tilted his head in confusion.

    "Never mind," she said. "Anyway, I want to learn how you gather your Mana in your feet to create such strong force when you kick." She closed her fingers and posed like a boxer. Back in her second life, she used to do boxing as a means of losing weight and gaining muscles. She gave up after a week but at least, she learned the basics. "I want to punch bad guys and knock them out with one hit."

    "Princesszy," Lewis said without missing a beat. "Training. Proper." He crossed his arms together. "Shortcut no."

    "But I want to be stronger ASAP," sheined, then she stood up straight. "Should I follow S*itama''s 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, and a 10k-run workout regime?"

    Of course, her butler remained clueless of her bbering.

    "Never mind," she said, giving up on deciphering the nk look on Lewis''s face. "Lewis, can you share your training regime with me? I want to be as strong¨C"

    "No," Lewis cut her off in a very cold voice that he hadn''t used on her before. "You''ll die."

    Okay, that gave her goosebumps.

    Aside from the fact that Lewis spoke properly, he also looked so serious. If he thought that she''d die if she followed his training regime, then it only meant one thing.

    [He had been through hell.]

    She remembered that Lewis, in her first life, was a psychopath just like Nero. The fox boy''s past as a ve definitely broke him inside. And although he looked fine now, she was pretty sure that he hadn''tpletely recovered yet.

    [I wish therapists exist in this world.]

    Unfortunately, the doctors in the empire didn''t acknowledge mental health illness seriously.

    "Sorry," Lewis said when he went back to normal.

    "Why are you apologizing?"

    He pointed at her face. "Princess upset."

    "Oh, I''m not upset with you," she said, then she smiled at him. "Lewis, if you need someone to talk to, I''m here to listen. Don''t bottle up your feelings, okay?"

    He looked surprised by what she said. "Princess care me?"

    Was he asking if she cared about him?

    "Of course, I care about you," she said with a softugh. "You''re my son, aren''t you?"

    "No," Lewis rejected her bluntly. "Me not Princess son."

    ***

    "THUG PRINCESS, I''m done."

    "Really?" Neoma asked while catching her breath. Right now, she was lying on the ground beside Tteokbokki. She tried to do push-ups but her small body gave up in a minute. Maybe she should just stick to acting since she excelled at that during her second life. "Do you find anything strange in the Royal Grimoire, Tteokbokki? How is different from other books of spells?"

    "The Mana in the Royal Grimoire is alive," Tteokbokki exined in a sleepy voice. "I tried to flip the pages while you were ying around."

    "I was training," she corrected him.

    "Whatever," the Soul Beast said. "Anyway, the pages I flipped were nk. I believe the spells in the book could only be read by people chosen by the grimoire. Have you tried reading the book, thug princess?"

    "No," she said. "I''m not interested in magic spells."

    "Fool," the donkey¨C well, the unicorn, scolded her. "You''re still a de Moonasterio even though you don''t have an ounce of elegance in you."

    She red at him.

    The Soul Beast immediately turned his gaze away from her. "This is a golden opportunity for you, thug princess. I heard your conversation with the fox boy a while ago. You want to be stronger, don''t you?" He finally had the courage to turn to her again. "If you improve your control of your Mana, I''ll also get stronger as your Soul Beast."

    She fell silent.

    The first andst time she tried to get involved with a magic spell, she lost her life. But it was her fault. During her first life, she tried to tie her life force with Nero so she wouldn''t die. When her twin brother discovered her evil scheme, he killed her.

    Although she knew better now, she still wanted to avoid things that caused her demise before.

    [Finding the Devil''s Grimoire is handful enough.]

    "I don''t need to be super strong," she said. "I just want to be strong enough to pursue my dream of bing ady of leisure someday."

    Tteokbokki clicked his tongue. "You''re wasting your potential, thug princess."

    "The only two things I need to survive in this world are my charm and my acting skills," Neoma said, then she got up and stretched her short arms. "Anyway, good job," she told her Soul Beast while patting his head. "Now, it''s time tomence my n to capture the young hearys of Lord Thompson and Lord Alberts."

    ***

    "YOUR MAJESTY, Her Royal Highness Princess Neoma is asking for your permission to "sneak in" your royal library with her friends."

    Niki stopped drinking his tea midway when he heard Glenn''s report. He was still in his office and was simply taking a tea break from work. It seemed like the royal princess was already as busy as him today. "Why does she need my permission if she''s going to "sneak in" with her friends anyway? Does she know what "sneak in" means?"

    "That''s a part of Princess Neoma''s drama, Your Majesty," Glenn said excitedly. When he turned to knight, he saw that he was actually holding a piece of paper with the royal princess''s messy handwriting. "Her Royal Highness sent us the script."

    [Argh. What is the royal princess up to now?]

    "Glenn, you''re acting like Princess Neoma''s personal nanny," he said bluntly. "Do you want to quit your post as my knight and be the royal princess''s babysitter?"

    "Can I, Your Majesty?" he asked with a softugh. "I mean, being the royal princess''s babysitter sounds fun."

    He was about to scold the knight when he heard a knock on the door.

    And then, Kyle Sprouse entered his office with a scowl.

    "Duke Sloane is here and he''s demanding to see you, Your Majesty," Kyle reported right away. Then, he stood in front of him politely. The three of them only practiced formalities whenever there were other people watching them. But whenever they were gathered like this, they talked to each other casually. "This time, he made an excuse to do so."

    He sipped his tea before he spoke. "What does he want this time?"

    "It''s strange but the duke is asking for your permission to see Lewis, the fox boy," his aide responded. "Duke Sloan ims that the Silver Fox n belongs to their n."

    He raised a brow at that. [Duke Sloan, you''re getting bolder, huh?]

    "How did the Silver Fox n belong to House Sloan?" Glenn asked with furrowed brows. "They belong to His Majesty."

    "That''s what I told the duke," Kyle said in an exasperated voice. Then, he turned to him. "Your Majesty, how should we deal with Duke Sloan and his ridiculous ims?"

    "Leave it to Princess Neoma."

    Kyle and Glenn looked shocked by his response.

    "The fox boy belongs to Princess Neoma now," Niki exined with a smirk, then he picked up his tea cup elegantly. "I want to see how the royal princess will deal with Duke Sloan."

    [Let''s see what you''re made of, Princess Neoma.]

    ***

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 Chapter 41 - IM A CHILD STAR

    "YOUR ROYAL HIGHNESS, you shouldn''t be here," Sir Glenn said sternly but his eyes were full of mirth. "I will definitely report this to His Majesty."

    "Cut, cut, cut!" Neoma yelled while crossing her tiny arms together. "Sir Glenn, you suck at acting. You''re supposed to look scary while scolding me."

    The knightughed heartily. "I''m sorry, Your Royal Highness. This is my first "acting" mission so I feel awkward."

    Right now, they were "rehearsing" in her room.

    Sir Glenn went to her pce to discreetly deliver her Sword Lily stamp. Since the knight was already there, she asked him to practice their lines together.

    [But Sir Glenn is hopeless. He has the face of an actor but he''s talentless.]

    "Let''s take a break for now," she said, then she stood up and went to the tea table where Stephanie just finished preparing the refreshments for her. Alphen then carried her and carefully sat her on the high chair. "Thank you."

    Stephanie and Alphen just bowed to her before they left the room.

    While she was having tea, Sir Glenn and Lewis stood on either of her side.

    It was awkward but no matter how many times she invited the two to join her, they would just refuse her repeatedly.

    "Sir Glenn, is there another reason why you visited me to my pce?" she asked curiously. Usually, the knight would leave as soon as his job was done. But since he stayed this time, she could tell that he still had some business with her. "Does Papa Boss have a new job for me?"

    Sir Glenn smiled awkwardly before he answered. "Your Royal Highness, His Majesty wants you to know that you can request his office to make a stamp for Lewis."

    She raised a brow before she sipped her tea. "And what do I have to do in return?"

    "Please deal with Duke Sloane, Your Royal Highness."

    She gently put the teacup down on the coaster before she asked. "You mean the brother of thete empress?"

    During her first life, she heard that Nero''s biggest critic was Duke Sloane. The duke tried many times to dethrone her twin brother as the crown prince. Apparently, Duke Sloane was the de facto leader of the Noble Faction¨C the group of nobles that wanted to destroy the monarchy.

    "Yes, Your Royal Highness," the knight said. "Duke Sloane is the brother of thete empress."

    "Spill the tea, Sir Glenn," she said. When the knight''s brows furrowed in confusion, she exined. "I mean, please borate."

    "Duke Sloane ims that Lewis, thest known survivor of the Silver Fox n, belongs to his family," Sir Glenn said. "The duke wants His Majesty to hand over Lewis to him."

    "Is he crazy?" she asked, pissed. "What right does he have to im my child?"

    "Me not Princess child," Lewis chimed in.

    "Shh," she scolded Lewis when he turned to him. "My son, not now. The adults are talking." When Lewis didn''t respond, she turned to face Sir Glenn again. "Can''t Papa Boss just tell the duke to scram? He''s so good at pushing me away. Why can''t he do the same to other people?" She smirked when she thought of something good. "Ah. Is Papa Boss only capable of bullying those beneath him?"

    The knight bit his lower lip in an attempt to hold back hisughter.

    [Hey, you are the emperor''s knight. Why are youughing when he''s being ridiculed by his very own cute and charismatic five year old daughter?]

    "Well, His Majesty can''t simply tell Duke Sloane to "scram,"" Sir Glenn exined, still obviously trying to stifle hisugh. "And His Majesty said that you have ownership over Lewis now, so he wants you to handle the issue, Your Royal Highness."

    [He''s obviously testing me again.]

    "Lewis is my son but I don''t own him. He''s a person¨C not a property," Neoma said firmly. "But since he''s my child and he''s still not capable of protecting himself, I will deal with Duke Sloane and put him in ce."

    ***

    "BIG BROTHERS, do you want to go visit the royal library with me?" Neoma asked Byron and Harry while they were having tea during their break. They were still in her library and before their break time, she was telling them the story of Sh*ppuden. In her story, it was the "season 2" of The Blondecat Chases Edgelord to Hell. "When I say royal library, I mean Papa''s royal library and not this one, obviously."

    Byron and Harry both looked surprised by her offer.

    "Can we, Your Royal Highness?" Harry asked excitedly. "But I thought only the royal family members and those with special permission can enter His Majesty''s library."

    "I''ll take care of it," she assured them with a smile. "I want Brother Byron and Brother Harry to visit the royal library because you said that it''s one of your dreams."

    Of course, she wouldn''t get in trouble because she had already asked for permission to "sneak in." The guards in the royal library were also informed that she''d being with her friends and they already know what to do.

    [I hope Sir Glenn rehearsed his lines.]

    "Will it really be okay, Your Royal Highness?" Byron asked worriedly. "We don''t want you to get in trouble."

    Neoma smiled brightly. "Thank you for worrying about me but trust me¨C I got this."

    ***

    "YOUR ROYAL Highness, I apologize but your friends do not have ess to enter His Majesty''s library."

    Neoma held back her smile.

    [Good job, Mr. Guard.]

    In fairness, the guard in the entrance of the royal library had a poker face that suited the "scene." She missed acting so much that she got into her role right away.

    "Are you questioning my decision?" Neoma asked sternly. Thanks to the magical choker in her neck, her voice sounded like Nero''s when he was being cold and angry. In short, she sounded intimidating even though she was just acting. "I''m the future crown prince of the empire. I have the right to grant ess to an establishment owned by the royal family. Are you trying to challenge my authority as the royal prince?"

    Of course, after saying that, the royal guards couldn''t talk back to her.

    Instead, they just silently allowed them to enter the royal library.

    [Y''all, everything''s a part of the n.]

    "Your Royal Highness, we''re sorry that you''re breaking the royal protocol for us," Harry said worriedly. Then, he blocked her way causing her and Byron to stop walking in the lobby of the library. "What if this reaches His Majesty?"

    Byron nodded in agreement with Harry. "We''re already grateful with your intention to share the royal library with us. We don''t want you to be scolded by His Majesty, Your Royal Highness."

    "I want Papa to know that I brought you here in his library because I want to make my stance clear," Neoma said with a bright smile. "I want to let the whole royal family know that it''s time to share the knowledge they hide to the new generation of the empire."

    Byron and Harry looked touched by her words.

    Thank goodness she did a background check on House Thompson and House Alberts. Apparently, one of their mottos was everyone had the right to ess knowledge or something like that. In short, the only thing the two families couldin about the royal family was the fact that they were keeping so many secrets from the nobles.

    [Not that I care about solving that, I just need to tug the heartstrings of these children.]

    And it looked like she already seeded.

    [Good job, Neoma.]

    ***

    "YOUR ROYAL HIGHNESS, you shouldn''t be here," Sir Glenn said sternly but just like before, his eyes were still full of mirth. It was a miracle that he was able to stop himself fromughing. "I will definitely report this to His Majesty."

    [Gosh, you should thank your parents for giving you a nice face, Sir Glenn.]

    Anyway, the knight "greeted" them as soon as they got out of the library.

    She just toured Byron and Harry around. Thankfully, the two kids were too scared to touch the books. Much less to borrow one.

    And that was a huge relief to her.

    [Papa Boss allowed me to "sneak in" with the kids but he told me to make sure that they won''t insist on borrowing any book.]

    "I understand, Sir Glenn," Neoma said seriously, just like how she was supposed to act based on the script that she wrote herself. "I don''t mind if you report this to Papa. In fact, I want to talk to him about this."

    "Very well, Your Royal Highness," the knight continued with his awful acting. "Shall I escort you to His Majesty''s pce?"

    She just nodded.

    [End of script.]

    "Wait!" Harry said. "Sir Knight, please bring me with His Royal Highness!"

    "Me, too!" Byron added. "It''s our fault. Let us exin in front of His Majesty. His Royal Highness did nothing wrong!"

    She had to bite her lower lip to stop herself fromughing.

    Sir Glenn also looked satisfied by the kids'' reaction.

    [He knows that I''m aiming for the trust of Byron and Harry.]

    "Is His Royal Highness already causing problems for His Majesty?"

    She turned around to find a man with pretty golden tinum hair and light blue eyes. In fairness, he was quite handsome. Not to mention he was tall and had a good built. Judging by his obviously expensive tailored suit and one-shoulder mantle, she could tell that he was a higher noble¨C the sc*mbag type, if she may add.

    His arrogant smirk was a giveaway.

    [Wait¡­ I''ve seen that shade of blonde before¡­]

    The blurry image of thete empress entered her mind. She couldn''t remember how the empress looked like but she was pretty sure that her long hair was golden tinum. If her memory served her right, then that meant this dude was¡­

    [Duke Sloane.]

    "Greetings to the First Star of the Great Moonasterion Empire," Duke Sloane said in a mocking tone and azy bow. "I''m Duke Ethan Sloane¨C the one and only older brother of thete empress."

    Neoma smiled to be polite but deep inside, she was seething.

    [You''re the a$$hole who''s targeting my son, huh?]

    ***

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 Chapter 42 - QUEEN OF PROVOCATION

    [THE first rule for kids to be liked by adults is to be polite.]

    As a former child star during her second life, that was one of the things that Neoma learned. Thanks to that, she was able to charm adults and children alike. If she was able to convince 9,999,999 million people to follow her on her social media tform, using her charisma to a duke shouldn''t be that hard.

    "Greetings, Lord Sloane," Neoma greeted the duke politely. "I apologize for themotion that you unfortunately witnessed."

    Sir Glenn, Byron, and Harry all bowed to Duke Sloane as a greeting.

    On the other hand, she had to discreetly nudge Lewis before he bowed his head.

    [Gosh, my son can sometimes be a handful.]

    "I''m d that I ran into you today, Your Royal Highness," Duke Sloane said but his eyes were fixed on Lewis. "I see that you''re ying with your friends." He finally turned to her again. "But can I have a few minutes of your time, Your Royal Highness?"

    "I think you''ve misunderstood something, Your Grace," she said with a smile. "We''re not ying around. We are members of the Book Reading Club that I organized and we seriously discuss books during our time."

    [Well, discussing anime andic series is serious for weebs.]

    "I apologize if my careless words offended you, Your Royal Highness," the duke said in a very casual manner that obviouslycked sincerity.

    [The second rule for kids to be liked by adults is to be humble.]

    "It''s fine as long as you understand, Your Grace," she said, then she turned to herpanions. "Brother Byron, Brother Harry, please go back to our library without me." When the two boys nodded, she smiled and turned to Lewis. "Please escort the young lords, Lewis."

    As expected, Lewis had a look of protest on his face.

    "Lewis," she said sternly.

    Lewis bowed to her, then he awkwardly escorted Byron and Harry back to the library.

    She turned to Sir Glenn to tell him to leave but his smile told her that there was no way he''d leave her alone with the duke.

    [Fine.]

    She faced the duke with a bright smile. "Your Grace, would you like to have tea with me?"

    "No," Duke Sloane said with a big, arrogant smirk. "But I''d like to talk with you in private, Your Royal Highness."

    [What a rude f*ckface.]

    But she was d that the duke chose his own "death."

    [Papa Boss is probably aware of this so let me teach you a lesson today, Duke Sloane¨C my true characteres out when I''m alone with my target.]

    Neoma let out a softugh while thinking of different ways to "kill" the arrogant duke. "As you wish, Your Grace."

    ***

    NEOMA brought Duke Sloane in the grand pavilion in the middle of a pond. It was located just across the Sapphire Pce aka Nero''s royal library.

    And it was the perfect location for her n.

    [I heard that the pond is magical. It appears to be shallow, but it''s actually deep. And the fish living in her actually eat human flesh. Kind of like piranhas.]

    Gosh, sometimes even her was surprised at how creative she was.

    [I''m d Sir Glenn didn''t insist to stay near us.]

    Instead, the knight was guarding in the entrance of the pavilion. It was far enough for him to not hear her conversation with the duke, but she was certain Sir Glenn could close the distance easily if something bad happened to her.

    [Oh, let me correct myself.]

    When something bad happened to her would be more correct.

    [Tteokbokki, do you hear me?] Neoma called her Soul Beast in her mind. [If you don''t answer in five seconds, I''ll break your horn and turn you into a donkey.]

    [How violent!] Tteokbokkiined in her mind. [What do you need now, thug princess?]

    [Be on stand-by and save me when you need to], she told him. [That''s all. Bye.]

    And then, she cut off the link in her mind connecting to her Soul Beast.

    "Prince Nero, did you send the fox boy away on purpose?" Duke Sloane asked while he leaned against the lion statue in the middle of the pavilion. "Why do I have a feeling that you already know what I''m here for?"

    ["Prince Nero," huh?]

    It was a casual way to call her (or Nero, for that matter). She allowed her closest servants to call her that way. But the duke was practically a stranger to her so she was offended (for Nero).

    "Of course," Neoma said,pletely dropping the formalities. The sudden change in her tone seemed to surprise the duke. She couldn''t help but smirk at his reaction. "Oh, I thought we''re dropping the formalities, Your Grace. After all, you''ve been talking down to me from the very beginning."

    The dukeughed after he gained hisposure. "You''re really His Majesty''s son."

    "I''ll take that as apliment," she said. After all, she had a deal with her Papa Boss that they would make the people around them believe that they were close. "Anyway, to answer your doubts, yes¨C I heard that you want to take Lewis away from me, Your Grace."

    "I''m only taking back what''s rightfully mine, Your Royal Highness."

    "How did Lewis and the Silver Fox n belong to House Sloane?"

    "Ah, you didn''t know," the duke said with a smirk. "When the previous emperor¨C your grandfather¨C chose my sister to be the then-crown prince''s betrothed, he promised my family that he''d give us the Silver Fox n as House Sloane''s private army. But unfortunately, when the previous emperor got a taste of how a Silver Fox can make a human stronger, he lost his mind. Still, the royal family must keep their words. That''s why when I heard that there''s a survivor of the Silver Fox n, I came here to ask His Majesty to hand over the fox boy to my family." He leaned forward to meet her eye level. "I heard that you''re smart, Prince Nero. I''m sure you know what I''m talking about."

    "I understand what you''re saying, Your Grace," she said with a bright smile. "But so what?"

    The duke''s arrogant smile finally vanished. "Excuse me?"

    "The previous emperor and thete empress¡­" It was her turn to give the duke her own arrogant smile. "They''re both dead, aren''t they?"

    Duke Sloane looked so shocked by her words that he subconsciously stood straight and moved a step backwards.

    "Why are you using dead people to make yourself relevant again?" she continued in the most mocking tone that a five-year old child could muster. "So what if the previous emperor promised to hand over the Silver Fox n to your family? Thete empress is no longer here so that promise is void now." She clicked her tongue while shaking her head. "Stop using your sister and let her rest in peace, Duke Sloane."

    "Prince Nero!" the duke yelled angrily.

    From the corner of her eye, she saw Sir Glenn entering the pavilion. She raised her hand to stop the knight. Thankfully, he followed her silent order.

    [I got this, Sir Glenn.]

    "Don''t be too arrogant," the duke snarled.

    [Gosh, the f*ckface looks very angry.]

    "You''re just the son of a lowly mistress," Duke Sloane said with a bitter smirk. "You don''t deserve to be the empire''s crown prince."

    "Well, me your sister for not fulfilling her royal duty as the empress," she said coldly. As a woman, it hurt her to say these words but she had to act like a calloused crown prince in that sexist society. "The former empress failed to give the emperor a royal heir. Had she given birth to a prince when she was still alive, then a mistress''s son like me couldn''t have been ced in this position." Nero wasn''t the official crown prince yet but whatever. "Ah, I should thank you thete empress, shouldn''t I? If it wasn''t for her failure, I wouldn''t have been His Majesty''s only heir."

    As expected, the duke exploded in anger.

    When he screamed, he also released a very violent aura that broke the pirs and the railings of the pavilion¡­

    ¡­ plus, it sent her flying.

    She could have protected herself using Tteokbokki''s power. But she didn''t. Instead, she allowed herself to be pushed by the duke''s violent aura until she fell in the pond.

    Gosh, the pond was truly magical.

    She felt a sinister force pull her deeper in the water while several strange fish started to feast on her flesh. Since she already expected that, she didn''t panic. Instead, she held her breath and called her Soul Beast.

    [Tteokbokki!]

    Her Soul Beast appeared in the form of a small red dragon this time. Tteokbokki''s roar was enough to push the strange fish away from her. But the dark force pulling him in the depths of the pond didn''t stop.

    Tteokbokki coiled his dragon tail around her small waist and tried to pull her up. But the force was stronger. This time, the Soul Beast was being pulled down with her. She tried to move her arms to swim but to no avail.

    Neoma couldn''t hold her breath any longer.

    Then, she started to drown.

    Just when she thought she was going to lose consciousness, she saw a giant ck tortoise swimming towards her. The ck serpent riding on the back of the tortoise separated itself from the turtle. Then, the snake wrapped itself around her and pulled her up until she was clinging to the back of the ck tortoise.

    Obviously, they were ordinary reptiles.

    Knowing that she was already safe, she asked Tteokbokki to return to her soul so his weight wouldn''t be an additional burden to the ck Tortoise.

    Neoma wouldn''t lie¨C she felt relieved. [Ah, they must be his Soul Beasts.]

    ***

    NEOMA caught her breath as soon as she came back up to the water''s surface, thanks to the ck Tortoise and the ck serpent that saved her from drowning. Her breath was just starting to return to normal when she suddenly found herself floating in the air.

    She stopped panicking when she saw her Papa Boss looking up at her with a raised brow.

    [He''s really here.]

    Much to her shock, she was dropped in Emperor Niki''s waiting arms.

    She didn''t have the chance to react because she realized that they were surrounded by several royal knights. When she turned to the pavilion, she was surprised to see Duke Sloane being apprehended by Sir Glenn and two more royal knights.

    By that, she meant Sir Glenn and the others were pointing their swords at the duke who seemed to be frozen in his ce. Duke Sloane probably knew that if he moved an inch, Sir Glenn wouldn''t hesitate to attack him.

    [Heh.]

    She had to bite her lower lip to stop herself fromughing.

    "Duke Sloane, you''re under arrest for trying to kill the royal prince," Emperor Niki said in a cold voice. But even though his voice sounded like his usual sc*mbag self, she could clearly see the glint of "evil joy" in his eyes. "From now on, you''re banned from stepping foot inside the royal pce."

    Neoma couldn''t hide her smirk when she met the duke''s re.

    [You''re dead, Duke Sloane.]

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 Chapter 43 - I DONT GET PAID ENOUGH FOR THIS SH*T

    [NEOMA?]

    Nero stopped reading a book that teaches Snian Language when he felt shivers down his spine.

    "What''s wrong, Your Royal Highness?" Hanna, who sat across from him while reading a book in theology, asked. She called him by his proper title because there were only the two of them in the library now. "Is everything alright?"

    Duke Quinzel personally built that library for him in the annex building of the mansion. Even though he was far from the Royal Pce now, the books that he reads and studies were the ones provided to the royal prince. After all, he was still the heir.

    But the servants of House Quinzel didn''t know that. So to keep his secret safe, the duke built him a library that only he and the Quinzels had ess to. After all, the books that he brought had the royal family''s crest. They had to keep the books hidden from the servants'' eyes.

    "I''m alright," Nero said in an indifferent tone. "I''m worried about Neoma though."

    Hanna looked surprised by his response. After all, he rarely paid attention to her whenever they were alone. "I heard that twins have a special connection. Can you feel if Her Royal Highness is in danger, Prince Nero?"

    "Yes, I can," he answered only because he liked talking about Neoma. "My Neoma and I have a special connection that cannot be broken by a measly fox boy."

    Hanna looked confused by what he said. "I apologize but I don''t understand what you meant by that¨C"

    "Shh," Nero cut her off as soon as he felt another presence in the room. Hanna''s mother, the duchess, said that she would personally bring them refreshments. But he didn''t hear the doors opened so it could only mean one thing. [There''s an intruder in here.]

    ***

    NEOMA was cold, her arms and legs were bleeding from the tiny but deep bites of the monster-like fish in the pond, and she was disgusted by Emperor Niki''s show of "affection."

    After he carried her in his arms, he used magic to warm her until she was dry. Yes, even her clothes. Then, he asked Count Kyle Sprouse (that she only noticed when the emperor called him) to call Madam Hammock.

    [Gosh, His Majesty is so good at acting like a concerned father.]

    She had goosebumps.

    But of course, she was a professional baby so she had to bear it.

    She had to be grateful to her Papa Boss though. After all, the cringe he was giving her helped her endure the sting that wasing from the little cuts all over her body.

    [Still, I''m not getting paid enough for this kind of b*llshit.]

    "From now on, you''re banned from stepping foot inside the royal pce," Emperor Niki dered to Duke Sloane. "While the noble trial is on-going, you and your people aren''t allowed to approach Prince Nero."

    Neoma raised a brow at her father''s words. A noble trial usually ended in public execution if the noble in questionmitted a grave sin against the royal family. [Not bad, Papa Boss. But don''t be too hasty. I still need¨C]

    "A noble trial?" Duke Sloane asked in disbelief while ring at the emperor. "Are you seriously going to put me on a noble trial, Your Majesty?"

    "Why not?" the emperor retorted in a cold voice. "You tried to kill the one and only royal heir of the empire, Duke Sloane. Endangering the life of the future crown prince is treason. Once the noble trial is over, I''m certain that you''ll be sentenced for a public execution."

    The emperor practically said that the noble trial was just a formality.

    Despite everything, Duke Sloane was still a higher-noble so even if hemitted a tant grave sin against the royal family, he would still be given a "proper" trial.

    [He''d still be killed though.]

    The color drained from the duke''s face.

    It seemed like it was only then did he realize that he almost killed her.

    "Your Majesty, this is a huge misunderstanding," Duke Sloane said in a desperate voice. "I didn''t try to kill His Royal Highness. The only sin Imitted was letting the royal prince provoke me."

    [Well, the duke wasn''t wrong.]

    "You really have the audacity to me the royal prince after you tried to kill him, Duke Sloane," the emperor said coldly. "If you are that unapologetic, then perhaps you don''t deserve a noble trial."

    "You don''t understand, Your Majesty!" the duke insisted, then he red at her. "I wouldn''t have acted the way I did if the royal prince didn''t disrespect the former empress!"

    As if snitching wasn''t enough, Duke Sloane even tried to march towards him.

    But when Sir Glenn moved to push the edge of his sword''s de closer to the duke''s throat, thetter froze in his tracks.

    "Duke Sloane," Sir Glenn warned the duke in a very menacing voice. "The next time you move to attack His Royal Highness again, I will not hesitate¡­"

    The knight didn''t have to finish his sentence to get his warning across.

    Neoma was impressed. She legit felt goosebumps while listening to Sir Glenn''s unusual threatening voice. Even though the knight had his back on her (as he was facing the duke), she could imagine how scary he looked at the moment.

    After all, Duke Sloane who was pretty powerful himself cowered before Sir Glenn.

    Now she knew why Sir Glenn sucked at acting scary.

    [He can be seriously scary even without a script!]

    No wonder he was His Majesty''s personal knight.

    "You really have a death wish, Duke Sloane," Emperor Niki said impatiently. "Are you asking me to kill you right here, right now?"

    While her father was threatening the duke, she discreetly scanned the area.

    From the corner of her eyes, she saw Byron and Harry with their fathers watching them behind the servants the royal knights that surrounded the pavilion. She already expected Count Thompson and Marquis Alberts to arrive because they never failed to fetch Byron and Harry after their Book Reading Club activities were over.

    In fact, she was waiting for the count and the marquis.

    Lewis was there, too, but she didn''t pay much attention to her son as she was still in the middle of a job.

    Now that she had the audience that she needed¡­

    [It''s showtime.]

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 Chapter 44 - TTEOKBOKKI IS USEFUL TODAY

    "PAPA, please don''t punish Duke Sloane," Neoma said in a "weak voice. Of course, she was on acting mode now. "Duke Sloane was right¨C I''ve said rude things about thete empress. I shouldn''t have said those things. Had I kept my mouth shut, perhaps His Grace wouldn''t have been that angry."

    All eyes were on her now.

    "What do you mean by that, Prince Nero?" Emperor Niki asked while giving her a cold look. "What did the duke say to you?"

    It was definitely a warning for her not to mess up the atmosphere that he created.

    [Trust me, Papa Boss. I have more experience than you in the acting department.]

    "Papa, it doesn''t matter," she said, acting like she didn''t want to be a snitch. "I admit that it''s my fault so please don''t punish Duke Sloane."

    "Stop acting, Your Royal Highness!" Duke Sloane yelled at her. "We both know the truth!"

    "Duke Sloane," Sir Glenn warned the duke.

    "Answer my question first, Prince Nero," the emperor said firmly, ignoring Duke Sloane. "I will decide Duke Sloane''s fate after I hear your side of the story."

    She let out a deep sigh, acting like it was hard for her to be a snitch. But of course, she still opened her cute little mouth in the end. "Duke Sloane said that the son of a mistress like me don''t deserve to be the royal heir."

    She heard a collective gasp of servants standing behind them.

    The royal knights, trained to be pokerfaced in situations like that, didn''t react. But she could tell that the way they looked at the duke changed.

    She took a discreet nce at Count Thompson and Marquis Alberts.

    The two lords were scowling at the duke.

    [Heh.]

    "I was hurt by the duke''s words so I said that I didn''t wish to be born as a prince," she said in a cracked voice. She wanted to cry but the emperor''s re stopped her. Right, he was the kind of person that believed the "boys don''t cry" b*llshit. "Then, I asked him why thete empress didn''t give birth to an heir. I realized that I sounded like I was ming thete empress, which was very rude, so I apologized to His Grace right away. But it was toote. I already made Duke Sloane very angry."

    "You didn''t say anything wrong, Prince Nero," Emperor Niki said indifferently. "The fact that thete empress failed to give birth to a royal heir was indeed a sin."

    She hated hearing that b*llshit.

    And she hated it even more to see that no one even batted an eye.

    It was as if everyone acknowledged that it was really thete empress''s fault for not giving birth to a royal heir. She understood that it was literally aw that an empress must give the emperor a son. But it didn''t change the fact that it was a sh*ttyw.

    [A woman''s worth isn''t measured by her ability to give birth.]

    Still, the show must go on.

    "Duke Sloane, I apologize for hurting your feelings by being rude to thete empress," Neoma said in a (convincing) sad voice while acting remorseful. Well, she felt bad for thete empress but she needed to bring down the dyke before he became a threat in the future. "I will be careful from now on to avoid making the same mistake."

    To put the nail in the duke''s coffin, she even bowed to him.

    A royal prince shouldn''t be bowing to a person beneath him, but he was here to create the perfect image for the emperor''s heir. Risks be damned.

    [Duke Sloane, do you know the third and the final rule for the kids to be liked by adults?] Neoma asked the duke in her mind while bravely meeting his deadly re. [It''s really simple: adults like kids who admit their mistakes and apologize for it.]

    But Neoma couldn''t "kill" the duke yet.

    ***

    "GREETINGS to the one and only moon of our Great Moonasterion Empire."

    Niki just have a curt nod to Count Thompson and Marquis Alberts. He was about to return to his pce when the two lords greeted him. They were still high-ranking nobles so he had to greet them back.

    Ah, their respective sons also gave a weak greeting to him. But just like most kids, Byron Thompson and Harry Alberts both couldn''t even look at him in the eye.

    [Only Neoma is brave enough to meet my gaze.]

    Speaking of the royal princess, he already sent her to the royal clinic with Madam Hammock, Glenn, and the foxy boy that served as her butler-sh-escort.

    On the other hand, he put Duke Sloane on a house arrest instead of putting him on a noble trial. He noticed that Neoma was trying hard to keep him from sentencing the duke with public execution. The royal princess was a smart girl. She wouldn''t have acted that way if she didn''t need the duke alive.

    [Putting the arrogant duke on a house arrest and banning him from the Royal Pce will suffice for now. His attempt to kill the "royal heir" won''t be made public as per Neoma''s "heartfelt" request to everyone who witnessed the incident. But the fact that Duke Sloane was arrested and banned would be enough to tarnish his reputation along with his household.]

    And he was pretty sure that despite Neoma''s request to keep that incident a secret, the servants would still talk. They loved gossiping about the nobles, after all. He was confident that Duke Sloane''s offense against the "royal prince" would still spread around the empire like wildfire.

    "Your Majesty, the children have something to say about the incident," Marquis Alberts said. "They believe that His Royal Highness can''t be rude to Duke Sloane despite the royal prince admitting his apparent mistake in front of everyone."

    He almostughed at that.

    [Clearly, these children don''t know the real Neoma.]

    Still, he could use the kids'' statement to clear the image of "Prince Nero." He didn''t like the fact that Neoma had to apologize to someone below her position.

    He looked at Byron Thompson and Harry Alberts. "Speak."

    "Y-Your Majesty, H-His Royal Highness s-scared us before because w-we made a mistake," Harry Alberts said, avoiding his gaze. "B-But when w-e properly a-apologized to him and his b-butler, he b-became nice to u-us."

    [Only because she needs something from you, fool.]

    "T-That''s why I b-believe that His Royal Highness b-became rude to Duke Sloane because the d-duke s-said or d-did something to m-make the royal prince angry," Harry Alberts continued. "His Royal Highness d-didn''t have to a-apologize to His Grace, Your Majesty."

    "I agree with Harry, Your Majesty," Byron Thompson said. He was calmer than Harry Alberts but just like thetter, he couldn''t make eye contact with him. "When Duke Sloane arrived, he was immediately rude to His Royal Highness. His Grace talked to the royal prince as if they were equal. The duke was very hostile to His Royal Highness from the very beginning. This may sound like an usation but we believe that Duke Sloane intentionally hurt the royal prince."

    "Very well," Niki said indifferently. "Your effort to protect His Royal Highness is appreciated, Byron Thompson and Harry Alberts."

    [And congrattions for being Neoma''s new toys.]

    ***

    NEOMA couldn''t help but smile while staring at the ceiling.

    Right now, she was lying on a bed in the royal clinic. Madam Hammock just finished cleaning and treating her wounds, and she went out for a while to get some medicine for her.

    On the other hand, Sir Glenn and Lewis were guarding outside the door.

    In short, she was alone so she dropped her act as a hurt royal prince.

    [Duke Sloane, be grateful that I still need you,] Neoma said to herself while her brain was busying up with ways to get what she wanted from the duke. [So don''t die on me, okay?]

    And then, she remembered what Tteokbokki told her a while ago¡­

    ***

    {shback of when Neoma walked Duke Sloane to the pavilion¡­}

    Neoma was walking faster than normal because the f*ckface aka Duke Sloane was trying to walk a step ahead of her. She had to keep the duke half a step behind her or else, people would think that she, the "crown prince," was being a push-over.

    Normally, she preferred to walk beside the people she liked like Lewis or Sir Glenn. But it was a different case when it came to the duke.

    [I won''t let him embarrass me while I''m posing as Nero.]

    And personally, she didn''t like how the duke disrespected her not as a royal "prince" but as a human being. It was obvious that he was looking down on her because she was just a child and a "son" of a mistress.

    [Thug princess!]

    She scowled when Tteokbokki suddenly created a link in their mind.

    [What is it, Tteokbokki?] she asked in her mind. [Make sure it''s important.]

    [It is important!] Tteokbokki eximed in a voice filled with urgency. [I can smell a grimoire in that man. It seems to be as old and as special as the Royal Grimoire. But the energy that I sense in the duke''s grimoire is very dark and dangerous. To be honest, if I haven''t met you, I''d say that that grimoire is the scariest thing that I''ve ever encountered.]

    [You didn''t have to add thest part,] Neoma snarled at the Soul Beast. But deep inside, she was very grateful to her Soul Beast. That was a very valuable piece of information. [Thanks, Tteokbokki. I''ll feed you healthy grasster.]

    [Oh, shut up!]

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 Chapter 45 - THE PLOT THICKENS

    "WOW," Neoma was amazed when the cuts in her arms and legs disappeared after Madam Hammock applied a magical ointment on them. "Madam Hammock, you''re like a magician."

    Madam Hammockughed softly. "I am a sage, Your Royal Highness."

    Oh, right.

    She forgot because she was too happy that her skin was back to being wless.

    To be honest, one of her many uglyyers since her first life up to now was her vanity. She cared a little too much for her appearance. During her second life, she spent a fortune on her skin care routine.

    [Well, it couldn''t be helped because I was a princess in my first life, then a celebrity in my second one. Both positions required me to be picture-perfect.]

    Anyway¡­

    "You''re still amazing, Madam," she said with a bright smile. "Thank you for making my cuts disappear."

    "You don''t have to thank me, Your Royal Highness," Madam Hammock said, then she politely bowed to her. "It''s always an honor to serve you."

    Neoma smiled brightly because it was her mission to charm everyone around her. "Thank you, Madam Hammock."

    [I wonder if Nero can match my "angel image" once he returns.]

    ***

    "PRINCESS NEOMA, I am very saddened by what happened," Sir Glenn said in a voice filled with remorse. "I wish you could have told me your n first."

    Looking at Sir Glenn''s sad face made Neoma feel guilty.

    Right now, she was back in her room. After the incident with Duke Sloane, Emperor Niki told her to rest. Yey to another day of cancelled sses.

    Anyway, after she changed her clothes, Sir Glenn was the one who brought her tea. She bet it was because he wanted to talk to her. So right now, she sat on the sofa while the knight stood in front of her.

    Lewis, on the other hand, was extra silent behind her.

    [I can feel that my son is upset but I''ll talk to himter.]

    "I know that His Majesty told you to deal with Duke Sloane," the knight continued. "But Princess Neoma, please remember that the duke isn''t worth your life."

    "I''m sorry for making you worried, Sir Glenn," Neoma said with an apologetic smile.

    "Your Royal Highness, please don''t apologize to me," he said. "But please promise me that you won''t be this reckless next time."

    She smiled and nodded, then she raised her hand as if she was taking an oath. "I promise, Sir Glenn."

    He looked relieved by that. "Thank you, Your Royal Highness."

    She sipped her warm and unsweetened tea before she spoke again. "Sir Glenn, I didn''t risk my life just to get rid of Duke Sloane. I did that because I want to push him to the corner."

    "What do you mean by that, Your Royal Highness?"

    "Sir Glenn, my Soul Beast and I believe that the Devil''s Grimoire is in the duke''s possession," she said in a serious tone.

    The knight looked surprised by her revtion. "What made you believe so, Princess Neoma?"

    "Tteokbokki¨C my Soul Beast¨C smelled and felt the same scent and energy that he felt in the Royal Grimoire in Duke Sloane," she exined. "He also said that the scent and the energy that clung to the duke were still very strong. That means he used the Devil''s Grimoire recently."

    Sir Glenn became serious. "I will report this to His Majesty right away, Princess Neoma," he said, then his face softened up as he gave her an assuring smile. "You did a good job, Your Royal Highness. Let me take it from here."

    Yep, because her job was to only find the Devil''s Grimoire. Now, it was Sir Glenn''s job to retrieve it. She wasn''t satisfied though. And it was because she felt like she wasted time in the Book Reading Club.

    [Wait, that''s rude. I kind of enjoyed hanging out with Byron and Harry.]

    Well, whatever.

    Neoma smiled brightly. "Thank you, Sir Glenn."

    ***

    NERO tried to use his Mana when the intruder suddenly attacked them.

    But as soon as he stood up, he felt a strong force squeeze his heart tight. He clutched his chest, then he used his other hand to grab the edge of the table so he wouldn''t stumble.

    [No¡­]

    In the blink of an eye, the intruder with a ck mask and ck cloak was already in front of him. The assant was about to grab him as if he intended to take him away instead of killing him when all of a sudden, the intruder froze dead in his tracks.

    He could see that the assant was trying to break free from whatever unseen force that stopped him¨C but to no avail.

    "Prince Nero, please step back," Hanna said in a very serious tone that he hadn''t heard from her before.

    Out of instinct, he took a step back.

    As soon as he did, the intruder suddenly fell on his knees while screaming in agony.

    [What the¡­"

    When the assant dropped on the floor unconscious, he realized what happened after he saw his cousin.

    Hanna was "folding" the intruder''s shadow in her little hands.

    [Shadow maniption,] Nero said to himself when he remembered what kind of ability the Quinzels were known for. [Hanna inherited Duke Quinzel''s ability.]

    ***

    "WHERE''S Lewis?" Neoma asked Stephanie and Alphen. "I haven''t seen him since I got out of the bath."

    Thest time she saw Lewis was before she took a bath.

    But she hadn''t seen him until now. Usually, when she was about to go to bed, Lewis woulde and say good night to her.

    "Your Royal Highness, Lewis is punishing himself," Alphen said. "He probably feels guilty that he wasn''t with you when you almost drowned in the pond."

    Her brows furrowed in confusion. "How is he punishing himself?"

    It was Stephanie who gave an answer this time. "Lewis is in the pond right now, Your Royal Highness."

    Neoma''s eyes widened in shock. "What?!"

    ***

    "DON''T worry, Your Majesty," Rufus assured him. "Prince Nero is safe."

    Niki received a call from Rufus as soon as he returned to his office.

    ording to his cousin''s report, an intruder attacked House Quinzel''s mansion.

    But after interrogating the assant, Rufus found out that the attack had nothing to do with the royal prince. The intruder was apparently a human trafficker whose modus was to kidnap young girls from noble families. Those human traffickers would sell young nobledies to be wives of perverted nobles or royalties from another kingdom.

    "Destroy them," Niki ordered Rufus. "Destroy the trafficking ring that targets the young nobledies of our empire, Rufus."

    "As you wish, Your Majesty," the duke said, then he paused for a while. "I didn''t want to say this until I have solid proof but I thought you''d kill me if you hear this from other people."

    "Say it now or I''ll really kill you."

    "The intruder said something disturbing," Rufus said in a serious but a little nervous tone. "ording to him, their group targeted my house to abduct "Lady Nara." Apparently, they got a tip that the former Commander Quinzel''s daughter was adopted by House Quinzel. That if they auctioned "Lady Nara," they would earn a lot of money."

    He froze in his seat.

    Rufus had only one brother¡­

    [Gavin Quinzel!]

    "It looks like the enemies that tipped the human traffickers somehow think that "Lady Nara" is my brother''s daughter with¡­ with Lady Roseheart," Rufus said, the nervousness in his tone more evident now. "But thankfully, it seems like they don''t know that the "Lady Nara" they''re targeting is actually Prince Nero."

    "Still, they know that the lowly woman has a daughter," Niki said in a cold and angry tone. "But why the hell do they think that MY daughter is that bastard''s daughter?"

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 Chapter 46 - AIGOO, ITS HARD TO RAISE A SON

    NEOMA was shocked when she found Lewis by the pond.

    Her son just came out from the water and he was bleeding all over. She had been there so she knew that the wounds he got were from the bites of the monstrous fish in the pond.

    [Oh my gosh!]

    Secretly escaping her pce to look for Lewis was worth it.

    Stephanie and Alphen said that she didn''t have to look for her butler herself¨C that they would just ask the other servants to look for him instead. But knowing how the servants looked down on Lewis, she knew that they wouldn''t search for her son.

    So when Stephanie and Alphen left her room, she used the window to get out. Thanks to the darkness, she managed to avoid the royal knights patrolling around her pce until she got to the pond.

    "Lewis!" Neoma scolded him firmly when she reached him. She wanted to hold his shoulders and shake him until she knocked some sense into her son. But she remembered that he hated skinship unless he initiated it. And she didn''t want to identally hurt him. "Why did you jump in the water?!"

    Lewis intense gaze focused on her face. "Princess. You reckless. You hurt. Me not with you. Me hurt the same."

    Okay, it took her a while to get what he meant by that.

    "Are you saying that if I get hurt when you''re not with me, you''re going to hurt yourself the same way I got hurt as punishment?" she asked with furrowed brows. "Are you serious?"

    Lewis didn''t need to answer¨C the fire in his eyes already told her that he was dead serious.

    "Lewis, are you upset because you weren''t by my side when I got hurt?"

    He nodded firmly.

    "Oh," she said. "But escorting my esteemed guests is also a part of your job as my butler, Lewis. I understand your feelings, but I hope you also understand that being my butler doesn''t only mean that you have to stick to me like glue 24/7. That''s the reason why I insisted that you have to study."

    The fierceness on Lewis''s face disappeared.

    Now he looked like a poor puppy that was kicked by his cruel owner.

    [Gosh, my son''s angelic face is making me feel like I''m the worst mother in the world.]

    "Princess angry?" Lewis asked in a very sad voice that kicked her conscience again. "Princess hate me?"

    [My heart¡­]

    She didn''t know that being a mother could be this hard until that very moment.

    [Aigoo, I want to scold him but his pitiful face is bad for my heart.]

    "I''m not angry and I don''t hate you," she said, giving in to Lewis''s puppy eyes. Gosh, why was she so weak against pretty people? For sure, her uglyyers and superficiality would really be her end someday. "Lewis, I apologize for making you worry. But I want you to know that if you want to continue being my butler, you can''t hurt yourself the same way I got hurt just because you weren''t able to protect me." She pointed at the pond. "What if you overestimated your ability and you weren''t able to get out of the water? Would you die in peace knowing that you''d never get to see my pretty face again? Gosh, that''s a huge loss for you."

    Lewis looked shocked as if he just realized that he could have died. And had that happened, then he would never see her again. "Sorry, Princess."

    She just smiled and nodded, relieved that she finally knocked some sense into him.

    And she was d that they already resolved their problem because Stephanie, Alphen, and some royal knights arrived.

    Neoma covered her mouth with her hands when she yawned. "Let''s go to Madam Hammock and get her to treat your wounds, son."

    Lewis shook his head. "Me not princess son."

    ***

    "GLENN failed his mission to retrieve the Devil''s Grimoire from Duke Sloane."

    Neoma stopped putting sugar cubes in her tea after she heard what Emperor Niki informed her.

    Right now, they were having tea in the rose garden of his pce. They didn''t get the chance to have breakfast together like nned because the emperor was busy that morning. And it looked like it had something to do with Sir Glenn''s mission.

    Now she understood why the knight was nowhere to be found.

    Lord Kyle Sprouse was in Sir Glenn''s ce instead. The count was standing in the entrance of the rose garden with the other servants and several royal knights.

    "When did you send Sir Glenn to retrieve the Devil''s Grimoire?" Neoma asked worriedly. "Is he okay?"

    "I sent him to the duke''s mansionst night¨C right after you informed Glenn about what you found about Duke Sloane," the emperor exined. "I told Glenn to pretend as a thief. But when he arrived at the duke''s mansion, Duke Sloane was already in a critical condition because of poisoning."

    "Oh."

    Her father raised a brow at her. "Your reaction is quite nd."

    "Well, Duke Sloane touched a book that humans aren''t supposed to own," she said. "His demise is something I already sawing."

    "The duke is still alive."

    "Shame," she said, then she sipped her tea.

    She didn''t want to sound calloused but was she supposed to feel empathy for the person who almost killed her? Gosh, if her life was an anime series, she probably wouldn''t be the protagonist because of herck of empathy.

    [I''m a girl who already died twice. I don''t care who dies as long as they''re not close to me. I just want to survive and be ady of leisure this time.]

    In short, she was already jaded.

    "So Papa Boss," she said after putting her teacup down on the coaster. "Is Sir Glenn hurt? I don''t see him around."

    The emperor sipped his tea first before he exined. "When Glenn found Duke Sloane in a terrible state, he immediately searched all over his room for the Devil''s Grimoire. It only took him a while to find what he was looking for. But instead of a book, Glenn found a crumpled piece of paper in the duke''s hand. We think it''s a page from the Devil''s Grimoire."

    She stopped drinking tea midway when she realized something. "Papa Boss, did Sir Glenn get poisoned when he touched the paper?"

    He nodded, obviously surprised by her quick thinking. "How did you know?"

    "There''s a reason why people started saying that the Devil Grimoire shouldn''t be owned by humans," she reasoned. "Papa Boss, how''s Sir Glenn?"

    "Fortunately, Madam Hammock managed to save him. Glenn is out of danger but he needs to rest," the emperor said. "But instead of worrying about my knight, you should worry more about your butler."

    Her brows furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean by that, Papa Boss?"

    "The paper that Glenn found in Duke Sloane''s hand is the page of the grimoire that teaches how to catch foxes," Emperor Niki said. "It looks like someone else is interested in your little foxy boy butler, Princess Neoma."

    "Aigoo." Neoma let out a deep sigh. Her physical body in that world was only five-years old. But she already felt like an old woman based on how exhausted she was. "It''s so hard to be a single mother while raising a very precious son."

    ***

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 Chapter 47 - WHITE IS SUS

    "SHE LOOKS like me, doesn''t she?"

    "The royal princess?"

    Niki instantly regretted asking Kyle the random thought that entered his mind.

    After her tea time with Neoma, he went back to his office with the count. He didn''t know whatpelled him to ask a stupid question in the middle of work.

    It was toote to take it back though.

    "Of course, Princess Neoma looks like you, Your Majesty," Kyle said, then he raised a brow at her. "Are you bothered by the fact that the enemies believe that Lady Roseheart''s daughter is fathered by Commander Quinzel?"

    "I''m not," he said firmly. [I shouldn''t have told him about what Rufus discovered.]

    "Don''t worry about it, Your Majesty," the count said. "The enemies think that "Lady Nara" is themander''s daughter because His Royal Highness is disguised as someone that resembles the Quinzels a little bit so he''d fit in. But if the enemies saw Princess Neoma, they wouldn''t doubt who her father is."

    "I said I''m not bothered by their stupid assumption," he insisted.

    "You''re paying extra attention to the royal princess now, Your Majesty," Kyle said bluntly. "Are you finally softening up to Princess Neoma?"

    "No," Niki denied firmly. "I just don''t want what''s mine to be associated with that traitor, okay?"

    ***

    NEOMA let out a deep sigh.

    Byron, Harry, and Lewis (who was nowpletely healed from the bites of the monstrous fish, thanks to Madam Hammock''s magical ointment) all looked at her at the same time.

    Ah, right. Their "book discussion" wasn''t over yet.

    She was telling the kids the story about the adventures of the "Pirate Rubber Boy" looking for the "One True Gold Bar" when her mind drifted off to somewhere else.

    [It''s hard to work my a$$ off for a better future.]

    "Your Royal Highness, you looked tired," Harrymented. "Should we take a break?"

    "Yes, please," Neoma said, then she turned to Lewis. "Tell the maids to bring refreshments, Lewis."

    Lewis stood up, then he bowed to her before he went down in the lobby of the library.

    "Is there a problem, Your Royal Highness?" Byron asked carefully. "Are you worried because Duke Sloane was poisoned after the incident at the pavilion?"

    "Let''s just that you''re right, Brother Byron," she said. It wasn''t like she could tell them the truth. Not that she wanted to. "I wish I could go somewhere else other than the Royal Pce."

    "Prince Nero, can we invite you to the new library that House Thompson and House Alberts built together?" Harry asked in a shy manner. "You showed us His Majesty''s library. We want to return the favor."

    Byron nodded in agreement.

    To be honest, she only said that she wanted to go out as an excuse as to why she was bummed today. She had turned into azy person now that she was in her third life (although technically, she was just regressed to her first life). She didn''t really feel like doing anything.

    But she thought taking a peak at the library built by House Thompson and House Alberts could give her a clue about the whereabouts of the elusive Devil''s Grimoire.

    "Okay," Neoma epted the two boys'' invitation with a bright smile. "I''m excited to see your library, Brother Byron and Brother Harry."

    ***

    NERO left Hanna''s room after Duchess Amber Quinzel came with the family''s doctor. After all, he didn''t want more people to take a closer look at him.

    Anyway, Duke Quinzel escorted him and brought him to the tea room to talk.

    "How are you, Prince Nero?" Duke Quinzel asked. He could address him by his real identity because after the servants served them the refreshments, he asked them to leave the tea room. "Were you surprised to be attacked in our home? I apologize for that. I strengthened the security around the estate to make sure that this won''t happen again."

    "I''m more surprised by Hanna''s Mana," Nero said bluntly. "But it''s a double-edged sword, isn''t it?"

    Hanna fainted after she knocked out the assant.

    Thankfully, Duke Quinzel had arrived with his private knights when that happened. Apparently, his uncle felt a strange presence in the estate so he immediately checked on them.

    "Hanna was born with a strong Mana but a weak heart," the duke said with a sad smile. "Because of her weak heart, she can''t use her Mana to its full potential. You saw what happened after she used her ability, didn''t you?"

    He nodded. To be honest, he already had a hunch that Hanna had a weak body after she fainted a while ago. "I''m sorry, Your Grace," he said like what a proper royal prince would do. "Hanna was forced to use her Mana just to save me."

    He hated feeling indebted to someone who wasn''t Neoma.

    But he hated the feeling of being useless more. If a little girl with a weak heart had to save him from a measly human trafficker, then how could he hope to protect his precious twin sister at this rate? He didn''t want the day toe where Neoma would have to save him instead of the other way around.

    [I need to be cured from this freaking curse as soon as possible.]

    "You don''t have to apologize, Prince Nero," his uncle said. "It''s our duty to protect the royal prince. And most of all, we''re family."

    He didn''tment on that.

    Well, technically, they were rted to one another. After all, Duke Quinzel was his father''s cousin on the mother side. But for him, his only family was Neoma.

    "I won''t forget all the good things that you''ve done for me, Duke Quinzel," Nero said formally.

    "Well, if you really feel indebted to us, I only have one wish," Duke Quinzel said with a smile. "Prince Nero, please be nice to Hanna."

    ***

    NEOMA was a little surprised when Alphen returned to her pce after she asked him to deliver a message for Emperor Niki. She asked for her father''s permission to go out of the pce to visit the joint library of House Thompson and House Alberts.

    [And Papa Boss agreed without making a fuss.]

    Now she regretted sending the head butler instead of personally asking for the emperor''s permission.

    In her defense, her big brain was busying up with ns to lure the culprit behind Duke Sloane''s poisoning. She had a feeling that the culprit only used the duke to get Lewis. And if her hunch was right, that person definitely had the Devil''s Grimoire.

    "Thank you, Alphen," Neoma said. Right now, she was behind her study table while the head butler stood beside her. "Can you prepare appropriate gifts for House Thompson and House Alberts? I can''t visit them empty-handed."

    "Yes, Your Royal Highness," Alphen said. He obviously knew what he was doing. "There''s already a list of appropriate gifts a royal prince can send to higher nobles. May I ask if you have a particr gift that you want to add to the list?"

    She nodded before she answered. "Bouquets of the most beautiful flower this season, luxurious tea bags that cost a gold bar for a single gram, and a variety of high-quality meat that Papa and I eat every day."

    [I have a reputation to protect so I need to be this generous.]

    "That''s an impressive list, Your Royal Highness," Alphen said. He remainedposed as usual but she could see in his eyes that he was sort of proud of her. She didn''t miss the faint on his face before he bowed to her. "I will now excuse myself to prepare the gifts for House Thompson and House Alberts."

    "Okay," she said cheerfully. "Bye-bye, Alphen."

    When the head butler left her room, she was once again left alone with Lewis.

    She closed her notebook to face her son. "Lewis, White is sus."

    Lewis just gave her a nk look.

    "Let''s use ''White'' as a codename for my Papa when we badmouth him. He has white hair so the code fits him," she exined. She and Nero had white hair too but whatever. "And when I said "sus," I meant suspicious. Don''t you find it strange that he''s beingx on me these days?" She gasped when she realized something. "I haven''t cursed at him for how many days now? Gosh, I think I''m going to get sick if I don''t cuss at him."

    The young butler''s brows furrowed in confusion. Then, much to her surprise, he put a gentle hand on her forehead. "Princess fever no."

    She giggled at his silliness. "It''s just an expression, son."

    "Me not Princess son," he said, then he pulled his hand away from her. "Emperor White." He pointed at himself. "Me what?"

    Did he want a "codename" too?

    [Well, codenames sound cool to children.]

    "Your codename is "Princess''s son,"" Neoma said. "How cool is that?"

    Lewis firmly shook his head. "Me hate codenames now."

    ***

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 Chapter 48 - SOMETIMES MY BIG BRAIN SCARES ME

    "SIR GLENN, are you sure you''re okay now?" Neoma asked worriedly. "You''re still supposed to be resting."

    [What is Papa Boss thinking to send Sir Glenn as my knight?]

    Right now, she was in the grandiose carriage with Sir Glenn (who sat across from her) and Lewis, who sat on her left side. Stephanie, Alphen, and her other maids were on the carriage behind them. The "convoy" also had the luxurious set of gifts that she prepared for House Thompson and House Alberts.

    [Anyway¡­]

    The only condition that Emperor Niki gave was for her to bring Sir Glenn as her knight.

    "Thank you for the concern, Princess Neoma," Sir Glenn said cheerfully. "I''m alright now. The poison was contained immediately by Madam Hammock. Thanks to our Healing Sage, I was able to recover fast."

    "I can see that," she said. "But Sir Glenn, can you pretend to be still a little weakter?"

    The knight blinked in confusion.

    She pointed at Lewis whose neck, arms, and legs were covered with bandages even if the young butler wasn''t hurt. Not anymore. But she still asked him to get covered in bandages for her n. "Lewis threw himself in the pond a few days ago. But for today, we will act like Papa threw him in the pondst night as punishment. I also asked Lewis to suppress his power so that anyone who can gauge Mana would feel that he is very weak at the moment."

    Sir Glenn''s brows furrowed in confusion. "Your Royal Highness, do you want me to act like I haven''t fully recovered yet from the poisoning?" he asked. When she just nodded as a response, he continued. "But if both of your guards are in a "weak state," then the enemy would surely take advantage of it and attack¡­" He trailed-off when he gasped. Then, he snapped his fingers while nodding. "Ah. You''re trying to lure the enemies, Princess Neoma?"

    "Bingo," she said brightly. "But I''m pretty sure that their target this time is Lewis and not me. So, I prepared a little trick for the enemy.???

    Lewis let out a loud sigh ofint.

    [Gosh, he''s still protesting the n that I came up with.]

    "Hush, son," Neoma scolded him. "We got this."

    Sir Glenn suddenly got visibly nervous. "Your Royal Highness, what are you nning this time?"

    ***

    "WELCOME TO the Alphonse Library, Your Royal Highness."

    Neoma smiled at the greetings of Count Thompson and Marquis Alberts. Byron and Harry also greeted her politely.

    Behind her, Alphen and Stephanie were busy helping the other servants unload the gifts that she brought for the two lords. On the other hand, Lewis stood on her right side while Sir Glenn was on her left side.

    [Thug princess,] Tteokbokki said when he created a link in their minds without her permission¨C again! [The scent of the strange grimoire is very strong in this area.]

    That meant the Devil''s Grimoire was really in the Alphonse Library.

    Neoma smiled brightly at the two lords and her two homies (Byron and Harry were his homies now, okay?). "Thank you for the warm wee, Lord Thompson and Lord Alberts."

    ***

    NEOMA was bored and tired now.

    She spent two hours with Count Thompson and Marquis Alberts while listening to them rave about the rare collection of books in Alphonse Library. The two lords also proudly talked about the best schrs in the empire that their families produced.

    Of course, she humored them and praised both houses the entire time.

    Thankfully, Count Thompson and Marquis Alberts finally left her alone with Byron and Harry for their "book discussion" aka storytelling time for her.

    [I swear Sh*nen J*mp would have sued me by now if I were in the modern world.]

    Anyway, right now, she was in the VIP lounge of Alphonse Library with her homies.

    She shared a table with Byron, Harry, and Lewis. A variety of delectable refreshments were served. The best part was their table was ced beside the giant ss window where they had the beautiful view of the luxurious garden in front of the library.

    On the other hand, Sir Glenn was guarding them from the entrance of the VIP lounge. Alphen and Stephanie were busy receiving the gifts that Count Thompson and Marquis Alberts prepared for her.

    "Your Royal Highness, is everything alright?" Harry asked worriedly. "You look exhausted while Lewis looks beaten up."

    "May we know what happened?" Byron asked worriedly.

    "Lewis made a mistakest night and Papa got really mad at him," Neoma, her acting mode on now, said in a sad voice. "This is a secret, okay?"

    Byron and Harry nodded eagerly.

    "Papa threw Lewis in the pondst night," she continued in a whispered voice. "Lewis was barely alive when we pulled him out of the pond. I didn''t want to bring him with me but my father insisted that making him work even though he hasn''t recovered yet is part of his punishment." She let out a frustrated sigh. "My poor son."

    Lewis didn''tment on her "son"ment because if he did, he had to call her "prince" instead of "princess."

    Anyway, Byron and Harry looked at Lewis with eyes filled with pity.

    "I feel bad because it wasn''t only Lewis," she continued, making her homies turn to her again. "I won''t go into details because it''s confidential. But Sir Glenn was injured from his previous mission. Still, my father allowed me to go out of the Royal Pce with Lewis and Sir Glenn because he trusts that House Thompson and House Alberts will also protect me."

    As soon as she said that, the "air" around suddenly turned chilly.

    Then, darkness covered the entire room¨Cpletely blinding her. After that, she heard Lewis groan in pain. She didn''t panic because she already expected her son to be attacked.

    Plus, she wouldn''t go to a "war" unarmed.

    "Tteokbokki," Neoma said firmly, then she snapped her fingers. "Switch."

    ***

    TTEOKBOKKI was Neoma''s ace in the hole today.

    When she was thinking of a way to ensure that the enemy wouldn''t capture Lewis, she asked Tteokbokki if he could leave her soul and temporarily enter Lewis''s soul instead to protect her son.

    Tteokbokki said that he could "cut" a part of his being and stick it to Lewis''s soul. And if needed, he could also switch their ces.

    At that moment, her n waspleted.

    Once Lewis was dragged by the enemy, she would ask Tteokbokki to make them switch ces so that Lewis would be safe with Sir Glenn and she''d be the one to face the culprit. She was confident that she''d be okay as long as she had her Soul Beast.

    Her son protested, of course.

    But once Neoma already made up her mind, there was no way anyone could change it.

    ***

    TO BE honest, Neoma expected to be faced with an unknown enemy.

    It never crossed her mind that she''d find herself lying on the floor while being strangled by Byron and Harry. The two looked surprised that they got her instead of Lewis. As soon as they realized that they got the wrong target, they jumped backwards until their backs hit the bookshelf.

    She got up while panting.

    Gosh, her neck hurt like hell.

    But even though she would never say it aloud, she actually a little bit hurt to find out that the enemies all along were her homies.

    [I didn''t see thising.]

    Still, she was a professional baby so she had to finish the job even with a heavy heart.

    Neoma cracked her knuckles while moving her head from side-to-side. "I''m ending my friendship with you, my ex-homies."

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 Chapter 49 - THE DEVILS GRIMOIRE

    NEOMA found herself in a cube-like wall.

    The four giant shelves with rollingdders served as the wall. When she quickly looked up to find a way out, she realized they were deep down the earth because she couldn''t see the ceiling. It was as if the room was buried in the ground.

    Count Thompson and Marquis Alberts didn''t show her that area a while ago.

    [Tteokbokki,] Neoma called her Soul Beast. [Are you there?]

    Instead of answering in her mind, Tteokbokki appeared beside her in his baby red dragon form¨C which was just as tall as her. "I''m here, thug pri¨C" He stopped when she red at him. "Prince. Thug prince."

    Neoma just rolled her eyes. Then, she turned to her ex-homies. Her brows furrowed in confusion when she noticed that Byron and Harry''s eyes turned all-ck. That sh*t was a little creepy. And obviously, they weren''t their usual selves. "My dudes, who''s controlling you?"

    She tried to walk towards the two but much to her surprise, Tteokbokki blocked her way.

    "Thug prince, I don''t know what happened but your little friends don''t smell like humans anymore," Tteokbokki said anymore. "The strong scent of the strange grimoire ising from them directly."

    She gasped when she heard that. And then, she got surprised when Byron and Harry suddenly appeared behind the Soul Beast. "Tteokbokki, behind you!"

    Tteokbokki just calmly pped the two children with his dragon tail.

    Byron and Harry were sent flying. But this time, they stopped mid-air before hitting the bookshelf behind them. Then, they held hands. As soon as the two boys'' hand touched, the both of them were suddenly wrapped in a "nket" of darkness.

    Her brows furrowed in confusion when she realized what Byron and Harry could be.

    "You two look like the cover of an open book," Neoma said, then she smirked and tilted her head to one side. "You''re the Devil''s Grimoire, aren''t you?"

    As soon as she said that, she was suddenly swallowed up by the floor.

    She literally fell into their trap.

    [F*cking sh*t.]

    ***

    NERO dropped the tray with two teacups sitting on it when all of a sudden, he felt like somebody ripped his heart out of his chest.

    He was in Hanna''s room because he apanied Duke Quinzel in visiting his daughter who was still sick. When he asked Hanna what he could do for her, his cousin asked him if he could make tea for her. It was an easy request so he epted it.

    When he returned to her room with the tea that Hanna requested, the numbing feeling overwhelmed him all of a sudden.

    "Prince Nero, are you alright?" Duke Quinzel asked, then he carefully walked towards him while avoiding the broken pieces of the teacups on the floor. "Please step away so you won''t identally hurt yourself¨C"

    "Duke Quinzel," Nero cut him off with a hint of fear in his voice. It looked like the duke was rmed by the tone he used because he suddenly looked more alert now. "Neoma''s entire presence is gone."

    The duke looked confused. "What do you mean by that?"

    "I can''t feel her presence anymore," he said in a panic. "It''s like shepletely disappeared. Something bad must have happened to my twin sister!"

    Duke Quinzel held him by the shoulders as if he was trying to calm him down. "I will call His Majesty right away."

    "Yes, but that''s not the only thing we''re doing," Nero said firmly. "Duke Quinzel, I need to return to the Royal Capital."

    ***

    GLENN was anxious.

    When the lights in the library returned, Princess Neoma was already gone. Byron Thompson and Harry Alberts also disappeared with the royal princess.

    The only child left in the room was Lewis. Just like him, the fox boy looked very anxious. He kept on sniffing the air as if he was looking for Princess Neoma. But the frustration on the child''s face told him that he couldn''t locate the royal princess.

    Lewis was obviously starting to get agitated.

    "Lewis, calm down," Glenn said firmly. "I already asked the royal knights to summon Lord Thompson and Lord Alberts¨C" He stopped talking when all of a sudden, Princess Neoma''s Soul Beast appeared in front of them in its dragon form (in its cute size). "Mr. Tteokbokki, where''s Her Royal Highness?"

    "The thug princess disappeared!" Mr. Tteokbokki said frantically. "The Devil''s Grimoire swallowed her up! I tried to chase them but they closed the hole that they used to capture the thug princess!"

    Lewis hissed loudly.

    "Mr. Tteokbokki, please exin," he said. "How did the Devil''s Grimoire swallowed up the royal princess?"

    "The brats the princess calls as Byron and Harry¡­ they are the Devil''s Grimoire!" the Soul Beast revealed, shocking both him and Lewis. "I don''t know how it happened but I''m telling the truth! When the floor suddenly opened and swallowed up the thug princess, they followed her and enveloped her in a thick nket of darkness. Then, they closed the hole on the floor so I couldn''t follow them!"

    He still couldn''t fully understand what was going on but one thing was for sure¡­

    [Count Thompson and Marquis Alberts shall be apprehended.]

    Speak of the devil¡­

    "What the hell is going on here, Sir Glenn?" Marquis Alberts asked. "I heard the children were gone!"

    The marquis was followed by Count Thompson and the royal knights that he asked to fetch the two lords. He also noticed the personal knights of the count and the marquis beside the royal knights that he brought.

    [I''m d that they''re both here now.]

    Glenn drew his sword and pointed it at Marquis Alberts who looked shocked.

    Even Count Thompson, the royal knights, and the personal guards seemed surprised.

    On the other hand, Lewis moved fast and pointed his long and sharp "foxy" nails at Count Thompson''s stomach.

    "What kind of insolence is this, Sir Glenn?!" Count Thompson asked angrily. "Have you lost your mind?" He turned to his personal guards. "Lord Alberts and I are being threatened! What are you waiting for?!"

    The personal guards, who seemed to snap out of their shock, pulled out their swords.

    But the royal knights were faster. Even without an order from him, they already drew their swords to counter the royal guards.

    Count Thompson and Marquis Alberts went pale.

    "Lord Alberts and Lord Thompson," Glenn said menacingly. "You two are under arrest for abducting His Royal Highness Prince Nero de Moonasterio."

    ***

    NIKOLAI received two separate but urgent calls a while ago.

    The first call came from Glenn who informed him that Neoma discovered that Bryon Thompson and Harry Alberts were actually the Devil''s Grimoire. But after the royal princess found out about the big secret, she was apparently "swallowed up" by the book.

    Glenn and the foxy boy apprehended Count Thompson and Marquis Alberts. But ording to his knight, the two lords refused to talk.

    [How insolent.]

    The second call that he received came from Rufus. The duke informed him that Nero felt Neoma''s disappearance. Apparently, the royal prince was insisting that he needed to return to the Royal Capital as fast as possible. For that matter, Nero was demanding him to allow them to use the portal in Astello Temple connected to his pce.

    It was the same portal that he used to bring Neoma to the temple before.

    "Kyle."

    "I''m here, Your Majesty," Kyle, who stood in front of his desk, answered right away. "What can I do for you?"

    "Call the saint and tell him to let Rufus and Prince Nero use the portal connected to my pce. Then, prepare my carriage," Niki said, then he stood up and grabbed his jacket. "I''m going to Alphonse Library to retrieve the Devil''s Grimoire."

    And perhaps, save Neoma while he was at it.

    ***

    WHEN NEOMA opened her eyes, she found herself staring at a ceiling made of dark, cumulus clouds.

    [What a pity.]

    The puffy and cotton candy-like clouds would have looked closer if they were white.

    "How long are you going to stay on the floor, Your Royal Highness?"

    The unfamiliar, deep male voice made her sigh.

    [Gosh, I can''t even catch a break.]

    She got up and as soon as she did, she saw a man sitting on a in ck throne. The only special thing about the throne was the giant scythe with its curved de embedded in the backrest of the chair.

    And the "King Arthur" sitting on the armrest of the throne was actually very handsome.

    ck messy hair, purple eyes, pale skin.

    The man wore a ck turtle neck shirt and ck pants under a loose white robe with red and golden embroidery of anguage that she didn''t understand. He also wore a pair of ck boots with several silver chains that looked pretty cool to her.

    Ah, she also noticed that his left ear was full of piercings.

    The stranger had piercings in his helix, rook, snug, orbital, daith, tragus, outer conch, upper lobe, and standard lobe of his left ear.

    She knew because she used to have piercings in her ears too during her second life.

    [Okay, I have to admit that the piercings look cool on him because he''s handsome.]

    "Aww, don''t stare at me too much, Princess Neoma," the handsome stranger said in a sarcastic voice. "I''m shy."

    There was no way a dude with piercing eyes could be shy.

    She was about to call him out when she realized what he called her.

    ["Princess Neoma."]

    Her eyes widened in shock.

    But before she could even react to what the stranger said, the white walls in the room changed into mirrors.

    That was when she realized that she was no longer a tiny princess.

    She reverted back as the eighteen-year old Neoma de Moonasterio of her first life. She recognized that the prettyvender dress that she wore right now was exactly the dress she was wearing when she was killed by Nero back then.

    [What the hell is happening?]

    "You were looking for me, aren''t you?"

    Her brows furrowed in confusion because she was sure that she wasn''t looking for a handsome man with ear piercings¡­

    ¡­. until she realized what he could be.

    Neoma''s eyes widened in shock. "You''re the devil who owns the grimoire?"

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 Chapter 50 - BRUH

    WELL, Neoma shocked for a second after she realized that she just met a devil.

    But after all the strange things that happened to her in her previous lives, she just shrugged it off. Plus, she was more interested in admiring her reflection in the mirror. After all, it had been a while since she saw herself as ady instead of a baby.

    "Gosh, I almost forgot how beautiful I am as ady," Neoma said while touching her face. She looked so feminine now that she got her long hair back, and she even wore a pretty chic dress. "I can''t believe that Rubin Drayton rejected this face¡­"

    She trailed-off when she realized that she just mentioned her ex-fianc¨¦.

    [Gosh, why do I still feel bitter?]

    "Hey, are you ignoring me?"

    She turned around and was a little surprise to see the devil standing in front of her while slouching.

    God, he had bad posture but he still towered over her. She only reached his chest. If he stood straight, she would probably feel like she was a dwarf next to a giant. It was pretty whack because for a girl, she was considered tall.

    [Wait, that''s not important right now.]

    Neoma grabbed the devil by the cor. That seemed to surprise him but she didn''t care. "Hey, why did my appearance change?" she asked curiously. "And how did you know my real identity?"

    "You can''t hide anything in my territory, Moon Princess," the devil said with an arrogant smirk. And eww, the nickname he gave her was so corny. "I even know what your heart desires."

    She raised a brow at that. "Really now?"

    "You want to find the cure for your twin brother''s curse," he said confidently. "But the desire in your heart to unravel the truth behind Niki de Moonasterio''s tragedy is stronger."

    "My father''s "tragedy¡­?""

    "Niki de Moonasterio, Mona Roseheart, Gavin Quinzel, and Juliet Sloane¡­ the four of them were entangled in a tragic affair."

    ["Juliet Sloane?"]

    Ah, that must be the former empress.

    "Tell me what you know about them," she said while clutching his cor tighter. "I want to know the mystery behind my birth¨C both in my first and second life."

    He smirked at her. "You can only choose one, Moon Princess," he told her while shaking a finger in front of her face. "Choose between the cure for your twin brother''s curse and the truth behind your birth."

    "I need both."

    "Greedy, aren''t we?" he said with a raised brow. "If you want to know both, make me talk."

    She dropped her arms on her sides while remembering the things that she learned from her one-week experience in boxing.

    [I should use my hips, if I remember it correctly.]

    She made sure that her left shoulder faced the devil. Then, she stood with her legs shoulder-width apart, her knees were slightly bent, and left foot was pointed towards her opponent. She held her right hand by her chin, and her left hand down in front of her face. Her chin was down, but her eyes were up.

    The devil raised a brow at her. "That posture looks weird, Moon Princess."

    Instead of answering, she just bent her knees and turned just a tad towards the devil. Then, without warning, she punched him straight up from the chin.

    Her uppercut sent the devil flying until his back hit the mirror wall.

    The impact was so strong that the mirror broke and probably cut him because he was already bleeding.

    Well, she was still a de Moonasterio and the royal family was known for their brute strength. Even her father said that they didn''t need to wield weapons. Their bodies were enough to protect them, especially since they also had Soul Beasts.

    [Thank you for your powerful gene, Papa Boss.]

    She whistled, impressed by her own strength. "Don''t underestimate my one-week experience in boxing, dude."

    "Trevor," the devil said with a softugh. Then, he stood up and looked at her with frenzied eyes. "My name is Trevor, Moon Princess."

    "Okay, Trevor," she said, going back to her boxing stance. "Now, do you still want to continue this fight¨C"

    She was forced to stop talking when she felt a sting on her left cheek.

    The next thing she knew, her cheek was already bleeding. The dagger embedded on the now-cracked mirror was the only indication of what happened.

    Trevor threw a dagger at her.

    "Oops," Trevor said with a smirk. "Sorry, Moon Princess. Is it okay if I use weapons?"

    Then, he raised his hands. There was a dagger in the spaces between his fingers. That reminded her that devils never yed fair.

    "F*cking bastard," she said, then she pulled out the dagger embedded on the mirror. As soon as she drew the weapon, the mirrorpletely broke into pieces. "I''ll make you pay for ruining my pretty face."

    But first, she used the dagger to cut her dress until it was short enough¨C now the hem fell right above her knees¨C for her to movefortably. Thankfully, dresses like that had built-in shorts so she didn''t have to worry about getting peeked at.

    Thankfully, she wore boots instead of high-heeled shoes.

    After she was satisfied with her clothes, she pulled thece choker on her neck and used it to tie her long hair in a messy bun.

    "Dude, you don''t mind if I borrow your weapon, do you?" she asked after she was done tying her hair.

    "I don''t mind, Moon Princess," Trevor said with a mocking smile. "But what can a mere dagger do?"

    "I''m not talking about this measly dagger," she said, then she threw the dagger on the floor. "I''m talking about that big boy."

    She pointed at the giant scythe embedded in the throne.

    Trevor looked shocked by her choice, then heughed loudly. "Well, if you can draw it, why not?"

    She scoffed while walking towards the throne. "Why? Is it like King Arthur''s Excalibur or something?"

    The devil didn''t respond.

    [He probably didn''t get the reference.]

    Anyway, she cracked her knuckles and moved her shoulders when she reached the ck throne. Then, she grabbed the silver handle of the giant scythe. She used her full strength to draw it from the throne and much to her disappointment, she was able to pull it out easily.

    [Wow, that was pretty anti-climactic.]

    Also, even though the curved de of the scythe was big, it was light. She was able to twirl it like how she would y with a baton. She used to be a majorette in her second life, you know?

    She was busy ying with the weapon when she heard a noise.

    Like metals hitting the concrete floor.

    When she turned to Trevor, she noticed that he dropped his weapons. And the devil was looking at her with a shocked look on his face.

    "What?" sheined, then she rested the handle of the scythe on her right shoulder. "Don''t tell me you can''t draw this scythe and I was the first person to do so?" She rolled her eyes when the devil didn''t respond. To her, it sounded like a confirmation. "Oh, please. That''s so clich¨¦."

    Trevor just smirked. Then, in the blink of an eye, he was already in front of her. This time, he was standing straight. "Hey, Moon Princess," he said, his purple eyes glowing as if he was suddenly excited. "Marry me."

    Neoma looked up at the devil. Now that he was standing properly, she realized that she barely reached his chest. Wait¨C did he just propose to her as if he just didn''t try to kill her a while ago? "Bruh, are you on crack?"

    ***

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 Chapter 51 - I PICKED UP A (POTENTIAL) FIANCÃ©?

    DOMINIC Zavaroni opened his eyes the same time the light of the candles around the prayer room was suddenly put out.

    He was offering a prayer to Yule, the moon god, for the royal prince''s safe trip back to the Royal Capital when he felt an ominous aura in the air. He was certain that the evil somehow entered the Royal Capital despite the divine protection around it.

    "Princess Neoma," Dominic whispered to himself. "I need to see the royal princess."

    ***

    "MEN and their audacity," Neoma said while shaking her head. "Do you think I''ll marry you after you almost ruined my pretty face?"

    Trevor smiled, then he touched the cut on her face.

    She flinched because it stung.

    But only for a few seconds. When the cutpletely disappeared, the devil immediately pulled his hand away from her face.

    "I''m sorry for hurting you, Moon Princess," Trevor said, his purple eyes still shining brightly. "If I need to kneel and beg for your forgiveness, I''ll do it."

    "Even if you kneel and beg for my forgiveness, I will still not ept your marriage proposal," she said bluntly. "You''re not my type."

    "What''s your type, then?"

    "A normal dude," she said without missing a beat. "A devil like you will surely make my life more difficult."

    "I''m not the devil. It was just you who assumed that I am the devil," he said. "Actually, I''m the Devil''s Grimoire." He made a finger gun and pointed the tip at his temple. "All the spells in the book are in stored in here."

    "That''s worse than being the devil," she said. "I heard that the Devil''s Grimoire is sought-after by dangerous people. If I marry a person like you, I will never have a peaceful life."

    "I''ll kill them all."

    "What?"

    "I''ll kill all those who seek me," he said with a charming smile. "Don''t worry, Moon Princess. You''re safe with me."

    She raised a brow at him. "Why do you want to marry me?"

    "I fell in love with you."

    "B*llshit."

    Heughed loudly. "You''re the kind of woman with high standards, aren''t you?"

    "Yes, and I deserve it," she said confidently. "I know my worth so I won''t settle for less."

    He justughed it off. "Yeah, I''m not in love with you," he said, his purple eyes turning dark as his aura turned into bloodlust. "But I need you for my freedom. If I form a contract with a human like you, I''ll finally be free from this hellhole. But the contact I need is the kind of contract that binds a man and a woman together."

    "A wedding contract, I assume."

    "Impressive," he said while nodding his head.

    "What will I gain if I married you?" she asked. "You can''t even grant me two wishes, you stingy devil-like man."

    "I can''t break the rule even for you, Moon Princess," he said with a shrug. "But I can tell you why the foxy boy beside you is being targeted. I''m sure the information that I have will also benefit the empire."

    "Still not tempting enough for me," she said. "Step up your game, Trevor. Aren''t devils supposed to be good at seducing humans?"

    He raised a brow at her while giving her azy smile. "You want me to seduce you?"

    Okay, her mouth suddenly went dry.

    [Thatzy smile is¡­ sexy.]

    Gosh, she suddenly felt thirsty.

    "I don''t get seduced," she dered proudly. "I do the seducing, dude."

    [And there goes his sexyzy smile again.]

    This time, he even tilted his head at one side while licking his lips quickly. "Oh, yeah?"

    "Stop flirting with me," sheined, then she swayed the giant scythe until the curved de was sitting prettily below his chin.

    Much to her annoyance, he just smirked and raised his hands in surrender.

    "I will not form a contract with you," she said seriously. "I''ve seen enough romantic movies with fake dating and contract marriage tropes to know where this could lead to."

    "You speak nonsense, Moon Princess," he said but his voice sounded amused. "Is it because you were born in a different world during your second life?"

    Okay, that surprised her again.

    [He even knows that?]

    "Are you tempted to ept my offer now?" Trevor said with a smirk. "Or should I "seduce" you more, Moon Princess?"

    She swallowed hard.

    [Don''t give in, Neoma de Moonasterio. You''ve also seen enough horror shows to know that forming a contract with a devil only brings tragedy.]

    Well, technically, Trevor wasn''t a devil.

    [But at this situation, he definitely looks like one.]

    She was about to say something when all of a sudden, the ground shook hard and all the mirrors in the room started to break.

    She lost her bnce and dropped the scythe on the floor. When she thought she was about to fall t on her face, she felt a protective arm around her waist. When she turned to her side, she found Trevor holding her close to his body. "Hey¨C"

    "I''m sorry for touching you without permission," Trevor said, then he looked up at the dark clouds. "It looks like your father is here to fetch you, Moon Princess."

    She gasped, then she looked up at the dark clouds and noticed that even those are getting "cracked." That made her realize that the clouds weren''t real clouds. It seemed like the ceiling was just "painted" with a dark sky.

    "F*cking royal family and your nasty temper," he whispered.

    "Bruh, I can hear you."

    He turned to her with a smile. "You can''t be offended by the truth, Moon Princess."

    She tried to open her mouth but she realized that if she snapped at him, she''d only prove him right.

    [Well, I know that I have a nasty temper but I don''t want him to be right about me.]

    "Moon Princess, say goodbye to your pretty form," Trevor said with a sickeningly "sweet" smile. Then, he covered her eyes with his hand. "Now, it''s time for us to be back as adorable little kids again."

    Did it mean she''d lose her lovely form and regress back as a tiny princess?

    [No¡­ no!]

    Neoma wanted toin but she suddenly fell sleepy.

    [F*ck.]

    ***

    NIKOLAI watched as South, the ming Vermillion Bird and one of his Soul Beasts, breathed fire into the Alphonse Library. The me of his phoenix was different from ordinary me. He was certain that the library would burn down in just a few minutes.

    "Your Majesty, please don''t burn it down!" Marquis Alberts begged.

    "The children are still in there, Your Majesty!" Count Thompson added. "Do you not care about the royal prince."

    Niki turned to the count and marquis behind him.

    The two lords and their servants were being held back by Glenn and the royal knights that created a barrier around him.

    "The royal prince will survive," Niki dered, then he turned to the burning library. He was confident that Neoma wouldn''t die from that. [After all, she''s my child.]

    He froze when he realized what he just said.

    [I just didn''t say that, did I?]

    "Princess¡­?"

    He turned to the foxy boy who had the audacity to stand beside him as if they were equal. He noticed that the child was looking ahead with wide eyes.

    When he followed the foxy boy''s gaze, he found the royal princess¡­

    ¡­ and Neoma was in the arms of a boy that seemed to be around her age.

    Niki didn''t know why but he was irked by the unpleasant sight.

    [Who is that insolent boy?]

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 Chapter 52 - LIKE MOTHER, LIKE SON

    NIKOLAI snapped out of his trance when he saw the foxy boy run towards Neoma. "Glenn, apprehend the strange boy."

    "Yes, Your Majesty," Glenn answered and in just the blink of an eye, the knight was already putting the strange boy''s hands behind his back.

    And Neoma was now in the arms of the foxy boy.

    Still, he felt pissed for some reason.

    Thankfully, he was distracted when South, the phoenix, flew towards him. The nearer it got, the more it reduced in size. When the Vermillion Bird finallynded on his shoulder, it was already just the size of an average eagle.

    The phoenix was still engulfed in red me, but the me didn''t burn him. His Soul Beasts couldn''t hurt him because he had already mastered controlling them.

    "You did well, South," Niki said while touching the head of the Vermillion Bird until it disappeared to return to his soul. When the phoenix was gone, he turned around to face Count Thompson and Marquis Alberts. "I''ll give you time to finalize yourst will and testament, Lord Thompson and Lord Alberts."

    ***

    "YOUR MAJESTY, we''re begging you," Marquis Alberts said. "Please forgive us."

    "We will cooperate with you, Your Majesty," Count Thompson said. "Just please spare our lives."

    Niki raised a brow at the two lords.

    Right now, he was in his throne room with Kyle Sprouse standing beside him.

    This time, the usually empty throne room was surrounded by the White Lion Knights¨C his private army.

    Glenn, the army''s vicemander, was currently escorting Nero and Rufus to Neoma''s pce in secret. The royal prince arrived with his cousin in his pce using the portal from Astello Temple. He then sent Glenn to them and asked the knight to bring them to the royal princess''s chamber.

    Neoma, who was still unconscious, was being guarded by the foxy boy.

    On the other hand, the "strange boy" that they apprehended was currently locked up in the Royal Tower. He was being guarded by the Royal Mages. It looked like the boy didn''t have any ns of escaping because he had the audacity to tell him they needed to talkter.

    [Kids these days are very cheeky.]

    Anyway¡­

    "You''re begging me to spare your lives," Niki said in his usual monotone voice. "But tell me. What crime have youmitted against me and the royal family?"

    The two lords fellpletely silent.

    "I don''t have all the time in the world, Lord Thompson and Lord Alberts," he reminded them. "If you have nothing more to say, then shall I end your lives right here, right now?"

    To make sure that they wouldn''t think that it was just an empty threat, he released his bloodlust that made the air in the room heavy.

    His ash gray eyes turned red and glowed menacingly.

    If ordinary people and weak Mana-users had been in the throne room right now, they would have probably copsed by now. After all, his bloodlust was the kind of pressure that could make it difficult for a person to breathe.

    In fact, the two lords were panting heavily now.

    "Y-Your Majesty," Marquis Alberts said in a weak voice while scratching his neck. "W-We k-kept the Devil''s G-Grimoire from the r-royal family¡­"

    Now that the two lords seemed like they were in the mood to talk, he blinked to turn his eye color back to normal. As soon as his orbs were ash gray again, the bloodlust in the air also disappeared.

    Even though the two lords were still catching their breath, they started to talk as if they were afraid of the repercussions if they made him wait any longer.

    "W-We lied and said that our families didn''t have the Devil''s Grimoire," the marquis continued. "But Your Majesty, we were left with no choice. We made a pact with the Devil."

    [Now, things are getting interesting.]

    "What kind of pact was it?" he asked with a raised brow.

    "As long as we keep the existence of the Devil''s Grimoire a secret, the Devil promised us that they would give us the¡­ the b-book that every schr in the empire wish to obtain."

    Niki didn''t miss the use of pronoun that hid the gender of the "Devil." But his attention was more caught by what the marquis revealed.

    "The book that every schr in the empire wish to obtain?" he asked, now getting irked again. "Are you talking about the Book of Yule?"

    The Book of Yule was a myth.

    ording to the legends, that book contained the true history of the Moon God and the de Moonasterios. Rumors also said that the Book of Yule tells the darkest secrets of the royal family. But even he hadn''t seen it.

    For a mere marquis and count to be greedy and wish to acquire the Book of Yule¡­

    "Unforgivable," Niki said in a cold voice. The bloodlust that he released this time was stronger. When his eyes turned red and glowed again, the ground started to shake hard. "How dare you try to uncover the history of the royal family''s tie to the Moon God?"

    ***

    NERO was finally back to the Royal Capital.

    To be precise, he was now on his way to nco Pce¨C Neoma''s new residence.

    When he and Duke Quinzel arrived at Yule Pce (the emperor''s residence), Sir Glenn was already waiting for them. The night gave him a cloak that was big enough to cover his face and body. Then, he led them to a secret pathway in the pce''s underground.

    While they were in the underground, Sir Glenn told him everything that had happened to his precious twin sister.

    [I''m d that my Neoma is safe.]

    A few momentster, they climbed a long stair that led to a vacant room inside nco Pce.

    Now they were walking in the well-lit hallway. Neoma''s room was at the end of the corridor. He was a little pissed to see that only Stephanie and Alphen were guarding outside her chamber. And he was even more annoyed when he felt two strong auras inside the room with his twin sister.

    [How dare them share a room with the royal princess?]

    After Stephanie and Alphen greeted him, Sir Glenn opened the door.

    He was instantly annoyed to see the little red dragon and the "fox boy." He couldn''t forget the face of his twin sister''s "butler." After all, he had a mental note in his head that had names of the people he wanted to get rid of once he returned as the royal prince.

    First was Emperor Niki.

    And second, the fox boy.

    "Ah, my precious Neoma''s two Soul Beasts are here," Nero said with a smile. He could see his precious twin sister sleeping on the bed, so he didn''t hold back. After his "polite" smile faded, he gave a cold re at the red dragon and the fox boy. "Get out of here, you useless animals."

    Duke Quinzel and Sir Glenn seemed to be shocked by his words because the two adults turned to him with widened eyes.

    He didn''t care though.

    "Your only purpose is to protect my Neoma and you can''t even do that?" Nero continued in a mocking tone. "If you can''t do your job properly, then just kill yourselves."

    After saying a piece of his mind, he then walked past the red dragon and the butler¡­

    ¡­ but the fox boy, who towered over him, blocked his way with a nk look on his face.

    "What are you doing?" Nero asked the fox boy in an annoyed tone. "Do you want to die?"

    Lewis, if he remembered the fox boy''s name correct, tilted his head to one side and gave him a cold look. "F*ck off."

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 Chapter 53 - IT REALLY DO BE LIKE THAT SOMETIMES

    "F*CK OFF."

    Neoma almost choked on her saliva when the first thing that she heard after waking up was Lewis cussing at Nero.

    She knew her son was talking to her twin brother because she could feel Nero''s bloodlust.

    [Why is Nero here?]

    Wait, that was a stupid question.

    If she felt it when Nero''s heart stopped beating, her twin brother probably felt that something bad happened to her while she was in the dimension that Trevor called "hellhole."

    "Duke Quinzel," Nero said.

    Neoma''s eyes widened.

    [Duke Quinzel is here?!]

    She had a soft spot for the duke. After all, in her first life, Duke Quinzel was the only person who treated her right. She had always wanted to meet him in this lifetime.

    "You heard that animal cuss at me, didn''t you?" Nero asked in an eerily "yful" tone. "It is enough ground for him to be executed, isn''t it?"

    Neoma was shocked to hear that.

    [Did he just call my son an "animal?"]

    "By ourw, cussing at the royal family is punishable by public execution, Your Royal Highness," Duke Quinzel answered hesitantly. "I understand that the fox boy is in the wrong, Prince Nero. But please don''t be hasty. After all, he serves Her Royal Highness."

    [See? Duke Quinzel is really a decent person.]

    "An animal who doesn''t know his ce doesn''t deserve to serve my precious twin sister."

    [This brat¡­]

    Neoma couldn''t take it anymore. She got up and immediately caught Nero''s eyes who looked shocked to know that she was already awake. "A royal prince who can''t treat other people as human beings doesn''t deserve to be the next ruler of the empire." She red at Nero. "And most of all, you don''t have the right to call yourself my brother if you treat my people poorly, Nero."

    Yes, she purposely didn''t call him "brother" this time.

    Nero looked hurt by her words. "Neoma¡­"

    She ignored her twin brother, then she turned to Lewis. "Lewis, I don''t know what happened but you can''t just cuss at someone like that."

    [OH GOD I''M SUCH A HYPOCRITE!]

    She hated preaching when she couldn''t walk-the-talk but she had to scold Lewis. Nero probably provoked her sweet little son but still, in this world, cussing at the royal prince was equal to death sentence.

    Gosh, she suddenly remembered that Lewis had sharp hearing. Maybe he heard her whenever she cussed at the emperor. That probably made her son think that it was okay to curse at a royal family member.

    [I''m so sorry, my son.]

    "Neoma, are you taking your butler''s side?" Nero asked, obviously hurt.

    "I''m not taking anyone''s side," she said, then she got off the bed. Then, she looked at Lewis and Nero back and forth. "Nero, Lewis, I want you to apologize to each other SINCERELY." Before Lewis or Nero couldin, she already turned to Sir Glenn. "Sir Glenn, can you bring me to where Papa is?"

    Sir Glenn looked confused but he still slightly bowed to her. "As you wish, Your Royal Highness."

    "Neoma, I came here because I was worried about you," Nero said in an obviously annoyed tone. "Why are you acting cold to me?"

    "Thanks, but I didn''t ask you toe so don''t make it sound like I owe it to you," she told him. "I''m not happy to know that you''re treating my people like this, Nero. Let''s talk after you reflect on your actions."

    Nero didn''t respond but he scowled at her.

    It was the first time that he did that to her but to her, it was a relief. She''d rather see Nero''s real emotions than watch him hide his real feelings in a creepy smile.

    [I created a monster so it''s my job to return him to being human.]

    She turned to Duke Quinzel. Even without looking at her reflection, she knew that her face instantly softened up. "Your Grace, I''m leaving Nero and Lewis to you. Please help them settle their differences."

    She''d love to spend time with the duke but at the moment, her priority was to face that Trevor dude again. She had so many questions for the talking book.

    Anyway¡­

    Duke Quinzel looked surprised by her request. But in the end, he smiled and nodded. "I will help them as much as I can, Your Royal Highness."

    "Thank you, Your Grace," Neoma said, then she turned to Sir Glenn and Tteokbokki. "Let''s go, gentlemen."

    Before she left the room, she gave Lewis and Nero onest re.

    Lewis looked like a puppy hurt by his owner, while Nero''s face was as nk as Emperor Niki''s usual poker face.

    It pained her to discipline the two but she had to if she didn''t want them to kill each other.

    Gosh, her charm really knew no bound.

    [It really do be like that sometimes.]

    ***

    NIKOLAI raised a brow at the strange boy who drank his tea when he hadn''t even touched his teacup.

    Every noble in the empire knew that those who were in a lower rank shouldn''t drink or eat first until the one with the highest rank does. In this case, he was obviously the person with the higher rank. How dare this strange child drink his tea first?

    [Insolent.]

    "So, what do you want to know first?" the strange boy asked when he put his teacup down on the coaster. "Ah, I should introduce myself first. Where are my manners?"

    "You obviouslyck one," Niki said bluntly.

    Right now, they were in the parlor room in the tower where the child was locked up.

    On their way there, Kyle received a call from Glenn. ording to the knight, Neoma asked him to escort her to the tower.

    And so, Niki asked Kyle to wait for the two outside the parlor.

    "My name is Trevor and I''m the Devil''s Grimoire," the child said with a nk look on his face. Then, he made a finger gun and pointed it at his temple. "All the forbidden and ancient spells that many seek are stored in here."

    Niki, once again, raised a brow at that. ""All?""

    Trevor smiled brightly before he answered. "Yes, Your Majesty. All¨C including the ancient spell that could cure the royal prince''s curse."

    "How did you know about the royal prince''s curse?"

    "I met Princess Neoma," the child said. "I can read the desire of the people who seek me. One of the royal princess''s wishes is for her twin brother to be cured."

    ""One of her wishes?""

    "Her second wish is none of your business, Your Majesty."

    [I want to crush this child so bad.]

    But he held back because he still needed this rude talking book.

    "I know you won''t cure the royal prince for free," Niki said, then he sipped his tea before he continued. "Tell me what you want in return."

    "House Kesser."

    He froze when he heard the name of one of the oldest families in the empire. It was so old that the new generation of nobles hadn''t probably heard of it yet. He couldn''t me them though. After all, House Kesser was one of the families that had been erased in the history of Moonasterion Empire.

    Of course, he knew the Devil''s Grimoire couldn''t be an ordinary child. But he still didn''t expect him to bring up House Kesser all of a sudden.

    "I will cure the royal prince if you restore House Kesser, Your Majesty," Trevor said seriously. "His Royal Highness is your only heir, isn''t he? I''m sure you can''t afford to lose him."

    That was true.

    Still, restoring an old family wouldn''t be that easy. Even though Nero''s life was on the line, he couldn''t easily give in to the demand of a talking book.

    "Forget it," Niki said, then he stood up. "If you don''t want to cooperate with me, then I''ll just find a way to force you to cure the royal prince."

    He was about to leave the parlor when the strange boy spoke again.

    "Do you know that the fox boy''s Marble is powerful enough to bring back someone from the dead?"

    He turned to the talking book. "Are you saying that the royal princess''s foxy boy is being targeted because of his Fox Marble? That someone wants to revive a dead person?"

    "Your Majesty, you can''t be this slow," the strange boy said yfully. "Duke Sloane was approached by the Devil because of his strong desire to bring someone dear to him back to life. Who do you think is the person that the duke wanted to revive no matter what the cost is?"

    He felt shivers down his spine.

    Duke Sloane had always been notorious for his awful personality. But everyone also knew that he was kind to only one person. And that was none other than his precious sister.

    "Empress Juliet," Niki said in disbelief. "Are you saying that Duke Sloane was trying to bring thete empress back to life?"

    Trevorughed softly. "Your Majesty, have you checked if thete empress''s body is still in the shrine?"

    ***

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 Chapter 54 - UNWITHERING ROSE

    NEOMA was surprised when Sir Glenn said that they were heading to the de Moonasterio Shrine instead of the Royal Tower.

    And since only a few people had the permission to enter the shrine''s premise, the knight asked her servants to return to nco Pce. That meant even Stephanie and Alphen¨C the head maid and head butler of her pce¨C didn''t have ess to the shrine.

    <em>Anyway¡­</em>

    Sir Glenn received a call from Count Kyle Sprouse a while ago. ording to her father''s aide, the emperor was now heading to the shrine. She didn''t know what was happening but based on the anxious look on Sir Glenn''s face, something terrible must have happened.

    <em>Is it rted to the talking book?</em>

    "Sir Glenn, the de Moonasterio Shrine is where the royal family members areid to rest, right?" Neoma asked. Of course, she was using euphemism. The shrine is nothing but a private cemetery for the royal family.

    "Yes, Your Royal Highness," Sir Glenn said, anxiousness still visible on his face. "We are headed thete empress''s shrine."

    Okay, hearing that made her nervous.

    And that nervousness turned into anxiousness when they reached the shrine.

    The de Moonasterio Shrine was like a modern museum in the middle of a luxurious park. As soon as they stepped foot in the premise, she felt a heavy pressure on her shoulders.

    "Your Royal Highness, are you alright?" Sir Glenn asked worriedly.

    "I''m alright," she assured him. "I was just a little surprised at how powerful the barrier around the area is."

    The knight smiled. "You''re impressive, Your Royal Highness. The first time I stepped foot in here, I fell on my knees while choking because of the heavy aura in the air. The fact that you''re standing straight without having difficulty in breathing proves that you have the right to enter the shrine. I shouldn''t be surprised though. After all, you''re a de Moonasterio."

    She just smiled and was about to say something when suddenly, a group of well-dressed old noblemen came running towards him.

    "Your Royal Highness!"

    Sir Glenn immediately stood in front of her protectively. He didn''t have to say anything. The aura that he emitted clearly said that if those men took one more step towards her, he''d apprehend them.

    The noblemen really stopped approaching her and maintained a safe distance from her. But the way they looked at her was making her feel ufortable.

    Their eyes were begging her for some reason.

    "Your Royal Highness, please stop His Majesty!" one of the five noblemen pleaded her. "His Majesty is about to do the unspeakable act to thete empress''s tomb!"

    The way Sir Glenn remained silent told her that he knew what was going on.

    Neoma recognized the noblemen in front of her as her father''s advisors. Had the situation been different, she would have entertained them to gain their favor. But she was curious as to what the emperor was up to. "Let''s go, Sir Glenn," she said, then she walked past him.

    Sir Glenn immediately caught up with her and escorted her to the shrine properly.

    The White Lion Knights outside the shrine stopped the noblemen from following them. And so, they were able to enter the shrine quietly.

    She noticed that Count Kyle Sprouse was standing near the door while Emperor Niki was standing close to the single tomb inside the room. When Sir Glenn stood beside the count and bowed to her, she realized that they couldn''t enter the chamber further.

    <em>I guess only members of the royal family can go near the tomb.</em>

    When she felt her father''s enormous aura, she immediately walked towards him and stood by his side. Then, she turned to him.

    <em>Oh. His eyes turned red.</em>

    And they were glowing creepily.

    The next thing that the emperor did shocked her.

    He must have used his power to lift the lid of the coffin.

    <em>Wait¨C is he opening thete empress''s casket?!</em>

    "Papa!" Neoma yelled in surprise. "What are you doing? We already know that you''re a jerk so you don''t have to prove it by disrespecting the dead!"

    "Shut up," Emperor Niki snapped at her.

    Okay, that was pretty scary so she shut her mouth.

    Plus, she was distracted when she saw what was inside the casket. To be honest, she was expecting a skeleton dressed in avish gown. But it was empty.

    Well, not really empty.

    Beautiful crystal roses were ced inside the coffin instead of thete empress''s body.

    <em>Her Majesty''s body is missing?!</em>

    "Juliet¡­" Emperor Niki whispered to himself in an anguished voice. "Who dared to disrespect you this way¡­"

    Neoma was surprised to see the pained look on her father''s face.

    She didn''t know why she felt a squeeze in her heart to see her father grieve like that for other people.

    <em>So, Papa treasures thete empress.</em>

    Then, how about her mother?

    <strong>***</strong>

    NIKOLAI was fuming.

    He was furious that Juliet''s body was stolen from her tomb. But he was even more frustrated at himself for failing to protect thete empress''s final resting ce.

    "Thete empress''s body has been stolen," Niki announced to his shocked advisors waiting for him outside the shrine. "The prime suspect is Duke Sloane so bring that bastard to me so I could announce his death sentence."

    The advisors seemed to be shocked and confused to react.

    To be honest, he didn''t want to tell the advisors the matter about thete empress. But even though he was the emperor, there were still rules that he had to abide if he wanted to stay in power. Unfortunately, that included reporting the things that he had to do like going to the shrine to check if thete empress''s body was still there.

    "Your Majesty, I will personally go to House Sloane to arrest the duke," Kyle told him. "The evidence we have against him is enough for him to be executed even without a noble trial."

    "Bring that damned duke to me first," Niki said in a cold voice. "I will squeeze the truth out of him before I kill him with my own hands."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "HELLO, my little fianc¨¦e."

    ""Fianc¨¦e," my foot," Neoma told the talking book, then she sat on the sofa across from him. She looked at him from head to toe. He still looked the same except he looked like a child, obviously. The piercings in his ear also disappeared. And instead of robe, he wore a normal three-piece crisp suit. But he wore a pair of shorts instead of pants. It kind of looked cute on him but she would never say it aloud. "Gosh, even in a child''s body, you still look evil."

    She could talk freely like that because she asked Sir Glenn to give her privacy with Trevor.

    Her Papa Boss sent her to the Royal Tower first because apparently, he needed to take care of Duke Sloane first. She heard what happened from Sir Glenn so she had an idea of what was going on right now.

    "Trevor, is it true that Duke Sloane targeted my son because he wanted to revive thete empress?" she asked curiously.

    Trevor raised a brow at her. "You have a son?"

    "Lewis, the fox boy is my son," she answered proudly.

    "Ah," the talking book said while nodding his head. "That makes him my son, too. Now I''m obliged to protect him, right?"

    "My son doesn''t need a father. I''m capable of raising him on my own," she said, then she changed the topic. "Duke Sloane seems pretty dumb to me. He can''t be the only one who nned this."

    The little devil just sipped his tea.

    "Wait, I just remembered something strange," she said. "Byron and Harry bullied Lewis before. But during the times I spent with the kids, they seemed pretty tamed. Did they attack Lewis back then because you asked them to?"

    "You can say that," Trevor admitted. "But I didn''t try to kill our son back then. I was just trying to gauge his strength."

    ""Our son," my foot," sheined, then she changed the subject. If she continued to humor him, it would seem like they were flirting again. "Anyway, who''s working with Duke Sloane? Are Count Thompson and Marquis Alberts involved in stealing thete empress''s body?"

    He shook his head. "The count and the marquis are just mere bookkeepers."

    She gasped when she remembered something again. "How about my homies then? Are Byron and Harry not real people?"

    "Bingo," he said yfully. "The "children" that you met were just given to the count and the marquis to help them conceal my presence."

    She swallowed before she asked. "Then, what are they?"

    Trevor smirked. "Helldog."

    Right after saying that, he snapped his fingers.

    As soon as he did, a huge ck dog with bloodshot eyes appeared. But that size of the dog wasn''t the only unusual thing about it.

    The "helldog" had two heads!

    Neoma gasped in shock. <em>"Daebak!"</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 55 - DEMONS DONT WORK FOR FREE, HUH?

    "BUT I don''t like how they look," Neomained while looking at the ck dog with two heads. With its unusual size for a dog, plus the bloodshot eyes, it didn''t look cute. Well, it lived up to its name as "helldog" because it really looked intimidating. Still, that wasn''t her style. "Can''t you change its appearance and make them look like a Shiba Inu?"

    Trevor raised a brow at her. "Excuse me?"

    "I used to have a Shiba Inu back in my second life," she said. "His name was Dal."

    "What do I get in return if I change the helldog''s appearance?" he asked with a smirk. "Demons don''t work for free."

    "I knew it," she said while clicking her tongue. "You''re a demon."

    He shrugged. "That''s what they call beings who work for the Devil. I don''t really care what I''m called since I know what I am¨C and that''s the only thing that matters."

    Oh, she liked his confidence. She could clearly see that Trevor wasfortable with his own skin. Even though his face was annoying, this time, she wouldn''t call him arrogant. People who didn''t give a sh*t about other people''s wrong opinion about them weremendable.

    "Fair enough," she said, then she turned to Byron and Harry who were now sharing a helldog''s body. "Did Byron and Harry ever exist? Or are they really a helldog with two heads from the beginning?"

    "The human children that you met never existed," Trevor rified. "The Devil split Kuro''s head¨C the helldog¨C into two and created a human-like doll out of them."

    Of course, she was sad to know that her homies weren''t real humans.

    But unfortunately, she didn''t have the luxury to mourn for her "friends." After all, the fact that those kind of demons were able to enter the Royal Pce undetected was a huge problem for them. Thex in the security would definitely make the emperor mad. And crazy.

    "For His Majesty not to feel that Byron and Harry aren''t humans¡­" She let out a deep sigh. "That Devil sure is going to be a big problem in the future."

    "Uh-huh," he agreed. "If the emperor has the most divine power in the whole empire, then the Devil has the opposite. But I can assure you, Moon Princess. Your dear father and the Devil are equal in strength and Mana."

    She didn''t doubt it.

    <em>To hide the presence of the helldog from Papa Boss is a feat.</em>

    "Where is the Devil, Trevor?" she asked again. "And who are they working with aside from Duke Sloane?"

    "Hell if I know," he said with augh. "You see, after the Devil stole the page of how to steal a Fox''s Marble from me, they just left. If you didn''t pick up the scythe that serves as the room''s lock, I wouldn''t have been able to leave that hellhole."

    "Oh, so you owe me."

    "Excuse me?"

    "You said it yourself," she reminded him. "If I didn''t pick-up the scythe, you wouldn''t have been freed."

    He looked surprised by what she said, then heughed. "Alright, I''ll change Kuro''s appearance to your liking."

    "Good, but not good enough," she said with a smirk. "I practically saved you from that hellhole, Trevor. Changing the helldog''s appearance to my liking is too cheap as a reward."

    This time, heughed heartily. "I''ll cure your twin brother."

    "You have to," she said. "And I also want you to tell me the history of my parents with Commander Gavin Quinzel and thete empress. If I know what happened to the four of them in the past, then maybe I''ll find out the truth about my origin."

    "I may know the history among the four of them, but that doesn''t mean I have the license to share it with you, Moon Princess," Trevor said. "Unless you offer me something of the same value, of course."

    "If you ask me to marry you again, I''ll sucker punch the hell out of you."

    He was about to say something when all of a sudden, the door opened and Emperor Niki entered the room angrily.

    Without saying a word, her father drew his sword and pointed it at Trevor.

    <em>Uh-oh.</em>

    "Thete empress''s body is really missing," Emperor Niki said. "And I just received the report from my aide that Duke Sloane is already dead. He didn''t die from poisoning though. This time, the duke was found in his room with several stab wounds."

    She gasped at that. <em>The duke was murdered!</em>

    "I didn''t kill Duke Sloane," Trevor said casually as if he wasn''t talking to a grumpy emperor. "Even if you threaten me, I can''t tell you who killed the duke because I don''t really know."

    "Who stole thete empress''s body?"

    The talking demon book shrugged. "The Devil is the only being in the empire who can steal thete empress''s body right under your nose, Your Majesty."

    Neoma flinched at that. <em>Gosh, Trevor. You''re only making Papa Boss angrier!</em>

    "Where is the Devil?" the emperor snarled.

    Trevor shrugged casually. "If I know where the Devil is, I would have gone to where they are and kill them with my own hands. So Your Majesty, if you want to kill them, get in the line."

    <em>Oh.</em>

    Neoma could tell that Trevor was being serious. The words he uttered weren''t empty threats. She really felt his grudge for the Devil.

    <em>The plot is getting thicker once again.</em>

    It seemed like the emperor also felt how serious Trevor was because he put his sword back in sheathe.

    "You''re useless," Emperor Niki said. "If you don''t have any use, I might as well kick you back from where the royal princess picked you up."

    She nodded in agreement.

    "You can''t kick me back to that hellhole," Trevor said casually. "You still need me anyway. Your royal heir needs to be cured, doesn''t he? That''s more important than finding the body of a dead person, Your Majesty."

    <em>Oh, shoot.</em>

    To be honest, Neoma wanted to side with the emperor this time.

    <em>I mean, I don''t want strangers to disrespect a deceased loved one of mine.</em>

    But she didn''t like how Emperor Niki acted like he cared for thete empress when he couldn''t do the same for her mother.

    <em>He always calls my mother a "lowly woman."</em>

    "Can you really cure the royal prince''s curse?" Emperor Niki asked in a calm tone now. It seemed like his position as the emperor took over. After all, for an emperor, his duties had to be his top priority than his personal feelings. "What''s the price?"

    "It has already been paid in advance," Trevor said, then he looked at her with a knowing smirk. "The Moon Princess already paid the price for the royal prince''s cure when she freed me from the hellhole I was in."

    The emperor turned to her with a raised brow.

    Neoma smiled brightly. <em>Yep, you should be grateful to me, Papa Boss.</em>

    "I still can''t trust a demon like you," Emperor Niki told Trevor. "Good thing the saint is on his way here."

    Trevor looked surprised by that. "The saint?"

    Oh, that kind of surprised her, too.

    <em>Saint Macaroni is here?</em>

    "Let''s make a binding vow," Emperor Niki dered. "I can only trust you if we make a binding vow."

    "Fine," Trevor said. "But bring the real royal prince here. I need to talk to him first."

    Neoma flinched when she remembered the she "punished" Nero.

    <em>Gosh, I wonder if Nero and Lewis have made up by now.</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    NERO had to think fast.

    He hated that Neoma took Lewis''s side but he had to acknowledge that he went overboard this time.

    <em>I hate the emperor for not treating Neoma and me as human beings. But before I know it, I''m going down the same path as our heartless father. I can''t hate His Majesty and act like how he does.</em>

    Duke Quinzel cleared his throat to get their attention.

    Right now, the duke sat on the sofa across from him while having tea. On the other hand, Lewis stood behind Duke Quinzel.

    "Boys, I won''t force you to apologize to each other because if I do, I''m pretty sure it won''t be sincere," Duke Quinzel said carefully. "I''ll just give you an advice: you are not enemies. You have the same goal and it???s to protect Princess Neoma. If you join forces instead of trying to go after each other''s throat, don''t you think the royal princess will be more protected?" He nced between him and Lewis back and forth. "Most of all, Princess Neoma will be happy if her twin brother and her "son" go along well, right? Don''t you want her to be happy?"

    "Me want princess happy," Lewis said in broken sentences. But the sincerity in his words was unmistakable. When the foxy boy turned to him, he bowed. "Sorry, prince."

    That was really casual but he knew that the fox boy wasn''t trying to be rude.

    <em>He just talks that way because of his terrible upbringing.</em>

    And he could feel Lewis''s sincerity in his apology despite the casual way it sounded.

    Now Nero was kicked by his conscience even more.

    He knew that Lewis was raised as a ve. And everyone in the empire knew that ves were treated worse than animals. He deserved Neoma''s wrath.

    <em>I can''t stand beside Neoma if I be a terrible person like His Majesty.</em>

    Most of all, he wanted his precious twin sister to be proud of him.

    With that resolve, he decided to work harder to be a better person for Neoma.

    Nero stood up, then he bowed to Lewis. "I''m sorry, Lewis," he said sincerely. "Please forgive me for being unnecessarily rude and mean to you."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 56 - A HEARTBREAKING DECISION

    NEOMA was relieved to see that Lewis and Nero didn''t seem to have fought each other when she left.

    Also, she was delighted to see Duke Quinzel again.

    Unfortunately, her sc*mbag of a father asked the duke and Lewis to leave the room because apparently, only the royal family members should talk to Trevor first.

    <em>I''m pretty sure he''d tell Duke Quinzel, Count Sprouse, and Sir Glenn about thister.</em>

    Anyway, right now, she was in the tea room in the Royal Tower with her Papa Boss, Nero, and Trevor.

    She sat on the sofa while Nero sat beside her. Emperor Niki sat alone on the sofa across from them. While Trevor sat on the ent chair beside the emperor. Aside from tea, the table between them was filled with a wide variety of snacks.

    "I heard that you can cure me, Trevor," Nero said in a tone as formal and as cold as Emperor Niki''s.

    Gosh, Nero. You''re starting to sound like our father.

    "Uh-huh," Trevor said casually. "I have two ways of curing you so you have to choose, Prince Nero."

    "What are the options?" her twin brother asked.

    "The first option is the fastest way for you to get cured, Your Royal Highness," the talking book said. Then, he suddenly became serious. "You just have to sleep inside the hellhole for eight years while I cure you."

    Neoma gasped in shock. "Eight years?!"

    She was happy that Trevor would have to return to the "hellhole." But she wasn''t happy to know that he''d be bringing her twin brother with him. Worse, they have to stay there for eight freaking years!

    When she turned to her twin brother, she noticed that Nero looked as shocked as she was.

    "Eight years?" Emperor Niki asked in disbelief. "Do you think I''d entrust the royal prince''s life to you for eight years?"

    "You don''t have to trust me, Your Majesty," Trevor said. "That''s why we''re doing a binding vow, aren''t we? You''ll get the upperhand in the binding vow since your blood as a de Moonasterio is stronger than mine. If I break my promise, I''ll die. And I don''t want to die yet." He turned to the emperor with a casual smile. "The saint will be here, right? A demon like me can''t lie to a person as divine as the saint. You can decide if you can trust me or not after you bring me to His Holiness."

    Neoma raised a brow. <em>Gosh, what a smart-ass.</em>

    As if Trevor just heard her thoughts, he turned to her with azy smile.

    That damned (sexy) smile again.

    "Hmp," she said while rolling her eyes at him. When she avoided the talking book''s gaze, her eyes caught Nero. Her twin brother was quiet and he looked like he was in deep thought.

    "What''s the second option?" Emperor Niki asked.

    "Prince Nero can stay here but I''ll have to stick to him at all times," Trevor exined. "But since my power is sealed whenever I''m here outside, my healing power will also slow down. It might take me sixteen to twenty years before Ipletely get rid of the curse. Also, during those years, Prince Nero will be very vulnerable to other spells and curses."

    The emperor''s brows furrowed in confusion. "It will take you that long?"

    "The curse inside the royal prince isn''t a joke, Your Majesty," Trevor insisted. "I have a feeling that it was a curse created by the Devil."

    "I suspected that much," the emperor admitted. "The duke that we arrested for the attack doesn''t seem to be the type to acquire such powerful method of killing a person."

    <em>Oh.</em>

    Neoma realized that it was probably the reason why her Papa Boss asked her to find the Devil''s Grimoire.

    <em>So, this Devil is really infamous, huh?</em>

    "If I stay in the "hellhole" that you''re talking about for eight years¡­" Nero started in a serious tone. "Can you really get rid of the curse? And after those long healing period is over, would I be able to return to my old life normally?"

    "Of course," Trevor said casually. "You''ll be as good as new after you wake up, Prince Nero."

    "Nero," Neoma said while nudging her twin brother. "Don''t tell me¡­"

    "Yes, Neoma," Nero said with a smile. "I want to be cured as soon as possible." Then, he turned to Trevor. "I''lle with you to the hellhole, Trevor."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "PRINCESS NEOMA, go and greet Saint Zavaroni first," Emperor Niki ordered her. "Kyle will escort you."

    Neoma blinked her eyes, wondering who the hell "Zavaroni" was. Then, she remembered the title that her Papa Boss mentioned.

    <em>Oh, it''s just Saint Macaroni.</em>

    She didn''t want to leave Nero but it looked like her brother had something to say to the emperor.

    Even Trevor was escorted by Sir Glenn and the other knights to the next room.

    "Okay, Papa," Neoma said, then she stood up and turned to Nero. "Brother, don''t leave without telling me, okay?"

    She had seen that kind of thing in the movies plenty of times already.

    There were instances where the dying character would ask the main character to get water or something. Then, once the MC returned, their dear one would already be dead.

    She didn''t want that to happen to her.

    Nero smiled and nodded. "I won''t leave without saying goodbye to you, Neoma."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOUR MAJESTY, take care of Neoma for the next eight years."

    Niki just sipped his tea.

    <em>I knew he''d say that.</em>

    "If I wake up and I find out that Neoma is no longer in the Royal Pce, I''ll kill you before I kill myself," Nero warned him. "And I''m not kidding."

    "I know what you''re talking about," Niki said, then he put his teacup down on the table. "I swear I won''t marry off Princess Neoma to anyone."

    He couldn''t do that even if he wanted to anyway.

    After all, he made a deal with Neoma. One of her requests was for her to be able to choose whom to marry. For that reason, he had to cancel the royal princess''s supposed engagement to the son of House Drayton.

    "I''m d that you understand what I''m trying to say, Your Majesty," Nero said with a smile. "In exchange of protecting Neoma for the next eight years, I will try my best to find more about the Devil and the Grimoire while I''m still there. And I don''t know what will happen for the next years that wille but I promise to help you find thete empress''s body."

    "Ah, you''ve already heard about it."

    "The whole pce is talking about the missing body of thete empress."

    It wasn''t something that he could hide.

    He also had to use that as an excuse to give House Sloane, House Thompson, and House Alberts the heaviest punishment. Aside from execution of the house leaders, he also intended to acquire all their wealth and properties.

    "Your Majesty, let me ask you a question before I leave."

    Emperor Niki raised a brow at how serious the royal prince was. "What is it?"

    "Do you really not have a child with thete empress?" Nero asked seriously. "Are Neoma and I really twins?"

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 Chapter 57 - IM ONE HELL OF A PRINCESS

    "WELCOME, Your Holiness," Neoma greeted the saint politely. "We''re d that you''ve arrived safely."

    The portal of Astello Church was connected to her father''s pce.

    So right now, they were in the "secret prayer room" in the Yule Pce where people from the temple were usually received.

    Since the saint''s arrival was a secret, only she and Count Sprouse weed him.

    Saint Forrester smiled at her. "Greetings to the Second Star of the Great Moonasterion Empire."

    She just smiled at that.

    "Your Holiness, Princess Neoma is acting as Prince Nero now," Count Sprouse reminded him. "Please be careful with your greetings."

    The saint just smiled at the count.

    "Your Holiness, may I know why you suddenly decided to visit the pce?" she asked curiously. "It''s notmon for saints to leave the temple, is it?"

    The saint suddenly got down on one knee to match her eye level. "Your Royal Highness, you touched something that you shouldn''t have."

    She wanted to joke and say that she hadn''t touched Emperor Niki recently but the seriousness on the saint''s face made her anxious. "What do you mean by that, Your Holiness?"

    "Can you show me your hands?"

    She nodded, then she opened her hands for the saint to see.

    Saint Forrester then touched the center of her right palm with his index finger.

    <em>Oh, his finger is warm.</em>

    Wait, let her take it back. The saint''s finger wasn''t just warm. It was hot and it was starting to burn her!

    She was about to pull her hand away when a strange mark appeared on her palm.

    It was a simple tear-shaped mark.

    <em>Cool.</em>

    "Your Holiness, may I know what kind of mark is that?" Count Sprouse asked strictly. "Did you put that on His Royal Highness?"

    She rolled her eyes at that. <em>The count is still addressing me like a prince even though it''s just the three of us here.</em>

    The saint looked up at the count and shook his head. "No, Lord Sprouse. I just used my divine power to make the mark appear."

    "What is it then?"

    "It''s the Devil''s Mark," Saint Forrester said, then he turned to her with a worried look on his face. "Your Royal Highness, it''s the sign that you''re now the owner of the Devil''s Grimoire."

    After hearing that, the first thing that entered her mind was Adult Trevor''s arrogant face.

    "Eww," Neoma said with a scowl. "Can I send him back to the Devil?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "ARE NEOMA and I really twins?"

    "No, you aren''t twins," Niki deadpanned. When Nero''s face lit up, he almost let out a softugh. "Is that what you want me to say?"

    Upon realizing that he was tricked, Nero''s face turned red from embarrassment. Then, he red at him. "We''re really twins? Are we really Mona Roseheart''s children?"

    "I didn''t even tell Neoma your mother''s name until recently," he said while shaking his head. "How did you find out things about your mother when I forbid the servants in your pce to talk about her?"

    "I have my ways of forcing people to tell me what I want to know."

    <em>Ah, you''re really my son.</em>

    He could imagine the royal prince threatening his servants to get what he wanted.

    "What else do you know about that lowly woman?" he asked, then he sipped his tea while waiting for his son''s response.

    "Apparently, our mother ran away with Commander Gavin Quinzel¨C Duke Rufus Quinzel''s older brother," the royal prince said. "And when she did, she tried to bring Neoma with them."

    The reminder pissed him. "Who the hell told you that?"

    "You can''t find them anymore even if I tell you who," Nero said, then he continued. "I heard that the reason why some people think that my mother has a child with Commander Quinzel was because of that incident. I also heard that you sent your elite army to chase after them. You took back Neoma, then you ordered their execution."

    The royal prince didn''t get everything right.

    Well, only he knew the truth anyway. After all, the other three involved in the tragedy of the past were already gone.

    "Let''s say that you''re right," Niki said. "Do you think I will let Neoma live if she''s the child of that woman with another man? And how do you exin that you''re the same age as your sister then?"

    "I thought I was thete empress''s son," Nero said. "Even though Neoma and I are twins, you treat me better than her. That made me question if we really have the same mother."

    He let out a frustrated sigh. "You know that thete empress died before you and Neoma were born, don''t you?"

    "No, the empress disappeared a few years before we were born," the royal prince insisted. "Her body was found just a few months before our birth."

    He gripped the holder of the tea cup so hard that it broke in his hand. But the broken pieces of the cup didn''t even touch the floor. Before the pieces fell down, he already burned them with his Mana until they turned into ashes. "How did you¨C"

    "I sneaked in your private library before I left the Royal Pce," his son confessed. "I found the book that contains the details of the death of the royal family members."

    "And that''s how you ended up thinking that you''re thete empress''s son?"

    He nodded. "Am I not?"

    "You''re not. Thete empress never gave birth to a child," he said firmly. "If you want proof that you and Neoma are twins, we can do a test right now. After all, the saint is here. When your blood and Mana match, then maybe you''ll finally believe the truth."

    Nero gave him a scrutinizing look. Then, he nodded. "Fine, I''ll believe you."

    He just rolled his eyes at that. "Now that I''ve answered your questions, it''s my turn to ask. Are you sure that you can trust that talking demon book?"

    "I have no choice but to trust him," his son said. "And you''ll do a binding vow with him anyway."

    "Of course," he said. "I won''t let my only heir die."

    "It''s settled then," Nero said, then he sipped his tea before he continued. "Take care of Neoma until I return, Your Majesty."

    "You don''t have to tell me that, Prince Nero," Niki said, addressing his son the way he addressed him: strict and formal. "I will protect Princess Neoma as if she''s the crown prince."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "SO I heard that I''m the owner of the Grimoire now," Neoma told Trevor, then she showed her palm to him. "Did you do this to me?"

    Trevor looked calm as he sipped his tea. "Nah, you did that to yourself," he said while putting the tea cup down on the table. "Who told you to touch the Death''s Scythe anyway?"

    Right now, there was only the two of them in that room.

    Saint Forrester was talking to his father and Nero in the next room regarding the mark that she obtained. Sir Glenn and Lewis were guarding outside. She asked them to give her some private time with the talking book.

    "Death''s Scythe?" she asked with a frown. "That''s a verymon name for a scythe. Can''t the Devil give their weapon a more b*dass name?"

    "Then, change it," he said casually. "You''re the owner of the Death''s Scythe now, Moon Princess."

    She fell silent for a while. "Skewer," she saidter. "I''ll name it ''Skewer.''"

    "Wow, that''s so "b*dass,"" Trevor said in the most sarcastic voice ever. He even had the gall to give her a slow p. "Your naming sense is sh*t, Moon Princess."

    She almost chocked on her saliva.

    Well, she was used to using profanity so hearing it from another "child" kind of surprised her. Now she understood why her Papa felt bothered every time she cussed.

    She cleared her throat before she spoke again. "How did I be the new owner of the Grimoire and the scythe?"

    "The Devil''s authorityes from the Death''s Scythe¨C I mean, "Skewer,"" he said with a mocking smirk. "As far as I know, only the Devil can wield it. After all, the Death''s Scythe serves as the key to open the Grimoire¨C which is me¨C and the hellhole I was in. That what makes the Devil powerful."

    "If Skewer is that important, then why did the Devil leave it with you?"

    "Because Skewer serves as my "residence''s" lock," he exined. "And the Devil was confident that no one could pull the scythe from the throne. But ta-dah," he said in an exaggerated happy voice. "The Moon Princess came to rescue the poor Demon Boy."

    "I didn''t rescue you," she said bluntly.

    "Shh," he scolded her. "Don''t ruin my fantasy."

    She was about to say something when she heard a knock on the door.

    After a few seconds, the door opened and her "boys" entered the room. Well, it was just Nero followed by Lewis and Sir Glenn.

    <em>Papa must still be talking to Saint Macaroni.</em>

    And since Duke Quinzel and Count Sprouse weren''t around either, she assumed that the two were involved in the conversation as well.

    "Neoma," Nero greeted her brightly. Then, he sat beside her while Lewis and Sir Glenn stood behind them. "You shouldn''t be talking to a demon alone. If you were curious about him, you should have asked me to apany you."

    She wanted to remind him that they were "fighting" a while ago but she let it slide. After all, it seemed like Nero and Lewis had already made up.

    "You''re hurting my feelings, Prince Nero," Trevor said in a dramatic voice just when she was just about to speak. "Please don''t talk like I''m not here, my dear brother-inw."

    She fell into a fit of cough out of shock.

    <em>Trevor, shut your trap!</em>

    ""Brother-inw?"" Nero asked with a "calm" smile before he turned to Trevor. But even though his attention was on the talking book, her twin brother''s little hand was gently tapping her back while Sir Glenn handed her a hankie to cover her mouth. "Mr. Trevor, are you referring to me?"

    "Who else will I be calling "brother-inw," Your Royal Highness?" Trevor said with a bright smile. Then, he gasped in an obviously exaggerated manner. Gosh, was this boy born to annoy people? "Didn''t my Moon Princess tell you that I proposed to her?"

    Neoma dropped the hankie in shock.

    And in just a heartbeat, her boys moved so fast that she didn''t understand what they were about to do until they stopped¡­

    ¡­ in a threatening position.

    Nero, who seemed like he stole Sir Glenn''s sword in a very swift manner, pointed the sharp de just below Trevor''s chin. Even though her twin brother had his back on her, she could imagine his super angry face based on the dark aura around him.

    And Lewis, who stood opposite to Nero and behind Trevor, pointed his hand with sharp foxy nails at the back of the demon''s head. Her son had a nk look on his face as usual but she could tell that if Trevor moved in a way he didn''t like, he wouldn''t hesitate to burst thetter''s head open with his sharp nails.

    Sir Glenn just remained standing behind her and it looked like he would let Nero and Lewis deal with Trevor.

    <em>Gosh, what''s wrong with these children?</em>

    "Repeat what you just said," Nero said in a cold and threatening tone. "Did you really propose to my twin sister?"

    She heard Nero say "peasant" at the end of his question even though he didn''t utter the word. The tone he used was enough to tell that he was looking down on Trevor.

    Trevor, who was obviously unfazed, smirked at Nero. "Yes, I proposed to Princess Neoma," he said proudly. "What about it?"

    Nero didn''t respond verbally but he moved as if he was going to sh Trevor''s throat.

    Neoma, who didn''t want Nero to kill mercilessly, immediately stood up and reached for her brother. "Stop!"

    And then, poof!

    All of a sudden, she found herself holding the scythe, aka Skewer, while the curved de was pointed at Nero. But she noticed that the scythe was much smaller than the one that she remembered. Did it shrink in size to amodate the small build of her current body?

    <em>The f*ck?</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 58 - THE PRETTIEST SHADE OF PINK

    "PRINCESS Neoma is now the owner of the Grimoire?" Niki asked to be assured that he didn''t hear it wrong. "And how did you know that, Your Holiness?"

    He was still in the Royal Tower.

    This time, he was in the conference room with Saint Zavaroni, Rufus, and Kyle.

    On the other hand, he put Glenn in-charge of the children. As of now, the brats (Neoma, Nero, and Lewis) were in the next room with Trevor¨C the talking demon book.

    "That''s right, Your Majesty," Saint Zavaroni said. "The Devil''s earthly power is the opposite of my divine power. To simply put, it''s my job to make sure that the Devil''s power won''t affect the empire in any way."

    Well, he knew that as well.

    After all, the temple was built to make sure that it would protect the empire from "earthly power" that the Devil and their demons possessed.

    "I noticed a strange movement of the Devil''s earthly power a while ago," the saint continued. "When I tried to track the Devil''s location, I was surprised when I found it mingled with Princess Neoma''s pure Mana. When I met the royal princess a while ago, my thoughts were confirmed: the royal princess has the mark of the Devil now."

    "Then, is the royal princess a threat to the empire now?" Kyle asked indifferently. "Do we need to take care of it, Your Holiness?"

    "Lord Sprouse, His Majesty''s callousness is rubbing off on you," Rufusined in a casual manner as if he just didn''t insult the emperor. "Is killing the only solution that you can think of? Aren''t you supposed to be the smart aide of His Majesty, huh?"

    "And this is why you can''t work for His Majesty," Kyle snapped back. "You''re too soft-hearted, Lord Quinzel."

    The saint quietly sipped his tea while the two lords red at each other.

    <em>These two never change.</em>

    "Your Holiness, do you think that the Devil''s mark being owned by Princess Neoma is going to be a problem?" Niki asked the saint. "Will the royal princess be controlled by the Devil''s power?"

    "When I checked Princess Neoma''s state a while ago, I didn''t see any problem yet," Saint Zavaroni said. "The royal princess''s pure Mana overwhelms the Devil''s earthly power. And based on her feisty personality, I don''t think she''s the type to be easily possessed."

    "That, I believe," Niki agreed while nodding his head.

    Knowing Neoma, he wouldn''t be surprised if she beat the hell out of the Devil''s power just to make it obey her.

    <em>She''s as hot-tempered as thete Princess Royal.</em>

    Also, the image of the little royal princess cussing at the demon power inside her almost made himugh.

    <em>Heh. She''d definitely do that.</em>

    His thoughts were cut-off when he realized that the saint and the two lords were giving him a strange look.

    "What?" Nikiined.

    "You''re smiling, Your Majesty," Rufus, Kyle, and Saint Zavaroni said in unison, disbelief evident in their tone.

    He scowled and was about to deny the ridiculous usation when all of a sudden, they felt a burst of dark energy from the room next door.

    <em>The Devil''s earthly power.</em>

    Niki immediately stood up. "Let''s check on the children first, gentlemen," he said, then he paused before he denied the previous usation against him. "And I didn''t smile, okay?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "TURN PINK. And not just any pink¨C I want baby pink in particr," Neomamanded Skewer while shaking it in her tiny hands. "I don''t want to wield a weapon with such a boring color."

    She didn''t care about the "Death''s Scythe" at first but now that she knew that she already owned it, then she wanted it to turn into her style. If she would wield a weapon, she''d rather wield one with a pink handle.

    Anyway, she stopped "fighting" Skewer when she realized that Trevor, Lewis, and Nero were all looking at her. It seemed like the three boys forgot that they were fighting and found her more interesting instead.

    "What?" Neomained. "Is it wrong to want a baby pink weapon? It''s the prettiest shade of pink, you know?"

    "Of course not," Nero said with a smile. "You look lovely on pink, Neoma. I''m sure a pink weapon will suit you just fine."

    Lewis nodded in agreement. "Princess pink pretty."

    "My condolences, Death''s Scythe," Trevor said in his usual mocking tone. "First, the Moon Princess gave you a nasty new name. And now, she wanted to change your appearance. She''s practically murdering the hell out of you."

    Nero and Lewis red at Trevor who just smirked.

    She just rolled her eyes at the talking demon book, then she proceeded in "harassing" Skewer. "Hey, did you hear me?" she asked the scythe while shaking its handle. The curved de didn''t look scary anymore because it was reduced to a regr kitchen knife''s size. "I want you to turn your handle into pink, and your de into jet-ck. You know, just like BL*CKP*NK in your area." She shook Skewer harder. "Turn pink, turn pink, turn pink¨C"

    "See? Does it look like the royal princess will get possessed by the Devil''s power?"

    She stopped shaking the scythe to turn to where the voice came from.

    Besides her Papa Boss, she saw Saint Zavaroni, Count Sprouse, and Duke Quinzel. The three men were looking at her with different reactions.

    Emperor Niki looked proud of himself for some reason.

    Saint Zavaroni looked like he was stifling hisughter. The duke looked amused, while the count was shaking his head.

    <em>Sh*t.</em>

    Neoma slowly hid Skewer behind her back, then she smiled brightly at the three men. "How are you, gentlemen?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "LEWIS, let me ask you a question," Nero asked the foxy boy as he sat on the sofa while having tea. Right now, he was left in the tea room with Lewis and Glenn. The emperor took Neoma and Trevor with them to talk about the Devil''s mark or something. Of course, he was worried about his precious little sister''s new strange power. But he had something important to settle with Lewis first. "If someone as sketchy as that Trevor guy proposes to my Neoma, what will you do?"

    Lewis, who stood in front of him, made a sh-the-throat gesture. "Kill."

    Glenn, who stood behind him, let out a strange snorting sound.

    The knight might have stifled hisughter. Well, he didn''t care if Glenn found their conversation funny. The important thing was he knew both him and Lewis were serious.

    "Good," he said to the foxy boy. "I can entrust Neoma to you until I return."

    The foxy boy just gave a firm nod as a response.

    That was good enough for him.

    He knew that Lewis was strong and he didn''t seem interested in Neoma in a romantic sense. Maybe the foxy boy didn''t even understand human emotions. But most of all, he could see that his precious twin sister really only saw Lewis as her "son."

    For those reasons, he decided to trust Lewis and leave Neoma in his care while he was gone.

    Nero stood up. He was about to put a hand on Lewis''s shoulder but the foxy boy took a step backwards. He understood why the he hated skinship. So he just put his hands behind his back and respected Lewis''s personal space. "Protect and look after Neoma in my ce, Lewis," he said, then he gave him a bright smile. "Since you are my precious twin sister''s "son," that makes you my nephew, right?"

    "Me not princess son," Lewis said firmly while shaking his head. "Me not prince nephew."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 59 - GOOD NIGHT, NERO

    "SO, that''s the Death''s Scythe, huh?" Emperor Nikimented while looking at the scythe (small version) in Neoma''s hand. "It''s quite adorable."

    Neomaughed at her Papa''s sarcasm. "It just shrunk, Papa," she said while pointing at Skewer that she just put in the center of the long table. She didn''t call him ''Papa Boss'' because they were in the conference room with Trevor, Duke Quinzel, Sir Glenn, and Saint Zavaroni. "Skewer used to be really huge and scary."

    The gentlemen room in the room looked confused.

    "The Moon Princess renamed the Death''s Scythe ''Skewer,''" Trevor said while shaking his head. "She''s also forcing the Death Scythe to turn into pink."

    She lowkey red at the talking damned book. <em>Snitch.</em>

    Trevor just raised a brow at her,plete with his annoying smirk.

    Gosh, she didn''t know why but even though the demon was in his child form now, she still could see his adult (and devilishly sexy) form.

    <em>I need help.</em>

    "Gentlemen, as you can see, Princess Neoma has the Devil''s power under her control," Emperor Niki said smugly. "There''s nothing to worry about."

    Why did her Papa Boss sound so smug when she was doing all the hard work and not him?

    <em>Tsk, tsk. If I were still in the modern world, I would have been no different from an overworked corporate ve. Capitalism is indeed the root of all evil.</em>

    "See? I told you that Her Royal Highness is a strong little girl," Duke Quinzel said proudly. "I believe that the royal princess gaining the Devil''s power is advantageous to us. We should be thankful that it fell into good hands."

    Her ears perked up at the duke''spliment. She couldn''t help but smile brightly at him. In her first life, Duke Quinzel had been a great father figure to her. She didn''t care anymore if he only did that to atone for his older brother''s sin against her father. The important thing was he treated her like his own daughter. "Thank you, Your Grace."

    The duke smiled warmly at her.

    <em>Now that I''m looking closely, he really resembls my daddy. It didn''t register to me during my second life that they looked alike because Duke Quinzel has golden eyes.</em>

    "I can see that Her Royal Highness can control the Devil''s power for now," Count Sprouse said in a voice that obviously doubted her and her awesomeness. "But what will happen if the Devil''s power started to get out of control?"

    <em>Someone is ying the devil''s advocate, huh?</em>

    Well, too bad for the count because she was no pushover.

    "Aren''t you supposed to be "proper" adults since every single person here is a higher noble?" she asked sarcastically.

    All the men (plus a talking demon book) turned to her at the same time.

    Emperor Niki, Sir Glenn, and Saint Zavaroni who were both used to her sassiness didn''t appear surprised anymore. But Duke Quinzel and Count Sprouse sure looked stunned.

    "I know that I''m too awesome, too smart, and too pretty for a five year old baby girl," she continued. "But you can''t expect me to do anything and everything on my own, right? Because if that''s the case, then I might as well run the empire myself."

    Emperor Niki and Saint Zavaroni just sipped their tea¨C the two were obviously very used to her sharp tongue by now.

    Sir Glenn and Duke Quinzel both stifled augh.

    Trevor smirked while looking at her as if he found her amusing.

    And finally, Count Sprouse''s face turned red in embarrassment.

    <em>I''m gonna end this man''s whole career.</em>

    "Count Sprouse, I appreciate that you have high expectations of me as the royal prince''s proxy," she said with a sweet smile while sprouting b*llshit. "But I''m afraid but at this tender age, I still have to depend on adults like you."

    She could clearly see that Count Sprouse didn''t approve of her as Nero''s recement. But guess what?

    <em>I don''t give a f*ck.</em>

    "Your concern is valid though," she continued roasting the count. "Being entangled with the Devil is risky. But don''t worry because I swear on my Papa''s name that I will do everything I can to keep my new powers at bay." She stopped acting "cute" and turned cold all of a sudden. "Though if I fail to do so, I expect you to help me without having to kill me. Because if the only solution that you have in mind is to kill me, then shame on you."

    After her long "speech," she sipped her honeyce tea.

    Count Sprouse immediately stood up and bowed his head to her. "My deepest apologies for my insolence, Your Royal Highness."

    She tried her best to stifle herughter.

    <em>The enemy has been in.</em>

    "It''s fine, Lord Sprouse," Neoma said as she put her tea cup down on the table. "I''m a super cool princess so I don''t hold grudges. Thank you acknowledging your mistake. If my words offended you, I apologize."

    She couldn''t be too sassy around other people or else, she''d be a despicable child.

    I can only have that consistent attitude on Papa Boss.

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOUR MAJESTY, Princess Neoma is really your daughter."

    Niki raised an eyebrow at what Kyle said.

    Right now, they were back in Yule Pce.

    Trevor and Saint Zavaroni was in the prayer room in his pce with Duke Quinzel acting as the saint''s knight. Since Saint Zavaroni''s "visit" was a secret, they couldn''t let anyone else see him in his pce.

    On the other hand, he asked Glenn and the foxy boy to escort Nero and Neoma to the royal parlor room. And that was the reason why only Kyle apanied him now.

    "Did the royal princess shock you?" Niki asked with a smug. "She''s too strange even for a de Moonasterio child, isn''t she?"

    "Well, since the de Moonasterio children are blessed with maturity and intelligence of an adult, I didn''t think that Her Royal Highness is that strange at first," Kyle admitted. "But after what I witnessed a while ago, I''m convinced that Princess Neoma is really different. She talks like a real adult."

    He smirked at that. "She owned you, Kyle," he said. "You embarrassed House Sprouse."

    The aide rolled his eyes at him. "The royal princess clearly inherited her sass from you, Your Majesty."

    "She also got the Princess Royal''s dirty mouth," he added smugly. "You should be thankful that she didn''t cuss at you a while ago."

    "Your Majesty?"

    "What?"

    "You look proud of the royal princess."

    He scoffed at that. "I don''t know what you''re talking about."

    Thankfully, Kyle didn''t have the chance to pursue the topic any longer when they arrived at the prayer room.

    After the count announced his arrival, they entered the chamber. They found Trevor, Saint Zavaroni, and Duke Quinzel around the cauldron with bluish me. He could tell that the "me" was made from the saint''s divine Mana.

    His Holiness has already finished the preparations for the binding vow spell.

    After the three greeted him, they went straight to business.

    "I will nowmence the ritual for the binding vow," Saint Zavaroni said. "Your Majesty, Trevor, the binding vow won''t take effect if one of the party is coerced from taking this oath. Please dere your willingness to take the vow first."

    "I, Niki de Moonasterio, the current emperor of Moonasterion Empire, dere my willingness to take the binding vow with Trevor, the Devil''s Grimoire," Niki said. Then, he cut his finger with his nail and let his blood drop in the bluish me.

    "I, Trevor, the Devil''s Grimoire, dere my willingness to take the binding vow with Niki de Moonasterio, the current emperor of Moonasterion Empire," Trevor said, then he also cut his own finger and let his blood drop in the bluish me.

    "I, Dominic Zavaroni, the current saint of Astello Temple, will oversee the ritual," Saint Zavaroni said, then he put his blood in the me as well. "Now, let''s begin the exchange of vows."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NERO, along with Neoma, Emperor Niki, and Trevor were now in what the Devil Grimoire called as the "hellhole."

    It was just a in room with a weird throne in the middle.

    "Prince Nero, I already made a binding vow with the Grimoire," Emperor Niki said. "If something bad happens to you under his care, he will be automatically burn into ashes."

    "I don''t have any n of dying soon so I''ll take care of you while you''re in slumber," Trevor said, then he smiled "brightly" at him. "Brother-inw."

    The emperor raised a brow but didn''tment on that.

    Nero ignored Trevor''s provocation and looked up at the emperor. "Your Majesty, once I wake up fully-recovered, the binding vow will lose its effect, right?"

    His father nodded. "Of course."

    "Good," he said, then he turned to Trevor with his own "bright" smile. "I want to kill you by my own hands so don''t die on me until I wake up, "brother-inw.""

    "Brother, stop talking about killing others," Neomained while tugging at the hem of his jacket. "Don''t waste your time on Trevor. He''s just a troll."

    He turned to his precious little sister. Even though he didn''t really understand what she just said, he smiled at her anyway. "I''m sorry that you had to hear that, Neoma." He faced her and held her hands tight. "I''m going to "sleep" for now. I will miss you."

    He wanted to keep his farewell short because it wasn''t like he would never see Neoma again.

    Also, he had already done all the things he needed to do to ensure that his precious little sister would be safe until he awakened. He didn''t like that he had to rely on Lewis for Neoma''s protection. But that was better than trusting Emperor Niki.

    At least, the foxy boy cared about his sister than their own father.

    "Take care of yourself while I''m gone, Neoma," Nero said with a smile. When he noticed that his precious little sister was about to cry, he let go of her hands to hug her tight. Then, he gently patted her back. "I will be back," he promised her. He was more determined to return after he saw how lonely Neoma looked now that he was about to enter a long slumber. Although he hated seeing her sad, he had to admit that he was d his absence had that kind of effect on her. "I will be back for you, my precious Neoma."

    Neoma sobbed and nodded her head. "I''ll wait for your return, Brother Nero."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOU''RE really a good actress, Moon Princess."

    "Shut up," Neoma said while admiring her adult self in the mirror. Her eyes were puffy from crying a while ago but she still looked pretty. "Gosh, I''m not even wearing makeup."

    She purposely changed the topic because she didn''t want to admit to herself that she cried.

    Well, her rtionship with Nero was now very different from what they had in the past. She would admit that she had grown fond of him. But she was still in-denial because she didn''t want to get hurt again. After all, she was afraid to end up like how she died in her first life.

    She still couldn''t forget about the past even though her life waspletely different now.

    <em>Yeah, it''s the trauma.</em>

    Anyway¡­

    Right now, she was in the "hellhole" with Trevor who sat on the armrest of the weird throne.

    On the other hand, Nero was "sleeping" inside the ck cube that sat on the throne like it was a treasure or something. She and Emperor Niki were there when Trevor put Nero into sleep. Then, the demon used his power to put her twin brother inside the ck cube.

    Her Papa Boss left her with Trevor when the demon said he had something to tell her. It seemed like the emperor was confident that Trevor wouldn??t harm her because of the binding vow that he made with him.

    That or he just really didn''t care about her.

    <em>Anyway¡­</em>

    "Why do I transform into my adult form when we''re alone in your territory?" she asked curiously, then she turned around to face Trevor.

    Of course, he was also in his (sexy) adult form now.

    Gosh, she would never get over at how many ear piercings he had in that body.

    "I understand how frustrating it is to be trapped inside a child''s body so I''m giving you a little freedom even if it''s just for a short while," he said. "And I want to be generous to my fianc¨¦e."

    She just rolled her eyes at his pathetic attempt to flirt with her. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

    "Take care of Kuro for me," he said, then he throw something at her.

    Thank goodness she caught it or else, she would have cursed the hell out of Trevor.

    Anyway, when she opened her hand, she scowled when she realized that it was a keychain with two sharp fangs.

    "Are these your baby teeth or something?" she asked.

    Trevorughed loudly. "That''s literally the key to summon Kuro. If you''re in danger, just scratch the fangs in any surface and he will appear."

    "Oh, that''s nice."

    "Kuro is like a son to me and since we''re getting married in the future, he''s now your adopted son," he said with a smirk.

    "I will take care of Kuro but I won''t do it for you," she said firmly. "Also, I already rejected your marriage proposal."

    "I won''t pursue you for now since I''ll be stuck here for eight more years," he said. "And since I''ll be extending my stay in this hellhole, I don''t need a contract yet to be able to return to the human world. But once your dear brother is saved, I''ll propose to you once again."

    "`Kay," she said casually. "I''ll just say no again."

    He just shrugged. "I''ll ept your "no" for now."

    "As you should."

    Trevor just gave her his trademark (sexy)zy smile. "See youter, my Moon Princess."

    Neoma, hoping that her cheeks weren''t flushed at that moment, rolled her eyes at the demon. "I won''t wait for you, Trevor."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 60 - SEASON 1 FINALE

    "WELCOME back, Princess Neoma."

    Neoma raised a brow at Saint Macaroni¨C uhm, Saint Zavaroni who greeted her after she got out of Trevor''s "hellhole."

    Trevor created a portal in her private library, and the exit he made for her led her back to the library. She was expecting her Papa Boss and his elite team to be there, but thankfully, only the saint was there to wee her.

    "Hello, Your Holiness," Neoma greeted the saint in a tired voice. It wasn''t like she was being rude on purpose. Her little body just felt heavy at the moment. "Are you here to talk to me in private?"

    "I like how sharp you are, Your Royal Highness," the saint said with a smile, then he gestured to the tea table of the library''s second floor. "Would you like to have some tea with me, Princess Neoma?"

    She just nodded because honestly, her body must have been hitting its limit.

    <em>It''s so hard to be awesome 24/7.</em>

    Anyway¡­

    A few momentster, she already sat across from the saint while having tea. And oh, the tea somehow rejuvenated her.

    "His Majesty had to return to his pce because his condition isn''t stable right now," Saint Zavaroni said, breaking the silence between them. "The binding vow took a toll on his health. To simply say, His Majesty is experiencing something akin to having a fever. It will for a few days."

    "For real?" she asked in surprise. "Do people like him get sick?"

    The saintughed while shaking his head. "What do you mean by "people like him," Princess Neoma?"

    "There''s a saying that "wicked people don''t catch cold.""

    Well, it was supposed to be "idiots don''t catch cold" but her Papa Boss was far from idiot.

    "I said he''s experiencing something akin to having a fever, Princess Neoma," the saint reminded her. "So technically speaking, His Majesty isn''t really sick. And if you ask me, I''d say that it''s more like His Majesty is feeling very drunk right now."

    "That makes sense," she said. "Being drunk and having fever both make you feel vulnerable anyway."

    She was a hard drinker back in her second life. Whenever she''d get really drunk, she would often pass out and wake up with hazy memories.

    <em>Gosh, I died of coconut wine poisoning because of that.</em>

    And of course, everyone who had experienced having a nasty fever would agree that it made them very vulnerable.

    "Princess Neoma, why do you talk like you know how it''s like to be drunk?" Saint Zavaroni asked with a curious smile. "I''m sure that no matter how mature a de Moonasterio child is, the royal family won''t let them have alcoholic drinks as such a tender age."

    She sipped her tea before she responded. "I''m not obliged to answer that, Your Holiness."

    Well, she could have just came up with ame excuse like having read a book that talked about getting drunk or something. But she wanted to sound mysterious. Ady must always appear mysterious around men.

    Saint Zavaroni just smiled, then he changed the topic. "How are you feeling, Princess Neoma?"

    "I''m a little tired," she admitted. "But other than that, I''m okay. I''m still in control of my body, if that''s what you''re worried about."

    Even though she almost ended Count Sprouse''s career, she understood where he wasing from.

    All the anime/manga/weics series that she had seen/read taught her that getting entangled with a devil would always bring trouble to the protagonist. But those series also taught her that if the protagonist managed to control the devil''s power, then they''d be OP.

    Problem solved.

    <em>Thank you, god of anime/weics/manga, for the vast knowledge you bestowed upon a lowly weeb like me.</em>

    She shall use that knowledge to be ady of leisure after eight years.

    "Princess Neoma, I have a question for you," the saint said. "Please don''t answer sarcastically."

    "I won''t if you won''t ask a stupid question."

    "Fair enough," the saint said before he continued. "Princess Neoma, if you were given a chance to be the empress by your own right, would you take it?"

    "No," she said bluntly. The question wasn''t stupid and it was direct so she gave a no-nonsense answer. That was how she vibes. "My goal is to survive in the next eight years, and then be ady of leisure once I''m done with this shi¨C" She cleared her throat when the saint''s eyes widened. "I mean, mission." Before the saint could evenment on how she almost cussed, she smartly changed the topic. "Your Holiness, may I ask you a question?"

    "Of course, Your Royal Highness."

    "Did you see me in your prophecy as the future empress of our empire?" she asked with a raised brow. "You mentioned before that you saw a prophecy about me. Is that it?"

    She didn''t ask before because she didn''t care.

    But the saint''s question was a dead giveaway about what that prophecy was.

    "That is correct, Princess Neoma," Saint Zavaroni confirmed. "The future that I saw before you had changed. Instead of Prince Nero, the one I saw sitting on the throne was you."

    "I will change that prophecy soon, Your Holiness," Neoma said with her trademark "business smile." She was tired of men, saint or not, telling her what she was supposed to do. "My destiny is to sit on the mostfortable sofa ever¨C not to sit on a bloody, ugly throne. And Your Holiness, you better pray to your gods to not force me to be an empress because if they do¡­" Her fa?ade slipped off and now, she was looking at the saint with glowing red eyes. "I will destroy this patriarchal society with my own hands."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NIKOLAI didn''t want to admit this but his body was close to its limit.

    Saint Zavaroni already warned him that he''d get physically weak for a few days. But it wasn''t like his job as the emperor would stop just because he was feeling a little under the weather. And he really had a lot of things he had to do after sending Nero to the hellhole for his hopefully fast recovery.

    After that, he had to deal with his advisors and answer their questions about the disappearance of Juliet''s body. In the end, they decided to keep that from the public to avoid chaos. Then, he sent his elite team to look for the body of thete empress.

    The members of the royal family would never rot in their death because their bodies would be preserved by a special, ancient spell.

    On the other hand, he punished House Sloane, House Thompson, and House Alberts for endangering the life of the royal prince. Duke Sloane was already gone but his family members were still imprisoned. Count Thompson and Marquis Alberts were also imprisoned along their immediate family.

    But the fact about the Devil''s Grimoire was kept secret. He just made it look like House Sloane, Count Thompson, and Marquis Alberts connived to kill the royal prince.

    <em>The only left to do is to find Juliet''s body before the Noble Faction gets a whiff of this.</em>

    "Your Majesty, His Royal Highness is here," Glenn informed him formally. He also used Nero''s title to refer to Neoma because they weren''t alone in his office. "Should I tell the royal prince toe backter?"

    Niki shook his head, then he turned to three of his advisors. "You''re dismissed."

    The advisors vowed to him before they left his office.

    Glenn escorted the three and when he returned, Neoma was already with him. As usual, the sly royal princess had a bright smile on her face. She often used that kind of smile whenever she needed something from him.

    "What do you want this time?" Niki asked the royal princess. His headache was killing him so he didn''t really have the time to beat around the bush. He wanted to finish his tasks for today so he could drink early tonight. "I''m sure you''re not here to just see my face."

    "Of course, Papa Boss. Who would want to see your grumpy face so early in the morning? Definitely not me," Neoma said brightly when she sat on the sofa of his office''s lounge area. Then, she motioned him to join him in the tea table. "Come here, Papa Boss. I''ll brighten up your gloomy day with my beautiful mind."

    Glenn stifled hisughter.

    He red at the knight before he stood up and sat on the sofa across from the royal princess. Then, he asked the maids to bring tea and snacks. After that, only then did Neoma state her business.

    "Papa Boss, I''m finally done writing our contract," Neoma said cheerfully, then she put two pieces of paper on the table. "This is the written version of our deal, Papa Boss. The contract states that after I''ve sessfully filled-in for Nero for the next eight years, you''d grant with my awesome wishes. And in case my cover was busted before the contract expires, you will not kill me. But you won''t be obligated to grant my wishes anymore. Instead, you''ll just have to pay me the amount of money that''s equivalent of the years that I''ve worked as Nero''s proxy."

    Wow, the contract was so concise.

    <em>Well, we''re talking about Neoma here.</em>

    "Fine," Niki agreed. Then, he opened his palm and summoned the Royal Stamp. Since it was the most important stamp in the whole empire, he couldn''t afford to leave it just anywhere. "I agree with your terms, Princess Neoma."

    Neoma looked aghast. "Papa Boss, why are you being so passive today? I prepared a power point presentation to convince you to sign the contract."

    <em>There she goes with her strange, fancy words again.</em>

    He didn''t understand what the royal princess meant by "power point presentation" but his head was already killing him.

    "Do you want me to sign the contract or not?" he asked as he red at her.

    The royal princess smiled and pointed at the contract with her two hands politely. "Please sign the contract now, Papa Boss."

    He just let out a deep sigh, then he used the Royal Stamp to sign the contracts.

    The Royal Stamp passed down from generation to generation had the symbol of the emperor: the white lion with golden mane.

    After that, Neoma signed the contracts with her Sword Lily stamp.

    <em>Sword Lily¡­</em>

    "Now that I''ve signed the contract, you may leave," he said coldly, then he stood up and returned to his table. "Glenn, escort the royal princess out."

    Glenn bowed to him. "As you wish, Your Majesty."

    "Gosh," Neoma "whispered" to herself. "Grumpy old man."

    Niki stopped to turn around Neoma. He was about to scold her when all of a sudden, he felt a sharp stab in his head. The next thing he knew, everything just turned ck.

    "Your Majesty!"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "LEWIS, wait for me here," Neoma said to Lewis. Since her son wasn''t allowed inside Yule Pce, she had no choice but to make him wait for her at the entrance. "I''ll be quick, son."

    "Me not princess son," Lewis said bluntly.

    "Sure, Jan," she said, copying a viral meme back in her second life. After saying bye-bye to her son, she turned to Sir Glenn. "Let''s go."

    Sir Glenn smiled and opened his arms to her. "Do you want a lift, Princess Neoma?"

    She nodded. "Okay, Sir Glenn."

    The knight smiled and carried her in his arms like the princess that she was.

    Since it was alreadyte at night and her Papa Boss apparently ordered his servants to leave Yule Pce at a certain time, the hallway looked gloomier and colder.

    <em>Anyway¡­</em>

    She went to visit her "sick" father because she wanted to take advantage of his vulnerability. Fine, she''d admit that it was low of her. But when would she have an opportunity like this again?

    <em>From the movies I''ve seen, sick or drunk people tend to be very honest and vulnerable.</em>

    Ah, the fact that her Papa Boss copsed as while ago was kept a secret so she had to visit his pcete at night. She spent a long time convincing Sir Glenn to let her look after her sick father. Her excuse was that she wanted to get close to the emperor.

    Her acting skills and charisma worked and Sir Glenn gave in.

    The knight knew that he''d get in trouble because he didn''t get the emperor''s permission to let her in his chamber. But it seemed like Sir Glenn was rooting for her to mend her rtionship with her father.

    <em>I''m sorry in advance, Sir Glenn.</em>

    She knew that the knight would get scolded but she really had to do that.

    "We''re here, Princess Neoma," Sir Glenn said as he carefully put her down. "Good luck."

    She smiled and nodded. "Thank you, Sir Glenn."

    The knight smiled and quietly opened the double doors for her.

    She sneaked in as quietly and as smoothly as possible.

    Of course, even if it was dark (the only source of light was the moonlighting through the ss windows), she could already tell how nd the emperor''s chamber was. But in the modern world, it was something akin to a minimalist but elegant room.

    And yes, all the pieces of furniture in there were obviously luxurious.

    <em>There you are, Papa Boss.</em>

    She tip-toed until she reached her father''s huge bed that fitted an emperor like him. Even though it was dark in the room, she could clearly see her Papa Boss''s face because it was glowing. Gosh, his beauty was really blinding.

    She was about to poke his cheek when all of a sudden, he opened his glowing red eyes.

    Gosh, that almost gave her a heart attack.

    "If I didn''t recognize your Mana right away, you would have been shredded to pieces by my Soul Beasts as soon as you stepped in my room, Neoma," her Papa Boss said strictly. But even though he was scolding her, she could tell that he was having difficulty in breathing. This was the first time she saw him breathe heavily. "I''ll have to punish Glenn for allowing you to enter my chamber without my permission."

    "Don''t be so harsh, Papa Boss," Neomained, then sheid down beside him -Cleopatra that obviously shocked him. "Do you want me to make some tea for us?"

    He red at her. "Get off my bed, Neoma."

    There was no conviction in his voice¨C a clear sign that he wasn''t really feeling well.

    "I''ll sleep here," she dered, then sheid down on her back and tuck herself in the thick and luxurious nket. Then, she closed her eyes. "Good night, Papa Boss."

    She half-expected him to literally push her down the bed.

    Thankfully, it didn''t happen.

    When she opened her eyes and turned to him, she found her father sleeping again. But he didn''t look at ease. He was obviously in pain.

    <em>Gosh, he''s really sick.</em>

    "Papa Boss," she said as she lied down on her sides. "What was thete empress to you when she was still alive?"

    She didn''t hear a respond from him for a few minutes.

    Just when she was about to give up, he finally spoke.

    "Juliet was a dear friend," Emperor Niki, with his eyes still shut tight, said softly. "She was a great partner."

    Okay, that hurt a little.

    She felt the respect and admiration in her father''s voice. To be honest, her Papa Boss was a huge sexist. But it didn''t feel that way when he talked about thete empress.

    <em>He really respected her.</em>

    Though she had to say that it didn''t sound like her father loved thete empress romantically. He talked and sounded like he really treasured her as a friend.

    "Then, how about my mother?" she asked in a slightly cracked voice. "Did you love her?"

    To be honest, she wasn''t really expecting him to answer her question.

    But he did.

    "Mona didn''t spend the night with me just because of my face and body, you little brat."

    She almost choked on her saliva because of his response. <em>Gosh, he holds grudges!</em>

    "You and Nero were born out of love, Neoma," her Papa Boss continued in a soft tone. "Mona owned all of me."

    She didn''t know why but hearing that made her so emotional.

    <em>He loved my mother.</em>

    "But why do you hate her now, Papa Boss?" she asked with a hint of fear in her voice. "Did she really betray you?"

    She wasn''t sure if she really wanted to hear the answer to that question.

    "I hate her," her Papa Boss said. She wasn''t sure if it was just her imagination or her father really sounded somber now. "But there''s a thin line between love and hate, Neoma."

    Her heart ached at how sad and lonely her father sounded at that moment.

    That was when she decided to stop asking questions. She knew how to stop being rude because she knew how hard it was to open up to someone else.

    "Thank you for being honest, Papa Boss," Neoma said, then she carefully got up and got off the bed. Then, she pulled the cover up to his neck carefully. "I''ll try to be a little kinder to you so please stop hating me for whatever my mother did, hmm?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    NIKOLAI got up a littleter after Neoma left his room. "Glenn."

    Glenn appeared in front of his bed. It looked like he already knew what he did wrong because he was already kneeling and bowing before him. "I''m ready to ept the punishment you''ll bestow upon me, Your Majesty."

    "I''m not in the mood for that," he said. "Bring me the strongest alcoholic drinks in my collection."

    The knight looked up at him with a shocked look on his face.

    "Move before I change my mind," he snarled at him.

    Glenn smiled and nodded before he stood up and bowed to him. "I''ll be quick, Your Majesty."

    And after that, the knight disappeared in the dark.

    When he was alone in his room again, he leaned against the headboard and let out a deep sigh. "Have I gone insane?"

    It was true that the side-effect of the binding vow made him vulnerable.

    But he didn''t expect that he''d open up to Neoma of all people. He didn''t know why he pitied the child when she asked about her mother. To be honest, if he was sober, he would have told her about how awful Mona Roseheart was.

    In his vulnerability, it seemed like he let his emotions take over.

    <em>"I''ll try to be a little kinder to you so please stop hating me for whatever my mother did, hmm?"</em>

    The royal princess''s request was logical.

    After all, they would need to work together for the next eight years anyway.

    "I have really gone insane," Niki whispered to himself, then he closed his eyes. "Why does that child have to inherit your fearlessness of all things, Mona?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA was in a good mood.

    Her heart-to-heart talk with her Papa Boss helped her see him in a new light. But that didn''t mean she had already forgiven him for being a sc*mbag. That only meant that she would stop being hostile to him when not needed.

    <em>But it doesn''t mean I''m going soft on him, okay? If he treats me like sh*t, I''ll make him eat sh*t again.</em>

    "How was it, Papa Boss?" Neoma asked excitedly after Emperor Niki took his first bite of the beef wellington. The royal chef finally perfected it and he served it to them for their lunch. She already had a bite and it tasted divine. "Don''t you think it''s good enough to be called ''Beef Moonasterio?"

    "The dish is excellent," Emperor Niki said in his usual cold voice, the trace of vulnerability nowpletely gone in him. "But the royal family''s name cannot be simply used to name a dish. Instead of calling ''Beef Moonasterio,'' it would be better to call it Royal Fillet Steak. From now on, this is going to be a staple dish in the menu."

    "`Kay," she said cheerfully. "Thank you, Papa Boss."

    "Just finish your meal," he said dismissively. "I haven??t seen you train your Soul Beast for a while. We''re going to have a sparringter."

    Her shoulders fell in disappointment. "Okay."

    <em>#RIP, Tteokbokki.</em>

    To be honest, she liked this kind of "peace."

    She knew that she and her Papa Boss were acting like their conversationst night didn''t happen. But she was fine with it. She felt like that it somehow made them understand each other a little better. That didn''t fix their rtionship, but that was enough for them to start respecting one another a little more.

    <em>This is good for my mental health.</em>

    "By the way, have you say goodbye to your foxy boy?" Emperor Niki asked, then he sipped his red wine before he exined. "I sent a rmendation to the White Lion Knights for your butler to be epted as a squire. He''ll need to train with them from now on."

    And the training of the White Lion Knights was done outside the Royal Capital.

    "Why did you decide for my son when I''m his mother?" Neomained while gripping his steak knife hard. "Gosh, you''re still a sc*mbag, Papa Boss!"

    <strong>***</strong>

    <em><strong>After 3 years¡­</strong></em>

    "H1, H2!" Neoma told her helldog as she ran to the entrance of her pce. "Faster!"

    Yep, H1 and H2 was the helldog with two heads.

    Trevor named it ''Kuro'' but she didn''t like it so she changed it into ''H1'' and ''H2.'' Those names were short of ''Homie 1'' and ''Homie 2.'' She contemted whether to call them Byron and Harry again but she only got sad whenever she would remember her old homies.

    Anyway, her helldog was free to roam her residence because they didn''t look scary now. Trevor changed their appearance to make them look like a Shibu Inu with two heads. In short, they were very cute now.

    "Your Royal Highness, please stop running!" Stephanie and Alphen said while running after her.

    She just giggled and ran even faster.

    How could she not be that excited when it was her first time to see Lewis again after a full year?

    Her smile grew wider when she saw her son as soon as she stepped outside nco Pce.

    A tall boy wearing the knight uniform of the White Lion Knights stood in front of her pce. Even though he had his back on her, she wouldn''t mistake that back for anyone else.

    <em>Gosh, he''s so tall now.</em>

    "Lewis!" Neoma called him loudly. When he turned around, she almost burst out crying. Her son grew up a handsome boy. She was proud. "Wee back, my son!"

    Lewis let out a sigh, then he held her by the shoulders as soon as she stood in front of him while she was catching her breath. "I am not your son, Princess Neoma," he said in aplete sentence. Then, he got down on one knee, held her hand, and pressed his forehead against her knuckles. "I, Lewis Crevan of the Silver Fox n, have returned to serve you, Your Royal Highness."

    <strong>---VOLUME 1 END---</strong>

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 61 - EMPRESS JULIET DE MOONASTERIO

    "NIKOLAI, you''re pretty dumb for a crown prince."

    Niki red at Juliet. But it was hard to get mad at her because aside from her respectable personality, her face was also exquisite. Red hair, green eyes, porcin skin¨C these were the top three features that Lady Juliet Sloane was known for. "Excuse me?"

    As expected, Juliet remained pokerfaced. In fact, she looked like a statue while holding a book in one hand, and a teacup on the other. "You''re dumb, Niki," she repeated stoically. Then, she put the tea cup down on the coaster with elegance. After that, she closed the book and turned to him. "You should be d that your twin sibling is a woman. Princess Nichole is an amazing person. Had she been born a male, she would have been the crown prince and not you."

    He was rendered speechless by her bluntness.

    Juliet could talk rudely at him like that because there were only the two of them in the rose garden of nco Pce¨C his residence¨C at the moment. Part of his daily schedule was to have tea with her every afternoon.

    To be honest, Juliet was just one of the "candidates" to be his crown princess. But his father had a close tie with House Sloane. And Juliet was the closestdy to him ever since he was a child. In short, she was likely to be picked as his betrothed.

    He had a feeling that his father would make his engagement with Juliet official in hising-of-age ceremony next year. Both he and Juliet would turn eighteen by then.

    ording to their empire''sw, it was the perfect age for royals to "make" an heir.

    "Why am I dumb?" Niki asked when he finally got over his shock from Juliet''s brutal honesty. "What did I do?"

    "You did nothing and that what makes you dumb," Juliet dered in her usual monotonous tone. Also, she had a semi-permanent frown on her face that made her look like she was judging everyone even though she wasn''t doing that. "If you love her, why don''t you pursue her?"

    He almost choked on what she said. Of course, he knew whom she was referring to. He may or may not have blushed at the memory of the wonderful girl that he met a few months ago. "You know that you''re technically my fianc¨¦e, don''t you? Is that what the future crown princess is supposed to say to her fianc¨¦?"

    "I''m not in love with you and you''re already in love with someone else," she said as if it was the most natural thing to say in the world. "Why do we have to be engaged to each other if that''s the case?"

    "Because I''m the crown prince and you''re a high-ranking nobledy," he said. "My father thinks we''re the perfect choice to be the next emperor and empress that will lead the Moonasterion Empire in the future."

    "That''s a pity," she said, then she sipped her tea.

    He also sipped his tea, then he asked in a hesitant voice: "Juliet, what should I do?"

    "If you love her more than you love the throne, then you should choose her and give up on being the next emperor," Juliet said without missing a beat, her face remained as nk as usual. But her pretty green eyes sparkled with warmth at the moment. Despite her kind of aloof personality, he could say that she was one of the most genuine friends that he had since childhood. "I want to say that you can work hard until the royal family and the high society learn to ept a lower noble as the next empress. But to break a system, you can''t avoid breaking yourself in the process. I''d rather see you run away from your royal duties than see you get broken by a system that we both hate."

    "If I run away with another woman, you''d be left alone," Niki said seriously. "Everyone will me you and use you of being inadequate as the reason why I abandoned you. And worse¡­"

    "My "value" as a woman will decrease," she finished the cold words that he didn''t have the heart to say aloud. "I''ll be fine, Niki. I''d rather stay alone for the rest of my life than marry a darned chauvinistic pig anyway."

    He frowned at her choice of words. "Nichole''s dirty mouth is rubbing off on you, Juliet."

    She just shrugged and finished her tea in the most elegant way that he had ever seen.

    Juliet is really the epitome of a nobledy.

    Even if she cussed, it still sounded eloquenting from her.

    "Juliet, I''m sorry," Niki said seriously. "I want to be with Mona."

    "I know," Juliet said. Then, a rare thing happened: she smiled. If she already looked beautiful even with a nk look on her face, can you imagine how beautiful she looked when she smiled? "I''m happy for you and Mona, Niki."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NIKOLAI didn''t know what to do.

    The throne room he was in was literally burning. Dead bodies of his knights and servants were scattered everywhere. And the walls were literally painted with blood.

    <em>Those damned traitors!</em>

    He knew that he had royal duties to fulfill. But at that moment, his heart and mind were with someone else.

    <em>Mona, please be safe.</em>

    Gavin better protect her or else, he''d kill themander himself.

    His thoughts were cut-off when the doors of the throne room burst open. He immediately put his guard up. But when he saw who came, he was relieved right away.

    "Niki, go," Juliet said while walking towards him. Instead of her usual morous dress, she wore a red and gold knights'' uniform. It was a lot simr to the military uniform he was wearing now. That was what royals were supposed to wear during a war like that. "I''ll protect the throne while you''re away," she said, then she opened her hands. A few momentster, a beautiful crystal sword appeared in each of her hand¨C making her look like the goddess of war in the process. Actually, that was one of her many monikers. Anyone who had seen her in the battlefield would agree that she was definitely more than a pretty face. "Mona needs you."

    "Don''t be ridiculous, Juliet," Niki said while shaking his head. "I won''t abandon you here. It''s too dangerous."

    "My brother and our private knights wille here soon. And Princess Nichole is now creating a strong barrier that will prevent more enemies from infiltrating the pce. Once she seeds, it will be easier to contain the traitors since they''re going to get locked up here," she said, then she stood in front of him. "I''m not weak, Niki."

    "I know that very well."

    "Then, go," she said. The determination in her eyes and voice told him that she wouldn''t change her mind. "Mona needs you. If the enemies get a hold of her, it''s over for all of us."

    He couldn''t refute that remark.

    "I''ll be back quickly, Juliet," Niki promised her. "Don''t you dare die on me."

    "I won''t die," Juliet said with a firm nod. "I will protect your throne until you return, Niki."

    Lies.

    <strong>***</strong>

    NIKOLAI got up while catching his breath.

    That was the first time that he dreamed of Juliet after a while. Even though those scenes had already yed in his mind several times, the memories of her still hurt. He would still wake up with a chest heavy with regrets and bitterness.

    <em>Dammit.</em>

    Was Juliet haunting him because it had already been three years since her body was stolen and he hadn''t found it yet?

    Yes, that must be it.

    "I''m sorry, Juliet," Niki whispered to himself. "It seems like I''m still letting you down even after you''re gone."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 62 - YALL, IM GETTING A HAREM

    NEOMA was emotional as she looked at Lewis from head to toe. She literally had to look up at him now because she he was already a whole feet taller than her. As an eight year old girl, being four feet tall was considered average in the empire. Her Papa was tall so she wouldn''t be surprised if she grew taller once she had her period. "You''re a big boy now, my son."

    She was free to talk that way because right now, only she and Lewis were in the grand tea room of her pce. Stephanie and Alphen were standing outside his door. And since her son was back now as her butler-sh-knight, her temporary knights were relieved of their positions.

    <em>Well, I don''t really need a knight since I can protect myself.</em>

    Anyway, back to her son.

    <em>Lewis''s growth spurt is no joke.</em>

    He was only eleven years old but he was already five feet tall. Boys his age in the empire had an average height of 4''7". But Lewis was her son so of course, it was just natural for him to stand out.

    <em>I''m a proud momma.</em>

    "Lewis, congrattions on bing a full-fledged knight," Neoma said sincerely, then she sipped her tea before she continued. "I can''t decide what gift to give you so I''ll just grant you a wish. As long as it''s not ridiculous, I''ll give it to you."

    Lewis''s golden eyes sparkled. "Then, I''d like you to stop calling me "son," Princess Neoma."

    "I''m taking it back," she said with a bright smile. Yes, she could be that shameless sometimes. "I''ll just get you a sword or something as a gift, my precious son."

    Lewis, who seemed to be tired of correcting her, just ignored her this time.

    <em>Gosh, is he going through a rebellious phase right now?</em>

    But she couldn''t really get mad at her son, you know?

    He looked so good in his White Lion Knights uniform. As his mother, she was proud to say that Lewis was one of the youngest knights in history. Some of the boys his age were still squire. But her child was already a full-fledged knight.

    Lewis took a special test to be a knight despite his age, and that test took her son away from her for a full year.

    But to be honest, Lewis was barely beside her for the past three years. Before he took the test, her Papa Boss rmended him in the White Lion Knights squad as an apprentice. Since the elite squad''s training took ce outside the Royal Capital, her son had to stay in a dorm away from her. She could only spend time with him during weekends back then.

    "Lewis, why do you feel so distant to me now?" Neoma asked with a pout. Her actress mode was now activated so wee to her petty show. "Is it because we spent a full year apart? Did you meet someone more important to you now?" She let out an exaggerated gasp. "Lewis, have you fallen in love with a girl while you were away? Am I going to have a daughter-inw soon? No, I''m not yet ready to be a grandma. I''ll probably cry at your wedding!"

    Okay, at this point, she''d admit that she was already trolling Lewis.

    <em>That''s what you get for giving me silent treatment, son.</em>

    "Princess Neoma, are you upset?"

    "I don''t like it when you give me silent treatment."

    Her butler-sh-knight let out a deep sigh. "I''m sorry, Princess Neoma," he said. "Don''t be upset."

    "Okay," she said with a bright smile. To be honest, even though Lewis could now speak inplete sentences, his tone and manner of speaking to her could still be considered rude. She didn''t mind though. "But in all seriousness, I''m really proud of you, Lewis Crevan."

    Emperor Niki fulfilled his promise and restored the Silver Fox n''s status as an old, noble family.

    Her Papa Boss gave Lewis his n''s old family name. So her son was now a full-fledged noble and the current head of House Crevan. Well, he was the only family member as of now but at least, he had servants to take care of him and his properties now. Plus, the mansion in the Royal Capital that her father gave Lewis was really huge and posh.

    <em>My son''s full title is Lord Lewis Crevan, Count of Warrington.</em>

    Yes, her Papa Boss went overboard and even gave Lewis a small county. But even though the territory was small, it was a fertilend.

    <em>Gosh, Lewis might be richer than me by now.</em>

    "Princess?"

    "Hmm?"

    "The fact that I was able to return by your side is already the best gift that I could receive in this lifetime," her son said in a soft tone. He didn''t smile, but his face softened up. "I will never leave you again, Princess Neoma."

    Neoma smiled but deep inside, she was already bawling. "Gosh, don''t grow up too fast, my precious son."

    Lewis rolled his eyes. "I''m not your son, Princess Neoma."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOU NEED a fianc¨¦e, Neoma."

    "Yep," Neoma said casually while reading a paper work that she needed to signter. "And you need a psychiatrist, Papa Boss." When she felt her father''s re, she looked up at him with an innocent face. "What?"

    Right now, her office table was just right beside her Papa Boss''s desk.

    Yep, they were sharing his office now. And yep again, at her tender age of eight, she was already doing some royal duties that she started on her own.

    Because she was very lonelyst year (after Lewis left for his special test), she decided to hold a children''s story writing contest that was only open for themoners.

    The theme was open and free, while the criteria were simple. First, the story must be original. Second, it must be within theprehension of children ages five to twelve. Third, it must have a significant moral lesson and strong narrative voice.

    She chose three winners and as a reward, they were epted as the first batch of schrs under the Sword Lily Foundation. Then, she had their stories published in an anthology book.

    In return, she asked the winners to visit the poorestmunities in the empire and share their winning stories with the children living there. Of course, the schrs visited themunities with food, medicine, and basic clothing for all.

    The budget came from her pce, but the schrs and the organizers of the event didn''t know that the she (the royal prince proxy) was the benefactor. Since she used the alias ''Sword Lily,'' most people assumed that the benefactor was a woman. It didn''t help that her representative was Lady Belmont, her favorite teacher that had somehow became her friend now.

    <em>They think Lady Belmont is the benefactor.</em>

    Oh, well. She wasn''t doing that for publicity. And she was far from being kind or generous. She was just bored so she wanted to read some interesting stories, okay?

    It didn''t matter that her savings were almost gone now.

    "You''re serious, Papa Boss?" Neoma asked with furrowed brows. "I''m so busy right now. I don''t have time to date."

    She knew that it was part of her job to choose the future crown princess in Nero''s ce.

    But she was really busy these days. She was currently preparing for another children''s story writing contest. Its official name now was Sword Lily Books Children''s Story Writing Contest, and she aimed to have a new batch of schrs.

    <em>I also have to add that Sword Lily Books is now a publishing house.</em>

    Her ownpany.

    <em>I''m a CEO now.</em>

    Unlike in the modern world where children her age couldn''t legally own a business yet, the empire''sw dictates that any member of the royal family¨C regardless of age¨C could have anynd, property, or business under their name.

    Although Sword Lily Books was registered under her name, only a few knew that she owned the publishing house. Since her representative was Lady Belmont, most people think that the countess was the owner. And she wanted to keep it that way.

    <em>House Belmont is a part of the Royal Faction so Papa Boss doesn''t mind, too.</em>

    "Let Lady Belmont handle your business for now," Emperor Niki said strictly. "During your eight birthday, I will officially dere you as the crown prince."

    Okay, she almost choked on her saliva. "What?"

    "Ever since I express my intention to restore House Kesser, my critics have voiced their dismay louder than usual," the emperor continued. "They aren''t happy that I''m restoring another forgotten old family just right after I restored House Crevan for your butler."

    "Why do you need to restore House Kesser right away?" she asked curiously. "I know that Trevor asked that in return of curing Nero. But isn''t it too early to work on it? You were able to bring back House Crevan in its former glory in just two years."

    "House Crevan was easy to restore because they were already well-known. Their only "sin" was they were born more powerful than ordinary humans," he exined. "However, House Kesser is a different case. Even the oldest families in the empire barely remember them. And their memories of the Kessers aren''t even good."

    "What did House Kesser do in the past?"

    "It''s none of your business," he said bluntly, then changed the topic. "I will dere you as the official crown prince on your birthday to shut the critics. Since your uing birthday is already creating noise because it will be your first public appearance, might as well use it to my advantage. While everyone''s attention is on you, I will do the necessary steps needed for the restoration of House Kesser."

    "Gosh, everything is politics to you, isn''t it?"

    "That''s the case for every person in power," he deadpanned as if that was the most natural thing to say in the world. Well, he was right. "Anyway, once I dere you as my heir apparent, you will definitely receive marriage proposals from different households and countries and kingdoms under our territory. We can''t turn them down easily since they will definitely send high-rankingdies and princesses to our empire. Offending one of them might cause war."

    Oh, so that was probably why the previous emperors had their harems.

    <em>As far as I know, Papa Boss doesn''t have harem.</em>

    Or maybe it was already dissolved or something.

    <em>Nero, I''m sorry but it seems like you''ll have your own harem even though you''re still in a deep slumber.</em>

    "I''m only eight, Papa Boss," she deadpanned. "As far as I know, a crown princess of the empire should choose a crown princess once he turns eighteen."

    "Officially," her father corrected her. "Before a crown princess is chosen, she has to fight otherdies for the position first. The "war" for the spot next to you begins as soon as you''re officially dered as the crown prince."

    "And you said I need a fianc¨¦e," she reminded him. "Are you going to rig the process or what?"

    "I will put someone by your side as early as now," he exined. "You spending time with ady that I chose will express my intention of making her the crown princess in the future. In short, thatdy is going to be my "candidate.""

    She raised a brow at that. "Do you already have someone in mind, Papa Boss?"

    "We need ady that can keep your secret," Emperor Niki said. "That''s why I''m choosing Lady Hanna Quinzel to be your "fianc¨¦e." She already knows that you''re not Nero."

    "Eww!" sheined with disgust in her voice. She even had to embrace herself because she got goosebumps. "Hanna is our cousin."

    "Hanna Quinzel is the daughter of my cousin," he insisted. "That makes her your second cousin. And the empire allows the royal family members to marry their cousins anyway."

    "That''s still gross," she said. "Poor Nero."

    She wouldn''t be affected that much even if her Papa Boss chose Hanna to be the crown prince''s official fianc¨¦e.

    First, Hanna knew her secret so she could actfortable around her. Second, she wasn''t going to be the one to marry her anyway. Even if they got officially engaged now, in the end, Hanna would still be married to Nero in the future and not to her. Butstly¡­

    <em>I don''t know if Hanna is going to live long this time.</em>

    In her first life, Hanna died when she was eleven years old because of heart failure.

    <em>Her cause of death was natural so I don''t know if I can stop it.</em>

    Or if she had to.

    "I didn''t say that you''d have to marry Hanna Quinzel right away. For now, we just have to put her beside you so the old nobles around us won''t have a chance to force their candidates on you," her Papa Boss said. "I''ve already talked to Rufus about this. He agreed to send Hanna here as soon as possible."

    She blinked in surprise. "That fast?"

    "We always have to be one step ahead of our enemies," he said firmly. "Aside from a high-rankingdy to be your acting fianc¨¦e, you also need a male friend from a strong and influential family once you make your first public appearance. If you have Hanna Quinzel and a young lord as your close friends, no one will dare to look down on you regardless of who your mother was."

    She rolled her eyes at him. <em>He never fails to take a jab at my mommy each chance he gets.</em>

    "I''ve already chosen the most suited young lord to be your closest friend."

    "Wow," she said sarcastically while pping her hands slowly. "Papa Boss, why don''t you choose what pajama should I wear tonight?"

    He just gave her a dire stare. Obviously, he wasn''t impressed by her sarcasm. "I already sent an invitation to your new friend," he said. "Rubin Drayton will be here in a few days."

    Okay, hearing that name made her whole body freeze.

    <em>Rubin Drayton¡­?</em>

    God, her heart thumped against her chest painfully.

    "Don''t you know who Rubin Drayton is?" Emperor Niki asked with a raised brow. "He''s the heir apparent of Duke Drayton. You were supposed to be engaged to him in the past." He paused for a while as if he remembered something, then he continued. "House Drayton knows that Nero has a twin sister. But they didn''t know that you''re pretending as the royal prince now. When I cancelled your engagement to Rubin Drayton a few years ago due to our deal, I told them that I sent the royal princess to a temple outside the empire."

    "Papa Boss, I know who Rubin Drayton is," Neoma said in an emotionless voice. But if she was going to be honest, she''d say that she sounded sad. No wonder her Papa Boss looked at her weirdly. "I know him well enough to say with certainty that we''ll never get along well."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "I''M HANDSOME," Neoma said in a gloomy voice as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. Since she was pretending as the royal prince, her hair was always cut short and her everyday outfit only consisted of expensive suits. "I''m so f*cking handsome."

    Normally, it didn''t bother her since she was a professional "actress."

    But ever since her Papa Boss said that Rubin Drayton would being to the pce to be her best friend, she couldn''t help but feel down at the thought of meeting her first love as a "boy." Even though Rubin Drayton didn''t know her yet, she wanted to make him regret cheating on her during her first life.

    She knew how petty it was, okay? Rubin Drayton was only ten years old in this lifetime and he definitely didn''t remember his previous life like she did.

    <em>Why do I want to have my revenge on him if he hasn''t done anything to hurt me in this lifetime?</em>

    She was able to forgive Nero for killing her in the past, so why not forgive Rubin Drayton for betraying her back then?

    "I''m crazy," she whispered to herself. "The Great Neoma has gone insane."

    "Princess?"

    She turned around to face Lewis who stood behind her with a worried look on his face. He probably got concerned because she had been talking to herself instead of dancing. Since her birthday wasing up, she had to prepare a dance that would blow away the high society. Thus, she had been spending time in the dance studio (a ballroom with mirrors on the walls, as per her request) a lot these days.

    But during her ss a while ago, she kept on messing up the steps because she was distracted. So her dance teacher gave her time to practice on her own. But all she did was to stare at her reflection.

    "My precious son, your mom has gone crazy," Neoma said while clutching her chest tight. "I want to share my troubles to you but you won''t understand. Unless you have experienced falling in love, of course."

    Lewis tilted his head at one side. "I have."

    Wait¨C what?! Who?! When?! Why?! Where?! How?!

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 63 - AHA, LISTEN BOY: MY FIRST LOVE STORY

    "YOU HAVE fallen in love?!" Neoma asked Lewis with wide eyes. "With whom?!"

    Lewis pointed a finger at her.

    Okay, for some weird reason, her heart thumped loud and fast against her chest.

    "Corndog," Lewis said, then he put his hand down. "I love the corndog that you make, Princess Neoma."

    Oh, that made her feel relieved.

    <em>Of course, Lewis is still too young to experience falling in love.</em>

    Anyway...

    When she missed the snacks that she often ate back in her second life, she started to recreate them. Corndog was the easiest to make since sausages already existed in the empire. The ingredients needed to make the batter were also avable.

    Lewis loved the ssic corndog that she made so she made different variations. Her son''s favorite corndog was the one with mozzare cheese and string potatoes crust. She liked the ssic crust with sugar but she didn''t mind putting extra effort for Lewis''s favorite variety.

    "I really love corndog, too," Neoma said with a smile. "But that''s not the kind of love that I''m talking about, Lewis. I guess you''re too young to know that."

    He tilted his head to one side in confusion. "I''m older than you."

    She justughed it off. "Lewis, do you want me to make corndog for you now?"

    Her son''s face instantly lit up as he nodded eagerly.

    Seeing his happy face made her feel regretful. "I should have made that the day you arrived. What a pity."

    In her defense, she was busy that day that she barely had the time to wee her son.

    "Ah, I should make corndog for Hanna too once she arrives at the pce," Neoma said when she remembered that Hanna would arrive tomorrow. "Lewis, are you excited to meet my future fianc¨¦e?"

    Lewis just gave her a nk stare and she knew right away what that meant.

    <em>Yep, this rude child thinks I''m not making sense but I taught him to shut up if he has nothing nice to say, and so theck of reaction.</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    "WHAT are you doing, Neoma?"

    "Training," Neoma saidzily while she was making shing motions in the air with her hand. Right now, she lying on her side on the pic nket spread on the grass just under a huge tree. Of course, Lewis was standing behind her quietly. "I''m training with Skewer like you asked me to, Papa Boss."

    As of the moment, Skewer¨C her now <em>pink</em> scythe¨C was floating in the air. Whenever she would make a shing motion with her hand, the scythe would sh the scarecrows that she asked Stephanie and Alphen to make for her.

    The scarecrows were cute. She drew an unrecognizable ''chibi'' image of Emperor Niki and pasted them on every scarecrow''s face. If not for the white hair and light gray eyes of the chibi, even her wouldn''t recognize the drawing as her father.

    "What kind of training is that?" Emperor Niki, her grumpy Papa Boss who stood in front of her, asked with furrowed brows. "Why don''t you train with the Death''s Scythe physically?"

    "Skewer. Her name is ''Skewer'' now," she corrected her father. And yes, she decided that Skewer was a girl. She wanted to have a female friend too, you know? "Aren''t you amazed that I can control Skewer without touching it?"

    She realized that she could control Skewer even without touching it when she used it as a "frisbee." She threw the Death''s Scythe and asked H1 and H2 to fetch it as if it was a flying disc. But she miscalcted and the weapon almost hit Lewis.

    Boy, she screamed at the top of her lungs that day to stop Skewer from hitting her son. Thankfully, it stopped when it was only a breath''s away from Lewis''s head. That scary moment taught her that she didn''t need to hold the Skewer for her to use it.

    And from then on, she never threw the scythe carelessly again.

    "I''m more amazed at how waste your time that leisurely," her Papa Boss said in a frustrated voice. "Maybe I should start training you personally."

    "It''s not part of our contract, Papa Boss," she told him in azy voice. "And don''t worry. I''m working hard with my training with Tteokbokki. You said it yourself before: we don''t need weapons. Our Soul Beast and Mana are enough."

    "The Death''s Scythe isn''t an ordinary weapon," her father insisted. "Mastering it will benefit us in the future. What''s so hard with wielding it anyway?"

    "I don''t want to gain extra arm muscles."

    "Excuse me?"

    "I don''t want my arms to be muscr, Papa Boss," she said. "I will not be Nero forever. I want to look pretty, you know? I''m not saying that muscr girls aren''t pretty. They are. It''s just that my preference is to have a body like a Kpop idol."

    Most Kpop idols weren''t just skinny. They were also fit. Some of the female Kpop idols that she used to idolize back in her second life had abs and killer biceps. That was her goal.

    But if she continued wielding the scythe that was starting to get heavy each year that passed, she was afraid that her arms might get bulky. She was only eight years old now but she was the kind of person who had advanced thinking.

    "You''re speaking nonsense again," her Papa Boss said while shaking his head. "Anyway, Rufus and his daughter will arrive in an hour¨C"

    "Duke Quinzel will be here?" Neoma asked excitedly, then she got up. "You should have told me that earlier, Papa Boss," she said while Lewis was helping her stand up from the ground. "I shall excuse myself now."

    Her father''s brows furrowed in confusion. "And where are you going?"

    "Papa Boss, I can''t receive guests while I''m still in my training clothes," Neoma exined while motioning her outfit. "Most of all, I want to be presentable to Duke Quinzel."

    Emperor Niki didn''tment but he suddenly looked pissed.

    <em>Tsk, his mood swing is attacking again.</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    "IT''S BEEN a while, Your Royal Highness," Rufus greeted Neoma in his usual cheerful voice. "How are you?"

    "I''m fine, Your Grace," Neoma greeted the duke politely. "Thank you for asking. I''m pleased to see you again after a long while."

    Niki, for some reason that he didn''t understand, was pissed while watching Neoma act like a different person. It was unusual for the royal princess to talk eloquently and without sarcasm. Also, her bright smile was giving him goosebumps.

    <em>She doesn''t act that way when she''s with me.</em>

    And Neoma was barely paying attention to Hanna Quinzel since she was too focused on Rufus. Even though the four of them were sharing the tea table in the rose garden of Yule Pce¨C his residence¨C Neoma was acting like she could only see Rufus.

    <em>This is pissing me off and I don''t know why.</em>

    "I heard that you''ve started to train with the Death''s Scythe," Rufus said after he sipped his tea. "I have little experience in wielding a scythe but if you need help, don''t hesitate to tell me, Your Royal Highness."

    Niki hid his smirk by sipping his tea. <em>As if Neoma will ask for your help after she turned me down when I offered to train her myself. And most of all, she''s toozy to train with the Death''s Scythe seriously¨C</em>

    "I really need help with wielding the scythe, Your Grace," Neoma said with a shy smile that didn''t suit her true personality. "I will take you up on your offer then."

    <em>Excuse me?</em>

    Rufus smiled at the royal princess and was about to say something when he interrupted his cousin by cing down the teacup on the coaster a little too loudly.

    Okay, that was ungraceful of him but at that moment, he didn''t care.

    "Neoma, go and bring Hanna Quinzel to your pce," Niki told the royal princess in a cold voice. "You prepared something to wee her, didn''t you?"

    He noticed that the royal princess''s smile froze, but she still smiled at him although it was obvious to him that her smile was anything but sincere.

    <em>She''s probably cussing at me in her head.</em>

    "Thank you for reminding me, Papa," Neoma said in a mildly sarcastic tone. Hah, she was probably holding back because of Rufus. Still, he saw the royal princess roll her eyes at him before she turned to Hanna Quinzel with a bright smile. "Lady Quinzel, shall we go to my pce?"

    Hanna Quinzel turned to Rufus first. When her father nodded encouragingly, only then did the youngdy turned to Neoma with a shy smile. "I''d love to go with you, Your Royal Highness."

    After that, Neoma and Hanna Quinzel excused themselves.

    The two little girls were escorted by Glenn and the foxy boy, leaving him alone with Rufus.

    "Rufus, you don''t have time to train Neoma," Niki scolded his cousin in an irritated voice. "Don''t make promises you can''t keep."

    Rufus justughed it off. God, this person really had a carefree personality. It was so different from his older brother.

    Now, he annoyed himself even more.

    <em>Why do I have to remind myself of that traitor?</em>

    "Don''t worry, Your Majesty," Rufus assured him. "I haven''t forgotten about my current mission. My team and I are doing our best to find thete empress''s body."

    "It''s been three years already, Rufus."

    "I apologize that it''s taking us this long, Your Majesty," the duke said, obviously embarrassed by theck of development in his current mission. "But we have a lead now."

    "What kind of lead?"

    "A sudden burst of ancient ck magic was detected in the Southern part of the empire," Rufus informed him seriously. "I already consulted His Holiness about it. The saint confirmed that the burst of that ancient ck magic was caused by the awakening of a powerful being. We think it was the Devil."

    "The Devil, huh?" Niki said while shaking his head. "If your hunch is right, then it means the Devil wille after Neoma soon."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "LADY Quinzel, please try the snack that I made myself," Neoma said with a smile while gesturing the te of corndogs on the table. "It''s just sausage with a fancy twist."

    Hanna smiled and nodded. "What do you rmend that I try first, Your Royal Highness?"

    "I suggest that you try the in crust first," she said while pointing at the corndog with in crust. "Inside it is half-sausage, half-mozzare cheese." She picked up the corndog with sugar crust. It looked like Hanna didn''t know how to eat because it was unusual for snacks in the empire to be in a skewer. So she decided to show her how by taking a bite first. "I''m not saying this because I made it. But trust me, Lady Quinzel. It''s awesome."

    The other girl smiled and nodded. "I trust you, Your Royal Highness," she said, then she picked up the corndog with in crust and took a bite. The way her face lit up told her that she genuinely liked it. "This is so good, Your Royal Highness."

    She just smiled, then she looked around.

    Right now, they were in the rose garden of her pce.

    Lewis was standing behind her. On the other hand, Stephanie, Alphen, and the rest of her servants were standing in the entrance of the garden. In short, the people who didn''t know her secret couldn''t hear their conversation.

    "Lady Quinzel," she said when she turned to the girl again. "You can just call me ''Neoma'' when we''re alone with Lewis. He knows my secret anyway."

    "I understand, Neoma," Hanna said with a smile. "You can just call me by my name, too."

    "Sure, Hanna," she said.

    To be honest, she thought it was going to be hard for her to get along with Hanna because she felt a little awkward. She knew that Hanna was going to die in the future. But she was doing her best to forget about that for now.

    <em>I''ve already changed the life of the people around me. Who knows? Maybe I might be able to change Hanna''s future, too.</em>

    "Neoma, I know that this sounds stupid but you really look like Nero," Hanna said with a warm smile as if she was thinking of her twin brother. "I know that you are twins, but it still surprised me when I saw you for the first time."

    Okay, she almost choked on her tea when she saw the tint of pink on her cousin''s cheeks while she talked about Nero.

    <em>OMG¡­ does Hanna like my twin brother?</em>

    If Hanna didn''t die early in her first life, she probably would have been Nero''s fianc¨¦e because of her status and House Quinzel''s good rtionship with her Papa Boss.

    <em>Well, I''d rather have Hanna as my future sister-inw than the witch that Nero got obsessed with in my previous life. But of course, I don''t have the right to meddle with my twin brother''s love life.</em>

    "I have Nero''s baby pictures," Neoma said with a smile. The pictures she was talking about were taken by Stephanie using a spirit stone that could take pictures and videos. It was a "gadget" that only rich people could afford. "Do you want to see it, Hanna?"

    Hanna''s eyes sparkled as she nodded eagerly. "I''d love to, Neoma."

    <em>Gosh, Hanna''s first love is Nero.</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA stretched her arms while walking back to her pce with Lewis.

    Hanna was in the main gate of the Royal Pce to send-off Duke Quinzel. She wanted to go with Hanna and say goodbye to the duke but her evil Papa Boss ordered her to return to her pce because apparently, a guest arrived earlier than expected.

    But she had a feeling that her father lied to her. He just probably said that to stop her from sending-off Duke Quinzel.

    <em>Gosh, why is he picking on me today?</em>

    "Princess Neoma, are you tired?" Lewis asked her. "I can carry you."

    "I don''t want to be carried by my son," Neoma said with augh. She knew what Lewis was going to say so she said it with him. ""I''m not your son, Princess Neoma.""

    "Funny," her son said in a sarcastic tone.

    Sheughed louder this time. "Someone knows how to be sarcastic now, huh?"

    As usual, Lewis ignored her teasing.

    She was about to annoy her son even more but when she turned around the corner, she was surprised when someone appeared before her and bumped into her.

    <em>Ouch.</em>

    Thankfully, Lewis was fast enough to hold her by the shoulders so she wouldn''t fall on the floor. But the person who bumped into her wasn''t so lucky.

    "Are you okay?" she asked the boy who was on the floor now, his head hanged low. "Do you need help¡­"

    She trailed-off when she noticed that the boy had beautiful golden hair. It was a beautiful shade of blonde. And in her first life, only one boy had that kind of hair that she loved.

    <em>No, no, no¡­</em>

    "I''m okay," the boy said, then he looked up at her. "I''m sorry for bumping into you."

    She felt her body freeze when her eyes met the boy''s light blue eyes.

    The blue shade of his eyes was simr to pastel blue. It was so pretty and it matched his blonde hair so well. When she lived in the modern world during her second life, she would always be reminded of him whenever she would see cotton candy.

    It wasn''t just his hair or eye color that looked pretty.

    He had the kind of face that Korean people would give him the "flower boy" title for. That meant he was very pretty and he looked ''soft.'' Even though he was only ten years old now, she still recognized him right away.

    <em>Rubin Drayton.</em>

    "Prince Nero, are you okay?" Lewis asked her using her pretend identity because they were in front of a stranger.

    Rubin looked surprised when he realized that she was the royal prince. He immediately stood up and bowed to her. "My deepest apologies, Your Royal Highness. I am Rubin Drayton, the only son of House Drayton."

    "I know," Neoma said. Even in her own ears, her voice sounded sad and hurt. That was probably why Rubin raised his head to look at her face. Gosh, how could someone so evil get blessed with an innocent face like that? Well, he was still a child during this time. Still, she couldn''t forget how he yed with her feelings back in her first life. "I know who you are, Lord Rubin Drayton."

    <em>You''re Scumbag #2.</em>

    <strong><em>***</em></strong>

    <strong>NOTE</strong>: Hi! I''m joining the WIN-WIN event for December so I have a heartfelt request to everyone. Please buy my privilege starting tomorrow (December 1). You''ll get to read 2 more chapters in advance if you buy my privilege. I haven''t added any tier yet because I want my privilege to be affordable. So please, help me win the event for Neoma to have more features. Of course, since I''m joining WIN-WIN, I am required to update daily. That''s why I''m asking for everyone''s help.

    Thank you so much for patiently waiting. I really hope you buy my privilege. I need to have 1k privilege readers to get the best rewards. If my story makes you happyugh, I hope you consider buying my privilege. Thank you. T_T

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

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 Chapter 64 - THE BOY WHO DUMPED ME

    "YOUR MAJESTY, where''s Princess Neoma?"

    Niki raised a brow at Rufus.

    He deliberately asked Neoma to wee their new guests that he sent to her pce. Usually, guests were required to greet him in his pce first. But he didn''t want Neoma to have an excuse to send-off Rufus.

    "It''s bed time for the royal princess," Niki lied with a straight face. "Why are you looking for my daughter anyway?"

    They were free to talk without hiding Neoma''s identity because they were alone in the entrance of Yule Pce, his residence, while waiting for Rufus''s carriage. Ah, wait. They weren''tpletely alone.

    Hanna Quinzel was with them.

    The maids that he assigned for his niece was standing a few meters away from them¨C out of earshot so that they could talk freely.

    "I just want to give Her Royal Highness some advice on how to wield a scythe," Rufus said with a softugh. "Why are you getting upset, Your Majesty?"

    "I''m not upset," he denied in a firm voice. "And Neoma doesn''t need your advice, Rufus. You''re the captain of the ck Jaguar Knights and your squad handles firearms. Neoma''s weapon is a scythe. She doesn''t need your help in her training."

    "I''m a double wielder, Your Majesty," the duke insisted. "I''m a swordsman first before a shooter. I''m sure I can help the royal princess with her training."

    "Save that offer when Nero returns," he said, annoyed. "I''ll make a ve out of you once the real crown prince awakens."

    After all, it was a part of their tradition for the crown prince to enter knighthood with a different squad than the White Lion Knights. The White Lion Knights were directly under the emperor''smand¨C and will be the crown prince''s future private army¨C so to avoid bias, the royal prince must train under a different squad.

    The second best troop in the empire was Rufus''s ck Jaguar Knights. So of course, the crown prince was expected to train under Rufus soon.

    To be honest, Neoma should have begun training with the ck Jaguar Knights when she turned seven years old. But to protect her secret, he made an excuse and told everyone that the royal prince was a Mana genius because of how enormous Neoma''s Mana was.

    So instead of sending her to the ck Jaguar Knights, he made Madam Hammock ept Neoma as her disciple.

    The royal princess cussed at him during that time.

    <em>Tsk. Why is that brat so attached to Rufus anyway?</em>

    Rufusughed. "It will be an honor to train the crown prince, Your Majesty."

    "Leave," he told his cousin, then he turned to Hanna Quinzel.

    The youngdy remained standing with her head hanged low ever since he and Rufus began talking.

    That was how ady of the empire should behave when men were talking. But for some reason, he couldn''t help but get pissed at that practice. If Neoma was there, she wouldn''t probably hesitate to call them out for leaving her out of the conversation as if she wasn''t there.

    <em>Yeah, she''s that haughty.</em>

    "I''ll go ahead to let you and your daughter say goodbye to each other," Niki said, then he turned his back on the Quinzels. "Have a safe trip back home, Rufus."

    "My utmost gratitude, Your Majesty," Rufus said politely.

    Hanna Quinzel curtsied when he walked past her.

    After he made it clear to Rufus that he wouldn''t allow him to make Neoma his disciple, he now had to wee his other guests: Duke Samuel Drayton and his only son. He asked Glenn to escort the Draytons to the nco Pce.

    Maybe Neoma had already met them.

    Well, with his daughter''s great acting skills, he was sure that she would wee their esteemed guests properly.

    <em>Of all the things that she could inherit from me, it has to be that, huh?</em>

    "Your Majesty," Glenn greeted him when he came back from nco Pce.

    "I told you to just wait for me at the royal princess??s residence," he scolded the knight. "I can walk to the nco Pce on my own."

    "I know, Your Majesty," the knight said with a softugh as he walked behind him. "But I''m still your personal knight. And whenever I''m around Princess Neoma, Lewis keeps on ring at me. He can be a little scary."

    He just rolled his eyes at Glenn''sme excuse. "Did the guests arrive at the nco Pce without a problem?"

    "Yes, Your Majesty," the knight said. "I brought them to the tea room. But I had to leave to fetch you so I just told the maids to inform Princess Neoma that she has guests to entertain once she arrives."

    "I''ve dismissed her a while ago," he said with furrowed brows. "Why hasn''t she returned to her pce yet?"

    "I heard that the royal princess made a detour," Glenn exined. "Her Royal Highness always goes to the pond whenever she''s pissed at you, Your Majesty. She probably went there to shout her profanities at you again.???

    He red at his knight who bowed his head in apology.

    Glenn didn''t lie though.

    One time after an argument with Neoma, he found her at the pond where she fell into when she was a baby. Much to his shock, he heard the royal princess cuss at him. She even used curses in a foreignnguage he didn''t understand.

    <em>It''s amazing that Glenn easily got used to how a little girl like Neoma is already fluent in swearing.</em>

    "Your Majesty, may I ask if letting the young lord Drayton stay at the pce is really a wise decision?" Glenn asked worriedly. "The Draytons know the existence of the royal prince''s twin sister. What if the young lord discovers Princess Neoma''s secret?"

    "You don''t have to worry about that," Niki said confidently. "I heard that the young Drayton isn''t the sharpest knife in the drawer¨C I''m sure Neoma will outsmart him in the most interesting way possible."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "I KNOW who you are, Lord Rubin Drayton," Neoma said with a forced smile. To be honest, right now, her nails were digging in her palms as she clenched her hands really tight. "I heard that the Draytons are our esteemed guests for tonight. Wee to my pce."

    Well, she knew that the Draytons wereing but not tonight.

    Her father said that he sent guests to her pce, but that damned grumpy old man didn''t tell her that it was the Draytons!

    "Can I call you ''Rubin?''" she asked. In her past life, she used to call him ''Lord Drayton.'' But she''d rather vomit than refer to him that way again. "You can call me by my name, too."

    ''Nero'' wasn''t her real name anyway.

    "I don''t mind if you call me by my name, Your Royal Highness," Rubin said in an urgent tone, his head hanged low while his gaze was on the floor. "But I''m afraid it will be insolent of me to call the crown prince of the empire so casually."

    <em>Well, you were exactly like that to me in my previous life. But now that I''m the "crown prince," you can''t even look at me in the eye. Ah, does it mean you were only able to stomp of my poor little heart back then because I was a girl?</em>

    And she was a lovesick girl back then.

    <em>Gosh, what an embarrassing period of my life.</em>

    "By the way, I can sense that you''re in a hurry, Rubin," she said. "Do you have an urgent business you have to attend to?"

    Rubin raised his head and nodded eagerly. That was when she noticed that he looked concerned for some reason. "I apologize but I need to excuse myself tonight, Your Royal Highness. I heard from my servant that my friend is sick. I need to go home and check on her personally."

    He said <em>"her."</em>

    She could only think of one girl who could make Rubin act this way.

    <em>Regina Crowell.</em>

    Until now, she couldn''t forget what that b*tch said to her during her dying moment in her first life: <em>"It''s so easy to manipte everyone around you, Lady Quinzel. Rubin, Duchess Quinzel, and now His Royal Highness Prince Nero. It was so easy to turn them against you because they never really loved you, Ne-o-ma."</em>

    Her goal was to be ady of leisure someday because she had always thought that getting revenge to people who didn''t have the same memories as her was just a waste of time.

    But Regina Crowell could still make her feel so angry that she was seriously considering nning a grand revenge to kill the b*tch.

    "Rubin!" yelled the nobleman who looked like Rubin''s mature or older version.

    <em>Ah, it''s Duke Drayton.</em>

    The duke was only in his early thirties but he still looked good. Well, Rubin wouldn''t look that good if his parents didn''t have good genes.

    "I apologize for my rudeness, Your Royal Highness," Duke Drayton said when he recognized her. Then, he stood beside Rubin (who visibly stiffened) and bowed his head. "I''m Samuel Drayton, the head of House Drayton. I see that you''ve already met my son, Your Royal Highness. I hope he has been courteous to you."

    "Rubin and I have exchanged our greetings, Lord Drayton," she said with her trademark business smile. "We also just bid each other goodbye."

    Rubin looked surprised by her little lie.

    Lord Drayton raised his head, confusion etched on his face. "May I know what you mean by that, Your Royal Highness?"

    "Rubin told me that he has to return home and visit a sick friend of his," she said in an "innocent" voice. "It''s a shame because I was just about to invite Rubin for some tea. But I guess his friend is very important to him."

    The duke looked horrified by what she revealed. Then, he turned to Rubin with a re.

    Rubin, on the other hand, flinched and avoided his father''s gaze.

    <em>Heh, serves you right.</em>

    "That "friend" of Rubin Drayton must be someone of great significance for him to turn down your invitation, Nero."

    She bit her lower lip to stop herself from smiling when her Papa Boss arrived at the perfect time, his snarkyment making the Draytons flinch.

    <em>My Papa Boss isn''t just a sc*mbag¨C he''s also the king of sarcasm.</em>

    "Greetings to the one and only moon of the Great Moonasterion Empire," the Draytons greeted her father with a polite bow.

    "Nero, let this be a lesson to you," her Papa Boss told her when he stood next to her. He wasn''t smiling, but the glint in his eyes told her that he was enjoying this moment. Hah, he''d really grab any chance he''d get to annoy her, huh? "You might be the future crown prince of the empire. But it''s a pity that you will not always be the most important person to everyone."

    "Papa, please don''t say that," she said in a light tone. "Just because I''m the crown prince doesn''t mean I should be everyone''s number one priority." Well, not really. It was literally aw in the empire that the emperor and the crown prince must be protected by everyone all the time. But she was putting a good show right now. "I believe Rubin''s friend is a great <em>youngdy.</em>"

    "A youngdy, huh?" the emperor said with a smirk. "Lord Drayton, should I congratte House Drayton for getting a daughter-inw this early?"

    "It''s a misunderstanding, Your Majesty," Lord Drayton said in a firm voice. "Rubin is <em>not</em> going anywhere. Please pardon my son''s carelessness."

    "I think this is enough greetings for now. Let''s call this a night," Emperor Niki dered, ignoring the duke''s apology. Then, he turned to her. "Nero, go and take a rest."

    <em>What a snob.</em>

    "Have a good night, Papa," Neoma said politely because duh, they were acting like they were a better "father-and-son" duo than the Draytons. Anyway, she turned to the Draytons and was amused by the difference in their facial expressions. The duke looked embarrassed by the whole fiasco, while Rubin looked scared of his dear life. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Rubin and Lord Drayton."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "PRINCESS NEOMA."

    Neoma stopped in front of her room''s door to turn around and face Lewis. "What is it?"

    Lewis leaned down to look at her face, causing her to lean back. "You''re angry."

    It wasn''t a question¨C it was a deration.

    She knew that Lewis was still notfortable with physical contact unless he initiated it. But she didn''t like what he said so she flicked his forehead with her fingers. "Yeah, what about it? I''m allowed to be angry."

    "Why?"

    "You''re too young to understand."

    "I''m older than you."

    "I am more emotionally intelligent than you, my son," she snapped back. "You''ve never been dumped¨C I have."

    Well, she knew she wasn''t supposed to say things that Lewis wouldn''t understand.

    But she needed an outlet. Her son was used to her talking "nonsense" anyway. Even her Papa Boss had already stopped caring about the "strange" things that she often said. So, in short, she allowed herself to put her guard down a little bit around people she could manipte.

    "Is he still alive?"

    Her brows furrowed in confusion. Did her son learn to talk gibberish from her? "What do you mean by that?"

    "I think you''re the type of person who will kill people who dump you."

    She blinked several times while absorbing that strange remark.

    And then, sheughed heartily.

    Gosh, he didn''t even question how an eight-year-old girl was dumped.

    She knew Lewis well enough to know that it was his weird way of saying that she wasn''t a pushover who would allow other people to walk all over her.

    <em>Sadly, my son, I was a "doormat" during my first life.</em>

    "That''s a god-tier funny one-liner, Lewis," she said when she calmed down fromughing aloud. "What will you do if I say that he''s still alive?"

    Lewis, with a nk look on his face, said in an emotionless voice: "I will kill him for you, Princess Neoma."

    Okay, that made her stopughing altogether.

    <em>Gosh, is this what my son learned from the White Lion Knights?</em>

    "Stop talking about killing people as if you''re just going to kill a pest."

    "I won''t consider people who hurt you as humans, Princess Neoma."

    Okay, that sent shivers down her spine.

    She was aware that as her knight, Lewis had the "license to kill" people who will try to hurt her or worse, take her life. But she also knew very well that having an overprotective knight would only bring trouble to her in the future. <em>Yanderes</em> were only fun to watch in anime series.

    Having one in real life was a nightmare she''d like to avoid, thank you very much.

    "Lewis, I will not consider you a human anymore if you be a lowly murderer because of your twisted interpretation of how you should protect me," she said with a smile, but her voice was firm. "Lewis, I understand your duty as my personal knight. But not everyone who will hurt me has to die right away. Plus, if I want a person dead, I will kill them with my own hands. I won''t ask my son to do it for me."

    Lewis scowled, as expected. "I''m not your son, Princess Neoma."

    "Good night, my precious, adorable, and amazing son," Neoma said in an exaggerated bright voice to annoy Lewis. It was his punishment for his twisted thoughts a while ago. Gosh, it was so hard to raise a son. "Let''s y again tomorrow!"

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA almost choked on her saliva when she saw Rubin Drayton as soon as she went out of her room. The young lord didn''t have a servant with him.

    <em>What is he doing here this early?</em>

    For her schedule today, she was supposed to fetch Hanna in her room and have breakfast with her.

    Yes, Rubin was also staying in her pce. But ording to her schedule, she was supposed to have lunch with him. So the young lord showing up in front of her room this early could be considered thoughtless and rude.

    She could have used that to shoo him away.

    But his terrible state concerned her.

    Rubin Drayton had a bruise on his cheek, and his lower lip was cut. It was obvious that he got beaten up, and she had an idea who did that to him. He was a young lord so naturally, only his father was in the position to hurt him without getting punished. After all, the stupidw of the empire favored the old men in power.

    <em>You''re really a terrible father even in this lifetime, Duke Drayton.</em>

    But she didn''t have the right to say that. The guilt in her heart was enough to remind her that it was partly her fault why Rubin got beaten up by his father.

    She clenched her fists again.

    From the corner of her eye, she saw Lewis turn to her. But she ignored her son and focused her attention on the young lord who finally started to speak.

    "Greetings to the First Star of the Great Moonasterion Empire," Rubin said in a weak voice. He couldn''t even look at her in the eye. "Your Royal Highness, can you spare me some of your precious time? I''d like to apologize for my awful behaviorst night."

    She knew that she should just turn him down and ignore him for the rest of his stay in the pce. Her n was to only act friendly with him in front of other important people to showcase her "friendship" with the son of House Drayton. Even though she hated Rubin Drayton, she knew that Nero had to have "friends" with power and influence.

    That was her original n.

    But seeing a poor child who got beaten up by his own parent, partly because of her pettiness, kicked her conscience to no end.

    <em>I will definitely regret thister but an ad*lt like me should take care of children.</em>

    Neoma, even though her heart was still hesitating, gave Rubin her usual business smile. "Would you like to join us for breakfast, Rubin?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    <strong>NOTE</strong>: I changed Duke Drayton''s first name from Albert to Samuel (it was only mentioned once in Chapter 1, which I already edited). I just don''t want his name to be confused with Marquess Alberts, thus the change. Thank you for understanding! :)

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

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 Chapter 65 - CALL ME MISS PETTY

    "YOUR ROYAL Highness, what is this?"

    "A magic ointment," Neoma said with furrowed brows. After Rubin Drayton waited for her in front of her room a while ago, she brought him to the tea room. To talk to him in private, she only let Lewis (who was currently standing behind her) to stay. "Haven''t you seen one before?"

    "I know what this is," Rubin said while looking at the bottle of ointment in his hand, then he looked up at her with a confused look on his face. The young heartbreaker sat on the sofa across from her. He was yet to touch the tea that she asked her servants to prepare for them. "This is one of the most effective, luxurious, and expensive magic ointment in the world, Your Royal Highness. A bottle of this ointment costs a dukedom and as far as I know, this can only be used on royal family members."

    She almost choked on her tea after hearing how precious that ointment was.

    To be honest, she didn''t know that it was worth that much. She knew how effective the ointment was because Madam Hammock often used that to treat the scratches and light wounds that she would get from training. And the madam would lend it to her every time she''d borrow it to treat Lewis''s injuries that didn''t need surgery.

    Just like how Madam Hammock lent it to her when she asked Alphen to fetch the ointment from the Healing Sage.

    <em>Well, technically, the ointment belongs to the royal family.</em>

    Still, if it was supposed to be "only used for the royal family members," then why the hell did Madam Hammock let her "borrow" it for other people?

    "I don''t understand why you''re being nice to me now, Your Royal Highness," Rubin said bluntly. "You got me in troublest night."

    "It wasn''t my fault that you were being a rude guestst night," she countered with a raised brow. "Was your emergency really worth leaving my pce?"

    "It was," he insisted. "It was really an emergency, Your Royal Highness.

    That pissed her off.

    "Did a family member die?" she asked with a smirk. "That''s the only kind of emergency that I will allow, Rubin Drayton."

    "Nobody died and she isn''t a family member," Rubin said with a scowl. "But Regina is a dear friend of mine, Your Royal Highness."

    She didn''t want to admit this but hearing that b*tch''s name from Rubin felt like something sharp stabbed her heart. It wasn''t that she was hurt because she had feelings for the young lord. It was just in bitterness.

    <em>This m*therf*cker ruined my life because of a b*tch.</em>

    "Regina, huh?" she asked, trying to stay calm as much as possible. Then, she put her teacup down on the table. "Is she from a high-ranking noble family?"

    The young lord visibly flinched. "She''s the daughter of a baron, Your Royal Highness."

    "A baron," she said with a business smile. "Interesting."

    Well, a baron was still a noble but barons from the countryside were considered "lower nobles." Plus, from the memories of her first life, she knew that House Crowell wasn''t doing well financially. Regina Crowell''s father was a gambler with a huge debt after all.

    That was exactly why Baron Crowell practically sold off Regina to House Drayton to be Rubin''s personal maid.

    <em>And as a princess, I really let that b*tch stomp on me, huh?</em>

    Well, even though she didn''t have the princess status back then, she was still legally the daughter of a duke. But her naivety led her to her downfall.

    "Even though Regina is a lower noble, she''s still a great person, Your Royal Highness," Rubin insisted in a firm voice. "She deserves to be properly taken care of."

    She smirked at that, her chest tightening painfully. "Lewis, where is it?"

    Lewis, who was obviously confused, took a few seconds before he responded. "Did you lose something, Prince Nero?"

    She nodded, then she looked up at her son with a pout. "I can''t find it," she said, then she turned to Rubin again with a cold look on her face. "I think I might have misced the care I give to what the young lord just said."

    It was her eloquent way of saying ''I don''t give a f*ck.''

    And Rubin seemed to get the message clearly.

    "It seems like I have offended you by my behaviorst night, Your Royal Highness," Rubin said stiffly. Then, he bowed to her. "My deepest apologies," he said, still using the tone that told her he wasn''t sincere with his apology. "I will be careful from now on."

    "That''s good to hear," Neoma said with her business smile back on her pretty face. "Let''s try to get along, Rubin Drayton."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "NEOMA, do you hate Sir Drayton?"

    Neoma stopped munching on her croissant because of Hanna''s question.

    <em>Ah, right. Rubin is known as ''Sir Drayton'' during this time.</em>

    Rubin Drayton, ten years old, was a squire for the Green Archer Knights that served as his family''s private army. Back in her first life, he became a fully-fledged knight when he turned twelve years old.

    <em>Heh. My son became a knight when he''s just eleven. I won.</em>

    "I don''t hate Rubin," Neoma said, then she sipped her tea. "I don''t feel anything for him."

    After their very awkward breakfast with Rubin (yes, she kept her word because she invited the young lord in front of her servants), she had tea with Hanna.

    To be polite, she also invited Rubin to join them. But thankfully, the young lord declined and he retreated back to his room. And so, she could have a girl talk with Hanna now. Well, Lewis was standing behind her like usual, but it wasn''t like he would join their conversation. That was his privilege as her son.

    <em>I don''t mind if Lewis butt in but knowing his personality, I don''t think he would unless it''s absolutely necessary.</em>

    Lewis tended to act like a stone when they were in the presence of other people.

    "Maybe it was just my imagination," Hanna said. "Never mind then."

    She raised a brow at her. "You don''t believe me, do you?"

    Her cousin smiled politely at her. "I understand you, Neoma. I think I can rte to you somehow."

    "Really?"

    She nodded before she exined. "At first, I''m scared of Prince Nero. He wasn''t particrly nice to me when he was still staying with us. But somehow, even though his snobbish attitude hurts me sometimes, I still want to be around him."

    <em>Don''t roll your eyes, Neoma</em>, she told herself. <em>Be nice to your cousin.</em>

    "Even though I say that I''m afraid of Prince Nero, at the end of the day, I know deep inside that I still want to be close to him," Hanna continued, now with a tint of pink on her cheeks. "It''s like how you say that you don''t feel anything for Sir Drayton and yet, I can feel that you harbor some negative feelings for him."

    <em>Ah, I shouldn''t underestimate a girl''s intuition.</em>

    "But I won''t pry since I can tell that you don''t want to talk about it," her cousin said. She was even nice enough to change the topic. "Neoma, I heard you''re working hard in your dance lessons. I can''t wait to see your debut dance performance on your birthday."

    "Thank you," she said, then she let out a deep sigh.

    "What''s wrong?"

    "I think I''m having slump," she said. That was the kind of trouble that she could share with her cousin. "My awesome dancing skills are missing."

    Hanna giggled at her light joke. "Do you want me to help you practice, Neoma?" she asked. "I''m quite confident with my dancing skills since I''ve been taking dance lessons since I was three," she said. "Since you''re doing the gentleman''s part in the dance, I believe I can be a good dance partner to you."

    Neoma smiled and nodded. "That would be lovely, Hanna."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "I HEARD that you brought Hanna Quinzel to your dance lesson a while ago, Neoma," Emperor Niki said. Currently, they were having dinner in her Papa Boss''s pce. As usual, they were alone in the dining hall. "Your teacher was gushing about it. She said that you absolutely need to dance with Hanna Quinzel on your birthday banquet."

    Neoma let out a deep sigh while slicing her rib-eye steak with knife.

    Hanna was a wonderful dancer. She was graceful and very feminine. To be honest, her cousin was the perfect dance partner that every gentleman in the empire could ever wish for.

    And that was the reason why she kind of feel down.

    <em>I aspire to be as feminine as Hanna.</em>

    "Yeah, Hanna is a good dancer," Neoma said, then she took a bite of the steak. "I don''t mind dancing with her. Plus, I know that you brought her to the pce to be mypany for my uing birthday."

    "We need to establish Hanna Quinzel''s position as Nero''s future fianc¨¦e as soon as you have your debut in the society," her father said, confirming her thought. "Starting tomorrow, Hanna Quinzel will join you in your dance practice."

    "`Kay," she said, then she quietly ate her food.

    "What''s wrong with you?" the emperorined. "You''re too quiet."

    "My mouth knows when to shut up, too, Papa Boss."

    He just gave her a weird look, then he sipped his red wine before he spoke again. "We expect that you will be attacked on your coronation night."

    "What a birthday party," she said sarcastically. "I''m looking forward to it."

    "The Devil has awakened."

    Okay, now she was serious. "The Devil?"

    "Rufus and his team have noticed a strange urrence of the Devil''s traces in the borders of the empire," her Papa Boss informed her seriously. "Saint Zavaroni confirmed that it was the Devil''s impure aura. If it''s true, then it only means that the Devil wille after you. After all, you have the Death''s Scythe."

    She gulped hard. "If the Devil manages to steal the scythe from me, then it means Nero will be put in danger."

    "That''s why we can''t allow that to happen," Emperor Niki said. "Neoma, starting tomorrow, you''re going to seriously train under my supervision."

    Neoma let out a sigh ofint. "Great."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA went to the pond to relieve stress by cussing in the void.

    But she didn''t have the energy to that. So right now, she was just watching the strange fish in the pond in the pavilion. Yes, it was the same pavilion that Duke Sloane destroyed a few years ago. She didn''t get traumatized because she won that battle.

    And so, she made the pond one of her favorite ces in the Royal Pce.

    "Princess?"

    "Hmm?"

    "You''re sad."

    Wow, Lewis didn''t even ask if she was alright. He just straight-up dered that she was sad. But she couldn''t deny it.

    Neoma turned to her son who stood beside her. "I''m kind of envious of Hanna," she confessed. "I want to be as girly as her."

    Lewis remained pokerfaced.

    "I know what I got myself into when I epted the offer to be Nero''s proxy. Well, it''s not like I have a choice since I don''t want to die or be married off to Rubin Drayton. Still, I made a deal with Papa Boss fully-aware of the consequences," she said. "I don''t want to whine now but to be honest, it just sucks when I realized the things I have to give up because of the choice I made when I was a baby."

    "You''re still a baby."

    "I''m your mother, you insolent child," she scolded him lightly. "Anyway, I''ll get over this pretty soon. I''m really d that Hanna is here. I like watching her because she''s the type of girl that I want to look up to. Did you see how she danced earlier? She''s so pretty and elegant!"

    Lewis just looked at her, then he offered his hand to her.

    She blink in confusion. "Do you want us to dance because you feel bad for me?" Sheughed softly while shaking her head. "Lewis, I was taught the gentleman''s part and not thedy''s part in the dance. I''m sure you were taught the same part."

    Yes, her son had to take lessons that noble kids took when he reimed the noble status of House Crevan a few years ago.

    "You''ve seen Lady Quinzel dance," Lewis said in his usual no-nonsense tone. "I''m certain that you''ve memorized her part, Princess Neoma."

    Again, he didn''t question if she memorized thedy''s part in the dance or not.

    He dered it as if he was speaking it into existence.

    <em>My son has so much faith in me. I can''t disappoint him, can I?</em>

    She smiled and took his hand. Their height difference was kind of awkward because Lewis was a foot taller than her. But she had faith in her son, too. "Since you''ll be dancing the male part, I expect you to lead the dance, my precious son."

    "I''m not your son, Princess Neoma," Lewis said, then he carefully put his right hand on her back. When she put her left hand on his right shoulder, he gently sped their other two hands together. "How long are we going to have the same conversation again and again?"

    She justughed softly while matching his movements as they danced slowly. "Maybe until the day that you wholeheartedly ept that you''re my son?"

    "In short, never."

    Sheughed louder this time. When she was about to say something, she felt the presence of another person. Lewis noticed it too because he suddenly let go of her, then he stood protectively in front of her.

    "Why are you dancing the female part, Your Royal Highness?"

    She took a peek over Lewis''s shoulder by standing on her toes. As soon as she saw the uninvited guest, she scowled.

    <em>What is this brat doing here?</em>

    "It''s strange, isn''t it?" Rubin Drayton asked, then he smiled ''sweetly'' at her. "Is the royal prince more interested in activities reserved for girls instead of what boys your age are supposed to be invested in?" He let out a soft but mockingugh. "Is that why you didn''t enter the knighthood, Your Royal Highness?"

    <em>It''s the sexism for me, Your Honor.</em>

    Neoma smirked while cracking her knuckles. "So you woke up and chose violence, huh?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    <strong>NOTE</strong>: Sorry for the long wait. I decided to join the WIN-WIN event for December. That means I will be posting daily from now on since it''s <strong>required </strong>to do so. I will also do a mass release soon, but I won''t announce the exact date to avoid disappointing you if I happen to be unavable on the date that I promised.

    Plus, I just want to remind everyone that I still have a day job (the ones I gave up were only sidelines) and I have monthly deadlines. My busiest week will always be thest week of the month. So please bear with me. Thank you for your understanding. T_T

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story in your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 66 - IM LOWKEY OP, FYI

    NEOMA gently tapped Lewis''s shoulder. When he turned to her, she gestured him to move. "Don''t worry, son," she assured him. "I got this."

    Lewis looked at her hard for a few seconds. Then, he nodded and bowed to her before he silently stepped aside to make way for her. As usual, he didn''t talk much. She knew for a fact that Lewis hated calling her "Prince Nero" so he''d rather keep his mouth shut when they were in the presence of people who didn''t know her secret.

    <em>My son is weird that way.</em>

    Anyway¡­

    "Why did you call your knight "son?"" Rubin asked with furrowed brows. "You''re so weird, Your Royal Highness."

    Gosh, look at how casual the way this brat talked to her.

    To be honest, she didn''t mind if people CLOSE to her talk casually to her¨C like Lewis for example. But it looked like she was bound to hate everything about Rubin. She didn''t mind being petty for Sc*mbag #2.

    "Rubin, are you the type of person who believes that the world revolve around Moonasterion Empire?" she asked him with a raised brow. She had a foul mouth, a nasty temper, and a violent streak. But there were times that she had to hold back. Sc*mbag or not, Rubin was still an esteemed guest and House Drayton remained a powerful family. She had to protect Nero''s image from his future allies. "If that''s the case, then I pity you."

    The young lord looked offended by her words. "Excuse me?"

    "Why do we have to put gender on different parts of the dance?" she said, then she crossed her arms over her chest. Since she couldn''t beat the sh*t out of Rubin, she decided to just use her sharp tongue against him. And her big brain, of course. "Is there aw that says a boy can''t dance the female part in a dance?"

    "But it''s weird," the young lord insisted.

    "It''s only weird for close-minded folks like you," she snapped at him. "You''re rich so why don''t you travel outside the empire and learn other cultures? Maybe if you do, you won''t find malice in things that aren''t usually done by our people."

    He bit his lower lip, frustration visible on his face.

    <em>Ah, the fight is already finished.</em>

    Now she remembered that Rubin Drayton, even in her first life, wasn''t the brightest candle in the box.

    <em>But I let him make a fool of me back then so I can''t say I''m better than him.</em>

    "To put your mind at ease, I''m only practicing Hanna''s part in the dance that we will perform during my banquet," she lied. She didn''t want to risk Rubin spreading false rumors about Nero''s sexual orientation. She had to protect her twin brother''s position as the crown prince. "So in case she forgot the steps, I can guide her properly. Have I cleared your impure thoughts, Rubin Drayton?"

    Rubin''s face turned red from embarrassment. "I apologize for my rudeness, Your Royal Highness," he said, then he bowed to her. "This won''t happen again."

    Her brows furrowed in confusion.

    It seemed like Rubin''s sudden change of "mood" wasn''t normal. He was so hostile at her a while ago. But right now, he returned to his usual timid self.

    Was he only brave earlier because he thought he got something to use against her?

    <em>I should be more careful around Sc*mbag #2.</em>

    "I''ll go ahead and have a rest since I have a long day tomorrow," Neoma said stiffly. "Good night, Rubin."

    Rubin hanged his head lower. "Have a good night, Your Royal Highness."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "HOW WAS Neoma''s Mana training under your supervision, Madam Hammock?" Niki asked the Healing Sage. "I''ll be the one in-charge of her personal training starting today so I want to know what areas she needs to improve."

    And that was the reason why he summoned Madam Hammock in his office that early in the morning. Since they were going to talk about Neoma, only Glenn (who stood on his right side) and Kyle (on his left) were allowed inside his office now.

    He only sent Neoma as the Healing Sage''s disciple before as an excuse why the "royal prince" wouldn''t enter the knighthood yet. It wasn''t really a big issue because everyone in the empire knew that the de Moonasterios had enormous Mana. And most of the children of the royal family were genius Mana users.

    "There are no areas that Her Royal Highness has to improve, Your Majesty," Madam Hammock said politely. "Princess Neoma is a brilliant Mana user."

    He raised a brow at that. "She is? But I never saw Neoma train properly. She doesn''t even summon her Soul Beast as often as I''d like her to."

    The Healing Sage remained silent, hesitation etched on her face.

    <em>She''s hiding something.</em>

    "Spill it out," he threatened the old woman. "Have you forgotten who you''re talking to, Madam Hammock?"

    Madam Hammock bowed and apologized to him before she spoke. "Her Royal Highness works very hard every single day, Your Majesty," she said in a proud voice as if Neoma was her own. "The royal princess is often arrogant but after watching her closely for the past three years, I realized that the tough attitude she shows is nothing but a fa?ade."

    His brows furrowed in confusion. "Are you talking about the Neoma that I know?"

    "The "Neoma" that you know is only the "Neoma" that Her Royal Highness wants to show you, Your Majesty," Madam Hammock continued. She sounded like she was offended for the royal princess, and thus the defensive tone he heard in the madam''s voice. "When no one is looking, Princess Neoma is taking her training seriously. She also listens very well to my advice, and she goes beyond my expectations." The Healing Sage raised her head to look at him straight in the eye. "I can vouch for the royal princess, Your Majesty," she said firmly. "Her Royal Highness isn''t only a genius and creative Mana-user¨C she''s also an excellent swordsman."

    "Interesting," Niki said in a cold voice. "I want to see the Neoma that you''re talking about, Madam Hammock."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "SKEWER,e to Mama," Neoma said and when she opened her right hand, the pink and ck scythe manifested. She grabbed it instantly and used it to slice the ''Shadow Ghost'' that tried to attack her. She perfectly sliced it into two. "One down, two to go."

    The Shadow Ghosts that she were using right now where a gift from her mentor, Madam Hammock.

    Since she didn''t want to "fight" with Lewis or the other knights in the Royal Pce, her mentor created some "enemies" that she could "y with." Although the Shadow Ghosts weren''t as strong as she was, they were fast and that was exactly why she enjoyed ying with them.

    And her yground was the huge courtyard behind nco Pce. It was supposed to be renovated into a rose garden. But she had already too many gardens in her residence.

    So instead, she asked her people to create a man-made forest in the courtyard. Fighting in andscape that didn''t favor her was a good way to improve her agility and creativity when it came to fighting.

    Her thoughts were cut-off when she felt the two Shadow Ghosts approaching her fast.

    "Tteokbokki," she shouted, then she smirked. "It''s your time to shine!"

    Tteokbokki "came out" of her soul in the form of a huge, bright red me that engulfed her little body.

    Of course, she wasn''t burned but her skin turned red, and so was the strand of her hair. And when Tteokbokki''s me died out, the redness of her skin turned into hard, red scales of her dragon. Yeah, that was a reminder that her Soul Beast was an awesome red dragon and not a unicorn or a one-horned donkey.

    <em>What a pity.</em>

    Her thoughts were cut-off when the Shadow Ghosts finally appeared.

    She waved Skewer and that movement created a strong wave that cut the first Shadow Ghost into a nt. The other Shadow Ghost disappeared from her sight and when it reappeared, it managed to stab a sharp hand on her stomach.

    But of course, that hand didn''t pierce her body that was currently as hard as steel.

    "Sorry, homie," she said with a smile as she slowly but carefully cut thest Shadow Beast into half. "Tteokbokki''s scales are god-tier."

    And just like that, the Shadow Ghosts disappeared in a ck smoke.

    <em>Argh, I''m hungry.</em>

    She was distracted from hunger when she heard a p from above her. When she looked up, she saw Lewis sitting on a tree''s branch while pping.

    "Hey," she greeted him brightly. "Did you see the new technique that I came up with, Lewis?" she asked, then she raised her arm to show him. "I turned Tteokbokki''s me as a barrier and "borrowed" his scales to be my armor."

    Lewis nodded, his eyes glowing with pride. "I admire you, Princess Neoma."

    "You should," Neoma said with a softugh. "I''m your mother, after all."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NIKOLAI saw everything from the rooftop of Neoma''s pce.

    From there, they had a clear view of the courtyard that she turned into a man-made forest.

    He wasn''t the only one who witnessed the royal princess''s unexpected brilliance. Glenn was standing on his right side, while Kyle was on his left. The two also looked as surprised as he was. After all, both Glenn and Kyle had sharp senses like him.

    Thus, they were able to watch Neoma''s training session clearly.

    "Princess Neoma is amazing," Glenn said cheerfully. "As expected of your child, Your Majesty."

    "I admit that Princess Neoma ismendable for using the Death''s Scythe and her Soul Beast in such a strange and creative way," Kyle said with a scowl. "But the royal princess can''t be stronger and more brilliant than the real crown prince."

    "Nero is still asleep so we can''t just conclude that Neoma has already surpassed him," Niki said, then he turned his back on Neoma and her training ground to return to his pce. "For now, let''s just observe if the royal princess is going to be a threat to the crown prince''s position or not," he said. "And once Nero is awake, we can just get rid of Neoma anyway."

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 67 - FOSTER MOMMY TROUBLES

    "SKEWER, good job," Neoma praised the scythe cheerfully. She even gently patted the curved de. Surprisingly, the de would turn into rubber whenever she would touch it. In short, Skewer wasn''t capable of hurting its wielder. "Thank you for protecting me."

    Skewer''s ck de glowed as if it was happy with herpliment.

    Then, it disappeared and went back inside her body. As soon as the scythe disappeared, she heard someone clear his throat.

    <em>Oh. Someone wants attention, huh?</em>

    She looked up at Tteokbokki, now a six feet tall red dragon, who stood proudly in front of her. "Why do you look so smug?" she asked, "bullying" him again. She wasn''t being mean to her Soul Beast out of spite. It was just how they bonded over the years. If she''d be honest, she''d say that Tteokbokki was already like a younger brother to her. "Do you want me to thank you?"

    "You should!" Tteokbokki insisted. "If it weren''t for my scales, you would have been badly hurt by those Shadow Ghosts!"

    "But it was me and my big brain who figured out that I can borrow your attributes and use it as my weapon," she teased him. "You should thank me for helping you reach your maximum potential."

    Her Papa Boss taught her that Soul Beasts were their family''s living "weapons."

    She also saw her father use the White Tiger and the Vermilion Bird to attack his enemies several times for the past three years. Of course, she wouldn''t deny that the emperor was fearsome to be able to control andmand such powerful holy beasts.

    <em>But the way my Papa Boss fights isn''t my style.</em>

    Thankfully, she had seen a variety of shounen manga and action/fantasy webtoon series in her second life. She remembered that some of the OP characters could use the attributes of mystical beings such as a dragon.

    And thus, she experimented with Tteokbokki.

    "I smell favoritism here," Tteokbokkiined. "Why are you only mean to me? I never saw you treat Skewer or the hell dogs the way you treat me!"

    "Skewer and our homie dogs aren''t mine," she said with a smile. "I will only take care of them for a period of time, silly. In short, they''re like my foster children. But you¡­" She pointed a finger at Tteokbokki, then she gave him a thumbs up. "I can bully you for the rest of my life since we''re inseparable."

    The Soul Beast suddenly fell silent.

    Then, much to her surprise, he suddenly transformed into his "casual form"¨C a "white" unicorn (the size of a baby donkey) with patches of red on his skin.

    She smiled and patted Tteokbokki''s cheek. Since he had a horn in that form, she couldn''t really pat his head. "You may rest for now, Tteokbokki," she said. "I''ll torture you againter."

    "Hmp!" Tteokbokki said as his body started to turn translucent. "Don''t call me while I''m resting, thug princess."

    "Shut up," she said with augh. "Being a tsundere doesn''t suit you, Tteokbokki."

    Her Soul Beast just rolled his eyes at her before hepletely disappeared.

    "Princess Neoma?"

    Neoma turned around and smiled at Lewis. "Did you prepare our snacks?"

    "Yes," Lewis said. "You should eat and rest, Princess Neoma."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NIKOLAI couldn''t concentrate while reading the papers that he needed to sign at the end of the day.

    He couldn''t get his mind off Neoma''s unexpected brilliance.

    <em>She''s the first de Moonasterio to ever use her Soul Beast that way.</em>

    The traditional way of using the Soul Beasts was to use them like living weapons. Also, the Soul Beasts usually takes after mythical beings that were sacred to the empire. That was the reason why the royal family never thought of changing the Soul Beasts'' forms.

    The way Neoma used her Soul Beast was unorthodox, but he couldn''t say that he didn''t like the creativity.

    <em>No,</em> he scolded himself. <em>A royal princess shouldn''t be stronger than the royal prince.</em>

    Kyle voiced out his disapproval of Neoma''s unexpected strength. He had to agree with the count. But even though he said that he would get rid of the royal princess if she bes a threat to Nero''s position as the crown prince, he knew that it wasn''t going to happen.

    <em>Neoma isn''t interested in the throne.</em>

    And it wasn''t like he didn''t know why Neoma tried to hide her true ability.

    <em>She knows that she''s going to get killed if she bes eligible to inherit the throne.</em>

    It was impossible for a girl to be an empress regnant, an empress in her own right, because their currentw didn''t allow it. But still, he couldn''t ignore the saint''s vision, especially not when most of his prophecies had alreadye true in the past.

    Still, he couldn''t allow Neoma to be stronger and more brilliant than Nero.

    <em>Just live a quiet, leisure life</em>, Neoma, Niki said to himself, then he went back to his work. <em>You can''t outshine Nero or else, you''ll end up like Princess Nichole.</em>

    But it wasn''t like he cared about what happens to Neoma, okay?

    <strong>***</strong>

    "AH, this is so good," Neoma said after taking a bite of the double patty cheeseburger that she asked the royal chef to make for her. The burger was paired with crispy fries and a ss of refreshing iced tea. She also taught the royal chef how to make the perfect iced tea because in the empire, cold drinks weren''t that famous yet. "Lewis, are you really not going to join me?"

    While she was sitting on the pic nket under the tree, her son was just standing stiffly beside her.

    The servants who prepared her snacks stood a few meters away from them.

    Lewis shook his head. "I''m your knight, Princess Neoma."

    She knew that he''d say that. But of course, she wasn''t going to get tired of asking him to join her. Maybe someday, when she was done with her royal duties, she could have a friendlier rtionship with Lewis.

    Well, they were friendly with each other. But because of her royal status, her actions were always calcted.

    "My precious son?"

    Of course, he ignored her.

    She rolled her eyes at his stubbornness. "Lewis?"

    Only then did he turn to her. "Yes, Princess Neoma?"

    "My Papa Boss said that it''s likely that the Devil has awakened," she informed him seriously. "He said the Devil might attack me during the banquet."

    Lewis looked rmed by that, then he turned dead serious. "I will protect you, Princess Neoma."

    "I know that," she said with a softugh. "That''s also why I''m practicing with Skewer a lot these days."

    She was so busy with her personal training that she barely had time for Hanna and Rubin. Thankfully, Hanna was also busy studying different lessons that a youngdy like her should take. On the other hand, she didn''t care if she was neglecting Rubin Drayton.

    <em>He can entertain himself.</em>

    "I''m sure the Devil is after Skewer," she continued, still on serious mode. "I have to protect the scythe at all cost. And I need to keep doing that for the next five years."

    "I trust you, Princess Neoma," Lewis said. "You''re very strong."

    "I know, right?" she agreed. "But we can''t let other people know how awesome I am, Lewis."

    His son looked confused.

    "I''m not the real royal prince," she exined. "If I overshadowed Nero, the people who know my secret might think that I''m trying to steal the throne from the royal prince. They will kill me if I be a threat to my twin brother''s position."

    "But thew doesn''t allow you to be an empress regnant, Princess Neoma."

    She couldn''t help but smile. Aww, look at how time flies so fast. It was just like yesterday when Lewis couldn''t construct proper sentences. But they were discussing politics now.

    <em>My son grew up so fast.</em>

    "Thew doesn''t allow it yet," she said. <em>"Yet.</em> But Saint Macaroni¨C I mean, Saint Zavaroni had a vision before. ording to him, she saw me iming the throne instead of Nero."

    "Oh."

    She let out a deep sigh while shaking her head. "It seems like even the heavens acknowledges my awesomeness."

    He nodded in agreement while pping lightly. "Princess Neoma is awesome."

    "Thank goodness I''m a master of changing my fate," she said. "My goal is to be ady of leisure someday and it won''t change."

    "I''ll change my fate, too."

    "What will you change?"

    Lewis shrugged. "Secret."

    "My son is keeping secrets from me now," Neoma said in an exaggerated sad voice. Well, she didn''t mind if Lewis kept secrets from her. He was his own person so he had the freedom to live his life the way he wanted to. "But I''ll always be cheering for you, Lewis."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA almostughed at the reaction of Hanna and Rubin when they saw her walking H1 and H2 as if the helldog was a mere Shiba Inu.

    She knew that even though her homie dogs looked very cute to her, the fact that it had two heads still crept out people around her. Although she noticed that the servants in her residence were already used to her dogs.

    "Don''t worry, my homies don''t bite," Neoma assured the two. "I know that I''m supposed to spend time with you, but I had to squeeze in walking the dog in our schedule."

    She noticed that H1 and H2 kind of looked gloomy these days. They barely touched their dog food this morning, and that made her worry. She thought the (hell)dogs missed her because she hadn''t been ying with them because of her heavy training sessions.

    And so, she decided to walk her homies to the garden.

    She didn''t use leash on them because they were very friendly even to strangers. But of course, like any responsible fur mom, she was keeping an eye on her dogs.

    "They look adorable, Your Royal Highness," Hanna gushed, then she squatted in front of the dogs who were currently lying on their belly on the grass. Gosh, every movement of her cousin really looked graceful! "Greetings, gentlemen. I am Hanna from House Quinzel. It''s an honor to meet you."

    "The one with the hazel eyes is H1 while the one with blue eyes is H2," she said. When her homie helldogs were in their "tame mode" aka their Shiba Inu form, they had hazel and blue eyes instead of red. "They''re my foster children."

    Her cousin giggled at that.

    On the other hand, Rubin gave her a weird look.

    Of course, she ignored the young lord.

    She was about to squat and give her helldogs a good belly rub when all of a sudden, she felt a cold and hostile energying out from her homies.

    It seemed like she wasn''t the only one who felt it because Hanna suddenly stood up and walked backwards to get away from the dogs. On the other hand, Rubin immediately drew the dagger from the holster attached on his hip.

    Of course, before all of that took ce, she was already behind Lewis who pulled her a while ago. Then, as usual, he stood protectively in front of her.

    <em>This strange aura is familiar.</em>

    She was in the middle of racking her brain when all of a sudden, her homie helldogs stood up and howled like crazy.

    And then, they shifted back to their original form.

    H1 and H2 were now big, ck dogs with red eyes¡­

    <em>Wait!</em>

    She gasped when she realized that her homies had now three heads! And the head in the middle of H1 and H2 even had a nasty scar on his left eye!

    Where did ite from?!

    "Trevor, you little sh*t," Neoma whispered to herself in clenched teeth. "I didn''t sign up for this!"

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 68 - YOUR GIRL CANT CATCH A BREAK

    NIKOLAI immediately stood up as soon as he felt a crack in the barrier around the Royal Pce.

    It seemed like he was the only one who felt it yet because Glenn and Kyle, who were both standing in front of his desk, looked surprised when he stood up. But since the two were fast to catch up, their surprise turned into rm.

    "The holy barrier in the Royal Pce has cracked," Niki informed the two. "I believe it''s the work of the devil."

    Based on the shocked look on their faces, he confirmed that they didn''t really feel the infiltration in the Royal Pce. He couldn''t me them though. The barrier around the Royal Pce was strengthened by Princess Nichole before she died.

    When the Princess Royal was gone, the "authority" of the holy barrier was transferred to him. That meant he had the sole and full control of the barrier now.

    "I will summon the White Lion Knights and strengthen the security around your pce, Your Majesty," Kyle said in a hurry.

    "Your Majesty, please stay here," Glenn said politely. "We will look for the enemy and¨C"

    "No," Niki cut-off his knight with urgency. "We''re going straight to Neoma," he said firmly. "She''s definitely the Devil''s target and not me."

    <strong>***</strong>

    <em>F*CK this sh*t!</em>

    Neoma couldn''t stop cussing in her head because of how quick things escted.

    When the third head of the helldog appeared, a burst of ck and negative energybust. And then, the next thing they knew, the helldog''s body was divided into three. Each head had a body now, and each body was attacking them.

    H1 attacked Hanna.

    She was surprised when her very feminine cousin didn''t look startled or scared when the big, ck dog with red eyes came at her. Instead, she immediately switched to "battle mode." Hanna got down on one knee, "grabbed" H1 shadow on the ground, and she began "folding" the shadow until the helldog was wriggling in pain.

    <em>I can''t say it''s "animal abuse" since H1 tried to kill Hanna.</em>

    On the other hand, H2 attacked Rubin. It seemed like Rubin was struggling to fight off the helldog. He couldn''t me the young lord though. This was the first time that she saw the helldogs that angry and agitated.

    <em>Helldogs aren''t called "helldogs" for nothing.</em>

    A part of her wanted to help Rubin because even though there were times that he reminded her of his past, cruel self, she knew that he was still a child at the end of the day.

    But she couldn''t really move from her spot because of Lewis''s protection. Her son literally put her inside a transparent cube. The silver light around the cube was made of his Mana. She had to say that it was quite strong. But she knew that it wouldn''tst if the Devil suddenly appeared to get her.

    Yes, she didn''t have to be a genius to figure out that the "feral mode" of her homie helldog had something to do with the Devil. And honestly, if she was the Devil, the first thing she''d do was to get back her weapon as well.

    <em>I can''t stay here. I have to get away from the children to protect them. I''m sure Lewis can handle the helldogs.</em>

    The helldog with a nasty scar seemed to be the "boss" and the strongest helldog among the three. It was also fast and it was keeping up with Lewis well. Still, she had faith in her son. He was already strong without proper training. What more now that he was a full-fledged White Lion Knight?

    <em>Don''t die on me, son.</em>

    "Tteokbokki," Neoma summoned her Soul Beast. "Get me out of here."

    "<em>It''s not going to be easy, thug princess</em>," Tteokbokki said in a struggling voice that made her brows furrow in concern. "<em>I can''te out.</em>"

    "What?" she asked, worried for Tteokbokki. "What''s happening there, Tteokbokki?"

    "<em>The dark energy of Skewer is literally strangling me right now</em>," her Soul Beast said. "<em>Thug princess, get the Death''s Scythe out of your body now or else, it''s going to damage your soul!</em>"

    <em>Goddamit.</em>

    Without wasting a minute, she summoned Skewer. She grabbed it as soon as it manifested in the air. Much to her shock, she felt a light volt of electricity in the palm of her hand when she touched the ck handle.

    Yes, Skewer was no longer the cute, pink scythe that she knew and loved. It turned to its original form. But for some reason, the size that she was used to remain as it was.

    <em>Sh*t, the Devil really works hard. But¡­ I work harder!</em>

    Well, her brain did.

    "Lewis!" she yelled at her son. "Finish that feral dog ande to me!"

    Lewis didn''t turn to her but his movement became faster until her eyes couldn''t follow him anymore.

    And she couldn''t really concentrate on her son because she felt nasty, cold "hands" grab her ankle. When she looked down, she realized that a ckhole had already opened below her. She was pretty sure that it was the Devil literally dragging her to hell.

    "Lewis!" she yelled again. When she looked up, she was relieved to see her son running towards her. The concern on his face told her that he already realized that she was being literally dragged to hell. And she knew that her son wouldn''t make it in time. So she did what she could do to spoil the Devil''s n. "Catch!"

    She threw Skewer at Lewis.

    This time, she didn''t throw it recklessly. She was also confident that her son could catch it perfectly. Both of them weren''t the same anymore from the time that she threw the scythe carelessly that it almost killed her son.

    And she was right.

    She felt so proud when she saw Lewis catch Skewer effortlessly.

    "Protect Skewer!" Neoma yelled as she was being dragged below fast. "Give it to Papa and make sure the Devil can''t steal it!"

    "Princess Neoma!" Lewis screamed in desperation, running faster in an attempt to save her.

    It was toote though.

    In just a blink of the eye, she was already in a different dimension.

    This time, she found herself sitting on the dry, ck ground. In that world, it was already night time. But the gloomy sky didn''t have stars or moon. The only thing that was lighting up the ce was the illuminating human skulls on the ground.

    "Scary," she said sarcastically as she stood up while dusting off her pants. "Gosh, this part of hellcks creativity¨C"

    She stopped talking when all of a sudden, someone literally fell from the sky.

    <em>Oh, no.</em>

    "Aww¡­" Rubin lightined while trying to get up. "That hurts¡­"

    She let out a frustrated sigh as she crossed her arms over her chest. "What are you doing here, Rubin? Did you follow me?"

    Rubin looked up at her with furrowed brows. "I didn''t follow you, Your Royal Highness," he denied, then he stood up while dusting off his pants. "I was literally kicked by the helldog towards your direction. It seems like I identally fell here because the hellhole was still open."

    Neoma pinched the bridge of her nose. "Why couldn''t it be Lewis instead?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    NIKOLAI didn''t like the scene that he and his men witnessed when they arrived at the pond where Neoma and her friends were.

    Three helldogs were knocked out on the ground.

    Hanna Quinzel was unconscious while a trail of blood was still fresh from the corner of her mouth.

    The foxy boy was kneeling on the ground while hugging the Death''s Scythe. He noticed that the scythe was back to its original color, but the size remained the same. But that wasn''t the most worrying thing at the moment.

    <em>Neoma isn''t here.</em>

    "Glenn, check up on Lady Quinzel," Kyle ordered the knight when the count probably noticed that he was frozen on his spot. "Lewis, where are Princess Neoma and Sir Drayton?"

    The count was free to ask that because they didn''t bring knights or other people with them.

    It was an emergency and he figured that the three of them would be enough to save the children. But obviously, they were toote.

    <em>Goddamit.</em>

    "Princess Neoma was dragged to hell. It was probably the Devil," the foxy boy answered Kyle''s question without even turning to them. It looked like he was shocked that the royal princess was taken under his watch. "Rubin Drayton identally fell into the hellhole when he was kicked by the helldog."

    "This isn''t good, Your Majesty," Kyle said. "The young lord is also missing."

    As if he cared about the young Drayton.

    "Did Neoma leave the scythe to you?" Niki asked the foxy boy when he recovered from shock. "What did she say?"

    "Protect the scythe," Lewis, the foxy boy, said before he turned to him with zing eyes. "Princess Neoma said you have to protect the Death''s Scythe at all cost, Your Majesty."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 69 - THERES AN IMPOSTOR AMONG US

    "YOUR ROYAL Highness, aren''t we going to walk around?"

    "Are we in a rose garden to walk around, Rubin Drayton?" Neomazily said while she was sitting under a ck tree with dry, dark brown leaves. It was a surprise but Rubin lent her his handkerchief for her to sit on a while ago. Yeah it was strange, but she epted his "kindness" because that kind of attitude was normal for well-mannered nobles. "We just have to stay here and wait to be rescued."

    The ce was very sketchy so walking around wouldn''t ge a good idea.

    All the trees around them were dead. And she wasn''t even surprised because the soil was as dry as Emperor Niki''s sense of humor. Well, they were in hell so what would she expect from that ce?

    <em>Anyway...</em>

    To be honest, even though she said that she was just waiting to be rescued, it wasn''t like she wasn''t doing anything.

    She talked to Tteokbokki a while ago. Thankfully, her Soul Beast was freed when she pulled Skewer out of her body. But that drained Tteokbokki''s energy, and so was hers. That was the reason why she wasn''t moving. She needed to conserve her remaining strength so if they were attacked, she could still fight.

    <em>Tteokbokki told me to give him one hour, or at least thirty minutes to rest. It has only been fifteen minutes since then. We should stay here to avoid encountering enemies.</em>

    Rubin, who was in a kneeling position in front of her, suddenly looked hopeful. "Your Royal Highness, do you think His Majesty wille and rescue us?"

    Sheughed aloud, then she turned serious. "Of course not, dummy," she deadpanned. "Hell would freeze over first before that happens."

    The young lord suddenly looked depressed. "Oh."

    "Don''t worry. I''m sure Lewis wille and save us," she said confidently. "My son will move heaven and earth for me."

    The young lord fell silent for a while. "It''s strange, Your Royal Highness."

    She raised a brow at him. "What?"

    "I thought you have a good rtionship with His Majesty, Your Royal Highness," he said. "But why do you make it sound like His Majesty doesn''t care about you when you are the crown prince?"

    Okay, that was a minor mistake on her part.

    Thank goodness she was a professional liar by now.

    "Rubin, who''s the most important person in the empire?"

    "His Majesty."

    She almost threw up at that. Of course, for the old-fashioned people of the empire, that was the correct answer. She didn''t agree with that, but it was the only way to avoid being suspicious was to lie her way out from the mistake shemitted. "Correct," she said, forcing that word out of her mouth. "Even if Papa is determined to save me, I''m sure his advisors and everyone in the pce won''t allow him to do so. They might even lock him up in his office or something."

    She was 90% sure that her Papa Boss didn''t care about her since she wasn''t the real crown prince anyway. But she had a 10% hope that her father would at least send capable men to rescue her. Not because he cared about her well-being, but because he cared about his image.

    After all, she was the current crown prince. Putting the Noble Faction aside, she was pretty certain that the royal family''s allies wouldn''t let the only heir to the throne to die.

    <em>Papa Boss, just send Lewis here and we''ll be fine.</em>

    "That makes sense, Your Royal Highness," Rubin said, then his brows furrowed in confusion. "But I heard Lewis call you ''Princess Neoma'' a while ago."

    She almost choked on her saliva when she heard that.

    <em>Lewis, that''s a huge mistake on your part!</em>

    "I know that Princess Neoma is your secret twin sister, Your Royal Highness," the young lord continued. "But I heard that Her Royal Highness has entered the temple a few years ago. So how could Lewis mistake you for the royal princess?"

    He looked confused, and he even scratched his brow.

    <em>Ah, that''s his mannerism.</em>

    She remembered that back in her first life, she noticed that every time Rubin was confused or in the middle of thinking, he would scratch his brow.

    <em>Gosh, I was so in love with him back then that I memorized even his mannerisms.</em>

    That was so pathetic of her.

    "It''s a secret code," she lied with a straight face. To be honest, she panicked a little so she just sprouted the first excuse to enter her mind. Her excuse this time wasme so she hoped her great acting skills would save it. "Whenever my life is in danger, Lewis is ordered to call me ''Princess Neoma'' to confuse the enemies. It''s meant to throw them off and make them think that they got the wrong person. In short, it''s a distraction." It looked like Rubin believed her ridiculous so that gained her more confidence to continue bluffing. "Unfortunately, it didn''t work because the beings that dragged me here weren''t humans."

    Rubin nodded his head. Ah, hepletely bought her lie. It looked like that the young lord wasn''t really the sharpest knife in the drawer.

    "Princess Neoma almost became my fianc¨¦e," Rubin said in a soft voice. "I''m d that she decided to enter the temple in the end."

    Okay, that pissed her off.

    "Neoma chose to enter the temple when she heard that Papa wanted her to marry the son of House Drayton," she said. Yes, she was being salty. But even though she didn''t want to be engaged with Rubin in this lifetime, it was still annoying to hear that he was relieved that their engagement was cancelled. "She''d rather be a maiden forever than marry you, bruh."

    <em>Hah! Take that, little b*tch.</em>

    Rubin was obviously offended.

    But before he couldin, the ground started to shake hard.

    Then, all of a sudden, a suspicious mansion magically appeared a few meter away from them. The giant gates were open, obviously inviting them toe in.

    "Your Royal Highness, we might find the exit in that mansion," Rubin said while eyeing the mansion that looked haunted to her, then he turned to her. "Should we go there?"

    "Of course not," Neoma said bluntly. "We''re not in a horror movie where dumb people still enter a sketchy-looking ce despite the red gs, Rubin."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOUR HIGHNESS, I already sent Lady Quinzel to Madam Hammock. ording to the Healing Mage, the youngdy''s injury didn''te from an attack. It seems like Lady Quinzel''s body is naturally weak," Glenn informed him. "On the other hand, Kyle¨C I mean Count Sprouse is on his way to secretly meet Duke Drayton to inform him of his son''s disappearance."

    Niki, who sat in his chair while observing the Death''s Scythe in his hands,just nodded at Glenn''s long report. "What about the hell dogs?"

    The knight bowed his head. "My deepest apologies, Your Majesty. The hell dogs disappeared when I tried to use my Mana to apprehend them."

    He just nodded as an acknowledgement to Glenn''s report.

    When he realized that Neoma had gone missing with the young Drayton, he retrieved the Death''s Scythe from the foxy boy. Kyle suggested that he returned to his pce to avoid gathering attention from the servants, and so he did. The foxy boy followed him and it looked like the child didn''t have any ns of leaving.

    <em>This is annoying.</em>

    Niki raised his head to look at the foxy boy who was still standing in front of his desk. Lewis''s golden eyes were glowing menacingly while ring at the Death''s Scythe in his hand. "Do something about that foxy boy," he told the knight, then he turned to the Death''s Scythe in his hand again. "I already told him to leave my office but he won''t budge."

    "I won''t leave until I find a way to rescue Princess Neoma, Your Majesty," the foxy boy said in a firm voice. "The royal princess talks to Skewer as if it''s alive. I have a feeling that it can understand humans. Maybe if we threaten it, the Death''s Scythe will open a gate to hell."

    Glenn whistled in amusement. "Lewis, those were the longest words I heard from you for the past five years."

    The foxy boy ignored the knight. "Your Majesty, I know that you don''t care about Princess Neoma. But I do. So please let me borrow Skewer. I''ll force that thing to take me where the royal princess is."

    He raised his head to look at the foxy boy.

    For some reason, the child''s concern for Neoma was pissing him off and he didn''t know why. He was certain with one thing though: he didn''t like the foxy boy to show this kind of affection for the royal princess.

    "Lewis Crevan, don''t forget your ce," he said to the foxy boy coldly. "You are the crown prince''s knight and not Neoma''s. Once Nero returns, you''ll be in-charge of his protection."

    "Once Prince Nero returns, I''ll leave the pce with Princess Neoma," Lewis Crevan said in a determined voice, his golden eyes still glowing menacingly. This time, the foxy boy''s bloodlust was directed at him. "But for now, let me save the royal princess."

    He smirked at that. Neoma''s arrogance is rubbing off on the foxy boy.

    "Lewis Crevan, you''re talking to His Majesty," Glenn said in a warning tone, the de of the sword in his hand pointed just below the foxy boy''s chin. "Tone it down or else, I will be forced to apprehend you."

    "If you don''t do something to save Princess Neoma, then I''ll make my own way to save her," Lewis Crevan said, unfazed by Glenn''s threat. "Should I start by stealing the scythe from you, Your Majesty?"

    Glenn pressed the de of his sword in Lewis Crevan''s neck, making it bleed instantly.

    Still, the foxy boy remained unbothered.

    Nikiughed at the foxy boy''s arrogance. It was amusing, really. Neoma''s influence on people around her was entertaining to see. "Alright. Let''s try forcing the scythe to open a gate to hell," he said. "But Lewis Crevan¡­" Even without looking at his reflection, he knew that his eyes had already turned red. And they were glowing threateningly. "If you fail to retrieve Neoma and the young Drayton, I''ll kill you."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOU CAN''T kill me," Neoma said, then she opened her eyes. Even without seeing herself, she knew that her light gray eyes turned red and they were glowing. It usually happened whenever she was in high defense. "What the f*ck do you think you''re doing, Rubin Drayton?"

    Rubin Drayton looked surprised to hear her cuss. And then, heughed manically. "I knew we''re alike, Your Royal Highness!" he said in an exaggeratedly excited manner. He still straddled her hips while holding a dagger pointed at her heart. "You have two personalities like me! You appear prim and proper in front of other people. But your true colors appear around the people you hate!"

    She knew that Rubin was acting strange. It was a good decision to not drop her guard around him. Well, it wasn''t like she could trust him anyway.

    In the past, Rubin had shown him two kinds of personalities. The first one was the gentle and kind young lord that she had fallen in love with. The second one was the crazy and cruel man that betrayed her for Regina Crowell.

    At first, she thought that the Rubin that she loved in the past was just a fa?ade that he used to capture her heart.

    But in this lifetime, she realized that she was wrong.

    Upon observing Rubin for the past few days, she realized that Rubin had two personalities. One was the meek young lord who would always bow his head to her. The second was the arrogant and hostile Rubin that would always pick a fight with her and Lewis.

    "You''re wrong," Neoma said calmly. Despite Rubin holding a dagger while straddling her, she still didn''t feel like her life was in danger. She knew that she could outdo him, especially now that Tteokbokki was already awaked. "I don''t have a split personality," she said. "I just know how to act properly as a royal prince, Rubin Drayton."

    "I''m not Rubin," he hissed at her. "I''m Gavin!"

    Oh, god.

    <em>He really has dissociative identity disorder.</em>

    It was formerly known as multiple personality disorder, as far as she knew. DID was a psychological condition characterized by having at least two distinct personalities.

    "I''m different from that weak and useless Rubin who can''t even defend himself from his abusive father!" Rubin snarled at her. "I''m Gavin, and I''m much more capable than him!"

    "Okay, Rubin," she said casually. "Are you done, Rubin? Can you get off me now, Rubin?"

    Yeah, she called his name again and again on purpose.

    He looked shocked by what she did. And then, he hissed at her angrily. "I''m not Rubin! How many times do I have to say that I''m Gavin?!" He tapped his chest with one hand. "I''m Gavin¨C the capable and strong person that Regina awakened inside this worthless boy! I should be the host of this body and not Rubin!"

    Ah, so it was Regina who "convinced" Rubin to have another personality, huh?

    That made her angry.

    To be honest, she wanted to beat Rubin to a pulp. But she reminded herself that Rubin, in this lifetime, was still a child who was physically abused by his father. And now, he developed a psychological disorder. It was probably because of trauma.

    People like him needed help, patience, and understanding¨C not violence or cruelty.

    "You''re polite and well-mannered, Rubin. And I like that about you," she said that made "Gavin" shut up. She wasn''t praising Rubin. She was just describing his personality when "Gavin" wasn''t taking over his body. "You''re not weak¨C you justck confidence. I won''t me you for acting that way because I know how Duke Drayton treats you. Your father is the one at fault here and not you. So please don''t think that you''re worthless."

    He looked so shocked by her words that he dropped the dagger. Thankfully, the de didn''t hit her. "Shut up¡­ I hate you because Rubin''s father alwayspares him to the royal prince¡­ he makes Rubin feel useless every time he praises you¡­"

    "Yes, Duke Drayton is a sc*mbag for treating his son like sh*t," she said. "It''s not your fault, Rubin."

    "Stop!" Rubin screamed while clutching his head tight. He looked confused at the moment. His pretty pastel blue eyes couldn''t even focus on her. "I''m not Rubin! Regina gave me a name! A personality!" He shut his eyes tight. "I''m Gavin!"

    "No, ''Gavin'' doesn''t exist," she said firmly. To be honest, she wasn''t sure if she was doing the right thing. She just felt like Rubin''s condition would worsen if she acknowledged his other "persona." "I don''t and won''t acknowledge the ''Gavin'' that another person created out of you, Rubin Drayton."

    Rubin fell silent for a while.

    And then, he got up and ran away fast.

    <em>Sh*t.</em>

    She stood up to chase after Rubin because it wouldn''t be wise to be separated in that ce.

    But all of a sudden, the surrounding was covered by a thick fog filled with negative energy. In just a few minutes, she couldn''t see anything anymore.

    <em>Dammit!</em>

    "Princess Neoma!"

    She was surprised when the fog cleared up. And then, she saw Lewis running towards her. The concern on his face was evident.

    "Lewis," she greeted him with a business smile. "As expected, you found me. You''re really my son."

    Lewis stood up in front of her, then he tilted his head at one side. "I''m d that I found you, Princess Neoma."

    "Wrong answer," Neoma said with a bigger, "sweeter" smile. Then, without missing a beat, she gave "Lewis" a b*tch p. Since Tteokbokki was already awakened inside her, her p was strong enough to send him flying. He hit a tree and dropped on the ground with his head hanged low. "It should be "I''m not your son, Princess Neoma," you noob impostor."

    <em>Gosh.</em>

    Was the Devil underestimating her for sending a copycat of her son to her? Did they think that she''d easily trust other people in that sketchy ce. Thank goodness Lewis had a consistent response whenever she would call him "son."

    The impostor, who had the audacity to copy her precious son, looked up at her with a crazy smile that didn''t suit Lewis''s angelic face. "You''re very interesting, future empress of the Great Moonasterion Empire."

    Excuse me?

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 70 - A WILD FURRY APPEARED

    NIKOLAI buried the hilt of the Death''s Scythe in the floor. He brought it to the prayer room dedicated to his ancestors. Yes, they had a room for that honored the previous emperors. Honestly speaking, he hated that chamber. But since they were dealing with the Devil, he needed to boost his divine power.

    Right now, his priority was to save Neoma. The royal princess couldn''t die without his permission. As long as Nero was still asleep, he needed to save his daughter.

    "Open a gate to hell," Niki ordered the Death''s Scythe. "I heard Neoma was good to you. You don''t want her to die, do you?" But to be honest, he doubted it. For some reason, she knew that Neoma wouldn''t die there. "If you wish to your master again, then you better cooperate."

    "Skewer, please help me get to Princess Neoma," Lewis Crevan, who stood opposite him, said in a firm voice, his golden eyes still aglow. "All you have to do is open the gate nearest to where the royal princess is. I???ll take care of the rest."

    He raised his brow at that.

    <em>That''s pretty convincing.</em>

    The foxy boy''s voice and the determined look on his face seemed very reliable. Everyone could tell that Lewis Crevan would definitely give up his life for Neoma.

    <em>He should dedicate that loyalty to Nero instead of Neoma.</em>

    His thoughts were cut off when the Death''s Scythe began shaking until it grew in size. And then, all of a sudden, a ck hole opened up below it. He and the foxy boy instinctively jumped away from it. The hole was as big as the cauldron in the prayer room.

    "Go, Lewis Crevan," Niki ordered the foxy boy. "Bring back Neoma and the young Drayton safely."

    Lewis Crevan just gave him a curt nod before he leapt into the ck hole.

    <em>How insolent.</em>

    The gate to hell quickly closed as soon as the foxy boy disappeared from sight. And then, the Death''s Scythe shrunk in size before it fell on the floor.

    "Your Majesty,??? Glenn said after he picked up the Death''s Scythe from the floor, then he politely returned it to him. "Are you worried about Princess Neoma?"

    "No," Niki said, then he grabbed the Death''s Scythe hard enough until it disappeared. He forced it to enter his body where his Soul Beasts would protect it. Then, he turned his back on the knight and started to walk towards the door. "Neoma isn''t a frail child."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "A FURRY," Neoma said while staring back at the humanoid ck cat standing in front of her. "Your fur is so pretty."

    The being that copied Lewis a while ago had transformed to what she assumed was its original form.

    It was like a hybrid of a human and a ck cat. The creature had the head of a ck cat, and the ck fur-covered body of a seven foot tall male with an athletic built. It wore a suit that butlers of noble households usually wore.

    And it had bright green eyes.

    <em>Wait, I shouldn''t call the creature ???it'' since it''s rude.</em>

    "May I know your pronoun?" she asked carefully. "I don''t want to misgender you."

    The ck cat man blinked several times as if they were confused by her question. After a few seconds of silence, they put their hand on their chest and bowed to her polite. "Greetings to the Second Star of the Great Moonasterion Empire," they said. If they called her the ''Second Star,'' that meant they really knew that she was the princess and not Nero. Just like how Trevor realized right away her real identity. If she remembered it right, Trevor said something like she couldn''t lie in his territory or something. "My name is Gin and I''m the Devil''s personal butler. As per your prior question¡­" He raised his head to meet her gaze. "I''m a male and I prefer to be referred to as such, Your Royal Highness."

    "Noted, Gin," she said. "So, did you drag me here to snatch back Skewer from me?" The one hell of a butler looked confused so she exined. "By ''Skewer,'' I mean the Death''s Scythe."

    "Ah," Gin said while nodding his head. "First of all, I would like to apologize for dragging you to hell, Your Royal Highness. I know that I will never be weed to the Royal Pce so I had no choice to summon you the rough way." He bowed to her. "My deepest apologies, Your Royal Highness."

    She raised her eyebrow at the ck cat man''s attitude.

    <em>Between Gin and Papa Boss, I''d say Gin can act more like human than my own father.</em>

    But she wouldn''t drop her guard just because the enemy was "polite."

    "<em>Be careful, thug princess</em>," Tteokbokki said when he spoke in her mind. "<em>That ck cat stink</em>s."

    <em>I know, Tteokbokki</em>, she answered back in her mind. <em>I''ve seen enough anime series to know that the characters with a calm and gentle appearance are usually the most horrible ones.</em>

    "You''re speaking nonsense again."

    She just cut-off their link in her mind.

    "What do you need from me?" she asked Gin suspiciously. "If the Devil is after Skewer, then I''m afraid I can''t give it to them until I''m done with it."

    "I am not here to retrieve the Death''s Scythe, Your Royal Highness," Gin said. "Shall we talk over a cup of tea?"

    "No, thanks," she said bluntly. "Persephone taught me to never eat or drink anything from the underworld."

    He looked confused again, but he continued his job. "Then, shall I prepare afortable seat for you?"

    "Nah, that''s not necessary," she turned him down again. "Let''s talk this way."

    "I''m worried that you might get a stiff neckter, Your Royal Highness."

    And that was because she was looking up at him while talking.

    "I''m fine," she insisted. "I don''t want to befortable around a stranger."

    "I understand, Your Royal Highness," he said, then he bowed again. "Then please excuse me for a moment.??

    And then, he disappeared when a thick ck smoke covered his whole body.

    She put her guard up, anticipating an attack from the ck cat man.

    But instead, she was greeted by cuteness when the smoke vanished. In the spot where Gin stood a few minutes ago was a ck cat with a red bow.

    "Aww," she said, then she squatted in front of it. Still, her guard was up. Tteokbokki was already on standby so if Gin moved from his spot, her Soul Beast would automaticallye out to protect her. "You''re so cute in that form, Gin."

    "My utmost gratitude for the praise, Your Royal Highness," Gin, in his cat form, said as polite as ever. "May we continue our conversation a while ago?"

    "Sure."

    "Your Royal Highness, I''m aware that you and His Majesty have already been informed that the Devil has awakened," the ck cat said. "I''ve worked hard for the past three years to awaken my master. Unfortunately, it would probably take them at least five more years before they fully regained their power."

    She tried to remain pokerfaced even if she noticed something strange.

    It took Gin three years to awaken the Devil, and it would take five years for them to be fully recovered. In short, the Devil would need eight years in total before their eback." And Trevor asked them exactly eight years to cure Nero''s curse.

    <em>Does it mean Trevor know that the Devil would return in all their glory only after eight years?</em>

    That little sh*t was like a rosary¨C he was full of mysteries.

    <em>That''s ame joke, I know.</em>

    "Until the Devil has their full power, they cannot wield the Death''s Scythe," Gin continued. "That''s the reason why my master isn''t in a hurry to take back the scythe from you, Your Royal Highness. In fact, they want you to hold onto the Death''s Scythe until they return."

    "I will hold onto the scythe not because of the Devil," she said firmly. "I need it for my own benefit."

    The ck cat chuckled. "Now I understand why the Devil wants to work with you, Your Royal Highness."

    "I don''t want to work with them though."

    This time, heughed louder. "Your Royal Highness, the Devil sent me here to offer you a deal: the Devil wants me to let you know that they will support you. We know that you''re pretending as the crown prince because the real one is in a critical state right now. But we''re pretty certain that your twin brother will awaken soon since the one tending to him is that little f*ckface¨C" He loudly cleared his throat as if that would make her "unhear" what he just said. "I mean, Trevor. That boy is a sly one, but his magical skills are the real deal."

    "Uh-huh," she said while nodding her head. Gin''s long exnation was like a wake-up call to her. "So, there''s a mole among us, huh?"

    She was a professional Am*ng Us yer back in her second life, you know?

    Of course, her detective skills rendered the ck cat speechless.

    "You''re very well-informed of our current circumstance," she exined. "That only means someone close to us is feeding you information. You even know where to kidnap me."

    "Now I believe the Devil when they said that the Second Star of the empire is very smart," Gin said in an amused tone. He was indiscreetly changing the topic. Not that she cared. "Your Royal Highness, if you ept the Devil''s help, we will protect you once your purpose for His Majesty has been fulfilled. We will make sure that they won''t be able to kill you."

    "And why would the Devil help me?"

    "It''s very simple, Your Royal Highness," the ck cat said. "The Devil wants you to be the first empress of the Moonasterion Empire. They want to end the patriarchy in this stupid society."

    "I refuse," she said right away. "The patriarchy won''t end just because a woman rules the empire. Plus, I''m the type of person who will only do what I know I can. Sorry, but I''m not an overachiever."

    "What if we offer you the location of thete empress''s body in exchange of cooperating with us?"

    "Nah," she turned him down for the third time. "My Papa already sent his men to do that. I will let the adults deal with that matter. But thank you for confirming that the Devil has something to do with the disappearance of Her Majesty''s body."

    "Oh," he said as if he just realized his mistake. "Oh, well. I''m pretty sure that His Majesty already suspects us anyway."

    She just shrugged¨C not wanting to give the enemy a confirmation or a denial.

    "I have onest offer, Your Royal Highness," Gin said when he probably realized that he wouldn''t get any information from her. "Are you still interested to know the history of your parents? Both the ones in your first life and the second one."

    <em>Ah.</em>

    Just like Trevor, the Devil knew her past. She didn''t like it. Howe these strangers were so invested in her family?

    "I''m curious about my parents," she admitted. The ck cat''s face lit up but she didn''t want him to be hopeful so she didn''t give him a chance to talk. "But not enough for me to make a deal with the Devil. Right now, my priority is to survive. Knowing too much about my past might get me killed, so I''d rather deal with itter than be hasty."

    "Why are you holding back, Your Royal Highness?"

    "I can''t be too awesome," she said firmly. "I''ll get killed if I shined brighter than the First Star."

    "It''s already toote, Your Royal Highness," Gin said with a cheeky smile. "Your value has increased while the crown prince''s value has decreased. The Devil is working hard to keep your identity a secret. They don''t want the other factions to realize that the crown prince is actually the future empress in disguise. Because once that happens, the Devil will have morepetition."

    "There''s a reason why they''re called the ''Devil,'' huh?" she said in a cold voice. "Putting "values" on children as if they''re products is so low, even for you."

    "I apologize if my words offended you, Your Royal Highness."

    She ignored the not so sincere apology. "If you have nothing more to say, I''ll get going," she said, then she stood up. "I need to find a lost child first."

    "Let me escort you, Your Royal Highness," Gin said, and then he transformed back into his "human" form. He paused for a while, then he said in an amused tone: "You have a strong mentality, Princess Neoma," he said, calling her by her formal title for the first time. "Most people can''t resist the enchantment in my voice."

    Ah, so he had that kind of trick.

    "Heh, don''t you know what kind of a sc*mbag my father is?" Neoma asked that seemed to shock the ck cat man. "I have to have a strong mentality or else, I would have gone crazy a long time ago."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "THE MOON is bleeding," Dominic Zavaroni said when he opened his eyes. He was in the middle of praying to Yule in the Moon God''s shrine when he saw a vivid vision. "His Majesty''s life will soon be put in grave danger."

    But that wasn''t the most worrisome part of his vision.

    The moon was the emperor''s symbol. In his "dream," the moon was bleeding and it was covered with dark smoke, the symbol of death¡­

    ¡­ and that dark smoke wasing from the Second Star in the sky.

    "Princess Neoma is the Second Star," Dominic Zavaroni whispered in a weak voice, then he shut his eyes tight because the vision that he saw was hard to believe. "His Majesty''s blood might soon be on Princess Neoma''s hands..."

    And "soon" was equal to the crown prince''s coronation day.

    Unfortunately, he couldn''t see what would push Her Royal Highness to want to kill the emperor. But he was certain of one thing: if His Majesty and his men discovered what he just saw, they would kill the royal princess.

    But keeping the vision that he saw from His Majesty could be considered treason.

    "My Lord Yule, what do you want me to do with this vision?" Dominic Zavaroni asked in frustration. "Just what is going to happen to the empire in the near future?"

    <strong>***</strong>

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    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 71 - LEMME TRY TALK-NO-JUTSU

    "AFTER YOU, Princess Neoma," Gina said while politely gesturing the stone pavement that the ck cat man created a while ago. "Or would you rather walk behind me? I understand if you can''t trust your back on me, Your Royal Highness."

    "Nah, it''s fine," Neoma said as she walked past the butler. "It''s not that I trust you, Gin. I just have faith in my Tteokbokki."

    Upon mentioning her Soul Beast, Tteokbokki released an enormous amount of bloodlust directed at Gin. It was a warning that her Soul Beast was keeping an eye on the ck cat man. Usually, she would tease Tteokbokki for suddenly acting "cool." But she knew that it wasn''t the right time and ce to tease the donkey-sized unicorn¨C uhm, red dragon.

    "I can see why you''re confident and rxed even if you''re in an unknown territory, Princess Neoma," Ginmentedter. "Aside from your naturally strong Mana, your Soul Beast is also very strong."

    She just shrugged.

    Gin mentioned a while ago that he had enchantment in his voice. Even though she was confident that she wasn''t easy to manipte, she didn''t want to becent. What if his power was the kind of ability that would get stronger the more she talked to him?

    <em>Nope, not gonna happen.</em>

    Her thoughts were cut-off when she saw Rubin in the short bridge over a dry river. The young lord had his face buried in his arms ced on the railing.

    "Gin, give us privacy," she ordered the ck cat man. Well, she didn''t really like giving orders using amanding voice. But she wanted to establish to the devil''s butler that she wasn''t a mere proxy for her twin brother. "I''d like to talk to my friend alone."

    "Of course, Your Royal Highness," Gin said politely. And even though she wasn''t looking at him, she knew that he bowed to her. "Please just call my name when you''re ready to leave. I will be opening a safe gate so that you and your friend can return to the Royal Pce safely."

    She just nodded.

    And then, the butler''s presence disappeared.

    But of course, she still had her guard up. Now that Tteokbokki had fully recovered, her Soul Beast was on high-alert.

    "Rubin, running off like that was very dangerous," Neoma scolded him when she stood beside the young lord. She noticed that the dry ground below had murky puddles where fish-shaped little demons swam. Well, she was sure that those weren''t real fish and since they were in hell, she assumed they were demons. "What would you do if you encountered a demon?"

    "How did you know that I was back as Rubin, Your Royal Highness?"

    She let out a deep sigh.

    <em>Rubin is only ten years old but it seems like he has alreadypletely believed Regina Crowell''s b*llshit. I can''t believe that b*tch started to manipte Rubin this early. No wonder this dude didn''t hesitate to make me suffer when we were engaged in the past.</em>

    To be honest, she wanted to punch Rubin to knock some sense into him.

    But like she said to herself a while ago, this kind of problem wouldn''t be resolved with violence. This time, she had to act her (real) age and be the bigger person. She would just remind herself again and again that Rubin couldn''t hurt her the way that he did in the past.

    Anyway, since violence wouldn''t work on Rubin, she decided to use an alternative.

    <em>Let''s use the famous ''talk-no-jutsu.''</em>

    No hate or disrespect to N*ruto but it was pretty ridiculous how he could convince some of the supposedly twisted people in the series to change for the better in a matter of minutes. But she was okay with that. If she could avoid violence, she would.

    <em>If N*ruto could do it, maybe I can make it work on Rubin, too.</em>

    "You are Rubin," Neoma said firmly. "There''s nobody else inside you."

    Rubin raised his head and turned to her. Based on the redness of his eyes and nose, he obviously cried a while ago. Aww, he was still a child after all. "You don''t believe me, do you?" he used her in a hurt tone. "Do you think I''m crazy, Your Royal Highness?"

    "No," she denied right away. "I believe that youck confidence in yourself, Rubin. You created a persona that gives you the courage to stand up to people who hurt you. But you know what? You don''t need another persona to be brave."

    "I need Gavin," he said in a shaking voice. "Gavin is stronger than me. He can protect Regina. And she also thinks the same."

    Ah, so it was for Regina again¨C the root of all evil inside poor Rubin.

    "Then, doesn''t it mean that Regina only likes the ''Gavin'' that she created and not you?" she asked coldly. "Wake up, bruh. She doesn''t like you¨C she likes the part of you that she could use for her own benefit."

    As expected, the young lord got angry. "Regina isn''t that kind of person! She''s the only person who understands me and my struggle."

    "She doesn''t," she said bluntly. "If she truly understands you, she will help you love yourself instead of asking you to create a stronger persona to cover up your insecurity."

    He looked too shock to respond.

    "Regina doesn''t genuinely like you, Rubin," she continued being savage on him. "Do you know why I can tell even if I haven''t met her yet?" Well, not in this lifetime. "It''s simple: how can other people like you if you hate yourself enough to create another persona that you think is "likeable?""

    This time, he looked like he was about to cry.

    It didn''t help that Rubin had a very pretty and innocent face. She felt like she was the most horrible person in the world. But still, she didn''t hold back.

    "I know that it''s hard to love yourself when you''re surrounded by people who don''t see your worth," she said, now speaking from experience. If she could turn back time, she''d say those words to her old self, too. "But that''s all the more reason to try and like yourself little by little every day. The way you see yourself is more important than how other people view you, Rubin. Let''s try to be morefortable in our skin, hmm?"

    Rubin didn''t respond but at least, he no longer looked like he wanted to cry.

    "When you wake up in the morning, face the mirror and say the things that you like about yourself."

    His shoulders slumped. "I can''t think of anything that I like about myself¡­"

    "Then, I''ll say the things that I like about you," she said. She was trying to see Rubin as an innocent child that needed help instead of the Rubin that hurt her in the past. "First, I like your face. You look like a flower boy."

    He blushed at her praise.

    <em>Gosh, why does he have to be that pretty?</em>

    "Second, I like that you''re polite," she continued. Of course, by polite, she didn''t mean his rudeness as ''Gavin.'' "I also like how you fulfill your noble duty by being attentive to me." Well, she knew it was only because of her "status" as the "crown prince." Still, she wanted him to know that she appreciated that. "Most of all, I like how you recognize your weakness. People who know their strength and weaknesses have potential to improve themselves. I may not agree with the method you chose to cope with your insecurity, but your desire to change is already a good step." She gently patted his shoulder. "Rubin, I hope you find a better way to make yourself stronger. I''ll wait for the day that you''d stand up for yourself without relying on a persona that doesn''t exist."

    "C-Can I do that, Your Royal Highness?"

    "That''s up to you, Rubin," she said. "But I''m rooting for you."

    He lowered his gaze. "My f-father is really scary though¡­"

    "If you feel like your father is being too harsh on you and you can''t protect yourself from him, thene to me," she said. Like she said, she was trying to see Rubin as a mere child and a victim of domestic abuse. It wouldn''t hurt to offer a hand to a needing child. "I''ll help you."

    He raised his head and when he met her gaze, she noticed that his pretty pale blue eyes were beaming with joy. "R-Really, Your Royal Highness?"

    "Really."

    Rubin smiled bashfully at her.

    Neoma was about to say something when all of a sudden, the ground shook. It was followed by the burst of a familiar Mana that she wouldn''t mistake for someone else. She smiled in relief. "Lewis is here," she said, then she offered her hand to Rubin. "Let''s go, Rubin."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "LEWIS!" Neoma called her son excitedly when she saw him. How could she not notice Lewis when he was surrounded with a bright silver-ish aura that lit up that dark, gloomy area? "Wee¨C oh."

    She was surprised when all of a sudden, Lewis was already standing in front of her while looking at her from head to toe. It was obvious that he was checking if she had injuries. When he realized that she was totally fine, she noticed his little sigh of relief¡­

    ¡­ until Lewis''s gazended on her hand holding Rubin''s hand.

    "Prince Nero," Lewis said, then he extended his hand to her.

    <em>Oh, this is new. Lewis initiating physical contact is rare.</em>

    She was about to hand him her other free hand. But when he gave her a cold look, she realized what he wanted. And so, she let go of Rubin''s hand to hold Lewis''s.

    <em>Lewis probably doesn''t want me to adopt Rubin as my second child.</em>

    Anyway, her thoughts were cut-off when suddenly, Lewis wiped her hand with his white handkerchief. Before she could ask what was that for, her son gently pulled her beside him and then red at the person who showed up in front of them.

    "Greetings, White Lion Knight," Gin greeted Lewis. "Don''t worry, I''m not here to fight. Not yet, at least."

    "Get away from His Royal Highness," Lewis said coldly to the butler. "You stink of blood and human flesh."

    She let out a little gasp at that.

    Even Rubin shuddered from that revtion.

    <em>I know that Gin is sketchy, but I didn''t realize that it''s what Tteokbokki meant when he said that Gin stinks.</em>

    Gin just smiled, ignoring Lewis''s im. Then, he turned to her. "Your Royal Highness, are you ready to return to the Royal Capital?"

    "Yes," Neoma said firmly. "Return us safely to the Royal Capital or else, I''ll blow up this ce until the Devil loses their home."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "PRINCESS Neoma is very, very interesting," Gin said to the Devil while holding a pocket watch close to his face. The screen in the pocket watch showed the Devil''s face covered with white bandage. "I understand why you want to put her on the throne instead of Prince Nero."

    After sending back Her Royal Highness and herpany to the Royal Pce, he went up to the highest dead tree in his territory to report to the Devil. He sat on the thin branch while swinging his feet in the air.

    "I didn''t manage to influence her but it''s okay," he continued brightly. He wasn''t expecting the Devil to give him a response because they were far from full recovery yet. After all, it wasn''t easy to recuperate after literally being roasted by the Moon God himself. Anyway, he knew that the Devil was listening intently so he didn''t stop giving his report. "Our second goal is a sess."

    He told Princess Neoma about his ability to enchant humans using his voice to distract her from the true nature of his power.

    To be honest, the royal princess kept quiet after he revealed that. He had a feeling that she sensed that talking to him was dangerous for her. It was toote when she realized that though. After spending enough time talking to her, he managed to "hear" the "voice" of her heart.

    And that was exactly what he needed from her.

    "Master, I found out Princess Neoma''s greatest fear," Gin said cheerfully. "And I just know exactly how to use it to make her sumb to you."

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

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 Chapter 72 - THE DEVIL WORKS HARD BUT I WORK HARDER

    NEOMA was relieved that the end of the "tunnel" that Gin created really took them back to the Royal Pce.

    Of course, she didn''t want to trust the ck cat man. But the circumstance didn''t allow her to be too hostile because they had no other means to get out of there. Lewis came there without a solid n. Apparently, her son''s "n" was to make the whole ce explode. She didn''t know how he nned to do that and she was too tired to ask.

    When she realized that the tunnel led them to the prayer room in Yule''s Pce¨C her father''s residence¨C she thought she could finally rest.

    But she was instead greeted by her Papa Boss''s sword.

    <em>Great.</em>

    "Stop," Neoma ordered Lewis in a firm voice that made him stop from attacking the emperor. From the corner of her eye, she saw Sir Glenn was ready to attack Lewis had her son moved from his spot. Thankfully, only her father and the knight were there. Thank goodness Count Sprouse wasn''t there. She could handle Papa Boss and Sir Glenn, but the count always got on her nerves. "Lewis, make Rubin sleep."

    Rubin looked shocked by her order.

    But before the young lord could even protest, Lewis already hit the back of his head. Her son just let Rubin hit the floor.

    <em>Oh, well. Nobles have stronger bodies than Non-Mana users anyway.</em>

    "Good boy," she praised her son. "Now, I want you to stay put, Lewis. I got this."

    Lewis looked like he didn''t want to follow her order but in the end, he nodded and stepped aside.

    After taming her son, she walked towards her father until the pointy edge of his sword was below her chin. Then, she looked up at her father to meet his red glowing eyes. His eye color changed and that only meant he was on attack mode.

    She shouldn''t fight fire with fire so she held back and didn''t release any amount of bloodlust.

    "I will consider this a protocol, Papa Boss," she said. "I came from hell so I know this is only a precautionary measure. I understand that you have to make sure that I wasn''t corrupted or possessed by the Devil. And honestly, I''m d that you decided to do this yourself. If you have asked Count Sprouse to test me instead, I would have been pissed. The count obviously hates me and honestly? Same."

    Sir Glenn stifled hisugh.

    On the other hand, Papa Boss raised a brow at her. He looked amused, but he still didn''t withdraw his sword. "What did the Devil want from you?"

    She was in a tight spot.

    Bluffing was one of her main points. But when ites to serious stuff, she knew that she wouldn''t be able to lie to her father. He wouldn''t be an emperor if he was easily fooled.

    So instead of lying, she just decided to not tell the whole truth.

    "I didn''t meet the Devil," she said. "The only I met was a humanoid ck cat named ''Gin.'' Apparently, he''s the Devil''s butler. He was sent to me to convince me to join their side even though they know my real identity."

    Sir Glenn looked surprised by that.

    From the corner of her eye, she saw Lewis turn to her. She could tell that her precious son was concerned about her.

    "They know that you''re the royal princess?" Emperor Niki asked. "Carry on."

    "I rejected their offer," she said. She purposely didn''t say that Gin called her the future empress. Saint Macaroni¨C uhm Zavaroni already saw a vision of her taking the throne. If Papa Boss found out that the Devil also wanted her to be an empress, she''d be dead for sure. "My goal is to be ady of leisure after our contract expires. I don''t want to be involved in a political war. I''m toozy for that."

    "And they just let you go after you turned them down?"

    "Apparently, today was only an ocr visit," she said. "Gin also said that they don''t need Skewer for now because the Devil can''t wield it yet. He also said that it would take five more years for the Devil to be fully recovered. But I''m sure that they will definitelye back for me. And once they do, they wouldn''t be lenient anymore."

    "Hmm¡­" her Papa Boss said. "The Devil wouldn''t be interested in you if they didn''t see something valuable in you. After all, you can control the Death''s Scythe easily. When I held the scythe a while ago, it didn''t stop trying to kill me until I asked it to open up a gateway to hell. But it didn''t have the kind of reaction with you. That only means the Death''s Scythe has already considered you as its master. I can understand why the Devil is showing interest in you."

    "Papa Boss, with or without Skewer, I''m precious," she deadpanned. "You''re the only one who doesn''t see my value."

    "Ah, now I can confirm that you haven''t really been possessed," the emperor said, then he put his sword back in its sheath attached to his waist. His eyes also returned to its original color: light-gray¨C just like hers. "What did they offer to convince you to join their side and for you to turn them down easily? I thought the Devil is good at tempting humans."

    "They offered to give me the location of thete empress''s body."

    That seemed to shock her Papa Boss. Then, anger started to show on his face. The ground shook hard along with his feelings. "So, the Devil is really involved in the disappearance of Juliet''s body?"

    She just nodded.

    Of course, she had no intention of telling her father that the Devil also offered to tell her the truth about her parents in the previous lives that she had.

    "Why did you turn down their offer?"

    "Well, I don''t really care about thete empress," she said bluntly. That wasn''t entirely true. She was curious about thete empress because of how attached her father was to her. Still, that wasn''t enough for her to join the Devil''s side. "Plus, it''s the adults'' job to look for her body, isn''t it? Wouldn''t it be a shame if an eight-year-old girl stole that duty from the empire''s great noblemen?" She smirked smugly. "Papa Boss, you won''t ask for the help of the royal princess that you find inadequate just because she''s not born a male, will you? After all, princesses are only good for marrying-off to wealthy families, right?

    The emperor clenched his jaw in obvious annoyance.

    "Don''t expect me to do more than what our contract dictates, Papa Boss," she said with a bright smile. "I''m not the overachiever kind."

    "And rightfully so," her father said coldly. "I don''t care if the Devil is interested in you. Your position as Nero''s proxy won''t change. But if you show any sign of bing greedy for the throne, our contract ends."

    "Sure," Neoma said, then she covered her mouth with her hands when she yawned. "Can I leave now, Papa Boss?"

    Emperor Niki turned his back on her. "You''re dismissed, Neoma."

    <em>Sc*mbag.</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    "THERE''S a mole in us," Niki told Glenn who was walking behind him. "Somebody who knows the royal secret is sharing the information with the Devil."

    It wasn''t hard to figure that out after Neoma told him about the encounter she had with the Devil''s butler. Only a few people knew that she was acting as the royal prince because Nero was currently in a deep slumber.

    That meant there was a traitor among them.

    He wasn''t surprised by that anymore. It wasn''t like it was the first time that a spy had infiltrated his pce. But just like before, he would find them at all cost.

    "I''ll find the mole, Your Majesty," Glenn said seriously. "Just give me your orders."

    "Find the bastard," Niki said firmly. "Bring them to me as soon as you find them."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "PRINCESS Neoma, are you okay?"

    Neoma nodded at Lewis''s question even though she really felt exhausted.

    She might have overdone it when they were still in hell. After all, she had to put her guard up the entire time to make sure that Gin wouldn''t be able to attack her. Unfortunately, that meant spending most of her Mana in keeping Tteokbokki''s red dragon form for a long time.

    "I''m fine, Lewis," Neoma assured Lewis while they were walking towards the pond. Since she would go there to relieve stress by cussing at the emperor, she didn''t bring any knight or servant aside from her son. Lewis was enough for her protection after all. "I''m just a little tired."

    "Then, we should head back to your pce," Lewis said who was walking closely behind her. "You can cuss at the emperor in your room, Princess Neoma."

    "It wouldn''t feel the same," she insisted. And then, all of a sudden, she felt a strange burning sensation in her chest. It was painful as f*ck. Not only that. It also felt like it was draining her strength. "Lewis?"

    "Yes, Princess Neoma?"

    Neoma turned to Lewis and gave him an apologetic smile. "Catch me."

    And after that, everything went ck.

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 Chapter 73 - BLOOD OF A ROSEHEART

    "YOUR MAJESTY, the reason that Her Royal Highness copsed has nothing to do with her short trip to hell," Madam Hammock, the Royal Healing Sage, informed him after she checked on the royal princess. He summoned her in his office so right now, the Healing Sage was standing in front of his desk. "It seems like the blood of Roseheart in Princess Neoma''s veins is starting to awaken."

    Niki suspected that much. He put his teacup down on the table before he raised his head to meet the Healing Sage''s gaze. The relief on her face already told him that Neoma''s life wasn''t in danger. Well, he knew that the royal princess''s life wasn''t in danger. That was why he stayed in his office even though he heard of what happened to her. "If that''s the case, then we should just let her rest. We can''t stop the awakening of her blood anyway."

    The Healing Sage nodded in agreement. "Her Royal Highness might need a week''s worth of bed rest, Your Majesty. Even if she wakes up, please don''t let her leave her room."

    He just nodded. "You''re dismissed, Madam Hammock."

    Madam Hammock politely bowed to him before she left his office.

    When he was finally alone again (he asked Glenn to guard outside when he received Madam Hammock in his office a while ago), he leaned back in his seat and shut his eyes tight.

    <em>The Roseheart Blood is indeed alive in Neoma''s veins.</em>

    To be honest, House Roseheart used to be a high-ranking household in the empire. In fact, it was an old family. But the higher nobles during his great grandfather''s time weren''t happy with the special ability that the Rosehearts were "cursed" with.

    <em>And also, House Roseheart was the only matriarchal family in the empire back then.</em>

    The men were the ones who would marry into the Rosehearts and take their wife''sst name instead of the other way around. House Roseheart was given that privilege because their blood didn''t allow them to give birth to a son.

    <em>Yes, the children born into the Roseheart family were all girls.</em>

    The real reason why the higher nobles chose Juliet over Mona as his consort wasn''t simply because of her "filthy blood." They thought Mona couldn''t give him an heir, and so they did everything to separate her from him. Then, they pushed Juliet to be the next empress instead of a Roseheart.

    <em>But lo and behold, Mona gave me twins¨C a princess and a prince.</em>

    Since people knew that the Rosehearts couldn''t give birth to a son, a lot of nobles were skeptical about Nero''s "true" origin. But too bad for his detractors because the royal prince looked like his carbon copy.

    They couldn''t deny that Nero was his son because he had the physical traits that proved he was a de Moonasterio. Of course, his Mana, aura, and the life of the Soul Beast inside his soul were the most solid pieces of evidence that the royal prince was really his son.

    But the blood of a Roseheart was dormant in Nero''s veins.

    "Your Majesty?"

    "Come in," he told his knight.

    Glenn greeted him when he entered his office, then he stood formally in front of his desk. "Aren''t you going to visit Her Royal Highness, Your Majesty?"

    "Do I have to?" he asked. "It''s not like her life is in danger. The awakening of her mother''s blood in her is a natural process for a female Roseheart."

    House Roseheart had produced beautiful, strong, smart, powerful, and talented women in the empire during their household''s peak.

    And that was the reason for their downfall.

    The men in the empire hated the Rosehearts for standing out in every male dominated field. Soon, the nobles started to work together to bring House Roseheart down.

    That was the reason why during his father''s time as an emperor, their family had been reduced to a status of a lowly baron. Yes, baron and not baroness. During his grandfather''s reign, he forced the Rosehearts to stop being a matriarchal family.

    "Your Majesty, Her Royal Highness took care of you when you were sick a few years ago."

    "I didn''t tell her to look after me back then."

    Glenn let out a frustrated sigh. "Then, I guess I have no choice but to call Duke Quinzel instead since Princess Neoma was calling his name anyway. Luckily, Duke and Duchess Quinzel just arrived at the pce to visit their sick daughter."

    "What?" he asked with furrowed brows. "Repeat what you just said, Glenn."

    "Luckily, Duke and Duchess Quinzel just arrived¨C"

    "Not that," he snarled at the knight. Sometimes, Glenn could really be slow and dense. Good thing he was good at the battlefield. "The one that you said before that."

    "Ah," he said with a nod. "I visited Her Royal Highness a while ago. The royal princess said that she wanted to see Duke Quinzel."

    What was with her daughter and her obsession with Rufus?

    He didn''t cut off his good rtionship with his cousin even after Commander Gavin Quinzel, Rufus''s older brother, betrayed him for Mona.

    But now, that Rufus was starting to get on his nerves for some reason.

    "Please excuse me, Your Majesty," Glenn said, then he bowed to him. "I''ll just go and fetch Duke Quinzel¨C"

    "Let''s go," Niki said in an annoyed voice, then he stood up and red at Glenn whom he caught smiling in secret. "I want to see how the Great and Feisty Neoma has fallen now that she''s sick."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "I THOUGHT foul-mouthed children don''t catch cold."

    Neoma, still feeling like sh*t, red at her Papa Boss. Too bad she was still bed-ridden. If she could move freely, she would have sucker punched him already. It was a golden opportunity because there was only the two of them in her room right now. "Lewis, you forgot to take the trash when you went out."

    "Your little butler can''te and save you," Emperor Niki said, then he sat down on the chair that Lewis upied a while ago. "I instructed Glenn not to let anyone in unless I call for them. I know that you trust the foxy child with all your heart. But even if he''s strong, he''s still no match for Glenn when he gets serious."

    "Tsk," sheined but she couldn''t refute that.

    She knew that despite Sir Glenn''s carefree personality, he was a beast in the battlefield. He was even dubbed as the ''Emperor''s Human Soul Beast.''

    <em>Lewis needs to eat more rice before he beats Sir Glenn.</em>

    "Why are you here?" sheined. "If you''re here to see if I''m dying or not, well I have bad news for you: I''ll live. This fever won''t kill me."

    Madam Hammock said that she had fever.

    The Healing Sage also said something about her blood or something. She wasn''t listening because she had a stubborn headache a while ago.

    "You don''t have fever," her father denied. "The blood of Roseheart in your veins is awakening."

    "My mother''s blood?"

    "Yes," he said in a cold voice. "The females born in the Roseheart n are blessed with strong abilities. Let''s see what kind of ability you inherited from that lowly woman. It will manifest once your "fever" is gone."

    "Really now?"

    She didn''t believe it because she didn''t experience that in her first life.

    If her mother''s blood really had the ability to bless her with a special ability, then why didn''t it manifest back then?

    <em>Yeah, this sc*mbag must be sprouting b*llshit.</em>

    Well, she knew that the emperor had no reason to lie to her. But her headache was a b*tch so she couldn''t really think straight right now.

    <em>My big brain is probably overworked.</em>

    "I heard you were looking for Rufus."

    Her ears perked up at that. "Yes, Papa Boss," she answered with an eager nod. "I heard from Sir Glenn that Duke and Duchess Quinzel would visit Hanna. Can you ask the duke to visit me?"

    To be honest, she wasn''t ready to meet Duchess Quinzel again.

    She had too many bad memories with her adoptive mother in her second life. But she knew that meeting her was inevitable. Plus, just like she always reminded herself, she shouldn''t hurt the people who hurt her in the past if they hadn''t done anything to hurt her this time.

    Her goal was to be ady of leisure, not ady of vengeance.

    "Why do you like Rufus so much?" her Papa Boss asked her in a somewhat irritated voice. "You also act disgustingly polite and nice around him."

    If she didn''t know better, she''d think her Papa Boss was jealous of Duke Quinzel.

    <em>But, nah. It''s the sc*mbag we''re talking about here. He''s a heartless dude.</em>

    "Duke Quinzel is nice to me. I like him," Neoma said with a genuine smile. "If I could choose a father in this lifetime, I would choose Duke Quinzel over you in a heartbeat, Papa Boss."

    But of course, the number one father in her heart was still Won-shik Kim¨C her dad in her second life. Also, he seemed to be ''Commander Gavin Quinzel'' in this lifetime. But she didn''t want to investigate yet because she was afraid of what she might discover.

    She couldn''t put her life in danger when her position in the pce wasn''t secured yet.

    "What an ungrateful daughter," Emperor Niki said to her, then he covered her eyes with his hand before she could even say that she had nothing to be thankful to him. "Sleep for now."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NIKOLAI stood up and was about to leave when all of a sudden, Neoma grabbed the hem of his mantle. He turned to her and saw that she was still asleep.

    <em>Still feisty even in her sleep, huh?</em>

    He carefully reached for her little hand to make her let go of his clothes. But suddenly, the royal princess grabbed him by the wrist and forced him to sit down on the bed.

    <em>Ah, she''s really strong even for a de Moonasterio child.</em>

    Also, Neoma''s skin was warmer than usual. She really had a fever, huh? But despite that, she remained physically strong.

    "<em>Appa</em>," Neoma said in a trembling, cracked voice. <em>"Bogoshipoyo¡­"</em>

    Niki''s brows furrowed in confusion because he didn''t understand what his daughter just said. "Whatnguage is that, Neoma?"

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 Chapter 74 - A PEEK TO THE PAST

    "DON''T worry too much about Princess Neoma, Lewis," Glenn consoled the young knight. Right now, he was leaning against the door of the royal princess''s room. He had a feeling that the fox boy would try to enter the chamber if he moved from his spot. "Her life is in danger. She''s simply going through a process that people with blood like her have to experience."

    Lewis just red at him.

    "Even if you re at me, I won''t move from this spot," he told him with a softugh. "You can try to walk past me. I won''t kill you because Princess Neoma is fond of you. But I can''t promise that I won''t cut an arm or leg from you."

    It wasn''t an empty threat.

    Of course, he would rather not hurt a child. He had fought in too many wars already. The thing that would never leave his conscience alone was the faces of the children warriors that he had to kill then. He didn''t want to add Lewis to that list.

    So he was d when the fox boy toned down his bloodlust.

    "Oh, you''ve matured," heplimented the child brightly. "In the past, you didn''t know how to hold back. Do you remember when you attacked His Majesty''s Soul Beast recklessly?"

    Of course, the child ignored him.

    <em>Ah, he only likes talking to Neoma.</em>

    "I was also raised by the White Lion Knights so I have an idea what you might have learned from them," he said because well, he liked talking to other people. It was a breath of fresh air than his usual day following His Majesty around. "They taught you to choose your battle wisely, didn''t they? You should seriously follow that lesson, Lewis. You''re still too young to die."

    "I won''t die early."

    "Ah, finally," he said cheerfully. "I thought you were going to ignore me all night."

    He was d that Lewis seemed to value his life even more.

    To be honest, His Majesty ordered him to keep an eye on the fox boy.

    The reason why Lewis was sent to the White Lion Knights was for him to be surrounded by capable people as he trained. Even though Duke Sloane was gone, His Majesty had a feeling that there were still people who were after the fox boy and his Marble.

    ording to the emperor, Duke Sloane wasn''t smart or strong enough to work on his own. So he must have connived with someone else regarding thete Empress Juliet''s resurrection. The enemies might haveid low when the House Sloane was punished. But His Majesty was certain that they would definitely be back for Lewis.

    <em>I feel bad for Lewis and Princess Neoma. Despite having enormous power, they are still children. But they can''t enjoy their childhood because of the people who are after their abilities.</em>

    "Hang in there, Lewis," he said to the young knight. "The empire needs a talented knight like you to protect the throne."

    "No," Lewis said firmly. "My life and power belong only to Princess Neoma."

    All of a sudden, Glenn was reminded by the former Commander Gavin Quinzel''s dedication to Lady Mona Roseheart.

    It didn''t end well.

    "Lewis, Princess Neoma is still a royal princess," Glenn gently reminded the child. "You are his knight¨C and only that. Do you understand?"

    Lewis tilted his head at one side, his face nk as usual. "No."

    <strong>***</strong>

    WHEN NEOMA opened her eyes, she was greeted by her dad''s worried face.

    To be honest, she was surprised when she saw her dad because he wasn''t supposed to be home tonight. He had a big awarding ceremony that he was supposed to attend. Her father''s drama was the biggest and the most sessful show in South Korea this year.

    She was 100% sure that her dad would also bag the daesang award for his spectacr performance in that drama. The daesang award, or the grand prize for the Best Actor category, would definitely be awarded to his father.

    "Appa, why are you here?" Neoma asked in a cracked voice. She had a high fever and a nasty flu. Thus, she felt like crap. And she felt worse knowing that her father went home just to take care of her. "I''m okay. You shouldn''t have left the award show just for me. I''m sure that you''d get the daesang award tonight." She paused for a while because her throat hurt a little. Then, she continued. "Plus, you''re supposed to go on a date with eomma after."

    It was rare for her mother and father to have a long break at the same time.

    And so, the two decided to go on a short vacation without her. She was the one who insisted for her parents to spend time together with just the two of them.

    But then, she had to get sick.

    <em>Argh.</em>

    "The award show and the vacation don''t matter to us, princess," Won-shik Kim, her father, said gently. "Your mother is making your favorite mushroom soup."

    "I like it," she said with a weak smile. "But appa, it''s not toote to leave. I''m a big girl now and I don''t need you and eomma to take care of me. I just need a good night''s sleep. I''ll be good as new tomorrow morning."

    "No can do," her dad said while shaking his head. "Your mother and I will stay and take care of you. You are more important than anything else in the world, our Princess Neoma."

    She giggled at the pet name that her parents gave her.

    To be honest, at first, she felt awkward whenever they called her "princess" because of the memories of her first life. She was a royal princess back then, but she was neglected and abandoned by her own family.

    But luckily this time, her parents gave that name a new meaning.

    "Thank you for treating me like a princess, appa," she said genuinely. "You make me feel so special and I love it."

    "You are special, our little Princess Neoma," her dad said softly, then he kissed her on the forehead¨C making her close her eyes in the process. "We will not lose you this time, Your Majesty."

    <em>''Your Majesty?''</em>

    It was the first time that she heard that from her dad.

    But Neoma was too sleepy to ask. Plus, her stomach growled loudly. Her hunger beat her curiosity at that moment. "I want eomma''s mushroom soup, appa¡­"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "APPA, I''m hungry¡­"

    Niki red at Neoma. "Are you really still asleep?"

    He didn''t know how it happened but right now, he was lying on his side while Neoma was stuck beside him. She had her tiny arms around him and she wouldn''t let go. The royal princess also kept on mumbling incoherent things.

    "Let go," he ordered his child. "How can I ask for the servants to bring you food if you''re clinging to me like a monkey?"

    Of course, he could always just call for Glenn.

    But he''d rather die than let his nosy knight catch him in that awkward position. He would never hear the end of it from Glenn. Unfortunately, his personal knight was so keen in making him improve his father and daughter rtionship with Neoma.

    "I''m hungry," Neomained, her eyes still shut. "Appa, I want eomma''s mushroom soup¡­"

    That made him freeze on the spot.

    When he shut his eyes tight, a piece of an unpleasant memory began to flood his mind.

    <em>"What kind of nd dish is that, Mona Roseheart?" Niki asked while looking at the bowl of unknown soup that she offered to him. Right now, he was sitting on his bed while Mona upied the chair beside the bed. "Where''s the royal chef?"</em>

    <em>"Just try my specialty first," Mona insisted with a pout. "Don''t you trust me?"</em>

    <em>"I trust you, but not your cooking skills."</em>

    <em>"Hey!" sheined with a softugh. "This is just a mushroom soup. Anyone can make it right, you know?"</em>

    <em>He just have her a doubtful look.</em>

    <em>"Fine," she said. She looked pissed this time. "I''ll ask your royal chef to make you a fancy soup. I shouldn''t have offered to nurse an ungrateful brat like you. I''m leaving, Your Royal Highness."</em>

    <em>She would only refer to him by his title (if they were alone) when she was pissed.</em>

    <em>He couldn''t help but smile at the way she acted. It was adorable. He liked seeing different emotions on her face. "I''ll have a taste of it on one condition, Mona."</em>

    <em>She raised a brow at him. "And what might it be?"</em>

    <em>"Feed me," Niki said with a smirk. "I will only eat your "specialty" if you feed me yourself."</em>

    <em>Mona''s beautiful face turned red. "Why are you such a baby, Niki?"</em>

    Niki opened his eyes and when he did, Neoma''s sleeping face greeted him. "Mona, howe this child is craving for your "specialty" dish?"

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 Chapter 75 - MY SHINING INHERITANCE

    NIKOLAI put a hand on Neoma''s head, and used his magic to check if she was really sleeping or not.

    She was indeed asleep.

    So, his child was only talking in her sleep, it seemed.

    <em>Is it because of her fever?</em>

    When he was a child, he would also talk in his sleep when he was sick.

    Juliet would always "elegantly" use that opportunity in the past for her benefit. Whenever he was sick, she would often ask him for permission that she knew he wouldn''t give her if he was sober. That was how "cunning" thete empress was. But she never used those chances to do disgraceful things.

    If she would "exploit" his weakness, it was always for the good of other people.

    That was the kind ofdy she was.

    <em>Let me borrow your "trick," Juliet.</em>

    He didn''t want to do this but in the end, he was tempted to ask questions to Neoma that he would never ask her if she was awake.

    "Neoma, why are you craving for mushroom soup?" he asked his daughter. "I banned the dish from the royal menu a long time ago."

    She just mumbled something incoherent again.

    <em>This child is really¡­ feral.</em>

    <em>"Appa¡­"</em> Neoma whispered a littleter. "Dad¡­"

    His brows furrowed in confusion. "Who is this <em>"appa"</em> and "dad" that you keep calling, huh? I''m the only father that you have, brat."

    She frowned in her sleep. "Sc*mbag Papa¡­"

    He shut his eyes tight and pinched the bridge of his nose while trying to calm himself down. Patience¨C he needed a lot of patience when dealing with Neoma.

    "Duke Quinzel¡­"

    He opened his eyes and red at his daughter. "What about Rufus?"

    She smiled¨C and it was a genuine, innocent smile that she had never given him yet. "Best dad in this world¡­"

    That annoyed him.

    He knew that every time Rufus would visit the pce, he would allot time to have tea with Neoma or watch her train. But he didn''t know that his daughter would be this attach to the duke to the point that she already considered him as her "dad."

    "Ungrateful little princess," he said, then he gently flicked her forehead with his fingers. "I''m your only father in this world."

    Commander Gavin Quinzel already stole Mona from him.

    He wouldn''t let another Quinzel steal someone from him again. If that happened, he would destroy House Quinzel with his own hands. Laws be damned.

    But it wasn''t like he didn''t understand why Neoma would think that Rufus was a better father than him. He knew that he wasn''t good to the royal princess. Still, he couldn''t help it. Rather, he didn''t know how to raise a girl.

    He lost something important to him a few years ago, and that thing was exactly the reason why he was acting this way towards Neoma.

    "I know that I can never be the best father to you," Niki said, then he put his hand on top of her head. He used a small amount of magic to put Neoma into a deep sleep. She needed to rest for the entire week for her to recover fully. "But I will be the kind of employer that will see through our contract until the end, Neoma."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "AM I already in hell?" Neoma asked in a groggy voice because when she opened her eyes, she was greeted by Emperor Niki and Count Sprouse. "Why am I surrounded by demons?"

    Count Sprouse remained pokerfaced but she could see in his eyes that he was humiliated.

    On the other hand, her Papa Boss who was already used to her foul mouth, didn''t even bat an eye. "Glenn, bring Madam Hammock here. The royal princess is already awake," he said with his head slightly tilted to the direction of the door. Ah, Sir Glenn must be guarding outside her room. "Tell the head maid toe too and bring tools to cut Neoma''s hair."

    "As you wish, Your Majesty," Sir Glenn responded from outside the room.

    That made her brows furrowed in confusion. "Are you going to shave my head, Papa Boss?" She shook her head hard even though that action made her dizzy a bit. "I firmly object!"

    "Get up," the emperor ordered her. "Get up and look at yourself."

    Thankfully, she already felt well enough to not feel any pain when she got up.

    She was a little confused when she noticed that Count Sprouse brought a mirror to her. But she easily understood what was happening when she saw her reflection.

    "OMG!" she said when she realized that her hair was as now as long as Rapunzel''s. She also noticed that the strands of her hair were now pink. When she got angry before, the strands turned red. But it seemed permanent this time. But the most important thing was¡­ "I got prettier!"

    Count Sprouse was rendered speechless.

    On the other hand, her father let out a frustrated sigh.

    "It''s true though," she insisted while admiring herself in the mirror. "But gosh, my skin feels so dry. I should take a bath first. Then, I''ll take a lot of pictures to immortalize the moment that I got this pretty at age eight." She carefully touched her face with her small hands. "I''m scared of how more beautiful I would be in the near future. How can I live a quiet life if I have a face like this? <em>Eottoke¡­"</em>

    She bit her lower lip when she realized that she spoke Korean in front of other people. <em>''Eottoke''</em> meant ''how/what to do?'' but sometimes, she would trante the phrase in her head as simply "oops."

    Thankfully, both the emperor and the count didn''t seem to care that much about the foreignnguage that she used. It was probably because they were used to her "nonsense."

    "Your Majesty, Her Royal Highness inherited the royal family''s vanity," Count Sprouse said to her father. "But I believe only Princess Neoma has this level of confidence in your family."

    The emperor just pinched the bridge of his nose.

    "I have the face to back-up my arrogance," she insisted. She was just really hyped that her long hair grew back. Wait, what? "Huh? How did my hair grow this long so fast? How long was I asleep, Papa Boss?"

    "One week," her Papa Boss said. "The fast growth of her hair was because of your awakening."

    "But didn''t I already awaken a few years ago?"

    "The one that awakened back then was your Soul Beast," her father exined. "This time, the blood of the Roseheart flowing through your veins has awakened."

    She blinked in surprised. "My mother''s blood¡­?"

    He nodded. "The fact that the strands of your hair have changed is proof that the Roseheart in you has awakened."

    "Ah¡­ yes."

    She remembered that in the picture that Sir Glenn showed her a few years ago, her mother had pinkish hair.

    <em>Is my mommy the reason why I love pink?</em>

    Come to think of it, she had naturallye to like the color pink because she grew up surrounded by pink stuff from her clothes to her school stuff. In her second life, her mother didn''t have pink hair.

    "Papa Boss, if I cut my hair short, am I going to lose the pink strands?" she asked, then she looked up at him. "I want to keep my two-toned hair. It suits me."

    Well, that was just her vanity talking.

    But in reality, she just wanted to keep the color of hair because she wanted a physical reminder of her mother in her. She already looked like her father a lot. It wouldn''t be that bad to inherit a physical trait from her mommy.

    "Kyle, leave us alone," her Papa Boss told the count. "I need to talk to the royal princess in private."

    "As you wish, Your Majesty," Count Sprouse said to her father, then he bowed to her and the emperor before he left the room.

    She wanted to ask her Papa Boss where Lewis was. But when she saw how serious he looked, she realized that he was about to say something important. So instead ofining, she got into a formal kneeling position on the bed.

    After all, she got manners and sh*t if needed.

    "Neoma, your mother''s family used to be a threat to the royal family," her Papa Boss said seriously. "They have an ability that my predecessors feared. Do you have any idea what it is?"

    She shook her head. "Nobody talks about my mother and her family in the pce."

    "Your mother has the ability to borrow power from spirits, and sometimes she could also summon gods and ask them to lend her their strength."

    She gasped in surprise. "That is so lit, Papa Boss," she said while pping her hands. "My mother was so badass¨C I mean awesome."

    Her father remained serious. "Your mother kept her ability because she knew that the higher nobles who detested their n would kill her. She survived by pretending that she didn''t inherit that ability from her predecessors," he continued. "But s, that great of a power couldn''t be hidden for so long. When the higher nobles found out that Mona had the ability to borrow power from the gods, she was hunted down."

    "But how did they found out that my mother has that ability?" she asked curiously. "Did she identally use her power in front of people who shouldn''t know?"

    "The color of her hair changed," his father said. "From light gold, her hair turned into the color of camellias."

    Camellia flowers, in the empire, were known for their pretty shade of pink. So even though camellias ranged from white to red, she knew that her Papa Boss was telling her that her mother''s hair changed into pink when he mentioned that flower.

    She automatically touched her now long hair. "Does it mean I''ve inherited my mother''s ability, Papa Boss?"

    "We''ll know if you manage to use it."

    "Can I use it then?"

    "If you are Nero, yes," her Papa Boss said. "The higher nobles won''t mind a powerful crown prince. But they are afraid of a capable female descendant of House Roseheart."

    "Ah."

    "Are you not going to ask why they''re afraid of a female Roseheart?"

    "I don''t ask stupid questions, Papa Boss," she said. "It''s obvious, isn''t it? The bigots in the empire are afraid of strong independent women." She smirked and shook her head. Of course, there was also the thing about Saint Zavaroni''s prophecy. "You''re afraid to be ruled by a woman, aren''t you?"

    "Neoma¨C"

    "Considering my abilities, cunningness, and arrogance, I know that I can be an empress if I want to," she said, cutting-off her father. "Lucky for you, Papa Boss. I don''t have any intention to lead this empire¨C I''m too good for all of you."

    Her father looked at her straight in the eye as if he was trying to gauge if she was lying or not. "What''s your goal, Neoma?"

    "To be a truedy of leisure after Nero returns to his rightful ce," she said with a business smile. "Just because I''m pretty, smart, talented, and powerful doesn''t mean I have to take an important role. Plus, although I''m thankful for my luxurious life, I don''t feel like sacrificing my life for the empire that only values men." She paused for a while before she shrugged. "I''m toozy to change the system, too."

    She felt a protest in her chest from the remaining pureness in her heart.

    But of course, she ignored that. In a dog-eat-dog world, caring for other people was a luxury she didn''t have¡­

    ¡­ or she was trying to get rid of, at least.

    "I see," the emperor deadpanned. It was obvious that he already expected to hear that answer from her. After that, he fell silent for a while. When he spoke again, she got shivers down her spine. "''Appa, bogoshipoyo¡­''"

    Neoma swallowed hard. It meant ''Dad, I miss you'' in Hangul/Koreannguge. Did I say those words while I was asleep?

    "Those are words that I haven''t heard before," Emperor Niki said while giving her a questioning look. "Whatnguage is that, Neoma?"

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 76 - THE AUDACITY OF THIS B*TCH

    <strong>TRIGGER WARNING</strong>: A slightly detailed scene of c/hild a/buse (physical). Please skip the chapter if it will trigger a trauma. Or stop reading after Neoma left her office with Lewis to go to Rubin''s room. I''m sorry, that scene is very necessary for Neoma''s development. I hope you understand.

    <strong>***</strong>

    "WHAT LANGUAGE is that, Neoma?"

    "What are you talking about, Papa Boss?" Neoma asked, acting as nonchnt as she could. "If I talked in my sleep, then it might just be incoherent talking, you know?"

    "You say things that I don''t understand sometimes," Emperor Niki said with a raised brow. "But I''m pretty sure they were never "incoherent.""

    Argh. She hated it when her father looks down on her. But it didn''t feel great too if he overestimated her in that kind of situation. Thankfully, her expertise in lying was backed up by her creativity.

    "Fine, you got me there, Papa Boss. I''ll now reveal my secret to you," she said with a shrug. "Actually, I invented anguage that doesn''t exist in this world in order to bad-mouth you. I mean, even if you''re like that, you''re still the emperor. I might get beheaded for treason if other people hear me talk sh*t about you."

    "It''s an honor for me to be your inspiration for creating a whole newnguage, Princess Neoma," he said in a very sarcastic tone. "Judging by how you cursed at me in the pond every time I make you upset, I didn''t think you''d care about being heard by other people."

    She almost choked on her saliva. "Papa Boss, you know that I go to the pond to cuss at you?" Her brows furrowed when she realized something. "Was it Sir Glenn?"

    Sometimes she would feel the knight''s presence near them. But since he wasn''t a threat to her, she''d just ignore it. She didn''t expect him to "betray" her though, so she was a little disappointed.

    "Glenn works for me and not for you."

    "He''s still a snitch."

    He just rolled his eyes at her. "I thought I told you to stop cussing at me?"

    "I''m not cussing at your face these days, Papa Boss," she insisted. "Cut me some ck and allow me to cuss at you behind your back. I''m going to die of a heart attack if I don''t have an outlet for my rage."

    "It''s not like you''ll listen to me even if I tell you to stop cussing altogether," he said bluntly. "I don''t care if you cuss but make sure other people won''t hear it. But you have to follow this order: never let anyone else fine out that you inherited your mother''s power."

    "But I''m posing as Nero now."

    "It would be a problem if it turns out that Nero didn''t inherit your mother''s power."

    "Is it possible that Nero wouldn''t inherit the same power as I did even though we''re twins?"

    "It is highly possible," the emperor said firmly. "So be careful, Neoma. The first sign that your power as a Roseheart has awakened is when you start hearing voices of the spirits. If that happens, tell me right away."

    "Sure, I can do that," she said, then she gave her father the best business smile she could muster at the moment. "But Papa Boss, I want something in return."

    "Of course, everything is a trade to you," Emperor Niki deadpanned. It was both funny and relieving to know that her father was already used to her terms. Every day, it seemed like they were getting better and better at dealing with each other. "What do you want in return?"

    "Can I wear a pretty dress and take a lot of pictures before Stephanie cuts my hair? I need to immortalize the moment I turned this pretty," Neoma said, then she raised her right hand as if she was taking an oath. "I promise I''ll make sure that no one else will see the pictures."

    <strong>***</strong>

    <em>I LOOK like a pretty doll.</em>

    Neoma was aware that she should wait for other people to tell her that she was pretty. But she couldn''t help praising herself while she was looking at her reflection in the mirror. She was d that the peach dress that Stephanie brought her suited her well.

    To be honest, the dress with a lot ofces and ruffles looked too childish for her taste. But when she wore it, she realized that she could pull off any clothes and style.

    Plus, Stephanie gave her a pretty half up dutch crown braid.

    <em>Now I look like a proper princess with this "crown!"</em>

    "Princess¡­?"

    She turned around when she heard Lewis''s voice. When Stephanie left the room, she asked her to tell Lewis toe to her room. It had been a while since she saw her son. She was sure that he was worried about her so she wanted him to know that she had already recovered.

    "Lewis, how do I look?" Neoma asked while twirling around. Then, she stood in front of him. "I look like a real princess now, don''t I?"

    Lewis, as usual, just looked at her with a nk look on his face.

    Yet, his golden eyes aglow.

    "Your eyes are so pretty, Lewis!" she gushed, then she tiptoed to take a closer look at his golden orbs. "Wow. They''re really gold."

    Lewis''s face suddenly turned red. Then, he stepped away from her while covering the lower part of his face with his forearm. Still, his golden eyes remained aglow. "Cut your hair, Princess Neoma."

    "Huh?"

    "Cut it," her son said firmly, then he turned his back on her and practically bolted out of the room. "Your long hair will only be a hindrance to your training!"

    That was the first time that she heard Lewis raise his voice.

    "Lewis doesn''t understand a girl''s heart," Neoma said to herself while shaking her head. "I guess he''ll have a hard time looking for a bride in the future."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA was satisfied after her photo shoot.

    The cameras in that world were simr to the old cameras that they had back in the modern world. The difference was that the cameras in the empire needed spirit stones to work. It also functioned like a proid. She immediately got her photos.

    But instead of films, her photos came out in a paper-thin and light stone tablet. It was the size of half an A4 paper.

    <em>With some magic, I can change these pictures into any size that I want.</em>

    "Princess Neoma, are you listening?" Lewis, who stood beside her, asked in his usual monotonous voice. "Should I continue my report?"

    "I don''t care about the lessons I missed. I''m sure I can catch up with them," Neoma said while admiring her pictures on the desk. She was in her study room but instead of checking the lessons that she missed, she was too busy being a narcissist. She couldn''t help it though. It had only been a few hours since Stephanie cut her hair short, but she already missed her long hair. Thankfully, the pink tone in the strands of her hair remained. "Ah, wait," she said, then she looked up at Lewis. "How is Hanna?"

    "Lady Quinzel was brought to the temple by her parents," he said. "The youngdy will be back three days from now."

    It was a relief.

    If Hanna would return soon, that only meant that she was in a good condition already.

    "How about Rubin?" she asked. "Is he alright?"

    "Yes."

    She blinked several times while waiting for Lewis to say more. But he didn''t. "That''s it?"

    He just shrugged.

    "Gosh," sheined lightly. "Lewis, are you in your rebellious phase?"

    He remained silent.

    She clicked her tongue, then she stood up. "Let''s go."

    Lewis tilted his head at one side. "Where?"

    "To Rubin''s room," Neoma said with a business smile. "Since you don''t want to report to me properly about his condition, I''ll just personally check on him."

    <strong>***</strong>

    WHEN Neoma arrived in front of Rubin''s room, she realized that Lewis wasn''t in his rebellious stage. He purposely didn''t report to her about the young lord''s condition because he didn''t want her to get worried. She wouldn''t say that Lewis did the right thing, but she appreciated his concern.

    Still, Rubin was staying in her residence.

    <em>He''s my responsibility.</em>

    "Move," Neoma said coldly at the unfamiliar maids and knights that were currently blocking her way. "Howe people I don''t know are here in my pce?"

    One of the maids, the oldest one and probably the head maid, bowed lowly to her. "We are the servants of House Drayton, Your Royal Highness," she said. "We apologize but we need to ask you to returnter. Lord Drayton is still talking to the young master."

    By "talking," the head maid meant the duke beating up his own son.

    She clenched her fists while listening to Rubin''s cry while begging Duke Drayton to stop hurting him. "Lewis, answer me properly this time," she said in a cold tone. "How was Rubin''s condition while I was asleep?"

    "Duke Drayton apparently feels guilty that Sir Rubin wasn''t able to protect you properly when you were dragged to hell, Your Royal Highness," Lewis informed her. "As punishment, the duke told the servants of your pce to not give the young lord any food. Instead, only a ss of water was served to Sir Rubin every meal time for the past seven days. Whenever Duke Drayton visited and you weren''t awake yet, he woulde to the young lord''s room to beat him up."

    Only her closest aides were informed that she was already awake because she asked her Papa Boss a while ago to give her a day-off for her photo shoot. If she knew that it would lead to Duke Drayton beating up Rubin, she would have announced that she was already up.

    "Your Royal Highness, please understand Lord Drayton," the head maid said. "This is just how our master trains his sessor. Every son of House Drayton has undergone this tradition."

    <em>B*llshit.</em>

    No wonder Rubin ended up with a poor mental health.

    "I don''t care about your family drama," she said, hiding the fact that she was angry for Rubin. "Who gave the duke the right to give orders to my servants in my ce while I was asleep? He even brought his own servants without my permission."

    The head maid flinched and bowed lower. "Our deepest apologies, Your Royal Highness."

    "Move," she said as she marched forward. "How dare a lowly maid block my way?"

    She hated herself for saying that, but she had to. In that world, that was the best way to assert dominance. If she asked nicely, the servants would think that she was weak and they would look down on her.

    It was part of her job to make sure that Nero would be respected (or feared) as a crown prince.

    <em>I''m so sorry, head maid. I know that you''re just doing your job. But I have no choice¡­</em>

    Her thoughts were cut-off when she realized that the five grown knights blocking the door to Rubin''s room didn''t move an inch. She was able to easily walk past the maids but it seemed like the knights were trying to test her patience.

    "Lewis," she called him in amanding voice.

    She didn''t have to say more.

    In just a span of a few seconds, the knights literally disappeared from her sight. She heard a loud bang behind her. She knew that it was Lewis''s doing so she didn''t turn to look anymore. Instead, she just knocked (lightly) on the door before she opened it and entered the room quietly.

    She wasn''t surprised anymore when she caught Duke Drayton beating Rubin with a fancy walking cane with an ivory handle and a ck wooden staff. The young lord was kneeling on the floor while covering his head with his arms.

    <em>What a terrible father.</em>

    And everyone in the pce who kept quiet about Rubin''s abuse was just as bad.

    She wasn''t trying to defend those sc*mbags but having said that, she still understood their silence. In the empire, people had no concept of "child abuse." There weren''tws to protect children from such cruelty. That applied even to the children of high-ranking nobles.

    The beating that Rubin was receiving right now was considered a form of discipline. As far as she knew, every noble household in the empire had various ways of torturing their children that they guised as "tradition" or "discipline."

    "Isn''t it funny that we havews that protect animals from abuse but we don''t have one to protect the children?" Neoma asked sarcastically. <em>I want to curse so bad.</em>

    Duke Drayton stopped hitting Rubin with his crane, then he turned to her with a smile. F*cking old man had the audacity to smile at her as if he wasn''t just beating his son to death a while ago. "Your Royal Highness, I''m d that you''re awake," he said after his formal greeting. "Please don''t misunderstand. I am only doing this to discipline Rubin." He turned to his son. "Isn''t that right, son?"

    <em>"Son," my foot.</em>

    Rubin immediately stood up and bowed to her. "Father is right, Your Royal Highness," he said even though his head was bleeding and he had bruises all over his body. "It''s my fault that Father has to discipline me this way. Please don''t misunderstand."

    She clenched her fists tight until her nails dug deep into the skin of her palms.

    Since the empire had now against child abuse, children who experienced it didn''t even know that their tormentors could and should be punished for hurting them. Instead, they grew up thinking that they deserved the beating that they received.

    <em>I f*cking hate it.</em>

    If she hated it, she had to do something to change it, right? She knew that theirw dictates that a crown prince didn''t have the authority to createws. But she was aware that she had the power to influence the House of Lords to do so (while posing as Nero, of course).

    But creating aw was overstepping her boundary as a mere recement for her twin brother.

    She felt cold all over her body when she realized that to aplish her dream of bing ady of leisure, she had to close her eyes to the injustices happening around her.

    "Your Royal Highness?" Duke Drayton asked "worriedly." How could he worry about her when his own son was in a terrible state, thanks to his cruelness? That was the f*ckingst straw. "Is everything alright?"

    "No," Neoma said, then she opened her hands and took a deep breath. "Lewis, arrest Duke Drayton."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOUR MAJESTY!"

    "What?" Nikiined after Glenn entered his office in a disgraceful manner. But that scene was already familiar so he already knew what to expect. Thus, he didn''t stop doing his paperwork even though the knight stood in front of his desk while catching his breath. "What did Neoma do this time?"

    "It''s bad, Your Majesty," Glenn said in an urgent tone. "Princess Neoma ordered Lewis to arrest Duke Drayton! The duke is currently locked up in the basement cer under Her Royal Highness''s residence!"

    The tip of his fountain pen snapped when he pressed it a little too hard.

    He thought he was already used to Neoma''s bizarreness. But he was wrong. For the first time after a long while, he was fazed by his daughter''s ridiculous antics.

    And she did that when she just woke up.

    Niki pinched the bridge of his nose. "Bring Neoma to me."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 77 - IM NEOMA, IM OKAY

    "YOUR ROYAL Highness, I have arrived," Madam Hammock said while bowing to her. After Lewis arrested Duke Drayton (who surprisingly didn''t make a scene), she asked her butler to summon Madam Hammock. "I''m humbly waiting for your order."

    "Treat Rubin''s wounds," Neoma said to the Healing Sage. "Make sure not even a scratch would remain."

    Rubin looked surprised.

    But even though the young lord looked relieved, she could still see in his eyes that he was worried about his father.

    She would never understand why victims of abuse still felt attached to their abuser. But she would try her best not to be condescending to them. After all, they were fighting battles that she didn''t know about.

    "Sir Rubin, please take a seat and let me look at your wounds," Madam Hammock said. "And please take off your shirt."

    Rubin''s face turned red. "I-I''m okay. I can treat my wounds on my own."

    That was only proof that it wasn''t the first time that the young lord had to treat himself after getting beaten up by the cruel duke.

    "Let Madam Hammock do her job," she said to Rubin in a cold voice. "I''ll leave the room. Call me when you''re done."

    Before either of Rubin and Madam Hammock could give a response, she already turned her back on them. Then, she quickly and quietly left the room. She already asked the servants of Duke Drayton to leave her pce if they didn''t want to be thrown to jail too.

    Lewis greeted her when she got out of Rubin''s room. She didn''t want to breakdown in that ce so she walked past him. In fact, she walked faster until she reached her study room. As soon as she entered her room, she fell on her knees while catching her breath.

    "Princess¡­?" Lewis asked worriedly, then he knelt beside her while looking at her face. "Are you hurt?"

    She shook her head. "I f*cked up, Lewis. I overstepped my boundary. Papa Boss will surely kill me."

    "I won''t let His Majesty kill you, Princess Neoma."

    She turned to her son and smiled at him.

    Her situation didn''t change but she was d that she had Lewis by her side. She knew that she could trust him with her life.

    "Lewis, I let my emotions take over," she said to him seriously. "I made a huge mistake. Do you know what I''m talking about?"

    He nodded. "Arresting the duke."

    "Very good," she said with a firm nod. "There isn''t a strongw in the empire that protects children from their abusive parents. If I don''te up with a valid reason for having the duke arrested, I''m dead." She grabbed her hair in frustration. "Gosh, this is why I hate feelings!"

    She got very emotional a while ago because she witnessed how Rubin was beaten up by his own father. Even though Rubin hurt her in the past, she just couldn''t simply watch a child get physically abused in front of her and do nothing.

    "There are other ways to deal with Duke Drayton," she said, admitting her mistake. "It''s so not like me tomit such mistake."

    "It''s okay."

    She turned to Lewis with an irritated look on his face. "It''s okay that I made a mistake because I let my f*cking emotions get the better of me?"

    "You''ll not learn if you don''t make mistakes."

    "And what lesson should I learn from this?"

    Lewis shrugged. "Your arrogance will be your downfall?"

    She wanted to snap at her son but she realized that he was right.

    Well, she had really been too arrogant recently because she got away with the troubles that she had made in the past. Plus, because of her memories of her past lives, she had been too confident and reckless. She forgot that no matter how ridiculous thews and the traditions in the empire were for her, in the end, they were still the norm here.

    "But it''s okay because you''re Princess Neoma," Lewis said with enough confidence to make her feel better. "Most of all, you''ve already punched and cursed His Majesty. If those things didn''t get you in serious trouble, nothing else would do so."

    Neoma couldn''t help butugh. Ah, finally, she could breathe properly again. "You''re right, Lewis," she said with renewed confidence. "I''m Neoma, I''m okay."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA already expected that she''d be summoned in Emperor Niki''s office.

    So when Glenn fetched her from her study room, she was already prepared to face her Papa Boss. But she''d admit that she got a bit intimidated when he asked Sir Glenn and Lewis to leave the two of them in the office. Usually, he didn''t mind their knights. But if he asked them to give them privacy, it felt like she was in trouble for real.

    <em>Plus, he looks really mad.</em>

    "I heard that you got Duke Drayton arrested," her Papa Boss said seriously. "Give me a valid reason for doing so, Neoma."

    "Duke Drayton is an abuser," Neoma said firmly. God, the fact that she was standing in front of the emperor''s desk already felt like she was being punished. No tea for problem children, huh? "He deserves to rot in jail." Before her father could evenin, she spoke again. "Papa Boss, do you know that the duke is physically hurting Rubin?"

    He gave her a silence that sounded like ''yes.''

    "You''re just as horrible as the duke, do you know that?"

    "That''s how most nobles raise their heir apparent," her father insisted. "Didn''t I make you consume poison in the past so you''d build immunity against it? It''s just the same."

    "Yes, both of you are douchebag dads," she said bluntly. "No wonder this empire produces the same type of misogynistic bastards every generation."

    "Neoma de Moonasterio."

    "Emperor Niki de Moonasterio," she said firmly with clenched fists. "I admit that getting Duke Drayton arrested was a mistake. But my intention is clear: I want aw that will protect the children."

    "A crown prince doesn''t makews."

    "I know that, duh," she said. "I didn''t say that I''ll be the one to make it. I can just use my position to influence the people who make thew in our empire, including you."

    The House of Lords and the House of Commons make thews, but it was the emperor who legitimizes them via Royal Assent. Of course, that meant her father also had the power to reject the proposedw.

    He let out a frustrated sigh. "Neoma, do you want to get involved in politics now? If you were Nero, I wouldn''t mind. But I''m afraid that you''re overstepping your boundary as a mere recement for your twin brother."

    "Whether I like it or not, a royal princess like me has to be involved in politics, Papa Boss."

    Yes, she just epted the fact that she couldn''t turn a blind eye anymore.

    But she wasn''t giving up on her dream to be ady of leisure. She just thought that she had to work hard first before living an easy life.

    "But don''t worry,??? she assured the emperor. "My heart hasn''t wavered yet: I am not interested in the throne."

    "Then, why do you care that much about this empire?"

    "I don''t care about this empire," she denied strongly. "I care about the children. Unlike you, I still have a heart. At least let me protect the children without being threatened by my potential. Plus, you''re the emperor. All you have to do is to protect thew that forbids a princess to take the throne. Easy, right?"

    "I know that you''re not interested in the throne, Neoma," he said. "But I''m not the only one who knows your secret. Can you convince people like Kyle that you''re not trying to take the throne from your brother?"

    "I''ll be extra careful," she assured him. "I''ll clean my own mess, Papa Boss."

    "Does it mean you''ll deal with Duke Drayton yourself?"

    "Yes."

    "You''re not going to bring up thew about protecting the children in his face, are you?"

    "I won''t," she promised him. "I know it''s not the time to do that."

    He red at her. "That implies that you''re still nning to make thatw happen."

    She smiled brightly at him.

    Now was the time to put the memories of her first life to good use. Before the incident with Duke Drayton, she only used the memories of her past to avoid the misfortunes that woulde her way. But this time, she had other use for them.

    "Papa Boss, you''re a bad father but you''re a good emperor," she said with her self-dered infamous business smile. She didn''t mean that her Papa Boss was good as in kind. What she meant was he was a good leader. Under her father''s reign, the empire had flourished more than ever. "I know that you won''t reject aw that will protect the children of the empire."

    She knew because during her first life, when she turned fifteen, he signed aw that would protect children from abuse. And she clearly remembered the incident that made him decide to push for thatw to happen. Guess what she''s going to do with that information?

    "Neoma, your coronation is next month," Emperor Niki reminded her sternly. "I will the matter with Duke Drayton in your hands. But make sure that it won''t ruin your position as the crown prince or else¡­"

    "Or else, I can kiss my dream of bing ady of leisure goodbye," Neoma finished her father''s sentence with a smile. "I''ll go ahead, Papa Boss."

    <strong>***</strong>

    TO BE HONEST, Neoma was still unsure if she could really pull it off.

    By that, she meant the thing about thew that she wanted to be legitimized earlier than it did in her first life.

    <em>What am I working hard for?</em>

    Before facing Duke Drayton, she decided to go to the pavilion in the pond first to clear her mind. She wanted to make sure that she wasn''t just being impulsive. That she wouldn''t regret the three big decisions that she made today.

    So here she was now, squatting in the center of the pavilion while hugging her knees tight.

    "Princess Neoma, are you okay?"

    Neoma turned to Lewis and found her in the same pose as she was. "I''m okay. But starting today, we''ll be very busy, Lewis."

    Lewis blinked as if he was confused.

    "We''re going to look for the youngest duke in the empire."

    "Why?"

    "Because he''s the one who''s going to create thew that will protect the children of the empire," she said confidently. "Thanks to his "discovery," both the nobles and themoners would demand for thewmakers to pass aw that will give proper protection to the children."

    In her past life, the incident that she mentioned happened when she was fifteen. So that meant it was supposed to happen in this lifetime seven years from now. But if she would be able to find the youngest duke, then they might change the present.

    <em>I don''t mind changing my fate. But the fact that the fate of other people are now in my hands, I feel scared. What if I mess up?</em>

    But despite her fear, she had already made up her mind.

    The first decision that she made was to fulfill her duty as a royal princess even though it would be credited to Nero in the future.

    Second, she decided to use the memories of her first life to change the present.

    Andstly¡­

    "Princess Neoma, why do you sound so sure about what''s going to happen in the future?" Lewis, who was quiet but sharp, asked curiously. "Have you seen a prophecy or something?"

    "Lewis, this isn''t the first time that I''m living this life as Neoma de Moonasterio," Neoma said seriously. Lewis, on the other hand, remained pokerfaced. It was hard to read her son''s emotions but she continued with her confession anyway. "Will you believe me if I say that I was reborn into this lifetime?"

    Yes, thest big decision that she made today was to reveal her "royal secret" to Lewis.

    <strong>***</strong>

    <strong>NOTE</strong>: Hi! This is a gentle reminder to please be kind when asking for more updates. I received somements that sound rude while demanding for me to post more chapters. I''m sorry but I''m really busy because I have a job + I''ve already mentioned that my mother is sick. I''m sorry for the slow updates. I''m trying to post daily. Hoping for your kind understanding. Thank you. ^_^

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story in your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 78 - STORY OF MY LIFE

    "IS IT really okay to let Princess Neoma deal with the matter regarding Duke Drayton''s arrest, Your Majesty?"

    "It''s Neoma that we''re talking about here," Niki said without looking up at Glenn. He still had a lot of work that he needed to finish for the uing coronation. "I''ll meet the duke once the royal princess is done talking to him."

    "I''m wondering why Duke Drayton is silent," Glenn wondered aloud. "I heard from the witnesses that the duke didn''t resist when Lewis apprehended him. He didn''t even demand for the "crown prince" to exin why he was imprisoned."

    "Duke Drayton is angry."

    "Your Majesty?"

    "He is angry," he said, then he looked up at his knight. "He''s quiet because he''s nning a grand revenge for the humiliation that the "crown prince" made him go through."

    The knight suddenly looked concerned. "Then, shouldn''t you deal with His Grace instead of leaving the matter to Princess Neoma, Your Majesty?"

    "That was my n. The duke is a cunning man and I thought not even Neoma could handle him," he admitted. "But Neoma dered that she''s going to clean up after the mess that she created. I''d like to see how she''ll get the job done."

    "Aren''t you overestimating Her Royal Highness, Your Majesty?" Glenn asked worriedly. "Although Princess Neoma is the cutest, smartest, bravest, and the most charming girl in the whole empire, she''s still a child."

    "Neoma is also the rudest, the most sarcastic, and the most arrogant girl in the whole empire," he said bluntly. "She''s not a child¨C she''s a little devil. And why are you showering her with praises?"

    He chuckled while scratching his cheek. "I lost in a bet with Princess Neoma a few years ago, Your Majesty. As punishment, I had to say that she''s the cutest, smartest, bravest, and the most charming girl in the whole empire for one hundred times. From then on, the phrase was stuck in my head."

    He shook his head at that stupid reasoning. "You''re so gullible when ites to Neoma."

    "She''s your daughter, Your Majesty," the knight said with that annoying bright smile of his. "That''s more than enough reason for me to treat her well. And it''s not that hard to get fond of Her Royal Highness. She''s like an enigma."

    "An enigma?"

    He nodded. "Princess Neoma sometimes talk like¨C"

    "Like she''s not from this world?"

    Glenn''s face lit up. "You noticed too, Your Majesty?"

    "Of course," he said seriously. "Even though the de Moonasterio children are born more mature mentally than average children, Neoma is still different."

    "Aren''t you curious why the royal princess is different, Your Majesty?"

    "I am," he admitted. "That''s why I''m keeping a close eye on Neoma."

    "Do you have any idea as to why Princess Neoma is special, Your Majesty?"

    "For now, I think it has something to do with her blood as a Roseheart," Niki said. "If Neoma inherited the "duty" of her n, then it will suffice as an exnation as to why she shines brightly despite being a mere Second Star."

    "I hope Princess Neoma didn''t inherit the duty of the Rosehearts," Glenn said with a sad smile. "I don''t want our royal princess to end up like a withered rose, Your Majesty."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "AND THAT''S the story of my first life," Neoma ended her story about her first life. "I ended up getting killed by Nero because of my greediness."

    Lewis looked pale after hearing her story.

    She felt bad that she gave her son a huge shock by revealing her big secret to him. But to be honest, she felt relieved. At least now, she felt a little less lonely.

    "It''s okay if you don''t believe me yet, Lewis," she told him. "I know that it''s hard to believe that I was reborn into this lifetime."

    "No, I believe you," Lewis said in a firm voice. "You''re the only person that I trust with everything I have, Princess Neoma."

    She smiled at that. "Thank you, Lewis."

    He just nodded. And then, after a few seconds of silence, he spoke again. "Princess Neoma, let me see if I get it right: you were kicked out of the pce, adopted by House Quinzel where the duchess made you live like Lady Hanna Quinzel, then you got engaged with Rubin Drayton and¡­" His golden eyes glowed in anger, but she knew that his anger wasn''t directed at her. "He cheated on you with a lower noble called Regina Crowell."

    "Yep, those little b*tches cheated on me," she confirmed with a nod. "Rubin Drayton and Regina Crowell were supposed to kill me a month after getting officially married to Rubin. They nned to make it look like an ident. During that time, they were only waiting for Regina Crowell to be officially adopted by Duchess Amber Quinzel. Unfortunately, the duchess was brainwashed by Regina Crowell to believe that Hanna''s soul entered her body. The duchess also did everything to block me from sending a message to Duke Quinzel. And so, I was forced to find a way to survive."

    He let out a deep sigh as if he was trying to calm down. "By seeking the help of a ck Witch called Dahlia. You tried to bind your life force with Prince Nero so that he and His Majesty would be forced to protect you. But unfortunately, Regina tipped the crown prince about your n. And so, Prince Nero killed you before you could even find the ck Witch."

    "Uh-huh," she said. "That''s the story of my pitiful first life."

    "What was my role in your life back then, Princess Neoma?"

    "Nothing," she said with a shrug. "I don''t even know if you were aware of my existence back then. The only thing I remember about you back then is you were Nero''s loyal but crazy right-hand man."

    His shoulders suddenly slumped in obvious disappointment. "I was stuck with the crown prince while you were suffering alone," He looked devastated all of a sudden. "I''m sorry I failed to protect you back then, Princess Neoma."

    Sheughed softly at her reaction. "It''s okay, Lewis. We didn''t meet back then for us to have a connection like we do now. I don''t me you for failing to protect me."

    He still looked like he hated himself. "But if Rubin Drayton hurt you that way in the past, why are you still kind to him?" he asked, then he scowled. "You should have let him get beaten to death by his father, Princess Neoma. He doesn''t deserve your mercy."

    "I know, right?" she agreed with an awkward life. "I told myself that I shouldn''t get involved in Rubin''s personal life. But I can''t just sit and watch a child get beaten up like that. He''s not the man who hurt me in the past. In this lifetime, he''s just a poor abused boy."

    "But what if fate pushes Rubin Drayton to be your fianc¨¦ again in this lifetime, Princess Neoma?" he insisted. "I''m sure he''d do the same thing he did back in your first life."

    "Then, should I also expect you to abandon me for Nero once he wakes up because it was your fate to be his loyal knight in the past?"

    He didn''t have a retort to that.

    She smiled at him as constion. "Lewis, I am only helping an abused child because my conscience will not let me sleep at night if I turn a blind eye to that matter. But I assure you, I won''t fall in love with Rubin Drayton in this lifetime. I have already changed my supposed fate and I intend to continue doing so." She stood up and stretched her arms. "Don''t worry about it too much, Lewis. I have learned a lot of things from my second life."

    "Your second life?" Lewis asked when he stood up. "You had a second life, Princess Neoma?"

    "Yeah. I was born in a modern world in my second life. I''ll tell you about it some other time," Neoma said as she began walking out of the pavilion. "For now, I have to meet Duke Drayton first."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "LORD DRAYTON, you were surprised, weren''t you?" Neoma asked the duke with a (fake) apologetic smile. After freeing the duke from jail, she brought him to the tearoom of her pce. "First of all, I''d like to apologize for getting you arrested, Your Grace."

    Duke Drayton''s face remained nk. He looked calm but she could clearly see in his eyes that he was seething. "May I know the reason for my arrest, Your Royal Highness?"

    "Your "official" offense is the fact that you gavemands to my servants in my very own pce while I was unconscious," she said, then she put her teacup down on the table. "Not even my Papa, the emperor, does that without my permission. Here in nco Pce, my power is absolute. If I let you go unpunished, I''m afraid that my servants will forget who their master is."

    She would like to thanks the heavens for her wit.

    And her mother, of course. She read in a book in her second life that a child''s intelligence was inherited from their mother.

    <em>I just know that my good genes came from my mommy and not my Papa Boss.</em>

    "That''s¡­ eptable," Duke Drayton said, the anger on his face starting to melt away. "I acknowledge that it was wrong of me to order your servants around, Your Royal Highness. But don''t you think that getting me arrested is a little excessive?"

    "I had to put a good show in front of Rubin, Your Grace," she lied. Yes, she hade up with another lie. After all, the duke spoke the truth when he said that getting him arrested for a small offense was a bit extreme. In the empire, people with a high status like Duke Drayton couldn''t be easily arrested or put in a trial without solid evidence of a grave crime. "I wanted Rubin to see me as an ally. As of now, he''s still aloof. I thought that if I take his side, he''d realize that I''m a friend that he can trust."

    The duke raised a brow at that. "Is there a reason why you want to get my son to open up to you, Your Royal Highness?"

    "What''s wrong with befriending the son of House Drayton?" she asked with her usual business smile. If she could lie to Emperor Nik''s face, then she could do that to anyone else. "My coronation is already next month, Your Grace. It''s my debut in high society. I want to show off my friends by then."

    He let out a small smile as if he was satisfied with her reasoning. "Are you saying that you need my son, Your Royal Highness?"

    "No, it''s the other way around," she said with a bigger smile this time, making the duke go rigid once again. "Rubin is the heir apparent of House Drayton. But his reputation as a frail boy is too widely spread that everyone doubts if he truly deserves to lead your family in the future. But if Rubin, the apparently meek heir of House Drayton, shows up beside the newly crowned prince, don''t you think that other people''s opinion of him will change?"

    "What will you gain from that, Your Royal Highness?"

    "We will have a mutual benefit from my friendship with Rubin," she said. "You know that other higher nobles look down on me because of my mother, don''t you? I need to have good friends that will also serve as strong allies to me. But of course¡­" She sipped her tea before she continued. "Rubin isn''t the only option that I have for a friend, Your Grace. I am simply offering a friendship to your family because your son was almost engaged to my twin sister."

    She had to say that Rubin wasn''t the only choice that she had so that Duke Drayton wouldn''t think that she needed his son more than Rubin needed her. After all, she had to have the upperhand in that conversation.

    <em>And yes, even choosing your friends in this empire is politics.</em>

    "I don''t mean to be rude but may I know if there''s a better candidate other than my son to be your friend and ally, Your Royal Highness?" he asked. Of course, his pride as a Drayton wouldn''t bend easily. "I heard that you are in good terms with the daughter of House Quinzel. But although the Quinzels are arguably equal to our family, having your cousin stand beside you during your coronation wouldn''t be that impressive. After all, she''s your family so it''s only natural for the daughter of House Quinzel to be your femalepanion."

    Well, that was true and she already expected that kind of retort.

    Thankfully, she had already cleared her mind a while ago. Plus, she wouldn''t be having that kind of conversation with the duke if she wasn''t prepared.

    "Lord Jasper Hawthorne."

    Duke Drayton''s eyes widened in shock. "Lord Hawthorne is the youngest duke in the empire. But he''s also known as the most elusive noble of all, Your Royal Highness. Don''t tell me¡­"

    Neoma smiled confidently although she had never had any kind of connection to Jasper Hawthorne¨C now and then. "Between Rubin and Lord Hawthorne, I guess you already know who''d be a better ally to me, Duke Drayton."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "LORD HAWTHORNE officially inherited his father''s title when he was only ten years old. He was that young when he lost both of his parents," Neoma said while walking back to the pond with Lewis half a step behind her. "But even though he was only that young back then, he was still able to protect his title from his greedy rtives. He is known as a genius after all. But he''s also known for being elusive. I heard he hates the high society. So for the past three years since he became a duke, he still hasn''t gone out of his estate to mingle with his fellow nobles."

    "Is he the noble that you mentioned a while ago, Princess Neoma?" Lewis asked. "The one that created thew that will protect the children from abuse?"

    "Yes," she confirmed with a nod. She remembered Duke Hawthorne because of his achievements despite his young age. "During my first life, when I was fifteen, Papa Boss signed thew that Lord Hawthorne proposed. But that would be seven years from now. That''s why I''m not sure if my n will work." In this lifetime, Duke Hawthorne was only thirteen years old. "But despite that, I still intend to reach out to him." She stopped walking when she reached the pavilion, then she turned around to face her son. "You''ll help me, don''t you?"

    "Of course, Princess Neoma."

    She smiled at Lewis''s quick and firm answer. "Thank you, Lewis."

    He just looked at her nkly.

    And then, much to her surprise, he drew his sword from the sheath.

    She wasn''t threatened because she knew that Lewis could never hurt her. Instead, she just admired his beautiful sword. The de was sharp and the symbol of the White Lion Knights was engraved in it. Plus, the hilt of the sword was white with gold ornaments.

    "Your Royal Highness," Lewis said seriously, then he got down on one knee while ramming the de of the sword into the floor. Then, he bowed his head low. "My loyalty doesn''t lie with the throne or Prince Nero. I swear on my life that the only master I will serve is you." He raised his head and looked at her straight in the eye. His golden orbs were glowing. But this time, they were glowing because of something akin to admiration. "From this moment on, I, Lewis Crevan of the Silver Fox n, will only be Princess Neoma de Moonasterio''s sword and shield."

    Neoma covered her mouth with her hands when she gasped in surprise. <em>That was the knight''s oath!</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

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 Chapter 79 - MY ADVANCE BIRTHDAY GIFT

    "LEWIS, you just gave your knight''s oath to me," Neoma said in disbelief. "Do you know what that means? You can only give your pledge of loyalty once."

    Lewis nodded. "I know, Princess Neoma."

    "How can you serve Nero once he returns now that you gave your knight''s oath to me?"

    "I never intended to serve the royal prince."

    "Shh!" she scolded him. "If my father hears you, he''ll get mad. He brought you here in the Royal Pce because he wanted you to be Nero''s knight."

    He tilted his head to one side. "I already told His Majesty that I''ll follow you once you leave the Royal Pce."

    Her eyes widened in shock. "And Papa Boss allowed you to live after that?"

    He just nodded.

    She pinched the bridge of her nose.

    Of course, hearing that Lewis said that to Emperor Niki gave her a mini heart attack. Her father was a ruthless person. It was a miracle that he allowed Lewis to live even after he said that he chose her over Nero, the real crown prince.

    But on the other hand, she was happy that Lewis was really on her side.

    "Well, I have no choice now but to bring you with me once I leave the pce," Neoma said, then she stretched her arms. "But for now, let''s go back to the pce and get some much needed rest." She covered her mouth with her hands when she yawned. "We have to work hard first before we escape this hellhole."

    Lewis stood up and nodded. "Yes, Princess Neoma."

    ***

    NEOMA smiled as soon as Hanna stepped out of the carriage.

    She heard that her cousin would arrive at her pce alone because Duke and Duchess Quinzel had to visit their dukedom for an official business. Apparently, they were supposed to bring Hanna with them. But Hanna insisted to go back to her residence instead of going to a trip with her parents.

    I love her for that.

    "Wee back, Hanna," Neoma said when Hanna walked towards her. She got so excited that she hugged her cousin despite having an audience. "Thank you foring back."

    She noticed that Kate, the personal maid that Hanna brought with her, averted her gaze.

    Even without looking, she knew that the servants behind her did the same thing. That was probably their little way of giving her privacy with Hanna. After all, the only people around them who knew that she wasn''t the real crown prince were Alphen, Stephanie, and Lewis.

    "Thank you for the warm wee, Prince Nero," Hanna said with a warm smile after their hug. "I''m happy to be back."

    She offered her arm to her. "Shall we go for a walk? Let''s take a look at the autumn leaves."

    Yes, the leaves of the maple trees in the pce had already begun changing. It was a sign that the fall/autumn season had finally arrived in the empire. That meant her and Nero''s birthday, which was October 23rd, was only a few weeks away.

    What a missed opportunity for mommy and Papa Boss to name Nero and I ''Fall'' and ''Autumn'' respectively.

    "Hanna, I''m sorry," Neoma said while they were walking on a path surrounded by trees with beautiful autumn leaves. Various shades of yellow, orange, red, purple, and brown could be seen anywhere she looked. She loved the warm colors around them. "I failed to protect you. You got sick because you had to use your Mana to protect yourself. I''m really sorry about that."

    "You don''t have to apologize, Neoma," Hanna said. They asked their servants to leave them alone so they were free to talk like that. "It''s my choice to use my power. And even though I''m a sickly child, I don''t expect anyone to protect me."

    She smiled at that. "You''re strong, Hanna."

    "Not as strong as you are, Neoma."

    They giggled, which made her feel that she was really a child. She feltfortable enough with Hanna that she could forget that she was an adult and just have a good time with her.

    "Neoma?"

    "Hmm?"

    She noticed that Hanna''s cheeks had a tint of pink on them. And when her cousin spoke, she realized what the source of her blush was.

    "Do you happen to know what Prince Nero would like to have as a birthday gift?" Hanna asked shyly. "My family and I have already prepared a present for you and His Royal Highness. Even though Prince Nero is still in a deep slumber, I''d like to prepare a personalized gift for him. I want him to know that he''s in my thoughts even during the times that we can''t meet."

    She smiled awkwardly.

    To be honest, even though Hanna was only their second cousin and marriages between second cousins were allowed in the empire, she still wasn''t sure if she could support Hanna with her one-sided feelings for Nero. And it wasn''t just because of their blood ties.

    First, in her past life, Nero was fated to fall in love with the ck Witch called Dahlia.

    Second, Hanna would die in the near future.

    Can I change Hanna''s future in this lifetime?

    "Neoma?" Hanna asked worriedly. "Is something wrong?"

    "No, I''m fine," Neoma assured her with a smile. Although she was worried about Hanna, she didn''t know if she could save her considering that she died in the past because of her weak body. But for now, she''d enjoy the little moments that she could spend with her cousin. "Anyway, I think Nero like collecting daggers and other hand-carry weapons."

    ***

    "HOW IS Rubin?" Neoma asked Lewis while she was busy doing her homework in History. Since she just woke up, her teachers decided to let her finish all the homework that she failed to submit because she was unconscious for days. So for the past few days, she was actually stuck in her study room. She barely yed with Hannately. "Is he doing well?"

    After the incident with Duke Drayton, Rubin had locked himself up in the room. But thankfully, she heard from the servants that the young lord was eating his meals properly. ording to the rumors, Rubin was just probably embarrassed because of what happened with his father.

    I should pay him a visit soon.

    "I heard Sir Rubin hasn''te out of his room yet," Lewis answered.

    "Oh," she said. "Let''s pay him a visitter."

    As usual, her son didn''tment on that. She noticed that Lewis''s hostility towards Rubin got worse after he heard what Rubin did to her in her past life.

    Maybe he''s really in his rebellious stage.

    "Ah, Sir Glenn sent a message a while ago," her son said. "Princess Neoma, His Majesty requests your audienceter."

    She groaned inint. "What does he want with me this time?"

    "About your uing birthday?"

    "Ah¡­ ah!" Neoma said excitedly when a brilliant idea came to her mind. She even pped her hands, then she looked up at Lewis. "My precious son, can I borrow yourst name?"

    "I''m not your son, Princess Neoma," Lewis deadpanned. "And you can have myst name."

    Uhm, she just wanted to borrow it¡­ okay?

    ***

    "CHOOSE."

    Neoma looked at the map of the empire on the long table. He summoned her in his office but instead of ushering her to the lounge area to have tea like usual, he told her to follow him in the part of his office where Glenn ced the map on the table carefully. "Papa Boss," she said, then she looked up at her father who was standing opposite her. "Are you asking me to choose a territory that I want as my birthday gift?"

    "Yes," Emperor Niki said bluntly. "But of course, it won''t be yours. Officially and legally, the territory that you will choose will be put under Nero''s name. So keep your brother in your mind while choosing a piece ofnd that you think he might need in the future."

    "Then, how about my gift?" she demanded casually. "It''s also my birthday, Papa Boss."

    "You can''t own and under your name," he said bluntly. "''Neoma de Moonasterio'' isn''t officially registered in the royal family."

    She already knew that and although it used to hurt her in the past, she didn''t care about that anymore. Why would she bother when she already know that the royal family wasn''t a family to her? "There''s a piece ofnd that I want," she dered. "You can put it under Lewis''s name. Since he''s now the head of House Crevan, it wouldn''t be weird for him to receive a piece ofnd from the emperor."

    That was the reason why she "borrowed" Lewis''sst name a while ago.

    Her father raised a brow at her. "What piece ofnd do you want?"

    "I want Mount Kimbro and thend surrounding it," she dered seriously. "It is in the border of Oxspring, thend that you received from the former emperor back when you were a crown prince. The territory is yours so you can give it to me, can''t you?"

    "Have you lost your mind, Neoma?" he asked with a frown. "Mount Kimbro and the area surrounding it are considered as a cursednd. Not even the saint can purify it."

    "Nah, I don''t need it purified," she said while waving her hand. "I just need it for something."

    It was the bait that she was going to use to lure Duke Jasper Hawthorne.

    Speaking of the elusive duke, she remembered that she still had a lot of things to prepare for their meeting.

    "Papa Boss, I choose the Abbiss territory for Nero''s gift," Neoma said while pointing at the territory in the map. She remembered that in her past life, it was thend that her father gifted Nero when he was officially dered as the crown prince. It was a flourishednd that would only prosper more in the future. Plus, it was as expensive as the biggest dukedom in the empire. "I believe it''s more than enough to show-off to the higher nobles."

    "Very well," Emperor Niki said. "You are dismissed, Princess Neoma."

    ***

    "ARE YOU sure about that, Your Majesty?"

    "Yes, throw it away," Niki said without looking up at Glenn who stood in front of his desk. After all, he was busy signing the papers that he needed to sign for putting Abbiss under Nero''s name. He''d do the sameter for Mount Kimbro that he would put under Lewis Crevan''s name. "I don''t need it anymore."

    "But you prepared it for Princess Neoma''s birthday, Your Majesty," Glenn said in a disappointed voice. "I''m sure that the royal princess would appreciate the gift that you personally prepared for her."

    "I didn''t personally prepare it for her," he denied. "I just bought it out of whim."

    "Your Majesty, that would be the first birthday gift that you''d give to Princess Neoma and not to Prince Nero¨C"

    "Just throw it away," Niki snapped at the knight. Well, he did prepare a gift for Neoma because of the splendid job that she had done for the past few years. But he wouldn''t insist on giving it to her if she had already something else in mind. "Neoma has already chosen the gift that she wants."

    Glenn looked like he still wanted to argue but when he red at him, he bowed immediately. "As you wish, Your Majesty."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 80 - GAVIN WHO?

    "YUMMY," Neoma said after finished the crispy chicken poppers and French fries that she made the royal chef cook for her. Of course, the recipe came from her. Thankfully, the ingredients for frying and seasoning were easy to find in the empire. She just had to teach the royal chef how to use them properly to get the "modern" taste that she wanted. "I want this dish to be included in my birthday party, Papa Boss."

    "Banquet," Emperor Niki said. "It''s a dinner banquet and not a "birthday party.""

    Of course, they could only talk to each other that way because they were alone in the pavilion in the pond.

    She chose that ce because it was surrounded by the beautiful "autumn trees."

    Anyway, she shrugged at her father''sst remark. "Same difference."

    He rolled his eyes at her. "You''re still not serving chicken to your guests at the banquet."

    "What a party pooper."

    "Excuse me?"

    "I mean, stop being a wet nket, Papa Boss," she said. "I''m the child here. I know what children would love to eat in a party."

    "You never acted like a child ever since I met you," he said while looking at her suspiciously. "Sometimes, I wonder if you''re really a child."

    She almost dropped her teacup in shock.

    "You look old," her father added. "Not cute at all."

    That made her sigh in relief. But after realizing what he just said, she immediately got offended. "Excuse me? I look old?" she asked, then she fanned her hands near her face to calm herself. "Papa Boss, I don''t look old, okay? My face is under the category of "mature beauty" and not "cutesy girl.""

    Her father just ignored her. "Mount Kimbro is now legally owned by Lewis Crevan."

    "Oh, nice," she said. How could she still be annoyed after hearing that? "You move fast when you want to, Papa Boss. Good job. And thanks for the advance birthday gift even though I only forced you to get me one."

    "I got you presents for the past years."

    "Those were for Nero and not for me," she said with a shrug. "What am I supposed to do with the treasury room and the armory that you gave to "me" once I leave the pce? I''m not that delusional to think that they are for me."

    He just looked at her hard, then he changed the topic. "I heard you weren''t paying a visit to Rubin Drayton. Duke Drayton hasn''t returned after the day you got him arrested so your friend must be lonely. Do you want people to think that you''re a bad host?"

    "Visiting Rubin is in my agenda today," Neoma assured him. "I''m going to let him have a taste of these chicken poppers and fries." She snapped her fingers when she came up with something good. "Papa Boss, if Rubin approves of the dish, will you have it added to the menu for my birthday party?"

    Emperor Niki let out a deep sigh as if he was already stressed because of her. "Do what you want, Neoma."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "WHY ARE you pouting?" Neoma asked Lewis whileughing. "Do you hate Rubin that much?"

    Lewis, who walked half a step behind her while holding a pic basket, shrugged. "Don''t feed him."

    Sheughed loudly. "Rubin is still an esteemed guest. I have to be a good host or else, people will talk about how unweing the future crown prince is."

    Her son didn''t respond but she could clearly see that he was pissed.

    "I had a great second life," she said to lift up his mood. Plus, Stephanie and Alphen were walking a few meters behind them. They were out of ear-shot so she was free to talk about her secret with Lewis. "My mother was a famous reporter, and my dad was a veteran actor. Since both of my parents were celebrities, I grew up in the spotlight. I was a loved child back then."

    His eyes sparkled as if he was happy for her.

    "I used to be a child actress," she continued. "I took a break from acting to finish my school. When I was in university, I started my career as a social media celebrity until I became a very famous content creator. Almost ten million people followed me on social media, you know?" Yes, she continued telling him her life story even though he already confused by the unfamiliar words that she was using. "Gosh, I still get stressed whenever I remember that I died just when I only need one follower to reach my 10M followers goal."

    "You died young again?"

    She blinked at Lewis''s question. "Unfortunately, you are correct. I died back then when I was twenty three years old. But my international age was twenty two." She clicked her tongue. "I don''t want to die that young again."

    "I won''t let that happen."

    She smiled at how determined her son sounded. "Thanks, Lewis."

    To be honest, she wanted to tell Lewis about theplicated identities of her parents in her first life and second life. But it wasn''t the right ce to do so. Plus, they just arrived at Rubin''s chamber.

    Lewis knocked on the door for her.

    That was when she started to notice how the ck gloves suited her son. Well, he had been wearing gloves ever since she met him just like any other men in the pce. But for some reason, it stood out even more now that he was wearing a knight''s uniform.

    <em>Gosh, my son is growing up too fast.</em>

    She was distracted when the door opened but Rubin wasn''t there to wee her.

    <em>Something is wrong here.</em>

    She entered the room with Lewis and asked the other servants to wait outside.

    "We met again, Prince Nero."

    She raised a brow when she saw Rubin sitting on the sofa with his legs crossed. He didn''t even stand to greet her. Lewis looked like he was about to literally knock some sense into the young lord but she stopped her son.

    "I guess you''re not Rubin," she said, then she sat on the sofa from across Rubin. Lewis put the pic basket on the table before he stood behind her. Only then did she continue speaking. "What do you call yourself again?"

    Rubin smirked at her. "Ah, so you''re willing to acknowledge me now?"

    No, not really.

    But she thought that Gavin was also a part of Rubin. He may know things that Rubin didn''t remember. Especially about his name. After all, the young lord mentioned that it was Regina Crowell who gave his alter ego the name ''Gavin.''

    "You call yourself ''Gavin,'' if I remember it correctly," she said. "Is your name inspired by a famous gentleman or something?"

    To be honest, it didn''t instantly sink in that Rubin''s alter ego had the same name as her father in this lifetime. She only realized it after she woke up. She couldn''t me herself because she only found out about Commander Gavin Quinzel a few years ago.

    <em>Plus, ''Gavin'' is amon name, isn''t it?</em>

    "Regina gave me the name Gavin," Rubin said casually. "If I remember it right, it was the name of the formermander of the White Lion Knights."

    She froze on her seat when she heard that. "How did Regina Crowell know the former Commander Gavin Quinzel?"

    If themander and her mother Mona Roseheart disappeared when she and Nero were born, then did it mean that Regina Rowell met themander before that?

    "How old is Regina Crowell again?" she asked with furrowed brows. "I remember that she''s a few years older than you."

    She couldn''t remember that b*tch''s age in her first life.

    Come to think of it, she didn''t find out much about Regina Crowell back then because she just believed what Rubin told her about that b*tch.

    "Regina is three years older than us," Rubin said. By ''us,'' he probably meant he and Gavin. "But why are suddenly interested in her?"

    If Regina was three years older than Rubin, then it meant she was five years older than her. There was a possibility that the b*tch met Commander Gavin Quinzel before he disappeared¡­

    Wait, how did the former Commander Quinzel disappear?

    Was themander killed? Did her mother die because of treason too? Argh, she told herself that she shouldn''t be too curious. But now, she couldn''t help it.

    "Rubin, can you ask Regina Crowell how she met the former Commander Quinzel?"

    Rubin was about to answer but all of a sudden, he clutched his head tight while whining in agony.

    She realized that the real Rubin might be fighting to get his body back so she just let him.

    Behind her, she heard a snicker. But when she turned to Lewis, his face was nk as usual. Still, she knew what she heard.

    Neoma raised a brow at Lewis. "Did you justugh at Rubin''s misery?"

    Lewis "innocently" tilted his head at one side. "No."

    <em>Liar. My son is getting good at lying. Gosh, I''m such a bad influence.</em>

    "P-Prince Nero?"

    She immediately turned to face Rubin again. Judging by the meek loon on his face now, it seemed like he had returned to normal. Still, she wanted to test her luck. Now that her curiosity about the formermander had been ignited for real, she wasn''t sure if she could still put it out. "Rubin, what were you saying about Commander Quinzel a while ago?"

    Rubin scratched his cheek, confusion evident in his eyes. "My apologies, Your Royal Highness. But every time Gavin takes over, I don''t remember the things that he said or did while he had control over my body." He fell silent, then his cheeks turned red as if he was flustered. "Prince Nero, did Gavin say something weird to you?"

    <em>Ah, Rubin doesn''t know what Gavin does.</em>

    It looked like she would be forced to acknowledge Gavin as a separate person from Rubin before she convinced them to be one again, huh?

    <em>Gosh, this is the curse of being a busybody.</em>

    "Oh, it''s nothing," Neoma said with a perfect business smile. Then, she gestured at the pic basket on the table. "Rubin, I brought some snacks for us. Tell me if you think I should serve it at my birthday party," she said, then she turned to Lewis who now had a frown on his face. Gosh, he was so moody these days. "Lewis, please ask the maids to bring tea for us."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "WHAT DID you say?" Niki asked with a raised brow. "Lord Jasper Hawthorne sent a letter to my pce?"

    It was a huge surprise.

    Jasper Hawthorne was one of the youngest dukes in the empire. Despite his young age, he magnificently defended his title and wealth from his greedy rtives. But after he secured his position as the head of House Hawthorne, he isted himself in Norfolk¨C his dukedom.

    This was the first time that the young duke reached out to him first.

    "Yes, Your Majesty," Kyle, the one who received the letter sent to his pce, confirmed. He stood before his desk with the letter on the tray in his hands. As his personal aide, he gave Kyle the permission to read the letters sent to him first. The count also had the authority to discard those that didn''t deserve his time or attention. "Lord Hawthorne is asking if it''s possible for you to reconsider giving Mount Kimbro to Lewis Crevan. The young duke also said that he''s willing to buy thend three times the market price, or more."

    Now that was interesting.

    Thend where Mount Kimbro stood was considered an unholynd.

    At first, he thought that Neoma asked him for the mountain out of whim. But now that Lord Hawthorne appeared to be interested in Mount Kimbro as well, he could no longer brush it as a co-incidence.

    There must be something important hidden in the unholynd that both Neoma and the young duke discovered.

    <em>But how did Neoma find it out when she''s stuck in the pce all this time?</em>

    "Kyle."

    "Yes, Your Majesty?"

    "Install some spying device in Neoma''s pce, particrly in her room and study hall," he told the count who looked surprised by his order. "I want to know why she had taken a sudden interest in Mount Kimbro. It must also be the reason why Lord Hawthorne wants the unholynd. This is the first major movement that the young duke has made ever since he isted himself in Norfolk."

    "Your Majesty, please pardon my insolence," Glenn, who stood beside him, protested. "But won''t you please consider talking to Princess Neoma about it instead of breaching her privacy for information? Please don''t treat the royal princess like a criminal."

    "But His Majesty''s decision is correct," Kyle insisted while giving Glenn an irritated look. "If Princess Neoma really knows something about Mount Kimbro that she doesn''t wish to share with His Majesty, then the only way to get the information from her is by investigating her in secret."

    Glenn red back at the count. "Kyle, haven''t you learned your lesson from a few years ago? Are you still looking down on our royal princess?"

    Before the two''s fight escted, he shut them up by releasing his bloodlust.

    Glenn and Kyle immediately got down on one knee and bowed to him. "We apologize for our discourtesy, Your Majesty."

    "I don''t want to hear another word from any of you," Niki snapped at his two aides. "I want you to put several pieces of spying cameras in the royal princess''s pce and that''s final."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 81 - A FOXS INSTINCT

    "PRINCE NERO, I didn''t know that chicken could taste this good," Rubin told her with a bright smile on his face. Thank goodness he looked like a normal little boy now. By that, she meant that he finally didn''t look like he had the whole universe on his tiny shoulders. "These chicken poppers are so good. The fries, too."

    Neoma smirked proudly. "I know, right?"

    To be honest, chicken wasn''t a popr protein in the empire. It took the royal chef a while before he was able to perfect the dish up to her standards. She rejected the earlier versions that he made because he tried to make the chicken too fancy.

    <em>I mean, chicken is afort food.</em>

    Back in her second life in Korea, she used to order fried chicken with beer. It was already perfect as it was, no need to make it fancy to suit a noble''s standard.

    "Thank you for giving me the chance to have a taste of the pce''s new dish," Rubin said with a shy smile. "I loved it, Your Royal Highness."

    "I''m d that you ate," she said, then she sipped her tea before she continued. "I heard from the servants that you hadn''t been eating for days."

    "Ah, that was Gavin''s doing," he said, averting his eyes from her. "He took over my body and started tosh out on the servants. He also refused to eat even after Father stopped punishing me as a way of making me weak. Whenever I''m in a vulnerable state, he would use that chance toe out."

    "Then, don''t skip your meals from now on," she said. Well, she was aware that it wasn''t the best advice that she could give Rubin. But she realized that she couldn''t really do anything to help him get over his personality disorder. "If you don''t want Gavin to take over your consciousness again, you have to be stronger than him in mind and body."

    "I will try, Your Royal Highness," he said hesitantly. "Uhm, Prince Nero?"

    "Yeah?"

    "Thank you for protecting me from my father."

    She was just about to say something but her prodigal son beat her to it.

    "His Royal Highness didn''t protect you, Sir Drayton," Lewis deadpanned. "The royal prince only did that because it''s his duty to keep the order in his pce."

    She red at Lewis who just shrugged. Knowing that she couldn''t lecture him at the moment, she simply let it slide for now and faced Rubin again. "No need to thank me, Rubin," she said. "I just did what I have to do for a friend."

    "Friend¡­?" he asked, his cheeks suddenly turned red. "Do you consider me as a friend, Your Royal Highness?"

    She gave him a business smile. "Of course, we''re friends now, Rubin."

    Rubin smiled shyly at her. "Thank you for considering me as a friend, Your Royal Highness."

    "Sure, no problem," Neoma said. "Now that we''re officially friends, do you mind giving feedback to my chicken dish?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "DEALING with kids is a tough job," Neomained to Lewis as she plopped on the sofa. They went back to her pce after she visited Rubin''s room. She would have an afternoon tea with Hannater but for now, she would take a rest in her chamber. "One is someone I don''t wish to be involved with but I have to, and the other is my son who''s in a rebellious phase."

    And said prodigal son had the guts to ignore her while she was scolding him.

    Lewis usually stood behind her when she was sitting on the sofa. But this time, he was standing in front of him while looking around as if he was looking for something. Of course, that behavior bothered her. But she was distracted when she remembered something.

    "Lewis, you''re a member of the White Lion Knights, right?" she said with a snap of her fingers. "Have you heard something about the former Comman¨C mmf!"

    She wasn''t able to finish her sentence because all of a sudden, Lewis leaned down and covered her mouth with his hand. Then, he put a finger on his nose to discreetly tell her to keep quiet. She caught on and realized that her son must have noticed that they were being spied.

    It was kind of distracting because Lewis''s hand smelled like¡­ baby powder? It was hard to exin but it was a nice smell.

    <em>Focus, Neoma de Moonasterio.</em>

    When she nodded to signal him that she understood the situation, he pulled his hand away from her mouth. Then, he moved so fast around the room that her eyes barely followed him. All she could tell was he searched for every nook and cranny of the chamber.

    After a few minutes, Lewis came back in front of her with several spirit stones in his hands. Each one looked like a brooch with an emerald gem in the center. She was pretty certain that it was the kind of device that could record voices.

    She let out a deep sigh before giving an order to her son. "Destroy it."

    Lewis broke the devices in his hands. But she could tell that it wasn''t easy. She flinched when she saw and heard the spark of electricity as her son''s hands began to change. His nails turned sharper and probably harder.

    In just a span of a few minutes, her son sessfully destroyed the spirit stones in his hands until each one turned into dust.

    "Are you hurt?" she asked worriedly.

    He shook his head while dusting off his gloved hands.

    "That''s a relief," she said. She was used to Lewis''s silence by now. Sometimes when he could answer with simply nodding or shaking his head, he''d do that. Not in front of other people, of course. "I bet it''s Papa Boss''s idea."

    She remembered the time that her fathermented that she acted like a child. In the end, he said that it was because she looked old. Of course, she didn''t buy that b*llshit. But she also didn''t make a big deal out of it because she didn''t want to appear more suspicious.

    "He''s suspicious of me," she said. "I wonder why though. I mean, he didn''t care that I''m too mature for my age because it runs in the blood. So, why get suspicious now."

    "Ah," Lewis said as if he remembered something. "House Hawthorne sent me a letter. The young duke wants to know if I''d be willing to sell the mountain to him if he convinced His Majesty to reconsider giving it to me. Lord Hawthorne said that he''dpensate me well if I agree to transfer thend to his name."

    "Oh, he already made a move?" she asked in surprise. If Jasper Hawthorne sent a letter to Lewis, then he definitely sent a letter to the emperor as well. "Lewis, why didn''t you report it to me right away?"

    He scratched his face as if he was embarrassed. "Sorry, Princess Neoma. I didn''t know it was important."

    "Ah, it''s okay," she assured him. "It''s my fault because I forgot to tell you that I''m waiting for Lord Hawthorne''s movement. I didn''t expect that he''d move this fast though. That only means that he already knows what going on in Mount Kimbro this early."

    It was a gamble that she was d she took.

    "Princess Neoma, what''s in the mountain?" Lewis asked curiously. "Why does Lord Hawthorne want it?"

    "Lord Hawthorne doesn''t want the mountain," she said carefully. "He wants the Death Camp¨C the one where young ves are imprisoned and abused."

    She noticed that her son suddenly looked like he was in pain.

    It was written all over his face.

    Her heart thumped against her chest painfully when all of a sudden, Lewis''s golden eyes glowed menacingly. It also looked like that he suddenly had a difficulty in breathing because he was clutching his chest tight while panting.

    She realized right away that he was triggered when she said the word "ve."

    <em>He used to be one after all.</em>

    "I''m so sorry, Lewis," Neoma said, her voice filled with guilt. She stood up and tried to walk towards him but he raised a hand to stop her. Then, he took a few steps away from her. "It''s okay, Lewis," she consoled him from the spot where she stood. "Take a deep breath."

    Lewis, despite his current state, still listened to her.

    He took a deep breath, then he slowly breathed it out. She asked him to do it until he calmed down and he followed her. Thankfully, it seemed to work.

    "Are you okay now, Lewis?" she asked worriedly. "Do you want me to bring you to Madam Hammock?"

    Lewis shook his head. "I''m okay now, Princess Neoma."

    "Are you sure?"

    He nodded firmly.

    "I''m sorry," she said, her voice filled with remorse. "I should have been more careful."

    "It''s my fault," he said. "I should have gotten better but there are moments that everything justes back."

    "Did that happen when you were in the training camp?"

    He shook his head. "You told me to think about your face if I''m upset or mad. I did and it worked."

    Sheughed at what he said. "Should I give you a picture of mine so you''d be able to calm yourself down even if I''m not with you?"

    Lewis didn''t verbally respond but his face lit up.

    Neoma smiled at her son. "Alright, I''ll give you er," she promised him. "For now, let''s think of a usible excuse to erase my father''s suspicion."

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 Chapter 82 - IM NOT ME WHEN IM HUNGRY

    "YOUR MAJESTY, Princess Neoma already found the spying devices installed in her room. To be precise, Lewis Crevan found them all," Glenn reported to him. "We didn''t get any information because the fox boy immediately noticed the spirit stones even though each one was carefullyced with magic."

    "I guess I have underestimated the foxy boy''s power," Niki admitted, then he looked up at Glenn who looked really pleased at the moment. To be honest, he kind of expected that he''d fail since Neoma was smart, and Lewis Crevan was one of the best knights in the empire. But he didn''t want to see his own knight celebrate his failure. "Are you happy that my n failed?"

    The knight shook his head in denial but the smile on his face grew bigger. "Of course not, Your Majesty. I am saddened that your n with Kyle has failed."

    "You should ask Neoma to teach you how to lie perfectly."

    Glenn chuckled and he didn''t even try to hide his delight. "Should I, Your Majesty?"

    Niki had to roll his eyes at that. "Get ready," he said while getting up from the chair. Since Neoma''s schedule today was prettyx, he was already expecting him to march to his office toin. "I''m pretty sure that Neoma will pick up a fight with meter."

    <strong>***</strong>

    <em>SACRIFICES have to be made.</em>

    That was Neoma''s mantra in her head as she bravely entered her Papa Boss''s office. She was going to a war but she''d admit that she only brought three "weapons" with her.

    1.Her very reliable acting prowess.

    2.Her big brain with the ability to create the most creative lies.

    3.Her overpowered and super loyal son Lewis.

    <em>If all else fails, I have Lewis to literally bail me out of this sh*tty spot.</em>

    "Greetings, Papa Boss," Neoma greeted her father who sat behind his desk as if he was already expecting her. Of course, the ever friendly Sir Glenn was standing beside the emperor. Thank goodness the annoying Count Sprouse wasn''t there to ruin her day. "Do you have anything that you should apologize to me for? I''m all ears."

    Emperor Niki raised a brow at her. "If you''re expecting me to apologize for the spying devices, you may leave my office now."

    She ignored him and turned to Sir Glenn instead. "Sir Glenn, would you kindly ask the maids to bring us tea and some snacks? I''m not me when I''m hungry."

    Sir Glenn chuckled even though he probably didn''t get her reference. "Certainly, Princess Neoma."

    To be honest, if Sir Glenn wasn''t a close childhood friend of her father, he would have been punished for obeying her order without consulting the emperor. That was why she had to credit Emperor Niki for being lenient to his friends despite his trashy personality.

    <em>If only Papa Boss could be half nice to me as he is to his aides¡­</em>

    Anyway, after a while, Emperor Niki finally ushered her to the tea table of his office.

    She sat on the sofa across from her father while Lewis stood behind her. Of course, Sir Glenn stood behind the emperor. After the servants served the tea and the snacks that she requested, her Papa Boss dismissed them right away.

    "So, my dear Papa Boss," Neoma said with a wide smile. "Why did you install spying devices in my room?"

    "Because I want to know what you''re hiding," Emperor Niki said bluntly, then he sipped his tea before he continued. "Why do you want Mount Kimbro? Duke Hawthorne sent a letter to my pce asking me to reconsider giving the mountain to House Crevan. I can''t help but think that the two of you want the same thing from thatnd."

    She clenched her fists tight.

    As expected, her father immediately realized that there was something in Mount Kimbro that caught her and Jasper Hawthorne''s interest.

    "Why didn''t you just ask me normally?" she lightlyined.

    Her father raised a brow at her. "Would you have answered me honestly had I asked directly?"

    <em>Definitely not, duh.</em>

    But now that he had gone as far as installing spying devices in her pce, she knew that she had no choice but to convince him with a lie. She considered telling the emperor the truth, but she thought it would ruin Jasper Hawthorne''s n.

    She knew her father well enough to know that once he discovered that there was a Death Camp near his territory, he would kill the people behind it. While those cruel human beings deserved death, she knew that the emperor would use that incident as a warning to his enemies and not as an opportunity to create aw that would protect the children from abuse.

    <em>It has to be Lord Hawthorne.</em>

    She would admit that asking for the emperor''s help would be more logical. But she didn''t want her Papa Boss to make it about him. Plus, she wasn''t sure about the state of the Death Camp yet. It would be better to talk to Jasper Hawthorne first.

    "Neoma, I''m waiting," Emperor Niki said in a warning tone as he ced the teacup down on the table, his now red eyes glowing menacingly. "Tell me why what you know about Mount Kimbro."

    "It was an advance gift from Trevor before he went back to his hellhole with Nero," she lied with a straight face. "He told me that if I''d be crowned as the official heir to the throne in Nero''s ce, I should take Mount Kimbro at all cost. It seems like Trevor knows that other nobles are interested in thend."

    <em>I''m sorry for using your name, Trevor.</em>

    She thought Trevor would be the perfect excuse because he wasn''t there to confirm or deny her story.

    "Ah, the talking demon book," her father said, his eyes returning to its natural color. He didn''t look that quite convinced yet. "What did the demon boy say about the mountain? Why are there nobles such as Jasper Hawthorne who are interested in it?"

    "Trevor didn''t specify but he said that if I want Nero to be epted by the society despite his blood, I should work hard to purify thend."

    He raised a brow at her. "Are you telling me that the demon boy thinks you can do what the saint himself couldn''t?"

    "Papa Boss, I''ve been working for you since I was five," she reminded him. "Have I ever disappointed you yet?"

    As usual, her father didn''t give her the validation that she wanted to hear sometimes.

    Well, it wasn''t like she was dying to get her Papa Boss''s approval. But as an "employee," she wanted to hear that she was doing a good job.

    "I''m an ace, Papa Boss. You should be thankful that you have an awesome daughter like me," she dered, then she turned to Sir Glenn with big, tantalizing eyes. "Isn''t that right, Sir Glenn?"

    "Certainly, Princess Neoma," Sir Glenn said right away with a smile. "The empire is very fortunate that our Second Star is someone as wonderful as you¨C"

    "Shut up, Glenn," the grumpy emperor scolded the knight. "You''re making my ears rot with your gibberish talk."

    She just rolled her eyes and sipped her tea.

    "Anyway, I will ept your story for now since the demon boy isn''t here to confirm what you just said," her Papa Boss said, making her flinch. "I still don''t get why you believed the demon, and why you followed his "advice.""

    "It''s for Nero and my dream," she said. "It''s my job to solidify his position as the crown prince, Papa Boss. And once he bes a powerful crown prince, then my dream to be ady of leisure wille true earlier since I know that he''ll repay my hard work."

    "That sounds like something that you will really do," the emperor admitted. "But why didn''t you tell me right away?"

    "Because I don''t want you to get me killed," she said firmly. "I know that you and stuck up nobles like Count Kyle Sprouse hate it when I exceed your expectations. If you know that Trevor gave me a piece of information that would help me achieve something great, you''d definitely think that I''m trying to surpass Nero even though I''m not interested in the throne."

    The emperor sipped his tea before he spoke. "Next time, tell me," he said in a voice that sounded a little softer than his usual coldness. "I know that you''re not interested in the throne. But if you hide things like that from me, I''d be more suspicious of you."

    "Papa Boss?"

    "What?"

    "Don''t act nice," she said in a disgusted voice while hugging herself. "You''re giving me goosebumps, Papa Boss."

    He rolled his eyes at her, then he changed the topic. "Anyway, it''s a good thing that youe clean already. Saint Zavaroni will arrive in the pce tomorrow. I''ll ask him about Mount Kimbro since Lord Hawthorne hasn''t replied to my letter yet."

    She froze on her seat. "Saint Zavaroni wille here? I thought saints like him couldn''t leave the temple easily¡­"

    "He has to," her father said. "I sent the Death''s Scythe to him a while ago."

    Her eyes widened. "Oh, right. I almost forgot about Skewer! Why did you send my pretty weapon to the saint, Papa Boss?"

    "I had the saint seal the corrupted power of the Death''s Scythe so the Devil wouldn''t be able to control it," Emperor Niki said. "Prepare to greet His Holiness tomorrow, Neoma."

    Neoma gave her father a salute. "Roger, Papa Boss."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "IT''S A good thing that Papa Boss sent me to greet the saint," Neoma said while cracking her knuckles. She was back in her room because she had to write a letter first before she met up with Hanna for their afternoon tea. Of course, Lewis was standing beside her. "His Holiness will definitely back me up if I ask him to. The problem lies with Lord Hawthorne. Papa Boss already sent a letter to the young duke. We should write a letter to him as well and convince him to meet with us before he faced the emperor."

    "Princess Neoma."

    She looked up at her son. "Hmm?"

    "Isn''t Lord Hawthorne invited to your birthday party?" Lewis asked, his face and voice as nk as usual. "He''s the one who needs something from you. I''m sure he''lle to you even if you don''t send him a letter."

    "Oh," she said when she realized that Lewis had a point. "Is it a bad idea to send Lord Hawthorne a letter discreetly?"

    He just gave her a nod as a response.

    Come to think of it, Lewis was right. Lord Hawthorne needed her more than she needed him, so he should be the one to seek her.

    "But Lord Hawthorne sent a letter to your pce," she said. "He doesn''t have an idea that I''m the one who wants the mountain."

    "He probably knows," he said in quite a serious tone. "In thest part of his letter, His Grace told me to give his regards to "my master.""

    She blinked, and then she smiled. "It seems like Lord Hawthorne is going to be an excellent "ymate," huh?"

    While looking at Lewis, she suddenly fell silent.

    She remembered her son''s reaction when he heard the word "ve" a while ago. If Lewis apanied her with her n to expose the Death Camp with Jasper Hawthorne, then it would be inevitable for him to see the terrible condition of the young ves there.

    <em>It might trigger his trauma again.</em>

    "Lewis?"

    Lewis tilted his head at one side when he noticed that she was serious. "Hmm?"

    "I need to work with Lord Hawthorne," Neoma said seriously. "But I think you shouldn''t be involved in this mission this time."

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story in your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 83 - AND I OOPâ€“

    "I THINK you shouldn''t be involved in this mission," Neoma said seriously. "Lewis, please stay out of this."

    To be honest, she expected Lewis to be angry or to bomber her with questions.

    But she never expected him to suddenly burst into tears.

    All of a sudden, Lewis''s face turned red as big, fat tears rolled down his cheeks quietly. Her son looked so pitiful that her conscience instantly kicked her hard. She was suddenly reminded that Lewis was still an eleven year old child.

    "Lewis, did I offend you?" she asked carefully. "I''m sorry."

    Lewis shook his head while wiping his tears with his hands. "It''s my fault for being inadequate, Princess Neoma."

    "Huh?"

    "You''re firing me because I''m useless," he said in a cracked voice. "I''ll do my best to be more of use to you, so please don''t throw me away, my princess."

    Okay, she was gutted.

    She knew what Lewis had gone through in the past so she hated seeing him in pain. And she felt worse knowing that she made him cry this time. She also hurt him by making him feel like she didn''t need him anymore.

    <em>I''m a bad mother.</em>

    "Lewis, I''m not throwing you away," she said calmly. "I just don''t want you to relive your trauma if we get to the Death Camp."

    "I will be fine, Princess Neoma," he insisted, his voice still cracked from crying. "So please bring me with you."

    She looked at her son carefully.

    Of course, she was still worried about him. But she realized that as a mother, she had to help her son grow stronger. If Lewis had already decided toe with her despite the danger, then she should support him.

    <em>Gosh, I''m such a good mother</em>.

    "Alright," Neoma said, then she gave him a thumbs up. "I will protect you, Lewis."

    Lewis let out a relieved sigh. "I should be the one saying that, Princess Neoma."

    <strong>***</strong>

    <em>IT''S ANOTHER secret meeting, huh?</em>

    Neoma was pretty surprised when Sir Glenn informed her that they would greet the saint at the prayer room in Yule Pce. It was the room that had a portal connecting to the temple. If that one was used by Saint Zavaroni, it only meant that nobody else knew that His Holiness wasing.

    <em>Well, it''s not like I don''t understand. The saint has the highest position in the temple. But he''s often summoned to the pce in secret.</em>

    "Greetings, Your Holiness," Sir Glenn greeted the saint who just stepped out of the portal politely. "I''m d that you arrived safely."

    "Hello there, Saint Zavaroni," Neoma greeted the saint casually. "Long time no see."

    Well, only Sir Glenn and Lewis came as her guard. Since stingy Count Sprouse wasn''t with them (thank goodness), she allowed herself to loosen up. Just for the record, she wasn''t trying to be rude. She just feltfortable enough with His Holiness for her to speak that way. Plus, she would only do that in the presence of her "safe people." Naturally, Emperor Niki and Count Sprouse weren''t included in the list.

    "Greetings, Princess Neoma," Saint Zavaroni said with a smile. Then, he squatted down to meet her eye level. "It''s been a while since west saw each other. I''m d that I was summoned here because I have something important to discuss with you. Is that alright?"

    "Sure," she said. "But we should greet my father first. He''s expecting you, Your Holiness. Did you manage to purify Skewer?"

    He smiled brightly at her. "Who do you think am I, Your Royal Highness?"

    <em>A man whosest name rhymes with macaroni?</em>

    But she didn''t say that aloud because she was in a good mood. Although she didn''t trust the saint 100%, he was still a lot better than Count Sprouse.

    "You''re the greatest and sneakiest saint in history, Saint Zavaroni," Neoma said with her usual business smile. "Plus, I think that you''re also the saint with the most free time in the whole world."

    Sir Glenn stifled hisughter.

    Lewis, who stood behind her, remained quiet as usual.

    Saint Zavaroni, on the other hand,ughed softly. See? He was cool enough to ride her teasing without getting offended. "That''s true," he admitted while nodding. "I will always make time for you, Princess Neoma."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NIKOLAI observed the Death''s Scythe floating in front of him carefully.

    Of course, it still had the presence of the Devil''s aura since it literally came from hell. But unlike before, he could tell that Saint Zavaroni had sealed it dark powerpletely. Neoma could still borrow its power. But the Death''s Scythe could never be used by the Devil again unless the Devil appeared to take the weapon personally.

    And that would only happen if the Devil would risking out of wherever they were despite not being fully-recovered yet.

    "Job well done, Your Holiness," Niki praised the saint. Since their meeting with the saint was a secret, he brought His Holiness to his private tearoom. Aside from him and the saint, only Neoma, Glenn, and the foxy boy were there. "Neoma can now use the Death''s Scythe safely again."

    Saint Zavaroni, who sat beside Neoma on the sofa from across him, smiled and bowed politely. "Thank you for the praise, Your Majesty. I''m d to serve the descendant of Lord Yule."

    Ah, yes.

    That was the reason why the royal family had a tight rtionship with the temple. Yule, the Moon God, was the de Moonasterio''s ancestor. And people like Saint Zavaroni worshipped Yule. Thus, they see the royal family as the closest thing to their god.

    "Papa, may I haveSkewer now?" Neoma asked with sparkling eyes. "I missed her!"

    There she goes again, treating her weapons like they are people.

    "Go ahead," he told his daughter. "Go and check if the seal decreased the power of the Death''s Scythe."

    "Thank you, Papa," she said with that annoyingly fake smile of hers. "If you''re done talking to His Holiness, can I bring him to my pce? I want him to observe me as I wield Skewer to make sure that the seal is really effective."

    He raised a brow at his daughter''s suspicious request.

    Of course, her reason for bringing the saint with her was valid. But since it was Neoma, he couldn''t help but think that she had an ulterior motive¡­

    His thoughts trailed-off when he realized that he once again doubted his daughter.

    "Alright," Niki said. "I''ll let you y with Saint Zavaroni."

    "Silly Papa," she said between (fake) giggles. It irked him every time she would act like an innocent child that she wasn''t. Her foul mouth would agree with him. "I''m not going to y with His Holiness. We''re going to train for real!"

    He ignored her act. And he wasn''t done with what he was saying a while ago anyway. "Before you go, I want you to leave Lewis Crevan and your Soul Beast here. I will ask Glenn to escort you in ce of your butler-knight."

    The royal princess''s facial expression suddenly changed. She turned so serious that it almost gave him goosebumps. Since his daughter looked like him, he wondered if that was how murderous he looked whenever he was pissed.

    Even Saint Zavaroni looked surprised by Neoma''s expression.

    <em>Intimidating, I''ll give her that.</em>

    "What are you going to do with Lewis and Tteokbokki, Papa?" Neoma asked seriously. "I won''t leave them to you unless you convince me with your reason."

    "We''re going to discuss the security n that I made for your uing banquet," he said and it was the truth anyway. "Lewis Crevan and your Soul Beast are the closest to you. Of course, they should know how to protect you properly."

    His daughter looked at him carefully before her expression returned to normal.

    "Alright, Papa," she said, then she turned to Lewis. "Behave, Lewis. But if Papa bites you, bite him back."

    Lewis nodded without hesitation. "Yes, Princess Neoma."

    He rolled his eyes at the two''s exchange.

    It annoyed him that he often rolled his eyestely because of Neoma. She had the natural talent for pissing him off effortlessly. But surprisingly, no matter how rude his daughter was, it still wasn''t enough for him to punish her.

    On the other hand, Saint Zavaroni stifled hisughter.

    <em>Is it just me or people around me justugh it off whenever Neoma is being rude to me?</em>

    "Papa, I''m gonna summon Tteokbokki now," Neoma said with a threatening smile on her face. "You better be good to Lewis and my Soul Beast or else¡­"

    Niki raised a brow at her. "Or else what?"

    And his prodigal daughter just smiled at him.

    <em>Rude.</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    "SO, HIS HOLINESS," Neoma said while moving her head from side to side. Right now, she was in the training ground with Saint Zavaroni. She knew that he had something important to tell her so she asked Sir Glenn to watch them from afar. "What do you need from me?"

    "I saw a new prophecy, Princess Neoma," Saint Zavaroni, who sat on the chair under a huge parasol that Sir Glenn prepared (because not even the servants of her pce were supposed to know that the saint was there), said seriously. "I saw you kill His Majesty during your coronation night."

    She almost choked on what she heard.

    <em>And I--- oop!</em>

    "What did His Majesty do?" Neoma asked with furrowed brows. "I''m sure as hell that I won''t kill him if he doesn''t try to kill me first."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NIKOLAI looked down at his daughter''s two mighty protectors.

    First was Lewis Crevan. Even in his presence, the foxy boy remained pokerfaced as usual. It was as if he couldn''t even see him.

    <em>His face only lights up around Neoma.</em>

    Unlike Lewis Crevan, Neoma''s Soul Beast looked scared in his presence. Thankfully, the Soul Beast didn''t take the form of a stupid unicorn. This time, he used his original form as a red dragon. But his size was reduced to that of a big snake.

    And yes, he knew the beast''s name but he would rather die than say it.

    <em>Neoma''s naming sense is awful.</em>

    "Lewis Crevan," Niki said. Much to his annoyance, the foxy boy looked at him straight in the eye. Aside from Neoma, this boy was the only child who would dare to do so. "You really inherited your "mother''s" boldness."

    Well, he was supposed to say that Neoma''s boldness was "rubbing off" on the foxy boy instead of saying that he "inherited" it from her. But for some reason, he remembered that his daughter always referred to Lewis Crevan as her son. Did he just unconsciously ept Neoma''s ridiculous im?

    <em>My daughter''s foolishness is rubbing off on me.</em>

    "Princess Neoma isn''t my mother," Lewis Crevan said bluntly. He paused for a while, then he added: "Your Majesty."

    It was so obvious that the foxy boy almost forgot to address him properly.

    <em>Neoma, you''re raising an ungrateful brat.</em>

    "Lewis Crevan, I want you to work with Glenn during the uing banquet," Niki said. "It''s not just for Neoma''s security but for you as well." When he didn''t get a reaction from the child, he continued. "We have found traces of somebody tailing you when you were with the White Lion Knights, Lewis Crevan. It seems like there are still people who are after your Marble. It wouldn''t be a surprise if they attack you during the coronation day because it''s when the pce will open its gate to everyone. That''s why I want you to work with Glenn so you''d know what to do if you were ambushed while guarding the royal princess."

    Lewis Crevan just gave him a firm nod as a response.

    <em>Ah, he really barely talks to other people.</em>

    "You''re boring," he told the foxy boy bluntly, then he waved his hand. "You''re dismissed, Lewis Crevan."

    The foxy boy didn''t move from his spot. Instead, he turned to the little red dragon floating beside him.

    "I need to talk to the Soul Beast in private," Niki said. "Lewis Crevan, if you don''t leave right away, I will punish Neoma for raising a disobedient brat like you."

    Lewis Crevan turned to him with a re. But when he saw how serious he was with his threat, the foxy boy conceded. He gave him a curt bow before he left the room with heavy feet.

    <em>He also inherited Neoma''s rudeness.</em>

    Anyway, when Lewis Crevan was gone, he turned to the Soul Beast who couldn''t even look at him in the eye.

    "You," he said seriously. "Do you still not remember your real name?"

    Soul Beasts had names that were personally given to them by Yule, the Moon God.

    But every time the Soul Beasts were reincarnated inside a different de Moonasterio in every lifetime, the memories of their past would be erased. They could only retrieve it if their new host became strong enough to resonate perfectly with their soul.

    "To bring out your full strength, Neoma has to call you by the name that Yule has bestowed upon you," he continued, his red eyes glowing menacingly to intimidate the little red dragon. "But what are you doing? You let my daughter give you a ridiculous name instead of teaching her how to resonate her soul with yours properly."

    "The thug princess¨C I mean Princess Neoma, has invented a more creative way of using my power without the need to resonate her soul with mine. That''s why I thought she doesn''t need to learn the traditional way of using a Soul Beast," the Soul Beast said in a hesitant voice. "The royal princess''s soul is different, Your Majesty. It makes me feel that I''ll be alright even if I don''t remember my real name."

    "Don''t be ridiculous," he snarled at the red dragon. "You need to remember your real name to draw out your real power."

    The Soul Beast paused for a while before he spoke again. "I don''t understand you, Your Majesty," he said in a confused voice. "Why do you want the thug princess¨C I mean Princess Neoma to get stronger when she''s not supposed to surpass the real crown prince?"

    Niki froze on his seat.

    He thought that Neoma should get stronger so she''d be able to protect herself properly. But why did he care about that in the first ce? Of course, she was valuable as Nero''s recement. But if she died, then he could just steal her power and transfer it to his son.

    And yet, here he was, forcing the Soul Beast to draw out his real power for Neoma''s sake.

    <em>Have I gone crazy?</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 84 - ITS NOT HIS FINAL FORM YET

    "SO, HOW will I kill His Majesty?" Neoma asked the saint. "What weapon would I use, Your Holiness? Is it Skewer or Tteokbokki? Or perhaps¡­" She raised her tiny hands. "Would I finally strangle him with my bare hands?"

    Saint Zavaroni looked horrified by her questions. "Princess Neoma, is it possible that you really want to kill His Majesty? Even if I''m fond of you, I couldn''t protect you once you touch the only moon of the empire."

    Sheughed a little too loudly. "Your Holiness, the empire owns a continent but you have to know that the world is still vast outside Moonasterion Empire." She closed her eyes and bathed in the warm sunlight. Well, it was already pretty cold so she didn''t mind this much sun. "There are "empires" out there with more than one moon, you know?"

    By "empires," she actually meant s." But she didn''t want to exin so she just left it at that.

    "That might be the case for the other empires," the saint said. "But here, His Majesty is the only moon in the sky, Princess Neoma. Why are you so calm about this?"

    She opened her eyes and turned to the saint. "I know myself, Your Holiness," she said with a confident smile. "I won''t kill His Majesty. Even if he tries to kill me, I will still find a way to resolve the problem without having to end his life."

    "Your Royal Highness¡­"

    "Did you see how I was supposed to kill my father?"

    He shook his head. "This time, the prophecy came as a riddle. I saw the moon bleed, and the blood came from the Second Star in the sky. That''s how I figure out that the heaven is warning me about the doomed future of the emperor."

    "That''s a relief then," she said brightly. "If the prophecy that you saw isn''t clear, that means it isn''t final yet. All I have to do is to work hard to change it."

    <em>But wait.</em>

    If the prophecy where the saint saw her sit on the throne was clear as day, did it mean that certain future of hers was already decided?

    <em>Let''s not think about that for now.</em>

    "This is a surprise, Your Royal Highness," the saint said. "I was worried because I know that you hate His Majesty."

    "Well, His Majesty is an awful father," she said with a firm nod. "But he''s a capable emperor. The countries and kingdoms that he invaded to expand the territory all flourished under his reign. I''m not saying that he''s a saint. A person who leads a war can''t be good. But in this era, he had to do what he has to do. In short, this kind of world needs a man like my father. Having him killed would be a shame."

    "I''m afraid I don''t understand what you''re saying, Princess Neoma."

    "I''m just telling you to rx, Your Holiness," she said with a softugh. "Even if I''m hot-tempered, I value other people''s lives. I won''t easily kill another person even if my own life is at stake. Plus, blood stain is hard to wash off. I can''t be bothered."

    She meant that literally and figuratively.

    "Princess Neoma is correct."

    She turned around to greet Lewis who just arrived.

    "The royal princess doesn''t have to sully her hands with blood," Lewis said bluntly. "Leave the killing to me."

    She let out a sigh while giving Lewis a disapproving look.

    <em>I know that in this era, it''s normal for knights to kill enemies just to protect their master. Still, I feel bad for the kind of life my son is leading.</em>

    Lewis just looked at her with a nk look on his face, then he stood behind her.

    She had a lot of questions that she wanted to ask her son. But she figured it wasn''t the right time to do so. Plus, Tteokbokki hadn''t returned yet.

    <em>I will ask them at the same timeter.</em>

    "I trust you, Princess Neoma," Saint Zavaroni said, then he stood up and stretched his arms. "Now, shall we see how the Death''s Scythe will perform after I sealed its dark power?"

    She opened her hand and summoned her dearly missed weapon. Before she left her father''s pce a while ago, the Death''s Scythe already returned inside her. Saint Zavaroni apanied her to make sure that the weapon wouldn''t act up. "Come to Mama, Skewer."

    She was surprised when Skewer suddenly manifested unceremoniously. In the past, it would take the scythe a few seconds before it answered her call. Plus, she was even more surprised when she grabbed Skewer.

    "It''s slightly bigger than what I remember but it''s light," shemented, then she turned to the saint. "Your Holiness, Skewer feels lighter than before."

    Saint Zavaroni smiled at her but for some reason, he looked hesitant. "Your Royal Highness, when I sealed the dark power of the Death''s Scythe, it lost its source of Mana. And as the Death''s Scythe new host, it is now relying on your Mana to be functional. Purification doesn''t end with me sealing its dark power. The process continues whenever you feed your Mana to the de. You''re a de Moonasterio so you have divine power just like His Majesty. And thus, I''m confident that the purification will beplete earlier than I expect."

    "Ah, I see. Did my father hear that exnation beforehand?"

    The saint nodded. "I already told His Majesty about it before I came here. I apologize if I''m saying this to you now, Princess Neoma."

    "Chill, I don''t mind," she said while waving her hand in dismissal. "Papa is in a higher position than me so it''s only natural that you report to him first, Your Holiness. I''m just d that he''s not trying to take away Skewer from me."

    His Holiness just smiled at her.

    She, on the other hand, froze when she felt like an invisible force hit her hard in the chest.

    "Tteokbokki," she grumbled. "Can''t you return normally?"

    Her Soul Beast remained quiet. Usually, whenever she would snap at him, he would snap back at her.

    "Did Papa scold you?" Neoma asked with a softugh. "Alright, I''ll let you sulk for now."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOUR MAJESTY, I received a confirmation that Lord Jasper Hawthorne had sent a letter to Lewis Crevan," Kyle reported to him when they were alone in the throne room. "Should I ask the fox boy to surrender the letter to us?"

    Niki knew that it was a logical thing to do since they had opened an investigation regarding the young duke''s strange movements.

    They also found out that House Hawthorne was somehow connected to Count Madgwick¨C one of the most notorious members of the Noble Faction. For that reason, he couldn''t ignore the fact that Lord Hawthorne wanted thend that Neoma chose.

    But having said that¡­

    "Forget it, Kyle," Niki said. "Focus your investigation on Count Madgwick. That old man and his cohorts are getting on my nervestely. I want to destroy them as soon as possible."

    Count Madgwick, even during his father''s time, was already known for his connection to the ck Market that sold ves. Unfortunately, even though they knew that the count was involved in the ve trading, they couldn''t prove it.

    <em>That damned old man.</em>

    "Your Majesty."

    "What?"

    "I know that you''re hesitating to use Lewis Crevan to execute our n because you don''t want to get into a fight with Princess Neoma again. But aren''t you being a little too lenient on her?" Kyle asked seriously. "Please don''t forget that the royal princess is just a recement for Prince Nero. Getting attached to Her Royal Highness wouldn''t do you any good, Your Majesty. Once the people find out that Lady Mona Roseheart gave birth to a daughter, your position will be put in jeopardy. That''s why we must banish Princess Neoma from the Royal Pce as soon as Prince Nero returns. I wonder if you can still do that if you get too close to her."

    He clenched his fists hard but he couldn''t get mad at Kyle because he knew that he just spoke the truth. "Kyle, stop barking," he said instead of scolding him. "You''re giving me headache."

    His aide let out a frustrated sigh. "Your Majesty, please be serious."

    "Neoma is my daughter," he said firmly. To be honest, he didn''t know why he said that. Was it because he wanted to annoy Kyle for nagging him? "She''s a de Moonasterio and therefore, as a royal princess, she''s in a higher rank than you, Kyle. Watch your mouth."

    Kyle flinched at his words.

    "Even if Neoma isn''t registered officially as a member of the royal family, she still has enough power and influence to back up her title," he continued. "First, she''s dearly loved by Nero¨C the crown prince. Second, Lewis Crevan is loyal to her. Don''t forget that we brought the foxy boy to the Royal Pce because he has the potential to be the futuremander of the White Lion Knights." Yes, and that was the reason why he was protecting Lewis Crevan from people who wanted the boy''s precious Marble. "Third, if you haven''t noticed it yet, His Holiness supports Neoma as a royal princess and not as Nero''s recement." He paused when Glenn''s annoying smiling image entered his mind. "There''s Glenn, too. Even if he''s like that, he''s still the son of a rich marquis and the vicemander of the White Lion Knights." Heughed softly. "I bet Glenn will choose Neoma over his long term friendship with you, Kyle."

    "It''s not just Glenn, Your Majesty."

    He just raised a brow at him.

    "Your Majesty, from now on, I will set aside my personal feelings for the Rosehearts," his aide said seriously. "I will treat Princess Neoma as your daughter, just like what you wish for."

    "Excuse me?"

    "Isn''t that what you want, Your Majesty?" Kyle asked as if he was confused by his reaction. "It sounded like you want me to treat Princess Neoma as your cherished daughter."

    Niki was dumbfounded.

    Neoma? As his "cherished" daughter? Hell, no.

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA couldn''t help butugh at Tteokbokki after she heard his story.

    "You''re really heartless, thug princess," Tteokbokki, now in his baby size red dragon form,ined with tears in his eyes. "Shouldn''t you console me after your father scolded me over something out of my control?"

    She justughed even harder.

    Right now, they were having a pic under the shade of a huge tree in her training ground. When she took a break from sparring with Lewis using Skewer, Saint Zavaroni excused himself because the servants were about to bring her refreshments.

    <em>Saint Macaroni probably went back to Papa Boss''s pce.</em>

    "This is the first time I heard that you have a real name," Neoma said when she stoppedughing. "Why didn''t you tell me about it, Tteokbokki?"

    "Because I can''t remember my real name as well," Tteokbokki said. "And I''m afraid of what kind of form I''d take once you call my name. I''m happy being a red dragon."

    "So, it''s not your final form yet?" she asked, then sheughed when she remembered an old anime serious back in her second life. "You''re like a Super S*iyan, Tteokbokki." She gently patted his head. "Don''t worry, I can make you level up to Super S*iyan 4 without calling your real name."

    The Soul Beast grumbled. "I don''t understand what you''re saying, thug princess. But your father will kill me if I don''t "level up," won''t he?"

    "Chill, I won''t let him kill you," she consoled him. "All we have to do is prove to him that we''re already very strong even without your real name."

    Tteokbokki looked confused. "And how are we supposed to do that?"

    "I have a new technique that I want to test," Neoma said seriously. She waszy as f*ck, but she recognized the need to power up if she wanted to live longer. But of course, she''d do that behind her Papa Boss''s back. "Tteokbokki, lend me your red me."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "SO, HOW is Neoma handling the Death''s Scythe?"

    "As expected, Princess Neoma''s divine power will speed up the purification process," Dominic Zavaronie reported to Emperor Niki. Right now, they were having tea in His Majesty''s private tea room to hide him from the servants of his pce. "I observed the royal princess for a while, Your Majesty. She reminds me of the Princess Royal, yourte twin sister."

    Emperor Niki sipped his tea before he spoke. "It looks like Neoma inherited my twin sister''s sass."

    "That''s not what I mean, Your Majesty."

    The emperor put his teacup down on the table before he gave him a cold nce. "Then, what exactly did you mean by that statement?"

    "All the firstborn children in the de Moonasterio family have a different glow in them, thus they are called the ''First Star'' of the empire," he began carefully. "When I first saw Prince Nero, I saw that faint glow in him. I thought his light was quite dim than normal due to the royal prince''s weak body."

    He noticed that His Majesty''s cold nce turned into a murderous re, but he still continued.

    "But a while ago, when Princess Neoma was using her full Mana to maneuver the Death''s Scythe, I had a glimpse of strange glow in her," Dominic Zavaroni said seriously. "Your Majesty, I''m certain that it was the kind of glow that Princess Nichole had when she was still alive. It''s the light that only an emperor''s firstborn is supposed to have¨C"

    "Stop," Emperor Niki warned him, his red eyes glowing threateningly. "Don''t finish that sentence if you want to live longer, Dominic Zavaroni."

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 Chapter 85 - A CRUEL FAREWELL GIFT

    <em><strong>[8 YEARS AGO]</strong></em>

    WHEN NIKOLAI arrived at the rusty mansion of House Roseheart, the servants had already fled. The knights who went first to arrest Commander Gavin Quinzel and Mona Roseheart were already dead. Their bodies were lying around the estate.

    <em>Commander Quinzel definitely did this.</em>

    Rather, themander was the only person in the empire who could survive getting hunted down by the most elite order of the empire¨C the White Lion Knights.

    Niki turned to Glenn. His personal knight had his full armor on, except for the head gear. He was covered with blood because they were attacked by the people who supported Commander Quinzel in his "rebellion." "Commander Quinzel has reached the point of no return, Glenn," he told him coldly. "You are the vicemander of the White Lion Knights. How does it feel to see the corpses of your fellow knights who were killed by your very ownmander?"

    Glenn turned to him with cold, empty eyes. Ah, now that was the face of the infamous "Mad Dog." The vicemander had softened up recently so he was d to know that the ferocious beast inside him was still alive. "Your Majesty, give me the permission to kill Commander Quinzel."

    <em>Not even a ''please,'' huh?</em>

    "Permission granted," he said, then he started to enter the shabby mansion. Glenn walked behind him, of course. "But bring him to me before you kill him."

    "As you wish, Your Majesty."

    He was satisfied to know that Glenn''s loyalty still lies with him and not with themander.

    <em>Ah, exmander now.</em>

    He just arrived at the second floor when he suddenly heard a loud cry of a baby.

    Of course, he froze on the spot.

    The divine aura that only a de Moonasterio could possess was oozing from the room. That meant the baby was his, no doubt about it.

    "Did Lady Roseheart give birth to another child?" Glenn asked in disbelief. "But ording to the report that we received, Commander Quinzel already took the royal princess with him when he escaped. So that means¡­"

    "She gave birth to a pair of twins," he said coldly, then he proceeded to walk towards the chamber where the crying wasing from. Well, he was a twin so the fact that Mona Roseheart gave birth to twins didn''t shock him. "But it doesn''t matter, does it? The Rosehearts could only give birth to females anyway. The empire doesn''t need a royal princess, much more two of them."

    "I wonder why Commander Quinzel left Lady Roseheart to fend for herself."

    He scoffed at that. "Mona is more than capable of defending herself, and Gavin Quinzel knows that very well."

    "That''s true. But I still don''t understand why Lady Roseheart would stay even though she knows that we''reing for her," the vicemander wondered to himself loudly. "Your Majesty, are we going to kill the Second Star?"

    The ''Second Star'' was how the second child of the emperor would be referred to. Naturally, the firstborn would be the ''First Star.''

    "That depends on Mona," he said firmly. "It seems like she has a death wish for betraying me like this."

    The knight fell silent.

    He didn''t care because he finally arrived at Mona''s room.

    Despite being raised with proper etiquette all his life, he let his emotions take over. He opened the door without knocking. It took him all the self-control that he had to not break it.

    "Wee, Your Majesty."

    Niki clenched his fists when he saw Mona, the lower part of her dress drenched in blood, weed him while kneeling on the floor. The lowly woman had a baby wrapped in white cloth in her arms.

    She looks awful.

    It was obvious that Mona was still exhausted after giving birth. He wasn''t sure if she should be kneeling right now. But he could tell that the position was painful for her. The beads of sweat on her forehead and the slight frown on her face told him so.

    But why does she look beautiful at the same time?

    Mona''s Camellia-colored hair and pale blue eyes never failed to capture his attention.

    "I heard Gavin Quinzel already fled with the First Star," Niki said coldly, reminding himself that it was foolish to continue admiring the woman who betrayed him for another man. "If you stayed with the Second Star to beg for my mercy, you may begin now."

    "I am not here to beg for your mercy, Your Majesty," Mona said with her usual carefree smile. Still, something else was different. Hearing her call him by his title instead of his name was strange. "I am only here to leave a farewell gift to you. I need to personally hand it to you even if it means risking my own life."

    "Interesting," he said with a raised brow. "Where''s the "farewell gift" that you had to risk your life for?"

    She smiled sadly, then she gently ced the baby on the floor. "Your Majesty, I gave birth to a prince."

    To say that he was shocked would be an understatement. "Impossible," he said. "The Rosehearts can''t give birth to a boy."

    "That''s what I thought, too," the lowly woman said. "I couldn''t believe that I gave birth to a boy as well, Your Majesty."

    He wanted to doubt her but he knew that Mona wasn''t that kind of woman.

    "Glenn, check the baby."

    "Yes, Your Majesty," Glenn said, his voiceced with confusion. Still, the knight carefully walked towards Mona. Then, he got down on one knee and gently peeled off the white cloth from the baby. He heard the knight gasp. "Your Majesty, it''s really a prince," he said, then he stood and turned around to face him. "His Royal Highness has your hair and eye color."

    Glenn and his family had been serving the de Moonasterios for generations. His knight would know if a child was really a member of the royal family or not. If Glenn called the baby "His Royal Highness," then he must be telling the truth.

    And yes, I know Mona wouldn''t lie about that.

    Most of all, he could feel the divine auraing from the baby. As soon as he entered the room, he already knew that it was his child. He just didn''t expect it to be a boy since Mona was a Roseheart.

    <em>This is unprecedented.</em>

    "Glenn, bring the royal prince to me," Niki ordered the knight. "Now."

    The knight nodded, then he carefully carried the royal prince in his arms. He even bowed to Mona before he stood up and walked back to him. The cold look that Glenn had a while ago waspletely gone now.

    <em>The fool looks happy with the royal prince.</em>

    "Your Majesty, congrattions," Glenn said cheerfully when he stood in front of his to show him the royal prince. "You now have an heir."

    He didn''tment on that because having a son didn''t guarantee having an heir. After all, the royal prince was also the son of Mona Roseheart, and the oldest nobles in the empire were either afraid of the Rosehearts or hostile towards them.

    <em>They won''t easily ept a royal prince with the blood of a Roseheart.</em>

    His thoughts were cut-off when the royal prince suddenly burst out crying.

    "That brat is noisy," Niki said. "Get him out of here."

    "Yes, Your Majesty," Glenn said, then he bowed to him before he quietly left the chamber with the royal prince.

    When Glenn finally left the room, he faced Mona Roseheart again.

    "You didn''t even bother to hold our son in your arms," Mona said with a sad smile on her face. "Now I''m starting to regret leaving him in your care."

    "Why did you only take the royal princess and decided to leave the royal prince to me?"

    "Because this empire is cruel to princesses," she said bitterly, then she paused before she spoke again. When she did, her voice was almost a whisper. "We can only take one with us. I figured you''d take care of our son because you need an heir."

    He clenched his fists tight. "What made you think that you''re the only woman capable of giving me a child?"

    She didn''t even flinch. "The empire recognizes the firstborn son of the emperor as the heir," she said. "Even though there are arrogant nobles who think my blood as a Roseheart is filthy, I''m confident that our son will still get support from people who know the true value of my family." She looked up at him, then she bowed. "Your Majesty, please raise our son well."

    "Mona Roseheart!" he snarled at her. "How dare you ask me to raise our son "well" when you''re about to run away with another man?!"

    She raised her head to give him a pitiful smile. "I won''t apologize or ask for your forgiveness," she said, then she slowly stood up. "Niki, let''s end it here."

    "No!" he yelled, his hands clenched so tight that his nails dug into the skin of his palms deep. "Wherever you try to run away to, I will find you. Once I do, I will take the royal princess away from you, Mona. You don''t deserve to be a mother."

    Her calm demeanor finally slipped away when anger crossed her eyes. "Niki."

    "It''s ''His Majesty'' to you, woman," he hissed at her, then he drew his sword.

    She stood up and smiled "sweetly" at him. "Then, it''s ''Lady Roseheart'' to you, Your Majesty. Don''t you think it''s unbing of an emperor to forget his manners out of spite?"

    Instead of giving a verbal response, he just swung his sword.

    It created a wave energy that would have been enough to slice an average Mana-user into half. But of course, it didn''t work on the woman.

    Before the energy wave could even hit her, a strong barrier appeared around Mona. He wasn''t even surprised when a white, fluffy rabbit appeared in her arms. It wasn''t an ordinary rabbit, of course.

    It was Gale, a notorious Wind Spirit that only Mona was able to tame.

    "Goodbye, Your Majesty," Mona said with a sad smile while her body was starting to turn luminescent. The barrier that protected her a while ago also began turning into a violent air, which was also known as tornado. That turned the whole room upside-down. And if he was an average person, he would have already been taken by the wind. "Please treat our son well."

    And just like that, she disappeared along with the violent air that she summoned.

    "You better run away to where I couldn''t reach you, Mona," Niki whispered to himself angrily. "Because once I find you, you''ll regret betraying me."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 86 - UNIQUE GLOW OF THE FIRST STAR

    "YOUR MAJESTY, I don''t understand," Dominic Zavaroni said. Yes, he heard the emperor''s warning. But the glow of the First Star was an important matter that he was willing to put his life on the line for answers. "When I first saw Prince Nero, I also saw the glow of the First Star in him. But a pair of twins can''t both have that glow."

    Emperor Niki seemed to have calmed down when he realized that he wasn''t backing away from the subject. "It''s possible because they have the Roseheart blood," he said, his eyes returning to their natural color. "Nero is the first son born in House Roseheart. The glow that we see him in may havee from his blood as a Roseheart and not because he''s my first born."

    His Majesty practically admitted that Prince Nero wasn''t the firstborn.

    But he also noticed the hesitation in his voice, which was quite rare. After all, the emperor would only open his mouth when speaking facts.

    "Why do you sound hesitant, Your Majesty?" he asked carefully. "Are you not sure whether Prince Nero was the firstborn or not?"

    "I wasn''t there when the twins were born," His Majesty admitted in a bitter voice. "It seems like Mona deliberately didn''t tell me who the firstborn was because she knew that it wouldn''t matter. After all, the empire values a royal prince more. That''s probably the reason why she tried to take Neoma away from the royal family."

    <em>Ah, yes.</em>

    How could anyone involved in the tragic event dubbed as the ''Bloody Chase'' forget how His Majesty hunted down Lady Mona Roseheart and Commander Gavin Quinzel? Of course, it ended up tragically. The traitors were killed and Emperor Niki sessfully "retrieved" the royal princess as if Her Royal Highness was just a tool to the royal family.

    <em>His Majesty didn''t take back Princess Neoma because he cares for her. He only did that because he didn''t want Lady Roseheart and Commander Quinzel to be happy.</em>

    He let out a deep sigh. "Your Majesty, your family is soplicated. I''m d High Priest Wellington handles most of the stuff involving the royal family and not me."

    After all, he only began getting involved with the royal family again after Prince Nero was cursed. Then, recently, he was summoned by His Majesty to deal with Princess Neoma''s Death''s Scythe.

    But other matters that needed to be discussed between the royal family and the temple were handled by High Priest Wellington.

    "I didn''t ask you to be involved in my family matter," the emperor said. "But now that you know the secret between Nero and Neoma, I want you to keep your mouth shut. It doesn''t matter even if Neoma is the firstborn or not. After all, the empire only recognizes a male heir."

    That was true.

    Even though thete Princess Nichole was the firstborn, it was still Emperor Niki who was chosen as the heir back then. The Princess Royal''s title didn''t even save her from the cruelty of the empire towards princesses.

    "Your Majesty, this is presumptuous of me but please be good to Princess Neoma," he said even though he knew he could get killed. He couldn''t help it though. Princess Neoma reminded him too much of Princess Nichole. So even if he told himself to never get attached to another princess again, he still broke his promise to himself. "The heavens seem to be fond of Princess Neoma. Who knows what the gods will do if you hurt the royal princess, Your Majesty."

    The emperor let out a deep sigh. "Why does everyone think I''m going to kill Neoma on a whim? I won''t kill her unless I have a reason to."

    He had to hold back from biting his lower lip.

    His Majesty should never be made aware of the recent prophecy that I saw.

    "Neoma is currently a valuable member of the royal family," the emperor said. "Losing Neoma while Nero is still asleep would only bring trouble to me." He paused for a while as if he hesitated before he continued. "Most of all, I don''t need to be gentle to Neoma. She''s probably the only person in the empire who''s not afraid to face me head-on. Why should you worry about a little girl who curses at the emperor, her very own father?"

    "Oh, that''s true."

    And looking at the emperor''s face now, he could tell that he really had no intention to kill Princess Neoma.

    He should be happy for the young princess but¡­

    "It seems like you''re fond of Princess Neoma, Your Majesty," Dominic Zavaroni said, his smile as bitter as his voice. "If only you felt that way towards Princess Nichole¡­"

    "I am not fond of Neoma. We simply have a good business rtionship," Niki said, then he gave him a look of disapproval. "You really ought to move on from Princess Nichole''s death, Dominic Zavaroni."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "MY CHARM isn''t working on the royal chef," Neoma said in disbelief after she received the letter from the Royal Chef. She sent a letter to the royal kitchen a while ago to request them to make her dream cake. When Alphen told her that the royal kitchen sent her a letter, she immediately halted her training with Madam Hammock and ran straight to her study room that now served as her "office." "Chef Ramsay denied my request to design my own cake."

    "The family name of the Royal Chef is Stroganoff and not Ramsay, Princess Neoma," Lewis said bluntly.

    Sheughed when she heard that. "Seriously? The Royal Chef is called Chef Stroganoff?"

    He tilted his head at one side. "You exchange letters with the Royal Chef often. His signature is always on the bottom part of the letter."

    "His handwriting is awful," she said. And she''d admit that she didn''t really bother to check. In her head, the Royal Chef was called ''Chef Ramsay.'' "I guess it''s rude of me to call him by another name, huh?"

    Her son just nodded in agreement. "I don''t like it when you call me ''son,'' too."

    Shepletely ignored her son''sint. "Anyway, have you seen the Royal Chef? How does he look?"

    "White, blonde, green eyes."

    Sheughed softly at Lewis''s awful way of describing the Royal Chef. It wasn''t hard to imagine an old man with those qualities. That was how most of the nobles look like after all.

    To be honest, she''d love to visit the royal kitchen and personally meet the Royal Chef. Her father didn''t particrly ban her from meeting people working for the royal family. But she chose not to get too attached to them.

    <em>After all, I''m just Nero''s recement. I''m not even registered as a family member.</em>

    "I should use another surname after my job here," she dered with clenched hands. "I will be ''Neoma Ramsay'' once I be a free woman."

    "Why do you like that name so much?"

    She looked at Lewis andughed. "Why are you pouting?"

    Of course, he ignored her because he didn''t want to answer her question. Gosh, what a rebellious child. "Why do you like the name ''Ramsay?''"

    "He''s my favorite chef back in my second life," she said with a thumbs up. "He''s also good at throwing insults."

    "Your taste is weird, Princess Neoma."

    She justughed it off.

    "You have an interesting bonding with the Royal Chef," her sonmented. "Princess Neoma, sometimes I think he''s more suited to be your father."

    "The bar is too low, Lewis. Even Alphen could be a better father than my Papa Boss," she said bluntly. "And yes, I do feel like I have better chemistry with the Royal Chef than I have with my own father. Even if we always "fight" because I have a lot of "strange" dishes that I make him cook for me, he''s still patient with me."

    The fox boy nodded in agreement.

    "Although this time, my Chef Ramsay is being stubborn," she said while crumpling the letter in her hands. "Gosh, what''s so hard with the cake that I want? I even chose the easiest meme to draw to not give him a hard time."

    "May I know what kind of cake did you ask the Royal Chef to make, Princess Neoma?" Lewis asked, his face nk as usual even though his voice sounded a little interested than usual. "I want to know what kind of cake you want."

    "I drew the design. Let me show you," Neoma said, then she showed him the paper where she drew the design that she wanted for her dream cake. It was just a simple square-shaped cake with white icing¡­ with a meme on it. "It''s called ''derp face,''" she exined when she saw the confusion on Lewis''s face. "That''s the birthday cake that befits a swag princess like, don''t you think?"

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 87 - A DISTANT MEMORY

    "WHAT kind of design is that?"

    Neoma avoided her father''s gaze after he "interrogated" her. But deep inside, she was seething. "I didn''t know that Chef Ramsay is a snitch."

    It was tea time with her father dearest <em>(eww).</em>

    Right now, since the weather was good, they decided to have tea in the garden. As usual, only Glenn and Lewis were allowed to stay within the premise. The two knights were guarding them a few meters away from them.

    "The Royal Chef is called ''Chef Stroganoff'' and not ''Ramsay,''" Emperor Niki corrected her. "You''ve been bossing around the Royal Chef since you were five. Howe you don''t remember his name correctly?"

    "It''s apliment. Chef Ramsay is the best chef in my imagination," she lied, then she sipped her tea before she spoke again. "Papa Boss, how much did Chef Stroganoff tell you?"

    "Everything," the emperor said, then he put the teacup down on the table. "He even sent the stupid design that you asked him to make. What kind of cursed drawing is that, Neoma? Do you want the nobles to think that the future emperor has weird taste?"

    "I didn''t say that it was the cake that I want for Nero''s birthday party."

    "Banquet," he corrected her. "It''s called dinner banquet."

    She rolled her eyes at that. "Same difference."

    As usual, he ignored hereback. "What do you need that ridiculous cake for?"

    "It''s not ridiculous," she insisted. "I want to celebrate my birthday so I''m nning to have a mini birthday party during midnight of my birthday. By that, I mean my birthday party and not Nero''s. Which reminds me, Papa Boss." She sipped her tea before she continued. "May I use the pond for my birthday party? I want to have a party with Lewis, Tteokbokki, Skewer, Hanna, Stephanie, Alphen, and Sir Glenn." She paused, then she snapped her fingers. "I also invited Saint Zavaroni but he said he needs to return to the temple."

    "Are you not going to invite Rubin Drayton?"

    She nodded. "Rubin doesn''t know my secret so I don''t want to invite him."

    "Then, how about Kyle?"

    "Count Sprouse is mean to me," she said with a scowl. "I''m shitty to people who treat me like shit." She was about to sip her tea again when a creepy thought entered her mind. "Papa Boss, you''re not waiting for me to invite you to my private birthday party, are you?"

    Her father stopped drinking tea mid-way.

    <em>No way!</em>

    "Don''t be ridiculous," her Papa Boss said after pausing for a few seconds. Then, he sipped his tea. "You may use the pond but you should tell Kyle about it. He''s the one in-charge of taking care of things like that. If you tell him that you n to celebrate your birthday, he''ll make sure that the servants wouldn''te at that area during your "party.""

    "Thanks, Papa Boss," she said, then she gave him a thumbs up. "I''ve already prepared everything except for the cake." She clicked her tongue. "Gosh, I can''t believe my charm isn''t working on the Royal Chef. Maybe I should just bake my own cake."

    "Chef Stroganoff would rather kill himself than let the crown prince do his work," her father said bluntly. "He''s that serious as a chef."

    "Then, I''ll never step foot in the royal kitchen," she said. "I like Chef Stroganoff so I don''t want him to die."

    He didn''tment on that. "I will allow you to celebrate your birthday as Neoma but make sure that you won''t mess up during the official banquet for your coronation."

    She fell silent when she remembered something. "Papa Boss, are you going to enter the hall with me?"

    "Do I have to?"

    In the past, she remembered that her father entered the hall with Nero. It was one of the reasons why her twin brother was easily epted by the higher nobles. She didn''t want to but to solidify Nero''s position, maybe she should do that for him.

    "Yeah, you have to, Papa Boss," she said while nodding. "It''s good PR¡­ I mean, it''s stated in our contract that we have to pretend that we have a good rtionship as father and son."

    "Well, entering the hall with you wouldn''t be hard," he said casually. "Just make sure that you won''t embarrass me."

    She raised her brow at that.

    To be honest, she was starting to get scared at how agreeable His Majesty was these days. She hadn''t even cursed at him for days now. Gosh, what was with the sudden change of nature?

    <em>Is he going to die?</em>

    She gulped when she remembered the saint''s recent prophecy.

    <em>Gosh, am I really going to kill Papa Boss?</em>

    "What?" her fatherined when he caught her looking at him with a horrified look on his face. "If you changed your mind and you don''t want to enter the hall with me, just say so. You don''t have to look at me like you want to strangle me."

    Oh, was that how she looked?

    "Papa Boss, good people die early," she said with furrowed brows. "The empire still needs you so don''t change, okay?"

    He obviously got her implications because all of a sudden, he looked pissed. "You really have your way with words, Neoma," he said while shaking his head. "I wonder where you got that from."

    "Well, I obviously got all my bad traits from you, Papa Boss," she said. "Even if you hate me, I''m still your daughter. Half of me still came from you."

    "Your mother had an interesting way of cursing people when she was still alive."

    Okay, that made her freeze. This was the first time that her Papa Boss freely talked about her mother without insulting her. She wanted to poke fun at her father but for some reason, she didn''t want to ruin that moment.

    "Mona didn''t have to use vulgar words to cuss," he said, then he looked at his tea as if he was avoiding her gaze. "She had a book where she put all the phrases that she used for cursing other people."

    She clenched her fists, her heart beating fast and loud against her chest. "Papa Boss, do you still have my Mama''s "book of curses?""

    In her second life, she used to call her mother ''mommy'' or eomma (when they were in Korea).

    Until she had proof that her mommy and Lady Mona Roseheart were the same person, she decided to refer to thetter as ''Mama'' to differentiate her from her mommy. She didn''t want to confuse herself.

    "I can restore it and give it to youter," Emperor Niki said, then he sipped his tea and whispered. "I don''t need it anymore."

    Then, that meant he had been keeping that "book of curses" all this time.

    <em>Papa Boss, you really loved Lady Roseheart huh?</em> Neoma thought to herself. <em>I wonder why she ended up betraying you.</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    "GLENN, did you throw it?" Niki asked his knight who just arrived at his office. "My gift for Neoma, I mean."

    "I didn''t, Your Majesty," Glenn said cheerfully. Right now, instead of his usual knights'' uniform, he wore formal clothes that reminded him that Glenn was still a noble. And he took off uniform to attend Neoma''s "birthday party." "In fact, I nned to secretly hand it to Princess Neoma tonight."

    He rolled his eyes at him. "Sometimes I wonder if you still respect me as the emperor."

    "Of course, I do, Your Majesty," he insisted with a pout that made him wonder where the ''Mad Dog'' in him had gone to. "Please don''t doubt my loyalty to you."

    He ignored the knight''s sappy remark. "Hand the gift to Neoma for me."

    "None can do, Your Majesty."

    He red at his knight. "Didn''t you just tell me not to doubt your loyalty to me? Now you''re making me want to punish you for being disrespectful."

    "Well, let''s just say that I''m speaking right now as your childhood friend instead of the vicemander of the White Lion Knights," he said, carefree as ever. "Tonight, we will celebrate Princess Neoma''s birthday. For the past three years, we celebrated her birthday as ''Prince Nero.'' But this time, we will be there for Her Royal Highness. She''d appreciate it more if you hand the gift to her personally, Your Majesty."

    "The gift is nothing special," he said coldly. "It''s just her reward for doing a good job."

    The knight smiled sadly. "Your Majesty, it''s okay."

    "What?"

    "It''s okay even if you get attached to Princess Neoma," he said carefully. "I have a feeling that Her Royal Highness can change how the empire treats our princesses. Please believe in your daughter."

    "You''re talking too much," he snarled at the knight. "Leave."

    Glenn really had the guts tough softly before he bowed to her. "Have a good night, Your Majesty," he said. "I will return quickly."

    When he didn''tment, the knight left his room quietly.

    Niki let out a deep sigh, then he looked at the moon outside his window. "Mona, your daughter reminds me of you every time I see her," he whispered to himself. "You shouldn''t have let me catch you then."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 88 - HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

    "PRINCESS Neoma, happy birthday."

    Neoma smiled at Madam Hammock''s warm greeting. She was just getting ready for her private birthday partyter when the Healing Sage paid her a visit in her room. To have privacy with her mentor, she asked Stephanie to bring tea in her chamber before she dismissed the head maid. Ah, she also asked Lewis to guard outside because she wanted to have a girl talk with the madam. "Thank you, Madam Hammock."

    "It''s really a shame that I won''t be able to attend your private birthday celebrationter," Madam Hammock, sitting on the sofa from across her, said with an apologetic smile on her gentle face. "But allow me to give you my present, Your Royal Highness."

    Her ears perked up after hearing that. "Really, Madam Hammock? You didn''t have to prepare a present for me."

    The olddy just chuckled. "Of course I have to prepare a gift for our little princess," she said, then she took out something from the pocket of her uniform. It was a pretty vial with a white satin ribbon wrapped around it. "I made a concoction especially for you, Your Royal Highness. Don''t worry. I consulted His Majesty and he approved of this present."

    "Huh?" she asked curiously. "Does every person in the pce needs my father''s permission before they get me a gift?"

    "No, that''s not the case, Your Royal Highness," the Healing Sage with a smile. "But when the gift is a potion that you have to intake, we have to ask His Majesty for permission before we give the concoction to you. After all, a royal princess can''t simply take any food or drink without getting tested for poison first."

    "Oh, that''s neat," she said. Although that''s only probably because I''m acting as Nero now.

    "Aren''t you going to ask me what the potion is for, Your Royal Highness?"

    "Nah, I''ll know it when I drink it anyway," she said. "I like surprises."

    "Then, please ept my simple present, Princess Neoma," Madam Hammock said while handing the vial to her politely.

    She politely epted the gift and took the vial very carefully. She had manners, you know? The only people she couldn''t truly respect in the Royal Pce were Emperor Niki and Count Sprouse. "Thank you, Madam Hammock," she said, genuinely delighted by the pretty vial and the pink liquid that it contained. "I like the color pink! Can I drink this now?"

    "Of course, Your Royal Highness."

    She smiled before she took out the lid of the vial. Then, without hesitating, she drank the pink liquid. It wasn''t that she was being carefree. She also didn''t trust Madam Hammockpletely. It couldn''t be helped since she knew her position in the pce wasn''t permanent.

    But she had faith in her instinct. She could tell that the potion was weak. And if she was wrong, she had Tteokbokki and Skewer inside her to take out the poison from her body.

    <em>Plus, I have sessfully built up immunity against different poisons.</em>

    "Oh. It tastes sweet," she said, happily surprised by the vor that hit her taste buds. "It almost tastes like soda¡­"

    She trailed-off when she finally felt the effect of the potion.

    <em>Ohhh!</em>

    She was delightfully surprised when all of a sudden, she felt her hair grow longer until it reached past her waist.

    "OMG," she squealed while touching her long and wavy hair. "My hair grew long!" She looked at Madam Hammock with grateful eyes. "This is, like, the best gift ever!"

    Oops¡­ her excitement made her talk like how she did in her second life.

    The Healing Sage looked confused by her words. But in the end, she just smiled at her as if she was already happy just to hear her gratitude.

    "When His Majesty heard what my gift for you is, he told me to leave you a message," Madam Hammock said with a kind smile on her face. "Princess Neoma, His Majesty allowed you to celebrate your birthday as the royal princess tonight." For some reason, the Healing Sage''s smile grew bigger. "I think it is His Majesty''s gift to you, Your Royal Highness."

    To say that she was surprised would be an understatement.

    But when she got over the surprise, she suddenly became seriously worried. After all, she heard back in her second life that people who were about to die tended to act nice before thest moment of their lives.

    <em>This is troubling, Papa Boss</em>, Neoma said to herself.<em> You''re not dying, are you?</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    "NEOMA, you are so pretty."

    Neoma was arrogant and she knew that very well.

    So please excuse her if she said that Hanna was correct, that she was really pretty. Well, even though she cut her hair and wore clothes for princes, her face remained beautiful. But now that her hair grew long and she wore a pretty pink dress again, she was just simply breath-taking.

    <em>Gosh, this dress is so lovely and it looks more exquisite on me.</em>

    It was a pastel pink multiyered ballgown with a fitted bodice, and a tiered frill skirt.

    Of course, the frills were a little too childish for her taste but thanks to her face, she pulled it off well. Plus, Stephanie gave her beautiful long hair a pretty "waterfall" braid.

    <em>Now for the record, I''m not saying that having long hair and wearing dresses are the only way for a girl to be beautiful. Everyone is pretty, period. I just want to validate my vanity and emphasize that I''m in love with my face.</em>

    "Hanna, did you know that Madam Hammock would give me a potion for my hair?" Neoma asked her cousin with twinkling eyes. Right now, only the two of them were in her room. "Is that why you gave me a dress as a birthday present?"

    Hanna smiled and nodded. Right now, her cousin wore avender ball gown with cape. The frills of her gown were kind of identical to hers. It looked like they were ''twinning'' and it was so cute! "You know that I have Magic ss with Teacher Hammock, don''t you?"

    She just nodded as confirmation.

    Yes, Hanna didn''t stay in her pce just to keep herpany. Her cousin was also there to receive lessons from Madam Hammock. Since Hanna always gets weak after using her Mana, the Healing Sage was teaching her how to use her power without putting her life at risk.

    "When I told Teacher Hammock that I''m giving a dress to you as a birthday present, she thought that you might want to dress like a princess during your private party," her cousin continued. "Teacher Hammock also figured that you''d want to "wear" your real hair than a toupee."

    "That''s true," she said while nodding. "Thank you for being so thoughtful, Hanna."

    Hanna smiled, then she gently pinched her cheek. "Tonight is your night, Neoma."

    "Yes," Neoma agreed with a big smile. "But before that, I have to attend another party first."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "DID GLENN really attend Princess Neoma''s private banquet, Your Majesty?"

    "Neoma calls it "birthday bash,"" Niki told Kyle while pouring wine for himself. He just finished work and was in the middle of having a drink when the count arrived. It wasn''t unusual for his aide toe at an awkward hour because he practically doesn''t stop working anyway. "And yes, Glenn went to the royal princess''s private "party.""

    "Why did you allow Glenn to leave your side for a child''s whim?" Kyle asked while shaking his head. "I know that you don''t need anyone''s protection, Your Majesty. Still, your personal knight leaving you to attend an unofficial banquet doesn''t sound good."

    "This is why Neoma didn''t invite you," he said bluntly. "She hates you, Kyle."

    "Well, I''ve known that ever since the royal princess almost killed me with her words a few years ago."

    "And yet, you haven''t learned your lesson."

    "I have to do my job even if I''m hated by the royal princess," the count argued. "Anyway, Your Majesty, I didn''te here to talk about Glenn or Princess Neoma''s private banquet."

    "You''re the one who brought it up."

    "Ah, yes. My apologies," his aide said, then he changed the topic. "Your Majesty, it has been confirmed that the royal princess of Hazelden is attending the coronation."

    He couldn''t help but scowl at the news.

    "Be careful, Your Majesty," Kyle said worriedly. "You know that the princess of Hazelden hasn''t given up on bing your new empress, don''t you? She''s not called the ''Seductress Princess'' for nothing."

    "Whoever gave her that ridiculous title definitely has bad taste in women," Niki said, then he sipped his red wine before he spoke again. "Maybe I''ll have Neoma deal with the Hazelden Princess so that woman will finally stop pestering me."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA smiled when she saw Lewis in the pavilion by the pond.

    Her son had his back on her but knowing him, he was already probably aware of her presence. She wasn''t trying to hide it anyway.

    "Lewis," Neoma greeted her son after she stood behind him. "Did I make you wait long?"

    Lewis turned around to face her.

    The surprised look on his face when he saw her was priceless. But as expected, he didn''tpliment her this time. It looked like Lewis didn''t find her long hair pretty, huh?

    <em>Anyway, that''s not important right now.</em>

    "It''s one hour before midnight so it''s not yet toote to greet you," she said excitedly, then she showed Lewis the paper that she had been hiding from him since he returned to the Royal Capital. "Happy birthday, Lewis! Tonight is your official birthday."

    Lewis''s first "official" birthday was the day that he was sold to the ck Market.

    She hated that so she asked Lewis what date he''d prefer to celebrate his birthday instead if he was given a chance to change it. Her son wanted to have the same birthday as her.

    Unfortunately, her Papa Boss didn''t approve of it. So as ast resort, she just chose the day before her birthday for Lewis''s new birth date. The emperor finally approved it under one condition: Lewis had to be a full-fledged White Lion Knight first.

    <em>And the condition has been fulfilled now.</em>

    "To be honest, I prepared this private birthday party for you," she exined with a smile. "But I''m pretty sure that stingy Count Sprouse won''t approve the use of the pond for your birthday, so I used my own birthday as an excuse to have this party. Did you like my present?"

    She asked because Lewis remained pokerfaced all this time.

    <em>Gosh, his expression is making me nervous.</em>

    "Princess Neoma."

    She involuntarily gulped because of the pressure from her son''s serious tone. "Hmm?"

    Lewis''s nk look suddenly turned determined. "May I hug you?"

    Neoma was just about to give a reply when all of a sudden, something white and fluffy hit her face quite hard.

    <em>What the hell is this?</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 89 - UNEXPECTED FLUFF MOMENTS

    NEOMA yelped a little when she felt herself surrounded by a strong wind that carried her up. She didn''t feel life her life was in danger. But it didn''t hurt to be careful so she gently grabbed the bunny thing that covered her entire face.

    Much to her surprise, she was greeted by a fluffy snow-white bunny with pastel pink eyes.

    <em>"Kyeopta,"</em> Neoma gushed, and the word she used meant ''cute'' in Hangul/Koreannguage. Well, she was currently floating in the air. She didn''t feel scared though. In fact, she was more curious about the bunny that oozed a strange but warm energy. And yes, it was probably the cause of the wind around her. "Where did youe from¡­"

    She trailed-off when she felt a hostile energy from below.

    When she looked down, she was surprised to see Lewis holding a dagger. His golden eyes were glowing menacingly. From his posture, she could tell that her son was nning to throw the dagger at the bunny to kill it.

    "Lewis, it''s okay," she said that obviously confused Lewis. "This bunny isn''t hurting me."

    Lewis looked unconvinced but in the end, he nodded and put the dagger back in the sheathe attached to his hip.

    <em>Gosh, he can be so overprotective sometimes.</em>

    Anyway, she turned to the cute bunny now resting in her arms. To be honest, she was amazed by herself. She was floating in the air and yet, she didn''t panic. Was it because of the warm and familiar aura that she could feeling from the bunny?

    "Hey, you look like a mochi so I''ll call you ''Mochi,''" she said to the bunny. "Is that okay with you?"

    The bunny purred "cheerfully" and so she decided that she liked the name.

    Ah, it wasn''t like she decided that the bunny was a female. She lifted it up and checked on its genitals. Back in her second life, she used to have bunnies for pets so she was kind of an expert when it came to that.

    "Mochi, can you put me down?" she asked politely with a smile. "I appreciate that you''re giving me a, uhm, "sky tour?" But I have a party to host so will you kindly put me down¨C ahh!"

    She couldn''t help but scream when the bunny disappeared in her arms. And when it did, the strong wind that carried her up there also vanished. Then, her "free fall" ensued. She was about to call Tteokbokki to catch her but then, she realized that Lewis was there for her.

    She looked down and let out a sigh of relief when she realized that her son was waiting for her to fall in his open arms.

    <em>That''s my son.</em>

    She safely fell in Lewis''s waiting arms. It was a literal "princess carry" since she was a legit royal princess. Anyway, she feltfortable in the arms of her son. He had one arm under her legs and the other supporting her back.

    "Nice catch, Lewis," she praised him with a thumbs up. She was relieved that his golden eyes weren''t glowing anymore. That meant he already calmed down. "Am I not heavy? I''m surprised you didn''t fall when you caught me."

    "Princess Neoma, you''re only eight years old and I''m officially eleven now," Lewis deadpanned. The birth date that the stupid ck Market gave him happened a few months ago. But since today was his new birth day, she could understand why he said that he was now officially eleven years old. "And I''m strong."

    "Right," she said between giggles. Then, she slowly reached for his head. When he didn''t react negatively and gave her permission to touch him through his eyes, she gently ruffled his hair. "Thank you for catching me, my precious son."

    He let out a deep sigh and spieled his favorite phrase. "I am not your son, Princess Neoma."

    "Oh, I haven''t heard that for a while," she teased him. "Can I give you your hug now?"

    Lewis''s face turned red, then he nodded shyly.

    "Tell me once you feel ufortable," she said, then she carefully wrapped her arms around his neck. "I know that you''re still not used to skinship so if this makes you ufortable, you may drop me down. I won''t get mad."

    "I will never do that," Lewis assured her. "If it''s Princess Neoma, then I''m alright with it."

    Neoma smiled and gently patted his back. "Thank you for trusting me, Lewis."

    <strong>***</strong>

    GLENN wasn''t certain about how to feel while watching Princess Neoma and Lewis Crevan from afar.

    The royal princess asked them to wait for an hour to celebrate the fox boy''s birthday with just the two of them. There were only five minutes left before the clock hits midnight, and so he was waiting with Lady Quinzel in the balcony of the Royal Library where they could see the pavilion by the pond.

    Stephanie and Alphen, on the other hand, went to the royal kitchen to prepare the feast that the Royal Chef made for the private banquet.

    "Are you worried, Sir Exton?"

    Glenn flinched when he heard Lady Quinzel address him by his family name that he no longer used. He couldn''t me the young miss though. Officially, he was still an Exton. Only the people close to him knew that he had long disowned his own family. "Lady Quinzel, you may call me by my name," he told the young miss, then he gave her a gentle smile. He didn''t want to scare her because people outside the pce probably still knew him as the ''Mad Dog.'' "Please feel free to address me like how Princess Neoma does."

    Come to think of it, from the beginning, Princess Neoma simply called him ''Sir Glenn.'' She never asked for his full name as if she already knew that he''d prefer to be called by his first name¨C even though that wasn''t the right way to address a knight.

    Ah, it must be because our precious royal princess is smart.

    "I will respect your request, Sir Glenn," Lady Quinzel said in a polite way.

    Even though the youngdy addressed him the same way the royal princess did, the tone that the twodies used were different from one another.

    Lady Quinzel was nice and polite, while Princess Neoma was warm and friendly.

    <em>Ah, it''s wrong topare two different persons so I better stop my thoughts here.</em>

    "Lady Quinzel, you asked if I was worried," he said carefully. "May I know what exactly do you mean by that?"

    "You''re looking at Neoma and Sir Crevan with a disapproving look on your face, Sir Glenn."

    Ah, Lady Quinzel might look frail but in the end, the young miss was still the only daughter of House Quinzel.

    <em>Lady Quinzel inherited her mother''s green eyes, but she definitely got the sharp look in them from Duke Quinzel.</em>

    As expected of the family with the crest of the ck Hawk.

    "Lady Quinzel, what do you think of Princess Neoma''s rtionship with Lewis Crevan?" he asked carefully.

    "They have a close rtionship," the young miss said. "I don''t understand but Neoma often refers to Sir Crevan as her "precious son.""

    He chuckled. Lady Quinzel was right. Princess Neoma calling Lewis Crevan her son was ridiculous. But for some reason, they already got used to it that they also stopped questioning the royal princess about it. They just epted the fact that the fox boy was Princess Neoma''s "son" no matter how illogical it was.

    "But I know what you really want to know, Sir Glenn," Lady Quinzel said. Even though she was smiling, he could see the sharp glint in her eyes. Ah, whoever said that the daughter of House Quinzel was frail must be blind. "And my answer is¡­" She smiled sweetly at him that made him suddenly feel nervous. "It''s none of our business."

    He flinched at how eloquently the young miss "scolded" him for being nosy. "Mydy, please don''t be too harsh on me," he whined lightly. "Lewis Crevan is a member of the White Lion Knights and I''m the troop''s vicemander. I have to watch how my knights behave around Her Royal Highness."

    "The White Lion Knights don''t own Sir Crevan the way the royal family doesn''t have control over Neoma," the young miss said with sparkling green eyes. "Neoma can do whatever she wants, and that includes forming rtionships with people she likes without asking for anybody else''s permission. I know that as a royal princess, my cousin has duties that she must perform. But did you know, Sir Glenn?"

    "What is it, Lady Quinzel?"

    "Whenever I look at Neoma, I can see her wings," Lady Quinzel said, then she turned to the direction of the pavilion by the pond. Princess Neoma was currently feeding the fish in the pond with Lewis Crevan. "I know that someday, once the right time hase, our precious Neoma will open her wings and fly away from this cold pce. When that happens, I will support her in any way I can." The young miss turned to him with a gentle smile on her face. "Sir Glenn, let us protect Neoma''s happiness."

    Glenn could only smile and nodded.

    After all, thest time he "protected" somebody''s happiness, he ended up losing two of his dearest friends.

    <strong>***</strong>

    "STEPHANIE, Alphen, have I told you how much I appreciate you?" Neoma asked, touched by her two aides'' presents. Alphen gave her a pretty silk ribbon that went well with her outfit, while Stephanie gave her a pair of ss slippers that also matched her dress. Of course, she immediately put the ribbon in her hair and wore the pretty shoes. "Thank you for making me look more a princess tonight."

    Stephanie smiled and bowed to her. "It''s nothing, Your Royal Highness. I remembered that you mentioned how you''d love to have a pair of ss slippers just like from the unfamiliar fairy tale that you once told me. I''m d that I was able to find a shoemaker who was able to replicate the ss slippers that you described from the story."

    Ah, the head maid was talking about the time that she told her the story of ''Cindere.'' Yes, she was the one "reading" stories to Stephanie during bedtime instead of the other way around because she loved telling stories.

    "I''ve always felt bad that I have to prepare fancy ties to you every single day, Your Royal Highness. I''m also aware of how much you dislike dressing up as a prince even though you never voiced out yourints," Alphen said with a faint smile on his face. "I am d that I had the chance to prepare a silk ribbon that suits your beauty, Princess Neoma."

    She didn''t want to admit this but she was genuinely touched.

    At the beginning, she knew that Alphen and Stephanie only saw her as Nero''s recement. But now, she could feel that it had already changed. The two finally saw her as ''Neoma'' and not as her twin brother''s proxy.

    "Thank you," Neoma said with a bright and genuine smile. "Now, let''s start our dinner."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "CHEF Stroganoff did a good job making cakes for us, Lewis," Neoma said cheerfully when she saw the two cakes that the royal kitchen sent. Both round cakes were covered with white frosting. The one had pink flowers for icing while the other had blue flowers. "Now, I really feel like it''s my birthday."

    "Happy Birthday, Princess Neoma," Hanna and Sir Glenn greeted her.

    Lewis didn''t greet him but she knew that he would do itter, once they were alone. After all, her son didn''t like talking when there were other people around them.

    <em>Kids his age are conscious after all.</em>

    Anyway, she was happy with the simple set-up of her "private banquet."

    Stephanie and Alphen prepared a round table in the pavilion. Then, they prepared the food that she requested from the royal kitchen. Right now, all of them were standing around the table. There were seats, of course.

    But as long as she was standing, everyone else would remain standing as well.

    "Thank you for attending my mini birthday party," she said excitedly. "Now, let''s light the candles on our cakes. Then, I will teach you a song called ''Happy Birthday To You.''"

    Her guests appeared confused so she exined.

    "It''s a song to wish me a happy and longer life," Neoma exined with a big smile on her face. "May I implore everyone to sing it for me?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "WHAT are you doing here?" Niki asked the stupid white bunny sittingfortably on the tea table. But instead of tea, he was actually drinking alcoholic drinks again. He was already on his fifth bottle when the little creature appeared before him. "You remind me of your former master," he said, then he sipped his drink. "You make me nauseous so get out of my sight."

    "<em>Why are you still alive?</em>" Gale, Mona''s Wind Spirit, asked. Despite her age and appearance, she still sounded like a youngdy. "<em>I want to kill you</em>."

    "Unfortunately for you, the spell that the Extons sealed you with would never allow you to kill me," he said with a smirk. "You only gained your freedom because Glenn decided to give you to Neoma as a birthday present. Why don''t you just behave and act as my daughter''s pet?"

    Glenn consulted him before he went back to his family to free the Wind Spirit.

    He knew how much his knight hated House Exton. The fact that he was willing to return just to get Gale for Neoma was a testament of his determination. And so, he approved the present that Glenn decided to give his daughter.

    Even if that meant meeting the wild Wind Spirit again.

    <em>Gale is also the master of teleportation spell. The benefits that Neoma will gain from having the Wind Spirit by her side are greater than my difort.</em>

    "<em>Mona''s daughter can''t summon spirits yet. When Mona was her age, she had already summoned me and a few powerful spirits. But the royal princess can''t even hear my voice</em>," Gale said in a disappointed voice. "<em>I knew that your blood would only be a shackle to a Roseheart from the very beginning. Mona was a great person, but she had terrible taste in men</em>."

    "I don''t want to be nagged by a bunny."

    "<em>I hate you</em>."

    He rolled his eyes at that. Gale was probably more than a century old but she still spoke like a child. No wonder she got along well with Mona in the past. "What do I care? The opinion of my daughter''s new pet doesn''t mean a thing to me."

    "<em>I hope you die a gruesome death</em>."

    He smirked to annoy the Wind Spirit even more. "Too bad nobody in the empire could kill me."

    Gale let out an annoyingugh that he hadn''t heard for ages. "<em>Are you sure about that, Little Niki?</em>"

    He stopped drinking mid-way and was about to ask what the Wind Spirit meant by that.

    But he was interrupted by a loud knock on the door. Then, Glenn entered his room with a distressed look on his face.

    Glenn just probably realized that Gale already escaped from wherever he hid her.

    "Please pardon my intrusion, Your Majesty," Glenn said, then he red at the Wind Spirit. "Miss Gale, I begged you to stay in¨C"

    "<em>Don''t call me ''Gale'' from now o</em>Dn," the Wind Spirit rudely cut-off Glenn. "<em>Neoma, that interesting kid, gave me a new name. I have taken quite a liking to her so I decided to stick to her for a while. But if the royal princess turns out to have a boring personality like our Little Niki here, I will drop her¨C literally and figuratively</em>."

    He had to roll his eyes for the second time that night.

    "Then, I''m relieved," the knight said with a bright smile on his face. "You will never have a dull moment with our precious Princess Neoma¡­" He trailed-off, then he scratched his eyebrow. "What did Her Royal Highness name you?"

    "<em>I don''t know what it means but she named me ''Mochi,''</em>" the Wind Spirit said. "<em>So call me ''Mochi'' from now on</em>."

    Glennughed softly. "I also don''t know what it means but it sounds cute."

    "That sounds awful," Niki said while shaking his head. He couldn''t even call Neoma''s Soul Beast with its temporary name because it sounded mouthful. And he didn''t want to utter a word that he didn''t know the meaning. "My daughter really has a terrible naming sense."

    "<em>And yet, you sound proud</em>," ''Mochi'' said in a mocking tone. "<em>Little Niki, do you realize how many times you''ve called that child "my daughter?</em>""

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 90 - DEATH FLAGS EVERYWHERE

    "LEWIS, are you happy?" Neoma asked Lewis while they were sitting on the railing of the pavilion. "Did you enjoy your birthday party?"

    The private party just ended and only the two of them were left in the pavilion.

    She asked Stephanie and Alphen to escort Hanna back to her pce.

    Then, Sir Glenn excused himself because apparently, his birthday gift for her went "missing." The knight asked her to wait and so, she was still in the pavilion with Lewis.

    "Yes," Lewis said. "Thank you, Princess Neoma."

    "You''re very much wee, Lewis," she said. "I''m happy that you enjoyed this party. I hope next year, more people wille to sing you a happy birthday song."

    "I don''t need a lot of people in my life."

    She justughed it off. "So, when are you going to give me your gift?"

    He flinched. "Sorry, no gift."

    "Why the sudden broken speech?" she asked with a softugh. "I know you, Lewis. You always prepared a gift for me for my past birthdays. I''m sure you have one for this year too."

    During her seventh and eight birthdays, Lewis gave her pretty marbles. The first marble that he gave her was only the size of a ping pong ball. The second marble was bigger and if she remembered it correctly, it was the size of a golf ball.

    ording to Lewis, those marbles weren''t the Marble that greedy people wanted from him. They were just marbles that contained his Mana. Apparently, if her life was put in danger, she could use the marbles that he gave her to give her power an extra boost. She would just have to break the marbles to use them.

    "I prepared another marble for you," Lewis said, obviously embarrassed for some reason. "But when I saw the other gifts that you received, I realized that I was stupid to not prepare something fancier. Something that you will enjoy as a girl."

    "Lewis, I appreciate all the gifts that I received from our friends," she said carefully. "And I will definitely appreciate yours. In fact, I''m looking forward to it."

    He looked surprised by her remark.

    "I''m excited to see your improvement," she continued with an encouraging smile. "Thest marble you gave me was bigger than thest one. Did it increase in size again this year?"

    He nodded hesitantly.

    "Show me," she said, then she gave her a puppy dog eyes. "Please?"

    Lewis looked hesitant at first. But in the end, he reached for the inner packet of his jacket. Then, he pulled out a pretty marble the size of a baseball ball.

    "Ohh it''s like a snow globe," she gushed, then she carefully took the marble from her son when he handed it to her. The marble was a ss sphere, and the colors inside it were pastel pink andvender. "It''s pink andvender. I like these colors." She turned to him and gave him a big smile. "The previous marbles that you gave me were both dark. Did you change the color this time for me?"

    "Sir Glenn taught me how to change the color of my Mana," he said. "But it will only stay that way inside the marble. If it breaks, the Mana inside will return to its natural."

    "Oh, I see. That''s pretty neat," she said. "Thank you, Lewis. I will treasure this."

    He looked satisfied with that. "I will get you a better present next time, Princess Neoma."

    "I won''t stop you if that''s what you want to do," she said with an encouraging smile. "But Lewis, please remember that your existence is already a huge blessing to me. Our friendship and your loyalty are two of the best presents that I''ve received in this lifetime. You really don''t need to give me anything else."

    Lewis didn''t smile but his beautiful golden eyes literally glowed beautifully.

    <em>Ah, he''s happy.</em>

    "Princess Neoma, I apologize for my intrusion."

    She turned around and was a little surprised to find Sir Glenn behind them. Even Lewis looked surprised to see the knight there.

    <em>Gosh, we didn''t feel or hear him approach us.</em>

    As expected of her Papa Boss''s personal knight.

    "Princess Neoma, my present for you is in His Majesty''s bedchamber," Sir Glenn said with an awkward smile. "Do you mind if youe with me to his room to fetch the gift?"

    "Well, I don''t mind but you know how much I dread seeing my father, Sir Glenn. Your gift better be worth it," Neoma teased Sir Glenn. Sheughed when the knight went pale. "Joke!"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "MOCHI!" Neoma squealed when she saw the snow-white bunny sleeping on the grand four-poster bed that obviously belonged to her Papa Boss. The bed was huge and she could tell that everything about it (from the bed sheets to the curtains) was posh. No wonder Emperor Niki looked pissed while standing in front of the bed and ring at Mochi. "Papa Boss, why did you kidnap the poor bunny?"

    Of course, she knew that her father didn''t "kidnap" Mochi.

    It was just her hobby to annoy the emperor as a little revenge for all the hardships that she went through because of him.

    "I didn''t abduct that thing," Emperor Niki denied in an obviously annoyed tone, then he turned to her with furrowed brows. "You still haven''t changed?"

    By that, he definitely meant her princess outfit.

    "I look pretty, don''t I?" she said, then she twirled around to show-off her "natural" long hair and her pretty ball gown. When her father didn''t look impressed, she rolled her eyes. "Don''t worry, Papa Boss. Sir Glenn made sure that nobody else would see me dressed like this."

    "You''re overdressed," the emperor deadpanned. "I thought you only had dinner with your so-called friends."

    "Papa Boss, a queen like me is never overdressed."

    "Don''t call yourself a queen again if you don''t want to get in trouble," he warned her. "If someone else hears you, they might think that the royal princess is vying for the throne."

    Well, back in her second life, calling people "queen" was pretty normal.

    ''<em>You dropped your crown, quee</em>n,'' for example, was a very famous inte ng. She used to tweet that, and she would even change the spelling from ''queen'' to ''kween.''

    But she had to acknowledge that in the empire, using such word could be dangerous.

    "My bad," she said. "But it''s not that deep, Papa Boss."

    "Use normal words, Neoma."

    "I don''t mean anything by what I said," she exined. "Would it be more eptable if I say ''a princess like me is never overdressed'' instead?"

    "Yes," her father deadpanned. "Be careful next time."

    "`Kay," she said, then she turned to Sir Glenn who was standing politely behind her. "Sir Glenn, is ''Mochi'' your present for me?"

    Sir Glenn smiled and nodded. "Yes, Princess Neoma," he confirmed. "Gale¨C I mean "Mochi" is a Wind Spirit."

    "Oh," she said. "No wonder she was made me float a while ago."

    The knight looked surprised by that. "You already met her?"

    She nodded. "But she suddenly disappeared."

    "I see," Sir Glenn said while nodding. "Now I know why she suddenly went missing."

    "Pick up your pet now and leave my room," her father said. "And go back to your pce before someone else sees you, Neoma."

    "I don''t want to wake Mochi," she said, then she turned to the knight. "Sir Glenn, do you mind making tea for us?" She had no choice but to ask Sir Glenn because no one else should see her dressed like that. "I''ll stay here in Papa Boss''s room until Mochi wakes up."

    Sir Glenn smiled but before the knight could even speak, the emperor beat him to it.

    "Excuse me? It''s already past your bedtime," Emperor Niki said firmly. "Do you want to spend time with me that badly, Princess Neoma?"

    She didn''t miss the sarcasm¨C she just chose to ignore it.

    "Yes, Papa Boss. I <em>looove</em> spending time with you," Neoma said with as much sarcasm as he had a while ago. "It''s my birthday so please don''t ruin my mood."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "PAPA BOSS, for an emperor, your bedroom is quite simple," Neomamented, then she sipped her tea before she continued talking. They were having tea in the lounge area of his big bedroom. Sir Glenn and Lewis were guarding outside the chamber. "I''m d to know that you''re not living toovishly."

    Emperor Niki sipped his tea before he continued. "Finish your tea and go to sleep. You have a banquet to attendter."

    "The banquet starts at night," she reasoned. "I can sleep the whole day."

    "I don''t think your servants will allow you to do so," her father said. "As the star of the banquet, it''s their job to make sure that you''re the best-looking child during that time."

    "My face always works hard, Papa Boss," she said. To not make her father confuse by the modern phrase that she used, she exined right away. "That means I''m always good-looking."

    He looked at her wordlessly, then he pointed at the expensive-looking box on the table. "Take that with you once you leave."

    She looked at the box and realized that it was wrapped as a present.

    Wow, it was a dumb moment for her. She honestly thought that it was part of the decoration. Not gonna lie, she thought it was a box of fine choctes that was served along with the tea.

    "Papa Boss, is that your present for me?"

    He just sipped his tea.

    Now she was officially bothered by Saint Macaroni''s prophecy.

    <em>Shit. In an anime series, when a terrible character suddenly shows kindness, it''s usually taken as a death g.</em>

    "I told you before that your mother has a unique way of cursing people, didn''t I?" her father said. "I still remember the first time I heard her curse."

    She gulped hard.

    <em>When a character tells their back story through a shback, it''s also a death g!</em>

    "''Your Majesty, I hope your hairline recedes each time the twin stars'' light dim,"" the emperor said with a bitter smile on his face. "Your mother cursed my father, the current emperor back then, during a banquet that celebrates His Majesty''s birthday."

    She couldn''t help butugh at what she heard. "Mama sounds like a fun person."

    "Of course you''d find her fun," he said while shaking his head. "You got your mother''s sharp tongue."

    "Tell me more about her, Papa Boss."

    "Mona also cursed Kyle''s father, the previous Count Sprouse," the emperor said in an amused tone. "She used to curse the previous count to have barrennd, or to lose heat during winter. And even during his final moment, your mother told him: "May your soul never find peace.""

    "That''s so evil," she said, impressed by her mother''s unique way of cursing. "What''s the tea, Papa Boss? Why does it sound like Mama hate the previous count?"

    "House Sprouse was one of the families that caused House Roseheart''s downfall."

    She didn''tment but she smiled proudly.

    <em>Mama, you''re a kween.</em>

    "Take your gift and return to your pce," her father said. "Don''t wait for the bunny to wake up. Just grab it and bring it with you."

    "Let me open my present first," she said as she reached for the box. "May I open the gift now, Papa Boss?"

    "It''s not like I can stop you."

    She just giggled.

    Then, she put the present on herp and began to open the luxurious box. She gasped when she saw a pretty golden notebook inside. It had a hard cover with carved images ofdies dancing below a star. The design was elegant and meaningful.

    "It''s a magical journal that I bought from the best craftsman in the empire," her father said. "Instead of writing in the pages using a pen, you can "capture" your memories and put them in the sheets. If you open the journal, you''ll see the curses that your mother used in the past. I transferred the memories I have of her from my mind to the pages of the journal. Some of them may be inurate or blurry. After all, it''s been a while since your mother crossed my mind."

    She knew it was a lie.

    If her father barely remembered her mother, then howe she reminded him of her?

    "Why did you choose this gift, Papa Boss?" she asked curiously. She was touched by her father''s present but she didn''t want to put her guard up. After all, she still didn''t have the assurance that the emperor wouldn''t think of throwing her away again. "Why are you talking about my mother now?"

    "It''s your reward," Emperor Niki said in a soft voice. "You should just be grateful that I''m in the mood to talk about your mother." He sipped his tea before he continued speaking. "Who knows if there''s going to be a next time?"

    For some reason, that scared Neoma a little.

    <em>It''s definitely a death g.</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    "MY LORD, now I''m really confused," Dominic Zavaroni prayed to Yule, the Moon God that he worshipped. "Who is really the Second Star that is destined to kill the moon?"

    The crown prince''s coronation would be held at the banquetter.

    And ording to the prophecy that he saw a while ago, the moon would bleed during the twins'' birthday.

    That would be tonight.

    "His Majesty is also uncertain who between Princess Neoma and Prince Nero is the firstborn," Dominic Zavaroni continued in a confused voice. "My lord, please don''t make Princess Neoma suffer even more."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "KURO, let''s go," Gin called the three-headed hell dog cheerfully while fixing the cufflink of his formal attire. "We have a banquet to crash."

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

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 Chapter 91 - DISAPPOINTED BUT NOT SURPRISED

    <em><strong>[8 YEARS AGO]</strong></em>

    "Your Majesty!"

    Niki abruptly got up when he saw Glenn''s face as soon as he opened his eyes. When he looked around, he realized that he was back in his room. "What happened?" he asked, confused. Thest thing he remembered was him chasing Mona and Commander Gavin Quinzel to a strange ce that was blurry in his mind. "Where are the traitors?"

    "They''re gone, Your Majesty," Glenn reported to him, his head hanged low. "When we arrived at the old mansion of the Rosehearts, we found you unconscious on the ground."

    He was surprised to hear that from the knight because he didn''t remember that he went to the Roseheart estate. But to be honest, he couldn''t trust his memories right now. His head was aching and it felt like his skull would break into two.

    "Lady Roseheart and themander were lying beside you. But when we approached you, Lady Roseheart and Commander Quinzel suddenly turned into ashes."

    He felt gutted.

    That meant Mona and Commander Gavin Quinzel died because they failed toplete the spell that they tried to perform. And he was the reason why the two failed.

    <em>I killed them.</em>

    But to be honest, he couldn''t really remember what happened back then.

    His thoughts were cut-off when he heard a baby''s cry. Much to his shock, he found a baby beside him.

    "It''s the royal princess, Your Majesty," Glenn informed him politely. "We found Her Royal Highness between Lady Roseheart and Commander Quinzel before they turned into ashes."

    He clutched the sheets in his hands as anger rose in his chest.

    It was true that he hunted down Mona and themander to retrieve the royal princess. But now that the lowly woman was gone, he could no longer see the value of his children. The royal prince could be his heir. But he had no use for the royal princess.

    "Throw the children to the Luna Pce," Niki said coldly. "I don''t want to see them again."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "PAPA BOSS, are you still with me?"

    Niki blinked several times, pushing the unwanted memories that resurfaced in his head to the deepest corner of his heart.

    How could he remember something so awful in that moment?

    "Are you already sleepy, Papa Boss?" Neoma asked, then she sipped her overly sweetened tea before she continued speaking. "Is it past your bedtime now?"

    Niki rolled his eyes at her. "Since you''ve overstayed your wee, I''ll give you another job."

    "I knew you wouldn''t give me a present without asking for something in return," she said while shaking her tiny head. "I''m disappointed, but not surprised, Papa Boss."

    "Why do you always have a retort to everything I say?"

    "That''s a part of my charm, Papa Boss," she said with a huff. "Anyway, I don''t do extra work without pay."

    "I''ll let you get whatever you wantter if you seed."

    "You mean WHEN I seed?"

    He smirked at her but his expression was still a little weird. It was as if he didn''t know whether to be amused or annoyed by her rudeness. "Don''t talk to me that way in front of other people at the banquetter."

    "Of course, I won''t," she assured him. "I will transform into a perfect prince at the banquet, Papa Boss."

    He seemed satisfied with that assurance. "Since you''re smart and arrogant, is it safe to assume that you know the Hazelden Kingdom?"

    Gosh, does he really have to add the "arrogant" part?

    "Hazelden is known for three things," she began with an urge to show-off after getting called "arrogant." Well, it was true. But she didn''t want to hear that from her father who was far more arrogant than she was. "First, their kingdom is very famous for their specialized weapons called Favor. Each Favor is embedded with a special spirit stone called Lender. These Lender stones are infused with Mana, and when attached to an ordinary weapon, the wielder bes capable of using Mana that the Lender stone, well, lends them." She groaned asint. "Gosh, whoever named the specialized weapons and the spirit stones of Hazelden definitelycks creativity."

    "The name isn''t important," her father said. "The fact that they can produce spirit stones that can lend power to tools and non-Mana users is valuable."

    She nodded in agreement. "True that."

    After all, not every person in the empire was born with Mana. Most of the Mana users in the empire were royals and nobles. And thus, they were on top of the "food chain."

    But with the help of Lender stones, the Hazelden Kingdom was able to create an army of non-Mana users that could fight Mana-users equally. That was why the empire''s alliance with the said kingdom was very important.

    <em>I remember back in my first life, when a war broke out between Moonasterion Empire and the Allied Countries that harbored grudge against Papa Boss, Hazelden sent a huge supply of Lender stones to the empire that helped us win the war quickly. Thus, the damage was minimal.</em>

    "Anyway, the second fun fact about the kingdom is that they are known for being elusive," she continued. "After all, the kingdom is in the North where it''s always snowing. Thus, we rarely see them leave Hazelden."

    "It''s "always" snowing because they use snow as barrier," her father exined. "Although it''s always cold outside, the inside of the kingdom has normal weather."

    "Interesting. I''d love to visit their kingdom once," she said. Maybe she should start researching on how to make heating pads then sell them someday to the Hazelden Kingdom. Anyway¡­ "Last but not the least, Hazelden is known for having a harem of beautiful princesses."

    "I''m d that you mentioned that," her Papa Boss said, then he sipped his tea before he continued speaking. "The Hazelden Kingdom is trying to push their first princess to be the new empress. I want you to deal with her during the banquet so she wouldn''t have the chance to stick to me all night."

    The fact that women were vying to be her father''s new empress wasn''t news to her.

    In her first life, she remembered that a lot of princesses and high-ranking noblewomen tried to seduce her father. She kind of remembered that a few of the princesses of the Hazelden Kingdom were sent to the Royal Pce.

    Unfortunately, she didn''t know if her father remarried after she died.

    "Aren''t you considering remarrying, Papa Boss?" she asked carefully. "It has been years already since thete empress passed. My mother is already gone, too. A political marriage with a valuable ally doesn''t sound so bad."

    She honestly didn''t mind if her Papa Boss remarried.

    Nero was already the crown prince so even if he remarried and conceived another male child, her twin brother''s position was already solidified.

    <em>And I''m sure as hell that my future stepmother can''t bully me if she turned out to be evil.</em>

    "Do I have a reason to remarry?" her Papa Boss asked back. "I don''t need another political marriage because my power over the empire is already absolute. I have other ways of keeping Hazelden Kingdom in check so I don''t need to marry one of their princesses."

    Judging by his words, it seemed like his marriage with thete empress was only for politics. Then, she remembered that her father indirectly confessed that she and Nero were conceived out of love.

    <em>That means he loved our Mama.</em>

    "Papa Boss, why didn''t you marry my mother?"

    He looked surprised by her question, then he gave her a cold re that made his ash gray eyes glow.

    His eyes didn''t turn red so it means he''s not angry.

    Thus, she had the courage to stare back at him, her own eyes glowing as well.

    "When I was still in the Luna Pce, I heard that my mother died of giving birth to me and Nero," she said carefully. That was also what she heard back in her first life. But now that she had the chance to know who her mother was, she also realized that her death wasn''t due to giving birth to them. "Papa Boss, how did my mother die?"

    To be honest, she already had an idea.

    If her Mama and the man called Commander Gavin Quinzel (that looks like her dad/appa) were together in her second life, then it wasn''t hard to believe that the two really betrayed her Papa Boss. And if they were caught by her father¡­

    "Your mother paid the price for betraying me."

    She clenched her hands.

    Like she thought, he must have really ordered the death of her mother. And if her Mama was punished, Commander Gavin Quinzel may have suffered the same fate.

    "What will you do now that you know the truth about your mother''s death?"

    "Nothing," she said, then she opened her hands. "I never met my Mama in this lifetime. And even if I hate you for what happened to her, she won''te back."

    He smirked at her. "I guess you inherited my coldness."

    She just sipped her tea.

    <em>I don''t want to hear that I inherited something from my Papa Boss even if it''s true. Hmp!</em>

    "Why did you even bring up your mother?" her father asked. "Does it have anything to do with what I asked you to do?"

    "Yes," she lied. Then, she continued bluffing. "At the banquet, I''m pretty sure that some snotty nobles will bring up my mother to insult me. Gosh, what if the princess of Hazelden Kingdom bullies me because my Mama isn''t a higher noble?"

    Her father scoffed. "You? Getting bullied? Impossible. It''s definitely the other way around. You''re good at putting people in their ce."

    "Papa Boss, don''t praise me too much."

    "It''s not apliment."

    She rolled her eyes at him. "Anyway, Papa Boss. I need to know the strength of House Roseheart, and why some nobles are afraid of my mother''s family. I need that in order to defend myself once someone makes the mistake of mocking me."

    "Oh," her father said in a teasing voice. "Does the Great Princess Neoma need her father''s help this time?" He smirked at her haughtily. "I don''t hear a "please" from you, daughter."

    Gosh, the sarcasm in her father''s voice made her feel humiliated.

    "Never mind. Your great daughter can deal with them on her own," she said with a roll of her eyes. Then, she stood up and walked towards her father''s bed. Her mood instantly turned bright when she realized that the snow-white bunny was already up. "Good morning, Mochi," she greeted her even though it wasn''t morning yet. Then, she gently picked up her new pet. "Let''s go home, hmm?"

    Mochi purred and nuzzled her arms.

    "Good girl," she said, then she turned to her father. "Good night, Papa Boss. See youter."

    "The fact that you and Nero were conceived by love is enough for you to be proud of your birth, Neoma," her father said, then he elegantly stirred his tea back and forth, never touching the sides. Yes, back and forth and not a circr motion to avoid ''storm in the tea cup.'' "Not all royals and nobles were conceived that way."

    And yet, as soon as she and Nero were born, her father ordered the death of her mother.

    What happened during her Mama''s nine month pregnancy that changed her feelings for her Papa Boss? Something wasn''t clicking right. But she held back herself from getting too curious.

    <em>I must ensure my safety first before I investigate my parents from this life and the second one. I just need to endure for a few years anyway. Once Nero returns safely, I will be free and I can do anything I want by then.</em>

    "What?" her Papa Bossined when he caught her silently staring at him. "I thought you need a piece of information that will protect you from getting "bullied" by the "snotty" nobles at the banquetter?"

    "You acting kind scares me, Papa Boss," Neoma said bluntly. "Please don''t die."

    "I''m not going to die," Emperor Niki deadpanned. "Not until Nero sits on the throne, at least."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA now fully believed Saint Macaroni''s prophecy.

    Papa Boss acting kind to her was a huge death g. If she was really the one destined to kill the emperor, then she should kiss her dream of bing ady of leisure goodbye.

    <em>No, I will not give up on my one and only dream!</em>

    "Sir Glenn, can you fetch Hanna and secretly bring her to my room?" Neoma asked the knight seriously. Right now, they were using the secret room that would lead her outside Yule Pce. They had to use that to hide her from the servants. After all, only a few knew about her. "After that, can you stay a little bit and listen to what I have to say?"

    "Of course, Princess Neoma," Sir Glenn said. He probably sensed how serious she was because he looked worried. "Is there a problem, Your Royal Highness?"

    Lewis also looked at her with a worried look on his face.

    "No," Neoma lied with a bright smile. "I just want to have a girl talk with my cousin. It''s going to be my first social debut so I''d like to hear some advice from Hanna."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "LEWIS, I lied a while ago," Neoma confessed when she and Lewis were alone in her room. She sat on the armrest of the sofa with her arms crossed over her chest. She just put Mochi in bed because her cute little bunny fell asleep again. "I didn''t ask Sir Glenn to bring Hanna here just to have a girl talk with her."

    "I know, Princess Neoma," Lewis, who stood in front of her with his hands behind his back, said. "You fake a smile when you lie."

    She was surprised to hear that.

    <em>As expected of my son.</em>

    "I think I''ll be ambushed during the banquetter," she dered, surprising Lewis. "And I have reasons to believe that it would be the Devil''s minions."

    The saint told her that the vision he saw would happen during the banquet. She didn''t believe it at first because she didn''t have any intention of killing her father. But her Papa Boss''s strange actions scared her.

    Plus, I shouldn''t forget that I met the Devil''s minion. They said we will meet again. The banquet is a perfect opportunity for them to attack.

    "Why didn''t you tell Sir Glenn?" Lewis asked. "I know that I can protect you, but I don''t want to be too arrogant when ites to your safety, Princess Neoma."

    "I can''t tell Sir Glenn because he''s my father''s knight," she said. "Lewis, ording to the saint, he saw a vision where I killed my Papa Boss."

    Her son looked shocked by what she said.

    "Don''t worry, I have a n. I only need you and Hanna. Tteokbokki and Skewer too, of course,," Neoma quickly assured Lewis. "If you follow my orders, we wouldn''t need the White Lion Knights to protect me."

    Lewis turned serious, then he bowed to her. "I will follow you, Princess Neoma."

    <strong>***</strong>

    <em>INTERESTING</em>, Gale said to herself while listening to Princess Neoma discuss her n with her two friends. The royal princess reminded her of her former master, Mona Roseheart. <em>Mona, your daughter is as reckless as you.</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 92 - RING THE CURTAIN UP

    "I''M SO HANDSOME," Neoma said in a frustrated voice while looking at her reflection in the mirror. I''m so freaking handsome!

    Just look at her fancy outfit for tonight.

    She wore a red medieval-ish military jacket with tail back and high slit, double lines of golden buttons in the front, goldences for decoration, and golden epaulettes with tassles on both shoulders. Underneath the military coat were a white crisp shirt with small trimmings on the cuffs, and a white cravat tie with doubleyers.

    For her bottom, she wore a pair of white trousers (she stopped wearing shorts a while ago) and a matching boots and belt (and a lot of golden chains around her outfit).

    The cherry on top of her outfit was the gold cape draped over her left-shoulder.

    And oh, her chic ck gloves too.

    "Why am I born with this face?" she continuedining even though she liked what she was seeing in the mirror anyway. "I even look immacte in this kind of outfit that''s very hard to pull-off."

    Stephanie and Alphen looked confused by herint.

    Well, to be honest, the two did a very good job.

    Alphen chose her outfit for today''s banquet while Stephanie was the one who helped her wear her clothes. Since her identity as the royal princess was a top secret, only the head maid was in-charge of helping her take a bath and dress up.

    "Your Royal Highness, are the clothes that I chose too shy for your liking?" Alphen asked worriedly. "There are several other clothes that I prepared for the banquet. Would you like to see them?"

    "Nah, I trust your taste, Alphen," she said. "And whatever I wear, we cannot hide the fact that I''m pretty. Gosh, my face is top-tier."

    "Your Royal Highness, your face is the kind of face that suits both a girl and a boy," Stephanie said sincerely. "Please don''t worry about that too much."

    Ah, Stephanie understood her.

    <em>As expected of my nanny.</em>

    The head maid''s words actually made her feel better.

    "Thank you, Stephanie and Alphen," she said with a smile. "Can you fetch Hanna from her room and bring her here? I''d like to have a talk with her before we leave my pce."

    Stephanie and Alphen bowed to her before they quietly left her room.

    After a while, she heard a soft knock on her door. Then, Lewis entered.

    <em>Woah!</em>

    "Lewis, you look so cool!" she gushed when she saw her son''s outfit today. "The White Lion Knights'' full dress uniform looks so good on you."

    Lewis wore a white full dress high-necked tunic that reminded her of pre-World War 1 pattern that she saw in the pictures back in her second life. Anyway, the jacket had golden epaulettes with tassles, and blue linings. Her son''s uniform waspleted with a pair of white trousers and ck boots.

    The most stylish parts of Lewis''s outfit were the one-shoulder navy blue mantle on his shoulder, and his pair of white gloves.

    "Lewis, you''d look cooler if you have you sword attached to your hip."

    "We''re not allowed to bring swords or other types of weapon in the presence of the emperor, Princess Neoma," Lewis reminded her. "Only Sir Glenn, His Majesty''s personal knight and the vicemander of the White Lion Knights, is allowed to do so."

    "Ah, right," she said while nodding his head. "Knights who will guard inside the pce won''t be allowed to bring weapons inside. Only the knights outside could wield weapons."

    That was why the knights of the inner pce were Mana-users. So even if they couldn''t wield weapons, they could still protect the emperor and the guests using their Mana. Luckily, the emperor''s Order nevercked of talented Mana-users.

    "Don''t worry, Princess Neoma," Lewis assured her. "I can protect you even without a sword."

    "I know that," she said, then she gave him a thumbs up. "I can also protect myself even without a weapon."

    For some reason, her son let out a deep sigh.

    She was soon distracted when she heard a knock on the door. This time, it was Hanna who entered her room.

    And wow, she almost fell on her knees.

    "Hanna, you''re so pretty!" she gushed when she saw her cousin. "And OMG! Your dress is so lovely!"

    Hanna wore a jewel neckce appliqu¨¦ beaded dress with feather sleeves and a tulle with cascading ruffle sweep train. The color of the dress wasvender gradient. It seemed to be her cousin''s favorite color and she could clearly see why.

    Her cousin looked prettier than normal tonight.

    Hanna''s wavy hair fell freely on her back, and she wore a flower crown for decoration. Since she already had good skin, her face still glowed beautifully even without makeup.

    "Thank you, Neoma," Hanna said with a smile. "You look lovely."

    Sheughed softly. "Shouldn''t you say I look "dashing?""

    Her cousin chuckled and shook her head. "You are lovely, Neoma."

    Lewis nodded in agreement.

    Aww, she was touched.

    "Thank you," she said sincerely. "I needed to hear that."

    Her cousin just smiled at her.

    "Lewis, Hanna, do you remember the most important thing that I asked you to do if we were attackedter?"

    The two nodded.

    "I won''t use my Mana to fight," Hanna said even though she still looked like she was in a protest. After all, her cousin couldn''t understand why she was preventing her from using her Mana even though technically, Hanna was a strong Mana-user. "And if your hunch was correct about you getting controlled by the enemies, I will use the item that you asked me borrow from Madam Hammock."

    "Good," she said, hoping that Hanna wouldn''t be put in a situation where she wouldn''t have to fight. After all, she didn''t want her cousin to die from using her Mana too much. "Thank you for reaching out to Madam Hammock for me, Hanna," she added before she turned to Lewis. "You also know what to do, right?"

    "I won''t fight an enemy that I know I can''t beat," Lewis said in a nonmittal tone. "Instead, I will ask for Sir Glenn''s help."

    She nodded firmly. "Ourst resort would be asking for the help of the adults that we trust¨C and there are only a few of them."

    "I''ll ask for my parents'' help if the situation goes out of hand," Hanna promised her. Of course, Duke and Duchess Quinzel would be at the banquetter. "But Neoma, you have to promise that you won''t act on your own."

    Lewis nodded eagerly in agreement.

    "Of course, I won''t. I''m not heroic, you know?" Neoma assured them. "I''m just a little girl who dreams of bing ady of leisure someday."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "ARGH," Neomained when she saw her father waiting for her in the royal parlor of Callisto Hall¨C the grandest ballroom in the Royal Pce. Of course, only members of the royal family were allowed to use that. "You''re blinding, Papa Boss."

    Emperor Niki was shining because of his goddamned face.

    If her face was top-tier, then her father''s face was god-tier. His Majesty was that handsome. No wonder women all over the continent still chased after him despite his awful personality.

    "And why are we wearing matching clothes?" sheined. "I''m usually confident with my looks but I feel like a couch potato next to you, Papa Boss. Especially now that we''re wearing the same set of clothes."

    Emperor Niki stopped fixing the cuffs of his sleeves and gave her a nk look. His Majesty''s military jacket was the same as hers. Only her father''s top had more gold tes on it. Plus, the red royal cape draped over his shoulder was longer and more majestic than hers. "You''re speaking non-sense again. You''re the crown prince so of course, you must wear the same clothes as me."

    She had to cover her view of her father with her hands or else, she might go blind.

    Argh, she just noticed that her father had his hair slicked back. It made him look more handsome. Now she was pretty sure that women would flock to himter.

    "Stop with your non-sense," her father scolded her. "We''re going to enter the hall together so pull yourself together, Neoma."

    She blinked in confusion. "I thought I''m supposed to enter the hall with Hanna and Rubin?"

    "Hanna Quinzel and Rubin Drayton will be waiting for you by the stairs," her father exined. "It''s in our contract to make people believe that we have a good father-and-son rtionship."

    "Ah, right," she said when she remembered the terms of their contract. "I almost forgot."

    "If you already remember, then get ready."

    She could only nod as a response.

    <em>If I remember it correctly, Papa Boss didn''t enter the hall with Nero during my twin brother''s coronation back in my first life.</em>

    Look at her power to change destiny.

    Her thoughts were cut-off when she heard a knock on the door.

    A few momentster, Sir Glenn entered the royal parlor. And wow, the knight wore the same full dress uniform as Lewis. But of course, the vicemander of the White Lion Knights''s uniform had the crest that represented his position.

    "Princess Neoma, you look dashing," Sir Glenn greeted her cheerfully. He was able to greet her that way because only the three of them were in the royal parlor. Lewis was guarding outside. "You don''t look nervous. I''m relieved."

    "I can''t be nervous, Sir Glenn," Neoma said enthusiastically. "Papa Boss said he''ll escort me to the hall."

    The knight looked surprised, then he gave the emperor a curious look.

    "What? Entering the hall at the same time isn''t that hard," Emperor Niki said defensively. "If you don''t want to, then don''t."

    <em>Gosh, what a tsundere.</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    "HIS MAJESTY Emperor Niki de Moonasterio now enters Castillo Hall with His Royal Highness Prince Nero de Moonasterio."

    Neoma didn''t want to admit this but she felt a little nervous after she heard the announcement of an attendant from the other side of the door.

    But she didn''t have the time to process it as the double doors burst open.

    When Emperor Niki entered the room confidently, she followed suit. Boy, she almost closed her eyes at the brightness of the Castillo Hall. Almost everything was made or decorated with ball. She remembered from her first life that the giant chandelier made of hand-crafted crystals was a personal gift for her grandfather, the crazy ex-emperor that her father ousted.

    Anyway, the selling point of the Castillo Hall was the ss ceiling. Thanks to that, the beautiful night sky was visible for the guests.

    It was a waste though.

    After all, everyone''s attention was focused on her father. As soon as Emperor Niki stood in the balcony, the nobles dressed in fancy clothes all stopped what they were doing to look up at His Majesty.

    Since she was standing next to her Papa Boss, she felt the pressure of having scrutinizing eyes fixed on hers.

    <em>My Papa Boss looks unbothered though.</em>

    Well, the attention didn''t faze her too.

    <em>You''re looking at a social media star that had almost 10 million followers in her second life, you know? I''m used to talking to myself while being watched by millions of people. I even read meanments from my anti-fans sometimes.</em>

    Come to think of it, being bashed by strangers online seemed like a child''s y nowpared to her everyday struggle to survive these days. That thought made her smirk haughtily.

    <em>Oops.</em>

    She noticed that some of the guests looked horrified by her smirk. Did she look evil? There were others who flinched as well.

    <em>Gosh, did I also inherit my father''s condescending look?</em>

    "I''m d that you''re still arrogant even at a time like this," Emperor Niki said in a voice that only her could hear. "That''s right. You can hold your head high, Prince Nero."

    It sucks to be called by her twin brother''s name.

    But she knew that her Papa Boss was only being careful since there were a lot of eyes watching them.

    "Don''t worry, Papa," Neoma said. Of course, she needed to be careful too so she dropped the ''boss'' for now. Calling the emperor ''Papa'' wasn''t really "elegant" of a "crown prince" like her. But she was adamant to make the public believe that the crown prince was dear to the emperor. That image could serve Nero in the future. "I''ll turn the anti-fans of the royal family into genuine fans soon."

    As usual, her father ignored her "non-sense."

    Then, Emperor Niki''s gazended on the ballroom below the balcony, every single person in the hall bowed down.

    <em>Yep, Papa Boss is really the most powerful man in the empire.</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    "SOMEONE is sleeping here, you know?" Trevor, who sat on the sofa with his head leaned against the backrest while an opened book covered his face, didn''t move an inch even though an intruder managed to break his territory''s barrier. "My fianc¨¦e entrusted me with her twin brother''s recovery so go away," he said while waving his hand to shoo away the intruder. "I don''t want to make noise and identally awaken my future brother-inw."

    Even though the intruder broke in the "living room" of his "mansion," he wascent that the enemy wouldn''t be able to go past him. After all, to get to the room behind him where Nero was currently in a deep slumber, the intruder had to go over his dead body first.

    Not that he had any intention of dying.

    "<em>Did you find another precious person to protect, Trevor?</em>"

    He froze when he heard the familiar voice.

    To say that he was shocked would be an understatement. Of course, he knew that a demon had entered his territory. But he didn''t recognize the aura that didn''t belong to them.

    <em>No way¡­</em>

    Trevor immediately pulled the book away from his face. And when he saw the face of the "intruder," he got the shock of his life. "You''re not supposed to be up yet¡­" He wasn''t able to finish his sentence because all of a sudden, he coughed blood. Then, he fell on his knees while clutching his stomach. "What do you need from Prince Nero for you to show up here yourself?" he asked, his purple eyes glowing menacingly. "But whatever it is, I still won''t let youy a finger on my brother-inw."

    "<em>Then, die now</em>."

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

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 Chapter 93 - THE CHILL BEFORE THE LIT

    NEOMA was relieved to see Hanna at the end of the staircase while she was going down the stairs behind her Papa Boss.

    It wasn''t only her cousin waiting for her.

    <em>There you are, Rubin Drayton.</em>

    The young lord wore a dark green jacquard frock coat with baroque coat over a white floral jacquard shirt with silverce. He wore ck gloves, ck trousers, and dark leather shoes.

    <em>I don''t want to admit this but Rubin looks really good.</em>

    "Have a dance with Hanna Quinzel and don''t make a mistake," Emperor Niki said when he was about to reach the final step of the staircase. "Then, return to my side."

    "Sure, Papa," Neoma said. "Don''t worry¨C I''ll protect you from your sasaeng fans."

    ''Sasaeng fans'' was a Korean term for obsessive fans.

    "Don''t talk like that when you greet the guestster," Emperor Niki scolded her. "Not everyone will understand that you have a strange way of speaking."

    She wanted to make face but she knew that they were being watched by everyone.

    So she just smiled brightly.

    Plus, they already reached the final step of the grand staircase.

    Her father stood majestically in front of the audience. Of course, the audience fell silent and it was obvious that every single person in the hall had their attention focused on the emperor.

    "Thank you foring to this banquet to celebrate the birthday and the coronation of Moonasterion Empire''s First Star," Emperor Niki said formally. It was so obvious that his words were nothing but a mere speech written by somebody else for him. "Everyone, I''d like you to meet my one and only heir." His father faced her and politely gestured his hand towards her. "This is the pride of the de royal family: His Royal Highness Prince Nero de Moonasterio."

    And Her Royal Highness Princess Neoma de Moonasterio.

    Neoma smiled at her "fans" anyway. To have a bright smile on her pretty face, she just pretended that she was filming a Yo*tube video for her fans. "Good evening, everyone. I am Nero de Moonasterio, the First Star of the Great Moonasterion Empire," she said politely. "Thank you foring tonight." She bowed like how her etiquette teacher taught her. "I hope everyone gets to have a good time."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA was relieved that she didn''t have a mistake while dancing with Hanna.

    Her cousin was an excellent dancer. Thanks to their magnificent dance number, the mood in the hall was good. So far, she heard nothing but praises. Everyone who approached her smiled at her. But of course, she still had her guard up.

    <em>Most of them are smiling at me but I can clearly see the disdain in their eyes.</em>

    "Prince Nero, happy birthday," Duke Quinzel, who looked so handsome and so posh in his obviously expensive tailored crisp three-piece ck suit, greeted her brightly. Just like her Papa Boss, the duke was sporting a slicked back hairstyle. "Thank for taking care of our Hanna."

    "It''s the other way around, Your Grace," Neoma said with a smile. "Hanna is a good dance partner. I didn''t make a huge mistake because she guided me ordingly."

    "That''s not true," Hanna said with a shy smile. Her cousin was probably feeling that way because currently, all eyes were on them. "You''re the one who guided me, Prince Nero."

    She just smiled at that.

    "You two look so lovely together," Duchess Quinzel, Hanna''s mother, said with a satisfied smile on her beautiful face. "Prince Nero, would it be alright if I ask the royal family''s official photographer for a copy of your pictures with Hanna?"

    She smiled and nodded. "Of course, Your Grace."

    After agreeing to the duchess''s request, she fell silent while admiring her beauty.

    Duchess Amber Quinzel, even before she married Duke Rufus Quinzel, was already famous among the higher nobles for her beauty and grace.

    The duchess was the youngest daughter of a rich count. When she was still single, she was known for being a fashion icon. Everything she wore became a trend even now. And she could clearly see why.

    <em>Almost every noble woman in this hall is wearing the same dress as the duchess. Well, it''s the current trend in fashion. But I can tell that they are inspired by Her Grace.</em>

    For tonight, Duchess Amber Quinzel wore a champagne gold dress that featured a beaded embroidered bodice with a scalloped off-the-shoulder neckline. The tulle ballgown skirt was sparkly, and it was jazzed up with a ruffle ovey andce appliqu¨¦s. The cherry on top was the corset cutout back.

    Her Grace managed to look elegant and sexy. Even her makeup and the pretty crown bun on her head matched her dress.

    <em>In this house, we stan women.</em>

    "Is there something on my face, Prince Nero?" Duchess Quinzel asked with a worried smile on her lovely face. "You''ve been staring at me for quite a while."

    "I''m just captivated by your beauty, Duchess Quinzel."

    The duchess blushed, perhaps pleasantly surprised by her praise. "Thank you for the sweetpliment, Your Royal Highness."

    She just smiled and nodded. <em>Gosh, I''m so smooth.</em>

    Well, she had a bad history with Duchess Quinzel because she turned her into a doll in her first life. But it wouldn''t happen in this lifetime because she already changed her fate. And for that reason, she was looking forward to have a better rtionship with the duchess this time.

    <em>After all, she''s still like a mother to me.</em>

    "Prince Nero, you have good eyes," Duke Quinzel said with a proud of smile on his face, then he turned to his wife with sparkling eyes. Ah, it was obvious that he was so in love with the duchess. "Amber is indeed lovely."

    The glow in Duchess Quinzel''s face made her look more beautiful.

    In fact, if they were in a weics, she could imagine the frame of Duke and Duchess Quinzel filled with hearts and roses.

    She had to avert her gaze from the two or else, she might go blind.

    When she turned to Hanna, she saw her cousin looking at her parents with shining eyes. Hanna was probably praying for her to have a married life in the future just like the duke and the duchess.

    <em>Hanna, if you want that kind of marriage, you have to work hard to capture Nero''s heart.</em>

    After all, in her first life, Nero fell in love with a ck Witch called Dahlia.

    "What''s wrong, Prince Nero?" Hanna asked when she turned to her. "You look serious."

    She was about to speak when she saw Rubin approaching her.

    Neoma let out a deep sigh. <em>Ah, it''s time to mingle with the noble boys aka the next generation leaders of the empire.</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    IT TOOK Neoma all she got to stop herself from yawning.

    Right now, she was with Rubin who introduced her to his closest friends: Pierre Adamson (second son of a viscount), Hank Easton (heir of a marquis), and Colin Jenkins (youngest son of a count). All boys were the same age as Rubin Drayton.

    They were in the balcony while having "boy talk." The children had the sense to bring out tes filled with snacks. Plus, each of them was holding a ss of juice.

    Thankfully, Rubin''s friends weren''t bullying her. She half-expected that more than half of the people in the banquet would talk behind her back. But so far, so good.

    <em>Is it because Papa Boss hasn''t left the hall yet?</em>

    Her father was sitting on the throne in the stage-like area of the hall. Of course, poor Sir Glenn had to guard the emperor instead of joining the party.

    <em>And Lewis is guarding me in the shadows.</em>

    "Hanna Quinzel is the most beautiful girl below fifteen in the whole empire," Pierre said. "Most of all, she''s the ssic example of a refined youngdy."

    "Irene of House Burton is also pretty, but shecks elegance since her family is a family of knights," Colin said as if his opinion about a girl mattered. "So I agree that Hanna Quinzel is the prettiest girl in the empire."

    "I strongly disagree," Rubin said with conviction. "Regina Crowell is the most beautiful girl in the empire."

    "Sure," Pierre, Hank, and Colin said at the same time.

    She almostughed at the three''s rapport. It was quite obvious that they were already so done with Rubin''s obsession with Regina Crowell.

    "Your Royal Highness, you danced with Lady Hanna Quinzel a while ago," Hank, the most polite among the boys, said carefully. "Do you think she''s the most beautiful girl in the empire?"

    "Hanna is really beautiful and elegant," Neoma said, then she sipped her juice. "Hanna is second only to Lady Neoma Ramsay."

    Rubin, who knew ''Neoma'' as his almost-fianc¨¦e, choked on his juice.

    Well, she was aware that mentioning her name was dangerous. But she couldn''t help it. She was getting tired of people calling her ''Prince Nero'' ever since the banquet began. Of course, she''d want to hear her name too. She would just regret itter if doing so was a mistake.

    <em>I''m Neoma, I''ll be okay.</em>

    "Gross, Rubin, gross," Pierre said while shaking his head. Then, he handed a handkerchief to Rubin. "Mind your manners in front of His Royal Highness, will you?"

    Rubin just red at Pierre.

    "Who is Lady Neoma Ramsay, Prince Nero?" Colin asked seriously. "Is there a House Ramsay in the empire?"

    "Nah, she''s from a farawaynd," she lied smoothly. "She''s like a fairy, you know? Very beautiful yet elusive. Only special people like me can meet her."

    "She sounds mythical, Your Royal Highness," Hank said. "May we hear more about this Lady Neoma Ramsay that you''re talking about?"

    "Nah," she said, then she put one finger on her nose. "The more we talk about her, the more we''ll never get to see her. So if you really want to meet her someday, don''t speak of her name carelessly."

    The three boys nodded eagerly.

    Neoma couldn''t help butugh softly.<em> Gosh, they''re so gullible.</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    "DON''T you dare yawn."

    Neoma had to bite her lower lip to stop herself from yawning. "I won''t, Your Majesty."

    After mingling with the guests, she finally sat on the throne next to Emperor Niki. Of course, her throne was smaller than her Papa Boss''s. But at least, Nero had a throne. The chair was soft, elegant, and it was made of pure gold.

    <em>But in my humble opinion, azyboy chair is still muchfortable than a throne.</em>

    Anyway, she was only taking a break. Aside from watching out for the enemies, she also had another goal tonight: to find Lord Jasper Hawthorne. She was certain that the young duke was invited to the banquet.

    But apparently, nobody from House Hawthorne had arrived yet.

    "You don''t have to be so formal, Neoma," her Papa Boss, surprising her when he called her by her name. "There''s an invisible barrier around us right now. People can''t eavesdrop on us, and their vision of us would be blurry. That means they wouldn''t be able to read our lips."

    "Nice," she said. "But can''t I really yawn? I''m so bored, Papa Boss."

    "Endure it," her father said. "After the group danceter, your coronation will begin."

    She was about toin when all of a sudden, she heard a loudmotion.

    When she turned around, she let out a gasp when she saw a very beautiful and hot woman dressed in a sexy gown.

    The woman in question wore a charcoal gray formal gown that featured an A-line silhouette with colorful floral appliqu¨¦s around the notched bodice and sheer overskirt. The dress had a plunging neckline supported by spaghetti straps. Over the tulle ovey was a beaded waistband tops, and the outfit waspleted by a short underskirt and sweep train.

    Gosh, the dress also had an open V-back!

    <em>She''s showing too much skin and I love that for her. You do you, kween.</em>

    In that society, the woman''s dress was considered "scandalous" though.

    After all, the hot girl''s cleavage and creamy legs were exposed.

    <em>No wonder everyone is ogling her.</em>

    "Who is that beautifuldy, Papa Boss?" she asked, mesmerized by the beautiful stranger with strawberry blonde wavy hair and ocean blue eyes. "She''s so pretty."

    "That woman is Princess Brigitte Griffiths, the first princess of Hazelden Kingdom."

    She gasped and turned to her father. "The ''Seductress Princess'' who wants to marry you?"

    Her Papa Boss just nodded as a response.

    "Papa Boss, she''s too good for you," she said while clicking her tongue. "Gosh, that unnie has a terrible taste in men."

    ''Unnie'' meant ''older sister'' in Koreannguage.

    Her Papa Boss just raised a brow at her.

    "I''ll check on Princess Brigitte Griffiths," Neoma dered, then she stood up. "Papa Boss, allow me to fix themotion out there."

    "Do what you want," Emperor Niki said. "Just don''t be too smitten with the first princess."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "I DIDN''T expect that entering the hall would be this hard," Gin, in his human form, said while standing on the roof of the Castillo Hall. He couldn''t enter the hall because of the powerful barrier around it. The security was very tight since the emperor himself was there. But he knew he could break it eventually. He just had to deal with one more thing. "I thought I''ve hidden my presence pretty well."

    He turned around to find a boy with silver hair and golden eyes.

    Also, the boy smelled like a fox.

    <em>His name is Lewis Crevan, isn''t it?</em>

    "You''re Princess Neoma''s pet, aren''t you?" he asked with a smile. "How did you find me when Ipletely hid my presence and bloodlust?"

    "You''re a cat and you stink," the fox boy, Lewis Crevan, deadpanned. "The royal princess told me to watch out for a sly ck cat."

    Heughed softly. "And I even used a huge amount of Mana to create a human body for this asion."

    His human form had ck hair and ck eyes, and bronze skin.

    To look presentable in that form, he even had to, uh, "borrow" a maroon formal suit. But he was already busted before he could even crash the party.

    "Princess Neoma is too smart for her own good," Gin said while shaking his head. "And you''re too useful for a pet. But I guess it''s my fault for underestimating you. I should have known that even if I hide my presence, a fox like you will still be able to sniff my scent."

    The fox boy remained pokerfaced and it was obvious that he didn''t have any intention to talk to him more than necessary.

    But he could also feel that Lewis Crevan was ready to attack him.

    "I don''t want Princess Neoma to hate me but I have a job to do," Gin said while the nails in his hands were starting to turn harder and sharper. "Lewis Crevan, please die for me."

    Lewis Crevan drew his sword and tilted his head at one side. "You die."

    <strong>***</strong>

    TREVOR, while clutching his bleeding stomach, finally reached the room where he kept Nero''s body for years.

    But like he expected, the royal prince was no longer there.

    He failed to protect him in his very own territory.

    <em>F*ck, the Devil took Nero away.</em>

    Trevor leaned against the door frame while catching his breath. He knew he had to chase the Devil and rescue the royal prince. But before he could even take a step, he found himself falling on the ground as his consciousness began to leave him.

    <em>I''m sorry, Neoma¡­</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 94 - PRINCESS BRIGITTE OF HAZELDEN

    <em>PRINCESS Brigitte is more beautiful up-close.</em>

    Neoma couldn''t believe that there was someone in the continent who was more beautiful than her. It was a nice reality-check moment for her, and she felt humbled. She didn''t mind though. A true kween would never pit herself against other women.

    <em>This world is already cruel to women. In a patriarchal society like this one, girls should support girls.</em>

    "Ladies and gentlemen, what seems to be the problem here?" Neoma asked in the most polite manner ever. "May I help you?"

    The "stars" of the scene all looked at her with a surprise look on their face.

    Of course, Princess Brigitte Griffiths, dressed in a sexy charcoal gray gown that exposed her cleavage and legs, was the main star.

    From the looks of it, the main "viin" was the forty-year-old Count Arnold Sullivan¨C tall, gray hair, quite fit for his age, looked like any average rich old man in the empire. He reeked of wealth and arrogance, just like most noblemen in that world. She decided that the count was the bad guy because his expensive navy blue suit was dripping with champagne, and the first princess of Hazelden Kingdom was holding an empty ss in one hand.

    The second viin was the thirty-something Countess Emily Sullivan, the count''s (angry) wife. The countess was a short and plumpdy that looked lovely on her navy blue dress that was kind of simr to what Duchess Amber Quinzel wore tonight.

    <em>Yep, Duchess Quinzel is indeed a fashion icon in the empire.</em>

    Princess Brigitte Griffiths had a good fashion sense as well. But showing too much skin was frowned upon in the empire until now.

    "Greetings to the First Star of the Great Moonasterion Empire," the star and the two viins greeted her formally.

    At that very moment, she suddenly became the center of attention.

    Some of the nobles around them stopped talking to watch the scene unfold. Thank goodness she was used to attention. Plus, she was a very good actress.

    "We apologize for showing such disgrace during your birthday celebration, Your Royal Highness," Count Sullivan said formally. "Please don''t worry too much. I have everything under control."

    "My dear husband is right, Your Royal Highness," Countess Sullivan said with a forced smile. To other people, the countess''s smile would look natural. But Neoma was an excellent actress, and that also meant that she had good eyes that could see if the person in front of her was acting or not. "In fact, Her Royal Highness Princess Brigitte is about to apologize to my husband."

    Princess Brigitte chuckled mockingly. Gosh, even the royal princess''s "evilugh" sounded pleasant to Neoma''s ears. "Pray tell me, why would I apologize to your pathetic husband?"

    She had to bite her lower lip to stop herself fromughing.

    On the other hand, the countess''s face turned red with humiliation and anger. But it looked like she was holding back to not make the scene bigger than it already was.

    "It looks like the people of Hazelden don''t know how to act with grace," Count Sullivan said in a mocking tone, then he looked at the first princess with disdain. "Princess Brigitte, ady should apologize when she bumps into a gentleman and pour her drink on him."

    "I won''t apologize for something I did on purpose," Princess Brigitte said proudly. Her mocking smile was enough to make a person with low self-esteem feel smaller. "Do you know why you''re still alive after what you did to me, Count Sullivan?" The princess''s deep blue eyes glowed menacingly. "It''s only thanks to the rule that forbids us from bringing a weapon in the presence of His Majesty." She paused for a while, then she smiled at the count sinisterly. "But you know what? I bet I could end a person''s life with just my bare hands."

    Neoma almost pped in amazement.

    On the other hand, she heard a collective gasp around them.

    "How dare you?" Count Sullivan snarled at the first princess in a controlled voice. He looked so angry but it seemed like he was holding himself back from yelling. "How dare you threaten me in my own territory?"

    Neoma noticed the sudden change in Princess Brigitte''s eyes.

    <em>Ah, it looks like Her Royal Highness will kill Count Sullivan.</em>

    The royal princess would get arrested if she attacked a higher noble so Neoma decided to meddle.

    <em>I got your back, bestie.</em>

    "In your own territory?" Neoma asked in an "innocent" voice, making everyone around her turn to her. "Count Sullivan, do you mean the Callisto Hall or the empire itself? Either of the two belongs to you though. But even if you do, that doesn''t give you the right to harm a guest."

    "You''re misunderstanding the situation, Your Royal Highness," the count said in a frustrated voice. "I''m the victim here!"

    The countess nodded eagerly. "It''s Princess Brigitte''s fault!"

    "Then, I''d like to hear Princess Brigitte''s side of the story," she said, then she turned to the first princess who was looking at her with calcting eyes. "May I know what happened, Her Royal Highness? You imed a while ago that he did something to you."

    "I don''t want to say this in front of a child but I don''t want to be rude by not giving you an exnation, Your Royal Highness," the first princess said, then she red at Count Sullivan. "That old man who pretends to have good manners followed me to the balcony a while ago, then he tried to grope me. I went back here, grabbed a bottle of champagne, and poured the drink on him. And now, he''s acting like a man-baby in front of his dear wife."

    Once again, she had to bite her lower lip to stop herself fromughing.

    Look, Count Sullivan went pale.

    "My husband is not at fault here," Countess Sullivan said firmly while ring at the first princess. "Who told you to wear that kind of dress, Princess Brigitte? You should be embarrassed by what you''re wearing."

    The first princess looked aghast at how dumb the question was.

    Neoma felt the same.

    Unfortunately, most of the people around them agreed with Countess Sullivan. The "whispers" among the nobles started to get loud as well. Most of them were insults thrown at Princess Brigitte for her "scandalous" outfit and "inappropriate behavior."

    "Is there aw that forbids women from wearing what they want?" Neoma asked with her trademark business smile. "Weird. My teachers have been teaching me thews of our empire since I was five. But I don''t remember that we have aw that dictates what women should wear. Thank god it doesn''t exist."

    Count and Countess Sullivan looked shocked by what she said.

    <em>And I''m not yet done, y''all.</em>

    "A woman''s outfit isn''t an invitation for a man to touch her," she continued with a smile even though she wanted to show her fangs. "Especially if the man in question is already married. Now, I know that it''s "socially eptable" in our empire for a nobleman to have a mistress or more. But if the woman isn''t interested, leave her alone. A man who can''t control his urges shouldn''t just be ashamed of himself¨C he should also be thrown in jail."

    The hall suddenly went cold silent.

    Even Princess Brigitte looked surprised by everything that she said.

    <em>I''m not shutting up yet, you bet.</em>

    "And Lady Sullivan¡­" she said, addressing the countess who flinched when she turned to her. "Don''t you feel insulted that your husband tried to touch another woman when you''re in the same ce as him? Instead ofshing out on the woman that caught Count Sullivan''s unwanted attention, do yourself a favor and talk to your husband. He''s the one married to you after all." She smiled sweetly at the countess. "If talking doesn''t work, I rmend getting a divorce."

    Countess Sullivan covered her mouth while trying to stop the hup that she suddenly let out.

    <em>Ah, sh*t. I went too far. The modern girl in me was unleashed. Papa Boss will definitely scold me again.</em>

    "Hypocrite," Count Sullivan said in a low voice that only her, the countess, and the first princess heard him. "I don''t want to hear that from someone who was born from His Majesty''s lover."

    Well, the count had a point but¡­

    "Her Majesty, thete Empress Juliet, was long gone when my Papa and Mama conceived me," she said with a confident smile on her face. "I was born from their love." She approached the count, then she stood on her toes before she whispered in a voice that only the four of them would hear¨C just like how low the count''s voice was a while ago. "And don''t you darepare yourself to my father. You can call His Majesty anything you want, but he''s not a pervert like you. Thew of the empire allows the emperor to have as many lovers as he wants, but my Papa has never touched a woman other than thete empress and my mother, let alone force himself on someone who doesn''t like him." Again, she smiled "sweetly" to annoy her "opponent" even more. "You''re nothing but a big pervert, Count Sullivan."

    The anger in the count''s face was suddenly backed up by an intense bloodlust directed at her.

    <em>Oh, how bold.</em>

    She thought she needed to protect herself.

    But all of a sudden, Duke Quinzel appeared behind the count. When the duke put a hand on Count Sullivan''s shoulder, thetter froze in fear. After all, Duke Quinzel''s strong Mana nullified the count''s bloodlust.

    It wasn''t only the duke who entered the scene. Duchess Quinzel and Hanna stood behind her. Ah, she suddenly felt like she had a family that she could depend on.

    "Lord Sullivan, if you''re done greeting His Royal Highness, shall we step outside?" Duke Quinzel asked with a smile. But his aura was kind of threatening. No wonder no one in the hall spoke this time. It was as if everyone was holding their breath. "I need to have a word with you."

    Count Sullivan, who was pale with fear, could only nod as a response.

    Duke Quinzel turned to him with a calm smile on his face. "Please excuse us, Your Royal Highness."

    She just smiled and nodded.

    Duke Quinzel left the hall with Count Sullivan quietly.

    "Lady Sullivan, let me apany you to the parlor to fix yourself," Duchess Quinzel said to the countess. Then, the duchess turned to her with a smile. "Your Royal Highness, please excuse us. May I leave Hanna in your care?"

    She smiled and nodded at the duchess. "Of course, Your Grace."

    Then, Duchess Quinzel and Countess Sullivan also left silently.

    "Now¡­" Neoma said cheerfully while looking at Hanna and Princess Brigitte back and forth. "Shall we go to the royal parlor,dies?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "THAT CHILD is a warfreak," Niki said dryly while watching themotion. Even though he couldn''t hear the conversation between Neoma and Count Arnold Sullivan, he could tell by his daughter''s arrogant smile that she was winning the fight. "She has a nasty temper and she''s so good at provoking her enemies with mere words."

    Glenn, who stood behind his throne,ughed softly. "Should I go and back up Princess Neoma, Your Majesty?"

    "Stay there," he said. "Kyle will make a fuss if you leave your post in front of an audience."

    "I understand, Your Majesty," the knight said cheerfully. "And it seems like the royal princess doesn''t need a support anyway."

    He also knew that Neoma could take care of herself.

    And the Quinzel family came to the royal princess''s rescue.

    "Tsk," he said, clicking his tongue in annoyance. It was the first time that he clicked his tongue after a long while, but he couldn''t help it. "Why does Rufus dote on Neoma so much?"

    "Your Majesty, if you don''t want to see Duke Quinzel doting on our adorable princess, why don''t you just spoil her yourself?"

    He turned to his knight coldly. "Do you want to die?"

    "I apologize, Your Majesty," his aide said even though he didn''t look apologetic. He was even smart enough to change the subject right away. "Ah, I don''t see Lewis Crevan around. I don''t think he''s in the hall."

    "I bet Neoma gave the foxy boy some weird order," Niki said, then he looked at Neoma who was now leaving the hall with the first princess and Hanna Quinzel. "Have Jasper Hawthorne arrived yet?"

    "Lord Hawthorne hasn''t arrived yet," Glenn reported to him. "But the young duke sent a message saying that he''ll arrive before the coronation begins."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "HEY, IF I help you¡­" Jasper Hawthorne said, then he squatted down in front of the bleeding and dying fox boy on the roof. Then, he gently poked his cheek with a finger to check if he still had a chance of surviving after receiving such injuries. "Will you give me Mount Kimbro if I save your life, Lewis Crevan?"

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 95 - NEOMAS DOWNFALL...?

    "YOUR ROYAL Highness, you''re insane."

    Neomaughed at what Princess Brigitte said. "I''ll take that as apliment, Princess Brigitte."

    "His Royal Highness isn''t just insane," Hanna, who sat beside the first princess, said with a smile. "He''s also brazen, Princess Brigitte."

    Right now, the three of them were in the royal parlor.

    Supposedly, only the royal family members were allowed to use that room. But since she brought Princess Brigitte and Hanna with her, it was fine. The servants even brought refreshments with them without a question.

    "I didn''t expect that you''d take my side, Your Royal Highness," Princess Brigitte, who sat on the sofa from across her, said. "After all, the noblemen of the Royal Capital are the worst kind of men that I have encountered so far. And since you''re the only son of His Majesty, I had some prejudice against you."

    "I understand and your prejudice is valid," she admitted while nodding her head. "I apologize in behalf of Count and Countess Sullivan, Princess Brigitte."

    "Well¡­" the first princess said, then she sipped her tea before she spoke again. This time, her eyes changed into the eyes of a "predator" again. "Instead of an apology, may I ask you to help me schedule a date with His Majesty, Your Royal Highness?"

    <em>A fox,</em> she thought to herself. <em>This woman is a cunning fox.</em>

    Hanna, who suddenly looked nervous because of where the conversation was headed, sipped her tea while obviously anticipating her response.

    "Princess Brigitte, I heard that the Hazelden Kingdom wants to build a stronger alliance with my father via political marriage," she said carefully. "Putting the benefits of that marriage aside, can you be honest and tell me if you really want to marry my Papa?"

    Princess Brigitte looked at her with her calcting eyes before she dropped her guard and answered her question sincerely. "No, His Majesty isn''t my type," she said. "I like my man cheerful and quite innocent."

    "My father is far from that," she said bluntly.

    "I am aware of that, Your Royal Highness," the first princess said with a deep sigh. "Even His Majesty''s poker face looks depressing."

    Sheughed softly while nodding eagerly. "So true, bestie."

    The first princess and her cousin Hanna looked confused by the modern phrase that she used. But before even one of them could ask her to exin, she changed the subject.

    "Are you being pressured by your kingdom to marry my father, Princess Brigitte?" she asked carefully. "I heard that you''ve been sent here to seduce my Papa."

    "It''s true," the first princess said. "But just to make it clear, I don''t dress "seductively" for His Majesty or for any other men for that matter. I doll up for myself and only for myself."

    She gave the first princess a thumbs up. "I like that mindset, Princess Brigitte."

    "Thank you, Your Royal Highness," Princess Brigitte said, then she let out another deep sigh. "I asked my father for a favor that will give better protection for the women in our kingdom. But my father said that he will only grant my wish if I get married with His Majesty. That''s why for the past years, I''ve been practically throwing myself at him even if I don''t like him."

    Hanna looked at the first princess with eyes filled with pity.

    She was about to assure Princess Brigitte that she would help her when all of a sudden, her body went rigid. To be precise, she felt numb as if somebody was trying to physically control her. Thankfully, Princess Brigitte and Hanna seemed to notice it right away.

    "Show yourself," Princess Brigitte said loudly, her blue eyes glowing menacingly as her bloodlust ooze. "I know that someone just entered this room uninvited."

    "Your Royal Highness?" Hanna asked worriedly. And when she didn''t respond, her eyes widened. Then, her cousin stood up and ran towards her. "Your Royal Highness¡­?"

    She looked at Hanna, hoping that she''d read her mind through her eyes. <em>Do it, girl.</em>

    Thankfully, Hanna got the message because she nodded firmly. Then, from the pocket of her dress (thank goodness her dress had a pocket!), she pulled out a vial with a red liquid in it. Then, she made her drink it carefully. "Please work."

    And it did.

    After a few seconds, she was able to move freely again.

    "Thank you, Hanna," she said in a relieved voice. "We should also thank Madam Hammockter for creating the potion that will free someone from being physically controlled."

    "You should give yourself some credit, Your Royal Highness," her cousin said. "You were the one who asked me to secretly ask Madam Hammock to make that kind of potion."

    Well, the saint''s prophecy bothered her.

    ording to that prophecy, she would kill her father. But as of now, she didn''t have that much hatred for her Papa Boss. So she figured that the enemies would control her and make her kill His Majesty.

    "You''re really too smart for your own good, Your Royal Highness."

    She gasped when she heard the familiar voice.

    When she turned around, she saw a man that she could describe with three words: tall, dark, and handsome. He had ck hair, ck eyes, and bronzed skin. The stranger wore a ck three-piece suit but the white dress shirt under was stained with blood.

    She immediately looked down and checked on Princess Brigitte who was now unconscious on the sofa.

    <em>Princess Brigitte!</em>

    "Don''t worry, it''s not her blood," the stranger assured her. "I just yed with some wild fox a while ago."

    <em>Wild fox?</em>

    "What the f*ck did you do to my Lewis?" she snarled and stood up but Hanna literally blocked her way. "Hanna¡­"

    "Go," Hanna said seriously. "I will try to hold him back as long as I can, Neoma."

    She was just about to respond when all of a sudden, the stranger appeared in front of them.

    He just tapped Hanna on the shoulder and right after he did, her cousin was suddenly engulfed in a huge ck rectangr box that almost looked like a coffin.

    "Hanna!"

    "Princess Neoma, have you forgotten who I am?"

    She red at the assant and then, she froze when she recognized him. More like his tone and not his face. "Gin?"

    Gin was the cat butler that she met in hell a while ago!

    "Thank you for recognizing me, dear princess," Gin said brightly. "Do you like my human form?"

    "Yeah, you''re handsome," she deadpanned, then she ced a hand on his stomach. "You seem to have abs, too. Nice."

    He looked surprised by her suddenpliment.

    "Tteokbokki," she said coldly. "Burn this bastard alive."

    As soon as she gave the order, her hand literally produced Tteokbokki''s red me¨C effectively burning up Gin''s whole body in the process.

    She didn''t waste time.

    While the cat butler was screaming while getting burned alive, she summoned Skewer. When the scythe manifested, she tried to grab the staff. But she was shocked when she felt a hand grabbed her wrist tight.

    She turned to the new intruder the same time Skewer fell on the floor with a loud thud.

    Her brows furrowed in confusion when she was suddenly faced with a woman who looked like her father a lot. Except for her light gray eyes that seemed to be smiling at her.

    "Please forgive me for what I''m about to do," the familiar woman said in a gentle and warm voice, then she smiled sadly at her. "Farewell, my dear niece."

    Neoma gasped when she finally connected the dots. "Princess Nichole?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    HANNA tried to break the coffin-like prison that entrapped her using physical strength.

    She put Mana in her punches and kicks but to no avail. None of her attacks even scratched the ck wall. She couldn''t even use her shadow maniption technique because there was no light and no shadow to control.

    But it wasn''t like there was no other way for her to get out of here.

    "Mother, Father, I''m sorry," Hanna whispered to herself while sping her hands together. "I know that you forbid me from using this technique but I have to¡­"

    She was about to close her eyes when all of a sudden, the ground shook hard.

    Then, the walls that entrapped her started to have long cracks all over. Then, in just a few seconds, the walls finally gave in.

    She closed her eyes and used her arms to protect her head from the debris.

    "Are you okay, Hanna?"

    She froze when she heard the voice that she wouldn''t mistake for somebody else.

    <em>Could it really be¡­</em>

    She immediately opened her eyes and when she looked up at the tall boy before her, she gasped. Well, she noticed that there was a thin but strongyer of bubble-like barrier that was protecting them from the falling debris, but she didn''t really care about that.

    "Prince Nero," Hanna said in disbelief. "How¡­?"

    Prince Nero also looked confused.

    But she noticed that he looked neat and healthy as if he didn''t fall into a deep slumber for three years. His skin looked good, he lost weight and his baby cheeks disappeared but he still looked fit for his age, and even the clothes he wore today suited the asion.

    He wore a red suit with golden epaulettes that almost resembled Neoma''s outfit.

    And most of all, even though his hair was quite long and messy, Prince Nero was still ten times more handsome than Neoma who was pretending to be him.

    "I also don''t know how I got here," Prince Nero said in a voice that seemed to be a little deeper than before. "Where''s Neoma?"

    She gasped when she remembered what happened to Neoma. And yes, she felt bad that she almost forgot about her just because Prince Nero was standing in front of her. "An intruder attacked us a while ago, Prince Nero. He trapped me inside that ck coffin so unfortunately, I didn''t know what happened after that." She bowed to him. "I''m sorry, Your Royal Highness. I should have done a better job at protecting Neoma¡­"

    "It''s not your job to do so and it''s not your fault, Hanna."

    She was surprised by how calm and mature Prince Nero was now. When she looked up at him, she realized that she was wrong about him being "calm."

    The royal prince looked murderous and his eyes turned glowing red.

    But thankfully, his anger wasn''t directed at her.

    "Nero?"

    Her thoughts were cut-off when she heard Emperor Niki''s voice. When her gaze went past Nero, she saw the emperor enter the room while Sir Glenn followed him.

    "Prince Nero," Sir Glenn said in disbelief. "You''re the real Prince Nero, aren''t you?"

    "Neoma is missing," the royal prince said, ignoring the knight and talking straight to the emperor. His tone was rude, but it seemed like His Majesty didn''t mind. "I told you to protect her while I''m gone, didn''t I?"

    "Calm down," Emperor Niki told the royal prince even though his own voice didn''t sound calm. "We will find Neoma. For now, I''ll bring you to Madam Hammock."

    "No, I don''t need a check-up," the royal prince said firmly. "I''m fine. I don''t feel any pain. My body is light." He clutched his chest tight as his face got distorted from anger. "I can tell that the curse in me is gone."

    The emperor looked confused. "Then, did the devil boy''s treatment worked earlier than expected?"

    "No," the royal prince snarled at his father. "This isn''t the work of Trevor. I was "cured" by somebody else."

    "Isn''t that supposed to be a good thing, Prince Nero?" Glenn asked carefully. "Why do you look angry?"

    Hanna timidly nodded in agreement. <em>I also don''t understand why His Royal Highness is angry that he''s cured¡­</em>

    "I can feel that the curse already left my body, but I can also feel that Neoma is in deep pain right now¨C the kind of pain that I endured for the past years," Prince Nero said in a voice filled with pain, anger, and agony. "Do you get what I''m trying to say, Your Majesty?"

    Emperor Niki''s eyes widened in shock. "The curse was transferred into Neoma''s body?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA thought that she was good at enduring any type of pain.

    But right now, she proved herself wrong. She could do nothing else but close her eyes and scream in agony. She felt like her insides were being melted by an unbearably hotva or me. It was very painful, and she felt like she''d rather die than continue being tortured that way.

    <em>No</em>, Neoma said to herself firmly. <em>Don''t think about dying in ame way again, Neoma de Moonasterio!</em>

    She refused to die this way but she didn''t even know where she was, so how the hell was she supposed to save herself?

    When she woke up a while ago, she already felt the unbearable pain that was slowly killing her. For that reason, she couldn''t even summon Tteokbokki. She couldn''t feel him, too.

    <em>Please be safe, Tteokbokki.</em>

    She couldn''t move but she could tell that the ground below her was cold and dry. The air was heavy, the sky was dark, and f*ck, every inch of her body really hurt like hell.

    <em>Wait, "hell." Am I in hell again?!</em>

    "Is Prince Nero''s curse really that painful?"

    Neoma opened her eyes to see Gin, back in his cat form, looking down at her with amusement on his face. Ah, her hunch a while ago was correct. She was really in hell. "You''re still alive?"

    She heard what Gin asked her earlier.

    But that was least of her concern. Even if she found out that Nero''s curse was somehow transferred into her body, asking Gin how it happened wouldn''t save her anyway.

    "Your me only burned down my "skin,"" Gin exined, then he squatted down beside her. The "skin" that he mentioned was probably referring to the human form that he used a while ago. "How could you do that to me, Princess Neoma? I thought we were friends."

    "F*ck off," she snarled at him. Lashing out didn''t help her, but it made her temporarily forget her pain. Plus, she remembered thest person that she saw before she lost consciousness a while ago. "Is Princess Nichole, my father''s supposedly dead twin sister, the Devil?"

    "The answer is yes and no," he answered yfully. "But you shouldn''t worry about that, Princess Neoma."

    "F*ck you. Don''t order me around," she said with clenched teeth, the pain in her body getting the better of her. "What happened to Lewis, Hanna, and Princess Brigitte?"

    "I can assure you that Hanna Quinzel and Princess Brigitte of Hazelden Kingdom are still alive," the cat butler said. "I can''t say the same for Lewis Crevan though."

    The news was awful, but it helped her in some way.

    After all, when she heard the possibility that her son may not be safe, the pain that was torturing her was overwhelmed by her wrath.

    "Gin, are you nning to kill me because I turned down the Devil before?"

    "And what will you do if I say that you''re right, Princess Neoma?"

    "You better make sure that I''ll die. Burn my body to ashes if you have to," Neoma warned in a very cold and very angry tone. Even without seeing her reflection, she knew that her eyes turned red, and they were glowing menacingly now. "Because if I survive, I f*cking swear that I will kill you and feed your remains to the piranhas in my pond."

    Well, the fish in the Royal Pce''s pond wasn''t piranhas, but it didn''t matter anyway.

    "Oh, that''s so scary," Gin said with a softugh, then he put a hand on the top of her head. Unfortunately, she didn''t have the strength to shake his filthy hand off of her. "Princess Neoma, you should sleep to slow down the effect of the curse in your body," he said, then he covered her eyes with his hand. "Let me send you to your greatest fear for the meantime, dear princess."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 96 - A LITTLE PLAYBACK

    "IT''S HILARIOUS to see a Silver Fox wield a sword, you know?" Gin said. After all, his ability worked best when talking to his opponents. "Your whole body is literally a weapon, young fox. You don''t need a sword to fight. In fact, it will only hinder your growth."

    Much to his frustration, Lewis Crevan just looked at him nkly.

    <em>Ah, he''s not fond of talking.</em>

    He still had to try though.

    "You probably don''t know because nobody raised you as a Silver Fox," Gin said. "It''s a shame, Lewis Crevan. In the past, your n was one of the strongest and most powerful families in the empire. Too bad you look different from the human race, hence, they hunted you down."

    The fox boy remained unfazed.

    <em>He doesn''t care about his n, huh?</em>

    "Do you know that the Silver Fox n and House Rosehearts were equally strong and influential in the past? Both were considered as old families," he said, still hoping to get a reaction from Lewis Crevan. "But the de Moonasterios didn''t like them. The royal family didn''t like that some other families were being celebrated by the people. And so¨C"

    He wasn''t able to finish what he wanted to say because Lewis Crevan came at him. The way he gripped his sword let him know that he had every intention to kill him, right then and there. The bloodlust oozing from the fox boy was chilling.

    <em>A wild fox, huh?</em>

    He caught the de of Lewis Crevan''s sword between his fingers. The fox boy looked surprised by that. Well, an ordinary person wouldn''t have been able to dodge Lewis Crevan''s attack because he was fast. But too bad for the child because he wasn''t an ordinary person.

    "You''re not a swordsman, Lewis Crevan," he told him while clicking his tongue. "Your ancestors would cry if they saw you wielding a sword in a fight."

    Of course, the wild fox ignored him.

    Much to his shock, Lewis Crevan immediately let go of his sword. Then, he raised his hands and before he could even blink, he already mauled his face using his sharp and strong nails. Ah, perhaps it would be more appropriate to call them ''ws'' than nails, huh?

    "That''s right," he said with a grin when Lewis Crevan began wing at his chest. His face was bloody and probably unrecognizable by now. But it didn''t hurt because the human face he was using now was nothing but a mere "skin." "That''s how a Silver Fox should fight!"

    In the past, a Silver Fox would never fail to awaken his urge to fight. It wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that his n and the Silver Fox n were nemesis.

    But he didn''t feel that way when he first saw Lewis Crevan. It was probably because the boy wasn''t raised as a proper Silver Fox. Moreover, he was very weak. But he knew what the wild fox had gone through so he understood why he couldn''t show his real fangs.

    Though right now, Lewis Crevan began to resemble his fierce ancestors.

    Sadly, it''s not enough to make me want to shred him to pieces yet.

    His thoughts were cut-off when the fox boy''s aura changed.

    Lewis Crevan''s golden eyes glowed menacingly. Then, his attacks stopped. And in that short moment, he went for the kill. It looked like the boy wanted to rip his heart out.

    <em>A wild fox indeed!</em>

    Gin grinned, then he grabbed Lewis Crevan''s wrist to stop him from opening up his chest. The boy tried to kick him between his legs. But he managed to break his leg first.

    Amazingly, Lewis Crevan didn''t even flinch even if he was in pain.

    In fact, the fox boy tried to attack using his other leg.

    He was forced to punch the young boy in the stomach. This time, he coughed blood as he was sent flying. He got his groove back easily because hended on his feet and used the friction of hisbat boots to stop himself from sliding onto the roof.

    Lewis Crevan wasn''t able to keep standing for too long though. He clutched his stomach and fell on one knee. But his glowing golden eyes told him that he wasn''t done yet.

    <em>Tough kid.</em>

    Gin decided to attack and end the fight now. In the blink of an eye, he reached the fox boy, grabbed him by the head, and smashed his face on his knee. He heard and felt the young boy''s nose break when its bridge hit his kneecap.

    "I''m sorry but I can''t y with you anymore, Lewis Crevan," he said, then he pulled him up by the hair. Then, without further ado, he stabbed the boy''s stomach with his hand. This time, Lewis Crevan flinched. "Oho. So you can feel pain," he said while his hand moved inside his stomach, moving his organs as he searched for a very important thing that they needed from the fox boy. Every time he hit a vital organ inside, poor Lewis Crevan would let out a weak growl. "Oh, `found it."

    He dropped Lewis Crevan the same time he pulled his hand out of his now open stomach.

    Then, he raised his hand to check if he got the right one. The Marble in his hand was the size of a kitten''s heart. The marble was transparent and a silver-ish smoke was trapped inside. It looked simple but the more you look at it, the more it bes captivating.

    <em>If I had known that it was this easy to steal the Marble from Lewis Crevan, we wouldn''t have worked with Duke Sloane¨C that useless fool.</em>

    Because of the stupid duke, the fact that Her Majesty''s body was missing had been discovered by Niki de Moonasterio earlier than expected. The emperor was bound to discover it, but not that early.

    <em>I suppose we should also me Trevor.</em>

    That traitor was lucky to have met a person that could wield the Death''s Scythe. Thanks to Princess Neoma, that fool was able to escape his prison.

    Speaking of the sassy royal princess, he remembered that he had to "fetch" her.

    <em>It''s time to wrap this up.</em>

    "Yep, this is the right Marble¨C the one that can apparently bring the dead back to life," Gin confirmed, satisfied that he aplished his first mission for tonight. After putting the Marble in the safety of his deep and magical pocket, he looked down at Lewis Crevan who was bathing in his own blood while lying on the ground face down. The poor wild fox was barely breathing. And now that his Marble was taken away, he was pretty sure that Lewis Crevan''s survival rate was very slim now. He would die even if he just left him that way. "Goodbye, Lewis Crevan of the Silver Fox n."

    <strong>***</strong>

    WHEN NERO woke up, he found himself in an unfamiliar room.

    To be precise, he was lying on a soft andfortable sofa. Based on the interior of the room, it looked like he was in one of the royal parlors of the Royal Pce. He had been in one several times so he could tell.

    <em>What am I doing here?</em>

    He got up and was surprised that he was able to move without feeling any pain in his body. In fact, he felt light. And his insides didn''t feel like they were being burned up anymore.

    <em>Did Trevor''s treatment worked?</em>

    Did it mean eight years had already passed?

    He stood up and walked towards the huge mirror on the wall. Yes, he noticed that a weird coffin-like ck box was in the middle of the room. He ignored that and stared at his reflection instead.

    Well, he was still handsome. His face didn''t change that much, but he was certain that he was taller now. Although he didn''t look like he was already in his teens. If that was the case, he should have been taller.

    <em>I''m wearing unfamiliar clothes.</em>

    Those weren''t the clothes that he wore when he slept. But he recognized that type of clothing. It was used in formal asions that would require the royal prince to greet esteemed guests. If his hunch was correct, the location of that royal parlor was the Callisto Hall.

    Then, there must be a very important banquet going on right now.

    His thoughts were only cut-off when he felt a strong Manaing from the coffin-like box. And that Mana was familiar.

    <em>Hanna?</em>

    He tried to run towards the coffin-like but all of a sudden, he felt a strange and painful squeeze in his heart. Then, Neoma''s face entered his mind.

    <em>Neoma is in pain!</em>

    He couldn''t exin it, but he knew he couldn''t be wrong. Ever since they were toddlers, he and Neoma could feel whenever the other was in pain or in danger. Both of them had never talked about it. They just knew and epted the fact that they had a special connection as twins.

    <em>Neoma¡­</em>

    He was distracted when he felt Hanna''s Mana increase rapidly. Wow, he didn''t know that she was this strong. But he knew that her life would be in danger if he used arge amount of Mana. After all, her heart and body were too weak to contain her monstrous power.

    <em>Neoma will be sad if Hanna dies.</em>

    And so, he decided to save their cousin.

    Much to his pleasant surprise, he could now use his Mana freely. All he had to do was touch the coffin-like thing with his finger where he gathered arge amount of Mana. Then, he used his finger like a pistol and "fired" a bullet-shaped ball of energy. His Mana literally shook the ground when he released it.

    Then, vo, the ck coffin crumbled into pieces.

    He immediately saw Hanna who had her arms over her head to probably protect herself from the falling debris.

    <em>Smart girl.</em>

    He raised a hand and created a thin, transparent, and strong umbre-like barrier for him and Hanna. The debris bounced off the barrier that he made as he walked towards Hanna. Then, he stood in front of her. "Are you okay?"

    Hanna froze for a second before she looked up at him with a surprised look on her face. Oh, she had gotten prettier than he remembered. "Prince Nero," she said in disbelief. Then, her green eyes sparkled in delight despite the confusion on her face. "How¡­"

    "I also don''t know how I got here," Nero said, frustrated to awaken in a confusing situation. But most of all, he hated that he woke up without seeing the most precious person in his life. "Where''s Neoma?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    JASPER HAWTHORNE was about to touch Lewis Crevan to begin treating his wound.

    But all of a sudden, the fox boy was engulfed in a strange silver-ish light. He sensed the danger so he stood up and jumped backwards.

    <em>What a strong energy¡­</em>

    Then, much to his shock, Lewis Crevan stood up even though there was a huge hole in his stomach. The bleeding hadn''t stopped yet so he must be losing too much blood. He shouldn''t have the energy to get up, given his condition.

    Yes, his legs were shaking and his standing position was bad. But being able to move with that kind of injury was already a huge feat.

    <em>What a monster.</em>

    "Lewis Crevan," Jasper called the fox boy to see if he was really conscious or he was just able to stand up due to sheer willpower. "Can you hear me?"

    Lewis Crevan looked up at him with glowing golden eyes. Then, he snarled at him. And when he snarled, his appearance changed.

    The fox boy suddenly got two white (and fluffy) tails!

    Most of all, his Mana had increased so much that he couldn''t believe that it wasing from an eleven year old kid.

    Jasper couldn''t help but smile since it was his first time to see a living Silver Fox¨C and the fox in question also happened to be very special. "Lewis Crevan, you''re a nine-tailed fox."

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 97 - DOUBLE TWIN TROUBLE

    NIKOLAI flinched when he felt a strong but somehow controlled Mana.

    And that was the kind of Mana that he wouldn''t mistake for someone else. After all, the aura of the royal family members was unique.

    Niki straightened up in his seat. "Nero?"

    "Your Majesty, are you looking for Princess Neoma?" Glenn asked. "Should I fetch her in the royal parlor?"

    "I''m not talking about Neoma," he said, then he turned to the knight. "The real Nero is here."

    To be honest, he wasn''t also sure about what was going on.

    But if Nero was here earlier than expected, then it could only mean that something went wrong with the demon boy''s treatment.

    <em>I knew I shouldn''t have trusted that boy.</em>

    "That''s impossible, Your Majesty," the knight said in disbelief. "How would the royal prince get in here?"

    He was about to respond when Kyle interrupted them.

    "I apologize for interrupting," Kyle said formally, then he bowed to him. "Your Majesty, the preparation for Prince Nero''s coronation has beenpleted. We may begin in half an hour¨C"

    "Dy it as much as you can, Kyle," he said, then he stood up. "Nero is here."

    The aide blinked several times. "I know, Your Majesty."

    "I''m talking about the real Nero."

    Kyle looked surprised by that.

    "You go and make an excuse for why I need to take a break," he told him, then he walked past him while being followed by Glenn. "Secretly call the White Lion Knights and tell them to not let anyone near the royal parlor area."

    "Yes, Your Majesty," Glenn said. "I''ll call the captain now."

    While Glenn was talking to the captain using themunication device in his ear, he went straight to the royal parlor where he felt Nero''s Mana a while ago.

    He confirmed that the Castillo Hall was infiltrated by an uninvited guest when he saw a dark aura covering the door of the royal parlor. That was probably used to hide the presence of the intruder. If Nero''s Mana wasn''t unique, he would have never felt it.

    That was how strong the barrier was.

    "Dammit," he whispered to himself, then he broke the dark barrier by simply flicking it as if it was a mere insect.

    And just like that, the barrier was broken into pieces just like how a mirror would break.

    The broken pieces disappeared into nothingness even before they hit him. After all, he had a protective spell around him that wouldn''t let any sharp object hit him¨C whether intentional or by ident. Every emperor in the empire was blessed with that gift when they took the throne.

    "Your Majesty," Glenn said worriedly when he finally caught up to him after calling the captain of a squad under him. "We''ve been infiltrated¡­"

    "Nero is our top priority," he said as he opened the door.

    Much to his shock, he saw Nero standing next to Hanna Quinzel. He considered the possibility of it being a fake. But his instinct told him that it was really his son.

    "Nero?"

    "Prince Nero," Glenn said in disbelief. "You''re the real Prince Nero, aren''t you?"

    "Neoma is missing," Nero said while ring at him. And yes, his son justpletely ignored Glenn. "I told you to protect her while I''m gone, didn''t I?"

    <em>Neoma is missing?</em>

    "Calm down," he told the royal prince. But for some reason, the fact that Neoma was missing irked him. He knew that Neoma would be put in danger the moment she reced her twin brother. But now that it really happened, he felt pissed. "We will find Neoma. For now, I''ll bring you to Madam Hammock."

    "No, I don''t need a check-up," Nero denied firmly. "I''m fine. I don''t feel any pain. My body is light." He clutched his chest tight as his face got distorted from anger. "I can tell that the curse in me is gone."

    He was confused as to why Nero was acting that way if the curse had really left his body. "Then, did the devil boy''s treatment worked earlier than expected?"

    "No," the royal prince snarled at him. "This isn''t the work of Trevor. I was "cured" by somebody else."

    "Isn''t that supposed to be a good thing, Prince Nero?" Glenn asked carefully. "Why do you look angry?"

    "I can feel that the curse already left my body, but I can also feel that Neoma is in deep pain right now¨C the kind of pain that I endured for the past years," Nero said in a voice filled with pain, anger, and agony. "Do you get what I''m trying to say, Your Majesty?"

    His eyes widened in shock. "The curse was transferred into Neoma''s body?"

    Nero''s jaw clenched, then he nodded. "That''s what I think happened."

    He was about to say something when he realized that it wasn''t only Hanna Quinzel who was in the royal parlor. From the corner of his eye, he saw the first princess of Hazelden Kingdom unconscious on the sofa. But it seemed like she didn''t suffer any injury.

    It wasn''t like he personally cared for Brigitte Griffiths'' well-being. But if she got hurt seriously, their empire''s international rtionship with Hazelden Kingdom would get jeopardized. It would be a pain to deal with the king.

    "Glenn, bring Princess Brigitte Griffiths to Madam Hammock discreetly. The guests will talk if they see the first princess unconscious so be careful," he ordered the knight.

    "As you wish, Your Majesty," Glenn said, then he walked towards Brigitte Griffiths and carried her carefully in his arms. "I''ll be back as soon as I can."

    He just nodded as a response.

    When Glenn left the royal parlor with the first princess, he turned to Hanna Quinzel.

    "Can you go to your parents alone?" he asked his niece. It was rude to send ady off on a mission alone, but he had no choice since he couldn''t ask for other knights to escort her. "Tell Rufus and Amber what happened discreetly. Then, bring them here."

    Rufus without question was needed in that kind of situation.

    Amber Quinzel, his cousin''s wife, could also be useful. After all, Amber had the ability to trace "stains" or the residues of other people''s Mana. That might help them locate Neoma.

    Hanna Quinzel respectfully bowed to him before she gave him a response. "I will bring my father and mother here, Your Majesty," she politely said, then she turned to Nero. "Your Royal Highness, please don''t go anywhere."

    Nero turned to her with furrowed brows. "Where the heck will I go?"

    Hanna Quinzel, instead of getting intimidated by Nero''s mood swing, just smiled¨C her cheeks now rosier than normal. Then, after politely excusing herself, she left the room with grace.

    <em>She''s so feminine, unlike Neoma.</em>

    But he had to say that Neoma was fine just the way she was now.

    <em>If only she could curse in moderation.</em>

    "What''s the date today, Your Majesty?"

    "October 23rd," he said. "It''s your eight birthday, and your coronation night."

    "Then, whoever dressed me up like this knows the asion," his son said. "That means they have nned this a long time ago. And there''s only one person who can take me away from Trevor''s territory to bring me here."

    "It could only be the Devil," he said. "I may not like the demon boy, but I acknowledge that he''s strong. Only someone on the Devil''s level can beat him in a fight."

    "Can you beat the Devil?"

    "Of course," he deadpanned. "I wouldn''t have been able to ascend the throne if I didn''t crush them in the past."

    "Then, let''s go to the Devil''sir and save Neoma," his son said firmly. "The Devil might have taken my twin sister."

    "We can''t," he said as firmly as his son''s voice. "You have to stay here."

    "Why?"

    "The coronation doesn''t have to get cancelled just because Neoma is missing," he exined. "You''re here and you''re the real prince¨C so go out there and take your crown first."

    He knew what he said was cold.

    No wonder his son looked shocked.

    "Are you for real?" Nero asked in disbelief, hurt and anger visible in his now glowing red eyes. "Neoma is missing and the only thing that you care about is the damned coronation?"

    He was just about to exin the importance of the coronation for both Nero and Neoma in that situation when all of a sudden, he felt a strange yet familiar Mana. It was confusing because it felt like he had felt that energy before, but also not.

    But it wasn''t the right time to think about that.

    He tried to create a barrier to protect Nero but much to his shock, the barrier that he made burst like a bubble. His power was nullified, and that sent shivers down his spine.

    <em>In the past, only one person can nullify my power¡­</em>

    "Niki, the barriers that you create are still weak andme."

    He froze when he heard the familiar voice.

    Then, much to his shock, a hooded figure appeared next to Nero.

    It didn''t take long enough for the ''stranger'' to take off the hood that covered their head¨C releasing their long and wavy white hair. Then, she looked up at him with a bright smile and shining light gray eyes.

    Thest time he saw those thin and pinkish lips, they were blue¡­

    ¡­ and thest time he saw those rosy cheeks, they were colorless.

    The person standing in front of him right now should have been dead a long time ago.

    <em>No, it can''t be¡­</em>

    "Nichole," he said in disbelief. "How¡­" He trailed-off when he finally realized why her aura and Mana felt familiar and strange at the same time. It was just as important to know as how his older twin sister returned from the dead. He clenched his fists tight and asked in an angry voice: "Why do you have the same aura as the Devil?"

    "I have no intention to answer that, Your Ma-jes-ty," Nichole said yfully, then she turned to his son. "Wee back, my dear nephew¨C"

    His older twin sister wasn''t able to finish talking because all of a sudden, Nero grabbed her left arm and broke it effortlessly.

    Nichole looked shock but it seemed like the pain didn''t register yet.

    "Where''s Neoma?" Nero snarled at his aunt. "I will break every single bone in your body if you don''t tell me where my sister is!"

    "I can''t believe this," Nichole said with a bitter smile on her face, her left arm covered in a strange, ck smoke. When the ck smoke disappeared, her left arm obviously healed. Then, she turned to him with glowing red eyes. "Your son cares about his sister genuinely? Mona''s blood must be really special for her to give birth to a royal prince who''s capable of loving his sibling. Bute to think of it, the fact that a Roseheart gave birth to a boy is already miraculous."

    "Stop talking nonsense," his son snapped at his aunt again, then he tried to grab Nichole''s other arm.

    Nichole didn''t give Nero a chance to touch her. This time, she grabbed Nero by the neck, choked him, and pulled him up until Nero''s feet were off the floor. His son tried to escape her grasp by scratching and punching Nichole''s arm but to no avail.

    Of course, he ran to rescue his heir right away.

    But he bumped into an invisible barrier that was strong enough to repel him¨C him, the strongest person in the whole empire.

    <em>Nichole''s barriers have always been this solid.</em>

    The person in front of him was really his supposedly dead twin sister.

    "Nichole, let go of Nero," Niki snarled at her. "If you don''t want to die by my hands again, don''t you dare kill my son!"

    "Shut up, little brother. I didn''te here for you," his older twin sister said coldly, then she turned to his son. "My dear nephew, do you want me to return Neoma to you?"

    Nero stopped struggling.

    His son didn''t utter a word but the determination and desperation in his glowing red eyes were enough to tell them that he would do anything to find Neoma.

    Nichole dropped his son on the floor.

    Nero immediately touched his neck while catching his breath. Then, he looked up at Nichole with a nk look on his face. "His Majesty doesn''t have any intention to save my baby sister," he said, obviously misunderstanding what he said about the coronation a while ago. "Princess Nichole, I will do anything and everything so please return my Neoma to me."

    <em>Dammit!</em>

    "Nero!" Niki snarled at his son while trying to break the barrier that Nichole made by attacking it with his Mana. But the more he hit the barrier with his Mana, the more it got stronger. It seemed like the barrier was the type that absorbed any type of energy that would hit it. "Don''t make a deal with the Devil!"

    It seemed like his words couldn''t reach Nero anymore.

    Nichole turned to him with a triumphant smile before she squatted down to meet Nero''s eye level. "My dear nephew, I only need one favor from you," she said, then she touched Nero''s face with the back of her hand. "If you want me to return Neoma by your side, kill Niki de Moonasterio for me."

    <strong>***</strong>

    WHEN NEOMA opened her eyes, she found herself in a cramped and dark space.

    It took her a while to realize that she was inside a closet. Then, she noticed that the doors of the closet weren''t properly close and so, she carefully and quietly took a peek outside.

    <em>Where the hell did that stupid Gin bring me?</em>

    Much to her shock, she saw Rubin Drayton and Regina Crowell kissing passionately. But that wasn''t what shocked her. It was the fact that both Rubin and Regina were in their <em>adult</em> forms when they were still supposed to be children in her current lifetime!

    <em>Wait, in my current lifetime¡­?</em>

    Her heart thumped loud and fast against her chest.

    Then, she raised her shaking hands to see that they got bigger. Her arms were also longer than they were supposed to be. In short, she definitely returned to being an adult as well.

    <em>No, this isn''t how I''m supposed to look in my current lifetime!</em>

    Neoma covered her mouth with her hands when she let out a gasp when realization dawned upon her. "I returned to my first life¡­?"

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 98 - NEROS CHOICE (AND NEOMAS DILEMMA)

    "HER ROYAL Highness has already anticipated the attack?" Glenn asked Madam Hammock in surprise. "What do you mean by that, Madam?"

    Right now, he was in the Helene Pce¨C the pce where the Healing Sage resides along with other special people that served the royal family.

    Since Madam Hammock was an important person that needed to be near the royal family all the time, she was required to stay in that pce. It was alreadyte at night but the madam was still working in the infirmary inside the pce.

    And so, he brought Princess Brigitte Griffiths there.

    "The young Lady Quinzel asked me to create a potion that will help a person snap out of someone else''s control, Sir Glenn," Madam Hammock said worriedly. Since she was still in the office, the madam still donned her white uniform. "I did ask the youngdy what the potion was for. She said it was for her homework. But after hearing what you''ve said, I have a feeling that it was Her Royal Highness''s idea."

    He couldn''t deny that.

    Their adorable royal princess was smart and intuitive so it wouldn''t be hard to believe if she already anticipated that attack.

    <em>And as far as I remember, Princess Neoma had a private talk with His Holiness a while ago.</em>

    "Is Princess Neoma in danger, Sir Glenn?" Madam Hammock asked worriedly. "Should Ie with you?"

    He shook his head. "Please stay here and treat Princess Brigitte Griffiths, Madam. We''re trying to keep things under control. But we''ll summon you if the situation asks for your presence."

    "I wille right away once I''m summoned," the Healing Sage promised him. "Take care, Sir Glenn. And please protect our little star."

    He nodded firmly. "I''ll be on my way now, Madam."

    After saying his goodbye, he went out of Madam Hammock''s office.

    He walked past the area of the infirmary where there were three hospital beds. One of those was upied by Princess Brigitte Griffiths. He thought she was still unconscious so he was surprised when the first princess suddenly grabbed him by the wrist.

    <em>Her grip is quite tight¡­</em>

    "You," Princess Brigitte said as she got up, her grip on his wrist getting tighter. "Who are you and where did you bring me? If you do anything funny, I''ll break your arm."

    That didn''t sound like an empty threat.

    The first princess''s ocean blue eyes that typically looked calm were now glowing menacingly.

    "Greetings, Your Royal Highness," he greeted her with a polite smile. "I am Glenn, His Majesty''s personal knight and the Vicemander of the White Lion Knights."

    The first princess blinked several times, then recognition crossed her eyes. "Oh, Sir Glenn," she said as she let go of his arm. Then, she stood up and lightly bowed to him. "I apologize for my rude behavior."

    To be honest, he was impressed.

    Princess Brigitte was able to stand without a problem after being physically attacked. ording to Madam Hammock''s initial diagnosis a while ago, it seemed like the first princess was hit by something hard at the back of her head.

    "Please don''t apologize, Your Royal Highness," he said, then he bowed to her. "I should be the one apologizing. Please forgive me for failing to protect you, Princess Brigitte."

    "You''re really Sir Glenn, aren''t you?"

    He raised his head and politely nodded. "Yes, Your Royal Highness. Am I making you feel ufortable?"

    "No, not at all," Princess Brigitte denied, her cheeks a little rosier than a while ago. "You may leave now, Sir Glenn. I know that you need to return to His Majesty''s side." She paused as if she was hesitating to speak her mind. But eventually, she did. "I''ve only known Prince Nero for a few minutes. But I already feel attached to him because of how kind and supportive he is toward a woman like me. Please don''t let harm befall the royal prince."

    Glenn smiled, pleased that the first princess saw how kind Princess Neoma was. The only thing he could wish for right now was for the day when the royal princess could freely live as herself. He couldn''t wait for the whole empire to recognize her as a member of the royal family. "On behalf of Prince Nero, please ept my utmost gratitude for worrying about our crown prince''s well-being, Princess Brigitte."

    <strong>***</strong>

    BRIGITTE waited for Sir Glenn to leave the infirmary before she pulled her hair and screamed internally. If she was in her own room, she would have screamed at the top of her lungs. But outside their kingdom, she had a reputation and "princess image" to protect.

    <em>Is that really the Sir Glenn that I know?!</em>

    Of course, she knew Sir Glenn as His Majesty''s personal knight. She had also seen him in several banquets in the past. But as far as she remembered, Sir Glenn was a stiff, boring guy that suited the title ''Mad Dog.''

    <em>But the Sir Glenn that I met just now is polite, gentle, and kind! Most of all, his smile is so bright and pretty! I think my heart just skipped a beat!</em>

    "Princess Brigitte, how are you feeling now?

    Brigitte immediately pulled her hands away from her hair and "wore" her usual fa?ade, the one that would make her look a cold princess. After making sure that she was back to "normal," she turned around to face Madam Hammock. Of course she knew the madam. After all, she was one of the greatest Healing Sages in the whole continent. "I feel better now, Madam Hammock," she said in a stiff, polite tone. "My utmost gratitude for looking after me."

    "May I take a look at your injury again?"

    "I apologize but I respectfully decline," she said formally. "Only our family doctor is allowed to examine a royal like me, Madam Hammock. I appreciate that you treated my light injury. You don''t have to do anything else because my aides wille and pick me upter. One of them is a Healing Sage as well."

    "I see," the madam said with a warm smile on her face. "I''ll ask the knights stationed here to escort you to your carriage, Your Royal Highness."

    "I won''t turn that down. Thank you, Madam Hammock," she said, then she paused while hesitating whether to speak or not. In the end, she decided to open her mouth for the sake of the young prince. "Madam, may I implore you to go to the Castillo Hall and check on His Royal Highness?"

    The madam suddenly looked concerned. "May I know why you''re asking me of this, Your Royal Highness? Sir Glenn told me to stay here and wait."

    "I understand why Sir Glenn decided to make you wait instead of bringing you to the Castillo Hall, Madam. A high-level Healing Sage like you is very valuable," she said carefully. "The hall is a dangerous ce now. Before I was knocked out, I felt the presence of a strong demon."

    The Healing Sage let out a soft gasp. "A strong demon?"

    "I''m worried about His Royal Highness so I want to go back to the hall and make sure that he''s safe," she told the Healing Sage. "Madam, if you''re also worried about the crown prince, I will escort you to the hall. I swear on my life that I will protect you. My Mana is pretty average but if I get a hold of my weapon, I''ll be as good as a White Lion knight in terms of power."

    "I appreciate your offer but you don''t have to protect me, Princess Brigitte," the madam said. "I may be old, but I still have the power to protect myself."

    "I apologize if I offended you, Madam," she said, ashamed of herself for acting like she was better than a powerful Healing Sage. "Please excuse my rudeness."

    "I''m not offended, Princess Brigitte. Thank you for worrying about me," Madam Hammock said kindly. "Now, shall we go and see if His Royal Highness needs our help?"

    Brigitte smiled and nodded. "It''s an honor to work with you, Madam Hammock."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "IF I KILL His Majesty, will you return my sister to me?" Nero asked Princess Nichole, his supposedly dead aunt that somehow came back as the Devil, for confirmation. "That sounds tempting. But how do I know that you won''t break your promise?"

    "I can make a binding vow right now," Princess Nichole said. "Do you ept the deal?"

    "I want to hear your n first," he said. "How do you n to use me to kill His Majesty? Even if I''m desperate to save Neoma, I am not stupid to blindly follow you. I just woke up from a long slumber and I haven''t even tamed my Soul Beast yet. My father is a sc*mbag, but I have to say that he''s very powerful. If my attempt to kill His Majesty failed, I will be executed even if I''m the crown prince." He stood up and crossed his arms over his chest. "Just so you know, I have no intention of dying before Neoma so you better give me a fool-proof n."

    His aunt looked shocked by his long rant, then sheughed while standing up. "You are really Mona''s blood and flesh."

    He didn''tment on that because frankly speaking, he didn''t care that much about his mother. To him, Neoma was more than enough for a family. For that reason, he was willing to kill his father if it meant saving his twin sister.

    "I''ll give you the weapon that can kill my brother," Princess Nichole said, then she opened her hands. Her hand glowed in a white light. Then, momentster, the Death''s Scythe above her palms. It was different from Neoma''s "Skewer." It returned to its original state: all ck, big, and very sharp. "The Death Scythe can take the life of the emperor."

    The former Royal Princess sounded confident.

    <em>That thing can really kill His Majesty?</em>

    "Nero de Moonasterio, if you take the Death''s Scythe, I will treat you as an enemy," Emperor Niki warned him. "I will kill you if I have to."

    He turned to his father and smirked. Then, without breaking eye contact with the emperor, he grabbed the Death''s Scythe. "You can only me yourself for being a cruel father for my choice, Your Majesty."

    "I''m giving you five seconds to drop the weapon, Nero."

    Nero held the Death''s Scythe tighter, then he faced his father properly. "I will take the throne after I kill you, Your Majesty."

    "Good boy," Princess Nichole said, then she stood behind him and put her hands on his shoulders. "I will lend you half of my power so don''t worry too much, my dear nephew."

    "You made a bad choice, Nero," Emperor Niki said, then his Mana leaked out¨C making the ground shake hard. "You can only me yourself for Neoma''s tearster, Nero de Moonasterio."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NIKOLAI didn''t want to summon his four Soul Beasts.

    It wasn''t like he was underestimating Nero. His son was naturally strong. And now that he had the Death''s Scythe and Nichole''s assistance, Nero had a chance of actually killing him.

    Even though his life was in danger, he still wouldn''t go all out against his son.

    <em>And Neoma will hate me even more if I hurt Nero.</em>

    "Your Majesty!"

    He didn''t have to turn around to know that Glenn and Rufus entered the royal parlor. Aside from the two, he could also feel Amber and Hanna Quinzel''s Mana.

    "Nero has joined hands with Princess Nichole, the Devil, to kill me," Niki dered. The collective gasp behind him was enough to tell him that everyone was shocked by his im. He didn''t have time to exin though. "From this moment on, Nero is already an enemy."

    As expected of Glenn and Rufus, despite the two''s initial shock, they moved fast and stood before him to protect him from Nero.

    <em>They probably don''t want me to fight my own son.</em>

    To be honest, he was impressed by Glenn and Rufus''s quick response. The two must be shocked to see Nichole. But they hid it well and moved right away to protect him.

    "Move," Niki ordered, causing Glenn and Rufus to turn to him and give him questioning looks. "This is a fight between me and Nero."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA clearly saw it.

    While she was watching Rubin and Regina make out (she had no choice because she was stuck in the closet), she saw the bitch turn to her direction while her "fianc¨¦" was busy kissing her neck.

    <em>Eww.</em>

    Then, Regina smirked at her, she was sure of it.

    <em>That bitch knows that I''m hiding here, huh?</em>

    She didn''t notice that during her first life. Did she return in this awful lifetime to make her realize how dumb she was back then?

    "Rubin, has your wedding date been set already?" Regina asked, then she cupped Rubin''s face in her hands. "Are you really going to marry Lady Neoma Quinzel?"

    "Of course not," Rubin said in a voice filled with disgust. "I already hired assassins that will kill Neoma before our wedding day."

    Neoma clenched her fists tight. Even though she already knew what was going to happen, the fact that it was happening all over again while she couldn''t control her body was very frustrating. If she could move on her own, she would bitch-p Rubin and Regina.

    <em>The audacity of these bitches!</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 99 - ENDLESS NIGHTMARE (1)

    NEOMA was pissed after she found herself in another "scene."

    "Situation" would be more appropriate to use, but she refused to ept that "reality." After all, she didn''t actually return to her awful first life. It was like her soul was transferred into the ''Neoma'' of the past¨C the weak, lovesick fool version of her.

    But the worst part was she couldn''t move and talk ording to her will. She couldn''t help but do and say the exact same things that she did and said in the past. In short, she was forced to return to her "doormat" days.

    "Greetings, Lady Quinzel."

    If Neoma could, she would have rolled her eyes at Regina who greeted her at the entrance of the Drayton''s huge mansion.

    Since she couldn''t control her body, she had no choice but to stare at the bitch''s forest green eyes. Ah, now she remembered why Duchess Amber Quinzel was obsessed with Regina in that lifetime. That girl had green eyes and dark hair just like Hanna.

    <em>Regina used her mild resemnce with Hanna to get close to the duchess.</em>

    But aside from the hair and eye color, Regina Crowell looked very different from Hanna. Her cousin had an angelic face and the aura that would put her in the "innocent and cute type." On the other hand, Regina had a mature beauty that would put her in the "sexy category."

    <em>No wonder gullible Rubin is crazy over her.</em>

    Now that she didn''t feel jealous of Regina, she would admit that she was indeed beautiful.

    The woman had a gorgeous body that her simple moners'' clothes" couldn''t hide, and a conventionally beautiful face that the jealous noblewomen hated her for.

    <em>Regina is also tall to boot.</em>

    "Lady Quinzel, let me escort you to the tea room," Regina said with her fake "angelic" smile that captured the hearts of the gullible men in the empire. "I''m afraid you have to wait for a little while because Rubin is still talking to Lord Drayton."

    "''Rubin?'' Miss Crowell, did you just call Sir Drayton by his first name?" Neoma asked in a cold voice. Shit, she wanted to bite her tongue to stop herself from sprouting nonsense. But of course, she failed to do so. "How dare a mere servant like you address my fianc¨¦ that casually?"

    She screamed internally.

    <em>God, kill me now.</em>

    Why did she have to return to the time where she used to address Rubin as ''Sir Drayton?'' Well, that dude was now the Captain of the Green Archer Knights¨C House Drayton''s private army. Aside from his position as a high-ranking knight, he was also the heir to his father, Duke Drayton.

    Addressing Rubin as ''Sir Drayton'' was only proper.

    <em>But I remember that I used to be so jealous of Regina for having the "privilege" of calling Rubin by his first name.</em>

    "I apologize, Lady Quinzel," Regina said in a "scared" voice. Then, she bowed to her. "From now on, I will no longer call Sir Drayton by his first name."

    Now that she knew better, she could see that Regina was only acting.

    Since she gained an experience in acting back in her second life, she developed the eye for spotting if a person in front of her was being genuine or not.

    <em>Thank goodness I chose acting as a career back in my previous life.</em>

    "Neoma."

    She didn''t want to but she flinched when she heard Rubin''s angry voice.

    When she turned to her side, she was genuinely surprised when the jerk suddenly grabbed her by the arm.

    <em>Gosh, so much for being a "chivalrous" knight.</em>

    "Why are you picking on Regina?" Rubin confronted her angrily. Well, he wasn''t shouting. But his tone was cold, and his grip was strong. "Did you onlye here to bully my friend?"

    <em>Rubin Drayton, be d that my anger and willpower aren''t enough for me to control this body yet. But as soon as I snap out of this spell or whatever this is, I''ll bitch-p you and your "friend."</em>

    This dude really never failed to awaken her violent side, huh?

    "I am merely teaching Miss Crowell the right way to address you, Sir Drayton," she said and she would have sounded cold if only her voice didn''t shake a bit. Ah, right. In this lifetime, she was afraid of Rubin especially when he was angry. It was a red g that she ignored because of her "love" for the jerk. "You may let go of my arm now."

    Rubin let go of her arm quite harshly. "I gave Regina the permission to call me by my name. She''s not a servant, Neoma. She''s my dearest friend."

    "S-Sir Drayton, please don''t be mad at Lady Quinzel," Regina said in a "worried" voice. Wow, she could even make her voice sound like she was genuinely concerned about her. This bitch could be a good acting coach if she wanted to. "Lady Quinzel is right after all."

    <em>Bitch.</em>

    Argh, she was so frustrated.

    To be honest, she didn''t like calling other women "bitch" (unless it was her close friend since back in the modern world, you can yfully call a friend "bitch"). Whatever world she was in, a patriarchal society would always trample on women. So she wanted to be an ally to her fellow women who obviously suffered in a world that glorified men too much.

    <em>But there are really girls like Regina that suits the term ''bitch'' so well.</em>

    "Regina, you''re too kind for your own good," Rubin "scolded" his lover lightly. Then, he gently patted the other woman''s head. "Go to your room and rest. You''re not Neoma''s maid so you don''t have to serve her."

    Well, that was true.

    But she didn''t like Regina''s smile. It may look innocent to Rubin. But for her, she saw Regina''s smile as a "triumphant smile."

    "Then, I''ll retire for today, Sir Drayton," Regina said, then she turned to her and bowed. "Have a nice day, Lady Quinzel."

    Thank goodness she didn''t have a "line" this time.

    Rubin scowled at her for ignoring Regina''s greetings. When his lover was out of sight, he turned his back on her and rudely said: "Follow me."

    Neoma rolled her eyes internally.

    <em>"Follow me," my foot.</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA wanted to cry for wasting her precious time listening to Rubin nag her for being rude to his "friend."

    <em>God, why did you let me wear a dress that shows-off my beautiful cor bones only to be told off by an ungrateful brat like Rubin Drayton?</em>

    The only thing that she was grateful for at the moment was the fact that she returned to her a/dult body. While Rubin was standing in front of her as she sat on the sofa while having tea, she focused her eyes on her reflection on the cab''s ss door behind her noisy fianc¨¦.

    Her long hair was tied in an elegant bun. To be honest, she didn''t like that hairstyle that much. But Duchess Quinzel insisted that she always tied her hair that way because "Hanna would if she was alive."

    Anyway, she liked her dress for today.

    It was an off-shoulder peach dress that showed off her elegant figure. Too bad a child like Rubin Drayton couldn''t handle a beauty such as herself.

    "Are you listening, Neoma?" Rubin, who stood in front of her with his arms crossed over his chest, asked in a frustrated tone. "Jealousy doesn''t look good on you so stop being petty. You''re only making yourself look pathetic."

    Neoma put her tea cup down on the saucer very elegantly, then she looked up at Rubin.

    <em>Fuck, why is he so unnecessarily handsome?</em>

    Golden hair, pastel blue eyes, lean body. Gosh, as a vain person, she could see why she was such a sucker for Rubin in her first life. He was so her style.

    "Sir Drayton, answer me honestly," Neoma said in a voice she almost didn''t recognize because it was filled with pain. "Is Miss Crowell really just a friend to you?"

    She felt a sharp pain in her chest.

    Ah, right. This "scene" happened after she discovered Regina and Rubin''s affair. It happened in Rubin''s office-sh-room. When she got out of the closet, she went home and cried. But in the end, she decided toe here and confront Rubin.

    She already knew how this "scene" would y out and she felt bad for her past self.

    "Why are you asking that?" he asked in a frustrated tone. "You''re the one I''m going to marry, Neoma."

    "Really?" she asked with a raised brow. By this time, she gave up on trying to control her body. She just let herself do and say what the "script" (aka the past events of her previous life) dictated. "Will there really be a wedding?"

    "What the hell are you talking about now?"

    "What if I die before the wedding?"

    He visibly flinched.

    <em>Someone is guilty, huh?</em>

    "What if the carriage I''m going to use on our wedding day gets ambushed by bandits? It''s possible since we have to cross a mountain to reach the church," she said, then she picked up her tea cup elegantly. "If I die, will you marry Miss Crowell?"

    "Neoma¨C"

    "I heard Lord Drayton is here," she said in a threatening voice, then she sipped her tea. Ah, yes. During this time, Rubin was still afraid of the duke. "Should I go to your father and tell him that our wedding won''t push through anymore?"

    Fear crossed his eyes.

    But it wasn''t because of the fear of losing her. Rubin was afraid for Regina. After all, if he didn''t marry her, Duchess Quinzel wouldn''t adopt Regina as her new daughter.

    "Sir Drayton, you have to make sure that I''ll make it to our wedding day," she threatened him as she put the tea cup back on the saucer. She heard Rubin and Regina''s n to kill her off before their wedding day and thus, she made that creepy warning. "Or else, I will make it so Lord Drayton will kill Miss Crowell. You don''t have enough power yet to protect her, do you?"

    This time, Rubin''s face softened up.

    Ah, she almost forgot that her fianc¨¦ wasn''t the sharpest knife in the drawer. He was "brave" when he was angry but it was only because he knew she wouldn''t fight back. But when she threatened him, he easily panicked and caved in.

    "I''m sorry that I got mad at you, Neoma," he said, then he got down on one knee and held her hands. "Believe me, Regina is just a friend. She''s dear to me because she has been there beside me all my life. But we only have a tonic rtionship."

    <em>Sure. Friends devour each other''s mouth, right? It''spletely normal and "tonic."</em>

    Bullshit.

    "You''re the one I''m going to marry, Neoma," Rubin said, then he kissed her knuckles. "You know that I love you even if I don''t say it often, don''t you?"

    "I want to marry you, Sir Drayton," Neoma said. Although she was frustrated at how weak her past self was, she understood her heart. After all, Rubin Drayton was her first love. "If you want to protect Miss Crowell, give me a chance to be your wife."

    <em>Just why did I fall in love with a horrible man like Rubin Drayton in this lifetime, huh?</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA knew that although she changed Rubin''s mind about killing her before their wedding day, that wouldn''t stop him from wanting her dead to be with Regina.

    She wanted to live but she also didn''t want to give up on Rubin.

    <em>Well, that was my mindset in the past.</em>

    "Mother, those are lovely flowers," Neoma said politely when she saw Duchess Quinzel put green roses in the vase ced on the tea table. Right now, they were in the duchess''s favorite tea room. It was a good ce to have afternoon teas because the huge window was facing the mansion''s beautiful rose garden. "Green roses are rare, aren''t they?"

    Duchess Quinzel smiled, then she turned to her. "Regina sent these roses to me this morning. She told me that she personally picked each rose for me. Isn''t she the sweetest?"

    F*ck.

    Neoma braced herself because she knew where this conversation would lead to.

    "Mother, please don''t trust Miss Crowell too much," she said. Argh. Thinking back, this was so wrong and stupid of her. But she couldn''t change the past anyway. "She''s having an affair with Sir Drayton. I even heard them nning to kill me!"

    Of course, anger crossed Duchess Quinzel''s face right away. "Neoma, do you hear yourself? Hanna would never say such careless words. She wouldn''t even think that her good friend was cheating on her with her fianc¨¦. How could you use Regina of something so terrible?"

    "Mother, please believe me."

    "Enough."

    When the duchess tried to walk out, she ran and grabbed her arm.

    "What kind of behavior is this?" the duchess asked, then she pulled her arm away from her grasp. "Hanna would never do this to me."

    "I''m sorry, Mother. But please listen to me," she begged her adoptive mother. "If you don''t want to believe me, then let me contact Father instead." ''Father'' would be Duke Rufus Quinzel instead. During this time, the duke was in a dangerous away mission. "I''m sure he''d go home if he hears that Sir Drayton is nning to kill me¨C"

    "I said enough!" Duchess Quinzel yelled angrily. "If you speak one more word about your ridiculous im again, I will send you back to the pce."

    She was too stunned to respond to that.

    Well, her past self was.

    When the duchess realized what she just said, guilt crossed her eyes. But it disappeared as soon as it appeared. After that, she walked out of the room.

    Her past self, who felt helpless and devastated by then, fell on the floor while crying.

    <em>Oh, god</em>, Neoma thought to herself. <em>This is the start of my end, isn''t it?</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    WHEN NEOMA "woke up," she found herself in front of a cabin in the middle of a deep forest.

    To hide that she was a noblewoman, she wore simple clothes (red gingham corset dress over a white long-sleeved ruffle blouse plus leather boots) under a maroon cloak. She hid her tinum white hair with the hood. That outfit made her nervous because she knew when exactly she wore them.

    <em>No, no, no¡­</em>

    "Are you Lady Quinzel?"

    She turned around to see a petite young woman wearing a ck long-sleeved ruffle blouse, ck satin corset with ck damask bustle skirt, and ck thigh highce-up boots.

    <em>All-ck, huh?</em>

    But her distinct features were her long, red hair and big, roundedvender eyes.

    <em>Oh, god¡­</em>

    She gulped when she realized who the woman was.

    "Greetings, mydy," Dahlia, the ck Witch, greeted her cheerfully with a polite curtsy. "I am Dahlia, the ck Witch."

    Fuck, she realized she was sent to the time where she sought Dahlia to help her tie her soul with Nero, the crown prince.

    But in this lifetime, her twin brother hated her to the core.

    <em>Shit</em>, Neoma thought to herself when she realized what was going on. Well, she had already realized it as soon as she found herself inside the closet. But this time, she finally epted that "reality." <em>I''m going to die by Nero''s hands again, right?</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story in your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 100 - ENDLESS NIGHTMARE (2)

    <em>SHIT just got real.</em>

    Neoma was horrified when she found herself in the next "scene."

    This time, she was inside the cabin while having tea with Dahlia. She already noticed this in her first life, but the ck Witch didn''t really live up to her reputation. Despite looking "edgy" because of her all-ck outfit, Dahlia was a klutz.

    She hated the ck Witch''s free spirit in the past because she was jealous. After all, Duchess Quinzel raised her as an exact replica of Hanna.

    <em>But now, all I can see is how cute Dahlia is even though she''s a little clumsy.</em>

    "I''m sorry," Dahlia, with her cheeks rosier than normal, said apologetically while cleaning the wooden round table with a rag. After all, she identally bumped into the table a while ago, causing the tea in their cups to spill. "It''s been a while since I had a client so I''m quite nervous. And you''re very pretty, Lady Quinzel. It makes me want to just stare at your face¨C"

    "Enough with your bber," Neoma said in a cold, condescending tone. Argh! If she could only control her body, she would have already been friends with Dahlia. She liked bright girls like the ck Witch. Too bad her past self was a miserable bitch. "And sit down. I don''t have any intention to drink cheap tea anyway."

    Dahlia''s face turned red from embarrassment.

    Wow, Neoma wanted to punch her past self in the face. She knew that she was hurt. But she already learned that punishing other people for her misery was wrong. And thus, she felt so guilty while watching how she acted in her previous life.

    "I''m sorry, Lady Quinzel," Dahlia said shyly, then she sat down on the wooden chair from across her. "My master sent me here but the only thing she told me was to expect a client named ''Lady Quinzel.'' I''m sorry but may I know what kind of assistance do you need?"

    "You specialize in performing forbidden spells so of course, I''m here for that ability of yours."

    The ck Witch flinched. "I don''t do that anymore¨C"

    "Your master already received the payment for this work," she said, rudely interrupting the other girl. God, she was such an awful person in her past life, huh? "I paid arge sum of money for this."

    Dahlia looked guilty, then after some contemting, she asked hesitantly. "What exactly do you want me to do, Lady Quinzel?"

    "I have a twin brother," she said. "I want to tie my life force with him."

    The other girl''s eyes widened in shock. "But that''s one of the most forbidden spell¨C"

    "Prepare the potion," Neoma said, then she stood up and looked down at the ck Witch. Ah, right. She remembered that at that time, she found Dahlia''s weakness. And that was the reason why she was this arrogant towards her. "If you don''t want to lose the most important thing to you, give me the potion that I need on my next visit." She smirked haughtily at the now trembling ck Witch. "Or do want me to go to your master and tell her that you don''t want to do it?"

    "No, please d-don''t do that," Dahlia said in a shaking voice. "I''ll do it," she said, then she closed her eyes tight. "I''ll make the potion, Lady Quinzel."

    <em>God, I''m such an awful bitch here.</em>

    And blind, too, for failing to notice the ck crow on the tree outside.

    <strong>***</strong>

    "NO, I WILL never hand you the potion!"

    Neoma was shocked when she found herself in that "scene."

    This time, Dahlia was on the ground while hugging herself. There were several ck whips floating above her. And each whip was hitting the ck Witch hard in every part of her body. Yes, even the face.

    And yes again, the ck whips were her creation.

    Ah, I just remember that it was the technique that Duchess Quinzel taught me in this lifetime.

    Since Neoma was treated like Hanna''s recement, the duchess taught her how to manipte her shadow and turn it into kind of weapon that she could imagine. It wasn''t easy since she didn''t have Quinzel blood in her.

    But Duchess Quinzel made it possible by making a little "experiment" on her.

    <em>Right, she made me drink her and Duke Quinzel''s blood and brought me to a powerful sage. Thanks to their blood inside me, I was able to use their family''s technique.</em>

    She wasn''t that powerful since she was a fake Quinzel. But she was able to overpower Dahlia because of the red marble in her hand.

    <em>God, this is hard to relive.</em>

    "I guess even your own master is wary of you," Neoma said even though she was already dying inside. She hated herself at this very moment. "After all, she made this." She showed Dahlia the red marble in her hand. "Apparently, as long as you are near this marble, your powers weaken and you won''t be able to move." She walked towards the ck Witch, then she kicked her until she was lying on the ground on her back. "I thought you already agreed to make the potion?" she asked coldly, then she stepped on Dahlia''s stomach. "Why are you being stubborn now, you wench?"

    "I found out that your twin brother is Prince Nero," Dahlia said in a voice filled with anger and pain, hervender eyes glowing menacingly. And yet, she couldn''t move to fight her or even protect herself from her attacks. "I will not harm the empire''s crown prince!"

    "A ck Witch afraid of betraying the throne?" she asked mockingly. "Don''t make meugh, Miss Dahlia. Your n is practically an enemy of the royal family."

    "I don''t care about my n''s feud against the royal family," the ck Witch snarled. "Prince Nero is an important friend to me!"

    Hearing that her estranged twin brother was an "important friend" to the ck Witch made her angry and jealous at that moment. And sheshed out on Dahlia by stepping on her stomach hard until she winced in pain.

    "I''ll give you three days, Miss Dahlia," she warned the ck Witch. "If you don''t have the potion by then, I will kill all the little ck Witches that you''re hiding in the orphanage."

    Dahlia gasped, then she turned to her with tears in her eyes. "How can you be so evil, Lady Quinzel?" she asked in a cracked voice. "Leave the children alone!"

    "I will only leave them alone if you give me what you want," Neoma said coldly, then she turned her back on the ck Witch. "Don''t test my patience any longer, Miss Dahlia."

    Once again, at that moment, she failed to notice the ck crow flying above her.

    <strong>***</strong>

    <em>THIS IS it.</em>

    Neoma knew that it was the moment when her life would end when instead of Dahlia, she saw Nero waiting for her in front of the ck Witch''s cabin.

    <em>Nero looks so different here.</em>

    By that, she didn''t mean her twin brother''s appearance.

    Of course, Nero was also an adult in this timeline. He wore the red military uniform that the crown prince donned in official events. And his face? Her twin brother looked like Emperor Niki in his younger days.

    "You''re still alive?" Nero asked her with a smirk, his light gray eyes instantly turned glowing red. During that time, the crown prince was already rumored to be a blood-hungry lunatic. And the frenzied look on her twin brother''s face confirmed it for her. "A little bird whispered to me that my crazy twin sister is threatening my Dahlia to perform a forbidden spell."

    That was the moment that her past self realized that she fucked up.

    She and everyone in the empire heard that their crown prince was apparently crazy in love with an "enemy." During that time, she didn''t realize that the woman in the rumor was Dahlia. And when she figured that out, she knew that it was over for her.

    Yet, she tried to save her life by sucking up to her twin brother¨C hoping that their connection would somehow make him spare her life.

    "Your Royal Highness, I made a mistake," Neoma said in a shaking voice. "I didn''t know that Dahlia is yours. Please forgive me this once¡­"

    "The fact that you touched Dahlia isn''t the only reason why I''m here," he said with a "sweet smile" that sent shivers down her spine. "I heard from my beloved that you wanted her to perform a spell that will bind your life force with me. Do you think I''m stupid to not know what it means, you miserable wench?"

    "I won''t do it again," she said, desperate. "Please spare my life, B-Brother."

    ""Brother?"" he asked, surprised. Then, heughed loudly¨C like a lunatic. But after a while, he suddenly turned serious. "Don''t call me "brother," you fucking traitor. You let the assassin poison me when we were kids. Have you forgotten about it?"

    She dropped to her knees and sped her hands together. "P-Prince Nero, please forgive me¡­ please! I will live a quiet life from now on. I will never show my face to you or to Dahlia again. Just please spare me this time!"

    He justughed again while pulling out the sword in the sheath attached to his hip. "This is His Majesty''s precious gift to me during mying-of-age ceremony," he said. "Isn''t it almost poetic that this gift will cause you your death?"

    Before she could even blink or move to run from her crazy brother, she just found herself bleeding because of the sword pierced through her heart.

    <em>So fast¡­</em>

    When he pulled out the sword effortlessly, she dropped to the ground¨C her whole body numb from pain.

    "I only gave you a quick and painless death because you look like my female version. I don''t want to see my face writhe in pain," Nero told her as he was leaving, his voice void with emotion. "You should be grateful that you have a generous older brother, my poor little sister."

    She lost consciousness for a while and when she felt a light kick on her body, she woke up.

    And when she opened her eyes, Regina Crowell''s smiling face greeted her.

    "It''s so easy to manipte everyone around you, Lady Quinzel," Regina said with a smirk that she wanted to rip off of her ugly face. "Rubin, Duchess Quinzel, and now His Royal Highness Prince Nero." Sheughed softly while shaking her head. "It was so easy to turn them against you because they never really loved you, Ne-o-ma."

    Neoma couldn''t talk at that moment but in her head, she could only think of one word.

    <em>Bitch.</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    WHEN NEOMA opened her eyes again, she thought the nightmare finally ended when she relived her death in her first life.

    But much to her shock, she once again found herself inside the closet while watching Rubin and Regina make out in the office. It was the exact, same position that she found herself into when she opened her eyes after Gin brought her to hell.

    "No," Neoma whispered to herself. For the first time after a long while, she genuinely felt scared. "Am I going to experience this life again and again forever?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    GIN smiled while watching Princess Neoma inside the closet where she witnessed the affair of Rubin Drayton and Regina Crowell.

    It was fun watching the royal princess''s "darkest" memories stored in her heart.

    Princess Neoma was "sleeping" on the ground where he found her a while ago. He could see her "nightmares" because his mind was connected to hers. And since he was able to enter her consciousness, he could "y" the memories that she hated again and again in her head.

    "Your greatest fear is so simple, Princess Neoma," Gin said to himself with a softugh. "Who would have thought that a brave young princess like you is afraid to die alone?"

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 Chapter 101 - ENDLESS NIGHTMARE (3)

    IF NEOMA counted correctly, this was the ninth time that she died by the hands of Nero.

    Yes, her nightmare continued for nine more times since the first time. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn''t control her body in that dimension¨C or wherever she was. The fact that she didn''t have the power to change her fate in here was making her feel frustrated.

    And if she''d be honest, she''d say she was starting to get depressed.

    <em>Reliving my awful first life again and again without break is starting to have a toll on my mental health.</em>

    She couldn''t help but think because she didn''t want to lose consciousness yet.

    Right now, she was lying on the ground while facing the dark sky. She was literally bathing in the pool of her own blood after Nero left her to die. Ah, Regina Crowell was there a moment ago. After mocking her, that bitch left.

    <em>But it will happen againter, won''t it?</em>

    She was trying to be strong by focusing on the things that she didn''t notice in the <em>past.</em>

    <em>For example, I began to notice that thing on the third "rey" of my awful life.</em>

    By "that thing," she meant the huge ck crow with sharp red eyes flying above her.

    She had been racking up her brain since then while trying to remember which noble house had a ck crow as a family crest. For some reason, she could feel that the ck crow wasn''t an ordinary bird. She wasn''t sure if she was just being paranoid or not but still, she decided to trust her gut.

    Unfortunately, only the same "scenes" that she went through the first time kept repeating again and again.

    <em>I can''t get another clue because of that.</em>

    And she was starting to get dizzy because of blood loss.

    Nero was such a bastard in this lifetime.

    He never once turned back to check on her after stabbing her in the heart. Well, she already expected that because even in her first life, he never stopped walking away from her. Still, she was hoping that something would change eventually even if she couldn''t even lift a finger on her own will.

    <em>Anyway¡­</em>

    The first few times that she experienced that, she cried in pain. But now that it happened for the ninth time, it seemed like her body had been numb from getting used to it.

    But that event was unfortunately making her feel vulnerable¨C mentally and emotionally.

    She didn''t want to admit this, but the thought of experiencing that lonely life and gruesome death for all eternity was scaring the hell out of her.

    <em>This is the first time that I feel this scared ever since I got reborn in this lifetime.</em>

    "I don''t want to be alone. Not even in my death," Neoma whispered to herself. And when she closed her eyes, she felt the warm liquid from the corner of her eyes roll down her cheeks. "Mommy, Daddy, I''m scared¡­"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "THIS IS strange," Gin whispered to himself while looking at the Marble that he stole from the fox boy a while ago. It still looked the same. But for some reason, he felt like the life force in stored in it was weakening. "Did I get the wrong Marble?"

    "Perhaps it was reced by a fake Marble when you weren''t looking?"

    His eyes widened when he heard an unfamiliar voice.

    When he turned around, he saw a white bunny with pastel pink eyes on top of Princess Neoma''s stomach.

    He didn''t waste time and moved to attack the strange animal.

    But much to his shock, he bumped into an invisible barrier that made him bounce off of it. Ah, it would be more appropriate to say that he was pushed by a violent gust of wind. He used his arms to protect himself from the impact.

    The sleeves of his formal suit were instantly shredded into pieces, and his arms received several deep cuts that made him bleed badly.

    <em>Dammit!</em>

    He tried to run towards the tornado-like barrier even if it felt like the violent wind was ripping his arms off. But much to his shock, his body floated in the air. Then, a strong but invisible force sent him flying until his back hit a dead tree behind him.

    Before it could even register in his mind, he was once again attacked by the violent gust of wind. This time, the wind knocked the breath out of him with an invisible sucker punch.

    He coughed blood while falling on the ground.

    To say that he was shocked at how fast he was knocked out by the little bunny would be an understatement. He couldn''t even get a chance for a counter attack because of how fast his enemy moved.

    <em>That bunny is so powerful. Howe I didn''t feel it when it entered my territory? But when did it get here in the first ce?</em>

    "It seems like the Devil isn''t picky with his people these days, huh?" the white bunny, who had the voice of a woman, said in a mocking tone. "Even a weak, little kitten like you can serve them now. I''d like to offer my condolences to the Devil''s standards."

    He was insulted but did he have the right to feel that way after he was beaten in the fight? Wait, would it even be considered a fight when he wasn''t able to make a single attack?

    <em>The little bunny yed me like I was her punching bag!</em>

    "How did you enter my territory?" he asked while standing up with his hand clutching his stomach tight. He ignored the white bunny''s insults because they were true anyway. Moreover, he couldn''t refute it because if he did, he would only sound more of a loser. But most of all, talking to his enemy would y to his advantage. "Did you follow Princess Neoma?"

    <em>Yes, let''s talk for now and find the enemy''s weakness.</em>

    The white bunny clicked her tongue as if she was disappointed. "You didn''t really notice my presence? I''m here because I was hiding inside Princess Neoma''s soul." She paused, then sheughed softly. "Ah, you also didn''t notice me when you were fighting the fox boy, did you?"

    To say that he was shocked to hear that would be an understatement.

    "You were there?" he asked in shock, then his eyes widened once again when realization dawned upon him. "Did you switch the fox boy''s Marble with a fake one?"

    "What do you think, little kitten?"

    "Impossible!" he insisted. "I took out the Marble from the fox boy''s body! You wouldn''t have the time to rece it!"

    "Oops, busted," she said yfully. "Well, I lied. I didn''t rece the Marble a while ago. The truth is¡­" Sheughed softly before she continued. "I stole it from you just now."

    He froze on his spot.

    Then, he immediately looked for the Marble in his clothes. God, he felt shivers down his spine when he realized that it was missing.

    "I lied to distract you¨C to make you think that the Marble in your hand was fake," the white bunny said in an amused tone. "When my wind attacked you, I had plenty of chances to steal the Marble from you while you were busy protecting yourself."

    His knees buckled until he fell on the ground. He was utterly defeated. By a bunny. Worse, he didn''t have the power toe at her because he knew that he couldn''t beat her. He chose his battles well, so he knew that he had to give this one up if he didn''t want to die. After all, he couldn''t even "read" the white bunny''s heart as if she didn''t have any weakness or fear. "Just who the hell are you?"

    "My new master calls me ''Mochi,''" the white bunny said. Then, when her little foot gently stomped Princess Neoma''s stomach, the Marble appeared. "You attacked the wrong person, little kitten."

    After saying that, the white bunny put her foot on top of the Marble and stomped on it. Much to his shock, the Marble was slowly absorbed by Princess Neoma''s stomach even if there wasn''t a hole in it. But the glowing silver-ish light on the royal princess''s stomach area suggested that the white bunny was using a spell to do that.

    And it wasn''t just an ordinary spell¨C it was a high-level one.

    "You weren''t in the equation, Miss Mochi," he said while shaking his head. "The Devil nned everything well. But even them wasn''t able to predict the appearance of someone like you."

    "I like having a grand entrance," the white bunny said proudly, then her body began to turn translucent. It was a teleportation spell that shouldn''t be allowed in his territory. But her strong power was able to break his barrier easily. "Goodbye, little kitten."

    "Are you leaving Princess Neoma here?" he asked in disbelief. "You have the ability to bring her out of my territory, Miss Mochi."

    "My new master doesn''t need me or anyone else to rescue her. Moreover, I already did my part as her guardian," Mochi said with confidence. "It''s all up to Princess Neoma now."

    And just like that, the white bunny was gone.

    He didn''t have the time to figure out what Miss Mochi meant by herst words when the ground started to shake hard.

    Then, much to his shock, his territory began to crumble.

    And then, Princess Neoma''s overwhelming Mana filled his territory until he could no longer feel his own Mana.

    <em>What a strong power¡­</em>

    "No," Gin whispered in shock while watching his world literally crumble right in front of his eyes. "Just what did Princess Neoma do?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "NEOMA, wake up."

    When Neoma opened her eyes, she expected to find herself inside the closet again. But much to her delighted surprise, she was greeted by a familiar, gentle face.

    "Mommy," Neoma whispered in a cracked voice. "Mommy..."

    She was sure that the woman in front of her was her mommy in her second life.

    But she looked a little different now. Her long hair was pinkish, and her eyes were light blue. Those weren''t her mommy''s hair and eye color in the past.

    <em>Then, it means...</em>

    "Are you my Mama?" Neoma asked, confused. "Are you Lady Mona Roseheart?"

    To be honest, she didn''t know what was happening now.

    All she knew was she was already tired from having to relive her awful first life again and again. Maybe the "mommy" that she was seeing now was only a hallucination. But you know what? She''d take that.

    <em>As long as I don''t die alone again...</em>

    "I am your mother, Neoma," her mommy said gently as if she was confirming that she wasn''t a hallucination. Then, she smiled and gently touched her face. "It''s time to wake up from this nightmare now, my precious star."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 102 - A BEAUTIFUL DREAM

    "IT''S TIME to wake up from this nightmare now, my precious star."

    ''Nightmare?''

    <em>Ah!</em>

    Neoma blinked several times and when her mommy didn''t disappear, she finally convinced herself that she wasn''t hallucination. Most of all, whether she was her mommy (Areum Kim from her second life) or her Mama (Lady Mona Roseheart from her first life), it didn''t matter anymore.

    It wouldn''t change the fact that this woman was her mother.

    "Mama," Neoma said, switching from ''mommy'' to ''mama'' because she had a feeling that in this world, Areum Kim was Lady Mona Roseheart. After calling her mother, she got up and hugged her tight. She noticed that they were in a white, empty room but she ignored it for now. She''d think about thatter. "Mama, why?" she asked in a cracked voice, then she looked up her mother''s beautiful face. "What did you like about my Papa? He''s a scumbag."

    "I like Niki''s face and body," her mother said bluntly. It didn''t even take her a minute to think about her answer! "I''m a sucker for beautiful people, Neoma."

    She let out a soft gasp.

    That vanity¡­ shallowness¡­ and obsession with beauty¡­

    "I really am your daughter, Mama."

    "Of course, you are, Neoma," she said with a softugh. "You were born that pretty because I was the one who gave birth to you."

    She giggled because she could tell that her mother was only joking.

    <em>Well, maybe.</em>

    "Have you calmed down?" her mother asked, then she cupped her small face between her hands. "Are you feeling better now, sweetheart?"

    She paused, then she nodded. "I''m Neoma, I''m okay."

    "I''m d to hear that," her Mama said, relieved. "I hate to say this but I don''t have much time left. I left a piece of my soul to Gale, and I was able to sessfully meet you like this because of the fox boy''s Marble."

    <em>Lewis''s Marble? And who''s Gale?</em>

    She didn''t voice out her questions because she didn''t want to interrupt her mother. It looked like that she was really in a hurry now.

    "A Silver Fox''s Marble can bring anyone or anything back to life," her mother exined. "Gale put the piece of my soul inside the Marble, then she sent it to where your consciousness is. Because of that, I was able to reach you. But the Marble is rejecting my soul. It''s only a matter of time before it kicks me out."

    "The Marble is rejecting your soul?" she asked. This time, she could no longer hold back her curiosity. "Why is the Marble rejecting your soul, Mama? Is it because it cannot revive a soul without a physical body?" She paused, then she gasped when she realized the other reason that she came up with. "Or the Marble doesn''t ept your soul because you''re still alive?"

    Her mother looked shocked by her deduction. Then, much to her shock, she gently pinched her cheeks. "Neoma, you''re too smart for your own good. I know that you inherited your brain from me but your mind is still scaring me."

    "Then, it''s true?" she asked in a cracked voice. "You''re still alive, Mama?"

    "I''m in a state where I''m neither alive nor dead," her mother answered seriously. "But that''s not important right now."

    "How is it not important, Mama?"

    "Because if you know where I am, you''lle and find me," she said firmly. "It''s dangerous if you look for me now."

    "But why?"

    "Because your still weak," her mother said bluntly. "You''ll die if you look for me."

    "I''m not that weak, Mama."

    "You''re my daughter and I love you but you''re really weak," her Mama said while shaking her head. "Your Roseheart blood already awakened but you still can''t see spirits, can you?"

    "I have Tteokbokki though," she said instead because she couldn''t refute the fact that she couldn''t see spirits yet. She also wanted to brag about Skewer but she lost it when her aunt, Princess Nichole, appeared a while ago. "My Soul Beast is a Red Dragon and our souls resonate with each other very well."

    "Where''s your Soul Beast now?"

    "Good questions, Mama," she said. "I sent Tteokbokki on a mission. I''m just waiting for him to find me."

    Tteokbokki was inside her body a while ago. She even asked him to burn Gin, the stupid ck cat. But after that, right before she was abducted, her Soul Beast narrowly escaped just like what he ordered her to do.

    <em>My n is fool-proof, you know?</em>

    Well, almost.

    "Neoma, you''ll still die if you find me even if you have your Soul Beast," her mother said. "I will only acknowledge that you''re strong once you sessfully summoned William¨C my most powerful Spirit Guardian. If you manage to tame him, he might help you find me."

    "Is it hard to summon him, Mama?"

    "I''ve known him since I was born," her mother exined. "But I only managed to tame him after mying of age. If you think your father is a scumbag, then you clearly haven''t met William yet."

    She gulped at that. "Mama, are you a ma of scumbags or what?"

    "That seems to be case," her mother said with augh.

    She said the "scumbag" twice but she noticed that her mother didn''t react both times. "Mama, aren''t you going to scold me for using foulnguage?"

    Her Mamaughed softly, then she yfully poked on her nose. "Boop."

    She gasped when she realized that her Mama "booped" her nose the way her "mommy" did back in her second life. "You''re the same person," she said. Her mother did the "booping" for her to confirm that, didn''t she? "You''re also Areum Kim, my mommy in my second life."

    "I can never give up on you, can I?"

    "Then, who''s my father in my second life, Mama?" she asked. "Is it still my Papa in this life or is it Commander Gavin Quinzel? Won-shik Kim, my father in my second life, looks exactly like themander of the White Lion Knights in this lifetime."

    "I don''t have enough time to exin everything, Neoma," her mother said in an urgent tone. "But let me say this: don''t hate Niki too much. It''s my fault why he turned out that way."

    "Even if that''s the case, I will still stand up for myself if Papa crosses the line."

    Her mother smiled, then she nodded. "Yes, you do that," she said. "Neoma, how is Nero?"

    "I raised Nero well, Mama," she said proudly. "Don''t worry, Mama. He won''t end up like Papa. He was cursed but we found a person that could cure him." She paused, then she touched her mother''s face. "I won''t let my twin brother die so please don''t look like you''re about to cry, Mama. Nero is also a strong person."

    Her Mama looked relieved to hear that. "Take care of Nero for me, Neoma," she said. "And take care of Niki, too."

    The look on her mother''s face reminded her of her Papa Boss''s soft look when he talked about her Mama in the past.

    <em>Mama loves Papa Boss.</em>

    But why was Commander Gavin Quinzel in the picture--- literally and figuratively?

    Her thoughts were cut-off when the white room that they were in began to shake hard until the walls had huge and long cracks in them.

    "Our time is up, sweetheart," her mother said sadly, then she held her shoulders tight. "Neoma, remember these three important things: First, do not try to find me until you sessfully summon William. Second, protect Nero and Niki at all cost. And third¡­" Her mother suddenly turned serious. "Help your father find Juliette''s body no matter what."

    She noticed that her Mama called thete empress by her first name.

    <em>Were they friends in the past?</em>

    "I''m sorry, Neoma. I want to give you a normal life but you can''t escape your destiny," her Mama said in a sad voice. "Neoma, as a Roseheart, it''s your duty to protect the throne. It''s not just for your father. If the royal family falls, the whole empire will suffer."

    "I''m notining but why are you saying this to me, Mama?" she asked. "The empire looks down on princesses. And Nero is the first star. He is our father''s chosen heir."

    She wanted to say that her goal was to be ady of leisure.

    But she didn''t want to make her mother feel like that the requests that she made would be a burden to her. Well, it was a burden but for her Mama, she was willing to take it.

    "You''re special, Neoma. Don''t forget that," her Mama said with a smile, then she hugged her tight. "Let''s meet again soon, my precious star."

    Neoma hugged her mother back, closed her eyes, and savored that moment. She held herself back from crying. The fact that her mother might still be alive somewhere filled her heart with hope and joy. "I will work hard to be stronger to meet you again, Mama."

    <strong>***</strong>

    WHEN Neoma opened her eyes, she thought she''d found herself outside the white room.

    But much to her shock, she found herself standing at the edge of a cliff while facing the crescent moon in the night sky. Surprisingly, just like the Dr*amworks Animation logo, a man was seated on the moon. But instead of a fish rod, he held a cane.

    To be honest, she couldn''t see the man''s features. The only clear image in her eyes was his silhouette. The moon was a little too far, and the light surrounding it was blinding.

    <em>Where the hell am I? And who''s that weirdo?</em>

    "THUG PRINCESS!"

    Neoma covered her ears with her hands when she heard Tteokbokki''s loud scream. It wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that the ground shook because of her Soul Beast''s booming voice. "I''m here!" she yelled back. If she could hear Tteokbokki that clearly, then it must mean that he was nearby. "Where are you, Tteokbokki?"

    "THUG PRINCESS, WHERE ARE YOU?!"

    She was about to respond when she heard the sound of pping wings. When she looked up, she smiled when she saw Tteokbokki flying above her. Her Soul Beast was in his Red Dragon form, but his size would be considered "small." In fact, he was only the size of an average eagle.

    <em>Oh, well. Tteokbokki is still a baby dragon anyway.</em>

    Neoma smiled and waved her hands. Her longs arms confirmed that she was still in her adult form. "Tteokbokki, I''m here!"

    "THUG PRINCESS, IT''S NOT LIKE I''M WORRIED ABOUT YOU BUT I DON''T LIKE PLAYING HIDE-AND-SEEK!"

    She was shocked by her Soul Beast''sck of reaction.

    They often fought with each other but Tteokbokki never pretended that he couldn''t see her. Plus, the desperation in his voice was real.

    "Tteokbokki can''t see and hear me," she said. "What the hell is going on?"

    "Call him by his real name."

    She looked up and turned to the man seated on the moon. His voice sent shivers down her spine. She didn''t feel like he was a dangerous person. But her instinct told her that she shouldn''t approach him.

    "You''re not ready yet to call your Soul Beast by his real name," the man continued in a voice that sounded very soothing. So even though she didn''t like what he just said, she couldn''t bring herself to hate him. "But because an old friend asked for my help, I shall lend you a hand." He pointed the end of his crane at her. "I''ll tell you the Red Dragon''s name, but you shall forget it once you''re out of the demon''s territory."

    She wanted to refuse and say that she didn''t need his help, that Tteokbokki would always be Tteokbokki to her. But her body suddenly froze, then a name kept ringing in her head. Before she knew it, she just found herself speaking.

    "Crimson¡­?" Neoma said, then she gasped when she realized that it was Tteokbokki''s "real name." "''Tteokbokki'' is a better name than that!"

    <strong>***</strong>

    JASPER couldn''t believe that he didn''t evenst five minutes fighting Lewis Crevan.

    He was even more shocked to find himself underneath the fox boy who seemed to have lost his mind because of his transformation. When Lewis Crevan raised his hand as if he preparing to rip his heart out, a pale hand suddenly grabbed the fox boy''s wrist.

    "Lewis Crevan, your master needs your help."

    Jasper was shocked to see that the stranger who saved his life was Dominic Zavaroni¨C the saint! He noticed that the saint wore civilian clothes instead of his usual attire. Did he sneak in? What is His Holiness doing here?

    He was distracted when he noticed that Lewis Crevan suddenly calmed down, and when the fox boy stood up to face the saint, he was already back to his usual self. But his two white and fluffy tails were still there. Also, his Mana remained very strong.

    The only thing that Lewis Crevan lost when he calmed down was his killing intent.

    <em>Is it because the saint mentioned his "master?"</em>

    That would be Prince Nero, right?

    "Where?" Lewis Crevan asked the saint without an ounce of respect. He even sounded impatient. "I''ll go."

    Saint Zavaroni didn''t seem to mind the fox boy''s disrespectful tone. "Everything is going ording to your master''s n," the saint said. "We should follow the n, Lewis Crevan."

    "Is this about Prince Nero?" Jasper asked, causing Saint Zavaroni and Lewis Crevan to turn to him. "What''s going on with His Royal Highness?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    MUCH TO Neoma''s shock, she found herself seated on top of the head of a huge Red Dragon.

    <em>Tteokbokki got big!</em>

    But she ignored it for the meantime. She realized that the "world" where she had to relive her awful first life was just like a huge yhouse. Now that she was flying up there, thanks to Tteokbokki, she could see that the "sky" was actually made of ss.

    "Break it, Tteokbokki," Neoma said to her Soul Beast. When it didn''t react, she realized that it might not have heard because she called it by the "wrong" name. She didn''t want to call him by his "real" name but she had no time to be stubborn. "Let''s get out of here, Crimson!"

    Her Soul Beast finally reacted.

    "Crimson" roared and breathed fire before breaking the ss that almost trapped her consciousness forever.

    <em>I''m gonna fuck you up so good, Gin.</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 103 - WELCOME BACK TO MYSELF

    "I''M FINALLY free from that fucking nightmare!" Neoma, still in her pretty adult form, screamed at the top of her lungs. Since she didn''t have the appearance of a five year old child, she didn''t feel bad for cursing. And she felt so badass doing so while riding the back of a fucking Red Dragon. "Love live, Neoma Ramsay''s big brain!"

    Ah, yeah. She just decided that she would go by the name of ''Neoma Ramsay'' from now on. The royal family didn''t want her anyway so why would she force herself to be a part of them?

    <em>But don''t worry, Mama. I will honor your wish and protect Nero and Papa Boss. I just realized that I don''t have to be a de Moonasterio to do so.</em>

    "Thug princess, don''t celebrate prematurely," Tteokbokki aka Crimson (what an awful name), scolded her in his mature and "manlier" voice. Gosh, her baby dragon was also an adult now, huh? How time flies. "We''re still inside the demon''s territory."

    Well, her Soul Beast spoke the truth.

    When they finally broke the "ss" where her consciousness was trapped for god knows how long, she found herself back in the part of hell where Gin brought her. From where she was, she could see the haunted mansion, the dead tree, and the dry soil that she had seen in the past when she "visited" hell with Rubin Drayton.

    Anyway, she couldn''t see Gin yet but she didn''t want to put her guard down.

    "Crimson, let''s go down," she told her Soul Beast. She couldn''t call him ''Tteokbokki'' because he might not hear or see her again. "I feel like throwing up."

    And it wasn''t because of flying with a dragon for the first time.

    Luckily, Tteokbokki didn''t tease her about it. He just quietly flew down until hended safely on a dry soil away from the haunted mansion.

    When she stepped down from his back, the Red Dragon reverted back to its "small size."

    "Are you okay, thug princess?" Tteokbokki asked while floating in front of her. In fairness to her Soul Beast, he looked worried when he saw her clutch her stomach. "Did I fly too fast?"

    "No," she said, then she covered her mouth with her free hand when she literally threw up.

    It was kind of gross but she puked a marble up. Wait, it was the Marble¨C as in the Marble that the enemies wanted from Lewis.

    "How did it get inside my stomach?" she asked while wiping the Marble clean with the hem of her sleeve. Ah, yes. Aside from her adult form, she also maintained the clothes that she had before Nero killed her in her nightmare. "As far as I remember¡­" She turned to Tteokbokki with furrowed brows. "Didn''t I make you swallow Lewis''s real Marble?"

    "I did," Tteokbokki said. "And I delivered it to that person before I went to find you. That must be the decoy Marble that you asked the fox boy to make."

    "Ah, so that''s what happened."

    She immediately handed the Marble to her Soul Beast. "Swallow the Marble, Crimson."

    Tteokbokki, without hesitation, immediately swallowed the Marble. Then, he returned inside her without being asked to. Maybe Tteokbokki knew that allowing her to use his abilities as a Red Dragon would give them a higher survival rate than him fighting in a form that he wasn''t used to yet.

    Wow, her wit was rubbing off on her Soul Beast, huh?

    <em>I won''t call you ''ketchup-colored donkey'' from now, Tteokbokki.</em>

    "Well, well, well," Neoma said, then she looked up at Gin who was seated on a tree''s branch. He was back to his cat form. She noticed that the suit that he wore was now almost torn into pieces. Plus, he had several cuts all over his torso¨C especially his arms. "Did you lose an alley cat fight or something?"

    Gin smiled "sweetly" at her. "Are you worried about me, Princess Neoma?"

    "Of course I am," she answered with a "sweet" smile of her own. "I can''t let anyone else fuck you up, you sly cat."

    The ck cat looked surprised by her foul mouth. "Using such vulgar words is unbing of a princess like yourself, Your Royal Highness."

    "Nah, I just disowned the royal family," she said with a dismissive wave. "From now on, call me Neoma Ramsay¨C the Lady of Leisure."

    She just made up that title on the spot but whatever.

    "You''re really interesting, Princess Neoma," Gin said, ignoring the fact that she wished to be called ''Lady Ramsay'' instead of her powerless title as a hidden royal princess. "It''s a shame but we need to make an empress out of you¨C whether you like it or not."

    "Let''s stop talking and get down to business," she said while cracking her knuckles. "I''ll make you a filling for a steamed bun."

    "A what?"

    "I know a country where they use cat meat as a filling for steamed buns," she said with a smirk. "I''ve always wanted to know what it tastes like."

    Gin looked surprised by what she said, then heughed. "Hard pass on that, Princess Neoma," he said, then he jumped down from the tree branch andnded gracefully¨C just like how real cats were flexible. "Before we start, may I know how you managed to hide the real Marble from me?"

    "I know that talking with you gives you an advantage," Neoma said, then she smirked at him. "But let me humor you for a while, Gin the Bad ck Cat."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "SLEEP," Dominic Zavaroni said, then he waved his hand in front of Duke Jasper Hawthorne.

    Like what he expected, the young duke was knocked out in an instant.

    <em>I apologize, Your Grace.</em>

    "Princess Neoma where?"

    He turned to Lewis Crevan. It seemed like he had the tendency to revert back to his broken speeches when agitated. And he looked very impatient as well. "ording to Mr. Tteokbokki, Princess Neoma''s Soul Beast, Her Royal Highness was taken to hell by a ck cat named Gin."

    Lewis Crevan''s golden eyes glowed menacingly. "Kill."

    "Before you kill the cat, let me return this to you," he said, then he pulled out the Marble from the inside pocket of his jacket. Then, he handed it to the fox boy. "The Soul Beast delivered it to me, then he asked me to personallye here to protect you. He said it was a part of Princess Neoma''s n."

    The fox boy nodded firmly, then he swallowed the Marble without hesitation.

    Just like that, Lewis Crevan''s Mana became stable.

    <em>And he became stronger.</em>

    "I don''t know what exactly is happening but if Princess Neoma is missing, then it means the coronation might be cancelled," he said. "But the royal family will be put in an awkward position if the coronation gets cancelled tonight."

    "I don''t care."

    "You should," he told the fox boy. "The coronation is important for both Princess Neoma and Prince Nero. But I understand that saving Her Royal Highness is your top priority."

    The fox boy nodded in agreement.

    "I will show myself inside the hall and stall for as long as I can," Dominic Zavaroni said, then he opened his hand while summoning his Holy Sword. "Lewis Crevan, I will send you to hell¨C to the part where I could feel Princess Neoma''s faint divine power. Please find her at all cost."

    Lewis Crevan nodded, his glowing golden eyes filled with determination. "I will find Princess Neoma."

    <em>Oh, he can speak in aplete sentence again.</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    HANNA knew that she shouldn''t meddle with the royal family affair.

    Sir Glenn and her father were there but they stepped aside when Emperor Niki said that he would deal with Prince Nero. Even her mother stood protectively in front of her. It was a subtle way of telling her to not move an inch.

    And to be honest, she was kind of frozen on her spot.

    She was scared and confused.

    <em>The Devil is Princess Nichole?</em>

    She knew what Princess Nichole looked like because she was studied the family tree of the de Moonasterios, just like any ordinary noble child. But she wasn''t really worried about how the supposedly dead Princess Royale came back to life.

    <em>Prince Nero, please don''t follow Princess Nichole''s order¡­</em>

    She was confused because as far as she knew, it was Neoma who was supposed to be controlled to kill His Majesty. That was why they made several ns to stop her in case the Devil took over her body. But her cousin was missing, and the royal prince came back.

    <em>I can''t let Prince Nero attempt to kill His Majesty.</em>

    Because if that happened, royal prince or not, Prince Nero would be sentenced to death.

    <em>No, I don''t want that to happen!</em>

    So she took a deep breath, then she sped her hands together and finally did the forbidden technique that her mother and father begged her not to use.

    <em>Mother, Father, please forgive this disobedient daughter of yours.</em>

    She closed her eyes, recite the forbidden incantation in her head, and hide her presence while doing so.

    Honestly speaking, it wasn''t really a "forbidden" technique. Her parents only forbade her of using it because her heart couldn''t handle the huge amount of Mana that the spell required. But she was willing to sacrifice her life for Neoma and Prince Nero.

    <em>It''s my duty as a noble to protect the royal twins, too.</em>

    "Freeze," Hanna said after she said the incantation in her mind. Everyone in the room turned to her with a shocked look on their face¨C especially her parents. But her gaze was fixed on her "target." "Prince Nero, dance for me."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 104 - ALMOST FOOL-PROOF PLAN

    <em><strong>[DURING Neoma''s meeting with Lewis and Hanna¡­]</strong></em>

    "So, Saint Macaroni¨C I mean Saint Zavaroni saw a dangerous prophecy," Neoma said while cracking a chocte chip cookie into two. Sir Glenn secretly delivered a basket of delicious chocte chip cookies and three mugs of hot chocte for her, Hanna, and Lewis a while ago. Right now, the three of them were in the tea area of her room. "His Holiness said that he saw me killing His Majesty or something."

    Hanna, who was sitting elegantly on the sofa from across her, stopped drinking her hot chocte midway. "May I implore you to repeat what you just said, Neoma?"

    "His Holiness said that he saw a prophecy where I kill my father during my coronation night," she repeated, slower and clearer this time. Then, she turned to Lewis who stood behind the sofa where she was seated. His face looked nk, but she could see the concern in his eyes. "Here," she said, then she handed the other half of her cookie to her son. "Hanna is a friend so you''re free to eat around her."

    Lewis just nodded, then he bowed to her when he received the half-a-cookie. When he realized that she was waiting for him to eat it, he put the cookie in his mouth.

    "Good boy," she said, then she turned to Hanna again. "His Holiness and I have a feeling that the Devil will show up at the party. They might try to control me and make me kill His Majesty. I have no intention or reason to kill my father, so the only thing that could make me attempt to take his life is through mind or body control."

    "Neoma, this is a very serious matter," Hanna said, then she gracefully put the mug on the saucer. "Have you told His Majesty about that prophecy?"

    She shook her head. "No, I haven''t. The saint and I decided to keep it a secret from my father."

    "But why?" he cousin asked worriedly. "Is the saint even allowed to keep his prophecies from His Majesty?"

    She took a sip of hot chocte before she continued. "If His Majesty finds out about the prophecy, I''m afraid that he might kill me on the spot."

    Hanna looked surprised by her deration.

    She could even feel Lewis getting tense behind her.

    "I don''t want to say this but to be honest, my father only sees me as Nero''s recement," she told Hanna seriously. "Unfortunately, we don''t have the best father-daughter rtionship. Please don''t ask questions. Just trust me on this¨C His Majesty won''t hesitate to kill me if he finds out that I''m a threat to his life."

    She didn''t want to think the worst of her father.

    But she hadn''t forgotten about the fact that the emperor tried to sacrifice her life to extend Nero''s. Because of that, she couldn''t trust her father.

    "I understand, Neoma," Hanna said. "How can I help you?"

    She smiled at how understanding and considerate her cousin was. "First, we have to find a potion, spell, or anything that can help me snap out of mind or body control. I''m thinking of asking Madam Hammock to make a potion for that without letting her know what that is for."

    Her cousin fell silent for a few seconds, then she nodded. "I''ll go and talk to Madam Hammockter," she said. "I''ll tell her that I need that kind of potion for my homework."

    "I''m sorry that you have to lie for my sake, Hanna."

    She smiled and shook her head. "It''s okay, Neoma. I don''t want anything bad to happen to you." For some reason, her cheeks turned red. "Prince Nero will be sad if you get hurt in his absence."

    Oh, so it was for Nero''s sake.

    Well, she didn''t mind. Plus, even though Hanna seemed to have a huge crush on her twin brother, she could feel that her cousin genuinely cared about her.

    "Thank you, Hanna," she said with a grateful smile. Then, she turned to Lewis and patted the space next to her. "Sit here, Lewis. We need to discuss your circumstance seriously."

    Lewis hesitated for a moment but when he saw the seriousness in his eyes, he nodded. Then, he sat beside her and left a decent space between them. He moved quietly, not uttering a single word. For some reason, her son wasn''t fond of talking if there were other people with them.

    <em>Anyway¡­</em>

    "Lewis, the Devil is after your Marble," she said when she faced her son. "They might be nning to control me and kill the emperor just to distract us from their real objective. We can''t dismiss the possibility that they might use the chaos to steal the Marble from you."

    Her son nodded.

    "So, I''m thinking of making a decoy Marble to confuse the enemies," she said. "Lewis, you can make other marbles, right? Like the ones you gave me before."

    Again, her son only nodded as a response.

    "Here''s my n," she began. "Lewis, let me ask you a question first. What''s the difference of the Marble that the devil wants from the ordinary marbles that you give me?"

    "Life force," he said. "Mana."

    She took a deep breath to calm herself. Why did her son revert to speaking that way just because Hanna was there? But since she was Lewis''s mother, she extended her patience for her only child. "Alright, let me decipher that," she said, her brain working overtime once again. "Are you saying the Marble contains your life force while the little marbles you give me are filled with your Mana?"

    He nodded as confirmation.

    She clicked her tongue when realization dawned upon her. "So, the Marble can bring the dead back to life because it has your life force? Are you saying that you''re going to die if the big Marble gets stolen from you?"

    He shrugged, his face clueless.

    Well, she couldn''t me her son. His n was already purged by the time that he was born. Nobody probably taught or raised him as a proper Silver Fox. "We can''t let the enemy get a hold of the big Marble, Lewis. So, here''s the n," she said. "I want you to create a decoy marble that''s as close as to the real one. To make the enemies believe that it''s the real Marble, I want you to fill it with a little bit of your life force and your Mana. But make sure that your life force can overwhelm the aura of your Mana, hmm? Is that possible? Can you do it?"

    Lewis fell silent for a while as if he was thinking really hard.

    "It''s okay if you can''t," she told him gently. "Don''t push yourself too hard, Lewis. My brain cane up with other ns anyway."

    She was overestimating her brain but she had no choice.

    Lewis''s face suddenly seemed determined, then he looked at her as if he was showing her that he could do her request.

    "You can do it?"

    Her son nodded again, more determinedly this time.

    "That''s the spirit," she said, proud of her son.

    "Neoma, may I ask a question regarding that n?" Hanna asked. When she nodded encouragingly, her cousin continued talking. "Where will you hide the real Marble? If you''re going to leave the fake one in Sir Crevan''s body, then you should hide the real Marble elsewhere, right?"

    "Right. I have a solution for that," she agreed. "Tteokbokki,e out."

    A few secondster, Tteokbokki appeared.

    Wow, her Soul Beast was in his Red Dragon form (small version, the size of an average iguana). Was it shy to show up in his unicorn form because Hanna was there?

    <em>Fine, I''ll let you keep your dignity for now.</em>

    "What is it, thug princess?" Tteokbokki, who decided toy on the armrest of the sofa, askedzily. Gosh, where did this ketchup-colored donkey get hisziness from? "You rarely call me out."

    "I have a mission for you, Tteokbokki," she said seriously. "My life depends on it."

    "What is it?" the Soul Beast asked. "Getting that serious doesn''t suit you."

    "Shut it," she scolded him. "Anyway, I want you to swallow Lewis''s Marble. Can you do that?"

    "I can do that," Tteokbokki said casually. "But I heard that a Silver Fox''s Marble tastes really good. Don''t me me if I "identally" eat it."

    "Sure, go ahead," she said, her eyes glowing menacingly. "But remember this, Tteokbokki. If you eat Lewis''s Marble, I will roast you, send your meat to the Royal Chef, and ask him to make a steak out of you. I''ve always wondered what dragon meat tastes like, you know?"

    The Soul Beast fell silent for a while, then he gulped. "W-What should I do after swallowing the Marble?"

    She smiled, satisfied that Tteokbokki wasn''t stupid enough to cross her. "You can travel into different dimensions, can''t you? After all, you''re living in my soul. I heard from Papa Boss that his Soul Beasts can travel from one soul to another."

    "I can do it but it''s not easy," Tteokbokki said. "Where do you want me to go?"

    "To the saint," she said. "If pushes to shove, I want you to bring the Marble to Saint Zavaroni. Tell him to go to the Royal Capital and protect Lewis."

    The disapproval in Lewis''s face was very obvious.

    It''s like he''s saying that he doesn''t need protection.

    "Are you asking me to leave you if things get dangerous?" Tteokbokki asked in a shocked voice. "I can''t do that. I''m your Soul Beast for a reason."

    "That''s why you have to follow my order," she insisted. "If you swallow the Marble and I get kidnapped, the enemies would get both what they want: me and the Marble."

    "Wait, Neoma," Hanna said, confused. "Are you implying that you think the enemies are trying to abduct you?"

    Lewis also looked as concerned as her cousin.

    "Yes. They already tried it once, so I won''t be shocked if they try it again," she confirmed to both Hanna and Lewis. "But don''t worry, I''ll try my best not to get kidnapped."

    "I''ll do my best to protect you, Neoma."

    "Thanks, Hanna," she said, touched by her cousin''s concern. "By the way, I have another favor to you."

    "What is it?"

    "Whatever happens, don''t use your Mana or the shadow technique of your family," she said seriously. That was the reason why Hanna died in the past. She didn''t want to lose her cousin this time. "I heard that using your Mana is bad for your heart."

    Her cousin just smiled and nodded.

    She turned to Lewis who looked very worried about her as well. "Don''t worry, you two. If I get kidnapped, there''s only one thing that I want you to do."

    "What is it?" Hanna asked eagerly. "We''ll do it."

    Lewis nodded firmly in agreement with her cousin.

    "All you have to do is wait for me," Neoma said with a smile, then she looked at both Lewis and Hanna. "I swear on my life that I will return whatever happens."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "AND THAT was my n," Neoma concluded telling the story to Gin. "I don''t know how Lewis''s decoy Marble found its way to my stomach, but I guess I anticipated most of your attacks correctly."

    Of course, being returned to her awful first life was an unexpected attack.

    She almost lost her heart and soul to the repeating nightmares that she had. But thankfully, her mother came and saved her.

    "I also thought that my n was fool-proof," Gin said with a smile. "But an unexpected variable came and ruined everything for me."

    "Sucks to be you."

    The bad ck cat justughed it off. "I don''t have enough power to steal the Marble from you, Princess Neoma."

    "Are you giving up now?" she asked with a raised brow. "You don''t look like you have given up though."

    And for that, she put up her guard even more.

    <em>Tteokbokki, be on standby</em>, she told her Soul Beast. She linked their minds together for them to be able to move in synch. <em>We can''t trust the bad ck cat.</em>

    <em>I know, thug princess</em>, Tteokbokki answered in her mind. <em>I don''t like cats anyway.</em>

    "Well, I don''t have energy left in me anymore because I summoned someone from your nightmare," the cat butler said, then he snapped his fingers. "He''ll fight in my ce and keep you trapped in my territory."

    She groaned asint. "If it''s from my nightmare, then it can only be Nero, Rubin, or my father. Just so you know, even if they have the face of people that I''m close with, I won''t hesitate to crush them¡­"

    Oh.

    She trailed-off when suddenly, the person that Gin summoned finally appeared before her.

    Silver hair, golden eyes, White Lion Knights uniform.

    The young man in front of her was handsome, tall, and lean. But the dangerous aura around him was very different from the boy that she knew. His twenty one year old version sent shivers down her spine.

    "Lewis," she said in disbelief. "Who told you to grow up that fast?"

    Although she knew that the Lewis from her nightmare wasn''t her son, she still couldn''t believe that he grew up this well.

    She was so shocked that the next thing she knew, she was already on her knees.

    Of course, Lewis just gave her a cold re as a response to her behavior.

    <em>But his re is kind of cool, you know?</em>

    "What''s happening to you, Princess Neoma?" the ck cat asked with augh. "Are you that shocked that you have to fight the Lewis Crevan from your nightmare?"

    "How did you find out my biggest weakness, Gin?" sheined while trying to block her view of Lewis with her hands. "How did you know that I''m a sucker for good-looking people?"

    Gin looked confused by her remarks.

    "Shit, why is my son so unnecessarily handsome?" Neoma continued toin, then she covered her nose with her hand in fear of getting a nosebleed from looking at her son''s face. But in reality, she was already preparing for an attack. She just hoped Gin wouldn''t notice. "Gosh, how can I fight without ruining Lewis''s face?"

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 105 - I WANNA BE THE VERY BEST

    HANNA scowled when she felt her heart thump against her chest hard and fast.

    A momentter, she was already coughing blood. But she didn''t stop. She focused her attention on controlling her Shadow Monster that she named Marite.

    Just like its name suggested, the Shadow Monster that she created from her own shadow was shaped like a marite. The shadow Marite was huge and it was holding a control with several strings attached on it¨C and those strings were now attached on Prince Nero''s shadow.

    She was relieved to see that Prince Nero couldn''t move now.

    "Hanna, stop it!" her mother pleaded her in a desperate voice. Her face turned pale when saw her cough blood a while ago. "Your heart cannot handle that amount of Mana!"

    "Let go of the Marite, Hanna," her father begged her as well. "Let the adults deal with His Royal Highness, sweetheart."

    "If you "deal" with Prince Nero, you''re just going to hurt him," Hanna said between deep breaths. The mere act of talking was already exhausting for her. "I won''t let you hurt His Royal Highness."

    His parents looked confused and a little shock that she addressed the royal princess casually.

    "Hanna, what are you doing?" Prince Nero asked, his jaw clenched hard. It seemed like he was trying really hard to regain the control of his own body. After all, his Mana was increasing steadily. But luckily, it wasn''t enough to break the strings of her Marite attached to his shadow yet. "I don''t remember asking for your help."

    "You didn''t ask for my help, Prince Nero," she said. She was used to the royal prince''s aloof attitude that his tone didn''t hurt her anymore. And she had no time to feel upset when all of them were in danger right now. "But Neoma did."

    The royal prince looked surprised what she said.

    But it was her turn to be surprised when they all felt a "shift" in the room.

    The next thing she knew, her parents along with Emperor Niki and Sir Glenn were already at the far end of the room¨C away from her.

    Worst of all, an angry Princess Nichole was now standing in front of her.

    She tried to move away from the Princess Royal but the heavy bloodlust directed at her froze her on her spot.

    "Young Quinzel, don''t get in my way," Princess Nichole threatened her. Then, she raised her hand as if she was going to hit her. "Don''t end up like your stupid uncle."

    "Hanna!" both her mother and father yelled at the same time.

    She could only close her eyes and wait for the inevitable.

    But much to her surprise, she heard gunshots. For a moment, she thought she was the one shot. She only realized that that wasn''t the case when a few seconds passed and she still didn''t feel any pain in her body (aside from her heart).

    "It''s okay, Hanna," said a gentle voice from behind her. Then, she felt a warm hand on her back. "I will control your Mana so it doesn''t end up eating at your life force."

    <em>Madam Hammock?</em>

    She turned to her side and she was relieved when she saw Madam Hammock beside her. The Healing Sage''s warm hand was on her back. She could feel the madam''s healing power stabilizing her Mana.

    Thanks to that, the painful thump against her chest began to subside as the erratic beat of her heart slowly returned to normal.

    "Oh, I missed."

    Hanna turned to thedy standing on her other side.

    <em>Princess Brigitte?</em>

    It was indeed the first princess of Hazelden Kingdom. Right now, Princess Brigitte had a men''s zer suit draped over her shoulders. But aside from the additional piece of clothing in her outfit, there was one particr "essory" the princess possessed that stood out: a handgun.

    Princess Brigitte just didn''t bring a pistol in His Majesty''s presence¨C she even fired a shot even though the emperor is in the same room!

    Princess Brigitte looked unapologetic while wielding a pistol. She held the weapon in her hands with confidence. Then, she pointed the mouth of the gun at Princess Nichole''s direction. "I won''t miss again."

    Hanna turned to face Princess Nichole. She was shocked when she saw the Princess Royal covering her right eye with her hand. It seemed like Princess Brigitte managed to shoot Princess Nichole''s eye a while ago.

    But instead of blood, a strange ck liquid wasing out from Princess Nichole''s eye.

    "sted puny humans," Princess Nichole said in a deeper voice that almost sounded like it came from a man. "You''ll pay for this."

    Hanna felt scared when the Princess Royal''s bloodlust overwhelmed the room.

    But when she saw her mother (and her glowing green eyes) and father (with his glowing golden eyes) behind Princess Nichole, the fear in her heart vanished. She knew that her parents wouldn''t let anything bad happen to her. Now, she could focus on making sure that Prince Nero wouldn''t be able to hurt His Majesty.

    <em>Prince Nero, hang in there</em>, Hanna thought to herself while looking at Prince Nero. The royal prince still couldn''t break the strings of her Marite. His shadow was now practically the puppet of her Shadow Monster. But she noticed that Prince Nero wasn''t trying to get out of her control as much as he did a while ago. <em>Neoma will definitely return for us.</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    WHEN NIKOLAI saw that the Quinzels (along with Madam Hammock and Princess Brigitte) could handle Nichole, he decided to leave his older twin sister to them. "Glenn, step aside," he ordered the knight who was literally standing between him and Nero. "Don''t worry too much. I can handle my own son. Rufus and the rest can deal with Nichole."

    Glenn turned to Rufus''s side quickly before he turned to him again. Then, he nodded. "I''ll stay behind you, Your Majesty."

    He just walked past the knight (who immediately followed him behind). Then, he stood in front of Nero. Thanks to Hanna Quinzel''s shadow maniption technique, his son currently couldn''t move.

    The youngdy''s Shadow Monster had the form of a giant Marite. It was effective to stop Nero (who was still too weak for a de Moonasterio) so he''d say she did a good job. But Hanna Quinzel, as the new heir of the Shadow y Technique (the official name of the technique), was still inferiorpared to her predecessor.

    <em>Commander Gavin Quinzel could create Unholy Beasts using his shadow.</em>

    "It''s time to stop ying now, Nero," Niki told his son. Now that Nichole was upied, the barrier that she created around the royal prince a while ago weakened. He managed to break it this time by simply releasing a huge amount of Mana in the form of an energy ball. As soon as the mirror-like barrier broke into tiny pieces, he proceeded to grab the handle of the Death''s Scythe. "You don''t need this."

    Nero just red at him, then he grabbed the Death''s Scythe tighter. "Neoma is more important to me than you, Your Majesty."

    "I know that," he said. He flinched a little when the Death''s Scythe began attacking him by trying to electrify him. It stung a bit, but not enough to seriously harm him. "I won''t let Neoma die either, Nero."

    He smirked at him bitterly. "Do you think I''d believe you? You already tried to kill my twin sister once!"

    "I won''t try to kill Neoma again," he said seriously. "I can no longer do it."

    "Like I said, how can I believe¨C"

    "Neoma is my daughter," Niki said sincerely. Even he was surprised by the amount of honesty that he heard in his own voice. Well, it couldn''t be helped since this was the first time in a while that he allowed himself to be true to himself. So yes, he was speaking as a father and not as an emperor this time. "The empire may never recognize her as the royal princess. And to be honest, I want to keep it that way. Not because I want to deny your twin sister her birthright, but because I want her to be free from the shackles of being a female royal."

    Nero looked very surprised by his words. His son definitely realized that he was voicing out his real feelings.

    <em>This is a little awkward.</em>

    If he could, he would deny his growing fondness for Neoma. But it didn''t came out of nowhere. The royal princess gradually won him over.

    For that reason, he let his daughter curse at him, treat him the way he treated her, and let her live even after all the offensive things that she did to him. It was true that he once tried to sacrifice Neoma to extend Nero''s life. And he regretted it until now.

    Unfortunately, he was really bad at expressing himself.

    "I can''t promise that I will treat Neoma gently because to be honest, she''s not the fragile type. She''d hate it if you treat her like a ss," Niki told his son. "But I swear on my life that I will never try to kill your twin sister again, Nero."

    When Nero was about to say something, he suddenly went rigid. Then, much to his shock, the royal prince screamed at the top of his lungs as if he was in deep pain.

    "Nero!"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "I SAW this hell dog on my way here," Dominic Zavaroni told Lewis Crevan, then he made the sleeping three-headed dog float in front of the fox boy. "The dog was hidden from human eyes. But I saw it because the Devil''s corrupt power is a bad match to my divine power. Anyway, I made the dog sleep. But I believe that it''s the door that the demon that took away Princess Neoma used to open the gates of hell. I will use that dog to send you to hell, Lewis Crevan. If it wakes up, you may use it to help you locate Princess Neoma."

    Lewis Crevan only nodded as a response to his long instructions, then he carefully put the three-headed dog in his arms.

    "You''re really not much of a talker, are you?" he asked with a smile. Of course, the fox boy just looked at him nkly. Ah, his face wasn''t as nk as before. In fact, he looked impatient. "Alright, I will now open a gate to hell. I also have a job to do after this anyway."

    He didn''te to the Royal Pce alone this time. He just went ahead of hispany when he felt the Devil''s presence. But he could feel that his people were near the pce now.

    When Princess Neoma''s Soul Beast came to the temple a while ago, he knew that the royal princess wasn''t only hoping for his presence. Her Royal Highness probably needed his influence as the saint.

    "Take care, Lewis Crevan," Dominic Zavaroni said, then he raised his hand with his palm facing the fox boy. "Please bring Princess Neoma back safely."

    Lewis Crevan only gave a firm nod as a response.

    <strong>***</strong>

    KYLE SPROUSE was in a pinch.

    He didn''t know what exactly was going on. But he was pretty sure that the emperor and the royal princess were in danger. After all, he felt the presence of the Devil a while ago.

    <em>But the coronation can''t be postponed.</em>

    And so, he did what he could do at the moment: he put the whole Castillo Hall under his Sphere. ''Sphere'' was his family''s technique that could affect the mood of the people "inside" his Sphere. This time, he used it to make the guests feel serene¨C too serene for them to notice the negative presence in the hall.

    It seemed like it was working because the mood of the guests remainedfortable.

    My Sphere won''t work for so long though. Especially on people with high Mana, or higher nobles who have resistance against abilities like mine.

    In short, he had toe up with a usible reason for the ceremony''s dy.

    <em>I should ask for a sry raise after this.</em>

    He was about to lose his mind when all of a sudden, the doors of Castillo Hall burst open.

    <em>My Sphere was broken!</em>

    His technique also served as a barrier so people without his permission couldn''t enter the hall. Supposedly. But his barrier wasn''t only broken¨C he also didn''t feel their presence!

    But when he saw who the "uninvited" guests, he was shocked.

    "His Holiness," Kyle whispered to himself in disbelief. But it wasn''t just Saint Zavaroni''s appearance that made his eyes widen in shock. To be honest, the knights behind the saint were the reason why almost everyone in the hall was as stunned as he was. "The Holy Knights almost never leave the temple so why are they here now?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    WHILE NEOMA was on her knees with her head hanged low, she ced her hands on the dry soil tly. Of course, she was still acting like she was so amazed by "Big Lewis''s" blinding visual. But in reality, she was preparing for a surprise attack.

    "Are you really that shallow, Princess Neoma?" Gin asked with augh. "If I had known earlier that you like good-looking people that much, I would have asked the Devil to turn me into a very handsome human."

    Neoma looked up at Gin with a disgusted look on her face. "I don''t want to offend your kind but I''m not into animals. Sorry."

    The bad ck cat justughed it off.

    <em>Gullible bastard.</em>

    As soon as Gin was distracted, she mmed her hands on the dry soil hard. "Crimson, let''s use fire attack!" she ordered Tteokbokki as if he was a P*kemon. "Go!"

    Tteokbokki roared in her mind as a response.

    Then, her Soul Beast''s red me spread between the cracks of the dry soil as if it wasva. Then, when the me reached Big Lewis and Gin, it grew big until the two were caught in fire.

    <em>`Gotcha!</em>

    She hated her brain for this but while giving a surprise attack, a song from her childhood back in her second life suddenly yed in her head. And she sang along with it!

    <em>I wanna be the very best. Like no one ever was¡­</em>

    She noticed that Gin managed to jump away from the fire. It was inappropriate by the song was still ringing in her head.

    <em>To catch them is the real test. To train them is my cause¡­</em>

    Then, she realized that Big Lewis was suddenly out of sight.

    <em>I will travel across thend. Searching far and wide¡­</em>

    "Hey, thug princess!" Tteokbokki yelled at her in her mind. "Above you!"

    She looked up and was surprised to see Big Lewis who came from above her. And his ws were ready to maul her. To avoid his attack, she rolled quickly away from her previous spot.

    <em>Teach P*kemon to understand. The power that''s inside¡­</em>

    She immediately got up to see Big Lewis crouching silently a few meters away from her. He wasn''t even a little bit burned by her fire attack a while ago. But the fact that he came out unscathed by her me wasn''t the only thing that surprised her.

    To say that she was shocked by her (not) son''s physical changed would be an understatement.

    Big Lewis''s golden eyes glowed menacingly, and he suddenly grew nine white tails! And the battle song in her head still wouldn''t shut the hell up!

    <em>P*kemon! `Gotcha catch them all! It''s you and me¡­</em>

    Judging by her (not) son''s dangerous Mana, she knew that she was in danger. Also, it kind of scared her that Big Lewis wasn''t growling. In fact, he wasn''t making a single sound. But he had the look of a predator. Obviously, she was his prey. To say that she was in a life or death situation wouldn''t be an exaggeration.

    She knew that and yet, the stupid battle song just wouldn''t stop ying in her head!

    <em>I know it''s my destiny. P*kemon! Oh, you''re my best friend. In a world we must defend¡­</em>

    "Crimson, let''s switch to gear mode," she said, then she crossed her arms in front of her chest. Thank goodness the song finally stopped ying in my head!

    Anyway¡­

    Slowly, her skin began to be covered by Tteokbokki''s red hard scales.

    This time, she focused really hard on Big Lewis. God, she knew that her son came from the Silver Fox n. But she couldn''t remember if she found out in her first life that he actually a nine-tailed fox!

    <em>Dayum. Lewis''s Mana as a grown nine-tailed fox isn''t a joke¡­</em>

    Her thoughts trailed-off when all of a sudden, Big Lewis disappeared from his sight. His presence also vanished into thin air.

    <em>Shit. Even in his first life, he''s too quiet!</em>

    "Thug princess!" Tteokbokki cried. "Behind you!"

    She immediately turned around. Then, she raised her crossed arms together when she saw that Big Lewis was about to maul her using his sharp and long nails. When his ws hit her scales, it made a screeching sound as if two metals hit one another.

    <em>Heh!</em>

    She smirked when she saw that one of his nails was broken.

    It was a bad move.

    Big Lewis used her moment of distraction to give a follow-up attack by wing at her face.

    She managed to jump away from him the moment he raised his hand. But she still got caught by his long nails. As a result, she now had several, long scratches on her cheek.

    The cuts were deep and her face bled heavily.

    Her. Beautiful. Face. Was. Mauled.

    By her son!

    "The fuck?" Neoma snarled at Big Lewis who flinched a little when she cursed. "How dare you maul your mother''s beautiful face, you rebellious child?!"

    Big Lewis, much to her shock, tilted his head at one side. "Who''s your son?"

    Was it just her or Big Lewis''s deep, husky voice really sounded hot even though his tone was rude?

    Neoma gasped when she realized something horrible. <em>Did I just think that my son is hot?!</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 106 - MY SON IS A GUMIHO

    DOMINIC ZAVARONI understood the shock in Count Kyle Sprouse''s face.

    Actually, it wasn''t only the count that had that kind of reaction. Almost everyone in the Castillo Hall looked surprised by his appearance (he changed into his clean, and neat uniform before entering the hall). But to be honest, he knew that it wasn''t his appearance that shocked the guests.

    <em>They''re probably more shocked to see some of my Holy Knights.</em>

    The Twelve Holy Knights rarely left the Astello Church after all. And thest time that the Holy Knights stepped foot in the Royal Capital, it was to help Emperor Niki oust the previous emperor. That was why some of the guests also looked nervous.

    He already expected that kind of reaction from the citizens of the empire so instead of bringing the whole squad, he only brought six of them. In fact, he just wanted to bring three of the Holy Knights. But the captain insisted that he brought half of the squad.

    Each Holy Knight wore their full armor that covered them from head to toe, thus they looked more intimidating than normal knights in their military uniforms.

    "Your Holiness," Count Sprouse greeted him when he got over his shock. It looked like he wanted to ask him why he and the Holy Knights were there. But since the count knew that eyes were on them, he acted like he was expecting them. "On behalf of His Majesty and His Royal Highness, I''d like to wee you and the esteemed Holy Knights to Prince Nero''s coronation ceremony." He bowed politely to him. "My utmost gratitude for gracing us with your presence, Your Holiness."

    "I appreciate the warm wee, Count Sprouse," he said, then he also bowed to him as a sign of respect. While doing so, he whispered to the count and made sure that only the two of them could hear his words. "I will hide the Devil presence with my divine power. His Majesty won''t probably use his Soul Beasts to avoid getting noticed by the crowd. I will stall for as long as you can, so please check on His Majesty and tell him to hurry up."

    After all, he wasn''t supposed to be there even if it was the royal prince''s coronation ceremony. Overstaying his wee would affect His Majesty''s power over the nobles. Especially since the previous emperor had sort of severed the royal family''s tie with the temple.

    Count Sprouse, who knew very well that importance of time in that situation, nodded before he raised his head. "I''ll leave it to you, Your Holiness."

    Then, the count once again faced the guests to introduce him and the Holy Knights as part of the protocol. Then, he excused himself and let him have the floor.

    "Good evening, esteemed people of the Moonasterion Empire," Dominic Zavaroni greeted the crowd with a smile. He also made sure to infuse his voice with his divine power to make the guests focus their attention on him. Of course, not everyone was a believer so he wasn''t expecting to charm the whole crowd. He just needed the majority to be engrossed with his speech to buy time for His Majesty. "I am Dominic Zavaroni, the saint that our Lord Yule chose to lead the Astello Temple."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "MICHYEOSSEO?" Neoma asked herself while gently pping her good cheek (because the other cheek was bleeding from Big Lewis''s attack). Anyway, she just asked herself in Korean/Hangul if she was crazy. "Gosh, I must have gone crazy if I think my son is hot."

    "Stupid thug princess!" Tteokbokki yelled at her in her mind. "This is why I told you we should prioritize covering your head with my scales instead of your arms!"

    Since both Tteokbokki and her weren''t used to using "gear mode" yet, they could only cover a small part of her skin with his scales for now. Her Soul Beast insisted that she should cover her chest area and head for protection.

    But she insisted on covering her arms instead of her head.

    "I don''t want to cover my face with your scales," she insisted in a stubborn voice. "S*ilor Moon doesn''t cover her face when fighting."

    Well, that was just her talking shit because Gin was listening. She didn''t want the bad ck guy to discover another weakness of her.

    After all, the area that Tteokbokki''s scales covered felt like it was burning. Yes, his scales weren''t just hard¨C each one was also scalding hot. Every time the scales disappeared, it never failed to leave burnt marks on her skin. The only thing that could make the marks disappear was the ointment from Madam Hammock.

    <em>But Gin doesn''t need to know that.</em>

    "Thug princess, your vanity will be your downfall someday."

    "Everyone is going to die anyway, and I want to die in a pretty and grand manner. Suck it up," she said, then she prepared herself for Big Lewis''s attack. Well, she didn''t know what he''d do because her (not) son was just crouching really low while keeping an eye on her. "Gosh, I can''t read his mind."

    She was still shocked that Lewis turned out to be a nine-tailed fox.

    The first thing that entered her mind was N*ruto. But she remembered that kitsune (a Japanese nine-tailed fox) wasn''t the only kind of fox. She learned in her previous life that the Korean counterpart of a kitsune was called a kumiho/gumiho. Now it made sense why Lewis had a Fox Marble that could apparently bring the dead back to life.

    Come to think of it, I''ve seen a Kdrama in the past called ''My Girlfriend is a Gumiho.'' The gumiho in that series isn''t really dangerous. And to be honest, even if Lewis''s power is intimidating, I have to say that his nine white fox tails look very cute and fluffy.

    "Hey, Lewis," she called him carefully. "Why are you fighting me?"

    Lewis''s didn''t react.

    But since she knew her son well even though this Lewis only came from the memories of her first life, she still noticed the spark of confusion in his eyes.

    Of course, she took advantage of that.

    "Lewis, do you know me?" she asked him, still in a careful tone. Lewis''s posture was on an attack mode so she didn''t want to take chances. "Even if you don''t know my name, I believe you can recognize my face."

    "Prince''s¡­" Lewis said in his deep, husky voice that was starting to sound like music to her ears. "Twin."

    She actually didn''t expect Lewis to respond verbally because he obviously hated talking.

    <em>But I should take advantage of this and use my version of talk-no-jutsu on him.</em>

    "Yes, I''m Nero''s twin sister. My name is Neoma," she said. "Did the crown prince asked you to kill me?"

    Lewis suddenly looked confused.

    <em>Ohh¡­ it''s working.</em>

    "I know that Nero wants to kill me. But did your master ask you to kill his twin sister?" she asked him. "I know my brother well enough to know that he hates it if his people do stuff that he didn''t ask for. You''re his closest aide so you should know that as well."

    Again, her (not) son didn''t respond but she noticed that his tense posture had rxed a little. His crouching wasn''t as low as it was a while ago.

    "Truth be told, you''re being controlled by that cat," she said, then she pointed at Gin who was seated on a dead tree''s branch. "If you don''t believe me, then ask yourself: why did you attack me as soon as you were summoned here? Even if Nero hates me, I don''t think you''re the type of person who will do things behind his master''s back. Or perhaps¡­" She smirked when she realized that her talk-no-jutsu was working. "Are you an easily-controlled pushover?"

    "If I listen to you, that would also make me a pushover."

    "Good point. As expected of my son," she said proudly, then she pointed at her face. "But Lewis, let me ask you. Would you rather fight me because of a bad ck cat that''s treating you like a puppet? Or listen to me who has almost the same face as your master?"

    He tilted his head at one side as if he was thinking.

    "You should help me get rid of the ck cat first," she said, still trying to convince his son to take her side. "Then, let''s fight again if you still feel like doing it." She gave him her notorious "business smile." "Deal?"

    Lewis stood straight and nodded. "Deal."

    She smiled brightly at her.

    <em>So, talk-no-jutsu really works!</em>

    "You''re seriously cunning, Princess Neoma."

    She was about to say something savage when she noticed that Lewis stood in front of her as if he was protecting her from Gin.

    <em>Oh?</em>

    "I can''t believe that you easily persuaded Sir Crevan to join your side," Gin, who now stood in front of them, said in a disappointed voice. Then, he turned to Lewis. "You have no use for me now, Sir Crevan. I''ll send you back to your world." He snapped his fingers. "Goodbye."

    A few secondster and Lewis suddenly began to turn translucent.

    <em>Ah, he''s disappearing¡­</em>

    Lewis turned to her. At first, he looked shocked that his body was slowly disappearing. And it seemed like he knew that he couldn''t do anything about it. But he easily calmed down and faced her with determination. "Princess, you''re interesting," he said, his voice still deep and husky. But this time, his tone was gentle and not rude. "I''ll find you again."

    "Then, don''t let Nero kill me," she said with a soft, sadugh even though it was already toote to say that. "Goodbye, Lewis."

    She didn''t know if it was just her illusion or Lewis really smiled faintly before he vanished.

    <em>It''s rare for my son to smile.</em>

    She didn''t have the time to rx because all of a sudden, Gin came at her while baring his fangs and ws.

    "Gosh," she said while preparing for a fire punch. Aside from summoning Tteokbokki''s me in her fist, she also concentrated hard enough to cover her hand with his dragon scales. It fucking hurt but she endured. "I''m really going to turn your meat into a steam bun filling, you bad ck cat!"

    Ginughed like a lunatic that he was. "Like I said, I don''t have the energy to fight you, Princess Neoma. But sending you back to that nightmare again is easy!"

    She remembered that when Gin touched her a while ago, she was sent to that "nightmare."

    Feeling that she shouldn''t let him touch her again, she jumped away from him instead ofing at him. Shit, she suddenly realized that she was weak at defense.

    I should learn how to make some barrier once I return to the Royal Pce.

    "Crimson, make a ring of fire," she told her Soul Beast. "Don''t let Gin touch even a strand of my hair."

    "You ask too much of me, thug princess," Tteokbokkiined.

    And yet, as soon as her feetnded on the dry soil, she was suddenly surrounded by a ring of red me.

    Gin clicked his tongue, then he jumped away from her fire.

    Both of them froze though when the ground shook hard once again.

    <em>What is it this time?</em>

    Her thoughts were cut-off when she heard a dog''s loud bark.

    Although she was curious, she didn''t take her eyes off Gin. Even if the ck cat imed that he didn''t have the power to fight, she didn''t believe him.

    "Princess Neoma."

    She blinked in surprise when Lewis, her real son, appeared before her. But before she could even see his face, he already got down on one knee with his head hanged low.

    "Forgive me for failing to protect you," Lewis said in a voice filled with anguish. "I''m sorry, Princess Neoma."

    "Uhm, Lewis?" she called his attention while being a little hesitant. "I understand how you can recognize me right away even if I''m in my adult form. But won''t you ask why I look like this?"

    "It doesn''t matter to me whatever form you have, Princess Neoma. Even if you turn into a frog, I will still recognize and ept you," he said without missing a beat. "For me, you''ll always be my princess."

    She was about to say that she didn''t want to be a frog. But when she saw Gin behind her son, she gasped. "Lewis, behind you!"

    Lewis didn''t move from his spot.

    But his two white (and fluffy) fox tails moved to give Gin a hard bitch p. It was enough to send the ck cat flying until he hit a dead tree.

    <em>Daebak!</em>

    "Lewis, you grew two tails while I was gone. Congrattions," she said, impressed. The Big Lewis that she met a while ago had nine tails already. But her son only had two. Ah, his remaining tails would probably show up once he got stronger. "Raise your head. I''m not mad."

    Her son raised his head. He looked regretful, but he instantly turned serious. "Princess Neoma, you have to go."

    "I''m trying to get out of here, Lewis," she said. "But I think I can only escape once I beat the hell out of Gin."

    "I''ll deal with the stinky cat," he said, then he stood up. Much to her shock, he offered his hand to her. "May I?"

    Without thinking, she reached out her hand to him.

    "You need to return to the Royal Pce immediately," Lewis said seriously while putting something akin to a stone in her hand. "Princess Neoma, Prince Nero is trying to kill His Majesty right now."

    Neoma''s eyes widened in shock. "What the fuck?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    NERO heard it when the strings that Hanna''s Marite attached to his shadow snap the same time his father jumped away from him. After all, a dark ball of energy attacked His Majesty.

    It was followed by Duke Rufus and Duchess Amber Quinzel''s cry while calling Hanna''s name. Even without looking at the Quinzels'' direction, he could tell that something bad happened to his cousin. After all, when her Marite disappeared, her Mana also vanished.

    <em>Hanna¡­</em>

    He didn''t have the luxury to worry about Hanna though. After all, he couldn''t even control his body again. This time, it was because of his aunt.

    "You''re the one who has to do it, my dear nephew," Princess Nichole, who somehow gotten away from the Quinzels, said behind him. Like she did a while ago, she put her hands on his shoulders. "Only someone who has the Roseheart blood could kill a de Moonasterio. Neoma can do it as well. But you don''t want to sully your sister''s hands with your father''s blood, do you?"

    He didn''t respond to that.

    To be precise, he couldn''t.

    The next thing he knew, he was already running towards Emperor Niki with the Death''s Scythe in his hand. He was surprised when it changed its form. Its curved de suddenly became a spear head.

    Emperor Niki raised his hand to create a barrier between them.

    "Don''t stop, Prince Nero," Princess Nichole said. "Niki''s barrier is weak¨C I''ll break it for you."

    He didn''t need that kind of encouragement because in the first ce, he couldn''t even control his body. So even if he was hesitating now, he couldn''t stop himself from throwing the spear at His Majesty.

    Like what Princess Nichole said, the barrier really broke when the de of the spear hit it. He thought the spear would hit Emperor Niki''s chest¡­

    ¡­ until Neoma suddenly appeared in front of their father.

    The spear that he threw pierced through his twin sister''s chest. If Neoma wasn''t floating in the air, her little body wouldn''t have gotten hit by the spear. But she came out of nowhere, floating like that.

    Nero''s eyes widened in shock and disbelief when what happened finally registered to him. "Neoma¡­"

    Neoma, as if there wasn''t a spear pierced through her chest, smiled warmly at him as blood trickled down the side of her mouth. Then, she slowly began to fall on the ground. "Long time no see, Nero."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 107 - AND THE MOON BLEEDS

    <em><strong>[A while ago¡­]</strong></em>

    "DOMINIC, have you grown taller?" Mochi greeted the saint cheerfully while floating in front of him. To be precise, her wind was carrying her to meet Dominic Zavaroni''s eye level. She wasn''t surprised to find him there because she was already aware of Princess Neoma''s n. "You look so different now, huh? I almost didn''t recognize you."

    On the other hand, Dominic looked surprised to see her.

    And she understood why.

    Well, she knew that the saint wasn''t surprised by her "bunny" appearance. He was probably wondering why she had a ck eye patch covering her left eye.

    <em>Scratch that. Dominic doesn''t know that I was already freed from House Exton.</em>

    Thus, the surprised look on his face.

    Anyway, a while ago, she felt Dominic''s divine presence in the rooftop of the Castillo Hall. But he moved along with the fox boy. When she followed the traces of their Mana, she found the two in the man-made forest near nco Pce¨C the royal princess''s official residence.

    They probably stayed away from the Castillo Hall to hide the presence of the three-headed hell dog from the guests.

    "Miss Gale," Dominic greeted her by her real name. Ah, right. This boy hadn''t heard of the new name yet. "Wee back."

    "Thank you. I appreciate that you didn''t ask how or why I''m here," she said, then she looked at the fox boy who didn''t even look at her.

    <em>Lewis Crevan, isn''t it?</em>

    The fox boy was looking up at the floating three-headed hell dog in front of him. Behind the "cursed" dog, a silhouette of a huge gate was starting to get a solid form. The more the gate turned clearer, the more the hell dog turned translucent in return.

    Humans thought that the hell dog was the guardian of the Hell Gate. It was sort of true. But what most people didn''t know was the three-headed dog itself was the gate.

    "I have many questions for you, Miss Gale," Dominic admitted. "But this isn''t the right time for that. We have to save Princess Neoma first."

    "I know that," she said, then she turned to Lewis Crevan. "Young fox."

    Lewis Crevan ignored her.

    "Lewis Crevan, Princess Neoma''s gant knight."

    Only then did the fox boy turned to her.

    But he still looked disinterested. The way his two white fox tails were lowered also told her that he was anxious.

    <em>It''s good to know that he can hear me.</em>

    Princess Neoma couldn''t hear her voice yet. But since Lewis Crevan came from the Silver Fox n, it''s only natural for him to hear a Spirit like me.

    "I already met Princess Neoma a while ago," she said, surprising both Dominic and the fox boy. "I helped her snap out of the trap that the demon ck cat set her up with."

    "Then, why didn''t you bring the royal princess back with you?" Dominic asked her, confused. "Even in that form, I''m certain that breaking a demon territory is easy for you, Miss Gale."

    "I have two reasons," she said. "First, I wanted to check first if the outside world is safe for the royal princess or not. And second, I want Princess Neoma to have her revenge. She''s Mona''s daughter. I''m sure she''s as quarrelsome as her mother."

    "Did you make the right decision?" the saint asked him, obviously disappointed by the fact that she left Princess Neoma in hell instead of bringing her back with her.

    "I believe so," she said. "The Castillo Hall is a mess now, Dominic. The Devil is manipting Prince Nero to kill His Majesty."

    Dominic''s eyes widened in shock. "No¡­ that means Prince Nero is the Second Star and not the First Star?"

    "That doesn''t matter anymore, does it?" she told the saint even though she really didn''t quite get what he was worried about. Then, she turned to the fox boy who was looking up at her with a nk look on his face. "Lewis Crevan, tell me. Are you willing to sacrifice your life for Princess Neoma?"

    The fox boy nodded without hesitation.

    "The only way for the royal princess to get out of the demon''s territory is to beat the demon who owns it. In this case, it''s the ck cat," she exined. "While I trust that Princess Neoma is capable of beating the ck cat, I''m afraid that it might take too much of her time. She needs toe back here as soon as possible." When she didn''t get a reaction from the young fox, she continued speaking. "Give me your hand, Lewis Crevan. I will give you an item that will bring Princess Neoma back."

    Lewis Crevan extended his hand to her without questions.

    It was a little gross but she had to spit out a pink orb on the young fox''s hand. Thankfully, the boy didn''tin. The nk look on his face didn''t even change.

    "That crystal is my eye," she told the young fox who didn''t react, as expected. Even Dominic didn''t look surprise because he was already aware of that technique of hers. "Tell Princess Neoma to simply attach the crystal on her left eye. Once she does that, I will use a teleportation spell to bring her back to where I am. She could also see what I see with my other eye. In that way, it will be easier for her to understand what''s going on."

    Since Princess Neoma couldn''t hear her voice yet, it would be better for her to see what was going on in the Royal Pce instead.

    "But Lewis Crevan, due to my sealed power, I can only use my teleportation spell on the royal princess," she warned him. "To get out of the demon''s territory, you have to beat the demon ck cat. Is that okay with you?"

    Lewis Crevan closed his fingers around the pink crystal, then he nodded firmly.

    "May thedy luck smile on you, young fox," she sincerely said, then she turned to Dominic. "Return to the Castillo Hall after you send Lewis Crevan to the Hell Gate, Dominic. We need your divine power to hide the Devil''s presence. And¡­"

    She trailed-off because she hesitated. When she took a peek inside the hall a while ago, she saw that the Devil was the supposedly dead Princess Nichole. If Dominic finds out about the Princess Royal, he might lose himself again.

    I''m sorry, Dominic, she thought to herself. You can''t find out the Princess Nichole has somehow turned into the Devil. Not yet, at least.

    "What is it?" the saint asked. "Why are you looking at me¡­"

    He didn''t get to finish his sentence because the Hell Gate was finallypleted.

    The three-headed hell dog disappeared in a burst of ck lights. Then, the Hell Gate ¨C big, dark, with ominous carvings on the leaf¨C finally appeared. The doorknob was, not surprisingly, the three heads of the hell dog.

    "Lewis Crevan, it''s time for you to go," Dominic told the young fox. "Be careful."

    Lewis Crevan only nodded as a response.

    "I need to go as well," Gale said, her body already turning translucent as she used her teleportation spell to return to the Castillo Hall. When Dominic turned to her, she smiled faintly at him. "Hang in there, Dominic."

    <strong>***</strong>

    <em>NO</em>, Nichole thought to herself when she felt the hesitation in Nero''s heart. <em>My nephew is hesitating to kill Niki now.</em>

    Hanna Quinzel''s use of the Shadow y Technique was already good for her age.

    <em>Gavin, look at your niece</em>, she thought to herself. <em>She inherited your family''s technique. And she has the potential to be as great as you.</em>

    The Marite that Hanna Quinzel summoned was strong enough to use Nero''s shadow as its own puppet. She could clearly see that her nephew was struggling to get out of its control. This wasn''t in any way invalidating Hanna Quinzel''s skill¨C she was good, really¨C but she had to say that if Nero really wanted to do, he would have snapped out of the Marite''s control.

    But the royal prince was hesitating now.

    Her thoughts were cut-off when the annoying princess from the neighboring country tried to shoot her again.

    She growled and created a barrier to protect herself from the bullets. That was the only thing she could for the meantime because she couldn''t move. From the corner of her eye, she could see Rufus Quinzel controlling his shadow to seal her movements.

    <em>And it''s working.</em>

    Well, Rufus was Gavin''s brother.

    The duke wasn''t the only one annoying. His wife, Amber Quinzel, was also messing with her "demon power" by trying to "erase" it. Amber had the power to nullify one''s Mana as long as she could contain it in her territory. And in that situation, the duchess was using the whole royal parlor as her domain.

    <em>Their family''s power is really annoying.</em>

    Even the Hazelden Princess was getting on her nerves by firing her special and seemingly endless bullets again and again. Her consistent attacks were starting to crack her barrier.

    To be honest, the Hazelden Princess wasn''t using ordinary bullets. Each one was infused with Mana. If an average Mana-user was hit by it, they would die on the spot. It was also enough to heavily injure an above average Mana-user like a member of the White Lion Knights.

    <em>A Favor, huh?</em> she mused to herself, referring to the special pistol that the Hazelden Princess was wielding. <em>Their kingdom hase a long way thanks to the Lender stones they produce.</em>

    But her major concern was Hanna Quinzel''s Marite.

    At first, the youngdy was having difficulties controlling the Shadow Monster that was too much for her little heart. But when Madam Hammock assisted her, the youngdy''s Mana control became stable.

    <em>I''m sorry, Hanna Quinzel</em>, she thought to herself while summoning her Soul Beast. <em>You''re the biggest threat here.</em>

    Nichole raised her hand, her palm facing Hanna Quinzel. "Lady Raven," she summoned her ck Phoenix. Her Soul Beast liked being addressed as ady thus, the name. "Burn the youngdy to ashes."

    Raven, her ck Phoenix, came out of her chest howling.

    Due to Amber Quinzel''s domain control, her Soul Beast couldn''t get into her normal size. Raven was reduced to a size of an average eagle. But the amount of ck me that she breathed at Hanna Quinzel was enough to burn the child''s whole body¨C making the poor youngdy scream in anguish.

    Amber and Rufus Quinzel yelled at the same time. "Hanna!"

    Even Madam Hammock and the Hazelden Princess were affected by the ck me.

    "Keep an eye on them, Lady Raven," Nichole ordered her ck Phoenix, then she turned her back on them to go to Nero. "It''s time we end this, my dear nephew."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "WHAT the fuck?" Neoma asked in disbelief after Lewis told her that Nero was trying to kill Emperor Niki. She had so many questions but she knew that her son couldn''t answer them all. Plus, she didn''t have time for that. "Lewis, can I leave you here?"

    Lewis nodded firmly.

    "Promise me that you won''t die," she told him. "I want you to return to my side as fast as you can."

    He nodded again. "I promise."

    "I hate people who can''t keep promises, okay?"

    Once again, he nodded as a response.

    "Good boy. I''ll wait for you," she said, then she turned to the pretty pink crystal in her hand. "What do I do with this, Lewis? What''s this anyway?"

    "Mochi''s left eye."

    She almost choked on her saliva at what she heard. "Huh?"

    "Mochi said that it''s a teleportation device," her son exined. "She said you just have to attach it to your eye."

    "Are you really talking about my Mochi?" she asked in disbelief. "She can talk?"

    He nodded. "You just can''t hear her," he said, then he paused for a while. "The saint calls her ''Miss Gale'' and not Mochi."

    That only meant that her white bunny wasn''t an ordinary pet. Well, she already knew that Mochi was a Wind Spirit¨C

    <em>Wait, a Spirit?</em>

    She suddenly realized that her mother could apparently summon Spirits. If the saint was acquainted with Mochi, then it could possibly mean that Mochi was rted to her mother.

    <em>Gosh, I can be so dumb sometimes.</em>

    It seemed like it was time for her to seriously study how to use her power as a Roseheart.

    She was distracted when from the corner of her eye, she saw Gin got up already. Knowing how sly the ck cat was, she knew that he would attack them right away.

    "Lewis, beat the shit out of Gin," she told her son, then she kind of pped the pink crystal on her left eye. Much to her shock, the crystal was absorbed by her face. But it didn''t hurt. It just felt itchy so she blinked several times. After a few moments, the itch disappeared and she could see just fine. But her body began to turn translucent. Ah, the teleportation spell took effect right away, huh? "Make your mother proud, Lewis."

    Lewis let out a deep sigh. "I''m not your son, Princess Neoma."

    Neomaughed and waved at him. "I''ll wait for you, Lewis."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA was surprised when she found herself flying above the Royal Pce. The gentle breeze around her seemed to be carrying her. Based on the direction that they were going, she could tell that they were headed to the Castillo Hall.

    <em>Oh, I''m flying.</em>

    She didn''t miss the chance to copy S*perman''s most famous flying pose. Yeah, she even raised her right fist and all.

    Too bad she already returned to her appearance as a child.

    <em>I could have been S*pergirl if I retained my adult form. But since I''m back to my eight year old body, I guess I should call myself ''Superbabygirl.''</em>

    "What are you doing, Princess Neoma?"

    Neoma flinched when she heard a soft voice of a woman in her head. "Omo, that surprised me."

    "Can you hear me now?"

    Her brows furrowed in confusion, then she gasped. "Are you Mochi?"

    "Yes, I am," Mochi said in an excited tone. "I''m so d that you can finally hear me, Princess Neoma!"

    "Me, too," she said. "I have a lot of questions for you but for now, I want to know what the situation is. Can you tell me what''s happening?"

    "I can show it to you, Your Royal Highness."

    A few momentster, the vision of her left eye turned blurry. But it onlysted for a while. Although when her vision returned, what she saw in her left eye was different from what she was seeing with her right eye.

    <em>It''s like my left eye became a CCTV.</em>

    The scene that she saw in her left eye was very shocking to her.

    In that scene, Nero was holding the Death''s Scythe and was running towards Emperor Niki. She was pretty sure that her father had a barrier around them. Still, she felt uneasy.

    "Mochi, move me faster," she said in an impatient tone when she saw the Death''s Scythe had transformed into a spear. She could easily tell what Nero''s next move would be. "Bring me in front of His Majesty now!"

    Mochi cursed under her breath, then she heard the bunny perform an incantation that she didn''t understand.

    She closed her eyes when she felt the wind around her turn violent.

    And then, all of a sudden, there was a sharp pain in her chest.

    When she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was the face that resembled hers. Then, the spear that was pierced through her chest. Ah, she made it. She was d that she was able to stop Nero from attempting to kill His Majesty.

    Nero, on the other hand, looked like his world had crumbled in front of his eyes while looking at her. "Neoma¡­"

    She smiled at her twin brother despite the pain in her chest, and the blood trickling down the side of her mouth. Plus, it seemed like the curse that was transferred to her was reactivated because all of a sudden, she felt like the insides of her body were being burnt once again. "Long time no see, Nero," she said as her body began to fall down.

    To be honest, she already expected that she''d fall and get hurt even more.

    But much to her shock, she fell in the arms of the person she least expected to move and save her¨C and it was none other than Emperor Niki.

    "Neoma," Emperor Niki said, then he pulled out the spear and carefullyid her down on the floor. Then, he put his hand on her bleeding chest. It felt warm, and so was the Mana that was entering her body. Ah, he must be using his power to close the wound in her chest. "Hang in there, Neoma."

    She slowly nodded, the pain all over her body getting worse by the minute. "Okay, Papa Boss¡­"

    "Neoma!" Nero said after he got over his shock. Or would it be more correct to say that he finally snapped out of whatever was controlling him? Anyway, his brother got down on his knees and held her hand. "I''m sorry," he said under his breath. "I really am."

    She smiled to assure Nero that she was alright but much to her shock, she felt her body move as if she was snatched away.

    Then, much to her shock, she found herself on the other side of the room away from Nero and their father.

    Princess Nichole was now attending to her wound.

    "You''re as crazy as your mother!" Princess Nichole scolded her. Was it just her imagination or was she really worried about her? "I told you that I''m going to make you an empress, so you can''t go dying on me!"

    She smirked and was about to curse at her aunt when all of a sudden, Princess Nichole''s head was detached from her body. The next thing she knew, her head rolled down the ground while Emperor Niki stood behind her now headless body.

    Yes, her Papa Boss just decapitated Princess Nichole right in front of her.

    There was a thin barrier around her that prevented her from getting blood on her. Her Papa Boss probably did that for her sake.

    When she looked up at her father, chills went down her spine when she saw the anger on her father''s face. He even looked more intimidating because of his glowing red eyes and the blood on his cheek. Of course, the de that her Papa Boss used to behead his own twin sister was bloody as well.

    <em>Shit, he''s really angry.</em>

    "I told you before that you can have your revenge on me," Emperor Niki said while looking down at Princess Nichole''s head. The look on the Princess Royal''s face was a mix of fear and disbelief. "But hurting my children is unforgivable."

    Tears silently flowed down Princess Nichole''s eyes.

    The pain on her aunt''s face squeezed her heart painfully. Yes, Princess Nichole did bad things to them. But she wasn''t a fan of overkilling.

    And maybe it was because she could see her old self in her aunt''s pitiful state.

    <em>Dying by the hands of your own twin brother hurts.</em>

    When Neoma saw Emperor Niki took a step closer to her aunt''s decapitated head, she grabbed him by the ankle. When her Papa Boss looked down at her, his face softened up a bit. It almost seemed like seeing her face brought him back to his senses. "Papa Boss, you''re scaring me."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 108 - THE BROKEN SHIELD

    <strong></strong>NIKOLAI saw red.

    First, Neoma was pierced through the chest with a spear.

    Second, his daughter was taken away by Nichole when he hadn''t finished treating her wound yet.

    And third, as soon as his supposedly dead twin sister touched his daughter, Nero copsed. It looked like his son was in pain. He had the same look on his face the first time that his curse was activated.

    "Your Majesty," Glenn, who still stood behind him, said in a cold tone that he rarely used. He could also feel the knight''s rampaging Mana. "Permission to attack the former Princess Royal."

    "Stay here and guard Nero," Niki told his knight, then he walked towards his son. "Nero, did your curse return¨C"

    "Go," Nero said while ring at him. His light gray eyes had turned glowing red. But it wasn''t because of anger. His eyes turned that way because of pain. "Don''t mind me. Save Neoma first!"

    He nodded at his son''s request.

    Knowing that Nero was guarded by Glenn, he moved to save Neoma from Nichole.

    To be honest, he didn''t want to use his full Mana. He could feel Kyle''s technique all over the hall. The count was using his Sphere to hide the fight happening in the royal parlor. But if he unsealed his power, Kyle''s Sphere wouldn''t be enough to hide his use of power. That meant the guests would be aware of the fight.

    <em>But to hell with that.</em>

    Instead of summoning his Soul Beasts, he just drew his sword. But it wasn''t just any weapon. Since it was the coronation ceremony for the crown prince, he was obligated to bring Calypso¨C the sword passed down to every emperor in the history of the royal family.

    He poured his Mana on the de of his sword. The emperor''s Mana was the only thing that could "awaken" Calypso. When it glowed beautifully, he knew that it had just be the strongest de in the whole continent.

    <em>That means my sword can sh anything and anyone smoothly.</em>

    And thus, he was able to decapitate Nichole with only one sh.

    The blood from his twin sister''s body spurted right away. He barely had time to create a thin barrier to protect Neoma from getting blood on her.

    "I told you before that you can have your revenge on me," Niki snarled at his twin sister''s decapitated head. "But hurting my children is unforgivable."

    Nichole, much to his shock, cried silently.

    Of course, a part of him felt bad for his poor twin sister. He knew that he was one of the reasons why she ended up that way. But still, it was hard for him to forgive her after she hurt both Nero and Neoma¨C his children¡­

    <em>¡­ and Mona''s precious gift.</em>

    Blinded by range, he was about topletely end Nichole. But it wasn''t only to punish her. To be honest, he wanted his twin sister to rest in peace. She had died a long ago, and she didn''t belong in this world anymore.

    The storm in his head suddenly disappeared when he felt a firm grip around his ankle. When he looked down and saw his daughter, he instantly calmed down.

    "Papa Boss, you''re scaring me," Neoma said, but there wasn''t an ounce of fear in her eyes. She might have only said that to distract him from killing Nichole. "And what happened to Nero? Is my twin brother alright?"

    <em>Ah, these two, really.</em>

    Nero asked him to save Neoma first, and now Neoma was asking if her twin brother was alright even if her own chest was still bleeding.

    He rxed a little because he wanted to make sure first that his daughter was fine.

    Moreover, after Calypso hit Nichole a while ago, he knew that his poor twin sister didn''t have the energy to fight anymore. He wasn''t being toocent though.

    "Nero is fine," he assured her, then he cleaned the de of his sword with his Mana. When the blood disappeared, he put Calypso back in the sheath. As soon as he did that, the whole sheath around his waist vanished. Calypso would only appear when summoned. Most of all, it wasn''t for everyone to see. "You should really worry more about yourself, Neoma."

    Neoma, as weird as she was, just raised her little hand to give him what she often called as "thumbs up." "I''m Neoma, I''m okay."

    "You''re not," he deadpanned, then he got down on one knee and pressed his hand on her bleeding chest once again. Much to his surprise, he realized that the wound had already closed. The blood that he saw on his daughter''s clothes was only stain. <em>Did Nichole heal her?</em>

    He also realized that as soon as Nichole touched Neoma a while ago, Nero copsed and withered on the floor.

    That was when his son''s curse returned to his body.

    "Did you do this, Nichole?" he asked, then he turned to the decapitated head of his twin sister. "Did you heal Neoma and return Nero''s curse?"

    He heard his daughter let out a soft gasp.

    Nichole, despite getting beheaded, was still alive.

    In fact, the part where her neck was cut was now engulfed with a ck me. A few more moments and the former Princess Royal''s head and body began to get re-attached once again. Then, his older twin sister stood up as if nothing happened.

    Of course, he already expected that. Thus, he didn''t bother to stop her from fixing her body.

    <em>It would only be futile because Nichole is now an undead.</em>

    "I heard that the Devil was once a Necromancer," he said to his twin sister. "Is that how you returned from the dead?"

    "I am not obligated to answer that, Your Majesty," Nichole snarled at him. "You won for now. But I will return," she threatened him. "And the next time we see each other, I will take Neoma away from you."

    "I won''t let that happen, Nichole," Niki said firmly. He didn''t want to admit this but he felt a painful thump against his chest as he exchanged cold, cruel words with Nichole. After all, there was a time that he and his poor twin sister vowed that they would be the shield and the sword of the empire. "I will protect both Nero and Neoma from you¨C you who have now be the enemy of the royal family."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NICHOLE smiled bitterly after Niki dered her as the enemy of the royal family. Right then, she felt a lump in her throat. She already cried earlier when Niki beheaded so she held it in this time. She didn''t to be vulnerable in front of him again.

    But because of her twin brother''s words, a fleeting moment in her old memories flooded her mind¡­

    <em>"You''re really good at creating barriers, Nichole," Niki once told her when they were children. "I''m not good at defense so I''m quite envious of your ability."</em>

    <em>"You don''t have to be good at creating barriers because it''s my job to protect you and the whole family," the young Nichole told her twin brother then. "Niki, I will be the empire''s unbreakable shield. In that way, you as the future emperor, would be invincible."</em>

    <em>"Then, I''ll be the sword of the empire because I''m good at offense," Niki said. "Nichole, let''s be the sword and shield of our home."</em>

    Then, he smiled at her.

    Her twin brother rarely smiled, and to be the receiving end of that smile was a huge honor. It brought her genuine happiness, too. Even after the terrible things that happened between the two of them, she still cherished that particr memory.

    "That''s right," Nichole said while nodding sadly, her whole body was slowly getting covered with ck me. "I am now an enemy."

    And also a coward who needed to run away now.

    Niki used Calypso when he beheaded her a while ago. His sword wasn''t only good for cutting. In fact, the de of Calypso drank her blood and Mana when it hit her. To simply say, she didn''t have the energy to fight anymore.

    Of course, her twin brother knew that. It was the only reason why he wasn''t being aggressive anymore.

    "Niki, let me ask you a question before I go," she said. "Why didn''t you think of transferring Nero''s curse to Neoma instead? We were taught how to do that when we were kids."

    "Nero would have killed himself if I did that," Niki said bluntly. "Unlike us, Nero and Neoma''s sibling bond is strong." He paused, then, he looked at her with somewhat sad eyes. "And I hope they don''t end up like us, Nichole."

    She could only smile sadly as a response.

    "Nichole?"

    She froze when she heard the familiar voice of the only person who would call her using such a gentle tone. When she turned to the owner of the voice, she was greeted by Dominic Zavaroni.

    And the poor saint had a devastated look on his face.

    <em>Ah, he didn''t know what I have be until now</em>.

    "No," Dominic whispered to himself as he walked towards her in a fast pace. Then, tears began to fall down his cheeks. Ah, despite being a saint, he was still the crybaby that she knew, huh? "Nichole, please tell me this is just a bad dream."

    Nichole smiled sadly at him. "Goodbye, my pitiful Dominic," she whispered as her body slowly vanished. "May our paths never cross again."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 109 - GET YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME

    AFTER DOMINIC Zavaroni excused himself to his audience, he immediately went to the royal parlor where he felt a strange burst of holy power.

    <em>I''m certain that His Majesty just unsealed Calypso.</em>

    And if the emperor used his sword, it only meant that the situation in there was now out of control. He didn''t want to leave Count Kyle Sprouse alone to deal with the now anxious crowd. It seemed like the majority hadn''t noticed the fight yet. But he was pretty sure that some of the higher nobles already had an idea on what was going on.

    <em>I''m sorry, Count Sprouse</em>, he thought to himself. <em>But please deal with the guests again.</em>

    To make it up to Count Kyle Sprouse, he left his Holy Knights in his care. So in case the enemies decided to attack the guests, the temple''s Holy Knights would protect them. That was the least that he could do for the poor count.

    <em>I hope His Majesty raises your sry, Count Sprouse.</em>

    When he reached the royal parlor, he was surprised to see Miss Gale attached on the double door. He could tell that the Wind Spirit was doing her best to contain the Mana leaking out of the room. Miss Gale was doing that to make sure that the guests wouldn''t notice the fight going on there, but he could also see that it was taking a toll on her energy.

    The Wind Spirit looked very exhausted now. She was absorbing both His Majesty''s divine power and the Devil''s corrupted energy after all.

    "Go away," Miss Gale told him in a weak voice. "You shouldn''t be here, Dominic."

    "I will help you absorb the leaking Mana, Miss Gale," Dominic said in a firm voice. "And I can help His Majesty fight the Devil, too."

    "No," the Wind Spirit said. "You can''t be there."

    "I''m sorry but I can''t listen to you right now, Miss Gale," he said. "I have a duty as the saint to protect the royal family."

    "I thought that duty of yours ended when the former Princess Nichole died?"

    "It changed when Princess Neoma was born."

    For some reason, Miss Gale smiled sadly at him. "Don''t say I didn''t warn you, Dominic."

    To be honest, that statement made him nervous.

    But he still went ahead and entered the royal parlor. As soon as he stepped foot inside, he immediately realized why Miss Gale tried to stop him from entering the room a while ago.

    <em>Nichole¡­?</em>

    He was confused.

    The woman standing in front of Emperor Niki had the Mana and aura of the Devil. But she had the face that he wouldn''t mistake for someone else.

    His thoughts were only cut-off when he heard the door behind him close.

    "No," he said in a cracked voice. Before he knew it, he was already walking fast towards the Princess Royal. He hated to admit this but he already had an idea on what happened to her. The real Devil was a known Necromancer in the past. It wouldn''t be impossible for a being like that to bring a dead back to life. The only thing he couldn''t understand was how the Devil was able to steal Princess Nichole''s body. After all, he was the one who buried her in the royal family''s Shrine. "Nichole, please tell me this is just a bad dream."

    The Princess Royal turned to him with a surprised look on her face.

    He was d that she instantly recognized him. Well, he didn''t change that much. But sometimes, when a Necromancer brings a dead back to life, that person would lose their memories when they were still alive.

    Maybe it didn''t apply to Princess Nichole because of her royal blood.

    "Goodbye, my pitiful Dominic," Nichole said with a sad smile on her face. Then, her body began to vanish fast. "May our paths never cross again."

    Those words hurt like hell.

    But that only made him rush to her. He tried to hug Princess Nichole and stop her from leaving. But he just went past her now translucent body. His knees buckled from the shock of losing the Princess Royal again, making him fall on the ground with his hands nted tly on the floor, and his head hanged low.

    He didn''t have to turn around to know that Princess Nichole was already gone. After all, her Mana had alreadypletely disappeared.

    <em>I lost her again¡­</em>

    He felt anger rise in his chest the same time his divine power began to get out of control. At this rate, he wouldn''t be surprised if he "identally" blow up the whole Castillo Hall¨C

    His thoughts were cut-off when he heard a loud pping sound¡­

    ¡­ followed by the painful sting on his cheeks.

    "Saint Zavaroni," Princess Neoma, who now had his face between her small hands, said while looking straight in his eye. "Get your head in the game."

    He blinked several times. "Princess Neoma, did you just¡­ p me?"

    "Does it hurt?"

    He nodded. "Yes, it does," he admitted. Then, he realized that because of the royal princess''s p, he calmed down. The storm in his head disappeared, and so was the rage in his chest. "Thank you, Princess Neoma."

    The royal princess gave him her famous arrogant smirk, then she pulled her hands away from his face. "Have youe to your senses, Your Holiness?"

    "Yes," he said while nodding.

    "Listen, Your Holiness," she said in a quite impatient tone. "I don''t know what exactly is the deal between you and my aunt. I just know that you''re hurting real bad right now. But still, I need to ask for your help. I''m sorry but can you set aside your personal feelings for the meantime and fulfill your duty as the saint?" She gestured around the room. "Hanna and Nero need medical assistance."

    He felt ashamed of himself.

    It was true that he was devastated right now. But if Princess Neoma who was just only eight years old could get up and put her "mind in the game" despite everything that happened to her tonight, so could he.

    "Thank you, Princess Neoma," Dominic said, then he stood up and offered her hand to her. "Shall we work now?"

    Princess Neoma smiled and nodded as she stood up with his help. "Wee back, Your Holiness."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "HANNA¡­" Neoma said, worried about her cousin''s condition. Hanna was lying on the floor while her whole body was engulfed in a glowing golden lighting from Madam Hammock''s palms. "Please be okay¡­"

    Hanna''s skin was red from being literally roasted by the ck me, ording to what Madam Hammock said to her a while ago.

    Apparently, her crazy aunt tried to burn Hanna alive.

    Thankfully, Madam Hammock managed to create ast-minute barrier around her cousin. It didn''tpletely protect her because the ck me was said to be a really strong type of fire. But fortunately, the Healing Sage''s barrier was enough to minimize the damage.

    "Don''t worry, Princess Neoma," Madam Hammock, who was healing her cousin, assured her. "Lady Quinzel will be alright. Once we get to my infirmary, I will use the ointment on her to burn her burnt marks. But I have to heal her internal injury first. Her heart in particr was damaged when she used her Mana a while ago."

    She bit her lower lip. So, Hanna still ended up using her Mana¡­

    "Thank you, Madam Hammock," Duchess Amber Quinzel, who was kneeling beside Hanna while holding her daughter''s hand, said sincerely. "Thank you for healing our Hanna even though you''re injured as well."

    That was true.

    Madam Hammock was also caught in the fire, and so was Princess Brigitte. The first princess was unconscious on the floor. Sir Glenn was the one attending to her. The knight gently and carefully draped his jacket over Princess Brigitte''s body.

    She was a little surprised to know that Sir Glenn had the ability to heal wounds. But apparently, he could only heal physical wounds. It made sense, actually.

    <em>Sir Glenn is the Vicemander of the White Lion Knights. He''s also the closest person to Papa Boss. It makes sense if he''s required to know some stuff about healing for emergency purposes. I think House Exton, Sir Glenn''s family, is kind of involved in the medicine field.</em>

    "Princess Neoma, are you sure that you feel better now?" Duke Rufus Quinzel, who was beside the duchess while holding his wife''s shoulders, asked her worriedly. "Your chest wound¡­"

    "Oh, the wound is closed now," she said. It was true that the wound had closed and it also stopped bleeding now. But it still hurt. In fact, her whole body felt like she was run over by a truck. But she didn''t have the time to rest. "Thank you for worrying about me, Your Grace."

    Duchess Amber Quinzel turned to her with a worried look on her face. "Princess Neoma, I''m grateful that you let Hanna get treated first. But is it really okay to do so?"

    The royal protocol dictated that she, as the royal princess, should have gotten medical assistance first. Especially since Madam Hammock was the Royal Healing Sage.

    But Hanna''s conditioned seemed worse than hers.

    Plus, her cousin sacrificed her life to protect Nero. The least thing she could do for Hanna was to make sure that she''d be saved.

    "It''s okay, Duchess Quinzel," Neoma assured the duchess with a smile. "Hanna is very precious to me so I won''t let anything bad happen to her."

    Duke and Duchess Quinzel both looked touched by her warm words.

    <strong>***</strong>

    NIKOLAI couldn''t help but keep an eye on Neoma who couldn''t stay put in one ce.

    After checking on Hanna Quinzel, she was now checking on Princess Brigitte of Hazelden Kingdom. Even though the first princess was already being taken care of Glenn, his daughter still wanted to personally check the first princess''s condition.

    "Your Majesty, I was able to make Prince Nero''s body numb from pain," Saint Dominic Zavaroni reported to him. He had his hand lightly pressed against the royal prince''s chest. The saint put Nero to sleep so he wouldn''t feel the pain that was killing him inside. "But like what I always say before, this is only temporary. Once Prince Nero wakes up, he''ll feel the pain caused by the curse again."

    "If the Devil managed to take Nero away from the talking demon book, then it must mean that Trevor is dead," Niki said. Although they now knew that the Devil was Nichole, he still didn''t want to talk about it. Especially not in front of Saint Zavaroni. "We must find a new way to treat Nero''s curse."

    "Trevor is still alive."

    He turned to see Neoma standing behind him.

    His busybody daughter finally returned to his side.

    "Stop moving like a worm," he scolded the royal princess. "Why don''t you just stay put and let the saint treat you next? Nero''s condition is stable for now."

    "I''m too anxious to stay put in one ce," she said, then she squatted down in front of Nero. She held her twin brother''s hand and let out a sigh of relief. "Nero''s hand is warm. I''m relieved."

    He was also relieved to see that both his children survived the danger of that night.

    "Why do you think that the demon called Trevor is still alive, Your Royal Highness?" Saint Zavaroni asked. "Did you meet him when you were taken in hell?"

    Right, his daughter was yet to tell him what happened to her a while ago.

    "I didn''t see Trevor there," his daughter said, then she turned to the saint. "I just feel that he''s still alive. After all, if he dies, he''ll regret not being able to see me again."

    He rolled his eyes at his daughter''s ridiculous conclusion. "Neoma."

    "I know, Papa Boss," Neoma said when she turned to him. "I need to attend the coronation ceremony, right?"

    Neoma was really too smart for her own good.

    <em>She seems to know everything.</em>

    The saint looked surprised by his daughter''s deration. "But you''re not in condition to push through the ceremony, Princess Neoma."

    The royal princess turned to the saint. "I''m Neoma, I''m okay," she said, confusing Saint Zavaroni even more. "Plus, if the ceremony gets cancelled tonight, the greedy old farts¨C I mean, old noblemen from the Noble Faction would make a big deal out of this. They will just have more reason to oppose the royal family. I have to protect Nero''s position as the crown prince so I can''t let that happen." She turned to him again. "Right, Papa Boss?"

    "That''s not the only reason why I want the ceremony to push through," he said seriously. It was the thing that he was trying to exin to Nero a while ago. But he would admit that he wasn''t good at expressing himself, and so he only made his son angry. "During the coronation ceremony, I will hand you over the vial called Yule''s Tears. I haven''t done it but apparently, if you take one sip from the vial, the corrupted energy in your body will be purified."

    He didn''t want to use that method but it seemed like it was theirst resort.

    Saint Zavaroni''s divine power was working on Nero, and Trevor seemed to be out ofmission now. They had to try the limited options they had.

    "Ah, that''s right," Saint Zavaroni agreed with him. "The reason why our temple usually refuses to send the High Priest or the saint to the coronation ceremony of a crown prince is because of that vial. It seemed like the first head of the temple was upset that the royal family took a hold of the Yule'' Tears instead of us."

    That was why the appearance of the saint tonight might have shocked the guests.

    "Gosh, Papa Boss," his daughterined. "Why didn''t you suggest that when Nero was cursed a few years ago?"

    "Because I don''t want to risk my son''s life even more by making him drink a liquid that has been stored in the Royal Treasury Room for god knows how long," Niki deadpanned. Moreover, it wasn''t easy to convince the people around him to ept Nero as the crown prince because of his Roseheart blood. It took him three years to convince them. "Why do you think I didn''t take a sip of that vial when I was a crown prince?"

    "Point taken," Neoma said while nodding her head. "I wouldn''t also do that. But desperate times call for desperate measures." She turned to her twin brother with a sympathetic look on her face. "I''m sorry, Nero," she said in a sad voice. "I hope you don''t get constipation from it."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "WHY ARE you so mad at me, Lewis Crevan?" Gin asked the fox boy with augh. To be honest, he was just stalling because he didn''t want to fight him. Moreover, he needed to go now that the Devil had already retreated. He couldn''t do that while Lewis Crevan was breathing at his neck. "Princess Neoma is already safe, isn''t she?"

    "Princess Neoma''s face," Lewis Crevan said in a low growl. "Mauled."

    He blinked several times while deciphering the boy''s broken speech. Then, he nodded. "I didn''t maul Princess Neoma''s face," he denied. "It was you, Lewis Crevan."

    The fox boy looked confused.

    "I summoned the adult version of you from Princess Neoma''s first life," he exined. He didn''t care whether the young Lewis Crevan understood it or not. After all, he didn''t know if Princess Neoma told other people about his first life. "I made that version of you fight the royal princess. And the old version of you mauled her face mercilessly."

    The shocked look on Lewis Crevan''s face made him realize that he knew about Princess Neoma''s first life.

    He was about to taunt the young fox even more when suddenly, he felt a strong negative force that made his skin crawl. When he looked above him, he saw the person he didn''t want to see at that moment. "Trevor," he said in disbelief. "How did you get here?"

    "Because I''m Trevor," Trevor snarled arrogantly at him, both of his ears were bleeding heavily. His purple eyes were glowing menacingly, and his bloodlust was directed at him. "I''m going to fuck you up so good so you better not die easily on me, Gin."

    Ginughed but to be honest, he was quite nervous. Both of Trevor''s ears were bleeding because his many piercings were roughly pulled out. And his piercings served as his seal. The fact that Trevor unsealed his great demonic power only meant that he was serious about killing him. "If I grovel, will you spare my life, my old master?"

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 110 - THROW THE DICE

    "I''LL cut the ceremony short," Emperor Niki told her. "As soon as you receive the Three Sacred Symbols, I will end the ceremony so you may leave and get a proper treatment."

    Neoma blinked in surprise at what her Papa Boss said.

    <em>Is he being considerate?</em>

    Anyway, right now, they were still in the royal parlor.

    The Quinzels already left with Madam Hammock to bring Hanna to the Healing Sage''s infirmary. Ah, Duke Rufus Quinzel carried the unconscious Princess Brigitte in his arms. After all, the first princess of Hazelden Kingdom also needed a proper treatment.

    On the other hand, Nero was secretly brought to the shrine in Yule Pce¨C her Papa Boss''s residence¨C by Sir Glenn and Saint Zavaroni.

    So yeah, right now, only she and Emperor Niki were left in the parlor room.

    But they were only waiting for Alphen and Stephanie. Sir Glenn secretly summoned the head butler and head maid. Then, the knight asked them to bring new set of clothes for her.

    "I appreciate that, Papa Boss," Neoma said after her brain "buffered" for a moment. Gosh, her system seemed to have slowed down for a bit due to exhaustion. But she still had something to be thankful for. When she saw her reflection in the mirror a while ago, she saw that the w marks on her cheek disappeared. For some reason, the injury that she received from Big Lewis disappeared when she returned to her eight-year-old body. "After the ceremony ends and Lewis hasn''t returned yet, I will look for him back in hell."

    "What are you saying?" her Papa Boss asked in a disapproving tone. "You''re not going back to hell."

    "Watch me then," she said stubbornly. "Lewis sacrificed his life to fetch me from that hell hole. I won''t abandon my son, Papa Boss. I''m not like you."

    <em>Oops.</em>

    She didn''t mean to shade her father but she didn''t like that he was "forbidding" her from saving Lewis.

    "I''ll go with you," her father said that shocked her. "You''re noting back to hell alone."

    "Papa Boss, are you for real?" she asked in disbelief. "Count Sprouse will lose his shi¨C I mean, his mind if he hears you."

    "I won''t repeat myself, Neoma."

    To be honest, she was confused. But she didn''t have the energy to argue with her father. She wanted to conserve as much energy as needed to save her sonter. But to be honest, she knew in her heart that Lewis woulde back to her no matter what.

    <em>But I also need to find Trevor. If the Devil managed to take Nero away from him, that only means they had a fight. He''s still our biggest hope when ites to curing Nero''s curse so he can''t die on us.</em>

    "I trust Lewis so I know that he''ll return to me alive," she said. "But I''m more worried about Trevor."

    "The demon boy failed in protecting Nero," her Papa Boss said. "We don''t need him anymore."

    "We do, Papa Boss," she insisted. "We''re not sure if the Yule''s Tears or something will work on Nero. We can''t be toocent. Thus, we still need Trevor."

    "You keep on worrying about other people when you yourself aren''t fine," her father said while shaking his head. "You won''t even tell me what happened to you."

    "Oh. Are you interested?"

    "Of course," he deadpanned. "I need to know what happened to my child."

    <em>Woah.</em>

    She wanted to say that it was cringey of Papa Boss to say that. But to be honest, she didn''t feel that way. Or was it because she was too tired to care?

    "I was taken to Gin''s territory. Oh, Gin is a bad demon ck cat," she exined. "In his territory, he made me sleep and gave me an endless nightmare."

    "What kind of nightmare?"

    "I can''t remember it anymore," she lied. The only thing she couldn''t remember was Tteokbokki''s "real name." But she didn''t want her father to know about the first life that she had. Still, tantly lying like that when her Papa Boss seemed to care a tiny bit about her made her feel bad. And so, she told him something true in a vague manner. "But I think my mother woke me up from that nightmare."

    Her Papa Boss looked surprised by that.

    "She has pinkish hair and eyes that resemble the blue sky," she added. "Plus, she''s very pretty like me."

    She wasn''t sure if it was only her imagination or her Papa Boss''s eyes really turned glossy.

    For a moment, she thought the emperor would cry.

    "Did she talk to you?" her Papa Boss asked softly, then he squatted down in front of her to meet her eye level.

    Her father looked too hopeful for her to lie and say that she couldn''t remember. So with clenched hands, she told him some of the things that her mother told her. "Mama said she liked you for your face and body."

    To be honest, she expected the emperor to be upset and say that it was inappropriate to say those things to a child.

    But much to her shock, her Papa Boss''s face softened up.

    And then, a miracle happened: he smiled.

    Emperor Niki de Moonasterio smiled sincerely. Well, it wasn''t a full smile. The corner of his lips turned upwards for a moment. And it was the closest thing to a genuine smile that she had seen from her father.

    <em>Mama can still make Papa Boss smile like that, huh?</em>

    "That sounds like something that Mona would say," her Papa Boss said in a gentle tone. "What else did she say to you?"

    "Mama told me to take care of you and Nero," she said, and it took her all that she got not to spill the tea about the other serious stuff that her mother told her to remember. "Then, when she told me to wake up, I did."

    "Mona saved you," he whispered, his voice filled with relief. "Your mother saved you from that nightmare, Neoma."

    "I''m grateful to Mama," she said while nodding. "That''s why I don''t intend to die young, Papa Boss. I will cherish my life even more because my mother protected it. So even if I say that I n to save Lewis, it doesn''t mean I''m nning to die. I''m a child but I''m not weak."

    Emperor Niki looked at her as if he was trying to decipher her. In the end, he nodded firmly. "I understand," he said. "But I will still go with you. Nero will kill me if I let you go alone. You know that, don''t you?"

    Neoma let out a deep sigh. "Fine," she said, conceding. "But don''t be a dead weight, Papa Boss."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NIKOLAI stepped out of the royal parlor to let Stephanie, the head maid change Neoma''s clothes. Alphen was also there a while ago. But he asked the head butler to secretly deliver a message to Kyle.

    He decided to return to the hall to "entertain" the guests while Neoma wasn''t done changing yet. But before that, he had something else to do first.

    "Come out, Gale," Niki said. He could feel the Wind Spirit''s Mana nearby. "I know you''re there."

    A few secondster, the Wind Spirit in the form of a white bunny appeared floating before him. As expected, Gale looked exhausted. He could feel the remnants of her Mana all over the hallway. She must have absorbed the leaking Mana from the fight a while ago so that the guests wouldn''t know what was going on.

    "Is Princess Neoma alright?" Gale asked. "I saw her get pierced by a spear a while ago."

    "The Devil healed her," Niki said, then he got straight the point. "Did Mona leave a piece of her soul to you?"

    He noticed that Gale only appeared when Neoma returned.

    That meant the Wind Spirit must have been with his daughter in hell. If Neoma was woken up by Mona from the nightmare that she mentioned, then it must be the work of Gale.

    "This is the first time that you asked me something about my former master. Are you ready to talk about Mona now?" Gale asked in a sarcastic tone. When he didn''tment, she continued speaking. "It''s true. Mona left a piece of her soul to me."

    "Did you use it to save Neoma from the nightmare that she mentioned?" he asked. "She said her mother woke her up and saved her."

    "I wasn''t able to enter Princess Neoma''s nightmare," the Wind Spirit said. "All I could do was to use Mona''s piece of soul to wake her up. But I don''t know how it went. You know that a piece of soul, when out of their vault, could onlyst for a few minutes, don''t you?"

    "I know that," he said. "I just wanted to confirm if Neoma really talked to Mona''s soul or not. And I''m d that the mother that she saw was real."

    "What does it matter to you, Niki?" Gale asked him in a taunting voice. "You wanted Mona dead, didn''t you?"

    "It''s none of your business," Niki said, then he turned his back on Gale. "My utmost gratitude to you for saving my daughter, Gale of the Wind Tribe."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "LOOK WHO we have here," Trevor, uponnding on the dry soil of Gin''s territory, said as he stood in front of Lewis Crevan. He had to literally look down at the child because now that he was in his adult form, he towered over the fox boy. "If it isn''t my son."

    Lewis Crevan looked at him coldly. "I''m not your son."

    "You are," he said yfully. "You''re Neoma''s son and since I''m her fianc¨¦, that makes you my son, Lewis. I''m a cool guy so I''ll adopt you once Neoma and I get married."

    The fox boy ignored him as if he was telling him that he wasn''t worth his time.

    Heughed at Lewis Crevan''s snotty attitude. "I see that your two cute tails. Congrattions on awakening your power as a nine-tailed fox, my son. The more you get stronger, the more fox tails you''d grow."

    "I''m not your son," the fox boy insisted again. "And get out of my sight. I still need to kill the ck cat."

    "He''s already dead though?"

    Lewis Crevan looked shocked by his remark.

    "Oh. Is my attack too fast for you to see?" he asked, then he stepped aside to show Gin''s remains to the fox boy. "Look," he said, then he pointed at what was left of the ck cat. "That''s Gin."

    He chopped Gin''s body off into many pieces.

    But his technique had a unique way of transforming a chopped limb into a ck dice. But you could see the image of the cut body part stered on each side of the dice. So right now, hundreds of dice are scattered on the ground. Of course, each cube disyed a different body part.

    The biggest dice had Gin''s head, of course.

    "How¡­?" his (adoptive) son asked in disbelief when he turned to him. "I didn''t see you attack him."

    <em>Ah, right.</em>

    "You don''t see the monster behind me, do you?" he asked the fox boy. "That means you''re still too weak to see it."

    His (adoptive) son looked offended by that remark.

    "Hey, don''t be offended," he said, not wanting to upset his fianc¨¦e''s son. "Once you grow stronger, you''ll get to see the monster behind me. And it''s not like you''re missing out on something great. Trust me, it''s ugly."

    "Like you."

    "Hey, I''m not ugly," he said defensively, then he smirked. "Don''t you know that Neoma is obsessed with my face?" He gestured to himself. "Especially in this form."

    Lewis Crevan just silently turned his back on him.

    "Hey, help me first," he said, then he grabbed his son by the cor of his knights'' uniform. "Help me put my piercings before my monster goes on a rampage. And I can''t leave hell if I don''t seal my demonic power back." When Lewis Crevan still tried to walk away from him, he gently pulled him back to his side. "Don''t treat your father this way, Lewis Crevan."

    Lewis Crevan turned to him to give him a cold look. "You''re not my father."

    "Not yet," Trevor corrected him with a smirk. "Now, help me so that I can meet your beautiful mother again."

    "No."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 111 - THE CROWNING CEREMONY

    "YOUR ROYAL Highness, are you really okay?"

    Neoma smiled at Stephanie''s concern. The head maid was shocked when she saw the scar in her chest when she was changing her clothes a while ago. "I''m fine, Stephanie," she assured the head maid with a smile. It was true. Even though she was hurt several times in just a span of a few hours, she was still alive and kicking. But she was starting to get sleepy. "Once Madam Hammock puts the magical ointment on my scar, it will disappear."

    <em>Well, hopefully.</em>

    The ointment really worked like magic. But since the wound that she received came from the Death''s Scythe-turned-spear, she wasn''t sure if the ointment would be enough to make the nasty scar on her chest disappear.

    <em>I''m cool with it though. Battle scars are awesome. Even L*ffy has a scar on his chest.</em>

    "I don''t know what happened but I can tell that you''ve been through a lot, Your Royal Highness," Stephanie said in a voice filled with sympathy. "As soon as the ceremony is over, I will tuck you in bed."

    She smiled and hugged the head maid. "Thank you, Stephanie."

    After Stephanie checked her prince outfit one more time, she was finally satisfied.

    Neoma looked like a prince pulled out from a fairy tale book from head to toe. Although she changed her red prince outfit into a white and gold one, she still looked immactely "handsome." It didn''t look like she almost died twice just a few hours ago.

    <em>Anyway¡­</em>

    Since Lewis hadn''t returned yet, it was Sir Glenn who fetched her from the parlor room. Then, they discreetly went to the waiting room¨C the one where she and her Papa Boss stayed before they entered the Castillo Hall a while ago.

    "How are they, Sir Glenn?" Neoma asked when they arrived at the waiting room. They were free to talk that way because the two of them were in that chamber. "Is Nero still asleep? How about Hanna and Princess Brigitte?"

    "Prince Nero is still asleep and His Holiness made sure that His Royal Highness will have a deep slumber," Sir Glenn reported while standing properly in front of him. "Lady Hanna Quinzel and Princess Brigitte are both awake now. ording to Madam Hammock, bothdies are also out of immediate danger."

    "Thank goodness," she said, then she let out a sigh of relief. "Now we only have to worry about Nero."

    "We''re also worried about you, Princess Neoma," the knight said seriously. "That''s why all of us who knew the truth want to end the crowning ceremony as early as possible."

    She just smiled at Sir Glenn gratefully.

    Although she wanted to assure the knight that she was really fine, she didn''t have the chance to do so because the "announcer" already summoned them. Then, just like when she entered the hall with Papa Boss a while ago, her arrival was once again announced to the public.

    She went down the same grand staircase of the hall the second time that night.

    But this time, her Papa Boss wasn''t with her. Sir Glenn walked five feet behind her. That meant she was practically alone this time as she descended the staircase. Like a while ago, she felt the curious gaze on her of almost everyone in the room. Even if the hall was silent, she could "hear" the judgment in their guests'' silence.

    <em>It can''t be helped because ording to Sir Glenn when I asked, the crowning ceremony was dyed for two hours.</em>

    That kind of amazed her, to be honest.

    She spent so many "lifetimes" when she was trapped in the endless nightmare that Gin created for her. But in the real world, only a few hours went by.

    Her thoughts were cut-off when she saw six Holy Knights waiting for her at the end of the staircase. She had been informed that Saint Zavaroni brought his knights to escort her, but she was still surprised to see them in person.

    Well, she couldn''t see their face because every Holy Knight wore their full silver armor. But their presence was definitely different from ordinary knights.

    <em>Gosh, they''re making me feel special.</em>

    When she finally descended the grand staircase, the Holy Knights bowed to her. She bowed lightly as a response.

    The guests looked utterly surprised by that exchange. After all, everyone knew about the on-going conflict between the royal family and the Astello Church. If she remembered it right, the conflict began during her crazy grandfather''s reign.

    Although her Papa Boss somehow mended the royal family''s tension with the Astello Church, there was still no clear amendment between the two.

    <em>But it seems like it ends tonight.</em>

    "People of the Great Moonasterion Empire," Emperor Niki said formally when she joined him on the "stage" where their thrones were next to each other. Anyway, her Papa Boss gestured to her with his hand while acknowledging their audience. "I present to you His Royal Highness Prince Nero, the First Star, and the crown prince of our homnd."

    Everyone in the hall respectfully bowed and curtsied respectfully in front of her.

    "You may now raise your head," Neoma said in a formal yet gentle tone. When everyone did as she said, she smiled at them. Her Papa Boss told her not to appear too friendly. But to hell with that. She wasn''t a "tyrant" like him. "May the Moon''s serenity, mercy, and blessings be upon you."

    That official greetings of her also officially began the crowning ceremony.

    After that, Count Sprouse and Sir Glenn brought the purple Royal Robe to Emperor Niki.

    Then, her Papa Boss draped the Royal Robe over her shoulders.

    The emperor gave a little more speech before he called Saint Zavaroni that, much to her shock, brought the Three Sacred Crown Jewels in a golden tray (while being escorted by his Holy Knights). It was the collection of royal ceremonial objects that included the regalia and vestments worn by a royal during their coronation.

    For her, the crown prince (the ce that originally belonged to Nero), she was about to receive the following: Aster (the Prince Crown), Pris (the Star Scepter), and the vial called ''Yule''s Tears.''

    Those three were the symbols of her position as the crown prince.

    Nero, let me borrow them for the meantime. I will return your rightful ce to you someday. But for now, let me protect it in your stead.

    When Saint Zavaroni joined them on the stage, her Papa Boss guided her to her own throne. The saint handed the golden tray to Sir Glenn. Then, His Holiness said a few words before he began to hand her the Three Sacred Crown Jewels.

    First, the saint handed her Pris (the Star Scepter made of gold), then, the vial that apparently had the real tears of Yule (the Moon God that the empire worshipped). And finally, Emperor Niki carefully put the crown called Aster on her head.

    <em>This isn''t what we practiced during the rehearsal. The saint wasn''t supposed to be the one to officiate the crowning ceremony. It should have been the head priest of the Steora Church¨C the biggest church in the Royal Capital.</em>

    "Your Royal Highness, on behalf of Astello Temple, allow me to give you a present for being officially hailed as the empire''s crown prince," Saint Zavaroni said, then he pulled out velvet box from the inside pocket of his mantle. When he opened the box, a shining and vivid blue diamond ring surprised her. "This ring is called Lynx¨C and our temple believes that this ring was personally worn by Lord Yule when he temporarily descended the earth as a human."

    She knew that a blue diamond was precious because even in the modern world where she came from, it was one of the most valuable (and rare) gemstones ever.

    But the shocked look on her Papa Boss told her that Lynx Ring was precious not just because of its prize. Even most of the guests looked like they couldn''t believe that His Holiness gave her the blue diamond as a present.

    <em>Well, whatever. It belongs to Nero anyway. I''m just a caretaker of my twin brother''s possessions.</em>

    "My utmost gratitude for the precious gift that you entrusted to me, Your Holiness," Neoma said politely, then she lightly bowed to the saint. "I will cherish it until myst breath."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "PAPA BOSS," Neoma said in a sleepy voice while following her father in the hallway of Yule Pce¨C the emperor''s official residence. "I''m not picking a fight with you but may I go now? I''m really starting to get worried about Lewis." She paused, then she blinked several times. "And Trevor."

    Emperor Niki stopped walking, then he turned around to face her. "I didn''t tell you this because you were in the middle of taking the oath when Kyle gave me a report earlier. ording to him, Lewis Crevan sent a message through Saint Zavaroni. The foxy boy informed us that he''ll return with the demon book. He asked the saint for assistance because they didn''t want to forcefully break the Royal Pce''s barrier and cause amotion."

    She blinked several times because her brain "buffered" again due to exhaustion. Then, she let out a sigh of relief. Of course, she was curious how Lewis ended up finding Trevor. But her brain was too tired to go along with her curiosity. The important thing was her son and the stupid demon book were both safe now. "One hour, Papa Boss," she said, then she covered her mouth with her hands when she yawned. "Let me sleep in my pce for one hour. Then, I''ll go and talk to Lewis and Trevor."

    "You can do that tomorrow," he said. "Use my room for tonight."

    "Huh?"

    "You were abducted by the Devil again. We can''t be toocent that they wouldn''t try to do that again," her father said casually. Ah, she also noticed that he seemed to refuse to acknowledge that Princess Nichole was the Devil. "The safest ce for you to rest for now is my bedroom. Since Lewis may not be in the condition to protect you and Glenn is guarding Nero and His Holiness, I''m the only person avable to keep an eye on you all night."

    "Are you going to make me sleep on the floor or the sofa, Papa Boss?"

    "Is that how low am I in your eyes?"

    She nodded, too tired to sugar coat her words. "I''m sorry if you were offended, Papa Boss. But you have to acknowledge that you haven''t been the best father to me for the past eight years. So please excuse my rudeness every time I doubt your kind words and actions."

    He fell silent for a few seconds before he nodded slowly. "Your concern is valid," he said. "I''m being sincere this time. You may use my bed. Don''t worry because I don''t have any n to sleep tonight."

    "Okay," she agreed since she was too tired to argue anyway. And since her Papa Boss was being too kind to her tonight, she decided to test her luck one more time. "Papa Boss?"

    "What?"

    She raised her tiny arms. "Carry me," she said. "My legs hurt like crazy."

    "You''re so spoiled."

    "I''m a baby. I have the license to act spoiled," she reminded him. "Hurry, Papa Boss. My arms are starting to hurt, too."

    He rolled his eyes at her, then he got down on one knee and awkwardly put his hands on her waist. Then, much to her shock, he lifted her as he stood up¨C only to drape her over his shoulder as if she was a sack of rice.

    Well, she had to admit that despite the awkward position, she still felt secured because of his hands on her back.

    "Papa Boss, I hope you didn''t carry Mama this way in the past," Neoma said, then she closed her eyes as she could no longer fight her drowsiness. "You should learn from Duke Quinzel what a "princess carry" is¡­"

    "Just shut up and sleep," Emperor Niki, her perpetually grumpy Papa Boss, scolded her. "And Mona justughed when I carried her this way in the past."

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 Chapter 112 - AFTERMATH

    "DARLING, are you alright?"

    Rufus Quinzel turned to Amber who sat beside him on the sofa.

    Right now, they were in the lounge area of Madam Hammock''s office. The Healing Sage wasn''t done treating Hanna yet so all they could do was wait there. His wife checked on their daughter a while ago and now, she just got back at the lounge area to probably check on him.

    <em>I made her worry again.</em>

    Rufus suddenly felt guilty. Amber looked very worried about him so he smiled and held her hand. "I''m okay, darling," he assured her, then he lowered his head to "look" at the teacup on the table. He didn''t want his beloved wife to see how miserable he looked at the moment. "I''m just¡­ thinking."

    He was thinking about how useless he was as a father and as a duke.

    When Princess Nichole summoned Lady Raven, her Soul Beast, he couldn''t stop it from burning up his precious daughter. If it weren''t for Madam Hammock, Hanna would have been gone by now.

    The most frustrating part was the fact that he wasn''t the one who ended the ck phoenix. It was Emperor Niki. Before His Majesty moved to decapitate the former Princess Royal, he went to defeat Lady Raven first to help them.

    With just one sh of Calypso, the emperor managed to defeat the ck phoenix right away.

    All he could do was watch.

    <em>I feel pathetic.</em>

    "You did well, darling."

    He turned to his wife with a shocked look on his face. "Amber, what are you saying? I didn''t do anything earlier. I couldn''t even protect our daughter." He let out a frustrated sigh. "I''m a failure of a father."

    "Rufus," Amber said sternly. She rarely called him by his first name because she liked using their endearment to each other. But every time she would call him by his name, it only meant that she was very serious. "It''s not your fault that Hanna was hurt. No one is ming you for what happened. The former Princess Royal was very powerful, and so was her Soul Beast. And now that she has joined hands with the Devil, it''s not humiliating that she was able to defeat us easily." She held his hand tighter and squeezed it. "I''m certain that even our Hanna understands that. Our daughter will never me you for it because she knows that you did your best."

    "Amber, aren''t you disappointed in me?"

    "I am not," she said firmly. "I was there with you, Rufus. You weren''t the only one who failed to protect our daughter. That''s why we need to be stronger for her. Sulking and ming ourselves for something that already happened won''t change anything. The only thing that we can do now is to move on and work harder to be better parents."

    Ah, his wife was really an angel.

    It wasn''t just Amber''s face that was pretty. Her heart was also beautiful. He loved how she knew the right words to say to make him feel better.

    <em>This isn''t the time for self-pity.</em>

    "You''re right, darling," he said with a smile. Thanks to his lovely wife, the guilt in his heart already vanished. "Instead of sulking, we should work harder to be stronger and better parents for our daughter."

    She smiled and gently touched his face. "I''m d that you''ve finally smiled again, darling."

    He kissed the palm of her hand as a response. "Darling¡­"

    "Hmm?"

    "I want to properly teach Hanna the Shadow y Technique."

    His wife suddenly looked anxious.

    And her reaction waspletely normal.

    After all, their only daughter was born with an enormous Mana that her heart couldn''t handle. The ''Core,'' or a Mana-user''s source of power, was located in one''s heart.

    <em>And that''s where the problem lies.</em>

    Hanna was born with a weak heart that didn''t match her strong Mana. That was why every time their daughter would use her power, her heart would weaken. And if she released an amount of Mana over her limit, her heart would burst.

    For that reason, they forbade their daughter from using the Shadow y Technique that required a big amount of Mana from the user.

    "Hanna was able to use the Shadow y Technique a while ago," he said carefully. "I know that she was only able to pull it off because Madam Hammock assisted her. But that''s the point, darling. We found out that if Hanna learned how to control her Mana, she would be able to use the Shadow y Technique without putting her life at risk."

    "I get what''s you''re saying, darling," his wife said in a hesitant voice. "But does our daughter really need to learn how to use your family''s technique?"

    "Hanna is the daughter of House Quinzel," he gently reminded his wife. "And we can''t always be beside our daughter. She needs to learn how to use her power properly to be able to protect herself, darling."

    Amber fell silent for a while. Then, after a few seconds, the hesitant look on her face was reced by determination. "You''re right, darling," she said, her green eyes glowing beautifully because of her fighting spirit. "Hanna is a strong youngdy so I believe in her potential."

    "Ah," Rufus said, then he cupped his wife''s beautiful face between his hands as he inched closer to her. "I think I just fell in love with you all over again, my lovely Amber."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "IT''S not working," Dominic Zavaroni said in disbelief while looking at Prince Nero who was still in a deep slumber. Then, he looked at the vial in his hand. "The Yule''s Tears didn''t work on His Royal Highness."

    Right now, he was in the shrine located at Yule Pce¨C the emperor''s official residence.

    Sir Glenn brought a long table where theyid the sleeping prince''s body. After that, he made Prince Nero take a sip of Yule''s Tears. Of course, he infused that with prayer.

    But His Royal Highness''s body seemed to reject the blessing that he should have received.

    "Is it because the Yule''s Tears have lost its effect by now?" Sir Glenn, who was standing opposite him, asked worriedly. "After all, I heard that the vial was given to the first emperor that ruled the empire."

    "An item from Lord Yule himself wouldn''t lose its effect no matter how many centuries passed," he said, then he turned to the knight. "But as far as I know, Yule''s Tears should only be entrusted to the emperor''s heir apparent. Even though it was Princess Neoma who received the Three Sacred Crown Jewels, she used Prince Nero''s name when she took the oath. That means the heavens should still have recognized His Royal Highness as the heir to the throne."

    The knight looked confused at first, then his eyes widened in shock. "Your Holiness, are you saying that the heavens don''t ept Prince Nero as the heir to the throne?"

    He couldn''t give a response to that.

    To be honest, it had nothing to do whether Prince Nero was the First Star or not. After all, if the First Star was a female, then she already lost the right to the throne. So even if Prince Nero turned out to be the Second Star, he still should be the one recognized as the crown prince.

    And most of all, it had been a long time since the heavens cared about who gets to sit on the throne. If the gods cared about that, evil emperors shouldn''t have been able to rule the empire.

    But the heavens seemed to have begun caring about the throne again.

    Then, he remembered the vision he saw a while ago¨C the prophecy where he saw Princess Neoma seated on the throne instead of Prince Nero.

    He let out a gasp when realization finally hit him.

    "What''s wrong, Your Holiness?" Sir Glenn asked worriedly. "Is there something wrong with our Prince Nero''s situation?"

    Dominic could only shake his head as a response.

    <em>They cannot know that the heavens might have already chosen Princess Neoma as the empire''s next ruler!</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    NIKOLAI raised a brow when all of a sudden, two little brats appeared before him as he was reading a book in the lounging area of his spacious bedroom.

    One was Lewis Crevan¨C Neoma''s "son."

    And the other was the useless demon book who couldn''t even protect Nero.

    "Princess¡­" Lewis Crevan whispered to himself while looking at Neoma who was already asleep on his bed.

    When the foxy boy tried to run towards his daughter, he raised his hand and closed his fingers tight. That gesture made Lewis Crevan freeze on his spot. The young fox realized right away that it was him who literally stopped him from going to Neoma.

    Lewis Crevan then turned to him with a re.

    <em>The audacity.</em>

    "Neoma is already asleep," Niki said coldly. "Go away."

    "Aww, don''t be that cold," Trevor, the useless demon book,ined. "I want to see my fianc¨¦e''s beautiful face, dearest father-inw."

    Did he hear it right?

    The fact that a boy he would never approve of just imed Neoma as his fianc¨¦e made his blood boil. He didn''t want to interrupt his daughter''s peaceful sleep but he wasn''t able to control his bloodlust directed at the useless demon book.

    Trevor, the useless little boy that he was, fell on his knees with a shocked look on his face.

    "I dare you to say that again," Niki warned the demon book, his eyes now glowing red. "If you call my daughter your fianc¨¦e again, I will kill you."

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 Chapter 113 - FADING MOONGLOW

    "OUCH!" Trevorined while his adoptive son, Lewis Crevan, was helping him put his piercings in his left ear back. After ~slightly threatening~ his son to lock him up in that hellhole if he didn''t help him, Lewis finally (begrudgingly) lent him a hand. And so, right now, he was seated on the ground while the fox boy was squatting down beside him. "Can you please be a little gentle?"

    Lewis Crevan harshly pressed the stud in the outer rim of his ear (that was called helix, by the way). It was thest piercing that he needed in his left ear. "No."

    He rolled his eyes, then quickly put thest stud in the anti tragus (or the little bit of cartge next to his earlobe and opposite his tragus). With that, his seal wasplete. Both of his ears still hurt because he almost cut them off while he was trying to unseal his demonic powers. It hurt but if he didn''t do that, he would have died because of the injuries he received from the Devil. "Thank you, son."

    "I''m not your son."

    He justughed it off.

    Actually, they could rx now because a while ago, he made contact with Saint Zavaroni. He asked the saint to let the emperor know that he needed to get to the pce as soon as possible. Of course, he could just break the barrier around Yule Pce.

    But he didn''t want to create another ruckus so he opted for the most peaceful way: to politely ask for permission.

    <em>I got manners and shit.</em>

    "Ah," he said when he remembered something important. "How old is Neoma now?"

    It wasn''t like he could show up in the Royal Pce in his adult form. Since he already decided that he wanted to be with his Moon Princess, he thought literally growing up with her wouldn''t be bad. Thus, he wanted to be the same age as her in his child form.

    The fox boy''s golden eyes glowed menacingly as he red at him. "Pervert."

    "Hey, I''m not a pervert," he denied with augh. Then, he realized that he just had to count how many years Prince Nero had been asleep in his territory. "Ah. The Moon Princess is eight years old now."

    After saying that, he snapped his fingers while executing a spell on himself.

    A few momentster, he felt his body turn lighter and smaller until he finally got the average height of an eight-year-old boy in the empire.

    Lewis looked surprised by his sudden transformation.

    "His Majesty is morefortable with this appearance of mine. He might not befortable letting an adult hang out with the Moon Princess," he exined even though the fox boy didn''t ask. Then, he stood up and extended his hand to his son. "Hold my hand."

    The fox boy just gave him a dire stare. "No."

    "Well, what should we do?" he asked in a teasing tone. "If you don''t touch any part of my body, you will get left behind. Can you bear not to see your precious mother?"

    "Princess Neoma isn''t my mother."

    "Sure," he said, then he pped his hands three times. He wasn''t apuding though. It was his way of asking the monster behind him to wreck Gin''s territory. It was the only way to get out of there. "Lewis, you have fifteen seconds to decide."

    As Gin''s territory began to get broken into tiny pieces like a snow globe dropped to the floor, his body was engulfed in a ck smoke that would get him out of there. Lewis Crevan had to grab his hand before it was toote¨C

    <em>Ouch!</em>

    He turned to the fox boy with a shocked look on his face because his rebellious adoptive son just grabbed him by the hair. That was when he realized that Lewis Crevan was taller than him!

    <em>Shit. I forgot that his n was known for being taller than average people.</em>

    "Lewis Crevan, what do you think you''re doing to your future father?"

    "You''re not my father," Lewis Crevan said firmly. "You said I should grab any part of your body. It doesn''t have to be your hand."

    He smirked at that. Well, the fox boy got him. "Someone wore their smarty pants today, huh?"

    The fox boy ignored him.

    He didn''t have the time to tease his future adoptive son because in the just the blink of an eye, they already arrived at Yule Pce.

    To be precise, they arrived at the emperor''s spacious room.

    Emperor Niki was seated on the sofa while holding a book. His Majesty raised a brow as soon as they saw them. He looked surprised for a moment, but his face returned to being as nk as usual. It seemed like the emperor was already expecting their arrival.

    Ah, His Majesty must have opened the gate to his room to make sure that nobody else would see us.

    "Princess¡­"

    Trevor was distracted when he heard Lewis Crevan talk. When he turned to the fox boy, he was already on his way towards the sleeping royal princess on the huge bed. But after taking a few steps, the fox boy froze on his spot.

    Then, his future adoptive son red at his future father-inw.

    "Neoma is already asleep," Emperor Niki, who was responsible as to why Lewis Crevan couldn''t move at the moment, said dismissively. "Go away."

    "Aww, don''t be that cold," Trevor said to His Majesty in a "friendly" voice. "I want to see my fianc¨¦e''s beautiful face, dearest father-inw."

    He knew he fucked up the moment he felt His Majesty''s oozing bloodlust directed at him.

    The next thing he knew, he was already kneeling on the ground with his head hung low. It was the same for Lewis Crevan.

    Ah, that was a bad joke.

    "I dare you to say that again," Emperor Niki said in a low, and obviously angry tone. "If you call my daughter your fianc¨¦e again, I will kill you."

    Trevor raised his head to tell His Majesty that he wouldn''t do it again. Although he knew that he could fight the emperor, he didn''t want to get on the bad side of his future father-inw. But when he was about to open his mouth to speak, he noticed something that sent shivers down his spine.

    No, it wasn''t the emperor''s glowing red eyes.

    <em>His glow is fading¡­</em>

    All the emperor of the Great Moonasterion Empire that took the throne had a unique aura called ''Moonglow.'' It was a silver-ish light that appeared every time the emperor used his Mana, just like now. Ah, it would be more appropriate topare the Moonglow to the moonshine in the dark, night sky.

    There was a reason why the moon was the symbol of their empire''s ruler after all. Many believed that the Moonglow was a blessing from Yule¨C the Moon God that the empire worshipped ever since it was built.

    But only a chosen few could literally see the Moonglow.

    <em>Not even the emperors themselves could see their own aura. That means I''m special. But well, I''m not the only who could see the Moonglow.</em>

    If he remembered it correctly, Saint Zavaroni could also see it.

    <em>Does His Holiness know that His Majesty''s Moonglow has begun fading?</em>

    Emperor Niki, who noticed that he was staring intently at him, raised a brow at him. "What are you looking at, you little demon?"

    Trevor was just about to get smart with the emperor but someone already beat him to it.

    "If you can''t sleep, then let other people sleep!"

    They all turned to the bed where the nasal and angry voice came from.

    He smiled right away when he saw Princess Neoma standing on the bed in her sleepwear. Ah, she grew a little bit taller than thest time he saw her. Even though the royal princess had her cut like a boy, her beautiful face was still shining.

    <em>Wait, she''s literally shining this time.</em>

    His eyes widened in shock when he realized that the faint glow around Princess Neoma wasn''t the glow of a First Star. The silver-ish moonshine around her was warmer and purer than normal. He couldn''t mistake it for something else.

    It was faint but it was there.

    <em>Moonglow</em>, he thought to himself in disbelief. <em>How could a female de Moonasterio be blessed with the Moonglow?</em>

    It was unprecedented.

    But the fact that a royal princess wasn''t the most shocking part.

    It was actually the fact that two de Moonasterios shared the same Moonglow that he found very strange. The future emperor was supposed to be blessed with the Moonglow once his predecessor passed on. So this phenomenon could only mean one thing.

    <em>Princess Neoma is unconsciously stealing the current emperor''s Moonglow</em>, he thought to himself again, amused. <em>The royal princess doesn''t know that she''s killing her own father.</em>

    Because yes, the Moonglow was also a gauge for how long the emperor would live.

    He couldn''t help butugh at what he discovered.

    "Princess Neoma, as I thought, you''re really interesting," Trevor said, his purple eyes glowing in frenzy. "Marry me once youe of legal age."

    As soon as he said that, he felt the deadly aura of Emperor Niki and Lewis Crevan behind him. He ignored the two, of course. His focus was on Princess Neoma who looked obviously unimpressed by his marriage proposal.

    "You''re not my style. F-you for not being able to take the L," Princess Neoma said, her words vague to him. But when she raised her middle finger at him, he realized what she meant with what she said a while ago. "I, Neoma Ramsay, Lady of Leisure, will only marry an average-looking guy with a stable job in the future."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOUR GRACE, how are you feeling?"

    "Like crap," Jasper Hawthorne said to Tate, his butler, when he got up. He didn''t have to look around to know that he was back in his bedroom in his mansion. Obviously, his butler brought him home since Tate was the only attendant he brought with him at the Royal Pce. "The saint knocked me out. What happened while I was unconscious?"

    He already expected that that kind of thing would happen.

    For that reason, he asked Tate to hide his presence and watch over him in a safe distance. He just hoped that his butler kept an eye on his surroundings while he was out.

    "Your Grace, it''s strange," Tate, a seventeen year old young man with moss green wavy hair and bronzed skin like him, said in his usual childish tone. Although the butler was older than him, Tate was a little immature. And that personality of his suited him because of his small stature. People would often mistake Tate as someone younger than him because he was short. He even wore shorts instead of pants that a butler should wear. "I saw two Prince Neros."

    That was weird, and shocking.

    But Tate''s dark amber eyes were special. He could see things clearly even from a distant. Most of all, his butler wouldn''t lie to him.

    "One of them is obviously fake," Jasper said, then he stood up and stretched his arms. "It seems like I have to return to the Royal Capital to meet the acting crown prince."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "MISS GALE, you know why Lady Roseheart abandoned His Majesty, don''t you?" Dominic Zavaroni asked the Wind Spirit. Prince Nero was still in a deep slumber and Sir Glenn just left the shrine to give a report to the emperor. That was why he was free to talk like that. "It''s to protect Princess Neoma and His Majesty, isn''t it?"

    Miss Gale, who was lying next to Prince Nero, raised her (bunny) head to look at him straight in the eye. "Have you seen it, Dominic?"

    "Seen what?"

    "The faint glow in Princess Neoma," the Wind Spirit said. "I''m not talking about her glow as the First Star¨C I''m talking about the Moonglow."

    He wanted to say that he was shocked to hear that but he couldn''t.

    Well, he was surprised but only because it confirmed his fear.

    "If His Majesty''s Moonglow starts to fade to make Princess Neoma shine, then it must only mean that the heavens have really chosen a new ruler for our empire," he said with a sad voice. "That also means that Princess Neoma''s life is in danger. Even if Emperor Niki gives up his throne for his daughter, the enemies around the royal family won''t let it happen. There are strong forces who would object for a female Roseheart to take the throne."

    Now he understood why Lady Roseheart decided to leave the emperor without telling him the reason for doing so.

    <em>Lady Roseheart didn''t want His Majesty and Princess Neoma to fight for the throne.</em>

    "Niki isn''t the problem here," Gale said, then she turned to the sleeping royal prince. "It seems like Prince Nero is destined to dull the moonshine of his twin sister."

    Dominic let out a deep sigh. "Why does it seem like the heavens despise having a pair of Moonasterion twins born in this empire?"

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 Chapter 114 - FAREWELL, MY LEISURE DREAM

    NEOMA wasn''t impressed to be greeted by Emperor Niki and Trevor when she just woke up from her nap.

    The only saving grace in that scene was Lewis.

    <em>Ah, Lewis came home in one piece. Thank goodness. I would have gone on a rampage if my precious son was hurt.</em>

    "Will you please get out of this room?" Neoma said, then she crossed her arms over her chest to assert dominance. "I need my beauty sleep so shoo." She paused, then she turned to Lewis who looked like a puppy betrayed by his master. Of course, her heart went out to her son right away. "You can stay, Lewis."

    Lewis''s face lit up right away. If he still had his two white fluffy tails, they would have wagged by now.

    <em>So cute.</em>

    And then, the image of the nine-tailed (hot) adult Lewis came into her mind.

    <em>Gosh, why do my cheeks feel warm all of a sudden?</em>

    She almost smacked herself for her sinful thoughts towards her son when her Papa Boss spoke. It was one of the few times that she was d that her father opened his mouth.

    "This is my room," Emperor Niki deadpanned. "Are you asking me to leave my own room?"

    "Papa Boss, you just told me a while ago that I can use your room as my own for tonight," she said. Well, those weren''t her father''s exact words but whatever. "Plus, don''t you need to talk to Trevor? That talking book has a lot to exin regarding Nero''s abduction. He didn''t do his job properly."

    "Ouch," Trevorined lightly. "We just saw each other again after three years and you''re already breaking my heart, Moon Princess."

    "Breaking news: I don''t care," she said, then she waved her hand. "Go. I''ll talk to you after I have my much-needed beauty sleep."

    Of course, she was very worried about Nero.

    But worrying wouldn''t get her anywhere. Plus, her overworked big brain needed its break. She''d be more productive after a good sleep.

    <em>I have an old soul but I''m still a baby physically.</em>

    "I''m worried about Nero but I know that I can''t do anything to help my twin brother. That''s why I want to rest for now and leave the rest to the adults," she said, then she turned to her father. "Papa Boss, I can entrust Nero to you, can''t I? He''s your favorite child anyway so I know that you won''t let him die."

    Papa Boss scowled at what she said.

    <em>Gosh, he''s so grumpy.</em>

    "I''ll let your knight stay with you but I want him gone once I returnter," Emperor Niki said, then he turned to Trevor. "You. Come with me. You have a lot to exin."

    Trevor raised his hands in surrender. "As you wish, Your Majesty," he said in his usually annoying yful voice. Then, he turned to her with a (sexy)zy smirk on his unnecessarily (very) handsome face. Gosh, this demon boy looked good even in his child form! "See youter, my little Moon Princess."

    Neoma rolled her eyes at the talking book. ""See youter," my foot."

    <strong>***</strong>

    ''<em>NEOMA RAMSAY</em>?'' Niki thought to himself deeply. Neoma called herself ''Neoma Ramsay'' a while ago and it bothered him. He didn''t know why she referred to herself as a daughter of another house. She was a de Moonasterio. They were the nobles among the nobles. <em>And as far as I know, there''s no ''House Ramsay'' among the noble households in the empire.</em>

    "Your Majesty?"

    His thoughts were cut-off when he heard Glenn''s voice.

    When he turned to his side, he found the knight looking at him with a worried look on his face.

    Right now, they were in the tearoom of his residence. Aside from Glenn (who served the refreshments instead of the servants because that meeting was a secret), Saint Zavaroni and Trevor were also there.

    "Is there a House Ramsay in the empire?" Niki asked hispanions. "Or any ordinary family with that name?"

    "As far as I know, there isn''t a House Ramsay among the noble households in the empire, Your Majesty," Glenn, who stood beside her, said. "Would you like me to check among themoners if there''s a family that uses the name Ramsay?"

    "Yes, do thatter," he said, then he turned to Saint Zavaroni and Trevor who were seated side-by-side on the sofa from across him. "For now, I''d like to talk about Nero''s condition."

    A while ago, before he left his room, Glenn went to him to report that Yule''s Tears didn''t work on his son. That was why he summoned the saint and the demon boy in the tea room.

    Currently, Nero was in the room next door. His child was alone in there but he left his Soul Beasts to guard Nero. Those two Soul Beasts were West (the White Tiger) and North (the ck Tortoise).

    "I heard that Yule''s Tears didn''t work on Nero," he continued. "Is it because the liquid in the vial didn''t reallye from the Moon God?"

    "The vial was apparently given by Lord Yule directly to the first emperor of the Great Moonasterion Empire. Since the Astello Temple had never seen or touched the vial in person, I can''t guarantee its authenticity," Saint Zavaroni exined. "Having said that, when I used the vial a while ago, I felt a divine auraing from it."

    "And yet, it didn''t work on Nero," he said in a confused voice. "I wonder why."

    "What is there to wonder about, Your Majesty?" Trevor asked while putting several sugar cubes in his tea cup. "Do you know why the vial that contains Yule''s Tears is passed down on crown princes of the empire? It''s because the Moon God''s "tears" are said to protect the future emperor from diseases. To be precise, taking a sip from the vial would apparently give the crown prince a healthy body."

    "And how did you know that?" Glenn asked. "It''s not like you were born during the time of the first emperor."

    "Of course not. I''m not that old," the demon boy said. "But I''m the Devil''s Grimoire. My brain is filled with vast knowledge."

    <em>How arrogant.</em>

    "If that''s the case, then why don''t you tell me why the vial didn''t work on Nero?" he asked with a raised brow. "Even though Nero didn''t take the oath himself, he''s still the one and only royal prince of the empire. Only a male child of the royal family is legitimate to inherit the throne. Thus, it shouldn''t matter even if Neoma took the oath in his ce."

    The demon boy took a sip of his overly sweet tea first before he spoke again. "Then, maybe Prince Nero isn''t destined to inherit the throne¨C and the heavens want you to know that."

    He didn''t like what he heard and he made sure Trevor would know that by breaking his teacup.

    <em>Nero isn''t destined to take the throne? What nonsense is that?</em>

    The demon boy just smirked and snapped his fingers. Then, the broken pieces of the teacup, along with the hot tea that was supposed to pour on him, froze in the air. When he snapped his fingers again, the broken cup and the hot liquid disappeared. "I apologize if my words offended you, Your Majesty," he said. "I am merely stating a fact."

    "Your Majesty, please calm down," Saint Zavaroni said. "I believe that the reason why the vial didn''t work on Prince Nero is still due to the effect of the curse. My divine powers didn''t work on His Royal Highness as well. It seems like the curse is designed to reject divine healing. That could also be the reason why only Trevor, a demon, could heal Prince Nero."

    Now, that made more sense.

    "Nero''s curse was easily handled by the Devil," he said, making the saint flinch. He knew that Saint Zavaroni already knew that Nichole was somehow rted to the Devil. To spare the saint heartbreak, he purposely didn''t mention his twin sister''s name. "They were able to hand over the curse to Neoma when they wanted to. And when my daughter returned, they easily transferred the curse back to Nero. That makes me think that the curse actually came from the Devil. An ordinary noble in the empire wouldn''t have been able to create such curse."

    "I agree with you, Your Majesty," Saint Zavaroni said. "It seems like the Devil is manipting the families under the Noble Faction to attack the royal family¨C just like how they used Duke Sloane to hurt Princess Neoma who''s acting as Prince Nero."

    He let out a deep sigh, then he turned to the demon boy with a re. "It''s unfortunate but I believe you remain our only hope, demon boy."

    The demon boy had the nerve to smile and nod at him. "That seems to be the case, Your Majesty. And we have a binding vow. If I fail to heal Nero as I promised, I''ll die. I don''t want to die yet so I''ll do everything to fulfill my end of the bargain."

    "But you failed to protect Nero," he reminded the demon boy. "How can I entrust my son to you again?"

    "Good question, Your Majesty," Trevor said. "May I implore you to hear what I have in mind regarding the security in my territory? To make sure that the Devil wouldn''t be able to infiltrate my territory again, I need my Moon Princess¨C"

    "No," Niki said, cutting-off the arrogant demon boy. How dare a mere talking book give his daughter an ugly endearment? "And it''s ''Her Royal Highness Princess Neoma'' to you, Devil''s Grimoire."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "WHAT ARE you looking at my face so intently for, Lewis?" Neoma asked her son with a softugh. Right now, she was lying down on the bed on her side. Lewis, on the other hand, was kneeling on the floor in front of her. "Is there something on my face?"

    "w marks," Lewis said. "Gone."

    "Oh," she said, then she touched her cheek that the (hot) nine-tailed Lewis mauled in Gin''s territory. "It disappeared when I got out of Gin''s territory so don''t worry about it."

    "I''m sorry, Princess Neoma," her son said in a voice filled with guilt. "The stinky cat said that it was me who mauled your face."

    "It wasn''t you. The Lewis that hurt me might just be an illusion that Gin created to hurt me," she said. Well, she knew that the Lewis that she met in Gin''s territory wasn''t a mere illusion. But she didn''t want Lewis to be sad because of that. "If you continue feeling guilty for that, then he will seed in ruining our bond. Do you want that to happen?"

    He shook his head firmly.

    "Good boy," she praised him. "Then, does it mean you won''t me yourself anymore?"

    He slowly nodded. "I will never hurt you, Princess Neoma."

    "I know that," she said with a smile. "By the way, what happened to Gin?"

    She didn''t know if it was just her imagination or Lewis''s shoulders really slumped.

    "Trevor killed him," Lewis said. If you looked closely, it would seem like he was pouting. "Instantly. I didn''t even see how he killed the stinky cat."

    "Trevor is that strong?"

    Her son nodded.

    "I don''t want to lose to a talking book," she said, then she got up. "I want to be stronger. I want to be a master of defense like Princess Nichole." She paused, then she added: "And fight like a Roseheart."

    It sucks to say this but she needed to say farewell to her dream of bing ady of leisure for now.

    The situation didn''t allow her to live a peaceful andzy life. Her life was seriously in danger and if she remained weak, she''d die. For that reason, she had to level up. If she was a protagonist in an anime series, then this phase of her life would be dubbed as the ''Training Arc.''

    "I can teach you how to use your Roseheart blood, Princess Neoma."

    She flinched in surprise when she heard a feminine voice beside her. When she turned to her side, she was pleasantly surprised to see Mochi, her cute white bunny, sitting on the bed. "Mochi, you''re here."

    "I''m d that you can really hear me now, Princess Neoma," she said in a delighted voice. "I can now properly introduce myself to you." The bunny stood up and walked towards her. Then, she hopped until she was seated on herp. "Your Royal Highness, I am Gale, the Wind Spirit, and the former leader of the Wind Tribe. I used to be one of Mona Roseheart''s Spirit Guardians." She lowered her head as if she was bowing. "And now, I pledge my loyalty to you, Princess Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio."

    "Thank you," she said sincerely. "Should I call you ''Miss Gale'' from now on?"

    "You don''t have to, Princess Neoma," the Wind Spirit said. "You may call me ''Mochi.'' I like the name that you gave me."

    "That''s a relief," she said with a smile.

    The bunny smiled back at her. "Princess Neoma, I know that you have a lot of questions about your mother. Please feel free to ask me anything. I can''t promise that I have the answers to all of your questions though."

    "It''s true that I want to get to know more about my Mama," she said. "But I feel like I don''t have the right to ask questions about her because I''m still weak. I promised her that I would only chase her once I''m strong enough to do so. Until then, I will keep the questions I want to ask in my heart."

    "That''s so admirable of you, Princess Neoma."

    She just smiled at that. "Mochi, can you take me as your disciple? I want to fight like Mama. Can you teach me how to summon Spirits? I need to learn it as soon as possible."

    "Of course, Your Royal Highness," the bunny Spirit said. "May I know why you''re in such a hurry though?"

    "My mother told me that I''m only allowed to look for her once I''m able to summon the Spirit Guardian called William."

    The Wind Spirit let out a loud gasp, then fear crossed her eyes. "It seems like Mona doesn''t want you to find her, Princess Neoma."

    Her brows furrowed in confusion. "Are you saying that because I''m too weak to summon a strong Spirit Guardian?"

    "That''s not it, Princess Neoma," Mochi said in a hesitant voice. "But William is known to be the Executioner," she paused, then she gulped. "Executioner of the de Moonasterions, to be precise."

    Neoma gulped when she realized what it meant. "Then, does it mean that William will kill me if I summoned him?"

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 115 - PERHAPS, IM NEXT

    "C''MON, Your Majesty. At least let me finish what I''m saying," Trevor lightlyined after the emperor cut him off rudely. "I need the Moon Princess¨C" He instantly shut his mouth when His Majesty red at him. Then, he cleared his throat before he spoke again. "I need the cooperation of Her Royal Highness Princess Neoma."

    Emperor Niki red at him for a few more seconds before he calmed down. "What is your n?"

    "Thank you for asking, Your Majesty," he said. "Anyway, I hope you didn''t throw the Death''s Scythe away."

    The emperor turned to his knight.

    "The Death''s Scythe didn''t disappear when the Devil escaped," Glenn, if he remembered the knight''s name correctly, said. "I confiscated the weapon and put it in the Forbidden Armory."

    He knew what the ''Forbidden Armory'' was.

    Just like what its name suggested, it was a room where the weapons disapproved by the royal family were kept. And because of those weapons, the Forbidden Armory had a tight security in it. A strong spell was ced in the room and it would activate if a "non-personnel" stepped foot inside. He heard that anyone who''d enter the room without permission would instantly get shredded into pieces by the spell.

    "The Devil had other chances in the past to take the Death''s Scythe back from Neoma," the emperor said. "But they didn''t." He paused for a few seconds. "Would it be more appropriate to say that they couldn''t take it back?"

    "That''s right, Your Majesty," he confirmed while nodding firnly. "The Devil hasn''t recovered enough yet to fully control the Death''s Scythe again. I also heard that His Holiness purified the scythe for the Moon Prin¨C I mean Her Royal Highness Princess Neoma. It makes me think that the Death''s Scythe already considers the royal princess as its new master. So, therefore, I believe that she can help me use the Death''s Scythe to lock my territory. If that happens, the Devil or their minions could never infiltrate my ce again."

    His Majesty fell silent as if he was considering his idea.

    At least, the emperor didn''t shut him off this time.

    Emperor Niki de Moonasterio has changed somehow. Since when did he care about my Moon Princess? Thest time I saw him, he only cared about Prince Nero.

    "Your Majesty, may I share my thoughts with Mr. Trevor''s n?" Saint Zavaroni asked politely.

    He cringed at what the saint called him because he wasn''t used to be treated with respect.

    <em>Well, His Majesty calls me a useless demon boy while my Moon Princess calls me a talking book.</em>

    "Go ahead," the emperor told the saint.

    "I can help Mr. Trevor use the Death''s Scythe to lock his territory using my divine power," Saint Zavaroni said. "I can make it so the Devil and anyone or anything with demonic power wouldn''t be able to touch the scythe."

    He gave the saint a thumbs up. Well, he got that gesture from Princess Neoma. "Nice, Saint Zavaroni."

    The saint just nodded politely to him.

    "If Saint Zavaroni will help, then I will allow it," His Majesty said, then he turned to him again. "When will you return to your territory with Nero?"

    "I need a week before I gather enough strength to open my territory," he said seriously. "I''m sorry but I need to recharge after the fight that I had a while ago."

    "What will we do about Nero''s condition?" the emperor asked. "The saint put him to sleep so the curse won''t activate."

    That was a smart move.

    When Prince Nero was hit by the curse, it wasn''t that bad at first. The royal prince was still able to live normally as long as he didn''t use his Mana. But it got worse eventually. Now, the curse would activate if the poor prince wasn''t asleep.

    Thus, one had to put Prince Nero to sleep if the curse got activated.

    "I can stop the curse from hurting Prince Nero while we''re here," he dered. Well, he needed to discharge the excess Mana in his body anyway. Might as well use it to give Prince Nero to spend a week with his Moon Princess. Sucking up to the emperor was almost impossible for now. So he''d try to win the royal prince over first. He would be his brother-inw in the future anyway. "It wouldn''t be bad to give the royal prince a few days to spend with you before we go back to my territory."

    "That would be nice," Glenn said cheerfully, then he turned to the emperor. "Your Majesty, isn''t that great? The Royal Capital will have a week-long celebration for the crowning ceremony. I''m sure Princess Neoma would be delighted to know that she could spend the festival with Prince Nero."

    Oh, right.

    He heard that his Moon Princess was just enthroned as the crown prince.

    The crowning ceremony would be followed by a week-long celebration. During that time, the pce gates would open for themoners to take a peek at the heir apparent. His Majesty would properly introduce the crown prince to the people by then.

    And during thest day of the celebration, the Moon Festival would take ce.

    <em>Nice timing. I will ask my Moon Princess to be my first andst dance during the festival. I need to solidify my position as her fianc¨¦.</em>

    "I can stay with Prince Nero and Princess Neoma for the whole week, Your Majesty," Saint Zavaroni offered. "But I can''t do it in the open this time. Although I already showed up during the crowning ceremony, to be seen by the crown prince''s side all the time might give the enemies an idea about the current situation."

    "Lewis and I will guard them closely as well," Sir Glenn offered. "I''m sure the Quinzels will also help us conceal Prince Nero''s identity, Your Majesty."

    "Alright," Emperor Niki said. "I will approve that."

    Trevor smiled brightly. "My utmost gratitude, Your Majesty."

    <em>Now, how will I make my Moon Princess fall for me in seven days?</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    "BUT I''M also a Roseheart," Neoma reasoned after hearing from Mochi that the William her mother wanted her to summon was known as the de Moonasterio Executioner. "Will he still kill me even if I''m the daughter of his master?"

    "William tried to kill Mona when he found out that she was pregnant with you," Mochi said bluntly. "Well, during that time, we still don''t know that the babies in her womb were twins."

    She gulped when she heard that. "H-He tried to kill Mama and me?"

    "Yes," the Wind Spirit said. "We, the Spirit Guardians, had to fight William to stop him from killing Mona. But even with ourbined forces, we just barely defeated him. In fact, if your mother didn''t use more than half of power to lock him up, we would all have died that day. William is that strong and crazy, Princess Neoma."

    She fell silent for a while. Of course, she got afraid the first time she heard that William was the Executioner of the Royal Family. But now that she had calmed down, she realized that her mother wouldn''t ask her to summon William if he was truly a danger to her. Maybe her Mama believed that she could tame that lunatic Spirit Guardian.

    <em>I won''t let my Mama down.</em>

    "Mama said that William might know where she is," she said. "For that reason, I''m still determined to get stronger and summon him someday. Please help me get stronger, Mochi."

    The white bunny let out a deep sigh. "You''re really like Mona. I know that once you made up your mind, nobody can change it anymore."

    She just smiled and nodded.

    "Sleep for now, Princess Neoma," Mochi told her. "The most basic yet most important part of training is having enough rest."

    "Okay, Master Mochi," she said that made the Wind Spiritugh. She just smiled and turned to Lewis. "Go back to your room and sleep. Papa Boss will be mad if he finds you here once he returns. I want to sleep peacefully tonight so let''s avoid fighting him for now."

    Lewis nodded but he looked sad to be separated from her.

    Aww.

    "Let''s y tomorrow," she said while patting his head. "Good night, Lewis."

    Lewis nodded, then he stood up and bowed before he left the room.

    "He''s not much of a speaker when you''re with other people, is he?" Mochi asked in an amused tone. "He practically ignored me even if I was here."

    "I apologize on his behalf, Master Mochi," she said. "Lewis is a good child. He just has a lot of things that he still needs to learn. Please understand."

    "Well, if that''s the case, then it''s fine," Mochi said, then she plopped on the bed. "William was harder to deal with than the fox boy anyway."

    "This William is starting to scare me but whatever," Neoma said, then she plopped on the soft mattress as well. As soon as her back hit the bed, she closed her eyes and began falling asleep fast. "Good night, Master Mochi."

    <em>I hope you''re not in pain tonight, Nero.</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    "PAPA BOSS, can I see Nero now?" Neoma asked excitedly as soon as she entered her father''s room. Then, she paused when she realized that Emperor Niki wasn''t alone this time. Saint Zavaroni was having tea with her father now. "Oh. Good morning, Your Holiness."

    Saint Zavaroni smiled kindly at her. "Good morning, Princess Neoma."

    To be honest, she was a little shocked when she woke up a while ago. Emperor Niki was seated on the sofa in the lounge area of his room. From the looks of it, it seemed like he didn''t really sleep all night.

    Before she could interrogate him if he really stayed up all night just to guard her, he already called her servants. Alphen brought her a new set of fresh clothes while Stephanie gave her a bath in her father''s grand bathroom.

    After she put on her clothes, she returned to her Papa Boss''s room to ask his permission to visit Nero. She didn''t expect Saint Zavaroni to be there though.

    <em>And here we are now.</em>

    "You should have breakfast first," Emperor Niki told her, then he put his teacup down on the table. "The demon boy is checking on Nero so you can''t see your brother yet."

    "Oh, okay," she said as she sat next to the saint from across her father''s chair. Mochi was nowhere to be found when she woke up and Lewis overslept so she was bored. Alphen and Stephanie weren''t allowed in her Papa Boss''s room, while Sir Glenn was apparently guarding Nero''s room. In short, she had no one to y with. Staying with the emperor and the saint wasn''t that fun but she had a question for the two of them anyway. "Papa Boss, Your Holiness, is there a family in the empire that has a ck crow with red eyes as their crest?"

    For some the reason, the air in the room suddenly "died."

    The next thing she knew, both Emperor Niki and Saint Zavaroni were releasing bloodlust that sent shivers down her spine.

    Of course, their bloodlust wasn''t directed at her.

    But they still looked scary¨C especially Saint Zavaroni. It was the first time that she saw the saint that angry. His Majesty and His Holiness looked like they were ready to kill.

    "Neoma, where did you see that symbol?" her Papa Boss asked, his eyes now red and glowing menacingly. "The ck crow with red eyes."

    "I d-didn''t see the crest personally, Papa Boss," she said. Dammit, did she just stutter? But despite the fear that she felt, she still couldn''t tell the emperor the truth about where she saw the ck crow with red eyes. So, as usual, she made up a story that had a little truth in it. "I just remembered the nightmare I had when I was trapped in Gin''s territory. In that nightmare, I died and a ck crow with red eyes kept watching me."

    Emperor Niki shut his eyes tight and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Are they on the move again?"

    She blinked several times in confusion. "Who?"

    "The ck crow with red eyes is the symbol of the cult that heavily opposes female de Moonasterios," Saint Zavaroni said in a cold voice, his eyes as empty as his tone. "I believe they have something to do with Princess Nichole''s¡­ downfall."

    Neoma''s eyes widened in shock. "Then, does it mean that cult wille after me next?"

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 116 - HIT YOU WITH THAT DDU-DU DDU-DU

    <em>ME, the Great Neoma Ramsay, hasmitted an unbelievable stupid mistake.</em>

    Neoma couldn''t enjoy her fried chicken and pancakes.

    It was the breakfast that she requested for today. Her food came along with a letter from Chef Stroganoff, the Royal Chef. As usual, he scolded her again because chicken apparently didn''t "fit" pancakes. In return of granting her request this morning, the chef demanded that her lunchter would consist mostly of vegetables and beef.

    <em>I should finish my breakfast since I was scolded for this.</em>

    But she still couldn''t get her mind off the mistake that she made.

    <em>I shouldn''t have asked about the ck crow with red eyes in front of Papa Boss. I should have waited to be alone with Saint Zavaroni first. Gosh, is it because nobody should be perfect that I have to have a w?</em>

    Oh, she was talking to herself because her Papa Boss didn''t join her for breakfast. The emperor was still in his room while talking to Saint Zavaroni.

    And so, she had the dining hall to herself. Well, not literally. Alphen and Stephanie stood behind the door. There were also royal guards outside the hall. Was it just her or the security around the Royal Pce tightened even more?

    "Princess Neoma, I apologize for beingte."

    Neoma smiled when she saw Lewis enter the dining hall. "Good morning, Lewis."

    Her soon looked fresh and haggard at the same time.

    He just obviously took a bath but it seemed like he dressed up pretty quickly. No wonder Alphen was looking at Lewis with a disapproving look on his face.

    <em>Lewis used to be a butler so Alphen must be disappointed in my son.</em>

    "You''re notte," she said so that Alphen and Stephanie wouldn''t look down on Lewis. "I told youst night that you cane inte. You almost died because of the mission that I gave you. I''m not a cruel employer to make you work early after that."

    If Lewis was confused by her lies, he didn''t let it show. He just bowed politely at her, then stood quietly behind her.

    "Alphen, Stephanie, you may leave us now," she told the head butler and the head maid. "Please tell the guards to leave as well. Since Lewis is already here, I''ll be fine. And we need to talk about a confidential mission so make sure that nobody is eavesdropping on us."

    Alphen and Stephanie bowed and talked at the same time. "As you wish, Your Royal Highness."

    A few secondster and she was finally alone in the dining hall with her son.

    "Are they gone?" she asked Lewis. "Can you tell if anyone is eavesdropping on us?"

    Lewis looked at her and nodded. "No one''s around."

    "Good," she said. "Lewis, I made a huge mistake."

    Her son just looked at her nkly but she knew he was listening intently at her.

    "When Gin gave me a nightmare, he actually brought me back to my first life."

    He flinched at that remark. Ah, he must have remembered when that stupid Gin revealed that his adult version mauled her face. "Princess Neoma, you relived your awful first life?"

    "Yeah," she said. She purposely didn''t mention that she had to relive it quite a few times because he knew Lewis would feel bad again. And it wasn''t important anyway. "Thanks to that, I noticed something that I didn''t in the past. I saw a ck crow with red eyes that seemed to follow me wherever I go."

    Hearing her own words made her wonder about something.

    <em>Did Gin send me back to my first life because he wanted me to notice the things that I failed to see then?</em>

    That actually made sense even if it sounded ridiculous.

    After all, her crazy aunt wanted her to be the empress. Gin seemed to be loyal to the Devil so he probably wouldn''t intend to hurt her without a valid reason. But still, she wasn''t that dumb to trust a demon. For Pete''s sake, she couldn''t even trust her own father.

    "So, thinking that the ck crow with red eyes is just a family crest from a household that hates the royal family, I stupidly asked Papa Boss and Saint Zavaroni about it," she continued with her story. "Guess what, Lewis?" She looked around before she leaned forward and whispered: "Apparently, it''s the symbol of a cult that targets the de Moonasterion princesses."

    Her son scowled, obviously annoyed by the fact that something was threatening her life again. "I''ll look for them."

    "Nah, don''t," she said, then she sat properly again. "I mean, I was already in my teens when they found me in my first life. Maybe they don''t know about my existence yet in this lifetime. If you actively look for them, you might give away the fact that Nero has a twin sister."

    "But Princess¡­"

    "Lewis, have you forgotten who your mother is?"

    "I never met my mother."

    Okay, that made her sad.

    "I am your mother, Lewis," she said, then changed the topic before Lewis could deny it again with his famous phrase. "And since I''m Neoma, I have other ways to investigate that creepy cult without them noticing me."

    Her son tilted his head at one side. "How?"

    "Through Rubin Drayton and Regina Crowell," she said. "You remember Regina Crowell from the story that I told you, right?"

    The anger in Lewis''s eyes as he nodded confirmed it.

    <em>He must be mad at Regina for what that bitch did to me in my first life.</em>

    "I can''t help but think that Regina Crowell may somehow be involved with the cult," she said. "I didn''t notice it before but now, I realize that it''s weird how Regina Crowell seems influential back then when she was just a lowly noble. And how did she know about my evil n towards Nero? Heck, she was even there as I was dying. Someone or something might have told her about my movements back then. She couldn''t have done all of it alone."

    He nodded in agreement.

    "But Regina Crowell is around our age in this lifetime," she said. "She''s also a child like us so it''s possible that she might not have been in contact with the cult yet. But I don''t want to becent so I need to check on her soon. Too bad Rubin isn''t in the pce anymore."

    The day of her crowning ceremony, Rubin already returned to House Drayton.

    "But I''m sure we''d meet at the Moon Festival," she said. "I hope he brings Regina Crowell with him."

    "Princess¡­"

    "Hmm?"

    "You''re always busy these days."

    She let out a deep sigh. "I know, right? I have a feeling that the whole empire will copse without me," she said. But of course, that was just an exaggeration on her part. "Anyway, during the festival, let''s y to our hearts'' content."

    His face finally lit up as he nodded.

    "Oh, it''s going to be more fun because Nero will join us," she said. "I heard from Papa Boss that Trevor will make it so my twin brother can enjoy a week with us before they leave again."

    Her son suddenly turned gloomy.

    "Don''t be like that, Lewis. Please get along with Nero," Neoma said while patting Lewis''s back. "Nero is your uncle after all."

    Lewis let out a frustrated sigh. "Prince Nero isn''t my uncle."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "WE CAN''T ignore Princess Neoma''s bad dream, Your Majesty," Saint Zavaroni told him. "The dreams of a royal family member like her could sometimes turn out to be premonitions. Especially since Princess Neoma has Roseheart blood in her."

    "I know that," Niki said, then he sipped his tea before he continued. "I just didn''t expect Neoma to see that kind of dream. Not after I eradicated the whole cult before Nero and Neoma were even born."

    That was right.

    He killed the leader of the cult along with its core members after Nichole died. During that time, he still had Commander Gavin Quinzel by his side. Themander, Glenn, and the White Lion Knights took care of the remaining members of the cult.

    "We must check if there were survivors, Your Majesty," His Holiness said. The cult had something to do with Nichole''s downfall so he understood the saint''s keen interest in the matter. "I don''t want Princess Neoma to end up like the Princess Royal."

    And the saint gave him a pointed, knowing look.

    Ah, right. Even though they both knew that he tried his best to save Nichole back then, the saint still resented him. It wasn''t like he didn''t understand why His Holiness felt that way.

    After all, he was in the same position.

    <em>It''s easier to me other people for your pain instead of admitting that you were also a part of the reason why you got hurt in the first ce.</em>

    "The possibility of the cult having survivors is low, but I will have my men investigate it," he said. "I have a theory different from yours, Your Holiness."

    The saint sipped his tea before he asked. "What do you have in mind, Your Majesty?"

    "A fake cult," he said. "The cults had influenced a lot of people in the past. They had believers from all walks of life. But ever since their group was dubbed as a threat to the empire, their believers hid and tried to separate themselves from the cult to avoid punishment. But I believe they still exist even now. If the "cult" suddenly appears now, I have a reason to think that they''re nothing but a fake."

    "Even so, the ideals that the cult spread during their peak were harmful," Saint Zavaroni said worriedly. "If our theory turns out to be true, then it must mean that Princess Neoma''s life will be in danger once the public finds out that we have a royal princess."

    "I will make sure that the people who know Neoma''s identity will keep the royal secret to their grave," Niki said firmly. "The cult must never be resurrected again."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "OH, MY future wife and son are here."

    "Princess Neoma," Lewis told her. "Permission to kill."

    Neoma justughed it off, then she gently patted Lewis''s head before she faced Trevor. It seemed like the talking book was waiting for her because he was standing in front of Nero''s room. "Trevor, if you don''t stop harassing me by calling me your future wife, I will castrate you with Skewer''s de."

    Trevor looked shocked by her threat, then heughed. "Hey, I''m not harassing you."

    "You are much, much older than me even if Ibine my ages from all the lifetimes I lived," she reminded him dryly. "Flirting with me is a predatory behavior, duh."

    "I am not that old, Moon Princess," the talking book denied. "But I don''t want you to take my family jewels so I will behave myself."

    "Good," she said. "Anyway, I owe you an apology."

    "For what?"

    "I failed to protect H1 and H2."

    "Huh?"

    "The hell dog you call ''Kuro,''" she said, then she slightly bowed to him. "I''m sorry for failing to protect the poor dog."

    The fact that she always loses H1 and H2 never stopped bothering her.

    Even when the third head appeared, she still intended to look after the hell dog. But she couldn''t and it made her feel guilty. Especially since she was asked by the owner to look after it.

    Plus, she got attached to the hell dog.

    "Princess Neoma, please don''t bow to me," the demon boy said. "I''m sure you did your best to keep them safe. I should have told you that Kuro is the easiest item to steal because he''s literally the gates to hell."

    She raised her head to face him. "Is he still alive?"

    "That, I can assure you."

    "Thank goodness," she said in relief.

    For some reason, Trevor smiled at her as if he found her cute. "Despite your foul mouth and princess attitude, you''re kind-hearted, my Moon Princess."

    "My kindness doesn''t apply to people like you though," she said. Then, she made "gun fingers" at him. "So you better not annoy me or else, I''ll hit you with the ddu-du ddu-du."

    Trevor and Lewis both looked at her with a confused look.

    After all, she sang thetter part of her sentence. It took her all she got not to move her hips and dance the iconic movement that came along with that part of that famous Kpop song. Well, she was good at acting but she was kind of bad at dancing pop.

    She just flipped her imaginary long hair before she acted like nothing happened. "Anyway, please move aside. I want to see Nero."

    "Too bad, Moon Princess," Trevor said in an exaggerated sad voice while looking at her with a fake pity on his face. "Prince Nero told me not to let you in. Apparently, he doesn''t want to see you right now."

    <em>Oh my gosh.</em>

    Did she just hear a crack in their supposedly tight sibling rtionship?

    <em>This can''t be happening</em>, Neoma thought to herself. <em>I''ll be the one to be hit by the ddu-du ddu-du if Nero ends up hating me again!</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 117 - WHEN THE ROSE-COLORED GLASSES BREAK

    "NEOMA saw a ck crow with red eyes in her dream while she was trapped in a demon''s territory," Niki announced to Glenn and Kyle who both looked shocked by what he said. "In that dream, apparently, the ck crow watched her as she was dying."

    Right now, he was in his office to start his day with work.

    Saint Zavaroni was resting in the room that he lent him. It was a room with its own bathroom for his privacy. The only servants that he sent to assist His Holiness were Alphen and Stephanie, the head butler and head maid of Neoma''s residence. It was rude to only send two attendants for someone with such a high status as the saint. But it couldn''t be helped.

    After all, the other servants shouldn''t know that the saint was still in Yule Pce.

    "It was the symbol of that cult, wasn''t it?" Glenn asked, then he nervously looked at Kyle''s side. "But we already wiped them out."

    Kyle remained silent, but the bloodlust leaking out of him was evidence that he was angry.

    After all, the cult was the reason why the count lost his mother.

    "As of now, we don''t have evidence that the cult is still around," he said to the knight and the count. "But the saint and I can''t just dismiss the dream that Neoma had. After all, she''s also a Roseheart." He clenched his fists when he remembered one of the abilities of his former lover. "Mona saw visions in the past, too."

    Visions that she never told him about.

    He had always felt helpless every time Mona would distant herself from him because of the visions that she had seen.

    "Your Majesty, I''m waiting for your orders," Glenn said. "I will investigate if there are surviving members of the cult. I will also look into the civilians who once have been linked to them."

    He nodded carefully in agreement. "Do that, Glenn. But do it as discreetly as possible."

    The knight bowed to him. "As you wish, Your Majesty."

    "Do you think it''s really the same cult back then, Your Majesty?" Kyle asked in a hesitant voice. "Do you think that the Crow survived?"

    "I don''t think so," he said confidently. "But the cult had influenced a lot of people from all walks of life. I wouldn''t be surprised if some believers want to rebuild the cult. Even without the Crow, we can''t let people like that live."

    The count nodded firmly.

    "For now, our top priority is to keep Neoma''s identity a secret," Niki said firmly. "Make sure that everyone who knows about the royal princess will never speak of it to anyone."

    Glenn and Kyle both bowed to him. "As you wish, Your Majesty."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "NERO doesn''t want to see me?" Neoma asked Trevor when she got over her shock. "No way. You''re just saying that to annoy me, aren''t you?"

    "Nope," Trevor said bluntly. "Prince Nero kicked me out of the room and told me to not let anyone in¨C not even you, Princess Neoma."

    "I still want to talk to my brother," she said with clenched hands. "Lewis, break the door."

    Lewis just silently nodded before he stepped forward.

    But when Trevor snapped his fingers, her son suddenly went stiff. The annoyance on his face told her that he couldn''t move his body.

    "What are you doing to Lewis?" she confronted the talking book. "Do you really want me to hit you?"

    "I''m just saving your precious son, my princess," the demon boy said. "Two of His Majesty''s Soul Beasts are guarding Prince Nero inside. If they felt even an ounce of hostility from a person, they would immediately attack and shred them into pieces."

    Okay, that sounded scary.

    She knew how strong her Papa Boss''s Soul Beasts were. Plus, she wouldn''t put Lewis in that kind of danger.

    "Lewis, stay put," she ordered her son. "And calm down."

    Lewis remained scowling but he nodded.

    When Trevor snapped his fingers again, her son was able to move again. Lewis then red at the demon boy who just smirked.

    <em>I don''t want to admit this but Trevor seems to be stronger than Lewis.</em>

    "Move," she told the talking book.

    Trevor just shrugged, then he stepped aside to let her through.

    She walked towards the door and knocked. When she didn''t a response from Nero, she talked in the most cheerful tone that she could muster at the moment. "Brother Nero, Neoma is here," she said in a cutesy tone that almost made her vomit. Gosh, the things she does to survive. "Can Ie in, Brother?"

    "No," Nero answered from the other side of the door.

    Gosh, this scene was very familiar to her.

    "Nero, do you want to build a snowman?"

    She felt Trevor''s questioning look on her but she ignored it. Lewis, on the other hand, remained still. Ah, her son was probably used to her quirks by now.

    "It''s not yet winter," Nero said bluntly. "Go away, Neoma."

    She had to bite her lower lip to stop herself fromughing because of Nero''s "Elsa-ish" response to her "Anna-ish" question a while ago.

    "I''m not going away, Brother," she said, activating her "actress mode." When she spoke again, her voice already cracked from crying. Yes, it was easy for her to cry on cue. After all, she already lived twice and died ame death in both times. She had a lot of awful memories to cry about if she wanted to. "Brother, do you hate Neoma now?"

    Eww to herself.

    She hated talking in third person but Nero liked it.

    From the corner of her eye, she saw Trevor give her performance a slow p. Tsk, so the demon boy knew that she was only acting, huh?

    "I don''t hate you, Neoma," Nero said in a hesitant voice. "But I don''t want to see you for the meantime."

    "So, you really hate Neoma," she said between sobs. This time, she cried harder. "Neoma is sorry, Brother. Please don''t hate Neoma."

    It seemed like her acting affected Lewis because he turned to her with a worried look on his face. The glow in his golden eyes told her that he was ready to break down the door and fight Nero for making her "cry."

    <em>Gosh, Nero. Just open the door before Lewis goes on a rampage.</em>

    But she was d that Lewis was acting that way. It only meant that her acting skills were still on point.

    Her prayer was answered when the door finally cracked open.

    She took it as an invitation toe in. But before she went in, she turned to Trevor and Lewis first.

    "Stay here. Brother Nero and I need privacy," she told Trevor and Lewis. The demon boy just smiled and waved at her. But her poor son looked sad to be separated from her. "Please try not to kill each other, okay?"

    She entered the room without waiting for the two to respond.

    When the door behind her closed, the room darkened just a little bit. Thanks to the shining shimmering aura of the Soul Beasts on either side of the bed, the room remained well-lit.

    <em>Gosh, Tteokbokki, look at them. They look intimidating unlike you. How can a tiger and a tortoise look scarier than a red dragon?</em>

    Tteokbokki growled in her mind. <em>Shut it, thug princess.</em>

    But she wasn''t merely bullying her Soul Beast.

    The White Tiger on the left side of the bed was just lyingzily on the floor. Even though it looked sleepy, she just knew that once she moved to attack Nero, the tiger wouldn''t hesitate to eat her in one bite.

    <em>Anyway¡­</em>

    The ck Tortoise that saved her from the pond a few years ago was on the right side of the bed. It was sleeping, and so was the small ck serpent on top of its shell.

    <em>No wonder Nero doesn''t need Sir Glenn to guard him 24/7.</em>

    "Why are you crying?" Nero, who was seated on the edge of the bed, asked her with a nk look on his face. "Why do you care whether I hate you or not?"

    <em>Woah, woah, woah.</em>

    Where did the tantrume from?

    "Brother, why are you asking that?" she asked in a cracked voice. "Of course Neoma doesn''t want you to hate her."

    "Really?" he asked her bitterly. "But it seems like I''m not as important to you as you are to me."

    "What are you saying, Brother?"

    "You risked your life for His Majesty," he reminded her coldly. "I feel betrayed, Neoma. Is our father the most important person in your life now?"

    <em>Oh.</em>

    That was the problem?

    To be honest, she thought Nero didn''t want to see her because he felt guilty that he almost killed her. She was surprised to know that he was bitter because she saved their father.

    <em>Gosh, he''s really a child.</em>

    "Neoma just doesn''t want you to be a murderer, Brother," she said with a puppy dog eyes look on her face. "If you killed His Majesty, you would have been sentenced to death due to treason."

    Her brother just gave her a cold look.

    Ah, it looked like she had to work hard to suck up to Nero¨C

    "His Majesty isn''t a part of our family, Neoma," Nero reminded her coldly. "Don''t ever try to sacrifice your life for our father again. Just endure for a little longer. Once I''mpletely healed, I will return and take care of your properly." He stood up and walked towards her. Then, he cupped her face between his hands. "Neoma, listen to me. All you need is me, okay? So please distant yourself from His Majesty."

    She raised her head and looked at her brother straight in the eye.

    To be honest, she wanted to keep their sibling rtionship the way that it was right now. But Nero was starting to be toxic. And she had no room for toxic people in her life. If her twin brother continued behaving this way, his possessiveness might just be the end of her in this lifetime.

    <em>Well, it''s my fault. I made Nero believe that I''m a weak, dependent child who needs other people to survive. I''m partially responsible for this controlling behavior of his.</em>

    Maybe it was time to show her twin brother the real her.

    "Nero," she said in a serious, mature tone that seemed to surprise her twin. "It''s true that I need you¨C but you''re not the only person that I need in my life."

    "Neoma¡­?"

    "Yes, I am Neoma," she confirmed with a nod. "I''m capable of protecting myself. But of course, I still need to rely on other people."

    Hurt crossed his eyes as he pulled his hand away from her face, then he took a step backwards as if he couldn''t believe that she was the Neoma that he knew and loved. "Are you throwing me away because I''m useless to you until I''m fully recovered?"

    "No, that''s just all in your head," she denied in a clear voice. "Nero, I''m sorry but to be honest, I''ve been working for His Majesty since I was five years old. That''s why I can''t and don''t want to follow your order regarding distancing myself from our father. We may not have a good father-daughter rtionship. But we have a beneficial boss-employee rtionship."

    Her poor twin brother looked very confused. "I don''t understand, Neoma¡­"

    "I made a deal with His Majesty," she confessed, clenching her hands tight. It was hard for her to confess this. Even her big brain wasn''t sure if she was doing the right thing. But she was sure of this: she didn''t want Nero to end up as a psychotic, possessive person like he did in her first life. And she didn''t want to take Dahlia''s ce as her twin brother''s object of obsession. "Nero, in exchange of taking your ce, he will give me back my freedom once you returned."

    He looked shocked by his confession. "You''ll leaving the pce¡­?"

    "His Majesty will give me a duchess title along with a small dukedom," she added with a nod. "My real goal is to be ady of leisure."

    "Where am I in that n, Neoma?"

    She smiled sadly because she knew her answer would hurt him even more. "Nero, I will root for you to be the next emperor."

    "No," he whispered in disbelief. He looked so hurt and betrayed. It was as if she stabbed him in the chest with her hurtful words. "Neoma, please tell me you''re lying."

    "I''m not," she deadpanned. "You can even ask His Majesty for the copy of the contract that we made if you want."

    Once again, he looked shocked.

    But this time, he got over it almost instantly. It seemed like it finally sank in that she was showing him her true self.

    "Leave," Nero said coldly. "This time, I really don''t want to see you."

    "I understand," Neoma said firmly. She didn''t expect that to be the receiving end of Nero''s anger would hurt¨C but it did. Maybe she loved him twin brother more than she''d like to admit. "But please visit Hanna," she said before she turned her back on her twin brother. "She saved your life so you owe her a thank you, Nero."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOUR MAJESTY, may I know where the Lynx Ring is kept?" Dominic Zavaroni asked Emperor Niki while they were walking in the hallway leading to the room where Prince Nero was. "I didn''t see Princess Neoma wear it a while ago."

    "All the items that Neoma received from the crowning ceremony were stored in the Royal Treasury Room," Emperor Niki said, then he turned to him. "Why? Are you going to take it back?"

    "No, of course not," he said while shaking his head. Then, he stopped walking. When he did, His Majesty also halted to face him. Even Sir Glenn, who walked behind them, stopped in his tracks. "Your Majesty, I just want to make it clear that the Lynx Ring is a gift to Princess Neoma and not Prince Nero."

    His Majesty looked surprised by that. "Why are you giving Neoma a precious item that''s supposed to be for the future ruler of the empire? The Astello Church only gives presents to either the crown prince or the emperor."

    "That''s an old custom that I want to change now," he said firmly. "Your Majesty, as the leader of the Astello Church, I was forced to choose your side during your fight with Princess Nichole in the past. I chose and supported you because you were the crown prince back then, and a royal princess is nothing but a mere source of life force for the royal family." He clenched his fists tight. "I never stopped regretting my choice back then."

    "You don''t have to choose again," the emperor said. "Nero and Neoma aren''t fighting for the throne."

    "I know and I''m d that it''s the case for the young royal twins," he said genuinely. "But I want you to know in advance that if Princess Neoma''s life is in danger, be it because of the cult or the harsh treatment of the empire to royal princesses, I will break thews of the empire and the temple to save her."

    "Are you saying that you''re willing tomit treason for Neoma?" Emperor Niki asked in a low, angry tone. "My daughter is different from Princess Nichole, Your Holiness."

    "I know that. And I''m not saying that I willmit treason. All I''m saying is I will do everything and anything to protect Her Royal Highness. I will never let the young royal princess go through the same pain that Princess Nichole experienced," Dominic said, then he smiled at the emperor. "Your Majesty, if you don''t want to lose me as the saint of the empire, please make sure that Princess Neoma will be safe from both the cult and your family."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 118 - HIS MAJESTY VS. HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS

    NEOMA was a little surprised when she met Emperor Niki and Saint Zavaroni when she came out of Nero''s room.

    Gosh, her eyes were still puffy from fake crying.

    No wonder the saint looked worried. On the other hand, her Papa Boss''s brows furrowed in confusion as if he couldn''t believe that she was capable of crying.

    <em>Yes, Papa Boss. Neoma the Great also cries. And loses.</em>

    "Greetings, gentlemen," Neoma said in a cracked voice. To be honest, it wasn''t the proper greeting for the emperor and the saint. But only Sir Glenn, Trevor, and Lewis were there so she didn''t care that much. "Nero is throwing tantrums so be careful approaching him."

    "Did you two fight?" Emperor Niki asked. "It looks like your brother made you cry."

    "No, these are tears of joy because I won the fight," she insisted despite her gross runny nose. "I dropped thest words and walked out first so it''s my win."

    "So you really fought," her Papa Boss said while shaking his head. "But it''s normal between siblings to do that. It will be weirder if you don''t have fights with Nero."

    Was her father talking about his own experience with his twin sibling?

    She wanted to say that their "fights" were different though. After all, her grumpy father and crazy aunt''s "fights" involved literally trying to kill each other. On the other hand, her fight with Nero was more on the normal side. But could she really call it "normal?"

    <em>I mean, maybe Nero and I are the only eight-year old twins in the world who fight because one is getting obsessed with the other.</em>

    Wait, that sounded wrong.

    "Nero doesn''t want to see me right now, Papa Boss," she said. "I''m just going to y with Lewis and Trevor since my brother doesn''t want to hang out with me."

    It wasn''t like she wanted to "y" with Trevor.

    She just remembered that her father told her this morning that the talking book had something to discuss with her.

    Anyway, her thoughts were cut-off when she saw her Papa Boss re at Trevor.

    The demon boy, on the other hand, turned his gaze away from his father.

    <em>Gosh, what''s with those two?</em>

    "Bring Glenn with you," her Papa Boss said, then he turned to the knight. "Glenn, make sure that the demon boy can''t touch even a strand of Neoma''s hair."

    Sir Glenn bowed to the emperor. "As you wish, Your Majesty."

    She, on the other hand, was shocked. If only she could recreate "shocked memes," she would have done it to express how surprised she was with what her father said. She was confused, to be honest.

    In her heart, she knew that Papa Boss just showed a little bit of concern for her.

    Her big brain just couldn''t process it. Whenever her Papa Boss would show her a tiny bit of kindness, she would automatically think: "what''s the catch?"

    <em>I''m sorry, Papa Boss. This daughter of yours is a jaded grown-up inside. No hard feelings.</em>

    "Please stop treating me like I''m a criminal," Trevorined lightly, then he turned to the emperor with a bow. "I will behave around Her Royal Highness Princess Neoma, Your Majesty."

    Her Papa Bosspletely ignored the talking book.

    She, on the other hand, raised a brow at the way Trevor addressed her. <em>Why did he suddenly call me by my formal title?</em>

    "Princess Neoma, can I set an appointment with you?" Saint Zavaroni asked kindly. "May I speak with you after I check on Prince Nero''s condition?"

    "Of course, Your Holiness," she said with a smile. "I''ll wait for you in my pce."

    "I also need to talk to you after I check on Nero. Keep your schedule clear after your appointment with His Holiness," her Papa Boss demanded. When she gave her father a confused look, he raised a brow at her. "What?"

    "Nothing, Papa Boss," Neoma said, then he let out a deep sigh. "Gosh, I''m so in-demand these days."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "SO, WHY did you fight with Neoma?" Niki asked his son after Saint Zavaroni left the room. West (the White Tiger) and North (the ck Tortoise), his Soul Beasts, were sleeping at his feet as he stood in front of Nero who was seated on his bed. "You made your sister cry."

    To be honest, he felt awkward trying to meditate between his children.

    But he didn''t want Nero and Neoma''s fight to be serious eventually, so he decided to meddle with his children''s business.

    <em>I''m only doing this because I don''t want to be on His Holiness''s bad side, okay?</em>

    "Your Majesty, Neoma told me that she''s working for you," Nero said coldly while looking up at him with empty eyes. "Is it true that you made a contract with her? That in exchange of taking my ce, you''re going to give her freedom once I''m fully recovered?"

    Of course, his first thought was to doubt Nero and see if he was just trying to fool him into confessing the contract that he made with Neoma. As an emperor, he couldn''t simply trust anyone¨C even his own children. Especially not a male heir like Nero.

    After all, he betrayed his father in the past. He wouldn''t be surprised if Nero does the same to him. To be honest, he was prepared for that day toe.

    But it seemed like it wasn''t today.

    The fact that Neoma cried must mean that she already told her twin brother about their deal. It was understandable why Nero would get mad for learning the truth. After all, his arrogant son must be thinking that his twin sister''s world revolved around him only. But now that Nero knew the truth, it must have shattered his ego.

    "Wee to reality, Prince Nero," he said sarcastically that made his son re at him. "Neoma asked for three things in return of taking your ce. First, she asked me to cancel her engagement with Rubin Drayton. She wanted to gain the freedom of choosing her own husband."

    "That should be a basic right of every person in the world."

    "Not when you''re a noble¨C especially not when you''re a royal," he said. "Only a few have the luck to marry the person they love."

    The first couple that came into his mind was Rufus and Amber Quinzel.

    But then again, the two got lucky that they were both born from wealthy families. It also helped that both their families belonged to the Royal Faction.

    "Second, Neoma asked for a duchess title and a small dukedom," he continued when Nero didn''tment on hisst remark. "It seems like she''s adamant to leave the Royal Pce once you take back your ce as the rightful heir."

    "And you epted her terms?"

    "A life of a duchess would give Neoma more freedom than her title as the royal princess," he said firmly. "You know that the royal princesses born in the family have no use except for marrying them off to wealthy and powerful families."

    "I intend to change that when I steal the throne from you," his son said with confidence. "To be honest, I''m thinking of simply waiting for you to step down and let me sit on the throne. I was willing to wait but I changed my mind now. It seems like I need to seize the throne from you earlier than nned if I want to protect Neoma, Your Majesty."

    "It seems like you have a wrong impression of my rtionship with your twin sister, Nero," he said. He actually didn''t mind Nero''s threat regarding the throne. After all, he made the same threats to his father in the past. The thing that annoyed him was his son''s implication that he wasn''t doing his best to protect Neoma. "Do you know what her third wish was?" When Nero didn''t respond, he continued talking. "Neoma asked me to spend one hour with her every single day. We shared breakfast, lunch, and dinner together for the past three years, Nero. She might be closer to me now than she is to you."

    Nero hissed and stood up as if he was about to attack him.

    At that moment, West (the White Tiger) woke up, stood, and growled at Nero. North (the ck Tortoise), despite being silent, was also ready to attack his son for his sudden hostility towards him.

    "Stay put," he told his Soul Beasts. Then, he looked at his son. "Nero, Neoma isn''t a weak child that you need to protect. She''s stronger, smarter, and more cunning than you think. You always use me of belittling Neoma because she''s a girl. But by trying to control her and forcing her to depend on you, don''t you think it''s you who looks down on her the most?"

    His son looked shocked by his usation. Then, shame crossed his eyes as his face turned red. Ah, he must have hit a nerve for the royal prince to react that way.

    "If you want to hear about what Neoma has been doing for the past three years, I''m willing to tell you everything. I even have the reports of her aplishments," he offered to his son. "Ah, before I forget, I think you''ve misunderstood something."

    "Misunderstood what?"

    "Just because Neoma signed a contract with me doesn''t mean that she betrayed you," he said. To be honest, he didn''t know why he was doing this. All he knew was he didn''t want Neoma and Nero to end up like how Nichole and he parted ways. "Your twin sister is working hard to protect your crown. She''s doing her best to make sure that you have afortable ce to return to. A person who just wants her freedom won''t put her life at risk for someone that she doesn''t care about."

    The royal prince suddenly turned teary-eyed. It seemed like he was embarrassed by it, so he turned his gaze away from him.

    It was toote though, since he already saw his tears.

    <em>He''s still really a kid.</em>

    "I want to hear what Neoma has been doing for the past three years," Nero said in a soft, shy voice before he turned to him again. Ah, his face was as red as a tomato. If Neoma was here, she would haveughed at how embarrassed her twin brother looked at the moment. "But I want to visit Hanna first," he said. "I haven''t thanked her yet for saving my life ."

    "Very well. I will send Alphen and Stephanie here to assist you. For you to be able to move freely around the pce, you will have to dress up as ''Lady Nara Quinzel'' again," Niki told his son. "My White Tiger and ck Tortoise will remain as your personal guards."

    <strong>***</strong>

    <em><strong>[VALENTINE SPECIAL EXTRA]</strong></em>

    Note: This takes ce three years ago, a few months after Nero and Trevor entered thetter''s territory.

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOUR MAJESTY, I''m here to report Princess Neoma''s expenses for the month," Kyle reported to him when he came to his office that morning. "Her Royal Highness''s finances for this month exceeded the usual amount of money that she spends monthly."

    Niki raised his head to look at the count. To be honest, money wasn''t the issue. Since Neoma was acting as the royal prince now, her funds were enough to run a huge vige. But this was the first time that she splurged this much. It would be more appropriate to say that he was curious as to where she spent her money on. "What did she purchase for her to exceed her usual funds?"

    "ording to the report that I received from the Royal Kitchen, Her Royal Highness requested the Royal Chef to make premium heart-shaped choctes for every single person working in the nco and Yule Pce, Your Majesty."

    He was surprised to hear that.

    Then, she remembered that Neoma told him yesterday that she''d "borrow" the servants in his residence¨C including the royal guards¨C for an hour or two today. She also requested Glenn''s presence. That was the reason why he was alone in his office with Kyle.

    Since he was used to Neoma''s ridiculous antics, he didn''t ask what she was going to do to the servants. He just asked Glenn to keep an eye on the royal princess.

    <em>But Glenn spoils Neoma too much.</em>

    "Her Royal Highness also ordered a lot of roses from a luxury flower shop," the count continued his report. "I heard it was enough to hand a single-stemmed red rose for everyone working for both the nco and Yule Pce."

    "No wonder she exceeds her usual budget," he said nonchntly. After all, that amount of money wouldn''t be enough to make him bankrupt anyway. "But what''s the asion? Why is she suddenly generous to the servants?"

    "I saw Princess Neoma a while ago and she greeted me a ''Happy Heart''s Day,''" his aid said. "Apparently, today is the day where a person is encouraged to give presents like choctes, roses, candies, essories, etc. to the people that they like. Her Royal Highness also exined that there are two kinds of chocte that a person can hand out today: an obligatory chocte for your friends, and a "romantic chocte" for the person that you want to "date.""

    He raised a brow at that. "I haven''t heard a holiday or custom like that and I''ve seen several other cultures in my life."

    Sometimes he wondered if Neoma was just really creative, or something else gave her such ideas. He couldn''t believe that a five-year-old little girl who had never stepped foot outside the Royal Pce coulde up with interesting ideas.

    "That''s the same for me, Your Majesty," Kyle said. "But the servants are very thrilled right now. Everyone is in high spirits after receiving a precious present from Her Royal Highness." He scratched his cheek and he sounded hesitant when he spoke again. "And today, love seems to be in the air. The servants and the royal guards are using the royal princess''s "special event" to confess their feelings to the person that they like."

    He just rolled his eyes at that.

    Their conversation was interrupted when they heard a knock on the door. Then, Glenn entered the office with a bunch of flowers and choctes in his arms. The foolish knight''s face looked radiant than normal.

    "Your Majesty, I received choctes and flowers from Her Royal Highness and the others¡­" Glenn said, then he trailed off while looking at him and Kyle back and forth. "Oh. His Majesty and Kyle didn''t receive choctes and flowers from Princess Neoma?"

    "I saw Princess Neoma a while ago and she didn''t hand me a present," Kyle said, then he let out a deep sigh. "The choctes look delicious so it made me feel sad a little. What a shame that Her Royal Highness hates me."

    "It''s because you''re mean to Princess Neoma. You don''t even deserve a grass from her," Glenn said to the count who red at the knight. As usual, Glenn just ignored Kyle before he turned to him. "Don''t worry, Your Majesty," he said with an annoying bright smile on his face. "I''m pretty sure that Princess Neoma will give you a chocte and a flowerter."

    Niki rolled his eyes. "I am not expecting a gift from Neoma."

    ***

    That night, Niki spent the night waiting¨C uhm, reading reports.

    On the other hand, Neoma, knowing that she made a lot of people happy that day by handing out choctes and roses for everyone, slept peacefully.

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 119 - CONFESSION OF THE SEDUCTRESS PRINCESS

    AS SOON as Neoma feltTteokbokki''s scales melt on her face, she gasped. Then, knowing that she couldn''t move in time to avoid Lewis''s punch, she just closed her eyes and waited to be hit.

    But as expected, she felt Lewi''s energy wave but it went passed her without hitting her. That meant he stopped his fist when it was only a breath''s face away from the tip of her nose.

    When she opened her eyes, she confirmed that she was right.

    "Sorry, Princess Neoma," Lewis said, then he dropped his arm to his side. "Did I hurt you?"

    "Nope," Neoma said with a smile, satisfied to know that Lewis noticed when her ''Gear Mode'' was suddenly "switched off." "Good job, Lewis."

    He just nodded, then he pulled out the ointment from the pocket of his pants.

    Then, he silently put the gel in the ointment that felt like aloe vera on her skin. It was cool and sticky.

    She let out a sigh of relief when she felt the cool feeling on her hot face. Since Tteokbokki''s scales were scalding hot, they always left a burning sensation on her skin. It wasn''t enough to literally burn her. But it still stings a little.

    <em>Still, I need to endure. After my fight with the grown-up Lewis, I decided to learn how to cover my whole body with Tteokbokki''s scales. At this rate, I will die if I happen to meet other strong opponents.</em>

    "Is this seriously what you mean when you say you''re going to "y" with us?"

    She turned to Trevor on the ground under the shade of a huge tree. The demon boy waszily lying on his side while eating the fruits meant for her. But since they were alone in her personal training ground, nobody would criticize Trevor for eating the crown prince''s snacks.

    Ah, right. Sir Glenn was there a while ago to guard her (more like keep an eye on Trevor). But the knight was summoned by her Papa Boss to escort Nero. Apparently, her twin brother wanted to visit Hanna.

    <em>Thank goodness Nero didn''t sulk in his room.</em>

    "Uh-huh," she said. "This is how Lewis and I usually y. If we''re not roasting bad guys, we train to be stronger together."

    "It''s no use though," Trevor said, then he put a piece of grape in his mouth before he spoke again. "Your soul doesn''t resonate well with your Soul Beast. You have to be in sync with him first before you could use your dragon''s full power." He put another fruit in his mouth. "As far as I know, you have to find out your Soul Beast''s real name¨C the name given by Yule."

    "I know that, of course," she said, then she crossed her arms over chest while thinking. "I have a feeling that I already heard Tteokbokki''s real name. I just can''t remember it." When she tilted her head at one side, Lewis also did the same. She almostughed at how cute her son was. "I also can''t remember where or from whom did I hear Tteokbokki''s real name." She opened the link in her mind to connect with her Soul Beast. "Tteokbokki, do you remember it?"

    "No," Tteokbokki said. "All I remember is how powerful I felt back then."

    After saying that, Tteokbokki cut off the link in their mind.

    Gosh, it seemed like her Soul Beast was going through a rebellious phase. These days, she felt like he was avoiding her. He would only answer to her call during training time.

    <em>If he continues acting this way, I''ll go to his ce and spank him.</em>

    "Well, I guess we can''t use that mysterious "cheat code" again," she said, then she turned to Lewis who just finished putting ointment on her face. "Thank you."

    "Are you done "ying?"" Trevor asked, then he got up and stretched his arms. "I have something to discuss with you."

    "Ah, right," she said, then she sat on the pic nket on the ground. She picked up the towel on top of the pic basket. Then, Lewis handed her the ss bottle of cold water. "Thanks, Lewis," she said, then she drank from the battle.

    Lewis, who looked satisfied after serving her, stood stiffly behind her.

    "So, what are you going to discuss with me?" she asked when she turned to Trevor. "Papa Boss also told me that I need to talk to you."

    "I need your help to create a strong security around my territory," Trevor said while moving his head side to side. "To be exact, I need you to return the Death''s Scythe in the throne that you saw in my ce before."

    She gasped when she heard that. "You''re taking Skewer away from me?"

    "Yes. I''m sorry but I need it so that the Devil and their minions wouldn''t be able to enter my territory again."

    "How sure are you that it will work?" she asked him with a raised brow. "My crazy aunt just controlled the Death''s Scythe when she convinced Nero to kill my father. She even managed to change its form from a scythe into a spear."

    "But the Devil didn''t touch the Death''s Scythe," he reminded her. "Your crazy aunt was only able to control it because Prince Nero was the one holding it. But it doesn''t change the fact that she couldn''t touch the scythe herself. Especially not after the saint purified it."

    "Then, are you really sure that Nero will be safer if you lock your territory with the Death''s Scythe?"

    "Uh-huh."

    She let out a deep sigh. "Then, I have no choice but to return it to you."

    Heughed softly. "Don''t worry, Princess Neoma. I will return it to you as soon as Prince Nero is fully healed." He smiled brightly at her. "After all, everything that''s mine will be yours if we get married¨C"

    "I thought I told you to stop flirting with me, you grandpa?"

    Thank goodness Trevor wasn''t in his grown-up form right now. She didn''t want to admit this but she was really weak to this demon boy''s face. But despite being a sucker for good-looking people, she still knew how to use logic.

    "Hey, I''m not that old," Trevor said in a defensive voice. "If youbine your ages in all lifetimes that you lived, how old would you be?"

    "Forty if Ibined the first and second life that I have, and forty eight if I add my eight years in this timeline."

    "See? The gap between our mental ages isn''t that big," the demon book said. "I was thirteen years old when I was sacrificed to be the Devil''s Grimoire. Forty two years have passed since then. That means mentally, I''m fifty five years old. So I''m only seven year older than you, Princess Neoma."

    She ignored everything else he said except for one thing: "You were sacrificed?"

    "I''m sorry but I won''t divulge on that topic," he said sneakily, and he turned to Lewis before changing the topic fast. "If we''re talking about age, then wouldn''t Lewis be the oldest among us? After all, a nine-tailed fox has to live for a thousand year as a fox before it gets to be born as a human."

    "Oh," she said, surprised. Now that Trevor mentioned it, she remembered that it was also the case in the Kdrama that she watched in her second life. She decided to tease Lewis then. "Lewis, you''re a grandpa," she said when she looked up at him. "Is that why your hair is silver?"

    Trevorughed aloud at her joke.

    Lewis, on the other hand, went pale and looked at her as if she just betrayed him.

    "Sorry!" Neoma said right away, feeling guilty that she threw a joke that might have offended her son. "Please don''t be upset, Lewis!"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "I ALREADY said that I''m fine, Nowell," Brigitte Griffiths assured Count Nowell Elwood, her cousin (from the mother side) and personal assistant, for the nth time. "Look."

    To prove to him that she was really fully recovered, she stood up in her high heels and twirled around in front of him. Well, to be honest, she still wasn''t supposed to wear those kinds of shoes but she insisted.

    Nowell was able to hide her shy and "scandalous" clothes though. ording to him, she shouldput on more clothes to avoid having a cold.

    So right now, she wore a stylish set of pink pantsuit. Since she was still not in the mood to doll up, she just tied her hair in a cute, messy bun. Then, she applied light make up and just let her natural beauty shine.

    "The king will still hear about this incident, Princess Brigitte," Nowell, who wore apletely dark suit, said with his arms crossed over his chest. Her cousin was muscr and looked big overall, thus he looked intimidating for most people. It didn''t help that he had a huge scar on his forehead and he was always scowling. "I can''t believe that the Great Moonasterion Empire let a high-esteemed guest like you to get hurt during the crowning ceremony. Is His Majesty''s power deteriorating now?"

    "Shh," she scolded her cousin, then she slightly hit the back of his head. If she wasn''t wearing heels, she wouldn''t have been able to do that. After all, Nowell was a foot taller than her. "I''ll kill you if you report that incident to my father. You should take it to your grave, okay?"

    Nowell red at her.

    She red harder at him.

    Thanks goodness only the two of them were in the infirmary right now. A while ago, Madam Hammock brought Hanna Quinzel to the other room for more treatment. Duke and Duchess Quinzel followed their daughter, of course.

    And thus, she was left alone with Nowell.

    "I don''t understand you, Princess Brigitte," Nowell said in frustration. "You can totally use this incident to ckmail His Majesty to marry you. That''s our purpose for attending the crowning ceremony."

    "Well, I changed my mind."

    His cousin''s eye widened in shock. "Excuse me?"

    "I said I changed my mind," she said, then she twirled a strand of her hair around her finger. "I won''t follow Father''s order anymore. I never wanted to marry His Majesty anyway."

    "But you need to do it for your goals."

    "My new friend made me realize that I don''t need to depend on a man to do what I want to do," she insisted. By her "new friend," of course she meant His Royal Highness Prince Nero. Even though he was a child, the crown prince was mature for his age. He was also ten times more decent than most of the noblemen that she knew. "I will protect my people without relying on a political marriage."

    "That''s a nice ideal and all but in reality, you''re only a princess in title," Nowell said bluntly. "If you lose your father''s favor, you will also lose the little amount of power that you hold over the empire, Princess Brigitte."

    She bit her lower lip because even though Nowell''s words hurt, he only spoke the truth. "I don''t want to see you anymore," she said, then she waved her hand dismissively. "Leave. I can walk on my own," she said, then she walked past him. "Hmph!"

    When she was near the exit, she froze when she heard a knock.

    Then, when the doors opened, she was surprised when Sir Glenn entered the room. She almost got blind at how bright the knight''s smile was.

    "Princess Brigitte, I''m d that you''re already up," Sir Glenn said, his beautiful smile almost made her drool. "I was thinking of carrying you to your new room if you were still asleep."

    She blinked in surprise.

    <em>He was going to carry me¡­?</em>

    "Ah, His Majesty prepared a room for you in the nco Pce," the knight exined. "And Madam Hammock put a spell in the room that will heal you faster while sleeping. That''s why the madam ordered me to bring you to that room as soon as possible. But since Lord Elwood is here and you can already walk¨C Princess Brigitte!"

    Sir Glenn yelled in surprise when she fell on the floor.

    Of course, that was all just an act. She fell on purpose to look weak in front of the knight. Nowell was aware of that since her cousin knew her very well. That was the reason why Nowell just stood there and watched her act.

    "Princess Brigitte, are you okay?" Sir Glenn, who got down on one knee to check on her, asked. "Did you get hurt?"

    "No, I''m fine," she answered in a soft, sweet voice that suited her "damsel-in-distress act." "Thank you for worrying about me, Sir Glenn. To be honest, I''m trying to see if I can already walk on my own. But it seems like I''m still too weak to move." She looked up at Nowell and gave him a silent "go-away" look. "Too bad Nowell is on his way to send a report to my father."

    "Ah, right. I need to deliver an urgent message to the king," Nowell said in a disinterested tone. "Sir Glenn, may I implore you to escort our princess to her room in my ce?"

    "I don''t mind, Lord Elwood," Sir Glenn said, then he turned to her. "But of course, only if Princess Brigitte will allow it."

    She immediately turned to the knight and nodded vigorously. "I''ll be in your care, Sir Glenn."

    He smiled and nodded. "Then, please excuse me."

    After saying that, Sir Glenn carefully carried her in his arms like a princess that she was.

    It took her all she got not to squeal from giddiness. Then, she "calmly" wrapped her arms around the knight''s neck.

    They said goodbye to Nowell before leaving the room.

    <em>Oh my gosh! Sir Glenn''s arms feel so sturdy! His chest and whole body are solid! And most of all, he smells so good!</em>

    "Please don''t hesitate to tell me if you''re ufortable, Princess Brigitte," Sir Glenn said with a smile.

    "No, I feelfortable in your arms," Brigitte said while looking at him straight in the eye. "Sofortable that I want to stick to you like glue¡­" She trailed-off when she realized that she said it aloud. "Damn."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 120 - MAIDENS IN LOVE

    "HANNA, SWEETIE, do you want to go home for the meantime?" her mother, who sat beside her on the bed, asked. "Your father already got permission from His Majesty. You may leave with us if you want to."

    Hanna, who was about to drink the herbal tea that Madam Hammock made for her, stopped and blinked in surprise with her mother''s question. "I thought I''m supposed to stay in the pce until the Moon Festival is over. Am I being kicked out because of what happened, Mother?"

    She knew that she was only invited in the Royal Pce to be the crown prince''spany. After the crowning ceremonyes the week-long festival. That meant her job as the royal prince''spany wasn''t over yet.

    <em>Anyway¡­</em>

    She and her mother were alone in the infirmary now.

    Princess Brigitte of the Hazelden Kingdom was with them a while ago. But her cousin and aide dropped by a while ago to bring her a set of new clothes. The first princess excused herself and went to the other room with her attendant to change her outfit.

    "No, you''re not being kicked out," her mother said while shaking her head. "But your father and I thought that you''d be morefortable to rest at home. Since the week-long festival will begin tomorrow, your father will be very busy. He''s afraid that he may not be able to visit you in the pce as often as he''d like to by then. You know that he''s the leader of the Public Order, don''t you?"

    She politely nodded as a response.

    Her father, Duke Rufus Quinzel, was the captain of the ck Hawk Knights¨C the private army of their family. But aside from that position, His Majesty also assigned her father as the leader of the Public Order.

    <em>It''s one of the positions that my uncle, the former Commander Gavin Quinzel of the White Lion Knights, has left when he betrayed His Majesty. I heard rumors that say our father is being punished by the emperor by making him shoulder all the responsibilities that my uncle has left behind. But it doesn''t look that way to me.</em>

    "I can''t also visit the Royal Pce without a proper reason," her mother added. "And just like your father, I also have my duties as the Duchess of House Quinzel. Our family is heavily involved in the preparations for the Moon Festival after all." She held her hand and squeezed it gently. "Having said that, your father and I think that you''ll still be safe in our home. We can see you anytime we want to if you''re back at our house, sweetie."

    "Mother, I understand why you and Father are worried about me," she said with a smile. "But I still want to stay in the Royal Pce and fulfill my duties as the crown prince''spany. I like spending time with Neoma. And I want to make the most of the remaining time that we have together." She squeezed her mother''s hand gently. "The incident with the Devil couldn''t be helped because they''re very strong. But as long as it''s not the Devil, no one or nothing else could hurt me while I''m here, Mother. Please allow me to finish my duty and spend more time with my precious friend."

    Her mother looked at her warmly, then she smiled. "I''m d to see that you''re getting along well with Princess Neoma."

    She smiled and nodded as a response.

    "But is Her Royal Highness the only reason why you want to stay in the Royal Pce?" her mother asked in a teasing tone. "Your father is worried about your rtionship with the real Prince Nero."

    She felt her cheeks flush.

    "Since you''re still very young, I assured your father that what you may feel for the crown prince is just a silly crush," her mother continued. "Although after you risked your life for Prince Nero, your father and I both think that your feelings for him may be deeper than we like to admit."

    She took a deep breath before she had the courage to ask. "Mother, am I not allowed to like Prince Nero?"

    Her mother fell silent for a while, then she shook her head gently before she exined. "Hanna, sweetie, do you know that you''re a candidate to be the crown princess?"

    She was surprised to hear that. "Me? But bing the crown princess means¡­" She felt her cheeks burn even more. "B-Being Prince Nero''s w-wife."

    "Exactly," her mother said. "Sweetie, you are very much qualified to be Prince Nero''s future bride. After all, you''re the only daughter of House Quinzel. Fortunately, marriages between second cousins are legal in the empire, so your rtion to the crown prince won''t be an issue."

    Hearing that made her feel happy.

    But that also made her wonder about one thing.

    "Mother, I''ll be honest. I''ve always thought that I am qualified to be the crown prince''s future wife," she said. She wasn''t being arrogant though. She just simply knew how political marriages worked. After all, there were only a few high-ranked noblewomen like her around Prince Nero''s age. "But since you never told me about it before, I pushed that thought in the corner of my mind."

    "Your father and I have a reason why we didn''t tell you that you are considered as one of the candidates to be the crown princess," her mother said carefully. "Aside from the fact that you''re still too young to engage in a conversation regarding your own marriage, we don''t want you to think that our family is sacrificing you to atone for the sins that Sir Gavin Quinzel, your uncle, hadmitted against the royal family."

    <em>Ah, the betrayal. Still¡­</em>

    "Why would you think that way, Mother?"

    "There''s a reason why His Majesty didn''t heavily punish House Quinzel despite what your uncle did," her mother exined. "House Quinzel is one of the oldest families in the empire, sweetie. That means our family has umted wealth and influence that even the royal family couldn''t seize. So instead of directly punishing us, people say that His Majesty ns to take everything away from House Quinzel through a political marriage between you and Prince Nero. Your father and I don''t want you to hear such ridiculous ims. And thus, we opted not to tell you about your position as a candidate crown princess until after youring-of-age, at least." She smiled with a hint of sadness in her eyes. "But who would have thought that you''ll fall for the crown prince this early? Please don''t grow up so fast, sweetie. You''re still a baby."

    She would surely stay as a baby to her mother and father''s eyes forever.

    <em>I''m lucky to be blessed with loving parents.</em>

    "Mother, don''t worry," she assured her mother. "I''m not in a hurry to be a grown-up. Moreover, I''m aware of my privilege as the daughter of a duke. Not every little girl in the empire has a choice regarding their marriage. There are girls my age that are already being married or sold off to men much older than them."

    Pity crossed her mother''s eyes.

    "I will not waste the privilege that I was born with thanks to Mother and Father," she said with a smile. "I will cherish my life the way you cherish it."

    Her mother smiled and hugged her.

    Their moment was interrupted when they heard a knock on the door. A few momentster, Sir Glenn poked his head inside the room. Then, he smiled and let himself in. They exchanged polite greetings after that.

    "Pardon my intrusion," Sir Glenn said with a smile. "Young Lady, Lady Nara Quinzel is requesting your presence in the next room."

    She let out a soft gasp.

    ''Lady Nara Quinzel'' was the real Prince Nero''s disguise. That meant the one requesting for her presence wasn''t Neoma but the crown prince himself!

    <em>What should I do? I don''t want to look sickly in front of Prince Nero¡­</em>

    "Sir Glenn, may I implore you to wait and give us a few moments to prepare?" her mother, who stood up when she greeted the knight a while ago, said. "We promise not to make Nara wait for too long."

    Sir Glenn smiled and nodded before he bowed to them. "I will wait outside, Your Grace and Young Lady Quinzel."

    After bidding them goodbye, the knight left the room quietly.

    Then, her mother turned to her with a smile. "Now, shall I make my little princess prettier for her waiting prince?"

    Hanna''s face turned red but she couldn''t help but smile this time. "I''ll be in your care, Mother."

    <strong>***</strong>

    BRIGITTE was often scolded by her father and older brothers for beings "loud."

    They said a woman like her should just keep her mouth shut and listen to men. But did she listen to them? Of course not.

    But after her shameful slip of the tongue (aka her idental confession to Sir Glenn), she forgot how to use her voice. She couldn''t even look at him in the eye. Thank goodness the knight was gentleman enough to just smile at her a while ago.

    <em>I fell for the right man.</em>

    "Your Royal Highness, I shall wait outside your room," Sir Glenn told her when he gently tucked her in bed. "Once Lord Elwood returns, I shall leave my post."

    "Wait," Brigitte said, then she got up and grabbed the hem of Sir Glenn''s zer. She knew that it was rude and inappropriate to do so. Especially since she was a princess from a foreignnd. But this was now or never. "Sir Glenn, about what I said a while ago¡­"

    The knight smiled at her. "Should I pretend that I didn''t hear it, Your Royal Highness?"

    "No!" she said, then she bit her lower lip and apologized for raising her voice for no reason at all. "I mean, you can forget about the part where I cursed. It''s unbing of a princess to curse like that, isn''t it?"

    He chuckled softly. "I really don''t mind, Your Royal Highness."

    That reaction surprised her. It was as if Sir Glenn was used to seeing or hearing a princess curse. But was there really a princess like that? There couldn''t be one in the Royal Pce since the emperor only had a son. But whatever, it had nothing to do with her anyway.

    "Then, are you okay with someone like me, Sir Glenn?" she asked, her cheeks flush and her heart beating loud and fast against her chest. This was the first time that she confessed her feelings for someone. After all, this was the first time that she fell in love. "Since I don''t like beating around the bush, please allow me to be straightforward: I''d like to date you with the intention of getting married."

    She didn''t know that waiting for a response could be this nerve-wracking!

    And to be honest, this confession could be a reason for her to be disowned by her father, the King. She was tasked to seduce the emperor, not to be seduced by His Majesty''s personal knight. She didn''t regret it though.

    After all, she promised herself that once she returned to Hazelden, she would solve her problems with her own hands rather than depending on a political marriage.

    <em>I want to marry for love.</em>

    "Princess Brigitte, first of all, I''d like to thank you for liking me. Your confession made me happy," Sir Glenn said with a smile. But she noticed that his smile didn''t reach his eyes this time. "I''m sorry but I can''t ept your feelings, Your Royal Highness. Right now, my priority is to protect our crown prince," he exined, then he bowed to her. "I''m really sorry, Princess Brigitte."

    <em>Ah, this sucks.</em>

    Her heart hurt for being rejected. But surprisingly, she didn''t feel humiliated. After all, Sir Glenn took her confession seriously and gave her a proper response. He didn''t lead her on, and he didn''t make any excuses.

    The rejection she received was short, brutally honest, and yet gentle.

    "Thank you for being honest, Sir Glenn," Brigitte said with a sad smile on her face. Then, she stood up and bowed to the knight. "This is a selfish request but please don''t forget that a foreign princess from a farawaynd has you in her heart, my lord."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "ARE YOU really serious when you told me that you''re going to marry an average man?" Trevor asked her. "Why an average man though? It''s a shock to hear that from someone who''s obsessed with good-looking people."

    Neoma raised a brow at Trevor''s curiosity. But since it was a harmless question, she didn''t mind answering it. Plus, she needed to kill time anyway. Later, she had to return to her pce and meet with Saint Zavaroni. "I want a peaceful and quiet married life," she said. "And I really don''t mind if the man who will catch my attention is in-looking. Even though I like good-looking people, it wouldn''t be enough for me to stay interested in them if the only good thing about them is their face."

    "Ohh," the demon boy said. "Interesting. Since you have a strong personality, I thought you were the type of woman to shun love or marriage."

    "Just because I''m a strong, independent woman doesn''t mean I don''t want love or marriage," she said. "There are women who choose to be alone and I''m happy for them. But just because I crave for romantic love and a married life doesn''t make me less of a strong woman that I am. Why do people even assume that independent women don''t need love anyway?"

    "Well, it''s probably because strong women give off the vibes that they don''t need a man."

    "Hey, don''t assume that every woman wants a man for a partner," she corrected him. "But in my case, I want to fall in love with the right man in this lifetime."

    "And what''s the "right man" for you?"

    Neoma smirked at the talking book. "Definitely not you, Trevor."

    Lewis stifled aughter at her remark.

    "Hey, don''tugh at me," Trevorined at Lewis, then he turned to her with a confident smile. "I will work hard to change your mind, my Moon Princess."

    Whatever.

    <strong>***</strong>

    <em><strong>[A distant memory...]</strong></em>

    "MONA, have you gone crazy?" Gale asked her master who seemed to have lost her mind already. Right now, they were in Mona''s garden of sword lilies. Her master was practicing her (hopeless) swordsmanship, while she was having tea. "Do you really want to be Niki de Moonasterio''s woman?"

    Monaughed softly, then she turned around to face her. "Hey, don''t call His Royal Highness by his full name casually," she scolded her, then she put the wooden sword on her shoulder. "Anyway, is there a reason why I can''t be with him?"

    "I can give you a long list, you know," she said. "Let''s start off by the fact that you''re a Roseheart and he''s a de Moonasterio."

    Her master avoided her gaze.

    <em>Ah, someone is guilty.</em>

    "Mona, your n is the only n in the empire who can keep the royal family in check," she reminded her coldly. "Although House Roseheart already fell from grace, you still have the power to kill a de Moonasterio¨C"

    "Stop," Mona warned her. When she turned to her, she saw her pale blue eyes glow. She also noticed a glint of sadness in her master''s gaze. "Gale, I love him."

    Ah, it was already toote to stop her master''s craziness.

    "I understand, Master," Gale said. She rarely called Mona formally, only when she felt like it was appropriate to do so. And at that moment, she knew that her master needed her as a Spirit Guardian and not as a friend. "I will do everything I can to stop William from destroying your happiness. But¡­" She stood up and gave her master a sad smile. "Are you sure you won''t regret this, Master?"

    "I will definitely regret thister," Mona said with a softugh. But despite what she said, she saw the lovely glimmer in her eyes that told her she would make it work. "But Niki is worth fighting for, Gale."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 121 - THE LONELY LIFE OF A MOONASTERION PRINCESS

    <em><strong>[A distant memory...]</strong></em>

    DOMINIC ZAVARONI was shocked when a poor crow, hit by Princess Nichole''s silver arrow, hit him on the head when it fell down. "Ouch," heined. "Nichole, you did that on purpose, didn''t you?"

    Princess Nichole, who still held her famous silver bow called Artemis, justughed. "I didn''t know that you wouldn''t dodge it, silly Dominic," she said, then she dropped her silver bow. But before Artemis could hit the ground, it got engulfed in a silver-ish light before itpletely disappeared. The silver arrow that hit the now-dead crow also vanished. "Why did my Father summon you again?"

    He could only give the Princess Royal a sad smile.

    After all, as the Holy Saint, he couldn''t share with Princess Nichole the thing that he just discussed with His Majesty.

    "Ah, you can''t tell me," she said, then she sat on the stone railing of Luna Pce''s rooftop. "And yet, you sneaked in here to see me again. I created a strong barrier around this area but since you were the one who taught me how to do that, I guess I shouldn''t be surprised that it was easy for you to infiltrate my pce."

    He scoffed at that. "You call this rusty house a pce? Don''t make meugh. The Holy Knights'' quarters look more luxurious than this "pce.""

    "Then, why don''t you take me away from here?"

    He was so surprised by her question that he didn''t know what else to do than avoid her gaze.

    "Dominic, let''s run away."

    He closed his eyes and clenched his fists tight. "You know I can''t do that, Nichole."

    "Why not?" she asked casually. "I''m of legal age now, Dominic."

    He red at her. "Do you know how old I am?"

    "But in human years, aren''t you just a few years older than me?" she asked with a softugh. "And you''re just using that as an excuse, aren''t you?"

    "Nichole¡­"

    "Never mind," she said, then she changed the topic. "Dominic, I need your help."

    He was relieved that the Princess Royal immediately dropped the topic this time. "Help you with what?"

    "Recently, I feel like someone or something is watching my every move," she said seriously. "Whenever I''ll chase them, all I see is a ck crow with red eyes."

    His eyes widened in shock, then he turned to the dead crow on the ground.

    "It didn''t have red eyes," the royal princess said. "It wasn''t the same crow that kept following me these days."

    Ah, now he knew why the Princess Royal who didn''t enjoy hunting suddenly killed a bird. Yes, it was ironic that her weapon, the Artemis, was the best hunting tool in the empire. And yet, Princess Nichole refused to participate in hunting events.

    "I will look into it," he promised her. "Nichole, shouldn''t you tell Prince Niki about it?"

    "Niki already has his hands full because of his uing wedding," she said. "I don''t want to bother him. I can protect myself anyway."

    "This is one of the things that I don''t like about you," he said with a scowl. "You''re not alone, Nichole. Please learn how to depend on other people."

    "Isn''t it what I''m doing now?" she asked with a softugh. "I''m asking you, the love of my life, to help me."

    He definitely turned red when the Princess Royal called him the love of her life.

    It wasn''t like they had a romantic rtionship. Aside from their huge age gap, their love was impossible because he was the saint and she was the Princess Royal. He could never be selfish and leave the temple just because of his personal feelings.

    And Princess Nichole knew that.

    "Thank you for asking for my help, Nichole," he told her. "Please be safe, hmm?"

    She smiled and nodded, then she stood up and extended her hand to him. "Dominic, this is thest time I''m going to ask you: won''t you run away with me?"

    His chest tightened in a painful way.

    God knows how much he wanted to take that hand. But his conscience and his love for his god prevented him from doing so. Moreover, their believers needed a symbol of god more than ever. If he ran away, those poor children would lose their way.

    "Nichole¡­" Dominic said, then he took her hand. But instead of taking it with the intention of running away with her, he just took it and brought it near his mouth. "I am a loyal follower of Lord Yule, the Moon God."

    Nichole seemed like she already expected that kind of response from him. In the end, she just epted it and smiled at him¨C it was a bittersweet smile in his eyes. "May I be the most important person in your heart in our next lifetime, my Dominic."

    If only Dominic knew that it would be thest time that Princess Nichole could extend her hand to him, he would have grabbed it when he still had the chance...

    <strong>***</strong>

    "NICHOLE¡­" Dominic Zavaroni extended his hand even though he knew that Princess Nichole was no longer there to take it. But after dreaming about thest time that she asked him to run away with her, he couldn''t help but imagine a different scenario. One where he took her hand and ran away with her. "Let''s run away."

    "Okay," a female voice said, then she grabbed his hand. "Where do you want to go?"

    But instead of warm skin, he felt soft fur touch him.

    When Dominic opened his eyes, he wasn''t surprised to see Miss Gale, in her white bunny form, sitting on the back of her hand. "Greetings, Miss Gale."

    "Is it really the time for you to be sleeping?" Miss Gale asked, then she hopped off and sat on his chest instead. Her pastel pink eyes were focused on his face. Although she was in her bunny form, the Wind Spirit''s aura was still intimidating. "And here I am, wondering where you have gone to. I thought you were going to visit Princess Neoma after checking on Prince Nero?"

    "I just went back in my room to change my clothes and nap for a bit," he said, ashamed that he fell asleep when he was supposed to visit the young royal princess. "I''m sorry but do you know how long I''ve fallen asleep, Miss Gale?"

    "I saw you when youy on the bed," the Wind Spirit said. "You fell asleep for three minutes before you started to have a weird dream."

    <em>Just three minutes?</em>

    Argh, with how Miss Gale scolded him, he thought he had fallen asleep for more than an hour.

    "Did you dream about Princess Nichole again?"

    He almost had a heart attack because of Miss Gale''s straightforward question. If another person asked him about the former Princess Royal, he would have thrown a fit. But since it was the Wind Spirit, he''d probably die if he fought her one on one. "If I had known back then the ck crow with red eyes that Nichole mentioned that day would cause her demise, I would have taken her hand and ran away with her."

    The reason why he couldn''t truly hate Emperor Niki after he absorbed Princess Nichole''s life force was the fact that it was the only way to give her an honorable death back then. It was ruthless, but even now, he knew that the then crown-prince did the right thing.

    After all, The Crow ruined the Princess Royal so much that even he would rather kill her than see her suffer more.

    "It''s toote to regret your decision, Dominic."

    "That, I know," he said, then he decided to change the topic before the memories of Princess Nichole make him cry again. He carefully held Miss Gale in his hands before he got up. "Where have you been to, Miss Gale? I expected you to stick to Princess Neoma all the time."

    "I''m not Princess Neoma''s babysitter," sheined. "The young princess asked me to train her how to be a Summoner like Mona."

    "Well, she''s a Roseheart so the fact that Her Royal Highness turns out to be a Summoner like her mother isn''t surprising."

    "Uh-huh. I''m busy searching for Spirits that Princess Neoma can practice summoning," she said. "Luckily, I found one. It''s a problem "child" but it seems like the young princess is good at handling problematic children anyway."

    He smiled and nodded in agreement.

    "Anyway, there''s a reason why I''m here, Dominic," the Wind Spirit said. "Princess Neoma also wants to learn how to create strong barriers like the former Princess Royal."

    He was surprised to hear that. "Really?"

    "Yes. But since we can''t depend on little Niki to teach Princess Neoma on how to create barriers, I figured it''s up to us to aid the young princess," Gale said seriously. "Dominic, as Princess Nichole''s former mentor, would you ept Princess Neoma as your new disciple?"

    He would have said no if they didn''t find out about the ck crow that Princess Neoma saw in her dreams.

    But after knowing that The Crow may have been resurrected to target the young royal princess this time, he could no longer stand on the "neutral" side. Moreover, he had already expressed to Emperor Niki his intention to protect Princess Neoma.

    "I don''t mind taking Princess Neoma in as my new disciple," Dominic Zavaroni said firmly. "But of course, we need to ask her if she wants to be my student first."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NERO was quite anxious while waiting for Hanna to talk.

    He just told her about her fight with Neoma. Right now, he was waiting for her toment on the problem.

    <em>Why is she so quiet?</em>

    Right now, they were in a tea room guarded by His Majesty''s Soul Beasts. Sir Glenn excused himself a while ago to attend to the foreign princess. But the knight said he would return as soon as possible.

    He didn''t mind though. After all, he needed privacy with Hanna anyway.

    "I see," Hanna said after taking a sip from her tea. Then, she elegantly put the teacup down on the saucer before she raised her head to look at him properly. "Prince Nero, you haven''t matured yet, have you?"

    Nero, offended by the youngdy''s assumption, raised a brow. "Excuse me?"

    "Do you think Neoma is only thinking of her survival?" she asked in firm, clear, and a little cold voice. "And you got angry at her for using you so that she could escape this pce as soon as you''re fully recovered?"

    Okay, Hanna''s attitude right now had taken him aback.

    The youngdy was usually prim and proper. She also smiled a lot to appear polite. In short, she acted like a pushover. But there wasn''t an ounce of meekness in her behavior now.

    "Prince Nero, you may not know this because you''re a male," the youngdy said. "But the life of a Moonasterion Princess is filled with nothing but loneliness and hardships. What''s wrong if Neoma wants to leave this pce? This ce has never treated her right until she donned your clothes and took your spot."

    "I know how she''s treated before we switched ces," he insisted with clenched hands. "But that''s exactly the reason why I''m working hard to recover and be a prince that can protect her."

    She took a deep breath before she continued speaking. "Neoma has to wear a magical cor that changes her voice to match yours every minute of her life, Prince Nero. She can''t even talk using her own voice."

    He felt gutted when he heard that. Well, he already knew that. But somehow, hearing that from another person made him feel more awful.

    "But that doesn''t end there," Hanna said in a sad voice. "Princess Neoma likes wearing pretty dresses but she''s forced to wear your clothes every single day. She likes flower arrangement and embroidery but she was banned from doing so because it''s too "feminine" for a prince. Instead, she''s forced to take swordsmanship and horse riding lessons for a "hobby." She also takes good care of her skin but due to her training, her hands and feet are now full of blisters. And she''s only eight years old, Prince Nero."

    He bit her lower lip because he knew what Neoma would have to go through as the "crown prince." But¡­

    "But you think it''s normal for Neoma to do that for you, don''t you?" the youngdy confronted him while giving him a disapproving look. "Why? Is it because she''s a mere princess while you''re the crown prince?"

    His face turned red from embarrassment. "It''s not like that!"

    "Then, you should do everything in your power to help Neoma get out of here safely, Prince Nero," Hanna said firmly. "She never once felt that the Royal Pce is her home. Do you know that she has a secret bag where she hid a few clothes and some bags of gold coins just in case she gets kicked out of the pce?"

    "What¡­?"

    "She also never touched any of the gifts that she received as "Prince Nero,"" she continued in a sad voice. "Everything that''s supposed to be yours is hidden in the Royal Treasury Room, Your Royal Highness. I know because she showed me where she put all the gifts that I prepared for you in the past three years."

    This time, he couldn''t think of anything else to say. He felt utterly defeated by Hanna''s words. It seemed like a p to him.

    "Neoma is protecting your ce as the crown prince because she truly cares for you, Prince Nero," she said with a soft tone this time. "She wants you to have a safe andfortable ce to return to. If it isn''t sibling love, then I don''t know what else to call it."

    He loosened up his clenched hands and took a deep breath.

    Alright, he lost. He would admit that Hanna''s words sessfully knocked some sense into him. Moreover, it wasn''t like he could stay mad at Neoma for so long.

    He was hurt, but now he knew that Neoma suffered more than he did.

    "Hanna, if you were me, what would you do to protect Neoma?"

    "I can only think of two things that I''d do if I were you, Prince Nero."

    "I want to hear it."

    "First, if I were you, I''d provide a safe andfortable life for Neoma outside the Royal Pce," Hanna said seriously. "I''d give her a new identity so people with malicious intent towards the royal family would never find her. And second¡­" She paused for a moment before she continued, her green eyes now glowing for some reason. "If I were the crown prince, I''d take the throne from His Majesty and get rid of thews that oppress the Moonasterion Princesses."

    "You''re crazy, Hanna Quinzel," Nero said, amused by Hanna''s sudden boldness. He wasn''t going to lie: he liked the changes he was seeing in her. With that thought, he couldn''t help but smile. "Have you always been like that?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOUR MAJESTY, Prince Nero is requesting for the key of the Royal Treasury Room."

    Niki raised his head to look at Glenn properly. Right now, he was in his office but he didn''t mind the knight''s interruption. After all, he wanted to talk to him anyway. "You can give it to Nero," he said. "Anyway, since you''re already here, I have something to tell you."

    "I''m listening, Your Majesty."

    He leaned against his chair before he spoke. "I''m thinking of giving Neoma her own private Order."

    ''Order'' referred to the private army that served one member of the royal family. The best example would be the White Lion Knights under his direct control.

    "Since Her Royal Highness is now the crown prince, it wouldn''t be weird for her to have her own Order," the knight said. "But I thought you''d only give a private army for the crown prince once Prince Nero returns, Your Majesty?"

    "The Order that I''m talking about isn''t for Nero."

    Glenn fell silent for a while, then his eyes widened in surprise. "Your Majesty, you''ll get Princess Neoma her own private army?"

    "Yes," Niki said firmly. He thought about it for a long time. Now that there was a possibility that The Crow was still alive, he had to do everything in his power to defeat it again. And he should start by giving the best protection to The Crow''s target: his daughter. "It''s time to give Neoma the things that she deserves as the royal princess."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NOTE: Ah, finally! I was able to update daily for a month. Congrats to us! Unfortunately, I won''t be able to do it this March. I wasn''t able to prepare a stockpile for my new privilege tier because I was busy with my day job.

    Anyway, I will add FIVE more chapters so please give me three or five days before I post them.

    I promise that they''re going to be worth it.

    The next arc is going to be INSANE. So please consider buying my privilege. My dream is to have more than 500 priv readers this time. Thank you to the 306 people who bought my priv. Love y''all. Hope to see you again this month. Hehe.

    Here are a few things that you can look forward to in the uing arc:

    1. Duke Jasper Hawthorne and Princess Neoma de Moonasterio roasting each other--- verbally and literally. LOL

    2. You''ll see why Sir Glenn is called ''Mad Dog.; He''s not that kind, yk?

    3. Friends and allies leaving Neoma one by one.

    4. You''ll finally meet REGINA CROWELL! Which means Rubin Drayton will return. Haha yeah, I know you''re not excited about that.

    5. MY FAVORITE PART OF THE UPCOMING ARC: NEOMA GOING ON A RAMPAGE. Our princess is batshit crazy, I tell you.

    Yes, I am bribing (and begging) you to buy my privilege tiers: 1 coin for 2 chapters, 50 coins for 5 chapters, and 100 coins for 10 chapters. Hope you consider buying them. Thank you. <3

    Again, please give me 3-5 days to prepare for my next update. Sorry in advance for making you wait. And thank you always for the support. :)

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story in your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 122 - I WILL ALWAYS HAVE THE LAST LAUGH

    "THIS IS too heavy for Neoma."

    Hanna turned to Prince Nero and saw him pick up Aster, the crown of the heir apparent. Although the royal prince wore a wig and a dress to hide his real identity, his aura still screamed of power and grandeur. To think that Prince Nero was only eight years old. "It''s too heavy for Neoma not because she doesn''t deserve it. The only reason why it''s too heavy for her is because she sees the crown as a burden, Prince Nero. She just wants a peaceful life."

    Right now, she and Prince Nero were in the Royal Treasury Room. Aside from the rare treasures that were gifted to the royal prince, the Three Sacred Crown Jewels were also kept there. That included the crown, the scepter, and the vial. To say that the room was luxurious would be an understatement.

    Even though she grew up in luxury as the daughter of House Quinzel, she was still impressed by the Royal Treasury Room. She didn''t dare to touch anything. After all, the rare and antique treasures in the room deserved respect. Admiring them would be enough.

    To be honest, she was surprised that she was allowed in the room. As far as she knew, only members of the royal family were allowed inside.

    <em>Is it because I''m a candidate for the crown princess position?</em>

    "I know that," Prince Nero said, then he turned to her with a mild pout. "You like Neoma too much, Hanna."

    "Is that a problem, Prince Nero?"

    "I''m still the person who likes Neoma the most."

    Sheughed softly. "Although I like Neoma, I wouldn''t dare topete with you regarding that matter, Your Royal Highness."

    "You don''t have to call me so formally."

    "Hmm?"

    "Just call me by my name," Prince Nero exined. "You call Neoma casually so you don''t have to be formal with me."

    She felt her cheeks flush. But thanks to her strict upbringing, she was able to remain calm and hide her giddiness. Instead of squealing from delight, she just smiled polite. "If that''s what you want, Nero."

    He just nodded, then he carefully ced the crown inside the ss box where it belonged. Then, the crown prince turned to her and faced her properly. "Hanna Quinzel, thank you for saving my life back then. And I''m sorry that you got hurt because of me."

    "Nero, as a noble, it''s my duty to protect the royal family. Any noble in my position then would have done the same," she said. "Instead of saying sorry to me because of that incident, I''d rather hear you say ''thank you'' again and again."

    "Someone is being greedy, huh?"

    She just smiled as a response.

    "Alright, I understand," he said. "You can ask me anything, Hanna. Instead of thinking of it aspensation, please look at it as a token of gratitude from me. As long as it is within my power, I will grant whatever you desire."

    "Nero, you''re the crown prince so you shouldn''t say such things easily," she scolded him. To be honest, she couldn''t believe that she had the courage to scold the crown prince now. She used to be scared of him because Nero seemed to hate everyone but Neoma. But after they conversation a while ago, he seemed to soften up to her. That was probably why she felt morefortable with him now. "What will you do if I take advantage of your offer?"

    "I only offered it because it''s you," he said without missing a beat. "I know that you won''t take advantage of me."

    She was honored to hear that. "Thank you for trusting me, Nero."

    He just nodded as an acknowledgement. "So, what''s your wish?"

    She could only think of one thing at the moment. If Nero didn''t ask her what she''d like to receive as a token of his gratitude, she would have been too shy to ask him what she really wanted. But since the opportunity presented itself to her, she grabbed it without hesitation.

    <em>This is now or never.</em>

    She let out a deep sigh before she spoke. Her heart was beating hard and loud against her chest at the moment. And although she felt very anxious, she also felt very excited. "D-Dance," she began carefully. "I''d like to have your first dance at the Moon Festival, Nero."

    "Alright," he said right away. "His Majesty said I can stay until the end of the festival anyway."

    She blinked in surprise.

    <em>Is it really this easy to have a dance with Nero?</em>

    "Thank you," she said, still stunned that she just secured Nero''s first dance. But then, she suddenly realized that her n might not go smoothly. "Oh. I just remembered that I am required to dance with Neoma since she''s acting as you right now, Nero."

    "Don''t worry," he assured it. "I''ll take care of it."

    She smiled and nodded. "Thank you," she said. "Ah. Does it mean you n to make up with Neoma now?"

    Nero''s face turned red. Then, he scratched his cheek as if he was shy. He also couldn''t look at her in the eye. "Hanna, can you help me make up with Neoma?"

    "Of course," Hanna said with a smile. "You can always depend on me, Nero."

    <strong>***</strong>

    <em>HOLY MACARONI is finally here.</em>

    "Your Holiness, I thought you already forgot that you made an appointment with me," Neoma lightlyined when Saint Macaroni¨C ahm, Saint Zavaroni finally arrived at the tea room where she waited for him for a few minutes. "I almost fell asleep."

    "I apologize, Princess Neoma," Saint Zavaroni said with an apologetic smile, then he sat on the sofa from across her. "Truth be told, I fell asleep."

    Stephanie served tea for the saint.

    After that, she asked the head maid and the head butler to leave the tea room. The only one who was left to guard her was her son, of course.

    Lewis stood behind her.

    Thankfully, Trevor left when she said that she''d meet Saint Macaroni. Apparently, the demon boy wasn''t good at dealing with people with divine power.

    <em>Good riddance.</em>

    "Your Holiness, how''s Nero''s condition?" she asked worriedly. "Is he really going to be fine even if he stays awake for a few days?"

    "The spell that Mr. Trevor used to slow down the effect of the curse on Prince Nero is quite strong," the saint exined. "It''s more effective than the time you transferred some of your Mana to stabilize the crown prince''s condition."

    Ah, she remembered that time.

    It was when her Papa Boss nned to sacrifice her to extend Nero''s life.

    "But it will soon lose its effect," His Holiness continued. "Prince Nero still needs to return to Mr. Trevor''s territory and carry on with his treatment."

    She let out a frustrated sigh. "Poor Nero."

    "You really care about the crown prince, don''t you?"

    "Of course," she said. "He''s my twin brother."

    "What if the heavens make you and Prince Nero fight for the throne?"

    "Nah, that won''t happen," she said, then she sipped her tea. "How many times do I have to say that I''m not interested in the throne, Your Holiness?"

    The saint sipped his tea before he spoke. "Princess Neoma, the Devil will do everything in their power to make you the empress. And with the threat of the resurrection of The Crow that kills Moonasterion Princesses, you can''t be toocent." When she didn''t react, he continued speaking. "I heard from Miss Gale that you want to fight like a Roseheart and learn how to make strong barriers like Princess Nichole."

    "Yes, Your Holiness."

    "I will teach you how to create barriers while Miss Gale will teach you how to summon Spirits," he said, then he put his tea cup down on the table. "We will prepare you for whatever may happen in the future."

    To be honest, she was honored to know that Saint Zavaroni was willing to take her in as his disciple.

    In her first life, she heard that the Holy Saint refused to teach Nero how to make barriers. She thought there was still a wall between the royal family and the temple even in this lifetime.

    But she needed all the help that she could get so she wouldn''t question why His Holiness decided to help her.

    <em>I have an idea anyway.</em>

    "Your Holiness, you make it sound like you''re expecting me to fight Nero in the future," she said, then she sipped her tea.

    "Your Royal Highness, it''s inevitable."

    "You have that mindset because you''re not looking at the bigger picture, Saint Maca¨C I mean, Saint Zavaroni," she said, relieved by the fact that she was able to stop herself before she called him ''Saint Macaroni.'' "The Devil wants me to be the empress while there''s this cult led by The Crow or something that wants me dead, right?"

    "That''s correct, Princess Neoma."

    "Then, that only means that the Devil won''t let me get killed by The Crow. They probably n to kill Nero though since my brother is an obstacle if they want me to be the empress," she said with a smirk. Well, she wasn''t being rude to the saint. Her arrogance was just taking over because her big brain was working again. "But The Crow won''t let the Devil kill Nero. They want to kill me to make sure that Nero will be the sole heir to the throne, after all." She snapped her fingers. "Your Holiness, are you thinking what I''m thinking?"

    Saint Zavaroni fell silent for a while, then his eyes widened in shock. "Princess Neoma, are you nning to make the Devil and The Crow kill each other instead?"

    "Bingo!" Neoma said, d that the Holy Saint was quick to catch on. "Let''s discreetly send a message to the Devil that The Crow might have been resurrected and it''s trying to kill me. I''m sure my crazy aunt will take care of the cult." She sipped her tea before she continued. "After the Devil and The Crow fight, Nero and I will take care of whoever wins between the two."

    <strong>***</strong>

    ALTHOUGH Neoma left big words to Saint Macaroni (Zavaroni, but whatever), she knew that her n to make the Devil and The Crow kill each other wouldn''t be easy. Especially since they had no solid evidence yet that the cult had been resurrected.

    But the biggest problem would be her strained rtionship with Nero, of course.

    <em>Is he still mad at me?</em>

    "Princess Neoma," Lewis said when he walked towards her. He went to meet Alphen outside her room when the head butler delivered a letter. "It''s a letter from House Hawthorne."

    Neoma, who was lying on her side on her bed, didn''t move an inch while thinking who the hell was House Hawthorne. Then, she remembered that it was the young duke that she needed to meet. "Duke Jasper Hawthorne," she said, then she got up and stretched her little arms. "I didn''t see him during the crowning ceremony."

    "I did," her son, who now stood in front of her while holding a golden tray where the letter was seated, said. "I think I almost killed him."

    "Huh?"

    "After my fight with the stinky ck cat, I was approached by a noble around my age," he exined. "He said he''ll save me if I give him Mount Kimbro. But I almost killed him, then the saint arrived and knocked him out."

    "Oh, so something like that happened."

    He nodded. "Unless there''s another young noble interested in that property, then it must be Duke Hawthorne."

    She smiled because aside from the fact that her son talked a lot today, she was also happy to know that he was good at analyzing stuff. Maybe Lewis inherited her big brain. "Lewis, you should be thankful of my smart and witty genes. Aren''t you d that I''m your mother?" When Lewis began to open her mouth to deny that he was her son, she smiled and extended her hand to him. "May I have the letter now?"

    He let out an exasperated sigh before he picked up the letter and silently handed it to her.

    "Thank you," she said, then she stared at the letter.

    She was mesmerized by House Hawthorne''s family crest. The symbol of the young duke was a Blood-red Glider Butterfly. If she remembered it correctly, Duke Jasper Hawthorne was referred to as the ''Bleeding Butterfly.''

    <em>Gosh, that sounds badass.</em>

    Anyway, after admiring the crest, she finally opened the letter and read the content. It didn''t take her a minute to finish reading it because it only has one sentence.

    <em>[''When can I meet the two Prince Nero?'']</em>

    Her eyes widened in shock when she realized that Duke Jasper Hawthorne somehow discovered that there were "two" Nero. Obviously, the young duke already knew that there was a fake crown prince.

    "Princess Neoma?"

    She raised her head to look up at Lewis. He probably noticed the change in her mood because he suddenly looked worried. "Lewis, Duke Hawthorne somehow found out that there are two Nero."

    Lewis innocently tilted his head at one side. "Should I kill him for you?"

    "Nah, I know how to shut him up," Neoma said. She wouldn''t waste the memories of her first life, duh. She may have been a pushover back then, but as a noblewoman, she was still aware of the gossips that circted around the high society. "If Duke Hawthorne knows my secret, then I have to let him know that I also know the darkest secret of House Hawthorne."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOUR GRACE, we already received a reply from Prince Nero."

    Jasper Hawthorne smiled when he heard Tate''s report. He put down the document that he was reading to raise his head and look at his butler properly. "That was fast."

    Tate handed him the letter. "If I were the fake Prince Nero, I''ll give a quick response, too. I wonder what His Royal Highness will offer you for your silence."

    "I just want Mount Kimbro," he said while opening the letter. Since the crest of the letter contained the crown prince''s seal, he was sure that the letter was real. Moreover, Tate wouldn''t let him receive it if it was a fake. "I hope His Royal Highness is good at negotiation so that I wouldn''t feel bored while¡­"

    He trailed off when he read the content of the letter.

    It said: <em>[''Maybe if you give me a tour to your family''s ck Market, I might consider meeting up with you.'']</em>

    The ck Market was supposed to be a secret that even His Majesty didn''t know about!

    He crumpled the letter in his hands the same time his Mana spiked. With the sudden burst of his aura, his office was suddenly turned upside-down.

    "Your Grace?" Tate asked carefully. "Is something the matter?"

    "Prince Nero knows about my parents'' ck Market," Jasper said in disbelief. "How did His Royal Highness find out about it?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA, who was enjoying a dip in her tub, hummed happily.

    She had a long day so a bath filled with fragrant rose petals was a good way of reliving her fatigue.

    "You seem to be in a good mood, Your Royal Highness," Stephanie, who was scrubbing her arm with a sponge,mented. "Did something good happen?"

    "I think I just roasted someone that I haven''t personally met yet," Neoma said cheerfully, then sheughed softly while imaging how angry Duke Jasper Hawthorne might have been after reading her letter. "I hope he knows by now that I will always have thestugh."

    <strong>***</strong>

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    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 123 - NEW BESTIES

    "HOW are you, Princess Brigitte?" Niki asked the first princess of Hazelden Kingdom in his usual disinterested voice. But for the sake of formality, he invited Princess Brigitte for a morning tea in the rose garden of Yule Pce. "I hope the amodation that we prepared for you and Count Elwood is to your liking."

    "Nowell and I arefortable, Your Majesty," Princess Brigitte said formally, then she elegantly put her teacup down on the saucer. "Thank you for providing us the best service for our temporary stay, Your Majesty."

    He just sipped his tea.

    The two of them weren''t alone in the rose garden. Glenn and Count Nowell Elwood were standing by the entrance of the rose garden. The two guards'' distance was far enough not to hear their conversation, but quite close enough to reach them if ever they were ambushed.

    "I''m sure you already know why I invited you here," he said when he put the teacup down on the saucer. "It''s about the incident that took ce before the crowning ceremony."

    "Yes, Your Majesty."

    "I deeply apologize for getting you involved in that mess," he said. Apologizing to a victim hurt by the attack towards his family was only right. It was also a part of his duty as the emperor. "I''d also like to extend my gratitude to you for helping us stop the enemy back then."

    The first princess smiled slyly. "Your Majesty, is this the part where you''re going to ask for what I want in exchange of my silence?" She paused, then let out an exaggerated gasp. "Ah, I misspoke. I shouldn''t have put it that way. Would it be more appropriate if I say that maybe you''re going to offer me a reward for the good deed that I have done for the royal family?"

    He raised a brow, amused.

    To be honest, this was the first time that Princess Brigitte talked to him that way. It felt like he was talking to another person. To be precise, he was seeing her in a different light.

    The only thing that didn''t change in the Princess Brigitte before him was the way she dressed. Right now, she wore a bloody red dress that showed off her shoulders and the valley of her breasts. She was also decorated with expensive jewelry and other essories that befitted a princess like her.

    But truth be told, even without a mboyant dress or luxurious things, the first princess would still stand out because of her beautiful face. And he wasn''t praising Princess Brigitte by having this kind of thoughts. He was simply stating a fact.

    "I''m a little surprised by your sudden change of attitude, Princess Brigitte," hemented, breaking the silence the ensued a while ago. "Did you already give up on your father''s dream of making you an empress?"

    Of course he was aware that the king of Hazelden was only forcing Princess Brigitte to seduce him.

    After all, the first princess never looked at him with warmth or fondness.

    "Like you said, it''s my father''s wish to have one of his daughters to be the empress," the first princess admitted. "I made a deal with my father. If I seed in seducing you, he will give me enough power to protect the oppressed women in our kingdom. But you''re an iron wall, Your Majesty. Never mind love and other romantic nonsense. The fact that you didn''t get seduced by my blinding beauty and gorgeous curves made me ept that you''re an immovable rock¨C and I am not the force that can move you."

    He couldn''t help but smirk at what the first princess said.

    Princess Brigitte suddenly reminded him of Neoma''s sass. It seemed the new generation of princesses all over the continent was very different from the princesses of the past, huh?

    "Anyway, it''s not important anymore," the first princess said, then she sipped her tea before she continued speaking. "Your Majesty, I''m officially giving up on you."

    "My utmost gratitude, Princess Brigitte."

    "I will not speak a word to my father about what happened before the crowning ceremony. If our king finds out that I was hurt because the royal family was attacked that night, I assure you that the news will spread in the whole continent like wildfire," she said seriously. "It seems like you''re keeping that incident a secret. I believe if the news of what happened that night leaks out, the newly crowned heir''s reputation will get damaged right away."

    He sipped his tea before he asked. "Is that threat?"

    "Is that how it sounds to you, Your Majesty?"

    "You''re bold, I''ll give you that," he said, then he quietly ced the teacup down on the saucer. "But you know that I can kill you and Count Elwood easily, don''t you? I''m not afraid to go on a war against Hazelden Kingdom."

    "You can''t kill me, Your Majesty."

    He raised a brow at her. "Really now?"

    "Your Majesty, you don''t know, do you? Prince Nero and I are close friends now," she said proudly. "His Royal Highness confirmed it himself."

    He almost rolled his eyes when he heard that.

    <em>Of course Neoma will befriend a woman that has the same attitude as her.</em>

    "Prince Nero visited me a lot while I was still at Madam Hammock''s infirmary," the first princess continued. "The crown prince even calls me ''bestie.'' I think it''s anguage that only the royal family uses because I didn''t understand it. But Prince Nero was generous enough to exin to me that ''bestie'' means best friend."

    That word definitely didn''te from the Snina Language (thenguage that the royal family used to speak in the past).

    <em>Neoma, your vocabry is really vast yet strange.</em>

    "Anyway, I know that Prince Nero won''t let you kill me," Princess Brigitte said firmly. "And you can''t dispose of a person that you might use to your advantage, Your Majesty."

    "How can you be relevant to me, Princess Brigitte?"

    "I''m d you asked, Your Majesty," she said seriously. "I believe you know the reason why my father is desperate to marry me off to you, Your Majesty."

    "Your father wants freedom to legalize and distribute Favor weapons without having to ask for my permission," he answered. "The king also wants to monopolize the use of Lender stones."

    The Lender stones were the kind of stones that could give power to a Non-Mana user. And if a Lender stone was attached to a weapon, then that weapon would be called a Favor. Of course, a weapon infused with Mana would be more powerful than normal weapons.

    "That''s correct," the first princess said while nodding. "But there''s a reason why my father can''t stand against you regarding that matter, Your Majesty."

    "It''s because only the Royal Technicians can attach a Lender stone on a weapon safely," he said. "Your kingdom trades Lender stones with us in exchange of the Royal Technicians'' cooperation. But your father is greedy. He wants the Royal Technicians to share their techniques to your kingdom without giving us anything in return." He smirked and raised a brow at the princess. "Ah, no. Your father sent you to me to take care of that matter, after all."

    Yes, that was the reason why Princess Brigitte was asked by her father to seduce him. And that was only one of the benefits of a political marriage. But unfortunately for Hazelden Kingdom, the empire wasn''t weak to depend on that kind of union.

    "I have a business proposal where we can get what we want without us having to get married, Your Majesty," Princess Brigitte said, then she bowed to him. "Please listen to what I have to say."

    Of course, he had no reason to ept the first princess''s business proposal.

    But once again, Princess Brigitte reminded him of Neoma when his daughter asked him to listen to her "royal business proposal." His child was desperate to survive then, and he could feel that same desperation from the first princess of Hazelden Kingdom.

    And for that reason alone, he couldn''t turn her down.

    Niki sipped his tea before he spoke. "I want to hear your business proposal, Princess Brigitte."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "SIR GLENN, may I see Prince Neroter?"

    Glenn smiled and nodded at Princess Brigitte''s request. "I will ask Prince Nero if he has time to spare for you, Princess Brigitte."

    The first princess smiled and bowed to him. "Thank you, Sir Glenn."

    Right now, the two of them were standing in front of Princess Brigitte''s room in nco Pce. Count Elwood wasn''t with them because he went to the admin building to fetch the letter that came from Hazelden Kingdom.

    "It''s nothing, Princess Brigitte," he said with a smile, then he scratched his cheek. "I should be the one saying thank you."

    "For what?"

    "For notshing out on me or avoiding me after¡­ uhm¡­"

    "After I got turned down?" the first princess asked, then sheughed softly. "Sir Glenn, let me guess. Whenever you turn down ady, she would eithersh out on your or avoid you."

    His cheeks flushed, then he nodded shyly.

    <em>I hope it didn''t sound like I was bragging that I''ve already been confessed to in the past¡­</em>

    "I bet there aredies who still chase you even after getting turned down," she teased him.

    He just chuckled awkwardly as a confirmation.

    "Don''t worry, Sir Glenn. I don''t belong in any of those three categories," she assured him with a smile. "I''m the type ofdy who can handle rejection just fine. After all, I''m used to being ignored by my father."

    He felt a pang in his chest. "Princess Brigitte¡­"

    To be honest, he wanted tofort her but he didn''t know how. The first princess also reminded him of Princess Neoma. But since the royal princess was a child, it was easy for him to console her.

    He didn''t know how tofort a grown-woman.

    "I''m fine, Sir Glenn," the first princess said. "Thanks to my father''s cold treatment, I learned that ady shouldn''t chase a person who doesn''t want her. For that reason, I won''t bother you or force you to like me back. So please feel free to approach me as a friend, Sir Glenn."

    He didn''t know what happened but all of a sudden, his heart thumped against his chest hard.

    Princess Brigitte suddenly shined so bright he thought he was going blind.

    He had always known that the first princess was a beauty. But at that moment, he realized that she wasn''t just pretty outside. She was also a good person and that made her shine even more.

    And he rejected such a beautiful soul.

    "Sir Glenn, are you alright?" Princess Brigitte asked worriedly. "Your face is red. Do you want me to call Madam Hammock for you?"

    Glenn unconsciously took a step backwards, then he covered half of his face with the back of his hand. His heart was still beating erratically, and his eyes were still glued on Princess Brigitte''s beautiful face. And that was when realization hit him.

    <em>I like Princess Brigitte¡­</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    "DID you see that, Lewis?" Neoma whispered to Lewis while they were leaning against the wall in the corner of a hallway. She was about to visit her new bestie Princess Brigitte when she saw her with Sir Glenn. And she identally heard everything! "Princess Brigitte and Sir Glenn have something."

    Lewis tilted his head at one side, obviously clueless. "Something?"

    "You''re too young to know," Neoma said with a smile. "Anyway, I guess I should y Cupid to my favorite people."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NOTE: Ah, finally! I was able to update daily for a month. Congrats to us! Unfortunately, I won''t be able to do it this March. I wasn''t able to prepare a stockpile for my new privilege tier because I was busy with my day job.

    Anyway, I will add FIVE more chapters so please give me three or five days before I post them.

    I promise that they''re going to be worth it.

    The next arc is going to be INSANE. So please consider buying my privilege. My dream is to have more than 500 priv readers this time. Thank you to the 306 people who bought my priv. Love y''all. Hope to see you again this month. Hehe.

    Here are a few things that you can look forward to in the uing arc:

    1. Duke Jasper Hawthorne and Princess Neoma de Moonasterio roasting each other--- verbally and literally. LOL

    2. You''ll see why Sir Glenn is called ''Mad Dog; He''s not that kind, yk?

    3. Friends and allies leaving Neoma one by one. :(

    4. You''ll finally meet REGINA CROWELL! Which means Rubin Drayton will return. Haha yeah, I know you''re not excited about that.

    5. MY FAVORITE PART OF THE UPCOMING ARC: NEOMA GOING ON A RAMPAGE. Our princess is batshit crazy, I tell you.

    Yes, I am bribing (and begging) you to buy my privilege tiers: 1 coin for 2 advanced chapters, 50 coins for 5 chapters, and 100 coins for 10 chapters. Hope you consider buying them. Thank you. <3

    Again, please give me 3-5 days to prepare for my next update. Sorry in advance for making you wait. And thank you always for the support. :)

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 124 - CUPID FOUND JOBLESS

    "HANNA isn''t here?" Neoma asked in surprise when she arrived at Hanna''s room in Madam Hammock''s infirmary wing. Much to her dismay, her cousin wasn''t there. Only Duchess Amber Quinzel was in the room. "Did she meet up with my brother by any chance, Your Grace?"

    She told Nero to meet and thank Hanna. But since her brother was mad at her, she didn''t expect that he''d listen to her.

    Maybe he really wants to thank Hanna even without me telling him to do so.

    "Hanna was indeed summoned by His Royal Highness, Princess Neoma," Duchess Amber Quinzel said with a warm smile. "Is there an urgent matter that you need to discuss with my daughter? I can send an attendant to deliver a message for her, Your Royal Highness."

    "Oh, it''s nothing important, Your Grace," she said while politely shaking her head. "I just wanted to check on her."

    "Thanks to Madam Hammock''s excellent treatment, our Hanna has already fully-recovered," the duchess assured her. It seemed like she was in a good mood, probably because Hanna was already out of danger. "Thank you for your concern to our daughter, Princess Neoma."

    She smiled and nodded. "Again, thank you for helping us during that time. And I''m terribly sorry that Hanna got hurt in the process."

    "Please don''t say that," Duchess Amber Quinzel. Then, even though she wore clothes with severalyers (since it already began getting colder), she squatted down to reach her eye level. It must have been hard to move because of her heavy clothing. So she appreciated the fact that the duchess still did that just so she could properly face her. "Princess Neoma, it wasn''t your fault. And as nobles of this empire, it is our duty to protect the royal family."

    Again, Neoma smiled and nodded. "Thank you, Your Grace."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA didn''t want to think of this line because she had already read it in hundreds of YA and contemporary books back in her second life, but she had to: As soon as she left Madam Hammock''s infirmary, she LET GO OF THE BREATH SHE DIDN''T KNOW SHE WAS HOLDING.

    Damn, that''s like one of the most clich¨¦ lines ever.

    "Princess Neoma?"

    Neoma turned to Lewis. Since they were already back in nco Pce (her residence), her son walked behind her. It would be rude of him if he walked beside her. She hated it but she didn''t want Lewis to be scolded by his superiors in the White Lion Knights squad. "Yes?"

    "Do you hate Duchess Quinzel?" Lewis asked, his facial expression and voice as nk as usual. "You look awkward every time you talk to her."

    Ah, expected of her son. He really knew her like the back of his hand.

    "I don''t hate Duchess Quinzel," she said, then she looked to the front as they entered the hallway leading to Princess Brigitte''s room. Since Hanna was with Nero, she decided to visit the foreign princess instead. "I just feel awkward around her."

    Even though she knew that Duchess Amber Quinzel was very different from the adoptive mother that she had in her first life, she still couldn''t get rid of the trauma that she got from how the duchess treated her in the past.

    So even if Duchess Amber Quinzel was nice to her now, she still found it hard to befortable with her. It was the same case with Emperor Niki and Rubin Drayton.

    People like Lewis who didn''t personally hurt her in her first life were easier to forgive.

    Nero was a different case though. Despite her twin brother killing her in her first life, she still had to suck up to him to survive in this lifetime. Plus, she had to acknowledge the fact that she had been a bitch to Nero in her previous life. She was no angel¨C back then and even now.

    "I know that Duchess Amber Quinzel is a good person," she said. "I can''t me her for losing her sanity when she lost her only daughter in my first life. Although I was traumatized because of the mental and emotional abuse that I received from the duchess, I still can understand her. But for some reason, my heart can''t seem to forgive her yet."

    And she knew the reason why.

    She loved Duchess Amber Quinzel as a mother in the past. And she felt betrayed when the duchess chose Regina Crowell over her. Her adoptive mother threw her away after she did everything she could to literally rece Hanna in House Quinzel.

    "It''s okay, Princess Neoma."

    She turned to Lewis who used a warmer voice than usual. "Hmm?"

    "You''re not required to forgive people that you don''t want to forgive," Lewis said casually. "It''s okay if you hate them. You''re allowed to do that because you''re Princess Neoma."

    She blinked in surprise, then sheughed. "That''s right," she said while nodding. "Thank you for the life advice, Lewis."

    "It''s nothing, Princess Brigitte."

    She flinched in surprise when she heard Sir Glenn''s voice.

    When she took a corner, she saw Sir Glenn and Princess Brigitte talking in front of thetter''s room. She immediately took a step backward and pulled Lewis with her. Then, the two of them leaned against the wall.

    "I should be the one saying thank you," Sir Glenn continued.

    "For what?" Princess Brigitte asked.

    "For notshing out on me or avoiding me after¡­ Uhm¡­"

    "After I got turned down?" the first princess asked, then sheughed softly. "Sir Glenn, let me guess. Whenever you turn down ady, she would eithersh out on your or avoid you."

    "I bet there aredies who still chase you even after getting turned down," the foreign princess added, obviously teasing the knight.

    The knight could only give an awkward chuckle as a response.

    Ohh.

    <em>They''re flirting</em>, Neoma thought to herself. <em>But I just heard Princess Brigitte say that Sir Glenn rejected her.</em>

    "Don''t worry, Sir Glenn. I don''t belong in those three categories," Princess Brigitte assured the knight. "I''m the type ofdy who can handle rejection just fine. After all, I''m used to being ignored by my father."

    "Princess Brigitte¡­"

    Neoma covered her mouth with her hands.

    To be honest, she sympathized with Princess Brigitte because she was in the same position. There was also a phase in her life where Emperor Niki ignored her despite her efforts to get closer to him. And quite frankly, most of the princesses in this continent were treated like shit.

    "I''m fine, Sir Glenn," the first princess said. "Thanks to my father''s cold treatment, I learned that ady shouldn''t chase a person who doesn''t want her. For that reason, I won''t bother you or force you to like me back. So please feel free to approach me as a friend, Sir Glenn."

    Neoma gasped when she heard those brave and inspiring words from Princess Brigitte.

    What a quotable quote!

    <em>If I were in my adult form, I would have proposed marriage to Princess Brigitte already. But if she turns me down, I''ll just stay as her bestie. Should I start calling her ''unnie?''</em>

    ''Unnie'' meant ''big sister'' in the Koreannguage. It was usually how younger girls addressed older girls.

    "Sir Glenn, are you alright?" Princess Brigitte asked worriedly. "Your face is red. Do you want me to call Madam Hammock for you?"

    <em>His face is red?</em>

    Neoma sneakily took a peek at the rom in the making.

    Lewis copied her right away. It was cute how her son would copy some of the things that she does. He would sometimes act like a baby that copies what adults do.

    Anyway, she almost giggled when she saw Sir Glenn''s red face.

    Before she gets caught, she leaned against the wall again. Of course, her cute son did exactly what she had just done.

    "Did you see that, Lewis?" Neoma whispered to Lewis while they were leaning against the wall in the corner of a hallway. She was about to visit her new bestie Princess Brigitte when she saw her with Sir Glenn. And she identally heard everything! "Princess Brigitte and Sir Glenn have something."

    Lewis tilted his head at one side, obviously clueless. "Something?"

    "You''re too young to know," Neoma said with a smile. "Anyway, I guess I should y Cupid to my favorite people."

    Once again, her son tilted his head at one side. "Cupid?"

    "Cupid is a naughty baby boy with wings that shoots people with his arrow," she exined. Well, it was her own version of Cupid in her head. Lewis wouldn''t know that her exnation wasn''t urate anyway. "The pair that''s, unfortunately, hit with Cupid''s arrow would fall in love with each other."

    Lewis didn''t react¨C he was obviously unimpressed.

    "Anyway," Neoma changed the topic right away. "I''m bored so let''s y Cupid."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "PAPA BOSS, fancy meeting you here!"

    "This is my office, Neoma," Emperor Niki said bluntly. "What do you mean by "fancy meeting" me here?"

    Neoma just shrugged it off. Then, she stood in front of her father''s desk. Of course, Lewis stood behind her. Her Papa Boss was alone though. Thank goodness Count Kyle Sprouse wasn''t there! "Papa Boss, what''s your itinerary for the uing Moon Festival?"

    "My what?"

    "Schedule," she exined. "But to be precise, I just want to know when Sir Glenn is required to babysit¨C I mean, to guard you."

    "Every time I need to show my face to the public."

    Her shoulders slumped in disappointment. "Gosh, Papa Boss. You''re so clingy."

    He red at her. "I wasn''t the one who established that rule. If I dismiss Glenn during a public event, he''d be criticized for leaving my side."

    "Touch¨¦," she said. "Does it mean Sir Glenn will also guard you during the dancing ceremony or whatever it''s called?"

    "If I wouldn''t be dancing, I am required to observe that event."

    Her ears perked up after hearing that. "If you wouldn''t be dancing? Then, does it mean that if you''re going to dance, you wouldn''t be required to show your face to the public?"

    "Yes. It''s a strange tradition of the royal family," her Papa Boss exined. "If the emperor decides to dance during the Moon Festival, he''s required to dance in the shrine dedicated to Yule. Apparently, it''s a dance that only the Moon God is supposed to witness. During that time, not even Glenn is allowed to step foot in the shrine."

    Out of all the stupid traditions of the royal family, that was the only thing that she liked.

    "Papa Boss, are you going to dance during the festival?"

    "No."

    "Why not?"

    His brows furrowed in confusion. "Why do I need to dance? I don''t have a fianc¨¦e or a wife anyway. An emperor is only allowed to dance with his future wife or the empress during the Moon Festival. And..."

    "And his daughter, right?" she asked. "I think I''ve read it in a book that if an emperor doesn''t have a wife or a fianc¨¦e during special asions, he''s allowed to dance with a female family member. The Moon Festival is included in that, isn''t it?"

    Emperor Niki raised a brow. "And what about it?"

    "You have a daughter," Neoma dered proudly. "Papa Boss, dance with me during the Moon Festival."

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 Chapter 125 - MY DREAM TEAM

    "I THINK I''m forgetting something important that I have to do," Trevor wondered to himself while staring at the ceiling. He was lying on the bed in the room lent to him by Princess Neoma. A room in Luna Pce, yes. He was hiding her because he wanted to avoid the Holy Saint. "Why is he even here? I thought the Holy Saint can''t leave Astello Temple unless it''s very urgent? Saint Zavaroni must be a defiant one."

    No thanks to that rebellious saint, he couldn''t get near his Moon Princess.

    Wait, I think I''m seriously forgetting something¡­

    He gasped when he remembered it, then he got up right away. "I haven''t asked my Moon Princess yet to dance with me during the Moon Festival."

    "As if I will let a sneaky demon boy dance with my master''s precious daughter."

    He raised a brow when a fluffy white bunny appeared in thin air, thenfortablyid on hisp.

    "You''re one hundred years too early to make a move on our little princess," the bunny said. If his judgment was correct, then this bunny must be a Wind Spirit. "Who do you think you are?"

    "Trevor, the Devil''s Grimoire," he said confidently. "Princess Neoma is obsessed with my face, Wind Spirit."

    "Princess Neoma likes good-looking people," Saint Zavaroni, who just appeared out of thin air like the Wind Spirit, said. Then, he leaned against one of the posts of the bed. "You''re not that special, Mr. Trevor."

    To be honest, if he could, he would have run away already.

    When he met the Holy Saint a while ago, he already felt that the saint had many questions for him. He knew that His Holiness was only waiting for a chance to get him alone. It seemed like Saint Zavaroni had already run out of patience for him to infiltrate his room.

    "Mr. Holy Saint, this isn''t like you," he said. "It''s rude to enter one''s room without permission." He gently poked the white bunny''s fluffy forehead. "You even brought a pet."

    The white bunny bit his finger.

    Ouch.

    "Kids these days are so rude," the white bunny said.

    "I don''t want to hear that from someone who broke into my room."

    "I apologize for breaking into your room, Mr. Trevor," the Holy Saint said. "But if I didn''t do this, you would have avoided me until it''s time for you to return to your territory."

    Well, the Holy Saint wasn''t wrong.

    "I wanted to avoid you because I don''t have the answer to your questions," he said bluntly. "You''re here to ask things about the former Princess Royal, aren''t you?"

    "So, you know about my rtionship with Princess Nichole?"

    "Nah, I''m not interested in other people''s lives," he said. "But I heard from the former Princess Royal once that she was turned down by the current Holy Saint a total of thirty nine times." The Holy Saint flinched but he continued assaulting him with hurtful words. That would be his little retaliation for having his room invaded. "She also said that she began extending her hand to you since she was sixteen. But you never once took her hand. Poor princess." He smirked before he dropped thest bomb. "Ah, I also heard that you didn''t take her hand even in her death bed."

    He expected the Holy Saint to get angry or walk out on him.

    But he didn''t expect to see the great Saint Zavaroni on the verge of crying.

    He knew that he went overboard with his teasing. But when he was just about to apologize to the Holy Saint, the white bunny suddenly began pping both of his cheeks alternatively. He didn''t try to avoid it because he knew he made a big mistake.

    "You heartless kid!" the white bunny said after she pped him at least fifty times. "That''s low even for a demon!"

    "I apologize," he said, then he looked at the Holy Saint that seemed to have calmed down now. "Mr. Holy Saint, I really don''t know what happened to the former Princess Royal. The real Devil, the one who brought her back to life, was the "owner" who turned me into his Grimoire."

    Yes, the real Devil was a man.

    But since most humans haven''t seen him yet, they began referring to him as they/them. He kept the Devil''s gender to Princess Neoma because he didn''t want her to know that her aunt had be a part of the Devil. It wasn''t like he was protecting the former Princess Royal.

    He just didn''t want the Moon Princess to know things that might put her in more danger.

    "I was locked up in my territory ever since my life as a human ended," he said. He didn''t want to be this open to the Holy Saint but he felt guilty for hurting him. Who would have thought that His Holiness would show him that kind of expression? "The Devil would "feed" me information, and that''s how Ie to know a lot of things in the world even if I was just a mere prisoner in my own territory."

    "Did he tell you about Princess Nichole?" Saint Zavaroni asked. "I want to hear everything you know about her. Even if they are just trivial things. Please, Mr. Trevor."

    "Like I said, I don''t know much. Only trivial stuff like the former Princess Royal''s love life. The Devil is interested in other people''s personal matters after all," he insisted because that was the truth. "The Devil doesn''t tell me things that he knows I will use against him. He only told me that he seeded in taking in the former Princess Royal to our side. But he didn''t tell me his purpose for doing so." He paused. To be honest, he didn''t want to say this. But he thought this piece of information that he knew might help Princess Neoma in the future. "But I heard from the Devil that it was Princess Nichole''s idea to steal thete Empress Juliet''s lifeless body."

    The Holy Saint and the white bunny looked shocked by that.

    "But why would Princess Nichole do that?" the white bunny asked. "I heard from my master that the Princess Royal and thete empress were good friends."

    "I don''t know," Trevor said. Just because he was the Devil''s Grimoire didn''t mean that he had the answers to every mystery in life. After all, he was just a prisoner fed with knowledge. "I think it''s your job to find out what Princess Nichole''s goal is for stealing the lifeless body of thete empress."

    "I think I know why," Saint Zavaroni said seriously. "It must have something to do with thete empress''s unique ability."

    ***

    "NEOMA, you''re not dumb so I know you''re aware of how big our height difference is," Emperor Niki said bluntly without even missing a beat. "How can I dance with a small human like you? Do you want me to break my back?"

    The audacity of this grumpy Papa Boss to call me a ''small human!''

    "You''re only in yourte twenties so you won''t break your back, Papa Boss. Stop talking like an old man," Neomained to her father. "And I can just stand on your feet while you lead the dance." When he red at her, she took it back. "I can ask my Mochi to make me float or something to solve the problem with our huge height difference."

    The emperor let out a deep sigh. "What do you n to do to Glenn during the Moon Festival?"

    She flinched when she realized that her father had seen through her.

    Ah, he''s really quick to catch on stuff like this.

    She pouted while exining. It was a bummer that the emperor realized her n anyway. Well, she couldn''t outsmart him every time. "I just want Sir Glenn to enjoy the Moon Festival with a lovelydy. This is just my hunch but I think Sir Glenn has a crush on someone whose name starts with B and ends with E."

    "Did you ask Glenn and Princess Brigitte if they want to spend time together?"

    She gasped in surprise. "Papa Boss, how did you know that I was referring to Princess Brigitte? The letters are supposed to be clues for the word ''bestie'' and not her name!"

    Her Papa Boss gave her a dire stare.

    She acted like she was zipping her lips. "I just want to help them get closer, Papa Boss."

    "It''s none of our business," he said bluntly. "Let Glenn handle his own private affairs. If he wants to spend time with the first princess, he can just ask me to change his shift. He''s not the only one qualified to stay as my personal knight."

    Ah, she didn''t think of that because she was being a busybody.

    "Wouldn''t the first princess appreciate it more if Glenn asked her out on his own and not because a nosy little princess set them up?"

    Tsk, her Papa Boss was right.

    This is why I can''t be bored.

    "Fine. Operation: y Cupid Because I''m Bored is now Officially Suspended," she dered, then she turned to Lewis. "Let''s just y again, Lewis."

    By "ying," she meant "training," of course.

    "Stay," Emperor Niki said, then he stood up. "We have something to discuss."

    Neoma turned to her father with furrowed brows. "About what, Papa Boss?"

    ***

    "MY OWN private army?" Neoma asked in surprise. "As in mine and not Nero''s?"

    "I''ll give Nero his own army once hees back," Emperor Niki said. "Since your life is at risk while posing as your twin brother, I decided to give you your own army."

    Lewis, upon hearing that, scowled.

    "It''s not because you''re not adequate as a knight, Lewis," Sir Glenn said to Lewis kindly. Ah, the knight was really sharp to notice her son''s sudden mood change. "We just need more protection for Princess Neoma."

    Lewis just nodded, his face calmer now.

    Ah, my son really respects Sir Glenn.

    Anyway, right now, the four of them were having tea in the lounging area of Papa Boss''s office. This time, Sir Glenn and Lewis sat down with them because they were included in the conversation.

    To be honest, she was d to have her own private army. Of course, she doesn''t have ns to take them with her once she leaves the Royal Pce. But if she wanted to survive until Nero returns, she needed more protection.

    She wasn''t dumb not to ept that offer.

    "Papa Boss, I only need five more people because I already have Lewis," Neoma dered, causing all the gentlemen in the room to turn to her. Gosh, just the thought of assembling her own private army was enough to make her smile. After all, she was also a very good gamer back in her second life. "Lewis is already a Fighter so I only need a Tank, a Marksman, a Mage, an Assassin, and a Support."

    ***

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 Chapter 126 - MOST FAVORITE PERSON

    "PAPA BOSS, can we talk about this some other time?" Neoma asked while picking up the evil-looking chopped pickle on top of her deviled egg. In the empire, it was simply called a stuffed egg. But the evil Royal Chef Stroganoff decided to use chopped pickles as a topping for her precious devil egg. What an evil man! "I want to discuss the thing about my private army after I prepare a powerpoint presentation."

    But of course, by "powerpoint presentation," she meant a detailed report.

    "I will write a detailed exnation as to what kind of people I want in my private army," she continued while putting her chopped pickles on Lewis''s deviled egg.

    "Alright. That can wait anyway," Emperor Niki said, then he put his teacup down on the saucer. "What are you doing with your food?"

    "I don''t like pickles," she said, then she turned to Lewis with a smile. "But Lewis needs to eat more vegetables for him to grow taller, stronger, and prettier. Right, Lewis?"

    Lewis just nodded, then he silently ate the chopped pickles that she put on his te.

    Just the chopped pickles though. He didn''t touch the deviled egg. After all, he didn''t like eating a big meal in front of other people.

    "If you don''t like pickles, you don''t have to eat it," the emperor said as if he didn''t understand why she had to give the food to Lewis instead of leaving it on her te.

    "The Royal Chef will scold me again if he finds out that I didn''t eat veggies again," she said with a pout. She also didn''t like broli. The first time she sent a te back to the royal kitchen with some leftover broli, the Royal Chef sent her a letter about how she shouldn''t avoid eating veggies. From then on, she''d eat a little bit of the vegetables she didn''t like, then make Lewis eat them so the Royal Chef wouldn''t know that she didn''t eat them. "He''s strict like that."

    "A mere chef scolding a royal, huh? Interesting," her Papa Boss said, then he sipped his tea before he spoke again. "Glenn."

    Sir Glenn immediately straightened on his seat. "Yes, Your Majesty?"

    "Fire the Royal Chef."

    She gasped when she heard her father''s order to the knight. "Papa Boss, why are you suddenly firing Chef Stroganoff?"

    "He doesn''t know his ce," her Papa Boss said casually. "What made him think that he''s above you for him to scold you over vegetables?"

    Was her father angry because he thought the Royal Chef was looking down on the "crown prince?"

    "Papa Boss, it''s not like that," she exined with a smile. She needed to smile and calm the emperor because she didn''t want the Royal Chef to lose his precious job. "Chef Stroganoff and I are good friends. We exchange letters frequently, you know?"

    That was true.

    Every time she craved for a "modern food," she''d write down the ingredients and the procedure. Then, she''d send it to the Royal Chef. After that, Chef Stroganoff would try cooking those dishes then send it to her residence. She would taste test the dish, then write a review until the Royal Chef gets it right.

    "Chef Stroganoff is scolding me not because he''s looking down on me," she exined carefully. "He does it because he cares for me. And his "scolding" is never harsh. He politely exins to me the importance of eating healthy and bnced food. Please don''t fire him, Papa Boss. I like the Royal Chef."

    The emperor fell silent for a few seconds before he finally gave his verdict. "Just make sure that you''re not being looked down on."

    She smiled brightly, then gave her Papa Boss a thumbs up. "Of course, Papa Boss. Do you think anyone in this pce can look down on the Great Neoma Ramsay?"

    "You''re not a Ramsay," her father said in an annoyed tone. "Where did you even get that name?"

    She slowly put her hand down. Gosh, why the sudden change of mood? "It''s just a name that I came up with," she lied. "I have to hide that I''m a royal princess so I made up a name for myself."

    Sir Glenn looked at her with pity in his eyes.

    On the other hand, her Papa Boss just ignored that and changed the topic. "Why are you exchanging letters with Duke Jasper Hawthorne?"

    "His Grace is trying to buy Mount Kimbro from me," she lied again. "I said I''m not selling it."

    "If the duke bothers you again, tell Glenn," her father said. "I gave him the permission to deal with anything or anyone that bothers you."

    Oh, that was convenient.

    "Thank you, Papa Boss," she said. When the emperor just sipped his tea, she turned to Sir Glenn. "Sir Glenn, thank you for always taking care of me. No wonder you''re my second most favorite person in the pce!"

    Sir Glenn''s face instantly lit up. "Really, Princess Neoma? I''m your second most favorite person in the pce?"

    She gave the knight a thumbs up. "Of course. You deserve that ce, Sir Glenn."

    "Thank you, Princess Neoma," the knight said. "I''m much honored to be considered one of your most favorite people."

    She just smiled and munched on her deviled egg.

    "Princess Neoma, may I know who''s your most favorite person is?" Sir Glenn asked excitedly, then he not-so-discreetly turned to Emperor Niki was who in the middle of drinking his tea. "Surely, it must be His Ma¨C"

    "Of course, it''s Lewis," Neoma said with a smile, cutting-off the knight who seemed to suddenly freeze in his seat. She didn''t want to meet Sir Glenn''s questioning look so she turned to Lewis. "You''re my most favorite person in the world, Lewis."

    Lewis didn''t smile but his golden eyes sure glowed beautifully.

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOUR MAJESTY, please cheer up," Glenn, who stood beside him now that he was seated behind his office desk, said brightly. "I''m sure you''re on the list of Princess Neoma''s most favorite people in the pce. We might be tied in second ce, Your Majesty."

    "Glenn," Niki said coldly without looking up from the paperwork in his hands. "Shut up."

    The knight got the message clear because he didn''t even respond to his order.

    <em>Finally, some peace and quiet.</em>

    He didn''t know why Glenn had to cheer him up just because of the incident a while ago. It wasn''t like he wanted to be one of Neoma''s most favorite people. He wasn''t a child who wanted to someone else''s "favorite."

    And who cares if that foxy boy that he picked up from somewhere was his daughter''s number one?

    Not him¨C absolutely not him.

    "Your Majesty?"

    "What?" he snapped at the knight.

    "Please don''t crumple the contract in your hands," Sir Glenn said nervously. "It''s an important document from the Hazelden Kingdom."

    He immediately loosened his grip.

    To be honest, he was quite surprised to realize that he almost crumpled it. He didn''t notice that he was doing it until Glenn pointed it out.

    <em>Am I under the weather?</em>

    His thoughts were cut-off when he felt the presence of his Soul Beasts. A few momentster, he heard a knock on the door.

    "Your Majesty, it''s me," Nero said formally. "May Ie in?"

    He speaks formally but his tone is rude.

    "Come in," he told the royal prince.

    Nero entered the room. He was dressed as ''Lady Nara Quinzel.'' And yet, the sharpness of his gaze and overall posture still screamed that he was royalty.

    Ah, the White Tiger and the ck Tortoise were still following his son. But the two Soul Beasts had transformed into small balls of white energy. Even if they followed Nero around, only people on the same level as Glenn at least could see them.

    He set aside his paperwork to face his son properly. "Did you walk Hanna Quinzel back to her room?"

    Nero just nodded, then he immediately changed the topic. "Your Majesty, I need a huge amount of money and the fastest jewelry maker in the empire."

    "That can easily be arranged," he said. "But what are you nning to make?"

    "Do I really need to tell you?"

    "Of course."

    Nero let out a deep sigh before he spoke. "I want to leave a gift for Neoma and Hanna before I go back to Trevor''s territory."

    Niki raised a brow at that. He already expected that he wanted a gift for Neoma. But he didn''t expect that Nero would think of giving Hanna a present, too. <em>Ah, is the future crown princess going toe from House Quinzel again?</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    TREVOR smiled when he saw his future son Lewis standing in front of Princess Neoma''s room. That meant his Moon Princess was inside. He went to the right ce then. "Hello, son," he greeted him, then he tried to walk past the fox boy. "Goodbye, son."

    All of a sudden, Lewis grabbed him by the hair.

    "Ouch!" heined, then he red at his son. But he had to look up because Lewis was taller than him. Damn his growth spurt. "Hey, you shouldn''t do this to your future father."

    The fox boy finally let go of his hair. "You''re not my father," he said. "Don''te in. Princess Neoma is changing."

    "Oh, okay," Trevor said. He tried to pat Lewis''s shoulder but he suddenly stepped away from him. Well, he was already aware that the fox boy didn''t enjoy skinship (but Princess Neoma was the exception). "Hey, I just want to congratte you for being a good son to my Moon Princess."

    "I''m not Princess Neoma''s son," Lewis said. He didn''t sound annoyed this time though. In fact, he sounded arrogant which was unusual for the fox boy. "I am Princess Neoma''s most favorite person in the world."

    <em>Huh?</em>

    <strong><em>***</em></strong>

    NOTE: Ah, finally! I was able to update daily for a month. Congrats to us! Unfortunately, I won''t be able to do it this March. I wasn''t able to prepare a stockpile for my new privilege tier because I was busy with my day job.

    Anyway, I will add FIVE more chapters so please give me three or five days before I post them.

    I promise that they''re going to be worth it.

    The next arc is going to be INSANE. So please consider buying my privilege. My dream is to have more than 500 priv readers this time. Thank you to the 306 people who bought my priv. Love y''all. Hope to see you again this month. Hehe.

    Here are a few things that you can look forward to in the uing arc:

    1. Duke Jasper Hawthorne and Princess Neoma de Moonasterio roasting each other--- verbally and literally. LOL

    2. You''ll see why Sir Glenn is called ''Mad Dog; He''s not that kind, yk?

    3. Friends and allies leaving Neoma one by one. :(

    4. You''ll finally meet REGINA CROWELL! Which means Rubin Drayton will return. Haha yeah, I know you''re not excited about that.

    5. MY FAVORITE PART OF THE UPCOMING ARC: NEOMA GOING ON A RAMPAGE. Our princess is batshit crazy, I tell you.

    Yes, I am bribing (and begging) you to buy my privilege tiers: 1 coin for 2 advanced chapters, 50 coins for 5 chapters, and 100 coins for 10 chapters. Hope you consider buying them. Thank you. <3

    Again, please give me 3-5 days to prepare for my next update. Sorry in advance for making you wait. And thank you always for the support. :)

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 Chapter 127 - JUST SHAKE IT OFF

    NIKOLAI felt irritated as soon as he saw Lewis Crevan and the demon boy in front of Neoma''s room while fighting over his daughter.

    He didn''t mean to eavesdrop but Trevor''s voice was loud enough for him to hear even without his sharp senses. And although the foxy boy''s voice was calmer and lower than the demon boy''s, he spoke clear enough.

    That was quite interesting.

    Lewis Crevan almost never talks to other people. And even if he does talk, he purposely uses broken speech. But he''s speaking normally to Trevor.

    "You''re Princess Neoma''s most favorite person?" Trevor, who crossed his arms over his chest as if to assert dominance, asked the foxy boy. Although it didn''t look convincing at all since Lewis was grabbing the demon boy''s hair. "So what? You can have the title as my Moon Princess''s "most favorite person." But I''d take the title of her husband."

    Lewis Crevan remained pokerfaced. But he pulled the demon boy''s hair, pissed.

    Of course, Trevor yelled in an exaggerated "agonizing" voice.

    "Glenn," Niki called his knight who stood behind him. "Get rid of those two insects before I step on them."

    "Your Majesty, you can step on Trevor but don''t even think about hurting Lewis Crevan if you don''t want to earn Princess Neoma''s wrath," Glenn said yfully. When he red at the knight, he avoided his gaze and walked towards the little insects. "Trevor, Lewis Crevan, y with me."

    "No," Trevor and Lewis Crevan said at the same time.

    Nevertheless, Glenn put his arms around the children and cheerfully dragged the two away from Neoma''s room.

    He could tell that Trevor and Lewis Crevan tried to get away from Glenn''s firm hold. But of course, the knight didn''t budge. But even if the children seriously fight their way out of Glenn''s hold, they couldn''t.

    Unless they wanted a serious fight.

    Trevor and Lewis Crevan seemed to know that. Thus, despite theirints (Trevor talked a lot while Lewis Crevan just scowled as protest), the two boys didn''t seriously try to shake Glenn off.

    <em>Now, some peace and quiet.</em>

    Knowing that Neoma was alone in the room (since he sent Alphen and Stephanie to serve Nero), he knocked before he announced himself. Since Glenn wasn''t there to announce his arrival, he had no choice but to do it.

    "Neoma, it''s me."

    "Gah."

    <em>''Gah?''</em>

    He didn''t understand what it meant. But it was obviously a sound ofint.

    <em>That little girl is full of grievances as usual.</em>

    "Come in, Papa Boss," Neoma said in a loud voice for him to hear. Although that was necessary since he had sharp senses anyway. "But don''t get mad, okay?"

    <em>What did she do now?</em>

    As soon as he entered her room, he realized why his daughter asked him not to get mad.

    Neoma, seated on the sofa while holding an empty vial, was wearing avender dress. It was also noticeable that her long and wavy hair wasn''t a wig. It was real, even the red strands.

    He almost forgot that Neoma''s hair had pink strands after she awakened. It wasn''t quite obvious when her hair was cut short. But now that it grew longer due to Madam Hammock''s potion, he was reminded of one of Mona''s physical traits that Neoma inherited from her mother.

    "You really look like Mona," he blurted out without thinking.

    "Of course, Papa Boss," Neoma deadpanned. "You should be surprised if I look like a random woman instead of Lady Mona Roseheart."

    He rolled his eyes at his daughter''s sarcasm that she probably inherited from her mother as well. "What are you doing in that appearance?"

    He didn''t need to ask how Neoma got the potion or where she got the dress. He was aware of how close his daughter was to Madam Hammock and Hanna Quinzel. Thus, he was no longer surprised at how she was able to get help from the people around her.

    "I''m taking selfies¨C I mean pictures," she said, then she pointed at the spirit stones ced on top of the table. "I''d like tomemorate the day I turned prettier."

    "Of course," he said, already used at his daughter''s excess love for her beauty. Then, he sat on the sofa across from her. "How long will the potionst? We need to greet themoners tomorrow morning."

    "Don''t call them moners,'' Papa Boss," she scolded him. Her voice was yful, but her eyes were serious. "Even those people who don''t have noble titles are still citizens of our empire. As their ruler, you shouldn''t discriminate against your people based on social status. After all, it''s your failure as the emperor if the rich get richer while the poor be poorer."

    She even talks like Mona.

    "And how would that be my failure?" he asked. Neoma''s words affected him because he already heard them from Mona. Of course, the way the two phrased it was different from one another. But the point was the same. "I''m aware that I''m not a good person. But I take pride in making the empire flourish after my father almost ruined it. I know that poverty still exists. But the situation is a lot better now than how it was during my father''s reign."

    "Papa Boss, your father set the bar in hell during his reign," she said, obviously not impressed with his boasting a while ago. "Even a child like me would have done a good job running this empirepared to my grandfather''s previous administration."

    "Neoma," he said sternly. "Didn''t I already warn you not to say things that would imply that you''re interested in ruling the empire?"

    "Didn''t I already say that I will never take the throne even if it kills me, Papa Boss?"

    "I''m saying this for your own sake."

    His daughter pouted as if she was imitating a duck''s long beak. "Gosh. Are the bigots and misogynists in the empire going tobust and drop dead if a woman rules over them? You''re so adamant about hating on women, huh? If y''all use the kind of energy on things that matter like fighting poverty, then maybe no one would get hungry in this empire anymore."

    He got his daughter''s point but her ent and the words that she used were really strange.

    <em>What does ''y''all'' even mean?</em>

    "You don''t have to lecture me because I know what to do as the emperor," he said. "And what do you know about poverty anyway? Although I admit that I didn''t pay attention to you and Nero when you were born, you still grew up in luxury."

    "Do I have to be born in poverty to understand that the poor will remain poor as long as the ruling ss is the nobility? People who are out of touch with reality live in a bubble that prevents them from seeing the core problem with poverty, Papa Boss," she said while shaking her head. "I know that because I''m Neoma."

    Did his daughter learn that from her Economy ss?

    "Are you done with your lecture?" he asked. "I didn''te here to hear your opinion about how I should run the empire."

    "I''m done, Papa Boss," she said with her usual "business smile." "I feel refreshed after nagging you."

    He just shook his head at that remark.

    To be honest, even if Neoma''s words were considered rude, he didn''t feel like she was disrespecting him. When she wasn''t irked by him, at least.

    "I came here to talk about our activity tomorrow," he said. "As you already know, it''s our empire''s tradition to have the members of the royal family greet its people in The Balcony of what we call as ''People''s Pce.'' You''ve never been into that pce yet, but I guess you''ve already heard about it from your History teacher."

    His daughter nodded. "It''s the first pce that people will see once they went past the Royal Gate. ording to history, it was purposely built so that the royal family could greet its people without actually showing their private residence. The inside of People''s Pce is like a museum that preserves the history of the royal family, and the citizens are allowed to visit it during the Moon Festival. Hence, the name."

    "That''s right," he said. "Aside from the pce built to receive the citizens, the area around People''s Pce also resembles the za in the Royal Capital. The one inside the Royal Pce is called Illumina. On normal days, it''s nothing but a huge empty space in front of People''s Pce. But during a Moon Festival, it transforms into a lively street filled with food carts and games thatmoners enjoy."

    "Now that sounds like a real festival," his daughter said excitedly. "Are you here to tell me that I can enjoy the festival?"

    "No," he said sternly. "I''m here to tell you to prepare because both the nobility and the general public haven''t epted you yet as this empire''s Crown Prince. Thus, you might receive a cold wee from both sides tomorrow."

    "I understand why the nobility doesn''t want to ept me," Neoma said, confused. "But why does the general public hate me, Papa Boss?"

    "It''s because you are Mona''s child."

    That seemed to surprise his daughter. "Was Mama hated by the people?"

    "It''s not that they hated Mona," he said. "They just loved Juliet a little too much."

    "Oh."

    He raised his brow at her reaction. "Why does it seem like you easily epted that reason? Don''t you find it shallow?"

    She shook her head. "I''ve only heard good things about thete empress. Of course, I don''t envision her as someone that was perfect and 100% innocent. No one like that exists. But if people loved thete empress even after her death, then it only means that she lived an honest life. It''s easy to fake being nice¨C but being kind is not something that you can fake. That''s why I can tell that Empress Juliet was a kind person. And perhaps, a good ruler as well."

    He was impressed by Neoma''s mind.

    It was true that Juliet was a good person, but that didn''t mean she was kind all the time. There were circumstances that had forced her to be cruel in order to fulfill her duty as a royal. But he understood because just like thete empress, he also had to sacrifice a part of his humanity in order to sit on the throne.

    "I know that Mama didn''t steal you from thete empress," Neoma continued carefully. "Thete empress was already gone before you and Mama had us." She paused, then she gave him a suspicious look. "Right, Papa Boss?"

    It sounded like a threat.

    To be honest, his rtionship with Mona began when he was still a Crown Prince.

    But due to several tragic events that happened between them, they were forced to separate. And after that separation, he was put in a tight situation where the only way to get out of it was to marry Juliet.

    "Mona and I were separated for a few years after we met," he said. He didn''t want to tell his past to Neoma, but he wanted to assure her that her mother didn''t steal him from Juliet as most people think. "Juliet was already gone when we met again. That was when we had you and Nero. But of course, not everyone could ept that. Rumors began to spread that Mona was behind Juliet''s death. It spread like wildfire until the general public eventually believed it."

    And that was only one of the many reasons why a lot of people opposed his rtionship with Mona.

    "I guess that''s politics for you," Neoma said in an indifferent tone. However, her eyes still looked sad. She probably felt bad for her mother. "People who don''t like my mother refuse to believe the truth because they wanted it to be true to suit their narrative. If they hate my mother that much, then I won''t be surprised if they hate me because they see me as Mama''s extension."

    Again, Neoma got it correct.

    The reason why most people in the past didn''t approve of Mona was because of politics. The majority of noble households didn''t want House Roseheart to reim its former prestige. And so, the nobility put Mona in a bad light to make themoners hate her.

    Those bastards used Juliet''s death to smear Mona''s reputation to the mass.

    "Oh, well. It can''t be helped," Neoma said with a shrug, her voice more cheerful now. Then, she began "talking" in a beat that made it sound like she was singing. But it was the first time that he heard that kind of tune. "The haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate. Baby, I''m just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake. I shake it off, I shake it off."

    <em>Mona, you gave birth to a weird child.</em>

    But still, he was relieved that she already anticipated what kind of reception she might receive tomorrow.

    He had power over the nobility because he had great support from old families like House Quinzel. But he couldn''t control how themoners might perceive the "Crown Prince." He knew that even until now, the general public still missed Juliet.

    <em>Having said that¡­</em>

    "Mona wasn''t hated by the entire poption," he said. "The hate on your mother only seemed huge because it was spread by loud people. But Mona was also a loved person by many people who know her. I''m certain that even until now, there are still people who admire your mother in silence. It''s your job to find your people now, Neoma."

    "No problem, Papa Boss. Charming people is my specialty," Neoma said with a smile, then she gave him a hand gesture that she referred to as "thumbs up." He knew because Glenn always bbered about Neoma''s "quirks." "Because I''m Neoma."

    Niki could only sigh and shake his head at that kind of response.

    <em>Neoma is really a strange child.</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    "I CAN see Mona''s face in Princess Neoma because of her feminine feature. Moreover, the royal princess inherited my master''s gentle eyes and kind smile," Gale thought to herself aloud while watching Prince Nero pour some tea for himself. "But you, on the other hand, look like a child version of little Niki, Prince Nero."

    "I apologize for looking like my father."

    To say that Gale was shocked when Prince Nero turned to her after responding to her would be an understatement.

    <em>Prince Nero can hear me when he hasn''t awakened his Roseheart blood yet?!</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 128 - THE BOY WHO HAS EVERYTHING

    GALE paid a visit to Mona''s son.

    It was true that she was very fond of Princess Neoma. But that didn''t mean she didn''t care about her master''s other child. Although she had to say that if the real Crown Prince turned out to be as intolerable as little Niki, she might just forget that Mona had a son.

    While sitting on the windowsill of Prince Nero''s room, she quietly watched the young prince that just got out of the bathroom. He wore a dress and a wig a while ago. But this time, he didn''t have his wig anymore and he wore clothes that befitted a royal prince like him.

    <em>Everything about the royal prince screams royalty.</em>

    She didn''t want to say this but Prince Nero looked more majestic than Princess Neoma. Even though they resembled each other so much, she could clearly see the difference between the twins. And it was the ''aura.''

    Princess Neoma had a warm aura that made people drawn to her.

    On the other hand, Prince Nero had a cold and aloof aura that clearly sets him apart from the rest. He had the charm of a lone wolf. And most people were attracted to such charisma.

    "I can see Mona''s face in Princess Neoma because of her feminine feature. Moreover, the royal princess inherited my master''s gentle eyes and kind smile," Gale thought to herself aloud while watching Prince Nero pour some tea for himself. "But you, on the other hand, look like a child version of little Niki, Prince Nero."

    "I apologize for looking like my father."

    To say that she was shocked when Prince Nero responded to her would be an understatement.

    She spoke aloud because she thought that the Crown Prince wouldn''t hear her. After all, Princess Neoma who had already awakened her Roseheart blood still took a while before she was able to hear her voice.

    Prince Nero can hear me when he hasn''t awakened his Roseheart blood yet?!

    Prince Nero stopped pouring tea in his teacup, then he raised his head and looked at her straight in the eye. "Greetings, Miss Spirit."

    And he knew that she was a Spirit?

    She was curious so she used her ability to gauge how much ''Spirit Energy'' the royal prince possessed. If the de Moonasterios had ''Divine Power,'' then the Rosehearts had ''Spirit Energy.'' It was rted to the Rosehearts'' use of Evocation (aka the power/ability to summon a spirit, demon, deity, or other entities).

    Her thoughts were cut-off when all of a sudden, while looking deep into Prince Nero''s eyes, she saw herself floating in the vast blue sky.

    The scenery gave her chills because she only had one interpretation for it.

    Prince Nero''s Spirit Energy seemed to be infinite.

    Gale could onlyugh softly in disbelief. "Ah, yes¨C you are also Mona''s child."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "WOULD you like some tea?" Nero offered the Spirit that visited his room. "I brewed this myself so I can''t guarantee what it tastes like though."

    Of course, he knew that it couldn''t drink tea because it took the form of a white bunny. But he also knew that Spirits could change into their human form. Anyway, the most important thing was the Spirit seemed to be fond of Neoma. As long as it wasn''t hostile, he wouldn''t bear his fangs at it even though he didn''t like how the Spirit invaded his privacy.

    And the Spirit wasn''t hostile anyway.

    He could tell because his father''s Soul Beasts weren''t attacking the Spirit. Even though the White Tiger and the ck Tortoise were in their "energy ball" form, he knew they would have transformed back into their original form had they sensed danger.

    Since it didn''t happen, that only meant that the Spirit was on their side.

    "Thank you for the offer but I can''t drink tea in this form, Prince Nero."

    He just smiled at that. "If you know the royal secret, then you must be a servant of my twin sister."

    The Spirit seemed to be offended by his choice of words. But it didn''tment on it. "Greetings, Your Royal Highness," it said in a soft voice that made him think that it might be a woman. "My name is Gale, and I''m a Wind Spirit. Your twin sister, Her Royal Highness Princess Neoma, fondly calls me ''Mochi.'' Please refer to me as ''Gale'' though. I only let you know what the royal princess calls me because I don''t want you to be confused."

    He smirked at the Spirit''s petty payback.

    First, she talked "politely" to him in a sarcastic tone.

    Then, she let him know her real name and the one that Neoma gave her. The Wind Spirit specifically asked him to address her as ''Gale'' as a way to let him know that she didn''t like him.

    "It seems like my words have offended you, Miss Gale," he said. "I will be more careful from now on."

    The white bunny disappeared from his sight when he blinked.

    Then, the next thing he knew, the Wind Spirit was already seated on the sofa from across him. Ah, it seemed like Miss Gale was good at using teleportation spells.

    He sat on the sofa, picked up his teacup, and sipped his tea before he spoke again. "May I know how you ended up serving my twin sister, Miss Gale?"

    "I was sent to Princess Neoma as a present."

    He waited for the Wind Spirit to talk more, but she didn''t. Ah, it seemed like she didn''t like him and she wanted to let him know that by putting a wall between them.

    <em>Fair enough.</em>

    "You said Lady Mona Roseheart was your master in the past," he said.

    "That''s right," she said in a mildly excited voice. "Do you have questions about your mother?"

    He shook his head. "I really don''t care about a woman who''s no longer here," he said bluntly, obviously disappointing the Wind Spirit. "Moreover, I already know what I need to know about my mother."

    "Really now?" Miss Gale, who looked really offended now, asked. "Pray tell me what you know about your mother then."

    "My mother was thest head of House Roseheart," he said, remembering the things that he learned about House Roseheart before he went into a deep slumber. "Apparently, during the old times, House Roseheart was the family that used to keep the royal family in check. House Roseheart, led by powerful women, was deeply hated by the nobility. Thus, several old families worked with the royal family to disgrace the Rosehearts. And they seeded. That''s why when my mother was born, House Roseheart was already considered as a lowly noble household."

    "That''s amon knowledge among the nobility."

    "This is just a rumor that I heard from the grapevine," he continued carefully. "But apparently, the Rosehearts have the ability to kill a de Moonasterio. But somehow, the royal family managed to "steal" that ability from a previous matriarch of the House Roseheart, and that caused their fall from grace." He sipped his tea before he continued. "Ah, I also know that I''m special because it''s rare for House Roseheart to produce a male heir."

    "With all due respect, if House Roseheart is still active, then Princess Neoma would have been the heiress and not you, Prince Nero."

    "Ah, is that so?" he asked, not interested in that matter. Then, he put the teacup down on the saucer quietly before he changed the topic. "Why did you seem surprised when you realized that I can hear you, Miss Gale? Shouldn''t that be a given since I''m a Roseheart as well?"

    The white bunny seemed hesitant to talk at first. But in the end, she caved in. "You haven''t awakened your Roseheart blood yet, Prince Nero. On the other hand, Princess Neoma already awakened. And yet, it took her a while before she was able to hear me."

    He smiled when he heard that. "Then, I must really be special."

    "It seems like you''ve stolen everything from your twin sister when you were still in your mother''s womb."

    He didn''t miss the sarcasm, of course.

    "I don''t know if that''s the case but I''m truly grateful that I''m blessed with both of my parents'' unique abilities," he said, then he picked up his cup and sipped his tea again before he continued speaking. "The more capable I am, the more I can protect Neoma." He put his teacup down on the coaster, then he clutched his chest. "I''m weak and useless now because of my curse. But I swear on my life that as soon as I''m healed, I will catch up on Neoma."

    "Catch up?"

    "I''ve heard from the emperor about the things that Neoma has aplished for the past three years," he said. "Even if His Majesty didn''t say it directly, I''m aware that he wanted me to know that Neoma has already surpassed me. My twin sister has awakened both her Soul Beast and her blood as a Roseheart. If she was born a male, she would have stolen the throne from me a long time ago. The only reason why I''m still the Crown Prince is that I''m a male, and the empire only epts men as heir to the throne."

    "I''m surprised that you know that."

    "I have to recognize my weaknesses and turn them into my strength as soon as possible," he said. "Right now, all I can do is to wait for Trevor to get rid of my curse. It''s frustrating, yes. But I''m prepared to work hard once I''m healed. I have to be stronger as soon as possible so I could protect Neoma in the future."

    "I like your resolve since it involves protecting our little princess," the Wind Spirit said. "But what will you do if you were forced into a situation where you need to kill your precious twin sister, Prince Nero? Even though Princess Neoma isn''t legally qualified topete with you for the throne, it might change in the future." She heard the white bunny smirk as if she was taunting him. "It''s expected for siblings to kill each other for the throne anyway."

    "I''ll make sure that it won''t happen to me and Neoma," he said confidently. He knew in his heart that Neoma wasn''t interested in the throne. To be honest, his urge to be an emperor was onlying from his desire to overthrow his father. But if he had to give up the throne for Neoma, he''d do it. "But if ever I would be forced to kill my twin sister in the future, then I''d kill myself."

    Miss Gale looked surprised by his deration. "I don''t it''s something an eight-year-old child like you should be saying, Prince Nero."

    "Eight-year-old child?" Ah, yes. But my age doesn''t matter," Nero said, then he sipped his tea. "I don''t care about anything else as long as I get to protect Neoma."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "PRINCESS Neoma, I am so annoyed," Galeined to the royal princess who was busy admiring herself in the mirror (since it was rare for Princess Neoma to be allowed to dress up like a girl that she was). She, on the other hand, was seated on her young master''s bed. "I went to visit Prince Nero a while ago."

    "Oh, really?" Princess Neoma asked, then she turned around to face her. "He didn''t kick you out?"

    "The royal prince received me politely."

    "Then, why are you annoyed?"

    "He''s too blessed!" sheined to the royal princess. "Although he couldn''t use his Mana because of his curse, I still sensed his unlimited talent."

    "Well, what did you expect?" the royal princess asked casually. "Nero is also a child of Mama and Papa Boss. Our parents are both OP so it''s only natural that the two of us are both OP as well."

    "What does ''OP'' mean, Princess Neoma?"

    "Overpowered," she exined. "As in super strong and talented."

    "Ah, I see. Thank you for the exnation," she said. But she was still frustrated at how talented Prince Nero was despite his current limitations. "Princess Neoma, how do you feel after knowing that aside from being born a male, Prince Nero also possesses a talent that may surpass yours once he''s fully healed?"

    "I''m relieved."

    "Relieved?"

    "Nero is the "main character" in this empire," the royal princess exined. "I am not jealous of his position because it was never my dream to sit on the throne. I know that I''m just a "supporting character" that needs to fulfill his role until he returns. If he has the talent that can surpass mine, that''s fine with me. In fact, I want him to be greater than me so that he wouldn''t need to rely on me in the future."

    She let out a deep sigh. "My poor little princess..."

    "Don''t pity me, Mochi," she scolded her lightly. "Don''t you know that there are times that a supporting character overshadows the main character?"

    "I''m not sure if I get what you''re saying, Your Royal Highness."

    "Nero is the main character but I''m the scene-stealer," Princess Neoma said proudly. "I''m Neoma Ramsay and I shine brighter than a star."

    Gale didn''t really understand what it meant. But she knew that the royal princess was trying to cheer her up. Surprisingly, it worked. "That''s right," she said with a softugh. "Our Princess Neoma shines the brightest."

    ***

    NEOMA knew what Mochi was worried about when she said Nero had everything.

    But she didn''t want to fuel the Wind Spirit''s irritation so she brushed her concerns off casually. She didn''t like doing that to other people, but she also didn''t want her to see Nero as an enemy. After all, Nero was her one and only brother in the world.

    "Princess Neoma, His Royal Highness Prince Nero is here."

    She turned to the door where she heard Lewi''s announcementing from. After her father left her a while ago, Lewis returned to her side. She didn''t know what happened to Trevor though. Not that she cared.

    Anyway¡­

    She knew that Nero would visit her in her room to "talk," thus she changed back into her real appearance. She didn''t want to talk to him while looking exactly like her twin brother.

    "Let him in, Lewis."

    She stood up when the door opened and Nero entered her room. To be honest, she contemted whether to greet him cheerfully or not. But when he saw how serious her twin brother looked, she decided to match it with her own poker face.

    "Neoma, bring me to the special training ground that you asked to be built for you," Nero said in his usual demanding voice. Whenever he was this serious, he sounded so much like Emperor Niki that she was having the urge to call her twin brother a sc*mbag. "Let''s fight."

    Neoma almost choked in surprise but she retained her dignity by acting calm. "I won''t give you a handicap, Nero."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 129 - A FATHERS TROUBLES

    "YOU''RE going to pass down your technique to Neoma?" Niki asked Saint Zavaroni. Right now, they were in the shrine that was connected to Astello Temple. The saint needed to return to the temple since he had been gone for too long. "Are you really serious about taking Neoma in as your disciple?"

    Saint Zavaroni nodded as a response. "I''ll teach Princess Neoma the three forms of the Divine Field Technique, Your Majesty."

    Once again, he was surprised.

    <em>The three forms?</em>

    "It''s the same technique that you taught Nichole in the past, isn''t it?"

    The saint, who now looked solemn, slowly nodded as a response to his question. "The former shield that I created has already been broken. It''s time for me to create a new one."

    Nichole was the previous "shield" that His Holiness mentioned.

    In fact, the holy barrier around the Royal Pce was created by the former Princess Royal. Now he understood why a demon was able to break the barrier to kidnap Neoma before. But after that incident, he created anotheryer of the barrier using his own Mana.

    He couldn''t simply remove the holy barrier that Nichole made. After all, his twin sister''s barrier was the strongest in the empire. And that still stands true even now.

    "I haven''t talked to Princess Neoma about this matter yet, Your Majesty," the saint said. "I wanted to talk to her before I leave. But unfortunately, High Priest Wellington is already nagging me to return to the temple."

    "How will you teach Neoma then?"

    "I will return as soon as I finish my tasks in the temple," Saint Zavaroni said. "I hope you keep this portal room open for me until then, Your Majesty."

    "When did I ever close the portal room to you?"

    His Holiness just smiled at his question. "I thought you wouldn''t allow me to pass down my technique to Princess Neoma, Your Majesty. After all, you don''t want her to excel more than Prince Nero."

    "Your technique is a valuable Art of Defense that has been protecting the empire for many years now. It wouldn''t hurt the royal family if you pass it down to Neoma," he said. "But I''ll admit that I wish you''d teach Nero your technique as well once he has fully recovered. After all, he''s the real Crown Prince¨C the one who will inherit the throne in the future."

    "I''m passing down my technique to Princess Neoma not because I want her to be the new shield of the empire," Saint Zavaroni said seriously, his blue eyes now glowing. "I''m going to turn her into a shield so no one¨C not even you¨C can break her, Your Majesty."

    "Interesting," Niki said. He didn''t bother to refute the saint''s wrong assumption about him wanting to break Neoma. After all, he knew that His Holiness wouldn''t believe him anyway. "I can''t wait to see what kind of unbreakable shield you''ll produce this time, Your Holiness."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "HANNA," Rufus called his precious daughter lovingly as soon as he entered her room in nco Pce. When Hanna stood up to greet him, he ran towards her. Then, he got down on one knee and was about to lift her up. But when Hanna gave him a stern look, he gave her a yful pout. "Am I not allowed to hug and carry my princess anymore?"

    "Father, that''s too embarrassing," Hanna scolded him lightly. "I love you and I''m grateful for your affection. But I''m already a youngdy so please stop treating me like a baby, dear Father."

    He chuckled. To be honest, it sounded cute and funny that he wanted tough out loud. But he didn''t want to offend his precious daughter so he held it in. "The fact that you''re saying that just proves that you''re still a baby, Hanna."

    His adorable daughter''s face turned red from embarrassment, then she pouted. "Father, I''m already a youngdy so please stop teasing me."

    This time, he couldn''t help butugh. "Oh, my daughter is really adorable."

    Hanna''s face turned a deeper shade of red if it was even possible.

    He couldn''t hold himself back anymore. Despite his daughter''s warning look, he still hugged her and kissed her on the cheek. Hanna''s "grumpy" fa?ade slipped off when she giggled and hugged him back.

    "I missed you, Father," Hanna said, then she kissed him on the cheek. "I know how busy you are because of the uing festival. Thank you for making time for me."

    Ah, his daughter''s maturity never failed to amaze her.

    But at the same time, he felt sad because, at her age, Hanna was already aware that he couldn''t spend most of his time with her because of his duties.

    "I''ll take a short vacation after the festival," he promised his daughter. "I will bring you and Amber to Edevane."

    His daughter''s face lit up.

    Edevane, their dukedom, was in the South East region of the empire. And their territory was one of the most prosperousnds on the continent. They had a vi in Edevane that Amber and Hanna both loved.

    In fact, if his brother didn''t betray His Majesty, he wouldn''t have inherited their father''s title. His original n was to live a quiet and peaceful life with his family. He never wished to be a duke.

    But he knew that he had to atone for his older brother''s sin by pledging his loyalty to the emperor as the Duke of Edevane.

    "Thank you, Father," Hanna said, obviously delighted by his promise. "Ah, may I know where Mother is? Did she already return home?"

    "Your mother was summoned by her family," he said. "But don''t worry, sweetie. It''s nothing serious. Your grandparents just probably want to see your mother before the Moon Festival begins."

    His daughter just smiled and nodded.

    Their moment was interrupted when they heard a knock on the door. Then, it was followed by a voice that he didn''t expect to hear.

    "Hanna, it''s me."

    His daughter gasped softly when she heard Prince Nero''s voice. It was probably the real one because Princess Neoma, albeit having almost the same voice as her twin brother, talked in a cheerful tone.

    Anyway, Hanna didn''t have knights or aids outside her room because she probably knew that Prince Nero woulde and visit her unannounced. It was quite worrying for him. But he trusted that nco Pce had tight security since it was the Crown Prince''s residence.

    My daughter refuses to bring her own guards so it''s quite worrying.

    <em>Anyway¡­</em>

    Hanna seemed to know that her visitor was the real Crown Prince because her cheeks turned pinker than normal. "Pleasee in, Nero."

    He raised a brow at that. <em>So, my precious daughter is on a first-name basis with Prince Nero now?</em>

    When the door opened and the Crown Prince entered the room, they greeted him properly.

    He bowed while Hanna curtsied.

    "Ah, I didn''t know you were here, Duke Quinzel," Prince Nero said. "I apologize for interrupting your time with your daughter."

    "Please don''t apologize, Your Royal Highness," he said. This was definitely the real Crown Prince. Aside from the voice, he was also a little bit taller than Princess Neoma. Although he had to say that the twins'' faces really resembled each other despite having different genders. "By the way, is it really safe if you walk around the pce without covering your face?"

    Security-wise, he could tell that Prince Nero was safe.

    The two balls of energy on either side of his head were definitely His Majesty''s Soul Beasts in their spirit form. Only people of his caliber could see those. So if a fool that couldn''t see the Soul Beasts dared to attack the Crown Prince, they would be shredded to pieces in a heartbeat.

    "I made sure that no one saw meing this way, Your Grace," His Royal Highness assured him, then he changed the topic. "I went here to ask for Hanna''s help. But since you''re here, I might as well ask you instead of your daughter. Would that be alright, Duke Quinzel?"

    "Of course, Prince Nero," he said. "What can I do for you?"

    "I heard that the Quinzels use a technique that can hide a certain space with their shadow technique," the Crown Prince said. "Will you lend me that ability of yours, Your Grace?"

    "That''s not going to be a problem, Prince Nero," he said. "May I know what do you need my ability for?"

    "Oh, I''m going to fight Neoma."

    To say that he was shocked to hear that would be an understatement.

    Hanna also looked like she had a lot of things to ask. But perhaps, her upbringing held her back. After all, she grew up being taught that she shouldn''t butt in a conversation between men especially if the topic had something to do with war or politics.

    Of course, he taught his daughter that it shouldn''t be the case all the time. Women had the right to express their opinion after all. But Hanna, adamant to be a "proper"dy of Moonasterion Empire, decided to follow the ridiculous "etiquette."

    "Prince Nero, I know I''m not in the position to stop you," Rufus said carefully. "But may I know the reason for your fight with Princess Neoma?"

    "I want to see the real Neoma," Prince Nero said firmly. "I need to disillusion myself from the Neoma that I have in my head."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "GLENN, if you''re going to dance with Princess Brigitte Griffiths during the Moon Festival, tell me in advance. I''ll have Kyle stand next to me as your recement," Niki told the knight. When he tore his gaze away from the papers in his hand to look up at Glenn who stood in front of his desk, he smirked when he saw how red the knight''s face was. "Why are you blushing like a love-struck fool, huh?"

    Glenn tried to hide his blushing face by covering it with the back of his hand. "I d-don''t know w-what you''re talking about, Your Majesty."

    He almostughed when the knight stuttered.

    If people who dubbed Glenn as the ''Mad Dog'' saw him now, they would probably cry. The knight looked so na?ve right now. And that was a far cry from how he truly was on a battlefield.

    "I don''t mind if you settle down already," he said. Although it might sound like he was just annoying Glenn, there was still some gravity in his words. Glenn was at that age anyway. "It will be hard to ask for a foreign princess''s hand in marriage. But I will support you."

    Glenn came from a prestigious family. But he had already cut his ties with his family a long time ago.

    So as a childhood friend, it was now his duty to help Glenn settle down.

    His thoughts were cut-off when he felt a strange aura in the office.

    Glenn immediately drew his sword and stabbed the moving lump of Mana on the marble floor.

    "Careful!" the lump of Mana, that sounded like Rufus''s voice,ined. "It''s me."

    "Rufus," Glenn said in surprise, then he pulled out his sword from the lump of Mana. "What are you doing here in that form?"

    A few momentster, the lump of Mana had changed its appearance and took the form of Rufus''s shadow. Yes, it was one of the Quinzels'' shadow techniques. They could separate their own shadow from themselves and control it like a puppet.

    "Your Majesty, we have a little problem," the duke said. "Prince Nero and Princess Neoma are fighting."

    He let out a sigh while shaking his head. "Again?"

    "It''s a bit different this time," Rufus said in a nervous voice. "The twin royals are in the training ground and they''re about to have a brawl."

    Glenn let out a loud gasp. "A brawl?"

    Niki closed his eyes tight while pinching the bridge of his nose. "Those two brats¡­"

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 130 - POGGERS

    "FATHER, aren''t you going to stop Nero and Neoma from fighting?" Hanna asked her father nervously. "It seems like the royal twins are seriously going to fight each other."

    His father, as carefree as ever, justughed softly while looking at Nero and Neoma.

    The royal twins were in the middle of the man-made forest that was built to be nco Pce''s training ground.

    Aside from her and her father, Lewis Crevan was also there.

    While the fox boy stood behind Neoma, she and her father stood in the entrance of the training ground/man-made forest.

    "Prince Nero and Princess Neoma won''t kill each other," her father assured her. "This fight is probably needed to settle whatever differences our twin royals have."

    She could only let out a deep sigh.

    When she turned to Nero, she saw how serious he was. And for that reason, she couldn''t say anything to him even though she was against this fight.

    <em>I don''t have the right to meddle with the royal family''s affair.</em>

    She could only pray that Nero and Neoma don''t get hurt in this fight.

    "Now, it''s time to do my job," her father said, then he opened his hands while his palms were facing the ground. Under them, the shadows of inanimate objects within the vicinity gathered under his palms. But of course, he didn''t dare to collect the shadows of Nero and Neoma. "Rise, Veil of Darkness."

    The shadows gathered on the ground rose up like a lump of dark aura. Then, it burst and spread until a huge "veil" was created. It was big enough to cover the entire training ground. As its name suggested, it turned dark when the veil covered the entire ce like a dome.

    "Father, you''re amazing," Hanna said while looking up at his father with sparkling eyes. "I really respect you with all my heart and soul."

    "Thank you, sweetie," his father said with a softugh, then he gently patted her head. "Soon, I will pass down our family''s shadow technique to you."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "NERO, when you said you''re going to fight me¡­" Neoma trailed-off, then she pointed at the two balls of energy on either side of Nero''s head. She could see it clearly, and she could also feel the divine powering from it. "Did you mean you''re going to fight me using our father''s Soul Beasts? Don''t you think that''s a little unfair?"

    Although she was confident with Tteokbokki''s ability (and she had Lewis behind her), she knew that she was no match against two of their father''s Soul Beasts.

    Moreover, it looked like Nero was serious about beating her ass.

    Her stupid twin brother even asked Duke Quinzel to create a "cloak" to hide their activities from outside. As far as she knew, the shadow technique that the duke used was called Veil of something. She had already forgotten about it though.

    "No, I''d rather die than use His Majesty''s Soul Beasts," Nero said bluntly, distracting her from her thoughts. "Don''t worry about them. I already told them not to interfere with our fight."

    "And they listened to you?"

    "His Majesty ordered them to listen to me."

    She wouldn''t admit this but she was relieved to hear that. Although she was naturally arrogant, she chooses her battles carefully. She was hot-tempered, but notpletely reckless. "Don''t worry, Brother. I won''t let Lewis interfere with our fight as well."

    She felt Lewis drilling a hole on her face with his questioning gaze but she ignored him.

    <em>I''m sorry, son. This is a fight between your mother and uncle.</em>

    "But are you sure about this, Nero?" she asked again. "If you use your Mana, your curse will get activated."

    It was a shame that they had to fight while dressed up as themselves.

    She was just d that she decided to wear pants (something close to her yoga pants back in the modern world) under her dress. Thanks to those, she could move freely.

    Nero also wore his training clothes.

    <em>Hmm¡­ I pretty much understand Mochi''s frustration now. Why does Nero look a LITTLE BIT, just a TINY BIT, prettier than me when he was unconscious for a few years? Is the air in Trevor''s territory different? Does it make one''s skin clearer? Is that why Trevor looks handsome and sexy¨C stop, Neoma Ramsay! That talking book isn''t hot, okay?!</em>

    "I''m not going to use my Mana," Nero dered. "I''m only going to fight using my physical strength."

    "What?"

    "We are de Moonasterios, my precious little sister," he reminded her. "We are stronger than most people even if we don''t use Mana." He smiled "sweetly" at her. "But of course, you''re free to use your Mana and your Soul Beast."

    She wasn''t apetitive person when ites to brawls.

    <em>I''m a pacifist, you know?</em>

    But the implication of her twin brother''s words offended her.

    "I''m not going to use my Mana and my Soul Beast!" she dered. Well, she realized that Nero manipted her to agree with his terms but to hell with that. "I''m also confident with my physical strength, you know."

    He gave her a triumphant smile as if he already won the fight even before it begins. "Shall we begin now?"

    She cracked her knuckles and nodded. Then, she turned to Lewis. "Stand beside Duke Quinzel and Hanna. Don''t interfere with our fight. If you do, I won''t talk to you anymore."

    Lewis looked scared by her threat, then he nodded and silently left her side.

    When she faced Nero again, she was surprised when he smiled at her¡­

    ¡­ then, he disappeared.

    <em>Fast!</em>

    She didn''t feel Nero''s presence so she was surprised when he appeared in front of her with a raised fist.

    Shit, was he really unconscious for years?!

    She barely had time to cross her arms together as a means to protect her face from Nero''s punch. His fist hit her arm, and she screamed in pain when she felt her arm break from the impact. And she only realized that she was sent flying when her back hit a tree behind.

    The impact from the collision was hard enough to break the tree into two. Then, she slid down until she was sitting on the ground motionless.

    <em>And it fucking hurts.</em>

    She was so shocked by the fact that Nero seriously attacked her that she felt her body go numb. So even though she knew that she could still fight, she remained unmoving.

    <em>Did he just really sleep in Trevor''s territory?</em>

    "You''re so frail, Neoma," Nero said while looking at the fist that punched her. Then, he turned to her with a disappointed look on his face. "It seems like I''m stronger than you physically even though I was asleep for three years."

    That insult snapped her out of her shock.

    "I''m just warming up," she said, then she stood up. Damn her legs for shaking uncontrobly. It seemed like she was hurt more than she''d like to admit. "Don''t you know that main characters let their opponents beat them first before they retaliate?"

    She didn''t lie when she told Mochi that Nero was the "main character" in this empire.

    But in her headcanon, of course, she was the main star of her own life story.

    "Stop speaking nonsense," he told her coldly. "Don''t let this fight be too boring for me, my dear Neoma."

    She cursed him in her head before she hit her legs with her fists. Then, when they stopped shaking, she leaped at Nero for an attack.

    Nero did the same, much to her chagrin.

    When they met mid-air, she didn''t use dare to use her broken arm to punch. Instead of a punch, she lifted her kicking leg and held it straight, slightly to the side of Nero. Then, without a moment of hesitation, she kicked Nero on the head downward forcefully.

    Yes, it was a Taekwondo move called Axe/Downward Kick. She learned Taekwondo when she lived in Korea with her parents during her second life. Joining a sports club back then helped her gain confidence. And thus, she became the bright Neoma that she was today.

    <em>Anyway¡­</em>

    It seemed like Nero wasn''t aware of that move because he wasn''t able to predict it. When he was hit by her kick, he groaned in pain before he plummeted to the ground.

    "I hope my Axe Kick didn''t make you dumb, Nero," she said when shended on the ground safely and elegantly, if she may say so herself. "Papa Boss will scold me if I identally made the future emperor dumb."

    "You pass the physical strength test, Neoma," Nero said seriously. Even though his head was bleeding after hitting the ground, he still looked intimidating. Especially when his light-gray eyes turned a glowing red. "Let''s use Mana this time."

    "Are you crazy?!" sheined. "Your curse will get activated if you use¨C"

    She didn''t get to finish her sentence when all of a sudden, she felt a cold and sharp sensation on her face. The next thing she knew, blood was trickling down her cheek from a deep and long cut that Nero gave her.

    Her. Face. Was. Fucking. Cut. Again.

    "Should I cut your other cheek?" Nero asked coldly, then he raised his hand. His nails had be long and sharp¨C just like an animal''s ws. But his extended nails were made of clear, and pointed ice. "Your face will get ruined if you don''t use your Mana, Neoma."

    This time, she was seriously pissed.

    She remembered that Nero, before he was cursed, was in the middle of awakening as a de Moonasterio. She kind of remembered him telling her that he met his Soul Beast¨C a ck wolf with two tails. But she wasn''t sure if Nero was able to sessfully subdue his Soul Beast because his awakening was disrupted by the assassin.

    But Nero was able to use some of the features of his Soul Beast, just like how she could use Tteokbokki''s scales and fire.

    Now I''m certain¨C he definitely awakened his Soul Beast.

    She remembered that in her first life, Nero was able to control ice because it was the element of his wolf.

    <em>Poggers.</em>

    "Nero, I''m going to get serious as well. We better end this fight early before your curse kills you," Neoma said, then she clenched her hands tight. She was worried about Nero. He could probably use his Mana without suffering too much because of Trevor''s spell. But she knew that it wouldn''tst long. So she had no choice but to turn serious and get this shit done and over with. "Tteokbokki, cook my dummy twin brother in high heat."

    Nero smiled at her remark. "Zev, freeze my twin sister''s eternal beauty."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 131 - GLITCH IN THE MATRIX

    NERO had a secret.

    While he was "sleeping," his consciousness and soul were sent to the dimension where his Soul Beast resides. He spent the past three years taming the wild beast. The time that he was able to win against the ice wolf in a fight, he finally epted him as his master and allowed him to give him a name.

    He chose the name ''Zev'' because he read a story before where the wolf was named that way.

    Anyway, he pretty much got along well with his Soul Beast after he tamed him. He became his sparring partner. In that dimension, his soul felt like his physical body. Aside from improving his physical strength, he was also able to learn how to control his Mana properly.

    But of course, the only thing that he was able to train was his mind and soul. This was the first time that he applied the things that he learned on his physical body.

    "You pass the Mana test, Neoma. I can feel that you''ve been training diligently with your Soul Beast," Nero said. After Neoma summoned her Soul Beast, he clearly saw the strong aura around her. His Majesty said that his twin sister was zy" when ites to training. That meant their father was either stupid or negligent towards Neoma. Or maybe both. "Now, for the final test, I want you to show me your killing intent."

    "Nero, you inherited our father''s crazy gene," Neoma said while shaking her head. "You''re making me want to knock some sense into your head, Nero."

    "Your way of speaking has changed, Neoma," he said, amused. Now that Neoma wasn''t acting like a sheltered little girl, he could clearly see how different she was from the Neoma that he protected in his mind and heart all these years. But the real Neoma wasn''t bad at all. "I think I like you more now."

    Before his twin sister could even react, he already leaped towards her direction with his ice ws ready. He didn''t want to ruin Neoma''s face even further. But he knew how vain his twin sister was.

    That meant ruining her beauty would enrage her the fastest.

    <em>I''m so sorry, Neoma.</em>

    He didn''t have any more time left because he could feel the curse in him reactivating. So, in a swift movement, he used his right hand to maul Neoma''s left cheek¡­

    ¡­ that was the n.

    But for some reason, everything around him suddenly turned ck.

    Then, from where Neoma stood a while ago, he saw Princess Nichole instead. The Devil was holding the Death''s Scythe. And she shed it towards him.

    Nero didn''t n to use his full strength but he couldn''t let his guard down when facing the Devil¨C even if it meant fighting his aunt. "Zev," he called his Soul Beast. The mere fact that he was raising his Mana to prepare for a serious fight was already enough to make his insides bleed. Ah, his curse had been reactivated. "Kill her."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "ZEV, KILL her."

    To say that Neoma was shocked when she heard Nero order his Soul Beast would be an understatement. She raised her head to confront her twin brother, she was surprised when she found herself in the middle of a dark space.

    The ce where Nero was supposed to be was upied by something else.

    To be precise, it was a crow with big, shining red eyes. It almost looked like the crow''s eyes were rubies. And it was almost the same size as an adult phoenix.

    She didn''t want to admit this but she felt terrified. For the first time after a long while, she seriously felt like her life was in danger. Although she knew that she shouldn''t act recklessly while she didn''t know what was happening yet, she couldn''t help but feel the strong urge to protect herself from the crow.

    Because yes, she found herself shaking in fear before it.

    "Tteokbokki," Neoma said. Much to her annoyance, she heard fear in her own voice. "Burn the crow."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "FATHER!"

    "Stay there, Hanna!" Rufus said to his daughter firmly. He didn''t like yelling at Hanna, and he hoped that she knew that he only raised his voice because of urgency. After all, he didn''t want his only daughter''s life to be put at risk. "I''m fine," he said, then he smiled at his daughter to assure her that he was really fine. "I''m not going to die."

    Hanna sobbed, then she covered her mouth with her hands. "But the White Tiger is¡­"

    His daughter wasn''t able to finish her sentence when she cried hard.

    After all, White Tiger was currently trying to rip his arm off.

    He didn''t know what happened to Prince Nero and Princess Neoma a while ago. But for some reason, the twin royals released a terrifying bloodlust directed at each other. In short, both Prince Nero and Princess Neoma tried to kill each other using their Soul Beasts.

    When Princess Neoma summoned her Soul Beast with the intention of killing Prince Nero, the White Tiger and the ck Tortoise returned to their original forms to attack the royal princess.

    Fortunately, he and Lewis Crevan were able to move fast and put themselves between the two angry Soul Beasts and the frozen Princess Neoma.

    He used his Shadow Veins (from the shadows of the nts and trees around them) that sprouted from the ground to hold back the White Tiger. He seeded. But unfortunately, the Soul Beast was still able to bite into his arm. And it wouldn''t let go.

    <em>If only I brought my sword¡­</em>

    But the pce rules dictate that only the royal knights were allowed to bring weapons in the residences of the royal family members.

    Though he should still be thankful that the White Tiger wasn''t using its full strength. If it did, his arm might have been ripped off as soon as it bit him.

    <em>Maybe the White Tiger has recognized me as His Majesty''s cousin.</em>

    Rufus turned to Lewis Crevan and saw him struggling with the ck Tortoise and the ck Serpent.

    The fox boy was able to crack the ck Tortoise''s hardshell¨C which was a huge feat¨C with a kick a while ago. But unfortunately, the little ck snake was now choking the life out of Lewis Crevan. It seemed like the ck Tortoise had paralyzed the child.

    <em>I need to help Lewis Crevan!</em>

    Rufus knew that increasing his Mana would aggravate the White Tiger. But he couldn''t let the young boy die right before his eyes. Right before he summoned his full Mana, he heard an angry voice that made the ground shake hard.

    "What the hell is happening here?!"

    It was Emperor Niki¡­

    ¡­ and his voice was enough to knock the White Tiger and the ck Tortoise (including the ck snake) out.

    Ah, his Veil of Darkness also disappeared in an instant.

    Rufus, despite having a bleeding arm, was relieved that he and Lewis Crevan were both safe now. But he couldn''t say that they would be safe from His Majesty''s wrath. Especially since Prince Nero and Princess Neoma both remained unmoving.

    <em>Just what is happening with the twin royals?</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    NIKOLAI already expected to be stressed out when he arrived at the training ground covered with Rufus''s Veil of Darkness.

    But he wasn''t prepared at the scene that greeted him.

    Rufus and Lewis Crevan were being attacked by his Soul Beasts, Hanna Quinzel was crying silently, and his children were frozen like statues.

    "What the hell is happening here?!" Niki yelled angrily.

    Niki couldn''t help but yell angrily. "What the hell is happening here?!"

    As soon as he yelled, his Soul Beast dropped unconscious. Then, they returned to their spirit form and were absorbed back by his soul.

    Rufus''s arm was bleeding like crazy.

    On the other hand, Lewis Crevan fell on the ground while catching his breath. The mark around the foxy boy''s neck was a clear sign that the ck snake almost choked him to death.

    "Glenn, bring Madam Hammock here," Niki ordered the knight standing behind him. "And make sure that our guests, Princess Brigitte Griffiths and Nowell Elwood, won''te near the training ground."

    "As you wish, Your Majesty," Glenn said, then he bowed to him. "I''ll be on my way now."

    He just nodded, then he walked towards his children.

    "Your Majesty¨C"

    "I''ll hear the full reportter," Niki said, cutting-off Rufus. He stood between Nero and Neoma. Much to his relief, both his children were breathing. But for some reason, they weren''t moving as if they were paralyzed. "I just need to know for now what triggered the White Tiger and the ck Tortoise to attack."

    Rufus gulped before he spoke. "Prince Nero and Princess Neoma tried to seriously kill each other, Your Majesty."

    His brows furrowed in disbelief. "What?"

    It seemed like his cousin was about to repeat himself. But he was interrupted when Gale, in her white bunny form, literally fell from the sky and plummeted on top of Rufus''s head.

    And she wasn''t alone.

    Trevor, the demon boy, also appeared beside the duke.

    "Shit," Trevor said while checking on Nero, his purple eyes glowing dangerously. "His Royal Highness used his Mana and it activated his curse. But it seems like some unknown force has manipted the Crown Prince into drawing out his power." The demon boy''s brows furrowed in confusion. "It''s not hostile though."

    "It''s their Roseheart blood," Gale, still seatedfortably on top of Rufus''s head, said while looking at Neoma. "It seems like their Roseheart blood has shown the twins a glimpse of the future after they shed."

    Now that Gale mentioned it, he remembered that Mona would often stiffen when a vision hit her. It seemed like even that part of her ability had been inherited by their children.

    Niki was relieved to know that Nero and Neoma ended up that way because of their Roseheart blood, and not because of an enemy. But on the other hand, it made him worry. If the twins only saw a glimpse of the future, then why did the two almost kill each other?

    <strong>***</strong>

    NOTE: Hi. I''ve always wanted to say this but I always forget. But since I remember it now, I''ll share it with you: Royal Secret: I''m a Princess! (RS) is a concept/story that I finished drafting first before Mommy Viiness (MV).

    But since RS isn''t heavily-focused on romance, I decided to write a romance novel because I''m more confident in that genre. Thus, I ended up writing MV first. Readers of both RS and MV already noticed a lot of simrities (and I often switch up the characters'' names) between the two.

    I just want to say that RS is the "blueprint." Hehe. I just happened to write MV first. ^_^

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story in your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 132 - NUMBER ZERO

    BRIGITTE felt an unusual burst of divine powering from the training ground behind nco Pce¨C the Crown Prince''s official residence.

    Worried that the royal prince might be in danger, she went out of her room to check what was happening outside. Nowell Elwood, her official guard, escorted her. He must have also felt the strange yet powerful aura that spread in the area a while ago.

    "You felt it too, didn''t you?" Brigitte asked her cousin while they were walking to the direction of the training ground. "I felt the Crown Prince''s aura. But why did it feel like¡­"

    "Like there were two Prince Nero?" Nowell asked, finishing that sentence that she didn''t get to finish because she thought it was ridiculous. But when Nowell, a no-nonsense man said it with conviction, the idea sounded less silly now. "That''s what I also felt, Princess Brigitte. It''s strange because as far as the whole continent knows, His Majesty only has one child."

    She nodded in agreement.

    Then, all of a sudden, both she and Nowell froze in their tracks when they felt an ominous auraing at the front.

    Much to their surprise, in just the blink of an eye, Sir Glenn was already in front of them.

    <em>Oh, my. Sir Glenn is so handsome today as well. And whoever designed the White Lion Knights'' uniform, I am eternally grateful to you.</em>

    Anyway¡­

    She and Nowell both greeted the knight politely.

    Sir Glenn was smiling as usual. But this time, despite his smile, she noticed that his eyes were serious. And oh, the ominous aura that she felt a while ago wasing from him.

    <em>God, that''s so sexy of him.</em>

    "Princess Brigitte, Lord Elwood, I apologize but you may not enter the training ground," Sir Glenn said politely. "His Royal Highness Prince Nero is in the middle of his training."

    It was a basic excuse.

    But the more basic an excuse was, the more dangerous the situation that needed to be covered up was.

    "It seems like the Crown Prince has encountered a problem," Nowell, much to her chagrin, said in a voice that was obviously prying. "If there''s anything that we can help you with, please don''t hesitate to rely on us. We, people of the Hazelden Kingdom, will always be at His Majesty''s service."

    "Thank you but we can manage," Sir Glenn said politely. He was still smiling, but it was obvious that he was just trying to extend his patience. It seemed like the knight was in a hurry. "Shall I escort you back to your room?"

    Nowell still looked adamant to pursue his prying.

    Sir Glenn seemed to notice it, making his eyes turn sharp.

    Before her cousin could even say something that might make the knight snap, she literally put herself between the two men.

    "Sir Glenn, I apologize for holding you back here," Brigitte said with an apologetic smile on her face. "You may go now. We''re going back to the pce as well."

    Sir Glenn bowed to her. "I''m much obliged to you, Princess Brigitte."

    Deep inside, she was squealing in joy. Ah, polite Sir Glenn was really the best. If she had to chase one man in her life, she would choose to chase him without hesitation.

    But unfortunately, she had the dignity that she needed to maintain.

    So she just smiled at Sir Glenn, then she gently pinched Nowell''s ear and (lightly) dragged him back to the pce.

    "Princess Brigitte, what''s the big idea?" Nowellined when they were back in nco Pce. "It was our chance to find out the Crown Prince''s secret. If we did, we could have used it against His Majesty."

    She let go of his ear before she responded. "Didn''t I already tell you that I made a deal with His Majesty?"

    "But that n isn''t feasible, Your Royal Highness."

    She stopped walking and turned around to face Nowell. "Are you looking down on me, Nowell Elwood?"

    He gulped when he realized how serious she was. "It''s not like that¨C"

    "I don''t need an aide who can''t trust my decisions," she said coldly. "As soon as we return to our kingdom, I''ll release you from your position."

    Nowell''s eyes widened in shock. "Princess Brigitte, I apologize for offending you. Please reconsider your decision."

    "No," Brigitte said, then she turned his back on Nowell. "Ah, you should also be grateful to me back then." She turned to Nowell who looked confused by her statement. "If I didn''t stop you from prying a while ago, Sir Glenn would have definitely cut your tongue off for talking too much."

    <strong>***</strong>

    WHEN Neoma opened her eyes, she found herself staring at the ceiling instead. The crow with red eyes that she saw a while ago was gone. That meant what she saw was only an illusion. Now her head ached. "Was I brainwashed or something? Dammit," sheined. "Tteokbokki, we''re going to train harder starting today. I don''t want another clown to fuck up with my mind again. I wonder what kind of sc*mbag it is this time. Ah, shit. My whole body fucking hurts." She got up while moving her head from side to side. "What the hell happened back then¡­"

    She almost choked on her own saliva when she saw that she wasn''t alone in the room. Nero, Papa Boss, Sir Glenn, and Lewis were also there.

    Nero, who stood beside her bed with his eyes widened in shock, looked at her with disbelief.

    <em>Ah, is it because I said a string of profanities?</em>

    On the other hand, her Papa Boss looked like he was already used to hearing her curse. After all, the emperor was seated on the sofa while sipping his tea calmly.

    <em>I guess calling him a sc*mbag a million times made him immune with my dirty mouth.</em>

    Sir Glenn, who stood behind the emperor, smiled at her as if he was amused by her colorful choice of words.

    <em>Gosh, even Sir Glenn looks like he''s already used to my swearing habit.</em>

    Lewis, who stood on the other side of the bed, remained as pokerfaced as ever.

    She noticed that her son had a bandage around his neck. She was worried, but she also knew that it wasn''t the right time to ask about his injury.

    <em>I''m just d that my son is safe.</em>

    "Neoma," Nero said, then he put a hand on her forehead as if he was checking if she had a fever or something. "You''re not sick."

    She didn''t know how to react to that.

    "Of course she''s not sick," her Papa Boss said, then he put his teacup down on the coaster. "That''s just how your sister talks, Nero."

    "But Princess Neoma only talks like that when she''s angry," Sir Glenn added brightly. "Our royal princess is eloquent most of the time."

    Neoma smiled at Sir Glenn, then she gave the knight her (self-proimed) famous thumbs up. "There''s a reason why you''re my second most favorite person in the pce, Sir Glenn."

    She realized that she shouldn''t have said that when Nero spoke.

    "Then, who''s your number one most favorite person?" her twin brother asked while giving her a scrutinizing look. "Surely, it must be me."

    She was about to speak when someone else beat her to it.

    "Not you, Prince Nero," Lewis dered in an emotionless voice while looking at Nero straight in the eye. "I''m Princess Neoma''s most favorite person."

    Nero gave Lewis a murderous look.

    Papa Boss, despite how dangerous the situation had be, still looked amused. It was obvious that he didn''t have any intention to meddle.

    Only Sir Glenn understood her position. The knight gave her a look full of pity. And an apologetic smile. Ah, Sir Glenn was probably apologizing because he knew that he couldn''t do anything to help her in that situation.

    <em>Good job, Neoma</em>, she thought sarcastically to herself. <em>You may now bury yourself in the grave that you dug yourself.</em>

    "Neoma, your pet is talking nonsense," Nero said, then he turned to her and gave her a "sweet" smile. "Is he really your most favorite person?"

    "First of all, Lewis is my son and not my pet," she said. "And yes, he''s my number one most favorite person." Before blood spills in her residence, she quickly pacified her possessive twin brother. "But you''re my number zero, Nero."

    "Number zero?" he asked. "Is that supposed to make me happy?"

    "Of course," she said, then she gave him a double thumbs up. "Being number zero means you don''t have to be on the list because it''s a given that we''re both each other''s favorites. Family members don''t have to be on the list, you know?"

    Nero raised a brow at that. "Even His Majesty?"

    "Papa Boss is negative zero," she said, then she smiled brightly. "Neoma won''t borate anymore, Brother."

    Speaking cutely to Nero might still work, you know?

    "Stop talking as if I''m not here," Papa Bossined eventually. "Now that you two are awake, there''s something more important that we need to discuss."

    She and Nero fell silent, then they both turned to their father while waiting for his next instruction. Yes, they were both brats. But Papa Boss was still the emperor. At times like that, they needed to follow him (as long as his orders weren''t ridiculous).

    "Glenn, Lewis Crevan, leave the room," Emperor Niki ordered. "The royal family will discuss an important matter."

    Sir Glenn immediately bowed. "As you wish, Your Majesty."

    Neoma knew that Lewis wouldn''t ept orders that didn''te from her, so she turned to her son and smiled. She was hoping that Lewis didn''t get offended when she said that Nero was her "number zero." It made her feel awful, but she didn''t want her twin brother to pick on Lewis so she had to say that. "You may leave now, Lewis," she told him. "We''ll yter."

    Lewis''s face lit up, then he bowed to them.

    "Goodbye, number one," Nero told Lewis with a smile. "Since I''m number zero, I guess I''m still superior to you."

    Lewis just ignored Nero, but her twin brother looked like he was in a good mood to care.

    Neoma could only sigh and shake her head.

    <em>Kids these days¡­</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    "LEWIS Crevan, are you alright?" Glenn asked while he and the fox boy were standing outside Princess Neoma''s room. Even though both of them had sharp senses, they couldn''t and wouldn''t hear anything from inside the chamber. After all, His Majesty used a spell to make the room soundproof. After all, discussions within the royal family members were always highly confidential. "I hope you don''t think that Princess Neoma lied to you when she said that you were her most favorite person."

    He, of course, was also using a "blocking sound" spell that would prevent anyone from listening to his conversation with the fox boy.

    If that could be called a conversation anyway.

    After all, Lewis Crevan just shook his head as a response to his remark.

    "That''s a relief," he said, still adamant to make a conversation with the young boy. After all, Lewis Crevan was still a member of the White Lion Knights squad. "I apologize if I came across as nosy. I just want you and Princess Neoma to have a good rtionship."

    After all, Princess Neoma''s safety was in Lewis Crevan''s hands.

    Of course, he knew that the royal princess was capable of protecting herself. But it wouldn''t hurt if her personal knight was strong and loyal to her.

    "I''m not bothered."

    He turned to the fox boy when he finally spoke to him. "Hmm?"

    Lewis Crevan turned to him. "Number zero is just a family member."

    Glenn tilted his head at one side while scratching his cheek. "I''m sorry but I don''t quite get it," he said with a softugh. "Can you please borate?"

    "No."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "GALE, your mother''s former Spirit Guardian, said that the reason you both saw an apparition at the same time was because of your Roseheart blood," Niki, seated on the sofa while facing his twins who, on the other hand, were seated on the sofa from across him, said. Then, he sipped his tea before he continued. "Apparently, the ability that you both inherited from your mother activated when the two of you shed a while ago."

    He wanted to hear more from Gale.

    But that stubborn Wind Spirit left with Trevor. It seemed like the two had something to discuss that they didn''t want to share with him yet. He only let the two go after they promised that they would consult himter.

    "Now, I want to hear it," he said, then he put his teacup down on the coaster. "Nero, Neoma, what is it that you saw when you were fighting each other?"

    Nero sipped his tea before he responded. "I saw Princess Nichole, and she was about to kill me."

    "I saw an extra-sized crow with red eyes that wanted to kill me as well," Neoma said, then she tilted her head at one side. "Papa Boss, what is the ability that you said we inherited from our Mama? Does it have to do with the apparition that we saw?"

    "Yes," Niki said, his jaw clenched hard. "Mona had the ability to see the thing or person that would cause her death."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 133 - WHEN DID THEY GET CLOSE?

    WHEN Nero came to be, he found himself lying on a bed. But it wasn''t the kind with the soft mattress. He was pretty sure it was a hospital bed.

    The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was Madam Hammock.

    He scowled. Of course, since he was the real Crown Prince, His Majesty would order the Healing Sage herself to treat his minor wound.

    "Neoma," Nero said in a croaked voice. "Where''s my sister?"

    "Prince Nero, please calm down," Madam Hammock said gently. "Princess Neoma hasn''t woken up yet but she''s receiving treatment at the moment."

    He scoffed at that.

    If Madam Hammock mentioned Neoma''s name without qualms, that meant the only people present in the room were the ones who knew the royal secret.

    Other than the Healing Sage, no one else was qualified to look after Neoma.

    <em>How dare His Majesty treat my poor little sister so badly even after all the things that she has done to protect my ce?</em>

    He got up, ready to demand Madam Hammock to personally check on Neoma.

    But much to his shock, on the bed next to his, he saw His Majesty healing the cut on Neoma''s cheek with his own divine power. While his twin sister was unconscious on the bed, the emperor sat on a chair next to the bed with his hand ced gently on Neoma''s injured cheek.

    <em>His Majesty himself is treating Neoma''s wound¡­?</em>

    "Don''t worry, I can heal non-serious wounds," Emperor Niki assured him after he caught him keeping an eye on his movement. "And my divine power works better than the ointment when ites to erasing scars."

    "Make sure it won''t leave a mark," Nero said when he found his voice. "Neoma will cry if the cut leaves a nasty scar on her face."

    "If you know that, then why did you cut her face?"

    "Because I needed her to get serious with the fight."

    The emperor let out a deep sigh, then he pulled his hand away from Neoma''s face.

    He was relieved to see that his twin sister''s face went back to its wless state. Although it was true that he cut her mercilessly just to get her serious with the match, it didn''t mean that he wanted to leave her a permanent scar.

    "Madam Hammock, your job here is done," His Majesty said, obviously dismissing Madam Hammock. "Check on the other patients."

    Madam Hammock bowed to them before she quietly left the hospital room.

    The only one left in there aside from their family was Sir Glenn, of course. The knight stood by the door.

    "Other patients?" he asked his father when the Healing Sage was gone. Then, he sat on the bed while facing the emperor. "Did we identally hurt someone else during our fight?"

    "Rufus and Lewis Crevan were hurt when they tried to stop the White Tiger and the ck Tortoise from attacking Neoma," the emperor exined. "My Soul Beast attacked your sister when she tried to seriously kill you."

    He was quite surprised to hear that.

    Although he hurt Neoma to make her angry, he didn''t think that it would be enough for her to seriously kill her. After all, he knew that if his twin sister did that, the Soul Beasts would react. He would never n for Neoma to get hurt like that.

    I only wanted her to release a bloodlust directed at me.

    One could argue that bloodlust was an indication that a person was feeling murderous. But as long as Neoma didn''t act on her bloodlust, the Soul Beasts wouldn''t have attacked her. He told the Soul Beasts about his n to elicit bloodlust from his twin sister.

    <em>Is giving her a cut on the face enough for her to want to kill me for real¡­?</em>

    "Rufus reported to me that you also tried to kill Neoma for real," the emperor said seriously. "In short, you and your sister went after each other''s throat."

    "That''s not true," he denied. "Why would I kill Neoma?"

    He was confused, to be honest.

    After all, he knew that Duke Rufus Quinzel had no reason to lie to the emperor.

    "Gale said that something out of the ordinary might have happened to you and Neoma when the two of you shed a while ago," the emperor exined. "Did you see an apparition when you fought Neoma?"

    Now that his father mentioned it, he remembered that he saw the Devil earlier.

    Oh, that was an apparition? So when he asked Zev to kill the former Princess Nichole, he actually ordered his Soul Beast to kill Neoma?

    "It seems like you''ve really seen something," his father said. "Am I correct?"

    He just nodded as a response.

    "I''ll ask you about itter. I want to hear what Neoma saw as well," the emperor said. "I also heard from Rufus that you were able to use the abilities of your Soul Beast. Is it safe to assume that you''ve sessfully awakened it?"

    "I''m not that confident yet," he admitted. "I''ve tamed Zev, my Soul Beast, in his territory. But I haven''t tried summoning him yet now that I''m awake. I''m afraid to activate my curse so instead of summoning him, I simply borrowed his ice power."

    "Ice is a rare element to use," his father said while nodding his head. "Good job, Nero. Your Soul Beast is a rare kind. Use it well."

    "Do you know my Soul Beast?"

    "There''s only one Soul Beast that uses ice Mana," the emperor said. "It''s the wolf with two tails, isn''t it?"

    "Yes, that''s correct."

    "Do you know why it has two tails?"

    That question surprised him. "What do you mean by that, Your Majesty?"

    His Majesty was about to respond when all of a sudden, Neoma grabbed his hand.

    Then, his twin sister talked incoherently in her sleep.

    "Let''s continue this talk when Neoma wakes up," his father said. "First, let''s bring Neoma back to her room."

    Much to his shock, the emperor lifted his twin sister up with utmost care.

    Then, with Neoma''s body parallel to his father, he lifted her to his shoulder height. After that, His Majesty rested Neoma''s head on his shoulder.

    It seemed like he had done it gently because his twin sister didn''t wake up.

    "Your Majesty, congrattions," Sir Glenn said while pping his hands as quietly as possible. "You finally learned how to carry Princess Neoma right."

    "Shut up, Glenn," Emperor Niki scolded the knight, even though he looked proud of himself for simply carrying Neoma properly.

    Nero scowled at what he was seeing.

    It''s not Trevor or Lewis Crevan¨C I should be warier of His Majesty.

    <strong>***</strong>

    "WAS I brainwashed or something? Dammit."

    To say that Nero was surprised to hear Neoma curse would be an understatement.

    When he noticed that his twin sister was waking up, he stood up and was about to go to her when he spoke. Hearing her talk that way made him stop in his tracks.

    "Tteokbokki, we''re going to train harder starting today. I don''t want another clown to fuck up with my mind again."

    He almost choked on his saliva.

    <em>Did Neoma just say the ''F-word?''</em>

    He turned to His Majesty and Sir Glenn to make sure that he wasn''t dreaming. But he didn''t get that much reaction from the two.

    His father just continued sipping his tea.

    On the other hand, Sir Glenn looked amused while listening to Neoma talk.

    <em>Is it normal for them to hear an eight-year-old child curse like a sailor?</em>

    "I wonder what kind of sc*mbag it is this time."

    He turned to his twin sister again, his ears almost bleeding by now.

    <em>Well, I also curse. But hearing Neoma curse feels¡­ strange.</em>

    He also turned to Lewis Crevan who stood on the other side of the bed quietly. Just like His Majesty and Sir Glenn, it looked like the fox boy was also used to hearing Neoma curse.

    "Ah, shit. My whole body fucking hurts," Neoma said. Then, she got up while moving her head from side to side. "What the hell happened back then¡­"

    "Neoma," Nero said, then he put a hand on her forehead to check her temperature. "You''re not sick."

    "Of course she''s not sick," Emperor Niki said, then he put his teacup down on the coaster. "That''s just how your sister talks, Nero."

    "But Princess Neoma only talks like that when she''s angry," Sir Glenn added in a cheerful voice. "Our royal princess is eloquent most of the time."

    Neoma smiled at Sir Glenn, then she gave the knight a strange hand gesture. "There''s a reason why you''re my second most favorite person in the pce, Sir Glenn."

    The fact that Sir Glenn was Neoma''s "second" most favorite person implied that there was a "most" favorite person on her list.

    "Then, who''s your number one most favorite person?" he asked his twin sister while giving her a scrutinizing look. "Surely, it must be me."

    "Not you, Prince Nero," Lewis dered in an emotionless voice while looking at Nero straight in the eye. "I''m Princess Neoma''s most favorite person."

    Nero gave Lewis Crevan a murderous look. "Neoma, your pet is talking nonsense," he said, then he turned to her and gave her a "sweet" smile. He knew he promised her that he wouldn''t call Lewis Crevan her "pet" again, but he was pissed so he wasn''t able to stop himself from insulting the fox boy. "Is he really your most favorite person?"

    "First of all, Lewis is my son and not my pet," her twin sister said. "And yes, he''s my number one most favorite person." He was about to hit the fox boy with his bloodlust when Neoma spoke again. "But you''re my number zero, Nero."

    "Number zero?" he asked. "Is that supposed to make me happy?"

    "Of course," she said, then she gave him the same weird hand gesture that she gave Sir Glenn a while ago. "Being number zero means you don''t have to be on the list because it''s a given that we''re both each other''s favorites. Family members don''t have to be on the list, you know?"

    He raised a brow at that. "Even His Majesty?"

    "Papa Boss is negative zero," she said, then she smiled brightly. "Neoma won''t borate anymore, Brother."

    He wanted to ask more but hearing Neoma talk in the third person calmed him instantly.

    <em>Neoma is the cutest when she''s acting cute for me.</em>

    Alright, he''d forgive Lewis Crevan this time.

    <em>Number zero is superior to number one anyway.</em>

    "Stop talking as if I''m not here," Emperor Nikiined. "Now that you two are awake, there''s something more important that we need to discuss."

    He and Neoma faced their father properly.

    They hated the emperor, but they both recognized him as the ruler of this empire. He deserved respect as the emperor, at least.

    "Glenn, Lewis Crevan, leave the room," His Majesty ordered. "The royal family will discuss an important matter."

    Sir Glenn immediately bowed. "As you wish, Your Majesty."

    Neoma turned to Lewis with a worried look on her face. "You may leave now, Lewis," she told him. "We''ll yter."

    Lewis''s face lit up, then he bowed to them.

    "Goodbye, number one," Nero told Lewis with a smile. "Since I''m number zero, I guess I''m still superior to you."

    <em>And I''ll deal with youter, fox boy.</em>

    "Nero."

    He turned to his twin sister when she called him in a serious voice. "Yes?"

    "Don''t call Lewis my ''pet'' again or else, I''ll get mad," Neoma warned him. Then, she smiled "brightly" at him. "Neoma won''t talk to you if you continue treating her son that way, Brother."

    His twin sister was cunning, huh?

    First, she threatened him to make sure that he''d listen. Then, she talked in third person adorably to appease him. And it worked.

    "I''m sorry, Neoma," Nero said, then he gently patted her head. "I will apologize to Lewister."

    Well, he could apologize to Lewis, then threaten himter, right?

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 134 - LAZY PEOPLE GET THINGS DONE FAST

    "GALE, your mother''s former Spirit Guardian, said that the reason you both saw an apparition at the same time was because of your Roseheart blood," Emperor Niki, seated on the sofa from across him and Neoma, said. Then, he sipped his tea before he continued. "Apparently, the ability that you both inherited from your mother activated when the two of you shed a while ago."

    Nero turned to Neoma who was seated beside him.

    His twin sister was quietly sipping her (overly sweetened) tea. He noticed that Neoma lookedfortable now with the emperor. It seemed like their father didn''t lie when he said he had gotten closer with his twin sister.

    "Now, I want to hear it," Emperor Niki said, then he put his teacup down on the coaster. "Nero, Neoma, what is it that you saw when you were fighting each other?"

    Nero sipped his tea before he responded. "I saw Princess Nichole, and she was about to kill me."

    "I saw an extra-sized crow with red eyes that wanted to kill me as well," Neoma said, then she tilted her head at one side. "Papa Boss, what is the ability that you said we inherited from our Mama? Does it have to do with the apparition that we saw?"

    He nodded in agreement with Neoma''s question.

    <em>She asks good questions, huh?</em>

    "Yes," their father said, his jaw clenched hard. "Mona had the ability to see the thing or person that would cause her death."

    He was tempted to ask his father if he knew what his mother saw as the cause of her death.

    But the pain on the emperor''s face was enough to tell him that his parents both knew that his father would be the cause of his mother''s demise. Even Neoma didn''t use that chance to thrash the emperor about it.

    "So, in short, the Devil and the Crow are the threats to our lives," Neoma said, then she clicked her tongue and shook her head. "Papa Boss, this is why my n is perfect. Let''s just make the Devil and the Crow kill each other. Then, Nero and I will deal with whoever wins between the two."

    The emperor scowled. "You''re taking this too lightly, Neoma."

    "Neoma has a point though," he said, then he turned to his twin sister. "That''s actually a brilliant n."

    "I know, right?" she agreed confidently. "Lazy people get the job done in the fastest and most efficient way, you know? Don''t underestimate my desire for a leisure life." She pointed at her temple. "Myziness is the reason why my big brain works overtime 24/7."

    "You''re notzy," he said, then he gently patted her head. "You''re a good girl, Neoma."

    "Stop spoiling your sister," his father scolded him. "Let the adults handle it from here. You two should rest for now." The emperor turned to his twin sister. "Neoma, you have to wake up early tomorrow."

    Neoma nodded. "I know, Papa Boss."

    Emperor Niki turned to him. "Let''s go, Nero."

    "I''ll sleep here," Nero dered, then he sipped his tea. "I''m going to use the same room as my sister until it''s time to go."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "AH, if it isn''t number one who''s below number zero," Nero greeted Lewis who stood in front of Neoma''s room. It was a good thing that he already dismissed Alphen and Stephanie after the two helped him take a bath and change into his pajamas. After all, he wanted to talk to Lewis alone. "You don''t have to guard Neoma''s room all night."

    Lewis Crevan just looked at him.

    "I''m going to sleep in Neoma''s room for my remaining time here."

    "Why?"

    He was taken aback. Did the fox boy just question why he was staying with his twin sister? It seemed like Neoma had spoiled him too much.

    "It''s none of your business, Lewis Crevan," he said. "Anyway, I apologize for calling you Neoma''s ''pet'' a while ago. I didn''t mean it."

    "You did."

    He almostughed at the fox boy''s audacity.

    "It seems like Neoma really spoiled you," he said while shaking his head. "I will let it slide since I''m a generous uncle."

    "You''re not my uncle, Prince Nero."

    "You have to ept it, Lewis," he said with a scold smile on his face. "Neoma will only see you as her "son" so if you don''t want to get hurt in the end, give up now."

    Lewis Crevan just gave him silence as a response.

    "Don''t be stubborn," he said as he went past the fox boy. "Neoma is out of your league."

    After saying his piece of mind, he left the fox boy and entered Neoma''s room.

    He found his twin sister sitting on the carpeted floor while a variety of snacks (most choctes) was spread in front of her.

    "Nero, I asked the Royal Chef to make snacks," Neoma said. "Come here."

    He sat in front of her. "It seems like you have no intention to sleep yet, Neoma."

    "Well, we have a lot of things to talk about, right?"

    He smiled at how insightful she was. "Neoma, do you think our mother saw His Majesty as her cause of death?"

    "Judging by how Papa Boss looked like he was about to cry a while ago, I can''t help but think that way."

    "Are you interested in knowing our parents'' history?"

    "Of course," she said while nodding. "But my priority right now is to survive. I feel like if I focus on other things right now, I will be killed. So even if I''m dying to know what happened to our Mama and Papa Boss, I have to remind myself that I have to do my job first."

    He gently patted her head. "You''re doing a good job, Neoma."

    "Thank you," she said. "Nero, tomorrow morning, I will officially greet the people of our empire."

    "Yes, I know."

    "Is it okay for me to do whatever I want while I''m using your name?" she asked seriously. "I mean, I won''t do anything that will ruin you or your image as the Crown Prince, of course. But we have different personalities. Once you return, you''ll have to fill my shoes."

    "Don''t worry about it, Neoma," he assured her. "I trust you, and I know that I can take your position without letting our secret out to the world."

    She smiled and nodded. "Thank you, Nero."

    He just smiled and gently ruffled her hair. "Is there anything else that you want to tell me?"

    She fell silent, then bit her lip as if she was contemting whether to tell him or not. In the end, she let out a sigh before she spoke. "Nero, do you know Duke Jasper Hawthorne?"

    "The youngest duke in the empire?" he asked. When his twin sister just nodded, he asked again. "What about him?"

    "Promise me you won''t tell Papa Boss?"

    "Of course, I won''t."

    "Duke Hawthorne somehow found out that there are "two Prince Nero.""

    His eyes widened in shock. "He found out the royal secret?"

    "Yes, but I don''t know how he found out," his twin sister said. "Luckily, it seems like he has no intention to reveal it to the public yet. He wants to meet us first."

    "In short, he threatened you?"

    "I wasn''t threatened," Neoma said proudly. "I threatened him back, Nero.

    "Good job," he said even though he wasn''t sure if Neoma had really "threatened" the young duke. "Does he need something from us?"

    "Papa Boss gave me a piece ofnd a while ago," she exined. The fact that the emperor gave his twin sister a gift was a shock. But Neoma wasn''t done talking yet so he just kept it to himself. "Duke Hawthorne wants thatnd. But I don''t want to sell it to him."

    "Then, he ns to ckmail us just to get thatnd?"

    "I think so."

    "We have to deal with him," he said seriously. "Do you have a n?"

    Neoma smirked arrogantly. Although his twin sister would always be an angel to him, he had to admit now that she wasn''t as kind or as innocent as he thought she was. But to be honest, he found the "gap" in her personality adorable.

    It seemed like he could never hate his twin sister.

    "Nero, I want Duke Jasper Hawthorne to be on our side," Neoma said, her light-gray eyes glowing with mischief. "But we have to whoop his ass first."

    He was shocked to hear Neoma say ''ass.''

    "Oops," she said when she realized that she said something vulgar. "Sorry?"

    After his shock subsided, heughed while shaking his head. He couldn''t help it. No matter what Neoma say or do, he would always find her adorable. As long as it wasn''t about abandoning or betraying him, of course. "Neoma, is this the real you?"

    She gave him her best puppy dog eyes. "I''m half cute-half badass, Brother. Take it or leave it."

    "I''ll take it," Nero said, then he sat beside her and hugged her tight. "I think I like you better now, Neoma. The real you is the best."

    "Of course," Neoma said, then she hugged him back. "I''m Neoma, I''m irresistible."

    <strong>***</strong>

    <em>"YOU''RE GOING to kill her, Niki de Moonasterio!"</em>

    Niki could still clearly hear William''s angry voice in his head as he yelled those bitter words at him that one, tragic day.

    He could also remember how shock Rufus, Glenn, Kyle, and the rest of the White Lion Knights squad looked when they heard the Spirit Guardian say his name casually. After all, it was a crime to say the emperor''s name in such a manner. Although he allowed some people to say his name, doing it in front of his other servants wasn''t something to be taken lightly.

    But to be honest, that day, the most shocking thing was the fact that William almost killed Rufus, Glenn, Kyle, and every single White Lion Knight who was there to protect him. They almost died by the hand of a single Spirit¨C and they happened to be the strongest fighters of the empire.

    It was a testament to how strong and fearsome William was.

    "You were right, William," Niki whispered to himself, then he drank the rum in his ss. "You were right."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "WE HAVE arrived at the Royal Capital, Your Grace."

    Jasper Hawthorne, upon hearing Tate''s announcement, closed the book in his hands and turned to the outside of the carriage''s window. He was greeted by the lively and festive mood of the people of the empire. "I can''t wait to see the Crown Prince."

    "I wonder who between the two Prince Nero would appearter," Tate, seated from across him, said. "Is it going to be the real one, or the fake one?"

    "Ah, so you really know the royal secret."

    To say that he and his aide were shock when a fluffy white TALKING bunny suddenly appeared on hisp would be an understatement.

    Jasper, after getting over his initial shock,ughed while shaking his head. "Ah, it seems like Prince Nero is one step ahead of me again."

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 135 - IM BUILT DIFFERENT

    "I DIDN''T know that demons can get sick," Neoma said with amusement in her voice. "This is so fascinating to see, Trevor."

    Trevor, who liedpletely still on the bed while looking pale and weak, smirked at her. "Princess Neoma, I''m happy that my suffering causes you entertainment," he said in a sarcastic voice. "But you know that demons don''t work for free, right? You should reward me with your first andst dance during the Moon Festival."

    She felt the sudden rise of tension in the room.

    After all, she was with Nero and Lewis. Obviously, the two hated the fact that Trevor asked her for a dance. Gosh, these little boys were too young to be this overprotective, and yet, look at them being so possessive of her.

    "I don''t mind dancing with you," she said. Trevor was sick because he "ate" the pain that Nero should have felt when he used his Soul Beast''s power. Dance as a reward to the demon for helping her twin brother enjoy his remaining days "awake" wouldn''t hurt. "But Hanna is going to be my first dance since I''m required to dance with her. About myst dance, well¡­"

    She felt like Trevor was going to get killed by Nero and Lewis if she gave a proper answer. So she used her big brain again to get out of that situation.

    "Catch me if you can," she said vaguely. "I bet I''m going to be busy by then so if you happen to see me, let''s see if you can make me dance with you."

    Trevorughed cheerfully. "I ept the challenge, my Moon Princess."

    Nero cleared his throat. "Let''s go, Neoma. His Majesty is waiting for you."

    She turned around to face her twin brother.

    Since she was acting as Prince Nero today, she wore his formal red and gold "prince suit" that matched her Papa Boss''s official military uniform.

    On the other hand, Nero was disguised as Lady Nara Quinzel again. He wore a brte wig and a pretty maroon dress. Using one of Madam Hammock''s potions, he also changed his ash-gray eyes into brown. After all, the color of their eyes was a shade unique only to the royal family members.

    <em>Nero looks so cute!</em>

    Her son wouldn''t get left behind when ites to looks.

    Since it was a formal event, Lewis wore his formal military uniform. But instead of white and gold, the White Lion Knights'' uniform this time was ck and red. Apparently, they use their ck uniform when escorting the royal family members outside the pce for two reasons.

    First, wearing ck would help them blend in the shadows and hide their presence if needed.

    Second, wearing ck would easily hide bloodstainpared to wearing white.

    In short, whenever the royal family members were outside, all the knights expected them to be ambushed by enemies.

    When assassins see the royal family, they probably think "it''s free real estate."

    "Yes, let''s go," she said cheerfully. "I already sent Mochi to look for Duke Jasper Hawthorne and send my message to him. So let''s meet up after I greet the people with Papa Boss."

    Lewis gave her a firm nod.

    "I''ll be with Hanna the entire time," Nero said. "We will watch you from afar. To avoid getting attention, we won''t bring guards with us."

    "That''s impossible, Brother," she said with a softugh. "Both you and Hanna are very pretty. I''m sure you''ll attract attention so if I were you, I''d wear a wide-brim hat or a hooded cloak. Since Duke Quinzel will be in the za with the ck Hawk Knights, make sure to stay within their jurisdiction. Most of all, you two shouldn''t use your Mana at all costs. I asked Mochi to find you after she talks to Duke Jasper Hawthorne. She''ll act as your guardian."

    Her brother smiled and gently patted her head. "Thank you for looking after us, Neoma. And don''t worry too much. His Majesty''s Soul Beasts are still with me."

    She could see the divine balls of energy on either side of Nero, but of course, she was still worried about his safety. Especially since he''d be spending time with Hanna. Well, I''m the adult here so it''s my job to worry about the kids.

    "Hey, I''m the sick one here," Trevorined. "You should be taking care of me as well, Princess Neoma."

    She turned to Trevor with her usual business smile. When she said she should be taking care of the kids, that didn''t include the demon boy. After all, he was older and more powerful than her. "I''ll send Stephanie and Alphen here to bring you food and give you a bathter."

    "I''m not a child," the talking book said, obviously unimpressed.

    "Well, whatever," she said nonchntly. "Try not to die on me, Trevor. After all, you''ll regret it even in the afterlife if you miss the chance to dance with me."

    Trevorughed out loud. "I won''t die on you, my Moon Princess."

    She just smiled at the demon boy before she left the room with Nero and Lewis.

    As soon as they came out of the chamber, they saw Hanna and Duke Rufus Quinzel. It seemed like the father-and-daughter duo were there to pick them up.

    She almost got blinded by Hanna and Duke Quinzel''s visuals.

    The duke looked so dashing in his ck Hawk Knights'' military uniform. Unlike Lewis''s uniform with red details/decorations, Duke Quinzel''s uniform waspletely ck. In fact, it made the duke look more of an assassin than a knight.

    <em>But His Grace looks very handsome.</em>

    Of course, Hanna looked like an angel just like his father.

    Her cousin wore avender dress that almost resembled Nero''s dress. She noticed that Hanna looked livelier recently. And she could look at Nero now without fear in her eyes.

    <em>I''m proud of you, bestie.</em>

    "Duke Quinzel, is it really alright for you to work now?" Neoma asked worriedly after they all exchanged their formal greetings. "I really feel bad that you got hurt because of me. But I''m grateful to you for saving me, Your Grace."

    "Please don''t feel bad, Princess Neoma. Madam Hammock did a fantastic job treating my injury so my arm is as good as new," Duke Quinzel said gently, his smile as warm as ever. "I''m just fulfilling my duty as a duke and as your uncle. I will never regret protecting and saving a child like you."

    She smiled, holding back her tears.

    <em>Duke Quinzel is really a good father.</em>

    "I''m here to fetch you, Princess Neoma," Duke Quinzel said. "His Majesty is waiting by the pce''s main entrance."

    "Alright," she said in a cheerful voice. "Let''s go."

    Nero offered his arm to Hanna like a gentleman that he was. "Shall we go as well, Hanna?"

    Hanna''s cheeks turned pink, then she shyly nodded and linked her arms with Nero''s.

    Neoma could only watch the scene and worry.

    <em>What will happen to Hanna if Nero meets Dahlia in this lifetime?</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    "WHAT are you scheming with your little friends?" Niki asked Neoma strictly. "I heard that you woke up early to hold a meeting with Nero, Hanna, Trevor, and Gale."

    "Whatever do you mean by that, Papa Boss?" Neoma asked "innocently." "We just yed a little."

    They could talk freely like that because as of now, they were in the royal carriage while heading to People''s Pce. It was customary for them to enter Illumina za in that fashion. Before they entered People''s Pce, they were also required to "wave" at the crowd waiting for them eagerly.

    Well, he never waved even back when he was still a Crown Prince.

    <em>Knowing Neoma, she will definitely wave at the crowdter.</em>

    Anyway, Glenn and Lewis Crevan didn''t join them in the carriage. Instead, their personal knights rode on a horse guiding the carriage. As long as he was with Neoma, he wouldn''t need any other guards anyway.

    "You asked me a while ago to temporarily pull out the knights stationed at Castillo Hall," he reminded her. ording to Neoma, she wanted to borrow the hall because she was going to practice dancing with Nero and Hanna. Of course, he didn''t believe thatme excuse. "Who are you going to kill?"

    His daughter''s eyes widened in shock.

    For a moment, she looked guilty.

    But as a good actress that she was, the royal princess managed to hide her emotions by giving him a fake smile.

    "Papa Boss, what scary imagination you have," Neoma said, still acting innocent. "My purpose for borrowing Castillo Hall is pure."

    Yeah, right.

    "Make sure that you won''t leave any evidence in the crime scene," he told her sternly. "Burn the corpse and get rid of your traces."

    The royal princessughed, then her eyes turned sharp. "I won''t kill them, Papa Boss. I just need to teach someone a lesson."

    <em>I knew it.</em>

    "Now we''re talking," he said. "Don''t abuse your power though. Even though Nero is already crowned, he''s still powerless. House Quinzel and I pushed for the coronation. But in reality, a lot of old families haven''t epted your twin brother yet as the Crown Prince. If you want to protect your brother''s position, then you better act properly until you gather allies."

    "I know that, Papa Boss," she said, more serious now.

    "House Lennox didn''t attend your coronation," he said. "Do you know what kind of family they are?"

    His daughter nodded before she responded. "House Lennox is thete empress''s family in the mother side."

    That was right.

    Juliet''s father was the former head of House Sloane, while her mother was from House Lennox.

    "House Lennox is also the most influential member of the Royal Faction so having them on my side will solidify Nero''s position as the Crown Prince," Neoma continued. Ah, she really understood politics. "I heard that even though they didn''t fully express their interest in the Crown Prince, they still voted ''yes'' in favor of crowning Nero."

    "House Lennox supported my decision as a way to repay debt," he exined. "They took responsibility for not keeping an eye on House Sloane. But that doesn''t mean that they have fully epted Nero."

    "I understand, Papa Boss," his daughter said. "I will do my best to win them over."

    "It''s going to be hard to win them over since they also hate me," he said. House Lennox med him for Juliet''s death. And they hated them, even more, when he had children with Mona. If House Sloane didn''t try to kill Neoma in the past, House Lennox wouldn''t have allowed Nero to be the Crown Prince even though they were a part of the Royal Faction. "And they''re probably looking down on you for being Mona''s child."

    "It''s okay, Papa Boss. Not everyone has good taste," she said confidently. "And most of all, if I find them useless to my goal, I can always just drop House Lennox and find better allies."

    "Easier said than done."

    "Action speaks louder than words so I''ll just show you that I''m built different, Papa Boss."

    He just scoffed at her arrogance. "Anyway, the children that you support through Sword Lily Foundation have arrived," he informed her. "Lady Belmont, your teacher, will personally tour them around People''s Pceter. Would you like to meet the children?"

    "Nah, I don''t want other people to find out that those children are under my foundation," Neoma said seriously. "I don''t want my enemies to harm them just because they''re connected to the "Crown Prince.""

    Ah, the royal princess understood that as long as she was acting like the Crown Prince, everyone around her was in danger. After all, there were enemies that enjoyed tormenting their target by hurting the people close to them.

    "I provided them with adequate security so don''t worry about the children too much," he assured her. "Don''t also forget that Lady Belmont is an influential figure in the society. Just the fact that she''s acting as the head of Sword Lily Foundation is enough protection for your little schrs."

    The royal princess blinked several times while looking at him in disbelief. "Papa Boss, are youforting me?"

    "No," Niki said firmly. "You''re a child that doesn''t need to beforted, Neoma."

    "Of course," Neoma said, then she turned outside the window. "You''re thest person I''d expect tofort me, Papa Boss."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA actually enjoyed waving at the crowd.

    At soon as she stepped out of the royal carriage, she heard a loud cheer from the crowd. Judging by their clothes, the majority of them came from ordinary households. She was relieved that her Papa Boss ended up right.

    Not everyone here hates me.

    <em>Anyway¡­</em>

    There was a barricade around the za that put a distance between them and the crowd. The barricade was also surrounded by the ck Hawk Knights. After Duke Rufus Quinzel greeted them when they got off the carriage, he joined his squad. After all, the duke was also the leader of the Public Order.

    On the other hand, the People''s Pce was guarded by the royal knights. But they weren''t the White Lion Knights. After all, the emperor often sends his order to several missions.

    <em>Anyway, People''s Pce is pretty luxurious for something built only for greeting the crowd.</em>

    In fact, it even looked more luxurious than Luna Pce¨C the one that she and Nero were using as their residence when they were still babies.

    <em>Tsk.</em>

    She suddenly remembered that Luna Pnce, her former residence, didn''t even have a proper garden.

    But People''s Pce had a gigantic and obviously expensive water fountain in front of it. It even had a statue of a mermaid holding a jar where the water was pouring from. Gosh, she couldn''t believe that it was only built for the purpose of waving at the crowd.

    <em>Well, whatever.</em>

    She set aside her thoughts and waved at everyone, even to the sides that remained quiet.

    Even in the modern world of her second life, there were still monarchies that remained well-loved by the people. If there was one thing that she wouldn''t underestimate when ites to the royal family was its ability to make people drawn to them.

    Just like what was probably happening right now.

    The more she waved, the louder the cheer got.

    "Are you sure being too friendly is wise?" her Papa Boss asked when they entered People''s Pce and climbed the grand staircase leading up to the balcony. Of course, Lewis and Sir Glenn were walking behind them. "I can''t see Nero acting like you once he reims his ce."

    "Nero said it''s okay for me to act like this," she said. "He said he can fill my shoes."

    "Your brother is spoiling you too much."

    She justughed it off.

    Then, they both became quiet as they entered the "Balcony." Much to her chagrin, Count Kyle Sprouse was already there.

    <em>Argh, Count Sprouse just has to be here, huh?</em>

    But since the count looked dashing in his crisp three-piece suit with one-shoulder mantle, she''d be easy on him today. Plus, she was distracted by the thing that looked like an in-ear headset microphone attached to his ear.

    The "microphone" had a spirit stone attached to it.

    "Esteemed people of the Great Moonasterion Empire," Count Sprouse said. Ah, so the spirit stone attached to the "headset" was a voice-amplifying one. It worked like how a microphone functioned in the modern world. "I present to you His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Niki de Moonasterio and His Royal Highness, Prince Nero de Moonasterio."

    Neoma stepped into the balcony behind her father.

    Of course, Emperor Niki just stood there like a beautiful sculpture, his facial expression and eyes as cold as Nero''s ice.

    <em>Mama, how did you fall in love with such a boring man?</em>

    She didn''t want the poor people of their empire to die of boredom so she took it upon herself to stand beside her Papa Boss. Then, she smiled brightly at the crowd and waved again.

    The crowd cheered loudly¡­

    ¡­ and then it was overpowered by a loud bang.

    The next thing she knew, a part of the barricade was destroyed. Then, a certain group of people ran towards People''s Pce immediately. But of course, the knights around easily surrounded them.

    Leading the knights that caught the intruders was Duke Quinzel, of course.

    She also noticed that the other knights were assisting their fellow knights and the civilians that got hurt because of the explosion. It wasn''t strong enough to hurt therge crowd. But the people around the bomb (?) got caught in it when it exploded.

    And since an attack happened, Lewis and Sir Glenn immediately stood on either of their sides.

    "We don''t want a Crown Prince with filthy blood!" shouted a youngmoner boy, probably around fifteen to seventeen years old. His group consisted of five more boys and three girls around his age. "Step down, you disgusting illegitimate child!"

    In the crowd, several grown-ups began to shout insults at him as well until they were joined by more people.

    The children caught by Duke Quinzel''s squad were now on the ground while being subdued by the knights. The knights were now putting handcuffs while the teenagers were struggling to get out of their grasp but to no avail.

    "Get inside," her Papa Boss ordered her. "It seems like these people have forgotten who I am just because I haven''t faced them recently."

    "It''s okay, Papa Boss. I''m a star so I''m used to dealing with haters," she said, then she turned to Count Sprouse. "Lord Sprouse, may I borrow your microphone?" When the count looked confused, she exined. "I mean, the voice amplifier."

    "Ah," Count Sprouse said, then he turned to the emperor as if he was asking for permission. "Your Majesty...?"

    Her Papa Boss nodded at the count, then he turned to her. "Don''t curse."

    "I won''t, Papa Boss," she said, then she allowed Count Sprouse to put the voice-amplifying device in her ear.

    After that, she cleared her throat and faced the crowd with her "business smile."

    "Good day, honored people of the Great Moonasterion Empire," Neoma greeted the crowd brightly. "I am Nero Roseheart de Moonasterio," she introduced herself, including her mother''sst name on purpose. It obviously shocked the crowd because they fell silent. "Now, shall we talk like civilized people?"

    Unbeknownst to Neoma, Emperor Niki, Count Sprouse, Sir Glenn, and even Lewis all had the same thought during that moment: ["<em>Princess Neoma is going to kill those people with her sharp tongue</em>."]

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

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 Chapter 136 - NEOMA IS THE REVOLUTION

    NERO already knew that Neoma would get wild as soon as he saw the fire in her eyes.

    His twin sister''s small body was filled with vigor and sass, and that was probably the reason why she had a huge presence. All she had to do was stand or sit somewhere and she would definitely gain attention. Moreover, she always acts with confidence.

    "Neoma looks like she''s having fun," Hanna, seated beside him, said with a softugh. "She only introduced herself but I already feel bad for whoever is behind this atrocity. But on second thought, they deserve to be punished."

    Nero nodded in agreement. "Not only did they insult the Crown Prince. They also hurt innocent people."

    Right now, he and Hanna were seated on the stone railing of the gatehouse built over the gateway to People''s Pce. They didn''t have to enter the gatehouse using the entrance to get there. When Gale showed up after fulfilling the task that Neoma gave her, the Wind Spirit carried them with her wind and ced them there.

    The gatehouse was a little far from Illumina za.

    But he and Hanna could see what was going on just fine. After all, both of them had sharper eyesight than ordinary people. Especially Hanna.

    <em>Their family isn''t called the "ck Hawks" for nothing.</em>

    Anyway, from where they sat, they could see the knights and the other civilians helping those who had been hurt and injured by the explosion a while ago.

    On the other hand, the group who started throwing insults at Neoma was being held down by the ck Hawk Knights led by Duke Rufus Quinzel. But even without the knights, he was pretty sure that themoners wouldn''t be able to reach People''s Pce anyway even if they used another bomb.

    After all, the pce was protected by His Majesty''s Holy Barrier.

    "There''s no way a group of youngmoners would have pulled off this kind of attack on their own," Gale, seated between him and Hanna, said. Hanna could only see the Wind Spirit''s bunny form and not hear her voice. "There must be someone powerful behind this attack."

    "Don''t worry, Miss Gale," he assured the Wind Spirit. He didn''t feel weird talking to Gale even though Hanna couldn''t hear the bunny. After all, Hanna already knew that Gale was a Spirit. "Neoma knows that. I think she already has an idea as to what kind of faction is behind this attack."

    "Neoma introduced herself using Lady Roseheart''s name even though she knows that it will anger the faction that still supports thete empress," Hanna said, impressing him once again with her quick thinking. "I wonder if she thinks that this attack is nned by that group."

    He nodded in agreement with Hanna.

    Maybe one of the families that follow House Lennox is behind this. After all, House Lennox hates House Roseheart. But they are too proud to personallyy a hand on the emperor''s heir. That doesn''t mean they wouldn''t subtly express their intention to destroy the Crown Prince''s image though.

    A follower of House Lennox probably wanted to suck up to them by setting this whole thing just to humiliate the Crown Prince.

    "I have reasons to believe that as well," he said. "Moreover, a lot of noble families, especially the oldest ones, think lowly of our mother."

    "This is definitely a campaign to kill the Crown Prince socially through public humiliation," Gale said. "I don''t think that it''s their goal to hurt or kill the Crown Prince. But I''m certain that the mastermind has hired assassins to silence the children to avoid getting caught."

    "I agree with you, Miss Gale. The children are just pawns that the mastermind wouldn''t hesitate to kill," Nero said while scanning the crowd. All he had to do was find people who had murderous intent at the moment. It was one of the first things that His Majesty taught him how to do before he got cursed. "Shall we bring the assassins to Neoma?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "PAPA, let me deal with them," Neoma said. She had to drop the "boss" from the usual "Papa Boss" that she uses because of the in-ear microphone attached to her ear. Calling Emperor Niki ''Papa'' instead of ''Father'' was already strange enough. The citizens of their empire would have a heart attack if they heard her call His Majesty ''Papa Boss.'' "I want to talk to them up-close."

    "Alright, I''ll let you deal with them," Emperor Niki said. "Bring Lewis Crevan with you."

    She smiled and nodded. "That''s a given, Papa," she said, then she turned to Lewis. "Let''s go."

    Lewis bowed to her. Usually, he would just nod and she preferred him acting casually with her. But since all eyes were on them at the moment, Lewis had to act like a stiff knight instead of her cute son.

    Anyway¡­

    Without hesitation, she leaped and stood on the railing.

    Then, she jumped off the railing andnded quietly (and elegantly if she may say so herself) on her feet. Of course, Lewisnded the same way. If she wasn''t aware of his presence behind her, she wouldn''t know that he was there because he didn''t make a sound.

    Duke Rufus Quinzel and the other knights bowed to her when she approached them.

    "Duke Quinzel, please remove the cuff from the children," she said to the duke with a smile. "I''d like to talk to them. I know that no one can harm me as long as you and our gant knights are with me."

    Her ttery worked because the dukeughed softly.

    And despite the ck Hawk Knights'' effort to keep their pokerfaced, she still caught them smiling because of her praise.

    <em>Gosh, I''m such a smooth-talker. I''ll probably be a ygirl when I be an adult physically. I can already picture myself breaking many hearts in the near future.</em>

    "As you wish, Your Royal Highness," Duke Quinzel said with a smile, then he turned to his knights. "Uncuff the children."

    The ck Hawk Knights bowed to them before they uncuffed the children.

    Duke Quinzel was pretty sly though.

    She noticed that the duke''s shadow was holding the shadows of the children. That was definitely the reason why the kids remained kneeling and seemed like they couldn''t move.

    <em>Well, it''s still Duke Quinzel''s duty to protect me.</em>

    "Why did youe down?" the edgy boy (brown hair, amber eyes) that seemed like the leader of the kids (well, they were teenagers but they looked like children in her eyes) snapped at her. "Are you going to personally kill us?"

    "Why would I kill you?" she asked, then she removed the in-ear microphone and threw it on the ground. Then, she sat on the ground in a lotus position. "I said I wanted to talk, didn''t I?"

    Ah, even though she wasn''t directly wearing the in-ear microphone now, her voice still echoed.

    Anyway¡­

    The children looked shocked by what she did.

    But she was more shocked when Lewis and Duke Quinzel that stood on either of her sides suddenly got down on a kneeling position.

    The ck Hawk Knights followed suit.

    Ah, they probably did it because they can''t be standing up when the Crown Prince was on the ground.

    "What do you mean talk?" the girl with dark hair and freckles asked her warily. "What are we going to talk about?"

    "I''m here to listen to yourints," she said. "So go ahead, say it to my face."

    "Are you mocking us?" the edgy boy snarled.

    "No, I''m not," she said seriously. "Do I look like I''m messing with you?"

    She didn''t mean to intimidate the kids but whenever she gets serious, she couldn''t help but resemble her father¨C cold and cruel.

    <em>It''s true that I got my father''s beauty but I also inherited his "scary face."</em>

    "W-We have nothing else to say to you. We already said what we wanted to say!" the edgy boy said. His voice cracked, which meant that she really did intimidate him a while ago. "So why would you still want to "talk" to us?"

    "Why not? You and your family probably pay taxes," she said casually. She didn''t want to appear too sentimental so instead, she put on a fa?ade of a public servant. "Every taxpayer in this continent has the right to demand better governance from us¨C the public servants."

    "P-Public servant?" the freckled girl asked. "But you''re the Crown Prince."

    "Uh-huh, and I work for the people," she said. The crowd was obviously listening to her because it suddenly became quiet. Well, whatever. "Just so you know, the tax you pay raises revenue for the government. Your money practically pays for programs and services authorized by the empire, and fund other projects that are deemed important like building infrastructures. For that reason, you have every right to express your dissatisfaction with the people running the empire. As long as you do it in a peaceful manner without hurting innocent people, you have the right to protest. And I swear that I will listen to you."

    The children looked bbergasted, and so was the crowd.

    Until one man, obviously horrified, broke the silence.

    "Your Royal Highness, did you just promote rebellion?!"

    "No, a diplomatic protest is one example of peaceful activism and it''s not the same as rebellion," she said bluntly, then she turned to the direction where the voice from. "Activism is the practice of taking action to effect social and political change. You can express your advocacy through rallies, street marches, strikes, and peaceful protests. After all, activism is politically essential to society."

    She knew that in this era, the idea of activism was too progressive for most people.

    Plus, she knew that speaking about it now would endanger her position as the Crown Prince. But she was risking it all to spark change and find allies with the same ideologies as her. So even if she lost some support, she''d also gain new supporters. And she''d rather have allies that had the same vision as her and not just those who were loyal to the throne.

    <em>I''m just doing what you''ve told me to do, Papa Boss</em>, Neoma thought to herself. <em>I''m trying to find genuine allies that can help me create the path that I want to walk.</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOUR MAJESTY, please stop His Royal Highness now."

    Niki heard Kyle (who addressed Neoma as the Crown Prince because they were in the public) but he remained silent.

    He knew very well that Neoma was putting her position as the Crown Prince in jeopardy. The Royal Faction was filled with old families with conservative beliefs. The idea of activism may affect the support that the royal family receives from those noble households.

    After all, just because she was now officially crowned as the emperor''s heir didn''t mean that she couldn''t be overthrown anymore.

    "Your Majesty, if His Royal Highness continues talking like that, his reputation among the noble families wouldn''t look good," Kyle continued begging him. "A newly minted Crown Prince like him could still be easily crushed by the nobles."

    "The Crown Prince can handle it," Niki finally said. Although a part of him agreed with Kyle, his instinct told him to trust Neoma. And if Nero decided to let his twin sister do whatever she wanted as the acting Crown Prince, then he had to support his children. "As long as he has my support, he won''t go down."

    The count let out a frustrated sigh. "Your Majesty, please reconsider your decision."

    "Kyle, stop," Glenn warned their childhood friend in a cold and threatening voice that he rarely used. "How dare you question His Majesty''s decision?"

    "That''s not what I''m doing, Glenn," Kyle said firmly. "I''m only doing my job as someone who wishes to protect the throne. If the Crown Prince gets overthrown, His Majesty''s power over the nobles will get affected as well. Stopping His Royal Highness now is the same as protecting him."

    "That''s not for you to decide," the knight insisted. "His Majesty is the emperor and the father of the Crown Prince."

    "Stop fighting, you two," he scolded the count and the knight. "You''re hurting my ears."

    Kyle and Glenn, despite being raised together with him, didn''t really get along that well. And it seemed like their rtionship had gotten worse over the years.

    "Please forgive us, Your Majesty," Kyle and Glenn said while bowing to him.

    "We won''t stop the Crown Prince," Niki said firmly. "I''d like to see how things will y out from here on."

    <em>Show me what you''ve got, Neoma de Moonasterio.</em>

    <strong><em>***</em></strong>

    <strong>NOTE:</strong> Hi! I might post around this time (6AM-11AM GMT+8) next month. I usually write in my free time during the day so I could post before midnight (GMT+8). But I write during nighttime instead of daytime these days, right after my day job, because of my new work-rted project. Thus, I tend to post my updates in an awkward time recently. Sorry for the sudden change of schedule. T-T

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 137 - PLAYING WITH FIRE

    "AND THAT concludes my lecture on taxes and activism," Neoma said when the children and the crowd fellpletely silent. She understood that the concept that she introduced to them wasn''t easy to digest. So she decided to give the people time to think, then she changed the topic. "So, aside from my blood, do you have otherints against me?"

    The children looked at each other as if they were talking among themselves. Then, they looked down with an embarrassed look on their face.

    Ah, so they have nothing else to say.

    Well, she already expected that. After all, she knew that these children were only being used. How could a group of ordinary teenagers install bombs in the barricade that surrounded People''s Pce?

    "I''m sorry but I won''t apologize for my blood," she said firmly, then she stood up and faced the crowd in front of her. When she stood, Lewis and Duke Quinzel, along with the knights around her, stood as well. "Being an illegitimate child isn''t my fault and I will not apologize for having Roseheart blood in my veins. I have nothing to do with my parents'' history, so why would you judge me for something I have no control over?"

    The crowd once again fell silent.

    But this time, she could feel the tension in the air. It looked like expressing her thoughts in an unapologetic voice made most people ufortable.

    "What makes you superior to children born out of wedlock anyway?" she asked in a genuinely curious voice. "Are all children with married parents happy? Are all married couple decent people? Should the innocent children be punished for the sins of their parents?" She shook her head. "Of course not. So if you''re going to criticize me, I humbly request that you criticize me for my job as a Crown Prince and character as a person. If you''re only going to throw insults at me for my blood, then I''ll just ignore you. As I said, I won''t apologize for who and what I am as long as I know in myself that I am not hurting anyone else." She paused, then she snapped her fingers. "Oh. Maybe my existence did hurt the people with political ambitions that were crushed when my mother, thought to be only capable of giving birth to a girl, actually gave birth to a royal prince." She smiled and shrugged. "My bad."

    Much to her pleasant surprise, she heard some peopleugh in the crowd.

    The tension that she felt a while ago disappeared. Even the kids in front of her looked morefortable now.

    She was relieved, too.

    After all, she was fully prepared to face the wrath of the people that hated her and her mother. But at that moment, she was reminded that her mother, just like what her father said, was also loved by some.

    And she could feel it right now.

    "Y-Your Royal Highness¡­"

    She squatted down to meet the edgy boy''s eye level. He seemed hesitant and scared, so she smiled and gently encouraged him to speak up. "Hmm? What is it? You can tell me anything."

    The edgy boy gulped hard, fear evident in his eyes. But soon, the fear was reced by determination. "T-To be honest, we were only ordered to¨C"

    "<em>Princess Neoma, don''t let the children talk about the mastermind behind this</em>."

    She was surprised when all of a sudden, Mochi appeared andnded on top of her head. It seemed like other people could see the bunny because the children looked up at her.

    "Why?" she asked the bunny regarding her instruction a while ago. "Why shouldn''t I let them speak?"

    "<em>We caught the assassins that were supposed to kill the children if they ever chickened out with their task</em>," Mochi exined, then she hopped down andnded in front of her. "<em>They said the children were bound with a spell. If they speak the name of the mastermind, the bomb imnted in their head would explode</em>."

    She almost cursed under her breath.

    "Thank you for informing me, Mochi," she said seriously, then she turned to the children. "Don''t say a word about who ordered you to do this."

    "B-But we want to make it up to you, Your Royal Highness."

    She smiled at the boy and ruffled his hair. "You''re already forgiven. It''s the thought that counts," she assured him. "And don''t worry because I can catch them. Trust me."

    The children once again looked at each other before facing her, then they firmly nodded.

    She smiled again before she stood up. "Mochi, can you bring me the assassins you caught?"

    Duke Quinzel, who probably couldn''t hear Mochi, looked surprised.

    Lewis, on the other hand, remained pokerfaced. But she could feel his son''s Mana rising which meant he was ready to fight.

    "As you wish, Princess Neoma," Mochi said. "Give me five seconds."

    Within the five seconds that the bunny asked, she created a weak tornado that thankfully didn''t send them flying.

    Then, after blinking several times to remove the dust in her eyes, she saw three unconscious grown-men wearing ck outfits appear on the ground. Each one of the assassins was bleeding profusely from the long and deep cuts all over their body as if they were mauled by an animal.

    <em>Ah, Nero must have used the White Tiger to attack the assassins.</em>

    "We knocked them out because they tried to kill themselves when we interrogated them a while ago," Mochi, now in her arms, exined. "It seems like they were adamant to protect their boss."

    She just nodded as an acknowledgment of Mochi''s report. "Duke Quinzel, my Spirit Guardian caught those assassins for me," she said to the duke. "They were hired by the same person who used these poor children to assassinate my character. Apparently, the assassins were ordered to kill the children if they failed their task."

    She smiled while clenching her hands tight. If Mochi didn''t arrive in time, the poor children would have exploded right before her. She put her guard down when she realized that the people behind this character assassination campaign against hers weren''t nning to literally kill her.

    But she expected that the children would be attacked.

    She just didn''t think that the enemies would install bombs inside the children''s bodies.

    If they could use such spells and technology, then the family behind this attack is definitely rich and powerful.

    "Please investigate them thoroughly, Your Grace," she said, still smiling even though she was seething inside. "And oh, my Spirit Guardian said that the assassins tried to kill themselves when interrogated a while ago so please keep an eye on them as soon as they wake up."

    Duke Quinzel looked worried about her. But since they were still in the public, he just bowed politely to her. "I''ll take care of the rest, Your Royal Highness."

    "Thank you, Duke Quinzel," she said, then she faced the crowd again. "I apologize but I need to go now. I will personally check on the bomb survivors." She gave the crowd her infamous "business smile." "As you can see, the assassins hired to intimidate the children who were ordered to insult me is in our custody now. Whoever is behind this, I''ll give you a chance to turn yourself in before I find you. But then again, it doesn''t matter. After all, I''m the best in ying hide-and-seek."

    After saying that, she winked at the crowd while waving at them.

    <em>It''s fanservice, y''all.</em>

    And it worked because the majority of the crowd cheered loudly while waving at her. It was safe to say that she managed to win over most of the people that gathered here today.

    "To avoid such incidents to happen again, I swear on my name that we will strengthen the security in the area for your safety," she said in a cheerful voice. "Everyone, please stay safe and enjoy the Moon Festival. See youter!"

    After saying goodbye to her "fans," she squatted down and faced the children in front of her again. They still couldn''t move because Duke Quinzel''s shadow was still keeping their shadows'' "hostage," but at least, they looked calm now.

    "Come with me," Neoma said to the children (actually, teenagers but they were still kids in her eye). "I''ll bring you to Madam Hammock and ask her to get rid of the bombs in your body."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NIKOLAI didn''t expect that Neoma would reveal her ability to summon and use Spirits.

    At first, he was against her showing her Roseheart blood to other people. But since his children decided to embrace their mother''s blood running through their veins, he decided to respect their choice.

    <em>Everyone knows that the Rosehearts could summon and use Spirits anyway.</em>

    "Glenn."

    "Yes, Your Majesty?"

    "Go and fetch Nero," Niki ordered the knight while using a blocking spell so that no one could hear him or even read his lips. "I felt the White Tiger and the ck Tortoise move to protect Nero a while ago."

    It wasn''t a big deal because his Soul Beasts let him know that Nero was safe.

    Still, it would be better to bring his son back to the pce. After the attack that happened today, he didn''t want to risk the safety of his children.

    "I understand, Your Majesty," Glenn said, then he bowed to him. "I will now bring Prince Nero back to his residence."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "NEOMA is angry," Nero, still seated on the stone railing of the gatehouse, said while looking at his twin sister. She was smiling and acting friendly, but he could see the fire in her eyes. "It''s a good thing that Miss Gale managed to interrogate the assassins before knocking them out."

    Hanna, seated beside him, nodded. "But she''s doing a good job hiding it." She turned to him. "I''m d that you and Miss Gale managed to find the assassins in time."

    The young Quinzel couldn''t hear Gale so he just told her the n that he made with the Wind Spirit.

    A while ago, after pointing at the assassins that he noticed hiding in the crowd, Gale moved fast and brought those three suspicious men to him. When the hired killers came at him, the White Tiger mauled them while the ck Tortoise acted like his shield.

    The White Tiger only stopped when he asked it to return.

    After that, Gale interrogated the assassins. The three menughed at them, and one said that even if they caught them, the young people that tried to attack Neoma (the "Crown Prince") would still die if they mentioned the mastermind behind this whole ordeal. Apparently, a bomb was imnted in the teens'' body via spell and it would explode if they talked.

    Then, the assassins tried to kill themselves via poison intake.

    Thank goodness Gale was quick enough to knock them out.

    <em>Miss Gale is the Wind Spirit so it''s natural for her to be fast and agile.</em>

    "Lady Nara and Lady Hanna Quinzel, I''vee to pick you up."

    Both Nero and Hanna turned to see Sir Glenn standing politely behind them.

    Ah, his father must have felt it when his Soul Beasts attacked the assassins. Thus, the emperor sent his most-trusted knight to fetch him.

    Hanna, the youngdy with perfect etiquettes, stood and bowed to greet the knight. "Greetings, Sir Glenn."

    Sir Glenn bowed to Hanna as well. "It''s good to see you again, Lady Quinzel."

    "What does Neoma n to do?" he asked when he stood up and faced the knight. "I saw her enter People''s Pce with the youngmoners."

    "Princess Neoma ns to have Madam Hammock to help the youngmoners, Your Royal Highness."

    "Ah, I see," Nero said, then he pulled out the pocket watch from the pocket of her skirt. "It''s almost time for us to y in the Castillo Hall though."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA smiled when she saw Nero and Hanna waiting for her when she got out of Madam Hammock''s infirmary. The youngmoners were already safe, thanks to the Healing Sage''s power. She was relieved when the teens fell asleep. To make sure that they would get plenty of sleep, she left the children in Madam Hammock''s care before she left.

    Of course, her son Lewis was behind her.

    <em>Anyway¡­</em>

    She noticed that Nero and Hanna were alone. They might have asked Sir Glenn and their other guards to leave because they had something important to discuss. Well, Emperor Niki already knew what they nned to do in Castillo Hall.

    But Papa Boss doesn''t know that my esteemed guest is Duke Jasper Hawthorne.

    "You''re here," Neoma greeted them. "Are you ready to y?"

    Hanna smiled and nodded. "I will hide our presence with my shadow technique," she assured her. "But Nero and I wille to your rescue as soon as you need us."

    "That''s reassuring, Hanna," she said sincerely. "Thank you."

    "Neoma, are you sure that you can beat Duke Jasper Hawthorne alone?" Nero asked worriedly. "I know that you''re strong. But we''re talking about the duke who killed all his rtives in a single night."

    She gave her twin brother a thumbs up. "Don''t worry, Nero. I''m Neoma, so trust me."

    To be honest, she was going to use her "cheat code" again: the memories of her first life.

    In her previous life, Nero and Duke Hawthorne went after each other''s throats during a "friendly" match. Of course, it turned into a serious one after Nero almost killed the duke.

    Yes, her twin brother won the fight.

    After all, what Duke Hawthorne thought was his best weapon actually turned out to be useless against Nero.

    <em>Since we''re twins, maybe Duke Hawthorne''s power won''t work on me as well.</em>

    "Ah, I remember something," she said, then she turned to Lewis. "Duke Hawthorne has an annoying and very nasty right-hand man, Lewis. I''ll leave him to you."

    Lewis, who seemed to be happy that she relied on him, nodded firmly.

    "Yosh," she said, then she cracked her knuckles. "Tteokbokki, preheat mode on."

    "I don''t understand what you mean by that, thug princess," Tteokbokki, her ever tsundere Soul Beast, said in a grumpy voice. "But I''m ready to fight anytime."

    "I need your me, Tteokbokki," Neoma said seriously. "Our opponent is a me user after all."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NERO, of course, was curious as to why Neoma seemed to know a lot about Duke Jasper Hawthorne.

    But he didn''t ask his twin sister about it. After all, he knew that she wouldn''t give him an honest answer anyway. So in the end, he just decided to ept that his precious Neoma was special.

    "Nero, don''t worry," Hanna, seated on the railing of the balcony while facing the room in front of them, assured him. "If Neoma says she won''t lose, then she won''t."

    Nero, seated beside her, just nodded in agreement.

    Right now, the whole balcony was covered with Hanna''s Veil of Darkness Technique. That meant nobody could see or feel them on the balcony. But it wasn''t just their presence that disappeared. In fact, everything inside the Veil would temporarily disappear from the sight and the memories of everyone outside it.

    "I agree with the youngdy," Gale, appearing out of nowhere, said as shended squarely on hisp. "But I hope the fightsts long. I want to see Princess Neoma fight."

    Hanna turned to him with a curious look on his face. "Did Miss Gale say something, Nero?"

    "Miss Gale said she wants to see Neoma fight," he said to her, then he looked down at the bunny on hisp. "Miss Gale, what does Duke Hawthorne look like?"

    "He looks strong," the Wind Spirit said. "But if you mean his physical appearance, then I''d say he''s handsome."

    "Oh, that would be a problem then," he said while shaking his head, then he turned to Hanna. "Miss Gale said Duke Hawthorne is handsome."

    "Oh," Hanna said, then she let out a deep sigh. "That''s a problem, indeed."

    "Why? Why? Why?" Gale asked, obviously intrigued by their reaction. "Why is the fact that the young duke is handsome going to be a problem?"

    Nero took a deep breath before he spoke again. "Neoma likes good-looking people a little too much."

    Hanna nodded firmly in agreement. "Neoma might get distracted by Duke Hawthorne''s face and lose."

    <strong>***</strong>

    AS SOON as Neoma entered the Grand Hall, she already felt the thick bloodlust in the air.

    Duke Jasper Hawthorne (and his right-hand man that she chose to ignore) didn''t even bother to hide. The two were seated on the railing of the grand staircase. It was kind of dark because the curtains all over the hall were covering the ss windows, so she couldn''t make out the face of the young duke and his aid.

    "Ah, it''s the fake prince."

    Judging by the arrogant voice that belonged to a seemingly confident young man, it was obvious that it was Duke Jasper Hawthorne who spoke just now.

    Neoma matched his arrogance with her own arrogant smirk. "Ah, it''s the son of ve traders."

    That obviously riled up the young duke.

    His bloodlust all over the room got thicker.

    Then, the hundreds of bloody red butterflies scattered all over the Grand Hall lit up. Ah, maybe it would be more appropriate to say that the wings of the butterflies had turned into a red me.

    After all, it was one of the young duke''s abilities.

    Thanks to the burning wings of the butterflies around them, the whole Grand Hall began to light up.

    And that was when she saw the face of Duke Jasper Hawthorne.

    Bluish-ck hair, deep blue eyes, beautiful bronzed skin.

    Damn, Duke Jasper Hawthorne''s face was god-tier.

    "Omo," Neoma said, clutching her chest tight when she felt her heart''s sudden erratic beat. "Why do you have to be so unnecessarily handsome, Duke Hawthorne?"

    And did she just hear Lewis sigh behind her?

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 138 - DUKE JASPER HAWTHORNE

    "YOUNG MASTER, do you believe that the fake Crown Prince will reallye here just to "talk" to you?"

    By "here," Tate meant the Castillo Hall.

    "The fake Crown Prince will probably try to negotiate with me first," Jasper Hawthorne, leaned against the railing of the grand staircase, said. "After all, he knows that we know his secret."

    "His Royal Highness sent a Spirit as a messenger," Tate, his butler-sh-aid, said while sitting on the railing. "It only means that the Crown Prince also knows that you can hear Spirits, Young Master."

    Ah, that was right.

    A while ago, while they were on their way to Illumina za to see the Crown Prince, a Spirit in the form of a white bunny came to him. The Spirit told him that the Crown Prince "invited" him to the Castillo Hall.

    Apparently, he and the Crown Prince needed to talk.

    He didn''t mind because that was exactly what he came there to do anyway.

    "It''s not a secret that I can "talk" to insects, animals, and even Spirits," he reminded his butler, dismissing the fact that the Crown Prince knew everything about him. "After all, everyone who knows me is aware that I raise poisonous butterflies. Doing so requires the ability to understand their species."

    But his ability to "talk" to Spirits was different from the ability of the Rosehearts.

    He could only hear the voice of the Spirits that wished to talk to him. Moreover, he couldn''t summon or tame them the way the Rosehearts could. To simply say, he was just a man blessed with the ability to study and understand the nguage" of non-human living things around him.

    But to be honest, he didn''t "talk" to insects and animals like how he would talk to humans. He simply could just "read" their emotions and aura. But it was a pain in the neck to exin so he would just usually say that he could "talk" to them.

    "It still feels like the Crown Prince knows a little too much about you, Young Master," Tate said. His usual childish demeanor couldn''t be detected at the moment. "If he''s just a fake Crown Prince, we can kill him. Right?"

    "Well, that will depend on how our conversation will go."

    The butler nodded, then he sat up straight when they heard the door crack open. Then, his amber eyes glowed in the dark. "Young Master, the fake Crown Prince is here with his infamous personal knight."

    "Deal with the fox," he ordered the butler, then he sat on the railing. "I want to talk to the fake Crown Prince in private."

    Tate smiled, his amber eyes'' glow starting to vanish. "As you wish, Young Master."

    The Crown Prince proudly announced his presence by not bothering to hide his aura and walking loudly like a normal person. He was pretty sure that a person of his caliber could walk as silently as the fox boy behind him. But it seemed like His Royal Highness was making his footsteps sound louder.

    <em>Is it His Royal Highness''s way of saying that he''s not scared of me?</em>

    That annoyed him.

    "Ah, it''s the fake prince," Jasper said, admitting to himself that it was petty but he couldn''t help it.

    "Ah, it''s the son of ve traders."

    He didn''t expect that response. Not only did the Crown Prince know about the ck Market. He didn''t expect that the damned prince also knew about the ve trading!

    Before he knew it, his anger already awakened his "pets."

    Hundreds of poisonous red butterflies came out of his body and lit up the dark hall through their ming wings.

    Thanks to the light caused by the burning red butterflies, he was able to see the Crown Prince''s features. As expected of a perfect fake that was able to fool the whole empire, the child possessed the three features that were apparently unique to the royal family: white hair, ash gray eyes, and pale skin.

    <em>The fake prince is already filled with divine energy.</em>

    Was that divine energy acting like some sort of spell and the reason why the fake Crown Prince looked exactly like the real one?

    Perhaps, His Majesty himself created a spell that changes one''s appearance?

    That could be the only exnation why a fake had divine energy that was apparently exclusive to the saint and the royal family.

    "Omo," the fake Crown Prince said in an awed voice while looking up at him with sparkling eyes. "Why do you have to be so unnecessarily handsome, Duke Hawthorne?"

    He scowled when he heard that.

    Thements that he was used to receiving about his appearance whenever he showed up at a banquet were mostly backhandedpliments. And they usually came from thedies. There were different variations but it goes something along this line: <em>"You''re so handsome even though your skin is a little bit darker than the rest of us."</em>

    <em>Is the Crown Prince being sarcastic?</em>

    But when he looked at His Royal Highness, he looked like he genuinely admired him.

    "Your ttery won''t work, Your Royal Highness," Jasper said bitterly, changing the topic swiftly because he didn''t want to get swayed by the fake''s strange pace. "We have a lot of things to discuss."

    "Uh-huh," the fake Crown Prince said. "But howe you sound confident that I''m the fake and not the real one, Your Grace?"

    "The real Crown Prince wouldn''t have to have a proxy if he''s fine and healthy," he said. "The fact that he needs a recement could only mean that he''s sick and unable to fulfill his duty. A sick heir would have weakened His Majesty''s power though. That''s probably the reason why the emperor decided to put a substitute in the real Crown Prince''s ce."

    "Oh, aren''t you smart?" the fake asked in an amused voice. "We should join hands, you know?"

    He already expected that the fake Crown Prince would convince him to join his side. After all, they needed to keep him silent about the royal secret. To be honest, an alliance with the real Crown Prince (he was pretty sure that the fake was only following the real one''s order) sounded tempting. He needed Mount Kimbro anyway.

    But he had to confirm one thing first.

    "Your Royal Highness, how did you know the dark secrets of my family?" he asked seriously. "Is His Majesty aware of those secrets as well?"

    "Nah, only I know your dark secrets," the fake said, then he gave him an apologetic smile. "I''m sorry but I can''t tell you how I managed to uncover your family''s secret." She sped her hands together. "Can''t you just trust me, Your Grace?"

    "Then, the negotiation is off," he said coldly. "I''ll beat you to a pulp and make you spill your secrets after."

    "How barbaric!" the fakeined with a softugh. "When I win, you''re going to join my side, okay?"

    "''When'' you win?" he asked, then he smirked. "It sounds like you''re confident that you''d win, Your Royal Highness."

    "Let''s just say that I''m your personal kryptonite, Your Grace."

    Yeah, that didn''t make sense.

    <em>What the hell is a ''kryptonite?''</em>

    "Since we''ve already confirmed that this one is fake, it doesn''t matter if we identally kill him, right?" Tate asked, his amber eyes now glowing menacingly. Ah, it seemed like the bloodthirsty monster inside the butler had awakened. "Young Master, let me y with the fake prince first. Please?"

    He was about to say something when all of a sudden, he saw the fox boy behind Tate.

    <em>Damn, I didn''t feel his presence at all!</em>

    It was toote to warn Tate.

    Lewis Crevan already sent the butler flying with just one kick. Tate''s back hit the wall, crushing it in the process.

    "Good job, One-Kick Lewis!" yelled the fake Crown Prince, spouting nonsense again. "Make your mother proud!"

    Lewis Crevan let out a deep sigh, then he disappeared to attack Tate who just got up.

    "Jasper Hawthorne, focus on me," the fake Crown Prince said while looking up at him. He was smiling, but he noticed that the proxy''s eyes were now dead serious. "I''m your enemy."

    "I won''t hold back," he warned the fake. "You''re not the real Crown Prince so I won''t hesitate to kill you if I need to."

    The fakeughed at his threat. "Your Grace, if you n to kill me, you better make sure that I''ll really die."

    He didn''t like the boy''s attitude.

    To be honest, he nned to just scare him a little. After all, he knew that the fake prince was onlymissioned by the royal family to pretend like the real one. But the substitute''s arrogance was pissing him off.

    Maybe it was up to him to teach the arrogant boy some humility.

    "This will hurt," Jasper said, then he raised his hand. The biggest bloody red butterflynded on his finger. The insect''s ming wings felt hot against his skin, but not enough to burn him. After all, his natural element was the fire. "Mariposa, burn the arrogant boy alive."

    ''Mariposa'' was the name of his butterflies.

    He didn''t have the time and the patience to name each of his butterflies. So he just gave them a "group name." They attack enemies collectively anyway.

    Just like what happened just now.

    The herd of his red ming butterflies flocked towards the fake Crown Prince until the poor boy''s little body was covered with his insects.

    Of course, it burned him in the process. After all, when the red ming butterflies of his flocked together like that, they would turn into a big me. But despite everything he said a while ago about holding back, he wasn''t that cruel to burn a child into ashes. And so, he made sure that the me he used wasn''t too hot.

    It still had to hurt though.

    Thus, he was wondering why he hadn''t heard the fake Crown Prince scream in pain yet.

    "The water in the hot spring is way warmer than your me, Duke Jasper Hawthorne," the fake Crown Prince, still engulfed in his red me, said in an offended voice. "You''re looking down on me, aren''t you?"

    He was surprised when all of a sudden, a different kind of red me burned his butterflies into ashes, putting out his own me in the process.

    <em>Does the fake Crown Prince also use me?!</em>

    And it wasn''t just any me.

    For some reason, the fake''s red me felt purer and stronger than his.

    <em>Impossible¡­</em>

    His thoughts were cut-off when all of a sudden, he was hit by a huge ball of scorching me. He tried to protect himself with a me Barrier of his own.

    <em>The fake''s me is so darn hot!</em>

    And soon enough, his me Barrier copsed. The fake''s ball of me hit his body and it exploded on him like a bomb. He didn''t want to admit this but it hurt enough to make him groan in pain.

    Then, he fell on his knees while catching his breath.

    <em>What kind of me is that?</em>

    "Is it safe to assume that I won this fight?"

    He raised his head to look up at the fake Crown Prince standing in front of him. It shocked him that this time, he didn''t feel the proxy''s presence when he approached him. But the most shocking part was when he saw the fake''s face, neck, and arms covered with what seemed to be red scales.

    <em>Are those dragon scales?</em>

    "Since I won, will you listen to me now?" the fake prince asked, the scales all over his body melting into nothingness. "I sincerely wish for us to be allies, Duke Hawthorne."

    "I won''t be allies with someone who knows my secrets and yet, refuses to tell me where he learned them from," he snarled, summoning the remaining butterflies inside his body. This time, the butterflies that he released were pure white instead of bloody red. "And I haven''t lost yet, fake."

    "You''re not giving up yet?"

    He smirked and stood up, not wanting the fake to think that he was done. "Do you know why my infamous butterflies are red?" he asked. When he raised a hand, the biggest white butterfly softlynded on his finger. "While these ones are white?"

    The fake just smiled as a response.

    He hated that smile more than the fake''s arrogant words. "Mariposa, suck the boy''s blood."

    The white butterflies flocked all over the boy''s body. It happened so fast that the fake didn''t even have the chance to move. He must also be paralyzed by now because as soon as the butterflies begin sucking a person''s body, the poison from his butterflies would paralyze the victim instantly.

    It worked for him since the fake wasn''t able to summon the dragon scales that he used to protect himself a while ago.

    <em>Ah, he''s done for.</em>

    After all, the pure white butterflies had turned into blood red now. That meant the insects have sucked enough blood from the boy.

    <em>Enough for me to control the fake prince, that is.</em>

    When the now red butterflies were done drinking, they flew away from the fake Crown Prince and returned to his side.

    "I didn''t want to use this technique on a child but you leave me with no choice," he said while shaking his head. The boy remained frozen on where he stood. It seemed like he was still paralyzed because the fake couldn''t even blink. "Now, tell me how you discovered the dark secrets of my family."

    Much to his shock, the fake Crown Prince smirked¡­

    ¡­ then he moved fast to give him a sucker punch in the face.

    The fake''s punch sent him flying until he hit the wall, crushing it with the impact of his body hitting it. The paintings hanging on that side of the wall fell and got broken into tiny pieces as well. And damn, the sucker punch broke his nose.

    He slid down and leaned against the broken wall behind him, then he raised his head and looked up at the fake standing in front of him.

    "How?" he asked in disbelief. "Even grown men who believe that they are immune to poison still get knocked out by my poisonous butterflies. And when my butterflies sucked your blood, that should have given me the power to control you!"

    "There''s one bloodline in the whole continent that you can''t control, Duke Hawthorne," the fake Crown said, his ash gray eyes turned into glowing red all of a sudden. He didn''t want to admit this but the fake looked intimidating at the moment. "You could never govern the blood of a de Moonasterio."

    His eyes widened in shock. "You''re a de Moonasterio?" He fell silent for a while, then he let out a gasp. "Are you the Crown Prince''s twin brother?"

    "I am indeed Nero''s twin¨C but I''m his "sister" and not his "brother.""

    After saying that, the fake''s hair grew longer until it reached her waist.

    <em>Yes, her.</em>

    A spell changed that person''s clothes from a military uniform into a pink dress. Her face didn''t change that much. But since her hair grew longer and she now wore a dress, she suddenly looked more feminine at the moment.

    "Impossible," Jasper said in disbelief. "The Crown Prince has a twin sister?"

    "Yes, and that is the real royal secret," Her Royal Highness said. "I am Neoma de Moonasterio¨C Nero''s hidden twin sister."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 139 - WILL YOU BE MY OPPA?

    TATE cursed under his breath when he found himself outside Castillo Hall.

    Lewis Crevan, the fox boy, dragged him roughly out of the hall a while ago. And now, he was literally blocking his way so he couldn''t enter the hall again. He didn''t want to admit this but he couldn''t pass a boy younger than him because he was freaking strong. Whenever he would try to attack the young fox, he''d attack him back with the intention of killing him.

    As if that wasn''t enough, a few momentster, a strange shadow-like dome covered the entire Castillo Hall. It seemed to be a shadow technique by a Quinzel.

    It couldn''t be Duke Rufus Quinzel because the Mana I feel is not that strong yet, Tate thought to himself while looking at the shadow dome. Then, it must be Lady Hanna Quinzel. Why is she helping the fake Crown Prince though?

    But then again, maybe he shouldn''t be surprised.

    After all, the House Quinzel had been the emperor''s loyal dog as a way to pay for the sins of the former Commander Gavin Quinzel.

    "Hey, fox boy. I give up," he said. He couldn''t risk his life fighting the fox boy when his young master was inside the hall unprotected. He''d rather use his strength protecting the duke instead of wasting his time fighting someone who was stronger than him. This was his punishment for underestimating the fox boy. "Let me through."

    Lewis Crevan, much to his chagrin, just ignored himpletely.

    This fox boy wasn''t mute so why the hell wouldn''t he utter even a word?! The only sound that he made from the very beginning was the sound of his breathing! He didn''t even scream or groan when he punched and kicked him a while ago.

    God, thinking about it just made his blood boil.

    "I take it back," Tate snarled at the indifferent fox boy. "I''ll torture the hell out of you until I hear you scream for mercy, Lewis Crevan!"

    <strong>***</strong>

    NERO was a little surprised when the spell that Madam Hammock cast on him and Neoma activated all of a sudden. When it took effect, his wig disappeared and so was the dress he wore. But it was instantly reced by the clothes that Neoma wore a while ago (yes, the dress that he had a minute ago was probably on his twin sister now).

    Neoma was the only one who could activate that by breaking the small spirit stone that Madam Hammock gave them a while ago.

    Ah, so you decided to reveal the royal secret to Duke Jasper Hawthorne," Nero thought to himself. He could feel the fight between Neoma and the young duke. But his twin sister firmly told him not to interfere. I don''t understand what you''re trying to do, Neoma. But I pray that you didn''t make the wrong choice.

    "Nero, should I cover the Castillo Hall now with my Veil of Darkness?"

    Nero turned to Hanna who seemed to be waiting for his order. Ah, right. Neoma told the young Quinzel to create a Veil once the spell had been activated. "Yes, please," he said. "Only Duke Jasper Hawthorne should know the royal secret." He hesitated at first but in the end, he gently patted Hanna''s face. "But don''t push yourself too hard, Hanna."

    Hanna''s naturally rosy cheeks turned rosier, then she smiled and nodded. "Thank you for worrying about me, Nero."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NIKOLAI raised his head to look at Rufus when his cousin suddenly stopped in the middle of his oral report.

    Right now, aside from Rufus, Glenn was also in his office. They were listening to the duke''s report regarding the mastermind behind the attack a while ago. Kyle, on the other hand, just left the room topensate the victims of the bombing attack earlier.

    Niki raised a brow when Rufus remained silent. "What''s wrong, Rufus?"

    Rufus looked worried when he nodded. "I just felt it when Hanna used her Mana, Your Majesty. I think my daughter created a huge Veil of Darkness."

    "Hanna Quinzel is with my children," he told his cousin. "Can you tell if the children are in danger?"

    The duke shook his head. "I only felt Hanna''s Mana because our shadow technique is quite connected to each other, Your Majesty."

    "Your Majesty, should I check on the children?" Glenn volunteered, obviously worried about the kids. "As far as I know, they''re at the Castillo Hall."

    "No need for that," he said firmly. "My Soul Beasts say that the children are fine. There''s a fight, but apparently, the kids are winning."

    Both Rufus and Glenn looked relieved by his assurance.

    He, on the other hand, leaned against his chair and looked at his cousin with a raised brow. "Rufus, it seems like your daughter is infatuated with my son."

    Rufus flinched at his remark. "It may just be a silly crush, Your Majesty."

    "But a puppy love could easily be turned into a serious romance when the children grow up," he said, enjoying the look of horror on Rufus''s face. Okay, he was a little bit insulted by his cousin''s reaction. "What''s with that look, Rufus? Is Nero inadequate for Hanna Quinzel?"

    "It''s not like that, Your Majesty," his cousin denied while shaking his head. "I just think that it''s too early to talk about the children''s rtionship at the moment."

    Well, that was true for most.

    But his son was the Crown Prince, and the daughter of House Quinzel was the top candidate to be the Crown Princess in the near future. For royals and higher nobles like them, the talk of engagement between their families'' heir and heiress would never be too early.

    "Rufus, you know that Hanna Quinzel is the top candidate to be the Crown Princess, don''t you?"

    Rufus nodded, then he bowed his head so low he thought he''d hit the desk. "Your Majesty, I want Hanna to have the freedom to choose whom to marry once she''s of age to be a bride," he said in a pleading voice. "Please don''t force my daughter to marry Prince Nero if she has a change of heart in the future."

    Niki let out a deep sigh. "I was just messing with you," he said. "Stop making me look like the bad guy, Rufus."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "I''M NEOMA de Moonasterio, Nero''s hidden twin sister," Neoma introduced herself to the shocked Jasper Hawthorne. She smiled at him, then she curtsied politely. "It''s nice to meet you, Your Grace."

    "Why?" Jasper Hawthorne asked in disbelief. "Why would you reveal your secret when I haven''t agreed to be your ally yet? Are you going to kill me now?"

    She justughed it off, then she squatted down and hugged her knees to meet his eye level. "Your Grace, I can''t tell you how I discovered your family''s dark secret," he said seriously. "So to be fair to you, I decided to reveal my own secret to you."

    "You''re trying to earn my trust, aren''t you?"

    "Of course," she admitted because it was too obvious to deny anyway. "After all, I really want you to be my ally."

    His brows furrowed in confusion. "Why though?"

    "Because I know your goal and I believe that we have the same ideologies," she said bluntly. "Plus, I want to help you with the thing about Mount Kimbro."

    Once again, he looked shocked. Then, heughed while shaking his head. "You really know a lot of things that a hidden princess like you shouldn''t know," he said, then he turned serious. "Now you have my attention, Your Royal Highness. If you can''t tell me how you managed to uncover these secrets, you don''t mind if I spy on you, do you?"

    It was her turn tough. "A spy shouldn''t tell his target that he''d spy on her, dummy."

    "I know that," he said with a smirk. "But it seems like you''re smart enough to know if you were being spied on or not anyway."

    She smiled and nodded. "So, is it safe to assume that we''re allies now?"

    "I want to hear what you know about Mount Kimbro," he said while moving his head from side to side. "And I lost to you."

    "Now, we''re talking," she said with a smile, then she extended her hand to him. "Duke Jasper Hawthorne, will you be my oppa?"

    He just raised a brow at her.

    "Oh, ''oppa'' means ''older brother.'' It''s from anguage that only the royal family speaks," Neoma lied with a bright smile on her face. To be honest, she was mentally order than Duke Jasper Hawthorne. But he was older and more mature than the other children around them. Plus, he was smart and responsible. She knew that she could depend on him. "I feel like we''d really get along well, Your Grace."

    "I''m not so sure about that," Jasper Hawthorne said, then he took his hand and shook it. "I don''t have a sister so don''t me me if I don''t know how to treat you like one."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "HEY, HOW long are you going to look around?" Rubin asked, his hands on his hips. He hated to be in Illumina za because there were a lot ofmoners around them. But since hispanion was really interested, and he couldn''t say ''no'' to that angelic face, he couldn''t help but give in. He was starting to regret it now though. "We should hurry and go to the pce now. I thought you wanted to see the Crown Prince?"

    Regina, holding a pink parasol in her hands, finally stopped looking at the stalls around them to turn to him. Then, she smiled sweetly at him. And when she smiled, her beautiful green eyes sparkled even more. Her raven hair framed her small, lovely face. So even though she wore a simple dress than what most nobledies usually wear, her radiant beauty still stood out. "Yes, I can''t wait to see the Crown Prince, Rubin."

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 Chapter 140 - NO TEA, NO SHADE, JUST FACTS

    NEOMA was relieved that she was able to beat Jasper Hawthorne.

    But she wouldn''t have done it if she didn''t know the true nature of his poisonous butterflies. To be honest, it was all thanks to the memories of her first life.

    In the past, when Nero and Jasper Hawthorne shed, the duke tried to poison Nero with his butterflies. But it didn''t work, not even his body control technique. And it was all because, for some reason, other people wouldn''t be able tomand the blood of the royal family.

    <em>Both of us were saved by Papa Boss''s blood.</em>

    "It''s a shock that Prince Nero has a twin sister," Jasper Hawthorne, leaning against the wall while catching his breath, said. "I just realized that I could be charged of treason for physically assaulting you, Your Royal Highness."

    "Nah," she said while shaking her head. "I''m not officially registered as a member of the royal family. But my father will probably kill you if he finds out that you know the royal secret now."

    "You''re the one who voluntarily revealed your secret to me, Princess Neoma."

    Sheughed it off. "Well, you already know that I''m a fake. Might as well reveal to you that I am a princess. Plus, I genuinely want to build an alliance with you with trust as a foundation."

    "You speak of trust but you have many secrets that you intend to keep from me."

    "You''re older than me so you have to be more patient and more understanding," she said while trying to give him the cutest look that she could muster at the moment. Well, mentally, she was older than Jasper Hawthorne. But she already decided to act as his little sister. Might as well start now. "Oppa, I will literally die a gruesome death if I spill the tea."

    "You''ll die a "gruesome" death?"

    "Yes, oppa. The pce isn''t a safe ce for a royal princess¨C official or not," she said while nodding her head. "But if you really insist to know, I will tell you everything you want to know about me. As I said, I am desperate to have you on my side."

    She was betting on her memory of the Jasper Hawthorne that she knew in her first life.

    The young duke in her previous life was known as a man of honor. In fact, Jasper Hawthorne asked Nero for a duel in the past because his crazy twin brothermitted some sort of hate crime that she couldn''t remember anymore. After all, in her previous life, Nero was so infamous for all sort of bad things that he did¨C like abusing his power as the Crown Prince.

    <em> The Nero in my first life was batshit crazy.</em>

    "Don''t be stupid," Jasper said, then he stood up despite the severity of his injuries. Then, he flicked her forehead with his fingers. "If it''s going to cause you your "gruesome death," then you must absolutely not tell me anything that I don''t need to know."

    She pouted while touching her forehead. "But you''re the one who keeps on shading me for keeping secrets from you."

    "That''s when I didn''t know your circumstance," he said, then he scratched his cheek as if he was suddenly embarrassed. "But now that I know your situation better, then I will no longer insist on knowing how you discovered my family secret."

    She smiled and nodded.

    <em>I knew I could trust my Jasper oppa.</em>

    "Oppa, can I ask for another favor?" she asked while giving her a puppy dog eyes look. "Can you please not tell your butler that I''m a princess? It''s fine if he knows that I''m a fake. But it will make me feel ufortable if another person finds out that I''m a girl."

    "I don''t have any intention to tell any other soul about the fact that you''re a princess anyway," the young duke said. "After all, it''s not my secret to tell."

    Okay, that may or may not have made her heart skip a beat.

    <em>Jasper oppa is really a big brother material!</em>

    "Thank you, oppa," she said. "We''ll talk about Mount Kimbroter but for now, let''s go to Madam Hammock first. And let''s bring your butler as well."

    His brows furrowed in confusion. "Why are you talking like you''re certain that my butler needs medical assistance?"

    "Because he fought with Lewis."

    "Are you implying that my butler is inferior to your personal knight?"

    She smiled and shrugged. "I''m just stating a fact, oppa."

    The young duke opened his mouth toin but both of them stopped and turned to the door when they heard it creak open.

    She smiled at the sight that greeted him, while Jasper Hawthorne''s jaw fell open.

    After all, Lewis entered the hall while dragging an unconscious, bruised, and bleeding Tate. On the other hand, her son was unscathed¨C save for some footprints on his uniform.

    "Princess Neoma," Lewis said in a surprised voice when he saw her. "Hurt¡­"

    Her son''s surprise didn''te from the fact that she was back to her original appearance. His son was obviously shocked to see some burn marks all over her body. It wasn''t that bad though. Her skin just suffered from a first-degree burn.

    Well, maybe it was bad. But she was used to it because every time she used Tteokbokki''s scales as her "shield," she would always suffer from some burn.

    Anyway, aside from that, she also received some little dotted marks all over her skin from the time Jasper Hawthorne''s butterflies sucked her blood. The marks didn''t hurt, and she was sure that Madam Hammock''s ointment would get rid of it easily.

    "I''m fine, Lewis," she assured her son. "I''m not hurt."

    Lewis obviously didn''t believe her. He just turned to Jasper Hawthorne and gave the young duke a murderous look.

    Which looked funny to her because between her and Jasper Hawthorne, it was obvious that the young duke had suffered more severe injuries. She won the fight but since she got hurt, Lewis probably still wanted to kill the person who hurt her.

    "Lewis Crevan," Jasper Hawthorne said in a warning voice. "Isn''t it overkill?"

    Lewis casually threw Tate in the young duke''s direction. "That. Monster."

    She let out a sigh while shaking her head. Why does Lewis talk that way to other people even if he''s capable of speaking inplete sentences now?

    Jasper Hawthorne seemed to get what Lewis said though. "Oh. I can''t believe that Tate still lost even though he used his transformation technique," he said while looking at Tate''s pitiful state. Then, the young duke raised his head to look at Lewis. "Did you use the power of your tails, Lewis Crevan?"

    Lewis just ignored Jasper Hawthorne to turn to her with a worried look on his face. "Princess Neoma, I''ll bring you to Madam Hammock."

    Now her son was speaking properly.

    From the corner of her eye, she saw the young duke scowl. Before the tension between Lewis and Jasper Hawthorne got worse, she decided to meddle.

    "Calm down, boys," Neoma said cheerfully. "Let''s all visit Madam Hammock first."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "WHAT DID you say?" Niki asked Kyle who just got into his office to report an urgent matter. He was still in a meeting with Rufus and Glenn when the count arrived. And Kyle''s report was giving him another headache. "Who did Neoma and the fox boy beat up?"

    Kyle sighed before he repeated himself. "Princess Neoma beat Duke Jasper Hawthorne, while Lewis Crevan almost killed the duke''s butler called Tate. Currently, the four of them are in Madam Hammock''s infirmary while receiving treatment, Your Majesty."

    He let out a frustrated sigh while pinching the bridge of his nose. "Nero and Hanna Quinzel were with Neoma at the Castillo Hall. Were they involved in the fight?"

    "No, Your Majesty," the count said. "Prince Nero and Young Lady Quinzel only served as a lookout. The youngdy also used her Veil of Darkness to hide the fight going on inside the hall."

    Rufus looked relieved to hear that his daughter wasn''t directly involved in the fight.

    "Kyle, who won?" Glenn asked cheerfully. When he, Kyle, and Rufus turned to him at the same time, the na?ve knight blinked as if he was confused with their reaction. "Why? Am I the only one who''s curious about the fight''s oue?"

    Tsk, sometimes he wondered how Glenn became the vicemander of the White Lion Order. He could be so immature and carefree at times like this.

    "Now I''m also curious," Rufus said, then he turned to Kyle. "So, who won?"

    Kyle, sighing in defeat, shook his head before he responded. "Princess Neoma and Lewis Crevan both won the fight splendidly."

    "As expected of our Princess Neoma," Glenn and Rufus said at the same time.

    Niki, on the other hand, rolled his eyes. "Let''s end this meeting now," he said, then he stood up. "I''ll go and see Neoma and the young duke."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "REGINA, what are you looking at?" Rubin asked when he saw Regina spacing out. But when he followed the trail of her gaze, he saw Duke Rufus Quinzel at the entrance of Madam Hammock''s residence. He also saw Hanna Quinzel who greeted her father. Confused, he turned to Regina. "What''s so interesting about the Quinzels?"

    Right now, they were on their way to Madam Hammock''s infirmary.

    When they got to nco Pce a while ago, the servants told them that the Crown Prince was in Madam Hammock''s residence. Since Regina really wanted to see the royal prince, he went to the infirmary even though he wasn''t sure if they would be permitted inside.

    "I''m quite jealous of Lady Hanna Quinzel," Regina said with a sad smile on her face. Then, she turned to him. "Duke Quinzel is known for being a doting father. I wonder what it feels like to have a father like that."

    His heart went out to Regina.

    After all, her father wasn''t the greatest father out there.

    "Don''t worry about that, Regina," he told him. "I''m still powerless as of now. But once I be a duke, I will treat you really well. I''ll spoil you more than how Duke Quinzel spoils his daughter."

    Sheughed softly. "It would be nice if that happens, Rubin. But didn''t your father say that he will only pass his title to you if you marry the girl that he chose for you?"

    He flinched at that reminder.

    "Come to think of it, you haven''t told me yet who the girl that you''re supposed to marry was," Regina said, obviously curious. Then, she gave him the adorable face that he couldn''t resist. "Rubin, please tell me who your almost-fianc¨¦e is."

    Rubin gulped hard. It was supposed to be a secret of House Drayton. But he found it hard to say ''no'' to Regina.

    <em>Should I tell Regina that my almost-fianc¨¦e is the hidden royal princess?</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 141 - THERE COULD BE ONLY ONE BIG BROTHER

    NEOMA gulped when she saw that the ointment that Madam Hammock used to make her wounds, cuts, and marks disappear was almost empty. She suddenly felt guilty because she knew how much she used them.

    And sometimes, she would even request the Healing Sage to use them on her friends.

    "Princess Neoma, thanks to your resistance to poison, you were able to resist the attack of Duke Hawthorne''s poisonous butterflies," Madam Hammock said in a relieved voice. "And the ointment works splendidly on your skin so don''t worry about the marks all over you body."

    "Madam Hammock, the magic ointment is almost empty," Neoma said worriedly. "I feel guilty because for the past three years, I''ve been using it endlessly."

    The Healing Sage chuckled and shook her head. "You don''t have to feel guilty, Princess Neoma," she said, then she looked at the bottle of the ointment. "Hisa belongs to the royal family and you have all the right to use this as you wishes, Your Royal Highness."

    Ah, right.

    ''Hisa'' was the official name of the magic ointment.

    Anyway, right now, they were in Madam Hammock''s private office. Only the two of them were there and the office was heavily secured.

    Since the burn and bite marks that she received a while ago were all over her body, she had to take off all her clothes a while ago. After Madam Hammock put ointment on her body, she quickly dressed up.

    And now, she was sitting on the bed as the Healing Sage sat on the chair opposite her while putting ointment on her face.

    "The magic ointment is very expensive, isn''t it?" she asked. She remembered that the madam once told her that a bottle of the ointment could be the same price as a small duchy. "Where do we even get it?"

    She didn''t want to admit this but as time goes by, she bes more and more curious about things rted to the royal family. And to be honest, Hisa (as she fondly calls as ''magic ointment) was a useful tool. It didn''t hurt to know more about it.

    "Hisa is a very rare tree that only grows in the Golden Field that belongs to the royal family. The tree''s leaves produce a gel-like substance that could heal light wounds or cuts, and it''s proven to be effective to improve one''s skin. But if handled incorrectly, it could give you the opposite effect," the Healing Sage exined. "I''m one of the people in charge of turning the Hisa Tree into an ointment that can be safely used as a remedy."

    "You''re amazing, Madam Hammock."

    The madam smiled and bowed to her. "Thank you for thepliment, Princess Neoma."

    She just smiled and nodded. "Anyway, how rare is the Hisa Tree? Do you have a stock of the magic ointment hidden somewhere?"

    "There''s only one bottle left of this, Your Royal Highness."

    Her eyes widened in shock. "Only one left?"

    "What makes Hisa Tree rare is the fact that only one tree grows every fifty years."

    Her eyes widened in shock.

    <em>Just how old is Madam Hammock?!</em>

    "Later this year, a Hisa Tree will be "born" in the Golden Field¨C the first in fifty years," Madam Hammock said, the excitement obvious in her voice. "Would you like toe with me when that timees, Princess Neoma?"

    She nodded eagerly. "I''ll go, Madam Hammock!"

    The madam chuckled and nodded. "Just recently, I got permission from His Majesty to bring my granddaughter with me during the harvest. She''s an intern in the Royal Tower. May I introduce her to you, Your Royal Highness?"

    She gave the Healing Sage a thumbs up. "I''d love to meet her, Madam Hammock."

    The old woman smiled as if she was relieved to hear that. "Thank you, Princess Neoma," she said. "Now, let me give you one final general check-up before you leave."

    She smiled and nodded. "Okay, Madam Hammock," she said, then she paused. "I wonder what Nero is talking about with Jasper Oppa."

    When Madam Hammock brought her to her private office, Jasper was confined in the private ward of the infirmary. In that way, no one would enter the room. Nero told her that he''d like a word with Jasper Hawthorne, and he even asked Hanna to wait outside.

    "I hope Nero doesn''t fight with Jasper Oppa."

    "I don''t think Prince Nero will fight an injured young man, Princess Neoma," Madam Hammock assured her while she was collecting her stethoscope. "And I heard Duke Hawthorne, despite his aloof image, is actually good with children."

    Neoma let out a sigh. "I don''t think Nero is an easy child to tame, Madam Hammock."

    <strong>***</strong>

    JASPER Hawthorne immediately realized that Prince Nero that visited him in his room was the real one.

    <em>Prince Nero and Princess Neoma really look a lot like each other, but Prince Nero looks a lot colderpared to Princess Neoma''s friendly face.</em>

    Anyway, Tate, who was sleeping on the bed next to him, immediately got up when he felt the Crown Prince''s presence. Tate was an arrogant young man who loved provoking people with high status, just like what he did to the fake prince (who turned out to be a royal princess). But this time, his butler didn''t move an inch.

    It could be that Tate was humbled by Lewis Crevan.

    But for some reason, he could say that Tate froze on his spot. And he could tell that the butler was intimidated by the real Crown Prince''s overwhelming presence.

    The real Prince Nero''s aura is very different from Princess Neoma''s. They both have overflowing divine energy. But for some reason, Prince Nero''s feels cold while Princess Neoma''s feels warm.

    <em>Like the moon and the sun.</em>

    "Greetings to the First Star of the Great Moonasterion Empire," Jasper greeted the Crown Prince politely, then he stood up despite his aching body to bow properly to him. From the corner of his eye, he saw Tate do the same thing quietly. It seemed like his butler had really been humbled by Lewis Crevan, huh? "I am Jasper Hawthorne, Duke of Langhuie."

    Prince Nero just looked at him and acknowledged his greetings in silence. "I only came here to tell you three things, Duke Hawthorne," he said in an authoritative voice. It was hard to believe that an eight-year-old boy like the Crown Prince already sounded this firm and clear. The young prince was majestic in every aspect. "But I only need to talk to you."

    After saying that, the Crown Prince looked at Tate coldly.

    "You may leave, Tate," he told his butler.

    Tate, who seemed relieved by his order, bowed deeply to him and Prince Nero before he left the private ward.

    "The first thing I want to tell you is that you''re too old for Neoma," Prince Nero said as soon as they were alone in the room. "Don''t get any weird ideas. She only told you the royal secret because she deems it necessary¨C but that doesn''t mean that you''re special."

    "I understand, Prince Nero," he said although he was confused.

    Although it was true that he was a lot older than the royal princess. After all, he was already thirteen years old while Princess Neoma was only eight.

    "Second, don''t you dare betray Neoma," the Crown Prince warned him. "If you betray her and spread the royal secret, I will kill every single person close to you right before your eyes."

    That threat sent a chill down his spines.

    After all, the Crown Prince''s cold eyes told him that he had already killed people in the past. And he was only eight now.

    <em>This means Prince Nero already killed people when he was much younger.</em>

    "I won''t betray Princess Neoma," he assured the Crown Prince. "I don''t work with people I don''t find trust-worthy in the first ce."

    Despite the mysteries around Princess Neoma, he knew in his heart that he could trust her.

    After all, the royal princess inherited the clear and sparkling eyes of one of the people that he admired the most in his young life.

    "Andstly¡­"

    He gulped and braced himself for what the Crown Prince''s final warning would be.

    "I am Neoma''s one and only older brother," Prince Nero said in a somewhat annoyed yet firm voice. "Don''t get ahead of yourself, Jasper Hawthorne."

    After dering that, the Crown Prince left the room.

    Jasper blinked in confusion, then he chuckled when he realized what just happened. "Is Prince Nero jealous because Princess Neoma calls me ''older brother?''"

    <strong>***</strong>

    RUBIN clenched his hands tight.

    Even though he didn''t like keeping secrets from Regina, the royal secret that the royal family entrusted to House Drayton must stay within their family at all cost. If he leaked the secret to an outsider, his whole family would be punished.

    And the royal family might even kill Regina as well.

    "Rubin?" Regina asked worriedly, then she tilted her head at one side. "It''s fine if you can''t tell me who your almost-fianc¨¦e was. Please don''t worry about it."

    Rubin smiled, then that smile vanished when his gaze went past Regina and he saw Emperor Niki with Sir Glenn.

    Regina also noticed His Majesty and his personal knight.

    They got out of the two''s way and bowed deeply when they approached their direction.

    "Greetings to the one and only moon of the Great Moonasterion Empire," Rubin and Regina greeted the emperor with their heads hanged low.

    "Rubin Drayton," Emperor Niki said,pletely ignoring Regina. "What are you doing near Madam Hammock''s residence?"

    "I heard that Prince Nero is here, Your Majesty," he said politely.

    "Do you have an appointment with the Crown Prince?" the emperor asked. "Does he know that you''re bringing an essory with you?"

    By "essory," did the emperor mean Regina?

    He was mad that His Majesty insulted the girl that he loved, but right now, he didn''t have the power to oppose the emperor.

    "Prince Nero doesn''t know that I''m bringing a friend with me today, His Majesty," he said with clenched fists.

    His Majesty scoffed at his remark. "What do you think of the Crown Prince, a tourist spot where you could "introduce" to your friend so casually? That friend of yours doesn''t even look like she came from a decent family. How dare you try to bring an insignificant person to meet the son of the emperor?"

    He bowed deeper, his chest tightening from the pain of being unable to protect Regina from the emperor''s insults. All he could do was bow his head lower. "My deepest apology for my thoughtless action, Your Majesty."

    "Papa, you''re here."

    Rubin raised his head when he heard Prince Nero''s voice. For some reason, he was relieved by the arrival of the Crown Prince. Unlike His Majesty, the royal prince was a lot kinder.

    For some reason, his heartbeat erratically when he saw Prince Nero''s face.

    <em>Just what is wrong with my heart?</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    NOTE: Hi! I might post around this time (6AM-11AM GMT+8) next month. I usually write in my free time during the day so I could post before midnight (GMT+8). But I write during nighttime instead of daytime these days, right after my day job, because of my new work-rted project. Thus, I tend to post my updates in an awkward time recently. Sorry for the sudden change of schedule. T-T

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 142 - CROWS DONT LIKE SHINY THINGS

    "TSK," Neomained when she got out of Madam Hammock''s office. They received a message from Sir Glenn saying that her Papa Boss was on his way. Apparently, the emperor wanted to talk to her and Jasper Hawthorne. "How did Papa Boss know that we''re here?"

    "Count Sprouse," Lewis, who walked behind her, said. "Count Sprouse saw us when we arrived here."

    She rolled her eyes.

    <em>What a snitch.</em>

    Anyway, she already gave Nero and Jasper Oppa a heads up a while ago. She talked separately to them, but she told her two older brothers the same thing. She created a lie as to why she and Jasper Oppa fought.

    After all, their story needed to be consistent.

    Right now, Madam Hammock was leading her twin brother to the private parlor where Nero would wait for them.

    She, on the other hand, would greet her Papa Boss.

    Thus, she was on her way to the main entrance of Madam Hammock''s residence.

    "Ah, there he is," she said when she saw her Papa Boss and Sir Glenn a few meters away from them. Well, it wasn''t hard to see them since her father''s beauty was impossible to miss. Sir Glenn was also quite a looker. Most of all, the two were both over six feet. The emperor and the knight were too tall not to be seen right away. "And who must be those kids¡­"

    Her voice trailed off when she recognized the blonde hair from afar. Even though the two kids had their backs on her, she could still make out their features.

    <em>Rubin Drayton¡­?</em>

    The young lord wasn''t alone. There was a youngdy with him¨C a youngdy with long jet-ck hair. Based on the modest dress that the girl wore, she could tell that she wasn''t from a noble household.

    In the past, there was only onedy beside Rubin who refused to wear elegant dresses no matter how many times the young lord bought them for her.

    Her heart thumped against her chest painfully.

    "Regina Crowell," she whispered to herself. "That''s Regina."

    Lewis turned to her with a worried look on his face. Since her son already knew the story of life, he was aware of who Regina Crowell was. "Should I deal with her¡­?"

    "No," she said, then she clenched her hands. "I need to confirm first if she''s innocent or not."

    Before she changed her mind, she marched towards the two traitors in her past life.

    Her heart was still beating erratically and even though she didn''t want to admit this, her body was trembling a bit. She didn''t know if she was scared or excited to roast Regina Crowell now that she had the advantage of her previous life. Either way, she didn''t want to miss this moment.

    "Papa, you''re here," she greeted the emperor brightly.

    "Greetings to the First Star of the Great Moonasterion Empire," Rubin and Regina greeted her, their heads still hanged low.

    She looked at Rubin and Regina.

    Since Regina was bowing deeply, her jet-ck hair framed her small face. She couldn''t see her face yet, but she remembered that she had green eyes that almost resembled Hanna''s.

    Regina used those green eyes of hers to manipte Duchess Amber Quinzel in her first life.

    "You didn''t have toe out to greet me," her Papa Boss said when he turned to her. "Let''s get inside."

    "Let me greet Rubin first, Papa," she said with a bright smile. "Please wait at Madam Hammock''s lounge first. She already began preparing tea for us."

    Her Papa Boss let out a sigh. "Make it quick."

    After saying that, her father began to head towards the infirmary.

    "See youter, Your Royal Highness," Sir Glenn said brightly to her before he followed the emperor.

    And now, she was left with Rubin and Regina.

    Of course, Lewis stood closely behind her.

    "You may now raise your heads," she said to Rubin and Regina while her hands were on her back.

    She didn''t want them to see her nails digging deep into the skin of her palms.

    Especially when Rubin and Regina finally raised their heads to look at her.

    The first thing that caught her attention was Regina''s green eyes. She couldn''t help but make eye contact with her after all.

    Neoma smiled and tried her best not to leak her bloodlust. "And who might be this pretty youngdy that you brought here, Rubin?"

    <em>Not gonna lie¨C Regina Crowell is really pretty.</em>

    Jet-ck hair, big and rounded green eyes, porcin skin. She looked like a doll. And her beauty stood out no matter how simple her clothes were.

    "She''s older than you, Prince Nero," Rubin said with a scowl. "Her name is Regina Crowell. She''s a friend of mine."

    <em>''Friend,'' my ass.</em>

    Regina smiled and curtsied to him. "I''m very honored to meet you, Your Royal Highness."

    "The pleasure is mine, Miss Crowell," she said smoothly even though in her mind, she had already nned twenty-three ways of killing Regina Crowell. To distract herself from her murderous thoughts, she turned to Rubin. "I didn''t know that you were going to visit. How did you enter the Royal Pce?"

    "I arrived with my father," the young lord exined. "I only made a detour because Regina wants to meet you, Prince Nero."

    <em>The audacity of this b¨C never mind.</em>

    "Really now?" she asked, still in a cheerful voice. Then, she turned to Regina whose cheeks suddenly turned rosier. The sight almost made her puke. "Is there a particr reason why you wanted to meet me, Miss Crowell?"

    Regina, like the actress that she was in her first life, looked "shy" all of a sudden. She couldn''t even meet her gaze. "I heard that the Crown Prince''s beauty is unparalleled. I''m curious if it''s that''s true," she said "shyly." "And now that I have been given the chance to see you up close, I can attest that your beauty is really blinding. You''re shining, Your Royal Highness."

    Shining¡­?

    Ah, that reminded her of a misconception about a certain type of bird.

    "You seem to be fascinated with shiny things, Miss Crowell," she said.

    Regina smiled and nodded. "This is shameful to admit but I''m really attracted to shiny and beautiful things, Your Royal Highness."

    Neoma smiled at the answer that she was expecting from Regina. "Miss Crowell, perhaps, are you a crow?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    SURPRISINGLY, Nero could tolerate Emperor Niki''s presence now.

    Currently, they were in Madam Hammock''s parlor. He and his father sat opposite each other while having tea in silence.

    Sir Glen stood behind her father.

    On the other hand, the White Tiger and the ck Tortoise had returned to their beastly form. And now, the two Soul Beasts satzily on either of his sides.

    Madam Hammock left a while ago after serving tea to them.

    "I heard that Neoma had a brawl with Duke Jasper Hawthorne," Emperor Niki said, then he put his teacup down on the coaster. "Apparently, you and Hanna Quinzel were there. Did you just watch your twin sister beat the young duke to a pulp?"

    "It was entertaining," Nero said, then he sipped his tea. "Neoma has grown so much in the past three years."

    "It seems like you don''t have any intention to tell me why Neoma fought with the young duke," his father said. "Then, I have no choice but to talk to himter."

    "They had a feud over a territory that the duke wants to buy from Lewis Crevan," he said. Before Neoma left a while ago, she already made up an excuse as to why she fought with Jasper Hawthorne. The young duke was also informed of that lie in advance. "But I have something more important to discuss with you, Your Majesty."

    "And what might it be?"

    "You told me earlier that you''re giving Neoma her own Order," he said. His father mentioned that to him when he informed him of the things that his twin sister had aplished. Apparently, as a reward, the emperor decided to give Neoma her own private army¨C one that she could keep even after her role as his substitute. "I also want my own Order, Your Majesty."

    "You didn''t have to ask, Nero," His Majesty said. "As soon as your curse has been purified, I will create an Order for you."

    "No, Your Majesty," he said while shaking his head. "I want you to start recruiting outstanding individuals to be a part of my future Order now instead ofter. Of course, it should be done discreetly."

    His father seemed to be amused by his idea. "Is there a reason why you want me to gather extraordinary people for your Order as early as now?"

    "Because I''m looking for specific individuals and it might not be easy to find them," Nero exined, then he sipped his tea again. "Your Majesty, I''d like you to create the "Secret Order" in my ce and call it "Project Zero." Would that be possible?"

    "You''re the real Crown Prince, Nero," Emperor Niki reminded him. "I will give you everything and anything that you desire."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "A C-CROW?"

    Neoma raised a brow when Regina acted like she was confused.

    But she saw it¨C she saw how girlie''s (Regina was ''girlie'' to her from now on) eyes turned dark for a moment. Her instincts said so, and she trusted herself the most in this world.

    "I apologize but I''m afraid I don''t know what you mean by that, Your Royal Highness," Regina said as if she was panicking. "I am not educated so perhaps, my understanding iscking¡­"

    "Regina, it''s okay," Rubin said while gently patting girlie''s back. "It''s not your fault."

    "I''m talking about a folklore about crows," Neoma exined. She didn''t mean to insult Regina''s education. Plus, she knew that she was faking it. Regina was educated and she was damn smart. "Apparently, crows like shiny things. There are even stories that say crows steal shiny objects that catch their attention."

    "Oh," Regina said when she calmed down. God, she''d give girlie an A+ for acting na?ve. "Is that why you asked if I was a crow, Your Royal Highness?"

    "Yes, Miss Crowell," she said with a smile. If she''d grade her acting skills, she''d give herself an A+++. "Your penchant for shiny objects reminds me of crows. It''s cute."

    Girlie smiled as if she was pleased.

    "But do you know that crows don''t actually like shiny things?"

    Regina seemed genuinely confused now. "But I also thought that crows like shiny objects, Your Royal Highness."

    "That''s a misconception, Miss Crowell," Neoma said with a softugh. "Crows are actually scared of shiny things." She tilted her head and gently poked her cheek with her finger. "Shiny things such as my glow, don''t you think so?"

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 143 - LEWIS IS A FERAL BOY

    NEOMA took a deep breath once she was back inside Madam Hammock''s residence.

    She already excused herself from Rubin and Regina before she lost control. Although she was good at hiding her fangs when she needed to, she couldn''t do the same with Regina Crowell. Moreover, had she stayed longer, she would have revealed that she knew about the Crow.

    "Remember that girl very well, Lewis," Neoma said, then she looked up at Lewis who stood in front of her. "Regina Crowell is my enemy."

    Lewis nodded firmly.

    "Gosh, have you seen her?" she said while shaking her head. "Her angelic face doesn''t match her rotten personality. But not gonna lie¨C she''s really pretty. No wonder Rubin is so enamored with her."

    "Miss Crowell is ugly."

    She blinked in surprise at what Lewis said. This was the first time that he heard him directly insult a person. "Woah, Lewis. I know that she''s an enemy. But we shouldn''t lie like that."

    "She''s really ugly," her son said firmly. Wow, this was the first time that he argued with her like this for something so petty. "It''s okay to say that people with rotten personalities are ugly. It''s okay because I''m not nice like you, Princess Neoma."

    She justughed it off. "A bad person doesn''t dere that he''s "not nice," Lewis. But okay, I''ll let you call Regina ''ugly.'' I won''t scold you anymore."

    "Everyone and anyone are beautiful to you, Princess Neoma¨C even those who are not conventionally attractive. Out of five people that you call "pretty," only two of them are usually good-looking," Lewis said bluntly. "I''d say that you''re just good at praising people. But I know you so I know that you genuinely think that they''re beautiful even if they''re not. And that''s because you have a good heart."

    She got embarrassed by what she heard from her son. Well, she was used to people saying that she was vain and arrogant because that was how they wanted them to perceive her. After all, as the Crown Prince, she had to have the audacity¨C ahem, the confidence of a man.

    But who would have thought that Lewis saw through her magnificent act?

    "You talk a lot today, Lewis," she said, amused. And yes, she just changed the topic. "And you spoke well just now. I wonder why you talk in a broken speech manner when we''re with other people. They will underestimate you if you continue acting that way."

    "Exactly."

    "Huh? You wanted to be underestimated?"

    "It''s like a game for me," he said. Then, his golden eyes glowed menacingly. "It''s fun to kill a prey after you made it believe that it is the predator."

    <em>What a feral boy.</em>

    She almost forgot that the Lewis or ''Lu'' in her first life was just as crazy as Nero back then. Since her Lewis was tamed around her in this lifetime, she often forgets his true nature.

    "Just what did you learn from the White Lion Order?" she said while shaking her head. "Anyway, maintain that attitude towards our enemies. But never be toocent. Just because you''re strong doesn''t mean they can''t outsmart you."

    He just nodded. "Princess Neoma, do you now consider Miss Crowell as a part of the Crow Cult even without solid evidence yet?"

    She noticed the change in Regina Crowell''s eyes when she mentioned the word ''crow.'' But it wasn''t enough evidence to prove that she was a part of the cult that killed her in the past.

    <em>Still¡­</em>

    "In my first life, a crow always appears whenever Regina is there," she said. "And I can''t think of a reason why she wanted me dead. If she only wanted Rubin and a noble title back then, she already got them even without having the need to kill me. Thus, I believe that she was sent to kill me because she found out that I''m the royal princess. And the Crow hates female royals."

    "Ah, I thought it was because of herst name."

    "Hmm?"

    "There''s a ''crow'' in Crowell, Princess Neoma."

    She blinked several times while absorbing what Lewis just said, then she gasped. "Gosh, you''re right," she said in disbelief. "It''s so obvious that I overlooked it. This is probably what it means to "hide in in sight.""

    Her son nodded in agreement.

    Regina Crowell is still young but she''s already dangerous, huh?

    She turned in the direction where Regina was a while ago. "A crow alone is harmless. But once they attack in a group, they can kill a bigger bird through mobbing. There''s a reason why a group of crows is called ''murder,'' after all." She looked up at Lewis, her ash-gray eyes glowing. "Do you understand what I''m trying to say, Lewis?"

    Lewis nodded before he responded. "Miss Crowell won''t attack alone."

    "Yes, she won''t," Neoma agreed while nodding thoughtfully. "That''s why we need to find the other crows before they turn into a murder."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "PAPA, stop scolding me. Pretty please?" Neomained after two hours of getting an earful from Emperor Niki. She wasn''t the only one who got nagged by her father though. "Jasper Oppa and I already learned our lessons. We won''t fight again." She raised her right hand for an added effect. "I promise."

    "Your Majesty, I swear on my life that this won''t happen again," Jasper Hawthorne, seated beside her, said with his head hanged low. "Please forgive me for fighting with Prince Nero for a piece ofnd."

    After she had tea with her father and Nero a while ago, His Majesty suddenly said that he wanted to talk to Jasper Hawthorne.

    The emperor asked Glenn to send Nero back to their residence. Then, she and her Papa Boss went to visit the young duke in the infirmary. And now, they were talking in Madam Hammock''s private lounge.

    Of course, they were having tea.

    Again.

    She and Jasper sat side by side on the sofa while the emperor sat on the chair opposite them. Their personal knights/guards (Sir Glenn, Lewis, and Tate) were asked by Papa Boss to stay outside.

    Anyway¡­

    Since His Majesty didn''t know that she told Jasper Hawthorne the royal secret, she and the young duke were pretending that they only fought because of a territory.

    "Jasper Hawthorne," Emperor Niki said, then he put the teacup down on the table. "What does thatnd have for you to bepelled to fight the Crown Prince of this empire over it? If Nero didn''t beg me to spare your life, I would have executed you for treason."

    Well, that was true.

    And she really begged her Papa Boss to not punish Jasper Hawthorne for their fight.

    "I believe that Mount Kimbro is air of unique and strange insects, Your Majesty," Jasper lied with a straight face. Wow, her Oppa was brave for lying straight to the emperor''s face, huh? He even did it with a convincing voice. "That''s the reason why I''m very interested in it."

    "I want to raise strange insects, too, Papa," she lied to support Jasper''s story. "That''s why I firmly told Jasper Oppa that I won''t let Lewis sell thend to him. Thus, we fought."

    The emperor let out a sigh. "Don''t let other people find out that the Crown Prince and the youngest duke of this empire have fought just because of a mere piece ofnd."

    "Yes, Your Majesty."

    "Sure, Papa."

    "And Jasper Hawthorne, don''t think about taking anything that belongs to my child," Emperor Niki said, his ash-gray eyes glowing. Thank goodness his eyes didn''t turn red. Because when Papa Boss''s eyes turn red, it would mean that he was feeling murderous. "If something like this happens again, I won''t let it slide again."

    Jasper Hawthorne bowed to her father once again. "It won''t happen again, Your Majesty."

    Neoma smiled brightly at her Papa Boss. "Is this conversation now over, Papa?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "I CAN''T believe that I''m still alive."

    Neomaughed when she saw how pale Jasper Hawthorne was.

    It also looked like that the young duke was only able to breathe after her Papa Boss left the private office.

    Now, she was alone in the room with Jasper Hawthorne. She asked Lewis to step out when the young duke ordered Tate to leave. She did that because she didn''t want Tate to suspect that she had another secret to hide from him.

    By asking Lewis to step outside as well, Tate would think that she and Jasper Hawthorne would have a discussion for nobles only.

    "My father is strict but he''s not crazy to kill an esteemed duke like you easily," Neoma said while munching on macaroons. "He''s serious when he said that he''ll kill you the next time you fight me though."

    "I can tell that much," Jasper said, then he turned to her. "Now that we''re alone, can you tell me what you know about Mount Kimbro? I won''t ask you anymore about your source. But I need you to tell me everything that you know about that territory."

    "I know that there''s a Death Camp operating in there, Jasper Oppa."

    The young duke looked surprised by that. "You know more than what I expected from you, Princess Neoma."

    She just smiled at that. "Do you n to infiltrate the Death Camp and free the ves, Oppa?"

    He nodded carefully. "It''s not going to be easy, Princess Neoma. After all, the ve traders that run the Death Camp will only "appear" if we present them with a valuable "item" that they won''t be able to resist. That''s the hurdle that I can''t ovee¡­" His eyes suddenly gleamed. "Until I met you, Your Royal Highness."

    "What do you mean by that?"

    "Your personal knight, Lewis Crevan, is a nine-tailed fox and he''s apparently thest of his kind," Jasper said seriously. "We can use him as a bait to infiltrate the Death Camp, Princess Neoma."

    Neoma clenched her tiny fists tight. "No," she growled lowly. "I won''t let my son relive his trauma for whatever cause, Duke Jasper Hawthorne."

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 Chapter 144 - NATURAL ENEMIES

    "ARE YOU alright, Neoma?"

    Neoma smiled and nodded at Hanna''s question.

    Right now, they were having a break time in her residence''s dance room. Since they were required to dance during thest night of the Moon Festival, she and Hanna were doing their best to perfect the choreography.

    Lewis was guarding them outside the room.

    <em>I''m so exhausted.</em>

    Just yesterday, she had a small fight with Jasper Hawthorne.

    She refused to let him use Lewis as bait. But of course, she nned to consult her son about the young duke''s proposal. She would respect Lewis''s decision.

    But she couldn''t get the right timing to discuss it with Lewis yet because she was very busy. Since she was always surrounded by different people, she couldn''t bring up the n. After all, it was a secret that not even Hanna knew about.

    <em>I''ll try to talk to Lewis in privateter.</em>

    "I''m fine, Hanna. Thanks for asking," Neoma said, then she sipped her tea. They were sharing a table on the balcony. They chose to have tea there because the view in front of them was a beautiful rose garden. "I just think that I developed an aversion to crows these days. It wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that I''m wary of them now¨C for no particr reason."

    The "for no particr reason" was a lie, of course.

    It wasn''t like she could tell Hanna about the Crow.

    "Then, I''ll protect you from crows," Hanna said confidently, then she ced a hand on her chest. "I''m a Quinzel and our family is called the ''Hawks.'' Do you know that the natural enemies of crows are hawks?"

    She blinked in surprise, then she remembered that her cousin was right.

    As far as she remembered, hawks really attack, kill, and sometimes eat crows.

    "That''s true," she agreed with her cousin. "Then, please protect me from crows, Hanna."

    "As a hawk, I will do my best to protect you from crows, Neoma."

    They bothughed at their silliness.

    But deep inside, she found it poetic that Regina symbolized a crow while Hanna symbolized a hawk.

    In the past, Hanna and Regina didn''t meet. But even though she was the one adopted by House Quinzel, the real person who "reced" Hanna in the family was Regina. After all, Duchess Amber Quinzel had been so fond of girlie in her first life.

    <em>But how sure am I that Hanna and Regina didn''t meet in the past?</em>

    In her first life, she remembered that Hanna''s cause of early death was due to her weak body. She wasn''t close with her cousin back then, so she didn''t know how true that was.

    And in this lifetime, Hanna wasn''t as weak as she thought she was. Her body would only copse if she used a certain amount of Mana that her heart wouldn''t be able to handle. But as long as Hanna would use her Mana moderately, she''d be fine.

    House Quinzel wasn''t attacked or ambushed in her first life that might force Hanna to use her Mana. So why did her heartbust back then because of "excessive" use of power?

    Could it be that Hanna''s death in her first life was also orchestrated by the Crow?

    A chill went down her spine when a realization hit her.

    <em>The Crow might have killed Hanna to put Regina Crowell in House Quinzel for a purpose. But they probably didn''t expect that the emperor would ask Duke Rufus Quinzel to adopt me. I may have stolen the spot that they prepared for their pawn.</em>

    Plus, she remembered that in her first life, Rubin made a deal with Duchess Amber Quinzel to make Regina a Quinzel.

    <em>What if the Crow target Hanna again this time?</em>

    "Neoma, why did you suddenly fell silent?"

    "Hanna," she said, then she grabbed her cousin''s hands. "Please be healthy and extra careful all the time. I want to grow old with you."

    That sounded like a marriage proposal but whatever.

    <em>I won''t let you die this time, Hanna.</em>

    Hanna blinked as if she was confused, then sheughed. "I also want to grow old with you, Neoma," she said. "Aside from that, I really n to live long to find a good husband and build a family with him. That''s my dream."

    "Oh."

    "Are you not going to say that my dream is shallow, Neoma?"

    "Why would I say that?"

    Her cousin''s face turned red as if she was suddenly shy. "Compared to your dream of gaining your freedom, my dream sounds silly. But I can''t help it, Neoma. Whenever I see my mother and father, I can feel how much they love each other. I want to find that kind of love for myself once I''m older."

    Aww¡­

    <em>Hanna is so pure.</em>

    "That''s an admirable dream, Hanna," she said, then she squeezed her hands. "My situation doesn''t permit me to prioritize anything else other than my freedom. But once I''m free, I also dream of having a family. As long as it''s our choice and not something that society forces on women, then I see nothing wrong with our "silly" dream."

    Hanna smiled and squeezed back her hands. "Don''t forget our promise, then. We''ll live long enough to see each other build her own family."

    She felt a pang in her heart when she heard that.

    In her first life, Hanna died when she was eleven years old. Back then, she didn''t care about her cousin because they never even met personally. Plus, she kind of resented Hanna because Duchess Amber Quinzel alwayspared her to her dead daughter.

    <em>But not this time.</em>

    She loved Hanna as her cousin and best friend.

    "Yes, that''s a promise," Neoma said with a smile despite the anxiousness in her heart. How do I prevent Hanna''s supposed early death in this lifetime?

    <strong>***</strong>

    AMBER Quinzel was anxious.

    After she was summoned by her family, she suddenly received a message that Rufus, her dear husband, was hurt from protecting Princess Neoma. Although her husband assured her that he was already fine, her heart couldn''t calm down.

    Thus, she cut her trip short and returned to the Royal Capital.

    <em>Does my family really have to get hurt just to protect the royal family? First, it was Hanna. Now, it''s Rufus¡­</em>

    She gasped softly when she realized how awful her thoughts were.

    <em>No, I shouldn''t think like this. As nobles, it''s our duty to protect the royal family...</em>

    Her thoughts were cut-off when the carriage that she was in suddenly halted. Then, the coachman told her that a child was almost run over for suddenly crossing the street. Assisted by a ck Hawk Knight, she got off the carriage to assess the situation.

    Much to her surprise, she saw a little girl on the ground. She was probably the same age as her Hanna.

    The child had also ck hair and green eyes like her daughter.

    <em>Beautiful¡­</em>

    "Child, are you okay?" she asked while helping the child get up. Then, she squatted down and gently patted the dust off the little girl''s dress. "Should I bring you to a doctor?"

    "Thank you for worrying about me but I''m fine, Madam," the child answered brightly, then she bowed. "I don''t want to inconvenience you any further."

    "You speak well," Amber said. She could tell that the child was a noble but judging by her clothes and less expensive jewelry, she must havee from a humble noble household. For some reason, she was drawn to the little girl. Was it because she resembled Hanna? "May I know your name, child?"

    The child smiled brightly, making her look lovelier. "My name is Regina Crowell, Madam."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA couldn''t believe that the week had gone by so fast that she didn''t even get to enjoy the "festival."

    All she did was meet old, stinky nobles that obviously didn''t like her.

    And oh, her official duties as a Crown Prince also doubled up. The next thing she knew, it was already thest day of the Moon Festival. And she was yet to go wild!

    "Papa Boss, I''m so bored," Neomained while rolling on the carpet in front of her father''s desk. Yes, she was in his office. Yes, Sir Glenn and Lewis were also there and the two knights just watched her in silent amusement. And yes, she was purposely acting like a child throwing tantrums. "I want to y outside!"

    Gosh, her dignity as an adult was crumbling every minute that passed.

    But this was the only way to get what she wanted. Maybe if she annoyed her Papa Boss enough, he would kick her out of the pce and let her "y."

    "Fine," Emperor Niki, obviously fed up by her "tantrums," said. "Go and y outside."

    She immediately stopped "crying" and stood up.

    But much to her shock, she found her father standing up while putting his jacket on. She suddenly got a bad feeling.

    "Papa Boss, is it your break time already?" she asked nervously. "Why are you dressing up when you have a mountain of paperwork to read?"

    "I can''t trust Lewis Crevan to watch you outside the pce. You can easily persuade him to go along with your crazy antics," her Papa Boss said firmly, then he turned to her with a determined look on his face. "I''m going with you so let''s "y" together, Neoma."

    What?

    Does it mean Papa Boss will go to the festival with me?

    Neoma gasped and cupped her face between her hands. "Nooo!"

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 Chapter 145 - THATS MY APPA

    "EOTTOKE," Neoma said. It was a Korean phrase which roughly tranted to "what to do?" She said that while looking at herself in the mirror. "I also look good as a brte."

    Since she was going with her Papa Boss to Illumina za, they had to wear a disguise.

    Thankfully, after "crying" so loud a while ago, her father allowed her to disguise as a young miss. Madam Hammock prepared a potion for her that transformed her white hair into light brown and her ash-gray eyes into chocte brown.

    Then, instead of a morous dress, she opted for an "apron dress." To be precise, it was a pink pinafore dress with a white long-sleeved blouse under. For her footwear, she chose a pair of brown boots.

    "Lewis, do I look like a normal person now?" she asked her son while twirling in front of him.

    She and Lewis were alone in her room right now.

    Alphen went out after he delivered the clothes that she requested. Then, Stephanie also left after she helped her put on her clothes. The two were waiting outside her room.

    After the incident wherein her Papa Boss put surveince spirit stones in her room, she asked forpensation instead of an apology. And thatpensation was to put a "sound-proof" spell in her room. In short, they were free to talk without having to worry whether the people outside were eavesdropping or not.

    The only downside is if I were attacked in my room, I can''t scream for help. But as long as Lewis is the one guarding me outside, I''m sure he''d sense it if there was an intruder.

    Most of all, she was capable of protecting herself.

    <em>Plus, I''d grill Tteokbokki and eat his meat if he fails to protect me.</em>

    "No," Lewis said bluntly, cutting off her "violent" thoughts. "You still look like a princess."

    Sheughed softly. "This is almost how I look like in my second life, Lewis."

    His face lit up upon hearing that.

    "I naturally have ck hair in my second life, but I often dye my hair," she said because it looked like Lewis was interested to hear stories about her second life. "When I was in high school, I dyed my hair ash brown because I don''t want to stand out too much. I got bolder when I was a university student though. I started to dye my hair with blonde, pink, and even purple."

    He looked pleased to hear that.

    It also looked like he was imagining what she would have looked like in other hair colors.

    "Anyway, you don''t have to apany me today, Lewis."

    Of course, her son looked shocked (and betrayed) by that.

    "Lewis, even Sir Glenn won''t apany me and Papa Boss," she exined patiently. "You and Sir Glenn can protect us more if you don''t follow us. ording to Papa Boss''s logic, if the enemies somehow discover that the emperor and the Crown Prince''s personal knights are at the za, then they would realize that we are mingling with the crowd. But if you and Sir Glenn stay in the pce, then they would think that we are also in the pce."

    Her Papa Boss''s logic honestly made sense.

    Plus, it wasn''t like she needed a knight when her escort was none other than the strongest man in the empire.

    "It''s for my safety so please understand, Lewis," she said. "And I have another mission for you anyway."

    Her son looked like he was still sulking. But in the end, he knew that he was still her personal knight. Thus, he had to follow her order. Plus, it wasn''t a dangerous situation anyway.

    "I will reward you after this, Lewis."

    Once again, his face lit up.

    She chuckled at how easy it was for her to read Lewis''s facial expressions. "You''re so cute, Lewis."

    "You''re 100 times cuter, Princess Neoma."

    "I know, right? Thanks," she said as a mild teasing. Then, she became serious. "Lewis, I have a feeling that the crows killed Hanna in my first life."

    Her son nodded firmly.

    She couldn''t help butugh again. "Lewis, are you just going to believe everything I say?"

    "Yes," he said without missing a heartbeat. "Because you''re Princess Neoma."

    This time, sheughed out loud. She wanted to pinch Lewis''s cheeks but she remembered that he wasn''tfortable with skinship that he didn''t initiate. And whenever her son would touch her voluntarily, she wouldn''t make a deal out of it. She wanted to follow his pace after all.

    Trauma isn''t something you get over easily.

    That was why she got angry at Jasper Oppa for suggesting that they should use Lewis as bait. But she understood that at the end of the day, she still needed to consult her son about it. And whatever he decided on, she must respect that.

    "Lewis, can you guard Hanna for today?" she asked. "Nero is busy preparing with Trevor for their departure so she''s alone in her room. Since Regina Crowell is within the premise, I can''t entrust Hanna to ordinary guards."

    Well, the royal knights in the Royal Pce were above average swordsmen. Still, they weren''t on the same level as Duke Quinzel and Sir Glenn.

    Too bad Duke Quinzel was busy patrolling the za with his knights.

    Plus, ck Hawk Knights weren''t allowed in the pce it was the premise was the jurisdiction of the royal knights.

    Lewis looked like he wasn''t happy with her order, but he still nodded anyway.

    "Don''t sulk," she slightly scolded him. "Didn''t I say that I will reward you?"

    His face instantly lit up with that.

    "But to be honest, I''m not happy with it," she admitted. "Lewis, are you sure you want to go with me and Jasper Oppa to the Death Camp? You know what kind of ce that is, don''t you?"

    He nodded. Although he appeared indifferent as usual, she saw a spark of worry in his golden eyes. It was gone as soon as it appeared though. "Yes. I will go anywhere with you, Princess Neoma."

    She sighed because she knew it was true. "Jasper Oppa wants you to be our bait to lure out the ve traders that run the Death Camp, Lewis. To be precise, he wants to "sell" you¨C a nine-tailed fox¨C to infiltrate the camp."

    He felt silent for a while, then he nodded. "I''ll do it."

    She already expected that from him.

    "Are you sure, Lewis?" she asked worriedly. "I don''t want you to relive your trauma."

    "It''s different from back then so I''m not scared."

    "Really?"

    "I have you now, Princess Neoma."

    Oh.

    Did her heart flutter just now?

    <em>Nah, it can''t be.</em>

    Neoma ignored that feeling, then she smiled and gave Lewis a thumbs up. "I wille and save you, Lewis."

    Lewis gave her a very rare half-smile that she found endearing. "I know, Princess Neoma."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOU''RE LATE."

    Neoma heard her Papa Boss''sint as soon as she arrived at his office.

    But she was too shocked to snap back at him.

    Like her, Emperor Niki was in a disguise. His white hair had turned into ck, and her ash-gray eyes turned into ck.

    It was how her dad or appa (Korean word for ''father'') looked back in her second life.

    Well, she had always known that Emperor Niki looked exactly like her dad/appa. But now that the emperor had the same hair and eye color as her dad/appa, she couldn''t help but feel nostalgic. Even the simple button-down shirt, pants, and leather boots that he wore could pass as "modern-ish."

    In short, her Papa Boss really looked like her dad/appa in that disguise.

    "Appa," Neoma said, quite emotional since she suddenly missed her dad/appa so much. Before she knew it, she already raised her arms as if she was asking for him to carry her. "Oops."

    She was about to put her hands down when all of a sudden, a miracle happened.

    Papa Boss leaned down to hold her by the waist. Then, he lifted her up like how a normal person would carry a child in their arms.

    Wow, he didn''t drape her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes this time.

    And her father looked so smug about it.

    <em>Should I praise you for finally learning how to carry a child properly, Papa Boss?</em>

    "I told you to stop using made-up words," her Papa Boss scolded her. "Speak in a manner that I will understand."

    She heard that but she still couldn''t believe that her father carried her properly!

    "Papa Boss, is that really you?" she asked, then she cupped his face between her hands. Damn it. Why was her father''s skin so wless? Was the water that he used to take a bath different from the rest of them? "Did you secretly practice how to practice carrying a child in your arms, huh? Who taught you? Was it Sir Glenn or Duke Quinzel? I need answers!"

    "If you don''t stop, I''ll drop you on the ground."

    She slowly let go of her father''s face, then she acted like she was zipping her mouth.

    "Let''s go," her Papa Boss said. "Glenn already prepared a simple wagon for us."

    Well, that made sense.

    If they were going to pretend asmoners, then they shouldn''t use a fancy carriage.

    "Papa Boss, you seem so used to sneaking out," she teased him. "Do you often do this when you were still a prince?"

    "It''s your mother''s fault," the emperor said bluntly. "Mona taught me how to sneak out whenever she was bored and she wanted to go outside the pce."

    Did her father just imply that her mother used to live in the Royal Pce before?

    Now she was curious even more. Even though she promised herself that she would only ask about her mother''s past after she secured her survival, she still tried to push her luck.

    "Papa Boss, if I asked you to tell me the full story that happened between you and my mother, are you going to tell me the whole truth?"

    Her father''s face turned grim in an instant. "No."

    Okay, His Majesty''s deadly aura told her that she should no longer pry so she shut her mouth. It wasn''t like she was afraid of her father. She just wanted to respect his privacy.

    "It''s not like I just want to hide the truth from you," her father said in a calmer tone this time. "But you''re not the only one who has a royal secret, Neoma. I can''t entrust that secret to you because you don''t have the power to protect it yet."

    ''Yet.''

    Then, that meant her father would tell her the truth once she was strong enough to protect her father''s royal secret.

    <em> It''s just like what Mama told me. I need to be strong first if I want to uncover their past.</em>

    "My royal secret is the one that protects the throne," His Majesty continued. "If the wrong person happens to discover my secret, it will be the end of our lineage."

    Ah, that was heavy.

    "Are you upset that I don''t trust you enough yet, Neoma?"

    She shook her head. "You only stated a fact, Papa Boss. I won''t force you to tell me the things I shouldn''t know yet."

    He looked satisfied by her response. "For someone who has a bad temper, I''m quite impressed that you know when to be patient."

    "Papa Boss, I''m quite rational, you know?"

    "You got that from me," Emperor Niki said bluntly. "You inherited your craziness and recklessness from your mother, so you should be thankful that I contributed rationality to your personality."

    Neoma didn''t expect this to happen but her Papa Boss''s "light" teasing actually made herugh. "Papa Boss, you''re so weird."

    "I don''t want to hear that from you, little rascal."

    <strong>***</strong>

    HANNA felt quite awkward with Lewis Crevan.

    Right now, she was having tea on the balcony of her room while the young knight stood quietly behind her.

    Neoma visited her a while ago, then she left her "son" in her care. The royal princess said that she just didn''t want Lewis Crevan to be bored while she "yed" outside the pce. But she had a feeling that there was a reason why the royal princess left her personal knight to her.

    "Sir Crevan, may I know why Neoma asked you to guard me today?" Hanna asked, then she put her teacup down on the table. "Is my life in danger or something?"

    "It''s just one of Princess Neoma''s whims, Lady Quinzel," Lewis Crevan said stiffly without even turning to her.

    It looked like the young knight didn''t have any intention to give a proper response, so she just dropped the subject. Something else got her attention anyway. She wasn''t usually talkative in the presence of boys, but she needed to satiate her curiosity.

    "Sir Crevan, may I know why you don''t call Neoma by her first name?" she asked carefully. "I know that you''re not allowed to do that in the presence of other people. But I know that Neoma wouldn''t mind it if you''re alone with her, or if you''re in the presence of her close friends just like me."

    The young knight didn''t answer.

    She was ready to apologize for being nosy when he finally spoke.

    "I must call Princess Neoma by her title as a reminder," Lewis said softly. "I''m the only one who can''t forget that she''s a royal princess."

    Hanna covered her mouth with her hands when she gasped softly. <em>Perhaps, Sir Crevan has feelings for Princess Neoma?</em>

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 Chapter 146 - MALE LEAD ENTRANCE

    "I CAN DO it but can you handle it?"

    Nero was insulted by Trevor''s question. How dare a mere demon like him question his abilities? He might be cursed, but he was still the real Crown Prince of the empire.

    Having said that, when he turned to Trevor and saw him floating in the air while lying on his side as if there was a mattress under him, he instantly lost the energy to get mad. He just felt like the angrier he gets, the more annoying Trevor bes.

    "I can handle it," Nero said. Since only he and Trevor were in his room (aside from the White Tiger and the ck Tortoise sleeping on either of his sides while he was seated on the sofa), they could talk freely like that. "I don''t want topletely stay asleep as I did three years ago. Since only my physical body needs to be cured, my soul is free to wander in your territory, right?"

    He nned to master resonating his soul with Zev, his Soul Beast.

    His father, the emperor, told him that he could only truly rule his Soul Beast once he finally heard its real name. And to know Zev''s real name, his soul must establish a solid connection to his Soul Beast.

    "I don''t usually let anyone else wander in my territory but I will make an exception for you, Prince Nero," Trevor said with a smug smile on his face. "After all, you are my future brother-inw."

    That im was so ridiculous that it didn''t deserve a response from him.

    And so, he just sipped his tea.

    "Come on, are you just going to ignore me?"

    "It would be unbing of a Crown Prince to stoop down on your level, Trevor."

    "Ouch! Why are you and Princess Neoma so savage?" the demon asked, then heughed by himself. "Anyway, this is thest day of the Moon Festival, Prince Nero. May the best man win."

    "What in the world are you talking about?" he asked. "Are wepeting for something I''m not aware of?"

    "Of course," the talking book said. "You''re also aiming to be Princess Neoma''sst dance, aren''t you?"

    "Are you dumb?" he asked, instantly regretting the fact that he entertained Trevor''s stupid attempt at having a conversation with him. "Thest dance during the Moon Festival is exclusive to couples. Why would I want a romantic dance with my own twin sister?"

    "Ah, is that so?" the demon asked casually, then he grinned. "Then, it''s lesspetition for me. I only need to get rid of the clingy fox boyter." He got up (still floating in the air) and stretched his arms. "I''m so d that I recovered right in time. I can''t wait to dance with my Moon Princess."

    "Who told you that I will allow you to have Neoma''sst dance?"

    The demon looked confused. "You just said that you''re not vying for Princess Neoma''sst dance, Prince Nero!"

    "That and letting my precious little sister dance with someone like you are two entirely different matters," he said firmly. "I won''t let you or any other boys steal herst dance. My Neoma is still too young to have a romantic dance."

    "Hey, aren''t you being a little too overprotective of your sister, Prince Nero?" Trevorined, then he finallynded on his feet. "What if she wants to dance tonight?"

    "She doesn''t want to dance¨C especially not with you, Trevor," Nero said confidently, then he sipped his tea and gave the demon a smug smile. "I know because I''m Neoma''s twin brother."

    <strong>***</strong>

    <em>I SHOULD me it on nostalgia.</em>

    Neoma wanted to kick herself for losing her mind for a moment.

    Did she really think that Emperor Niki resembled her dad/appa just because he changed his hair and eye color? Now that came back to her senses, she realized that, of course, her dad/appa didn''t look exactly like her Papa Boss.

    How could it be when my dad/appa in my second life has the same face as Commander Gavin Quinzel?

    Bute to think of it, Emperor Niki and Commander Gavin Quinzel were cousins.

    Now that her Papa Boss changed his hair and eye color into something dark as opposed to his white hair and ash-gray eyes, he could pass as a Quinzel. After all, he resembled his cousins (Commander Gavin and Duke Rufus Quinzel) quite a bit.

    <em>Yeah, they''re all handsome.</em>

    Still, Emperor Niki and Commander Gavin Quinzel didn''t look alike.

    So, why did she think that her Papa Boss looked like her dad/appa?

    She gasped when an unbelievable exnation popped up in her mind suddenly.

    <em>Could it be because I already see Papa Boss as a real father just like my dad/appa in my second life?!</em>

    "No," Neoma said, letting out a sharp gasp. Then, she grabbed and pulled her hair. It was a good thing that she wasn''t wearing a wig or else, it would have fallen off by now. "I can''t ept this!"

    Emperor Niki, seated on the couch opposite to hers, let out a sigh while shaking his head. "What is it now, Neoma?"

    Ah, right.

    She was in the carriage with Papa Boss and they were on their way to Illumina za. Of course, they took the longer route so people wouldn''t know that they came from the Royal Pce.

    "I''m just hungry, Papa Boss," she lied. Well, it wasn''t reallypletely a lie. She used her big brain a while ago and it made her hungry. "I can''t wait to have a food trip."

    "Food, huh?" he said, then he turned outside the window. "You''re just like your mother. Mona would always go straight to the food stalls whenever we''re in a festival."

    Ah.

    She noticed this a while ago but her father would openly talk about her mother whenever he felt nostalgic, maybe.

    <em>And he doesn''t call Mama a "lowly woman" anymore.</em>

    "Papa Boss, what was Mama''s favorite food?"

    "Meat," he said without missing a beat. "She didn''t enjoy pastries and bread. The only thing that she truly loved eating was meat. She liked steak in particr."

    She bit her lower lip when she was overwhelmed with nostalgia.

    <em>My mommy/eomma also loved meat in my second life. Aside from steak, she also loved samgyeopsal so much that we had it every weekend.</em>

    God, now she suddenly missed Korean food.

    "I hope we find lots of tasty food, Papa Boss," she said cheerfully. "You brought lots of gold, right?"

    He turned to her with an offended look on his face. "You did not just ask me that, Neoma."

    She justughed it off. "I know that you''re filthy rich, Papa Boss. You''re so rich that I want to steal your wealth and distribute it to the poor. No one in this world should be that rich."

    In the modern world, her Papa Boss and most of the higher nobles would be called billionaires.

    "I will pretend that I didn''t hear that you wanted to steal from me because I don''t want to escte this into a fight," her Papa Boss said sternly.

    "Why, thank you for the generosity, Papa Boss."

    He just rolled her eyes at her.

    She rolled her eyes back and when her father red at her, sheughed. Then, she gave him a "peace sign." "Sorry, Papa Boss."

    He didn''t have the time to retort because the carriage stopped and the coachman announced that they arrived at the entrance of the za.

    Her father stepped out of the carriage first.

    To be honest, she expected him to ignore her. So she was quite surprised when all of a sudden, he grabbed her by the waist and lifted her up. Then, he carefully put her down.

    "Papa Boss, are you secretly taking a ss called ''How To be a Father 101?''"

    "If you''re ufortable, just say so," he said coldly. But she knew that he was just being shy. Her father was a big tsundere after all. "No need to be sarcastic about it."

    She justughed it off again, then she grabbed him by the hand.

    Her father wore a pair of ck gloves but despite that, she still felt the warm of his hand that was much bigger than hers.

    When she looked up at her father, she was surprised to see a horrified look on his face.

    <em>Huh?</em>

    "What''s wrong, Papa Boss?"

    "Your hand is so small and soft that I''m afraid to identally crush it if I squeeze too hard," her Papa Boss said. "After all, I don''t know how to control my strength since this is the first time that I held a child''s hand."

    Seriously?

    He didn''t hold her hand or Nero''s when they were still babies?

    <em>Tsk.</em>

    "You''re doing fine, Papa Boss," she encouraged him. "Plus, it''s too crowded here and I''m small so you might lose me if I don''t hold your hand."

    "I think a magical and invisible leash would be better¨C"

    "Oh,e on. I know that I''m as cute as a puppy but don''t treat me like one," sheined, then she pulled her father by the hand and led him to the crowd. "I''ll call you ''scumbag'' again if you do that, Papa Boss."

    Come to think of it, she rarely calls her father ''scumbag'' these days.

    She didn''t want to ruin that day so she distracted herself by looking around her. It was easy to distract herself anyway because there were a lot of interesting things to see.

    Lucky, the food stalls were lined on either side of the walking road. She instantly spotted the food that themoners could afford like potatoes, rye bread, hot pie, pastries, fruit kebabs, and corndogs on a stick.

    She stopped walking to shamelessly star at a young boy holding a corndog on a stick in his tiny hand.

    "That''s my corndog," she said in disbelief.

    She was pretty sure that although sausages existed in this world, corndog was something that she brought here from the modern world that she came from.

    "Stop staring at someone else''s food," her Papa Boss said sternly. "That''s rude."

    She looked up at her father. "But that''s my corndog, Papa Boss. I''m 100% certain that no one else in this content can make that except for me and the Royal Chef."

    That was an exaggeration but she was pretty sure that corndogs weren''t a thing during this time back in her first life.

    She was distracted when she realized that she and her Papa Boss already caught the attention of the people around them. Since she could hear them talking, she was sure that they didn''t recognize them. The people only crowded around them because she and her father were beautiful.

    Well, a disguise couldn''t hide their beauty.

    They even wore a hooded cloak to partly cover their faces. But it seemed like their faces really attracted people.

    <em>Gosh, this is the price that we have to pay for being pretty.</em>

    But thank goodness her Papa Boss gave her a spirit stone a while ago that could create a sound-blocking spell whenever she and her father would talk. That meant nobody could eavesdrop on them.

    They just had to be careful so that lip readers wouldn''t catch what they were saying though.

    "Papa Boss, go have fun on your own for now," Neoma said with urgency in her voice, then she let go of her father''s hand. "I need to hunt down the person who stole my corndog recipe!"

    Emperor Niki let out a deep sigh. "I won''t find you if you get lost."

    <em>Sure, Jan.</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA asked several kids that she saw holding a corndog on a stick as to where they brought their snack.

    She was now walking towards the stall, and she just gained two "stalkers."

    By "stalkers," she meant the two balls of powerful divine energy on either side of her head. She was pretty sure that they were the Soul Beasts of her Papa Boss. Since the White Tiger and the ck Tortoise were guarding Nero, it could only mean one thing.

    <em>The Vermillion Bird and the Azure Dragon are guarding me!</em>

    Daebak.

    Anyway, she was soon distracted when she finally saw the food stall that stole her corndog recipe. The food stalls there were simr to the food kiosk in the modern world. But of course, the kiosks here were made of woods and weren''t fancy.

    "Oh, god," she said while looking at three corndogs on a stick ced on the counter. It looked and smelled like the corndogs that she would ask the Royal Chef to make for her. Now she was curious if it also tasted like the ones she made. "They look tasty."

    "One corndog is worth one gold coin, child."

    "That''s too expensive," sheined, then gasped when all of a sudden, someone emerged from under the stall''s counter or table.

    It was a young boy who was probably just a bit older than her.

    That person was holding a bag of bread in his arms, so he was probably getting it under the table when she arrived. Thus, she thought the kiosk was empty. Seeing that she didn''t feel his Mana, it seemed like he was a Non-Mana User.

    <em>Is he not a noble?</em>

    Looking up close, the young boy had ck messy hair and ck eyes¨C and the color of his hair and eyesplemented his fairplexion. He was probably as tall as Jasper Oppa, so he must be closer to the young duke''s age.

    Anyway, he wore a simple linen shirt and trousers under his white apron.

    The boy looked neat but he wasn''t that good-lookingpared to the boys around her. Well, she was used to seeing god-tier handsome young men like Lewis, Trevor, and Jasper Oppa so her standard for a man''s physical appearance got impossibly high.

    <em>Plus, I''m a beauty myself.</em>

    "I sell my corndogs to nobles at a high price just because," the boy said bluntly and shamelessly, sessfully cutting off her narcissistic thoughts. "They''re free formoners though."

    There were a lot of things to unpack from his remarks.

    First, this young boy knew that the snack was called ''corndog.''

    Second, she instantly liked his "eat the rich" mindset.

    Third, he could tell that she was a noble.

    "I''m not a noble," she lied.

    "Oh, I apologize then," the young boy said, then he picked up a corndog on a stick, the one covered in potatoes. Then, he handed it to her. She noticed that his face had softened up nowpared to his stiff expression a while ago. "You can have it for free then, child."

    She took the corndog on a stick with a guilty heart.

    <em>Omo! Why are you so gullible? Now you''re making me feel bad about myself.</em>

    But since she was really curious about the taste, she took a bite on the corndog while making a promise to herself that she would pay for the overpriced snackter.

    <em>Because yeah, let''s eat the rich.</em>

    "Omo," she said when the vors finally hit her taste buds. "This tastes divine."

    Wow.

    It really tasted like her corndogs!

    Upon seeing her reaction, the young boyughed softly. "I''ll take that as apliment, child."

    <em>Omo, omo.</em>

    While looking at the boy''s face, she noticed that he was getting prettier and prettier in her eyes as seconds passed by.

    For some unknown reason, she suddenly felt like she was in a Korean drama.

    After all, the "scene" happening right now between them was like a "scene" pulled out from a Kdrama where the male lead entered the story for the first time.

    "No, I can''t be distracted," she said to herself. "I need to know how he managed to recreate the snack that Chef Stroganoff makes for¡­"

    She caught herself immediately when she realized that she said her thoughts out loud.

    "That''s me."

    Her brows furrowed in confusion. "Huh?"

    "Unless there''s another ''Chef Stroganoff'' in the Royal Capital, then you must be talking about me," the young boy said in the most honest voice that she heard in her life. "I''m Chef Stroganoff of the Royal Kitchen."

    Neoma gasped loudly.

    <em>But Lewis said that Chef Stroganoff is blonde and green-eyed!</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    <strong>NOTE: </strong>Hi! I might post around this time (6AM-11AM GMT+8) next month. I usually write in my free time during the day so I could post before midnight (GMT+8). But I write during nighttime instead of daytime these days, right after my day job, because of my new work-rted project. Thus, I tend to post my updates in an awkward time recently. Sorry for the sudden change of schedule. T-T

    <strong>***</strong>

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    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 147 - ROYAL CHEF STROGANOFF

    "I DON''T believe you," Neoma said to the "Royal Chef," then she crossed her arms over her chest. "Show me proof that you''re really Chef Stroganoff."

    "Why do I need to prove my identity to a child that I just met?" the young boy asked nonchntly, then he put the bread on the table. "Just call me ''Ruto.''"

    "Huh?" she asked, confused. "Your name sounds¡­ foreign."

    "My full name is Ruston Stroganoff," Ruto said casually as if he was talking to a long-time friend. "But my friends from a far-away country call me ''Ruto'' as a pet name because apparently, that sounds closer to the names of their people."

    "Mmm," she said while munching on the corndog.

    "Are you going to stay here and chat?" he asked, then he motioned for her toe inside the small stall. "There''s a chair here. Eating while standing might be bad for digestion."

    She wanted to argue that a corndog on a stick was meant to eat while walking.

    But since she was tired from running anyway, she epted his offer. She went inside the small stall and found a wooden bench.

    "Do you need me to lift you?" he asked while he was slicing the bread.

    She sat on the chair first before she responded. "Nah, I''m good."

    With a slice of bread in his hand, he sat beside her. She noticed that he left a decent space between them. Ah, he knew how to respect even a child''s privacy, huh?

    <em>Nice.</em>

    She waited for him to talk but he just sat there and ate his bread while obviously waiting for customers.

    "Are you really the Royal Chef?" she asked curiously. "Is that something that you should say casually to strangers?"

    "Of course not," he said, then he turned to her. "That''s why you shouldn''t also carelessly mention my name outside the pce. I only told you my real identity because I want to know why you''re familiar with a snack that I prepare for the royal family."

    Ah, that was neat.

    "And you''re a child," he added. "Nobody will believe you even if you yell right now and reveal my identity."

    <em>How sly!</em>

    But she''d probably do the same if she was in his shoes.

    "You talk as if you''re so much older than me, Ruto," sheined. "Just how old are you, huh?"

    <em>It doesn''t matter because I''m sure I''m still (mentally) older than you.</em>

    "I''m twelve," he said casually. "Are you five or something? You''re so tiny."

    "I''m eight years old," she said firmly. "I''m not tiny. You''re just tall."

    That was true.

    If she wouldpare the height of the people in the empire to the modern world, then she''d say they had the average height of European people.

    "Okay," he said nonchntly. "So, would you like to tell me why you know the Royal Chef? You said you weren''t a noble so howe you know the kind of snacks that I serve to the royal family?"

    "I''m ady-in-waiting trainee for the Crown Prince," she lied smoothly.

    She knew that it was reckless of her to give out information like that.

    But she trusted her instinct. And if Ruto happened to be a bad guy, she could just deal with him. After all, she was good at doing that.

    "You must be under the supervision of Miss Stephanie," he said, then he turned to her with a look of pity on his face. "I didn''t know that they train girls as young as you to be ady-in-waiting."

    "Aren''t you the same?" she asked. "Don''t give me a look a pity when you''re also working at the pce at such a young age."

    "We have different situations since I''m a guy and a noble," he said, then he munched on his bread before he continued. "You look smart so you probably know that being born a male in a noble household is a privilege in this empire."

    "Ipletely understand," she said while nodding eagerly. "I may be a girl and amoner, but I was born with the privilege of being pretty."

    He looked at her face with an indifferent look on his face. "You look okay."

    Okay?

    Just okay?!

    "Well, all children younger than me look like a baby in my eyes," he continued. "You know, wrinkly face and everything."

    She gasped¨C deeply offended.

    But when she was just about to go ape on the young chef, a group of noble dudes probably aged 13-15 went to the food stall. Just based on the smug smile on their faces, she could easily tell that these children were up to no good.

    And well, they wear obviously expensive clothes.

    The five boys resembled each other a lot. All of them had blonde hair (in different shades), and blue eyes (also in different shades). Plus, all the dudes had freckles as well.

    <em>They would have been cute if they don''t look like assholes.</em>

    "I heard that you give free sausages to children," the tallest and the most arrogant-looking boy of the group said to Ruto. "Give us some."

    "The snacks I sell are called ''corndog'' and not just ''sausages,''" Ruto said, then he finished eating the slice of bread in his hand before he stood up and wiped his hands with a clean cloth. "I only give them for free formoners though. One corndog is worth one gold for nobles like you."

    "We''remoners," the other four boys behind the "leader" lied whileughing.

    She got pissed but she couldn''t reallyin. After all, she also lied to Ruto and said that she was amoner. That would be like the pot calling the kettle ck.

    "Is that so?" Ruto said to the kids, falling into their lies that way he fell into her lie earlier. "Then, I apologize. Let me prepare your snacks for you."

    She almost literally face-palmed.

    <em>Why is he so gullible?!</em>

    Thankfully, her irritation was reced by awe when she saw what Ruto did next.

    He leaned down to pick up a basket in the open drawer below the counter. She saw a spirit stone attached to the lid. When the young chef opened the basket, the familiar and tasty smell of her favorite corndog made her mouth water even though she was already eating one.

    That must be the type of magic basket that keeps food warm and fresh.

    "Here," Ruto said while handing a corndog on a stick to each of the noble dudes. "Enjoy your corndog."

    Of course, the ungrateful brats snickered among themselves.

    Then, each one of them took a bite. It was obvious that they were surprised by the vor that hit their taste buds. But in the end, they were still proud nobles that wouldn''t admit that they find a moner''s food" tasty.

    When the leader of the brats spat out the food, the other boys did the same.

    "As expected, a cheap snack like this won''t be good enough for us," the leader said, then he threw the corndog on the ground.

    Of course, the other boys followed their leader.

    "Do better next time!" the leader even yelled at the young chef.

    "It''s a shame that you didn''t find my snack satisfactory," Ruto said while looking sadly at the poor corndogs on the ground. "I''ll work hard to make something tasty next time."

    She groaned internally.

    <em>What a softie.</em>

    The leaderughed at the young chef. And yes, the other boys that seemed like they couldn''t think for their own alsoughed. "We''re not eating your disgusting food again!"

    And after that, the stupid children walked awayughing.

    Ruto seemed unaffected because he just went out of the stall with a bag in his hand. Then, he squatted down to pick up the dirty corndogs and put them in the bag.

    Themoners and other stall owners that witnessed everything gave the young chef a look of pity. But since the street was busy, nobody lent a hand or offered to console Ruto. Plus, themoners were probably afraid to meddle because they knew that those brats a while ago came from noble households.

    "Ruto, they obviously lied to you," she said to him as soon as he returned to the stall. Asking that made her feel like a hypocrite, but she had to. "Why did you still give them snacks?"

    "They asked for food so I gave them some," Ruto said casually, then he gently threw the bag in a garbage box in the corner of the stall. "They might be hungry, you know?"

    "They weren''t hungry," she said firmly. "They were just probably bored so they came here to make a fool of you. You didn''t believe them when they said your corndogs aren''t tasty, did you?"

    He scratched his cheek. "Customers'' feedback is important to me so¡­"

    "Ah, stop it!" she said, then she covered her ears with her hands. "I don''t want to hear how soft-hearted you are."

    Ruto just looked at her, then heughed softly. "Child, what''s your name?"

    "Just call me ''Miss Ramsay,''" Neoma said while pulling her hands away from her ears. She knew that it was unfair not to give him her first name after he gave her his full name. But now that she knew that the crows were just around her, she couldn''t carelessly throw her real name out there. "My name isn''t important¨C but my face is so don''t ever forget this beauty in front of you, Ruto Stroganoff."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 148 - THE BEGINNING OF GOODBYES

    "THAT''S going to be a problem because I''m bad with faces," Ruto told her with the same carefree attitude that he had shown her from the start. "I''ll try my best though."

    "Don''t worry. You don''t need to try your best," Neoma assured him while waving her hand. "I''m pretty sure that my face is unforgettable anyway."

    It looked like he was about to say something but they were interrupted again.

    This time, three grown men approached the stall.

    They looked sketchy though.

    The men wore a hooded ck cloak that almost covered their faces. They also talked in a foreign, unfamiliarnguage¡­

    ¡­ while looking at her.

    She didn''t know if Ruto noticed that but he stood in front of her as if he was hiding her from the obviously dangerous strangers.

    "Hello, gentlemen," Ruto greeted his customers. "Would you like some corndogs? I''m about to go home now so you can take everything."

    "We''re not interested in your products," one of the men said in a hoarse voice and thick ent as if they weren''t locals. Then, he pointed a finger at Ruto (but he was definitely aiming at her). "How much? That little girl?"

    She rolled her eyes because she already expected that as soon as the men looked at her.

    <em>Okay, it''s time for me to shine.</em>

    She finished her corndog before she stood up and¨C

    "I only sell corndogs here," Ruto said a little firmer than his usualid-back voice. "Please leave if you''re looking for something else."

    As a response, the bad guy threw the basket and even kicked the food stall. He must have been physically strong because his kick made a hole in the kiosk. That seemed to agitate Ruto because she saw him clench his fists.

    Ohh¡­

    She sped her hands together while waiting for something exciting to happen.

    <em>Is he going to fight those bad guys to protect me?</em>

    "Don''t act violently in front of a child," Ruto said in a rather cold voice while opening a drawer on the counter. Then, he pulled out several pouches and put them on the table. "These are bags of gold coins. Take them and leave this za now."

    Her jaw dropped.

    <em>What? Just like that?!</em>

    The three shady men talked among themselves in a differentnguage, then the leader took the bags of gold coins. Then, they left just like that. After blending with the crowd, theypletely disappeared.

    "I guess it''s time to close the shop now," Ruto said, then he turned around to face her. "Miss Ramsay, do you want me to walk you back¡­" He trailed off and tilted his head at one side. "Are you pouting?"

    "You shouldn''t have tolerated those bad guys," she said firmly. "I also want to avoid violence as much as possible but those people are obviously human traffickers. There are a lot of children here¨C especiallymoners that don''t have money or the ability to protect themselves. What if they find another victim in my ce?"

    "I know," he said. "That''s why I''m going to close my shop and report it to a ck Hawk Knight stationed at this za. And if you have time, can youe with me and describe those men to the knights? I''m not good at¨C"

    "I''m sorry but I don''t have time to waste here," she said while cracking her knuckles. "If we report it first, it might be toote. So I''ll just catch them."

    "Miss Ramsay¨C"

    "Don''t stop me."

    "Okay," he said, giving up so easily. Gosh, the young chef was soid-back! "I have one request though. Can you deliver a message to the Crown Prince for me?"

    "Sure," she said, intrigued with what the Royal Chef had to say to her. "What is it?"

    "I don''t mind if he keeps on asking me to make foreign dishes for him. In fact, I like being tested that way," Ruto said seriously. "But could you please tell him that I also won''t stop making him eat healthy food? One day, I''m going to feed him pickles and he wouldn''t know it."

    Neomaughed, then she gave Ruto a thumbs up. "Sure."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA was serious about chasing the possible human/child traffickers.

    But all of a sudden, she felt someone grab her by the cor. It shocked her because she didn''t feel any presence behind her. Though she should have known who it was when the Soul Beasts following her didn''t react.

    "Papa Boss," Neomained when her father lifted her, then he draped her over his arm. "I thought you already know how to properly carry a child?"

    "This is your punishment for running off like that," Emperor Niki said while walking in the crowded street. It was amazing how his father navigated through the crowd because aside from moving swiftly, it seemed like there was a thinyer of barrier on his body. After all, despite how packed the street was, none of the people around them had directly touched her Papa Boss yet. "If you do that one more time, your ytime is over."

    "Papa Boss, I''m really busy right now," she insisted. "There''s a group of bad guys that I need to catch."

    He let out a deep sigh. "I know. I''ve been watching you from afar. I already sent a message to Rufus. I''m pretty sure that by now, they have already caught the human traffickers."

    "How did you know that, Papa Boss?"

    "My Soul Beasts served as my eyes and my ears," he exined. "They shared with me what they saw and heard while guarding you."

    Ah, that made sense.

    "Then, was that really Chef Stroganoff?"

    "Chef Stroganoff junior, yes."

    "His father is also a Royal Chef?"

    "Ruston Stroganoff''s father is the current Head Chef of the Royal Kitchen," he exined. If he could talk freely like that, then there was definitely a spell around them that would prevent them from getting eavesdropped on. "Morton Stroganoff, his father, is also my Exclusive Chef."

    "How does Chef Morton Stroganoff look, Papa Boss?"

    "Blonde with green eyes."

    <em>Ohh.</em>

    So, the Chef Stroganoff that Lewis had seen was the senior.

    "Is it safe to assume that Ruto is my Exclusive Chef, Papa Boss?"

    "You can say that," he said. "Originally, Morton Stroganoff was the one in charge of your meals as well. It just changed when you began sending the Royal Kitchen food requests. The one who sessfully made the food that passed your standards was Ruston Stroganoff. Thus, I put him in charge of your meals."

    She gave her father a thumbs up. "Good job, Papa Boss."

    He just ignored her.

    She was about to tell him to put her down when she saw a very interesting establishment. "Papa Boss, I see a bookstore," she said excitedly. "Please put me down and give me money. I''m just going to buy some books."

    He scoffed. "What do you need to buy in a rundown bookstore like that when you already have a Royal Library?"

    "That''s Nero''s library and not mine."

    Plus, the library was so huge but it didn''t contain a single romance novel in it.

    He didn''t give a response to her. Instead, he just walked towards the bookstore, put her down, and gave her a bag of gold coins. "Be quick."

    "You got it, Papa Boss," she said, then she ran to the bookstore with the Soul Beasts (in their ball of energy forms) following her.

    As expected of a rundown shop, it was unkempt inside. But the old shelves were filled with books. Most of it was still in pristine condition.

    Not bad.

    Since she didn''t have time to roam around, she went straight to the counter where a short, old woman was sitting while reading and book. Ah, she was also smoking tobo even though it was bad for her health, especially at that age.

    But she wasn''t gonna lie¨C the granny looked like a badass.

    "Granny, please give me the newest romance novels that you have," she said with a bright smile on her face. She was an adult inside so reading romance books weren''t bad. Plus, she already ran out of something interesting to read after she finished reading the manuscripts of the children under the Sword Lily Foundation. "The more passionate the story is, the better."

    The old woman gave her a quick once-over before she returned to her book. "If you think I''m going to hand such scandalous books to a child like you, then you must be crazy," she said, then she puffed out smoke from her mouth before she continued. "I may not have lived an honest life. But I''m not that cruel to ruin a child''s innocence this early."

    <em>I''m touched, Granny.</em>

    "Oh, Granny, I like you already," she said, amazed by how the old woman who didn''t even know her wanted to protect her "innocence." "Don''t worry because I''m not going to read them," she lied, then she pointed at her Papa Boss whose back could be seen from the shop''s window. "The books are for my Papa." She activated her "actress mode," then she pretended to be on the verge of crying. "My mother died giving birth to me, Granny. Ever since that day, my poor Papa has been a single father. But I don''t want him to live alone forever. I want to help him regain his interest in love." She covered her hands and pretended to cry. "I thought giving my father romance novels to read would reawaken his passion for love."

    <em>Hehe. Sorry, Papa Boss.</em>

    It seemed like her story and her fake crying worked because the old woman suddenly beganforting her by gently patting her head.

    "Don''t cry, child," Granny said in a gentle voice. "Granny is sorry, okay? Let me make it up to you by giving you the best romance novels that will definitely reawaken your father''s passion for love."

    Neoma smiled but when she raised her head to look at the old woman, her big, fake tears rolled down her cheeks. "Thank you, Granny."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA smiled smugly as soon as she got out of the bookstore with five precious erotica ¨C er, romance books in her arms. The granny carefully wrapped the books for her and put them in a brown paper bag. "Let''s go, Papa Boss."

    Emperor Niki looked at her with an irritated look on his face. "South, burn those indecent books."

    She gasped when she remembered that the Soul Beasts were with her.

    Before she could even appeal to her father, the paper bag and the books in her arms turned into ashes in just a few seconds. The amazing thing was she didn''t get burnt. Plus, the ashes also disappeared before they touched her skin.

    <em>Amazing control of power¡­</em>

    "Papa Boss, if you don''t rece those books now, I''m going to cry here so loud your eardrums would burst," she warned him. "Or maybe I''ll just set you up with all the women staring at you right at this moment."

    Her father took a deep breath, then he walked past her and entered the bookstore.

    She instantly smiled and waited for her Papa Boss happily. When she looked at the window to take a peek inside, she saw the old woman almost drool while looking the emperor and putting some books inside a brown paper bag.

    Gosh, Papa Boss''s face could even charm an old woman.

    When her father went out of the store, she immediately ran towards him with open arms.

    Papa Boss sighed before he handed the paper bag to her.

    She excitedly pulled out the books to check and as soon as she read the titles, her beautiful smile vanished.

    <em>''How to Fulfill Your Filial Duties.''</em>

    <em>''Children of Today, Respect Your Parents.''</em>

    <em>''Before You Be a Proper Lady, Be a Good Daughter First.''</em>

    Emperor Niki crossed his arms over his chest, his smile smug for some reason. "Those books are the suitable ones for your age, you little rogue."

    "Tteokbokki," Neoma said coldly. "Burn these horrible books."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NERO dismissed Alphen and Stephanie after the two delivered the items that he had been waiting for the whole week.

    Then, he sat on the sofa and admired the two elegant wooden boxes with pretty satin bows on top. The one with the green ribbon was for Hanna. While the one with the pink ribbon was for Neoma. He was d that the jewelry that he wanted to give the two preciousdies in his life arrived in time.

    The artisans working directly for His Majesty are really good in their craft.

    "These presents will serve as my farewell gift to Neoma and Hanna," Nero whispered to himself while gently running his fingers over the pink satin bow. "I hope they like it."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "PRINCESS BRIGITTE, it seems like we have to leave the empire now."

    Brigitte, seated on the windowsill of her room while drinking tea, turned to Nowell Elwood with a surprised look on her face. "Why though? I thought Father gave us the permission to stay here until the Moon Festival is over."

    "It seems like it has to do with the second prince," Nowell said with a scowl on his face. If her cousin couldn''t hide such expression from her, then it must mean that the gravity of the situation in their kingdom couldn''t be ignored. "I think we should go home now, Princess Brigitte."

    She was ready to leave especially if it was for the sake of their kingdom.

    But she was saddened by one thing.

    "I heard that the Crown Prince is attending an official business with His Majesty," Brigitte said sadly, then she sipped her tea before she continued. "It''s a shame that I won''t even be able to properly say goodbye to my bestie."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "LEAVE the empire and study abroad?" Hanna, now alone with her mother in her room (guarded by Lewis Crevan outside), asked in surprise. She was d that her mother returned and visited her earlier than she expected. After all, she was excited to dance with her parentster. And to watch her mother and father have each other''sst dance. But the news that she heard from her mother shocked her. "Why do I have to study abroad, Mother?"

    "Hanna, your father and I decided that it would be best for you if you learn to use your power correctly from now on," her mother, seated beside her on the bed, said seriously. "That''s why we decided to send you to a country where your Great Uncle Garrett is."

    She gasped when she heard that.

    As far as she knew, her Great Uncle Garrett was banished from the empire for helping Commander Gavin Quinzel escape with Lady Mona Roseheart. Although his sin was heavy, the emperor couldn''t punish him with a death sentence because of his great contribution to the war that saved the empire in the past.

    Thus, her great uncle was the only person who survived among the people who helped her Uncle Gavin before.

    "I know what you''re thinking, Hanna," her mother said. "Don''t worry about it. Your father said he''d talk to His Majesty about it. For now, consider our decision, daughter. This is for you."

    She knew that it was for her and thus, she couldn''t turn it down easily.

    "Ah, I met a nice little girl when I returned to the Royal Capital," her mother said, her face instantly lighting up. "I think she''s also headed to the country where we want to send you. Do you want to meet her?"

    "Who is she, Mother?" she asked curiously. "Do I know her?"

    After all, this was the first time that her mother talked about someone else''s daughter with such enthusiasm.

    "She''s from a poor noble household so you may not know her," her mother said with a hint of sympathy in her voice. "Her name is Regina Crowell."

    Hanna, for some reason, suddenly felt ufortable when she heard that name. "Regina¡­ Crowell?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "CHILD, do you want me to read your fortune?"

    Neoma, standing in front of the rundown bookstore while waiting for her Papa Boss to return with the correct books that she wanted to read, didn''t even bother to turn to the shady, cloaked woman who silently stood beside her. She had to say that the sketchy woman smelled like flowers though. "Nah, I''m good," she said. "I already know that my life is filled with love and luck, thank you very much."

    She knew that she was being rude.

    But she felt ufortable around the woman beside her and she trusted her instinct. Thus, she put her guard up and told Tteokbokki internally to stay alert as well.

    The woman, who was probably in herte twenties or early thirties based on her voice,ughed softly. "Your future looks grim, child," she said. "The God of Misfortune seems to be plucking your friends and allies one by one as if they were petals from a dying rose."

    The fortune-teller didn''t need to borate.

    She was obviously the "dying rose" in the woman''s depressing "vision."

    Neomaughed sarcastically, then she raised her head to see the mysterious "fortune teller." But since the woman wore a dark, hooded cloak, she couldn''t really see her face. But she could feel that she was looking at her face intently. "Then, tell that god to sleep with one eye open," she said in a threatening voice. "Because if I lose even one friend and ally in the future, I will make the heavens regret allowing a child like me to be born here."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 149 - BEWARE OF GOD RAMSAY

    THE LADY fortune-tellerughed at her earlier remark. "Be careful, child," she said, then her presence began to feel weak at the same time her body began to turn translucent. The strange woman must have used a teleportation spell. "Gods don''t like humans who try to surpass them."

    "I''ve read enough Greek mythology in the past to know that. But guess what?" Neoma said haughtily. She knew that provoking the gods, if they were real, would only make her life worse. But she''d rather live a busy life than being looked down on by "gods" who think so highly of themselves. "I''m also a god¨C god of beauty, luck, charisma, big brains, and profanities. So tell your bosses up there to beware of God Ramsay."

    As she said before, she could no longer throw her real first name around.

    From now on, until she gained her freedom and duchess title, she would refer to herself to strangers as either ''Miss Ramsay'' or ''God Ramsay.''

    Maybe using ''goddess'' would be more appropriate.

    But back in her second life, most of her favorite female idols were referred to as ''god.'' Since she thought of herself as the idol of this world, might as well use that ''title.''

    "You''re very arrogant, child," the fortune-teller said, her body magically turning into hundreds of pink roses. "But I wouldn''t say that I don''t like it."

    After saying that, the Lady Fortune-teller disappeared and was reced by hundreds of pink roses that fell on the ground.

    When she looked around to see if people had seen what happened, she was quite surprised to realize that nobody was paying attention to them. It made her wonder if the strange woman or Papa Boss put a spell in the bookstore that prevented people from looking in their direction.

    "You attract different sorts of Spirits, don''t you?"

    She turned around to see her Papa Boss. He just came out of the bookstore while holding a brown paper bag in his arms. "That was a Spirit, Papa Boss?"

    "Yes," Emperor Niki said while looking at the pink roses on the ground. "It was harmless though. Thus, my Soul Beasts didn''t attack her." He looked at her with questioning eyes. "I can see Spirits with human forms. But I didn''t understand your conversation with her. After all, both of you used a strangenguage that only Spirits and Summoners could speak."

    She blinked in confusion. Did she really use a differentnguage? She thought she was only speaking normally.

    <em>Wow, maybe I really am a genius.</em>

    "I see that you didn''t realize that you were speaking a differentnguage," her Papa Boss said. Ah, he probably read her facial expressions. "What did the Spirit tell you?"

    "She said that there are gods who hate me because I''m arrogant," she said. Well, the Lady Fortune-teller didn''t exactly say that. She was just toozy to exin. "So she told me to be careful."

    He raised a brow at her. "And what did you say?"

    She shrugged. "I gave her an attitude and said I''m also a god in my own right."

    "You didn''t lie though," her Papa Boss agreed with her. And that surprised her, of course. "Yule''s blood runs in our veins."

    She smiled and nodded. "Yeah¨C that''s why I told them to beware of God Ramsay."

    Her father let out a frustrated sigh. "Just how long are you going to use that made-up name, huh?"

    "It''s my protection," she insisted. "Since I''m not registered as a member of the royal family, I have to make my own identity. Once you give me a duchess title, I will register myself as Neoma Ramsay. I haven''t thought about the name of my future territory though."

    She didn''t know if it was just her imagination or pain really crossed the emperor''s eyes.

    Unfortunately, she didn''t have the time to study his facial expression more because he turned his back on her. Then, he began to walk away.

    "Let''s go," Emperor Niki said in a firm voice. "I received a message from Glenn a while ago and ording to him, Princess Brigitte is about to leave the pce."

    Neoma gasped in surprise. "I have to say goodbye to my bestie!"

    ***

    "PAPA BOSS, these aren''t the books that you burned earlier!" Neomained while reading the titles of the books that he brought for her. "''The Lady''s First Love.'' ''Princess Re''s Prince Charming.'' ''From Maid to Queen.''" She gave him an irritated look. "Papa Boss, I know these titles. And these books are too wholesome for my dark soul."

    Niki wanted to ignore Neoma but since they were alone in the carriage while they were on their way back to the Royal Pce, he knew that he couldn''t escape that confrontation.

    A while ago, after he and Neoma burned the books that they got for each other, his stubborn daughter threatened to make a scene if he didn''t buy her the scandalous "romance" books that she wanted to read. He didn''t want her to fake cry in the middle of the street and gain attention and thus, he went back to the bookstore.

    But he wasn''t that crazy yet to buy his eight-year-old daughter erotic books.

    "Those books are romance books," Niki insisted. "I don''t think that a child like you should be reading romance books yet. But I know that you''re already too smart for fairy tales. Thus, let''spromise this way. Even though you''re too witty and too sarcastic for your age, you''re still a child. Why would you want to read scandalous books anyway?"

    "For research," Neoma insisted. "Plus, I''m bored. I want to read something new."

    "If you''re bored, just make weird recipes and send them to the Royal Kitchen like you always do."

    Neoma seemed to love annoying the hell out of the Royal Kitchen.

    He often heard from the Head Chef that the "Crown Prince" sends requests all the time. But much to his amazement, instead of getting angry, the Head Chef and the other kitchen staff dly epted the "challenge" from his child.

    But the only one who could perfect Neoma''s requests was Ruston Stroganoff, the Head Chef''s son.

    "Speaking of the Royal Kitchen, I remember Ruto again."

    Ah, right.

    Ruston Stroganoff''s nickname was ''Ruto.'' It sounded like a foreign name. But then again, the young chef wasn''t born in the empire.

    "Papa Boss, you should give Ruto some royal knights to guard him, you know?" his daughter said. "Since Ruto makes my meal, he should be considered a national treasure. Thus, we need to protect him."

    "That child doesn''t need protection."

    "Don''t be like that, Papa Boss," she said, obviously not getting his point by saying that Ruto didn''t need protection. "I know that he''s from a noble household so his family probably has their own private army like the Quinzels. But Ruto seems to be a rebel. What kind of Royal Chef goes out without guards? I like his bravado, but I''m scared for his safety. So we should show the royal family''s appreciation for Ruto by providing royal knights as his personal guards."

    "As I said before, he doesn''t need protection."

    "But he''s too frail, Papa Boss," she insisted. "I can''t even feel his Mana because it''s too weak."

    Weak, huh?

    Didn''t this child learn what it meant if a strong Mana-user like herself couldn''t feel the Mana of another user?

    "Neoma, there are only three ways to enter the Royal Pce and have a ce in it," he said, teaching his daughter the things that she probably forgot because she was always busy learning new things. "First, you have to be from a prestigious bloodline. Second, if you''re a noble lower than a count, then you must excel at a certain field. Andstly¡­" Lewis Crevan''s image entered his mind. "If you don''t have a prominent bloodline or a skill worthy to be recognized by the royal family, then you have to be a monster who could at least destroy a vige on your own."

    "Are you talking about people like my son?"

    "Yes, like Lewis Crevan," he confirmed. He couldn''t believe that he already knew that Neoma was talking about Lewis Crevan when she said the word "son." "But there are people in the Royal Pce who have it all: prestigious bloodline, outstanding talent, and monstrous strength."

    Just like Rufus, Glenn, Kyle, Madam Hammock, and¡­

    "Then, where were those people when Luna Pce was attacked years ago?" Neoma asked while giving him a pointed look. "If Luna Pce was well-protected during that time, then Nero wouldn''t have been cursed."

    It was true that he hadn''t paid attention to the twins yet during that time.

    But it wasn''t like the security in Luna Pce was loose. It just so happened that the assassins who attacked the twins'' residence that night were stronger than average killers. Based on Glenn''s investigation, those assassins had the assistance of the Devil.

    It didn''t make sense at first.

    But after finding out that Nichole somehow became the Devil, he finally understood how the Holy Barrier was broken that night.

    "Ah, never mind," his daughter said when she couldn''t probably handle the silence. "I hold grudges but I don''t cry over spilled milk. And I''m more invested in our conversation about Ruto''s protection. So, what''s your decision, Papa Boss?"

    He raised a brow at his daughter. "Why are you so interested in a person you just met?"

    His daughter was about to say something but then, she suddenly closed her mouth as if she just realized that she didn''t have anything to say in her defense.

    For some reason, he felt irritated.

    <em>Should I send that young chef to his other homnd, perhaps?</em>

    "I''m not interested in Ruto," Neoma said after getting silent for a few seconds. "I''m just a concerned citizen. Plus, he makes yummy food so I don''t want him to die early."

    Niki rolled his eyes at herme excuse.

    <em>Ah, I should really send Ruston Stroganoff abroad.</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    "CHEF Ruto, you returned earlier than expected," Kyle Sprouse greeted the young chef who just stepped out of a rental carriage. "Wee back."

    Right now, he was at the back gate with Orville Smith¨C his secretary.

    Yes, he was the emperor''s aide. But he also needed an aide of his own. Moreover, Orville wasn''t just a secretary. He also served as his personal guard. After all, Orville used to be a White Lion Knight. He quit after losing his left eye.

    When seconds passed by and Ruston Stroganoff remained giving him a nk look, he gasped softly.

    "Ah, it''s me," he said. "Kyle Sprouse, His Majesty''s personal aide. I''m with Lord Orville Smith."

    "Oh," Ruto said, then he scratched his cheek. "It''s not like I didn''t recognize your voice, Lord Sprouse. I was just spacing out."

    "Did something happen when you were at the za?"

    He nodded. "I met a strange child. I can''t remember her face though."

    Of course, you couldn''t.

    "Anyway, is there a reason why you were waiting for me, Lord Sprouse?" the young chef asked.

    "I''m here to personally deliver a letter for you," he informed the child. "You received a letter from Winslow Institute of Culinary Education, Chef Ruto. Congrattions."

    "Ah, can you give it to meter, Lord Sprouse?" the boy asked shyly, then he looked at his hands. The fact that Ruto didn''t look thrilled to have received a letter from a prestigious academy was amusing. "I have to wash the blood off of my hands first."

    "Are you injured, Chef Ruto?"

    "No," Ruto said, then he raised his head to look at him. "I just went hunting for some animals a while ago."

    After saying that, the young chef politely excused himself and left.

    Orville Smith, much to his surprise, let out a relieved sigh when Ruto was out of their sight. "The fact that I can''t feel the young chef''s Mana never fails to creep me out. It hurts my pride as a former White Lion Knight."

    "Well, it can''t be helped," Kyle said as they began to walk back to the pce. "Ruto is one of the geniuses of the continent, after all."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 150 - CATCH ME IF YOU CAN

    "PRINCESS Bestie, do you really have to leave now?" Neoma asked, brokenhearted that her bestie Princess Brigitte had to return to the Hazelden Kingdom. "I thought you were going to stay until the Moon Festival is over."

    As soon as she and her Papa Boss got back to the Royal Pce, she ran to her room and got dressed as the Crown Prince. Then, she hurried over to the Esther Gate. It was the "VIP" gate that esteemed guests used to safely exit the Royal Pce.

    Since Princess Brigitte was a foreign princess that could be assassinated anytime, she was granted the right to use the Esther Gate.

    Right now, the first princess''s grand and fancy carriage was on stand-by. Nowell Elwood, her bestie''s cousin and aide, was also waiting for her. Thankfully, he was out of ear-shot so she could talk freely to Princess Brigitte.

    "It seems like one of my brothers has done something stupid," Princess Brigitte, the only woman she knew that could look elegant while squatting down in a fancy dress and stiletto shoes, said while hugging her knees tight to her chest. "I was summoned by my father. It was a request that I can''t simply turn down."

    If that was the case, then she knew that she couldn''t stop the first princess from leaving anymore.

    "Princess Bestie, please promise me that you''ll return," she said in a cracked voice. She only spent a short time with the first princess. But she already felt like a real sister to her. "And please allow me to send you letters."

    "Of course, Your Royal Highness. I''d love to receive letters from you. I promise that I will write back as fast as possible," the first princess promised. "I know that it''s impudent of me to say this but I really wish that you were my little brother, Prince Nero."

    "Then, you may call me ''dongsaeng'' and I''ll call you ''unnie.'' They are old Sniannguage," she lied again. After all, those words were Korean words and not from the dead Sniannguage. "''Dongsaeng'' means younger sibling while ''unnie'' means older sister. Let''s use them as secret codes to address each other in the letters."

    "Yes, we should use secret codes," the first princess agreed while nodding her head. "People might find it scandalous if they find out that the Crown Prince of the empire and the first princess of a foreign kingdom are exchanging letters."

    Neoma smiled and nodded in agreement. "See youter, unnie."

    Princess Brigitte smiled and bowed her head. "See youter, my precious dongsaeng."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "NEOMA has returned," Emperor Niki said while watching his little rogue of a daughter hop happily inside the pce premise. Of course, Neoma was followed by Lewis Crevan. The two came from the direction of Esther Gate. That could only mean that the royal princess sent off Princess Brigitte Griffins. "That means Princess Brigitte of Hazelden Kingdom is about to leave," he said, then he turned to Glenn who stood quietly behind him. "I''m giving you an hour break."

    Glenn looked confused by his order. "But I don''t need a break, Your Majesty."

    "I promised Neoma that I will let you spend time with Princess Brigitte during thest night of the Moon Festival," he exined to his personal knight. "Since the foreign princess won''t make it to the Yule Dance, I''m going to give you an hour break now."

    The knight''s face turned red, then he scratched his cheek. "But Princess Brigitte might have already left the pce¡­"

    "I ordered the guards not to open the gate until youe and instruct them to do so."

    Glenn still didn''t move an inch, and it seemed like he was hesitating whether to go or not.

    "Chase her," he ordered the knight. He wasn''t the type of person to meddle with someone else''s love life. But he didn''t want to receive an earful from his daughter. "Just go and chase Princess Brigitte, Glenn."

    "But¨C"

    "That''s an order."

    Glenn immediately stood straight and bowed to him. "As you wish, Your Majesty," he said, then he raised his head. "But I won''t chase Princess Brigitte just because I was ordered to. Still, thank you for giving me the courage to do so, Your Majesty."

    "You should be grateful to Neoma and not me," Niki said, then he turned his back on his personal knight. "That child is hopeless romantic just like her mother."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "IS THERE a problem, Nowell?" Brigitte asked while talking to her cousin from the opened window of the carriage. When the guards refused to open the gates a while ago, Nowell Elwood stepped out and asked her to stay. Then, he knocked on the window when he returned. And here they were now. "Why are we stuck here when we have the documents from His Majesty''s office granting us the permission to leave?"

    "The guards won''t open the gates, Princess Brigitte," Nowell reported to her in a frustrated voice. "Apparently, they are waiting for an order before they open the gates for us."

    "That''s ridiculous," she said with furrowed brows. "Then, why the hell did they give us the pass to leave if they won''t open the gates anyway?"

    "There might have been a mimunication somewhere," her cousin said. "Shall I return to the pce and demand for an exnation?"

    "I''ll do it," she said, then she closed the window before Nowell could stop her.

    After that, she stepped out of the carriage. She was seriously about to march back to the pce toin when suddenly, she saw a familiar figure approaching them.

    Oh.

    It was Sir Glenn who looked so dashing in his ck uniform.

    <em>God, ck looks so good on him!</em>

    She knew that she said she wouldn''t force her feelings on Sir Glenn. But now, she suddenly had the urge to kidnap him and make him her husband.

    <em>No, control yourself</em>, she reprimanded herself.<em> You''re a princess, for goodness'' sake!</em>

    Sir Glenn bowed to her and Nowell. "Greetings, Princess Brigitte."

    She nodded as an acknowledgment of his greeting. "Sir Glenn, may I know why we can''t pass through the gates? We have all the necessary documents that we need to present before leaving the pce. We also properly got permission from His Majesty to leave. Is there a problem that we''re not informed of?"

    "Ah, it''s my fault," he said, his face suddenly turning red. "The guards won''t open the gates until I say so."

    Okay, she was confused.

    But she had to say that Sir Glenn''s red and embarrassed face looked so adorable.

    <em>God, I really want to take him home now.</em>

    "Until you say so?" she asked with a raised brow. Although she was liked Sir Glenn very much, she wasn''t stupid enough to put her guard down. As a woman raised in a patriarchal family filled with toxic men, she was always careful when it came to dealing with the male species. "Care to borate, Sir Glenn?"

    "I was hoping to have a dance with youter, Princess Brigitte," he confessed, effectively making her heart skip a beat. "But since you have to go now, may I ask for a few minutes of your time to have a dance with you? Right here, right now."

    "What?" she asked in a slightly panicked voice. "Here? Now? But there''s no music¡­"

    Sir Glenn smiled brightly at her, then he extended his hand to her like a gentleman that he was. He didn''t need to say anything else. That smile and that hand already assured her that he would lead and take care of everything. "Would you like to dance with me, Princess Brigitte?"

    Brigitte could onlyugh softly out of giddiness. Then, she smiled and reached for the gant knight''s hand. Although Sir Glenn wore ck gloves (that only made him look sexier!), she was still able to feel the warmth of his skin through the fabric. Or maybe it was her own warmth. "I''d love to, Sir Glenn."

    <strong>***</strong>

    <em>MY MOON Princess likes sweets.</em>

    For that reason, Trevor was on his way to sneak in the Royal Kitchen. He thought he could bribe Princess Neoma with sweets and convince her to give him herst dance.

    Since he was a "secret" guest, he had to hide his presence. In his current state, only people on the same level as His Majesty could see or even feel him. After all, a person of his caliber could use his own Mana to make himself "invisible."

    That meant ordinary and above-average Mana users couldn''t see him. Thanks to that, he could freely roam the Royal Pce now.

    <em>Oh, a chef.</em>

    He didn''t know where exactly the Royal Kitchen was so when he saw a young chef walking in his direction, he stopped and waited for him. His n was to follow the young boy to the kitchen. While waiting for the young chef to pass him by, he couldn''t help but observe him.

    This young chef is probably around ten to twelve years old. If he''s already working as a Royal Chef, then he must be really good. But his Mana is pretty weak¨C

    His thoughts were cut off when all of a sudden, he met the young chef''s eyes.

    <em>He could see me in this state?!</em>

    "Excuse me," the young chef said politely, then he stood aside as if he was avoiding something when he passed him by.

    Avoiding something¡­?

    <em>Can the young boy see the monster behind me ¨C the monster that not even Princess Neoma or Lewis Crevan can see yet?!</em>

    There were only two people he knew, aside from the Devil and the demons back in hell, that could see the monster behind him clearly: Emperor Niki de Moonasterio and Saint Dominic Zavaroni. The others like Gale, Sir Glenn, and Kyle Sprouse could only feel the monster and perhaps, see a hazy figure following him around.

    But the young chef definitely saw the monster behind him clearly.

    That realization sent shivers down his spine.

    Trevor smirked and when he turned around, the young chef was already gone but his ominous Mana left a trail. It was a warning for him¨C a warning not to proceed any further. "What kind of monster are you raising here, Your Majesty?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA gasped when she heard from her Papa Boss that Sir Glenn chased Princess Brigitte.

    It happened when she went to her father''s office to tell him that she was ready for the closing ceremony of the Moon Festival. When she noticed that Sir Glenn wasn''t around, she asked the emperor about the knight.

    Then, her Papa Boss casually said that Sir Glenn chased Princess Brigitte.

    "Oh my gosh," Neoma, standing in front of her Papa Boss''s desk, said excitedly. She was alone in the office because Lewis was waiting outside. Only she (ording to her) was free toe and go in her father''s office after all. "I wanna hear the tea from Sir Glenn. Papa Boss, let''s spy on them."

    "No," Emperor Niki said firmly. "We already need to go to People''s Pce for the closing ceremony. Let Glenn have his private time with Princess Brigitte Griffins."

    She pouted but acknowledged that her father was right.

    Sir Glenn''s love life wasn''t a rom drama that she should watch. Maybe asking for the detailster would be more appropriate. Well, it wasn''t really polite to do that. But she probably wouldn''t be able to hold back from asking anyway.

    "Neoma."

    "Yes, Papa Boss?"

    "You asked for permission to dress up as ady after the ceremony," Papa Boss asked sternly. "Are you going to give yourst dance to some boy, huh? I heard that the demon boy is adamant about taking yourst dance." She didn''t know if it was just her imagination or did his gaze really turned sharper than normal. "Are you going to dance as ''Neoma'' with Trevor?"

    "Nah, I''m not that crazy to give him myst dance. But we turned it into a game," Neoma said with a shrug. "Whoever gets to catch me before the ceremony ends gets to have myst dance."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 151 - RUN, NEOMA, RUN~

    "I SAW a crow earlier, Princess Neoma."

    Neoma froze when she heard what Lewis said.

    Right now, they were alone in the carriage that would bring her to Illumina za where the Grand Yule Dance wouldmence.

    Emperor Niki already went ahead of her with Sir Glenn and Count Kyle Sprouse to begin the closing ceremony with a speech. Her presence wasn''t needed because it was the emperor''s duty to give an opening remark and not hers.

    Her job as the "Crown Prince" was to lead the danceter.

    For that reason, she wasn''t allowed to go to the za with Hanna¨C her "date" and dance partner for tonight. Apparently, the gentlemen would have to wait for thedies as a part of the ritual. Thus, she needed to arrive in the venue earlier than Hanna.

    And she was d that it turned out that way so that she could have this kind of conversation with Lewis.

    "A crow, huh?" Neoma said after pausing for a while. "Tell me more about it, Lewis."

    Of course, there were crows in the empire.

    But her son wasn''t dumb. He wouldn''t bring that up if he didn''t find the crow that he saw strange. It might have acted weird for Lewis to notice it.

    "I noticed it when Duchess Amber Quinzel arrived earlier," Lewis, seated on the couch from across her, reported to her in his usual indifferent face and voice. "The crow also followed the duchess when Her Grace left the pce."

    "Does that crow have red eyes?"

    He shook his head. "But I felt its malevolent energy."

    She nodded,pletely believing her son.

    Lewis wasn''t the kind of person to spout nonsense after all. And she knew he wasn''t just being overly cautious.

    We''re talking about a boy who rarely talks here after all.

    "Maybe the crow with red eyes is meant to be my surveince. If that''s the case, then it''s possible that the cult assigns a different crow to a different target," she said. "We have to be extra careful now, Lewis. Crows are smart. They remember things clearly, and they pass the information they gather to the whole flock."

    He nodded firmly.

    "Did you do anything when you saw the crow?"

    He shook his head. "I am under the impression that we''re supposed to pretend that we don''t know about the cult yet. Am I wrong, Princess Neoma?"

    "Of course not," she said, then she gave him a thumbs up. "Good job."

    Her son just looked at her as usual.

    But at least, he looked pleased by her praise.

    "So, is there anything else you''d like to report to me?"

    He nodded before he spoke. "I think Lady Hanna Quinzel is a little bit upset that you''re hiding things from her. Sending me as her personal knight for a day has made her realize that you''re trying to protect her from someone."

    She smiled proudly. "As expected of Hanna, she''s sharp."

    Now she was even more convinced that Hanna was killed in the past. Her cousin was meek, but she wasn''t stupid or weak. She wouldn''t have used too much Mana by ident. Someone or something must have attacked her the day she died in her past life.

    But what she didn''t understand why how could the Quinzels not know that Hanna was killed?

    <em>It''s either my current assumption is wrong, or something happened in the past that I am not aware of. I was a na?ve little girl in my first life, so thetter is more likely to have happened. It seems like I can''t rely on the memories of my first life anymore.</em>

    "Things that didn''t happen in my first life have been taking ce now ever since I took Nero''s ce three years ago," she said seriously. "I don''t want Hanna to die."

    "Are you going to tell Lady Hanna Quinzel the truth?"

    "No, not the entire truth," she said while shaking her head. "But I will tell her the things she needs to know to avoid her untimely death that happened in my first life."

    "Is there a reason why you can''t tell Lady Hanna Quinzel the whole truth, Princess Neoma?"

    She flinched at Lewis''s question. "Well, I can sense that Hanna is infatuated with Nero. If she finds out that this is already my second time living as Neoma de Moonasterio, she''d probably ask who Nero ended up getting engaged to in my first life. I don''t want to break her heart by letting her know that Nero fell in love with another girl."

    "Ah."

    "You don''t seem to agree with my decision, Lewis."

    "I''d like to think that I''m different from the Lewis of your first life, Princess Neoma," her son said. "I believe that Lady Hanna Quinzel will think the same."

    "Lewis, do you trust Hanna?"

    "Yes. I can see that Lady Hanna Quinzel adores you, Princess Neoma," he said. Then, for some reason, his golden eyes glowered. "And if I''m wrong, I can always just kill her."

    "I''ll disown you if you kill Hanna."

    He paused for a while, then his eyes returned to normal. "Yes, please "disown" me."

    "You ungrateful brat," she scolded him lightly. "This is why they say it''s useless to raise a son."

    Of course, her son ignored herint.

    So, she just changed the topic.

    "Lewis, you don''t have to guard meter," she said. "I promised Trevor a game before the ceremony ends. If he catches me, I''ll give him myst dance. I want a fair game so you don''t have to help me hide from him."

    He fell silent for a while before he spoke. "May I join the game as well, Princess Neoma?"

    Neoma''s eyes widened in shock. "Are you interested to have myst dance as well, Lewis?"

    "Not really," Lewis said casually. "But I don''t want you to give yourst dance to a malicious demon like Trevor, Princess Neoma."

    <em>Ah, so it''s like that.</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOU CAN talk freely now," Niki, standing in the balcony while watching his people dance in the za, said to the aides he was with: Glenn and Rufus on his right side, and Kyle on his left side. "The spell is up."

    That was the spell that would prevent people from outside the shield to hear what they were talking about. Reading their lips would also be impossible for outsiders to do so.

    He did that because his ears hurt every time his aides would refer to Neoma as the Crown Prince. Although it was the right thing to do, for some reason, he hated hearing it now. Thus, he would often refer to the "Crown Prince" as his child instead of a son.

    "Where''s Nero?" he asked without turning his head to any side.

    "Prince Nero is resting in the royal parlor of this pce, Your Majesty," Kyle, the one he assigned to secretly bring Nero to the People''s Pce, reported to him. "Stephanie and Alphen are keeping His Royal Highnesspany."

    "The front porch of the pce where the real Prince Nero and my daughter Hanna will danceter is already secured," Rufus added. "People won''t be allowed toe near them and the barrier around would make it difficult for the outsiders to make out their features."

    They made it so the people who had already seen Neoma as the Crown Prince wouldn''t notice her differences with her twin brother.

    Which reminded him¡­

    "Nero asked for permission to switch with Neoma and dance with Hanna Quinzel at the closing ceremony," he said. "Does anyone know what Neoma would be doing while Nero is dancing with the youngdy? She mentioned something about ying a game with the demon boy."

    "Oh, I heard from Princess Neoma a while ago that the yers have increased," Sir Glenn said delightfully. He was the one who escorted Neoma to Hanna Quinzel a while ago, so he must have a short talk with his daughter. "Apparently, Lewis will also join the game. Our Princess Neoma is famous, isn''t she?"

    "That, Her Royal Highness is," Rufus agreed in a proud voice. "Hanna told me a while ago that if she could, she would alsopete with the boys for Princess Neoma''sst dance. Apparently, my daughter is not yet ready to "give" our princess''s hand for marriage to anyone."

    Kyle let out a deep sigh. "It seems like Yule Pce will be chaoticter."

    Yule Pce was his residence.

    "What did you say, Kyle?" he asked, then he turned to his aide. "Why will my residence turn chaoticter?"

    "Your Majesty, Princess Neoma told me that you gave her the permission to use Yule Pce as her "ypen"ter," Kyle said in a confused voice. "Because of that, I ordered the servants of your pce to leave and return tomorrow morning, Your Majesty."

    Neoma didn''t ask for his permission to use his residence as her "ypen."

    Niki could only pinch the bridge of his nose. "That little rogue child¡­"

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA gasped softly when she suddenly felt chills all over.

    "What''s wrong, Your Royal Highness?" Hanna, who had her arm link with his, asked. "Are you alright?"

    "I suddenly had an ominous feeling," Neoma confessed, then she faced her dance partner. "Is it because you''re upset with me?"

    Her cousin justughed softly.

    As of now, they were in Illumina za joined by other couples from different noble households.

    The beautiful water fountain in front of People''s Pce had turned into a bonfire.

    They, along with the other noble children, surrounded the bonfire. The higher your rank was, the closer you were to the fire. Of course, she and Hanna would be the closest to the re.

    But since it was a dance for the mass, the noble children in the za right now wore simple and modest clothes. Well, as "simple" as their wardrobes would allow. That meant that for themoners, they still looked as expensive as hell.

    "We have a lot of things we need to talk aboutter, Your Royal Highness," Hanna said as she put one hand on his shoulder, while the other was holding her hand. "You know what I''m talking about, don''t you?"

    Her green orbs even glowered.

    Neoma smiled, then she put a hand on the small of Hanna''s back. "I have something to confess to youter, Hanna."

    <strong>***</strong>

    FOR THE first time in Neoma''s third life, she ran as if her life depended on it.

    After her dance with Hanna a while ago, she stayed in the balcony with Emperor Niki to overlook the ceremony. And while doing so, she received an earful from her Papa Boss because she forgot to tell him that she needed to use Yule Pce as her ypen.

    Well, the safest ce for her to hide from her "pursuers" was her Papa Boss''s residence. To be precise, she was running towards her father''s office right now.

    <em>Let''s see if Trevor and Lewis can enter Papa Boss''s office!</em>

    It was just a little frustrating that she was wearing her "Miss Ramsay disguise." But instead of enjoying the festival, she was stuck in her father''s pce while ying with the boys.

    I didn''t mean this when I said I''d be a ygirl in the future¡­

    "My Moon Princess, here Ie."

    Neoma clicked her tongue when she heard Trevor''s voice behind her.

    She didn''t mean to but her body moved on its own to turn and look at the demon boy. She almost had a heart attack when she realized that Trevor was close enough to grab her. Thankfully, her ever-loyal knight came at the perfect time.

    Lewis suddenly appeared in front of her, then he gave Trevor a flying kick.

    The talking book was sent flying in the hallway.

    "Good job, One-Kick Lewis!" Neoma yelled, then she ran faster when she saw the door of her father''s office. But then, she suddenly felt a strong pressure behind her. When she turned to look at it, she was surprised to see Lewis running after her. "Lewis, why are you chasing me?!"

    "Last dance," Lewis said. "Princess Neoma."

    She didn''t quite get it but she clicked her tongue and ran faster. This time, she summoned Tteokbokki and borrowed his strength. It did boost her speed.

    Then, she was distracted when the double doors suddenly opened.

    She cursed under her breath when she realized that at the speed that she was going, she would crash to the person who just went out of her father''s office. Much to her shock, she instantly recognized that young boy with ck hair and ck eyes wearing a chef''s uniform.

    <em>Ruto?!</em>

    Ruto turned to her and met her gaze.

    She was pretty sure that he saw her clearly. Thus, imagine her surprise when he literally stepped aside¨C a clear sign that he had no intention to stop her from crashing into the door.

    <em>Tsk!</em>

    She was prepared to destroy her Papa Boss''s office door when all of a sudden, said Papa Boss appeared on the spot that Ruto was standing on a few seconds ago.

    Then, much to her surprise, her father didn''t move an inch and let her crash against him.

    <em>Ouch.</em>

    "What a rogue," Emperor Niki said while shaking his head. Then, he literally picked her up and draped her over his arm. Then, he turned to Lewis and Trevor who both stopped in front of them. She didn''t know if it was just her imagination or did Papa Boss really look smug at the moment. "I guess I won, little rascals."

    <em>[No, I won.]</em>

    She was surprised when she heard that strange, soft voice of a man in her mind.

    Then, all of a sudden, there was a burst of blinding white light that made her close her eyes tight. After that, she felt the change in her surroundings. Thankfully, she still felt her Papa Boss''s arm around her waist. And that meant her father was with her.

    Thank goodness.

    <em>Wait, why am I relieved by that?</em>

    [You may now open your eyes, child.]

    And she did.

    To say that she was surprised toy her eyes on the most gentle, the most beautiful, and the most angelic face that she had seen in her three lives would be an understatement. The person in front of them also looked soft and rxed because they wore a white robe that reached the floor.

    <em>Who is this beautiful person?</em>

    And where were they?

    It wasn''t definitely her Papa Boss''s office.

    This one looked more like a Holy Shrine. She couldn''t decide if it was simple because it was practically empty except for the chair where the beautiful person was seated on, or was it grand because the pirs were made of gold?

    "I didn''t expect that you''d summon us here," Emperor Niki said in an indifferent voice. "Yule."

    Her eyes widened in shock.

    <em>Yule?! As in the Moon God?! And did Papa Boss just casually called a god by their name as if they are equals?!</em>

    But, wait.

    <em>Is it really this easy to meet a god here?!</em>

    She didn''t know because she didn''t grow up as a proper Moonasterion Princess in her first life.

    "Niki, Neoma," Yule, in his soothing voice, called her and her Papa Boss in a friendly way. "Will the two of you dance for me?"

    "I respectfully decline," Neoma and her Papa Boss said in unison.

    Yule''s smile seemed to have been frozen because of their blunt rejection.

    Hah, talk about awkward.

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 152 - DANCE WITH MY FATHER

    "AH, winter is approaching, isn''t it?"

    Neoma''s brows furrowed in confusion when Yule, the Moon God himself, suddenly brought up winter after she and her Papa Boss declined his request to see them dance.

    "You see, our little princess, I''m the kind of person who acts on a whim," Yule said brightly even though his words sounded ominous. "If you make me upset, I might end up creating snowstorms here and there."

    And the god followed that threat with a "gentle"ugh.

    Neoma, in disbelief, whispered the word that she hadn''t uttered for so long. "Scumbag."

    But Yule obviously heard her because they suddenly stoppedughing.

    On the other hand, her Papa Boss stifled augh. Then, the emperor coughed in an attempt to cover it up.

    "Ah, pardon my vulgar vocabry," she said, then she gave the god her infamous arrogant smirk. "I should have said ''may your hairline decline each time your divine mouth sprouts garbage'' instead."

    "You little rogue," Emperor Niki called her. When she raised her head to look up at her father, she saw a weird expression on his face. It looked like he was impressed and annoyed at the same time. "Have you read your mother''s journal?"

    Her mother''s journal?

    More like ''Lady Mona Roseheart''s Guide to Eloquent Cursing 101.'' After all, the "journal" was filled with her mother''s unique way of cursing.

    "Mama''s journal is very interesting. I see that I inherited my big brains from her," she said. "I''ll give it five out of five stars."

    Her father smirked, then he put her down.

    Ah, that was when she only realized that she was being carried like a sack of potatoes by the emperor. When will Papa Boss learn to carry her properly?

    <em>Tsk.</em>

    "It''s quite refreshing to hear someone curse at me again," Yule, the god that she and her Papa Boss almost forgot, said in an amused tone. "The first and only person to do so before you was Mon-Mon."

    She literally had goosebumps when she heard that. "Please don''t tell me you''re referring to my mother."

    "Mon-Mon was my pet name for my dearest Mona," the Moon God confirmed cheerfully. "Doesn''t it sound adorable?"

    She just scowled as a response, then she looked up at her father. "Papa Boss, why did you let them call my mother that way?"

    The emperor let out a deep sigh. "Your mother liked it."

    <em>Oh, Mama.</em>

    She could only sigh while shaking her head. Then, she faced the Moon God. "Lord Yule, may I know your pronoun? I don''t want to misgender you."

    "I have lived long enough that I already stopped caring about my gender," the god said casually. "But my devoted followers would probably cry if they heard me say that. So let''s just say that I''m a man so feel free to use the pronouns he and him when referring to me."

    "Thank you, Lord Yule."

    "You''re really strange," the god said, then he squatted down to meet her eye level while hugging his knees close to his chest. "I adore half of you because of Mon-Mon, but I detest the other half because of Niki."

    "Huh?" she asked, confused. "But my Papa Boss is your descendant, Lord Yule. Shouldn''t you favor him over my Mama?"

    "Exactly," he said. "Niki is my descendant so I know very well how despicable he is."

    "Well, you''re not that different from my Papa Boss," she said warily. "I know that you were serious when you said you''ll punish the empire with snowstorms if we don''t dance for you."

    The Moon God just smiled "brightly" at her.

    It was the kind of smile that looked innocent to ignorant people. But since she wasn''t that na?ve, she recognized the cruelty behind that smile.

    And now that I''m looking closely at Lord Yule, I can see that his eyes are unique.

    Yule''s eyes were a deep shade of blue, and they looked like they held the gxy in them. After all, the orbs were literally sparkling just like how stars light up the night sky. Boy, Yule won the ''prettiest eyes category'' in her heart.

    The god''s hair color andplexion didn''t impress or shock her anymore. After all, it was obvious the de Moonasterios got their white hair and pale skin from Yule.

    <em>Oh, I just realized that Lord Yule''s hair is as long as Saint Macaroni''s.</em>

    "But I understand," she said while nodding her head. "Anyone who has lived as long as Lord Yule is bound to lose their sanity at some point."

    The godughed softly. "That''s an eloquent way of saying that I''m a lunatic, little princess."

    "The word ''lunatic'' suits you, Lord Yule," she said while pping her hands. "In anothernguage, ''luna'' means moon."

    The Moon Godughed again and this time, it was louder. "I can see that you''re really a de Moonasterio, little princess."

    She let out a deep sigh. "I know, right?"

    Yule just smiled, then he turned serious. "Dance for me," he said in amanding voice this time. "It is the duty of the current emperor to dance with either his wife or daughter during the Moon Festival to entertain me. If you fail to do so, I will bring bad luck to the empire for the whole year. But if you please me¡­" There goes the Moon God''s fake bright smile again. "I will bless the Great Moonasterion Empire and its people for the whole year."

    "If you put it that way, then I guess we have no choice but toply," Neoma said seriously. To be honest, she wanted to go ape on the Moon God. But she had a feeling that only the poor citizens of their empire would get punished if she offended Yule. "And it''s not like dancing with my father will kill me," she added, then she looked up at the emperor and extended her little hand to him. "Shall we dance, Papa Boss?"

    Emperor Niki looked at her, then he let out a deep sigh. "Fine."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "NERO, are you sure that it''s okay for you to stay here?" Hanna asked worriedly. "You''re not going to chase after Neoma?"

    "Uh-huh," Nero said. "At first, I thought of meddling with them to make sure that no one will catch Neoma. But doing so might make it look like I''m looking down on my twin sister."

    She smiled when she heard those words. "You have matured, Nero."

    "Well, someone scolded me before."

    Her smile grew wider because she knew that Nero was talking about her and the time that she scolded him for looking down on Neoma unintentionally.

    <em>He listened to me.</em>

    What a wonderful night it truly was.

    Right now, she could talk freely to Nero because they were slow-dancing. She had her hands on his shoulders, and his hands were ced lightly on her waist while they were swaying with the slow beat of the music ying around them.

    Thanks to the slow and soft beat of the music, they could talk just fine.

    They also didn''t have to worry about being heard by the people around them. After all, her father and His Majesty assured them a while ago that there was a powerful spell around the area. It would prevent strangers from eavesdropping or even reading their lips when talking.

    <em>It''s one of the basic spells that royals always carry with them to protect their privacy.</em>

    Anyway, one of the things that made that night more perfect was the fact that her mother and father were also enjoying the Moon Festival. She saw her parents dancing sweetly near the bonfire a while ago.

    "I will be going back to hell with Trevor tomorrow morning."

    Her heart sank when she heard that although she had already been informed by Neoma a while ago.

    "Don''t give me that look," he scolded her lightly. "I want you to send me off with a smile, Hanna."

    She was surprised to hear that. "Will I be allowed to send you off, Nero?"

    "Of course," Nero said in a voice that seemed to ask her why she would even ask that in the first ce. "I also have something to give youter, Hanna."

    Hanna''s face definitely turned red at that moment. "I-I''m looking forward to it, Nero."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA was trying not tough while watching her father''s awkward movements.

    Right now, she was standing on Emperor Niki''s boots while holding his hands. Of course, since their height difference was too big, her father had to lean down and bend his knees. Needless to say, it was really an awkward position for him.

    And she was enjoying her father''s misery.

    "Let''s spin around, Papa Boss," Neoma said in a cheerful voice. Gosh, who knew that "dancing" with her father would be this fun? "Come on!"

    Her Papa Boss gave her a scowl as a response.

    Yule, seated on an invisible chair (in short, he was floating in the air in a sitting position),ughed merrily. It seemed like the Moon God was truly enjoying the moment. "Niki, shall I help you?"

    Before either her or her Papa Boss could respond, the Moon God snapped his fingers.

    Then, poof!

    She instantly turned into her grown-up form.

    As soon as she realized that, she let go of her Papa Boss''s hands and stepped down from his boots. She wanted to run to a mirror to admire her pretty face when she caught her father''s reaction.

    <em>Right, this is the first time that he saw me in my grown-up form.</em>

    Granted that it was the first time, why did her father have to look at her with such a painful look on his face?

    <em>Why does Papa Boss look like I just stabbed him?</em>

    "Mona," her Papa Boss said under his breath. "Mona¡­"

    Ah, it seemed like her father saw her mother in her grown-up look.

    <em>Do I really look like my mother?</em>

    Because at that moment, she could clearly see that her father was looking at her as if he was seeing another person in her.

    "I believe that''s how Neoma de Moonasterio would look like in ten years'' time," Yule told her father in a serious voice. "In other words, when she reached eighteen years of age."

    Upon hearing that, Emperor Niki suddenly shut his eye tight while grabbing his head as if he was in so much pain. He was screaming, but the agony in his low groan was enough for her to know that he was miserable. Then, a few momentster, he was now on his knees with his head hanged low.

    She didn''t want to but the sight of her father in that state made her worry.

    "Lord Yule, what did you do to my Papa Boss?" she confronted the Moon God. She didn''t expect to sound worried about her father but she was. "I don''t care if you''re a god but hurting the emperor is a sin!"

    The Moon God smiled at her. "Are you worried about your father?"

    She clenched her hands. "Just¡­ a little¡­ bit."

    "You really entertain me, Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio. I''d love to talk to you more but the truth is, I have a business with Niki and not with you. But thank you for showing me a side of your "Papa Boss" that I haven''t seen yet," Yule said in an apologetic voice, then he waved his hand. "See youter, Ne-Ne."

    Neoma gasped at the horrible pet name that she received from the Moon God. "Nooo!"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "NIKOLAI, you look so pathetic."

    Niki, clutching his chest tight while catching his breath, raised his head to re at Yule. It was a good thing that the Moon God already sent Neoma back to the pce. He didn''t want his daughter to see him in this state. "That appearance of my daughter¡­ I barely recalled Mona telling me that something will happen once our daughter turns eighteen," he said in an agonizing voice. "She told me about it when she was still pregnant with the twins. But¡­ but¡­"

    "But you can''t remember it," Yule finished for him. "You haven''t retrieved the memories that Mon-Mon stole from you yet?"

    He could only re at the Moon God.

    "Have you told your daughter yet about your own royal secret?" the god asked him. Then, he squatted down in front of him while hugging his legs. "Have you told Ne-Ne that her mother cruelly stole all your happy and warm memories with her?" He reached for his face to put a finger on his forehead. "Have you told your daughter that her mother imnted memories in your head to make you hate her?"

    He pushed the god''s hand away from his face. "Why does my daughter have to know that?"

    Everything the Moon God said was true.

    He lost a major part of his memories that had something to do with her rtionship with Mona. Not all fond memories that he had with her had been stolen. There were some happy memories left, and he had shared most of them with Neoma for the past three years.

    But still, a huge portion of his memories had been wiped away.

    It became his royal secret because if his enemies found out that his mind had been messed up by his ex-lover, then it was going to be a huge problem.

    That was also why he couldn''t tell Neoma what she wanted to know about her mother.

    After all, he can''t remember it himself.

    "Niki, how can you tell your daughter the truth about your past with her mother when you can''t remember it?" the god asked while shaking his head. "And although Nero is reserved, I''m sure he''s also interested to know more about his mother."

    "My children don''t have to know a person who''s long gone."

    The Moon God fell silent for a while. "Niki, Mon-Mon failed toplete the contract that she made with me," he said seriously. "I summoned you here to let you know that I will make your children fulfill what their mother failed to do."

    "Don''t drag the children into whatever contract Mona made with you!" he snarled at the god. "Leave them alone!"

    He smiled apologetically at him. "I need your children, Niki. Especially the feisty little princess."

    "Yule¨C"

    "I will make Neoma de Moonasterio the first empress of the Great Moonasterion Empire."

    He wasn''t as astonished as he thought he would be.

    After all, Saint Dominic Zavaroni already saw Neoma taking the throne in his vision. And the visions that the saint received could onlye from Yule himself.

    "I won''t let Neoma take the throne," he said firmly. "She doesn''t want it. I will give her the leisure life that she dreams of¡­" He clutched his chest even tighter. "I will give Neoma the quiet and peaceful life that Mona wished for her."

    "Ah, poor child," Yule said, then he pointed a finger on his chest, on the part where his heart was beating erratically. "Mon-Mon stole your ability to love along with your fond memories with her. Thus, you became apathetic and cruel to your own children in the past. But it seems like it''s still your children, especially Ne-Ne, who managed to break the cruel spell that their mother instilled in your heart." The Moon God looked at him with a yful smile on his face. "Have you learned to love your children now, Niki?"

    "Shut up," Niki snarled at Yule. He didn''t have any intention to answer the Moon God because he would definitely use it against him someday. Yule was that kind of being. "I''m warning you, Yule¨C don''t get my children involved in your cruel schemes."

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 Chapter 153 - FEARLESS

    NEOMA was free-falling.

    She wasn''t scared even though she was facing the night sky. But she was just wondering why she seemed to have fallen out of the sky. After all, she was in the shrine in Yule''s Pce, wasn''t she?

    <em>Anyway¡­</em>

    That damned Yule kicked her out of the shrine just when Emperor Niki seemed to be suffering from pain. She didn''t want to admit this but she was a little worried about her father. Plus, she didn''t want to see the person who tormented her in the past being tormented by another person.

    <em>Only I can bully Papa Boss.</em>

    She was distracted when she felt her back hit something cold. Then, much to her surprise, she realized that she just passed through the roof!

    <em>Did I be a ghost or something?</em>

    Panic kicked in her system.

    She could no longer enjoy her "free-fall" after realizing that she was back in the pce, but she seemed to have passed through the roof and now, she was staring at a high ceiling. She immediately "got up" and turned to see where she would fall.

    <em>Oh, god.</em>

    She almost screamed when she saw several boxes of fresh ingredients like vegetables and fruits below her. She wasn''t sure if that would soften up her fall. But she had a literally tough body so it wouldn''t kill her even if she didn''t ask Tteokbokki to cover her with his scales.

    Right?

    <em>Ah, damn it! Tteokbokki, gear mode on! Now!</em>

    "We can''t, thug princess," Tteokbokki said in her mind. "There''s a boy watching you below. You can''t reveal to anyone that you have a Soul Beast when you''re disguised as Neoma Ramsay. So good luck and try not to die."

    <em>F*ck you, you traitorous ketchup-colored donkey!</em>

    "I will give you a proper burial, thug princess."

    And it was followed by Tteokbokki''s evilugh.

    She cursed under her breath when she realized that her Soul Beast returned to her the words that she told him several years ago.

    <em>What a sly donkey.</em>

    But to be honest, even though Tteokbokki''s attitude may appear calloused to other people, she knew that her Soul Beast wouldn''t let her die if she was in serious danger.

    Although she was in a pinch right now, she knew that falling on the boxes wouldn''t kill her. First, she had a tough body. Second, her fall was slowing down. Third, Yule''s divine protection was still all over her. And Tteokbokki knew all of that.

    Well, it wouldn''t hurt if that damned donkey showed a little concern¡­

    But then again, their rtionship didn''t work that way. She and Tteokbokki were both used to "bullying" each other. It might look like they had a bad rtionship from the perspective of other people. But for her and her Soul Beast, it was the best way for them to get along.

    <em>Hmp! You''re lucky that I''m merciful, you small-fry dragon.</em>

    "Watch out!"

    She flinched when she heard the familiar voice. And when she looked below, her eyes widened when her earlier thought was confirmed. A boy with ck hair, ck eyes in a chef''s white uniform greeted her.

    Although he looked averagepared to the boys around her, she still remembered him.

    <em>Ruto!</em>

    She thought Ruto would catch her just like in the movies.

    But the young chefpletely ignored her even though he clearly saw her falling. Instead of catching her, he swiftly moved the boxes away from the spot where she would fall. And Ruto even looked relieved after "saving" the boxes of fruits and vegetables!

    <em>This brat¡­!</em>

    She was even more infuriated when shended on her butt, making a soft thud on the floor as she did so.

    <em>Shit.</em>

    "Did you survive, child?"

    She raised her head to re at Ruto. He was bending his knees while extending a hand to her. "You know that I''m a child and yet, you saved your ingredients instead of me?"

    "I know that you''re a child," Ruto said bluntly. "But I also know that you''re protected by a divine barrier. You wouldn''t die or get hurt with that kind of protection. Unfortunately, my precious ingredients don''t have the same protection as you do."

    She hated that it made sense.

    Moreover, for some reason, his soothing voice cleared her head. Before she knew it, she was already calm. And she felt ridiculous for the entitlement that she felt a while ago.

    <em>As an adult, I''m ashamed of myself.</em>

    "Are you upset?" Ruto asked, still extending his hand to her. "I''m sorry."

    He didn''t have to apologize and yet, he did.

    Now she felt awful about herself.

    "Okay, I''ll ept your apology," she said, then she epted his hand and let him pull her up. She let go of his big and warm hand as soon as her feet were t on the floor. "But in return, don''t ask questions about the divine protection, and the reason why I suddenly appeared here."

    After saying that, she looked around.

    The lights were dim but she could still recognize the fancy room, and the equipment around her, and the variety of ingredients around. She was in the royal kitchen, but not the one in her residence. This kitchen was bigger and fancier, so she must be in Yule Pce''s royal kitchen.

    <em>It makes sense that Ruto is here.</em>

    "I''m not going to ask you anyway since I''m not interested in other stuff going on here in the pce," Ruto said, distracting her from "sight-seeing." "But who are you?"

    She gasped because she was shocked by his question.

    It hadn''t even been that long since they met each other at the Illumina za!

    "You''re not a kitchen staff since I''m the youngest here."

    "I''m not a kitchen staff. I''m ady-in-waiting trainee at the Crown Prince''s pce," she reminded him of the lie that she told him when they met. "Don''t tell me you can''t really recognize my face?"

    He blinked several times, then he snapped his fingers. "Ah. Illumina za. Corndog. Miss Ramsay."

    She crossed her arms over her chest. "You finally remembered me. I can''t believe that you really forgot my face."

    "I already told you that I see children younger than me as wrinkly faces," he exined while scratching his cheek. "And we only talk for a few minutes back then so remembering your voice is quite a challenge."

    Her brows furrowed in confusion.

    <em>Does he have face blindness?</em>

    She unconsciously touched her throat. Now that she was disguised as Neoma Ramsay, she didn''t wear the choker that changes her voice to match Nero''s. If she wore that tonight, then Ruto wouldn''t have recognized her, would he?

    "Aside from my voice, is there another way for you to remember me?" she asked. "Wait, can you recognize my Mana?"

    If that was the case, then it was going to be a problem.

    "I don''t read other people''s Mana because I know that it''s something that''s easy to hide or change."

    That was true.

    Every time she would go out as Neoma Ramsay, she would hide her real Mana and go low profile. That was the reason why Tteokbokki didn''t help her a while ago.

    "I remember people by their physical features like hair, skin color, built, and sometimes¡­" He paused. Then, much to her surprise, he caught a strand of hair between his fingers and held it up close to his face. After that, he leaned down, closed his eyes, and sniffed in the scent of her hair. "Through scent."

    Then, he opened his eyes and looked at her face intently.

    Okay, she suddenly held her breath for some reason.

    Then, she heard one of her favorite T*ylor Swift songs st in her head. But her big brain made a little change in the lyrics to fit the current situation.

    <em>I wanna stay right here, in this royal kitchen.</em>

    <em>You put your eyes on me. </em>

    <em>In this moment now, capture it, remember it</em>.

    She released the breath that she knew she was holding in, then she stepped away from Ruto. She was hoping that her face didn''t turn red even though she could feel her cheeks turn warm. "R-Rude," she used him. "I''m ady, Mr. Ruston Stroganoff. How could you casually touch my hair and sniff it like a dog, huh?"

    "Ah, I apologize," Ruto said in an embarrassed tone. In fairness, he looked guilty. "I act without thinking. It won''t happen again."

    "`Kay," she said. She was surprised by what he did, but she didn''t feel vited. After all, she knew that it was Ruto''s way of imprinting her into his memory since he couldn''t recognize faces. "I will let it slide if you feed me."

    As if on cue, her stomach grumbled a little too loudly.

    She didn''t get embarrassed though. Because even if she was pretty, smart, and almost perfect, she was still a human who gets hungry like everyone else.

    "Ah, then you fell in the right ce," he said while rolling the sleeves of his chef''s uniform up to his sleeves. "I stayed in the kitchen because I was trying to make one of the snacks that His Royal Highness Prince Nero wanted me to make for him."

    Her ears perked up. She remembered that she sent the Royal Chef the recipe of a few easy-to-make snacks that she missed from Korea. Of course, she chose the snacks that had ingredients easily found in the royal kitchen. "Really? What kind of snack is it?"

    "His Royal Highness calls it ''Tornado Potatoes.''"

    She squealed in delight. "I can''t wait to try it!"

    ''Tornado Potatoes'' was one of the snacks that she had always wanted to recreate in this world. In her second life, it was one of the street food that she would often get on her way home. After all, Korean street food was really, really good.

    "Then, sit down and wait patiently," he told her. "I already softened the potatoes and the next procedures are easy to do."

    "`Kay," she said, then she sat on the small wooden stool used by kitchen staff when checking the ingredients in the boxes. As soon as she rxed, she suddenly remembered the little kids who were still probably looking for her around Yule''s Pce. "Ruto, I''m being chased by little ruffians. I apologize in advance if they storm into the royal kitchen and mess up the ce."

    "Don''t worry about that, Miss Ramsay," Ruto said in his usual nonchnt tone, then he turned his back on her to attend to the potatoes on the table. "Those little ruffians you''re talking about won''t find my territory even if they turn Yule Pce upside-down."

    Neoma tilted her head at one side.

    <em>Is the Royal Kitchen well-protected by Papa Boss''s barrier because it''s the ce where our meals are being made?</em>

    <strong><em>***</em></strong><em></em>

    TREVOR felt Princess Neoma''s presence a while ago.

    Lewis Crevan felt it, too.

    And as a result, both of them rushed in the direction where they felt the Moon Princess appear. But much to his shock, what greeted them was a in wall. There was no door, and Princess Neoma''s presencepletely disappeared.

    Ah, would it be more appropriate to say that Her Royal Highness''s presence was covered by something else?

    <em>I''m pretty sure Princess Neoma is here.</em>

    He wanted to break the wall in front of him but if he was wrong, he''d earn the wrath of Emperor Niki for destroying a part of his residence. Moreover, the fact that Lewis Crevan couldn''t seem to figure out where Princess Neoma disappeared into was making him doubt his own senses.

    It was obvious that the fox boy was using all his sharp senses to detect the Moon Princess, but to no avail.

    <em>Hmm¡­ how about this?</em>

    "Lewis Crevan, Princess Neoma is beyond this wall," Trevor said, then he pointed at the wall in front of them. "I would have punched this but it''s protected by His Majesty''s Holy Barrier. As a demon, I''m weak to holy¨C"

    He didn''t get to finish his sentence because all of a sudden, Lewis Crevan jumped and kicked the wall.

    <em>Desperate much, my dear son?</em>

    It seemed like the fox boy used his full strength because his two cute and fluffy tails came out. Unfortunately, his power as a Silver Fox didn''t work.

    As soon as Lewis Crevan''s foot hit the wall, he was electrocuted.

    The electric shock was strong enough to make the quiet and indifferent fox boy groan in pain, then he dropped on the floor unconscious.

    <em>Oops.</em>

    He squatted down and gently poked Lewis Crevan''s face.

    "Ah, good thing you''re still alive, my reckless son," he said, relieved that his little dirty trick didn''t kill the fox boy. Princess Neoma would kill him if Lewis Crevan died. "As I thought, you''re still weakpared to the monsters around you. After all, you''re still unable to see the horrible creature behind me."

    Strictly speaking, Lewis Crevan wouldn''t be considered weak anywhere in the empire.

    But not when he ispared to the monster beyond the wall, that is.

    "My dear son, you should be the strongest person beside your mother," Trevor said to the unconscious Lewis Crevan. "Should I help you bring out your other tails before I leave?"

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 Chapter 154 - THATS THE WAY I LOVED YOU

    NEOMA was amazed by watching how fast and graceful Ruto moved in the kitchen, especially when he began working on the potatoes.

    After cooling down the potatoes, he inserted a wooden skewer into the bottom of each potato ¨C gently pushing it all the way through the top. Then, he showcased his knife skills. First, working in a spiral motion from one side to the other, he held a sharp and thin knife at an angle and cut in the opposite direction that he was turning the skewered potato. It cut all the way down to the skewer, naturally.

    He cut the potatoes so thinly.

    Once done with it, he brushed the melted butter all over the potatoes.

    Then, in a bowl, hebined the Parmesan cheese, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, and salt. He ced each skewered potato over the bowl and sprinkled half of the spice mixture over each potato until they were entirely coated.

    After that, he fried the potatoes in a deep pot until golden brown. Then, he drained them on a paper that seemed like a towel-lined baking sheet. Lastly, he seasoned each potato with salt and sprinkled it with the cheese mixture.

    "It''s done," Ruto said, then he motioned her toe. "Have a taste, Miss Ramsay."

    Neoma immediately stood up and went towards Ruto who handed a skewer of Tornado Potato to her. She let out a dreamy sigh when she smelled how good it was. "It smells so good, Ruto," she said. "I hope it tastes as good as it smells."

    After saying that, she took a bite.

    Then, another one.

    Before she knew it, she was already done with her first skewer.

    "I thought you breathed it in," Rutomented, and he seemed proud of himself for making her eat with so much gusto. "You can have more. I''ll make tea for you."

    "`Kay."

    He looked at her like he was amused, then he excused himself to make some tea.

    "Ruto, why are you working on His Majesty''s pce when you''re the one in charge of the Crown Prince''s meals?" she asked curiously while she was on her second Tornado Potato. "Do you find the royal kitchen in His Royal Highness''s residencecking?"

    "It''s not like that," he denied while brewing tea for her. "But each Royal Chef has a contract. Since my current contract dictates that I work within Yule Pce, I can''t move to His Royal Highness''s residence until it ends. To be honest, I didn''t expect that our kitchen will handle the Crown Prince''s meals as well. After all, His Royal Highness has his own chef in his residence."

    Now she felt guilty.

    Because of her strange requests, the Head Chef of her residence practically lost his job.

    <em>I should check on my Head Chef soon.</em>

    "Here''s your tea," Ruto said, then he carefully ced the teacup on the table. "Oh. You''re already on your third potato¡­"

    He suddenly stopped talking while looking intently at her.

    "What?" sheined when she began feeling unconscious. "Do I have something on my face?"

    "I think I can now remember your other features aside from your face," he said as if he was proud of his achievement. "You remind me of a baby white radish, Miss Ramsay."

    She almost choked on her potato.

    Just what part of her resembled a radish?! Gosh, her beauty was insulted. This young chef dude never failed to bruise her vanity from the day that they met!

    "It''s apliment," he added with a straight face. Well, at least it didn''t sound like an afterthought. "Baby white radishes are cute, and they''re good for your health."

    She just sipped on her tea before shepletely died from choking.

    The most annoying thing about Ruto is he isn''t being mean to me. He''s just bad with expressing his thoughts using words.

    "Now I know why you''re alone here when noble boys your age are dancing at the ball outside," she said, trying to get back at him a little. "You don''t know how to talk todies, do you?"

    "I think I''m talking to you just fine," he said casually. "Unless you''re not ady."

    "Hah," she said with a roll of her eyes, adamant about not letting him win their little banter. "I''m not referring to normal conversations. I''m talking about asking ady for a dance."

    The young chef fell silent.

    She sipped her tea, feeling guilty that she won the "fight" by hurting the feelings of a young boy. Now she wanted to p herself. She was already an adult mentally and yet, she let herself get aggravated by the mere words of a child.

    Why did she have a feeling that her arrogance was getting worse and worse each day?

    <em>I should apologize¡­</em>

    But she didn''t have the chance to do so because of what the young chef did next.

    Ruto stood in front of her with one hand behind his back, while the other was extended to hers. Then, he bowed politely¨C his ck eyes not leaving her face. "May I have this dance, Miss White Radish?"

    She closed her eyes tight and pinched the bridge of her nose.

    Thankfully, her big brain managed to associate a certain kind of food with Ruto''s jet-ck eyes. In Korea, that ingredient was called ''geomjeongkong'' and it was typically used to make a banchan (or side dish) called ''kongjang.''

    Proud of the idea that popped up in her head, she opened her eyes and smiled smugly at the young chef.

    "If I''m ''Miss White Radish,'' then you''re ''Mr. ck Soybean'' to me from now on," she said haughtily, then she crossed her arms over her chest. "Convince me to dance with you first. Don''t you know that there are little ruffians literally fighting over me?"

    "I''ll make you the "derp face cake" that His Royal Highness wanted us to make in the past, but was rejected because it was inappropriate," Ruto said without missing a beat. "Would that be enough, Miss White Radish?"

    "That''s a bribe," Neomained. Then, she smirked and gave Ruto a thumbs up. "Call, Mr. ck Soybean."

    <strong>***</strong>

    <em><strong>[A distant memory¡­]</strong></em>

    "DON''T DO this to me, Mona," Niki, lying on the ground underneath Mona, begged in a cracked voice. "Even if you seal my memories, I will still end up loving you again."

    "I know that, Niki," Mona, who was straddling his hips, while pinning his hands on the floor, said with a sad smile on her beautiful face. Although her frame was much smaller than his, her physical strength was something that shouldn''t be underestimated. Like the royal family, the Rosehearts were also born physically stronger than average humans. "That''s why your memory of us isn''t the only thing that I will steal from you tonight."

    It was already two in the morning and here they were, in the front yard of House Roseheart''s estate, fighting when they shouldn''t be.

    After all, Mona was pregnant with their child.

    "Why are you doing this to me, Mona?" he asked, desperate. "Why do you want me to hate you?"

    "Because if you continue loving me too much, you''d end up choosing me over our own child."

    "I won''t be satisfied with that kind of exnation, Mona."

    "Even if I tell you the whole truth now, you''ll just forget it anyway," she said in a frustrated tone. "Let''s stop now, Niki."

    "No," he said weakly. Damn it! It seemed like Mona was using her Mana to suck his remaining strength. He couldn''t even lift a finger now. "Mona, don''t leave me. I can''t live without you and you know that."

    She chuckled bitterly. "You see, Niki? You don''t care about our child. I''m about to run away with our child in my womb and yet, you''re only begging me to stay with you."

    He couldn''t refute that.

    Of course, he loved their child because it was a life created by him and his beloved. But if he had to choose between keeping Mona and their child, then he would choose his lover.

    Just like what Mona said a while ago.

    "Stop loving me too much, Niki," Mona said in a cracked voice, tears now rolling unstoppably down her cheeks. Then, she cupped his face gently between her cold hands. "Leave some space in your heart for our child."

    "The children of the royal family weren''t raised by their parents with love," he said with a bitter smile on his face. "I don''t know if I''m capable of loving my own child that I only see as a means to continue our lineage. But if you stay and teach me how to be a good father, then maybe I''ll be the first emperor to love his own child."

    To be honest, he didn''t know how to feel about their child.

    Mona was a Roseheart and their family was only capable of giving birth to females. The empire was harsh to princesses. If it wasn''t for Mona wanting to have a child, he wouldn''t agree to have one in the first ce.

    But he genuinely wanted to learn how to love his child eventually.

    That was until Mona said she was leaving him.

    "I''m sorry but I can''t stay with you, Niki," Mona said between sobs, then she ced a hand on his chest¨C on the part where his heart was beating erratically. The moment the warmth from her hand flowed to his body, she closed her eyes and leaned down for theirst kiss. "Let me steal your ability to love so that you could live without yearning for me."

    Niki wanted to protest and beg but as soon as Mona''s lips touched his, his remaining strength was finally sucked in by her cruel, farewell kiss. When he closed his eyes, he felt his warm tears roll down his cheeks. "I will always stay in love with you, Mona¡­"

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 Chapter 155 - DESCENDANTS OF THE PILLARS

    "WHAT a pitiful child you are, Niki de Moonasterio," Yule said to the now unconscious kid emperor. Then, he squatted down in front of him and gently poked his cheek. He didn''t react, and that meant he was really knocked out. If Niki was awake, he wouldn''t even let him touch his face. "You''re the best emperor this empire has ever had, and the best descendant that I could ever ask for. But in the end, you let love ruin you.''

    It wasn''t like he could me Niki.

    Since he was a close friend of Mona, he was quite knowledgeable about what happened between her friend and Niki. Even though he was the Moon God, he couldn''t prevent the tragedy between the two. After all, it was inevitable because as far as he knew, the only purpose of Mona and Niki being together was to produce a child that was half Roseheart and half de Moonasterio.

    In the end, Mona and Niki ended up having two children.

    <em>Both Ne-Ne and her twin brother Nero are needed by the heavens for its goal.</em>

    "Niki, they have started moving again so we must move as well," he told the emperor even though he was still unconscious. "You all have the best pieces at your disposal, child."

    By that, he meant the young descendants of the Pirs: the Heart, the Fangs, the Shadow, and the Contractor.

    When the Great Moonasterion Empire was built, there were four families and ns that protected the first emperor. Eventually, these Pirs became widely known as the ''Pirs of the Moon,'' or simply ''Pirs.''

    Unfortunately, the other old families thought that the four families had be too powerful. These envious families worked together to end the Pirs. Out of the four great families, only one of them remained strong until now.

    It was House Quinzel¨C the Shadow.

    But the current House Quinzel had one huge problem.

    "The only daughter of House Quinzel is blessed with Mana far stronger and greater than any of her ancestors. Even Gavin, the genius of the Quinzel family, would pale inparison to her," he said to the unconscious emperor. "But the youngdy''s heart can''t handle her Mana. I know that you know how to help her, Niki. Stop being stubborn and just let Rufus send his daughter to Garret."

    He wasn''t too worried about that though.

    After all, she knew that Neoma wouldn''t let Hanna Quinzel die.

    The Heart and the Fangs were already in the pce. The Contractor was also in the same ce right now, but it was only a temporary stay. Nevertheless, all the descendants of the Pir had already gathered here.

    Nothing will happen though.

    <em>It''s not yet time.</em>

    Someday, the descendants of the Pirs would gather again. And the next time it happens, they would either protect or destroy the Great Moonasterion Empire.

    The thought of the descendantsing together sent shivers down his spine.

    "I can''t wait to see what our Empress Neoma will do in the future," Yule said brightly. "I hope she doesn''t end up killing me though."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "THE regenerative ability of the Silver Fox n is really amazing," Trevor, floating in the air in a sitting position, said when Lewis Crevan finally got up. The young fox had been knocked out for only five minutes. "I knew I didn''t need to bring you to Madam Hammock."

    Instead of bringing the fox boy to the Healing Sage, he just tossed him in the garden in front of Princess Neoma''s residence.

    He assessed his son''s condition first, of course. When he noticed that Lewis Crevan''s burn marks began healing, he realized that he didn''t have to bring him to Madam Hammock. Moreover, he knew that his pride would get hurt if Princess Neoma found him in the clinic.

    "Princess Neoma hasn''te out yet," he informed Lewis Crevan when he raised his head to re at him. "If you just re at me, I wouldn''t know what you want to say, son. I''m not your mother."

    "Princess Neoma isn''t my mother and you''re not my father," Lewis Crevan said in a cold voice, then he stood up. "Don''t tell Princess Neoma what happened."

    "Of course," he said. He already expected Lewis to say that. "I have no intention of telling my Moon Princess that I failed to find her because of some stupid barrier anyway."

    It was a shame but he also already lost their bet.

    After all, the Moon Festival was officially over. Since the emperor disappeared in the middle of the ceremony, Count Kyle Sprouse gave the closing remark in His Majesty''s ce while the real Prince Nero stood beside him.

    He was pretty sure that the People''s Pce was heavily guarded with a powerful barrier. Thus, no one would recognize the difference between the real Prince Nero and Princess Neoma in disguise as the Crown Prince.

    "Are you going back to that ce?" he asked when Lewis began walking towards the pce. "Aren''t you even going to say goodbye to me? I saved your ass, you know?"

    Lewis Crevan just waved his hand dismissively.

    "Kids these days are so rude," Trevor said to himself while shaking his head. "That little fox acts like a domesticated puppy in front of Princess Neoma¨C but he bares his fangs at other people."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA was about to ept Ruto''s hand when he suddenly pulled it away from her.

    She blinked in confusion as he stood straight.

    <em>What the hell just happened?</em>

    "See?" Ruto said, still calm andposed as ever. "I know how to ask ady to dance with me."

    Okay, that was when it finally clicked on her.

    Ruto just asked her to dance with him just to show her that he knew how to ask ady for a dance. God, how could a grown-up like her get deceived by a young boy?

    It''s the derp cake, she convinced herself. It seems like I have turned into a glutton.

    "Ah, did you think I was serious about asking you for a dance?" Ruto said in a hesitant voice, then he scratched his cheek as if he was embarrassed. "Well, I know how to dance so if you''re okay with me, then should we dance?"

    Was he taking pity on her because he thought she was disappointed that he wasn''t serious about dancing with her?

    That kind of hurt her pride.

    "I wasn''t looking forward to it," Neoma denied, then she crossed her arms over her chest. "Plus, that won''t work on otherdies. You only managed to make me say ''yes'' because you bribed me with a unique cake. In a normal situation, you wouldn''t even get a chance to ask me for a dance." She raised her head and showed him her "beautiful eyes." "This face can make all the boys in the empire propose to me for a dance, you know?"

    "I can''t see your face but¡­ are you acting pretty right now?"

    His question suddenly reminded her of an ''aegyo'' that she had seen in a Kdrama in her second life.

    "I wasn''t acting pretty. I was born pretty," she said while putting the strands of hair behind her ear. When she spoke again, she spoke in a higher pitch that definitely sounded annoying. "But people say I''m acting pretty so it''s hard for Miss Ramsay." Then, she moved her shoulders up and down while moving her head from side to side. "Hmph! Hmph!"

    Whenever she did ''aegyo'' (or acting cute) in the past, her parents, friends, and fans would shower her with praises. To be honest, seeing someone do aegyo in real life was cringey. She just managed to pull it off because of her pretty face.

    But unfortunately, Ruto couldn''t see her visual.

    And thus, his face remained as calm as ever.

    "I hope you don''t change the pitch of your voice," Ruto said,pletely ignoring her aegyo. "I won''t be able to recognize you easily if your voice changes suddenly."

    Ruston Stroganoff was probably the only person in the empire who woulde up with that response after seeing and hearing her aegyo.

    Well, at least he didn''t make a disgusted face.

    "I''ll go ahead," Neoma said, suddenly exhausted. She was good at dealing with people. But for some reason, she couldn''t decipher Ruto. He was like an alien to her. "Bye, Mr. ck Soybean." She smiled smugly at him. "Just so you know, I won''t ept it anymore if you ask me for a dance again."

    Ruto just gave her a half-smile and a shrug. "I won''t ask you to dance with me again, Miss White Radish."

    Neoma was utterly defeated that night.

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA, who just returned to her room after taking a bath and changing into her pajamas, froze suddenly.

    She noticed that Nero, seated on the bed while holding a book, froze as well.

    When they met each other''s gaze, it seemed like they ended up with the same conclusion.

    It was a good thing that she already sent Alphen and Stephanie out of the room. Since Nero was going to

    "Papa Boss is in pain."

    "His Majesty is in pain."

    She was amused to know that Nero felt the same.

    But it was bewildering that she and Nero were able to detect their father''s current state. It was normal for the two of them to feel each other''s pain because they were twins. But this was the first time that they felt Emperor Niki''s suffering.

    "It''s annoying," Nero said with a scowl. "It''s as if my blood is literally boiling at the moment."

    "And our blood is alsomanding us to check on Papa Boss," Neoma added while shaking her head. "Is this the power of the current emperor''s blood?"

    It was another long night, huh?

    When she got out of the Royal Kitchen a while ago, she saw Lewis who looked shocked when he saw her. Apparently, he checked all over Yule''s Pce and he couldn''t believe that he missed the Royal Kitchen.

    She wanted to hear more from her son but because she was tired, she decided to retire for the night. Plus, she thought she''d make the most out of the remaining time with Nero.

    Well, her n was to ask for some ''tea'' regarding Nero''s dance with Hanna earlier.

    But obviously, that n was ruined now.

    "Nero, let''s go and check on Papa Boss," she said, then she stretched her tiny arms. "Our blood won''t leave us alone until we do anyway."

    Nero nodded, then he stood up and extend his hand to her. "I wonder if I''m suddenly going to be the new emperor tonight."

    Neoma knew that Nero was only (half) joking, but she stillughed softly at the implication of his "joke." "You''d be used of starting a coup if somebody else, especially Count Sprouse, heard you," she said, then she epted her brother''s hand. "But I think you still have to wait a little longer before you ascend to the throne, my dear twin brother," she teased him. "After all, bad people live longer than the good ones."

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 Chapter 156 - LIONHEART

    NERO, as soon as he felt the crazy strong divine energying from above them, grabbed Neoma by the hand and hid her behind him.

    Much to his surprise, Emperor Niki suddenly "appeared." To be precise, his father came out of nowhere and plopped to the bed. The emperor seemed to be unconscious, and the look on his face said that he was in pain.

    But His Majesty wasn''t the only one who was "unconscious" though. The four balls of divine energy that fell on each of his father''s side must be his Soul Beasts.

    "Niki is so heavy now!"

    Nero raised his head to look up at the strange, glowing being that hovered over his father.

    White hair, pale skin, deep blue eyes that seemed to contain the stars in them. Aside from his prominent features, the stranger''s divine energy could only belong to one person.

    "Yule," Nero muttered to himself. "The Moon God."

    "Yes, I''m indeed the Moon God," Yule said, then he descended to sit next to his father. "How are you, Prince Nero de Moonasterio?"

    The fact that the Moon God only greeted him made him turn to his precious little sister behind him.

    And that was when he realized why Yule only greeted him.

    Neoma was standing very still.

    He turned to Yule and red at the god. "What did you do to my twin sister?"

    "I only stopped time in this room because I wanted to talk to you," the Moon God said. "But don''t worry, young prince. Ne-Ne is fine."

    His brows furrowed. "''Ne-Ne?''"

    "That''s the pet name that I gave the royal princess," the god said proudly. "Doesn''t it sound cute?"

    "No, it sounds awful," he said bluntly. "I might sh your throat if you give me a horrible "pet name" like that."

    "Aww," Yule said, obviously disappointed. "''Ro-Ro would have been a cute pet name for you."

    "It. Is. Not," he snarled. "Now I know why His Majesty''s Soul Beasts have awful names."

    It was a well-known fact that Yule was the one who gave the Soul Beasts their names.

    The emperor was in control of the Four Holy Guardians: North (the ck Tortoise), East (the Azure Dragon), West (the White Tiger), and South (the ming Vermillion Bird).

    Lame names for something as legendary as the Holy Guardians.

    "You were blessed with the wolf with two tails, aren''t you?" Yule asked him with a not so trust-worthy smile on his face. "Do you want me to tell you the real name of your Soul Beast? If you call the two-tailed wolf with its real name, then you''d be able to control itpletely. Of course, that also means that you''ll get stronger."

    "Are you looking down on me?"

    The god just raised a brow at his question.

    "I don''t need your help to control Zev," he said. "I don''t even want to know his real name because I''m sure it soundsme."

    "You''re hurting my feelings, young prince," the god said even though it was obvious that his feelings weren''t hurt.

    "What do you want from me?" he asked impatiently. "I don''t want to waste my time with you when I can spend it with my twin sister instead."

    "Do you like your sister that much?"

    "I''m not obliged to answer that," he said. "As I said before, what do you want with me? Seeing that you froze time in this room to keep Neoma out of this conversation, then it must mean that you''re here for me."

    "I''ve already greeted Ne-Ne a while ago, so I thought I should greet the one and only prince of the empire before I leave," Yule said, then he stood up only to squat down in front of him. "Nero de Moonasterio, do you desire to be the next emperor?"

    That question seemed weird to him.

    He was the only prince of the empire. Naturally, he would be the next emperor. But if Yule, the Moon God himself, asked him if he wanted to be the emperor, it only meant that someone else was eligible for the throne in the god''s eyes.

    And there was only one person who couldpete with him regarding that.

    "Do you think Neoma deserves the throne more than I do?" he asked bluntly, obviously surprising the god. "If my position as the next emperor is already fixed, you wouldn''t have asked me if I desired the throne. Your question sounds like you''re taking pity on me, Lord Yule."

    The Moon Godughed as if he was trying tough his shock off. "Ah, right. The de Moonasterio children mature faster than ordinary children. Thus, you were born more intelligent than the rest. I shouldn''t have underestimated you."

    It wasn''t the only reason why he was mature.

    But it didn''t matter anymore.

    "Nero, what if I say that Neoma is also qualified to be an empress of her own right?"

    "Of course, my Neoma is qualified to be an empress of her own right. She''s the sun in the empire that worships the moon," he said firmly. "She deserves to have all the people in the continent to bow and kneel before her."

    Once again, the god looked shocked by his statement. "Then, are you saying that you don''t want the throne?"

    "Acknowledging that Neoma deserves to be the empress doesn''t mean I''m giving up the throne," he said while shaking his head. "I have to be the next emperor."

    "You "have" to be the next emperor?"

    "If I don''t take the throne for myself, you will definitely make Neoma the empress," he said. This time, he was sure that his ash-gray eyes turned glowing red. After all, he felt aggravated now. "All this time, my twin sister only expresses her desire to live leisurely. I intend to respect that."

    "And do you believe that ady as great as Ne-Ne is destined to live a quiet andzy life?"

    "No," he admitted. "But I will always support her decision."

    "What if she changes her mind and wants to fight you for the throne?"

    "I will take the throne first," he said. It wasn''t the first time he considered the thought that Neoma might change her mind about taking the throne. Thus, he already knew what he would do if such thing happened. "I will protect the throne and eliminate all the enemies. Once the empire is peaceful enough, only then will I hand it to Neoma." He paused when he remembered something important. "Moreover, she can''t be an empress because of the currentw. Thus, I need to be the emperor first to change it."

    He didn''t want to expose his n to Yule himself.

    But he had a feeling that he couldn''t lie to him anyway. Might as well tell him the truth. His feelings wouldn''t waver anyway.

    "A royal prince who isn''t greedy for the throne is admirable," the Moon God said. "But a future emperor who''s willing to give up the throne for his twin sister doesn''t sound too reliable to me."

    "I won''t e giving up the throne for my twin sister," he said softly. "I will be giving it up to the person who deserves the throne more."

    "Ah, I like that you''re self-aware," Yule said with a faint smile. "Nero, do you know why the emperor''s Order of Knights is symbolized by a white lion?"

    He nodded because it was one of the first things that he was taught as the royal prince. "A person of exceptional courage and bravery is called a "lionheart." Thus, the first emperor decided to make a rare white lion the symbol of his Order."

    "That''s correct," the Moon God said while nodding. "But do you know that the term ''Lionheart'' was an official honor that had only been granted to one person?"

    He shook his head. "This is the first time that I''ve heard of it. My teachers and the books didn''t say anything about that."

    "It''s because the first and only person who received that title was the first matriarch of House Roseheart. It was granted to her because of her exceptional bravery and courage that saved the empire in the past," the god exined. "Thus, during their glory days, the Rosehearts were actually known as the ''Lionhearts.''"

    "That''s an interesting story."

    "It doesn''t seem like you''re interested in your mother''s family history though."

    "Our mother is no longer here," he said bluntly. He was d that Neoma was "unconscious" at that moment. After all, he didn''t want her to hear the cold words that he just said. After all, he knew that his twin sister was longing for their mother. "And learning about the history of House Roseheart isn''t my priority right now. But once I return, I intend to uncover the dark history of the Rosehearts. I need to do that if I want to eliminate the enemies who want me gone just because of my mother''s blood."

    "I like how you have your priorities straight, Nero."

    "Are we done talking now, Lord Yule?" he asked in an impatient tone. "I only have a few hours before I leave. I want to spend every second of it with Neoma."

    Yule just chuckled, then he stood up and put a hand on top of his head. "Nero, congrattions. You proved yourself worthy of the ''Lionheart'' title," he said. "I hope your heart that intends to cherish and protect Ne-Ne doesn''t change whatever happens."

    "I don''t need fancy titles," Nero said, then he turned to Neoma. "The only title I need is being Neoma''s dear big brother."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "LEWIS CREVAN, do you want me to teach you how to be stronger?" Trevor asked his son while floating in front of him. "I know how you can make your remaining tailse out."

    Right now, Lewis was standing in front of Neoma''s room.

    Both of them could feel the strange divine energying from inside the chamber. And for some reason, both of them also knew that they couldn''t interrupt whatever was going on inside. Thus, they remained standing there.

    "How?"

    To say that he was shocked that Lewis expressed interest shocked him.

    "You offered it so why do you look shocked?" Lewis Crevan snapped at him. "Was it just a bluff?"

    "No," he said while shaking his head. "I''m just surprised that you''re willing to take my advice."

    "I''m not in the position to turn it down," Lewis Crevan said, his eyes now on the floor. "I need to be stronger fast if I want to stay with Princess Neoma."

    "My method could kill you," Trevor warned him. But when Lewis Crevan raised his head with his golden eyes glowing magnificently, he smirked. "But you''re my son so I know that you''ll survive."

    "I''m not your son, Trevor."

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 Chapter 157 - (CHAOTIC) FAMILY BONDING

    "GLENN, where''s His Majesty?"

    Glenn smiled awkwardly and scratched his cheek. "I apologize but His Majesty isn''t avable right now, Duke Quinzel."

    Duke Rufus Quinzel turned to the mountain of paper works on the desk, then he gave him a look of pity. "It seems like you won''t be able to sleep tonight, Glenn."

    He justughed as a confirmation.

    Right now, he was in Emperor Niki''s office. Since His Majesty suddenly disappeared when he hadn''t finished his paper work yet, it was his duty to do it for the emperor. It wasn''t like it happened often.

    Tonight was just a special night.

    Ever since His Majesty ascended the throne, Lord Yule would always summon him during thest night of the Moon Festival. That was when he began helping the emperor with his paper work during that asion.

    Aside from being the Vicemander of the White Lion Knights, he was also a higher noble. And since he was chosen to be His Majesty''s personal knight, he received almost the same education as the emperor. In short, he was capable of doing his paper work for him if he absolutely needed to.

    Of course, he received permission from the emperor to do so.

    "Ah, tonight is thest night of the Moon Festival," Duke Quinzel said. "His Majesty was summoned by Lord Yule, wasn''t he?"

    It was an open secret among the closest friends and aides of His Majesty so there was no reason for him to hide it from the duke.

    "Yes. His Majesty was summoned by Lord Yule," he told the duke. "Princess Neoma was summoned along with His Majesty."

    He was behind the emperor when His Majesty "caught" Princess Neoma.

    Then, the two royals were enveloped in familiar divine energy before disappearing.

    He wasn''t the only one who witnessed that event. The young chef, Trevor, and Lewis Crevan also saw that happen. It seemed like Trevor and Lewis Crevan realized that His Majesty and Her Royal Highness were summoned. Nevertheless, they still turned Yule Pce upside-down while looking for the royal princess.

    "I hope Lord Yule meets Prince Nero as well," Duke Quinzel said. "I wonder if His Royal Highness wasn''t summoned because he''s with my daughter."

    He nodded in agreement. "Speaking of the youngdy, are you here to ask for His Majesty''s permission to send her abroad?"

    The duke nodded. "I want to send Hanna to the country of Gonora," he said in a very serious tone. "To be precise, I want my daughter to receive education from Uncle Garrett and his wife Lady Sabrina Orie."

    His eyes widened in shock. "Duke Quinzel, that will make His Majesty angry."

    He smiled sadly. "I know, Glenn. I know."

    Garrett Quinzel was the uncle of Duke Rufus Quinzel and former Commander Gavin. And Garrett Quinzel was also the person who helped Lady Mona Roseheart and Commander Gavin run away from His Majesty.

    During the deadly match between Emperor Niki and Commander Gavin, the emperor almost killed the formermander. But Garrett Quinzel came and attacked His Majesty to save his nephew. Then, he helped Commander Gavin escape the pce with Lady Mona Roseheart.

    Garrett Quinzel was caught but His Majesty was refrained by his advisors from killing him.

    "Garrett Quinzel is a well-beloved public figure, and he''s also known as one of the best war heroes of our empire," Glenn said carefully. "For that reason, His Majesty exiled Garrett Quinzel to an allied country with his family instead of killing him."

    Lady Sabrina Orie, Garrett Quinzel''s wife, was a noble from Gonora. Thus, their family was exiled to that country.

    "But that doesn''t mean that His Majesty has already forgiven Garrett Quinzel," he continued. "Lady Hanna is the top candidate to be the future Crown Princess. I''m pretty sure that His Majesty won''t allow you to send the youngdy to Gonora, Your Grace."

    "But Uncle Garrett is the only person who can help Hanna to control her shadow technique," Duke Rufus Quinzel said. "If I have to grovel before His Majesty, I will do it for the sake of my one and only daughter."

    He didn''t want to see Duke Rufus Quinzel grovel before His Majesty for the sake of House Quinzel again.

    Although he was the emperor''s personal knight, he was also a friend to the duke. Duke Quinzel wasn''t aware of what was going on between Commander Gavin and Lady Mona Roseheart in the past. After all, the duke only wanted a quiet life with his wife and daughter. And yet, he was the one who begged His Majesty to protect his family.

    <em>Poor Rufus.</em>

    "Duke Quinzel, I think you should ask for Princess Neoma''s help," Glenn advised his friend. "I''m sure that Her Royal Highness will also do everything to save Lady Hanna."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA was pissed as soon as she "woke up."

    She knew that there was a gap in her memory when she found herself lying on the sofa with her head on Nero''sp. Plus, the divine energy that lingered in the room was familiar to her.

    "Did Lord Yule visit you, Nero?" Neoma asked her twin brother, then she got up. "I''m sure that he did."

    After all, Nero was the real Crown Prince.

    There was no way that Yule wouldn''t meet her twin brother after the Moon God summoned her and her Papa Boss.

    "I had a short conversation with Yule," Nero admitted. "He just asked me if I wanted to be the next emperor or not."

    Oh.

    She didn''t like the fact that Yule questioned if Nero wanted to be the next emperor or not. Because that question implied that Nero''s position as the future emperor wasn''t written in the stars yet.

    "What did you tell him, Nero?"

    "I will be the next emperor," he said firmly. "Neoma, I''m the one who''s going to ascend the throne."

    "`Kay," she said casually, then she gave him a thumbs up. "I''ll be a rich duchess who leeches off of her twin brother then."

    He smiled but he still looked serious. "Neoma, are you sure that you really don''t want to be the first empress of the empire? I will change thew for you."

    "Oh, please don''t do that," she whined. "I sincerely want to live a leisure life, Nero. So please be the next emperor and just dote on me forever."

    His smile finally looked more rxed now than a while ago. "I can dote on you forever?"

    "Well, in moderation."

    Heughed softly, then ruffled her hair gently. "Should we use another room?"

    "Huh?"

    He pointed a finger at the bed. "Yule brought that thing there."

    She followed the direction that Nero pointed, and she almost choked on her saliva when she saw Emperor Niki sleeping on the bed. "Nero, that''s our father."

    "Yeah," he said nonchntly. "That thing has been sleeping there for half an hour now."

    She gently whacked her twin brother''s head. He looked surprised, but he didn''t look like he was hurt. After all, both their bodies were as strong as steel anyway. "Nero, I know that Papa Boss treated us poorly in the past. But he''s slowly changing, you know? He used to be a scumbag, but now he''s promoted to being a sub-human. If we give him more time, I think he''ll be a decent human soon."

    "His Majesty tried to kill you in the past, Neoma."

    "And I haven''t forgotten that," she said firmly. "But I won''t also allow that to cloud my judgment. Papa Boss is really trying to be better, Nero. I haven''t cursed at him for years, you know? That speaks volume."

    "Do you want me to give His Majesty a chance to be a father to us?"

    "We''re not exactly little angels, Nero," she said. "I''m not defending Papa Boss because he was really a scumbag in the past. We treated him the way he treated us. But now that he''s trying hard to treat us better, shouldn''t we also do the same?"

    He fell silent for a while, then he nodded. "Alright, I will try to see His Majesty as a father instead of merely the emperor."

    "Good boy," she said, then she touched Nero''s face. She couldn''t help but see her baby brother as a cute little puppy. But Nero would definitely get upset if she referred to him as her "baby brother" because he was older than her for a few minutes, so she''d just keep it to herself. "We don''t have to have a good father-children rtionship with Papa Boss, but let''s at least have respect among the three of us."

    He nodded, then he leaned into her touch. "If you say so, Neoma."

    She smiled and gently pinched his cheek. "Let''s sleep."

    "Where?"

    "On the same bed as Papa Boss, of course."

    "What?!"

    Sheughed at how horrified Nero look. "Come on," she said, then she stood up and pulled him up. "Papa Boss is in pain. If we sleep in another room, who would look after him?"

    "His Majesty''s Soul Beasts are with him."

    She justughed again. "Nero, let''s be good children for once."

    Nero let out a deep sigh while shaking his head. "His Majesty should be grateful that you have a good heart, Neoma."

    "I don''t have a good heart," Neoma denied with augh. "Let''s just say that I know how to use my cards well."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NIKOLAI''s consciousness came back when the pain inside him subsided.

    That was when he began to be aware of his surroundings.

    First, he was certain that his Soul Beasts were asleep inside him.

    Second, he wasn''t in his room. The texture of the sheets and the scent of the room were different.

    Third, something small and soft was stuck on his side.

    And it smelled like his children.

    <em>No, it can''t be¡­</em>

    He immediately opened his eyes and got up.

    When he turned to his side, he was shocked to see Neoma sleeping (and snoring) beside him. And on the other side of Neoma, Nero was lying on his side while giving him a dire look.

    <em>Yule!</em>

    That damned god sent him to his children''s room!

    "Good evening," Nero greeted him dryly. "You''re still alive?"

    That was a greeting he expected from his son.

    "Unfortunately for you, I''m still alive," Niki said. Yule put him in pain by giving him back some of his painful memories with Mona. The next time he met that stupid god, he''d get his revenge. "I should leave now."

    "Just go back to sleep," he said. "Neoma is hell-bent on looking after you. But since my sister is already asleep, I''ll keep an eye on you in her stead."

    "I haven''t fallen that low yet to be taken care of my own children."

    "Say that to Neoma when she wakes up," his son said. "But I won''t allow you to leave this room."

    He scoffed at that. "Who are you to¨C"

    "Don''t be stubborn, Father."

    He froze in shock when he heard what Nero just called him.

    "As I thought, this is awkward," Nero said, then he buried his face on Neoma''s shoulder as if he was embarrassed. "But whether you like it or not, I''m going to start calling you that way from now on, Father."

    Ah, he wasn''t imagining it.

    His son really called him ''Father.''

    He didn''t know that hearing Nero call him that way instead of ''His Majesty'' would make him feel warm in the chest.

    When Mona disappeared from his life, he thought that the only thing left in his heart was hate. Even when he saw his children for the first time, he didn''t feel anything special towards them.

    But when they grew up and began spending time with him, everything had also begun to change.

    Especially something within him.

    "I don''t hate it," Niki said softly. "I''m fine being called ''Papa Boss'' by Neoma, and ''Father'' by you, Nero."

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 Chapter 158 - FAREWELL PRESENTS FOR THE LADIES

    "YOU''RE FINALLY awake, Your Royal Highness Princess Neoma."

    Neoma didn''t miss the sarcasm in her Papa Boss''s tone as he addressed her by her formal royal title.

    But since she just woke up, she needed a minute to "reload" her big brain.

    Emperor Niki sat on the chair beside the bed. As usual, he wore a grumpy look on his (unnecessarily) handsome face. He still wore the same set of clothes that he had when they danced because of Yule''s demand. But her father still managed to look and smell refreshing.

    "Good morning, Papa Boss," Neoma said when her brain finally functioned again. She could tell judging by what she was seeing in the window that it was still dawn. Nevertheless, greeting her father "good morning" was only proper. "Did you sleep well?"

    "No," Emperor Niki said bluntly. "How can I sleep well when you snore loudly?"

    She almost choked but she didn''t let her shock and embarrassment show.

    "A fairdy like me doesn''t snore, Papa Boss," she lied smoothly. "It must be Nero."

    He rolled his eyes at her. "I already summoned your maid," he said, changing the topic. "Get ready. We''ll send off Neroter."

    <em>Oh, right.</em>

    It was time for Nero (and Trevor) to leave.

    "Where''s Nero though?" she asked when she realized that her twin brother wasn''t in the room anymore.

    "He went to fetch Hanna Quinzel," her father said. "I think your twin brother wants to say goodbye to the future Crown Princess privately."

    <em>''Future Crown Princess?''</em>

    She scowled at that. "Papa Boss, don''t do that. Let Nero choose his own bride, and don''t force Hanna to marry Nero." She was aware that Hanna was infatuated with Nero. But her cousin was still young, so her feelings might still change in the future. "Plus, isn''t my twin brother a little too young to have a fianc¨¦e?"

    "In the past, Crown Princes at Nero''s age are already married," her father exined. "Unfortunately for your brother, he doesn''t have the luxury to choose his bride¨C not when he hasn''t been approved by the nobles as the next emperor. To strengthen his position, a political marriage is a must. Out of all the candidates to be the Crown Princess, Hanna Quinzel is the one who suits the position the best. House Quinzel is the richest noble household in the empire, and the current lord of the house, Rufus Quinzel, has sworn loyalty to me." He paused, then he raised his brow at her. "I''m sure Nero knows that. Thus, he already began building a connection with Hanna Quinzel."

    Her father was implying that Nero was only getting close to Hanna for politics.

    <em>That''s bullshit, of course.</em>

    "Now I know why the saying goes ''mother knows best'' instead of ''father knows best,''" she said. "Papa Boss, you''re wrong. Nero isn''t using Hanna to gain political benefits."

    "You''re being na?ve, Neoma."

    "I will do everything I can to convince the right people to support Nero," she said firmly. "Once my twin brother returns, I''m sure that he can build his own faction without using a young maiden''s heart." She tapped her chest proudly. "My brother and I can dominate the politics in this empire without using cheap tricks."

    "As I said, you''re being na?ve," her Papa Boss said, unimpressed. "And also arrogant. Don''t think that you can climb thedder of power without using "cheap tricks," Princess Neoma."

    <em>There goes Papa Boss''s sarcastic tone again.</em>

    "If being morally good works, do you think I would kill my own father just to ascend the throne?"

    She wasn''t able to have a retort at her father''s remark.

    After all, even though she was rude and a little evil, she knew when to shut up. Poking at her father''s dark past would make her a scumbag.

    "Being a royal means you inherited the Sins of the de Moonasterios," Emperor Niki said, then he stood up while fixing the mantle on his shoulder. "The means you use to get the throne won''t matter because in the end, you''ll still have to carry the Sins of our family on your shoulders." He turned to her with a nk look on his face. "Neoma, if you want to survive in the pce as the "Crown Prince," then you better get rid of your naivety."

    "Okay," Neoma said. She knew when to ept that her father was right. But that didn''t mean that she agreed with him 100%. "But Papa Boss, the only thing that I will get rid of is my naivety as Neoma de Moonasterio¨C not my dignity and principles as Neoma Ramsay."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "THESE are such pretty earrings, Nero!"

    Nero was relieved to see Hanna''s satisfaction when she saw the earrings that he gave her as a present. "I''m d that you liked them," he said. "Since I asked the pce''s artisans to make that in such a short notice, I had no choice but to settle for a simple design."

    He asked the artisans to make a pair of diamond flower stud earrings for Neoma.

    But of course, they weren''t ordinary earrings. Through his father, hemissioned the Royal Mages to infuse a simple yet useful spell in the jewelry.

    <em>Anyway¡­</em>

    Right now, he was in the room that Hanna uses in nco Pce (aka Neoma''s residence).

    Glenn, his father''s personal knight, brought him there in secret. Since it was still dawn, the servants weren''t awake yet, and thus, it was easy to navigate the pce without getting caught.

    "Your name means ''flowers'' in Sniannguage," he added. Snian was thenguage that the royal family used to speak in the past. It was pretty much a deadnguage now. "I think it suits you."

    Hanna''s face turned red, then she raised her head to look at him. Then, she smiled at him sweetly. "Thank you, Nero."

    "I should be the one saying ''thank you,'' Hanna," he said seriously. "You''ve risked your life several times for me and Neoma. We owe you a lot."

    "I''m just fulfilling my duty," she said with a smile. "It''s the nobles'' duty to protect the royal family after all."

    "Neoma will be sad if she hears that."

    Sheughed softly. "Of course, it''s not only because of my noble duty. I''m sticking to you and Neoma because we''re f-friends."

    He smiled, satisfied to hear that.

    "Can I wear these earrings now, Nero?"

    He nodded. "Do you want me to put them on you?"

    Her cheeks turned a deeper shade of pink, then she nodded shyly. "Please."

    While Hanna held the velvet box, he picked up one of the stud earrings and put it on her left ear carefully. "These aren''t ordinary earrings, Hanna. They are actually ''Mana Absorber Device,''" he said. Then, he began putting the remaining stud on her other ear. "Once you use your Mana and it begins to put a strain on your heart, the spell in the earrings will get activated. The earrings will absorb your excess Mana to stabilize it."

    Her eyes seemed to sparkle after hearing that. "That''s so thoughtful of you, Nero. Thank you so much."

    "It''s only a temporary solution, Hanna," he reminded her gently. "So please don''t use your Mana if you don''t have to."

    She smiled and nodded. "I will be more careful."

    "You have to," he said, then he gently touched her face. "I don''t want you to get hurt, Hanna."

    Her face turned red again, then she lowered her gaze as if she was too shy to meet his eyes.

    He was satisfied with that.

    Out of all the candidates to be his future fianc¨¦e, Hanna Quinzel was the one he thinks was suited most to be his Crown Princess.

    After all, Hanna was practically a princess since his father and Duke Rufus Quinzel were cousins. House Quinzel, aside from being the richest noble household in the empire, was also considered as part of the extended royal family. And the most important thing of all was the fact that the Quinzels were keeping the royal secret safe.

    As long as Hanna stood by Neoma''s side while his twin sister acted as the Crown Prince, the nobles around the royal family would consider her as the future Crown Princess. Thus, they wouldn''t bother Neoma about talks of marriage.

    Most of all, he (as the real Crown Prince) would gain more political power if Hanna stayed by his side. After all, Duke Rufus Quinzel had a lot of strong and influential followers. He would need that once he returned.

    <em>Marrying Hanna in the future is necessary. I''m lucky that she doesn''t hate the idea of bing the Crown Princess someday. But I have to make sure that her feelings for me won''t change even if I will be gone for a long time.</em>

    To be honest, he didn''t consider a political marriage to gain power at first. Thus, he treated Hanna, the top candidate to be the Crown Princess, coldly. But everything changed when Neoma almost died. Then, they found out about the cult that wanted his twin sister dead.

    That was when he realized that he couldn''t stay na?ve or prideful.

    He needed more power as a Crown Prince, and Hanna Quinzel could give that to him.

    "Hanna?"

    She raised her head to look up at him, her cheeks still rosy. "Yes?"

    "Will you wait for me?"

    Hanna looked surprised by his question. This time, even her ears and neck turned red. Thankfully, despite how embarrassed she looked, she still gathered the courage to nod and speak. "I will wait for you, Nero."

    Nero smiled and nodded. Then, he got down on one knee and extended his hand to Hanna. When she gently held his hand, he ced a kiss on her knuckles without breaking their eye contact. "I will return for you, my pretty flower."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "PRINCESS NEOMA, will you miss me?"

    "Nah," Neoma answered Trevor''s silly questionzily. "We''re not that close for me to miss you, Trevor."

    "Ouch," Trevor said, acting as dramatic as ever. "I think I''m a masochist because I like it when you hurt me, my Moon Princess."

    "Hey!" sheined, then she stood on her toes and covered Lewis'' ears. "Don''t say the M-word in front of my son! He''s still an innocent child!"

    They were able to mess around like that because only the three of them were in her room.

    Papa Boss already went to the shrine to meet Saint Macaroni. Yes, the saint''s presence was needed to open a Hellgate for Nero and Trevor.

    On the other hand, Nero was escorted by Sir Glenn to Hanna''s room.

    Her twin brother was yet to return.

    Thus, she was waiting for him in his room with Lewis and Trevor.

    Thankfully, her Papa Boss allowed her to dress up as "Neoma Ramsay" to send off Nero. But she had to quickly change once everything was finished.

    "Princess Neoma," Lewis said in a tired voice. "I''m not your son."

    "I can''t hear you," she said, then she pulled her hands away from Lewis''s ears.

    "I really feel bad for our son," Trevor said. But before Lewis couldin, the demon book already turned to her and changed the topic. "I have a present for you, Princess Neoma," he said, then he extended his hand to her. "Please give your hand to me."

    "I''ll kill you if you trick me," she said, then she held his hand.

    The demon boy justughed at her threat, then he put something in her hand and gently closed her fingers around it.

    Neoma gasped when she opened her hand and saw a small "item" on her hand. It was a scythe that was only a little bigger than her index finger. In fact, it looked like a pendant instead of a weapon. But the dark energying from it was familiar to her. "Skewer!"

    "Yes, that''s your beloved Skewer," Travis said with a smirk. "Bite-sized version, that is."

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 159 - SAFE TRIP, NERO (AND TREVOR)

    TREVOR was satisfied after he saw Princess Neoma''s delighted expression when he told her the main function of the bite-sized Skewer that he gave to her.

    Even though his Moon Princess was still harsh to him until the end, he was still happy that he got to spend time with her. Although he realized that he had a lot of strong and capable rivals, he was still confident that he had a chance with Princess Neoma.

    The problem was Prince Nero. That crazy prince was overprotective of his twin sister. Eliminating him was out of the question since he didn''t want Princess Neoma to hate him.

    <em>If Lewis Crevan dies from trying the method that I taught him, then it would be good riddance for me. But killing off the young chef wouldn''t be easy. If I want to get rid of him, I have to unseal my demonic power. So I''ll have to do itter.</em>

    "You."

    His thoughts were distracted when Emperor Niki called him in a threatening voice. When he turned around to face His Majesty, he was surprised to see him angry for some reason.

    <em>What did I do this time?</em>

    Actually, he hasn''t done anything yet aside from performing a magic circle that would open a Hellgate to his territory.

    Right now, he was with Emperor Niki and Saint Dominic Zavaroni in an empty shrine in Yule Pce. They chose that room to connect to his territory. In that way, if ever his ce was attacked by the Devil again, he and Prince Nero would be able to use an emergency exit leading to the Royal Pce.

    "Change your appearance," Emperor Niki ordered him in an annoyed voice. "Why did you suddenly change into a grown man?"

    "I unsealed my demonic power a little bit to draw out the amount of Mana I need to open a Hellgate, Your Majesty," Trevor exined. "Is there anything wrong with my appearance?"

    Since he changed into a grown man, he also changed his clothes.

    Now he looked like a posh noble. The only thing that looked out of ce was the Death''s Scythe (aka Skewer) in his hand. Ah, he had to note that the current Death''s Scythe looked different from usual.

    Princess Neoma might not like the chains around the curved de of her beloved Skewer. If that happened, he would me it on Saint Dominic Zavaroni. After all, it was the saint who put shackles on the Death''s Scythe to make sure that the former Princess Nichole de Moonasterio wouldn''t be able to trespass his territory again.

    "I don''t like it," the emperor said regarding his appearance. "Don''t approach my daughter in that appearance or else, I''ll kill you."

    He smirked at that. "Don''t worry, Your Majesty. Princess Neoma has already seen me in this state and she loves my face¨C"

    Oops.

    He wasn''t able to finish his sentence when the emperor''s eyes turned glowing red. The bloodlust that His Majesty released was enough to shut him up.

    <em>Since when did this grumpy man care about Princess Neoma?</em>

    Nevertheless, it wouldn''t be wise to anger the emperor.

    He raised his hands in surrender. "I will revert back to my child appearance when Princess Neoma arrives, Your Majesty."

    That seemed to satisfy the emperor because his eyes returned to its original ash-gray color.

    <em>Whew.</em>

    Saint Dominic Zavaroni cleared his throat to get their attention. "Mr. Trevor, the Holy Chains that I put on the Death''s Scythe is strong enough to repel even the Devil."

    He raised a brow at that. "How can you be so sure about that, Your Holiness?"

    "Because I know who the Devil is now," the saint said in a sad yet firm voice. "Of course, I also put into consideration the fact that the former Princess Royal is stronger than. But I''m confident that my Divine Power can repel her. After all, she was my former student. And as her former mentor, I know her weakness very well."

    He didn''t know the history between the saint and the former Princess Royal. But he had no choice but to trust the saint.

    "I''ll leave our protection to you, Your Holiness," he said. "Of course, I will also do my best to protect His Royal Highness, Prince Nero."

    Because if he failed to purify the Crown Prince''s curse, he would die for breaking the promise he made with the binding vow.

    "The incident that happened recently shouldn''t happen again," the emperor said firmly while looking at him coldly. "You haven''t forgotten about the binding vow we made, have you?"

    "I wouldn''t forget about the thing that would kill me if I fail, Your Majesty," he assured him. "I hope you haven''t forgotten your end of the bargain though. Have you done any effort to restore House Kesser, Your Majesty?"

    "To restore a fallen family, I have to know first what caused their downfall," His Majesty said carefully. "The records that the royal family has about House Kesser haven''t been that useful to me. Despite being an old family, House Kesser''s traces have been practically erased from the history books."

    He just smirked upon hearing that.

    Of course, House Kesser would be erased from history.

    "But I found an interesting piece of information from my grandfather''s old journal," the emperor continued, his eyes suddenly turned red again. "Tell me, demon boy. Why was House Kesserbeled as the ''Contractors of Evil?''"

    Trevor chuckled, amused to hear House Kesser''s former title again after such a long time. "I''ll tell you if you give Princess Neoma''s hand in marriage, Your Majesty."

    Emperor Niki red at him, giving him the worst shivers of his life. "Do you want to die?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "WHY ARE you giving me a ring, Nero?" Neoma asked nervously. "It''s weird to receive a ring from my twin brother."

    Right now, she was in her room with Nero while Lewis and Sir Glenn were waiting outside.

    As far as she knew, her Papa Boss and Saint Macaroni were already at the shrine with Trevor. But she was still in her room because Nero requested to spend some private time with her because he leaves.

    "It''s hard to give you a piece of jewelry that won''t stand out once you return acting as my substitute," Nero exined. "Piercings and earrings for males are frowned upon. A ne could easily be snatched away from me. Moreover, you''re already wearing a choker so a ne might be too much decoration for your neck. I considered giving you a bracelet instead of a ring but I''m afraid that it might get in your way once you hold a sword. So in the end, I opted for a ring."

    She just nodded considerably, then she turned to the ring inside the velvet box in her hands. To be honest, the ring didn''t actually look like an expensive piece of jewelry. After all, it was just a stylish ck band.

    Her initials were curved at the back of the ring. But even if somebody else saw it, they wouldn''t suspect a thing. After all, she and Nero shared the same initials.

    "I have the same ring," Nero continued, then he raised his right hand and showed her the ck ring on his pinky. "It''s a pair."

    "Ohh," she said. She was d that she was supposed to wear the ring on her pinky. "You won''t give me an ordinary ring, Nero. So tell me. What is this ring for?"

    "That ring is actually made of Zev''s ice," he said. ''Zev'' was Nero''s Soul Beast. "The ck thing that covered the ring was made by the artisan to cover the ring''s true nature. If ever your life is in danger, all you have to do is melt the ring with your me. Once the ring melts, you''ll get to borrow my ice Mana for at least half an hour." He smiled apologetically at her. "I want to lend you my Mana for longer. But since my Mana is sealed by the curse, I can only lend you that much. I hope you wouldn''t be put in a situation where you have to use it though."

    Aww.

    She was genuinely touched that her twin brother came up with such a thoughtful present.

    Now, she suddenly felt sad that she had to part ways with Nero again. This time, if nothing bad happened likest time, she wouldn''t see her twin brother for five years. She didn''t expect that she''d get this sad from it.

    "Don''t be sad, Neoma," he said, then he touched her cheek. Then, he pulled out the ck ring from the box and put it on her pinky. Then, he raised his head to look at her face. "Once I return, I will never leave you again."

    "Come back healthy, Nero," she said in an emotional voice. "I will protect your position so you''ll have a ce toe home to."

    Nero smiled warmly at her, then he gently pulled her for a hug. "I''ll miss you, Neoma."

    "I''ll miss you, too, Nero," Neoma said in a cracked voice, then she hugged him back. "We will be waiting for you."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA was a little taken aback when she arrived at the shrine and the ce looked like a mess.

    The magic circle on the floor looked pretty.

    But she was distracted by the damage on the wall as if something strong hit it, then it copsed because of the impact.

    <em>Just what in the world happened here?</em>

    Saint Dominic Zavaroni, for some reason, looked tired.

    On the other hand, her eternally-grumpy Papa Boss looked more pissed than usual.

    And then, we have Trevor who was sitting in the middle of the magic circle while scratching the back of his head. The demon boy looked like he was trying not to show that he was in pain.

    "Should we ask what happened here?" Nero, who stood beside her, asked in an unimpressed voice. "It seems like there was a storm here or something."

    "Don''t ask," Emperor Niki said in a grumpy voice, then he turned to her twin brother. "Are you ready to leave, Nero?"

    Her twin brother nodded. "Yes, Father."

    She almost choked when she heard Nero call Papa Boss ''Father.'' He used to call their father in a formal way. Did her twin brother change it because of their previous conversation about how they should give their father a chance to do better?"

    "Nero, I''m so proud of you," she whispered to her brother.

    Nero turned to her, then he smiled and squeezed her hand. Ah, right. She almost forgot that he was holding her hand. "Anything for you, Neoma."

    "Aww, stop it," Trevorined. "I''m getting jealous here, Princess Neoma."

    She was about toin but much to her surprise, the saint beat her to it.

    "Mr. Trevor, please," Saint Zavaroni told the demon boy with a smile. "You want to depart in one piece, don''t you?"

    The demon boy acted like he was zipping his mouth.

    This is such a chaotic event.

    "Anyway, we shall begin opening the Hellgate," Saint Zavaroni said, then he turned to the emperor. "Your Majesty, I need your help."

    Her Papa Boss just nodded.

    Trevor, on the other hand, stood up and picked up Skewer. It was weird to see a child (well, Trevor was in his child form) wield a weapon twice his height. But it seemed like he had no trouble holding Skewer now when he couldn''t even lift in the first time they met. "Princess Neoma, I will miss you," he dered while looking at her with his signaturezy but attractive smile. Judging by the fact that he wasn''t moving from his spot, it seemed like he wasn''t allowed to leave the magic circle anymore. "I will propose to you again once I return from hell."

    Saint Zavaroni just sighed and shook his head.

    On the other hand, her father and twin brother was triggered by the demon boy''s "proposal."

    "Do you really have a death wish, huh?" Nero and Emperor Niki asked Trevor at the same time.

    Neoma couldn''t help butugh at how simr Nero and her Papa Boss looked and sounded just now. "Nero, Papa Boss, you''ve gotten closer, huh?"

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 160 - MY TRAINING ARC BEGINS!

    NEOMA was back at her job as Nero''s recement.

    As soon as the Moon Festival ended, she returned to her busy life as the Crown Prince. To be honest, she became busier now that she was obliged to attend official royal duties. Her training hours lessened, but her administrative jobs had doubled up.

    "You have to important meetings at the end of the month," Emperor Niki, her workaholic Papa Boss, said when she arrived at his office after being summoned. "First, you''re going to officially greet the heads of the Twelve Golden Families."

    "Yey," Neoma said in azy voice while pping her hands slowly. Right now, she was standing in front of her father''s desk. Of course, Sir Glenn stood beside her Papa Boss. On the other hand, Lewis was waiting for her outside the office. After all, the emperor didn''t like letting people he dislikede in and out of his pce. "I can''t wait to meet the circus."

    She said "circus" because as far as she remembered from her first life, the Twelve Golden Families were the "clowns" that run the empire to ruins.

    The Twelve Golden Families were the twelve oldest families in the empire that survived throughout the years. They were the families that had stayed with the royal family ever since the empire was built. Of course, some of them were the ones responsible for the downfall of other old families such as House Roseheart and the Silver Fox n . Thus, her reluctance and disinterest to meet them.

    Having said that, she''d admit that she was also a little excited to finally meet the heads of the Twelve Golden Families. After all, not all of them were enemies. Plus, she needed to charm them anyway to strengthen Nero''s position as the Crown Prince.

    And it isn''t that bad since House Quinzel belongs to the Twelve Golden Families. As long as Duke Rufus Quinzel is there, I''ll be fine.

    "I don''t know what you mean by calling them a "circus," but keep your attitude in check," her father warned her. "House Lennox is the most powerful and the most influential family among the Golden Age."

    Right, the Twelve Golden Families were also known as the ''Golden Age'' collectively.

    "Even though it''s hard, try not to fight with the head of House Lennox," her Papa Boss said. "You can be rude to everyone but them. Do you understand, Prince Nero?"

    "Yes, Father," she said, mimicking how Nero called her father since her Papa Boss called her by Nero''s name even though only Sir Glenn was there with them.

    As she expected, the emperor''s face turned red as if he was embarrassed that she reminded him of how Nero called him.

    She couldn''t help butugh at her tsundere father''s reaction.

    Suddenly, she was reminded of what happened before Nero left for hell with Trevor.

    After she said that Nero and her Papa Boss had gotten closer, the two scowled at her and denied her "usation" at the same time¨C further proving her point right.

    "Papa Boss, if you miss Nero, just say so," she said, teasing her father. "I''ll put on a pokerface and call you ''Father'' like how my twin brother does it."

    Sir Glenn stifled augh.

    On the other hand, her father red at the knight. When Sir Glenn coughed and put on a serious look on his face, only then did her Papa Boss turn to her. He didn''tment on her teasing. Instead, he changed the topic swiftly.

    How sly.

    "At the end of the month, the White Lion Knights will finally return to the Royal Capital," her father continued. "Since you don''t have your own Order of Knights yet, I''ll lend you the elite squad of my army."

    This time, her enthusiasm was genuine. "I can''t wait to meet them, Papa Boss."

    "I can see that," he said. "Anyway, we haven''t talked about the details of the kind of people that you want to be your knights. When should we discuss it again?"

    Right, she almost forgot about her "Dream Team."

    "I''ve been busytely so I haven''t prepared a powerpoint presentation¨C I mean, a detailed report yet, Papa Boss," she said. Oops. She couldn''t help but say "powerpoint presentation" because in her past life, that was how she would report her business proposals to her clients. Yes, she wasn''t just a simple vlogger in her second life. She would also endorse products and every time she did, she would make sure to get heavily involved with the campaign. Thus, her presentation skills were polished. "But I''ll make time for it this week. Please expect my detailed report this weekend."

    Her father just nodded. "Do you need an aide, Neoma?"

    "Oh, you''re going to give me an aide, Papa Boss?"

    "You need one since you''ve already started your official royal duties," her Papa Boss said. "It''s also time to increase the servants in your pce. It will be bad for your image if people outside the pce find out that you only have Stephanie and Alphen."

    That wasn''t technically true.

    She had other maids and butlers working in nco Pce. But only Stephanie and Alphen were allowed inside her bedroom. After all, only the head maid and the head butler knew about her royal secret.

    Anyway, aside from the maids and the butlers, she also had gardeners and "errand boys." And of course, she couldn''t forget about the Royal Kitchen in her pce.

    Ruto makes my meals but he''s in Yule Pce.

    "Stephanie and Alphen both came from a viscount family, but that status isn''t good enough to serve the Crown Prince. It was only good enough when you were still known as the royal prince," her father continued. "I''m no longer satisfied with them as your servants now that you''ve gained a higher position. I only appointed them as the head maid and the head butler of nco Pce because they know the royal secret."

    "But Stephanie and Alphen are good at their jobs, Papa Boss," she insisted. "Stephanie and Alphen are strict but kind. I like that they''re not afraid to speak their mind when they needed to do so. Plus, both of them saved me with their powers when Luna Pce was attacked. You know, when the weak royal guards that you assigned to our previous residence were easily eliminated by assassins."

    Stephanie and Alphen were both nobles. Thus, they could use Mana. Although their powers were average, they still managed to protect her properly that tragic night.

    She wouldn''t forget that.

    "I understand that I need to maintain a certain image as a Crown Prince," she said calmly. She didn''t want to lose her control because Stephanie and Alphen''s positions were on the line. Thus, she needed to convince her father to let the two stay as nco Pce''s head maid and head butler respectively. "I won''t stop you from hiring more people with higher status to work at my residence, Papa Boss. But please allow me to keep Stephanie and Alphen by my side. I''m not saying this just because I owe them my life. I''m simply vouching for theirpetence and reliability. It will be a shame if you fire them just because you think their noble status isn''t satisfactory to serve the Crown Prince."

    Her father looked at her as if he was examining her face.

    She held her breath, then she gave her Papa Boss the best "angelic" face that she could muster at the moment.

    "Alright, I''ll let Stephanie and Alphen keep their positions," her father said. "But in return, I will personally choose the new servants that will work for you."

    She was already relieved that Stephanie and Alphen would continue working for her, so she didn''t mind her father''s condition. Thus, she gave him a thumbs up. "Oki doki, Papa Boss."

    Her father just gave her a look that said he was so done with her "weird" choice of words, then he waved his hand dismissively. "You''re dismissed, little rogue."

    ''Little rogue?''

    Was that her new pet name or something? Well, it didn''t sound bad. Maybe her father was just being careful not to call her Neoma too much even though his office was a "safe ce" for her royal secret.

    But to be honest, she didn''t expect that her father was the type to give "soft" pet names to other people. Could it be¡­

    "Papa Boss, are you opening up your heart to me?" Neoma asked in a yful voice. "Gosh, this is what we call character development."

    This time, Sir Glenn wasn''t able to hold back and heughed merrily while pping his hands.

    On the other hand, Emperor Niki shut his eyes tight, then he pinched the bridge of his nose as if he was stressed. "Just get out and y outside, Neoma de Moonasterio."

    Someone is shy.

    Hehe.

    ***

    "MOCHI, I almost convinced myself that you were just a fever dream," Neoma said while walking to the pond with Mochi in her arms (and Lewis quietly following behind). The white bunny appeared when she was kicked out of her tsundere father''s office a while ago. Then, the Spirit asked her toe to the pond. Yes, the one where she almost died a few years back because of thete Duke Sloane. "Why do you keep on disappearing?"

    "I apologize for not being able to stay by your side recently, my littlemb," Mochi said. Wow, did a white bunny just call her a mb?" Why do people keep on giving her cute pet names these days? "As I mentioned a while ago, I found a Spirit here that will help you learn how to be a proper Summoner. After finding it, I needed to ask little Niki the permission to have this area among ourselves. I''ve been tossed to Count Kyle Sprouse, so I''ve been working with that guy these days. I dislike that boy, but at least he got the job done. Thanks to him, not a single soul is allowed to enter the premise as long as we''re using it."

    Ah, so that was the reason why she hadn''t seen anyone in the area yet.

    Not even Stephanie and Alphen insisted on following her. The two must have received an instruction or something from Count Kyle Sprouse.

    "Does the Spirit you found dwell in the pond?" she asked curiously when they arrived at the pavilion above the pond. Yes, it was the same pavilion that thete Duke Sloane destroyed in the past. It was fixed a long time ago and thus, that area had be one of her "havens." She used toe there and scream profanities as a form of releasing her stress. "You wouldn''t ask me toe here without a reason, Mochi."

    "I''m d that you''re as smart as Mona, Princess Neoma," Mochi said in a proud voice, then she hopped on the railing while facing the pond. "Come out, you insufferable diva!"

    She was shocked when the water suddenly rose up.

    And then, something appeared in front of her. Wait, maybe it would be more appropriate to say that "someone" appeared floating in front of her as the water that rose up a while ago began to return to the pond.

    Aside from the beautiful being facing her, she also noticed that they didn''t get wet when the water rose up a while ago.

    <em>But it doesn''t matter anymore.</em>

    What mattered most was the beautiful being in front of her: Long and wavy blue-greenish hair, beautiful bronze skin, and a fishtail with pretty purple scales.

    She didn''t want to assume the gender of the being but judging by their physical body, they could be a man. She couldn''t say for sure yet. But there was one thing she was sure of.

    Neoma''s eyes widened in disbelief. "A merman?!"

    <strong>***</strong>

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    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 161 - FOOL ME TWICE, SHAME ON ME

    NEOMA, while staring intently at the beautiful merman in front of her, noticed that they had silver-ish gills on the side of their neck. Their eyes were also unique as the color kept on changing in different shades of blue. Needless to say, it was fascinating.

    "Didn''t you learn that staring is rude, child?" the merman snapped at her. Their voice was masculine, and they had amanding (rather demanding) tone. "What are you looking at me for anyway?"

    Neoma smiled her most charming smile. "I apologize for staring," she said. "I was simply fascinated by your beauty."

    The merman raised a brow at her as if they were surprised by her remark.

    "I''m afraid that I''m not knowledgeable about your kind," she continued politely. The merman appeared hostile. But she had a feeling that it was just a defense mechanism. They were probably acting tough because they were suddenly summoned in an unfamiliar environment. And perhaps, they were summoned by Mochi against their will. "I apologize for assuming that you''re a merman. I hope I didn''t misgender you."

    "You were correct when you said that I''m a merman," the merman said. His tone this time was a little more mellow than it was a while ago. "Although I''m more attracted to men, I still identify as a male."

    "Thank you for letting me know," she said. "May I know your name this time?"

    "You''re such a curious child, aren''t you?" the merman asked, then he sighed. "You may call me ''Marvin.''"

    "Alright, Marvin," she said. "My name is Nero de Moonasterio."

    "That''s a lie," Marvin said with a huff. "You''re called ''Neoma,'' aren''t you? I dwell in the pond. I''ve heard you scream at the top of your lungs for the past three years. That also means I''ve heard your conversation with the fox boy every time you go here to "unwind.""

    She froze when she heard that.

    Ah, it seemed like she had been careless. She forgot that there were other beings in the Royal Pce other than humans. If the merman of the pond had discovered her secret because of her big mouth, then she could assume that other Spirits might have heard of her secret.

    <em>Dammit, I''ve been careless.</em>

    "Princess Neoma?"

    She was distracted when she heard Lewis call her with a gentle tap of his finger on her shoulder. When she turned to him, she was a little surprised when she saw that he looked worried. "What is it, Lewis?"

    "I didn''t understand your conversation with the "merman,"" Lewis said. Although his face was nk, she felt the concern in his voice. "But you look upset. Should I kill him?"

    There was a lot to unpack there.

    First, she didn''t notice that she spoke with the merman in a differentnguage.

    Second, Lewis mentioned killing a person again without hesitation. She didn''t like it when her son gets violent thoughts like that.

    And third, she wasn''t able toe up with a response to Lewis because Marvin suddenly shrieked as if something scared him.

    "That fox is barbaric!" Marvin said, then his body suddenly turned translucent. "As I thought, I can''t trust humans!"

    "Wait, Marvin!"

    She was toote though.

    Marvin, the merman, already disappeared. He was reduced into a bluish ball of energy, then it plummeted into the water. The water sshed on them this time.

    She didn''t get wet, thankfully.

    After all, Lewis immediately grabbed her by the hand and hid her behind him. Then, he used his cape to protect her from the ssh. It happened all quickly because of her son''s swift and confident movements.

    <em>Woah, what a cool move.</em>

    When she raised her head to check on Lewis, she was surprised to see him looking at her intently. His golden eyes were glowing beautifully. It was rare to see his eyes aglow without a glint of anger in them. The spark in them looked like happiness this time.

    <em>Why does my son look happy though?</em>

    "God, it''s so cold!"

    She was instantly distracted when she heard Mochi''s voice.

    When Lewis put his arm down, she finally saw the white bunny again. Ah, she forgot that Mochi was sitting on the railing. Lewis didn''t protect the Wind Spirit from water and thus, the poor white bunny was soaked.

    "We''re so sorry, Mochi," she said, guilty. Then, she gently carried the white bunny in her arms and used the mantle on her shoulder like a nket for Mochi. "Shall we head back to the pce first?"

    "Yes, please," Mochi said in a quivering voice. "I brought you here to meet the Spirit of the vengeful merman. I will teach you the basics of Summoningter."

    Neoma smiled and nodded. "I can''t wait to learn from you, Mochi."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "THOSE are pretty earrings, Hanna," Neoma squealed after Hanna showed off the earrings that Nero gave her. "My twin brother has good style, huh? But then again, you''re lovely, Hanna. I''m sure that you can pull off any type of jewelry."

    Hanna smiled, her natural rosy cheek getting a shade deeper. "Thank you, Neoma. You''re really generous withpliments."

    "You deserve to be praised from head to toe, Hanna."

    Her cousinughed softly while shaking her head. "You''re making me feel embarrassed."

    She couldn''t help but get awed by Hanna once again.

    <em>Even the way Hannaugh is verydy-like.</em>

    Anyway, they could talk like normal besties right now because they were alone in her private tea room.

    She wanted to take a walk with Hanna but she was afraid that there were other unseen Spirits or beings watching them. Now that she had realized what kind of mistake she had done, she was doing her best to be more careful.

    And Lewis''s presence behind her helped her calm down.

    Although she invited her son to join her and Hanna for tea, he turned her down again. After all, he was a proper knight even though nobody was looking.

    "Hanna, I heard that your maids have arrived at the pce earlier to help you pack your things," she said sadly. "Is it really time for you to return to House Quinzel?"

    She knew that Hanna''s stay wasn''t permanent, but she was still sad about it.

    When Rubin left her pce, she didn''t even bat an eye. But now that it was Hanna''s turn to leave her residence, she felt like crying.

    Hanna smiled sadly at her. "Neoma, I have something else to tell you," she said, then she sipped her tea before she continued. "My parents have decided to send me overseas to further my education."

    To say that she was shocked to hear that would be an understatement.

    She also felt her heart break at the sad news.

    "But there''s another reason behind their decision," her cousin continued. "My parents want to send me to the country of Gonora where my great uncle was exiled to."

    Her ears perked up that.

    As far as she remembered from the memories of her first life, there was only one Quinzel that was exiled to another country¨C and it was Garrett Quinzel, a war hero. She didn''t know why he was exiled though. She didn''t get the chance to know the other members of House Quinzel in her first life because she was too busy pleasing Duchess Amber Quinzel back then.

    "Apparently, my great uncle can help me control my shadow technique without literally breaking my heart," Hanna said, then she smiled at her as if she was trying to console her. "Neoma, I don''t want to leave you but I have to. After all, I want to be stronger for you and Nero." She clutched her chest tight. "Most of all, I don''t want to worry my mother and father every time I would use my Mana."

    Her heart went out to Hanna.

    To be honest, even though she was sad about her cousin leaving her, she didn''t have the courage to stop her.

    First of all, she wanted Hanna to find a way to control her shadow technique without killing her. Second, if she learned how to manage her power, then she''d get stronger. Andstly, if she got stronger, then maybe she would avoid dying early in this lifetime.

    Plus, it will probably be safer for Hanna if she leaves now that Regina Crowell is in the Royal Capital.

    "You should go, Hanna," she said with a smile even though her heart was heavy. "But pleasee back safely. If only I could go with you¡­"

    "Don''t worry about me too much, Neoma. Mother found a friend for me that will apany me to Gonora," Hanna said cheerfully. "Her name is Regina Crowell and we''re about to meetter."

    She dropped the teacup in her hand, not caring about the slightly hot tea that was poured on her leg. She also didn''t care that the teacup was shattered into pieces when it hit the floor. "What did you say, Hanna?"

    Her cousin looked worried about her. "Neoma, are you hurt?"

    Before she could even answer her cousin, she suddenly found herself being lifted by Lewis.

    Her son''s touch was so light that she didn''t notice when he grabbed her by the waist, then lifted her up to get her out of her seat. The next thing she knew, she was already standing next to her now vacant chair.

    Then, Lewis got down on one knee and inspected her leg. He carefully rolled her pants to see if she was burned. Thankfully, the tea wasn''t that hot anymore and thus, her skin only turned red. She wouldn''t need the magical Hisa ointment to treat it.

    "I''m fine, Lewis," she assured him. "I didn''t get burnt."

    Lewis raised his head to give her a stern look. "Calm down, Princess Neoma."

    Those words uttered by her son in a firm and strict voice snapped her out of her trance.

    She didn''t want to admit this but she panicked when she heard that Regina Crowell had already made contact with Duchess Amber Quinzel.

    <em>Shit. What the hell am I doing? I should get my priority straight.</em>

    And panicking wouldn''t help.

    She took a deep breath, then she smiled at her son. "Thank you, Lewis."

    Lewis''s eyes glimmered, then he stood up and bowed to her.

    "I''ll call the servants to clean the room," Hanna said. She must be worried about the broken pieces of the teacup on the floor. "Shall we take a walk in the garden, Neoma?"

    She looked at Hanna with clenched fists.

    To be honest, she nned to warn her cousin to beware of Regina Crowell without telling her the whole truth. Admittedly, she became toocent because she knew what would happen in the future. She didn''t expect that Regina Crowell would make a move this early.

    <em>I''ve been too arrogant and too confident with myself¡­</em>

    Dammit.

    Regina Crowell managed to fool her in her first life. If she let that girlie fool her again in this lifetime, then it would be a shame on her.

    "Hanna, can you cover the entire room with your shadow technique?" she asked seriously. Using the Shadow Veil was a basic skill for the Quinzels. It wasn''t dangerous for Hanna to use it. "I have something important to tell you."

    "I can do that," Hanna said worriedly. "But your serious face is making me nervous, Neoma."

    Neoma felt bad but she couldn''t smile in that situation. "Hanna, will you believe me if I say that this is already my third life?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "RUFUS Quinzel, do you want to die?" Niki asked Rufus coldly. "Did you just seriously ask me to let you send Hanna Quinzel to your traitor of an uncle?"

    That confrontation was currently happening in his office.

    When his exchange with Rufus began to get heated, Glenn fled to probably fetch Kyle Sprouse to help him stop his fight with his cousin.

    He was too angry to care about that.

    "Your Majesty, I will do everything to help my daughter strengthen her heart," Rufus said firmly while looking at him straight in the eye. "I don''t want to bring this up but when House Quinzel agreed to take in Prince Nero as our adopted "daughter" Nara Quinzel, you promised as a reward. And that reward is to grant us a request."

    "I did say that," he admitted. "But I also said that I will only grant your request if it''s within my power, and if it won''t offend or hurt the Royal Family. Letting you send the top candidate to be the future Crown Princess to a traitor would make us look like a fool, Rufus Quinzel."

    "Your Majesty, this would be myst request," his cousin said desperately. "If I need to grovel, I will do it."

    When Rufus began to bend his knees, Niki immediately drew his sword and pointed the sharp end at his cousin''s throat. That effectively stopped Rufus from kneeling. In fact, the duke couldn''t move an inch now. "Rufus, if you don''t take your request back, I will kill you."

    Rufus, without even an ounce of fear on his face, smiled at him genuinely. "You can take my life if you grant my request, Your Majesty," he said. "I would dly die if it means giving my daughter a better future."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 162 - SH*T JUST GOT REAL

    NEOMA told Hanna about her first and second life after her cousin covered the entire tea room with her Shadow Veil. Since they couldn''t call a servant, Lewis volunteered to clean the pieces of the broken teacup on the floor.

    After that, she proceeded to tell Hanna her other royal secret.

    But she omitted some fact.

    Regarding her first life, she told her cousin everything she remembered about it. But she didn''t have the heart to tell Hanna that Nero killed her because she got involved with Dahlia¨C the ck Witch that Nero of her first life was obsessed with. She just told Hanna that Nero killed her back then because she tried to perform a forbidden spell that would tie her life with his.

    About her second life, she didn''t tell Hanna that her dad/appa in that life looked like the former Commander Gavin Quinzel. It just didn''t feel right to tell her cousin about her family matters when she hadn''t begun her investigation yet.

    Plus, she thought that her second life didn''t matter as much as her first life does. After all, she practically went back in time when she woke up as Princess Neoma de Moonasterio again.

    "And that''s it," Neoma said, ending her long story. "When I was three years old, I regained the memories of my first and second life."

    Hanna, who looked pale now, sipped her tea quietly.

    Her cousin was silent but attentive the whole time she was telling her story. She didn''t ask questions, but the emotions that she felt while listening to her were disyed on her face.

    Hanna looked shocked when she told her that in her first life, she died when she was only eleven years old. Then, she looked sad when she told her that Duchess Amber Quinzel treated her like her recement after House Quinzel adopter her. When she told her cousin about Rubin Drayton, her first love back then, she looked at her with pity.

    Upon hearing the horrible things that Regina Crowell had done to her in her first life, Hanna showed anger for the first time.

    And finally, when Hanna heard that she was killed by Nero, she shed a tear.

    "You''ve been through a lot, Neoma," Hanna said in a cracked voice. Then, she elegantly put the teacup down and raised her head to meet her gaze. "I''m d that you were able to change your life this time."

    "I don''t n to stop at just simply changing my life," Neoma said firmly. "Hanna, I won''t let you die in this lifetime."

    Her cousin turned serious. "I don''t have any intention to die early, Neoma." She looked at her with an apologetic smile on her face. "I don''t want to make my parents suffer. And most of all¡­" She put her hand on top of the royal princess''s hand on the table, then she gently squeezed it. "Although it''s unlikely to happen again in this lifetime, I don''t want you to somehow end up as my recement." She became teary-eyed as if she remembered how Duchess Amber Quinzel treated her in her first life. "Neoma, I''m really sorry for what you went through in the past because of my mother."

    "Shh. It''s okay, Hanna," she said, consoling her cousin. "I didn''t know it back in my first life because I was just an ignorant forgotten princess then. But after I got to experience living in the modern world, I realized that Duchess Quinzel was just a lonely mother who couldn''t get over the death of her only child. She was someone who needed to get therapy but since it isn''t a thing here, Her Grace wasn''t able to get the professional help that she needed back then."

    "Neoma, you''re so understanding," her cousin said, obviously touched by what she said. "Is this the maturity of an adult?"

    Sheughed at that. "To be honest, even though I''m "old" inside, I can''t say that I''m really mature. I was a na?ve princess in my first life. I can''t say that I''ve matured back then because I didn''t have the chance to grow and stand on my own feet."

    Moreover, Duchess Amber Quinzel had treated her like a child because the duchess lost Hanna back then when her cousin was only eleven.

    Even her feelings for Rubin Drayton were due to her immaturity. If she was mature enough during her first life, she wouldn''t insist on marrying that douchebag. The right thing that she should have done back then was to walk away gracefully.

    "Since I didn''t have a normal life during my first life, I became too dependent on my family during my second life," she said. "I wasn''t caged in a huge mansion, but I was very sheltered. So even though I reached my twenties in my second life, I wouldn''t say that I matured ording to my mental age. That''s why I still make mistakes in this lifetime, Hanna."

    "It''s okay, Neoma," her cousin consoled her. "Even adults make mistakes."

    She was touched by those words. "Thank you, Hanna."

    Hanna smiled, then she turned serious. "Neoma, let me deal with Regina Crowell."

    "What?" she asked, surprised. "But she''s dangerous, Hanna. Although I don''t have evidence that she was involved in your death during my first life, I''m pretty sure that killing you was a part of the cult''s n to put Regina Crowell in House Quinzel. But when the Quinzels adopted me, they used me to make Regina a Quinzel, then they got rid of me after I served my purpose. Probably to also make sure that the only princess of the empire would be gone forever."

    After she learned about the cult that kills the royal princesses of the empire, she realized that she was killed not because Regina Crowell wanted Rubin Drayton for herself. She was probably used by the cult to get rid of her since she was a royal princess.

    "I don''t know how but judging by what Regina told me during my dying moment, it seemed like she somehow manipted Nero to kill me." She squeezed Hanna''s hand. "Even though Regina is still young, she''s dangerous if she''s already affiliated with the Crows this early."

    "I know that, Neoma," her cousin said. "But if we don''t make a move now, Regina Crowell might do something to manipte my mother. You said it yourself. The Regina Crowell in your first life managed to manipte the people around you. We don''t know her exact ability, but we can assume that she is capable of brainwashing the people that she wants to control."

    She couldn''t refute that.

    "Moreover, it seems like Regina Crowell''s target this time is me and my family," the youngdy Quinzel said. "As the one and only heiress of House Quinzel, it''s my duty to protect my family. So please let me handle Regina Crowell, Neoma."

    "But Hanna¡­"

    Her cousin smiled gently at her. "Neoma, I won''t fight Regina Crowell. My life will be at greater risk if she notices that I''m aware of who and what she is. We don''t want that to happen, do we?"

    She nodded in agreement. "Plus, we don''t know yet who Regina Crowell is working for. If we kill her now, the cult will realize that we know something that we shouldn''t. They might send another stronger pawn if Regina Crowell disappears."

    "That''s why we can''t kill Regina Crowell yet."

    "So, what''s your n, Hanna?"

    "A crow is nothing but a mere prey to a hawk. But I''ll save the killing forter," Hanna said, her beautiful green eyes glowing menacingly. "For now, I will do something to make my mother hate Regina Crowell."

    Neoma smiled, relieved that Hanna wasn''t nning on directly attacking Regina Crowell. "Then, I''ll leave the baby crow to you, Hanna ''the Hawk'' Quinzel."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "SIR GLENN is here, Neoma," Hanna told the royal princess when she dropped the Shadow Veil. She was able to tell that Sir Glenn arrived because the knight touched the veil a while ago. "He saw the Shadow Veil that I made."

    "I''ll make an excuse for it," Neoma said, then she stood up. "We should leave now. Let''s talk againter, Hanna."

    "Neoma, can you lend me Sir Crevan again?"

    The royal princess looked surprised by her request. "It''s fine with me but¡­" She turned to Lewis Crevan standing behind her. "Lewis, can you apany Hanna for a while? Since Sir Glenn is here to fetch me, I''ll be fine. He''s the strongest knight in the empire anyway."

    To be honest, she was expecting Lewis Crevan to agree begrudgingly.

    So she was a little surprised when the young knight nodded, his face void of anyints. Even Neoma looked surprised that her "son" agreed easily.

    "I''ll leave Hanna to you, then," Neoma said to Lewis Crevan who just nodded politely. Then, the royal princess turned to her with a smile. "I''lle backter."

    She smiled and nodded. "We will wait for you, Neoma."

    They heard a knock on the door.

    Neoma once again said goodbye to them, then she opened the door. As expected, it was Sir Glenn. The knight whispered something to the royal princess.

    She heard Neoma curse before she ran, quickly followed by Sir Glenn.

    <em>It must be a Royal Family matter.</em>

    She didn''t have time to worry about that since she had something else to deal with.

    Hanna faced Lewis Crevan who was still standing behind the chair that Neoma used a while ago. It seemed like the young knight was waiting for whatever it was that she wanted to say to him. "Sir Crevan, did Neoma mention something about Nero''s private life when she told you the things that happened in her first life?"

    Lewis Crevan gave her a look that said he wouldn''t answer her question.

    <em>As expected.</em>

    To be honest, she was still a little shocked after she heard the things that Neoma went through in her first life. Especially the part where she learned that her mother also caused the royal princess great pain in that lifetime.

    Of course, she understood that her mother''s grief had pushed her to see Neoma as her recement. But she was pretty sure that Regina Crowell somehow yed with her mother''s emotions to make Neoma suffer.

    <em>I won''t let that little crow hurt Neoma and my mother in this lifetime.</em>

    "This present life is different than Princess Neoma''s first life."

    She raised her head when Lewis Crevan spoke. It was a surprise, to be honest.

    "In Princess Neoma''s first life, I was Prince Nero''s personal knight. Apparently, that Lewis was loyal to the Crown Prince," Lewis continued in his usual indifferent voice. "But in this lifetime, I vowed my loyalty to Princess Neoma. The ounce of concern I have for Prince Nero is only due to the fact that he''s Princess Neoma''s twin brother."

    She stifled augh at the young knight''s remark regarding Nero.

    "I don''t care about Princess Neoma''s first life," he said firmly. "The only lifetime that matters is the present one where I get to stay with Princess Neoma."

    She was touched not only by Lewis Crevan''s loyalty towards Princess Neoma.

    <em>He''s giving me a piece of advice.</em>

    It seemed like the fox boy noticed that she was about to ask him who ended up as Nero''s Crown Princess when she died early in Neoma''s first life.

    But after hearing what Lewis Crevan think about his "role" in Princess Neoma''s first life, she realized that she didn''t have to know who became Nero''s bride in that lifetime. After all, she was determined to live long and be the future Crown Princess now.

    She was inspired by how Neoma changed her life.

    It was her turn to change hers.

    "You''re right, Sir Crevan. We''re not the same people in Princess Neoma''s first life," Hanna said firmly. "I will live a healthy life and be the future Crown Princess capable of supporting Nero."

    Lewis Crevan didn''t respond verbally, but the fox boy gave her a hand gesture that Neoma called "thumbs up."

    <em>Ah, Neoma''s influence on Sir Crevan is too strong.</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    <em>SHIT, Papa Boss is still a psycho!</em>

    When Sir Glenn fetched her, he told her that Emperor Niki might seriously injure Duke Rufus Quinzel.

    Now that she and Sir Glenn were running to her father''s office, she learned that the duke asked her Papa Boss for permission to send Hanna to Gonora. But that request also included the condition that Hanna would be sent to her great uncle Garrett Quinzel.

    But apparently, her Papa Boss hated Garrett Quinzel with a passion.

    "But why?" Neoma asked while they were running in the hallway. "Why does Papa Boss hate that Garrett Quinzel?"

    "Garrett Quinzel helped the former Commander Gavin Quinzel escape with Lady Mona Roseheart," Sir Glenn said seriously. "If the majority of the Twelve Golden Families didn''t stop His Majesty back then, he would have surely killed Garrett Quinzel."

    Tsk.

    She should have expected that it had something to do with the former Commander Gavin Quinzel.

    <em>Papa Boss, you need to start healing from your past.</em>

    When they arrived at her father''s office, Sir Glenn opened the door for her.

    She didn''t have the time to be shocked when she saw Duke Rufus Quinzel kneeling on the floor while holding his bleeding neck. When she saw her Papa Boss raise his sword as if he was going to behead the duke, her body moved on its own.

    <em>Tteokbokki</em>, she said in her mind while running towards her father. <em>Gear mode on!</em>

    <em>Be careful, thug princess</em>, Tteokbokki said worriedly. <em>Your father''s sword is special so it might be able to cut through my scales.</em>

    She gulped when she heard that, but it was already toote to stop.

    <em>I won''t let Papa Boss hurt Duke Quinzel more than he already has!</em>

    She stood protectively in front of the duke, then she raised her crossed arms that were now covered with Tteokbokki''s dragon scales as a shield. Her Soul Beast''s scales were harder than steel. So imagine her shock when the de of the emperor''s sword managed to cut through the scales and wound her arm.

    She gasped when she felt the sharp de of the sword cut through her skin, making a blood trail on her arm instantly.

    "Princess Neoma!" Sir Glenn and Duke Rufus Quinzel yelled worriedly at the same time.

    "You fool!" Emperor Niki yelled as he immediately pulled his sword away from her now bleeding arm. "Why did you get in my way, Neoma de Moonasterio?!"

    "It''s not my fault that you are too consumed by your anger that you didn''t notice my arrival, Papa Boss," Neoma snapped at her father. Shit, the cut in her arm hurt like crazy. "Now that I''ve stopped this attempted murder, I''ll return to my room and cry."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 163 - WHY (OVER)POSSESSIVE MEN ARE TOXIC

    <strong></strong>"THUG PRINCESS, are you alright?"

    Neoma wasn''t okay.

    For some reason, the cut on her arm that she received from her Papa Boss hurt like hell. The wound was giving her a burning sensation. Plus, the cut was bleeding like crazy.

    But she forgot all of that when she sensed the pain in Tteokbokki''s voice.

    "I''m fine, Tteokbokki," Neoma said while covering the cut on her arm with the handkerchief that she pulled from the breast pocket of her suit. "But are you okay? I can feel that you''re also in pain."

    "Just worry about yourself, thug princess."

    She was about to scold Tteokbokki for being a tsundere in that kind of situation.

    But all of a sudden, she was suddenly surrounded by Sir Glenn and Duke Rufus Quinzel who both looked worried about her. The two men were on their knees while trying to check the extent of her injury.

    "I''ll call Madam Hammock," Sir Glenn said. "Please wait here, Princess Neoma."

    "I''ll try to stop the bleeding first," Duke Rufus Quinzel said. "I''m not good at healing but I can try closing the wound at least."

    Aww, she was touched.

    But then again, her Papa Boss had to ruin that moment.

    "Rufus, Glenn, leave the room," Emperor Niki said coldly, the two men flinching as a result. But before either of Sir Glenn and Duke Rufus Quinzel couldin, the emperor spoke again. "Calypso, my sword, has cut through Neoma''s Soul Beast. My Azure Dragon can heal her Soul Beast. Only then will my daughter''s physical wound could be treated. In short, any kind of treatment for now would only be futile." The emperor returned his sword to the sheathe attached to his hip. "So don''t make me repeat myself, Rufus, Glenn."

    The duke and the knight didn''t move an inch.

    Despite His Majesty''s bad mood, it seemed like Sir Glenn and Duke Rufus Quinzel still didn''t want to leave her.

    That was touching, but she didn''t want the two to receive her father''s wrath.

    "Sir Glenn, Duke Quinzel, I''m fine," she said with a forced smile. It wasn''t like she was faking it. She just couldn''t fake a smile because of the pain that was killing her. "Please go. I can handle Papa Boss."

    Sir Glenn and Duke Quinzel looked hesitant to move.

    But in the end, the two followed the emperor''s order.

    After bowing to her and Emperor Niki, Sir Glenn and Duke Quinzel left the office. She really appreciated the fact that the two men hesitated a lot before leaving her. If she didn''t smile and wave them goodbye, they wouldn''t probably leave.

    <em>Your sentiment is enough, Sir Glenn and Duke Quinzel.</em>

    "You foolish child," Emperor Niki said, then he got down on one knee and grabbed her injured arm carefully. Then, without saying a thing, he put his hand over her bleeding wound. As soon as he did that, she felt a warm energy flow through the veins of her body. "Do you know what you''ve just done?"

    "Yes, Papa Boss. I saved Duke Quinzel," she said bluntly. "What are you doing to me? My body feels warmer than usual."

    "I sent my Azure Dragon to your Soul Beast," her father said. "Once East is done treating your Soul Beast''s wound, the cut in your arm will heal as well."

    "Okay," she said. "Will it leave a scar? Your Calypso is so savage, Papa Boss."

    "The wound isn''t deep so let''s hope it doesn''t leave a scar," he said, then he stood up. "I''ll call Madam Hammockter to apply Hisa ointment on your wound."

    Much to her shock, her father picked her up by the waist.

    She didn''t react because her body suddenly felt heavy. It was probably because of the powerful Soul Beast inside her. She could literally feel the Azure Dragon''s overwhelming power inside her body and it was enough to make her feel exhausted.

    Plus, her arm was still bleeding a lot.

    "I wasn''t trying to kill Rufus," her father said when he put her down on the sofa of his office''s lounge area. Then, he sat on the opposite chair. He even crossed his legs like a mafia. At least, the mafia in the movies that she had seen in her second life. "I just wanted to make him bleed a little."

    She huffed upon hearing that. "All because Duke Quinzel wanted to send Hanna to Gonora where Lord Garrett Quinzel lives?"

    "He was already stripped off his title as a noble," he snarled at her. "Do you know what that man did to me in the past?"

    "Apparently, Mr. Garrett Quinzel helped the former Commander Quinzel escape the pce with Mama."

    Her father looked shocked by her blunt response.

    "I have ears, Papa Boss," she said to answer his confusion. "I have heard the rumors about the formermander and my Mama."

    Her father red at her. "If you know that, then why did you stop me from punishing Rufus for his insolence?"

    "Why does Duke Quinzel have to suffer just because he wants to save his daughter?" she snapped back at her father. "I understand that Mr. Garrett Quinzel had wrong you in the past. But will you let your personal grudge against him blind you, Papa Boss? The Quinzels are one of the Royal Family''s biggest supporters. Plus, Hanna is the only heiress of House Quinzel. It''s your duty to help my cousin."

    "There must be other ways to fix Hanna Quinzel''s heart."

    "If there are other ways to do that, Duke Quinzel wouldn''t have risked his life just to ask for your permission to send Hanna to Gonora," she reminded her father. "His Grace is desperate. That means sending Hanna to Mr. Garrett Quinzel is the only way to help his daughter get her heart fixed."

    "I still won''t allow that to happen."

    "Do you still love Mama, Papa Boss?"

    Her father''s eyes suddenly turned red. "I hate that woman."

    "There''s a thin line between love and hate, Papa Boss," she said while shaking her head. "And I can see that you hate my mother as much as you love her."

    "Just what do you know about love?"

    "I have no experience yet in the romance department but I think I''m still more emotionally intelligent than you, Papa Boss," she said seriously. "But I can tell that you love Mama by how much you hate me and Nero. Well, you treat Nero okay because you need an heir. But since you don''t have any use for a royal princess like me, you vented out your anger for our mother on me instead of my twin brother."

    He looked shocked by her calloused words.

    "You love Mama too much that Nero and I, especially me, do not have any space left in your heart anymore," she said in a sad voice. Argh. She also didn''t expect that she''d sound this sad, but she couldn''t help but feel that way. "I think I understand you a little now, Papa Boss." She smiled at her father even though she knew that it only made her look more miserable. "You gave your heart to our mother wholly. You didn''t leave anything for yourself. For us."

    It seemed like her words pped her father back to reality.

    The anger and bitterness on his face a while ago disappeared. Plus, his eyes returned to their original color as well. This time, guilt was disyed in his ash-gray eyes.

    "You must have been devastated when Mama left you," she continued. This time, she could feel her heartbreaking for herself. Yeah, she felt pathetic at the moment. "I understand how the love that you have for Mama may have turned into resentment. After all, I know that it''s easier to convince yourself that you hate the person that hurt you than to admit that you still love her."

    "Stop," her father warned her.

    "No," she said firmly. "Papa Boss, do you know how many series would end in one season if only the main charactersmunicated properly instead of dragging a misunderstanding for several more seasons, huh?"

    He pinched the bridge of his nose. "You''re not making sense again."

    "What I mean to say is I''m not leaving this office until we talk this out," she exined clearly. "Papa Boss, I support Duke Quinzel''s decision. I want Hanna to live."

    He red at her again but thankfully, his eye color didn''t change this time.

    <em>Alright, talk-no-jutsu might work on Papa Boss since he looked calm now.</em>

    "Hating people who helped the former Commander Gavin Quinzel and my mother escape won''t bring my Mama back, Papa Boss," she said, obviously offending her father. "Plus, as an emperor, you''re making a grave mistake by ignoring House Quinzel''s plead to save their only heiress. Hanna is going to be a very significant figure in the future. If you let her die now just because of your grudge, then maybe it''s time for you to give up your throne. Maybe I should run the empire in your ce until Nero returns."

    That was just a bluff.

    She didn''t need any royal pain in the ass, thank you very much.

    "I already told you to stop saying things like that," her father scolded her. "And don''t you want to be ady of leisure anymore?"

    She blinked in surprise. "Oh. Papa Boss, is that you caring about me?"

    "Shut up, little rogue."

    She smiled because she realized that her Papa Boss was back to his usual self.

    Well, he was still grumpy. But at least, this time, he wasn''t oozing with bloodlust. It seemed like he didn''t have any intention to hurt Duke Rufus Quinzel.

    "Papa Boss, Nero and I are Mama''s precious children," she said gently. Argh, she hated that she said something cringey. But she felt like it was the right moment for her and her Papa Boss to admit that "issue." As she said earlier, nothing good woulde out of a dragging misunderstanding. "Even if Mama is no longer here, you still have us. Of course, I know that we can''t rece our mother in your heart. But the fact that Nero and I are the proof of the love that you and Mama had should be enough for you to treasure us." She felt awkward when her father just gave her a nk look. So she shrugged in an attempt to act nonchnt. "Just saying."

    Her father remained silent.

    Since his face was nker than usual, she couldn''t decipher what was on his mind. But she noticed that her Papa Boss''s eyes looked gentler and warmer than normal.

    "I''m not saying that you have to love me and Nero. You also don''t have to dote on us," she said quickly to hide her embarrassment. Argh, she was getting goosebumps from being so cheesy. "But I ask you to properly look at us, Papa Boss. We aren''t mere "memorabilia" from Mama. We are your children and we have nothing to do with what happened between you and our mother. So please don''t take it out on us."

    He scowled but she knew that it wasn''t because of what she said.

    Her father was probably having an inner debate with himself. He was probably thinking of how to respond to her.

    "I probably won''t understand what kind of feelings you have for our mother," she continued because there was something else that she needed to take off her chest. "But from my standpoint, I can see that your possessiveness with Mama is very toxic, Papa Boss. Looking at how you''re acting right now, it''s easy for me to conclude that you had an unhealthy rtionship with Mama."

    "You don''t know anything about us, Neoma de Moonasterio."

    "It''s because you''re not telling me anything, Papa Boss," she retorted. "That''s why I saidmunication is important. If you want me to understand you, then open up to me. And I''ll do the same."

    Well, she wouldn''t tell her father about her previous lives, of course.

    Her father''s mood wings were still bad so she couldn''t predict how he would react to her secret. Especially if she told him that the father that she had in her second life looked exactly like the former Commander Gavin Quinzel.

    <em>Papa Boss might go insane if he learns that.</em>

    "As I said before, I can''t tell you what you want to know about my history with your mother," her father finally said. "Let''s stop here for today. My Azure Dragon is done treating your Soul Beast''s wound. You may now go to Madam Hammock."

    "How about the matter about sending Hanna to Mr. Garrett Quinzel?"

    "My answer is still ''no.''"

    "I won''t ept a ''no'' for an answer, Papa Boss," Neoma said firmly. "Until you apologize to me for cutting my arm, and until you allow Hanna to be sent to Gonora to meet her great uncle, I won''t eat."

    "Fine," Emperor Niki said with an annoyed look on his face. "Let''s see if you''llst."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NOW ALONE in his office, Niki already emptied a bottle of vodka.

    He didn''t want to admit this but Neoma''s sincere words tugged at his heartstrings. After all, everything that his daughter said was true.

    His possessiveness and obsession with Mona had gotten worse even though she was already gone. And despite the fact that she stole almost all the fond memories that he shared with her and reced it with the bad ones, he still couldn''tpletely hate her.

    After all, like what Neoma said earlier, he gave his heart wholly to Mona.

    "You shouldn''t have stolen my ability to love, Mona," Niki whispered to himself, then he finished the vodka in his ss before he continued. "You should have specifically stolen my ability to love you."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 164 - HUNGER STRIKE!!!

    NOT EVERYONE can simply step foot in the Royal Kitchen of Yule Pce.

    That was why it was Glenn who personally delivered the silver food trolley back to the Royal Kitchen.

    To be precise, he sent it back to Chef Ruto''s personal station. Since the young chef was special, he had his own station where he worked alone. It was separated from the main kitchen that was under the Head Chef¨C Morton Stroganoff, Chef Ruto''s father.

    "Chef Ruto, it''s me. Glenn of the White Lion Knights," Glenn introduced himself to the young chef. It wasn''t their first time. But Chef Ruto had a condition where he couldn''t recognize and remember the faces of the people he meets. "I havee here to deliver back the meal that you prepared for His Royal Highness Prince Nero."

    Chef Ruto looked surprised and offended by what he said. After all, this was the first time that the young chef''s cooking was rejected by a member of the Royal Family. "Is there anything wrong with the food that I prepared for His Royal Highness?"

    He couldn''t tell anyone about the "silent war" between Princess Neoma and His Majesty.

    Thus, he had to lie.

    "His Royal Highness doesn''t have an appetite," Glenn said to the young chef. "And until the Crown Prince asked for a meal, please don''t send any food to his residence."

    "No," Chef Ruto said firmly. The young chef was usuallyid-back. In fact, this was the first time that Glenn saw something akin to determination in the child''s dark eyes. "It''s my duty to bring back His Royal Highness''s appetite with my cooking."

    Ah, who would have thought that the obedient young chef had a stubborn side as well?

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA''S stomach was growling loudly but she tried to ignore that.

    But Mochi and Lewis couldn''t.

    "I''m fine," Neoma said, trying to act cool. "Let''s begin my training."

    Right now, she was in the pond''s pavilion with Mochi and Lewis.

    Sadly, Hanna already left the Royal Pce. She sent her cousin off with tears a while ago. But she didn''t have the time to be sad for too long.

    After all, today was the first day that the Wind Spirit would teach her how to summon a Spirit.

    <em>It''s time to learn how to be</em> a <em>full-fledged Summomer.</em>

    They were in the pavilion by the pond because Mochi''s challenge for her was to summon Marvin¨C the Spirit of a merman dwelling in the pond.

    She may be hungry, but she was ready.

    Her arms were already healed. After her dramatic fight with her Papa Boss, she went to Madam Hammock to have her wounds treated. Thankfully, it didn''t leave a scar thanks to the magical ointment.

    <em>I don''t know what to do without Madam Hammock.</em>

    "Princess Neoma, I don''t think you''re in the right condition to begin your training," Mochi said sternly. "I heard that you didn''t have dinnerst night, and that you also skipped breakfast this morning."

    That was true.

    Thus, her stomach was "crying" right now.

    This was the first time that she felt hunger after a long time. Thest time that she felt hungry was when she was five years old. That was when she and Nero were still living in Luna Pce. The maids treated her poorly and would only feed her sd.

    "I can still move even if I''m hungry," she insisted. "I was even able to attend a meeting with Count Sprouse a while ago without a problem."

    Well, every time she was with the count, she never fails to feel determined to do her job well. After all, she didn''t want to be judged by Count Sprouse as ipetent or something.

    "I don''t want to teach a hungry student," the white bunny said. "To use the power of your soul, the shell must be in excellent condition."

    The ''shell'' must be her physical body.

    "I''m sorry but I have to cancel our ss for today," Mochi said, her body turning translucent before she could even retort. "I''ll show up again once your stomach is filled, Princess Neoma."

    And just like that, the Wind Spirit was gone with the end.

    "Argh," sheined, then she turned around to face her onlypanion now. "Mochi left me, Lewis¨C"

    She wasn''t able to finish her sentence when Lewis gently pushed a round chocte candy in her mouth. Out of shock, she swallowed the candy without chewing it.

    What the¨C

    "Lewis!" she said while gently patting her chest. "I almost choked!"

    "Sorry," Lewis said, then he held up another chocte candy in his hand. "Say ''ah,'' Princess Neoma."

    She covered her mouth with her hands. "Lewis, I''m on a hunger strike."

    "A candy can''t be considered a meal," he said. "It''s okay to eat candies when you''re on a hunger strike."

    "No, it doesn''t work that way."

    He was about to talk back when his stomach rumbled loudly.

    "Lewis!"

    "It wasn''t me," he lied with a straight face. "It was your stomach, Princess Neoma."

    "Stop lying," she scolded him. "Where did you learn how to lie?"

    "You," he said bluntly. "Princess Neoma is a good liar."

    She almost choked on her saliva.

    Damn, her son wore his smarty-pants today.

    Although she was annoyed, she was still proud of how good Lewis was at giving retorts. And even though he kept talking back to her, she didn''t feel disrespected at all.

    "Did you not eat because I didn''t eat, huh?" she confronted him. "Are you crazy?"

    "How could I eat when my princess is starving herself?"

    "I''m starving myself for a cause."

    "Then, I''m also starving myself for a cause."

    "That''s not an excuse to starve yourself!"

    "Exactly."

    Damn it, she could only bite her lower lip when she realized that Lewis got her.

    She knew that it was pointless to starve herself because her Papa Boss didn''t care about her like how a father should care about his daughter. But she still went and dered that she would go on a hunger strike to guilt-trip her father.

    "If you understand, eat more candies," Lewis said, suddenly talking like he was older than her. Well, physically he was older. But whatever. She was too hungry to think. "You won''t be able to outwit His Majesty if you''re too hungry to think straight, Princess Neoma."

    She couldn''t help butugh at Lewis''s excuse to make her eat the candies he prepared for her. Raising a good son wasn''t a waste, huh?

    "Thank you for taking care of me, Lewis," Neoma said, then she took the chocte candy from Lewis. Then, she split it into two and gave the other half to her son. "Eat. You have to be strong to protect me so you can''t starve yourself."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOUR MAJESTY, I think Princess Neoma lost weight already."

    Niki rolled his eyes at Glenn''s dramatic remark. "Neoma won''t lose weight for simply skipping dinner and breakfast."

    "But our princess must be hungry now, Your Majesty," Glenn insisted in a worried voice. "I can''t imagine how a little girl like her could starve herself as a sign of protest. Your Majesty, don''t you feel bad for Her Royal Highness?"

    He pinched the bridge of his nose.

    <em>Can''t the next visitorse sooner?</em>

    Right now, he was in the throne room with Glenn.

    Only the two of them were there and thus, his personal knight who seemed to favor his daughter over him wouldn''t shut up. For the first time ever since he took the throne, he couldn''t wait to meet the Noble Faction so just Glenn would finally shut his mouth.

    "Neoma won''t die from skipping a few meals so stop nagging," he hissed at Glenn. "If you don''t want her to starve, then go ahead and force her to eat."

    The simpleton of a knight was about to open his mouth to retort when his stomach growled loudly. But Glenn justughed it off while scratching the back of his head. Whenever his personal knight acted like a fool, he couldn''t help but wonder who someone as na?ve-looking as Glenn could turn into a blood-thirsty monster on a battlefield.

    Glenn''s simple-mindedness got worse when he got attached to Neoma.

    "For god''s sake, just eat," he told his personal knight. "What are you starving yourself for, Glenn?"

    Glenn smiled at him. "How could I eat when my master didn''t? Your Majesty, you skipped your meals when you heard that Princess Neoma refused to eat."

    "It wasn''t because of Neoma, if that''s what you''re thinking," he said firmly. "It just so happens that I don''t have an appetite because I got too drunkst night."

    The knight''s smile grew wider. "Of course, Your Majesty."

    This jolly bastard obviously didn''t believe him.

    "Glenn, just go and feed Neoma," he told the knight. "I''m not in the mood to deal with you."

    "Don''t worry about that, Your Majesty," Glenn said cheerfully. "Chef Ruto said that he''ll personally go to nco Pce to feed "Prince Nero.""

    "What?" Niki asked, surprised. "Ruston Stroganoff left Yule Pce?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "OH, I''M famous," Neoma said after reading the letter that arrived at her pce a while ago. Right now, she was back in her office. She sat behind the desk while Lewis stood beside her. "Jasper Oppa is requesting an audience with me."

    She almost forgot that she had a business with Duke Jasper Hawthorne.

    After all, she had been very busy during the Moon Festival. But now that it was over and Nero already returned to hell with Trevor, she could focus on her mission again.

    It wasn''t like she was wasting time though.

    To save the ves in the Death Camp, she had to be prepared by making herself stronger. After all, she didn''t want to be a dead weight in Jasper Oppa''s operation. Plus, Lewis would risk his life as bait for their n so she should be strong enough to rescue her son.

    "Saint Zavaroni also requests a meeting with me," she said. "I need to learn how to make a Holy Barrier the soonest."

    After the saint sent off Nero, he told her to wait for him.

    Apparently, Saint Dominic Zavaroni requested a short vacation from the temple. His Holiness would spend his free time teaching her how to make barriers.

    "Right, His Holiness wants to make me his disciple," she said, then she sighed. "Mochi is also supposed to teach me how to summon Spirits. Gosh, I''m so busy. I can''t believe I''m having a family drama with Papa Boss when I can''t even allot a time to cry."

    Yes, she was so busy that she couldn''t allow herself to break down.

    If she wanted to cry, she had to "schedule" it. After all, aside from her training, she also had a lot of royal duties to fulfill.

    "Princess Neoma, you should eat first," Lewis insisted firmly. "You''ll die if you starve. A lot of children who were with me in the past died because of hunger."

    She froze when she heard that.

    If she wasn''t mistaken, it was the first time that Lewis shared something from his past without being asked to. Upon hearing that, she suddenly felt guilty for skipping meals when there were hungry people in the empire.

    Why the hell was she starving herself when there were children her age who couldn''t find a decent meal to eat?

    She raised her head to meet her son''s gaze. "Lewis, I''m sorry¨C"

    Ah, she wasn''t able to finish her sentence when she heard a knock on the door. It was followed by Stephanie''s voice.

    "Come in," she told the head maid.

    Stephanie entered the room. Then, she stood in front of her and bowed politely at her. "You have an esteemed guest, Your Royal Highness," the head maid said. "Chef Ruston Stroganoff of the Royal Kitchen is requesting for an audience."

    Neoma''s eyes widened in shock. "Ruto is here?"

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 165 - RUTOS SURPRISING REQUEST

    "I DON''T want to see Ruto," Neoma said to Stephanie. Well, more like she can''t see the Royal Chef out of fear of not being able to resist the young chef''s food. "Send him back to my father''s pce."

    Stephanie looked shocked by her order. "But Your Royal Highness, Chef Ruston Stroganoff has a letter from His Majesty. ording to that letter, His Majesty is allowing the young Royal Chef to do what he must to bring back your appetite."

    Argh, she didn''t expect that from her Papa Boss.

    Was her father worried about her?

    <em>Nah. He just probably wants me to eat so that I''ll stop rebelling against his tyranny. Sending Ruto here is foul though.</em>

    After all, she knew deep in her heart that she couldn''t refuse the young chef''s yummy food.

    But since Ruto went through all the troubles to visit me, I must send him away personally.

    "Bring the Royal Chef to the royal parlor," she said to the head maid. "I will meet him after I freshened up."

    "Shall I help you, Your Royal Highness?"

    "Nah, I''m good," she said. "Just serve Ruto well, Stephanie."

    "As you wish, Your Royal Highness," Stephanie said, then she bowed politely before leaving her office quietly.

    She turned to Lewis as soon as the head maid was gone. "Lewis, you won''t believe this. But the Chef Stroganoff that actually makes my meal is only a year older than you."

    Lewis looked surprised by what she said. "But I met him in the kitchen once," he said. "He''s an old man with blonde hair and green eyes."

    "Apparently, the one you saw is Morton Stroganoff¨C Ruto''s father."

    "Father?"

    "I know, right?" she said. After all, she could rte to Lewis''s confusion. "Ruto probably inherited his looks from his mother."

    Her son just remained silent.

    "Anyway, do I look okay?" she asked her son. "Do I look handsome?"

    He shook his head. "Pretty."

    Sheughed softly while shaking her head. Then, she touched the choker around her neck. It was a magical device that changes her voice so that he''d sound like a "boy." "Lewis, Ruto has face blindness," she informed her son. "He met me when I was disguised as ''Miss Ramsay.'' He won''t recognize me as the little girl that she met in the streets because of this choker, but he might recognize my scent."

    Lewis''s brows furrowed. "How?"

    She pointed at her hair. "He sniffed my hair like a dog."

    He scowled upon hearing that.

    "But he''s not a pervert," she said defensively. "He can''t help it since he can''t remember faces. He has to remember me using other ways." She stood up and stretched her arms. "Can I borrow your perfume, Lewis? I want to change my scent."

    She had her own perfumes, of course.

    But Ruto might recognize that. After all, she wore it when she was disguised as ''Miss Ramsay.'' She didn''t want to underestimate the young chef''s senses.

    "I don''t use perfume, Princess Neoma."

    "Really?" she asked, surprised. "You always smell cool and refreshing so I thought you wear perfume. So that''s your natural scent, huh?"

    Lewis looked clueless by what she was talking about.

    "I''ll just borrow perfume from Alphen," Neoma said, then she began to walk towards the door. "Let''s go, Lewis."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA didn''t know why but she felt a little nervous when she arrived at the tea room.

    Ruto was indeed there.

    <em>Wow, he''s wearing noble clothes this time.</em>

    She thought he went to her pce in his usual chef''s uniform.

    Ruto looked pretty neat. He liked his ck suit adorned with gold rivet tassels shoulder epaulets. His shoes and the essories that covered his body looked simple yet elegant. He was like a rich celebrity with chill vibes that made him appear approachable.

    But like the first time that she met him, he still had no presence in terms of Mana. She barely noticed him even though he was just sitting on the sofa while having tea¡­

    <em>Wait, that''s not tea.</em>

    Ruto had a ss in his hand with a metallic straw so she could clearly see what kind of drink he was having at the moment.

    "Bubble tea!" Neoma eximed as soon as she recognized the drink. "You managed to make ck tapioca pearls from scratch, Chef Stroganoff."

    Ruto stood up and bowed to her. "Greetings to the First Star of the Great Moonasterion Empire," he said in his usually chill yet polite voice. "My name is Ruston Stroganoff, one of the Royal Chefs serving the Royal Family."

    <em>Ah, right.</em>

    She almost forgot that she was acting as the Crown Prince and this was their "first" meeting.

    <em>I can''t call him ''Ruto'' unless he tells me his nickname.</em>

    "You may raise your head now," she told him.

    Ruto did as he was told, and he remained standing.

    She knew that he would remain that way unless she sat first. So she walked towards the opposite sofa and sat on it as Lewis stood behind her. "You may take a sit now, Chef."

    The young chef nodded politely before he sat on the sofa from across her.

    She noticed that on the table between her and Ruto, there were two sses of green tea with ck pearls.

    "Chef Stroganoff, are you the one who prepared your own drink?" she asked worriedly. "You''re a guest."

    "I''m just like any servant of the Royal Pce, Your Royal Highness," Ruto reminded her politely. "You don''t have to treat me differently. Moreover, I''m here to serve you. I was shocked when the meals that I prepared for your dinner and breakfast were returned to my kitchen. May I know if there''s something wrong with the food that I prepared for you?"

    <em>Ah, he doesn''t beat around the bush, huh?</em>

    Ruto''s straightforward personality didn''t shock her anymore since this was the same person who bluntlypared her to a (cute) baby white radish.

    <em>He''s really bad for my ego.</em>

    "I''m on a hunger strike," she said while eyeing the bubble tea on the tall ss in front of her. It looked like the matcha tea that she used to drink back in her second life. She couldn''t help but gulp while wondering if it would taste the same. "I know that you diligently prepare my meals, Chef Stroganoff. But I can''t eat right now. Not even a sip of that yummy-looking bubble tea with ck tapioca pearls¡­"

    "Your Royal Highness."

    She raised her head to meet Ruto''s gaze. "Yes?"

    "Please eat," he said in a polite yet firm voice. "I prepared some of the food that you requested to me before. For today, I made the thing you call ''pizza'' for you, Your Royal Highness."

    Her eyes widened in shock. "P-Pizza?"

    He nodded, then he continued. "I also made ''mojos,'' ''buffalo wings,'' and ''mozzare sticks'' for you, Your Royal Highness."

    She almost drooled upon hearing that.

    "They''re quite a challenge to make. But I''m grateful for being given the chance to make foreign dishes," the young chef said. "To be honest, I didn''t know that chicken meat could be that delicious. After all, we mostly only cook beef and venison in the Royal Kitchen." He paused to sip his bubble tea. And he sipped it in a way as if he was tempting her to try it. "I''ve also made several dishes out of a simple potato, and it''s all thanks to you, Your Royal Highness."

    She bit her lower lip, suppressing her cravings for the bubble tea.

    "For this dish called ''pizza,'' I''ve asked the artisans of the Royal Pce to make a tool simr to the "old type of oven" that you mentioned in your letter. It''s quite simr to a furnace," Ruto exined to her. "Thanks to that thing called ''oven,'' I think I perfectly made the pizza that you want, Your Royal Highness."

    "I-Is it delicious?" she asked, then she gulped again. "Did you make the pizza exactly like how I wrote it in the recipe?"

    "Yes, Your Royal Highness," he said confidently. "But only you can judge if it suits your taste."

    "But as I said, I''m on a hunger strike¡­"

    "Then, I have no choice but to throw them all away," he said bluntly. "I hate wasting food. But the food that is made for a member of the Royal Family couldn''t be handed to other people." He cocked his head at one side. "Don''t you think it would be waste to throw the food away, Your Royal Highness? I understand that you''re probably on a hunger strike for standing up for something that you truly believe in. But is it worth the food that is being wasted?"

    Argh, Ruto''s words hurt her conscience.

    Yet, she couldn''t give up on her hunger strike.

    "I''m not starving myself just to guilt-trip my father," she said seriously. "I''m showing him my resolve. I know that it may look stupid for someone who values food over almost anything. But Chef Stroganoff, I''m doing this to save a life."

    She was hoping that her Papa Boss would give in first.

    Even if her hunger strike would lead to food waste, she would have to turn a blind eye. After all, Hanna''s life was more important to her.

    "I understand, Your Royal Highness. I won''t force you to eat anymore," the young chef said. "I will just wait for you to summon me."

    She smiled, relieved that Ruto wasn''t being pushy.

    "I have a request, Your Royal Highness."

    "What is it?"

    "Can I meet yourdy-in-waiting trainee called ''Miss Ramsay?''" Ruto asked without missing a heartbeat. "The one that looks like a baby white radish."

    She almost choked on her saliva. "W-What do you need Miss Ramsay for?"

    "I want to feed her."

    "And why would you want to do that?"

    "Just because."

    Huh?

    What kind of reason was that?

    "Can I meet Miss Ramsay?"

    It was easy to refuse that kind of request.

    But for some reason, she couldn''t.

    "I can''t stay longer because I have a job to attend to," Neoma said, then she stood up. "If you wait here, I''ll send Miss Ramsay here."

    Ruto''s face lit up, then he stood up and bowed to her. "I''m much obliged, Your Royal Highness."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOUR MAJESTY, I received a report from Miss Stephanie," Glenn reported to him during his break. "Princess Neoma refused to eat the food that Chef Ruto prepared for her."

    Niki sipped his tea before he spoke. "How stubborn."

    Glennughed softly. "Aren''t you stubborn as well, Your Majesty? You''ve been drinking tea all day because you don''t want to eat while Her Royal Highness is still on a hunger strike."

    "Glenn, do you want to die?"

    "Please reconsider your decision, Your Majesty," his personal knight said seriously. "Aside from the fact that I''m worried about Princess Neoma, I also agree with her. The youngdy Hanna Quinzel is going to be an important figure in the future as the sole heiress of House Quinzel. Most of all, she might be the future Crown Princess of the empire. It would be a shame if she dies early because of a sickness that we can fix."

    It wasn''t like Neoma and Glenn''s reasoning was wrong.

    In fact, he knew that they were right.

    Rufus didn''t even need to beg him.

    But he let his personal feelings cloud his judgment. And now, it caused an uproar among the people around him. He even hurt Rufus who just wanted to save his only daughter.

    If he doesn''t get himself together, Neoma will call him a scumbag again.

    "Glenn."

    "Yes, Your Majesty?"

    "Send a word to Neoma''s pce," Niki said, then he put his teacup down on the table. "Tell my rogue of a daughter that I will allow Rufus to send Hanna to Gonora to study under Garrett Quinzel." He paused before he continued. "Lastly, tell Neoma that I will go to her residenceter for the apology that she wants."

    Glenn smiled and nodded eagerly. "As you wish, Your Majesty."

    <strong>***</strong>

    HANNA was shocked while standing outside her parents'' room.

    For the first time in her life, she heard them fight. Since her mother and her father were talking in loud voices, she could hear them from where she stood.

    "Amber, do you hear yourself?"

    "I''m just telling the truth, Rufus," her mother said in a frustrated voice. "Because of His Majesty and the "Crown Prince," you''ve been getting hurt recently!"

    She gasped when she heard that. Mother, what are you saying about the Royal Family?

    "We are nobles and it''s our duty to serve the Royal Family," her father said firmly. "And His Majesty is my cousin. Therefore, the "Crown Prince" is also my family. Please don''t me this on them."

    Her mother''s response came in the form of a loud sob.

    "Amber, I''m sorry," her father said in a gentle voice this time. "Please don''t cry."

    Hanna left because she couldn''t listen to her parents'' argument any longer.

    <em>Just what is happening to my mother for her to hate on the Royal Family?</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 166 - FUTURE KING OF FAST FOOD?

    "SO WHAT do you think of Ruto?" Neoma asked Lewis while they were in her room. "He looks like a good child, doesn''t he?"

    Right now, she was sitting on the sofa as her son stood behind her.

    They were waiting for two things.

    First, she asked Alphen to fetch a potion from Madam Hammock. She asked the Healing Sage for a potion that would make her hair longer. It was the same one that she often uses every time she was disguised as Miss Ramsay.

    Second, she asked Stephanie to prepare a simple outfit for her. After all, she was going to face Ruto as ady-in-waiting trainee.

    "He''s ugly."

    She almost choked on her saliva when she heard what Lewis said. When she turned to her son, she was even more surprised to see him scowling. "What did you say, Lewis?"

    "Chef Ruston Stroganoff is ugly," Lewis said coldly. "I don''t like him."

    "Son, what did I say about poking one''s appearance? Yes, it''s bad," she scolded him. "Plus, Ruto isn''t ugly."

    Well, the young chef looked pretty averagepared to the beautiful men around her.

    But Ruto was in no way ugly.

    "And why do you dislike Ruto anyway?"

    "Instinct."

    She clicked her tongue while shaking her head.

    Lewis was probably jealous because she was being nice to Ruto.

    "Don''t worry, Lewis," she assured her son. "I won''t adopt Ruto. You''re going to be my only child for a long time."

    After all, she wanted to get married and have real children in the future.

    But until then, Lewis would be her only son.

    "I''m not your son, Princess Neoma," Lewis said, dropping his catchphrase after a long time. "And you shouldn''t trust Chef Stroganoff too much. His Mana is strange."

    "Mana?" she asked, confused. "His Mana is weak, isn''t it?"

    "Weak?"

    She was surprised by her son''s question.

    But she didn''t have the chance to question him about it when she heard a knock on the door, followed by Sir Glenn''s voice.

    "Come in, Sir Glenn," she said brightly.

    A few momentster, Sir Glenn entered her room.

    The older knight bowed his head to her and greeted her politely. After that, he raised his head and grinned. He must havee with a piece of good news.

    "Princess Neoma, His Majesty sent me here to inform you that he will grant Duke Rufus Quinzel''s request regarding Lady Hanna Quinzel," Sir Glenn said cheerfully. "His Majesty also said that he''ll visit youter to apologize to you."

    Was that a trap?

    But to be honest, it wasn''t that hard to believe that His Majesty would give in first.

    Her Papa Boss may be a bad father, but he was a wise emperor. Even though his judgment was clouded by his personal feelings, she knew that he woulde to his senses in the end. She just kind of pushed him a little by going on a hunger strike.

    <em>Hanna is a valuable figure in the empire as the sole heiress of House Quinzel. And House Quinzel is arguably the richest noble household in the empire. They''re probably richer than the Royal Family. It will be a mistake on Papa Boss''s part if he let Hanna die.</em>

    Especially if her father wanted to make Hanna the future Crown Princess.

    <em>You made the right decision, Papa Boss.</em>

    "Sir Glenn, tell Papa Boss that I want to have dinner with himter," Neoma said brightly. "For now, I''m going to havete lunch with Chef Stroganoff."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "ARE YOU disappointed that you''re having lunch with me instead of Miss Ramsay?" Neoma teased Ruto. "Should I call her instead?"

    After her father admitted "defeat," she immediately sent one of the new maids to let Ruto know that she''d eat the lunch that he prepared for her.

    Then, she asked the servants to set the table in her residence''s garden.

    So here they were now.

    She and Ruto shared a table where all the dishes that he mentioned a while ago were served. Of course, Lewis stood a few meters away from them. As usual, her son stood far enough to give her privacy with her guest. But near enough to reach her if something happened.

    In short, there was a perfect distance between her and Lewis.

    "Well, I can''t deny that I''m a little disappointed that I can''t meet Miss Ramsay sooner," Ruto said bluntly. "But I can wait. Moreover, it''s interesting to watch you eat foreign food, Your Royal Highness."

    Once again, this damned little chef managed to hurt her ego so casually.

    First, he shamelessly and callously implied that he preferred to see ''Miss Ramsay.''

    And it seemed like he just settled with the "Crown Prince" because he was interested to see how she''d eat the foreign dishes that he prepared for her.

    <em>Gosh, he''s really bad for my ego.</em>

    "Chef Stroganoff, you just say whateveres in your mind, don''t you?"

    "Yes, and I''m aware of that w," he admitted casually. "My father mes it on the fact that I interact more with food ingredients than I do with people."

    That must be true.

    Back in her second life, she began to attend social events after she was adopted by House Quinzel. But she couldn''t remember House Stroganoff. It seemed like Ruto''s family was as elusive as he was.

    "I apologize if I offended you, Your Royal Highness," Ruto said, then he bowed to her. "I will be careful from now on."

    "Nah, just be yourself. You didn''t offend me earlier," she said bluntly. "And don''t worry, Chef. In case you offend me, I''ll return the favor. An eye for an eye."

    He raised his head, then heughed softly. "Fair enough, Your Royal Highness."

    "I know, right?" she said, then she changed the topic. "You know, Chef Stroganoof, Miss Ramsay and I are really close. She told me that you took care of her during the Moon Festival. So I''d like to thank you for being kind to my friend."

    He seemed surprised by what she said. "I''m d that you think of Miss Ramsay as a friend, Your Royal Highness. The life in the pce is probably tough for a kid like her."

    "Nah, she''s good," she assured him. "Miss Ramsay is pretty, smart, charming, witty, strong, and very cool so she''s well-liked by the people in the pce. Don''t worry about her too much. She''s living her best life here."

    "You''re quite generous with praises, Your Royal Highness."

    She just grinned at him, then she motioned for the main dish on the table and changed the topic. "Chef Stroganoff, let me teach you how to eat pizza," she said, then she rolled the sleeves of her button-down shirt. She already took off her suit a while ago and it was now draped over her chair. "First, we have to cut this baby into eight slices."

    She picked up the bread knife. Since a pizza cutter didn''t exist in the empire yet, that would do for now.

    <em>I should introduce Ruto to different cooking tools and equipment next time.</em>

    "After cutting the pizza into several slices, you just use your hand to eat it," she said, then she put down the bread knife near her te. This time, she removed her gloves. Then, she picked up a slice of pizza. She gulped when she saw the string of mozzare cheese stretch when she pulled a slice. "You''re a god, Chef Stroganoff. You managed to make a perfect cheesy pepperoni pizza just from the instructions that I wrote for you."

    She wasn''t exaggerating.

    The pizza that Ruto made was the kind of pizza she''d order in her second life. It tasted so damned good that she almost cried in delight.

    <em>I must share this with Lewister.</em>

    "It''s an honor to receive praise from you, Your Royal Highness."

    She justughed softly.

    <em>I prefer Ruto when he''s being savage to me. But he''s probably trying his best to act as a decent noble. After all, he thinks I''m the real Crown Prince.</em>

    "Every dish you prepared today is finger food, Chef Stroganoff," she said after taking a bite on her pizza. "Why don''t you eat with me?"

    He politely nodded, then excused himself before he took off his gloves.

    She was surprised when she saw his fingers wrapped in bandages.

    Ah, it seemed like she had almost forgotten that Ruto was only twelve years old despite being a cooking genius. Of course, he would still make mistakes in the kitchen. Even grown-up and professional chefs weren''t immune to getting injured when cooking.

    Ruto is a hard worker, that''s for sure.

    Anyway, she noticed that his face lit up after taking a bite of the pizza.

    "It''s good, isn''t it?" she asked him. "It actually tastes better with bee¨C"

    Thank goodness she stopped herself before she said "beer."

    Back in her second life, when she was living as a Korean, she loved eating pizza and fried chicken with beer. But it would be weird for her to say that. Plus, even though she was an adult mentally, she was physically an eight-year-old child. She wouldn''t ruin her own body just to satisfy her cravings for alcoholic drinks.

    "Never mind," she said. "I forgot what I was saying."

    "Your Royal Highness, if there''s anything that you want to eat, please don''t hesitate to tell me," Ruto said. "I''ll do my best to make it for you."

    "Oh, don''t worry about that," she said. "Judging by the amount of food that I''d like you to cook for me, you''d probably end up as the first "king of fast food" in this continent."

    Maybe it was time to teach Ruto how to make pre-prepared food to cook them faster.

    "Your Royal Highness, please don''t forget to eat vegetables as well," he said to her strictly. "As your chef, I''m worried that you eat too much oily food. Greasy foods are high in calories and unhealthy fat. High intake of such foods can lead to weight gain, obesity, bloating, and even heart disease."

    Argh.

    The young chef''s points were valid but she didn''t want to hear them while she was enjoying her pizza. It was the first time that she had it in her third life after all.

    "Okay, Chef," she said obediently. After all, she knew that Ruto was just doing his job. "I will eat more vegetables from now on. May I make a request?"

    "Of course, Your Royal Highness."

    "I hope that someday, you serve me a course where cooked rice is the main dish," Neoma said with a smile. "And don''t forget kimchi. It''s included in one of the recipes that I sent you," she said. "I have faith in you, Chef Stroganoff."

    Ruto bowed to him politely. "I''ll work hard to not disappoint you, Your Royal Highness."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 167 - THE EMPIREâ€™S FIRST FOOD DELIVERY SERVICE

    <strong></strong>"RUTO, do you recognize me?" Neoma asked Ruto as soon as she arrived at the tea room where he was waiting for her. "I mean, do you recognize my voice?"

    After her lunch with Ruto, she immediately went back to her room.

    Thankfully, the potion that Madam Hammack made for her was already done. Stephanie helped her changed into a simple dress. After that, she rushed to the room. Before she left Ruto a while ago, she asked him to wait for ''Miss Ramsay'' in the team room.

    She had to send him back to her pce because she couldn''t be seen by other people dressed like that.

    <em>Plus, I have a meeting with Teacher Belmont in twenty minutes.</em>

    "Thankfully, I do," Ruto said, cutting off her thoughts. She noticed that he was standing in the middle of the room even though there was tea on the table. "Thank you for making time for me, Miss White Radish."

    "My name is Miss Ramsay," Neoma corrected him firmly. "Have you forgotten my name already? I thought you were only bad with faces, Mr. ck Soybean."

    "For someone who''s so tiny, you''re full of anger."

    She just rolled her eyes at him.

    To be honest, she didn''t know why her mental age regresses every time she was with Ruto. Was it because he always manages to hurt her ego? Thus, her pettinesses out.

    "Now that I''ve seen your face, I''ll leave now," he said, shocking her.

    "What?" she asked in disbelief. "You asked me toe here just to see my face?"

    "I need to see you as often as I can to perfectly remember every single detail about you," he reasoned. "Or else, I won''t recognize you. But don''t be upset. As a token of gratitude for making time for me, I have a gift for you," he said, then he picked up the small box on the table. "Give your hand to me."

    Before she could even think about what she was doing, she already extended her hand to him.

    <em>Gosh, what''s happening to me?</em>

    "Here," the young chef said, then he put the small box in her hands. "I made white chocte truffles for you."

    Her ears perked up at that.

    After all, she loved sweets.

    "Thank you, Ruto," she said, then she excitedly opened the box to see what kind of choctes did he prepare for her. As soon as she saw the six weirdly shaped white chocte truffles inside, she red at the little bastard. "Are these radish-shaped white chocte truffles?"

    "Cute, aren''t they?"

    She opened her mouth toin.

    But much to her shock, Ruto quickly picked up one white chocte truffle, then he put it in her mouth.

    <em>Wow, it tastes divine!</em>

    Although the choctes looked weird, they tasted excellent. It melted in her mouth deliciously. She was instantly reminded of the expensive choctes that she used to indulge back in her second life.

    "Okay, you''re forgiven," she said. "These choctes taste good. Thank you."

    "I''m d that you liked them," he said, then he pulled out a pocket watch from the pocket of his suit. "I need to go now since I''m summoned by His Majesty."

    <em>By Papa Boss?</em>

    "It was nice seeing you again, Miss White Radish," Ruto said, then he ruffled her hair. "Ring me up when you''re hungry and I''ll send you food right away."

    Neoma tilted her head at one side while fixing her hair with one hand. "How do I ring you up?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "LEWIS, OPEN your mouth," Neoma said to her son, who stood beside her office desk, while holding thest piece of the radish-shaped white chocte that Ruto gave her a while ago. She was now in her office and dressed as ''Prince Nero'' again. Her meeting with Teacher Belmont regarding the current state of the Sword Lily Foundation just ended. And now, she was just waiting for her new guest to arrive. "Try this."

    Lewis opened his mouth without hesitation.

    She put the chocte candy in his mouth and watched her son''s reaction.

    As expected, Lewis''s face instantly lit up after eating the chocte in one bite.

    "It was good, wasn''t it?" she asked excitedly.

    Her son began to nod eagerly.

    "Ruto made it for me."

    Lewis suddenly shook his head firmly. "It tastes awful."

    She justughed it off.

    Then, she picked up the box. She was about to call Stephanie and ask her to put it in the room when suddenly, she heard something move inside the box.

    <em>What is it?</em>

    She put the box down on the table and opened it. Now that the choctes were gone, she realized that it was a two-level box. When she lifted the firstyer, she was surprised to find a ne with a small pocket watch as a pendant.

    But of course, it wasn''t an ordinary piece of jewelry.

    "This is a Communicator Device," she said in disbelief. "This is quite expensive even for a rich household."

    It was quite different from the Communicator Device that she and Nero had before. That one was a big pocket watch with a "camera/video" function. That model was still the most expensive and most advanced Communicator in the empire.

    On the other hand, the ne with a Communicator Device as a pendant that Ruto gave her, only had a "call" function. Upon checking the "contact list" of the pocket watch, only the number ''9'' had a spirit stone in it.

    <em>Ah, this Communicator is already connected to Ruto''s Communicator.</em>

    "So this is what he meant when he told me to ring him up when I''m hungry, huh?" Neoma said, amused. "Does Ruto want me to treat him like a food delivery service or something?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "ARE YOU going to leave the empire soon?" Niki asked Ruston Stroganoff, who stood in front of him, bluntly. He summoned the young chef in his office after he heard from Glenn that this little ruffian asked Neoma to meet ''Miss Ramsay'' earlier. He wanted to know why the elusive boy suddenly took interest in his daughter''s "disguise.'' For some reason, it was pissing him off. "I heard you were epted by Winslow Institute of Culinary Education."

    During thest night of the Moon Festival, he summoned Ruston Stroganoff to talk about that. But they weren''t able to start their conversation because he felt Neoma''s presence then.

    Now, he summoned the young chef to discuss that matter again.

    "I asked the institute to postpone my enrollment for a year, Your Majesty," Ruston Stroganoff said politely. "I''ll stay in the Royal Kitchen for the meantime."

    "That''s great," he said while nodding his head. Although he was annoyed by the fact that Ruston Stroganoff seemed to have taken a liking to Neoma, he still wouldn''t kick him out of the Royal Pce. "I''m notfortable sending a genius like you to a foreign country. I only allowed you to polish your culinary skills outside the empire because you promised that you''d return in two years."

    "What if I say I want to travel to the East after I get my degree in the institute, Your Majesty?"

    "I won''t allow you to do so. You need to return as soon as possible," he said firmly, then he raised a brow at the young chef. "There''s a reason why the position of the Commander of the Order of the White Lion Knights is still open, Ruston Stroganoff. In ten years'' time, I want you to lead the royal knights."

    Everyone who knew Ruston Stroganoff wouldn''t dare to question his decision.

    Even Glenn, who should have been the newmander when Gavin Quinzel died, wouldn''tin if Ruston Stroganoff took that position many years from now.

    That was how rare the young chef''s Mana was.

    Ruston Stroganoff lowered his gaze as if he didn''t want to see the expectation in his eyes. "Your Majesty, I don''t want to be a knight."

    He already heard that many times, thus, he was no longer surprised.

    "Are you really contented on being a chef, Ruston Stroganoff?" he asked the young chef. "You and your father are both insane for working in the Royal Kitchen when your house has the status of a marquis."

    Yes, Morton Stroganoff was a rich marquis. And yet, he decided to live quietly as his Head Chef. Even his son, Ruston Stroganoff, who was regarded as a genius for his ridiculous amount of Mana, decided to live in silence.

    He wouldn''t let Ruston Stroganoff remain a Royal Chef forever though.

    <em>He''s someone that this empire would need someday.</em>

    "I have a dream, Your Majesty."

    Ah, that was the first time the young chef opened up to him.

    "And what is your dream?"

    "I want to have my own restaurant someday, Your Majesty," Ruston Stroganoff said, then he raised his head to bravely meet his gaze. Surprisingly, the young chef''s usual disinterested look on his eyes was reced by determination. "I want to build a restaurant that will serve delicious, healthy, and affordable food for themoners. I''m tired of feeding the rich."

    It was funny to hear that from a twelve-year-old boy as if he had been cooking for a long time. He even sounded exhausted when he said those words.

    "What a simple dream for someone of your caliber to have, Ruston Stroganoff," he said, his eyes now glowing red because he didn''t like that the young chef reminded him of Neoma''s dream of a "leisure life." "Why is it that people with such potentials are the ones who want a "simple and quiet" life?"

    The young chef remained silent.

    "I have one more question for you, Ruston Stroganoff," he said. "Do you n to have a political marriage in the future? You''re already at the age where your family starts looking for a potential bride for you."

    It was normal for the heirs of noble households to get engaged at Ruston Stroganoff''s age.

    Since the young chef was one of his most important chess pieces, it was his duty to be involved in his private life. He also didn''t want to do this, but he had to. House Stroganoff was an ally to the Royal Family. He couldn''t let just anydy enter that family as Ruston Stroganoff''s wife.

    "Your Majesty, I don''t intend to inherit my father''s title."

    "What?"

    "If I be the next marquis of House Stroganoff, I will lose the freedom to choose my own wife," Ruston Stroganoff said firmly. "I want to live a simple and quiet life, Your Majesty."

    Niki pinched the bridge of his nose. "You remind me too much of a little rogue that I know, Ruston Stroganoff."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "JASPER Oppa!" Neoma greeted the young Duke Jasper Hawthorne as soon as she entered the private tea room where her Oppa was waiting. Since the young duke requested to have an audience with her, she asked Lewis to guard outside the room. Tate, Jasper Hawthorne''s butler, was also outside (and he seemed traumatized by Lewis). "It''s been a while, huh?"

    Jasper smiled and politely bowed to her. "Greetings to the First Star of the Great Moonasterion Empire."

    "You don''t have to be formal since there''s only the two of us here, and this room is soundproof as well," she said, then she sat on the sofa opposite her Oppa''s. "I didn''t expect you to visit me since you said it''s dangerous for us to meet like this."

    "I have to see you now, Princess Neoma," he said, then he sat on the sofa. "I''m here to say goodbye to you."

    To say that she was shocked to hear that would be an understatement.

    "You''re leaving, Oppa?" Neoma asked, blinking several times in disbelief. "How about our n?"

    "Precisely the reason why I need to leave the Royal Capital," Jasper said seriously. "Princess Neoma, I''ve already made contact with the ve traders."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 168 - FOR THE NEW GENERATION

    "VISCOUNT Stroganoff, you''re dismissed by His Majesty earlier than expected, huh?" Glenn greeted the young chef who just got out of the emperor''s office. When Ruto just gave him a nk look, he immediately introduced himself thinking that the boy couldn''t recognize him. Although they often meet since he was always at the Royal Kitchen to check His Majesty''s meals, he was still careful because he knows about the young chef''s face blindness. "Ah, I''m Glenn of the White Lion Knights."

    Ruto blinked, then he nodded. "Why did you address me by my title, Sir Glenn?"

    Ruto was the son of Marquis Morton Stroganoff, the emperor''s personal chef (and also the Head Chef of Yule''s Pce''s Royal Kitchen). Since Ruto was the heir of a marquis, he received one of the lesser titles of his father. Thus, the young chef was known as a viscount outside the walls of the Royal Pce

    "You''re not wearing your uniform today," he said with a smile. "Do you feel ufortable being addressed by your noble title?"

    The young chef nodded. "My noble title is a big burden to me."

    He chuckled at the young lord''s honesty. "I apologize, Chef Ruto. I''ll refrain from addressing you by your noble title from now on."

    "Thank you, Sir Glenn," he said, then he spaced out for a bit before he spoke again. "Why didn''t you ept the position of being themander of the White Lion Knights when it was vacated?"

    He didn''t expect the young chef to ask him about that.

    But it wasn''t like he didn''t know why Ruto suddenly brought it up. After all, every single White Lion Knight knew about His Majesty''s wish to make Ruto the futuremander of their Order. It wasn''t a secret or anything like that.

    "His Majesty once offered to promote me as themander of our Order," he shared with the young chef, then he smiled brightly before he spoke again. "But I told His Majesty that I''d rather kill myself than take the vacated position of the person who betrayed us."

    The former Commander Gavin Quinzel was the person that he used to look up to the most.

    In the past, Glenn was known as the ''Mad Dog'' because of his ferocious attitude that caused his family to practically disown him. His Majesty and the former Commander Gavin Quinzel, best known as the ''fearsome duo'' in the past, were the two people who managed to tame him.

    Although he respected and adored the emperor with his whole heart, the one who inspired him to be a knight and to be a decent person was the former Commander Gavin Quinzel.

    Thus, he almost reverted back to being the ''Mad Dog'' that he used to be when the formermander betrayed His Majesty. The former Quinzel heir didn''t only take Lady Mona Roseheart away from the emperor. He also killed more than half of their Order¨C even taking down seven of the Pdins on his own.

    "Then, shouldn''t His Majesty just choose one from the current members of the Order to be appointed as the nextmander?" Ruto asked in his usual calm voice. "It''s strange that His Majesty is putting his hopes on me when I didn''t even receive training to be a knight."

    Heughed at that. "That''s cute of you, Chef Ruto."

    If ever Ruto decides to get formal training, it would only be for formality''s sake.

    After all, he knew very well that the young chef couldplete their training in just three months. Lewis Crevan was a genius in his own right, and he still took a year toplete the training. Although it was already a huge feat for the fox boy considering that he wasn''t even a teen, he knew that Ruto could break his record.

    <em>No offense meant, Lewis Crevan.</em>

    "His Majesty is thinking of the new generation, Chef Ruto," he exined to the young chef. "He knows that the old generation of the White Lion Knights already ended when the former Commander Gavin Quinzel, the genius of his generation, died."

    "But you and the other Pdins are still alive and well," Ruto said, obviously confused. "Never mind the ones at the bottom of the Order. But I''m certain that as long as Sir Glenn and your fellow Pdins exist, His Majesty won''t really need amander for his Order. After all, His Majesty is the strongest man in the empire anyway. Out of all the emperors that we had, only the current emperor managed to tame the four Holy Guardians."

    That would be the Vermillion Bird, Azure Dragon, White Tiger, and the ck Tortoise.

    "His Majesty is preparing for the growth of the new generation," he exined with a smile. "His Majesty wants amander that will serve the Crown Prince once His Royal Highness ascends the throne. That''s the reason why His Majesty wants you to be the futuremander of the White Lion Knights, Chef Ruto."

    "Oh."

    "You''ve met the Crown Prince earlier," Glenn said cheerfully. "Do you think His Royal Highness will be a good emperor someday?"

    Ruto shrugged casually. "But one thing is for sure: I''d rather cook for His Royal Highness Prince Nero than be themander of his Order in the future."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOU''VE made contact with the ve traders?" Neoma asked her Jasper Oppa seriously. "Why do you need to leave just because you made contact with them?"

    "As soon as you sent me a letter stating that Lewis Crevan agreed to be our bait, I already made a move," Jasper Hawthorne exined. "The ve traders are smarter and more elusive than I first thought. It wouldn''t be easy to fool them. Thus, I decided to work for them to gain their trust."

    The n sounded sensible enough for her to easily ept Jasper Oppa''s n.

    Still, she was worried.

    "Jasper Oppa, I know that you''re a duke and a good one at that," she said carefully. "But you''re just a few years older than me." Well, physically. "You''re still a child. If this mission turns out to be dangerous, please give up and return to the Royal Capital. You can even send me a message and I''ll go wherever you are."

    "That''s reassuring to hear," he said with a smile. "Thank you, Princess Neoma."

    She just nodded. To be honest, she didn''t want to be this serious. But knowing the gravity of the situation, she couldn''t fool around. "Will you go undercover with Tate?"

    She didn''t like that crazy butler, but she knew he was strong enough to protect the duke.

    "It will be strange if I don''t bring him along," the young duke said. "The ve traders seemed to have run a background check on me. Fortunately, they think that I don''t get along with the Royal Family. After all, I didn''t attend your coronation ceremony. I didn''t even greet you properly on your birthday."

    She pouted, grabbing the chance to act like a kid for the sake of lightening up the mood. "That''s right. You failed to do your duty as a noble. Even the anti-Royal faction attended my coronation, you know?"

    "Well, I didn''t feel like attending a brat''s birthday party then," he teased her. "Since you look like a mini-version of His Majesty, I didn''t wish to see your face before."

    She justughed it off, then she got serious again. "Do you resent my father for ending your family?"

    "I know that His Majesty only did what any smart emperor would do," he said carefully. "I''m also fully aware that my parents were bad people. But in the end, they were still my family. Seeing His Majesty''s face always reminds me of their tragic death."

    "Then, do you resent me as well?"

    "I did at first but not because of your resemnce with His Majesty," the young duke admitted. "I didn''t like you initially because you were such a little piece of shit at the beginning."

    Sheughed when she remembered the content of the letters that they exchanged in the past.

    Plus, it was funny to hear her Oppa curse like that.

    "Hey, you were such a douchebag back then as well," she said between giggles. "At least we already settled our differences."

    The young duke just smiled, then he sipped his tea.

    "How can I help you, Oppa?" she asked seriously. "You won''t bring up the fact that the ve traders think that you hate the Royal Family without a reason."

    "It seems like my little sister is really sharp, huh?"

    Hearing Jasper Oppa call her his "little sister" made her smile brightly. Although she was mentally older than the young duke, she knew that he was dependable. Nero might hate it, but she couldn''t really see her twin brother as her Oppa.

    For some reason, she saw Nero as her baby brother.

    "The ve traders already have their eyes on Lewis Crevan, Princess Neoma."

    She flinched when she heard that.

    "While I work with them, I n to work hard and impress them until I convince them to put me in charge of kidnapping Lewis Crevan," Jasper said seriously. "I need your help, Princess Neoma."

    "I think I know where this is going," she said, her big brain working hard. "Do you want me to create an opportunity for you to "kidnap" my son?"

    He nodded firmly. "I n to work for the ve traders for at least six months. Once I gain their trust, I will ask them to put me in charge of kidnapping the Crown Prince''s personal knight. I think I can pull it off since they believe that I have grudge against the Royal Family."

    "Since Lewis already agreed to be our bait, I think he will cooperate with you," she said. "But Oppa, I need you to give me a heads-up. I might go batshit crazy if someone dares to hurt my son. When I''m in my crazy bitch mode, no one can touch Lewis. Your n will fail."

    He looked at her as if he was shocked by the "vulgar" words that she said, then heughed. "I already have that covered, Princess Neoma," he said, then he raised his right hand and opened his hand. "Posie,e out."

    She was amazed when a small, red butterfly came out of the young duke''s palm.

    Then, much to her surprise and delight, the pretty butterfly came to her. She instinctively raised her hand and just then, ''Posie''nded on her finger.

    "Posie seems to like you, Princess Neoma."

    "Who wouldn''t, Oppa?" she said while admiring the beautiful butterfly on her finger.

    Her Oppa justughed it off. "Posie is one of Mariposa''s "daughters." She''ll serve as our link, Princess Neoma. I will send you a message through Posie. But please don''t send back a response unless I say so. I''m certain that the ve traders will keep an eye on me so I have to be extra careful."

    "Alright, `noted," Neoma said, then she raised her head to meet Jasper''s gaze. "Is there anything I can help you with, Jasper Oppa?"

    "Try to hide your abilities and make sure that Lewis Crevan will do the same, Princess Neoma," Jasper said seriously. "After all, we need to convince the trade vers that I''m stronger than the fox boy, so catching your son will be believable for them."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "I''M STILL not used to how cute you have be," Nichole said, then sheughed softly at the Hybrid child in front of her. It was a ck cat with a human body. It only reached her waist, so it looked like a human child aged eight or nine. To be honest, it was taking her all that she got to stop herself from lifting him up. "I want to put you in my pocket, Gin."

    "Oh, please," Gin said. Even his voice sounded like a child''s now. So it was kind of funny that he was dressed up like a butler (his pants were reced by shorts though since his legs were shorter nowpared to when he was an adult). "That damned Trevor killed me again. Reverting back to being a child is the side-effect of using one of my remaining lives."

    "Well, you''re lucky that you''re a cat with nine lives," she said, then she began to walk towards the "centerpiece" of the almost empty white room: a ss coffin. "And I''m genuinely d that you have returned."

    "Ohh," he said, his voice brimming with delight. "Did you already find him?"

    "Yes," she confirmed, then she stood in front of the ss coffin. "But we have to wait for at least half a year before we seed in bringing him back to life."

    Gin stood beside her. "That long, huh?"

    "Well, we have to be careful since it''s him," Nichole said, then she raised her hand. As soon as she did, the lid of the ss coffin disappeared, revealing the skeleton "sleeping" inside. It was unrecognizable because it was still all bones for now. But the crest of the ck Hawk and the White Lion in his clothes could only belong to one person. "Gavin Quinzel, the genius of his generation, will be our strongest ally once he''s back."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 169 - THE GAP BETWEEN TWINS

    "I HEARD that Chef Ruston Stroganoff and Duke Jasper Hawthorne paid you a visit earlier," her father, the always grumpy Emperor Niki, confronted her. "And a while ago, before I left my office, I received a message from His Holiness asking me to open the portal that connects his temple to my pce a week from now. Apparently, the saint has business with you."

    Her Papa Boss was free to speak like that because as usual, they were alone in the rose garden of her pce. Lewis and Sir Glenn were guarding at the entrance. It didn''t matter if the two could hear them. After all, Lewis and Sir Glenn were their most trusted allies.

    <em>Anyway¡­</em>

    She and her father were having afternoon tea, and she could tell that the snacks were prepared by that damned Ruto.

    After all, her egg sd sandwich had pickles in it!

    "Aren''t you famous, little rogue?"

    "Of course, Papa Boss," Neoma said haughtily. "Do you know that I often have a dream where I have 9, 999, 999 million followers?"

    Remembering her follower count back in her second life pissed her off.

    After all, she was having a party back then while waiting for her following to reach 10 million. But s, she drank a poisonous coconut wine and died. Just. Like. That.

    <em>I wonder if I sessfully reached 10 million followers after I died¡­</em>

    Bute to think of it, she had a death suited for the "digital age" of the modern world, huh? Her death was caught in 4k after all. And since her death was broadcasted, she probably became the most famous vlogger of her generation.

    <em>I feel bad for the fan who gave me the coconut wine as a present though. I can''t resent them knowing that they probably didn''t want to kill me. But I''m not gonna lie, I miss Mom and Dad.</em>

    "You''re talking nonsense again," her father said while shaking his head. "If you have time to y with your friends, why don''t you give the same attention to the children of our allied families? I heard from Alphen that you''re just making a mountain out of the pile of letters that you received from several noble households. Is that a new decoration for your office?"

    She justughed exaggeratedly at her father''s sarcasm. "Papa Boss, I''m simply using my time wisely. Plus, I need to keep my distance from other people to protect my secret. I don''t want people to get used to my appearance. After all, once Nero returns, I''m pretty sure that he will look different from me. As of now, I''m still taller than my twin brother. But it won''t always stay that way."

    In her first life, Nero was a foot taller than her.

    "Plus, Nero''s features will probably turn sharper as he grows old," she said. Although she was speaking like she wasn''t certain to avoid suspicions from her Papa Boss, it was the truth. Nero''s features were sharper than hers. Well, it couldn''t be helped since she had a meek personality back then. So she looked ''delicate'' in her first life. "We have to be extra careful, Papa Boss. I will only keep people I trust by my side. But don''t worry. I''ll keep the allies of the Royal Family at arm''s length."

    "I''m d that you understand your position well."

    She just sipped her tea. Then, she began munching on her egg sd sandwich. She couldn''t help but frown every time she had a bite of pickles.

    "What''s wrong?" her Papa Boss asked. "Is the food not to your liking?"

    "The egg sd has pickles in them, Papa Boss."

    He sighed and shook his head. "That''s why I told you to tell Ruston Stroganoff to stop serving you the food you don''t like. Why are you being stubborn about it?"

    "Papa Boss, Chef Ruto is my chef," she said. "He''s just helping me get rid of my pickiness on food. Plus, I always eat greasy food. He wants me to have a bnced diet by making me eat fruits and vegetables. He''s taking good care of me so you have to raise his sry, okay?"

    "You don''t have to worry about that."

    "`Kay," she said, then she finished her sandwich quickly. "So, Papa Boss. I heard from Sir Glenn that you''re here to apologize to me."

    If it wasn''t for that, she''d be making a strategy with Lewis by now.

    Before Jasper Oppa left a while ago, he told her some things that she and her son needed to do while waiting for his instructions.

    The emperor cleared his throat before he spoke. "Is there anything you want? I''ll grant it to you aspensation for identally hurting you."

    <em>Geez.</em>

    Was it going to kill him if he apologized properly to her?

    "Fine," she said. "I want the current hottest sexy romance book published in the empire right now, Papa Boss."

    "No," her father said firmly. "Anything but that."

    "That''s the only thing that I want right now," she said. She wasn''t that addicted to sexy romance books. She was just doing that out of spite. "I heard that ''Mommy Viiness'' from Author S is the best romance book in the empire right now. Unfortunately, it was already sold out at the bookstore that we visited during the Moon Festival. I want to read it so find me a copy ASAP, Papa Boss."

    "You little rogue¨C"

    "I heard that Captain Kiho, the male lead of ''Mommy Viiness,'' dotes on his wife and son," she said with a fake bright smile on her face. "Let''s read it together, Papa Boss. Maybe you''ll learn a thing or two from the captain about good parenting."

    Emperor Niki looked at her as if he was tired of dealing with her. Then, he took a deep breath before he spoke again. "I''m sorry, Neoma de Moonasterio," he said. Softly. Yes, softly! His face even softened up a little bit. "I''m sorry for physically and emotionally hurting you. I was wrong."

    To be honest, she was surprised that her Papa Boss apologized sincerely.

    She was touched.

    But that wouldn''t stop her from teasing her father.

    "Apology epted, Papa Boss. Thank you for apologizing and admitting your mistake," Neoma said cheerfully. "I still want ''Mommy Viiness'' by Author S though."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "PRINCESS NEOMA, listen carefully," Mochi said to her seriously. Right now, they were in the pavilion by the pond again. As usual, the Wind Spirit in the form of a white bunny was seated on the railing around the pavilion. "The first thing you need to learn to summon a Spirit is to create a magical circle."

    Pretty ssic.

    She had seen N*ruto do that to summon a divine toad or something.

    "Okay," Neoma, standing in the center of the pavilion with Lewis standing behind her, said. "How do I make a magic circle, Mochi?"

    The white bunny fell silent for a few seconds before she spoke. "Princess Neoma, your mother was a genius Summoner. The way she made magic circles was strange."

    "Oh. Mama was OP, huh?" she said, impressed at how great her mother was. "Then, are you going to teach me my mother''s technique instead of the natural way of making a magic circle?"

    "Yes, Your Royal Highness. I can teach you the normal way of making a magic circle. But let''s try your mother''s technique first," the white bunny said. "After all, you have already awakened your Roseheart Blood. And your blood is the thing that we need to make that kind of magic circle."

    "Ohh, sounds interesting."

    Her mother in this world really sounded like a badass, just like her eomma/mommy in her second life.

    <em>Should I call my mother in this world ''Mama Boss?''</em>

    "It won''t be easy," the Wind Spirit said. "Princess Neoma, please listen carefully. Since your mother was a genius, she sucked at exining the things that she could do naturally. In short, I didn''t really grasp it when she told me her way of making a magic circle."

    "It''s okay, Mochi," she assured her. "Just tell me what my Mama Boss told you. Since I''m her daughter, I think I can pull it off as well."

    The white bunny nodded firmly. She could see in her eyes how much she trusted her. "Princess Neoma, I want you to draw your blood from your finger," she said. "Then, close your eyes and imagine transforming the drop of blood into a beautiful red rose. Do it before the blood drops on the floor. Once it turns into a rose, the Spirits around us will get attracted by the flower made from your blood. Then, they wille to you on their own."

    It sounded simple but she knew that it wouldn''t be easy.

    Still, she wanted to give it a try.

    "Here we go," Neoma said, then she pulled the pendant of her ne hard enough until she got it. Yes, the pendant was Mini Skewer. She took a deep breath before she cut her finger with the de. Then, she closed her eyes. "Mama Boss, please guide me."

    But much to her dismay, nothing happened even after doing her best to visualize turning her blood into a beautiful red rose.

    <em>I failed¡­?</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    TO SAY that Trevor was shocked would be an understatement.

    The past three days had been hellish.

    After all, Prince Nero got a high fever even in aatose state. He couldn''t make his fever go down no matter what kind of medicine, magic, and remedy he used. When he was on the verge of leaving his hellhole to find a cure outside his territory, the young prince''s soul suddenly separated from his physical body.

    As soon as it happened, the Crown Prince''s fever disappeared.

    But his soul looked different from his body''s physical appearance.

    "What the hell happened to you, Prince Nero?" Trevor asked in disbelief while staring at the Crown Prince''s soul. "Why did your hair turn pink? And most of all¡­" He gestured around the spacious room that he prepared for his future brother-inw. "Where did all these bloody red roses around the roome from?!"

    Those flowers only appeared when the Crown Prince''s soul got separated from his physical body.

    "Those flowers serve as an invitation," Prince Nero said, then he looked down at the marble floor that was suddenly turning into dirt. "It seems like the Spirit World wants me."

    The Spirit World?

    His eyes widened in shock.

    The fact that he couldn''t stop his own territory from turning into a huge garden only made it easy for him to believe the Crown Prince''s words.

    Moreover, he shouldn''t forget one thing.

    "You''re the first male Roseheart after such a long time," Trevor said in disbelief. "Prince Nero, have you awakened your Roseheart Blood?"

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 170 - ITS OKAY NOT TO BE A GENIUS

    NEOMA did carefully what Mochi told her to do.

    She cut her finger, closed her eyes, and envisioned turning her drop of blood into a beautiful red rose. And she just didn''t do it carefully. She did it with the utmost seriousness and concentration as if her life depended on it.

    But instead of turning her blood into a flower, she felt her Mana flicker and burn her blood.

    When she opened her eyes, she looked down on the floor and she found a burn mark on it instead of bloodstain.

    <em>Tteokbokki</em>, Neoma said sternly in her mind. <em>Was it your me?</em>

    <em>It''s my me, thug princess</em>, Tteokbokki admitted in a hesitant and nervous voice. <em>But you were the one who summoned it.</em>

    She clicked her tongue in frustration.

    Her Soul Beast wasn''t ming her.

    After all, she knew that she might have really summoned her me unconsciously. That often happens when she was in full concentration.

    "Princess Neoma, it''s okay to fail on your first try," Mochi consoled her. "Your mother''s technique is unconventional after all. Should we try doing the normal magic circle first?"

    That hurt her a bit.

    She only failed once and Mochi was practically giving up on her already. Did the Wind Spirit already see herck of potential? Well, considering that her Mama Boss was a genius, then that must be it.

    "Princess Neoma can do it," Lewis said and even though she couldn''t see him because he stood behind her, she knew that he was speaking to the white bunny. "Do you not have faith in Her Royal Highness?"

    To be honest, she was kind of bummed a while ago.

    But now that Lewis was getting pissed for her, she suddenly felt better.

    "It''s not like that, fox boy," Mochi said defensively. "I''m just thinking that maybe Mona''s technique is so unique that only her can do it."

    Well, that made sense.

    "Mochi, I want to try replicating my mother''s technique for now," she said to the Spirit with a smile. "I know when to stop, and I''m capable of acknowledging my own limit. But I can''t just give up after one try."

    The Wind Spirit suddenly turned serious. Then, she nodded. "I understand, Princess Neoma," she said. "I apologize if my words offended you."

    "It''s okay, Mochi," she said. "Was my mother really a genius?"

    Even in a white bunny form, she saw the warmth in Mochi''s smile. "Mona was the hope of House Roseheart, Princess Neoma. She was the one and only Summoner who was able to tame William. To say that she was a genius would be an understatement."

    Neoma smiled, happy to hear that from her mother''s closest friend and ally. "Nice, but I won''t lose to my Mama Boss because I''m the Lady Boss."

    <strong>***</strong>

    GALE excused herself while Princess Neoma was having her afternoon tea.

    Right now, she was resting under a tree in front of the young royal princess''s residence. Glenn, little Niki''s personal knight, brought her some vegetables on a te even though she didn''t really need food.

    <em>Anyway¡­</em>

    She overlooked the young princess''s training for the past four hours. For some reason, despite the huge Mana stored inside her, she still couldn''t properly use it to summon Spirits. To be honest, she expected Her Royal Highness to be a genius like Mona. After all, her former master never struggled when it came to summoning Spirits.

    <em>Is it because Princess Neoma''s divine energy as a de Moonasterio is overwhelming her presence as a Roseheart?</em>

    After Mona died, some of the powerful Spirits in the world developed a hatred for humans. To be precise, they hated the de Moonasterios. William was only one of the old and influential Spirit who''d kill a de Moonasterio without hesitation.

    <em>Mona will be sad to know that this kind of thing happened after she died.</em>

    She was hoping that Princess Neoma would be the one to open the gates of the Spirit World. But at this rate, it seemed like her twin brother inherited a stronger part of the Roseheart Blood instead. She remembered that before Prince Nero left, he asked her one thing.

    <em>["Miss Gale, how did my mother summon Spirits when she was alive?"]</em>

    Since Prince Nero was also a Roseheart, and she promised Mona that she would serve and protect her children well, she answered the young prince''s question honestly. She taught His Royal Highness the things that she just taught to Princess Neoma a while ago.

    But since Prince Nero didn''t have the time to try summoning a Spirit, nor he had the luxury to do so because of his curse, she didn''t know if the young prince would make it.

    <em>What a shame.</em>

    <em>I wonder if Prince Nero is the one who''s going to open the door to the Spirit World</em>, Gale thought to herself. <em>There must be a reason why Mona gave birth to a male Roseheart after all.</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    NERO didn''t actually think that it would work.

    Before Trevor put him into sleep, he cut his finger and let his blood drip. Then, he closed his eyes and envisioned turning the drop of blood into a red rose before it hit the floor. When Trevor eximed excitedly, he opened his eyes and saw that he seeded.

    But since there were no Spirits in Trevor''s territory, he didn''t expect to summon anything.

    Thus, he entered a deep slumber for the demon to heal his curse again.

    While he was asleep, he tried to separate his soul from his body. He did it one try. Thus, he was surprised that it worked.

    Just a while ago, Trevor told him that he had a high fever for the past three days. Then, when he woke up as a soul, his hair color turned pink. But the strangest thing to happen was that his room in Trevor''s territory had turned into a rose garden.

    <em>Ah, I''ve awakened my Roseheart Blood.</em>

    "I''m leaving for a while, Trevor," Nero told the demon while looking at the white door that suddenly appeared on the wall. The door was locked, and it was practically covered with vines. But he had a feeling that he could open it. "I''ll just visit the Spirit World quickly."

    "Are you crazy?" Trevorined loudly. "Your physical body would die if your soul leaves it for a long time!"

    He turned to the demon. "How long can my physical body survive without my soul?"

    "Average humans would die in twenty-four hours if their soul left their bodies for that long," the demon exined. "But since you''re half de Moonasterio and half Roseheart, and add the fact that you''re under the wing of a genius like me, then I''d say you have five days, max."

    "Then, I''ll return in four days."

    Trevor let out a frustrated sigh. "May I know why you need to visit the Spirit World, Prince Nero?"

    "I''m looking for the best Summoner in the world to help me polish my skills," Nero said, then he ced his hand on the door. Then, the vines moved and wrapped themselves around his wrist. The thorns pierced his skin, then the vines drank his blood. After that, the door creaked open. "To be precise, I''ll look for my mother in the Spirit World."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "I THINK I''M not a genius," Neoma said while looking at the pretty pink macaron in her hand. Right now, she was sitting on the floor while leaning against the railing. Lewis was sitting beside her, but he refused to eat with her. After all, knights weren''t allowed to do that. "I didn''t inherit my mother''s innate talent as a Summoner."

    "Princess Neoma¡­"

    She turned to Lewis when she felt the pity in his voice, thenughed softly when she saw that he looked like he was thinking hard on how to console her. "It''s okay, Lewis. It''s okay not to be a genius," she consoled him instead. "O*kawa T*oru, a GOAT character in a 2D world back in my second life, once said: ''Talent is something you make blood, instinct is something you polish.''"

    Lewis tilted his head at one side, obviously confused. "I don''t understand, Princess Neoma."

    "I may not have a natural talent as my mother did, but I believe that I still have the talent to summon Spirits," she said cheerfully. "All I have to do is work hard and push through my limitations. People born with natural talent are called geniuses. But I believe that it would be rude to assume that they are good only because they were born with it. Most of them work hard to achieve what they have achieved." She finished her macaron in one bite. Then, she stood up and stretched her arms. "I just need to work three times harder than the so-called geniuses to achieve the same results. Since I''m Neoma, I''ll be fine."

    It wouldn''t be easy but she didn''t expect to walk the flowery road anyway.

    Lewis stood up. Then, much to her shock, he gently patted her head. It was so light that she barely felt his hand hit her head though. But for her son to initiate physical contact was already a huge improvement. "It''s okay if you''re not a genius, Princess Neoma," he said softly. "I can just always hunt down the Spirits you need and make them kneel before you."

    Neomaughed at her son''s forting" words. "You''re spoiling me too much, Lewis."

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

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 Chapter 171 - FAKE IT TILL YOU MAKE IT

    <strong></strong>"SO MOCHI, what made you drawn to my Mama Boss the first time that she summoned you?" Neoma asked Mochi while holding a small journal in her left hand, and a fountain pen in her right hand. As usual, they were in the pavilion by the pond. Since she was an epic fail yesterday, she decided to take it easy for today. "Was it the fragrance of my mother''s blood rose? Were the other Spirits attracted to it as well?"

    She decided to gather information first before trying to recreate her mother''s technique. After all, her training wasn''t going anywhere.

    Although Mochi''s instructions were easy to follow, she realized that it would still be better to have a clear image of a Summoner in her head. Thus, she wanted to create an image of her mother as she summoned Spirits by interviewing Mochi and the other people who had seen her Mama Boss use her power in the past.

    "You can say that again, Princess Neoma," Mochi, now seated on a fancy red cushion that she put on the railing to make the Wind Spirit morefortable, said. "Mona''s blood smelled sweet for Spirits like me. The fragrance of her "blood rose" lured us to her. And before her, we couldn''t do anything. Her mere presence overwhelmed us to the point that all we could do was kneel and bow before her." She paused for a while before she continued. "But of course, the stronger the Spirit is, the stubborn they are."

    "Just like William?"

    "Yes, just like William," the white bunny confirmed with a nod. "Since William is a very strong Spirit, he was able to reject Mona for a long time. But of course, in the end, he still sumbed to your mother."

    "My Mama Boss sounds like an awesome person."

    "She was," the Wind Spirit said. "Too bad her taste in men was bad."

    "I can''t refute that."

    "You seem to have inherited your mother''s bad taste in men, Princess Neoma."

    "Excuse me?"

    "You like good-looking men a little too much," Mochi reminded her firmly. "Your mother was blinded by little Niki''s face, you know?"

    She couldn''t refute that.

    "B-But to be fair, Papa Boss''s face is really out of this world," she said defensively to protect her mother''s dignity. "His face makes up for hisck of heart and personality." She clicked her tongue while shaking her head. "Papa Boss''s face, his saving grace, works hard every single day."

    The Wind Spiritughed at her "joke."

    Well, it was half joke-half truth.

    "Anyway, thank you for answering my question, Mochi," she said, then she handed her mini journal and pen to Lewis who stood behind her quietly all this time. "May we end our lesson here for today? I want to interview other people regarding my Mama Boss''s technique."

    "Other people?"

    "Sir Glenn and Papa Boss," she said. "I''m sure they''ve seen Mama Boss use her Summoning power at least once."

    "Well, that''s true, Princess Neoma. Mona fought alongside little Niki and the Pdins of the White Lion Knights in the past," Mochi said. "But will you be alright asking little Niki about Mona? He turns into a monster whenever he hears your mother''s name."

    "Nah, Papa Boss is in the middle of his character development, Mochi. He doesn''t go batshit crazy anymore whenever I bring up Mama Boss," Neoma said confidently, then she put her hand on her chest. "Papa Boss is slowly opening up his heart to me, you know?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "I DON''T remember what happens whenever your mother used her Summoning power in the past," her Papa Boss snapped at her. "If you have nothing else to ask, then get out of my office and y outside."

    Neoma wanted to click her tongue at her grumpy father but decided against it.

    After all, it was her principle to act nice if she wanted something from her Papa Boss. Plus, she could tolerate her father''s mood swings. As long as the emperor wouldn''t cross the line, she wouldn''t talk back at him rudely.

    But moreover, she could see the mountain of paper works in her father''s office desk. She could tell that he was busy. And she was painfully aware that she was interrupting his work.

    <em>Tsk.</em>

    "Then, shall I visit your roomter after your work, Papa Boss?" Neoma, standing in front of her father''s desk, asked instead. "Let''s talk over a cup of tea."

    Her father let out a deep sigh. Then, he dropped his pen on the table, put his arms over his chest, and gave her an exhausted look. "Why do you want to know how your mother''s power looks like?"

    "I''m trying to recreate Mama Boss''s technique."

    "''Mama Boss?''"

    "You''re my Papa Boss, so of course, my mother would be ''Mama Boss,''" she said proudly. "And thus, I am your Lady Bo¨C"

    "Rogue," her Papa Boss interrupted her. "You''re a little rogue."

    She didn''t get the chance toin when Sir Glenn returned with the maids who served them tea.

    As soon as the maids were done serving them, they left.

    Gosh, they entered and left the office so quietly.

    And she also noticed that Sir Glenn carefully watched the maids as they served the tea. Was the knight keeping an eye on them to make sure that they wouldn''t be poisoned?

    Well, that makes sense. I''m the Crown Prince and Papa Boss is the emperor.

    Anyway, right now, they were already seated in the lounge area to have tea.

    She sat on the sofa while her father sat on a fancy chair across from hers.

    "Ah, Sir Glenn, may I ask a question?" she asked the knight who stood behind her Papa Boss.

    Unfortunately, Lewis was guarding outside because her father didn''t like "strangers" bing familiar with his office. She couldn''tin because it was the emperor''s ce. Plus, it seemed like her son didn''t mind leaving her side if she was with her father and Sir Glenn.

    "Of course, Princess Neoma," Sir Glenn said cheerfully. "I will answer your questions to the best of my knowledge."

    "Oh, it''s easy," she assured him. "May I know if you remember how my mother''s Summoning power looks like whenever she used it in the past? Mochi said that you have witnessed it at least once."

    "That''s true. But¡­" The knight scratched his cheek whileughing awkwardly. "Lady Roseheart''s Summoning power never failed to knock me out in the past so I never really had the chance to look at it properly."

    "Huh?"

    "Glenn and the other Pdins used to be weaklings," her father said with a smirk. "They were unable to stand Mona''s power. Thus, they would often faint whenever she summoned a Spirit in the past."

    The knight''s face turned red. "Your Majesty, that''s a bit¡­"

    "It''s true though," the emperor insisted. "Only your previousmander could withstand Mona''s power¡­"

    There was an awkward silence after her Papa Boss stopped talking mid-sentence.

    Argh.

    <em>Papa Boss was talking about Ex-Commander Gavin Quinzel, wasn''t he?</em>

    "Papa Boss, I want to be as strong as Mama Boss," she said cheerfully to change her father''s sudden sour mood. "And if I work hard, maybe I can be better than my mother when ites to summoning Spirits."

    Well, she was just saying that to distract her father from his foul mood because of suddenly remembering the formermander.

    "You''re quite ambitious, huh?" her father said, his mood seemed to have been better now than a while ago. "Mona was the best Summoner House Roseheart had ever produced. You''re saying that you''re going to surpass that kind of person?"

    She smirked and acted haughtily. To be honest, she didn''t have the confidence that she could surpass her mother. But¡­ fake it till you make it works, right? "Papa Boss, who am I?"

    "A little rogue."

    "Tsk," sheined. "I''m Neoma Ramsay. That means I''m invincible."

    "You''re not a Ramsay," her Papa Boss said firmly. "Stop referring to yourself as ''Ramsay'' before I hunt down people with that surname and exile them from the empire."

    She justughed it off.

    <em>Papa Boss can''t be serious, right?</em>

    "Papa Boss, don''t change the topic," she said. "Please tell me what you remember from Mama Boss''s Summoning technique."

    Her father fell silent for a while before he spoke again. "A magic circle is usually just a big circle on a surface with ancientnguage written on it. That''s the spot where the summoned Spiritse out from."

    She nodded because she knew the basic principle of a magic circle.

    "But Mona never needed a magic circle," her Papa Boss said. "She would use her blood and create a Field to summon Spirits."

    "''Field?''" she asked. "Mochi didn''t teach me that, Papa Boss."

    "Your mother and I named her technique," her father said, then he sipped his tea. "That''s probably why Gale doesn''t know what to call Mona''s strange magic circle."

    Aww, her Papa Boss and Mama Boss decided on a name together?

    That was so sweet.

    Bute to think of it, it was kind of sad that her Mama Boss and Papa Boss named her mother''s technique together. But who named her and Nero?

    "We decided to call it ''Field'' because her magic circle was too big to be called a circle," the emperor exined. "The stronger the Spirit Mona would summon is, the bigger her Field would be."

    "What''s in my mother''s Field, Papa Boss?"

    "A huge rose garden."

    "A huge rose garden?"

    Her Papa Boss nodded before he exined. "Once the red rose from Mona''s blood dropped on the ground, her ''Field'' would extend to reach all the Spirits dwelling on the area she was in. Instead of summoning the Spirits, it was more like she wasmanding them to appear and kneel before her." He sipped his tea, then he continued. "Back then, to me, it was a pleasant sight: Mona in the middle of a rose garden surrounded by Spirits kneeling before your mother."

    She gulped while trying to envision that scene in her mind. "That sounds awesome, Papa Boss."

    "I won''t stop you from learning the technique of a Roseheart," her father said seriously. "But don''t show it to other people. The nobles are quite happy thinking that you''re more of a de Moonasterio than a Roseheart. Don''t scare them with your Roseheart Blood."

    "`Kay," she said, then she sighed. "But I''m not even sure if I can copy Mama Boss''s badass¨C I mean, awesome technique."

    "Well, you have to."

    "Because I''m a Roseheart?"

    "Because you''re very arrogant," Emperor Niki said bluntly, then he smirked before he continued. "And rogues like you need outstanding skills to support their arrogance."

    Sir Glenn betrayed her for the first time by stifling hisughter.

    Neoma could only re at the two men in front of her.

    <em>I will really polish my skills so I can justify my arrogance, you''ll see!</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMAughed after Lewis tucked her in bed.

    It wasn''t part of his duty as his personal knight. But every time she was in a bad mood, her son would take extra good care of her.

    Just like now.

    "Thank you, Lewis," Neoma said with a smile. "You should go back to your room and rest."

    At first, Lewis stayed outside her room all night to guard her.

    But she sternly told him to sleep whenever she would because he was still a child. Plus, her son''s room was just next to hers. If something happened, he could reach her easily. Of course, she was confident that she could protect herself this time.

    "Okay, Princess Neoma," Lewis said. "Good night."

    She smiled and was about to reach for the choker on her neck when all of a sudden, the mini pocket watch ne on her night table rang.

    Huh?

    She got up and picked up the ne. The small pocket watch attached to it as a pendant was ringing loudly. That was when she remembered that it was the "phone" that Ruto gave her thest time they talked.

    "It''s noisy," Lewis said with a scowl. "Shall I break it, Princess Neoma?"

    Neomaughed while removing the choker in her neck that changes her voice to sound like Nero. She was just about to remove that when Ruto called. What perfect timing. "I almost forgot about Ruto''s present," she said, then she answered his call by lifting the lid of the small pocket watch. "Hi, Mr. ck Soybean."

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

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    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 172 - RECIPE TO SUCCESS

    "HUH."

    "Huh?" Neoma asked, repeating what she heard from the other "line." "This is Ruto, right?"

    "I''m Ruto."

    She rolled her eyes at his boring response. "Then, what''s with the ''huh?''"

    "I was just surprised," Ruto said. "I thought you threw away the calling device I left for you since you didn''t call me."

    "I should have thrown this device," she said. "Why didn''t you tell me that you left a calling device for me? If you want to contact me, you should have just told me. You didn''t have to leave me something so expensive."

    "Did you feel burden by my present?"

    "Bull''s eye," she said, then she activated her actress mode. "How can a meredy-in-waiting trainee ept something so expensive from the Crown Prince''s Royal Chef?"

    "I''ve been thinking about this ever since we met¡­"

    "About what?"

    "Only nobles are allowed to serve a royal family member," the young chef said. "You should have at leaste from a viscount family if you had been qualified to serve the Crown Prince. You can''t be amoner if you''re working in the Royal Pce, Miss Ramsay." He paused before he continued. "Or should I call you ''Lady Ramsay'' from now on?"

    She gulped when she realized the ring loophole in the lie that she told him. There was no point in insisting that she was amoner. She lied before because she didn''t think that she''d meet Ruto again. But now that she was busted, she couldn''t continue herme act as amoner. Still, she couldn''t tell him the truth. "I came from a fallen viscount family from a neighboring country," she lied again. Since Ruto was a noble in this empire, she couldn''t say that ''House Ramsay'' was from the Royal Capital or else, she''d get busted again. "But please don''t ask anymore about where I came from, Ruto. It''s a painful memory for me."

    "Oh, okay," he said casually. "I apologize for being nosy."

    "If you''re truly sorry, then send some bread for me tomorrow."

    "What kind of bread?"

    "Tasty bread."

    She knew that she was being vague.

    But what could she do? She didn''t have particr bread in mind. She just suddenly craved for it. Plus, since she was busy these days, she wanted to have something easy to eat.

    "Alright," Ruto said. Gosh, this fellow was really easy to talk to. "I''ll send some tasty bread for you tomorrow."

    "Thanks," she said. "But please don''t use the ingredients in the Royal Kitchen for my tasty bread. I don''t want you to get in trouble."

    "Don''t worry," he assured her. "I''ll make the bread in my house."

    "Thank you, Ruto."

    "Are you okay?"

    It was easier to say that she was fine since she didn''t want a child like Ruto to worry about her. She was a grown woman mentally after all. But for some reason, the young chef''s voice was so soothing that she found herself opening up to him.

    "No, not really," she said honestly. "You see, I''m arrogant."

    "I already know that."

    She frowned at what Ruto said. "Anyway, I''m arrogant because I know that I''mpetent."

    "Uh-huh."

    "But these past few days, I realized that I wasn''t as talented as I thought I was," she confessed. "I''ve been humbled by the realization that I''m no genius. Now I have nothing to back up my arrogance. So I''m kind of bummed out recently."

    "What made you think that you''re no genius?"

    "There''s this legendarydy-in-waiting that I admire," she said. Of course, she was referring to her Mama Boss. But since she couldn''t say that to Ruto, she had toe up with another creative lie again. "She was very good at her job when she was still working at the Royal Pce. I wanted to be like her so I decided to take the same training that she had in the past. But I failed to aplish the tasks that a naturally talenteddy like her had aplished."

    "Do you have to take the exact same training that thedy you admire had gone through to aplish the thing that you wanted to achieve?"

    That question made her wonder¡­

    <em>Ruto raised a valid point.</em>

    "I started my cooking career by recreating my father''s dishes," Ruto said softly. "I was ten years old when I made my cooking debut to the society."

    She almost choked on that.

    <em>Just how young was Ruto when he began cooking?</em>

    "During that time, my mother hosted a party at our mansion," the young chef continued. "She asked me and my father to cook for her guests. For the first time, Father allowed me to make the main dish for half of our guests, and he also lent me the cooking book that he authored. I followed the exact same recipe that he uses. Still, we got different results. The people I made the food for didn''t enjoy the dishes that I cooked for them."

    "Really?" she asked curiously. She knew that Ruto wouldn''t bring that up if it didn''t have any connection to the problem that she shared with him. Thus, she was being patient while listening to his story. "Why didn''t they enjoy it?"

    If Ruto''s cooking skills weren''t good enough yet during that time, she doubted if his mother would host a party and ask him to cook food for half their guests. The fact that his father allowed him to cook with him only meant that the chef trusted his son.

    So she was wondering what went wrong.

    "I made a mistake," he said. "Father decided to use venison for his main dish. He told me that I was free to make my own menu for the party. But since I wanted to prove to our guests that I''m already as good as my father, I insisted on making the same menu as him. Because of my useless pride, I forgot about my guests. I didn''t consider that most children my age back then don''t particrly enjoy eating venison. Not the kind that''s prepared for adults, at least."

    "Oh. So the guests that you cooked for were children."

    Now she understood why the young chef failed then.

    Even in the modern world, most children didn''t enjoy venison. Heck, she personally knew some adults who swore not to eat that kind of protein. Wild game wasn''t for everyone after all.

    "Yeah," he said. "Unfortunately, they didn''t like the venison that adults enjoyed during that time. But I made it up to my guests. As an apology, I hosted my first party and invited the same children who were disappointed by my cooking during the previous party."

    "Did you use a different protein during that party?"

    "No, I still used venison," Ruto said in a proud voice. "But I didn''t cook it the way that my father would. I created my own kid-friendly venison recipes. I made spaghetti and elk meatballs, venison burger, venison grilled cheese, and venison sausage sliders. Of course, I didn''t tell the kids that the main protein I used was venison."

    "Did they like it?"

    "They loved every single dish I prepared that day," he said. "They were shocked when they realized that the main ingredient I used was venison. Thankfully, they didn''t get mad at me for hiding it from them since they enjoyed the whole menu. And after that, I heard from their parents that their children stopped being picky after I introduced them to wild game."

    She smiled after hearing his story. "You''re a genius, Ruto."

    "Did you get the moral of my story?"

    "Fortunately, I did," she said softly. "Instead of blindly following the training that thedy I admire had undergone in the past, I should create a training regime that will work better for me. Am I right?"

    "Yes, you''re right," he said. "And don''t forget the person that you''re serving as well, Miss Ramsay. Thedy you admire had served a different person, so the skills that she acquired may have been skills that she needed to serve her master. There might be a chance that you need a different set of skills to serve the current Crown Prince."

    She smiled at his advice.

    Ah, it would be more appropriate that he shared with her the lesson that he learned from his mistake when he blindly copied his father''s recipes. Since he and his father had different types of guests to cook for, the two had achieved different results despite following the same method.

    And that was kind of simr to her current dilemma.

    <em>Mama Boss was a legendary Summoner who could attract Spirits effortlessly. But I''m not my mother, and I don''t need to summon all the Spirits around me yet. The only assignment that Mochi gave me is to summon Marvin, the merman. I should be focusing on that task for now. Learning how to summon more and stronger Spirits wille eventually.</em>

    She let out a relieved sigh.

    After all, sharing her worries with Ruto got it off her chest.

    "Thank you, Ruto," she said sincerely. "Your advice really helped a lot."

    "If you''re truly thankful, then show your face to me more."

    Sheughed at his odd request. "It''s not like you can remember my face."

    Plus, now that her pce had more servants, it was hard to dress up as her real self. She wouldn''t know if there were spies nted in her residence now that she had be the Crown Prince. Thus, she was being extra careful.

    "I''m trying," Ruto said softly, almost making her miss his words. "I''m trying hard to remember your face, Miss Ramsay."

    She smiled and was about to tease him when¡­

    "Miss Ramsay, it''s time to go to sleep."

    She froze when Lewis suddenly spoke loud enough for Ruto to hear.

    To say that she was shocked would be an understatement. After all, she almost forgot that Lewis was still in her room. Her son was so quiet that she almost forgot his presence.

    Ruto cleared his throat. "Miss Ramsay, who''s with you at this hour?"

    "A friend. Most servants in the pce share the same quarters," she lied smoothly. "Good night, Ruto."

    She hanged up before the young chef could even respond.

    Then, she raised her head to face her son. "Lewis¨C"

    "Good night, Princess Neoma," Lewis said, avoiding her gaze. Then, he bowed to her before quickly leaving her room. "Don''t stay upte just because of a call."

    Neoma sighed while shaking her head. "Lewis is at his rebellious stage, huh?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA, now alone in her room, stood in front of her bed.

    Then, she cut her finger using Mini Skewer. Then, before her blood hit the floor, she closed her eyes and concentrated hard. This time, instead of envisioning her blood to turn into a red rose, she imagined a more appropriate reception for a merman.

    It was the ocean, of course. A pond wasn''t suited for a merman after all. She didn''t know how Marvin''s Spirit was locked up in the pond. But she was certain that he''d like to be freed from it and return to where he belonged.

    She might be wrong, but perhaps, Marvin''s hostile personality was due to the fact that a merman like him was stuck in a small pond.

    So in her mind, she envisioned her blood turning into a drop of saltwater.

    And once it hit the floor, she imagined the floor to turn into an ocean floor.

    She hadn''t been underwater in both of her previous lives. So instead, she just imagined her room to turn into a huge aquarium. She had been to several aquariums back in her second life with her mommy and daddy, so envisioning it was quite easy.

    "Princess Neoma¡­"

    She opened her eyes when she heard the familiar voice, then smiled when she saw Marvin right in front of her.

    And not only that.

    When she looked around, she realized that her room had turned into a big aquarium just like how she imagined it: clear water, cute little fishes and some sharks swimming around, and other marine life that one who had been into aquariums could think of.

    And oh, the floor had turned into fine sand as well.

    <em>I did it.</em>

    "Marvin," Neoma said when she finally faced the merman properly. She noticed that his face had softened up, and his eyes were sparkling while staring back at her. Her smile grew wider after realizing that she also seeded in taming him. "Thank you for heeding my call."

    Mervin''s face turned bright instantly. Then, he bowed to her. "Thank you for summoning me, Princess Neoma," he said politely. "I, Marvin of the Cordelia Sea, vow to serve you for eternity."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOUR MAJESTY, I already found the location of Author S, the one known for her novel called ''Mommy Viiness.''"

    "Good," Niki said, then he raised his head to look at Glenn who stood politely in front of his desk. "Arrest that woman and lock her up for writing indecent books."

    Glenn flinched at his order. "Your Majesty, that''s a little¡­"

    The knight was unable to finish his sentence when a strange yet familiar aura shook the ground.

    That sent shivers down his spine.

    "Mona¡­?" Niki whispered to himself. Then, he shook his head when he realized that the aura simr to Mona''s was mixed with an aura simr to his. That could onlye from one person in the Royal Pce. "It seems like the little rogue has finally summoned her first Spirit."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 173 - PRELUDE TO TRAGEDY

    "CONGRATULATIONS, Princess Neoma."

    Neoma smiled and turned to Mochi. The white bunny was sitting on the windowsill. Even though the Wind Spirit was in that form, she could see that she was happy for her sess. "Thank you, Mochi," she said, then she plopped on the bed. "But I wasn''t able to maintain the Field for long. Marvin and the Field disappeared as soon as I heard static in my head earlier."

    It stung a bit, but it disappeared as soon as it appeared so she was fine.

    "Are you okay, Princess Neoma?" Lewis, who stood beside her, asked worriedly. "Should I call for Madam Hammock?"

    Ah, yes.

    As soon as her Field disappeared, Lewis rushed to her room. He almost broke her door, to be honest. He must have been agitated because when the Field was still active, he wasn''t able to enter her chamber.

    <em>Lewis is such a worrywart.</em>

    "I''m fine, Lewis," she assured him with a smile. "The sting already disappeared anyway."

    "It was probably because of the Holy Barrier around the Royal Pce," Mochi said, then she hopped in the air until shended on herp. Ah, she wouldn''t be called a Wind Spirit for nothing, right? "Since the de Moonasterios have always been wary of the Rosehearts'' Spirit Summoning Ability, they created a special barrier that nullifies a Summoner''s ability."

    "Oh."

    "It didn''t work on Mona though," the white bunny said. "But my previous master decided to refrain from using her ability in the Royal Pce to avoid creating problems for little Niki."

    Her shoulders slumped in disappointment. "The barrier didn''t work on Mama Boss but it easily nullified my Summoning power."

    "Should I break the barrier in your pce, Princess Neoma?" her son asked, tilting his head to see her face better.

    "No, thanks," she said with augh. She knew that Lewis didn''t ask that ill-intentions so she wasn''t offended. "Papa Boss will kill you if you break the barrier, Lewis."

    As if Papa Boss was summoned when she mentioned him, they suddenly heard a knock on the door followed by Sir Glenn''s voice.

    She wasn''t the only one surprised by that.

    Lewis and even Mochi flinched.

    <em>Argh. We didn''t even feel Sir Glenn''s arrival until he made his presence known. Is he a knight or an assassin?</em>

    "Princess Neoma and herpanions, please make yourselves presentable," Sir Glenn said formally. "His Majesty is here to see you."

    She stood up with Mochi in her arms. When Lewis stood behind her, she told Sir Glenn that they may now enter her room.

    When the emperor stepped foot in her room, she and Lewis bowed politely to her father.

    "I want to talk to my daughter alone," Emperor Niki said in amanding voice. "Everyone else, leave."

    Sir Glenn and Lewis both bowed at the emperor''s order.

    She smiled proudly at her son''s manners. In the past, he wouldn''t even budge at her father''smand because he only wanted to follow her orders. But it seemed like he was slowly learning to adapt to the life of a noble.

    After Lewis bowed to her, she handed Mochi to him.

    "Little Niki, don''t hold the young princess up for too long," Mochi said to her father sternly. "Princess Neoma needs to rest after sessfully summoning her first Spirit."

    Her Papa Boss just ignored the Wind Spirit.

    <em>Tsk, tsk, tsk.</em>

    "Papa Boss, I''ve always wondered about it," she said when they were alone in her room. "How can you understand Mochi? Lewis and Sir Glenn don''t."

    "I''ve met the ruler of the Spirit World in the past," her father exined. "She blessed me with the ability to speak and understand thenguage of the Spirits."

    "Did youe to the Spirit World with Mama Boss?"

    "I don''t remember," he said, then he got down on one knee which surprised her. "Give me your hand, little rogue."

    She automatically reached out for her father when he extended his hand to her.

    "The Holy Barrier in the Royal Pce is set to nullify any kind of Summoning power. It''s the Royal Family''s way of negating the ability of the Rosehearts that they fear the most," her Papa Boss exined while he was drawing some ancient symbols on her palm using his index finger¨C and his index finger was covered with a pretty silver-ish light. It kind of reminded her of the faint light around the moon. "With this mark, you''re now free to use your summoning power in the Royal Pce," he said, then he raised his head to meet her eyes. "But Neoma, as I said before, don''t let anyone else know that you can summon Spirits just like your mother."

    "I understand, Papa Boss," she said with a nod. "Thank you for giving me the freedom to use my power within the Royal Pce."

    Her father looked taken aback by what she said.

    "What?" she said, defensively. "I know how to say ''thank you,'' Papa Boss."

    "Right," he said, then he let go of her hand and stood up. "What kind of Spirit did you summon?"

    "A morous merman," she said proudly. "He''s the Spirit in the pond, Papa Boss."

    "You mean the evil Spirit that haunts the pond?"

    "Evil Spirit?"

    "The merman in the pond has lured several royal princes to their death in the past," her father said, then he crossed his arms over his chest. "He tried to drown me as well when I was still a Crown Prince."

    "Really?" she asked, surprised. "And you didn''t kill him?"

    "A Spirit is already technically dead," the emperor said. "To get rid of it, you have to exorcise it. I don''t have that kind of ability so your mother took care of the merman for me. She took away his melodic voice that lures men, then she sealed the pond. That''s why the merman could no longer get to the surface unless he''s summoned."

    Oh, so that was why she never saw the merman until Mochi summoned Marvin for her.

    She also didn''t see the merman when she fell into the pond when she was younger. But during that time, she felt the hostility in the water.

    Marvin must have been pissed for getting locked up underwater for so long.

    "I wonder why Mama Boss didn''t exorcise Marvin back then."

    His Majesty scoffed. "Your mother was soft-hearted. She must have been carried away by the merman''s sob story."

    Her ears perked up at that. "Marvin has a sob story?"

    "Ask the merman himself if you want to know," her Papa Boss said, then he gently flicked her forehead¨C effectively freezing her on the spot. "It''s past your bedtime now, Neoma," he said sternly. "Go to sleep."

    Neoma could only touch the spot on her forehead that her father hit lightly.

    Gosh, what''s with this cringy, mushy warm feeling in my chest?

    <strong>***</strong>

    "MANY decades ago, I saved a de Moonasterio royal prince from drowning," Marvin said nonchntly while sitting on the staircase of the pavilion, his shimmering fishtail dipped in the water. "Their royal ship was wrecked by a storm. If it wasn''t for me, that prince would have died."

    Neoma, seated beside the merman while eating breadstick, almostughed when she heard Marvin''s story. <em>`Sounds like the story of The Little M*rmaid to me.</em>

    "The royal prince took me to this pce and promised to treat me well in return for saving his life," the merman continued. "But that bastard treated me like an animal in a circus. He would invite people from different parts of the continent just to show me off." He smirked bitterly. "He even tried to sell me off to a perverted king of some farawaynd. So in the end, I drowned that bastard of a prince and his client to death."

    She finished her breadstick before she continued. "I heard from my father that you''ve killed several more princes in the past. You even tried to kill His Majesty when he was a Crown Prince. Why did you do that?"

    "The royal princes of the Royal Family were all despicable. All of them harmed until I died. Because of my thirst for vengeance, my soul was tied to the pond, and eventually, I became an evil Spirit," the merman continued his story. "Your father, the current emperor, didn''t do anything bad to me, unlike his predecessors. But I lose myself whenever I see a de Moonasterio."

    "You can''t kill anyone from now on without my order," she said firmly. "I understand your anger for the de Moonasterio princes. But the people who have hurt you are already dead. Don''tsh out on the innocent ones, okay?"

    Much to her shock, Marvin linked his arms with hers andid his head on her shoulder. "I will only listen to you from now on, Princess Neoma."

    She chuckled at the merman''s clinginess.

    Their moment was interrupted when Lewis, with Mochi in his arms, arrived.

    She didn''t miss it when her son red at Marvin, and she also heard it when the merman hissed at Lewis in return.

    Mochi, who witnessed the petty exchange between Lewis and Marvin, only chuckled.

    <em>Gosh, I''m so popr.</em>

    "Princess Neoma," Lewis greeted her politely when he finally turned to her. "His Holiness has arrived."

    "Some delicious-smelling bread has arrived as well," Mochi added, making Lewis frown for some reason. "Can I have some, Princess Neoma?"

    "Of course," Neoma said with a smile. "I''m sure Ruto made enough for us."

    "It''s more than "enough,"" Lewis said bluntly. "The Royal Kitchen is full of some fancy bread right now."

    Huh?

    <strong>***</strong>

    "MOTHER, FATHER, I have a request," Hanna said to her parents who sat across from her. Right now, they were in the carriage headed to the Royal Capital. "Can we go to the Temple first before I meet up with Miss Regina Crowell?"

    "Of course, daughter," her mother and father said at the same time.

    She smiled as a response, then she turned outside the window. There was a reason why she wanted to go to the Temple first. And it was to ask for forgiveness.

    <em>Neoma, please forgive me for what I''m about to do.</em>

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 Chapter 174 - THE HEIRESS OF HOUSE QUINZEL

    AFTER HANNA heard her parents fight, she ran back to her room.

    But she didn''t have the time to sulk.

    To distract herself from sad thoughts, she stood in front of her window. Her room had the view of the rose garden that her father gifted to herst year.

    From there, she could see Benjamin, their gardener, attending to the roses. But he wasn''t alone. The old man was apanied by his two daughters: Be (ten years old) and Jasmine (twelve years old). The sisters, despite their young age, were already being trained to be her maids in the future.

    To her, it was normal.

    She remembered that Neoma, after telling her about her second life, said that children their age in the modern world didn''t have heavy responsibilities as they did in that world.

    But it wasn''t only themoner children who were expected to work at such a tender age in the empire.

    Nobles were expected to learn about the history of the empire and the family business at the age of seven. The custom was particrly stricter to the children of the royal family, and the heirs of noble households.

    Technically, she was the only heiress of House Quinzel.

    But the empire doesn''t really recognize female heirs. Once she gets married, the title of her father would be inherited by her husband. She wouldn''t be a duchess in her own right. She would simply be a wife of a duke.

    The vassals of their family didn''t care about that because they were pushing her to be the Crown Princess.

    Fortunately, her father was different.

    As a duke and a member of the Twelve Golden Families, her father was working hard to change thew and make the empire recognize female heirs.

    <em>My father is really a good person.</em>

    "Hanna, sweetheart?"

    She was surprised when she heard her father''s voice behind the door. Ah, she must have fallen deep into her thoughts for her to notice her father only now. She didn''t want to make him wait any longer but as ady, she shouldn''t run.

    Instead, she walked at a normal pace and opened the door.

    "Greetings, Father," Hanna greeted her father politely. "Pleasee in. I will ask the servants to make tea for us."

    "Ah, I apologize but I don''t have time for tea, sweetheart," her father said apologetically while closing the door behind him. Then, much to her surprise, he carried her in his arms. "I need to return to the Royal Pce."

    "Are you running away from Mother?" she asked nervously. She would usuallyin whenever her father would carry her in his arms like this. But this time, she didn''t care about that. "I heard your fight a while ago."

    Her father suddenly looked ashamed. "I''m so sorry, sweetheart. I didn''t want you to see or hear your mother and I fighting."

    "It''s normal for married couples to fight, Father."

    He chuckled. "Isn''t our baby so understanding?"

    She pouted. "Father, I''m ady now."

    "That will only be epted when you turn eighteen years old, Hanna," he said sternly.

    "But I''m the only heiress of House Quinzel," she reminded her father gently. "And I''m a girl. I have to work three times harder than boys to achieve the same result in this empire."

    His father''s face turned crestfallen. "Hanna, I''m working hard so girls like you won''t be ignored by the empire any more. I''m sorry but please wait a little longer, sweetheart. It''s not easy to break a system that the ruling ss benefits from. After all, the nobles that run the empire right now wouldn''t want to change thews that they can exploit."

    "I know that, Father," she assured him, then she gently patted her father''s cheek. "I trust you."

    "Thank you, Hanna," he said, then he turned serious again. "How much did you hear from my fight with your mother, sweetheart?"

    The fear on his father''s face almost made her not want to tell him the truth.

    But she had to.

    "I heard Mother me the Royal Family for the injury that you received recently, Father," she said. "I ran to my room after hearing that."

    "Sweetheart, your mother only said that because she was worried about me," her father said gently. "But when Amber calmed down a while ago, she already apologized for the careless things that she has said. I also apologized to your mother for not taking care of myself better."

    That made her smile. "Then, have you made up with Mother?"

    Her father chuckled. "I wouldn''t leave the house if I haven''t made up with your mother yet, Hanna. I will drop everything for Amber."

    "That''s so sweet of you, Father," she said, touched by how much her father loved her mother. But she was still on guard because she wanted to know something. "Father, is Mother really usually like that? I mean, you''ve been sent to a war when I was six years old. But I don''t remember Mother getting mad over it. In fact, for the whole year that you''ve been away from us, Mother never fails to tell me that it''s an honor for our family to serve the Royal Family."

    That was true.

    Her mother was one of the noblest women she had seen in her young life. When the wives of the knights sent to war bawled their eyes out for their husbands, her mother sent her father off with a smile. Although there were times that her mother would get lonely and worried while waiting for her father to return home, she never med anyone or anything for that.

    Thus, she was surprised when she heard from Neoma the kind of person her mother was in the royal princess''s first life.

    She was even more surprised when she heard her mother me the Royal Family for her father''s injury a while ago. That made her think that her mother wasn''t acting like her usual self. So she wanted to confirm it with her father.

    "You''re right, Hanna," her father said, his voice suddenlyced with worry. "Amber is a true noble. She never once asked me to quit being a knight even though she knows how dangerous my job is. After all, she knows that I''m protecting the Royal Family not only because I''m the duke. I''m also doing this because they''re our family." He paused for a while before she continued. "She always begs me to take extra care though, which is pretty normal."

    Ah, so her hunch was correct.

    <em>Mother isn''t acting like herself.</em>

    "But we can''t me your mother for acting that way, sweetheart," her father said gently. "Amber must have been stressed recently because both you and I have been seriously hurt. But please understand your mother. Just because she''s a strong woman doesn''t mean she''s not allowed to break down."

    She smiled at how her father defended her mother''s strange behavior these days.

    It was sweet, yes. Bute to think of it, her father loved her mother too much. That was probably the reason why her father tolerated her mother''s change of behavior in Neoma''s first life. After all, she knows that her father''s weakness was her mother''s tears.

    "Father, you really love mother, don''t you?"

    "Of course, I love Amber," her father said with a shyugh, his yellow eyes glowing from happiness¨C making them almost look like golden orbs. "I love you and your mother most in the world, sweetheart."

    "I love you and mother the most in the world as well, Father," Hanna said softly, then she wrapped her arms around her father''s neck. "I will protect you and mother at all cost."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "MOTHER, you called for me?" Hanna greeted her mother with a smile as soon as she entered their family''s tea room. It was a parlor that only she and her parents were allowed to use. "You seem to be in a good mood."

    Her mother''s face turned red, and she couldn''t even look at her while she was putting some unique green roses in the vase on top of the tea table. "Your father promised to spend more time with us soon and¡­" She bit her lower lip, then she shook her head before she turned to him. Her mother''s beautiful green eyes sparkled with happiness. "Shall we have tea, sweetheart?"

    Hanna smiled and nodded. "I''d love to, Mother."

    Her mother called their servants and asked for some tea and snacks.

    A few momentster, she and her mother werefortably having tea while catching up on each other. After all, she stayed at the Royal Pce far longer than her initial n.

    "By the way, Mother," she said while staring at the green roses in the vase. Its color was unique for a rose, thus she couldn''t help but notice it. "It''s rare for roses to be in that color. Where did you get them from?"

    Her mother''s face suddenly lit up. "Aren''t the green roses pretty? Regina sent them to me as thanks for helping her a few days ago."

    She stopped drinking her tea midway when she heard that name. "Miss Regina Crowell?"

    It took her all she got not to release her bloodlust and act normal.

    "Yes, sweetheart. I''m d you remembered her name," her mother said cheerfully. "It''s a shame that you didn''t meet her yet."

    Ah, right.

    The day that she was supposed to meet Regina Crowell was the day Neoma told her about her previous lives.

    Since the royal princess asked her not to meet Regina Crowell because she was worried for her safety, she made an excuse to her mother to not meet the "baby crow" that day. But now, she wondered whether she should really avoid Regina Crowell instead of confronting her.

    Honestly, she made a n on how to deal with the crow. But she didn''t share it with Neoma because she knew that the royal princess wouldn''t allow her to do something that dangerous. And she told herself that Neoma was right.

    But now¡­

    "Mother, do you think you can set up another meeting for me and Miss Regina Crowell?" she asked with a smile. "Since we''re both going to Gonora to study, I think it wouldn''t hurt to be acquainted with her."

    "That''s a good decision, sweetheart," her mother said excitedly. "When is a good time for you to meet Regina?"

    "I''m free tomorrow since I don''t have lessons then," Hanna said with a smile, then she sipped her tea. "I can''t wait to meet Miss Regina Crowell."

    <strong>***</strong>

    LATER that night, Hanna secretly went back to the tea room.

    Her room was heavily guarded by their private knights. But all she needed was to distract her guards, then sneaked out of her room unnoticed. She had the ability to control shadows, so blending in with the dark was easy for her.

    Thus, she arrived safely in the tea room.

    Thanks to the moon glow seeping through the window, the ugly green roses in the vase cast a shadow on the table. Using her ability, she picked up the shadow of the green roses with her bare hands.

    Then, she folded the shadows until the green roses in the vase withered.

    "Regina Crowell, avoiding you will definitely put my family at risk," Hanna whispered to herself, her green eyes glowing brighter in the dark room. "I have to get rid of you now."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "MOTHER, FATHER, I have a request," Hanna said to her parents who sat across from her. Right now, they were in the carriage headed to the Royal Capital. "Can we go to the Temple first before I meet up with Miss Regina Crowell?"

    There was a small yet famous Temple in the Royal Capital called the Temple of Alethea.

    She thought about it carefully, and she decided that going to that Temple with her parents would be better than going to the Steora Church¨C the biggest church in the Royal Capital where nobles like their family usually frequent.

    "Of course, daughter," her mother and father said at the same time.

    She smiled as a response, then she turned outside the window. There was a reason why she wanted to go to the Temple first. And it was to ask for forgiveness.

    Neoma, please forgive me for what I''m about to do.

    "Sweetheart, may I know why you want to go to Temple of Alethea instead of Steora Church?" her mother asked curiously.

    She turned to her mother with a smile. "The temple is closer to the caf¨¦ where we will meet Miss Regina Crowell, Mother. I want to pray for Nero''s recovery, but I also don''t want to bete in our meeting."

    Her mother smiled warmly at her. "You''re so sweet, Hanna."

    Her father smiled proudly. "That''s our girl."

    Hanna smiled at her parents. "I turn out this way because of you, Mother and Father."

    <strong>***</strong>

    AS SOON as Hanna entered the caf¨¦ called Sweet Indulgence, she spotted Regina Crowell right away.

    ck hair, green eyes, angelic face¨C just like how Neoma described her.

    Even though Regina Crowell wore a dress too modest for a noble, her beauty still stood out. Despite her young age, she was already a beauty.

    When Regina Crowell saw her and her mother, she immediately stood up and bowed to them. "Greetings, Duchess Quinzel and Young Lady Quinzel," she said, then she raised her head to greet them with her charming smile. "I am Regina Crowell."

    Hanna smiled sweetly at the crow. "And I am Hanna Quinzel."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOUR MAJESTY!"

    Niki flinched when Kyle Sprouse entered his office in a hurry while yelling. Even Glenn who was handing him a document flinched and red at the count.

    "You better have a valid reason for entering His Majesty''s office in that state, Kyle," Glenn said coldly. "That''s unbing of a noble like you."

    "I apologize for my ill-manner but I just received some shocking news," Kyle said, obviously panicking. "There was a bombing attack in the Royal Capital just now, Your Majesty."

    To say that Niki was shocked to hear the news would be an understatement. "A bombing attack?"

    Even Glenn looked too shocked to utter a word.

    "One of the victims is a young noble heiress, Your Majesty," Kyle said, then he shut his eyes tight. "It''s Lady Hanna Quinzel."

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 Chapter 175 - CROW VERSUS HAWK

    "I''M SORRY but I can''t join you for lunch."

    "It''s okay, Father," Hanna assured her father with a smile. "It can''t be helped since it''s your job to maintain the peace and order here in the Royal Capital."

    "Hanna is right, darling," her mother said to her father. "Hanna and I will have tea with Regina while we wait for you."

    Her father, as dramatic as ever, sighed deeply and hugged them tight even though they were at the side of the road.

    To be precise, the three of them were in front of the caf¨¦ called Sweet Indulgence.

    Unfortunately, as soon as their family stepped out of the carriage, a ck Hawk Knight approached her father to bring some bad news.

    Apparently, a group of rebels was wrecking havoc at the Central za right now.

    Thus, her father had to leave now. After all, the Royal Capital was under the jurisdiction of the ck Hawk Knights. It was Emperor Niki himself who assigned her father to be the leader of the Public Order.

    "I''ll be quick," her father promised them softly. "I''ll be back as soon as possible, I swear."

    Hanna smiled and savored her parents'' warm embrace. "Take care, Father."

    After their family''s dramatic family embrace, her father left with a small group of ck Hawk Knights at his tail.

    "Shall we head inside, Hanna?" her mother asked with a smile. "Regina must be waiting for us."

    She smiled and nodded. "Let''s go, Mother."

    As soon as she and her mother entered the caf¨¦, she spotted Regina Crowell right away.

    ck hair, green eyes, angelic face¨C just like how Neoma described her.

    Even though Regina Crowell wore a dress too modest for a noble, her beauty still stood out. Despite her young age, she was already a beauty.

    When Regina Crowell saw her and her mother, she immediately stood up and bowed to them. "Greetings, Duchess Quinzel and Young Lady Quinzel," she said, then she raised her head to greet them with her charming smile. "I am Regina Crowell."

    She controlled her facial expression and bloodlust.

    ording to Neoma, Regina Crowell was a good actress. She could see that now. If she didn''t know better, she''d think that this girl was really as angelic as her mother thought she was.

    Hanna smiled sweetly at the crow, setting aside her personal feelings to be able to act naturally. "And I am Hanna Quinzel."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOU SEEM to be in a good mood, Princess Neoma."

    Neoma smiled at Saint Dominic Zavaroni''sment. "Our genius Royal Chef sent some yummy bread to me, Your Holiness," she said with a big smile on her face, then she politely pointed at the big basket of bread sitting on the table between her and the saint. "Ruto made all of these for us."

    Lewis wasn''t lying when he said the kitchen in her pce was full of bread.

    To be precise, there were plenty of huge pic baskets in there, and each basket contained five types of bread: baguette, brioche, focia, almond sourdough, and croissants. She already had a taste of each one of it and yes, they tasted divine.

    The young Royal Chef also left a note for her: [''This is Ruto. Share some of this bread with your friends and colleagues so they''ll be good to you. Hang in there, Miss Ramsay.'']

    "Ah, no wonder these pieces of bread taste better than what I''m ustomed to," Saint Zavaroni said, then he sipped his tea. "It goes well with tea."

    "I''m a Spirit so I don''t really need to eat food," Mochi, seated on the table while munching on a loaf of almond sourdough, said. "But the smell of these pieces of bread tempted me."

    She just smiled and nodded in agreement. "Ruto is really good at making yummy food."

    Lewis, standing behind her like any good knight, clicked his tongue.

    <em>Let''s ignore my son''s tantrum for now.</em>

    Anyway¡­

    Right now, she, Mochi, Lewis, and Saint Zavaroni were having tea in the pavilion.

    Marvin, who didn''t like the saint because of His Holiness''s divine powers that could apparently exorcise an evil Spirit like him, dove back in the deepest part of the pond to hide.

    "Your Holiness, are we going to start our training today?" she asked excitedly. "I passed Mochi''s test. We''re taking it easy for now while she''s carefully revising the training regime that she already made for me. Thus, I have more free time now."

    "I believe Princess Neoma won''t have a hard time training under us at the same time, Dominic," Mochi said to the saint. "She exceeded my expectations. I thought our little princess will follow in the footsteps of her mother. But since she decided to create her own path, I''m going to support her. Thus, I''m going to make some changes to the training regime that I set before. I don''t mind if you begin your training with Princess Neoma now, Dominic."

    She smiled sheepishly upon hearing Mochi''s praises for her.

    "Thank you, Miss Gale," Saint Zavaroni said, then he turned to her with a gentle smile. "For today, I only came here to talk to you about my Art of Defense, Princess Neoma."

    "I''m listening, Your Holiness."

    The saint smiled before he continued talking. "My Art of Defense is called The Divine Field Technique and it has three forms: the Coat, the Wall, and the Dome."

    She nodded while taking down notes mentally.

    "The Coat is the firstyer of defense in the Divine Field Technique," His Holiness continued. "It''s the type of Holy Barrier that will cover the entire body of the user. As long as your Coat is in effect, no weapon or attack will hit you. But of course, the toughness of your Coat lies entirely on your Mana. The stronger your Mana is, the more durable your Coat is." He sipped his tea before he spoke to her. "Princess Neoma, what do you think is the weakness of the Coat?"

    "The fact that the effectiveness of the Coat relies entirely on the user''s Mana is the weakness," she said with confidence. "If I were to use the Coat, it will probably drain my Mana faster than usual."

    "That''s correct, Princess Neoma," the saint said, satisfied by her answer. "That''s why I will rmend that you only use the Coat for a short period of time."

    She smiled and nodded. "I will remember that, Your Holiness."

    "Thank you," he said, then he continued his lecture. "The second form of the Divine Field Technique is called the Wall. Just like what its name suggests, the Wall is the kind of Holy Barrier that will protect the user and the people near her. The Wall isn''t as durable as the Coat, but it allows the user to protect people other themselves. And since it doesn''t need as much Mana as the Coat demands from its user, the user can attack the enemy while the Wall is still activated. But this time, the effectiveness of the Wall depends on the user''s ability."

    "That sounds more useful in a fight, Your Holiness. I like the kind of ability that will give me the freedom to attack and defend," she said, then her brows furrowed. "I''m sorry but I can''t tell what kind of weakness a technique like the Wall could have."

    The saint smiled before he answered her unspoken question. "The Wall acts like a literal wall, Princess Neoma. That means your enemies can attack you from above and from behind. You can make a curved Wall, but it still won''tpletely protect your back."

    "Ohh. That makes sense," she said while nodding her head. "Then, can I make a Wall so high that the enemies wouldn''t be able to climb the top? Or at least I''ll make it high enough to make them think that there''s a roof on top of my barrier."

    "That depends on you and your enemy, Princess Neoma," His Holiness said with a faint smile. "Crows can fly after all."

    That sent chills down her spine.

    She clenched her fists tight. "I''ll be careful, Your Holiness."

    The saint smiled and nodded. "Finally, thest form of the Divine Field Technique is the very thing that''s protecting the Royal Pce from outside attackers: the Dome."

    Ah, so the kind of Holy Barrier that protected the Royal Pce all this time was called Dome.

    "The Dome is an absolute defense," His Holiness said. "But just like the Coat, it demands a huge amount of Mana when used. That''s why the only people who could master this form are the people who have an abundant or infinite amount of Mana in them."

    "Just like the former Princess Royal?"

    "Yes," Saint Zavaroni said with a sad smile on his face. "Princess Nichole was the only person in the empire who sessfully mastered the Dome. If His Majesty didn''t absorb Princess Nichole''s infinite Mana along with her life force, there''s no way your father would have been able to control the Dome that Princess Nichole created to protect the Royal Pce."

    "It''s really such a waste," Mochi said in a bitter voice while shaking her head. "For a person as talented as poor Nichole to be sacrificed for the sake of her twin brother¡­"

    Ah, this was a little awkward.

    Mochi and Saint Zavaroni both fell silent.

    "Don''t worry, Mochi and Your Holiness," Neoma assured the two gently. "Princess Nichole will be thest royal princess to be sacrificed for the sake of the throne."

    <strong>***</strong>

    HANNA should probably thank her upbringing for being able to talk casually to Regina Crowell right now even though she was seething inside.

    After all, her etiquette teacher would always remind her to act gracefully especially when dealing with an unwantedpany. She wasn''t as good as Regina Crowell when it came to acting, but she definitely beat the crow at manners.

    "Look at the two of you," her mother. who was watching her and Regina Crowell talk animatedly, said. It was obvious that her mother was happy that she got along well with the girl that she was somehow fond of. "You talk as if you''ve known each other for years now."

    The three of them shared a table while having tea and some sweet pastries.

    Thankfully, the caf¨¦ wasn''t filled with a lot of customers. Thus, they were able to enjoy their time there while casually talking about the things that she and Regina Crowell should bring to another country.

    Yes, they were already nning what they would do once they reached Gonora.

    Regina Crowell smiled, her cheeks turning rosier. "It''s because Lady Hanna is easy to talk to, Duchess Quinzel," she said shyly. "This is the first time that I met a youngdy who treats me equally."

    She almost rolled her eyes at that.

    But her mother seemed to have believed the crow''s acting like a victim.

    "Regina, we''re friends now," she said, then she held the crow''s hand. "Just call me by my name. It''s awkward if it''s only me who calls you by your first name."

    Regina Crowell acted like she was touched by it. "Can I really do that, Lady Hanna?"

    She smiled and nodded. "Let''s drop formalities, Regina."

    The crow''s smile grew bigger, then she nodded. "If that''s what you want, Hanna."

    Hanna smiled, thinking that her n was sailing smoothly.

    If she only knew what would have happened that day, she should have just listened to Neoma.

    <strong>***</strong>

    ["NEOMA..."]

    Neoma stopped eating her loaf mid-way when she heard Hanna''s voice in head.

    She was still at the pavilion with Mochi, Lewis, and Saint Zavaroni. But for some reason, it seemed like time suddenly stopped.

    Hanna...?

    ["Neoma, I''m sorry,"] Hanna said weakly to her in her mind. ["Please say goodbye to Nero for me."]

    "Hanna," Neoma said loudly, surprising herpanions. She couldn''t help it though. She was as nervous as heck right now. "What happened to you?"

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 176 - AND THE HAWK HAS FALLEN

    HANNA was thankful for the distraction that came along in the form of a uniformed ck Hawk Knight that approached her mother.

    The knight politely greeted them, then he leaned down and whispered something in her mother who suddenly looked nervous. But her mother caught herself immediately, then she dismissed the knight calmly before she turned to them with a smile.

    "I''m sorry, girls. I have to step out for a while," her mother said with an apologetic smile on her face. "Please continue your talk,dies."

    "Mother, is everything alright?" Hanna asked worriedly. The ck Hawk Knight might have said some urgent news to her mother earlier. "Is Father alright?"

    "Don''t worry, sweetheart," her mother assured her. "Your father just needs my ability to get his job done early. I''ll return with your father so don''t worry too much."

    It looked she couldn''t stop her mother anymore so she just smiled and nodded. As a properdy, she should listen to her parents well. "I understand, Mother," she said. "Please take care."

    "Take care, Duchess Quinzel," Regina Crowell said, acting like she was seriously worried for her mother.

    "Thank you,dies," her mother said with a smile, then she stood up and nodded at them. "Enjoy your time together."

    After that, her mother left the caf¨¦.

    She watched from the window as her mother was escorted by several knights from their army to a rental carriage. That made her worry even more.

    "Don''t worry, Hanna," Regina Crowellforted her with a "warm" smile. "Duchess Quinzel will definitely return."

    She smiled and nodded. "I know. Thank you, Regina."

    "You''re wee, Hanna," the crow said. "By the way, I thought you couldn''te to Gonora anymore. I was so relieved when Her Grace Duchess Quinzel sent me a letter and said that you finally got the permission from His Majesty to go to Gonora."

    To be honest, she felt ufortable hearing that.

    <em>Mother said too much.</em>

    But then again, her mother didn''t know that Regina Crowell was an enemy.

    "Thankfully, His Majesty realized that it will benefit House Quinzel in the future if I further my studies abroad," she said, then she changed the topic. "I heard from Mother that you were epted in a private academy in Gonora as a schr. That''s great, Regina. Congrattions."

    The crow suddenly looked like she was worried about something.

    Neoma, now I understand how Regina Crowell managed to fool you in your first life. She''s really good at acting. Thank you for telling me the truth or else, I would have fallen into her trap this early.

    "Regina!"

    She flinched when she heard the familiar male voice.

    To her surprise, Rubin Drayton suddenly approached their table. Then, he angrily grabbed Regina Crowell by the arm and forced the crow to stand up.

    The table shook and their drinks spilled as a result.

    Thankfully, the tea was no longer hot and she managed to avoid being soaked by the liquid by using her shadow as a barrier.

    <em>This is the first time that I saw Sir Drayton act this aggressively.</em>

    After all, the young lord was usually meek especially next to his father.

    "Rubin, let go," Regina Crowell said firmly. "It hurts."

    She almost raised a brow at that.

    <em>Howe she addresses a young lord like Rubin Drayton by his first name?</em>

    She, even as a daughter of a duke, was still obliged to address Rubin Drayton by his title. In the public, at least. If they were close enough, only then it would be eptable for her to call the young lord by his name in private.

    <em>That means Regina Crowell and Sir Drayton are really close.</em>

    She wanted to punish these two for betraying and hurting Neoma in her first life.

    "You didn''t tell me that my father forced you to ept a schrship in a school in Gonora," Rubin Drayton said, his face still red with anger. "Let''s talk."

    "No," Regina Crowell said. "I have nothing to say to you, Rubin."

    <em>I guess it''s time for me to step up.</em>

    The staff and the other customers looked too scared to meddle.

    After all, in that caf¨¦, she and Rubin Drayton were the most powerful nobles. Their fellow nobles probably didn''t want to offend the (unofficial) heiress and the heir to House Quinzel and House Drayton respectively.

    She cleared her throat, making Regina Crowell and Rubin Drayton turn to her at the same time. "Greetings, Sir Drayton," she said politely, then she stood up and bowed to him.

    Rubin Drayton returned her greetings, but he didn''t let go of Regina''s arm. "I apologize if I startled you, Young Lady Quinzel," he said. "Please excuse us. Regina and I have something important to discuss."

    "But it seems like Regina doesn''t want to talk to you, Sir Drayton," she said, acting the part of a good friend to Regina Crowell. "If you don''t let go of Regina''s arm, I will call the ck Hawk Knights to deal with you."

    Her personal guards were just right outside the caf¨¦.

    The young lord seemed to have been shaken up by her threat.

    It was a known fact that House Quinzel was greater than House Drayton when ites to power, wealth, and influence after all. She may not be the official heiress to House Quinzel because of her gender, but everyone in the empire knew how much her parents doted on her.

    Her parents'' love and affection for her makes her more powerful than official heirs like Rubin Drayton.

    <em>And he knows that.</em>

    Rubin red at her but he eventually let go of Regina Crowell''s hand, then he turned to the crow. "We need to talk, Regina. I won''t stop until you leave this caf¨¦ with me."

    "I heard you," Regina Crowell said in a frustrated voice, then the crow turned to her with an apologetic look on her face. "I''m sorry, Hanna. I''ll just talk to Rubin outside. I promise I''ll return as soon as possible."

    She smiled and nodded. "I''ll wait for you, Regina," she said, then she handed a handkerchief to her. That hankie had the crest of House Quinzel. "If you need help, just approach any of the ck Hawk Knights guarding outside the caf¨¦ and show them that handkerchief. They will know that you''re a friend of mine."

    Regina Crowell looked relieved.

    Then, the crow and the aggressive young lord finally left the caf¨¦.

    She was finally able to rx.

    When she sat down, the manager of the caf¨¦ approached her nervously. The old man asked her if she needed anything, and she politely asked for another tea and set of pastries.

    <em>Finally, some peace and quiet.</em>

    She was staring outside the window when all of a sudden, she felt a strong and hostile bloodlust directed at her.

    Although she considered the fact that she would be attacked once she met with Regina Crowell, she didn''t expect it to happen this soon. She didn''t have time to worry about that though. As soon as she felt the dangering towards her, she stood up and summoned her Shadow Puppet.

    The reason why she chose the table beside the window was because of the sunlight. After all, the brighter it was, the stronger her shadow would be.

    But much to her shock, the whole caf¨¦ was suddenly enveloped in darkness.

    Thus, her Shadow Puppet became powerless.

    <em>No!</em>

    Before Hanna could even grab her me Stone embedded on the ring on her pinky to create light, a strong explosion suddenly hit her in the face.

    <strong>***</strong>

    "DARLING, what''s wrong?" Amber asked worriedly when she arrived at the Central za. "Your men told me you need my help¡­"

    She trailed off as soon as she saw the horrendous scene behind her husband.

    Now she understood why Rufus covered the entire Central za with his Shadow Veil. Her husband probably didn''t want the people to see that scene.

    There were hundreds of dead and bloody hawks around the water fountain built in the middle of the za. Now she was looking closely, she realized that the water in the fountain was reced by blood. She could tell that the blood was from the dead birds in the za.

    She covered her mouth with her hands when she gasped.

    "I''m sorry for calling you here, darling," Rufus said as he wrapped her around his arms, effectively blocking her view of the awful scene behind him. "My men failed to capture the rebels'' leader. Can you lend us your ability to trace the residue of one''s Mana? I already sent my men to hunt them down. But for some reason, I feel uneasy. I want to catch them as soon as possible, Amber."

    She gulped hard, then she nodded.

    <em>If the person they''re hunting has Mana, then the chance that they''re from nobility is high.</em>

    Did the Anti-Royal Faction make their move again?

    <em>This isn''t the right time to think about it.</em>

    "Darling, I need an item from the leader to track them down," she said, then she gently pulled away from her husband''s hug to look at him in the eye. "I will lend you my power anytime, darling."

    Her husband smiled, then he gently touched her face. "Thank you, darling."

    Their moment was interrupted when all of a sudden, they heard a loud and literally earth-shaking explosion near them. She almost fell on the ground but thankfully, her husband pulled her closer to him and hugged her tight.

    They were lucky they were inside her husband''s Shadow Veil. It absorbed the impact of the explosion and thus, they weren''t that affected.

    "No¡­" Rufus whispered in a weak, devastated voice. "No, it can''t be..."

    She looked up at her husband and noticed that he was pale. When she followed his gaze, she realized why her husband suddenly looked like his strength left him.

    The direction of the center of the explosion was familiar to them.

    Amber screamed agonizingly. "Hanna!"

    <strong>***</strong>

    HANNA was still alive, but she didn''t know how long she''dst.

    She didn''t even know if her body was still intact.

    After all, she couldn''t feel the lower part of her body as if something heavy was crushing it. Unfortunately, she couldn''t open her eyes to check if her legs were still there.

    She tried to move her hands but every part of her hurt right now. Her face also felt hot as if it was burned. Upon realizing the extent of her awful state, she suddenly felt scared. It was as if death was already breathing at the back of her neck.

    <em>Mother, Father, it hurts¡­</em>

    Even crying made her physical pain worse.

    <em>Neoma, I''m sorry</em>, Hanna thought to herself while using what left of her Mana to talk to Neoma, hoping that the royal princess would receive her message. She wasn''t sure if it would work. But she remembered a story that her father told her before. Apparently, once they were on the brink of death, their ability would allow them to "whisper" their final message to the people that they wanted to say goodbye to. <em>Please say goodbye to Nero for me. </em>She paused to take a deep breath, her chest tightening painfully as minutes passed by. <em>Please don''t me yourself for any of this. I don''t regret being close to you in this lifetime, Neoma. Thank you for everything.</em>

    And after leaving her message for Neoma, she used her remaining life force to create light that would awaken her Shadow Puppet.

    Hanna could only pray that her parents would see her final message.

    <em>Mother, Father, I love</em><em>you¡­</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    REGINA CROWELL looked around the unconscious and bleeding people on the ground.

    Since the explosion from the caf¨¦ was strong, the people near the establishment were blown away by the st. Of course, she and Rubin were among those people.

    But that was a part of the n.

    Rubin Drayton was an important pawn to them so she protected him during the explosion. But it wouldn''t be realistic if he was unscathed so she let him get hit by the impact a little bit. And now, he was one of the "half-dead" victims on the ground.

    She would act like one of themter.

    [''The hawk has fallen,''] said the metallic voice in her head. [''You may now proceed to the next n: rece Hanna Quinzel.'']

    Regina smiled and curtsied. "I received your order, Your Excellency."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 177 - UNACCEPTABLE NEWS

    <strong></strong>"DUKE QUINZEL, I''m sorry but your daughter is gone."

    Rufus heard what the doctor just said, but his mind and heart couldn''t process it. He felt numb all over. All he knew at that moment was this: a part of him died as well.

    If it wasn''t for Amber''s heart-wrenching cry, he wouldn''t have snapped out of it.

    "I can''t ept that," Rufus said, then he grabbed the doctor by the cor. "Hanna''s personal Healing Sage is on her way here. Do everything you can to bring back my daughter until our doctor arrives here!"

    He never liked yelling at other people.

    His pathetic behavior right now was unbing of a noble like him.

    The doctor and the team behind him (two female nurses, and two younger male doctors) looked quite scared of him now.

    But he couldn''t control his raging emotions at the moment.

    "I''m s-sorry, Your Grace," the doctor who looked scared by now said in a shaking voice. "We can''t do anything for your daughter anymore," he said, avoiding his gaze. "M-Moreover, my team is needed elsewhere."

    "Your Grace," a female nurse behind the doctor said. Unlike the doctor, the nurse didn''t seem shaken by his threat. In fact, she looked tired and done with everything. "I''m sorry for saying this but your daughter isn''t the only victim of the bombing attack."

    That reminder was like a p on the face.

    He and Amber saw the number of victims from the explosion when they rushed back to the caf¨¦ after the explosion. His men were already there and he let his vice-captain lead the rescue operation.

    Then, he used his Shadow Maniption Technique to pick up the debris of the caf¨¦ and save as many survivors as he could.

    On the other hand, Amber used her ability to trace Hanna.

    When they finally saw their daughter''s terrible state, he knew that they didn''t have the luxury of waiting for their family''s Healing Sage who happened to be out of town.

    Thus, he decided to bring Hanna to the biggest hospital in the Royal Capital. But since it was also the nearest one, the majority of the victims were also rushed in there. It was unbelievably congested when they arrived at the hospital.

    But because he was the duke of House Quinzel and the highest-ranked noble in there, his daughter was treated first. The best doctor and the best team handled Hanna''s operation.

    It was ironic how he hated the privileges that the nobles hadpared to themoners.

    And yet, he was abusing his privilege right now.

    He weakly let go of the doctor''s cor.

    "We''re really sorry, Your Grace," the lead doctor said, then he bowed to him and Amber. "May your daughter rest in the arms of Lord Yule peacefully, Duke and Duchess Quinzel."

    The nurses and the other doctors bowed to them as well.

    After politely saying goodbye to him and his wife, the doctors and the nurses left in a hurry to attend to other patients.

    Now, he and his wife were left grief-stricken in front of the operating room was Hanna had been taken to a while ago. The doctors only spent an hour there. It seemed like the chances of Hanna surviving the explosion were extremely low from the beginning.

    To be honest, both he and Amber already knew that.

    After all, Hanna was barely breathing when they rushed her to the hospital.

    Their daughter''s whole body was severely burned¨C especially her face. Her little body was covered in blood. Worse, her legs were barely attached to her body. After all, when they found their daughter inside the caf¨¦, the lower part of her body was crushed by heavy debris.

    He could tell that Hanna''s Mana protected her as much as it could. If their daughter was an ordinary child, she would have been torn into pieces by an explosion as strong as that.

    <em>My poor baby¡­</em>

    He clenched his hands tight until his nails dug into his palms.

    To be honest, he didn''t want his daughter to be alone in that cold room. But he didn''t have the courage to see her yet. Because that would be like epting that Hanna was really gone.

    "This is my fault," Amber said in a weak, heartbreaking voice. Then, she fell on the floor. "If I didn''t ask Hanna to meet Regina, this wouldn''t have happened¡­"

    He turned to his wife and his heart broke even more.

    Amber was the best example of a perfect noblewoman. Her manners and etiquette were the envy of thedies all over the empire.

    It was the first time that he saw his wife in that state.

    She slouched on the floor while looking at the operating room''s door with a devastated look on her face. Her tears fell silently on her cheeks. But the pain in her empty eyes was loud.

    Amber was broken.

    <em>I have to be strong for my wife.</em>

    "Darling, none of this is your fault," he said to his wife, then he knelt down beside her and gathered her in his arms. "Please don''t me yourself, Amber. Hanna wouldn''t be happy if you take the me for what happened to her."

    Amber sobbed loudly this time, then she buried her face in his chest.

    He told himself that he needed to be strong for his wife, but all he could do right now was to cry with her.

    <em>Hanna, I''m sorry for failing to protect you¡­</em>

    And Rufus swore that whoever was behind the bombing attack would pay with their lives.

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA could tell that something was wrong.

    She was still confused as to why she heard Hanna in her head saying goodbye to her when Sir Glenn arrived.

    But after greeting her seriously, the knight went straight to Saint Zavaroni.

    "Your Holiness, Miss Gale, you have been summoned by His Majesty," Sir Glenn said seriously. "I will give you the location now."

    Then, the knight leaned down to whisper in the saint''s ear.

    Since Spirits had sharp senses, Mochi didn''t have to lean in to listen. The White Bunny''s soft gasp made it obvious that she heard everything.

    But the most worrisome thing was the fact that the saint suddenly turned pale.

    "Princess Neoma, I apologize but our ss for today ends here. Let''s just continue some other day," Saint Zavaroni said, then he stood up and turned to Mochi. "Miss Gale, shall we go?"

    Mochi nodded, then she hopped into the saint''s arms. "My teleportation spell is faster so I''ll bring us there."

    Before she could even ask what was happening, Saint Zavaroni and Mochi were suddenly gone with the wind.

    What the heck?

    Her anxiety seriously spiked up now.

    "Sir Glenn, what''s happening?" Neoma asked nervously, her heart beating fast and loud against her chest. Even her trembling hands turned cold from fear. She didn''t want to admit this but based on what she heard in her mind earlier, she already had an idea about what was going on. "D-Did something happen to Hanna?"

    She felt Lewis shift on his feet ufortably behind her.

    It seemed like her son also felt uneasy because of her obvious nervousness.

    "Princess Neoma, we received an unfortunate piece of news a while ago," Sir Glenn said in a sad voice. Even though there were no tears on his face, it still looked like he was crying. "There was a bombing attack in the Royal Capital," he said, then he gulped before he continued. "Lady Hanna Quinzel was one of the casualties."

    "No!" Neoma screamed, her knees suddenly giving up on her because of shock. The next thing she knew, she was already on the ground while clutching her chest tight and crying her heart out. She couldn''t breathe. She felt like dying at the moment. "Hanna¡­"

    ***

    RUFUS mourning was interrupted when he felt a familiar Mana cover the entire hallway. When he turned to his side, he was surprised to see Count Kyle Sprouse.

    And the count wasn''t alone.

    "Stand up, Duke and Duchess Quinzel," Kyle said in amanding voice. "His Majesty is here."

    To say that he was shocked would be an understatement.

    He heard the count''smand, but he couldn''t move a muscle. Even Amber could only raise her head. Both he and his wife were shocked that His Majesty came here in person.

    Kyle''s Mana is probably preventing people outside his barrier to see us.

    "Don''t mourn Hanna Quinzel yet," Emperor Niki said while pulling down the hood of his cloak. Then, he looked down at him and Amber with glowing ash gray eyes. "If you want to bring your daughter back to life, stand up and follow me."

    Amber gasped in surprise. "Your Majesty¡­"

    Rufus, now filled with hope, nodded at His Majesty''smand. Then, he stood up and helped his wife get up as well. "Your Majesty, we''re much obliged."

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 Chapter 178 - OUT FOR BLOOD

    THIS was the first time Glenn saw Princess Neoma cry.

    Well, he had seen and heard her cry when the royal princess was a baby. But that didn''t count since it was natural for babies to cry all the time.

    Seeing Her Royal Highness cry at this moment was different.

    It broke his heart to see the young princess in that state.

    <em>Even Lewis Crevan looks anxious.</em>

    The young knight was kneeling beside Princess Neoma with a frantic look on his face. It looked like the fox boy wanted tofort the royal princess but he didn''t know how to do so. Lewis Crevan''s hands were also hesitating to touch Princess Neoma''s trembling shoulders, and thus, the young knight looked helpless at the moment.

    <em>And I understand Sir Crevan''s feelings.</em>

    Princess Neoma, despite her tender age, was the brightest and the bravest girl that he knew. Despite the hardships that she was going through as a female royal in an empire that treats royal princesses poorly, she remained strong and positive.

    Her Royal Highness didn''t cry even when she was on the brink of death.

    To be honest, he''d rather hear Princess Neoma curse than hear her cry.

    <em>Should I tell Princess Neoma that His Majesty went to the hospital to try and revive Young Lady Hanna Quinzel?</em> Glenn asked himself with clenched hands. <em>No, I can''t disobey His Majesty''s order.</em>

    After all, His Majesty wanted to keep it a secret from Princess Neoma to avoid giving Her Royal Highness false hope.

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA felt like going crazy.

    Ever since she returned in this lifetime as Princess Neoma de Moonasterio, she promised herself that she wouldn''t cry. Not in front of other people, at least.

    But here she was now, crying her heart out.

    To be honest, even though she swore in her dying moment during her first life that she''d take revenge on Regina Crowell, she didn''t do much to prepare for it once she had been returned. She had been toocent because she believed that she had the upper hand. After all, she had the memories of her first life.

    She thought it was enough to eventually get rid of Regina Crowell.

    But what she didn''t consider that the memories that she had could only be a fraction of what had truly transpired during her first life.

    After all, she didn''t even know about the existence of the Crow and the cult in the past.

    <em>I should have done something as soon as I realized Regina''s likely connection to the Crow. But I hesitated just because she''s a child. If I had made a move to get rid of that crow, then Hanna would have been still alive.</em>

    What was the use of returning back in time if she couldn''t prevent the death of the people dear to her?

    She should have killed Regina Crowell as soon as that ugly crow showed up.

    Her own thoughts scared her.

    To be honest, she told Hanna to avoid confronting Regina Crowell not because she was being wary. She decided to prolong the confrontation with the ugly crow because she was hesitating.

    She didn''t know if she could kill a person.

    <em>How pathetic of me.</em>

    She was filled with anger when she died unfairly in her first life.

    But when she was reborn as a daughter of a loving couple, the anger in her heart slowly faded away. She became a bright and positive person because of the love that she received from her parents in her second life.

    Moreover, the country that she lived in during her second life, was a peaceful one. At least, more peaceful than this empire that colonizes other nations.

    In this world, she''d be killed if she didn''t kill her enemies.

    And since she hesitated to pull out her sword just because Regina Crowell was a child, her dearest friend died.

    <em>Hanna¡­</em>

    It may be toote to regret her cowardice now, but it would never be toote for revenge.

    And this time, she''d be merciless.

    "Princess Neoma," Lewis said, her son''s voice finally reaching her now that she had calmed down. "Princess¡­"

    Neoma took a deep breath and waited until her tears finally stopped falling. Then, she turned to Lewis. Her reflection in his golden eyes made her aware that her eyes were glowing red at the moment. "Lewis Crevan, I think my mind just broke," she said coldly. "Will you still respect and adore me even if turned into an unhinged bitch?"

    She knew those words were inappropriate toe out of an eight-year-old child''s mouth. But she didn''t need to pretend in front of Lewis who knew her secret. Plus, she really felt like she had just gone insane from anger and grief.

    All she wanted to do now was to kill Regina Crowell and every single member of the cult.

    Her crazy thoughts were interrupted when her son did the thing that he rarely does.

    Lewis smiled a genuine smile at her. "Shall we go crazy together, Princess Neoma?"

    Well, in her first life, Lewis was just as crazy as Nero.

    "I''m serious, Lewis," she said, warning him. "I know that you see me as a perfect little angel, but that''s about to change now. I won''t be kind anymore. I''ll kill them all."

    She couldn''t specifically say Regina Crowell''s name because Sir Glenn was standing just a few meters away from them.

    He was out of earshot, but she still wanted to be careful.

    "I want to see you covered with your enemies'' blood, Princess Neoma," Lewis said, his golden eyes glowing with mad excitement now. Even his bright smile had turned corrupt. "I think you''d still be pretty."

    <em>Huh?</em>

    Was that something an eleven-year-old boy should be saying?

    Bute to think of it, Trevor once mentioned that Lewis had lived a long life as a fox before turning into a human. That meant Lewis was actually older than her. Her son was only physically young but his soul, just like hers, was also old.

    <em>Ah.</em>

    She suddenly realized that her body already stopped trembling.

    <em>Lewis''s existence is a hugefort to me.</em>

    Raising a son was worth it.

    But her heart was suddenly heavy with guilt when she realized just what kind of path did she make for Lewis.

    "I''m sorry, Lewis," she said, then she stood up and extended her hand to his. "I''m a bad mother for dragging my son to hell with me."

    "You won''t be a bad mother because I am not your son, Princess Neoma," he said, then he gently grabbed her hand and allowed her to pull him up.

    She justughed it off.

    Then, she approached Sir Glenn with Lewis behind her.

    "Sir Glenn, may I know which hospital Hanna was brought to?" she asked, her heart aching with the reminder of her best friend''s death. "I want to see her."

    "I''m sorry, Princess Neoma," Sir Glenn said apologetically. "You may not leave the Royal Pce."

    "Why?" she asked, aggravated.

    "His Majesty left the Royal Pce to pay his respects to the Quinzel Family," the knight said. "It''s the royal protocol to not allow the current emperor and his heir to leave the pce at the same time."

    Ah, right.

    That protocol existed to ensure that the emperor and the Crown Prince wouldn''t be ambushed at the same time. After all, if both the emperor and his heir died, the throne would be empty. If that happened, the nobles would probably kill each other to take the throne.

    She knew that¡­

    ¡­ but at that moment, she didn''t care.

    "I''m sorry but I''m not in the mood to follow royal protocols right now, Sir Glenn," she said coldly. "Lewis."

    She didn''t need to say anything else.

    Lewis had already pulled his sword out, then he stood protectively in front of her while waiting for her order.

    "This is the reason why His Majesty sent me to your pce instead of bringing me with him, Princess Neoma," Sir Glenn said with a sad smile on his face. But as soon as he drew his sword, his face turned cold. "I''m sorry but His Majesty asked me to restrain you here, Your Royal Highness."

    She gulped when she saw Sir Glenn''s sword.

    <em>He brought Ebony!</em>

    Sir Glenn was a renowned Swordmaster second only to thete Commander Gavin Quinzel. He and the formermander both received a sword from her father when he ascended the throne.

    But Sir Glenn never carried his sword, Ebony, inside the Royal Pce. Apparently, it gives off a hostile aura. Thus, the knight refrained from bringing it with him in the presence of the emperor. But now that her Papa Boss was outside the Royal Pce, maybe Sir Glenn thought it was the perfect opportunity to bring out Ebony.

    <em>She''s beautiful.</em>

    Of course, she was referring to Ebony, the sword. If it was a person, she was sure that it would be an elegantdy.

    Ebony''s de was pure ck, and so was the handle. It didn''t have a single decoration in it. But back in her first life, she heard that Sir Glenn''s sword would turn into a monster once it was bathed with blood.

    "Lewis, be careful," she whispered to her son. "Sir Glenn is serious."

    Lewis just nodded politely.

    "I want to give you the advantage of striking first, Sir Crevan," Sir Glenn said, the usual cheerfulness in his voice gone. And by addressing Lewis by his title, the senior knight was saying that he sees the younger knight as an equal and therefore, there would be no mercy. "But His Majesty ordered me to not give you a chance to attack."

    After saying that, the senior knight swung his ck sword with enough energy to create a long, horizontal crack on the ground.

    But it wasn''t the only thing that happened.

    She was startled when the crack on the ground continued to spread until she found herself being literally separated from Lewis. Before she knew it, she could no longer move her body. The next thing she knew, a dome made of the earth erected from the ground and rose up as if it wanted to trap her inside.

    Lewis turned around and his eyes widened in shock when he saw what was happening to her. "Princess Neoma!"

    "Behind you, Lewis!" she yelled when she saw Sir Glenn swinging his sword again behind her son.

    Unfortunately, she didn''t see what happened next because the dome waspleted then.

    Now, she was trapped inside.

    Surprisingly, she could breathe in there. It wasn''t as confined as she thought it would be. Was it Sir Glenn being considerate to her?

    Anyway, she could also move now.

    It was a little dark so she opened her hand and summoned Tteokbokki''s me. But much to her shock, nothing happened.

    "Tteokbokki," she said loudly. "Answer me."

    "I''m sorry but I can''t lend you my power right now, thug princess," Tteokbokki answered her in a weak voice. "I''m currently being withheld by His Majesty''s Azure Dragon."

    Tsk.

    It seemed like her Papa Boss really wanted to restrain her, huh?

    "Fight the Azure Dragon, Tteokbokki," Neoma threatened her Soul Beast. "I''ll barbecue the hell out of you if you lose."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "HANNA Quinzel''s soul is still here," Niki said while looking at the faint light hovering above the youngdy''s "dead" body. His brows furrowed in confusion, then he turned to Rufus and his wife. "Your daughter is still alive. Who pronounced her death?"

    Rufus and Amber Quinzel both looked shocked by what he said.

    "Our daughter is still alive, Your Majesty?" Amber asked, hopeful and confused. "But the doctors told us that Hanna is gone¡­"

    Rufus nodded in agreement. "And Hanna''s Manapletely disappeared already."

    "There''s a ck magic inside Hanna Quinzel''s body," he exined to the couple. "It''s the kind of spell that would make a person "die" for at least half an hour."

    The duke and duchess were dumbfounded, understandably.

    "Catch them," Niki ordered Rufus to snap him out of his daze. "Catch the people who pronounced Hanna Quinzel''s death, Rufus."

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 179 - BEAUTIFUL CATASTROPHE

    "Y-YOUR Majesty, i-is my H-Hanna really alive?"

    "Yes, Hanna Quinzel is still alive," Niki said without turning to Amber Quinzel. He was now alone with the duchess in that room after Rufus left to catch the people who pronounced Hanna Quinzel''s death. "The doctors who operated on your daughter are either ipetent to not notice the ck magic, or they were the ones who put the ck magic in your daughter."

    Amber Quinzel, who stood behind him, gasped. "Your Majesty, are you saying that my daughter was attacked on purpose?"

    "That''s likely what happened," he said while taking off his gloves.

    Even with the nket covering Hanna Quinzel''s body, he could still see how awful the child''s state was. He almost didn''t recognize the Quinzel Heiress.

    If Neoma was there, she would definitely have a breakdown.

    He already expected what kind of state Hanna Quinzel would be in as soon as he received the report about the bombing incident. Thus, he ordered Glenn to stay in the Royal Pce and restrain Neoma at all costs.

    "I checked the Central za before I went here," he said, then he put his hand on top of Hanna Quinzel''s chest to absorb the ck magic in her body. It wasn''t as extreme or as dangerous as the one Nero had in his body, but it wasn''t also light. But it was something that only he, the saint, and Healing Sages at Madam Hammock''s level could get rid of. "Do you know the state of the other victims of the bombing, Amber Quinzel?"

    "I don''t, Your Majesty," the duchess said, calmly this time. It seemed like she had regained herposure after he assured her that Hanna Quinzel was still alive. As expected of the model noblewoman. "I''m ashamed to admit this but my daughter''s life is the only thing that matters to me at this moment."

    Understandably.

    "But judging by how strong the explosion was, I can only imagine how many casualties this incident has caused."

    That was also what he expected.

    "That''s what I found strange," he said. "If the explosion was as strong as that one, the people inside and near the establishment should have been blown up into pieces. But the only victims who died were the staff and the customers inside the caf¨¦. The others outside, like the ck Hawk Knights waiting outside for your daughter, survived with non-life-threatening injuries."

    After he absorbed the ck magic from Hanna Quinzel''s body, he gathered it in the palm of his hand. The ck magic had taken the form of a ck sphere the size of a round coaster.

    <em>This is high-level ck magic.</em>

    He purified it by inserting a small amount of Mana equivalent to a drop of blood. As soon as his Mana touched the ck sphere, it turned into white and vanished instantly.

    Then, something strange happened to Hanna Quinzel''s body.

    "It''s fortunate that the death toll isn''t as high as I expected it to be," the duchess said in a hesitant voice. "But how could that happen?"

    "It wasn''t a bomb," he said while looking at the glowing marks in Hanna Quinzel''s body.

    "Then, what was that, Your Majesty?"

    "Come closer and take a look at your daughter, Amber Quinzel."

    "Then, please excuse me, Your Majesty," she said, then she stood beside him while leaving a decent and appropriate distance between them.

    Amber Quinzel, upon seeing the strange glowing marks in her daughter''s body, covered her mouth with her hands when she gasped. "Curse Marks¡­"

    There were glowing "X" marks on Hanna Quinzel''s forehead, chest, stomach, arms, and legs.

    It was a miracle that the Quinzel heiress survived with her body still in one piece.

    But maybe the fact that the earrings that Hanna Quinzel wore remained unscathed was the biggest miracle of all.

    "Yes, those are Curse Marks," Niki confirmed while nodding his head. "And those marks prove that the target of the "bombing" attack is Hanna Quinzel."

    <strong>***</strong>

    ''<em>THE BEST way to get your revenge is to be happy</em>,'' Neoma thought to herself bitterly while sitting on the ground and hugging her knees close to her chest. <em>Why did I believe that bullshit?</em>

    Well, deep in her heart, she had two reasons for believing that crap.

    First, she obtained genuine happiness in her second life even without revenge. It wasn''t like she had forgiven the people who had hurt her in her first life. She had simply forgotten about them because she was too happy spending a blessed life with her loving parents.

    It seemed like she had gained a carefree attitude from that life.

    When she returned as Princess Neoma de Moonasterio, she was adamant to change her fate. But admittedly, revenge was at the back of her mind since her survivales first. How could she have her revenge when the "old version" of her Papa Boss wanted to kill her in the past?

    But now she knew that all of those were just excuses.

    She was done reflecting now.

    Sulking or wallowing in self-pity wouldn''t help her. Now that she had realized her mistake, it was time to fix it. The silence inside that "earth dome" that Sir Glenn trapped her in actually helped her clear her mind.

    <em>I won''t let Hanna die.</em>

    There must be a way to bring Hanna back. If she was able to return in this lifetime, who could say that Hanna couldn''t?

    "Tteokbokki," Neoma called her Soul Beast, then she stood up. "Are you still alive?"

    "Barely," Tteokbokki said in an exhausted voice. "The Azure Dragon isn''t trying to kill me. But it''s doing everything it can to prevent me from helping you."

    "Keep the Azure Dragon upied," she said. "I''ll get out of here on my own."

    "On your own?"

    "I''m half de Moonasterio-half Roseheart," she reminded her Soul Beast. "If I can''t win using my de Moonasterio power, I''ll use my Roseheart Blood. I have business with the Spirit World anyway."

    "Thug princess, don''t tell me you''re going to the Spirit World to retrieve the soul of your dead friend?!"

    Of course, her Soul Beast would know her heart''s desire.

    "I''ve only summoned one Spirit so far," she said. "But I can feel it in my veins that my Roseheart Blood is wide-awake now. I think I can somehow enter the Spirit World, or at least talk to someone who can help me find Hanna''s soul."

    "Thug princess¨C"

    "Don''t worry about me, Tteokbokki," she assured her Soul Beast. "I''m not being arrogant this time. I''m just confident because I can feel my blood getting stronger at the moment."

    "I''m not worried about you, thug princess," her ever tsundere Soul Beast denied even though she could feel the concern in his voice. "I''m worried about the Spirit World. Don''t destroy it. You wouldn''t want to make an enemy out of the ruler of that world."

    "I understand," she said with a smile. "Thank you for worrying about me, Tteokbokki."

    "Take care, thug princess," Tteokbokki said softly. "I''ll deal with the Azure Dragon for you."

    She just smiled again and nodded.

    After that, the link in her mind between her and Tteokbokki was cut off.

    Now that the silence that she enjoyed a while ago returned, she was able to concentrate and envision what she wanted to do.

    She pulled out Mini Skewer from her pocket, then she used it to cut her finger. Like what Mochi had taught her, she closed her eyes and imagined what kind of Spirit she wanted to summon. To be precise, she created a Field in her mind.

    Since she was feeling very confident with her ability right now, she decided to summon the ruler of the Spirit World.

    She was well aware that it was too early for her to do that. After all, she only managed to summon one Spirit so far. But aside from the confidence flowing through her veins right now, she was also desperate. She didn''t know how long Hanna had been gone in this world so she didn''t have the luxury to hesitate.

    <em>Please, heed my call</em>, she begged while creating an image of a beautiful garden in her mind. She didn''t know what kind of being the ruler of the Spirit World was. But she wanted to think that they lived in a wonderful ce with a lot of pretty and unique flowers. A fantasy forest, perhaps? Ah, she didn''t know anymore. She just wanted to make it work. <em>Please help me bring my best friend back. Please. Please. Please.</em>

    Her pleading was met with silence.

    It seemed like that being disheartened affected the vision in her mind. After all, the beautiful garden that she created turned into a in, green field. And strangely enough, all of a sudden, she felt like her body was being literally burned.

    <em>No, I''m not giving up!</em>

    She tried to envision the beautiful garden again.

    But instead of turning into a garden, the green field turned into a barrennd with dead trees and active volcanoes. She was suddenly reminded of Trevor''s territory in hell.

    <em>Where the hell am I?</em>

    "How dare a filthy de Moonasterio summon me?!"

    She flinched when she heard the angry, husky voice that seemed to literally shake the whole ce. For some reason, she felt afraid of her life. Her instinct told her that she was in danger, so she opened her eyes instantly.

    Yes, she woke up still trapped inside the earth dome.

    But she wasn''t alone this time.

    A beautiful man with pale blue long hair and pretty dark blue eyes greeted her¡­

    ¡­ and so was the curved dagger that was he mercilessly pointed at her neck.

    "Aren''t you being a little too rude?" she asked. She was afraid, but she didn''t want to show it to the stranger. "Just who are you?"

    "You''re a de Moonasterio but you also have Mona''s blood," the strange man snarled. "You''re the child of my foolish master and that scumbag emperor, aren''t you?"

    She almost choked on her saliva.

    So, she wasn''t the first one who called her Papa Boss ''scumbag,'' huh?

    "Child or not, it''s my duty to kill a filthy de Moonasterio like you."

    Her eyes widened in shock not only because of the man''s threat. It was also because of the fact that she finally recognized him.

    After all, Mochi already warned him about a Spirit whose duty was to kill the de Moonasterios.

    <strong></strong>"W-William?" she asked in disbelief. "The Executioner of the de Moonasterios?"

    "A de Moonasterio bug like you doesn''t have the right to call my name," William said in a disgusted voice, his already deep blue eyes turning even darker. "If you call my name again, I''ll cut off your tongue."

    Okay, that ticked her off.

    "Sure, I won''t call you by your name," Neoma said brightly, then she smiled sweetly at the angry Spirit. "I''ll just call you ''Uncle Scumbag'' then."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 180 - ALL ACCORDING TO PLAN

    "THE CURSE Marks are making this difficult," Niki said while observing Hanna Quinzel who just began breathing again. But it didn''t mean that the child was nowpletely out of danger. "Those marks are preventing any kind of treatment to enter your daughter''s body," he said, then he put a finger on Hanna Quinzel''s finger. He gathered an abundant amount of divine energy in his finger. Then, he let it flow inside the child''s body to purify the Curse Marks. But instead of absorbing his divine energy, Hanna Quinzel''s body rejected it. "This is like Nero''s curse that rejects divine energy."

    Amber Quinzel''s Mana spiked up, which only meant that she was anxious once again. "Just who put those marks on my poor daughter¡­"

    "That''s not important right now," he said. After all, once Rufus catches the people who pronounced Hanna Quinzel''s death, they could interrogate themter. "Hanna Quinzel''s body is deteriorating fast after the Curse Marks were activated."

    Whoever put the ck magic and the Curse Marks on Hanna Quinzel was really adamant about killing the child.

    The Curse Marks served as a "fallback" n of the enemy if the ck magic was discovered early¨C and it worked.

    But if he didn''t pull out the ck magic from the child''s body she''d still die.

    His thoughts were distracted when all of a sudden, Hanna Quinzel heaved a deep sigh¨C and when she exhaled, he saw a part of her soule out of her mouth.

    <em>Dammit!</em>

    He covered the child''s mouth with his hand covered with divine energy. It would temporarily prevent Hanna Quinzel''s soul from leaving her body. But that wouldn''t be enough.

    "Y-Your Majesty, what''s happening to my daughter now?" the duchess asked in a scared voice.

    Ah, right.

    Only the Royal Family had the ability to see things like souls. After all, Yule, their ancestor, wasn''t only a Moon God. He was also known as the God of Light¨C a title given to the divinity that guides the souls of the dead.

    "Hanna Quinzel''s soul is trying to leave her body," he said bluntly. "This happens when the soul''s vessel, which is a person''s physical body, is dying."

    The duchess gasped, then let out a sob.

    "I can stop Hanna Quinzel''s soul from leaving her body. A week, at most," he assured the duchess. Although he was confident with his ability, he knew that keeping a soul from leaving its body wouldn''t be easy. Especially once the Spirit World realized that he was trying to keep a supposedly dead person alive. But he''d manage. "We need to fix your daughter''s body first."

    That would be the more challenging part.

    His divine energy was purer than the saint''s. If it didn''t work on Hanna Quinzel, he doubted if other treatment would work on her. But of course, they''d do anything to save the child.

    <em>I can''t return to the Royal Pce just to tell Neoma that her friend is gone.</em>

    His thoughts were interrupted when he felt another presence entering Kyle''s territory.

    "Your Majesty," Saint Dominic Zavaroni greeted him when he appeared beside him while carrying Gale in his arms.

    Amber Quinzel looked surprised by the saint''s appearance. But she quickly regained herposure and bowed to greet His Holiness. "Greetings, Your Holiness."

    Saint Zavaroni smiled and bowed to the duchess. "Greetings, Your Grace.

    "Let''s drop the formalities for now," he said, then he turned to the saint and the Wind Spirit. "I''m almost done trapping Hanna Quinzel''s soul inside her body. But if her physical body dies, I won''t be able to catch her soul again."

    Without being told, the saint and the Wind Spirit took a closer look at the young heiress.

    When he was certain that he hadpletely trapped Hanna Quinzel''s soul in her body with his divine energy, he pulled his hand away from her mouth.

    Fortunately, the child began breathing again.

    Hanna Quinzel''s heartbeat remained faint though.

    "Poor child," Gale said while looking at the young heiress''s awful state. "I''m so d you have the sense to forbid Neoma froming here, little Niki."

    He ignored the Wind Spirit.

    "I can tell that your divine energy didn''t work on purifying the Curse Marks, Your Majesty," Saint Zavaroni said seriously, then he turned to the duchess. "Your Grace, may I touch your daughter''s physical body? To know the youngdy''s exact state, I need to touch her."

    Amber Quinzel quickly nodded. "If it''s for the sake of my daughter, you may do so, Your Holiness."

    "Thank you, Your Grace," the saint said, then he turned to the young heiress. "Pardon me, Young Lady," he said politely before putting a hand on top of the child''s chest, then he closed his eyes. "The youngdy''s heartbeat is faint. But the Curse Marks are preventing any kind of treatment to be absorbed by the youngdy''s body. Without these Curse Marks, it would have been easy to treat the young miss."

    He nodded in agreement.

    "I can only think of one way to fix Young Lady Hanna Quinzel''s body," the saint said, then he opened his eyes and pointed at the visible glowing marks in the child''s body. "We need to gather those marks in one part."

    His jaw clenched when he realized what the saint''s n was.

    It took Gale a little while to understand. But when she did, she let out a soft gasp. "Poor child."

    He was d that the duchess couldn''t hear the Wind Spirit.

    His Holiness turned to the duchess with a sad look on his face. "Your Grace, once we gathered the Curse Marks on one part of your daughter''s body, we need to cut it off."

    The duchess covered her mouth with her hands when she gasped loudly. Then, tears silently fell down her cheeks.

    "The lower part of Young Lady Hanna Quinzel''s body is severely damaged to the point that she may never walk again," the saint continued.

    This time, the duchess fell on her knees and sobbed loudly while covering her face with her trembling hands.

    "Your Grace, I''m thinking of gathering the Curse Marks on Young Lady Hanna Quinzel''s legs," Saint Zavaroni said in his usual calm voice. But anyone could see the sadness in his eyes as he ryed the terrible news to the duchess. It even looked like the saint was crying with Amber Quinzel because of how sad he looked at the moment. "Then, to get rid of the Curse Markspletely, I''m afraid we have to cut off your daughter''s legs."

    "That''s also the solution that I came up with," Gale said in an unusual sad voice. "I feel bad for this little girl but that''s the only way to save her life."

    "It''s not for us to decide," Niki said, then he looked down at Amber Quinzel who was still sobbing uncontrobly on the floor. "Amber Quinzel, what is your decision?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "RUFUS QUINZEL and the ck Hawk Knights are hunting down the doctors that we imnted in the hospital, Regina Crowell."

    "Yes, I know. But we already expected that His Majesty would get involved," Regina Crowell said. Right now, she was sitting on a wooden stool next to Rubin Drayton''s hospital bed while reading a book. The adult ck crow with blue eyes was sitting on top of the bed''s headboard. "After all, Hanna Quinzel is the top candidate to be the future Crown Princess."

    She and the crow were free to talk like that because of the following reasons:

    First, they were in a private room in the Evangeline Hospital¨C the biggest hospital in the Royal Capital. Most of the victims of the bombing were being treated there.

    Second, Rubin Drayton was deep asleep.

    Since the young lord was the only son of Duke Drayton, the servants of the Drayton families managed to secure a room with two beds for the heir. Rubin insisted to bring her with him, thus, she was confined in the same room as him.

    The family''s servants and guards were waiting outside the room. And apparently, Duke Drayton who just returned to the Royal Capital was on his way to the hospital

    Rubin was deep asleep but to make sure that he wouldn''t wake up while she was talking to the crow, she put a sleeping spell on him. The young lord would only wake up once she wanted him to. Her motto was to always be safe than sorry.

    The young lord woke up a while ago after his head injury was treated by the doctors. He only went back to sleep after she assured him that her wounds were also treated.

    "It seems like the chances of Hanna Quinzel to be revived is quite high," the crow said in its usual metallic voice. "I just received a report from one of our eyes. Apparently, the saint himself hase to heal the Quinzel heiress. Should we be worried?"

    "Of course not," she said confidently. "His Majesty and His Holiness may seed in reviving Hanna Quinzel. But it will be toote for them to fix her physical body. After all, the only choice left for them is to gather the Curse Marks in one part of the heiress''s body, then cut it off. I guess they''ll sacrifice her legs." She smiled, then closed the book in her hands to turn to the crow. "There''s a reason why I decided to crush the lower part of Hanna Quinzel''s body."

    The crowughed and she had to admit that it sounded creepy even to her ears. "And here we are, wondering why you took extra care to drop the "bomb" on the lower part of her body."

    "I don''t like the fact that the Quinzels are known as the ''hawks,''" she confessed. "After all, it''s a known fact that hawks prey on crows. I don''t want our family to appear inferior to theirs. Thus, I crushed Hanna Quinzel''s ''wings.'' Let''s see if the Royal Family will still ept a flightless bird like her as the future Crown Princess."

    "Well, setting that aside, are you confident that we won''t get caught?" the crow asked. "Hanna Quinzel is the only daughter of Duke and Duchess Quinzel. They will do everything to catch the criminals behind the "bombing attack.""

    "That''s exactly why we manipted the group of rebels who have personal grudge against Duke Rufus Quinzel," she said nonchntly. "Even if they caught the rebels, they wouldn''t be able to rte the attack to the cult. The investigation will definitely end up pointing the rebels as the mastermind."

    "I want to praise but you still failed to kill Hanna Quinzel."

    "I don''t want to be praised by you anyway," she said with a ''sweet'' smile on her face. "Even if Hanna Quinzel lives, everything is still going ording to n."

    "Really now?" the crow asked in an amused voice. "What else do you expect to obtain from this, Regina Crowell?"

    "A conflict between the Royal Family and House Quinzel," Regina said, then she opened the book and began reading it again. "If Duke and Duchess Quinzel end up hating the Royal Family for what happened to Hanna Quinzel, then controlling them would be easier for me."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA enjoyed the shock on William''s face after she called him ''Uncle Scumbag.''

    While he seemed to be frozen from shock, she grabbed that opportunity to admire the rude yet beautiful man in front of her.

    Just one nce at Uncle Scumbag was enough to tell anyone that he wasn''t human.

    <em>Gosh, he''s so beautiful.</em>

    William''s pale blue hair looked so smooth and silky. His eyes were as dark blue. But just like Yule''s eyes, her Uncle Scumbag''s eyes had literal sparks in them. And boy, for a barbarian man like him, he was pretty well-dressed.

    But he looked like he was mourning because he wore all-ck.

    Uncle Scumbag wore a pretty standard suit for noblemen. He even had a shoulder mantle and a pair of ck gloves. The only thing that stood out in his outfit was the fact that the dress shirt wasn''t buttoned up. Sadly, no part of his well-built torso was exposed. After all, the upper part of his body was covered with ck bandages.

    Damn, William also had an athletic built. He was also very tall. If her estimation was correct, he must be at least 6''3". Yes, Uncle Scumbag was taller than her Papa Boss.

    That was also why William had to lean down just to point his dagger at her.

    <em>And wait. Upon looking closer, Uncle Scumbag has a crescent-shaped mole under his left eye. God, he is already beautiful. Does he have to have a beauty mark on his face as well?</em>

    "Just where did you receive your education from?" William asked in a cold voice. "How could a little bug like you possess a filthy mouth at that age?"

    "I got it from my Mama," Neoma said. She wanted to move but she knew that this scumbag wouldn''t hesitate to hurt her if she did. "Are you the ruler of the Spirit World? They''re the one I wanted to summon and not you."

    "I''m not the ruler of the Spirit World but¡­" William trailed off, then he shook his head and changed the topic. "If you were able to summon me instead of the ruler of the Spirit World, then it could only mean one thing: you''re desperate to revive a dead person."

    She was about to demand him to exin when all of a sudden, he grabbed her head with his other hand.

    Papa Boss would look like an angelpared to this scumbag!

    "Ah, you''re desperate to save the Quinzel heiress," William said. Judging by what he said, it looked like he just read her mind. "You don''t have to."

    "What do you mean by that?"

    "The Quinzel heiress is still alive," he said, then he pulled his hand away from her head. "I would know if a person of that importance is already gone."

    She smiled a relieved smile.

    Uncle Scumbag may be a scumbag, but he didn''t look like a liar to her.

    "Don''t celebrate yet," he said, then he leaned down to meet her eyes. Then, he smirked. "The Spirits around Hanna Quinzel right now just whispered something in my ear, filthy bug."

    Okay, that made her nervous. "What did they tell you, Uncle Scumbag?"

    "Hanna Quinzel will soon be a flightless hawk," William said, his smirk growing more arrogant as if he was enjoying the fear on her face. "Apparently, they have to amputate the Quinzel heiress''s legs for her to live."

    To say that Neoma was shocked would be an understatement.

    She literally felt her heart stop beating. Then, her body turned cold and numb. For strange reasons, she felt eerily calm. She knew from the bottom of her heart that she was beyond angry. She felt like she was about tobust any moment¡­

    ¡­ and she did.

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 181 - MY FILTHY MOUTHS COMEBACK

    RUFUS was devastated when His Majesty and His Holiness exined the situation to him after he returned.

    He already caught the doctors who pronounced his daughter''s death earlier. But since his priority right now was his family, he let his vice-captain handle the interrogation for now. He didn''t expect to be greeted with some terrible news after returning though.

    "Is that the only way to save Hanna, Your Majesty? Your Holiness?" Rufus, seated on the sofa while hugging the sobbing Amber close to him, asked in a cracked voice. "Is cutting off her legs the only way for her to live?"

    He had met admirable amputated people in his life.

    Of course, he knew that Hanna would still do well even without her legs. He had faith in his daughter after all. Moreover, losing limbs wouldn''t make anyone less of a person.

    But as a father, he didn''t want his daughter to go through that kind of pain. Their little angel was only eight years old. Losing her legs would definitely hurt her. It would change her life drastically. And he didn''t want that for his one and only child.

    Still, if that was the only way to save Hanna¡­

    "It''s the only way, Rufus," His Majesty said bluntly. "If His Holiness and I use force to get rid of the Curse Marks, Hanna Quinzel''s body won''t make it. And once her physical body dies, her soul will be sucked in by the Spirit World at once. You can''t see it but we''re currently surrounded by Spirits that are waiting for a chance to take your daughter''s soul away."

    "Your Majesty is right, Duke Quinzel," Saint Zavaroni said in a sympathetic voice. "Unfortunately, even our divine energy couldn''t fix your daughter''s body anymore. To be honest, it''s already a miracle that the youngdy managed to protect herself despite being targeted by a ck magic disguised as a bomb." His Holiness smiled sadly at him. "Yong Lady Hanna Quinzel already did well."

    Hearing that made him even more proud of his daughter. It didn''t take away the pain in his chestpletely, but it did lessen it. Right now, any kind of distraction would be weed.

    <em>Hanna, you never cease to make us proud.</em>

    "Please do it, Your Majesty and Your Holiness."

    He was surprised to hear that from Amber. When he turned to his wife, he saw her looking straight at the emperor. "Darling¡­"

    Amber turned to her. Despite the tough fa?ade that she was forcing herself to wear, he could still see the fear in her green eyes. Yet, she smiled and squeezed his hand. "Darling, Hanna will always be our Hanna," she said in a cracked voice. "Even if she loses her legs, she''s still our daughter."

    Rufus held back his tears to smile at his wife. "You''re right, darling. No matter what happens to Hanna, our love for her won''t change," he said while caressing Amber''s face gently. Then, he turned to the emperor and the saint. "We''ve already made our decision, Your Majesty and Your Holiness."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "LEWIS, when did you get this strong?" Glenn asked the fox boy in a proud voice, addressing him casually since only the two of them were there. But it was because of familiarity and not an insult. After all, Lewis was practically his student because the young boy trained under him briefly. "You''re giving me a hard time, you know?"

    "Liar," Lewis, who was kneeling on the ground while clutching his stomach, hissed at him. The young boy''s broken sword also on the ground. "You''re not even fighting me seriously."

    "I''m sorry but I can''t do that," he said apologetically while scratching his cheek. "You''ll die if I get too serious. But rest assured, I''m not taking you on lightly."

    After all, Lewis Crevan was thest known descendant of the Silver Fox n.

    Having said that, he still wouldn''t use his full strength to fight the fox boy. He only brought his sword, Ebony, with him today because he needed to use his Earth Mana. It wasn''t like he couldn''t control his own Mana without his sword. He just needed it as a reminder not to get overboard.

    "Don''t underestimate me," Lewis said, then he stood up and crouched lowly. When his golden eyes glowered dangerously, his two fluffy tails came out. And so were his fangs and sharp nails. "If you don''t take this fight seriously, you may lose your life."

    He tilted his head and smiled. "I''m d that you''re speaking in full sentences, Lewis."

    The fox boy just snarled at him, then he came at him at full speed.

    He was ready to swing Ebony to create an earth shield when all of a sudden, the ground shook hard.

    Then, the earth dome that he trapped Princess Neoma in exploded. Aside from the thick dust that covered the dome, a thick fog sizzling with

    <em>Princess Neoma!</em>

    But the explosion wasn''t the only thing that worried him.

    Princess Neoma''s Mana wasn''t stable. It was strong¨C very strong¨C yet uncontroble. Moreover, he almost didn''t recognize the young princess''s power. After all, Princess Neoma''s current Mana right now resembled Lady Mona Roseheart''s Mana more than His Majesty''s.

    He gasped when he realized what might have happened.

    <em>Did Princess Neoma fully-awakened her Roseheart Blood?</em>

    But the other Mana that he felt was familiar. It was a lot weaker than what he remembered so he was uncertain. Still, could it be¡­

    <em>Lord William?</em>

    His thoughts were interrupted when he saw Lewis Crevan run in Princess Neoma''s direction. If his hunch was correct and the royal princess had somehow managed to summon William, then Her Royal Highness was in danger.

    <em>Lord William won''t hesitate to kill Princess Neoma!</em>

    He ran full speed, easily overspeeding Lewis Crevan.

    When he arrived at where the earth dome used to stand, he was surprised at what greeted him.

    Of course, William''s appearance was a huge surprise. As he expected, the Grand Spirit''s Mana was a lot weaker now. In fact, he had a feeling that the one in front of him right now wasn''t the real William. Not his real body, at least.

    <em>Lord William must still be recovering from the heavy injury that he obtained from hisst battle with His Majesty.</em>

    "Is that¡­" Lewis Crevan whispered to himself while looking at the royal princess with a shocked look on his face, then he trailed off. He fell silent for a while before he continued talking to himself. "Princess Neoma¡­?"

    Ah, that was right.

    Even he was shocked when he saw the royal princess''s appearance.

    Princess Neoma''s hair grew long, and it turnedpletely pink. Her Royal Highness currently looked like a child version of Lady Mona Roseheart, save for the eye color since the royal princess had ash-gray eyes while her mother had light blue ones.

    Still, the resemnce between the mother and child was undeniable.

    No wonder William was looking at Princess Neoma bitterly.

    Well, Princess Neoma was looking at William like she wanted to kill the Grand Spirit.

    Glenn gulped while watching William and Princess Neoma attack each other with bloodlust. <em>Just what happened between those two?</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA was reminded the first time she awakened her Roseheart Blood.

    Her hair grew long and the strands turned pink. It was a shame that her Papa Boss ordered for her hair to be cut. Thus, she had to tearfully say goodbye to her pretty two-toned hair.

    That was her biggest worry now that her entire hair turned pink.

    <em>I-Is Papa Boss going to order me to shave my head?</em>

    She knew she''d still look good even when she bes bald. But she''d like to keep her luscious and shampoomercial ready hair, thank you very much.

    "You have Mona''s face but your blood as a de Moonasterio still disgusts me," William said bitterly while reaching for her face. "Maybe ruining that face of yours instead of killing you might make me feel better."

    "Were you in love with my Mama?" Neoma asked bluntly. "You''re acting like a simp, Uncle Scumbag. The bad kind of simp."

    Uncle Scumbag stopped his hand from grabbing her face. "You''re talking nonsense."

    "I guess what you felt for my mother is more of an obsession than love," she said. "Just like my father, you were probably toxic to my mother. Gosh, was Mama Boss a ma for scumbags or something?"

    "Don''t you darepare me with Niki de Moonasterio," he snarled at her, dropping his hand to his side only to grab his dagger again.

    <em>God, he really wants to kill me, huh?</em>

    "Why not? Just like my father, you hate me for reminding you of my mother," she said bravely, making William freeze on his spot. "You know what, Uncle Scumbag?" When William didn''t respond, she raised her head and look at him straight in the eye. "If you love my mother so much that you can justify hating on an innocent little girl like me, why don''t you just kill yourself and follow my mother to the afterlife?"

    William''s eyes darkened from anger. "You filthy bug¨C"

    "Get the fuck out of my sight, you useless scumbag," she said coldly. She promised herself that she would be more eloquent when cursing just like her Mama Boss. But how could she stay calm when a man like this bastard kept calling her a filthy bug? Cursing normally made her feel better anyway. "I don''t have time to deal with your bullshit when Hanna needs me."

    William looked shocked by his cursing, then heughed like a lunatic that he was. "Since you reminded me of a part of Mona that I''m fond of, I''ll give you a present that could either be a potion or an antidote depending on you," he said, talking in rhymes that instantly gave her headache. "There''s a reason why you were able to summon me while you were desperate to save the life of the Quinzel heiress."

    "God, I hope so," she said. "I''d feel really bummed out if I find out that I summoned a little piece of shit like you for nothing."

    He just smirked at her, then he got down on one knee to get to her eye level. And oh, boy. His dark blue eyes had a frenzied look on them. "De Moonasterio bug, there''s a way for you to save the Quinzel heiress."

    "Really?" she asked, delighted. Maybe William wasn''t so bad after all. "How?"

    William smiled at her, then he put a hand on her knee. "Take the Quinzel heiress''s ce."

    Neoma cursed at William the same time she felt a bomb explode on the lower part of her body.

    <em>Fucking scumbag!</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    NIKOLAI flinched when a familiar, hateful aura covered the entire room.

    Then, much to his shock and everyone around him, a blu-ish and silver-ish light covered Hanna Quinzel''s entire body before Saint Dominic Zavaroni could even begin his operation on the young heiress.

    When the blinding light disappeared as soon as it appeared, they were once again shocked by what happened next.

    Hanna Quinzel took a deep breath, then she got up while catching her breath.

    He instantly noticed that all the injuries that the young heiress received disappeared. The burn mark on her face vanished, her hair grew back, and she was able to move her legs again. He saw it when she tried to stand up.

    <em>Even the Curse Marks disappeared¡­</em>

    "Hanna!" Rufus and Amber Quinzel eximed, then they ran towards their daughter and hugged her tight.

    Hanna Quinzel looked confused by what was happening.

    "Your Majesty," Saint Dominic Zavaroni said in a worried voice. "This aura..."

    "It''s William," Gale said, her voice filled with worry as well. "But how could he return on earth without being summoned..." She trailed off, then a soft gasp escaped her lips. "He was summoned...?"

    If Hanna Quinzel was miraculously healed the same time they felt William''s presence, it could only mean one thing.

    "Neoma summoned that bastard," Niki said, then he immediately headed to the door. "I''m returning to the Royal Pce now."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 182 - WHEN TWO SC*MBAGS COLLIDE

    <strong></strong>"YOUR HOLINESS, may we know what happened at the Royal Pce?"

    Dominic Zavaroni turned around to face Duke Rufus and Duchess Amber Quinzel after he put Hanna Quinzel to sleep.

    His Majesty Emperor Niki already returned to the Royal Pce. Since the matter back at the pce had something to do with William''s unexpected return, Gale followed the emperor. Now, he was alone with the Quinzels.

    After the emperor and the Wind Spirit left, he checked on Hanna Quinzel''s vitals. Then, he put the young heiress to sleep to talk to her parents.

    "William has returned, Your Grace," Dominic said, answering Rufus Quinzel''s question a while ago. "It seems like Princess Neoma has somehow summoned him."

    The duke and duchess suddenly looked worried.

    After all, everyone who knew William also knew that the Grand Spirit wouldn''t hesitate to kill any de Moonasterio in his way.

    "Does it have to do with how Hanna was miraculously healed, Your Holiness?" Duchess Amber Quinzel asked.

    "That seems to be the case, Your Grace," he said, answering the duchess''s question. "I have a feeling that William switched the physical condition of Princess Neoma and Young Lady Hanna Quinzel."

    The duke and the duchess looked horrified by his revtion.

    "Isn''t that the same thing that thete Princess Nichole did a while ago, Your Holiness?" Rufus Quinzel asked. "I remembered that she took Prince Nero''s curse away only to put it in Princess Neoma."

    "It''s quite different," he said. "The Princess Royal only "borrowed" Prince Nero''s curse and temporarily put it in Princess Neoma. His Majesty has a hunch that the Devil was the one who cursed Prince Nero. Thus, Princess Nichole was able to control the curse freely. But William''s ability was far more precise than that."

    There was a reason William was a Grand Spirit after all.

    "William has the ability to control other people''s life force," he exined to the couple. "His ability allows him to heal people he wants to save, and kill people he wants to end by simply swapping his victims'' life force. When he swaps the victims'' life force, the person whose stronger life force was stolen would receive the other''s weakening life force and physical injuries."

    "Your Holiness, is that what William did with our Hanna and Princess Neoma?" the duchess asked, herplexion suddenly pale.

    The duke gulped before he asked again. "Your Holiness, are you saying that now that Hanna is healed, the physical injuries that our daughter suffered have been transferred to Princess Neoma?"

    He could only nod as a response.

    Knowing how much William detested the Royal Family, he wouldn''t be surprised if swapping Princess Neoma''s life force with Hanna Quinzel was the Grand Spirit''s attempt to kill the royal princess.

    <em>I want to check on Princess Neoma''s condition¡­</em>

    But he couldn''t just simply leave Hanna Quinzel.

    To be honest, as a saint, he shouldn''t be using his divine healing power easily. But Hanna Quinzel was one of the children that Lord Yule wanted him to keep an eye on. Thus, he was serving as the young heiress''s personal doctor.

    This was hard for him to admit but he was definitely giving special treatment to Hanna Quinzel. After all, out of all the victims of the bombing incident, he could only use his divine healing power on the young heiress.

    But he would pray for every single survivor to have a better life after this.

    <em>Prayers work.</em>

    "Your Holiness, what will happen to Princess Neoma now?" Duchess Amber Quinzel asked in a trembling voice. "Is Her Royal Highness going to suffer the same fate that our Hanna would have gone through if William didn''t appear?"

    "Don''t worry, Your Grace," he assured the duchess. He didn''t want the poor mother to feel guilty. Hanna Quinzel''s miraculous healing was still a joyous moment despite everything. "Since the injury that Princess Neoma has obtained was inflicted by William, His Majesty will surely find a way to save our princess. But don''t worry. William can only swap the life force of the same two persons. That means Young Lady Hanna Quinzel''s condition won''t change."

    "We can''t bepletely happy knowing that our daughter has been saved at the expense of Princess Neoma," Duke Rufus Quinzel said. "Your Holiness, if we can help in any way to improve Her Royal Highness''s condition, please allow us to do so."

    "We won''t let Princess Neoma die, Duke and Duchess Quinzel," Dominic Zavaroni assured the duke and the duchess. "But prayer works so let us pray for Her Royal Highness to be saved by our Lord Yule."

    <strong>***</strong>

    GLENN was shocked after he witnessed William blow Princess Neoma up by making the young princess explode using a bomb-like Mana.

    When Her Royal Highness dropped on the floor, she was almost unrecognizable because her face was severely burned. Her hair that just grew long a while ago had been burned until she was nearly bald. The royal princess''s whole body was bleeding.

    And worst of all, he could see that Princess Neoma''s legs were in a terrible condition.

    <em>No¡­</em>

    As soon as he recovered from his initial shock, he came at William.

    Lewis Crevan attacked the Grand Spirit too while snarling loudly. He could feel the fox boy''s anger towards William through his snarl and bloodlust.

    But as soon as William turned to them with glowing eyes, he and Lewis Crevan were both sent flying by a strong, unseen force that definitely came from the Grand Spirit. But as soon as he and the fox boy hit the ground, both of them got up immediately.

    Then, he and Lewis Crevan realized that they couldn''t move.

    That was when he realized that William had trapped them in his Spirit Dome. Worse, the two of them were being crushed by the Grand Spirit''s Mana. It was heavy. The next thing he knew, both he and Lewis Crevan were already on their knees.

    <em>How can William overpower us this much when he''s not even using his real body?!</em>

    "Glenn Exton, do you now regret disowning your family?" William asked him with a nk look on his face, addressing him by his unwanted family name. "If only you inherited your father''s power, maybe you would have at least saved that filthy child of my master¡­"

    <em>Huh?</em>

    The Grand Spirit trailed off the moment he realized that the pressure that was crushing him just a while ago disappeared without a warning.

    Even Lewis Crevan looked shocked by what they were seeing right now.

    By that, he meant Chef Ruto Stroganoff casually walking past William to get to where Princess Neoma was.

    <em>I didn''t even feel Chef Ruto''s presence!</em>

    Judging by the disbelief in William''s face, it seemed like he also didn''t notice Ruto''s presence until the young chef literally walked past him. And it seemed like it was also Ruto who nullified William''s Spirit Dome.

    <em>Is he a genius or a monster in his own right?</em>

    "Brat, I''ll kill you if you touch that filthy bug," William warned Ruto when the young chef knelt beside the unconscious Princess Neoma. "Do you know who I am?"

    "Yeah," Ruto said casually, then he carefully carried Princess Neoma in his arms. It seemed like the young chef lifted the young princess while covering her with his Mana to keep her limbs intact. After securing Princess Neoma in his arms, Ruto raised his head to look at William in the eye. "I know you¨C I just don''t care."

    He got goosebumps hearing that from the young chef.

    William, on the other hand, looked very offended.

    "Who is he, Sir Glenn?" Lewis Crevan asked in disbelief, his eyes glued on the young chef. "He can''t be an ordinary noble chef."

    "Chef Ruto is the future Commander of the Order of the White Lion Knights, Lewis Crevan."

    "Then, I shall leave the Order soon."

    He was surprised by Lewis Crevan''s deration. But he didn''t have the luxury to question the fox boy. After all, he saw Williame at Ruto who just casually began walking away as if he was merely having a stroll in the park.

    <em>Chef Ruto is soid-back!</em>

    Glenn lifted Ebony when William threw a dagger in Ruto''s direction.

    On the other hand, Lewis Crevan stood in front of the young chef.

    To protect Princess Neoma, of course.

    But even though he and the fox boy were in the position to prevent the dagger from hitting Ruto and Princess Neoma, he (devastatingly) realized that they weren''t really needed for the following reasons:

    First, Ruto already disappeared with Princess Neoma¨C making Lewis Crevan visibly anxious.

    Second, someone suddenly appeared before them and caught the dagger between his two fingers.

    Glenn smiled upon recognizing the gant figure before him. "Wee back, Your Majesty."

    ***

    NIKOLAI melted the dagger between his fingers using the heat of his Vermillion Bird''s me. Every time he was angry, South (the ming Vermillion Bird), would be the first to respond to his call. "Why are you still alive, William?"

    "Right back at you," William said coldly, his eyes aglow. "You should have died when Mona left you."

    "My daughter once told me that people with bad personalities like us don''t die easily."

    It was no use hiding Neoma''s identity from William.

    He was certain that the bastard already knew that the ''Crown Prince'' was the royal princess pretending to be her twin brother. After all, William was one of the few people who were aware of the royal secret.

    For some reason, the Grand Spirit seemed surprised by his words a while ago. "You talk as if you care about the daughter you had with Mona."

    "That''s none of your business."

    "Ah, so you really care about her," William said with a smirk. "I should have recorded it when I blew her up as a memorabilia of your dead daughter."

    He flinched when he heard those gruesome words.

    Although he already knew what happened because he was aware of William''s ability, it still made him angry hearing it straight from the bastard.

    He was livid.

    And he showed it by pulling out Calypso, his Holy Sword, in the blink of an eye. Then, without warning, he swiftly moved to get near William. The Grand Spirit looked surprised when they suddenly came face to face.

    It was already toote for William to jump away from him because he was already done with his attack.

    He already sliced him into half, crosswise, as if the Grand Spirit was a mere paper.

    "Neoma is still alive," Niki said coldly, his eyes now glowing red. "You better prepare yourself because once my daughter regains her strength, she''ll be the ''Executioner'' and not you, William Roseheart."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 183 - NEOMA THE VAIN

    <strong></strong>"WHO ARE you?" Gale asked while hopping after the young boy wearing a white chef''s uniform. The strange boy was carrying Princess Neoma''s arms while walking to Yule''s Pce. Ah, right. She remembered that there was a private infirmary in the emperor''s residence. "Hey, stop ignoring me. I know that you can understand me since I saw you talking to William earlier."

    She arrived earlier than little Niki.

    In fact, she was about to stealthily rescue Princess Neoma who was heavily injured on the ground when the young chef arrived. To say that she was shocked when the boy casually walked past William would be an understatement.

    As if that wasn''t enough, the young chef confronted the Grand Spirit after he carefully picked up the royal princess.

    She almost fainted when she saw that scene.

    This was shameful to admit but she was still a little scared of William. Although the Grand Spirit was weaker nowpared to his prime years, he was still unbelievably strong. And judging by how he was able to easily hurt an innocent child, she could tell that William''s hatred for the de Moonasterios hadn''t wavered.

    <em>Not even a bit.</em>

    "Hey," she said when the young boy still ignored her. "How long are you going to pretend that you can''t hear me?"

    The young chef suddenly stopped walking when they were near the entrance of Yule''s Pce. Then, he mumbled to himself. "Strike, Veton."

    And what followed shocked her once again.

    Several ''whips'' of electricity came out of nowhere and hit anything but them and the pce behind.

    At first, she thought it was a random attack. But then, all of a sudden, several ck crows fell on the ground¨C literally burned to death. Most of the crows seemed to have been hiding in the trees around the pce.

    She didn''t notice the birds until the young chef killed each one of them.

    "Were those birds observing us?" she asked the young chef. "Is that why you kept on ignoring me a while ago?"

    The young chef just nodded.

    "Your Royal Highness!"

    She turned to the owner of the voice. It was Lewis Crevan, the young princess''s loyal personal knight.

    "You¨C" Lewis Crevan began while ring at the young chef.

    But the fox boy trailed off when the young chef carefully handed Princess Neoma to the former without a word. The anger on Lewis Crevan''s face a while agopletely disappeared now that the royal princess was in his arms.

    "Bring the Crown Prince to Madam Hammock," the young chef said in amanding voice as if he was used to giving orders. "I will hunt down the strange crows around the Royal Pce."

    After dering what he was about to do, the young chef left and vanished.

    <em>He has good control of his Mana, huh?</em>

    "Let''s go, Lewis Crevan," Gale said. When she remembered that Lewis Crevan couldn''t understand a Spirit like her, she began to hop towards Yule Pce. Thankfully, the young knight followed her. "I hope the Healing Sage could somehow help our Princess Neoma."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOUR MAJESTY, Princess Neoma has been taken away by Chef Ruto."

    <em>Ruston Stroganoff, huh?</em>

    Niki nodded at what Glenn, who was standing behind him, reported to him. "Neoma is safe if she''s with Ruston Stroganoff."

    Glenn, who had acknowledged Ruston Stroganoff''s strength a long time ago, agreed with him. "That''s also the reason why I decided to stay here instead of chasing the royal princess. Moreover, Lewis Crevan already left to chase after them."

    He just nodded as a response.

    If Ruston Stroganoff and Lewis Crevan worked together, he was positive that his daughter wouldn''t be attacked by the enemies again.

    "Did you lose your touch now that the empire is peaceful?" William asked mockingly when his body regenerated. "You should have finished me while I was still in the middle of regeneration, Niki de Moonasterio."

    "I would have died a long time ago if I lost my touch," he said to the Grand Spirit. "I simply don''t want to waste my time fighting that puppet body of yours."

    William was a Spirit who could create several fake bodies to hide the real one. Even if he killed that puppet body of his now, he would just simply return to his original body.

    Moreover, he was saving his divine energy for Neoma''s treatmentter.

    It also seems like William hasn''tpletely recovered yet from the injury I gave him a few years ago. If he was in his prime condition, he would have attacked me as soon as he saw me.

    "But don''t worry," he said to the Grand Spirit. "Do you think I''d kill you easily after you hurt my daughter?" His jaw clenched as he gripped the handle of his sword tighter. "I will ruin your face the way you ruined Neoma''s as soon as I find your real body."

    The Grand Spirit smirked bitterly. "I couldn''t believe that you grew a heart during the time that we haven''t seen each other. I hope your love doesn''t kill your daughter the way you killed my master."

    He flinched at those calloused words.

    "Ah, should I say ''children?''" William wondered loudly to himself. "I remember that my master gave birth to a princess and a prince."

    The Grand Spirit suddenly fell silent, then he tilted his head to one side as if he was leaning into an unknown and unseen presence whispering in his ear. Some Spirits were probably giving him a report.

    "Ah, so the real Crown Prince was cursed," William said while nodding his head. "Now I know why your daughter is pretending to be the Crown Prince."

    Ah, so the Spirits lingering in the Royal Pce had loose mouths, huh?

    "So, your son isn''t here, huh?"

    He red at the Grand Spirit. "Why are you suddenly interested in my son?"

    "Why not?" William snapped back at him. "The real Crown Prince is the first male born into our n after a long time. Your son is the same as me."

    "He''s not."

    "That''s not for you to decide, de Moonasterio," the Grand Spirit said arrogantly. "I''m sure your son and I will get along well."

    This time, it was his turn to smirk arrogantly. "You don''t know my son," he said haughtily. "He''ll kill you as soon as he learns that you tried to kill his precious twin sister." The Grand Spirit looked confused so he exined. "Nero, my son, treasures Neoma so much. In fact, he loves his sister more than he loves the throne."

    It was a fact that he tried to deny for years.

    But after being cursed at by Neoma for the past few years, he hade to ept that his children were different from the rest of their family and that was okay.

    "If that''s true, then I need to straighten out Nero de Moonasterio."

    He didn''t want to show it but the Grand Spirit''s confident words made him worry. Although Nero was under the care of Trevor, he knew William was still capable of finding his son.

    "A male child being born into House Roseheart is as rare as seeing a god shed tears," the Grand Spirit said. "Moreover, only I can raise Nero Roseheart properly."

    "My son is also a de Moonasterio."

    The Grand Spirit just smirked as if he was trying to provoke him. But his smirk immediately turned into a frown when he clutched his stomach. Ah, the cut that he gave the Grand Spirit a few years ago may not have beenpletely healed yet. "It seems like my time is up," he said, then his lower body began to vanish in a silver-ish light. "I was awakened by your daughter from my deep slumber so I was in a bad mood. But now, I feel better. I was able to teach your arrogant daughter a lesson, and I just confirmed that your son isn''t under your protection right now."

    "Don''t you ever return to your deep slumber if you want to live, William Roseheart," he threatened the Grand Spirit coldly. "Remember, Mona is no longer here to stop me from killing you."

    William could only re at him as a response before hepletely disappeared.

    "Your Majesty, aren''t we going to chase after Lord William?" Glenn asked. "We can''t just let him get away after what he did to Princess Neoma."

    "Neoma is my top priority now. Punishing William willeter," he said while putting Calypso, his sword, back in the sheathe. "If Neoma was in the same state as Hanna Quinzel a while ago, then Madam Hammock won''t be able to treat her."

    His personal knight suddenly looked like he was about to cry. "Then, what should we do, Your Majesty? I briefly saw Princess Neoma''s state a while ago. Although Princess Neoma will always be Princess Neoma to me, I''m certain that Her Royal Highness would be heartbroken if she sees herself in the mirror¡­"

    The knight''s concern was valid.

    After all, everyone who knew Neoma also knew how vain she was. And rightfully so because his daughter''s beauty could be regarded as the empire''s treasure¡­

    His thoughts trailed off, then he shuddered.

    <em>Did those sappy thoughts really cross my mind?</em>

    "Your Majesty?"

    "Let''s head back to my pce," he said, erasing his sentimental thoughts with a shake of his head. "I have a method in mind that I hope will work on Neoma."

    "What is it, Your Majesty?" Glenn asked, his face full of hope. "How will you heal Princess Neoma''s injuries?"

    "I''m going to use Yule''s tears on Neoma," Niki said seriously. "It didn''t work on Nero but I have a feeling that it will work on my daughter."

    But if Yule''s Tears really worked on Neoma, then it could only mean one thing¡­

    <strong>***</strong>

    NIKOLAI felt a painful throb in his chest when he saw Neoma''s awful state.

    When he saw Hanna Quinzel in the same condition a while ago, he pitied the child. After all, the Quinzel heiress was still his niece.

    But now that it was in Neoma in such a state, he felt his heart break for his poor daughter.

    "Everyone, leave the room," Niki ordered to the people behind him: Glenn, Madam Hammock, and Lewis Crevan. "Don''te in unless I call for you."

    "As you wish, Your Majesty," Glenn and Madam Hammock said, then the two left the private room.

    Yes, only the knight and the Healing Sage left.

    "Are you defying my order, Lewis Crevan?" he asked sternly, then he turned around to face the fox boy. "Didn''t I tell everyone to leave?"

    "Can you really save Princess Neoma?" Lewis Crevan asked, then he paused as if he just remembered who he was talking to. "Your Majesty."

    "I won''t let her die," he said seriously.

    "Can you bring back Princess Neoma''s beauty?"

    He paused before he answered the young knight truthfully. "That will be hard, I admit. But I will do my best to bring Neoma back her physical body in its perfect condition."

    "I know Princess Neoma is very vain but I don''t care if you can''t bring back her physical beauty, Your Majesty," Lewis Crevan said with a pained look on his face. "Just please don''t let her die."

    The young knight''s feelings for his daughter were crystal clear.

    And he hated it.

    "I won''t give my daughter to you."

    "I''m good at stealing, Your Majesty."

    He shut his eyes tight and pinched the bridge of his nose.

    <em>Neoma''s brazenness has rubbed off on this sly fox, huh?</em>

    "I''ll let it slide for now because Neoma needs my immediate care," he said when he opened his eyes. "Leave while I''m asking nicely, Lewis Crevan."

    Lewis Crevan, who seemed to be satisfied with their conversation, bowed his head. "Please do everything you can to save Princess Neoma, Your Majesty."

    After that plead, the fox boy finally left the room.

    Now that the nuisance was gone, he could finally focus on healing his daughter.

    He sat on the edge of the bed and looked at Neoma''s poor state. Once again, he felt his heart break. Now he fully understood how Rufus had felt earlier.

    "I stopped praying to Yule a long time ago," Niki said softly while opening the lead of the vial that contained Yule''s Tears. "But you''re making me want to keep my faith in our god, Neoma," he said. Then, he put his hand on the back of his daughter''s head. After that, he carefully brought the tip of the vial near his daughter''s dry lips. "Yule, if you save my daughter, I will call you ''Grandfather'' again."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA screamed at the top of her lungs again.

    Ever since she woke up in that white room with floating white chairs and tables, all she did was scream into the void. She said ''void'' because the ''room'' that she was in had no walls and no roof.

    And yet, all she could see around them were thick, white, fluffy clouds.

    In a normal circumstance, she would have loved the aesthetic vibes of the room. But after Yule showed her current state after William blew her up, she went batshit crazy. Yes, she was grateful to be somehow alive. But seeing what happened to her physical body made her snap.

    Thankfully, she was in her normal and beautiful appearance in that room.

    But that wasn''t enough to lessen her anger.

    "I swear I will fucking kill you the next time we meet, Uncle Scumbag!" Neoma yelled at nothing, then she took a deep breath and fell silent. Now that she had relieved her frustration, she had calmed down and had the time to clear her thoughts. "Oh, well. It doesn''t matter if I lose my beauty and limbs. As long as I''m alive, I can always start over."

    Of course, she was just trying to cheer herself up.

    In the deepest part of her heart, she was still afraid. This was embarrassing to admit but as a vain person, losing her beauty and some of her limbs made her feel like it was the end of the world. It wasn''t, but she also didn''t want to invalidate her own feelings.

    Thankfully, there was something that was keeping her sane during these trying times.

    "I''m d that Hanna is safe and fine now," she said, genuinely happy for her cousin. Then, she turned around to face Yule. The Moon God was seated on a floating white chair while having a cup of tea. "Lord Yule, you weren''t lying when you said Hanna is 100% healed now, right?"

    "I''m a trickster but I''m not a liar," Yule said defensively. "Ne-Ne, don''t you have faith in me?"

    <em>Duh, you didn''t help me when I was suffering during my first life. It''s your fault why I lost my faith in you in the past. And right now, I''m still wary of you.</em>

    "Hanna Quinzel is fully healed now," the Moon God assured her when he saw the distrust on her face. "Shouldn''t you be more worried about yourself, Ne-Ne?"

    It was true.

    She wanted to know what happened after she was attacked by William.

    Plus, she was worried about Lewis. Her son probably witnessed it when her Uncle Scumbag blew her up. She just hoped that Lewis wouldn''t go too insane.

    "Well, you assured me a while ago that I''m still alive," she reasoned. "Plus, I''m very angry right now. As much as I want to kill William, none of this would have happened because of those stupid crows so my anger is divided between the two of them." She let out a huff that kind of blew her bangs before the strands fell back on her forehead. "My enemies should be grateful that I don''t have Death N*te or else, they wouldn''tst more than forty seconds with me--- especially that stupid cult that kills de Moonasterion princesses."

    Thus, Regina Crowell was still the #1 on her hit list.

    The crow was closely followed by William on the list though.

    If only she was reincarnated in an anime series instead¡­

    "If you hate the cult that much, then why don''t you be an empress?" Yule said casually, followed by a softugh. Then, he sipped his tea before he continued. "The cult hates nothing more in the world than to have a female de Moonasterio ruler, Ne-Ne."

    "Then, I''ll fucking take the throne," Neoma dered angrily with clenched fists. "I know I''m being petty but I''ll be the first empress out of spite and make the cult seethe until they drop dead at my feet!"

    Yes, she didn''t breathe while yelling that long sentence filled with her new resolve.

    Neoma wasn''t kidding when she said she was petty, okay?

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 184 - THE STORY BEHIND YULEâ€™S TEARS

    <strong></strong>"NE-NE, don''t say things that you don''t mean."

    "And when did I do that?" Neoma asked Yule while looking at the god''s pretty, gxy-like eyes. "I''m arrogant because I have the skills to back it up. Thus, I don''t say things I don''t mean, Lord Yule."

    Yule looked surprised by her deration. Then, his already sparkly eyes sparkled even more. "Do you want to be the first empress of the Great Moonasterion Empire now?"

    "I don''t ''want'' to be the empress," she corrected him. "I need to."

    "Interesting," the god said, then he snapped his fingers.

    The next thing she knew, she was already seated on the floating chair across from Yule. She even had a cup of tea in one hand, and a coaster in the other.

    "Wow, this is so convenient," she said, then she sipped the tea. Her eyes sparkled when she had a taste of the strange yet delightful drink. And no, it wasn''t tea even though it was in a teacup. "Wow, Lord Yule. This tastes like my favorite toffee nuttte from St*rbucks."

    "I''m d that you liked it, Ne-Ne," he said smilingly. "The tea that I serve my guests magically transforms into whatever they feel like drinking at the moment."

    Ah, so she was craving for St*rbucks right now.

    I should ask Ruto to recreate my favorite St*rbucks drinkster.

    "Interesting," she said, making the godugh. "Anyway, I have a question, Lord Yule."

    "What is it, Ne-Ne?"

    "Do you want me to be the first empress of the empire?"

    He smiled brightly at her. "Yes."

    "Then, let''s make a deal," she said. After that, she put the teacup down on the floating white table between her and the god. "If you create a miracle for me, I will create a miracle for you."

    "Tell me more about it, Ne-Ne."

    "I''m sure that my Papa Boss won''t let me die since I''m Nero''s proxy," she said. "And I can tell that I''m not dying yet. If I was, I''d be at the Spirit World instead of having tea with you, Lord Yule. I guess right now, we can say that I''m in aa. Which means I''m barely alive."

    He just smiled and sipped his tea.

    "But even if Papa Boss sessfully wakes me up, my physical body won''t magically return to normal, will it?"

    "Of course not."

    She already expected that and yet, the confirmation from Yule still scared her a little.

    "The fact that your body didn''t blow up to pieces after what William did to you is already a miracle, Ne-Ne."

    "That''s because Hanna managed to protect her body properly," she said. After all, William said that he''d swap Hanna''s condition with hers. If Hanna''s body was torn into pieces from the explosion, then she would have suffered the same fate. "I guess noble children are literally built different, especially higher nobles like Hanna."

    "You can say that again," he agreed with her with a firm nod. "Hanna Quinzel, as you call it, is ''built different.'' After all, she has inherited the blood of the Quinzels. Their Shadow Maniption Technique is one of the strongest techniques in the empire. All the descendants of House Quinzel are blessed with a stronger physical body than average nobles. Moreover, I believe that Hanna Quinzel''s shadow protected her when she was attacked."

    "Really?" she asked, surprised. "Hanna''s shadow can think on its own?"

    "Rather than ''think,'' it would be more appropriate to say that a Quinzel''s shadow is designed to protect its owner," the god exined. "It wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that their shadows are equivalent to a de Moonasterio''s Soul Beast."

    She pped her hands. "That''s so cool. I didn''t know that their shadows are that good."

    "Their shadows are also capable of other ''cool'' things," he said, then he sipped his tea before he continued. "But we''re not here to talk about the Quinzels, are we?"

    "Right," she said. Gosh, how impatient. It looked like she and her Papa Boss inherited their impatience from Yule, huh? "I''ll get straight to the point then: please fix my physical body, Lord Yule."

    Heughed softly while gently shaking his head.

    It wasn''t a mockingugh so she wasn''t offended. To be frank, it sounded like he was surprised by her request, then he justughed it off.

    "Now I understand why you called it a miracle," the god said, his voice filled with amusement.

    "I know that my request sounds ridiculous," she said. "But as what Bokuto said, "it''s not impossible¨C it''s just hard.""

    "Who''s Bokuto?"

    "A cutie owl."

    "Ah, I see," he said. He obviously didn''t get her reference but he probably didn''t want to be rude. Thus, he just changed the subject swiftly. "You''re right. Your request isn''t impossible for me to grant. But it''s going to cost me a lot."

    "Huh?"

    He smiled kindly at her and when he spoke again, he sounded patient. "I''m not the only god here in the Upper World, Ne-Ne," he exined. Ah, right. The world where gods and goddesses lived was called Upper World. But to humans, it was more known as the ''heaven.'' "I can''t do whatever I want. And if do something that goes against thew of this world, it will have some consequences on me."

    "Will helping me fix my body back to normal go against thew of this world?"

    "No, it''s not like that," he denied while shaking his head. "To be precise, using my heavenly powers to favor a single individual would be frowned upon by the other celestial beings around me."

    "Are you afraid of them?"

    "No, but I have to be careful," he said, then he smiled sweetly at her. "If a divine war breaks out among divine beings, it will literally be the end of the Middle World."

    The ''Middle World'' was also known as the ''living world.''

    Our world.

    "The divine beings have to co-exist peacefully for the human world to be safe," he added. Then, he fell silent before he spoke again. "There''s a way for me to grant your request without getting into trouble. You have to give me something in return though."

    "Of course," she agreed. "That''s why I offered you a deal, Lord Yule. A miracle for a miracle, remember?"

    "A deal with a god isn''t something to be taken lightly, Ne-Ne," the god said. "We have to make an official contract."

    "It''s fine with me, my lord," she said. "I know how contracts work. I even have one with my Papa Boss."

    Plus, she had signed several endorsement deals back in her second life.

    <em>Signing contracts is a part of a celebrity''s life.</em>

    "You seem to be determined, Ne-Ne," he said in an amused tone. "I remember how adamant you are about not taking the throne for a "life of leisure." What made you change your mind?"

    "I finally decided to ept the fact that I''m the protagonist of this world, my lord," she said, then she let out a deep sigh. "I mean, I''m only eight years old and yet, I''ve almost died several times already. You know what''s more annoying? Papa Boss tried to kill me in the past because he was afraid that I''dpete with Nero. He''s so sus of me no matter how many times I say that I''m not interested in the throne! Even Count Kyle Spouse looks down on me because a girl like me "dared" to "steal" my twin brother''s ce as if it was my idea. Then, all of a sudden, I found out that there''s a cult dedicated to killing all the royal princesses to make sure that only male heirs could be emperors." She sighed loudly and shook her head. "Gosh. I''m the only eight-year-old baby girl in the world to ever go through all those stressful events."

    "The life of a royal, especially a female royal, is indeed diffiult," the god said sympathetically. "You''ve worked hard, Ne-Ne. Good job."

    "Thanks, but I don''t want to work ''hard'' anymore," she said firmly. "This time, I''ll work ''smart.'' I find it unfair that people who don''t want me to be an empress are trying to kill me when I never expressed interest in the throne. In short, no matter what I say or do to prove to them that I don''t want to be an empress, nothing will change." She smirked before she continued. "If those hypocrites want me to be an empress so bad, then I''ll be one. And since I don''t do things half-assed, I''ll make sure I''d go down in history as the mostpetent ruler ever and crush my male ancestors'' fragile masculinity in the afterlife."

    Then, sheughed as if her sanity just snapped.

    "I understand your feelings, Ne-Ne," the god said carefully. "But are you sure that it''s enough reason for you to be an empress? Although I want you to take the throne, I don''t want you to regret the decision you made when you were angry. After all, I know that your dream is to be a dy of leisure.''"

    "Oh, I haven''t given up on that dream, my lord."

    "What do you mean by that?"

    "Let me state my term in our contract, Lord Yule," Neoma said seriously. "I will be an empress for a minimum of one year and a maximum of three years only."

    Yule''s eyes widened in shock. "You''re going to rule for a limited time only?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "LEWIS CREVAN, where are you going?" Glenn asked when he saw Lewis Crevan headed towards the exit instead of the waiting room where Madam Hammock went to. He was guarding outside the infirmary''s private room where Princess Neoma was confined when he saw the fox boy walk past the waiting room. "Aren''t you going to wait with Madam Hammock until Princess Neoma wakes up?"

    Lewis Crevan stopped walking and turned around to face him. "I''m going to hunt."

    "Hunt?"

    "The young chef said that there were ck crows following them earlier," the young knight said. "He killed those crows and said he''s going to hunt down the others."

    His eyes widened in shock. "ck crows?"

    Now that was rming.

    When Princess Neoma said that she had dreamt of ck crows, they immediately assumed that it was rted to the cult. But they almost forgot about the possible revival of the Crow because they didn''t detect any movement from the enemies'' side.

    Not until now, at least.

    Ruto wasn''t an ordinary child. He wouldn''t kill ck crows if they were just ordinary birds. The young chef wasn''t aware of the cult, so he probably just followed his instinct when he killed the crows earlier. Even though Ruto was still young, he trusted the child''s judgment.

    After all, Ruto was the person His Majesty chose to be the nextmander of the White Lion Knights.

    "I will report it to His Majesty," he said firmly. "For now, search around the Royal Pce and kill every single crow you see, Lewis Crevan. I will dispatch a squad to do the same thing."

    The young knight just nodded at hismand, then he bowed politely.

    "Wait, Lewis Crevan," he said when he remembered something. "Ruto is a year older than you so you can''t call him ''young chef.''"

    "I''m taller than him," Lewis Crevan said with a cute pout on his face. "A one-year gap doesn''t make him better than me."

    After saying that, the fox boy left with heavy footsteps.

    Which was strange because Lewis Crevan was known for his quiet movements.

    Glennughed softly and shook his head when the realization finally hit him. "Is Lewis Crevan jealous of Ruto?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOU JUST said that you need me to be the empress, my lord," Neoma said with a sweet smile on her face. "You didn''t say that I need to be the empress for the rest of my life."

    Yule looked shocked by her term, then heughed softly. "You''re one wicked littledy, aren''t you?"

    She smiled and nodded. "It''s just a part of my charm, my lord."

    He justughed softly, then he sipped his tea. He fell silent for a while before he finally spoke again. "I ept your first term, Ne-Ne."

    She heard a ''but'' so she just sipped her tea and waited for the god to continue.

    "But in return, I want you to do one thing for me before your reign as the empress ends."

    "What is it, my lord?"

    Yule suddenly became serious. "End the cult for me, Princess Neoma de Moonasterio."

    She got goosebumps when he called her by her full name. Even the usual yfulness in the god''s voice was gone. Plus, his sparkly eyes suddenly darkened.

    "The cult?" she asked with a raised brow. "As in the cult led by the Crow with red eyes?"

    "Yes," he said with a firm nod. "The previous emperors before your father took the throne didn''t bother to eliminate the cult. After all, the crows help the male heirs get rid of theirpetitors by killing the royal princesses."

    That ticked her off.

    "Why?" she asked. "Why do they have to kill the royal princesses when in the first ce, thew states that a female royal can''t seed the throne anyway?"

    "Because of a prophecy that says a woman would lead the empire to ruins," the god exined. "The prophecy was passed down to male heirs of the Royal Family. Thus, every single Crown Prince in the history of the empire was raised to be wary of their female siblings. When a royal princess is born in the royal family, it has been a tradition to raise them separately from the royal prince to avoid the siblings from forming a strong bond. Since the past royal princes were detached from their female siblings, they didn''t care if the royal princesses were murdered."

    "I want to say that they were all fools to kill innocent little girls just because of a mere prophecy," she said in a cold voice, her fists clenched tight. "But I guess they were right to believe the prophecy because the moment I was born, that prophecy has already been fulfilled."

    He smiled meaningfully at her. "Are you saying that you''re going to destroy the empire?"

    "I won''t hesitate if I have to," she said bluntly. "Sometimes, you have to choose violence. After all, only bad people can end the evil ones."

    He chuckled at her response. "Are you calling yourself a bad person?"

    "A person who aims to seed the throne can''t be a good person," she reminded him. "After all, the person who sits on the throne will also inherit the sins umted by the previous rulers."

    "It seems like I chose the right person for the job."

    "Well, I n to end the cult in the first ce so I can easily ept your term, my lord," she said. "But if you want to end them so badly, can you give me some clues about them? Like, their whereabouts. It seems like you know everything about what''s happening in the Royal Pce so..."

    "If I can see what the crows are doing, I wouldn''t ask for your help, Ne-Ne."

    "Oh."

    That actually made sense.

    "Unfortunately, my real eyes that can see everything have been stolen by the first Crow that led the cult."

    She almost choked after hearing that revtion. "How did you get involved with the cult, my lord?"

    He smiled sadly as if he remembering something that broke his heart. "Do you know how the Royal Family managed to get a hold of my tears?"

    She was confused by the sudden change of topic, but she still went along with it. "Those were your real tears? I thought it was just some holy water with a romantic name."

    "Those were my real tears," he said with a faint smile. "I cried for so long that they were able to fill a vial with my tears."

    "What in the world did make you cry for that long, my lord?"

    "Betrayal," Yule said with a bitter smile on her face. "Ne-Ne, I''m the founder of the cult."

    Neoma''s eyes widened in shock. "Oh shit."

    <strong>***</strong>

    WHEN HANNA opened her eyes, she realized that she was alone in the room.

    But she wasn''t afraid because she could hear her parents'' voices outside the room while talking to Saint Dominic Zavaroni. The entire room was also covered and protected with her father''s Mana.

    And most of all, his father''s own shadow was standing beside her while keeping an eye on her. Needless to say, she felt very safe at the moment.

    But her heart was heavy when she remembered that she was fine because Neoma received the injury that she suffered from the bombing. But a while ago, before she fell asleep, His Holiness assured her that Neoma would be fine.

    And I know that Neoma will be fine because, well, she is Neoma.

    "Please hurry up and recover soon, Neoma," Hanna whispered to herself. "I want to quickly tell you that Regina Crowell has fallen into my trap."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 185 - LORD YULE IS CANCELLED

    <strong></strong>"YOU CREATED the cult, Lord Yule?" Neoma asked, now wary of the god. "Are you saying that you''re the one who started the cruel tradition of killing off the female royals born in our family? Right in front of my sd?"

    Yule looked confused by herst statement. But like what his father would often do every time she would speak ''nonsense,'' the god decided to ignore it. "The cult didn''t start as a cult, Ne-Ne."

    Okay, that calmed her down a little. "Carry on, my lord."

    The god let out a deep sigh before he continued. "I used to be an obnoxious god who was so proud of his bloodline, Ne-Ne."

    "Uh-huh," she said while nodding her head. "Let me guess. You also used to be a misogynistic pig. Thus, the group that you built has no respect for princesses."

    "I can''t deny that," he said, embarrassed after being called out bluntly. "But when I built the Crown, it was never my intention to kill off the royal princesses born in the Royal Family."

    "The ''Crown?''"

    "That used to be the name of the cult that you know now," he exined. "The Crown is a group of the Royal Faction that used to support the Royal Family in the shadows."

    "In the shadows?" she asked with a raised brow. "Does it mean that the Crown was a group that did the dirty works for the Royal Family in the past?"

    "That''s correct," the god said while nodding his head thoughtfully. "Assassination, invasion of othernds, purging of nobles who opposed the Royal Family¨C they did all of that, and many more unspeakable acts. Back then, I believed that the Crown was just doing that to make the Royal Family the strongest in the whole continent. After all, Altalune is mine."

    ''Altalune'' was the name of their continent.

    She almost forgot about it because they rarely mentioned the continent''s name. Plus, the names of the continents in her head right now were the seven continents from her second life.

    I think I almost never think of the official name of the Royal Capital. Is it Auberon?

    "But the Crown''s main job was to choose the best heir to the throne," the god continued. "They would raise the Crown Prince and guide him until he bes an emperor."

    Ah, right.

    Thew of the empire states that only male heirs could seed the throne.

    "But one day, a very strong andpetent royal princess was born," Yule continued in a sad, bitter voice. But the bitterness seemed to be directed at himself and not the royal princess in his story. "Her name was Aruna de Moonasterio."

    "Aruna?" she asked with furrowed brows. "I have memorized all the names of the past emperors, royal princes, and royal princesses in the history of our family. But I''m pretty sure that there''s no ''Aruna de Moonasterio'' in the history books that I''ve read, my lord."

    "Thete Princess Aruna was purposely erased from the history books," the god said seriously. "Princess Aruna was the twin sister of Emperor Arche."

    "Oh. I know Emperor Arche," she said. "He''s dubbed as the ''worst monarch'' in history. And it wasn''t because he was bad or violent. Apparently, he was just really ipetent as a ruler. No wonder his reign onlysted for five years."

    "Emperor Arche was also ipetent as a Crown Prince," the god said while shaking his head as if he was frustrated. "During his time as a prince, his ipetence was even more obvious because of his bright and brilliant twin sister. Thus, the wise and just Emperor Armando, decided to dere Princess Aruna the Crown Princess."

    She gasped when she heard that. "Did Emperor Armando try to change thews, Lord Yule?"

    "That, he did," he confirmed. "Emperor Armando loved Empress Leticia very much. Thanks to his wife''s good influence, he became a decent man who would treat women equally. Thus, he easily acknowledged Princess Aruna''s skills and potential. But the Crown didn''t like that." He smiled a heartbroken smile. "They killed Emperor Armando, Empress Leticia, and Princess Aruna to give the throne to the then-Prince Arche."

    She opened her eyes wide at the god. "And you allowed that to happen?"

    "Whether you believed it or not, I did everything I could to stop Callisto de Luca from murdering the current Royal Family of that time."

    "Callisto de Luca?" she asked, remembering where she heard that name before. "There''s a Callisto Hall in the Royal Pce¡­"

    "The Callisto Hall was named after Callisto de Luca," he exined. "And Callisto de Luca was the first head of the Crown." He paused before he continued. "He was also my half-brother."

    She almost choked on her saliva after hearing that.

    "Callisto was my father''s son with a mortal woman," Yule said. "He was half-immortal. Thus, he lived a long life and raised several Crown Princes when he was still alive."

    She clicked her tongue in annoyance. "And killed a lot of royal princesses?"

    He smiled bitterly before he spoke again. "Callisto was a cunning man. He just didn''t kill Princess Aruna. He also made sure to change the public''s opinion about epting a Crown Princess."

    "What did he do?"

    "He was the one who created the ''prophecy'' that a woman would lead the empire to ruins."

    "What a scumbag."

    "Callisto also managed to get away from killing Princess Aruna by exposing Empress Leticia''s hidden bloodline," he said. "Empress Leticia came from the lineage of a notorious ck witch of that time. Thus, it was easy for Callisto to make Princess Aruna''s supporters turn their backs on her and support Prince Arche instead."

    "But they were twins," she insisted, confused. "If Princess Aruna had the blood of a ck witch, then Prince Arche would have inherited it as well."

    "Apparently, only female children inherit the blood of a ck witch."

    She let out a frustrated sigh.

    "Before Callisto killed Princess Aruna, the royal princess cursed him," the god said. "I wasn''t there so I didn''t know what Princess Aruna''s exact words back then. But ording to Callisto, Princess Aruna swore that a female de Moonasterion princess would be born someday to destroy the empire that the Crown glorifies so much."

    She smiled, liking Princess Aruna''s curse. "That sounds good."

    He just smiled at her. "That was how the ''prophecy'' spread."

    "You didn''t punish Callisto de Luca the first time he killed a royal princess, Lord Yule?"

    Yule suddenly looked embarrassed for getting called out. "I turned a blind eye to Callisto''s unspeakable act against Princess Aruna and her parents after my brother promised that he''d change."

    "But he didn''t change, did he?"

    "He didn''t," he said, then he looked down at the tea in his hand. "I''m ashamed to admit this but it took me a while before I came back to my senses. After losing someone very important to me because of Callisto''s cruelty again, only then did I finally wake up. It was toote though. Callisto betrayed me and tried to kill me first using a sword that could y gods."

    "How did he get a hold of a weapon like that?"

    He frowned. "It was personally given to him by our father."

    Once again, she clicked her tongue. "You have a dysfunctional family, my lord. Not that I have the right to criticize you since my family is just as crazy."

    "Well, you have my blood."

    "Ah, that''s true."

    He just smiled before he continued with his story. "When I was on the verge of dying, Callisto stole my eyes."

    Morbid.

    "But before he could escape, I managed to kill him," he said. "Unfortunately, Callisto''s sessor got away with my eyes."

    She clicked her tongue again.

    "After killing my own brother with my hands, I cried for a long time," Yule said with a bitter smile on his face. "Anyway, when I calmed down during that time, my father summoned me back to the Upper World. He punished me for killing his beloved mortal son."

    "Huh? You were the one who was punished even though that bastard Callisto de Luca deserved it?"

    "My father has his favorites."

    She wanted to curse but she was interrupted when the god spoke again.

    "My father locked me up and forced me to enter a deep slumber for a long time," he continued with his story again. "I just awakened when Nichole and Niki were born. That was also when I found out that the Crown is still active. But it was no longer known as the ''Crown.'' By the time that I woke up, it has already be a cult led by the ''Crow.'' When they killed Princess Nichole, I found out that the leader of the Crow was a de Luca, a direct descendant of Callisto. My brother had several children back then that I failed to kill because my father forced me to return to the Upper World."

    "''Was?''"

    "Niki killed the leader of the Crow that killed Nichole," he exined. "And apparently, the whole cult was wiped out. Thus, I was surprised when you mentioned the cult before."

    "Lord Yule, I thought you know that this already my third life."

    "Oh, I know that," he said casually. "But I don''t know what happened during your first and second life. If we didn''t meet back then, I wouldn''t have memories of your past lives. It wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that the Yule in your first life is another version of myself in that world."

    That sounded like the concept of parallel worlds.

    "Anyway, now that you''ve heard my story, I want to know if you''re going to ept my terms," Yule said seriously. "I will return you to your normal state if you do three things for me: steal back my eyes, destroy the cult, and be an empress."

    "Then, I will ask for two more things," she said. "You already heard my first condition: I will only be an empress for a limited time." She raised two fingers. "My second condition is for you to bless Nero. I don''t want him to be controlled by the devil again."

    "I can do that before I go back to sleep," Yule said while nodding thoughtfully. "And yourst condition?"

    Neoma smiled sweetly at him. "Please give me a holy weapon."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 186 - IM BACK, BITCHES!

    "NOW LET''S sign the contract."

    Neoma was amazed when a scroll suddenly appeared on the table between her and Yule. "It''s written in anguage that I''ve never seen before," shemented while looking at the texts. Then, she raised her head to meet the god''s gaze. "But I can clearly read it."

    "Of course you can," Yule said with a smile, then he opened his right hand. When he did, a pair of golden scissors appeared and he grabbed it. "You have my blood so you have the ability to speak, write, and understand all thenguage in the world."

    "Oh, that''s so convenient."

    He just smiled, then he extended his hand to her. "May I have a cut some strands of your hair, Ne-Ne?"

    She was curious but still, she handed him the pink strands of her long hair. "Do you need my hair instead of my blood to sign the contract since this isn''t my physical body?"

    "To be precise, a piece of your soul is needed to sign the contract," he exined, then he cut a few strands of her hair. "Since cutting your finger seems gruesome, your hair will do."

    "Oh."

    Much to her surprise, when the god cut her hair, the form changed. It turned into a tear-shaped liquid-like form. Then, when Yule dropped it, her piece of ''soul'' sttered on the paper just like how a drop of blood would.

    Then, the god did the same. He signed the contract by cutting a few strands of his hair.

    "Now the contract is sealed," the god said with a smile. "I will use my divine healing power to bring you back to your normal state."

    She smiled, relieved. "In retrospect, I''m d that William tried to kill me by swapping my condition with Hanna. After all, you wouldn''t heal Hanna even if I prayed hard, would you?"

    "Hanna Quinzel isn''t destined to die yet so she would have survived even without William''s interference," he assured her. "But if William didn''t do what he did, then the Quinzel heiress wouldn''t be able to retrieve her body back to normal. After all, I can only perform miracles on people that inherited my blood."

    She raised a brow at that. "But why didn''t you help Nero when he was cursed? We even gave him your tears but it didn''t work on him."

    "Nero de Moonasterio doesn''t have your vigor," he said casually. "And his Roseheart Blood is stronger than his Moonglow."

    "Moonglow?"

    "It''s the divine aura that you''re born with because you have my blood," the god exined. "You can say that it''s equivalent to your Roseheart Blood."

    "Oh," she said, then she tilted her head at one side. "Wait. Does it mean we''ve been asking for help from the wrong people then? If Nero''s Roseheart Blood is stronger than his Moonglow, then maybe we should seek the help of the Rosehearts¡­" She trailed off, then she clicked her tongue. "Tsk. House Roseheart doesn''t exist anymore."

    "Unfortunately, I can''t help you with anything rted to the Rosehearts."

    "It''s okay, my lord," she said with a bright smile on her face. "I''m not expecting you to help me with that anyway."

    Heughed softly while shaking his head. "Ne-Ne, once I fully heal you, I will be forced to return to my deep slumber to recover my divine energy. Be careful while I''m asleep. Not all gods are fond of you."

    "Well, not all gods have good taste so it''s understandable."

    Heughed again, then he got serious. "Now that you know what kind of n is behind the cult, I want you to be extra careful. Callisto de Luca, my brother, was half-immortal. That means his descendants also inherited the holy blood of my father. Although it may not be as strong as the blood of the de Moonasterios, you still shouldn''t underestimate the Crow, Ne-Ne."

    "I won''t, my lord," she promised. "Especially not after I''ve been humbled by my mistakes."

    He smiled at her. "I''m d to hear that, Ne-Ne."

    "How long are you going to be asleep, my lord?"

    "I''m not sure since time flows differently in the Upper World," he said, then he smiled at her. "Are you going to miss me, Ne-Ne?"

    "I don''t miss people I''m not that close with," she said bluntly. "I''m just asking because I''m curious if you''re going to witness me ascend to the throne."

    He chuckled. "Don''t worry, Ne-Ne. I wouldn''t miss it for the world."

    "`Kay," she said. "So, shall we part ways now?"

    "Are you in a hurry, Ne-Ne?"

    "Of course. I don''t want to make my people worry about me any longer," she said. "Then, I have to check up on Lewis and Hanna, talk to my Papa Boss regarding my change of heart, start building my own Order of the Knights, and finally, n Regina Crowell''s death, and finally: ask Ruto to cook my favorite dishes since I''m famished."

    "Our little princess is busy, huh?"

    "This is the fate of a protagonist, my lord," she said while shaking her head. "If only fillers exist in real life to give me a break¡­"

    The god just smiled at her ''nonsense,'' then he tilted his head at one side as if he was listening to something that she couldn''t hear. Then, heughed softly. "Ne-Ne, your father just prayed to me."

    She gasped aloud. "Papa Boss knows how to pray?"

    Heughed louder this time. "Well, your father was also a Crown Prince once so he went through the same lessons that you have right now, including Theology."

    "I still can''t imagine my father praying to you, Lord Yule," she said in disbelief. "What did Papa Boss say?"

    Yule chuckled before he answered. "Ne-Ne, please tell Nikiter that I''m looking forward to hearing him call me ''Grandfather'' again."

    Neoma was shocked to hear that, then sheughed. "Papa Boss has a cute side as well, huh?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOUR MAJESTY, I''m thinking of deploying the royal knights to kill the crows around the Royal Pce," Glenn said in a serious voice. His persona knight entered the private room where Neoma was confined to report to him about the sightings of ''strange'' crows around the Royal Pce. "Please give me your permission."

    "No, that won''t be necessary," Niki said bluntly. "You said Ruston Stroganoff and Lewis Crevan are already taking care of the crows. Those two are enough to deal with it."

    His personal knight didn''t look convinced. "Your Majesty, I know that we can trust Ruto and Lewis Crevan. But I don''t want to be toocent since we''re dealing with the Crow."

    "We can''t make a fuss over it, Glenn," he said sternly. "The Royal Pce is currently preparing to wee the Twelve Golden Families. They can''t find out about the possible revival of the Crow. Because if they do, they will realize that I''m hiding a daughter. After all, the cult only appears when a royal princess is born."

    "Ah, I didn''t think about that," the knight said, then heughed softly while scratching his cheek as if he was embarrassed. "His Majesty is truly wise."

    "If you were calm, you would have thought about it," he scolded Glenn. "Stop being agitated, Glenn. I''ll make sure that the cult won''t be able to touch Neoma."

    Glenn was a great vicemander. He was strong and smart. But the cult traumatized him with what happened to Nichole in the past. That was why the knight was agitated right now. Unfortunately, whenever Glenn was restless, he would sometimes forget to think and act like a wild beast instead.

    That was a bad habit that the knight couldn''t break until now.

    <em>This is why people call him ''Mad Dog.''</em>

    "I apologize for my embarrassing behavior, Your Majesty," Glenn said, then he lowered his gaze. "I will ept any punishment from you."

    He was about to say something when he felt a burst of divine energy behind him.

    When he turned around, he was surprised to see Neoma engulfed in a silver-ish light that reminded him of the moon''s glow. Moreover, he could see that his daughter''s injury was being healed at an unnatural speed.

    <em>The tears worked.</em>

    "Your Majesty, what''s happening to Princess Neoma?"

    "She''s recuperating fast," he said, then he turned to his knight. "Glenn, call Madam Hammock," he paused, then he added. "Summon Neoma''s maid as well. Tell her to bring the prettiest dress that she could find as soon as possible."

    "A dress, Your Majesty?"

    "Neoma is returning to her original state, and her hair is growing longer," he exined. "It won''t hurt if we allow her to be herself for the meantime. She doesn''t need to pretend as the Crown Prince while recovering anyway."

    Glenn smiled, obviously pleased with his decision. "I''m sure Princess Neoma will be pleased to hear that, Your Majesty."

    After saying that, the knight bowed and politely excused himself.

    He was now finally alone in the room with his daughter.

    <em>Neoma¡­</em>

    He got down on one knee and held Neoma''s hand.

    <em>Her hand is so small¡­</em>

    Was this the first time he held his daughter''s hand?

    To be frank, he didn''t know why he was acting this way. In the past, just the sight of Neoma could instantly make him mad because of Mona''s spell. But right now, he didn''t feel any repulse in his chest.

    In fact, he was relieved that his daughter''s beautiful face was back.

    <em>Did I just praise Neoma¡­?</em>

    His thoughts were cut off when the blinding light that engulfed Neoma slowly disappeared. And when itpletely vanished, he was greeted by his daughter who looked as good as new. Not even a scratch was left on her face.

    She''ll be d to know that her hair has grown long again.

    Moreover, even though Neoma''s body was covered with a nket, he could tell that her limbs were properly attached to her body again.

    "I''m fucking back, bitches¡­"

    He immediately let go of his daughter''s hand, hoping that she didn''t catch him.

    But when he realized what Neoma just said as soon as she opened her eyes, he scowled.

    <em>Neoma, are you going to die if you don''t curse, huh?</em>

    When he raised his head, he was greeted by Neoma''s glowing red eyes.

    Ah, her eye color changed because her Mana hadn''t stabilized yet. His daughter''s overflowing divine energy was still leaking out of her body.

    Neoma blinked while looking at him. "Ah, it''s just you, Papa Boss."

    He raised a brow at that statement.

    <em>''Just you?''</em>

    "Papa Boss, I have three questions," his daughter said in a sleepy voice. "I''m so sleepy but I have a feeling that I won''t be at peace until my curiosity is satiated."

    "What do you want to know?"

    "Am I pretty again?"

    "Yes, you look normal again."

    "Whew," she said weakly. "My second question: can we change Callisto Hall''s name into Gordon Ramsay Hall instead? I hate Callisto with a passion now."

    Ah, this was really Neoma, indeed. "You''re speaking nonsense as soon as you recovered, huh?"

    "Just answer my question, Papa Boss."

    "I will consider it if you drop the ''Ramsay.''"

    "Let''s negotiateter when I''m sober," she said, then she went straight to herst question. "Can I take the throne, Papa Boss?"

    "What¡­?"

    "I need to be the first empress of this continent, Papa Boss," Neoma dered in a firm voice. Then, she slowly closed her eyes as if she couldn''t fight her drowsiness anymore. "Will you kill me if I do that¡­?"

    He flinched when he was reminded of his past mistakes.

    But that was thest thing in his mind right now.

    "You ''need'' to be the first empress?" Niki asked softly to Neoma who was now asleep (and snoring loudly). "Just what did Yule ask in exchange for bringing you back to normal?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    <em>JUST WHAT kind of situation is this?</em>

    After Glenn sent Stephanie and Madam Hammock to Princess Neoma''s room earlier, he went to Princess Neoma''s personal training ground. It was the man-made forest near her pce and he could feel something hostileing from it.

    And that was when he found a rare sight: Ruto and Lewis Crevan having a staring contest. They were also releasing killing intent towards each other.

    Herees the creepy part: the two young boys were sizing each other up while standing in the middle of dead crows around them. Most of the dead birds were obviously fried from being electrocuted. While the others were sliced up by a sharp de.

    <em>This is so strange. Lewis Crevan just usually ignores other people. On the other hand, Chef Ruto is always nice and polite to other people even if he looks bored all the time. But right now, Lewis Crevan is paying too much attention to a stranger, and Chef Ruto is acting hostile.</em>

    What was wrong with those two kids?

    Glenn cleared his throat but the children ignored him. Still, he walked towards the two and tried to meditate. "Let me introduce you to each other," he said, then he literally stood between Ruto and Lewis Crevan. The two finally looked up at him as if they just realized that he was there. He smiled at the kids anyway. "Sir Crevan, this is Chef Ruto Stroganoff¨C the Crown Prince''s personal chef. He''s also the youngest Royal Chef in history," he said, then he turned to Ruto. "Chef Ruto, this is Sir Lewis Crevan. He is Prince Nero''s personal knight. Sir Crevan rarely talks so it might be difficult for you to get familiar with his voice so¨C"

    "I know his voice, Sir Glenn. I only heard it once before but it''s unforgettable due to the situation back then," Ruto said unsmilingly, then he turned to Lewis Crevan. "If you are Prince Nero''s personal knight, then what were you doing in Miss Ramsay''s room duringte at night?"

    Now he was officially confused since he didn''t understand a thing from what the young chef said.

    <em>And who''s ''Miss Ramsay?''</em>

    Oh, wait.

    He suddenly remembered that His Majesty asked him to check if there was a Ramsay family living in the empire now. He also remembered that Princess Neoma would often refer to herself as ''Neoma Ramsay.''

    <em>Ah, right! Chef Ruto met Princess Neoma during the Moon Festival when she was disguised as a moner.''</em>

    "I am Prince Nero''s personal knight," Lewis Crevan said, then he smirked¨C which rarely happens! "And I''m also Miss Ramsay''s most favorite person in the whole world."

    Ruto''s face remained calm but his bloodlust intensified.

    Glenn could only scratch his cheek.

    <em>Should I tell His Majesty that the two young ''monsters'' of this generation are fighting over Princess Neoma?</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    HANNA, seated on the bed, smiled at her mother and father who both seemed to be on the verge of crying while sitting beside her.

    Ever since she woke up, both his parents would suddenly get teary-eyed while looking at her as if they were so grateful for her to be alive. Of course, that never failed to make her heart swell with joy and gratitude.

    <em>I''m also happy to be alive after the risk that I took.</em>

    "Mother, Father," Hanna said to her parents who both smiled at her encouragingly, then she sped her hands together tomand her shadow. Right now, only she and her parents were in the room in the hospital that she was confined. Moreover, she asked her father to create a strong Shadow Veil earlier. Thus, that room was a safe ce now. "It''s time for me to return to you the memories that I sealed for our n."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 187 - THE LOYALTY OF THE QUINZELS (1)

    <em><strong>[Temple of Alethea]</strong></em>

    "HANNA, why are we here?"

    Hanna turned around and faced her parents who looked anxious at the moment.

    And she knew exactly why.

    To be honest, asking her parents to go to the Temple of Alethea wasn''t on a whim. In fact, she arranged an engagement with the temple in advance. She used their family''s seal to make it look like that the letter came from her mother, the duchess.

    Yes, that could be considered a crime. But she knew that her parents would forgive her for doing that. Moreover, she had to do that because the room she booked in the temple wasn''t open to just anyone.

    "Sweetie, do you know what room is this?" her mother asked, obviously worried. "This is the Room of Truth."

    Theyout of the room was as simple as it sounded.

    It was the same as a standard prayer room that could be seen in temples. The only difference was there wasn''t any statue there.

    Instead of a statue, a huge round table made of marble was ced in the center of the room. There was a red table cloth on top of the table. Ah, there were also several spirit stones attached to the wall that served as a recement for torches. Thus, the room was well-lit.

    The only downside was the room was a little chilly since it was in the basement.

    "Even if we are a ducal family, we couldn''t have easily essed this room as soon as we came in. An appointment is required," his father said while giving her a suspicious look. "Hanna, did you use our family seal to send a letter to the temple?"

    Her mother gasped in surprise. "Hanna¡­"

    "Mother, Father, I apologize for using our family seal without your permission," she said, then she bowed politely to her parents. Then, she looked straight at her mother''s eyes. "Mother, I used your name when I sent the letter to the temple. I''m really sorry."

    "Sweetie, I''m not mad," her mother said. "But I want you to be honest with us. Why did you bring us here?"

    "I''ll exin everything well, Mother," she said, then she paused when she remembered something. "Please don''t punish George for giving me the seal. He doesn''t know what I used it for."

    George was their family''s head butler. To be honest, she had permission from her parents to use their family seal because they trusted her. But sending a letter to the temple while using her mother''s name was an entirely different matter.

    "We won''t punish George," her father said. "But like what your mother said, we want you to let us know the reason why you booked the Room of Truth."

    She nodded, then she looked at the door when someone knocked on it. "Let''s wait for High Priestess Alethea first."

    Her parents looked surprised by what she said.

    The name ''Alethea'' was inherited by every High Priestess that led the temple. The current Priestess Alethea was ady in her mid-thirties.

    But to be honest, the High Priestess wasn''t that influential. None of them was. In fact, the influence of the Temple of Alethea had only continued to decline over the years. One of the stupid reasons why the nobility refused to support the temple was due to the fact that it was led by a woman born in a poor baron family.

    Still, there was one significant reason why the Temple of Alethea was continuously supported by the Royal Family.

    "Greetings, Duke and Duchess Quinzel," High Priestess Alethea greeted her parents politely when she entered the room with a golden salver that came with a golden cover. Then, she turned to her and smile. "Greetings, Young Lady Hanna Quinzel."

    She bowed politely to the High Priestess. "Greetings, Your Eminence."

    It was already her third time seeing a priestess from that temple but she was still a little surprised. After all, the High Priestesses and the rest in the temple (except for the servants) had a unique appearance.

    High Priestess Alethea wore an all-ck robe with gold ents. Her hair was neatly tied in an elegant bun. She also wore a ck veil and a ck blindfold.

    Yes, all the priestesses in that temple wore ck blindfolds and they moved just fine.

    "I''ve prepared three Anwir Pills as you requested, Duke and Duchess Quinzel," High Priestess Alethea said, then she put the golden salver down on the table. After that, she lifted the golden cover to show them the te inside. And the te had three ck edible beans. Yes, those were the Anwir Pills. "Once an Anwir Pill is consumed, the person who ate it must proceed to dere their truth. If that person lied, they would die. But if they told the truth, the pill inside their body would turn into pure energy and disappearpletely."

    Her parents didn''t look shocked because the Anwir Pill''s effect was a piece ofmon knowledge in the Royal Capital.

    But of course, by this time, both his mother and father already looked anxious.

    "You may speak your truth in this roomfortably," High Priestess Alethea said. "I swear on Goddess Alethea''s name that no one and nothing else would hear the truth dered in the Room of Truth except for the confessor and the confessed."

    After saying that, the High Priestess bid them goodbye.

    Her parents politely thanks High Priestess Alethea, then they waited until the door closed before her mother and her father broke the heavy silence in the room.

    "Hanna Quinzel, exin," her father said sternly this time. "Why did you request Anwir Pills to the High Priestess? Do you know that those pills are only used by the empire to make criminals confess to their crimes?"

    Yes, that was true.

    And that was the only reason why the Royal Family allowed the Temple of Alethea to continue existing despite its declining influence. After all, the Anwir Pills could only be produced using the chosen High Priestess''s divine power.

    That was also the second reason why most of the nobility didn''t support the Temple of Alethea: they feared the Anwir Pills and wanted to discontinue its use.

    Of course, the temple doesn''t easily hand the pills just to anyone.

    In fact, she didn''t expect that the High Priestess would allow her family to have three pills when asking for one was already a hard task. But maybe the High Priestess wasn''t able to turn down a request from their biggest benefactor.

    Yes, under His Majesty''s order, House Quinzel never failed to give handsome donations to the Temple of Alethea.

    <em>His Majesty can''t do it himself to avoid criticisms.</em>

    "Hanna, your father is asking you a question," her mother scolded her. "Don''t ignore us."

    Instead of verbally responding to her parents, she just grabbed one of the Anwir Pills and swallowed it fast.

    "Hanna!" her parents yelled at the same time, both turned pale on the spot.

    When her mother and father began to run towards her, she raised her hand to stop them. Then, she spoke her first truth.

    "Regina Crowell is an enemy that wants to kill me, then rece me as the heiress of House Quinzel," she confessed bravely.

    Her mother dropped on the floor as if her knees suddenly weakened.

    Her father immediately got down on one knee to attend to her mother. But she could tell that her father was holding his breath.

    Fortunately, her parents didn''t have to worry for long.

    A few secondster after her first confession, a burst of blinding light engulfed her whole body. Of course, she got scared especially when her parents yelled her name again. But the light quickly vanished, leaving a fuzzy and warm feeling in her chest.

    <em>I''m safe.</em>

    She was about to grab another pill when all of a sudden, a cold hand grabbed her wrist. The grip wasn''t gentle, but it wasn''t also too tight. The strength used was just enough to keep her from grabbing the pill in front of her.

    When she looked down at her arm, she saw that the hand that grabbed her was her father''s shadow''s hand.

    She tried to grab the pills with her other hand but her father''s shadow beat her to it.

    <em>So fast.</em>

    "Hanna Quinzel, what in the world are you doing?" her father asked sternly while helping her mother get up. Her father didn''t raise his voice but the firmness in the way he talked was enough to scare her. She knew that her father wouldn''t hurt her, but it was normal for any kid to get anxious when they made their parents upset. "Are you trying to kill me and your mother by making us worry?"

    "Hanna, sweetie," her mother said, then she ran towards her. Then, she knelt and held her by the shoulders while checking her from head to toe. "Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?" When her mother raised her head while gently caressing her cheeks, she felt a pang of guilt when she saw how worried her mother was for her. "Hanna, why did you eat that pill? You''re not a criminal."

    "Your mother is right, Hanna," her father said, his shadow disappearing as he walked towards her. Then, he got down on one knee and gently patted her head. "Did you think that we wouldn''t believe you? Sweetie, you didn''t have to risk your life for that because whatever you say, your mother and I will believe you. We trust you, daughter. So please have a little more faith in us. Hmm?"

    She was so relieved to hear that she almost cried. But she held back her tears because she needed to exin to her parents first. "Thank you for trusting me, Mother, Father," she said softly. "I''m sorry for making you worry. I didn''t think that you''d believe my im because I don''t have proof. Thus, this is the only way that I came up with so you wouldn''t doubt my story."

    There was another reason why she decided to book the Room of Truth.

    She''d bring that upter.

    "Mother, you heard me, didn''t you?" she asked while looking at her mother. "Regina Crowell is an enemy that wants to kill me."

    Her mother looked devastated, then she nodded thoughtfully. "I heard you, Hanna."

    "Regina Crowell?" her father asked, then he turned to her mother. "Darling, isn''t she the child that you want to introduce to Hanna today? And if I remember correctly, the child came from a baron family that supports House Drayton."

    Her mother suddenly looked guilty. "Yes, that''s Regina Crowell," she said, then she turned to her. "Sweetie, who gave you that information?"

    "I will tell you but before that¡­" Hanna trailed off, then she turned to her father. "Father, will you please cover the entire room with your Shadow Veil?"

    Her father nodded seriously. "As you wish, sweetie."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 188 - THE LOYALTY OF THE QUINZELS (2)

    THERE wasn''t a single chair in the Room of Truth but it didn''t matter.

    Hanna''s father gathered the shadows of two of the pirs in the room. Then, he dropped it on the floor as if it was a log that fell on the ground. Yes, they sat on the shadows of the pirs as if they were ordinary benches.

    Her parents sat side-by-side while she sat on the shadow pir across from them.

    "Mother, Father, what I''m about to tell you is a secret that may get our whole family killed if it leaks out," Hanna said seriously. "After all, this is a secret that Princess Neoma told me herself."

    She addressed Neoma formally because of the gravity of the situation.

    Even her mother and father turned more serious.

    "But I have to tell you because it''s not a problem that children like us can handle on our own," she continued. "Princess Neoma can''t depend on His Majesty because Her Royal Highness believes that her rtionship with His Majesty is quite feeble. But we''re not like that. For that reason, I believe that we can depend on you, Mother and Father."

    "Of course, you can depend on us," her father assured her. "Your mother and I will protect that secret with our life."

    Her mother nodded firmly. "Please tell us the secret now, sweetie. My chest feels heavy right now because I was the one who brought Regina to our family."

    Her father put his arm around her mother''s shoulders and pulled her closer to his side.

    "It''s not your fault, Mother," she said tofort her mother. "Regina Crowell nned everything from the start. She got close to you on purpose. We don''t have proof but Princess Neoma and I believe that Regina Crowell has the ability to brainwash people." She clenched her tiny hands to calm herself down. "We also believe that she can use mind maniption on people with abundant Mana like our family."

    Her parents looked surprised by her revtion.

    "Mind maniption that works on higher nobles like us can be considered a high-level ability. To think that a child from a lower noble family could do that worries me even more," her father said worriedly. "But Hanna, how did Princess Neoma find out that Regina Crowell is out to get our family?"

    She clenched her hands again until her nails dug deep into her skin.

    Of course, she couldn''t tell her parents about Princess Neoma''s past lives. Thus, she needed to lie and make a believable story.

    To be honest, she was confident to ask for three Anwir Pills because she knew that her parents wouldn''t let her eat a second one. Yes, it was a part of her n to only eat one pill from the start. Asking for two more was just to create a drama.

    "This is what I was supposed to confess had I eaten the second pill," she lied calmly. It was scary that she could lie to her parents this way. She justified it by reminding herself that it was a ''white lie'' to save her family. It was her duty as the Quinzel heiress to do so. "Mother, Father, Princess Neoma actually had a vision."

    Once again, she lied.

    "It was a lengthy dream, to be precise," she said, engrossing her parents even more. Judging by the way they looked at her while listening intently to every single word that she said, it was safe to assume that they believed her. "In that dream, I died when I was eleven years old."

    Her father looked shocked while her mother covered her hands when she gasped aloud.

    "Apparently, my heart burst from using too much Mana," she continued, making her parents look worse. "After I died, Regina Crowell brainwashed Mother until Mother adopted her as the new daughter of House Quinzel."

    Her mother looked shocked by what she said.

    That was the reason why she couldn''t tell her parents that before that happened, Neoma was adopted into their family first. But she didn''t want her mother to feel awful for the way she treated the royal princess in the past. Thus, she decided to omit that from the story.

    "In that dream, Princess Neoma discovered that my heart burst from too much Mana because Regina Crowell attacked me," she continued. By this time, her parents lookedpletely devastated. "In short, Regina Crowell killed me to take my ce. Unfortunately, the dream ended so Princess Neoma doesn''t know what Regina Crowell''s purpose is."

    Both her mother and father looked too shocked to speak.

    "I know it''s hard to believe because it was only a dream," she said, nervous that her parents might find it hard to believe a dream. "But Princess Neoma and I got worried when Mother said that she met Regina Crowell just like in that dream¡­"

    "If it''s Princess Neoma''s dream, there''s no way we can''t believe it," her father said, surprising her. "Lady Mona Roseheart, the mother of Princess Neoma, was known for her visions in the past. And we have a personal experience regarding thete Lady Roseheart''s ability."

    She blinked in surprise. "Really, Father?"

    "I''m not lying, sweetie."

    Her mother nodded in agreement. "When I met Lady Roseheart in the Royal Pce a few months after your father and I got married, she congratted me for my pregnancy. But during that time, I didn''t even know that I was already pregnant. Lady Roseheart also predicted that I was going to give birth to a little girl with abundant Mana but a weak heart. Then, she gave me a rare medicine that would eventually help you." Her mother''s face turned red as if she was embarrassed. "I''m ashamed to admit this but during that time, I thought Lady Roseheart was cursing me to have a weak child. But when you got sick for the first time and no doctors or Healing Sages could relieve you of your chest pain, the only thing that saved you then was the medicine that Lady Roseheart gave me."

    She was amazed to hear that story. "I didn''t know that I owe Lady Roseheart my life¡­"

    Her father smiled and nodded. "That''s the reason why your mother and I swore that we will protect Prince Nero and Princess Neoma when Lady Roseheart passed away."

    Oh, she also didn''t know that.

    All this time, she thought her parents were loyal to the Royal Family to atone for her uncle Gavin Quinzel''s sins.

    But now, she knew that their loyalty was because of Lady Roseheart.

    "Princess Neoma may have inherited Lady Roseheart''s ability," her father concluded. "For that reason, we can''t ignore the dream that she had." Her father smiled at her even though his eyes were filled with worry. "Good job, Hanna. Your decision to tell us about that dream is a good decision. Now, we can protect you."

    "Sweetie, I''m so sorry," her mother said, her voice filled with guilt. "I almost led you to your death¡­"

    "It''s not your fault, Mother," she said firmly. "The only person that we should me here is Regina Crowell."

    "Our daughter is right, darling," her father said gently to her mother. "I will arrest Regina Crowell and make her confess the reason why she''s targeting our family."

    "Please don''t do that, Father," she pleaded. "I have a n."

    Both her parents turned to her at the same time. "What kind of n?"

    "I will let Regina Crowell kill me."

    "Hanna!" both her parents yelled worriedly at the same time.

    "My gut feeling tells me that Regina Crowell is going to try and kill me today," she said with clenched hands. "Mother, Father, I want her to do that but of course, I won''t let her kill me for real."

    This time, her parents looked really confused so she exined right away.

    "I want Regina Crowell to believe that she almost seeded in killing me," she said. "After that, I will pretend that I sustained a bad injury that will force you to send me to a temple in Gonora instead of an academy. I''m thinking of pretending to fall into aatose."

    "But why do you need to go that far, Hanna?" her mother asked, confused.

    "Because I want Regina Crowell to lower her guard," she said. "If she lowers her guard once she believes that I''m practically dead, she will leave me alone for the meantime. After all, she can easily rece me if I''m in a vegetate state without having to kill me."

    The look of protest was visible on her mother''s face.

    But on the other hand, her father was listening intently to her as if he could see what she was going for.

    Father can see the bigger picture¡­

    "Mother, if we make people believe that I am in a terrible state, you cane with me to Gonora without being criticized," she continued. "I doubt it if Regina Crowell will still go to Gonora after we made her believe that I''m barely alive. But if she does, then you can protect me, Mother."

    "But if Regina Crowell decides to stay in the empire and tries to get close with me instead, then I will wee her warmly," her father said, making her smile while making her mother frown. "Arresting Regina Crowell right now won''t benefit us since we don''t have evidence. Moreover, we don''t know yet who''s backing her up. But if we get close to her while she thinks that we don''t know her real intention is, then we can investigate her discreetly. We will find proof of her evil intentions towards House Quinzel, then catch the group behind her as well."

    She smiled and nodded. "That''s correct, Father. Princess Neoma also doesn''t want to let the enemies know yet that we''re aware of their ns."

    "I understand where you''reing from," her mother said worriedly. "But is it worth risking your life for that, Hanna?"

    "Regina Crowell is an adversary that I need to ovee if I want to be the Quinzel heiress and the future Crown Princess," she said firmly while looking at her mother straight in the eye. "Yes, a long-term n to catch and destroy Regina Crowell and her flock is worth the risk, Mother."

    Her mother let out a deep sigh. "I can''t stop you now, can I?"

    She smiled apologetically at her mother. "But I know that you and father won''t let me get killed."

    "Of course, we won''t," her father said sternly. "I will leave my shadow to you, Hanna. It will protect you whatever happens."

    "Father, can I ask for another favor?"

    "Of course, sweetie."

    "Can you ask your shadow to temporarily seal your memories of everything that we''ve talked about in this room?" she asked while looking at her father straight in the eye. "I want your reaction to whatever might happen to me to be as genuine as possible."

    "Hanna, even if we know what may happen to you, we will still lose our mind if your life is put in danger," her mother said, making her father nod in agreement.

    "I know that, Mother, Father," she said. "But we don''t know what Regina Crowell''s exact ability is. I want to protect your memories for that reason."

    Her mother and father turned to each other as if they were talking through their eyes. Then, her mother nodded. Only then did her father turn to her with a smile.

    "We will do as you say, Hanna," her father said. "But please be more careful."

    She smiled and nodded. "I will be more careful from now on, Father."

    "Hanna," her mother called her softly. "If it gets too dangerous, it''s okay to quit or give up for now. Your father and I will never let allow anyone to take you away from us."

    That warmed her heart.

    Hanna stood up, then she ran towards her parents who weed her in their warm arms. "Thank you, Mother, Father," she said, then she closed her eyes while savoring her parents'' warm and gentle embrace. "I love you."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "AND THAT was the memories that I asked you to seal, Father," Hanna said after she returned her parents'' memories. "Everything went ording to our n."

    Her parents looked shocked by what she said.

    Actually, they just didn''t look shocked. She saw how her mother and father''s face suddenly turn pale.

    "What are you saying, Hanna?" her father asked in a panicked voice that she rarely hears from him. "You being blown up by a magic bomb weren''t part of the n."

    She flinched, acknowledging the fact that her father was right.

    To be honest, she didn''t expect that Regina Crowell would use a magic bomb to kill her. She thought she would hire assassins to end her life or to force her to use her Mana just like what happened in Neoma''s first life.

    "Your shadow protected me, Father," she said in a hesitant voice. She was hesitant because she wasn''t certain of what happened to her after a magic bomb exploded on her face. But now that she was no longer disoriented, her memories were starting to get clearer. "I think I remember your shadow hugging me, Father. It moved faster than my own shadow. If it wasn''t for that, I think my body would have been blown up into tiny pieces."

    She didn''t expect that to happen but to be honest, the situation still favored her.

    "Mother, Father, there are only a few people who know that I survived without a scratch and I want to keep it that way," she said thoughtfully. "We have to make other people believe that my legs were amputated and I am barely alive. In that way, Regina Crowell will think that she seeded and it will be easier for her to enter our family given my condition." She smiled at her parents. "I''d like to think that what happened to me is a blessing in disguise."

    "Hanna, please don''t say things like that," her mother, whose face was as white as a paper right now, pleaded her with teary eyes. "We almost lost you¡­"

    That made her feel guilty. "I''m sorry for speaking carelessly, Mother."

    Her mother just nodded, her face still sad and worried.

    Her father wrapped her mother in a tight embrace. "Darling, our Hanna is safe now."

    Her mother nodded again even though she was still on the verge of crying. "Princess Neoma saved our daughter just like what Lady Roseheart did in the past."

    "It seems like we''re once again indebted to the Royal Family," her father said with a faint smile on her face.

    "We''re indebted to Lady Roseheart and Neoma, not the entire Royal Family," she gently corrected her father, surprising both her parents. But she didn''t back down. "Mother, Father, I decided to follow Neoma until the end."

    Once again, her parents looked shocked.

    "I thought you''d follow Prince Nero," her mother said.

    That remark made her blush.

    "I know that Nero will follow Neoma anyway," she said. "But even if it isn''t the case, I believe my heart will still follow Neoma."

    She liked Nero and she had desires to be the future Crown Princess.

    But she knew that feelings change, and so do ambitions.

    Still, having said that, something in her heart was telling her that her desire to follow Neoma wouldn''t waver. For some reason, she was drawn to the royal princess. And she wanted to be her source of strength.

    "You''re our one and only heiress, Hanna," her father said seriously. "If you choose to support Princess Neoma, we will follow you."

    Her mother nodded in agreement. "We wouldn''t hesitate to support the person that saved our precious daughter."

    Hanna smiled, relieved that her parents epted her decision without questioning her too much. "Thank you for trusting me, Mother and Father."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "NEOMA, why¡­" Niki began to say but he trailed off while looking at Neoma''s sleeping face. His daughter was literally glowing at the moment. Howe he didn''t notice her Moonglow before? "Why do you have that?"

    It was something that supposedly could only be possessed by the emperor and his heir.

    Thus, Nero should be the one who inherited his Moonglow because his son was the real Crown Prince.

    He felt a chill down his spine when realization dawned upon him.

    First, Yule''s Tears worked on Neoma. Now, she was emitting a glow that a royal princess wasn''t supposed to have. Those things confirmed his fear.

    <em>Neoma is the chosen heiress to the throne¡­</em>

    His thoughts were distracted when he felt a pang in his chest. Then, the next thing he knew, he was already coughing blood.

    To say that he was shocked would be an understatement.

    "Neoma, you¡­" Niki said in a weak voice while covering his bloody mouth with his now blood-covered hand. "You''re stealing my Moonglow."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 189 - FIRST HUG~

    GLENN cleared his throat, then he announced the thing that would definitely stop Ruto and Lewis Crevan from their silly fight. "His Royal Highness Prince Nero has awakened."

    Lewis Crevan instantly turned to him, then he bowed and left the scene fast.

    Now he was alone with the young chef.

    <em>Lewis almost flew, huh?</em>

    "Sir Glenn."

    He immediately faced the young chef. "Yes, Ruto?"

    "The weird birds are all gone now," Ruto reported to him. "You can take care of the rest, can''t you?"

    "Leave it to me," he said confidently. "Thank you for helping us save the Crown Prince, Ruto. We owe you big time."

    The young boy just looked at him, clearly spacing out again.

    He couldn''t help but smile at the young chef.

    <em>This is why His Majesty is fond of Ruto. The child is strong but he''s not interested in other things outside his kitchen. Most of all, he doesn''t ask questions.</em>

    Just like now.

    Ruto didn''t ask about William or why ''Prince Nero'' was attacked. He just did his noble duty and saved the Crown Prince without prying into the royal affairs.

    "Sir Glenn, does the Crown Prince''s pceck funds?"

    He almost choked when he heard the young chef''s question. "What do you mean by that, Ruto? As far as I know, the Crown Prince''s budget is abundant."

    <em>If His Majesty heard Ruto''s question, he''d be offended.</em>

    To be honest, Princess Neoma''s budget for her pce kept on increasing every year. It was probably because of His Majesty''s growing fondness for his daughter. But he would bet his entire fortune that the emperor wouldn''t admit it.

    "Then, why are the employees staying in the same quarter?" the young chef asked. "Shouldn''t be they separated by gender?"

    He was confused.

    As far as he knew, there were separate quarters for the male and female servants in every pce.

    "I have a friend working in the Crown Prince''s pce," Ruto said. "Her name is Miss Ramsay. While we were talking using amunicator device, I heard Lewis Crevan''s voice in the background. When I asked Miss Ramsay about it, she said he is her friend and the other employees in the pce are sharing the same quarter as her."

    Okay, that gave him a headache.

    He already figured out that Princess Neoma was ''Miss Ramsay.'' But he still didn''t fully understand what upsets Ruto.

    <em>I should consult Princess Bridgette about this.</em>

    Ah, yes.

    He and the first princess of the Hazelden Kingdom were constantly talking to each other via letters and sometimes, they would use amunicator device to see and hear each other.

    "Sir Glenn, can I give my personal funds to Prince Nero so he''d built a separate quarter for thedies serving his pce?"

    "Ruto, calm down," he told the child, then heughed awkwardly. "I think you should talk to Miss Ramsay and clear the misunderstanding. I''m pretty sure that the male and female employees of the Crown Prince''s pce have separate quarters."

    "Ah, yes. It must be a misunderstanding," Ruto said, his face lighting up for some reason. "Then, I guess I have no choice but to meet Miss Ramsay, right?"

    Glenn tilted his head to one side, confused. "How did the conversation go that way, Ruto?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOUR MAJESTY, I have returned¡­" Glenn trailed off, then his personal knight''s eyes widened in shock when he turned around. "Your Majesty, what happened?!"

    Niki just calmly pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, then wiped the blood off his mouth and hand. "Don''t raise your voice, Glenn," he scolded the knight. "Neoma fell asleep again after Madam Hammock and the head maid changed her clothes."

    "May I know what happened, Your Majesty?" Glenn asked worriedly, his voice lower and softer now. "This is the first time that I''ve seen you bleed like that."

    To be honest, he also didn''t know what happened.

    All he knew was staying near Neoma drained his Moonglow, aka divine energy. While doing so, his daughter''s recovery went faster than normal.

    <em>It seems like Neoma unconsciously absorbed my divine energy to recuperate.</em>

    But he couldn''t say that to Glenn. He knew that his personal knight was fond of Neoma. But if Glenn would choose between him and his daughter, he would bet his life that Glenn would choose him over the royal princess.

    "Don''t make a big deal out of this," he scolded Glenn. "Go and ask my butler to bring me a set of new clothes."

    "Your Majesty, are you sure that I don''t need to call Lord Marcus?"

    Marcus was his personal Healing Sage.

    "No, I''m fine. I just used too much Mana when I used Calypso against William earlier," he lied with a straight face. "Glenn, your loyalty is annoying."

    The knight justughed it off. "If His Majesty can still be this grumpy, then I have nothing to worry about that."

    He didn''t know whether to re or roll his eyes at Glenn''s remark.

    In the end, he just stared at the knight dreadfully.

    Glenn cleared his throat when he probably realized that he was on the verge of getting fired, then he bowed politely to him. "I''ll return quickly with your new set of clothes, Your Majesty."

    He just nodded.

    Then, finally, the room was quiet again¡­

    "Little Niki, are you going to kill Princess Neoma?"

    ¡­ or so he thought.

    He turned around to find Gale seated on the bedside table. "No," he said. "I have no reason to kill Neoma."

    "You have," Gale insisted. "You already realized that the royal princess is stealing your Moonglow, didn''t you?"

    "I was surprised but it''s pretty normal for the Crown Prince to steal the Moonglow of the current emperor," he said. "It''s like a countdown to ascending the throne."

    He also stole his father''s Moonglow before he ousted the previous emperor.

    "Princess Neoma isn''t your heir, little Niki," the Wind Spirit reminded him.

    "I know that," he said, then he sighed. "But it seems like Yule forced my daughter to take the path of an empress."

    "An empress like Juliet?"

    "Juliet became an empress because she was married to me," he said while shaking his head. "But Neoma, for some reason, ''needs'' to be an empress in her own right."

    "Will you allow that to happen?"

    He fell silent before he gave the Wind Spirit a response. "I have done everything I could to dim Neoma''s glow. To be honest, even now, I still don''t want her to be an empress. I saw how that position made Juliet wither and less kind. What more if Neoma bes the empress regnant?" He let out another deep sigh. "But Neoma already made that choice. I have a feeling that I don''t have the power to change it."

    "This is a pleasant surprise," Galemented brightly. "I really thought you''re going to oppose it."

    "Neoma wouldn''t change her mind on a whim," Niki said, then he turned to his sleeping daughter. "She wouldn''t take the throne without a proper reason so I want to listen to her first."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "I FEEL refreshed!" Neoma said brightly while twirling around in front of a full-length mirror. "I''m really the best version of myself when I''m wearing a dress!" After she was full from admiring her ''true form'' (aka her beautiful version as a princess with long hair and a pretty dress), she turned around and faced her Papa Boss who had a bored look on his face while watching her. "Papa Boss, I think I''ll be a bad child soon."

    Emperor Niki raised a brow at her. "You were never a good child, Neoma."

    "I''m good to everyone except you and Count Kyle Sprouse, Papa Boss," she said, then she sat on the sofa across from her father. Only she and her father were in the room. Lewis and Sir Glenn weren''t also guarding the door because apparently, the two had to clean some mess outside. "Anyway, how''s Hanna?"

    "Hanna Quinzel is in good condition now," her father said. "But Rufus requested to keep it a secret from the public. So as of right now, everyone believes that the Quinzel heiress is on the verge of death."

    Her brows furrowed in confusion. She didn''t understand why Duke Quinzel made such a request.

    <em>I''ll just ask Hannater.</em>

    "Let''s talk about what you said when you woke up a while ago because Kyle will fetch meter," the emperor said. "I need to address the public regarding the bombing incident. Since a lot of nobles were hurt in the incident, the Royal Family is being heavily criticized right now."

    "Don''t I need toe with you, Papa Boss?"

    "You need to rest," he said, then he sipped his tea again. "I''m giving you a week off, Neoma. And during your short vacation, you don''t have to pretend as Nero. I''m allowing you to be disguise yourself as ''Miss Ramsay'' as long as you don''t get caught."

    She was delighted to hear that, but she was also quite scared.

    Papa Boss acting nice to her would always seem suspicious to her. After all, despite getting close to him for the past few years, she still couldn''t trust her fatherpletely.

    "Papa Boss, this is not a trap, isn''t it?" she asked worriedly. "You''re not going to kill me after I dere that I need to be the empress, are you?"

    He let out a deep breath before he responded. "I''m not dumb and I know Yule very well. He won''t bring you back in perfect condition without asking something big in return. So be honest with me, Neoma. He asked you to be the empress in exchange for fixing your body, didn''t he?"

    Thank goodness her father was being rational today.

    "You''re right, Papa Boss," she said. "Lord Yule also asked me to retrieve his eyes and destroy the cult."

    Her father frowned. "Yule is asking too much from a child."

    "''Grandfather,''" she said while trying to act innocent. "Papa Boss, Lord Yule asked me to remind you to call you ''grandfather'' again."

    The emperor looked surprised and confused, then his face turned red.

    <em>Oh my gosh! Mama Boss, now I understand why you chose Papa Boss. His embarrassed look is so adorable!</em>

    Papa Boss cleared his throat, then he turned his gaze away from him. "Grandfather may have gone senile due to old age."

    Her jaw dropped when her father called Yule ''grandfather!''

    She heard from Yule that her Papa Boss used Yule''s Tears to heal her. Apparently, her father also prayed and promised to call the Moon God ''grandfather'' if she woke up in a good condition.

    To be honest, she didn''t expect that her father would fulfill his promise.

    <em>Papa Boss did that for me?</em>

    She didn''t want to say this but she was genuinely touched. She wasn''t really craving for Papa Boss''s love but still, it felt nice to feel that he cared for her. Did her charm finally work on her father?

    <em>Well, it''s about time.</em>

    "Papa Boss, can I hug you?"

    She only realized what she said when she heard her own voice.

    <em>Damn.</em>

    Her Papa Boss looked shocked by her request.

    At first, she thought he was either going to scold her or make fun of her so she braced herself. But none of that happened.

    Instead, his father just stirred his tea with a soft look on his face.

    "Do what you want," her Papa Boss said in a gentle yet firm voice. "It''s not like I can stop you anyway."

    She grinned at her father''s attitude.

    <em>What a tsundere!</em>

    Well, since Papa Boss didn''t hate her request and she also didn''t want the opportunity to go to waste, she stood up and sat beside her father. But the emperor didn''t seem like he wanted to move to make it easier for her to hug him. So of course, she had to do it herself.

    She wrapped her arms around her father''s slim waist.

    At first, she felt him stiffen in his seat. Poor Papa Boss might have been deprived of physical intimacy for too long. Fortunately, he eventually rxed.

    <em>Gosh. For someone who has a cold heart, Papa Boss''s body is warm.</em>

    Her father also smelled good.

    She didn''t expect that she''d befortable hugging her father to the point that she closed her eyes and almost fell asleep.

    But she was suddenly awakened when she heard something crashing on the floor. When she opened her eyes, she gasped aloud when she realized that her father dropped the teacup. And worst of all, her Papa Boss fell unconscious on the sofa!

    "Papa Boss!" she yelled while shaking her father''s shoulders. She gulped and got really nervous when he saw the emperor''s pale face. There were also beads of sweat on his forehead. "Papa Boss, please wake up!"

    When she heard the door open, she felt relieved because she thought it was either Lewis or Sir Glenn.

    But it was neither.

    "Princess Neoma, what did you do to His Majesty?"

    She didn''t like the usation that she heard in that voice.

    When Neoma turned in the direction of the door, she scowled when she realized that it was Count Kyle Sprouse¨C her number one ''anti-fan.''

    <em>Shit.</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 190 - PAPA BOSS AND MAMA BOSS

    <strong></strong>"DID YOU just ask me what I ''did'' to my father, Lord Sprouse?" Neoma confronted Count Kyle Sprouse. "That''s the first thing you asked after you saw His Majesty unconscious? Because if I were you, the first thing I''d ask is what happened and if His Majesty is alright¨C not use the familiar presence beside him. Am I a stranger to you, Lord Sprouse?"

    She was usually chill even if the count was rude to her because she was a cool celebrity who knows how to handle anti-fans.

    But she didn''t like what the count had implied with his question a while ago.

    If other people had heard Count Sprouse, they would think that the count saw her kill the emperor or something. She had been struggling to survive in the pce for the past few years so she was sensitive when ites to things that may endanger her current position.

    "That''s not my intention, Princess Neoma," Count Sprouse said, then he bowed to her. "I apologize if my words offended you."

    "If your words offended me?" she asked, then she smirked. "And now you''re gaslighting me. You make it sound as if I''m just overreacting."

    The count flinched, then he raised his head to meet her gaze but it seemed like he didn''t know what to say.

    "If you''re going to apologize, just say you''re sorry," she told him sternly.

    He bowed again. "I will remember that, Your Royal Highness."

    "You better," she said, then she turned her back on the count. "My father suddenly copsed. Call his doctor."

    "As you wish, Your Royal Highness," Count Sprouse said in a more polite tone. "I''ll return quickly."

    After saying goodbye to her, the count finally left the room.

    Neoma sat down beside her Papa Boss and tried waking him up again. But her mind was already somewhere else. And yes, she was upset.

    <em>Papa Boss already epted me so why can''t Count Sprouse do the same?</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    "NIKOLAI, wake up."

    As soon as Niki opened his eyes, he realized right away that he was in a dream.

    Why else would he wake up in his old bed with the ever-beautiful Mona, dressed in a pristine white dress, beside him? He had already destroyed the bedroom where he and his lover conceived the twins. Moreover, he could never forget the fact that she was already long gone.

    It was too painful for him to forget.

    "If you want me to stop loving you, then stop showing up in my dreams, Mona," Niki said, then he gently grabbed Mona''s wrist to stop her from ying with his hair. "If you keep on doing this, then I''d rather die and just stay here with you."

    Mona was a Roseheart.

    Showing up in his dreams as if she was still alive was something that her n could do. But if he remembered it correctly, this was the first time that she showed up in his dream like this.

    Mona smiled sadly at him. "You have to return to our children, Niki."

    He let go of her wrist, then he leaned down to bury his face against her slender neck. As soon as he sniffed in his lover''s familiar sweet scent, he closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around her slim waist. If possible, he wouldn''t let go of her.

    Never again.

    In the past, even in his dreams, he was angry at Mona. But he was too exhausted to hate her now. He''d rather be honest with his feelings this time.

    "Your spell didn''t work," he said softly, kissing the side of her neck tenderly. "I still love you. And it seems like I have started loving our children as well."

    "You''re really stupid, Niki," she said in a cracked voice while gently hitting his back with her fists. Mona was physically stronger than most people. The fact that her punches were light obviously meant that she wasn''t trying to hurt him. "Stupid. Stupid. Stupid."

    He smiled at her childish tone. "When ites to you, yes, I''m stupid."

    "I broke your heart."

    "My heart is yours," he said. "You can do whatever you want with it and I still wouldn''t hate you for it."

    This time, she sobbed loudly. "I don''t deserve your love. I hurt you." She paused to take a deep breath before she continued in a broken voice. "I betrayed and abandoned you."

    "I know now why you abandoned me, Mona. Why you only brought Neoma when you tried to escape from me," he said, then he pulled away from embracing her to raise his head and look at her straight in the eye. "Neoma is going to kill me, isn''t she?"

    The tears in her eyes were a loud response to his question.

    "The Crown Prince is meant to steal the Moonglow of the emperor because the Moonglow is the symbol of the emperor''s blessing from the Moon God," he said while caressing Mona''s cheek. "The sessor wouldn''t kill the predecessor by stealing their Moonglow though. But for some reason, Neoma is also stealing my life force."

    It was strange and he was curious to know the reason why his daughter was unconsciously killing him. But for now, he could onlye up with one usible conclusion: Neoma was born to bring a drastic change to the empire.

    "I''m sorry, Niki," Mona said between sobs, then she cupped his face between her warm hands. "I''m sorry for giving birth to the child who will take your life away."

    Ah, he was right.

    If he found out a few years ago that Neoma wasn''t only a threat to Nero''s position but also to his life, then maybe he would consider getting rid of his daughter. But a lot of things had changed now.

    Fist and foremost, he didn''t hate Neoma anymore.

    "Don''t apologize for giving birth to Neoma," he said while shaking his head. "She''d curse at you if she heard you say that."

    She blinked in disbelief. "Our daughter¡­ would curse at me?"

    He nodded. "I know that you''re shocked but our daughter inherited your love for swear words. But unfortunately, she isn''t as eloquent as you, Mona. She calls me ''scumbag.''"

    She fell silent for a while, then she burst outughing. "I want to be upset that our daughter calls her father ''scumbag'' but Neoma isn''t wrong. You can really be obnoxious, Niki. You have no idea how many times I stopped myself from cursing you to get bald every time we fought in the past. Thankfully, my love for your beautiful face outweighs my anger back then."

    He just rolled his eyes. "Neoma also inherited your obsession with good-looking people."

    "I''m not obsessed with good-looking people," she denied firmly. "Your face is the only face I''m obsessed with, Niki."

    <em>Then, why did you leave me for Gavin Quinzel, Mona?</em>

    That was the question that he didn''t dare voice out.

    He didn''t want to ruin this moment.

    And moreover, he didn''t care anymore. In this dream, Mona was his. That was all that mattered to him right now.

    "Niki, don''t you resent Neoma?"

    "I don''t," he said in a sincere voice that even he couldn''t believe. "I can no longer feel hatred for our children, Mona. I don''t mind giving up my Moonglow or my life force if it means saving Neoma."

    Mona smiled warmly at him. Yet, he still saw sadness and guilt in her eyes. "You''re rushing to your death to follow me, aren''t you?"

    He couldn''t deny that.

    "I won''t die until our children are strong enough to protect themselves," he promised her instead of directly answering her question. "I won''t die until the two of them can lead the empire and live the life that they want at the same time."

    "The two of them leading the empire?"

    "Neoma and Nero are strong individuals, but they are stronger when together because they are twins," he exined. "Both of our children have the right to the throne."

    Well, technically not because right now, thew dictates that only male heirs could inherit the throne.

    But that was about to change soon.

    He was pretty sure that once Nero heard that Neoma needed to be an empress, his son would do everything to change thew and help his twin sister sit on the throne.

    When that dayes, he wouldn''t stop Nero. In fact, he might even help his son. After all, he still had the power of an emperor as of now.

    "Fortunately, I know that Neoma and Nero won''t kill each other for the throne," he said. "I trust them. I''m certain that our children will figure out a way to lead the empire together. I will make sure that I''m still alive to see that day so don''t worry too much, Mona. I have our twins to live for."

    Her smile grew wider and her eyes sparkled even more. "Thank you, Niki," she said softly. Then, her face suddenly turned crestfallen again. "Niki, I can''t say much but please protect Neoma. I know that I may sound unfair to Nero but I know that our son is well-protected. After all, he''s the first male child born in House Roseheart. He will easily gain the favor of the Spirit World just like William."

    He already knew that.

    Nero was a genius. On top of that, he was the first male child of House Roseheart after a long time. His son was bound to walk the rosy path the moment he was born.

    But Neoma¡­

    "However, our Neoma wasn''t born with the same privileges as her twin brother," she said in a sad voice. "You know that the Crow appears every time a royal princess is born, don''t you?"

    He nodded firmly. "Neoma once said that she saw a ck crow with red eyes in her dream."

    "Don''t let the crows break our Neoma the way they broke thete Princess Nichole," she pleaded to him with tears in her eyes. "Please, Niki. Do everything to protect our daughter."

    He nodded and put his hand on top of hers. "I won''t let the crows touch even a strand of our daughter''s hair, Mona."

    She looked relieved to hear that. "Thank you, Niki."

    After saying that, her body began to turn translucent.

    "No¡­" he said weakly, then he gently grabbed her hands. "Don''t leave yet, Mona."

    "I''m sorry but I can''t stay for long, Niki," she said with a sad smile on her face. "Please tell Nero and Neoma to always be kind and loving to each other."

    "I will," he promised. "Will you visit me again?"

    Mona just smiled sadly, then she lifted his hand near her mouth and kissed his knuckles. "Take care of yourself, Niki," she said, then she raised her head. This time, her smile wasn''t sad. It was bright and warm. "I leave our children in your care."

    Niki gently grabbed Mona''s face, then he closed his eyes and leaned down to kiss her.

    Unfortunately, before his lips touched hers, she disappeared from his grasp.

    <strong>***</strong>

    "PAPA BOSS!"

    Niki woke up with a stinging cheek.

    When he opened his eyes, Neoma (with her small hand frozen in mid-air) greeted her with a relieved smile.

    "Good morning, Papa Boss," Neoma, seated beside him, said brightly. "How are you feeling?"

    Niki looked at Neoma''s hand before he turned to hiss daughter''s face. He could clearly see the panic and guilt in her ash-gray eyes. "Did you just p me?"

    "I''m just trying to wake you up, Papa Boss. I swear I have no ill-intention this time. I''m sorry," she said while hiding her sinful right hand behind her back. "Did it hurt?"

    "As if your tiny hand can hurt me," he said, his cheek still swelled from his daughter''s p.

    Then, he got up.

    That was when he realized that they were alone in his bedroom.

    "Marcus said that you just need to rest, Papa Boss. He left to brew medicinal tea for you," his daughter exined. "On the other hand, Count Sprouse left and said he''d attend the meeting with the nobles regarding the bombing incident in your ce. Sir Glenn is currently dealing with the nobles who came to your pce without an appointment. It seems like most of them are parents and families of the nobles who fell victims to the bombing incident." She paused and scowled before she continued. "They are led by Duke Drayton. Apparently, Rubin is one of the victims."

    He already expected this kind of thing to happen considering how big the bombing incident was. Especially since most of the victims were nobles.

    "I sent Lewis to my pce to fetch Stephanie and Alphen," she continued. "Since you need to rest, I n to appease the public in your stead, Papa Boss. Count Sprouse will fetch me after his meeting with the nobles."

    "Don''t be ridiculous, Neoma," he said. "I was just a little exhausted after using my divine energy a lot today. But I''m fine now. It''s you who should be resting. You''re going to have a week off and that''s an order."

    "You don''t look fine, Papa Boss," his daughter argued while pouting. "You were murmuring in your sleep. It looks like you were having a bad dream."

    "Mona showed up in my dream."

    Her face lit up. "Mama Boss did?"

    "She told me to tell you to always be kind and caring to Nero."

    "I''m already doing that," she said cheerfully. "Nero and I are really close."

    "Mona also told me to tell you that you should be kinder to me¨C your father."

    "I bet my big brains that Mama Boss didn''t say that," sheined firmly. "And I''m already kind to you, Papa Boss."

    Well, that was somehow true.

    She doesn''t curse at me these days.

    "You may leave now, Neoma," he said, changing the topic because he wasn''t ready to have a sentimental conversation with his daughter yet. "I need to get back to work. I''ll ask Rufuster to secretly bring you to his mansion to meet Hanna Quinzel."

    She smiled brightly, her resemnce with Mona more evident now. "Papa Boss, as of this moment, you''re my best father ever!"

    Niki raised a brow that. "I''m your only father in the world, Neoma."

    Neoma just smiled awkwardly at him.

    <em>What''s with the strange silence?</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 191 - #GIRLBOSS MOVES ONLY

    <strong></strong>"LEWIS, am I pretty again?" Neoma asked Lewis once they were alone in her personal training area¨C the man-made forest behind her pce. Since she was dressed as ''Miss Ramsay'' (her hair and eye color were brown thanks to Madam Hammock''s potion), she was being careful not to be seen by other people). "Lord Yule did a good job returning my body back to normal."

    Lewis nodded while looking at her intently. "Princess Neoma is never not pretty."

    "Aigoo, my son is good at giving praises now, huh?"

    "I''m not your¨C"

    "You are," she said, cutting him off whileughing softly. When Lewis scowled, she changed the topic right away. "Mochi and Marvin arete."

    Yesterday was such a hectic day for everyone.

    After Papa Boss recovered, he began to attend meetings and address the public with her.

    Yes, with her.

    Despite her father''s earlier protest, she still insisted that they had to face the public together to avoid scrutiny. They issued an apology to the victims and to the citizens who were disappointed by what happened. Then, they mentioned how the victims would bepensated. And finally, they promised to catch the perpetrators.

    The task of dealing with theining nobles was left to her father who apparently said the following words in a chilly voice: [We already apologized and promised to give youpensation. What else do you want me to do? Kneel and beg?]

    After the emperor said that, the nobles stoppedining altogether.

    She (dressed as the Crown Prince, of course), on the other hand, went to Evangeline Hospital to personally visit the survivors and thanked every single hospital staff for working hard.

    It was unprecedented for a Crown Prince to do that. Thankfully, her Papa Boss didn''t stop her. They had topromise though. The emperor allowed her to visit the hospital with a squad of royal knights led by Sir Glenn. Moreover, she was only allowed to stay for an hour.

    To be honest, an hour wasn''t enough. But fortunately, she was able to assure the survivors that everything would be alright. Plus, she also boosted the morale of the whole hospital staff that had been overworked because of the big incident.

    Of course, she didn''t do that just to increase her poprity as the Crown Prince. She really wanted to do that tofort the victims and their loved ones.

    Unfortunately, Hanna was already out of the hospital so she didn''t meet her.

    <em>Well, I can visit House Quinzelter anyway.</em>

    "Princess Neoma, did we make you wait?"

    Her train of thought was cut off when she heard Mochi''s voice. When she raised her head to where the voice came from, she smiled when she saw the white bunny floating in the air.

    The Wind Spirit wasn''t alone.

    She was surprised to see a rainbow toad seated on top of Mochi''s body. It was the first time that she saw that toad, but the energying from it was familiar.

    "Marvin?" she asked, wondering if the toad was really the beautiful merman that she summoned a few days ago. "Is that you?"

    "Yes, Master," Marvin said in an excited voice. "Mochi helped me transform into a different species so I could have a physical body. But I can always go back as a merman if I want to."

    "I''m happy for you, Marvin!"

    "Master, I have a favor."

    "Tell me."

    "Please give me a new name," Marvin said softly. "I want my new life to begin by receiving a name from my master."

    "Oh," she said, then she scratched her cheek. "I don''t really mind but are you sure? What if you don''t like it?"

    "That can''t be, Master," the merman (now a toad) said. "I will ept any name you give me with a grateful heart."

    "Are you really sure?"

    "I am, Master."

    "Then, starting today, you''re ''Soju,''" she said brightly. "Your green skin reminds me of soju."

    ''Soju'' had other colors but his base skin was green, and green never failed to remind her of a soju bottle. It was her favorite alcoholic drink back in her second life. She used to drink it like water as soon as she turned twenty years old in that world.

    "Soju sounds great, Master," Soju said in a pleased voice. "But I haven''t heard of that name during my long life. Could it be a word from Snian Language¨C the deadnguage that the Royal Family used to speak?"

    "You can say that," she lied smoothly. "Soju means ''a person that frees one from worries.''"

    That was bullshit, of course.

    But in her second life, she would drink soju whenever she wanted to forget about her worries. She hoped that the merman would be something like that in her life.

    "The name you gave me is so meaningful and deep, Master," Soju said in a voice filled with gratitude. "Thank you."

    She gave him a thumbs-up, her heart heavy with guilt. "No problem, Soju."

    The toad hopped high enough until itnded on her shoulder.

    "Princess Neoma, shall we begin?" Mochi asked after the matter with Soju''s new name was solved. "Soju and I will lend your our Spirit Energy. The more Spirit Energy you have, the further your voice will reach."

    "Thanks," she said cheerfully, then she cracked her knuckles. "I can''t kill William but I can annoy the hell out of him as payback for what she did to my beautiful face and hair."

    She knew very well that she needed William to find her Mama Boss.

    But she still needed to have revenge against that scumbag.

    "Princess Neoma, summoning William wasn''t an easy feat. You did a very good job," Mochi praised her in a proud voice. "Moreover, William has been in hiding ever since hisst fight with Niki, right after Mona passed away. I tried to look for him but to no avail. I''m sure that not even the Spirit World knows where William has hidden his physical body for the past few years. The fact that you found where he was currently hiding is proof that the Roseheart Blood in you is just as strong."

    Neoma smiled widely, happy to receive apliment from the great Wind Spirit. "I did it once so I''m sure I can do it again," she said confidently. "Now, let''s proceed to our n."

    <strong>***</strong>

    WHAT THE hell are you doing in my territory?"

    Yule smiled at Trevor, the poor boy who was turned into the Devil''s Grimoire after being sacrificed by his family. "I won''t stay long, Trevor Kesser."

    Trevor, upon hearing his family name, flinched but didn''t say anything.

    Anyway, it was easier for him to infiltrate the young demon''s territory thanks to Saint Dominic Zavaroni. Since the saint lent Trevor his strength to protect the territory from being invaded by the Devil, the divine energy around it didn''t reject him.

    After all, the saint''s divine power came from him.

    "I won''t stay long," he said to the young demon, then he walked towards the bed and looked down at the sleeping prince. "Oh," he said when he realized something, then he turned to Trevor who was now floating in the air in a lotus position. "Where is Nero''s soul?"

    Trevor sighed before he responded. "That genius of a monster was summoned by the Spirit World. Will he really be okay? Since there are very few recorded documents regarding male Rosehearts, I''m afraid I don''t know much about Prince Nero''s ability."

    "If Nero was summoned by the Spirit World, then he must be safe," he assured the young demon. "The Spirit World won''t hurt a male Roseheart. Think of Nero as the new William."

    "Oh, that makes sense," the young demon said. "Are you going to wait for Prince Nero to return?"

    "No," he said while shaking his head, then he turned to the young prince''s physical body. "I only need to bless Nero anyway."

    "Huh? You came all the way here just to do that?"

    He smiled, then he sat on the bed and put his hand on Nero''s forehead. Blessing the young prince was simple. He just had to increase his divine energy so his body wouldn''t easily get sick. It wouldn''t purify the curse in his body right away. But the divine energy that Nero got from him directly would speed up the process a little. "Well, I can''t say no to Ne-Ne''s request."

    "Don''t tell me you''re referring to Princess Neoma, my Moon Princess?"

    He justughed softly as confirmation.

    "Argh!" the young demonined. "That''s a horrible nickname!"

    <em>Nero, don''t get in Ne-Ne''s way</em>, he said to himself after he blessed the young prince. <em>You''re just a pir while Ne-Ne is the temple.</em>

    "What are you nning, old man?"

    He turned to the young demon with a raised brow. "Excuse me?"

    "You''re an old man so don''tin," the young demon said. "Why are you getting close to Princess Neoma? You''re the one who founded the cult that kills royal princesses."

    "I didn''t build the group for that purpose," he exined calmly. "I want the cult to end just as much as you, Trevor Kesser. For that reason, I need you to be Ne-Ne''s strength. After all, you''re the Contractor¨C one of the pirs that are meant to be the temple''s foundation."

    "I will protect Princess Neoma because I want to and not because you asked me to."

    He smiled sadly at the young boy. "I didn''t expect you to be this hostile to me."

    Trevor smirked bitterly at him. "May I remind the Almighty Lord Yule that he is the reason why the Devil that we know right now exists?"

    Ah, that was the story that he purposely didn''t share with Neoma.

    Yule took a deep breath, then he summoned his transportation spell because he was all ready to leave the territory. "Say ''hi'' to the devil for me, Trevor Kesser," he said while his body was slowly vanishing in a blinding light. "Don''t die until you be useful to Ne-Ne."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA OPENED her eyes and smirked when she realized that she seeded.

    After all, she found herself in the same ce where she found William before. Thankfully, this time, Uncle Scumbag was nowhere in sight. But the Grand Spirit''s unique Mana lingered in the air, which told her that she got into the right ce.

    <em>Gosh, thisnd is really as barren as Trevor''s territory.</em>

    Yes. Instead of summoning William, she sent her soul in Uncle Scumbag''s ce that she saw in her vision. Surprisingly, it was easier for her to do than summoning Spirits. ording to Mochi, that might be her strongest point as a Summoner.

    <em>Anyway¡­</em>

    She wasn''t worried because Lewis was guarding her physical body.

    Moreover, Mochi and Soju were there to wake her up if needed.

    "Tteokbokki," Neoma said. "Come out."

    A small ball of red me came out of her chest unannounced.

    Then, a few secondster, the ball of fire transformed into Tteokbokki''s dragon form. Yeah, therge version.

    "Wow, Tteokbokki, you look like a real dragon now," she teased her Soul Beast while looking up at him.

    Tteokbokki huffed while literally looking down at her. "I''m a real dragon, thug princess."

    Sheughed, then she put a hand on what she assumed to be Tteokbokki''s belly. As expected, his dragon skin was hard and rough. "Tteokbokki, run wild," she told him. "Burn everything to ashes."

    Tteokbokki made a sound as if he justughed. "You''re the only person in the world who''d pick up a fight with the Grand Spirit, thug princess."

    "This won''t end with just me destroying Uncle Scumbag''s ce," Neoma said with a smirk. "I will also leave that scum a message that he won''t forget."

    Then, sheughed maniacally¨C mimicking Stitch''s infamousughter from L*lo & St*tch.

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

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 Chapter 192 - WEDDING BELLS

    <strong></strong>"DARLING, are you alright?"

    "I''m alright, darling," Rufus assured his wife while wiping the blood off of his face using a handkerchief. He just got off the carriage when he realized that there was bloodstain left on his face. He was in a hurry when he left the interrogation room toe home to his family. "This isn''t my blood."

    Amber looked relieved to hear that, then she looked at the servants lined behind her before she turned to him again. "Let''s go to our room. You need to change your clothes first. You don''t want Hanna to see you in that state, do you?"

    His uniform was ck so the bloodstain wasn''t that visible. But he smelled of blood. Hanna had sharp senses so his daughter would definitely notice.

    "You''re right, darling," he said, then he took off his ck gloves before he offered his hand to his wife. "Let''s go to our room."

    His wife nodded, then she epted his hand as they walked past the servants who all bowed politely to them. He told his butlers and Amber''s maids that they weren''t needed and dismissed them for tonight.

    After that, he and his wife went to their bedroom.

    Most married nobles didn''t share a room and it was pretty normal. But since he and Amber were both the affectionate type, they decided to share a bedroom.

    "How was it, darling?" Amber asked while she was helping him unbutton his shirt. "Did the doctor and his team mention anything rted to the crows?"

    He shook his head. The doctor and the team that his wife mentioned were the people who pronounced Hanna''s death. His Majesty''s judgment was correct: those people were the ones who imnted the ck magic in Hanna''s body. "No, they didn''t. But they confessed their whole n," he said, then his jaw clenched when he remembered what those scum said. "Apparently, their n was to steal Hanna''s body while we were mourning. ording to the rebel doctor, they have an informant that said they could own Hanna''s Shadow Marite Technique if they dissected our daughter''s body."

    His wife''s green eyes turned dark. "They nned to dissect our Hanna''s body? Rufus, please tell me that you at least chopped those bastards'' limbs off."

    He smiled, then put his hand on his wife''s cheek while gently running his thumb over her lips.

    Amber rarely swears or says indecent things since she was raised as a perfect nobledy.

    But to hear dirty wordse out of his wife''s lovely mouth didn''t sound so bad. In fact, he felt something stir inside him upon listening to Amber speak crudely.

    "Rufus?"

    He kissed his wife on the lips quickly before he exined. "I gave them hell until they begged that we just kill them, darling. But I have to keep their leader alive and surrender them to the White Lion Knights. After all, His Majesty ns to present the rebels to the public for their execution. It will serve as a warning to those who n to rebel against the Royal Family."

    His wife let out a frustrated sigh. "So in the end, they will be punished as mere rebels instead of their crime of attempting to kill our daughter."

    "We can''t find any evidence that will link the rebels to the crows," he said, equally as upset as his wife.

    "What about the information that they got about stealing Hanna''s Shadow Marite Technique?"

    He also thought they could use that piece of information to get what they wanted, but to no avail.

    "It still points at their group''s goal to attack the Royal Family using our family''s technique," he said while shaking his head. "Moreover, we got a list of names of talented noble children that they nned to steal techniques from. That means we don''t have concrete evidence that they were only after our daughter."

    "The crows work smart, huh?"

    "Remember, that they managed to make us all believe that His Majesty had already wiped them off after what they did to Princess Nichole in the past," he gently reminded his wife, then he cupped his face between his hands. "But don''t worry, darling. I promise you that we will get them this time."

    She nodded, then she put her hands on top of his. "Darling, I just want to make sure about one thing."

    "Hmm?"

    "We told Hanna that we''re going to support Princess Neoma," his wife said hesitantly. "I just want to ask if it also means that in case Prince Nero and Princess Neoma end up having a conflict, we''re going to side with Princess Neoma instead of the Crown Prince?"

    He fell silent.

    It wasn''t like that thought never crossed his mind.

    To be honest, before Hanna expressed her desire to support Princess Neoma, he thought his family would naturally support Prince Nero. After all, only male heirs were permitted to seed the throne.

    But he had a feeling that it was about to change soon.

    "I never truly felt that the duke title belongs to me, Amber," he confessed, surprising and worrying his wife at the same time. "It was the title that belonged to Brother Gavin ever since he was born. My brother was the genius of the family, the gem of the Quinzels that overshadowed me all my life. I never resented my brother though. After all, I never dreamt of bing the head of the family anyway. That''s why when Brother Gavin passed away and Father suddenly named me as his heir, I was unprepared. And even now, I don''t think that I deserve my position."

    "Rufus, please don''t say that," his wife gently scolded him. "You''re doing an excellent job as the master of House Quinzel."

    "Thank you, darling," he said with a smile on his face. "I''m sorry if I sounded like I''m underestimating myself. All I want to say is Hanna is different from me. She was born ready to lead the family. Thus, I''m working hard every day to change our empire''sw. I want our daughter to officially inherit my title."

    His wife was relieved to hear that.

    "Hanna got my brother''s spirit, Amber," he said seriously. "She was born to do great things. For that matter, I decided to ce myplete faith in her. If Hanna decides to follow Princess Neoma instead of Prince Nero, then we will support her with all that we got. Do you agree with me, Amber?"

    Amber smiled and nodded. "I have ced my faith in our Hanna as well, darling."

    Rufus smiled and hugged his wife tight. "Thank you for being supportive, Amber."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOUR MAJESTY, Duke Quinzel went a little crazy and killed more than half of the rebels that they caught."

    Niki wasn''t surprised to hear Kyle''s report. Rufus''s only daughter was almost killed. Of course, his cousin would go crazy. "We should be thankful that Rufus held back and remembered to keep some of the rebels alive."

    Kyle paused, then he nodded when he probably got his point. "Duke Quinzel already handed us all the pieces of evidence that expose the crimesmitted by the rebel group. Shall I proceed to prepare for the rebels'' public execution?"

    "Of course," he said. "A public execution will also appease the nobles and put the public at ease. It will also serve as a warning to anyone who thinks they could get away from attacking the empire."

    "Then, I shall do as you say, Your Majesty."

    He nodded, then he waved his hand. "You''re dismissed, Kyle."

    Kyle bowed to him before he silently left his office.

    "Your Majesty," Glenn, standing beside him, said in a worried voice. "You should rest."

    "Are you my mother, Glenn?" he asked sarcastically without tearing his gaze away from the paperwork in his hand.

    "I wouldn''t mind if you call me ''Mother'' from now on, Your Majesty."

    He almost choked when he heard Glenn''s stupid and rude joke. He raised his head to re at his personal knight. "Do you want to die?"

    "I apologize for my inappropriate joke, Your Majesty," the knight said, then he bowed deeply.

    He just sighed, then he leaned against his seat. "I heard His Holiness came by when I was having an audience with the nobles. What did His Holiness say?"

    "His Holiness said that Lady Hanna Quinzel''s condition is stable now. He also said that he''ll check on Princess Neoma once he returns," Glenn reported to him. "His Holiness will return to the temple for the meantime to instruct the High Priest and the other priests to conduct a mass. They will visit the survivors and pray for the departed."

    "I see. That''s a good move since most of the nobility are believers of His Holiness," he said while nodding, then he changed the topic. "Where''s Neoma?"

    The knight raised his head before he spoke. "Princess Neoma is ying with Lewis and Miss Gale in her personal training ground. I overheard Her Royal Highness scheming evilly as revenge on William."

    He smirked when he heard that. "Of course, that little rogue holds grudges."

    "Shouldn''t we stop the princess, Your Majesty?" the knight asked worriedly. "I think it''s not wise for Princess Neoma to anger William. After all, he''s still a Grand Spirit."

    "William is a Grand Spirit but Neoma is half Roseheart-half de Moonasterio," he said confidently. "My rogue of a daughter won''t lose to scum like William. Moreover, Gale is there. She won''t tolerate Neoma''s schemes if she knows it will endanger my daughter''s life."

    "But Your Majesty¡­"

    "Glenn, instead of worrying about Neoma too much, just focus on your rtionship with Princess Bridgette," he told his knight bluntly. He wasn''t interested in Glenn''s love life. He just wanted his knight to stop nagging him. "When are you going to propose to the princess?"

    As expected, Glenn''s face turned red right away. "H-How did you know that I n to propose to Princess Bridgette soon, Your Majesty?"

    "Huh?" Niki asked, surprised. After all, he was just trying to annoy Glenn. Who would have thought that he hit the nail on the head? "You want to marry Princess Bridgette?"

    Oh, Neoma would surely love to hear this kind of gossip.

    <strong>***</strong>

    WHEN NEOMA opened her eyes, she realized that she was already back to her physical body when she was greeted by Ruto''s bored face.

    She almost had a heart attack.

    Luckily, she remembered that she was in her disguise as ''Miss Ramsay.'' Plus, she wasn''t wearing the choker that changes her voice.

    "Ruto," Neoma, while lying on the grass, said when she calmed down. "What are you doing here at this hour?"

    After all, she could see the full moon behind Ruto.

    Where are Lewis, Mochi, and Soju?

    "I should be the one asking that," Ruto said who was squatting down beside her while hugging his knees. "Why are you sleeping here, Miss Ramsay?"

    "Just because."

    "I thought you were hurt."

    "Huh?"

    "You were barely moving when I found you," he exined, then he abruptly changed the topic. "Are you hungry, Miss White Radish?"

    She got up with a scowl. "I''m not ''Miss White Radish,'' Mr. ck Soybean." She hugged herself when she had goosebumps. "Gosh, those nicknames are so cringey."

    "Then, should I just call you ''Moonshine?''"

    She was stunned when she heard that somehow sounded nostalgic.

    Huh?

    <em>Nostalgic?</em>

    Then, she suddenly felt a pang in her head the same time she heard a loud bell ringing in her ear. She closed her eyes tight while holding her head as she began to hear a deep and husky male voice in her mind.

    ["¡­ Moonshine."]

    She was surprised when she saw a blurry image of a young man in her head. The gentleman in her vision seemed to be in histe teens or early twenties. He wore an all-ck suit.

    And his face¡­

    It looked like Ruto''s older version¡­?

    "Miss Ramsay?"

    She gasped and opened her eyes when she felt a light volt of electricity on her shoulder.

    "Sorry," Ruto said while pulling his hand away from her shoulder. It looked like he gave her shoulder a light tap. "Are you okay?"

    She blinked in surprise while looking at Ruto''s face.

    It somehow resembled the young man that she saw in her head a while ago. To be honest, she wasn''t sure because the image was blurry. But the ''vibes'' were the same.

    That was the confusing part.

    The clothes of the mysterious man that she saw in her mind suggested that he was a noble. Thus, she must have met him during her first life. But she was pretty sure that she didn''t meet Ruto in the past.

    Or even if she did meet him since they were both nobles, she was pretty sure that he didn''t y a significant part in her life back then.

    "Ruto?"

    "Hmm?"

    Before she realized what she was doing, Neoma found herself poking Ruto''s soft and smooth cheek. "Have we met before?"

    Ruto tilted his head, leaning into her finger that poked his cheek. "Is that a pickup line?"

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 193 - THE PATH OF THE MALE ROSEHEARTS

    <strong></strong>"NERO, have you calmed down?"

    Nero took a deep breath before he turned to Tara, the Queen of the Spirit World. She was also the Fairy Queen, the one that rules the fairy race.

    When he first arrived at the Spirit World, Tara appeared as a tiny human-like creature with golden hair and eyes that changed color every minute. The most fascinating thing about the fairy was her butterfly-like wings.

    But right now, Tara took the form of a child the same age as him and hid her wings.

    "You almost destroyed my castle, Nero," Tara, seated on the chair across from him, reminded him carefully. "If I didn''t intervene, my knights would have kicked you out already."

    Ah, right.

    The reason why he was having tea with the queen in the rose garden was that her pce was currently being fixed by her people.

    He was currently in the part of the Spirit World that looked like a duchy. The castle looked a little too archaic in his opinion, but that was something that he expected of the realm that existed between the living world and the afterlife.

    "I apologize once again for my rudeness," Nero said, then he lightly bowed to the queen. He wasn''t used to bowing his head to anyone except for the emperor. But he was trying to learn humility now. "I am calm now." He paused before he continued. "But it doesn''t mean that I have already forgiven William."

    While he was talking to Tara a while ago, the little fairies gathered around the queen.

    Then, they reported that William, the Grand Spirit, had been summoned by Neoma.

    He asked the queen if it was possible to see what was happening in the human world because he was worried about his twin sister. Tara agreed, then she turned the wall of the tea room into a huge observation ''mirror.''

    From that ''mirror,'' they saw what happened to Neoma.

    While they were watching the scene between William and his twin sister, he heard the other fairies'' report regarding how and why Neoma ended up summoning the Grand Spirit.

    Apparently, Hanna was on the verge of dying.

    Well, in the end, both Neoma and Hanna were saved. He just didn''t like how his poor twin sister had to suffer first.

    <em>Why does Neoma always have to get hurt for the sake of other people?</em>

    "Can you please consider forgiving William this time?"

    "No," he said firmly, surprising the queen and the other Spirits around them. He just sipped his tea calmly. "I won''t forgive anyone who hurt my little sister."

    "Aw, don''t be too harsh on me."

    To say that he was surprised when William suddenly appeared beside him would be an understatement.

    Even Tara herself looked quite surprised.

    No one noticed his presence until he spoke¡­

    "Do you know how long has it been since a male Roseheart was born?" William, seated on the armrest of his chair, asked while looking at him with glowing dark, blue eyes. "Even though you''re half de Moonasterio, I don''t hate you."

    "Well, I hate you," Nero said when he got over his shock. Then, he sipped his tea to avoid the Grand Spirit''s gaze. "In fact, I want to kill you right now."

    As soon as he put his teacup down on the table, several ice spears sprouted from the ground and pierced William''s body.

    But of course, the body that he just pierced was nothing but a fake.

    "Don''t use your Soul Beast''s power on me, Nero Roseheart," William warned him in a cold voice. The fake body that he used disappeared at the same time his ice melted. "Do you know where the Royal Family''s Soul Beasts came from?"

    He turned in the direction of William''s voice and found him standing behind Tara now. The Grand Spirit''s expression was grim. But he could tell that the wrath in William''s eyes wasn''t directed at him. "I don''t know," he said. "Is it important to know where the Soul Beasts havee from?"

    "You should know because you''re a male Roseheart!" William snarled at him. "The de Moonasterios had abducted all the male Rosehearts in the past and turned them into beasts!"

    He almost dropped the teacup in his hand due to shock. "Is that even possible?"

    "It is because the de Moonasterios have the blood of a powerful god," the Grand Spirit snarled, his voice filled with rage and bitterness. "Your ancestors experimented on the male Rosehearts. That was the result of their obsession with our ability to continue living as a Spirit even if our physical bodies died. Because of that ability, the Royal Family thought that they should turn us into a living yet immortal weapon. Thus, they searched for a way to turn our Spirits into a beast. I don''t know exactly how they did that but they seeded." He paused for a few seconds as if he was waiting for his reaction. When he didn''t speak, the Grand Spirit continued. "Apparently, they only experimented on the male Rosehearts because a male Roseheart''s Spirit is morepatible with the beasts. Moreover, they needed the females to live and give birth to more male Rosehearts."

    "I still can''t believe it," he said weakly. For the first time in a while, he felt utterly shocked by a revtion that he hadn''t heard before. "If the Soul Beasts are made out of the Spirits of the male Rosehearts, then why are the Soul Beasts serving the Royal Family?"

    "Once a male Roseheart is killed and turned into a Spirit, the de Moonasterios would erase his entire memory and imnt a new one in his mind," William exined sullenly. "Thus, the Soul Beasts that the Royal Family controls believe that they were born a beast."

    He clenched his hands.

    All this time, she saw Zev, his Soul Beast, as nothing but a weapon. But now that he heard the truth from William, he felt his chest tightened.

    "How did you escape from that kind of fate, William?" Nero asked carefully. "Are you the only one who survived?"

    "I used to be a Soul Beast," William confessed sulkily. "I was turned into a Blue Serpent once."

    "Then, how did you return into your original form?"

    "Luria, the first matriarch of House Roseheart, discovered the horrible experiment that the de Moonasterios towards the male Rosehearts," the Grand Spirit exined. "When Luria found me, my transformation process hasn''t beenpleted yet. My physical body already died for a while so she wasn''t able to revive me. Fortunately, she was able to undo the spell that turned me into a Soul Beast. Thus, I was able to return to my Spirit form." He fell silent for a while, his jaw clenched. "But I was the only one who was saved back then. I was the only survivor of that terrible experiment."

    "Does it mean that the male Rosehearts that have been turned into a Soul Beast could no longer be saved?"

    William nodded, a bit of sadness in his eyes softened up the anger on his face. "When our kin lost their memories as humans, they also lost the ability to hear the voices of the Spirits. Worse, when Luria talked to the Soul Beasts that we managed to find in the dimension where the de Moonasterios hid them, they self-destructed after they learned the truth."

    "The n to keep the male Rosehearts as Soul Beasts is so meticulous," hemented. "It seems like they really don''t want to let them go."

    "When we tried to expose the Royal Family of that time, they framed House Roseheart for treason," the Grand Spirit said. "That''s the beginning of the downfall of our family. Although our family wasn''t executed back then because of the other families that stood by us, House Roseheart''s reputation never recovered."

    Ah, now it made sense why the Rosehearts were hated by other families until now.

    The Royal Family probably ruined the Rosehearts'' reputation so badly.

    "That''s the reason why Luria came up with another n to stop the de Moonasterios from experimenting on the male Rosehearts," William continued with his story. "She put a spell on our n that would prevent female Rosehearts from giving birth to male children." He paused before he continued speaking while giving him an amused look. "Nero Roseheart, you''re the first male Roseheart born after more than a century."

    "Ah."

    "What a weak reaction," Tara, the queen that he and William almost forgot, said with a softugh. "Nero, do you feel more attached with the de Moonasterios than with the Rosehearts?"

    "I don''t care about either," he said bluntly. "I''m only attached to Neoma."

    "That filthy bug is more of a de Moonasterio than a Roseheart," the Grand Spirit spat. "Don''t get too attached to that."

    He red at William. "The more you insult Neoma, the more I will feel detached to the Rosehearts."

    William looked frustrated by what he said. "Didn''t you just hear the story about what the damned Royal Family did to our kin?"

    "So what?"

    The Grand Spirit was rendered by his retort.

    "Neoma wasn''t the one who killed the male Rosehearts and turned them into Soul Beasts," he said firmly. "Why are you taking it out on my sister? Moreover, why are you taking it out on the de Moonasterios who weren''t involved in that experiment?"

    William''s bloodlust oozed.

    That didn''t stop him from talking though.

    "I understand why you''re angry and I''m not trying to invalidate your feelings," he said. "But that doesn''t give you the license to kill innocent people. Because even if you kill all the remaining de Moonasterios in the world, it wouldn''t bring back the dead."

    William snarled at him. "You¨C"

    "William," Tara said sternly, then she turned to the Grand Spirit. "Go inside and cool your head. I will talk to Nero."

    The Grand Spirit red at him for a few more seconds before he turned to the queen and bowed.

    After that, William finally left and went inside the castle.

    "I apologize for William''s rudeness, Nero," Tara said, then she sipped her tea before she talked again. "He really gets worked up when his past is brought up. Moreover, he must have been excited to meet a male Roseheart after being lonely for almost two centuries. He''s probably frustrated that you''re not showing any interest in your mother''s side of the family."

    "William has no reason to be frustrated because I''m not interested in my father''s side of the family as well," he said. "I''m only interested in Neoma."

    "Do you like your twin sister that much?"

    "I dislike anyone except her."

    He didn''t dislike Hanna.

    But he realized that if something bad happened to Neoma and Hanna at the same time, he would still prioritize his twin sister over his fianc¨¦e candidate.

    The queen smiled warmly at her. "It seems like Neoma is a great person."

    "She is," he said. "That''s why I''m not happy that you didn''t open the doors of the Spirit World for my twin sister."

    "It''s not like we don''t want to invite her," the queen said. "We simply can''t."

    "You can''t?"

    "The Moonglow that surrounds your twin sister is too thick," the fairy exined. "Her power as a de Moonasterio is literally blocking the release of her Roseheart Blood. Her current ability to summon Spirits onlyes from the ''leak'' of her Roseheart Blood. It''s a miracle that she was able to summon William with only a drop of her power."

    "It''s not a miracle," he said with a scowl. "Neoma is great¨C in and simple. I am nothingpared to my twin sister."

    "Are you selling yourself short, Nero?"

    "No," he said. "I''m simply acknowledging my privileges. Everything is handed to me from both the de Moonasterio and the Roseheart side just because I was born a male."

    The fairy looked surprised by what he said, then she smiled. "Nero, do you want to change the world for Neoma?"

    "Of course."

    "Then, I''ll help you get stronger," she said. "Stay with us until your body recovers."

    His brows furrowed in confusion. "Trevor told me that my physical body will die if my soul doesn''t return within five days."

    "Don''t worry about it," the queen said nonchntly. "I can freeze your body so it could survive without your soul inside."

    The offer sounded tempting.

    "Let me think about it first," Nero said, then he paused before he talked again. "May I speak with William again, Your Majesty?"

    "Just call me by my name, Nero," Tara said, then she pointed at the highest tower in the castle. "William stays in the Tower of Thorns."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "ARE YOU ready to be a proper Roseheart, Nero?"

    Nero stopped climbing the staircase when William literally blocked his way. "Are you going to teach me?" he asked when he raised his head to look at him in the eyes. "Are you saying that you want to be my teacher?"

    "I don''t ''want'' to be your teacher," William said, then he crossed his arms over his chest. "But I ''must'' teach you. I''m thest male Roseheart born in the family, and you''re the first male Roseheart born after the spell was cast. We must work together."

    "If you ''must'' take me as your disciple, then shave your head first," he said bluntly. "I will send your hair to Neoma to appease her."

    "What?"

    "I saw what you did to Neoma," he reminded the Grand Spirit. "You ruined her face and burned her hair. That''s unforgivable in my book."

    The Grand Spirit looked at him as if he had gone crazy, then heughed sarcastically. "Nero, I can tell that you need me more than I need you."

    He pressed his lips together.

    <em>Well, I can''t deny that.</em>

    "What do you need from me?" the Grand Spirit asked with an arrogant smirk on his unnecessarily handsome face.

    "The technique that you used to swap Neoma and Hanna''s vitality and physical condition is useful," he said carefully. "I want you to teach me that technique, William."

    Heughed haughtily. "We''re practically rtives, Nero. Why don''t you use honorifics before my name?"

    "Alright, Uncle," he said, making William smile. "Uncle Scumbag."

    William frowned, obviously not impressed when he mimicked the moniker that Neoma gave the Grand Spirit.

    He thought ''Uncle Scumbag'' would make a fuss.

    So he was surprised when he changed the topic.

    "I''ll teach you that technique and more but it won''t be free," the Grand Spirit said. "In return for passing down all my techniques to you, I want you to free all the Soul Beasts in the Royal Family''s possession."

    Nero raised a brow. "How do I do that?"

    "You need the Divine Key to open the cage where the Soul Beasts are locked up, and that key can only be summoned to the living world once a new Moonasterion Emperor sits on the throne," William said casually. "In short, you just have to be the next emperor, Nero."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA hugged herself when she suddenly felt a chill down her spine.

    "Are you alright?" Ruto asked when he noticed her rubbing her arms with her hands. "Are you cold?"

    "No," Neoma said while shaking her head. "I just felt like a huge boulder suddenly fell from the sky and literally blocked my way to the flower road that I''m supposed to walk on. And now, that flower path has turned into a rocky road."

    "What does it mean?"

    "Never mind, you wouldn''t understand," she said, then she red at him when she remembered his question before she got distracted. "I didn''t use a pickup line on you, Ruto. You did that when you called me ''Moonshine.'' Gosh, why are suddenly being mushy on me?"

    "Moonshine is an illegally distilled whiskey."

    "Huh?"

    "It also means ''nonsense.''"

    "What?"

    "You''re like moonshine because I often catch you doing illegal stuff like trespassing the royal kitchen," he said bluntly. "You also talk gibberish sometimes. But I guess it''s normal for your age to be curious and explore your surroundings, and to speak using made-up words."

    Ah, so that was why he called her ''moonshine.''

    She didn''t know whether to be amazed by his ''creativity'' or get offended by it. But since she was dealing with a child, she just decided to be benevolent this time.

    "Ruto."

    "Hmm?"

    "I already feel sorry for the girl who will fall in love with you in the future," Neoma said while shaking her head. "You don''t have a romantic bone in you, do you?"

    Ruto just shrugged, obviously clueless about what she was talking about.

    <em>My condolences to you, Ruto''s future wifey.</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 194 - NEROS ROYAL SECRET

    "DID MOTHER and Father find out the secret of the Soul Beasts when they were still together?" Nero asked, then he sipped his tea. He was still amazed at how his spirit form functioned like his physical body in the Spirit World. After all, he could taste the sweetness of his drink. "Did you tell them?"

    "I told Mona after I epted her as my master," William, seated from across him while folding a pink paper in his hand, said. The Grand Spirit invited him in his room for tea but he hasn''t touched his drink yet. He just slumped on the sofa and put his legs on the table between them. "Then, she told your scum of a father."

    "What did they do about it?"

    "I refuse to answer that question," the Grand Spirit said, then he raised his head to give him a bored look. "Just remembering the times that Mona spent with de Moonasterio make me want to throw up. If I speak about it, my mouth might fall off."

    "I never thought the day I''d say this woulde but between you and my Father, I trust my father more," he said. "So I guess it doesn''t matter whether you answer my question or not."

    "I don''t want to hate you even though you''re half de Moonasterio because you''re the first male Roseheart born after such a long time," he said with a low growl. "But you''re making it easy for me to hate you, Nero."

    "That''s fine with me," he said casually. "The feeling is mutual anyway."

    "Hah," the Grand Spirit said, letting out a drawn and frustrated sigh. "I won''t tell you the full details. Just ask your fatherter. But to answer your question, yes, Mona and de Moonasterio tried to free the Soul Beasts in the past. The first thing that they did was to break up, then your father married Juliet Sloane so he could sit on the throne. As a said earlier, the Divine Key could only be summoned during a new emperor''s enthronement."

    "Wait, I don''t understand," he said with furrowed brows. "I thought Mother and Father had us after the previous empress died?"

    "Yeah, that''s true," the Grand Spirit said. "But didn''t you know that Mona and de Moonasterio were already in a rtionship when your father was still a Crown Prince?"

    He shook his head. "It''s forbidden to talk about my mother in the pce. And it''s not like it''s easy to ask my father about our mother. He hates her."

    William scoffed at that. "The audacity of that scumbag to hate my master after he ruined her life."

    He just sipped his tea. "Judging by the fact that the Soul Beasts are still locked up, then something wrong obviously went wrong. Are sitting on the throne and summoning the Divine Key not enough to free them?"

    "Of course not," The Grand Spirit said. "Who do you think guards the ''cage'' where the Soul Beasts are locked up?"

    That question made him stop and ponder for a few moments, then his eyes widened in shock. "Don''t tell me the cage is guarded by the Spirits of the previous emperors?"

    "That''s right," he said while nodding. "To be precise, the emperors who vowed to protect the Soul Beasts. Not all emperors were interested in them. Unfortunately, those who cared about the Soul Beasts too much are the ones who were the greediest, the most ruthless, and the most powerful emperors in history. They still desired power even after their death." He paused for a while, looked up at the ceiling as if he was thinking, then he turned to him. "If I remember it correctly, there are thirteen dead emperors guarding the cage."

    "So in order to free the Soul Beasts, we have to ovee the thirteen previous emperors first?"

    "Uh-huh."

    "Father and Mother lost to them?" he asked, then he raised a brow at the Grand Spirit. "Weren''t you with my mother then? Does it mean you lost to some dead emperors?"

    "Yeah, we were utterly defeated then."

    "Oh," he said in disbelief. "I couldn''t believe that an arrogant person like you would easily admit that he lost."

    "You wouldn''t understand because you didn''t face them," the Grand Spirit said seriously. "Going against the thirteen dead emperors is the real reason why thete Empress Juliet Sloane de Moonasterio passed away."

    To say that he was shocked would be an understatement.

    <em>Thete empress died while trying to free the Soul Beasts along with Mother and Father¡­?</em>

    That wasn''t what was written in the history books. Now he understood why the real date thete empress died was different from what he knew.

    In the official records, Empress Julian Sloane died a few years before he and Neoma were born. But from what he knew, thete empress''s time of death was closer to their birth. That was the reason why he once suspected that he and Neoma weren''t really twins even though he knew the truth.

    Well, magic and spells existed in this world so nothing was really impossible.

    "Mona and de Moonasterio were too shocked to continue the mission after Empress Juliet died," William continued with his story. "Moreover, the Divine Key would only stay in its physical form for a short period of time. After that, it would disappear and would only show up again once a new emperor is crowned."

    "That means it will only appear once I sit on the throne."

    The Grand Spirit nodded firmly. "That''s why I intend to train you until you''re ready to rece your father."

    "The only thing that I want from you is your technique that swaps¨C"

    "It''s called Vitality Swapping Technique in humannguage."

    "What a nd name."

    "Who cares about the name when the only thing that matters is its usefulness?"

    Well, that was true.

    "Nero, as I said earlier, I will teach you that technique and everything I am known for," William said seriously. "Just promise me that you''ll free the Soul Beasts once you be the new emperor."

    "That will be difficult."

    "How so?"

    "I only make promises with people I trust," he said. "And most of all, I don''t really care about the Soul Beasts."

    "Nero Roseheart!" the Grand Spirit snarled at him. "Those Soul Beasts are a part of our family!"

    "Even so, I don''t feel attached to dead people I haven''t met," he said calloused. "And even if we managed to free them, it''s not like you can revive them. Can you?"

    William didn''t have a retort for that.

    "I''m not that desperate to learn your technique. I only asked because it''s a convenient ability," he said, then he put his teacup down on the table. "It seems like this conversation is over."

    "I don''t understand you, Nero Roseheart."

    "What do you mean by that?"

    "You have everything you need to aplish noble things but you''re not doing anything," William said in a frustrated voice. "Even if your physical body is currently cursed, you can still do incredible things in your spirit form. If you stay here and learn from me and Her Majesty, you could even be more powerful than Mona and I."

    "Why are you mad? I intend to stay here and train to be stronger anyway," he said. "But it doesn''t mean you or the queen could order me around. But if you''re saying that I could only stay and train here if I do something for you, then I''ll just leave."

    The Grand Spirit smirked at him. "Aren''t you being a little too greedy, Your Royal Highness? You''re expecting the Spirit World to take care of you without asking for anything in return?"

    "Yes," he said bluntly. "It''s my birthright to be taken care of the Spirit World, isn''t it? If you''re really genuine about looking after me, then you wouldn''t ask me for anything in return. But if you want me to stay here with you because you want something in return, then, why don''t we just make a contract?"

    William let out a frustrated sigh. "Let''s talk againter," he said, then he stood up and headed to the door without looking back at him. "I feel like I''d end up hating you for real if we keep up this conversation, Nero Roseheart."

    "I''m Nero Roseheart de Moonasterio," Nero reminded the Grand Spirit. "I belong to both families."

    <strong>***</strong>

    WILLIAM headed straight to his bed upon entering his room.

    As soon as he plopped on his bed, Draki¨C the blue snake that served as his Familiar¨C crawled and wrapped its body around his neck lightly.

    "My lord, I have bad news for you," Draki, in the voice of a young boy, said hurriedly. "The entrance of your territory was attacked!"

    "Are you drunk, Draki?" William asked in a tired voice, then he closed his eyes. "Who can possibly enter my territory without my permission?"

    "Princess Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio did, my lord."

    He instantly opened his eyes. "What?!"

    "Her Royal Highness even managed to bring her Soul Beast with her," Draki reported in an amused voice. "The royal princess''s red dragon burned the dead trees and ttened the mountain in your territory."

    He got up with a clenched jaw. "That filthy bug!"

    "It doesn''t end there, my lord," his Familiar said in a somehow excited voice. "Using her Soul Beast''s me, Princess Neoma left a literally burning message on the dry ground of yournd."

    "What did the message say?"

    Draki cleared his throat before he spoke. "''Uncle Scumbag, prepare a funeral¡­ but not for me!''" The blue snake coughed as if he was trying to hold back hisughter. "Lastly, Princess Neoma left a huge picture of herself under the message. And in the picture, Princess Neoma has her middle finger raised."

    To say that he was shocked would be an understatement.

    It was the first time someone had disrespected him that much. Moreover, how did a mere bug like her who didn''t have half of Nero''s talent managed to trespass his territory?

    "My lord."

    He red at his Familiar who seemed to be silentlyughing at him. "What?"

    Draki chuckled before he asked. "Would you like me to retrieve the photo that Princess Neoma left for you?"

    William growled lowly, then he plopped on the bed and shut his eyes tight. "Mona, you gave birth to a little monster!"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "I APOLOGIZE but I overheard your conversation with William."

    "I know, Your Majesty," Nero said calmly while facing Tara, the Queen of the Spirit World who upied the seat that William vacated a while ago. "I''m sure that William also knows that you''re eavesdropping."

    "I want you to stay here in the Spirit World and I''d like to know how I can bribe you to do so. Thus, Imitted such a crime," Tara said yfully. "You rejected William''s offer because you''re not that interested in his offer. But I think you''d like what I have to offer."

    "Really? What is it then?"

    "Would you like me to help you collect the missing fragments of your memories?" Tara said, her rainbow-colored eyes glistening. "By that, I mean the memories of your first life."

    To say that he was shocked would be an understatement.

    It was a secret that he didn''t even share with his Neoma.

    "Of course, I''d know," the queen said when she probably saw the shocked look on your face. "Your soul is older than your physical vessel." She smiled ''innocently'' at him. "Does my offer pique your interest?"

    He sipped his tea before he spoke again. Well, he should have known that the Queen of the Spirit World would discover his royal secret right away. But the fact that he could use that to his advantage calmed him down. "Rather than helping me collect the fragments of my missing memories, I want you to help me with something else, Your Majesty."

    Tara tilted her head at one side. "How can I help you, Nero?"

    "There''s another man who stayed by Neoma''s side in our first life¨C someone who probably retained his memories in this lifetime as well. But I can''t remember who he is," Nero said seriously. "Help me find him, Your Majesty."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "I''M NOT weak."

    Neoma, who was walking side by side with Ruto,ughed when she heard his response when she told him not toe out at night because it was dangerous. "Ruto, being physically weak isn''t something you should be ashamed of," she teased him. "I will protect you."

    "I''m not weak," Ruto, who was walking beside her with decent space between them, repeated. "People around me say I''m a god."

    The way he said it made her think that he was being serious, and it sent chills down her spine for some reason.

    She stopped walking and faced him.

    Ruto did the same thing and stood in front of her with a curious look on his face. He was probably wondering why she suddenly stopped.

    She raised a brow at him. "God of what?"

    Ruto shrugged casually. "God of cooking?"

    She blinked several times, then sheughed while hitting his shoulder. "Wow. My Ruto can be arrogant, huh?"

    It was the young chef''s turn to raise a brow at her.

    "I''m ''your'' Ruto?" Ruto asked in a teasing tone. "Interesting."

    Neoma wanted to take it back but for some reason, she suddenly got tongue-tied.

    <em>Shit, why did I say that?</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 195 - MEMORY CRUMBS

    <strong></strong>"I WOULDN''T say that those are my own memories," Nero said to Tara. "It''s more like I was watching Neoma''s first life through her eyes."

    "When did you begin to remember your past life, Nero?" Tara asked him. "What is it from the moment that you were born?"

    "You can say that. I''ve always had ''dreams'' about Neoma. Every night for the past eight years of my life, I dream of a piece of her memory," he said while nodding his head thoughtfully. "I was taught that the children of the Royal Family were born more mature than average children. But I believe that my mind has fully developed faster than what''s expected of a royal child like me because I saw Neoma''s memories." He paused to sip tea before he continued. "I didn''t think that it was real though. I''ve always thought that they were visions of the future. But since the "future" that I saw was different from what''s happening in real life, I didn''t think much of it. After all, I don''t believe in pre-determined fate. I''m a believer that our actions could change the future. Thus, I only saw those dreams as a guide to our future."

    "I can''t me you for thinking that way," the queen said. "Mona saw visions through her dreams."

    He wouldn''t know because Neoma didn''t have memories of their mother.

    In fact, his twin sister''s memories revolved around her miserable life as ''Neoma Quinzel.'' Moreover, in that lifetime, Neoma was betrayed by Rubin Drayton and a certain Regina Crowell.

    <em>I didn''t care about it at first because Neoma met Rubin Drayton when she was eighteen. I thought she wouldn''t meet that bastard early. I was nning on getting rid of Rubin Drayton and his woman but I was suddenly cursed. And that has been the case until now.</em>

    "I only realized that those memories were from Neoma''s first life when thete Princess Nichole, who''s now the Devil, woke me up from myatose state," he continued with his story. "When she woke me up, she showed me a memory that was apparently mine. To be precise, a piece of memory from my first life."

    "And what did thete Princess Royale show you?"

    "My aunt showed me what happened after Neoma ''died,''" he said seriously. "The memories of my twin sister that I saw through my dreams ended when I killed her with my own hands."

    He felt a pang in his chest when he remembered that he killed Neoma in her first life.

    Since he only saw it through his twin sister''s memories, he had no idea why he killed his precious Neoma in her first life.

    <em>All I know is that in the past, Nero must have been a psycho bastard.</em>

    He swore to himself that he wouldn''t end up like that in this lifetime.

    "But the Devil showed me an interesting piece of my memory," he said, then he sipped his tea. "Neoma, in her first life, was revived by five people. Unfortunately, I don''t remember what they look like. They''re blurry in my memories. I only remember a few of their features."

    "Five and not four?"

    He raised a brow at the queen''s question. "Why were you expecting four?"

    "Because before Neoma was born, Mona had a vision," Tara said seriously. "Apparently, the descendants of the ''Four Great Pirs'' of the Moonasterion Empire would appear once her daughter was born. Your mother believed that those pirs would be your twin sister''s sword and shield."

    "The Four Great Pirs?"

    "The Heart, the Fangs, the Shadow, and the Contractor."

    His brows furrowed in confusion. "Only the Quinzels could control shadows in the whole continent so the ''Shadow Pir'' must be a Quinzel descendant. But in Neoma''s memories, Hanna died early¡­"

    But then again, Neoma was a na?ve and sheltered nobledy in her first life.

    He shook his head, trying to hold himself together. "I should regain my own memories."

    "Nero, do you want me to help you find Mona?"

    He wasn''t surprised by the queen''s question.

    Even though her mother was dead already, she was a Roseheart. The possibility that his mother''s Spirit was still ''alive'' somewhere was high.

    "I don''t trust my mother," he said firmly. "She''s practically a stranger to me."

    As soon as he said that, the ground shook and the Spirits around them hissed.

    Even the queen didn''t look happy with what he said.

    "Nero, your mother sacrificed a lot for you and Neoma to be alive. I''m sure that she''s looking after you even now," Tara reminded him sternly. Only after the queen spoke did the ground stops shaking. Even the Spirits fell silent. "Please don''t speak ill of Mona like that."

    "Then, where was Mother during Neoma''s first life?"

    "Nero¨C"

    "Neoma''s Roseheart Blood is sealed by our mother, isn''t it?"

    The guilty look on the queen''s face answered his question.

    "I thought so," he said while nodding thoughtfully. "For that reason, I can''t trust our mother yet."

    The queen fell silent for a while before she talked again. "I understand where you''reing from, Nero," she said, her face lighting up again. "If you want to get to know your mother until you understand why she did the things that you''re upset about, then why don''t you stay here in the Spirit World? I won''t ask you for anything else. Like what you told William, it is indeed your birthright to be taken care of this world."

    That offer didn''t sound so bad.

    Moreover, he''d rather stay in the Spirit World than spend time locked up in Trevor''s territory with that noisy demon.

    "Alright, I''ll stay here," he said, then he sipped his tea. "I will stay here and train until I surpass my mother as a Roseheart."

    "I think Mona will be happy to have her son as a rival because she likes friendlypetition," Tara said, then she became serious. "By the way, what do you remember about the mystery guy that you want to find?"

    "Dark purple hair," Nero said, remembering the back of a man who stood closely beside Neoma in his memory. The face, unfortunately, was blurred. "At first, I thought his hair was ck," he added. "But when the moonlight hit his hair, it turned into a deep shade of purple."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "I CALL everyone ''mine,''" Neoma said while walking a little faster than normal. It was quite amusing that Ruto, who was walking beside her with some decent space between them, could match her pace effortlessly. Plus, his footsteps were as light as Lewis''s. "Don''t think anything about me calling you ''my'' Ruto."

    "I''m not thinking of anything weird," Ruto said casually. "Did you think a child like you could make my heart flutter?"

    "I should be the one asking that," she said while ring at Ruto. "I''m at least forty years older than you emotionally and mentally, you know?"

    He just turned to her and nodded. "Sure."

    She just rolled her eyes at him.

    He obviously didn''t believe her.

    "Ah, I have a question."

    She turned to the chef. "What is it?"

    "Don''t the female employees in the pce have a separate quarter from the male employees?" the young chef asked. "I don''t think it''s appropriate for a youngdy like you to be sharing a room with boys."

    She was confused with Ruto''s question.

    Then, she remembered the time Lewis made his presence known while she was on the ''phone'' with Ruto. She lied to the young chef and said that she was sharing a room with Lewis.

    "My friend just sneaked in my room that night to talk," she lied again. "I have a room of my own, and thedies'' quarter is separate from the gentlemen''s."

    "Ah," he said while nodding his head. "That''s a relief."

    "Rara."

    <em>''Rara?''</em>

    She raised her brow when Lewis suddenly appeared in front of them and called her ''Rara.'' Just where did my son get that name?

    But since Ruto was there, she acted like she was ''Rara.''

    And she gave her son a nickname as well.

    "Hi, Lulu," she greeted him cheerfully. In her first life, Nero gave Lewis ''Lu'' as a nickname. She didn''t want to copy her twin brother so she called her son ''Lulu.'' "Did youe to pick me up?"

    "Of course," Lewis said, then he stood beside her. "It''s alreadyte."

    "I see," she said, then she turned to Ruto who seemed to be observing them with a curious look on his face. "Ruto, this is ''Lulu.'' My son¨C"

    Lewis suddenly cleared his throat loudly.

    "My chingu," she said, changing her statement a while ago. ''Chingu'' meant ''friend'' in the Koreannguage. "He''s my best friend."

    Lewis seemed to be satisfied with that.

    <em>Gosh.</em>

    "Anyway, Lulu, this is Ruto," she said. "He''s my personal food delivery service."

    Ruto raised a brow at that.

    "That''s apliment," she insisted. "I don''t eat just anyone''s food, you know? I''m a very precious person. I eat your food because they''re yummy."

    "Alright," Ruto said, then he gently flicked her forehead with his fingers. "Good night, Moonshine."

    She didn''t hate the ''endearment'' but she disliked the warm feeling in her chest that it brought. Still, it wasn''t like she could hate Ruto. "Good night, Ruto."

    Ruto just nodded, then he turned to Lewis. "Thank you for fetching Miss Ramsay. Take care of her and have a safe trip back to the pce, Sir Crevan."

    She was surprised to hear Ruto address Lewis by his title.

    <em>Did Ruto and Lewis already meet without me knowing?</em>

    Lewis just gave Ruto a curt nod.

    <em>Gosh, my son can sometimes be so cold to people he just met.</em>

    Thankfully, Ruto didn''t seem to mind Lewis''s poor attitude. After saying goodbye to them, the young chef left.

    "Lewis, where did you, Mochi, and Soju went?" she asked her son while they were walking back to the pce. "You suddenly disappeared."

    She was shocked to wake up alone with Ruto earlier.

    "Miss Mochi said that we should hide when Ruto arrived," Lewis said with a pout. It was obvious that he was just forced to follow Mochi''s order. "Apparently, it will be weird for the Crown Prince''s servants to be hanging around with a courtdy apprentice that you pretend to be, Princess Neoma."

    "Oh, that''s smart," she said while nodding her head. "So, where are Mochi and Soju?"

    "They said they will wait for you at your room when I insisted to fetch you."

    "I see," she said. "So, where did ''Rara''e from?"

    Her son suddenly blushed for some reason. "I can''t call you by your first name only, Princess Neoma. But most of all, I know that you didn''t tell Ruto Stroganoff your real name. And honestly, I don''t want him to know your real name. Thus, I came up with a nickname for you. I got the ''Ra'' from ''Ramsay.'' I just repeated it to sound cute." He averted his gaze while scratching his cheek. "Do you hate it, Princess Neoma?"

    "Nope, I love it. It''s as cute as me," she said without missing a beat. "And I like it when you talk a lot, Lulu. Your voice cleanses my soul."

    Lewis turned to her and gave her a half-smile.

    <em>Gosh, someone is shy.</em><strong></strong>

    Neoma covered her mouth when she yawned. "I''m so tired."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "HANNA Quinzel is still alive but she''s in aatose state, and her legs were amputated."

    Regina Crowell smiled when she heard the report from the crow with blue eyes.

    Right now, she was on the balcony of her room while the crow was standing on the railing. It was alreadyte at night, and her room was protected so she wasn''t worried about being seen or heard by the other servants of House Drayton.

    "Amber Quinzel hasn''t left the mansion ever since her daughter was taken home, while Rufus Quinzel is venting out on the rebels that he and his squad caught," the crow reported to her. "Shall we pay Hanna Quinzel a visit and finish her?"

    "No, that would be unnecessary," Regina said with a smile while looking at the full moon. "Hanna Quinzel is barely alive. Moreover, her legs were amputated. There''s no way she''d be fit to be the heiress of House Quinzel."

    "Would it be smart to keep her alive just because of that? the crow asked. "What if there''s a way to bring her legs back?"

    "If Saint Zavaroni himself wasn''t able to do it, who do you think has the power to create a miracle like that?"

    "Ah, that makes sense."

    "I want to keep Hanna Quinzel alive in that pitiful state," she said with a smile. "I will use this chance to get close to the Quinzels and show them that I am fit to be their heiress instead of an amputee like Hanna Quinzel."

    "Very well," the blue-eyed crow said. "I will ry your decision to His Excellency."

    "Thank you," Regina said, then she turned her back on the crow to return to her room. But then, she stopped and turned to it again when she remembered something. "Tell His Excellency that I will also begin my move to get close to Prince Nero."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 196 - RED EYES

    "PAPA BOSS, here''s the detailed report that I made regarding the ultimate team that I want to have," Neoma, while standing in front of her father''s desk, said. Then, she carefully ced the stack of papers on the table. She was in a good mood right now even though she was ''working'' because she was dressed up as ady today. She was free to do that for five more days. "As I said before, Lewis will take the position of Fighter so I only need five more people in my dream team: a Tank, a Marksman, a Mage, an Assassin, and a Support. I guess by their names alone, you could already guess what kind of people I''m looking for."

    "What is a ''Tank?''" Emperor Niki asked while scanning the detailed report that she just submitted, then he raised his head to meet her gaze. "I can''t guess what kind of position its name suggests."

    Oh, of course.

    She just got the position from the mobile game that she used to y back in her second life.

    Anyway, right now, she was in her father''s office. Sir Glenn and Lewis weren''t there yet because the two were currently discussing the security measures that they made to ensure her safety. After all, she would secretly visit Hanna in the Quinzel Mansionter.

    "It''s like the defense specialist of the team, Papa Boss," she exined. "In short, a Tank is the shield of the group."

    "Alright," her father said. "I will ask Glenn to find the best people suited for each position. But aside from skills, they should also know how to keep a secret."

    "Oh," she said when she realized what her Papa Boss meant by that. "Should I reveal to them that I''m a girl?"

    "Yes," he said. "That''s why we need to find trustworthy people."

    She smiled wide when she remembered something. "I can take care of that, Papa Boss. Lord Yule gave me a Holy Weapon."

    Her father looked surprised by that. "A Holy Weapon? What kind of weapon is it?"

    "Scissors," she said casually. "I asked for a Holy Weapon as one of the three terms that I gave Lord Yule before I signed the contract."

    "Smart."

    "Thanks," she said, then she continued with her story. "Anyway, Lord Yule said that the scissors that he used are a Holy Weapon. He asked me if it will do. Since the pair of scissors look very aesthetic to me, I agreed to take it."

    She wasn''t sure if it was just her imagination or if her father really "coughed" to hide hisughter. But she definitely heard a weird sounding from him before he covered his mouth with his hands.

    <em>Papa Boss is acting sus.</em>

    "It''s not an ordinary pair of scissors, Neoma," her father said in a serious tone when he pulled his hands away from his face. "You must be talking about Holy Twin des. It''s the only scissors in the Upper World that could cut human souls and bind them into a contract."

    She nodded eagerly. "That''s what Lord Yule told me as well, Papa Boss."

    "Where is it now?"

    "Lord Yule said that I can''t bring it with me physically all the time," she said. "But he taught me how to summon the Holy Scissors."

    It sounded better than ''Holy Twin des.''

    "Good," her father said. "We can use that to ensure the silence of your future knights."

    She just smiled and nodded. "Can I leave now, Papa Boss?"

    "Are you that excited to see Hanna Quinzel?"

    "Of course," she said brightly. "Hanna is my bestie."

    He just gave her a nk look before he changed the topic. "Saint Zavaroni will return to the pce tomorrow soe home early."

    "I''ll try, Papa Boss."

    He just sighed while shaking his head. "Neoma, you should learn His Holiness''s technique as soon as you can. Yule basically confirmed that the cult has returned. If he wants you to destroy the cult and retrieve his eyes, that only means he has seen a future event where you''d get entangled with the cult."

    Oh, she didn''t realize that.

    "The Crow''s red eyes are Yule''s real eyes, Neoma."

    Her eyes widened in shock when she heard that. "Really?"

    "Gods have red eyes, Neoma," her father exined. "Our eye color changes into red when we''re upset or if we''re using our power. That''s because we have Yule''s blood. Our eye color is proof that we inherited the blood of a god."

    That shit was cool enough to give her goosebumps.

    Of course, she had always known that the de Moonasterios were descendants of Yule. But only now did she finally feel what it meant to be a god''s descendant.

    <em>Someone, please turn my life into a weic or anime.</em>

    "You already probably heard from Yule about Callisto de Luca¨C his half-brother¨C since you asked me a while ago to change Callisto Hall into a random person''s name."

    "G*rdon R*msay isn''t a random person, Papa Boss."

    "Who is he then?"

    "My OC," she lied smoothly. "As in original character in a novel in my mind about a foul-mouthed chef that is also a judge in several cooking shows."

    "Right," her Papa Boss said, obviously not interested in her story. "Callisto de Luca, the person who changed the Crown into the Crow cult, also carried the blood of a god. Don''t underestimate the crown, Neoma."

    "I am not underestimating them, Papa Boss."

    Not anymore.

    "That''s good to hear," her father said. "Anyway, I have someone I''d like to rmend to be a member of your "dream team.""

    "Who is it, Papa Boss?"

    "Ruston Stroganoff."

    "Ruto?" she asked, confused. "I don''t need a chef in my team, Papa Boss."

    "Do you seriously think that I''m rmending Ruston Stroganoff in your team just to be a mere chef?"

    "Papa Boss, Ruto is an amazing chef but he doesn''t belong in the battlefield," she said. "He''s weak."

    "Who''s weak?"

    "Ruto."

    "Neoma, if you don''t like my rmendation, just say so instead of speaking nonsense."

    "My sincerity to protect my vulnerable favorite chef isn''t nonsense, Papa Boss."

    Emperor Niki just gave her a nk stare, then he waved his hand dismissively. "You''re dismissed, Neoma."

    Neoma saluted to her father who dismissed her as if she was an officer or something. "Sir, yes, Sir!"

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA couldn''t help but notice how cool Lewis look in amoner''s clothes.

    Right now, her son wore a white linen long sleeve shirt with tan suspenders, olive linen chinos, and brown suede derby shoes. The finishing touch of his overall outfit was his beret hat.

    <em>I raised him well.</em>

    Lewis was only eleven years old and yet, he was already tall and lean enough to pass as a teenager. Gosh, he looked so handsome.

    "Lewis, you still stand out," Neoma, seated on the firm and ufortable couch of the rental carriage that she was in, said. "Blonde hair and blue eyes also look good on you."

    Since Lewis was also being hunted down by the enemies, Sir Glenn suggested that her son should change his hair and eye color as well. Since blonde hair and blue eyes weremon in the Royal Capital, they decided to go for that disguise.

    "Princess Neoma, you stand out more," Lewis, seated across from her, said bluntly. "You don''t look like amoner at all."

    Oh, she wore simple clothes today as Miss Ramsay: a id knee-length pinafore dress, a white long sleeve turtle neck shirt underneath the dress, ck stockings, and a pair of ck ankle boots. Like Lewis, she also wore a beret hat.

    Aside from her casual outfit, she also asked Madam Hammock''s help again to change her hair and eye color into brown.

    "We can''t hide our good genes, son," she said, then she changed the topic right away when she noticed that Lewis was about to deny being her ''son'' again. "Have you met Ruto before I introduced him to you?"

    He just nodded.

    She waited for Lewis to exin more but he didn''t. And it seemed like her son didn''t want to talk anymore. "How did you meet Ruto?"

    "Sir Glenn. Work."

    She clicked her tongue. "Why are you talking like that to me?"

    He just shrugged.

    She shut her eyes tight and pinched the bridge of her nose.

    Wait, this is Papa Boss''s mannerism every time he''s stressed out!

    She immediately opened her eyes and pulled her hand away from her face when she realized that she unconsciously copied her father''s mannerisms.

    "Fine. I''ll just ask Sir Glennter," she said, then she stretched her arms. She wanted to take a look outside but the window was closed. It was for her and Lewis''s safety so she didn''t dare to take a peek. "Anyway, I can''t wait to return to the Quinzel Mansion."

    After all, during her first life, she spent her adolescence in that house.

    And yes, they were on their way to the Quinzel Mansion.

    Since their visit to Hanna was top-secret, she and Lewis had to ride a rental carriage disguised as one of House Quinzel''s food suppliers. Sir Glenn coordinated with Sir Jaxson Emmett¨C the vice-captain of the ck Hawk Knights¨C for her safe and secret entry to the Quinzel estate.

    Sir Glenn and Sir Emmett decided to have her enter the estate the same time House Quinzel opened its back gate for the arrival of their food supplies (aka extravagant groceries).

    Of course, Sir Emmett would make it so her carriage wouldn''t be inspected by other knights.

    "Plus, I''m really worried about Hanna," she added.

    "Me too."

    She turned to Lewis, then she smiled. "Oh, right. It seems like you and Hanna have be good friends, huh?"

    Plus, she remembered that Lewis would speak to Hanna inplete sentences. Her son would only talk properly to people he liked and respected.

    Although sometimes he''d talk properly to people he considers as his rival.

    He nodded. "I''m rooting for Lady Hanna Quinzel."

    Neoma tilted her head at one side. "Rooting for Hanna for what?"

    Lewis also tilted his head, mimicking her. "Love."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "MISS GALE, may I ask for some advice?" Glenn, kneeling before the white bunny resting under the tree, asked politely. "I need help regarding Lewis Crevan''s request to me."

    "I can give you an advice if the price is right," Gale said in azy voice. It seemed like she was bored because Princess Neoma was out of the pce. "I already gave you the ability tomunicate with Spirits for free, son of Exton. Now I''m going to put a price on everything and anything that you will ask from me."

    "That''s fine with me, Miss Gale," he said. "And I''m begging you to please stop calling me ''son of Exton.'' I''ve disowned my family a long time ago."

    "You ask too much from me, child."

    He bowed politely. "I''m sorry."

    "I will listen to your worries but in return, I want you to get me a luxurious room in Princess Neoma''s pce," the Wind Spirit said. "I may look like this, but I''m still the leader of the Wind Tribe."

    He smiled and nodded eagerly. "I understand, Miss Gale. I shall arrange a room for you."

    nco Pce wasn''t his.

    But he could always ask for His Majesty and Princess Neoma''s permission to prepare a luxurious room for Gale.

    "Now, ask me what you need to ask before I change my mind."

    "Lewis Crevan asked me to help him train to be able to summon all his remaining tails," he said worriedly. "Apparently, the technique to do that was taught to him by Trevor¨C the Devil''s Grimoire."

    "What''s the problem then? The Devil''s Grimoire is a living book stocked with vast knowledge. Moreover, I know that he''s an ally to Princess Neoma," Gale said, obviously confused as to what his concern was. "Lewis Crevan is Princess Neoma''s personal knight, so it would benefit the princess if that child sessfully transforms into a nine-tailed fox."

    "The technique that Trevor taught Lewis Crevan is deadly," Glenn said seriously. "Miss Gale, should I still help the fox boy even though the method might kill him in the end?"

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 197 - TWO PRETTY BESTIES

    "YOUR MAJESTY, I''ve heard from Count Sprouse that the rebels would be publicly executed soon."

    "That''s true," Niki said, then he returned to his seat with a bottle of whisky. "But I didn''t call you here to talk about the rebels, Rufus."

    Rufus, seated on the chair across from him, suddenly looked tensed.

    "Rx," he told his cousin as he poured whiskey into Rufus''s ss.

    "Your Majesty, you don''t have to do that for me," Rufus said, flustered that he was pouring alcohol for him instead of the other way around. After all, he was the emperor. "Please let me pour our drinks."

    That was exactly the reason why only Rufus was allowed in the royal parlor at the moment.

    If his butler saw that he was serving his cousin a drink, the poor old man would probably have a heart attack.

    "Let me do this because I have a favor to ask," he said seriously, then he poured some whisky for himself before he turned to his cousin again. "Rufus, I need you to drop your proposed bill regarding female sessors to be officially recognized by thew."

    His cousin looked shocked by his ''favor.'' "Your Majesty, I can''t do that," he said sternly. "You know that''s the only reason why I entered the House of Lords."

    "Calm down and let me finish," he said sternly, then he sipped his whisky before he spoke again. "I''m not telling you to drop it forever. But I need you to stop pushing for your proposed bill to be passed as aw for now."

    "For now?"

    He nodded before he exined to his cousin. "Rufus, the only reason why I didn''t support your proposed bill was that I personally didn''t want Neoma to have a right to the throne before," he said. "But I already changed my mind."

    His cousin''s eyes widened in shock. "Your Majesty, are you saying that you''ve chosen Princess Neoma as your sessor instead of Prince Nero?"

    "Neoma made a deal with Yule," he exined. He told Rufus the truth because he trusted his cousin. "In return for returning her appearance back to normal, Yule made her promise that she''d be the first empress regnant of our empire. You know that a ''promise'' with a god isn''t something that you should break unless you don''t value your life, don''t you?"

    Rufus nodded thoughtfully, then he fell silent for a while before he spoke again. "Your Majesty, what is your n?" he asked carefully. "How would you support me with my proposed bill without being criticized by the nobles? I know that you would be put in a different spot if you openly showed your support."

    He smiled at his cousin''s sharpness. "Rufus, we need to wait for Neoma and Hanna Quinzel to turn thirteen years old. Do you remember what kind of right the noble children of our empire receive once they officially be a teen?"

    "The right to own and run a business¡­?"

    "That''s correct," he confirmed with a nod. "In our empire, noble children are allowed to legally own a business using their personal funds once they turn thirteen."

    Moreover, Nero would have probably returned once he and Neoma turned that age.

    That would be the perfect timing for his n to be executed by then.

    "We have to show the whole continent that female sessors could bring sess to their families," he told Rufus seriously. "My daughter and your daughter should set a great example. If they be very sessful at such a young age, then it would be easy to convince and manipte the nobles to recognize female sessors."

    "But it''s normal even for female noble children to own a sessful business at that age, Your Majesty," Rufus said worriedly, then he took a gulp of his whisky. "Even if Princess Neoma and Hanna be sessful businesswomen in the future, it wouldn''t make that much of a difference."

    "The businesses that the youngdies in our empire run are all the same," he said. "They either own a dessert restaurant, a dress shop, or a jewelry store. There are some who run art galleries and enter knighthood. All of those careers are thriving and inspiring. But what I have in mind is something of a grand scale¨C something that will definitely make a change, Rufus. Guess what it is."

    "Can you give me some hint, Your Majesty?"

    "Neoma has been supporting talented individuals from the middle ss and poor families for the past few years through the Sword Lily Foundation," he said. "On the other hand, Hanna Quinzel, as your sole sessor, has abundant personal funds. After all, House Quinzel is arguably the richest family in the empire." He poured some more whisky into his ss. "Now, this is my question, Rufus," he said, then he drank his whisky first before talking again. "Neoma has talented individuals under her wing that, unfortunately, can''t enter the prestigious academies in the empire because their poor background hinders them. But your daughter, given the wealth under her name, can easily build an institution that can shelter those people. What kind of institution do you think I''m talking about?"

    Rufus let out a gasp before he spoke. "An academy for themoners¡­?"

    "Yes, an academy for themoners," Niki confirmed while nodding. "Moreover, I want it to be an academy that would be fair in epting students."

    After all, the existing academies in the empire were known for allowing boys to pass with lower scores just because girls were dominating the entrance exams. The academe would rather ept mediocre male students over brilliant female students.

    That disgusting practice was the reason why the eptance rate for female students was low, resulting to fiercepetition amongdies vying for a spot in prestigious academies.

    He was ashamed to admit this but as an emperor, he had turned a blind eye to that issue to protect his throne.

    But to support Neoma as the future empress, he was now ready to risk it all.

    "That kind of academy wouldn''t be easy to build and it will require a lot of money," he said to his cousin. "Of course, I will invest to help you financially. But you will still need to spend a fortune for this, Rufus."

    "Money isn''t going to be a problem, Your Majesty," Rufus said casually. Of course, it wouldn''t be a problem. House Quinzel was richer than the Royal Family after all. "But how can we keep this a secret from the other nobles?"

    "I will take care of that," Niki assured his cousin. "If the academy under Neoma and Hanna Quinzel''s names seeds, then the whole empire wouldn''t be able to ignore female sessors anymore."

    <strong>***</strong>

    ENTERING the Quinzel Mansion discreetly went smoothly.

    Neoma and Lewis''s carriage was "inspected" by Vice-Captain Jaxson Emmett himself, dressed in the casual version of their squad''s all-ck knights'' uniform.

    The Vice-Captain of the ck Hawk Knights was a tall and bulky man with burgundy hair tied in a man bun. His bearded face was quite intimidating, especially the long and deep scar on his left cheek. But his hazel eyes looked warm and gentle.

    It wouldn''t change the fact that the vice-captain still looked older than Duke Quinzel though. As far as she remembered from her first life, Vice-Captain Emmett was only in his early twenties.

    "Lady Nara, we have arrived," Sir Emmett said politely, then he bowed to her. "Her Grace Duchess Quinzel is waiting for you inside Young Lady Hanna''s room."

    Ah, right.

    She entered the mansion as ''Lady Nara''¨C Nero''s disguise when he was still living with the Quinzels. After all, the ck Hawk Knights didn''t know that she was the "Crown Prince."

    Neoma smiled and gave the knight a polite curtsy. "Thank you, Sir Emmett."

    The Vice-captain smiled and bowed to them before he left.

    It wasn''t like the mansion didn''t have strict protection. The ck Hawk Knights were diligently patrolling the estate, even inside the house. But the hallway where Hanna''s room was located was noticeably empty.

    And she thinks it was because the room was already covered with a thick, protective Mana. She was told that Duke Rufus Quinzel wasn''t in the mansion because he was summoned by her Papa Boss in the pce. But for some reason, he could feel the duke''s heavy presence.

    Lewis looked at her, then he tilted his head at one side. "Should I just wait here outside, Lady Nara?"

    She liked how Lewis understood his assignment.

    Since she was pretending as Lady Nara Quinzel, her son addressed her as such.

    "You came here as our friend and not as my knight so it would be weird if you stayed here," she said, then she faced the double doors and knocked politely. "I am here, Your Grace."

    "Pleasee in, Princess Neoma."

    The fact that Duchess Amber Quinzel addressed her by her real name and title suggested that the room and the hallway were both safe ces to talk freely.

    As expected of the Quinzels.

    Lewis opened the doors for her.

    Then, she quietly entered the room. She was surprised by what greeted her. Thus, she remained frozen on her spot as Lewis entered the room and quietly closed the doors behind them.

    <em>I''m relieved to see Hanna healthy but why¡­</em>

    Why were Hanna and Duchess Amber Quinzel bowing deeply to her?

    "Princess Neoma, thank you for saving my life," Hanna said, surprisingly addressing her formally even though they agreed to drop the honorifics between them. "I will never forget what you''ve done for me."

    Ah, it wasn''t a big deal to her.

    But she couldn''t say it. Not when two of the highest-ranking noblewomen in the empire were bowing to her like that.

    "You have our utmost gratitude for saving our daughter, Princess Neoma," Duchess Amber Quinzel said. "Rufus and I are much obliged to you, Your Royal Highness."

    "Please raise your hands, Hanna and Duchess Quinzel," Neoma said. When Hanna and Her Grace raised their heads to look at her with genuine gratitude in their eyes, she smiled at them. "We''re family, aren''t we?"

    The smile that Hanna and Duchess Quinzel gave her as a response warmed her heart.

    <em>Ah, maybe I''m not yet as jaded as I thought I was.</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    "HANNA, micheosseo?" Neoma asked Hanna between sobs. When she realized that she spoke to her cousin in Hangul, she repeated her statement using thenguage that Hanna would understand. "Are you crazy? Why didn''t you tell me your n beforehand?"

    "I''m sorry, Neoma," Hanna said between sobs. Like her, she had been crying her eyes out ever since Hanna confessed to her the n that she executed without telling her. "I know that I should have told you about my n. But I wanted you to get a natural reaction from you once you heard about what happened to me. In that way, the enemies would believe that I was really in a life-threatening condition."

    "Yes, you''re really crazy," she said, still crying hard. "I''m a goddamn actress, for fuck''s sake, Hanna. I would have still done splendid acting even though I know the truth. Please don''t do something as reckless as this again."

    Her cousin nodded, then she cried harder.

    Of course, she cried as loud as Hanna as well.

    Right now, she and her cousin were hugging each other on thetter''s queen size bed. Lewis was in the corner of the room, pretending to be looking at something interesting in the ceiling. Well, the painting in the ceiling was indeed interesting.

    Anyway¡­

    On the other hand, Duchess Amber Quinzel left to personally cook lunch for them. Apparently, it was the duchess''s way of thanking her.

    A while ago, Hanna told her everything.

    "I''m sorry if I didn''t ask for your permission when I told my parents that Regina Crowell is an enemy," Hanna said when she calmed down a bit. "I know that it wasn''t my story to share. Still, I protected your secret regarding the fact that this is already your third life. I just really believed that we needed the help of my parents. I hope you understand, Neoma."

    To be honest, what Hanna did was a huge risk.

    But thankfully, her cousin didn''t tell the duke and the duchess about her other lives. The lie that Hanna said to her parents regarding her "visions" was usible as well. After all, her Papa Boss told her before that her Mama Boss could see the future.

    Gaining the support of Duke and Duchess Quinzel would benefit them in the end. Moreover, now that the duke and duchess knew that Regina Crowell was an enemy, she wouldn''t have to worry about them being controlled by girlie.

    "You did well, Hanna," she praised her cousin while gently patting her back. "But next time, please tell me your n. I know that you''re smart and strong. That you can protect yourself. Still, I can''t help but worry because I care for you."

    Her cousin nodded, then she held her hands. "I won''t do it again, Neoma. I swear."

    "That''s good to hear," she said, then she let out a sigh of relief. "What do you n to do after you made the whole empire believe that the Quinzel heiress was in aa after being amputated?"

    "I still want to go to Gonora, Neoma," Hanna said determinedly. "I need to meet my great uncle and learn from him." She clutched her chest tight. "My heart needs to be stronger literally."

    "It''s still risky to do that, Hanna," she said seriously. "We have no way of knowing if Regina Crowell has given up on you already. Plus, what will you do if she still insists on going to Gonora? We can''t protect you if you''re that far from us."

    Her cousin fell silent, obviously thinking deeply at the moment.

    Of course, her big brain began to work as well. Fortunately, after a few moments, a brilliant idea popped into her mind.

    "Hanna, I will give Regina Crowell a reason to stay in the empire."

    Hanna tilted her head at one side while observing her face. "What''s your n, Neoma?"

    "I''ll choose Regina Crowell as a courtdy in my pce," Neoma said seriously. "I bet the crows wouldn''t miss the chance for their pawn to get close to the Royal Family."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "SIR CREVAN, shouldn''t we stop Neoma from her n?" Hanna, seated on the sofa while having tea, asked the young knight standing behind Neoma''s vacated seat. The royal princess was still in the bathroom while washing her face. "Getting close to Regina Crowell on purpose when she''s supposed to be avoiding her doesn''t sound good to me."

    Lewis kept quiet for a couple of seconds before he opened his mouth. "Princess Neoma will be fine," he said reassuringly. "She has me."

    She smiled at his confident response. "That put me at ease. Thank you, Sir Crevan."

    "Are you okay now?"

    To say that she was surprised when he asked her in a concerned voice would be an understatement--- she was shocked.

    "His Holiness personally confirmed that I have recoveredpletely," she said with a smile on her face. "Thank you for asking, Sir Crevan."

    He just nodded.

    Then, much to her surprise, Lewis extended a hesitant hand. But the hesitation didn''tst long. A few momentster, he was already patting her head. It was so light that his palm barely touched the top of her head.

    "Good job surviving," Lewis said, then he pulled his hand away from her head. After that, he stood straight and put his hands behind him. "Princess Neoma would have been sad had you been hurt badly."

    Hanna smiled, her heart warm after realizing that Lewis already considered her a friend. It didn''t matter if it was only because of Neoma. She was still d that she found another good friend in him. "I won''t make you and Neoma worry again, Sir Crevan."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 198 - MOON + ROSE

    NEOMA had a wonderful lunch with Hanna, Duchess Amber Quinzel, and Lewis.

    But since Hanna''s real health condition was a secret even to the servants of House Quinzel, they ate lunch in her cousin''s room. Well, Hanna''s room was so big and so spacious that recing the tea table with a dining table didn''t feel out of ce.

    During their meal, she noticed that the duchess didn''t mention anything about the "vision" that saved Hanna.

    She only found out the reason when Duke Rufus Quinzel arrived and asked her to have tea with him separately. So, she left Lewis in Hanna''s care and followed the duke in the tea room. She thought that Duchess Amber Quinzel would join them.

    But much to her shock, the duchess left after personally serving tea and snacks to them.

    Duke Quinzel, seated from across the table, sipped his tea before he asked. "Are you wondering why my wife didn''t join us, Princess Neoma?"

    "Yes, Your Grace," Neoma said while nodding gently. "Is there a specific reason why Duchess Quinzel didn''t join us?"

    "My wife and I decided to stop talking about the vision that you saw, Your Royal Highness," the duke said. "Since we already know that Regina Crowell ns to manipte Amber to get into our family, we thought that it would be best if my wife doesn''t know anything about our n. Although we''re being more careful now, we still decided for Amber to be left out as a precautionary measure. After all, we don''t know the real ability of our enemies yet. Who knows if they have someone who could read minds or manipte people to make them speak?"

    She nodded again, impressed at how the Quinzels managed to n this far already.

    Hanna did the right thing when she told her parents about our dilemma.

    "Thus, from now on, my wife won''t be involved with our operations anymore, Princess Neoma," the duke continued. "We thought it would be safer for me to work with you because Regina Crowell wouldn''t have the chance to get near me. After all, my position requires me to stay in the pce often. Thus, it''s unlikely for the crows to target me yet."

    She nodded thoughtfully. "That makes sense, Your Grace."

    Even in her first life, Regina Crowell didn''t approach the duke as much as she did with duchess. Although she wasn''t sure what happened to the Quinzels after she died.

    "Princess Neoma, I can''t thank you enough for saving our Hanna," the duke said sincerely. "As the head of House Quinzel, I swear on my name that my family and I will support you."

    Was that a pledge of loyalty?

    But since House Quinzel had always been loyal to her father, she didn''t think much of it.

    "Thank you, Your Grace," she said with a smile, then she changed the topic. "Are you not going to ask me about the visions that I saw?"

    The duke sipped his tea before he responded. "When Lady Roseheart was still alive, she wasn''tfortable with talking about her ability to see a glimpse of the future. I''m afraid that you might feel the same, Princess Neoma."

    Her heart melted.

    Duke Quinzel was the only father that she acknowledged in her first life. He was the kindest person to her in the past. And even now, he was still good to her.

    Duke Quinzel is really the ideal father.

    She didn''t want topare but Papa Boss should learn a thing or two from the duke about being a father.

    "Thank you for not asking about my ability, Your Grace," she said. "Can you please keep this a secret from my father? Papa doesn''t like it when I talk about my mother." That wasn''t entirely true but she needed to convince the duke to keep her secret safe. "Moreover, he told me to keep my abilities as a Roseheart a secret."

    "Princess Neoma, would it really be better to keep it a secret even from His Majesty?" he asked worriedly.

    "Your Grace, I''m just Nero''s recement," she said with a hint of sadness in her voice. She was slightly in her "actress mode" to get what she wanted from the duke. "His Majesty doesn''t need to know that his daughter is awesome. After all, the empire isn''t kind to royal princesses."

    The duke looked at her sympathetically.

    "I''m fine, Your Grace," she assured him with a bright smile. "I just want to live quietly after Nero returns. That''s why I don''t want my father to know my ability as a Roseheart. I don''t want to be exploited."

    Understanding finally dawned upon the duke''s face. "I understand, Princess Neoma," he said. "Our family will keep your secret safe."

    "Thank you, Your Grace," she said, then she changed the topic. "Hanna told me that she still ns to go to Gonora. But I''m worried that Regina Crowell might follow her and attack her while she''s defenseless and alone in a faraway country. That''s why I''m thinking of making Regina Crowell a courtdy, Your Grace. I bet she won''t miss the chance to get close to me. By using that tactic, I could keep an eye on her naturally." She paused for a while to sip her tea. "But Hanna is worried. She''s notfortable with the fact that I want to keep Regina Crowell close to me."

    The duke fell silent for a couple of seconds before he shared his opinion. "I''m sorry but I agree with Hanna, Princess Neoma," he said seriously. "Regina Crowell is a dangerous child. It seems like she''s being backed up by a strong and influential group. Only people who have the same status as we do would have the audacity to target House Quinzel."

    Ah, right.

    Hanna didn''t tell her parents about the crows.

    "Your Grace, I have another secret that I wish to share with you," she said seriously. "But it''s a secret that I want you to keep even from Duchess Quinzel. It''s not that I don''t trust your wife. But please trust me on this: the less Her Grace knows, the safer she''d be."

    "I don''t like keeping secrets from my wife but if it will keep her safer, then I must obliged," the duke said firmly. "You may share your secret with me, Princess Neoma."

    She nodded before she spoke. "ording to my dream, Regina Crowell is a part of the Crow¨C the cult that kills royal princesses."

    The duke looked shocked by her revtion.

    "Your Grace, for some reason, the crows are interested in House Quinzel," she said. "But I don''t know how it''s rted to their goal."

    The duke''s expression turned grim. "Princess Neoma, thank you for telling me that the crow is the one targeting my family. Truth be told, this isn''t the first time that they tried to control House Quinzel. In the past, they also attacked my brother."

    Her brows furrowed in confusion. "May I know why?"

    "The crows have always been interested in our Shadow Maniption Technique," he said seriously. "I thought they would stop going after my family when my brother died. After all, the technique that the crows desired died with my brother." His jaw clenched. "I guess they believe that the technique was passed down to me when I inherited the duke title. If my theory is correct, then it only means that the crows wanted Regina Crowell to enter my family to target me." He let out a deep sigh while "washing" his face with his hands. "They targeted Hanna because of me."

    "Your Grace, please don''t me yourself," she said sternly. "Hanna wouldn''t like that. Plus, the only thing to me here is the stupid cult."

    Duke Quinzel turned to her and when he smiled, it seemed like all his worries faded away. "Thank you, Princess Neoma."

    She just smiled at him. "Now, what should we do with Regina Crowell? I will listen to your advice, Your Grace."

    "Now that I know that Regina Crowell is a crow, then the more I wouldn''t allow you to keep her close to you, Princess Neoma," he said solemnly. "Thete Princess Nichole tried to use that approach to a crow that we caught spying on her. It didn''t end well for her."

    "Oh."

    She didn''t ask what happened because she felt like it would be hard for the duke to talk about it.

    "But I agree with your n to make that child a courtdy, Princess Neoma."

    "Hmm?"

    "There''s an old custom that the pce used to practice when ites to choosing the courtdies that would serve the emperor or the Crown Prince," Duke Quinzel said in a light tone. "If you bring that custom back, we will get an opportunity to send Regina Crowell away from us, Princess Neoma."

    "Ohh," Neoma said with a smirk. "I''m all ears, Your Grace."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "NEOMA, His Holiness will arrive in an hour so do your presentation quickly."

    Neoma cleared her throat, then she unfolded the paper that she brought in her father''s office. Gosh, if onlyputers existed in this world, she would have prepared the best powerpoint presentation ever. But her handwriting looked nice so that would do. "Papa Boss, this is what I want to name my dream team."

    Her group of "knights" wouldn''t be recognized as an Order of Knights officially since ''Princess Neoma de Moonasterio'' didn''t exist in the family registry.

    Still, she wanted to give her group a proper name.

    "''Moonrose?''" Emperor Niki read what was written in the paper, then he raised his head to meet her gaze. "How nd."

    "At least, it''s more creative than ''White Lion Knights,''" she said with a bright smile on her face. "Anyway, Papa Boss, you should be honored that I used your surname and not Ramsay."

    He just red at her.

    "I got the ''Moon'' from Moonasterio, and the ''Rose'' from Roseheart, obviously," she said quickly. "Moonrose sounds nice, doesn''t it?"

    "It''s fine."

    "`Kay," she said, then she dropped the paper in the front to show the one behind it. "And this will be my dream team''s symbol, Papa Boss. Behold my amazing drawing skills!"

    Her father''s face remained poker-faced while looking at the coat of arms that she drew.

    Since her Papa Boss wasn''t giving her the reaction that she wanted, she broke the awkward silence in his office and exined the meaning behind her chosen symbol.

    "Papa Boss, as you can see, a single pink rose is seated on top of the crown," she began exining. The single pink rose was the crest of her group, of course. "The crown is surrounded by a wreath and a mantling. Very ssic, right?"

    "Why are there two pink mingoes in there?"

    Her father was talking about the ''supporters'' or the two figures that protect the shield.

    "I chose pink mingoes because they''re pink and I love pink," she said proudly, making her Papa Boss scowl. "They''re cute," she said defensively. "Plus, look, Papa Boss. My pink mingoes are kissing to form a heart."

    The emperor let out a deep sigh. "And what is that image in the shield?"

    "Oh," she said excitedly. "It''s ady sleeping on a sofa. It represents me and my desire to be ady of leisure someday."

    The shield in her father''s coat of arms featured a roaring lion.

    She was aware of that but still, she chose an image of ady sleeping on a sofa to put in the shield of her crest.

    Of course, her Papa Boss wasn''t impressed.

    Then, his gazended on thepartment of the coat of arms. Thepartment was thendscape in which the shield and the supporters rested.

    <em>Well, it makes sense since thendscape is in.</em>

    Her father didn''tment on that, but when his eyesnded on the motto disyed on a ribbon below the rest of the design, he let out a frustrated sigh.

    "Seriously, Neoma?" her Papa Boss asked in a tired voice. "Do you know what the motto in the emperor''s crest is?"

    "Yes," she said. "It''s "under the moon thou shalt conquer.""

    "Knowing that, you still chose that motto for your coat of arms?"

    Neoma pouted andined. "What''s wrong with "eat, sleep, y, and rule," Papa Boss?"

    Emperor Niki shut his eyes tight and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Rejected."

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 Chapter 199 - OLDIES BUT BADDIES

    "PRINCESS NEOMA, is everything alright?"

    Neoma blinked several times because of Saint Macaroni''s question, then she nodded. "Yes, Saint Macaroni."

    She realized that she called the saint by a different name when she saw the surprised look on his face.

    Plus, Lewis who stood behind her, suddenly stifled augh.

    <em>Shit.</em>

    Right now, she was in her private library in her pce with Saint Zavaroni.

    Since she was dressed as herself and the saint''s presence in the Royal Pce must be kept a secret, only Lewis stayed in the library to guard her.

    Moreover, only Stephanie and Alphen were allowed toe in to serve them. The other servants were refrained from entering the premises of the library. Additionally, Mochi and Soju volunteered to patrol the area to make sure that they weren''t being spied on.

    "Am I¡­ a macaroni to you, Princess Neoma?"

    "I love macaroni, Your Holiness," she said defensively, then she bowed gracefully. "I apologize for giving you a rude pet name, Your Holiness."

    "It''s alright, Princess Neoma," he said kindly. "You didn''t give it to me to make fun of me anyway. So please raise your head."

    She did. "Are you not upset, Your Holiness?"

    He smiled and shook his head. "It''s refreshing to hear you call me by a pet name you chose for me instead of being addressed by my title. You''re free to call me that if you want."

    She shook her head eagerly. "I can''t do that, Your Holiness. But if I had another slip of the tongue like now, please find it in your kind heart to forgive me again."

    The saint chuckled. "I understand, Princess Neoma."

    She just smiled, then she answered the saint''s question a while ago. "I''m alright, Your Holiness. I''m just a little upset because Papa Boss rejected the awesome crest that I designed. He even hated the motto that I created."

    "Oh, you created a motto?" the saint asked curiously. "May I know what it is?"

    "Sure," she said. "It''s ''eat, sleep, y, and rule.''"

    His Holiness blinked several times, then heughed softly. "That motto suits you well, Princess Neoma."

    "I know, right?" she agreed enthusiastically. "I will convince Papa Boss to approve it again."

    "Well, as far as I know, your group of knights won''t be recognized as an official Order anyway," the saint said, then he smiled brightly at her. "Princess Neoma, just do what you want. You don''t need His Majesty''s permission for your own symbol and motto."

    She blinked, then sheughed softly.

    Ah, she almost forgot that Saint Zavaroni was an anti-fan of her father. Plus, the saint could throw shades at her Papa Boss while still sounding eloquent.

    "You''re right, Your Holiness. But I''m trying to win some brownie points from Papa Boss," she said, then she turned serious. "I broke my promise to him so I''m trying to act obediently these days to avoid my death gs."

    Of course, the saint looked confused by her vague words.

    "Your Holiness, I met Lord Yule a while ago and we made a contract," she said seriously. "That contract will fulfill your vision soon."

    His Holiness fell silent for a while, then his eyes widened in shock. "Princess Neoma, are you saying that you n to be the empress?"

    She nodded. "Yes, and Papa Boss already agreed to support me."

    "His Majesty did?"

    She nodded again. "Your Holiness, the contract I signed with Lord Yule states that I will only rule the empire for a maximum of three years. Aside from that, he also wants me to get rid of the cult and retrieve his eyes for him."

    "Lord Yule asked too much from you, didn''t he?" he asked sympathetically.

    "Don''t worry, Your Holiness," she assured him. "I made sure I''m wellpensated."

    The saint smiled proudly at her."

    "I assured Papa Boss that I will step down as soon as the contract is over, and let Nero ascend the throne," she continued. "Luckily, my father understands that I needed to agree with Lord Yule''s terms before he returned me to normal."

    The saint nodded thoughtfully. "I''m d that His Majesty has finally begun to calm down. If he was the same illogical beast a few years ago, he would have thrown you out of the pce for epting Lord Yule''s terms without listening to your exnation."

    "Your Holiness, did you just call my Papa Boss an ''illogical beast?''"

    His Holiness smiled innocently at her. "Am I wrong, Princess Neoma?"

    She smiled sweetly at him. "Not at all, Your Holiness."

    "Princess Neoma, as I said before, I am on your side," the saint said seriously. "I hope and pray that the techniques I''m passing down to you would be useful to you in the future."

    "I''m certain of it, Your Holiness," she said cheerfully. "I will study hard under your guidance and be the strongest shield for my protection."

    The saint seemed taken aback by her deration. "Not for the empire¡­?"

    "Why would I learn an awesome defense technique just to protect the empire that treats a royal princess like me like shi¨C I mean, like garbage?" she said with a softugh. "Plus, it''s Papa Boss''s job to keep the empire safe."

    "Oh, I guess you''re right," he said softly. "You were so different from Princess Nichole who mastered the Dome to literally protect the Royal Pce¡­"

    "I have no intention of doing that," she said firmly. "Your Holiness, I intend to master the Coat."

    The Coat was the firstyer of the saint''s technique, and it was the kind of defense that would cover her physical body with a shield.

    "I''m self-centered, that''s a given," she continued. "But I also believe that as a leader with followers, it''s my job to keep myself safe. Plus, as long as I''m alive, I can always save and protect the people around me."

    Saint Zavaroni''s smile told her that he was satisfied with her resolve. "Excellent, Princess Neoma," he said proudly. "I know that I was right to choose you as the sessor of my technique."

    Neoma smiled and winked at the saint. "I won''t disappoint you, Your Holiness Macaroni."

    Oops.

    <strong>***</strong>

    <em>WELCOME BACK to reality, Neoma.</em>

    Ah, maybe Neoma should remind herself that as of this moment, she was back as "Prince Nero."

    Gosh, her week-long vacation passed by so quickly, as if it was only a sweet dream.

    She spent her "vacation" learning from Saint Zavaroni and visiting Hanna secretly. Then, just before she knew it, Stephanie and Alphen reminded her that it was time for the "Crown Prince" to make an appearance.

    After all, today was the day that the leaders of the Twelve Golden Families would greet her officially.

    "Your Royal Highness, you received a letter from House Quinzel," Lewis, walking closely behind her, whispered to her as they walked in the garden leading to her father''s pce. "As you instructed, I read the content."

    "Very good," Neoma saidzily because she was still asleep. Thus, she asked Lewis to read the letters that she received that morning. And like she instructed him, he read the letter from the House Quinzel first. "What did the letter say?"

    "Duchess Quinzel said that Regina Crowell sent them a letter asking if she could visit Lady Hanna Quinzel."

    <em>That girlie¡­</em>

    She froze for a moment when she felt a hostile aura directed at her.

    Lewis felt it too because in just the blink of an eye, her son was already standing protectively in front of her.

    She knew that she would safe even if she turned her back on him so she turned to Stephanie, Alphen, and the other maids and royal knights walking behind them. She was supposed to use the Dome even though she had only gotten the basics of it.

    But unfortunately, it was toote.

    Her servants were already on the ground, unconscious.

    "Calm down, Princess Neoma," Mochi, who suddenly appeared on her right shoulder, said. "They''re still alive."

    "Yeah, they''re just sleeping," Soju, who appeared on her left shoulder, assured her. "To be precise, they were knocked down by the oozing bloodlust directed at you."

    <em>Dammit.</em>

    "Mochi, Soju, protect the servants," she ordered the Spirits.

    "As you wish, Your Royal Highness," Mochi and Soju said politely, then they disappeared.

    Then, she suddenly realized that she was taken away from Lewis who also looked taken aback by what happened.

    By that, she meant the fact that all of a sudden, she was standing in the middle of four men eyeing her as if she was some sort of an endangered species. Judging by the men''s expensive clothes and posh crests that decorated their suits, it was obvious that each of them came from an affluent family.

    Moreover, the four men were ridiculously strong.

    Ah, they must be some of the leaders of the Twelve Golden Families.

    "Lewis, don''t move," Neoma ordered firmly, her voice now eerily simr to Nero''s since she was wearing the magical choker that changes her voice. "Mind your manners with our esteemed guests."

    Lewis''s face turned cold, then he bowed politely to her and didn''t move an inch from his spot.

    "At least, the Crown Prince knows some manners," the old man (probably in his early fifties) with gray hair and cold blue eyes said. He was looking at her as if she was some disgusting bug that he couldn''t stand. "It''s quite unexpected, considering the fact that His Royal Highness came from that lowly woman."

    "Well, the Crown Prince is still half de Moonasterio," the man who looked the youngest (moss green, curly hair and amber eyes) said while looking at her in interest. The way this dude looked at her was creepy, but she would admit that the rude stranger looked handsome. It also looked like he was only in his early thirties. "Moreover, the fact that His Royal Highness is half-Roseheart isn''t so bad. After all, he got Mona''s good looks."

    She raised a brow at that.

    <em>How dare he call my mother''s name casually?</em>

    "Ah, I almost forgot that you were once obsessed with Lady Mona Roseheart," the man who looked just a few years older than the ''youngest,'' said. This dude had light green long hair and pretty orange eyes. He also wore a pair of specs that made him look intelligent even though he was sprouting garbage. "As your older cousin, I''m d that you didn''t end up with Lady Roseheart. That would have been a huge stain to our family''s name."

    Okay, she was done listening.

    She waited for thest man in the group¨C the one who seemed to be the oldest (white hair, violet eyes) and the one with a ck cane¨C to say something. But he just looked at her with a nk look on his face.

    Neomaughed, causing the four gentlemen to turn to her. "Have y''all gone senile?"

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 Chapter 200 - THE GOLDEN (AND ROTTEN) FAMILIES

    <strong></strong>"HAVE y''all gone senile?" Neoma asked the old geezers around her with a smirk. She raised a brow when she noticed that the "gentlemen" looked offended by her words. "Oh, did I hit a nerve? Do the words of the young Crown Prince who disgusts you because of her mother''s blood hurt your fragile egos?"

    The response that she received came in the form of extreme killing intent directed at her.

    All of a sudden, she felt like a small (and very cute) animal trapped in a box guarded by big (and very ugly) animals.

    After all, the white-haired old man with the cane was standing in front of her. The gray-haired old man was behind her. Then, the ''youngest'' that looked like some seaweed because of his curly moss green hair was on her right side. And finally, the fuckface with specs who insulted her mother was on her left side.

    They have the balls to threaten the Crown Prince with their bloodlust, huh?

    Her thoughts were cut off when all of a sudden, Lewis appeared and stood in front of her protectively. The killing intent that her son released wasmendable. It was enough to literally push the four old geezers surrounding them.

    s, the oldies but baddies group looked offended that a mere child like Lewis was enough to move them from their spot.

    <em>Hah! That''s my son!</em>

    It was true that she asked Lewis not to move a while ago as a sign of respect towards their esteemed guests.

    But that changed when the so-called guests expressed their intention to kill her.

    Although she was confident that the old geezers wouldn''t really act on their bloodlust considering that they were in the Royal Pce, she still had to let Lewis do his job as her personal knight, or else, her son would be heavily criticized for failing to protect her.

    "How dare a lowly cub as you threaten us, four of the leaders of the Twelve Golden Families?" the rude four-eyed said while reaching for Lewis''s head as if the bastard intended to crush her son''s head. "Know your ce, dirty fox."

    Of course, she wouldn''t let that happen.

    She smirked when Mr. Rude Specs pulled his hand away as if he just touched an invisible barrier that electrocuted him or something.

    Yes, she and Lewis were inside the Dome that she just created.

    Of course, the Dome that she made wasn''t satisfactory to her yet. It wasn''t as strong and as big as she would like it to be. But fortunately, it was doing its job properly.

    <em>You see, Your Holiness? I''m right.</em>

    Despite her current situation, she suddenly remembered the conversation she had with Saint Zavaroni a while ago.

    ["Princess Neoma, your divine energy is overflowing. It''s a good thing because the durability of your barrier would depend on your Mana. All you need to learn now is how to transform your divine energy into different kinds of a shield."]

    ["So, how do I do that, Your Holiness?"]

    ["Think of the people that you want to protect, Princess Neoma."]

    ["Omo. That sounds like something a novel oric character would say, Your Holiness. But I do believe that aside from the people that I care about, there are other things that I want to protect. I think those things will give me strength as well."]

    ["May I know what things are you talking about, Princess Neoma?"]

    ["My pride."]

    ["Oh."]

    ["You see, Your Holiness, I''m an arrogant girl. I''m the type who will fight to the death for my pride. I believe it could strengthen my barrier as well."]

    Her pride refused to bend down to these old motherfuckers in front of her, not after they insulted her mother to her face.

    The angrier she got remembering it, the stronger her Dome became.

    "How dare a mere trash try to touch my cub?" she said coldly. "Get your filthy hand away from us."

    Once again, the rude bastards looked shocked by what she said.

    "When you insulted Lady Mona Roseheart, my MOTHER, you should have prepared to be insulted back," she said, her chin up and chest out. "There''s a saying that one shouldn''t stoop down to a fucking idiot''s level. Unfortunately for you, I don''t believe that bullshit."

    "Language, Your Royal Highness," the white-haired old man with a cane said, breaking his silence for the first time. His voice was deep and authoritative. That made her realized that this old geezer was the leader of this hostile group. "Don''t curse. Use proper words. Only uneducated people use curse words."

    "Hell no," she said, shocking the old man with the cane. ""Fucking idiot" and "bullshit" are exactly the words I''m looking for. Sure, I could be fancy and call y''all ''blight on the world.'' But it doesn''t have the same energy as calling y''all a fucking idiot."

    "It''s unbing of a Crown Prince to speak such vulgar words, Your Royal Highness," the old man with the cane said sternly.

    "I would agree with you but then we would both be wrong," she said firmly. "Don''t you know that studies have shown that people who swear like sailors are more honest and more intelligent?"

    But of course, she would admit that she was in the wrong this time because she forgot that she was still physically a child.

    It was inappropriate for a child as young as her to swear.

    "However, I understand your concern," she said, talking directly at the old man with the cane. "But you don''t have anything to worry about, my lord. My "dirty mouth" is like an allergic reaction. It onlyes out when I''m surrounded by humans pretending to be noble but sprouts garbage worse than cursing."

    "Aren''t you being a little too emotional, Your Royal Highness?" Mr. Seaweed, the one who was allegedly obsessed with her mother in the past, confronted her. "I admit that my cousin and I have said things that we shouldn''t have regarding a person who''s long gone. But I believe that you''re overreacting."

    "You got that right, cousin," the four-eyed bastard agreed with a smirk. "Please don''t act like a hysterical woman just because you heard something that hurt your feelings, Your Royal Highness. In the future, once you attend more social gatherings, you''d hear more hurtful words from other people. Are you going to act this way again if that happens?" He shook his head and smiled "kindly" at her. "You shouldn''t, Your Royal Highness."

    "Don''t try to gaslight me and invalidate my feelings, gentlemen," she said with a "kind" smile on her face. "I am proud to be the child of Lady Mona Roseheart and His Majesty Emperor Niki de Moonasterio. Don''t insult my family and expect to get away from it easily."

    The arrogant smirk of Mr. Seaweed and Mr. Four-eyed disappeared.

    "And you said I''m acting like a "hysterical woman?"" she asked, then she smirked. "First of all, I don''t see anything wrong with how I expressed my feelings. But most of all, aren''t the four of you the ones who are getting a little too emotional here? After all, you''re the ones who are so triggered just because the child of the woman you feared the most was crowned by His Majesty to be his sessor."

    The four "gentlemen" once again reacted by releasing their bloodlust.

    <em>Gosh, these old geezers should be grateful that I''ve stopped myself from cursing again.</em>

    "See?" she asked with an arrogant smile on her face. "You''re being too emotional again. Ashamed to be reminded of how my awesome mother scared the daylights out of you in the past?"

    "Your Royal Highness!" the white-haired man yelled angrily, then he stomped his cane on the cemented ground. Oh, wow, the part that the cane hit actually cracked. "Aren''t you being too rude now?!"

    She prepared herself when she saw, heard, and felt the four old bastards around her move to attack her.

    Even Lewis switched to his "kill mode," his long and sharp nails now looked like ws.

    But all of a sudden, three knights donning white uniforms appeared and stood in front of her and Lewis. Two men with the same face stood on either side of the only woman in the group.

    <em>White Lion Knights¡­?</em>

    Her thoughts were cut off when all of a sudden, the three White Lion Knights kneeled and bowed to her.

    "We, the Pdins of His Imperial Majesty, greet the First Star of the Great Moonasterion Empire," the three White Lion Knights said politely.

    <em>Oh, they are Papa Boss''s Pdins.</em>

    She heard from her father that his Pdins would arrive soon, but she didn''t expect them to arrive the same time the leaders of the Twelve Golden Families did. However, she thought the Pdins came at the right time.

    She raised her head to secretly check on the four "gentlemen."

    Much to her shock, she realized that they weren''t surrounding her anymore. In fact, the four geezers were standing a little further away from her. The three noblemen were standing behind their leader¨C the white-haired man with a cane.

    "Your Royal Highness, my name is Jeanne Audley," the female knight with auburn, bob-cut hair, and hazel green eyes said. "We weren''t supposed to present ourselves this way. We apologize for our rudeness."

    "Your Royal Highness, my name is Warren Fletcher," one of the male twins said, then he raised his head. "Your Royal Highness, our ears almost fell off while listening to the unspeakable things that came out of some people''s dirty mouth. Moreover, the fact that they dared to direct their bloodlust to you is¨C"

    "Is unforgivable," the other twin said, finishing his brother''s sentence. Then, he raised his head to meet her gaze. "My name is Wyatt Fletcher, Your Royal Highness. I am Warren''s big brother."

    "You''re only a minute older than me, Wyatt."

    "That doesn''t change the fact that I was still born earlier than you, little brother."

    She just watched the twins'' light bickering, distracted by the fact the twins were super handsome.

    The Fletcher Twins had ash-brown undercut hair, chocte eyes, and the type of build that most male Kpop idols had. You know, the kind of body that looked skinny at first. But the more you observed the boys, the more you realized that they weren''t skinny but very fit instead.

    "Stop it, Fletcher Twins," Jeanne scolded the twins, then she raised her head to give her an apologetic smile. "I deeply apologize for their rowdy behavior, Your Royal Highness."

    She clutched her chest tight when she saw Jeanne''s face properly.

    <em>Gosh! She''s so pretty! Is being good-looking a requirement to be Papa Boss''s Pdin?</em>

    "Your Royal Highness, are you alright?" Jeanne, Warren, and Wyatt all asked worriedly.

    Lewis, who seemed to have already guessed what she was about to say, turned to her with a judging look on his face.

    She still had to say it though.

    "I''m alright," Neoma assured the beautiful Pdin Knights. "My heart just skipped a beat because the three of you are face geniuses."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOUR IMPERIAL Majesty, Emperor Niki, we have returned safely."

    Niki raised a brow when only two out of his five Pdins (excluding Glenn who never left his side) appeared before him.

    He was expecting his Pdins to arrive today. Thus, he asked them to report to him right away in his office.

    Of course, he was dressed for the asion. Since he was finally reuniting with all his active Pdins, he donned his full red military uniform. After all, he was themander-in-chief of all the Order of Knights.

    "Thest time I checked, I have five Pdins that I sent in an away mission," Niki said, then he leaned against the desk behind him and crossed his arms over his chest. "Howe only the two of you have returned?"

    The two Pdins (in their white dress uniform) kneeling in front of him with their heads hung low were Dion Skelton and Geoffrey Kinsley.

    Dion Skelton was a tall and lean man with ck hair and (fake) light brown eyes. On the other hand, Geoffrey Kinsley was anky man with shoulder-length, wavy golden hair and dark green eyes. Both had the face that Neoma would probably like.

    My daughter is obsessed with good-looking people.

    "Your Majesty, the insufferably stupid Fletcher Twins left the squad as soon as they heard that the Twelve Golden Families have arrived in the Royal Pce. Apparently, the Fletcher Twins got a feeling that the "Crown Prince" is going to be picked on by the leaders of the Noble Faction," Geoffrey said, his voice sounded calm andposed as usual. "Jeanne chased the twins and promised to bring them back."

    <em>Ah, right.</em>

    The Twelve Golden Families were divided into three factions: the Royal Faction that obviously supported him, the Noble Faction that wanted to increase their power and influence to overthrow the monarchy, and the ''Neutral Faction'' that had never chosen any side for a long time now.

    The leaders of the Noble Faction are aggressive. The possibility of them intimidating the Crown Prince to assert dominance is high. Those families used to threaten me as well when I was still a young Crown Prince and disguise it as "tough love."

    ["We''re only doing this to help you toughen up, Your Royal Highness."]

    That was the Noble Faction''s favorite excuse in the past whenever they physically and verbally assaulted him during a "sparring." Well, that was if you could call ten violent noble children versus one young prince a friendly match.

    Of course, the bullying stopped when he grew up and learned how to protect himself.

    But since Neoma was small and looked too delicate for a Crown Prince, he was pretty sure that the leaders of the Noble Faction would look down on his child and pick on her. Even if he caught the leaders in the act, they would pass it off as "testing" the Crown Prince.

    <em>Let''s see who''s going to bully whom.</em>

    "I will take responsibility for failing to control the shameful actions of my team members, Your Majesty," Dion said, short and sharp.

    He wasn''t surprised that Dion took responsibility.

    After all, Dion Skelton was the leader of the away team.

    "Someone is ying hero again, huh?" Geoffrey said, obviously taunting Dion.

    But Geoffrey said it so eloquently that it reminded Niki of the times His Holiness insulted him with an innocent smile.

    "Dion, my friend, just because you''re the leader of the away team doesn''t make you better than us," Geoffrey said, still all smiles. "Why are you taking responsibility for us? We can take responsibility for our actions and ept His Majesty''s punishment on our own."

    Dion, as usual, ignored Geoffrey''s provocation.

    "Dion Skelton, Geoffrey Kinsley," Glenn, standing beside Niki, called the two sternly. "Are you seriously fighting in front of His Majesty?"

    Dion and Geoffrey, who both admire and fear Glenn, bowed their heads deeper. "We apologize for our shameful behavior, Your Majesty."

    "Never mind that," Niki said, then he stood straight. "Let''s go before I miss the show."

    Glenn, Dion, and Geoffrey all looked at him with a questioning look in their eyes.

    "Your Majesty, do you have another schedule for today?" Glenn asked, confused. "I apologize but I thought we''re going to greet the Twelve Golden Families now."

    "Exactly," Niki said with a smirk. "I want to see how Neoma would put the arrogant leaders in their ce."

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 201 - CONFESSION FROM PAPA BOSS

    KNOWING that the old geezers wouldn''t be able to openly attack her now with their bloodlust, Neoma lowered her guard¨C sessfully "copsing" the Dome around her and Lewis.

    She didn''t want to admit this but she suddenly felt exhausted. If it wasn''t for her pride, she would have already sumbed to drowsiness. But of course, she wouldn''t let that happen in front of people who were waiting for her to make a mistake.

    "I see that His Majesty''s Pdins are back," the gray-haired old man, the one behind her a while ago, said with a big smile on your face. "Now I understand why His Royal Highness is so brave while facing the Twelve Golden Families. I don''t think you''d have the courage to talk to us that way had you been alone."

    Ah, so they weren''t done with trash talk, huh?

    She noticed that the three White Lion Knights were insulted in her ce.

    "You may all rise now," Neoma said to the three White Lion Knights. Then, she turned to the four old geezers, her father''s Pdins now standing behind her. "If that''s all you cane up with after I crushed your egos a while ago, then I think we''ve finished here. Your words don''t bother me."

    "It should, Your Royal Highness," the white-haired man with a cane said sternly. "The Twelve Golden Families are the foundation of the Great Moonasterion Empire."

    "No, you''re not," she said seriously. This time, she wasn''t being arrogant or hostile. She was merely stating facts. And it wasing from someone who had lived in the empire for eighteen years during her first life. She didn''t have to read the history books to tell the state of the empirepared to the other empires in other continents. "The Twelve Golden Families are nothing but shackles that prevent the empire from heading towards progression."

    It didn''t help that Emperor Niki, in her first life, wasn''t that different from these archaic and narrow-minded geezers with toxic masculinity.

    Of course, she wasn''t expecting the people of this empire to be as "woke" as someone like her who came from the modern world. Yes, the modern world wasn''t exactly a paradise in but the silver lining was a lot of progressive people were working hard to make it a better ce to live in.

    And she wanted to find people with the same mindset as her.

    If the Twelve Golden Families would choose to stick to their repressive ways of ruling the empire, then she wouldn''t need them anymore.

    <em>Just because something is the "norm" here doesn''t make it right.</em>

    "Is that a threat, Your Royal Highness?" the white-haired old man asked angrily. "Are you threatening to dismantle the Twelve Golden Families?!"

    "I''m not threatening you, nor am I implying that I will crush you," she said with a bright smile on her face. "All I''m saying is I''m going to create a world where it would be easier for everyone, especially those in the lower part of the hierarchy, to live in. Whether you keep up with me and be progressive, or disappear because your harmful beliefs aren''t needed in this world anymore, is entirely up to you."

    Finally, the old geezers were rendered speechless by her wonderful deration.

    <em>Gosh, maybe I have a way with words.</em>

    "I''d like to be a part of the world that you''re going to build in the future, Your Royal Highness."

    She turned to the owner of the voice and smiled when she realized who it was.

    <em>Duke Quinzel!</em>

    The duke wasn''t alone.

    In fact, Duke Rufus Quinzel was actually walking behind an old man with wild red hair (and beard) and pale blue eyes.

    Nice hair color, wild grandpa.

    Anyway, aside from Duke Quinzel and the old man with wild hair color, there were six other noblemen walking with them. It looked like the men behind Duke Quinzel''s age range were from thete twenties to early forties.

    But boy, all these noblemen looked fine as hell.

    <em>Well, it''s easy to look good if you have the money and the means for self-care. Especially since the nobles of the Moonasterion Empire care a lot about physical appearance.</em>

    Anyway, before he knew it, the twelve leaders of the Golden Families were now standing in front of her. But she noticed that two of them were standing two steps ahead of the other ten. And those two were the white-haired old man with a cane, and the grandpa with a wild red hair.

    "It''s the first that we have met, Your Royal Highness," the red-haired grandpa said in a calm yet firm matter. Ah, this old man was obviously a high-ranked nobleman. "I am Marquis Vincent Lennox, the current master of House Lennox."

    That gave her goosebumps.

    House Lennox was the maternal family of thete Empress Juliet. And House Lennox was also the family that leads the Royal Faction.

    <em>Papa Boss told me to suck up to this wild grandpa if I want more power as the Crown Prince.</em>

    "It''s an honor to meet you, Lord Lennox," she said politely.

    The white-haired old man with a cane cleared his throat before he spoke to her politely. "Your Royal Highness, I am Duke Arman Winchester," he said with a bow.

    "I am Marquis Frank Bsco, Your Royal Highness," the gray-haired man with a huge built said in a polite voice.

    Then, the bastard with the specs bowed next to her. "I am Count Emerson Zachary, Your Royal Highness."

    "I''m Marquis Russell Spencer, Your Royal Highness," the seaweed, that was apparently obsessed with her mother in the past, said politely.

    She almost raised a brow at the sudden change in the four''s demeanor.

    Arman Winchester, Frank Bsco, Emerson Zachary, and Russell Spencer only treated her with respect when the others arrived.

    Maybe the four were trying to be cautious because they feared someone from the group that just got there.

    "I''m Duke Rufus Quinzel," the duke said as part of the protocol, perhaps.

    Then, the man with messy dirty blonde hair and sleepy dark brown eyes bowed to her. But it looked like he hung his head low because he suddenly fell asleep. It also took him a couple of seconds before he spoke. "I''m¡­ Sean¡­ Dank¡­ worth¡­ Your¡­ Royal¡­ High¡­"

    "His name is Count Sean Dankworth, Your Royal Highness," the man with pretty strawberry blonde hair and yellow eyes said. Then, he smoothly caught Count Sean Dankworth who seriously fell asleep. "I''m Marquis Lawford Gibson. And I apologize on behalf of Count Dankworth. He didn''t mean to be rude, Your Royal Highness. It''s just his sickness¡­"

    Ah, she remembered back in her first life, there was indeed a count that would often fall asleep in the banquets.

    <em>So it was Count Dankworth, huh?</em>

    She smiled at Marquis Gibson, amused by Count Dankworth''s character. "It''s alright, Lord Gibson. It''s not Count Dankworth''s fault that he was born with that kind of sickness."

    The marquis smiled and bowed to her.

    "Greetings, Your Royal Highness," the man with dark brown hair and light brown eyes said, then he bowed. "I am Count Benjamin Russo."

    "I am Count Tyler Lhesi, Your Royal Highness," the brte man with amber eyes said in an indifferent yet polite voice while bowing.

    Then, the man with an intimidating huge built bowed to her. Despite his built, his pretty pale blonde hair and bright blue eyes looked gentle. And when he spoke, his voice was soft and he sounded almost shy. "It''s an honor to meet you, Your Royal Highness. I am Count Larry Dawkins."

    Ah, even his name sounded gentle to me.

    Finally, thest one bowed to her. The man had in ck hair and dark brown eyes. He looked like he was the youngest out of all the leaders there. Plus, he looked so meek that he couldn''t even look at her in the eye. "G-Greetings, Your Royal Highness," he said in a very low voice that if it wasn''t quiet, she wouldn''t have heard him. "I''m V-Viscount Austin Morrisey."

    Finally, the introductions were over.

    The names that she had heard were already familiar to her, so all she had to do now was attached those names to the faces in front of her now.

    "It''s nice to meet all of you, esteemed leaders of the Twelve Golden Families," she said brightly. "I am Nero Roseheart de Moonasterio, His Majesty''s one and only son."

    The leaders, even Duke Quinzel, were surprised by how she introduced herself.

    Well, she was sure that everyone here already knew that she was the Crown Prince. So she thought introducing herself as her father''s one and only "son" was a simple yet effective way of letting everyone know that she had the emperor''s support.

    "Now that the introductions are over, allow me to guide you to our destination," Neoma said, still all smiles while speaking politely. As long as no one would trigger her, she could face and treat anyone with kindness. "Let''s not make His Majesty wait."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NIKOLAI smirked after the "show" was over.

    Right now, he was on the balcony of the luxurious tea room on the second floor of his pce. He was with Glenn, Dion, and Geoffrey. They arrived at the balcony the moment the arrogant Duke Arman Winchester asked Neoma if she was threatening the Twelve Golden Families.

    But of course, Neoma gave out a brilliant retort.

    As expected of the little rogue who would even curse at her father fearlessly.

    "That''s Princess Neoma de Moonasterio," Niki said proudly to Dion and Geoffrey who hadn''t met Neoma yet. "My daughter."

    It was safe to speak carelessly because no one in his pce could eavesdrop on him.

    Moreover, all his active Pdins were aware of Neoma''s royal secret.

    And yes, they heard everything from up there. Like him, his Pdins had sharp senses. Most of all, it wasn''t like Neoma and the others were speaking quietly.

    That insufferable Arman Winchester even yelled at his daughter several times.

    "Her Royal Highness is lively, isn''t she?" Geoffrey asked while looking at Neoma with amusement. "I think we''ll get along well, Your Majesty."

    He just smirked. "Just don''t make a mistake or else, she''d curse at you from head to toe."

    "The royal princess curses?" Geoffrey asked nervously. "Is that something that we should be proud of, Your Majesty?"

    "Neoma only curses at bad people," he said defensively. "She''s kind and polite to people who aren''t hostile to her so it''s fine."

    He would admit that it was inappropriate for a child like Neoma to curse.

    But as he said, it wasn''t like his daughter cursed at everyone. It still didn''t justify that "bad" part of Neoma, but he didn''t care anymore.

    "Don''t worry too much, Geoffrey," Glenn said cheerfully. "Princess Neoma still performs her job splendidly. And she''s starting to mature anyway. I rarely hear her curse these days."

    He nodded firmly in agreement with Glenn''s observation.

    "Your Majesty, you seem to be fond of Princess Neoma more than what I expected," Dion said bluntly, making everyone turn to him at the same time. Of course, the ever calm and collected Dion didn''t even bat an eye. "Did I say something wrong?"

    This time, Glenn and Geoffrey turned to Niki with a curious look in their eyes.

    Niki red at his Pdins. "Get back to work, everyone."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA was used to smiling even at people that she didn''t get along with in her second life.

    It wasn''t because she was protecting her image as a celebrity. But when she reached her early twenties back then, she realized that fighting people that didn''t like her was pointless. After all, she couldn''t please everyone. There were still people who would dislike her whatever she did. And that was none of her business.

    Thus, she decided to treat everyone with respect and kindness regardless of what they felt for her.

    But the atmosphere during her official meeting with the leaders of the Twelve Golden Families took out most of her energy. She could feel everyone (except Duke Rufus Quinzel) watch her every move. Some of them didn''t even bother to hide their hostility towards her.

    "Duke Arman Winchester, Marquis Frank Bsco, Count Emerson Zachary, and Marquis Russell ''Seaweed'' Spencer all hate me," Neoma said while lying on the sofa and staring at the beautiful painting in the ceiling. She didn''t understand what the images in the painting meant, but the colors were vibrant and pretty. "Although I hate that Duke Winchester raises his voice at me most of the time, Marquis Seaweed creeps me out the most."

    "And who is Marquis Seaweed?" Emperor Niki, seated on the sofa across from her, asked. "What is seaweed anyway?"

    "Arge algae, but that''s not important," she said, then she turned to her father. "I''m talking about Marquis Spencer, Papa Boss."

    Right now, they were alone in the tea room. They went there after the meeting with the Twelve Golden Families was adjourned. Her Papa Boss declined the request for an audience by Duke Winchester because apparently, her father had a priormitment with the Crown Prince.

    Yes, her father used her as a shield from people he didn''t want to talk to.

    Anyway, Lewis and Sir Glenn were guarding outside.

    The Pdins, on the other hand, were ordered by his father to greet the other royal knights.

    "What did Marquis Spencer do that made you ufortable?" her Papa Boss asked.

    "I don''t like the way he looks at me," she said bluntly. "He said several times that I look like Mama Boss despite being a boy. I don''t want to say this but I think the way that he looks at me is quite perverted, Papa Boss."

    She told her father about it because things like that were supposed to be reported to the parents.

    But to be honest, she didn''t expect that Papa Boss would be so angry.

    Yes, the emperor was very angry after hearing what she said. The poor teacup in his hand shattered, and his bloodlust burst in the room. It was too extreme that Lewis and Sir Glenn opened the door to check on them.

    To be honest, her father''s bloodlust was really scary. But she was fine since it wasn''t directed at her. Although she could understand why Lewis and Sir Glenn would worry.

    But that wasn''t what was on her mind right now.

    Actually, she was quite surprised by her Papa Boss''s reaction.

    "Leave," her Papa Boss snarled at Lewis and Sir Glenn without turning in their direction. "I''m having a private talk with my daughter."

    She got up and turned to Lewis and Sir Glenn when she didn''t hear them leave right away. They must have been worried about her. "I''m fine. Papa Boss is angry at Marquis Spencer and not at me," she assured the two. "I''ll handle this."

    Only then did Lewis and Sir Glenn bow, then they quietly closed the door.

    "Papa Boss, calm down," she said when she turned to her father whose face was still red from anger. "The next time Marquis Seaweed looks at me¨C"

    "Tell me right away," her father interrupted her. "I would gouge that bastard''s eyes out."

    Ah, she was touched by his words so she''d forgive him for cutting her off while she was speaking. But only this time. Next time, she''d call him out.

    But was her father this angry anyway?

    Was it because Marquis Spencer used to bother her mother as well? After all, Count Zachary said that his cousin was obsessed with her mother in the past.

    But her Papa Boss got angry after she reported how Marquis Spencer looked at her.

    Could it be¡­

    "Papa Boss, do you finally love me as your daughter?"

    Her father looked shocked by her question.

    She, on the other hand, was having the worst goosebumps of her life. She was very aware of how cheesy and cringey her question was, okay?

    But she wanted to know her father''s true feelings for her right now. After all, she wanted to be assured that her Papa Boss wouldn''t try to kill her again for Nero. If the emperor had finally learned to love her as his daughter, then all her worries regarding their rtionship would disappear.

    If her Papa Boss said that yes, he loved her as his child, only then would shepletely trust him.

    "Do I really have to answer that sentimental question of yours?" her Papa Boss asked, then he sipped his tea slowly as if he was trying to hide the redness of his face from her.

    Of course, he failed miserably.

    His ears were also very red at the moment, you know?

    "I don''t hate you, Papa Boss. Not anymore," she said honestly to encourage her father to be honest as well. Yes, she wanted to die from embarrassment. But she needed to do that to increase her chances of survival in the pce. "But I don''t really love you as a father yet."

    She didn''t know if it was just her imagination or did her father look disappointed when she said that. After all, his face turned nk right away.

    "But I have learned to like and respect you now, Papa Boss," she said brightly. "On a scale of one to ten and ten being the highest, I''d say my love for you is at 5.5 as of now." She gave her father a thumbs up. "Not bad, huh? We''vee a long way, father dearest."

    Her father just looked at her as if he was so done with her.

    <em>Tsk.</em>

    "Seven."

    She froze when she heard what her father said. "Huh?"

    "Fine. It''s actually 7.9," her Papa Boss said while stirring his tea with a tablespoon. But he was just obviously avoiding her gaze. Moreover, his whole face and neck turned red this time. "But it could drop anytime, understood?"

    She was too shocked to react.

    7.9 was quite a high score for her because she was expecting her Papa Boss, a big tsundere, to give her a number lower than what she gave him.

    But he actually said 7.9!

    That only meant one thing¡­

    "Papa Boss, you love me," she said in disbelief. "Oh my gosh. Daebak! But why?"

    He raised his (red) face to re at her. "I refuse to borate."

    She couldn''t help butugh at her father''s tsundere answer.

    Then, she stood up and sat beside him to give him a tight hug. When she raised her head to see her father''s reaction, she caught him looking at her with a gentle look on his face. Wow, he was being genuine, huh?

    She giggled, then she "bopped" her Papa Boss on the nose the way her Mama Boss would give her a "nose boop" in the past.

    Her Papa Boss''s face softened up even more, and his eyes even turned misty. "Mona would often do that to me, Neoma."

    Neoma just smiled, then she buried her face on her father''s shoulder.

    <em>I know, Papa Boss, I know.</em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 202 - THE BIRTH OF AN OVERPROTECTIVE FATHER

    <strong></strong>NEOMA rolled on her bed until her face was buried in her pillow, then she screamed while hoping that the pillow was enough to muffle her embarrassed scream.

    She couldn''t sleep because she couldn''t forget the cheesy conversation that she had with her Papa Boss a while ago. Aside from the fact that they practically confessed that they loved each other as father-and-daughter, she even hugged him!

    "It''s so embarrassing!" Neoma screamed into her pillow while kicking her feet in the air. "Why did I embrace Papa Boss?"

    "What''s wrong with embracing your father, Princess Neoma?"

    She flinched when she heard the familiar voice, then, she rolled on the bed again and stopped when her back hit the mattress. After that, she got up and turned to her bedside table. As expected, Mochi and Soju were there.

    "Did you see it?" she asked, horrified.

    "We did, Princess Neoma," Mochi and Soju answered at the same time.

    She bit her lower lip to stop herself from screaming again.

    It wasn''t that she hated it. She also didn''t regret hugging her father. She was just embarrassed because she wasn''t used to that kind of bonding moment with Papa Boss.

    After all, they had a rough start.

    <em>I even used to call Papa Boss ''scumbag.''</em>

    But now, that title belonged to William.

    "Isn''t it good that you and little Niki have a good rtionship now?" Mochi asked, confused at how she was acting right now. "Princess Neoma, the fact that your father has finally learned to ept and love you now only means that he''s not going to kill you anymore."

    Ah, the Wind Spirit had a point.

    At first, she couldn''t trust her father because she knew that they had a give-and-take rtionship only. She was also aware that just because her Papa Boss needed her as Nero''s recement didn''t mean that he wasn''t capable of killing her. After all, she believed that her father only saw her as a means to extend her twin brother''s life.

    But after working hard to gain her father''s favor, she could finally breathe a little. The fact that her Papa Boss admitted that he loved her as a daughter meant that he would no longer kill her on a whim.

    Still, she was afraid that she couldn''t trust himpletely yet.

    "Yes, it''s a relief to know that Papa Boss won''t try to kill me anymore," she said, then she took a deep breath. "But everything still feels surreal to me. Mochi, Soju, am I a bad daughter for not being able to trust my fatherpletely yet?"

    She actually felt bad that her guard was still up even though she knew that her Papa Boss was trying his best to get close to her.

    It wasn''t like she couldn''t appreciate his effort. She only knew very well that the fact that her father expressed his feelings genuinely was already a huge feat. But despite everything, she still couldn''t break the wall that she built between her and Papa Boss.

    "Of course not, Princess Neoma," Mochi said firmly. "Little Niki neglected you in the past, and he even tried to kill you and force you to sacrifice yourself for your twin brother. It''s normal not to trust your father right away. Just because he''s good to you now doesn''t mean you''re obliged to forgive him easily. It''s okay to take your time and guard your heart."

    Soju nodded in agreement with the Wind Spirit. "Getting over your trauma doesn''t happen overnight, Princess Neoma. And having good memories with the person who hurt you in the past doesn''t automatically erase the bad ones that you have with them. In short, make your father suffer first before he gains your full love and trust."

    She couldn''t help butugh softly at Soju''s advice.

    Hearing both Mochi and the merman''s advice lessened the heaviness in her chest. Just because she was an adult mentally didn''t mean that she no longer needed advice from other people. In times like this, she was d that she was surrounded by adults that cared for her.

    She was lucky that she didn''t have to keep everything to herself.

    "Thank you, Mochi and Soju," Neoma said with a smile, then she plopped on her bed. "Let''s sleep now."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOUR MAJESTY, are you sure that I don''t need to call Marcus?"

    "Yes, you''re just overreacting, Glenn," Niki scolded his knight while he was seated on his bed and leaning against the headboard. Glenn was standing in front of his bed with a worried look on his face. "I''m just tired."

    It wasn''t like he was lying to Glenn.

    He was simply keeping the fact that the cause of his exhaustion was Neoma a secret.

    A while ago, when Neoma hugged him again, he felt his strength escape him. Fortunately, he was aware of it now so he didn''t faint. Moreover, his daughter didn''t absorb a lot of his Moonglow this time. It seemed like Neoma only absorbed enough of his divine energy to get rid of her fatigue.

    The more hurt or exhausted Neoma was, the more Moonglow she''d need from him.

    In short, he had be his daughter''s personal "bank" of divine energy.

    "Your Majesty, could the reason of your exhaustion these days be¡­"

    He didn''t want to admit this but he got nervous while waiting for Glenn to finish his sentence. Despite being a happy-go-lucky fool most of the time, Glenn was still the vicemander of the White Lion Knights and the leaders of the Pdins. Surely, he might have already figured out the reason behind his unusual low energy recently.

    "Is it a sign of aging?" Glenn asked worriedly, making Niki shut his eyes tight while pinching the bridge of his nose. "You''re at that age, Your Majesty."

    "We''re the same age, Glenn. We both haven''t reached our thirties yet for you to say that this is a sign of aging," he snarled at him, then he opened his eyes to re at him. "Get out of my room before I kill you for real."

    The foolish knight grinned sheepishly while scratching his cheek. "I apologize, Your Majesty. I''m just worried about you."

    He let out a frustrated sigh. "I''m fine. Why don''t you leave and hang out with your fellow Pdins? Speaking of which, where are they?"

    He was aware that his Pdins had a small gathering with the other royal knights a while ago to celebrate their return. But he was also aware that it ended early because his Pdins didn''t like getting drunk too much. So he wondered why the pce was so quiet right now.

    "Ah, they''re hanging out at Chef Ruto''s kitchen, Your Majesty," Glenn said cheerfully. "They must have missed eating our young chef''s cooked meals."

    He just nodded thoughtfully.

    The Pdins were really fond of Ruston Stroganoff. That was why the Pdins had already epted the young chef a long time ago as their futuremander.

    "They invited Lewis Crevan to join them but the fox boy refused. And I''m relieved that he didn''t show up at the party," his personal knight continued. "It''s not like I have anything against Lewis Crevan. I''m just afraid that he and Ruto might fight again. And if they fight, I''m sure that my colleagues would make a big deal out of it."

    His brows furrowed in confusion. "Why would the fox boy and Ruston Stroganoff fight?"

    "Ah, I''m not sure if I should tell you, Your Majesty¡­"

    "Do you want to die before you get the chance to propose to Princess Bridgette Griffiths?"

    Glenn shook his head firmly before he spilled the beans. "Your Majesty, to be honest, I''ve consulted Princess Bridgette about my observation regarding Lewis Crevan and Ruto''s somewhat strained rtionship. And we both came up with the same conclusion."

    "Just get straight to the point, Glenn."

    "I think Lewis Crevan and Ruto both like Princess Neoma, Your Majesty."

    "What? Did you really say that those two ruffians like my daughter? When did that even happen?"

    His knight nodded nervously. "Ruto and Princess Neoma seem to have been good friends while Princess Neoma was in her disguise as ''Miss Ramsay,'' Your Majesty."

    Ah, right.

    He remembered that Ruston Stroganoff and Neoma met at the za during the Moon Festival. But he didn''t know that the two had other encounters.

    That fox boy and the young chef liked his daughter?

    "Lewis Crevan and Ruto met while we were hunting down the crows in the pce, Your Majesty," Glenn continued with his "report." "During that time, I personally witnessed the two boys size each other up, and I''m pretty sure that the cause of their fight was because of each other''s rtionship with Princess Neoma."

    "Are they crazy?" Niki snarled, an ungodly amount of hate rising in his chest. "My daughter is only eight years old!"

    <strong>***</strong>

    <em>HIS MAJESTY has finally learned to love Princess Neoma.</em>

    Glenn was happy with that development.

    To be honest, he wasn''t that stupid to not realize the real cause of His Majesty''s unusual tiredness these days. The emperor had strong stamina and he could even work efficiently even withck of sleep. Moreover, he wasn''t that old yet to get sick without a reason.

    Thus, he only had one conclusion.

    After all, in the past, he witnessed how the previous emperor deteriorated as soon as His Majesty, the then-Crown Prince, began to get greedy for the throne.

    <em>It seems like Princess Neoma has begun to desire the throne, huh?</em>

    The fact that His Majesty wasn''t telling him the truth could only mean one thing, and that reason made him smile.

    <em>His Majesty is trying to protect Princess Neoma from me.</em>

    Well, it wasn''t like he would me or hate the royal princess for unconsciously "stealing" His Majesty''s Moonglow. It was simply the bitter fate of a de Moonasterion ruler and their sessor.

    Moreover, he was too fond of Princess Neoma for him to hate her. Although he swore to protect His Majesty, it wasn''t like he could hurt or kill the child that His Majesty had finally learned to treasure.

    <em>His Majesty is being very protective of Princess Neoma.</em>

    Glenn''s smile grew wider. "I''m happy for you, Your Royal Highness."

    "Why are you talking to yourself, Sir Glenn?"

    He flinched when he heard the familiar voice, then he turned around to find Ruto standing behind him.

    Ah, he didn''t even hear or feel the young chef''s presence until he spoke.

    "I''m just thinking out loud," he said to the young boy. "I''m surprised that you recognized me right away, Ruto."

    "I heard your voice," Ruto said. "I won''t mistake your unique cheerful voice for someone else, Sir Glenn. Well, at least when you''re not in the battlefield."

    He justughed it off, then he changed the topic. "I''m on my way to your kitchen. My colleagues are there, right? So, why are you here?"

    "I escaped," the young chef said bluntly. "Your friends are drunk. Now, they''re trying to convince me to begin my training as the future Commander of the White Lion Knights even though I already told them that I don''t want it."

    "Ah, now I know why you ran away," he said with a softugh.

    "I know they didn''t mean to, but I feel like they''re trying to guilt trip me."

    "How so?"

    Ruto looked up at him before he spoke. "They''re reminding me that Lady Roseheart "entrusted" her child to me in the past."

    "Ah, I still remember that," Glenn softly, the memory of Ruto and Lady Roseheart spending time together in the past still fresh in his mind. "Lady Roseheart really did ask you to take care of her child when she was still pregnant."

    He wondered which child was Lady Roseheart referring to back then¨C was it Prince Nero or Princess Neoma?"

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 203 - SEASON 2 FINALE

    "FRIED CHICKEN, pizza, and beer?" Glenn asked, amused by the unique kind ofbination that Ruto served them in his personal kitchen. Then, he turned to the young chef who was busy frying a new batch of chicken legs that the Fletcher Twins requested a while ago. "Ruto, you''re not secretly drinking alcohol, are you?"

    "Of course not, Sir Glenn," Ruto said while his attention was focused on frying. "But I do have a sip of red wine from time to time when I need to put it in a dish I''m cooking."

    "Then, howe you know what food goes well with beer?"

    "Isn''t itmon knowledge that fried food goes well with beer?" the young chef asked nonchntly. "I think I heard some knights say it once."

    "How about the dish you call ''pizza?''"

    "I just want you to try the dish that I learned from His Royal Highness."

    "The Crown Prince?" Geoffrey asked excitedly. "So, you''ve already met His Royal Highness, huh? How is he?"

    "He''s okay," Ruto said casually.

    "Just okay?" Jeanne asked curiously. "I met His Royal Highness earlier. He seems to be a very interesting person."

    Glenn, relieved that his colleagues had remembered to keep Princess Neoma a secret even though they were a little drunk, silently sipped his beer.

    As he said earlier, they were currently hanging out at Ruto''s private kitchen.

    It had a small dining area with a round wooden table good for eight people. He and the rest of the Pdins were currently upying six of the eight round, wooden chairs around the table.

    Yes, no one was guarding His Majesty''s room at the moment. But the emperor insisted that he didn''t need a guard. On a normal day, he wouldn''t leave His Majesty alone even if he gets scolded. But tonight was different since all the Pdins were present at the pce.

    Even though they were all gathered in the kitchen, each of them had a unique technique that was discreetly guarding His Majesty right now.

    "I like His Royal Highness''s liveliness," Warren, the most energetic in their group, dered cheerfully. "I had a hard time holding back myughter while he was putting the Winchester Faction to their ce."

    ''Winchester Faction'' was also known as the Noble Faction that openly opposed the monarchy since time immemorial. The fact that they still existed was thanks to the wealth, influence, and power that they umted since the empire was built.

    "I also like His Royal Highness''s attitude but I''m worried," Wyatt, the quiet and the more logical twin, said. "He was dered as the Crown Prince this early because House Lennox supported him. But as far as I can tell, most of the noble households, even those under the Royal Faction, are still skeptical to openly support him because of his Roseheart Blood."

    "That''s true," Geoffrey agreed while shaking his head. "I heard from my family that most of our allies haven''t given up on forcing His Majesty to find a new empress. They probably want His Majesty to have another child. If that happens, they will definitely overthrow Prince Nero in favor of the child of the empress that they chose."

    "That''s not going to happen," Jeanne said happily. "His Majesty rejected Princess Bridgette from Hazelden Kingdom¨C the strongest candidate to be the new empress. I heard that the first princess herself said that she won''t pursue His Majesty anymore."

    Glenn secretly smiled before he sipped his beer.

    "Shouldn''t we thank Glenn for that?" Geoffrey asked teasingly.

    Of course, that made him spit the beer that he was about to drink.

    "What''s with that reaction, Glenn?" Warren asked curiously, then he turned to Geoffrey. "Hey, you''re the source of information for our team. You know something, don''t you?"

    "Spill it," Jeanne encouraged cheerfully.

    "Yeah, spill it," Wyatt, who normally didn''t care about such things, said in a curious tone as well.

    Thankfully, Dion remained silent while attending to his ss of beer.

    Geoffrey turned to him with a sly smile on his face. "Should I tell them?"

    "Shut up," Glenn said, then he turned to his colleagues. "I''m currently in a romantic and serious rtionship with Princess Bridgette of Hazelden Kingdom. But I won''t be answering questions about how it happened. Just support me, okay?"

    Geoffrey smirked and raised his ss to him. "Congrattions, Glenn."

    "Congrattions!" Jeanne and the Fletcher Twins said, raising their sses as well.

    Dion did the same without saying a word.

    He nked sses with his peers. "Thank you, everyone."

    A few momentster, Ruto arrived with two more tes of his delicious fried chicken. It tasted different than the normal fried chicken that he would serve in the past. But nevertheless, it still tasted divine.

    "Congrattions, Sir Glenn," Ruto said, then he sat beside him. "I didn''t know that you were in a rtionship."

    "I don''t like talking about my personal affairs, especially since my lover isn''t here," he said, then he gently patted the young chef''s back. "Ruto, hurry up and be the Commander of the White Lion Knights for the sake of my love life."

    Geoffrey, Jeanne, and Warrenughed at his joke.

    On the other hand, Wyatt just smiled. "Don''t pressure him."

    "I''m curious though," Dion said. Since he rarely talked, he easily got everyone''s attention. "Ruto, you''ve already met the Crown Prince. Would you like to serve His Royal Highness as the future Commander of the White Lion Knights?"

    Everyone fell silent, then they turned to Ruto.

    "I want a quiet life and being the Commander of the White Lion Knights won''t give me that," Ruto said, then he paused for a while before he continued. "But that doesn''t mean I don''t intend to protect that person."

    That made Glenn wonder: who was Ruto referring to?

    <strong>***</strong>

    "NEOMA has no official Order yet and she relies on Glenn and Lewis Crevan for her protection," Niki said to Dion, Geoffrey, Jeanne, Warren, and Wyatt standing in front of her. Of course, Glenn stood beside him since he was his personal knight. "Until we form Neoma''s protection team, I will assign two of you as Neoma''s personal knights along with the fox boy."

    Geoffrey, Jeanne, and the Fletcher Twins raised their right hands.

    "I choose Jeane Audley and Dion Skelton for the job," he announced, ignoring the other people who volunteered.

    "Thank you, Your Majesty!" Jeanne said excitedly. "I will protect Her Royal Highness and her secret with my life."

    Dion, on the other hand, bowed politely. "I received His Majesty''s order."

    "Your Majesty, it wouldn''t hurt to give Her Royal Highness an additional guard," Geoffrey said, then he thumped his chest with a fist. "I, Geoffrey Kinsley, volunteer."

    "I volunteer as well, Your Majesty," Warren said, raising his hand like a child begging for his teacher''s attention.

    "I have to be there to keep an eye on my idiot of a brother, Your Majesty," Wyatt said even though it was obvious that he wanted to be Neoma''s knight and not to be Warren''s sitter.

    "No can do," he said firmly, shutting up his Pdins right away. "I don''t like Neoma to be surrounded by more men."

    Glenn stifled augh but when he turned to his personal knight to re at him, the fool cleared his throat and averted his gaze from him.

    <em>Keep that up and I won''t give you vacation for your proposal ns, Glenn.</em>

    Anyway, he ignored his personal knight for now to face his Pdins again.

    "Geoffrey, you won''t do as a knight for Neoma because you''re too nosy," he said. "Wyatt, I didn''t choose you because I know you''re going to spoil my daughter. Warren, you''re out of the question because you''re loud."

    This time, the three couldn''te up with anything to go against his decision.

    And he changed the topic before they could even think of a better argument.

    "Moreover, I have a task in mind that only Jeanne and Dion could execute because they''re good at keeping their emotions in check," he said, then he turned to Jeanne and Dion. "Aside from guarding Neoma, I want you to do something else in secret."

    Jeanne and Dion both bowed to him while waiting for his order.

    "Keep an eye on Lewis Crevan," Niki ordered sternly. "And don''t let that fox boy get too close with my daughter."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA kind of felt awkward while she was in the carriage with Jeanne Audley and Dion Skelton, the Pdins that her Papa Boss assigned to be her temporary knights along with Lewis.

    Right now, the two Pdins were sitting across from her in the carriage.

    While Lewis was seated beside the coachman.

    Apparently, the three had to draw lots to decide who would guard her inside the carriage and who would stay outside. Jeanne told her a while ago that it was only natural to do that. She didn''t argue with them because Lewis said it was fine.

    Moreover, her son told her that Dion Skelton was his master back when he was training with the White Lion Knights.

    "Your Royal Highness, don''t worry about Lewis too much," Jeanne assured her with a smile. "He knows that this is a part of the protocol."

    Neoma smiled and nodded. "I''ll get used to this set-up soon," she said. "I didn''t know why my father suddenly gave me two more knights but thank you. I''ll be in your care from now on."

    Jeanne bowed to her. "Same here, Your Royal Highness."

    She turned to the quiet man beside Jeanne. "I''ll be in your care, Sir Skelton."

    Dion just bowed to her. "Your Royal Highness, we need to know what kind of rtionship you have with Sir Rubin Drayton," he said bluntly. Ah, it seemed like this man was the "no-nonsense" type, huh? She liked that. "Our behavior depends on what kind of rtionship you have with the Drayton heir."

    Funny that she understood clearly what he meant by that.

    "Rubin Drayton is an enemy but I need to act as a good friend to him," Neoma said seriously. "I know I don''t need to say this but keep your guard up but don''t let your bloodlust leak."

    Jeanne and Dion both bowed their heads politely. "We received your order, Your Royal Highness."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "I FEEL honored to be personally visited by you, Prince Nero."

    "Sure. We''re friends anyway," Neoma said casually while seated on the chair beside Rubin''s bed. The little bastard was sitting on the mattress while leaning against the headboard. "It''s a relief to see you in a good state. And thank goodness your face is fine."

    Rubin raised a brow at her. "Are you that interested in my face?"

    "It''s for your own good," she said. "Rubin, you''re only saving grace is your face. Protect it with your own life, okay?"

    The young lord red at her.

    Of course, she justughed it off.

    Rubin could act like that towards the "Crown Prince" because only the two of them were in his room. Lewis, Jeanne, and Dion were guarding her outside. The servants that brought the refreshments to them a while ago left after doing their job.

    She had been in that room for half an hour now and yet, girlie was yet to show up.

    Yes, Regina Crowell was the real reason why she "visited" Rubin at the Drayton Mansion. Thankfully, Duke Drayton wasn''t at his estate at the moment.

    <em>Gosh, I had to send a letter in advance before I could visit this little bastard.</em>

    Aside from that, she had to prepare expensive gifts as well. She knew that it was proper manners practiced even in the modern world. Still, she hated doing that for Rubin Drayton.

    "Your Royal Highness, a youngdy wants to enter the room," Jeanne reported from the other side of the door. "She introduced herself as Regina Crowell."

    Bingo.

    Gosh, it was disgusting how Rubin''s face lit up right away.

    She used that chance to summon Posie, the red butterfly that Jasper Hawthorne lent her a while ago. After "ying" with the butterfly many times while waiting for her Oppa''s message, she found out that Posie had many other uses.

    "Posie," she whispered while looking at the red butterfly above her palm. "Knock that brat out."

    Posie pped its wings elegantly until some reddish dust appeared and entered Rubin''s nostrils.

    The young lord was knocked out in an instant.

    "Good job, Posie cutie," she said brightly, then she closed her palm¨C making Posie disappear. After that, she turned to the door. "Let Miss Crowell enter the room, Jeanne."

    "As you wish, Your Royal Highness."

    A few momentster, Regina Crowell, dressed in modest clothes again, entered the room. She smiled and bowed as soon as she saw her.

    "Greetings to the First Star of the Great Moonasterion Empire," Regina Crowell greeted her politely. "Your Royal Highness, thank you for visiting our young master. This means a lot to House Drayton."

    "Thank you for the warm wee, Miss Crowell," she said with a smile, then she stood up. "You may raise your head now."

    And girlie did that.

    "Rubin fell asleep just now so I was about to leave," she said. "But to be honest, I wanted to see you."

    Girlie seemed to be in her "actress mode" as well because her face lit up. "Really, Your Royal Highness?"

    She smiled and nodded. "I heard that you were also hurt in the recent bombing incident. Are you feeling better now?"

    The crow smiled and nodded eagerly. "House Drayton took care of me, Your Royal Highness. Thank you for asking."

    "I''m d to hear that," she said, acting like she was really worried about girlie. "Regina, to be honest, there''s another reason why I wanted to see you."

    Regina Crowell looked genuinely curious this time. "What is it, Your Royal Highness?"

    "Would you like to be a courtdy in my pce, Miss Crowell?" Neoma asked, acting like she was sincere. "I don''t know how to say this properly but I really do think that you belong to the Royal Pce instead of the Drayton Mansion."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA, now in Hanna''s room dressed as herself, couldn''t help but cry. "Are you really leaving tonight, Hanna?"

    Hanna smiled sadly, then she nodded while wiping her tears with her hands. "Now that we''ve confirmed that Regina Crowell registered to take the exam to be a courtdy, we can safely assume that she''s not going to Gonora anymore."

    She couldn''t help but sob again.

    Although everything went ording to their n, she still felt sad that Hanna needed to leave now.

    As she suggested to Duke Rufus Quinzel before, she invited Regina Crowell to be a courtdy. The duke told her that her n was too dangerous, so he gave her some advice.

    ording to Duke Quinzel, in the past, the courtdies weren''t just chosen to serve the royal family. In fact, the courtdies were also trained to be the concubine of the emperor or the Crown Prince. Thus, thedies who wanted to be courtdies would have to take bridal lessons in a school called Belle''s House.

    The good thing was the bridal school was located in the countryside. Moreover, all the courtdies in training had to take the lessons for at least three years. The final exam was already included in that time frame.

    But since it was a practice that was long forgotten, she had to convince her Papa Boss first before they acted on their n.

    She still remembered the conversation she had with her father.

    ["Neoma, do you know that the courtdies in the past belong to the emperor''s harem? Are you nning to build a harem for Nero?"]

    ["Papa Boss, if you help me this once, my love for you will go from 5.5 to 6.5."]

    ["Fine, I''ll discuss it with Kyle."]

    "The whole empire thinks that I''m still in aatose state and that my legs have been amputated," her cousin continued. "It wouldn''t be too suspicious if my parents decided to send me abroad. I have a feeling that it''s enough for the crows to leave me alone for now."

    "I''ll miss you, Hanna."

    Hanna''s fa?ade finally broke down when she cried with her, then she hugged her tight. "I will miss you, too, Neoma," she said in a cracked voice. "I promise I will do everything to be stronger so that I can reim the spot next to you. Until then, please wait for me."

    Neoma nodded, hugging her precious best friend tight. "I will wait for a stronger and more loveable version of you, Hanna."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOUR MAJESTY, we apologize but we still haven''t found thete Empress Juliet''s body."

    Niki''s chest tightened when he heard Geoffrey''s report.

    Right now, all his Pdins had gathered in his office again to give a report to the missions that he had given to them in the past.

    And one of them was to look for Juliet''s body.

    Although he already expected to hear that from him, it was still painful to hear confirmation from his people.

    "I will send you again in an away mission to look for Juliet''s body. We can''t give up now," Niki said seriously. "But right now, I have another mission for you. I''m sure that Glenn already told you about it."

    The Pdins nodded politely.

    "Neoma and Nero both have a specific team that they want as their knights," he said seriously. "Both of my children also gave us a detailed report regarding the team members that they want to work with. I will divide you into two teams to do the job." He turned to Glenn who was standing beside him, as opposed to the other five Pdins who stood in front of his desk. "This time, you''re included in the assignment."

    Glenn bowed his head politely. "As you wish, Your Majesty."

    He just nodded before he proceeded. "Glenn, Jeanne, and Geoffrey, you''ll be in charge of recruiting the members that Neoma wants in her team," he said. "Dion, Warren, and Wyatt, the three of you are in charge of recruiting for the members of Nero''s Order."

    All six of his Pdins bowed and spoke at the same time. "We received your order, Your Majesty."

    After a few moments, Dion raised his head and asked. "Your Majesty, I''ve seen the list of the members that Prince Nero is looking for," he said politely. "I just want to confirm if the real Crown Prince is really searching for a ck Witch."

    He let out a deep sigh.

    The ck Witches had long been banned in the empire. He was also shocked when he read the list that Nero gave him. But his son refused to give him an answer.

    "Yes, Nero is looking for a ck Witch," Niki said. "Be careful when you''re looking for that specific individual."

    <strong>***</strong>

    ''DAHLIA.''

    Nero was lying on the bed while staring at the ceiling of his room in Tara''s pce. Aside from the mysterious man with purple hair that he saw in the memories that Princess Nichole gave him in the past, there was also a woman that he saw beside him.

    He only knows two things about the woman.

    "Her name is Dahlia," Nero whispered to himself. "And she''s a ck Witch."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "THIS IS unbelievable¡­"

    Nichole heard Gin, who was standing beside her, and nodded slowly as a response.

    But to be honest, she couldn''t open her mouth to speak because of the heavy pressure in the room caused by the man standing in front of them now.

    "You said six months," Gin hissed at her. "You said we needed to wait at least six months for him to recover! Howe he''s back now?"

    "Do you really have to ask?" Nichole snarled at the (baby) cat without turning to Gin because she couldn''t tear her gaze away from him. "He''s Gavin Quinzel, that''s why."

    And at that moment, the man in question turned to them with glowing golden eyes.

    She and Gin both held their breaths out of fear.

    Yes, Gavin Quinzel just got revived and yet, he was already standing in front of them as if he wasn''t dead for many years. He was still broodingly handsome, and of course, ridiculously strong that the Devil himself decided to bring themander back to life.

    "Where is Neoma?" Gavin Quinzel asked in a deep and calm voice. "Where is my daughter?"

    <strong>---VOLUME 2 END---</strong>

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 204 - COMMANDER GAVIN QUINZEL

    "DID YOU fight with your parents again?" Niki asked Gavin who was standing beside him while looking up at the blue sky. "What is it about this time?"

    "They want me to inherit Father''s title," Gavin saidzily. "I don''t want to be a duke. I''d rather babysit you for the rest of my life, Your Majesty."

    He red at his cousin while gripping his sword tight.

    Right now, they were in the training ground while sparring with Gavin. They only took a break after he lost to his cousin three times in a row. He didn''t want to admit this but Gavin was a better swordsman that he was.

    But it doesn''t matter. A de Moonasterio like me doesn''t need a weapon. We fight with our physical strength, divine energy, and Soul Beasts.

    "I''d be very happy if you inherit your father''s title," he said. "I don''t need you anymore, Gavin."

    That was just a bluff, of course.

    Gavin turned to him while scratching his left eye with a hand. He looked really sleepy at the moment and yet, he still managed to defeat him in their sparring, huh? "You don''t need me anymore now that you''re the emperor?"

    "Well, you can say that."

    The Commander of the White Lion Knights and the leaders of his Pdins justughed it off. "Yeah, right."

    He practically grew up with Gavin so of course, he''d know that what he said about not needing themander anymore was just a big lie.

    Aside from Glenn and Kyle, Gavin was his most reliable friend.

    In fact, if themander of his Order didn''t help him when he ousted his father, he wouldn''t have seeded.

    Moreover, aside from Gavin''s talent as a Swordmaster and unique Shadow Technique, he also served as their "financier" during their rebellion. After all, House Quinzel was arguably the richest family in the empire. Yes, even richer than the Royal Family.

    But of course, he paid Gavin back as soon as he ascended the throne and gained ess to all the hidden wealth of the Royal Family.

    "Why do you not want to inherit your father''s title?" he asked curiously. "You were raised as the sessor of House Quinzel, weren''t you?"

    "Well¡­"

    "What?"

    "My father wants me to marry Lady Sena Wisteria as soon as I inherit his title."

    Sena Wisteria was the youngest daughter of House Wisteria, the household known for growing poisonous nts. But House Wisteria was also known for creating and manufacturing the best herbal medicine in the empire.

    In fact, it was House Wisteria who helped the Royal Family develop the Hisa Tree into the ointment that it was known for today.

    "House Wisteria is a part of the Royal Faction," he said. "I also heard that their youngest daughter is supposedly a beauty. Is there a reason why you don''t want to marry her?" He paused, then he smirked. "Gavin, are you the type of man who''d marry for love instead of convenience?"

    "It''s not like that," his cousin said while shaking his head.

    "Then, what is it?"

    "Lady Wisteria isn''t my type."

    He waited for Gavin to say more but he didn''t. "That''s it?"

    "What do you mean by "that''s it?"" Gavinined with an upset look on his face. "If I won''t marry for love, then I''d like to at least spend my life with ady that I''mfortable with. It''s not that I don''t find Lady Wisteria adequate. I just have a feeling that we won''t get along that well."

    "That means Lady Wisteria has a bad attitude," he said bluntly. "You only talk that way towards people you find unpleasant."

    Gavin was one of the friendliest people he met so hearing his cousin say that he wouldn''t get along well with someone was strange.

    His cousin just let out a deep sigh. "Should I tell my father to give his title to my baby brother?"

    "Gavin, your "baby brother" is only a few years younger than you."

    "Well, Rufus is an innocent child," Gavin said with a soft smile on his face. "Even if he turns a hundred years old, he''d still be my baby brother."

    "Your "baby brother" beat you to having a lover, Gavin. He''s not innocent," he reminded his cousin. "Isn''t Rufus dating Lady Amber of House Verlice? Their rtionship is currently the hottest topic in the high society. It even reached my ears."

    "Your Majesty, Rufus is in love," his cousin said proudly. "I guess seeing my baby brother that happy with the woman he loves made me envious. Perhaps, that''s the reason why I felt upset when Father ordered me to marry Lady Wisteria."

    He scoffed. "Then, just tell your father that you want to marry for love. It''s not like the duke is the type of person who''d force you to do something that you don''t want to. Ah, wait. It''s more like you''re not the type of person who''d do something he doesn''t want to." He patted his cousin''s shoulder. "Do you want me to set you up on a blind date?"

    There was a list of the finest and the most beautiful noblewomen sitting on his desk right now.

    After Juliet passed away, the people around him wouldn''t stop nagging him to get remarried. The nobles that imed to care about the Royal Family didn''t bat an eye when the empress passed away. All they cared about was for him to find a new wife and make an heir.

    "I''m afraid I don''t have the time to date," his cousin said, then he gave him a meaningful look. "Your Majesty, you''re going to bring Lady Roseheart to the pce, aren''t you?"

    "I have to," Niki said seriously. "Mona is ming herself for what happened to Juliet after we failed to free the Soul Beasts. I want to keep her by my side andfort her. Moreover, I want to protect her properly this time." He smiled sadly. "Juliet''sst wish is for me and Mona to be happy."

    "Don''t worry, Your Majesty," Gavin said, then he gently squeezed his shoulder. "I will protect your and Lady Roseheart''s happiness."

    Who would have thought that the person who promised that would end up destroying the happiness that he swore to protect?

    <strong>***</strong>

    "WHAT do you mean you''re in love with Mona?!" Niki snarled at Gavin, then he grabbed his cousin by the cor and pushed him until his back hit the wall of his office. "Take it back, Gavin! Tell me that you just lied to me!"

    "I wish I could lie to you, Your Majesty. But I can''t and I don''t want to," Gavin said with a bitter smile on his face. "I''m in love with Lady Roseheart."

    "I''ll kill you!"

    "You can''t. Even if you want to, you still can''t," themander said seriously. "I''m stronger than you and you know that, Your Majesty."

    He hated that he couldn''t refute that statement.

    Even if he used his Soul Beasts against Gavin, he knew that his cousin could counter them with his Shadow Beasts. And yes, Gavin''s Shadow Beasts wereparable to his Soul Beasts.

    Gavin Quinzel was the genius of his generation for a reason.

    "There''s no reason for you to get mad at me, Your Majesty," his cousin said. "Lady Roseheart turned me down. You''re the only one that she loves."

    "Still, you betrayed me," he used Gavin bitterly. "I asked you to protect Mona, Gavin. Why did you have to fall in love with my lover? I trusted you!"

    Gavin only smiled sadly at him.

    "Leave and never show up again, Gavin Quinzel," Niki warned him coldly, then he pushed his cousin against the wall before he let go. "The next time I see you, I swear I will kill you."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NIKOLAI woke up with a headache.

    Out of all the things that he would dream about, it had to be the memories that he shared with Gavin Quinzel in the past.

    He would never forgive that traitor even if he was already dead.

    "You''re already long gone and yet, you''re still bothering me," Niki whispered to himself, then he smirked bitterly while clutching his head with one hand. "Why did you suddenly appear in my dream, Gavin Quinzel?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    <em><strong>[A yearter¡­]</strong></em>

    "PAPA BOSS, what should I do?"

    Niki raised his head from the paperwork in his hands to look at Neoma who was standing in front of him.

    Today was Neoma''s "Freedom Day" so she was wearing her disguise as "Miss Ramsay."

    That "special day" was created half a year ago after his rogue of a daughter convinced him that letting her live as a girl once a month was good for her mental health. Thus, he agreed to let her "run wild" everyst day of the month.

    "What?" Niki asked his daughter. "Did something happen?"

    Neoma nodded eagerly. "Papa Boss, now that I''m nine years old, I grew prettier again. At this rate, I''m going to be the most beautiful girl in the whole continent before mying-of-age ceremony."

    Glenn who was standing beside him and Jeanne who was standing behind Neoma both stifled augh.

    He, on the other hand, rolled his eyes at his daughter''s arrogance and extreme vanity. The prettier Neoma gets, the more conceited she bes. "Just go and y outside, Neoma," he said while shaking his head. "Tomorrow, I will introduce you to Count Dankworth again."

    "The sleepy count?"

    "Yes, the "sleepy count,"" he confirmed. He couldn''t me Neoma for giving Count Sean Dankworth a pet name like that. After all, the count was known for having uncontroble drowsiness. "Even though he''s like that, he''s one of the best fighters in the empire. He''d be useful to you as a sparring partner to test the technique that you learned from His Holiness."

    "Okay, Papa Boss," Neoma said cheerfully, then she curtsied to him elegantly. "I''ll go and y outside now. Have a nice day."

    He just nodded and watched his daughter leave his office with Jeanne.

    Lewis Crevan was probably outside, waiting for Neoma. He never liked the fox boy so he never gave him the permission to enter his office unless necessary.

    "I can''t believe that Princess Neoma is already nine years old now," Glenn said emotionally. "I think I''m going to cry from happiness. Her Royal Highness was so small when I first met her¡­"

    He turned to his personal knight when he heard his voice cracked. "Are you really getting emotional because of Neoma''s fast growth¡­ or are you just using it as an excuse to cry again because Princess Bridgette Griffiths broke up with you a few months ago?"

    He wanted to tell Glenn to move on but he knew it wasn''t easy to do.

    It had been years since Mona was gone but he still couldn''t forget her. He would be a hypocrite if he asked Glenn to move on just a few months after his lover left him.

    "Princess Bridgette didn''t break up with me, Your Majesty," Glenn insisted in a cracked voice. Damn, it looked like his knight was still on the verge of crying again. "We''re still trying to make it work."

    He let out a deep sigh. "This is why I''m telling you to take a vacation and go to the Hazelden Kingdom to talk to Princess Bridgette."

    "I can''t leave you alone, Your Majesty."

    "If you don''t, you''re going to lose your lover."

    "But you''re more important to me than my own happiness, Your Majesty."

    "Your loyalty is annoying," he said while shaking his head. "Neoma will get mad at you if she finds out that you''re using me as an excuse to avoid a personal confrontation with Princess Bridgette."

    Glenn didn''t have anything to say to that.

    His personal knight was obviously relieved when they heard a knock on the door. Then, a few momentster, Dion entered his office to report.

    There was a reason why Dion wasn''t included in Neoma''s protection team today.

    "Did they show up again?" he asked Dion impatiently. "Can we confirm it now?"

    "Yes, Your Majesty," Dion said politely with a nod. "It seems like "Miss Ramsay," Princess Neoma''s "alter-ego," has an elusive stalker."

    He mmed his hands on the table hard enough to break it into two.

    Kyle would definitely scold himter for destroying the desk but he didn''t care about that anymore.

    "Catch that scum at all cost," Niki said angrily. "I will personally deal with that damned stalker."

    <strong>***</strong>

    <strong>NOTE:</strong> Hi! Sorry for the mistake a while ago! I copy-paste my updates from my files to Inkstone scene by scene for an easier editing process. I didn''t notice that there were two duplicated scenes (that reced the missing two scenes from the original file) until I read the published chapter.

    If you have read the duplicated scenes earlier, please reread the fixed version of the previous chapter.

    Let me know if it hasn''t updated in your app.

    Again, I apologize.

    Thank you for your kind understanding.

    ---s_c

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 205 - MAN-UP, SIR GLENN

    <strong></strong>NEOMA filled her lungs with the polluted air that she just breathed in, then she exhaled and smiled to herself brightly. "Ah, freedom."

    By "freedom," she meant being able to go to Auberon (the Royal Capital''s official name that she finally remembered) as ''Miss Ramsay.''

    She was feeling good today because she was wearing a pretty pink dress. Of course, she had to change her hair and eye color into brown to conceal her identity. Still, she was happy that her Papa Boss allowed her to have her freedom everyst day of the month.

    Ever since her "freedom day" had be regr, Lewis was also required to have a disguise when going out with her. Just like the first time he changed his appearance as a disguise, her son now sported blond hair. And from gold, his eyes had turned into blue.

    "Lewis, rx," she whispered to her son while they were headed at her favorite bookstore. It was the bookstore that she found during her first Moon Festival, and it was called ''Life Books.'' She was now a regr customer there. "Jeanne and Dion will take care of the stalker."

    Last month, Dion informed her and her Papa Boss that she might be being stalked.

    By that, the Pdin meant her disguise as ''Miss Ramsay'' and not her as the Crown Prince. Apparently, the stalker first came out five months ago. Then, they showed again the following month. And before she left the pce a while ago, Jeanne told her that Dion saw the same person waiting for her to arrive at the Royal Capital.

    So now, both Jeanne and Dion stepped out to catch the stalker.

    "I still think that you shouldn''t have left the house, Rara," Lewis said. Every time they were in disguise, they would call each other with the pet name that they gave each other. In short, she was now ''Rara Ramsay.'' "Not until they catch that person."

    "Nah, I don''t want them to think that I''m scared of them," she said, then she turned to Lewis. "Plus, I have you with me. I know that you won''t let them hurt me, Lulu."

    Her son''s face brightened up instantly.

    "What do you mean Author S hasn''t released a new book in the past year?!"

    She instantly turned to themotion happening inside the small bookstore.

    Grandma Felicia, the owner of Life Books, was being yelled at by a youngdy wearing a maroon hooded cloak that hid her face.

    "As I said earlier, even Author S''s publisher doesn''t know where she has gone to," Grandma Felicia said calmly, unbothered by the youngdy''s rudeness. Then, the old woman blew the smoke of her tobo before she spoke again. "There''s a rumor that a year ago, some royal knights arrested S for allegedly writing obscene books."

    To say that she was shocked would be an understatement.

    "Royal knights?!" she and the youngdy asked at the same time. "Are you saying that the emperor ordered the arrest of Author S?!"

    Lewis who was standing beside her pped his hands. "You said the same thing at the same time, Rara."

    She ignored her son when the youngdy turned to her.

    <em>[Woah, orange eyes?]</em>

    She was mesmerized by the youngdy''s clear, round orange eyes. She couldn''t see the young woman''s hair color clearly, but it seemed dark. Based on the other girl''s height and body frame, she assumed that she was in her teens.

    <em>[What a lively teenager this one is.]</em>

    "You little puppy," the teenage girl said while walking towards her.

    But the youngdy wasn''t able to get near her because Lewis literally blocked her way when he stood protectively in front of her.

    "It''s okay, Lulu," she said, then she walked past her son to face the youngdy. Then, she looked up at her. "I''m not a ''little'' puppy. I''m a ''very cute, smart, and charismatic'' puppy. In short, I''m Rara," she said, then she extended her hand to her. "Are you a fangirl of Author S as well?"

    "I don''t know what ''fangirl'' means but if you mean a ''fan'' that is a girl, then you''re right," thedy said, then she bent her knees to shake her hands and meet her eye-level. "I''m Juri," she said, then she shook her hand for a bit before letting go of it. "I don''t mean to be rude but aren''t you a little too young to read erotic novels?"

    "I skip the sexy scenes," she lied with an innocent look on her face. "I''m a reader who enjoys the plot especially if the story is character-driven."

    Bullshit.

    She liked S''s books because the erotic scenes were hot and well-written. But of course, the plot was good. She just liked the sexy scenes better.

    "You''re missing out a lot if you''re skipping the sex scenes," Juri said bluntly without even batting an eye even though she just said the word ''sex.'' "Reread those books once you have youring-of-age ceremony, okay?"

    She couldn''t help butugh softly. "I like you. Do you want to be my daughter?"

    Lewis turned to her with a tired look on his face.

    Of course, she ignored her son.

    "You''re a weird child, and I like weird people," Juri said, then she looked up at the ceiling as if she was thinking. After a while, she turned to her with a smile. "Do you want to talk about Author S over a cup of tea?"

    Neoma smiled and nodded. "Sure, my future daughter."

    <strong>***</strong>

    DION clicked his tongue in annoyance when the target got away.

    He wanted to chase him but he couldn''t leave Jeanne who was shot in the stomach by the rifle that the stalker used. His colleague fell in the dark alley where the worst kind of criminals gathered after being shot. So naturally, he prioritized saving his fellow Pdin instead of running after the stalker.

    <em>Princess Neoma has Lewis anyway.</em>

    The stalker was smart enough to lure them into themoners'' street. Moreover, he didn''t give them the chance to get near him. The target fought them while jumping from roof to roof and firing bullets at them.

    Thankfully, he and Jeanne wore civilian clothes. They didn''t want other people to know that the Pdins of His Majesty were fighting a citizen in broad daylight.

    "I''m sorry, Dion," Jeanne, who was leaning against his chest, said in a weak voice while covering the wound in her stomach with her hands. Her wound was still bleeding profusely. "Because of me, the target got away."

    "Save your energy," Dion said sharply. "The target is only a child. Lewis can handle him."

    The stalker wasn''t really a child.

    He didn''t get a clear view of the elusive target but he saw his face for a moment. If his estimation was correct, then the stalker must be a teenage boy. Too bad the young man had concealed himself properly.

    The only feature that he remembered from the target was the fact that he had a pair of cold, ice-blue eyes.

    "We''ll get him next time," Dion said, then he carried Jeanne in his arms while ring at the criminals surrounding them at the moment. "We have to get out of here first."

    <strong>***</strong>

    GLENN let out a deep sigh.

    Right now, he was in Ruto''s kitchen while having a cup of the bitterest tea that he had ever tasted in his life.

    Since His Majesty kicked him out of his office, he didn''t have anything else to do other than visiting his young friend. His fellow Pdins were all busy with their work, and Princess Neoma was ying outside the pce. He only had Ruto now.

    But for some reason, it seemed like the young chef was upset with him.

    "Ruto, you did this on purpose, didn''t you?" Glenn asked the young chef who was sitting opposite him. "If you don''t want me here, just say so. You don''t have to serve me this awful tea, you know?"

    "Why are you still here, Sir Glenn?" Ruto asked, avoiding his question. "You told me a few weeks ago that you think something is wrong with your lover. Why don''t you go to her and check if everything''s alright?"

    He flinched at the young chef''s question. "Ruto, you''re talking a lot today, huh?"

    "Are you avoiding a confrontation with Princess Bridgette because you''re afraid to be rejected face-to-face?"

    Once again, he flinched. Then, he lowered his gaze because he couldn''t bear to look at Ruto''s questioning eyes. "You wouldn''t understand, Ruto," he said with a sigh, then he shook his head. "What does a child like you know about love and rtionships?"

    "If I were you, I would go to my lover and make sure that she''s safe," Ruto said in a serious voice that made him raise his head. "It wouldn''t matter to me whether she wanted to end our rtionship or not. The only thing that I would want to know is if she''s safe."

    "Ruto¡­"

    "Don''t be afraid of a breakup, Sir Glenn," the young chef said seriously. "You must be more afraid to lose her forever."

    He gulped when he heard that. "Lose her forever as in¡­ because she died?" Heughed nervously. "Ruto, do you think Princess Bridgette''s life is in danger? It''s not like that. She''s just asking for some space to reevaluate our rtionship."

    "And you believed that?" the young man asked. "What if the princess is being threatened?"

    Now he fellpletely silent.

    To be honest, the letters that he recently received from Princess Bridgette were strange. Sometimes, he would feel like he wasn''t talking to his lover. But he didn''t want to overthink.

    Moreover, Princess Bridgette would still talk about the things that only he and the princess know. So in the end, he would brush it off as him being paranoid.

    But now that Ruto was scaring him, he was beginning to overthink again.

    <strong></strong>"Sir Glenn, don''t be a coward."

    For the third time, he flinched because of the young chef''s words.

    He was aware that he was being a coward.

    But in his defense, this was the first time that he fell in love deeply so he didn''t know what to do most of the time.

    "Don''t lose her just because of your cowardice," Ruto said seriously and at that moment, he felt like he was talking to an adult who had his heart broken in the most painful way. "But if you do, you better be prepared to sell your soul to the Devil just to turn back time for her."

    Glenn gulped hard. "Ruto, have you ever been in love at that tender age of yours?"

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 206 - I WANT A DAUGHTER LIKE HER!

    "THE LAST time I talked to Author S''s publisher a year ago, he told me that Author S was working on a new book titled ''I Won''t Let The Ghoul Duke Go Hungry!,''" Juri said, then she sipped her tea before she continued. "But all of a sudden, I can''t get in touch with the publisher anymore. Their office suddenly closed one day. After that, I haven''t heard anything about Author S."

    Neoma raised a brow. "Juri, why do you know so much about Author S? You even know herst WIP."

    "What''s ''WIP?''"

    "Work in progress."

    "Oh," the teenage girl said while nodding. "Well, information can be bought and I have money."

    Ah, as expected, Juri was a noble.

    [And she''s really beautiful.]

    When they got to the tea salon named ''Sophia''s,'' Juri finally took off the hood of her cloak and let her long and curly golden hair fall freely.

    Despite wearing a simple dress under her cloak, Juri''s beauty still stood out. Plus, even though she says vulgar words casually, she still moved as gracefully as any other nobles that were taught manners since the age of three.

    [I really want her to be my daughter.]

    Anyway, Lewis was seated beside her quietly while reading a ck, small notebook that he refused to share with her.

    [He has been diligently reading that book for a year now.]

    Juri was seated on the sofa across from them looking like a pretty doll.

    [It''s time to give Lewis a sister, indeed.]

    "It doesn''t matter where I got my information about Author S," Juri said eagerly, then she elegantly stirred her tea. "We have to rescue her. If she was arrested by the royal knights, then we have no choice but to appeal to His Majesty himself."

    She almost choked on her tea. "Dear, I''m just amoner," she said. "I don''t have the power to meet the emperor."

    "You''re lying," the teenage girl said. "You''re not amoner."

    "Why do you sound so confident? Do you know me?"

    "I don''t," Juri said bluntly. "But you have the same finesse as much as the next noble. I''m not saying thatmoners or middle-ss people can''t be as elegant as the nobles. But we''re different. We move as if we were born graceful. To people like us, being elegant is as natural as breathing."

    Well, she couldn''t deny that.

    Like she thought to herself a while ago, noble and royal children were taught manners as early as three years old.

    "I came from a fallen noble family," she said, and that wasn''t entirely a lie since House Roseheart was a fallen noble family anyway. "But I''m amoner now."

    "I see," the youngdy said sympathetically. Then, her face turned determined. "Don''t worry, Rara. I will ask for an audience with His Majesty and ask him about Author S."

    Juri didn''t sound arrogant. She also didn''t sound like she was bragging. She was speaking like she was stating a fact.

    [That means she can really do it.]

    Her future daughter must be a higher noble if she had the power to ask her Papa Boss for an audience.

    "Then, I''ll leave it to you," she told Juri cheerfully. "Please rescue our dear author."

    Of course, as soon as she went back to the Royal Pce, she would scold her Papa Boss and demand him to free Author S.

    Juri smiled sweetly at her, then she suddenly turned to the window with a serious look on her face. "Rara, are you being stalked?"

    Her eyes widened in shock when she heard that.

    Lewis, who was reading quietly beside her, 0closed the book and straightened up in his seat.

    "I''m not sure buttely, I feel like I''m being followed," she lied. It wasn''t like she could tell Juri that it was her Pdins who realized that she was being stalked. "How did you know that, Juri Unnie?"

    Until Juri let her "adopt" her as her first "daughter," she would call her ''unnie'' for the meantime. It meant ''big sister'' in Hangul.

    Thankfully, her future daughter didn''t ask what ''unnie'' meant.

    [Juri is probably thinking that I''m just using made-up words since I''m a child and kids my age are imaginative.]

    "My eyes are special," Juri said, then she turned to her with a smile on her face. "Rara, shall we catch your stalker together?"

    Neoma couldn''t help but smile and nod. "Okay, unnie."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "SIR GLENN, I''m only twelve years old," Ruto reminded him. "How can I fall in love with someone at this age?"

    Glennughed, the tension that he felt a while ago disappeared. "You''re right," he said while nodding his head. "But I was taken aback because it felt like you were speaking from experience."

    "I was."

    "Huh?"

    "My mother isn''t from the empire, Sir Glenn," the young chef reminded him. "My parents had a long-distance rtionship even after I was born. It didn''t work because my father chose his career over my mother, and my mother is the type of person who can''t be honest with her own feelings."

    Ah, that was right.

    Ruto''s family matters were quiteplicated.

    "My father regrets leaving my mother until now, but he knows that it''s already toote to mend their broken marriage," the young man said. "Sir Glenn, do you want to end up like my father? In case you''re wondering, the answer is ''no.'' My father is happy and honored to be His Majesty''s personal chef. But at the end of the day, he still feels empty."

    He wasn''t that surprised to hear that.

    After all, he waspletely aware that if he lost Princess Bridgette, his life wouldn''t be the same anymore.

    [I can''t stay passive now.]

    Going to the Hazelden Kingdom didn''t mean abandoning His Majesty.

    To be honest, the emperor was right when he said that he was just using his position as His Majesty''s knight to avoid confrontation with Princess Bridgette. Deep in his heart, he knew that he was just afraid to get rejected personally.

    But not anymore.

    "Thank you for the pep talk, Ruto," Glenn said, his chest light now. Then, he stood up and smiled at the young chef. "In the near future, when you fall in love for the first time, don''t hesitate toe to me for advice, okay?"

    Ruto just remained silent with a strange sadness on his face.

    <strong>***</strong>

    BEFORE they left the tea salon, Neoma was instructed by Juri to act naturally.

    On the other hand, her future daughter asked Lewis to pretend to leave. ording to the youngdy, the stalker would more likely lower their defense if their malepanion left.

    Of course, Lewis didn''t budge at Juri''s instruction.

    If she didn''t threaten her son that she wouldn''t talk to him again if he didn''t leave them, then Lewis wouldn''t have left her side.

    [I''m sorry, Lewis. But this time, I want to trust Juri and see why she''s confident.]

    And most of all, she wanted to see if her future daughter was indeed qualified to be a part of her dream team.

    [Yep, I want to recruit Juri to join my team.]

    Over the past year, her Papa Boss and the other Pdins had sent her a list of candidates that qualified for the positions that she wanted to be filled in her team. But so far, none of them caught her attention.

    "I think this ce is good enough," Juri said cheerfully while looking around. "No one else is here."

    "Of course, no one else is here," Neoma said with a softugh. "You paid the hotel owner to let us use the rooftop."

    Yeah, the Royal Capital had a fancy hotel that was known for having ten floors.

    "Well, your stalker seems to be fond of high ces," her future daughter said while rummaging the pouch tied to her waist under the cloak. Then, she pulled out a green bean from it. "And he''s good at hiding."

    [As expected, the stalker is a male.]

    "You''re good, Juri Unnie," she said, amused. "But how did you know¡­"

    She trailed off when all of a sudden, the youngdy threw the bean at something.

    Or someone.

    It didn''t matter, to be honest.

    She was shocked at how Juri threw the bean. The youngdy looked like a pro-baseball pitcher when she threw the bean urately.

    ''urately'' because the bean really hit something.

    [Daebak!]

    She was shocked when a huge "cylinder ss" floating in the air right in front of them broke into tiny pieces after the bean hit it. When the shards of sses turned into dots of silver light and disappeared, the stalker was finally exposed.

    Light gray hair, pale blue eyes, porcin skin.

    The boy that seemed to be around Juri''s age was currently falling from the sky like an angel.

    [Wait, I take that back.]

    She noticed that under the boy''s ck cloak, he was actually holding a wooden rifle¡­

    ¡­ and he was aiming it at Juri.

    "Juri Unnie!" she yelled worriedly. "He has a gun!"

    Well, that was quite stupid for her to say because Juri had eyes, too. She obviously saw the rifle that the "stalker" had. After all, it was a long-ass gun.

    But the fact that her future daughter wasn''t moving made her worry.

    "Don''t worry, Rara," Juri said, then she opened her right hand. "Come, yer."

    [''yer?'']

    She was surprised when the silver ring around Juri''s pinky finger suddenly released a blinding light.

    She automatically closed her eyes for a few seconds.

    When she opened her eyes again, she was shocked when she saw the big-ass weapon in Juri''s hand.

    It was a big iron sledgehammer that her future daughter was swinging effortlessly.

    [The sledgehammer looks heavy but she''s swinging it as if it''s nothing!]

    "Rara, I suggest you close your eyes because things are about to get ugly and bloody," Juri said cheerfully, then she turned to her. "Don''t worry, I won''t kill him. I''m good at fixing up the bodies that I mess."

    She swallowed hard when she heard that.

    But she wasn''t scared or disgusted by Juri''s words. In fact, she felt thrilled. This girl was exactly what she was looking for.

    Her excitement was cut short when she realized that the stalker had disappeared again.

    "Oh no," she said worriedly. "Juri Unnie, he got away."

    "He didn''t," her future daughter said. "I can still see him, Rara."

    She blinked in surprise. "Really?"

    "I am color blind, Rara," Juri said, her orange eyes glowing brightly. Then, she started to walk away from her while swinging the sledgehammer in her hand as if it was a mere baton. "Instead of colors, I see auras and sometimes, bloodlust," she continued. Then, shockingly, the youngdy threw the sledgehammer the way she threw the bean a while ago: fast, powerful, and urate. "My eyes are special."

    [And really cool!]

    Neoma gasped when she saw the sledgehammer hit something, then the boy that she saw a while ago appeared again.

    The stalker used his rifle as a shield to protect his body from the sledgehammer. She could see that the rifle was covered with the boy''s Mana. But despite that, the sledgehammer still managed to break the rifle and hit the poor boy in the stomach.

    She saw the stalker cough blood as soon as the sledgehammer hit him.

    After that, the boy fell to the ground while clutching his stomach.

    Juri appeared in front of the fallen stalker, then she grabbed her sledgehammer and raised it as if she was about to strike the poor boy.

    [Damn, please don''t hit his pretty face, Juri Unnie.]

    Despite the terrible scene ying before her, Neoma couldn''t help but smile. "Juri Unnie is crazy."

    And she loved the crazy.

    <strong>***</strong>

    "`GOT YOU, Lewis," Geoffrey said, then he wrapped an arm around Lewis to stop him from joining the fight. "Rx. Princess Neoma is safe with that youngdy."

    He was in the Royal Capital while gathering information when he saw Princess Neoma with anotherdy. At first, he was rmed when he didn''t see Lewis. But when he looked around, he saw the fox boy tailing the twodies discreetly.

    And so, he followed Lewis until he reached the rooftop of the building next to the hotel rooftop where an interesting event was taking ce.

    [It seems like Princess Neoma and the youngdy can handle it without our help.]

    "Who?" Lewis asked indifferently, then he stepped away from him. "Who is thatdy?"

    "Ah, you didn''t know?" Geoffrey asked, then he turned to the youngdy who missed hitting the boy with her sledgehammer. The young man luckily avoided being pounded to the ground by rolling around. Had he not moved in time, his skull would have been cracked and not the floor. "That youngdy is Juri Wisteria¨C Madam Hammock''s crazy granddaughter."

    <strong>***</strong>

    <strong>NOTE</strong>: I''m using the ''[]'' bracket again to indicate the characters'' thoughts, inner monologues, shbacks, etc.

    I just realized that italics don''t really work on the app. T_T

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 207 - THE ROYAL TOWER "KICK OUT"

    <strong></strong>[WHAT an intense fight.]

    Neoma was amazed at the turn of events during the fight between Juri and the stalker.

    At first, her future daughter had the upper hand. But when the stalker got his momentum back, he was able to deflect Juri''s attacks and shoot his new rifle at her. Most of all, the young man had managed to create a huge distance between him and Juri by jumping in the air.

    The stalker was using several jelly-like cubes that were lined up in the air like a staircase. He obviously couldn''t turn his back on Juri who kept on throwing her sledgehammer at him. Thus, he was jumping backward while firing his Mana-infused bullets at Juri.

    [Tsk. This boy is shooting at Juri as if he doesn''t care if a stray bullet identally hits a civilian!]

    And Juri wasn''t hitting the bullets in godly speed as if she was ying baseball.

    [Ah, my future daughter doesn''t also care if the bullets hit other people.]

    Those two children were acting like some blood-thirsty beasts, huh?

    It seemed like they had also forgotten that she was there. Thankfully, she could protect herself using a Coat. Even if a stray bullet came at her direction, she wouldn''t get hurt.

    Unfortunately, not everyone was safe from it so she had to make a move.

    "Come out," Neoma whispered to herself, then she opened her right hand. "Kimchi."

    ''Kimchi'' was the new Spirit that she acquired half a year ago during her training under Mochi''s mentorship. A few months ago, her Papa Boss allowed her to go "camping" in the Mountain of Alyward with Mochi, Lewis, Jeanne, and Dion.

    During that time, she met the Spirits of the mountain. Out of all of them, she fell in love with Kimchi, a female Fire Spirit that looked like a Leopard Gecko. Her eyes were bigger than an average lizard which made her look cuter. Moreover, Kimchi''s skin was a very light shade of red. Thus, she gave her ''Kimchi'' as a name.

    Unfortunately, Kimchi couldn''t speak the way Mochi and Soju could.

    Still, they could understand each other well.

    "The Mana-infused bullets are made of me," she whispered to Kimchi while gently petting its head with her finger. "Kimchi, can you eat the bullets?"

    Kimchi smiled at her, then she transformed into a flying lizard with wings. Then, she disappeared. But the Fire Spirit didn''t use a teleportation spell. She simply moved fast enough to catch and eat all the stray bullets.

    Thankfully, Juri and the stalker were too busy to notice that she just summoned a Spirit.

    Moreover, her baby Kimchi was too fast for them to notice as well.

    [If Kimchi didn''t breathe fire at Tteokbokki in the past, I would have thought that she was a Wind Spirit instead of a Fire Spirit.]

    The first time Kimchi breathed fire, she was tempted to name the lizard ''Ch*rmander.''

    But her conscience kicked in, and she felt bad for the creators of P*kemon.

    Her thoughts were suddenly cut off when she realized that the fight was almost over.

    [Ah, what a shame.]

    Since the stalker wasn''t looking behind him as he was focusing on shooting Juri with his rifle, he didn''t notice the huge round cactus-like nt floating in the air. That strange nt sprouted from the green bean that Juri threw at the young man earlier.

    When the stalker jumped backward a while ago, his back hit the huge round cactus-like nt. Then, his body was impaled by the "thorns" of the strange nt. The bad news was the "thorns" looked like sharp steel bars.

    Of course, the young man bled profusely.

    She saw the "thorns" pierced through the stalker''s shoulders, chest, stomach, arms, and legs. Thankfully, he managed to lean down to protect his head.

    But she hoped that the "thorns" didn''t hit the young man''s vital organs.

    Well, she still needed to know why a grown man like him was stalking a "child" like her. If he turned out to be a pervert, she would end his life with her own hands.

    Anyway, her mind couldn''t help but analyze the fight that took ce a while ago.

    It was Dion''s influence. That man was usually quiet but each time a fight would break out in front of them, he would always ask her to analyze it. Thus, she began to develop a tiring hobby of using her big brain for such "practice."

    Tsk.

    [Anyway, the stalker didn''t notice the round cactus because he was too busy avoiding Juri''s attacks.]

    That was exactly why Juri''s attacks were aggressive. She was trying to distract the young man so he wouldn''t notice the trap that she set up in the air. Juri kept on attacking the stalker so he wouldn''t turn his back on her.

    [At first, Juri acted like she''s just a bloodthirsty beast looking for a fight. But in the end, she proved herself to be a strategist and a fast thinker. She''s strong, smart, and brave. I think she will suit the same role as me.]

    By the "same role," she meant the position of ''Tank'' in her dream team.

    Yes, she considered herself as a ''Tank.'' After all, she could create shields for the team. Most of all, she liked being in the frontline for some action.

    [It''s decided then. Juri will be the second Tank of the team.]

    She was distracted once again when her baby Kimchi appeared on her shoulder.

    "Good job, baby girl," she whispered, then she petted Kimchi''s head again. "You may sleep now."

    Kimchi made a cute purring sound (like a cat!) before she disappeared.

    "Rara, I caught your stalker," Juri said cheerfully while walking towards her, the sledgehammer casually ced on her shoulder as if it wasn''t heavy. "Should we hand him to the royal knights for investigation¡­"

    Her future daughter trailed off when all of a sudden, Geoffrey and Lewis appeared on either of her sides.

    Neoma smiled charmingly at Juri. "Big Sister, can I invite you to my house?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "PAPA BOSS, I found my Tank and took her home!" Neoma, now dressed as "Prince Nero," reported to her father casually. "I want her on my team."

    She didn''t need to specify who she was talking about.

    After all, she was certain that Geoffrey already reported everything to her father while she was changing clothes.

    "Why are you talking like you just picked up some stray cat and took it home?" Emperor Niki, her father who seemed to be exasperated already by her "crazy antics," asked while shaking his head. "Do you know who Juri Wisteria is?"

    "Geoffrey told me while we were on the way home," she said. "Juri is Madam Hammock''s granddaughter, isn''t she?"

    A while ago, after she invited Juri to her "house," the youngdy seemed to have sensed the change in her aura. But luckily, her future daughter calmly epted her invitation without asking questions.

    She asked Geoffrey to escort Juri, then she and Lewis went back to the Royal Pce together.

    [Ah, right. Geoffrey also volunteered to take care of the stalker. I''ll ask for an updateter.]

    As soon as she got back to her pce, she changed back into being "Nero" again. Then, she went to her father''s office. Surprisingly, she didn''t see Sir Glenn or the other Pdins. But it wasn''t that unusual to her Papa Boss alone in his office so she didn''t think much of it.

    "Juri Wisteria is the daughter of Madam Hammock''s son," her Papa Boss said. "On the other hand, Juri Wisteria''s father is the sessor of Marquis Wisteria. Do you know what House Hammock and House Wisteria have inmon?"

    Of course, she knew that answer because one of her duties as a royal princess (or prince since she was acting as Nero) was to memorize all the nobles of their empire. Yes, even the nobles from the countryside.

    "House Hammock and House Wisteria both specialize in making medicine," she said. "The difference is House Hammock focuses on making more affordable medicine for themoners and the poor, while House Wisteria manufactures overpriced medicine for the rich."

    Her father paused for a while as if he was thinking, then he nodded. "Ah, your observation is correct."

    "I kind of feel scammed, Papa Boss," she whined. "I have tried medicines produced by the Hammocks and the Wisterias. Their medicines have the same ingredients and produce the same result. But the medicines sold by the Wisterias are more expensive just because of their name. And well, the nice packaging. I wonder if the other nobles are aware of that."

    "We know, we just don''t care," her father said bluntly. "It''s our responsibility to spend money for the economy, Neoma."

    "Sure," she said, then she changed the topic. "Why did you ask about them, Papa Boss?"

    "I want you to see why Juri Wisteria is an enigma of both House Hammock and House Wisteria," her Papa Boss said. "Those two noble households have produced the best doctors, Healing Sages, and pharmaceutical researchers in the empire. Thus, when Juri Westeria was born, everyone expected her to be involved in the medicine field. But she turned out to be a rebel."

    "A rebel?" she asked curiously. "How?"

    "She used to get into a lot of fights while she was studying at the Royal Tower to be a Healing Sage," her father said. "But the worst thing she didst year caused her to be kicked out by the Archmage of the Royal Tower."

    "What did Juri do?"

    "Do you remember when your trip with Madam Hammock to harvest the Hisa Tree was canceled?"

    She nodded, then she gasped. "Is Juri the reason why it was canceled?"

    "Well, you can say that," her Papa Boss said. "Juria Wisteria wrote a petition to me."

    Her eyes widened in shock. "What kind of petition, Papa Boss?"

    "She demanded me to exin three things," the emperor said in an amused voice. "First, she wanted to know why we can only nt one Hisa Tree every fifty years. Second, she questioned why only the Royal Family could use Hisa Ointment. And third¡­" The corner of her father''s mouth curved into a smirk. "She asked me why I chose House Wisteria to manufacture the ointment and medicines used by the Royal Family."

    She covered her mouth with her hands when she gasped. "That''s so sick. Did you give her a response, Papa Boss?"

    "Before I could do so, Juria Wisteria already sent a letter of apology and told me that I should just ignore her petition," he exined. "At that time, I have a feeling that she was forced by her family to send a letter of apology to me. After that, I heard that she was kicked out of the Royal Tower and was banned from entering the Royal Capital for a year. Madam Hammock, for the first time since I sat on the throne, asked me for a vacation leave. It seems like she wanted tofort her granddaughter."

    "Wait, was the trip canceled because Madam Hammock asked for a vacation leave?"

    "Yes," her father said bluntly. "Madam Hammock is the only person I trust to handle the harvesting of Hisa Tree. Thus, the harvesting is dyed until shees back. Madam Hammock sent me a letterst week and she said she''d be returning today with her granddaughter."

    "With Juri?"

    "I asked Madam Hammock to bring her granddaughter to me."

    "Why?"

    "To give her the answers from the petition she asked me before," her Papa Boss said. "I didn''t give her a response back then because I know that she''d only get into more trouble if I do. Thus, I decided to personally meet her once her ban was lifted."

    "Papa Boss, I''m impressed," she said genuinely while pping her hands. "I didn''t know that you''re considerate to other people. Especially to girls since you can be a misogynist sometimes."

    "Juri Wisteria reminded me of your stubbornness so I wasn''t able to ignore her," her Papa Boss said, then he averted his gaze away from her. "I don''t want people to ignore you once your return as ''Neoma de Moonasterio.'' Thus, I''m doing my best to set an example.

    She was about to tease her father for being awkward when she remembered something important. "Papa Boss, Juri will kill you," she said. "Why did you order Author S to be arrested? What did you do to our favorite author?"

    "I sent that author to a temple," her father said. "I told her to repent for corrupting the innocent mind of young children through her indecent books."

    "Papa Boss!" sheined, then she walked closer to her father just to be able to shake his shoulders (that she was able to aplish by sitting on the table). To be honest, this was the first time that she did that kind of thing to her Papa Boss. She couldn''t help it though. It was for her favorite author. "You have to free Author S now! You can''t lock her up in a temple for a year just because she writes sexy books! That''s human rights vition! It''s not her fault that children like me have ess to her novels!"

    "Good point," her father said, unbothered even though she was shaking his shoulders quite violently. "Should I shut down all the bookstores that sell her books?"

    "Papa Boss!"

    Much to her shock, a miracle happened.

    Papa Bossughed softly.

    She didn''t know that the day that she would say thise but no matter how clich¨¦ it sounded, her father''sughter was really music in her ears. Moreover, her Papa Boss''s smiling face almost blinded her. She didn''t expect that moment to warm her heart.

    "Daebak," she said in a mix of awe and disbelief. "Papa Boss, you''reughing."

    Her father immediately went back to his "poker-faced mode." "No, I''m not."

    "Sure, Papa Boss," she said teasingly. "I just imagined it, right?"

    He just rolled her eyes at her teasing, then he changed the topic. "Juri Wisteria saw you in your disguise. If you want to recruit her to your team, you have to tell her your royal secret. And once you do, you have to make her take the Oath of Silence."

    "I feel like I can trust Juri, Papa Boss."

    "Still, you have to make her do that," he said seriously. "Neoma, everyone who knows that you exist has pledged the Oath of Silence. Even Lewis Crevan and the Quinzels."

    Except for Jasper Oppa.

    After all, she didn''t tell her father that she told the young duke her royal secret.

    "Once Juri Wisteria epts your invitation to join your team, make her sign the contract right away," her Papa Boss said. "But in case she doesn''t¡­"

    "It won''t happen, Papa Boss," Neoma interrupted her father. "I have a feeling that Juri and I are meant to meet."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "I''M NERVOUS, Lewis," Neoma said while she and Lewis were walking in the hallway that leads to the tea parlor where Juri was waiting for her. "Do you think Juri will ept my invitation?"

    Although she acted confident in front of her Papa Boss, she was still scared that Juri might turn down her offer. Especially since her future daughter seemed to have a hatred for the nobility and the monarch.

    "Lady Juri Wisteria seems fond of you, Princess Neoma," Lewis said. "I think she''d ept your invitation."

    Ah, her son really knew how to soothe her.

    She was d that only Lewis was with her right now. Thus, the two of them could talk freely to each other.

    They were in her father''s pce and her Papa Boss didn''t like other peopleing in and out of his residence. Thus, her servants weren''t allowed to apany her. Only Lewis had the permission to do so.

    [Papa Boss''s Pdins are waiting with Juri anyway.]

    She was about to say something when all of a sudden, she felt a stinging sensation in her right hand. She stopped walking, and so did Lewis.

    Then, she raised her hand to check what was wrong with it.

    Much to her surprise, Posie, the butterfly that Duke Jasper Hawthorne left her a year ago, emerged from her palm. The fact that it came out without being summoned only meant that it was being controlled by the young duke right now.

    Finally, the message that she had been waiting for for the past year had arrived.

    [That''s a relief.]

    She was starting to get worried because before Jasper Oppa left, he told her that he only nned to stay with the ve traders for six months. But that six months had turned into a year. She actually began to look for the young duke. Thankfully, he finally reached out to her via Posie.

    ["It''s time,"] Jasper Oppa said in a hushed voiceing from Posie. ["See you in ten days."]

    After delivering the message from the young duke, Posie disappeared quickly.

    Neoma and Lewis exchanged knowing looks.

    [In ten days, Lewis will be "kidnapped."]

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 208 - TANK ACQUIRED~

    JURI WISTERIA was born color blind.

    But it wasn''t like she couldn''tpletely see colors. In her eyes, everything was ck and white except for one thing: a person''s soul.

    She didn''t know but she could see the "color" of the soul of the people around her. Her grandmother, Judy Hammock, said that the "soul" she sees might actually be auras. She didn''t know what it really was, but for some reason, despite the thousands of people around her and the limited colors avable to her knowledge, she never once saw two simr colors.

    [That means that this young boy in front of me right now is Rara¨C the little girl that I met in the Royal Capital earlier.]

    Also, the boy behind Rara was the same boy that she was with earlier. But this time, the boy that had an "old-looking" soul was wearing a White Lion Knight''s uniform. It wasn''t a squire''s uniform¨C it was the very uniform that the two adult knights with them were wearing.

    "Are you a boy?" Juri asked Rara, confused. Then, she walked towards her. "You¨C"

    She was surprised when all of a sudden, the two adults knight that led her to the drawing room in the emperor''s pce stopped her.

    "Don''t be rude," the male knight said sternly. "You''re in the presence of His Royal Highness Prince Nero, the Crown Prince of the Great Moonasterion Empire."

    To say that she was shocked to hear that would be an understatement.

    [Rara¡­ is the Crown Prince?]

    Did the Crown Prince pretend as a girl outside the pce for her protection?

    It was hard to tell since there were some children that age that could look androgynous. Most of all, Rara was so pretty that she could easily pass either as a boy or as a girl. Well, at least until her/his body begins to develop.

    "Lady Wisteria," the female knight said gently. "Please give your greetings to the First Star of our empire."

    Ah, right.

    She was so shocked that she forgot her manners.

    "Greetings to the First Star of the Great Moonasterion Empire," Juri said politely, then she bowed to the Crown Prince. "I, Juri Wisteria, present herself to His Royal Highness."

    "Please raise your head, Lady Juri Wisteria," Prince Nero, the Crown Prince, said. "We have a lot of things we need to talk about, right?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA was quite nervous now that Juri was obviously watching her carefully.

    Right now, only Lewis remained in the drawing room as her guard. Dion and Jeanne were guarding another guest in a different room.

    Normally, the Pdins wouldn''t leave her side, especially when meeting new people for the first time. But it was different today because she wanted to recruit Juri to her dream team. Since Lewis was the first member of Team Moonrose, he had the right to stay.

    "To be honest, I already have a feeling that you weren''t an ordinary child as soon as your attendant earlier apanied me to your "house," Your Royal Highness. After all, that "house" turned out to be the Royal Pce," Juri said carefully. "I was shocked when I found out that the friend I met just a few hours ago turned out to be the Crown Prince."

    [Ah, Juri is really a straightforward person.]

    "I didn''t mean to deceive you, Lady Juri," Neoma said. Juri was the one who insisted earlier to call her by her first name instead of her family name. But to be honest, it was how the youngdies of the noble households were addressed anyway. "I''ll be frank. When I met you earlier, I had no intention of revealing my identity to you. But I changed my mind when I saw you fight my stalker."

    The youngdy sipped her tea before she asked. "What made you change your mind, Your Royal Highness?"

    "You impressed me," she said bluntly. "I want you to lend me your power, Lady Juri."

    "Lend you my power in what way?"

    "I''m currently building my non-official Order of Knights," she exined. "Since it wouldn''t be officially recognized as an Order, you don''t have to be a knight to be qualified. But of course, you''ll get the same job as any other knights in an Order. In short, you''ll be assigned to protect me."

    "That sounds sketchy, Your Royal Highness," Juri said with a raised brow. "You''re the Crown Prince of the empire. Why wouldn''t the empire recognize your Order officially?" She paused, then she gave her a look full of distrust. "You''re not creating a rebel group, are you?"

    Sheughed at the youngdy''s imagination. "I''m not creating a rebel group, Lady Juri," she assured her future daughter, then she turned serious as she began to reveal her royal secret. "I am not the real Crown Prince."

    Juri obviously looked shocked by her sudden revtion.

    Well, if she wanted her to be a part of her team, she needed to be honest with her. Plus, she already got her Papa Boss''s approval anyway.

    [But Papa Boss wants me to make Juri take an Oath of Silence.]

    An Oath of Silence wasn''t a mere verbal promise of not exposing her royal secret.

    It was more of a spell. Once a person who took an Oath of Silence began talking about the secret to people they weren''t supposed to share it with, then their heart would be crushed by an invisible yet powerful "hand."

    "I am Neoma de Moonasterio, the real Crown Prince''s twin sister," she said, revealing her real identity to the shocked Juri. "You''re smart so I''m sure you''ll find out eventually that something bad has happened to my twin brother that forced me to take his ce, so let me tell you the truth. A few years ago, my brother was cursed by an unknown enemy. He''s currently being treated in a faraway yet safe ce. My father, the emperor, doesn''t want anyone else to find out that the real Crown Prince is sick. Thus, he asked me to live as my twin brother."

    Juri gasped softly when she heard that, then she gave her a look of pity. "Are you okay with that, Princess Neoma?"

    She was quite taken aback when she heard that from Juri.

    To be honest, she expected her future daughter to ask about the current condition of Nero. But she didn''t expect the youngdy to express concern towards her.

    Still, that felt nice.

    "I''m not okay with it," she said honestly, then she smiled at Juri to not make her worry too much. "But I''m used to it now. Moreover, I deeply care about my twin brother. It was hard at first but eventually, I got surrounded by good people who genuinely love me." She paused, then she looked at her future daughter meaningfully. "I want you to be one of those people, Lady Juri."

    The youngdy fell silent for a while before she spoke again. "The fact that you revealed your royal secret to me only means that I can''t leave this room without a proper answer. Princess Neoma, what will you do if I turn down your offer?"

    "I won''t hurt or kill you," she assured her future daughter, then she sighed and told her the thing that her father insisted on a while ago. "But we''ll have your memory of me erased. It was something that my father, His Majesty, directly ordered."

    Juri suddenly looked ufortable. "Mind maniption such as erasing a person''s memory is a high-level skill, Your Royal Highness. And it''s not something that should be cast on ordinary citizens, is it?"

    "Usually, that''s the case," she admitted while shaking her head regretfully. "But it''s necessary because my royal secret is considered a natural treasure."

    "Who will perform the mind erasure spell on me if ever?"

    "Madam Hammock," she informed her seriously. "Lady Juri, your grandmother is currently being guarded in the room next door by the two Pdins that you saw a while ago. If you turn down my offer, Lewis will escort you to the next room."

    Thankfully, Juri didn''t seem upset with that.

    [Well, my future daughter is smart so I''m sure that she knows I have to do this to protect my royal secret.]

    "And if I ept your offer now, what do I do next?"

    "First, you have to take an Oath of Silence to protect my royal secret," she said, then she opened her right hand. "Come out, ss Noodles."

    ''ss Noodles'' was the Divine Twin des aka the Divine Scissors that she got from Yule.

    She didn''t like both names so she decided to call the scissors ''ss Noodles'' since the scissors had the same color as it.

    "I made a contract for the future members of my dream team," Neoma said with a smile while ying with the scissors in her hand. "If you decide to join my team, I will cut a portion of your soul as a seal of our contract."

    To be honest, she was afraid that it might scare her future daughter.

    But she was relieved as soon as the youngdy smiled.

    "I actually came here because I''m bored after being locked up in the mansion for too long, Your Royal Highness," Juri said, then she paused as if she remembered something. After that, she gasped as her eyes widened. "Princess Neoma, before I officially join your team, I want His Majesty to free Author S first!"

    "Ah," Neoma said, then sheughed. "Of course, that must be our top priority."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOUR MAJESTY, may I take an indefinite leave?"

    "Sure."

    Glenn was shocked when Emperor Niki approved his vacation leave request without even looking up from the paperwork in his hand. That kind of hurt his feelings. "Your Majesty, you do not know how long I''ll be gone," he said in an upset tone. "Are you really okay with that?"

    "Yes."

    "Your Majesty, you''re so cold."

    His Majesty let out a frustrated sigh, then he raised his head to re at him. "If you want to return as soon as possible, then go to Princess Bridgette as quickly as you can. Stop bothering me, you lovesick fool."

    He suddenly got emotional despite being scolded by his master. "Your Majesty, I''m going to miss your lectures."

    The emperor just rolled his eyes at him. "Just leave, Glenn," he told him. "Go to Kyle and tell him that I already approved your indefinite leave. He''ll take care of the rest."

    "Thank you, Your Majesty," Glenn said in a sad voice. "Please always be healthy, Your Majesty."

    His Majesty just let out a deep sigh.

    "Your Majesty, I have onest request before I leave."

    "What is it?"

    "Please be more open with your feelings," Glenn bravely dered despite the risks. "Your Majesty, no one will say anything even if you openly dote on Princess Neoma now."

    Emperor Niki red at him. "Do you want me to fire you, Glenn?"

    Ah, he was really going to miss this life in the pce.

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 209 - FIRST TEAM MISSION?

    "I ALREADY asked the Fletcher Twins to fetch S from the temple," Emperor Niki dered. "I will allow you to meet up with your favorite author before we send her home if you want to."

    Juri Wisteria was relieved to hear that from the emperor himself.

    She turned to Princess Neoma, who was standing next to her, and smiled when she saw the relief on the child''s face.

    [Princess Neoma really seems to be fond of Author S.]

    To be honest, it was shocking to know that the nine-year-old princess was already reading sexy books. But she reminded herself that the royal children of their empire mature faster than the average kids. Moreover, Princess Neoma said that she skipped the mature scenes in the book anyway, and she believed the royal princess.

    "Thank you, Your Majesty," Juri said when she turned to the emperor again. "I will now officially sign the contract with Princess Neoma."

    Her Royal Highness told her that she could speak her name freely inside His Majesty''s office because it was a "safe" ce.

    Moreover, right now, only she, Princess Neoma, and His Majesty were in the office.

    "Good," the emperor said, then he locked gaze with her. "Juri Wisteria, do you remember when you sent me a letter and asked thing about Hisa Tree?"

    "My family asked me to pretend that I never did such thing, Your Majesty," she said honestly. "But if you promise me that you won''t punish me if I speak about it, then my memories might return."

    "Big Sister," Princess Neoma said in an amazed voice, then she slowly pped her hands. "I like your braveness."

    She just smiled at Her Royal Highness.

    To be honest, despite the bad rumors that she heard about His Majesty, she knew in her heart that he wasn''t a bad person. Well, she wouldn''t say that the emperor was a saint. But at least, she knew that he was quite different from the other mean nobles around them.

    [But still, I don''t trust His Majestypletely because of the Royal Family''s tie with House Wisteria.]

    "I won''t punish you," His Majesty promised. "In fact, I wanted to talk to you about the Hisa Tree since you sent that letter to me. But I know that your family won''t deliver my response to you. Worse, they may ask someone from your family to write a response in your ce without your knowledge."

    Ah, it seemed like the emperor had an idea about how messed up House Wisteria was.

    "Juri Wisteria, I want to know why you''re so obsessed with the Hisa Tree," the emperor said. "Is there a specific reason why you sent me that letter in the past?"

    "I have a selfish reason, Your Majesty," she said carefully. "There was a person I admired a lot when I was a kid. She was called the ''shield'' of the empire."

    Princess Neoma turned to her with a curious look on her face.

    [It seems like the royal princess knows whom I talking about.]

    Of course, His Majesty was also aware of that.

    Fortunately, the emperor didn''t have a violent reaction even though she brought up thete Princess Nichole casually.

    Thus, she didn''t hold back anymore.

    "When I was a child, the mages of the Royal Tower brought me along in a "field trip" where we met up with thete Princess Nichole," Juri began, still careful. "It was supposed to be my first Hisa harvest. But on our way to the Golden Field, we were attacked by high-skilled bandits. They didn''t seed and Princess Nichole was able to protect us. The Princess Royal used her shield to protect us. But she suffered a great deal of damage: her back was burnt by an explosive that the leader of the bandits threw at her."

    His Majesty''s face turned grim.

    Ah, it seemed like the emperor remembered that event.

    "When we returned to the Royal Pce, it was my grandmother who treated Princess Nichole''s injury," she continued with her story. "My grandma saved the Princess Royal''s life. But she wanted to do more. She wanted to erase the burn mark on Princess Nichole''s back. Thus, she begged the previous emperor to let her use the Hisa Ointment. But they didn''t give it to my grandmother because apparently, the then-Crown Prince needed the ointment as well." She couldn''t help but smirk before she continued. "Apparently, the then-Crown Prince needed the Hisa ointment for his sunburn after training outdoors for the whole day. Since the Crown Prince''s whole body was red from the burn, they used up thest tube on his skin even if an ordinary ointment would have sufficed for sunburn."

    "That''s awful," Princess Neoma said. "Is that true, Papa Boss?"

    She was quite confused at what Princess Neoma called His Majesty. But the emperor didn''t react. It seemed like it was the normal for the two.

    "It''s true," His Majesty confirmed with a firm nod. "Believe it or not, I didn''t know that Nichole suffered a grave injury back then. I only found out about it when Saint Zavaroni told me that he treated my twin sister''s burn marks."

    "I was relieved when I heard from my grandmother that His Holiness fixed Princess Nichole''s burn marks," she said with a bitter smile. "My grandmother said that the burn marks didn''t disappearpletely. But at least, they turned faint and you can only notice it if you look at the Princess Royal''s back hard enough."

    She thought it was funny when Princess Neoma red at His Majesty, then the emperor turned his gaze away from his daughter nervously.

    [Is His Majesty afraid of Princess Neoma?]

    "I have nothing to say about that incident," His Majesty said when he turned to her. "Is that the reason why you''re questioning the rarity of Hisa Tree, Juri Wisteria?"

    "Yes, Your Majesty," she said bravely. "I know that this empire doesn''t treat royal princesses nicely. But if only there are more than one tube of Hisa Ointment produced, then Princess Nichole didn''t have to experience that kind of injustice. Moreover, I don''t understand why a tree as productive as Hisa Tree isn''t being reproduced like crazy. Isn''t it good for the environment to nt more trees anyway?"

    "Hisa Tree isn''t only used as an ointment for the Royal Family," the emperor said, shocking her because it was the first time that she heard it. "The Hisa Tree also produces a rare piece of jewelry that House Wisteria has been using for its jewelry business for a long time now. If we reproduce the Hisa Tree like you wanted, then the value of the jewelry that your family has been harvesting for generations would lose its value. If the Hisa Tree stops being a tree that only grows every fifty years, then the jewel that it produces will also be just another pretty gem for the nobles."

    She was too shocked to react that unexpected piece of information.

    "Papa Boss, you know that and yet, you''re not doing anything to stop it?" Princess Neoma asked. "Are you that greedy for money? We should nt more Hisa Trees and make more ointments. Not just for the Royal Family but also for the ordinary citizens. We already have enough wealth, haven''t we?"

    "It''s not that easy," the emperor said to his daughter. "I''ve been sending Madam Hammock to the Hisa Tree all this time because I asked her to find the rare jewelry that the tree produces. After all, we need solid evidence that the Hisa Tree doesn''t only produce ointment. But obviously, we haven''t seeded yet. Moreover, despite Madam Hammock''s efforts, we can''t also find a good research study that it''s possible to reproduce the Hisa Tree."

    [Ah, so my grandmother has been working with His Majesty all this time?]

    "So Papa Boss, we just need to find evidence?" Princess Neoma asked. "If we do, then do you promise to support the reproduction of the Hisa Tree to produce ointments for all the families in the empire?"

    "It wouldn''t be easy since House Wisteria is supported by other strong and influential families," the emperor said. "But if you''re up for the challenge, then you''re free to try."

    She turned to Princess Neoma instantly. "Your Royal Highness¡­"

    "You don''t have to say anything, Lady Juri. I know," Princess Neoma said with a smile, then she turned to the emperor. "Papa Boss, we''ll uncover the truth behind the Hisa Tree."

    Emperor Niki nodded. "Then, I''ll ask Madam Hammock to bring you with her during the harvest twelve days from now."

    Juri smiled a relieved smile when suddenly, Princess Neoma shrieked as if she was surprise.

    "Twelve days?" Princess Neoma asked with widened eyes. "Can we dy it, Papa Boss?"

    But why?

    ***

    NERO was satisfied when Zev, his Soul Beast, was able to create a mansion made of their ice Mana.

    It was a part of their training.

    Now that he was close to being able to resonate his soul with Zev''s, he knew that it was only a matter of time before he finds out his Soul Beast''s real name.

    "Good job, Zev," Nero said while gently patting the head of his two-tailed wolf. "You may rest now."

    Zev nodded before itpletely disappeared.

    "You really have the audacity to summon your Soul Beast even though I already warned you that I don''t want to see it."

    He turned to William who just returned from the Spirit World.

    [Great. My peaceful days are now over.]

    "Queen Tara gave me the permission to train my Soul Beast in this piece ofnd that she gave me a while ago," he said bluntly. "Why are you here? I''ve already mastered summoning Spirits from the queen herself during your absence. I don''t need a new teacher."

    Tara told him that a year had already passed back in the human world.

    But since time flowed differently in this world, that year felt longer. He didn''t care about that though. After all, he managed to train both of his abilities as a Roseheart and a de Moonasterio.

    "I returned because I feel like you''re already strong enough to go with me," William said seriously. "Nero, do you want to see your mother?"

    "Only if Neoma is with us," he said. "It''s my sister who wants to see our mother desperately. I don''t have that much interest in people who are already long gone."

    "Who said that Mona is already gone?"

    To say that he was shocked to hear that would be an understatement.

    "What do you mean by that, William?"

    "Mona is still alive," William dered seriously. "Do you want to see your mother now, Nero?"

    Nero clenched his hands tight. "Bring me to Mother, William."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 210 - ONE BIG FAMILY

    "YOUR MAJESTY, the stalker has gotten away," Geoffrey reported to him, then he bowed deeply. "I apologize for my shorings. I shouldn''t have left him under the care of the ck Hawk Knights stationed at the Royal Capital."

    "What happened?" Niki asked sternly while ring at Geoffrey. "You should have brought the stalker to the Royal Pce as soon as you caught him."

    Right now, he was in his office with Glenn and Geoffrey.

    Neoma just left his office with Juri Wisteria. Aside from Lewis Crevan, Dion and Jeanne were also guarding his daughter now even inside the Royal Pce.

    Warren and Wyatt were outside the Royal Capital at the moment. The Fletcher Twins were in charge of looking for the ck Witch outside the Royal Capital. Dion, the leader of the team in charge of recruiting members for Nero''s official Order, was already done with his task.

    Yes, Nero''s team was almostplete.

    [We just have to find the ck Witch.]

    "I made the wrong call, Your Majesty," the Pdin said. "My n was to escort Lady Juri Wisteria back to the Royal Pce first before I bring the stalker to the pce for interrogation. Thus, I left him to the ck Hawk Knights. I also asked them to bring the young man to the hospital since he was heavily injured. I didn''t expect that the stalker would turn out to be the son of a high noble. ording to the ck Hawk Knights that I talked to, they were pressured and threatened to let go of the young man."

    He raised a brow at that. "It seems like the young masters of the current generation are nothing but ruffians, huh?"

    "From what family?" Glenn asked curiously. "Everyone in the empire knows that the ck Hawk Knights belong to Duke Quinzel. Even though the duke isn''t here at the moment, no one would dare to challenge his authority."

    Ah, right.

    Rufus was currently in Gonora. Ever since Amber and Hanna Quinzel left the empire to stay in Gonora, his cousin would visit his wife and daughter everyst week of the month. Whenever Rufus was away, his Vice-Captain Jasxon would be in charge of their squad.

    "Unless they''re on the same level as Rufus," he said. "Who raised that stalker, Geoffrey?"

    "The young man is from House Dankworth, Your Majesty," Geoffrey said seriously. "ording to the pieces of information that I gathered, the young man is called Jeno Dankworth and he is Count Sean Dankworth''s younger half-brother."

    That was a surprise.

    He heard in the past that the previous Count Dankworth had an illegitimate child with the countess''s most favored maid. But he didn''t know that House Dankworth epted that child. After all, there was never a ''Young Master Dankworth'' in the social gatherings that he had attended for the past few years.

    Only Sean Dankworth was the known son of House Dankworth until he inherited his father''s title just a few years ago.

    "Why would a Dankworth stalk our Princess Neoma?" Glenn asked with furrowed brows. "Did he somehow figure out that ''Miss Ramsay'' and the Crown Prince are the same people?"

    "No, I don''t think that''s the case, Glenn," Geoffrey said while shaking his head. "There''s one more information that I managed to get a hold of regarding Jeno Dankworth. It seemed like justst year, his eight-year-old little sister died because of an ident."

    "By ''sister,'' do you mean his sister from the mother''s side?" Glenn asked. "I''ve heard that the previous count has an illegitimate child. But I haven''t heard that he has a daughter."

    "Yes, Jeno Dankworth''s little sister was the child of her mother with the man she married after getting kicked out from the Dankworth Mansion," Geoffrey said while nodding. "I have a feeling that the young Dankworth sees his little sister on Princess Neoma."

    "Oh," Glenn said in a sad tone. "I feel bad for Jeno Dankworth."

    "Why would you feel bad for that ruffian? Regardless of his reason, he still stalked my young daughter," he said, sternly scolding Glenn. Then, he turned to Geoffrey. "I don''t care if that ruffian is from House Dankworth. Since I cannot personally punish him to protect Neoma''s disguise, do something to make the boy stop stalking my daughter."

    Geoffrey fell silent for a while before he spoke. "Your Majesty, to be honest, there''s another reason why I decided to send Jeno Dankworth to the hospital instead of punishing him right away."

    "Your reason better be good, Geoffrey."

    "Your Majesty, I believe that Jeno Dankworth is suited in a certain position that Princess Neoma wants for her team," Geoffrey said seriously. "Jeno Dankworth is the best choice to be Her Royal Highness''s Marksman."

    Glenn, who knew him like the back of his hand, already closed his eyes and braced himself for his anger.

    Of course, he''d get angry at Geoffrey''s ridiculous suggestion!

    "Do you want to die, Geoffrey?" Niki snarled at the Pdin that, unlike Glenn, seemed to be confused by his reaction. "Why would you ce my daughter''s stalker next to her?!"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOU''RE GOING to fight Count Sean Dankworth, Princess Neoma?"

    "I''m not going to fight the count, Lady Juri," Neoma said while cracking her knuckles. "Count Dankworth is just going to test the durability of my Dome."

    Right now, she was in the drawing room of her pce with Juri.

    She went there with her "first daughter" to sign their contract. After her Papa Boss assured them that Author S was already free, Juri immediately signed the contract as her ''Tank'' aka member of her dream team.

    Then, she began to prepare for her another appointment that day.

    She just finished changing into her training clothes: a long-sleeved shirt under a vest, trousers, and a pair ofbat shoes. There was a sheath tight around her waist. But her sword was just for disy. Because even though she had been learning swordsmanship since she took Nero''s ce, she couldn''t see herself wielding a sword in a fight.

    After all, she personally likes throwing punches and kicks. And of course, bossing Tteokbokki around was always fun to her.

    "You look good as a prince but I still feel sad for you," Juri, seated on the sofa, said while giving her a look filled with pity. "Princess Neoma, it''s hard pretending to be a boy, right?"

    "Well, I''m used to it," she said cheerfully. "Moreover, I secretly study things like embroidery, flower arrangement, and even dressmaking when I have free time. I used to do it with my best friend but she''s currently abroad."

    "Your best friend?"

    "Hanna," she said proudly. "Hanna Quinzel is my bestie."

    "Oh," the youngdy said, surprised. "Isn''t Lady Hanna Quinzel¡­"

    Ah, yes.

    The whole empire believed that Hanna was still in aatose state and her legs were amputated.

    "Yes, Hanna is still in aatose state," she said, acting sad. Even though she knew that Juri was a trustworthy person, Hanna''s secret wasn''t hers to share with anyone. "But I still send her letters every chance I get. Duke Amber Quinzel never fails to give me an update on Hanna''s condition."

    That was true.

    Duchess Amber Quinzel went to Gonora to take care of Hanna.

    On the other hand, Duke Rufus Quinzel got her Papa Boss''s permission to have a week-long vacation every end of the month. Of course, the duke spent that vacation time traveling to Gonora to spend time with his wife and daughter.

    [I think Duke Quinzel is on his way home now.]

    "Princess Neoma, I can''t rece Lady Hanna Quinzel as your ''bestie,''" Juri said in a careful and gentle manner. "But please feel free to depend on me as your big sister." She thumped her chest cooly. "You may just call by my first name, Your Royal Highness."

    Neoma smiled genuinely at Juri. "I''ll take you up on that offer, Juri," she said, then she paused before she spoke again. "And oh, you''re my first daughter from now on."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "GREETINGS, Sir Lewis Crevan," Juri greeted the young knight cheerfully. Princess Neoma already introduced her and Lewis Crevan to each other a while ago. "Since we''re both working for His Royal Highness now, is it okay if we drop formalities? You may call me by my name."

    She purposely called Princess Neoma ''His Royal Highness'' because the two of them weren''t alone in there.

    Right now, they were in therge courtyard in His Majesty''s residence to witness the "fight" between Princess Neoma and Count Sean Dankworth. Since it was a rare chance where the "Crown Prince" would exhibit his ability, the other nobles didn''t miss that chance to watch.

    The audience included Marquis Lawford Gibson, Marquis Russell Spencer, Viscount Austin Morrisey, and Marquis Vincent Lennox.

    Out of all the higher nobles present, the presence of Marquis Vincent Lennox shocked her.

    [It''s rare for the head of the Royal Faction to show up. Moreover, it feel awkward for Marquis Lennox to be here. After all, he''s the grandfather of thete Empress Juliet.]

    "You may call me by my name," Lewis Crevan said, distracting her from her thoughts. "Lady Juri."

    "Thank you, Lewis," she said with a smile. "But you may call me by my name without addressing me by my title."

    The young knight didn''t say anything.

    [Ah, he doesn''t want to call me by my name.]

    "Aren''t you being a little too distant?" she asked, teasing the stiff young knight a little. "Aren''t we a family now?"

    He tilted his head at one side as if he was confused.

    "His Royal Highness said that I''m now his "first daughter,"" she said while trying to hold back herughter. "And he also said that you''re his son. Doesn''t it make us siblings now?"

    To be honest, she still didn''t understand what Princess Neoma meant by iming her as her "first daughter."

    But she thought it was just child''s y so she didn''t question it.

    [Moreover, Princess Neoma looks so cute when she said I''m her first daughter now.]

    "I am not anyone''s son," Lewis said in a tired voice while shaking his head. "I won''t ept the fact that that person sees me as a child."

    Oh.

    [Oh.]

    Juri couldn''t help but cover her mouth with her hands when she gasped softly. "Ohh."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "PLEASE listen to us, my lord!" Nichole begged Gavin Quinzel while clutching her bleeding stomach. "You can''t leave and show up in front of Princess Neoma yet!"

    She was in a difficult position right now.

    Gin, who first tried to stop Gavin Quinzel from leaving the room, was now unconscious and barely breathing.

    She couldn''t stop the formermander on her own.

    Despite borrowing the strength of the Devil, she was still no match against Gavin Quinzel. It had only been a year since he woke up and yet, he already managed to regain half of his original strength.

    "You''ve already stopped me from seeing my daughter for a year now," Gavin Quinzel said in a calm tone. Then, he turned to her with a nk look on his face. "You don''t have to worry about me meeting His Majesty. Stealing my daughter from under his nose would be easy."

    Tsk.

    The formermander was really adamant about taking Princess Neoma, huh?

    "How?" Nichole asked weakly. "How did Princess Neoma be your daughter. Lord Quinzel? Her Mana, her soul, her physical traits--- they all obviously came from Lady Mona Roseheart and His Majesty!"

    But Gavin Quinzel was also not the type of person to lie or act delusional.

    There must be some truth in his ridiculous im.

    "You wouldn''t understand even if I exin it to you," Gavin Quinzel said with a gentle yet sad smile on his face. "Princess Nichole, I don''t want Neoma to end up like you so please allow me to leave and save my daughter."

    <strong>*** </strong>

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 Chapter 211 - THE NEW SHIELD OF THE EMPIRE

    <strong></strong>"JEANNE, I heard you were hurt recently," Neoma said worriedly while looking up at Jeanne, the only woman in her Papa Boss''s group of Pdins. She addressed thedy Pdin casually because Jeanne insisted to be called by her name without any honorific, and so did the other Pdins except for Sir Glenn. After all, Sir Glenn was like an uncle to her now. "Is it already okay for you to work now?"

    "Yes, Your Royal Highness. Madam Hammock did a good job treating my injury," Jeanne said with a smile. "Thank you for worrying about me."

    She just smiled as a response.

    Right now, they were in the vast yet unused courtyard in her father''s residence. And they had an audience.

    Count Sean Dankworth, her sparring partner, had already arrived and was now sleeping while standing. The count was able to remain standing thanks to Marquis Lawford Gibson who had his arm wrapped around Count Sean Dankworth''s waist.

    On the other hand, Viscount Austin Morrisey, the shy nobleman, was standing next to the "couple."

    [Ah. I know this is bad but looking at Count Dankworth and Marquis Gibson is inspiring me to write a BL novel. Maybe Viscount Austin Morrisey could be a second male lead or something. Forgive me for my dirty mind, gentlemen.]

    Anyway, she was pissed when she saw Marquis Russell Spencer there.

    Plus, Marquis Vincent Lennox had also graced them with his presence.

    [Lord Lennox is kind of making me feel nervous. After all, he''s the one that I must impress the most. He hasn''t summoned me yet but for the past year, he''s been observing me closely.]

    "His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Niki has arrived!"

    Her thoughts were distracted when her Papa Boss finally arrived.

    [Oh. He''s apanied by Sir Glenn and Geoffrey.]

    "I didn''t expect that some of the most important figures of the empire would be here to watch the Crown Prince''s training," Emperor Niki said in his usual condescending voice after the exchange of formal greetings earlier. "Anyway, I''m busy so let''s get this done and over with."

    Her Papa Boss, as well as every single person in the courtyard, turned to Count Sean Dankworth.

    The count was still asleep and snoring a little loudly.

    She wasn''t offended though. Aside from the fact that she knew that Count Dankworth had some kind of disease that makes him sleepy all the time, she also finds his character interesting for some reason.

    "My deepest apology, Your Majesty," Marquis Lawford Gibson said, then he turned to Count Sean Dankworth (that was leaning against the marquis). After that, the marquis gently patted the sleeping count''s cheek. "Lord Dankworth, wake up. His Majesty is waiting."

    [Just kiss the sleeping beauty, Marquis Gibson,] Neoma''s dirty mind said. [Gosh, these two are turning me into a sinner.]

    "Sean, if you don''t wake up¡­" Marquis Gibson said, now speaking casually to Count Dankworth. "I will never make apple pies for you again."

    Much to Neoma''s surprise, Count Sean Dankworth immediately woke up and stood straight.

    But it seemed like she was the only one surprised by what happened. Well, Lewis obviously didn''t care so he remained poker-faced. But Juri looked like she was used to that scene.

    [Even Papa Boss looked unfazed.]

    "Is it normal?" she asked, then she turned to Jeanne and Dion. "Is it normal for Marquis Gibson and Count Dankworth to act that way?"

    Dion just nodded politely.

    Jeanne smiled and provided an exnation. "Marquis Gibson and Count Dankworth have been that way ever since they were kids, Your Royal Highness."

    "Oh, I see," she said, then she turned to the two nobles again. "Thanks for telling me."

    [How does childhood friends to lovers BL sound?]

    Count Sean Dankworth, who still looked very sleepy, bowed to the emperor. "Greetings¡­ to the¡­"

    "Forget the formalities," her Papa Boss said in an impatient voice. "Let''s begin."

    The count bowed, then he paused before he spoke again. "Your Majesty, am I going to get punished if I identally hurt His Royal Highness? I mean, I was summoned to test the durability of the Crown Prince''s barrier. But if it isn''t durable enough for my attacks¡­"

    Of course, her father already prepared something as a counter-measure.

    Dion and Jeanne were standing behind her so they could protect her if her Dome copsed. On the other hand, Lewis was away from her because he was the one assigned to physically strain Count Sean Dankworth to stop his attack if needed.

    She understood that as a Crown Prince, they had to protect her and it had nothing to do with their faith in their ability.

    Still¡­

    [My pride is hurt a little.]

    "I won''t punish you if you identally hurt the Crown Prince," her Papa Boss said to Count Dankworth bluntly. "I will directly kill you if that happens, Count Sean Dankworth."

    She almost choked on her saliva when she heard that. [Papa Boss!]

    Now everyone felt awkward!

    Count Sean Dankworth got scared and hid behind Marquis Lawford Gibson even though the count was taller than the marquis.

    "It''s okay, Lord Dankworth," she said cheerfully to clean up after her Papa Boss''s mess. "My father only said that because he knows that my Dome won''t copse even under your attack. His remark was a testament of how much faith he has in me and my ability." She turned to her father with an overly sweet smile on her face. "Isn''t that right, Papa?"

    Her Papa Boss just avoided her gaze, then he cleared his throat. "As I said earlier, I''m busy," he said sternly, then he turned to the count. "Count Sean Dankworth, get ready." After saying that, her father turned to her. "Make your Dome now."

    She was quite surprised.

    The fact that her father wasn''t calling the Crown Prince by "his" first name may sound distant to other people.

    But Neoma actually appreciated that.

    In fact, she was quite touched by her father''s effort to protect her feelings. It was so different from how he treated her in the past.

    [Papa Boss is trying hard not to call me by Nero''s name.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    [SAINT MACARONI, I will make you proud today.]

    Neoma knew that her mentor was watching her somewhere.

    Saint Zavaroni was still the saint that lived in the Holy Land. The fact that His Holiness had been going to the empire just to train her was a secret. After all, the saint wasn''t supposed to be "serving" the Royal Family. The only reason that Saint Zavaroni had a friendly rtionship with the de Moonasterios was because of their inherited blood from Yule.

    But that didn''t mean that His Holiness was the Royal Family''s servant.

    Thus, to avoidints from the devoted followers of Saint Zavaroni, her training under the saint was kept a secret.

    This was also her final test as a student of His Holiness.

    She remembered what Saint Zavaroni told her when her Papa Boss announced that he chose Count Sean Dankworth to test the durability of her Dome.

    ["Show us something interesting, Princess Neoma."]

    Since Dome was the strongest barrier of all, once it was able to withstand the attack from someone as strong as the count, then it meant that her Coat and Wall would be fine as well. Thus, they decided to use the Dome for this test.

    Summoning the Dome was easy for her.

    After all, her Mana was overflowing ording to the saint. All she had to do was to imagine herself and herpanions inside a huge dome¨C

    Her thoughts were interrupted when all of a sudden, the sky seemed to fall on them.

    Well, to be precise, the cotton candy-looking clouds above them suddenly turned into stone and began to fall from the sky. Fortunately, the manifestation of the Dome begins with an "umbre" shaped barrier above their head. That meant they weren''t hurt even though the rock-like clouds unexpectedly poured like hard snowballs.

    Count Sean Dankworth''s glowing dark brown eyes were proof that he was the one behind it.

    [Cloud Solidification, right? Papa Boss told me a while ago that Count Dankworth could manipte clouds. The count could also use clouds in many different ways.]

    What a badass ability.

    [Tteokbokki, I would trade you for the ability to manipte clouds,] she teased her Soul Beast.

    Her tsundere Soul Beats just gave her a loud "hmph!" sound as a response.

    Neoma just smirked at Tteokbokki''s response, but then, she suddenly locked gaze with Count Dankworth. "I was quite surprised by your determination, Lord Dankworth," she said with a polite smile. "Thank you for taking this seriously."

    "I''m sorry but I just want to get back to sleep as soon as possible, Your Royal Highness," Count Dankworth said in a blunt yet sleepy voice. "Moreover, the enemies won''t wait for you toplete your barrier before they attack you."

    That was true.

    Hence, she wasn''t mad when Count Dankworth attacked her even though her Dome wasn''tpleted yet. Even Papa Boss, Lewis, and the Pdins knew that so they didn''t say or do anything to the count.

    Neoma smiled and nodded, her Dome nowplete. "Count Dankworth, you know that the best defense is a good offense, don''t you?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "THE LITTLE rogue is up to no good again," Nikimented while watching Neoma''s face. There was a glint of "evilness" in her big, round eyes at the moment. "Those eyes are the eyes of a predator about to devour their prey."

    Seeing that spark in Neoma''s eyes put him at ease.

    Moreover, despite the hundreds of rocks falling from the sky and hitting the Dome, his daughter''s barrier remained unbreakable. Every single person who was watching the scene before him looked impressed.

    Even Marquis Vincent Lennox looked satisfied.

    It was a huge feat because he knew that the leader of the Royal Faction wasn''t fond of his child. After all, Marquis Vincent Lennox was Juliet''s grandfather.

    [Well, Neoma is really doing a good job right now.]

    The Dome wasn''t just durable.

    His daughter also managed to create a Dome that size in just a few seconds. Since Neoma''s Mana was overflowing, it was easy for her to create a barrier that big and that strong. No wonder Saint Zavaroni was delighted by Neoma''s progress.

    [I don''t want topare but Neoma is probably better than Nichole as a shield creator.]

    "Look at that little rogue," he said while watching his daughter do a strange hand gesture. "That child is doing something weird again."

    Glenn, standing beside him,ughed softly and nodded. "I agree with you, Your Majesty. I hope Lord Dankworth is prepared for what''s about toe his way."

    Standing on his other side, Geoffrey appeared to be oblivious despite knowing Neoma for a year now. "What''s going to happen, Your Majesty?"

    "Just watch," Niki said with a smirk. "That child will definitely show us something interesting."

    <strong>***</strong>

    [WATCH carefully, Saint Macaroni,] Neoma said while making an "apple" using her hands. All she had to do was make a ''C'' shape in each hand, then put them together. [This is a technique that I practiced secretly to surprise you.]

    "Are you saying that you''re going to attack, Your Royal Highness?" Count Dankworth asked. This time, he looked a little more awake than usual. "I''ve never heard of a shield creator who''s capable of attacking while inside their barrier before."

    "Well, now you have," she said cheerfully, then she "bit" the "apple" and turned it into a "heart." In Korea, the trend was called an "apple heart." She wanted a hand gesture for her original move so she chose that. Of course, she also came up with a name for her technique. "Let''s get it, Pudding!"

    Yes, she named her new technique ''Pudding'' and it would get activated as soon as she yelled that phrase.

    The shape of her Dome didn''t change, but its "material" did.

    A Dome was like an unbreakable ss. On the other hand, ''Pudding'' was jelly-like. Its purpose was to let whatever hit it bounce and return to the attacker like a boomerang.

    [Are you proud, Saint Zavaroni?]

    Thus, the rock-like clouds that hit her Pudding all bounced back and were sent flying in different directions.

    [Oops.]

    But she didn''t have to worry about it anyway.

    Her Papa Boss, Lewis, and the rest of the nobles around them were more than capable of protecting themselves.

    "Ah, I''m tired," Count Sean Dankworth dered, then he fell on his knees while catching his breath. As soon as he hit the ground, the rock-like clouds around them evaporated into thin air. It vanished just like that. "Your control over your barrier is good, Your Royal Highness," he said in a tired voice, then he raised his head to smilezily at her. "Good night."

    And then, the count fell asleep.

    Marquis Lawford Gibson immediately ran to Count Sean Dankworth''s side.

    Neoma covered her nose with her hand in fear of getting a nosebleed while watching the marquis take care of the sleeping count. [I am so going to hell for this.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    "VERY GOOD, Princess Neoma," Dominic Zavaroni said to himself while watching the royal princess use a technique that he had never seen before. "The new shield of the empire has been born."

    Since he wasn''t allowed to be seen by other people, he had no choice but to watch Princess Neoma from afar. He hid in one of the guest rooms of His Majesty''s pce. Then, using his own shield, he hid his presence so not even the higher nobles could sense him.

    He knew he wasn''t supposed to be there in the first ce but he wouldn''t miss that moment for the world.

    [I''m so proud of you, Princess Neoma.]

    In just one year, the royal princess managed to master all of his techniques. She even came up with her own twist. As a mentor, he was very happy and satisfied with his prot¨¦g¨¦e''s result.

    "Ah, I misspoke earlier. You shouldn''t be the new shield of the empire, Princess Neoma," Dominic Zavaroni whispered to himself, suddenly remembering the moment that Princess Nichole created the barrier around the Royal Pce in the past. The previous Princess Royal was so happy to be "useful" to the empire. But in the end, the empire that she loved with her whole heart didn''t do anything to protect her. "Princess Neoma, please use that shield to protect yourself and only yourself."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "JURI, my dear daughter, please eat your lunchfortably," Princess Neoma told her in a hurry. The royal princess had changed her clothes and was now back as the ''Rara'' that she met before. "Lewis, be a good boy and apany your sister while I''m away. Bye!"

    Juri blinked in surprise when Princess Neoma left the dining hall so fast that Sir Glenn had to run after the royal princess.

    Now, she was left alone at the dining table with Lewis Crevan standing behind her.

    [I don''t see the other Pdins that are supposed to guard Princess Neoma as well. And why does His Majesty''s personal knight have to personally go with Her Royal Highness?]

    "What''s going on, Lewis?" Juri asked, confused. Then, she turned to Lewis Crevan behind her. "Where is "Rara" going to hurriedly?"

    ""Rara" is going to have lunch with him today," Lewis said in a bitter voice. But his frown turned to some sort of a smirk right away. "Well, she''s going to say goodbye to the young chef this time."

    <strong>*** </strong>

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 Chapter 212 - GOD OF COOKING

    <strong></strong>"RUTO, now I want to believe that you''re the god of cooking," Neoma said while looking at the beautiful spread of "Korean" barbecue dishes on the table. "They look delicious."

    It wasn''t just the food that impressed her.

    Right now, she felt like she was in a Korean barbecue restaurant instead of Ruto''s private garden. The garden was located within her Papa Boss''s residence. It had walls around so their privacy was guaranteed.

    Anyway, the customized table that Ruto prepared for today impressed her. There was a grill on the table with charcoal briquettes below. Moreover, there was also a cooking tool that looked like a portable stove. But of course, the fire wasing from a Spirit Stone that produced fire and not butane.

    It was for the hot pot.

    Yes, Ruto was so extra for preparing Korean barbecue and hot pot for today''s lunch.

    He prepared thin slices of pork belly, Angus beef, and even chicken breasts. For the side dishes, he prepared cabbages for the wrap, braised baby potatoes, seasoned soybean sprouts, seasoned spinach, spicy cucumber sd, steamed eggnts, spicy radish sd, and of course, vegetable PICKLES.

    "Tsk," she said while "discreetly" pushing the small te of pickles away from her side.

    "What are you doing?" Ruto scolded her right away. "I purposely put the pickles near your side, Miss Ramsay."

    She just pouted while putting the small te back in its ce. "Fine. I''ll eat today since you made fish cake, kimchi, and ssamjang from scratch. It was hard, wasn''t it?"

    Those three dishes were the hardest to make ording to Ruto.

    She gave him the list of ingredients to make a fish cake, ssamjang, and kimchi. Ruto had to travel to the East Continentst month just to personally buy the ingredients. And now, he sessfully made some of her favorite Korean dishes.

    "Yes, but it was fun," he said gently. "But I''m not that confident in the "ssamjang" and "kimchi" that I made because I didn''t find all the ingredients that you listed for me. I made some alternatives so it might not taste the same for you."

    "I trust you, Ruto," she said, then she grabbed the tongs and began to put some slices of pork belly and beef on the grill. "Even if they don''t taste the same as the ones I have already tried, I''m sure that your own version of ssamjang and kimchi would still taste good. Or maybe even better."

    He raised a brow at her. "You''re still eating your picklester, Miss."

    "I know," she said, then she clicked her tongue while busy grilling. She had to hurry because the meat slices were thin, and the fire produced by the charcoal briquettes was quite strong. "I''m not praising you just because I don''t want to eat pickles. I''m just good at praising people."

    He didn''tment on that. Then, he began adding the thin slices of beef in the hot pot. The pot had broth in it already, as well as the other ingredients like mushroom, a variety of vegetables, and tofu. It smelled really good.

    "The meat is already ready," she announced excitedly, then she picked up one slice of beef using the tongs and blew on it. After that, she put it near Ruto''s mouth. "Since you prepared all of this for me, I''ll give you the honor of having the first bite."

    Yes, straight from the grill.

    It was how she would eat Korean barbecue with her eomma/mommy and appa/daddy in her second life.

    Thankfully, the young chef didn''t look offended.

    Ruto opened his mouth and took the beef from the tongs. She was reminded that he was a noble by the elegant way he chewed his food. Like Juri said before, nobles had a distinct elegance in them that they wouldn''t be able to hide. "I think it''s good," he said after swallowing the meat. "But I can make a better marinate next time."

    Ah, he wasn''t satisfied.

    She took a piece of beef from the grill and ate it straight from the tongs. Yes, she didn''t change tongs but she wasn''t a child who''d get flustered over an "indirect kiss."

    [Adults don''t make a big deal out of trivial things like that, heh.]

    Ruto, just like her, seemed like he didn''t care about what happened. He just quietly grabbed a bowl and began to pour some broth into it.

    "The beef tastes good, Ruto," shemented, making Ruto''s face light up even though he didn''t say anything. "And the broth also smells good."

    "Try it first," he said, then he gently scooped a spoonful of broth. He blew on it first before he brought the spoon near her mouth. "Here."

    She naturally opened her mouth and literally sipped the broth from the spoon. It was hot, but since the weather was cold, she didn''t feel burned. Instead, she felt warmth all over her body. "Ohh," she said, impressed. "It really tastes good, Ruto."

    He just smiled at her.

    [Wait, why does this feel so natural? I mean, this isn''t the first time that Ruto and I shared a meal. But why does this feel like a d¨¦j¨¤ vu?]

    "By the way, the pce is noisy today," Ruto said after tasting the broth. He seemed satisfied this time. "Did something happen?"

    She smirked arrogantly. "Haven''t you heard yet, Ruto? Our handsome, strong, charismatic, and smart Crown Prince has sessfully mastered the Art of Defense. He''s now called the "new shield of the empire." Impressive, isn''t it?"

    "Not really," he said bluntly. "Is our empire so weak that we need to be protected by a child?"

    Of course, Ruto wasn''t impressed.

    She was so upset by his disinterested reaction to the "Crown Prince''s" achievement that she consoled her heart by stuffing her face with meat.

    [Ruto never fails to crush my ego with just a few words!]

    "Eat slowly," he scolded her again. "And don''t just eat meat. I prepared all those vegetables for you."

    She just red at him.

    He remained unbothered. Instead, he offered her a ss of orange juice. "re at me all you want. You''re not leaving this table without eating vegetables."

    She just scowled, then she grabbed the ss from him and took a sip.

    [I''m an adult inside but whenever I''m with Ruto, I somehow regress to being a child. But I wonder why I don''t mind. Even though I get pissed at him most of the time, I still somehow enjoy being scolded by him¡­] Her thoughts trailed off, then she gasped internally. [Oh, no. Am I secretly a masochist?!]

    "I can''t see your face clearly but your silence tells me you''re upset," Ruto said carefully. "Did I say something wrong¡­ again?"

    "No, I''m just being childish because I''m upset that you don''t praise me."

    "You''re not being "childish" because you''re a child and it''s normal for your age to act that way," he said casually. "But what do you mean by I don''t praise you? I did many times."

    Her eyes widened in shock. And if she''d be honest, she''d say she was quite thrilled to know that. "Really? When? Where? And what did you tell me?"

    "I told you many times that you eat well," he said. "That''s apliment."

    She should have expected that from Ruto but why did she still feel disappointed.

    [Why was I even disappointed in the first ce?!]

    "Ruto, sometimes I want to strangle you," she said while shaking her head. Then, she grabbed a cabbage to begin creating a wrap. "You don''t say the things that I want to hear."

    "I don''t know what things you''re expecting to hear from me."

    "Never mind," she said while putting beef, pork belly, a small portion of chicken, fish cake, pickles, spinach, radish, ssamjang, and kimchi in her wrap.

    [Woah, what a big, pretty wrap this is.]

    "You''re probably being doted on by your "Lulu" a lot," Ruto said suddenly, calling Lewis by the pet name that she randomly gave her son a year ago. "Is that why you like him?"

    "Yes," she said without missing a beat. "I like Lulu a lot."

    After all, Lewis was her son and she was a loving mother.

    "Well, if it''s him, then I guess he can take care of you," the young chef after finishing his first bowl of hot pot.

    "Yeah, but I can take care of myself better," she said bluntly. "I don''t need anyone to do that for me, even if it''s Lulu."

    "Don''t be arrogant, Miss Ramsay," he said, suddenly scolding her again. "People aren''t looking down on you when they say they want to protect or take care of you. They do that because they care about your well-being. Don''t shun those type of people even though you''re capable of taking care of yourself."

    She clicked her tongue in annoyance for being called out. "You sure talk a lot when you scold me, Ruto."

    "It''s for your own good."

    She just rolled her eyes at him, then she put the whole wrap in her mouth.

    [Ohh¡­ yummy!]

    Ruto smiled gently while watching her eat. "You really eat well, Miss Ramsay."

    "Because the food you make is delicious," she said cheerfully. "Ruto, the ssamjang and the kimchi taste really good. You''re really the god of cooking!"

    "Thank you."

    "I didn''t expect that I''d be able to taste my favorite dishes again," she said with a dreamy sigh. "I can die happily now."

    "Don''t."

    She flinched when she heard Ruto''s cold and somewhat terrified voice. When she looked at his face, she was confused when she saw the fear and sadness on his face. To be honest, she felt like she was looking at someone whose trauma was suddenly triggered.

    [How can a child like him make a heartbreaking face like that?]

    "Miss Ramsay, don''t talk about dying so lightly," Ruto begged her in an anguished voice. "Please."

    She was curious and she wanted to ask why Ruto suddenly acted like that.

    But the mncholy look on his face stopped her. She felt like she, of all people, must not intrude. And so, she didn''t ask anymore.

    "Okay, I understand," Neoma said softly. "I''m sorry for saying something insensitive, Ruto."

    <strong>***</strong>

    <strong></strong>"YOUR MAJESTY, why do you look happy even though Princess Neoma is spending time with Ruto right now?" Glenn, who just handed him a document that he needed to sign, asked curiously. "I thought you don''t want either Ruto or Lewis Crevan to spend private time with our little princess."

    "Ruston Stroganoff is going to leave the empire soon," Niki said in a slightly livelier tone than usual. "Although I want him to be the next Commander of the White Lion Knights, I don''t want him near my young daughter for now," he exined firmly. "So I''m d that he chose to finally pursue his studies abroad."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "HAVE YOU calmed down, Ruto?" Neoma asked while she and Ruto were now having tiramisu cake for dessert. "Are you not upset with me anymore?"

    Ruto''s mood changed a while ago after she misspoke.

    As a result, they finished their lunch in silence. Since she was upset after being ignored, she was able to finish more than half of the meat and the hot pot on her own. Even the vegetables and the pickles that she hated so much.

    After that, she thought Ruto was going to kick her out of his kitchen when he stood up. Thankfully, he only left the table to bring out the dessert.

    [Of course, I requested the tiramisu cake as usual.]

    "I wasn''t upset with you," Ruto denied while putting another (big) slice of tiramisu on her te. "I''m sorry for ignoring you earlier. I was just thinking."

    He didn''t offer a detailed exnation, and she didn''t ask about it.

    "Okay, I forgive you," she said, then she took a bite of the cake before she spoke again. "I don''t us to fight before I leave the pce."

    He looked surprised by what she said. "You''re leaving the pce?"

    "Just for a few weeks," she said. "I asked you to have lunch with me today because this might be thest one for the meantime."

    She would be busy in theing days.

    Lewis would be kidnapped.

    Her Papa Boss would send her to the Hisa Tree with Juri soon.

    But most of all, she decided to stop going out as "Miss Ramsay" for the meantime. There was the issue about her stalker. Plus, she got a little scared when she realized that people like Juri existed¨C people that could literally tell her real identity despite her disguise.

    [I must be extra careful.]

    "Miss Ramsay, I actually prepared all of this today as a farewell gift to you."

    It was her turn to be surprised. "Farewell gift?"

    "I''m leaving the empire soon," he said in a somewhat sad voice. "Miss Ramsay, I''m going to study at Winslow Institute of Culinary Education starting this year."

    She didn''t know why but her heart suddenly sunk upon hearing the sad news. "Oh."

    Ruto''s eyes suddenly widened in shock while looking at her face. "Miss Ramsay, I''m not sure because I can''t clearly see your face but¡­ are you crying?"

    Huh?

    Neoma automatically touched her cheeks to confirm and yes, tears really rolled down her face. "Weird," she said. "Why am I crying?"

    <strong>*** </strong>

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 Chapter 213 - CATCH THE STALKER

    "MISS WHITE Radish, are you alright?"

    "I''m not crying, Mr. ck Soybean," Neoma said while wiping the tears off of her face using her hands. "My eyes are just sweating."

    Ruto gave her a nk look, then heughed softly. "Okay. Tell me the date of your departure. I will pack lunch for you before you leave."

    [He''s consoling me with food, huh?]

    Well, it worked.

    "Okay," she said. "I want triple burger patty, tonkatsu burger, and strawberry sandwich. I will be traveling with my friends so if you don''t mind, can you make some for them as well?"

    "Sure," he said. "But what is tonkatsu burger? I also haven''t heard of strawberry sandwich yet."

    Those were some of the snacks that she enjoyed when she went to Japan for vacation. Of course, it happened during her second life and she went on that country with her eomma/mommy and appa/daddy.

    [Good days.]

    "I''ll make the recipeter and send it to you," she said.

    "Okay."

    This had be normal between them.

    Every time she would crave for a dish that wasn''t popr in the empire, she would make the recipe and send it to Ruto. Sometimes she''d do it as ''Miss Ramsay,'' and sometimes as the Crown Prince. Whoever sent the request, the young chef would always deliver splendid results.

    "I like that about you, Miss Ramsay."

    "Huh?"

    Ruto smiled warmly at her. "I like that you always know what you want to eat," he said. "Whenever I ask you what you want to eat, you either give me the exact dish or tell me what kind of food you''re in the mood to have."

    That wasn''t the kind ofpliment that she was used to receiving.

    Nevertheless, it made her happy."

    "Ruto."

    "Hmm?"

    "You suck at giving praises," sheined jokingly. "You never really say the things that I want to hear. Plus, you always crush my ego."

    "I do?" he asked worriedly. "I didn''t mean to do that¡­"

    "I know," she assured him, then sheughed softly. "But I guess that''s why being with you is easy."

    "What do you mean by that?"

    "It''s so easy to feel human when I''m with you," Neoma exined with a smile. "You don''t shower me with praises, you don''t dote on me, and you treat me normally. That''s probably the reason why I keeping back to you even though you piss me off most of the time." She crossed her arms over her chest. "Just so you know, I''m treated like a queen elsewhere."

    "You''re not a queen," Ruto said bluntly, hurting her ego effortlessly once again. But it wasn''t like he said anything wrong. Plus, she didn''t want to be a queen or an empress anyway. "I think an ordinary life suits you more, Miss Ramsay."

    [Well, I would live a quiet life if I could, Ruto.]

    ***

    "THE STALKER is the hidden half-brother of Count Sean Dankworth?" Neoma asked Geoffrey while munching on some cookies that Stephanie brought in her office a while ago. "And you think that he fits the Marksman position that I want for my dream team?"

    "Yes, Your Royal Highness," Geoffrey Kinsley, seated on the sofa across from her while having tea, said. "I said the same thing to His Majesty. But unfortunately, His Majesty rejected my suggestion."

    "Why?"

    "ording to His Majesty, he won''t put your stalker next to you."

    "Well, Papa Boss has a point," she said while nodding her head. "Regardless of his background or his intention for following a child around, a stalker is still a stalker. If he turns out to be a p*dophile, I''ll cut his penis off, crush his balls, and feed them to wild dogs."

    The Pdin almost choked on his tea because of the vulgar thing that she said.

    "You also owe me an exnation, Geoffrey," she said sternly, then she put down her cookie on the te to pick up her teacup. She sipped her tea first before she spoke again. "Despite knowing that the young Dankworth is my stalker, you still insisted to put that kind of person next to me. What are you thinking?"

    "Your Royal Highness, I don''t believe that Jeno Dankworth is following you for a perverted reason," Geoffrey said seriously. "Jeno Dankworth lost his younger sister who''s the same as you. He probably sees her in your, Princess Neoma. I''d like to ask for permission to capture him and bring him to you. After you confront the young lord for stalking you, I''d like you to decide whether you want him in your team or not." He bowed his head to her politely. "Please reconsider your decision, Princess Neoma."

    She raised a brow at that.

    [Geoffrey ignored Papa Boss''s decision and directly reported to me. It''s either he has a death wish or he simply believes that Jeno Dankworth is the perfect Marksman for my dream team. Come to think of it, if that child is a Dankworth, then he must also have the ability to manipte cloud like Count Sean Dankworth.]

    Ah, right.

    She suddenly remembered Jeno Dankworth''s fight with Juri a while ago.

    The "stalker" had the ability to jump in the air because of the jelly-like cubes that he used. Those cubes must be cloud that he solidified to create a "staircase" in the air. Plus, she also remembered that Jeno Dankworth was able to conceal his presence then. If it weren''t for Juri''s special eyes, they wouldn''t have noticed him.

    [Jeno Dankworth also probably used one of the properties of clouds to hide himself.]

    Well, if that was true, then the stalker might really be useful to her.

    [Plus, if I were to believe Geoffrey, then it''s probably safe to assume that Jeno Dankworth isn''t a pervert. Moreover, House Dankworth is a part of the Royal Faction anyway. Even if he finds out my royal secret, it wouldn''t be hard to convince him to be my ally.]

    "Raise your head, Geoffrey," she said to the Pdin, then she quietly put the teacup down on the table.

    And the Pdin did.

    "Can I trust your judgment?"

    "Yes, Princess Neoma," Geoffrey said seriously. "If I made the wrong judgment, I''m willing to pay with my life for my mistake."

    "You don''t have to go that far, Geoffrey," Neoma said with a smile on her face. "But I need you toe up with a n to catch the stalker."

    ***

    "LEWIS, I don''t need you to apany me," Neoma told Lewis after she changed back to her disguise as ''Miss Ramsay.'' Right now, she was in her room with her son. Since her "excursion" today was a secret from her strict Papa Boss, she sent Geoffrey first to make a "safe path" for her. "Geoffrey and Juri will watch me from afar. We need to catch the stalker so I have to act like I went to the Royal Capital alone."

    Geoffrey came up with an impressive n: to organize a sudden "autograph signing" for Author S who just got released from the temple.

    ording to the Pdin, Jeno Dankworth might already be aware that ''Miss Ramsay'' was a fan of Author S after stalker her for months. Thus, Geoffrey believed that Jeno woulde out to check if she would attend the event.

    The autograph signing event would take ce in Life''s Books¨C her favorite bookstore.

    Juri would also attend it in a disguise so Jeno Dankworth wouldn''t recognize her.

    Aside from that, they also created a "drama" where the "stalker" would be forced to appear in front of her: Geoffrey hired some thugs to "harass" her after she went out of the bookstore. And since she was alone, they were hoping that Jeno Dankworth would appear to "save" her.

    That was when Geoffrey and Juri would seize the stalker.

    Of course, she had to y the role of the damsel-in-distress to conceal her real identity.

    [Geoffrey is good at things like this, huh? What a dangerous man. I''m d that he''s not an enemy or else, we''re doomed.]

    "Okay," Lewis said, cutting off her thoughts. "I will wait for you, Princess Neoma. Pleasee back safely."

    To say that she was shocked to hear that from her son would be an understatement.

    After all, she expected him to make a fuss over it. All this time, Lewis would always "rebel" every time she would ask him to not guard her. And so, she expected him toin instead of easily agreeing to her n.

    "Lewis, it''s really okay?"

    He nodded, his face as nk as usual. "Sir Kinsley and Lady Juri are both strong. I can entrust you to them."

    She raised a brow at him. "You¡­ you''re going to your secret training with Sir Glenn again, aren''t you?"

    He just avoided her gaze guiltily.

    She clicked her tongue in annoyance.

    Ever sincest year, Lewis would disappear for a few days with Sir Glenn. Whenever he would return, her son would always be half-dead. Well, she might be exaggerating but she didn''t like it whenever he was heavily injured because of that "training."

    "What kind of training is that anyway?" Neomained, worried about her precious son. "Do you really have to go through that kind of torture, Lewis?"

    Lewis met her gaze. "I have to, Princess Neoma," he said softly. "I have to be strong enough to stay beside you so you wouldn''t need anyone else to protect you."

    Huh?

    [Why does Lewis sound like a yandere?]

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 Chapter 214 - APPA...?

    "LEWIS, can I touch your face?" Neoma asked her son seriously. "Just for a few minutes."

    Lewis looked surprised by her sudden request. Then, his face turned red as he nodded slowly. "Okay, Princess Neoma."

    "Thanks," she said, then she cupped his face between her hands. It was kind of annoying that she had to stand on her toes because of her son''s sudden growth spurt. Lewis was only twelve years old but he could already pass as a teenager. "Lewis, you''re not just my favorite person in this world¨C you''re also the most precious to me. You''re my son, my best friend, and my confidant. Obviously, I need and I want you beside me."

    His face instantly lit up. He didn''t need to talk for her to know that her words made him happy.

    But she wasn''t finished yet.

    "Having said that, I don''t want a world where only you and I exist," she said firmly. "I need other people, Lewis. Sure, we can face this world head-on with just the two of us. But I don''t want us to be lonely. Especially you." She gently rubbed his cheeks with her thumbs. "Lewis, I don''t want you to be alone again."

    "I only need you, Princess Neoma."

    "But I can''t always be with you," she said truthfully. "That''s why I want you to learn to have a life of your own. You already befriended Hanna. That''s a good start, Lewis. The more people we meet, the more friends you can make. Wouldn''t that be better than to have a world where it''s just the two of us?"

    He remained pokerfaced.

    But she knew her son well to know that it was his "pouty" face.

    "Lewis, I want you to have healthy rtionships not just with me but with other people as well," she said gently. "I know that I''m special to you because I was the first person to offer you kindness. But the world is big. I''m sure that you''ll meet more good people in the future. And once you do, I hope you treasure them as much as you treasure me." She gently squeezed Lewis''s cheeks before she let go. "Do you understand, Lulu?"

    Lewis''s face returned to its natural nkness, then he nodded slowly. "I understand, Princess Neoma."

    Neoma smiled at Lewis. "Good boy."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "GLENN, the Hazelden Kingdom just granted your request to visit their domain," Kyle said to him as the count handed the documents to him. "As you requested, you''re going to visit Hazelden Kingdom as a private citizen and not as an envoy for His Majesty. Is that correct?"

    "Yes, that''s correct. Thank you, Kyle," Glenn said as he received the documents from the count. "Now I can finally see Princess Bridgette."

    Right now, he was in the administrative building to get the necessary travel documents that he needed. Even though he wanted to go to Hazelden Kingdom as soon as possible, he couldn''t do that without permission from the Royal Family of the said kingdom. After all, he was going to visit as a guest of Princess Bridgette and not as a knight of His Majesty.

    He had to follow the rules but of course, as the emperor''s most trusted knight, he got to enjoy the privilege of getting his documents processed fast. Others had to wait for at least a month just to send a visitation request to the neighboring kingdoms or countries.

    "I thought you were going to stay as a bachelor for the rest of your life, Glenn," Kyle, seated behind his desk, said with a faint smile on his face. "After all, everyone knows how loyal you are to His Majesty."

    It wasmon for the emperor''s right-hand man or personal knight to stay a bachelor for the rest of their lives. Even he thought that he would have the same fate as his predecessors in that line of job.

    "I thought I was ready to stay single forever because I couldn''t imagine leaving His Majesty''s side before just to get married and have my own family," he confessed with a shy smile on his face. "But I realized that I can still be His Majesty''s right-hand man even when I''m already married. His Majesty also gave me his blessing so I made this choice."

    "I''m happy for you, Glenn," the count said. "I mean it."

    He was touched but since he would often bicker with Kyle, he refused to act sentimental in front of him. Thus, he teased the count instead. "We''re the same age, Kyle," he said. "What''s stopping you from trying to find a spouse?"

    "If I have the time to go on a date, I''d rather sleep," Kyle said, then he stretched his arms. "I''ll probably think about marriage once I quit as His Majesty''s secretary."

    [If His Majesty would let you quit your job, Kyle.]

    But he didn''t want to burst the count''s bubble so instead of voicing out his thoughts, he just said his goodbye to Kyle.

    He was on his way out of the building when he crossed paths with Ruto.

    [Ah, right. He''s probably here to get some documents regarding his enrollment to a foreign school.]

    "Good day, Ruto," he said to the young chef. "It''s me, Glenn."

    "Good day, Sir Glenn," Ruto said, then he sighed loudly.

    That surprised him.

    After all, the young chef rarely expressed his emotions.

    "What''s wrong, Ruto?" he asked carefully. "If you''refortable sharing your worries with me, then I''ll dly lend you an ear."

    "She doesn''t understand," the young chef said while looking at the floor. "It''s not that I don''t want to express how I feel whenever we''re together." He paused before he spoke again and this time, he sounded bitter. "It''s just that¡­ I can''t and I shouldn''t."

    He scratched his cheek. "May I know who you are talking about, Ruto?"

    "Never mind," Ruto said when he raised his head. "You wouldn''t understand even if I tell you, Sir Glenn."

    After saying that, the young chef bowed and excused himself.

    [Was Ruto talking about Princess Neoma? As far as I know, Princess Neoma is the only girl that Ruto likes spending time with. What does he mean by he can''t and shouldn''t express his feelings?]

    He stopped walking when he realized something.

    "Ah, is it because of their age gap?" he whispered to himself. "After all, Ruto is already thirteen years old."

    And their Princess Neoma was only nine.

    [Instead of their age gap, Ruto should be more worried about "Miss Ramsay''s" father. I don''t know what happened to His Majesty but he''s acting overprotective of Princess Neoma these days.]

    He chuckled at that thought. "Well, it''s a good thing."

    "Why are you talking to yourself, Sir Glenn?"

    He turned around in surprise, then he smiled when he realized who greeted him. "Lewis, I didn''t feel your presence," he said cheerfully. "You''ve improved."

    He had an appointment with Lewis Crevan for theirst lesson. Come to think of it, he was runningte. The fox boy probably looked for him.

    "Am I runningte?" he asked Lewis. "Sorry about that. I just retrieved some documents that I needed in the administrative building."

    Lewis Crevan just gave him a nk stare, then he sighed.

    "What''s wrong, Lewis?"

    "She doesn''t understand."

    "Huh?" he asked, confused. [Wait, I just heard that line a while ago¡­]

    "She doesn''t understand that sometimes, someone only needs one person toplete their world."

    He cocked his head at one side. "Lewis, are you talking about "Rara?""

    The fox boy just gave him a look that said he didn''t want to answer his question. "You wouldn''t understand because you''re in a happy rtionship, Sir Glenn."

    [I don''t understand kids these days¡­]

    Glenn froze when he realized something. "Lewis, why are you alone?" he asked nervously. As far as he knew, Dion and Jeanne were dispatched by His Majesty to assist the Fletcher Twins in thetter''s mission. Lewis was Princess Neoma''s only guard for today but the fox boy was alone. "Where is the "Crown Prince?""

    Lewis quickly averted his gaze. "Uh¡­"

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA was fangirling.

    She knew that this Author S''s signing event was only organized by Geoffrey for the sake of luring out Jeno Dankworth.

    But it was still a real signing event!

    Right now, she was thest person in the long line of people who wanted a sign from Author S. Even though it was short notice, around fiftydies still showed up. Most of them were nobles dressing up asmoners.

    [Like me.]

    Geoffrey (disguised as the manager of Author S), closed the bookstore after she arrived.

    [I''m so d that I managed to protect the three volumes of Mommy Viiness from Papa Boss''s "purging."]

    Her father, for some reason, became overprotective of her recently.

    One of the orders of the emperor was to make sure that there was no "indecent" book in her library. Because of that order, her servants would always check her library and bedroom for her hidden treasure. She managed to save Author S''s book by wrapping them in a cover that said ''My Diary.''

    Thus, the servants didn''t dare to touch her "diaries."

    [Oh, my turn is near!]

    She got excited when she finally got to see Author S closer.

    [Ohh¡­ she looks mysterious!]

    Author S had a fancy floral face mask that matched her simple yet elegant-looking peach dress. The author''s face mask reminded her of the fancy face masks back in the modern world. Well, back in Korea, it was pretty normal for them to wear face masks.

    [Is face mask a thing in some other parts of the empire?]

    Well, that was none of her business.

    Anyway, Author S had hair as dark as the night. Her eyes were a deep color of caramel that reminded her of C*ke.

    [I miss drinking soft drinks.]

    "Ah, I believe you''re my youngest reader yet."

    Neoma smiled widely when Author S said that as soon as it was her turn to get her autograph. Gosh, she was so close to her idol. There was only a table between them after all. "Greetings, Author S," she said shyly. "I skipped the sexy parts of your novels," she lied, her fingers crossed behind her back. "Please don''t think that you''re a bad influence on young people. It''s not like you have the power to check the age of people buying your books."

    Author Sughed softly, then she leaned forward to whisper. "It''s okay. I can tell that your soul doesn''t belong to a child."

    Her eyes widened in shock.

    "Don''t worry, I don''t know anything else other than this isn''t your first life," the author assured her. "Why do you think I write stories with a female lead having multiple past lives?"

    She gasped softly. "This isn''t your first life as well?"

    Author S smiled and gently. "However, I''m not that special. The only unique ability I have is the ability to see if a soul is "old" or "new." I don''t have the power to see their past lives. I have a creative mind though. I often wonder what kind of past life a stranger had. Thus, I ended up writing stories." She scratched her cheek as if she was suddenly shy. "My imagination runs wild though so I also ended up writing sexy scenes."

    She gave her a thumbs up. "And you''re so good at it. Keep that up, Author S."

    "Thank you," the author said. "I''m thinking about writing wholesome books for now though."

    She clenched her tiny fists. [Papa Boss, you''ll pay for this.]

    "I don''t know if you''ve heard it but I was actually arrested and was locked up in a temple for writing "indecent" books," Author S said. "I heard a nobleman in power asked for my arrest because his young daughter reads my novels."

    Ah, it seemed like it was a made-up story to cover the fact the emperor himself requested for the author''s arrest.

    "They gave me a chance to escape but I decided to cooperate peacefully because I know that I did nothing wrong. I don''t regret my decision," the author continued. "The guards and the priestess in the temple treated me well. I promised them that I will write a wholesome book for them to read. Thus, in the meantime, I will only write inspirational books to pay them back for taking care of me. Youngdy, would you still read my novels even if I change genre?"

    [Ohh¡­ that means her "wholesome mode" is only temporary.]

    She gave her favorite writer a double thumbs up. "I will support you forever, Author S."

    "Thank you," the author said, then she picked up her pen and opened the first volume of Mommy Viiness. "What''s your name, child?"

    "It''s ''Rara,''" she said hesitantly.

    To be honest, she wanted to say ''Neoma.''

    But she promised herself before that she wouldn''t carelessly mention her name outside the pce. Especially not now that she had a stalker to deal with.

    "You have a nice name," her favorite writer said. "But I hope someday, I get to hear your real name, "Rara.""

    Ah, Author S noticed that she didn''t give her real name. But thankfully, she didn''t ask why. "Thank you."

    "I have a favor to ask, Rara."

    "I''ll help if I could."

    "It''s just a small favor. Since I decided to write for a different genre, I''m thinking of changing my name," Author S said. "Would you like to help me think of a new pen name for my new book?"

    Neoma fell silent for a while, drowned in Author S''s deep caramel eyes that made her crave for soft drinks earlier. "Ah. I just thought of something good, Author S," she said. "How about ''C'' for your new pen name?"

    And that was how Author ''s_c'' was born.

    <strong>***</strong>

    [FINALLY!]

    After stepping out of the bookstore, Neoma raised her signed copies of Mommy Viiness as if she was Rafiki raising Baby Simba on a cliff.

    [Ah, my precious babies. I will protect you from Papa Boss.]

    And right after saying that, a running teenage boy suddenly snatched her beloved signed books. Then, the thief took a turn in a shady dark alley.

    [Oh, right. This is scripted. I''m supposed to follow the "thief" to lure out the stalker.]

    Thus, she ran like crazy. Hah, she was a former child actress in her second life. She missed acting so she took it seriously.

    When she arrived at the dark alley, she saw about eight young men that looked like they were up to no good. One of them had her signed books. She was supposed to be a damsel-in-distress so she acted like she was afraid.

    First, she took a step backward and pretended like her body was trembling by discreetly shaking her hands.

    "P-Please r-return my b-books to me," she said in a cracked voice. Heh, this was easy for her. Most of her roles back when she was a child actress were roles of a kidnapped victim. "A-And p-please d-don''t hurt me¡­"

    For more desired effect, she even began to shed tears on the spot.

    [If Lewis saw me crying now, he would kill those poor young men.]

    The hired actorsughed at her.

    Then, they began to approach her as if they were predators ganging up on their poor prey.

    She was getting tired of waiting for something to happen when all of a sudden, she heard gunshots. The next thing she knew, the paid actors were already on the ground while groaning in pain. She was a little relieved to see that they were only hit in the shoulders and legs.

    Well, it was still bad that they got shot. She didn''t consider that possibility and now, she felt awful for letting innocent people get hurt.

    [Geoffrey, you¡­]

    "A-Are you alright?"

    She flinched when she heard a voice behind her.

    When she turned around, she was surprised at what greeted her: a young man with familiar features.

    Messy light gray hair with long bangs that almost covered his pale blue eyes. His porcin skin was highlighted by his dark hooded cloak. He still carried a rifle just like he did the first time she saw him fighting against Juri.

    She just noticed something a little different on him.

    [The stalker''s arms and neck were covered with bandages. Is it because of the injuries he got from fighting Juri? He recovered quite fast, huh?]

    Her thoughts were distracted when suddenly, a huge shadow hovered over her.

    "Child, run away!" the stalker, Jeno Dankworth, yelled in panic while running towards her with his gun pointed at something behind her. "No!"

    The next thing Neoma knew, a pair of arms were already wrapped around her waist.

    Then, she was pulled into the darkness that seemed to have swallowed her.

    Was she kidnapped?

    [Shit, here we go again.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    "RARA!"

    Geoffrey cursed under his breath while watching Juri Wisteria and Jeno Dankworth work together. The two were trying to break the ck ss cube where Princess Neoma was entrapped into. Sadly, to no avail.

    Juri Wisteria was hitting the ck ss cube with her sledgehammer nonstop while Jeno Dankworth was shooting it endlessly.

    But the ck ss cube wasn''t even scratched.

    [If I use my ability here, the civilians will get hurt¡­]

    "Don''t even think about using your ability here, Geoffrey Kinsley."

    His eyes widened when he heard the familiar voice.

    He was even more shocked to see the former Princess Nichole sitting on the building''s balcony railing when he looked up.

    Of course, he had been informed before that thete Princess Royal was now the Devil.

    Still, seeing it in person is a different matter.

    "Don''t worry too much," Princess Nichole said, her body now translucent. "I''m just here to say ''hi'' to my adorable niece."

    And after saying that, thete Princess Royal vanished.

    "Shit," Geoffrey muttered with clenched fists. "His Majesty will kill me."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOUR MAJESTY!"

    "What?" Nikiined when Glenn entered his office while yelling. "What did Neoma do this time?"

    Over the years, only Neoma could make Glenn panic like that.

    Come to think of it, he hadn''t seen his little rogue of a daughter yet for today.

    "I just received a report from Geoffrey, Your Majesty," Glenn said in a worried voice. "Apparently, Princess Neoma was kidnapped by Princess Nichole."

    "What?!" Niki yelled angrily, then he stood up and grabbed his suit that was draped over his chair. "Lead the way," he ordered Glenn who looked surprised by his order. Even without speaking, he could tell what his personal knight was thinking. "Yes, Glenn," he answered Glenn''s unspoken question while wearing his suit. "I''m going to rescue my daughter myself."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA woke up in a familiar room.

    Although her mind was still disoriented, she could tell that she might have been trapped in an illusion.

    How else would she wake up in her old room in Korea if not?

    "This is not funny," Neoma whispered to herself. "If the enemy could give me this kind of illusion, then it only means they know about my second life."

    Dammit, this would be a huge problem.

    But to be honest, it was nice to be back there even though it was just an illusion. She felt nostalgic while looking at her family picture on the bedside table. But seeing her appa/daddy in the picture made her anxious because she hadn''t figured out yet how he became her father in that world when her mother from her first and second life was the same person.

    Even though she tells herself that she didn''t have time to uncover the truth behind her birth in her second life because she was busy surviving, she knew in her heart that it wasn''t the only reason why she kept on dying her "investigation."

    The real reason was in and simple: she was afraid of the truth.

    "Neoma¡­?"

    She flinched when she heard the familiar voice behind her.

    [No, it can''t be¡­]

    But when she slowly turned around, she was greeted by one of the people that she missed the most.

    Neoma''s tears rolled down her cheeks. Illusion or not, she didn''t care anymore. She just wanted to see that person again after a long time. "Appa¡­"

    ***

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 215 - LITTLE ROGUES PAPA BOSS

    "WAS IT really necessary to show your face to His Majesty''s Pdin?"

    "Of course," Nichole said as a response to Gin''s question. "Lord Gavin Quinzel is our trump card. He hasn''t regained his full strength yet. Thus, we have to keep his existence a secret."

    Right now, she and Gin were having tea inside the huge ck Cube.

    The ck Cube was actually her version of the Dome that she learned from Dominic Zavaroni when she was young. In short, the ck Cube was a formidable barrier that could only be broken from the inside.

    To make up for that weakness, shebined her ck Cube with Gin''s ability to create illusions based on the target''s memories.

    But since Gavin Quinzel created a Shadow Veil inside the ck Cube, she couldn''t see Princess Neoma''s memories that were being recreated by Gin''s illusion. Even the cat himself had no idea because the former Commander was also blocking the cat''s "eyes" with his shadow.

    [It seems like Lord Quinzel is hiding something important from us.]

    "That''s what I don''t understand, Nichole," Gin said. Ever since he reverted back to being a "young cat," he had begun talking to herfortably. She didn''t mind though. "Why couldn''t we just reveal to His Majesty that Gavin Quinzel has returned?"

    "Don''t you really get it?" she asked in an impatient tone. "If my brother finds out that Lord Quinzel hase back to life, he''d kill him."

    "Ah, right," Gin said while nodding his head. "When Gavin Quinzel died, the Shadow Beasts that he used to control went back to Slumber. If he doesn''t have his Shadow Beasts, then he can''t win against His Majesty."

    "Lord Quinzel has to wake them up before his niece beats him to it."

    "Hanna Quinzel?" the human cat asked in a mocking tone. "Does that child have the ability to even summon the Shadow Beasts?"

    "Are you underestimating Hanna Quinzel because she''s a girl?" she asked coldly. "If the problem regarding that child''s heart gets fixed, I bet she could kill you multiple times until you have no spare life left, Gin."

    "Aren''t you being a little too serious?"

    She just stared at the cat coldly.

    He bowed to her in the end. "I apologize. I misspoke. I will never underestimate Hanna Quinzel or any other girls again."

    She just smiled and nodded.

    "Is Gavin Quinzel really going to take Princess Neoma away from the Royal Family?" Gin asked after a few moments. "It''s our goal to raise the royal princess under our guidance. But I thought it was still early to do that. After all, we need Princess Neoma to steal as much Moonglow from His Majesty as possible first."

    "That depends on Lord Quinzel," she said. "After all, the Devil told us to follow Lord Quinzel''s lead. But¡­"

    "But what?" Gin asked curiously. "Nichole, don''t you trust Gavin Quinzel?"

    "I just find it strange that the first person that he looked for was Princess Neoma," Nichole said, then she turned to the Shadow Veil in the middle of the "room." Princess Neoma and Gavin Quinzel were behind that veil. "But I wonder why Lord Quinzel has never mentioned Mona yet?"

    ***

    NEOMA was 100% sure that the man in front of her was her appa/daddy.

    That handsome face, that built, that aura.

    [It''s really my appa¡­]

    But she knew that it was just an illusion. So even if she wanted to run towards her appa/daddy, she stopped herself and wiped the tears off of her face instead. With clenched fists, she raised her head and looked at her appa/daddy straight in the eye.

    "Neoma," her appa said, calling her name in the same gentle and warm voice that she remembered. Then, he smiled sadly at her and opened his arms as if he was waiting for her to run to him. "Aren''t you going to hug your appa?"

    She smiled sadly and shook her head. "I know that this is just an illusion, appa. I can''t let my guard down in the enemy''s territory."

    Now that she had calmed down, she remembered what kind of arms pulled her into the darkness earlier. Instead of human hair, those arms had ck fur. When she tried to turn for a moment, she caught a glimpse of a cat head with green eyes.

    In short, her kidnapper had a cat head and a human body.

    [I''m sure that it was Gin! I thought Trevor already killed him. But then again, I''ve heard that cats have nine lives.]

    She couldn''t let her guard down now.

    After all, she still remembered how Gin used the memories of her first life to torment her in the past. She wouldn''t let the cat butler do that to her again.

    [I''m still traumatized by what Gin did to me before.]

    Her father looked hurt by her statement. "Neoma, do you think I''m an enemy?" he asked in a pained voice while lowering his arms to his sides. "You know that I will never hurt you, my little princess."

    "My real appa won''t," she said. "But as I said, I know that you''re nothing more than a mere illusion."

    "What should I do to make you believe that I''m not an illusion then?"

    "Get me out of here," she said firmly. "As long as we are in this unfamiliar ce, I won''t believe anything that you''ll say, appa."

    He fell silent for a while.

    She, on the other hand, clenched her fists so tight that her nails dug into her palms. It took her all that she got to stop herself froming closer to her appa. She almost gave in a while ago. Thankfully, she managed to get a hold of her emotions before it was toote.

    "Neoma, can we at least talk?"

    "I''d love to but I can''t," she said while looking around her. She was actually searching for an exit while trying to summon Tteokbokki. But much to her frustration, her Soul Beast wasn''t responding. "I''m afraid that I might get swayed if I stay here longer, appa."

    "That would be nice."

    "I''m sorry but I don''t want to spend time with an illusion," she said, trying her best to avoid her appa''s gaze. "Plus, Papa Boss will get worried."

    [And he would probably punish all my guards for letting me get kidnapped.]

    "May I know who this ''Papa Boss'' is?"

    She turned to the illusion of her appa. "The emperor, of course," she said. "My father."

    Well, it wasn''t like her enemies didn''t know who her father was.

    [Is this an act to confuse me?]

    "You acknowledge His Majesty as your father?" her appa asked in a somewhat sad voice. "Neoma, is he good to you?"

    "Not at all."

    Her appa blinked several times, probably surprised by her response.

    "My Papa Boss neglected me when I was born," she exined nonchntly. Now that everything was in the past, it wasn''t hard to talk about it anymore. "He even tried to sacrifice me at some point to extend my brother''s life. What a scumbag."

    As expected, her appa looked pissed after hearing everything that she just said.

    [For an illusion, he looks genuinely concerned about me.]

    "If he did all those things to you, then why do you still want to return to his side?" her appa asked. "Neoma, I''m here to take you away." He extended his hand to her. "Come here, my little princess. I will protect you from your horrible "Papa Boss.""

    She smiled and shook her head. "My Papa Boss has changed. He''s no longer a scumbag," she said cheerfully. "Most of all, my father loves me now."

    Her appa looked shocked by what she said, his hand fell to his side unceremoniously. "His Majesty does¡­?"

    She nodded eagerly. "Papa Boss is a tsundere though and he expresses his love for me awkwardly. But it''s cute how he tries to get closer to me. Although his love could feel excessive sometimes, I still appreciate his efforts to be a decent father to me."

    "Have you already forgiven him for all the hurtful things that he did to you in the past?"

    "I''m getting there," she said with a smile. "I already received a sincere apology from Papa Boss. Of course, that''s not enough. Papa Boss still owes me a consultation with a therapist after all the pain and anxiety that he has given me in the past. However, I can feel his sincerity to make it up to me. I am very close to fully forgiving my father. And most of all¡­" She paused because she suddenly felt shy. Still, in the end, she decided to say it. After all, she was talking to a mere illusion. "I love Papa Boss, too. I''m already at the point where I will cry if he dies. I am that scared to lose him now. Especially when we''re just getting closer."

    Wow.

    She couldn''t believe that she said all of that. But doing so made her chest feel light. She was d that Papa Boss wasn''t there. She''d die from embarrassment if her father heard her just now.

    "Then, what about me?"

    She felt her heart break when her appa asked her that with a devastated look on his face. "Appa¡­"

    "Yes, I''m your appa," he said in a sad and somewhat bitter voice. "Have you forgotten about me now, Neoma?"

    Ah, her chest suddenly tightened.

    ["Neoma!"]

    She was startled when she heard her Papa Boss''s voice in her head. ["Papa Boss?"]

    ["Are you alright?"]

    ["Yes, Papa Boss. But howe we can talk to each other like this?"]

    ["I''m using my Soul Beasts connection to your Soul Beast. Ah, this is the reason why you can''t talk to your Soul Beast right. Would you be okay without him?"]

    ["Yes, Papa Boss. I''m currently using my Coat as protection. But so far, I haven''t been attacked yet.]

    ["What kind of enemy is there?"]

    ["I am trapped in an illusion, Papa Boss. I''m trying to figure out how to get out of here. I feel like I won''t be able to separate reality from the illusion if I stay here longer."]

    After all, she could feel her heart wavering for her appa.

    ["The fact that you''re aware that you''re trapped inside an illusion is already a good thing. I guess your stubbornness and strong-mindedness came in handy today, huh?"]

    ["Tsk."]

    ["Stop clicking your tongue and listen to me, little rogue. Right now, you''re trapped inside a ck cube simr to the Dome. So far, we''re unsessful in trying to break the cube."]

    ["Wait, what? Papa Boss, don''t tell me you went out of the pce to personally rescue me?"]

    ["Is it that strange?"]

    Okay, she wouldn''t lie.

    Knowing that her Papa Boss, the same person that tried to kill her when she was just a (cute and innocent) baby, had gone that far to save now her melted her heart.

    ["You''re being reckless, Papa Boss. You should have just sent Lewis and Sir Glenn. You know that an emperor and his sessor can''t leave the Royal Pce at the same time. You''re aware that you''re breaking the protocol, right?"]

    ["Even if I break the protocol, do you think I care about the criticisms that I will receive?"]

    She couldn''t help but grin at her father''s words. ["You''ve be a softy, Papa Boss."]

    ["Shut up."]

    And yet, her Papa Boss was still a tsundere.

    She didn''t hear what her father said when all of a sudden, several ck whips attacked her as if those things wanted to wrap themselves around her waist. Thankfully, she covered herself with the Coat earlier. Before the whips could touch her, they were already cut into half by her shield.

    Since the barrier was made of her Mana, she could manipte it and use it as a weapon.

    ["Neoma, what''s happening?"]

    She looked at her appa that had now a grim look on his face. ["I''m being attacked by the illusion, Papa Boss."]

    ["Neoma, listen carefully. The cube that you''re in looks like it could only be broken from the inside. Do your best to break it from within. Even just a little hole would do. I will take care of the rest."]

    ["`Got it, Papa Boss."]

    "I didn''t attack to hurt you so please don''t look at me like I''m your enemy, Neoma," her appa pleaded in a desperate voice. "I was just trying to get you toe closer to me."

    "My real appa wouldn''t have forced me to do something that I don''t want to do," she said sternly. "Didn''t I already say that I don''t feelfortable toe close to you?"

    In fairness, the illusion looked guilty that she felt bad for snapping at him.

    [No, that''s not my real appa.]

    Her heart was wavering so she knew she needed to get out of there now, fast.

    She grabbed the Mini Skewer, now a pendant of her choker, then threw it at the wall as if she was throwing a baseball. And damn, she could be a pitcher in her next life. The de of Mini Skewer hit the wall nicely, creating several cracks that spread fast.

    Eventually, the wall began to copse.

    [I often forget that I have S*perman-like strength.]

    "Are you going to leave?" her appa asked in a devastated voice. "I won''t let¨C"

    "I love my appa," she said softly. "That stands true even now."

    "Thene with me," her appa said. "I will prove to you that I''m real¨C"

    "I also love my Papa Boss," she said, refusing to listen to the illusion because she didn''t want to lower her guard. "Even if my real appa shows up now, it doesn''t mean that I will throw away my Papa Boss. Both my appa and Papa Boss are real people that love me. How can I abandon one for the other? I know that it''s not easy to keep them both in my current life if ever my real appa somehow shows up now. But my stance won''t change."

    This time, there was a resigned look on her appa''s face. It broke her heart when he smiled sadly at her. But she reminded herself that she shouldn''t lower her guard.

    "I understand," her appa said. "Forgive me for trying to force you toe with me, Neoma."

    After saying that, a dark shadow literally covered her appa''s face.

    Then, his head turned into the head of a white cat while his human body didn''t change. Ah, it seemed like her "appa" was just like Gin¨C the sly ck humanoid cat.

    [I knew it¨C this is Gin''s handiwork! Tsk. That douchebag might still be alive.]

    She was relieved that she guarded her heart well from the illusion.

    "Neoma!"

    She was surprised when the whole room suddenly copsed. But the weird shadow-like "roof" above her protected her from the debris. Although she didn''t really need to be protected because she had her Coat all over her body.

    Her thoughts were cut off when she finally saw her Papa Boss running towards him.

    Never in her wildest dreams did she ever dream of this moment. But still, she was happy to be rescued by her Papa Boss.

    "Neoma," her Papa Boss said softly, then he got down on one knee and hugged her. "Are you alright?"

    Neoma smiled and wrapped her arms around her Papa Boss''s neck. "Papa Boss, my love for you is a solid 8 now."

    <strong>***</strong>

    GAVIN Quinzel''s heart broke while he watched Neoma hug His Majesty after his daughter refused to even get close to him.

    He clenched his hands tight, repressing the envy that he was feeling at the moment.

    It was painful to see his daughter in the arms of her real father in this lifetime, but what could he do? In this world, His Majesty was Neoma''s father.

    How could hepete with His Majesty?

    But still, despite the pain in his heart, he was still happy to know that his little princess was finally loved in this world.

    [Maybe this isn''t the time yet to bring back Neoma with me.]

    He also knew that he couldn''t physically fight the emperor in his current state.

    Thus, as soon as he felt His Majesty''s presence inside the ck Cube, he used the ''mour'' (aka Transformation Spell) that Gin, the humanoid ck cat, lent him a while ago. After all, Princess Nichole insisted that it wasn''t the right time yet to reveal his identity.

    To be honest, at first, he didn''t have any ns to use the mour or hide his identity like what the Princess Royal wanted him to do. But after he failed to convince Neoma that he was real, he changed his mind.

    Moreover, now that His Majesty was here, he had to abandon his n for now.

    [I wille back for youter, Neoma.]

    "Who are you?"

    His thoughts were cut off when His Majesty, now standing in front of him while carrying Neoma in his arms, confronted him while ring at him coldly.

    Thanks to Princess Nichole''s ck Cube, the emperor didn''t recognize his Mana.

    "I''m your nightmare, Your Majesty," Gavin said with a bitter smile on his face, his voice sounded different after his head turned into a cat''s. "I''m here to take everything away from you."

    <strong>***</strong>

    <strong>[EXTRA SCENE 1]</strong>

    Glenn, seated on the grass under the shade of a huge tree, had a big smile on his face while reading the letter that Princess Bridgette sent him:

    ["My dearest Sir Glenn, our adorable little ''Miss Ramsay'' told me that today is "father''s day." Apparently, it is a day celebrated year after year for all the good dads out there.

    Sir Glenn, I can''t wait for the day that I could greet you a ''Happy Father''s Day'' as well.

    So please move a little faster so we can make our own cute little babies soon.

    Love,

    Bridgette, the Future Mother of Your Future Children."]

    Glenn, his face nowpletely red, hugged the letter close to his chest. "Princess Bridgette, you never fail to give me a heart attack."

    <strong>***</strong>

    <strong>[EXTRA SCENE 2]</strong>

    NIKOLAI smirked when he didn''t see a ribbon attached to Glenn''s chest when his personal knight entered his office. "Neoma didn''t give you a ribbon?"

    Glenn looked confused by his question. Then, the knight noticed the ribbon on his face. When he raised his head to meet his gaze, he smiled. "Your Majesty, did Princess Neoma make that ribbon for you?"

    He smirked haughtily. "Apparently, today is "father''s day" ording to the fairy tale book that she once read. Since I''m Neoma''s only father, I guess I''m the only one who received this ribbon from her. Unlike the choctes that Neoma would often give away every February 14th, isn''t this ribbon more special?"

    "Uhm..."

    "What?"

    "Actually..." Glenn said hesitantly while scratching his cheek. "Your Majesty, I just saw Princess Neoma giving the same ribbon to Duke Rufus Quinzel."

    Niki mmed his hands on the table hard. "Why is Neoma giving the same ribbon to Rufus?!"

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 Chapter 216 - WHAT, LIKE ITS HARD?

    NIKOLAI was relieved when Neoma didn''t begin to absorb his Moonglow.

    That only meant that his daughter was hurt and she didn''t need to be healed. He was usually annoyed by the fact that his little rogue was too stubborn and strong-minded. But this time, he was actually grateful for Neoma''s overly strong personality.

    [Now, let''s deal with the scum who tried to kidnap Neoma.]

    Niki red at the humanoid cat standing in front of him and his daughter. "Who are you?"

    "I''m your nightmare, Your Majesty," the white humanoid cat said in a voice that obviously didn''t belong to a human. It sounded muffled as if it wasing from under the ground. "I''m here to take everything away from you."

    "Argh," heined, acting like he was about to throw up. "Are you a novelist? I don''t like the way you talk."

    "Papa Boss, don''t be like that," Neoma scolded him. "That person is doing his best as Gin''s underling. Plus, he didn''t hurt me so he must not be that bad."

    He gave his daughter a nk stare. "Why are you defending your kidnapper?"

    "I''m not," the little rogue said defensively. "I''m just being logical."

    He was about to scold her when he felt the presence of his twin sister.

    "Niki, don''t scold my cute niece," Nichole said, appearing in front of the white humanoid cat. "She''s correct. Our new recruit here is just following our orders."

    "He''s from my n but he''s very different from me," the ck cat called Gin, if he remembered correctly from the report that he received from Neoma a few years ago, said. Although as far as he knew, the ck humanoid cat was supposed to be in an adult form instead of a child''s. "Your Majesty, we will never hurt Princess Neoma. So why don''t we just join hands and raise her together¨C"

    The ck cat wasn''t able to finish his sentence because he tried to cut his head using a sharp de made out of his Mana that he threw while Gin was speaking.

    Unfortunately, he failed.

    His de was able to slice Gin''s throat but not deep enough to cut his head off. And it was all "thanks" to Nichole who deflected his attack by putting Coat over the ck cat at thest minute. His twin sister was able to do that by touched the ck cat''s neck.

    Tsk.

    "Brother, calm down," Nichole said with a sickeningly sweet smile on her face. "We''re not here to fight. I was serious when I said I just wanted to see my niece." His twin sister turned to his daughter. "How are you, Princess Neoma?"

    "I was having a good time when you abducted me, Aunt Nichole. I don''t like being kidnapped but I''m not as upset as I thought I would be right now," Neoma said in a surprisingly genuine tone. "However, the next time this happens, no matter how "gentle" you treat me, I will fight back. I''m a busy baby girl, Aunt Nichole. Plus¡­" His daughter''s ash-gray eyes turned glowing red when she turned to Gin. "I haven''t forgiven you for the trauma you''ve caused me, Gin. I''m d Travis didn''t seed killing you." She snapped her fingers. "Tteokbokki, burn that sly ck cat."

    Nichole and the ck cat looked surprised by Neoma''s sudden order.

    Even more so when Gin began to be engulfed in a red me.

    [Ah, right. Now that I''m already here, Neoma''s Soul Beast already woke up.]

    He smirked at his little rogue''s tenacity.

    Nichole and the white humanoid cat tried to help Gin.

    But when Neoma pped her hands once, the ck cat was suddenly trapped into a Dome.

    All of them were shocked at what his daughter did.

    "Neoma, how did you create a Dome for another person?" Nichole asked, surprised and amazed at what his daughter had done. "I could create a Coat for a person next to me by touching them. But I could never create a Dome if I''m not inside it. You were able to do something that none of us has ever aplished, Neoma. Do you know that this is unprecedented?"

    His daughter shrugged nonchntly. "What, like it''s hard?"

    The former Princess Royal looked surprised by his daughter''s arrogant response.

    [Yes, Nichole. Your niece is that arrogant.]

    They were all distracted when the white humanoid cat suddenly punched the Dome that Neoma created to entrap Gin.

    The Dome copsed instantly.

    Then, the white humanoid cat touched the red me that was burning Gin. He didn''t know what happened but the fire was suddenly engulfed in a ck material¨C effectively extinguishing it and saving the ck in the process.

    After that, the humanoid white cat carried Gin in his arms.

    "Is that a shadow?" he confronted the white humanoid cat, his heart beating against his chest quite hard. For some reason, seeing the shadow-like material made him anxious. "How could someone from the n of cats use Shadow Technique?"

    "That''s right, Brother. How can a cat use a Shadow Technique?" Nichole asked in a mocking tone while she was creating a Dome around her and herpanions. "But our junior cat here is good at copying other people''s techniques, don''t you think so?"

    It was just a mere replica of the Quinzels'' Shadow Technique.

    He was about to summon his Soul Beasts to chase Nichole and herpanions when all of a sudden, Neoma coughed.

    And his daughter coughed up blood.

    "Neoma!"

    It wasn''t him who shouted his daughter''s name first.

    He turned to the Dome with furrowed brows. Much to his confusion, he saw the white humanoid cat being physically restraint by Nichole from running towards his daughter.

    [Why is he acting that way¡­?]

    "Goodbye for now, Brother," Nichole said, she and herpanions now being "swallowed" by the Dome, effectively making them appear "invisible" to the human eye. "Please take care of our Princess Neoma."

    And just like that, his twin sister disappeared with her underlings.

    He didn''t bother to chase the enemies.

    "Papa Boss, my chest hurts suddenly," Neoma said weakly, then she closed her eyes and leaned against his chest. "It hurts¡­"

    "Shh," heforted his now unconscious daughter. Then, he gently held her tiny hand and ced it on his chest. "You''ll be fine, Neoma. Just absorb as much Moonglow as you need to recover instantly."

    Neoma unconsciously absorbed his Moonglow while the ck cube where they were trapped was copsing.

    They were safe from the debris because of the Dome that he made.

    But he would admit that the barriers he makes weren''t as durable as the ones made by Nichole and Neoma. Still, it did its job and protected them from getting hurt by the falling fragments of the broken ck Cube.

    Thankfully, despite falling unconscious after coughing blood, Neoma was stable now.

    His daughter created a technique that not even Saint Zavaroni hade up with. Although Neoma did it effortlessly, he could tell that the "strange Dome" that she used to entrap the ck cat required a huge amount of Mana.

    The little rogue had an overflowing Mana.

    But using Mana to create techniques didn''t only require a person''s power. It also required the use of the heart. It was the same reason why Hanna Quinzel couldn''t properly use the Shadow Technique: her heart was too weak for her strong Mana.

    It wasn''t the case for Neoma though.

    [My daughter wasn''t just prepared when she used a technique that unexpectedly demanded a huge amount of Mana.]

    "You''ll be fine, Neoma," he whispered weakly. Neoma was absorbing quite a huge amount of Moonglow from him. It was enough to make him feel dizzy. He didn''t mind though. "Let''s go home for now."

    "Y-Your Majesty¡­"

    When the ck Cubepletely disappeared, he was greeted by Glenn, Geoffrey Kinsley, Juri Wisteria, and the stalker called Jeno Dankworth. It seemed like the three had somehow secured the area. Thus, no one was around.

    "Rara¡­" Juri Wisteria said worriedly while looking at Neoma. Then, the youngdy raised her head to look him in the eye. "Is she alright, Your Majesty?"

    "Her life isn''t in danger," he announced, then he turned to Glenn. "Arrest Geoffrey Kinsley for disobeying my order, Glenn."

    Glenn bowed politely. "As you wish, Your Majesty."

    Geoffrey got down on one knee and lowered his head. "Please forgive me for my insolence. I will ept any punishment you deem fit, Your Majesty."

    "You better do," he said coldly, then he turned to Jeno Dankworth who looked very confused by what was happening. He debated whether to have the stalker arrested by Glenn. But in the end, he decided that maybe it was a job for Neoma''s team. Thus, he turned to Juri Wisteria. "Bring Jeno Dankworth to the Royal Pce and have him detained in a guest room, Juri Wisteria. I''m sure Neoma would order the same if she was awake."

    Juri Wisteria bowed to him. "As you wish, Your Majesty."

    Niki turned his back on everyone. "Let''s head back to the Royal Pce now."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "THAT WAS His Majesty, right?"

    "Silence," Juri Wisteria said while looking outside the window of the rental carriage that she was in with Jeno Dankworth. Then, she turned to the young nobleman seated on the couch across from her. "I do not have the authority to answer your questions."

    Jeno Dankworth fell silent, then he lowered his head.

    [Hah. He has the gall to be embarrassed after stalking a child, huh?]

    "I''m d that you didn''t resist when I apprehended you," she said, then she crossed her arms over her chest. "I guess you still have a conscience in you."

    Or maybe he was just intimidated by the Pdins in the carriage in front of them.

    [This kid probably knows that he can''t escape anyway.]

    "Hey, why did you stalk Rara?" she asked curiously. "That''s creepy, you know?"

    The young nobleman didn''t respond to her.

    "Hey, Jeno Dankworth."

    She was met with silence once again.

    "Are you ignoring me?"

    This time, he finally responded.

    And Jeno Dankworth responded with a loud snore.

    Juri''s eyes widened in shock. "How dare you sleep on me, you stupid stalker?!"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOUR MOTHER is in there, Nero."

    Nero gulped while looking at the pitch-ck "ocean" in front of him and William as they stood on the "shore" with red sand.

    He could tell that the "ocean" wasn''t simply made of water. It was more of a concentrated Mana than water. Moreover, he could also sense the dangerous sea creatures luring under. For the first time in his life, he felt fear.

    "This is the ck Ocean between the world of the living and the dead," William exined, his eyes fixed on the ominous ck ocean ahead. "But not anyone could enter this dimension. Moreover, this ce has a curse. This is meant to be forgotten by people that the ocean doesn''t acknowledge." He turned to him with a serious look on his face. "But you won''t forget about this ce, Nero. After all, we both have the blood of a male Roseheart."

    "I don''t understand," he said when he looked up at the Grand Spirit. "Is that ck Ocean a friend that protects my mother''s physical body, or a fiend that traps her under?"

    "Why don''t you find out yourself?" the Grand Spirit said, then he pointed at the sea. "Jump, Nero. Jump and see if you could save your mother who''s been frozen under that ocean for many years now."

    He clenched his fists tight. "Will I make it alive?"

    "I''m here," William said, then he gently patted his head. "Nero, I know that you have what it takes to save Mona. I can''t do it alone." Much to his surprise, the arrogant Grand Spirit bowed his head to him. "Please lend me your strength to save my master."

    Nero took a deep breath, then he turned to the ck Ocean. His mother was frozen under that cold and unforgiving Mana-like water alone for a long time. That thought was enough to wash his fear away. "Let''s save Mother."

    <strong>*** </strong>

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 Chapter 217 - MANA-INDUCED CHEST INFECTION

    "HOW''S my daughter''s condition?" Niki asked Madam Hammock as soon as he entered Neoma''s room. "Was my diagnosis correct?"

    When they arrived at the Royal Pce earlier, he brought Neoma to her room first before she summoned Madam Hammock.

    He, on the other hand, had to check first if Glenn had properly executed his order. After he heard that his personal knight threw Geoffrey in the basement cell, he asked Glenn to go to Juri Wisteria and interrogate Jeno Dankworth with the youngdy.

    Jeno Dankworth was his second biggest concern at the moment next to Neoma.

    [That child saw me rescue Neoma. It won''t be long before he figures out my daughter''s real identity. Killing him won''t be a hassle since as far as I heard from Geoffrey, Jeno Dankworth has a bad rtionship with House Dankworth. All I have to do is use the young nobleman of offending the Royal Family.]

    Still, he wouldn''t do that.

    Neoma had taken interest in Jeno Dankworth''s ability (and only his ability). Thus, he would allow his daughter to decide whether to kill the young nobleman or ept him in her team.

    To be honest, he didn''t want his daughter''s stalker to be a part of her Order. But if the young nobleman clears the misunderstanding and proved that he wasn''t a stalker, then he wouldn''t mind epting him as one of Neoma''s people. After all, the more talented a "knight" was, the safer his daughter would be.

    His thoughts were cut off when Madam Hammock turned around to face him.

    Madam Hammock nodded politely before speaking. "Your diagnosis was correct, Your Majesty," she said. "Princess Neoma''s heart received a shock when she suddenly performed a technique that she hasn''t practiced before. Thus, the Mana around her heart "infected" her lungs and caused Her Royal Highness to cough up blood."

    He was relieved to confirm that the reason for Neoma coughing up blood wasn''t serious.

    He''d say that it was pretty normal for people with high Mana like them to experience that. Moreover, their Mana would turn toxic and infect their lungs if they were using it for something that their body wasn''t used to. It was their Mana''s way of informing them that their heart couldn''t handle it.

    [Neoma is aid-back Mana user so she never experienced something like this before. But now that she''s seriously using her power to create different techniques, her heart and her body received a shock.]

    He looked at Neoma who was peacefully sleeping (and snoring) on the bed. Then, he clicked his tongue while shaking his head. "This is what you get for beingzy for the past few years, little rogue."

    "Don''t be too hard on our Princess Neoma, Your Majesty," Madam Hammock scolded him lightly. The Healing Sage was one of the people that he would allow to "scold" him. After all, Madam Hammock was practically his nanny when he was a child. "For someone who doesn''t wish to be in her position, she''s already working too hard for the empire that has done nothing but torment a royal princess like her."

    He couldn''t refute that.

    Neoma, as a royal princess, saved him and the Royal Family from falling out of power by pretending as Nero. If his enemies had discovered that his only male sessor had been cursed and put in aatose state, that would have been enough reason for the Noble Faction to rebel and remove him from the throne.

    As long as thew that dictates only males could be sessors hadn''t changed, Nero would remain his sessor in the eye of the whole empire regardless of his will.

    "Madam Hammock."

    "Yes, Your Majesty?"

    "You''re too fond of my daughter."

    The Healing Sage smiled warmly at his remark. "Princess Neoma is easy to love, Your Majesty." She paused as if she hesitated for a bit before she continued. "You put me in charge of Lady Roseheart''s welfare when you brought her in the pce in the past. When Lady Roseheart got pregnant, she asked me to take care of her daughter as if she knew that she wouldn''t live long enough to raise her child. At first, I thought I was doing this just to grant Lady Roseheart''s final wish." Madam Hammock turned to Neoma with a gentle look on her face. "But before I knew it, I already see Princess Neoma as if she''s my own granddaughter." She turned to her with an apologetic look on her face. "Was it impertinent of me to say that, Your Majesty?"

    Well, if other people said, then he would have cut their tongue off.

    But hearing that from Madam Hammock wasn''t so bad.

    [I entrusted Mona to Madam Hammock in the past. I wouldn''t have entrusted Neoma to her if I don''t trust her. The fact that she sees my daughter as her own granddaughter is actually a huge relief to me.]

    He wouldn''t say that out loud though.

    "Madam Hammock, you''re probably fond of Neoma because she has the same attitude as your granddaughter," he said, changing the topic smoothly. "Both my daughter and your granddaughter are what most people would call ''unhinged.''"

    Madam Hammock looked surprised by what he said, then sheughed softly. "Your Majesty, thank you for allowing my granddaughter Juri to join Princess Neoma''s team. It''s true that my granddaughter acts like she has a few loose screws in the head. But please trust me when I say that Juri has a good heart. Moreover, she only follows people that she deeply respects. I can assure you that she will never betray Princess Neoma."

    "You shouldn''t be saying that to me," he said. "It''s Neoma who chose and invited Juri Wisteria to join her team. I merely respected my daughter''s choice."

    He couldn''t stand the warm smile that Madam Hammock gave him, so he changed the topic again.

    "Madam Hammock, Neoma requested to leave the Royal Pce earlier than scheduled for the harvest of Hisa Tree," he informed the madam. "Would that be alright?"

    "It wouldn''t be a problem, Your Majesty," the madam said. "I will arrange the necessary procedures for changing the date of our departure."

    He just nodded as an acknowledgment. "Madam Hammock, we brought a ruffian in the pce. I was informed that he''s supposed to be Count Sean Dankworth''s hidden half-brother." He paused before he continued. "Unfortunately, he saw me rescue Neoma earlier. Although Geoffrey rmended him to be a part of Neoma''s team, I can''t easily trust a young man who stalked my daughter for the past few months."

    He would admit that he had been reckless when he left the pce without even putting on a disguise. If Geoffrey didn''t secure the area, more people would have seen him earlier.

    But in his defense, he couldn''t think straight after hearing that Neoma had been kidnapped.

    "I understand, Your Majesty," Madam Hammock said. As expected of the person who practically raised him when he was a child, he didn''t need to say more for the madam to understand what he needed her to do. "I will prepare the potion that will manipte Lord Jeno Dankworth''s memory if needed."

    Niki nodded as a token of gratitude. "You''re dismissed, Madam Hammock."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "DID I get sick again, Papa Boss?" Neoma asked her father who was seated on the chair beside her table while having a drink. "I remember coughing up blood before I fell unconscious." She gasped as fear began to shake her heart. "Do I have a terminal illness¡­?"

    "No, you don''t," Emperor Niki said bluntly. "You''re just reaping what you sow for not training properly in the past. You suddenly performed a technique that your heart isn''t ready for. Thus, your Mana released a kind of toxic that contaminated your lungs. It''s your body''s way of saying that you''ve reached your limit for today."

    She blinked in confusion. "Is it the same case as Hanna? Did my heart weaken suddenly, Papa Boss?"

    "It''s different from Hanna Quinzel''s case," he exined. "Hanna Quinzel''s heart is naturally weak. You, on the other hand, were just reckless."

    Her lips formed a thin line, unable to refute her father''s usation.

    It was true that she had been reckless by performing a technique that just entered her mind at that moment. In her defense, she didn''t expect that she would be able to execute it since she had never used the Dome on other people before.

    [Hah. If only I could control my Roseheart Blood the way I could control my de Moonasterio divine power¡­]

    "I already informed His Holiness about what happened," her father said. "It''s a shame that His Holiness can''t leave the Holy Land for the meantime. So let''s just wait for him to send you a message."

    "Okay, Papa Boss," she said. "What happened while I was unconscious?"

    "Jeno Dankworth saw me when I rescued you."

    She clicked her tongue. "Papa Boss, you''ve been reckless as well."

    "I know that," he said, unbothered. "Should I deal with Jeno Dankworth?"

    "Nah, that stalker is mine to deal with."

    "I thought so."

    "Thank you for letting me deal with Jeno Dankworth, Papa Boss," Neoma said sincerely. "But what should I do if I still don''t like him after I interrogate him?"

    "Don''t hesitate to kick that ruffian out of the pce if you don''t like him. Don''t worry about House Dankworth," her Papa Boss said encouragingly. "I will take care of the rest."

    Ohh¡­ someone was being dependable, huh?

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 Chapter 218 - WHAT NEOMA SEES AS UGLY

    GLENN almost choked when he saw Juri Wisteria about to hit the sleeping Jeno Dankworth with her sledgehammer.

    He only stepped out for a while to ask the servants to bring tea.

    And when he returned in the drawing room, he was greeted by the youngdy who seemed to have the intention of murdering the sleeping young man on the sofa.

    "Lady Juri, stop!" Glenn said while running towards the youngdy. "Please don''t kill Lord Jeno!"

    "I''m not going to kill him," Juri Wisteria said with an evil smirk. "I''m just going to hit him hard enough to wake him up."

    "No, he''ll die!"

    "Hello, beautiful people!"

    [Ah, that strange greeting¡­]

    He was relieved when Juri Wisteria stopped midway from murdering the sleeping Jeno Dankworth when the youngdy heard Princess Neoma''s voice.

    Of course, it was Her Royal Highness.

    Only their princess would greet them that way.

    [But how do we greet Princess Neoma?]

    Her Royal Highness was still dressed as ''Miss Ramsay.'' But her hair was still long but it had returned to its original white color. Even the royal princess''s ash-gray eyes were back.

    Because of that, Juri Wisteria also looked confused.

    "It''s alright," Princess Neoma said with a smile. But it was noticeable that the royal princess looked more serious than normal. "You can greet me as usual."

    With that, he and Juri Wisteria both bowed politely. "Greetings, Your Royal Highness."

    The royal princess just smiled at their greeting, then she stood in front of the sleeping young nobleman. "Wake up, Jeno Dankworth."

    Much to his surprise, Jeno Dankworth immediately woke up.

    Then, the young lord got down on one knee and lowered his head before the royal princess.

    "I heard that you saw His Majesty save me a while ago," Princess Neoma said while looking down at the young lord with unusual cold eyes. "Do you have any idea why?"

    "I came up with two conclusions," Jeno Dankworth said, his eyes still shut while his head remained hanging low. "First, the Crown Prince has a hidden sister. And second¡­" The young lord opened his eyes and raised his head to meet the royal princess''s gaze. "You''re pretending as the Crown Prince. After all, you look like him."

    "Both conclusions are correct," Princess Neoma said, then she crossed her arms over her chest. "I''m Neoma de Moonasterio, Nero''s twin sister. I won''t disclose the reason but as you can see, I''m pretending as my twin brother. But doing so takes a toll on my mental health. Thus, every once a month, my father allows me to leave the Royal Pce and spend my day as a girl." She raised a brow. "Apparently, during those days, you''ve been stalking me."

    Glenn was surprised at how Princess Neoma was handling the situation.

    [I honestly thought our Princess Neoma will go easy on Jeno Dankworth because the young lord has a pretty face that suits our little princess''s taste. But right now, Her Royal Highness is looking at Jeno Dankworth as if he''s the most unsightly person in the world.]

    Maybe he shouldn''t have been surprised.

    After all, Princess Neoma had expressed her disgust with her stalker many times. And it didn''t change even if the stalker in question was a handsome young lord.

    Now Glenn felt ashamed of himself.

    [Please forgive me for thinking that you''re going to forgive good-looking people easily, Princess Neoma.]

    Jeno Dankworth lowered his head again. "I apologize for making you feelfortable, Princess Neoma."

    "Yes, you should be," Princess Neoma said indifferently. "But I will give you a chance to exin yourself, Jeno Dankworth."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "THE FIRST time I saw you was after a month since I lost my little sister."

    Neoma, who already heard that from Geoffrey''s report, sipped her tea while listening to Jeno Dankworth''s story.

    Since she wanted to talk to him alone, she asked Juri and Sir Glenn to wait outside the drawing room. Thankfully, the two followed her order without questions. Juri and Sir Glenn may have noticed that she was more serious today than usual.

    [Well, I hate men who make women, especially children, ufortable.]

    "Her name was Gemma, and she passed away when she was only eight," Jeno Dankworth continued, his gaze fixed on the teacup on the table that he hadn''t touched yet. "We were separated when I was twelve and she was only three years old. But even so, I didn''t forget about her. I would often sneak out of the mansion and visit my little sister. Thus, it was as if we didn''t get separated at all."

    "May I know why House Dankworth suddenly took an interest in you?" she asked even though she already knew the answer. "Is it because you manifested the power that you inherited from the Dankworth n?"

    "That''s correct, Your Royal Highness," he said. "House Dankworth threw me away and my mother in the past. But when the former count heard that I inherited the power to manipte clouds, he forced me to return to his mansion. If I didn''t, he threatened that he would banish my family from living in the empire. I didn''t want that to happen so I epted his family name and trained as a Dankworth. But¡­"

    "If it''s too hard for you to speak about your past, you don''t have to," she said. "All I need to know is your purpose for stalking me."

    He shook his head, then he continued with his story. "My sister fell terribly sick one day. Even though I''m a Dankworth now, it doesn''t mean that I have ess to the family''s wealth. I had to steal some pieces of jewelry in the mansion and sell them to buy medicine for Gemma. But I was told that the medicine sold by House Wisteria could help my sister. The medicine they sell is too expensive so I begged my father for money. He said he wouldn''t waste money for a child who isn''t rted or useful to him."

    She clicked her tongue when she heard that. [What a scumbag.]

    "Father locked me up in the basement of the mansion after that," the young lord continued. "I was only able to get out when Brother Sean finally woke up from his two-week slumber."

    She almost choked on her tea. [Who sleeps for two weeks straight?!]

    "When Brother Sean heard what happened, he immediately got me out of the basement and gave me a nk check to buy medicine for my sister," Jeno Dankworth said. "I was toote though. When I arrived at my mother''s house with the medicine, my sister already passed away."

    She felt a squeeze in her heart.

    "I didn''te out of the mansion for a month after that," he continued, then he raised his head. "When I finally had the courage to visit Gemma''s grave, I realized that I forgot to bring money to buy pretty flowers for her. And that was when I met you, Princess Neoma."

    "Huh? Really?" she asked, surprised. "I don''t remember."

    If she saw someone as handsome as Jeno Dankworth, she would definitely remember him.

    "It was a brief encounter," the young lord said. "The owner of the flower shop was cursing at me because I didn''t have money to buy his products. Moreover, I didn''t look presentable back then as I was wearing a dirty hooded cloak. The owner must have thought that I was a thief."

    Ah, so that was why she didn''t see his face back then.

    "You saw what happened and came to my rescue, Princess Neoma," Jeno Dankworth continued in a slightly more cheerful voice. "You cursed at the flower shop owner and bought all the flowers in his shop. Then, you told me to get whatever flower I want. After that, you left."

    "Oh, I can''t remember that," she said while scratching her cheek. After all, she would often get into fights in the Royal Capital. She couldn''t help it whenever she would see an injustice that was unfolding before her. "But it sounds like something I would do."

    He smiled softly at him. "I thought my sister came back at me that day, Princess Neoma. Except Gemma never cursed. But your energy and temperament are simr to my sister''s. Before I knew it, I have already begun stalking you. I memorized the date that you''d appear in the Royal Capital. That was how I ended up following you each time you appear in Auberon, Your Royal Highness."

    "I''m relieved that you didn''t stalk me for perverted reasons," she said, then she let out a frustrated sigh. "But Jeno Dankworth, you still made me feel ufortable."

    Once again, he bowed deeply to her. "Please forgive me, Princess Neoma."

    "Raise your head," she said and heplied. "Jeno Dankworth, I''m not Gemma and I will never be your little sister''s recement. I know it''s hard. But it''s time for you to ept that she''s gone. She needs to rest in peace, and I believe that she wouldn''t be able to do that as long as you''re hanging onto her like this."

    Jeno Dankworth didn''t say anything, but his tears fell silently.

    Of course, it was hard for her to see that. But she had to put up a cold and tough fa?ade. After all, she already decided to "adopt" Jeno Dankworth.

    "I need your ability, Jeno Dankworth," she said, causing the young lord to give her a questioning look. "Once I see that you''re ready to live in the present, I will invite you to be my team''s Marksman." She paused to sip her tea before she continued. "But of course, you need to take the Oath of Silence before you leave this room."

    "I will keep your secret, Princess Neoma."

    "Even so, it''s my father''s order to make people who know my royal secret take the Oath of Silence," she said. "If you don''t, you won''t leave this room alive."

    "I don''t have any intention of sharing your secret to anyone so I will dly take the Oath of Silence, Your Royal Highness."

    Neoma smiled sympathetically at him. "See youter, Jeno Dankworth."

    Jeno Dankworth bowed to her once again. "I promise I will return as a better person, Princess Neoma."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA took a deep breath after she left the drawing room.

    Madam Hammock entered the room to take care of Jeno Dankworth''s Oath of Silence, and Juri Wisteria apanied her grandmother.

    Thus, she was left with Sir Glenn.

    And that was when she realized it.

    "Glenn, where''s Lewis?" Neoma asked with furrowed brows. "I haven''t seen my son yet ever since I returned to the pce."

    Glenn suddenly looked guilty, then he gulped before he spoke. "Princess Neoma, Lewis Crevan is still stuck in the ''Training Book.''"

    What the hell was a ''Training Book'' for it to trap her precious soon?!

    [Don''t worry, Lewis--- your mother will rescue you!]

    <strong>*** </strong>

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 Chapter 219 - THE LAST SILVER FOX

    [THAT''s the book that Lewis has been reading religiously for the past year.]

    Neoma clicked her tongue while looking at the floating ck book in the middle of Sir Glenn''s room.

    To be precise, the ck book was floating while pages were being flipped at an unusually fast pace. It was inside this transparent sphere surrounded by ck smoke. She could tell that the smoke was from Trevor''s Mana. It was simr to the vibes that she got from the Devil''s Grimoire after all.

    Apparently, a year ago, her son asked Sir Glenn to help him train. Since Lewis wanted to keep it a secret from her, he would go to the older knight''s room and open the book there instead of in his own room. After all, Lewi''s room was next to her. The little cub was probably afraid that she''d catch him if he opened the book in his room.

    "Sir Glenn, did you say that Lewis got that book from Trevor?" Neoma asked, then she turned to Sir Glenn who was standing beside her. "I haven''t heard about it from my son."

    "Lewis Crevan asked me to keep it a secret from you, Princess Neoma," Sir Glenn exined. "He knows that you''ll get worried if you find out that he epted Trevor''s help."

    "Well, it''s hard for me to trust Trevor," she said. "Trevor can''t hurt Nero because of the vow that he took with Papa Boss. But how can I be assured that the "help" Trevor offered Lewis won''t hurt my son?"

    The knight fell silent for a while before speaking again. "Princess Neoma, to be honest, even I know that the method that Trevor introduced to Lewis Crevan is dangerous. But I know that even if I don''t agree to help Lewis, he would still open the book to train himself. Instead of letting him do that on his own, I chose to ept Lewis''s request to be his mentor." He paused for a while, then he scratched his cheek. "But even if I say I''m his ''mentor,'' I don''t do much other than guiding him for him to make it out alive."

    "That''s not true, Sir Glenn," she said. "The fact that Lewis was able to return to me alive is thanks to you. As Lewis''s mother, you have my gratitude for taking care of my son."

    Sir Glenn, who was used to her iming Lewis as her son, smiled and didn''t question what she said. "Are you going to stop Lewis from training inside the book that Trevor gave, Princess Neoma?"

    "Nah, it''s toote for that," she said. "Plus, I can tell how serious Lewis is. If he wants to get stronger and this is the most effective way to achieve that, then he won''t hear a thing from me. I just want to make sure that it won''t kill him." She paused when she remembered to ask something. "By the way, have you entered the book with Lewis, Sir Glenn?"

    "I did," he said. "I usually apany Lewis whenever it''s time for him to enter the book. I wasn''t able to do that when I received a message from Geoffrey saying that you''ve been kidnapped, Princess Neoma. Lewis had already entered the book by that time so I wasn''t able to inform him about what happened to you."

    "It''s alright. I don''t want to be a bother to Lewis''s training," she said. "What is it like inside the book, Sir Glenn?"

    "The book is like a dimension where the Spirits of the nine-tailed foxes of the Silver Fox n live," the knight exined. "Inside that book, they''re still alive. Every time Lewis enters, he has to fight at least two of the Silver Foxes there."

    She smiled when she heard that. "Lewis is thest Silver Fox in this lifetime. I''m d that he was able to meet his predecessors. Moreover, we don''t know much about the nine-tailed foxes of their n. But now that he has met some of his ancestors, I''m relieved. How are they, Sir Glenn?"

    "Wild," the knight said whileughing awkwardly. Then, he turned serious. "Princess Neoma, the Silver Fox n has been practically erased from our history. But you have to know that in the past, the Silver Fox n were often sent to war. It wasn''t just because of their incredible power and fighting skills. The truth is, they were sent to wars because if not, they would have destroyed the empire."

    "What do you mean by that?"

    "The Silver Fox n members were bloodthirsty beings," Sir Glenn said seriously. "If they don''t shed blood, they literally go insane. They need to satiate their hunger for blood and violence, and they could only get that if they fight in wars."

    She felt shivers down her spine when she heard that.

    [Right. I suddenly remembered that Lewis, in my first life, is a bloodthirsty psycho. Is it because of his blood as a Silver Fox?]

    Come to think of it, even now that she had "tamed" Lewis, there were still some instances where she would get a glimpse of his thirst for blood. Plus, her son also had the tendency to get violent in a fight. Those were red gs that she would usually ignore.

    But how long could I ignore it?

    [Still, having said that, can I really stop it when it''s in his nature to be bloodthirsty?]

    "Princess Neoma, are you alright?"

    "Yes, I am alright," she said with a thoughtful nod. "Sir Glenn, it''s hard to be a mother. Once you and Princess Bridgette be parents in the future, please be extra good to her."

    As expected, the knight''s whole face turned bright red.

    "I-I will be good to Princess Bridgette," Sir Glenn said in a shy voice. "I will be a good husband to her and a good father to our future children."

    She couldn''t help but smile. "I heard from Papa Boss that your indefinite leave is already approved," she said. "Thank goodness you finally decided to leave the empire to check on Princess Bridgette. I''m sure that my unnie is waiting for you, Sir Glenn."

    The knight smiled widely and he was about to say something when all of a sudden, the book closed in a loud manner.

    It still remained floating in the air though.

    "It''s not supposed to happen," Sir Glenn said while looking at the ck book. "It''s only supposed to close once Lewis is out."

    Her eyes widened in shock.

    It wasn''t only because of what Sir Glenn said. She had that reaction when the ck book disappeared in its initial spot. Then, all of a sudden, it appeared right in front of her face.

    "Princess Neoma!"

    When the ck book began to move closer, her instinct kicked in.

    Before she knew it, she already punched the transparent sphere. It broke and her fist went through. Then, when her knuckles connected to the cover of the ck book, she felt a strong force pulling her inside.

    "Princess Neoma!" Sir Glenn yelled while trying to approach her. But it seemed like there was an unseen barrier stopping the knight from moving. The panic and worried look on his face was very clear. "Princess¡­"

    "It''s alright, Sir Glenn," Neoma said calmly while allowing the ck book to pull her in. "I''m just going to visit my hardworking son."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA was surprised at what greeted her as soon as she entered the book.

    It seemed like she was in the deepest part of a thick forest. The sun hadn''t set yet but the surroundings already looked dark. She could also sense several eyes watching her. To be honest, it was kind of creepy.

    But knowing that Lewis was there, she knew that she would be fine.

    [Plus, I can protect myself.]

    "Are you Lewis''s owner?"

    She turned around and almost choked on her saliva because of the beautiful (yet dangerous) sight that greeted her.

    [His deep, "bedroom" voice suits him very well.]

    The owner of the voice was a half-naked man with a face and a sinful body to die for.

    The stranger also had some of the features of Lewis: silver hair, golden eyes. But the man before her had long hair that reached his (slim) waist. His eyes, despite having the same color as Lewis, looked more dangerous because of the wicked glint in them.

    But boy¡­

    Look at those broad shoulders¡­ that wide expanse of chest¡­ taut hips¡­

    [And abs. Chocte abs, to be precise. Looks yummy.]

    The stranger was wearing a pair of pants but it barely clung to his waits. She could clearly see the ''V'' shape on his abdomen¡­

    "Child, did you hear me?"

    Neoma stopped checking out the stranger shamelessly. Then, she raised her head to meet his gaze. "I''m not Lewis''s owner," she denied. "I''m his mother."

    Of course, the stranger raised a brow at her. "I know that the de Moonasterios aren''t mentally stable," he said while observing her. "But I think you''re the craziest de Moonasterio that I have met so far."

    "Thank you."

    "It wasn''t apliment."

    "Then, damn you."

    Heughed.

    Oh, boy.

    Even hisugh sounded nice.

    [He''s perfect!]

    "I''m Rustin Crevan," the beautiful and dangerous stranger said. "I was thest nine-tailed fox of our n before we were annihted by your grandfather, Your Royal Highness."

    Neoma clicked her tongue when she was reminded that it was her family that caused the downfall of the Silver Fox n. "I hope my grandfather is rotting in hell as we speak."

    <strong>*** </strong>

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 Chapter 220 - BET WITH THE QUEEN

    <strong></strong>NEOMA was surprised when Rustin Crevan, the alleged st" Silver Fox before the previous emperor purged their n, suddenlyughed loudly.

    Heck, he was even clutching his stomach.

    [Gosh, even hisugh sounds deep.]

    "This is the first time I''ve heard a de Moonasterio curse her own grandfather," Rustin Crevan said when he calmed down fromughing too much. "Ah, scratch that. You''re the first royal princess that I heard speak crudely."

    Ah, right.

    She was still dressed as ''Miss Ramsay'' so it didn''t surprise her that Rustin Crevan realized right away that she was a princess. But¡­

    "Is it really easy to tell if a person is a de Moonasterio?"

    "Of course," the old fox said. "White hair, ash-gray eyes, pale skin. No matter what your mother looks like, a de Moonasterio child would still inherit those three features from their father. Even if use a concealment spell or potion, people on my level would still see through your disguise easily."

    She was already aware of that but she trusts Madam Hammock''s potion.

    It didn''t only conceal her physical traits. The Healing Sage''s potion also hides her divine energy.

    "I''m being careful," she said defensively. "And I already decided to stop going out in my disguise if it isn''t necessary."

    "Sure, child."

    She red at him but her anger melted easily when the realization hit her.

    Wait, this man resembled Lewis a bit. Could it be¡­

    "Are you, perhaps, Lewis''s father?"

    Rustin looked at her as if she just grew another head, then heughed again. "You''re very entertaining, little one. I haven''tughed this much in ages. Lewis is boring and he''s not fun to be around with."

    "My son isn''t boring," she said defensively. "You just don''t vibe with his personality, okay?"

    Again, he justughed it off. Then, he put his hands on his (taut) hips. "Lewis isn''t my son," he said. "I was killed way before that child appeared in this world."

    "Appeared?"

    It was a strange way to say "born."

    "I know what you''re thinking, and you''re wrong," he said seriously. "A nine-tailed fox like me and Lewis don''t need a mother and a father to be "born." After we spend a thousand years in istion without harming any humans, we simply turn into a nine-tailed fox with a human-like body. Of course, that means we also begin our new life as a baby."

    She couldn''t believe that she was hearing Lewis''s life story this way.

    Her motherly heart wasn''t prepared!

    [But wait. Does it mean that Lewis is a thousand-year-old fox before he turned into a human? Then, it means his soul is way older than mine!]

    Ah, whatever. It wasn''t the right time to worry about that anyway.

    "I''m confused," she said. "Are you saying that not all Silver Fox is a nine-tailed fox?"

    "All the members of the Silver Fox n are silver foxes. Hence, the name," the old fox exined. "But a nine-tailed fox doesn''t appear as often as people think. There''s an old prophecy that our n holds dear. Apparently, a nine-tailed fox would only appear if danger would befall the n. To simply say, he would be our savior." He paused for a while before he continued. "During my time, the previous empire ordered to steal all the Marbles of my n. It was the danger that I was supposed to stop."

    Ah, she remembered that story.

    "I learned from the history books that my crazy grandfather ordered the death of your n to steal the Marbles of your family members," she said carefully. "I thought only nine-tailed foxes have Marbles?"

    "Every Silver Fox has a Marble stored in their body," the old fox exined. "It serves as a Silver Fox''s life force. If a human steals that from a Silver Fox and eat that, their vitality will increase."

    "It won''t give immortality to the human who eats the Marble?" she asked, confused. "Also, I heard that a Fox Marble could revive a dead person."

    "First of all, only your stupid grandfather believes that if he ate the Marbles of the whole Silver Fox n, he would be immortal. He never listened to us since his head was already filled with greediness back then," the old fox exined. "Only nine-tailed foxes have the kind of Marble that could bring a dead person back to life. It''s called the Fox''s Marble. Thus, our n treats nine-tailed foxes like a god. But it''s also the reason why we''re hunted down."

    "Right. Even my son is hunted down for his Marble." Her brows furrowed in confusion when she remembered something strange. "You said nine-tailed foxes only appear when your n is in danger. But Lewis appeared when your n no longer exists in the empire."

    "Well, maybe Lewis is destined to revive our n."

    She smiled proudly at what she heard. "I knew it. My son is really special."

    "Well, not as special as you are."

    She was about to ask what he meant by that when all of a sudden, the ground shook.

    When Rustin Crevan looked up at the now dark sky, she did the same.

    She was shocked when the sky was literally torn apart. Then, someone literally fell from the sky andnded gracefully.

    Oh.

    Dark blonde hair, glowing orange eyes.

    "Ah, Sir Glenn," she said when she recognized him. "You looked different a while ago¡­"

    By "different," she was talking about the "vibes" and not the physical appearance.

    Earlier, it looked like Sir Glenn was about to murder someone. But as soon as he saw her safe and sound, his usual friendly demeanor returned.

    "Princess Neoma, are you alright?" Sir Glenn asked worriedly, then he got down on one knee and quickly scanned her from head to toe as if he was looking for an injury. After that, he raised his head to meet her gaze with a relieved look on his face. "I apologize foringte."

    "It''s alright, Sir Glenn," she said. "But how did you follow me here?"

    "That insolent child forced the book open," Rustin Crevan said with a huff. "Only a monster like him could do that."

    Oh, right.

    Sir Glenn was supposed to be super scary on the battlefield. But she didn''t know how true that was since she had never seen the knight fight seriously before. Heck, she hadn''t even seen him angry.

    [I wonder why he''s called the ''Mad Dog.'']

    "Sir Rustin, I''ll appreciate it if you don''t summon Princess Neoma that way again," Sir Glenn said, then he stood and faced the old fox. "The next time you want to summon our royal princess here, then bring me with her."

    Ah, she shouldn''t be surprised that Sir Glenn and Rustin Crevan already knew each other.

    After all, the knight mentioned to her earlier that he would apany Lewis inside the book from time to time.

    "It wasn''t me who summoned the little princess," Rustin Crevan said. "It was our queen."

    Neoma''s eyes widened in shock. "You have a queen?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "PRINCESS Neoma, you can think of this ce as the hell for the Silver Fox n," Rustin Crevan exined to her. "The Devil collects the souls of the most cruel, most violent, and most bloodthirsty Silver Foxes, and brings them here for punishment."

    "For punishment?" Neoma asked while walking side by side with Rustin Crevan. They were apparently on their way out of the woods. Sir Glenn was walking closely behind them. "What kind of punishment?"

    "Endless war," the old fox exined. "There are other beings in this world and we fight them in a war most of the time. But thest war against them just ended, so my n is taking a break right now. Most of them have gone into the mountains to train. Only the queen and I remained in this part of our territory to train Lewis."

    "How did you choose a queen?"

    "Through a fight, of course," Rustin Crevan said with augh. "Queen Lisica overwhelmed all the nine-tailed foxes here."

    "Her name sounds nice."

    "Only her name is nice about her."

    She couldn''t help butugh at what she heard. "Is it alright to talk about your queen behind her back, Lord Rustin?"

    The old fox earned her respect. Thus, she politely addressed him this time.

    "You''re right, it''s not alright to talk behind our queen''s back," Rustin Crevan said, then he stopped walking to take a deep breath. After that, he yelled at the top of his lungs. "Queen Lisica, only your name is nice about you!"

    She covered her ears because if not, she was afraid that her poor eardrums would burst.

    And right when she thought it would be quiet again, she was proven wrong.

    "Oh, yeah?!" a woman''s loud (and annoyed) voice echoed. "Well, only your massive dick is nice about you!"

    She almost choked when she heard that.

    On the other hand, Rustin Crevan grinned from ear to ear.

    [Someone is proud, huh?]

    "Princess Neoma, don''t listen to such vulgar words!" Sir Glenn, obviously in a panic mode, said while covering her ears with his hands. "Please! There''s a child here!"

    Finally, silence.

    "Is the little princess already here?" the woman, who seemed to be Queen Lisica, asked. "Rustin, bring her here!"

    Rustin turned to her, his grin still wide from the pliment" that he received from the queen earlier. "I''ll bring you to Her Majesty, little princess."

    Neoma rolled her eyes. "Sure."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA found herself in the entrance of a cave shining with silver lights floating in the air.

    She was suddenly reminded of the "fairy lights" in her room back in her second life. The only difference was the lights inside the cave were only in silver color.

    [Gosh. There''s no pink here. Boring.]

    "Hello, little princess."

    She turned in the direction of where the voice came from, then almost got blinded when she was greeted by a beautiful and sexy woman sitting on a giant rock.

    Long, wavy silver hair. Golden eyes. Pale skin.

    [She''s so beautiful¡­]

    The queen wore a little white dress that emphasized her gorgeous body. And boy, she had curves in all the right ces.

    Voluptuous breasts, slim waits, creamy legs.

    She even had dainty feet. The pathway in the forest and even inside the cave was rough. It was a miracle that her feet still looked soft and smooth.

    "Are you Lewis''s owner?"

    "No, I''m not," Neoma said, then she locked her gaze with the alluring queen. "But I consider myself as Lewis''s mother, Your Majesty."

    Queen Lisica looked confused by what she said, then sheughed. "Have I been dead for so long that a fox''s female master is called a ''mother'' now?"

    "Lewis doesn''t belong to anyone but himself."

    "Sure," the queen saidzily, then she raised a brow at her. "I summoned you here because I want you to see your "son" during his final moments."

    Of course, that made her nervous.

    But only for a moment.

    She clenched her fists tight and reminded herself that this was Lewis they were talking about. There was no way her son would die when he came here in the first ce to get stronger.

    "Is Lewis inside the cave?" she asked the queen instead, purposely ignoring her foolish words earlier. "Are you the one who''s training him right now?"

    "That''s correct," the queen said, then she raised her hand to look at her long, sharp, and bloody red nails. "I gave Lewis his final mission a while ago. If he seeds, then he''ll be able to summon all his nine tails easily. But if he fails, he''ll die. When I checked on him earlier, it seems like he''s already at his wits'' end. I don''t think he''d survive this."

    "You''re wrong."

    The queen raised her head to give her a cold look. "I''m wrong?"

    "Yes, you''re wrong," she said confidently. "Summoning me here was a waste, Your Majesty. Lewis will make it out alive."

    "And your basis is¡­?"

    "Because Lewis is my son," she said firmly. "And a son needs his mother. So whatever happens, I know that Lewis will do his best toe back home."

    The queen blinked several times, then sheughed. "Let''s have a bet, little princess," she said. "If Lewis doesn''t make it out alive, you''ll stay here and fight me," she challenged her haughtily. "But if a miracle happens and the young fox survived, I will tell you a piece of history that will surely help you if you want to be the first empress of your world."

    "I''m in, Queen Lisica," Neoma said, pointing her finger guns at the queen. She wasn''t afraid to gamble because she had so much faith in Lewis. He was her "son" after all. "I bet my life on Lewis''s sess."

    "Very well," Queen Lisica said cheerfully. "I don''t like it when a child talks down to me so¡­" She snapped her fingers. "Your appearance shall match your soul''s age in your first life."

    And vo!

    Neoma became her super pretty teenage version again!

    <strong>***</strong>

    "PRINCESS¡­?"

    Neoma slowly opened her eyes when she heard the familiar voice.

    She remembered sitting on the ground while leaning against the cave wall while talking to Queen Lisica. Then, she felt sleepy. She didn''t know for how long did she fall asleep though.

    "Wake up, Princess Neoma."

    "I''m awake," Neomained sleepily. "Lewis, when did you be annoying¡­"

    She trailed off when she fully opened her eyes and was greeted by a very handsome face.

    It was obviously Lewis and like her, he had somehow turned into an adult. She was suddenly reminded of the "Big Lewis" that she met when Gin trapped her in the bitter memories of her first life.

    [Shit. I almost forgot how handsome adult Lewis is! I hate my vanity at moments like this.]

    Much to her surprise, her son smiled.

    It wasn''t a full-blown smile. The corner of his mouth tugged just slightly upwards, eyes half-lidded, brows raised. In short, it was more of a whimsical,zy grin.

    And seeing that made her heart skip a beat.

    "Princess Neoma," Lewis said in his deep, husky voice. "Do you still see me as a "son?""

    Neoma could only gulp at that moment.

    [Curse me and my love for beautiful people!]

    <strong>*** </strong>

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 Chapter 221 - REWARD FOR MY CUB

    "YOU''RE pretty handsome, Glenn," Lisica said seductively while clinging to Glenn''s muscr arm. Of course, she was purposely pressing her soft and voluptuous breasts against his hard biceps. She was so d that in this hell, they still had ''physical bodies'' that functioned the same way when they were still alive. Although it was more of a vessel that contained her soul, and it would definitely break once she stepped out of the "book." "Do you want to spend the night with me?"

    She sent Rustin away to seduce Glenn.

    To get the knight alone, she asked Rustin to check on Lewis and the de Moonasterion Princess.

    She was having a small talk with the little princess when the child fell asleep. The de Moonasterion Princess probably fell asleep because she suddenly turned her into an adult form. To be honest, she wanted to y a prank on Princess Neoma.

    But she couldn''t touch the child.

    Even when asleep, Princess Neoma had a divine barrier around her. It was strong enough to repel her. Thus, she gave up and left the child alone.

    "I politely decline, Lady Lisica," Glenn said while gently pulling her hands away from his arm. "I am not interested in you."

    She was impressed and it wasn''t only because of the knight''s blunt yet polite rejection.

    To be honest, she was using her physical strength that wasparable to the Royal Family''s power. And yet, Glenn was able to "pluck" her off his arm easily. Then, he swiftly moved away from her.

    "Glenn, you don''t have to be interested in me," she said, still determined on seducing the knight. "Let''s just taste each other''s body."

    "I''m sorry but I''m not interested in your body, Lady Lisica."

    "Oh,e on," she whined with a purr. "Just one night, Glenn. I will make a man out of you within just one night."

    This time, he didn''t even give her a response.

    [My charm isn''t working, huh?]

    It was supposed to be easy for ady fox like her to seduce men, especially humans. But her charm wasn''t working on Glenn. He didn''t even look like he was holding back.

    In fact, the knight looked like he wanted to be anywhere but near her.

    That only increased her "appetite" for him.

    [Hard to get men are the tastiest after all.]

    "Oho," she said while licking her lips. "Glenn, could it be¡­ you already have a lover? Are you saving yourself for thatdy?"

    "I have a lover and yes, I''m saving myself for her," Glenn said seriously. "But that''s not the only reason why I''m turning you down, Lady Lisica. I''m just simply not interested in you. To make it clearer, I don''t want to sleep with you. If you don''t stop¡­"

    The knight now had a murderous look on his face, and his bloodlust was oozing. It was obviously a deadly warning.

    [Does he hate my teasing that much?]

    Well, that only made her want to tease him further.

    She smirked, getting turned on even more. "Even if I do this¡­?"

    By that, she meant taking off her little dress in front of him.

    But before her dress could even fall on the ground, her sight literally darkened when a piece of clothing covered her whole body.

    Argh.

    The scent clinging to the big cloak covering her whole body belonged to Rustin.

    "Your joke has gone too far, Queen Lisica," Rustin snarled at her in a low, sexy voice. Then, he grabbed her by the waist and draped her over his shoulder, making her yelp in the process. But of course, he ignored her. "Glenn, sorry about this. Can you pretend that this didn''t happen? In return, I will make sure that our dear queen won''t bother you again."

    "I also want to pretend that nothing happened here," Glenn said, his voice still sounded distant. "Don''t worry, Lord Rustin. I can easily forget something that I don''t want to remember."

    Rustin justughed, then he said his goodbye to Glenn.

    The next thing she knew, she felt the barbarian fox jump from tree to tree¨C 30 or 40 meters up in the air. After a while, Rustin finally stopped moving. Then, he put her down and fixed the cloak that he just tossed at her earlier.

    So now, she was standing in front of the barbarian fox while wearing the cloak properly.

    "Why did you interrupt my fun?" sheined with a pout. "Just a little bit more and I would have sessfully seduced Glenn."

    "Don''t be delusional, queen," Rustin snarled at her. "Glenn almost killed you when you took your clothes off."

    "We''re already dead, Rustin."

    "Yes, but we would cease existing even in this world if our spirits get damaged heavily."

    "Glenn isn''t that strong to damage our spirits easily."

    "Don''t underestimate him," he scolded her. "Glenn was still a child when were still alive and thriving in the empire. But even during that time, he was already known as an outstanding Swordmaster despite his young age. Moreover, the killing intent that I felt from him a while ago was the real deal."

    She just pouted.

    "And stop flirting with other men when you already have me."

    She giggled at what Rustin said, then she yfully smacked his arm. "I was just ying with Glenn because his liver smells delicious. I like healthy young men like him."

    He sighed while shaking his head. "Lisica."

    "I know," she said seriously. "I just miss the old days, Rustin. The unending war that we have here is starting to get boring for me. My blood is craving for new enemies to y." Even without seeing her own reflection, she just knew that her golden eyes glowed at that moment. "Should we ask the Devil to transport us into a different dimension?"

    She couldn''t help it.

    Even after death, her violent nature didn''t disappear.

    "We can use the little princess to satisfy our thirst for violence, Lisica."

    She raised a brow at that, impressed by the fact that Rustin addressed her casually again. Of course, considering their rtionship, she didn''t mind at all. "How can we use the little princess?"

    "Didn''t you smell the Roseheart Blood in her?"

    "Of course, I did."

    "Then, the little princess must be a Summoner," Rustin said with a smirk. "If we surrender to Princess Neoma, we could be her Spirit Warriors that she may summon if she needs someone to fight for her."

    "That doesn''t sound like a bad idea," Lisica said, then she crossed her arms over her chest. "But I don''t follow just anyone, Rustin."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA fought her vanity well and won.

    Thankfully, her heart didn''t waver and she maintained her position as Lewis''s mother gantly. It was okay to think that her son was handsome. After all, it should be considered natural for him to "inherit" her pretty genes.

    "Yes, you''re still my son," Neoma said firmly. "It''s a crime to seduce your mother, you know?"

    "Seducing you?" Lewis asked, then he tilted his head at one side with an annoyingly innocent look on his goddamn handsome face. "Is that what I''m doing?"

    "No," she denied, then she stood up and stretched her long arms. She smiled when she realized that she was still in her adult form. "Queen Lisica turned me into an adult. Trevor could also turn me into this form when I''m in his territory. I guess it''s not so bad to visit hell from time to time¡­"

    She trailed off when Lewis stood up.

    [So f*cking tall.]

    Lewis, currently twelve years old, was alreadynky. She shouldn''t be surprised if he went over six feet once he turned into an adult. And yet, she couldn''t help but get impressed as she looked up at her son.

    [He''s not just tall, he''s also lean.]

    Lewis''s body build was the type that looked skinny at first. But when you looked closer, you''d realize that he was actually lean.

    [I like his body type.]

    She was distracted from checking out her son''s body when she noticed the changes in his appearance that she should have noticed earlier.

    "Lewis, you have so many tails!" she eximed excitedly, then she ran around her son and stopped behind him while counting his fluffy tails. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine!" She pped her hands while jumping up and down happily. "Lewis, you now have nine tails! Congrattions!"

    He didn''t say anything.

    But the fact that his tails were wagging happily like how an excited dog''s tails would dowas enough to tell her that he was delighted.

    [My son worked hard to grow his nine tails.]

    N*ruto would pale inparison to her son.

    "Princess Neoma, can I ask for a reward?"

    "Sure," she said. Lewis rarely asked her for a reward so how could she not give it to him? Plus, she knew that her son wasn''t the type to abuse his position. "As long as it''s within my power, I will grant it for you."

    Lewis turned around to face her. For some reason, his face was red and he couldn''t look at her properly. Was he being shy? "Princess Neoma, I want to work on getting over my trauma," he said softly. "So¡­ can I hold your hands?"

    She almost broke down in tears.

    Of course, she hadn''t forgotten about Lewis''s fear of skinship. There were instances where he would initiate physical contact. But it was obvious that he wasn''tfortable with it yet.

    The fact that he was the one who brought that up touched her heart.

    "Alright," she said, then she extended her hands to him. "May I touch your hands, Lewis?"

    He nodded, his face turning red even more.

    She also noticed the fear crossed her son''s face.

    [My poor baby.]

    She carefully held Lewis''s hands, and squeezed them gently as a form of encouragement.

    Lewis shut his eyes tightly while taking deep breaths.

    Her heart went out to him.

    Lewis''s hands were big and calloused. Anyone could tell that those hands belonged to an "adult" who went through a lot. But for her, Lewis was still a child that needed love and warmth from people that genuinely cared about him.

    She wanted to be that kind of existence to Lewis.

    "You''re doing a good job, Lewis," Neoma said gently. "If it gets too overwhelming, you may let go of my hands any moment."

    Lewis''s breath soon returned to normal. Then, he opened his eyes and looked at her warmly. Without breaking their eye contact, he brought her hands near his face. After that, he closed his eyes once again and pressed his forehead against her knuckles. "Your touch is gentle, Princess Neoma."

    <strong>***</strong>

    GLENN was shocked.

    He was worried about Princess Neoma and Lewis, so he entered the cave to check on the children.

    But what greeted him wasn''t the little princess and the young fox that he expected to meet.

    If his eyes were deceiving him, then he was definitely looking at the adult form of Princess Neoma and Lewis Crevan (with nine, white and fluffy tails!).

    Of course, he was curious as to how it happened.

    But to be honest, he was more concerned about the realization that hit him: Once Princess Neoma grows up, she would be THAT pretty.

    And so would Lewis Crevan be.

    In short, the two looked good together.

    It must be presumptuous of Glenn to say this but he actually thought of himself as Princess Neoma''s "uncle."

    He didn''t like what he was seeing. Princess Neoma would always be a child to him. The possibility of their adorable little princess being taken away by a man brought indescribable pain in his chest.

    Now he understood how every father in the world must have felt when they watch their daughters get married.

    [Princess Neoma, you''re growing up too fast.]

    If he felt that way as Princess Neoma''s "uncle," he couldn''t imagine how the royal princess''s father would feel.

    [His Majesty would lose it if he finds out about this.]

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 222 - STOLEN FOXS MARBLES

    NIKOLAI clicked his tongue, identally letting the ink of the fountain pen in his hand bleed on the paper.

    For some reason, he suddenly felt annoyed.

    "Is something the matter, Your Majesty?" Kyle, standing in front of his office desk, asked. "You look¡­ unwell."

    "I don''t know but I suddenly feel pissed," Niki said, then he raised his head to meet the count''s gaze. "Where is Neoma?"

    "I saw Princess Neoma with Glenn a while ago, Your Majesty," his aide said. "Glenn told me that Princess Neoma already discovered about Lewis Crevan''s secret training under his guidance. I believe they were on their way to the fox boy''s training ground."

    He was aware that Glenn took Lewis Crevan under his wing a year ago.

    Of course, he was also informed that the training method that the fox boy chose came from Trevor. That ck book wouldn''t have been allowed to be opened without his permission. After all, they couldn''t simply trust Trevor.

    Glenn and Lewis Crevan both knew that. Thus, the two consulted him first. He had Saint Zavaroni purify the ck book first to make sure that the Devil wouldn''t be able to use that as an entrance to the Royal Pce.

    Only then did he allow Lewis Crevan to use the ck book.

    "Why is Neoma so attached to that fox boy?" he wondered aloud. Then he leaned against his chest and crossed his arms over his chest. "Aren''t she a little too close to her personal knight?"

    Neoma and Lewis''s rtionship reminded him of Mona and Gavin Quinzel''s rtionship in the past.

    [I hate it.]

    He brought Lewis Crevan to the Royal Pce for him to be Nero''s knight.

    But because of some twist of fate, Neoma ended up taking her twin brother''s ce. Thus, Lewis Crevan ended up beside Neoma instead of Nero.

    [If I knew this would happen, I wouldn''t have brought that fox boy in the pce.]

    "It''s quite worrisome, indeed," Kyle said while nodding thoughtfully. "Your Majesty, Lewis Crevan is thest Silver Fox. I''m certain that a lot of nobles want the fox boy for themselves because of the Fox''s Marble. The only reason why they can''t touch Lewis Crevan is because he''s currently viewed as a property of the "Crown Prince.""

    "Don''t refer to Lewis Crevan as a "property,"" he said sternly. "Neoma would get mad if she heard you say that to her precious "son," Kyle."

    "Ah, I apologize for misspeaking," the count said. "It won''t happen again, Your Majesty."

    He just nodded as a response. "Anyway, are there still people who are interested in Lewis Crevan''s Marble?"

    "Those kinds of people won''t disappear, Your Majesty," his aide said. "The nobility knows how precious a fox''s Marble is."

    He let out a frustrated sigh. "It would be hard for me to separate Lewis Crevan from Neoma."

    "Your Majesty, what will happen to Lewis Crevan once Prince Nero returns?" Kyle asked carefully. "Would the fox boy remain as Princess Neoma''s personal knight, or would he be Prince Nero''s personal knight?"

    "It''s hard to tell for now," he said while shaking his head. "And it''s not my current concern. I know that Neoma is only nine years old. But I can''t help but worry about the future once she bes an adult. I know that I promised her that I will give her the freedom to lead her life. But I just can''t marry her off to someone I don''t approve of."

    "Someone like Lewis Crevan, Your Majesty?"

    "Absolutely," he said firmly. "A knight is no good. There''s always the possibility of dying while he''s on duty. I don''t want Neoma to be a widow early."

    "Then, how about Ruston Stroganoff?"

    "Huh?"

    "Ruston Stroganoff is good friends with Princess Neoma''s "alter-ego,"" the count said. "Ruto has been in the pce since he was three years old, and this is the first time I saw him befriend ady. Princess Neoma seems to be clingy to the young chef as well. I think they have good chemistry."

    "Tsk," he clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Ruston Stroganoff is going to be the future Commander of the White Lion Knights. I don''t want him to marry my daughter."

    Kyle fell silent for a while. "If we involve politics in Princess Neoma''s future marriage, wouldn''t Rubin Drayton be the most suitable husband for our royal princess? Isn''t that the main reason why you initially epted House Drayton''s marriage proposal to Princess Neoma, Your Majesty?"

    Ah, he couldn''t refute that.

    When he wasn''t in his right mind yet, he did try to marry Neoma off to House Drayton.

    After all, the Draytons had supported him ever since he was a Crown Prince. The ducal family was also wealthy and powerful.

    But¡­

    "I don''t like Rubin Drayton," he said firmly. "That child looks cheeky."

    The count sighed while shaking his head. "Your Majesty, you don''t want Princess Neoma to get married, do you?"

    "You wouldn''t understand, Kyle," he said with a smirk. "You don''t have a daughter."

    "It''s too early to worry about Princess Neoma''s future, Your Majesty," Kyle consoled him. "And I don''t think Princess Neoma will allow you to choose her husband for her anyway."

    Ah, that was right.

    He also remembered that he made a deal with Neoma before. They even signed a contract and one of his daughter''s terms was the freedom to choose her spouse.

    "Burn," Niki whispered to himself. "I must burn the contract."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "PRINCESS Neoma, I feel like crying."

    Neomaughed at Sir Glenn''s reaction when he saw her in her adult form. "Don''t worry, Sir Glenn. I''m still a child," she consoled him. Well, it wasn''t like the knight was aware of her past lives. "Queen Lisica only turned me into this form because she doesn''t like the way I talk to her."

    "It''s fine even if you talk casually to the queen," Sir Glenn said in an unusually distant voice. "You''re the royal princess of our empire, Princess Neoma."

    Lewis, who was standing beside her, nodded in agreement.

    "Aww, that hurts."

    The three of them turned to Lisica and Rustin Crevan who just entered the cave.

    She noticed that Sir Glenn swiftly moved to stand behind her. Aside from that, she also noticed that Lisica smirked and winked at the knight.

    Of course, she didn''t like what she saw.

    She gave Lisica a cold look. [Stay away from Sir Glenn. You''re making him ufortable. Plus, he already has a lover.]

    Lisica, who seemed to have read her facial expression,ughed and raised her hands in surrender. Then, the queen changed the topic swiftly. "Princess Neoma, I lost the bet since Lewis came out alive," she said. "Can we talk in private?"

    Neoma remembered that Lisica promised her a piece of history that would be helpful to her in the future, allegedly. "No problem, Your Majesty."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "LEWIS, your tails are so cute and fluffy," Glenn said while looking at the child''s nine tails. Yes, he counted it earlier. "May I touch them?"

    Lewis turned to him with a nk look on his face. "No."

    Well, he wasn''t really surprised because he already expected that kind of response from the fox boy.

    The two of them were distracted when they felt Princess Neoma''s sudden burst of power.

    They were about to run to where the royal princess was when Rustin Crevan suddenly appeared and literally blocked their way. He and Lewis were ready to fight when all of a sudden, the old fox knelt and lowered his head.

    "I swear on my honor that Queen Lisica doesn''t intend to kill or hurt Princess Neoma. Please allow them to continue talking in private," Rustin Crevan said in a pleading voice, then he raised his head to face them properly. "In return, I will tell you the things that our queen is sharing with Princess Neoma at the moment."

    "Sir Glenn, I don''t think the queen is strong enough to hurt Princess Neoma. Not in her current form, at least," Lewis said, then he turned to her. "Shall we listen to what Rustin Crevan wants to say?"

    It was rare for Lewis to speak long and proper sentences.

    How could he refuse the fox boy in that case?

    "Alright, I understand," Glenn said to the fox boy, then he turned to Rustin Crevan. "We will trust your words, Lord Rustin."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA covered her mouth with her hands when she yawned.

    She was currently inside the Dome that she created while Lisica was busy trying to break her durable barrier using her ws. The queen''s fast and swift movements were quite hard to follow with ordinary human eyes. Thankfully, she wasn''t ordinary.

    [This is getting boring.]

    "Mochi,e out," Neoma said when she got tired of watching and listening to Lisica growl and scratch the Dome in vain. "Catch the queen."

    She couldn''t counter-attack on her own as long as she was inside the Dome.

    Thankfully, she was a Summoner. Instead of fighting back using her own strength, she would simply summon her Spirits whenever she was locked up inside the Dome.

    Mochi, the Wind Spirit in the form of a white bunny, appeared out of thin air.

    "Thank you for summoning me, Princess Neoma," Mochi said in an excited voice. "It''s been a while since I get to fight a special being."

    She smiled and waved at the white bunny. "Have fun."

    The Wind Spirit giggled before she disappeared.

    Then, the next thing she knew, Mochi was already "dancing" with Lisica. When ites to speed, she was confident that the Wind Spirit could move faster than the queen.

    And she was right.

    In just a few minutes, probably after Mochi got tired of ying with Lisica, the Wind Spirit tied the queen with her invisible whip. After all, you can''t see air.

    "I give up," Lisica, now floating in the air with her hands tied behind her, said with a smirk, her golden eyes glowing from excitement. Even though the queen lost the fight, it seemed like her violent side was satisfied. "Although I didn''t get to fight you personally, I am contented to know that you inherited both the de Moonasterio divine energy and the Roseheart Blood from your parents."

    "Does everyone know who my parents are?" she asked as the Dome around her copsed, and Mochi sat on top of her headfortably. "I thought you were already dead way before I was born, Your Majesty."

    "Well, your mother was a well-loved Summoner," the queen exined. "Spirits all over the world still talk about her even after her death."

    That made her smile.

    [I aspire to be as well-loved as my Mama Boss. Although that might be impossible since I have a bad temper and a foul mouth. Plus, I''m very vain. Only odd people like Lewis could tolerate a person as vain as me. In short, I''m too high-maintenance and most people can''t handle that.]

    "Why did you try to test my ability?" she asked while looking up at the queen. "I thought you were going to say something important to me, Your Majesty."

    "I wanted to see for myself if you''re worthy for our secret, Princess Neoma."

    "You mean the Silver Fox n has a secret that could impact the Royal Family?"

    "Why do you think your predecessors were very adamant on annihting our n?" the queen asked. "Your grandfather was the one who seeded in purging us. But he wasn''t the first one that dared to erase our n in the empire. Thanks to your predecessors, our n grew weaker and weaker. Your grandfather was just lucky that we met our downfall during his reign."

    "Mochi¡­?"

    "That''s true, Princess Neoma," Mochi confirmed, then she suddenly appeared in her arms. "The Silver Fox n led by Rustin Crevan was still around when your mother was still living in the Royal Pce. When your crazy grandfather began the purging of the Silver Fox n just to steal their Marbles, Mona and little Niki began their rebellion to oust the previous emperor. Unfortunately, it was toote. The whole n perished at the hands of your grandfather''s army when Rustin Crevan was killed. Then, the crazy emperor ate all the Marbles that they had stolen from the Silver Fox n."

    The queenughed bitterly. "That crazy emperor only ate ordinary Marbles because Rustin''s Marble, as well as the Marbles of the former nine-tailed foxes that our n had kept hidden, were stolen by someone else," she said seriously. "All the Fox''s Marbles that we had back then were stolen by the crow with red eyes."

    Neoma gasped, feeling the shivers that went down her spine. Then, it was followed by anger that rose up in her chest. "Why does everything seem to be connected to the Crow?"

    "Because first and foremost, the Crown was behind the copse of the Four Pirs that protected the empire in the past," Lisica said while looking at her straight in the eye. "Princess Neoma, have you heard of the Four Pirs?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 223 - THE PILLAR CALLED FANGS

    "I HAVEN''T heard of it," Neoma said as a response to Lisica''s question. Then, she looked down at Mochi in her arms. "Mochi, can you put the queen down? I''d like to hear the rest of her story."

    "Certainly, Princess Neoma," Mochi said, then she put Lisica down.

    "Thank you," Lisica said while stretching her arms. Then, she sat on the ground in a lotus position. Thankfully, the queen wore a cloak over her short dress. Thus, her sitting position didn''t expose her panties. "Now, let''s talk about the Four Pirs," the queen said, then she turned to Mochi. "You seem like an old Spirit. Do you happen to know something about the Four Pirs I''m talking about?"

    She sat on the ground and put Mochi on herp, then she looked down at the white bunny. "Do you, Mochi?"

    She had to ask because she knew Mochi wouldn''t easily answer a stranger''s question.

    "I''ve heard about it in the past," Mochi said while looking up at her. "But I''ve only heard it through the grapevines. The Wind Tribe was an isted n. Thus, I don''t know much about the things happening outside our tribe. Having said that, I remember hearing a huge incident back when I was still a little girl. Apparently, a royal princess who was supposed to be dead returned to the empire and started a rebellion. If I remember it correctly, the rebellion was called the ''Bloody Moon Hunt.''"

    Her brows furrowed in confusion. "It was recorded in the history books¡­"

    And she didn''t have any recollection of that story from her first life.

    "Of course, it wasn''t," Lisica said in an irritated voice. But of course, that irritation wasn''t directed at them. "Every single document about Princess Aruna de Moonasterio was erased from history."

    She gasped when she heard the familiar name. "Princess Aruna¡­ the brilliant twin sister of the most ipetent monarch in history!"

    Lisica and Mochi bothughed at what she said.

    "Emperor Arche was indeed infamous for being inept," Mochi said while nodding her head. "Even our elusive tribe had heard of his ipetence."

    Her face turned red from embarrassment. "I wasn''t trying to shade the former Emperor Arche. I just remembered his most infamous "title.""

    "It''s alright, Princess Neoma," Lisica and Mochi consoled her at the same time.

    She just smiled as thanks, then she carried on with their conversation. "May I know what happened during the ''Bloody Moon Hunt?''"

    "Our tribe was in seclusion during that time and the rebellion already ended when we came out of our hiding," Mochi said, then she turned to Lisica. "Maybe the queen was personally there when the rebellion happened."

    "I was still an ordinary fox on the verge of being born as a nine-tailed fox when the ''Bloody Moon Hunt'' happened," Lisica exined. "Since I''ve lived for almost a thousand years as a fox, it wasn''t easy for me to understand humannguage. Thankfully, the nine-tailed fox of that generation took me under his wing. He was the only human I could understand back then. During that time, he taught me one thing: the Silver Fox n exists to protect the ''Sky.''"

    "The ''Sky?''" she asked, confused. "Not the ''moon?''"

    After all, every ruler of the Moonasterion Empire was known as the ''moon.''

    "My master never referred to Princess Aruna as the ''moon,''" the queen exined. "He would call the rebel princess ''sky.''"

    Ah, that was interesting.

    "I saw Princess Aruna return to the empire with four people who called themselves ''Pirs of the Sky,''" Lisica continued with her story. "One of those Pirs was my master. He was known back then as the ''Fangs.'' And apparently, he was the symbol of ''loyalty.''"

    "Oh, that sounds so noble."

    The queen grinned. "I know. It suited my master very well. He even died for Princess Aruna because he didn''t want to leave her just to save himself."

    [How could she say that so cheerfully?]

    As soon as she thought that, the queen''s face suddenly turned sad.

    "I was beside my master when he drew hisst breath," Lisica said with a sad smile on her face. "I still remember thest thing that he said to me: "The Sky will return; our n shall raise the next Fangs that would be the new Pir for the next generation."

    "Does it mean¡­ Princess Aruna will return?"

    "No, it wouldn''t be Princess Aruna anymore," the queen said while shaking her head. "A person could only be revived by the Fox''s Marble once. If that person died again, then she couldn''t be brought back to life using the same method."

    "Then, Princess Aruna was revived by the Fox''s Marble?"

    "I don''t know the details but that seems to be the case," Lisica said. "Anyway, my master believes that once another "sky" shows up, the new Pirs from the four families will also emerge."

    "Your Majesty, do you know from which families the other Pirs came from?"

    "Unfortunately, I don''t," the female fox said. "I tried to look for them after I''ve be a nine-tailed fox. But all their traces were already gone by then. Still, I held onto my master''s words. Before I died, I passed his message down to my sessor. That message has been conveyed up to Rustin''s time." She paused before she continued. "Unfortunately, the Silver Fox n has already been purged when Lewis appeared. Thus, he didn''t receive the message."

    "I believe my master somehow received the message from your n, Lisica," Mochi said in a serious tone. "My master, Lady Mona Roseheart, used to tell me that her daughter would gain four "guardians" in the future."

    "Huh?" she asked, surprised. "Mochi, are you saying that my mother believed that I''m the new "sky" of my generation?"

    The Wind Spirit nodded. "I believe so, Princess Neoma."

    She was too stunned to react.

    [Mama Boss, I don''t want to be the sky. I want to be a cool cloud that floats freely and can''t be tied down by anything or anyone. In short, this daughter of yours only wants to be ady of leisure!]

    "I knew you were special, Princess Neoma," Lisica said, looking smug for some reason. "The fact that Lewis appeared after our n perished could only mean that he was sent by the heavens to be your new Pir!"

    "I don''t like the sound of this," she said, halfining. "If special people were born in my generation, it only means that a big catastrophe is about to happen. And it''s probably as bad as Princess Aruna''s rebellion in the past."

    She didn''t have to hear the whole story to know that Princes Aruna''s rebellion failed.

    Had the former princess won the war, it would go down in the empire''s history. But since Princess Aruna was practically erased from history, that meant she just didn''t lose¨C she lost badly. And apparently, even the people that supported her perished.

    [Is history going to repeat itself?]

    "Of course something bad is going to happen," Lisica said bluntly. "In fact, it already began as soon as you were born, Princess Neoma."

    "Huh?"

    "Didn''t they tell you?" the queen asked. "The Crow only appears whenever a royal princess is born in the empire."

    "Huh?" she asked, then she looked down at Mochi. "Is that true? Then, they already know about my existence?"

    "It''s only a spection that the Crow appears once a royal princess is born, Princess Neoma," Mochi said. "But I''m sure that they don''t know where you are. Because if they do, they would have tried to kill you when you were younger."

    "How can we be sure of that, Mochi?"

    "Because Princess Nichole is the Devil," the Wind Spirit said firmly. "During the brief moment that we met during your coronation ceremony, Princess Nichole assured me that she has been erasing your traces ever since you were born."

    She felt a warm feeling in her chest when she heard that. "Why do you only tell me about that now, Mochi?"

    "Because I don''t want you to feel attached to Princess Nichole," Mochi said firmly. "Princess Neoma, the Devil is still the empire''s enemy."

    Ah, she appreciated that reminder.

    Her heart almost wavered earlier, so the fact that the Wind Spirit reminded her that the Devil was an enemy helped her collect her thoughts properly.

    "Regardless of whether the Devil is an enemy or not, you shouldn''t underestimate the Crow, Princess Neoma," Lisica warned her. "As I said earlier, Rustin imed that it wasn''t your crazy grandfather who stole his Fox''s Marble¨C it was the Crow. That could only mean one thing: the Crow is nning to revive someone who''d obviously be sent to kill you. After all, the Crow''s only goal is to get rid of the royal princesses born in the de Moonasterio Family."

    "I''m not underestimating the Crow," she said. "I have taken various steps in the past to keep them away from me, Your Majesty."

    "I don''t think that''s enough," the queen said firmly. "Princess Neoma, if you''re truly the new sky that my master spoke of, then you must find the other three Pirs to help you."

    "Help me with what?" she said with a raised brow. "Destroy the empire?"

    The female fox looked surprised by her retort.

    "I don''t mean to be rude, Your Majesty," she said more politely this time. "Don''t get me wrong. I am not fond of the empire. But unfortunately, I am under contract to lead our empire in the future. Moreover, I don''t wish to inherit the will of someone I don''t rte to. After all, I have a different path from Princess Aruna."

    She thought the queen would be offended.

    But much to her relief, the female fox''s face lit up.

    "I like Princess Neoma," Lisica said genuinely. "I want to follow you from now on."

    "Hmm?"

    "You don''t have to inherit Princess Aruna''s will, but you certainly need more strong people to help you reach your goal," the queen said. "Lewis and the other three Pirs would help."

    She smiled and nodded. "I can''t deny that."

    "You can also use Rustin and I as your Spirit Warriors, Princess Neoma."

    She didn''t know how to react to that.

    "It''s a good thing, Princess Neoma," Mochi said encouragingly. "Spirit Warriors, as its name suggests, are Spirits that would literally fight for you. Soju, Kimchi, and I could lend you the elements that we control. But having your own Spirit Warriors are like having your own private knights."

    "That sounds nice," Neoma said, then she put on her "business smile." "Let me think about it first, Your Majesty."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "AH, I''M a baby again," Neomained when she returned to being a nine-year-old baby girl after literally stepping out of the ck book. Lewis and Sir Glenn followed her behind. Of course, the three of them returned to the knight''s room. "I should have taken a picture of my adult form."

    [Maybe I should begin working on a portable camera to bring around to satisfy my vanity.]

    "Do you want me to draw your appearance a while ago, Princess Neoma?" Sir Glenn asked with a bright smile on his face. "I have a good memory."

    "Thank you, but you should focus on your love life, Sir Glenn," she said teasingly. "You''re going to meet Princess Brigitte soon."

    The knight smiled, then he gasped. "Oh! I was supposed to fetch the letter that Princess Brigitte sent me!"

    "You''re excused, Sir Glenn."

    Sir Glenn bowed to her. "Thank you, Princess Neoma."

    And just like that, the knight was gone.

    "Princess Neoma?"

    She turned to Lewis who turned back to his original form as well. It pained her to see her son in a battered form. But he assured her a while ago that he was alright. "What is it?"

    "Why didn''t you ept Queen Lisica and Lord Rustin as your Spirit Warriors?" Lewis asked seriously. "I thought you need more people around you."

    "Queen Lisica and Lord Rustin are too bloodthirsty for me to handle," she said seriously. "I can see through them. They volunteered to be my Spirit Warriors not because they care about me or my goal. Well, they might admire me for real. But at the end of the day, I can clearly tell that they just want to fight outside their current realm. Don''t tell me you didn''t notice that?"

    "I did," he admitted. "But I thought your need for more useful people outweighs the risk."

    Sheughed softly while shaking her head. "I could use strong people even if they don''t genuinely admire me as long as they''re trustworthy. But beings like Queen Lisica and Lord Rustin are dangerous. I have a feeling that they are the type of people that would lose their sanity on a battlefield. I don''t want you and the others to get hurt because of their violent nature. It''s simply not worth it."

    "You shouldn''t care too much about the people who serve you, Princess Neoma," he scolded her lightly. "If your duty is to be the empress, then you should learn to cut people off your life easily. Even if you hate it, there will be a time where you must sacrifice some pawns to achieve your goal. No one has ever sat on the throne with clean hands."

    Tsk.

    Her son talked a lot today just to scold her, huh?

    "I''m not that na?ve to think that I could keep everyone around me safe all the time," she said, then she gently flicked Lewis''s forehead. But honestly, her fingers touched his bangs and not his forehead directly. "But I want to lessen the risk as much as I could."

    There goes Lewis''szy smile again.

    Dammit, it still looked good even on his current form. After all, even though her son was still a twelve-year-old boy, he could already pass as a teenager. He was too tall and too handsome for a child who hadn''t reached his teens yet.

    [Some good-looking people really don''t have an awkward puberty phase, huh?]

    "Princess Neoma, I heard the story about the Pirs," he saidter. "Lord Rustin told me that I shall be the new Fangs of this generation."

    "You don''t have to do that if you don''t want to. Don''t feel pressured," she said casually. "To me, you''re always going to be Lewis, my Lulu."

    Lewis smiled once again. "Princess Neoma, hearing that story made me realize something," he said. "It seems like I was really born to protect you."

    She smiled, touched by Lewis''s words. "Thank you, Lewis. I will also protect you, especially now that I know how special your Marble is," she said gently. "I won''t let anyone steal it from you."

    As soon she said that, she fell silent while thinking deeply.

    "What''s wrong, Princess Neoma?"

    "I just had some crazy theories in my head rted to your Fox''s Marble," she said, then she sighed. "But aside from that, I have a n regarding your would-be kidnapping case. I have a n."

    He looked at her intently, obviously waiting for her to speak again.

    "We could use your current condition as an excuse as to why you can''te with the "Crown Prince" to harvest the Hisa Tree."

    Lewis looked surprised by what she said. She also saw fear in his eyes. Now he looked like an abandoned puppy. "Princess Neoma, you''re leaving me here?"

    "Yes, I have to," Neoma said although looking at Lewis''s scared face kicked her conscience. "Lewis, we have to give the enemies a believable reason as to why I couldn''t look for you after you get kidnapped."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 224 - MY BIG BRAINS CONSPIRACY THEORY

    NERO ALMOST died.

    If William didn''t pull him out of the water, he would have drowned. He was in his spirit form so he didn''t think it''d be possible until he couldn''t breathe underwater. This was already his 5th time jumping in the water and he still couldn''t dive deeper.

    "I told you it wouldn''t be easy," William said, then he squatted down beside him. Then, he touched his shoulder. As soon as the Grand Spirit did that, he felt warmth spread all over his body until he was dry. Yes, the "water Mana" works like real water. Thus, he was soaked when he got out of the water earlier. "Did you see anything this time, Nero?"

    Nero took a deep breath, then he nodded before speaking. "A water snake with red eyes," he said. "Arge one, It pped me with its tail as soon as it saw me. That''s the reason why I lost consciousness earlier."

    Thus, he almost drowned.

    "It''s the ck serpent," the Grand Spirit said. "Her name is Nathaira. She''s practically the queen of the ck Ocean. She''s strong especially in the ck Ocean where she could control the water and the other sea beasts. But if you asked me, I''d say she''s just a stupid brat."

    [Ah, he doesn''t get along well with Nathaira.]

    "Is she one of Mother''s Spirit Guardians?"

    "Well, you can say that," William said, then he paused for a while before he spoke again. "But Nathaira isn''t doing this just because he''s duty. Like most Spirits, thatdy serpent simply loves and adores your mother so much."

    He didn''t voice his thoughts but deep inside, he wondered why his mother was so well-loved by the Spirits. It wasn''t a bad thing, of course. He was just curious.

    [I think Neoma inherited our mother''s charisma. Although it''s a good thing that she''s surrounded by strong people willing to die for her, I don''t think I''d like it if those people love her as much as I do. I should be the only who loves her the most.]

    Ah, this was bad.

    He promised Neoma that he wouldn''t be too possessive and too overprotective of her. But he couldn''t help it.

    [Maybe I inherited Father''s tendency to obsess over the person he loves.]

    "Nero, what else did you see underwater?"

    "Ah, that''s right," he said when he remembered how he managed to find Nathaira, the ck serpent, in the first ce. "I think I saw a huge block of ice on what seems like the ocean floor."

    The Grand Spirit''s jaw clenched. "Your mother is trapped inside that huge block of ice."

    He guessed that much. Thus, he tried to get near the block of ice that he saw. "William, why doesn''t Nathaira allow you to get near Mother? I''m sure the water serpent knows that you are my mother''s Spirit Guardian."

    And he knew that every Spirit in the world knew how loyal William was to his mother.

    "I asked Nathaira the same thing the first time I tried to rescue Mona," William exined, then he turned to the ck Ocean. "But she told me that it isn''t time for our master to arise yet. And¡­"

    "And what?"

    "Apparently, Mona is waiting for someone else," William said in an annoyed voice. "Nathaira said that our master expects me to bring that person to her."

    "Who is Mother waiting for? Could it be¨C"

    "Niki de Moonasterio, of course," the Grand Spirit said. "As if I''d tell that dumb emperor where Mona is."

    "I don''t think Mother is waiting for Father."

    "What do you mean by that?"

    "If Mother is waiting for Father, she wouldn''t have run away from him in the first ce."

    The Grand Spirit fell silent for a while before he nodded. "That makes sense. But who do you think your mother is waiting for?"

    "Neoma."

    "What?! That filthy bug?!"

    He stared coldly at William. "Say that one more time and I''ll kill you."

    William let out a frustrated sigh. "Why would Mona wait for your twin sister? You''re the one who inherited the Roseheart blood. If there''s someone who''s going to save her, it must be you and not the princess who inherited the Moonglow."

    Of course, he ignored everything the Grand Spirit said. "Can you change my appearance?"

    "Huh?"

    "Make me look like Neoma," he exined. "You said Nathaira is dumb. Maybe we could fool her."

    "We could definitely do that since Nathaira doesn''t use her tiny brain that much," William said with furrowed brows. "But why do I have to change your appearance to make you look like your twin sister?"

    "As I said, I believe Mother is waiting for Neoma," Nero exined, then he looked at the ck Ocean. "I think Nathaira will allow me to get near mother if she thinks I''m my twin sister."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA stopped chewing the cookie in her mouth when she noticed her Papa Boss scowl when the crumbs fell on his bed.

    Yes, she was in her father''s room to talk to him. Since she needed her big brain to work, she brought cookies and a ss of milk with her. Shefortably sat on Papa Boss''s bed while munching on her snacks without asking if she could it on his bed.

    [Oops.]

    "Do you hate it, Papa Boss?" Neoma asked after swallowing the cookie that she just chewed. "Can''t I eat on the bed?"

    Emperor Niki let out a frustrated sigh. "Forget it. Your mother used to eat on our bed in the past as well."

    She covered her ears with her hands. "Stop it, Papa Boss. No child wants to hear their parents'' intimate moments."

    He just rolled his eyes at her, then he sat on the chair beside the table to face her. "What is it that you want to talk about in my room?"

    "Your room is the safest ce in the whole pce since it''s well-protected," she said seriously. "Papa Boss, what I''m about to say is a national-level secret."

    "Then talk."

    She took a deep breath first.

    After she heard from Lewis that Sir Glenn also heard the story that Lisica told her, she talked to the knight and stopped him from reporting to her Papa Boss. She told Sir Glenn that she''d do it herself.

    Thus, here she was now.

    [I have to share my crazy conspiracy theory with Papa Boss.]

    "Papa Boss, do you know Rustin Crevan?"

    "Yes. He was thest head of House Crevan, and thest nine-tailed fox before Lewis Crevan appeared," he said. "What about him?"

    "I met him a while ago."

    Her father didn''t look surprised at what she said. "I already know that Lewis Crevan is being trained by the former nine-tailed foxes in the book that Trevor handed to him. Glenn reported it to me the first time he entered the book with Lewis Crevan."

    Ah, she should have expected that already.

    "I talked to Lisica, their current queen, and she told me something that I bet you haven''t heard yet."

    "What is it?"

    "Prepare your heart, Papa Boss," she said, then she paused for a more dramatic effect. When her father started to look annoyed, she finally broke her silence. "Queen Lisica told me that Rustin Crevan''s Marble was stolen by the Crow and not your crazy father, Papa Boss."

    Her father really looked shocked by her revtion.

    "Now it makes sense why my father didn''t turn immortal even after he imed that he ate all the Marbles of the entire Silver Fox n," her Papa Boss said when he got over his shock. "My father didn''t get to eat the Fox''s Marble because it was stolen by the Crow, huh?"

    She nodded. "Queen Lisica also told me that the Crow might have stolen the Fox''s Marble to revive a person that could kill me," she added, making her father frown. "Because apparently, the Crow exists to torment and kill the royal princesses born in the empire."

    Her Papa Boss remained silent as if he was thinking deeply.

    She wasn''t done talking yet though.

    "Papa Boss?"

    "What?"

    "I have a crazy conspiracy theory," she said carefully. "I think the Crow revived Callisto de Luca using the Fox''s Marble."

    Once again, her father looked shocked by what she said.

    "I know that Callisto de Luca has been dead for a long time now," she exined quickly. "But he was half-god, wasn''t he? What if they stored their body or something? If my aunt Princess Nichole came back to life, then it''s also possible for Callisto de Luca to be revived, right?"

    "Why do you think the Crow would revive Callisto de Luca?"

    "Well, he was the founder of the Crow," she said. "And based on the story that I heard from Lord Yule, it seems like Callisto de Luca hates the royal princesses the most."

    "Well, that''s usible."

    She scowled at her father''sck of interest in her theory.

    "Is that all, Neoma?"

    "Huh?" she asked, surprised. Then, she nodded. "Yes, Papa Boss."

    "Then, go to sleep now. It''s already past your bedtime," her Papa Boss said, then he stood up and began to leave the room. "You may sleep her for tonight. I will allow your little knight to guard outside my bedroom for tonight," he said without even looking back at her. "I just remembered that I have some work left to do."

    Neoma clicked her tongue in annoyance. [Tsk. Just when I thought we have gotten closer, he suddenly acts distant.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    "HAVE you reflected enough?" Niki asked Geoffrey Kinsley while standing in front of the Pdin''s cell. Geoffrey had been locked up in the basement cell for a few days now. It was his punishment for disobeying his order that led to endangering Neoma''s life. "I hope you have learned your lesson by now, Geoffrey Kinsley."

    Geoffrey, kneeling on the other side of the jail bars, lowered his head even more. "I deeply apologize for endangering Princess Neoma''s life just because of my curiosity and selfishness, Your Majesty," he said. "It won''t happen again."

    "The next time you disobey me, I will have you killed," he warned, then he turned to Glenn, the only person that he brought with him in the basement cell. After all, what he was about to say to the two Pdins was top-secret. "You may release him now, Glenn."

    Glenn bowed to him politely. "As you wish, Your Majesty."

    After a few moments, his personal knight opened the cell and released Geoffrey.

    But he didn''t move from his spot.

    Thus, Glenn and Geoffrey also remained standing in front of him.

    "Neoma informed me that ording to Rustin Crevan, it was the Crow that stole his Fox''s Marble and not my father," he said, making Glenn and Geoffrey more attentive than usual. "My daughter believes that the Crow revived Callisto de Luca during the Marble. Although usible, I don''t think it would work. Callisto de Luca was half-god and thus, a mere Marble wouldn''t be enough to revive him."

    "That''s true," Glenn said when the knight noticed that he was done talking. "If it would only take the Fox''s Marble to revive Callisto de Luca, they would have done it a long time ago."

    "Do you have someone else in mind, Your Majesty?" Geoffrey asked carefully. "Do you think the Crow stole the Fox''s Marble to revive someone that you know?"

    Ah, as expected of the sharpest Pdin that he had.

    [Geoffrey already knows what I''m thinking, huh?]

    "Yes, I have someone else in mind," Niki said seriously, then he took a deep breath before speaking again. His idea was crazy but he couldn''t take it off of his mind. "I have a feeling that it was the Crow who stole Juliet''s body, and they probably used the Fox''s Marble to revive her."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 225 - IF EMPRESS JULIET RETURNSâ€¦

    "ALL THIS time, we''ve been following the traces left by the real Devil in search of Juliet''s body," Niki said while stirring his tea. "Thinking back, Trevor never said that the Devil stole Juliet''s body. He only suggested that the Devil could do it. Admittedly, I was blinded with rage back then." He sipped his tea before he continued. "This is my mistake."

    Right now, he was talking to Glenn and Geoffrey in the lounge area of his private office.

    "Please don''t say that, Your Majesty," Geoffrey said in an embarrassed voice. "I''m the Order''s source of information. I should have noticed that we were following the wrong traces all this time." He lowered his head. "I beg for your forgiveness, Your Majesty."

    "This isn''t the time to me each other," he said, then he put the teacup down on the table. "But I can''t shake off the feeling that Princess Nichole has still something to do with the disappearance of Juliet''s body. My sister is the original creator of the barrier that protects the Shrine. She could have easily turned it off and on again without me noticing."

    That was the reason why he immediately believed it when Trevor implied that the Devil, Nichole to be precise, was able to steal Juliet''s body right under his nose.

    "It''s possible that Princess Nichole and the Devil stole Empress Juliet''s body first," Glenn said, then he sipped his tea before speaking again. "Your Majesty, do you think Princess Nichole worked with the Crow?"

    "What do you think?"

    His personal knight immediately shook his head. "It can''t be. After what the Crow did to Princess Nichole before, I don''t think she''d work with them."

    "If you know that, why did you still ask that stupid question?"

    Glenn, who was already used to his sharp tongue, justughed it off. "I''m just merely trying to bring up all the possibilities, Your Majesty. Even the most ridiculous ones."

    Well, that made sense.

    [Glenn likes ying the devil''s advocate, too.]

    "It''s also possible that the Devil stole Empress Juliet''s body, then the Crow somehow stole it from them," Geoffrey said seriously. "It doesn''t make sense for the Devil to revive the dead using the Fox''s Marble. After all, the Devil is a powerful necromancer. They don''t need Marbles to bring someone back to life."

    He nodded in agreement.

    "Let''s say that the Crow really did revive Empress Juliet using the Fox''s Marble," Glenn said carefully. "What could be their purpose for doing that? All this time, the Crow''s only goal is to eliminate the royal princesses born in the empire. They disappear as soon as the job is finished. If our theories are correct, then this is the first time that something like this happened."

    [I think I know why.]

    "The Crow did something that they haven''t done before because for the first time in history, a royal sessor with Roseheart Blood was born," he announced, obviously surprising Glenn and Geoffrey. "The de Luca n, the family that founded the Crow, has always hated the Rosehearts. Thus, the current leader of the Crow probably can''t ept that the future ruler of the empire is half-Roseheart."

    Glenn still looked confused.

    Geoffrey, on the other hand, looked like he finally understood what he was trying to say. "Your Majesty, are you saying that the Crow is trying to bring back Empress Juliet in her ce because they want you and Her Majesty to conceive an heir¨C an heir that doesn''t have Roseheart Blood in them."

    Glenn, who finally got it, gasped aloud. "Your Majesty, what will happen to Princess Neoma and Prince Nero if Empress Juliet reallyes back to life?"

    "Juliet was the perfect empress in the eye of the nobles, and she was also well-loved by the citizens. If she really returns, she could easily take back her rightful ce," he said carefully, then he sipped his tea before he continued speaking. "The nobles, especially the ones who hate the Rosehearts, will probably appeal for "Nero" to be ousted as the Crown Prince. After all, they only epted him as my sessor because they know that they can''t force me to remarry."

    "I can also imagine those nobles executing a smearing campaign to ruin Lady Mona Roseheart''s reputation," Geoffrey added while shaking his head. "They will do everything to get the public to hate Lady Roseheart. Then, they will definitely pressure Empress Juliet to get pregnant with His Majesty''s child."

    Glenn scowled after hearing that. But it was only for a moment. Right now, the knight obviously looked confused. "I want Empress Juliet to return. She was a good person, and she was a good ally to His Majesty. But I don''t want Prince Nero and Princess Neoma to be kicked out of the Royal Pce¡­"

    "I won''t let that happen even if Juliet returns," he said firmly. "Moreover, do you think Juliet would kick Nero and Neoma out of the Royal Pce?"

    Glenn and Geoffrey both shook their heads firmly.

    "Empress Juliet was also a good friend of Lady Roseheart," Glenn said with a smile. "I''m sure Empress Juliet would treat Prince Nero and Princess Neoma as her own children."

    He nodded in agreement with Glenn''s statement. [Yes, Juliet would do that.]

    "I agree with that," Geoffrey said, but there was a concerned look on his face. "I''m actually more worried about what House Lennox would do if Empress Juliet returns. Marquis Vincent Lennox, thete empress''s grandfather, has been quiet all this time. He even publicly supported "Prince Nero" as a way to atone for the sin of House Sloane. But if Empress Juliet really returns, I don''t think House Lennox would support the royal twins anymore." He sipped his tea before he continued. "I know that nothing is proven yet but I don''t think it would harm us if we prepared for the possibility of Empress Juliet''s return, Your Majesty."

    "I know that," Niki said, then he picked up the teacup on the table. "For now, we will begin hunting down the crows while also looking for the Devil." He sipped his tea before speaking again. This time, his eyes turned glowing red. "We would take both of them down at the same time."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA covered her mouth with her hands when she yawned.

    Right now, she was in Ruto''s private kitchen while waiting for him to finish packing the snacks that he prepared for her and her friends.

    To be precise, she was standing in front of the kitchen ind with her eyes half-closed. She slepttest night, and she had to wake up early because she had to disguise herself as ''Miss Ramsay'' to meet the young chef.

    After all, today was their departure day.

    [Jasper Oppa, wait for me.]

    "Miss White Radish, are you listening?"

    Neoma forced herself to open her eyes wide. "What is it, Mr. ck Soybean?"

    Ruto looked amused while watching her. Then, he pointed at the cute pastel pink pic basket on the kitchen ind. "I packed tonkatsu burgers and strawberry sandwiches for you and your friends. This basket is magical. It will keep your food warm for twenty-four hours."

    Now she was truly awake.

    She smiled widely while looking at the cute pic basket. "It''s not just pink¨C it''s pastel pink!" She raised her head to meet Ruto''s gaze. He was looking at her but she knew that he couldn''t see her face anyway. Still, she liked that he was looking at her in the eye. "I love pink."

    "I know."

    "Huh?"

    "You always either wear or carry something pink with you."

    "Ohh," she said, then she changed the topic when she remembering something more important. "When are you going to leave the empire, Ruto?"

    "I''ll be leaving in three days," he said. "I guess I won''t be here anymore once you return."

    "I guess so," she said in a somewhat down voice. [Well, I don''t know when I''ll be able to return. But why the heck do I feel sad?]

    "Why do you sound like we''re not going to see each other again?" the young chef asked, then he ced his hands on the t surface of the kitchen ind. After that, he leaned down to get closer to her. "You still have themunication device that I gave you, right?"

    "I''m not going to use it," she said firmly. She didn''t like it when people invade her personal space. But for some reason, she still feltfortable with Ruto. Her whole system must have already been bribed by Ruto''s yummy food. "Even if you call me, I won''t answer it."

    "Why?"

    "Because I don''t want to get too attached to someone who''s not physically close to me."

    She didn''t want to admit this but she could be the clingy type.

    And she would never say this aloud but she knew deep in her heart that she would miss Ruto (and the godly food that he makes for her). Hearing his voice would only make her miss him even more.

    She didn''t want to feel that.

    "Miss Ramsay."

    "What?"

    "You''re quite cold," Ruto said in a slightlyining voice. "Why don''t you just ask me to stay then?"

    Neoma raised a brow at his challenge, her stupid heart suddenly beating erratically. Was she being excited because the possibility of her favorite chef staying meant that she could eat all the food that she wanted again? After all, only Ruto could make the modern food that she would often crave. "Would you stay if I asked you to?"

    <strong>***</strong>

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    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 226 - ITS ADVENTURE TIME

    "NO, I can''t stay even if you ask me to."

    "I know, right?" Neoma said while pointing her finger guns at Ruto. "I''ll be disappointed in you if you dy your studies just because your pretty glutton of a friend asked you to."

    Ruto raised a brow at her. "Did you call yourself a glutton?"

    "No," she said. "I said "pretty glutton.""

    "Are you pretty?"

    "Yes, I''m conventionally pretty."

    ""Conventionally?""

    "Uh-huh," she said. "Everyone is pretty but society has beauty standards. I''m considered ''pretty'' by those standards, thus I call myself "conventionally beautiful.""

    "Okay."

    "Ruto, are you hesitating to leave?"

    "No," he said bluntly. "I already dyed my departure for a year. My father won''t tolerate any postponement anymore."

    "Ohh. You''re a good son, huh?"

    "It''s my choice to attend culinary school abroad. I wasn''t forced by my father," he said. "However, my father didn''t like it when I dyed my enrollment. He thought I was being indecisive. He hates that kind of person the most. After all, when you''re in the kitchen, you don''t have the room to hesitate. You have to be constantly moving or else, the food won''te out of the kitchen and you''ll starve your customers."

    "Oh, I see," she said, then she gave him a thumbs up. "Good job. People with focus and ambition are admirable."

    "Uh-huh," he said, unfazed. "Are you really not going to call me and ept my calls?"

    "Why don''t you juste home once a month?" she asked back. "You''re rich and privileged. I''m sure it''s possible."

    "I don''t want to."

    "What do you mean by you don''t want to?" sheined. "You asked me to call you but you''re rejecting my request now."

    "You rejected my request first," he retorted. "If you don''t want to hear my voice when I''m not physically near you, then I don''t want to go home and see you if I can''t stay for long anyway."

    "You can''t see my face."

    He rolled his eyes at her. "You know that''s not what I mean."

    "I know but I want to tease you," she said whileughing. "Ruto, this is the first time that I saw you roll your eyes. Are you annoyed with me?"

    "You make it easy for me to get annoyed with you."

    Sheughed even harder. "I can''t believe you''re sulking just because I don''t want to keep in touch with you once you leave."

    "I''m not sulking."

    "Sure," she said. "Shall wepromise?"

    His face instantly lit up. "How?"

    [And he said he wasn''t sulking.]

    "I''ll call you every Wednesday night," she said. "But you have toe home every month."

    "I can''t do it monthly since I n to travel around," he said. "How about once every two months?"

    "Okay," she said. "Then, I''ll call you every first andst Wednesday of the month."

    "You''re stingy, Miss Ramsay."

    "Take it or leave it."

    "Fine, let''s do that," he said. "But why Wednesdays? It''s a weekday."

    "I like Wednesdays," she said brightly. "Because on Wednesdays, we wear pink."

    He just stared at her nkly. "I don''t have a pink shirt."

    "I''ll send you one next time," she said with a softugh. Then, she changed the topic. "Thank you for the burgers and sandwiches, Ruto. I need to go now."

    "Wait, give me your hand first."

    She didn''t like how fast she moved to extend her hand to him. In her defense, she couldn''t help it. Her hand just moved on its own!

    [Stupid hand.]

    "I was in the market yesterday when I saw a merchant selling this," Ruto said while showing her a piece of red paper. "This is a temporary tattoo that works as a protective charm. Can I put this on you?"

    "Depends on the design."

    "It''s a chicken."

    She clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Why did you choose a chicken out of all the designs there?"

    "You like chicken so much," he said bluntly. "You even pair your waffles with fried chicken."

    "Hey, it''s a goodbination," she said defensively. "I won''t allow any fried chicken and waffles nder here. But that doesn''t mean I want a chicken tattoo on my body."

    "It''s a cute chicken," he said, obviously trying to get her interested. "I drew it myself."

    "I thought you bought it from the merchant?"

    "I bought the tattoo paper from a merchant," he exined. "The buyer gets to draw the design."

    "And you chose to draw a chicken?"

    "It''s a cute chicken," he said positively. "You''ll like it."

    "Fine," she said. "I want to see it."

    He looked pleased with what she said.

    Then, Ruto carefully ced the red paper on her wrist. "I''m going to use my Mana a bit to activate the charm," he said. "You might feel a little zap. Punch me if it hurts."

    She flinched when she felt a light bolt of electricity hit her wrist.

    It didn''t hurt though.

    [Ruto¡­ has an electricity Mana? But to be able to control an element means¡­]

    Only high-level Mana-users could control something like that¡­

    She suddenly felt shivers down her spine at the same time she felt a pang in her head.

    [There''s someone like that in my first life¨C a person who''s known to electrocute his enemies on the battlefield. But why can''t I remember who that is?]

    "My electricity isn''t that strong. It''s just enough to zap and paralyze people if I need to defend myself," he said as if he could read her mind. "I often use it to catch animals that I n to cook."

    She didn''t know why she felt relieved to hear that. "I see."

    "It''s done," he said, then he slowly peeled the paper tattoo off her skin.

    Sheughed when she saw the line art of the "charm" on her wrist.

    To be honest, she was expecting a doodle of a real chicken. But she didn''t expect that when Ruto said ''chicken,'' he meant fried chicken. It was a cute doodle of a chicken drumstick!

    "It''s cute," she said with a smile, then she raised her head to meet Ruto''s gaze. "How does this work?"

    "If you feel like your life is in danger, touch the tattoo summon these words: "Strike, Veton,"" he said. "Don''t forget those two words. But if you don''t activate the charm after seven days, then it would automatically wear off."

    "Okay, `got it," she said. "Thank you for this protective charm, Ruto."

    "Come back safely, Miss Ramsay," Ruto said, then he gently tapped the temporary tattoo on her wrist. "I pray that you wouldn''t have to use this." He paused before he slowly let go of her wrist. "Stay healthy until I return, okay?"

    "The chef in the Crown Prince''s pce is also good so don''t worry¨C I''ll eat well," Neoma assured him. "Ruto, cook rice for me once you return, okay?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    [HE''S LIKE a rip-off S*n Gok*.]

    Neoma couldn''t help but remember the dude from Dr*gon Ball as she watched Jeno Dankworth descend from the sky using a cloud shaped like a cube. A jelly-like cube, to be precise. He covered himself with mist and only appeared when he wasnding on the ground.

    [As expected, Jeno Dankworth''s ability is really useful.]

    Jeno Dankworth got down on one knee and lowered his head in front of her. "Greetings, Your Royal Highness. Jeno Dankworth at your service."

    She summoned Jeno Dankworth in secret.

    Right now, she was in her personal training ground behind her pce with Juri. Lewis was in his room and he wasn''t allowed toe out until she and her party were out of the Royal Capital. Of course, it was a part of their n to have her son get kidnapped easily.

    "Lord Jeno, even though you took the Oath of Silence, you''re still not a part of my dream team," Neoma said seriously. "I''m still not sure what to do with you. However, I''m fascinated by your ability. Thus, I decided to give you a test. If you seed, I will ept you as my Marksman."

    Jeno Dankworth raised his head and looked at her with shining eyes.

    "Don''t get me wrong, Jeno," she said with a business smile on her face. "Just because I forgive you doesn''t mean I will forget what you did. I''m petty and I hold grudges. Plus, I''m very vain. If you can''t deal with that, you''re free to go."

    He shook his head firmly. "Please give me an order, Your Royal Highness."

    "Okay," she said. "Jeno Dankworth, I will leave Lewis Crevan in your care."

    The young lord looked confused by her order.

    "I want you to follow Lewis Crevan discreetly, and don''t even let him notice you," she said seriously. "Whatever happens, you have to follow him. I won''t give you any more details but if you truly want to be a part of my team, you should know when to contact me. I will lend you one of my Spirits, and I will let him lend you the ability to speak with Spirits for a short period of time." She opened her right hand. "Come out, Soju."

    Soju, in his toad form, appeared on his palm. He looked at Jeno Dankworth long and hard before he looked up at her. "His face is good enough to entertain me," the merman said. "I will work with him, Princess Neoma."

    She smiled at the toad. "Thank you, Soju."

    "You''re always wee, Princess Neoma."

    Then, Soju hopped on the top of Jeno Dankworth''s head.

    "Get acquainted with each other now," Neoma said seriously while looking at Jeno Dankworth in the eye. "I will wait for your report."

    Jeno Dankworth bowed politely. "I will not disappoint you, Your Royal Highness."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "LEWIS, I''m going," Neoma said in a cold and distant voice that she rarely used when talking to her precious son. Only the two of them were in Lewis''s room, but she still had to act that way. "Listen to my instructions."

    She didn''t want to treat Lewis like an ordinary servant but she had to draw a line from time to time to remind him that she was still the boss. It wasn''t like she was power-tripping. She just wanted to prevent Lewis from acting on his own.

    If she let him do what he wanted no matter how dangerous or reckless his idea was, then she might just as well send him to his death. But as a caring mother, she couldn''t let that happen.

    [Aigoo. Raising a child in his rebellious phase is really hard.]

    Lewis got down on one knee, then he lowered his head. Even though he didn''t say anything (because he was still sulking for getting left behind!), she knew that her son was listening intently to her.

    "I only three orders for you, Lewis Crevan," she said seriously. "First, don''t let them steal your Marble at all cost. Second, if it gets too dangerous, abort the mission and escape. Andstly,e back to me alive and well."

    Her son raised his head as if he was surprised by herst order.

    "You can''t die without my permission, okay?" she said in a cracked voice. Although it was her idea to destroy the Death Camp with Duke Jasper Hawthorne, her heart was still heavy for sending Lewis to a dangerous ce. "I''m sorry, Lewis."

    She didn''t want Lewis to relive the trauma that he got from being a ve in the past.

    If only there were other ways to infiltrate the Death Camp without having her son as bait...

    Lewis face lit up. "I won''t die so don''t beat yourself for sending me to a dangerous mission," he assured her softly. "I will live for you, Princess Neoma."

    "You have to," Neoma said while holding back her tears. "I will go batshit crazy if something bad happens to you, Lewis."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 227 - THE SOUGHT-AFTER PRINCESS

    "PAPA BOSS, please behave while I''m gone, okay?"

    Niki raised a brow at Neoma. "Little rogue, just what are you nning for leaving your fox boy behind?"

    He was free to talk to his daughter that way because they were walking side by side on the pathway leading to the carriage she''d be using.

    Glenn and Geoffrey were standing behind them. The other servants with Neoma''s luggage were walking behind the two Pdins. Moreover, whenever he talked to Neoma outside while she was dressed as the Crown Prince, he would put a spell around them that avoid being eavesdropped on.

    "I''m not nning anything, Papa Boss," Neoma said with a fake smile on her face. "Lewis isn''t in the condition to travel because of the injuries that he got from his training. And it''s not like I''m going to leave him behindpletely. He''s going to follow me after getting a full day''s rest anyway."

    And that what made it more suspicious.

    If Lewis Crevan was going to get better in a day, Neoma could have just dyed her departure again. But it seemed to him like his daughter was purposely leaving the fox boy behind. She wouldn''t do it without a proper reason.

    But it was obvious that Neoma didn''t have any ns to tell him the truth.

    [Dion and Jeanne are about to return from their mission. I''ll have them follow Lewis Crevanter.]

    "Stick to Geoffrey all the time," he said to his daughter firmly. "For this mission, I allowed Geoffrey to unseal his powers. You''ll be safe with him."

    "Okay, Papa Boss."

    "I''m serious," he said. "Everyone knows that this is the Crown Prince''s first official duty outside the Royal Capital. I''m sure everyone who wants you gone will use this as a chance to get rid of you."

    If he could avoid sending Neoma away on a mission, he would.

    But the "Crown Prince" had been receiving continuous criticism from the nobility for not doing enough. After all, he didn''t send the "Crown Prince" to join a squad. It was a tradition in the empire for the sessor to train as a knight in an allied family''s army.

    He could have sent Neoma to House Quinzel, but he didn''t want his daughter to get closer to Rufus. Thus, he made an excuse and told the nobility that the "Crown Prince" was a genius in creating shields.

    Although Neoma''s title as the "new shield of the empire" satisfied even the Noble Faction, it still wasn''t enough topletely shut them up.

    Thus, he needed Neoma to gain more aplishments.

    [She has to resolve the century-old problem regarding the Hisa Tree issue.]

    "Don''t worry, Papa Boss," Neoma assured him cheerfully. "I will make you proud."

    [I''m already proud of you.]

    Niki didn''t say that aloud though.

    If only he knew that would happen during that trip, he wouldn''t hesitate to say those words to his daughter...

    <strong>***</strong>

    DOMINIC ZAVARONI opened his eyes when all the candles in the praying room were extinguished.

    It happened without the presence of a strong wind in the closed chamber. Moreover, the fire that lit up the Holy Candles couldn''t possibly be extinguished by ordinary wind. And most of all, it happened during the time that he was alone in the prayer room.

    Thus, it could only mean one thing.

    [A prophecy must being.]

    ["Dominic, my child¡­"]

    His eyes widened in shock when he heard Lord Yule''s voice echoing in the room. "My lord, I thought you already entered a deep slumber¡­"

    He expected to receive a prophecy.

    But he didn''t expect to hear it straight from the Moon God himself!

    ["I did,"] Lord Yule said in a soft and soothing voice. ["But a prophecy has shaken the Upper World, my child. Of course, it''s about Princess Neoma."]

    "What about Princess Neoma, my lord?" he asked worriedly.

    ["That child''s wrath would soon awaken the sleeping ancient gods,"] the Moon God warned him. ["You must stop Princess Neoma from losing her mind."]

    "The royal princess will lose her mind?"

    ["Yes, Princess Neoma will be filled with wrath, and that will cause her to lose her sanity,"] Lord Yule said worriedly. ["Once it happens, even the Upper World would experience chaos. Thus, you must stop it from happening at all cost. Dominic, you must save Princess Neoma to keep the order in the Upper and the Middle World in check."] The Moon God paused, then heughed softly. ["Or maybe it''s us who needs to be saved from Princess Neoma''s rampage?" She''s my descendant but she scares me. Thus, you must prevent her from going crazy."]

    He was both surprised and amazed by how much Princess Neoma''s wrath could affect both worlds.

    [As expected of our future empress.]

    "I received your order, Lord Yule," Dominic Zavaroni said, then he bowed politely. "I will stop Princess Neoma from losing her sanity."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "FATHER," Hanna, sitting on her bed while looking at the full from her window, said. "I had a dream."

    "A dream?" her father, seated on the chair beside her bed, asked. "Now I know why you suddenly woke up in the middle of the night."

    She turned to her father with a serious look on her face. "Father, you must return to the empire at once."

    Her father extended his vacation to spend more time with her and her mother.

    She was happy to have more precious moments with both her parents beside her. But she knew it was time for her father to leave.

    Her father turned serious. "What did you dream about, sweetie?"

    Yes, she was aware that it was only a dream.

    But when ites to Neoma, she would take everything seriously. Moreover, sending her father to check on her best friend wouldn''t hurt anyway.

    "In my dream, I saw Neoma destroying everything while she seems unstable," Hanna said worriedly. "Father, please return to the empire and make sure that Neoma is safe."

    <strong>***</strong>

    ["TREVOR, do you still remember me?"]

    Trevor clicked his tongue when he heard the real Devil''s voice echoing in his room. He put his guard up and didn''t turn his gaze away from Prince Nero''s sleeping physical body on the bed. "Are you here for Prince Nero?"

    It seemed like the barrier that Emperor Niki and Saint Zavaroni prevented the Devil from entering his space. But it wasn''t enough to keep the Devil from talking to him.

    ["I have no interest in Prince Nero at the moment,"] the Devil said. ["I''m here to give you a piece of advice, Trevor."]

    He rolled his eyes. "And why would I listen to you?"

    ["Princess Neoma is in danger."]

    "What?!"

    The Devil wouldn''t lie about that because the Devil''s goal was to put Princess Neoma on the throne.

    ["Princess Neoma will lose her mind, and it would cause a great tragedy in both the Upper and the Middle World,"] the Devil warned him. ["I swear I won''t hurt or kill Prince Nero, so leave your territory and save the future empress. Rather, save us from Princess Neoma''s wrath."]

    Trevor, despite being worried for Princess Neoma, couldn''t help but smirk. "My future wife is really amazing, huh?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    REGINA Crowellughed softly after the pathetic youngdies locked her up in the dirty attic of Belle''s House.

    Belle''s House was the school in the countryside that youngdies who aim to be courtdies for the Crown Prince attend. Since the courtdies were practically the harem of the future emperor, the nobility sent their daughters to Belle''s House as soon as the Royal Family announced its reopening.

    Since she was thedy with the lowest status in that school, she was being bullied. But she knew that her status wasn''t the only reason why the youngdies hated her.

    [They hate that a mere baron''s daughter is better than all of them.]

    Instead of being depressed, the fact that she was being bullied was fun to her. After all, she liked the feeling of being envied. The more she got bullied, the more she felt superior. In fact, she enjoyed "ying" with those youngdies.

    [Moreover,pared to the harassment that I experienced in that ''house,'' the way those feeble youngdies pick on me now is cute.]

    "Are you having fun?"

    She stoppedughing to herself when the ck crow with blue eyes appeared on the windowsill.

    "Yes, I''m having fun," Regina said while twirling around. Despite the simple and in white short-sleeved dress that she wore, her beauty still stood out. Thus, she once again earned the jealousy and the envy of the rich little girls that were supposed to be "above" her. "Abandoning Rubin Drayton is worth it."

    It wasn''t easy abandoning that pathetic boy though.

    If the order for her to apply as a courtdy didn''te directly from the Crown Prince''s pce, then Rubin Drayton wouldn''t have let her leave the Drayton Mansion.

    [I brainwashed him too much that he could no longer live without me, huh?]

    "His Excellency has made a decision: Emperor Niki de Moonasterio is no longer fit to rule the empire."

    She stopped with her little dancing when she heard what the blue-eyed crow said. "Does it mean it''s time for us to oust His Majesty from the throne?"

    "No, not yet," the crow said. "We need the Crown Prince to absorb as much Moonglow as possible from the current emperor first. And that''s our next mission."

    She paused for a while, then sheughed. "I get it. Our next mission is to harm the Crown Prince heavily to force his body to absorb His Majesty''s Moonglow until the emperor bes too weak to continue ruling the empire."

    "That''s correct."

    "How do we do that?" she asked, then she crossed her arms over her chest. "We know that His Majesty''s Pdins are back. Once the emperor unsealed their power, it will be hard even for us to get near the Crown Prince."

    "His Royal Highness Prince Nero is currently on his way to the Golden Field for the Hisa Tree," the blue-eyed crow said. "The Crown Prince didn''t bring Lewis Crevan because apparently, the fox boy is injured."

    "We don''t need the fox boy yet so it doesn''t matter."

    "Correct," the crow said. "Prince Nero only brought one Pdin with him but it''s Geoffrey Kinsley."

    She groaned as aint. "Geoffrey Kinsley is the brain of the group. But isn''t he also the most violent out of the Pdins? Glenn Exton is called the ''Mad Dog'' but he''s only violent if His Majesty orders him to kill. On the other hand, Geoffrey Kinsley is a sadist. He''s also known for disobeying the emperor from time to time." She shook her head. "I don''t want to deal with a lunatic like that."

    "I''m the one assigned to get rid of Geoffrey Kinsley."

    "That''s a relief."

    "You''re assigned to eliminate Juri Wisteria."

    "Juri Wisteria?" she asked with a raised brow. "The crazy bitch?"

    "Not as crazy as you are but yes, we''re talking about that Juri Wisteria," the crow said. "Apparently, she recently became one of the Crown Prince''s aides. It looks like His Royal Highness has finally begun collecting allies from the Royal Faction. Now that Hanna Quinzel is no longer qualified to be the Crown Princess, we believe the noble households with young daughters have also begun sending their princesses the Crown Prince''s way."

    "Juri Wisteria is twice the Crown Prince''s age though."

    "Well, it doesn''t matter because in the end, ''Regina Crowell'' is going to be the Crown Princess anyway."

    "That''s right," she said with a smile. "I was born to be the Crown Princess."

    "To make it a reality, we have to seed in our mission first," the blue-eyed crow said. "Now, make an excuse to leave Belle''s House temporarily."

    "Don''t worry¨C I''m good at pretending to be sick," Regina said with a smile while twirling some loose strands of her hair around her finger. "I''m sure Rubin Drayton will hurry over to fetch me if he hears that I''m sick."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "PRINCESS NEOMA has left the Royal Pce."

    Nichole finished her tea before she stood up and grabbed her cloak. "We must follow my adorable niece," she said to Gin. "This is the first time that she''s leaving the Royal Pce. I''m sure the enemies won''t miss this opportunity to ambush her."

    Of course, she wasn''t only talking about the Crow.

    In the first ce, it seemed like the Crow hadn''t figured out yet that the royal princess that they were looking for was acting as Nero. Even though the cult was aware that there was a hidden princess, they couldn''t and wouldn''t find her niece as long as she was erasing Neoma''s traces.

    She had been doing that since Neoma was born.

    Thus, despite having Yule''s eyes, the Crow hadn''t found Neoma yet.

    "I''m feeling good today," Gin, still in his child form, said excitedly. "I just know that we''re going to engage in a big fight soon."

    "I don''t mind fighting if it''s for Neoma''s sake," she said. "I will protect my precious niece at all cost."

    "I''m d to hear that you genuinely care for my daughter, Princess Nichole."

    She turned around and was greeted by Gavin Quinzel.

    Ever since his failed kidnapping attempt, this was the first time that the formermander left his room. Well, his room had an adjacent bathroom so he didn''t really need to leave the chamber. His meals were also delivered to his room by Gin.

    "You call my niece your daughter but in the end, Neoma still chose to stay with Niki."

    Gin gasped softly. "Ouch."

    The formermander looked unfazed though.

    "It''s alright. I will seed this time," Gavin said in his usual gentle andid-back voice. "I will bring Neoma to our side."

    Nichole could only sigh while shaking her head. "I hope you seed, Lord Gavin."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NERO couldn''t believe that his simple trick worked on Nathaira, the giant water serpent.

    After he asked William to change his appearance to resemble Neoma, he dived deep into the ck Ocean again to search for his mother. This time, he noticed that Nathaira didn''t attack him. The other sea creatures (that he couldn''t clearly see because of how dark it was underwater, didn''t move and just watched him swim towards the huge block of ice.

    He didn''t know deep he was in the water. But thanks to William''s protection (a giant bubble where he was in), he could breathe just fine and he wasn''t also being crushed by the pressure.

    [Mother¡­]

    He swam faster until he finally got near the block of ice.

    And there, trapped inside the ice, was indeed his sleeping mother. He noticed that despite being trapped inside the ice, the thick maroon cloak that covered his mother''s body was dry. Moreover, his mother was surrounded by a faint silver aura that felt familiar.

    It seemed like time stopped for his mother, too.

    Coral pink hair, fair skin, beautiful face.

    [It''s really our mother.]

    "Mother," Nero said, then he ced his hand on the block of ice despite the bubble between his palms and the ice. "Mother¡­"

    ["Nero¡­?"]

    He was surprised to hear a response from his mother.

    But her eyes remained closed, and she still looked she was in a deep slumber. He definitely heard a voice calling him though. And he had a feeling that it was his mother''s voice.

    ["Nero, is that you?"]

    It wasn''t his imagination indeed.

    [Mother is talking to me in my head!]

    ["Mother,"] he said softly, talking to his mother using his mind. ["It''s me, Nero. I''m sorry I couldn''t bring Neoma with me."]

    ["Why are you apologizing for that, my precious son?"]

    ["Because I know that you''re waiting for Neoma and not for me."]

    ["Oh, Nero¡­"]

    ["It''s alright, Mother. I understand."]

    ["My baby, it''s true that I''m waiting for Neoma. But that doesn''t mean that I''m not happy to know that you came for me. Nero, my love for you and your twin sister is equal. Please don''t think that I only favor Neoma¡­"]

    He wasn''t thinking that at all.

    But still, hearing those reassuring words from his mother warmed his heart.

    ["I understand, Mother. Thank you,"] he said softly. ["I will save you, Mother."]

    ["Nero, baby, please listen to me first. I''m waiting for Neoma because her me is the only me that could melt the ice I''m trapped with. But until your twin sister resonates her soul with her Fire Dragon Soul Beast, she can''t melt the ice. Moreover, only William could give Neoma the protection she needs toe and save me. So until then, we have to wait."]

    ["Understood, Mother. I trust Neoma so I know that she could resonate with her Soul Beast soon. Regarding William¡­"]

    Well, he could threaten the Grand Spirit to help Neoma.

    ["Nero, my freedom isn''t important right now,"] her mother said in a hurried voice. ["Baby, your twin sister needs you."]

    That shocked him. ["Is Neoma in danger, Mother?"]

    He didn''t doubt his mother''s words.

    Even though his mother''s physical body had been trapped inside the block of ice for many years now, she was still Lady Mona Roseheart¨C the empire''s greatest Spirit Summoner.

    Moreover, if his mother could talk to him right now using her soul, then it wasn''t impossible for her mother to use her soul tomunicate with other Spirits to get information regarding what was happening in the empire now.

    ["He''s back in this world, Nero,"] her mother said in a somewhat afraid voice. ["And he''s here to take Neoma away from us."]

    Nero didn''t like what he just heard. ["Who is it that dares to take Neoma away from us, Mother?"]

    ["It''s the former Commander of the White Lion Knights,"] his mother said in a firm voice. ["Nero, don''t let Gavin Quinzel get near Neoma at all cost!"]

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 228 - CRAZY GENES FOR REAL

    "JURI, do you want to see a magic trick?" Neoma asked Juri while they were sitting side-by-side in the carriage. And yes, she was now on a first-name basis with her daughter. Although Juri couldn''t really call her by her first name. Especially not when she was still dressed as Nero right now. "I''ll show you something good.

    It was their first stop-over after traveling for the whole day.

    Madam Hammock, who also rode the carriage with them, was currently inside the hotel where they would spend the night in. The Healing Sage was in charge of taking care of theirpany''s amodations, and she was escorted by Geoffrey Kinsley.

    Thus, she and Juri were waiting inside the royal carriage.

    Since it was an official royal duty, she had to use that carriage and announce her presence to everyone. It was awkward when the nobles and themoners all bowed when her carriage passed by. But she knew she had to get used to it at some point.

    "Oh, I want to see it," Juri said excitedly. It was worth noting that Juri Wisteria wore a set of clothing simr to an equestrienne outfit. She also braided her long, blonde hair. In short, she looked beautiful and strong¨C just like what she expected from her first daughter. "What kind of magic trick is it, Your Royal Highness?"

    She showed her daughter her ring. To be precise, it was the Lynx Ring that she received from Saint Zavaroni during her coronation ceremony. It was a beautiful and rare blue diamond. And it wasn''t just beautiful¨C it was also very useful. "Lynx, annyeong!"

    ''Annyeong'' meant goodbye in the Koreannguage.

    As soon as she said the "magic word," the Lynx disappeared along with the choker that changes her voice, Mini-Skewer that now serves as the choker''s pendant, and the ring that Nero gave her a year ago.

    "Your Royal Highness, is it okay to take off your choker?" Juri asked worriedly. "You''re still dressed as the Crown Prince."

    "Don''t worry, Juri," she said, obviously surprising the olderdy. "See? My voice didn''t change." She raised her hand near her face. The Lynx Ring''s beautiful appearance changed and it became a simple line around her finger. "And look, it looks like a tattoo now. Isn''t it cool that a rare diamond ring like this functions as a storage box?"

    Yes, the essories-sh-weapons that decorated her from head to toe disappeared.

    They were stored in the Lynx Ring right now. Although her essories/weapons were currently invisible, they would still work as long as she had the magic ring on her finger.

    Saint Zavaroni taught her that trick.

    Apparently, it was dangerous for her to leave her weapons visible. And she appreciated it. Moreover, she could store other stuff in the Lynx Ring. But for now, she only needed her essories to be hidden for now.

    "Your Royal Highness, did you say it''s the Lynx Ring?"

    "Yes," she said, then she turned to her daughter. "Have you heard about this ring?"

    Her daughter nodded slowly. "Yes. It''s apparently one of the holy weapons that Lord Yule himself had used when he descended many centuries ago." She paused while looking at her ring. "I didn''t know that the Lynx Ring only functions as an invisible storage box."

    "Hey, don''t say that," she said. "I already have a few strong weapons with me. I also need something that works practically. I like this ring that serves as a storage box."

    "If you say so, Your Royal Highness," Juri said, then she stared at the chicken drumstick "tattoo" on her wrist. "Did you draw that doodle?"

    "This isn''t a doodle," she said with a grin. "It''s a protective charm that Ruto gave me. Apparently, if I touch it and say the magic words that he taught me, I''d get to borrow his Mana in one attack."

    The teenage girl''s eyes widened in shock. "You hit the jackpot, Your Royal Highness!"

    "Huh?"

    "Every squad in the empire covets Ruston Stroganoff to be a part of their knighthood ever since he was five years old," her daughter exined, confusing her. "But Ruto never showed interest in fighting. When he entered the Royal Pce as a chef like his father, the captains of the private armies around the empire were brokenhearted."

    "What are you saying, Juri?" she asked, still confused. "Ruto is weak though?"

    "Are we talking about the same Ruto, Your Royal Highness?"

    "Well, unless there''s another Chef Ruston Stroganoff in the Royal Pce, then yes," she said, her body feeling cold all of a sudden. "We''re talking about the same Ruto."

    "But why are you calling him weak?"

    "Because he is."

    "He''s not," Juri said whileughing softly. "Your Royal Highness, Ruto is one of the geniuses of this generation."

    Neoma shook her head. "I don''t believe that."

    <strong>***</strong>

    ["THE DE Moonasterios have two "beasts" inside them. First, they have the living weapon embedded in their soul called ''Soul Beasts.'' Second, they have this "beast" called ''Lunacy'' inside their head.

    The first time a de Moonasterio experiences awakening, it is to control their Soul Beasts.

    But the second time a de Moonasterio awakens, it''s a matter of life and death.

    When people call the Royal Family a bunch of lunatics, they mean it literally. It''s a hereditary disease. If a de Moonasterio fails to ovee their insanity, they will die.

    Most emperors that ruled in the past didn''t die in wars¨C they died after they went mad.

    Yule once said that their Lunacy is a divine punishment for carrying his blood. However, it could turn into a blessing if one manages to suppress their insanity. The Moon God promised eternal youth and infinite source of divine energy for those who ovee the madness."]

    Niki closed the history book that he somehow felt the urge to read a while ago. Thus, he went to his private library for the first time in a while. "Stupid curse," he whispered to himself while putting the book back in its ce on the shelf. [Living in the pce is already enough for one to lose their sanity. Yule didn''t need to curse his descendants with insanity.]

    But why did he suddenly remember about their family''s second "awakening?"

    [Nero and Neoma are both too young to experience Lunacy. The symptoms usually appear once a de Moonasterio child turns thirteen. I will teach my children about it once they turned twelve.]

    "Your Majesty?"

    He turned around to face Glenn. Aside from him, only his personal knight and Kyle were allowed inside his private library. But if needed, he would sometimes allow the other Pdins to enter one of his treasured spaces in the pce.

    "Why are you still here?" he asked Glenn with a raised brow. "I thought it''s already time for you to leave."

    "I''m just here to say goodbye, Your Majesty," Glenn said in a cracked voice. "I''m really going to leave now."

    It looked like Glenn was waiting for him to say something.

    He let out a deep sigh. "Don''te back."

    The knight suddenly looked like he was about to cry.

    "Don''te back until you have Princess Bridgette with you," Niki said, smirking at Glenn''s pathetic look at the moment. Glenn was a crybaby when they were young. And although he kind of lost his sanity on the battlefield a few years ago, it seemed like he had returned to his gentle nature. "That''s an order."

    Glenn smiled while wiping the tears off of his face, then he bowed deeply to him. "I received your order, Your Majesty," he said in an emotional voice. "I shall return with Princess Bridgette soon."

    <strong>***</strong>

    GLENN was still emotional after saying goodbye to His Majesty and his friends.

    He would miss all of them, especially the emperor and Princess Neoma, but Princess Bridgette was his top priority right now.

    [Although I''m sad that I only got to say goodbye to Princess Neoma for a short moment, I''m still relieved that it turned up that way. I don''t want to cry in front of our princess. If any of my colleagues see me cry, I will never hear the end of it.]

    Plus, Princess Neoma told him that they didn''t need to have a tearful farewell because they were bound to reunite again soon.

    [Our Princess Neoma is really bright.]

    He was on his way to the carriage waiting for him when all of a sudden, Ruto blocked his way without making a sound. It was scary how he only noticed the young chef when he was already in front of him. And he was supposed to be a Pdin¡­

    [Ruto can make anyone look useless and weak next to him.]

    No wonder a lot of grown-up knights avoided the child like a gue. Some were even jealous of the young chef''s natural talent.

    Thankfully, he wasn''t the kind of person who''d envy a child for his potential.

    [The old generation has to ept the fact that sooner orter, the geniuses of the new generation will take over this era.]

    "Ruto, do you recognize me?" Glenn asked the young chef brightly. "It''s me, Glenn."

    Ruto nodded while looking up at him. But to be honest, the young chef grew a lot for the past year. The thirteen-year-old boy now reached his chest. "Are you leaving the pce now, Sir Glenn?"

    "Yes," he said. "Are you here to say goodbye to me?"

    "No."

    Ah, he should have expected that from the young chef.

    "I''m here to ask a favor," Ruto said. "I need to go somewhere. Can you drop me off at my destination?"

    He crossed his arms over his chest and gave the young chef a doubtful look. "Your family has your own carriage. Even if you don''t want to use that, you have the money and the means to get a rental carriage, Ruto. What''s your purpose for riding the carriage with me?"

    The young chef just looked at him nkly. "It''s okay if you can''t amodate me, Sir Glenn."

    [Ah, he has no n to tell me the reason why he has to ride with me instead of getting his own carriage.]

    Well, it wasn''t like Ruto would do anything dumb or illegal.

    "Alright. I won''t ask any more unnecessary things," he said, giving up. He really couldn''t understand kids these days. "Where do you need me to drop you off, Ruto?"

    "Cyfrin," the young chef said. "I need to go to Cyfrin, Sir Glenn."

    He was a little surprised to hear that.

    Cyfrin was one of the borders near the Royal Capital where one of the Royal Family''s transportation portals was hidden. That portal led to Oxspring, the territory that His Majesty owned. But the emperor rarely uses the portal in Cyfrin.

    After all, the Oxspring was known as the "unholynd." It was said to be cursed because thend was barren. Moreover, Mount Kimbro was said to be air for flesh-eating monsters.

    [But there''s no way Ruto knows about the hidden portal in Cyfrin, right?]

    Cyfrin was a port city famous for its variety of seafood. Ruto was a chef so he probably wanted to check the seafood market. He just couldn''t understand why the young chef had to do that when he was also supposed to leave the empire soon.

    [It''s not like Ruto will answer my questions so I''ll just trust him.]

    "Alright, I''ll bring you along with me since Cyfrin is on the way," Glenn said while nodding his head thoughtfully. "But does your father know that you''re leaving the pce two days before your departure?"

    Ruto turned his gaze away from him guiltily.

    [Uh-oh, someone is in his rebellious phase.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    "TODAY must be our lucky day, Jasper!"

    Jasper removed the hood of his ck cloak, then he turned to Prism.

    Tall,nky, and crouching like a predator, Prism was a red fox with messy orange hair that almost covered his sharp, hazel eyes. The red fox wore a weird cktex suit with a one-shoulder navy blue mantle.

    "Since the Crown Prince left Lewis Crevan, we don''t have to worry about His Royal Highness," Prism said cheerfully while scratching his ws against the trunk of the tree beside him. "That makes our job easier."

    Their informant reported to them a while ago that Lewis Crevan had already left the Royal Pce alone. Thus, right now, they were waiting for the fox boy in the Lifa Forest¨C the forest that he had to go through to get to the border leading to the Golden Field.

    "Don''t underestimate Lewis Crevan, Prism," Jasper warned his colleague. "He''s young, but he''s already strong. Thest time I saw him, he has two tails already. But that was over a year ago. He must have managed to summon more of his tails."

    "I''m confident that my hate towards Lewis Crevan will allow me to defeat him!"

    "How could you even hate someone you haven''t met yet?"

    "It''s unfair that he found a good master when he used to be a ve like me!" Prismined. Despite being sixteen years old now, this one had the mentality of a six-year-old child. "When I heard that the Crown Prince treats that Silver Fox well, I was enraged." He tapped his chest. "That''s why I promised myself that I would kill Lewis Crevan."

    "You can''t kill him, Prism," he said bluntly. "Lewis Crevan is a very precious merchandise. Most of our clients are willing to sell all their properties to the Master just to have the fox boy."

    The red fox clicked his tongue. But his tantrum onlysted for a few seconds. Now, he was grinning from ear to ear. "Well, even if I don''t kill him, the fact that he won''t be able to return to His Royal Highness''s side won''t change. Jasper, you''ve met Prince Nero, right?"

    "Just a few times," he said. It wasn''t exactly a lie. Still, he wanted to act as detached as possible to conceal his connection to "Prince Nero." "Compared to His Majesty, Prince Nero is more amiable."

    "That''s why I want to be Prince Nero''s new pet!" Prism said excitedly. "Jasper, do you think His Royal Highness will like me? I''m also a fox like Lewis Crevan."

    "No, he probably won''t," Jasper said with a "friendly" smile on his face. "I heard Prince Nero only likes good-looking people."

    "Hey, did you just call me ugly?!"

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 229 - LEWIS CREVANS ABDUCTION

    "HEY, FROG."

    "For thest time, I''m a toad," the talking frog, ced inside a sphere made of hardened cloud, insisted. "And my name is ''Soju.'' It''s the name that our great Princess Neoma has given me so you better respect it."

    Jeno Dankworth''s eyes bulged from surprise. "Princess Neoma gave you a name?"

    He thought he heard the toad smirk before he spoke again. "That, Her Royal Highness did. ording to her, my name Soju means ''a person that frees one from worries.''"

    "T-That''s a nice name with a deep meaning," he said while nodding thoughtfully. "As expected, Princess Neoma is wise."

    His admiration for the royal princess just increased.

    [I followed the right person.]

    And because he decided to follow Princess Neoma, he was currently following Lewis Crevan in secret.

    Right now, he was on the roof of the carriage that Lewis Crevan was using while seated on a cube made of solidified cloud. He also used mist to conceal his presence and his physical body. Of course, his brother Sean Dankworth was better than at him at using Cloud Maniption.

    [But I''m pretty good at it too if I do say so myself.]

    Moreover, the toad was helping him conceal their presencepletely.

    Soju used his ability so that other people wouldn''t hear their voice. Thus, they could talk freely. Now, their presence waspletely concealed.

    "Soju, how close is Lewis Crevan to Princess Neoma?"

    "Very close."

    "How important is the fox boy to our princess?"

    "It''s hard to measure how important Lewis is to our princess," the toad said. "But one thing is for sure: if Lewis Crevan gets hurt, Princess Neoma will lose her mind like how a mother who lost her son would."

    "Then, that means I can''t let Lewis Crevan get harmed at all cost."

    "My dear Jeno, that''s not our Princess Neoma''s order. She asked us to tail Lewis Crevan, not protect the fox boy," Soju reminded him. "Don''t do unnecessary things or else, Her Royal Highness''s n might get ruined."

    [Ah, that makes sense.]

    "I understand," he said. "I won''t do anything that Princess Neoma didn''t ask for."

    "That''s the correct answer," the toad said while nodding his head. "By the way, you don''t see Princess Neoma as your little sister, do you? Although our princess is usually good and kind to everyone, she hates the clingy and obsessed type. Once you show too much interest in her, she''d cut you off her life mercilessly."

    "I don''t n to cling to Princess Neoma anyway," he said softly. "I just want to support her from afar."

    It wasn''t like he was using Princess Neoma as his little sister''s recement.

    But for some reason, he was still drawn to the royal princess. He wanted to support her with all that he got. Maybe he was hoping that by doing this, his little sister in the heaven would be proud of him.

    His thoughts were cut-off when the carriage abruptly stopped when they entered the deeper part of Lifa forest¨C the forest that they needed to cross to reach the border.

    He and Soju were thrown off because of what happened.

    [Damn!]

    He quickly summoned more clouds to catch him and Soju. Theynded on a huge pillow-like piece of cloud, making a soft thud that he was hoping none had heard.

    "Come out, Lewis Crevan!"

    To say that he was shocked when a wild redhead man ripped the carriage''s door apart like it was nothing would be an understatement.

    Then, Lewis Crevan came out of the carriage like a fired bullet. The fox boy instantly gave the redhead man a high kick in the face. The redhead was sent flying and as soon as he hit the tree, Lewis Crevan used his sharp ws to maul the stranger''s face.

    He shivered when he felt the fox boy''s thick murderous aura in the air as he continued mauling the redhead lying unmoving on the ground.

    [Is he really a child?]

    Well, the two white tails that appeared on Lewis Crevan''s body reminded him that he wasn''t an ordinary human.

    [Right, he''s a Silver Fox.]

    Now he understood why His Majesty, for so long, only assigned one knight to protect Princess Neoma.

    He was convinced that Lewis Crevan could handle it until he noticed another presence.

    When he turned to his right side, he saw a familiar face standing on a tree branch while observing the fight. He also noticed that the young man was surrounded by red butterflies.

    Red butterflies¡­?

    His eyes bulged when he finally figured out why the young man was familiar.

    [Duke Jasper Hawthorne!]

    He met the young duke once when he secretly apanied his older brother in a social gathering. To be honest, he didn''t really remember the appearance of the young duke because he didn''t care about him. But he did remember that Jasper Hawthorne was surrounded by red butterflies during that time.

    [As far as I remember, those red butterflies are poisonous!]

    He stood up and touched the gun in the holster around his waist, under his cloak.

    "Stop, Jeno Dankworth," Soju warned him in a serious voice. "Princess Neoma didn''t order us to protect or save Lewis Crevan."

    He froze when he realized what the toad meant by that.

    [Ah.]

    He also remembered that the redhead called Lewis Crevan. And that made him realize that it was a nned attack.

    Jeno turned to the toad who was calmly watching the fight below them. "Soju, does Princess Neoma know that Lewis Crevan is going to get ambushed?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    [LEWIS CREVAN, you should hold back a bit¡­]

    Jasper Hawthorne knew that Lewis Crevan was doing the right thing by fighting at full force. After all, if the fox boy held back, Prism would find it strange. Even though the red fox was like that (violent and reckless), he was unexpectedly pretty sharp.

    He was slightly distracted when he saw the coachman of the carriage slowly crawling inside the carriage. Luckily for the coachman, Lewis Crevan and Prism weren''t moving that much. Moreover, the red fox was too overwhelmed in the fight to notice the witness.

    [Yes, just hide quietly there.]

    He ignored the coachman who hid inside the carriage, then he focused on the fight between Lewis Crevan and Prism again.

    [What happened to you in the past year, Lewis Crevan?]

    The fox boy still only had two tails just like he remembered. But he looked stronger and sturdier now.

    He never once thought that they could abduct Lewis Crevan easily. But he also didn''t think that it would be this hard to aplish their goal. Well, it was on him. He forgot that Lewis Crevan was a growing boy. Of course, part of his growth was to get stronger.

    Prism wasn''t simply receiving Lewis Crevan''s attacks. The red fox was wing at the young fox as much as thetter did. In fact, Lewis Crevan''s face, arms, and torso were already bleeding from the cuts he was receiving.

    [Princess Neoma would be heartbroken if she saw Lewis Crevan''s mauled face.]

    Ah, no.

    Scratch that.

    The royal princess would probably get enraged and kill Prism for ruining her "son''s" beautiful face.

    [That''s if Lewis Crevan doesn''t beat Her Royal Highness to it first.]

    After Lewis Crevan mauled Prism''s face, the fox boy began stabbing the red fox''s chest again and again using his sharp and strong ws. It looked like Lewis Crevan was trying to pierce his hand through Prism''s chest to rip his heart out.

    It wasn''t like he cared about Prism but why the hell couldn''t the red fox get Lewis Crevan off of him? Prism, despite being on the skinny side, was physically strong.

    [At this rate, we will fail to capture Lewis.]

    He promised Prism that he wouldn''t interrupt his fight with Lewis Crevan. The red fox was prideful, so he would definitely get mad at him if he helped him. But he couldn''t care less. He spent a year working for the ''Master.'' He wouldn''t let it go to waste.

    Jasper opened his hand. "Mariposa."

    "Don''t you dare!" Prism, who obviously had a sharp hearing, yelled angrily while being mauled by Lewis Crevan. "Don''t interrupt my fun or I''ll kill you first, Jasper Hawthorne!"

    "Three minutes," he said to the red fox. "Capture him in three minutes."

    The red fox justughed maniacally as a response.

    But that hystericalugh turned into a painful groan when Lewis Crevan''s hand finally pierced through his chest.

    [Ah, Lewis got Prism''s heart.]

    He was debating with himself whether to save Prism or not. After all, he could still bring Lewis Crevan to the ''Master'' even if the red fox died. One of them dying just to capture the young fox was expected.

    [There''s no way I''m the one dying here.]

    His thoughts were suddenly cut off when Lewis Crevan hissed loudly as if he was in pain.

    [What the hell is happening?]

    When Lewis Crevan pulled his hand out of Prism''s chest, his hand and arm had literally turned into stone until the young fox became a status.

    [Shit!]

    Jasper jumped from the tree and caught Lewis Crevan who was about to fall on the ground. Then, he red at Prism. "What did you do to our merchandise?"

    "Don''t be so stiff, Jasper," Prism said with augh, then he propped himself up on his elbows. "It''s all a part of my n. Didn''t I already tell you? The Red Fox n is the natural enemy of the Silver Fox n."

    "What do you mean by that?"

    "Lewis Crevan probably doesn''t know because his n was already gone when he existed," the red fox exined carefully. "But the Bead inside a red fox is their weakness. Of course, a single Bead won''t do anything to a Silver Fox. Thus, I took out the Beads of my dead n members from my collection, then I put them inside my heart. After all, I know that Lewis Crevan would aim for my heart¨C just like any wild fox would do."

    Ah.

    So that was the reason why Prism let Lewis Crevan manhandle him.

    "If you let Lewis Crevan turn into a statue, I suppose you have a way to turn him back," he said. "You know that we need him alive, don''t you?"

    "Don''t worry too much, Lewis," the red fox said. "He''ll return to normal in a few hours so we should hurry back to Master."

    "Will you be fine though?" he asked. He wasn''t worried about the red fox though. He was merely acting his part. "You look uglier now with all that cuts and blood on your face and body."

    "Fuck you and your pretty face," Prism snarled at him. "You can''t go around telling other people that they''re ugly just because you''re handsome even though you''re dark! Well, at least my skin is paler than yours!"

    He was already used to that kind of backhandpliment and insult.

    Moreover, he insulted Prism''s physical appearance so he already expected to be insulted back. He also knew that it was wrong to poke fun at someone''s insecurity.

    But he hated Prism after what he did to Tate, his cousin-sh-butler.

    [I''ll have my full revenge on you soon, red fox bastard.]

    "It''s not time to argue about our "ws,"" Jasper said even though he started it. So, he changed the topic before Prism could criticize him for that. "We must return to the camp now."

    [Princess Neoma, see you soon.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    JENO DANKWORTH could only breathe normally after Jasper Hawthorne and the unknown redhead took a statue-like Lewis Crevan.

    He watched everything that happened in horror and silence.

    [Princess Neoma''s most precious "son" was kidnapped by the youngest duke of the empire. Does it mean Jasper Hawthorne is a traitor?]

    But it seemed like the royal princess was expecting that to happen.

    [Just what is going on here?]

    "Jeno Dankworth, they''re leaving fast," Soju said in a hurried voice. "We''re supposed to follow Lewis Crevan even to the depths of hell, aren''t we?"

    Ah, right.

    That was Princess Neoma''s order.

    "Don''t worry," Jeno said. "As long as they''re walking under the clouds, I could trace them. I have something else to do first."

    "What is it?"

    "Princess Neoma said I should know when to contact her if I want to be a part of her team," he said, then he clenched his hands. "I think this is the right time to report to Her Royal Highness. That''s the reason why she asked you to apany me, right?"

    He heard the toad smirk before speaking. "You pass," he said. "I will contact Princess Neoma now."

    What that a test?

    And he passed? Then, does it mean¡­

    "No, you''re still not a part of Princess Neoma''s team. This is just your first test," Soju, as if he just read his mind, said. "Now, let''s hurry up and report to Her Royal Highness before Lewis Crevan and his kidnappers get awaypletely."

    Jeno nodded firmly. "Please connect me to Princess Neoma."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NIKOLAI knew something was wrong as soon as Dion and Jeanne returned to his office after he asked the two to follow Lewis Crevan.

    He dispatched the two after the fox boy had left a few hours before. But he was confident that the Pdins would easily catch up to Lewis Crevan because there was only one way to get to the Golden Field. But judging by the seriousness on the two''s face, something had definitely gone wrong.

    "What happened?" Niki asked, then he put the documents that he was supposed to sign down on the table. "Did you not find Lewis Crevan?"

    "Your Majesty, we found the carriage that Lewis Crevan used in Lifa Forest," Dion reported in a somber voice. "It was ambushed."

    He unconsciously crumpled the papers in his hands.

    "We found the coachman hiding inside the carriage," Jeanne added. "Fortunately, he wasn''t seriously hurt. He hid inside the carriage and pretended to be unconscious while the fight was happening. ording to him, an adult and an adolescent male abducted Lewis Crevan. He also said that he clearly heard the two talking about bringing the fox boy to the camp."

    "What kind of people could abduct Lewis Crevan?" he asked with furrowed brows. "That fox boy isn''t the type to get kidnapped easily."

    Dion and Jeanne looked at each other before they turned to him.

    It was Dion who did the talking though. "The witness said he heard the adult male shout Jasper Hawthorne''s name."

    To say that he was shocked to hear the empire''s youngest duke''s name would be an understatement.

    But to be honest, it was usible.

    "Jasper Hawthorne disappeared from the social circle a year ago," he said in an irritated voice, then he leaned against the chair and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Find Lewis Crevan at all cost. Neoma will go crazy if she finds out that her precious "son" was abducted."

    "Your Majesty, aren''t we going to inform Princess Neoma of what happened?" Jeanne asked carefully. "Her Royal Highness is expecting Lewis Crevan''s arrival."

    He opened his eyes and shook his head. "We will only inform Neoma of what happened to the fox boy once we know where to find him. Understood?"

    "Yes, Your Majesty," the two Pdins said at the same time.

    "Now go," he said. "Do everything you could to find Lewis Crevan before Neoma finds out and goes on a rampage."

    Dion and Jeanne bowed politely. "We received your order, Your Majesty."

    After that, he dismissed the two Pdins.

    He let out a deep sigh once he was alone in his office once again.

    [I''m d Glenn already left,] he said to himself. [I''m sure that loyal fool would dy his departure if he found out that Lewis Crevan got abducted.]

    He sighed again while shaking his head. "We have to find Lewis Crevan at all cost."

    "You shouldn''t be worrying about that fox boy, Your Majesty."

    As soon as he felt the dark energy entered his office, the White Tiger came out on its own ord. His Soul Beasts would usually act on their own once he was being ambushed.

    "Woah, it''s just me," the demon boy known as the Devil''s Grimoire said while he emerged from the ck hole on the floor. Then, he raised his hands in surrender. "I''m not here to fight."

    He patted the White Tiger''s head to calm it down. "What brings you here, demon boy?"

    Trevor smiled brightly at him. "I just missed you, father-inw."

    Father-inw?

    "West," Niki said coldly, calling the White Tiger by its name. "Eat that cheeky demon."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 230 - DEVIOUS PLANS

    "NERO, WAKE up!"

    Nero, irritated by the loud voice yelling his name again and again, opened his eyes slowly. He scowled as soon as he saw William''s face. But that scowl quickly disappeared when he realized that he was inside a bubble different from the one the Grand Spirit made for him earlier.

    The bubble he was inside right now had a warmer feeling, and the aura was a mix of coral pink and silver.

    [Ah, this is Mother''s Mana¡­]

    Now he remembered that the bubble William made for him burst when he touched his mother''s block of ice for quite a long time. His mother probably created a new bubble for him, then she sent him back to the shore.

    [Thank you, Mother.]

    When he touched the insides of the bubble, it disappeared. Then, he felt the warm aura enter his body. He didn''t know if it was just his imagination or did he really feel better now.

    "What happened?" William asked, curious. "Did you meet Mona?"

    "I met mother," Nero confirmed with a nod of his head. "But I failed to save her. ording to Mother, only the me of Neoma''s Soul Beast could melt the ice she was trapped in."

    The Grand Spirit obviously didn''t like what he heard. "Dammit," he cursed under his breath. "Why does it have to be that filthy¨C" When he red at William, he cleared his throat. "Why does it have to be your twin sister?"

    "Isn''t it obvious? My twin sister is the most special person in the whole continent," he said proudly.

    "Yeah, right."

    He ignored William''s sarcasm. "I need to go back to the surface."

    "By surface, do you mean¡­"

    "The living world," he said seriously. "My mother gave me a task."

    The Grand Spirit''s face lit up. "What task? If it''s an order from Mona, then I''ll dly help you out."

    "William, who is Commander Gavin Quinzel?"

    The noisy spirit suddenly fell silent.

    "I know that he was the formermander of the White Lion Knights. I''ve also heard the nasty rumor between him and my mother," he exined. "But what was he to Mother?"

    "Why are you suddenly asking about Mona''s rtionship with that bastard?"

    "Because Mother told me that themander is back."

    The Grand Spirit''s eyes widened in shock? "Back? Do you mean back to life?"

    He nodded. "Mother told me to keep themander away from Neoma at all cost," he said worriedly. "ording to the rumors that I heard before, I thought Mother trusted the formermander. But now, I''m confused."

    "Mona really trusted Gavin. I did, too," William said in a cold voice, then he clenched his jaw before he spoke again. "But that bastard had be too greedy. In the end, he betrayed your mother."

    "I never believed that my mother ran away with the formermander, but I also never thought that she was forced by themander toe with him."

    The Grand Spirit smirked bitterly. "That bastard didn''t force Mona toe with him. But he found a way to make your mother choose him over Niki de Moonasterio." He paused, then he sighed. "Admittedly, even I thought Gavin''s n was perfect to keep Mona and your twin sister safe from the enemies who wanted the Roseheartspletely gone. Back when your mother was still pregnant, we didn''t know that she would give birth to a male. Thus, the enemies who wanted our n expected that she''d give birth to a girl. They thought killing Mona and her heiress would be the end of House Roseheart. But no one expected your birth, Nero. Not even Mona herself."

    "Is that why Mother decided to leave me to Father?"

    "It was a hard choice for Mona," the spirit insisted. "She didn''t want to leave you, Nero. But she believed that you''d be safer with Niki de Moonasterio because you''re a male. Thus, she knew that the people who support the Royal Family would protect a male sessor regardless of her blood running through your veins. Unfortunately, a royal princess like your twin sister doesn''t have the same privilege. Moreover, as soon as a royal princess is born, she''s already a target for the Crow."

    Ah, yes.

    The Crow was the cult dedicated to killing all the royal princesses born in the Royal Family.

    "Thus, when Gavin introduced his n, we immediately thought that it was the safest route for Mona and your twin sister," William continued, then a glint of anger crossed his eyes. "But in the end, that bastard gave in to his greed and hurt my master."

    "What did Gavin Quinzel do to my mother?"

    The Grand Spirit looked at him as if he was hesitating.

    Then, his gaze went past him.

    The shock on William''s face was enough to make him turn around. To say that he was surprised to see Tara, the Queen of the Spirit World, would be an understatement.

    "Nero," Tara said with a sweet smile on her face, then she waved her tiny hand. "Good night."

    Nero cursed under his breath when he felt his consciousness being swallowed by darkness. [Why¡­]

    <strong>***</strong>

    WILLIAM caught Nero before the royal prince hit the ck sand, then he raised his head to give Tara a questioning look. "What''s the meaning of this, Your Majesty?"

    "I was in a meeting with the other gods a while ago," Tara exined, then she let out a deep sigh. "It seems like Princess Neoma''s Lunacy is about toe out sooner than expected."

    "That filthy bug is only nine years old," he said in disbelief. "I thought the de Moonasterio''s Lunacy begins showing up when they turn thirteen?"

    "It seems like Princess Neoma is really special," the queen said. "A great tragedy always follows a de Moonasterio''s second awakening¨C just like what happened with Nichole and Niki in the past. Apparently, this time, the royal princess''s Lunacy would affect even the sleeping ancient gods."

    "She can''t lose her mind."

    "Are you suddenly concerned about the little princess?"

    "No," he said bluntly. "But Nero was able tomunicate with Mona. ording to my master, only the filthy bug''s me could melt the ice that she was trapped in. That little princess could die after she saved my master."

    "Well, then go and save Princess Neoma."

    "What?"

    "I put Nero back to sleep because I felt his desire to return to the surface in his Spirit Form," the queen exined seriously. "But I have a feeling that the real Devil would make an appearance this time. If that person saw Nero in his Spirit form, I''m certain that they would kill the royal prince right away. You know what will happen if Nero''s Spirit form is damaged, don''t you?"

    He nodded thoughtfully. "If Nero''s Spirit gets damaged, then he wouldn''t be able to return to his physical body anymore."

    "That''s why we need to protect Nero," Tara said. "The Devil has two goals: to put a female de Moonasterio on the throne, and to kill the male heir as revenge for all the royal princesses that were killed in the past. Just like how the Crow has two goals: to continue raising emperors with their beliefs and principles, and to kill all the royal princesses born in the empire."

    "Are you saying that the Devil and the Crow will have a sh soon?"

    "Yes," she said with fear in her voice. "We have to save Princess Neoma, and keep Nero safe. It''s the Spirit World''s job to keep both Mona''s children safe."

    He let out a deep sigh. "Fine. I''m going to the surface in Nero''s ce and save Neoma."

    His n was to kill Neoma de Moonasterio.

    But now that he knew that only the filthy bug''s me could save Mona, then he had no choice but to save her first.

    [I can just kill herter, even if I''ll earn my master''s wrath in return.]

    "William, you almost spilled the secret to Nero earlier."

    "Ah," he said, suddenly feeling guilty. "I didn''t notice that I was about to tell Nero the truth between Mona and Gavin Quinzel."

    He couldn''t help that he was so fond of Nero.

    After all, in his heart, his beloved master only had one child. He couldn''t acknowledge Neoma de Moonasterio the way he easily epted Nero because the princess was like the embodiment of a de Moonasterio.

    It was ironic since Neoma de Moonasterio was a female, and princesses like her were shunned by the empire itself.

    "You should be more careful," the queen said sternly. "Mona and Gavin executed a forbidden spell that caused the downfall of many gods in the past. If people found out that the forbidden spell really works, then chaos would befall the whole continent. Do you understand what I''m saying, William?"

    "I understand," William said with a scowl. "I understand that we shouldn''t let other people know that there is another world aside from this one, and we can open that world the way Mona and Gavin Quinzel did in the past."

    Yes, the ancient and forbidden spell that Mona and Gavin Quinzel used was one that opened a portal to another world.

    Apparently, it was a world that was very different from the one that they were born in. That was the "safe ce" that Gavin Quinzel introduced to Mona.

    But he didn''t know what happened in that world.

    Or how his master was able to return to this world trapped inside a block of ice under the ck Ocean.

    "That''s correct," Tara said firmly. "We should protect that secret for the sake of peace and order of this world."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 231 - BEST IN GIVING THREATS

    <strong></strong>["PRINCESS NEOMA."]

    Neoma, dipped in the tub filled with fragrant and colorful petals, opened her eyes when she heard Soju''s voice in her head. "Yes, dear?"

    Juri Wisteria, seated on a wooden chair beside the tub while scrubbing her arm with sponge, looked at her with a confused look on her face. "Yes, Princess Neoma?"

    She turned to her daughter and smiled apologetically. "I''m talking to Soju," she said, then she pointed at her temple. "Here."

    "Oh, I see," her daughter said, then she made a gesture as if she was zipping her mouth shut.

    "Thank you, Juri," she said, then she closed her eyes and continued her conversation with Soju. "Do you have news for me?"

    ["Yes, Your Royal Highness,"] Soju said politely. ["I will put Jeno Dankworth on the line."]

    "Okay."

    ["Princess Neoma, this is Jeno Dankworth speaking."]

    "Uh-huh," she said. "I''m looking forward to your first report."

    ["Lewis Crevan has been abducted,"] Jeno Dankworth reported to her formally. ["Before the fox boy was taken away, he received some serious injuries. His face was mauled, too."]

    She opened her now glowing red eyes. Even without seeing her own reflection, she knew that her eyes had changed their color because of her unstable emotion at the moment. She was seriously upset right now. "Lewis''s face was mauled¡­?"

    ["Lewis Crevan fought against an adult red fox,"] the soon-to-be Marksman said. ["At first, he overwhelmed the enemy. But the red fox did a dirty trick."]

    "What kind of trick?"

    ["I heard the enemy say that a Silver Fox''s weakness is a red fox''s Bead,"] the young lord exined. ["And thus, the red fox apparently put several Beads in his heart. Lewis failed to crush the red fox''s heart because of that. And then¡­"]

    She felt her heart in her throat from nervousness. "And then what?"

    ["Lewis Crevan''s whole body turned into stone."]

    Now she waspletely still. [Lewis, my precious boy¡­]

    She felt something inside her brain snap at that moment.

    ["Princess Neoma?"]

    "I''m still here," she said when she calmed down a bit. "Where are you now?"

    ["We followed the enemies and secretly used the same portal that they used,"] Jeno Dankworth said. ["I don''t know where we are headed yet but I see a familiarndmark: the Mount Kimbro. Judging by thatndmark, it''s safe to assume that we''re at Oxspring right now."]

    She already expected that answer.

    But she had to ask because she wanted to make sure that the Death Camp''s location hadn''t been changed.

    "Good. Just keep following them for now," Neoma said seriously. "Report to me right away if the situation changes drastically."

    ***

    JURI, for the first time in her life, felt intimidated by a child.

    [But then again, Princess Neoma isn''t an ordinary child.]

    Also, for the first time in her life as well, she kept her mouth shut for a long time. Sensing the royal princess''s concentration, she felt like she shouldn''t make any unnecessary sound.

    Thus, she helped Princess Neoma get changed in silence.

    She was confused as to why the royal princess asked her to dress her in casual male clothes instead of pajamas. But she was a little scared to ask because she didn''t want Princess Neoma to break her concentration.

    "Juri Wisteria," Princess Neoma, seated on the ent chair while propping up her chin with her elbow on the armrest, her eyes still glowing red. The royal princess asked her to turn off the lights earlier. And thus, only the moonlight seeping through the window served as the room''s source of light. Because of that, Princess Neoma''s glowing red eyes looked brighter and more intimidating. "I''m going to leave the party now and head to another one."

    Juri, on her knees in front of the royal princess, furrowed her brows in confusion. "What do you mean by that, Princess Neoma?"

    Well, she already had an idea about what was going on based on the conversation that she heard in the bathroom earlier. Still, she needed a clear exnation because she didn''t want to jump into conclusions.

    "Lewis is abducted," the royal princess said. "I will go and save him myself."

    Ah, so that was the reason why Princess Neoma asked her to dress her in casual clothes.

    "Is it safe for you to leave without disguise, Princess Neoma?" she asked. To be honest, she didn''t want the royal princess to leave without enough guards. But the look on Princess Neoma''s face was enough to tell her that she wouldn''t change her mind. As the royal princess''s "knight," it was her duty to follow her master and keep her safe. "Wouldn''t it be better if you change your hair and eye color?"

    The royal princess smirked evilly before speaking in a cold voice. "A disguise isn''t needed," she said firmly. "Those bastards are aware that Lewis Crevan is the Crown Prince''s personal knight and closest aide. Thus, I want those fuckers to know that it is the Crown Prince himself who''d annihte every single one of them."

    To be honest, she was shocked to hear the young princess curse crisply.

    But it wasn''t important at the moment.

    She wanted to argue that regardless of how Princess Neoma felt, it was still dangerous for her to confront the enemies as the Crown Prince.

    Bute to think of it, it would be more dangerous for the royal princess to disguise herself as ''Miss Ramsay'' again. It wasn''t that hard to figure out that the ones who abducted Lewis Crevan were ve traders.

    A little girl as pretty as ''Miss Ramsay'' would be put in a more dangerous situation if the ve traders found her. After all, ''Miss Ramsay'' would be a good piece of merchandise if caught.

    There were many perverts in the world that would buy a child bride from ve traders.

    [Moreover, the enemies wouldn''t easily touch the Crown Prince even if they get busted. Thus, infiltrating the enemies'' base as the Crown Prince would be safer for Princess Neoma.]

    "Please take me with you, Princess Neoma."

    The royal princess smiled at her. "Of course, I will," she said. "And we''ll be bringing Geoffrey Kinsley with us, too."

    "Princess Neoma, do you think Sir Kinsley will allow you to go?"

    "I don''t need his permission," Princess Neoma said yfully. "Juri, will you summon Geoffrey Kinsley for me?"

    Juri put her hand on her chest and bowed. "As you wish, Your Royal Highness."

    ***

    "SO, HERE''S the n," Neoma said while seated on the ent chair, Juri Wisteria and Geoffrey Kinsley standing in front of her with their hands on their back. "Juri and I will go to Mount Kimbro with the help of Mochi''s teleportation ability. Then, while we are busy saving Lewis, Geoffrey will guard the royal carriage and pretend that I''m still there until your group reach the Golden Field. After that, you just have to wait for me to send Mochi to you. Then, you can follow us to Mount Kimbro."

    Juri Wisteria just nodded politely since she already exined the n to her daughter a while ago.

    Geoffrey Kinsley, on the other hand, looked confused.

    "Princess Neoma, are you saying that you''re leaving to save Lewis Crevan on your own?" Geoffrey asked, confused. "How did Your Royal Highness even know that the young fox was kidnapped?"

    "Don''t fret the details," she said casually. "Geoffrey, I''m leaving tonight with Juri and Mochi. Take care of Madam Hammock and the rest of the party for me. Make sure that they will reach the Golden Field safely."

    The Pdin shook his head firmly. "I can''t allow you to leave with only Lady Wisteria and your Spirit Guardian with you, Princess Neoma."

    "Geoffrey Kinsley, I''m not asking for your permission," she said with a cold smile on her face. "I know that you directly work for my father. But that doesn''t mean you get to decide for me. I may not be the real Crown Princess, but I''m still the one and only royal princess of the empire. Although my identity as a princess is hidden, I believe I have enough people behind me to back me up." She raised a brow to intimidate the Pdin. "I''m sure Nero wouldn''t mind if I say that right now, the power that he has as a Crown Prince is all thanks to me."

    [Where''s the lie though?]

    She had been working her pretty little butt off since she was five years old. The Crown Prince''s reputation and support all came from her efforts. Heck, she even got the "new shield of the empire" title for Nero.

    The Pdin knew that.

    Thus, he couldn''t refute her statement.

    "I''m not going to get myself killed," she said to console Geoffrey. "I love myself too much for me to throw my life away."

    "Then, why are you doing this, Princess Neoma?" Geoffrey asked worriedly. "I''m sure His Majesty has already dispatched his troops to rescue Lewis Crevan."

    "Lewis getting abducted is a part of the n," she said, revealing the secret to the Pdin now that everything had been set into motion. "Geoffrey, I''m currently working with Duke Jasper Hawthorne. But that''s all you need to know."

    "Princess Neoma¨C"

    "You have three options, Geoffrey Kinsley," she said coldly, interrupting the Pdin on purpose. "First, cooperate with me and hear the whole n. Second, fight me if you want me stop from leaving. And third, snitch on me and never see my shadow again."

    He looked shocked by the options that she gave him.

    Then, he proved to her that he was indeed the brain of the Pdins.

    Geoffrey bowed his head to her. "Please let me be a part of your n and allow me to assist you, Princess Neoma."

    Neoma smiled brightly at the Pdin. "Don''t worry, Geoffrey," she said cheerfully. "I''m good at using talented people like you."

    ***

    [PRINCESS Neoma''s eyes are still red.]

    Mochi was worried.

    Princess Neoma''s eyes were still glowing red and her Mana was "silent."

    [I can''t feel our princess''s Mana.]

    There were two ways to know if a Mana-user was highly-skilled.

    One was to feel the user''s overwhelming power.

    [And second, when you don''t feel anything at all.]

    Princess Neoma''s divine energy was overflowing. It was the reason why it was easy to tell that the royal princess was a de Moonasterio. And anyone who could feel her divine energy could also tell that she was strong despite the Roseheart Blood holding her back.

    But right now, Mochi couldn''t feel Princess Neoma''s Mana or divine energy. [I hope I''m wrong but I feel like this is the start of Princess Neoma''s Lunacy.]

    ***

    "I MISSPOKE, Your Majesty," Trevor said while kneeling in front of the emperor. West, the White Tiger, was still trying to bite his head off though. Thankfully, he was in his Spirit Form. Had hee with his physical body, he could have been beheaded by now. "I won''t call you ''father-inw'' again."

    Not for the meantime, at least.

    "Good," Emperor Niki said, then he snapped his fingers. "Go back to sleep, West."

    Thankfully, the White Tiger finally disappeared.

    [My head is safe.]

    "I''m busy so state the reason why you left my son toe here," the emperor said coldly. "If it''s not important, I will burn you to ashes."

    [Geez. Now I know why Princess Neoma is good at giving threats.]

    "I need to know where Princess Neoma is, Your Majesty," he said seriously. "The gods and the other beings that are interested in the Royal Family had received a warning rted to Her Royal Highness."

    "And what kind of warning is that?"

    "It seems like they are expecting Princess Neoma to go crazy soon," Trevor said seriously. "If I remember it correctly, the Royal Family has a name for that process."

    Emperor Niki looked shocked by what he revealed. "Lunacy," he said in disbelief. "Are you saying that Neoma is experiencing Lunacy right now?"

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 Chapter 232 - FATHER KNOWS BEST

    "HAVE you lost your mind?" Niki asked the demon boy who said Neoma was currently on the verge of Lunacy. "Neoma is only nine years old. Lunacy usually begins when a de Moonasterio turns thirteen years old."

    Their disease called ''Lunacy'' was also known as the de Moonasterio''s personal ing-of-age ceremony."

    [Most people call it the ''Session Trial'' though.]

    When he experienced the full effect of Lunacy when he was the Crown Prince, his ancestors and all the sinsmitted by their Royal Family flooded his head until he felt like losing his mind. Fortunately, he was able to ovee it.

    And during that time, Mona was beside him. He felt like he could ovee anything and everything in the world as long as she was with him back then.

    [Maybe it didn''t change even now.]

    Anyway¡­

    There were cases where a de Moonasterio couldn''t suppress their Lunacy immediately and brought it with them until their adulthood. Just like what happened to his father.

    The former emperor lost his mind because of their family''s disease.

    [Or curse, as some may call it.]

    "I know that Princess Neoma is still too young to experience Lunacy, Your Majesty," Trevor, still kneeling in front of him, said. "Bute to think of it, isn''t Princess Neoma also the vainest and the most arrogant royal princess born in the history of the Royal Family? She already acts like she has a loose screw, you know?"

    He red at the demon boy but he couldn''t refute his statement.

    [It''s true that Neoma is vain, arrogant, and acts like she''s crazy most of the time.]

    But on second thought, maybe he should be relieved by that.

    "Neoma''s vanity and arrogance are her strong points, not her ws," he said positively. "Moreover, my daughter already acts like a crazy girl. What would a little more madness do to her?"

    "Well, aren''t you optimistic, Your Majesty?"

    He just red at the demon boy.

    "Your Majesty, as much as I wanted to brush it off as a mere possibility, I couldn''t," Trevor said seriously. "The warning about Princess Neoma''s Lunacy didn''te from my amazing prediction skills. It was actually delivered to me by the Devil."

    "By Nichole?"

    "No, the real one."

    He clenched his jaw when he heard that piece of bad news. "That bastard is still alive?"

    "Well, it''s not like the Devil died," the demon boy said. "He''s just traveling the whole continent looking for potential allies that could help him demolish the monarchy."

    "Is he traveling the whole continent or digging up the graves of remarkable people in history?"

    "What do you mean by that, Your Majesty?"

    "Don''t act dumb with me," he said while giving the demon boy a cold look. "You were the one who hinted that Juliet''s body was stolen. It was the Devil, wasn''t it? He was probably assisted by Nichole. Only my twin sister could break in through the barrier without me noticing."

    "As I said before, I don''t know who stole thete Empress Juliet''s body from the Shrine," Trevor said. He didn''t want to admit this but it looked like the demon boy was telling the truth. "All I know is it''s not in the Shrine anymore."

    "Just recently, Neoma was able tomunicate with the Spirit of a powerful nine-tailed fox," he exined. "Rustin Crevan, thest documented nine-tailed fox in the continent before my crazy father purged the Silver Fox n, imed that his Fox''s Marble was stolen by the Crow and not by my father."

    "Why would the Crow steal the Fox''s Marble?" the demon boy asked, confused. "The cult''s only purpose is to kill the royal princesses born in your family, isn''t it?"

    "Neoma believes that the Crow ns to revive Callisto de Luca."

    "The Crow''s founder? No way. The Fox''s Marble wouldn''t be enough to revive a half-god like Callisto de Luca."

    He nodded in agreement. "Thus, I came up with the conclusion that the Crow has someone else that they wanted to revive."

    The demon boy fell silent for a while, then his eyes bulged. "Thete Empress Juliet? But I thought you believe that the Devil stole Her Majesty''s body."

    "I said the Devil and Nichole might have worked together to steal Juliet''s body under my nose. But I didn''t say that it''s still under the Devil''s care," he corrected the demon. "If my theory is correct, then I believe Juliet''s body was also stolen by the Crow from the Devil. That could also be the reason why the Devil has suddenly gone missing."

    Trevor fell silent for a while. "That''s usible. But I still don''t see why the Crow would bother stealing thete empress''s body."

    "The Crow wanted to revive Juliet and put her back on the throne as my empress," he exined. "I have a feeling that they''re not satisfied with my children as my sessors. After all, the Crow hates the Rosehearts the most."

    The demon boy nodded thoughtfully. "Ah, I get it. If His Majesty''s theory is correct, then the Crow is nning to revive thete Empress Juliet and force the two of you to conceive a new sessor." He fell silent for a while. "If it''s truly the Crow''s n, then it''s safe to assume that the cult still has devoted supporters in the nobility."

    The fact that the Crow was still being supported by some noble households wasn''t new to him. He just couldn''t catch them red-handed because the families supporting the cult were good at hiding and erasing their traces.

    "Well, I don''t have any proof for now to support my theories," he said, then he stood up. "Thus, I need to meet the real Devil and confront him. Since you said Neoma is in danger, I''m sure the Devil will appear where my daughter is."

    To be honest, he didn''t want to trust the Devil when ites to Neoma''s safety. But between the Devil and the Crow, he would rather choose the former than thetter.

    "Your Majesty, please bring me with you," the demon boy said. "I want to make sure that Princess Neoma is safe."

    "No," he said bluntly. "You have to stay here and take my ce."

    "What do you mean by that, Your Majesty?"

    "You can change your form, can''t you?" he asked the demon boy with one brow raised. "I''m sure you can copy my physical form and pretend to be me for a few hours."

    "But that''s a crime enough for anyone to get beheaded, Your Majesty."

    "Who''s going to punish you if I, the ruler of the whole empire and practically the whole continent, ordered you to do so?" He scoffed at the demon boy. "Or are you trying to say that your trick only works on weak people?"

    "Your Majesty, I''m confident with my skill and I know that I can fool anyone," Trevor said as if he was offended when he questioned his ability. "But I want to see my Moon Princess."

    "That''s ''Princess Neoma'' to you, you little ruffian," he said sternly. "Don''t give my daughter a nickname as if you''re close."

    "We''re close, Your Majesty."

    He red at the cheeky brat. "I''m the closest to my daughter."

    "You''re wrong, Your Majesty," the annoying demon said. "We all know it''s Lewis Crevan."

    "Shut up and just do what I ordered you to do," he said, annoyed. "How dare you defy the emperor''s words?"

    "With all due respect, I don''t serve you, Your Majesty," the demon boy said cheekily. "The only person I will allow to boss me around is Princess Neoma."

    "I will allow you to call Neoma by that stupid nickname you came up with if you quietly follow my order."

    Trevor fell silent for a while, then he coped Neoma''s "infamous hand gesture" that his daughter calls "thumbs up." "We have a deal, Your Majesty."

    "Very well," Niki said, then he grabbed the suit draped over his chest. "I will leave the White Tiger here to keep an eye on you."

    <strong>***</strong>

    JASPER HAWTHORNE tried not to show it but he was really relieved when Lewis Crevan returned back to normal after Prism poured a bucket of warm water on the fox boy. As soon as they returned to the camp, he and Prism went straight to the barracks to fix Lewis Crevan.

    The red fox dropped a strange green Bead in the bucket before he poured the water on the fox boy. After that, the rock that covered Lewis Crevan''s body melted fast and turned into a pile of mud.

    [Princess Neoma would have killed me if Lewis Crevan turned into a statue for real.]

    But he was pretty sure that the royal princess would still get mad at him for the fox boy''s current condition.

    Lewis Crevan was still unconscious and hisplexion was paler than normal. His face and his torso were also bleeding after Prism mauled him a while ago. He probably already lost too much blood.

    "We should patch him up," Jasper said, then he turned to Prism. "I''ll call the doctor."

    "Nah, I''ll do it," Prism said while moving his shoulders. Then, he turned to her. "Master told me to send you to his office once we sessfully bring Lewis Crevan to the camp."

    Ah, finally.

    He had been working his butt off for a year for that moment. For the past year, he met several executives of the Death Camp. But never the so-called ''Master.'' The orders that he had received from the Master so far all came in the form of a letter that would burn right away after being read.

    In short, this was the first time that he would meet the Master in person.

    But he did his best not to show his excitement on his face.

    "Alright," he said nonchntly. "Then, I''ll leave Lewis Crevan to you."

    "How calm," Prism said with a smirk, then he threw a silver key at him. "Use that to enter the Vi."

    The ''Vi'' was the Master''s personal residence located near the Death Camp.

    Needless to say, this would be his first time to enter the Vi.

    "Thanks," Jasper Hawthorne said, then he gripped the silver key in his hand tight. "I''m looking forward to meeting the Master."

    Prism smirked at him. "You won''t be disappointed, Jasper Hawthorne."

    <strong>***</strong>

    THE VILLA looked grand on the outside but it was literally empty inside. Although he had to say that the house was well-secured. It was surrounded by a pretty strong barrier. If he didn''t have the silver key, the barrier might have turned into an offensive shield and attacked him.

    Jasper Hawthorne went straight to the second floor where the Master''s office was located. As instructed, he knocked three times before the door finally opened.

    [Finally.]

    "Come in," said a deep, baritone voice from inside the office.

    He calmly entered the office and quietly closed the door behind him. To be honest, he didn''t expect that the room would be well-lit but it was. Thus, he easily recognized the man known as the ''Master.''

    [As expected¡­]

    "It seems like you recognize me, Jasper Hawthorne," the ''Master'' said. "But I guess I shouldn''t be surprised by the fact that you know me."

    Moss green curly hair that covered his forehead and ears, sharp olive eyes, lips that looked too reddish than normal.

    The Master was covered from the neck down. He wore a turtle-neck shirt under a ck suit. He also had a pair of ck gloves on. The only exposed part of his skin was his face. And his cheeks were covered with blemishes.

    "You''re Lord Alistair Madgwick," Jasper said carefully. "The illegitimate son of Count David Madgwick."

    "Of course, you know me," Alistair Madgwick said with a smile on his face. "Your parents and my father used to be "business partners," after all."

    He clenched his fists when he heard that.

    It was true though.

    His parents were a part of the ck Market. It was embarrassing to admit but to be honest, House Hawthorne thrived because of his family''s illegal activities. Worst of all, his mother and father were directly involved with ve trading.

    Count David Madgwick, despite being involved in the ck Market as well, managed to get away from getting arrested by making his parents the scapegoat.

    And it just didn''t end there.

    [Calm down,] he told himself. [You have to control your emotions.]

    "That''s true," he said when he calmed down. "But I didn''te here to reminisce about our parents'' past. I''m here to work."

    "Ah, that''s right," the Master said. "I''d like to express my gratitude for bringing Lewis Crevan to me, Lord Hawthorne. He is the most sought merchandise by the clients. It wasn''t easy trying to recapture him since he became the Crown Prince''s knight. But thanks to your help, we finally seeded in capturing the wild fox."

    "I''m just doing my job."

    "And I ought to reward you," Alistair Madgwick said, then he smiled at him. "I know what you want, Jasper Hawthorne."

    Jasper raised a brow at the Master. "And what is it that I want?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    AS SOON as Neoma stepped foot in the forest where she, Juri, and Mochinded, she already knew that something was wrong.

    She could feel several eyes surrounding them.

    But none of them belonged to Jasper Hawthorne. She didn''t know how she could tell. All she knew was right now, her senses had been heightened for some reason.

    [Plus, my eyes are still red and glowing.]

    "Your Royal Highness, I thought we were meeting up with a "friend,"" Juri Wisteria, who obviously noticed that they were surrounded just like she did, whispered in a yful voice. "Did he multiply or something?"

    "I bet he did," Mochi, draped over her shoulderzily, chirped in. "You''re really famous, Your Royal Highness."

    She smirked as a response.

    "Come out," Neoma said cheerfully. She was vain, arrogant, and wild. But she was never violent. However, at that moment, she felt murderous for the first time in her life. And instead of getting scared of the nature that she didn''t know she had, it actually thrilled her. "Come out while I''m still asking nicely, fuckers."

    And oh, it seemed like her mouth had be dirtier.

    [Just what is wrong with me?!]

    <strong>***</strong>

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    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 233 - SHAME ON THE ARROGANT PRINCESS

    THE NEXT thing Jasper Hawthorne knew, he was already on the ground while an unbelievable amount of pressure was literally pushing him down. He was on all fours and he couldn''t even raise his head. All he could do at the moment was to curse under his breath.

    [I didn''t know that Alistair Madgwick could control gravity!]

    After all, House Madgwick was known for its stealth moves. They had the gift of speed. Moreover, they also had the ability to erase their Mana residues.

    [That''s the reason why it''s hard to catch the Madgwicks red-handed.]

    But he didn''t know how Alistair Madgwick was able to control gravity. As far as he knew, the bastard was an illegitimate child of Count Madgwick with a non-Mana user maid of their household. Thus, Alistair Madgwick should have inherited his father''s ability.

    Of course, a genius could learn different abilities especially if their Mana was great. He didn''t hear about Alistair Madgwick being a genius though.

    [And where did he learn how to control gravity?!]

    "Do you think I will let my guard down just because you''re a child?" Alistair Madgwick asked mockingly, then he squatted down and grabbed his hair to force him to raise his head. "Jasper Hawthorne, I know that you''re here to avenge your parents. You believe that it''s my father who murdered your family to keep our family''s secret safe, don''t you?"

    "It''s Count Madgwick," Jasper growled weakly. "Your father killed my parents!"

    "Yeah, my father did," the bastard said with a smirk. "You should be thankful to my father, Jasper Hawthorne. If not for him, the crimes of your parents would have been exposed. Had that happened, House Hawthorne would have fallen from grace. And you would have been known as the son of ve traders!"

    Alistair Madgwick smashed his face to the floor.

    Jasper barely managed to protect his face and whole body with his Mana. He was able to protect her skull, but not his nose. It already hit the floor before his Mana covered his entire head. But he should be grateful that he managed to do that despite the gravity crushing him.

    "It''s true that my father tried to put the me on your parents," the bastard continued in a haughty voice while smashing his face on the floor again and again. "Your parents wouldn''t have ended dead had they not threatened toe clean to the emperor. Do you want to hear something interesting, Jasper Hawthorne?" The bastard pulled him by the hair to raise his head, then he smirked at his face. "I helped my father kill your parents, you little shit."

    To say that he was enraged to hear that would be an understatement.

    The anger in his chest turned into raw power. He managed to send Alistair Madgwick flying due to the sudden burst of his Mana. As soon as the bastard hit the wall, the gravity crushing his body suddenly disappeared.

    He used that moment to summon his poisonous butterflies. Then, he ordered his butterflies to attack Alistair Madgwick.

    In just a few seconds, the bastard was already covered with his poisonous butterflies.

    And just when Jasper thought he already won, gravity once smashed him on the floor. This time, he was prepared. He felt his skull break as soon as his face hit the floor once again.

    [Damn.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    WHEN NEOMA came to her senses, she and her children (Mochi and Juri Wisteria) were already in a dangerous situation.

    They were in the spot where Jasper Hawthorne said he''d meet them.

    But she couldn''t feel her Oppa''s Mana or presence anywhere near. The fact that they were surrounded by unknown enemies only meant one thing.

    [Jasper Oppa has been caught!]

    "Go," Neoma said to Mochi and Juri, obviously shocking the two. "We''re going with n Whatever."

    Yes, she was the one who named that n.

    And no, she wasn''t kidding. They had several ns named n Awesome, n Duh, n Daebak, n Champion, and n Whatever.

    [You guessed it right¨C n Whatever is the worst out of all choices.]

    "Your Royal Highness, is the situation that dire for us to use n Whatever right away?" Mochi asked seriously. "I swore to follow you, but I want to know what made you choose that n."

    "Instinct," she said without missing a heartbeat. "Please trust my instinct, Mochi."

    She heard the Wind Spirit let out a frustrated sigh.

    "Your Royal Highness, I trust you with all my heart," Juri Wisteria said worriedly. "But I can''t leave you."

    "You have to," she said firmly. She didn''t know how but she could feel the hostile energy looming near. Whatever or whoever it was, she could tell that she was the target of the thick bloodlust in the air. "Mochi, Juri, leave¨C now!"

    A sudden burst of strong wind surrounded Mochi and Juri.

    Then, in just the blink of an eye, the two disappeared into thin air.

    [Yes, the first step of ''n Whatever'' is for Mochi and Juri to leave her. The second step would be regrouping with Jeno Dankworth to find Lewis. And finally, to rescue me if I fail to defeat the enemy.]

    She knew that making Mochi and Juri leave her was a very dangerous choice. Some might even say that it was a stupid one. That was exactly why ''n Whatever'' was the worst n that they came up with.

    But Mochi knew why she chose that one at the moment.

    She wouldn''t be able to use the abilities that she was nning to doter if she hadpany.

    But to be honest, right now, she didn''t regret her choice.

    She was d that her friends escaped in the nick of time. After all, dark energy in the form of several spears was thrown at where the two stood a while ago.

    "Oh, I missed?"

    A tall man¨C probably 6''7" tall¨C emerged from the darkness.

    He had a blond "curtains hairstyle." His long fringe was parted in the middle, and the shorter part of his hair was wavy.

    [Shit, another good-looking enemy.]

    He even wore clothes that suited his well-built body. Under the cream trench coat that he wore was a ck turtle-neck that covered up to his chin, ck tight pants, and a pair of ck ankle boots.

    But despite the man''s beautiful face, his sharp blue eyes were disturbing.

    [He''s looking at me as if I''m a test subject that he''s already dissecting in his head.]

    That was thest thing that worried her at the moment though.

    After all, the "eyes" that she felt looking at her a few moments ago turned out to be literal eyeballs floating around her. Yes, eyeballs. To be precise, glowing red orbs.

    [Fucking creepy.]

    "Greetings, Prince Nero de Moonasterio," the bad guy said with a curt nod. "I am Doctor Curtin Smit, one of the Crow Executives."

    To say that she was shocked by what she heard would be an understatement.

    [He''s one of the crows?]

    "Why do you look shocked, Your Royal Highness?" Curtis Smit asked, then he crossed his arms over his chest. "You''re not the only person here who''s confident enough to not hide his identity."

    It was a shade.

    That creepy doctor was obviously shading her for not concealing his identity whening to the enemy''s territory.

    "I don''t see a reason why I should hide my identity," she said with a confident smirk on her face. Of course, she wasn''t 100% confident now that she only had Tteokbokki as an ally to fight with. But she wouldn''t let the enemy figure it out. Thank goodness she was naturally arrogant now. "But you should have hidden your identity from me, Mr. Smit."

    "I don''t understand why I should have done that," he said nonchntly. "I worked with the Master of the Death Camp for the past few months with the sole intention of finally meeting you in person, Your Royal Highness."

    "You worked with the Master of the Death Camp?"

    "To be precise, I asked him to bring you to me," the crazy doctor said. "Ah, thank you for reminding me that I need to pay my good friend now that you''ve arrived here."

    She was insulted.

    That Curtis Smit bastard practically implied that he "bought" her from the Death Camp.

    Hah! The nerve of this crow douchebag to treat her like a fucking piece of merchandise straight in her face!

    "Curtis Smit, I don''t need another reason to eliminate you and your little crow friends," she said coolly. Well, she was seething inside. But she didn''t want to lose in this battle called "trash-talking." "Who are you to treat me like a hot item on sale?"

    "First, we''re going to fix your crude manner of speech."

    "And who are you to "fix" my perfectly crude mouth?"

    "The Crow exists to protect the throne by choosing the perfect emperor to sit on it," Curtis said seriously. "Your father, Emperor Niki de Moonasterio, used to be a disappointing Crown Prince. But we "fixed" him by getting rid of that person that weakened him."

    "You''re not talking about my mother, are you?" she asked threateningly.

    "I''m talking about Mona Roseheart," the bastard said casually. The fact that he was only speaking his truth and not to annoy her was frustrating enough. Obviously, she was the one getting provoked and not the enemy. "Ah, that reminds me." His ocean blue eyes glowing menacingly. "We should fix something else first aside from your crude mouth."

    "Stop saying that you''d fix me as if I''m a broken thing that needs to be mended!" she snarled at him while gathering her Mana in her palms. To be precise, she was borrowing Tteokbokki''s me to create fireballs. "I''m the one who''s going to fix that bad attitude¡­"

    She trailed off when she felt a sudden pang in her chest.

    The next thing she knew, she already fell to her knees while clutching her chest with one hand. She used the other one to stop herself frompletely falling to the ground.

    [What''s happening to my heart?]

    It was beating erratically!

    "Physically, you''re perfect," Curtis Smit said, then he got down on one knee to meet her eye level. "I also like your attitude despite your crude mouth. But you have one w that I can''t overlook, Prince Nero."

    She red at him while trying to stabilize her heart.

    But to no avail.

    "You have Roseheart blood in you," the crazy bastard said while shaking his head. "The filthy blood of your mother is contaminating the pure imperial blood running through your veins. The Crow can''t ept that, Your Royal Highness."

    "What do I care?" she said with a smirk. "I don''t need your approval. Plus, it''s not like you can extract my mother''s blood in me."

    "When we say ''Roseheart Blood,'' do you think we''re talking about the blood running through your veins literally?"

    She hated that she couldn''t give a retort to something that she didn''t fully understand.

    [It''s not like my Papa Boss teaches me about the Rosehearts¡­]

    "The Rosehearts are named Rosehearts because they literally have a rose in their heart," Curtis exined when he noticed the confusion on her face. "That rose is the Core of your power as a Roseheart." He raised his hand and slowly reached it out to her. To be precise, it looked like his hand was aiming for her chest. "All I need is to pluck that filthy rose out of your heart to make you the perfect sessor that the Crow hopes you''d be, Prince Nero."

    [This crazy bastard ns to rip my heart out!]

    She knew that using the Coat wouldn''t be enough. Plus, it would ruin her part in the n Whatever. Thus, she opted for the Dome.

    After she ced herself inside the Dome that Curtis Smit couldn''t even touch, she stood up and touched the line around her index finger. One of her items that the Lynx Ring hid from her was the ring that she received from Nero before he left a year ago.

    It seemed like it was time to borrow her twin brother''s power.

    "I admit that I lost this round," Neoma said, then she gave Curtis Smit a dirty finger. "Hasta vista in the next round, bitch."

    And after saying her goodbye like a fucking loser that she was, she used Nero''s Mana to freeze her body inside the Dome.

    [I''m a loser but I''m still untouchable.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOU''RE quite troublesome, Prince Nero," Curtis said while looking at the Dome that Prince Nero made. Inside that Dome was the Crown Prince''s physical body trapped in the block of ice that took the shape of the Dome. Now, His Royal Highness looked like a pretty ice sculpture. "I thought you control fire and not ice."

    But then again, it was possible for a genius like Prince Nero to control two elements.

    Just like how he could use several elements as well.

    He touched the surface of the Dome. It was surprisingly warm despite the huge block of ice inside.

    "I have to break this Dome first before I melt the block of ice inside," Curtis whispered to himself, then he smiled. "Should I bring that little genius here to help me get rid of this Dome?"

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 234 - THE LITTLE GENIUS CROW

    "WHY THE hell did you abandon Princess Neoma?!"

    Juri Wisteria didn''t like the fact that she was yelled at by this damned Jeno Dankworth.

    If only she wasn''t standing on the solidified cloud floating sixty meters above the ground that the young lord created, she would have already hit him with her sledgehammer.

    [I really want to hit this cloud boy.]

    It seemed like Mochi had already talked to Soju in advance because she knew where to escape to. After all, the white bunny dropped her off to where she was right now after they ran away from the enemies a while ago.

    "It was Princess Neoma''s order," Juri reasoned with clenched hands. "What do you want me to do, disobey her?"

    "Yes," Jeno Dankworth said firmly while ring at her. "I would have never abandoned Princess Neoma even if it meant disobeying her order."

    "I guess that''s the reason why I''m the official member of Her Royal Highness''s team and not you."

    The young lord could only re at her for that retort.

    But it wasn''t like she didn''t know where Jeno wasing from.

    She hated the fact that they had to leave Princess Neoma. If Mochi didn''t use her teleportation ability to take her away from that ce earlier, she wouldn''t have left. And she would have been caught along with Her Royal Highness.

    "It wasn''t easy for me to abandon Princess Neoma," she exined more calmly. She was only a year older than Jeno Dankworth. Still, she knew that she had to be more understanding as the adult between the two of them. Moreover, she heard that most girls mature faster than boys anyway. This cloud guy probably had the mentality of a child despite having the physical body of a seventeen-year-old boy. "I protested the n as soon as Princess Neoma and Mochi came up with it. But ording to Her Royal Highness, it''s better for us to escape and rescue herter than for all of us to be caught together."

    "But does Princess Neoma really have to be the bait here?"

    "Well, Princess Neoma knew that once the enemies get a hold of her, they wouldn''t waste their time chasing us," she said. "But obviously, they will strengthen their security now that they know the camp has been infiltrated. They''re probably already looking for us at this moment." She turned to her side. "Right, Mochi¡­"

    She trailed off when she realized that Mochi, who was sharing a floating "cloud sofa" with Soju a while ago, disappeared.

    Jeno, who noticed the situation as well, blinked several times. "Soju is gone, too."

    "It seems like the two of them disappeared while we were fighting," Juri said, then she gasped softly. "Did they leave to save Princess Neoma?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "I WAS utterly defeated," Neoma, now in her Spirit form, said while floating in the air with Mochi and Soju. Not gonna lie, they looked like the three ghosts from C*sper, the Friendly Ghost movie at the moment. "I think I literally lost my mind for a moment."

    Thankfully, she came to her senses before it was toote.

    After she trapped her physical body in a block of ice using her Dome and her borrowed powers from Nero, her soul literally left her body. As soon as she did, Mochi and Soju appeared to take her away from the enemy.

    Fortunately, it seemed like Curtis Smit didn''t notice her in her Spirit form. She was able to leave with Mochi and Soju safely.

    And here they were now.

    "That''s what I thought, too," Soju said cheerfully. "You were acting strange a while ago, Princess Neoma. You''ve be more arrogant and more reckless than usual."

    Mochi nodded in agreement. "And this is the first time your eyes turned red for that long. I almost thought your Lunacy began."

    "Lunacy?" she asked curiously. "What is that?"

    "Ah, so little Niki hasn''t told you about it yet," the Wind Spirit said, then she began to exin. "Lunacy is a state where a de Moonasterio loses their mind. It bes a blessing or a curse depending on the result. If you''re able to ovee it, you''ll be blessed with eternal youth and stronger powers. But if you fail to suppress it, you''ll be a lunatic."

    "Is it like a hereditary disease?"

    "Yes," the white bunny confirmed. "Apparently, that''s the divine punishment that the de Moonasterios received for inheriting Yule''s blood."

    She clicked her tongue in annoyance. "I knew being a god''s descendant is troublesome." She paused for a moment, then she smiled. "But for a vain person like me, the gift of eternal youth doesn''t sound so bad."

    But to be honest, "eternal youth" doesn''t sound that special to her.

    When she was in Korea in her second life, she had met several people in theirte forties and above who could still pass as someone in their twenties. Especially the celebrities. But it wasn''t just in Korea though.

    [Asians are blessed with a youthful look, it seems.]

    "Don''t change the subject, Princess Neoma," Mochi said sternly. "You lost due to your arrogance and as a result, your physical body is now in the hands of the enemy."

    Ouch.

    "The enemy introduced himself a Curtis Smit," she said. "Apparently, he''s a Crow Executive."

    "The crows, huh?" Soju said while shaking his head. "They''re the same people that got Princess Nichole in the past."

    "Why did the Crow target the Crown Prince this time?" Mochi asked, confused. "This is the first time in a while that they directly approached the throne''s sessor. They didn''t do this kind of thing during little Niki''s term as the Crown Prince."

    "Curtis Smit imed that the cult can''t ept me as the sessor of the throne because of my Roseheart Blood," she exined, then she clutched her chest tight. "He tried to "pluck" the rose in my heart that I didn''t know I have." She turned to the Wind Spirit. "Mochi, why didn''t you tell me that I have a rose in my heart? Curtis Smit also said that it''s the Core of my power as a Roseheart."

    "Thest time I checked, the rose in your heart is still a young rosebud," Mochi exined worriedly. "Princess Neoma, you have to know that the rose in your heart has a different color from the rose in Prince Nero''s heart."

    "Why do our roses have different colors?"

    "The rose in the heart of a female Roseheart is always coral pink, while the rose in the heart of a male Roseheart is always midnight blue," the white bunny exined. "If that Curtis Smit opens your heart and sees that your rosebud is pink, he''d realize that you''re a female de Moonasterio, Princess Neoma."

    She gasped when she heard that. "Oh god," she said softly. "I''m so d I was able to trap my physical body inside the block of ice."

    "If that person has the ability to pluck the Core of a Roseheart, then he might have the ability to break your barrier," the Wind Spirit said. "Princess Neoma, this has gotten out of hand the moment we found out that the crows are involved in this mess. We need to inform His Majesty about the current situation."

    To be honest, she wanted to let her father know about the situation once it was under her control.

    But she didn''t expect the crows to be involved with the Death Camp.

    [This didn''t happen in my first life.]

    "I understand," she said. "Then, Mochi, can you teleport to the pce and bring my Papa Boss here?"

    "I can''t do that. Not in this form," Mochi said while shaking her head. "His Majesty is heavy. That''s why he can''t use long-distance teleportation himself."

    "What do you mean by my father being heavy?" she asked curiously. "I''m sure you''re not talking about his weight."

    "Of course, not," the white bunny confirmed. "By "heavy," I''m talking about His Majesty''s Mana. You know, Princess Neoma, your father is like a huge lump of Mana. My ability isn''t enough to carry a person like that from one ce to another, especially if those two ces are far from each other. Only a portal can teleport His Majesty."

    "Then, we must inform Papa Boss right away."

    "That''s right," the Wind Spirit said. "But first, I will fetch Geoffrey Kinsley from the Golden Field. A Pdin like him could help us a lot, Princess Neoma."

    "Alright, let''s do that," Neoma said while nodding her head. "I''ll leave it to you, Mochi."

    "I will take care of it, Princess Neoma," Mochi promised, then she turned to Soju. "You help Her Royal Highness be seen and heard by Juri Wisteria and Jeno Dankworth."

    Soju nodded and answered cheerfully. "As you wish, bestie."

    [I taught Soju that manner of speech~]

    <strong>***</strong>

    "PRINCESS NEOMA!"

    Neoma smiled when Juri Wisteria and Jeno Dankworth greeted her.

    This was the first time that she used her Spirit form so she wasn''t used to this ability of hers yet. Thus, Soju ended up helping her show up in front of Juri and Jeno in her Spirit form. Now, her two children could finally see and hear her like normal despite her current state.

    After lending her his help, Soju returned to his realm to take a rest.

    "P-Princess Neoma, why are you in that form?" Jeno Dankworth asked nervously. "Are you¡­"

    "No, I''m still alive," Neoma said with augh. When Juri and Jeno looked relieved by her assurance, she changed the topic. "Jeno, I like this idea of yours. Setting up a secret base in the sky is brilliant."

    Aside from the solidifying clouds to form a small "ind" above the Death Camp, Jeno Dankworth also hid their presence using the mist that was also a part of his ability. Needless to say, their group was safe now that they were sixty meters above the ground.

    "Thank you, Princess Neoma," Jeno said, his cheeks pink for some reason. "I''m d to be of help to you."

    "Yeah, this kid is pretty useful, Princess Neoma," Juri, her hands on her waist, said while nodding. "He''s a little worrywart though."

    Jeno red at Juri who red back at the young lord.

    [They''re already acting like real siblings.]

    That was cute.

    "Jeno, do you know where the enemies brought Lewis?" she asked the young lord seriously. "The situation has turned for the worse so I want to rescue my son as soon as possible. Plus, we need to save Jasper Oppa, too."

    "Duke Hawthorne?" Juri asked, surprised. "I thought the young duke is acting as one of the ve traders."

    "I have a feeling that Oppa has been caught," she said to Juri, then she turned to Jeno again. "Did you see where they took my son?"

    Jeno nodded, then he pointed at the gloomy tower surrounded by a very dark aura. "They brought Lewis Crevan in that tower, Princess Neoma," he said. "I couldn''te closer to the tower because of the offensive barrier around it."

    "Finding out where Lewis has been brought to is already a huge feat," she said. "Thank you, Jeno."

    Jeno Dankworth smiled shyly, then he bowed politely. "Anything for you, Princess Neoma."

    She just smiled and nodded, then she turned to her daughter. "Juri, can you help me break the barrier and enter the tower?"

    Juri''s face instantly lit up. "Breaking things is my forte, Princess Neoma."

    Jeno silently rolled his eyes at Juri and whispered, "Barbarian."

    Neomaughed and shook his head at the two''s chaotic rapport. [Lewis, just wait a bit¨C your mother and siblings are here to rescue you very soon.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    "IS THAT Prince Nero?"

    Curtis Smit turned around to see Alistair Madgwick, the "Master" of the Death Camp, enter his working room. "Yes, this is Prince Nero," he said, then he ced his hand on the surface of the Dome. "He''s asleep inside."

    Carrying the Dome with a huge block of ice inside was a difficult task.

    He had to use most of his power for teleportation. Thankfully, the Crown Prince wasn''t strong enough yet for him. If the sessor was as strong as his father, there was no way he could move the Dome using his ability.

    "Ah, so you haven''t begun the operation yet," Alistair Madgwick said, then he sat on the red sofa without being invited to do so. Talk about rude. "You''re supposed to pluck a rose in the Crown Prince''s heart or something, aren''t you?"

    "That''s correct," he said with a nod. "But as you can see, I''m having a hard time breaking the Dome that Prince Nero used to protect himself from me."

    His job was to fix things, not to break them.

    But of course, he could break the Dome if he really wanted to. It would take time though. And right now, they were running out of time. Thus, he''d like to break the Dome in the fastest way possible.

    "Curtis, can I give it a try?" the Master said. "I want to try breaking the Dome using my gravity control."

    "That doesn''t sound bad," he said, then he gestured to the Dome with his hands. "Be my guest, Alistair."

    The arrogant bastard smirked, then he moved his hand as if he was swatting an insect in the air.

    Half of the floor was crushed as a result, and the debris fell in the room below.

    But the spot where the Dome stood remained unscathed.

    Alistair clicked his tongue. "It seems like the rumor about the Crown Prince being the "new shield of the empire" is true."

    He nodded in agreement. "I''m half annoyed-half happy that the Crown Prince can create strong barriers. It''s actual proof that the blood and the Moonglow that he inherited from His Majesty are both thick."

    "You can''t be happy at this situation because you need to break the Dome," the Master said. "How do you n to break that thing anyway?"

    "I''ve summoned the little genius among the baby crows I''m raising right now."

    "Little genius?" Alistair asked curiously, then he snapped his fingers. "That sly girl? What''s her name again?"

    "Her alias is Regina Crowell," Curtis said, then his brows furrowed when he realized that Regina Crowell hadn''t responded to his call yet. "I wonder what''s taking her long to respond?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    TO SAY that Regina Crowell was shocked to find the little army all killed would be an understatement. She arrived at the foot of Mount Kimbro to meet up with them. But the members of the army that greeted her were all dead now.

    Each one was burned to crisp. But the burn marks didn''te from fire. Something else burned them to death.

    [Is it electricity?]

    It wasn''t like her little army wasposed of weak crows.

    She personally picked the members of her troupe. The members were all young, yes. But they were supposed to be the cream of the crop!

    [Howe they all died easily?]

    The most shocking part was the fact that her whole army was annihted by a single person.

    "How dare you do this to my army?" Regina yelled angrily at the person standing on top of the burnt corpses of her troupe. "Who the hell are you?!"

    The killer was wearing a ck hooded cloak.

    Based on his body type, she assumed that the assassin was a male.

    She couldn''t see his features clearly because he was wearing a ck face mask covering half of his face. But she could tell that the stranger was only a few years older than her. Despite his impressive height, his body fit suggested that he was still juvenile.

    But he already looked very powerful.

    The static flickering around the stranger''s hands told her that he was an electricity Mana-user.

    [He''s dangerous!]

    Thus, she decided to attack first.

    She gathered her energy in her hands, transformed it into "Mana bombs," then threw those bombs at the stranger.

    It looked like she caught him by surprise because even though he managed to avoid her surprise attack, he wasn''t able to avoid itpletely. The explosion caught the top of his hood, forcing him to remove and throw his cloak away.

    That was a smart move.

    [But how did he know that my Mana bombs are actually acid?]

    Her thoughts were cut off when her eyes caught a unique feature of the killer.

    [Purple hair?]

    It was a little dark so she thought his hair was ck. But when the moonlight hit his hair, it shined and revealed its true color.

    "Are you one of Jasper Hawthorne''s people?" she asked to stall time. She used arge amount of Mana when she threw two Mana bombs at the stranger earlier. She needed time to recover and thus, she decided to use her mouth in the meantime. "Or are you working for Prince Nero?"

    "Don''t."

    She was surprised not only by his cold tone. To be honest, she was more surprised to hear his strange, monotonous voice. He was obviously using a device to change it.

    "You do not have the permission to mention that person''s "name" with that filthy mouth of yours."

    She was insulted. "So, you''re really working for Prince Nero¨C ahhh!"

    A lighting-shaped "whip" hit her neck and wrapped itself around her throat¨C forcing her to immediately shut her mouth. When she grabbed the "lighting whip," she screamed in pain when her palms and neck got electrocuted.

    The electric shock wasn''t enough to kill her, but it was enough to make her fall to her knees while crying helplessly.

    But if she were an ordinary Mana-user, she would have already died.

    "Why?" Regina asked in a weak, hoarse voice. "Why are you doing this to me¡­?"

    Her throat hurt, preventing her from finishing her sentence.

    "Your existence is annoying," the cold stranger said, then he raised his hand and turned his palm in her direction. The purple and silver shes of static gathering in his hand suggested that he was preparing to electrocute her again. But this time, it seemed like the amount of electricity he was summoning was enough to burn her to death. "For the sake of that person, I cannot allow you to live."

    As soon as Regina saw the sh of strong electricitying in her way fast, her life also shed right before her eyes.

    [No¨C I can''t die here!]

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 235 - GREKO, THE SLAVE

    CURTIS was starting to get worried.

    He couldn''t get a hold of either Regina Crowell or Edmund¨C the blue-eyed crow that served as her guardian. The two were supposed to arrive an hour ago. But now, he couldn''t contact either of them.

    [But we''re talking about Regina Crowell here. Although she''s young, she''s smart and talented. And most of all, she''s starting to master her ability."

    Regina Crowell''s ability was dangerous yet very strong.

    It was one of the reasons why the youngdy was one of His Excellency''s three favored children.

    [Regina''s ability could also help me break Prince Nero''s Dome the fastest way.]

    "What?!"

    He turned to Alistair Madgwick who was yelling at a floatingmunication device in front of his face. Themunication device was a cane with wings.

    [Ah, Alistair and his quirky taste for things.]

    "I''ll be there in a minute," Alistair Madgwick said with a huff, then he stood up. As soon as he did, the magic cane disappeared. "Curtis, I''ll go ahead."

    "What happened?" Curtis asked curiously. "Is there an emergency?"

    "Lewis Crevan killed the doctor that I sent to heal his wounds," he said. "And that was the second doctor that I sent to his cell!"

    "How did he do that?" he asked, confused. "I thought you put the fox boy in the Punishment Tower."

    The ''Punishment Tower,'' as its name suggested, was where the most vicious prisoners were thrown at.

    Moreover, the Punishment Tower had a barrier that doesn''t only protect the tower from intruders. The barrier also served as a Mana sealing spell. Thus, the prisoners wouldn''t be able to use their power as long as they were behind bars.

    [The stronger the prisoner is, the stronger the sealing spell bes.]

    "How could Lewis Crevan use his power in the Punishment Tower?"

    "He doesn''t use his power," Alistair said while shaking his head. "He killed the doctors I sent with his bare hands. And fangs. That boy''s fangs are sharper than knives!"

    "You should have kept him as a statue instead of throwing him into prison," he said bluntly. "Have you forgotten that a Silver Fox like him is physically strong? Even though Lewis Crevan is still a cub, he already passed the test to be a White Lion Knight."

    "I know that," the Master said. "But the client who bought Lewis Crevan wants him to be in pristine condition before she arrives."

    "Who bought the fox boy?"

    "Madam Giselle Averon."

    Even he was surprised to hear that name.

    In the ck Market, the name ''Madam Giselle Averon'' was a legend. Ifpared to the madam, the crows would look like innocent little children.

    "Madam Averon likes breaking dolls," Curtis said while shaking his head. "And she likes breaking pretty boys the most. I can see why Madam Averon seems to be more interested in Lewis Crevan himself than the child''s Fox''s Marble."

    "I don''t care what Madam Averon does to Lewis Crevan since she already paid for her new toy," Alistair said, then he patted his shoulder before walking past him. "See youter, Curtis."

    <strong>***</strong>

    ALISTAIR didn''t want his hidden "ace" toe out and use his healing power on other people, but he had no choice.

    Madam Giselle Averon woulde and fetch Lewis Crevan first thing in the morning.

    Thus, the fox boy must bepletely healed by tonight.

    [I wouldn''t have this kind of problem if that stupid Prism didn''t maul Lewis Crevan''s face.]

    "Come out," Alistair said when he opened the "ck Room" with the key that only he possessed. "I need you to heal someone for me."

    A few momentster, a barefoot ten-year-old fat boy emerged from the darkness.

    Greko, the ve that he owned, was a boy taller and bigger than boys his age. The fatso had two funny features. First, his smooth and bald head. Second, his different-colored eye with the right being pale blue while the left being dark green.

    And of course, the funniest part was his round-ass body.

    "God, you''re so fat," he said while shaking his head. "Have I not starved you enough?"

    Greko, the silly young boy, just smiled awkwardly.

    He rolled his eyes, then he curled his finger to motion the boy to move. "Follow me," he said, then he turned his back on Greko. "If you try to escape again, you''re dead."

    After threatening the child, he began walking.

    He was confident that Greko wouldn''t try to escape again. Not after he threatened the child that he''d kill his friends if ever he pulled off that kind of stunt for the third time.

    [Greko is young but he can perform miracles with his healing power. If I train him enough, he might be able to make me an immortal soon enough. Until then, I won''t let him run away from me. I will only let him go once he''s dead.]

    His thoughts only got cut off when they finally reached the prison cell where Lewis Crevan and Jasper Hawthorne were currently locked up.

    The prison cell was already cleaned. He asked his servants to clean it up before he went there. After all, he heard from one of the guards that Lewis Crevan tore off the limbs of thest doctor that tried to heal him. He didn''t want to be greeted by that gruesome sight.

    [Tsk. Lewis Crevan looks awful.]

    The fox boy''s face was full of scratches and deeps, and so was his torso. But luckily, it seemed like Lewis Crevan allowed Jasper Hawthorne, his cellmate, to put first aid on him. After all, he noticed that the deeper wounds on the fox boy''s body was already bandaged up. It seemed like the young duke used the medicine tools that the previous doctors had left.

    On the other hand, Jasper Hawthorne was patched up well. But the young duke looked pissed while ring at him.

    "Even if you re at me, I won''t let you go," Alistair said to Jasper Hawthorne while opening the gate of the prison cell. Then, he turned to Lewis Crevan. "This is thest time I''m sending a healer to you, Lewis Crevan."

    He wasn''t worried about opening the prison gate because there was an invisible yet strong barrier between the "room" and the gate. At Lewis Crevan and Jasper Hawthorne''s current state, they wouldn''t be able to break it.

    [It''s the type of barrier that only people with "permission" toe in and out of the barrier could walk through it easily.]

    "This is Greko, your new doctor. He is a ten-year-old ve that I bought because of his exceptional healing ability. You won''t kill a child, will you?" Alistair asked Lewis Crevan who just looked at him with cold, dead golden eyes. "Ah, one more thing¡­" He grabbed Greko by the cor, then he pushed the child inside the prison cell before locking the gate fast. "If you kill that fatso, I will also kill all the other children that I can''t sell anyway for being "defective.""

    <strong>***</strong>

    JASPER HAWTHORNE let out a deep sigh while watching the young boy called ''Greko'' shake in front of Lewis Crevan.

    Both he and the fox boy weren''t chained but the spell in the prison cell was enough to make their body feel heavy. Thus, they could only sit on the floor to conserve their energy. It was a miracle how Lewis Crevan was able to move his body when he killed the two grown men (both doctors) who tried to heal him anyway.

    Thankfully, Lewis Crevan was ignoring the young doctor.

    [He attacked the two adult doctors earlier as soon as they walked near him.]

    "Lewis, I managed to stop your bleeding but it''s not enough," Jasper said carefully. He was used to talking authoritatively but he couldn''t use that tone on Lewis Crevan. After all, the fox boy would only listen to Princess Neoma. "Let the child heal you."

    Lewis Crevan turned to him with cold, empty eyes.

    "Think of your master," he said, not wanting to give in. The fox boy looked scary at the moment, but he had to stand his ground. "That person is waiting for you to return. Do you want toe back as a corpse?"

    Hesitation crossed the fox boy''s eyes.

    And this time, he looked less scary.

    "Your new doctor is a child," he said encouragingly. "Your master won''t be happy if you kill a child who just needs to do his job to survive. Lewis Crevan, don''t disappoint your master."

    Thankfully, it seemed like the fox boy listened to him.

    Lewis Crevan turned to the young doctor. "Fix me," he said coldly. "But try to do it without touching me too much."

    "D-Don''t worry, s-sir," Greko, the young boy, said in a shaking voice. The child''s body was also trembling, and he couldn''t even look at Lewis Crevan in the eye. "I d-don''t n-need to touch you to heal you."

    After saying that, the young doctor shut his eyes tight and sped his hands together as if he was praying.

    [Is he going to pray for Lewis to recover?]

    Well, he soon realized that it wasn''t the case.

    A few momentster, the whole prison cell was suddenly filled with a green aura that looked like little bulb lights.

    To say that he was surprised to see that would be an understatement.

    At first, he thought it was an ordinary burst of healing aura. But as soon as he felt his body getting rejuvenated because of the "bulb lights" falling softly on his skin, he finally believed the conclusion that he found hard to believe earlier.

    Jasper Hawthorne raised a brow. "Fairy Lights?"

    That meant Greko was probably half human-half fairy!

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

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 Chapter 236 - NEW BABY? NEW BABY

    "THIS is the spot that Jeno told us about, Princess Neoma."

    "Uh-huh," Neoma said while looking at the uneven part of the barrier. "I can see how the dudes who kidnapped my son can enter the barrier easily."

    She wasn''t worried about getting caught right away because she couldn''t be seen by ordinary eyes. But to be sure, she asked Jeno to cover her and Juri with his mist to erase their presence and make the two of them temporarily invisible.

    Plus, there weren''t people near the tower anyway. To be honest, she knew that the Punishment Tower wasn''t the Death Camp. It was hidden somewhere else. And yet, she was here because she wanted to save Lewis and Jasper Oppa first.

    Her heart felt heavy because she knew that there were other kids who needed her help first. And yet, she couldn''t bring herself to abandon her precious son.

    [Wait for me, kids.]

    Anyway¡­

    The uneven part of the barrier looked like someone carved a door in it. And just like any ordinary door, it had a keyhole. Obviously, the people working in the Death Camp had the key to open the barrier.

    Since they didn''t have it¡­

    "Break it," she told Juri, then she made a thumbs down gesture. "Hit it like a wrecking ball, my dear daughter."

    Juri grinned, then she opened her right hand. Soon enough, her iron sledgehammer manifested. She grabbed it with two hands while preparing to attack. "I''m ready," she dered. "Just give me the go signal anytime, Princess Neoma."

    "Don''t break the tower," Neoma reminded Juri strictly. Then, she pped her hands. "Go, Juri!" she said as if her daughter was a P*kemon while pointing her index finger at the barrier. "Use your huge ass sledgehammer to make a path for us!"

    It was an instant regret moment for Neoma.

    Juri, her gori of a daughter, didn''t just break the entire barrier¨C she even damaged the lower part of the tower!

    [Shit.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    "ARE YOU half-fairy?"

    Greko flinched when the young nobleman ¨C Jasper Hawthorne, if he remembered correctly¨C figured out his identity after he used his healing ability.

    [Thank goodness Master Alistair isn''t here anymore.]

    His Master Alistair already left when he began his treatment.

    But he knew that his master was only waiting at the entrance. Master Alistair gets weak when exposed to his healing ability too much. Thus, he had to step out.

    It was a blessing because he wanted to talk to other people without being supervised.

    Too bad he couldn''t answer the young lord''s question.

    After all, he wasn''t sure if he was really half human-half fairy.

    After all, he grew up in the Death Camp. He was almost sold as a ve when he was five years old. But when his healing ability manifested, Master Alistair decided to keep him as his personal doctor.

    He tried to ask the master once where he came from. But he only beat him to a pulp. Ever since then, he had been too afraid to ask about his identity.

    "You don''t have to answer if you can''t," Jasper Hawthorne said kindly. The young lord even smiled warmly at a mere ve like him. "Thank you for treating our wounds, Greko."

    Huh?

    "Lewis, that kid healed your wounds," the young lord said to the fox boy called Lewis Crevan (who was also a knight, if he remembered it correctly from the story that he heard from his master). "What do you say to him?"

    The fox boy remained indifferent.

    "Lewis, what will your master want you to say in this situation?"

    Lewis Crevan heaved a sigh, then he turned to him. "Thank you."

    This time, he wasn''t able to hold his tears back.

    The fox boy turned to the young nobleman. "Did I say anything wrong?"

    "I''m not sure," the young lord said, then he turned to him with a worried look on his face. "Did we say anything wrong, Greko? We''re sorry."

    He cried harder.

    "Y-You didn''t do anything wrong so you didn''t have to apologize, my lord," he said between sobs while wiping the tears off of his face with his hands. "I''m just t-touched. This is the first time that someone thanked me for healing them." He cried once again. "And this is also the first time that I received an apology."

    He would only use his healing power mostly on Master Alistair.

    There were exceptions though, like now. But still, he was practically exclusive to his master. And Master Alistair had never once thanked him for anything that he had done for him.

    But he thought he didn''t need to hear words of gratitude. He thought being provided with food, shelter, and clothes was enough. Thus, he didn''t expect that he''d feel overwhelmed to be thanked for the first time in his life.

    [I''m not saying that this is the first "thank you" that I received in my life. The kids that I protect would often thank me for giving them food in secret. But this is the first time that I was thanked for my healing ability. I feel appreciated and not exploited, unlike what I feel whenever I use my power on Master Alistair.]

    "Thank you for treating me like how I should be treated like a human, Lord Hawthorne and Sir Crevan," he said when he calmed down a bit. "You''re both kind but I can''t help you escape¡­"

    "It''s alright, Greko," Jasper Hawthorne said in a patient voice. "You don''t have to help us escape since we have our own savior anyway."

    "R-Really?"

    "Really," the young lord said, then he pointed his thumb at the fox boy. "His master wille and save us."

    The fox boy nodded quietly.

    "L-Lord Hawthorne, you shouldn''t casually say that," he said worriedly. "What if I''m a spy?"

    "Are you?"

    He shook his head. "I''m not."

    "I know," the young lord said with a warm smile. "And that bastard Alistair Madgwick already knows that Lewis''s master is here. It''s not like it''s a secret."

    He paused, then he gasped. "Is Sir Crevan''s master the Crown Prince?"

    The duke turned to the fox boy, then Lewis Crevan nodded as a response to his question.

    "It''s not a secret, too," Lewis Crevan said, then he gave him a warning look. "But let''s stop talking about my master now."

    Oh.

    "You should go now," Jasper Hawthorne said kindly. "Be careful on your way, Greko."

    Greko nodded, touched by how good Jasper Hawthorne and Lewis Crevan were to him despite him being technically an enemy. [I have to help them escape.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    "WAIT FOR me here."

    Greko flinched when his Master Alistair practically threw him inside his "bedroom" which was nothing more than a windowless room with a bed and a toilet. Still, he knew that he was luckier than the kids in the Death Camp. But that didn''t mean he wasn''t allowed to feel bad about his current situation.

    "We''re leaving the tower after I erase my traces here," Master Alistair said while closing the door. "We''ll move to the Death Campter."

    Then, the door shut tight.

    Once again, he was locked up in darkness.

    His room was in the basement. It was also ced near the entrance that the servants of the tower would often use. Master Alistair chose that room for him on purpose to entice him to escape. When he was still ignorant, he would often try to escape from the tower.

    He btedly realized that Master Alistair did that on purpose because he enjoyed "chasing" him like a rat, then punish himter for trying to run away.

    [And now, he often threatens me by using the kids in the Death Camp.]

    His thoughts got cut off when the room suddenly lit up.

    Fortunately, as soon as the darkness enveloped the room, his little best friend emerged from his palm.

    It was a lovely pink Orchid Mantis that he named ''Aurora.''

    He didn''t know where the magical mantis came from. She was already with him for as long as he could remember. But Aurora''s existence was a secret. He had a feeling that his Master Alistair would hurt his friend if he found out about her.

    [Master is cruel to people and things that get his attention.]

    His friend, with her luminous pink aura, lighten up the dark room. She was the reason why he had never been afraid of darkness.

    "It''s rare for you toe out like this Aurora," Greko said in a soft and cheerful voice. "You would just usually lend me your light."

    "Greko, it''s time for you to be free," Aurora said in a soft and gentle voice that sounded like it belonged to a girl his age. Yes, his Orchid Mantis could speak. "Our savior is here."

    He was just about to ask what she meant by that when all of a sudden, he heard a loud explosion.

    It was so powerful that the ground shook hard.

    [What''s happening?!]

    He was even more surprised when he realized that there was now a huge hole in the wall of his room. The dusting from the debris hurt his eyes a little, but he could clearly see two figures that were supposed to be unseen.

    Whether it was a curse or a blessing, the ability to see people and things that ordinary eyes couldn''t see was something that he had been hiding from Master Alistair as well. To be honest, it was Aurora''s advice that he followed.

    At first, he thought that his other abilities aside from his healing power were nothing but a huge burden to him. But at that moment, he decided that it was a blessing. After all, if his eyes weren''t special, he wouldn''t be able to see that person.

    "Pretty," he whispered to himself softly while staring at the most beautiful face that he had seen in his whole life. "How can someone be so pretty?"

    And that person was in their Spirit form at that.

    [Is she a Spirit?]

    Ah, wait.

    He wasn''t sure about the Spirit''s gender. It was wearing clothes that boys usually wore. But for some reason, his gut feel was telling her that he was looking at the most beautiful girl that he hadid eyes on.

    "Oh, you can see me?" the pretty Spirit asked in a cheerful voice. "I heard you when you said I''m pretty. Thank you. Your different-colored eyes are pretty and cool, too."

    He blushed at that. "T-Thank you."

    Most people teased him for having different-colored eyes. He was d that the pretty Spirit found his eyes pretty and "cool" instead of freaky.

    "And you can hear me, too," the Spirit said. "You''re good."

    He was about to say something when he felt his master''s bloodlust in the air. He could also hear Master Alistair''s heavy footsteps.

    [Ah, Master Alistair is mad.]

    That meant the tower was attacked.

    Moreover, that also meant that the people in front of him right now were intruders. If his deduction was correct, then¡­

    "Are you Sir Crevan''s master?" he asked softly. "I met him and Lord Hawthorne a while ago. Lord Hawthorne said Sir Crevan''s master wille and save them."

    "I''m not Lewis''s master," the pretty Spirit said. "I''m his mother."

    What?

    [But if she calls herself Sir Crevan''s mother, then does it mean she''s a girl dressed as a boy?]

    "Rara," the other invisibledy said to the pretty Spirit sternly. "That one might be a child, but he''s still one of the tower''s servants."

    "It''s okay," the pretty Spirit said. "I can tell that this one is a good kid."

    "And what''s your basis for that?" thedy asked in a tired voice.

    "He looks like a pork bun, and anyone who looks like a yummy food to me is a good person," the pretty Spirit said firmly, then she turned to him with a guilty look on his face. "Oh, I''m not insulting you, child. I know the way Ipliment people sucks. But please believe me when I say that it''s apliment. Still, I humbly apologize."

    Once again, he was touched to hear an apology even though he wasn''t hurt or offended.

    Now he could clearly tell that this person was Lewis Crevan''s master.

    [I have to help them infiltrate the tower safely.]

    "Sir Crevan and Lord Hawthorne are on the fifth floor," he said with a smile. "Both have been good to me. I genuinely pray that you seed in saving them." He bowed politely. "I wille up with an excuse so my master wouldn''t realize that the tower has been infiltrated."

    After saying that, he immediately bolted the room. His master locked the room so he wouldn''t be able to escape. But to be honest, he could unlock it anytime with the help of Aurora. It was only his choice to behave obediently for the sake of the children in the camp.

    But he had to leave now despite the pretty Spirit telling him to return and not involve himself in their business.

    He already made up his mind.

    Moreover, he was now facing a very angry Master Alistair. It was toote to regret his decision. Not that he would.

    "What was that explosion?!" Master Alistair yelled at him angrily. "Was it you again, pig?!"

    He wasn''t surprised that his master used him right away.

    After all, he used to create Mana-infused bombs to try and escape the tower in the past. In a normal circumstance, he would have hated being used of something that he didn''t do. But right now, he could use it to his advantage.

    "I-I''m sorry, Master Alistair," Greko said in a shaking voice. He was acting, yes. But the fear that he had towards his master was real. "I j-just want to check on my friends¨C"

    He wasn''t able to finish his sentence when his master''s hand hit him in the face hard.

    The next thing he knew, he was already on the ground while touching his swollen cheek. Worse, he couldn''t move because of the gravity crushing him hard. But he was thankful that he couldn''t even raise his head.

    After all, he wouldn''t have to look at his master''s angry and scary face.

    "It seems like I''ve gone easy on you recently that you forgot your ce," Master Alistair said coldly. "Shall I break your legs as punishment for trying to run away again before I kill your little friends?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    REGINA, by some miracle, survived.

    But it wasn''t because of her own effort. She was still alive because she was saved by Edmund¨C the blue-eyed crow that served as herpanion ever since she was a toddler. He was in his human form now, but he was badly injured.

    Edmund was the fastest among the crows.

    Thanks to his speed, he was able to reach her as soon as he arrived. He pushed her out of the way when she was about to be struck by the stranger''s bolt of electricity. Too bad he didn''t have enough time to save himself.

    As a result, Edmund didn''t just get his whole body burnt. He also had a huge hole in his stomach now. Worst of all, the insides of his stomach smelled like burned meat. And he was bleeding profusely.

    [Oh, god¡­]

    Regina, kneeling on the ground, covered her mouth with her hands. "Edmund¡­"

    Edmund (pale blonde hair, blue eyes, tanned skin) turned to him. Despite the gravity of his injuries, his face remained nk. "Go," he said in a weak yet urgent voice. "I don''t know who he is but I can tell that we''re no match against that person."

    "Even if we fight him together?"

    "Yes¨C he''s too strong for us."

    She was shocked to hear that from him.

    [Edmund is the strongest among our batch!]

    She gasped when she saw the assant behind Edmund. "Behind you!"

    Her warning came a little toote.

    The stranger grabbed Edmund by the head. Then, Edmund screamed in pain when he was electrocuted by the assant.

    [No¡­]

    Then, Edmund dropped to the ground unmoving. Smoke wasing out from his whole body, and he could see that his skin was burned badly.

    She stood up to run but much to her surprise, the stranger was already standing in front of him. Of course, she had no choice but to change her n. Instead of running away, she chose to use her mental ability this time.

    [I hope it works on him.]

    She looked at the assant''s dark violet eyes while trying to control his mind. She knew that she wouldn''t be able to control him like a puppet. Thus, she focused on trying to knock him out at least so she would be able to run away.

    "Weak," the stranger said in a disappointed voice. "This is how you use Mind String properly."

    [Mind String?]

    This bastard could use other abilities as if his electricity Mana wasn''t already powerful?

    Her thoughts got cut off when she realized that she couldn''t look away from the assant''s gaze. And she couldn''t even move an inch!

    The next thing she knew, all she could see was red¨C literally.

    When her eyes began to sting badly, that was when she realized what was happening to her.

    "No!" Regina screamed in horror, shutting her eyes tight when it finally hit her that she was literally crying blood. But that wasn''t the worst thing that happened. [I can''t see!]

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA squatted down and hugged her knees beside the cute child that she called "pork bun" fondly earlier.

    She heard and saw everything.

    The poor child who wanted to help her took all the me for the explosion that she and Juri caused. She tried to save the child while that bastard called ''Master Alistair'' crushed his short plump legs with gravity. Juri stopped her though.

    ording to her daughter, if they revealed themselves, the poor child''s sacrifice would be put in vain.

    "Are you still alive, my little brave pork bun?" Neoma asked softly while touching the poor child''s chubby cheek. She was a little surprised to be able to feel the child''s warmth despite her being in her Spirit form. But that feeling was overwhelmed by relief¨C relief that the child was still alive and breathing despite being unconscious. "Juri, can you fix his legs?"

    Juri Wisteria was physically strong but she was still Madam Hammock''s granddaughter. Plus, her daughter spent some time as a Mage in the Royal Tower. That meant Juri had the ability to heal people.

    "I can try," Juri, kneeling on the other side of the child, said. Then, she paused and shook her head. "No, I''ll do it. I''ll fix his legs," she said firmly, her face showing more determination now. "The child had to take the me for our recklessness. The least that we could do to repay him is to fix him." She then carefully put her hands above the child''s legs without touching them, then she closed her eyes. "I will check on him first."

    "Do everything to keep the child alive, Juri," she told her daughter seriously, then she turned to the unconscious little pork bun. She could see the strange yet pretty Orchid Mantis on the child''s chest. She could also tell that it was some sort of a Spirit. "Are you the boy''s guardian?"

    "That''s correct, Your Royal Highness."

    "You know me?"

    "Every single Spirit who followed Lady Mona Roseheart in the past could tell that you are her child," the Orchid Mantis said. "My name is Aurora, Your Royal Highness. It''s an honor to meet you."

    "Same here, Aurora," she said. "Can you address me as ''Prince Nero'' for the meantime? I will properly introduce myself to youter."

    "Absolutely, Your Royal Highness."

    "Thank you," she said. "May I know the boy''s name?"

    "It''s Greko."

    "That''s a nice name," she said genuinely. "I have one more question for you, Aurora."

    "What is it, Your Royal Highness?" Aurora asked earnestly. "I will answer you to the best of my knowledge."

    Neoma smiled before speaking again. "Do you think Greko will allow me to adopt him once he wakes up?"

    Juri, who was supposed to be busy checking on the child, groaned. "Oh, not again."

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 237 - INEVITABLE CLASH

    <em><strong>[A few hours after Princess Neoma and Lady Juri left¡­]</strong></em>

    "SIR KINSLEY, just where in the world did Princess Neoma and Juri have gone to?"

    Geoffrey Kinsley flinched after being confronted by Madam Hammock.

    [Ah, busted.]

    As Princess Neoma instructed him to do, he guarded the royal carriage as if Her Royal Highness and Lady Juri were there. He made up as an excuse as to why the two needed to stay in the carriage as they crossed the portal leading to the Golden Field.

    Then, when they arrived at the vi, he purposely asked everyone to let the royal carriage enter first. After that, he had no choice but to create an illusion of Prince Nero and Lady Juri. It wasn''t perfect, but his skill was enough to fool the servants of the vi who weren''t high-level Mana users.

    [But of course, a sage like Madam Hammock would notice.]

    Right now, he and the madam were in the master''s bedroom of the vi that Princess Neoma was supposed to use.

    [We''re caught by Madam Hammock as expected. I guess the madam deserves to know what her granddaughter is up to. Princess Neoma didn''t order me to keep it a secret from Madam Hammock anyway.]

    The Healing Sage was a trustworthy person.

    Moreover, Lady Juri was from House Wisteria. If something happened to the youngdy while she was in thepany of the "Crown Prince," the Royal Family would be criticized.

    "Princess Neoma and Lady Juri left to save Lewis Crevan, Madam Hammock," Geoffrey said carefully. "I don''t know the exact details but it seems like all of this has been nned by Princess Neoma and Duke Jasper Hawthorne in advance."

    "The young duke?" Madam Hammock asked in disbelief. "I thought Duke Hawthorne disappeared from the social circle since a year ago? There are even rumors that he''s nning to revolt against the Royal Family. But you''re saying that Princess Neoma has been working with His Grace this whole time?"

    "I also don''t know the details, madam," he said politely. "I know that I should have been more stubborn to stop Princess Neoma but¡­"

    "No need to exin, Sir Kinsley. I know how stubborn and persuasive our dear princess could be," she said with a smile on her face. Then, she put her hands on her hips. This time, the madam''s expression became more serious. "Sir Kinsley, what should we do next? We can''t just sit here and wait for Princess Neoma and my granddaughter to return."

    "Don''t worry too much, Madam Hammock," she assured the madam. "Princess Neoma told me to wait for the Wind Spirit to fetch me."

    "Okay," the madam said. "Take me with you then."

    His eyes widened in shock. "But you can''t leave your team, Madam Hammock. The Hisa Tree is your duty¡­"

    "That can wait," she said firmly. "Do you think His Majesty would care about the Hisa Tree once he finds out that Princess Neoma left to rescue Lewis Crevan from god knows who?"

    He couldn''te up with a retort because the madam had a valid point.

    "Moreover, Princess Neoma might need my ability as a Healing Sage," the madam added. "Although Juri has inherited my family''s healing ability, she''s still inferior to my high-level skills. When ites to healing people, I would be more useful to Her Royal Highness than my violent and crazy granddaughter would ever be."

    He couldn''t also deny that.

    [Lady Juri wasn''t kicked out of the Royal Tower just because of her violent streak. I heard that the youngdy also didn''t have the talent to continue staying in the tower as a mage.]

    But of course, it didn''t mean that Lady Juri had a weak healing ability. She wouldn''t have been epted in the tower in the first ce if that was the case. Thepetition among the mages just happened to be fierce. And since the youngdy wasn''t really interested to be a Healer, she didn''t put effort in enhancing her healing abilities.

    [Lady Juri would still be considered an excellent Healer outside the tower though.]

    Still, Madam Hammock was right¨C Princess Neoma might need the madam''s higher healing abilities than Lady Juri''s.

    "You''re right, Madam Hammock," he said. "Let''s just hope that the Wind Spirit allows you toe with us."

    "I also believe that the madam would be a great help to Princess Neoma."

    He and Madam Hammock both looked up to find Miss Gale (or Mochi, the name given to the Wind Spirit by Princess Neoma) floating in the air. The white bunny was surrounded by her bright aura.

    [The fact that we could hear Miss Gale''s voice only means that she''s allowing us to hear her.]

    "Please take me with you," Madam Hammock said to the Wind Spirit. "I''m worried about Princess Neoma and my granddaughter, Miss Gale."

    "Yes, I shall bring you with us, Madam Hammock. But before we leave¡­" Miss Gale said, then she turned to him. "Geoffrey Kinsley, I need you to send a report to His Majesty first about Princess Neoma''s current situation. Can you deliver a message to the emperor safely?"

    That meant whatever message the Wind Spirit needed to ry to His Majesty must be extremely important and confidential.

    "We, the Pdins, have a safe way to send a message to His Majesty," he assured the Wind Spirit.

    The Wind Spirit nodded before speaking again. "Tell His Majesty to please hurry over to Mount Kimbro."

    "Mount Kimbro?" he asked curiously.

    "Mount Kimbro is located in the territory known as the ''Unholy Land,''" Madam Hammock added worriedly. "Is there where Princess Neoma and Juri went to, Miss Gale?"

    "That''s correct," the white bunny said. "But the location isn''t the problem. Princess Neoma headed to Mount Kimbro with a n with that kid called Jasper Hawthorne. But she was met with an unexpected and unwanted guest."

    "Who might it be?" Geoffrey and Madam Hammock asked at the same time, and the two of them both sounded nervous.

    "A man who introduced himself as Curtis Smit," Miss Gale said. "Apparently, he''s a Crow Executive."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "CURTIS SMIT?" Niki asked with clenched hands. "The same Curtis Smit that abducted Nichole in the past?"

    He received Geoffrey''s message while he was in the carriage headed to the Golden Field.

    His escorts Dion and Jeanne also received the same message from Geoffrey. It couldn''t be helped because he and his Pdins had an exclusivemunication line. The line was designed for the message sent by one to be read by everyone included in the group.

    But they would only use thatmunication line if the message was very urgent and must be kept safe at all cost.

    Just like what Geoffrey sent to the group.

    "That seems to be the case, Your Majesty," Jeanne said while looking at the transparent scroll floating in front of her, just like the ones floating in front of him and Dion. "ording to Geoffrey, the description that Miss Gale gave fits the Curtis Smit that we know."

    Mona and Gale were no longer in the Royal Pce when Nichole was abducted by the crows in the past. Thus, the Wind Spirit couldn''t recognize Curtis Smit. But if Gale happened to know that bastard and what he did to Nichole before, then the Wind Spirit would have brought Neoma home right away.

    "We''re lucky that Curtis Smit hasn''t realized yet that the Crown Prince that he captured was actually a princess," Dion said in a low voice.

    "It''s not luck," he said firmly. "Neoma prevented that from happening by using her high-level shield."

    The male Pdin bowed. "I stand corrected, Your Majesty."

    He let it slide because it wasn''t important at the moment. "We have to get to Mount Kimbro fast. I don''t know why Curtis Smit approached the "Crown Prince." But once he realized that the one he caught was actually a female de Moonasterio¡­"

    He couldn''t say the unspeakable act that the crows did to his twin sister in the past.

    Even now, just remembering what Nichole had to go through was enough to make his blood boil in anger.

    [I won''t let those sted crows touch my daughter.]

    "We''re going to Mount Kimbro instead of the Golden Field," he dered urgently. "How long will it take for us to reach Cyfrin?"

    Cyfrin was a port town located on one of the borders. Moreover, the portal leading to Oxspring, the territory where Mount Kimbro was located, was in Cyfrin.

    His royal carriage had an eleration Magic Stone in it, and that Magic Stone came in the form of two white horses. Yes, the horses pulling the royal carriage weren''t real animals. They were images created by the Magic Stone.

    Thus, the "horses" could pull the royal carriage (that didn''t need a coachman to drive it) fast and non-stop.

    For that reason, it would only take them an hour from the Royal Pce to reach Cyfrin (that a normal carriage would reach in half a day if it traveled non-stop) usually. But since they wereing from the Golden Field, it would take them longer than normal.

    "It will take us two hours to reach the portal in Cyfrin, Your Majesty," Dion said politely. "That''s already the fastest that we could go."

    He clicked his tongue in annoyance.

    If his Mana wasn''t too heavy, he would have been able to perform a long-distance teleportation spell. But he was told that because of his overflowing divine energy, it was almost impossible to bring him from one ce to another.

    Except if the person performing the teleportation spell had the same amount of divine energy as him.

    [I have no other choice but to send my Soul Beasts to Neoma''s Soul Beast in the meantime.]

    His thoughts got disrupted when he felt some familiar divine energy near them.

    [What is he doing here?]

    The carriage suddenly stopped in the middle of the forest that served as a shortcut to the Golden Field Vi.

    "Calm down, it''s not an enemy," he told Dion and Jeanne who both looked tensed and alert when the carriage suddenly stopped a while ago. "Get out and let His Holiness in."

    Dion and Jeanne both looked shocked when the two realized who the "intruder" was.

    [Yes, it''s Saint Dominic Zavaroni.]

    After the two Pdins got over their shock, they both bowed to him and quietly got out of the royal carriage. Then, a few momentster, the saint entered the carriage and sat on the couch across from him.

    "Greetings to the one and only moon of the Great Moonasterion Empire," Saint Zavaroni greeted him politely. "Fancy meeting you here, Your Majesty."

    He didn''t miss the sarcasm, so he retorted with one. "Your Holiness, is the Royal Capital your vacation house now? I thought the Astello Temple wanted to be an independent country. Thus, my ancestors allowed the Valmento to exist as its own sovereign state."

    Valmento was the country known as the ''Holy Land'' where the saint resided.

    His Holiness smiled at him. "Lord Yule wouldn''t have blessed me with the ability to open portals if he does not want me to use it."

    He just rolled his eyes. Then, he froze when he realized that the saint wouldn''t be here without a valid reason. And the only reason His Holiness had reconnected with him was because of Neoma. "Your Holiness, you know, don''t you? You know that my daughter''s life is in danger."

    "I don''t know the details, Your Majesty. But Lord Yule warned me to protect Princess Neoma."

    His jaw clenched. "Yule wouldn''t have intervened if it isn''t serious."

    "Where is Princess Neoma, Your Majesty?" the saint asked worriedly. "I couldn''t detect her presence when I arrived at the Royal Capital. Thus, I tracked down your divine energy instead and created a portal to follow you."

    "Neoma is in Oxspring. To be precise, she''s somewhere near Mount Kimbro," he said. "But I don''t know the details so don''t ask anything else."

    "We should hurry to get to Her Royal Highness then."

    "I''d love to but you know that I can''t teleport, Your Holiness."

    "You can''t, but I can," His Holiness said casually. "Don''t you know that I used to wander around the continent with Princess Nichole in the past? During that time, Princess Nichole was a lot stronger than you were. Thus, I''m confident that I can take you with me when I teleport."

    "I''m stronger than Nichole now."

    "I''m also stronger now than I was before, Your Majesty," Saint Zavaroni said, then he paused for a few seconds. "But I can''t bring your Pdins with us. You''re already too much for me."

    And he said he was confident with his teleportation skill, huh?

    Well, it didn''t matter.

    "That''s fine¨C they can just follow uster," Niki said in an urgent voice. "We should leave now before my daughter goes wild, Your Holiness."

    <strong>***</strong>

    TREVOR was woken up by strong hands strangling him until he was lifted from his seat.

    That was when he realized that he had fallen asleep on the emperor''s office table. His Majesty left the Royal Pce a few hours ago. He had been sitting in his office ever since then, and the servants weren''t allowed in there.

    Obviously, the assassin had mistaken him for the emperor since he changed his appearance to look like His Majesty.

    "Who are you?"

    He opened his eyes to see a familiar face.

    [Ah, it''s not an assassin.]

    Well, he should have known who it was as soon as he realized that the hands strangling him were owned by someone''s shadow.

    [It''s the Shadow Duke, of course.]

    "Who are you?" Duke Rufus Quinzel, whose golden eyes were glowing menacingly, asked threateningly. "You''re not His Majesty."

    Ah, as expected of the Quinzel n Head.

    He grabbed the shadow hands and peeled them off of his neck.

    "For the record, I''m here because of His Majesty''s order," Trevor said with a smirk, his disguise melting to show the duke his real appearance. "You''rete to the party, Duke Quinzel."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "THERE''S a horrible stench in the air," Nicholemented with a scowl as soon as theynded in Oxspring using the Devil''s portal. She and herpany could see Mount Kimbro from the hill they were standing on. But aside from the tower that shouldn''t be there, she couldn''t help but notice the stink that she wouldn''t mistake for something else. "They''re here," she said with clenched hands, anger rising up to her chest instantly. "The crows are also here."

    Gin and Gavin Quinzel both turned to her.

    "Are you sure, Princess Nichole?" Gavin Quinzel asked. "How could you tell?"

    A bitter smile etched on her face. "How could I not?" she asked back to the clueless formermander. "I was imprisoned in their hide-out for ten horrible months, and each day felt like an eternity as they tortured the hell out of me."

    Sympathy crossed Gavin Quinzel''s eyes.

    Like the other people working for her twin brother at the time, the formermander didn''t know what exactly happened to her during the months that she was abducted by the crows. All they knew was when she was "rescued," she had already been reduced to a broken doll.

    Of course, everyone knew that she had been tortured.

    They just didn''t know exactly how.

    [Niki probably has an idea about what I went through, but he never asked so I never confirmed anything to him.]

    "I''m sorry," Gavin Quinzel said softly, the sympathy in his eyes earlier was now reced with guilt. "I''m sorry that it took us a long time before we were able to rescue you back then, Princess Nichole."

    Her bitter smile only grew wider. "Well, it can''t be helped since during that time, you were busy babysitting my "sick" twin brother."

    The formermander looked like he was about to say something when Gin, the humanoid cat that looked like a pre-adolescent boy with a cat head, interrupted them by literally cing himself between her and Gavin Quinzel.

    "Stop making me feel out of ce," Gin whined like a child. Did his mental age also regress when his appearance changed to a kid''s? "We still have work to do¡­"

    The cat trailed off when the ground suddenly shook hard.

    She gasped when all of a sudden, the sky "cracked."

    [This teleportation skill¡­]

    And the divine energy that she felt as soon as the sky "cracked" could only belong to one person.

    [No¡­]

    As if on cue, the person on her mind literally fell from the sky.

    [Dominic¡­]

    Her heart thumped against her chest fast and hard when she saw Dominic''s gentle face.

    [It''s really him.]

    When their eyes met, she almost cried from all the emotions that rose up in her chest. After all, no matter how much she missed this man every single day of her life, she knew that she no longer had the right to be with him.

    [I don''t deserve someone like you, Dominic. Not after what they did to me.] She clenched her fists tight. [No, this isn''t the right time to think about those things.]

    What was the saint doing in that ce anyway?

    "Nichole," Dominic said softly when his feetnded on the ground. He didn''t move from his spot. In fact, he looked too shocked to see her that he couldn''t approach her. Perhaps, the foolish saint was thinking that she was just an illusion that his mind created to ease his yearning for her. "You''re really here¡­"

    She took a step backward when the saint took a step forward.

    Nichole was about to tell Dominic off when she realized that she had been too focused on the saint to notice that he didn''te alone.

    His Holiness arrived with Niki.

    And Gavin Quinzel was still there.

    [No!]

    <strong>***</strong>

    NIKOLAI was surprised to find Nichole at the ce where Saint Dominic Zavaroni''s teleportation spell literally dropped them off.

    But as soon as his feet touched the ground, his attention drifted away from his twin sister.

    Another presence caught his eyes, and it wasn''t the humanoid cat that looked like a child with a cat''s head.

    The man standing behind the ck cat seemed familiar to him.

    To be honest, he already recognized that face as soon as his eyes locked with those golden orbs. He refused to ept it as a reality at first. But when it became clearer that he wasn''t mistaken, anger instantly rose up to his chest.

    For the first time after a long while, his body trembled from too much rage.

    [Gavin Quinzel¡­?]

    It didn''t look like a "skin disguise" or a human doll.

    The mix of resentment, guilt, and envy that he could see in those golden eyes couldn''t be faked. Only real humans could convey such intense emotions in a single gaze.

    "It''s been a while, Your Majesty," Gavin Quinzel said in a stern voice, his golden eyes now aglow. "In case you''re wondering, I''m the real Gavin Quinzel."

    He could tell that.

    And that was exactly the cause of his wrath at the moment.

    "Why¡­?" Niki asked in a cold, angry tone. Just judging by the intense hate in his chest, he could already tell that his eyes had turned glowing red at the moment. "Why are you still alive, you damned traitor?!"

    Why was Gavin alive when Mona wasn''t?

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 238 - APPA VERSUS PAPA BOSS

    "RARA, I''ve healed the child''s broken legs," Juri Wisteria reported to her, addressing her as "Rara" to protect her identity in her Spirit form. "He must have passed out from the pain when that crazy bastard hurt him a while ago."

    Neoma let out a deep sigh. "I would have broken all that bastard''s bones if you didn''t stop me earlier, Juri."

    She and her daughter heard everything¨C from the way the child called Greko (ording to Aurora, the boy''s Spirit Guardian) took the me for everything to the way he was punished heavily by the man child called ''Master Alistair.''

    Upon hearing that bastard''s name, she remembered from her first life''s memories that the owner of the Death Camp was called ''Alistair Madgwick.'' That horrible man was the son of Count David Madgwick¨C one of the most influential noblemen from the Noble Faction.

    She was indifferent towards the "Master" in the past. But now that she had witnessed firsthand how cruel that bastard was, her grudge towards him turned personal.

    "You know why I had to stop you, Rara," Juri reminded her firmly. "We can''t get exposed until we save Lewis and Jasper Hawthorne. I know that seeing the person who helped us get tortured is very upsetting. But in times like this, you have to keep your cool." She put a hand on her shoulder. "You can go crazy once we achieved our goal. I won''t stop you by then."

    She took a deep breath to calm herself down.

    To be honest, she was a little surprised to hear that advice from Juri. After all, she was known for having a violent nature. But maybe she shouldn''t have been surprised.

    [In the end, Juri is still an adult.]

    Well, she was an adult inside as well. It just so happened that she had a nasty temper. Plus, she felt strange for the past few days. She wasn''t a violent person but for some reason, she wanted to answer violence to anything that annoyed her¨C even the minor inconveniences ones.

    Maybe it was the stress.

    "Okay, I''m calm now," she told Juri, then she paused when she felt the familiar Mana of that bastard Alistair Madgwick. The only good thing that came out from witnessing the suffering of Greko was the chance to learn about the bastard''s ability. "Let''s get out of here, Juri. The bastard is back."

    Her daughter looked confused by what she said. "We''re leaving the child here? But if that bastard finds out that he was healed, he''ll realize that the tower has been infiltrated by other people."

    "My gut feel says the tower has been infiltrated," she said. "After all, despite the explosion that we created, that Alistair Madgwick didn''t dispatch his minions."

    "That means the tower is almost empty," her daughter, as sharp as ever, said while nodding her head. "Since they were expecting "Prince Nero" tonight, it makes sense to move the residents of the tower to another hide-out."

    "We have to move before they transfer Lewis and Jasper Oppa to another ce."

    Juri looked down at the still unconscious Greko. "How about this little one then?"

    "I already sent a message to Jeno Dankworth," Neoma said, then she stood up and turned to the hole that she and Juri created in the wall. She could see Jeno Dankworth standing a few meters away from her with Soju, the toad, on his shoulder. "Jeno Dankworth, protect the child and deal with Alistair Madgwick," she said seriously. "But don''t kill the bastard¨C I will punish himter with my own hands."

    She was confident that Jeno Dankworth could defeat the bastard Alistair Madgwick.

    [Jeno is a cloud dude after all.]

    Jeno Dankworth, who obviously heard her despite the distance between them, bowed his head politely. "I received your order, Your Royal Highness."

    <strong>***</strong>

    [FIRST, protect the child.]

    Jeno carefully carried the unconscious young boy (called Greko, if he remembered it correctly), andid him down on the bed made of clouds. The bed had two different types of solidified clouds. The lower part was made of clouds as hard as a wood frame, while the upper part was as soft as a mattress.

    "Soju, please help me protect the child," Jeno said politely. The frog¨C uhm, the toad asked him to call him casually. Still, he knew that the Spirit was older than him. Thus, he couldn''t help but speak formally to him. As formal as he could since he wasn''t a sociable person. Moreover, he didn''t grow up as a proper nobleman so he wasn''t sure about his manners and etiquette. "I will take care of the enemy."

    "Alright," Soju said, then he hopped andnded on the child''s chest. "Will you be alright, Jeno? Her Royal Highness told us about the enemy''s ability."

    "I''ll be fine," he said. "Gravity can''t push clouds to the ground."

    The frog¨C uhm toad looked confused by what he said.

    He didn''t have the time to exin because he felt the enemy behind him.

    "Who the hell are you?"

    He turned around to find a man with moss curly hair, sharp olive eyes, and red lips. The man was also covered in all ck clothes. The visible part of his skin was covered with blemishes.

    [This must be Alistair Madgwick.]

    Aside from his appearance, he noticed something strange about the enemy.

    [Why does it feel like there are two different energies inside him?]

    "Huh?" Alistair Madgwick said while taking a good look at his face. "You look familiar. Which household do you belong to?"

    He pulled out his gun instead of giving the bastard an answer.

    The so-called "master" smirked haughtily. "Well, I can always make you answer my questionster," he said confidently, then he raised his hand with the palm facing his direction. "First of all, I''ll make you kneel before me."

    Alistair Madgwick mmed his hand in the air as if he was swatting an insect.

    Too bad for the bastard because he already anticipated that he would use his control of gravity to crush him right off the bat. Thus, he pulled the technique that his Brother Sean taught him as soon as he arrived at House Dankworth.

    That technique was the reason why the master''s ability didn''t work on him.

    "What the hell are you?" Alistair Madgwick snarled while looking up at him with glowing eyes. "Why is my ability not working?!"

    The answer was this: Jeno just turned his whole body into a human-shaped cloud. It was the reason why he floated. And yes, even the gun in his hand changed its shape.

    "It''s not like your ability isn''t working on me," he said to the enemy. "After all, gravity still affects clouds. Let''s just say that right now, my body is made of zillions of tiny water droplets. You know that each water droplet doesn''t weigh very much at all, don''t you?" He was borne aloft by air currents right now. And since he was very light, it didn''t take a very strong wind to counteract the pull of gravity. "As long as I''m in this form, I will stay in the air."

    Until his body grew toorge to be held up by air currents, that is. But he would return back to his original form before he got to the point where his body that was currently made of clouds fall to earth as rain or some other form of precipitation.

    [Not that Alistair Madgwick needs to know that.]

    The fact that the enemy didn''t know that he was a Dankworth was something that he should be thankful for. Because of Alistair Madgwick''s ignorance of his ability, he attacked him with gravity.

    [But even if he realized that I''m a Dankworth, I don''t think he''d suspect that I know how to use this technique.]

    The ability to turn their body into a piece of cloud was a technique passed down to the Dankworth Heir only. He didn''t know why his Brother Sean taught him that technique (and they kept it a secret from their father). As the current head of House Dankworth, his brother should have reserved teaching the family''s secret technique to his future child and sessor.

    But whatever his brother''s reason was for passing down the technique to him instead of saving it for his future heir, he was grateful for his Brother Sean''s generosity.

    Moreover, he was lucky that he was matched with an enemy that he could ovee with his ability. He was d that he wouldn''t disappoint Princess Neoma.

    That thought distracted him for a moment.

    [Wait¡­ did Princess Neoma order me to apprehend Alistair Madgwick because she knows my ability is a good match for that bastard''s gravity control technique?]

    If his hunch was correct, then Her Royal Highness was indeed very smart.

    He was distracted when he realized that Alistair Madgwick disappeared in front of him in the blink of an eye. The bastard was now quickly running in Greko''s direction.

    [As if I''d let youy a hand on the child Princess Neoma asked me to protect.]

    Jeno pointed the gun at the bastard''s right leg. Despite being in the form of a cloud, it still functioned as a normal weapon. So when he pulled the trigger, Alistair Madgwick was shot in the leg and fell to the ground yelling in pain. "My master told me to keep you alive," he said, then he continued shooting at Alistair Madgwick''s limbs. "Try not to die from blood loss, bastard."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA wanted to scream as soon as they reached the prison cell where Lewis and Jasper Oppa were supposed to be.

    It was now empty, but she could feel the two''s lingering Mana behind.

    [I''m sure that Lewis and Jasper Oppa were here earlier.]

    "It seems like Alistair Madgwick didn''t deploy his men to protect the tower because there''s no one to protect here anymore," Juri, with his hands on her waist, said while shaking her head. "It seems like they have already transported Lewis and Jasper Hawthorne to another ce."

    "They must have been brought to the Death Camp," Neoma said in an eerily calm voice that spooked even herself. "There must be at least one person in the tower who has teleportation skills. Moreover, they must have been strong, too. I can''t imagine Lewis and Jasper Oppa getting caught together without putting up a fight."

    Her daughter nodded in agreement. "That''s true. Alistair Madgwick looks weak. But he won''t be able to run the ck Market without the help of influential people. That bastard probably has an army of exceptional warriors, too."

    That made sense.

    But if that was the case, how did Jasper Hawthorne apprehend the ck Market in her first life? She wasn''t underestimating the young duke. But did it have something to do with Jasper Oppa''s age at the current timeline?

    Was it because the young duke hasn''t mastered his poisonous butterflies technique yet?

    Curtis Smit''s image suddenly shed in her mind.

    Ah, of course.

    [The sudden appearance of the crows messed up the events in this timeline.]

    "Rara, what should we do next?" Juri asked, distracting her from her thoughts. "I don''t think we can handle this on our own anymore."

    That was what she thought, too.

    "Let''s regroup with Jeno and Soju first," Neoma said, then she let out a frustrated sigh. "I wonder who Papa Boss sent as reinforcements."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "WHERE is Mona?" Niki snarled at Gavin. "If you''re still alive, then she must be alive as well."

    To be honest, he was curious as to how Gavin was able toe back to life.

    But his head was only filled with thoughts about Mona, making his chest tighten painfully. Was Mona still alive just like Gavin?

    [And if she is, where could I find her?]

    Gavin smirked bitterly. "Your Majesty, Neoma''s life is in danger and yet, you''re more concerned about Lady Roseheart?"

    "Who gave you the right to call my daughter by her first name?" he confronted the traitor. "It''s ''Princess Neoma'' to you, Gavin Quinzel."

    "I don''t have time to talk to you, Your Majesty," his formermander said, then he turned his back on him. "I have nothing to say to you anyway."

    "Did I give you permission to leave, Gavin Quinzel?"

    Gavin suddenly stopped moving, and it was obvious that he couldn''t take another step away from him.

    Yes, it was his doing.

    For the first time after a long while, he released more than half of his divine energy. He used it to put pressure on Gavin. Thus, preventing the traitor from moving.

    But the bastard still looked unfazed.

    In fact, the formermander even turned to him with a smug look on his face. To other people, it might look like an ordinary "charming" smile. But he knew Gavin, and he could see the arrogance that he could hide under his friendly demeanor.

    "Thest time I left, you also didn''t give me the permission to do so," Gavin said in an annoying "yful" and mocking voice. "But were you able to stop me? You didn''t, Your Majesty. Do you think I will listen to you this time?"

    "Thest time you disobeyed my order, you managed to stay alive," Niki said coldly, his bloodlust now directed at Gavin Quinzel. "But this time, I''ll kill you in a way that not even the Devil or the Fox''s Marble could bring you back to life."

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 239 - COUNTDOWN TO BREAKING DOWN

    FROM THE corner of Niki''s eye, he saw Nichole and the strange humanoid cat approach him. "Nichole, don''t interfere," he warned his twin sister. "Don''t make me kill you again and again."

    Nichole gave him a cold look. "Who said I''d let you kill me this time?"

    While he was talking to his twin sister, the sneaky humanoid cat tried to attack him.

    But of course, now that his divine energy was literally overflowing from his body, the cat didn''t even get the chance to get to his personal space. As soon as the foolish demon cat touched the unseen divine barrier made out of his pure energy, his body literally melted.

    Of course, the cat screamed in pain as his body began to disintegrate.

    [Fool. Do you think a demon like you could touch the most divine body in the whole continent?]

    "Gin!" his twin sister yelled, then she ran towards the cat.

    Then, Nichole grabbed the body of the humanoid cat. Then, she used her Mana to create a Dome. But it was different from Neoma''s Dome that was made with divine energy.

    He almost didn''t recognize his twin sister''s Mana. After all, it had barely divine energy in it. But it wasn''t like he didn''t know that. He hasn''t forgotten that he had absorbed Nichole''s divine energy in the past.

    That was supposed to have killed his twin sister.

    But looking at her dark Mana now, he could tell that the Devil gave Nichole a strange Mana that might have been the source of his twin sister''s new life force.

    Once again, his heart was heavy with guilt for what happened to the Princess Royale.

    [Nichole, our bodies as a de Moonasterio are only supposed to receive and ept divine energy. How did you force your body to ept the Devil''s Mana? It must have hurt a lot.]

    He wasn''t the only one who noticed that.

    Saint Dominic Zavaroni, who was standing a few meters away from his twin sister, had a pained look on his face. Then, His Holiness tried to approach Nichole.

    "Your Holiness," he said sternly, his tone reminding the saint of his position. At the end of the day, Nichole was on the side of the Devil now. And the Devil was an enemy to both the empire and the temple. "I''ll deal with Gavin and Nichole," he said. "Go and protect Neoma. I will follow you soon."

    [I''m really sorry, Neoma. I know that you''re in danger. But I want to know what happened to Mona first¡­]

    Maybe his lover was right all along.

    [Perhaps, I really love you more than I love our children, Mona.]

    He knew that Neoma and Nero would hate him for that admission.

    It wasn''t like he didn''t care about his children. After the "curse" that Mona put on her was broken by Neoma and Nero, he began to genuinely love his kids.

    But it just happened that Mona still upied the biggest portion of his heart.

    [Forgive me for these feelings of mine, Mona.]

    "Your Holiness," he said, his voice a little louder this time. "Have you not received my order?"

    Valmento, also known as the Holy Land, was an independent state on the surface.

    But the saint, which was the head of that small country, still heeded to the emperor''s call. After all, the de Moonasterios had the blood of Yule. And Yule was the god that the Astello Church and its devotees worshipped.

    Thus, Saint Zavaroni must follow his order.

    But then again, he knew how the saint felt about his twin sister.

    [If my love for Mona borders obsession, then Saint Zavaroni''s love for Nichole is like his love for his religion.]

    Saint Zavaroni, who seemed to havee back to his senses, nodded. "As you wish, Your Majesty," he said, but his eyes still lingered on Nichole. "I will protect Princess Neoma so please leave quietly, Princess Nichole."

    When his twin sister ignored the saint, His Holiness got the message.

    Saint Zavaroni bowed his head to Nichole, then he disappeared in a bar of silver and blue-ish pieces of lights that engulfed his body.

    "Princess Nichole, please protect Neoma," Gavin said to Nichole in a desperate voice. "Don''t forget our goal."

    "I know, Lord Quinzel," Nichole said firmly, then she carried the unconscious and heavily injured ck cat in her arms as she stood up. This time, when he said ''cat,'' he meant it literally. The humanoid cat now had the appearance of an ordinary ck cat. "I''ll leave Niki to you."

    "Don''t go to Neoma," he said to his twin sister. "Curtis Smit is there."

    Gavin looked shocked at what he heard.

    But of course, it was Nichole who looked shocked the most.

    After all, it was Curtis Smit who abducted his twin sister in the past.

    He thought it was enough to stop Nichole from going to where Neoma was. But much to his surprise, the shock on his twin sister''s face was suddenly reced with determination.

    "All the more reason for me to go and save Neoma myself," Nichole said firmly, her ash-gray eyes turned glowing red. "Do you think I would grab the Devil''s hand if I wanted to die without getting my revenge on those bastards, Brother?"

    He didn''t miss the sarcasm in his twin sister''s voice when she called him ''Brother.''

    Moreover, he also didn''t miss the anger and the bitterness in her voice.

    "You barely cared for me in the past after you became the Crown Prince, so don''t act as if you care about me now," his twin sister said bitterly.

    He clenched his hands tight. "Fine, I won''t stop you from helping His Holiness save Neoma. But you won''t be taking my daughter away from me."

    "That''s not for you to decide, Niki," Nichole said, then her gaze went past him and smiled. "See youter, Lord Quinzel."

    After saying that, his twin sister was engulfed in a ck light that swallowed her until she disappeared with the ck cat.

    [Be safe, Nichole.]

    He pulled Calypso, his Holy Sword, out of the sheathe attached to his hip when he felt Gavin''s bloodlust.

    Yes, the traitor managed to break free while he was speaking with Nichole earlier.

    As soon as he raised his sword to protect himself, Calypso''s de shed with the de of the sword that Gavin used to attack him.

    He pushed the bastard away using the burst of his Mana that sent the traitor flying.

    Of course, Gavin managed to get his bnce in the air andnd gracefully on the ground. "Your swordsmanship improved a lot, Your Majesty," he said with a smile that looked genuinely. "As your sword instructor in the past, I''m proud of myself for turning a novice like you into a decent swordsman."

    He hated the formermander''s arrogance but it wasn''t like he could refute his im.

    "A weapon is only secondary to a de Moonasterio," he said, trying to soothe his hurt ego. "We fight using our Soul Beasts."

    Gavinughed, then he threw his sword away. Then, he stomped his right foot on the ground. "Come out, ckwell."

    His jaw clenched when a roaring Shadow Dragon came out of Gavin''s shadow.

    [Ah, it''s really Gavin. Only he could summon the Shadow Beasts. Hanna Quinzel has the right to summon those beasts, but what could the youngdy do against her uncle¨C the genius of House Quinzel?]

    But still¡­

    "Your Shadow Dragon looks pathetic," he said while looking up at ckwell¨C Gavin''s main Shadow Beast. But it wasn''t as big and as strong as he remembered it. "This is what a real dragon looks like, Gavin." He opened his hands while gathering his divine energy. "Come out, East."

    East was the name of his Azure Dragon.

    The divine beast, glowing in bright blue light, emerged from the portal that opened above his head. Just like ckwell, East came out roaring and ready to fight.

    Of course, his blue dragon was bigger and stronger than the Shadow Dragon.

    It didn''t stop Gavin''s Shadow Beast to attack his Soul Beast though. In just a few seconds, the two dragons were already killing each other in the sky by breathing Mana waves at each other.

    "You''re just like your Shadow Beast, Gavin," he said while shaking his head. "It doesn''t know its ce."

    "You''re the one who doesn''t know his ce, Your Majesty," Gavin said, more seriously this time. "I can''t tell you if Lady Roseheart is still alive or not because I also don''t know what exactly happened to her."

    "Do you think I will believe you?"

    "I''m not trying to convince you to believe me," the formermander said nonchntly. "My priority right now is to save Neoma. So let''s finish this fight as soon as possible, Your Majesty."

    "Why are you so obsessed with my daughter?"

    The traitor fell silent for a while that he thought he would refuse to answer his question again. But much to his shock, he opened his mouth to speak.

    But he didn''t like what he heard.

    "Your Majesty, I''ll tell you something that you ought to know," Gavin said seriously. "I''m Neoma''s "appa.""

    Of course, he was angry to hear that kind of bullshit from Gavin.

    But the word that Gavin uttered was familiar to him. It was the word that Neoma would often mumble in her sleep. He thought his daughter was just speaking gibberish.

    But howe the traitor seemed to know that strange word?

    "I heard that word before," he said carefully. He hated to ask Gavin of all people, but he had to. "What does ''appa'' mean?"

    "It means ''father,''" Gavin said with a smug look on his face. "Did you, perhaps, hear that word from Neoma, Your Majesty?"

    Niki''s body froze.

    For the first time since he lost Mona, he felt the fear of losing someone precious again.

    [Is Neoma referring to Gavin every time she says ''appa'' in her sleep?]

    But how did that happen¡­?

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA was impressed when she returned to Jeno Dankworth''s side.

    The cloud dude defeated Alistair Madgwick, as expected. And Greko, who was now awake, was sitting on a bed made of clouds. The child, and even Aurora (the pink mantis seated on the kid''s palm), looked relieved upon seeing her and Juri Wisteria safe.

    [He seeded in the two tasks that I assigned to him.]

    But¡­

    "Is he still alive?" Neoma asked while looking at the literally bloody Alistair Madgwick. The bastard was unconscious on the ground. His arms and legs were tied by ropes made of clouds. "I see so many holes in his body, Jeno Dankworth."

    "Alistair Madgwick is still alive, Your Royal Highness," Jeno Dankworth said, then he paused before speaking awkwardly. "Uhm, I just don''t know how long he''ll still live because he already lost too much blood¡­"

    Juri Wisteria clicked her tongue at the young lord. "Are you stupid or what?"

    The young lord red at her daughter.

    "Stop fighting," she scolded Juri and Jeno who both quickly bowed to her. After the two calmed down, she turned to Juri. "Can you heal Alistair Madgwick, Juri? He can''t die yet since we still need to interrogate him."

    "We need to find the right pieces of equipment for blood transfusion, Your Royal Highness," Juri said. "I don''t have the ability to do it using magic alone."

    "You were probably asleep when it was taught in your ss," Jeno, who obviously knew that Juri was kicked out of the Royal Tower, "whispered" to himself. "Barbarian."

    Juri "smiled" and "whispered" back to Jeno with clenched teeth. "I''ll smash your faceter, brat."

    "Let''s see if your sledgehammer can smash clouds."

    "Don''t provoke me."

    She could only sigh and shake her head while listening to Juri and Jeno bicker.

    [I''m probably the only nine-year-old baby girl in the world who raises hot-headed teenagers as her "children."]

    Ah, yes.

    Jeno Dankworth was starting to grow on her.

    "Y-Your Royal Highness¡­"

    She immediately turned to Greko.

    [Ah, Auro must have told him that I''m "Prince Nero," just like how I introduced myself to her earlier.]

    She smiled at the poor child. "What is it, Greko?"

    "C-Can I heal Master Alistair?"

    That surprised her. "You''re a Healer?"

    The child nodded shyly. "I can give my b-blood to Master Alistair without any equipment. And my blood ispatible to any type."

    "I need Alistair Madgwick alive so I won''t refuse your offer," she said gently. "But Greko, I want you to be honest with me. Can you heal that basta¨C I mean, that bad guy in your current condition? You were heavily injured earlier. I don''t want you to push yourself too hard."

    Greko''s face turned red as if he was touched by her concern. But suddenly, he gasped and turned serious. "Your Royal Highness, you''re here to save Sir Crevan and Lord Hawthorne, aren''t you? If that''s the case, you must hurry. Once Madam Giselle Averon gets a hold of them¡­"

    Okay, the way the child stopped talking and sobbed made her worry.

    She could also see the fear in Greko''s face. To be honest, she didn''t want the child to say anything else if it triggered his trauma.

    But she had to know what kind of person that "madam" was.

    "Who is Madam Giselle Averon, Grecko?" she asked carefully. [I haven''t heard that name in my first life¡­]

    "Madam Giselle Averon is one of the VIPs of Death Camp who often buys young and pretty children from Master Alistair," Greko said in a cracked voice, then he covered his face with his hands when he began crying harder. "She s-sexually assaults children that she buys¡­"

    Juri and Jeno both gasped softly.

    Neoma, on the other hand, felt her whole body burn literally. She was shocked, angry, and scared that she didn''t know how to handle her raging emotions all at once.

    Something snapped inside her once again.

    And this time, she wasn''t the only one who lost it.

    [Summon me by my real name, thug princess,] Tteokbokki, who sounded different and more "mature" than usual, urged her in her mind. She could tell that something was wrong with her Soul Beast. But she couldn''t point it out because something was definitely wrong with her as well. [Let''s burn down this tower to ashes!]

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 240 - GOD OF WRATH

    NEOMA closed her eyes and clutched her head when she felt like her skull was breaking into two.

    That damned Tteokbokki wasughing like a lunatic inside her mind. Plus, she felt like her Spirit form was starting to fade. It seemed like her soul was being pulled back by her physical body because of her noisy Soul Beast.

    "Your Royal Highness?" Soju, Juri Wisteria, and Jeno Dankworth asked worriedly at the same time.

    "It seems like it''s time for me to return to my physical body," Neoma said, then she opened her eyes to look at her children one by one. "Juri, Jeno, Soju, and Greko. You''re going to be a team temporarily."

    Her children looked surprised by what she said but no oneined.

    "Juri, since you''re the oldest in the team, you''ll be the temporary captain," she said seriously. Juri Wisteria had a nasty temper but once other people''s lives were in her hands, she knew that her daughter would be responsible and dependable¨C just like how Juri calmed her down when she was about to lose it. "I don''t want to pressure you but I need to remind you that you''re now responsible for the lives of your "siblings.""

    "I''m good at working under pressure, Your Royal Highness," Juri said seriously. "I will lead and protect this team in your ce, Rara."

    She gave her daughter a thumbs up. Then, she turned to Greko. "My little pork bun, can you guide Juri and Jeno to the Death Camp after you heal Alistair Madgwick? Since you''ve been to Death Camp, can I assume that you know where it is located?"

    Greko nodded with a determined look on his face. "I know where the Death Camp is hidden. But I don''t know how to enter the camp since I''ve only been there when my master brought me with him."

    "Don''t worry about that," she said with a smile. "Your big sister Juri can break through any walls and barriers. I believe in her, so please put your faith on your sister."

    Juri blushed, and it seemed like her daughter was happy with her praise.

    Greko, seeing the amount of trust that I have in Juri, smiled and nodded. "I trust you so I will put my faith in Sister Juri."

    "Very good," she said to the child, then she turned to Jeno who looked excited while waiting for her order. The cloud dude''s face was shining. Was he that desperate to be useful to her? Well, whatever. "Jeno, follow Juri and Greko but stay hidden. And don''t follow them inside the camp. You''ll serve as their backup. If Juri and Greko get into a dangerous situation, go and save them."

    Jeno bowed politely. "I received your order, Your Royal Highness."

    She nodded, then she looked at her children one by one again as she gave her final instructions. "I have a feeling that my physical body has already been brought to the camp. After all, I know that Curtis Smit wouldn''t be able to move my Dome somewhere far. I bet he''s trying to break my Dome as we speak."

    Plus, Mochi told her that her Spirit form couldn''t and wouldn''t be able to go far away from her physical body.

    Thus, she could tell that the Dome was in the camp.

    "Leave a secret message for the Pdins that are probably on their way here," Neoma said, hoping that her hunch was correct and Papa Boss really did send his Pdins as a backup. After all, she sent Mochi to fetch Geoffrey and make the Pdin report to her father. "Andstly, don''t die. Come back to me alive, okay?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "LET''S burn everything¨C everything!"

    Neoma crossed her arms over her chest while looking at a strange child with red hair, green eyes, and tanned skin dancing like a lunatic. The boy was probably around her age, but he was wearing a strange white and gold robe that seemed to havee from ancient times.

    [Is that Tteokbokki?]

    After her Spirit form vanished, she found herself inside the same "room" where she first met Tteokbokki as a child. It was the empty room that seemed to be floating in space. She was pretty sure that she was in the dimension of her Soul Beast.

    But instead of her tsundere red dragon, she found a weird boy dancing andughing.

    [His voice is different from Tteokbokki''s "mature" voice since this one talks like a child. Plus, Tteokbokki isn''t this cheerful. And yet, their "vibes" are the same.]

    Yep, this was Tteokbokki in his human form.

    [Probably.]

    She was a little surprised to see that her Soul Beast had a human form because her Papa Boss didn''t tell her about it. And during her first life, she didn''t get the chance to summon her Soul Beast. To simply say, this was new to her.

    But she got over her shock pretty quickly.

    [I mean, the fact that a red dragon lives in my soul is already strange enough. I''ve already epted the reality that I can''t have a normal life as long as I''m this awesome.]

    Plus, Tteokbokki''s face wasn''t bad.

    She didn''t want to admit this but her Soul Beast looked pretty good as a human, huh?

    Neoma cleared her throat, making the strange child stopughing and dancing. "Are you done with your little victory dance, Tteokbokki?"

    Tteokbokki looked at her as if he couldn''t recognize her. Then, he gasped and snapped his fingers. "Ah, you''re the de Moonasterio that I own!"

    She raised a brow at that. "Who owns whom?"

    "You finally did it!" Tteokbokki, who obviously didn''t listen to her, ran towards her. Then, much to her shock, he grabbed her hands and squeezed them. "Your soul finally resonated with mine! I, the God of Wrath, have finally returned to my original form!" He paused, then he scowled. "Well, I''m in a child form since you''re still a child. But humans like you grow fast anyway so I bet¨C"

    "Tteokbokki, you can stop talking now."

    He looked shocked by what she said, then her face turned red.

    [It seems like not only his appearance has turned into a child. He''s been acting like one since I''ve arrived. For some reason, I don''t like this Tteokbokki."

    "How dare you talk to me that way?" Tteokbokki said in an angry voice. "Don''t you know who I am?"

    "I know you," she said bluntly. "You''re my red unicorn, my ketchup-colored donkey, my Tteokbokki."

    Again, her weird Soul Beast looked shocked.

    This time, it was her who squeezed his hands while ring at him with glowing red eyes. "How about you?" she asked in a threatening voice. "Have you forgotten who I am?"

    "You''re Neoma de Moonasterio," he said bluntly. "My new puppet."

    "I''m not your puppet."

    All of a sudden, the air around her Soul Beast changed.

    Tteokbokki also suddenly turned serious and calm. It was as if the "child" that she met a while ago waspletely taken over by a salty, jaded grown man. Then, his bright green eyes turned glowing red.

    She gasped softly.

    [Papa Boss said that gods have red eyes. When this weird Tteokbokki said he''s the "God of Wrath" or something, did he mean it literally?]

    "You''re my puppet, Neoma de Moonasterio," Tteokbokki said in a deep, manly voice that didn''t suit his child appearance. "You will do as I say."

    She was shocked when all of a sudden, the two of them were engulfed in red me.

    But she wasn''t burned. She couldn''t even feel its heat. After all, Tteokbokki''s me was warm and gentle to her skin.

    Well, except when they were training.

    "Now, sumb to me," Tteokbokki said, the glow of his red eyes turned brighter as the me embracing them grew bigger. "Call me by my real name, Neoma de Moonasterio."

    Ah, right.

    Papa Boss once told her and Nero that in order topletely tame their Soul Beasts, they had to resonate their souls with them. If they seeded, they would learn the real name of their Soul Beasts¨C the name that Yule apparently gave to the Soul Beasts.

    And at the moment, she could see floating red letters above Tteokbokki''s head.

    ''C-R-I-M-S-O-N.''

    Was that Tteokbokki''s "real name?"

    She scowled at that. "Gosh, Lord Yule has a terrible naming sense."

    But what could she expect from the god who named her father''s Soul Beasts North, East, West, and South?

    She should have expected that Lord Yule would give her Soul Beast an ugly name as well.

    "What are you doing?" Tteokbokki asked in an impatient voice. "Call my real name now, Neoma de Moonasterio."

    She hated that a strong force seemed to have manipted her to turn to her Soul Beast.

    [Is he using mind maniption on me?]

    "Fine, I will call you by your real name now," she said in an irritated voice.

    All of a sudden, her arrogant Soul Beast looked smug and satisfied.

    [Heh.]

    "Your real name is¡­" Neoma smirked before she spoke again. "Tteokbokki¨C T-t-e-o-k-b-o-k-ki."

    Tteokbokki looked shocked by her "betrayal." "You little traitor¨C ah!"

    The Soul Beast wasn''t able to finish hisint because she gave him a little "wake-up call" in the form of a hard headbutt¨C and she hoped that it would bring him back to reality somehow.

    For someone who imed to be a god, it was quite funny to see him yell while scratching his injured forehead with his palm as if doing so would take the pain away. But it seemed like her headbutt was strong enough to "exorcise" whoever it was that "possessed" her Soul Beast.

    [God of Wrath, my face. Tteokbokki is Tteokbokki. He''s a unicorn, not a god.]

    Technically, her Soul Beast was a red dragon.

    [But whatever.]

    "Are you awake now, Tteokbokki?" Neoma asked, all the me that Tteokbokki summoned earlier gathering in her body. "Who am I again?"

    Tteokbokki, who seemed to havee back to his senses and on the verge of crying, red at her. But it wasn''t convincing since he looked like a crybaby at the moment. "You''re my thug princess."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA, now sitting on a in white box that god knows where Tteokbokki got from, raised her head while looking at her Soul Beast who was currently kneeling down before her. "Why are you still in your chibi form?" she asked. "Can''t you return in your original unicorn form?"

    Tteokbokki raised his head to re at her. "Thug princess, I''m a Red Dragon."

    "Ah, right. My bad," she said while nodding her head. "So, what''s happening to us? Why did you transform into a child?"

    "Because you were angry."

    "Huh?"

    "Your anger awakened the real me," he exined seriously. "I told you¨C I''m the God of Wrath."

    He looked too serious to be spouting nonsense.

    She clicked her tongue when she realized something. [Is that the reason why I have a nasty temper?]

    "Thug princess, why don''t you seize this moment?" her Soul Beast asked seriously. "You already saw my real name. If you call me by my name, you will be able to borrow my strength as a god."

    "No, I refuse."

    "Thug princess, this isn''t the time to be prideful¨C"

    "This isn''t about my pride," she denied gently. "Even if I''m like this, I genuinely care for you, Tteokbokki. I saw how unstable you were earlier. I don''t think our souls have resonated properly. If I call you by your real name, there''s a huge possibility that we''d both lose our minds. I don''t want that to happen."

    Her Soul Beast looked shocked by what she said.

    Then, much to her surprise, he covered his face with his arm when his cheeks turned red.

    [What''s wrong with this dude?]

    "Stop it, thug princess!" Tteokbokkiined. Then, much to her shock, she heard a "pop" before her Soul Beast was engulfed in a white, thick smoke that looked like clouds. When it vanished, she was greeted by Tteokbokki in his baby red dragon form. "Being sappy doesn''t suit us¨C let''s wreck havoc without losing our mind, shall we?"

    Neoma smiled, d that her Tteokbokki finally returned to normal. "Let''s burn some crows to ashes, my little ketchup-colored donkey."

    "I''m a unicorn¨C no, I''m a Red Dragon, dammit!"

    <strong></strong><strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 241 - THE STRONGEST ONE OF ALL

    CURTIS SMIT finally seeded in breaking Prince Nero''s Dome.

    He used the Mana Stone that he created from Regina Crowell''s Mana. Thanks to that, he managed to borrow her ability even though the child wasn''t there. He still didn''t know why Regina Crowell and Edmund haven''t arrived yet, but he couldn''t afford to worry about that at the moment.??

    His top priority right now was to extract the Core in Prince Nero''s heart.

    [If we want a perfect Crown Prince that will one day be the new emperor, then we must get rid of the thing that makes him a Roseheart.]

    "Lord Curtis, do you need help in melting the ice?"

    Curtis, while putting on his white surgical gloves, turned around to see five of his students behind him. "No, I can handle it," he said. "The ice that Prince Nero used seemed to be a borrowed ability. Thus, it''s not as strong as his Dome. The Mana Stone with blue me stored in that I brought would suffice."

    His students seemed disappointed.

    For that excursion, he brought with him his five outstanding students (excluding Regina Crowell and Edmund): Kran (male, brte, dark chocte-eyed, gangly), Covey (male, dirty blond, blue-eyed, bulky), Tern (male, matching green hair and eyes, looked like a pre-teen despite being a grown adult), Cholena (female, short blonde hair, green-eyed, petite), and Daya (female, dark orange long hair tied in a high ponytail, amber eyes, voluptuous).

    All his students wore a white robe under the ck uniform that the young crows of the cult wore. The white robe that their wore was simr to his. His students probably wore it because they were in that room to "dissect" the Crown Prince.

    "Just watch for now," he told his students. "Prince Nero is a special case because for the first time in history, a royal prince with Roseheart blood was born. Although it''s uneptable, we have to admit that it piqued our interest. Thus, His Excellency asked me to extract and study the Crown Prince''s Core."

    The excitement on his students'' faces was obvious.

    Thus, he didn''t stall any longer.

    He faced Prince Nero still trapped in the block of ice that was shaped like the Dome. Then, he raised his right hand that was now engulfed with a blue me. Just like the Mana Stone that he used earlier to borrow Regina Crowell''s ability, he was using a Mana Stone that lent him the blue me in his hand right now.

    [I can''t wait to extract your Core, Prince Nero.]

    When his ming hand touched the ice, he expected it to melt right away.

    But something else happened.

    He didn''t know exactly what happened but when he blinked, he just found himself in a different dimension.

    [Where am I¡­?]

    He found himself in a strange rose garden.

    The roses, the leaves, and even the soil were all ck, the sky was deep red, and the air was very hot. He just arrived in that strange dimension, but he was already sweating heavily.

    "Ah, an unwanted visitor."

    He turned around to face the source of the deep, cold voice that he heard.

    Much to his surprise, he was greeted by a man with horns and long, red hair. But the strangest thing about him was the fact that he looked unaffected while sitting on a ming throne. And the most shocking thing out there was the color of the me.

    [It''s pure white¡­]

    And those horns¡­

    "You''re a dragon," he said in amazement. "Are you, perhaps, the Crown Prince''s Soul Beast?"

    It wouldn''t be strange if he identally touched the Soul Beast''s dimension when he tried to extract the Core inside Prince Nero''s heart.

    After all, the Soul Beast served as a de Moonasterio''s guardian.

    [And I never expected this mission to be easy anyway.]

    Still, he was d to meet the Crown Prince''s Soul Beast.

    For some reason, Prince Nero had never shown his Soul Beast to the public before. The "eye" that His Excellency nted in the pce could only say that the Crown Prince could use me. But other than that, they still had no idea about Prince Nero''s real power.

    This was a good opportunity to get a grasp of the future emperor''s real ability.

    [His Royal Highness''s Soul Beast looks strange though. I''m aware that the Soul Beasts have human forms. After all, the male Rosehearts were used as hosts for the Divine Beasts before they were turned into Soul Beasts. But this one is the strangest Soul Beast that I''ve seen so far.]

    To be precise, this was the first time that he saw a Soul Beast''s human form with red eyes.

    Wait, red eyes?

    All of a sudden, he felt a shiver down his spine.

    "Only gods are supposed to have red eyes¡­" he said in disbelief. "You couldn''t possibly be a Roseheart since Rosehearts don''t possess red eyes." He gulped before he asked. "What are you?"

    The red-eyed man with horns just smiled. And that smile told him that he didn''t have any intention to answer his question. "It would help me a lot if you put this body in an extreme pain that''s enough to make anyone lose their mind. But unfortunately for you, my "host" is a stubborn yet smart child." He chuckled while shaking his head. "If that child uttered my real name back then, I would have taken over this bodypletely. But it looked like the child felt my malice back then."

    He didn''t understand a thing about what the Red Dragon was saying.

    Moreover, he was still overwhelmed by the conclusion that he came up with. Thus, he couldn''t reallyprehend anything else.

    "You''re a god," he said, stunned. "This is the first time in history that a god serves as the Crown Prince'' Soul Beast¡­"

    Prince Nero, despite his Roseheart blood, was indeed special.

    "Do you want to help me show you how special my host is?"

    He was startled by the god''s question. "What do you mean by that?"

    "My host is about to undergo Lunacy but the child is doing a good job holding it back," the Red Dragon said. "But I know a way to make my host go insane," he said, then he pointed a finger with a long and sharp nail at him. "And you''re the right person to help me."

    "Lunacy?" Curtis asked, confused. "But why would Prince Nero have to undergo Lunacy at his tender age?"

    "Because I''m bored," the god said, then he smirked. "And those bastards from the Upper World need to pay for locking me up here."

    <strong>***</strong>

    CURTIS was shocked when he returned to his senses.

    He knew that something happened in the few moments that his mind wandered. But he couldn''t remember what exactly happened to him. Having said that, he could still hear a whisper in his ear¨C a whisper that he couldn''t understand.

    Unfortunately, he didn''t have the time to worry about that.

    His thoughts got cut off when he realized that the me in his hand had be hotter to the point that his skin began getting burned. When he looked at his hand, he realized that the blue me that engulfed it earlier was reced with a red, hot me.

    [Red me?]

    When he raised his head, he was greeted by a pair of glowing red eyes.

    "Who do you think you''re trying to touch here?" Prince Nero asked coldly, the ice that entrapped him a while ago melting fast. "Tteokbokki, burn this bitch."

    Curtis was shocked when a small Red Dragon the size of an adult horse appeared behind the Crown Prince. Then, the beast breathed fire at him without warning. Red me wasn''t supposed to be the strongest me of all and yet, he felt like he was about to be burnt to ashes. "No!"

    <strong>***</strong>

    ""NO," my face,"" Neoma said while watching Curtis Smit burn from Tteokbokki''s red me. "You can''t be more arrogant than me, Curtis Smit."

    Tteokbokki, who was standing behind her, scoffed. "Of course. You''re the most arrogant person in the whole world, thug prin¨C" When she red at him, her Soul Beast gulped hard. "Thug prince."

    [Good.]

    "You look cute in your baby form, Tteokbokki," she said as payback for Tteokbokki almost calling her "thug princess" in front of the enemies. "You''d be perfect if only you learn how to shut your mouth."

    "How can I shut up when you always bully me?"

    She was about to retort when all of a sudden, she was attacked by three people dressed as doctors.

    [What''s with the white robe?]

    Well, whatever.

    The enemies'' attack didn''t touch her anyway because of the new Dome that she created. Plus, the Dome that she created this time was covered with Tteokbokki''s me. Ever since she and her Soul Beast had a heart-to-heart talk earlier, she felt like her soul had be closer to Tteokbokki''s.

    Although she had to admit that she could still feel that something was missing.

    [Is it because I didn''t call Tteokbokki by his real name?]

    She couldn''t help it though. Like what she told her Soul Beast, she refused to call him by his real name not because of her pride. She just genuinely felt that Tteokbokki wasn''t being himself. Thus, she decided to follow her gut feeling.

    Even now, she didn''t regret her decision.

    "Huh? He''s quite good," Tteokbokki said in a half-amused and half-annoyed voice. "He managed to quench my me with a strange Mana, thug prince. Be careful."

    She turned to Curtis Smit who was being aided by two dudes.

    Like what her Soul Beast said, the weirdo managed to quench Tteokbokki''s red me. But Curtis Smit''s whole body was burned. Yes, even his clothes.

    Thankfully, one of the dudes beside him quickly covered him in a cloak.

    [My eyes remain clean.]

    But the fact that Curtis Smit survived after being burned by Tteokbokki''s red me was a testament to his strength.

    Moreover, the people attacking her right now weren''t small fries.

    They proved to be troublesome when the two dudes besides Curtis Smit suddenly performed a technique that thrilled her weeb heart.

    [Clone jutsu!]

    Yes, the two dudes performed a clone technique.

    And now, the room was filled with fifty or more persons that looked like the casters of the technique.

    After that, the clones along with the five dudes that seemed to be Curtis Smit''s subordinates began attacking him at the same time. They were throwing Mana waves (imagine Son G*ku''s "kamehameha") at her Dome.

    Of course, she was confident that that level of attack wouldn''t be able to break her Dome. But she couldn''t also use the same trick that she used during her test with Count Sean Dankworth. If she turned her durable Dome into a jelly-like state, she was afraid that it might break because of the continuous attack that she was receiving from the enemies.

    After all, the technique she named ''Pudding'' wasn''tplete yet, unlike the Dome.

    [It''s better to stick using the Dome instead of recing it with a technique that I''ve only used once.]

    But at this rate, she wouldn''t be able to attack freely.

    "Apprehend the Crown Prince," Curtis Smit, lying against the chest of one of his subordinates, ordered in a hoarse and weak voice. "But don''t kill him."

    As if they could kill her.

    But these people were starting to be a nuisance. She didn''t have the time to deal with them since she was really worried about Lewis and Jasper Oppa.

    "Should Ie out of your Dome and burn those brats, thug prince?" Tteokbokki asked her. "It''s not like you to be this careful, you know?"

    "Well, we need to be careful this time," she said. "If we''re in the camp, then it could only mean that this ce is full of children. I don''t want your red me to identally burn them."

    If Tteokbokki''s me spread, they would have to quench it to avoid hurting innocent people. She didn''t have the time to do that. What she needed was a technique that could somehow knock down the enemies all at once.

    [Knock them out¡­?]

    She suddenly remembered what Ruto told her about his ability. Apparently, his electricity Mana was strong enough to zap and knock down people and animals.

    [I should give it a shot.]

    She raised her arm and touched the cute chicken drumstick doodle on her wrist. She couldn''t help but smile while looking at it.

    [Ruto, you suck at drawing. I''m d you''re good at cooking or else¡­]

    "Thug prince, stop smiling to yourself," Tteokbokki said with a huff. "It''s creepy."

    She ignored her annoying Soul Beast.

    Then, Neoma touched the cute doodle on her wrist while remembering the two words that Ruto made her remember before. "Strike, Veton."

    She honestly thought that the people in the room except for her and Tteokbokki would be electrocuted.

    But what happened next was beyond her imagination.

    [Ruto, you''re¡­ not weak?]

    <strong>***</strong>

    HE WAS surprised when all of his Mana suddenly disappeared when he was about to blow the final strike to kill Regina Crowell.

    As soon as he realized what happened, he froze.

    There could only be one reason for his Mana to suddenly leave his body.

    [The charm has been activated¡­]

    Regina Crowell, who was lying on the ground after hisst attack, used his moment of distraction to strike back. She quickly removed her gloves and grabbed his ankle. The coldnessing from her hand was a sign that her Mana was already working.

    He immediately pulled his sword out of the sheathe attached to his hip. Then, he cut off Regina Crowell''s hand swiftly. After that, he peeled off the fingers of the severed hand that were wrapped around his ankle using the bloody de of his sword.

    The quietness of the night was pierced by thedy''s agonizing scream.

    Cutting off a child''s hand might seem cruel. But if he didn''t do that, his leg would have been disintegrated.

    After all, Regina Crowell''s real ability was something called ''Decay.''

    [But she hasn''t mastered it yet during this time.]

    She must have tried to use that ability out of desperation.

    And that was made thisdy dangerous.

    [Just like most crows, she has several abilities.]

    He gripped his sword tight and was about to stab Regina Crowell in the heart when all of a sudden, a light breeze went past him. The next thing he knew, the youngdy and her severed hand already disappeared.

    Only several ck feathers were left in the spot where Regina Crowell was just a few seconds ago.

    Whoever it was that saved thedy must be fast and invisible.

    [They must have arrived during the time I was distracted.]

    Since killing Regina Crowell wasn''t his top priority, he didn''t chase the child.

    Moreover, it would be dangerous for him to go after the enemies now that his Mana was temporarily gone.

    That was how the "protective charm" that he gave her worked. Once the ancient spell was activated, all his Mana would be temporarily transferred to the one who had his mark. And since Veton, his Mana, had a life of its own, it would understand what kind of protection the person with his tattoo needed.

    If she needed to kill people, Veton would kill them for her.

    If she needed to escape, then Veton would make a way for her.

    If she needed to destroy and simply wreak havoc, Veton would do it for her.

    Even if it was all of the above, Veton would do it all for her because it was his will, and his will was always absolute when ites to her.

    [That''s how it works.]

    "I was hoping you wouldn''t have to use my ability," Ruto whispered to himself while staring at the big and bright full moon that lights up the night sky. "I''m sorry I broke our promise, Neoma."

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

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 Chapter 242 - UNREMEMBERED PROMISE

    "GREKO, are you sure that this is the right ce?" Juri asked the child while looking at the thick and sketchy forest at the foot of Mount Kimbro. "Is the Death Camp really in that forest?"

    "I-It is, S-Sister Juri," Greko said while nodding. "P-Please trust me. This is where my master used to bring me every time we enter the camp before. But he used to cover my eyes so I don''t know how exactly the forest leads to the Death Camp."??

    It wasn''t that he didn''t trust Greko.

    She just couldn''t believe that the owners of the Death Camp would dare to use Mount Kimbro¨C the mountain located in Oxspring, a territory owned by His Majesty.

    The tower that they were in a while ago was located in the border of the Unholy Land. It could be argued that the part where the tower stood didn''t belong to the emperor anymore. But the fact that they built Death Camp in thend of Oxspring¡­

    "I believe you, Greko," she said to the child. "I''m just shocked that those bastards really dared to use His Majesty''snd for their illegal activities."

    Jeno Dankworth, standing on the other side of Greko, nodded in agreement. "But I have to say that it''s smart. The Unholy Land is poorly-maintained because we thought this isn''t an inhabitablend. But here they are, thriving under the nose of His Majesty."

    "Those bastards have balls of steels."

    She noticed that both Greko and Jeno blushed when she said those vulgar words.

    Well, she would understand why the child would get flustered. But Jeno? She was only a year older than the young lord.

    "What are you blushing for0?" she asked Jeno. "Is this the first you hear someone say balls¨C mmf!"

    The brat covered her mouth with his cold, big hand.

    "Watch your words," Jeno scolded her. "The child can hear you. Do you want to taint his innocence, huh?"

    She wanted to argue that there was nothing wrong with mentioning a body part even in the presence of a child. In fact, they should openly talk about it as long as the context wasn''t sexual. It was better to educate children as young as Greko about his own body parts so the kid would know that he owned his body and no one else was allowed to touch it without his permission.

    But all the lecture in her head disappeared when they heard a loud booming sounding from the sky.

    [A Skyquake?]

    When she, Jeno, and Greko looked up at the night sky, the three of them were surprised to see how dark it was. Of course, it was dark since it was still nighttime. But now, the sky waspletely ck.

    Then, all of a sudden, lightning bolts shed in the sky.

    [It doesn''t look like it''s going to rain though.]

    The night sky looked cool and electric with lightning, but it sure was eerie to watch it light up the sky silently. If it was a thunderstorm, shouldn''t a roll of thunder follow the lightning bolt?

    [Well, it doesn''t look like a thunderstorm.]

    The lightning bolts looked pretty though.

    "This is the first time I saw purple lightning bolts," shemented, amazed by the pretty sight. "Even the night sky has turned violet."

    "Juri Wisteria, it''s not the right time to admire the lightning bolts," Jeno Dankworth scolded her. "Look ahead of you."

    The young lord sounded serious that she didn''t argue with him anymore.

    Juri tore her gaze away from the beautiful night sky. Then, much to her surprise, she realized that the forest in front of them earlier had been reced by a huge wall. "A fortress?"

    "It''s the Death Camp," Greko said, then he swallowed hard and pointed at something in the sky. "But what is that?"

    She followed the direction the child pointed and was surprised when she saw a strange and huge bird flying in the sky.

    Was it a bird covered with purple lightning bolts?

    Or was it lightning bolts shaped like a bird?

    She was sure with one thing though.

    "A Thunderbird?" Juri asked while staring at the giant bird. "It looks like a Thunderbird made from lightning bolts."

    <strong>***</strong>

    ["I WANT to eat steak and other scrumptious meals every single day of my next life."]

    ["Why do you sound like you''ve been deprived of scrumptious meals when you were born a princess?"]

    ["When I was still living in the pce, I wasn''t as well-fed as my twin brother. And when I was living with my adoptive mother, I didn''t have the freedom to choose what to eat. She didn''t like it when I eat "too much" meat."]

    ["Should I cook delicious food for you from now on?"]

    ["Can you cook?"]

    ["I can learn for you."]

    ["Forget it. How can I ask the Commander of the biggest Order in the empire to cook for someone like me?"]

    ["In my next life, I won''t be the Commander. I''ll be a chef instead and cook for you every day."]

    ["Then, I''ll just be a scrounger that depends on your everyday alms."]

    ["That doesn''t sound like a bad idea."]

    ["I hope you wouldn''t be as powerful and as significant as you are right now in our next life. I will feel bad if I monopolized an amazing person like you."]

    ["I will just be a weak, average chef the next time we meet."]

    ["Is that a promise?"]

    ["Yes, it''s a promise."]

    <strong>***</strong>

    "THUG PRINCE!"

    Neoma gasped and opened his eyes when she felt her body getting lifted. She calmed down as soon as she realized that it was Tteokbokki who lifted her up using his me. Of course, she wasn''t burned by it. "What happened to me?"

    "I should be the one asking you that," Tteokbokki said in a confused voice. "You suddenly passed out when lightning bolts began hitting the little crows."

    Lightning bolts?

    When she turned around, she was surprised when she saw Curtis Smit and his five subordinates lying unconscious on the ground¨C burnt and obviously electrocuted. The clones that two of the subordinates created a while had all disappeared as well.

    Surprisingly, it seemed like the lightning bolts only hit her enemies. After all, aside from the roof, the room wasn''t damaged.

    [Tteokbokki and I weren''t hurt as well.]

    "The lightning bolts didn''t only fry those little birds," her Soul Beast said, then he looked up at the night sky that they could now view because the roof had copsed. "That thing also destroyed the strong illusion that hides the Death Camp from even a person on your level."

    She looked up at the night sky and was surprised to see a beautiful "lightning" bird flying above them.

    [That shade of purple looks pretty¡­]

    "It''s a Thunderbird," Tteokbokki said while looking at the bird. "But that one is quiet. I thought Thunderbirds create thunders when they p their wings. Hence, the name."

    "It''s prettier than you, Tteokbokki," she said, teasing her Soul Beast once again. "Thunderbird also sounds more badass than ''Red Dragon.''"

    Her Soul Beast looked at her as if he''d strangle her if he could. "Brat."

    She was distracted when she noticed that the Thunderbird was looking at her. To be honest, she couldn''t see its eyes because the bird was made of lightning bolts. But she could tell that it was staring intently at her.

    Then, she remembered the words that Ruto made her memorize.

    [Are you, perhaps, ''Veton?'']

    The Thunderbird, much to her surprise, began to fly towards her.

    And the nearer it got to her, the smaller it became. So when the Thunderbird approached her, it had been reduced to the size of a sparrow.

    "You''re so cute," she said, then she opened her hands. "Are you really Veton?"

    For some reason, even though the Thunderbird didn''t speak in any way, she understood that it said yes.

    Then, the birdnded on her hands.

    Despite being made out of lightning bolts, the Thunderbird didn''t hurt her. It felt warm, and it kind of tickled her skin. Still, the overall feeling of holding a bird made from lightning in her bare hands wasn''t bad.

    She could tell that Veton was being careful not to hurt her.

    [For Ruto to have this kind of power¡­]

    She didn''t know why she was disappointed.

    The first time she saw Ruto at the za during the Moon Festival, she honestly thought that he was weak. To be precise, for some reason that she didn''t understand, she wanted to strongly deny that the chef could be strong. She was desperate for him to be average.

    But that changed when she learned from Sir Glenn that it was Ruto who saved her when William tried to kill her a year ago. When she asked Lewis if it was true, her son confirmed that Ruto walked past William casually to pick her up and take her away from the Grand Spirit.

    Still, even after hearing that, she remained stubborn and pretended to be ignorant of Ruto''s possible real power.

    She couldn''t understand why she was being adamant about it.

    [Does it have something to do with the voices that I heard in my head a while ago?]

    She had a dream earlier, but everything was ck in her mind.

    Plus, she only heard voices without any kind of image. One of those voices was hers. The other belonged to a man with a deep and soothing voice.

    [It''s Ruto, isn''t it?]

    Her head ached thinking about the memories that she couldn''t remember. If she and Ruto were already both adults in that "memory," then it must have happened during her first life.

    But she couldn''t remember it.

    Her thoughts were cut off when Veton gently pecked her palm with its beak.

    She didn''t know how but she instantly understood that the Thunderbird wanted to know what else it could do for her. Apparently, Veton had still energy to do onest task before it returned to its master.

    [To return to Ruto, right?]

    "Veton, your boss has some exining to doter," Neoma said softly to the baby Thunderbird in her hands. "But for now, please lead me to where Lewis and Jasper Oppa are."

    <strong>***</strong>

    [RUSTON Stroganoff?]

    Niki was shocked to see Ruston Stroganoff''s Elemental Guardian shining brightly in the sky that had turned violet.

    [Veton.]

    Veton was one of the rarest Elemental Guardians in the world. It was summoned by Ruston Stroganoff when he was only three years old. Thus, the child was hailed as one of the geniuses of the new era.

    As a testament to Veton''s strength, the Thunderbird nullified the presence of his Azure Dragon and Gavin Quinzel''s Shadow Dragon as soon as it appeared.

    It wasn''t that his Soul Beast and the formermander''s Shadow Beast were inferior to the Thunderbird. Both he and Gavin Quinzel weren''t using their full strength to conserve their energy to save Neomater. Thus, their beasts were weaker than normal.

    [It''s rare for Ruston Stroganoff to summon Veton in its original form. And the fact that he did only means one thing¨C Neoma is in danger.]

    If Ruston Stroganoff went there without informing him in advance, then it was safe to assume that the child was already done pretending that he didn''t know "Miss Ramsay" and the "Crown Prince" were the same person.

    "Is that Ruston Stroganoff''s Elemental Guardian, Your Majesty?"

    He turned to Gavin Quinzel.

    Fortunately, the formermander was also distracted by the appearance of Ruston Stroganoff''s Elemental Guardian.

    Niki raised a brow at the formermander. "So, you still remember Ruston Stroganoff."

    Gavin Quinzel smiled. "How could I forget the child that Lady Roseheart took care of in her pce before?"

    He red at the formermander for bringing that up.

    Then, all of a sudden, both of them were once distracted when they felt another presence arrive.

    "Wow, I can''t believe your priorities are messed up."

    He and Gavin both looked up and saw Trevor, the insolent demon boy,ing out of a ckhole that appeared out of nowhere.

    [That ruffian left my pce when I clearly told him to stay!]

    "I''m disappointed, Your Majesty," Trevor said while shaking his head. "Why the hell are you fighting a zombie when I entrusted you to stop my Moon Princess from going crazy?"

    Niki felt a vein in his forehead pop, annoyed at Trevor''s arrogance that reminded him of his daughter''s conceited behavior. But he couldn''t tell the demon boy off because he was correct. [I''ve wasted my time here¡­]

    Seeing Ruston Stroganoff''s Elemental Guardian brought him back to reality.

    He lost it for a moment because of his desperation to know whether Mona was still alive or not. Because of that, he let other people find his daughter first.

    [Neoma...]

    Gavin Quinzel, on the other hand, looked offended by what Trevor said. But whatever the formermander was about to say was thrown out of the window when he realized that the demon boy didn''te alone. The insulted look on his face earlier was now reced with shock. "Rufus¡­"

    Rufus, who looked as shocked as Gavin, suddenly broke down in tears. "Brother¡­"

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 243 - MAIN CHARACTER BEHAVIOR

    [A FREAKING Elemental Guardian?] Trevor thought to himself while looking up at the purple sky. The Thunderbird was already gone in the sky, but he could still feel its presence. [Are you kidding me? How can someone who''s not me own an Elemental Guardian?]

    Tsk.??

    He was annoyed because back when he was still a normal human, he used all the resources that his family had just to look for the four famed Elemental Guardians. But of course, to no avail. To think that he would get to see one in this era¡­

    [I don''t want it if it''s not mine.]

    "Brother¡­"

    He turned to Rufus Quinzel and almost rolled his eyes when he saw the duke on the verge of crying.

    Tsk, he clicked his tongue again.

    [I can''t believe he''s the same person who threatened to kick me back to hell if I didn''t bring him to where His Majesty is.]

    "Trevor, what are you doing here?" His Majesty asked as soon as he and Rufus Quinzelnded in front of the emperor. "I thought I made it clear to you that I want you to stay in the office and pretend to be me in the meantime."

    "Change of ns, Your Majesty," Trevor said seriously, then he pointed his thumb at Rufus Quinzel whose eyes were still glued to his older brother. "He came and realized that I wasn''t the real you right away. Then, he threatened me so I had no choice but to bring him here."

    His Majesty scoffed. "Rufus may have threatened you. But I''m pretty sure you just gave in easily because you wanted to follow Neoma here."

    He just smiled "innocently" at the emperor before changing the subject. "Your Majesty, I won''t stop you if you want to waste your time here. I''ll just go ahead and be Princess Neoma''s demon-in-shining-armor."

    The emperor red at him, then he turned to Rufus Quinzel. "Rufus," he said. But the duke didn''t seem to hear His Majesty. "Rufus Quinzel."

    Rufus Quinzel, who finally heard the emperor''s firm and stern voice, flinched before turning to His Majesty. "Forgive me for myte greetings, Your Majesty," he said, then he bowed. "I, Rufus Quinzel, have returned."

    "Wee back, Rufus," His Majesty said. "Don''t ask me about how your brother came back to life because this is also the first time that I saw him. But I''ve already confirmed that the person right in front of us right now is the real Gavin Quinzel. He came here with Nichole, so we can assume that he''s on the Devil''s side now."

    The duke looked shocked by what the emperor said.

    "I need to go and stop Neoma from running wild. The crows are also here," the emperor said. Then, His Majesty turned more serious and colder than usual. "Rufus Quinzel, as the emperor of this continent, I order you to apprehend Gavin Quinzel and bring him to me before sunrise."

    Rufus Quinzel bowed to the emperor. "I received your order, Your Majesty."

    "Your Majesty," Gavin Quinzel said sternly. "Are you running away?"

    Trevor whistled, amused at how brave the formermander was for provoking that emperor that way. [It''s childish but it usually works, especially between rivals. If the young chef or Lewis Crevan used those words to provoke me, I''d be pissed and I''d probably bite the bait¨C]

    "Yes, I''m running away," Emperor Niki said nonchntly, shocking all of them who heard him. "I lost my mind for a while but I''m sober now," the emperor said while speaking directly to Gavin Quinzel. "Gavin, if it will boost your ego, then you''re free to think that you won this round¨C you won the fight against the emperor of the continent tonight. My daughter is more important to me than this fight."

    Trevor slowly pped his hands. "Well said, future father-inw."

    Of course, His Majesty red at him.

    "You''re not going anywhere, Your Majesty," Gavin Quinzel said in a threatening voice, his Mana spiking up. "I will bring Neoma to our side tonight!"

    "Brother!" Rufus Quinzel yelled angrily, his Mana spiking up as well. "How dare you speak Princess Neoma''s name casually?"

    He wanted to watch the fight between Rufus and Gavin Quinzel.

    But when Emperor Niki turned his back on the Quinzel Brothers and walked away, he immediately followed his future father-inw.

    "Your Majesty, you shouldn''t turn your back on the enemy as casually as you did."

    The emperor scoffed at what he said. "Rufus is there. Why should I be worried?"

    It was true that Gavin was a lot stronger than Rufus in the past.

    But that may not be the case anymore. Rufus had never stopped getting stronger ever since his older brother "died." He had faith in Rufus.

    "Duke Rufus Quinzel, no matter how loyal he is to you, is still Gavin Quinzel''s little brother," he warned his future father-inw. "Your Majesty, blood is thicker than water."

    "Exactly," the emperor said with a smirk. "Now that Gavin is back, Hanna Quinzel''s position as the heiress of the Shadow Beasts is threatened. You probably don''t know this yet but Hanna Quinzel needs to master the technique of their family to fix her heart."

    "Oh, really?"

    "Yes, that''s the case," the emperor said while nodding his head. "I won''t argue if you say that Rufus still loves his brother despite everything. But between Gavin and Hanna Quinzel, who do you think Rufus would choose?"

    "Since Duke Rufus Quinzel is known as a fool for his daughter, then I''d say he''ll choose Hanna Quinzel."

    "That''s correct¡­" Emperor Niki said, then he paused to turn to him with a re. "Why are you walking beside me?"

    Trevor justughed it off, then he took five steps backward before bowing to the emperor. He couldn''t lose to the owner of the Elemental Guardian. Thus, he had to suck up to his future father-inw by acting polite as much as he could. "After His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Niki of the Great Moonasterion Empire."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "STAY BACK," Juri Wisteria said as she hid Greko behind her. "Jeno Dankworth, if the situation gets worse, take the child and run away from here."

    "Huh?" Jeno Dankworth asked. "Are you saying that you can''t beat those small fries?"

    She red at the young lord.

    But then, she realized that he was correct.

    She didn''t want to admit this but she panicked a bit when a legion of enemies came out of the fortress. All of them had their faces covered with different weird-looking masks. They also varied in size. Some of them didn''t even look human anymore.

    There were even three (medium-sized) giants at the back of the army and a few winged creatures (that looked very ugly especially ifpared to the Thunderbird) flying above them.

    The loud jeers of the enemies were also quite intimidating.

    [There''s a reason for my hesitation!]

    Although she was used to getting into fights, this was the first time that she faced so many enemies. It was true that she and Jeno were stronger than most of the enemies before them, but that didn''t change the fact that they were outnumbered.

    [I think there are more than one hundred enemies gathered in front of the gate¡­]

    "Just plow through those small fries," Jeno urged her casually. Then, he opened his hands. A few momentster, the arrogant jerk was already holding a rifle in his arms. "Why are you afraid when I''m here to back you up?"

    The smug look on the jerk''s face snapped her back to reality.

    Yeah, why should she be afraid of those "small fries" anyway? Quality versus quantity! She and Jeno might pull this off.

    [Right?]

    "I-I will also support you," Greko said. His round body was trembling and so was his voice. But the child''s face looked determined. "I can make a shield for you, Sister Juri."

    Ah, she should be ashamed of herself.

    An abused and an enved child was offering her support when she was supposed to be the one protecting them.

    She pped both of her cheeks.

    It obviously surprised Jeno and Greko. Moreover, her cheeks sting at the moment. But thanks to that, her mind was clear now.

    [I can''t act like a coward when Princess Neoma is alone inside that fortress.]

    "Let''s go," Juri said firmly, then she opened her right hand. When her iron sledgehammer manifested, she grabbed it right away. "Our master is waiting for us."

    Jeno and Greko, who suddenly looked more determined after being reminded of Princess Neoma, nodded and answered at the same time. "For our master."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "I WANT kimchi fried rice with wagyu cubes and egg on top," Neoma told Veton that was still seated on her palm. The Thunderbird, afterpleting itsst task, was now saying goodbye to her. But before it leaves, the mystical bird wanted to know what she wanted to eat after all of this was over. "Some soondubu jjigae would be nice, too. Ah, it''s simr to kimchi stew. The difference is soondubu jjigae has soft tofu in it."

    "Thug prince, what the hell are you saying in front of your little enemies?" Tteokbokki, still in his red dragon form, asked in a bored voice. "Can we please start burning them to ashes now?"

    She red at her Soul Beast. "Don''t say such violent things in front of Veton. Don''t corrupt his innocence."

    The red dragon looked like he wanted to breathe fire at her. "Wow. I can''t believe you''re treating that stupid bird better than me!"

    "Tteokbokki, jealousy doesn''t look good on you."

    Her Soul Beast thumped his fist against his chest with a frustrated look on his face. "I''d probably be the first dragon in history to die of chest pain because of the frustration from not being able to strangle his master."

    "What a drama king," sheined, then she turned to Veton with a smile. "Tteokbokki is acting weird so I guess it''s best if you leave now, Veton. Please return to your master safely."

    Veton made a soothing hum before it burst into a warm, purple light.

    And now that the Thunderbird was gone¡­

    [It''s showtime.]

    She smiled at the people in front of the room where Veton led her to. "Thank you for waiting, everyone."

    The leader of the pack was a tall andnky dude with orange hair and hazel eyes. The man had a terrible posture and fashion sense but she wouldn''tment on histex suit. But she wouldmend the way he crouched while looking at her with sharp, glowing eyes.

    [This must be Prism¨C the one Jeno Dankworth described as Lewis''s kidnapper.]

    And judging by the puppet-like redheaded people behind the man called Prism, she could say that they were the dead Red Fox n members that Prism stole Beads from.

    [So, it''s safe to assume that this man could reanimate his dead n members.]

    "Wee to my floor, Prince Nero," Prism greeted her in a delighted voice. "I''ve been waiting for this moment¨C the moment to finally meet you."

    "I understand," she said while nodding her head. "If I were you, I would want to meet myself, too."

    The red fox looked shocked by her response. Then, heughed while pping his hands. "You''re really a fun person, Prince Nero!" he said, now hopping in joy. "Please ept me as Lewis Crevan''s recement, Your Royal Highness! I can serve you better than him anyway!"

    "Do you want to serve me that badly?" she asked with a raised brow. "Is that the reason why you hurt Lewis?"

    He grinned and nodded like a child. "That wild fox doesn''t deserve you, Prince Nero!" He patted his chest. "Please make me your ve instead of Lewis Crevan!"

    She let out a deep sigh while shaking her head. "I was nning to maul the face of the person who mauled my son''s face. But looking at your face now, I can see that it already looks unfortunate."

    The bastard finally stopped grinning like an idiot.

    "I''m sorry but I only ept good-looking people. You''re too ugly for my taste," she said, provoking the red fox. Then, she crossed her arms over her chest. "Just looking at you is enough to make me want to puke." She acted like she was disgusted, then she waved her hand dismissively. "I refuse to waste an ounce of my Mana on you."

    It wasn''t that she was merely disrespecting Prism.

    She just honestly didn''t have the time to "y" with him. And yes, she was conserving her energy. She wanted her full strength when dealing with the person who bought Lewis.

    "Don''t underestimate me, Prince Nero," the red fox snarled at her. "If you don''t fight me seriously, I might end up killing you!"

    "I won''t underestimate you, but I still won''t fight you," Neoma said. Then, she gathered her Mana in her heart. Her eyes turned glowing red, and she could also tell that the strands of her hair turned pink (with some strands darker). "Lisica and Rustin Crevan,e out."

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 244 - AFFINITY WITH THE DEVIL

    NIKOLAI was fuming.

    The fact that those bastards built a tower at the border of Oxspring, his territory, was already enough to make him go mad with rage. But here he was now, looking at a damned fortress at the foot of Mount Kimbro where the forest should have been.??

    [How dare those imbeciles cut the trees down to build a fortress in my daughter''snd?]

    Technically, the mountain was Lewis Crevan''s property. But it was only because ''Neoma de Moonasterio'' didn''t exist in the empire yet. Thus, all the properties that he had gifted to his daughter were under the fox boy''s name in the meantime.

    [Although Oxspring is a neglected territory because of the Unholy Land, I can''t believe that those imbeciles managed to build a fortress right under my nose.]

    His thoughts were distracted when Trevor suddenly fall to his knees.

    He clicked his tongue. [What a pathetic sight.]

    "Your Majesty¡­"

    "You''re not going to ask me to help you get up, are you?"

    Trevor chuckled, then he winced in pain before he looked up at him. "Your Majesty, our dear Princess Neoma is forcing one of the Hellgates open."

    Hellgate?

    As far as he knew, there were eight Hellgates known to man. Each Hellgate was a designated "punishment realm" for the most vicious ns that walked on earth. And of course, the Hellgates were managed by the Demon n.

    [To be precise, the Hellgates are under the Devil''s management.]

    And Neoma was forcing one to open?

    Niki''s brows furrowed in confusion. "What is that little rogue up to this time?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    IF NEOMA had a smartphone right now, she would have taken a picture of the "Grim Reaper" in front of her.

    [Wow¡­ it''s a ssic "Grim Reaper."]

    It was a skeleton wearing a ck hooded robe and holding a in-looking scythe. Behind the Grim Reaper was a fancy Goth-looking gate. It was chained up, and she could see some gothic decorations that adorned the gate like skulls and horns.

    [Nice.]

    "You''re being too arrogant, little de Moonasterio."

    "That, I am," Neoma said while nodding her head. She knew why she was sent in a dark space while facing a Grim Reaper and a Goth gate. After all, she found her consciousness in that ce after she tried to summon Lisica and Rustin Crevan. "But I can''t help it. I need to borrow Lisica and Rustin Crevan. Am I not allowed to do that as a Summoner?"

    "I acknowledge you as a Summoner because of your Roseheart Blood, little de Moonasterio," the Grim Reaper said. "But the souls of the Punished cannot be summoned unless you made a contract with them. Did you?"

    "I didn''t," she said while shaking her head. "I don''t want to make a contract with them."

    "But you want to use them as weapons."

    "That sounds harsh but I can''t refute that," she admitted. "But in my defense, I wanted to summon them because the enemies this time are red foxes. I want Lisica and Rustin Crevan to teach my son about the other fox ns that exist in the world."

    "You have¡­ a son?"

    "Not biologically," she said. "But I treat Lewis Crevan as my son."

    "You know that Lewis Crevan, a nine-tailed fox, is at least a thousand year older than you, don''t you?"

    "Don''t fret the details¡­"

    "Eight," the Grim Reaper said. "I guard the eight Hellgate so people call me ''Eight.''"

    "May I know your gender? I don''t want to misgender you."

    "I used to be a man when I was still alive, if I remember it correctly."

    "Okay. Thank you for telling me," she said. "Then, Mr. Eight, can you tell me if there''s anything I can do for you to allow me to borrow Lisica and Rustin Crevan?"

    She thought the Grim Reaper would t out say ''no'' again.

    But much to her surprise, he fell silent as if contemting whether to give her a chance or not.

    [This is my chance.]

    "I can be your one-time errand girl, Mr. Eight," she said while giving the Grim Reaper her best puppy dog eyes. "Just let me borrow Lisica and Rustin Crevan for a moment."

    "I suppose I should ept your offer. After all, you''vee this far. Not everyone can simply force open a Hellgate," he said. "Consider this as a reward of some sort for entertaining me, little de Moonasterio."

    She gave him a thumbs up. "Call."

    "I will lend you the souls of Lisica and Rustin Crevan," Eight said, then he raised his skeletal index finger. "But on one condition: Little de Moonasterio, you have to bring me the souls of the Red Fox n that has been trapped on earth for so long."

    Red Fox n?

    Those people were exactly her current enemies.

    Neoma smiled and nodded. "I can do that, Mr. Eight."

    <strong>***</strong>

    PRISM wasn''t a dignified fighter.

    He was the type of warrior that sacrificed his entire n because he was afraid of death. In fact, he chose to kneel and kiss the feet of Curtis Smit to save himself as the Crow Executive massacred the Red Fox n.

    As a reward, Curtis Smit gave him the Beads of his n members. Those Beads allowed him to reanimate the corpses of the dead red foxes of his n. He didn''t know how but it seemed like Curtis Smit did something to the corpses so they wouldn''t rot easily.

    [Yes, I''m that kind of person.]

    Thus, he didn''t hesitate to attack Prince Nero when the Crown Prince suddenly lost consciousness while standing. He thought the small Red Dragon would protect His Royal Highness and he was prepared to fight it.

    But much to his shock, the Red Dragon just smirkedzily at him. It didn''t even move an inch. Moreover, he didn''t know if it was just his imagination or the Red Dragon was really looking down on him.

    [Dammit! That fucking Red Dragon is as arrogant as Prince Nero!]

    Unfortunately, he couldn''t reallyin even though the Red Dragon was looking down on him. After all, he couldn''t even touch Prince Nero.

    [The barrier around His Royal Highness is too strong¡­]

    That damned barrier appeared as soon as Prince Nero lost consciousness. He didn''t think that the Crown Prince created the barrier. Instead, it was as if the barrier had a mind of its own and knew exactly when to protect Prince Nero.

    "Why did you stop, kid?" the Red Dragon asked in azy, mocking tone. "The thug prince said that he won''t waste my me on someone like you. But it''s fun to watch you struggle." He didn''t know if it was just him or the Red Dragon''s face turned even more arrogant. "If you scratch the thug prince''s barrier, I will give you a taste of my me. How about that?"

    He snarled at the Red Dragon. "You''re too arrogant, dragon!"

    "And you''re too ugly, human."

    He felt his cheeks burn from being humiliated by a dragon.

    [I''ll kill that arrogant beast first!]

    He was just about to leap and attack the dragon when all of a sudden, Prince Nero opened his eyes andughed loudly while clutching his stomach.

    "Tteokbokki, you''re too honest," Prince Nero said whileughing and hitting the Red Dragon in the arm. "You hurt the poor guy''s feelings."

    The Red Dragon just huffed.

    [They''re making fun of me!]

    "Prince Nero!" he yelled with clenched hands. "Fight me seriously!"

    "On one condition," Prince Nero said, the smug look on his face making his skin crawl. "Beat those two hungry Silver Foxes first."

    [Silver Foxes¡­?]

    He flinched when he felt the heavy murderous aura behind him. His body froze and he couldn''t even move an inch. It felt like Death itself was breathing at the back of his neck.

    "A red fox?" a voice of an annoyed woman said behind him. "Howe this weak-ass n is still alive when the Silver Fox n is not?"

    "It''s because they''re weak," a deep and manly voice said. "Who would prey on weak, little foxes, my queen? Unlike the Silver Fox n who spent their entire life fighting, I bet the Red Fox n wastes their life by bowing to stronger beings to survive."

    "Ah, you have a point."

    Prism didn''t have much pride as a red fox, but he still felt offended by the insults that he heard. He gathered all the remaining strength in his body to turn around and face the enemies. But when he saw the intimidating male and female nine-tailed foxes, he wished he didn''t move. [I messed with the wrong person¡­]

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA was half-satisfied and half-worried to see Lisica and Rustin Crevan.

    Even though the two were already nothing but mere Spirits, they still remained intimidating. Plus, she could taste Lisica and Rustin Crevan''s bloodlust in the air.

    [I hope my precious Lewis doesn''t grow up as bloodthirsty as his ancestors.]

    "Queen Lisica, Lord Rustin, I will leave the red foxes to you," Neoma said in an authoritative voice. "I don''t care if you go rampant. But this ce is filled with innocent children. If you hurt them even by ident, I will make you pay for it."

    Lisica and Rustin Crevan looked shocked by her threat. Then, the twoughed. Fortunately, it didn''t seem like she offended them.

    [I have to let them know that I control them and not the other way around.]

    As she said before, she didn''t make a contract with Lisica and Rustin Crevan before because she deemed them too dangerous to work for her.

    But she needed them this time, so she summoned them.

    [Even though I''m the one who borrowed their strength, I still have to impose my authority here.]

    Thankfully, it looked like the two adult nine-tailed foxes got the message without taking it against her.

    [I need them as allies so it wouldn''t be wise to fight with them right now.]

    "That''s what I expect from the person who has the guts and the ability to summon us," Lisica said while nodding. "Don''t worry, Your Royal Highness. No children will be harmed."

    Rustin nodded in agreement. "But we can kill the red foxes and those who will aid them, right?"

    "Yes, you can kill them all," Neoma said, then she gave Prism who seemed to be frozen in fear onest look before she turned to her Soul Beast. "Let''s go, Tteokbokki." She extended her hands to the Red Dragon. "Gear on."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "HARRISON, why is this happening?" Giselle Averon, standing in front of her two new pretty boy toys while naked, whined. "These boys have already seen me naked. But why aren''t they reacting?"

    Both Lewis Crevan and Jasper Hawthorne, despite their weakened state, looked at her nkly.

    Worse, she couldn''t even touch her boys. Jasper Hawthorne managed to create a barrier made of his poisonous red butterflies. Even though the young duke''s physical body was weakened because of the chains around his wrists and ankles, the insects that he was using to protect him and Lewis Crevan were still powerful enough to poison her.

    Thus, she couldn''t move closer.

    [But I just have to be patient. My partner''s poison is slowly working against Jasper Hawthorne''s red butterflies. As soon as his damned insects die, he won''t be able to do anything against me anymore.]

    Lewis Crevan would be easier to deal with.

    After all, the chains that she used to tie the Silver Fox were chains that were personally made to apprehend nine-tailed foxes. The more Lewis Crevan resisted, the more the chains would absorb his power. And it seemed like he was resisting, thus his weakened state.

    The chains stopping Lewis Crevan and Jasper Hawthorne were chained to the wall. Fortunately, the two didn''t have the strength to break free.

    It was cute to watch them struggle though.

    Giselle, aroused by the children in front of her, licked her lips. [I will eat you soon, Lewis Crevan¡­]

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 Chapter 245 - ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE (1)

    <strong>TRIGGER WARNING</strong>: Implied child abuse/assault.

    <strong>***</strong>??

    GISELLE Averon practically lived in the Death Camp.

    In fact, she and her partner had a room in there personally built for them. She fondly named it the ''Pleasure Room.'' It was a special chamber and all the items in there existed to heighten one''s sexual experience.

    For example, the scented candles. The ''scent''ing from the candles wasn''t just fragrant. The smokeing from those was also aphrodisiac.

    Lewis Crevan was only twelve years old while Jasper Hawthorne was fourteen. It shouldn''t be this hard for her to seduce these children. But s, the two boy toys were practically ignoring her effortlessly.

    [Even if they don''t like me, their bodies should have reacted by now!]

    Before Lewis Crevan and Jasper Hawthorne were able to fight back, she managed to take their clothes off. Unfortunately, she wasn''t able to take off the piece of clothing that she wanted gone¨C their underwear.

    [I want to see it! I want to see their cute penises react to me! The sight of my perfect body should have been enough to give them an erection! But why is my body not enough? The aphrodisiac doesn''t also work with them!]

    That aggravated her.

    "Maybe they don''t find you attractive, Giselle."

    She turned to Harrison with a re.

    Harrison, lying down on the bed while propping up himself with his elbows, was surrounded by four male children and one female child that he yed with earlier. The children were all now asleep¨C whether due to exhaustion from the "physical activities" that they did with them or the drugs that she and Harrison fed them, she had no idea.

    And she didn''t care.

    Those children were just appetizers to her and Harrison. Their carnal desires could only be satiated by high-quality "meat" like Lewis Crevan and Jasper Hawthorne.

    "Impossible," she said, refuting Harrison''s im that her new boy toys didn''t find her attractive. "They''re still children. How can they resist the charm of an older woman with a beautiful face and perfect curves?"

    Harrison sat straight and stretched his arms. "I don''t know. Maybe they had alreadyid their eyes on the most beautiful girl on the continent? That''s the only way a subus like you won''t affect children."

    "You got that damn right. We''ve already met the most beautiful girl in the whole continent," Jasper Hawthorne, sitting on the floor with one leg bent while the other was stretched out, said smugly. "Compared to that person, you''re nothing." He turned to Lewis Crevan who was seated the same way as he was. "Isn''t that right, Lewis?"

    Lewis Crevan''s beautiful golden eyes glowed menacingly while looking at her coldly. "You''re nothing but an ugly old bitch."

    She clenched her fists, veins popping up her forehead. "Who''s an ugly old bitch?"

    "You," Lewis Crevan and Jasper Hawthorne said at the same time.

    She screamed in frustration as Harrisonughed.

    It was true that she was already old.

    But by sucking the youth and life force of children through sex, she managed to retain her youthful appearance. Despite being eighty years old, she looked like a woman in her twenties. That was the same for Harrison.

    Still, both she and her partner looked gorgeous!

    "Calm down, Giselle," Harrison said, then he stood next to her and put an arm around her shoulders. "My poison against insects is working." He pointed at the wall of red butterflies. The insects were finally falling one by one. "Theirstyer of defense is already copsing."

    She smiled, satisfied that she could finally get a hold of her new toys.

    But it was unnerving to see that despite theirstyer of defense copsing, Lewis Crevan and Jasper Hawthorne still both looked calm.

    [Have they regained their strength?]

    No¡­ that couldn''t be true. If these two had recovered already, then they should have broken free as soon as they had.

    "Why do you look so calm?" she asked warily. "You can''t defend yourselves, can you?"

    "It''s shameful to admit but you are correct¨C we can''t defend ourselves," Jasper Hawthorne said, still calm and collected. "But that precious person is going to save us. If it''s that treasured one, we don''t mind being rescued."

    She raised a brow after hearing that. "And who might be that person?"

    "You don''t have the right to speak that precious person''s name," Lewis Crevan said in a mocking tone. "Even that precious one''s name is more beautiful than you''ll ever be, old hag."

    The young dukeughed loudly. "Lewis, this is the first time I''ve heard you curse and insult people¨C and rightfully so."

    She snarled at her new toys. "Let''s see if the two of you can still run that mouth of yours after we''re done with you."

    Lewis Crevan and Jasper Hawthorne remained calm and it pissed her off even more.

    "I''m famished again, Giselle," Harrison said while licking his lower lip. "Jasper Hawthorne is mine."

    Giselle smirked and locked her eyes with the fox boy''s beautiful golden orbs. "And Lewis Crevan is mine."

    And as soon as she said that, the ground began to shake hard.

    [What is going on suddenly?]

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA already expected the worst to greet her as soon as she entered the room where Veton led her.

    After leaving Prism and the red foxes corpses to Lisica and Rustin Crevan, she immediately made her way to the room that Prism seemed to be guarding. The sight of unconscious naked children on the bed instantly greeted her when she opened the door.

    As if that wasn''t enough to make her go insane, she had to see Lewis Crevan and Jasper Oppa almost naked while chained to the wall.

    Worst of all, a naked couple was standing in front of her son and oppa.

    For the first time in her life, she felt so angry that she wanted to kill for real.

    "You must be Prince Nero," the naked woman said haughtily. "It''s adorable how you look like the emperor''s child version and yet, you give off a different aura¨C ahh!"

    The presumptuous woman screamed because she shed her face using Mini Skewer as she walked past her. The shocked naked man also screamed in pain because after she shed the bitch''s face, she cut off the man''s penis.

    Yes, she cut that disgusting thing off using Mini Skewer as well.

    Maybe she moved a little faster than normal because the naked couple wasn''t able to do anything as she walked past them while attacking.

    "I''m sorry I''mte," Neoma said while standing between Lewis and Jasper Oppa and creating a Dome to protect the three of them. Then, using her hands covered with Tteokbokki''s red scales, she tore off the chains on the wall easily. And using the speed that she used to attack the naked couple, she tore off the chains around the two''s wrists and ankles. "Lewis, Jasper Oppa."

    Lewis and Jasper Oppa silently stood up despite their weakened bodies trembling. Then, the two of them bowed to her.

    "I wanted to give you the chance to punish those two bastards who hurt you and abused countless children," she said in a trembling voice. She wasn''t trembling because she was scared. Her body was acting that way because she was literally shaking in anger. "But I want to do it myself. Will you allow me to exact revenge on your behalf?"

    Jasper Oppa''s face hardened for a second, then he let out a deep sigh and nodded. "I have faith in you, Your Royal Highness. Please do as you wish."

    She wanted to smile at her oppa but she couldn''t. So instead, she turned to Lewis. "Can you leave this to me, Lewis? Even if Yule forgives the people who touched you, I won''t. But if you wish to punish them yourself¡­"

    Lewis shook his head thoughtfully. "Your will is my will, Your Royal Highness."

    She could see in Lewis''s beautiful golden eyes that he had a lot to say. But it wasn''t the right time for them to talk openly like that.

    [Later.]

    "Lewis, Jasper, take those children with you. Keep them warm and find a safe ce for them," she said while pointing at the naked children on the bed. "Find the other children and rescue them as well. Kill everyone but the fucking scumbags that run this damned camp."

    Lewis and Jasper both bowed politely, then they moved so fast one would think they just vanished in thin air.

    After the two followed her orders, she turned around to face the enemies.

    It wasn''t like the naked couple just stood there while she talked to her son and oppa. The two perverts actually tried to attack her. But of course, the enemies'' measly attacks didn''t even scratch her Dome.

    Yet, she wasn''t happy with what she saw.

    [Huh? The bitch''s face is healed and the bastard''s penis regrew. Is it regeneration?]

    The naked woman smirked at her. "Are you surprised that our bodies healed right away? Don''t you know that demons like us have fast regeneration?"

    [Ah, so they''re demons.]

    "How dare you take away our food?!" the naked man yelled at her angrily. "It''s been a while since we''ve managed to get our hands on high-quality meat!"

    She could hear the two yapping but she didn''t care about what they were saying.

    [I want to burn them but that will be an easy way to kill them. I want to make them suffer until they begged to be killed¡­]

    ["Then, shall I lend you a hand?"]

    Her thoughts got cut off when she heard Tteokbokki''s voice in her head. But she had a feeling that it wasn''t her Tteokbokki speaking. Her Soul Beast was arrogant in an endearing way. However, the one talking in her mind right now was arrogant in an annoying way.

    It was probably the one who introduced himself as the God of Wrath or something.

    ["I have a wide collection of mes and I know exactly what you want right now, Your Royal Highness,"] the God of Wrath said in an annoyingly yful voice. ["I have a kind of me that can slowly burn a person to death. And when the target is on the verge of dying, the me that burned them will turn cold and quickly restore their original condition. Once the target haspletely recovered, the me that healed them will once again slowly burn them to death."]

    She raised a brow at that. [It''s a cycle?]

    ["It''s a cycle indeed, Your Royal Highness."]

    [What kind of me is that?]

    The God of Wrath snickered before responding to her question. ["Hellme."]

    "Hellme, huh?" Neoma asked, her frenzied red eyes glowing brighter and her arrogant smirk turning sinister. "Give it to me, Crimson."

    Yes, she finally called her Soul Beast by its real name.

    And then, all hell broke loose.

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 246 - ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE (2)

    JURI WISTERIA flinched when a spear pierced through her left arm. But she didn''t have the time to wince or feel the pain because she was busy murdering¨C uhm, fighting with anky and slippery bastard who could move fast. Thus, to stop him from moving, she was currently breaking his legs.

    [The first thing you do when faced with a fast opponent is to break their legs before they disappear from your sight.]??

    She had been toox because Greko''s shield was durable enough to withstand various attacks of the enemies around her as she plowed through the mob. But after taking down around 30-40 enemies thanks to Greko''s support and Jeno Dankworth''s assist, this was the first time that she had been hit by an attack from the enemy.

    [Greko''s shield is copsing¨C he must be tired already.]

    As of now, the child was hiding in the sky while riding a piece of cloud that Jeno Dankworth created for him. Not only that, but the young lord also covered Greko with Mist so the little Healer wouldn''t be found by the enemies as the child supported her in secret.

    Aside from Greko''s copsing shield, it seemed like Jeno Dankworth could no longer assist her as well.

    [Jeno Dankworth is probably upied by the winged creatures attacking him right now.]

    As a Marksman, Jeno Dankworth had to move a lot while shooting and hiding from the enemies. But it wasn''t like he had a lot of space to use as a hiding spot up in the sky.

    [The winged creature flying above us earlier probably found him by now.]

    Tsk.

    This was harder than she thought.

    [But this is fun. I knew getting kicked out from the Royal Tower is a blessing in disguise. Rather than learning how to heal people, beating the crap out of them is more interesting!]

    Her violent thoughts were cut off when she heard a loud explosion in the sky.

    She finished off the enemy in front of her before taking big steps backward to separate herself from the other opponents waiting for her to let her guard down. Then, she looked up to take a quick peek at the sky.

    Much to her shock, she saw Jeno and Greko both falling from the sky,

    [Dammit!]

    She ran towards Greko. It wasn''t that she hated Jeno or anything. She would have run to save both if she could. But obviously, she didn''t have that kind of power.

    Moreover, Greko was the closest to her spot.

    She was just hoping that she made it in time.

    [Jeno, turn into a cloud or something so you don''t die from the fall!]

    She cursed when she felt a huge and rough hand grab her body just when she was about to reach Greko. Much to her frustration, she was picked up by one of the giants. She didn''t know how it managed to sneak behind her without her noticing.

    [It''s crushing me!]

    She hit the giant''s hand and arm with her sledgehammer but it only crushed her harder. It fucking broke her ribs and some other bones. It took her all that she got to stop herself from screaming in pain.

    Then, she took a deep breath while trying to fix her rib cage using her Mana. She could cryter. Her priority right now was to get out of the giant''s grip and save Greko. Since she was told that the child was half-fairy, she was hoping that he wouldn''t die from the fall.

    But she was slowly falling unconscious.

    Just when she thought she would ck out from pain, she heard another explosion in the sky. With the remaining strength left in her body, she looked up. And she was d that she did.

    [It''s Miss Mochi and the Pdins!]

    The white bunny and three of the emperor''s Pdins were suspended in the air courtesy of Miss Mochi''s wind magic.

    But the most important thing was Jeno and Greko were both saved.

    Sir Dion Skelton had Jeno draped over his shoulder. On the other hand, Lady Jeanne Audley was carrying Greko in her arms carefully. Jeno and Greko were both unconscious though.

    [I''m d that they''re both alive.]

    She was distracted when Sir Geoffrey Kinsley suddenly disappeared. At first, she thought her eyes were just ying tricks with her because she was in too much pain. But when the arm crushing her body was cut off and she began to fall to the ground with it, she realized why the Pdin disappeared.

    "You did well, Lady Juri," Sir Geoffrey Kinsley, who swiftly caught her before she fell to the ground, said in a proud voice. "Don''t worry, your grandmother is here. She will fix you right away."

    Her eyes widened in shock. "G-Grandma is here?"

    The Pdin just smiled and nodded.

    She suddenly felt scared for her life. She didn''t feel any fear when fighting with men and beasts earlier. But her grandmother was a different story.

    [Grandma must be fuming¡­]

    Madam Judy Hammock was usually a gentle person. But once the great Healing Sage was mad, all hell would break loose.

    "Juri Wisteria."

    She gulped when she heard her grandmother''s voice. Then, she looked up slowly. To be honest, she was expecting her grandmother to be angry.

    But the expression that she saw wasn''t anger or frustration.

    "Juri, my dear, where does it hurt?" her grandmother asked gently and kindly, then she put her warm hands over her cold and calloused ones. "Grandma will fix it for you."

    Juri, touched by her grandmother''s warmth and love, bawled like a baby. "My whole body hurts, Grandma," she said in a cracked voice. "It hurts like hell!"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOU''RE FINALLY quiet, de Moonasterio," Crimson, the God of Wrath, said while looking at Neoma de Moonasterio seated on his throne. "I''d wee you to my Sacred Garden properly if you were awake."

    The little royal princess had her head hung because she was unconscious.

    Neoma de Moonasterio''s body may have gone into shock after the divine energy in her little body overflowed after she uttered his name. To be honest, the royal princess already had overflowing divine energy. But she could easily get rid of the excess divine energy in her body by using it as an attack or as a shield.

    Unfortunately for the little princess, she couldn''t get rid of the divine energying from him that way.

    Thus, her little body was starting to break at the moment.

    "You''re too young to utter my name, you know?" he said in a mocking tone. "Although you managed to find out my real name, your body is literally too small to handle the flow of divine energying out from me."

    Thus, it was advised for the de Moonasterios to only learn their Soul Beast''s real name once they reached adulthood. It was also the reason why the Soul Beasts were sent to the de Moonasterios unnamed¨C to prevent the royal children from breaking their little bodies.]

    "But you''re too arrogant, little princess," he said, mocking the unconscious royal princess. "You thought you could handle my name, didn''t you?"

    "I didn''t think that I could handle it."

    He jumped away from the royal princess, shocked to realize that she was awake now.

    Princess Neoma raised her head and looked at her with those glowing red eyes of hers. "I didn''t "think" I could handle it," she said, repeating her words earlier firmly this time. "I know that I could."

    "And you know because¡­?"

    "Because I''m Neoma Ramsay," she said, uttering a family name that he didn''t know where the royal princess had picked up from. Then, she stood up and touched the tattoo on her neck. "If my body is the problem, then I have the solution to that."

    "What do you mean¡­"

    He wasn''t able to finish his question because of what happened next.

    When Neoma de Moonasterio stood up, she suddenly turned into a grown woman. But it wasn''t the only thing that shocked him.

    "That''s the Devil''s Scythe," Crimson said in disbelief while looking at the grimly weapon the now-adult princess wielded. Then, he locked eyes with her. Her red eyes were proof that she was a de Moonasterio. So howe she could wield a demon weapon without difficulties. "This is absurd!" he imed, his own red eyes glowing menacingly now. "Did you betray Yule and worked with the Devil?!"

    "Me? Work for someone else?" Neoma de Moonasterio asked in an offended voice. "Oi, do I look like someone the Devil or some dude could boss around, huh?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    WHEN NEOMA received Mini Skewer from Trevor as a "farewell gift, he told her that she could borrow the Devil''s real Death Scythe''s power once. And when she did, her body would turn into an adult''s to properly handle the scythe''s power.

    She didn''t expect that she''d use it now though.

    [Gosh. I was nning to use this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do a photoshoot in my adult form and wear pretty dresses. I didn''t want to use it for something like saving the world or something.]

    But vanity aside, she knew that borrowing the Death Scythe''s power and turning into a grown woman was dangerous. The crows were in that ce after all. She didn''t have a choice though.

    "You''re being annoying now, Crimson. I don''t like you," Neoma said while gripping the handle of Skewer tight. "Get out of my sight and bring my precious Tteokbokki back to me."

    Crimson, the God of Wrath or something,ughed maniacally. "Let me see you try kicking me out of your Soul Beast''s dimension, Neoma de Moonasterio."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NIKOLAI was shocked when he realized that the shield surrounding the fortress was powerful enough to stop him from entering the area.

    What kind of power could stop him, the ruler of the continent, so easily?

    "What''s wrong, Your Majesty?" Trevor, now on the other side of the barrier, asked. "Is there a problem?"

    "I can''t go in," Niki said, obviously surprising the demon boy. "The barrier is preventing me from entering the area."

    "That can''t be," the demon boy said in disbelief. "What kind of barrier could stop His Majesty just like that?"

    That was also what he''d like to know.

    "Perhaps, a barrier that I created myself."

    He felt a shiver down his spine when he heard the cold, husky voiceing from above him. From the corner of his eye, he saw Trevor do the same.

    [What a thick corrupted Mana that stranger possessed.]

    The demon boy had a strange reaction upon seeing the man fully d in a hooded ck robe. It seemed like his knees buckled until he fell to the ground while holding his trembling body tight.

    "It can''t be," Trevor whispered to himself, his head now hung low. "It''s the real Devil."

    Oho.

    That exined the corrupted Mana in the air.

    "This is the first time that we met, Lord Devil," he said curtly. "Should I say I''m honored?"

    "You should be honored, Niki de Moonasterio," the Devil said while removing the hood of his robe. "It''s not every day that you get to meet your ancestor in flesh after all."

    To say that he was shocked when he saw the Devil''s face would be an understatement.

    White hair, red eyes, pale skin¨C the three features of the de Moonasterios.

    And the owner of those physical traits was the one that shouldn''t be alive at this time. It was the face that he had seen in several history books. Moreover, it was the face that he saw in one of the portraits in the room where the pictures of the previous emperors were hanged.

    Once again, he felt a shiver down his spine when realization hit him.

    "Emperor Arche de Moonasterio," Niki said in disbelief. "You''re the Devil?"

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 Chapter 247 - ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE (3)

    "AH, YOUR Fox''s Marble is blocked by those stupid Beads, Lewis!"

    "You should have been more careful but then again, it''s not like someone taught you about the Silver Fox n and the other fox ns that exist in the empire."??

    Jasper watched at the two Spirits of nine-tailed foxes fuss over Lewis Crevan.

    When he and the fox boy got out of the "Pleasure Room" while putting on their clothes, they were greeted by a female and male adult fox seated on top of corpses that had turned into statues. If he remembered correctly, those were the dead red foxes that Prism would control and use to attack.

    [They killed Prism.]

    Ah, "ughtered" might sound more appropriate.

    After all, the two Spirits tore off Prism''s limbs until he was barely recognizable.

    [I wanted to kill Prism with my own hands to avenge Tate. But seeing how he was ughtered by the Spirit foxes, I can tell that he suffered heavily before dying. As cruel as it sounds, I''m satisfied with this oue.]

    And he found what he needed from Prism anyway.

    He bent down to pick the (bloodied) pouch on the floor. He opened it to check the content. Much to his relief, the pouch still contained the colored marbles that he needed to free Tate and the other children that suffered the same fate as his cousin. Moreover, the pouch itself was the key that he needed to open to Underground Ring.

    "Lewis, can I leave the children to you?" Jasper asked the fox boy who kept ignoring the adult foxes fussing over him. They wrapped the children in nkets when they took them out of the room. He carried three of the children while Lewis Crevan carried the other three. Since the children were small and thin, carrying them was easy. When they got out of the Pleasure Room, they gently put the children down on the floor first. "I need to save the other children trapped in the basement."

    Lewis Crevan nodded. "Do you need help?"

    "No, I can manage. Thank you," he said. Then, he awkwardly took a peak at the Spirits that were intently listening to them before he turned to the fox boy again. "Will you be alright?"

    The fox boy nodded again. "I''ll be fine. They''re not enemies."

    "Are you sure?"

    "Yes," Lewis Crevan said. "Go and rescue the other children now."

    "Alright," he said. "Take care."

    Of course, Lewis Crevan didn''t reply anymore.

    [He only talks when needed.]

    After saying his goodbye to the fox boy, he turned to the two Spirits and bowed politely before leaving. Then, he ran at full speed to get where he needed to be.

    [Tate, wait for me,] Jasper thought to himself. [I will save you so you better be alive.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    "NOW THAT we put the children in a safer ce, shall we remove the Beads blocking your Marble?" Lisica, standing in front of Lewis Crevan, said. Then, she put her hands on her waist while looking at the young fox''s heart. "You don''t know this because you''re inexperienced and unguided. But when the Beads turned you into a statue, those things also covered your Marble with stone. It''s the reason why you were unable to use your power and summon your tails."

    "Tsk. Those sneaky bastards haven''t changed," Rustin said, then he crossed his (sexy) arms over his (broad and solid) chest. "They still use that dirty method to suppress the Silver Foxes instead of fighting our n head-on."

    She put her hand on Rustin''s shoulder to calm him down (and feel his solid muscles under her touch). "But the bitter truth is their n is still alive while the Silver Fox n no longer exists except for Lewis Crevan. The Red Fox n''s dirty schemes are the reason why they outlived us, you know?"

    He turned to him with an annoyed look on his face. She must have struck a nerve, huh? "And your point is?"

    "We shouldn''t just teach our one and only descendant left how to fight," she insisted. "Our poor Lewis was beaten because he doesn''t know anything about the sneaky red foxes."

    "I didn''t lose," Lewis insisted with a scowl on his face. "I let my guard down on purpose."

    She bit her lower lip to stop herself fromughing. It wasn''t like she was underestimating her descendant. She just found it cute how Lewis didn''t want to ept his defeat.

    And it wasn''t only because of his pride as a nine-tailed fox.

    [It''s probably because of puberty.]

    "Lewis, you lost," Rustin said sternly. "Whether you let your guard down or not isn''t important. In a fight, only the result matters. As a nine-tailed fox, you have to acknowledge your shorings to know what you need to fix and improve. Do you understand what I''m saying?"

    [Ohh¡­ Rustin is really hot when he''s serious.]

    So hot that she had to close her legs to stop herself from leaking. Rustin''s attractiveness and manliness never failed to make her wet after all.

    Goddamit.

    [Rustin Crevan, look at what you''re making me think during an inappropriate time!]

    "I lost," Lewis, who seemed to have taken Rustin''s words seriously, said. "Please teach me how to break the stone that''s blocking my Marble," he said in a polite tone. "I need to return by Princess Neoma''s side as soon as possible."

    "Alright, we''ll teach you how to do it," Rustin said while nodding his head. "First of all, you need to gather all the energy in your body to your Marble."

    "Once you do that, imagine your Marble turning into a ball of fire," Lisica added seriously. "Lewis Crevan, from this moment on, you need to concentrate like your life depends on it."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA realized one thing as soon as her fight with Crimson began: a scythe was useless as a weapon.

    It looked cool in the anime and weics that she had seen during her second life. But she didn''t know that wielding a huge-ass scythe in a fight was impractical. Especially since she wasn''t a Swordsman in the first ce.

    [I''m sorry but you have no use to me right now, Mini Skewer.]

    After saying her apologies to her weapon, she threw it on the floor.

    Crimson''s eyes widened in shock. "Neoma de Moonasterio, I know that the Demon n is the enemy of the Royal Family," he said. "But the Devil''s Scythe is still a high-level weapon! You can''t just simply throw it away like that!"

    "Whatever," Neoma said, then she jumped in the air with her fist ready to sucker punch the hell out of Crimson. She managed to tame Tteokbokki that way. It must also be the only way to tame the arrogant God of Wrath or something. "My Papa Boss taught me that a de Moonasterio''s best weapon is our strong body, you know?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    [YOU''RE really a filthy bug.]

    William scowled while looking at Neoma de Moonasterio''s strange appearance.

    First, she was standing in that weird room unconscious. The filthy bug''s eyes were opened, but he could tell that her soul was in a different dimension. She was covered with a divine barrier so it wouldn''t be easy to attack her though.

    Second, how did she grow up this much in such a short period of time?

    Thest time he saw the filthy bug, she was still a small monstrous child. But for some reason, the royal princess had the appearance of ady in herte teens now.

    That wasn''t the strangest thing about the filthy bug at the moment though.

    It was her outfit and the weapon in her hand.

    Neoma was currently wearing a ck hooded rob over a ck dress that seemed familiar, but he couldn''t remember where he had seen it. But the huge scythe in the filthy bug''s hand was very familiar.

    [It seems like a replica of the Death Scythe.]

    But despite being a replica, he could feel that a piece of that scythe was a genuine part of the real Death Scythe.

    [It''s not important right now.]

    The fact that Neoma de Moonasterio, whose Moonglow was pure divine energy, could handle the best weapon that the Demon n had produced. Since the filthy bug was a de Moonasterio, she was supposed to be vulnerable to a weapon covered with demonic energy.

    [But Neoma de Moonasterio has an affinity with the Death Scythe!]

    "As expected, you should die," William concluded while nodding his head. Yes, he didn''t mind killing people even though they were unconscious or sleeping. As long as he needed to do his job, he didn''t care. "I know Nero will hate me for killing you but you''re too dangerous for me to let you live," he said, then he raised a hand while gathering his energy. The barrier around the filthy bug was strong. But he was confident he could break it especially since she was still unconscious. "Goodbye, Princess Neoma de Moonasterio."

    The ball of energy that he released was enough not just to break the divine barrier and kill the filthy bug.

    It was also strong enough to erase the whole tower off the map.

    Thus, he was shocked when someone casually kicked the ball of energy up to the ceiling. The roof copsed and the ball of energy went up to the sky and exploded up there. Some winged creatures were caught up in the explosion. But he didn''t care about that.

    "Tsk," William clicked his tongue in annoyance while ring at the silver-haired man in front of him. "Where the hell did a nine-tailed fox like youe from?"

    Yes, the person who kicked his energy ball so casually was a nine-tailed fox.

    Silver hair, golden eyes, nine white tails.

    The nine-tailed fox looked like a man in his early twenties. But he could tell by its soul that the adult body that the nine-tailed fox had was just the result of his transformation. The soul was old, of course. But the man''s human body was definitely that of a young boy.

    [I think I remember a silver-haired boy with golden eyes back when I first met the filthy bug.]

    "Did you just try to kill my princess?"

    ["My princess?"]

    Those words almost made him puke.

    "I did," William said with a smirk, then he moved fast to run past the nine-tailed fox. "And I still will."

    "Not so fast," the nine-tailed fox said, shocking him when he suddenly appeared in front of his face.

    Then, the rude fox kicked him in the face.

    It sent him flying.

    [Goddammit!]

    He couldn''t believe that he was now on the floor while leaning against a wall, attending to his bleeding and now broken nose.

    "Your face is Princess Neoma''s type," the nine-tailed fox said, his golden eyes gleaming menacingly. Then, he raised his hand as if he was showing him his long, sharp, and obviously hard nails. "So I have to ruin that face of yours."

    [What kind of fucked up logic is that?]

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 248 - ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE (4)

    "FOR A god, you''re pretty weak," Neoma said while picking up Mini Skewer. [I''m sorry for throwing you away earlier, Mini Skewer.]

    "Of course I''m weak right now," Crimson, who was sitting on the floor with slumped shoulders, said in an irritated voice. "You''re not angry after all."??

    She turned to the dude and raised a brow at him. To be honest, she wanted to feel bad for the poor guy after she beat him up because of his child appearance. But she didn''t like the evil glint in his red eyes. Thus, she stopped feeling sorry for him. "Are you saying that my anger affects your strength?"

    "I''m the God of Wrath," he reminded her firmly. "Since you''re my host, it''s only natural that your anger serves as the fuel for my power."

    "I''m still angry though."

    "It''s still not enough for me," he said in a serious tone. "I need you to be angry to the point of insanity, little de Moonasterio."

    "I''m not good at doing what people I dislike want me to do."

    "How can you dislike me?" heined. "I''m your Soul Beast¨C I''m a part of you."

    "Tteokbokki is my Soul Beast."

    "I am that "Tteokbokki,"" he insisted bluntly. "Once a Soul Beast is embedded within a newborn de Moonasterio''s soul, they lose their past memories. It''s not umon for the Soul Beasts to develop a new personality until they remember who they really are. Right now, my consciousness shifts from the Tteokbokki that you know to the real me. Don''t you find it strange when sometimes, "Tteokbokki" doesn''t heed your call recently?"

    She hated to admit it but this dude was right. There were instances when Tteokbokki wouldn''t answer her. [Does it mean¡­]

    "Yes, I''m forcibly taking over his consciousness during those times," the God of Wrath said as if he could read her mind. "I''ve taken advantage of the fact that your emotions are unstable recently. You get mad, you calm down, then get mad again. I''m stronger during the times you''re angry though. So please, don''t hold back anymore and go on a rampage."

    "I really don''t like you," she said,pletely ignoring everything the little god said. "Because you exist, Tteokbokki is now acting like he has a split personality."

    Crimson looked pissed with what she said. "I''m your real Soul Beast. The "Tteokbokki" you treasure is just a personality I developed when I lost my memories."

    "Will you turn into a unicorn if I asked you to?"

    "Of course, I won''t," he snarled at her. "Don''t make me remember the things that you made me do in the past!"

    "If you can''t turn into a unicorn, then I don''t want you," she said with a scowl. "I will make you sleep forever and bring my Tteokbokki'' back. I prefer a tsundere over a scheming bastard like you."

    He looked shocked by her deration, then heughed. "So, you know?" he asked, amused. "You know that I''m scheming something behind your back?"

    "I am not dense," she said bluntly. "I tend to ignore things that I refuse to acknowledge. But that doesn''t mean I''m ignorant so don''t look down on me."

    "Even if you know that I''m nning something behind your back, you have no means to know what exactly it is," Crimson said, his body now turning translucent. "It will hit you when you least expect it, little de Moonasterio."

    Neoma let out a sigh when the God of Wrath disappeared at the same time her body turned translucent, too. "I should have punched that scheming bastard in the throat."

    <strong>***</strong>

    WHEN Neoma woke up standing, her eyes were instantly blessed to see two gorgeous men fighting gantly in front of her.

    [Why the fuck is William picking a fight with my precious son?]

    Her mood turned sour as soon as she realized that the Grand Spirit might have tried to hurt or kill her. It could only be the reason why Lewis was fighting William with the intention to kill the scumbag.

    But although she was initially pissed at the situation that she woke up to, her mood got better when it finally urred to her that Lewis was in an adult form. Moreover, her son''s nine white fluffy tails were out.

    [Heh. My son is going all out. I guess he doesn''t need his mother to back him up.]

    Plus, it seemed like the two were too engrossed with their fight that they didn''t notice that she was already awake. She could barely keep up with the two''s movements because they were moving as if they were The sh.

    [Let''s not pay attention to them for now.]

    She was d that she was still in her adult form. With this body, she could control the divine energy from her Soul Beast better.

    [That Crimson is quiet, huh?]

    She focused on the ashes on the floor instead. To be honest, it crept her out when she realized that the residue of the ck me around the ashes was "alive." And it was waiting for hermand.

    It didn''t have to wait because she had all the intentions to punish the couple r*pists.

    Neoma stretched her arm out while her palm was facing the ashes on the floor. "Rise, motherfuckers."

    As soon as she spoke, William and Lewis stopped fighting and turned to her.

    She ignored the two and watched the ashes rise as if those were being carried by a gentle breeze. But soon, the breeze that lifted the ashes turned into a violent wind that resembled a small twister. The higher the ashes rise, the better the shape of two people''s figurese out.

    Finally, in just the blink of an eye, the naked couple from before was revived.

    As soon as the r*pists came back to life, the two bawled their eyes out and cried while hugging their burned bodies.

    "Enough, please!" the naked woman begged while crying. "I can''t take it anymore!"

    "The me is too hot! We''ve already been burned to ashes and revived twice!" the naked manined while sobbing like a child. "Just kill us, please!"

    "No," she said coldly, then she snapped her fingers. "Burn, bitches."

    Just like that, the residue of the ck me suddenly grew bigger and ate the perverted couple without mercy. And now, that disgusting room was filled with the cries and pleads of those scumbags that didn''t deserve to be treated like humans anymore.

    "Hah," William said when he got over his shock from seeing what she did to the trash couple. "I guess for a filthy de Moonasterio like you, killing humans is no different from killing insects."

    "I don''t see any humans here aside from me and Lewis," she said, then she turned to the Grand Spirit. "Why are you getting mad at me for burning trashes?"

    "Is that how Niki de Moonasterio raised you?" the Grand Spirit asked. "You treat humans that oppose you as nothing but mere trash?"

    "I like how you''remitted to making me sound like the bad guy here," she said, then she crossed her arms over her chest. "I''m sorry but to me, people who r*pe children have already lost their right to be treated as humans."

    At least, William had the audacity to look shocked and ashamed after running his mouth off without learning the whole story first. But of course, the Grand Spirit hated her so much that he found a retort right away. "You''re acting as the Crown Prince right now, filthy bug. I''m sure you have the power to punish criminals byw. I don''t think exacting revenge on humans who crossed you is how an empire''s future ruler should act."

    Ah, that hit her conscience.

    Even in her second life, she believed in due process. But to be honest, if she had the ability to turn back time, she would still do the same.

    "I believe in due process. It exists to avoid innocent people being judged unfairly," she said carefully. "However, I also believe that criminals, especially those whomitted horrendous crimes, should be punished on the spot when caught red-handed."

    The Grand Spirit smirked bitterly. "Oi, filthy bug. Even criminals have human rights, too. Don''t you think a leader like you should be merciful? Isn''t it your job as a ruler to reform the scum of your empire? Instead of killing those humans, the system of this empire should fix them and let them rejoin society. That''s why thew exists, Princess Neoma de Moonasterio."

    "For criminals whomitted other crimes, you might be correct. It''s the empire''s responsibility to reform them and let them rejoin the society," she said, then she clenched her hands. "But as I said earlier, scums who r*pe children no longer have the right to be treated as humans. Why would you give them a chance to live and have a decent life when they hurt innocent children? If I''m going to help someone have a decent andfortable life, that would be the survivors and not the criminals."

    After her long speech, the r*pists were finally burned to ashes.

    "Rise, motherfuckers," she said while her hand was pointed at the ashes.

    Just like what happened earlier, the perverted couple was revived only to suffer from getting burned by the Hellme again.

    William smirked at her, obviously mocking her again. "Well, aren''t you a tyrant-in-the-making?"

    "If the justice that I believe right now makes me a tyrant, so be it," she said, then she let out a sigh. "I''m tired of arguing with you." Her gaze went past the Grand Spirit and she locked her gaze with a pair of glowing golden orbs. "Lewis, get rid of Uncle Scumbag."

    The Grand Spirit instantly turned around to face her son, but it was already toote.

    Lewis had already jumped in the air and used his knee to break William''s face.

    [Oh, no. Not the face, son¡­]

    It was a shame since she liked Uncle Scumbag''s face despite his rotten attitude and unwarranted hate towards her.

    Anyway¡­

    William was sent flying by Lewis''s attack but the scumbag justughed. "Do you think that''s enough to beat me?"

    "Of course not," she said, answering in her son''s ce. "That''s why I summoned Kimchi."

    The Grand Spirit froze when his body hit the wall of fire that Kimchi, her me Spirit, created to catch the scumbag.

    William red at her. "Do you think your little pet''s me can burn me?"

    "No," she said casually, then she turned to the me Spirit that was now seated on top of William''s head. "But I''m sure as hell that my Baby Kimchi can take you somewhere else."

    The Grand Spirit looked confused.

    She just snapped her fingers, then Kimchi along with William who was glued to her me Spirit''s wall of fire disappeared.

    "My baby has the ability to teleport using her me," she said with a smirk. "But I guess you already know that by now, Uncle Scumbag."

    "Princess Neoma¡­"

    She turned around and faced Lewis.

    Gosh, she almost had a nosebleed. She didn''t know where her son got the shirt that he was wearing. But she was pretty sure that he just grabbed it from somewhere. After all, it was a little too tight on him.

    But the shirt still looked good on him because it emphasized his gorgeous athletic body.

    "Are you okay, Lewis?" she asked worriedly. "Did they¡­?"

    He shook his head. "They just took off my clothes."

    She clenched her hands tight.

    No matter what William says, she wouldn''t regret her decision to subject the perverted couple to eternal suffering.

    "I''m sorry," she said guiltily. "I shouldn''t have let you go."

    "Do you really feel sorry, Princess Neoma?"

    "Of course."

    "Then, can you hug me?"

    "Huh?"

    "Hug me," Lewis said softly, his golden eyes glowing beautifully. It was also worth noting that his whole face had turned red. He looked determined though. "Please hug me until I forget the way those perverts touched my body."

    Ah.

    Her heart broke when she heard that.

    So without much further ado, she dropped Mini Skewer on the floor. Then, she walked towards Lewis and wrapped her arms around his waist.

    "I''m sorry," she whispered while her face was buried against Lewis''s chest. "I''m sorry that you had to go through that for me¡­"

    "It''s okay, Princess Neoma," Lewis said softly, then he slowly wrapped his arms around her body. "I''m okay now because your warmth never fails to make me forget all the bad things that happened to me."

    "I won''t let something like that happen to you again," Neoma promised Lewis. "I will protect you better this time, Lewis."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "WAKE UP, you useless thing."

    When Curtis opened his eyes, he found himself back in the strange rose garden that he had been to earlier.

    Ah.

    He forgot about that ce and the god that he met when he gained consciousness a while ago. But now that he was awake, he remembered everything once again.

    "It seems like you remember everything now," the God of Wrath, seated on the throne engulfed in a pure white me, saidzily. "It''s time that you do what I asked you to do in order to make the little de Moonasterio lose sanity."

    He didn''t know how he would benefit from the god''s angry.

    But it wasn''t like he had the power to defy the God of Wrath.

    "I understand, my lord," Curtis said, then he bowed and closed his eyes. "I will follow your order."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA was surprised when all of a sudden, Lewis grabbed her shoulders and gently pulled her away from him. "What''s wrong?"

    "Princess Neoma, your c-chest is p-pressing against m-mine," Lewis, whose face was red again, said in a shy voice. He couldn''t even look at her straight in the eye. "Y-Yours are s-soft¡­"

    Ah, right.

    She almost forgot that her breasts were bigger in her adult form. You see, even her body was gorgeous. She had curves in all the right ces.

    [I understand why an innocent boy like Lewis will get flustered.]

    But the fact that her son was acting this way¡­

    "Lewis, I''m your mother."

    "No, you''re not my mother and I''m not your son," Lewis said, looking at her straight in the eye this time. "You''re a woman and I''m a man, Princess Neoma."

    She didn''t want to admit this but that deration made her heart flutter. "You''re right," she said, acting nonchnt to hide the fact that her damned heartbeat was erratic at the moment. "Right now, we have the appearance of a grown man and woman."

    Her son scowled, obviously not pleased with what she said.

    Thankfully, a chaotic distraction in the form of Lisica and Rustin Crevan came through like a wrecking ball.

    The two adult nine-tailed foxes came into the room while pulling several zombie-like corpses behind them. If her guess was correct, those animated corpses were tied with a rope made from Lisica''s energy.

    And if she remembered it correctly, those were the red foxes that the dude called Prism were controlling earlier.

    She didn''t see Prism anymore, but she didn''t bother asking where the bastard was. If he wasn''t there, then it only meant that he was already dead.

    "Princess Neoma, what should we do with these corpses?" Lisica asked in a whiny tone. "No matter how many times we kill them, they juste back to life."

    "And if we cut their body parts into pieces, they turn into stone," Rustin added. "Then, the stone woulde together, and before we know it, their back to their original form. It seems like we need to find the source of their strange regenerative ability."

    She wasn''t surprised when she heard that from Lisica and Rustin Crevan.

    Mr. Eight, the Grim Reaper that she met earlier, already told her that it was exactly the reason why he couldn''t gather the souls of the dead red foxes. Thus, Mr. Eight asked her to bring the souls to her. Thankfully, the Grim Reaper was generous enough to give her a tip.

    ording to Mr. Eight, Curtis Smit was the reason why he couldn''t "harvest" the souls of the dead red foxes.

    "Queen Lisica, Lord Rustin, please wait here and keep an eye on those zombies," Neoma said seriously, then she turned to Lewis whose face was still red. [Aigoo¡­] "Let''s go and find Curtis Smit, Lewis."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "MY QUEEN, did you notice it?" Rustin asked Queen Lisica while looking at the spot where Princess Neoma and Lewis disappeared to. "We didn''t feel Princess Neoma''s presence and Mana even though her divine energy is overflowing."

    "Yeah, I noticed that she unconsciously erased her presence," Queen Lisica said while nodding her head. "I wonder if Princess Neoma knows what it means when strong beings like us no longer feel the presence of another strong person?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "THE "CROWN PRINCE" was here."

    Nichole scowled and red at Dominic Zavaroni. "Why are you following me?"

    "I didn''t follow you, Princess Nichole," Dominic said in a delighted voice. His face was so bright and his smile so child-like that if other people saw him, they wouldn''t take him seriously as the only saint of the continent. "Like you, I''m simply following the traces of the "Crown Prince''s" divine energy."

    She let out a frustrated sigh.

    [Well, I''m d that Dominic has the sense to not mention Princess Neoma''s name. The crows are here, so we have to be careful.]

    "We met again, Princess Nichole."

    She felt a shiver down her spine when she heard the familiar voice.

    When she looked up at the roofless sky, she confirmed her bad feeling. Floating above them was indeed Curtis Smit¨C the crow bastard that abducted and tortured her many years ago.

    "Curstis Smit," she said in clenched teeth. "I''m d that you didn''t make me look for you," she said while gathering her dark and divine energy in her hands. Yes, she could use both. "I hope you''re ready to die now."

    "I won''t be fighting you, Princess Nichole," Curtis Smit said whileughing, then he opened his arms wide. "I''m here to introduce you to your children, Your Royal Highness."

    She froze when she heard those horrible words.

    [My children¡­?]

    And just like that, her awful memories of the time that she was locked up in the Crow''s Mansion flooded her system.

    Against her will, her body trembled in fear.

    "Children...?" Dominic asked weakly while looking up at Curtis Smit with a shocked look on his face. "Don''t tell me..."

    "Ah, you didn''t know, Your Holiness?" Curtis Smit asked the saint mockingly. "Princess Nichole gave birth to several beasts courtesy of my experiment." The bastard crow pped his hands. "Just like these two."

    And then, two abominations appeared on either side of Curtis Smit.

    Nichole felt her stomach turn upside down when she saw that those creatures had the body of an eagle and the head of a man.

    The head of the disgusting creatures had white hair, ash-gray eyes, and pale skin.

    "Mother," the two abominations said at the same time while looking at her.

    Nichole screamed in anger, her dark and divine energy bursting out of her body uncontrobly. "I''m not your mother!"

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA heard and saw everything.

    When she came back to the room where she left Curtis Smit, she was surprised to see Princess Nichole and Saint Zavaroni. She was about to call the two when all of a sudden, Curtis Smit appeared.

    And she heard all the disgusting things that the Crow Executive said.

    She also saw the abominations that Curtis Smit introduced as Princess Nichole''s "children."

    When the realization hit her, she felt like she was gutted.

    [That means when Princess Nichole was kidnapped by the crows, she was...]

    Did her Papa Boss know what exactly happened to her aunt?

    [Does my father know what the crows do to female de Moonasterios? If he and the other de Moonasterios know, howe the cult is still alive until now?]

    Did it also mean that all the other female de Moonasterios suffered the same way?

    And the male de Moonasterios let it happen just because the crows help them ascend the throne?

    Hah.

    [I feel like going crazy...]

    She felt it at that moment.

    Something inside her broke.

    And it was her mind.

    "Your Royal Highness?" Lewis asked worriedly. "Are you okay...?"

    "No, I''m not okay," Neoma said, then she turned to Lewis with a smile. And yet, her tears wouldn''t stop falling. "Lewis, don''t stop me."

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

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 Chapter 249 - BETRAYING GOD

    NIKOLAI clicked his tongue when he saw Raven soaring in the night sky.

    It was a ck Phoenix, and it was Nichole''s Soul Beast. The fact that his twin sister summoned Raven wasn''t unusual. But the fact that the Soul Beast was out of control made him worry.

    [If Raven is acting that way, then that means Nichole is currently unstable.]

    And it wasn''t only his twin sister that was unstable.

    After Raven soared in the sky, another explosion lit up the sky. This time, Neoma''s Red Dragon emerged while breathing fire at something or someone below. By the looks of it, he could tell that his daughter was also out of control.

    [Neoma¡­]

    "Your Majesty, I''m sorry but I need to go ahead," Trevor said and when he turned to him, the demon boy''s body had already turned translucent. "Princess Neoma needs me right now."

    "Don''t be too arrogant, demon boy," Niki warned Trevor. "Neoma doesn''t need a demon like you."

    Trevor just smirked, then he disappearedpletely.

    [Tsk.]

    He red at the former Emperor Arche de Moonasterio who finallynded on his feet. It was a good thing since he didn''t like looking up at his ancestor. He was used to looking down at other people and not the other way around.

    "Even if you re at me, I still won''t let you pass through the barrier I created," Arche de Moonasterio said, then he crossed his arms over his chest. "Your presence isn''t needed here, Niki de Moonasterio. Trevor is more than enough to protect Princess Neoma."

    "And who are you to decide that?" he asked, annoyed that his ancestor deemed Trevor to be worthy of his daughter. "I''m Neoma''s father."

    "Just because a man''s sperm helped conceive a child doesn''t make him a father," his ancestor reminded him sternly. "Your part as one of the children''s parents doesn''t end in donating your sperm to conceive them, Niki de Moonasterio."

    He clenched his hands tight until his nails dug deep into his skin.

    "Of course, I''ve heard that your rtionship with Princess Neoma and Prince Nero has improved recently," the previous emperor said. "But do you really think that you finally earned the right to be called their father? Especially by Princess Neoma that you''ve neglected for long."

    "I don''t think you have the right to lecture me about being a father," he scoffed at his ancestor. "Didn''t your ten-year-old son lead the coup that ousted you?"

    Yeah, the previous emperor was that ipetent to be overthrown by a child.

    His ancestor just ignored his taunting. "You''re still not going through me, my poor descendant."

    "I don''t need your permission," Niki snapped while pulling his sword, Calypso, out of the sheath. "I''ll break the barrier and get through, Arche de Moonasterio."

    Arche de Moonasterio confidently opened his arms. "Be my guest, Niki de Moonasterio."

    <strong>***</strong>

    IT WAS one beast per month.

    Nichole, no matter how much she tried to forget, could still remember the ten long months of suffering in the hands of the Crow. Specifically, in the hands of Curtis Smit. That bastard was the one in charge of breeding her with different "rare" beasts.

    Apparently, the womb of a female de Moonasterio was the only womb in the world that could give life to the children of ancient beasts. She found out back then that the cult had been collecting beasts, both old and new, for the purpose of creating half beast-half human experiments.

    Curtis Smit would forcefully insert frozen sperms of various beasts inside her body.

    Instead of nine months like a normal pregnant woman, she would carry the "child" in her womb for only neen days. Of course, every time she would get pregnant, she would do everything in her remaining power to kill the beast that she was carrying. She even tried killing herself every chance that she would get.

    Unfortunately, Curtis Smit and his despicable team would always revive her and save the "children" in her womb.

    She went through that horror for ten awful months before getting rescued by the former Commander Gavin Quinzel and the other Pdins. But to be honest, during that time, she just wished she''d die.

    Why would she want to live after giving birth to abominations every month that she was held captive by the cult?

    But maybe she had one reason to live even if it meant grabbing the Devil''s hand¡­

    "Nichole¡­"

    Nichole turned to her side, the fury in her chest lessened as soon as she saw Dominic Zavaroni crying silently. She didn''t have to ask. It was obvious that those tears were for her. In the whole empire, the only thing that she wouldn''t doubt was Dominic''s feelings. "It''s not that I didn''t want you to know what really happened to me, Dominic," she said softly, a lump forming in her throat. "They forbid me from telling you. Every single day after I was rescued, they never failed to remind me that I was filthy for giving birth to abominations created by the cult." Her voice cracked as her tears silently fall. "They made me feel like it was my fault that it happened to me, Dominic. I didn''t want to believe them because I know that it wasn''t my fault. But I was alone during that time. Eventually, hearing the same words over and over again was enough to break my spirit. I believed them until I didn''t have the courage to face you anymore."

    Dominic closed his eyes, his tears falling like silent waterfalls on his face. "I''m sorry I wasn''t there for you back then, Nichole."

    She shook her head. "If there''s one person that I wouldn''t me for anything that happened to me, it would only be you, Dominic."

    The saint wasn''t present from the time that she was abducted by the cult.

    Unfortunately, it happened when Dominic entered a deep slumber to receive Yule''s Divine Power. The saint woke up three months after she was rescued. During that time, the people in the pce who knew what happened to her were already bribed and ordered to keep their mouths shut. Moreover, nobody spoke of her abuse.

    And worst of all, her spirit was too broken back then to speak of what happened to her.

    Thus, Dominic only found out the truth tonight.

    To be honest, she didn''t want him to know not because she was afraid of what he might think of her. She didn''t want him to know because she didn''t want him to me himself like what he was doing now.

    "Nichole," he said her name as soft and as gentle as ever, then he opened his eyes to look at her straight in the eye. Ah, his light blue eyes were currently aze with fury. "Who are they? Who are those people who hurt you with such cruel words?"

    "The Royal Family," she said with a bitter smile on her face. She had kept her pain hidden from Dominic for far too long. Now that he knew the truth, she wanted him to hear everything straight from her mouth this time. "The Royal Family and the doctor that I used to trust."

    She wasn''t sure if Niki knew.

    Maybe her twin brother knew but didn''t care enough tofort her during that time. At this point, it didn''t matter anymore whether Niki knew or not.

    Because in the end, her twin brother didn''t do anything for her.

    "I have done nothing for you in the past, Nichole," Dominic said in a voice filled with anger. "If I had known the truth earlier, if I had found out that you were alive all this time¡­"

    "What?" she challenged, her heart beating fast and hard against her chest. "What could the only saint of the continent do for the woman who''s now used by the Devil as his extension, Dominic?"

    He smiled sadly at her, then he began to walk towards her slowly and carefully. "I would have turned my back on my religion earlier."

    She gasped when she heard that. "Dominic!"

    He stood in front of her, his glowing light blue eyes fixed on her face. "I could no longer serve the god that allowed the only woman I loved to go through that pain¨C"

    She covered his mouth with her hands. "Stop. You''re speaking sphemy, Dominic," she reminded him sternly. "Don''t ruin your life for me. Even if you betray Yule now, my past wouldn''t change."

    He gently peeled her hand off of his mouth, then he gently held it in his warm and big hands. "I don''t care about your past, Nichole," he said softly. "And this time, I won''t let you go."

    "What do you mean by that, Dominic?"

    "Please take me with you," he pleaded, then he put her hand on his cheek while looking at her with begging eyes. "I''ll follow you even to hell, Nichole."

    To say that she was shocked to hear that would be an understatement.

    After all, Dominic had turned her down in the past because he chose his religion over her. He chose to serve Yule instead of being her man. Thus, she had never expected this development.

    "Dominic, are you saying that you''re going to betray your god for me?" she asked in a cracked voice. This time, she couldn''t help but sob hard. "If you betray Yule, you''d be the worst enemy of the empire as well."

    "I should have betrayed the empire as soon as I lost you," he said in a cracked voice. "All my life, I''ve served my god and the empire the best way I could. But what did they do for me?" He gently caressed her face with his other hand. "They ruined you."

    She almost choked on her tears.

    Should she really allow Dominic to ruin his life just for her?

    The reason why she didn''t let him know that she was alive was because she wanted to protect his peace. When she allowed the darkness to swallow her, she knew that she no longer had the right to stand beside Dominic. After all, a saint like him belonged to the light.

    [I can''t be selfish¡­]

    She tried to pull her hand away from Dominic''s face, but he didn''t let her shake him off.

    Then, without breaking their eye contact, he raised his free hand and created a divine ball of energy. It was big and strong enough to instantly kill the two winged creatures that imed to be her "children."

    As soon as those abominations turned into nothing but dust, Dominic coughed blood.

    She could only cry harder because the fact that he killed "innocent" beings could no longer be undone. Worst of all, killing beings without a "valid" reason was considered a betrayal of his vow as a saint.

    In short, by doing that, Dominic already betrayed Yule.

    Since he was the saint, betraying the Moon God would surelye with a great price. The fact that Dominic coughed blood just now was enough to let her know that his life was now in danger after his betrayal.

    But there wasn''t an ounce of regret on his face.

    [This fool...]

    "Now I have nowhere to go," Dominic said in an obviously fake sad voice. Despite what he said, he was still smiling. And he looked so happy with the freedom that he created himself. "Nichole, let me be damned with you."

    Ah, she thought she was already strong enough to be alone.

    [But maybe being strong doesn''t mean I won''t get lonely anymore. Maybe craving for someone else''s touch isn''t a sign of weakness. Maybe, just maybe, I''m allowed to be happy despite the things that I have done to survive.]

    Nicholeughed softly while crying, then she buried her face against his chest. Ah, why was she hesitating in the first ce? She needed Dominic, and she didn''t want to be alone anymore. "To hell with everyone."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 250 - ILL GIVE YOU HELL

    "RUFUS, let''s stop now."

    Rufus, lying on the ground while bleeding, could only re at Gavin Quinzel¨C his supposed to be dead older brother. "You''re saying that after you broke my legs and created a hole in my stomach?"

    His older brother also "folded" his shadow so he couldn''t use it to fight anymore. Worst of all, he no longer had the energy and the Mana to summon his Shadow Beasts. This may sound like an excuse but he lost because he let his guard down at the beginning of the fight.

    As foolish as it was, he didn''t use his full power when the fight started because he hesitated to fight Gavin. And that was his biggest mistake. Although his older brother wasn''t as strong as he used to be, he was still the formermander of the White Lion Knights.

    [That means Brother Gavin overwhelmed me with his battle experience.]

    "I didn''t hit your vital organs and I''m sure you can stop the bleeding using the technique of our family. You won''t die, Rufus," Gavin, squatting down beside him while looking at him with a worried look on his face, assured him. "But I admit that I feel bad for breaking your legs. Still, I needed to do that to stop you from chasing me." His older brother gently patted his head. "I''m sorry for hurting you, baby brother."

    "I''m no longer a "baby,"" heined. "And you''re just a few years older than me."

    "It doesn''t matter. Even if you turn a century old, you''d still be my baby brother."

    He just rolled his eyes at what his older brother said.

    [No, I can''t be swayed.]

    "Brother Gavin, have you lost your mind?" he asked in frustration. "Why are you fighting His Majesty? I didn''t believe the rumors about you and Lady Roseheart in the past. But now, I''m starting to believe it. Did you really fall for Lady Roseheart?"

    "What if I did?"

    "Then I pity you."

    "Why would you pity me?"

    "Because I know for a fact that Lady Roseheart didn''t love you romantically," he said bluntly. "And even if she did, I''m sure she wasn''t able to love you as much as she loved His Majesty."

    "Rufus, don''t make me break your arms," his older brother warned lightly. "Even though I''m fond of you, I wouldn''t let you insult me. I didn''t raise you to be a rude bastard."

    "Even if you break all the bones in my body, my words still stand true," he insisted. "Brother, what happened to you? Why are you fighting His Majesty for Princess Neoma?"

    "Neoma is my daughter, Rufus."

    "Her Royal Highness isn''t your daughter, Brother," he said sternly. Now he couldn''t help but wonder if his older brother lost his mind in exchange ofing back to life. Was Gavin being manipted? "Princess Neoma has all the physical traits unique to the de Moonasterios. Moreover, her divine energy alone is already an irrefutable proof of her identity."

    "Rufus, you already have a wife and a daughter and yet, you remain na?ve," his older brother said while shaking his head. "But I understand. You don''t understand my point because I''m not telling you anything. Maybe that''s for the best."

    "Brother¨C"

    He stopped talking when all of a sudden, a powerful yet out of control ck Phoenix soared in the sky angrily.

    [Ah, that''s Princess Nichole''s Soul Beast.]

    The sky was once disturbed when the emergence of the ck Phoenix was followed by the appearance of the Red Dragon. All of a sudden, the night sky was lit up when the dragon breathed fire. Just like the ck Phoenix, the Red Dragon was also out of control.

    [That Red Dragon is Princess Neoma''s Soul Beast¡­]

    Now he was very worried about Her Royal Highness.

    "I need to go now, Rufus."

    "Brother¨C"

    "I will not ruin your daughter''s future," his older brother said. "You''re now the head of the family, and your daughter is the current sessor of House Quinzel. My niece deserves to inherit the Unholy Shadow Beasts. Thus, I won''t summon them anymore."

    "How can you fight His Majesty without the Four Unholy Beasts, Brother?"

    "You don''t have to worry about that, Rufus," he said while gently patting his head. "I''m a Swordmaster first before a Shadow Master."

    "Why don''t you just return to our family, Brother?" he begged. "I''ll beg His Majesty if I have to. Just don''t do this."

    "Rufus, are you going to side with His Majesty even if you already know that I''m alive?"

    "Brother, I almost lost my daughter," he said softly, his chest heavy because of the things that he was about to say to his older brother. "I don''t want to experience that again. So even if it breaks my heart to turn my back on you, I will do it if it means protecting Amber and Hanna." He paused before he continued. "Moreover, I believe that you do not have the right to steal Princess Neoma from His Majesty."

    "You''re really the righteous one, Rufus," his older brother said with a genuine smile on his face. "I''m proud of you. House Quinzel is in good hands."

    "Stop this madness, Brother," Rufus begged his older brother again in a cracked voice while clutching at his cor in an attempt to physically restrain him. He knew that it was useless. Still, he wanted to cling to Gavin as much as he could. "I don''t want to lose you again."

    "I will always be here for you and our family, Rufus," Gavin said, hugging him as his hand reached for the back of his neck. "But for now, you have to sleep and let me go."

    ***

    "A MERE woman like you does not have the right to enter the Throne Room!"

    "But even if you''re a mere woman, you should at least know that wielding the Death Scythe is an unforgivable act of sphemy!"

    "As if having Roseheart Blood isn''t enough, you just have to join hands with the Devil!"

    "What a disgrace!"

    "The bloodline of the Royal Family is now destined to be doomed because of an insolent child like you!"

    "Will you fucking stop your bbering?" Neoma snapped at the thirteen white shadows standing in front of the Throne Room, obviously stopping her from entering the said room. "I feel like my skull is about to split into two. If I be as dumb as y''all, I''m going to lock up your Spirits in hell."

    The Spirits seemed to be shocked by her threat.

    At least, those noisy ancient beings finally shut up.

    [Let''s count¡­ yeah, there are thirteen Spirits here. Since they still have divine energy despite being dead, I guess it''s safe to assume that they are the previous emperors.]

    Argh.

    Well, at least only half of the group was noisy. The remaining half was quiet. She could feel that the "quiet team" was observing her though.

    Anyway¡­

    [It looks like I''m in a ce that resembles Papa Boss''s Pce.]

    Yes, the ce that she was currently in looked exactly like Yule Pce. The only difference was the whole ce was currently burning. But seeing that there was no one else there aside from her and the noisy Spirits, she could say that she was in the Spirit World.

    [Gosh. My ancestors are probably obsessed with the pce that they created a replica for their resting ce. Good thing ''Dark Tteokbokki'' is burning this whole ce down.]

    ''Dark Tteokbokki'' would be Crimson, the so-called God of Wrath. She didn''t want to call him by his ugly name given by Yule. Thus, she decided to call him ''Dark Tteokbokki'' instead. Whatever anyone says, she still believed that her naming sense was better than Yule''s.

    "If you have nothing more to say, I''m leaving," she said, shocking her annoying ancestors once again. "I already told you that I have no interest in the throne. Why do y''all look like a shocked P*kachu meme now?"

    Of course, her ancestors didn''t get her reference.

    She was about to leave when one of the quiet ones literally blocked her way.

    "Where are you going, child?" the Spirit asked in a calm and gentle voice. "For someone who''s going through Lunacy, you''re quite calm."

    "Really?" she asked with a bitter smirk. "Do I look calm to you right now, sir?"

    The white shadow in front of her was nothing but a silhouette of a tall and well-built man. And yet, she could sense his eyes linger on her face.

    "No, you don''t look calm. I apologize," her ancestor said after a few seconds of silence. "Now that I''ve taken a second look at your face, I can tell that you''ve really lost your mind."

    "Yes, that seems to be the case, sir," she said while nodding her head. She was being polite to this particr Spirit because it was treating her with respect as well. It didn''t sprout nonsense at her unlike what the others did earlier. "The fact that I''ve decided tomit mass murder could only be caused by insanity, right?"

    Yeah, she must have really lost her mind.

    She knew that she was abusing her power. But to be honest, after everything that she had learned from the camp and the tragedy of her Aunt Nichole, she didn''t give a fact anymore. She''d ce the justice in her hands this time even if it meant turning into a monster.

    "I''ve always believed that I''m the main character of the world," she said, her bitter smile turning into a sad one this time. "And I still do. But I guess the plotline has changed. Maybe I returned to this world not to fix anything." Her grip around the scythe''s holder tightened. "Perhaps, I''ve been brought back to this timeline to destroy everything."

    She wasn''t a fool to think that the de Moonasterios were good people.

    But she also didn''t think that the Royal Family could be this bad.

    She thought the only enemies that she had were the crows. But now, she finally realized that her real enemies were the ones that allowed women like her Aunt Nichole to go through something so horrible.

    Her heart was currently filled with pain because of the thought that her Papa Boss was one of the people that ignored her Aunt Nichole''s sufferings. It was a shame because she thought she was getting closer to her father. She thought the cold and cruel emperor had finally be a decent person.

    [But now, I only feel hatred and disgust whenever I think of Papa Boss.]

    "Child, do you know what happens when a de Moonasterio goes through the Trial called Lunacy?"

    "I''m not sure but judging by its name, it''s probably a process that will make a de Moonasterio lose their life if they failed?"

    "Allow me to exin what Lunacy is," the polite Spirit said. "The blood that the de Moonasterios inherited from Lord Yule isced with Madness."

    She clicked her tongue in annoyance. "I knew the problem of our damned family began with that dude''s blood."

    Her ancestor was probably shocked by what she said, then heughed softly. "You remind me of my adorable twin sister, child."

    "If I remind you of your twin sister, then she must have been really adorable," she said while nodding. [But it''s rare for a male de Moonasterio to care about his twin sister. This polite sir reminds me of Nero.]

    "Indeed, that is true," the polite Spirit said, then he went back to what he was saying earlier. "Child, this disease called ''Madness'' runs in our blood. If you don''t control it, you''re really going to lose your mind and die. But if you ovee the Madness, then you''ll gain stronger divine power." He paused before he continued. "If you seed, you''d be the youngest de Moonasterio in history to pass Lunacy."

    She fell silent for a while. "Sir, I''m only asking this because I want my hunch to be confirmed. But did Papa Boss really pass Lunacy? He acts like a mad man most of the time, you know?"

    "Niki de Moonasterio had ovee Lunacy sessfully," her ancestor said. "He used the power that he gained back then to kill his enemies. It was also the same power that he used to kill his father and ascend the throne by force."

    "Do you have to do something big after oveing Lunacy?"

    "A Lunacy urs to a de Moonasterio when that person needs more power to do something that will change the world that they live in," her ancestor exined. "Child, you''re experiencing Lunacy right now because you need power to do what you have decided to do."

    Ah, so that was how it was.

    No wonder she wasn''t acting like her usual self these days. She thought Crimson was messing with her emotions to make her angry. But now, she understood everything.

    "Thank you for exining everything to me, sir," she said, then she bowed. "My mind is clearer now."

    "I know that you''ve already noticed but this ce is the replica of the Royal Pce," the kind Spirit said. "Your Mana is currently burning the whole pce down. But I can at least bring you in a ce that you''ll be safe from your own power. It seems like you don''t need the Throne Room. Is there another ce where you''d feelfortable? I will protect it for you."

    She could only think of one ce in the pce that could serve as her safe haven.

    "The Royal Kitchen," she said softly. She knew that Ruto couldn''t be there. But for some reason, she knew she''d be safe in his kitchen even though this ce was nothing but a replica of the pce where the Spirits of her ancestors were currently resting. "Please bring me to the Royal Kitchen, sir."

    "As you wish, child."

    "Ah, may I know your name, sir?"

    As she said earlier, the white shadow of her ancestor didn''t have a face. But for some reason, she could tell that it was smiling warmly at her.

    "Arche," the polite Spirit said gently. "My name is Arche de Moonasterio."

    Neoma''s eyes widened in shock. The name ''Arche de Moonasterio'' was still fresh in her mind. Was he supposed to be the so-called most ipetent emperor in history?

    [But the Emperor Arche I just talked to didn''t sound stupid¡­]

    ***

    NEOMA didn''t have the time to confirm if the polite Spirit that she talked to just now was really the ipetent Arche de Moonasterio.

    After all, when she blinked, she was instantly transported into the Royal Kitchen.

    It seemed like that the former emperor kept his promise. The kitchen was warm but it wasn''t burning unlike the ce that she came from.

    [This kitchen is really the exact replica of Ruto''s kitchen¡­]

    For some reason, she felt calm and safe in there.

    [Ruto¡­]

    "Princess Neoma?"

    She flinched and turned around when she heard the deep male voice behind her. This was embarrassing to admit but her stupid heart expected Ruto to be there. But much to her disappointment, it wasn''t the royal chef.

    "Ah, it''s just you," Neoma said gloomily. "What are you doing here, Trevor?"

    Trevor, who was in the middle of taking off the piercings in his bleeding left ear, acted like he was hurt. "It hurts to see the disappointment in your face, Princess Neoma. I thought my face would cheer you up."

    Well, Trevor wasn''t wrong.

    He was in his adult form. Thus, he looked very handsome and very sexy at the moment. He was probably the only man in the empire who still looked good despite the ridiculous amount of piercing in his ears.

    [Stupid handsome male privilege.]

    Bute to think of it, Trevor might just be the right person that she needed.

    "Trevor."

    "Yeah?"

    "Can you help memit mass murder?"

    "Sure."

    Sure?

    Trevor answered her as if she just asked him to join her for snacks. Did she not sound or look serious enough for this talking book to brush her off? Or was he being sarcastic?

    [Sometimes, I can''t read this dude''s mind. He''s so carefree that I''m not sure if I can depend on him or what.]

    She scowled at how easy he responded to her ridiculous request. "I''m serious."

    "I''m serious, too," Trevor said when he was finally done taking off all the piercing in his ear. "Princess Neoma, I know what you need."

    It seemed like the demon boy wasn''t lying.

    [Well, he''s the Devil''s Grimoire. He knows a lot of stuff, and hiswork seems to be pretty vast. I can trust him, right?]

    "What do I need?" she asked, just to be sure.

    "The method to kill everyone that''s involved in the camp," he said with a smirk. "You want to kill them all, don''t you? I can read the darkness in your heart, Princess Neoma."

    "Stop with the cringey words," she scolded him, then she crossed her arms over his chest. "Can you do it?"

    "Of course," he said with confidence that mimicked hers. "Because I''m Trevor, remember?"

    Gosh.

    This talking book was really as arrogant as her. But Trevor wouldn''t be Trevor if he wasn''t this annoying and conceited. She was used to handling someone with the same attitude as her anyway.

    "You''re right. I want to give them hell," she said while nodding her head, ignoring the fact that Trevor was getting on her nerves. This demon boy was still useful to her after all. "What would you ask in return if I asked for your help?"

    "Since I''m a demon, I will ask for a contract," Trevor said, then he smiled charmingly at her. "I''m going to ask you to sign our marriage contract, Princess Neoma."

    Hah.

    Neoma cracked her knuckles. "Clench your teeth, bitch."

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

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 Chapter 251 - CONTRACT WITH THE DEVIL

    NEOMA was serious about punching the living daylights out of Trevor for proposing marriage to her in that situation.

    But she froze in her tracks when all of a sudden, she saw a very disturbing being wrapped around the demon boy''s shoulders. As much as possible, she didn''t want to judge beings based on their appearance. But this time, she really felt revolted.

    [Just¡­ what is that thing?]

    That ''thing'' had a face of an old and bald man but the body of a centipede. But the centipede''s little legs were actually little human legs. In fact, those things looked like baby legs. It was creepy because it had the face of an old man, and yet, the legs belonged to toddlers.

    And that centipede body¡­

    [I want to puke.]

    "Can you see it now, Princess Neoma?" Trevor asked with shining eyes. "Can you finally see the monster behind me?"

    Neoma nodded while trying to maintain her facial expression. "Yeah, I can see it now. What is that, Trevor?"

    "A Bookworm."

    "A what?"

    "A literal Bookworm," he exined casually, then he pointed a thumb at the "bookworm" wrapped around him. "This little one is my source of knowledge. Technically speaking, this Bookworm is the real Devil''s Grimoire. It needs a human host to protect the vast knowledge that it contains and thus, my family sacrificed me for that reason."

    She already had a feeling that Trevor was sacrificed by his family because of his slip of the tongue before. But this was the first time that he confirmed it himself. "But why you? If you tell me it''s because you''re Trevor, I will seriously punch you in the throat."

    Of course, the demon boy justughed at her threat. "House Kesser is a family of contractors. The firstborn son is meant to inherit the head''s title, while the second son is meant to be sacrificed to the Devil."

    Obviously, Trevor was the second son.

    In a way, she could rte to the demon boy. After all, she was the Second Star. Nero, as the First Star, was born to inherit the throne. She, on the other hand, was supposed to support her twin brother.

    "I guess the firstborn son of your family was ipetent," she said in an attempt to console Trevor. "After all, House Kesser doesn''t exist in the empire anymore. While you, on the other hand, remain fresh, handsome, and sexy." She gave him a thumbs up. "You won, Trevor."

    Once again, heughed to his heart''s content. "Are you seducing me now, Princess Neoma?"

    "As a fellow second child, I''m merelyforting you. But it''s not my fault if my face is unintentionally seducing you. This is the fate of the conventionally beautiful ones."

    He smiled warmly at her. "Thank you, Princess Neoma."

    "Just to be clear, I know that being sacrificed by your family sucks," she said carefully. "I''m not trying to invalidate the misery and sufferings that you went through. I just want to throw shade at your family as my own of avenging you a little."

    The demon boy clutched his chest tight. "I think I just fell in love with you all over again, my Moon Princess."

    "I already told you to stop calling me Moon Princess," sheined. "I will only officially allow you to call me by that cheesy pet name after you helped me."

    "Sounds good to me," he said casually. "What''s exactly your n, Princess Neoma?"

    "I met a Grim Reaper called Mr. Eight a while ago."

    "Mr. Eight?" he asked, then he snapped his fingers. "Ah, the one guarding the 8th Hellgate?"

    She nodded thoughtfully. "Actually, he asked me to bring him the souls of the red foxes that already died a long time ago. But Curtis Smit somehow found a way to turn those poor red foxes into something akin to zombies. I forgot to ask him how to do that though. Thus, I was supposed to beat up Curtis Smit to find a way to summon the souls of the red foxes in one ce."

    "Guiding the souls of those red foxes to the 8th Hellgate is easy because you have the replica of Death Scythe," the demon boy exined. "Even though the Death Scythe in your hand has only a portion of the real one, it still works as any scythe used by the Grim Reapers. After all, I was the one who made that replica."

    She rolled her eyes at Trevor''s arrogant voice. "So, how am I supposed to use the Death Scythe to guide the souls of the red foxes to the 8th Hellgate? I made a deal with Mr. Eight to borrow Lisica and Rustin Crevan from his Hellgate so I have to do this job, too."

    "You just have to behead the souls of the red foxes using the Death Scythe," he said. "The sinners like them are guided quite harshlypared to the souls of the innocents."

    "Oh."

    "If you gather the souls in one ce, you can behead them all at the same time," he continued with his exnation. "Most veteran Grim Reapers could do that in one sh of their scythes. But since you''re a novice, you can begin by beheading the souls one by one."

    "I want to try doing it one sh."

    "By all means, Princess Neoma."

    "Okay," she said, then she went straight to what she wanted to say for bringing that up. Of course, there was a reason why she talked about her deal Mr. Eight first before discussing her n with Trevor. "Can I also do that to living people?"

    "What?" Trevor asked with a raised brow. "Sending them to the Hellgate using the Death Scythe?"

    She nodded, d that the demon boy was this sharp. "Yes."

    "That technique is called ''Banishing,''" he said. "That''s one of the Devil''s infamous techniques. He can send the souls of living people to hell with the Death Scythe."

    "That''s so OP," she said, surprised at how powerful the Devil must be. "No wonder the Devil still exists even now."

    "I think if it''s you, you can easily copy his technique since you have an affinity with the Demon Race," he exined. "But Princess Neoma, where do you n to bring the souls of the people you will kill in the camp? Banishing only works if you have a specific ce where you''d lock up the souls that you sent away."

    She tilted her head at one side. "Can''t I send them to Mr. Eight''s Hellgate?"

    "Of course, you can''t," he said while shaking his head. "The 8th Hellgate is specifically created for the sinners with fox blood. Only the races like the Silver Fox and Red Fox n could be sent to the 8th Hellgate. That applies to the other Hellgates existing."

    "So, only a specific race is allowed in each Hellgate?"

    "That''s correct."

    "Then, is it possible for me to create my own Hellgate?"

    It seemed like Trevor wasn''t surprised by what she said. Instead, he just smirked and shook his head. "Princess Neoma, you never disappoint me."

    "Well, you''re kinda easy to please."

    He justughed merrily again. Then, he suddenly turned serious. "Do you know why the Devil and the Demon Race have been hated by the gods, Princess Neoma?"

    "Isn''t it because the gods are supposed to be the good people while the demons the bad guys?"

    "The reason the Devil and the Demon Race are deemed as the "bad guys" is because of their purpose," Trevor said seriously. "The Devil has the ability to create Hellgates where he could punish and torture the souls of the sinners. Do you know what race has the biggest numbers of sinners sent to hell?"

    "Definitely the human race."

    She was born human in both of her past two lives. But she wasn''t delusional to think that the human race was better than the others. Heck, the humans in her second life were killing the earth.

    "That''s correct¨C it''s the human race," the demon boy said while pping his head. "You won''t believe this but most gods are fond of humans. And because of their love for your race, the Devil and the Demon Race earned the wrath of these gods for torturing the "poor" souls of humans in the afterlife."

    She rolled her eyes when she heard that.

    "Do you understand what I''m trying to say, Princess Neoma?" Trevor asked seriously. "You will gain the wrath of the gods if you open a new Hellgate. The Divine n sealed the power of the Devil to create Hellgates a long time ago. But if you, a de Moonasterio who inherited Yule''s blood and divine power, opened a Hellgate, the gods would definitely be fuming at you."

    "I don''t give a fuck," she said with clenched hands. "Trevor, don''t worry about the gods'' wrath. You should worry more about my anger."

    He smiled, amused. "Princess Neoma, opening a Hellgate will require a contract with the Devil since he''s the one who oversees the gates in hell."

    "Would that be difficult?" she asked warily. "You''re afraid of the Devil, aren''t you?"

    "I''m not afraid of him."

    "Really now?"

    "Well, I''m not necessarily afraid of the Devil," he confessed while scratching his cheek. "I''m just afraid that he might lock me up again."

    "I don''t think he''ll lock you up if you''re going to help me."

    "You have a point," he said while nodding. "I will contact the Devil as soon as you''re ready."

    "Are you not going to stop me?"

    "Stop you frommitting mass murder?"

    "Yes, it''s wrong," she said. "Killing people without due process."

    "I would stop if you''re going to kill innocent people," he said without missing a beat. "But the people that you want to kill in this camp can no longer be considered humans. Murder, r*pe, child abuse, and human experiment. Those are only four of the horrendous crimes that they havemitted. You''ll be doing the world a huge favor if you get rid of those bastards."

    "That''s what I''m worried about, Trevor," she said. "I know that the camp is filled with bastards. But I''m pretty sure that not all of them are that bad. Some may have only been forced to work here and might be secretly kind and helpful to the victims here. Of course, they still deserve to be punished. But I don''t want to kill them if possible."

    "You''re too soft, Princess Neoma."

    "I just don''t want to lose to the voice in my head that keeps on telling me to kill everyone."

    "I want to hug you right now."

    "Fuck off."

    Heughed again, but he turned serious right away. "I can separate the souls of the sinners based on the gravity of the crimes that theymitted."

    Her eyes widened in shock. "Really? You can do that?"

    "I''ve worked with the Devil for almost four decades," he reminded her. "I learned a thing or two from him. I haven''t really tried it yet but I''m confident that I can copy his techniques."

    "Where''s your confidenceing from, Trevor?"

    "From this guy," he said while pointing at the creepy "bookworm" that she almost sessfully ignored. "He has records of the Devil''s techniques. I''ve read it countless times already. I know myself so I''m pretty sure that I can imitate it easily."

    She didn''t doubt that.

    After all, Trevor and she were pretty much the same. Their abilities could back up their arrogance. Thus, she knew she could trust this dude.

    "Alright," she said. "I will entrust it to you then."

    He just smiled at her. But that smile seemed worried. It was the first time that she saw that kind of facial expression from him.

    "What?" sheined, suddenly feeling awkward. "Don''t look at me like that."

    "Princess Neoma, even though the Devil is quite fond of you, he still has to abide by the rules of the Underworld," Trevor said carefully. "That means he won''t allow you to open a Hellgate without asking something in return. You''re smart so I''m sure you know that the price you have to pay for forming a contract with the Devil would be big." He put a hand on his chest. "As your Contractor, I will do my best to deal with the Devil so he wouldn''t ask for anything ridiculous from you. But since we''re talking about a Hellgate here, I''m pretty sure that the price would still be hefty."

    "Don''t worry. I''m prepared for that," she said, then she smiled quite sadly at Trevor. "I have chosen to be a monster to punish evil humans and therefore, I know that I deserve to be punished as well."

    "Princess Neoma, I know that I often joke around but I''m serious," the demon said with a gentle smile on his face. Then, he ran his hand through the strands of her long hair. After that, without breaking their eye contact, he leaned down to kiss the strands in his hand. "I''m serious every time I say that I like you."

    "I''m also serious every time I turn you down," she said bluntly. "And stop kissing the strands of my hair. It''s unhygienic."

    He just smirked before letting go of the strands and standing up straight.

    Since she was already used to Trevor''s clinginess and she didn''t feel offended by his actions, she simply let it go and changed the topic. She had something else she needed to ask him anyway.

    "Trevor, you know everything, don''t you?"

    "Everything that is written in the Devil''s Grimoire, yes."

    "Then, do you know what happened to my Aunt Nichole when she was abducted by the cult?"

    "I know because it''s in the records," Trevor said seriously. "But do you really want to know what happened to the Princess Royal back then, Princess Neoma?"

    "I don''t need to know the full details," Neoma said in a sad voice. "I just want to confirm if I heard my Aunt Nichole right earlier."

    <strong>***</strong>

    [PRINCESS Neoma looks calm but she''s definitely losing her mind.]

    Trevor knew that if his Moon Princess was in her right mind, she wouldn''t evene up with the decision tomit mass murder. But it wasn''t like he opposed her idea. He just couldn''t believe that Princess Neoma would end up that crazy.

    [To open a new Hellgate despite the consequences is not something a sane person would even think of doing.]

    "Ah, you''ve returned."

    He got surprised at what greeted him when he arrived at where he left the Devil and His Majesty earlier. The two were still at the foot of Mount Kimbro. But this time, the emperor was knocked out on the ground.

    "What did you do to His Majesty?" Trevor confronted the Devil. "You can''t do that to my future father-inw."

    "Niki de Moonasterio isn''t your father-inw."

    "Yet."

    The Devil ignored him. "Niki de Moonasterio isn''t hurt. He''s asleep, and he''s currently having a good dream."

    He frowned at that.

    Since he worked with the Devil for quite some time, he had an idea of how he worked. The dream that the Devil probably "gave" the emperor was rted to Lady Mona Roseheart. Thus, His Majesty didn''t look like he wanted to wake up.

    [The Devil is still as sly as ever.]

    "How''s Princess Neoma?" the Devil asked. "You wouldn''t approach me on your own ord if it wasn''t for your "Moon Princess.""

    "That''s right," he said. "I''m here as Princess Neoma''s Contractor."

    "What does the little princess want with me?"

    "Don''t be surprised," he warned the Devil in advance. "My lovely Moon Princess wants to open a new Hellgate."

    "Why do you think am I going to get surprised?" the Devil asked. "If Princess Neoma is aiming to be the first empress of the Great Moonasterion Empire, then she should at least do that much to create a change."

    "Uh-huh," he agreed while nodding his head. "Then, is it safe to assume that you''re going to form a contract with Princess Neoma?"

    "I''ve already lost my ability to create Hellgates because of the Divine n''s Holy Seal," the Devil said. "But if it''s you and Princess Neoma, I''m sure that you can do it."

    "Me?"

    "Trevor, I know that you''ve read and studied the records of my techniques," the Devil said with a smirk. "You''re going to teach Princess Neoma how to open a Hellgate, aren''t you?"

    "Well, that''s the n."

    "Very well," the Devil said while nodding his head. "Since opening a new Hellgate will surely shake the Upper World, I will approve it."

    "Of course you will," he said. He knew that the Devil would support Princess Neoma''s decision anyway. But it wasn''t what he was worried about. "What will you ask my Moon Princess in return? If you asked for years of her life, I won''t allow it."

    "Why would I ask for her life when I intend to put her on the throne?"

    "Then, will you ask for the most important person in her life?"

    "Princess Neoma won''t form a contract with me if she''s going to lose a loved one," the Devil said. "I won''t ask for anything heavy from your Moon Princess. If she seeded to open a new Hellgate, that would be enough for me."

    "Really?"

    "You don''t understand what will happen once Princess Neoma seeds," the Devil said with a satisfied smile on his face. "Once a new Hellgate opens, the Upper World will be shaken. The Divine n will be very angry." Heughed softly, his red eyes glowing menacingly. "I bet the sleeping ancient gods who sealed my power will also wake up from their deep slumber."

    "Ah, so you aiming for a pandemonium," he said with a smirk. "Since my Moon Princess will provide you entertainment, I''m hoping you wouldn''t ask for something ridiculous in exchange for approving the Hellgate that we n to open."

    "I wish I didn''t have to ask Princess Neoma for anything. But I wasn''t the one who made the rules about forming a contract with the Devil," the Devil said, then he turned serious. "In return for providing space for Princess Neoma''s Hellgate, I need her to give up her most prized possession."

    Trevor tilted his head at one side. "And what would that be¡­?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA was broken.

    Before Trevor left to meet the Devil, he gave her a piece of old paper. It was the report of what her Aunt Nichole had gone through during the time she was held captive by the cult.

    By the time she was done reading, she found herself kneeling on the floor while crying.

    No woman deserved what happened to her Aunt Nichole. If there was an ounce of doubt in her heart earlier about her decision to kill everyone in the camp, it was gone now. She wasn''t trying to justify her decision because she knew that it was still wrong.

    But maybe sometimes, wrong decisions were a must.

    "Princess Neoma, I''m back."

    She wiped the tears off her face before she raised her head to see Trevor standing in front of her with a scroll in his hand. He looked worried about her.

    "Don''t say anything," Neoma warned the demon boy, then she slowly stood up while using the Death Scythe as a crane. "How did your meeting with the Devil go?"

    "He approved the opening of a new Hellgate," Trevor said. She was d that he understood that she wanted him to ignore her tears. "And he has already decided about the payment for forming a contract with him."

    "What did he ask in return?"

    "Your most prized possession," the demon boy said seriously. "Apparently, it''s something that you always take good care of. And it''s allegedly the source of your pride."

    She was confused at first.

    But then, she realized that the Devil wasn''t asking for a material thing. There were a lot of things that could be considered as a source of her pride. Yet, there was only one thing that she could serve as both her payment and punishment for forming a contract with the Devil.

    She raised her hand and borrowed Tteokbokki''s me.

    Then, she ced her literally burning hand on the right side of her face. Usually, her Soul Beast''s me wouldn''t burn her to the point that it would leave burn marks. But since Bad Tteokbokki didn''t care about her and the bastard was currently out of control, the me that was usually gentle to her was harsh at the moment.

    It only took the red me a few seconds to burn half of her face.

    Of course, it hurt like hell. She wasn''t used to getting hurt by her own me. But she bit her lower lip and swallowed her screams. She chose to endure the pain quietly. It was her choice anyway.

    This was embarrassing to admit but the thought of losing her beauty also scared her. But her fear onlysted for a moment.

    She was willing to give up anything for her goal.

    "Is this enough?" Neoma asked the shocked Trevor while removing her hand from her now burnt face. Then, she touched the strands of her hair and burnt it until the length only reached her ears. "Is this enough payment for the Devil''s contract?"

    Trevor, with a grim expression on his face, nodded and raised the now glowing scroll in his hand. "The Devil has epted your payment, my lovely Princess Neoma."

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 252 - DIVINE PUNISHMENT

    <strong></strong>CURTIS Smit wasn''t supposed to summon the half humans-half eagles that Princess Nichole gave birth to a few years ago.

    After all, the children of the Princess Royal were the result of an important experiment conducted by the cult. But for some reason, something powerful had manipted him to summon the test subjects. The most frustrating part was he couldn''t remember who ordered him to do so. He just knew that he had to or else, he''d be burnt to death.

    But to be honest, in his current situation, it didn''t matter anymore.

    By his "situation," he meant kneeling in front of Princess Nichole and Saint Dominic Zavaroni.

    [Shit. Why is the saint here? Nobody told me that His Holiness would make an appearance!]

    If he could move, he would have already escaped. But none of the borrowed powers that he had could save him. The divine powering out from His Holiness was literally crushing him down. It was greater than the ability to control gravity.

    [I should buy time!]

    "Your Holiness, I thought the temple is on the neutral side?" Curtis said in a mocking tone. If he couldn''t move, he''d try to stall by opening his mouth. He was good at provoking enemies. "You just killed the "children" that didn''t attack you in any way. Are you sure you''ll be fine aftermitting such sphemous act against Lord Yule¨C the god to whom you vowed to never take innocent lives away?"

    Technically, the "children" were innocent since those test subjects had never left the hide-out until now.

    And as far as he knew, the saint took a vow to never kill anyone based on his personal feelings. He saw His Holiness cough blood earlier before he literally pulled him down to the ground. The saint must have been punished for killing the "children" a while ago.

    "Don''t tell me you''re discriminating against the children born between a human and a beast, Your Holiness?" he asked sarcastically, still trying to provoke the saint. "Doesn''t the temple teach its people to love all living beings? As the saint, you''re supposed to be the favored "son" of Lord Yule. Shouldn''t you set a good example to your followers by being merciful?"

    "I killed them out of mercy," Saint Zavaroni said with a smile that matched the coldness in his glowing pale blue eyes. "Children born out of a cruel human experiment and not out of love are destined to be treated as nothing but mere test subjects. By taking their lives, I sent them to the arms of Lord Yule earlier so they wouldn''t have to suffer any longer."

    His jaw clenched in annoyance.

    [I didn''t know that His Holiness could twist my words this way!]

    "You''re talking too much, Curtis Smit," the saint said. "If you think you could get away by buying time, then you''re wrong. Moreover, I''m not the one who''s going to end your life anyway." He turned to Princess Nichole standing quietly beside him. "Princess Nichole, shall I release the sted man?"

    "Yes, please. Raven wouldn''t enjoy the chase if the target cannot move," Princess Nichole said with a cold smile on her face. Then, she looked at him with a grim expression on her face. "There will be hell to pay for everything you did to me, Curtis Smit."

    He felt shivers down his spine.

    This wasn''t the same royal princess that would tremble in fear whenever he woulde to the facility to continue his experiment on her. The woman standing in front of him right now was the devil herself.

    He didn''t want to be overwhelmed by a mere princess and thus, he stood up and ran away as soon as he was able to move.

    But he had only taken a few steps when all of a sudden, the ck Phoenix descended to the ground. The angry Soul Beast blocked his way and opened its mouth as if it was about to breathe fire. He didn''t wait for it to happen though.

    He turned his back on the ck Phoenix to try and summon a teleportation spell. But as soon as he did, he realized that he was surrounded by ck me. He instantly recognized the technique that the Soul Beast used against him.

    [It''s Princess Nichole''s ''Circle of Fire!'']

    When he abducted Princess Nichole in the past, the first thing he did was to seal her Soul Beast in order to prevent the Princess Royal from using that very technique. But right now, it was very obvious to him that he could no longer seal the ck Phoenix.

    [When did Princess Nichole be this strong?]

    "Curtis Smit, you do know what happens once you''re trapped in the Circle of Fire, don''t you?" Princess Nichole asked with a smirk. "As long as you''re inside the ring, you won''t die. I can kill you and revive you just to kill you again." The Royal Princess''s eyes turned glowing red while pulling out a dagger in the sheath tied around her leg. "Let''s have fun, bastard."

    Curtis Smit, for the first time in quite a while, felt real fear again. "Stay away from me, you filthy princess¨C ahh!"

    He wasn''t able to finish his sentence because the next thing he knew, his tongue already fell off on the floor. The only thing he could do was to cover his bleeding mouth with his hands. When he raised his head, he realized that it wasn''t Princess Nichole who attacked him.

    "I won''t allow a lowly human like you to insult Princess Nichole," Saint Zavaroni, now holding the Holy Scepter that he rarely brings out, warned him. The other end of the scepter was actually a sword. And the de of that sword was red with his blood. Obviously, it was His Holiness that cut his tongue off with inhuman speed. "The only thing allowed toe out of your mouth from now on is screams of agony."

    Curtis Smit was shocked by how quickly the benevolent saint changed. [How will I be able to escape from these two monsters?]

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA wouldn''t lie: the burn on half of her face hurt like a bitch.

    It was smoldering and her nose could smell the burning flesh. God, she really did it. She really burned her own face with Tteokbokki''s me. As if that wasn''t bad enough, she also burned her hair to cut it short.

    She didn''t do that because she thought people with burn marks and short hair were ugly. But she chose that way to destroy her beauty because she knew that in this world, a woman with obvious imperfection such as a burn mark on the face was considered ugly. Because in this world, a royal and a noble like her should be physically wless.

    "Princess Neoma, did you really have to burn half of your face?" Trevor asked worriedly. "Couldn''t have you just cut your cheek or something to leave a scar?"

    "A cut on my face, no matter how deep it is, would faint eventually because of the magical skin products that I use," Neoma exined why she didn''t choose to simply cut her face. "Plus, I don''t think a mere scar is enough to make me ugly."

    "Ah, that''s right," he agreed with her. "A scar would only make you look cooler."

    She wanted to smile at that but her face still hurt like hell. So, she just changed the topic. "Do I need to sign the contract with my blood or something?"

    "No, you don''t," Trevor said while opening the scroll. "I''m your Contractor. It''s my job to protect you when forming a contract with the Devil."

    "What''s a Contractor?"

    "Someone that makes a contract with the Devil or a demon for their master," he exined. "You know that you can''t really trust the Devil or the Demon n, don''t you? Those sly bastards would often trick humans by changing the content of the contract. Since most humans can''t understand demonnguage, they easily fall victim to that kind of trick. Thus, Contractors like me exist."

    "I don''t think that''s the only job of a Contractor."

    "That''s usually the job of a Contractor," he said with a shrug. "But I''m an elite Contractor so my job goes beyond making sure that the content of the contract is correct."

    "So, what else do you do that makes you elite?"

    "I serve as coteral," he said proudly. "If something goes wrong with the contract, I''ll be the one to receive the damage and the consequences of a failed deal instead of you."

    She tilted her head at one side. "And what do you get in return?"

    "Your love and affection."

    "I''m serious, Trevor."

    "That''s what I hope to gain by doing this," he said and he seemed serious as well. "Princess Neoma, I won''t gain anything but a threat to my life by being your Contractor."

    "Then, why are you doing this?" she asked, confused. "I didn''t ask you to be my Contractor, Trevor."

    "I was born to be your Contractor, Princess Neoma," Trevor said and he looked dead serious this time. "The second son of House Kesser is born to be sacrificed to the Devil because it''s the only way to be an elite Contractor. Aside from that, the second son of House Kesser is also trained to be a Contractor to serve the Moon Princess. ording to the prophecy that our family has been holding onto for so long, the ''Moon Princess'' is the first woman who''d seed the throne." He pointed at her with his two hands politely. "I believe that it''s you, Princess Neoma."

    She had so many questions but her brain cells were already dying out of exhaustion. Plus, as long as Trevor was useful to her, she couldn''t reallyin. "Why are you only telling me all of this, Trevor?"

    "Well, you never asked."

    "Tell me more about itter," she said because she was finally interested in Trevor''s life story. "For now, I want to check the contract."

    "It''s written in demonnguage," he said while handing her the scroll. "But I guess you were blessed with the Divine Tongue since you''re a de Moonasterio."

    If she remembered it correctly from her first life, the ''Divine Tongue'' was the Royal Family''s ability to speak and understand thenguage of other races. And if she also remembered it right, the onlynguage that the de Moonasterios had difficulties in understanding was thenguage used by the Spirit World.

    [The Divine Tongue only works on thenguages spoken by living people.]

    It was supposed to be that way.

    Thus, she didn''t have any expectations when she began to read the contract. But much to her surprise, she read the content just fine despite the strange letters written on the scroll.

    "I can read it," she said, surprised. Then, she raised her head to look at Trevor who was looking at her with adoration in his eyes. "The contract says that the Devil has given me the permission to open a new Hellgate in exchange of "fixing" my major w."

    Her major w was definitely her extreme vanity. Thus, the Devil asked her to destroy her beautiful face.

    "The contract also states that the Devil does not have the authority to help us open the Hellgate," she said seriously. "And if the gods decide to interfere¡­"

    "The contract will be void if the gods seeded in stopping you from opening a new Hellgate," Trevor said, finishing the content of the contract for her. "And once the contract gets void, the Devil will take my soul as a payment fee for the breach of contract."

    "Because you''re my Contractor?"

    "You''re elite Contractor, Princess Neoma."

    "You''re crazy, Trevor."

    "I have to be at least this crazy if I want to stay beside you, my Moon Princess."

    Well, that was true.

    "I won''t fail, Trevor. I won''t let the Devil take your soul away," Neoma said determinedly. Then, she offered her hand to Trevor for a fist bump. "I will protect the people that serve me."

    "I trust you, Princess Neoma," Trevor said with a grin, then he gently bumped his fist with hers. "Now, please close your eyes for me."

    <strong>***</strong>

    WHEN NEOMA opened her eyes, she found herself in the middle of an old mansion with a garden of sword lilies¨C her favorite flower.

    Oddly enough, she suddenly felt nostalgic.

    It was her first time to arrive in that ce and she was pretty sure that she was somewhere in hell. But for some reason, the mansion felt familiar.

    Rather, the smell of the sword lilies was.

    [Those flowers remind me of Mama¡­]

    "Princess Neoma, please protect me."

    Neoma turned to Trevor.

    The demon boy''s hands were facing what seemed to be the top of a steel and giant gate buried in the dry soil. The ck auraing out of Trevor''s palms was literally pulling the Hellgate from the ground. The veins popping out of his forehead was an indication that doing so wasn''t easy.

    [Trevor seems to be using his full power.]

    God, the talking book was crazy powerful, huh?

    "I''m sorry but I can''t protect you and defend myself while I''m pulling out the Hellgate, Princess Neoma," Trevor said, then he turned to her with an apologetic smile on his face. "Please protect us from them."

    As soon as the demon boy said that, she felt an enormous amount of divine power burst around them.

    [Ah, the hostility mixed in with the divine energy is directed at me.]

    The next thing she knew, they were already surrounded by giant silhouettes. All of those things were made of white light that was surrounded by a golden aura. The sky rumbled and the ground shook as soon as the silhouettes appeared.

    It didn''t take her a minute to realize what those things were.

    [Gods¡­]

    "Neoma de Moonasterio, the Divine n that protects the human race since time immemorial will never forgive you for this act of sphemy against the gods that you serve!" the deep and angry voices of several entities yelled at her at the same time. "We''re here to bestow our divine punishment upon you!"

    "Divine punishment my foot," Neoma said with a bitter smirk, then she gripped the holder of the Death Scythe tightly. "I, Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio, the future empress of the Damned Moonasterion Empire, swears on my life that I will banish all gods in the human world!"

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

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 Chapter 253 - [Bonus ] THE MOONS CALLING

    "HANNA, sweetie, what''s wrong?"

    Hanna clutched her chest tight while looking at the full moon outside the window of her bedroom. For some reason, her heart felt like it was being squeezed tightly at that very moment. But that wasn''t the end of it. "The moon is bleeding, Mother," she said, then she turned to her mother that was sitting on the chair beside her bed. "It''s asking for my help."

    Her mother looked confused by what she said. "Hanna, is everything alright?"

    Of course, her mother wouldn''t believe her.

    To be honest, she wasn''t sure either whether she was hallucinating or not. But she had been staring at the full moon ever since she woke up after having a bad dream. In that dream, she saw a little girl her age asking for help. All she remembered was a pair of glowing red eyes looking at her. But before the image of the young girl became clear, she woke up.

    And when she opened her eyes, the moon had already turned red.

    "Sweetie?" her mother asked, then she stood up to sit beside her. Then, her mother gently touched her forehead. After that, she gasped. "You have a high fever, Hanna," she said, then she stood up in a panic and began to head towards the door. "Wait here, sweetie. I''ll call the doctor to check on you."

    She wanted to stop her mother and say that she was fine, but she had already bolted out of the room. She even heard her mother call the servants in a panicked voice.

    [I can''t me Mother for being a worrywart though.]

    After all, she was born with a heartplication. She was only five years old and yet, she had already experienced three major heart attacks that almost killed her. Thus, her mother had be more overprotective of her.

    But to be honest, she didn''t think that her condition had anything to do with her illness.

    "Am I the only one who can see that the moon has turned red?" Hanna whispered to herself while looking at the red moon. Then, she clutched her chest even tighter. She didn''t know why but she was worried about the little girl with red eyes that she saw in her dream earlier. "Only the Royal Family members have red eyes, but His Majesty doesn''t have children yet. Who are you?"

    Hanna wouldter find out through her mother and father that the emperor, in fact, had twin children: a royal prince and a royal princess.

    <strong>***</strong>

    RUFUS clenched his hands tight until his nails dug deep into the skin of his palms.

    He and the ck Hawk Knights that he led managed to raid the ve House sessfully. But the number of poor children that were about to be sold off to an auction still shocked him. He thought the human traffickers in the empire had been wiped out when House Hawthorne fell from grace. But obviously, the ck Market was still thriving.

    [His Majesty won''t like this¡­]

    "Captain."

    He turned to the bulky man with burgundy bun hair and hazel eyes. It was Jaxson Emmett, the vice-captain of the ck Hawk Knights and his right-hand man. The vice-captain''s bearded face and intimidating look made him appear older than he was. But he was actually older than his right-hand man.

    "How are the children?" Rufus asked Jaxson. He was still inside the auction house because he was making sure that all the nobles and the organizers that were involved in ve trading had been caught. He asked Jaxson to safely evacuate the children while he and the other knights were apprehending the criminals. "Are they in a safe ce now?"

    "All of the children have been sent to the shelter," Jaxson said in a hesitant voice. "Except for one."

    His brows furrowed in confusion. "What''s the matter?"

    "The boy is ignoring us and we can''t approach him either," his vice-captain said while scratching his cheek. "Captain, the boy is strange. He has silver hair and golden eyes."

    His eyes widened in shock.

    To be honest, they found out about that ve House through an unknown source that gave them a tip. He took the risk and believed the information that they got regarding the children being sold off as ves. Aside from that, the unknown informant also told them that among the children in the auction house, there was a survivor of the Silver Fox n.

    He had a feeling that His Majesty allowed that operation to take ce because the emperor wanted to take in the supposedlyst Silver Fox in the empire.

    [I didn''t get my hopes high but it seems like His Majesty''s gut feel was correct.]

    He didn''t waste time and asked Jaxson to lead him to where the boy was.

    The vice-captain led him to the rooftop of the Auction House. There, he saw a boy looking up at the night sky while watching the moon. He noticed that the young one was wearing ragged clothes and boots that were too big for him. The poor child had cuts and bruises all over his body. But the aura that he was emitting was too strong for his age.

    [He really has silver hair and golden eyes.]

    And the fleck of gold in the boy''s eyes was brighter than his.

    People admired the Quinzels'' "golden" eyes. But to be honest, their eyes were more on the yellow side than gold. Their eyes would only turn golden when glowing.

    But the boy''s golden eyes were already shining even without the glow in them.

    "Child, it''s cold here," he said to the child gently after dismissing Jaxson. "Pleasee with me. I''ll bring you to a warm ce and give you warm food."

    "Blood."

    "Huh?"

    The boy with silver hair and golden eyes turned to him while pointing a bony finger at the moon. "Blood. Moon. Call." He then pointed at himself. "Me."

    [He can''t speak coherently¡­]

    Unfortunately, Rufus didn''t understand what the boy meant. But he decided to bring the Silver Fox to the pce and present him to His Majesty. Who knows? Maybe His Majesty was nning to make the Silver Fox a knight for the hidden royal prince.

    <strong>***</strong>

    "SHUT UP," Trevor, seated on the cold throne in the room where the Devil locked him up, snarled at the image of the Blood Moon in front of him. He was in hell and the moon wasn''t supposed to be visible from where he was. But for some reason, the image of that damned thing appeared in the wall of his room and wouldn''t shut up about calling his name. "Even if your master is calling for me, it''s not like I can leave this damned room, you know? That sted Devil locked me up here."

    The "moon" said something incoherent.

    To be honest, it wasn''t like the moon was directly talking to him using normalnguage. He just simply understood the strange sounds it was making,

    That or maybe he had lost his mind from being locked up in that hellhole for long.

    "If she''s really the Moon Princess that I''m waiting for, then guide her to where I am because there''s no way in hell I could leave this damned room on my own," Trevor snapped at the moon once again. "I want to be the demon-in-distress this time instead of the knight-in-shining-armor."

    <strong>***</strong>

    [WHY DOES the room look bloody tonight?]

    Nero couldn''t help but wonder while staring at the moon from the window of his bathroom. He was in the tub while looking outside, amused that the moon looked strange tonight.

    [Is it really calling me or is the poison already kicking in and I''m about to awaken?]

    After Neoma was poisoned, his twin sister awakened her power as a de Moonasterio. He didn''t want to be left behind by his precious little sister and thus, he decided to hasten his awakening. He had a feeling that it would happen tonight.

    Nero closed his eyes and ignored the strange voice that he heard. "I''m not going to save anyone but my precious Neoma."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NIKOLAI woke up when he heard amotion outside his room.

    He could hear Glenn arguing with someone. Even though the voices were low, he could still understand the conversation because of his sharp hearing. Thus, he stood up and wore his robe while listening to the voices outside.

    "His Majesty is already resting," Glenn said sternly. "Even if it''s you, you can be punished for sneaking in the emperor''s pce at this hour."

    "It''s important," the child Glenn was arguing with said in azy yet firm voice. "I need to talk to His Majesty before it''s toote."

    He didn''t wait any longer and opened the door of his room.

    Glenn instantly bowed to greet him. The young boy, on the other hand, just raised his head and gave him an impatient look.

    [Children these days are so insolent.]

    But he didn''t hate this boy''s guts.

    "What do you need at this hour?" Niki asked the boy. "That better be important or else, you''ll be punished for entering my pce without permission, Ruston Stroganoff."

    "Your Majesty, please head to Luna Pce right now," Ruston Stroganoff said in an urgent voice. "It''s currently under attack by assassins."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NOTE: In case I''m not being clear enough, the events in this chapter happened the night Luna Pce was attacked by assassins. It was when Nero was cursed and Neoma was forced by Niki to be Nero''s substitute (around Chapter 7, I believe). If I remember correctly, the twins were five years old during this time?

    Anyway, Ruto is already a Royal Chef back then. Our little genius chef. He''s the fruit of my obsession with Mast*rChef Junior. LOL. <3

 Chapter 254 - THE 9TH HELLGATE

    GAVIN was surprised when he saw an adult nine-tailed fox standing guard in front of a Dome covered with a cloud of thick, ck smoke. Thus, he couldn''t see through the Dome. But he could feel Neoma''s divine energy inside.

    There was a strong demonic powering from inside the Dome as well. It was a Mana that he didn''t recognize. But it was close to the Devil''s dark energy.

    [Is Neoma with a demon?]

    "Who?"

    His thoughts were distracted when all of a sudden, the male nine-tailed fox literally blocked his way. He could feel the young fox''s hostility and bloodlust directed at him. But instead of feeling threatened, he actually felt relieved that his daughter had a loyal and reliable knight.

    [Moreover, the Silver Foxes are strong.]

    He also noticed the emblem on the fox boy''s shirt. It was the crest of the White Lion Knights. Then, that must mean that this young fellow was skilled enough to be a knight at such a tender age.

    [As the formermander of the White Lion Knights, I''m proud of this young one.]

    Yes, he could tell that the fox boy was young despite having an adult body. It seemed like a temporary transformation and it wasn''t unusual. He heard that the young nine-tailed foxes from the Silver Fox n would turn into an adult body when their nine tails were out.

    "Good evening, young sir," Gavin greeted the fox boy with a smile. "You may not know me because I''m pretty sure that His Majesty has forbidden the Order from mentioning my name. But I am Gavin Quinzel, the formermander of the White Lion Knights."

    The young fox looked surprised by what he said.

    [Ah, he has probably heard my name before. But everyone knows that I died a few years back. This young fox is probably confused right now.]

    Maybe he shouldn''t have introduced himself right away?

    "Princess Neoma''s appa¡­"

    It was his turn to be shocked.

    But it also seemed like the fox boy didn''t realize that he said those words aloud until he saw his reaction.

    "You know?" he asked the child carefully. "Did Neoma tell you about her previous life?"

    The fox boy didn''t say anything this time and it looked like he had his guard up now.

    "I''m the real Gavin Quinzel. His Majesty himself already confirmed it so if you want to confirm my identity, you can ask the emperorter," he exined gently. "But I want to talk to my daughter. You can keep your eye on me to make sure that I mean no harm to Neoma. I just really miss my precious ''agi.''"

    ''Agi'' meant ''baby'' or ''child'' in the Koreannguage.

    "You dead," the fox boy said. "How you here?"

    He was taken aback by the young man''s incoherent speech.

    [A knight that can''t speak properly¡­?]

    He immediately scolded himself. If his daughter Neoma epted the fox boy to be her personal knight, then he had no right to judge the child.

    "I was revived by the Devil," he exined, hoping that he got the fox boy''s question correct. "I was told that his purpose for doing so was for me to convince Neoma to take the Devil''s side once the Devil decides to wage a war against the empire."

    To be honest, he didn''t care about that.

    What he wanted to do was bring Neoma back to Korea and reim their peaceful life. But of course, that was a secret. The Devil might kill him if he found out that he would never allow his precious daughter to sit on the throne and take the burden of being the empress.

    "You can''t take away Princess Neoma if she doesn''t wish to side with the Devil."

    To say that he was surprised when the fox boy spoke coherently would be an understatement. But maybe he should be more surprised at how protective the young man sounded when he spoke of his daughter.

    [This boy¡­ does he like my daughter?]

    "Even if you are Princess Neoma''s father back in her second life, you don''t have the right to control her life," the fox boy continued. "I hope you respect whatever Her Royal Highness''s decision would be."

    He smiled and nodded. "Of course. I will always respect my daughter''s decision."

    [My daughter is safe with this boy.]

    "May I know your name?"

    "Lewis Crevan."

    Of course, the nine-tailed fox boy would be a Crevan since it was the name used by the Silver Fox n.

    "Thank you for taking care of my daughter, Lewis," he said with a smile. "I hope you don''t mind me speaking casually to you."

    Lewis just looked at him with a nk look on his face.

    [He''s not much of a talker, huh?]

    He was distracted when all of a sudden, the Dome where Neoma was disappeared.

    Lewis Crevan snarled out of frustration while looking around, obviously looking for his daughter.

    "Calm down, Lewis," Gavin said, then he looked up at the night sky that could be seen clearly because the roof had copsed. His eyes simply followed the overwhelming amount of divine energy that burst out from the Dome earlier before it disappeared.

    <strong>***</strong>

    "I, NEOMA ROSEHEART de Moonasterio, the future empress of the Damned Moonasterion Empire, swears on my life that I will banish all gods in the human world!" Neoma yelled angrily. "This world belongs to humans¨C y''all shouldn''t have the authority to rule over us when you have your own world to govern!"

    She actually gasped for air after dering the first thing that entered her mind when she saw the gods about to "punish" her.

    To be honest, even she was shocked by the crazy shits that she said.

    She didn''t regret it though. Maybe deep in her heart, she had always known that it was wrong for the gods to meddle with the humans. What was with their prophecies and shits that they decided for other people?

    It was wrong on so many levels.

    "There are too many gods ying with human lives," she said, still not done yelling at the gods that did the same to her earlier. "Y''all allowed a scumbag like Callisto de Luca to exist and breed. Now, his descendants are doing all sort of horrible things to other people. What were you all doing when they were performing human experiments? I thought you love the human race? Did you turn a blind eye because the de Lucas also have Lord Yule''s blood?"

    "Don''t be insolent, child!" the gods, once again, spoke at the same time. To be honest, it was weird to hear different voices saying the same things. It made her realize that she was indeed talking to divine entities. "Even a god couldn''t save every single human all the time!"

    "Do you think I don''t know that?" she snapped back. "Of course, even the awesome me can''t save everyone. Duh."

    It seemed like the gods were taken aback by what she said.

    "My point is if you can''t help humans, then at least don''t mess with us," sheined. "Do you think my big brain hasn''t figured out that you''re using humans as pawns to fight with other gods? Some of you may truly love the human race. But admit it. A bunch of you are just using my race to help you take over the Middle World."

    For the first time since the gods appeared, they finally fell silent.

    Good because she wasn''t done lecturing them yet.

    "It''s time we establish a boundary," she said firmly. "Don''t you think it''s time for old dudes like y''all to live quietly and stop messing with humans? We''re not your tools so please fuck off."

    Of course, the gods yelled at her again for being "vulgar."

    On the other hand, she heard Trevor stifle augh behind her.

    "Hey, my Moon Princess isn''t that rude," Trevor said yfully after the gods used her of being rude. "She said "please," didn''t she? Are your ears just for decoration? Ah, maybe you''re having hearing difficulties now because of your old age." The demon boy clicked his tongue. "It''s a sign that you should all retire and just spend your long lives in your little realm in peace. If you don''t want to get fucked, don''t mess with our Princess Neoma."

    She wanted to smack Trevor in the head for stealing her spotlight but since he was doing so much for her, she let it slide this time.

    [Sometimes Trevor''s tongue is sharper than mine.]

    "You have Yule''s blood, little princess," the gods said,pletely ignoring Trevor. "Forming a contract with the Devil is an act of sphemy! You shall be punished."

    "Is creating the Hellgate the only problem?"

    Once again, the gods were rendered speechless.

    "If you want me to stop creating a new Hellgate, then kill those bastards for me," she said seriously. "I want you to punish them even in the afterlife. If you promised to do that for me, I will cancel my contract with the Devil and sacrifice my elite Contractor."

    "Damn, that''s cold," Trevorined yfully. "But dying for my beloved is pretty romantic, isn''t it?"

    [Shut up, Trevor.]

    "You''re asking for the impossible, child," the gods said sternly. "Killing so many humans at the same time isn''t something that gods should be doing¨C no matter how horrendous the crimes that theymitted were. We cannot sully our hands¨C"

    "Exactly¨C you can''t," she said dryly. "That''s why I''ll do it. Since you can''t give what I want, negotiation is now over. It''s time y''all go home, elders."

    The sky rumbled angrily.

    Obviously, the gods weren''t happy with her arrogance.

    "Neoma de Moonasterio, you shall now be punished for mocking the gods and associating yourself with the Devil," the gods said in a calm yet cold voice. "You don''t deserve Yule''s blood and the divine power that you received as a de Moonasterio. We shall take those blessings away from you."

    "Try it if you can," she said while gathering all her divine power in her hands, then he channeled it to the Death Scythe. She saw her white aura mixing with the ck aura of her weapon. But it didn''t end there. A few momentster, she felt another warm aura flow through her veins. Then, a pink aura came out of her body to mix with the white and ck aura that she produced earlier. [Mama Boss¡­?]

    Was it the aura of the Roseheart Blood in her?

    Now, there were three different colored auras gathered at the tip of the Death Scythe''s curved de: white, ck, and pink.

    [I suddenly feel more powerful!]

    "Moon Princess!" Trevor yelled behind her worriedly. "Be careful!"

    That was when she realized that the sted gods threw thousands of what seemed like lightning bolts at her. Now, it looked like it was raining but instead of water, it was raining with lightning bolts.

    She protected her and Trevor with her Dome. For some reason, she felt like her Dome was more durable than before. She felt like she was being boosted by several entities around her that she couldn''t see.

    All she could tell was she was surrounded by warm and powerful auras. Some of them felt like they were divinities while the others seemed to have dark forces. None of those things felt dangerous or hostile to her. Thus, she embraced all the support that she could get at the moment.

    Then, the three auras at the tip of the curved de turned into a giant transparent spirit ball. Inside the giant spirit ball, there were three smaller spirit balls that had the same colors as the three auras that she released earlier.

    She had a feeling that she could attack the gods with the current power that she had.

    "As I said earlier, I''m taking away your authority over the human race!" Neoma dered, then she swung the Death Scythe as strong as she could while turning around to sh the giant silhouettes that surrounded her. "Stop using us as pawns and get the fuck out of ournd!"

    The spirit energy at the tip of the Death Scythe turned into a giant shing aura that was big enough to cut the gods'' silhouettes around her. Then, everything in that world exploded ¨C the blinding lighting from the explosion forced her to close her eyes.

    [Dammit! I hope Trevor managed to pull out the Hellgate safely!]

    <strong>***</strong>

    "PRINCESS NEOMA, you may now open your eyes."

    Neoma, trusting Trevor''s words, slowly opened her eyes and waited for a few seconds for her eyesight to get adjusted. The damned light earlier almost blinded her. But thankfully, her eyes quickly recovered.

    She realized that she and Trevor were back in the real world, and they were currently floating in the air.

    But it wasn''t what amazed her at the moment.

    "You did it, Trevor," Neoma said, amazed while looking at the giant and cryptic gate behind Trevor who looked like he was about to drop dead anytime. It seemed like the demon boy almost exhausted all the powers that he had. He deserved to be praised so she gave him a thumbs up. "Good job, chingu." ''Chingu'' meant ''friend'' in the Koreannguage. "You''re promoted as my friend from now on."

    Trevorughed softly. Then, he leaned down until his forehead hit her shoulder. Since she knew that he was exhausted from creating the Hellgate, he let the demon boy rest his head on her shoulder. "I don''t intend to be just friends with you, Princess Neoma."

    [Smooth bastard.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 255 - FALL FROM GRACE

    "AW! AW! AW!" Trevor hissed and barked like a damned dog because Princess Neoma pulled his hair mercilessly just when he was about to hug her. He thought his Moon Princess would allow him to embrace her when she let him lean down and press his forehead against her shoulder. But of course, he should have expected that his precious princess was like an iron wall. "I''m sorry for pushing my luck, Princess Neoma!"

    "Tsk." Princess Neoma clicked her tongue before letting go of his poor hair. "How dare you abuse my generosity? Just because I consoled you as a friend doesn''t mean I''d let you make your move on me." She "gently" punched him in the arm. "Get back to work before I demote you as my servant."

    He grinned whilebing his fingers through his hair. Of course, he needed to look good in front of Princess Neoma. "I''m good at multi-tasking, Moon Princess," he said. "I can be your friend, your servant, and your future husband all at the same time."

    "Fuck off while I''m still being nice."

    "Yes, Ma''am," he said with a softugh, then he turned serious. "Shall I gather the souls of the sinners now?"

    "Have you rested enough?" she asked worriedly. "You''ve spent so much Mana earlier."

    He grinned, thrilled with the fact that Princess Neoma seemed to genuinely care about his well-being. Was his Moon Princess starting to open up her heart to him? If that was the case, then, for the first time in his life, he was d that he was born as the second son of House Kesser and not the firstborn one.

    "Being close to you gives me energy, my Moon Princess," he said, then he did the hand gesture that Princess Neoma calls as ''thumbs up.'' "I can summon all the souls in the continent if you asked me to."

    That was a bit of an exaggeration but he wanted to impress his Moon Princess.

    "No need to go that far, Mr. Show-off," Princess Neoma said while shaking her head, then she took a deep breath. "Anyway, I''m d that you have recovered easily. Let''s finish the job while my adrenaline rush is still here. Plus, the earlier we get the job done, the sooner you''d get to rest."

    Aww, he was genuinely touched by how Princess Neoma was looking after him now.

    Although he didn''t know what the hell was an adrenaline rush was, he would still obey his Moon Princess.

    "I might need to use my full power this time," Trevor said, a little bit hesitant because he was worried about something. "I hope my appearance when I use my full power doesn''t turn you off, Princess Neoma."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA looked at Trevor long and hard.

    When the demon boy said that his transformation might disgust her, she was expecting him to change into something like what the bookworm looked like. But to be honest, he didn''t have anything to be worried about his appearance.

    [If anything, he looks sexier now.]

    Goddammit.

    Trevor grew different-colored horns on his forehead. The left one was red, while the other was ck. He also grew wings that looked a little creepy because those things were made of spines. Plus, his wings didn''t even have a feather on them.

    "Okay, you look like a legit demon now," Neoma said while nodding carefully. "But why don''t you have a tail?"

    "I''m not a full demon, that''s why," Trevor said while scratching his cheek as if he was embarrassed. "Don''t I look creepy or disgusting, Princess Neoma?"

    "Your face pulled it off," she said bluntly. "You still look attractive even with horns because you''re a face genius."

    This was what "good-looking people privilege" looked like.

    "Thank you, Princess Neoma," he said, obviously pleased. "Now, I feel even more powerful."

    "Good," she said. "I want this done and over with as soon as possible."

    He just grinned, then he stood in front of her and began to exude a cloud of thick and ck smoke that was mixed with his Mana. After that, he gathered all the aura in both of his hands while muttering that she couldn''t hear clearly because his voice was too low. And it seemed like he was using an unfamiliarnguage that even she had a hard time understanding.

    So in the end, she gave up on deciphering the incantation and just let Trevor do his thing.

    [Tsk. Trevor is also OP. He acts goofy most of the time that I often forget that he wouldn''t be the Devil''s Grimoire if he was weak.]

    For some reason, she suddenly feltpetitive.

    [I can''t lose to him.]

    Her thoughts were cut off when Trevor stopped with his incantation.

    All of a sudden, everything fell silent and the air turned humid.

    She also noticed that a thin barrier that resembled her Dome covered the entire Death Camp.

    Then, the sky shook hard just like how an earthquake would shake the ground. It was followed by a deafening sound that made her cover her ears with her hands. The noise that was killing her eardrums sounded like pieces of metal bumping against each other.

    [What the hell¡­]

    Her train of thoughts was once again cut off when something unexpected appeared in front of Trevor.

    [Is that a giant weighing scale?!]

    "Princess Neoma, this giant scale will weigh the sins of the souls of everyone involved in the Death Camp," the demon exined, then he turned around to face her with a serious look on his face. "The scale that would end up being the heavier one would be the scale that contains the souls of the sinners thatmitted the most horrendous crimes. On the other hand, the lighter scale would contain the souls of the sinners that could still be forgiven and simply punished by the humanws." He put his hand on his chest and bowed to her. "Should we proceed to the next step, Princess Neoma?"

    "Yes," she said, then she turned to the giant scale. She didn''t want to admit this but she was starting to feel nervous. And of course, the guilt in her heart began to feel heavier than ever. Still, she knew that she was already at the point of return. She couldn''t stop, and she didn''t want to. "Let''s begin the purge."

    He grinned, then he raised his head and opened his hand. The bookworm suddenly appeared and wrapped itself around the demon boy''s arm. After that, a thick red book magically materialized in his hand. "This book contains all the names of the people involved in the camp. The Bookwormpiled it for me while we were busy pulling out the Hellgate earlier."

    "That''s like Death N*te," she said, amused. "But do you need to first get the names of the souls that you''ll summon?"

    "Usually, I don''t need to do that," he said while opening the red book. "But since we need to separate the criminals from the innocent people in this camp, we have to do this process."

    "Ah, that makes sense."

    "Now, Princess Neoma," the demon boy said, then he threw the red book up in the air. "The souls of the sinners are all yours!"

    The red book suddenly burst into a blinding light.

    Then, the nk pages ripped themselves off the book while being suspended in the air. Now, they were surrounded by hundreds of nk pages just casually hanging in there as if they were tied to invisible strings attached to the sky.

    She noticed that each page had now a name written on it, and each name was glowing red.

    Neoma didn''t want to admit this but it was pretty cool. [I''m starting to see Trevor in a new light, huh?]

    <strong>***</strong>

    "THAT PUNK pulled it off, huh?" the Devil said while looking up at the sky where hundreds of glowing book pages suspended in the air. "He even managed to create a perfect Screen."

    The whole camp was now covered with Screen.

    ''Screen'' was the kind of barrier that allows the user to temporarily open a hellhole in the space where the Screen was put on. And since a hellhole was literally a part of the Underworld, the Screen would prevent putting real damage on the real world.

    [Since when did Trevor grow up this much to be able to copy my techniques perfectly?]

    Come to think of it, that little demon wouldn''t shut up about Princess Neoma ever since the royal princess freed him.

    [Hmm¡­ did Trevor get stronger because of power of love?]

    That thought gave him goosebumps. But it wasn''t entirely impossible since Trevor had the kind of face that could charm mostdies.

    [And I heard Princess Neoma likes good-looking men.]

    "Niki de Moonasterio, what do you think of a demon for a son-inw?" he said, then he turned to his descendant that was still sleeping on the ground peacefully. To be honest, he didn''t expect that knocking the current emperor out by using Mona Roseheart''s image would be effective. But it seemed like the fool was still crazy about his former lover that he didn''t want to wake up anymore. "Should I just kill him while he''s unconscious?"

    "Who''s going to kill whom?"

    He wasn''t surprised when two men materialized in front of him while hiding Niki de Moonasterio behind them in a protective manner.

    The two looked like father-and-son duo.

    [Of course, they''de out.]

    By "they," he meant two of the current emperor''s Soul Beasts.

    Technically, only one of them was the official Soul Beast of the emperor¨C the ck Tortoise. But since the ck serpent, the other beast, was always with the ck Tortoise, people had begun epting it as an "unofficial" Soul Beast of Niki de Moonasterio.

    Even in the two''s human form, they remained inseparable.

    The tall and bulky man wearing a ck robe was the ck Tortoise. On the other hand, the young man who looked like a child wearing suspenders was the ck serpent that had never left the ck Tortoise''s side. The "child" was sitting on the ck Tortoise''s shoulders.

    The two had opposite appearances but they still had one thing inmon: pink hair. The strands of their hair were more on the red shade though.

    Those were the unique hair colors of the male Rosehearts.

    "Mister Devil, please go easy on us," the ck serpent "child" pleaded in a cheerful voice. "Our main fighters aren''t present at the moment. The Vermillion Bird is currently treating the Azure Dragon that got injured from his fight with Gavin Quinzel''s Shadow Beast. On the other hand, our White Tiger is busy knocking sense into Princess Neoma''s dummy Soul Beast."

    "Center, you''re talking too much," North, the ck Tortoise, scolded the ck serpent called ''Center.'' "Why do you have to tell all of that to the Devil?"

    "I''m appealing for his mercy," Center said, still talking like an annoying bright child. "It''s scary that it''s only the two of us, you know?"

    "Just tell that Devil bastard that we''ll kill him if he moves."

    He scoffed while listening to the two''s conversation.

    [What a load of bullshit.]

    It was true that Niki de Moonasterio''s main weapons were the Vermillion Bird and the Azure Dragon.

    But the ck Tortoise was the current emperor''s strongest shield. If he was going topare North''s barrier technique to Princess Neoma''s Dome, then he''d say that the ck Tortoise''s shield was as durable as hard steel while the young princess''s would be as soft as pudding.

    Having said that, even though the ck Tortoise was known for its durable shield, it didn''t mean that all he could do was to defend. There was a reason why North was apanied by the ck serpent all the time.

    To test if his theory was still correct, he began to approach Niki de Moonasterio.

    He had only taken three steps when Center disappeared. The next thing he knew, the "child" was already attached to his back while biting his neck. The burning sensation in the spot where he was bitten already told him that the beast''s fangs were venomous.

    Ah, right.

    [This beast is the ck serpent.]

    "Let''s see if you could still take one more step," North said, a Dome-like barrier that looked like a transparent tortoise''s shell emerging from the ground. "If you want to die,e at me."

    As expected, the current emperor''s Soul Beasts were the strongest.

    The Devil smirked despite the numbness that crippling his body. [Niki de Moonasterio, hurry up and die so Princess Neoma could take over your Soul Beasts.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA didn''t expect it to be this easy.

    By that, she meant killing people.

    She watched as the pages of the red book suck the souls of the people whose names were written on them. The souls that she saw weren''t anything like C*sper. They were merely silhouettes of human figures. The colors of the souls varied though.

    All the ck and dark-colored souls were sucked by the right scale. While the gray and lighter-colored souls were sucked by the left one.

    After that, she shed the souls of the heavy sinners the way she shed the gods earlier.

    But this time, she didn''t expect to hear the cries of help and the agonizing screams of the souls that she just "harvested."

    Although she knew that those bastards deserved to die, she still felt guilty.

    In fact, her heart was beating fast and loud against her chest. A lump also formed in her throat, making her feel like she wanted to puke.

    "Princess Neoma, you have to open the Hellgate by making a key from your soul," Trevor, who was standing behind her, said. Then, he gently covered her ears with his hands. "I will help you do that."

    Neoma took a deep breath, then she closed her eyes and tried to ignore the voicesing from the souls. "Alright."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "SHE DID it," Nichole whispered to herself while looking up at the sky. "Our Neoma sessfully opened a new Hellgate with Trevor."

    As expected, Neoma and Trevor had a good rapport.

    If she was the young princess''s mother, she wouldn''t mind having Trevor as a son-inw. It was true that the young man was now a demon. But before he was sacrificed by his family, he was the brilliant second son of House Kesser.

    [He was better than the firstborn son, in fact. Too bad House Kesser was too adamant about their tradition regarding the first and second sons of their family.]

    But maybe it was a good thing that Trevor had been turned into a demon. Because if it didn''t happen to him, he wouldn''t have met Neoma. Right now, her prideful niece might have not realized it yet.

    The truth was Neoma wouldn''t go this far without Trevor''s help.

    [The best thing about it is the fact that Trevor isn''t tricking Neoma. An elite Contractor is just a fancy term for a ve. Because of the old promise between the de Moonasterios and the Kessers, the second son of Kesser would die and live for the female de Moonasterio who''d gain the right to be called the ''Moon Princess.'']

    "Princess Nichole?"

    She turned to Dominic Zavaroni who was standing beside her.

    Ah, she was surprised to see the former saint''s white clothes had been soaked with blood. She wasn''t worried though. After all, it wasn''t Dominic''s blood anyway.

    "Look at you, Dominic," Nichole said with pity in her voice. Then, she gently caressed Dominic''s face with her bloody hand. Of course, doing so smeared the blood on his cheek. "This is the face of a holy man that fell from grace."

    Dominic smiled, then he tilted his head to lean onto her touch even more. "I didn''t fall from grace," he said with a peaceful look on his face. "Everything just fell into the right ce this time."

    She just smiled and looked up at the sky again. "It seems like the one who really fell from grace is my poor niece."

    The 9th Hellgate made a heavy, creaking noise when Neoma opened it and guided the souls that she harvested. The giant scale remained suspended in the air. And Trevor was busy performing a spell to guide the souls that Neoma decided to let go back to their physical bodies.

    [Those two are really busy, huh?]

    "Princess Nichole, the bastard has been revived again."

    "Finally," she said, then she turned to Curtis Smit lying on the ground. She and Dominic cut his limbs off one by one earlier. Because of that, it took Raven (her ck Phoenix) quite some time to revive the bastard. "I need to help my niece so let''s wrap it up."

    "P-Please¡­ n-no more¡­" Curtis Smit, who couldn''t move an inch, begged her while tears fell from the corner of his eyes. He could talk properly again because his tongue was fixed when the ck Phoenix revived him. "J-Just k-kill m-me¡­"

    She smirked and squatted down beside the crow bastard. "It seems like the tables have been turned, huh? Do you remember how much I begged you to stop and let me go in the past?"

    The crow bastard could only flinch.

    She opened her right hand and a transparent crystal ball with a leech inside. "I have a gift for you, Curtis Smit. I almost died hunting this down in the deepest part of the Underworld. But I know that it''s going to be worth it."

    Fear crossed Curtis Smit''s eyes.

    "This isn''t an ordinary leech," she said cheerfully. "This is a demon parasite that would hatch eggs as soon as it entered a human body. Do you know what the best part is? It doesn''t discriminate. This little bastard doesn''t care whether its host is a male or female body. It will still get you "pregnant.""

    "N-No," the crow bastard begged in a cracked voice, then he gathered his energy and tried to stand up.

    But Dominic stepped on Curtis Smit''s chest and put him in ce. Then, the former saint stabbed the crow bastard in the shoulder using the pointed end of his scepter. It was funny that Curtis Smit could only cry out loud, probably feeling hopeless now that his body was pinned to the ground with no way of getting out of being skewered.

    [Ah, my Dominic is really useful.]

    "When the eggs of this demon parasite hatched, it will find a way out," she said while forcing Curtis Smit''s mouth open. "Men don''t have vaginas, but the hole between your butt cheeks will do."

    She crushed the crystal ball in her hand. Then, she put the demon parasite in the crow bastard''s mouth and pushed it until he was forced to swallow the leech. It only took a few minutes before Curtis Smit''s stomach swelled.

    Nicholeughed while pping her hands. "Congrattions on your pregnancy, Curtis Smit!"

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA felt dumb.

    But she still had a job to do so after sending the souls of the sinners to the 9th Hellgate, she returned to where she left Giselle Averon and her equally perverted partner.

    She decided to end the lives of the p*dophiles by killing their physical bodies.

    This time, she used her very own hands.

    "You''re here."

    Neoma was surprised when she heard the voice that she didn''t expect to hear. When she turned around, she was even more shocked to see Ruto in his adult form.

    Yes, the Royal Chef, for some reason, had the appearance of an adult just like she did. She had so many questions for him but the first thing she did was to cover her face with her bloody hands.

    "Don''t look at me," Neoma said in a cracked voice. "I don''t want you to see me right now."

    "I can''t see your face."

    She smiled sadly. "You really don''t say the things that I want to hear from you, silly Ruto."

    "Neoma."

    Okay, she almost fainted from shock when the royal chef called her by her name.

    Neoma raised her head to look at him properly. Only then did she realize that his hair color wasn''t ck anymore. It was actually purple. "Ruto... you know?"

    Ruto gave her a half-smile that looked pained for some reason. "How could I not?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 256 - THE LAST STRAW

    <em><strong>[Before Neoma and Ruto''s encounter...]</strong></em>

    JASPER had prepared himself for a fight when he reached the camp''s Underground Arena.

    But much to his shocked, the battle was over when he arrived.

    [Just what happened here?]

    The Underground Arena was a replica of a fighting coliseum in the Royal Capital. The camp owners would choose the strongest and most talented children and young adults that they "owned." Then, they would those children fight beasts that the camp also illegally collect.

    When he arrived at the camp, Alistair Madgwick gave him a test that would prove that he wasn''t there was a spy. That bastard asked him to surrender Tate, his cousin and closest aide, to be one of the fighters in the Underground Arena. Since he needed to gain the trust of Alistair Madgwick back then, he had to sacrifice Tate.

    That bastard Prism had fun "training" Tate since Prism was the one in charge of the fighters. But Prism would torture Tate before a fight to make his cousin suffer. Fortunately, despite all the tortures and fights that Tate went through, he remained strong mentally.

    He didn''t want to say this but Tate being a fighter helped him a lot in discovering who their enemies were among the nobility.

    Most of the patrons of those horrible fights were nobles. And those damned nobles loved to bet to add excitement to the fights. He had been with the camp for a year and he didn''t waste a single day gathering pieces of evidence. Of course, he wouldn''t have been able to achieve that without Tate''s sacrifice.

    [I have the names of those nobles along with the evidence that they''re involved with the camp.]

    To make it up to Tate, he swore that he would personally avenge his cousin.

    But Prism was dealt with by Princess Neoma''s Spirit foxes.

    And now, the beasts in the Underground Arena and all the servants of the camp were dead. There was a young man with purple hair standing in front of the beasts'' mountain of corpses. He couldn''t see the stranger''s face clearly because of the mask he was wearing.

    It was amazing how he couldn''t feel the purple head''s Mana or even aura despite him using his ability to lift the corpses by simply waving his hand.

    By the looks of it, that young fellow was the one who took care of the beasts.

    [I didn''t get to do anything for Tate¡­]

    "My lord¡­"

    He turned to Tate.

    His heart broke when he once again saw his cousin''s awful state. As usual, Tate''s whole body was filled with cuts and bruises. But the most crucial injury that his cousin got was the loss of his left eye. It happened when Tate fought with a corrupted dragon.

    "What happened here, Tate?" Jasper asked, setting aside his personal feelings first. "And who is that purple head?"

    "I don''t know who that person is, Your Grace," Tate said while scratching his cheek. "As soon as he got here, he made the other kids sleep and asked me to protect them. Then, he killed all the camp''s servants and the beasts used for fighting."

    "How did he kill them?"

    "He has the lightning attribute."

    His eyes widened in shock because he only knew one person in the whole empire who had that attribute.

    Ah,e to think of it, an Elemental Guardian appeared a while ago.

    [Could it be¡­]

    He immediately turned around to face the purple head that was now looking at him.

    "It''s been a while, Lord Stroganoff," he greeted his fellow nobleman. "May I know what brought you here?"

    To be honest, he wasn''t sure if it was Ruston Stroganoff because of his purple hair. He had only seen the Royal Chef a few times but as far as he remembered, he was supposed to have ck hair. But maybe he changed his hair color through a spell or a potion for his disguise.

    "Take care of the survivors and bring them out, Lord Hawthorne. This ce will soon copse," Ruston Stroganoff, the young Royal Chef and the genius of their generation, said when he pulled his mask down. "I need to go¨C"

    "You purple bastard!"

    He was surprised when a powerful Spirit suddenly appeared in the arena. He was pretty sure that the very tall man that materialized in front of the Royal Chef was a Spirit. He barely understood what the Spirit said but he could tell that it was angry at Ruston Stroganoff.

    Ruston Stroganoff, on the other hand, just sighed as if he was tired before he bolted out of the room at an insane speed.

    [I didn''t see him leave¡­]

    And the Royal Chef didn''t even leave a trace.

    But that wasn''t one of his main concerns regarding Ruston Stroganoff.

    [Did he just talk informally to me? I''m older than that punk!]

    "Goddammit!" the Spirit yelled angrily, then it disappeared to probably chase Ruston Stroganoff.

    [Good luck with that.]

    "Your Grace, what just happened?" Tate asked, confused. "Who are those people?"

    "Just some monsters that are out of our league," Jasper said while shaking his head. Then, he turned to the sleeping children on the floor. "Let''s get them out of here first, Tate."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "STOP right there, purple bastard!" William yelled while chasing the purple bastard that runs at the speed of light. He could barely catch up to him. "If I catch you, you''re dead!"

    He saw it when the purple bastard descended from the sky in the form of lightning.

    Then, that lightning bolt suddenly turned into a young man with purple hair To have the form of a lightning bolt was one of the many transportation spells in the world. But to turn one''s physical body into its attribute was something that only the most talented people could do.

    In short, the purple bastard was a genius despite being young.

    [I''m pretty sure that it''s the purple bastard that Nero is looking for.]

    He remembered that Tara, the Spirit World Queen, told him to look for a man with purple hair while he was in the living world before the queen kicked him out of the Spirit World earlier. Who would have thought that he would find the purple bastard easily?

    [Thank goodness he made a shy entrance or else, I wouldn''t have noticed him.]

    After all, the purple bastard had no traceable aura or Mana.

    He didn''t want to admit this but he should be grateful to Neoma de Moonasterio for sending him away. The ce where the stupid me lizard sent him to was where the purple bastardnded. He has been chasing the child ever since that moment.

    [Ah, shit. That punk is getting faster!]

    He thought he was going to lose the purple bastard. But all of a sudden, the child stopped running and raised his head to stare at the sky.

    Ah, right.

    The filthy bug opened a new Hellgate. He wasn''t interested in that so he ignored the huge gate suspended in the air. It was toote to stop it anyway.

    "You."

    He turned to the purple bastard with a re. "My name is William Roseheart. Don''t call me ''you.''"

    "What do you want from me?"

    "I''m not the one who needs something from you," he said, then he crossed his arms over his chest. "It''s Nero, the real Crown Prince."

    "I haven''t personally met the real Crown Prince yet," the purple bastard said. "Howe he''s looking for me?"

    "He said he wanted to find a man with purple hair."

    The purple bastard let out a frustrated sigh. "Am I the only person in the world with this hair color?"

    "Well, you''re right. You''re not the only person with that hair color," he said while tilting his head to one side. "But my gut is telling me that you''re the right purple bastard. You have an Elemental Guardian and not just anyone can use the attribute you have. You have at least to be that special to be involved with the filthy bug."

    "Filthy bug?"

    "I''m talking about Neoma de Moonasterio¨C" He wasn''t able to finish his sentence when he was suddenly struck by lightning. It wasn''t enough to kill him, but it was enough to bring him to his knees. The temporary physical body that he was using was burned in an instant. The fucking lightning the struck him was also enough to kill a strong Mana user. It was that deadly. "Fuck you, purple bastard."

    "I don''t care if you call me a bastard but if you disrespect Neoma again, I will make sure that my next attack will kill you."

    He smirked while his temporary physical body was starting to melt. Ah, fuck. Tara would kill his ass once he returned to the Spirit World without having aplished anything good here. Well, except for one thing. "Now I''m confirmed that you''re really the right purple bastard that Nero is looking for," he said. "I''lle back for youter."

    "I have nothing to say to Prince Nero," the child said bluntly. "But I have something to say to you."

    "What is it?" he asked curiously. "Hurry up before I disappear, purple bastard."

    "If you try to harm Neoma in any way, I will kill Prince Nero."

    To say that he was shocked by the purple bastard''s threat would be an understatement. In fact, it gave him goosebumps. After all, he knew that those weren''t empty words. The purple bastard had the ability to do so.

    "Even if you hide Prince Nero in the Underworld or the Spirit World, I can still find and kill him anytime I want," the purple bastard continued, his eyes glowing menacingly now. "So you better leave Neoma alone."

    Williamughed, thrilled that he found a new worthy opponent. "The next Ie for you, I will use my real body," he warned the child. "Let''s see who''s going to kill whom by then, purple bastard."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "TREVOR, can you guide the souls to the Hellgate for a moment?" Neoma asked the demon boy while watching the ck souls enter her Hellgate. "I have two more souls that I need to harvest."

    Trevor tilted his head at one side as if he was confused. "Two more souls? But I''m pretty sure that I have gathered all the souls of the people involved with the camp¡­"

    "The people I''m talking about aren''t dead yet," she exined. "I punished them by using the Hellme that Tteokbokki lent me. It''s the kind of me that would burn them down and revive them again and again."

    "Ah, I get it now," he said while nodding his head. "Since they''re being burned by the Hellme, their physical bodies and their souls are locked up in a different dimension. Thus, Bookworm failed to put them in the list."

    "I''ll send them to the Hellgate in a while," she said, then she turned to the replica of the Death Scythe in her hand. "Mini Skewer, you may return to your original size now."

    The replica glowed before it returned to her neck as the pendant of her choker.

    But of course, since the Lynx Ring was still activated, Mini Skewer turned into a doodle on her neck just like how her other weapons were turned into doodles on her skin.

    "Trevor, do you have a dagger?"

    He raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you going to kill those bastards with your own hands?"

    "I have to," she said, feeling numb. "I realized that taking the souls of the sinners using the technique you called ''Banishing'' is way too easy." She looked at her hands and felt regretful. "I should have killed them first before I harvested their souls."

    To be honest, she didn''t know what she was saying.

    But the bloodthirst that she didn''t know she had was starting to get stronger deep within her. She wanted blood, and she wanted the blood of the bastards who hurt her precious people.

    [Is this the Lunacy that Arche de Moonasterio mentioned?]

    "I don''t have a dagger with me at the moment but¡­" Trevor, much to her shock, suddenly pulled out his red horn effortlessly. "You can borrow this. It''s sharper than any ordinary dagger anyway. Moreover, I can assure you that it can inflict more pain than your average de. You''ll know what I''m talking about once you use it."

    She gulped while looking at his bleeding forehead, then she looked at him in the eye. "Your forehead is bleeding, dummy."

    "It doesn''t hurt though."

    She sighed and shook her head, then she epted the red horn that Trevor handed to her. "I''ll give this backter."

    "Nah, it will disappear once it''s covered with blood," he said. "Don''t worry about it. My horns grow all the time."

    "Thanks."

    "Uh-huh."

    She was about to say something when she suddenly remembered something important. She gasped, suddenly feeling guilty. "Where''s Tteokbokki?"

    "I thought you''ve already forgotten about your Soul Beast, Princess Neoma."

    She and Trevor both turned to the stranger that suddenly materialized in front of them.

    [So fucking handsome¡­]

    She could tell that the young man was way, way older than her and Trevor. But his appearance made him look like a teenager. A very handsome teenager, at that. He was on thenky side, but his height and his built were surprisingly proportional.

    Anyway, the handsome stranger wore a white robe and a white turtleneck shirt inside that covered not only his neck but also half of his face.

    But the most striking feature that the stranger had was his hair color.

    [His hair is pink and the strands are red.]

    Plus, the stranger''s eyes were a pretty shade of dark blue. It reminded her of the deep sea¨C beautiful but dangerous.

    "Look who''s here," Trevor said in his usual taunting voice. "If it isn''t His Majesty''s White Tiger."

    "You''re the White Tiger?" she asked, surprised and amused. "Holy moly. You have a human form, too?"

    "All Soul Beasts do, Princess Neoma," the White Tiger, named ''West'' if she remembered it correctly, said. Then, he opened his hand. A red ball of fire materialized above his palm. "I apologize but I had to knock the Red Dragon out before he burned the whole ce down."

    Ah, right.

    When she snapped earlier, Tteokbokki went out of control.

    She almost forgot about her Soul Beast because when she and Trevor returned, Tteokbokki was already out of the picture.

    [Thank goodness the White Tiger knocked him out.]

    "Thank you, West," she said, then she opened her hand.

    The red ball of fire immediately floated towards her. When it touched her hand, it entered her body. The warmth that she felt all over her system was proof that Tteokbokki had safely returned inside her soul.

    "Ah," she said when she realized something important again. That thought made him frown. "If you''re here, then it means Papa Boss is here as well. Where''s my father?"

    "Didn''t the demon boy tell you, Princess Neoma?" the White Tiger asked while giving Trevor a side-eye. "His Majesty arrived with that young demon over there. He knows that His Majesty is currently facing the Devil."

    She turned to Trevor. "Why didn''t you tell me that Papa Boss is here and he''s fighting the Devil now?"

    Trevor shrugged with an annoyingzy expression on his face. "It''s not like His Majesty is relevant at this moment. But I intend to inform you if he was killed by the Devil."

    Of course, that kind ofment earned a growl from the White Tiger.

    [Sometimes I wonder if Trevor is confident or just in stupid.]

    "I don''t think Papa Boss will get killed by the Devil," she said. It wasn''t like she was faith in her father. She just knew for a fact that Papa Boss was the strongest man in the whole continent. "Anyway¡­" She turned to the White Tiger that seemed to have calmed down immediately. "Can you tell my father that I need to talk to him after he''s done dealing with the Devil?"

    "Of course, Princess Neoma," West said, then he turned to the giant Hellgate behind. "You and His Majesty really need to talkter."

    After saying that, the White Tiger disappeared without so much as a goodbye.

    "He has Papa Boss''s personality," she said while shaking her head. "But I''ll forgive him this time because I like his hair color."

    "Of course you''d like it," the demon boy said casually. "That''s the signature hair color of the male Rosehearts. If Prince Nero''s Roseheart Blood overpowers his divine energy as a de Moonasterio, his hair color would look like that as well."

    "Why would a Soul Beast have the trait unique to a male Roseheart¡­" She trailed off when she realized that her own question was also the answer to her curiosity. "That handsome man is a male Roseheart? But how did he be a Soul Beast?"

    "Ah, your "Papa Boss" didn''t tell you?" Trevor asked while smirking, then his eyes glowed menacingly. "Princess Neoma, didn''t anyone tell you yet that the de Moonasterios of the past used to abduct male Rosehearts to turn them into the Royal Family''s Soul Beasts?"

    And just like that, Neoma once again felt her sanity slipping away.

    <strong>***</strong>

    [AH, THERE she is.]

    Ruto gently ced a hand on the door in front of him. Since he mustered all the strength in his body to "exorcise" the rude Grand Spirit earlier, his body had turned into an adult''s. That was the side-effect of using his full power.

    After all, the age of his soul didn''t match the young physical body that he had at the present.

    [It reeks of blood and malice...]

    Behind that door, he knew that Neoma was there. He could also tell by the smell of the blood in the air that she was killing people inside. The auraing out from her at the moment was violent and cruel.

    [The Lunacy hasn''t ended yet.]

    He knew that exposing his identity to Neoma would be dangerous. But it wasn''t like he could leave her alone. Not when she was in this state. So even if it would cost him a lot, he still decided to help the royal princess.

    Ruto opened the door. The bloody scene didn''t surprise him anymore. But the dark auraing from Neoma made his chest tighten in pain. He couldn''t see her face, but he could imagine how heartbroken she must have looked at the moment. "You''re here."

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 257 - THINGS I WANT TO HEAR

    <strong></strong>WHEN Neoma came back to her senses, she was already covered with blood.

    Giselle Averon and her male lover were on the floor, their dead bodies soaked in their own pool of blood. After all, the two''s bodies were stabbed to death.

    Yes, that was her work.

    But to be honest, she could barely remember the things that she had done. All she knew was she was so angry, and she vented out that anger on Giselle Averon and her partner. When Trevor''s red horn disappeared when it reached its limit, she borrowed Tteokbokki''s strength. Her nails turned as sharp and as hard as any dagger.

    She would admit that what she had done was overkill, but she wasn''t able to stop herself.

    [I have really lost my mind.]

    "You''re here."

    Neoma was surprised when she heard the voice that she didn''t expect to hear. When she turned around, she was even more shocked to see Ruto in his adult form.

    Yes, the Royal Chef, for some reason, had the appearance of an adult just like she did. She had so many questions for him but the first thing she did was to cover her face with her bloody hands.

    "Don''t look at me," Neoma said in a cracked voice. "I don''t want you to see me right now."

    "I can''t see your face."

    She smiled sadly. "You really don''t say the things that I want to hear from you, silly Ruto."

    "Neoma."

    Okay, she almost fainted from shock when the Royal Chef called her by her name.

    Neoma raised her head to look at him properly. Only then did she realize that his hair color wasn''t ck anymore. It was actually purple. "Ruto... you know?"

    Ruto gave her a half-smile that looked pained for some reason. "How could I not?"

    She dropped her arms to her sides and looked at him suspiciously.

    "I know that you have a lot of questions that you want to ask me," he said, then his gaze went past her. "But I think we should move to another ce before we talk."

    Ah, he saw the bloody corpses of Giselle Averon and her partner.

    "I killed them," she said, her heart heavy and her hands clenched tight. "Not only them. I also killed all the bad people that ran the camp."

    "Good job," he said as if he was proud of her. Then, he approached her and gently patted her head. "You did well, Neoma."

    She knew that she deserved to be punished for the mass murder that she hadmitted. But for some reason, Ruto''s words consoled her. Of course, it didn''t justify what she did. Yet, she wasforted by the fact that he didn''t hate her for it.

    For the first time since her Lunacy began, the storm in her head finally stopped.

    [So he knows the right things to say at the right time, huh?]

    "I''m famished," Neoma said, now calm but tired and hungry. "Feed me, Ruto."

    "That''s why I''m here," Ruto said while pulling something out of his pocket. "Here, a beef jerky."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA stared at Ruto while munching on the fifth beef jerky that Ruto handed to her.

    Now that she had calmed down and they were in a clean and empty parlor room, she had the chance to look at him properly. Well, it was pretty dark because the only source of the light inside was the moonlighting through the window. Fortunately, her eyesight gets sharper when her eyes turn red. After all, her red eyes allowed her to see things in the dark just fine.

    She just noticed that Ruto''s hair was now purple while his eyes were a dark shade of violet. His hair and eye colors were supposed to be ck.

    [What''s his real hair and eye color?]

    Dayum, her Ruto looked handsome.

    She would admit that before she saw his adult form, she thought that Ruto had an average appearance. Well, she couldn''t really me herself for thinking that way. After all, she was surrounded by god-tier beauties since she was born.

    But now¡­

    [Why does Ruto look so handsome in my eyes now?]

    Still, she couldn''t be swayed.

    "Who are you?" Neoma, seated on the sofa, asked seriously. "You also appeared in my memories that I don''t remember. Have we met before?"

    She was being vague on purpose.

    Although she knew that she could trust Ruto, she couldn''t just casually reveal to him that this wasn''t her first life.

    Ruto, seated on the sofa across from her, answered while pulling out a vial of water from the inside pocket of his robe. Then, he put the vial on the table between them and nudged it closer to her side. "Yeah, we''ve already met before."

    "Really?" she asked, her heart thumping hard and fast now. [Is my hunch correct? Have we really met in my previous life? Does he remember it as well?]

    "I met you when you were a baby."

    "Huh?"

    "You were a bald baby."

    "I wasn''t bald!" she argued with clenched fists. She didn''t really know what she looked like when she was a baby but she didn''t like Ruto''s teasing tone. Her pride was hurt. "I was born with thick, luscious hair!"

    "No, you weren''t," he said bluntly. God, this boy was seriously brutally honest. "I was only four years old when you were born but I clearly remember how you looked like as a baby. And you were bald."

    She clicked her tongue in annoyance. "How did you even meet me when I was a baby? I thought my existence was a secret."

    Nero''s case was different. It wasn''t really a secret that her father had a son. Her twin brother was merely hidden for his protection.

    On the other hand, her existence as the royal princess was a royal secret.

    [Heck, I wasn''t even registered as a member of the Royal Family.]

    "His Majesty introduced me to you back then," he exined. "Technically, His Majesty introduced me to Prince Nero but since you were also there, he exined that you were the royal prince''s twin sister."

    She almost rolled her eyes at that. [It sounds like I was just an afterthought to Papa Boss when I was a baby.]

    Well, it wasn''t like she didn''t know that already.

    [My rtionship with Papa Boss has only improvedtely¡­]

    "My father and I took the Oath of Silence along with the other nobles that knew about you and Prince Nero. His Majesty chose to share the royal secret with the people that he either trusts or needs to maintain his power," Ruto continued with his story. "In my case, he chose to share it with me and my father in an attempt to lure me to be the Commander of the White Lion Knights. His Majesty wanted me to serve Prince Nero once the Crown Prince ascends the throne."

    [The Commander of the White Lion Knights¡­]

    It was the person that she was talking to in the memory that she heard in her mind a while ago¨C the memory that only had voices and not images.

    But she wanted to be cautious so she didn''t want to bring it up yet.

    "I''ve mistaken Prince Nero as the royal princess the first time I saw the two of you," Ruto said while looking at her now short hair. "Prince Nero''s hair was thicker and more luscious than yours when you were babies."

    She clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Why are you so obsessed with my hair?"

    "It''s because it''s one of the only things that I can see when I look at a person," he said softly. "I can see your hair, your form, your internal energy¨C everything but your face."

    "My internal energy?" she asked curiously. "Is it the same as my aura?"

    "It''s more like your Core instead of your aura," he exined. "Your aura is kind of simr to the aura of your family members, especially since you''re a de Moonasterio. The Royal Family''s divine energy can''t be mistaken for someone else. However, your Core is unique to you. It''s like the storage of all the energy that you have inside your body."

    "How many kinds of energy do you see in me?"

    "There is three major energy inside you," he said. "The de Moonasterio divine energy, your Roseheart Blood, and that strange dark energy that gives you affinity with the demons."

    "Are you not going to ask why I have an affinity with the demons?"

    "I don''t want to pressure you," he said. "That''s why I''ll wait for you until you''re ready to share it with me. But if you don''t want to, then it''s also fine with me."

    "I also don''t know why I have it," she said. "But it''s the reason why I''m in this form right now. Trevor, my demon friend, gave me a weapon that will allow me to turn into an adult once used. Since I was in a pinch earlier, I had to use it." She tilted her head at one side while looking at his (handsome) face. "Can you tell me why you look like that now, Ruto?"

    "The reason behind this form is almost the same exnation as to why Lewis Crevan turns into an adult when using his full power as a nine-tailed fox," he exined. Did he see Lewis in his adult form earlier? It was possible since they were in the same ce. "The power inside me is too great that if I use it, my young physical body won''t be able to handle it. Thus, once I use my full power, it transforms my body into an adult temporarily. It''s like the bigger the vessel is, the more energy it can store."

    "Ohh," she said. "Our Ruto is now bragging about his strong power, huh?"

    "I need to be at least that strong if I want to stand next to you," he said casually. "But if I could choose, I''d like to continue living as a chef." He patted her head again. "So I hope you don''t get into this kind of trouble again."

    She just smiled because she couldn''t promise that, then she changed the topic.

    "Ruto, you''re amazing," she said, amused. "I don''t see the things you see in me when I look at other people."

    "It''s probably an ability that I got topensate for my inability to recognize faces."

    She let out a deep sigh. "You''re so OP, Ruto," sheined. "I can''t believe you''ve tricked me into believing that you''re weak."

    "I didn''t trick you," he reasoned. "It was you who believed that I''m weak. I just went along with it since it''s not important anyway."

    [It is important!]

    She was too tired to argue so she just let it slide.

    Except for one thing.

    "Why did you pretend that you didn''t know me?" she asked carefully. "You even used to ask for "Neoma Ramsay" after meeting me as the Crown Prince."

    "I did that for you."

    "For me?"

    He nodded before he exined. "I wanted to give you an excuse to dress up as the real you."

    "But I''m already good at making excuses to go and y outside as ''Neoma Ramsay.''"

    He paused for a moment before he spoke again. "I wanted to see you as Neoma Ramsay and not as the Crown Prince. Of course, I can''t see your face. But spending time with you as Neoma Ramsay is more fun than apanying the Crown Prince since we have to be formal with each other."

    She cleared her throat while trying to hide her embarrassment. "You should have just been honest from the start."

    "If you''re done eating, drink water first."

    At this point, she was already used to Ruto''s insensitivity so she just frowned at him.

    But her annoyance was quickly relieved when he stood up and sat next to her.

    [Omo, what''s happening?]

    Without warning, Ruto held her hands and wiped them clean using his handkerchief. Then, he picked up the water vial and opened the lid befor handing it to her.

    She silently drank water while in deep thought.

    [He held my hands and took care of me so naturally, huh? I wonder why I''m not mad even if he invaded my personal space without permission? If it was Trevor, I would have chopped his head off for simply touching my hand.]

    Huh?

    Did it mean she was being biased? Was Ruto her favorite person? But she already gave that title to Lewis. But perhaps¡­

    [If all the boys around me were a Kpop boy group, does it mean Ruto is my bias?]

    She closed the lid of the water vial and put it on the table quietly.

    "Are you still hungry?" Ruto asked, cutting off her thoughts. "I was only able to bring beef jerky since I was in a hurry. Sorry."

    Ah, right.

    [I almost forgot to ask him the most thing I''m curious about.]

    She blinked several times while looking at him. "Why are you here, Ruto?"

    "Because you''re here."

    Okay, that made her heart skip a beat.

    [Don''t blush, don''t blush, don''t blush¡­]

    Gosh, what was with her stupid heart? Thank goodness Ruto couldn''t see her face. She was relieved that he couldn''t see her face turn red.

    "T-That''s suspicious," she used him, cursing herself for stuttering. "How did you know I was here? This is a secret mission."

    "You summoned Veton," he exined as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I can go anywhere my Elemental Guardian is."

    "And you followed Veton because I used it?"

    "You wouldn''t use it if you weren''t in danger."

    "And you followed Veton because you think I was in danger?" she asked teasingly. "Then, is it safe to assume that you''re worried about me?"

    "I''m sorry for not letting you know that I already know your royal secret from the start."

    "Huh? Why are you suddenly apologizing for that?" she asked, confused. "That''s so random, Ruto."

    "You''re upset that I kept it a secret from you. Thus, you''re trying to annoy me right now."

    Wow, she couldn''t believe her bias.

    [I''m ying with you¨C not trying to annoy you, dummy!]

    "Ruto, you''re not an easy man," she said while shaking her head. "You never say the things that I want to hear the most."

    "What do you want to hear from me?"

    "Well, I wanted you topliment my beauty since I will die if I don''t get attention from my face," she said, then she sighed sadly. "But I''m not beautiful anymore. That''s why I''m d that you can''t see my face."

    He didn''t say anything but it looked like he was eager to know what happened to her face.

    So, she held his hand and guided it to her face. To be precise, he put his hand on the burned side of her face. Even if he couldn''t see what her burn mark looked like, she was pretty sure that he could tell what happened through his touch.

    After all, Ruto''s face turned sad.

    "I made a deal with the Devil," she exined with a forced smile on her face. "I had to do this for him to grant my request. You may not see my face but to the people that can, I look ugly now."

    "Do you regret your decision?"

    "I''d like if I say that I don''t. But just a little," she said. "Even if I turn back time, I''d still do it. My revenge is more important than my face."

    He looked at her long and hard before he pulled his hand away from her face. "You should take a nap first."

    Again, that was so random.

    But it wasn''t a bad idea anyway so sheid her head on his shoulder. He froze for a moment before he eventually rxed. She liked his reaction so she smiled while closing her eyes.

    "I had a strange dream, Ruto. Apparently, it was my past life," she said softly. She had to pretend that it was only a dream because she didn''t want to reveal carelessly that she had the memories of her past lives. "In that dream, I was talking to the Commander of the White Lion Knights. He promised me that in his next life, he''d be a chef instead of a knight."

    "Do you think that I was themander in your dream?"

    "Uh-huh."

    "Why?"

    "Because you have purple hair," she said with a pout. "I also had another dream where I saw a man with purple hair."

    "I''m not the only one who has purple hair in the world, am I?"

    She pouted at his logic. "You sound as if you hated the idea that you were themander in my dream so much," sheined. "It was just a dream, okay?"

    He didn''t respond for a couple of seconds that she thought he didn''t want to talk to her anymore.

    She was on the verge of falling asleep when she heard his voice again.

    "Thatmander in your dream," Ruto whispered as if he was talking to himself. "It wasn''t me¡­"

    Neoma, her consciousness being pulled away by darkness, didn''t hear what Ruto said that time.

    <strong>***</strong>

    [THE ZOMBIE and the fox are here.]

    Ruto didn''t waste time and gently carried the sleeping Neoma in his arms. To be honest, keeping her that close to him felt like a sin. After all, he felt bad that he had to lie and keep things from her when they were talking earlier. But he had to for her sake.

    [Let''s not focus on that for now.]

    He summoned Veton and asked his Elemental Guardian to bring him and his princess to where he wanted to be at that moment.

    "Are you dying?" Ruto asked with a raised eyebrow while looking down at the ''thing'' sitting on the ground while leaning against a huge rock. "What happened to you?"

    "Nothing," the Devil said while using his glowing hand to probably treat the bleeding bite marks on his neck. "I was just bitten by arge snake."

    [He''s probably talking about His Majesty''s ck serpent.]

    Judging by how rough the Devil''s appearance was, he could tell that he barely managed to run away from his fight with His Majesty''s Soul Beasts.

    [He lost the fight.]

    "What brings you here?" the Devil asked. "And why did youe here with Princess Neoma?"

    "Change the content of the contract that you made with her."

    "What do you mean by that?"

    "Heal Neoma''s face," he said bluntly. "Put the burn mark on my face instead."

    The burn on Neoma''s face was caused by the Red Dragon''s me.

    Therefore, not even the greatest Healing Sage in the continent could heal it. Thus, the only way to heal the royal princess''s face was to give the burn mark to another person. And he was willing to be that person for her.

    The Devil looked stunned for a minute before he spoke again. "I can''t do that," he said. "Princess Neoma''s beauty is the price that she has to pay for the contract that we formed."

    "You have the authority to change it."

    "If you give me something that has the same value as Princess Neoma''s beauty, then maybe I''ll think about it¨C"

    "I''ll give you the key."

    The Devil''s red eyes glowed in excitement. "Are you talking about THAT key?"

    "Yes," Ruto said while hugging Neoma closer to him. "I''ll give you the key to the other world where Neoma came from."

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 258 - THINGS RUTO HAS TO DO

    [THE BURN stings like hell.]

    Ruto was mad¨C mad that Neoma had to experience something as painful as this just to make a contract with the Devil. If he knew that she would end up needing the help of the Devil, he would have done it in her ce.

    But it was hard to predict Neoma''s actionstely because she was very different from the one that he remembered.

    "I bet you''ll regret thister," the Devil taunted him while happily folding the new contract that he had with Neoma. The content was still the same except for the payment that he had asked in return for lending Her Royal Highness his help. "I heard Princess Neoma likes handsome men. Do you think she''ll look at your way now that your face looks like that?"

    "It''s true that Neoma likes good-looking people," Ruto admitted while looking at Neoma who was still deeply asleep in his arms. "But she''s not a shallow person."

    "It seems like you''re confident that Princess Neoma will still like you."

    He didn''t give the Devil a response because hisment didn''t deserve one from him.

    Moreover, a noisy "guest" had arrived.

    "How dare you change the content of the contract without me and Princess Neoma''s consent!"

    "You''re so loud, Trevor," the Devil scolded the demon that materialized in front of them. "Do you want to wake up Princess Neoma?"

    Trevor just frowned, then he turned to him.

    Ah, it was the demon that he met at the Royal Pce before. Just like him and Neoma, the demon was in his adult form. Or maybe it was Trevor''s real form since he wasn''t human.

    "You''re that creepy Royal Chef, aren''t you?" Trevor confronted him. "I knew that you weren''t normal at first sight." He raised an eyebrow while looking at the burn mark on his face. "Why did you take my Moon Princess''s burn mark? Are you bothered by it?"

    "No," he said even though he really didn''t owe the demon an exnation. "But as long as Neoma is acting as the Crown Prince, she has to be wless. The nobility would bother her if her physical appearance is less than perfect. Although I''m sure that she can handle it on her own, I still don''t want her to go through another unnecessary trouble."

    "Whatever," Trevor said rudely, then he turned to the Devil. "What kind of deal did that chef offer to you?"

    "I believe that''s none of your business, Trevor," the Devil said, then he turned to him. "Where''s the door?"

    Ruto smirked at the Devil. "I only said that I''ll give you the key and I did," he said. "I didn''t say I''ll tell you where the door is, did I?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "CHEF BASTARD, wait for me!"

    Ruto was annoyed.

    First, he was called a "purple bastard" by the Grand Spirit. And now, he was being called a "chef bastard" by a demon.

    "Hey, I said stop!"

    He was forced to stop his sprint when Trevor literally blocked his way.

    That was to be expected when he didn''t use his full speed when he ran away from the Devil. Moreover, he had business with Trevor anyway. He just wanted to talk to the demon alone. Thus, he purposely made him chase him.

    And of course, he didn''t move at full speed because he had to be careful since Neoma was in his arms.

    "Don''t shout. Neoma is still asleep," Ruto scolded Trevor, then he went straight to the point. "How long are you going to act as Prince Nero''s babysitter?"

    "What?"

    "The Devil locked you up when he cursed Prince Nero because he knew that you''re the only one who could treat the Crown Prince," he exined to the demon. "But you don''t have to keep his physical body in your hellhole, do you?"

    "I don''t understand what you''re saying."

    "Just bring your hellhole to the Spirit World."

    "Yeah, right," Trevor said sarcastically. "Why don''t I get killed by the Spirit Queen while I''m at it, huh?"

    "The Spirit Queen won''t kill you since your goal to heal Prince Nero aligns with the Spirit World''s will to protect the Crown Prince," he exined. "Now that Neoma has shown great affinity with the Devil, I''m sure that the Spirit World will choose Nero as their next ruler instead of his twin sister."

    The demon tilted his head at one side. "Why would they choose their next ruler between Prince Nero and Princess Neoma when the Spirit Queen is still alive and kicking¡­" He trailed off, then he snapped his fingers. "Ah. The queen is dying?"

    "I don''t know the details," he said. "But the Spirit World needs their next ruler to sit on the de Moonasterion throne. In that case, the Spirit World''s goal will align with the Crow''s obsession to make a male de Moonasterio the next emperor."

    The demon''s frows burrowed in confusion. "Are you saying that there''s a chance that the Spirit World will join hands with the cult because of theirmon goal?" He paused for a second before shaking his head. "Impossible. William hates the cult."

    "The Grand Spirit is not the Spirit World," he said bluntly. "He doesn''t even have the same authority as the Spirit Queen. He''s just a strong and crazy Spirit whose goal is to kill the de Moonasterios."

    "Even so, Prince Nero will never betray Princess Neoma."

    "That''s why I''m asking you to work with the Spirit World," he said firmly. "Keep an eye on the Spirit Queen while you''re there."

    The demon raised an eyebrow at him. "Hah. It seems like you know what will happen in the future. But how can I trust you?"

    "You don''t have to trust me," he said casually. "You just have to do your job as one of the Pirs."

    Trevor looked shocked by what he said. "How did you know about the Pirs?"

    "You''re the Devil''s Grimoire," Ruto said while summoning Veton to take him and Neoma away from that ce. "I have onest piece of advice for you: read more."

    <strong>***</strong>

    RUTO let out a deep sigh when he found Duke Rufus Quinzel lying on the ground.

    Thankfully, the duke was still alive and it seemed like his wound in the stomach had already stopped bleeding. He didn''t know what kind of expression Duke Quinzel had at the moment. But he was pretty sure that the duke was too disheartened to move.

    "Who are you?" Duke Quinzel askedzily. Then, when he saw Neoma, he abruptly got up. Ah, it seemed like he recognized the royal princess despite her being in an adult form at the moment. "Put Her Royal Highness down."

    "It''s me, Your Grace," Ruto said politely. "I''m Ruto Stroganoff. I''m in my adult form because I used my full power. That''s the same case for Princess Neoma."

    The duke looked at him long and hard while standing up. "I see," he said when he confirmed that he was indeed Ruto Stroganoff. "The fact that you''re here must mean that you''ve already revealed to Princess Neoma that you know her royal secret."

    "I had to."

    "Your face¡­"

    "It just happened," he said because he wasn''tfortable talking about the sacrifice he made. In fact, he would like it if Neoma wouldn''t find out about it. But he shouldn''t be thinking about that at the moment. "Duke Quinzel, I''ve met the former Commander Gavin Quinzel."

    Of course, that was a lie.

    He just knew that the formermander was there. But he hadn''t met him yet because he ran away from the zombie and the fox.

    "Is that so," the duke said, and he looked disheartened once again. "It''s hard for me to ept reality but it seems like I can no longer deny it."

    "You shouldn''t worry about your older brother, Your Grace."

    The duke looked offended by his words. "Ruto, I understand that it''s hard for you to empathize but¨C"

    "The Unholy Shadow Beasts would be confused now that Gavin Quinzel is back," he said, cutting off the duke. He knew that he was being rude. But he was already running out of time. "That means your daughter''s position as the Shadow Technique sessor would be jeopardized. Even if your older brother says that he wouldn''tpete with your daughter, what can Lady Hanna Quinzel do if the Unholy Shadow Beasts still choose Gavin Quinzel as their master?"

    "I know that," the duke said, his jaw clenched. "But I believe in my daughter. I know that she would be able to tame the Unholy Shadow Beasts on her own."

    He let out a sigh.

    Of course, he was aware that Hanna Quinzel was a hidden genius. But simply believing in the heiress wouldn''t be enough.

    "You have to support Lady Hanna Quinzel with all that you''ve got, Your Grace," he said seriously. "Bring her to the Forgotten Graveyard."

    Duke Rufus Quinzel looked understandably shocked. "Are you asking me to kill my daughter? And how did you even know about the ce that only the Quinzels should be aware of?"

    "If you really trust Lady Hanna Quinzel''s ability, then please heed my advice," Ruto said while pulling Neoma closer to him as he prepared to leave. He didn''t have the time to answer all the duke''s questions. "It''s the fastest way for your daughter to be fully recovered," he added. "She needs to awaken as a Pir as soon as possible."

    <strong>***</strong>

    RUTO, with Neoma still in his arms, finally arrived at hisst destination for now: the room where Lewis Crevan and Gavin Quinzel were frantically looking for the royal princess.

    "Hah. I can''t believe you that you grew up a naughty kid, Ruto," Gavin Quinzel said, acting as if they were close. "You purposely left your trace here to make us believe that you and Neoma are in this room, didn''t you?"

    Yeah, he did that.

    But he wasn''t able to respond to the zombie when all of a sudden, Lewis Crevan appeared right in front of his face.

    "Princess Neoma," Lewis Crevan snarled at him. "Give me."

    [Look at this punk. He''s talking incoherently to me.]

    He didn''t have to argue with the fox so he went past him and approached Gavin Quinzel. Then, he gently and carefully handed Neoma to the formermander.

    To be honest, he didn''t want to do that.

    But he had to act like he trusted Gavin Quinzel.

    "Please take care of Neoma, Lord Quinzel," he said politely. "I have something else I have to do."

    Gavin Quinzel, who looked very happy to have Neoma in his arms again, smiled and nodded. "I have a lot of questions for you but it seems like you''re already prepared to run away," he said while giving him a meaningful look. "I''ll catch youter," he said with a light warning in his voice. Then, he smiled at him brightly. "For now, I''ll take care of my daughter."

    He almostughed at what the formermander said.

    But he held back and turned around instead to face Lewis Crevan. Then, he grabbed the fox by the cor and let Veton hit the two of them with a lightning bolt. It was the type of lightning bolt that teleported them to a new room.

    "You," Lewis Crevan snarled at him. "Let go¨C argh."

    The fox wasn''t able to finish his sentence when he pushed him until his back hit the wall. The impact was strong enough to create cracks all over the walls in the room.

    "You''re supposed to be Neoma''s guardian," he said to the fox in an annoyed tone that he rarely used. "Why did you let her go on a rampage? You should have stopped her."

    "Why?" the fox asked coldly. "Princess Neoma told me to not stop her."

    [So, this punk is talking coherently again.]

    "Just because Neoma told you to not stop her doesn''t mean you should follow her," he exined, trying to be as patient as he could. "Do you know what will happen now that Neoma''s affinity with the Devil has been exposed?"

    The fox looked confused by what he said.

    "Neoma''s enemies increased," Ruto said in a firm voice. "But the worst thing that you did was allowing Gavin Quinzel to get to Neoma."

    "Why is it wrong for me to do that?" Lewis Crevan asked suspiciously. "Do you know who the former Commander Gavin Quinzel is?"

    He couldn''t answer that.

    But he could say one thing.

    "Lewis Crevan, listen to me carefully," Ruto said, almost pleading to the fox. "Neoma is His Majesty''s daughter--- whatever timeline it is."

    <strong>***</strong>

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    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 259 - EOTTEOHKE JINAESEYO? (HOW ARE YOU?)

    "ME NOT listen. You."

    Ruto closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

    Lewis Crevan was speaking incoherently again. He had kept an eye on the fox all these years and he noticed that despite being educated, Lewis Crevan would still talk incoherently when he didn''t feel like talking anymore.

    [Neoma, this is the reason why raising a "son" is futile.]

    "You''re not serving Neoma well, Lewis Crevan," Ruto said when he opened his eyes. He didn''t want to be violent but he needed to keep the fox literally pinned to the wall. Thus, he moved fast to approach Lewis Crevan. Then, he pressed his arm against the fox''s throat. "Don''t move or I''ll identally crush your throat."

    The fox snarled at him angrily but he didn''t move.

    Well, he couldn''t. Right now, he was currently crushing the fox with his Mana to keep him in ce. Lewis Crevan was probably feeling like he was being crushed by a mountain. He didn''t want to be this rough to Neoma''s "son" but he had to make him listen to him.

    [And violence is thenguage that Lewis Crevan understood best.]

    "Since I''m older than you, allow me to address you casually, Lewis," he said. Addressing Lewis by his full name was quite tiring. Calling him by his title felt awkward to him since in the past, he was in a higher rank than the child. "And I''ll be brutally honest with you: you suck at taking care of Neoma."

    He fully expected Lewis Crevan to get mad at him.

    But much to his surprise, the fox looked like a child that had been scolded by his parent. He looked confused and scared. To be honest, that poked his conscience.

    "What did I do wrong?" Lewis asked in a scared voice. "Princess Neoma listens to you. If you tell her that I''m bad at my job, is she going to throw me away?"

    Ah, he felt gutted.

    Despite being in an adult form, Lewis looked like a helpless child at the moment. And he felt bad for "bullying" him.

    [A child is still a child, huh?]

    "I''m sorry for being harsh," he said softly, then he removed his arm from Lewis''s throat. "Neoma cares about you a lot, Lewis. You should know by now that she won''t throw you away. Have some confidence."

    "I know that," Lewis argued with a frown. "But Princess Neoma likes you more than she likes me. If you tell her that I''m bad at taking care of her, then she might not find me useful anymore."

    [Neoma likes me more than Lewis?]

    To be honest, hearing that made him happy.

    But on the other hand, it came as a surprise. He had watched Neoma from afar since she was a toddler. And he could tell that Neoma''s most trusted person in the world was Lewis. He wouldn''t do it but he knew that even if he told her that Lewis was "useless," Neoma would punch him in the throat without hesitation.

    "It''s not my intention to insult or belittle you, Lewis," he said calmly, purposely avoiding the topic about who Neoma preferred more between him and the fox. "I chose the wrong words. Once again, I apologize for that."

    The fox just nodded as an acknowledgment of his apology.

    "Lewis, you do know that Neoma can be arrogant and reckless most of the time, don''t you?"

    Again, the fox just nodded as a response.

    "It''s a good thing that you''re loyal and obedient to Neoma," he said carefully. "But blindly following her could be dangerous for the two of you. I understand that you don''t want to disobey her orders. Still, there are times that you have to do so in order to protect her. Sometimes, going against your master is also a way of protecting and cherishing them."

    The fox''s lowered his gaze to the floor. "Should I have stopped Princess Neoma earlier¡­?"

    "Ideally, yes," he said. "But I understand that it would have been hard to do so since Neoma is currently going through a process called ''Lunacy.''"

    "Then, what should have I done in a situation like that?"

    "You should have grabbed her hand and followed her," he said right away. "Because I would."

    The fox boy raised his head to meet his gaze.

    [He looked like a puppy that has been abused by his owner.]

    "Lewis, you''re doing a good job as Neoma''s knight and number one protector," he said gently. "But you should be more than that. You need to be Neoma''s confidant. And that means you should call her out when you think she''s being out of the line. Support her, but don''t spoil her. She acts like a grown-up but deep inside, she still has an immature side to her. I know that you''re also a child. But I believe that you can make wise decisions when ites to Neoma''s safety." He put his hand on the fox''s shoulder. "Scold her if you need to and don''t hold back."

    "What if Princess Neoma hates me if I scold her?"

    "That won''t happen," he assured him while patting his shoulder. "Neoma treasures you more than you think, Lewis."

    "Why do you speak like you know Princess Neoma very well?" the fox asked curiously. "You''ve only personally gotten close to her a little over a year ago. Moreover, it seems like you know everything."

    "I don''t know everything," he said. "But I can''t also speak of the things that I know. So please don''t ask questions, Lewis."

    "It''s unfair."

    "I know," he admitted while nodding. "I''m running my mouth and yet, I can''t give you the answers that you seek."

    The fox let out a sigh while giving him a very judgmental look. "This is why Princess Neoma often says that you don''t say the things that she wants to hear from you."

    He almost smiled when he heard that. "It''s good to know that Neoma talks about me often."

    "Why are you only supporting Princess Neoma now?"

    "Because only now did Neoma need my help."

    "You''re acting sus."

    ["Sus?"]

    He almostughed at the term that Lewis used.

    [Neoma, you influence your "son" too much.]

    "It''s great that you don''t trust me fully, Lewis," he praised the child. "You can''t trust anyone else in this world other than your "mother." Having said that, I wish you''d follow my advice and be a more dependable friend to Neoma."

    The fox remained silent for a while that he thought he wouldn''t speak anymore. But fortunately, he was wrong.

    "Then, is it okay¡­" Lewis began carefully. "Is it okay if I stopped acting like Princess Neoma''s obedient "son" and start acting like a man¨C"

    "No. Neoma is only nine years old right now," Ruto said with a smile on his face. "I''ll strike you with my lightning bolt if you make a move on a child, Lewis Crevan."

    <strong>***</strong>

    WHEN NEOMA opened her eyes, she thought she was already in heaven.

    Well, technically, she could tell that she was lying on a sofa inside a dark room. But it didn''t matter because of the person kneeling beside her while holding her hand.

    [Appa¡­?]

    The man''s face hovering over her looked like her dad from her second life. But the hair and eye color that the man had were different from her appa''s.

    [ck hair and golden eyes¡­]

    "Commander Gavin Quinzel," Neoma whispered in a hoarse voice. Then, she touched the doodle on her neck and summoned Mini Skewer. After that, she pressed the de against the man''s throat. Thest thing she remembered was her talking to Ruto. But if she woke up with a man who looked like her appa, then it could only mean one thing. "Gosh, Gin. Don''t you know by now that your illusions don''t work on me?"

    She expected the ck cat to appear out of nowhere. But she was met with silence. Plus, she just realized that the man''s neck was already bleeding.

    [His body and blood are both warm as if he''s a real person¡­]

    "Neoma, I''m not an illusion," the man said with a familiar smile on his face. Then, he stood up and sat beside her. "Agi, eotteohke jinae?"

    She gasped when the man spoke Korean!

    He only asked her "how are you" but for some reason, she already believed that this was her appa. Before she knew it, she already dropped Mini Skewer (that returned to her body as a doodle). Then, she covered her mouth with her hands as she began to cry.

    "Neoma, geudongahn jal itsseotso?" her appa asked. This time, her dad wanted to know if she had been doing well since the two of them had been apart. "Oh raen man eya."

    It meant "it had been a long time."

    "Nae, appa. Oh raen man e eh yo," she said between sobs. It meant: ''Yes, father. It''s been a long time.'' "Neomu bogoshipoyo."

    [Trantion: I missed you so much.]

    "Na do," her appa said while wiping her tears off of her face with his big and warm hands. "Nado bogosipeo, sweetie."

    [Trantion: Me, too. I missed you, too.]

    She bawled like a child while clinging to her appa.

    Her dad gently wrapped her in his arms while patting her back¨C consoling her like how he did back in their world. She buried her face in her appa''s chest and continued crying her heart out. Ah, now she was certain that this man was the dad that she knew and loved back in her second life.

    Of course, she had so many questions in her head.

    Howe her appa came here as Commander Gavin Quinzel when themander was supposed to be dead in this world?

    "Have you calmed down, Neoma?" her appa asked gently. "When did you be such a crybaby, sweetie?"

    She raised her head and cried even harder upon seeing her appa''s face again. "Appa, your daughter is a mass murderer now," she confessed between sobs. "I was so angry that I wasn''t able to stop myself from killing all the evil people in the camp. I''m sorry. You raised me preciously as a good daughter but I''ve be a ruthless killer here¡­"

    "You don''t have to apologize to me, agi," her appa said gently. "I used to be themander of the biggest Order of the Knights in the whole empire, Neoma. I''ve killed more people than I was able to save. I have no moral ascendancy over you, so you don''t have to say sorry to me." He gently caressed her face and gave him a warm smile. "Moreover, I know that you didn''t kill those people for fun."

    She couldn''t control the hups that came out of her mouth. "Appa¡­"

    "You''re not the evil one here, Neoma," her dad said with a sad smile on his face. "You should have realized by now that the de Moonasterios are the real root of evil on the continent."

    She was surprised to hear that from her appa. "I didn''t see it that way," she said, confused. "All this time, I thought I became the viiness here."

    But her appa was correct.

    She had always known that the de Moonasterios couldn''t possibly be good and innocent. Real talk: her father and her ancestors were colonizers. The Royal Family had invaded territories and killed many people to be able to expand the empire.

    It was a hard pill to swallow but yes, the de Moonasterios could be considered as "evil."

    [If what Trevor told me about the male Rosehearts is true, then it only means that the de Moonasterios are worse than what I thought.]

    And if her Papa Boss knew all of that...

    [Let''s not think about Papa Boss for now.]

    Her appa fell silent for a while before he spoke again. "Neoma, do you want to go back?"

    "Go back where, appa?"

    "Korea," her appa said, then he held her hands. "Neoma, let''s go home."

    Neoma''s brows furrowed in confusion. "There''s a way to leave this world and return to Korea, appa?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    NIKOLAI knew that the "Mona" that he followed was nothing but a mere illusion created by the Devil to make him lose consciousness.

    Nevertheless, he followed "Mona" in the garden that they often visited in the past.

    He wasn''t worried about his physical body because he knew that his Soul Beasts would protect him. To be honest, he knew that what he was doing was stupid and reckless. Still, he knew that it was something that he had to do.

    "Mona, I have something to ask you," Niki said to the image of Mona standing in front of him while they were in the middle of a garden. Of course, the illusion before him couldn''t justify the real Mona''s beauty and grace. But it would do. "Will it be okay if I love Neoma and Nero more than I love you?" The image didn''t respond as expected. It may be one of the reasons why he smiled sadly. "Will you forgive me if this time, I choose our children over you?"

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 260 - THE EMPRESS MAKER

    <strong></strong>"I WILL find a way for us to be able to return to Korea, sweetie."

    That was a tempting offer.

    But Neoma''s heart didn''t waver.

    Of course, she''d love to return to her peaceful life with her eomma and appa. She still hoped to be ady of leisure in the future. But after discovering that the Royal Family was a scum as a whole, she knew that she couldn''t just run away.

    "Appa, I''m sorry but I can''t return to Korea right now even if there''s a way to do so," Neoma said in a sad yet firm voice. "Plus, I made a contract with Lord Yule."

    Her appa''s eyes widened in shock. "What kind of contract?"

    "I shall be the first empress of this godforsaken empire, appa," she said, shocking her dad. "I must also retrieve Lord Yule''s missing eyes."

    "Agi."

    "Nae, appa?"

    "When did you grow up this much?" her dad said in a kind of emotional voice. "You even have a boyfriend now."

    "Boyfriend?"

    "Ruston Stroganoff," her appa said. "He was the one who brought you to me."

    "Ruto is not my boyfriend, appa," she said, hoping that her cheeks didn''t turn red although she could feel her face getting warm. But why would she blush in the first ce? "Appa, I only look like a grown-up because of the power that I used. But my physical body in this world is still a child. Getting a boyfriend at my current age isn''t my priority."

    Her dad chuckled while gently patting her head. "I know, agi. I''m just messing with you. Moreover, I won''t easily let Ruston Stroganoff off the hook if he made a move on you when you''re just a baby."

    "I''m a child, not a baby, appa," sheined yfully. [And if I think about it, it seems like I''m the one making a move on Ruto all this time.]

    God.

    That boy could really shatter her ego effortlessly.

    "Your face finally lit up, Neoma," her appa said softly. "You were so serious earlier that I almost didn''t recognize my bright daughter."

    Ah, so that was why her appa teased her about having a boyfriend.

    [Appa wanted to cheer me up.]

    She smiled at her dad. "Thank you, appa. I feel better now."

    "Dahaeng ida," her appa said in Korean, expressing that he was relieved to know that she felt better now. "Although I didn''t want to be indebted to the Devil, I have to say that I''m d that he revived me in this world."

    "It was the Devil who revived you, appa?" she asked, surprised. "He was also the one who revived Aunt Nichole."

    "The Devil is a known necromancer," her appa exined. "But unlike the others, he could bring people back to life without having them turn into monsters. That''s why the people who worship him treat him like a god. The gods take that as an insult. Therefore, they made him their worst nemesis."

    She wasn''t surprised to hear that, but she was still disappointed.

    The gods that governed their continent might be out of their minds.

    "But appa, why do you think the Devil revived you?" she asked curiously. "Is it rted to their will to make me sit on the throne? Did the Devil know that I''m your daughter back in my previous life?"

    "I believe that the Devil''s main objective for reviving me is to make me fight against His Majesty," her dad said. "As you expected, I also think that the Devil knows about our connection."

    "You also seem to know that this is already my third life, appa," she said. "You have the memories of your life as the formermander back when we were in Korea. Does it mean my eomma is Lady Mona Roseheart in her previous life?"

    The sad smile that her father gave her looked like a confirmation.

    "Appa, why did you and eomma keep it from me?" she asked, quite sad. "I also have the memories of my previous life back then."

    "We just didn''t see the point of telling you, agi," her appa said in an apologetic voice. "Your eomma and I wanted to give you a normal life. Did we make the wrong decision?"

    She gently shook her head. "The life that I had with you and eomma is what I consider my best life, appa. It doesn''t matter who you were or what you and eomma did in your previous lives. All that matters to me is that you gave me a warm home and a happy family." She smiled and this time, she wasn''t forcing it. "Thank you for raising me preciously. I willplete my job in this world as soon as I can. After that, let''s think of a way to return to Korea." She held her appa''s hands and squeezed them gently. "Can you wait for me until then, appa?"

    "You didn''t have to ask, agi," her appa said gently. "Of course, I will wait for you. I''m sure your eomma is also waiting for us to return."

    That came as a surprise to her.

    [Right. Lady Mona Roseheart is already gone in this world. But my eomma is still alive when I died in my second life.]

    "Appa, what happened when I died?" she asked curiously. "I died while having a live stream. My viewers were shocked, weren''t they?"

    "You didn''t die, Neoma."

    Her eyes widened in shock. "I didn''t die?"

    "You fell into aatose state after getting poisoned from the bad coconut wine that you drank. Your eomma and I have been taking care of you in the hospital since then," her appa exined. "Moreover, time flows differently here. It may have been years since your soul returned to this world. But before I was summoned by the Devil, only eight months have passed since you wereatose."

    She was too shocked to react.

    Of course, she was shocked to learn that her physical body in Korea was still alive when she was already living a new life in this world. That meant there were two "Neomas" existing at the moment. She could only think of one exnation for that.

    [Parallel universe¡­?]

    "I know what you''re thinking, Neoma," her dad said gently. "But there''s only one you. Your soul left your physical body in Korea and entered your physical body in this world when you were summoned here."

    "Is that the same case for you, appa?"

    "I believe so," her dad said, then he sighed. "That''s why I can''t wait to return to Korea. Your eomma must be worried sick now that I''ve also fallen into aatose state."

    So when the former Commander Gavin Quinzel and Lady Mona Roseheart died in this world, their souls went to the bodies of the eomma and appa of her second life? She was still wrapping her head around that idea but it kind of made sense.

    To be honest, she still had so many questions regarding what her appa exined about her physical body in Korea.

    But she also knew that it could wait.

    "I must be the empress as soon as possible to be able to return home," she said determinedly.

    "That''s right, agi."

    "Appa, can''t you return to the empire as a Quinzel? Being with the Devil will make you the empire''s enemy," she said. "I''m currently posing as Nero so if you remain by the Devil''s side, it will be hard for us tomunicate¡­"

    "Hard but not impossible," her dad said. "Neoma, I will support you in secret. I don''t want to jeopardize your current position in the empire. We must hide our connection."

    She nodded eagerly. "I understand, appa."

    Her appa held her shoulders. "Neoma, listen to me. You need to strengthen your power and influence over the nobility and themoners as early as now."

    "I''m already doing that, appa."

    "No. You''re building up Prince Nero''s power and not yours," her dad said sternly. "Doing remarkable things while pretending as the Crown Prince will only strengthen your twin brother''s position, Neoma."

    "But I can''t reveal my identity yet¡­"

    "I''m not asking you to reveal your identity to the public, agi," he said softly. "But I want you to gather allies that know your real identity as the only royal princess of the empire."

    "But the crow¡­"

    "The crow already knows that His Majesty has a hidden daughter," her appa said. "After all, they only gain power every time a royal princess is born in the empire. But as far as I can tell, you''re being protected by several entities. They are the reason why the crows haven''t realized yet that you''re the royal princess that they''re hunting down."

    "Oh," she said, pleasantly surprised. "I wonder who or what it is that protect me."

    "I wish I could tell you but I also don''t know," her appa said, then he changed the topic. "Neoma, if you find a dependable and trustworthy ally, don''t hesitate to reveal your real identity to that person. There are ways to make them keep your secret anyway. But if they happen to betray you, don''t worry about it." Her dad smiled brightly. "I will dly get rid of them for you."

    It was weird that the sweet and gentle appa she knew would say things like that.

    But then again, he was still the formermander of the White Lion Knights. It was pretty normal for the knights in that world to kill people for those they served.

    "Okay, appa," she said, then she gasped when she remembered something. "Appa, I need to harvest the souls of the red foxes that I promised my new friend."

    "New friend?"

    "A Grim Reaper called ''Mr. Eight.''"

    Her appaughed softly, then he pulled her for another warm and tight hug. "My agi is really the best."

    Neoma smiled and hugged her father back. "Because my appa is also the best."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOU''VE PUSHED yourself too hard this time, Ruto."

    Ruto took a deep breath after coughing up blood a while ago.

    Thankfully, it happened after he left Lewis Crevan in the room. He was on his way to check on His Majesty when his body gave up and returned to its original form. Right now, he was seated on the ground while leaning against the tree and catching his breath.

    "If you''re going to go this far for Princess Neoma, you should have just told her everything," Veton, now in the form of a small bird, said while sitting on his shoulder. "You even left her in the care of Gavin Quinzel."

    "I have to act normal in front of the formermander," Ruto said defensively. "I don''t want him to get suspicious of me."

    Because if he caught Gavin Quinzel''s attention, the formermander might investigate him. Although it was unlikely for his secret to be discovered, he still wanted to be careful. He must protect Neoma from the shadow master.

    "I can''t let Gavin Quinzel know that I know the door to the other world that he came from," he said softly. "I must keep the door hidden until it''s time for Neoma to leave this world."

    Veton let out a sigh. "If only you could tell Neoma what you know¡­"

    "I could, but I would lose the memories of my past life. That was the rule," Ruto reminded his Elemental Guardian, then he closed his eyes to rest for a moment. "It sucks but I can only do the bare minimum to help Neoma at the moment¡­"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "NEOMA, are you okay?"

    "Gwaenchanayo, appa," Neoma said while catching her breath, then she looked at her small and frail arms. "I returned to my chibi form."

    By "chibi form," she meant her original appearance as a nine-year-old child.

    After harvesting the souls of the red foxes that Lisica and Rustin Crevan were guarding, she felt her Mana deplete. Then, she turned back to her original form.

    [Farewell, young adult Neoma¡­]

    ""Appa?"" Lisica "whispered" to Rustin Crevan. "What does it mean?"

    "I don''t know, my queen," Rustin Crevan "whispered" back. "But the little princess speaks differentnguages so¡­"

    She turned to the two nine-tailed foxes and smiled at them. "Queen Lisica, Lord Rustin, you may now return. I will summon you again if I need you."

    Lisica and Rustin Crevan looked like they were about toin.

    But all of a sudden, the two Spirits were pierced by identical dark spears through their chests. Then, Lisica and Rustin Crevan burst into a cloud of thick smoke and disappeared.

    [Those ck spears looked like shadows¡­]

    She turned to her appa who was smiling warmly at her. "It was you, appa. Why did you have to do that to Queen Lisica and Lord Rustin?"

    "Neoma, don''t address them formally," her appa scolded her lightly. "You''re higher in rank than those Spirits."

    She wasn''tfortable with what her appa said.

    But she let it slide because she knew that her dad had a point. Moreover, Lewis entered the room and approached them.

    "Princess Neoma, Curtis Smit is still in the ce where we saw him earlier," Lewis reported to her. "But he''s already killed by the former Princess Royal."

    "Deserved," she said. "But I need to harvest Curtis Smit''s soul for Mr. Eight," she added, then she turned to her dad. "Appa, will you go with us?"

    "That might not be a good idea," her appa said apologetically. "I can feel the Pdins'' Mana to the ce you''re headed to. I''ll just hide in the shadows and follow you."

    She nodded and embraced her appa again. "See youter, appa."

    Her appa kissed the top of her head. "See youter, agi."

    After saying farewell to her dad, she and Lewis headed to the room where theyst saw Curtis Smit and her Aunt Nichole.

    Like what her appa said, the Pdins were indeed there.

    And so were Juris Wisteria, Jeno Dankworth, and her new baby Greko.

    [But why aren''t they moving?]

    She soon realized why.

    Everything faded in the background when she saw the scene that made the Pdins and her "children" freeze.

    Princess Nichole just ripped Madam Hammock''s heart out of her chest while Saint Dominic Zavaroni only stood and watch it happen.

    [No!]

    Neoma cried and ran towards the Healing Sage. "Madam Hammock!"

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 261 - LONG OVERDUE REVENGE

    JURI WISTERIA was starting to get worried.

    She and the others couldn''t enter the fortress because of the strong barriers around it. Yes, there were at least three barriers around the fortress at the moment. No one could enter it but people inside were free toe out.

    A while ago, Duke Jasper Hawthorne and his butler came out leading (estimated) a hundred children behind him. Since there were also children from the tower that needed medical assistance, they divided their group into two.

    Sir Geoffrey Kinsley, Lady Jeanne Audley, and Greko went back to the tower to care for the children left in there. Since there were only a few kids left in the tower, Sir Geoffrey Kinsley said that the three of them would be enough. Greko would serve as the group''s Healer.

    Her grandmother Madam Hammock was the one leading their group (the one assigned to take care of the children from the fortress). The members of their group were her, Jeno Dankworth, and Sir Dion Skelton. And since Duke Jasper Hawthorne and his butler were already there, the two became and additional members of their group.

    "The barrier has weakened," Jeno Dankworth, standing beside her, whispered to her. "The giant gate that I saw when I checked the sky earlier also disappeared."

    Ah, right.

    A while ago, Jeno rode on his cloud and soared high to survey the situation from above. ording to him, he saw a giant gate in the sky. But he said it was covered with a cloud of thick smoke so he didn''t really see what the gate was for.

    "Do you think you can smash the barrier this time?" the young lord asked, then he turned to her. "You''re good at breaking things, barbaricdy."

    "If it has weakened, I think I can break it¡­" Juri trailed off, then she red at Jeno and grabbed him by the cor. "What did you just call me, you cloud punk?"

    "Juri, dear, can you really break the barrier now?"

    She immediately let go of Jeno''s cor and turned around to face her grandmother.

    Just like what she noticed earlier, there was a strange look on her grandmother''s face. It was like a mix of worry and fear. Moreover, her grandmother kept looking up ever since the ck Phoenix appeared. But even when the mythical bird disappeared, her grandmother still kept on checking the sky as if she was afraid that it would appear again.

    "Grandma, is everything alright?" she asked worriedly. "You look pale. Did treating the children take a toll on your health?"

    After her grandmother gave medical assistance to children who needed it, Duke Jasper Hawthorne and his butler guided the children to a safer ce. She heard that the young duke would meet up with Sir Geoffrey Kinsley and Lady Jeanne Audley at the tower.

    Apparently, Sir Geoffrey Kinsley already called for reinforcement.

    "I''m alright, dear," her grandmother assured her with a weak smile on her face. "But I''m really worried about the p-princess."

    It was strange to hear her grandmother stutter.

    [I think this is the first time that I heard Grandma stammer like that¡­]

    "Juri," her grandmother said, then she held her by the shoulders. "Can you do it?"

    She nodded hesitantly. It wasn''t because she wasn''t confident with her ability. She was just worried because her grandmother was acting strange. "I can do it, Grandma."

    Well, she needed help.

    The fortress was big so she couldn''t break it on her own.

    She turned to Sir Dion Skelton, the quiet Pdin. To be honest, she was about to ask for his help but it wasn''t needed anymore. After all, Sir Dion Skelton already pulled out his sword.

    [As expected of a Pdin.]

    "Don''t worry, Grandma," Juri assured Madam Hammock with a smile. "We will save Her Royal Highness as soon as possible."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "IS THERE something on my face?" Neoma asked Lewis while they were walking in the hallway leading to the room where shest saw Curtis Smit. The fortress seemed like it was empty now. Thus, the silence. Well, if someone was using a barrier, then it was also possible that the room that they were headed to had turned "soundproof." "You can''t take my eyes off of on me, you know?"

    Lewis, who had already turned back into his original (child) form as well, tilted his head at one side. "You cut your hair?"

    It was weird that it was the only thing that Lewis noticed.

    Come to think of it, even her appa didn''t ask about what happened to her face earlier. Were the two trying to protect her feelings?

    "Aren''t you going to ask about what happened to my face?" she asked, then she smiled sadly before touching the burn mark on her face. "It''s okay to ask, Lewis¡­"

    She trailed off, then shepletely went silent.

    The other side of her face that was supposed to be burnt was¡­ smooth and clear?

    "Lewis, my face," she asked curiously. "How does it look?"

    "Pretty."

    "I already know that," she said. Well, her ego was boosted when her son praised her beauty. But it wasn''t the time to be vain. "I''m asking if you can see the huge burn mark on my face."

    Her son looked confused, then he shook his head. "There''s no burn mark on your face, Princess Neoma."

    She was rendered speechless while her brain worked overtime.

    [The burn mark disappeared? But how? Why? Did the Devil retract the contract? If that was what happened, I''ll kill that bitch.]

    "Have you seen Trevor, Lewis?" she asked, then she clicked her tongue. "Just where is that annoying brat when I need him?"

    "You need him?" Lewis asked in a hurt tone. "But I''m here¡­"

    Ah.

    Was her son being jealous?

    "How cute," she said, then she gently pinched Lewis''s cheeks. "But yes, I need Trevor because he''s the one who can help me at the moment. Don''t be jealous, Lulu."

    Calling Lewis by the pet name that they came up with seemed to improve his mood.

    [Good.]

    "Let''s go, Lewis," Neoma said, then she let go of Lewis''s cheeks to stretch her arms. "Let''s harvest Curtis Smit''s soul and call it a night."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "DOMINIC."

    "Hmm?"

    Nichole smiled bitterly when she recognized the olddy running in her direction. She was alone, but she could feel several strong Mana behind. That meant they would have morepanyter. But for now, the old woman was all hers. "Didn''t I tell you earlier that aside from the Royal Family, it was my doctor whom I trusted that hurt me the most?"

    Dominic Zavaroni nodded, his eyes fixed on Madam Hammock. Then, he turned to her with a smile on his face. "Is it Madam Judy Hammock?" he asked carefully. "The renowned Healing Sage in the empire?"

    She nodded, her smile disappearing as the Healing Sage approached her. "She didn''t only fail to support me during the time that I needed a friend the most," she whispered bitterly. "She also stole something from me."

    The former saint didn''t say anything. It wasn''t because he had nothing to say. He kept his mouth shut because the Healing Sage was already in front of them.

    She clenched her hands tight until her nails dug deep into her skin. The anger that she felt towards Madam Hammock was greater than the rage that she had for the Royal Family. Maybe it was because she trusted the Healing Sage the most.

    And also¡­

    "If she didn''t steal that thing from me, I could have called you," she whispered to Dominic as she walked past him to approach Madam Hammock.

    "P-Princess Nichole¡­" Madam Hammock said softly. There was a mix of relief and fear in her eyes. Eyes that looked like two pieces of marbles because of the tears that made the orbs look sparkly. "You''re really alive¡­"

    She chuckled bitterly. "I bet you would have preferred it I died," she said, then she leaned down to whisper in Madam Hammock''s ear. "Then, the crime that you and your householdmitted would be buried forever. Isn''t that right, you goddamn thief?"

    Ah, that felt refreshing.

    She pulled away from Madam Hammock to see her expression. To be honest, she expected the madam to look scared and guilty. But she was taken aback when she saw sadness and regret on Madam Hammock''s face as she cried silently.

    "I know that I don''t deserve your forgiveness, Princess Nichole," Madam Hammock said, then she fell on her knees and bowed her head until her forehead hit the floor. "But allow me to say that I''ve regretted the harmful things that I''ve done to you in the past, Your Royal Highness. I''m sorry, I really am. I was blinded by my greed back then¡­"

    "I don''t care about your reason, and the harm was already done," Nichole said coldly. She didn''t live as the Devil''s substitute all these years just to ept the apology of the bastards that hurt her in the past. She wanted blood, not peace. Because the blood of the people that wronged her was the only thing that could give her peace of mind. "Madam Hammock, you''ll pay with your life."

    <strong>***</strong>

    JURI WISTERIA, along with Jeno and the Pdins that arrived when the barrier was broken, immediately ran after her grandmother.

    She didn''t know why her grandmother was in a haste. But she thought the Healing Sage knew where Princess Neoma was. Thus, afraid that something terrible had happened to the royal princess, she ran after her grandmother. It seemed like Jeno and the Pdins were also thinking of the same thing.

    But when they arrived at the room where her grandmother rushed to, the scene that greeted her made her freeze in shock and fear.

    [Grandma¡­ no¡­]

    The former Princess Royal had her hand pierced through her grandmother''s chest. And when Princess Nichole pulled her hand back, she saw her grandmother''s heart in the Princess Royal''s hand.

    Her heart thumped against her chest painfully.

    The soft thud that her grandmother''s body made when it hit the floor snapped her out of her trance.

    Her anger got the better of her.

    She screamed at the top of her lungs whileunching an attack. With her sledgehammer in her hand, she approached Princess Nichole with anger. Just when she thought she could hit the Princess Royal with her weapon, she suddenly found herself mid-air¡­

    ¡­ and a scepter was pierced through her chest, barely missing her heart.

    She dropped her sledgehammer on the floor, her body still suspended in the air.

    [No, I can''t die here...]

    She red at the man who threw the scepter at her. She wasn''t sure if she was being delusional from pain or what. After all, she recognized the man as Saint Dominic Zavaroni.

    But how could the saint be there?

    And why would she attack her?

    [Perhaps... is His Holiness protecting Princess Nichole?]

    "Stop!"

    Juri turned in the direction where she heard Princess Neoma''s angry yet devastating cry.

    [Ah, Princess Neoma is angry...]

    She noticed at least three different colors of energy bursting out of Princess Neoma''s small frame. Then, the whole room suddenly felt heavy. The next thing she knew, she already fell on the floor, her hands and knees touching it.

    It felt like she was being crushed by a mountain.

    And she wasn''t the only one who experienced that.

    Everyone in the room, including Princess Nichole and Saint Dominic Zavaroni, were kneeling in front of Princess Neoma. All of them were being crushed by the tremendous Manaing out of the royal princess''s body.

    [I think this is the first time that I think Princess Neoma is deadly and frightening.]

    "I thought I was the only one insane here," Princess Neoma, her eyes now glowing red, said in a cold and angry voice. "Just what the hell is going on here?!"

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 262 - [Bonus ] SIR GLENN DIARIES

    IF GLENN had a choice, he would have traveled by horse.

    But he was still a noble, and he was going to visit the Hazelden Kingdom as Princess Brigitte''s suitor. Thus, he had to use fancy carriages. Yes, aside from the one that he was using, three more carriages were following him behind. The other coaches carried the gifts that he prepared for his lover and her family.

    Even though House Exton already disowned him a long time ago, he had still a vast amount of wealth. Being His Majesty''s personal knight paid really well after all.

    [I wonder what His Majesty is doing right now¡­]

    He wasn''t really worried about His Majesty that much because the emperor had Princess Neoma now. Although His Majesty and Her Royal Highness would often bicker, he could tell that the two had gotten closer now.

    "It''s a nice development," Glenn whispered to himself while looking outside the window of the carriage. He was alone inside the carriage. Thus, he was enjoying the scenic view of the route they were taking as a means to kill boredom. "I can''t believe that His Majesty and Princess Neoma are starting to act like a normal father and daughter."

    Now he couldn''t help but reminisce the past when Princess Neoma was still a baby¡­

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOUR MAJESTY, I''m handing my resignation letter now," Glenn said cheerfully, then he ced the neatly folded letter on top of His Majesty''s table. "I''d like to apply as Prince Nero''s personal knight instead¨C ahh Your Majesty!"

    He screamed in surprise because as soon as his resignation letter hit the table, the corner of the letter suddenly lit up until it was burned to ashes.

    "I''ll pretend this didn''t happen," His Majesty said without even looking up at the document he was reading at the moment. "Stop with the nonsense and get back to work, Glenn."

    "Your Majesty, I''m serious," he said in a polite yet impatient tone. Well, it wasn''t really polite. But as long as the emperor hadn''t drawn his sword yet, that meant he hadn''t crossed the line. "I want to be Prince Nero''s personal knight."

    It had only been three days since Lady Mona Roseheart left Prince Nero in His Majesty''s care. Thus, His Majesty was yet toplete assigning servants to take care of the royal prince.

    [But at least, he gave Prince Nero a name.]

    Come to think of it, if he remembered it correctly, he believed that His Majesty and Lady Roseheart already came up with a name for their child when the two were still on good terms.

    [If it''s a boy, they would name it ''Nero.'' And if it''s a girl¡­]

    Ah, he couldn''t remember it.

    [I guess it''s no longer important since the child is a boy.]

    "You''re the vicemander of the White Lion Knights," the emperor reminded him sternly. "Why would you waste your time guarding a baby?"

    "It''s not just an ordinary baby, Your Majesty," he insisted. "I can''t believe that you keep Prince Nero hidden in the Luna Pce instead of the nco Pce with average royal knights even though he''s our future Crown Prince."

    The emperor smirked. "Are you sure that that little thing will be the future Crown Prince?"

    "Well¡­ not unless you n to have another child with a newdy¨C"

    His Majesty raised his head to re at him. "Do you want me to marry you off to a foreign princess in a farawaynd so I wouldn''t hear your nonsense again, huh?"

    He bowed immediately. "I apologize, Your Majesty."

    The emperor scoffed. "You don''t sound sorry at all."

    He was about to apologize once again when they heard a soft knock on the door. Of course, he was surprised since no one was supposed toe in the emperor''s office without prior notice. It also couldn''t be Kyle Sprouse since the count was currently busy gathering the nobles that His Majesty needed to have a talk with in secret.

    [I didn''t feel the intruder''s presence¡­ but would an intruder politely knock on the door?]

    "Calm down," His Majesty said when he noticed him reaching for his sword. "It''s just Ruston Stroganoff."

    "Ruston Stroganoff?" he asked, surprised. [His Majesty is amazing for recognizing that it''s the child even though he barely has any presence at all.]

    "Yes, the young genius that was able to summon an Elemental Guardian at age three."

    "I know who he is, Your Majesty," he said politely. "I''m just wondering why he''s here."

    Ruston Stroganoff was living in the pce with his father, the Executive Chef of the emperor.

    But he didn''t know that His Majesty had gotten close to the child.

    "What are you standing there for, Glenn?" His Majesty scolded him. "Tell the child toe in."

    Glenn nodded politely. "Yes, Your Majesty."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "THERE''S a bald baby in House Roseheart''s rose garden, Your Majesty."

    Glenn almost choked when he heard what Ruston Stroganoff reported to the emperor. Aside from that, he was worried about the child''s safety for mentioning House Roseheart. It was practically a forbidden word in the Royal Pce!

    [Your Majesty, please have mercy on the child!]

    He subtly turned his head to observe His Majesty who was still seated behind the table. Much to his relief, the emperor didn''t look angry.

    "A bald baby?" His Majesty asked the child calmly. "How did you find the baby?"

    "I wasn''t the one who found the baby," Ruston Stroganoff said. For a four-year-old child, he spoke clearly. "It was Veton, Your Majesty. My Elemental Guardian told me that she found a bald baby in the garden while she was in a stroll."

    [She? The Elemental Guardian is a female? And it goes on a stroll like an ordinary bird?]

    Well, he once saw Veton transform into a small bird so it was usible.

    "Veton said the baby''s thin hair is unique because it''s white."

    His eyes widened when he heard that from the child.

    This time, even His Majesty had a serious look on his face.

    "The baby also has a paleplexion," Ruston Stroganoff continued casually. "Lastly, the baby has big and round ash-gray eyes."

    He gasped when he heard those descriptions.

    White hair, paleplexion, ash-gray eyes¡­

    Those were the three major traits that anyone with royal blood in them would inherit! If that baby was found in the garden of the Roseheart''s manor, could it be¡­

    [Prince Nero''s twin sibling¡­?]

    "Glenn."

    Glenn flinched when he heard His Majesty''s cold voice. But he quickly fixed his posture and bowed to the emperor. "I await for your order, Your Majesty."

    "Glenn, don''t tell anyone about this yet," His Majesty ordered firmly. "I''m heading to House Roseheart alone."

    <strong>***</strong>

    GLENN made a deal with His Majesty.

    If the emperor didn''te out of the Roseheart''s manor in fifteen minutes, he and the other Pdins would follow him inside.

    But they didn''t have to wait for fifteen minutes.

    As soon as they felt a dark energy burst, he and his fellow Pdins stormed to the manor''s garden to check on His Majesty.

    The scene that greeted them was quite shocking.

    His Majesty was unconscious on the ground, as well as Lady Mona Roseheart and Commander Gavin Quinzel. When they approached His Majesty, thedy and themander suddenly turned into ashes.

    Then, they heard a baby cry.

    Since he and his fellow Pdins were busy checking on His Majesty, they didn''t notice the baby until it cried.

    Jeanne rushed to the baby and gently carried them in her arms. She carefully opened the white cloth wrapped around the royal baby. Probably to check the gender of the toddler. "It''s a girl," she said when she turned to them. "The baby is a royal princess."

    Glenn''s heart broke when he heard that because he was suddenly reminded of what happened to thete Princess Nichole.

    [A royal princess in this empire is only destined to suffer¡­]

    <strong>***</strong>

    GLENN already expected it but he was still sad when His Majesty didn''t even give the royal princess a second nce.

    His Majesty was in a bad mood when he woke up. After he exined to His Majesty what happened earlier and how they found the royal princess, the emperor''s mood turned worse. Then, he got up and headed to the door.

    "Throw the children to the Luna Pce," His Majesty said coldly as he was leaving the room. "I don''t want to see them again."

    "How about the name, Your Majesty?" Glenn asked carefully. "What should we call Her Royal Highness."

    His Majesty stopped at the door but he still didn''t turn around. "Neoma," he said bleakly. "The royal princess won''t be carrying the de Moonasterio name," he added quite harshly. "I don''t intend to put that child in the family registry."

    <strong>***</strong>

    GLENN looked at Princess Neoma with pity.

    Yes, he snuck out of training to secretly visit Luna Pce. Right now, he was in the royal twins'' bedroom. Stephanie, the head maid of Luna Pce who already took the Oath of Silence, stepped out of the room to make milk for the royal twins.

    Thus, he volunteered to look after Prince Nero and Princess Neoma in the meantime. Since the royal twins'' existence was a secret, only Stephanie and Alphen (the head butler) were in charge of the two''s well-being. The few servants in the pce weren''t allowed to enter the bedroom.

    [Our poor royal children¡­]

    "Princess Neoma."

    He flinched when he heard the voice of a child beside him. When he turned to his side, he was relieved to see that it was only Ruston Stroganoff. This child had really no presence at all!

    "That''s not the royal princess, Ruston," he said to the child who was pointing at Prince Nero. "That''s Prince Nero." He politely pointed to Princess Neoma with his two hands. "This is our Princess Neoma."

    Ruston Stroganoff put his hand down and tilted his head at one side. "The princess is bald."

    Heughed softly. "Her Royal Highness isn''t bald, Ruston," he said. "Her hair is just thinnerpared to Prince Nero''s. But our princess is pretty¡­"

    He trailed off when he remembered that Ruston Stroganoff couldn''t recognize faces. ording to his father, it was a condition that the child was born into.

    "I know that the princess is pretty."

    He was surprised to hear that from the child. "Really?"

    "Princess Neoma''s soul is beautiful and unique," Ruston Stroganoff said, his eyes glowing with delight. "I will recognize it right away at one nce."

    [Hmm¡­ our geniuses really entric?]

    His thoughts were distracted when all of a sudden, Prince Nero threw his rattle toy at Ruston Stroganoff. The child was too busy staring at Princess Neoma. Thus, he wasn''t able to dodge the toy thrown at him.

    Worse, the rattle toy hit Ruston''s face. Now, the child had a huge bump on his forehead. He looked shocked. It was probably the first time that he was hurt physically.

    "Ruston, calm down," he said, in a panic, to the child when Ruston suddenly picked up the rattle toy. "You''ll get executed right away if you harm Prince Nero! He''s the hope and future of our empire so you can''t hurt him!"

    Ruston Stroganoff smirked and to be honest, for some reason, the child suddenly looked like an arrogant adult when he did that. "If Prince Nero is the hope and future of the empire, then we''re all doomed."

    He knew that the child only said that out of spite.

    Still¡­

    "Ruston, you should be careful with your words," Glenn scolded the child. "And why do you suddenly sound like a condescending adult?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "I FIRMLY object," Glenn snarled at Kyle Sprouse in the middle of an argument. He didn''t want to raise his voice because Princess Neoma was currently in his arms. But he couldn''t control his emotion. "Why should we send Princess Neoma to House Drayton when she''s only a baby?"

    He was shocked when he arrived at His Majesty''s office earlier and saw Kyle Sprouse carrying Princess Neoma in his arms. When he asked what was happening, the count said that he was about to send the royal princess to House Drayton.

    After hearing that, he quickly yet carefully snatched Princess Neoma away from the evil count. Kyle Sprouse was a childhood friend. But right now, he wanted to punch him in the face.

    "Why not?" Kyle snapped back at him. "His Majesty already decided to marry off Princess Neoma to House Drayton. The royal princess''s existence is a secret anyway. Thus, I believe it wouldn''t hurt if we let House Drayton raise Her Royal Highness. Moreover, Duke Drayton already agreed with His Majesty''s wish."

    Now he understood why His Majesty suddenly opened his personal treasury a few days ago.

    [His Majesty probably offered Duke Drayton an amount that not even a wealthy duke like him could turn down.]

    He suddenly felt betrayed.

    "Why, Your Majesty?" he asked when he turned to the emperor who was seated behind his huge desk. "Why didn''t you tell me about this n?"

    "Because I know that you will react that way," His Majesty said while shaking his head. "Glenn, why do you care so much about that child?"

    "Maybe it''s because I''m not as heartless as you are, Your Majesty."

    The emperor just raised an eyebrow at him.

    "Glenn!" Kyle yelled angrily. "Watch your mouth!"

    "You watch your mouth, Kyle," he threatened the count coldly. "If you speak one more word, I will kill you."

    He couldn''t draw his sword because Princess Neoma was in his arms. But he wasn''t a simple Swordsman. He could also use his Mana and had the ability to control the earth.

    On the other hand, it seemed like Kyle was also ready to attack him with his Mana.

    "Enough," His Majesty said, ending his fight with Kyle easily. Then, the emperor turned to him. "Glenn, what would you do if I still insist on sending that princess to House Drayton?"

    "I would be a rogue knight," he said without missing a beat. "I would run away and escape the pce with Princess Neoma. Although I know that her life in the pce wouldn''t be easy, I believe that it would still be better than sending her to a household known for its cruel upbringing. At least in the pce, I''m here to protect Princess Neoma. Therefore, I wouldn''t let you send Princess Neoma to House Drayton, Your Majesty."

    "You''d betray me for that child?"

    "I don''t consider my decision a betrayal, Your Majesty," he said firmly. "After all, I''m protecting Princess Neoma in your stead because I don''t want you to be known in history as a bad father."

    "Glenn!" Kyle scolded him again. "What are you saying to His Majesty?"

    He was about to argue with the count again when all of a sudden, the emperorughed.

    Both he and Kyle were stunned.

    And he''d be honest, he''d say he was scared. It was rare for His Majesty tough after Lady Mona Roseheart died. Had the emperor gone mad?

    "You''re useful as my aide and as the vicemander of my Order. Therefore, I won''t allow you to quit," His Majesty said to him. "I will talk to Duke Drayton and tell him to dy the engagement between the princess and his son."

    "Your Majesty!" Kyleined. "We can''t simply retract¨C"

    "As expected, His Majesty has made a wise decision," he said loudly, purposely cutting of the bastard count. "Thank you so much for granting my selfish request."

    "I''m d to know that you''re self-aware," His Majesty said in an exasperated voice, then he waved his hand as if he was shooing him away. "Now, take that child with you. Make sure that the royal princess will live quietly from now on."

    He bowed to the emperor. "As you wish, Your Majesty."

    After that, he red at Kyle before he bolted out of His Majesty''s office. Out of fear that the emperor might change his mind, he quickly brought Princess Neoma back to Luna Pce. But before he entered the pce, he looked at the royal princess.

    It was amazing that Her Royal Highness didn''t make a sound earlier. In fact, Princess Neoma''s expression right now suggested that she was bored.

    [How cute!]

    "Princess Neoma, living in the pce as a royal princess is going to be hellish," Glenn whispered to the frail-looking princess. "I hope you grow up as a healthy and strong person, our little princess."

    He was really worried about Princess Neoma''s wellbeing.

    But the first time that Glenn heard the royal princess call His Majesty a "scumbag," all his worries were suddenly washed away.

    <strong>***</strong>

    NOTE: This chapter is dedicated to Sir Glenn because hisck of screen time might cause the readers to forget his character. Haha! Happy reading. :D

 Chapter 263 - THE END OF A LONG NIGHT (1)

    WHEN NIKOLAI opened his eyes, he was greeted by the worried faces of his Soul Beasts in their human form. The ones who were hovering over him were North (the ck Tortoise without the ck serpent) and West (the White Tiger.)

    "Your Majesty¡­" North and West said at the same time. Then, they both moved away from him and kneeled after leaving a decent space between him and the two. "Are you alright?"

    "I''m alright," Niki said, then he got up. He realized that he was lying on the cold and hard ground all this time. And he also btedly realized that he was still inside North''s shell-like barrier. Ah, right. "What happened to the Devil?"

    "The Devil ran away after being bitten by Center, Your Majesty," North said. ''Center'' was the name of the ck serpent that was often with the ck Tortoise. "But Center was poisoned after he sipped the Devil''s blood so I sent him back home. We apologize for failing to end the Devil''s life."

    "It''s alright. If the Devil was easy to kill, the ancient gods wouldn''t have made a temporary alliance in the past just to seal his power," he said. "I''m just d that none of you were hurt."

    He could feel the Vermillion Bird and the Azure Dragon inside his soul.

    And the two seemed alright.

    "Thank you for worrying about us, Your Majesty," North and West said while bowing to him.

    He just nodded as an acknowledgment. Then, he stood up and looked up at the sky. He was relieved to see that the barrier that hindered him a while ago was already gone. But upon looking at the fortress ahead of them, he noticed the gloomy and sinister aura lingering in the air.

    Moreover, he could instantly recognize the source of that aura.

    "Neoma is angry," he whispered to himself, then he turned to his Soul Beasts. "What happened while I was unconscious?"

    "Princess Neoma has earned the wrath of the sleeping gods, Your Majesty."

    For the first time in a long while, he actually felt nervous after hearing what West reported to him just now. "What did Neoma do this time?"

    West actually took a deep breath first before speaking. "Her Royal Highness formed a contract with the Devil and opened a new Hellgate."

    He was rendered speechless.

    Neoma did what¡­?

    "Moreover, Princess Neomamitted mass murder," North added in a solemn voice. "Your Majesty, Her Royal Highness killed all the people running the camp. I''m not certain but the technique that the princess used seems simr to the Devil''s Banishing Technique."

    The Banishing Technique was one of the abilities that the gods sealed to stop the Devil from getting more powerful.

    Did the Devil teach that technique to Neoma?

    But honestly, it didn''t matter who taught his daughter that kind of technique. The fact that Neoma had an affinity to the Devil was enough to turn the empire upside down.

    If the old geezers in the pce heard what happened, they would definitely bark at him again. Worse, if the citizens of the empire found out that the Crown Prince had an affinity to the Devil that once destroyed a huge part of their territory, they would surely protest and might even request "Prince Nero" to be removed as the heir to the throne.

    [I should clean this up before we leave the mountain.]

    "Let''s hurry up," Niki said, then he turned his back on the Soul Beasts and headed straight to the fortress. "We need to silence all the witnesses that saw Neoma go berserk."

    <strong>***</strong>

    GAVIN, while watching Neoma in the shadows, smiled when he saw everyone kneel in front of his daughter. All his precious agi did was release her anger in the form of an aura. And yet, everyone around her was pushed down until they were on all fours.

    Yes, including Princess Nichole and Saint Dominic Zavaroni.

    [Ah, even Lewis Crevan wasn''t able to stand my agi''s aura. I thought he would be able to endure it since I acknowledge his strength. But I guess even if he''s strong for a young fox, he''s still nothingpared to my precious Neoma.]

    Lewis Crevan needed to be stronger if he wanted to protect someone more powerful than him.

    [Should I give Lewis some private trainingter?]

    Anyway¡­

    Aside from forcing everyone to kneel, he also noticed that those people affected by his daughter''s aura were having difficulties breathing.

    [I''m so proud of you, Neoma¡­]

    His thoughts were cut off when he noticed that there was someone hiding in the shadows like him. That person was standing across from him while hiding behind a post.

    From the silhouette, he could tell that it was a child.

    Moreover, he could also feel that the child was staring at him as if they were keeping an eye on him. He didn''t want to say this but the child''s gaze was intimidating.

    It was thrilling yet annoying at the same time.

    [Hah. A child that can withstand my daughter''s aura? And the fact that they could make me feel threatened¡­]

    It was probably Ruston Stroganoff who returned to his original form as a child.

    [Ruston Stroganoff has always been strange. I remember that he spoke like an adult when he was a child. Moreover, he has always looked at me as if he finds me repulsive.]

    That child was dangerous.

    At that moment, Gavin decided that he should separate Ruston Stroganoff from Neoma.

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA felt like everything happened all at once.

    She hasn''t recovered yet from the shock of seeing Madam Hammock''s heart being ripped out of her chest by her Aunt Nichole when she saw Saint Dominic Zavaroni throwing his scepter as if it was a spear. Then, much to her horror, she realized that the one the saint attacked was Juri Wisteria.

    That snapped her out of her trance.

    But once she came back to her senses, she was once again filled with fury.

    This time, she felt like she had better control of her angerpared to how she handled it earlier. She didn''t lose her mind. Although she couldn''t say that she was calm, she could tell that she wasn''t being carried away by her feelings now.

    Her heart was hurt, but her mind was clear.

    "I thought I was the only one insane here," Neoma said in a low and cold voice, her eyes were definitely glowing red by now. "Just what the hell is going on here?!"

    She realized that none of the people could answer her because they were on their knees.

    And judging by the way they held their throats while gasping for air, it seemed like her aura that was mixed in the air was suffocating them. She didn''t mean to do that and therefore, when she calmed down, the suffocating aura that she released by ident disappeared.

    As soon as it did, she moved and came at her Aunt Nichole and the saint.

    "Greko, treat Juri and Madam Hammock!" Neoma ordered the young Healer when she moved past him. "Now!"

    Mini Skewer didn''t have enough power to transform into a huge scythe now.

    Since Tteokbokki was back inside her soul, albeit not being himself at the moment, she was still able to borrow his power.

    First, she covered her whole body with the Red Dragon''s scales.

    Then, the nails in her hands turned sharp, hard, and literally hot. Anything and anyone that she would touch at the moment would definitely burn or melt. It was the first time that she was going to use that technique so she wasn''t sure.

    [I hope this is enough to damage Aunt Nichole.]

    She thought she wouldn''t be able to reach the former Princess Royal when Saint Dominic Zavaroni, for some reason, literally blocked her way as if he was protecting Princess Nichole.

    But much to her delight, Lewis came to assist her.

    Her son kicked the saint in the face and sent Saint Zavaroni flying. Lewis disappeared on her side. He probably continued attacking His Holiness so he wouldn''t get in her way.

    [Good job, One-kick Lewis!]

    "Aunt Nichole!" she yelled angrily at her aunt. She was in mid-air and her fist was ready to kiss the Princess Royal''s face. "I''ll interrogate youter but for now, why don''t you sleep for me?!"

    Her punchnded on her Aunt Nichole''s face.

    But she immediately withdrew her hand when she was burned. Then, she was pushed by a strong energy that the Princess Royalunched at her. Thankfully, she was able to safelynd on her feet.

    [Dayum, Aunt Nichole''s me is fucking hot!]

    When she raised her head to look at her aunt properly, only then did she notice that her Aunt Nichole was being protected by a ck Phoenix behind her. The thing that she punched earlier wasn''t the Princess Royal''s face¨C it was the ck Phoenix''s burning steel-like wing.

    "You''re not the only one here who could y with fire, my dear niece," her Aunt Nichole said with a sickeningly sweet smile on her face. Of course, the Princess Royal was beautiful. But even though she was weak to pretty faces, she wanted to punch the smirk off of her aunt''s face at the moment. "Come at me and let''s see who''s better at controlling fire, Neoma."

    "You''re probably better at controlling fire since my Tteokbokki sucks at teaching me stuff," Neoma said while standing up and cracking her knuckles. "But Aunt Nichole, I''m sure as hell that I''m better at you at getting mad."

    <strong>***</strong>

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    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 264 - THE END OF A LONG NIGHT (2)

    "I-I''M s-sorry, S-sister J-Juri¡­"

    Juri Wisteria didn''t have to hear it from Greko. She knelt beside her grandmother while being assisted by Jeno Dankworth. Then, she held her grandmother''s hand. It was still soft and warm. But that wasn''t enough to delude herself that her grandma wasn''t gone yet.

    [Grandma''s wound on her chest¡­]

    Her thoughts were interrupted when Jeno Dankworth removed his cloak, then he silently and gently put it over her grandmother''s body.

    She wanted to thank him but the lump in her throat hurt so much.

    [Grandma¡­]

    Just like Greko, she was also a Healer. She saw the extent of damage that her grandmother received. It wasn''t only the heart of her Grandma Judy that was crushed. The Healing Sage''s Core was also destroyed and her life force was absorbed by someone else.

    It was as if the killer really wanted her grandmother dead.

    She stared at her poor''s grandma''s face.

    Her grandmother had her eyes closed already. She didn''t know if her grandma had a peaceful look on her face or her vision was only blurry because of the tears in her eyes.

    "I-If only I w-wasn''t lcking¡­" Greko said between sobs. "I''m s-sorry¡­"

    To be honest, she wanted tofort the child and say that it wasn''t his fault. From the looks of it, even Marcus (His Majesty''s personal Healing Mage) wouldn''t have been able to save her grandmother.

    But when she opened her mouth, only sobs came out.

    She couldn''t remember thest time she cried. But it sure felt like it was the first time that she cried her heart out. If she didn''t, she felt like she''d suffocate from the heaviness in her chest. Moreover, the reality that her grandmother was really gone just came crashing down to her.

    "Grandma¡­" Juri whispered in a cracked voice, then she hugged her grandmother''s still soft and warm body. She couldn''t believe that her grandmother was already gone. If only she took studying in the Royal Tower seriously, maybe she would have been a great Healing Sage and saved her grandmother. "Please don''t leave me!"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "GRANDMA, please don''t leave me!"

    Neoma clenched her hands tight when she heard Juri''s heartbreaking cry for Madam Hammock.

    The Healing Sage was really gone...

    [Madam Hammock¡­]

    The madam wasn''t just a Healing Sage to her. Sometimes, she thought of her as her own grandmother. Madam Hammock was one of the people who was good to her. Her heart hurt so much that she wished she had the time to grieve for the lost of a loved one.

    But of course, she was in a situation where she couldn''t do so.

    Her Aunt Nichole was still there, waiting for her attack.

    Lewis was currently fighting Saint Dominic Zavaroni who was acting strange.

    Andstly, the Pdins were attacking her the Princess Royal all at the same time. But at the moment, the four of them (she, Lewis, Aunt Nichole, and Saint Zavaroni) were inside the Dome that His Holiness created to separate their group from the Pdins.

    "Did you lose your will to fight?" her Aunt Nichole asked with a smile on her face. It seemed like the Princess Royal found her pain entertaining. "Were you close with Madam Hammock?"

    She didn''tment on that because she was still trying to get her shit together.

    [I can''t afford to have a breakdown here.]

    Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a noise as if the saint''s barrier was crack. It seemed to surprise her Aunt Nichole and Saint Zavaroni who turned to the source of the noise.

    And so did she.

    Honestly, she thought the Pdins had sessfully broken the barrier.

    But much to her pleasant surprise, it was her trusted Wind Spirit.

    [Mochi!]

    "I''m exhausted after moving all the children to a safe ce with your "oppa,"" Mochiined, then she flopped on top of her head. "Princess Neoma, you have a lot of exining to do."

    "I will exin everything to youter, Mochi," Neoma said in an urgent voice. "For now, bring the four of us outside the fortress."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA just literally blinked and here they were now.

    She, Aunt Nichole, Lewis, and Saint Dominic Zavaroni were already out of the fortress. It seemed like they were at the foot of the mountain. They were surrounded by tall and creepy-looking trees. But thankfully, she didn''t feel someone else''s presence there.

    As of the moment, she was standing in front of her Aunt Nichole. Lewis stood behind her while Saint Zavaroni stood beside the Princess Royal.

    And Mochi was already asleep on top of her head.

    [Mochi must be tired as hell.]

    "Is there a particr reason why you asked your Wind Spirit to bring us here?" Aunt Nichole asked. "I thought you wanted to kill me for what I did to Madam Hammock?"

    "Killing you wasn''t my intention for attacking you earlier," Neoma said. She was being honest now because there weren''t other people around them. Of course, Lewis was an exception because she trusted her son with her life. "I only intended to "arrest" you because I wanted to talk to you alone, Aunt Nichole."

    But most of all, she didn''t want to act cozy with her aunt in front of Juri Wisteria who was grieving the loss of her grandmother.

    It wasn''t like she didn''t hate her Aunt Nichole for killing Madam Hammock. But after hearing what her aunt went through, she knew that the Princess Royal wasn''t the type of person to kill for fun. She wanted to know why she killed Madam Hammock.

    But not in front of Juri.

    "Madam Hammock was like a grandmother to me," she admitted in a soft and careful voice. "She was good to me. But that didn''t mean she was good to you as well."

    Her aunt looked surprised by what she revealed, then she smiled bitterly. "You know?"

    "Not all of it," she said, then she lowered her gaze to the floor. "I read a bit of what happened in the past with the help of the Devil''s Grimoire. I found out that the doctor that you trusted forced you to hide the truth of what happened to you when you were abducted by the cult. It was under your mother''s order, but that doctor had an ulterior motive for following the former empress''s order."

    She paused for a while to breathe because it was too much for her. It hurt to know that the madam that she loved and respected had done something unspeakable out of greed.

    "Your doctor, Madam Hammock, stole your divine power and used it for two reasons: first, to extend her lifespan. Second: for research," she continued with clenched hands. "Worst of all, despite knowing what you went through, your doctor even helped your mother to try and marry you off to a wealthy nobleman known for being ruthless and violent to his mistresses. But that nobleman wanted a virgin bride. Thus, your doctor "fixed" your body to make it look like you''ve never given birth at all."

    She only noticed that she was already crying when she saw her tears fall on the grass. It genuinely hurt her when Madam Hammock died. But being reminded of what the madam had done to her Aunt Nichole also made her feel resentful towards Madam Hammock.

    "Are you crying for me now, my dear niece?"

    When she raised her head, she was a little surprised to find her Aunt Nichole standing so close to her now.

    But she used that chance to close the gap between them.

    "Aunt Nichole, I told you I''m good at taking revenge," she said as she wrapped her arms around her aunt''s waist. "So please let me avenge you."

    Her aunt smiled kindly at her. "Are you telling me to leave the empire alone?"

    "In the meantime, please," she said. "Aunt Nichole, I understand why you killed Madam Hammock. But she was Juri''s grandmother, and I treat Juri like my own daughter. Seeing her hurt that way for losing her loved one hurt me." She red at the saint. "You didn''t have to hurt Juri that way just to stop her from attacking my aunt, did you? Your Holiness, I also understand why you''re being protective of Aunt Nichole. But Juri is just an innocent child."

    Saint Zavaroni bowed his head. "I recognize my mistake and I have no excuse," he said in an apologetic voice. "Please forgive me for getting carried away by my anger, Princess Neoma."

    "If you''re going to get your revenge on people that hurt you, please make sure that you won''t drag innocent people in it," she said firmly. "Because even if I want to fight with you, I will always choose to protect my people first. So if you really want to support me, be careful next time."

    The saint raised his head and nodded. "I will keep that in mind, Princess Neoma."

    Another lump formed in her throat. "Your Holiness, are you leaving?" she asked in a cracked voice. "Are you leaving with Aunt Nichole now?"

    "Yes," Saint Zavaroni said with a sad smile on his face. "I''m sorry I can''t stay with you anymore, Princess Neoma."

    <strong></strong>She shook her head. "No. The two of you deserve to be happy now," she said, then she raised her head to meet her Aunt Nichole''s warm gaze. "Aunt Nichole, please hide for now. I will ask for your help if I need it. But for now, I can''t show my affinity to the Devil."

    "I understand, my dear niece," Aunt Nichole said, then she hugged her back tightly. "I will cover the trace of your affinity to the Devil so don''t worry too much."

    "Don''t get me wrong, Aunt Nichole. I''m not saying that I will side with the Devil now," Neoma said, rifying her stance firmly. "I will destroy the empire''s disgusting system for all the oppressed female de Moonasterio in history."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 265 - THE END OF A LONG NIGHT (3)

    "I WILL destroy the empire''s disgusting system for all the oppressed female de Moonasterio in history."

    Nichole was quite taken aback by what Neoma said.

    To be honest, she never thought of that before.

    She wanted to destroy the empire to punish all the people that hurt him. But it wasn''t really for the other female de Moonasterios that had been oppressed by the empire''s system that heavily favored men.

    Her biggest reason for putting Neoma on the throne was only to spite her twin brother who obviously cared more about Nero than his daughter. Of course, she genuinely cared for her niece and she didn''t want Neoma to go through the terrible experience that she had.

    And yet, she would admit that she only cared about revenge for herself and not for the other female de Moonasterio that probably had the same experience as her.

    [Neoma is really a precious existence.]

    "My dear niece, I still won''t hesitate to kill the people that have hurt me in the past even if they happen to be your people now," Nichole said with a gentle smile. Yet, her voice was firm. "Therefore, please heed my advice: be wise when choosing your allies."

    "Did I make a mistake, Aunt Nichole?" Neoma asked hesitantly, a tone that didn''t suit a confident (borderline arrogant) girl that she was. "Did I make a mistake when I trusted Madam Hammock?"

    "Only you can answer that," she said, then she bent her knees to meet her niece''s eye level. "But you said earlier that Madam Hammock was good to you. I can''t me you for trusting her."

    Maybe Madam Hammock had changed during her absence.

    Perhaps, her death brought back the madam''s empathy.

    But to be honest, she didn''t care anymore. She just took back what the madam had taken from her. Unlike what Neoma thought, it wasn''t only her divine power that Madam Hammock had stolen from her in the past. But she would spare her niece the heartbreak.

    [Neoma seems to be very fond of Madam Hammock. Although my resentment towards the madam is still strong, I still don''t want my niece to know the whole truth. It''s enough for Neoma to know that Madam Hammock betrayed and hurt me in the past.]

    "Is there anyone else in the pce that I need to be wary with, Aunt Nichole?"

    "Are you going to trust me if I give you names?"

    "Not right away," her niece said. "I would still need to observe them and make my own conclusions."

    Ah, her precious niece was so lovable that she couldn''t help but smile.

    [I can''t believe that she''s Niki''s daughter.]

    "I''ve already taken care of the suspicious people in the pce before," she told Neoma. "But there''s one that I want you to keep in check, Neoma."

    "Who is it, Aunt Nichole?"

    "Count Kyle Sprouse."

    Her niece clicked her tongue and now, she had an annoyed look on her face. "I knew it. Count Sprouse is mean to me, Aunt Nichole. Is he a traitor?"

    "Kyle Sprouse is not a traitor," she said because after investigating the count, she came up with the conclusion that he was very loyal and faithful to Niki. But that was the problem. "Kyle Sprouse is too loyal and too faithful not just to my brother, but to the rotten system of the empire as well. Because of that, he developed a prejudice against female de Moonasterios." She gently caressed her niece''s face. "Don''t let your guard down around Kyle Sprouse. He may be loyal to your father. But I''m sure that he''d be the one to sacrifice you if he has to for the sake of the empire."

    "You bet, Aunt Nichole," the royal princess said, then she paused for a moment before she spoke again. "I can trust Sir Glenn, can''t I?"

    She chuckled while nodding. "Don''t worry about Sir Glenn. He''s loyal to Niki but he is different from Kyle Sprouse. He has a kind heart."

    After she was rescued by the White Lion Knights headed by Gavin Quinzel, only Sir Glenn cried and begged for her forgiveness for being toote.

    But even before that, Sir Glenn had always been kind and gentle to her.

    [In fact, Sir Glenn acted more of a brother to me than Niki ever did.]

    Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt the presence of her despicable twin brother.

    She wasn''t the only one who felt it since Niki obviously announced his arrival by releasing his tremendous Mana. Neoma, Lewis Crevan, and Dominic all turned in his direction.

    "As expected, you''re here," Niki said while speaking directly at her. "Just what kind of unholy things are you teaching my daughter, Nichole?"

    She smirked and stood up to face her twin brother. "Nothing much, Niki," she said. "I just taught my dear niece the "unholy things" that I experienced when I was abducted by the cult. After all, I don''t want the same thing to happen to her."

    Her twin brother had the audacity to re at her.

    "Are you ashamed?" she asked, mocking Niki on purpose. "Are you ashamed to have a filthy twin sister like me, Niki?"

    Dominic gently held and squeezed her hand.

    She squeezed his hand back.

    [Don''t worry, Dominic. I''ve long stopped thinking that about myself. I''m just saying this to taunt Niki.]

    "Don''t bring up the past, Nichole," Niki said coldly. "I''m not asking about that."

    "Why do you think that Aunt Nichole is teaching me "unholy things," Papa Boss?" Neoma confronted Niki in a cold and stern voice. "While I''m aware of the evil things that my auntmitted while acting as the Devil''s representative, I can''t entirely me here. Have you ever asked yourself why Aunt Nichole has be the person that she is now?"

    "Don''t be na?ve, Neoma," Niki scolded his daughter sternly. "Not everyone who went through that same experience chooses to be a Devil''s servant."

    "Papa Boss!"

    Hah.

    Just what did she expect from her twin brother?

    "Your Majesty, please be careful with your words," Dominic warned coldly. "Do you even know what exactly Princess Nichole went through?"

    Niki turned to Dominic, briefly lowered his gaze to look at the former saint''s hand holding hers, before raising his head once again. "Did you betray your god to hold Nichole''s hand, Your Holiness?"

    "Yes, I did, Your Majesty," Dominic said cheerfully. "Thus, you don''t have to address me with the saint''s title anymore."

    "Then die, Dominic Zavaroni."

    She was surprised by the quick yet strong ball of energy that Niki threw at Dominic.

    [Niki, you really have a bad temper!]

    She and Dominic moved to create a quick yet (hopefully) sturdy barrier but they soon realized that they didn''t need to do that.

    Neoma created one for them and it was strong enough to deflect Niki''s attack.

    [Impressive.]

    "Go," Neoma said softly when she turned to her and Dominic. "Please be happy together, Aunt Nichole and Mr. Macaroni."

    She was confused why her dear niece called Dominic "Mr. Macaroni."

    But Dominicughed merrily, so maybe it was a private joke between the two.

    [I''ll ask Dominicter.]

    "Thank you, Neoma," Nichole said while starting a teleportation spell with Dominic. Since she worked with the former saint for quite some time, it was easy for them to be on the same wavelength. Thus, she didn''t need to specifically say what kind of teleportation spell she was doing because he recognized it right away. "I don''t regret taking the life of one of your people, but I do regret hurting you, my precious niece."

    "I also apologize for hurting Lady Juri Wisteria," Dominic said to Neoma. "Please extend my apology to the youngdy." He smiled sadly at the royal princess. "And I''m sorry for disappointing you, Princess Neoma."

    "I have no moral ascendency over any of you," Neoma said with a sad smile on her face. "See youter in hell, Aunt Nichole and Mr. Macaroni."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "IT SEEMS like you''ve managed to suppress your Lunacy, Neoma," her Papa Boss said in a stern and disapproving voice. "But why are you acting like you''ve lost your mind? Why did you protect Nichole and the former saint?"

    "Perhaps, I did lose my mind," Neoma said with a bitter smile on her face. "How do you expect me to stay sane after everything that I''ve learned in a single night, Papa Boss? The children in the camp aren''t just physically and mentally abused¨C some of them were also sexually assaulted."

    "Is that why you killed everyone rted to the camp?"

    Based on the tone that her Papa Boss used, it seemed like he didn''t agree with her decision.

    It was so different from when Ruto and her appa praised her. Although she knew thatmitting mass murder wasn''t praiseworthy, she was consoled by the fact that Ruto and her appa didn''t hate her.

    But her Papa Boss would obviously scold her.

    "You didn''t have to taint your hands, Neoma," her Papa Boss scolded her as expected. "You could have apprehended the criminal and brought them to the capital first. They would have been sentenced to death anyway. So why did you have to open a new Hellgate just for those scums?"

    "Because I thought killing them wasn''t enough," she said firmly. "I opened a new Hellgate exclusively for those scums to make sure that they''d suffer even in the afterlife."

    "That''s not how a Crown Prince should behave, Neoma."

    "But I''m not Nero and I''m not the Crown Prince of the empire!" she snapped at her father. "I told you, Papa Boss. I''m going to be the first empress regnant. From now on, I will fulfill my duty as the Crown Princess and not my twin brother''s mere substitute."

    "Neoma¨C"

    "Papa Boss, do you know what happened to my Aunt Nichole?" she said, purposely and rudely cutting off her father mid-sentence.

    "I will not discuss Nichole''s history with you, Neoma."

    She clenched her fists while ring at her father''s stoic face. It seemed like his mind wouldn''t change. Therefore, she brought up another topic that she wanted to confront her father with. "Then, answer this instead, Papa Boss," she said, giving her father onest chance to redeem himself in her eyes. "Is it true that our Soul Beasts were humans before?"

    The shocked look on her Papa Boss''s face already confirmed her thoughts.

    "To be precise, are the Soul Beasts created from the lives of the male Rosehearts that the de Moonasterios of the past killed to gain more power?"

    His father''s jaw clenched before he spoke. "Who told you that?"

    "It''s not important to know, is it?" she retorted. "Papa Boss, how could you turn a blind eye to the awful things that the Royal Family has tolerated all this time?"

    "Because I''m the emperor, and it''s my duty to carry all the sins of the Royal Family," he said sternly. "If you truly want to be the first empress regnant of the empire, then you must be prepared to carry the same burden as I do, Neoma."

    "I won''t carry the sins of the Royal Family," she said firmly. "I will atone for it."

    Her father scoffed. "You should worry about how you''ll steal the throne from your brother first."

    Why was her father so detestable tonight?

    The thingsing out of Papa Boss were either hurtful or frustrating.

    "Papa Boss, I''ve gone through a lot tonight," she said in a hurt voice that seemed to have taken her father aback. "Is it too much for you to ask me how I''ve been first? Can''t you act like a decent father for once? Can''t you be more like¨C"

    "Like your "appa?""

    This time, it was her turn to be shocked.

    "I met Gavin Quinzel a while ago," her Papa Boss said. "It was already a huge shock to see that bastard still alive. But then, he suddenly imed that you''re his daughter and he''s your "appa." Apparently, that strange word means ''father'' in anguage that doesn''t seem to exist on thisnd."

    She was rendered speechless and confused.

    [Appa, why would you reveal that to Papa Boss?]

    "Cat got your tongue, Neoma?" her father asked while approaching her. "It''s my turn to ask questions," he said in a chilly tone. Then, he stood in front of her while ring at her with his glowing red eyes. "How did Gavin Quinzel be your "appa?""

    For the first time in a long while, she feared her father.

    It wasn''t like she was afraid that he''d hurt or kill her. But the emperor''s tremendous Mana scared her. It was as if his Mana was telling her that she didn''t deserve to breathe the same air as her father. Thatpared to His Majesty, she was nothing but an insignificant existence.

    [I can''t breathe¡­]

    She was distracted when she heard a hissing sound behind her.

    Ah, she almost forgot that Lewis was with her at that moment.

    She was only reminded by that fact when all of a sudden, Lewis appeared in front of her in a protective stance while hissing at her Papa Boss.

    Neoma wanted to stop Lewis because she knew that her father wouldsh out on her son.

    But she just had to faint at that moment.

    [Goddammit.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    NIKOLAI knocked the impudent young fox unconscious as he walked past him to catch Neoma, who suddenly lost consciousness, hit the ground.

    He didn''t mean to knock her daughter out with the uncontrolled ooze of his Mana.

    Although he didn''t want to admit this, he would always lose his control when ites to Gavin Quinzel. Moreover, the confusion as to how Neoma was rted to the formermander made him feel agitated.

    [I''m sorry, Neoma.]

    He pulled his daughter closer to her as he stood up.

    [I should have taken care of you first before scolding you.]

    Ah, no.

    He shouldn''t have scolded her in the first ce.

    Nero, when he was only a toddler, had killed several people in the pce. But instead of scolding his son, he even praised him. And yet, why did he react differently when he heard that Neomamitted mass murder?

    [It''s normal for royal family members to abuse their authority, especially if needed.]

    But why didn''t he want Neoma to taint her hands with blood?

    Now, because of that, he once again earned his daughter''s wrath.

    [I should have said I''m proud of you for staying sane despite of everything that has happened tonight. I should have said that I''m proud of her for sticking to her own brand of justice. I should have said I''m proud of her¡­]

    But if he said it now, Neoma wouldn''t believe him because it would sound as if he just wanted to pacify her.

    He lost the chance to make his daughter realize that he was proud to be his father.

    Niki took a deep breath, then he closed his eyes and hugged Neoma closer to his body. "I''ve fucked up again," he whispered under his breath. He rarely cursed because of his strict upbringing. But right now, those were the only right words to describe his misery. "Please don''t hate me, Neoma¡­"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "I DIDN''T expect you to bring home your man, Nichole."

    Nichole smiled at the Devil''s light teasing.

    They had returned home after the long and tiring night that they spent "on the surface."

    Right now, she and the Devil were in the balcony of the mansion. The view wasn''t that much appealing because all they could see was a garden of ck and poisonous flowers. The sky was eternally red, and so was the moon.

    On the other hand, Dominic Zavaroni was being escorted by Gin to a guest room that he may use. There were a lot of things that she and the former saint needed to figure out first. But for now, they needed a good rest.

    [But the Devil summoned me here.]

    "I can''t leave Dominic alone. Not after he turned his back on his god for me," Nichole said softly. "Please let him stay with us."

    "I''m not saying that I''m going to kick him out," the Devil said. "I''m just happy that you finally had the courage to bring him to your new world."

    "I actually didn''t want to," sheined lightly. But of course, deep in her heart, she was happy to be with Dominic finally. "Dominic is a person of light and I belong to the darkness now. But he still chose to be with me."

    Yes, she was being too cheesy.

    But she was happy so she didn''t care anymore.

    "Congrattions, Nichole," the Devil greeted her cheerfully. "You beat his god."

    She couldn''t help butugh softly.

    Then, she turned serious.

    "I wish you find your true happiness soon," Nichole said softly. "How long do you intend to use your twin brother''s appearance, Princess Aruna de Moonasterio?"

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 266 - I WILL TAKE RESPONSIBILITY

    "YOUR MAJESTY, we need to address the nobility and themon people as soon as possible."

    Niki heard the frustration and urgency in Kyle Sprouse''s voice but he chose to ignore it.

    He waszily seated on thefortable windowsill of his room while having a ss of red wine. Staring at the full moon outside his window, he wondered why Neoma was yet to wake up after three days. His daughter absorbed a huge amount of his Moonglow a while ago.

    It was enough to weaken him and render him bedridden for a full day, but not enough to make Neoma open her eyes.

    [Little rogue, you have to wake up soon before I go on a rampage myself¡­]

    "Your Majesty, the Royal Tower is on a strike. They demand to know who killed Madam Hammock," Kyle continued nagging. "Of course, House Hammock and House Wisteria also wanted to know the same thing. But other than that, House Hammock, House Wisteria, along with House Hawthorne and House Dankworth, demand that you release their children, Your Majesty."

    Ah, right.

    He threw Lewis Crevan, Juri Wisteria, Jeno Dankworth, and Jasper Hawthorne at the Red Sky Tower. There was also a child that Juri Wisteria and Jeno Dankworth insisted to be brought with them instead of being grouped with the other children from the camp. When the two insisted that the young Healer was Neoma''s "new adopted son," he had no choice but to allow the boy to go to the Red Sky Tower.

    It was a fancy prison for nobles. But it was just like any other luxurious tower. Of course, the only difference was the "guests" weren''t allowed to leave until he says so.

    As of right now, the tower was heavily guarded by Dion Skelton and Jeanne Audley.

    Geoffrey Kinsley was the one assigned to temporarily take over Glenn''s position. It should be Dion''s job. But he decided to keep Geoffrey by his side instead of sending him to the tower because he had another job for the best "researcher" among the Pdins.

    "Your Majesty, let''s at least release the children first," Kyle said in a pleading voice. "Especially Lady Juri Wisteria. House Hammock and House Wisteria insist that they won''t bury thete Madam Hammock if we don''t release the youngdy. Let the child grieve properly for her grandmother, Your Majesty."

    "I gave Juri Wisteria the chance to attend her grandmother''s funeral," Niki said, tired of Kyle''s nagging now. "It was her choice to stay with her friends in the tower as long as Neoma is still unconscious."

    It seemed like the children were punishing themselves for what happened to Neoma.

    ording to Jeanne''stest report, the children barely touched their food. They were more concerned about Neoma''s condition than their own.

    [You found good allies, Neoma.]

    Kyle let out a deep sigh. "There''s one more problem that we need to face urgently as well, Your Majesty."

    "What is it?"

    "Saint Zavaroni''s betrayal."

    He turned to the count. "Has the news reached the temple already?"

    "They would know even if we don''t report to them," the count said while shaking his head. "Saint Zavaroni isn''t the only blessed man in the temple, Your Majesty. High Priest Wellington is also the favored child of Lord Yule. When His Holiness betrayed the Moon God, the High Priest received the heartbreaking message from the heavens."

    Ah, of course.

    Compared to Saint Zavaroni''s warm and overwhelming presence, High Priest Wellington''s existence was barely noticeable. But now that the saint was gone, the High Priest might just be the next leader of the temple.

    "High Priest Wellington just sent us a notice a while ago, Your Majesty," Kyle said in a distressed tone. "They will use their official portal to enter the Royal Capital."

    That would be a problem.

    The "unofficial portal" that connects the temple to his pce was only used by Saint Zavaroni when the saint wanted or needed to visit the Royal Pce.

    But the official portal of the temple that connects to the Royal Capital was only used for official and urgent businesses. Moreover, the official portal wasn''t hidden so the citizens of the empire would be the ones greeting the High Priest and his escorts once they arrived.

    And if everyone knew that the High Priest wasing¡­

    [Ah, it will be noisy.]

    "The children will be kept locked up in the Red Sky Tower until Neoma wakes up," Niki said firmly. "Prepare everything that needs to be prepared to greet the High Priest, Kyle."

    Kyle let out a deep sigh again before bowing. "As you wish, Your Majesty."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA was hungry as soon as she opened her eyes.

    Stephanie, her loyal nanny, cried when she finally woke up. She learned from the head maid that she had been unconscious for three days. But she didn''t feel like she was knocked out for that long because she still looked and felt "fresh."

    [Stephanie probably gave me sponge baths and dressed me up while I was unconscious as if she was ying with a B*rbie doll.]

    "I''m really d and relieved that you''re finally awake, Your Royal Highness," Stephanie said while wiping her tears off of her face with a handkerchief. "Should I inform His Majesty?"

    "No," Neoma said firmly, then she stretched her arms. Surprisingly, despite being bedridden for three days, she didn''t feel weak. In fact, she felt fully recharged. "I''m hungry, Stephanie."

    The head maid''s face lit up. "I will go to the kitchen and tell the head chef to prepare a meal for you, Your Royal Highness."

    "But Ruto''s kitchen is in my father''s pce, isn''t it?" she asked curiously. "Are you going to Yule''s Pce just to tell him to cook for me? I''ll just call him."

    "Ah, Chef Stroganoff is no longer in charge of your meals, Your Royal Highness," the maid said hesitantly. "From now on, nco Pce''s head chef is back as your executive chef."

    Okay, she was shocked and anxious after hearing that. "But why? What happened to Ruto?"

    "Nothing bad happened to Chef Stroganoff, Your Royal Highness," Stephanie assured her gently. "Our pce was informed a while ago that the young Royal Chef is bound for culinary school now."

    The shock and anxiety that she felt a while ago turned into a full-blown panic.

    [Ruto, you can''t leave without saying goodbye to me properly!]

    And she couldn''t let him go just like that.

    "Mochi," Neoma said, summoning the Wind Spirit that she could feel within her. "Bring me to where Ruto is now."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA almost screamed when she found herself falling from the sky.

    It was dark and her freefall was going too fast. Thus, she didn''t have the chance to check her surroundings. All she could tell at the moment that she was about to fall into someone else''s precious and luxurious garden.

    And oh, there was a fancy carriage that she might just crash once shended on it in a few seconds¡­

    [Dayum, Mochi!]

    She really thought she would crash down the fancy carriage. So even though she knew that she wouldn''t be hurt because of her sturdy body, she still prepared herself mentally.

    But she soon realized that she didn''t really have to prepare for anything.

    In just the blink of an eye (quite literally in this sense), she found herself safe and sound in the arms of Ruto.

    Yes, he caught her before she crashed down.

    [This is so clich¨¦. I''ve seen this "scene" in many romance anime, ro movies, Kdramas, and even in weics. I almost puked every time I see this scene before. But now that it happened to me¡­]

    Well, it wasn''t bad.

    If the loud and fast beating of her heart wasn''t any indication.

    "Neoma," Ruto said, calling her name as if he was scolding her. If he called her by her real name, then she was certain that they were alone in that ce. Thus, it was safe for him to address her that way. "Are you okay?"

    Oh, she thought he was going to scold her so she was touched when he showed his concern first.

    But the excitement in her heart was soon reced by confusion when she looked at Ruto''s face properly. She didn''t notice it a while ago because she was too busy asking her heart to calm the fuck down. But now that he was looking at his face¡­

    "Ruto, what happened to your face?" Neoma asked worriedly. "Why do you have a huge burn mark¡­"

    A huge burn mark?

    [Wait¡­]

    Looking closely at it, she realized that the huge burn mark that devoured half of Ruto''s face was simr to the one that she had before.

    And that huge-ass burn mark disappeared on her face all of a sudden.

    She wished she was dumb, but she was afraid that her big brain already connected the dots. Of course, she was curious how it happened. But she was overwhelmed by the fact that Ruto may have sacrificed himself to return her beauty to her.

    [But how¡­?]

    "Did you meet the Devil?" she asked, then she gently grabbed him by the cor. "Ruto, did you ask the Devil to give me back my beauty in exchange for yours?"

    "I''m not beautiful," Ruto said casually. "I was told I have an average face so a burn mark wouldn''t really change anything."

    Look at this smartass vaguely responding to her¡­

    [He obviously did it for me.]

    Ah, she didn''t ask Ruto to do it for her and yet, her heart fluttered.

    "I will take responsibility," Neoma dered firmly. "If no one marries you because of that huge ass burn mark, I will take responsibility, Ruto Stroganoff."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 267 - MISERY LOVES COMPANY

    "I WILL TAKE responsibility," Neoma dered firmly. "If no one marries you because of that huge ass burn mark, I will take responsibility, Ruto Stroganoff."

    [Oh, shit.]

    Why did it sound like a marriage proposal?

    [No, it''s not like that! There are other ways of "taking responsibility" without marrying Ruto! Plus, I think he''s dense enough to not realize that it sounded like I proposed to him¨C"

    "Is that a proposal?" Ruto asked bluntly, with a smidge of yfulness in his voice. "I''m sorry but I won''t ept a proposal from a nine-year-old girl."

    That was the worst humiliation that she had received in her third life.

    [Why was I rejected when I didn''t confess in the first ce?!]

    "I didn''t propose to you," Neoma said, pouting. "When I said I''d take responsibility, I mean I will help you find a suitable partner if ever you wanted to get married but can''t date because of your burn mark."

    "Marriage isn''t on my mind yet so you don''t have to worry about that."

    "I''m not worried," she insisted. "I just feel guilty."

    "You don''t have to."

    "That can''t stop me from feeling guilty," she said stubbornly. "Ruto, our empire has an impossible beauty standard because of our family''s beauty genes. What if you get discriminated in the cooking industry because of your burn mark?"

    "That won''t happen," he said casually. "I''m a Stroganoff."

    Right.

    She heard that Marquis Morton Stroganoff, Ruto''s father (that she hadn''t met personally yet) was like the G*rdon R*msay of this world.

    "And even if my potential customers reject my food because they''re disgusted with my face, I''ll be fine," he said with a frown. "I don''t think you should worry about me since our society favors a wealthy nobleman like me anyway¨C regardless of how I look."

    Ruto may sound arrogant to some because of what he just said.

    But truth be told, he was only spitting facts.

    Just like in the modern world, the society in this one held women to impossible standards. On the other hand, men (especially those with looks, power, and wealth) were glorified no matter how mediocre they were.

    Since Ruto was the son of a celebrated and rich marquis, he''d easily find a marriage partner if he wanted to¡­

    [Huh?]

    "I''m annoyed," she dered. "I don''t know why but I''m annoyed."

    "Are you hungry?" Ruto asked in a slightly livelier voice than usual. "Do you want me to cook something for you?"

    Neoma didn''t have to answer because her stomach growled loudly for her. "I want meat."

    <strong>***</strong>

    TREVOR was disappointed to find Lewis Crevan in the Red Sky Tower alone.

    Well, not really "alone" since he was with other children. But the point was the young fox wasn''t with Princess Neoma at the moment.

    [I thought I''d find my Moon Princess if I followed Lewis Crevan''s Mana.]

    The Holy Barrier around the Royal Pce had be stupidly stronger and more aggressive than the previous one. He couldn''t even use the portal that Emperor Niki lent him a while ago. To be precise, the current barrier that the emperor created was specifically made to ward off demons like him.

    Moreover, he didn''t feel Princess Neoma''s presence in the Royal Pce.

    Thus, he followed Lewis Crevan''s traces instead, thinking that he was with the Moon Princess. But s, he was wrong.

    "Boring," Trevor said, currently in his child form because his Mana was exhausted after creating a new Hellgate with Princess Neoma, while suspended in the air in a lotus position in front of an indifferent Lewis Crevan. "Where''s my Moon Princess?"

    Lewis Crevan, seated on the railing of the balcony, just looked at him with a nk look on his face. Then, he turned to the night sky and stared at the moon.

    "Completely ignoring me, huh?" he said, offended by the young fox''s snobbish attitude. This was childish but he suddenly felt the urge to tease his "son." And he was one to indulge to his whims. "Lewis, my boy. Did you meet the young man with purple hair?"

    The young fox flinched but he still didn''t give him a response.

    [Ah, let''s egg on him more.]

    "You know who that young man is, don''t you?" he asked in a cheerful voice. "He''s pretty useful, Lewis. Moreover, he has an Elemental Guardian."

    Still no reaction from Lewis.

    [Just a little bit more.]

    "Hey, son," he said while inching closer to the young fox who was still acting like he couldn''t see him. "Do you know that Princess Neoma formed a contract with the Devil? The Devil asked for her beauty in exchange. Thus, Princess Neoma had to burn half of her face."

    "Lies," Lewis Crevan said, finally breaking his silence. "And I''m not your son."

    [Finally, a reaction from my dear son.]

    "I understand why you think I''m lying. After all, Princess Neoma''s face is back to normal," he said, then he wiggled his eyebrows just to annoy Lewis. "But do you know how Princess Neoma was able to retrieve her beauty?"

    Of course, he was met with silence.

    [This child is really good at ignoring people he doesn''t like, huh?]

    Well, that wouldn''t stop him from being annoying.

    "It was the young chef," he said with a smirk. "Lewis, I''m saying that Ruto Stroga-whatever saved Princess Neoma''s face by sacrificing himself. If you meet the chef bastard again, you''d see a huge ass burn mark on his face. Not that it makes a difference since he has a in face anyway¡­"

    He trailed off when he saw the different emotions ying on Lewis Crevan''s face.

    First, it was disbelief. Then, anger at himself for not knowing. After that, guilt for probably not being able to be with Princess Neoma the moment she needed someone. And now¡­

    "Jealous?" he asked whileughing. "Yeah, I felt jealous, too. I told you about the chef bastard''s grand gesture because I wanted you to feel the same thing that I did." He patted the young fox''s shoulder. "They say misery lovespany after all."

    Lewis Crevan red at him.

    Heughed, enjoying his son''s suffering. That was what he wanted from young fox. After all, he could use Lewis Crevan''s feelings to his advantage. "I''m not your enemy this time, my dear son," he said. "If you want to receive Neoma''s full love and attention, why don''t you get rid of Ruston Stroganoff before the two develop deep feelings for each other?"

    He would get rid of Ruston Stroganoff if he could.

    But Princess Neoma was obviously fond of the chef bastard. It would be nice if Lewis Crevan would do the job for him. If his n worked, then he wouldn''t have to sully his hand and gain Princess Neoma''s anger.

    [You have to work smart, not work hard.]

    "I can hear you thinking all this way," Lewis Crevan said in a calmer voice than he expected. "I''m not dumb. Why would I kill someone who''s useful to Princess Neoma?"

    His smirk disappeared.

    [What a smart bastard.]

    "You demon!"

    Annoyed, he turned to the person who opened the balcony doors and mmed it shut. It was a youngdy. The Bookworm whispered to him that the woman was called Juri Wisteria.

    [Ah, the child of House Wisteria.]

    And also Madam Hammock''s granddaughter.

    He raised an eyebrow at the youngdy who was approaching him in an aggressive manner. "You know that I''m a demon and yet, you''re behaving that way¨C"

    He wasn''t able to finish his sentence when the youngdy grabbed him by the cor.

    It pissed him off.

    [Should I kill this child?]

    "I heard from Lord Hawthorne that you''re the Devil''s Grimoire and apparently, Princess Nichole is the Devil''s substitute or something," Juri Wisteria said angrily. "Bring me to Princess Nichole now!"

    He could understand why this youngdy was acting like this.

    The Bookworm whispered to him that Princess Nichole killed Madam Hammock. Of course, Juri Wisteria would want to avenge her grandmother. But¡­

    "Is Princess Nichole wrong for killing your grandmother?"

    The youngdy looked shocked by his question.

    Even Lewis Crevan looked at him as if he was the most despicable man in the world.

    [Well, if you''re not Princess Neoma, then I don''t give a fuck about your opinion.]

    "Do you even know what Madam Hammock did to Princess Nichole?" he asked the youngdy in a taunting manner. "If I were Princess Nichole, I wouldn''t merely destroy your grandmother''s Core. I would cut her limbs off and feed her to the monsters of Grimwoods."

    ''Grimwoods'' was an infamous forest known as a hugeir for monsters.

    Juri Wisteria''s face turned red from anger. Then, she raised and opened her other hand. A few seconds after, an iron sledgehammer materialized. She grabbed it and tried to hit his head with the hammer.

    He yawned and used one finger to stop the sledgehammer from attempting to crush his skull.

    The youngdy was surprised that he only had to use one finger to stop her attack. She also looked like her ego was crushed.

    [Serves you right.]

    "Don''t be mean to Lady Wisteria," Lewis Crevan scolded him. "Princess Neoma "adopted" her as a daughter."

    Trevor almost choked on his saliva when he heard that. "You should have said that earlier, my dear son!" heined, then he turned to Juri Wisteria with a bright smile on his face. "Would you like to know about Madam Hammock''s obsession with the Hisa Tree that caused her to be cruel to Princess Nichole?"

    "Hisa Tree?" Juri Wisteria asked, confused. "Tell me more about it, demon."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 268 - THE ANSWER IS ALWAYS YES

    NIKOLAI was fuming after he received a report from Geoffrey Kinsley.

    Apparently, as soon as Neoma opened her eyes, she sneaked out of the Royal Pce with the help of Gale¨C Mona''s former Wind Spirit.

    [She indulges Neoma the way she indulged Mona in the past.]

    He strengthened the barrier around the pce but Gale managed to break it easily, and he had two possible exnations: First, the barrier was strong against external threats but weak against inside attacks. Second, Gale''s power was somewhat considered as something simr to some divine energy. Thus, the Wind Spirit easily managed to break the barrier.

    [Where did you go at this hour, Neoma?]

    He thought had gone to the Red Sky Tower to free Lewis Crevan and her other "friends." But the Pdins stationed at the tower confirmed earlier that Neoma didn''t go there.

    "Your Majesty," Geoffrey Kinsley, his temporary personal knight, emerged from the dark side of his room. After greeting him formally, he went straight to his report just like what he asked from him. "I found out where Princess Neoma is after following the traces of Miss Gale''s Mana. Fortunately, Her Royal Highness is in a safe ce."

    "No ce is safer for Neoma other than where my eyes could reach her," Niki snapped at the Pdin who immediately bowed and begged for his forgiveness. Of course, he simply let it slide since he didn''t have time for that. "Where is my daughter now?"

    "I have confirmed that Her Royal Highness is at the Stroganoff estate, Your Majesty."

    He was quite surprised to hear that.

    To be honest, the head maid of nco Pce already reported to Geoffrey Kinsley that Princess Neoma asked for Ruston Stroganoff as soon as she woke up. Then, when the head maid said that the young chef no longer worked for the pce, she summoned the Wind Spirit and disappeared into thin air while still in her pajamas and indoor slippers.

    He didn''t believe it at first but Geoffrey Kinsley just confirmed it.

    And now, he was baffled.

    When did Neoma get THAT close to Ruston Stroganoff anyway?

    [I understand why Ruston Stroganoff is somehow loyal to Neoma. After all, that child made a promise to Mona in the past. But when did Neoma be attached to the young chef?]

    Of course, he was aware that Neoma would often visit Ruston Stroganoff in the kitchen whether as the "Crown Prince" or "Neoma Ramsay." But he thought it was only because his daughter was a glutton¨C uh, he meant gourmet.

    Did he underestimate Neoma''s rtionship with Ruston Stroganoff?

    [I''m disappointed in you, Ruston Stroganoff. I thought you were smarter than this. How dare you seduce my nine-year-old daughter?]

    Maybe he should send that young chef to a war instead of a culinary school.

    "Your Majesty, should I fetch Princess Neoma now?" Geoffrey Kinsley asked carefully, interrupting his murderous thoughts. "I will send a word to Lord Ruston Stroganoff."

    "There''s no need for that," Niki said, then he stood up from his seat and called for his butler to bring a change of clothes. "I''m going to fetch Neoma myself."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA let out a dreamy sigh after devouring¨C uhm, having three bowls of kimchi fried rice topped with a fried egg and juicy wagyu cubes.

    [This tastes like home.]

    Her meal tasted like it was made by an authentic Korean instead of a young man living in a world where Korean food didn''t exist in the continent.

    [Ruto is really sus.]

    "Should I get you another bowl of kimchi fried rice?" Ruto asked her while watching her with sparkling eyes. He would always get that "happy beam" on his face each time she would devour the meal that he cooked for her. Must be his pride as a chef or something. "I can also cook another batch of wagyu beef if you want."

    "Later. I''m full for now," Neoma said, then she uncontrobly burped. Of course, her cheeks flushed from embarrassment. Still, she acted cool about it. "Ruto, did you know?"

    "Know what?"

    "Princesses don''t burp."

    "Then, are you a prince?" he asked sarcastically while shaking his head as if he was done with her antics.

    As the prima donna that she was, she gave him a big frown. "Ruto, you really don''t say¨C"

    "I almost never say the things you want to hear because most of the time, the things you want to hear won''t help you grow at all," he cut her off, then he poured some juice in her ss. "And I was told mymunication skill sucks."

    She nodded eagerly. "It really does!"

    "Then, I politely ask Her Royal Highness to deal with it."

    Sheughed softly.

    Wow.

    She actuallyughed instead of getting offended.

    [Why is it so easy to be with Ruto?]

    Maybe it was the ambiance.

    Right now, she and Ruto were havingte dinner in the simple yet elegant dining hall of the Stroganoff''s manor. Only the two of them were literally in the mansion right now. Ruto exined that he sent the servants on a vacation since he didn''t want them to make a fuss while he was preparing to leave.

    She let out a long and weary sigh when she remembered that Ruto was really going to leave tomorrow morning.

    "I really thought you were going to leave without saying goodbye to me, Ruto."

    "How could I leave without cooking the meal that you requested first?" he asked. Ah, he must be talking about the time that she told Veton the meal that she wanted Ruto to make for her. "Neoma, I''m good at saying goodbyes."

    She frowned again. "Don''t be good at something like that, dummy. You should be good at singing me praises instead."

    "Your ego is already too big," he said in a yful tone. "Moreover, you have a harem of young men who definitely praise you from head to toe every chance they get."

    Harem?

    She almostughed again. But then, the realization that Ruto wasn''t in that "harem" made her upset hit her like a bulldozer. She tilted her head at one side while giving the royal chef a nervous nce.

    No way.

    Just no way!

    "Ruto, you like me," she dered because it couldn''t be the other way around. "Is that the reason why you sacrificed yourself just to give me back my beautiful face?"

    "I like Lady Mona Roseheart a lot."

    Okay, what kind of rejection was that?

    Ruto liked her mother?

    [Like as in like like?!]

    "Not in the romantic sense," he rified right away. "Lady Roseheart was the one who helped me control my Elemental Guardian since Elemental Guardians are practical "Spirit Beasts." Your mother took good care of me in the past. Even now, she was still one of the people that I respect the most."

    She didn''t want to say this but she was relieved that Ruto''s feelings for his mother weren''t in the romantic sense.

    Because even though she was arrogant, she would admit that she would pale inparison to her mother. Her eomma/mom in her second life was drop-dead gorgeous and elegant. She imagined that her Mama Boss was also simr to her eomma/mom.

    She couldn''tpete with the personification of "beauty, brains, and grace."

    [Gosh. Why do I even feelpetitive towards my own mother?]

    Well, don''t answer that.

    She knew why, but her pride was as high as the sky. It wouldn''t allow her to admit her feelings after her "marriage proposal was abruptly turned down.

    "When Lady Roseheart was pregnant with you, she asked me to take care of you as if she knew that she wouldn''t live long enough to raise you," he continued, his face softening up. He must be reminded of his fond memories with her mother. "I made a promise with her, and I intend to keep it as long as I can."

    "But my Mama Boss was pregnant with me and Nero then," she said. "Does it mean that you''ll also protect Nero?"

    "No," he said. "Lady Roseheart thought that she was only pregnant with a daughter since they don''t give birth to males anymore. Thus, I only promised to take care of her "daughter." Prince Nero isn''t included in that promise."

    "Ruto, I didn''t know that you could be that petty," she said while shaking her head. "Could you be secretly a bad boy inside?"

    "I never imed that I was a good boy."

    "Why do you always have a retort to everything I say?"

    "It''s because you''re reckless," he said, scolding her lightly. "Don''t propose easily."

    Okay, she blushed once again. "You''re so good at crushing my ego, Ruto," sheined. "And I didn''t propose to you. It''s not a proposal if you didn''t say ''yes.''"

    Heughed softly while shaking his head. "Do it again after youring-of-age ceremony."

    Wow.

    At this rate, she was going to have a heart attack. But she didn''t want to assume so she acted like she didn''t get what he meant by that.

    "Propose to me again," Ruto said with a warm smile on his face. "I''ll give you the answer that you want to hear by then."

    "Don''t say that carelessly, Ruto," Neoma said, her heart beating like crazy even though she wasn''t supposed to feel that way toward a "child." But why did Ruto never feel like a child to her unlike the others around her? Ah, maybe she should stop thinking about it for now. "After all, the answer that I want to hear is always a ''yes.''"

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 Chapter 269 - SEE YOU LATER, RUTO

    "JUST TO be clear, we''re not engaged," Neoma said while munching on the fresh strawberry. Ruto gave her a bowl of fresh and sweet strawberries for dessert. And now, she was enjoying the fruit while sitting on the swing in the garden. "My proposal is purely out of the goodness of my heart."

    "Okay," Ruto said casually. "Tell me when you''re done eating. I''ll walk you home."

    She frowned at that.

    Right now, the two of them were seated side-by-side in the white wooden double swing in his garden. It was cold outside so Ruto wrapped her in a warm nket earlier. Plus, he also brought a spirit stone that functioned like a heater. He attached the ruby to the swing and it was keeping them warm at the moment.

    She was sofortable that she didn''t want to go home yet.

    [But it''s not like I want to stick to Ruto all night, okay? I just don''t want to return yet because I know I''ll be scolded.]

    Yes, that was it.

    There was no way her Papa Boss hadn''t heard yet that she went out of the Royal Pce without permission.

    "You don''t want to go home, do you?"

    Neoma turned to Ruto and nodded. "You said earlier that you''re going to leave early morning. There are only a few hours left before sunrise. Should I help you pack your things?"

    "My things are already packed."

    "Then I''ll send you off so let me stay here¨C"

    "No," he said, abruptly cutting her off. "One of His Majesty''s Pdins was here a while ago. I''m sure His Majesty is on his way to pick you up."

    She clicked her tongue in annoyance.

    "Neoma, you shouldn''t be outside the Royal Pce without any guards," he said, scolding her lightly. "Don''t overestimate your power."

    "I''m not overestimating my power," she said defensively. "I only went here without Lewis because I know that I''m safe with you. You''re OP and I''m OP so we''ll be fine."

    "That''s what I call overconfidence."

    "Leave me alone," she said, then she put two strawberries in her mouth.

    "His Majesty locked Lewis Crevan up in the Red Sky Tower."

    She froze when she heard that.

    The Red Sky Tower was the fancy prison for nobles whomitted light yet punishable crimes.

    [Papa Boss did what¡­?]

    "Not only Lewis Crevan," he continued. "Lady Juri Wisteria, Lord Jasper Hawthorne, Lord Jeno Dankworth, and a child from the camp were also locked up with him."

    She gasped when she remembered her children.

    [Even Greko¡­?]

    "I''m such an irresponsible mother," she whispered to herself guiltily. "I need to go back¡­"

    "You can stay here for a little longer since I''m sure someone will be here to pick you upter anyway."

    "Yeah," she said, then she put another whole strawberry in her mouth. "The Red Sky Tower is afortable ce for "prisoners." I''m sure my children aren''t in danger so they''ll be fine even if I don''t bail them out right away."

    It wasn''t like she was neglecting her children.

    [Mothers deserve a break from raising their children, don''t they?]

    But fathers, on the other hand¡­

    "I don''t understand why Papa Boss has to lock them up," she said in an annoyed tone. "My children aren''t criminals."

    "Don''t be too hard on His Majesty. He''s just doing the right thing," he said carefully, defending her Papa Boss. "Your friends broke thew."

    "Whatw?"

    "They were locked up for endangering the life of the "Crown Prince.""

    She blinked several times, confused. "They didn''t endanger my life."

    "They did when they failed to protect you," he insisted bluntly. "Moreover, I heard that Lord Hawthorne confessed that he asked for your help to infiltrate the camp. His Grace has been irresponsible when he did that when he couldn''t even ensure your safety."

    "It was my choice to work with Jasper Oppa though."

    ""Oppa?""

    "That''s an endearment I use with Jasper Oppa," she exined simply since she couldn''t tell Ruto that it was a word from another world.

    "Endearment?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. "I guess you''re really close to Lord Hawthorne since you call him by his name."

    She stifled augh while looking at Ruto''s amusing facial expression at the moment.

    That was the first time she saw him raise an eyebrow as if he was annoyed.

    [He looks jealous¡­]

    She cleared her throat to control her own expression.

    [Nah, why would he be jealous of Jasper Oppa?]

    "We''re close, too," she reminded him. "Don''t you call me by my first name? You realize that you don''t address me by my title, do you?"

    "Ah," he said, his face back to being calm andposed. "I apologize for being rude, Princess Neoma."

    "Cringe," sheined. "Just call me by my first name. I don''t find it rude."

    She knew that she didn''t need to remind Ruto not to call her by her name when they were with other people.

    [Plus, he made an Oath of Silence with Papa Boss anyway.]

    "Okay, Neoma," he said casually. And that sounded better since she didn''t like it when he talked formally to her. "May I ask a personal question?"

    "Sure."

    "Do you trust Lord Hawthorne?"

    She nodded. "Yeah. I revealed my royal secret to her."

    He let out a deep sigh. "I figure you did but I''m still taken aback now that you confirmed it."

    "But Jasper Oppa isn''t a bad person," she admitted. Plus, she knew from her first life that the young duke wasn''t an enemy. "Don''t you trust him?"

    "I don''t know," he admitted. "Lord Hawthorne''s family was sentenced to death by His Majesty. I just wonder if Lord Hawthorne isn''t thinking of taking revenge on the Royal Family."

    "Nah, Jasper Oppa isn''t that kind of person," she said. "Even though his familymitted a grave sin, he remains loyal to the throne. That''s why when he inherited his father''s title, House Hawthorne became a part of the Royal Faction."

    "Do you think that the people who support the Royal Family will automatically be your ally?"

    "What do you mean by that?"

    "Do you like the Royal Family and the system that runs the empire, Neoma?"

    That question made her pause and think.

    Come to think of it, after she found out how rotten the Royal Family and the system they created were, she began to resent the two.

    Ruto was right.

    The Royal Faction wasposed of people who supported the rotten system that the Royal Family created.

    "Not everyone in the Royal Faction is an ally, and not everyone in the Noble Faction is an enemy," Ruto said carefully. "Moreover, most of the members of the Royal Family support Prince Nero, the real Crown Prince. They don''t know that a royal princess exists. And quite frankly, I don''t think the members of the Royal Faction are that different from the Noble Faction. After all, the majority of the nobility is headed by men who think little of women."

    Ah, everything Ruto said was right.

    It didn''t matter if it was the Royal or the Noble Faction. Both sides wouldn''t easily ept a royal princess to lead the empire in the future.

    She shouldn''t forget that.

    "It seems like to break a system, I need to break myself first," she said while shaking her head. "It''s hard to be the main character, Ruto."

    "You''re not the main character," he said in a yful voice. "If you''re going to break the system that everyone is used to, doesn''t that make you a viiness?"

    "Ah, that''s a valid point," she said. "And since I''m already a mother of four, you may call me ''Mommy Viiness.''" She paused, then she snapped her fingers. "That sounds like a good title for a fantasy book, doesn''t it?"

    "No, it sounds corny."

    She red at him. "Sometimes I wonder why I like talking to you even if you almost always crush my ego."

    "I didn''t mean to," he said, then he paused. "But I guess you need reality check once in a while because you''re being spoiled by people around you."

    "But I want to be spoiled by you, too!"

    She realized that she said it aloud when Ruto''s face turned red.

    [Ah, shit.]

    But it was the first time that he saw Ruto blush.

    [He kinda¡­ look cute?]

    She wanted to scold herself for thinking that a thirteen-year-old boy was cute since she was already an adult inside. But she had to admit that she never once thought Ruto as a child the way she saw Lewis and the others.

    And even though her brain screamed it was wrong to feel that way, her heart was kinda just vibing with her feelings.

    [Neoma Ramsay, protect your pride!]

    "I mean, you often scold me," she said as a way to somehow save face. "As a narcissist, I want to be spoiled by everyone around me."

    "Uh-huh," he said while scratching his cheek. "I''ll do my best to spoil you."

    "Then, you shoulde and see me thrice a month."

    "I can''t promise you that."

    She red at him again.

    "I''ll try toe home twice in a month," he said. "I thought we already talked about this, Neoma."

    She let out a deep sigh. "I know," she said softly. "Can you lend me your shoulder?"

    Instead of answering verbally, Ruto moved and closed the gap between them until their arms were touching.

    That made her smile.

    "You better be the best chef in the continent," Neoma said, then sheid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. "My Ruto has to be the best among the best."

    Rutoughed softly. "I won''t disappoint my Neoma."

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 Chapter 270 - SEE YOU LATER, NEOMA

    "ARE YOU not going to ask me anything?" Ruto asked Neoma who was pretending to be asleep while lying her head on his shoulder. It was cute how she pretended to be asleep when she wouldn''t stop "discreetly" eating the strawberries. She was even gripping the bowl in her hands tight as if she was afraid someone else might snatch it away from her. "You should ask it now before I leave, Neoma."

    "I''m sleeping."

    "If you can eat while "asleep," I''m sure you can also speak while you''re at it," he said teasingly. "You already did, didn''t you?"

    Neoma clicked her tongue before she spoke again. "Do you believe in the process called reincarnation?"

    Ah.

    He already had a feeling that Neoma suspected that he was also from the past. He thought he had smoothly avoided her suspicions with the lies that he fed her. But that didn''t seem to be the case. He already expected this kind of thing to happen though.

    "Yes, I believe in reincarnation," he said truthfully. "That belief is a part of our empire''s culture, isn''t it?"

    "What a safe answer."

    "Why don''t you ask me specific questions then?"

    "If I do, I feel like you''re going to disappear on me, Ruto."

    He was quite taken aback by what she said.

    All because it was true.

    "So I won''t ask questions that I know you can''t and won''t answer," she said in a sleepy voice. Ah, it seemed like she was about to fall asleep for real this time. "All I need to know is you''re on my side."

    "How sure are you that I''m on your side."

    "Your feelings have reached me, Ruto."

    He was d that Neoma couldn''t see his face right now because he definitely blushed.

    [Neoma, you used to be so shy around me¡­]

    But he wasn''tining.

    Then and now, Neoma was still Neoma.

    [She just keeps on getting lovelier and lovelier each time we meet.]

    "What kind of enemy would make a deal with the Devil just to literally save my face?" she asked in a confident voice. "Had the burn mark on my face stayed, it would have been bad for my position as Nero''s proxy. The nobility is already having a hard time epting my twin brother as the Crown Prince because of Imagine what would have happened if the heir to the throne is anything less than perfect physically."

    He smiled at what he heard. He was d that even now, Neoma still trusted her despite not knowing the whole truth.

    "If you believe in reincarnation, are you thinking that maybe we''ve met in our previous life?" he asked carefully.

    "Yeah."

    "What kind of rtionship do you imagine we had then?"

    "You were probably a simp for me in our past lives," she said confidently. "It''s a term that is close to ''pining for someone.''"

    She didn''t have to exin what "simp" meant but he appreciated it.

    "Why aren''t you saying anything?" sheined lightly. "It''s just my arrogance talking so don''t take it seriously."

    "I don''t think you''re wrong though."

    "Are you a proud simp?"

    "I don''t think I''d give myself a burn mark if I wasn''t a simp," he said. "I also don''t think that my personality would have been that different from my current personality."

    Sheughed softly. "That''s true. Don''t worry, Ruto. I won''t take advantage of your "simpness.""

    "Uh-huh."

    Neoma fell silent for a couple of seconds but he knew that she wasn''t asleep yet.

    Of course, he''d know.

    He had spent countless nights watching her sleep in the past after all.

    Just to be clear, it was not in a creepy way. It was his job to protect her in the past. Thus, he was required to keep a watch on her even in her sleep. To be honest, instead of "watching" the royal princess sleep, it would be more appropriate to say that he used to "listen" to her breathe.

    That sounded more creepy but he swore he was being professional then.

    "Listening" to Neoma sleep in the past was a way for him to guard him even if he was only guarding outside the door of her room. He could tell if she was having a nightmare or a good sleep by just listening to her breathe. And of course, if her breathing changed even for just a bit, he would check on her right away.

    "Ruto."

    "Hmm?"

    "I have a feeling that this isn''t our first time meeting each other," Neoma said in a sleepy yet serious voice. "But my gut feel tells me that I shouldn''t ask. So even if it''s stupid and reckless, I choose to blindly follow you. If you betray, I guess that''s on me."

    "I see."

    "You see what?"

    "I see that you''re also a simp."

    Once again, sheughed¨C a little more "awake" this time.

    "Neoma, surround yourself with good and strong people in my ce, okay?"

    "I''m already surrounded by good and strong people, you know?"

    "You don''t know how to utilize them though."

    "They''re not tools to be utilized, Ruto."

    Ah, she was still soft-hearted.

    For someone whomitted mass murder, his princess was still too soft. But it was just one of the things that he liked about her.

    "I trust you, Neoma," he said softly. "I pray that you don''t get betrayed in this lifetime."

    Neoma didn''t respond this time as her breathing evened.

    [Ah, she fell asleep.]

    "Good night, Neoma," Ruto whispered, then he called her by the endearment that they used to have. And those words were words that Neoma spoke in her second life. "Jal ja, jagiya."

    <strong>***</strong>

    RUTO STOOD up after he carefully put the Moonstone anklet around Neoma''s thin ankle.

    The royal princess was still asleep and heid herfortably on the swing. He covered her from neck to toe with the nket wrapped around her body earlier. And now, he could tell that she was deep in sleep because of her light snoring.

    "Ruto, the grumpy emperor is here," Veton, still in the form of a small bird, said as she sat on his shoulder. "Should we go and greet him as nned?"

    Ruto nodded before he gave Neoma onest longing look before turning to his Elemental Guardian. "Yes, we should proceed as nned," he said. "I will try to crack the barrier that seals His Majesty''s missing memories." He gently patted Veton''s head with his finger. "Please bring me to His Majesty, Veton."

    "Of course, Ruto."

    In just the blink of an eye, he disappeared in the garden and materialized in front of His Majesty who just arrived in front of the mansion''s main entrance.

    [Ah, His Majesty looks mad.]

    After that, Veton disappeared by his side to return to Neoma''s side and watch her in the meantime.

    He politely bowed to the emperor. "Greetings, Your Majesty."

    His Majesty gave him a cold, hard look. "How dare you seduce my daughter, Ruston Stroganoff?"

    "I didn''t seduce Princess Neoma, Your Majesty," he denied politely. [It was mutual pining.]

    The emperor scoffed. "Are you saying that my daughter isn''t good enough for you? Are you looking down on the one and only royal princess of the empire, huh?"

    He wanted to sigh in front of His Majesty.

    [I can''t tell if His Majesty wants me to be seduced by his daughter or not¡­]

    "Your Majesty, with all due respect, this talk is making me feel ufortable," he said bluntly. "And Princess Neoma is only nine years old. Until she hase of age, I wouldn''t dare to form any kind of rtionship with her aside from friendship."

    It wasn''t like he and Neoma were children inside but physically, they were so he had to be mindful of his words and actions.

    "You''re right. And I''m d that you''re about to leave now," His Majesty said. "Where''s Neoma?"

    "She''s in the garden, Your Majesty," he said politely. "But before you go and fetch Princess Neoma, may I humbly ask a favor?"

    The emperor raised an eyebrow at him. "Alright, let''s hear it."

    "May I shake your hand before I leave, Your Majesty?" he asked, then he added a lie. "In my mother''s small country, it''s a part of their custom to shake the hand of their leader before they leave for another ce."

    He was hoping that His Majesty wasn''t familiar with his mother''s small country to know that he just lied to his face.

    "I forgot where your mother is from and I don''t have time to remember it," His Majesty said, then he extended his hand to him. "But since this is the first andst time, I''ll give you the permission to shake my hand."

    "Thank you, Your Majesty. It''s an honor," Ruto said, then he grabbed the emperor''s hand while gathering a strong lightning bolt in his hand. His Majesty looked surprised and when he tried to pull his hand away, he just held onto the emperor''s hand tighter. "And please forgive me for my discourtesy."

    And just like that, he electrocuted Emperor Niki de Moonasterio¨C the one and only moon of the Great Moonasterion Empire.

    <strong>***</strong>

    OF COURSE, Ruto ran away as soon as he and Veton brought the unconscious emperor beside the sleeping Neoma.

    Right now, he was already in the carriage that was automatically driven by spirit stones that took the form of four horses. Veton was also with him, consoling him as he kept on coughing up blood in his white handkerchief that already turned red.

    "My poor Ruto," Veton said in a worried voice. "Princess Neoma doesn''t know how lucky she is that the Founder of her Pirs is you. The least thing the princess could do for you is to love you eternally."

    "Neoma doesn''t owe me anything," Ruto said when he calmed down. "She doesn''t need to love or anything so please don''t speak like that, Veton. Neoma is precious to me."

    "I like Princess Neoma but because of her, you''re suffering," the Elemental Guardian said. "And now, you''re on your way to die."

    "I''m just going to close all the doors that lead to another world, Veton."

    "That''s the same as dying!" Vetonined. "None of this would have happened if only Princess Neoma sought out to kill Regina Crowell from the start."

    He shook his head. "Neoma did the right thing by not touching even the strand of Regina Crowell''s hair. Had she decided to do so in the past, I would have stopped her," he said. "You know what would have happened if Princess Neoma killed Regina Crowell, don''t you?"

    <strong></strong>"I know," the Elemental Guardian whined. "Regina Crowell is the trigger to awaken the sleeping Callisto de Luca. If she was harmed in any way, the ancient half-god would have awakened and killed Princess Neoma."

    "That''s right."

    "But you tried to kill Regina Crowell, and she saw your face," Veton said in a cracked voice. "Now that makes you Callisto de Luca''s target."

    That was true.

    And that was one of the biggest reasons why he had to leave the empire. Now that he had be the Crow''s target, he had to be as far away from Neoma as possible.

    "I''m d that I became the target of the Crow for now so they wouldn''t solely focus on finding the royal princess," he said, trying tofort his Elemental Guardian. "Veton, I have to do this as the Founder of the Pirs."

    "Can''t you just tell Princess Neoma and His Majesty everything that you know?" Veton begged him. "Ruto, can you not do everything by yourself?"

    "I will lose all the memories of my past once Neoma remembers hers," Ruto said, then he shook his head. "I can''t afford to do that for now. I have toy down all the foundations first so Neoma would walk the easy path." He leaned against the backrest and closed his eyes. "Once I''m done paving the safest path for her and the Pirs, only then could I surrender all my memories for Neoma to retrieve the full memories of her first life, and the real ones that havee after that."

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 Chapter 271 - MEMORY GAP

    <strong></strong>"NIKOLAI, wake up."

    Hearing the soft and sweet voice that never failed to soothe him, Niki opened his eyes. As expected, he was greeted by the most beautiful woman in his eyes. "Mona."

    Mona smiled but there was a look of worry on her angelic face. "Did you have a bad dream?" she asked worriedly, then she gently wiped something off his face with her soft and warm hands. "You were crying in your sleep."

    He blinked in surprise. "I was crying?"

    Thest time he cried was when Juliet passed away.

    And he rarely gets bad dreams recently. Ever since Mona moved into his pce to live with him, his days had been blissful. Thus, he couldn''t fathom what could make him cry when he was at his happiest these days.

    She nodded, then her face turned sad. "You were apologizing to Nichole."

    Ah.

    Of course, it would be rted to his twin sister.

    He got up and stared at his hands. If he was apologizing to Nichole in his dream, then he probably dreamed of that moment again¨C the moment when he absorbed Nichole''s life force to extend his lifespan. "I had never been a good brother to Nichole. Thest thing I was able to do for her was to take her life force before she used it to do something that she''d regretter," he said softly. "But then again, I only decided that for her. Maybe I shouldn''t have stopped her back then."

    And the only way to stop his twin sister back then was to absorb her life force.

    "You did what you thought was best for Nichole," Mona said, then she held his hand and squeezed it. "You wiped out the cult in Nichole''s ce. I know it''s not enough. But I pray and hope that Nichole wouldn''t hate you so much." She paused, then let out a sigh. "I wished I didn''t leave the empire back then. If I was there, maybe I could have protected Nichole. Or at the very least, we could have found her earlier¡­"

    "You had to fulfill your responsibility as the sessor of House Roseheart. Don''t me yourself, Mona," heforted her. Then, he gently ced a hand on her stomach. "You being upset is bad for our baby."

    "Are you worried about our baby now?" she asked with a pout. "When I told you I was pregnant a few days ago, you didn''t look happy at all."

    "It wasn''t like I wasn''t happy. I will automatically love all the things that you love except for William and your other rude guardians," he said bluntly, making Mona chuckle while shaking her head. "It''s just that I was overwhelmed with worry."

    "What are you worried about?"

    "The Rosehearts only give birth to female children," he said carefully. "That means you''re going to give birth to a royal princess." He let out a deep sigh. "The empire is harsh to women born in the Royal Family, Mona. Our child would have an easier life if they were born a male."

    "You''re making me upset, Niki."

    Hearing that scared him. He didn''t care even if the whole world hated him. But he couldn''t bear it if it was Mona. "I''m sorry¡­"

    "What''s the use of your position as the emperor if you can''t utilize it to protect our child?" Mona asked sternly. "You saw what happened to Nichole. She was abducted during your absence. Thus, the Royal Family only did the bare minimum to find her. If you and the Order of the White Lion didn''t return earlier than expected from your expedition, then it must have been toote to save Nichole back then."

    He flinched.

    To be honest, if he didn''t get sick on their way home from the expedition, then the White Lion Knights could have been dispatched earlier to rescue Nichole. If only he had known in advance that his twin sister had been abducted by the cult, then he wouldn''t have dyed his troop''s return home¡­

    "The empire isn''t going to be a safe ce for our child, Mona," he said seriously, then he looked at her straight in the eye. "The thing that you mentioned about the doors that lead to another realm¡­"

    Her face instantly lit up. "Have you made up your mind?" she asked with a big smile on her face. "Are you finally considering leaving the empire to live in another world with me and our baby?"

    When Mona brought it up before, he brushed it off.

    He went through a lot to ascend to the throne. Heck, he even killed his own father to be the emperor. But now that Mona was pregnant, he felt like the only way to protect their child was to leave everything behind and live a new life in another world.

    [But does it really exist?]

    "Niki, you have to have more faith in me," Mona said as if she could see the doubt in her eyes. "If the Upper World and the Spirit World exist, why can''t you believe that another realm exists?"

    "I''m just wondering if the realm that you speak of is really suitable for us," he confessed hesitantly. He hated doubting Mona. But he wanted to be sure that he would bring his family to a safe ce. "Crossing another realm is already dangerous enough. I want to be certain that what lies ahead the doors that you mentioned would bring us to a safe world."

    "I swear on my life that the real I found is safe," she assured him with confidence. "I''ve been observing that realm for quite some time now, Niki. Out of all the realms that I got to visit, it''s the one that resonates with our souls best."

    "Is it very much different from the world that we live in?"

    "It is," she said carefully while nodding. "For once, that world doesn''t have Mana, aura, or magic. Or, they were forgotten, at least."

    To say that he was shocked to hear that would be an understatement. "How could we live in a world without our powers? Evenmoners in our empire are blessed with Mana. No matter how faint or how weak their powers are, they still have it. But you''re saying that the world you want to live it doesn''t use Mana?"

    Sheughed softly. "That world doesn''t have use for Mana. They use other things that make their lifestylefortable," she exined, then she smiled sweetly at him. "It''s a lovely ce, Niki. I can''t wait for you and our baby to see it as well."

    Seeing her smile calmed his worried heart.

    Her smile never failed to have that kind of effect on him.

    [Mona is really pretty.]

    "What is it called again?" Niki asked while caressing Mona''s soft and smooth cheek. "The realm that you fell in love with."

    "It''s a world as big as ours with a lot of beautiful ces and beautiful people as well," Mona said excitedly. "But the one I fell in love with is the country called Korea."

    <strong>***</strong>

    ["JAL JA, JAGIYA."]

    Jagiya?

    Neoma opened her eyes, thest words that she heard before falling asleep still ringing in her head loud and clear.

    ''Jal ja, jagiya'' were Korean words, and they meant "good night, sweetheart/darling/baby."

    Jagiya was an endearment and it was often used by married and unmarried couples.

    But how did Ruto learn the Koreannguage?

    Ah, this was so frustrating. She already told him that she wouldn''t ask questions that Ruto would definitely find hard to answer. But then, he had to speak Korean to her!

    [Just why did I fall asleep during the most critical time?!]

    "Neoma babo," Neoma said to herself while pulling her hair in frustration. She just called herself "stupid" in the Koreannguage because she was. "I should have at least asked Ruto three questions. Did he already run away?"

    "That, he did."

    She gasped in surprise when she heard her Papa Boss''s voice.

    Much to her shock, only then did she realize that her father was sitting beside her.

    She was still seated on the double swing in the garden. But instead of Ruto, it was her Papa Boss sitting on the other side of the swing.

    [Shit.]

    She wasn''t ready to face her Papa Boss yet.

    But when she saw his swollen eyes as if he just cried, she couldn''t help but worry for him despite everything.

    "Did you cry, Papa Boss?" she asked bluntly. "That''s so out of character."

    "Perhaps, I cried in my sleep," her Papa Boss said, then he turned to her. "I dreamed about your mother. It seemed like a memory, but I can''t remember when it happened."

    "Papa Boss, I''m not in the mood to use my big brain right now."

    "Ruston Stroganoff knocked me out earlier."

    Her eyes widened in shock. "It''s already shocking that the good boy that I know did something as rude as that, Papa Boss. But it''s even more shocking to know that he managed to knock you out."

    Her father scoffed. "That boy messed with my head."

    She scoffed at her father to defend Ruto. "Your head is already messed up, Papa Boss."

    He flinched at what she said.

    "Papa Boss, I''m angry at you because of three things," she said seriously.

    Strangely enough, she felt calm right now unlike what happened at the camp. She was still angry, but she could control it. Was it because Tteokbokki was asleep inside her? She could tell that her Soul Beast was inactive.

    She was worried about Tteokbokki but right now, she was d that he wasn''t connected to her mind. After all, she didn''t want him to hear what she was about to talk about with her father.

    "First, I''m angry at how ipetent you were when Aunt Nichole was abducted, Papa Boss," she continued without holding back. "Second, I don''t understand why you let Madam Hammock be my personal doctor after what she did to my aunt. Andstly, why didn''t you tell me that our Soul Beasts were humans before?" She clenched her hands tightly. "To be precise, I heard that our Soul Beasts were created by killing male Rosehearts."

    The pain in her voice mirrored the pain that crossed her father''s eyes.

    "Must we really talk about those things, Neoma?" her Papa Boss asked in a pained voice. "The more you know about those things, the more hurt you''d get. A child like you should be ignorant of the ugly side of this world."

    "I''m no longer a child, Papa Boss," Neoma said firmly. "If you don''t want me to hate you again, then speak."

    Her Papa Boss took a deep breath before speaking. "Let''s return to the Royal Pce first, then we''ll talk."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "NERO, where are you going?"

    "To my mother," Nero said as a response to Tara, the queen of the Spirit World. "I can feel my mother calling out to me."

    "It''s dangerous to go to the ck Ocean alone, Nero," Tara said worriedly. "You should wait for William to recover so he could apany you."

    "I''ll kill that ipetent bastard if I see him, Queen Tara," he said firmly. "If you don''t want us to get into a fight again, then let me go alone."

    The queen looked hesitant. "But Nero..."

    "I may not be able to save my mother, but it seems like she has something important to tell me," Nero said. He remembered that her mother warned him about Gavin Quinzel. But that useless William didn''t get any useful information. The Grand Spirit even refused to tell him what happened back in the living world. "I want to be with my mother."

    "Then, shall I give you a hand, dear future brother-inw?"

    [Who the fuck...]

    Ah, of course, it would be Trevor.

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 272 - FACE THE MUSIC

    <strong></strong>TREVOR was bored out of his mind.

    After sharing Madam Hammock''s "secret" with Juri Wisteria, his "adopted daughter," he had nothing left to do at the Royal Capital since he couldn''t find Princess Neoma. Moreover, Lewis Crevan was ignoring him and the Pdins kept chasing him away.

    He thought of bombing the hell out of Red Sky Tower to ease his boredom. But then, he suddenly remembered what the chef bastard "advised" him.

    [Work with the Spirit World, huh?]

    He wouldn''t say that he had personally met the queen of the Spirit World. And he wasn''t like she was curious. But since he had nothing better to do, he decided to give it a shot.

    Since he didn''t have enough power in him to break into the Spirit World''s domain forcefully, he decided toe in "peace." Fortunately, William went to the camp, and thus, the Bookworm was able to get useful information that he could use against the Grand Spirit.

    ording to the Bookworm, William tried to kill Princess Neoma but somehow ended up Ruston Stroganoff that he called "purple bastard."

    Thus, he sent a message to William and told the Grand Spirit that the "purple bastard" that he was chasing left him an advice. That was pure bullshit but whatever. It worked anyway. The Grand Spirit himself opened his personal gateway to his domain and thus, he managed to sessfully enter the Spirit World without getting into a fight.

    "Your information better be useful or else, I''ll kick you out," William warned him as soon as he "weed" him in the Spirit World. He noticed that the Grand Spirit looked weak as if he was recovering from an injury. Still, William remained looking like a fucking menace to society. What a waste of a beautiful face. "But I will beat you until you''re half-dead before I sent your ass out."

    "Yeah, sure," Trevor said casually while looking around. It seemed like they were at the entrance of the Royal Pce. As expected, the Royal Pce had an enchanted forest that you had to go through first before reaching the queen''s residence. He could tell that the beings hidden in the woods were wary of him. And if he''d be honest, he''d say that the barrier around him was kind of prickling his skin. "Is Prince Nero here?"

    "What do you need from Nero?"

    He turned to the Grand Spirit with a raised eyebrow. "Wow. You actually address Prince Nero casually, huh? And you sound as if you''re fond of him. Are you going to make Prince Nero the Spirit King or something?"

    "State your business first, demon."

    [Hmm¡­ it seems like the chef bastard is correct.]

    William was denying the fact that they were considering Prince Nero to be the queen''s sessor. There was a rumor in the past that said the queen was supposed to crown Lady Mona Roseheart as the next Spirit Queen. But that n went down to drain when his mother-inw chose to be with Emperor Niki and passed away because of that.

    [I thought the Spirit World would choose Princess Neoma. But it makes sense that they chose Princess Nero over my Moon Princess. After all, it is said that a male Roseheart is special or something.]

    It was funny how Princess Neoma and Prince Nero seemed to have switched their dominant "blood" as they grew up. When the royal twins were born, the royal princess''s Roseheart Blood was thick while Prince Nero''s Moonglow was overflowing.

    But before they knew it, Princess Neoma''s Moonglow began to overflow until it blocked the Roseheart Blood in her. On the other hand, Prince Nero''s Roseheart Blood turned thicker as his Moonglow began to grow weaker.

    [The royal twins are very interesting, but Princess Neoma is obviously more interesting.]

    "The Bookworm told me that you chased a certain "purple bastard" when you were at the camp."

    "So what?"

    "It was Ruston Stroganoff, a Royal Chef," he informed the Grand Spirit. "To be precise, he''s Princess Neoma''s chef."

    William looked taken aback by his revtion. "Why is someone as powerful as that punk is just cooking for the filthy bug?"

    "Well, maybe because the "filthy bug" that you speak of is greater than the prince you favor."

    The Grand Spirit red at him.

    "I''m not here to fight," he reminded William since he didn''t really have the energy to fight. He could run off his mouth though. But he would hold back for now not to get kicked out. "The chef bastard gave me a piece of interesting advice regarding Prince Nero. I want to hear your opinion."

    "My opinion and not the queen''s?"

    Well, it was obvious that the chef bastard didn''t trust the queen of the Spirit World. But it wasn''t like he could say it, could he?

    "I was under the impression that you''re the one who''s in charge of Prince Nero''s wellbeing," he said, bullshitting his way out of that "interrogation" from the Grand Spirit. "The chef bastard advised me to bring Prince Nero''s physical body here in the Spirit World instead of my personal domain in hell."

    The Grand Spirit''s brows furrowed in confusion. "Why?"

    He shrugged casually. "Hell if I know. The chef bastard ran away as soon as he said that. That''s why I want to hear your opinion first."

    William crossed his arms over his chest while thinking. "If Nero was correct with his assumption, then the purple bastard might be aware of what will happen in the future."

    "What?"

    "Shut up, I''m thinking."

    He huffed at the Grand Spirit''s rude way of brushing him off.

    [But I clearly heard what he said. The chef bastard knows what will happen in the future and Prince is aware of it? Does it mean the chef bastard has the past memories of his previous life, too?]

    And if Prince Nero was aware of that¡­

    [Ah, my future brother-inw remembers his past life as well.]

    He was pretty sure that Princess Neoma didn''t know that.

    "The purple bastard seems like a no-nonsense person," William said in the end. "Aside from that, I also agree that Prince Nero would be safer here than your domain," he added, then he scoffed. "The Devil might be able to break through your barrier since you''re a weak-ass demon."

    Trevor scoffed back. "Says the asshole whose ass was kicked by my son Lewis."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "THEN, SHALL I give you a hand, my dear future brother-inw?"

    Nero raised an eyebrow when Trevor arrived with William. "Why are the two of you together?" he asked before he red at the demon. "I''m not your future brother-inw."

    "Hey, we don''t know that yet," Trevor said with augh. "I was very useful to Princess Neoma recently so please be kind to me today, Prince Nero."

    He didn''t want to say this but that caught his attention.

    William didn''t say a damn thing about what happened when he met Neoma at the surface. But if it was Trevor, he would surely hear the whole truth. It wasn''t because the demon was the Devil''s Grimoire.

    [It''s because Trevor has a big mouth that he can''t really keep the information to himself.]

    "William," Tara, the queen of the Spirit World, called the Grand Spirit in a scolding tone. "Why did you let the Devil''s Grimoire enter the Royal Pce?"

    Well, technically, they were closer to the gate that led to the enchanted forest.

    But they were still on the premise of the Royal Pce so he could understand the queen''s wariness. Especially since Trevor had an annoying (and punchable) arrogant face.

    "Your Majesty, I assure you that the demon won''t do anything stupid," William said to the queen. "Moreover, may I have a word with you? It''s quiet urgent."

    The queen looked surprised by what the Grand Spirit said.

    [I understand Her Majesty. William looks very serious at the moment. And if he says that Trevor isn''t here to do anything stupid, then that must be the truth.]

    "Very well," Tara said to the Grand Spirit, then she turned to Trevor. "I''d like to talk to you in privateter but for now, I expect you to be on your best behavior, Trevor Kesser."

    Ah.

    The queen knew Trevor?

    [But I guess it will be weirder if the queen doesn''t know Trevor since he''s the Devil''s Grimoire.]

    "Of course, Your Majesty," Trevor said in his annoying "cheerful" voice while bowing to the queen exaggeratedly. "I don''t want to die yet so please tell your knights to calm down."

    Right.

    They were surrounded by the queen''s most trusted knights. Those spirits couldn''t be seen or felt. But Trevor was on the level where he could sense those kinds of things.

    The queen just smiled at Trevor before she left with William.

    However, he could feel that Tara''s knights remained to guard him.

    [They''re treating me like a child.]

    "Prince Nero, did you miss me?"

    "Not at all," he said bluntly. "Did Neoma send you here?"

    "Nah," the demon said, then he floated in the air in a lotus position. What a sleazy bastard. "Prince Nero, I want to confirm something with you."

    "What is it?"

    The demon snapped his fingers. Then, he felt a warm and thin barrier around them. Although it was a barrier, he could tell that it wasn''t meant for protection.

    "You can speakfortably. I made a noise barrier so no one could eavesdrop on us," Trevor said and for some reason, he suddenly looked serious now. "Prince Nero, do you trust Queen Tara and the Spirit World?"

    Ah, it made sense why Trevor would use that kind of barrier now.

    Thanks to that, he could speakfortably.

    "I don''t trust Queen Tara and the Spirit World. The memories in my head told me that I shouldn''t trust them," Nero said bluntly, then he smirked. "But I n to take advantage of them as much as I could."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NIKOLAI was pretty sure that the memory that he saw after Ruston Stroganoff knocked him out was a piece of his missing memories.

    He couldn''t remember nning to leave the empire with Mona and their child to another world. Moreover, he didn''t know that it was possible. And to be honest, the idea that there was another world aside from theirs was foreign to him.

    But he knew that Mona wouldn''t lie about it.

    "Why did I forget that memory though?" Niki whispered to himself. "And where is ''Korea'' exactly?"

    "Korea?"

    To say that he was surprised by Neoma''s voice would be an understatement. When he turned around, he saw his daughter standing in front of his desk with a shocked look on her face.

    But he was just as shocked as her.

    [I didn''t feel Neoma''s presence at all!]

    He went to his office first while Neoma was escorted by Geoffrey Kinsley to her pce. He asked his daughter to change clothes first since she had to act like Nero again now that they were back to the Royal Pce.

    Although he asked Geoffrey to let Neoma enter his office alone since they had to talk about something private, he still didn''t expect that he wouldn''t feel his daughter''s presence at all.

    He felt Geoffrey''s but he thought Neoma hasn''t arrived yet.

    To think that even him wouldn''t feel his own daughter''s Mana...

    [Neoma, you''ve be stronger again, huh?]

    "Papa Boss, did you just say ''Korea?''" Neoma asked, her eyes wide. "How did you know about that ce?"

    "I should be the one asking you that," Niki said when he realized that his daughter knew the ce that Mona mentioned in his dream. "Mona told me in the past that a ce called Korea exists in another world," he said, then he raised an eyebrow. "But howe you know about that country as well, Neoma de Moonasterio?"

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 273 - OMINOUS PRESENT

    <strong></strong>"YOUR ROYAL Highness, when did you get this pretty Moonstone anklet?"

    "A what?" Neoma asked Stephanie while rubbing the sleepiness off of her eyes using her hands. "I don''t remember getting an anklet."

    "But you''re wearing one, Princess Neoma," Stephanie, kneeling in front of her while holding her right foot with the utmost care, said before she raised her head to meet her gaze. "It''s not just an ordinary Moonstone anklet. I can tell that the Moonstone gems used to make this anklet are very rare."

    "Really?" she asked, then she looked down at her anklet. She was quite surprised to see the beautiful little gems attached to the thin chain around her ankle. "The gems are shining."

    The Moonstone gemstones in the anklet had a silver-ish and purple-ish glow in them.

    [It''s so pretty!]

    But where did she get that anklet? She had countless jewelry in her collection but she couldn''t remember owning an anklet since as a Crown Prince, he didn''t need that. Plus, she also didn''t have an anklet in her secret jewelry collection. She has been investing in jewelry since she was five so that she could sell them if ever she gets kicked out in the future.

    [Since Stephanie asked me when I got the Moonstone anklet, then it''s safe to assume that she''s not the one who put that thing on me.]

    She was too sleepy that her big brain refused to function properly.

    "This anklet has eight Moonstone gems," Stephanie said in a surprised voice. "In the Kingdom of Suoh, if a man gives an anklet with eight Moonstone gems to a woman, it means he''s dedicating his devotion to her. Thus, the Moonstone gems have be the symbol of love and confession in the Kingdom of Suoh."

    "You seem to know a lot about the culture of that kingdom, Stephanie."

    The head maid smiled shyly. "My ex-lover was from the Kingdom of Suoh, Your Royal Highness."

    "Ex?"

    "He was a knight who died in the previous war."

    She bit her lower lip, suddenly feeling guilty for asking. "Ah, I''m sorry¡­"

    "It''s okay, Your Royal Highness," the head maid said with a reassuring smile on her face, then she quickly changed the topic. "My ex-lover gave me an anklet with eight Moonstone gems as well. I actually didn''t know that that kind of anklet has a deep meaning until the young Lord Stroganoff told me about it."

    Okay, now she was suddenly awake. "Ruto?"

    "Yes, Your Royal Highness," Stephanie said while nodding. "Lord Stroganoff told me that his mother is from the Kingdom of Suoh."

    Oh, right.

    She often heard from the servants of the pce that Ruto was a foreigner. Let''s see¡­

    [The Kingdom of Suoh is in the East Continent, right? And as far as I remember from my History ss, the Kingdom of Suoh is actually a monarchical country. They''re also on friendly terms with our empire.]

    That was a relief.

    Wait¡­

    [It was Ruto!]

    The only person that she spent time with (except for her Papa Boss) this evening was Ruto. He probably put the anklet on her while she was sleeping. Wow, she couldn''t believe that her big brain only figured it out now.

    "Stephanie, is it okay even if the anklet gets wet?" she asked excitedly. "It won''t fade or anything, right? I don''t want to take it off."

    Stephanie smiled warmly before nodding. "You may wear it even when you''re bathing, Your Royal Highness. I can tell that the craftsmanship of this anklet is high level so please don''t worry too much, Princess Neoma."

    "That''s a relief to hear," Neoma said, then she smiled and lifted her leg to touch the Moonstone anklet. [Ruto, because of this gift, I will forgive you for leaving abruptly after giving me more questions about your secrets.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    "SEE YOUter, Stephanie and Alphen!"

    Alphen smiled warmly at Princess Neoma who was waving enthusiastically at her and Stephanie while being carried by Sir Geoffrey Kinsley.

    The royal princess, dressed in her pajamas usually worn by boys, was fetched by the Pdin under His Majesty''s orders. Since they didn''t know when Princess Neoma would return, he and Stephanie would wait at the entrance of nco Pce.

    "His Royal Highness is in a good mood," Stephanie said in a delighted voice after Princess Neoma and Sir Kinsley disappeared from their sight. Since they were at the entrance of the pce where other people might suddenly turn up, the head maid has to address Princess Neoma as the Crown Prince. "It seems like he received a Moonstone anklet with eight gems from a special person."

    "A Moonstone anklet with eight gems?" Alphen asked, then he nodded when he remembered a certain story about Moonstone anklets. "If the person who gave His Royal Highness the Moonstone anklet came from the Kingdom of Suoh, then does it mean the Crown Prince just received a confession?"

    The head maid smiled and sighed dreamily. "What can we do? His Royal Highness, even at his tender age, is already lovely."

    At first, he was confused as to why Stephanie seemed to be happy that Princess Neoma received a Moonstone anklet from a precious person. Then, he remembered that although the head maid had an ex-lover from the Kingdom of Suoh, she still didn''te from that country so her knowledge about the anklet might be limited.

    He wasn''t from that kingdom as well but he spent his childhood and adolescence in the Kingdom of Suoh. The story behind the Moonstone anklet was very famous locally. So naturally, he was well aware of what giving the anklet to someone special meant.

    It was true that it had be a way of confessing now, but the true meaning behind the Moonstone anklet was quite heartbreaking.

    As far as he remembered, in the past, the knights of the Kingdom of Suoh would give their lovers a Moonstone anklet if they were dispatched to fight in a war. The anklet wasn''t a mere present¨C it actually served as a keepsake. It was said that the knights treated the Moonstone anklet as a memento for their loved ones in case they didn''t make it back home.

    [To simply say, it seems like the person who gave Princess Neoma the Moonstone anklet knows that they might not make it back alive.]

    "Alphen, are you alright?" Stephanie asked worriedly. "You suddenly fell silent."

    "I''m alright. Shall we check His Royal Highness''s schedule for tomorrow?" Alphen asked to distract himself from his worrisome thoughts. [Perhaps, the person who gave the Moonstone anklet to Princess Neoma is ignorant of the story behind it.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    "GEOFFREY, did Papa Boss physically punished you?" Neoma asked the Pdin who was carrying her in his arms. They were already at the Yule Pce and as expected, it was practically empty. Especially the hallway leading to her father''s office. "You can''t walk properly and your movements are slower than usual."

    Geoffrey Kinsley, her Papa Boss''s Pdin that served as Sir Glenn''s temporary recement, smiled at her. "His Majesty only scolded us, Your Royal Highness," he assured her. "Me and my fellow Pdins punished ourselves by training extra hard."

    "Ah, I see."

    She already expected that her father would punish the Pdins for failing to protect her.

    "I''m sorry, Princess Neoma," the Pdin said. Since her father''s pce was well-protected, Geoffrey Kinsley was free to call her by her real name and title. "I''m sorry that I failed to protect you at the camp. I shouldn''t have let you go alone."

    "Nah, you wouldn''t have stopped me anyway," she said, then she paused. "But I learned my lesson now. I will be more careful so you and the people around me won''t get punished for my selfishness and recklessness."

    "But it''s alright even if Your Royal Highness acts selfishly and recklessly."

    "It''s not okay," she said. "I''m already very arrogant. I''ll get worse if you spoiled me too much."

    "I believe that Your Royal Highness would only act selfishly and recklessly if it meant protecting and saving other people."

    She chuckled and gently patted the Pdin on the shoulder. "Don''t trust me too much, Geoffrey," she said. "Don''t forget that this royal princess of yoursmitted mass murder."

    The Pdin just smiled at her.

    But she clearly got what he wanted to say: ["Killing the criminals whomitted heinous crimes is a great service to humanity, Princess Neoma."]

    "We''ve arrived at His Majesty''s office," Geoffrey announced as he stopped in front of the giant double doors. "Should I announce Your Royal Highness''s arrival?"

    "Nah, I''m pretty sure Papa Boss already knows that I''m here even if you don''t announce it," she said, then she patted Geoffrey''s shoulder. "You may put me down now, Geoffrey. Thank you for bringing me here."

    The Pdin just smiled and bowed before carefully putting her down.

    After that, she quietly entered her Papa Boss''s office.

    Her father had his back on her as he was standing in front of the window while mumbling to himself. That was quite a surprise. She could tell that her Papa Boss was yet to notice that she had already arrived at his office.

    Was he so distracted that he didn''t even hear when she opened and closed the door?

    [And why is he talking to himself?]

    "And where is ''Korea'' exactly?"

    "Korea?"

    She was so shocked when she heard her father mention her country that she only realized she thought out loud when her Papa Boss turned around.

    [Shit.]

    Her father looked as shocked as she was.

    To be honest, she knew that it was risky to have ''that'' talk with her Papa Boss yet. But she was also aware that it was inevitable. Thus, she decided to take the risk.

    "Papa Boss, did you just say ''Korea?''" she asked, her eyes still wide from shock. "How did you know about that ce?"

    "I should be the one asking you that," her Papa Boss said sternly. "Mona told me in the past that a ce called Korea exists in another world."

    The fact that her Mama Boss knew about Korea didn''te as a surprise to her. After all, she believed that her eomma/mommy back in her second life had the memories of Lady Mona Roseheart.

    But why did her Mama Boss tell her Papa Boss about Korea when the two were supposed to have a bad rtionship? Wasn''t that the reason why her Mama Boss ran away from her Papa Boss and "eloped" with Commander Gavin Quinzel who turned out to be her appa/dad?

    "But howe you know about that country as well, Neoma de Moonasterio?"

    Was it really the right time to tell her father about her first life?

    Well, as she thought earlier, it was inevitable. Moreover, she had to be honest with her Papa Boss if she wanted him to be honest with her. She didn''t want a misunderstanding to get in their way.

    Although she was quick to get mad at her Papa Boss when she heard the terrible things that happened to her Aunt Nichole and the male Rosehearts, she reminded herself that she also needed to listen to her father''s side. It didn''t matter if the emperor would end up disappointing her again.

    [It''s on him if he ended up as a disappointment again.]

    But she wouldn''t easily be swayed by anyone anymore.

    Thus, from now on, she would create her own judgment after a careful investigation. She didn''t care if the Devil wanted to help her. That didn''t mean that she had to be on their side. Why must she take sides when she could stand on her own anyway?

    "Answer me, Neoma de Moonasterio."

    "Gosh, don''t be so impatient, Papa Boss," she said. "I need to be mentally prepared first. Plus¡­" She took a deep sigh while shaking her head. "You need to prepare your heart before you hear my story so give me time to prepare."

    Her father didn''t look happy with her suggestion.

    She would shamelessly admit that she was performing a dying tactic.

    But could you me her?

    Ever since she was reborn as Princess Neoma again, she had fought tooth and nail just to survive and not get kicked out of the pce. That meant all this time, her Papa Boss was an enemy to her.

    They did get close eventually, and she even got her Papa Boss to admit that he loved her. But that didn''t mean her anxiety and fear of getting abandoned once again disappeared altogether.

    Thus, even now, she needed to be careful around her own father.

    "I promise that I will tell you everything soon, Papa Boss," she said softly. "But I need you to promise that you will also bepletely honest with me. I want to know the dark history of our empire, and I want to know if I can still love you as a father."

    Her father looked like he was about toin.

    But in the end, he took a deep breath.

    "I suppose we can dy this conversation in the meantime since we have two urgent matters that we need to address as soon as possible," her Papa Boss said. "First, High Priest Wellington is on his way to our empire to investigate the disappearance of Saint Zavaroni."

    Ah, right.

    She almost forgot about Beef Wellington¨C uhm, High Priest Wellington since His Excellency was overshadowed by the saint.

    Her heart sank with heaviness when she remembered what Saint Zavaroni did. But she set her personal feelings aside. As her father said, they needed to clean up her mess first before they deal with their personal problems.

    After all, it was their royal duty to run the empire.

    [I didn''t expect the temple to make a move this fast."

    But then again, Saint Zavaroni was a very important figure in the whole continent. His disappearance would truly create chaos especially among the people of the empire. Plus, the saint had a huge following.

    If they wouldn''t satisfy the saint''s devotees with a solid exnation, then it was going to cause an uproar.

    [Yep, this isn''t the right time for me and Papa Boss to have ''the'' talk.]

    "And second, the nobles wanted the Crown Prince to be punished.

    Neoma raised an eyebrow at that. "The audacity of those bitches," sheined, her temper getting the best of her once again. "Why did those bastards want me punished after I cleaned up the mess that was the Death Camp?"

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 274 - SHREWD LITTLE MINDS

    <strong></strong>"OUR FIRST and biggest problem is the arrival of His Excellency, High Priest Dave Wellington."

    Neoma sipped her (sweetened) tea while listening to her Papa Boss.

    Right now, she and her father were still in his office. Only this time, the two of them were in the lounge area. She was seated on the sofa across from her Papa Boss. It was Geoffrey Kinsley who brought refreshments for them earlier. But the Pdin already left after serving them.

    "His Excellency would definitely demand to know what exactly happened to Saint Zavaroni," her Papa Boss said. "After all, their followers would also look for His Holiness."

    "What''s going to happen if we tell His Excellency the truth?" Neoma asked, then she gently put the tea cup down on the table. "Must we tell the temple that His Holiness turned his back on Yule to be with my Aunt Nichole?"

    "Don''t address Nichole casually in front of other people¨C especially not in front of the nobles," her father said. When she didn''tment on that, her Papa Boss continued. "We have no choice but to tell the High Priest the truth. Once we do, the temple will probably convey it to their followers. And since the Devil is the temple''s nemesis, they will definitely paint Nichole as the evil one that dragged Saint Zavaroni to hell. They would never romanticize the saint''s rtionship with your aunt."

    She wasn''t surprised with whatb she heard.

    Moreover, she also agreed that Saint Zavaroni''s rtionship with her Aunt Nichole shouldn''t be romanticized. But although she knew that her aunt was the temple''s nemesis, she still didn''t want the High Priest to put the me on her Aunt Nichole.

    [It''s unfair.]

    "Aunt Nichole didn''t force Saint Zavaroni to choose her over Lord Yule," she said with a scowl. "If they''re going to reveal the truth to the public, then we might as well let everyone know about the existence of the cult and the horrible things they do to the empire''s princesses."

    "Do you think the High Priest would get threatened by that?"

    "The Astello Temple worships Lord Yule," she said. "And Lord Yule is the founder of the cult. Well, technically, it was his descendants who created the cult that we know today. Nevertheless, Lord Yule was the one who enabled Callisto de Luca to y with the lives of the female de Moonasterios." She sipped her tea before she continued. "If I put it that way, I don''t think the temple would have the audacity to me Aunt Nichole for Saint Zavaroni''s betrayal."

    Her father looked at her long and hard as if he was trying to see what was on her mind. In the end, he took a deep sigh while shaking his head. "If it''s you, then I''m sure you can "convince" the High Priest to go along with the narrative you want."

    "Uh-huh."

    "Then, can I leave this matter to you?"

    "Of course, Papa Boss," she said. "Don''t worry about it, Papa Boss. Even though I won''t allow the temple to me the saint''s betrayal on Princess Nichole, I won''t side with the Devil."

    "I know that you''re not stupid to do that."

    "Thank you," she said. "What about the nobles? What are they crying about this time?"

    "First of all, they found out that the people who run the camp were all murdered," her father said. "The ones who survived are just mere servants who don''t know any important information regarding the Death Camp."

    Ah, right.

    She didn''t kill everyone. Only those whomitted heinous crimes were killed. The others were left alive to be punished by humanws.

    "Second, the fact that Madam Hammock was killed by Nichole, who turned out to be the Devil''s proxy, has already spread among the nobles."

    Her heart sank once again.

    But she remembered that she and her Papa Boss decided to put their duties as royals over their personal feelings in the meantime.

    [We''ll talk about the important stuff after we settled the urgent matters at hand.]

    "Finally, majority of the nobles are using you of being too reckless for putting the lives of the children of House Wisteria, House Dankworth, and House Hawthorne at risk," her Papa Boss concluded. "They also think that you''re too arrogant for thinking that you can handle this on your own."

    She smirked and sipped her tea.

    [This sounds familiar.]

    After all, in her first life, the young Duke Jasper Hawthorne was also criticized for dealing with the Death Camp on his own. It was such a huge spectacle back then since the nobles, especially the older ones, were adamant about taking Jasper Oppa''s title during that time.

    Fortunately, her oppa thought of a brilliant way to shut them up. Not only that. Jasper Oppa also used that opportunity to pass thew that would protect the children of the empire.

    [Jasper Oppa, I''m sorry but I have to steal your idea.]

    "Your smirk tells me that you already know how to handle the nobles'' criticism," her Papa Boss said. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

    "I just need you to support the "Crown Prince" during the meeting with the nobles, Papa Boss," she said. "I can handle the rest."

    "Are you sure?"

    "Yes, Papa Boss," she said while nodding. "Have some faith in me."

    "I have faith in you," her father said, quite surprising her. "I just want to make sure if you really don''t need my help at all."

    Actually, she already had everything figured out.

    But it wouldn''t hurt to ask her father for ''that'' thing.

    "Money, Papa Boss," Neoma said with a big smile on her face. Of course, she has money since she has been saving up ever since she was five. But she wanted to save her money for her life as ady of leisure in the future. "I need at least twice the amount of my monthly allowance."

    "Okay," her Papa Boss agreed easily. "Money will never be an issue."

    [Ah, perhaps Papa Boss''s only saving grace, aside from his face, is his wealth.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOU WANT us to work with the Devil''s Grimoire?"

    "Yes," William, leaning against the wall with his arms over his chest, said to Tara. "That demon boy said that he''d like to continue with his treatment of Nero''s physical body here in the Spirit World."

    "Do you think we can trust him?" Tara asked worriedly. "He''s still the Devil''s servant."

    "The boy is a Kesser," he reasoned. "That means he was only forced to be a demon. It doesn''t seem like he''s attached to the Devil, too. In fact, that stupid demon chose to devote his loyalty to the filthy bug."

    "Filthy bug?"

    "Neoma de Moonasterio."

    "Don''t disrespect Princess Neoma, William. Nero wouldn''t like that," the queen scolded him. "Do you think it was Princess Neoma who asked the demon boy to continue with Nero''s treatment here instead of his hellhole?"

    "No, it wasn''t the filthy bug," he said. "It was the advice of the person that Nero is looking for?"

    The queen fell silent for a while before she gasped softly. "You found the man with purple hair?"

    "That''s right," he said while nodding. "He was the one who destroyed the temporary human body that I used when I went to the surface."

    "He''s that strong?"

    "Yeah," he said firmly. "And he also seems like a trustworthy person. He just said a few words to me but I already believed him."

    "It''s rare for you to easily trust someone you just met."

    "That purple bastard is annoying but he reminds me of Mona."

    "How so?"

    "They''re both likable," he said bluntly. "In my standards, at least."

    Taraughed softly. "Then, I guess I have no choice but to trust your decision," she said, then she turned serious. "But I''d like to talk to the demon boy first to set some conditions."

    "Sure," William said, then he stood straight. "Let me pick up the demon boy."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "WHY do you have to dress up like a girl, Prince Nero?" Trevor, still suspended in the air, asked him curiously. "Is that a hobby of yours?"

    "It''s not," Nero denied firmly. "I need to dress up as a girl to fool the water snake into thinking that I''m Neoma."

    "Water snake?"

    "The giant serpent guarding my mother under the ocean."

    The demon boy tilted his head at one side. "It''s not an ordinary water snake," he said. "If I''m not mistaken, it''s the Imoogi called Nathaira."

    "What''s an Imoogi?"

    "It''s a lesser dragon," the demon exined. "An Imoogi is a creature that resembles a gigantic serpent. Apparently, Imoogis were cursed and therefore, they failed to be full-fledged dragons. But ording to the records in the Devil''s Grimoire, an Imoogi can turn into a real dragon if it seeded in securing horns from a dead dragon."

    "Why are you telling me to find Nathaira a pair of horns for her to be a full-fledged dragon?"

    "You need to gain the Imoogi''s favor if you want to have safe ess to your mother''s ir,"" the demon said casually. "It seems like Lady Roseheart only gave ess to Neoma. Thus, anyone who isn''t your twin sister will have to break Nathaira''s tight defense. Since the ck Ocean is the Imoogi''sir and the water in there is made of her very own energy, Nathaira is invincible underwater. Gaining her favor instead of trying to fool the Imoogi the second time around is better."

    Ah, that made sense.

    He hated to admit this but Trevor was really knowledgeable. But he wondered how long had the demon boy known that her mother was trapped under the ck Ocean.

    [Did he already tell Neoma about our mother''s situation?]

    "That''s easier said than done," he said when the talkative demon finally shut his mouth. "But where do you think would I find a pair of dragon horns while I''m stuck here?"

    "I have them."

    "Huh?"

    "I have a pair of dragon horns with me," the demon said casually. "I can lend them to you if you want."

    Unbelievable.

    But then again, this annoying demon was the Devil''s Grimoire. Aside from a vast stock of knowledge, he probably had a collection of rare items that he needed to protect himself from getting stolen by greedy people.

    "You''re not going to give it for free, are you?"

    "Of course not. Demons don''t work for free," Trevor said with a smirk. "Would you like to form a contract with me, future brother-inw?"

    "Alright, let''s do that," Nero said, ignoring the fact that Trevor called him "brother-inw" again. "But if you ask for Neoma''s hand in marriage, I will kill you."<strong></strong>

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 275 - IVE MISSED YOU

    <strong></strong>"I HAVE bad news for you, Princess Neoma."

    "Great," Neoma, seated on the couch of the fancy royal carriage headed to the Red Sky Tower, said sarcastically. She was already in a bad mood because she hasn''t had breakfast yet. Plus, she was sulking because Ruto already left and therefore, he was no longer the one who was in charge of her meals. She already missed the warm and yummy food that he would make for her. "I eat bad news for breakfast."

    Dion Skelton, seated across from her, remained pokerfaced. He was the one who fetched her from her pce and apparently, he was the one in charge of her protection while Lewis was locked up in the tower. "My source informed me that some of the nobles from the Noble Faction have already finished their investigation regarding of what happened in the Death Camp," the Pdin reported to her. "Apparently, they managed to gather pieces of evidence that a demon opened a Hellgate and fetched the souls of those who perished in the camp. Fortunately, His Majesty erased the traces that point to you as the one who really opened the Hellgate."

    "I hear a ''but,'' Dion."

    "But those nobles are suspecting you, Your Royal Highness," the Pdin said. "They believe that you were the one who summoned the demon to aide you with the mass murder that took ce in the camp. I also heard that those nobles already sent the report to His Excellency, High Priest Wellington." He bowed his head in apology. "My deepest apology for failing to block themunication between the High Priest and the Noble Faction, Princess Neoma."

    "How bad will it turn out to be if the temple and the nobles find out that I have affinity to the Devil?" she asked curiously. "To be honest, I''m thinking of just revealing that I have demonic powers in me. Can''t I just convince them that I''m only using demons like Trevor for the sake of the empire?"

    The Pdin raised his head, his face still void of emotions. "May I share my honest thoughts, Your Royal Highness?"

    "Of course."

    "Then, I believe that Your Royal Highness must not reveal your affinity to the Devil, and the fact that you have demonic power in you," he said bluntly. "The Astello Temple has a huge following frommoners to the royal families all over the continent, Princess Neoma. Even in our empire, the majority of our citizens have faith in the temple. I trust that Your Royal Highness is aware of the influence of the Astello Temple on our people."

    "Uh-huh," she said. "I also remember from my Theology ss that apparently, the temple gained more devotees and followers thanks to Saint Zavaroni¨C the most loved saint in history."

    "That''s true," he said while nodding his head. "Thus, the disappearance of His Holiness will definitely create an uproar. If the High Priest believed the information sent to him by the Noble Faction, then they must have already deemed you guilty. During the uing meeting with them, I believe that His Excellency would me Your Royal Highness for what happened to the saint. If our people hear his usation against you, they would probably side with the High Priest out of anger." He paused before speaking again. "If His Excellency demanded that the Crown Prince get dethroned and the public supported him, then I believe that His Majesty would find it difficult to ignore their mor."

    She let out a frustrated sigh.

    [Even in this world, the church has power over politics, huh?]

    "I bet Papa Boss has already seen thising," she said. "What''s my father''s n?"

    "I believe His Majesty has already orderd Geoffrey Kinsley to find the High Priest''s weakness," the Pdin said. "Saint Zavaroni is an honest man. But the temple isn''t free of corruption and His Majesty knows that."

    "Are you saying that the High Priest is involved with the corruption happening in the temple?"

    "His Majesty is hoping that it''s the case, Your Royal Highness."

    "Ah, I see."

    [Papa Boss said that he''d let me take care of the matters with the temple. But it turns out that he''s secretly looking after me, huh? Is it his way of saying that he got my back?]

    The feeling of being taken care of her father wasn''t bad.

    But it wasn''t enough to sway her.

    "Princess Neoma, I don''t rmend revealing your affinity to the Devil," Dion said carefully. "The temple won''t ept a Crown Prince that has any kind of rtion to the Demon n. Especially since the de Moonasterios, descendants of Lord Yule, are from the Divine n. Moreover, our empire are once attacked by demons. I don''t think our people have already forgotten their fear of the demons and the Devil himself. If you lose the trust of our own citizens, it will be easier for the people that hate the Royal Family to ask for your dethronement."

    Well, there goes her desire to reveal the truth.

    "Thank you for your honesty, Dion," she said after deciding to give up on her earlier n. "But why do I feel like you know a lot about the temple than one should be? Were you a Holy Knight or something before you became my father''s Pdin?"

    For the first time in a while, Dion''s pokerfaced cracked a little.

    The sadness in the Pdin''s eyes told her that he had a heartbreaking story that was rted to the temple.

    [Come to think of it, I heard from Sir Glenn that Dion''s eye color is fake.]

    Was the reason why the Pdin was hiding his real eye color rted to his seemingly connection to the temple? She was curious as hell to know Dion''s backstory. But the sadness in his eyes held her back.

    "You don''t have to answer my question," she said. "I apologize for crossing my boundary, Dion."

    "Not at all, Your Royal Highness," Dion said, then he bowed. "My utmost gratitude for your generosity."

    Generosity?

    Ah, maybe it was because she didn''t pry into his personal life.

    [Anyway, it''s time for my big brain to work again since I don''t want Nero to be dethroned because of my carelessness.]

    It seemed like it would be hard to convince the High Priest that Saint Zavaroni literally followed her Aunt Nichole to hell on his own. And she also had to prove her "innocence," which was nearly impossible since she was guilty as hell.

    But like what Dion said, it wouldn''t be wise to let her enemies know that she had affinity to the Devil.

    [And the people of our empire are traumatized by the Demon n.]

    If she couldn''t take responsibility of what happened to the camp, then¡­

    "I need a scapegoat," she said after a deep consideration. "I need someone who will take all the me for the Hellgate and the traces of demonic power left in the camp."

    "That would be wise, Princess Neoma," Dion said in an impressed tone. "However, where could we find a person who''d qualify to be our scapegoat?"

    "I have a reliable demon chingu," Neoma said, then she smiled and gave Dion a thumbs up. "I will convince him to be my scapegoat."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "KIDS, your pretty mother is here," Neoma announced as she entered the parlor room where Jeanne Audley escorted her to. It was weird that she called herself a ''mother,'' and even weirder to do so because she was dressed like a boy. Nevertheless, she was free to say that because everyone in the room knew her real identity. Plus, only Dion and Jeanne were there to serve as her guards and temporary servants since the tower was emptied to protect her royal secret. "How have you been?"

    Lewis, Greko, Jasper Oppa, Jeno Dankworth, and Juri Wisteria all stood up when she arrived. Judging by the way their faces lit up, it was safe to assume that they were all doing good. And they seemed happy to see her.

    Yes, even Juri.

    To be honest, she was scared to face her "daughter" after what happened to Madam Hammock. Plus, she also felt guilty. Because even though she knew that Juri was hurt by what happened to her grandmother, she still couldn''t bring herself to hate her Aunt Nichole.

    "I''m relieved to see all of you¡­" She trailed off when all of a sudden, she found Lewis standing right in front of her. When she looked up to see his face, only then did she realize that he already towered over her despite the fact that he was only twelve years old. Gosh, it was as if it was only yesterday when they were almost the same height. "Lewis, how have you been?" she asked her son. "Was it hard to be separated from me for a few days?"

    "It was hell," Lewis said softly. Then, much to her shock, he leaned down and gently pressed his forehead against hers. "I almost destroyed the tower just to hurry back to you, Princess Neoma."

    Okay, she was confused.

    When did Lewis be this "touchy?" And where did he learn to talk that way? He was supposed to be a little cinnamon roll that she loved to dote on¡­

    [Whatever. Lewis is still Lewis.]

    "You''ve worked hard, Lewis," Neoma said while gently patting his back. "I''ve missed you, too, my son."

    "I''m not your son, Princess Neoma."

    [Yep, he''s still Lewis.]

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 276 - EMERGENCY FAMILY MEETING

    <strong></strong>NEOMA smiled while having breakfast with her "family." She had the chance to observe everyone because her oppa and her children because they all fell silent after hearing the predicament that she was in.

    By predicament, she meant the fact that His Excellency and the nobles would grill her at the meetingter. And she also told them that she might get dethroned if she wouldn''t be able to defend herself properly.

    [Oh, well.]

    She brought a lot of food for her oppa and "children. Right now, they were in the dining hall while eating together. They just had breakfast, and now they were having opera cake for breakfast. It was pretty heavy of a dessert for breakfast but she was in a bad mood when she asked the chef nco Pce to prepare the meal for her children.

    And so, she chose one of her most favorite cakes for dessert.

    [Plus, chocte is always the right choice.]

    Anyway¡­

    She was seated in the center of the long table.

    Seated on her right was Lewis, and Juri Wisteria was seated on her son''s other side. Jasper Oppa was on her left, while Jeno Dankworth was seated on her oppa''s other side¨C facing Juri Wisteria.

    And oh, Greko was the closest to her. She ced their maknae''s (youngest) chair between her and Lewis.

    [I miss this kind of peace¨C]

    "Let''s attack the High Priest to prevent him from attending the meeting," Juri Wisteria announced with a grim look on her face. "Should we break His Excellency''s legs?"

    "Are you stupid, Wisteria?" Jeno Dankworthined.

    She was relieved to know that Jeno Dankworth was rational¨C

    "The priests of Astello Temple are good at healing so breaking His Excellency''s legs wouldn''t be enough," the young lord said viciously, cutting off her thoughts abruptly. "We should at least put the High Priest into aatose state for a few days."

    She gulped, then she turned to Jasper Oppa to ask for his help.

    Jasper Oppa smiled at her as if he understood what she wanted him to do. Then, the young duke turned to the older nobles. "Lady Wisteria, Lord Dankworth, let''s calm down."

    [Ah, I knew I can depend on Jasper Oppa¨C]

    "We need to discuss the method that we''re going to use first," her oppa said, crushing her hope once again. "I highly rmend using my poisonous butterflies since I can guarantee its effectiveness."

    Juri and Jeno looked convinced as they nodded eagerly at Jasper Oppa''s suggestion.

    [These kids¡­]

    She didn''t dare to turn to Lewis because she knew best what the stern look on her son''s face meant.

    [He''s probably having vicious thoughts at the moment.]

    "Everyone, let''s calm down," Neoma said to her family. "Don''t worry about His Excellency. It''s toote to stop his meddling anyway since the Noble Faction has already in contact with him."

    Her oppa and her children turned to her with a worried look on their faces.

    "Papa Boss and I will figure out a way to make me look innocent. We''ll fabricate evidence if we have to," she said confidently to reassure the children. "But I didn''t go here just to discuss the matter with the High Priest with you. I''m here to give you back your freedom. And most importantly, I''m here to give you a job."

    Aside from High Priest Wellington''s arrival, she still had to deal with the nobles who weren''t happy at how she handled the problem regarding the Death Camp.

    [But I can shut them up by copying what Jasper Oppa did during my first life.]

    Hooray to the memories of her first life.

    "I need to talk to you all one by one," Neoma dered, then she turned to Greko who had been quiet all this time. And her cutie little cinnamon roll was quiet because he was busy munching on the slice of opera cake on his te. "Greko, can I talk to you after you''re done eating?"

    Greko smiled and nodded eagerly. "I understand, Sister Neoma."

    Everyone in the room looked shocked when they heard Greko address her casually.

    [Oh, well.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    "GREKO, are you alright?" Neoma asked the child while holding his hand. Right now, the two of them were seated side-by-side on the sofa. Of course, Lewis (now acting as her knight again) was standing behind her. "Is Aurora doing well?"

    Greko''s face lit up when he smiled and nodded. "Yes, Sister Neoma. I''m okay. Everyone has taken good care of me," he said. "Aurora is also doing well. She''s currently asleep because she exhausted her healing power when she helped me take care of my friends from the camp."

    Ah, right.

    She already read the report that Geoffrey Kinsley handed her yesterday.

    "Sister Neoma, are my friends okay?" the child asked worriedly. "Can I see them again?"

    "Your friends are currently in a safe ce. They''re being taken care of by our people so I can guarantee that they''re all doing well," she said to her "son" gently. "Of course, you can see them again once everything has been settled."

    The Healer smiled and nodded, his clear eyes told her that he hadplete faith in her.

    "Greko?"

    "Hmm?"

    "I''ll get straight to the point," she said. She didn''t want to hurry but she still had to talk to the other children. "I''m currently building my own crew. Would you like to join our team as our official Support-sh-Healer?"

    The child blushed, then he nodded shyly. "I''d like to be with you, Sister Neoma."

    She smiled and hugged the little boy.

    Then, she suddenly felt a chill.

    When she raised her head, she was greeted by Lewis who was ring at Greko. Ah, her "firstborn son" must be jealous of the youngest one.

    [Let''s ignore him for now.]

    She pulled away from Greko to look at his face properly. "Greko, being one of my people won''t be easy. Of course, I''ll treat you well. But you still have to do your part."

    "What do I have to do, Sister Neoma?"

    "First, you need to study," she said carefully. "Then, you need to train and pass the exam at the Royal Tower. Since you''re a Healer, you need a certificate from the Royal Tower before you can officially take the position in my team. Typically, a child like you wouldn''t be allowed to take their test. But there''s an exception if you''re going to be a part of a royal''s personal Order of the Knights."

    The child smiled and nodded quite easily. "I understand, Sister Neoma," he said, then he raised his chubby little clenched fists. "I will study very hard to be an official Healer and join your crew."

    Looking at Greko''s innocent face and refreshing smile cleanse her soul.

    Now she felt bad.

    "I''m not a good person, Greko," she confessed to him. "I know that I''m the one who recruited you. But still, I will give you a chance to run away from me. I will still treat you kindly even if you turn my offer down."

    The child''s cheeks flushed. "Can I be honest, Sister Neoma?" he asked hesitantly.

    "Of course, baby."

    Greko''s face turned red because of the endearment that she used to call him. But it seemed like he set his personal feelings aside first to share his thoughts with her. "I don''t really care even if you''re a bad person," he said softly, then he smiled nervously at her. "All I care about is that you''re good to me, Sister Neoma," he confessed. "Am I selfish for thinking that way?"

    "Not at all. I like your selfishness," Neoma said, then she gave Greko a thumbs up. "Call me ''noona'' from now on, maknae-ah."

    ***

    "JENO DANKWORTH, I decided to officially ept you in my crew," Neoma said to the young lord seated on the couch across from her. "I heard about your great contributions to the mission that I assigned to your team. Thank you for being a reliable member."

    Jeno Dankworth blushed, and he seemed pleased with her praise.

    At the same moment, she felt another chill behind her.

    Lewis was still standing behind the sofa. Thus, she could confidently say that the coldness that she was feeling came from her son.

    [Is he being jealous of his hyung?]

    ''Hyung'' meant ''older brother'' in the Koreannguage. Now that Jeno Dankworth was a part of their team, then that meant the young lord was also a part of their family starting today.

    "Thank you for allowing me to serve you, Princess Neoma," Jeno Dankworth said, then he bowed to her. "I will serve you well."

    "Jeno, does the current Count Dankworth, your older brother, like the Crown Prince?"

    He raised his head, his face looked confused. "I believe so, Your Royal Highness," he said. "And House Dankworth has always been a part of the Royal Faction."

    "That''s the old stance of your family," she said. "I want to know if your older brother personally likes me." She paused for a while, then she shrugged. "But I guess I will find outter. I heard that your family has a lot ofints against me after you were locked up here in the tower."

    His expression turned grim, but she knew that it wasn''t directed at her. "It must be our family''s vassals that areining. I''m pretty sure that my older brother just went to sleep when I left our estate. He''s usually asleep for two weeks, so I believe that he hasn''t woken up yet."

    Count Sean Dankworth was truly a mystery to her.

    [What kind of person sleeps for two weeks straight?]

    "Don''t worry, Princess Neoma," Jeno assured her. "I will make sure that House Dankworth will not utter a word ofint against you during the meeting."

    Neoma smiled because that was the oue that she was aiming for. "Thank you, Jeno," she said even though she didn''t know how Jeno would handle their vassals if Count Sean Dankworth was still asleep. "I look forward to House Dankworth''s support."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA was quite nervous now that she was facing Juri Wisteria.

    She still couldn''t get rid of the guilt in her heart. She was feeling sorry towards Juri because she couldn''t hate her Aunt Nichole for what she had done to Madam Hammock. Thus, she felt ashamed of herself in front of her "daughter."

    "Juri, why didn''t you leave when my father asked you to?" Neoma asked gently. "Madam Hammock is waiting for you."

    She heard from Geoffrey Kinsley that House Hammock refused to bury Madam Hammock''s remains as long as Juri was locked up in the tower.

    Thus, her father gave Juri the chance to return home.

    But the "Tank" remained stubborn.

    "I told His Majesty that I won''t leave the tower until you wake up," Juri said, then her gaze dropped to her fiddling hands on herp. The arrogant and confident girl that she knew had be timid and nervous. And she understood why. "But the truth is, I''m just too ashamed to face my family. I failed to protect Grandma¡­"

    Her heart was now heavier with guilt.

    After all, if she didn''t bring Juri to the camp, Madam Hammock wouldn''t have followed them. If the madam didn''t meet her Aunt Nichole in the camp, then maybe the Healing Sage would have been alive by now¡­

    [But ming ourselves won''t help. We need to move forward.]

    "It''s not your fault, Juri," she said,forting her "daughter." "It was Princess Nichole who killed Madam Hammock. She''s the only one who you should me and not yourself."

    Was she being a hypocrite?

    But she wasn''t just saying that tofort Juri. She meant it. It was true that Princess Nichole was the one responsible for Madam Hammock''s death anyway. She couldn''t deny the fact even if she was fond of her aunt.

    She was sad about it though.

    "Juri, Princess Nichole is my aunt so I understand if you feel resentful toward me," Neoma said carefully, then she asked the thing that needed to be asked. "Do you still want to serve the person who''s rted to Madam Hammock''s murderer?"

    And suddenly, Juri''s face turned crestfallen.

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 277 - DIVINE INTERVENTION

    "I WON''T lie, Princess Neoma¨C the thought of leaving your crew has crossed my mind."

    Neoma sipped her tea quietly while listening to Juri''s small and hesitant voice.

    She could tell just by the tone of her "adopted daughter''s" voice that she hadplicated feelings inside. She knew because that was exactly what she was feeling right now. In short, they were in the same boat.

    "I have a confession to make," Juri Wisteria, who has been fiddling with her fingers, said. Then, she raised her head to meet her gaze. "I met a demon who ims to be your future fianc¨¦, Princess Neoma."

    She gripped the handle of her teacup so tight that she almost broke it.

    [That damned Trevor¡­!]

    "He told me how my grandma had wronged Princess Nichole in the past," her poor daughter said in a cracked voice, her eyes now teary. "As a woman, I felt horrible for the former Princess Royal. I understand why the former Princess Royal killed my grandmother. But¡­" She clenched her hands tight as her expression hardened. "Madam Hammock is still my grandma. She was good to me, and I loved her dearly. I can''t bring myself to hate her despite knowing the awful things that she did to Princess Nichole." She closed her eyes when she began sobbing hard. "I can''t bring myself to forgive Princess Nichole even though I know that she''s the real victim."

    She lifted her teacup and sipped her tea quietly once again while letting Juri cry her heart out.

    [Just let it all out, my poor daughter.]

    Plus, she understood what Juri was feeling very well.

    She also couldn''t bring herself to hate her Aunt Nichole. As if it wasn''tplicated enough, she also couldn''t bring herself to totally hate Madam Hammock. Because before learning what the madam did to her aunt, Madam Hammock was a very kind person to her.

    In line with that thought, she suddenly remembered what Greko told her earlier: ["I don''t really care even if you''re a bad person. All I care about is that you''re good to me, Sister Neoma.]

    Perhaps, her youngest son was correct.

    [It doesn''t really matter whether a person is good or not. We tend to judge people on the basis of whether they''re good or bad to us. It''s the most honest way to disy humans'' selfishness.]

    "I''m sorry, Princess Neoma," Juri said between sobs, distracting her from her thoughts. "I''m sorry for showing this shameful and weak side of mine to you. I''m an adult and yet, here I am¨C crying in front of a child."

    [You''re the child here, Juri Wisteria.]

    But she couldn''t say that.

    "Juri, crying isn''t only for children," she said gently. "Adults are allowed to cry as well." To lighten up the mood, she said ame joke in a light tone. "This is a secret but I''ve seen Sir Glenn cry several times every time he fights with his lover."

    More like every time Prince Brigitte scolded Sir Glenn through the pocket watch (aka the smartphone of this world).

    Her "daughter" turned to her, then sheughed softly. "You''re right, Princess Neoma," she said in a calm tone while wiping the tears off of her face with her hands. She probably noticed that she cracked a me) joke to soothe her. "Crying won''t make me less of an adult."

    [Juri, you don''t know this because you''re still young but ''timing'' is the only thing that differentiates a child''s cry from an adult''s. Children cry on the spot whenever they want to. However, adults like me sometimes have to "schedule" when to cry because we''re too busy to do so. Back in my second life, filing taxes is one of the things that never fail to make me cry.]

    Anyway, this wasn''t about her.

    Now that Juri had calmed down, she thought it was the perfect time to continue where they left off earlier.

    "Juri, do you resent me because I''m rted to Princess Nichole?"

    "Not at all, Princess Neoma," Juri said while shaking her head. "Being rted to Princess Nichole by blood isn''t your fault."

    She smiled sadly at her daughter. "I have to be honest with you," she said, then she confessed her honest thoughts. "Just like how you can''t Madam Hammock, I also can''t hate Princess Nichole," she said. "That''s why I''m asking you if you still want to serve me."

    "As I said earlier, it crossed my mind," her daughter said carefully. "I''ve also considered the fact that you might feel sympathetic toward Princess Nichole. Because honestly, everyone with a heart could understand why Princess Nichole ended up that way. But¡­"

    She didn''t want to admit this but she felt nervous.

    [Juri is such an asset and it will be a shame to lose her as a crew member.]

    "But I trust you, Princess Neoma," Juri said, the sadness and bitterness on her face now reced by determination. Her eyes that couldn''t see colors looked bright at the moment. "I know that despite your connection to Princess Nichole, you will put your duty over your personal feelings. Thus, I believe that even if we encounter Princess Nichole in the future again, you will still do the right thing and not get swayed by your feelings." She put a hand on her chest, right above her heart. "Therefore, I decided to stay with your crew, Princess Neoma."

    Neoma smiled, relieved about how much faith Juri had for her. "Thank you, Juri," she said. "I will not disappoint you."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "ARE YOU trying to trick me?"

    "Oh, please," Trevor said while waving his hand dismissively. "Why would I trick my dear future brother-inw?"

    Prince Nero still gave him a look filled with disbelief. "You want me to believe your condition? That the only thing you''re going to ask me in exchange for the dragon horns is that I put in good words for you once I meet my mother?"

    "It''s not a small matter, Prince Nero," he insisted. "Lady Mona Roseheart is my future mother-inw. Since I can''t personally greet her yet, I want you to tell her how handsome and dependable I am. I need to make a good impression on my future mother-inw before my rivals."

    "Rivals?" the royal prince asked in an annoyed tone. "Who else aside from you bothers my precious twin sister?"

    "I''m no snitch, my prince," he said firmly. "I won''t tell you that Lewis Crevan and Ruston Stroganoff have gotten closer to Princess Neomately."

    Heughed manically inside when he saw Prince Nero''s mouth twitch.

    "I''ll kill them as soon as I return," his future brother-inw mumbled to himself.

    He smiled and nodded in agreement with Prince Nero''s vicious thoughts. [Yes, please. Help me get rid of my rivals so I wouldn''t have to do it myself.]

    After all, he didn''t want to earn Princess Neoma''s wrath.

    "Don''t smile as if you seeded in manipting me," Prince Nero said sternly. "I''ll also kill you once you''ve be useless."

    "That won''t happen," he said confidently. "Don''t you know that I''m the most sought-after Grimoire in the world? It would be a waste to lose me, Prince Nero."

    "I would sell you for a good price if I could."

    He gasped, aghast by the royal prince''s deration. What was scarier was the fact that he knew Prince Nero would and could do it. "Hey, you can''t do that," he said. "Don''t you know that Princess Neoma promoted me as her friend?"

    Dammit.

    He didn''t want to ept Princess Neoma''s friendship because he wanted to marry her in the future. But he needed that title at the moment.

    "Ah, I see," Prince Nero said with a bright smile on his face. "Neoma has already turned you down. You weren''t "promoted," Trevor¨C you were demoted from a potential suitor to a mere "friend," idiot."

    Did he just hear his heart crack?

    [Prince Nero inherited His Majesty''s insensitive way of talking!]

    "I''ll ept your deal so give me the dragon hornster," Prince Nero said, then he walked past him. "I need to talk to William first."

    The royal prince said ''talk,'' but his murderous aura said otherwise.

    [Is he going to kill the Grand Spirit?]

    He told Prince Nero earlier about the things that William tried to do on the surface. And that included the fact that the Grand Spirit tried to kill Princess Neoma. Ah, that was definitely the reason why his future brother-inw was very angry at the moment.

    [Tsk. William is dumb. But that''s what I expect from the ''Executioner'' of the de Moonasterios.]

    His thoughts were interrupted when all of a sudden, he felt gutted.

    To be precise, he felt like his organs were being squeezed at the moment. This was a technique that only one person could do to him.

    [The Devil!]

    That damned Devil was summoning him.

    Normally, he would ignore it until the pain disappeared. But this time, he couldn''t disregard the Devil''s call because of his location.

    Trevor clicked his tongue. "They infiltrated my hellhole."

    <strong>***</strong>

    AS SOON as Trevor arrived at his ce, he understood how the Devil managed to infiltrate his hellhole.

    Saint Dominic Zavaroni was with him.

    [The saint and His Majesty created a portal that they could use to enter my hellhole and check on Prince Nero.]

    His Holiness had betrayed the Moon God.

    And it seemed like His Majesty had forgotten to close the portal with the saint''s ess.

    [Good thing I sent a signal to both the Spirit Queen and His Majesty before I went here.]

    "What are you doing here?" Trevor asked even though it sounded stupid because he knew why the group was here. [I should have brought Prince Nero''s body with me earlier!]

    "We''re not here for Prince Nero," Dominic Zavaroni said with a smile on his face as if he could tell what he was thinking. "I''m here to deliver a divine blessing--- the thing that will save Princess Neoma from the temple''s scrutiny."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 278 - TREVORS EVIL MIND

    NIKOLAI was surprised when all of a sudden, the ruby gem in his brooch exploded. As the emperor, he was required to dress ordingly. But it wasn''t the reason why he always had that particr brooch on him.

    [It''s a signal from the demon boy.]

    "Your Majesty!"

    It was just a small explosion that didn''t hurt him and yet, Geoffrey Kinsley already barged in his office.

    "Are you alright, Your Majesty?" Geoffrey, who just returned to the pce after dropping Neoma off at the Red Sky Tower, asked worriedly. "Are you hurt anywhere?"

    "I''m fine," Niki said, then he tore the brooch off of his suit and threw it away. Then, he stood up and walked past the worried Pdin as he exined the situation. "Trevor sent me a signal indicating that his ce is infiltrated."

    The Pdin, who was walking behind him, gasped. "Then, Prince Nero¡­"

    "My son might be in danger."

    That was when he remembered that Trevor made two portals connected to his hellhole.

    The first one belonged to him, of course.

    And the second portal¡­

    [It''s a gate created for Saint Zavaroni.]

    He clenched his hands when he realized that he had forgotten about the fact that the saint had ess to the demon boy''sir. Now that His Holiness had joined forces with the Devil, he might hurt Nero to achieve the Devil''s goal.

    [I should have destroyed the door essible to His Holiness earlier!]

    "Geoffrey, prepare the portal," Niki said sternly. "I''m going to the demon boy''sir."

    <strong>***</strong>

    TARA, while in the middle of watching William and Prince Nero "fight," suddenly froze when she felt a distress signal wrapped in demonic power.

    That signal contained a message that she understood right away.

    [Oh, no¡­]

    "William!"

    The Grand Spirit instantly stopped ying with Prince Nero. In just the blink of an eye, William was already dragging his feet in her direction. This man probably felt that she was about to order him around again.

    "What is it this time, Your Majesty?" William asked in a bored and irritated voice. "If it has anything to do with the filthy¨C I mean the royal princess, I will not go."

    "The demon boy has sent a message," Tara said in an urgent voice. "The ce where Prince Nero''s physical body is hidden has been infiltrated by the Devil."

    The Grand Spirit cursed.

    She would have scolded William for cursing had the situation been different. But for them and the Spirit World, Prince Nero was very important.

    "I hope the Devil injures my physical body heavily, but not to the point that I''d die."

    She and William both turned to the royal prince with a shocked look on their faces. However, Prince Nero maintained a calm expression despite the scary thing that he just said.

    "Don''t worry¨C I have no intention to die," Prince Nero said with a bright smile on his face. "I just thought that if the Devil hurt me again, then Neoma wouldn''t forgive him this time. I want to end my twin sister''s "rtionship" with them badly."

    William frown at what the royal prince said.

    Tara, on the other hand, was appalled once again.

    [Prince Nero has quite the twisted mind¡­]

    ***

    "THIS IS thest prophecy that I received from the Moon God."

    Trevor instinctively caught the round and transparent ball that Saint Dominic Zavaroni threw in his direction. That damned thing was hot so he immediately put it in the Bookworm''s mouth and made it swallow the ball. After all, the Bookworm''s stomach was a huge storage.

    [More like an inventory.]

    He red at the saint but he couldn''t really move from his spot.

    As of the moment, he was standing in front of the bed where Prince Nero''s physical body wasid.

    He was outnumbered and overpowered.

    Well, actually, he only had two guests. But those two were the saint and the Devil himself. If it was only the saint, then maybe he might have had the chance to run away with Prince Nero.

    [But the damned Devil is here¡­]

    "Are you still scared of me, Trevor?" the Devil asked in a calm yet mocking tone. "Where did you get the guts to propose to Princess Neoma when you''re still shaking in front of me?" He clicked his tongue and shook his head. "Pathetic."

    "Hey, this is called ''trauma,''" heined. "You''re the one who caused my trauma and you do not have the right to put the me on me."

    The Devil let out a deep and long sigh. "I''ll step out for a moment," he said to the saint, then he turned to the sleeping Prince Nero. "I may not be able to stop my urge to kill the little prince if I stay here any longer."

    He clicked his tongue in annoyance. [The Devil is acting like William. Why is it hard for the Devil to understand that if he wants Neoma to take his side, then he better noty a finger on Prince Nero.]

    Was he the only person here with a working brain?

    "Thank you, Lord Devil," the saint said, calling the Devil in a cringey way.

    The Devil just scoffed before disappearing.

    He would admit that he felt a little relieved now that the Devil was out of sight. Still, he didn''t let his guard down.

    "Mr. Trevor, I apologize for using the portal that you created for me this way."

    He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. "I don''t care. The damage has already been done and I''m too upset to ept your apology," he said firmly. "Anyway, did you really juste all the way here just to hand me thest prophecy that you received from the Moon God?"

    "Yes," the saint said and wow, he sounded convincing.

    [Is it because he''s the former saint known for his benevolence?]

    "Mr. Trevor, it wasn''t easy convincing the Devil to take me here without killing Prince Nero," the saint said gently. "The only thing that convinced him to listen to me is the fact that we have to prioritize Princess Neoma''s safety at the moment."

    He knew what the saint was talking about.

    While he was roaming aimlessly at the Royal Pce, he heard all thetest gossips from the servants. From the High Priest''s arrival at the Royal Capital to the "Crown Prince''s" reckless movement that endangered the life of the young higher nobles with "him."

    Since he wasn''t dumb, he knew that the incident that happened in the camp would jeopardize Princess Neoma''s position for many reasons.

    First, her affinity to the Devil would be discovered.

    Second, the Hellgate that she opened would definitely cause her to be used of being a demon herself.

    Andstly, the issue regarding the Death Camp.

    [The biggest issue is the High Priest. If the High Priest deres that the "Crown Prince" has an affinity to the Devil, then Princess Neoma will be dethroned.]

    Once the "Crown Prince" was captured, it would only be a matter of time before the whole empire finds out that the "Crown Prince" was actually a hidden royal princess. The crows would have a field day if that happened.

    [I can''t rely on His Majesty to protect my Moon Princess.]

    "It seems like you already know Princess Neoma''s predicament," the saintmented. "I can tell what you''re thinking and you are correct, Mr. Trevor. The temple is currently the biggest problem at the moment."

    "How would the prophecy that you handed me help Princess Neoma?"

    As he said, he wasn''t dumb.

    What would a demon like him use the prophecy for? Obviously, the saint sought him because he knew that he was the only one he could use to deliver the Divine Item to Princess Neoma.

    [I''m that awesome.]

    "I believe that Princess Neoma would know what to do with the Divine Item," the saint said vaguely. "To be honest with you, I haven''t read the content of the prophecy yet."

    "Huh?" he asked, confused. "Doesn''t a prophecy usually just "speak" in your mind? I thought the Divine Item you handed me contained the written version of the prophecy."

    His Holiness fell silent for a while before he spoke again. "It''s the first time in a while that the Moon God sent me a Divine Item. I was supposed to open it but I received another message telling me to head to Mount Kimbro," he said carefully. "I have a feeling that the Moon God has already seen thising. My gut feel tells me that the Divine Item is meant for Princess Neoma."

    "Are you saying that the Moon God sent an item in advance to save Princess Neoma from the problem caused by your betrayal?"

    The saint smiled bitterly while nodding. "This will be thest time that I''d follow the Moon God''s will."

    [I doubt it.]

    He didn''t say it out loud because he didn''t care about the saint''s business.

    "Whatever," he said casually. "I''ll deliver the Divine Item to Princess Neoma."

    "Mr. Trevor, I''m touched," the saint said in a surprised voice. "Do you trust me?"

    "Not at all," he said bluntly. "I will deliver the Divine Item to my Moon Princess because the Bookworm assured me that it''s safe. But only Princess Neoma can decide whether she''ll trust you or not."

    His Holiness smiled and nodded. "Thank you, Mr. Trevor."

    He was about to tell the saint to drop the formalities since it was giving him goosebumps. But suddenly, they heard a sizzle in the air. The violent aura could only belong to one Spirit.

    "I do not wish to fight with the Grand Spirit," Saint Dominic Zavaroni said. "We shall take our leave, Mr. Trevor."

    "Ah, you need to pay me for my service first," Trevor said with a smirk, reminding the saint that demons would never work for free. "Hit me, Your Holiness."

    <strong>***</strong>

    WILLIAM was relieved to see that Prince Nero was still in the demon boy''sir when he arrived.

    However, he noticed that the whole ce was a mess.

    Most of all, the demon boy was seated on the floor while coughing blood. Was he that weak to be beaten up that bad by the Devil?

    [His strength does not match his arrogance.]

    "At least you''re useful enough to protect Nero''s body," William said when he went past the demon boy. Then, he carefully carried Nero''s physical body in his arms. "Queen Tara has epted your proposal. I will bring Nero with me to the Spirit World," he said, then he turned to the demon. "Fix yourself before you return to the Spirit World. The queen is expecting to hear the full report from you."

    "Alright," the demon boy, called Trevor if he remembered it correctly, said weakly before waving his hand to shoo him away. "I need a moment to recover so go ahead."

    "I do not have the intention to wait for you in the first ce, demon bastard."

    <strong>***</strong>

    TREVOR, despite the ache in his body, couldn''t help but smirk.

    He asked Saint Dominic Zavaroni to beat him up to make it look like a fight had broken out in hisir. If the Devil just left quietly, William would have suspected that something was off. He couldn''t lose the trust of the Spirit World.

    [I''m a genius.]

    It wasn''t the only reason why he made that small sacrifice.

    He covered his face to hide his smirk when an official door opened in his residence. Yes, it was the door that he created for His Majesty. As soon as the emperor saw his state and realized that Prince Nero was no longer there, panic and anger crossed his eyes.

    "Prince Nero has been safely evacuated, Your Majesty," Trevor assured the emperor before he went on a rampage. "The Spirit World decided to aid us in protecting the royal prince''s unconscious physical body."

    He thought His Majesty would get angry at him for not getting his permission.

    But Emperor Niki remained silent, a profound sadness crossing his eyes at the moment.

    <strong>***</strong>

    "PRINCESS NEOMA, I didn''t think that we''d have the same idea."

    Neoma smiled awkwardly at her Jasper Oppa.

    Right now, they were in the conference hall of the Red Tower Sky.

    Juri Wisteria and Jeno Dankworth had been released and escorted back safely to their families. Greko, on the other hand, was sleeping on the couch. She would bring her "youngest son" to her pceter.

    As of now, she needed to finish her meeting with Duke Jasper Hawthorne first.

    Of course, Lewis was already there. Her son was standing behind her while listening to the n intently.

    "I''m d that we''re on the same page," Jasper Oppa said with a bright smile on her face. "You''re really smart."

    She justughed softly.

    Well, she was smart.

    But the strategy that she shared with her oppa was just a copy of what the young duke had done in her first life.

    She felt guilty but she had to do that to defend herself and protect Nero''s position.

    "Oppa, I''ll summon Trevorter to discuss the issue with the High Priest with him," Neoma said, changing the topic. "Can I leave everything to you?"

    Her oppa smiled and nodded. "Of course," he said, then his smile turned sad. "This is my responsibility. I''m sorry for dragging you into this mess, Princess Neoma."

    That wasn''t the first time that Jasper Oppa apologized to her.

    In fact, he also apologized to her children earlier.

    "Oppa, you have nothing to apologize for," she said seriously. "We both decided to do this for the sake of the children in the empire. You''re a noble and I''m a royal. We have the duty to protect the weak."

    Jasper Oppa smiled gratefully at her.

    She was about to say something when they heard an urgent knock on the door. Then, Dion Skelton entered the room with a worried look on his usually grumpy face.

    [Okay, I''m nervous.]

    Jasper Oppa noticed that Dion Skelton couldn''t give his report because of his presence. Therefore, the young duke gracefully excused himself.

    "Princess Neoma, His Majesty ordered that we must return to the Royal Pce at once," Dion said in a calm yet urgent voice once Jasper Hawthorne left the room. "We received a report that Trevor''sir, the ce where Prince Nero is being treated, has been infiltrated by the Devil and the former saint."

    Neoma let out a long sigh. "Goddammit."

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 Chapter 279 - PARTNERS IN CRIME

    <strong></strong>"FIRST things first," Niki, seated on the sofa across from Trevor, said as he put his teacup down on the table. "Is Nero safe?"

    He brought Trevor back to his pce because he couldn''t stay long in his hellhole.

    Right now, he was having tea with the demon boy in the tea room of his pce. Geoffrey Kinsley stepped out for a moment to wait for Neoma''s arrival.

    "Of course, Your Majesty," Trevor answered his question while putting several sugar cubes in his tea. "The Devil didn''te for Prince Nero. He just apanied Saint Dominic Zavaroni in my estate using the portal that we forgot to close."

    He flinched after being reminded of his mistake.

    It may sound like an excuse but the unknown memories that he sawst time kept messing with his head. Moreover, he was busy searching for the temple''s weakness. He was already aware of the corruption happening in the temple but he needed something more shocking¨C something that would make people forget about the saint''s betrayal.

    [But so far, we found none.]

    "Why did the former sainte to you?" he asked the demon boy. "Is it rted to Neoma?"

    Saint Zavaroni was close to his daughter.

    Perhaps, the saint wasn''t able to reach out to Neoma because of the shield that he put around the Royal Pce. And thus, His Holiness probably decided to pay Trevor a visit to ry a message for his daughter.

    The demon boy sipped his tea before he spoke. "Yes, Your Majesty," he said. "His Holiness asked me to deliver a Divine Item to Princess Neoma."

    "And what Divine Item is that?"

    "Apparently, it''s the Moon God''sst prophecy that he sent to the saint."

    He stopped lifting his teacup midway. "You''re kidding."

    "Nah," the demon boy said, then he casually picked up a cookie on the te. "I checked the item. It''s "alive.""

    "Living" Divine Items were things that gods send to earth with their unique divine energy.

    That meant it was nearly impossible to replicate a Divine Item. Even after it served its purpose, the items that used to be owned by gods could still be sold at an astronomical price.

    "Did the former saint say why he wanted Neoma to have it?"

    The demon boy nodded while munching on a cookie. "His Holiness said that he doesn''t know the content of the prophecy. But he believes that it will help Princess Neoma get away from the temple''s scrutiny."

    "How?"

    "His Holiness said Princess Neoma can figure it out on her own."

    He let out a long sigh.

    To be honest, he didn''t want topletely trust the former saint after his betrayal. But he would let Neoma decide whether to use the "gift" or not.

    Moreover, he needed to get all the help that he could for his daughter.

    [I''ll discuss this with Neomater.]

    "I agree with the saint," he said, then he changed the topic. "Who from the Spirit World fetched Nero?"

    "Your best friend."

    "Excuse me?"

    "It was William, Your Majesty."

    "That scoundrel isn''t my best friend," he said with a frown. He knew that Trevor was just messing with him. But he still hated it. "Why did you let William Roseheart take my son away?" He red at the demon boy. "You remember that you''ll die if you fail to uphold your promise to treat Nero, don''t you?"

    "Don''t worry, Your Majesty," the demon boy said. "I won''t die until I get to marry Princess Neoma¨C" He red and the sly boy faked his cough before changing the topic smoothly. "Uh, Your Majesty, I believe that the Spirit World is the safest ce for Prince Nero at the moment. As you can see, now that His Holiness has joined the Devil''s side, they can break into my ce anytime since my power is weak against divine energy."

    Logically speaking, the Spirit World was indeed a better ce for his son than the hellhole.

    But¡­

    "Do you believe that the Spirit World will treat my son kindly?"

    He had to ask because he was banned by the Spirit Queen to enter any part of the Spirit World. But it wasn''t like he could me the queen. After all, he almost blew up more than half of the Spirit World out of anger when Mona left him.

    [The queen hates me.]

    "Your Majesty, William is fond of Prince Nero," the demon boy assured him. "William is probably delighted to meet a living male Roseheart, you know?"

    He flinched when he remembered something. "Was it you who told Neoma the truth about the Soul Beasts?"

    "That the Soul Beasts used to be humans? To be precise, they used to be male Rosehearts?" the sly boy asked, then he smirked. "Yes, Your Majesty. It was me."

    He red at the demon.

    "I''m sorry but unlike you, I prefer being honest with my Moon Princess," he said confidently. "Your Majesty, you should know Princess Neoma by now. She hates being kept in the dark."

    He just sipped his tea.

    [Sharing the sins of our family with my daughter isn''t easy.]

    When he put his teacup down on the table, he felt Geoffrey Kinsley''s presence. Then, they heard soft knocks on the door.

    "Your Majesty, I apologize for intruding," Geoffrey said, then he continued. "Princess Neoma has arrived."

    Now that it happened the second time, he was no longer surprised that he didn''t feel Neoma''s presence even though his daughter wasn''t hiding it.

    On the other hand, Trevor also didn''t surprise.

    He told Geoffrey to open the door before he turned to the demon and asked softly. "Did you already know that Neoma got stronger?"

    Trevor smirked arrogantly. "I know, Your Majesty," he said, then he pointed at thumb at the monster around me. "Princess Neoma can already see this dude."

    If that was the case, then his daughter did really get stronger than ever.

    Niki could only sigh and shake his head.

    [Neoma is still so young and yet, she''s already so strong.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    "JEANNE, please bring Greko to my room first," Neoma instructed Jeanne who was carrying the sleeping Greko in her arms. "Can you stay with him until I return? If he wakes up when I haven''t returned yet, kindly take care of the child''s needs then."

    Jeanne Audley, the only female Pdin in the pce, smiled and nodded. "As you wish, Your Royal Highness."

    "I''m sorry for making you do this, Jeanne," she said with a guilty heart. "I know that this isn''t a part of your duty. I''m sorry for making an esteemed Pdin like you to babysit my son¡­"

    "Please don''t apologize, Princess Neoma," the female Pdin said, her face full of understanding. "It''s my duty to serve you. Protecting and taking care of your people falls in that category."

    She smiled gratefully at her. "Thank you," she said even though she already told Jeanne to stop with the thank-yous since she didn''t deserve it. She just quickly changed the topic. "Please look after my son in the meantime."

    After saying that, she dismissed Jeanne who quickly head to her room.

    She, on the other hand, proceeded to her father''s office while Lewis was walking behind her. Geoffrey Kinskley greeted her and opened the door for her and her "firstborn son."

    "Did you pick up another child?" her Papa Boss asked while shaking his head. "Who is that boy?"

    Ah, her father probably heard her voice earlier.

    "His name is Greko, Papa Boss. I''ll exin it to youter," she said, then she walked towards her seat while looking at Trevor. "How''s my brother?"

    She was d that Trevor was here.

    The fact that her father was calm and the demon boy was eating peacefully told her that her twin brother was fine. But still, she was worried.

    "How''s Nero?" she asked worriedly, then she sat beside her Papa Boss. She wasn''t being clingy. She was simply minding her manners. "He''s safe, isn''t he?"

    "Prince Nero is safe, Princess Neoma," Trevor said cheerfully. "He wasn''t the target of the Devil''s group this time."

    "Who is it then?"

    "The former saint asked me to deliver a Divine Item that might help you with your problem with the temple, apparently."

    Now that was what she called useful information.

    She turned to her father for confirmation.

    "I checked the item and it seems safe," her Papa Boss told her. "The former saint doesn''t know how it will be of help to you but he believes that you can figure it out." Her father looked at her as if he was observing her. "Do you still trust His Holiness, Neoma?"

    She clenched her hands.

    To be honest, she wanted to be resentful to the saint because of the consequence of His Holiness''s betrayal.

    But deep inside, she was hurt as his disciple.

    [Still, I know that this is for the best because despite everything, I still want Aunt Nichole and Saint Zavaroni to be happy. And if they''re happy together, then it''s better.]

    "It''s not like I trust Saint Zavaroni," Neoma said, her heart hurting with the realization that she couldn''t trust the saintpletely now. Yet, she knew that he wouldn''t harm her. After all, the Devil and hisrades were aiming to put her on the throne. "However, I''m not in the position to be stubborn," she said. "I need as much help as I could."

    "Atta, my lovely Moon Princess," Trevor said proudly. "Do you need my help?"

    As soon as Trevor saw Neoma''s evil smirk, he regretted asking that.

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA asked her Papa Boss to allow her to talk to Trevor in private.

    And so, here she was now¨C alone with the demon boy in the parlor room. Well, notpletely alone since Lewis was standing quietly behind her seat.

    "Trevor, you''ve probably heard that the temple and the other nobles are already suspecting that I have an affinity to the Devil," Neoma said seriously. "I consulted one of Papa Boss''s Pdins who know a lot about the temple. ording to him, it wouldn''t be wise to reveal the truth."

    "Of course, it would be dumb to reveal that to people who hate the Devil with a passion," Trevor said while shaking his head. "I don''t think His Majesty would have allowed you to be that reckless."

    "I know. It was just a fleeting thought anyway," she said, admitting her mistake. "That''s why I thought of another way to cover up my secret."

    "What is it?"

    "I need a scapegoat."

    The demon boy fell silent for a while.

    Then, in a span of half a minute, he went through different facial expressions. At first, he was confused. After that, his eyes widened. He looked enlightened in one second, sad in the next. But in the end, heughed merrily.

    He probably guessed her n correctly.

    "And I''m the scapegoat?" he asked, confirming her thoughts. But thankfully, he didn''t look angry or hurt. "Princess Neoma, are you saying that you want to reveal my existence to the world? You want me to take the me for what happened at the camp?"

    She nodded seriously. Of course, she knew that she was asking for too much. But it wasn''t like she would force Trevor to do something out of his will. "I also want to put a grand show," she added carefully. "I want to act like I caught and arrested the Devil''s Grimoire. To earn the trust of the temple and the nobles, can you go along with my n?"

    He fell silent while humming to himself. "That''s a good n, but it''s not enough," he said. "I have a feeling that the temple and the nobles who wanted to dethrone you would use you of conniving with the Devil."

    "That''s what I thought, too."

    "We have to prove that you divine energy that you inherited from Lord Yule is still as abundant as ever," he said seriously. "We have to prove to those bastards that you are a child of the Moon God and therefore, you cannot be influenced by the Devil. Not that you were."

    The de Moonasterios inherited the blood of Yule and therefore, people would sometimes call the Royal Family "children of the Moon God."

    "Do you have a n, Trevor?"

    "Princess Neoma, we can use the Divine Item that His Holiness gave you to prove that you''re still the beloved child of the Moon God," Trevor said with a smirk, a glint of evilness now visible in his eyes. "We should present the Divine Item in a very, very dramatic way that will make people think that you might be the new "saint" of the empire."

    "You crazy bastard," Neoma said,ughing as manically as Trevor did. "I''m in."

    Outside the tea room, Geoffrey Kinsley and Dion Skelton were silently wondering how could such an evilughe out of the two children. Of course, the two Pdins had no way of knowing that Neoma and Trevor were actually both (twisted) adults inside.

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 280 - ILL PROTECT MY THRONE

    "AND THAT concludes our n called ''Operation: Kill Them With Kindness,'' Papa Boss."

    Niki sipped his tea elegantly after listening to Neoma, who was standing in front of his office desk in a formal position,y her n to him for the uing noble conference the day after tomorrow.

    He may appear calm on the outside. But truth be told, he was quite nervous on the inside.

    [Neoma is about to break severalws.]

    He couldn''t reject the n because they were already running out of time.

    High Priest Wellington and his group were scheduled to arrive at the Royal Capital tomorrow morning. Since His Excellency decided to use the normal portal leading to the capital, they were bound to be held up by people who wanted to greet the High Priest. Thus, the dy.

    He offered to open the pce to the High Priest and hispanions. But they politely declined. His Excellency said that they would be staying at Steora Church¨C the biggest church in the capital.

    [Steora Church is also one of Astello Temple''s "branch churches."]

    Thus, it wouldn''t look strange or suspicious that the High Priest chose to temporarily stay at Steora Church instead of his pce.

    His main concern was the temple. He could easily shut the nobles up. But he couldn''t threaten the High Priest. Although his presence wasn''t as grand as Saint Zavaroni''s, he was still well-loved and well-respected by the temple''s followers.

    Moreover, the majority of the citizens of the Moonasterion Empire were believers of Astello Temple.

    [If we disrespect the High Priest, we will gain the wrath of the citizens.]

    "What do you think of my n, Papa Boss?" Neoma asked with shining eyes. "''Operation: Kill Them With Kindness'' is badass, isn''t it?"

    Neoma was probably the only nine-year-old child who wouldn''t hesitate to say ''badass'' in front of her father.

    But he let it slide since it wasn''t important at the moment.

    "Kindness, you say?" Niki scoffed, then he put the teacup down on the table. "You''re about tomit sphemy. Aside from that, you''d also break somews. I''m certain that the temple and the nobles would demand that I dethrone you on the spot."

    "Would you, Papa Boss?"

    "Of course, I wouldn''t," he said firmly. "But it wouldn''t be easy to shut them up."

    By "them," he obviously meant the temple, the nobles (probably even those who supported the Royal Family), and finally, the citizens of the empire.

    "Just trust me, Papa Boss," his daughter said seriously. "I will protect my throne."

    Neoma was still in her pajamas and yet, the image that he saw when she dered that she would protect her throne was that of a majestic princess dressed in a fancy outfit.

    Yes, a princess and not a prince even though she was currently dressed as a boy.

    [Was that a premonition?]

    "If I didn''t trust you, I wouldn''t have pretended that I didn''t know Duke Jasper Hawthorne went to the slums to purchase the illegal items that you probably asked him to buy."

    Geoffrey Kinsley was the one who informed him about the young duke''s movement.

    It seemed like Neoma already knew that her friends were being followed by his Pdins because the little rogue just smiled haughtily.

    "Papa Boss, just sit back and rx," she told him. "I was the one who messed up so let me clean up after myself."

    He let a long sigh before nodding. "Where''s the demon? Is he not a part of your n?"

    "I n to work Trevor''s fingers to the bone as soon as hees back," his daughter said with a smirk. "But for now, I sent him to the Spirit World. He''ll connect me to that world and help me have a video call with Neroter."

    ''Video call.''

    He could understand what it probably meant. But those words still sounded strange. He knew that it had something to do with Neoma''s connection to Gavin Quinzel. But for now, he refrained himself from asking.

    [We will have that talk after this mess has been properly cleaned up.]

    "So you already know that your twin brother''s body is currently at the Spirit World."

    He wasn''t surprised at all since he already knew by now that Trevor had a tendency to share his knowledge with Neoma for free.

    "Trevor also told me that Nero is currently in his Spirit form," his daughter added.

    It was something that he also just heard from the demon earlier.

    "Apparently, Nero didn''t want me to know because he doesn''t want to talk to me. ording to my dummy brother, he''d want to return ASAP if he sees me," Neoma said while shaking her head. But even though she called her twin brother "dummy," her voice was still filled with affection. "I don''t understand how he came up with that bullshit. But I''m d that Trevor told me. I''ll nag himter."

    "Aren''t you jealous that the Spirit World opened its door for Nero and not for you?"

    "No, not at all," she said without missing a heartbeat. "A world with William in it is definitely bound to be an ugly world."

    He couldn''t help but smirk at his daughter''s response. [That''s true.]

    The Spirit World was beautiful to him when Mona was still there. But now that the mother of his children was gone, he couldn''t see that world''s beauty anymore.

    "Ah, Papa Boss, I need to go," his daughter said. "But before I go, I want to remind you about Greko, the child that I took in. He''s seven years old, if I remember it correctly."

    He let out another sigh. "What do you n to do with that child?"

    "I will adopt him, of course. Plus, he''ll be the official Healer of my crew," Neoma said seriously. "He''s cute and he''s also half-fairy."

    Half-fairy?

    He would admit that it was impressive. Moreover, fairies were known to be good healers. Someone like that deserved a spot in his daughter''s troop.

    Still, if it was his decision, he''d like to investigate the odd child first. But he knew that Neoma would be upset if he did that. His daughter was treating him normally even though he knew that she was still mad at him for what happened at the camp. He didn''t want to upset the little rogue more than he already had.

    Thus, he had no choice but to quietly ept that child named ''Greko.''

    [Neoma said she''d "adopt" him, huh?]

    Niki couldn''t help but think that his daughter was building an orphanage instead of assembling a troop though.

    <strong>***</strong>

    NERO was both nervous and excited.

    When William returned with his physical body earlier, he was upset after learning that the Devil had infiltrated Trevor''sir. He was adamant about scolding the demon once he returned for failing to protect his own territory.

    But when Trevor returned, he told him that Neoma wanted to talk to him via amunication device.

    Of course, he was annoyed that the demon boy informed his precious twin sister that he was in his Spirit form. But because of the timing, he knew that this was the perfect time for him and Neoma to talk again.

    [I need tofort my poor little sister who''s being bullied by the temple and the stupid nobles.]

    He already heard everything from Trevor.

    [I will purge all the nobles that bully my Neoma once I return.]

    His vicious thoughts were cut off when the wall in front of him changed. Now it looked like he was staring at his reflection in the water. But the other person in the "mirror" wasn''t him¨C it was the person who almost had the same face as him.

    "Brother Nero!"

    Of course, it was his lovely twin sister.

    Nero couldn''t help but smile when he saw Neoma''s bright smile. "Neoma, I''ve missed you."

    Even though he wasn''t looking, he could hear William scoff at what he said.

    On the other hand, the Spirit Queen remained quiet.

    Yes, the two were in the same room as them. They wanted to make sure that Trevor wouldn''t do anything funny to the Spirit World''smunication line.

    Ah, he kicked out Trevor earlier because he wanted to monopolize Neoma''s attention.

    "Neoma, how are you?"

    Neoma''s smile suddenly disappeared, then her eyes became teary. "Nero, I don''t want to say this but I have to because I was scared," she said in a cracked voice. "Can you ask your friends over there if I did something wrong to the Spirit World?" she asked in a scared and trembling voice. "The Grand Spirit tried to kill me¡­"

    All of a sudden, he felt an ungodly amount of rage in his chest.

    Nero clenched his hands. [I will destroy the Spirit World.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    WILLIAM snarled when he heard what the filthy bug said to Nero.

    It was also obvious that she was just faking her cry. He was about to call her out when Tara, the Spirit Queen, suddenly grabbed him by the arm. When he turned to her, she firmly shook her head.

    And at that moment, he felt it.

    William''s knees buckled when he felt Nero''s rage and bloodlust directed at him. The royal prince was also looking at him with a murderous look on his face. He couldn''t help but tore his gaze away from Nero.

    [Shit!]

    When he red at the filthy bug at the screen, she smirked at him.

    Neoma de Moonasterio did that on purpose.

    William frowned at the filthy bug. [You''re using Nero to destroy me, huh?]

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 281 - ILL PROTECT YOUR THRONE

    "TREVOR told me that William brought Nero to the Spirit World," Neoma said while she was on the sofa and lying on her side like a cker that she wanted to be. Then, she put a grape in her mouth before talking again. "Apparently, Papa Boss has already approved Trevor''s proposal about treating my twin brother in the Spirit World instead of hisir."

    "Is that so?" Mochi askedzily. The bunny was lying on her stomach while munching on a piece of grape. Since she wasn''t a real bunny, she could eat pretty much everything that she wanted to eat. "I guess the Spirit World is safer for Prince Nero than the young devil''sir."

    She nodded slowly while staring at the nk wall in front of her.

    It was already past her bedtime but she was still up and busy. Right now, she was in a simple reception room in her pce. She was waiting for Trevor to call her using themunication device that he gave her.

    And thatmunication device was the his red devil horn that he pierced through the wall.

    The blue devil horn was probably pierced through somewhere in Nero''s ce.

    [Devil horns are pretty useful, huh?]

    Only she and Mochi were in that room while Dion Skelton was guarding her outside.

    Lewis wasn''t with her because she asked her son to help Greko take a bath. Her youngest child seemed to be scared of other people. Thus, she asked her oldest son to take care of the maknae.

    [Plus, I''m sure Nero and Lewis will just exchange cold looks if they met through the screen.]

    "What''s wrong, Princess Neoma?" Mochi asked when she fell silent. "Do you not trust the Spirit World?"

    "I''m just wondering where they have been when I needed them in the past."

    By past, she meant her first life.

    She suffered so much back when she was still the na?ve Neoma Quinzel who was foolishly in love with the bastard Rubin Drayton.

    [God, remembering the fact that I loved that idiot makes me want to puke.]

    Now she felt even more upset.

    "The Spirit World ignored me when I was suffering but it opened its door to Nero easily," she said bitterly. Of course, she wasn''t ming her twin brother. She was directly hating on the Spirit World right now. "I know it''s petty but I can''t help but feel this way. Am I not my mother''s child as well? Why do they only favor Nero? I thought the Spirit World is different from the empire since I heard that my Mama Boss was loved by the Spirits."

    The Wind Spirit remained silent for a while.

    She thought the bunny was ignoring her but she was wrong.

    "The Spirit World is probably being wary," Mochi said carefully. "They''re wary that you and Prince Nero might be the ''Cursed Twins'' of the old prophecy."

    What?

    Cursed Twins?

    Another old prophecy?

    [Pfft.]

    She clicked her tongue while shaking her head. "How clich¨¦," she said. "What''s the story behind it?"

    Although it was clich¨¦, it was still very interesting.

    As an avid fan of manhwa/anime/allnovelfulls/video games during her second life, the existence of a cursed being and an old prophecy was always exciting to her no matter how many times it had been done already.

    "One of the previous old queens of the Spirit World apparently saw an ominous prophecy," the Wind Spirit said. "ording to her, the ones who would bring the destruction of the Spirit World is a pair of Cursed Twins. Thus, ever since then, the Spirit World and its rulers have always been wary of twins. If I remember it correctly, there''s aw in the Spirit World that says if a pair of twins must enter their world, they would only allow one of the siblings toe in."

    She felt bitter once again.

    But this time, she actually felt hurt.

    [They chose Nero.]

    The Spirit World had probably chosen Nero as well during her first life. That was the only exnation she could think as to why nobody helped her back then.

    [I died alone in the past¨C alone and unloved.]

    Now she understood why Gin, the ck butler cat, had attacked her before by recreating her harsh first life using his realistic illusion.

    [It''s my greatest fear. I don''t want to die alone. I want to be loved.]

    That was also probably why she ended up as narcissistic as she was today.

    She let out a long sigh. "I guess Nero absorbed all my luck when we were in our Mama Boss''s womb," she said. "Oh, well."

    Of course, she was still bitter.

    But she wouldn''t hate Nero for something that he had no control over.

    Even if her own twin brother had killed her during her first life, she was confident that it wouldn''t happen in this lifetime. But of course, she wasn''t being toocent. Why else would azy bish like her do something as annoying as training to get stronger?

    [Of course, it''s to protect me. I mastered the Art of Defense as a safety measure in case Nero goes lunatic and decides that he wants me dead. This time, I won''t let him kill me.]

    "Princess Neoma, are you jealous of Prince Nero?"

    "A little," she admitted. "I know that he''s going through a lot since he was cursed and he had to stay hidden for the past few years. But everyone and everything seems to favor him naturally." She scratched her cheek when she suddenly felt embarrassed. "Petty, isn''t it?"

    "You''re not being petty, Princess Neoma," Mochi said softly. Then, she nuzzled her head against her side as if she was trying to console her. "You''re my second favorite person only next to Mona. And I favor you over Prince Nero."

    She couldn''t help but smile when she heard that.

    Plus, she could also hear Kimchi and Soju talking to her in her mind. The two were saying that she was their favorite ''human.''

    Aww¡­ she seriously felt touched.

    "I''m certain that you''re also Lewis Crevan''s most favorite person," Mochi continued, then sheughed softly. "The young fox that you call ''son'' will choose you over the whole world without hesitation."

    Sheughed with the Wind Spirit.

    [Mochi is probably exaggerating tofort me.]

    And it worked.

    She felt better now.

    "Thank you, Mochi," Neoma said, then she gently hugged the fluffy white bunny. "Thank you for making me feel loved."

    [I feel foolish for almost forgetting that a lot of people love me now.]

    Unbeknownst to Neoma, Mochi actually debated whether to tell the royal princess that little Niki loved her as well. But in the end, the Wind Spirit decided to keep her mouth shut. After all, Mochi wasn''t sure if little Niki could really love someone other than Mona.

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA realized that she actually missed Nero as soon as her twin brother (who was just a little bit more handsome than her) showed up on the screen. She couldn''t help the excitement that came out in her voice when she called him. "Brother Nero!"

    She would only call Nero that way when she was acting cute to make him dote on her.

    But this time, she was slightly genuine about greeting her twin brother that excitedly. After all, it had been a long time since they talked to each other.

    Nero smiled brightly at her. "Neoma, how are you?"

    Okay, that was my cue.

    This time, she was in acting mode. Now that she decided that she didn''t like the Spirit World that much, she devised a n to protect her special bond with Nero.

    [I worked so hard to be Nero''s beloved twin sister. I won''t let a biased world break us apart. Well, Mochi said that the Spirit World and its residence are good-natured beings. But it wouldn''t hurt to be prepared just in case I''m not included among the people that the Spirit World wants to treat well.]

    She began her act by abruptly erasing the smile on her face.

    "Nero, I don''t want to say this but I have to because I was scared," she said in a cracked voice. Hah! This was the power of a former child actress. She could cry anytime she wanted if it was just acting. "Can you ask your friends over there if I did something wrong to the Spirit World?" Wow, her trembling voice amazed even herself. "The Grand Spirit tried to kill me¡­"

    Hup.

    Wow, did you hear that huping out of her mouth as if she was a damsel-in-distress being mistreated by her evil stepmother?

    Someone please give her an acting award already.

    She should receive an award because her fake tears worked on Nero who looked like he was about to destroy the Spirit World any minute now.

    [I''m sorry for using you but I have to let them know about our bond, Nero.]

    She knew very well that there were at least two sides who wanted her and her twin brother to fight for the throne: the Devil and the cult.

    But she and Nero didn''t wish to fight just for that reason.

    That was the message that she wanted to send to the Spirit World just in case they had an ulterior motive for taking Nero in.

    [A warning, if you must.]

    "Neoma, this useless older brother of yours is embarrassed," Nero said in a voice filled with regret. "Please wait a little more. I will avenge you once I''m strong enough to destroy the Spirit World and everything in it, including the Grand Spirit scumbag."

    She gulped when she realized that her thoughts earlier were correct.

    [Nero is serious about destroying the Spirit World, huh?]

    "Big Brother, you don''t have to destroy the whole Spirit World," she said while wiping the tears off of her face. "Spirit World isn''t our enemy. Plus, they''re taking good care of you."

    "But Neoma¡­"

    She smiled sweetly at her dear twin brother. "Just punish Uncle Scumbag for me, pretty please?"

    Nero took a deep breath and closed her eyes as if he was trying to calm himself down.

    At that moment, her eyes caught a sudden movement behind her twin brother.

    It was William.

    And he was ring at her.

    She smirked at him in return.

    [See? The Spirit World may favor Nero. But Nero chooses me over the world that seems to care for him deeply.]

    It wasn''t apetition but she felt victorious.

    "I''ll bring you William''s head as soon as I''ve recovered."

    She almostughed at Nero''s promise when he opened his eyes.

    But since she was pretending to be a spoiled younger sister, she controlled her emotions and just simply smiled gratefully at her older brother. Well, if she''d be honest, she''d say that she was genuinely touched to know that in this lifetime, Nero truly loved her.

    [My one and only biological oppa.]

    Well, Nero''s affection for her wasn''t normal but she liked being loved. She knew how to control her twin brother anyway.

    "Okay, Big Brother," she said sweetly. "I''m looking forward to it."

    Nero looked relieved and smiled back at her. Whenever her twin brother would smile innocently like that, he would look like the little boy that he was.

    [My oppa sometimes feels like a dong-saeng to me.]

    ''Dong-saeng'' meant younger sibling in the Koreannguage.

    But she only probably felt that way because she was an adult inside.

    "I can''t listen to this shit anymore."

    She ignored William''s voice and the loud thump that she heard when he mmed the door shut.

    Nero also looked relieved that their audience was gone.

    [I hope you got my message loud and clear, Uncle Scumbag.]

    "Neoma, I''ve heard everything from Trevor," Nero said seriously. "The High Priest and the nobles are trying to dethrone you for what happened at the camp?"

    She almost rolled her eyes.

    [Trevor and his big mouth.]

    But she wasn''t seriously mad at Trevor. After all, she knew that Trevor would only talk to the right people if needed. If he truly had a loose mouth, then all the secrets of the Devil''s Grimoire should have been revealed to the world already.

    [He just talks too much.]

    "Brother Nero."

    "Yes, Neoma?"

    "I''vemitted mass murder," she confessed softly even though Nero had probably heard it from Trevor. "I even stabbed two of them to death."

    "And?"

    She blinked at her twin brother''s casual reply.

    "You can do whatever you want, Neoma," Nero said seriously. "If anyone opposes you, remember their face or jot down their names. I will hunt them down for youter."

    That response was so Nero-ish.

    She knew that her twin brother''s weird obsession with her was showing up again. But for some twisted reason, she acknowledged that as his lovenguage. Although she didn''t like possessive and obsessive people, she just epted Nero''s way of loving her.

    [Well, we''re twins so if Nero has a loose screw, so do I.]

    "Thank you, Big Brother," she said brightly. "I feel much better now."

    "Will you be alright, Neoma?"

    She smiled and nodded. "Don''t worry, Brother. I have everything under control. I will strike the temple and the nobles at the same time¨C and I will make sure that it will hurt."

    "Is Father supporting you well?"

    "I asked Papa Boss to let me take charge," she said casually. "But he gave me everything that I asked for from money to favors. Plus, I have friends that I can depend on." She raised her hand to show her twin brother her three fingers. "I have three more adopted children now, Brother. Two boys and one girl. They''re all strong."

    Nero''s face didn''t change as if he was already used to her crazy antics. "I see," he said calmly. "I''m d that my nephews and niece are useful to you."

    Sheughed softly, d that her twin brother was going along with her joke well.

    He looked proud of her. But then, he sighed. "I will make it up to you soon, Neoma."

    "You better," she said yfully. "I haven''t given up on my dream to be ady of leisure someday, Brother Nero."

    "I will give that kind of life to you, Neoma."

    "I know," she said softly. "Until then, I will protect your throne."

    It was still Nero''s throne since he was the official Crown Prince.

    [In the meantime.]

    "My throne is yours, Neoma," Nero said firmly with a bright smile on his face. "But your throne is yours alone."

    Oh.

    Her twin brother basically said that he would give her everything he had but he wouldn''t ask her for anything.

    Neoma smiled sweetly at her twin brother.

    [Nero, I trained you well.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    "THE ROYAL TWINS'' bond is quite strong," Tara, the queen of the Spirit World,mented while walking behind William. Of course, it wasn''t proper etiquette for a mere Grand Spirit to walk ahead in front of the queen. But William was an exception since they couldn''t control the man. "They''re so different from the other pair of twins born into the Royal Family of the de Moonasterios."

    The pair of twins from the Royal Family before Prince Nero and Princess Neoma were the now Emperor Niki and the former Princess Royal Nichole. The current emperor and the former Princess Royal didn''t get along.

    More like Emperor Niki didn''t care about Princess Nichole.

    But no matter how harsh it sounded, it was normal for royal siblings or twins to not care about each other. The royal princes were groomed as the future emperor, while the royal princesses were raised only to be the royal princes'' "emergency source of life force."

    The rtionship between Prince Nero and Princess Neoma wasn''t like that.

    "Of course they would be different," William scoffed without even turning to her. Yes, he was that rude. "They are Mona''s children so they''re bound to be special."

    "Princess Neoma warned the Spirit World, didn''t she?"

    The Grand Spirit just scoffed again.

    But she knew that she was right.

    She could tell that Princess Neoma tantly showed off her tight rtionship with Prince Nero. It was as if she was warning the Spirit World that she "owned" the royal prince.

    "Is it just me or Princess Neoma put on a show?" she asked in an interested manner. "It looked like Her Royal Highness was boasting that she has Prince Nero wrapped around her little, fancy finger."

    "Obviously," he said bluntly. "Between those twins, Nero looks like the possessive one because of his foolish actions. But the filthy bug is crazier than her twin brother. She''s just good at hiding it. But if you touch one of her people, she''d snap like the lunatic that she is." He clicked his tongue while shaking his head. "I bet she''d blow up the entire Spirit World if we refused her entry once shees to visit Nero."

    Ah, yes.

    The Spirit World had aw that said if a pair of twins must enter their domain, they could only allow one of the siblings to enter theirnd.

    Nero wasn''t aware of that particrw yet.

    [But since his physical body already touched ournd, it can no longer be undone.]

    Suddenly, she remembered the instance where another pair of royal twins from a long time ago caused a ruckus because the Spirit World wouldn''t open its door for the two of them.

    "William."

    "What?"

    "The new royal twins remind me of them."

    "Who?"

    "Princess Aruna and Emperor Arche."

    The Grand Spirit stopped walking, forcing her to do the same. Then, he turned around. There was a grim look on his face. "Those royal twins weren''t rted to us."

    By that, he meant the Rosehearts and the Spirit World.

    That was exactly why he was wrong.

    "There was a Roseheart that tied the twins together," Tara reminded the Grand Spirit firmly. "The male Roseheart that was forcefully merged with a god instead of a beast."

    "Stop," William warned the Spirit Queen coldly. His eyes were cold and his expression was hard. He was obviously trying to suppress his anger. But when he talked, he still sounded calm. "Such being never existed."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NERO smiled sadly at the being in front of him.

    It was a pink dolphin the size of his head inside the floating transparent crystal ball in front of him. Of course, the crystal ball was filled with clear "water." But on a closer inspection, one on the level of an expert would realize that it wasn''t water.

    Pure Mana.

    It was pure Mana that only the "chosen" ones could possess.

    "Neoma is so beautiful," the crying pink dolphin said between sobs. "But she inherited her father''s craziness. Still, she''s crazy beautiful!"

    Neroughed softly. "I know," he agreed gently. "But please stop crying, Mother."

    Yes, ''Mother.''

    The pink dolphin in front of her right now was the "borrowed" Spirit Form of Lady Mona Roseheart.

    And her existence was something that not even the Spirit Queen could feel.

    [Neoma, our mother is the best.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 282 - [Bonus ] NERO AND MONAS SECRET

    <em><strong>[AFTER Nero found his mother in the ck Ocean¡­]</strong></em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    ["NERO, don''t let Gavin Quinzel get near Neoma at all cost!"]

    Nero opened his eyes when he heard his mother''s voice in his head.

    When he woke up, he found himself in the room that he was temporarily using in the Spirit World''s Royal Pce. His head ached and thest thing he remembered was being knocked out by either Queen Tara or William.

    Finally, he remembered that he was able to speak with his mother for a moment.

    [Mother¡­]

    "Prince Nero, are you alright?"

    It was Tara, the queen of the Spirit World.

    Despite her rank, she was standing in front of his bed politely. Her Majesty also looked genuinely worried about him.

    "I''m alright, Your Majesty," Nero said politely. "Thank you for asking."

    The queen smiled gently. "Nero, may I ask a question?"

    He sat on the bed properly. "Of course, Your Majesty."

    "I''d like to ask you a question," the queen said hesitantly. "I know that you''ve heard Lady Mona Roseheart''s voice. But may I know if you''ve seen her clearly?"

    He was about to say how her mother looked like she was frozen in time when he heard a strange yet familiar voice in his head.

    ["Nero, my baby, please don''t say anything to Tara¡­"]

    His head suddenly cleared.

    [Mother?]

    He couldn''t only just hear his mother''s voice. In fact, he could also feel his mother''s presence in his heart. He was confused, but for now, he remained calm. Then, he listened to his mother''s instruction.

    For some reason, he could tell that the majestic presence inside him was none other than the soul of Lady Mona Roseheart.

    "No, Your Majesty," Nero said politely while shaking his head. "The water under is too dark. But like I said, Mother is trapped in a huge block of ice."

    The queen fell silent. "I see."

    He wondered why Her Majesty asked that.

    And he was also curious as to why her mother wanted to hide her presence from the queen of the Spirit World.

    [It''s amazing how Mother can hide her presence in front of the Spirit Queen herself.]

    "Prince Nero, are you not going to ask me why we stopped you from going on the surface?" the queen asked. "We stopped you even though Lady Roseheart gave you an important task."

    He wouldn''t lie¨C he was still very upset.

    But it didn''t matter now.

    He needed to talk to his mother alone.

    "I understand why you had to stop me, Your Majesty," he said politely. "I just hope that William rys my mother''s message to Neoma."

    His mother''s message was strange.

    [I''m d that I can talk to Mother again.]

    Asking the queen to leave his room would be quite rude. Even in his Spirit form, he was still the royal prince of the empire. In the end, he did what Neoma did best: acting.

    He acted like he was in pain while holding his head.

    "Prince Nero, are you alright?" Her Majesty asked worriedly. "Should I give you a thorough check-up?"

    He politely shook his head. "I''m fine, Your Majesty," he said. "But I''m sleepy."

    Tara nodded her head, then she smiled at him. "Please have a rest, Prince Nero," the queen said. "I will wake you up once William has returned."

    Nero nodded politely. "Thank you, Your Majesty."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NERO was a little surprised when a pink dolphin inside a transparent crystal ball filled with water. But it didn''t like ordinary water.

    [Is it Mana?]

    Yes, it looked like Mana¨C a pure, white Mana.

    He also noticed that the Manaing out of the small hole on top of the crystal ball covered the entire room. But for some reason, the Mana felt¡­

    [Natural.]

    "My Mana is something simr to nature, Nero."

    His eyes widened in shock when his mother''s voice came out of the pink dolphin.

    "Mother¡­?"

    "Yes, Nero," the pink dolphin said. "This is one of my borrowed Spirit forms. I tore a piece of my soul so this is the best "physical body" that I can use temporarily. How do I look?"

    He was instantly reminded of his mother''s coral pink hair.

    Moreover, it was also Neoma''s favorite color.

    "You look lovely even in that form, Mother," he said softly. "Is it safe for us to talk like this? Won''t the Spirit Queen notice your presence?"

    Her motherughed softly. "Tara didn''t notice me earlier. Even if I used my Mana, the queen will still not notice it because as I said earlier, my Mana is not that different from nature. Thus, I covered this room with my "trace." Moreover¡­" The pink dolphin inside the crystal ball got closer to him. Despite her form, he could still see the yful spark in her mother''s eyes. "Nero, who''s your mother?"

    He couldn''t help but smirk. Now he knew where Neoma got her yful side. "My mother is Lady Mona Roseheart¨C the greatest Summoner in the world."

    "My baby is smart."

    "Mother, I''m no longer a baby."

    "You will always be a baby to me," her mother said with a softugh. "Nero, thank you."

    "Why are you thanking me, Mother?"

    "When you touched the block of ice, some of your Mana were absorbed by my cold cage," her mother exined gently. "Your Moonglow and Roseheart Blood entered my body and flowed through my veins until they reached my Core. Thanks to that, my cold body warmed up a bit and allowed me to gather my own strength. Thus, I was able totch on to you in this form."

    "I''m d that I was able to help you, Mother," he said sincerely. "But Mother¡­"

    "What is it, baby?"

    "Why do you want to hide your existence from Queen Tara?"

    His mother fell silent for a few moments before she spoke again. "I just want to observe for now before I decide."

    He noticed that despite her mother''s gentle expression, he could tell that she was being serious and careful. "Decide about what, Mother?"

    "Let''s not talk about that for now, my dear son," his mother said gently. "We need to talk about something else first."

    He nodded. "I understand, Mother."

    His mother fell silent for a few moments, then sheughed gently. "I''m d that my son is calm," she said. "I''m sure that you have a lot of questions."

    He nodded again. "But I''m patient, Mother," he assured her. "I won''t force you to tell me the things that I shouldn''t learn yet."

    "My goodness!" his mother said excitedly, her dolphin tail wagging. "My son is so mature. I can''t believe that Niki raised you well."

    "Mother, I am mature because Father didn''t raise us with love."

    His mother fell silent and despite her appearance, she could see the sadness, anger, and regret on her face.

    He felt guilty that he had to drop that kind of "bomb" right away.

    But he wanted to be honest with his Mother.

    [I hope Mother punishes Father once she returns.]

    Yes, he could tell that his mother would return earlier than expected.

    [We need Neoma''s me, and Neoma is already strong. If I train in my Spirit form, maybe we wouldn''t need William''s help anymore.]

    "Nero, it must have been hard to live with a Niki who lost his heart," his mother said in a soothing voice. "I know that it''s not an excuse but please don''t hate your father too much." She paused before she spoke again. "It was partly my fault why your father ended up the way he did. Moreover¡­"

    He noticed that his mother''s voice trembled.

    "It was my choice to abandon you, Nero," his mother''s voice said in a voice filled with regret. "When I gave birth to you and Neoma, I chose your twin sister over you because I can''t take both of you with me. I''m sorry¨C"

    "You did the right choice, Mother."

    He didn''t mean to be rude when he cut her off like that.

    It was just that he didn''t want his mother to apologize for something that he wouldn''t hate her for.

    "I¡­ did the right choice?" his mother asked, confused.

    "Mother, I understand why you chose Neoma over me," he said softly. "The empire is cruel to female royals. On the other hand, Father needed an heir. I don''t hate you for the choice that you had to make. I''m sure that you would have chosen to take both of us if you could."

    He heard his mother sob.

    "I would hug you if I could, Nero," his mother said between sobs. "You''re already so thoughtful and selfless at that tender age of yours¡­"

    He smiled apologetically. "No, Mother. I''m not thoughtful and selfless," he confessed. "I just love my twin sister dearly."

    His poor Neoma thought she wasn''t loved in the past.

    The memories that he had of his past life were a blur so he didn''t want to depend on it. And therefore, he decided to love his twin sister unconditionally in this lifetime.

    But perhaps, he didn''t "decide" it.

    Loving his twin sister came naturally this time since they grew up close.

    "Neoma is well-loved even in this lifetime," his mother said gently. "Nero, can you find a way to return to the ck Ocean?"

    "The Spirit World is good to me so it won''t be a problem, Mother," he said confidently. "May I know why we need to return to the ck Ocean?"

    "We need to talk in private¨C somewhere far from Tara''s reach," his mother said seriously. "I will tell you the truth about Neoma''s rtionship with Commander Gavin Quinzel."

    Nero clenched his hands and nodded. "I understand, Mother."

    <strong>***</strong>

    <em><strong>[THE NIGHT Neoma returned from the Death Camp¡­]</strong></em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA threw up all the food that Ruto served her for dinner that night.

    She felt like she was also throwing up her insides while she was on the bathroom floor. It was messy, but she didn''t have the time to reach the sink. She knew that she needed to puke or else, she might die.

    [It hurts¡­]

    She was able to eat after everything that happened because Ruto was with her earlier.

    But now, the nightmare of killing people with her hands began to haunt her. Technically, Madam Giselle Averon and her lover weren''t humans. But still, they were living things that she stabbed to death.

    [It was so easy¡­]

    She looked at her tiny hands. They were probably clean but in her vision, they were bloody. And no matter how much she washed her hands, the blood just wouldn''t get washed off.

    [It was so easy to kill¡­]

    The smell of burning corpses.

    The feel of her de piercing through her enemies'' flesh.

    The sounds of their cry.

    The sticky feeling of the blood sttering all over her.

    The awareness of one''s life slipping from her little hands.

    Ah, she wanted to puke again.

    [I''m a murderer.]

    No matter how much she justified her sin, it wouldn''t change the fact that she was a murderer.

    She closed her eyes.

    Then, much to her surprise, her body was lifted by a familiar built.

    When she opened her eyes, she found herself in Lewis arms while he was walking towards the gigantic bathtub. In the corner of her eye, she saw Stephanie silently clean after the mess that she made on the floor.

    "We just have to live with it," Lewis said softly. Then, he stopped in front of the tub to look at her. His beautiful golden eyes were filled with warmth. Ah, this boy knew what she was going through. "We just have to save more lives than the ones we took away as atonement."

    She remembered that she said something simr to Lewis before.

    Neoma smiled and closed her eyes. This time, her heart was calm. The blood in her hands hadn''t disappeared, but the bloody color was starting to get faint.

    [Let''s live and atone.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    NOTE: Yeah, both scenes are a shback.. Hehe.

 Chapter 283 - KILL THEM WITH KINDNESS (1)

    MARQUIS LAWFORD Gibson was nervous.

    Right now, he was in the fancy Callisto de Luca Hall in the Royal Pce along with his fellow high nobles. Moreover, the empty table closest to the tform of the royal thrones (the majestic one for His Majesty, and the other grand seat for the Crown Prince) was reserved for the High Priest and the other members of the temple. He heard that the bishop of Steora Church would being over as well.

    [Why am I getting an ominous feeling?]

    He discreetly nced at the table closest to the table for the High Priest. It was the table for the members of the Noble Faction: Duke Arman Winchester, Marquis Frank Bsco, Count Emerson Zachary, and Marquis Russell Spencer.

    The members of the Noble Faction looked like they were in a good mood while happily chatting among themselves. They even dressed up a bit more fancy than usual. Of course, nobles were expected to always look like nobles¨C posh and elegant. But it didn''t suit the atmosphere.

    Anyone who didn''t know the four esteemed noblemen would probably mistake them as members of the royal family. The expensive essories that decorated them made them stand out and shine brighter especially since the others were wearing dark clothes.

    Of course, the others had to dress dark clothes today for two reasons: First, to sympathize with House Hammock who lost an elder recently. Second, they knew that the Crown Prince would wear ck clothes because based on the Royal Family''s tradition, wearing ck clothes in such a time was an expression of regret and repentant.

    The nobles were expected to wear dark clothes so they wouldn''t stand out and identally overshadow the Royal Family.

    Dressing appropriately for such an asion was the proper etiquette.

    The members of the Noble Faction that chose to wear colorful outfits and shining essories today were obviously trying to mock the Royal Family. Especially the Crown Prince who was summoned by the High Priest for interrogation regarding the disappearance of the saint, and the appearance of a Hellgate at the camp.

    Remembering the reason why the representatives of the Twelve Golden Families were there gave him a stomachache.

    [The Noble Faction will definitely use the temple to attack the Crown Prince!]

    Vultures.

    That was the moniker that the Noble Faction gained all these years. It was because every time the Royal Family would mess up, the members would use that weakness to try and weaken the power of the crown.

    He let out a long sigh.

    [I hate politics. I hate politics. I hate politics.]

    Why was he born an only child?! He just wanted to bake pastry food and be a peace-loving bakery owner. Ah, he should have just run away when he was at the academy.

    "Shut up, Lawford¨C I can tell that you''re thinking about stupid things again."

    Lawford red at Sean Dankworth, his damned childhood friend, seated beside him.

    Thezy bastard''s cheek was pressed against the table. He had his eyes closed and drool was dripping at the corner of his mouth.

    [Is he really a noble?]

    He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

    "Sean Dankworth, I''m giving you a minute to fix yourself," he warned thezy bastard. "If I opened my eyes and saw you looking like an uncultured pig, I will never cook anything for you again."

    Thezy bastard groaned inint, but he heard the count move.

    [I''m d that Duke Quinzel and Marquis Lennox aren''t here yet and didn''t see thezy bastard''s shameful appearance.]

    He had to wake up very early in order to wake up thezy bastard and drag him in the hall. As a result, they arrived at the Hall the earliest. The Noble Faction arrived a few minutes after the two of them did.

    "I''m done," Sean said in a sleepy voice. "Lawford, you can be so petty sometimes."

    He opened his eyes and was relieved to see that Sean now looked like a proper noble he was. "I''m d that at least, you''re calm."

    "Mm."

    He let out another sigh. "I can''t believe you went along with Jeno''s reckless request."

    Their table was quite far from the other upied table, and the Noble Faction wouldn''t eavesdrop on them. But to be safe, he and Sean were talking vaguely in low voices.

    "What can I do?" his childhood friend asked while rubbing his left eye with his hand. "My adorable little brother and his new friend begged me."

    By new friend, he meant Lady Juri Wisteria.

    Apparently, Jeno and the youngdy were by the Crown Prince.

    [I can''t believe that His Royal Highness would use House Dankworth for his n.]

    And he couldn''t believe that Sean would go along with it.

    Thezy bastard wasn''t interested in politics. He only remained as a member of the Royal Faction because his household had always been one. But Sean wasn''t the type of person who''d sacrifice himself or his people for the throne.

    Moreover, Sean really treasured his younger brother. The fact that he let Jeno stick to the Crown Prince despite the danger was something he didn''t expect from his friend.

    "Lawford, thank you."

    He gave his friend a look of disgust. "Stop. You''re giving me goosebumps."

    But he understood why Sean was being emotional right now.

    After all, he was an aplice.

    The Crown Prince was about tomit a crime that would definitely anger the nobles¨C both allies and not.

    Worse, House Dankworth and House Gibson would be the scapegoat.

    [Our vassal families will definitely kill us for this.]

    Ah, his stomach suddenly hurt again while thinking of those THINGS around the hall that were being concealed by Sean''s mist.

    [I hate politics. I hate politics. I hate politics.]

    He didn''t have to ask Sean why he suddenly decided to follow the Crown Prince''s will when he had ignored His Majesty''s previous orders.

    [It''s because His Royal Highness is Lady Roseheart''s son.]

    And thezy bastard was one of the hardcore followers of Lady Mona Roseheart.

    [I wonder if he''s still looking for Lady Roseheart''s soul.]

    His thoughts were interrupted when the announcement of the arrival of the so-called "Neutral Faction" came: Count Benjamin Russo, Count Larry Dawkins, Count Tyler Lhesi, and Viscount Austin Morrisley.

    As expected, the group looked calm as always except for the viscount.

    Well, it was a bizarre thing that a lower noble household like House Morrisley would be a part of the Twelve Golden Families for this long. He could understand why Viscount Morrisley always looked nervous around the other families.

    [Well, House Morrisley is an old family so they still deserve the same amount of respect.]

    But howe such a family didn''t gain more power and influence? They had remained stagnant all these years.

    [Ah, whatever. It''s none of my business.]

    His thoughts were once again interrupted when the High Priest and the other members of the temple, along with the bishop of Steora Church, arrived at the Hall.

    Everyone in the room fell silent.

    He was certain that everyone could feel the divine auraing from the High Priest and the others. It wasn''t as strong as the saint''s. But still, it was enough to make everyone stand and greet His Excellency politely.

    [They''re shining.]

    The High Priest and the rest of his members were all wearing white (with blue ents) robes. They looked¡­ uh, well, holy.

    Just thinking about the Crown Prince who''d be wearing ck today¡­

    [Wouldn''t that make His Royal Highness look like the viin?]

    Argh.

    He clutched his stomach tight.

    [I hate politics. I hate politics. I hate politics.]

    "Lawford," thezy bastard said in a nagging tone. "Don''t overthink."

    He red at his childhood friend that he wanted to strangle at the moment for being so calm despite the storm that was about to hit them.

    "Just trust me," Sean said calmly, his eyes wide awake for once. "This will be fun."

    He didn''t want to admit this but Sean''s words calmed him down.

    Lawford just let a looong sigh again.

    [I hate politics but I can''t leave thiszy bastard alone.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    DUKE ARMAN Winchester, the head of the Noble Faction, couldn''t contain his excitement.

    [Finally.]

    The Twelve Golde Families had beenplete with the arrival of Duke Rufus Quinzel and Marquis Vincent Lennox.

    The High Priest and the rest of his group had also arrived¨C and they looked upset.

    And now, they were just waiting for His Majesty and the arrogant Crown Prince to arrive to start the "meeting."

    [Prince Nero, I won''t go easy on you this time.]

    A child with Roseheart Blood must never ascend the throne.

    His thoughts were interrupted by Marquis Russell Spencer''s snicker.

    "I wonder if His Royal Highness can maintain the arrogance that he showed us in front of His Excellency," Marquis Spencer said. "Even though he''s the Crown Prince, he must be aware that the temple is more powerful than him at the moment."

    Everyone at their table nodded in agreement.

    A Crown Prince without a solid backing was an easy prey.

    Although His Majesty was able to threaten them when he insisted to dere Prince Nero as the Crown Prince, the emperor couldn''t always support his son.

    Especially if the "enemy" was the temple.

    After all, the majority of their citizens follow Astello Temple. To be precise, most of them were followers of Saint Dominic Zavaroni.

    [The missing saint.]

    "It''s about time for the arrogant Crown Prince to learn his lesson," Count Emerson Zachary said while adjusting his eyesses. "I still can''t forget how he treated us the first time we met him at the pce."

    "His Royal Highness was able to act that way because he was within the pce walls back then," Marquis Frank Bsco said while shaking his head. "I believe that His Majesty has prepared something to defend the Crown Prince today from the temple."

    "We won''t let His Majesty do that, of course," Marquis Spencer said while shaking his head firmly. Then, he smirked. "The Crown Prince looks like Mona. I hope he criester since Mona''s crying face was beautiful, too."

    He and the others ignored Marquis Spencerment.

    Why was this bastard still obsessed with that woman?

    However, their faction needed to be united today. And therefore, he simply changed the topic instead of scolding the marquis.

    "His Royal Highness''s arrogance will be his downfall today," Arman said firmly. "We''ll be there to devour him once he''s done for."

    They weren''t called the "vultures" for nothing.

    "His Imperial Majesty Emperor Niki has arrived with His Imperial Highness Prince Nero!"

    He and the rest of his faction exchanged triumphant smiles before turning to the door.

    Their smiles disappeared as soon as they saw the emperor and the Crown Prince followed by the royal prince''s single knight and three of His Majesty''s Pdins.

    His Majesty was wearing his fancy yet formal red and gold attire along with its elegant cape.

    The knight and the Pdins were all wearing their ck uniforms instead of the usual white ones.

    But the Crown Prince was wearing a white and gold outfit. The essories and the gems that adorned the young prince were also brighter and obviously more expensive than what the Noble Faction members were wearing. Even His Royal Highness''s shoes were white.

    And of course, the proof of his de Moonasterio blood¨C the white hair, the pale skin, and the pair of ash-gray eyes.

    Prince Nero looked holier than the High Priest himself.

    [How dare he¡­!]

    And that was the moment that he noticed something strange.

    He couldn''t feel Prince Nero''s presence and yet he could. Yes, it was confusing. He was suddenly drawn to the Crown Prince that he hated. But at the same time, he felt like he couldn''t grasp him even if he tried.

    And he noticed that everyone had noticed the same thing.

    [The Crown Prince''s aura has changed.]

    That strange aura was strangely forcing him to keep his eyes on Prince Nero. And much to his despair, that aura was also forcing him to sumb to the Crown Prince.

    [Sumb? Me? To that child?!]

    He was gritting his teeth when all of a sudden, his gaze met Prince Nero''s just when he stood on the tform beside His Majesty.

    All of a sudden, his body moved on its own.

    Arman Winchester, along with the everyone in the Hall who felt Prince Nero''s dominating aura, stood up and bowed their heads to greet the Crown Prince.

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA blinked several times when all of a sudden, everyone in the room stood up and bowed their heads.

    The High Priest and his group, as well as the nobles, were greeting him and his father.

    It was pretty much normal.

    Except for the fact that everyone''s gaze seemed to be focused on her instead.

    [What''s wrong with them?]

    In the end, she just brushed it off. Maybe everyone was just curious because the Crown Prince of the empire was going on a "trial."

    It was a "meeting" but he knew that the temple people were here to persecute her.

    "I''d like to thank everyone for making the time toe here on such a short notice," her Papa Boss said in calm and formal tone. "I won''t hold you up anymore so I''m letting Prince Nero take charge from this moment on."

    Everyone was shocked when the emperor dropped the protocol and abruptly gave the floor to her.

    Of course, that was the n.

    [A good defense is the best offense.]

    She knew that she would be used with exaggerated crimes if she let the High Priest talk first. Thus, she decided to "attack" first.

    Drop the formalities.

    Because she was about to drop a "bomb."

    "I''d like everyone to know that yes, it''s true that I have the power of the Devil," Neoma dered in a calm and confident voice¨C shocking the High Priest and everyone in the Hall except for her group, of course. She wasn''t done yet and the thought almost made her smirk. "I have the Devil''s power because I caught the Devil''s Grimoire at the Death Camp."

    And with just the snap of Neoma''s fingers, a magic circle appeared in front of her.

    In the middle of the magic circleid a grotesque creature that had the head of an old bald man and the body of a centipede¨C a centipede that had human toddler legs on it.

    [Let the hunting begin.]

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 284 - KILL THEM WITH KINDNESS (2)

    [OHO. The idiots are all falling for it.]

    Trevor was amused.

    Right now, he was in the next room while on the sofa. He was lying on his side and eating grapes while watching the things happening in the Callisto de Luca Hall on the wall in front of him. The wall had turned into a screen thanks to the shining Spirit Stone attached to it like an ornament.

    That Spirit Stone was connected to one of themunication devices floating discreetly in the Hall. Thosemunication devices came in the form of ck orbs the size of a child''s head. And those orbs were being hidden in the mist created by Count Sean Dankworth.

    [I heard that Sean Dankworth is my second son''s older brother.]

    His second "son" was Jeno Dankworth.

    All the children that Princess Neoma adopted were his children, too. His Moon Princess just hadn''t realized her feelings yet but he knew that someday, she''d eventually reciprocate his feelings.

    "Impressive," Trevor said while reaching for another piece of grape in the bowl on the table in front of him. "Sean Dankworth''s cloud of mist is doing its job properly."

    The higher and strong nobles in the Hall hadn''t noticed the mist that hid themunication devices yet. It was only a testament of how strong Sean Dankworth was to fool the nobles that were probably just as strong as the count.

    [I''m different, of course. Even if I didn''t know about the n, I would have still noticed the mist. Sean Dankworth is a high-grade Mana user but I''m Trevor so I will always be better.]

    But he understood why the nobles hadn''t noticed the mist yet.

    There was a strong magic spell in the Hall that would prevent any use of power. Therefore, even if the nobles in there had felt the mist, they would have just brushed it off as the spell or the shield around the Hall.

    Moreover, the mist was naturally a weak element that was mostly known for its stealthy use. Most arrogant nobles also thought that using mist as a main weapon was embarrassing.

    [Sean Dankworth was probably bullied by his fellow nobles for using mist.]

    After all, mist had a stigma because it was a power that the most vicious and the most infamous assassins in the continent had been using for many centuries now. So if a noble like Sean Dankworth openly used it, his fellow nobles would probably sneer at him.

    [Speaking of assassins, there''s a guild that has a really, really bad reputation that I''d look like a saint next to them. If I remember it correctly, that guild is owned by an assassin n that apparently serves a god. It''s called the "God of Mist" or something.]

    "Heh," he said with a smirk for that passing thought. "Howme."

    Anyway, things got more interesting when Princess Neoma finally summoned the "Bookworm."

    It wasn''t a fake.

    He and Neoma weren''t that arrogant to believe that they could fool the High Priest and the higher nobles if they presented a fake Bookworm. Therefore, they decided to bring over the real thing. But of course, they already took some precautionary measures since he would die if the Bookworm left his body.

    His hand automatically reached for the smooth head of the Bookworm that was still wrapped around his body.

    [I would have gotten rid of this grotesque creature if I could.]

    He suddenly remembered the n that he made with Princess Neoma¡­

    ["Trevor, I need a scapegoat that could take the me for what happened at the camp. My Papa Boss managed to erase my trace but he didn''t have the time to erase yours. I heard that the High Priest has conducted an investigation at the camp regarding the disappearance of the saint. They found out that a demon had opened the Hellgate. Papa Boss said that the temple is very angry at me because they believe that I summoned a demon to aide me. I mean, they''re not really wrong¡­"]

    [He smirked at the worried royal princess. "The High Priest and his people went at the camp but instead of worrying about the hundreds of children abused in there, the first thing they did was to look for the saint? And instead of getting angry at the bastards who abused the children for god knows how long, they got mad at you for using a demon to get rid of those trash?"

    ["Oh¡­ you''re right. Their priority is messed up."]

    ["Princess Neoma, I can''t show myself in front of the greedy nobles of the empire," he said seriously. "But I know how to help you."]

    [After saying that, he grabbed the Bookworm by the neck and threw it on the floor. Then, without saying anything, he summoned the Sword of Doom (yeah, it soundedme but in his defense, he wasn''t the one who named the weapon). It was the first time that he showed Princess Neoma the sword with apletely ck de. The sword didn''t have a guard so if an amateur carelessly used it, they may end up hurting themselves.]

    [He grabbed the sword by the hilt, he emotionlessly cut the Bookworm into two. Princess Neoma gasped but it wasn''t only because of his cold action. His Moon Princess was probably surprised when the Bookworm cloned itself after being split into two.]

    [His Moon Princess looked at him with sparkling eyes. "A clone?"

    [He smirked again and nodded. "Yes, Princess Neoma¨C a clone. It''s different than creating a fake because the Bookworm''s clone serves like its twin. It still has the knowledge that the original Bookworm contains."]

    ["What''s the catch?"]

    ["The clone will onlyst for a week at most. After that, it will disappear. Will that be alright?"

    [Princess Neoma fell silent for a while before nodding. "Yeah, that will work," she said. Then, a mischievous smile appeared on her pretty face. "Trevor, I''ll borrow the clone and make a shit show."]

    Trevor smiled after remembering the "shit show" that Princess Neoma shared with him. "I''m looking forward to it, my brilliant Moon Princess."

    ***

    NEOMA was relieved that she was able to use the magic circle properly.

    She wasn''t a mage so learning magic was quite hard for her. ording to Jeanne Audley, the Pdin that turned out to be a mage as well, she was able to sessfully create a magic circle because of her overflowing Mana. The female Pdin was brutally honest with her when she said that her Mana wasn''t built for using magic spells.

    Surprisingly, she wasn''t offended.

    Even though ''Mana'' in their world practically meant ''magic,'' the Mana that the de Moonasterios possessed was close to divine powers. The magic in the empire was created by humans and therefore, their divine powers "refused" to replicate it.

    Yes, the Mana of the Royal Family was "alive" and it was very arrogant.

    [It can''t be helped since our divine power came from a god.]

    "Ah," her Papa Boss, now seated on his majestic throne with a bored look on his face, said. Everyone in the Hall naturally turned to him. "The Devil''s Grimoire is a being that could only be seen by strong individuals. If your Mana is weak, you won''t even have the chance to peek at it." He raised his eyebrow. "Everyone in here could see the Devil''s Grimoire, could you? If the mighty nobles of our empire couldn''t see it, then we''re doomed."

    A cold tension lingered in the room after her father talked in a sarcastic manner.

    Everyone immediately imed that they could see the Devil''s Grimoire.

    To be honest, she was surprised that even High Priest Wellington and his people correctly described the monster to prove that they could see it.

    [I''m sorry, High Priest Wellington. It seems like I''ve underestimated you.]

    And her father''s remark earlier made her realize how much of a weakling she had been all this time. After all, it was only recently that she was able to see the monster in Trevor''s back.

    "Prince Nero, please excuse my impudence but¡­" Duke Arman Winchester, the old nobleman that bullied her before, said in a firm voice. Ah, right. The old geezer was the head of the Noble Faction. And therefore, he probably hated her. "How can you prove that the grotesque monster that you brought is the Devil''s Grimoire?"

    "Hah." It was Duke Rufus Quinzel who spoke. The duke looked cold while looking at the older duke. "Duke Winchester, did you just really question Prince Nero''s credibility? You''re crossing the line."

    She held back a smile.

    [Aww¡­ Duke Quinzel always has my back.]

    "I have to," Duke Winchester said firmly at Duke Quinzel, then the old man turned to her with a cold look on his face. "The Devil''s Grimoire is the most sought-after grimoire in the continent. But no one has seeded in capturing the elusive grimoire before. Of course, I know that the future sun of the empire has a huge potential. But I find it hard to believe that the young Crown Prince was able to do such feat at his tender age."

    "That''s correct," High Priest Wellington said firmly. "We need proof, Prince Nero."

    Her Papa Boss scoffed, making the nobles flinch in fear.

    But her father didn''t speak. As promised, he let her take charge.

    "I understand your concern, Duke Winchester and High Priest Wellington," Neoma said, then she smiled brightly at the nobles. "Then, shall I ask the Bookworm to reveal the secret of everyone in this Hall right now?"

    Yes, she was bluffing.

    But a good bluffing could be a powerful weapon--- especially if a good actress like her used it for the ''greater good.''

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 285 - KILL THEM WITH KINDNESS (3)

    [THE LITTLE rogue is seriously crazy. She''s my daughter but¡­]

    Niki held back a sigh.

    He was taken aback when Neoma challenged the nobles and suggested having everyone''s secrets revealed to prove the Bookworm''s identity.

    [Neoma, you''re the one who has the most dangerous secret here.]

    But he wasn''t worried because his daughter wasn''t dumb. Neoma knew that her royal secret must not be revealed. Not until Nero returned, at least.

    [She''s just bluffing.]

    And it was working..

    He couldn''t believe that a nine-year-old child''s bluff was working on the higher nobles. The representatives of the Twelve Golden Families were some of the strongest people in the empire. But he could see some of them gulp and tremble in fear.

    It wasn''t like he didn''t understand though.

    [Neoma''s aura¡­ it''s the aura of a ruler.]

    There was a reason why the de Moonasterios had been the rulers ever since the empire was built.

    It was because of their aura that could make other people submit to them.

    The aura around a de Moonasterio who overcame Lunacy would always change. But the aura around Neoma right now was different. It was something simr to his.

    [It really is the aura of a ruler.]

    Nero should catch up with Neoma as soon as he woke up. It wasn''t like he was trying to make his childrenpete with each other. He just wanted both his daughter and son to be strong because as royals, their lives would always be in danger.

    But at this moment, it was Neoma who was bringing terror to the arrogant nobles that dared to push the "Crown Prince" to the corner.

    [The little rogue is about to break severalws.]

    He still remembered the conversation that he had with his daughter after he handed him the astronomical amount of money that she asked for. Of course, the amount wasn''t nearly enough to make him bankrupt (the money came from his own pocket, not the funds for the pce). But it was still big enough to make even Rufus Quinzel, the wealthiest nobleman in the empire, gulp.

    ["Papa Boss, you''re rich?"]

    [He scoffed at his daughter''s question. But he couldn''t me her. Even though he was the emperor, he wasn''t as rich as his cousin Rufus Quinzel, the empire''s wealthiest noble. The amount that he gave Neoma as her "allowance" might have gone beyond her expectations. "I''m not as rich as Rufus but my money is still enough to make the empire move the way I want to," he said. "Do you know what makes an emperor great aside from power?"

    ["Uhm¡­ money?"]

    ["Yes, money," he said while nodding his head. "I have both power and money."]

    ["Papa Boss, I''m going to use your money to break some of thews," his daughter said bluntly. "Is that okay?"]

    ["Do whatever you need to protect the throne," he said casually. "I''ll take responsibility."]

    ["Papa Boss, we''ll share the responsibility," Neoma said seriously. "My people have my back, too."]

    Neoma''s people, huh?

    Lewis Crevan.

    Juri Wisteria.

    Jeno Dankworth.

    Jasper Hawthorne.

    The "halfling" that she recently adopted.

    [They''re quite decent.]

    Lewis Crevan gained the right to be Neoma''s knight. Juri Wisteria and Jeno Dankworth came from noble households that supported the Royal Family. Jasper Hawthorne was a rebel but his connection to the slums could be pretty useful.

    He had to keep an eye on the child that his daughter brought home. The boy was half human-half elf so he was guaranteed to have incredible healing powers. But he couldn''t fully trust a child raised in the Death Camp.

    [That damned camp¡­]

    He was very angry at himself that he didn''t notice that a disgusting camp like that existed at the border of his very ownnd. And the damned nobles prioritized the Crown Prince''s "trial" over the discussion regarding the camp.

    If Neoma didn''t insist to face the nobles, he would have taken care of the issue the way he always did¨C violently.

    [But the nobles are targeting the "Crown Prince" so I have to be careful.]

    Although he trusted Neoma, he was still worried about the method that she chose.

    Right now, there were several video-recording devices floating in the air. He didn''t know how his daughter convinced Count Sean Dankworth to help her. But the count''s mist was currently hiding the illegal devices.

    Only legally registered video-recording devices were allowed in the Royal Pce. The ones in the hall weren''t registered. Thus, it was the firstw that Neoma broke.

    Second, the devices were purchased illegally. Each one would cost a hefty amount of money, and his daughter bought a lot with the help of Jasper Hawthorne. It was probably the reason why she asked for money.

    Third, no magic spells or devices were allowed inside the Callisto de Luca Hall.

    Fourth, video-recording devices weren''t allowed to be used on nobles without permission.

    Niki held back another sigh. [My little rogue has be a criminal.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA would admit it: she was quite nervous after her bluff.

    But for some reason, it seemed like the people from the temple and the nobles didn''t notice that she was just bluffing. In fact, they looked concerned.

    "W-We don''t have to go that far, Your Royal Highness," Duke Arman Winchester, the head of the Noble Faction who started the whole fiasco, said. Then, he (fake) coughed when he realized that he stammered earlier. When he spoke again, his voice was loud and clear. "I suppose there is another way for us to be convinced that the creature you presented is the real Devil''s Grimoire."

    After that, the old duke turned to High Priest Wellington meaningfully.

    Ah, Trevor was correct.

    She remembered the conversation that she had with the demon¡­

    ["Princess Neoma, do you know why the current High Priest Wellington is feared by most people despite his weak presence?"]

    [She blinked in surprise because she didn''t expect that. "I met the High Priest a few times. He looks okay. Why is he feared?"]

    ["The current High Priest has the ability to kill a liar."]

    ["Huh?"]

    ["The current High Priest is being used by the temple to interrogate people within the temple thatmitted some sort of crimes," he exined. "The current High Priest makes them confess by tying a vow in their heart. If the confession is false, then the liar will die of a heart attack. I have a feeling that the greedy nobles that wanted to dethrone you would somehow convince you to take that vow with the current High Priest."]

    ["Are you suggesting that I convince the High Priest to use that ability on me?" she asked, quite shocked. "If I dere that the clone is the Devil''s Grimoire, won''t it be the same as lying? You''re the Devil''s Grimoire, aren''t you?"]

    ["The two of us are both the Devil''s Grimoire," he exined again. "The Bookworm cannot exist without me, and vice-versa."]

    ["Ah."]

    ["You''re not going to ask me about it, Princess Neoma?"]

    ["Nah. You would have already talked about it if you wanted to share it with me," she said. When the demon boy justughed, she changed the topic. "Won''t it be a problem that the Bookworm I''m going to bring over is just a clone?"]

    ["No," Trevor said confidently. "Even if it''s just a clone, it was still a part of the Bookworm."]

    High Priest Wellington nodded at Duke Winchester before turning to her. "Your Royal Highness, this humble servant has the ability to determine whether a deration is a truth or not. But in order to do so, you have to take the Vow of Truth. Would that be alright?"

    Her Papa Boss scoffed but thankfully, he didn''t say anything.

    She nodded confidently while looking at the High Priest. "I don''t mind, His Excellency," she said. Then, she turned to Lewis. "Escort His Excellency here."

    Yes, she wouldn''te down the tform because of her status.

    But the High Priest kindly declined Lewis''s help and walked toward her alone. After that, His Excellency gently asked for her hand as if they were about to shake hands.

    [His Excellency''s hand is warm¡­]

    "Your Royal Highness, do you swear on your life that you''re telling the truth when you said the creature you presented is the Devil''s Grimoire?" High Priest Wellington asked. The warmth gathered in his hand seeped through hers. Then, the next thing she knew, their hands were already covered with a warm and golden aura. "The Vow of Truth will take your life if you lie."

    She felt the warmth in her hand flow through her veins until it reached her heart. "I swear on my life that I speak the truth, Your Excellency," she said firmly as a snake-like chain began to surround her heart. "The creature the I present to you is the Devil''s Grimoire."

    The golden aura that covered their hands slowly began to fade.

    Then, it disappearedpletely along the "chains" that she felt around her heart earlier.

    "Thank you, Your Royal Highness," His Excellency said, then he turned around to face the nobles. "The Crown Prince has spoken the truth¨C the grotesque creature is indeed the Devil''s Grimoire!"

    There were different reactions among the nobles. Some smiled, others remained indifferent, while there were some who visibly frowned.

    "Duke Winchester, I believe you owe His Royal Highness an apology," Duke Rufus Quinzel said firmly.

    Neoma appreciated Duke Quinzel''s support. And she knew how to repay that kindness. [I have to end this now.]

    It would be Juri and Jeno''s turnter.

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 286 - KILL THEM WITH KINDNESS (4)

    NEOMA was shocked when Duke Arman Winchester, along with the other nobles who expressed their doubts earlier, slightly bowed their heads.

    "We apologize for our rudeness, Your Royal Highness," Duke Arman Winchester said, then he raised his head. Despite his seemingly polite behavior, the coldness in his eyes showed his true feelings at the moment. "Congrattions on catching the Devil''s Grimoire."

    Hah.

    She held back a smirk.

    Although she wasn''t really good at politics since she never lived as a proper princess before, she could tell that the old duke was bowing his head now not because he was apologetic¨C he and the other nobles were bowing down because they were afraid of the Devil''s Grimoire.

    [Now that they have confirmed that it''s the real Devil''s Grimoire, they''re afraid that I might use it to reveal their dark secrets.]

    But just because she had the Bookworm didn''t mean that she could use it as she pleased.. After all, Trevor was still the Devil''s Grimoire. And yet, even if it was the case, the demon boy told her that he didn''t know everything since not everything was written in the book.

    ["Trevor, if I pretend that I''ve caught the Bookworm, would I gain your ability to know everything?"]

    [Trevorughed softly. "Princess Neoma, you''re so cute," he said, then he exined immediately when she raised her fist in an attempt to scare him. "No matter how awesome I am, I don''t know everything. I also don''t have ess to certain records that the Bookworm protects."]

    ["Really? Even though you''re the Devil''s Grimoire?"]

    ["It''s just a fancy term for a bodyguard. My main job is to protect the Devil''s Grimoire. I memorize the contents that I have ess to, but I can''t take a peek at the contents that are locked. Princess Neoma, to be honest with you, the Devil''s Grimoire is actually a title shared by three beings: Me, the bodyguard. Bookworm, the literal book. Finally, the Recorder. As its name suggests, it''s the one that gathers all the information that the Bookworm keeps and I protect."]

    ["And who is this Recorder?"]

    ["I''m afraid I can''t tell you that, my Moon Princess. Out of the three of us, the Recorder is the most important part of the Devil''s Grimoire."]

    ["You''re just as important. If it wasn''t for your smartass, the Devil''s Grimoire would have been caught by other people a long time ago."]

    ["Thank you forplimenting my ass."]

    ["Trevor, do you want to die?"]

    [He justughed at her threat before he spoke again. "I don''t know everything at first nce," he exined once more. "But if I look in the eye of a person and the things that he knows have records in the Bookworm that I have ess to, then I''ll get to know everything about that person."]

    ["Really?"]

    ["Uh-huh. That is exactly what happened the first time we met, Princess Neoma. The information regarding your cursed twin brother was avable, thus I knew right away why you were looking for me."]

    ["Ah, I remember that. You also know that this isn''t my first life. Plus, you also mentioned that you know the history behind my birth."]

    [Trevorughed awkwardly. "I was actually just bluffing then," he confessed while scratching his cheek as if he was embarrassed. "I only know that Lady Roseheart and the former Commander Gavin Quinzel didn''t elope but they ran away together to bring you to another world. I also know that the former Empress Juliet Sloane''s dead body was stolen from the Shrine. But other than what you already know, the history behind your birth is in the private section of the Bookworm." He sped his hands together. "I''m sorry for lying to you back then, Princess Neoma.]

    She clenched her hands when she remembered Trevor''s idental confession of the truth.

    But her thoughts were soon interrupted when the High Priest spoke. As soon as he heard his gentle yet firm voice, she was instantly brought back to the present.

    [Let''s stop thinking about that demon liar for now.]

    "Your Royal Highness, is the Devil the reason why Saint Zavaroni disappeared?" High Priest Wellington asked in a voice filled with despair. "Was His Holiness abducted by them?"

    This was the hardest part for her.

    She already lied about the source of the demonic power found at the camp. Lying about what happened to the saint might cause her to get busted. Thus, she was forced to be honest this time. Papa Boss also gave her a piece of advice: ["You can''t just lie. You also have to give them some truth. Don''t underestimate the nobles too much. Since most of them are damned liars, they''re good at telling if someone is lying or not."]

    "Esteemed gentlemen," Neoma said carefully. It disgusted her that every representative of the Twelve Golden Families was a male. But that wasn''t important at the moment. "I believe that every single person in this Hall is aware that the Devil is the former Princess Nichole."

    Everyone''s expression became stiff.

    Even Duke Rufus Quinzel became solemn.

    [Ah, they must have an idea about the rtionship between Princess Nichole and Saint Zavaroni.]

    She couldn''t reveal the existence of the cult.

    Apparently, the damned crows only appeared each time a royal princess was born. If she revealed that the cult was at the camp, the nobles who didn''t know about her royal secret would get confused.

    "His Holiness went to the camp when he received a message from Lord Yule telling him to help me capture the Devil''s Grimoire," she lied with a straight face. The child actress in her hadpletely taken over. Plus, living with Papa Boss all these years had turned her into a good liar for her survival. "There, he met Princess Nichole. The former Princess Royal revealed the hell that she went through when she was abducted by the camp. When His Holiness heard everything, he cursed the gods that allowed Princess Nichole''s misfortune to happen. Sadly, that made Saint Zavaroni decide to turn his back on Lord Yule and the temple."

    She didn''t mean to sound like she was ming Princess Nichole for Saint Zavaroni''s betrayal. But that was how some of the damned nobles and the people of the church interpreted her words.

    "His Holiness betrayed Lord Yule just because of that?"

    "Perhaps, Princess Nichole exaggerated her experience to get the saint''s sympathy?"

    "Hah. She''s really the Devil! To drag His Holiness to hell¨C"

    "It''s your fault that Princess Nichole''s life turned tragic and you''re also the reason why she ended up as the Devil," she dered bluntly, filling the room with silence once again. All eyes were on her. Some were ring, others were indifferent, and there were some bold nobles who didn''t even try to hide the mirth in their eyes. "The strong and longsting shield that protects the capital and the Royal Pce were both created by Princess Nichole. She dedicated her life to protecting the empire while some of you hid in thefort of your own territories. And what did the former Princess Royal get in return for her loyalty and dedication to the empire?" She shook her head firmly. "Nothing. The Royal Family treated her like a dirty rug until the end."

    This time, the nobles were shocked except Duke Rufus Quinzel.

    The younger duke was looking at her with a pained look on his face. Duke Quinzel knew that she was speaking as a princess and not as a Crown Prince this time.

    [Argh, I want to curse so bad.]

    But the nobles were already mad at her so she held back.

    "Your Royal Highness, even though you''re the Crown Prince, you can''t speak like that toward the Royal Family!"

    "Your Royal Highness, you weren''t born yet during that time so how could you speak like you know everything about what happened to Princess Nichole?"

    "Your Majesty, how long are you going to allow His Royal Highness to insult the Royal Family?"

    Hah!

    It was Duke Arman Winchester who had the audacity to use an usatory tone on her Papa Boss.

    "It''s not an insult if it''s the truth," her Papa Boss said sternly while addressing the nobles with his cold gaze and stiff expression. "Princess Nichole spent her life as a princess dubbed as the empire''s strongest shield. But after she lost most of her power due to torture that she received in the hands of the damned crows, our family treated her like she didn''t exist. I wasn''t surprised that my twin sister ended up as the Devil" The emperor smirked bitterly. "Moreover, we all know that there''s a special rtionship between Princess Nichole and Saint Zavaroni. Why do you immediately assumed that it was Princess Nichole''s fault that His Holiness turned his back on his god?"

    "Your Majesty!" High Priest Wellington chimed in a shocked voice. "Are you ming His Holiness now?"

    "His Holiness and Princess Nichole were the ones who killed Madam Hammock," Neoma dered, making everyone turn to her again. It was Princess Nichole who made the final blow. But it was the saint''s will that she revealed it that way. "Can we still treat His Holiness who killed a person as a saint?"

    She heard a collective gasp.

    Of course, she wasn''t happy with this development. But she had no choice but to do this. Plus, she knew that Saint Zavaroni would be happy with her decision. He already quit his position as the saint, and she was only here to make it official.

    She received the request from His Holiness through Trevor.

    ["Princess Neoma, His Holiness gave you the Divine Item because he wants to ask you a favor--- the saint wants you to officially kick him out of his position by saying that he helped Princess Nichole kill Madam Hammock."]

    Neoma epted that request because she also believed that it was time for His Holiness to be emunicated.

    <strong></strong>[I''ll grant your wish, my dear mentor.]

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 287 - KILL THEM WITH KINDNESS (5)

    "HIS HOLINESS is going to be emunicated?"

    "This isn''t good¡­"

    "Our empire follows the Astello Temple because it worships Lord Yule¡­"

    "If the citizens heard the saint''s betrayal¡­"

    "No, we can''t let them know about the real reason why His Holiness disappeared!"

    Neoma clenched her hands.

    Of course, she already expected things to turn out this way. If the citizens found out about the saint''s betrayal, then it would bring chaos to the empire. Thus, she hadn''t activated the video-recording devices floating in the air yet.

    "T-The temple will discuss it within ourselvester," High Priest Wellington, who looked like strength had left him, said in a weak tone. He also turned pale, and bullets of sweat on his forehead were visible. "For now, it would be wise to keep this a secret to the citizens of the empire¨C especially from the followers of Astello Temple.".

    Neoma nodded in agreement. "I will respect your decision, Your Excellency."

    The very pale High Priest nodded before sitting down.

    "Your Royal Highness, we already found out that the source of the demonic power we found at the camp was caused by the appearance of the Devil''s Grimoire," the bishop said carefully. "We also learned the reason why His Holiness betrayed the temple. But you haven''t mentioned yet who opened the Hellgate. Is it the Devil?"

    "The bishop is correct, Your Royal Highness," Count Emerson Zachary, the pervert seaweed''s cousin, said while adjusting his eyesses. "The only witnesses at the camp are you and your people. Unfortunately, there is no video-recording devices at the camp when the Hellgate was opened. All we managed to find were traces of demonic power."

    "It was the Devil''s Grimoire who opened the Hellgate," she said without hesitation. "If youpare the traces of the demonic power at the camp and the Devil Grimoire''s demonic power, you''ll realize that the two are the same power."

    She was confident with that im because it was true.

    Trevor was the one who technically summoned the Hellgate. Now that Princess Nichole and her Papa Boss erased her trace at the camp, only Trevor''s was left.

    "Your Royal Highness, you managed to catch the elusive Devil''s Grimoire. I won''t question how you did it as I believe that you have the power to do so," Marquis Vincent Lennox, the maternal family of thete Empress Juliet Sloane, said carefully. "But I''d like to know how the Hellgate managed to take the souls of the sinners while you were there. If you have the power to catch the Devil''s Grimoire, then I don''t have a reason to doubt your capability to close the Hellgate on your own."

    For the first time since she began defending herself in that Hall, she felt her heart thump hard and fast against her chest.

    She was anxious.

    Although she already expected to receive that kind of bacsh, Marquis Lennox''s piercing gaze still made her nervous.

    [Papa Boss already warned me about Marquis Lennox though. He said that the marquis wouldn''t side with me just because House Lennox is a part of the Royal Faction. Does the marquis hate me because I''m Mama Boss''s daughter?]

    But technically speaking, Marquis Lennox''s question wasn''t hostile.

    "I saw the Hellgate and the way it absorbed the souls of the sinners," she said carefully. "I''m not certain if I had the ability to stop it. But I will admit that I didn''t give it my all when I was trying to close the Hellgate."

    "And what do you mean by that, Your Royal Highness?" Duke Arman Winchester asked immediately, earning a cold gaze from Marquis Lennox who looked like he was about to say something. But the old duke ignored the marquis and pressed her for more questions. "Are you saying that instead of closing the Hellgate, you just watched the souls get absorbed by it?"

    The old duke''s tone was mocking.

    But as she said earlier, she already expected that kind of bacsh. Thus, she had already "practiced" how she would react.

    [It''s time for the final act tomence!]

    "That''s true, Lord Winchester," Neoma said in a cracked voice, her eyes now teary. "I could only watch the Hellgate harvest the souls of the sinners¡­"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "AH, my Moon Princess is crying," Trevor said, then he immediately got up. "That''s the signal."

    He grabbed the red orb sitting on the table.

    It was the main device that controlled all the devices in the Hall. Since he was the only one in the group that had the ability topletely hide his presence along with his Mana, Princess Neoma put him in charge of the devices.

    Trevor licked his lips as he activated the hundreds of "eyes" in the Hall. "It''s showtime, Princess Neoma."

    <strong>***</strong>

    JASPER HAWTHORNE''s pocket watch began to vibrate in his pocket.

    [It''s the signal from the demon.]

    He put on the ck butterfly mask that covered half of his face. Then, he let his cousin Tate help him put on his ck robe.

    Right now, they were standing on the roof of a shabby "antique store" in the slums of the Royal Capital. It was the shop where he got the hundreds of illegal video-recording devices that Princess Neoma asked him to buy. The total price for everything was very expensive even for a rich nobleman like him.

    Thus, he offered to pay half of the total bnce. But Princess Neoma gently refused his offer and paid in cash. So he just bought the silence of the people in the slums. To be honest, he knew that he didn''t have to do that because he practically grew up in that area.

    Although he was born a noble, he still had a pretty impressive connection to the people in the slums. After all, his parents had been involved with the "underworld" before.

    "Is it time, my lord?" Tate asked seriously. "Should I ask them to move?"

    His cousin was talking about the people of the slums.

    Since the video-recordingmunication devices that were left with them were limited, he decided to invite the people that he could reach through word of mouth. They needed themoners in that area to gather at the za. And for those people that wouldn''t be able to make it because of the distance, Juri Wisteria and Jeno Dankworth were already working on it.

    "Yes, it''s time," Jasper said, then he opened his hands. "It''s time to bring the people at the za to witness Princess Neoma''s performance."

    And then, hundreds of yellow butterflies came out of his hands.

    <strong>***</strong>

    "I TOLD you that you didn''t have to help me."

    Juri Wisteria ignored Jeno Dankworth''sint while opening the lid of the magic pouch in her hands. It looked like a small bag on the outside but it was spacious inside. In fact, it was big enough to store hundreds of video-recording devices. "I''m not helping you," she said with a huff. "I just want to be useful to Princess Neoma."

    She was free to mention the little princess''s name because no one would hear her up in the air except for the young lord.

    Ah, yes.

    Right now, she was standing on Jeno''s cloud cube while the punk was sitting on the edge. He also covered them with his mist so they were currently invisible.

    [He''s quite convenient to be around with.]

    "Duke Hawthorne already sent the signal," Jeno said seriously. "Drop them, monkey girl."

    "Why am I a monkey girl, huh?" Juriined, then she held the magic pouch upside down and shook it until the video-recording devices fell to the vige below them. "You''re really a disrespectful sloth boy, Jeno Dankworth."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "I COULD ONLY watch the Hellgate harvest the souls of the sinners¡­" Neoma said, then a hup came out of her mouth. "Maybe deep in my heart, I didn''t really want to help them."

    "What do you mean by that, Your Royal Highness?" Count Larry Dawkins asked carefully. "I understand that the people who were killed at the camp were criminals. But as the Crown Prince of the empire, shouldn''t you be the first person to follow thew? Even criminals have human rights, Your Royal Highness."

    "I know that as well, Lord Dawkins," she said in a cracked voice. "But maybe due to my young age and inexperience in a real battlefield, I unconsciously let my feelings take over."

    The count remained silent, but the others didn''t.

    Especially the hostile old duke.

    "Of course, the Crown Prince is still very young," Duke Winchester scoffed. "That''s why you need to listen to us, Your Royal Highness. The nobles are the proud pir of the empire. Some families have been here since the empire was built. If you want to lead the empire in the future, then learn from us."

    "With all due respect, I don''t want to."

    Most nobles were shocked by her bold statement.

    Some remained indifferent.

    And there was Duke Rufus Quinzel who was smiling proudly at him.

    Even Papa Boss had to stifle hisughter.

    She proudly raised her head and said two words that made everyone in the Hall freeze. "Count Madgwick."

    It was the signal for the Pdins to move.

    Geoffrey Kinsley, Dion Skelton, and Jeanne Audley walked towards the nobles¨C each with a document in their hands. Then, the three Pdins handed each of the representatives of the Twelve Golden Families a document.

    After that, the three Pdins returned to their station.

    "Esteemed gentlemen, the documents in your hands contain the names of the nobles involved with the Death Camp," she said firmly. Her face still showed signs that she cried. But the fire in her eyes and the determination in her voice changed the way she presented herself to the nobles. She was no longer the nine-year-old vulnerable child who admitted her mistakes earlier. At this moment, she was now acting properly as the "Crown Prince"¨C the future moon of the Great Moonasterion Empire. "The pieces of evidence that will prove them guilty are also attached."

    Duke Jasper Hawthorne didn''t spend a year in the camp sucking up to the "Master."

    The young duke sessfully collected all the pieces of evidence against the nobles who were in cahoot with Alistair Madgwick¨C the illegitimate child of Count David Madgwick.

    "Moreover, as of this moment, His Majesty''s Royal Knights are arresting the nobles involved with the camp," she said. She had to address her Papa Boss by his title because they were in a formal setting. "They will be taken in for questioningter."

    She shared the documents with her Papa Boss.

    But they didn''t want the used nobles to have time to escape. Thus, her father decided to bring all the Pdins with him today. But the emperor already ordered the Captain of the Royal Knights in advance to arrest the nobles that were listed in the documents.

    Yes, it was a "surprise attack."

    And that was just the beginning.

    [I said that I won''t give the nobles the chance to attack, didn''t I?]

    "Ah, I forgot to say something earlier," she said in a sad voice. "It was true that I couldn''t do anything to stop the Hellgate from harvesting the souls of the camp''s sinners due to my immaturity. But aside from that, I was also angry. Very angry," she said, then she clenched her hands tight. "The documents that I handed you also contain the detailed report about the survivors of the camp¨C from the names, ages, and abuse received by the children."

    The names and the ages of the children were highly confidential and therefore, only a few people had the detailed documents.

    It was different from the documents that she asked her people to spread.

    "Esteemed gentlemen, please read the documents now," Neoma said in a trembling voice. This time, she wasn''t acting. Her voice was shaking because of the anger that rose up in her chest upon remembering the hell that the children at the camp had gone through. "Read the things that those felons did to the poor children and let''s talk again."

    Tears began to roll down her cheeks once again.

    Neoma wouldn''t know this but at that very moment, her emotions had reached the hearts of the citizens of the empire. Those people--- nobles,moners, peasants--- were currently watching them through the video-recording devices scattered outside the Royal Pce. Yes, it was a part of her n.

    But she would soon realize the full effect of her choices today.

    <strong>***</strong>

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    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 288 - KILL THEM WITH KINDNESS (6)

    THE ILLUMINA za, the za that was located on the streets where the middle-ss and themoners lived, was soon filled with people.

    A while ago, hundreds of yellow butterflies swarmed in the za.

    Then, much to everyone''s surprise, each yellow butterfly had turned into a piece of paper that seemed like a page from a newspaper. The contents of the paper shocked the people. It contained a report regarding the Death Camp.

    It was divided into three parts:

    1.   The report regarding the discovery of a certain "Death Camp."

    2.   The nobles were allegedly involved with it..

    3.   The kinds of abuses that the survivors (aged 5-13) had suffered.

    "How terrible! To think that this kind of camp exists¡­"

    "And it''s run by our very own nobles at that!"

    "I thought very has long been banned in the empire?"

    "Poor children¡­"

    "I''m relieved that they were rescued by the future moon of our empire."

    "But the young Crown Prince seems to have gotten in trouble for doing so because the esteemed nobles are giving His Royal Highness a hard time."

    Everyone who heard that turned to the giant video-recording device floating in the middle of the za. The video-recording device took the form of a transparent wall. And inside that screen, they could see the "little moon."

    Right now, everyone watching could see the Crown Prince who just cried trying to appeal to the nobles. But His Royal Highness wasn''t protecting himself.

    The empire''s First Star and their future moon actually cried for the ves.

    Although the citizens of the empire respected His Majesty Emperor Niki as a very efficient ruler, they all knew that their moon was a cold person. Butpared to the previous emperor who only knew how to go to wars and spend money on useless things, the current emperor was seriously better.

    The people thought they had to settle for the "lesser evil."

    Right now, the future moon of the empire shed his precious tears for the children at the foot of the social hierarchy. The Crown Prince might have made a mistake because he was still young. But wasn''t it too much to treat His Royal Highness like a criminal?

    ["I recognize my mistake, esteemed nobles," the young Crown Prince said in a solemn voice, his eyes still swollen from crying. But nobody saw it as a weakness. In fact, the people of the empire who witnessed His Royal Highness''s vulnerability were touched. It made them feel like the Crown Prince was in front of them instead of a video-recording device. "I will dly ept any punishment that you deem deserving of my actions."]

    There was a collective gasp.

    Everyone in the za had already heard what happened at the camp. They also read the mysterious "newspaper" that suddenly poured from the sky. Thus, they were very aware of what mistake their poor Crown Prince hadmitted.

    His Royal Highness let his emotions take over.

    His Royal Highness didn''t stop the Hellgate that the Devil created because his feelings got in the way.

    His Royal Highness broke the rule when he had forgotten about the due process and the rights of the criminals.

    Every life was supposedly precious.

    Everyone knew that.

    But¡­

    "But who cares about the lives of bastards who abuse children?!"

    "Is the life of a predator more important than the life of an innocent child?!"

    "Why does ourw protect the lives of those lowlives instead of protecting the lives of the survivors?!"

    The people were angry.

    They had read the details about how the poor children at the camp were physically, mentally, and sexually abused supposedly. Some of the children were sold off, while the other stronger kids were allegedly forced to participate in a fight against beasts while the rich patrons took bets.

    Of course, everyone questioned where the "newspaper" that contained the reports came from. They also questioned if the information provided was real. But all of their doubts disappeared when they saw the solemn look on the Crown Prince''s face.

    ["However, I''d like to propose somews that would protect the children of our empire from any kind of abuse," the Crown Prince said firmly. Most kids looked weak after crying. But for some reason, His Royal Highness still looked dignified. He looked so real despite the fact that he was nothing but an image inside the video-recording device. "I especially wish for these certainws to protect the children from the most vulnerable section of our society."]

    The most vulnerable section of their society?

    Then, wouldn''t it be themoners? The peasants? And those who had be ves despite thew that prohibited making people ves?

    The Crown Prince wished to protect those people especially?

    Once again, the majority of the people who heard His Royal Highness''s heartfelt request were touched.

    "His Royal Highness knows," one of the older people in the za said in a shaking voice. "His Royal Highness knows that even though the existence of such a cruel camp is revealed, the nobles wouldn''t be affected."

    "The rich would never have to worry about their children being ves because they have the money and the capability to protect their families," a mother said firmly, envy and fear could be heard from her voice. "But how about us?"

    "Those damned ve traders always target the poor because they know that we can''t protect ourselves!"

    "The Crown Prince knows that and His Royal Highness is trying to protect us!"

    ["I beg all of you," the Crown Prince said in a cracked voice. Then, he bowed his head to the nobles. "I''ll ept any punishment but please. Please." Tears once again fell from the little moon''s eyes. "Please help me protect the vulnerable."]

    Then, much to everyone''s shock, the future emperor bowed his head.

    "His Royal Highness bowed his head¡­"

    "For us," a father of three young girls said. This father read in the newspaper how the young girls in the camp were sexually abused by rich and influential people. He shuddered at the thought that it might happen to his poor daughters. Of course, he would do everything to protect his children. But he knew deep down in his heart that he didn''t have the power to go against influential people that might want to hurt his precious daughters. He felt despair at the depressing thought that crossed his mind. But hope sprouted in his heart upon hearing the sincere and warm words of their future emperor. "His Royal Highness bowed his head to protect those who can''t protect themselves!"

    "Why does our poor Crown Prince have to bow his head and beg those damned nobles?!" an angry mother asked in a frustrated voice. This angry mother had two sons but that made no difference. Even though she didn''t read the newspaper, she knew that even boys get abused. "Those nobles don''t care because their children are fine within the safety of their territories!"

    It wasn''t true that all noble children were safe just because they were born in rich families.

    In fact, most children were abused by their own family members.

    Just like what happened to the Young Master Rubin Drayton. He was the son of an esteemed duke. And yet, nobody knew that the young lord was being physically abused by his own father.

    Perhaps, themoners knew that as well.

    But right now, their priority was to protect their own. Like what the Crown Prince said earlier, they were the most vulnerable section of society.

    "The Crown Prince is the son of Lady Mona Roseheart¡­"

    The people who had heard that statement suddenly fell silent.

    To be honest, it had be a silent agreement among the citizens of the empire to not speak of thete Lady Roseheart.

    The matriarch of House Roseheart was loved by the people.

    But so was thete Empress Juliet.

    Because the two great women of the empire were both equally loved, the people who admired them decided to never speak of them again. It was done to avoid peopleparing Lady Roseheart and Empress Juliet to one another. And honestly, it was silly to pit the two amazingdies against each other.

    But since the person who mentioned Lady Roseheart didn''t do it with bad intentions, the others let them speak.

    "Our future emperor is different from the other royals and nobles because he''s the son of Lady Roseheart."

    Most people silently nodded their heads in agreement.

    If thete Empress Juliet was known as the "Benevolent Lady," then thete Lady Roseheart was known as the "Mass Princess" because most people that admired the matriarch were frommon households.

    After hearing Lady Roseheart''s name, everyone shared the same thought.

    Prince Nero was bound to be special.

    Then, all of a sudden, the whole za turned dark as if a huge shadow had cast over them. When everyone looked up, a collective loud gasp was heard. At the same time, everyone who saw what happened to the sky had chills.

    "The sun disappeared!"

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA felt a chill down her spines all of a sudden.

    Some invisible force urged her to turn to the window and when she did, she realized that it suddenly got dark outside when it was only noon.

    The nobles immediately noticed it as well.

    "The moon covered the sun," Neoma whispered to herself. "An eclipse¡­"

    It was a natural urrence.

    But for some reason, Neoma thought it felt ominous.

    [I wonder when I can fulfill my dream to be ady of leisure...]

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 289 - ECLIPSE

    IT WAS a total eclipse.

    Neoma suddenly remembered that she had witnesses eclipses before¨C both during her first and second life. But she couldn''t remember exactly when.

    And she had a feeling that she didn''t want to remember.

    ["Princess Neoma?"]

    She flinched when she heard Trevor''s voice in her head.

    Ah, she almost forgot that she allowed the demon boy to temporarily connect his mind to hers. We needed tomunicate discreetly after all.

    ["The people at the za are starting to panic, Princess Neoma."].

    ["But why?"]

    ["Huh? Isn''t it obvious why they would panic, Princess Neoma? The moon swallowed the sun!"]

    "It''s just a sr eclipse though," Neoma said, confused. "The sun wasn''t swallowed by the moon¨C the moon simply obscures it. And it happened because the moon got between Earth and the sun. Thus, the moon casts a shadow over Earth."

    She only realized that her voice echoed loudly in the Hall after she spoke.

    Ah, right. Since everyone fell silent earlier, her voice was heard loud and clear. And damn, she forgot to speak to Trevor in her mind.

    [But it''s not like I said something wrong.]

    "Son, what did you say?" her Papa Boss, who was now standing beside her (she didn''t feel her father''s presence!) asked with furrowed brows. "Eclipse? Earth? What are those?"

    Huh?

    The word ''eclipse'' didn''t exist here?

    [Ah, this world isn''t called Earth¡­]

    "Son, the thing you called ''eclipse'' is what we call ''God''s Rage,''" her Papa Boss said. "This is the first time you''ve seen one so it''s understandable that you''re not aware of what it is."

    Oh.

    God''s Rage, huh? It sounded fancy. But was an eclipse really that big of a deal?

    ["Trevor."]

    ["Yes, my Moon Princess?"]

    ["What''s happening outside?"]

    ["The people at the za are currently crying while kneeling and praying to apparently appease their god."]

    She almost snorted.

    Their empire worshiped Lord Yule so the citizens were probably praying to the Moon God.

    [The citizens are scared¡­]

    That suddenly gave her an idea.

    ["Trevor, focus all the video-recording devices to me. Then, throw the Divine Item at me as nned."]

    ["Now?"]

    ["Yes! Now!"]

    The eclipse would onlyst a few minutes. Wouldn''t it be a great idea to take the citizens'' fear away by showing them a man-made miracle?

    [This will be the highlight of today''s show.]

    ["Princess Neoma, I''m sending the Dive Item to you now."]

    Neoma expected the Divine Item to arrive the normal way. Like she was waiting for it to just appear in front of her because Trevor had told her in advance that he''d use a teleportation spell for it. But what happened next was beyond expectations.

    The Divine Item dropped like a fucking bomb that blew up the Hall!

    [Goddammit, Trevor!]

    <strong>***</strong>

    THE WHOLE za shook hard as soon as I heard a loud explosion.

    Surprisingly, the sound of the explosion came from the giant video-recording device in the center. Everyone who turned to the device was shocked by the scene that greeted them.

    At first, all they could see was a thick cloud of smoke.

    Then, they saw a spark.

    When the smoke cleared out, a shining little orb that resembled the moon appeared.

    "A little moon above the Crown Prince''s head appeared!"

    Those words made the screams and the cries around stop. Everyone suddenly became quiet. Then, they all turned to the video-recording device.

    The smokepletely disappeared now, and they could clearly see the Crown Prince.

    It seemed like the roof of the Hall had copsed. Because of that, everyone saw the same darkness that was cast upon the za.

    "Praise Lord Yule for keeping His Royal Highness safe!"

    "The Crown Prince is surrounded by a strange gold light!"

    The roofless Hall was also embraced by darkness. But as the golden light around the Crown Prince and the shining little moon above his head shined brighter, the whole suddenly lit up as if the sun had reappeared.

    It was a beautiful sight.

    "Is it a shield?"

    "It could be but I''ve seen that kind of light before¡­"

    "The saint?"

    "Huh?"

    "Yes, that''s right! I''ve once attended the saint''s homily in the past! It was the time when a group of rebels tried to assassinate His Holiness!"

    "And what happened?"

    "His Holiness created a shield for everyone in the temple! And His Holiness said that it was the power of Lord Yule!"

    A collective loud gasp was heard.

    "But His Holiness isn''t here¡­"

    "Everyone, look! The gold light that protected the Crown Prince ising from the little moon above His Royal Highness''s head!"

    A bulky man in his thirties pointed at the video-recording device.

    His im was confirmed then.

    The golden light that protected the Crown Prince was reallying from the little moon above the royal prince''s head.

    "What''s happening?"

    "I don''t know why but for some reason, I feel at ease while looking at the Crown Prince and the little moon above him."

    A lot of people at the za agreed with that statement.

    There was pandemonium earlier but everyone seemed calm now. The shaking had stopped but the sky was still very dark. And yet, the fear in the citizens'' hearts was gone.

    They knew they would be fine.

    The image of the young Crown Prince covered in golden light had be everyone''s symbol of hope.

    <strong>***</strong>

    FUCK.

    Neoma wanted to curse out loud so bad but she bit her lower lip.

    She didn''t know what was happening but the little moon above her head was giving her the chills. Plus, she was covered with a golden light that felt warm. It had the same "vibes" as her divine power.

    [Is it my punishment for trying to use a Divine Item to scam people?]

    "Son, are you alright?"

    "Yes, Your Majesty. I''m alright," Neoma said politely. "Are you alright, Father?"

    She addressed her Papa Boss as ''Father'' to express her genuine concern. Calling him ''Papa Boss'' would sound weird to the nobles so she called her father the way Nero did.

    Her Papa Boss nodded. "I''m alright." He motioned to the surroundings with his hands. "Everyone is safe because of your shield, son."

    Ah, yes.

    She used the Dome to protect everyone in the Hall.

    Even though Lewis and the Pdins quickly surrounded her and her Papa Boss for protection, her Dome was faster.

    She turned to the nobles and realized that she didn''t really have to use her Dome. Each noble present in the Hall was surrounded by their aura. Even High Priest Wellington created his own shield to protect himself and his people.

    Thankfully, no servants and knights were allowed in and around the Hall. Thus, she was relieved that no one was hurt because of the sudden explosion earlier.

    "Is everyone unharmed?" her Papa Boss asked in his usual formal and cold voice.

    Everyone in front of them bowed and confirmed that they weren''t hurt.

    "Your Royal Highness, that thing above your head¡­" High Priest Wellington asked, his voice shaking from what seemed like excitement. "It''s a Divine Item, isn''t it? I will never mistake Lord Yule''s divine energy for anything else!"

    Everyone''s curious gaze fell on hers.

    "It is indeed a Divine Item, Your Eminence," she said politely. "I received this from His Holiness before he disappeared." She said "disappeared" because she was aware that the video-recording devices were still running. It wouldn''t be wise to reveal the real story behind Saint Zavaroni''s disappearance. And that was exactly why she didn''t activate the devices while they were discussing what happened to His Holiness earlier. "Apparently, Lord Yule wishes for me to receive this item."

    The High Priest and his people looked shocked by her im.

    In fact, they were looking at her in disbelief.

    [Well, it''s understandable. If I remember correctly, this is the first time that a member of the Royal Family has received a Divine Item from Lord Yule. Things like that are usually sent to the saint.]

    That could be the reason why the people of the temple, along with the bishop, began to look at her with hostility in their eyes.

    Or was it jealousy?

    [Do they think that they have the monopoly over Lord Yule?]

    Heh.

    That was a funny thought.

    "I don''t mean to sound like I''m doubting His Royal Highness''s im¡­" The bishop, whose eyes were filled with greed at the moment, said carefully. "But I don''t understand why Lord Yule would give a Divine Item to someone who''s not a member of the Astello Temple."

    Her Papa Boss scoffed but thankfully, he remained quiet as if he was trying to hold back.

    "I don''t think it''s weird, Bishop Jones," she said politely, then she smiled innocently. "Aren''t I the descendant of Lord Yule? This may be impertinent of me to say but I''d like to think that I received a wonderful present from my grandfather."

    His father smirked.

    She saw Duke Rufus Quinzel smile warmly at her.

    Much to her surprise, she received warm gazes from the nobles who were apparently from the "neutral" side.

    She didn''t know how to feel with that.

    [I hate people who stay neutral when they can change the lives of the oppressed. They''re just as bad as the oppressors.]

    Thus, she paid no attention to that side.

    "Your Royal Highness, did His Holiness say what type of Divine Item it is?"

    "Yes, Your Eminence," she said politely. "The Divine Item apparently contains a message from Lord Yule."

    The High Priest and his people gasped aloud.

    "Your Royal Highness, do you speak thenguage of gods like His Holiness does?" High Priest Wellington asked. "How can you read the message of Lord Yule¨C"

    The High Priest was forced to stop talking because the "little moon" moved.

    And the next thing she knew, she was already curled forward while clutching her chest. The damned little moon entered her body abruptly and the impact was painful. She felt like she was punched in the chest.

    [Lord Yule, you¡­]

    "Nero," her Papa Boss said worriedly. "What happened¡­"

    Her father trailed off and looked up when all of a sudden, her body began to shoot up.

    There was an unknown yet strong force that forced her body to "stand" while suspended mid-air. She could feel a huge lump of divine energy inside her. In fact, it felt like another soul has entered her body without permission.

    But that "soul" was formless.

    [Am I being possessed by a holy being¡­?]

    By Yule who was supposed to be asleep?

    Well, to be honest, she had a feeling that the presence inside her wasn''t actually the Moon God. It was more like a piece of his essence. Maybe Yule used a portion of his soul to deliver the message to her.

    "The disappearance of my child Dominic Zavaroni signifies the end of an era," she said in a voice that sounded strange because she also heard several voices talking with her.

    It was simr when she faced several gods who talked at the same time.

    But her current experience gave her chills because she was forced to read the strange letters floating in front of her. It must be thenguage of gods that the High Priest mentioned earlier. Strange enough, she could read it.

    The content of the message made her realize that it was really meant for her.

    "However, it also indicates the beginning of a new era," she continued reading the words that the holy being inside her was forcing her to read. "Do not despair, my children. The moon will continue to shine upon the Great Moonasterion Empire. This time, the First Star will help me light up the sky."

    What the fuck?

    But on the other hand, she wasn''t the real First Star. It was Nero. Thus, it was her twin brother''s responsibility. She would only help Yule "light up the sky" until the real Crown Prince returned.

    "I have blessed the First Star with the ability to hear my voice," Neoma said and if she had full control of her body right now, she would have frowned. Her dream of bing ady of leisure was slowly fading in her mind. "Have faith in the First Star the way you have faith in me. Your devotion will soon be rewarded," she said, then she paused¨C shocked by the next thing that was about toe out of her mouth. "In a future that isn''t so far away from now, a new saint will be born¨C and the First Star will bring that special person to their rightful ce."

    The new what?!

    Neoma was so shocked that she didn''t notice the moon slowly fade to give way to the sun once again. Therge shadow that cast over the Earth was gone. Along with the darkness, the fear in the citizens'' hearts disappeared.

    The fear was reced by hope.

    The curiosity regarding Saint Zavaroni''s disappearance was overpowered by the anticipation for the birth of the new saint.

    The faith put on His Holiness was now put on the First Star.

    Neoma didn''t know that as everything went ck for her as soon as the holy essence inside her body disappeared.

    <strong>***</strong>

    "NERO, before we go¡­"

    Hmm?

    Nero was in the middle of storing a pair of dragon horns in his magic pouch when his mother spoke. Then, he turned to her with a curious gaze. "What is it, Mother?"

    His mother was still in her small pink dolphin form.

    Right now, he and his mother were alone in his room as he prepared to go back to the ck Ocean. ording to his mother, they had to go back to where her physical body was currently locked up for two reasons: first, she couldn''t maintain her pink dolphin form for too long. Second, she had something important to give to him.

    "I have a confession to make, son."

    His mother sounded serious so he waited for her patiently.

    "Nero, you''re not the First Star," his mother said in a solemn voice. "I gave birth to Neoma first and she''s older than you by a few minutes."

    To say that he was shocked by the revtion would be an understatement.

    "I''m not the First Star?" Nero asked weakly. He couldn''t believe it. To be precise, he didn''t want to ept the truth. "I am not Neoma''s older brother¡­?"

    <strong>***</strong>

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    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 290 - TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN

    "NEOMA hasn''t woken up yet?" Hanna asked her father worriedly. "How many days has it been since she fainted, Father?"

    Her father let out a deep sigh before speaking. "It has already been a week, sweetie," he said in a worried voice. "But thankfully, ording to Lord Marcus, Princess Neoma is alright. It''s just that her body has been exhausted and pushed to the limit after being possessed by Lord Yule''s holy essence."

    She elegantly took a sip of her tea.

    Right now, she was in the lounge area of her bedroom with her father. Her busy father still managed to find the time to visit her in the country of Gonora. Sadly, her mother had to make a quick trip to the neighboring country to meet up with her grandparents. Thus, her family wasn''t able to reunite properly this time.

    "People are now calling Princess Neoma the ''Voice of God,''" her father said in a half amused-half worried voice.. "It can''t be helped because for the first time after a long while, Lord Yule addressed the people of the empire. Ah, no." He shook his head before speaking again. "The Moon God''s message was probably for the whole continent since he''s the god who oversees the whole West Continent."

    She nodded in agreement. "The news about what happened already reached this country, Father. I''m sure that the whole continent would hear about the "Voice of God" soon." She paused, then she smiled. "I''m proud of Neoma, and I''m happy that she was chosen by Lord Yule to be his messenger. Now that Mr. Dominic Zavaroni has been stripped off of his title as the saint, I''m afraid I can''t trust anyone in the temple anymore."

    Her father almost spat his tea. "S-Sweetheart¡­" he said while putting the teacup down on the table between them. "You can''t speak like that toward the temple."

    "I know, Father," she said, then she smiled sweetly at him. "That''s why I only speak honestly with you and Princess Neoma. I don''t dare to speak this way with Mother because I know she''ll just scold me."

    Her father chuckled while shaking his head. "Sweetie, your mother was raised strictly by her family," he said gently. "Amber may not be as lenient as me, but I can tell you that she''s doing her best to match your way of thinking. She was raised by conservative parents and she knows how narrow-minded she could be sometimes because of her upbringing. Still, your mother is trying to be better for you." He held her hand and gently squeezed it. "Please speak with your mother the way you do with me, Hanna."

    "I''ll keep that in mind, Father," she said, then she smiled apologetically. "I''m sorry if I sounded rude to Mother."

    Her father just smiled and said it was fine as long as she understood.

    Then, after a few moments of peacefully enjoying their tea, he spoke again.

    "Hanna, do you know Ruston Stroganoff?"

    "Of course, Father," she said even though she was surprised by her father''s sudden question. "Lord Stroganoff is the youngest chef in the Royal Pce, and he''s also known as one of the continent''s geniuses."

    "Do you know him personally?"

    "I didn''t get the chance to personally meet the young lord while I was at the pce," she said while trying to figure out why her father started this topic. "But I heard a lot of good things about him from Neoma."

    "Is he close with Princess Neoma?"

    She smiled and nodded. "That seems to be the case, Father."

    In fact, she believed that Neoma had a crush on Lord Stroganoff.

    [Neoma often talks about Lord Stroganoff in her letters.]

    "Then, maybe we can trust him¡­" her father mumbled to himself. "It''s worth a shot."

    Now she was confused and curious. "Father, may I know what you''re talking about?"

    Her father looked at her with a serious look on her face. "Hanna, do you want to get stronger even if it means putting your life in danger?"

    To be honest, her mind was a mess.

    Her father suddenly mentioned Ruston Stroganoff. Then, he suddenly asked her a serious question that seemed unrted to the previous topic that he discussed.

    But maybe the young chef had something to do with it?

    "Father, I want to get stronger," she said seriously, setting her personal feelings aside in the meantime. She would ask about Ruston Stroganoffter. But for now, she''d answer her father''s question honestly. "My life is already in danger because of my weak heart. Uncle Gat isn''t saying anything. But I can tell by his actions that he''s frustrated at himself because our training isn''t making my condition better."

    Sadness crossed her father''s eyes.

    "Father, if the method you have in mind is something that may help me, then please allow me to give it a try," she said firmly. "I want to get better as soon as possible. Most of all, I''m eager to return by Neoma''s side."

    It seemed like her resolve reached her father because the sadness in his eyes was reced by determination.

    "Hanna, I don''t care about thew of our empire," her father began carefully. "In my heart, you will always be my sessor and not anyone else."

    ording to theirw, a woman couldn''t inherit her father''s title.

    Thus, if a lord happened to have a daughter as his only child, he must pass his title to a male rtive (usually a nephew) or to his son-inw.

    [What a terriblew.]

    "Therefore, I will take you to the ce that only the official heir apparent is supposed to know," her father said seriously. "I will bring you to the Forgotton Graveyard."

    Hanna covered her hands when she gasped. She wasn''t the official sessor, but she still received the proper education befitting the "Quinzel Princess." Thus, she knew what the Forgotten Graveyard was. "It''s the graveyard of the Unholy Beasts," she said softly. "And it''s also the homnd of the Shadow Beasts." She paused, then she smiled with a wicked glint in her eyes. Contrary to her father''s worry, she wasn''t scared. In fact, she was very excited. "I can''t wait to tame them, Father."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOUR MAJESTY, the demon Trevor and Lewis Crevan had destroyed another underground training area."

    Niki closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose when he heard Geoffrey Kinsley''s report. He had to stop reading the document in his hand to calm himself down. "Forbid those punks from entering the training area again," he said in an annoyed tone. "If those two brats want to train, tell them to go kill each other at the Monster Forest instead of destroying the Royal Pce."

    Of course, he could just renovate the pce. Money or funds would never be an issue. But why would he waste money on something that could be avoided?

    [Those punks¡­]

    It wasn''t like he couldn''t understand why Trevor and Lewis Crevan was sparring these past few days.

    The two brats were obviously trying to relieve their stress by going after each other''s throats.

    [They must be feeling anxious because it has been ten days since Neoma copsed.]

    Unfortunately, the little rogue hadn''t woken up yet.

    Of course, he was worried about his daughter as well to the point that he could barely function these days. But every time he saw Trevor and Lewis Crevan on the verge of insanity because of worrying about Neoma, he would instantly berate and remind himself that at least one of them should stay sane.

    Since he was the adult among them, he needed to get himself together.

    "Geoffrey."

    "Yes, Your Majesty?"

    "Children these days are scary."

    The Pdin chuckled and nodded in agreement. "That seems to be the case, Your Majesty," he said. "The children around Princess Neoma are the prime examples of how children these days could be really scary."

    That was true.

    Juri Wisteria was apparently rebelling against her family for giving Neoma a hard time, and so was Jeno Dankworth.

    On the other hand, Duke Jasper Hawthorne finally bared his fangs at the nobles involved with the Death Camp. The young duke was now working with him to make sure that those damned nobles would be punished severely.

    Of course, they were also focusing on the survivors by giving them the best treatment that the empire could offer.

    [Neoma, you should wake up and see the people you saved¡­]

    Moreover, his daughter''s "youngest son" had never left Neoma''s side ever since they returned to the pce. Aside from Marcus (a Healing Sage like thete Madam Hammock), the child called Greko was in charge of his daughter''s treatment.

    "Your Majesty!"

    He raised his head to see Jeanne Audley.

    It was unbing of the prim and proper female Pdin to run and raise her voice like that. He would usually scold her for behaving that way. But the relief and happiness in Jeanne''s face made him shut his mouth.

    "Your Majesty, Princess Neoma is awake," Jeanne said cheerfully. "Princess Neoma finally opened her eyes."

    Niki held back a smile. [The little rogue who caused such a ruckus has finally woken up.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA wanted to curse as soon as she opened her eyes.

    Her whole body hurt like her as if she had been run over by a truck while asleep. And now, she was alone in the room with her Papa Boss. Her father asked everyone (Stephanie, Greko, and Jeanne Audley) to leave when he arrived.

    [Papa Boss is just an elegant and fancy thug.]

    "I won''t ask how you''re feeling because it''s obvious that you feel like shit at the moment."

    Neoma stifled herughter when she heard her father curse. "Papa Boss, cursing doesn''t suit an elegant person like you," she said. Her throat and voice got better after she drank a ss of lukewarm water earlier. "Just because you have a trashy personality doesn''t mean that you should also have a foul mouth."

    "You talk disrespectfully at your father as soon as you opened your eyes, huh?" her Papa Boss said while shaking his head. "I guess you''re feeling better than I expected."

    "Nah, I really feel like shit."

    Her father took a deep sigh. "You still need to rest so I''ll give you a short summary of the result of your "performance,"" he said in a solemn voice, then he raised three fingers. "First, the nobles that are involved with the camp are going to be punished severely. That''s all I say since it''s my job and not yours." He paused before he spoke again. "The survivors are doing well at the shelter. You can visit them anytime you''re ready."

    She smiled at the good news. "I''lle and see themter."

    Her Papa Boss just nodded. "Second, His Eminence High Priest Wellington already announced that Saint Zavaroni has "returned to the arms of Lord Yule.""

    She already expected that to happen. "I guess they don''t want to lose believers," she said. "But is it okay for the temple to lie?"

    "They im that they''re doing it for the greater good."

    Her brain wasn''t functioning properly yet so she just stopped thinking about the temple in the meantime.

    "How did the people react to that news, Papa Boss?"

    "They are devastated," he said without missing a heartbeat. "But since they found a new hope, they''re coping well."

    "New hope?" she asked, then she nodded when she remembered Yule''s message. "Is it because of the news regarding the birth of the new saint?"

    "That and because of the Voice of God."

    She hugged herself when she got the goosebumps. "I don''t mean to be disrespectful but that soundsme, Papa Boss. I feel bad for the person who received that title."

    "Then, you should feel bad about yourself."

    "Huh?"

    "The precious citizens of our empire have given you the ''Voice of God'' title, Neoma," her Papa Boss said, then he smirked as if he was enjoying the look of disbelief on her face. "Treasure that title well, okay?"

    Neoma closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose just like her Papa Boss when stressed. "Can''t I just be thedy of leisure?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "NERO, are you ready to hear the truth?"

    Nero was still mesmerized by her mother''s beauty.

    When her mother was unmoving while trapped in the giant block of ice, she looked like a doll. But now that she was moving freely again, she looked like an angel.

    Lady Mona Roseheart was the definition of beauty and grace.

    "My son, are you listening?"

    "I''m sorry, Mother," Nero said while shaking his head. "I cannot concentrate because I''m distracted by your beauty. Now I know why Neoma was born beautiful."

    Leaving the Spirit Queen''s pce in his Spirit form was worth it.

    When he returned to the ck Ocean with his mother, he was able to enter the giant block of ice with her help. He was surprised to see a normal-looking bedroom inside. Of course, it was because of the high-grade magic spell that covered the ice.

    [Anyway¡­]

    After he gave a piece of his soul to his mother''s physical body, she instantly returned to life.

    But all of that was temporary.

    He couldn''t stay inside the block of ice for long, and his mother must return to her slumber as soon as possible to preserve her physical body.

    "I''m happy that my son treasures his twin sister very well," her mother said with a warm smile on her face. "But I hope you don''t love Neoma too much, Nero. I don''t want her to get suffocated the way I was suffocated by your father''s love in the past."

    He didn''t know what to say to that so he just kept his mouth shut.

    "Nero, are you interested in our story?"

    "Not really, Mother," he said honestly. "But I want to know why Commander Gavin Quinzel is a threat to Neoma."

    Although his mother initially asked him to don''t let the formermandere near Neoma, they eventually realized that it wouldn''t be wise to inform Neoma to stay away from Gavin Quinzel.

    If the formermander realized what they did, they were afraid that he might do something drastic to take Neoma away from them.

    They couldn''t afford to let that happen.

    Especially not when both he and his mother couldn''t physically be with Neoma yet.

    "I will tell you what happened in the past," his mother said in a soft yet solemn voice. "Nero, your father and I made a very selfish decision before. That must be why we were punished." His mother smiled sadly at him. "Niki and I decided to cross to another world and live there with Neoma."

    Nero didn''t really mind because he was fine as long as Neoma was safe with their parents. His twin sister deserved that kind of life after the hell that she went through in her first life. Still, he was curious. "What about me, Mother?" he asked carefully. "Why did you decide to abandon me in this world?"

    His mother closed her eyes as tears began to roll down her cheeks. "Because you needed to be the emperor, Nero."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "PAPA Boss, are you ready to hear my story?"

    Neoma watched her father carefully.

    She saw her father, who was seated on the sofa across from her, flinch. It wasn''t like she didn''t know why. Even she was nervous because ''the'' talk was about to happen now. That was the reason why only she and her Papa Boss were inside the office protected by soundproof magic.

    "I''m ready," her Papa Boss said with a firm nod. "Neoma, I want to hear the whole story."

    Ah, it was now really the time for ''that'' talk.

    She couldn''t dy it any longer. Plus, her appa/dad already told her Papa Boss about their connection in her second life. She thought that it was her appa/dad''s own way of saying that it was okay to reveal the truth to her father.

    [After I tell my story, Papa Boss promised to answer my questions honestly regarding Aunt Nichole and the Soul Beasts.]

    It was a win-win situation.

    "Then, let''s start with the story of my first life," Neoma said, then she clenched her hands before she continued with her story. "Papa Boss, Nero killed me in my first life," she said, obviously shocking her father. "But before that, you kicked me out of the pce by forcing the Quinzels to adopt me as a recement for Hanna who died early then," she added. Her Papa Boss looked as stiff as a stone already but she wasn''t done yet. "Worst of all, you tried to marry me off to Rubin Drayton who betrayed me¨C and he betrayed me for a woman involved with the crows."

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 291 - LONG OVERDUE CONFESSION

    NICHOLAI was shocked.

    To be honest, "shocked" was an understatement. He couldn''t believe the things that Neoma just told him. How could he believe that this wasn''t his daughter''s first life? That this was already the third?

    [Nero killed Neoma in her first life?]

    And he allowed it to happen?

    Hah.

    He was being a hypocrite.

    Just a few years ago, he tried to sacrifice Neoma to extend Nero''s lifespan when his son was cursed. Knowing himself, he knew that it was possible for him to allow his heir to kill his daughter who might be a threat to his position. Although their empire''sw didn''t allow female royals to take the throne, their ancestors had always been wary about the women in the Royal Family..

    [Allowing my heir apparent to kill his twin sister is something that I would have done if I was still the same person as I was a few years ago.]

    "Why did Nero kill you?" Niki asked carefully. He was still in denial, but he was curious about the life that Neoma just shared with him. "Did you two fight for the throne?"

    Neoma shook her head. "I didn''t grow up as a princess since I was raised as a Quinzel. How can I fight Nero for the throne?"

    "You were raised as a Quinzel because I forced them to adopt you and "rece" Hanna Quinzel who died early in that "first life" you''re talking about?"

    He didn''t want to admit this but he could believe that without questions.

    After all, when Neoma was still a baby, he had nned to send her to House Drayton. Thankfully, Glenn had stopped him during that time.

    "Yes, Papa Boss. Hanna died early because of her weak heart," she said bleakly. "When I was living as Neoma Quinzel, Duchess Amber forced me to talk, act, eat, and think like the real Hanna."

    He clenched his hands tight until his nails dug deep into his palms.

    "Then, when I turned eighteen years old, I was engaged with Rubin Drayton."

    Hah.

    He took a deep sigh to calm himself down.

    [Even in this lifetime, I chose Rubin Drayton as Neoma''s fianc¨¦.]

    "But Rubin Drayton is in love with another girl," his daughter continued. There wasn''t an ounce of emotion in her voice this time. "That girl is Regina Crowell. She''s the daughter of a baron. Because of her low status, Duke Drayton didn''t allow them to be together. Thus, Rubin Drayton made a deal with Duchess Amber."

    "What kind of deal?"

    He was patiently waiting for Neoma to reach the part that exined how that girl called Regina Crowell was rted to the crows.

    But he was worried about the fact that his daughter was reliving painful memories.

    [Neoma¡­]

    "Rubin Drayton told Duchess Amber that he would only marry me if Her Grace agreed to adopt Regina Crowell after our wedding."

    His brows furrowed in confusion. "Did he want to raise his lover''s status?"

    His daughter nodded solemnly. "Rubin¨C that son of a bitch¨C nned to kill me after our wedding."

    Ah, he finally understood that bastard''s n.

    "He wanted to kill you to marry his lover who, by the time you married him, would have already be the second daughter of House Quinzel," he said, then his jaw clenched. "So that Duke Drayton would finally approve of his lover who received a higher status after she was adopted by the Quinzels."

    "That''s correct, Papa Boss," she said with a bitter smirk. "But I was foolishly in love with Rubin Drayton back then. Instead of breaking off my engagement with him after I found out about his infidelity, I sought out a powerful ck Witch and forced her to help me by performing a forbidden spell¨C a spell that would tie my soul with Nero''s. During that time, he was already the Crown Prince."

    "You wanted to tie your soul with your brother''s soul to ensure your safety," he said carefully. "Because that spell would make it so he''d die if you die. Am I correct?"

    She slowly nodded her head. "Yes, Papa Boss. I wanted to tie my soul with Nero so he''d be forced to protect me. But the Nero in my first life was a crazy bastard who didn''t give a fuck about me. Plus, I btedly found out that the ck Witch that Imissioned to do the binding spell was the woman he was obsessed with."

    "A ck Witch," he mumbled to himself. [The race "disowned" by the gods, allegedly.]

    Nero fell in love with a ck Witch?

    [It would have been impossible for Nero to make a ck Witch into his empress if he wanted to be the emperor¡­]

    Just like how he failed to make Mona his empress because of her Roseheart blood.

    "Nero went batshit crazy when he figured out my n and how I forced the ck Witch to do my bidding. Thus, he killed me mercilessly," Neoma continued, then her eyes turned cold. "During my dying moment, Regina Crowell suddenly appeared. She told me that it was easy for her to manipte the people around me because I was unloved."

    [I will find and kill that girl no matter what.]

    "She''s the one who''s rted with the crows isn''t she?"

    His daughter nodded. "I didn''t know anything about the crows or the cult during my first life, Papa Boss. I lived and died as an ignorant youngdy back then."

    "How did you find out that the girl called Regina Crowell is rted to the crows in this lifetime?"

    "Regina Crowell targeted Hanna," she said seriously. "I told Hanna the truth for her to avoid Regina Crowell''s dangerous ploy to take her ce." His daughter fell silent before speaking again. "Papa Boss, Duke Rufus and Duchess Amber Quinzel already know the truth."

    His eyes widened in shock. "What?"

    "Hanna told them," Neoma exined immediately. "But Hanna didn''t tell them the whole truth. Just the things rted to Regina Crowell. Plus, Hanna told her parents that I saw all of it through a vision. So technically, the duke and the duchess didn''t know that this isn''t my first life. They just think that I inherited my mother''s ability to see the future."

    Right, Mona had that kind of ability.

    "The explosion at the za was actually a part of Hanna''s n. Well, she didn''t expect it to happen that way, but it was when we confirmed that Regina Crowell might really belong to the cult," his daughter exined. "Hanna risked her life to make the crows believe that she was unable to be a Crown Princess candidate anymore. We believe that the cult is aiming to put one of their own to be the Crown Princess."

    He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "House Drayton¡­"

    How could he trust that damned household with Neoma''s secret? He wanted to punch his old self for making all the bad decisions regarding his daughter''s wellbeing.

    "Papa Boss, I don''t think House Drayton is working with the crows," his daughter said, making him open his eyes. "If they were working together, then the crows should have found me already since the Draytons know my secret. Although they don''t know that I''m currently pretending as Nero, they would have plenty of chances to kill me when I was younger."

    That was true. But¡­

    "We can''t be certain that the crows haven''t found out that the current Crown Prince is actually a princess," he said carefully. "The crows don''t kill royal princesses right away. They tend to wait and kill the female royals after theiring-of-age ceremonies."

    Ah.

    His daughter''s face suddenly turned crestfallen.

    [She probably remembered her Aunt Nichole.]

    "From now on, we will keep an eye on that Regina Crowell and House Drayton," he said firmly, changing the topic so Neoma wouldn''t get sad thinking about Nichole. "Neoma, why didn''t you tell me about that crow girl as soon as you found out about her connection to the cult? You told the Quinzels first¡­"

    "Papa Boss, I''ll be blunt," his daughter said. "I trust Duke Quinzel more than I trust you."

    For the first time after a long while, he was hurt.

    He was hurt not only because of his daughter''s cold words, but because he could see why she felt that way.

    "Papa Boss, we only got close recently," Neoma said with an apologetic smile on her face. "To be honest with you, ever since I retrieved my past memories when I was three years old, I''ve always been afraid of you. I was afraid of my father in my first life who kicked me out of the pce and let my twin brother kill me. I was of my Papa Boss who didn''t hesitate to try and sacrifice me in the past when Nero was cursed. I was always anxious that you''d throw me away once you find me useless." She smiled sadly at him. "I curse and act tough in front of you because I wanted to show you that I''m not a pushover. I have to put on that act because I''m afraid to be thrown away. I don''t want to live as Neoma Quinzel again. So I made a resolution this time." His daughter became teary-eyed and when she spoke again, her voice cracked. "If I can''t live as Neoma de Moonasterio, at least I''ll live as Neoma Ramsay¨C a free person."

    This was the first time that he saw Neoma this emotional.

    He felt gutted.

    His daughter lived a miserable life once, and her present life was just as bad because of how he treated her all this time.

    A hidden royal princess that wasn''t even registered as a member of the Royal Family.

    A powerless princess hunted by the vicious crows.

    A neglected daughter who just wanted to have an easy life this time after being thrown away by her father and twin brother in the past.

    He couldn''t do anything for her.

    Heck, he couldn''t even give his surname to Neoma.

    Worst of all, he made her live as Nero just to protect his heir apparent.

    All because of his selfishness, Neoma lived her current life filled with anxiety. She lived a life where she wondered every day when he''d throw her away. But despite all of that, his daughter still began to open up to him little by little.

    Only now did he realize how Neoma suffered because of him¨C in all her lifetimes.

    "I''m sorry, Neoma," Niki said in a cracked voice, then he stood up and kneeled beside his daughter. He raised his head and held her hands tightly. This wasn''t the first time that he said sorry to Neoma. Of course, he was very sincere during those times. Still, this time was different. He poured his heart and soul into his apology now that he realized how he had hurt his daughter in both lifetimes. "I''m really, really sorry for being an awful father. I''m sorry for making your life miserable. I''m sorry for throwing you away in the past. I''m sorry for almost sacrificing you just to save Nero. I''m sorry for neglecting you while thinking that you''re nothing but Mona''s painful gift. I''m sorry for not giving you your rightful surname. I''m sorry¡­" His tears began to silently roll down his cheeks as his hands moved to wipe the tears off of Neoma''s face. Just like him, his daughter was also crying in silence. "I''m sorry for loving you a little toote, my precious daughter."

    Neoma sobbed loudly like the child that she was.

    No matter how old his daughter''s soul was, she would always be his child.

    "You should have loved me as soon as I was born, Papa Boss! That''s how normal parents feel when they get a child!" Neomained between sobs. Then, much to his surprise, she moved to hug him tight. She wrapped her frail arms around his neck and buried her face against his neck. "Why did you make it hard for your own daughter to love and trust you, Papa Boss?"

    He closed his eyes and gently wrapped his arms around his little rogue.

    "I''ll be a better father to you, Neoma," Niki promised softly while gently patting Neoma''s back. "I will raise you and Nero properly this time."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 292 - THE BEST COMPROMISE

    NEOMA felt embarrassed after crying like a baby while hugging her Papa Boss.

    But when she saw her father''s tear-stricken face, she realized that this wasn''t the time to be embarrassed. In the first ce, being open with their feelings should never be a source of embarrassment. She should be happy that finally, she and her Papa Boss had this conversation.

    Even her father looked relieved that they were able to take the first step into bing a real family.

    [Now I can trust my Papa Boss more. I still have a lot of questions regarding what happened to Aunt Nichole in the past and the truth about the Soul Beasts. But unlike before, I will try to understand my father''s past actions with an open mind.]

    "Have you calmed down?" her Papa Boss asked softly while brushing his fingers against her cheeks. "Blow your nose.".

    "I don''t have snot," Neoma said, but she epted her father''s handkerchief and cleared her nose by blowing through it into the hanky. "Thank you for believing me, Papa Boss."

    Her father stood up, pulled his chair closer to hears, and sat down while facing her. "Thank you for telling me the truth, Neoma," he said sincerely. "It must have been tough reliving all the pains that you''ve been through."

    "It''s okay, Papa Boss. I''ve begun healing a long time ago," she said carefully as she was about to open the topic that might her Papa Boss this time. "My second life was filled with bliss. I was born in a different world where magic doesn''t exist. In that world, my eomma or mother looks exactly like Mama Boss except for the hair and eye color."

    Her father''s face lit up.

    But it instantly turned grim when the realization hit him.

    "Gavin Quinzel," her father said stiffly. "Is he your father in your second life?"

    She slowly nodded her head. "Yes, Papa Boss. He''s my appa. And¡­"

    To be frank, she debated with herself whether to say this or not. But in the end, she decided to bepletely honest with her father.

    [Yeah, we should fix everything.]

    "Papa Boss, it seems like eomma and appa have the memories of their past lives as well," she said hesitantly.

    She saw the devastation on her Papa Boss''s face.

    And she understood why her father had that kind of reaction.

    If her eomma and appa had the memories of their first lives and the two still decided to be together, then it meant her Mama Boss had truly chosen the former Commander Gavin Quinzel over her Papa Boss.

    The pain in her father''s eyes stopped her from telling him that ording to her appa, her Mama Boss was still alive in the other world.

    Moreover, she could tell Papa Boss that her appa asked her to return to Korea with him.

    [I told appa that I wanted to return back then. But now¡­]

    Her heart hurt while looking at her Papa Boss who looked like he was trying hard not to cry again.

    She couldn''t leave her father like this.

    [Plus, I made a deal with Lord Yule. I can''t leave this world until I be the empress for a few years. I still have plenty of time left to think about how I''d gently tell Papa Boss that I wish to return to Korea.]

    But to be honest, she no longer knew what she wanted to do.

    At first, she already epted the fact that she was stuck in this world. And thus, she decided to be ady of leisure once her work here was done.

    But her appa appeared and told her that there was a way to return to Korea¡­

    "Was Gavin Quinzel good to you?"

    She felt her heart squeeze as she answered her father''s question. "Yes, Papa Boss. Appa took good care of me."

    "Did he treat your mother kindly?"

    "Yes, Papa Boss," she said in a cracked voice. "Eomma was happy with him."

    She felt a lump in her throat when her Papa Boss smiled. It looked like he was trying to assure her that he was fine. But her father''s eyes looked like they were crying despite theck of tears.

    [He took it better than I expected but¡­]

    "It''s okay to get angry, Papa Boss," she said between hups. Her father looked so pitiful that she''d rather see him losing his mind than getting his heart broken. "I won''t ask whether Mama Boss really cheated on you or not because it''s between the two of you. But if you''re angry because you feel betrayed, it''s okay tosh out. I will understand."

    Her father looked surprised at first, then heughed softly.

    It was a forcedugh though.

    Ah, seriously. Her heart was breaking for her Papa Boss. Who''d knew she''d feel this way toward the man that she used to call "scumbag?"

    "I''ll admit that I''m hurt," her Papa Boss said gently. "But Mona was happy, and that''s all that matters to me."

    A loud hup escaped her lips as she tried to hold her tears back.

    She was hurting for her father for real.

    "Neoma, when I was at the camp, I asked Mona a question," her father said carefully. "I asked her if it was alright if I choose you this time. If it was alright to love you and Nero more than I loved her."

    She gasped softly and covered her mouth with her hands.

    "I already lost Mona a long time ago," her father said carefully. "Although she''s still in my heart, I can''t allow myself to dwell on my heartbreak after hearing your story. Moreover, I already have the resolve that you and Nero will be my priority this time. I won''t chase Mona anymore. I''m just d that she already found her happiness."

    She sobbed again.

    [He knows.]

    She had a feeling that her Papa Boss already knew that her Mama Boss was still alive in another world. The pained look on his face said so.

    "Just don''t leave me, Neoma."

    Ah.

    Papa Boss really knew.

    "Please give me a chance to be a good father to you this time," her Papa Boss begged. "Gavin Quinzel is here and he expressed his desire to take you away from me."

    She bit her lower lip as she didn''t know what to say.

    [I love Papa Boss but I also love my appa¡­]

    "I know I don''t have the right to stop you from leaving if you want to. But I also know that you can''t leave easily because of your deal with Yule," her father said, proving that he understood her predicament. "So until you can decide when to leave, can I ask you to choose me over Gavin Quinzel? Will you allow me to support you until you reach your goals?" Her Papa Boss held her small hands in his. "Neoma, please stay here with me."

    Looking at her father''s pleading eyes made it easier for her to make a decision.

    She couldn''t leave anyway until her deal with Yule was fulfilled. Staying in the empire with Papa Boss wouldn''t be hard. But she knew that it would be hard for her to meet with her appa because he was considered as an enemy after siding with the Devil.

    Until she knew what to do, she was determined to stay here and heal with Papa Boss. They needed to fix their rtionship, too. It was time for them to have a proper father-and-daughter rtionship.

    [I''m sure appa will understand because he''s a good person.]

    "I won''t go anywhere for now, Papa Boss," Neoma assured her father. "I will stay by your side until I reach my goals."

    Until she reached her goals.

    It was the bestpromise that she coulde up with. She was afraid that her Papa Boss would get disappointed. But he looked relieved instead.

    Was her father that desperate to have her stay with him for a longer time?

    "Thank you, Neoma," her Papa Boss said sincerely, then he turned serious. "Now, it''s my turn to answer your questions."

    Neoma took a deep breath, then she nodded.

    [Finally.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    "ISN''T it time for you to step out of the shadows?" Ruto, who was standing on the deck of a ship sailing through the seas under the dark night sky, said to his guest hiding in the darkness. "I know that you''ve been following me all this time, Gavin Quinzel."

    He heard a softugh.

    Then, it was followed by light footsteps. If it wasn''t for his sharp hearing, he wouldn''t have heard it. The sound of the waves swallowed the sound of his movements.

    "You''re strange, Ruston Stroganoff," Gavin Quinzel, who was dressed in all-ck that allowed him to blend in the darkness easily, said in an amused tone. He finally showed up, but his body was still covered with a dark aura as if he didn''t intend to stay visible for long. As the "Shadow King," it was natural for him to take advantage of the darkness when "working." "You seem to know too much."

    "What do I know?"

    "The doors that lead to the other world."

    "Mm," he said, vaguely confirming his assumptions. "I don''t know about that but I am certain of one thing."

    The formermander raised an eyebrow at him. "And what is it?"

    "The way to trap you inside a huge block of ice," Ruto answered coldly. "Isn''t that method very familiar to you, Gavin Quinzel?"

    Gavin Quinzel red at him. "You''re dead, Ruston Stroganoff."

    A dayter, a strange block of ice the shape of a ship was found in the middle of the sea.

    No one exactly knew what happened in there...

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 293 - MONA ROSEHEARTS MEMORIES (1)

    "BECAUSE you needed to be the emperor, Nero."

    [Ah, as expected.]

    Nero wasn''t surprised by his mother''s answer when he asked her why she abandoned him in this world. He already knew the answer but he still had to ask to confirm his thoughts. But he now regretted it. "I''m sorry, Mother," he said remorsefully. "I didn''t mean to hurt your feelings, nor to make you feel guilty."

    The beautiful Lady Mona Roseheart, his mother, opened her pale blue eyes. "You''re really kind, Nero," she said. "Don''t you feel resentful toward me and your father? We decided to escape this world with Neoma. And the only reason why we decided to leave you here is for you to rule the empire.".

    "There must be a reason why I needed to be the emperor."

    His mother slowly nodded. "A de Moonasterio needs to sit on the throne because only a de Moonasterio''s Moonglow could keep the doors alive."

    "The doors that lead to another world?" he asked curiously. "There''s more than one? Does it mean there are other worlds besides the one that Neoma came from?"

    "Yes, there are other worlds besides that one," his mother confirmed. "But I''ve only managed to open one. It leads to a world called Earth, and it''s where the country called Korea is located."

    "Is that the country where you and Neoma came from, Mother?"

    "Yes," she said, then her expression turned cold. "It was the country where Neoma grew up. But I only got to stay there for a few years."

    Now he was confused. "What do you mean by that, Mother?"

    "Nero, I will show you some of my memories," his mother said, then she extended her hands to him. "It would be easier to show you than tell you what transpired in the past."

    Nero held his mother''s hands and closed his eyes.

    <strong>***</strong>

    MONA clutched her head and closed her eyes tight when she suddenly felt like her skull was being split into two.

    For some reason, unknown images that seemed to be memories began to flood her mind. Much to her surprise, those memories belonged to her. The images were being shed too fast that she barely understood what was going on.

    She could see a glimpse of the future. But the ones she was seeing right now were memories of the past.

    A past that she couldn''t remember.

    [Then, perhaps¡­]

    "Mona, what''s going on?"

    The pain in her head subsided when she heard Niki''s voice. Then, she felt his arms around her body as if he was consoling her. Her system that was so used to his presence instantly calmed down.

    She opened her eyes when her breathing returned to normal.

    "What happened, Mona?" Niki asked worriedly. "Should I call Madam Hammock?"

    Monaughed softly while shaking her head. "Madam Hammock is one of the few and precious Healing Sages of the empire, Niki. Why would you summon such an important person just because I had a headache?" she asked, then she clicked her tongue. "Your advisors won''t be happy that you''re giving a concubine such treatment."

    He frowned and she knew it was because she called herself a ''concubine.''

    But it wasn''t like she was wrong.

    Thew of the empire dictates that the emperor could have an empress, a queen, and a concubine.

    She couldn''t be the empress because the citizens loved thete Empress Juliet and some of them med her for her death. On the other hand, Niki didn''t want her to be just a queen. Moreover, being a queen would require support from the nobility.

    And she didn''t have that.

    Thus, she could only live in Yule Pce with Niki.

    She couldn''t live in Larissa Pce because it was the pce reserved for the empress. And Niki didn''t want her to use Portia Pce¨C the pce reserved for the emperor''s harem. Before Niki took the throne, Portia Pce was the home for the previous emperor''s countless mistresses.

    He banished thedies living in Portia Pce and thus, it was empty now. Still, Niki didn''t want her to use that pce.

    The nco Pce was reserved for the royal princes while the Luna Pce was reserved for the royal princesses born in the Royal Family. As such, she couldn''t use thest two remaining "main" pces.

    And Niki said the "smaller" pces didn''t suit her.

    Thus, she ended up living in Yule Pce while sharing a room with Niki. Although that arrangement showed that he treasured her, it was also proof of her "lower" status.

    After all, she was just a matriarch of a fallen noble household.

    "I''m going to make you the empress, Mona," Niki said, interrupting her thoughts. "Juliet wouldn''t mind if I give that title to you. She was supportive of our rtionship in the past, and I''m sure she would be just as supportive if she was still here with us."

    She smiled and touched Niki''s face. "I already told you that I don''t care about having a title," she said softly. "What matters is we''re finally together."

    "It''s ideal but it doesn''t work that way in reality, Mona," he said carefully. "Your title will serve as your protection."

    She couldn''t say anything because she knew that Niki was right.

    In this world, titles were very important. Moreover, her lover was the ruler of the empire. A noble with nothing but her fallen household with her wouldn''t suit the emperor. "It would be nice if we lived in a world where such titles don''t matter for us to get married."

    Pain crossed his eyes.

    Both she and Niki knew that he couldn''t give up on the throne.

    It wasn''t like Niki was greedy for power. The only reason why he couldn''t quit his position was because he was the only one who could protect the empire. Only a person with the Moonglow could be the emperor.

    And the role of the emperor didn''t end with just running the empire or protecting its citizens.

    It went beyond that.

    Niki also had to protect the "cage" of the Soul Beasts. He still had a lot of things to do to keep the empire peaceful. Only he and the Moonglow could do it.

    "Don''t make that face, Niki," she said, then she pinched her cheeks. "I know that you would drop everything for me in a heartbeat. But I don''t want you to do that. A responsible man is sexier in my eyes."

    He blushed at the word that she used. "Mona, you¡­"

    "What?" she asked whileughing. "We already did it many times. Why are you suddenly being shy just because I said that you''re sexy?"

    This time, even his ears turned red. "You''ll be the end of me."

    Sheughed again, then she gently pushed him down on the bed and straddled his hips. "How much time do we have before your next schedule starts?"

    "I''ll cancel everything today," Niki said, his eyes were suddenly brimming with passion. Then, he put his hands on her waist. "And I''ll kill anyone who disturbs us."

    Mona just smirked and leaned down to kiss him.

    <strong>***</strong>

    "THIS ISN''T my first life," Mona dered while admiring the sword lilies around her. She was currently sittingzily on a pic nket set in the middle of the vast field. She didn''t have any knights or servants because she sneaked out of the pce. But she wasn''t alone. "I saw a glimpse of the life that I previously had."

    "I know that you can see the future," Gale, in her white bunny form, said while leisurely munching on the strawberry that she handed her earlier. "But I didn''t know that you can see the past, too."

    "I didn''t know, too," she said, then she gently ced her hands on her belly. "But the memories of my past life flooded my mind when this child came into my body."

    Yes, she just found out that she was two weeks pregnant now.

    She was happy and excited to share the good news with Niki. But she remembered the fleeting past memories that she saw. When she counted, she realized that she retrieved the past memories two weeks ago. It probably happened because of the seed of life in her belly.

    "Although I know that those images were my memories, I couldn''t really remember the whole picture," she confessed to her trustedpanion. "I couldn''t understand a thing."

    "Of course, you wouldn''t," the Wind Spirit said. "Only gods remember their past livespletely when they get reincarnated. Them and maybe a few exceptions."

    "I know that," she said. "But even if I couldn''t understand the whole picture, the pieces that I saw gave me an interesting idea."

    "You''re smiling like how you smile when you''re about to humiliate the nobles who keep on messing with you."

    Sheughed at Gale''s description but she couldn''t deny it. Although this time, she wasn''t about to destroy some noblemen''s fragile ego. She was simply happy that she found an interesting way to protect her family. "Gale, I think the past me has discovered a way to cross to another world."

    The white bunny dropped her strawberry in shock. "Mona, are you crazy?" she asked, bewildered. "As a Spirit, I know that the world is too vast for only our reality to exist. I''m aware that the possibility of having other worlds out there is high. But to leave our world to enter another? You must be insane."

    Her smile disappeared when she turned serious. "Yes, I must be insane. The past me already failed."

    "Then, why do you still want to do it?"

    "Because I saw how the past me failed," Mona said, then she smiled. "I think I can fix it for me to seed this time."

    Gale let out a deep sigh. "Yes, you''ve really gone crazy."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 294 - MONA ROSEHEARTS MEMORIES (2)

    <strong></strong>"MONA, why do you look awful?"

    "I received an awful message this morning," Mona confessed to Gale while they were walking in the hallway leading to Niki''s office. She wasn''t going to his office just because. In fact, she would pay him a visit because of the vision that she saw. She was still the matriarch of House Roseheart and therefore, she still had responsibilities as a noble. "And William had to add to my problems. The nymphs of Rivera paid me a visitst night. They cried their hearts out whileining how William is wreaking havoc at their home."

    Gale, who was in his arms while in the form of a white bunny, let out a long sigh. "That problem child¡­" She shook her head. "Why is heshing out on our friends'' neighborhood? Should I visit that punk and beat him to a pulp?"

    Sheughed softly because she knew Gale was just bluffing.

    It was true that the Wind Spirit was pissed at William. But she knew that Gale was secretly afraid of the Grand Spirit. Well, most Spirits were afraid of that punk.

    [William is such a pain in the neck.]

    Anyway, they were free to talk like that because despite being in a public ce, Gale had surrounded the two of them with a noise-canceling spell. The Wind Spirit had to do it because the Royal Pce wasn''t really a safe space for her.

    [There are eyes and ears everywhere waiting for me to make a mistake.]

    "Just let him be for now," she said, deciding that William was the least of her priority right now. [Although that punk is known as the Executioner of the Royal Family, he''s not that crazy to hurt or kill innocent spirits. The nymphs will be fine.]

    She knew that Gale let out a relieved sigh secretly.

    [Gale is really afraid of William, huh?]

    "William isn''t my main concern at the moment," she said in a serious tone. "The message that Mother Tree sent me this time is worrying."

    ''Mother Tree'' was also known as the ''Cosmic Tree.''

    In fact, she was probably the only one who called the Cosmic Tree that way. She couldn''t help it though. She lost her biological mother early, and she began hearing the Cosmic Tree''s voice when she was very young. Thus, the Cosmic Tree became a mother figure to her.

    The Cosmic Tree didn''t mind that she called it ''Mother Tree.''

    That was probably why she gained the moniker ''Daughter of Nature.''

    "It''s rare for the World Tree to make a move because of something that hasn''t been confirmed yet," Galemented while shaking her head. "Could it be rted to the Demon Race?"

    She sighed and nodded her head. "That''s the only thing that can make Mother Tree worry this much for her to send me to a dangerous mission."

    "Are you really going?" the Wind Spirit asked worriedly. "You''re pregnant, Mona. I don''t think little Niki will allow you to go to a dangerous ce in your current condition."

    "Gale, that''s exactly the reason why I''m hiding my pregnancy from Niki," she said. "I''ll tell him about our child once my mission is over. You know that I can''t ignore Mother Tree''s request. Especially if it concerns the safety of the human race."

    Gale sighed and shook her head. "You''re too good for this world, my needlessly kind Master."

    She justughed it off because she never believed that she was a good person.

    But she got rid of such thoughts when she finally arrived at Niki''s office. As expected, Kyle and Glenn were there and the two had different reactions upon her arrival.

    Of course, Glenn was happy to see her.

    On the other hand, Kyle had an indifferent look on his face. But she could tell that the young lord wasn''t happy. It wasn''t like she didn''t know why.

    [Well, I curse Count Sprouse every chance I get.]

    Count Keh Sprouse was Kyle''s father. And that damned count was one of the reasons why House Roseheart met its untimely end. The count could justify his actions back then as simply following the previous emperor''s will all he wanted. But she knew better.

    [House Sprouse detests the Rosehearts.]

    "I''ll be taking my leave now, Your Majesty," Kyle said to Niki who just waved his hand, then the young lord turned and bowed to her. She was still the matriarch of House Roseheart. Thus, her rank was higher than Kyle who was just the son of a count. "Greetings, Lady Roseheart."

    "Greetings, Young Master Kyle," she greeted him with a smile. "I heard Count Sprouse was transferred to the Southwest region." Her smile grew wider. "Your territory in that region is always warm and sunny, isn''t it?"

    Count Sprouse, as a supporter of the previous emperor, was punished by Niki when her lover ascended the throne.

    If Kyle didn''t support Niki during the revolution, the whole House Sprouse would have been sentenced to death. But Niki acknowledged the fact that Kyle chose him over his own family. Thus, Count Sprouse wasn''t killed. Instead, he would be under "house arrest" along with his people until the day they died.

    [Count Sprouse was also stripped off his noble title but Young Master Kyle is yet to ept his father''s title. Apparently, he feels guilty for betraying his family.]

    The young lord slowly nodded, his face still indifferent. "That''s correct, mydy."

    She smiled elegantly and spoke as eloquent as possible. "May both sides of Count Sprouse''s pillow be warm."

    Niki sighed while Glenn and Gale both stifled theirughter at her "gentle" insult.

    Kyle, who looked offended for his father, simply bowed his head and left the office in a hurry as if he couldn''t stand another minute with her.

    [Well, the feeling is mutual.]

    "Don''t hate on Kyle too much, Mona," Niki said softly. "Even though Kyle doesn''t agree with his father''s beliefs, the count is still his father. Your insults toward the count also hurt him."

    "Good," she said with a smile. "Niki, I was deeply hurt when my mother and my other rtives died because of Count Sprouse''s action in the past. Would Young Master Kyle''s father die if I insult the count straight at his face?" She shook her head. "I wish he would, but my insults aren''t that powerful. Let mesh out on your friend or else, I''ll end their lineage."

    Glenn, who was standing beside the emperor, slowly avoided her gaze.

    She knew that Niki cared for Kyle, his childhood friend. Plus, she also knew that Kyle wasn''t as crazy as the count.

    "Niki, if Kyle isn''t your friend, I would have killed his entire family a long time ago. Count Sprouse may have just been a pawn, but he still contributed a lot to House Roseheart''s downfall," she said coldly. "You know that I hold grudges, don''t you?"

    This was the reason why she knew that she couldn''t be considered a good person.

    Niki, who seemed to finally understand where she wasing from, bit his lower lip as if he regretted scolding her. "I misspoke," he said gently. "I will neverment on your feud with the Sprouses again."

    "Thank you, Niki," she said with a satisfied look on her face. "That was what I wanted to hear."

    "Lady Roseheart, you''re still as fierce as ever," Glenn praised her in his usual cheerful voice, then he turned to the emperor. "Your Majesty, should I ask the servants to serve some tea for you and the matriarch?"

    As expected of the emperor''s sword.

    Glenn knew that she wouldn''te to Niki''s office unannounced.

    "Yes, call the servants," Niki said to Glenn. "Have them prepare Mona''s favorite tea and snacks."

    Mona couldn''t help but smile at that.

    Gale, on the other hand, scoffed. "Gross public disy of affection."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "THE COSMIC Tree wants you to investigate the Forest of Impurity?"

    Mona nodded and was about to sip her tea when Niki spoke again.

    "Is the CosmicTree crazy?" Niki asked in an annoyed voice. "The Forest of Impurity is their of vicious Dark Elementals. Why would that damned tree send you to a dangerous ce?"

    She almost had a heart attack when Niki spoke rudely about her Mother Tree.

    Thank goodness she sent Gale out with Glenn because she wanted to have a private talk with the emperor. If the Wind Spirit heard what Niki said, she would have nagged His Majesty.

    [But Niki is rude to anyone he dislikes. He even calls Lord Yule by his first name.]

    Come to think of it, her lover was an ill-mannered punk.

    Well, she was the same.

    [I hope our daughter doesn''t inherit our rudeness.]

    Even though she was just a few months pregnant, she was pretty sure that their child was a daughter. After all, Rosehearts could only give births to girls. Apparently, their n was cursed so they didn''t have the ability to produce male children anymore.

    "Your Majesty, Mother Tree sounded serious when she sent me the message this morning," Mona said, addressing Niki formally because she was talking as the matriarch of House Roseheart and not as his lover. "It seems like she''s suspecting that there''s a strange activity happening in the Forest of Impurity. Mother Tree only makes her move when she believes that the human race would be facing a huge threat. I cannot ignore her request when innocent lives are at stake."

    "I''lle with you."

    "No, it''s too dangerous," she said firmly. "Your Majesty, you can''t simply leave the empire just because you''re worried about me. You''ll just give the nobles a reason to talk behind me again."

    He let out a deep sigh knowing that she was right. "Fine, I won''t insist oning with you," he said, but his eyes were still fierce. "On one condition."

    [Ah, I knew it.]

    "You''ll bring Gavin with you."

    Her eyes widened in shock. "Your Majesty, Commander Quinzel is the head of the Order of the White Lion. How can I bring him with me on my personal mission?"

    "We can''t consider this your personal mission, Lady Roseheart," Niki said, addressing her as the matriarch of House Roseheart instead of his lover. "The Forest of Impurity happens to be in the territory of Marquis Reynold Spencer. I know you wouldn''t like it if you came to hisnd as a guest."

    She pouted because she knew that he was right.

    Marquis Reynold Spencer was the father of Young Master Russell who had been pursuing her since they were children. When she got together with Niki, that punk began harassing her when the emperor wasn''t looking.

    But of course, she could take care of Russell Spencer on her own.

    "I was actually thinking of quietly trespassing his territory¡­"

    "Lady Roseheart."

    She raised her hands in surrender. "Fine, I''ll bring Commander Quinzel with me. I''d rather go to the Spencer''s territory in an official business than be treated as Young Master Russell''s guest."

    Niki looked relieved by her decision. "Alright. I''ll prepare the official request to conduct an investigation in the Forest of Impurity right away," he said, then he turned serious. This time, he didn''t address her as a matriarch. "Mona, if it gets too dangerous, please forget about your mission and return to me safely."

    Of course, she nned to do that.

    She was a reckless person but not anymore. After all, she was carrying a precious life in her womb right now. As soon as she returned from her mission, she would tell Niki that she was pregnant with their child.

    "I won''t put my life in danger," Mona promised Niki with a smile. "Thank you for worrying about me, Niki."

    <strong>***</strong>

    [THE GROUP has be bigger.]

    Technically, it wasn''t really a big group.

    But Mona was surprised when Niki also sent Jeanne Audley with Commander Gavin Quinzel. This time, she understood why. There were rumors about her and themander in the past. Niki probably didn''t want such a malicious rumor to spread again. And thus, the emperor decided to send the female Pdin with her.

    "Lady Roseheart."

    Mona smiled and greeted Gavin Quinzel formally.

    Right now, the two of them were in front of the carriage that they would be using to get to the Spencer Castle. They had to do a courtesy call to the marquis before heading to the Forest of Impurity.

    "How are you, Commander Quinzel?" Mona asked in a friendly manner. She would usually address Gavin Quinzel by his first name because he asked her to do so. But she couldn''t do it when they were surrounded by other people. "I heard that you were sick for a few weeks."

    In fact, she noticed that themander was pale.

    And it also seemed like he lost some weight.

    "Are you sure you''re in the condition to work now, Commander?" she asked worriedly. "Perhaps you need to rest more¡­"

    Gavin Quinzel smiled and shook his head. "Thank you for worrying about me, Lady Roseheart. But please don''t worry because I have already recovered."

    She wasn''t convinced but she could see in themander''s eyes that he wouldn''t allow himself to be removed from the group. He was thatmitted to his work. Moreover, she knew that Gavin and Niki were close friends.

    Her thoughts were interrupted when she noticed that Gavin Quinzel was looking at her face intently. She didn''t feel any malice in his gaze but she found it weird. Themander was looking at her as if he was searching for something.

    "What is it, Commander Quinzel?" Mona asked gently. "Do you have something you''d like to ask me?"

    Gavin Quinzel looked hesitant at first. But in the end, he nodded his head firmly before asking. "Lady Roseheart, do you have a twin sister?"

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 295 - MONA ROSEHEARTS MEMORIES (3)

    "I DON''T have a twin sister," Mona, despite being surprised by Gavin Quinzel''s sudden question, said. "And since our n was cursed, each female Roseheart in the family could only give birth to one child."

    She didn''t know why themander suddenly asked her if she had a twin sister. But she knew that he wasn''t the type to ask such questions without a valid reason. Thus, she was quite worried.

    It seemed like Gavin Quinzel noticed her expression because he exined right away.

    "I apologize for saying something weird, Lady Roseheart," Gavin Quinzel said while giving her an apologetic smile. Then, she scratched his cheek as if he was embarrassed. "I just had a weird dream. It seems realistic so¡­"

    "Oh," she said. "I have a twin sister in your dream?"

    Themander tilted his head at one side as if he was thinking, then he slowly nodded as a response. "I guess so, mydy."

    She was about to ask more about themander''s dream but they were interrupted.

    "I apologize for interrupting your conversation, Lady Roseheart and Commander Quinzel," Jeanne Audley, the female Pdin, said when she approached the two of them. "The carriage is now ready."

    "Alright," Mona said cheerfully. She was curious about themander''s dream but her duties would have toe first. Moreover, she wanted it to be over and done with as soon as possible so she could share the news of her pregnancy with Niki. "Let''s depart."

    <strong>***</strong>

    MONA''S visit to the Spencer Estate was quick, thankfully.

    It was because Marquis Reynold Spencer was sick. After greeting the marquis and receiving his official permission for her group to enter the Forest of Impurity, they immediately headed to the forest. Unfortunately, they had to be apanied by the most detestable member of the Spencer Family.

    "Lady Roseheart, I feel like you''re calling our family useless," Young Master Russell Spencer, the marquis''s heir,ined while walking behind her. "You im that some undetected activities are going on in the Forest of Impurity. Why does it feel like you''re saying the mages protecting our territory are ipetent for failing to notice it?"

    She held back a sigh.

    That was one of the reasons why she originally wanted to visit the forest secretly. Meddling with other people''s territory was a big deal to the nobles. She bet Marquis Spencer wouldn''t have allowed them to enter the Forest of Impurity had she not mentioned the Cosmic Tree''s will.

    The nobles could ignore her¨C the matriarch of House Roseheart¨C but not the message of the Cosmic Tree. And since everyone in the empire knew that she could talk to the Cosmic Tree, they couldn''t simply ignore the order that she received.

    "Lady Roseheart, you know that I''m the sessor of Marquis Spencer. The forest''s protection falls under my responsibility," Young Master Russell, who still wouldn''t shut up despite her silence, warned her lightly. "Don''t underestimate me."

    "I couldn''t possibly," Mona said cheekily, then she turned to the humiliated young master. "Young Master Russell, as the matriarch of House Roseheart, let me give you a piece of advice before you officially inherit your father''s title: Don''t ever pass up your chance to keep your mouth shut especially if no one asked you to talk."

    The young master''s lips formed a thin line, his face still red from embarrassment.

    Satisfied that she finally made the noisy nobleman silent, she turned her back on him and continued walking ahead.

    [Tsk. House Spencer would fall once Young Master Russell leads their family.]

    A few momentster, Commander Quinzel and Jeanne Audley walked on either of her sides.

    Protocol dictates that themander and the female Pdin should walk behind her since her rank was higher. Although her new noble status was low (after those high-ranking bastards brought House Roseheart to ruins), her blood as a Roseheart and as the ''Daughter of Nature'' made her a matriarch that had the same status as a duke.

    Anyway, Commander Quinzel and Jeanne Audley probably walked on either of her sides to prevent Russell Spencer from approaching her again.

    [I hope the young master stops¨C]

    "For someone who wouldn''t be an empress, aren''t you being too arrogant, Lady Roseheart?"

    Ah, the young master didn''t heed her advice about shutting up, huh?

    Her thoughts were interrupted when she noticed that both Commander Quinzel and Jeanne Audley reached for their swords. She subtly signaled them to withdraw whatever they nned to do to Russell Spencer. Then, she turned around to face the arrogant young master.

    The mages and the Spencer Estate''s knights behind him lowered their gaze as if they didn''t have the courage to look at her in the eye. It seemed like the mages and the knights were embarrassed by how their young master was behaving toward her.

    [The people that serve you don''t even respect you, Young Master Russell. I wish you could see how embarrassed they are to serve a thoughtless fool like you. But then again, you only use your brain to harass women who reject you so I don''t think you''d get it.]

    "You grabbed the wrong rope, Lady Roseheart," Young Master Russell said arrogantly, then he crossed his arms over his chest. "You could have been a marchioness instead of a mere concubine."

    He was saying that she should have chosen him over Niki.

    Pfft.

    She almostughed at how ridiculous it sounded.

    "Young Master Russell," she said in a slow yet eloquent manner. "Do you see me as His Majesty''s mere concubine?"

    As soon as she asked that, the ground began to shake.

    Then, Russell Spencer grabbed his throat and breathed hard as if he was being choked by an invisible hand.

    At that moment, Gale, in the form of the wind that couldn''t be seen, circled the foolish young master¨C creating a small yet violent tornado in the process. "Should I knock the wind out of this punk? Or should I cut his tongue off first?"

    The mages behind Russell Spencer, who was now kneeling on the ground while choking, groaned while creating a barrier to protect themselves and the knights from Gale''s tornado. But the shield that the mages created wasn''t that strong. The Wind Spirit''s tornado was pushing the shield, as well as the mages and the knights behind it.

    Heck, the mages and the knights couldn''t even stand properly because the ground was still shaking. But thankfully, the shaking had begun to weaken.

    [They should train more to be like Commander Quinzel and Lady Audley.]

    Even without turning around, she could tell that the two were standing fine.

    Commander Quinzel and Jeanne Audley''s aura as a Swordmaster and a Swordsman respectively was enough to protect them from the "earthquake" and Gale''s little tornado.

    Unlike a certain young master.

    If the trees around them didn''t wrap their roots around Russell Spencer''s body, then he would have been sent flying because of the little tornado.

    Moreover, she put protection around Russell Spencer so Gale''s wind des wouldn''t cut him. She wasn''t protecting the bastard because she cared for him¨C she was only doing that because Niki would get in trouble if she identally killed the young master.

    "Let''s just burn that bastard to ashes, Master!" a small ball of fire that appeared on her left side said in an ecstatic voice. It was ze (male), her Fire Spirit. "Burn! Die! Perish!"

    "No, don''t burn the bad guy!" A pearl the size of an adult''s fist appeared on her right side. It was Marina (female), her Water Spirit. "Master, let''s just drown him to death! For justice, love, and happy endings!"

    [These vicious children¡­]

    Her thoughts were interrupted when a twig that appeared on the ground began to crawl as if it was a snake. Then, it climbed up her body until it reached her arm. The slim branch wrapped itself around her arm like an armlet before speaking.

    "Master, did I do great?" the child-like voice of a little girl asked excitedly. Yes, the voice wasing from the twig around her arm. It was Olive, her Wood Spirit. "I''m keeping that bad guy in ce so Sister Gale''s tornado won''t send him flying!"

    "Yes, you''re doing a good job," she praised Olive while gently patting the twig.

    "Masteeeeeeeer!"

    The ground once again shook when huge stones suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Those stones piled up on their own until they created a figure of a "man." Yes, it was a three-meter stone golem named Rockwell¨C her Earth Spirit.

    "Master, can I step on the fucking bastard?" Rockwell, whose voice sounded like it came from under the ground, asked viciously. "I want to fucking stomp on him until he gets smashed liked a mashed potato!"

    Gale, ze, Marina, Olive, Rockwell¨C these Spirits were five out of her seven Spirit Guardians. Well, maybe she only had six Spirit Guardians now that William left her when she chose to be with Niki.

    [Don''te out,] she warned herst Spirit Guardian¨C the most powerful one¨C when the back of her right hand began to glow. Other Spirits thought William to be her most powerful Spirit Guardian, but she begged to differ. Russell Spencer (along with his servants), would turn into nothingness once this Spirit Guardian came out. [You have a different job than your friends and you know that.]

    The faint tattoo of a white rose on her right wrist began to fadepletely.

    [Let''s get this done and over with.]

    "It''s true that I''m His Majesty''s concubine and I''m not ashamed of it," Mona said firmly to Russell Spencer who was now vomiting. The tornado around the punk already disappeared, and the roots around him withdrew as well. But the pitiful young master still couldn''t raise his head. It was probably out of fear because she could see him trembling violently. The pressure from her Spirit Guardians'' aura was probably crushing him down at the moment. "But I am more than that."

    She didn''t need to say anything else because a bastard like Russell Spencer didn''t deserve a thorough exnation from her.

    [And if I say more, my vicious Spirit Guardians might really kill the foolish young master.]

    "Well said, Lady Roseheart," Jeanne Audley, who was standing behind her, said with a soft chuckle. "But what are we going to do with the young master and his servants?"

    "They all fainted," Gavin Quinzel said in a disappointed voice. Russell Spencer along with the mages and the knights behind him all fainted a moment ago. "It seems like they weren''t able to withstand the esteemed Spirit Guardians'' aura, Lady Roseheart."

    She let out a sigh because she felt bad for the mages and the knights who did nothing wrong.

    "Lady Audley, take care of them," Mona said. She knew that Jeanne Audley already knew what to do because she was a smart andpetent person. Knowing that the female Pdin would do a good job, she turned to Gavin Quinzel. "Commander Quinzel, let''s enter the Forest of Impurity together."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "COMMANDER Quinzel, I''m going to purify the forest," Mona said while walking behind themander. This time, she had to walk behind him because it was themander''s job to protect her even though she didn''t really need protection. But that didn''t mean that she''d get in the way of his duty. "Please don''t use your Shadow Maniption Technique in the meantime."

    She was going to purify the forest so she sent the Spirit Guardians back. Only one of her Spirits (aside from William) was capable of purification anyway.

    "I understand, Lady Roseheart," Gavin Quinzel, who was holding a slender sword covered with a ck aura, said. Then, he turned to her. "Your Light attribute will purify my Darkness attribute once ites out."

    Her strongest Spirit Guardian was the Light Spirit. It had the ability to purify impure matters and attributes.

    On the other hand, the Shadow Maniption Technique was one of the Darkness attributes in the world. Therefore, her power would try to purify themander''s power if the Light and the Darkness collided.

    "Thank you for understanding, Commander."

    He chuckled before looking ahead again. "There''s only the two of us here, Lady Roseheart," he said gently. "Please feel free to address me casually."

    "Alright, Gavin," she said, then she turned around the area. "I know that the impurity of this forest is dense. Hence, its name. But it''s not normal."

    The two of them were already in the deep part of the forest.

    Of course, that meant they had encountered the monsters that lived in there. She didn''t have to lift a finger though. Themander took care of the monsters easily.

    [There''s a reason why Gavin Quinzel is a Swordmaster.]

    A Swordmaster was one level higher than a Swordsman. In the empire, only Gavin Quinzel had received that title. He was also the youngest in the whole continent to do so. Thus, nobodyined when he became the Commander of the White Lion Knights early.

    "I agree with you, Lady Roseheart," themander said worriedly. "As a Shadow Maniption Technique user, I can sense other Darkness attributes here. The one in this forest feels¡­ evil. Extremely evil."

    Not all Darkness attributes were evil despite the negative connotation of their name.

    But the one in the forest gave off a very bad feeling. It was dangerous for ordinary people to be in this ce. Fortunately, the Forest of Impurity was a restricted area.

    "Darkness attributes are still a part of nature as well even if some of them could pose threat to humans," she said carefully. "The Forest of Impurity is a restricted area and so, I thought it was fine to leave the Darkness attributes here alone. But I didn''t expect it to be this dangerous." She bit her lower lip. "I should have purified this forest a long time ago."

    "Please don''t be too hard on yourself, Lady Roseheart," themander consoled him. "Although you are the Daughter of Nature, you''re also a noble. Unfortunately, nobles have to abide by things such as rules and etiquette. The Forest of Impurity falls under Marquis Spencer''s territory. Not even His Majesty could easily touch a marquis''s property."

    She knew that Gavin Quinzel spoke the truth.

    But her heart was still filled with guilt.

    Most people only knew her as a Summoner. But to be honest, being able to summon Spirits was just a part of her power. The truth was she held the power of Nature.

    And that was the reason why the nobles who knew the truth treated her like a threat.

    [The Royal Family''s power came from a god while the power of the Rosehearts was gifted to us by Nature itself. Those bastards think that we have the power that rivals the de Moonasterios. Thus, they ruined our family.]

    Her thoughts were interrupted when Gavin Quinzel suddenly stopped walking, the ck aura that covered his sword grew stronger.

    She knew why.

    [Just what is that?]

    An atrocious ck tree greeted them.

    The trunk, the branches, and even the dried leaves were all ck. In fact, it looked like a burned tree. It was the source of the horrifying dark energy in the forest.

    But its appearance and energy weren''t the only strange things about the tree.

    "It resembles the Cosmic Tree," she uttered in disbelief.

    "Is that so?" Gavin Quinzel asked in an amused voice. "I''ve never seen the Cosmic Tree so it''s interesting to have a faint idea of what the great tree looks like."

    Only a select few had the ess to get to the Cosmic Tree so it was natural that themander hadn''t seen it yet. Even Niki, a descendant of the Moon God, hadn''t been invited by the Cosmic Tree to itsir. As far as the history books were concerned, none of the de Moonasterios had the chance to visit the great tree yet.

    [The fact that the matriarchs of the Rosehearts have always been invited by the Cosmic Tree to its home is one of the reasons why the nobles have envied our family for years.]

    "The appearance of that tree is far from the Cosmic Tree''s holiness," she exined to themander. She addressed the Cosmic Tree to Gavin Quinzel by its proper title instead of ''Mother Tree'' because of the gravity of the situation. "The Cosmic Tree has white trunk and branches, and its leaves look like they''re made of ss. And the flowers that bloom in the Cosmic Tree every once in a while resemble diamonds."

    "Uhm¡­" Themander hesitated before he finally asked. "Lady Roseheart, how does the ck tree resemble the great Cosmic Tree then?"

    "It''s alive."

    "Excuse me?"

    "Ah, you''re the famed Daughter of Nature."

    Themander gasped. "The tree¡­ talked?"

    Yes, and it wasn''t alone.

    "Gavin," she said in a serious tone while raising her right hand. The rose mark on her wrist began to glow and emit a pure white light around her whole arm. "Be careful."

    An entity whose body was covered with a ck aura suddenly appeared in front of Gavin Quinzel. She barely saw the entity but she was pretty sure that it had pale skin, golden hair, and sharp ears. It could either be a fairy or an elf.

    She didn''t have the time to confirm its identity nor the chance to worry about Gavin Quinzel. She knew that themander was perfectly capable of protecting himself even against a strong elemental anyway.

    Thus, she focused on her own opponent.

    The ck tree''s branches reached for her as each of the branches turned into what seemed like burned human arms and hands.

    "Roseanne," Mona summoned her Light Spirit. "Purify it¨C huh?"

    She was shocked when the pure white light that covered her arm disappeared along with the rose mark on her wrist.

    Then, the branches that resembled human arms "hugged" her tightly.

    Much to her horror, she realized that she couldn''t move and her consciousness was slowly slipping away.

    "Lady Roseheart!"

    Gavin Quinzel''s voice calling out her name was thest thing that Mona heard before everything turned ck.

    <strong>***</strong>

    MONA was greeted by a horrible sight as soon as she opened her eyes in a new dimension.

    She was pretty sure that the vast field where she woke up wasn''t an ordinary field. And it was because of the strange yet pitiful young woman dressed in a white robe in front of her. The youngdy didn''t give off the feeling of a giantess despite being around 15 meters tall.

    [That''s the usual height of gods who descend on the Middle World¡­]

    A god?

    Could the youngdy be a god?

    [But if she''s a god, then why does she in a pitiful position?]

    The youngdy was looking up with her eyes closed. But her mouth was wide open. Her whole torso was covered with grass and colorful flowers. Her arms that were opened wide were covered with soil that seemed fertile because of the sprouts scattered all over. Her legs and her feet, on the other hand, had turned into roots.

    [A human tree?]

    Her heart suddenly thumped hard against her chest when she noticed that the youngdy''s long hair (that reached the ground) was white. The color reminded her of Niki''s white hair.

    And upon looking closely, the youngdy''s face¡­

    "Doesn''t she look like you, Mona Roseheart?" The majestic voice of a womaning from the rumbling sky asked. "That should be the case because that poor little girl is the future of the tiny seed in your stomach."

    She almost fainted from fear when she heard that.

    Even though she didn''t know the identity of the voice talking to her, she could tell that it was speaking the truth. The owner of the voice seemed to be a part of Nature, and for that reason, she felt a connection to her. And thus, even though she didn''t want to, she was certain that it wasn''t lying.

    "No," Mona whispered to herself in disbelief. Then, her trembling arms unconsciously hugged her stomach. Her eyes that were now blurry from tears focused on the youngdy that was slowly turning into a tree. "How and why would my precious daughter end up that way?"

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 296 - MONA ROSEHEARTS MEMORIES (4)

    <strong></strong>NOW THAT Mona was looking at the pitiful young woman properly, she noticed that the strands of thedy''s hair were the same color as her hair.

    It was pink.

    Her heart once again thumped hard and loud against her chest.

    [Is she really my future daughter?]

    "In the future, the seed in your womb would be the pitiful human tree in front of you right now," the majestic voiceing from the sky said. She wasn''t certain if it has a gender, but its voice sounded like it belong to a woman. "Your daughter is destined to be the next Aether, dear."

    Mona let out a shocked gasp. "The next Aether? Isn''t Aether the pure upper air that the gods breathe?"

    Her mind was currently a mess.

    The air in the Upper World where gods lived was different than the normal air that humans in the Middle World breathed. The air in the Upper World was called ''Aether'' and it was said that it was a "pure essence" not found in the human world.

    And the voice talking to her was saying that her unborn child was going to be the next ''Aether'' in the future?

    Aether was a person all this time?

    "Aether is the personification of the pure essence that the gods breathe," the voice exined as if she noticed the confusion on her face. "The breath that the child in front of you breathes reaches the Upper World. Then, it bes the pure essence that serves as the gods'' air."

    Her body froze in fear.

    Was that the reason why the giant youngdy was looking up with her mouth open?

    "Why¡­" she asked weakly. "Why would gods use a human''s breath to be their air?"

    "Why do you think gods take human forms to conceive a child with humans?"

    "Huh?"

    "Gods may do things on a whim all the time. But conceiving a child with humans isn''t a thoughtless move," the voice exined. "The gods leave their seeds in the Middle World for their own benefits, and nting a tree that would grow as an Aether was one of their reasons for doing so."

    She respected gods, she really did.

    But at that moment, she was starting to lose her faith.

    She wasn''t gullible, and she wasn''t the type to easily trust other beings. After all, she was the Daughter of Nature. She had the ability that could protect her from falling into lies or illusions made to hurt her.

    Unfortunately, she could tell that the voice was speaking the truth.

    "Even I don''t know why the seeds from the de Moonasterio n are the best seeds to use when growing an Aether," the voice continued. "Mona Roseheart, the air in the Upper World is starting to be polluted. That is currently causing pandemonium among the gods."

    She hugged her stomach tighter. "That doesn''t give them the right to use my child as their air! It''s against thew of Nature to use human lives as¨C"

    "But the Nature you speak of is also dying, Mona Roseheart."

    Once again, she was shocked.

    "The power of Nature resides in the Spirit World and thus, the Spirit World needs a more fertile soil for it to continue living."

    She gasped again. "The Spirit World¡­?"

    The Spirit World was like a second home to her.

    "The Spirit World wouldn''t do that to my child," she insisted, but her voice didn''t really sound convincing. She didn''t want to doubt her ally so she hated that she was feeling weak at the moment. "They wouldn''t harm my child¡­"

    Her gaze fell on the living human tree''s torso.

    The poor youngdy''s torso was covered with dirt, and different types of flowers and nts were growing from it.

    [No¡­]

    "In the future, the gods and the Spirit World would join hands to raise your child as the next Aether," the voice dered firmly as if the future that she was talking about wouldn''t change. "They would tell you that it is for the greater good."

    Anger rose up in her chest.

    If the voice was telling the truth, then it only meant that the Spirit World was destined to betray her in the end.

    [They promised to help me protect my child from the crows¡­]

    Tara, the Queen of the Spirit World, was a close friend of hers.

    When she expressed her desire to have a child with Niki despite the threat of the cult that kills female de Moonasterios, the queen promised her that she would open the doors of the Spirit World to her and her daughter.

    "Do you know why the gods and the Spirit World would work together to take your child away from you?" the voice asked, but it answered its own question. "It''s because of the threat of the Underworld."

    Her gaze naturally fell on the human tree''s roots.

    The part of the pitiful youngdy''s body where her legs and feet should have been were reced by thick and long roots embedded into the ground.

    She felt the urge to cry as if her heart was being squeezed painfully.

    "Once your daughter bes the new Aether, the gods and the Spirit World would use her roots to strengthen the Demon Race''s seal," the voice exined in a bitter voice. "The gods are afraid that the seal that they used to lock the demons up in the Underworld is weakening. Thus, they n to use the new Aether''s roots to solidify the seal."

    Hah.

    She couldn''t believe it.

    The gods and the Spirit World would sacrifice a human life for the "greater good?" What was the greater good that they were talking about anyway? The air that the gods breathe was bing polluted? Didn''t gods im that they were omnipotent?

    They should clean the air in the Upper World using their own "almighty" power!

    And the Spirit World needed a child''s body to turn into fertile soil?

    Hah!

    "They must be out of their mind," she said whilebing her hair using her hand. "I won''t let them touch my child."

    "You do not have the power to fight against the gods and the Spirit World, Mona Roseheart."

    She couldn''t deny but it didn''t mean that she wouldn''t try. "I will protect my child¨C"

    "Run away."

    "Huh?"

    "There''s a world where the gods and the Spirit World won''t be able to reach you and your daughter," the voice said. "No matter how omnipotent the gods in this world are, they are still bound to abide by the rules that the gods from another world created."

    Her brows furrowed in confusion. "Another world¡­?"

    She suddenly remembered the strange dream that she had.

    [No way¡­?]

    Now she finally understood why she tried to run away to another world in her past life. She also probably discovered the terrible future awaiting her child back then.

    "I will help you and your child escape this world."

    "But why?" she asked, confused. "Why would you help me?"

    "Because I don''t want another child to suffer the same fate that I did."

    She covered her mouth with her hands when she gasped again. "You are the current Aether?"

    She realized she was right about her feeling that the voice belonged to a woman.

    Following their conversation, she ended up with the conclusion that the voice must belong to a female de Moonasterio.

    "I am dying," the voice said. "They''re looking forward to recing me with the seed in your womb, Mona Roseheart."

    Her tears silently rolled down her cheeks when the human tree in front of her changed its appearance.

    The youngdy was reced by an old woman.

    She didn''t need to ask who it was.

    "The gods have found me," the voice said. This time, even her voice had changed into an old woman''s voice. "Mona Roseheart, the darkness isn''t always an enemy."

    After saying that, the world where she was began to crumble.

    She could feel that her body was starting to wake up. And once she opened her eyes, she knew that she would return to the present.

    "I am so sorry," Mona whispered sincerely, her heart breaking for the awful life that the Nameless Royal Princess had as the Aether. "And thank you so much for showing me my child''s grim future that I must avoid at all cost." She wiped the tears off of her face with her hands. "I will find you soon."

    The Nameless Royal Princessughed softly. "I will wait for you, Mona Roseheart."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "MONA?"

    Mona opened her eyes when she heard the familiar voice of her lover.

    Niki''s worried face greeted her.

    She wanted to smile at him and assure him that she was fine. But she couldn''t. The memories of the conversation that she had with the Nameless Royal Princess was still fresh in her mind.

    The awful future of their daughter was still clear in her memory.

    [My poor child¡­]

    "Mona, why are you crying?" Niki asked in a panic. "Are you hurt anywhere? Where does it hurt? Please tell me."

    She got up and hugged Niki instead of responding to him verbally,

    [Niki, our child''s future is grim¡­]

    But she couldn''t say it so she just cried her heart out while her face was buried against Niki''s chest.

    She noticed that she was in an unfamiliar yet fancy room. Obviously, she passed out in the forest. She didn''t know for exactly how long she had been unconscious. But it must be at least a day if Niki was here already. And since the room was unfamiliar to her, she could tell that they were still in the Spencer Estate.

    [At least Niki hasn''t destroyed their estate yet.]

    She knew how overprotective he could be.

    Although she was worried about herpanions (that Niki must have scolded and punished for what happened to her), she couldn''t bring herself to care for anyone else at the moment.

    "Niki¡­"

    "Yes? What is it?"

    Mona pulled away from the hug to look at Niki''s face. "Niki, I''m pregnant," she said softly while looking straight at his ash-gray eyes. She tried to smile but it must have looked awful because her tears wouldn''t stop falling yet. "We''re finally going to have a baby."

    Niki''s facial expression suddenly turned cold.

    He was clearly wasn''t happy with the news even though he agreed when she told him that she wanted to have a child with him.

    [Oh, Niki¡­]

    As her heart began to break into pieces, Mona heard the Nameless Royal Princess''sst words in her head before itpletely disappeared.

    [Don''t leave your child to Niki de Moonasterio¨C he would choose his duty as an emperor over your child.]

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 Chapter 297 - MONA ROSEHEARTS MEMORIES (5)

    MONA already expected it but she was still quite taken aback when she found out that Niki destroyed a good portion of the Spencer Castle. To be precise, he destroyed the part of the castle that belonged to Russell Spencer. She didn''t need to ask why the emperor did that.

    [Either Gavin or Lady Audley told Niki how Young Master Russell had treated me.]

    But to be honest, she didn''t care about that anymore.

    "It''s gone," Mona whispered to herself. "The tree is gone¡­"

    She couldn''t ask Gavin Quinzel what happened when she was taken to another dimension because themander was still unconscious.

    Moreover, she couldn''t reach her Spirit Guardians as well.

    [I''m worried.]

    "Mona, is this the ce you told me about?" Niki asked while looking around. He was probably searching for the ck tree that she mentioned. Then, when he seemed like he had given up on looking for the missing ck tree, he turned to her with a hopeful look on his face. "Have you already purified the ck tree?"

    "No, I didn''t do anything," Mona said in a serious voice. Then, she turned to Niki. The emperor was currently swinging Calypso, his sword, lightly to shake the blood off of the de. His Majesty had in several monsters that tried to attack them earlier. "In fact, I wasn''t able to do anything. It was as if my Spirit Guardians were cut off from me." She clenched her fists in frustration. "I even failed to protect Gavin."

    "Gavin''s pride would have been hurt if he heard you say that," he said while putting the sword back to its scabbard attached to his belt. "It''s Gavin''s job to protect you and not the other way around, Mona."

    "The strong protects the weak," she insisted. "I''m not saying that Gavin is weak. But we all know that I''m stronger than him."

    Heughed softly while shaking his head. "Don''t say that in front of Gavin."

    She ignored what he said and faced him with a solemn look on her face. "Niki."

    "Hmm?"

    "What do you know about the Aether?"

    He looked confused by he still answered her question. "It''s the air that the gods breathe in the Upper World."

    "Do you know where ites from?"

    "Isn''t it the same as the air we breathe?" he asked, confused. "Air is an element of nature."

    "That might be true for us, but it seems like it''s different for the Upper World," she said bitterly. "Niki, apparently, the Aether is a human turned into a living tree."

    "What do you mean¨C"

    "The current Aether is a female de Moonasterio," she said, cutting him off. "A Nameless Royal Princess."

    He frowned at the information that she ryed to him.

    "Niki, our unborn daughter is destined to be the next Aether."

    This time, he had a stronger reaction.

    Niki''s brows furrowed and his eyes suddenly turned glowing red. "Our daughter is going to be turned into a living tree to create the air that gods breathe in?"

    Mona nodded, then she cupped Niki''s face in her hands. "It will be easier to share with you the part of my memory where I met the Nameless Royal Princess," she said while pulling his face closer to hers. Then, she closed her eyes. "I''ll link my mind with yours, Niki."

    ***

    "MONA, do you believe the ck tree?"

    "I do," Mona said while nodding her head. "And the Nameless Royal Princess didn''t seem like she was lying when we were talking back then."

    Right now, she and Niki were seated across from each other in the carriage that Count Spencer lent them.

    They were on their way to the vi that Niki owned in thatnd. He chose not to use the royal carriage to avoid gaining attention. After all, it was a secret that the emperor had gone to the Spencer Estate after hearing that she copsed at the Forest of Impurity.

    "But Tara, the Queen of the Spirit World, is your friend," Niki said carefully. "Do you think she would turn her back on you for the future of the Spirit World?"

    She fell silent for a while before speaking again. "Tara is a queen," she said in a sad voice. "I believe that she would put the Spirit World first before our friendship."

    "Ah, that''s true."

    She flinched at Niki''s response.

    As the emperor of a vastnd, he definitely could rte to Tara''s position.

    "Niki."

    "Hmm?"

    "If the new Aether wasn''t destined to be our daughter, would you care?"

    "Do you really want to hear my honest thoughts, Mona?"

    She clenched her hands and nodded. "Of course."

    "I wouldn''t care if it wasn''t our daughter," he said bluntly. "If the gods spread their seeds in the Middle World for the purpose of raising Aethers that would keep the Upper World alive, I don''t think we could do something about it. In the end, humans can''t fight against gods. Perhaps we have a chance if we''d only be fighting one god. But if their goal is to protect their world, I don''t think we''d only be facing one of them."

    She felt a squeeze in her heart.

    Niki was correct.

    If the Aether was raised for the purpose of keeping the Upper World alive, then it would be safe to assume that all the gods would be their enemy once they fought them to protect their daughter. And no matter how powerful they were, they still couldn''t fight equally against the gods.

    She knew that very well.

    But she didn''t like how Niki sounded like he had already given up on their child.

    "Niki, you''re not happy that I''m pregnant, are you?" she asked in a hurt tone. "But I thought we already talked about this."

    He turned to her and sighed. "It''s not like I''m not happy, Mona," he said carefully. "I just became more worried about our child''s future when you told me about the things that the ck tree warned you about."

    "And¡­?"

    Niki paused for a few moments before he finally opened his mouth. "I''m just wondering if our child is worth the risk since the gods have gotten involved now."

    To say that she was angry when she heard what he had to say would be an understatement.

    Moreover, she was deeply hurt.

    "Niki, you''re a scumbag," Mona said, her tone filled with anger and hurt. She was so mad that she immediately used a teleportation spell to get out of there before she literally blew the carriage up. When she began to turn translucent, Niki''s eyes widened in shock and he tried to grab her with his hands. But since the spell had been activated already, his hands simply passed through her arms. "I''m sorry but I don''t want to see you for now."

    ***

    MONA, as the Daughter of Nature, naturally sought a ce where nature was the closest.

    After she left Niki in the carriage, she found herself in the river bank that she saw earlier. They went passed through that river before they entered the premise of Niki''s vi. In short, she didn''t get too far from him. It was understandable though. After all, she didn''t use a long-distance teleportation spell.

    [I just need to get some fresh air.]

    She said that, but she actually got the chills while looking at the river. It looked calm when she arrived. But now that she was looking closely, she realized that the water in the river was starting to "roar" as if it was angry at her presence.

    [This sensation is familiar¡­]

    "Mona!"

    She was surprised when Gale, in her bunny form, suddenly appeared in front of her.

    "Gale, I''m d to see you," Mona said while smiling. The coldness in her hands and feet was yet to disappear. But she was relieved to see Gale and to feel the other Spirit Guardians "waking up" inside her again. "Where did you and the others go¨C"

    "We left you for a moment because we''re trying to stop him froming!" Gale said in an urgent voice so she didn''t mind that she cut her off. "But we''re not enough!"

    She didn''t need to ask who wasing.

    The angry river was enough to tell her who it was.

    Only one Spirit was the most powerful in the water. After all, this person was once turned into a Blue Serpent¨C a Blue Serpent that ruled the deep ocean before.

    [William!]

    As soon as his name entered her mind, a twenty-meter Blue Serpent that looked like a wingless and hornless dragon emerged from the river and hissed at her angrily.

    At that moment, her other Spirit Guardians surrounded her.

    Gale in front of her, ze (the fireball) in her right, Marina (the pearl) in her left, Olive (the twig) wrapped herself around her arm, and Rockwell (the stone golem) behind her. Roseanne wasn''t a the "fighter" type but the Light Spirit created a shield for them so they weren''t drenched by the water that sshed when the giant Blue Serpent appeared.

    "Mona Roseheart!" William, now in his human form after stepping out of the water, yelled her name angrily. "How dare you carry a filthy de Moonasterio in your womb?!"

    She hugged her stomach as if to protect it from the Grand Spirit.

    [I didn''t know that the news about my pregnancy would reach William this fast¡­]

    William opened his right hand. A few momentster, a greatsword materialized in the air. He grabbed the hilt of the sword tight as he approached her. "I exist to kill all the de Moonasterios in this cursed empire," he said coldly, then he pointed the tip of his sword at her. "The child in your womb isn''t an exception."

    "Have you lost your mind, William?!" Gale, who seemed to have forgotten that she was scared of William, yelled. "How dare you point your sword at our master?!"

    "Traitor!" ze yelled, too. "You deserve to burn to death! Burn! Die! Perish!"

    "I should have drowned him earlier!" Marina said even though they all knew it would be hard to drown a powerful water snake like William. "William, why don''t you just let our master be happy with Niki de Moonasterio? Let''s protect our master''s child¨C the baby is innocent! For justice, love, and happy endings!"

    "Shut the fuck up!" William yelled back at his friends. "If you don''t want to get hurt, get out of my fucking way!"

    "His mouth is really dirty," Oliveined in a scared whisper. "It''s dirtier than the earth¡­"

    "Master, let me fight," Rockwell said, then the ground began to shake when he walked toward William. "I can''t forgive William for pointing his sword at you."

    She closed her eyes and sighed. [It seems like I have to fight William for real.]

    "Mona, you''re not the only one that could talk to the Cosmic Tree."

    She opened her eyes and turned to William. "I know. I''m not that arrogant-"

    "You''re going to die if you give birth to that cursed child," William warned her coldly. "So let me get that fucking child out of your body now before it''s toote!"

    She wouldn''t say that she was shocked to hear what William said.

    After finding out that her daughter was destined to be the next Aether, she knew that she and her child could no longer hope for a peaceful life. Niki reacted that way because he was aware of that fact, too.

    But that didn''t mean that she would give up on her daughter.

    Mona hugged her stomach tighter. "No," she whispered while shaking her head. "I won''t let you touch my baby." She turned serious while gathering her Mana. Even if she was surrounded by her Spirit Guardians, she knew that it wouldn''t be easy to defeat William. There was only one way left to stop the Spirit Guardian. "You give me no other choice but to seal you, William."

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 Chapter 298 - MONA ROSEHEARTS MEMORIES (6)

    IT WAS a shame that Mona couldn''t use Gale''s most precious attack: Literally stealing the enemy''s breath until they die. Gale could do it as a Wind Spirit. But of course, it only worked on people with human bodies. William was a Spirit so that attack wouldn''t work on him.

    [Moreover, that kind of attack don''t work on humans or beings much stronger than Gale.]

    "Roseanne," Mona said, summoning her Light Spirit. The rose mark on her wrist began to glow. "Activate Istion Technique."

    "Istion Technique activated," Roseanne said in her usual sweet and calming voice. "We have now entered your Domain, Mona."

    ''Domain.''

    It was a technique used to separate the space within their Domain from the real world. That meant everything and everyone under her Domain would temporarily be put in a different dimension. The scenery didn''t change though. The only difference was the ground under her Domain was now covered with roses. Yes, even the river.

    As long as her Domain was in effect, the real world wouldn''t get damaged. Moreover, ordinary humans wouldn''t see or hear anyone or anything under the Domain. Thus, they could fight freely without worrying about the damage it would cost.

    [But of course, my Domain has a time limit.]

    The stronger the attack the Domain receives, the faster it disappears. Since William was a strong opponent, she was already expecting the effect of her Domain tost for only fifteen minutes at max.

    [That''s enough though.]

    "Rockwell," she called the stone golem calmly. "Knock him out."

    "As you wish, Master," Rockwell answered cheerfully, then he ran toward William. The giant stone golem made the ground shake hard because of that. "William, I don''t like you but I don''t hate you either! I''m just going to beat you up because Master asked me to!"

    [I told you to knock him out and not beat him up¡­]

    Maybe it was the same thing for Rockwell.

    Williamughed like a lunatic when he saw Rockwell running to him with the stone golem''s fist clenched tightly as if he was about to punch him. "As if you could beat me, stone bastard."

    "I''m a golem, stupid William!"

    William onlyughed harder. Then, he expertly threw his greatsword at Rockwell. The stone golem caught the sword in his hands. But the de was covered with William''s aura. It began to melt Rockwell''s stone hands.

    In the end, Rockwell who shouldn''t feel pain screamed in agony. His stone hands melted. And now that nothing was stopping the greatsword, it spun on its own before it pierced through Rockwell''s torso. Just like that, the stone golem crumbled.

    [William''s aura is enough to melt a stone golem, huh?]

    It also seemed like his greatsword had a life of its own. After destroying the stone golem, the sword went straight at her.

    Mona could clearly see that the greatsword was aiming at her stomach.

    [William, you bastard.]

    "Marina," she said calmly. But even though her voice was calm, her emotions weren''t. William was serious about killing her precious baby. "Break the sword."

    Marina appeared in front of her. "That''s the n, Master," she said cheerfully. "I will stop William! For justice, love, and happy endings!"

    [How cheerful.]

    Marina created a thick ''Water Wall'' in front of her to block William''s greatsword. Then, the Water Wall copsed only to be turned into a huge Water Sphere that trapped the sword inside. A momentter, the sword began to sizzle until the de cracked.

    Finally, the greatsword was broken into pieces.

    But since the de was also hot, the Water Sphere also broke. When the water poured onto the ground, it looked like it was turned into a warm stream.

    The fight wasn''t over yet though.

    Mona could see that William was busy fighting with Gale and ze.

    The Fire Spirit was trying to burn William to ashes while spitting vicious things. On the other hand, the Wind Spirit was using the wind to help the fire get bigger.

    But because William had a strong water attribute, it was hard to burn him down.

    [It''s okay since the n isn''t to burn him down anyway.]

    William had covered himself with Water Aura this time. Thus, even Gale''s Wind des didn''t work on him. Every time the Wind de touched his body, it looked like it was cutting through the water and not his flesh.

    He didn''t stop running toward Mona.

    The fire in William''s glowing deep blue eyes was clear¨C he was serious about killing her.

    Mona could also tell that the Grand Spirit was already using his full strength when she noticed that his hair color changed. The top half of William''s long hair was still pale blue. But the middle part down to the strands had turned pink.

    It was the same exact shade of her hair¨C coral pink¨C and it was proof that William was a Roseheart just like her.

    "William, you haven''t changed at all since the first day we met," Mona said while shaking her head. "You''re still crazy."

    William, who was now covered with blue me,ughed maniacally.

    Then, his Mana exploded¨C extinguishing ze''s blue me and reducing Gale back to her white bunny form. It looked like the Wind Spirit had exhausted her power because her small animal body fell to the rose-covered ground with a soft thud.

    "You''re hurting your friends," she said with a frown. "Olive."

    "I''m on it, Master!"

    Olive, who hid in the ground earlier, had transformed from being a twig armlet into several thick roots. Then, the roots that emerged from the ground had wrapped themselves around William to restrain his movements.

    The Grand Spirit had been sessfully held down but she knew it wouldn''t be enough topletely stop him.

    She raised her hand and sent some of her Mana to the stone Golem. "Rise, Rockwell."

    The stones that crumbled earlier instantly floated in the air. Then, the stones moved and began to arrange themselves until the stone golem waspleted again. But since it was done in a hurry, the stone golem had to let go of some of its parts. Thus, it was reduced to the same height as William now.

    "Now," she said in a serious voice. "I need you all to restrain William for a few minutes."

    "Yes, Master," all her Spirit Guardians, except for Roseanne, said solemnly.

    Rockwell arm locked William''s neck from behind.

    Gale turned into a wind whip while Marina had turned into a water whip. On the other hand, ze had created a floating ring of fire. It seemed like the Fire Spirit didn''t touch the ground in fear of burning Olive, the Wood Spirit.

    "You''re all annoying," William said with a bitter smirk. "Don''t me me if you get hurt!"

    The Grand Spirit''s Mana spiked as his body got surrounded by a mix of pale blue and coral pink aura.

    [Mana Bomb.]

    As its name suggested, it was the type of technique that uses Mana to create a bomb. The stronger the Mana was, the stronger the bomb''s explosion would be. Since it was William, his Mana Bomb would surely be enough to sessfully break her Domain and damage the real world.

    She let out a deep and sorrowful sigh.

    "Roseanne," she said in a sad voice. "Give me an Ice Rose."

    The smirk on William''s face disappeared.

    She also heard the Spirit Guardians'' collective gasp.

    Roseanne''s soft and sad voice broke the silence. "As you wish, Mona."

    The rose tattoo on her wrist had materialized.

    It was no ordinary rose and the petals were made of ice. The long stem and the single leaf were both as white as snow. Hence, the name ''Ice Rose.''

    For the first time since William arrived, she saw panic and fear in his eyes.

    "Draki!" William yelled for his Familiar, the veins in his neck popping out. "Come out!"

    The ground once again shook.

    Then, a blue snake emerged on the ground where the river was supposed to be in the real world. The snake this time was half the size of William''s Blue Serpent form.

    She ran toward William at the same time the blue snake moved toward its master.

    "I''m sorry," she said when she grabbed Draki by the snake. "But you''re not needed here."

    She squeezed Draki''s neck, making the blue snake hiss in pain. Or perhaps, anger. It didn''t matter though since Draki already turned into hundreds of blue roses that fell on the ground.

    Of course, she didn''t kill the Familiar.

    She simply sent Draki back to the Spirit World.

    William seemed to be frozen after witnessing the blue snake disappear. Then, his eyes glowed as his Mana began to fluctuate. It seemed like he was speeding up the release of his Mana Bomb to escape from there.

    [I won''t let you.]

    Mona grabbed the surprised William by the cor. Then, without breaking their eye contact, she stabbed the stem of the Ice Rose in his heart. The stem, which was made of ice and covered with an Ancient Mana, easily pierced through his chest. "I''m sorry, William," she whispered to him. "I''m forbidding you from getting out of your territory."

    The moment William''s feet began to be covered with ice, her Domain finally copsed.

    Just like that, they were back in the real world.

    <strong>***</strong>

    "MONA!"

    [Niki?]

    Mona turned around to see Niki running toward her.

    She was surprised to see that he wasn''t alone when he didn''t have his Pdins when she left her in the carriage earlier. But this time, Glenn and the Fletcher Twins (Wyatt and Warren) were with His Majesty. Even Rufus Quinzel was there.

    [Did Rufuse with Niki because of what happened to Gavin?]

    Moreover, she was shocked to see Gavin who was supposed to be unconscious. But she was d to see that themander had woken up already.

    [His Majesty probably called his Pdins and Duke Quinzel to help him find me.]

    Come to think of it, his vi was nearby. Since Niki and the others were strong people, they must have noticed her Domain right away.

    "I''m fine, Your Majesty," Mona assured Niki who stood in front of her while checking if she was injured, addressing him formally because they were surrounded by his subordinates. "Don''t worry too much."

    Niki let out a deep sigh, then he red at William. "You¨C"

    William, whose lower part of his body was already covered with ice while his chest area was still bleeding because of the Ice Rose skewered in his heart, hissed at Niki. "You''re going to kill her, Niki de Moonasterio!"

    She heard the collective gasp behind her.

    The Quinzel Brothers and the Pdins were probably shocked to hear William address the emperor that casually.

    "You should have been contented in being with Mona," William said bitterly. "The child in her womb will kill her. Do you know that?"

    Niki looked shocked by what William said.

    She could already hear what was going through the emperor''s mind. It was already hard for her to convince him that their daughter wouldn''t be a risk to her. And now, this stupid William had to say all of that nonsense to Niki.

    But deep down in her heart, she knew that the Grand Spirit''s concern was valid.

    She just refused to ept it because as a mother, she would never me her child for the grim future awaiting her. When she decided that she wanted to be a mother, she had already embraced all the risks and responsibilities that came with it.

    [I hope Niki learns what it means to be a parent soon.]

    "Don''t listen to him, Your Majesty," Mona said even though she was also quite shocked by William''s deration. Out of irritation, she closed her hand. As soon as she did that, the Ice Rose broke into tiny pieces. "Sleep well, William."

    And William disappeared along with the broken pieces of the Ice Rose.

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 Chapter 299 - MONA ROSEHEARTS MEMORIES (7)

    <strong></strong>[I FAINTED again.]

    When Mona woke up, she found herself in a familiar bedroom this time.

    It wasn''t the room that she used in the Spencer Estate a while ago. She was certain that the room she was currently using was the one Niki owned in his vi.

    ["Mona."]

    Mona closed her eyes when she heard Roseanne''s soft and gentle voice in her head. She talked to the Light Spirit mentally. Although she was currently alone in the room, she knew that Niki mighte by any minute so she wanted to be careful. ["Roseanne, what happened?"]

    ["The children almost went wild when you fainted,"] Roseanne said in a slightly exhausted voice. ["I sent all of them back to the Spirit World. I blocked all the entrances in your body so they wouldn''t be able to reach you unless I lift my restrictions. Should I allow them to return to your body now?"]

    ["No, let them cool their head first,"] she said. ["What happened to William?"]

    It was the first time that she used the Ice Spirit. Out of all the Spirits that she owned, the Ice Spirit was the only one that didn''t have the ability to speak to her. It also didn''t have its physical form. Thus, the Ice Spirit remained as a mark on her wrist.

    Although it was embarrassing to admit, she couldn''t control the Ice Spirit properly. Hence, she needed Roseanne''s help every time she had to use it.

    ["William was able to escape and judging by the portal that he summoned, he probably went back to his territory,"] Roseanne exined. ["He might be able to break the ice once he reached his territory. But once the ice melted and touched hisnd, the melted ice will lock him up inside."]

    People usually think that when they were stabbed by the Ice Rose, their body was going to be frozen.

    But that wasn''t how the Ice Rose worked.

    The true power of the Ice Spirit would work once the ice melted on its own. The person stabbed by the rose would be locked up in the ce where the ice melted.

    [I''m sorry, William¡­]

    She felt guilty that she had to use her power to seal William. But she didn''t have a choice since she needed to protect her baby. At least until her child was strong enough to protect herself from the Grand Spirit.

    Still, her heart remained heavy.

    William was still her Spirit after all.

    ["Don''t be too hard on yourself, Mona,"] Roseanne consoled her. ["You used the weakest Ice Rose to seal William so he won''t be locked up forever. Once you or other powerful Summoners called for him, he would be free. But I''m not just certain if there''s a Summoner who''s more powerful than you in the continent."]

    Sheughed softly at Roseanne''s faith that she was the strongest Summoner in the continent. But herughter died soon. ["I will free William when the time is right."]

    ["I know you will,"] her Light Spirit consoled her once again. ["Niki is here. I will visit the children in the meantime."]

    By "children," Roseanne meant the other Spirit Guardians.

    ["Thank you, Roseanne."]

    ["You''re always wee, Mona,"] Roseanne said. ["See youter."]

    She didn''t get the chance to respond to the Light Spirit because the door opened and Niki entered the room. He looked surprised when he saw her already awake.

    "You''re awake?" Niki greeted her, then he sat on the bed and touched her forehead gently. Then, he frowned. "You have a slight fever."

    "It''s normal," she said. "I always get a slight fever every time I use the Ice Spirit."

    "We should head back to the Royal Capital as soon as possible," he said as he pulled his hand away from her face. Then, he held her hands. "I''ll ask Madam Hammock to give you the best medicine to rejuvenate your body."

    "I''ll be fine after a good night''s sleep."

    "Are you still upset with me?"

    That random question almost made her chuckle. Well, she couldn''t me Niki for suddenly asking that. After all, she was acting cold towards him.

    "I''m not upset," she said. "I''m mad."

    Niki let out a deep sigh, then he looked at her straight in the eye. "I''m sorry, Mona," he said in a voice filled with guilt. "I am truly sorry."

    [Alright, he took the bait.]

    It was true that she was still upset. But she wanted to use this opportunity to move freely without fighting with Niki. It wasn''t like he could apany herter because he was the emperor. In short, her n to protect her baby didn''t include asking for Niki''s help.

    "Niki, if you''re truly sorry, then grant me a wish."

    He frowned again. After all, he knew her so well that he probably already knew what she was going to ask for. "Mona¨C"

    "Allow me to leave your side in the meantime," she said firmly. "If you can''t give me that, then let''s end our rtionship."

    He looked shocked by her deration. When the shock disappeared, it was then reced by hurt. He was now looking at her as if she just betrayed him. "Mona, how can you speak about ending our rtionship so easily?"

    "Of course, it''s not easy for me," she said, then she carefully wrapped her arms around her stomach. "But our child is more important to me than our rtionship."

    "Mona¨C"

    "I will find the Nameless Royal Princess," she said, cutting him off on purpose to not give him the chance to make her change her mind. "She knows a way to send us to another world."

    "You''re talking about that again."

    "Do you think our daughter will be safe if we fight against the gods of this world?" she asked, then she shook her head. "The Nameless Royal Princess is correct¨C the only safe ce for our daughter is the other world that she knows."

    "Are you going to leave this world with our daughter once you find a way to do so?"

    She looked at him straight in the eye and nodded. "Yes," she answered with all honesty. "I''m ready to leave everything behind. And I won''t allow you to stop me, Niki."

    He looked hurt by her words.

    "However," she said, her heart couldn''t stand seeing Niki hurt. "You''re free to go with us, Niki. I know that it won''t be easy for you to leave everything behind because you''re the emperor. That''s why I won''t pressure you toe with us. And I will give you enough time to make a decision."

    He looked less hurt now, but there was still a glint of pain in his eyes. "How long?" he asked weakly as if he had already given in. "How long are you going to leave my side to search for a way to leave this world?"

    "I don''t know how long it will take me, but I intend to find the answers I''m looking for before my stomach swells up," she said. Since her chest was heavy for acting cold to Niki, she softened up her heart and held his hands. "Niki, I''m not asking for your help because I know that you are busy as the ruler of the empire. So let me do this. I''m not weak."

    "I know that you are not weak, but that doesn''t mean that I won''t worry about you. Especially now that you''re pregnant," he said, then he let out a long sigh. "Mona, at least let me provide support for you."

    "What kind of support?"

    "I can''t leave the pce but I can send Gavin to apany you in my ce," he said seriously as if he wouldn''t let her turn his offer down. "He''s the only person that I can trust you with, Mona. After all, he''s the strongest Pdin that I have."

    Oh.

    There was no way that she would reject that offer.

    When the Nameless Royal Princess mentioned that she could find her where darkness was, she instantly thought of Gavin Quinzel. After all, themander''s Shadow Maniption Technique had Darkness attributes. Since her attribute was Light, she didn''t know much about it.

    "That''s perfect, Niki," Mona said, relieved that she would be apanied by a reliable person like Gavin Quinzel. "I think Gavin will be a huge help."

    "I''m d if that''s the case. I want you to return by my side as soon as you can," Niki said, then he gently ced a hand on her stomach. "I trust Gavin to keep you and our daughter safe."

    <strong>***</strong>

    MONA put down the book about the Darkness attribute in her hands and turned to Gavin Quinzel.

    As of right now, the two of them were in the private library in the Quinzel Estate.

    When she asked themander about the Darkness attribute, he invited her to read some helpful books in the library owned by his family. But ever since they arrived there, she immediately noticed one thing: Gavin Quinzel was nervous.

    [Gavin and I fought a war together in the past but I''ve never seen him nervous in the battlefield. I wonder why he''s acting this way right now.]

    Come to think of it, themander was yet to tell her what happened after she fainted back in the Forest of Impurity. Moreover, she didn''t get the chance to hear what caused him to faint. If she remembered it correctly, she saw him fighting with an entity back then.

    "Gavin?"

    Gavin, who was standing across from her with a round table between them, flinched before turning to her. "How can I serve you, Lady Roseheart?"

    "Do you have something you wish to tell me?" Mona asked seriously. "I''m here to listen."

    He froze for a moment, then he let out a deep sigh. "Lady Roseheart, there''s a reason why I didn''t report what happened at the Forest of Impurity after you fainted. I lied to His Majesty and said that I fainted as soon as you were taken by the ck tree."

    Ah, she knew it.

    But she wasn''t mad at Gavin. He wasn''t the type to keep a secret from them without a proper reason. Hence, she waited patiently for him to continue with his "report."

    "The entity that I fought back then¡­"

    She slowly nodded her head. "I saw the entity. Were they an elf or a fairy?"

    "He was an elf," he said softly as if he was afraid that someone might hear him. "Lady Roseheart, the elf imed that he was a Messenger of a god."

    She gasped loudly, a chill went down her spine immediately. "A god?"

    Gods don''t usually meddle with human lives directly.

    But a Messenger of God appeared at the Forest of Impurity? That was a big deal!

    "Which god is it?" she asked nervously. "Which god sent the Messenger our way?"

    "It was the God of Eternal Darkness, and he sent a message to me through the elf," Gavin said, then he gulped. "Apparently, the God of Eternal Darkness is the true god that the Quinzels serve and not Lord Yule."

    To say that she was shocked would be an understatement.

    Even though she was still upset after learning the grim future that was awaiting her unborn daughter because of the gods in the Upper World, she was still overwhelmed by the fact that a god seemed to be involved with the Nameless Royal Princess.

    Just the thought of it gave her the chills.

    [A god is still a god.]

    But aside from that, it was shocking to know that there was a possibility that the Quinzels were serving a god who wasn''t Lord Yule. After all, the ducal family was known to be devout followers of the Astello Temple.

    "Gavin," Mona said, then she swallowed hard. "Did you just casually reveal your family''s dark secret to me?"

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 Chapter 300 - THE GOD OF ETERNAL DARKNESS

    <strong></strong>"IT''S NOT like it''s our family secret since this is also the first time that I''ve heard about the God of Eternal Darkness, Lady Roseheart."

    Mona nodded her head when she realized that Gavin Quinzel was right. "The whole continent is believed to be protected by Lord Yule. Thus, most people here worship the Moon God. But it''s not a crime to follow and worship other gods. I don''t see the need for the old House Quinzel to hide the fact that they were serving the God of Eternal Darkness."

    "Perhaps it has something to do with the stigma that people with Darkness attribute are evil," Gavin Quinzel said carefully. "Butpared to other people who use Darkness attribute, the Quinzels don''t get that much criticism since we don''t summon darkness. People aren''t afraid of our power because we need light to use our Shadow Maniption Technique."

    Themander was right.

    She once met a Darkness attribute user and when that person used their power, the area that fell under their field of domain was engulfed withplete darkness. Most people were afraid of the darkness. Hence, the majority of them also feared the Darkness attribute.

    "I''ve read once in a textbook that I found in a temple that humans are naturally afraid of the darkness," she said when she remembered the content of the textbook. "Apparently, during the Ancient Period, the Middle World was swallowed by Absolute Darkness. The gods that possess the power to light up the human world descended from the heavens."

    The two most prominent gods that descended back then were the Moon God and the Sun Goddess. Thus, after they lit up the whole world, the two were given the biggest continents as their "territory" to protect.

    The Sun Goddess received the East Continent, while the Moon God received the West Continent.

    "But because the time the world was covered with Absolute Darkness had deeply traumatized the human race, the fear of the darkness was wired in our minds," she continued with her exnation. "Hence, even though the Ancient Period had long been over, the human race still couldn''t help but fear the darkness."

    "Do you think the Absolute Darkness of the Ancient Period was created by the God of Eternal Darkness?"

    "I don''t know who or what caused the Absolute Darkness," she said honestly. "But I believe that most people believe that it was created by the God of Eternal Darkness. It''s the reason why he is so unpopr that we don''t even know his name."

    The Moon God was Yule, the Sun Goddess was Elina.

    But even she didn''t know the name of the God of Eternal Darkness. She wished she knew because the god''s title was too long.

    "The Nameless Royal Princess said that the darkness isn''t always an enemy," she said. "That''s the thing that led me to believe that the ck tree is protected by someone with the Darkness attribute. But now that you''ve brought up the God of Eternal Darkness, I believe that he is the one protecting the Nameless Royal Princess."

    Themander''s brows furrowed in confusion. "How did you get to that conclusion, mydy?"

    "We found the ck tree in the Forest of Impurity," she exined. "It was in the deepest part of the forest where the trees are big and tall enough to block the sunlight. Thus, it''s always dark in the Forest of Impurity. The "eyes" of the gods can''t see in the darkness. But of course, the normal and natural type of darkness couldn''t possibly block the "eyes" of the gods."

    "Ah, now I get it," themander said, then he nodded his head. "The God of Eternal Darkness is protecting the Nameless Royal Princess. Thus, he sent his Messenger to me."

    "Gavin, there''s a reason why the God of Eternal Darkness decided to let you know that your family is supposed to serve him."

    Gavin''s face turned serious, then he nodded his head carefully. "I will ask my father about it, Lady Roseheart."

    "Thank you, Gavin," Mona said, satisfied that Gavin Quinzel was willing to unravel his family''s secret with her. "I really mean it."

    <strong>***</strong>

    MONA gasped when she heard the voice of Mother Tree in her head.

    "What''s wrong, Mona?" Niki, who was seated on the chair across from her, asked worriedly. "Are you feeling unwell?"

    "No, I''m fine," Mona said, then she put her teacup down on the table. She was having tea with Niki in the garden that he gave to her as a present. Since she was still waiting for Gavin Quinzel''s report, she decided to stay in the pce first to rest. She didn''t want to overwork herself for her baby. "Mother Tree just informed me that the Thunderbird has been revived."

    It was the emperor''s turn to be surprised. "The Thunderbird? You mean the very rare Elemental Guardian that disappeared after the Ancient Period?"

    "Yes," she said, then she sipped her tea before speaking again. "If it''s been revived, it only means that the Thunderbird has found its new master."

    She didn''t miss the greed in Niki''s eyes.

    It wasn''t like she didn''t get where his greed wasing from.

    There were only a few Elemental Guardians in the world. In terms of strength, the Elemental Guardians were on par with the de Moonasterio''s Soul Beasts. Perhaps, the Elemental Guardians might be stronger than the Soul Beasts because the former existed during the Ancient Period.

    "Mona, do you happen to know where the Thunderbird has been revived?"

    Niki was asking her because she was one of the selected few who could feel the existence of such mighty and legendary beings. It was true that Mother Tree, aka the Cosmic Tree, had informed her of the revival of the Thunderbird. But even if the Mother Tree didn''t tell her, she''d still know because the Thunderbird was also a special type of Spirit.

    "I feel the Thunderbird''s power in the Eastern Continent."

    The emperor frowned at her "bad news." "If it''s in the Eastern Continent, then I can''t find it easily."

    "Why do you need the Thunderbird, Niki?"

    "I need to gather strong beings in my side," he said seriously. "If we''re going to fight against the gods to protect our child, then I''d like to gather strong individuals to ensure that you and our daughter will not be harmed."

    She smiled warmly at his reasoning. "Don''t worry, Niki," she assured her. "The wind told me that the Thunderbird is headed to our continent. I have a strange feeling that we will soon meet the new master of the Elemental Guardian."

    Niki smiled as if he was thrilled. "I don''t know why the new master of the Thunderbird is headed here but I''d like to meet them as soon as possible."

    "I''d like to meet the person who revived the Thunderbird, too," Mona said, then she touched her stomach. She couldn''t feel the baby''s movement yet. But for some reason, the inside of her womb felt warm. She couldn''t help but smile because of the warmth in her belly. "Baby, are you also excited to meet the Thunderbird?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    GAVIN felt guilty that he didn''t report to Lady Mona Roseheart right away after he heard the truth from his father.

    Instead of reporting to her, he packed his bag and headed to their family''snd. But it wasn''t the duchy. The territory that he went to was less known. In fact, it was located in another country. They were able to purchase a piece ofnd in that country because of his uncle''s wife''s family.

    Right now, he was in the Forgotten Graveyard.

    Just like what its name suggested, it was a graveyard. Thend was a vast field with hundreds of tombstones and monuments around. But his destination was the underground mausoleum that somehow looked like a buried temple to him.

    Of course, it was dark.

    The fire Spirit stone floating in front of him as it guided him was the only source of light in the mausoleum. It was also very chilly in there that he was currently having goosebumps.

    "I found it," Gavin whispered to himself when he finally got to the room where a ck coffin was disyed in the center. His father told him that the secret of their family could be found in that coffin. Thus, he didn''t hesitate to approach it. "I''m sorry," he whispered as he slowly and carefully lifted the lid. He didn''t know if there was a person inside the casket. But he apologized in advance if it was someone''s resting ce. "I''ll just take a peek¨C"

    And Gavin wasn''t able to finish his sentence because he was suddenly engulfed by the darkness that emerged from the open lid of the coffin.

    <strong>***</strong>

    "HEY, wake up."

    Gavin immediately opened his eyes when he heard the familiar yet unfamiliar voice of ady. He easily recognized the beautiful face that greeted him. But for some reason, the hair and eye color of thedy was different from what he remembered.

    The hair that was supposed to be pink was ck.

    And the eyes that were supposed to be pale ice blue were also ck.

    Moreover, the dress that thedy was wearing exposed her arms and legs (she was standing in front of him so he noticed). The dress was too short in his humble opinion. Thus, he immediately averted his gaze away from him.

    When he looked around, he suddenly realized that he was in an unfamiliar ce.

    [But strangely enough, I feel nostalgic.]

    He was in a bright ce with a lot of people dressed strangely. Some of them were seated while holding different types of cups. The aromaing from the drinks was definitely not tea. But the weirdest thing that he noticed was thenguage.

    For some reason, he could still understand thenguage used by the strange people even though he was certain that it wasn''t thenguage of the empire.

    [Herees the nostalgic feeling again¡­]

    His heart thumped rapidly against his chest.

    [I know this ce. I''ve been here before. But when?]

    "Kim Won-shik!"

    He was startled when thedy who looked like Lady Mona Roseheart called him by a different name. When he turned to her, he realized that thedy was now sitting on the chair across from him while looking at him with furrowed brows.

    "Won-shik sunbae, are you okay?" thedy asked worriedly. "You look¡­ different today."

    "My name is not ''Won-shik, Lady Mona," Gavin said, confused. "And where are we¡­"

    "Is this a prank, sunbae?"

    "I don''t know what you mean by that, mydy."

    "''Mydy?''" thedy asked in disbelief, then sheughed while shaking her head. "Alright, sunbae. I''ll y along with this new prank of yours." She cleared her throat, then she extended her hand to him. "Hello, Won-shik sunbae. I''m a freshman and my name is Go Aerum."

    Gavin, despite being confused, epted thedy''s handshake. "Go Aerum?"

    That was when he finally remembered where he "met" thedy.

    [Ah, it was during the time that I had a long dream!]

    And it was also the reason why Gavin asked Lady Mona Roseheart if she had a twin sister.

    <strong>***</strong>

    "LADY GO Aerum, may I know¨C"

    Gavin began to ask but he was forced to stop talking mid-sentence when he heard a loud thump that made him close his eyes for a moment.

    When he opened his eyes again, the darkness greeted him.

    The bright yet strange surroundings, along with thedy that looked like Lady Mona Roseheart, had already disappeared. He felt a hollow in his heart for some reason. It was as if he lost someone or something important again.

    "What was that?" Gavin whispered to himself, then he clutched at his chest. "Was it another dream or perhaps¡­"

    The thought that crossed his mind was too ridiculous that he wasn''t able to say it out loud.

    But¡­

    [Perhaps, it was a different world?]

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 Chapter 301 - [Bonus ] ESTRANGED TWINS

    <em><strong>[First life...]</strong></em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA Quinzel was quite nervous.

    She gathered all the courage that she had in her to visit an infamous information guild on her own. The guild was disguised as a pub located at themoner''s area called Hyperion Street. Most of the guests tonight were men who looked like ruffians. They were also loud while talking and drinking beer as if there was no tomorrow.

    It was a good thing that she went there in a disguise. As Neoma Quinzel, she already had to change her hair and eye color that would hide the fact that she was actually the hidden twin sister of the crazy Crown Prince.

    But this time, she had to hide the fact that she was the daughter of Duke Rufus and Duchess Amber Quinzel. To do so, she changed her hair and eye color. She now had light brown hair and deep brown eyes.

    She considered wearing a mask but she knew that it would only attract more attention, so in the end, she didn''t.

    "You want me to find a ck Witch for you, Miss?"

    Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard the informant''s question. She was instantly brought back to reality where she was on the third floor of the pub. Unlike the noisy first floor where the guests were having a good time, the entire third floor was quiet.

    To be precise, she was in the office of the head of the information guild.

    The man behind the desk was wearing a butterfly-shaped mask that covered half of his face. His ck hair and ck eyes seemed to be dyed with magic. She could tell that those weren''t his natural hair and eye color because living in disguise all her life made her an expert when ites to dyeing magic.

    But she could tell that the man''s bronze skin was natural.

    "Yes, I need you to find me a ck Witch," Neoma said coldly. "Money isn''t and will never be an issue."

    The Quinzels were believed to be richer than the Royal Family. Thus, even though she suffered in the hands of her mother who treated her like Hanna Quinzel''s recement, she still enjoyed the luxury of being a wealthy higher noble.

    "Oho," the masked said, impressed. "I like clients who don''t hesitate to throw away money like it''s not a big deal."

    [He''s Duke Jasper Hawthorne, isn''t he?]

    It wasn''t his skin color that gave it away, especially not his voice that was obviously altered to protect his identity. The cor around the man''s neck seemed like an expensive magic device to her. She had a feeling that it was the item that changed his voice.

    But she was pretty sure that this man was Duke Jasper Hawthorne.

    [It''s the translucent butterfly on his shoulder. I''ve seen Duke Hawthorne in several banquets in the past. I''m pretty sure that it''s the same butterfly.]

    She could tell that the translucent butterfly was using an invisibility spell to hide. But for some reason, she could see and hear Spirits. She didn''t get the chance to polish that ability of hers since she was mostly locked up in the Quinzel Estate. And whenever she and Rubin Drayton were on a date, they would just usually go to the Royal Capital where there were no Spirits.

    "Miss, I''ll be honest," the man, whom she believed was Duke Hawthorne, said bluntly. "It will be hard to find a ck Witch since they''ve been banished from the empire a long time ago. I would usually reject this kind of request¡­"

    She sped her hands together. [Please don''t reject my request.]

    After she discovered Rubin Drayton and Regina Crowell''s affair, along with their evil n to dispose of her, she decided to ensure her survival by tying her soul with her estranged twin brother''s. If she seeded, the crazy Crown Prince would have no choice but to protect her.

    And she needed to find a ck Witch for the job.

    "But let''s give a try," the disguised duke said. "I like challenging my guild''s limits anyway."

    She was relieved to hear that.

    After all, she was very desperate. She didn''t want to lose Rubin Drayton even though he betrayed her. Moreover, she wanted to have her revenge against Regina Crowell. She wanted to achieve both while lessening her chance of dying.

    "Miss, may I know why you need a ck Witch?" the duke asked, then he put his elbows on the table with his hands sped together. Then, he put his chin on top. "I hope you''re aware that the ck Witches are treated as criminals in the empire. Since my guild''s life is on the line, I believe I have the right to know."

    "I need to live," she said bluntly. It wasn''t like she needed to be specific. Even though the duke had a higher rank than hers (since he had a title while she was raised as a duke''s daughter), in this ce, both of them were equal. She didn''t have to indulge him. "I will literally die if I don''t find a ck Witch." She paused when she realized why the duke must have asked about her reason for finding a ck Witch. "Don''t worry. I intend to use the ck Witch for myself and not to harm the empire."

    "I''m not worried about that," he said casually. "I don''t care if the empire gets destroyed or whatnot."

    She was astonished.

    [Your Grace, you''re a duke. You''re supposed to be one of the foundations of the empire. Are you sure it''s okay for you to say that?]

    But that was none of her business.

    "Did I satisfy your curiosity?" she asked instead ofmenting on the duke''s vicious remark earlier. "Just so you know, if you don''t find me a ck Witch, I''ll die and my blood will be on your hands. Then, my Spirit will haunt you forever."

    The duke looked aghast by her deration.

    Then, the unthinkable happened: Duke Jasper Hawthorneughed. Heughed so hard that he had to clutch his stomach with his hands.

    Huh?

    Was this really the duke?

    [The Duke Hawthorne I know is sophisticated and aloof. He even ignores the call of His Majesty sometimes. But the way heughed just now doesn''t fit his image.]

    "Miss, you''re funny."

    She frowned at that. "I''m not trying to be funny."

    "I know, and that''s why it''s funnier."

    She just stared at him nkly.

    Duke Hawthorne seemed to be embarrassed as he let out a fakeugh. "I will contact you as soon as I find a ck Witch," he said, then he handed her a brooch with a ruby. "If this brooch breaks, please be here as soon as you can."

    She epted the brooch and hid it immediately in the pocket of her pants. "I understand."

    Yes, she was wearing a shirt and a pair of trousers under her hooded robe instead of a dress. Her mother, Duchess Amber Quinzel, would scold her if she found out that she went out of the estate in her equestrienne uniform. It was only her set of clothes with trousers so she had no choice but to use it.

    She needed to wear pants to be able to move fast if she needed to fight. The pub was a dangerous ce so she prepared that much.

    "Miss, next time, at least bring someone with you," the duke warned her lightly. "It''s dangerous for ady like you toe to a ce like this alone."

    "I can protect myself," she said, then she put five bags full of gold coins on the table. She put a little strength in it, causing the table to break into two. She smirked when she saw the duke''s shocked face. "I''m strong."

    Even though she wasn''t acknowledged by her real father as a de Moonasterio, she still inherited the natural physical strength that members of the Royal Family were blessed with. Moreover, her adoptive father was Duke Rufus Quinzel¨C one of the strongest knights in the empire. She learned a thing or two from watching her father train the ducal''s knights.

    "Wow," Duke Jasper Hawthorne said, then he pped his hands. "You''re impressive, Miss."

    Neoma just frowned as a response. "I''ll pay for the broken table."

    <strong>***</strong>

    [AM I really born unlucky?]

    Neoma couldn''t believe her bad luck.

    [I knew that something bad will happen when I saw a ck crow when I went out of the pub earlier¡­]

    When she returned to the secluded area where the rental carriage and the coachman she hired was waiting, a disastrous scene greeted her. The rental carriage was destroyed as if something heavy was dropped on top of it that caused the crater on the ground. And the coachman was dead.

    But it wasn''t because of whatever ident that caused the carriage to end up that way.

    "What a fucking eyesore!"

    A crazy man wasughing like a lunatic while stabbing the coachman to death with a cheap-looking sword. It didn''t suit the man who gave off a royal vibe.

    Ah, no.

    He was definitely a royal.

    [What is that crazy Crown Prince doing here?]

    The lunatic prince dyed his hair and eyes with magic. But why did he have to choose light brown for his hair and deep brown for his eyes?

    [Those are the same colors that I dyed my hair and eyes with!]

    Because of the same hair and eye color that they had right now, anyone who would see them together would realize right away that they were twins.

    [We¡­ really look alike.]

    She had seen the Crown Prince in the few banquets that she attended in the past. But she didn''t really get the chance to properly look at him because she had a bad habit of lowering her head to hide her face. Moreover, she was always behind Rubin Drayton anyway.

    But now that she had seen the lunatic prince up close, she realized that they were really twins.

    [And the rumor about him being a bloodthirsty freak is true.]

    Only a lunatic wouldugh like that while murdering a person.

    [How am I supposed to go home now? I already ran out of teleportation scrolls. And if I contact the mansion, Mother will know that I sneaked out¡­]

    "Who."

    She flinched when she heard the cold voice of a man behind her. The question he asked didn''t sound like a question when it was supposed to be one. It sounded like a demand¨C like she had to state who she was or else, she''d be dead.

    "I didn''t see anything," Neoma said as quietly as she could. "Let me go home¡­"

    She stopped talking mid-sentence when the crazy Crown Prince turned to her.

    Their eyes met.

    [I hope he doesn''t see my face¨C]

    Her thoughts were interrupted when the man behind her suddenly pulled her hood down.

    "Tsk," the crazy Crown Prince, Nero de Moonasterio, clicked his tongue after staring at her face for almost a minute. He frowned when recognition crossed his eyes. "You''re still alive?"

    She felt a painful squeeze in her heart, but she ignored it.

    "I don''t know you, sir," she said, acting dumb. "I didn''t see anything either. Can I go home now?"

    "Hah," the Crown Prince said in disbelief, then he threw the bloody sword on the ground. "When we were kids, you pretended that you didn''t know I was being poisoned. And now you''re pretending that you don''t know me? Crazy bitch."

    [Excuse me? You''re the crazy one here.]

    But she couldn''t say it because even up until now, she still felt guilty for pretending that she didn''t know the Crown Prince was being poisoned in the past.

    [Should I apologize? But it''s already long overdue. Still...]

    "I¡­" she started hesitantly when she noticed that the Crown Prince was waiting for a response from her. "This person I know has a simr story. She only watched while her twin brother was being poisoned." She instantly lowered her gaze when her twin brother frowned. "But in her defense, even though both she and her twin brother were neglected, at least their servants treated her brother better. She was abused and malnourished. It wasn''t an excuse but she must have lost her mind back then." She raised her head to see the Crown Prince looking at her with a nk look on his face. "She already paid the price for almost letting her twin brother die. She was thrown away, adopted into a family that suffocates her every single day, and is currently engaged with a man who cheated on her with a lowly¨C" She stopped mid-sentence when she realized that she was venting now. "Her life is hellish. She thinks it''s enough punishment for the sin that shemitted when she was a child. If her twin brother isn''t satisfied with that, she''ll kneel and beg in front of him¨C"

    "Shut up," the Crown Prince cut her off rudely. "You talk too much."

    She was annoyed but she didn''t want to die so she just bit her lower lip.

    "Get out of my sight," the lunatic prince said, then he threw something at her.

    She closed her eyes thinking that she would get hurt. But after a couple of seconds passed and nothing hit her yet, she slowly opened her eyes.

    [Oh, my¡­]

    She was shocked when a very handsome man greeted her.

    Handsome, but scary.

    His silver hair had turned dark red not because of dyeing magic. It was blood, and it didn''t seem like his own blood either. This scary man with pretty golden eyes could only be Lewis¨C the crazy Crown Prince''s equally crazy personal knight.

    "Here," Sir Lewis said indifferently as he handed her a scroll. "Leave."

    She immediately epted the scroll out of fear. But she was secretly relieved when she realized that it was a teleportation scroll. And much to her surprise, the Quinzel Estate was written as the destination as if the teleportation scroll was prepared in advance.

    "Why¡­" She raised her head to ask the Crown Prince. But when she met Lewis''s cold gaze, she lowered her head and spoke quietly. "Thank you."

    "What the hell are you doing there, Lu?" Prince Neroined. "Come here and clean this mess, slow bastard."

    She raised her head to see how Sir Lewis would react with how the Crown Prince talked to him.

    [Sir Lewis is so unnecessarily handsome¡­]

    "Bye," Sir Lewis said in a low yet gentle voice. "Princess."

    Neoma was surprised to be addressed as a princess again after a long time. She almost forgot that she was a princess, and Sir Lewis reminding her of her status touched her deeply. But when her stupid twin brother yelled and cursed at the poor knight, she immediately ripped the scroll. "I apologize on behalf of my twin brother''s rudeness," she whispered to the knight, then she smiled warmly at him. "Thank you for making me remember that I''m a princess, Sir Lewis."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "WHAT a funny bastard," Nero said coldly while watching Rubin Drayton enjoy lunch with an ugly woman whose cheap dress didn''t match the fancy atmosphere of the restaurant. "How dare him bring a lowly noblewoman here?"

    He went to a famous restaurant after his sses at the Royal Moon Academy.

    As the Crown Prince of the empire, he was naturally ushered to the second floor where the VIP area was. But it wasn''t exclusive to the members of the Royal Family. The VIP area was also open to higher nobles like Rubin Drayton, the only son of Duke Drayton¨C the third richest family in the empire.

    "Lu."

    "Prince."

    He let out an annoyed sigh before he turned to Lewis who stood behind him. "Will it kill you if you address me by my formal title? It should be ''Your Royal Highness'' and not ''Prince.''"

    As usual, Lewis just stared at him nkly.

    [This stoic bastard¡­]

    He just let out a frustrated sigh. Then, he pointed at the two Green Archer Knights behind Rubin Drayton. That bastard was the captain of the Green Archer Knights¨C the private troop that served House Drayton.

    "Take care of those bastards," he said, then he got up with a ss of red wine in his hand. "I''ll deal with their captain."

    "Okay, Prince."

    He clicked his tongue at how casual Lewis talked to him.

    But he didn''t have the chance toin because he instantly disappeared by his side. The next thing he knew, Lewis was already mauling the two Green Archer Knights.

    Rubin Drayton immediately stood up but not to help his knights. That son of a bitch stood up to protect the wench he was with. He even created a barrier that was sturdy enough to protect the whole restaurant from a small explosion.

    Hah!

    He never saw that bastard treat his fianc¨¦e that kindly.

    "Oi, Drayton," he said, then he kicked the barrier.

    The bastard was shocked when his weak-ass shield was broken into pieces like it was some fragile ss.

    "Y-Your Royal Highness," Rubin Drayton greeted him in shock, then he bowed to him and said his stiff proper greetings.

    The ugly woman with the cheating bastard immediately stood up and bowed to him. "Greetings to the Little Moon of the Great Moonasterion Empire."

    "So fucking annoying," he said while looking at the woman in disgust. "This restaurant is supposed to be for the royal family members and the higher nobles." He turned to Rubin who had a stiff expression on his face. "It makes me lose my appetite when I see an eyesore who doesn''t deserve to be in the same ce as I do."

    Rubin Drayton flinched.

    The woman beside the bastard turned red after being humiliated.

    [She should be.]

    The staff, the other customers, and even the owner of the restaurant could only watch and listen to the conversation. Not even the stationed guards could approach them because Lewis was preventing them from doing so. And yes, that slowpoke bastard was already done dealing with the two weak-ass Green Archer Knights.

    "This is your punishment for making me lose my appetite," he said, then he turned to the woman again and poured the red wine on the top of her head. "Don''t ever show your ugly face in front of me again."

    "Prince Nero!"

    He turned to the bastard with a smirk. "What?"

    "You''re really crazy," Rubin Drayton said, his voice full of anger. "How can someone like you lead the empire in the future?"

    "Worry about your future and not about the empire''s future, Rubin Drayton," Nero said coldly. "If I see you again with that wench, I''ll freeze both of you to death for making me look at your disgusting affair."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA was shocked when she heard from the people running out of the restaurant that the crazy Crown Prince made a scene. Apparently, his victims this time were Rubin Drayton and his "femalepanion."

    [It''s Regina Crowell, isn''t it?]

    She clenched her hands tight.

    To be honest, she went to that restaurant to catch Rubin Drayton and Regina Crowell together. But she was consoled by the fact that the two were suffering at the hands of the crazy Crown Prince.

    [Prince Nero, I don''t know what Rubin Drayton did to piss you off but thank you.]

    "Commander, His Royal Highness and Sir Lewis are currently having a fight with Captain Rubin Drayton and his Green Archer Knights!"

    Commander?

    As in the youngmander of the White Lion Knights?

    [What is an important person doing here?]

    "Commander, what should we do?"

    "Hmm¡­ let''s just let His Royal Highness beat Captain Drayton to a pulp."

    Huh?

    She was curious so she turned around to see if the person who said that the crazy Crown Prince should just beat Rubin Drayton up to a pulp was really themander of the White Lion Knights.

    A tall man dressed in a fancy white and gold uniform stood out among the crowd. He had dark purple hair and deep violet eyes. His aura screamed of power, and the air around him was so dignified everyone would know right away that he was a leader of a respectable troop.

    [His face is pretty average in my opinion, though¡­]

    Not that it mattered.

    "C-Commander, p-please don''t say something like that!"

    "It''s true though," the Commander said with a shrug, then he slowly turned in her direction. "Captain Rubin Drayton deserves to be beaten up."

    Neoma flinched, and her heart began to thump hard and fast against her chest thinking that themander was directly talking to her. But it was impossible, right? She thought she was only imagining things so she tore her gaze away from themander, then she looked up at the second floor of the restaurant where the crazy Crown Prince must be.

    [Prince Nero, please don''t kill Rubin¡­]

    <strong>***</strong>

    NOTE: The theme of this chapter <strong>

    </strong> is requested by <strong>Andy_Apple</strong>.. Thank you for your suggestion! I hope you like this side story. <3

 Chapter 302 - PARALLEL WORLD

    <strong></strong>[A DIFFERENT world?]

    Gavin wanted tough but he couldn''t.

    The long dream that he had revolved around thedy that he had just seen¨C Lady Go Aerum. It was thedy that looked like Lady Mona Roseheart. But it was clear to him that the strangedy in his dreams was from a different world.

    And so was he.

    "The "me" in that world is in love with thedy that looks like Lady Roseheart?" Gavin whispered to himself, then he gulped hard. "What a strange dream."

    "It wasn''t a dream, Commander Quinzel."

    He instantly drew his sword and pointed it in the direction where he heard the voice. The voice was familiar but he still wanted to make sure that he was right so he asked. "Is that you, Lukas?"

    "You are correct, Commander."

    A man stepped out of the shadows. He then pulled the hood of his dark brown robe down to reveal his face. Short ash brown hair, silver eyes, pale skin, pointed ears. Those were the features that made the man conventionally handsome, regardless of his race. He wasn''t human but his looks were very much capable of enchanting humans.

    This elf wasn''t just an ordinary elf though.

    [He is the Messenger of the God of Eternal Darkness.]

    "Greetings to the King of the Unholy Shadow Beasts," Lukas greeted him, and he even bowed to him. "It''s a pleasure to meet you again."

    "Why did you follow me here?" he asked while putting the sword back to its sheath. "Do you have anything else you wish to say to me?"

    "There are a lot of things that I need to tell you, my lord," the elf said. "To be precise, the god that I serve wishes to help you obtain happiness this time. After all, even though the Quinzels have turned their backs on him, he still sees you as his child."

    He felt awkward hearing that.

    But it wasn''t like he could ignore the words or the will of a god.

    "The God of Eternal Darkness," he began hesitantly. "May I know his name?"

    "You may call the lord ''Helstor,'' Commander," Lukas said, and he seemed to be delighted that he showed interest in the God of Eternal Darkness. "The God of Eternal Darkness is pleased to know that his name is now known by the child he treasures."

    He wanted to say that he only asked the god''s name because ''God of Eternal Darkness'' was a mouthful. But he didn''t have the heart to break the hopeful look on Lukas''s face. "Why does Lord Helstor treasure me? I didn''t even know his existence until I met you, Lukas. Moreover, it seems like my family has betrayed him because we know serve Lord Yule, the Moon God."

    The elf chuckled. "Lord Helstor understands why your family has to turn its back on him, Commander Quinzel," he said. "The House Quinzel needed to do that to survive, and my lord allowed that to happen."

    "Why did he allow it to happen?" he asked, confused. "I thought the power of the gods relies on how much faith they receive from their followers."

    "Exactly¨C my lord doesn''t wish to be more powerful than he already is."

    Now he was even more confused.

    "Commander Quinzel, you of all people should know the stigma that people born with Darkness attribute have," Lukas said in a sad voice. "Because of the Absolute Darkness that swallowed the world during the Ancient Period, the humans born after the dark times have been wired with fear of the darkness. Thus, people automatically fear and hate those who use the Darkness attribute. Of course, they feel the same way for Lord Helstor¨C the God of Eternal Darkness. It''s one of the reasons why Lord Helstor was ostracized by his fellow gods. In the end, he was banished from the Upper World under the guise that he was chosen to be the God of the Underworld."

    He was shocked by that revtion. "Lord Helstor is also the God of the Underworld? I thought it was the Devil¡­"

    The elf scoffed. "The Devil is only the King of the Underworld. Since Lord Helstor doesn''t wish to fight with his fellow gods, he made the Devil the King of the Underworld. He didn''t interfere when the Divine n and the Demon Race had a war in the past because he already detached himself from the Underworld."

    "That''s too good to be true," he said before he could stop himself from voicing out his honest thoughts. "I''m sorry if I offended you. I just never imagined that there would be a god who doesn''t care about power¨C a god who wants his "child" to be happy without gaining anything in return."

    Lukas smiled and nodded. "That''s understandable, Commander Quinzel. Lord Helstor already expected that you wouldn''t be easily convinced that he sincerely wanted to help you. After all, the other gods would usually offer a mutually beneficial contract with the children that they wish to help."

    He nodded in agreement.

    [I remember that Lady Roseheart made a contract with Lord Yule when we tried to free the Soul Beasts in the past. That''s how gods "help" their children. But Lord Helstor is saying that he wanted me to be happy without asking for something in return?]

    "Hence, Lord Helstor decided to show his sincerity through actions instead of words," the elf continued. "Commander Quinzel, do you still remember the long dream that you had about the woman who looked like Lady Mona Roseheart?"

    "It''s too long for me to remember every single detail," he said. "But I do remember that I seem to have feelings for the strangedy."

    "Commander Quinzel, as I said earlier, that wasn''t a long dream."

    His heart suddenly thumped hard and loud against his chest. "If it wasn''t a dream, then what was that?"

    "Those were the memories of your second life, Commander."

    His eyes widened in shock. "My second life? Then, are you saying that this life I''m living isn''t my first?"

    "You died in your first life because of your loyalty to His Majesty and Lady Roseheart," the elf said grimly. "During your first life, you apanied Lady Roseheart and her newborn child to cross over another world. Unfortunately, Lady Roseheart''s power wasn''t enough to keep the door open long enough. The three of you died when the door closed suddenly."

    He flinched when he heard that. "I failed to protect Lady Roseheart and the royal princess?"

    Since Lady Roseheart was a Roseheart, they already knew that the baby in her womb was a princess.

    And he failed to protect her.

    [I''m a failure as amander¡­]

    "Commander Quinzel, this isn''t the time for you to worry about other people," Lukas scolded him. "When Lady Roseheart and the newborn princess passed away, their souls returned to the Spirit World. However, your soul was stuck in another dimension. Thus, you were reborn in a different world."

    He clenched his hands tight. Although it was hard to believe, the story was starting to make sense. "Is that the world that I saw in my dream?"

    "Yes, that''s correct."

    "But why does thedy in that world look like Lady Roseheart?"

    The elf fell silent before he spoke again. "It''s because it''s a parallel world," he exined carefully. "It''s a world where another ''you'' exist. Thedy that you saw in your dream is the Lady Roseheart of that world. And Commander Quinzel, there is also a ''you'' that exists in that world just like what you''ve seen in your dream."

    Now his head began to hurt from too much thinking.

    Parallel world?

    Another Lady Roseheart? Another him? And in that world, he was in love with thatdy?

    "I guess seeing your second life in the form of a long dream isn''t enough."

    His chaotic thoughts were interrupted when all of a sudden, he saw Lukas standing in front of him. The elf was too close so he tried to step back. But much to his shock, he realized that he couldn''t move. A shadow that he didn''t control had tied his feet to the ground.

    [Dammit!]

    "Commander Quinzel, we won''t hurt you," Lukas said in a strangely calm voice. Then, he gently put a hand on the top of his head. "Lord Helstor wishes to send you to the body of the ''you'' in the world you saw for you to make a choiceter."

    Gavin was shocked to hear that. Make a choiceter? He didn''t understand that and he didn''t have the chance to ask because all of a sudden, everything had turned ck.

    <strong>***</strong>

    MONA wasn''t surprised when she saw Rufus and Amber Quinzel in Niki''s pce. She was on her way to report to the emperor about the new master of the Thunderbird when she came across the newlyweds.

    She had already seen their visit in her premonition the other way. That was the reason why she went to the Fairy Forest the other way. She asked Tara''s siblings for some herbal medicine that she wanted to give to Amber Quinzel, Rufus''s wife.

    "Greetings, Lady Roseheart," Rufus and Amber Quinzel greeted her politely.

    Mona smiled and greeted the two back. Since she wasn''t the type of person to beat around the bush (and she was really busy today), she immediately turned to Amber Quinzel and handed her the pouch where the precious herbal medicine was stored. "Lady Quinzel, I''d like to give this herbal medicine to you. It can cure almost any type of fever that a sickly child might get in their young life. This will be useful to you in the future."

    Amber Quinzel looked confused but she still epted the pouch that she handed to her. "Lady Roseheart, thank you but I''m quite confused," she said. "I don''t have rtives who have young children¡­"

    "Ah, you didn''t know yet?" she asked, genuinely confused. "Lady Quinzel, you are pregnant."

    Lady Quinzel looked shocked by what she said. And then, she asked in a concerned voice. "Lady Roseheart, are you saying that my child is going to be born weak?"

    [Ah, I should have been more careful.]

    One of the reasons why she didn''t have many friends was because she didn''t know how to deal with living humans most of the time. Since she had been dealing with Spirits ever since she was a child, she found it awkward talking to living humans--- especially to the noblewomen like her.

    She was about to apologize to Lady Quinzel for her tactlessness when all of a sudden, she froze when she got the chills.

    Then, her heart thumped hard against her chest.

    "Lady Roseheart?" Rufus Quinzel asked worriedly. "Are you alright?"

    "Commander Gavin Quinzel," Mona said in a scared and concerned voice. "His life force suddenly disappeared from this world."

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 303 - AREUM GO AND WON-SHIK KIM (1)

    <strong></strong>GAVIN found himself in a in, white room that seemed to be floating in endless darkness.

    But he could feel that he wasn''t alone. And he was right. When he calmed down, he heard a familiar voice echoing in the space.

    <"Gavin Quinzel, the ''you in this world is still different from you.">

    It was Lukas'' voice.

    But even though he could hear the elf''s voice and he could also feel his presence, he couldn''t see him.

    <"Hence, the ''you'' in this world has his own soul.">

    Gavin''s brows furrowed in confusion. "I''m confused," he said. "I thought that the "dream" I saw was actually the memories of my second life. But you''re saying that the ''me'' in that world has its own soul. Then, I can''t say that it was actually me."

    <"Gavin Quinzel, when Lady Roseheart opened the door that connects your world to the country on Earth called Korea, it created a strong earthquake. It killed a lot of people¨C including the five-year-old you in that world.">

    To say that he was shocked would be an understatement.

    Moreover, he felt guilty.

    <"When the door closed, the souls of Lady Roseheart and her newborn baby returned to the Spirit World. I told you earlier that Lady Roseheart and the young princess both died. It was true, but it didn''t end there. I hesitated to tell you the full story because I debated whether to reveal something that hasn''t happened yet in your current life or not.">

    He let out a frustrated sigh. "Just spill it, Lukas."

    <"Lady Roseheart actually gave birth to twins.">

    "Oh," he said, surprised. "We''re going to have twin princesses?"

    <"Lady Roseheart gave birth to a princess and a prince in her first life, and it would happen again in this lifetime.">

    To say that he was shocked by the revtion would be an understatement. "Are you for real? But the Rosehearts haven''t given birth to a male child for more than a hundred years now¡­"

    It was the reason why they already assumed that the child in Lady Roseheart''s womb was a princess.

    But Lukas was saying that a male Roseheart was born in this generation?

    "A prince," he said in a whisper. Then, he smiled. "His Majesty is going to have an heir."

    <"You seem happy for the emperor.">

    "Of course," he said. "I''m worried that the nobles might force His Majesty to take another wife that could produce a male child for the empire. Now that Lady Roseheart is fated to give birth to a prince, I''m relieved. Even if most of the nobles hate Lady Roseheart''s blood, they would still ept the child because they know that His Majesty wouldn''t take another wife."

    The elf fell silent for a few moments before he spoke again.

    <"Tara, the Queen of the Spirit World, couldn''t afford to lose the newborn princess. Hence, she secretly stole a portion of the newborn prince''s life force. Queen Tara revived the young princess using the life force of the princess''s twin brother. That technique wouldn''t normally work on other people. But since the young princess and the young prince were twins, their life forces were very simr to one another. Thus, it worked.">

    He was happy to hear that, but he was still worried. "But it''s only a portion¡­"

    <"The young princess was and is never destined to live long, Gavin Quinzel.">

    His heart sunk when he heard that.

    <"Don''t feel too bad for the young princess when your life story is sadder, Commander.">

    He clenched his hands when he heard that.

    <"I will continue my story about the you from another world.">

    His chest tightened once again. [The five-year-old "me" of that world died because of the earthquake caused by opening the door¡­]

    <"Gavin Quinzel, unlike the souls of Lady Roseheart and the newborn princess, your soul was stuck on earth. Since it couldn''t return to your original body, it entered the body of the you in that world.">

    "Then, what happened to the soul of the original owner of that body?"

    <"It wasn''t the boy''s time yet to die. But when your soul entered that body, you identally kicked the boy''s soul out.">

    His eyes widened in shock. "Are you saying that I stole his body?"

    <"It couldn''t be helped. Your soul is stronger than the boy''s, Gavin Quinzel. He died when you took over his body. But since your soul is strong, it helped the body that you possessedst long until help arrived.">

    His knucks buckled. [I stole the young boy''s life¡­]

    <"When your soul entered the young boy''s body, your memories as Gavin Quinzel were erased. Since technically, you have been "reincarnated," and the reincarnated people aren''t supposed to remember their past lives. Of course, there are exceptions.">

    As far as he knew, the exceptions that Lukas was talking about were people chosen by the gods to remember their past lives.

    <"You only didn''t forget your memories as Gavin Quinzel¨C you also absorbed the memories of the boy whose body and life you stole from. That boy''s name is Kim Won-shik. Last name ''Kim,'' first name ''Won-shik.''">

    Ah.

    He remembered that it was the name that Lady Go Areum called him.

    [That means ''Go'' is herst name and ''Areum'' is her first name.]

    <"You forgot the memories of your life as Kim Won-shik when you regressed back as Gavin Quinzel." This is now your third life, Commander.">

    Third life.

    Hah.

    He couldn''t help but heave a heavy sigh.

    <"Gavin Quinzel, you will now relive your life as Kim Won-shik.">

    Gavin took a deep breath, then he nodded. "I am ready."

    <strong>***</strong>

    KIM WON-shik''s childhood passed by in the blink of an eye.

    Gavin learned that he had a loving and rich family. He was an only child and his parents treasured him a lot. He felt lonely while "growing up" alone as Kim Won-shik because he missed Rufus¨C his baby brother.

    But that loneliness disappeared when Kim Won-shik turned eight years old. That was when he met the six-year-old Go Areum. He could tell right away that the young Kim Won-shik had fallen in love at first sight.

    [For some reason, I feel like I''m betraying His Majesty.]

    Just like Go Areum and Kim Won-shik, Gavin and Lady Roseheart were also childhood friends. In fact, they were also friends with His Majesty and Lady Juliet when they were little. It couldn''t be helped since noble children within the same faction were often times raised together.

    [I shouldn''t feel guilty. I''m not doing anything wrong. I have no recollection of my life as Gavin Quinzel when I lived as Kim Won-shik. If I had the memories of my past life, I wouldn''t dare to have feelings for Lady Go Areum. After all, she''s still the Lady Roseheart of this world.]

    And whatever world they were in, he firmly believed that Lady Mona Roseheart only belonged to His Majesty.

    He had to convince himself with that again and again.

    "Won-shik oppa, why are you such a crybaby?"

    Gavin was embarrassed.

    The now ten-year-old Kim Won-shik was being consoled by the eight-year-old Go Areum.

    [I hate that I can''t speak and act on my own. Everything that I do and say are all Won-shik''s will. Even though I''m inside his body, I''m nothing but a mere spectator. I guess it can''t be helped since I''m just reliving my past life, and the past can no longer be changed.]

    "The kids tease us because we look different from them," the young Go Areum said, then she sat beside the young Kim Won-shik. The two children were currently sitting on the sandbox in a yground near their school. "We look like this because we''re half Caucasian-half Korean. But it''s not bad. We''re humans just like them."

    "The k-kids in my c-ss are saying that I''m not K-Korean," the young Kim Won-shik said in a shaking voice. "I feel like I don''t b-belong there."

    The young Go Areum put an arm around the boy. "It''s okay, oppa," she consoled him. "I am here for you."

    Gavin smiled sadly. [Ah, Won-shik Kim has fallen in love.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    FOR the first time since Gavin relived his life as Kim Won-shik, he felt the urge to kill.

    Kim Won-shik was now an eighteen-year-old high school senior. But he was still the same scaredy little cat that he was when he was a child. The coward let his "ssmates" beat him up when he refused to give Go Areum''s contact number.

    Right now, Kim Won-shik was on the ground while hugging his smartphone tight close to his chest. He had his eyes closed while letting his bullies kick and stomp on him.

    [I appreciate that you refuse to give them Lady Areum Go''s phone number. But Won-shik Kim, you should take care of yourself first. Moreover, you should train. You''re so skinny and light-weight.]

    Hah!

    If only he could control that body, he would have trained it a long time ago.

    "Won-shik oppa!"

    It was Go Areum.

    When Kim Won-shik opened his eyes, Gavin was shocked when he saw Go Areum beat up the three bullies. He was amazed by the youngdy''s neat movements. Her kicks, in particr, were impressive.

    "Taekwondo," Kim Won-shik whispered to himself while watching the scene in disbelief. "I forgot that Areum-ah is a ck belter¡­"

    Ah.

    Gavin also remembered Kim Won-shik past memories. When the two were in middle school, Kim Won-shik would always watch Go Areumpete in a martial artspetition called ''taekwondo.''

    "Stop bullying my oppa!" Go Areum yelled at the bullies who were now on the ground while coughing up blood. "If I see you bully my Won-shik oppa again, I will kill you all!"

    It wasn''t something that an athelete should be saying.

    But it worked on the bullies who cursed at Go Areum while running away.

    Gavin was fuming internally. [I want to kill those kids¡­]

    "Oppa, are you alright?" Go Areum asked worriedly, then she knelt beside Kim Won-shik and helped him sit up. "Let''s go to the clinic."

    Kim Won-shik, who felt embarrassed for being saved by Go Areum again, took it out on the poordy. "I didn''t ask for your help," he said while ring at Go Areum. Then, he stood up and ran away from her. "Don''t act friendly with me anymore!"

    Gavin could only sigh. [Won-shik Kim, you''ll regret this.]

    ***

    AND GAVIN was right.

    That afternoon, Kim Won-shik stood in front of the apartment building where he and Go Areum lived. Of course, he was there to apologize.

    The young boy smiled when she saw the youngdy.

    But that smiled disappeared when he saw that an unfamiliar boy had his arm wrapped around Go Areum''s shoulders, while Go Areum''s arm was snaked around the boy''s waist. It wasn''t a sign of intimacy though.

    After all, he could clearly see that the boy was limping. Thus, Go Areum was helping him walk.

    "Areum-ah, what happened?" Kim Won-shik asked worriedly when he approached the youngdy. "And who is this boy?"

    "Ah, oppa. Your bullies came to my ss to get their revenge," Go Areum said casually, then he turned to the limping boy beside her. "This kid is new to our ss. He protected me but he got beaten up." The youngdy frowned. "Those bullies fight dirty! They called their university hyungs to gang up on us!"

    ''Hyung'' meant older brother, and it was a term used by younger males to address either their biological older brothers or males older than them.

    Gavin was angry again.

    [Those cheap bastards! I can''t believe they tried to get their revenge on a youngdy! They should be ashamed of themselves. They''re not real men!]

    Kim Won-shik felt the same.

    Gavin could feel the frustration in Kim Won-shik''s heart. He also felt guilty that he left Go Areum alone. But he was relieved to know that someone protected her in his ce.

    Kim Won-shik turned to the boy and noticed the dried blood around his mouth, as well as the bruises on his cheek.

    Gavin, on the other hand, froze in shock internally.

    [That face¡­]

    Even though it was beaten up, the blood and the bruises couldn''t hide the attractiveness of the boy with a stoic face.

    He was suddenlypelled to bow and kneel.

    [It''s His Majesty of this world¡­]

    "Who¡­?" Kim Won-shik asked while feeling insecure because of how handsome the new kid was. Then, he turned to Go Areum because he was afraid that he might go blind because of the other boy''s visual. "He''s like us."

    By that, Kim Won-shik meant that the new kid also didn''t look full Korean.

    "Yes, Oppa. His mother is from London while his father is Korean," Go Areum said with a bright smile on her face. "His name is Yoon Jung."

    Last name ''Yoon,'' first name ''Jung.''

    Gavin, for some reason, felt like Kim Won-shik already lost to Yoon Jung.

    [It seems like even here, the Lady Roseheart and His Majesty of this world are meant to be together.]

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 304 - AREUM GO AND WON-SHIK KIM (2)

    AT FIRST, Gavin was happy to be friends with Yoon Jung¨C the Emperor Niki of that world called Earth. Kim Won-shik, Go Areum, and Yoon Jung eventually became good friends who created many precious memories together.

    But as years passed by, his heart began to break for Kim Won-shik.

    He knew that Kim Won-shik was very much in love with Go Areum who eventually ended up having a romantic rtionship with Yoon Jung. But the fool couldn''t leave the two because he also treasured Yoon Jung who became his best friend despite being older than thetter.

    And so, in the end, Kim Won-shik chose to protect his friendship with Go Areum and Yoon Jung.

    [Moreover, Kim Won-shik knew that he''d get rejected if he confessed to Go Areum anyway. But at least to me, he should have confessed. Because maybe by then, Kim Won-shik would learn how to detach himself from Go Areum and Kim Won-shik.]

    That was until Gavin saw a chance for Kim Won-shik.

    "Sunbae."

    "How long are you going to call me ''sunbae?'' I just graduated from the university so I''m no longer your sunbae," Kim Won-shik said to Go Areum. ''Sunbabe'' meant ''senior.'' It was proper of her to address him that way because they both went to the same university, and he was two years ahead of her. But they grew up together so calling him ''sunbae'' sounded distantpared to the time she used to call him ''oppa.'' "Do you hate me or something?"

    "It''s not like that, sunbae," Go Areum said in a weak voice, then she sat beside him. "I just don''t want my friends to know that we are close friends."

    The fact that only the two of them were in the living room of his apartment was proof of the strong friendship that they had.

    Gavin was actually shocked the first time Go Areum stayed overnight at Kim Won-shik''s ce. It happened when the youngdy got drunk during the freshman orientation party of her department. Since Go Areum missed thest bus and Yoon Jung was currently overseas, Kim Won-shik picked her up at the bus stop and let her stay the night in his ce.

    In his world, that kind of act would have been a huge scandal.

    But to be honest, after living as Kim Won-shik for more than twenty years now, he was already getting used to this world.

    "Why didn''t you want your friends to know that we are close?" Kim Won-shik asked, interrupting Gavin''s thoughts. "Are you embarrassed of me, Areum-ah?"

    "It''s not like that, oppa," Go Areum said, finally addressing him as ''oppa'' again. "I just don''t want my friends to pester me to set them on a date with you. If I agree to introduce one of my friends to you, then the others would bother me as well. I don''t want them to fight because of something like that."

    "I don''t understand. Why would your friends want to have a date with me?"

    She looked at him in disbelief, then sheughed softly. "I guess that''s your charm, oppa. You''re handsome, kind, smart, and well-off and yet, you''re not aware of your good points."

    Kim Won-shik thought that if Go Areum was aware of his good points, then why didn''t she fall in love with him instead of Yoon Jung? Yoon Jung was also handsome, smart, and very rich. But that punk wasn''t kind. Well, Yoon Jung was good to him and Go Areum. Still, that brat was harsh to other people.

    After having those thoughts, Gavin realized that Kim Won-shik was aware of his good points that Go Areum mentioned.

    [Won-shik Kim just doesn''t care because those so-called good points aren''t enough to make Areum Go look his way.]

    "Enough about me," Kim Won-shik said as if he was embarrassed, then he changed his topic. "You seem down, Areum-ah. Did you have a fight with Jung-ya again?"

    Go Areum fell silent for a couple of seconds.

    Then, she sobbed loudly like a child.

    Of course, Kim Won-shik panicked. "Go Areum, why are you crying? Are you hurt? Who hurt you?"

    "If I say who hurt me, are you going to beat him up for me?"

    Kim Won-shik who instantly realized who hurt Go Areum fell silent.

    Only Yoon Jung could make her cry after all.

    It wasn''t like Kim Won-shik was afraid of Yoon Jung who fought like a gangster despiteing from a wealthy and decent family. He just knew that if he hurt Yoon Jung, Go Areum would also get hurt. And he didn''t want to hurt any of his most precious friends.

    At that moment, Gavin felt frustrated for Kim Won-shik.

    [You''re such a good person, Won-shik Kim. And you love Areum Go and Jung Yoon too much. You should learn how to be greedy.]

    Gavin was now capable of having such thoughts.

    After living as Kim Won-shik for more than two decades now, he had epted the fact that Go Areum wasn''t Lady Mona Roseheart. And Yoon Jung wasn''t Emperor Niki.

    But Gavin was Kim Won-shik.

    Like what Lukas said, his soul entered the young Kim Won-shik''s body. Thus, the one who fell in love with Go Areum was him. And while reliving his life in this world, he also began to develop feelings for the youngdy. It wasn''t hard to love a wonderful woman like her.

    [I''m not betraying His Majesty.]

    It was a shame that he could only be a spectator while watching Kim Won-shik get his heart broken because of Go Areum and Yoon Jung.

    "Won-shik oppa."

    "What is it, Areum-ah?"

    Go Areum turned to him with a tear-stricken face. "That bastard Yoon Jung won''t being back," she said bitterly. If he remembered it correctly, Yoon Jung went to London for a vacation during their university break. But Go Areum was saying that he wouldn''t being back to Korea anymore? "I found out that he''s now engaged to a woman that his family chose for him."

    "What?!"

    "Apparently, that woman is a part of the British Royal Family," she continued between sobs. "I G*ogled her and I found out that she''s the daughter of a duke, and she''s also a famous equestrienne. Since Yoon Jung''s maternal family is also a part of the nobility, they wanted Yoon Jung to marry someone with royal blood."

    Kim Won-shik was genuinely shocked.

    He knew that Yoon Jung was very rich. But he didn''t expect him to have noble blood. And his fianc¨¦e had royal blood?

    "Did Yoon Jung say that he''ll marry his fianc¨¦e?"

    "He told me not to wait for him anymore. Apparently, he doesn''t have the power to go against his family''s decision," Go Areum said, then she closed her eyes tight while sobbing. "I hate him, oppa. I hate Yoon Jung. I''ll kill him if I see him again!"

    Kim Won-shik could only hug Go Areum tofort her.

    But his mind was a mess. He couldn''t believe that he secretly enlisted in the military just when the woman he loved needed a friend to depend on! In his defense, he didn''t want to work right away after his graduation. Thus, he decided to fulfill his duty as a Korean man first.

    Gavin groaned when he remembered that Kim Won-shik was scheduled to enter the military next week, and he had to stay there for two years. [Won-shik Kim, your timing is always awful!]

    <strong>***</strong>

    TWO YEARS had passed by quickly.

    Gavin actually enjoyed Kim Won-shik''s time in the military. He was reminded of the time that he trained with the members of the White Lion Order. And once again, he missed Rufus¨C his baby brother and his first student. It was him who taught Rufus how to use a sword.

    [But my baby brother is more interested in rifles than swords¡­]

    Anyway, Kim Won-shik was also happy during his two-year service. After all, he had regrly received letters from Go Areum. And during his breaks, he would often visit her. Thus, the two had gotten closer for the past two years.

    "Areum-ah said that she has a surprise for me," Kim Won-shik mumbled to himself. "I wonder what it is."

    Today was the day Kim Won-shik would be released from the military.

    Go Areum said that she would be there to wee him back. Moreover, she also said that she had a surprise for him.

    Gavin was also excited for Kim Won-shik, but that excitement died as soon as he saw Go Areum¡­.

    ¡­ with Yoon Jung.

    Go Areum and Yoon Jung were also holding hands.

    Gavin''s heart was broken right then and there. [Won-shik Kim, you should at least punch Yoon Jung¡­]

    But of course, the him of that world was too kind and selfless.

    "I see that the two of you have made up," Kim Won-shik said in a cheerful voice despite the pain in his heart. He even smiled and opened his arms. "Come here and give me a hug, you troublemakers!"

    Go Areum and Yoon Jung bothughed, then the two gave Kim Won-shik a tight hug.

    <strong>***</strong>

    "WON-SHIK hyung, I''m sorry."

    Gavin let out a sigh. [So, Jung Yoon knows?]

    Kim Won-shik, on the other hand, pretended that he didn''t know why Yoon Jung was apologizing to him. "What are you sorry for?"

    Right now, the two were having soju and anju (food consumed with alcohol like stir-fried octopus, jokbal, and sundae) in a ''pojangmacha''¨C a food stall in a small tent. He suddenly remembered that a few years ago, Yoon Jung didn''t like eating street food. But now, the punk could even eat sundae that he used to call "disgusting."

    Yoon Jung took the soju in his ss shot in one gulp before he spoke again. "I''ve always known that you also have feelings for Areum, hyung. But I pretended not to know. I''m sure that I''ve hurt you when I left her two years ago. This may sound selfish but despite everything, I''m still d that you were there for Areum when I was being a dick."

    Kim Won-shikughed at Yoon Jung''s interesting choice of words. "Yes, leaving Areum was a dick move. I''m d that you''vee to your senses."

    "Hyung¨C"

    "Don''t apologize to me," he said, cutting him off. Then, he put a piece of meat in his mouth before speaking again. "Jung-ah, you didn''t do anything wrong. Why do you think I didn''t confess to Areum these past two years?" When Yoon Jung didn''t respond, he answered his own question. "It''s because I know that Areum is still in love with you. And to be honest? I don''t mind losing her to you because you''re my best friend, Jung-ah."

    The usually stoic Yoon Jung began to look emotional.

    Even Gavin was touched by Kim Won-shik and Yoon Jung''s friendship. He was reminded of the friendship that he had with Emperor Niki. And the emperor wasn''t just a friend to him. They were also family since the two of them were cousins.

    "Instead of apologizing to me, just promise me that you''ll never leave Areum again," Kim Won-shik said. "I heard that you were disowned by your family after you called off your engagement with your fianc¨¦e."

    He also heard that Yoon Jung lost his inheritance, too.

    Apparently, it took Yoon Jung two years to return by Go Areum''s side because he practically had to start from scratch to stand on his own two feet. Yoon Jung, for the first time in his life, had to work to save up money. He only told Go Areum everything when he finally returned because ording to Yoon Jung, he wasn''t sure that he''d make it back since his family was making his life more difficult back in London.

    "I''m alright, hyung," Yoon Jung assured him. "I''m lucky that Julia turns out to be a good person. She helped me stand on my own feet, and she also protected me from my family who was hell-bent on making my life a living hell. Since Julia is a royal and wealthier than our family, my parents gave up on harassing me after she threatened them."

    "Is Julia your ex-fianc¨¦e?"

    "Yes, hyung," Yoon Jung said. "Thankfully, I wasn''t Julia''s style. Plus, she''s very free-spirited."

    Gavin was reminded of thete Empress Juliet because of what Yoon Jung said.

    [Like Miss Julia, our Empress Juliet was also kind. Moreover, even though Empress Juliet and Emperor Niki got married in the end, thete empress still helped His Majesty and Lady Roseheart to get back together.]

    "Don''t waste the opportunity that your ex-fianc¨¦e has given you, Jung-ah," Kim Won-shik said, then he put a hand on Yoon Jung''s shoulder and squeezed it gently. "You better make Areum happy, okay?"

    Yoon Jung who rarely smiled gave him a warm smile. "I will, hyung," he promised. "Thank you for supporting us."

    Gavin could only smile and shake his head, finally acknowledging the fact that he was indeed Kim Won-shik.

    [I can be this selfless, indeed.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOU WERE scouted by a talent agency, oppa?"

    Gavin, for some reason, felt embarrassed after what happened to Kim Won-shik that day. [Is my face really attractive?]

    "Yes, I was scouted earlier," Kim Won-shik said while scratching his cheek. Just like Gavin, Kim Won-shik was also embarrassed. But he was happy. "I didn''t think that I''d get scouted at this age."

    He was on his way to the coffee shop where he was supposed to meet Areum when he was scouted by a female staff from a well-known talent agency. It seemed legit.

    "Oppa, you''re only twenty-seven," Areum said, then she took a sip of her matcha tea before she spoke again. "You''re still young. Plus, it''s never toote to start a new career. You told me that you wanted to quit your job. Why don''t you give it a try?"

    "Acting?"

    "Uh-huh. I remember that you used to be a member of the Theatre Club from elementary to middle school, oppa. You only stopped when acting when we were in high school because your parents wanted you to focus on your studies."

    That was true.

    Kim Won-shik only took up a business course in college because his parents wanted him to take over theirpany someday.

    "The agent who scouted invited me for an audition," Kim Won-shik said. "I''ll give it a try."

    Go Areum smiled and nodded. "You can do it, oppa."

    He just smiled and sipped his tea.

    A few momentster, Yoon Jung finally arrived.

    "Sorry, I''mte," Yoon Jung said, then he kissed Go Areum on the forehead before he sat beside her. Then, he looked at him with sparkling eyes. "Hyung, Areum and I have something to tell you."

    He already expected that it was the case.

    The three of them were all busy people. Go Areum (who was now a TV reporter) and Yoon Jung (who started a now growing game developmentpany) wouldn''t ask to meet Kim Won-shik (who was now a Marketing executive) just to hang out.

    Well, they do meet just to hang out sometimes. But Go Areum and Yoon Jung''s tone when they called him the other way sounded serious.

    "I figured that much," Kim Won-shik said with a smile on his face. "What is it?"

    Go Areum and Yoon Jung looked at each other lovingly before the two turned to him and spoke at the same time. "We are pregnant!"

    Gavin''s heart sank at that moment.

    But it was only the beginning of the biggest tragedy of his life.

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 305 - AREUM GO AND WON-SHIK KIM (3)

    GAVIN was embarrassed yet happy.

    Kim Won-shik made his acting debut just four months after he decided to join the talent agency that gave him a casting offer. His debut was just a cameo role though. And he only had one line. Yet, Go Areum still prepared a feast despite being heavily pregnant by now.

    Right now, Kim Won-shik and Go Areum were at the apartmentplex where Go Areum lived with Yoon Jung. The two of them already watched the drama where he had a small appearance. Yoon Jung was runningte because today was also theunch of hispany''s new mobile game.

    Go Areum wasn''t able to attend theunch because she was already six-month pregnant. She was already on maternal leave and seldom went out of the house because her pregnancy was quite sensitive. Thus, Kim Won-shik was touched when she cooked for him even though she didn''t have to.

    "Congrattions, oppa!" Go Areum, who was sitting on the couch beside him, said while pping her hands. "You did well."

    Kim Won-shik let out an embarrassedugh. "Thank you, Areum-ah."

    "It''s too bad that Jung isn''t here," she said while shaking her head. "Thank goodness I was able to record the episode. Let''s watch it again when hees home, oppa."

    "Sure," Kim Won-shik said, then he looked at the time in his watch. "He said he''d be here in twenty minutes. It''s been half an hour since hest called."

    "I''ll call him again."

    Go Areum stood up to get her phone that she felt on the kitchen ind.

    Kim Won-shik then turned to the television when a piece of breaking news interrupted the CF. It was about a huge traffic ident near their area. When the news anchor began to read the names of the victims, he froze from shock.

    <"Yoon Jung, the CEO of Moonstone Games, is among the victims¡­">

    "Jung-ah¡­" Go Areum mumbled in shock as she dropped her phone on the floor. "Oppa, Jung-ah¡­!"

    Kim Won-shik immediately stood up and faced Go Areum who looked very pale at the moment. "Let''s go, Areum-ah."

    Gavin could only hope for the best.

    <strong>***</strong>

    [HOW could this happen?]

    Gavin was shocked by the things that happened in the past hours.

    Kim Won-shik had to do everything because Go Areum fainted after they went to the hospital only to find out that Yoon Jung had passed away. Her parents were currently staying with her in the hospital.

    So right now, only Kim Won-shik was in the hospital funeral home while attending to the guests. Most of them were Yoon Jung''s employees and business partners. Theirmon friends also attended the funeral.

    He sent a message to Yoon Jung''s family but he hadn''t received a response yet.

    "Yoon Jung, how could you do this to us?" Kim Won-shik, whose eyes were swollen from crying, asked in a cracked voice while looking at Yoon Jung''s photo. "You promised me that you wouldn''t leave Areum again. But you''re gone now." He thumped his chest out of frustration. "And this time, it''s not only Areum that you left behind¨C you also left behind your child, Yoon Jung."

    Gavin silently cried with Kim Won-shik the whole night.

    After all, Kim Won-shik was also someone that Yoon Jung had left behind.

    <strong>***</strong>

    "AREUM-ah, let''s go home."

    Gavin''s heart broke while watching Areum.

    She was kneeling on the floor while staring at Yoon Jung''s urn inside a ss box. He noticed that Go Areum was caressing her baby bump while crying silently.

    [She looks so pitiful¡­]

    Kim Won-shik, on the other hand, was kneeling beside her while trying to help her stand, But Go Areum wouldn''t budge.

    "Areum-ah, please think about your baby," Kim Won-shik begged her. "And please take care of yourself. That''s what Yoon Jung would have wanted, too."

    "Oppa, how can I live without Yoon Jung?"

    "Go Areum, have you gone crazy?" Kim Won-shik scolded her. It was hard for him to scold her when she was mourning. But he needed her toe to her senses. "How did you live before you met Yoon Jung?"

    "I don''t know, oppa," Go Areum said in a cracked voice, then she closed her eyes and cried harder. "I can no longer remember how I lived my life before I met Jung."

    Kim Won-shik bit his lower lip while holding back his tears. He couldn''t break down when Go Areum was in a poor state because of Yoon Jung''s death. For her and her baby, he had to be strong. "Areum-ah, before you met Jung, you have me."

    She slowly opened her eyes and turned to her with a crestfallen face.

    "I''m here for you and your baby," Kim Won-shik said while wiping the tears off of Go Areum''s face with his hands. "I promised Jung that I will take care of both of you. So please depend on me, okay?"

    Go Areum looked like she was about to cry again. Then, she pressed her forehead against his shoulder. "Oppa¡­"

    Gavin, at that moment, could no longer avoid the inevitable.

    [I have fallen deeply in love with Areum Go.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    "IS NABI-ya already asleep?"

    Gavin felt disappointed.

    It was already 2AM and Kim Won-shik just finished shooting for his new drama. He wasn''t the male lead but his role as the second male lead was quite big. Thus, he had been crazy busy for the past few weeks.

    But of course, he made sure to make time for Nabi''s first birthday.

    [In Korean age, Nabi is already two years old.]

    After his work, he went straight to Go Areum''s house. It was the house that Yoon Jung bought for their family. But since Yoon Jung was already gone, only Go Areum and Nabi lived there now.

    "Of course, she is. I''mte," Kim Won-shik said, disappointed that he missed Nabi''s birthday party. In fact, it wasn''t her birthday anymore since it was already past midnight. "I wanted to see Nabi-ya wear the dress I chose for her."

    Go Areumughed softly.

    Gavin''s heart fluttered. [It''s nice to see and hear Areum Gough again.]

    Kim Won-shik felt the same.

    It had only been a little over a year since Yoon Jung passed away.

    Go Areum gave birth to a healthy baby girl that she named ''Nabi.'' She hadn''t gone back to work yet because she wanted to be a hands-on mother. It seemed like spending time with her daughter, albeit being exhausting, was good for her mental health.

    Nabi was also a good child. She didn''t cry as much as other babies. Most of all, Nabi''s angelic face was enough to get their energy back.

    And thankfully, Yoon Jung''s family was helping Go Areum financially. It seemed like Yoon Jung''s parents truly regretted losing their son untimely. Maybe Mr. and Mrs. Yoon were trying to make it up to him by taking care of Go Areum and Nabi in their son''s ce.

    "I''m sure Nabi-ya will love your gift," Go Areum said with a smile on her face. "I''ll put it on her on our vacation."

    Go Areum''s parents booked a cruise ship for a short tour as their birthday gift for Nabi. Mr. and Mrs. Go would apany them so that they could look after Nabi while Go Areum rested. Her parents knew that she also needed a well-deserved break.

    "I''ll take a lot of pictures and send them to you, oppa."

    That made him smile. "Thank you, Areum-ah."

    Go Areum smiled and shook her head. "I should be the one thanking you, oppa," she said sincerely. "Thank you for always being there for me and Nabi-ya."

    Kim Won-shik gently patted Go Areum''s head. "You''re doing well, Areum-ah."

    Gavin smiled at the warm scene. [Kim Won-shik, we truly love Areum Go, don''t we?]

    <strong>***</strong>

    THE DAY Kim Won-shik received his first main lead role offer should have been a joyous day. But it was also the day that he received the terrible news that almost made him go insane: the cruise ship that Go Areum and Nabi boarded had sunk into the sea.

    Go Areum''s parents were among those who died¡­

    ¡­ and so was Nabi.

    [Nabi was only one year old!]

    Gavin cried with Kim Won-shik as he hugged the wailing Go Areum.

    When he got to the hospital where Go Areum and the rest of the survivors were admitted to, he found her screaming in pain and anger as she mourned the loss of her young daughter.

    Kim Won-shik¨C no.

    Gavin.

    He was Kim Won-shik so he shouldn''t address the him of this world as if it was a different person. After all, he had already embraced all the feelings and the memories of Kim Won-shik as his own. Because it was the truth anyway.

    "Oppa, my baby¡­ my eomma and my appa¡­" Go Areum sobbed while clutching to him tight. "They''re all gone¡­ I should have died with them!"

    "Areum-ah, don''t say that," Gavin begged while hugging her tight. He could feel her body tremble. But he couldn''t do anything other than hug her as he cried with her. [If only I have the power to change the things that happened in the past¡­ ]

    <strong>***</strong>

    GAVIN was startled when he woke up in Go Areum''s hospital room alone.

    The patient was gone, and he had a bad feeling about it.

    He immediately bolted out of the room and looked for Go Areum. When he didn''t find her in the bathroom, he immediately notified the nurses at the station about what happened. The nurse assured him that they would notify the other staff and look for the patient.

    But he couldn''t simply just wait so he looked everywhere until he remembered the rooftop.

    With his heart thumping fast and hard against his chest, he took the elevator and ran towards the rooftop¨C hoping and praying that his bad feeling was wrong.

    But as soon as he opened the door, his heart sank.

    Go Areum was leaning against the railing dangerously while looking up at the setting sun.

    "Areum-ah," Gavin said softly while approaching her carefully. "Let''s step away from the railing, hmm? It''s dangerous¡­"

    Go Areum turned to him, then she smiled sadly. "Oppa, I''m tired."

    "I know, Areum-ah," he said. "I know that you''re tired. But¡­" He extended his hand to her. "But oppa is here. You can lean on me. Always."

    "Oppa, I''m grateful to you. I''ll forever be in debt to you," she said in a tired voice. "But I don''t think I can continue living now that my baby is gone. I know that I still have you, oppa. But I want to be with Nabi and Jung¡­"

    It hurt.

    Of course, it hurt to know that he wasn''t enough reason for Go Areum to live.

    But it wasn''t important right now. Even if he wasn''t enough, he just had to work hard for her to want to live again. He wouldn''t give up on Go Areum.

    "Areum-ah, I love you," he said softly. "And I mean that in a romantic sense."

    Go Areum looked surprised by his sudden confession. "Oppa¡­"

    Her reaction told him that she didn''t really have any idea about his feelings for her. Go Areum was seriously dense. But he also loved that about her.

    "I''ve loved you since we were kids," he continued with his confession. "And I will continue doing so. I don''t expect you to love me back. But please. Please allow me to take care of you. I will do my best to give you reasons to live."

    This time, his voice cracked. He was scared to lose Go Areum. If he lost her as well, he might seriously go insane.

    "Please don''t give up on yourself, Areum-ah," he begged her while crying. "Please take my hand¡­"

    Go Areum smiled again but it was still sad. "Oppa, thank you for saying that you love me," she said softly. "I''m d that those were thest words I''d get to hear before I sleep."

    After saying that, she closed her eyes and leaned against the railing until she fell.

    Gavin ran as fast as he could and tried to grab Go Areum, but he was already toote. "No!" he cried while watching her fall to her death. "Areum-ah!"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "AREUM-AH!"

    Gavin yelled as he got up.

    His heart was still beating fast and hard against his chest. He was sweating profusely despite the chilly air. But he noticed that he felt weak. His Mana was also fluctuating.

    [Wait¡­ Mana?]

    He looked at his hands and arms. When he saw the symbol of the White Lion Knights on his gloves, he realized that he was back in his world as Gavin Quinzel. After he calmed down, he noticed that he was still in the underground mausoleum in the Foregotten Graveyard.

    To be precise, he was inside the coffin.

    But he was alone. He could no longer feel the presence of the elf that he was with.

    "Lukas?" Gavin called for the elf even though he was certain that he wasn''t there. "Show yourself to me. I need to talk to you!"

    He tried to stand but much to his shock, his knees buckled until he fell down andnded on his bottoms. Hah! He couldn''t believe that he couldn''t even muster the strength to stand. Worse, he felt that his body got lighter. He also looked skinny.

    [What happened to me?]

    His thoughts were interrupted when he heard voices outside. Then, came the familiar auras of the people close to him.

    "Gavin, are you there?"

    His ears perked up. "Lady Roseheart?"

    A few momentster, a ball of fire lit up the whole ce.

    He didn''t care about that though.

    After hearing Lady Mona Roseheart''s voice, he mustered all the remaining strength in his body. Then, he stood up and ran towards her. When the lighting from the fireball fell on Lady Roseheart''s face, his heart once again thumped hard against his chest.

    [That lovely face¡­]

    Before he knew it, he did what his heart wanted him to.

    He hugged Lady Roseheart tight.

    "You''re here," Gavin whispered to himself. He knew that he was being delusional to think that Lady Roseheart and Go Areum were the same people. But admittedly, he still couldn''t think straight. All he knew was he needed to fill the void in his heart or else, he''d go crazy. [Aerum-ah¡­]

    Gavin was too absorbed in his delusion that he didn''t notice the pair of ash-gray eyes that turned glowing red eyes while drilling a hole in his head.

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 306 - WORDS OF THE COSMIC TREE

    GAVIN suddenly felt like Death itself was breathing at the back of his neck.

    He immediately opened his eyes and found the source of his difort.

    That was when he saw it.

    A pair of glowing red eyes were ring at him.

    [His Majesty¡­]

    He subconsciously let go of Lady Mona Roseheart.

    If looks could kill, he would have dropped dead by now. Since Emperor Niki was a little friendly to him, he almost forgot how scary he could be.

    [But what is the emperor doing here?]

    "Gavin, do you know how long you''ve gone missing?" Emperor Niki asked when he probably noticed that he looked confused. "Three months. You''ve been missing for three months."

    To say that he was shocked would be an understatement.

    [I''ve been unconscious for three months?]

    His gaze subconsciously fell on his now skinny arms.

    Now he understood why his body felt light and weak. He had been unconscious for three months. It was a miracle that he was still alive. Where did he get the sufficient nutrients needed to keep his body alive while he was reliving his second life?

    That was when he remembered that he woke up inside the coffin.

    [The coffin. It has the energy of Lukas'' Darkness attribute. Did Lukas put me inside the coffin to supply me with enough nutrients?]

    "Gavin, it seems like you just woke up," Lady Roseheartmented while looking around. "Were you unconscious in this empty basement all this time?]

    Empty?

    He turned around to look for the coffin where he was probably "sleeping" on for the past three months. But much to his shock, the coffin was already gone.

    "Gavin, let me check on your condition first."

    He turned to Lady Roseheart again.

    For some reason, he could still see Go Areum''s face in her. Of course, Lady Roseheart and Go Areum had the same face. But what he meant was he found it hard to differentiate the two now. It seemed like his mind was still in the gutter.

    [It can''t be helped because even though it has only been three months in this world, I spent my other life in Korea for more than twenty years.]

    And thest memory he had was when Go Areum took her own life.

    [Areum-ah¡­]

    He felt gutted again as he clenched his hands tight. Although he was aware that the one in front of him was Lady Roseheart, he couldn''t help but think that she was Go Areum. He felt emotional as he remembered how he failed to save her.

    [Areum-ah, I''m sorry I was useless¡­]

    His left hand subconsciously reached for Lady Roseheart''s face¡­

    ¡­ but was forced to stop when His Majesty Emperor Niki suddenly grabbed him by the wrist.

    The emperor''s grip was enough to bring him back to his senses.

    He was thinking of ame excuse as to why he was acting that way when all of a sudden, he felt his body stagger.

    "Hey," Emperor Niki said as his grip around his arm tightened. "You''re so weak."

    He was about to say something but then he heard a familiar voice.

    "Brother!"

    Gavin smiled when he saw Rufus approaching him. "My baby brother¡­"

    Then, everything went ck.

    <strong>***</strong>

    <em><strong>[Three months ago¡­]</strong></em>

    "MONA, what do you mean when you said that Gavin has been cut off from this world?"

    "Your Majesty, when you assigned Commander Quinzel to be my personal knight while I''m at the pce, he vowed to protect me with his life," Mona exined to Niki. But since Glenn and Rufus Quinzel were also in his office, she had to address him formally. "A knight''s vow creates a thread that connects him to the person that he gave his vow to. That thread is tied to my soul to his. And that thread was suddenly cut off earlier."

    "What does it mean if the thread was cut off, Lady Roseheart?" Rufus asked nervously. "It doesn''t mean that my brother is dead, does it?"

    Glenn looked horrified by Rufus'' question, then the knight turned to her with hopeful eyes. "Lady Roseheart, it''s not like that. Right?"

    "I''ll be honest with you," she said, then she addressed the three men with her gaze before she spoke again. "Usually, the thread only gets cut-off when the other person is dead."

    Glenn gasped loudly.

    Rufus looked like he was about to cry.

    Only Niki remained calm as he sipped his tea. "''Usually,'' she said," the emperor said. "But we''re talking about Gavin here. I don''t believe that he''d die easily."

    She nodded in agreement. "I also don''t think that Commander Quinzel is already dead," she said, giving hope to both Rufus and Glenn. "But I''m certain that his soul has separated from his physical body. That''s also one way to cut the thread that connects his soul to mine."

    "Lady Roseheart, if my brother''s soul is separated from his physical body¡­ isn''t it dangerous?"

    "It is dangerous," she confirmed with a firm nod. "An average person would die if their soul is separated from their body for a whole day. That''s why we need to find Commander Quinzel as soon as possible."

    "Lady Roseheart, themander is not an average person," Glenn said carefully. "How long do you think he''dst¡­?"

    "I think Commander Quinzel couldst at least one week, and two weeks at max," she said. "But it''s only if the cause of his atose state" is natural."

    Niki raised his eyebrow at her. "Are you saying that it''s possible that someone forcefully pulled Gavin''s soul from his physical body?"

    "Yes, Your Majesty," she said. "If that''s the case, then that person may extend Commander Quinzel''s life span by supplying him with enough nutrients to keep his physical body alive."

    The silence that ensued after that ended when Rufus'' pocket watch rang.

    "Excuse me. It''s a message from Amber," Rufus exined while pulling the pocket watch out of his pocket. "I asked my wife to look for my brother''s traces so we could get a clue as to where he has gone to."

    Oh, that was smart.

    Amber Quinzel had the ability to see the residue of one''s Mana.

    [That''s a useful ability.]

    "Ah, Amber said that she followed the residue of my brother''s Mana in our estate," Rufus said while reading the message in his pocket watch. Then, he raised his head and turned to her. "Lady Roseheart, my wife said that my brother''s traces disappeared in the library that only the heir of our family could get in. But Amber also said that it seems like someone has tried to erase my brother''s traces. Apparently, a substance that resembles a Darkness attribute has covered the residue of my brother''s Mana."

    The Darkness attribute, huh?

    She was suddenly reminded of the elf that Gavin Quinzel met in the Forest of Impurity. It seemed like themander was hiding something from them.

    "I guess it has something to do with the elf that we found in the Forest of Impurity," she said, then she turned to Niki. "Your Majesty, I''ll go and meet the Cosmic Tree."

    "I''ll go with you, Mona."

    "You know you can''t, Your Majesty," she said while shaking her head. "The Cosmic Tree only allows me to meet her. My Mother Tree won''t talk if I bring anyone with me."

    Niki frowned but in the end, he let out a sigh. "Alright," he said. "But don''t take too long, Mona."

    Mona smiled and nodded. "I''ll return as soon as I can, Your Majesty."

    Unbeknownst to her, she would unintentionally break that promise.

    <strong>***</strong>

    THE COSMIC Tree was located in the space between the living world and the Spirit World.

    Thus, Mona had to be in her Spirit form to be able to meet her Mother Tree. Once she got there, she felt a sense of relief to see that nothing had changed.

    The ce where the Cosmic Tree lived was called ''Elen.'' It was a vast and beautiful garden where the trees, the nts, and the flowers that grew there couldn''t be found anywhere on earth. To be honest, it wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that Elen was a paradise.

    "Mother Tree, it''s an honor to meet you again," Mona said while looking up at the beautiful white tree with jewel-like leaves. "How are you?"

    The Mother Tree, also known as the Cosmic Tree to most people,ughed softly. "I''m still the same, my dear Mona," she said in a warm and motherly voice. "But I know you didn''te here just because you miss me."

    "I missed you, Mother Tree," she insisted, followed by a gentleugh. "But it''s also true that I have another reason why I''vee here to see you."

    "I know, child. I know."

    She smiled, already expecting that the Mother Tree knew why she was there. After all, she was the Cosmic Tree that knew almost anything and everything happening in the human world. "Mother Tree, I need to find him."

    Of course, she was talking about Commander Gavin Quinzel.

    She thought she and the Cosmic Tree was on the same page. But she was surprised when she realized that they had different people in mind.

    "Yes, I know that you need to find Novak¨C the child that holds the key to a parallel world where you and your daughter could live in."

    To say that she was shocked to hear that would be an understatement.

    "Hmm?" the Cosmic Tree said as if she was wondering about her reaction. "My dear Mona, didn''t youe here to ask me how you''d be able to escape this world with your daughter?"

    She shook her head. "Mother Tree, I''m here to ask you to help me find Commander Gavin Quinzel who seems to be cut off from this world."

    "Hmm. Is that so?" the Cosmic Tree. "But my precious Mona, this is not the time for you to worry about other people. Isn''t the life of your daughter more important than the life of amander who doesn''t need your help anyway?"

    Mona was now confused. She was there to find Gavin Quinzel. But after hearing what the Cosmic Tree had to say¡­ "Mother Tree, please tell me how to escape this world with my daughter."

    <strong>***</strong>

    GAVIN frowned as soon as he opened his eyes.

    He could tell that he was in his room already. But instead of Rufus or other members of his family, he was actually greeted by Lukas¨C the elf and the Messenger of Lord Helstor.

    "What are you doing here?" Gavin asked, still frowning. His body hurt like hell but he was also worried that his family might see Lukas. Moreover, he didn''t like how this elf didn''t even tell him that he''d be stuck in the Forbidden Graveyard for three months. "I almost died, you punk."

    Lukas just scoffed. "The coffin that serves as your supplier of nutrients wouldn''t have let you die. It is a divine item sent by Lord Helstor for you, Commander," he said. "Now that you''re awake, let''s proceed with the next step."

    "What "next step?"" he asked, confused. "I still have a lot of questions regarding what I saw¨C"

    "We don''t have time for that," the elf cut him off rudely. "Lady Mona Roseheart has met with the Cosmic Tree. If we don''t move right away, she''ll take everything away from you."

    "I don''t like how you''re speaking like Lady Roseheart is an enemy, Lukas," he said coldly. He respected Lady Roseheart a lot. And he wouldn''t let anyone disrespect her, especially not in his presence. "Do you want to die?"

    "Lady Roseheart will be your enemy if you wish to save Go Areum," Lukas said bluntly, shocking him. "I''ll show you the future that Lord Helstor has seen, Commander."

    Gavin was even more confused. [Lady Roseheart is going to be my enemy?]

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 Chapter 307 - SELFISHNESS

    "MOTHER TREE, I appreciate that you''re helping me," Mona said carefully. "But I want to know if you already knew from the start that my baby''s grim future. Do you know that the gods and the Spirit World n to use my child to protect their own worlds?"

    The Cosmic Tree fell silent for a while before speaking again. "My dear Mona, no matter how much I treasure you, there are things that I cannot tell you even if I wanted to. If the gods want me to seal my lips, I have no choice but to do so."

    Even if she wanted to, she couldn''t get mad at the Cosmic Tree.

    She knew that her Mother Tree was already showing her affection for her by giving her the title of ''Daughter of Nature.'' Despite all of that, she was aware that there were things that the Mother Tree couldn''t do for her.

    "If that''s the case, then why did you decide to help me now?" she asked worriedly. "Aren''t you going to be punished by the gods?"

    The gods had eyes everywhere.

    Everywhere that there was light, at least. Elen, the paradise where the Cosmic Tree stood, didn''t have nighttime so it was always as bright as any sunny morning in the living world. That also meant that the gods could clearly see everything that was happening in Elen.

    "I cannot say who but one of the Major Gods has decided to help us," the Cosmic Tree exined. "He''s currently blocking the eyes of the other gods and he will do so until you leave."

    "But wouldn''t the other gods know that their view has been blocked?" she asked. "That means you''ll still get in trouble, Mother Tree."

    "I''m prepared for that, my dear Mona," the Cosmic Tree said. "The gods will probably put me to sleep for at least ten years as punishment. That''s why this is thest chance that I can lend a hand to you, my child."

    She was touched.

    The Cosmic Tree was willing to be punished for her. She was just a mere human. Even though she had always known that she was loved by Nature, she didn''t know that they loved her this much.

    She was happy to know that, but she also felt guilty.

    "Do not worry too much, my dear Mona," the Cosmic Tree consoled her. "I am not doing this just because I''m fond of you. I decided to help you because the child in your womb is special. I do not wish for her to live the life that the gods decided for her."

    The life that the gods decided for her daughter.

    That sentence scared her.

    "The gods¡­" she whispered, scared. "I''ll do anything to protect my daughter but every time I am reminded that I''m going against gods, I still get scared, Mother Tree."

    "My dear Mona, not all gods are your enemies," the Cosmic Treeforted her. "There are gods who wish to support you. They wille and show themselves to you when needed."

    That gave her thefort that she needed.

    "Thank you, Mother Tree," Mona said, then she hugged the trunk of the Cosmic Tree and closed her eyes. "See you after ten years. It will be my turn to help you once you wake up."

    The Cosmic Treeughed softly. "See you then, my dear Mona," she said gently. "And I hope that by the time that I open my eyes again, you and your daughter would be in a ce where the gods of this world wouldn''t be able to reach you."

    Mona also prayed for the same thing.

    The day Mona left Elen was also the day that the Cosmic Tree was put to a long slumber by the gods.

    <strong>***</strong>

    MONA was sent by the Cosmic Tree to the creature called Novak.

    She didn''t expect that she''d get sent to the ck Ocean. It was a ce that even she avoided. The red sand in the shore was actually ashes of different ancient creatures, while the pitch-ck water wasn''t pure water. Most of it was Impure Mana.

    ''Impure Mana'' was the Mana of the dead creatures that were burned in that ce.

    [When a person or creature with Darkness attribute dies, their Mana doesn''t return to Nature. It bes an entirely different substance called Impure Mana. And as far as I know, Impure Mana could be harmful to humans if it is left in an uninhabitable environment¨C just like this ck Ocean.]

    "Wee to my territory, Daughter of Nature."

    She looked up and was mesmerized when she saw a beautiful white unicorn emerged from the ck water¨C its pair of huge white wings pping majestically. It was always night at the ck Ocean, and the appearance of the shining white unicorn practically lit up the whole ce.

    [An Ancient Spirit¡­]

    Mona respectfully bowed to the white unicorn. "Greetings, Ancient Spirit," she said, her head still hanging low. "It''s an honor to meet you."

    "Raise your head, child."

    She did as she was told.

    The majestic white unicorn with a gleaming and golden magical alicorn was now standing in front of her. "My name is Novak," the mystical being said. It sounded like a male''s voice. "I am the Gatekeeper that guards the doors between this world and the one called Earth."

    Oh.

    So there was more than one door, huh?

    [But it doesn''t matter. Now I know that the dream I saw was real. There''s a world where my daughter and I can run away to.]

    "Daughter of Nature, this isn''t the first time we met," Novak said in an amused voice. "But I guess you don''t remember since a human like you wouldn''t be able to remember the memories of her past life."

    Ah, that was right.

    "I had a dream about my first life. But I don''t remember everything, sir," she exined politely. "But I think I was able to find the door that leads to another world thanks to your help."

    "That is correct," Novak said. "In your past life, you received the help of the current Aether and the Cosmic Tree. Thanks to the two of them, you were able to discover the kind of life that awaits your daughter."

    "Did Mother Tree also send me to you just like this during my first life?"

    "She did," Novak confirmed while nodding his head. "Together, you and I took a glimpse at several worlds to look for the one where your family''s souls were mostpatible with. That was how we found the ce on Earth called Korea."

    Ah, she had a good feeling about this.

    Since she had already done this in her first life, then the process this time would be easier.

    "Lord Novak, I remember the ce called Korea based on my dream," she said. "But I don''t remember how I ended up choosing that world over the others. Moreover, I failed to cross over that world in my first life. I am not doubting our past judgment but I''m wondering if it''s really the best world that would suit my family."

    "It is the mostpatible world for your family," Novak said gently. "But our timing wasn''t right. You and your daughter, along with a trusted knight, entered that world when you were at your weakest, Mona. You immediately tried to cross over another world a week after you gave birth to your daughter."

    She clenched her hands tight.

    That was the mistake that she also realized when she saw the memories of her first life. It was also why she was confident that she could do it right this time.

    [But the trusted knight that Lord Novak mentioned¡­]

    "My lord, is it Commander Gavin Quinzel?" she asked carefully. "The trusted knight you mentioned¡­"

    "It is indeed the former Quinzel Heir."

    "Former?" she asked, confused. "But Duke Quinzel just announced that Commander Gavin is his official sessor."

    The only reason why Duke Quinzel hadn''t formally stepped down from his position was because he was still pressuring Gavin Quinzel to marry Sera Wisteria. But why did Novak address Gavin Quinzel as the "former" heir?

    "The true sessor of the Quinzel of this generation is yet to be born," Novak exined. "Daughter of Nature, you do not have the luxury to worry about the future of the Quinzels."

    Was it Novak''s way of telling her not to ask any more questions?

    "However, just like the first time, you still need the help of the former Quinzel heir when you open the door to another world?"

    "Is it because of Commander Gavin''s Darkness attribute?"

    "Ohh," Novak said, making a sound as if he was impressed. "What made you say that, child?"

    "It''s just a hunch," she said honestly. "When I met the Nameless Royal Princess trapped as a ck tree, she was with an elf that was also a Darkness attribute user. ording to Commander Gavin, that elf is the Messenger of the God of Eternal Darkness. Thus, I thought the reason why the gods haven''t found the Nameless Royal Princess all this time is because she''s being protected by darkness."

    She paused and waited for Novak to correct her if she was wrong.

    But when the magical unicorn nodded as if encouraging her to continue, she did so.

    "It is said that humans are wired to fear the darkness," she continued with her exnation. "But I heard that for the gods, it is hatred. Apparently, their eyes can''t reach those ces that the light cannot touch. Thus, they havee to hate the darkness."

    "That is correct, child."

    She nodded before speaking again. "Earlier, Mother Tree told me that a Major God blocked the view of the other gods so they wouldn''t see or hear what we were talking about. She said she can''t say who it was, but I have a feeling that it''s the God of Eternal Darkness. That was when I realized that the way to block the eyes of the gods is to hide in the darkness. And Commander Gavin has the ability to hide us in the darkness by using his Shadow Maniption Technique."

    "Once again, you are correct," Novak said while nodding. "You need the current strongest Quinzel to hide your movements from the gods of this world."

    "Lord Novak, did Commander Gavin die when I failed to cross cover to the other world?"

    "He did," Novak said bluntly. "You died, too. Are you not going to ask about what happened to your daughter after you failed?"

    She smiled and shook her head. "I know that my daughter lived. In the dream that I had, I saw my past self asking for Tara to save my daughter. Since it was my dying wish, I''m sure that the Queen of the Spirit World didn''t let my baby die. Moreover¡­" She took a deep breath before she continued. "That''s all in the past. I don''t know why we regressed back in time but I won''t waste this opportunity¨C I will seed this time."

    "Then, are you willing to kill other people to save your family?"

    "Huh?"

    "Mona Roseheart, there''s a reason why your soul needs to bepatible with ''you'' of the other world," Novak said in a serious voice. "And it''s because you and your family need to rece the ''you'' of that world."

    Mona covered her mouth with her hands when she gasped. "We need to rece them?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "COMMANDER, I will show you the future that Lord Helstor had seen."

    Gavin was tempted by Lukas'' offer but he still had to ask. "How did the God of Eternal Darkness see my future? Not all gods are capable of seeing the future, are they?"

    "There are gods paying close attention to the Quinzels, Commander," Lukas said, and it seemed like he was doing his best to be patient. "As you know, gods are wary of anyone with the Darkness attribute. They didn''t want a repeat of the Absolute Darkness. Thus, they''re being extra cautious when ites to people like you."

    That was understandable.

    As he said before, if the Quinzels didn''t need light to create shadows, then they would have been feared and hated by people. His family was lucky because they needed light even though they possessed the Darkness attribute.

    "Knowing that there are gods who have their eyes on your, Lord Helstor became anxious," the elf continued. "He didn''t want his precious child to be hurt. Thus, Lord Helstor checks on your future from time to time to see if the gods would move to harm you."

    "I see," he said, not really caring about that kind of thing. "Lukas, I want to see the future where you said Lady Roseheart might be my enemy."

    Lukas nodded, then he opened his palm. A red orb the size of an apple appeared above his open hand. The orb, for some reason, made him feel ufortable. "This is one of Lord Helstor''s eyes," the elf said. "It will show you a glimpse of the future rted to you."

    Gavin wholeheartedly believed that he wasn''t capable of hating His Majesty and Lady Mona Roseheart¡­

    ¡­ not until he saw the future that awaited him.

    <strong>***</strong>

    MONA was amazed while looking at the three images floating in front of her face.

    The man looked exactly like Niki while the woman looked exactly like her. And the baby? Even though her daughter was yet to be born, she could tell that her baby would look like the image of the infant in front of her.

    [But it''s interesting to see that the three of them all have in ck hair and eye color.]

    "These are the people on earth that are equivalent to you and your family of this word. They are also a family," Novak exined to her. "But the three of them are destined to die untimely."

    Mona gasped aloud. "Even the baby?"

    "Yes, even the infant," Novak confirmed. Then, a golden light appeared at the tip of his alicorn. The golden light pointed at the image of the man that looked like Niki. "This human who looks like Niki de Moonasterio is called Yoon Jung. He will die in an ident."

    She flinched because she was now starting to see what she and her family had to do to be able to cross over the other world sessfully.

    "The woman who looks like you is called Go Areum," Novak continued. This time, the woman''s image was glowing. "She will take her own life."

    Once again, she gasped. "But why would she do that when she has a baby¡­?"

    "It''s because Go Areum is destined to lose her infant," Novak said bluntly. "The infant, called Nabi, is destined to die after she turns one year old."

    Her heart squeezed painfully.

    [She''s too young to die¡­]

    "Daughter of Nature, you and your family couldn''t cross over to the other world with your physical bodies," Novak said seriously. "Thus, you must leave your physical bodies here and travel to the other world with your souls."

    Ah, her hunch was correct.

    "Lord Novak, correct me if I''m wrong," she said before she began her guess. "We need to cross over to the other world the moment the versions of us on earth die," she said. "Am I correct?"

    "You are correct, child," Novak said while nodding his head. "As soon as the original owner of the bodies left, your souls have to enter your new vassals. Since your souls are stronger, it will protect the physical body you''d possess from dying."

    "Then, we have to be precise with the timing?"

    "That is correct," the Ancient Spirit confirmed. "It was our mistake before. Since you were in a hurry to escape this world, we forgot that the flow of time here is different from the flow of time in that world. You opened the door when the versions of you in that world were too young. Moreover, the child that your daughter was supposed to possess wasn''t even born yet."

    "I see," she said, then she clenched her hands. "But the fact that we can interfere with the lives of those people also means that we can change their destiny. Isn''t that right?"

    "It won''t be easy but the gods willing to support you are strong," Novak exined carefully. "Their influence can even reach the other world."

    She smiled bitterly. "If that''s the case, then it means that we have the power to save them¡­"

    "We do," Novak confirmed. "But if we save their family, you and your own family wouldn''t be able to cross over to that world sessfully. It''s not like you can possess random people."

    She let out a deep sigh. "This feels¡­ awful."

    "They are destined to die early, Daughter of Nature," Novak reminded her gently. "And that''s exactly why we chose that world for you and your family."

    She still couldn''t say anything.

    "Mona Roseheart, which is more important to you?" Novak asked carefully. "Their family or yours?"

    Mona closed her eyes tight and answered weakly. "My family, of course."

    <strong>***</strong>

    GAVIN saw the grim future that awaited him.

    Emperor Niki would cross over to the other world first to possess Yoon Jung''s body after thetter supposedly died in the car ident. But since the emperor''s soul was filled with Mana and life force, Yoon Jung''s body would be revived miraculously.

    Of course, it would no longer be Yoon Jung because his body was already upied by the emperor. Still, Yoon Jung''s body would be left in aatose state for a year because his body needed to recover.

    Then, a yearter in that world, Go Areum and Nabi would still board the cruise ship and the ident would still happen.

    But Nabi and Go Areum would survive.

    After all, Lady Mona Roseheart and the newborn royal princess would take over Go Areum and Nabi''s physical bodies.

    "No. They''re going to rece them," Gavin said while clutching his chest tight. "If they can do that, then it means I can change the future of Areum-ah and Nabi-ya."

    <strong></strong>And he wouldn''t let Go Areum and Nabi die again.

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 308 - CHANGE OF HEART

    "LORD NOVAK, how are we going to proceed?" Mona asked curiously. "The man called Yoon Jung is going to die a year earlier before the woman called Go Areum and their baby. Does it mean Emperor Niki has to leave first as well?"

    "As I said earlier, time flows differently between the two worlds," Novak reminded her. "We just need to send Niki to that world three days earlier before you and your daughter."

    That made her wonder about one thing.

    "My lord, what happened to His Majesty back in my first life?"

    "Do you really want to know the answer to that?"

    She gulped and clenched her hands. "Yes, my lord. As I stated a while ago, I don''t care about what happened during my first life since it was already in the past. But I''m curious."

    "Yule''s descendant, Niki de Moonasterio, chose his throne over you and your child."

    She already expected that but it still hurt.

    "Niki de Moonasterio decided to stay in this world," Novak continued casually. "But do not fret, Daughter of Nature. The future that I saw this time is different. I wouldn''t waste my time helping you if I knew that you would just repeat what happenedst time."

    She smiled, relieved to hear that. "Thank you, my lord."

    "Thank me once you''ve sessfully crossed over to the other world."

    "I will thank you again once we''ve seeded," she said with a smile, then she turned serious. "Now, will you tell me what you want in return of helping me? What did I offer then, and would you like to have the same thing this time, too?"

    "You''re being rude, child. You are aware that the Cosmic Tree personally asked me to help you."

    "I know that, my lord," she said, still not backing down. "But I''m a Summoner so I also know that an Ancient Spirit like you wouldn''t easily help a human just because the Cosmic Tree asked him to do so. I will apologize if I''m wrong though."

    Novak fell silent for a while, then heughed. "You''re not wrong," he said, making her smile. "Tame the wild Imoogi under the ocean. It''s an Ancient Spirit like me but since you''re Mona Roseheart, I''m sure that it will be possible for you."

    "I don''t mind but can I do itter?" she asked. "I still need to find Commander Gavin."

    "No."

    "No?" she asked, surprised. "My lord, I won''t run away."

    "You can''t leave yet, Mona Roseheart," Novak said. "I need to train you."

    "Train?"

    "You''re the strongest Summoner in this world but you''re getting weaker by the moment," he exined, then his gaze fell on her stomach. "The seed in your womb is sucking in your energy."

    "My lord, please don''t say it as if my daughter is doing something bad," she said defensively while hugging her stomach. "My baby can eat my energy as much as she wants. I don''t mind if I grow weak as long as she grows strong and healthy."

    "No, you need to be strong," Novak said firmly. "I need to make you stronger so you''ll have enough power to open the door."

    "But Commander Gavin¨C"

    "I don''t have the ability to see humans with strong Darkness attribute like the Quinzels¨C especially when they''re being protected by the God of Eternal Darkness," Novak said. "However, the Messenger of that god is an elf. I can ask some of my old friends from the Elf Tribe to locate the Messenger."

    It seemed like she had no choice but to follow Novak''s will for now. "I understand."

    "We''ll begin your training by taming the Imoogi," Novak said, then he turned to the ck Ocean. "I won''t let you leave until you''ve sessfully tamed it."

    Mona sighed while shaking her head. But she couldn''t help but smileter. An Imoogi was a creature that failed to be a full dragon. Thus, it was also a creature filled with anger and hostility. It would definitely be hard to tame an Imoogi.

    [But if I was able to tame William, I will be able to tame any Spirit.]

    William was the personification of anger and hatred, so no Spirit could be worse than that rude punk.

    <strong>***</strong>

    MONA didn''t expect that she''d be stuck in the ck Ocean for three months.

    Nathaira, the Imoogi living under the ck Ocean, was harder to tame than she thought at first. But taming Nathaira wasn''t as hard as taming William so she seeded in the end. And now, she was back in the Royal Pce.

    [Niki must be worried.]

    "Mona!"

    She was happy to see Niki after quite a long time. But she couldn''t openly show it because she was worried. When she teleported in the garden where only she and Niki could use, she immediately noticed that something was strange.

    The barrier in the Royal Pce was stronger now, and there were Royal Knights patrolling the area as if they were looking for an intruder.

    "Niki, what''s going on?" Mona asked when Niki was standing in front of her. "Why does the pce seem to be on high alert?"

    She also noticed that Glenn and Dion Skelton, two of Niki''s Pdins who were standing behind the emperor, were wearing their armor.

    "Don''t worry about it," Niki said while scanning her from head to toe. "Are you hurt? Are you alright? I ran here as soon as I felt your presence."

    "I''m fine. I''m not hurt," she said, then she turned to Glenn. "Glenn, what''s happening?"

    Glenn turned to Niki first and when the emperor nodded, only then did he answer her. "Wee back, Lady Roseheart," he said politely. "The pce is on high alert because, for the past three months, Spirits and other beings have been barging in and out. The mages and the Summoners that we''ve gathered said that the Spirits are angry. Unfortunately, they can''t understand why the Spirits are acting that way. Even His Majesty who has the ability to hear Spirits couldn''t understand them this time."

    "Even the elves and the fairies have stormed the pce," Niki added, then he crossed his arms over his chest. "Those little bastards were looking for you so I kicked them out. But strange creatures keep on appearing here and there. They all look angry while demanding me to bring you to them. And so, I dered war on them."

    She let out a deep sigh while shaking her head.

    But it wasn''t like she didn''t know why Niki acted that way. The Royal Pce wasn''t somewhere that anyone could just step foot on. Breaking the barrier meant intruding, and the emperor had the right to deal with intruders as he deemed fit.

    "Mona, what''s happening?" Niki asked worriedly. "Why are those little bastards looking for you and why are they angry?"

    "It''s because of the Cosmic Tree," she said in a sad voice. "The Cosmic Tree was put into a long slumber by the gods. It was a Divine Punishment."

    Niki looked shocked by what she said.

    Even Glenn and the stoic Dion Skelton couldn''t hide their shock. Anyone would have the same reaction if they found out that the gods had directly bestowed their Divine Punishment upon a sacred being such as the Cosmic Tree.

    "And it''s my fault," Mona said, shocking the three men again. "The Cosmic Tree was punished by the gods because of me."

    Niki, after recovering from the shock, clicked his tongue. "It''s not your fault, Mona. I''m sure the gods are being unreasonable as usual."

    Sometimes, she couldn''t believe Niki.

    [He''s a descendant of Yule, the Moon God and one of the Major Gods at that, and yet he talks and acts like a non-believer.]

    Or maybe it was just a testament to how arrogant the de Moonasterios truly were.

    It was said that the Royal Family was so high and mighty as if they were god themselves and not just mere descendants of Yule.

    [My precious daughter, I hope and pray that you don''t inherit your father''s arrogance.]

    "Let''s talk about thatter. I will calm the Spirits first," Mona said in a hurry. "Then, we will go and save Gavin."

    Niki''s eyes widened in shock. "You know where Gavin is?"

    "Yes, my new master told me where to find him."

    Niki looked curious about the "new master" that she spoke of. But he didn''t get the chance to ask because someone else spoke first.

    "That''s a relief, Lady Roseheart," Glenn said cheerfully. "House Quinzel will finally calm down."

    "C-Calm down?" she asked, then she gulped. "What did House Quinzel do?"

    Glennughed softly before he answered. "Nothing much," he said casually. "They just destroyed all the households that they had beef with in the past thinking that one of them must have abducted the Commander."

    The fire in Glenn''s eyes told her that it wasn''t only the House Quinzel who ran wild.

    [Of course, the Pdins would also wreck havoc while finding their Commander.]

    She turned to Dion Skelton with questioning eyes.

    Dion Skelton slowly avoided her gaze. "The Pdins may have destroyed an evil organization or two."

    "Gavin is the Commander of the most important Order in the empire," Niki said defensively. "It''s only right that we do everything we can to find him."

    Mona let out a sigh. "Contact the Quinzels," she said. The ce where the Commander was supposed to be was in one of the restricted territories that the Quinzels owned. They couldn''t simply go there without permission from the ducal family. "Gavin is buried under the Forgotten Graveyard."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "BROTHER, what were you doing in the Forgotten Graveyard?"

    Gavin, who was sitting on his bed, smiled and put his hand on Rufus'' shoulder. "I was just there to do my job, Rufus," he said, vaguely answering his brother''s question. "But I''m alright. Don''t worry too much."

    "How can you tell me not to worry about you, Brother?" Rufus, who was sitting on the chair next to his bed, asked. His brother was obviously frustrated. "And what kind of job requires you to be in aatose state for three months alone in a cold and dark ce? Do I need to ask His Majesty about it, huh?"

    "Rufus, calm down."

    "I can''t!" his brother said, his face now red with anger. "I don''t care if we were branded as traitors but if His Majesty truly made you work until you fell into aa, I will never forgive¨C"

    "Rufus Quinzel."

    His brother flinched at the stern voice that he used.

    "Don''t speak that way towards His Majesty," he scolded his younger brother. "I said that I did my job. But I didn''t say that it was His Majesty''s order."

    Rufus looked confused.

    "His Majesty didn''t order me to go to the Forgotten Graveyard. In fact, His Majesty didn''t order me to do anything other than my usual tasks," he exined to his younger brother. "But I know the current circumstances of Lady Roseheart and His Majesty. As their loyal servant, I wanted to be of help. Thus, I moved discreetly to try and help them. I didn''t expect that I''d get bewitched by the evil spirits lurking in the buried mausoleum."

    ''Bewitched by the evil spirits'' was Lukas''s idea.

    Apparently, the elf didn''t want Lady Roseheart and His Majesty to know that he helped him retrieve the memories of his second life. But even if Lukas didn''t do that, it wasn''t like he had any intention of letting the two know about his life as Kim Won-shik.

    He smiled bitterly when Rufus remained quiet. "I guess I''m not as strong as I thought I was for me to be bewitched just like that."

    "You''re already plenty strong, Brother," Rufusmented, breaking his silence. Then, he let out a deep sigh. "I apologize for almostmitting sphemy against the Royal Family, Brother. I will apologize to His Majestyter."

    [Rufus is too nice for his own good.]

    He smiled and squeezed Rufus'' shoulder before letting go. "Rufus, we''re a part of the extended Royal Family," he reminded his brother. "His Majesty is our cousin. We do not serve him just because he''s the emperor. We''ve sworn our loyalty to him because he''s family. Remember that."

    His younger brother smiled and nodded. "I will remember that, Brother."

    Gavin smiled and patted Rufus'' head. "Now stop nagging me and go back to Amber''s side," he said. He already heard that his sister-inw was pregnant. And he had congratted Amber when she paid him a visit earlier. "I need to report to His Majesty."

    "You can''t, Brother," Rufus said while smiling brightly. "Father said that you''re grounded."

    Grounded¡­ at his age?!

    <strong>***</strong>

    "I REMEMBER that I told you that you''re grounded for a whole month, Gavin."

    Gavin, who was standing in front of Duke Desmond Quinzel''s desk in his study, smiled brightly at his father. It was the smile that he knew his father couldn''t turn down. "Father, I have an important business that I have to attend to in a few days. I need to leave the house to prepare for a present."

    His father''s brows furrowed. He didn''t want to say this but even though his father had a semi-permanent frown on his face, they still looked alike. "A present for whom?"

    "The birthday girl."

    He purposely answered his father vaguely.

    And just like what he expected, the duke got the wrong idea.

    "Ah, I remember now," his father said while nodding his head. "It''s Lady Sera Wisteria''sing-of-age ceremony in a few days."

    He just smiled and tilted his head at one side, acting innocent.

    But since he always acted "cute" in front of his father, the duke didn''t notice that he wasn''t confirming that the "birthday girl" he mentioned wasn''t Lady Sera Wisteria.

    "Alright, you''re no longer grounded," his father, who seemed to be in a good mood now, said while nodding at him. "Make sure to prepare the best gift for Lady Sera Wisteria, Gavin."

    Gavin just smiled and nodded.

    <strong>***</strong>

    "MY LORD, I have returned."

    Gavin, who was having tea on the balcony of his room, smiled and raised his head to meet Chester''s gaze. "How did it go?"

    Chester, his butler since he was a child, was standing straight in front of him. As usual, Chester was dressed neatly and his face was void of any emotions. "As you instructed, I went to all the jewelry stores in the Royal Capital and bought all the newest collection that they have."

    "Uh-huh."

    "In return for our big purchase, I asked the store owners for a small favor," his butler continued. "I told them that if Lady Sera Wisteria visited their store and asked for a specific piece of jewelry that we already purchased, I wanted them to tell the youngdy that Commander Gavin Quinzel has already purchased it as a birthday gift. I also specifically asked the store owners to say that themander seems to have the desire to impress thedy with the help of that piece of jewelry."

    He smiled in satisfaction. "Very good, Chester."

    Chester just bowed politely, then he dismissed the butler.

    Everyone in the Royal Capital knew that Lady Sera Wisteria was obsessed with jewels.

    He used that information to begin his n.

    Yes, he purposely wanted Lady Sera Wisteria to think that the present he bought was for her. It was necessary for his n.

    Gavin smiled bitterly when he realized how evil his scheme was.

    [I''m sorry, Lady Sera Wisteria.]

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 309 - LURK IN THE SHADOWS

    "MONA, what would you like as a birthday present for this year?"

    Mona blinked in confusion, then she nodded her head as if she just remembered something. "That''s right. It will be my birthday soon."

    June 13th was her birthday, and it was approaching fast.

    "I have something that I want, Niki."

    She could freely call Niki by his name because only the two of them were in the greenhouse. The emperor built it for herst year. The nts, flowers, and trees nted there could only be found in her personal greenhouse.

    After all, the seeds of those nts, flowers, and trees came from Elen¨C the home of the Cosmic Tree.

    She was there because she had to send the different Spirit ns a message regarding what happened to the Cosmic Tree. Only then did the Spirits and the other creatures stopped barging in and out of the empire. They had calmed down when she told them that the Cosmic Tree would awaken in ten years'' time.

    "What is it?" Niki, who was sitting on the wooden bench, asked. He looked pleased because for the first time, she stated that she wanted a particr item instead of telling him to just surprise her. "I''ll give you anything and everything you want, Mona."

    Mona stood in front of Niki and hesitated. "It''s quite expensive, Niki."

    As expected, he snorted when he heard her concern. "Money will never be an issue to me, Mona."

    Ah, right.

    Niki was an old money. But still¡­

    "It''s illegal, Niki," she said. "Can I ask the emperor to give me something that''s not only expensive but also illegal?"

    Well, it was expensive because it was illegal.

    "I''m not asking what you want as the emperor," Niki said casually. "I''m asking as your life partner."

    ''Life partner.''

    Thatbel made her smile. She didn''t care if she couldn''t be Niki''s official wife nor the empress. All that mattered to her was she was his partner.

    "Niki."

    "Yes?"

    "I need Impure Mana¨C a huge amount of it."

    Niki looked shocked by her request. "Mona, you¡­" He covered his mouth for a moment before speaking again. "Are you finally going to kill a god?"

    She almostughed at his question.

    "What do you mean by ''finally?''" she whined half-heartedly. "I''m not going to kill a god, you dummy. I can''t believe that you, a descendant of Lord Yule, don''t even flinch when speaking sphemy against the gods." She hugged her stomach. "Niki, our baby is already four months old in my womb. What if she can hear you? What if our daughter grows up cursing the gods, too? You better watch your mouth from now on. `Got it?"

    "Yes, ma''am."

    She sighed because Niki didn''t sound sincere. But she let it slide for now. "I need arge amount of Impure Mana to cover our movements," she said, then she sat beside him. "Ah, I also need a lot of Spirit Stones."

    Novak taught her that opening the door to another world was like summoning an Ancient Spirit.

    If she was in her normal state, her Mana would be enough to open the door. But she was pregnant now, and her baby seemed to be absorbing her Mana. Thus, she needed the help of Spirit Stones to amplify her power.

    [Spirit Stones, especially the premium ones, are very expensive. The wealth umted by House Roseheart is still quite arge sum of money. But if I use it to buy premium Spirit Stones, I might have to use a portion of the fund I set aside for my baby.]

    "Don''t worry about the Spirit Stones," Niki said as if he could read his mind. "I''ll also get them for you."

    She let out a deep sigh. "I''m sorry, Niki," she said. "I have to depend on you financially at times like this."

    "I should have been the one saying sorry to you, Mona," he said in a bitter voice. "I only watched my grandfather and his cronies as they took away the money and the territories that House Roseheart owned in the past."

    Sheughed softly. "Niki, we were just seven years old back then. You weren''t even dered as the official heir apparent when it happened."

    It was Niki''s grandfather, who was the emperor during that time, who took away the wealth and thends that House Roseheart owned after her family was punished for mitting an offense against the dignity of the Royal Family."

    And the offense that her familymitted?

    The former matriarch, her mother, refused to give up the matriarchy of their family.

    [And, uhm, my mother also told that old emperor to "fuck off" in front of foreign nobles.]

    She was suddenly very concerned for her daughter. Both she and Niki had terrible personalities and both of their families were also messed up in the head.

    "I''m working hard to return everything the House Roseheart owned."

    "I know," she said, then sheid her head on his shoulder. "You already returned our old ancestral house along with the precious jewels and ornaments that serve as our family''s heirloom. Thank you, Niki."

    Niki held her hand and squeezed it gently.

    "Ah," she said when she remembered something. "None of that will matter though once we leave this world together."

    "That''s true."

    "And we have to work, too."

    "I''m used to working," he said. "I''ve been working since I was five years old."

    "The work that Yoon Jung does on earth is different from what you do though."

    During the three months that she trained, Novak had shown her the life of Yoon Jung and Go Areum for her to study their world. She shared everything she had learned with Niki.

    "I''m a quick learner," he said. "I just need to study and work hard."

    "I will study and work hard, too," Mona said, then she looked up to see Niki''s handsome face. "But isn''t it a good thing that both of us were blessed to have a natural talent for learning foreignnguages easily?"

    Niki smiled and nodded. "I guess in that aspect, Yule and Tara are pretty useful to us even though both of them are annoying."

    [There he goes again.]

    Mona could only sigh at Niki who was badmouthing the Moon God and the Queen of the Spirit World again.

    [Why do I have a feeling that our daughter will inherit all our bad traits?]

    <strong>***</strong>

    "THIS IS the ornament that Lady Sera Wisteria wanted?" Gavin asked while looking at the rectangr box on the table. "Isn''t that a hair essory?"

    He expected it to be a ne since nes were currently popr among thedies. A diamond Laurel leaf hair essory was beyond his expectations. But it might not be an ordinary ornament since it cost a fortune.

    It was way more expensive than ordinary jewels made of diamond.

    "That is correct, my lord," Chester, his butler, confirmed. "The store owner said that Lady Wisteria made a fuss when he refused to sell the ornament to her. Apparently, the youngdy only stopped when he said that Commander Quinzel had bought the ornament as a birthday present for a certaindy."

    He smiled, satisfied. "She bit the bait."

    If Lady Sera Wisteria wanted the hair ornament so bad, then she''d recognize it right away.

    "Chester, are you certain that this hair ornament is unique in the whole continent?"

    "Yes, my lord," the butler said. "It''s the only hair ornament with that kind of design ording to the store owner."

    "It better be for its price."

    House Quinzel was the richest noble household in the whole empire.

    And they got that rich because they weren''t the type of people to waste money.

    [Although I shouldn''t call it a waste of money since it''s a birthday present for Lady Roseheart.]

    "Alright," he said. "You''re dismissed. And don''t let anyone enter my room¨C not even Rufus."

    Even though Rufus was already married and living with his wife in another mansion, his younger brother would still often visit him at their father''s estate. It wasn''t like he didn''t want to see Rufus. He just wanted that goof to focus on Amber since his sister-inw was pregnant.

    Chester bowed his head. "As you wish, my lord."

    He just sipped his tea.

    Then, he waited for a few minutes after his butler left before he spoke again.

    "You maye out now," he said loudly. "My room is safe."

    A few momentster, his room turned dark.

    In just the blink of an eye, Lukas was already sitting on the chair across from him while carefully examining the hairpin in his hands.

    "This isn''t an ordinary ornament," Lukas said, then he raised his head to meet his gaze. "Where did you get this, Commander?"

    "I bought it from the biggest jewelry shop in the Royal Capital," he said. "ording to my butler, the store owner bought the ornament from an auction. Apparently, it is an heirloom of a royal family from a conquered nation. It''s more expensive than normal diamonds, too."

    "That''splete bullshit."

    "Excuse me?"

    "This ornament is made from Hisa Tree and not a diamond."

    "Hisa Tree?" he asked, confused. "It''s the tree that only the Royal Family has the right to grow. Moreover, it is used to create a very effective ointment. I haven''t heard about it being used to create ornaments."

    "Should I tell you more about the Hisa Tree?"

    "No, I''m not interested since I''ll be leaving this world soon anyway."

    The elfughed loudly. It wasn''t a problem since his room was covered with his Shadow Veil. In short, it was soundproof. "That''s right. You''ll leave this world for your happiness," he said. Then, he raised the ornament in his hand. "So, did you ask me to turn this ornament into a storage of Impure Mana to gain Lady Roseheart''s trust?"

    "I already have Lady Roseheart''s trust," he said. "What I want is for her to see how useful I could be if she brings me with her."

    "Alright, I''ll help you," the elf said. "But you don''t have to do this, Commander. The fact that you are a Darkness attribute user is already enough reason for Lady Roseheart to see you as someone she could use for her goal."

    "No, I need to get closer to Lady Roseheart."

    "May I know why?"

    Gavin smiled bitterly. "Yoon Jung has to die for Kim Won-shik to have a chance on Go Areum," he said sternly. " Thus, I won''t allow His Majesty to cross over to the other world with Lady Roseheart and their child."

    "I see," Lukas said, a somewhat wicked smile stered on his face. "So you''re aiming to destroy the rtionship between Lady Roseheart and His Majesty, huh?"

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 Chapter 310 - OMINOUS BIRTHDAY PRESENT

    "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Lady Roseheart."

    Mona was surprised when Gavin Quinzel handed a box wrapped beautifully to her. "Is this my birthday present from the Pdins?" she asked with a smile. "Thank you."

    Last year, the Pdins also gave her a gift for her birthday.

    Apparently, each of the Pdins had contributed a certain amount of money. Then, they chose a present for her. Since the Pdins didn''t want to burden her with an expensive gift (because they knew she wasn''tfortable receiving that kind of stuff), they got her a pretty and effective herbal nt back then.

    [They must have done the same for my birthday this year.]

    "You''re wrong, Lady Roseheart," Gavin, sitting on the sofa across from her, said with a smile. "It''s a present from me."

    Her smile froze.

    She was d that the servants who served the tea earlier were already gone, and Glenn also left His Majesty''s office at the emperor''smand. But¡­

    "Gavin Quinzel, I heard from Glenn that you and the Pdins already decided on a collective gift for Mona," Niki, who was sitting beside her on the couch, said coldly. "Why do you have to give her a separate gift right in front of my face, huh?"

    [Argh. Niki''s jealous side is showing again. But he knows very well that Gavin is just like a brother to me.]

    She decided to just ignore it.

    "Your Majesty, you shouldn''t be jealous of me," Gavin said cheerfully. "If I have an ulterior motive, why would I give my present to Lady Roseheart where you can see it?"

    The emperor fell silent for a while before he nodded. "Fair point."

    And just like that, His Majesty''s hostility disappeared. Why wouldn''t it disappear when everyone knew that Gavin wasn''t a threat to him anyway?

    "Moreover, this isn''t an ordinary ornament. This doesn''t look like a birthday present," she said excitedly after she opened the jewelry box. Then, she raised her head to look at themander. "Gavin, this ornament is infuseed with Impure Mana."

    She needed arge amount of Impure Mana to cover her movements soon.

    ording to Novak, Impure Mana was more effective than the Darknes attribute of living humans and beings because Impure Mana didn''t have "presence." In short, even the gods wouldn''t notice it as long as she used it moderately.

    "This amount of Impure Mana is enough to use in case I needed to hide my presence in an emergency situation," she said happily. "This is useful, Commander. Thank you so much!"

    Themander smiled and scratched his cheek as if he was embarrassed. "It''s nothing, Lady Roseheart. I''m just d to be of help to you and His Majesty."

    ["To be of help."]

    When Gavin said that, she was reminded of the reason she and Niki had summoned themander in the pce today.

    "Gavin, we need your help," Niki said to themander, then he turned to her. "Mona."

    "Yes, I will take it from here," Mona said before she turned to themander. "Gavin, we have something to tell you."

    Gavin turned serious instantly as he nodded. "I''m listening, Lady Roseheart and Your Majesty."

    ***

    "COMMANDER Quinzel!"

    Gavin smiled at Lady Sera Wisteria who followed him in the balcony.

    Right now, he was in the grand mansion of the Wisterias. He attended Lady Sera Wisteria''sing-of-age ceremony with his family. It was a banquet where all the nobles of the Royal Capital were invited to.

    His Majesty and Lady Roseheart attended the banquet as well. The two left after congratting Lady Sera Wisteria and handing her their gifts. Nobody saw it as being impolite. On the other hand, the fact that His Majesty and Lady Roseheart left early was them being considerate.

    It only meant that His Majesty and Lady Roseheart didn''t want to take away the spotlight from the birthday celebrant.

    "I''ve been looking for you everywhere," Lady Wisteria said. "I thought you already left."

    As what most people knew already, Lady Sera Wisteria was indeed a beauty. Her blonde hair was shiny and silky, and her green eyes looked like forest. Still, he wouldn''t be blinded by her beauty since he was aware of the youngdy''s true personality.

    "How can I leave when I haven''t handed my birthday present to you, mydy?" Gavin asked with a smile on his face. Then, he pulled the jewelry box out of the inner pocket of his suit. "May I hand my gift to you now?"

    "Of course, Commander," the youngdy said. "I''m looking forward to it."

    He just smiled and handed the box to Lady Sera Wisteria who happily took it.

    "Commander, may I open this gift now?"

    "Of course, mydy."

    Lady Wisteria smiled and opened the box. But as soon as she saw the brooch inside, her smiled disappeared.

    The brooch that he chose for the youngdy cost a fortune.

    Lady Wisteria who was obsessed with jewels knew that as well. She was only disappointed because she was expecting something else from him.

    "Mydy, is my present not to your liking?" he asked, acting like he was nervous. "I apologize. I''m not good at choosing gifts. I can send you another gift if you¨C"

    "Commander, why aren''t you proposing to me yet?" the youngdy asked when she raised her head to meet his gaze. "Didn''t your family choose me as your bride?"

    This time, he was truly surprised by her blunt question.

    But he quickly got himself together.

    It was funny that both he and Kim Won-shik were good at acting.

    His other self in the other world had interest and natural talent for acting, thus he became an actor.

    On the other hand, Gavin became good at acting because it was a part of his upbringing both as a noble and as a knight. As a noble, he always had to mind his manners and control his emotions. While as a knight, he learned how to act in case he needed to infiltrate the enemy''s base as an undercover spy.

    "My father and Duke Quinzel decided that it would be mutually beneficial to both of our families if we get married," the youngdy continued. "Why isn''t House Quinzel making it official yet?"

    It was because his father was a soft-hearted man despite his tough fa?ade.

    Duke Quinzel would often "pressure" him to marry Lady Sera Wisteria. But if his father truly wanted to force him to marry the youngdy, he would have sent a formal letter of proposal to House Wisteria a long time ago.

    [I know my father. He''s just pressuring me to get married but he doesn''t want me to marry a woman I don''t love. I''m sure that if I found the woman that I want to marry, all I have to do is beg him before he gives in.]

    It was a shame that the woman he wanted to marry wasn''t from this world.

    "Lady Wisteria, I''m sorry but I can''t marry you."

    "Is it because you already like someone else?"

    He just smiled sadly as a response.

    Lady Wisteria frowned. "There''s this special hair ornament that I really wanted," she said. "The store owner said that you already purchased it as a birthday present. This is shameful to admit but I thought it would be me."

    He acted guilty this time. "I apologize, mydy. I didn''t mean to confuse you¡­"

    "Do you like her?" the youngdy asked coldly. "Do you like thedy who received your very precious birthday present?"

    Gavin acted shy as he turned away from Lady Wisteria. "I do," he said in a shy voice while scratching his cheek as if he was really embarrassed. "I really like her, Lady Wisteria."

    "What a luckydy," Lady Sera Wisteria said sarcastically. "I wonder who she is."

    <strong>***</strong>

    MONA was minding her business while checking the Spirit Stones in the disy ss box of the jewelry store when all of a sudden, she felt someone grab her hair from behind.

    Of course, she snapped right away.

    It wasn''t because she was hurt badly. She was pissed because the person who grabbed her hair roughly snatched her hair ornament. And it happened to be the ornament that Gavin Quinzel gave to her as a birthday present.

    [Who the hell¡­!]

    "Show me your face, wench."

    She turned around and was about to give the assant a piece of her mind. But she was surprised to see that the rudedy was the samedy she just congratted for hering-of-age ceremony a few months ago.

    But it seemed like the one who grabbed her hair was more shocked than she was.

    Even the servants and the knights behind Lady Sera Wisteria looked shocked by what their master had done. Ah, no. It seemed like they were scared.

    "L-Lady Roseheart¡­" Lady Sera Wisteria said in a trembling voice. Then she closed her eyes as if she was calming herself down. "Your hair color¡­ I should have known¡­" She opened her eyes and bowed while handing the hair ornament back to her. "I apologize for my rudeness, Lady Roseheart. My temper got the better of me."

    Most people in the empire knew about Lady Sera Wisteria''s bad temper.

    [Let''s just let it slide.]

    "It''s alright, Lady Wisteria," Mona said as she epted the hair ornament. "But may I know why you suddenly grabbed my hair and this ornament?"

    "I was jealous."

    "Excuse me?"

    "The hair ornament¡­ it''s from Commander Quinzel, isn''t it?" the youngerdy asked. "Come to think of it, it was also your birthday before mine."

    Unlike Lady Sera Wisteria''s birthday celebration, hers was simple. She just had a solemn yet warm dinner with Niki and their friends.

    Despite her simple birthday celebration, most nobles were aware of her birth date. Thus, it wasn''t strange that Lady Sera Wisteria was also aware of it. But she felt odd for some reason. She didn''t like where their conversation was headed to.

    "That''s none of your business, Lady Wisteria."

    The youngerdy smiled bitterly. "I know that it is from themander since there''s only one kind of that hair ornament in the whole continent."

    "What about it?"

    "Nothing," Lady Sera Wisteria said, then she added casually. "It''s just that Commander Quinzel told me that he has feelings for the person who received that hair ornament as a birthday present from him."

    The youngerdy said it loud and clear that everyone in the jewelry store had heard her nonsense.

    Mona, for the first time in her life, wanted to be violent and cut someone''s tongue off.

    When the rumor about Commander Gavin Quinzel being "in love" with her spread like a wildfire, she regretted not punching Lady Sera Wisteria in the face at least.

    <strong>***</strong>

    "HAVE you heard?"

    "Commander Quinzel is in love with Lady Roseheart?"

    "It''s true! Lady Sera Wisteria, themander''s supposed-to-be fianc¨¦e, has confronted Lady Roseheart!"

    "But isn''t Lady Roseheart the lover of His Majesty?"

    "Moreover, His Majesty and Commander Quinzel are close friends since childhood!"

    "That wicked woman must have seduced both men."

    Gavin, who was leaning against a pir with his arms crossed over his chest, closed his eyes as he listened to the gossiping servants of the Royal Pce behind him.

    It seemed like Lady Sera Wisteria was indeed tactless.

    [I can''t believe Lady Wisteria really confronted Lady Roseheart in front of an audience.]

    He felt bad that he gave the people who hated Lady Roseheart a new reason to badmouth her. But he couldn''t stop now. He didn''t want to.

    [Wait for me, Areum-ah.]

    ***

    NIKOLAI drew his sword and coldly pointed it at the kitchen staff kneeling in front of him. There were two other servants kneeling as well but he pointed his sword at the one with the loudest voice. "What did you say?" he asked sternly. "Commander Quinzel is in love with Lady Roseheart?"

    He went to the royal kitchen personally to tell the royal chef about the dish that Mona wanted to eat. Ever since Mona got pregnant, he would often visit the kitchen to inspect. He had been poisoned a lot when he was a child. Although it was unlikely to happen, that didn''t stop him from making sure that Mona and their child wouldn''t be poisoned.

    But on his way to the kitchen, he heard the kitchen staff gossiping.

    ["I heard that Commander Quinzel is in love with Lady Roseheart!"]

    ["Apparently, themander confessed his love for Lady Roseheart when he gave her the hair ornament."]

    ["Moreover, the hair ornament is said to be special so Commander Quinzel might really have feelings for Lady Roseheart."]

    Those were the horrible words that he heard earlier.

    "Is your tongue for decoration only?" he asked coldly, ignoring Glenn who was standing behind him while telling him to calm down. "Do you want me to cut that off for you?"

    "I b-beg your f-forgiveness, Your Majesty!" the shaking and crying kitchen staff pleaded. "P-Please h-have m-mercy o-on us!"

    "I didn''t ask you to beg for forgiveness," Niki said, his bloodlust oozing dangerously. Because of that, the kitchen staff began to copse one by one. But he didn''t care. "I asked you what you mean when you said Gavin Quinzel is in love with Mona Roseheart!"

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 Chapter 311 - NASTY RUMORS

    "YOUR MAJESTY!"

    Niki was about to behead the kitchen staff that dared to insult Mona when Glenn risked his life to stop him. Of course, he calmed down a little. Even in a rage of fit, he wouldn''t hurt or kill a trusted ally like Glenn. Still, being held back pissed him off. "Glenn, if you don''t want to be severely punished, shut it."

    "It''s not like that, Your Majesty," Glenn said, then he pointed at a maid running towards in their direction. "Isn''t thatdy one of Lady Roseheart''s maids? It seems like she has an urgent message for you."

    Glenn was right.

    A maid wouldn''t risk her life to approach him if it wasn''t for something urgent or important. Since the servant was working for Mona, he was concerned. He dropped his arm that held his sword and spoke to the maid.

    "What happened to Mona?" he asked coldly. "That better be important."

    The maid, who was trembling in fear, bowed her head so low he thought her back would break. Then, in a shaking and frightened voice, the maid greeted him politely before giving her report. "Y-Your Majesty, Lady Roseheart has fainted and M-Madam Hammock said that His Majesty muste as soon as¡­"

    He didn''t hear the rest of the report and ran as fast as he could towards his room where Mona must be.

    Of course, Glenn followed him behind.

    "Glenn."

    "Yes, Your Majesty?"

    Niki''s jaw clenched before he spoke. "Bring Gavin here."

    <strong>***</strong>

    WHEN Niki arrived at their bedroom, Mona was already asleep.

    Madam Hammock assured him that Mona and their baby were both fine. Since he didn''t want to disturb Mona''s sleep, he asked the Healing Sage to talk in the tea room. After the maids served the refreshments, he asked them to leave.

    Since he asked Glenn to bring Gavin to him, only him and Madam Hammock were left in the tea room.

    "Your Majesty, I know that you''re shocked but please don''t worry too much," Madam Hammock said, consoling him. "The royal baby is fine¨C"

    "What is Mona''s current condition?" Niki asked, more concerned about Mona than the child in her womb. "Why did she faint? That rarely happens, Madam Hammock. Even when we fought in a war together in the past, she didn''t faint no matter how much Mana she used when summoning Spirits to fight. In fact, thest time she fainted was when she summoned William for the first time. That was years ago."

    The madam fell silent as if she was debating with herself whether to speak or not.

    "Speak if you don''t want to die here, Madam."

    The Healing Sage let out a sigh before she spoke. "Your Majesty, the royal baby seems to be eating at Lady Roseheart''s Mana and¡­ and life force."

    He was shocked to hear that. "Is that normal? Do babies consume their mother''s Mana and life force?"

    "This isn''t a normal case, Your Majesty," the madam said in a sad voice. "ording to my diagnosis, it seems like the royal baby is weak. Therefore, the royal baby doesn''t only need nutrients. She also needs Mana and life force from her mother."

    That made him frown. "Then, doesn''t it mean this pregnancy is dangerous for Mona?"

    "That is the case, Your Majesty."

    His jaw clenched while trying to control his rage.

    If he knew that the royal baby would be a danger to Mona, he wouldn''t have agreed to have a child with her. To be honest, he didn''t really want a child with her because he knew that the Rosehearts were only capable of giving birth to females.

    He had seen the terrible life that Nichole had lived.

    Thus, he didn''t want to give that kind of future to his daughter.

    But it wasn''t like he couldn''t turn down Mona''s request. He promised her that he would give her anything and everything that she wanted. And so, the two of them conceived a child.

    Still, if Mona''s life was at risk¡­

    "Madam Hammock."

    "Yes, Your Majesty?"

    "Mona''s life is more important to me than the child in her womb," Niki said seriously. He knew that his decision would hurt Mona. But he would rather receive her wrath than lose her forever. "If a situation where I have to choose between Mona and the childes, then I want you to save Mona."

    "But Your Majesty¨C"

    "I am the one you serve, Madam Hammock," he said coldly. "And don''t forget the reason why I allowed you to live despite the horrible things that you''ve done to Nichole. Or have you truly forgotten about it?"

    The Healing Sage lowered her eyes to the floor. "I haven''t forgotten, Your Majesty," she said weakly. "I swore on my life that I will serve Lady Roseheart the way I should have served thete Princess Royal."

    "That''s right¨C I told you to serve Mona and not the child," he said, his voice still cold and empty. Even though he looked tough outside, his conscience was still killing him on the inside. Still, his decision was firm. "Monaes first. No matter what Mona says, her life matters more than the child. Understood?"

    Madam Hammock bowed her head. "I understand, Your Majesty."

    "Good," Niki said, then he sipped his tea before he spoke again. "And remember, Madam Hammock¨C keep your mouth shut about this matter."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "MONA, you should still be resting."

    "I''m fine," Mona insisted, ignoring Niki''s scolding. She just woke up so she was still on the bed. She was sitting on the mattress while leaning against the headboard. "Madam Hammock said that I only fainted because of exhaustion. It must be because I''ve been using my Mana to talk to the Spirits and other beings nonstop for the past few weeks."

    She had to appease the Spirits and the other beings that cared about the Cosmic Tree as much as she did. Thus, she failed to look after her health and physical body properly. Thankfully, the Spirits and the other beings seemed to have calmed down so she could rx now.

    "I''m sorry, baby," she said gently while rubbing her stomach carefully. "Mommy has been too busytely. I promise to take care of myself better for you."

    She turned to Niki when she realized that he was too quiet.

    That was when she saw an unfamiliar emotion on his face. He looked upset, but he also looked like he was feeling¡­

    [I''m not sure but he looks guilty for some reason¡­?]

    "Niki?" she called him carefully, then she put a hand on his cheek. "Are you okay? You look¡­ upset."

    She only said ''upset'' because she didn''t know what to call the other emotion that she saw in his eyes earlier.

    Niki, who was sitting beside her, turned to her and nodded. "Yes, I''m upset," he admitted. "Have you heard about the ridiculous rumor between you and Gavin?"

    Sheughed awkwardly. "Yes, I''ve heard it."

    Not only that¨C she had also heard the rumor straight from the mouth of the person who caused it in the first ce.

    [Lady Sera Wisteria, look at the trouble that you brewed¡­]

    She also heard from her maids that because of that nasty rumor, more than half of the servants in Yule Pce that talked about it had been fired or worse, heavily punished by Niki.

    And Gavin was also summoned to the pce.

    Niki initially nned to meet Gavin alone. But she insisted toe along. Even though she knew that the rumor was something that only came from Lady Wisteria''s creative mind, she was aware that Niki would often lose his rationality when he was jealous.

    "Niki, you know that it''s not true, don''t you?" she asked. "There''s no way that Gavin has feelings for me."

    "I know that," he said with a frown. "But I''m curious as to why that kind of rumor began in the first ce."

    "It''s because of Lady Sera Wisteria," she said while shaking her head. "I''m sure that there has been a misunderstanding between her and Gavin."

    Moreover, she knew that Lady Sera Wisteria was interested in Gavin for a long time now.

    The youngdy was known for being difficult and temperamental. She wouldn''t be surprised if she found out that Lady Sera Wisteria started that ridiculous rumor on purpose.

    "I''ve heard that Lady Wisteria grabbed your hair," Niki said coldly. "I wonder how I should destroy House Wisteria."

    "Don''t do that, Niki. You will only fuel the rumor even more if you punish House Wisteria," Mona scolded him. Then, she cupped his face between her hands to gently force him to look at her. "The rumor will die out soon so don''t do anything."

    Unfortunately, that nasty rumor wouldn''t die out anytime soon.

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOUR MAJESTY, Lady Roseheart, I deeply apologize."

    Mona felt bad to see Gavin Quinzel bowing deeply to her and Niki when he hadn''t done anything wrong.

    When she turned to Niki, she was d to see that he no longer looked angry. Like her, the emperor looked awkward to his cousin and the respectable Commander of the White Lion Knights bow his head when he was innocent.

    "Stop it, Gavin," Niki said while clicking his tongue. "It was Lady Wisteria who started this mess. Am I right?"

    Gavin raised his head and scratched his cheek. "I think Lady Wisteria has misunderstood my intention for giving the hair ornament to Lady Roseheart. I should have been more careful. I''m truly sorry for all of this."

    "Gavin, you''re too nice," Mona said, then she sighed. "It''s not your fault, okay?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "IT SEEMS like the rumor didn''t shake His Majesty and Lady Mona Roseheart''s rtionship."

    Gavin ignored Lukas'' attempt to mock him.

    As of right now, the two of them were in his office in the Quinzel Estate. He had summoned the elf not to hear his taunting but to ask for his help. Thus, he was being patient.

    "I''ve only started," Gavin, who was half-sitting on the desk behind him, said and crossed his arms over his chest. "Lukas, can you or Lord Helstor create a fake prophecy?"

    Lukas, who was about to sip his tea, stop midway to give him a look of disbelief. "A fake what?"

    "I need two fake prophecies to send to His Majesty and Lady Roseheart separately," he exined to the elf. "One that would make His Majesty hate the royal baby, and the other to make Lady Roseheart leave His Majesty."

    He knew His Majesty''s weakness, and so was Lady Roseheart''s.

    And yes, he was going to exploit those weaknesses for his benefit.

    "I can''t make fake prophecies," Lukas said seriously. "But I will ask Lord Helstor if he could help you this time."

    "Great," Gavin said, his face void of emotions. "Tell him that I need it done as soon as possible."

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 Chapter 312 - TRAITOR

    "IT WON''T work," Gavin said after having a lengthy discussion with Lukas regarding the fake prophecies that he wanted Lord Helstor to make. "Using a prophecy to make His Majesty do what I want might not work."

    "Why wouldn''t it work on the emperor?" Lukas asked curiously. "I understand that we have to be careful around Lady Roseheart since she''s close to Nature. Therefore, she might easily spot a fake prophecy. But I don''t believe that His Majesty has the same ability."

    "Don''t underestimate His Majesty''s sixth sense," he scolded the elf. "His Majesty usurped the throne from the previous emperor when he hasn''t even had hising-of-age ceremony back then. Ever since then, he has been surrounded by people who wanted to bring him down thinking that a "child" like him didn''t deserve to be the emperor. How do you think he survived all these years? His Majesty trusted his instincts, of course."

    "Do you think His Majesty''s sixth sense could detect the fake prophecy?"

    "It''s not that he could detect it," he said, then he sighed while shaking his head. "But I just remembered that His Majesty doesn''t believe in gods."

    "Unbelievable. Isn''t he the descendant of Lord Yule, the Moon God?"

    "When I said His Majesty doesn''t believe in gods, I mean that he doesn''t believe that the gods are better than him," he exined. He should have said that His Majesty didn''t have faith in gods to be more precise. "He is that arrogant."

    "I''m shocked that a mere human could be that arrogant."

    He justughed at the elf''s reaction. "Because of that arrogance, I don''t think His Majesty will believe any kind of prophecy. He only believes in Lady Roseheart''s words."

    "Then, how do you n to scam the emperor?"

    He flinched at the word ''scam'' but in the end, he decided to ignore the iffy feeling he had. "His Majesty trusts me as much as he trusts Lady Rosehearet. I n to exploit that."

    "Are you certain that His Majesty trusts you that much?"

    "Yes, and I can make him trust my words over Lady Roseheart''s when ites to the royal baby," he said indifferently. "His Majesty isn''t that keen to keep his child with Lady Roseheart. After all, a royal princess can''t be an heir to the throne anyway."

    "Ah, that is correct," Lukas said while nodding his head. "The Rosehearts could only give birth to female children." The elf smirked as if he found something amusing. "Humans are really something, huh? The emperor is known for his great love for Lady Roseheart. But apparently, he doesn''t care about the child that he conceived with his beloved."

    "I feel bad for the royal baby but I could use the fact that His Majesty doesn''t care about her to my advantage," he said. It was true that he pitied the royal baby. But he had already decided to be selfish this once. He had no intention of backing out now. "Our problem is Lady Roseheart. It would be hard to deceive her with a fake prophecy."

    "But it''s usible," the elf said confidently. "The Cosmic Tree is in a deep slumber right now. Most of Lady Roseheart''s visions were delivered to her by the Cosmic Tree."

    "Wouldn''t that actually put us at a disadvantage?"

    "It''s the opposite, Commander," the Messenger said with a smirk. "Now that the Cosmic Tree is out of the picture, no one could tell Lady Roseheart whether the prophecy that she received is authentic or not. Moreover, the prophecy that we will create will be sent by her."

    ""Her?""

    "The nameless princess that Lady Roseheart met as a ck tree."

    "The one from the Forest of Impurity?"

    "Yes, Commander," the elf confirmed. "She will lend us a hand."

    "That''s suspicious," he said with a frown. "The nameless princess is a de Moonasterio. Why would she help us?"

    "Because she''s a de Moonasterio," Lukas said bluntly. "Commander, you know how royal princesses are treated by the Royal Family."

    He felt a painful squeeze in his heart when he remembered the former Princess Nichole''s pitiful state after they had rescued her. "Yes, you are correct. I shouldn''t have forgotten the fact that the royal princesses in our empire are barely treated as humans."

    "She wholeheartedly wanted to save the royal baby," the elf said. "And she knows that Lady Roseheart has to be separated from the emperor first for her to seed. Fortunately for you, the nameless princess doesn''t trust male de Moonasterios."

    Gavin smiled when he realized something. "It seems like the odds are in my favor."

    Lukas let out a heartyugh. "Yes, you lucky bastard."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "BROTHER¡­"

    Gavin raised his head to meet Rufus''s gaze.

    Right now, he and his baby brother were having dinner in the Royal Pce. To be precise, they were in the White Lion House. It was the residence exclusive to the White Lion Knights only. Rufus was allowed to enter the residence because he was his guest.

    As the Commander of the Pdins and the White Lion Knights, he had that much authority.

    "What is it, Rufus?" Gavin asked indifferently. "Did Father send you here?"

    Rufus flinched at his indifferent tone. "Father is worried about the rumors regarding you and Lady Roseheart," he said hesitantly. "Father demands that youe home and get married immediately, Brother."

    He already expected that.

    In fact, it was the very reason why he hadn''t returned to the Quinzel Estate yet. He knew that his father would only force him to get married to kill the rumors of him being in love with Lady Roseheart.

    [It has been two months since Lady Sera Wisteria unintentionally spread the rumor.]

    All ording to his n, of course.

    "I can''t go home yet until I''vepleted my task," Gavin said, then he sipped his red wine. "Rufus, you don''t believe that rumor, do you?"

    "Of course, I don''t," his brother said firmly. "But most people think otherwise, Brother. After all, you often go to the Royal Capital with Lady Roseheart."

    It was true.

    And this time, he didn''t n it.

    He just had to naturally apany Lady Roseheart every time she needed to buy Spirit Stones and other things in the Royal Capital. His Majesty trusted him enough to not care about the rumor. Both the emperor and Lady Roseheart believed that the rumor was spread by Lady Sera Wisteria out of jealousy.

    Even though Lady Sera Wisteria had insisted that she didn''t misunderstand his words, His Majesty and Lady Roseheart still believed him over the poor youngdy.

    "Rufus, I''m Lady Roseheart''s personal knight," he reminded his brother. "It''s my job to apany her wherever she goes."

    "But that only fuels that rumor even more¡­"

    "His Majesty doesn''t care about the rumor because we all know that it isn''t true," he said, then he ced the wine ss on the table. "Rufus, go home and tell Father to not worry about me. I''m not doing anything that will tarnish our family name anyway."

    His younger brother looked like he had something more to say. But in the end, he just let out a sigh and nodded. "Brother, why do I feel like you''re cold these days?"

    Ah.

    He suddenly felt guilty.

    It was true. He had been cold recently. But he had to toughen up or else, he was afraid that his resolve might waver.

    "I''m just busy these days, Rufus," he said in a warmer tone this time. "I''m sorry."

    His younger brother just nodded but it looked like he was still sulking.

    It was cute though.

    [Rufus is already married and he''s going to be a father soon. And yet, he still acts like a baby around me.]

    That made him smile.

    He stood up and moved his chair next to his brother''s. Then, he wrapped his arms around Rufus''s shoulders while gently patting his head.

    "There, there," heforted his baby brother. "I''m sorry for making you feel lonely, Rufus."

    "B-Brother, you''re embarrassing me," Rufusined but he didn''t push him off anyway. "Why are you acting this way?"

    He justughed but he continued hugging his baby brother. Maybe it was him who was lonely and not Rufus. After all, he couldn''t rely on anyone except Lukas right now. [I''m sorry, Rufus. This older brother of you has be a bad guy.]

    "Rufus?"

    "Yes, Brother?"

    "Do you want to be the next duke?"

    "Huh?"

    "I know that you''re doing well as the captain of the ck Hawk Knights," he told his younger brother. "But now that you''re going to be a father soon, wouldn''t you want your child to be born as the daughter of the duke?"

    Rufus shared the news with him the other day that he was going to have a niece soon.

    "Since we''re a part of the extended Royal Family, your child is going to be a princess if you inherit our father''s title."

    "I don''t want to be a duke, Brother. That title is yours," Rufus said firmly. "Brother, why do you talk like you''d abandon our family soon?"

    Gavin could only smile sadly as he patted his brother''s head.

    <strong>***</strong>

    "I HEARD Rufus was at the White Lion House earlier."

    "Yes, Your Majesty," Gavin, who was sitting on the couch across from the emperor, said politely. "Rufus paid me a visit to deliver our father''s message."

    His Majestyughed softly. "Is Uncle asking you toe home?"

    The emperor would only refer to Duke Desmond Quinzel, his father, as ''uncle'' when speaking to him privately. Since only the two of them were in His Majesty''s office, he addressed the duke casually.

    "Yes, Your Majesty. Father asked me toe home," he said while chuckling. "That''s why please allow me to stay in the White Lion House a little bit longer. I''m afraid that my Father would marry off as soon as I returned to the Quinzel Estate."

    The emperor smirked and sipped his red wine first. "You''re themander of the White Lion Knights, Gavin," he reminded him. "You''re practically the head of White Lion House. You may stay as long as you want."

    "Thank you for your generosity, Your Majesty," he said with a smile. Then, he noticed that His Majesty looked like he was in a bad mood. He knew exactly why. "How is Lady Roseheart''s condition?"

    Lady Mona Roseheart fainted again this afternoon.

    Thedy was now six months pregnant and it looked like her health was deteriorating each passing moment. Thus, the emperor looked like his world would copse anytime soon.

    "It''s not getting better," His Majesty said, his eyes were now glowing red. Since the room was dark, the glow of his eyes was brighter than usual. And the emperor also had a murderous look on his face at the moment. "Madam Hammock said that the more the royal baby in Mona''s womb grows, the more it would eat at her Mana and life force."

    "Hang in there, Your Majesty," he said carefully. "There are only three months left before Lady Roseheart gives birth."

    "There are still three months left," the emperor corrected him sternly. "If something bad happens to Mona, I will never forgive that child."

    Ah, this was the opportunity he was waiting for.

    "But it seems like Lady Roseheart has prepared herself for the worst¡­"

    His Majesty looked at him as if he just said something absurd. "Gavin, is Mona hiding something from me?"

    He avoided the emperor''s gaze on purpose to look guilty.

    "Gavin Quinzel," His Majesty called his full name sternly. "Spill it out."

    He turned to the emperor with hesitation in his eyes. Of course, that was all an act. "I promised Lady Roseheart that I will keep it a secret¨C"

    "I''m the one you serve and not her, Gavin Quinzel," His Majesty said, his bloodlust now leaking and suffocating him. "If you don''t speak, I will kill you."

    If any other person was in his position, they would have copsed now from the pressureing from the emperor.

    But fortunately, he was strong enough not to be affected by His Majesty''s bloodlust.

    "I''m not opening my mouth because I''m afraid of you, Your Majesty," he began carefully. "I''m doing this because I don''t want Lady Roseheart to die."

    The emperor''s bloodlust in the air suddenly disappeared.

    Then, his eyes returned to normal. Moreover, the murderous look on His Majesty''s face earlier was now reced by fear.

    "Mona will die?" His Majesty asked worriedly. "Did she have a vision about her own death?"

    "It''s abination of a vision and a warning, Your Majesty," he began his lie carefully. "Lady Roseheart didn''t tell me the details. But apparently, she saw a vision where she has to choose between her life and the baby royal''s. ording to her, even the ck tree warned her that carrying the child in her womb would put her life at risk."

    The emperor looked devastated by his "revtion." "Mona didn''t mention that to me¡­"

    "Of course, Lady Roseheart wouldn''t," he said sympathetically. "Your Majesty, this is merely based on my observation. But I believe that Lady Roseheart is preparing to sacrifice herself for the royal baby. It seems like she would choose the child over her own life."

    His Majesty closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

    "It''s just my opinion, Your Majesty," he hurriedly added in an attempt tofort the emperor. "I could be wrong."

    "No, you''re right," the emperor said, then he opened his eyes that had turned glowing red once again. "Mona would definitely choose the royal baby over her own life. That''s definitely the reason why she''s keeping it a secret from me."

    He acted concerned. "Will you allow Lady Roseheart to sacrifice herself for the royal baby, Your Majesty?"

    "Of course not," Emperor Niki said coldly. "I will get rid of the child if I have to if it means saving Mona."

    Gavin had to stop himself from frowning. [You don''t deserve to be a father, Your Majesty.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    A HORRIBLE vision.

    Mona woke up in the middle of the night after having a bad dream. But her dreams were never ordinary dreams. They were visions.

    She was d that woke up alone in bed.

    After all, she wouldn''t know how to face Niki after seeing the terrible deed that he had done in her dream.

    She badly wished that her vision this time was wrong.

    "Niki, you''re going to kill our baby?" Mona whispered to herself in disbelief. Then, she carefully hugged her now bulging stomach. "It''s not true, is it?"

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 313 - THE END OF A LOVE STORY

    "LADY ROSEHEART, please take a break."

    Mona turned to Gavin and smiled. "I''m still fine, Gavin."

    "Lady Roseheart, please think about the royal baby in your womb," Gavin scolded her lightly. "Madam Hammock also said that you should be resting a lot in the meantime. You don''t want something bad to happen to the royal baby, do you?"

    Sheughed softly at Gavin''s nagging.

    He was obviously talking to her as a friend and someone who was older than him. It had been a while since Gavin talked to her this way so it was refreshing.

    "Alright, I will take a rest," she said, then she walked toward the sofa.

    Gavin, being the gentleman that he was, assisted her and helped her sit. He even put a pillow behind her. Then, he poured tea in her teacup even though it wasn''t a part of his job.

    It couldn''t be helped though. Only the two of them were allowed in the greenhouse at the moment.

    [This is why the rumors about me and Gavin don''t die¨C we''re always together.]

    But she needed to practice summoning her power using the help of Spirit Stones. Gavin, on the other hand, was there to use his Shadow Veil. It was the huge dome-like dark barrier that themander covered the greenhouse with.

    ording to Lukas, the Messenger of the God of Eternal Darkness, the Shadow Veil was enough to block the gods'' eyes for now. Since she wasn''t doing something big yet, the gods wouldn''t bother checking what was hidden behind the Shadow Veil.

    "Lady Roseheart, your power is really amazing," Gavin said when he stood in front of her. He wouldn''t sit because apparently, he couldn''t do that while on duty. "You said you were growing weak but to me, it looks like you''ve gotten stronger instead."

    Sheughed softly. "Thank you, Gavin. But I believe that it''s only because of the Spirit Stones. To be honest, I''ve been blessed with an abundant amount of Mana so there was never a need for me to use Spirit Stones until this time. It felt strange at first. But now I understand why Spirit Stones are precious. Those things could seriously amplify one''s Mana."

    "Ah, yes," he agreed while smiling warmly. "I''m relieved that you didn''t have to exhaust your Mana because the Spirit Stones help you, Lady Roseheart."

    "That''s probably the reason why Niki isn''tining now even though he was initially against my training," she said.

    It wasn''t like she didn''t know where Niki wasing from.

    She was already seven months pregnant. But for the sake of her baby''s future, she couldn''t stop training to prepare herself to open the door to the other world soon. Of course, she was making sure that her baby wouldn''t get hurt in the process.

    "Gavin."

    "Yes, Lady Roseheart?"

    "Why is Niki being quiet?" she asked curiously.

    Themander flinched before he spoke. "I''m afraid I don''t understand what you mean by that, mydy."

    She smiled while shaking her head.

    [Of course, Gavin will cover up for his precious cousin.]

    But she felt iffy about Niki''s silence these days. She knew that something was up but she couldn''t pinpoint it. After seeing Gavin''s awkwardness, she was now certain that Niki was doing something behind her back.

    "Gavin, you''re really loyal to Niki, huh?"

    Once again, Gavin flinched. Then, he bowed to her. "I''m sorry, Lady Roseheart."

    She chuckled while waving her hand. "It''s alright, Gavin. You don''t have to apologize to me. Niki is your master and not me."

    "Lady Roseheart¡­"

    "Hmm?"

    "I''m on your side," Gavin said seriously. His eyes were clear and it looked like there was a meaning behind his words. "I also wish for the royal baby to be born healthily."

    She felt a chill down her spine after hearing those words from themander.

    But she didn''t know if it was really because of his words or the tone that he used when he talked. To her, it sounded like Gavin was expecting that her royal baby wouldn''t be born at all.

    [I knew it! Gavin really knows what Niki is up to!]

    She abruptly stood up and was about to confront themander when all of a sudden, she felt an excruciating pain in her stomach. It felt like her baby was being pulled out of her womb. And for some reason, her strength was being drained fast.

    [No, my baby¡­] Mona thought to herself while hugging her swelling stomach tight. [Hang in there, baby¡­]

    "Lady Roseheart!"

    <strong>***</strong>

    MONA couldn''t believe that she was crying from pain now.

    She didn''t even shed a tear when William stabbed her in the heart the first time she summoned that bastard.

    She also didn''t cry when she watched Niki and Juliet get married in the past even though that was the moment her entire world copsed.

    But now¡­

    "It hurts," Mona cried weakly while clutching her baby bump. "Madam Hammock, is my baby in pain?"

    She could tell that she was in the bedroom that she shared with Niki.

    Madam Hammock was the only person in the room right now. The Healing Sage had a pale expression on her face while her glowing hands were on her stomach.

    "The royal baby is very hungry, Lady Roseheart," Madam Hammock said worriedly. "They are very hungry."

    Did she hear it correctly? ""They?""

    "Lady Roseheart, I didn''t notice it before but this time, I can sense two beating hearts inside your womb," the Healing Sage reported to her. "But the other royal baby seems to have a weak life force and their Mana is very small." She gasped as if she just realized what was happening. "Lady Roseheart, the second child is very weak and it''s dying. It''s the reason why we haven''t detected them until now."

    She was too shocked to react.

    [There are two babies in my womb? They are twins?]

    "The second child is the one eating at your Mana and life force, Lady Roseheart," Madam Hammock said in a panicked voice. "We have to stop them now!"

    "Stop what?" she snapped at the Healing Sage. She didn''t mean to be nasty to the person trying to save her. But she was in pain, and she didn''t like what she heard. "Are you saying that we should let my baby starve?"

    "But Lady Roseheart, you''ll die if this continues!"

    "If I die, open my stomach and take my babies out safely," she said in a weak yet firm voice. "I''m already seven months pregnant. I heard that babies born this early could still survive. If it''s you, Madam Hammock, I''m sure that you can keep my babies alive."

    Madam Hammock was about to open her mouth when they heard a loud bang.

    "What nonsense are you saying, Mona?!"

    She didn''t need to look to know that the angry and chilling voice came from Niki. Then, she was forced to get up when she saw Madam Hammock fall on the floor. She didn''t have the time to ask if the Healing Sage was okay when she saw Niki.

    "Mona, I won''t allow you to die," Niki said coldly, then he raised his now glowing hand. "I''ll relieve you of your pain now."

    Relieve her pain¡­?

    She gasped when she realized that Niki would kill her babies! So this was why he had been quiet all this time, huh? He had decided to let go of their babies just to keep her alive!

    "Niki," she said in a very cold and angry voice. "Do you wish to die?"

    He ignored her warning and proceeded to attack her. It seemed like he was aiming for her stomach. She also noticed that his hand was covered with an unfamiliar spell.

    [Is it a spell to kill our children?]

    An ungodly amount of anger rose up to her chest.

    [This is why he has been quiet all this time¨C he found a spell to kill our babies!]

    Since it was Niki, it was probably a spell that would kill the children in her womb without killing her in the process.

    After all, he loved her more than he loved their babies.

    "Niki de Moonasterio!" she screamed at the top of her lungs as different colors of Mana appeared and created severalyers of shield for her. "I will never forgive you if you touch our children!"

    He looked surprised when she said "children" but he didn''t stop attacking the shield created by her Spirit Guardians.

    [He''s really serious.]

    Niki drew Calypso, his sword, and began attacking her shield with it.

    She could feel the aura of the emperor''s four Soul Beasts infused in the sword''s de.

    "Master, your lover is crazy!" ze, the Fire Spirit, said in a panicked voice. "Why is he trying to kill our little masters?! Let''s burn him to death! Burn! Die! Perish!"

    "But the mad emperor is also crazy strong! Why is it always the lunatic ones?!" Marina, the Water Spirit,ined. "Master, break up with him now! For loving yourself, justice for the little masters, and tragic ending with the crazy emperor!"

    "M-Master, the shield we created won''tst long," Olive, the Wood Spirit, said worriedly. "Should we take you to the Spirit World?"

    "I''ll fight the crazy emperor," Rockwell, the Stone Spirit, said. "Please escape now, Master."

    "I''ll stay with Rockwell, Mona," Gale, the Wind Spirit, said in an annoyed voice. "Little Niki is pissing me off! I''m going to teach him a lesson!"

    "Me, too! Me, too!" ze yelled determinedly. "I''ll burn the crazy emperor to ashes!"

    "The little ones are correct, Mona," Roseanne, the Light Spirit, said with concern. "You''re not in the condition to fight the crazy emperor. I''ll open the gate to the Spirit World now."

    Mona didn''t have the heart to argue with her Spirit Guardians.

    She knew that she didn''t have the power to fight Niki now that her stomach still hurt like hell. Moreover, she wanted to make sure her babies were safe first. Tara, the Queen of the Spirit World, could and would surely help her save her children.

    [I have to get away from Niki first.]

    "Mona."

    It was Niki who suddenly stopped attacking her shield.

    His eyes were glowing red at the moment so she thought she''d see a fierce look in his gaze. But much to her surprise, she saw desperation and grief in Niki''s eyes.

    Ah.

    He probably noticed that Roseanne opened the gate to the Spirit World.

    "Mona, don''t leave," Niki begged her in a cracked voice. "Please choose me."

    It broke her heart to hear Niki beg her like that. But she had already made up her mind. It wasn''t her responsibility anymore if he couldn''t ept her decision.

    "I''m sorry, Niki," Mona said sadly as Roseanne''s light engulfed her. The Light Spirit had sessfully opened the gate to the Spirit World. And now, she was about to teleport to that world. Since she was the Daughter of Nature, she was allowed to enter the Spirit World with her physical body. "But I''m choosing our children over you and I will never change my mind."

    <strong>***</strong>

    A PORTION of Niki''s pce was destroyed after his fight with some of Mona''s Spirit Guardians. But the Spirits left as soon as the gate to the Spirit World closed. Even if he was the emperor, it was a ce that he couldn''t enter especially since Tara hated his guts.

    [Mona left me¡­]

    "Your Majesty, you''re hurt," Madam Hammock, who stayed in the corner as he fought earlier, said worriedly. "Please allow me to treat your wounds¨C"

    "Get out," Niki said coldly. "Get out before I kill you, Madam Hammock."

    The Healing Sage knew him well enough to know that he was serious.

    Madam Hammock bowed before she quietly left the room. If it was still considered a room after the roof copsed.

    But he wasn''t able to enjoy some quiet time alone.

    "Your Majesty."

    It was Gavin.

    He frowned at themander who exined immediately.

    "I asked Glenn and the others not to follow me," Gavin said as if he wasforting him. "Shall I follow Lady Roseheart and bring her back to you, Your Majesty?"

    He smirked bitterly. "Mona ran away to the Spirit World, Gavin. Can you follow her?"

    "Yes, Your Majesty."

    He was shocked to hear that. Actually, he was being sarcastic when he asked themander if he could follow Mona. He didn''t expect that kind of response from him.

    [But Gavin is not the type of person to spout nonsense.]

    "Lukas, the Messenger of the God of Eternal Darkness, is an elf," themander exined when he probably noticed his confusion. "Elves have ess to the Spirit World. I will ask Lukas if he can help me enter the Spirit World and talk to Lady Roseheart."

    That sounded usible.

    Mona and the Spirit World didn''t hate Gavin unlike him. Moreover, the Spirit World would ept humans from time to time. But of course, only at the "entrance level." Still, it was better than not sending anyone to follow Mona at all.

    [Moreover, Mona listens well to Gavin.]

    "Gavin, I''m leaving it to you," Niki said, his voice sounding hopeful. Then, he put a hand on Gavin''s shoulder and squeezed it. "I trust you."

    Gavin smiled and nodded. "Thank you for the trust, Your Majesty."

    <strong>***</strong>

    WHEN MONA opened her eyes, Tara''s beautiful yet worried face greeted her.

    [I made it to the Spirit World¡­]

    She immediately touched her stomach and was relieved to feel that her baby bump was still there. Moreover, she could feel that her babies were still in her womb.

    [They''re safe¡­]

    She was still shocked that Niki seriously tried to kill their children. But for now, her heart was contented to have gotten away from him. She knew that he loved her crazy but not to the point that he would sacrifice their babies just because she was having a difficult pregnancy.

    [Niki, you''ve crossed the line.]

    "Don''t worry, Mona," Tara assured her. "Your children are alright."

    "Thank you, Tara," Mona said weakly, her voice hoarse. The Spirit Queen helped her get up. Then, she gave her a ss of water. She drank a bit before speaking again. "The pain in my stomach is gone. May I know what happened?"

    "I just fed your children some of my Mana and life force," the Queen said. "They wouldn''t get too hungry in the meantime."

    Tara said it was as if it was nothing.

    But for the Queen of the Spirit World to give her own Mana and life force to her unborn children was a big deal. The reason Tara stayed in the Spirit World was because a lot of beings coveted her power. Every inch and every part of the Queen was special.

    "Thank you, Tara."

    "You don''t have to thank me, Mona," the Queen said kindly. "We''re friends, aren''t we?"

    She smiled warmly at her friend, setting aside the future that the ck tree had told her about. The Spirit World wasn''t Tara. Her friend wouldn''t harm her children.

    [I''ll make sure that Tara will protect my children instead.]

    "Mona, your pregnancy is dangerous," Tara said worriedly. But her eyes looked serious. "Look, I don''t like Niki and his toxic love for you. But this time, I can see where he''sing from. Your life is at risk because your children are eating at your life force."

    "I understand your concern, Tara. But I already decided to keep my children," she said to her friend, then she smiled at her. "Help me, please."

    Her vision about Niki killing her babies hade true.

    To be honest, she didn''t know where that vision came from since the Cosmic Tree was in a deep slumber. But she had a feeling that it was the ck tree this time.

    [The Nameless Royal Princess is probably helping me in ce of Mother Tree.]

    The Queen let out a sigh. "You know that I can''t say ''no'' to you, don''t you?"

    "And that''s why I love you, Tara."

    Taraughed softly while shaking her head. "Ah, before I forget, Commander Gavin Quinzel is at the entrance of the gate that connects to the Elf Vige," she said. "Do you want to see him?"

    She hesitated at first since she knew that Niki sent Gavin to bring her back to the pce.

    But then, she remembered when Gavin said that he was on her side. Themander also said that he wished for her babies to be born in this world.

    [Gavin isn''t the type of person to lie. He''s always sincere and upright. I can trust him.]

    "Yes, Tara," Mona said with a smile. "I''d like to meet Gavin."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "COMMANDER, you''re such a good actor."

    Gavin smiled kindly at Lukas. "I don''t know what you''re talking about, Lukas."

    Right now, he and Lukas were at the garden of the Elf Vige where thetter was from.

    There was a huge tree in the middle of the garden with a door. Apparently, that door led to the Spirit World. But of course, they couldn''t simply open the door and enter. Lukas had to send a message first.

    Now, they were waiting for a response.

    "What do you n to do once you meet Lady Roseheart, Commander?" the elf asked. "Are you going to convince her to return to the pce?"

    "Of course," he said. "I shall follow His Majesty''smand."

    "It looks like you''re nning something though."

    That was correct.

    He was indeed nning something.

    Now that he was certain that both His Majesty and Lady Roseheart trusted him, he was getting more confident. He wanted to hurry because Lady Roseheart was about to give birth soon. But he still needed to be careful.

    "I''m going to take advantage of their mimunication," he said to the elf. "After what happened today, I''m sure that Lady Roseheart won''t be able to trust His Majesty again. His Majesty, on the other hand, isn''t good atmunicating. At their current state, the two won''t be able to hold a proper conversation."

    Lukasughed as if he was amused. "You''re going to destroy the two''s rtionship with just words?"

    "Yes, and I n to proceed to my next goal," Gavin said seriously. "I will convince Lady Roseheart to erase His Majesty''s memories."

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 Chapter 314 - BLINDED BY LOVE

    MONA had to be moved to the ''Elf Gate 3'' to be able to meet Gavin Quinzel.

    Since her body was still weak, she couldn''t move on her own. Thus, Tara ordered the little fairies in the pce to bring her there safely. Before she knew it, she was already lying down on a giant leaf bed. Her body was covered by a warm nket up to her neck.

    And yes, the giant leaf bed was floating in the air.

    It was embarrassing to be seen by the beings living in the pce in that state. Thankfully, the fairies soon used a teleportation spell. The next thing she knew, she was already in a cozy room that looked like a tea room in Tara''s pce.

    After she arrived safely in the room, the little fairies disappeared to give her privacy.

    Mona smiled when she saw the familiar face behind the transparent wall that divided the Spirit World and the Elf Vige. "Gavin," she greeted him, then she got up and leaned against the leaf bed''s wide stem that served as its headboard. "I''m d to see you."

    Gavin Quinzel, who was standing on the other side of the transparent wall, smiled back at her. "I''m d to see you as well, Lady Roseheart," he said, then his face became concerned as he gazed at the leaf bed. "You still don''t look well, mydy."

    "I''m feeling better now, Gavin," she assured him. "Tara is just being overly protective."

    After saying that, she turned to the dark-robed elf beside Gavin.

    The elf who noticed her gaze pulled his hood down to show his handsome face. "Greetings, Lady Roseheart," he greeted her with a respectful bow. "My name is Lukas and I am the Messenger of Lord Helstor."

    Lord Helstor.

    If she remembered it correctly, it was the name of the God of Eternal Darkness ording to Gavin.

    [It made sense that Gavin is with Lukas.]

    "I was wondering how you were able to reach the Elf Vige easily, Gavin," she said, then she turned to the elf. "Thank you for bringing Gavin here, Lord Lukas."

    "Please just call me by my name, Lady Roseheart," Lukas said. "I am nothingpared to the treasured child of the Cosmic Tree."

    She couldn''t believe the elf was saying that even though he was the Messenger of a god.

    The God of Eternal Darkness might not be as popr as the Moon God. But a god was still a god. That made Lukas''s status higher than hers. But if he wanted her to talk to him casually, she would respect it.

    Perhaps, he must be hiding the fact that he was a Messenger from other people.

    "I understand, Lukas," she said, letting him know that she respected his wishes. "Can I ask you a question?"

    "Of course, Lady Roseheart."

    "Is it Lord Helstor''s will for you to help me?"

    "I''ll be honest, Lady Roseheart," the elf said in a serious voice. "Lord Helstor wishes to help Commander Quinzel¨C his precious child."

    Ah, right.

    Gods treated the humans that worshipped them as their children, just like how a god would treat their descendants. Apparently, the Quinzels had originally worshipped Lord Helstor before switching to serve Lord Yule instead.

    "But Lord Helstor couldn''t directly help Commander Quinzel because my lord isn''t as strong as he used to be."

    It wasn''t unexpected.

    Gods grew weak if they lost their followers, especially if the humans they considered as their children had forgotten about them.

    "Thus, Lord Helstor sent me here to assist Commander Quinzel," Lukas continued. "So if themander wishes to help mydy, then mydy can consider me as an ally from now on."

    It wasn''t a bad offer.

    Elves were Nature''s children. And she got along well with Nature''s children even though she was a human because of her ability to control Spirits.

    "Thank you for taking care of Gavin, Lukas," she said with a relieved smile on her face. "I''m pleased to make your acquaintance."

    "Likewise, Lady Roseheart," Lukas said, then he bowed politely. "I shall excuse myself now. I''m sure mydy and Commander Quinzel need privacy."

    The left said goodbye to her and Gavin before quietly leaving the room on the other side of the transparent wall.

    Now, only her and themander were face-to-face.

    "You''ve found a good ally, Gavin," shemented. "But it seems like you haven''t told your family about Lukas and Lord Helstor yet."

    "To be honest, I don''t know how to proceed, Lady Roseheart," Gavin admitted while scratching his cheek as if he was shy. "Our family serves Lord Yule now. And ording to Lukas, Lord Helstor doesn''t want our family to worship him again. Apparently, Lord Helstor just needs one of the Quinzels to recognize him once again for him to maintain his power as a god. Since I''m the next head of the family, Lord Helstor chose me as his "child.""

    "What does Lord Helstor want from the next duke of House Quinzel?" she asked seriously. "The chance of gods moving on a whim is higher than the chance of them moving out of goodwill."

    "ording to Lukas, the more I feel grateful to Lord Helstor, the more the God of Eternal Darkness grows stronger," themander exined. "It''s not a bad deal. I''ll get as much help as I could from Lord Helstor since he clearly stated that he only needs my positive feelings. I''ll make sure that Lord Helstor wouldn''t be able to make me do his bidding just because he''s looking out for me."

    She smiled, satisfied that Gavin was being smart about the situation. "Still, be careful. Lord Helstor is still a god."

    "I understand. Thank you for worrying about me, Lady Roseheart."

    She just smiled, then she turned serious. "Did Niki send you here?"

    Themander smiled awkwardly before he exined. "It''s not like I only came here because His Majesty ordered me to, mydy," he said. "I''m also worried about you and the royal twins."

    "Where did you learn that I''m carrying twins?"

    "Madam Hammock told me," he exined. "The madam is also worried about you, Lady Roseheart."

    "How''s Niki?"

    "His Majesty¡­ is in a bad mood."

    Niki being in a bad mood was probably Gavin toning it down.

    [Knowing Niki, he definitely went lunatic after I ran away from him.]

    "Gavin."

    "Yes, mydy?"

    "Did Niki order you to get rid of my babies?"

    Gavin''s face turned grim, then he avoided her gaze.

    Her heart sank once again.

    [Niki ordered Gavin to kill my babies, huh?]

    As if it wasn''t enough that Niki tried to kill her babies, he also had to give Gavin such a cruel order!

    "Lady Roseheart, it seems like I have to defy His Majesty for the first time in my life," Gavin said when he looked into her eyes again. "I can''t do it. I can''t kill the innocent royal twins. Most of all, I can''t hurt you that way." He smiled nervously while scratching his cheek. "This may be impudent of me to say but I sincerely see mydy as my younger sister. Thus, I see the royal twins as my nieces the same way I see Rufus''s child."

    She was touched.

    In fact, she almost cried.

    Gavin was a childhood friend but she didn''t expect that he would choose her over his loyalty to Niki. But maybe it wasn''t because of their friendship. Perhaps, Gavin was just too kind-hearted to carry out a cruel order even if it was for the emperor.

    [I mean, I don''t see Gavin as a saint. He had killed so many people at war. Some of them were even innocent and young. But to think that he cares about my babies more than his duty as Niki''s Pdin¡­]

    "Lady Roseheart, I will not carry out His Majesty''s order," Gavin said determinedly. "I will do my best to stop him from reaching you. So please stay in the Spirit World as long as you need to. I will protect you and the royal twins even if it means betraying the throne."

    She shook her head. "You don''t have to go that far for me and my babies, Gavin. Even if it''s you, Niki will kill you if you stop him from chasing me."

    "I will put my life on the line for you and the royal twins, mydy."

    She smiled and sighed. "I can''t let you do that, Gavin. You''re my friend, and you''re the future of House Quinzel. Moreover, it will be a huge loss to the empire if we suddenly lost themander of the White Lion Knights."

    Themander fell silent for a while before speaking again. "Then, I will talk to His Majesty first and convince him that the royal twins won''t harm you, Lady Roseheart."

    Mona smiled and nodded even though she knew that Niki wouldn''t change his mind. Still, it was better than Gavin directly disobeying the emperor''smand. "Gavin, thank you for being on our side," she said sincerely. "Take care of yourself."

    Gavin smiled and bowed. Then, he sighed and spoke as if he was talking to himself. "It would be nice if His Majesty suddenly lost his memories," he said in a passing. "Perhaps, His Majesty wouldn''t be this angry¡­"

    That made Mona think.

    Erase the emperor''s memories?

    [I have the ability to do that¡­]

    <strong>***</strong>

    "I THOUGHT you were going back to the Royal Capital to talk to His Majesty or something."

    Gavin, who was sitting on the windowsill while admiring the beautiful Elf Vige, turned to Lukas who entered his room without knocking. "Lukas, I know this is your house and I''m just a guest," he said. "But let''s not forget our manners. I would appreciate it if you knock first before entering my room."

    He was annoyed by the fact that Lukas interrupted his thoughts. Before the elf entered the room, he was reminiscing the life that he lived as Kim Won-shik.

    His memories with Go Areum weren''t someone else''s memories.

    He was Kim Won-shik.

    In this world, he had been unconscious for only three months.

    But during that time, he had spent more than twenty years in Korea as Kim Won-shik. His feelings and his memories were all real. Moreover, he deeply fell in love with Go Areum. She didn''t reciprocate his feelings back then, but it was because he was too passive.

    Now, he gained confidence as Gavin Quinzel. Once he returned to Earth, he''d confess and do everything he could to make Go Areum love him.

    Lukas just shrugged, then he sat on the edge of the bed. "What''s your next n?"

    "You''re a Swordsman, aren''t you?"

    "Yes, I am. What about it?"

    "Cut me. From here¡­" he said to the elf. Then, he pointed at his left shoulder to his right ribcage. "To here. Make sure it''s deep and would leave a scar."

    He didn''t care about having another scar since his body was already covered with it.

    "Why do I have to cut you in that specific manner, Commander?"

    "That''s His Majesty''s signature attack when he''s pissed but he doesn''t have the intention to kill," he exined to the elf. "And if he wants to kill a person, he''d behead them."

    Lukas fell silent for a while before heughed like a lunatic. "Ah, I see your n now," he said while nodding. "Do you want Lady Roseheart to think that His Majesty attacked you for failing to bring her back to the pce?"

    "I''m d that you''re sharp."

    [It''s a tricky move but I have to be bold if I want to seed.]

    "Commander, aren''t you underestimating the rtionship between His Majesty and Lady Roseheart too much?" the elf asked. "Are you confident that Lady Roseheart won''t question the fact that His Majesty hurt his precious cousin? His Majesty treats you better than he treated Princess Nichole when the Princess Royal was still alive."

    Heughed at the elf''s concern. "Lukas, His Majesty tried to kill his own children. If I were Lady Roseheart, I''d think that His Majesty had lost his mind and would kill anyone who gets in his way."

    "Oh, you have a point."

    Gavin stood up and faced Lukas properly. "Now, get your sword and do your best to harm me," he said. "My body, even without Mana, is sturdy so you better use your full strength, Lukas."

    "Of course, I''ll do it properly," Lukas said happily, then he stood up and opened his palm. A few momentster, a sword materialized. The elf grabbed the hilt tight. "It''s not every day that I get the chance to sh themander of the White Lion Knights after all."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "ERASING NIKOLAI''s memories is too much, isn''t it?" Mona asked Tara worriedly while the two of them were having tea in the queen''s garden. "Despite everything that happened between us, I still don''t want him to forget the precious memories we had together."

    Tara let out a deep sigh. "And it''s not like erasing Emperor Niki''s memories will solve your problem," she said while shaking her head. "That man is obsessed with you, Mona. You have to take his love for you if you decide to erase his memories."

    "Huh?" she asked, surprised. "I know that I have the ability to erase other people''s memories. It''s the ability that I gained when I summoned Marina, the Water Spirit who could wash away memories with her water. But do I have the ability to take one''s feelings away?"

    "Oh, you don''t have it?" the queen asked casually. "You have the potential to do so since you have the Light Spirit with you. I can teach you if you want."

    "That sounds tempting," she said hesitantly. "But taking one''s feelings away, especially if it''s love, sounds cruel."

    "You have to be cruel sometimes," the queen said. "Especially if you''re dealing with a lunatic like Emperor Niki. I''m telling you, Mona. That crazy man won''t stop chasing you even if you erase his memories."

    She wanted tough it off but she couldn''t.

    After all, she knew that Niki would really do what the queen feared.

    [Taking Niki''s love for me sounds cruel but it also sounds effective.]

    She was grateful that the only man she loved in her life loved her back.

    But Niki loved her too much. She wasn''t happy with the fact that he loved her more than he loved their children. Although they mutually agreed to conceive a child, Niki immediately changed his mind when he found out that her pregnancy was putting her life at risk.

    "Mona, you know that Emperor Niki won''t let you go easily, don''t you?" Tara asked seriously. "He tried to kill your babies. He''s out of his mind."

    She bit her lower lip but she couldn''t deny what the queen had assumed.

    Their conversation was interrupted when a little fairy the size of an adult''s thumb appeared. After the little fairy said her apologies, she flew towards Tara''s ear and whispered something. The horror that shed in the queen''s eyes made her nervous.

    "Mona."

    "Is it Niki?" she asked nervously.

    "No, but that lunatic is involved," the queen said while shaking her head. "The elf that helped Commander Gavin Quinzel reach one of the Spirit World''s gates is here again. Apparently, he needs our help because themander is heavily injured."

    Her heart thumped against her chest hard. "Injured?"

    Tara let out a deep sigh before she answered. "It seems like Emperor Niki almost killed Commander Quinzel."

    Mona''s heart sank.

    [Niki, how long are you going to keep me disappointed?]

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 315 - CHOOSING BETWEEN THE TWINS (1)

    "I APOLOGIZE, Lady Roseheart."

    Mona frowned when Gavin Quinzel apologized to her even if he didn''t have to. "Why are you apologizing, Gavin?"

    "Lukas just overreacted, mydy," Gavin, who was standing on the other side of the transparent wall, said. He was pale and his posture was bad as if he was just forcing himself to stand. And yet, he was saying that the elf overreacted. "I am not that hurt."

    She red at themander''s torso.

    He was wearing his suit without the undershirt. But his skin wasn''t exposed because his torso was covered up with bandage¨C bloodstained bandage at that.

    "It was Niki, wasn''t it?" Mona asked, then she raised her head to meet Gavin''s gaze. "Judging by the sh from your shoulder to your ribcage, it could only be him. That''s his signature way of punishing people that annoyed him."

    She knew that Niki wouldn''t kill Gavin. But it hurt her to know that he was capable of hurting his cousin just because of her. He might have really lost his mind.

    [His love for me is making him insane.]

    "Lady Roseheart, don''t worry too much about me," Gavin said to console her. "I''m fine. You know that my body is sturdy, isn''t it? Moreover, it''s not like His Majesty really intends to kill me. He was just in a bad mood."

    She let out a frustrated sigh. "Are you okay?"

    "Yes, I am okay, Lady Roseheart," he assured her with a smile. "Lukas already treated my wound. It stings a bit but other than that, I''mpletely fine. I''m sorry for making you worry, mydy."

    She knew that Gavin was strong but she also knew how vicious Niki''s sword was. Themander was probably acting like he was okay so she wouldn''t me herself. But she knew deep down in her heart that everything was her fault.

    A lot of people were getting hurt just because she ran away from Niki.

    [And I know he won''t stop until Ie back to him.]

    "Gavin, tell Niki that I''ll be returning to the pce in three days."

    Themander instantly looked worried. "Mydy¡­"

    Mona smiled to assure him that she''d be fine. "Don''t worry too much, Gavin. I have a n." She hugged her stomach carefully. "I won''t let Niki harm my babies."

    Gavin looked at her for quite a long time before he nodded. "I understand, Lady Roseheart."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "HOW''S COMMANDER Quinzel?"

    "He''s fine, as expected of a strong person like him," Mona said, then she sat down on the chair that she left earlier when she had gone to meet Gavin Quinzel. Surprisingly, Tara was still having tea in the garden. But thank goodness that she hadn''t left yet. A queen like her was always busy and this was one of the few days where Tara wasn''t overwhelmed with work. "Tara, what will you ask in return if I asked you to teach me the technique to steal Niki''s feelings?"

    "We''re friends, Mona," Tarained lightly. "I''ve practically raised you. Do you think I''ll ask you something in return just for a technique that I almost never use anyway?"

    "Yes," she said bluntly. "I know we''re friends, but you''re the queen of the Spirit World. Moreover, you''re also the Fairy Queen. As far as I know, fairies don''t do freebor."

    The queen smiled before she spoke. "Then, give me one of your twins."

    "Are you picking a fight with me?"

    Taraughed softly. "Mona, you''re the only human I know that won''t hesitate to pick a fight with the queen of the Spirit World." She sipped her tea before she spoke again. "And it seems like you''ve forgotten that you''re in mynd, my dear friend."

    She knew that she was being rude.

    But Tara''s words reminded her of the vision that the Nameless Royal Princess had shown her. What if the queen was really nning to sacrifice her child for the sake of the Spirit World?

    "Mona, I know that you''re nning to cross over to another world."

    She flinched. "How did you know?"

    "How could I not?" the queen asked gently. "The Spirit World is a different world from the human world. That makes me one of the Gatekeepers just like Novak¨C the Gatekeeper of the world called Earth."

    Ah, she should have known.

    "And I''m friends with Novak," the queen added. "He didn''t tell me anything but the fact that he weed you to his territory could only mean that he taught you how to open the door to the world that he guards. Am I wrong?"

    "No, you''re not wrong," she said. There was no use lying to Tara at this point. "I n to escape to the other world. My initial n was to bring Niki and our baby with me. But Niki has changed his mind. I don''t think he''d want to go with us anymore."

    She didn''t tell Tara about the vision that the ck tree had shown her though.

    [I don''t want to give her any ideas just in case she doesn''t know yet that the gods are nning to make my daughter the next Aether. She may be the queen of the Spirit World. But she still doesn''t have the ess to the affairs of the god.]

    As far as she knew, Tara didn''t get along well with the gods since she wasn''t technically from the living world.

    "Mona, are you allowed to bring two children with you?"

    The queen''s question made her freeze.

    Ah.

    Her mind was a mess these days that she had forgotten about the preparations that she and Novak had to make for their escape. They chose people whose physical bodies werepatible with her family.

    Her family.

    It was only her, Niki, and their daughter.

    She covered her hands with her mouth when she gasped. "We need to find another body for my second daughter."

    "You only have one daughter, Mona."

    "What are you talking about, Tara?" she asked, confused. "You know that the Rosehearts only give birth to females."

    "Then, why do I see a midnight blue rose in your second child''s heart?"

    Once again, she gasped.

    She and all the female Rosehearts before her had a coral pink in their hearts. A midnight blue rose could only mean one thing.

    "A boy¡­" she said in disbelief. "I have a male Roseheart in my womb?"

    She didn''t bother to check the gender of her babies because she already assumed that both would be females.

    "Why can''t you believe it, Mona?" Tara asked while shaking her head. "Male Rosehearts were born in the past before your n was cursed. I don''t know how you did it, but the curse was now broken. You''re the first Roseheart that will give birth to a male after a long, long time."

    Her heart thumped against her chest hard.

    A male Roseheart in her womb didn''t only mean that she''d have a son. It only meant that Niki would have an heir to the throne. Now the emperor would have another reason to stay in this world.

    [But how about my daughter? If we stay here, the gods will raise her as the next Aether.]

    Then, how about her son?

    Would she really leave him behind? Even though her son would be the only heir of the empire, there would still be nobles who might go after the royal prince''s life. How could a newborn baby protect himself?

    She couldn''t trust Niki to take care of their child after he tried to kill their poor babies.

    [But I can''t bring our son with us¡­]

    "Mona, leave your son to me."

    To say that she was shocked by the queen''s statement would be an understatement.

    "What did you say, Tara?" she asked, stupefied. "You want me to leave my son under your care?"

    "I won''t hurt him," Tara said seriously. "I will raise him well, Mona. And if your son wants to ascend the throne, I will even support him."

    That sounded too good to be true.

    "What''s the catch, Tara?"

    "I need someone who will help me revive the dying parts of the Spirit World," the queen said in a business-like tone. "The male Rosehearts have always been special, Mona. I believe that your son can be of help to me. So if you can''t bring him to another world, then let me raise him."

    Her heart hurt when she realized that she was actually considering Tara''s offer. She couldn''t help but smile at her own cruelty. "I''m thinking of abandoning my son to save my daughter," she said bitterly. "I don''t deserve to be called a mother."

    "Mona, you''re the only human friend I have."

    "I know that," she said, confused by what Tara was saying now. "The pranks you used to y on humans when you were young were awful. Thus, nobody wanted to be friends with you."

    Tara smiled warmly. "You''re the only oddball who stood by my side," she said gently, then she became serious. "Mona, I swear on my life and my title as both the queen of the Spirit World and the Fairy n to raise your son well," she said, then her smile grew wider. "And I didn''t say that you can''t see your son anymore once you crossed over to the other world."

    Hearing that lifted the heaviness on her shoulders.

    Before she knew it, she was already crying from relief.

    "You should have said that from the beginning!" Monained lightly, then she covered her face with her hands and cried harder. "Thank you, Tara."

    ***

    "YOUR MAJESTY, themander has returned."

    Niki groaned when he heard Glenn''s report. But since Gavin''s return was an important matter to him, he got up from bed and clutched his aching head. "Bring him here."

    He was still in his sleeping clothes in the master''s bedroom in nco Pce (because he destroyed his own pce a few days ago). But he didn''t have time to fix himself nor the energy to move.

    Moreover, it was just Gavin. Even if his cousin saw him in that state, he wouldn''t judge him.

    "I will call Commander Quinzel," Glenn said hesitantly. "But are you alright, Your Majesty? You look exhausted."

    "I''m fine," he said. "I just had an argument with Yule in my dream."

    "You fought¡­ with the Moon God in your dream, Your Majesty?" Glenn asked in disbelief. "Your Majesty, not everyone is blessed to have the opportunity to talk to a god. And it''s not just any god. It''s Lord Yule¨C the Moon God and the protector of our continent! You must really learn how to control your temper¨C"

    "Glenn, shut up," he snapped at his knight. Glenn, aside from Gavin and Kyle, was one of his people who could nag at him like this. But that didn''t mean he should listen to him lecture him all day. "Just bring Gavin here."

    "As you wish, Your Majesty."

    Then, Glenn bowed to him before leaving his room quietly.

    He, on the other hand, grabbed the ss bottle on the bedside table. Then, he poured himself some cold water. He drank it while remembering the argument that he had with Yule in his dream. But even though the two of them had a fight, his annoying ancestor shared a good news with him so he was in a good mood now.

    [I guess gods can be pretty useful from time to time.]

    His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a knock on the door.

    "Your Majesty, it''s me¨C Gavin."

    "Come in."

    The door opened and closed quietly, then Gavin entered the room with light steps.

    Oh?

    He actually managed to hear his footsteps this time? Themander had a ridiculous nickname among the Pdins. He was called the "ghost" because no one could detect his presence. Well, no one except him and Mona.

    "Are you hurt?" he asked Gavin after themander gave his greetings. "Your body seems heavy."

    "It''s just a light injury, Your Majesty," Gavin said with his usual smile on his face. "I had a spar with Lukas. I didn''t know that he was a Swordsman so I let my guard down."

    He remembered Mona telling him about the elf called Lukas.

    "You let your guard down?" he asked Gavin, then he raised an eyebrow. "That''s unusual."

    "Well, he is the Messenger of the God of Eternal Darkness so I didn''t want to hurt him¡­"

    He let out a sigh while shaking his head. "You''re too soft-hearted when you''re not in the battlefield, Gavin."

    Themander just smiled at him. "Your Majesty, you seem to be in a good mood."

    "Yule showed up in my dreamst night," he said casually. "We had a small fight."

    As expected, Gavin looked as surprised as Glenn. Then, he sighed and shook his head, "Your Majesty, Lord Yule is the Moon God and the protector of our continent. You must treat him with respect¨C"

    "Enough," he cut him off. "Glenn already scolded me."

    As expected, themander immediately shut his mouth.

    "What did Mona say?" he asked softly. "Have you convinced her to return to the pce?"

    Gavin had been gone for a few days. Even if he didn''t return with Mona, he knew that he would at least bring him a piece of good news. Themander was that capable.

    "Lady Roseheart asked me to inform Your Majesty that she''ll return in three days."

    He smiled out of relief. "As expected, you''re really reliable, Gavin."

    "You''re praising me too much, Your Majesty," Gavin said, but he instantly turned serious. "But just because Lady Roseheart is returning doesn''t mean that she has already forgiven you, Your Majesty. Trying to kill your children is an unspeakable act. Your Majesty should kneel and beg for Lady Roseheart''s forgiveness."

    "Yes, I will do that."

    "Huh?"

    Heughed at Gavin''s stupefied expression. "Gavin, Yule is useful for once. He shared a piece of good news with me."

    Gavin smiled as if he was happy for him. Then, he asked, "May I know what it is, Your Majesty?"

    "Of course," Niki said in a slightly excited tone. "Yule told me that one of Mona''s twins is a boy." His smile grew wider. "I have an heir now, Gavin."

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 316 - CHOOSING BETWEEN THE TWINS (2)

    NIKOLAI almostughed when he saw Gavin''s reaction to his good news.

    Gavin''s eyes widened in shock. "But Lady Roseheart is a Roseheart¡­"

    "I know," he said seriously. "But the Rosehearts used to give birth to males before they were cursed. It seems like the curse has been broken in this generation. Most of all, Yule is annoying but he''s not the type to spout nonsense."

    "That''s true¡­"

    "You seem shocked, Gavin."

    "Of course, I am," themander admitted. "Lady Roseheart must be really a special existence for her to break their family''s curse."

    "My Mona is special, indeed," he agreed while nodding. "Yule said something else, Gavin."

    "What is it, Your Majesty?"

    This time, he couldn''t control the big smile on his face. He probably looked like a fool, but he didn''t care about that anymore. "Yule assured me that giving birth to our twins won''t kill Mona. ording to him, it''s true that Mona''s pregnancy is making her grow weak because the twins in her womb need her Mana and life force to grow strong. But since Mona is strong and the Nature treasures her, she will live. Apparently, she will gain the Mana and the life force that she lost once she gives birth to our children."

    Gavin smiled at him. "That''s a relief to hear, Your Majesty."

    He nodded in agreement, then he became serious. "Gavin, I''m going to leave this world with Mona and our daughter."

    "Only Lady Roseheart and the royal princess?" themander asked, confused. "How about the royal prince?"

    He clenched his hands tight before he gave a response. "That''s the thing that Yule and I argued about," he said. "Yule told me to leave my son in this world."

    "Why is that so, Your Majesty?"

    "Apparently, the bnce of this world will shake once Mona opens the door to the other world," he exined to his cousin. "The only way to prevent our world from copsing is for my son to literally sit on the throne the moment we leave this world. Unfortunately, Mona and I could only bring our daughter with us. Our son has to stay here and sit on the throne to activate his Moonglow. ording to Yule, my son''s Moonglow will "soothe" this world. Whatever that means."

    Themander looked shocked. "You''re really going to leave the royal prince behind here, Your Majesty?"

    "I don''t want to because I know that Mona will hate the idea," he said, then he sighed and shook his head. "But Yule insisted that we have to leave behind one of the twins." He paused before he exined again. "To be honest, Yule didn''t specify which twin we have to leave behind. He only said that it has to be the twin with the stronger Moonglow."

    "And it''s Your Majesty who assumed that Lord Yule is talking about the royal prince and not the royal princess?"

    He scoffed at themander''s question. "Of course. Isn''t it a given that a male de Moonasterio is more powerful than a female de Moonasterio?"

    "Ah, you are correct, Your Majesty."

    He didn''t like that even though Gavin agreed with him, the emptiness in themander''s eyes bothered him. It was as if his cousin wasn''t really listening to him and was thinking about something else instead.

    But he had a huge favor to ask of the next head of House Quinzel so he ignored the iffy feeling in his chest.

    "Gavin¡­" he said, then he paused and shook his head before he corrected himself. "Duke Gavin Quinzel."

    Themander looked surprised. "Your Majesty, my father is still alive. I''m not the duke yet. My father won''t pass me his title as long as I''m not married."

    "If I ask the duke to pass his title to you, he would."

    Gavin''s face turned cold as he asked in an indifferent voice. "Your Majesty, why must you meddle with our family affair?"

    He wasn''t offended by Gavin''s stern voice as he questioned his authority as the emperor. His cousin was right. Even though he was the emperor, it wasn''t really his job to meddle with the affairs of an old household.

    "Gavin, I''m leaving my son behind," he said in a calm yet solemn voice. "But a newborn baby couldn''t possibly act as the emperor, could he?"

    Themander, who was as sharp as someone of his position, looked shocked even though he wasn''t done talking yet.

    "I can read what''s on your mind at the moment and yes, you are correct," he said. "Gavin, once you inherited your father''s title, I want you to be the temporary emperor until my son hase of age."

    "How could that be possible, Your Majesty?" Gavin asked in a panicked voice. "The other nobles won''t allow it to happen."

    "You''re my cousin and you''re a part of the extended Royal Family, Gavin," he exined calmly. "You have the right to inherit the throne. You''ll have a lot of support since the Quinzels are my maternal family, and my paternal grandparents would rather have you as my son''s guardian than the other nobles coveting my throne. Moreover, you''re themander of the White Lion Knights. You have the greatest influence on our empire''s military force. If the nobles bother you, just dere martialw."

    "Your Majesty, it''s not that easy to do."

    "I know, Gavin. I know," he said confidently. "That''s why I n to make you a hero. Public opinion is very important in choosing the next ruler. If you gain the love and respect of the citizens of our empire, the nobles who oppose the Royal Family would give in."

    "How do you n to make me a "hero," Your Majesty?" themander asked carefully. "Who''s the viin that I need to y for me to be a hero?"

    "Me."

    "Excuse me?"

    He pointed to himself. "You will "kill" me, the emperor who has gone crazy."

    "Your Majesty, are you saying that you''re going to act like you''ve gone crazy?" Gavin asked with furrowed brows. "Then¡­"

    "Yes, you''re going to "kill" me by ident while trying to stop me from going berserk," he said while nodding his head. "Gavin, you''re the only person in the empire who know that Mona and I n to cross over to the other world. Unless I "die," they won''t ept you or my son as the next emperor. Thus, I have to get "killed" to leave this world neatly. But of course, you won''t really kill me. I''ll just use that opportunity to disappear without questions."

    "I understand your n, Your Majesty," themander said carefully. "But do you have to pretend to have gone crazy?"

    "I''m going to take advantage of the rumor that my Lunacy has returned," he said with a shrug. "I destroyed my pce when I tried to kill my children in Mona''s womb. I just need to destroy the remaining pce."

    "Are you nning to hurt your people on purpose?"

    "I will make sure that they won''t die," he said. "Will you help me, Gavin?"

    Gavin let out a deep sigh before he nodded. "I will help you, Your Majesty," he said, then he smiled at him. "I will raise the royal prince well and give him back the throne once hees of age."

    Niki stood up and put his hand on Gavin''s shoulder. "Thank you for being a reliable and trustworthy friend, Gavin."

    <strong>***</strong>

    GAVIN was irritated when Lukasughed after he shared what Emperor Niki told him to the elf. But since they were alone in his office in the Quinzel Estate anyway, he didn''t stop the elf fromughing like a lunatic bastard.

    "His Majesty wants you to be the temporary emperor while raising the royal prince?" Lukas asked in a mocking tone. "And you said you''d do it?"

    "Of course, I won''t," Gavin said sternly. "I will leave this world and reunite with Areum-ah on Earth."

    "How do you n to do that?" the elf asked. "Are you going to kill the emperor for real?"

    "Do you think I have the power and the ability to kill His Majesty?"

    "No¨C His Majesty is way stronger than you, Commander."

    "I thought so. I always tell His Majesty that I''m stronger than him but I know deep down my heart that if His Majesty fought with me seriously, I''ll surely die by his hands," he admitted. He wasn''t that arrogant to think that he could defeat the emperor when thetter was in his prime. "That''s why I need your help, Lukas."

    "Oh?" Lukas said, surprised that he was asking for his help again. "How can I help you this time, Commander?"

    "I need you to help me create an illusion," Gavin said seriously. "An illusion strong enough to fool His Majesty and make him lose his mind for real."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOU''RE REALLY a genius, Mona."

    Mona smiled at Tara''s praise. "You praise me too much, Tara."

    "No, I''m serious," Tara, who was catching her breath, said. Then, sheughed softly. "I can''t believe that you managed to learn that technique in just three days when it took me a year to master it."

    "Maybe it''s because you''re a good teacher."

    The queenughed softly. "You''re too modest for your position, Mona," she said, then she changed the topic. This time, the queen was serious. "Are you really going to erase Emperor Niki''s feelings for you?"

    She fell silent before she spoke. "To be honest, I want to give Niki another chance."

    "Another chance?"

    "Despite everything, I still want to be Niki," Mona said, then sheughed at herself. "I''m a fool, am I not?"

    "You just love him too much," Tara said, then she sighed and hugged her. "Follow your heart, Mona."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "GAVIN, why are you here?" Niki asked, confused as to why Gavin was in his office when themander was supposed to fetch Mona in the Spirit World. "I thought you''re going to bring Mona to me."

    "I have something important to tell you first, Your Majesty," Gavin said, then he looked around his office. "Is it alright if I put a Shadow Veil here? I already told Glenn and the other Pdins to step out of the pce in the meantime."

    Themander sounded serious.

    To be honest, he felt iffy about how Gavin looked different today. But he set that feeling aside and decided to trust his cousin.

    "Alright," he said. "You may activate your Shadow Veil here."

    "Thank you, Your Majesty."

    And just like that, the whole room had be covered with Gavin''s veil-like shadow. He didn''t know if it was just him or his shadow felt colder than usual.

    [Did Gavin get stronger?]

    "Your Majesty."

    "What is it?" he asked. He didn''t want to admit this but he felt nervous at the moment. "What it is that you need to tell me?"

    Gavin smiled brightly at him. "Your Majesty, I''m actually in love with Lady Mona Roseheart."

    Niki, for some reason, knew that Gavin wasn''t kidding. "Gavin, are you crazy?" he asked coldly, giving his cousin a chance to take it back. "Do you want me to kill you?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "WHAT do you mean by you''re in love with Mona?!" Niki snarled at Gavin, then he grabbed his cousin by the cor and pushed him until his back hit the wall of his office. "Take it back, Gavin! Tell me that you just lied to me!"

    "I wish I could lie to you, Your Majesty. But I can''t and I don''t want to," Gavin said with a bitter smile on his face. "I''m in love with Lady Roseheart."

    "I''ll kill you!"

    "You can''t. Even if you want to, you still can''t," themander said seriously. "I''m stronger than you and you know that, Your Majesty."

    He hated that he couldn''t refute that statement.

    Even if he used his Soul Beasts against Gavin, he knew that his cousin could counter them with his Shadow Beasts. And yes, Gavin''s Shadow Beasts wereparable to his Soul Beasts.

    Gavin Quinzel was the genius of his generation for a reason.

    "There''s no reason for you to get mad at me, Your Majesty," his cousin said. "Lady Roseheart turned me down. You''re the only one that she loves."

    "Still, you betrayed me," he used Gavin bitterly. "I asked you to protect Mona, Gavin. Why did you have to fall in love with my lover? I trusted you!"

    Gavin only smiled sadly at him.

    "Leave and never show up again, Gavin Quinzel," Niki warned him coldly, then he pushed his cousin against the wall before he let go. "The next time I see you, I swear I will kill you."

    "I''m not leaving, Your Majesty," Gavin said in a solemn voice. "We will end everything here, Your Majesty."

    And all of a sudden, Niki found himself kneeling on the floor while clutching his head.

    He was clutching his head because of the vivid images attacking his mind at the moment. It was apanied by voices that rang in his head loud. He couldn''t move and he couldn''t even summon his strength at the moment.

    Niki closed his eyes tight. [Why do I feel like I''m losing my mind?!]

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 317 - MOUSETRAPPED

    THE SMELL of blood.

    The feel of Mona''s cold body.

    The crying noisesing from the two babies on the floor.

    Niki was going crazy while his senses were being attacked by the things that he didn''t want to smell, feel, and hear.

    The worst thing was he couldn''t move.

    All he could do was kneel beside Mona''s cold body while covering his ears with his hands. He didn''t want to hear the cries of the two little humans that caused the death of the person he loved the most in the world.

    [Mona¡­ is gone?]

    The smell of blood told him that yes, his precious person was now dead.

    But there was a small voice in his head screaming for him to "wake up." Why did he have to wake up? Was all of this a dream?

    He couldn''t tell the illusion from reality anymore.

    Was someone messing with his head?

    ["Your Majesty, I''m actually in love with Lady Mona Roseheart."]

    He gasped when he heard Gavin''s voice in his head.

    His cousin was in love with Mona? His cousin that he trusted most in the world? Gavin Quinzel had betrayed him?

    An ungodly amount of rage rose up in his chest.

    The small voice in his head telling him to wake up earlier was now reced by a voice telling him to do one thing.

    "Kill Gavin," Niki whispered to himself, repeating the words that kept ringing in his head. "I must kill Gavin."

    <strong>***</strong>

    [IT SEEMS to be working.]

    Gavin didn''t let his guard down while watching Emperor Niki.

    His Majesty was on the floor while clutching his head tight. He had his eyes closed while mumbling to himself. Thankfully, it seemed like the emperor hadn''t noticed the ck smoke covering his body at the moment.

    [Lukas''s ability is pretty impressive.]

    To be precise, it was Impure Mana. The elf had the ability to use the Impure Mana left by the dead Darkness attribute users. And with the help of Lord Helstor, Lukas was able to create a strong illusion enough to deceive the strongest person in the continent.

    But of course, the preparation wasn''t easy.

    He remembered what he and Lukas had discussed beforehand.

    ["Gavin, it wouldn''t be easy to attack His Majesty with my illusion. We need him to let him put his guard down."]

    ["How do we do that?"]

    ["We need to shock His Majesty. The moment he goes shocked, even for a tiny moment, only then could my illusion work on him."]

    To shock His Majesty, he dered that he was in love with Lady Roseheart.

    [And it worked.]

    But the next problem had already urred.

    While Emperor Niki was losing his mind, his Soul Beasts began toe out of his body one by one.

    First, the White Tiger.

    Second, the ck Tortoise with the ck snake.

    Third, the Vermillion Bird.

    And finally, the Blue Dragon.

    Naturally, when the Vermillion Bird and the Blue Dragon appeared, the two Holy Beasts immediately soared to the sky. The roof copsed and his Shadow Veil was broken instantly. As expected, the Soul Beasts all rushed toward him.

    [I hope I survive.]

    He summoned his Unholy Beasts to fight the Soul Beasts.

    First, he summoned the former shadow of a dead phoenix. Then, he summoned the former shadow of a dead dragon. The two Unholy/Shadow Beasts soared in the sky to fight the Vermillion Bird and the Blue Dragon.

    The sky shook as four giant, flying beasts fought up there.

    After summoning his own Shadow Beasts, he covered himself with Mana while drawing his sword. Then, he used the de of his sword as a shield when the White Tiger came at him and tried to bite him on the neck.

    [Damn!]

    He used all his strength to push the White Tiger and fortunately, he was able to seed. The beast growl at him angrily. He responded by gathering his aura in the de of his sword. Then, he shed into the air while aiming the aura that took the form of a giant de in the White Tiger''s direction.

    But much to his surprise, the beast didn''t bother trying to avoid his aura.

    The moment a transparent wall that looked like a giant turtle''s shell appeared in front of the White Tiger, he realized why the ck Tortoise didn''te at him.

    [Shield. The ck Tortoise is known to be the best defender among the Soul Beasts!]

    He was only distracted for a moment but the White Tiger immediately used that opportunity to attack him. The beast''s speed and agility surprised him. Even though it was three times bigger than an average tiger, it was able to close the distance between them in a couple of seconds without making a noise.

    This time, the White Tiger broke the de of his sword that he used as a shield again. After using its fangs to break his de into two, the beast didn''t give him the chance for a counter-attack. He covered his whole body with anotheryer of Mana as a shield.

    But the White Tiger still managed to bite him on the neck.

    He fell to the floor with the giant beast on top of him. The beast''s fangs dug deep into his skin as if it wanted to tear his flesh off.

    And it hurt like hell.

    He let go of his broken sword and decided to use his Mana-covered hands to try and push the White Tiger off of him before it broke his neck. It didn''t work so the next thing he did was to separate his own shadow from his physical body.

    Then, his shadow stood behind the White Tiger and wrapped its ck arms around the beast''s torso. His shadow tried to pull the beast off of him while he pushed it as hard as he could.

    When the beast suddenly stopped moving, he didn''t think that it was him who stopped it.

    After all, he felt an ominous aura.

    He was right.

    The White Tiger and the ck Tortoise began to turn translucent before the twopletely disappeared. Moreover, the sudden silence in the sky convinced him that the Vermillion Bird and the Blue Dragon disappeared as well.

    "Gavin Quinzel."

    And at the moment, he found himself literally under His Majesty''s foot.

    Emperor Niki was now standing while crushing his chest with his right foot. The de of his Holy Sword, Calypso, was glowing with different-colored auras. It must be the auras of the Soul Beasts that disappeared a while ago.

    "You''re a traitor," Emperor Niki said in a cold voice. The anger in his glowing red eyes was evident. But Gavin was d to also see the glint of insanity in the emperor''s eyes. "A traitor like you deserves death."

    Gavin smirked when he saw His Majesty grip the hilt of his sword tight while the de was pointed at his chest. He didn''t move even though the emperor was about to stab his heart with his Holy Sword.

    And that was because of the presence that he felt.

    His Majesty was too engrossed with his rage that he might have not noticed it.

    "Niki!"

    Yes, it was Lady Mona Roseheart.

    Gavin was forced to close his eyes when a blinding light suddenly covered the whole room. Then, the smell of roses filled the air. Ah, that must be it.

    [Lady Roseheart used her Light Spirit.]

    "Commander!"

    He opened his eyes and slowly got up while acting hurt. Well, his neck was bleeding but it wasn''t like his life was in danger.

    [They''re gone¡­]

    His Majesty and Lady Roseheart were gone. Only Glenn and the other Pdins were left in the room and everyone looked confused. But when they saw him bleeding, their confusion was instantly reced by worry.

    "I''m fine," Gavin said to assure his men, then he stood up while being assisted by Glenn. [Lady Roseheart probably brought His Majesty to her field.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    MONA brought Niki to the small dimension that she created.

    She called it ''Field'' and it was a giant rose garden. Aside from that, she also made a replica of the Roseheart Mansion in the middle of the garden to remind herself of their family''s former glory. After all, the Roseheart Mansion in the real world was already abandoned.

    "Mona Roseheart."

    Mona clenched her hands when Niki called her full name in a cold voice. "I saw it, Niki," she said coldly. "You tried to kill Gavin!"

    "That traitor deserves to die," Niki snapped at her. His eyes were glowing red and it seemed like he wasn''t in his right mind. It was as if he regressed back to the time that he was going through his Lunacy. "Mona, I won''t let you go. Those things in your womb will kill you!"

    She could only let out a deep sigh.

    It was toote for her and Niki.

    If he was in his insanity state again, she knew that her words could no longer reach him. Thus, he didn''t deserve the chance that she was supposed to give him.

    [It''s over between us now.]

    "Niki, let''s end this," Mona said in a tired voice. "It''s time that you stop loving me before we end up killing each other for real."

    Niki''s eyes suddenly returned to their natural color, and it seemed like he looked scared by her deration. "Mona, what do you mean by that?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "DON''T DO this to me, Mona," Niki, lying on the ground underneath Mona, begged in a cracked voice. "Even if you seal my memories, I will still end up loving you again."

    "I know that, Niki," Mona, who was straddling his hips, while pinning his hands on the floor, said with a sad smile on her beautiful face. Although her frame was much smaller than his, her physical strength was something that shouldn''t be underestimated. Like the royal family, the Rosehearts were also born physically stronger than average humans. "That''s why your memory of us isn''t the only thing that I will steal from you tonight."

    It was already two in the morning and here they were, in the front yard of the fake House Roseheart''s estate, fighting when they shouldn''t be.

    After all, Mona was pregnant with their child.

    [Ah, it should be "children."]

    "Why are you doing this to me, Mona?" he asked, desperate. "Why do you want me to hate you?"

    "Because if you continue loving me too much, you''d end up choosing me over our own child."

    "I won''t be satisfied with that kind of exnation, Mona."

    "Even if I tell you the whole truth now, you''ll just forget it anyway," she said in a frustrated tone. "Let''s stop now, Niki."

    "No," he said weakly. Damn it! It seemed like Mona was using her Mana to suck his remaining strength. He couldn''t even lift a finger now. "Mona, don''t leave me. I can''t live without you and you know that."

    She chuckled bitterly. "You see, Niki? You don''t care about our child. Our children, to be precise. I''m about to run away with our babies in my womb and yet, you''re only begging me to stay with you."

    He couldn''t refute that.

    Of course, he loved their children because they were the existences created by him and his beloved. But if he had to choose between keeping Mona and their children, then he would choose his lover.

    Just like what Mona said a while ago.

    "Stop loving me too much, Niki," Mona said in a cracked voice, tears now rolling unstoppably down her cheeks. Then, she cupped his face gently between her cold hands. "Leave some space in your heart for our children."

    "The children of the royal family weren''t raised by their parents with love," he said with a bitter smile on his face. "I don''t know if I''m capable of loving my own children that I only see as a means to continue our lineage. But if you stay and teach me how to be a good father, then maybe I''ll be the first emperor to love his own children."

    To be honest, he didn''t know how to feel about their children.

    Mona was a Roseheart and their family was only capable of giving birth to females. The empire was harsh to princesses. If it wasn''t for Mona wanting to have a child, he wouldn''t agree to have one in the first ce.

    But he genuinely wanted to learn how to love his children eventually.

    That was until Mona said she was leaving him.

    "I''m sorry but I can''t stay with you, Niki," Mona said between sobs, then she ced a hand on his chest¨C on the part where his heart was beating erratically. The moment the warmth from her hand flowed to his body, she closed her eyes and leaned down for theirst kiss. "Let me steal your ability to love so that you could live without yearning for me."

    Niki wanted to protest and beg but as soon as Mona''s lips touched his, his remaining strength was finally sucked in by her cruel, farewell kiss. When he closed his eyes, he felt his warm tears roll down his cheeks. "I will always stay in love with you, Mona¡­"

    Unfortunately, Mona didn''t listen to him.

    When Niki woke up after that cruel "dream," he found out that Mona already disappeared with Gavin Quinzel¨C the traitor.

    <strong></strong>Moreover, his memories were unclear, except for one thing: Gavin Quinzel was in love with Mona. And the two ran away from his together. Wouldn''t that make Mona a traitor, too?

    Niki didn''t know that he was capable of hating Mona until that moment.

    <strong>***</strong>

    <strong>NOTE</strong>: Thest scene where Mona erased Niki''s memories was quite different from the same scene in <Chapter 154: That''s The Way I Loved You> since in thetter, Niki said "child" instead of "children." It wasn''t a mistake.

    Mona erased some of his memories, and one of those is the fact that Niki already knew that Mona''s babies were twins. Thus, in the scene where he recalled Mona erasing his memories and his love for her, his memory of that moment was altered.

    Hope that clears it up. Hehe! I feltpelled to exin even though I trust that you''d get it since the scenes were closely tied to each other.

    Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 318 - [Bonus ] NEOMA THE MENACE

    <em><strong><EXTRA STORY 1: NEOMA IS BORED></strong></em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    [I''M FUCKING bored.]

    Since Neoma was bored, it was time for her to y. And who was her best ymate in the Royal Pce? Yes, you probably guessed it right.

    "Good morning, my handsome Papa Boss whose only saving grace is his shocking visual!" Neoma greeted her father energetically after she barged in his office unannounced. "Your beautiful, charismatic, and witty daughter is here to light up your boring world!"

    "No," her Papa Boss said bluntly without even looking up from the documents he was reading. "Glenn, escort my beautiful, charismatic, and witty daughter out of my office."

    Glennughed softly but he didn''t move from his spot next to her father.

    It wasn''t like Glenn was ignoring her Papa Boss''s order. The knight simply knew her father well enough to know that the emperor wasn''t being serious with his order.

    "Papa Boss, I''m here because I have a business proposal to make," she said, then she sat on the couch in the lounge area of her father''s office. "I''vee up with a brilliant idea to inspire the schrs that I''m secretly raising."

    She was the secret head of the Sword Lily Foundation that was built to support poor yet talented individuals in different areas. The foundation was being run by her Teacher Belmont in her stead. But all the important and difficult decision-making tasks were her responsibility.

    "Your Majesty, should I ask the servants to bring refreshments?" Glenn asked with a warm smile on his face. "It''s time for His Majesty to take a break anyway."

    Her Papa Boss let out a sigh before he dropped the documents on the table, then he turned to Glenn to give the knight a sharp look. "Sometimes I wonder if you have be Neoma''s babysitter since you serve her better than you do to me."

    "That''s not true, Your Majesty," Glenn said cheerfully. "Serving Her Royal Highness well is one of my duties as your faithful subject."

    "Papa Boss, you have a smart friend," she chipped in, then she gave the knight a thumbs up. "You''re the best, Sir Glenn."

    Glenn chuckled and copied her by giving her a thumbs up, too.

    "You two are an annoyingbination," her Papa Bossined, then he stood up and sat on the couch across from him. "Glenn, ask the servants to bring refreshments."

    "As you wish, Your Majesty."

    She behaved as a proper "Crown Prince" when the servants arrived to bring them tea and a wide variety of snacks.

    As soon as the servants left, she returned to her usual mode.

    It was only her, Papa Boss, and Glenn in the office anyway.

    "So Papa Boss, I believe I need to look for a new batch of talented individuals to raise," she said after taking a sip of her sweetened tea. "So I''m thinking ofunching a writing contest."

    "Have you run out of interesting books to read?"

    "Ohh, you know me so well, Papa Boss¨C" She covered her mouth when she gasped. "Oops."

    Her father smirked at his reaction. "Did you think I''d believe you when you said you just wanted to find a new batch of schrs to support? I''m pretty sure that you''re thinking of hosting another writing contest just because you wanted to read new books."

    "That''s just one of the reasons, Papa Boss," she said defensively. "Don''t you trust your daughter''s pure heart?"

    Once again, her father smirked. "Your heart is just as pure as my soul, little rogue."

    [What a way to tell your daughter that her heart is corrupted.]

    "That means your heart is really pure, Your Royal Highness," Glenn, who was standing behind her father, said with a genuine smile on his face. "His Majesty''s soul is pure, after all."

    She almost choked on her cookie. [Sir Glenn, you''re a nice guy but please don''t spout bullshit.]

    "Shut up, Glenn," her Papa Boss said, then he sipped his tea before he spoke again. "What''s the theme of the writing contest that you want to host?"

    "Passionate romance¨C"

    "Rejected," her father said sternly. "Why is a young child like you so obsessed with indecent books?"

    "Papa Boss, how dare you disrespect the romance genre?" sheined. "Romance sells well!"

    To be honest, she was about to say "sex sells" but she would probably end up being grounded by her Papa Boss so she toned it down. She was telling the truth though. Erotic books were very popr from where she came from, and some of the bestselling erotic romance novels that she had read back then had been turned into movies.

    "My answer is still no," her Papa Boss said. "Do you want me to burn your secret collection of indecent books?"

    Oops.

    "I have another theme prepared since I''m a girl''s scout," she said, swiftly changing the topic to protect her not-so-secret stash of romance books. "The second theme is about dragons."

    "Dragons?"

    "Yeah," she said, then she sipped her tea before she continued. "I made Tteokbokki cry the other day. It seems like my jokes have gone too far and they have be borderline bullying. I want to make it up to him by reading stories about dragons to him. That little punk likes being praised a lot so I know that he''d be happy with my n."

    Her father scoffed. "Your Soul Beast is your servant. You don''t have to appease it."

    "Tteokbokki is not my servant, Papa Boss," she said firmly. "Tteokbokki is my younger brother. So that makes Tteokbokki your son, too."

    "Are you trying to build a shelter for animals now?"

    "Tteokbokki would cry if he heard you call him an animal, Papa Boss," she said with a pout. "Don''t bully my Tteokbokki. Only I am allowed to do that."

    Her Papa Boss let out a deep sigh while shaking his head. "I''ll summon Lady Belmont here for you to discuss your n with your teacher."

    Neoma smiled at her father. "Thank you, Papa Boss."

    <strong>***</strong>

    <em><strong><EXTRA STORY 2: NEOMA SUPPORTS RUBIN></strong></em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    "I DON''T want to y with you," Neoma, dressed and acting like she was the Crown Prince, dered while looking at Rubin Drayton. "Why do you keep oning here anyway?"

    "Do you think that I visit His Royal Highness on my own ord?" Rubin Drayton, that little bastard, retorted haughtily. "I''m only here to build some sort of rtionship with you¨C the Crown Prince."

    Damned politics.

    Because of that damned thing, here she was now¨C practicing archery with Rubin Drayton in one of the training grounds in the pce. Of course, they were surrounded by servants and guards from the Drayton family. As well as servants and royal knights assigned for her protection.

    Afterpletely crushing Rubin Drayton by defeating him in a few rounds of target archery, the whining bastard finally requested a break. Well, what could she do? Rubin Drayton had longer limbs than her but she had more uracy and precision when hitting the target from a set distance.

    [I''m awesome that way.]

    "These are normal snacks," Rubin Draytonined after the servants spread a variety of snacks on the table. "I want to eat your chef''s famous "corndog.""

    She rolled her eyes and sipped her tea before she responded. "Rubin Drayton, you don''t deserve to eat the food that my chef personally makes for me."

    "You can''t do that to me," the brat said with a frown. "Your Royal Highness, I am the sessor of Duke Drayton."

    She smirked. "And I am the sessor of His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Niki de Moonasterio¨C the one and only moon of the Great Moonasterion Empire, and the descendant of Lord Yule¨C the Moon God and the protector of our continent."

    "That amazing person will soon be my royal father-inw though."

    Her smirk disappeared.

    It was a relief that the servants and guards were far from them. Even Lewis had to stand with the guards since she was talking with the young lord.

    But knowing her son''s sharp senses, he probably heard what Rubin Drayton said.

    [This fucking bigmouth!]

    "Hey, you little bastard," she said in a low and cold voice. To protect their conversation from being leaked, she created a Dome around them. It also served as a soundproof barrier of some sort. Lewis looked rmed so she gestured to him that she was fine. "Who gave you the permission to talk about the royal secret so openly? Do you have a death wish?"

    The little bastard shrugged nonchntly. "It''s not like I''m breaking the oath since Your Royal Highness also knows the royal secret," he said. "Come to think of it, Your Royal Highness is going to be my brother-inw in the future."

    "Are you crazy?" she said, huffing. "I heard from my father that the engagement has been called off a long time ago. You''re not my sister''s style, you know?"

    Well, she really liked Rubin Drayton''s face even now.

    But she hadn''t lost her mind yet. Even though the little bastard hadn''t betrayed her the way he betrayed her in her first life, she wasn''t stupid to fall for him again. Now that she knew her worth very well, she wouldn''t beg for his love or attention anymore.

    "The engagement hasn''t officially been called off yet, Your Royal Highness."

    Ah, fuck.

    What was her Papa Boss thinking for not officially calling the engagement off with Rubin Drayton yet?!

    "Don''t worry, Rubin," she said while gritting her teeth. "House Drayton will soon receive a formal letter calling your engagement off with my precious twin sister."

    Look at the little bastard smile.

    [It must have been his n to provoke me so the Royal Family would officially call off the engagement first.]

    But if Rubin Drayton had to do this even though she was pretty sure that her Papa Boss already called off the engagement a long time ago, that only meant Duke Drayton hadn''t epted it yet.

    The duke still probably wanted to marry Rubin off to her.

    [It''s not that Duke Drayton is desperate to be a part of the Royal Family since I wasn''t recognized as part of it even in my first life. He''s probably after my awesome genes since a royal family member''s child will always inherit the traits of the de Moonasterios. Plus, if I gave birth to a son, my child will gain the right to inherit the throne.]

    Hmm.

    Come to think of it, during her first life, Duke Drayton had expressed his discontent toward the "crazy Crown Prince" even though he was supposed to be a part of the Royal Faction.

    [Huh? Is that the reason why Duke Drayton was very desperate to marry Rubin off to me back in my first life? Was the duke hoping that I''d give birth to a son that could overthrow Nero who had a bad reputation back then?

    It actually made sense.

    [Since my mother gave birth to Nero, they probably thought that the curse on the Rosehearts had finally been broken.]

    "Rubin Drayton."

    "What?"

    [Look at this rude bastard. Only I am allowed to be rude here, you know?]

    "You like someone else, don''t you?"

    Rubin blushed disgustingly.

    "I''m cheering you on, Rubin," she said, then she put her hands on her chest while faking a benevolent look on her pretty face. "Don''t worry. I will help you get the girl that you love. If Duke Drayton gets in your way, tell me. I will help you."

    It seemed like the little bastard was still really a kid because his face lit up with her bullshit. Her conscience was pricked a liiittle bit but she ignored it.

    "Thank you, Your Royal Highness," Rubin said sincerely, then he smiled brightly at her. "I appreciate your support."

    [Tsk. Rubin''s visual is really shocking. I hate him but his handsome face is innocent, right?]

    Neoma, whose eyes were blessed because of Rubin''s smiling face, unknowingly gave the young lord a genuine smile.

    [As expected, Rubin''s face is too dangerous¨C my heart almost wavered.]

    Unbeknownst to Neoma, that genuine smile of her toward Rubin Drayton made some people unhappy.

    Very unhappy, at that.

    <strong>***</strong>

    <em><strong><EXTRA STORY 3: NEOMA IS WEAK TO FACE GENIUSES></strong></em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    "WHAT is our Ruto cooking this time?" Neoma asked cheerfully as soon as she entered Ruto''s private kitchen in her father''s pce. She called Ruto as soon as she heard an interesting piece of news earlier. Then, using theirmunication device, she asked him if she could visit his kitchen. He said it was fine so here she was now. "I heard something from my fellow servants."

    "I''m just cooking some corndogs," Ruto asked without even looking up at her because he was busy frying some corndogs. Was it her or he looked upset for some reason? "Did you hear about me sending food to the young Lord Drayton?"

    "Yep," she said. She heard it from Lewis. And thus, she immediately disguised herself as Neoma Ramsay and wore a simple dress. "I heard you came up with a new version of a corndog. May I have some?"

    "Okay."

    Oh.

    Ruto was pretty cold right now, huh? He was probably in a bad mood. Well, that was okay since he wasn''t being rude to her. It was natural for everyone to have a bad day anyway.

    [I should leave after filling up my stomach.]

    "Here," Ruto said, then he faced her and handed her a corndog-on-stick that she epted wholeheartedly. "This is an experiment though. I''m not sure if you''ll like it."

    "I will like everything and anything you cook, Ruto," she said, then she took a bite of the new corndog.

    Instant regret.

    It was hell.

    "Ruto, you betrayed me," she said bitterly, her eyes teary. "How dare you put cucumber in this corndog instead of sausage?!"

    Ruto looked at her for a few moments before he burst outughing. "You hate cucumber that much?"

    She nodded, but she continued on munching on the cursed cucumber corndog.

    "You don''t have to force yourself to eat it, Miss Ramsay."

    "But I don''t want to waste it since it''s you who made this cursed snack¡­"

    "I didn''t make it for you so it''s fine," he said, then he gently and swiftly snatched the cursed corndog from her hand. "I made this specifically for Lord Drayton."

    "But why?"

    "I heard that Lord Draytonined earlier that I didn''t serve him the snack that I usually make for you."

    "Huh? Then, why didn''t you just make a normal corndog for him?"

    He shrugged. "I thought he might like it since he likes healthy food?"

    "How did you even know that?"

    "Well, I''m a royal chef," he said. "Lord Drayton and his family are often invited at the banquets held in the pce. I know what most nobles like to eat."

    Her ears perked up. "I''m not a noble but we''re pretty close, aren''t we? Do you know what kind of food I like most?"

    "Meat," he said without missing a beat. "And sweets. You have a separate stomach for dessert."

    "You know me so well, Ruto."

    He just nodded, then he started eating the cursed corndog saying that it was a waste to throw it away.

    She already took a bite of that corndog, but she wasn''t a child to make a big deal out of it.

    [That''s an adult for y''all.]

    "Ruto, what is your favorite food?"

    "Steak and red wine¨C" he said, then he abruptly stopped as if he was caught. "Steak."

    "You said red wine," she said with a frown. "Ruto, I know that you cook meals with red wine in it. But it''s not good for a child to drink alcohol, okay? Take care of your body."

    "I will," he said, then he changed the topic. "You''re serving the Crown Prince, don''t you?"

    "Uh-huh."

    "Then, have you seen Lord Drayton personally?"

    "Uh-huh."

    "What do you think of him?"

    "He''s very handsome," she said casually. "I don''t like him, but his visual is my style. This is embarrassing to say but I really like his face. I also think that his blond hair and pale blue eyes are pretty."

    Adult Rubin Drayton''s built was also her style. He looked lean but if you look closely, he was quite muscr. His adult version was also very tall.

    "I guess Lord Drayton is really handsome," Ruto said after finishing the cursed corndog. "You don''t fuss over my appearance that way."

    She let out a fake cough.

    Ruto was "safe-looking" while most of the men around her were "dangerous looking." The more dangerous-looking a person was, the more good-looking they were. But Ruto wasn''t like that so in her eyes, he was "safe looking."

    But her Ruto wasn''t a squid! A squid was a Korean term for "ugly" people. And he was far from that!

    "I also like your face, Ruto," she said sincerely. "You look nice and very neat."

    "You don''t have tofort me."

    "You don''t have to be too dangerous looking, you know?" she insisted passionately. Then, she pointed to her face. "You can''t see my face but it''s is very beautiful. And so, my shocking visual is enough for the two of us."

    "What does it mean?"

    "It''s okay even if only one person between a couple has a god-tier visual."

    Ruto smiled and raised an eyebrow at her. "Are we a couple?"

    "No, not yet," Neoma said, then she flipped her hair before turning her back on Ruto to hide her blushing face. "You have to feed me more before you get to ask such questions!"

    <strong>***</strong>

    <em><strong><EXTRA STORY 4: NEOMA GOES GLAMPING></strong></em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    "LEWIS, let''s go mping!" Neoma excitedly said to Lewis after she was done with her meeting with Lady Belmont¨C her favorite teacher. "I don''t want to y with Rubin Drayton tomorrow so let''s escape from here!"

    Lewis, who was standing in front of her office desk, tilted his head to one side. "What is "mping," Princess Neoma?"

    "It''s luxurious camping," she said excitedly. "Let''s go camping on a mountain."

    "Hmm¡­"

    "What is it?" she asked when she noticed that her son seemed to be hesitating. "Don''t you like to go camping, Lewis?"

    "I want to go with Princess Neoma," her son said. "But I don''t think the camp life suits you. You''re too vain and you hate insects. Moreover, I''m not that confident in my cooking skills yet. I''m used to catching and roasting wild boars but it might not suit your taste¨C"

    "Wait, Lewis," she said, cutting him off gently. "I think you misunderstood it. I called it ''mping'' because it''s not your average camping stuff. I want to befortable so I''ll be bringing a big tent enough to fit a decent-sized bed and a small tea room. Of course, the food we''ll be bringing will be provided by Ruto. Then, I''ll let Tteokbokki y in the open field during the day and use him as a personal bonfire when it gets cold during the night."

    "That''s¡­ toofortable."

    She giggled at her son''s response. "That''s the point of "mping," my precious son."

    "I''m okay with being your precious person but not as a son, Princess Neoma."

    "You are both to me," Neoma said, then she stood up and stretched her arms. "Let''s go and get Papa Boss''s permission first."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA''S heart thumped hard against her chest when the carriage abruptly stopped. She instantly turned to Jeanne Audley who was sitting on the couch across from her. "It''s the mountain bandits, isn''t it?"

    Lewis, who insisted on riding a horse instead of joining her inside the carriage, closed the window earlier. And so, she couldn''t see what was happening outside. She could hear loud voices spouting crude words though.

    "It must be the mountain bandits, Miss Ramsay," Jeanne Audley said, then she smiled at her. And yes, she was dressed as Miss Ramsay today. Thus, the carriage that she was using was a rental carriage that was simr to what merchants would often use. "Why do you look excited?"

    [Because! Mountain! Bandits! Are! Clich¨¦!]

    You couldn''t have a fantasy or an adventure-type novel without mountain bandits!

    It wasn''t like she was underestimating the danger that those types of people bring. But it was funny to her. Aside from Jeanne Audley and Lewis, she was with Dion. Unless the mountain bandits were legendary warriors in disguise, she knew that her life wouldn''t be in danger.

    [Plus, Papa Boss wouldn''t have given his permission if this mountain is dangerous.]

    "I heard that this mountain has mountain bandits that are causing problems to the merchants trying to go to the Royal Capital," she said in a slightly serious voice. She might act like a spoiled brat most of the time. But at the end of the day, she was still a royal princess with a strong sense of duty. She didn''t care if all the credits would go to the real Crown Prince someday. "I wanted to deal with them myself to see how the mountain bandits managed to operate for this long without getting caught."

    The female Pdin looked surprised by her words, then she smiled warmly at her. "Miss Ramsay, I''m proud of you."

    "Don''t be," she said with augh. "I also came here to y."

    Jeanne Audley''s smile grew wider. "That''s why you''re more amazing, Miss Ramsay."

    Neoma just smiled and turned to her side. Then, she opened the window to take a peek outside. She couldn''t help but giggle when she saw Lewis and Dion dealing with the huge and strong-looking men outside. The bandits were cursing in front of her precious son who remained quiet. So she cursed in his ce. "Lewis, fuck them up good!"

    The bandits looked shocked to see and hear a child curse as much as they did.

    <strong>***</strong>

    <em><strong><EXTRA STORY 5: NEOMA MISSES DRINKING></strong></em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    "PAPA BOSS, what are you doing here?" Neoma asked weakly when she saw her father sitting on the chair beside her bed. She had a fever so she was lying on her bed all day. When she opened her eyes, she saw her Papa Boss who was supposed to be busy with the uing national holiday. "Are you worried about me?"

    "No," her Papa Boss said bluntly, but the way he gently ced a hand on her forehead said otherwise. "I heard you haven''t eaten yet. What do you want to have for dinner?"

    "Chicken and beer¨C" She intentionally let out a loud fake cough after realizing her slip of the tongue. "I mean, chicken and beeery hot porridge."

    She knew it wasme, okay?

    But she was sick so her brain was a little slower than usual.

    "I''ll ask Ruston Stroganoff to prepare porridge for you," her Papa Boss said. "But you can''t have chicken yet."

    "Okay, Papa Boss."

    "Were you about to say "beer" earlier?"

    She let out another fake cough. "Of course not, Papa Boss."

    Why was her father uselessly sharp? Tsk. It was hard to pretend like a normal kid because the memories of her second life were too vivid. So whenever her body was weakened, her brain functioned slower than normal. Thus, the mistakes.

    "I know that you''re curious but you can''t drink yet," her father scolded her. "The de Moonatserio children mature faster than average children your age. But your constitution is the same as any other child¨C alcoholic drinks are bad for you."

    "I understand, Papa Boss."

    "But on youring-of-age ceremony, I will pour a drink for you."

    "Canmoners hold aing-of-age ceremony, Papa Boss?" she asked curiously. Once hering-of-age ceremonyes, Nero would have been back as a Crown Prince by then. "I mean, I''m not registered as a member of the Royal Family. Or are you going to fulfill your promise and give me a duchess title as a reward for pretending as Nero all this time?"

    Her father fell silent for quite some time.

    She didn''t know if it was her imagination or her Papa Boss looked sad and guilty at the moment.

    "You''ll be a de Moonasterio by then," her Papa Boss promised her softly. "You will be Princess Neoma de Moonasterio once you havee of age."

    Neoma smiled because she wasn''t sure if it woulde true. But if it did¡­ "It would be nice," she said, then she closed her eyes when drowsiness pulled her in. "It would be nice to be registered in our family officially¡­"

    <strong>***</strong>

    <strong>NOTE:</strong> These are random moments before the current timeline, so Ruto is still pretending not to know Neoma''s real identity.

 Chapter 319 - THE FINAL PREPARATION

    <strong></strong>"THIS PLACE is really amazing, Lady Roseheart."

    Mona nodded at Gavin''sment. "That''s true," she said. "We''re lucky that Lord Novak has granted us the permission to stay here in the meantime."

    By "here," she meant the ck Ocean.

    In the middle of the ocean, there was a small ind with a cabin. The cabin was fully furnished and it had two rooms. Each room had its own bathroom, too. Moreover, there was a storage room that would provide them with food for six months.

    [Novak is really taking good care of us.]

    The Ancient Spirit even let her and Gavine to the ck Ocean with their physical bodies. Usually, only Spirits were permitted to step foot in that dimension. But since she needed a hiding ce, Novak gave her special treatment.

    [On the other hand, we needed Gavin and his Shadow Maniption Technique to cover our whereabouts.]

    "This is a safe ce since Lord Novak is the one who governs this dimension, and I''m covering our traces using the technique that Lukas taught me," Gavin said carefully. "I can also serve as your servant in the meantime, Lady Roseheart. I might becking but I will do my best to serve you and the royal twins."

    "How can I make you my servant, Gavin?" she asked while shaking her head. "Don''t worry about me. I can take care of myself and my babies. You''re already helping me a lot." She bit her lower lip, then she bowed her head. "I''m sorry for everything, Gavin. Because of me, you lost a lot of things¡­"

    When Gavin disappeared with her, he was branded as a traitor for coveting the emperor''s concubine. Thus, he also lost his title as themander of the White Lion Knights.

    [I don''t even want to think what will happen to House Quinzel now¡­]

    "Lady Roseheart, please raise your head," themander said in a panicked voice. "And you don''t have to apologize to me."

    She raised her head, and the worried look on Gavin''s face made her feel more guilty. "But Gavin¡­"

    "Lady Roseheart, it is my choice to help and follow you," themander said. "I truly wanted to serve His Majesty for as long as I can. But I couldn''t simply stay still and watch His Majesty hurt you and the royal twins. When I became your knight, I swore that I will protect you." He smiled at her as if to reassure her that everything would be alright. "I intend to keep that oath until the end, Lady Roseheart."

    Ah, Gavin was truly a wonderful person.

    He didn''t have to go this far just to uphold the pledge that he made. But here he was, sacrificing his brilliant future just to protect her and her babies.

    "Thank you, Gavin," Mona said in a cracked voice. "I mean it."

    Gavin just smiled and gently patted her shoulder.

    <strong>***</strong>

    "MON-MON, where are you hiding?"

    Mona let out a deep sigh when she found herself in Yule''s dimension.

    She clearly remembered that she went to bed earlier. The fact that she was in a white room filled with floating white cubes only meant that the Moon God entered her dream.

    "You''re being mean to me again," Yule, who appeared sitting on a golden cube that materialized in front of her, whined like a child. "You know that I''ve lost my real eyes a long time ago. So why are you making it harder for me to see you?"

    It was a relief to hear that Yule didn''t know where she was. At least, she was now assured that the Moon God couldn''t guide Niki to where she was hiding.

    "I''m protecting my babies from your descendant, Lord Yule," Mona said politely, then she sat on the white cube behind her. When she did, the cube became a sofa with a veryfortable cushion. It might be Yule''s way of taking care of a pregnant woman like her. "Are you here to help Niki find me?"

    "My descendant is not a child¨C he can manage on his own," he said while waving his hand dismissively. "Moreover, he doesn''t even pray to me. I can''t directly help someone who doesn''t have faith in me."

    "With all due respect, it''s Lord Yule''s fault why Niki doesn''t trust you."

    The Moon Godughed. "That''s true."

    "Then, why did you enter my dream?" she asked, changing the topic.

    "I''m here to remind you about our contract, Mon-Mon."

    She flinched after hearing that.

    "We made a contract in the past," the Moon God continued. "You promised to help me lessen the sins of the de Moonasterios in exchange for directly helping you that one time."

    Yule was talking about the time he secretly descended to help them seal the Soul Beasts again after they failed to set the poor souls free. Since Niki had refused to pray to the Moon God himself, she did it in his ce. Thus, she was forced to make a contract with Yule.

    "I will shamelessly vite our contract, Lord Yule," she said, wishing that the Moon God wouldn''t notice her nervousness. Even though Yule was known as a benevolent god, she still knew that gods don''t like being deceived. To be fair, even humans don''t like it. "But you shouldn''t punish me for it."

    "Mon-Mon, did Niki''s arrogance rub off on you?" he asked yfully, but his eyes that sparkled like the starry night sky were sharp. "I have tolerance for Niki''s rudeness because he''s my descendant. But do you think I have the patience to extend that hospitality to you?"

    She didn''t want to admit this but Yule''s hostility almost choked her.

    [Snap out of it, Mona Roseheart!]

    When she felt like her life was in danger, her Spirit Guardians protected her by enveloping her with their aura. She didn''t dare to summon them in the presence of Yule because she didn''t want him to think that she was picking a fight with him. Her life was precious to her, so she would never dare to pick a fight with a god face-to-face.

    Still, the presence of her Spirit Guardians helped her calm down and think straight again.

    "You''ve already punished me, Lord Yule," she said, opting to guilt-trip him to get away from viting their contract. "You stabbed me in the back."

    "What do you mean by that?"

    "You and the other gods n to raise my daughter as the next Aether, don''t you?"

    The shocked look on Yule''s face soon turned into guilt. "So you found out."

    Her fear of the god disappeared when anger rose up her chest. "Niki was right. I shouldn''t have trusted you, Lord Yule. I was always wary of gods because I know that you don''t help humans without an ulterior motive. But your outgoing personality made me lower my guard." She hugged her stomach protectively. "I will never make the same mistake, Lord Yule. Thus, I want topletely cut my ties off with you."

    "I''m fine with that."

    It was her turn to be taken aback.

    Yule smiled sweetly at her. "But in return, I will have your daughter work with me in your ce, Mona Roseheart."

    She didn''t like swearing and she didn''t want her children to hear ugly words.

    But at that moment, she wasn''t able to control it.

    "Sleep with one of your fake eyes open," Mona said, gritting her teeth. "You divine son of a heavenly bitch."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "LADY ROSEHEART, you look tired."

    Mona wanted to curse again when she remembered Yule, but she held back.

    [My babies should only listen to pretty words.]

    "Don''t worry, I''m fine," Mona assured Gavin with a smile while the two of them were having tea in the balcony. The view wasn''t that pretty though. After all, the ocean waspletely ck. To be honest, it looked quite scary. Especially since there were dangerous sea creatures below them. Thankfully, the small ind was protected by Novak''s power. "Lord Yule just paid me a visit in my dreamst night."

    Gavin suddenly looked nervous. "Did Lord Yule find out where we are?"

    "Thankfully, no," she assured him. "He asked me where I am, but I didn''t tell him anything." She smiled at themander. "Gavin, you''re covering our tracks well."

    "That''s a relief," themander said. "But now I don''t want to leave the ind. My shadow will continue protecting this ce even if I step out for a moment. But I''m worried something might happen while I''m away¡­"

    "You should go," she said softly. "You should at least say goodbye to Rufus properly, Gavin."

    Before she went to bedst night, Gavin told her that he''d leave the ck Ocean for a while to say goodbye to his family. They already got Novak''s permission, and the Ancient Spirit gave themander a spare key to enter his dimension even without Novak''s presence.

    "I''ll be fine, Gavin," Mona encouraged him. "Go and meet Rufus."

    Gavin smiled and bowed to her. "Thank you, Lady Roseheart."

    <strong>***</strong>

    GAVIN didn''te out to meet Rufus.

    Although he wanted to see his brother onest time before he left this world, he refused to do so. He had a soft spot for his younger brother, so he was afraid that his heart would waver once he saw him. Moreover, he knew that he didn''t deserve to have a proper farewell with Rufus.

    [Father will probably dere Rufus as his new sessor now that I''m branded as a traitor. I shouldn''t get in his way anymore.]

    He didn''t care about the duke title, and he knew that Rufus would do a good job in leading their family.

    [Your Majesty, House Quinzel practically put you on the throne. You know that, don''t you? So please don''t touch my family just because I betrayed you.]

    "Commander, are you listening?"

    Gavin turned to Lukas.

    He went to the Forgotten Graveyard with Lukas. To be precise, the two of them were back in the underground mausoleo. The coffin that disappeared before was back. Apparently, it was the door that led to the other world.

    "Are you sure everything will be okay, Lukas?" Gavin asked hesitantly. "Are you sure that you can manipte the real Kim Won-shik to act the way that I did back in my second life?"

    Things that happened in his second life must happen again in order for their n to seed.

    But unlike in the past, Lady Roseheart wouldn''t open the door early. She would open it a littleter. He couldn''t leave this world to possess the young Kim Won-shik''s body because the shadow that hiding their tracks would disappear if he fell into aatose state again.

    Thus, Lukas decided to cross over to the other world and manipte Kim Won-shik''s mind.

    Of course, the elf would be assisted by Lord Helstor himself.

    "I have the memories of your past life so don''t worry too much, Commander," Lukas assured him. "While I''m gone, you know what to do once Lady Roseheart is at her weakest, don''t you?"

    Gavin clenched his hands and nodded firmly. "I will steal the Ice Spirit from Lady Roseheart."

    <strong>***</strong>

    MONA was about to return to her room to rest because she wasn''t feeling well when all of a sudden, a sharp pain shot through her stomach.

    And then, her water broke.

    "Lady Roseheart!" Gavin yelled worriedly when he saw what happened. Then, he ran towards her and immediately put his hand on her back to support her. He looked very worried at the moment. "A-Are you going in abor now?"

    The contractions that killing her at the moment confirmed it for her.

    "Yes, Gavin. My babies want toe out and see the world now," Mona said through gritted teeth while trying not to cry from pain. Then, she gently put her arms around her huge baby bump. "We must return to our old Roseheart Mansion."

    Because the item that she needed to give birth to the little Rosehearts in her womb was there.

    And she wasn''t the only one who knew that.

    [Niki must be waiting for us to return there.]

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 320 - BIRTH OF THE TWINS

    "MONA, we are here."

    When Mona opened her eyes, she was greeted by her female Spirit Guardians in their human forms.

    Gale was usually in her white bunny form. But in her human form, the Wind Spirit was a beautiful and tall woman with long, pale blonde hair and bright green eyes. Gale wore a white robe with the emblem of the Wind Tribe. The Wind Spirit was barefoot, and she didn''t need any shoes or slippers because her feet weren''t even touching the floor.

    Marina, the Water Spirit, looked like a teenager. She had curly blue hair and light blue eyes. She also wore a white robe but the "emblem" was pretty childish. Her robe was actually filled with different kinds of sea creatures drawn in a cute manner.

    And finally, Olive. The Wood Spirit''s human form looked like a ten-year-old child. She had bob-cut hair ck hair and chocte brown eyes. Just like the other Spirit Guardians, she wore a white robe. The emblem of her robe were brown leaves.

    "We''re here to help you give birth," Gale said as she helped her lie down on the bed. "But since we are in our human forms right now, the others had to sleep."

    The "others" would be Roseanne (the Light Spirit), ze (the Fire Spirit), Rockwell (the Stone Spirit), and the Ice Spirit that didn''t have a solid form.

    If she was in her best condition, she could summon all her Spirit Guardians in their human forms. But she was terribly weak at the moment. Thus, the other Spirit Guardians had to sleep for her to conserve her energy while Gale, Marina, and Olive were in their human forms.

    "Don''t worry about our safety," Mona said weakly while taking deep breaths. "Gavin will protect us."

    Gavin Quinzel was currently guarding outside the mansion.

    Now that she had returned to the Roseheart Estate, it was only a matter of time before Niki and his men arrived.

    [I have to quickly give birth to my babies before Niki catches me.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    GAVIN thought that he had already thrown his conscience away when he decided to betray His Majesty and Lady Roseheart.

    He didn''t expect that his heart would still break while killing the White Lion Knights that tried to break into the Roseheart Mansion. Worst, most of the knights that he killed were the same knights that he "raised" when he was still themander of the order.

    [I''m sorry.]

    It was the two words that kept ringing in his mind while cutting the throats of the knights who fought him.

    The knights were crying.

    Ah, the poor souls must have felt the weight of his betrayal. Soon, the shock and pain of seeing their formermander kill theirrades turned into anger. Eventually, the remaining knights began to attack him more aggressively.

    But of course, the result was still the same. No matter how angry the knights were, they were still no match for him.

    [I''m sorry.]

    He was lucky that the Pdins hadn''t arrived yet. Of course, he was confident that even the Pdins would lose to him. But even if he was to face the Pdins, he would still win. He just didn''t want to fight them because the Pdins were his "siblings."

    "C-Commander¡­ p-please spare m-me," begged the remaining knight alive in the yard of the Roseheart Estate that was now painted with blood. "M-My w-wife and n-newborn child is w-waiting for me!"

    "I''m sorry," Gavin said coldly, then he swiftly cut the throat of the knight begging him for mercy. "My woman and my daughter are also waiting for me in the other world."

    The body of thest person fell on the ground and got soaked in its own pool of blood.

    He didn''t even sweat even after killing the knights (around 30) that were guarding the Roseheart Mansion. But his eyes seemed to be "sweating" at the moment as his sight became blurry, and a huge lump formed in his throat.

    Seeing the dead bodies of his ownrades was worse than seeing the dead bodies of his enemies. Especially since he was the one who took their lives away.

    [I''m really sorry¡­]

    His thoughts were distracted when he heard the loud cry of one of the royal twins.

    [Ah, Lady Roseheart has already given birth.]

    Since he was done with his job, he went inside the mansion to see if Lady Roseheart was ready to leave. He was able to kill all the knights that His Majesty stationed to the mansion. But he wasn''t able to stop them from sending a message to the pce.

    [His Majesty and the Pdins are probably on their way here. We have to get away from here as soon as we can. I don''t have the confidence to win against His Majesty and the Pdins.]

    He could try, but he refused to die there.

    "Mona has given birth to a daughter, Commander."

    He was shocked not because of Gale''s announcement, but because of what greeted him after the Wind Spirit allowed him to enter the room.

    The royal baby in her birthday suit was currently lying down on a cushion ced on the table. Gale was holding a rosegold watering can while "watering" the royal baby as if she was a nt that needed it.

    "This watering can is the Roseheart heirloom passed down from generation to generation," Gale exined when she saw the confusion in his face. "The water inside this can isn''t ordinary water. It''s actually the tears of the first King of the Spirit World. The Rosehearts are loved by Nature, and so the rulers of the Spirit World are obliged to bless the children of the Rosehearts with their tears. It is needed to grow the rose in a Roseheart''s body."

    Ah, he heard about that before.

    Apparently, the Rosehearts got theirst name because they literally had a rose in their hearts.

    "Unfortunately, this watering can will only appear in the birthing room here in the Roseheart Mansion. Thus, every female Roseheart is required to give birth in this room," the Wind Spirit continued. After "watering" the royal princess, Gale carefully wrapped the baby in a clean and soft white towel. "Commander, please take the royal princess back to the ck Ocean. It is Mona''s order to do so."

    He didn''t dare to move his head to the other side of the room.

    In the corner of his eye, he could see and hear Lady Roseheart on the bed while still in the middle ofbor. Two of the Spirit Guardians were busy helping thedy give birth to her second child. He didn''t know why he was allowed to enter the birthing room while Lady Roseheart was still inbor.

    But maybe it was a testament to the trust that Lady Roseheart had for him.

    "Will you be alright if I leave?" he asked worriedly as he carefully ced the tiny royal princess in his arms. "His Majesty is in his way¡­"

    "Don''t you trust Mona?"

    He smiled and shook his head. "I trust Lady Roseheart," he said, then he turned around to face Lady Roseheart. But of course, his eyes were on the floor. He couldn''t bow properly because he was afraid that the royal princess might get hurt. "I will protect the royal princess, Lady Roseheart. Please be safe."

    He didn''t expect to hear a response from Lady Roseheart who was screaming in pain as the Spirit Guardians encouraged her to "push."

    And so, he quietly left the birthing room.

    He stopped when he was outside the mansion to look at the royal princess. The royal baby was quiet after she was wrapped in the white towel. He was worried that something might happen to the royal princess for her to be this silent.

    Thus, he checked on her.

    [Ah¡­]

    He was surprised to be greeted by the royal princess''s big ash-gray eyes. It was cute how the royal baby looked bald. Since her skin was very pale, her thin white hair was almost unnoticeable.

    [Your Royal Highness, it''s a shame that you look like His Majesty''s copy.]

    It was because of the physical traits of every de Moonasterio: white hair, ash-gray eyes, pale skin.

    But looking closely, the royal princess also looked like Lady Roseheart¡­

    "Commander."

    He raised his head and wasn''t surprised to see Dion Skelton, Jeanne Audley, Geoffrey Kinsley, and the twins Wyatt and Warren Fletcher surround him. Ah, he didn''t feel the presence of the Pdins until one of them talked. He raised them well.

    Moreover, he was proud to see them threatening him with their bloodlust.

    [I guess I''m lucky that His Majesty and Glenn aren''t here yet.]

    "You''re under arrest, Commander," Dion Skelton, the strongest Pdin after him and Glenn, said in his usual cold voice. "Hand over the royal princess to us."

    Gavin grinned at the Pdins. "I don''t want to?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "MASTER, you really gave birth to a prince!"

    Mona hugged the baby close to her chest. Her little boy, after getting "watered" by the rosegold watering can, was now wrapped in a clean and warm white towel. She couldn''t help but smile while looking at her son.

    [Baby, you''re the spitting image of your father.]

    White hair, ash gray eyes, pale skin.

    Her son inherited the physical traits of a de Moonasterio. With that, no one would doubt that her baby was indeed His Majesty''s son. Thanks to her baby''s appearance, everyone would know that the curse of the Rosehearts had been broken now.

    She was happy and sad at the same time.

    "I''m sorry, baby," Mona whispered weakly, then she closed her eyes when she felt Niki''s presence in the mansion. "I have to leave you with your father now."

    <strong>***</strong>

    <strong>IMPORTANT NOTE:</strong> Hi! I''m sorry about this but if you can help, I set up a tier in my P/atreon page for side stories featuring Neoma''s Harem for emergency funds. It''s $1 for this month, and hopefully, only this month. I''m sorry, and it''s totally okay if you can''t. ^_^

    You can check my page here: [https://.patreon/sc] or type s_c on the search bar.

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 321 - SECRET OF THE EYES

    "AS EXPECTED, you''re the strongest Pdin after Glenn," Gavin said, impressed that Dion Skelton was still standing. Granted that the Pdin was bleeding from head to toe, it was still a miracle that he was still conscious after ckwell, his Shadow Dragon, attacked Dion Skelton with its Dragon Breath. And ckwell''s Dragon Breath was pure ck me that could turn almost anything and everything into ashes. "Dion, once Glenn bes the newmander of the White Lion Knights, I hope you be the vicemander."

    He could talk calmly like this because the royal princess in his arms was surprisingly calm. So calm that the royal princess actually fell asleep despite the noise of the fighting earlier.

    [As expected, Her Royal Highness is not an ordinary baby.]

    And yes, he didn''t move an inch while fighting the Pdins. After all, he used his Shadow Beasts. But even though he didn''t move, his Mana was almost exhausted.

    Dion Skelton, standing in front of his fallenrades as if he was protecting them, snarled at him. Unfortunately, he didn''t look intimidating since he was bleeding all over. His legs were even shaking. "How could you do this to us, Commander?" the Pdin asked bitterly. "How could you kill your own men who trusted you with their lives?!"

    He smiled sadly at him. "I''m sorry," he said sincerely. "But I don''t want you to forgive me."

    "Yes, you don''t deserve to be forgiven," Dion growled at him, his Mana fluctuating once again. "You deserve to die, Commander."

    After saying those vicious words, the Pdin shut his eyes tight.

    Then, the Mana flowing in Dion Skelton''s body began to gather in his closed eyes.

    "Don''t do that, Dion," he slightly scolded the Pdin even though he knew that he didn''t have the right to do so. "Your real eyes won''t kill me. Moreover, using the power of your real eyes will literally bring cmity. What will you do if you identally kill the royal prince? Lady Roseheart is currently at her weakest so I can''t give you an assurance that she''s capable of protecting His Majesty''s heir."

    The Pdin flinched and fortunately, he didn''t open his eyes yet. "A royal prince?"

    "Ah, you didn''t know," he said. It seemed like His Majesty had really forgotten that his children were twins and one of them was a male heir. "The other royal twin is a male child, Dion. Lady Roseheart intends to leave the royal prince with His Majesty."

    Dion Skelton seemed to have calm down. When he opened his eyes, the color remained light brown¨C his fake eye color. Thankfully, the Pdin changed his mind. "I still won''t allow you to take the royal princess away, Commander."

    "I knew you''d say that," he said while smiling, then he stomped his feet on the ground.

    After that, several Shadow Spears emerged from the ground and pierced through Dion Skelton''s body. Finally, thest standing Pdin had fallen down.

    [I''m d Dion didn''t use his real eyes.]

    "It''s over," Gavin whispered to himself. Then, he turned to the royal princess in his arms. Surprisingly, the royal princess was awake now. And her eyes had turned glowing red as she absorbed some of his Mana. "Her Royal Highness must be hungry now, huh?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "WELCOME, Your Majesty," Mona, who was kneeling on the floor of the birthing room, greeted Niki who arrived with Glenn. [Thankfully, Gavin had already left with my little princess when the two arrived.]

    To be honest, she was a little nervous now that Gavin was gone.

    If she was in her best condition, she could certainly handle Niki and Glenn. But she was still weak from giving birth. The blood in her dress hadn''t even dried yet.

    "I heard Gavin Quinzel already fled with the First Star," Niki said coldly. "If you stayed with the Second Star to beg for my mercy, you may begin now."

    "I am not here to beg for your mercy, Your Majesty," Mona said with her usual carefree smile. All she could do was smile now because to be honest, she was hoping that she wouldn''t need to fight Niki. "I am only here to leave a farewell gift to you. I need to personally hand it to you even if it means risking my own life."

    "Interesting," he said with a raised brow. "Where''s the "farewell gift" that you had to risk your life for?"

    She smiled sadly, then she gently ced her precious son on the floor. "Your Majesty, I gave birth to a prince."

    "Impossible," the emperor said in disbelief. "The Rosehearts can''t give birth to a boy."

    Ah, some of Niki''s memories had truly been erased.

    "That''s what I thought, too," she said, acting like it was her first time knowing that one of her twins was a boy. "I couldn''t believe that I gave birth to a boy as well, Your Majesty."

    "Glenn, check the baby," the emperor ordered his knight.

    "Yes, Your Majesty," Glenn said, his voiceced with confusion. Then, the knight carefully approached her. After that, he got down on one knee and gently peeled off the white cloth from the baby. He gasped upon checking her baby''s gender. "Your Majesty, it''s really a prince," he said, then he stood and turned around to face the emperor. "His Royal Highness has your eyes and hair color."

    "Glenn, bring the royal prince to me," Niki ordered the knight. "Now."

    The knight nodded, then he carefully carried the royal prince in his arms.

    Glenn bowed to Mona before he stood up and walked back to the emperor. The cold look that Glenn had a while ago waspletely gone now.

    [It seems like Glenn is pleased with the appearance of Niki''s heir.]

    "Your Majesty, congrattions," Glenn said cheerfully when he stood in front of the emperor to show him the royal prince. "You now have an heir."

    Mona observed as Niki looked at their son with cold eyes.

    It hurt her that the father of her children was apathetic to the existence of their babies. But she could only me herself for that. After all, she erased not only a portion of his memories but also his ability to love other people.

    [My heart hurts knowing that I have to leave my little prince when Niki is in this state.]

    "That brat is noisy," Niki said coldly. "Get him out of here."

    Mona almost clicked her tongue. [The fact that our baby is crying is a sign that he''s alive!]

    "Yes, Your Majesty," Glenn said, then he bowed to him before he quietly left the chamber with the royal prince.

    When Glenn finally left the room, Niki faced her again.

    "You didn''t even bother to hold our son in your arms," Mona said with a sad smile on her face. "Now I''m starting to regret leaving him in your care."

    "Why did you only take the royal princess and decide to leave the royal prince to me?"

    "Because this empire is cruel to princesses," she said bitterly, then she paused before she spoke again. When she did, her voice was almost a whisper. "We can only take one with us. I figured you''d take care of our son because you need an heir."

    The emperor''s jaw clenched hard. "What made you think that you''re the only woman capable of giving me a child?"

    She didn''t even flinch at his insult. "The empire recognizes the firstborn son of the emperor as the heir," she exined. "Even though there are arrogant nobles who think my blood as a Roseheart is filthy, I''m confident that our son will still get support from people who know the true value of my family." She looked up at him, then she bowed. "Your Majesty, please raise our son well."

    "Mona Roseheart!" he snarled at her. "How dare you ask me to raise our son "well" when you''re about to run away with another man?!"

    She raised her head to give him a pitiful smile. "I won''t apologize or ask for your forgiveness," she said, then she slowly stood up. "Niki, let''s end it here."

    "No!" he yelled. His eyes that had turned glowing red looked frenzied. "Wherever you try to run away to, I will find you. Once I do, I will take the royal princess away from you, Mona. You don''t deserve to be a mother."

    [Coming from you?]

    She frowned to express her own dissatisfaction. "Niki."

    "It''s ''His Majesty'' to you, woman," he hissed at her, then he drew his sword.

    She stood up and smiled sweetly at him. It wasn''t like she was happy with what had happened between him and Niki. She was just d that she seeded in turning his love for her into hate. "Then, it''s ''Lady Roseheart'' to you, Your Majesty. Don''t you think it''s unbing of an emperor to forget his manners out of spite?"

    Instead of giving a verbal response, he just swung his sword.

    It created a wave of energy that would have been enough to slice an average Mana-user in half. But of course, it didn''t work on her.

    Before the energy wave could even hit her, a strong barrier appeared around her.

    When Mona opened her arms, a white and fluffy bunny materialized. It was Gale who was back in her animal form. The Wind Spirit would also serve as her personal teleportation "vehicle."

    "Goodbye, Your Majesty," Mona said with a sad smile while her body was starting to turn luminescent. The barrier that protected her a while ago also began turning into violent air, which was also known as a tornado. That turned the whole room upside-down. But of course, a powerful man like Niki didn''t even budge. "Please treat our son well."

    <strong>***</strong>

    MONA cried hard while hugging her little princess in her arms.

    As soon as she returned to the cabin on the ind located in the middle of the ck Ocean, she went to bed with her baby. She fed the royal princess some breastmilk. After getting full, her innocent baby fell asleep right away.

    That was when she cried her heart out.

    She lost Niki and her son. There was now a void in her heart that couldn''t be filled. But she had to move forward with her daughter. If she didn''t leave this world, she would even lose her remaining child.

    [I have to protect you, Neoma.]

    "Neoma," Mona whispered between sobs. It was the first time that she said her daughter''s name aloud. The first time since she and Niki decided the names of their children, that is. "I hope your father remembers what to name your little brother¡­"

    <strong>***</strong>

    [LADY ROSEHEART has fallen asleep.]

    Gavin, who was in the bathtub, opened his right hand until a blue diamond shaped like a drop of tear materialized above his palm. It was an item that Lukas gave to him before he went to the other world to guide the real Kim Won-shik. "Come out, Lord Delwyn."

    It actually took quite some time before ''Delwyn'' appeared after he summoned it.

    "How did a treacherous human like you able to learn my real name when the Daughter of Nature herself failed to do so?"

    He looked up to see a man that looked like a naked mannequin made of ice.

    And that man was the Ice Spirit that not even Lady Roseheart could summon like this.

    "That blue diamond¡­" Delwyn, the Ice Spirit, said in amusement. "Lukas must have sent you to steal me from Mona."

    "It seems like you''re quite expecting it, Lord Delwyn."

    "I''m fine with anyone who needs my power as long as it''s not Mona," the Ice Spirit said causally. "Mona is a good child but I don''t like bright and warm humans like her. I mean that in a literal sense. Since I have the ice attribute and Mona has the Light and Fire Spirits, my power weakens the more time I spend with her and her other Spirit Guardians."

    "That''s what Lukas has told me as well, my lord," he said. He was being respectful because he needed to take Delwyn on his side. "ording to him, your attribute works best with people with the Darkness attribute like myself."

    "That is correct," the Ice Spirit confirmed. "What do you need from me?"

    "Are you really going to give it to me easily?" he asked in disbelief. "Isn''t Lady Roseheart your master?"

    To be honest, he was preparing himself for a fight.

    He already covered the whole bathroom with his Shadow Veil so that Lady Roseheart wouldn''t notice his movements. And so, he was shocked that the Ice Spirit casually asked him what he wanted.

    "Are you insulting me, child?"

    The whole bathroom suddenly turned chilly. Not only that. The walls and the floor, even the bathtub, had been covered in a thinyer of ice in an instant.

    "I apologize for offending you, my lord," he said as he bowed his head in apology.

    [There''s no use angering a Spirit that I need.]

    "Hah," Delwyn said, then he let out a literally cold sigh. "Mona thinks that I''m one of her Spirit Guardians. But I have never pledged my loyalty to her and or to anyone else for that matter. I do what I want."

    "May I know why you want to help me, my lord?"

    "Don''t be conceited," the Ice Spirit scolded him. "It''s not you that I wish to help. I''m only allowing you to "steal" me because I believe that I can only ck off once Mona takes a "rest.""

    He didn''t understand but it looked like Delwyn was already done with his exnation.

    [That''s it?]

    "I''m old and tired," Delwyn added defensively. "I just want to be a cker but Mona always keeps herself busy. She even dares to pick a fight with gods. That sounds bothersome so I''d rather have her confined in a ce that doesn''t have light. After all, where there is no light, the eyes of the gods won''t find her."

    "Confined¡­" he asked, bewildered. "Is your power meant to confine Lady Roseheart?"

    "I thought you already knew," the Ice Spirit said, then he snapped his fingers.

    In the blink of an eye, the tear-shaped blue diamond above his palm had turned into a piece of ice rose. It was beautiful, but it felt ominous.

    [This feels more powerful than the other ice roses that Lady Roseheart had used in the past.]

    "Just stab that rose in Mona''s heart," Delwyn said in a tired voice, then his ice body began to melt. "I''ll drag her back to this world."

    And just like that, the Ice Spiritpletely melted¨C turning into a ssh of water.

    The ice rose above his palm also disappeared. But the coldness in his chest told him that the ice rose was now hidden in his body. He had a feeling that he could summon it anytime that he wanted to.

    "What a strange Spirit," Gavin wondered to himself. "But I''m d that Lord Delwyn is a cker."

    <strong>***</strong>

    A PAIR of purple eyes red at the stupid emperor''s pce.

    That idiot ruler brought only one of the twins home. And it was the wrong twin. He should have at least punched that stupid emperor back in his previous life.

    But he couldn''t help but me hate himself, too.

    "These useless eyes," the man in the body of a four-year-old child whispered to himself. "Why can''t I find you?"

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 322 - THE DOORS

    <strong></strong>TODAY was finally the day that Mona would leave this world with her little Neoma.

    In her first life, she had failed because she tried to open the door to the other world a few hours after giving birth to her babies.

    So this time, she took a full month''s break to recuperate. In between resting and taking care of her precious Neoma, she would train her soul with Novak. It was necessary since she would cross over the other world with her soul. Thankfully, Novak said that her daughter''s soul was strong enough to travel to the other world.

    "Lady Roseheart, I''m sorry¡­"

    Mona turned to Gavin, who looked so apologetic. "It''s alright, Gavin," she consoled him while carrying the sleeping Neoma in her arms. "I understand why you have to leave now. Your family is more important during times like this."

    Thest time Gavin went out to check their surroundings, he found out that Rufus was sent out on a dangerous mission. Themander couldn''t help but worry about his brother so he asked her if it was alright for him to leave now.

    "You don''t have to send us off," she said while smiling. "After all, you must prioritize your family this time. You''ve done enough for me and my Neoma, Gavin."

    "I wish I could help more, Lady Roseheart," he said regretfully, then he turned to Neoma with a soft look on his face. "I wanted to make sure that our royal princess would safely make it to the other world."

    She was touched by Gavin''s dedication to serving her and her daughter.

    "I''ll never forget your kindness, Gavin," Mona said sincerely, then she bowed deeply. "Thank you for everything."

    Gavin, who looked shocked by what she did, immediately bowed deeply to her as well. "I wish you safe travels, Lady Roseheart and Princess Neoma."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "MONA, are you ready?"

    To be honest, it scared Mona. She realized that thinking that she had properly prepared for this moment was very arrogant of her. Now she realized fear still lingered in her heart. After all, it wasn''t only her life at stake¨C she also risked the life of her precious daughter.

    But thankfully, she and her daughter didn''t need to leave the ind that Novak provided for them. Apparently, the door that the Ancient Spirit had been guarding all this time was hidden under the ocean.

    "Don''t be scared, child," Novak, who was standing on the surface of the ck water without sinking, said. "I will safely bring you and the little princess to the other world."

    Hearing thoseforting words from Novak put her heart at ease.

    "Thank you, Lord Novak," she said with confidence this time. Then she hugged her baby a little tighter. It relieved her that her baby fell asleep. But in the corner of her heart, she wondered why her daughter seemed to be too calm and too mature? [I wonder why my baby isn''t as loud as most babies¡­]

    But despite that, gratefulness filled her heart knowing that her baby was healthy.

    "I will now summon the door that will bring you to the other world," Novak said in a majestic voice. Then he stomped his right foot on the surface of the water¨C causing multiple ripples to flow. "Come out, Pea."

    As soon as the Ancient Spirits summoned ''Pea,'' a huge creature emerged from under the ocean. It was shining so brightly that it managed to light up the dark ind.

    A giant m.

    It was so big that it could properly store two adults inside if the shells were closed. And since the m was big, it did not surprise her that the pearl ced in the middle of the m was also huge. It was the size of her daughter''s head.

    "This is the door that will bring you to the other world. To be precise, the door is the giant pearl that you see," Novak, who was standing next to the giant m, exined. "Once you and your daughter fell asleep inside the m, the pearl would absorb your souls."

    She gulped before she asked. "What will happen to our bodies, then?"

    "Pea, this giant m, will keep your bodies safe," the Ancient Spirit said. "Just in case something goes wrong, the pearl will immediately spit your souls out. Thus, we have to keep your physical bodies safe. But it''s only a precautionary measure, so don''t worry too much."

    "I understand, my lord," she said while smiling. "I trust you."

    "That''s good to hear," Novak said, then his alicorn shone brightly. "Now, let''s begin."

    The lighting from the Ancient Spirit''s alicorn enveloped her and her baby. Then her body floated in the air. The force that carried her and her baby was gentle even when it dropped her on the inside of the m. To her surprise, the "cushion" was soft.

    "Sleep now, child," Novak said gently. "Pea and I will safely bring you and your daughter to the other world."

    Mona smiled and nodded. Then, she turned to her baby and kissed the sleeping Neoma on the forehead. "It''s time for us to go, my baby princess," she whispered to her child before she closed her eyes. As soon as she did, she felt her tears roll down her face quietly. "Goodbye, Niki." She sobbed harder when the image of her son entered her mind. "Goodbye, my little prince¡­"

    <strong>***</strong>

    [FINALLY.]

    Gavin emerged from the darkness that he used to hide as soon as Novak, the Ancient Spirit in the form of a unicorn, finally disappeared, along with the giant pearl.

    The souls of Lady Roseheart and the little princess were absorbed by the pearl as well.

    And now, the mother-and-child duo''s physical bodies were left defenseless inside the m that was now slowly closing its shells.

    Of course, he didn''t let that happen.

    He used his Shadow Maniption Technique and formed several shadow vines. Then, he wrapped those vines around the physical bodies of Lady Roseheart and the young princess. Fortunately, he pulled the twodies out of the m before it waspletely closed.

    It wasn''t like the m or the ck Ocean allowed him to take Lady Roseheart and the little princess away. He didn''t get in trouble despite Lady Roseheart and Princess Neoma being under the protection of Novak because his movements were being concealed not by his Shadow Maniption Technique.

    This time, he was being protected by a powerful being.

    [I''m d I epted their help.]

    He looked up to see the red sphere the size of a child''s head that floated above him. It was one of Lord Helstor''s eyes that Lukas sent him. If not for the god''s eyes, every living thing in the ck Ocean would have already attacked him as soon as he touched Lady Roseheart.

    [I guess it also helped that Lord Novak trusts me.]

    Sadly, he had to break that trust now.

    He opened his right hand while looking at Lady Roseheart who was suspended in the air thanks to his shadow vines. Princess Neoma was also suspended in the air, but unlike her mother, the young princess was being cradled by the vines gently.

    Both Lady Roseheart and Princess Neoma were close to being lifeless because their souls already crossed over to the other world.

    To simply say, the two were both defenseless.

    [Thankfully, Lady Roseheart had to let go of her Spirit Guardians as a part of her preparation to cross over to the other world. Apparently, the Spirit Guardians dwell in her soul. Thus, it will be too much for her to go to the other world with the Spirits.]

    He was ashamed to think that he was lucky that Lady Roseheart had to let go of her Spirit Guardians. Whether or not he wanted to admit it, he knew he wouldn''t be able toy a hand on thedy if her Spirit Guardians were present.

    Still, it hurt his pride that he had to strike an unconscious woman. Still, he had to because he had already decided to im his happiness in this lifetime.

    "Lord Delwyn," he called the Ice Spirit respectfully. "Please lend me your strength."

    As soon as he said that, he felt the strange coldness in his chest travel all over his body. The next thing he knew, a piece of ice rose already manifested in his hand.

    "I''m sorry," Gavin whispered solemnly. "Please never forgive me, Lady Roseheart."

    After whispering his sincere apology, he threw the ice rose as if it was a spear¨C and just like what he aimed for, the sharp stem of the dangerous flower pierced through Lady Roseheart''s chest. Then, much to his surprise, Lady Roseheart''s body was frozen by a thinyer of ice.

    [I''ve really reached the point of no return now.]

    "Commander, it''s time for you to go."

    It was Lukas, and the elf''s voice wasing from the red sphere that was also Lord Helstor''s eye. The other eye was in Lukas''s possession. And thus, they were using the God of Eternal Darkness''s eyes as a means ofmunication.

    "What do I do to Princess Neoma''s physical body?" he asked the elf. "I can''t leave Her Royal Highness like this¡­"

    Wouldn''t it be better to at least bury the young princess''s body?

    It was nothing more than an empty shell now that the soul was gone.

    "Don''t worry, Commander," Lukas assured him. "Lord Helstor will take care of Princess Neoma while we''re away."

    That was when he felt a strange aura engulf the young princess.

    The shadow vines that cradled Princess Neoma had his aura because he was using his Shadow Maniption Technique. But now that he had his attention focused on the young princess, he noticed that a strange yet familiar aura was embracing the infant.

    As a Darkness attribute user, he was familiar with that kind of aura.

    "It''s the aura of the Demon n," he said, confused. "Why is Princess Neoma surrounded by such a vile aura when Her Royal Highness is a descendant of Lord Yule?"

    "Commander, why are you worrying about Princess Neoma?" Lukas scolded him in an impatient voice. "Princess Neoma is not Nabi."

    Ah, that snapped him back to reality.

    He should no longer care about whatever happens to Princess Neoma. In the first ce, he knew already that the gods all wanted to get a hand on the royal princess for their ulterior motives. But it was none of his business since he was about to leave this world, anyway.

    "Let''s go," Gavin said, forcing himself to turn away from the poor princess. "I have to save Areum-ah and Nabi-ya before Lady Roseheart finds them."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "MY DARLING, the door is now open!"

    "I''m not your darling," the purple-haired boy with dark purple eyes said coldly to the girl who was only a few years older than him. At least, on the surface. Anyway, if only he didn''t need the bothersome girl''s power, he wouldn''t ask for her help. But he was desperate. "Now, bring me to where Neoma is."

    "You should pray to me first, my baby," the bothersome girl said yfully. "How can I lend you my power if you don''t pray to me?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    <strong>IMPORTANT NOTE:</strong> Hi! I''m sorry about this but if you can help, I set up a tier in my P/atreon page for side stories featuring Neoma''s Harem for emergency funds. It''s $1 for this month, and hopefully, only this month. I''m sorry, and it''s totally okay if you can''t. ^_^

    You can check my page here: [https://.patreon/sc] or type s_c on the search bar.

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 323 - WHEN DARKNESS SUCCEEDS

    <strong></strong>MONA was amazed to be in her Spirit form. Her sleeping baby was still in her arms and just like her, Neoma was also in her Spirit form since they had to abandon their physical bodies in their previous world.

    They had sessfully crossed over to the world called Earth. She wanted to be happy but she couldn''t do it while watching hundreds of humans get drowned after the cruise ship sank in the middle of the sea. Cries and frightened screams could be heard everywhere.

    Her heart hurt for the poor humans struggling to survive. Unfortunately, she didn''t have the power to help them.

    "It''s time, Mona," Novak, now in the form of a man in histe fifties with white hair and bread, said. In his human form, he looked like a normal elderly dressed in a white suit. But even though Novak had a physical form, it seemed like he had turned on his ability to turn invisible. After all, he was floating in the air with her and her baby. "The child called Nabi has passed away. The poor child''s soul will depart its body. I will help your child enter Nabi''s body once it''s the right time to do so."

    Mona nodded and hugged her baby tight. Even though the two of them were in their Spirit form, she could still touch her daughter just fine. "I understand, Lord Novak," she said, then she turned to the Ancient Spirit. "How about the woman called Areum Go?"

    "Areum Go is a weak human," the Ancient Spirit said. "I will put your soul in her body after I put your daughter''s soul inside Nabi''s. Once you''re inside Areum Go''s body, you just have to kick her out. Like I said, an ordinary human''s soul is weak. You can beat her."

    Beat Areum Go?

    That sounded brutal.

    But to be honest, stealing someone else''s body was more cruel. Although Go Areum was destined to die anyway, it wouldn''t change the fact that stealing the human''s body was equal to killing her.

    She had prepared her heart for that moment. Still, it didn''t make it less difficult.

    [After all, Areum Go is an innocent human¡­]

    "Mona, are you hesitating?"

    She took a deep breath before she shook her head. "No," she said firmly. "I will live in this world with my daughter."

    Novak nodded, as if he acknowledged his resolve. "Now, it''s time."

    The Ancient Spirit descended andnded by the ship that was visible on the surface. Of course, she followed Novak with Neoma in her arms.

    "That is Areum Go," Novak said as he pointed to someone. "With her lifeless infant."

    Her heart broke when she saw Areum Go floating in the water while hanging on a piece of plywood. The woman cried loud while hugging the lifeless infant lying down on the board. The infant was obviously Nabi.

    [Areum Go and I really look alike. We could pass off as twins.]

    Twins?

    She suddenly remembered that Gavin once asked her if she had a twin sister.

    [Come to think of it, why did he ask me that?]

    "Mona, the soul of the child Nabi has already left its physical body," Novak said, interrupting her thoughts. "Let go of your child. I will put her soul in Nabi''s body now."

    She nodded, then she kissed the sleeping Neoma''s forehead. "See youter, baby."

    When Novak raised his hand, Neoma''s soul was sent flying toward the lifeless infant''s body.

    Her heart thumped against her chest loudly.

    [Please don''t reject my baby''s soul¡­]

    "Nabi!" Areum Go eximed in delight when Nabi opened her eyes and cried. "My baby!"

    Mona was also relieved that the body didn''t reject Neoma''s soul. But she was worried when her daughter cried. [My baby rarely cries. Is she hurt? Or is she shocked to be put inside a new body?]

    "Mona, it''s time¡­"

    Novak trailed off and looked up.

    Even she was forced to look up at the sky when a huge shadow had cast over them. The moon didn''t cover the sun, but it turned dark because of something else.

    [Shadow¡­?]

    But it wasn''t the only problem that urred.

    Time had stopped.

    The humans, the sea waves, the birds flying in the sky, and everything around them had stopped moving. It seemed like only she and Novak weren''t affected by the strange phenomenon.

    [Just what is happening?]

    "Mona, watch out!"

    Novak''s warning came a little toote.

    Mona was shocked when she felt a cold, and sharp thing pierced through her chest from behind. She was still in her Spirit form so she was shocked that she was physically attacked. Moreover, the ice rose that grew from the ice stem that stabbed her was familiar.

    [Isn''t this the Ice Spirit''s ability¡­?]

    "What did you do, Gavin Quinzel?!" Novak yelled angrily, shocking her. The fact that the usually calm Ancient Spirit raised his voice was surprising. But the thing that shocked her was when Novak mentioned Gavin''s name. "How did you cross over to this world and possess a human body?!"

    What¡­?

    Despite the sudden heaviness in her body that was literally weighing her down, she still forced herself to turn around.

    She was greeted by a man that looked like Gavin Quinzel. But ording to Novak, the soul inside the human belonged to themander. And judging by Gavin''s position, it was obvious that he was the one who stabbed her with the ice rose from behind.

    Now she felt betrayed.

    "Gavin, why?" Mona asked, angry and confused. "Why are you doing this?"

    Gavin, in the body of a human that looked like him except for the hair and eye color, smiled bitterly. "Lady Roseheart, you''re not the only one who has the memories of their previous life."

    Her eyes widened in shock.

    "In my previous life, I possessed this body," themander exined. "I am Kim Won-shik, and I''m in love with Go Areum."

    She gasped from shock, but she remained speechless. Her brain felt like exploding because of Gavin''s shocking revtions. [This isn''t his first life? And during his previous life, he was a man who loved Areum Go?]

    Then¡­

    "When you asked me if I had a twin sister¡­"

    "It was after I regained the memories of my previous life through a long dream," Gavin said solemnly. "Lady Roseheart, I''m sure you''ve already realized that we have regressed, and so did the people in this world. When I realized that, I thought I could save Areum and Nabi."

    She didn''t need to hear more.

    After hearing what Gavin had to say, she instantly understood that she had been betrayed. Not only that, themander also helped her not because he cared for her but because he wanted to take advantage of the situation.

    "But I''mte," themander whispered to himself while looking at Areum Go.

    Only then did she realize that Neoma, now in the body of Nabi, wasn''t affected by whatever it was that froze the time.

    "Nabi is already¡­" Gavin trailed off, then he shook his head and turned to her. "It doesn''t matter, even if the soul has changed. Nabi is still Nabi. Areum and I will raise her well, Lady Roseheart."

    "My daughter is not yours," Mona growled at Gavin. But unfortunately, yelling was all she could do now. She couldn''t move, and her soul was getting frozen with a thinyer of ice. And so, she turned to Novak to ask for help. "Lord Novak¨C"

    She stopped talking when she realized why Novak had been quiet all this time.

    [Lukas, the elf¡­?]

    She just realized that Lukas was there. The elf held a red sphere in his hand that felt ominous for some reason.

    On the other hand¡­

    Novak had been wrapped into a dark aura, and now he looked like a cocoon.

    She couldn''t believe that an Ancient Spirit like him had been subdued this fast. But looking at the red sphere in Lukas''s hand made her realize why Novak had been silently dealt with.

    [That sphere¡­ it belongs to a god.]

    And who was the god that Lukas served again?

    "Lord Helstor," she said in disbelief. "The God of Eternal Darkness must be the one who helped you get this far¡­"

    That also meant that she had been tricked by Lord Helstor!

    She thought the God of Eternal Darkness was helping her. But in the end, the one the god was helping turned out to be Gavin.

    Now she felt like a fool.

    But it wasn''t the time to wallow in regret or curse Gavin for his betrayal.

    [My baby¡­]

    She turned to Neoma who was still crying as if her baby was calling her.

    [Neoma¡­]

    She raised her hand as her vision became blurry because of tears. But unfortunately, she couldn''t move her body to reach her baby. The ice that covered half of her body was weighing her down until she found herself sinking into the sea.

    "Neoma¡­" Mona called for her daughter weakly because her consciousness was fading away. "I''m so sorry, baby¡­"

    Mona closed her eyes.

    It would take a while before she gain consciousness. But once she opened her eyes again, she would find herself back in her original body¡­

    ¡­ and that body was trapped inside an enormous block of ice under the ck Ocean.

    <strong>***</strong>

    GAVIN did it¨C he was able to save Go Areum.

    Thanks to Lord Helstor stopping the time for him, he had the chance to send Lady Roseheart back to his previous world.

    Then, he was able to save Go Areum and Nabi (that he had to force to sleep using Lukas''s spell). He brought the two to the nearest ind where some of the survivors were taken to after being rescued in the middle of the sea.

    "Nabi¡­"

    Gavin smiled when Go Areum, who was lying on the hospital bed, finally woke up. "Areum-ah."

    "My baby¡­" Go Areum said in a panicked voice, then her gaze fell on the infant on his arms. She looked relieved to see that Nabi had just fallen asleep. "Nabi¡­"

    "Nabi is safe, Areum-ah," he assured her. "She just fell asleep."

    She fell silent for a while before she raised her head to meet his gaze. "You''re not Won-shik oppa."

    He was shocked by what she said. But he immediately yed it cool. "Areum-ah, do you not feel well¨C"

    "I saw everything," she said, cutting him off. "The time stopped, but I was conscious. I saw everything¨C even the woman that looks like me."

    How did that happen?

    He thought Go Areum was a normal human being. But he should have known. If she was the "version" of Lady Roseheart in this world, then she must be a special existence as well.

    "I''m pretty sure that Nabi has already passed away," Go Areum said in a cracked voice. Ah, she was crying again. "Is the Nabi in your arms still my baby? Why does the woman who looks like me call my baby as if she''s also her daughter?"

    To be honest, he didn''t know what to do at first.

    But in the end, he decided toe clean instead of asking Lukas to erase Go Areum''s memories. After all, he didn''t want to live a life deceiving her.

    "If I tell you everything you want to know, will you believe me?"

    Go Areum wiped the tears off of her face before she looked at him straight in the eye. "First, I want to know who you are and what happened to the real Kim Won-shik."

    Gavin nodded before he spoke. "Then, please listen to me carefully."

    That night, Gavin properly introduced himself to Go Areum.

    He told her everything from his past life to the present.

    Of course, his story sounded like Lady Roseheart was a bad person. He couldn''t help it, though. After all, he didn''t want Go Areum to think badly of him.

    Go Areum was shocked at first, but thankfully, she didn''t find him strange.

    [I can make Areum-ah fall for me in this lifetime.]

    And after a few years of pursuing Go Areum, Gavin finally won her heart.

    <strong>***</strong>

    HE WAS toote.

    The boy with purple hair and dark purple eyes was toote when he arrived at the ck Ocean. When he arrived there, the giant m and the imoogi called Nathaira tried to attack him. Thankfully, he still managed to get Princess Neoma''s body out of the ck Ocean.

    He also had to save the physical body of Gavin Quinzel.

    Unfortunately, he didn''t have the power to save Lady Roseheart who was trapped in an enormous block of ice that sank deep into the ocean.

    [I''m sorry I failed to save you, Lady Roseheart¡­]

    After leaving the ck Ocean, he went to the Roseheart Mansion with the physical bodies of the young princess and themander.

    "The door has closed," he whispered to himself, then he turned to Princess Neoma. The soul inside that body didn''t belong to the real princess. It belonged to the child that was kicked out of her body from another world. "How did a human''s soul managed to cross over to this world?"

    Was it the doing of the God of Eternal Darkness again?

    [I should have killed that damned god in my previous life.]

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 324 - MESSY AFTER EFFECTS

    [TSK.]

    The boy with the purple hair and dark purple eyes could only click his tongue when the body of Gavin Quinzel disappeared. It turned into ashes but before it did, he didn''t miss the Devil''s aura that covered it.

    Hah.

    The present had definitely changed. None of this happened in his first life. The oue of Helstor''s meddling ruined everything for him.

    Damned gods.

    [I should make it look like Lady Mona Roseheart also disappeared the same way Gavin Quinzel''s physical body did.]

    Thankfully, creating illusion was one of his strongest suits.

    [But I hope my small body could create the strong illusions that I could make back in my previous life.]

    <"My darling, do you need my help?">

    He ignored the yful voice of a girl in his head.

    Although he needed her help, he didn''t want to be too indebted to her.

    <"Don''t ignore me, my dear Yoan.">

    "Don''t call me that."

    <"But it''s your name, darling!">

    "Was," he corrected the girl. "I''ll find a new name for myself soon."

    But of course, by that, he meant he''d ask Neoma to give him a new name.

    "Not you," he said coldly to the baby looking at him with wide, curious eyes. The physical body belonged to the real Princess Neoma de Moonasterio. But the soul inside the infant didn''t belong in that world. "I''ll kick you out of that body once the real Neoma returns."

    <strong>***</strong>

    HE was tired after talking to Emperor Niki to inform him that his Elemental Guardian found a bald baby in the garden of the old Roseheart Mansion.

    It wasn''t like he could bring Neoma to the pce himself.

    [I already stand out too much because of my Elemental Guardian. But what can I do? Even though my body regressed to a child''s, the power that I''ve umted in my previous life remains. I can''t act weak when my Mana is literally oozing out.]

    <"Master, are you alright?">

    He smiled when Veton, his Thunderbird that took the appearance of a small bird,nded on his chest as he was lying down on his bed. "I''m alright," he assured his Elemental Guardian. "All I could do now is wait."

    <"Wait for Her Grace to open the world that leads to the other world?">

    "Yes," he said,menting the fact that he couldn''t follow Neoma right away. "Lord Novak, the Ancient Spirit of the ck Ocean, is missing. Thus, the ck Ocean has been hostile to intruders. I believe only Spirits could enter that dimension now that the owner is gone."

    <"I''m assuming that the door at the Forgotten Graveyard isn''t avable.">

    "The God of Eternal Darkness has hidden it," he said. "Thus, our allies are doing their best to find the remaining doors. As soon as they find the right door that will lead me to where Neoma is, I will follow her right away."

    <"How about your life here?">

    "She''ll take care of it," he said casually. "She''ll put one of her toy''s soul in my body to pretend as me while I''m gone."

    <"Master, do you trust Her Grace that much?>

    "I don''t," he said promptly. "Don''t worry too much, Veton. She won''t betray me¨C she can''t."

    <"Master¡­">

    "What?"

    <"You care a lot about the little princess, don''t you?">

    He smiled, but he didn''t confirm it directly.

    It wasn''t like Veton was wrong. He just didn''t enjoy sharing his feelings with other people. Moreover, if he was going to say sentimental words, he''d rather say it straight to the princess.

    "Setting my personal feelings aside, you know that she''s a special existence."

    <"I know, Master.">

    "This world will literally crumble without her," he said, then he sighed. "But to be honest, I don''t care about that. I''ll sacrifice the entire world for her."

    But it wasn''t her wish.

    And so, he decided to help her achieve her goal. She didn''t remember it, but he did. Thus, he was working hard for the two of them.

    <"Master, you''re so in love.">

    He just smiled and closed his eyes.

    <strong>***</strong>

    <em><strong><THREE YEARSter¡­></strong></em>

    He was back.

    And this time, he was called ''Ruto'' now. It was a name that he received from the princess from the world where he came from.

    Ruto sounded too foreign.

    And so, he turned it into ''Ruston'' to fit this world.

    "It''s time for you to go, fake princess," Ruto said to the now three-year-old Princess Neoma who was sitting on the floor while looking up at him with a clueless look on her face. It hurt his conscience to act cold to a literal child. But it was time for his Neoma to return to this world and fulfill their dream together. "The real Princess Neoma de Moonasterio is on her way."

    And it was after Neoma died from coconut wine poisoning.

    <strong>***</strong>

    "THAT was what happened, my baby."

    Nero fell silent after hearing the long story that his mother told him.

    He already had a feeling that Gavin Quinzel was really a traitor. But he didn''t expect the formermander to be that cunning. Although he didn''t want to admit it, he was impressed by how good Gavin Quinzel was with manipting people.

    [I guess he didn''t be themander of the White Lion Knights by being nice.]

    "Nero, you''re impressed by Gavin, aren''t you?" his mother asked while pouting. When he just smiled as a response, she frowned even more. "But I can''t really me you, my baby. Thinking back, I also have to admit that I''ve been a fool. I believed everything that Gavin said to me." She let out a frustrated sigh. "I should have trusted your father more."

    "No, Mother," Nero said while shaking his head. "It''s not your fault that you weren''t able to trust my father back then. After all, he tried to kill Neoma."

    Well, the emperor tried to kill him and his twin sister when they were still at their mother''s womb. But he really didn''t care about the threats to his own life. He cared more about the threats that his poor Neoma had been receiving, even when she wasn''t born yet.

    "You look like you''re only upset that your father tried to kill Neoma when you almost died, too," his mother said. Ah, so she noticed his inner feelings, huh? As expected of the woman who gave birth to him and his twin sister. "Nero, you should treasure yourself, too."

    "I do, Mother," he assured her. "But I can''t help but worry about Neoma more. I''ve always known that her life is in danger because she was born as a princess in an empire that doesn''t see the value of women. Then, after hearing your story, I''ve learned that even gods want to get a hold of my twin sister for their selfish desires." He tilted his head to one side while looking at his small hands. "I must learn how to kill gods as soon as I recover my health."

    "N-Nero!"

    He looked up at his mother who had a shocked look on her face. "What''s wrong, Mother?"

    "My baby, you just said that you wanted to learn how to kill gods," her mother said in a panicked voice. "That''s sphemy, my son. No matter how powerful you are, you shouldn''t be too arrogant to pick a fight with the gods!"

    He shrugged casually. "I wouldn''t pick a fight with them if they didn''t try to covet my Neoma for their selfishness."

    "Nero¡­"

    "Mother, I''m sorry but it''s not my style to run away," he said firmly. "I will protect Neoma with my power. I know I sound arrogant because I''m nothing but a mere child for now. But that won''t stop me from wanting to protect my sister."

    Her mother looked very concerned. But in the end, determination reced the fear on her face. "You''re right, Nero," she said. "We can''t run away forever. And we must protect our Neoma at all cost¨C even if it means fighting the gods directly."

    He smiled at his mother''s determination, then he remembered something. "Mother, can you keep it a secret from Neoma?"

    "Keep what a secret?"

    "The fact that I''m her younger brother."

    His mother blinked several times as if she was confused. "But why do we have to keep it a secret?" she asked, confused. "Nero, are you worried that Neoma is the First Star and therefore, she has the right to fight with you for the throne? I mean, even though thew dictates that a woman can''t inherit the throne, there are still people who''d want to use your sister to overthrow you or your father in the future¡­"

    "Mother, it''s not like that," he assured her. "Neoma and I will never fight for the throne. We already talked about it before, so please don''t worry about that."

    "That''s a relief," her mother said. "Then why do you want to keep it a secret from Neoma? It''s not a big deal that she''s older than you, since it''s only for a few minutes anyway. After all, the two of you are twins."

    "It''s a big deal to me, Mother," Nero insisted with a pout. To be honest, he didn''t want to say the real reason, but he couldn''t keep quiet while his mother was looking at him with an expectant look on her face. "I don''t want Neoma to stop relying on me if she finds out that she''s my older sister."

    His mother fell silent for a while, then sheughed. "That''s so cute, Nero!"

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 325 - SUNRISE

    [MY DEAREST Hanna,

    How are you? I hope you''re doing well. I miss you soooo much.

    I bet you''ve already heard the crazy things that happened, but I still want to share them with you.

    First, Jasper Oppa has received an award for exposing Count Madgwick''s Death Camp and ve-trading business. As you may already know, Count Madgwick and all his cohorts were sentenced to death. Ah, I heard that they were severely tortured first to make them confess to their crimes. Deserve.

    Because of that, the nobles from the capital have decreased a lot. And so, my big brain came up with a brilliant solution. I told my Papa Boss: "Why not change thew and let outstanding individuals, regardless of their social status, be rewarded with a noble title?"

    Can you guess how the old-fashioned nobles reacted?]

    Hanna had to pause from reading Neoma''s letter because she couldn''t hold back herughter anymore. "It must have been a fun sight."

    "What must have been a fun sight, sweetie?"

    She turned to her father, who had just arrivedst night at their home at Gonora, and smiled at him. "I heard from Neoma that she proposed a new bill. Father, I hope you expressed your support to the neww that she wanted to establish."

    Her fatherughed, then he sat beside her and put his arm around her shoulders. "Of course I did, sweetie," he assured her. "In fact, much to everyone''s surprise, the families that have stayed neutral all these years supported the Crown Prince''s proposed bill."

    She pondered for a moment before she spoke again. "I''m not surprised, Father."

    "You''re not surprised that the Neutral Faction has finally moved after being docile all this time?"

    "Father, I believe that the families under the Neutral Faction remained passive not because they don''t care about anything. It''s actually quite the opposite¨C I think they care about the empire more than anyone else," she said seriously. "But let''s be honest, Father. Before His Imperial Majesty Emperor Niki has ascended the throne, the previous emperors that ruled ournd were all bad people¨C especially Emperor Niki''s father."

    "H-Hanna!" her father eximed, shocked. "Be careful. Those words could be considered treason."

    "I know, Father. I only said it because it''s you, and we''re alone in my room anyway."

    Her mother was in the kitchen while preparing a meal for them.

    It was unheard of for the nobledies of the Great Moonasterion Empire to cook for their families. But here at Gonora, the nobledies were personally in charge of household chores. Moreover, after what happened to her, her mother had be more protective. She couldn''t trust anyone to prepare her meal, and thus, the duchess learned how to cook for her.

    Her father, who had always been a supportive husband, showed his support by learning how to wash the dishes.

    "Hanna, the previous emperor was basically our family since he was the husband of my aunt¡­"

    "That has nothing to do with the previous emperor being a terrible human being, Father," she said while smiling. "Should we pretend that the previous emperor was a decent person just because he was the husband of my grandaunt?"

    Her father fell silent for a while, then he nodded. "You''re correct, my lovely daughter," he agreed with her. "The previous emperor wasn''t only a terrible human being¨C he was also a bad ruler. That''s why His Majesty is amazing for saving the empire and turning it into a prosperousnd in just a few years after he ascended the throne."

    Even if her father didn''t say it, she knew that it was the reason why House Quinzel had supported the then-Crown Prince Niki''s rebellion.

    "But even if His Majesty is a better ruler than his predecessors, I can''t say that he''s a better person than them."

    Her father let out a fake cough. "H-Hanna, His Majesty is your uncle¡­ and he saved your life. Please remember that."

    She justughed softly at her father''s concern. "Father, I''m just saying that I understand why the families under the Neutral Faction have stayed quiet all this time," she said. "For them, the empire ruled by the emperor that they don''t approve of is not worth their time." She let out a deep sigh while shaking her head. "It''s petty though. Moreover, I find it unpleasant that the Neutral Faction is stepping up now as if they''re saying that they''re the ones who can turn the tide in the war among the nobles." She scoffed. "How arrogant."

    "Hanna¡­" Her father called him, then he gulped. "I know that you''re smart, but I didn''t know that you''re already this knowledgeable in politics."

    "I have to be at least this prepared since I intend to be the Crown Princess, Father," she said while smiling. "I''m studying hard in order to support Nero in the future."

    Her father covered his face with his hands. "I don''t know how to react when my baby is already talking about marriage. Hanna, you''re still too young."

    She just patted her father''s back gently, then she changed the topic before her soft-hearted father cried. "I''m worried about Neoma''s influence as the proxy Crown Prince, Father."

    Her father turned to her. "Why are you worried about that, sweetie? Her Royal Highness is doing a good job as the Crown Prince."

    "That''s exactly why I''m worried, Father," she said worriedly. "Neoma''s hard work will all go to Nero someday. What will happen to her once Nero returns? This empire treats the princesses as mere decorations." She clenched her hands tight. "If only I have the power to support her once her identity gets revealed¡­"

    Unfortunately, she was also born a girl.

    She couldn''t even inherit her father''s title.

    "Hanna, His Majesty and I have a n to pass aw that would allow women to inherit their father''s title," her father said in a serious voice. "It''s a part of our preparation to help Princess Neoma ascend the throne in the future if she wants to."

    "How do you and His Majesty n to convince the nobles to approve thatw, Father?"

    "By building an academy formoners¨C especiallymoners with outstanding talents," her father said. "It''s an academy that will be built under your name and Princess Neoma''s."

    Hanna, who was shocked at first, smiled. "Father, that''s a brilliant idea," she said, pleased. "May I give some suggestions?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "PRESS CONFERENCE?"

    "Yes, Papa Boss," Neoma said whilezing around her father''s office. Right now, she was on the sofa while lying on her side and eating a cookie. It tasted good, but not as good as the snacks that Ruto would prepare for her in the past. "Since I''m now officially doing stuff as the Crown Prince, I intend to report my activities to the citizens."

    Her Papa Boss, who was sitting behind his table, put his documents down to give her a strange look. "Why does the Crown Prince need to report to the mass about his activities?"

    "They''re my boss, Papa Boss," she said. "Plus, I feel like I should campaign myself to get their support. The nobles are still opposing our proposed bill, aren''t they?"

    "It''s understandable since most of the nobles came from old families," her father exined. "As you already know, nobles are very prideful. Even the families that support the Royal Family hate the idea of rewardingmoners and peasants with a noble title no matter how talented they are."

    "Uh-huh. They really be gatekeeping the noble titles, huh?" she said while shaking her head. "And that''s exactly the reason the nobles are gaining more power than the Royal Family. Am I right, Papa Boss?"

    Her father raised an eyebrow at her. "I''m surprised that you care about that."

    "Of course, Papa Boss," she admitted. "We can''t let the greedy nobles gobble us up. I''m not really attached to the Royal Family since I believe that monarchy is a scam. But I realized that even if the monarchy crumbles at this moment, then the greedy nobles would just rece us. It''s not like those gluttons are any better than the Royal Family. And so, I want to get rid of them first."

    "Tell me if you need my help."

    "Okay, Papa Boss."

    It was refreshing to have this kind of talk with her father.

    After their heart-to-heart conversation, the two of them decided to not talk about her appa unless her appa showed up again. When that happens, the three of them would sit down and have a calm conversation.

    For now, she and her Papa Boss would focus on the matters of the empire first and¨C

    "Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness!"

    The door to her father''s office burst open, then Geoffrey Kinsley entered the room, followed by Lewis.

    She immediately got up when she noticed that Lewis was frowning.

    [My son looks pissed.]

    "Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness, we just received a letter from Belle''s House," Geoffrey Kinsley reported in an urgent voice. Belle''s House was the academy for the aspiring courtdies. It was also the ce where they sent Regina Crowell and the other youngdies from prominent families to a while ago. "Apparently, Regina Crowell is dead."

    Neoma''s eyes widened in shock. "What kind of bullshit is that bitch up to this time?"

    Her words were vicious because in her heart, she didn''t believe that Regina Crowell was already dead.

    [She can''t die that easily¨C she has to suffer by my hands first!]

    <strong>***</strong>

    "HOW DID this happen?" Nichole said worriedly while looking at the enormous block of ice. "How did Gavin Quinzel end up here?"

    She got worried when Gavin Quinzel didn''t return and so she traced him using the residue of his Mana.

    To say that she was shocked to find a ship inside an enormous block of ice would be an understatement. With the help of Dominic Zavaroni, they cut the block of ice (and a portion of the ship in the process) and only take the part where Gavin Quinzel was. Thankfully, themander was standing on the deck when he and the ship were frozen.

    Then, they brought the block of ice inside a cave that they found in the shore.

    "This ice is made from the Ice Spirit''s Mana," Dominic Zavaroni, who was touching the surface of the block of ice with his bare hands, said. "But as far as I know, Lady Roseheart''s Spirit Guardians went into hiding when their master passed away."

    "Then, the Ice Spirit must have found a new master," she said, then she clicked her tongue. "Can we melt this ice, Dominic?"

    He was about to say something when suddenly¨C

    <"Don''t.">

    She gasped when she heard a strange yet yful voice of a woman echoing in the cave.

    But even though the voice sounded light-hearted, the pressure that she felting from it was enough to bring her to her knees. Then, she realized that her body was currently trembling from fear.

    [What the¡­]

    It wasn''t only her who was affected by the voice.

    Dominic Zavaroni was also kneeling to the ground, and he looked worse than she did. His hands covered his ears, and he had his eyes shut tight. Like her, the former saint was also shaking in fear.

    This was the first time that she saw him acting like this.

    "Dominic," she said worriedly. Then, despite the pressure weighing her down, she moved to hug him tight. "It''s alright, Dominic. I''m here. I''ll protect you."

    "No, don''t do anything," Dominic said, then he wrapped his shaking arms around her waist and buried his face against her neck. She felt his hot breath against her skin as if he was trying to breathe hard. "It''s the voice of a goddess¨C a powerful goddess. She warned us not to touch the ice or else she''ll bring cmity to this continent."

    She gulped when she heard that.

    [It''s a Major God. Only a Major God could bring cmity to the world.]

    Wait, Dominic said ''goddess.''

    To be honest, most gods were androgynous and they didn''t mind being called ''god.'' Only one Major God was particr about being called ''goddess.''

    Nichole gasped when she thought she figured out the goddess''s identity.

    [Is it the Sun Goddess?]

    <strong>***</strong>

    "MY DARLING, let''s sleep together."

    Ruto wanted to ignore the young girl that came into his bedchamber brazenly. But he couldn''t do that after seeing the blood on her white robe. It was obvious that she didn''t change her clothes before meeting him to prick his conscience. "You''ve overdone it."

    It wasn''t like he had the right to say that.

    He had overworked himself, too.

    Fighting Gavin Quinzel while using the Ice Spirit that he had captured put a strain on his body. He wanted to quickly grow up so that his Core would expand as well. Unfortunately, turning back time also meant regressing to his childhood.

    "I had to pay the price for directly getting involved in human affairs," the young girl said, then she sat beside him. "Giving a warning to the former saint wasn''t an easy feat. You should praise me, darling."

    "Good job."

    She pouted, clearly not satisfied with his praise. "Is this how you treat the Sun Priestess?"

    He was about to remind her that having a deal didn''t mean they had to act friendly with each other when suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his chest.

    [Ah, I''ve reached my limit.]

    "You should sleep and regain your strength, Yoan. The temple of the Sun Priestess will keep you safe," the Sun Priestess, who was insistent on calling him by his previous name, said firmly. Then she gently poked a finger in his forehead and smiled brightly at him. "I will also send letters to your precious princess while I''m at it."

    He knew she''d say that.

    To be honest, he didn''t want to enter a deep slumber because he was afraid that the Sun Priestess would y a prank on Neoma once he fell asleep. Unfortunately, he couldn''t help it this time since he really pushed himself to the limit.

    "No, don''t mess with Neoma," Ruto said while fighting the drowsiness that he suddenly felt. But in the end, he still slowly sumbed to darkness. Thankfully, he still had the strength to utter one final warning. "If you mess with my Neoma, I''ll destroy the Upper World again¡­"

    <strong>***</strong>

    <strong>IMPORTANT NOTE:</strong> Hi! I''m sorry about this but if you can help, I set up a tier in my P/atreon page for side stories featuring Neoma''s Harem for emergency funds. It''s $1 for this month, and hopefully, only this month. I''m sorry, and it''s totally okay if you can''t. ^_^

    You can check my page here: [https://.patreon/sc] or type s_c on the search bar.

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

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    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 326 - LIFE GOES ON

    "MOTHER, I want to tell Neoma everything that I''ve learned about your past," Nero said to his mother. "She should know what the gods intend to do to her."

    "I would have told her about it if I could, my baby," his mother said in a sad voice. "But if you tell Neoma about it, the gods that are monitoring your baby sister would know that we''re already aware of their ns. We need something as powerful as Gavin''s Shadow Maniption Technique to cover our movements."

    "Duke Rufus Quinzel can also use the Shadow Maniption Technique."

    His mother shook her head. "Unfortunately, Rufus isn''t as good as Gavin when ites to using the Shadow Maniption Technique. Rufus can''t hide us from the gods because his ability is inferior to his older brother. Moreover, I heard from Gavin before that the true power of the Quinzels has the ability to choose its own master. Just because Rufus inherited the duke title doesn''t mean that he also inherited the true Quinzel power."

    "Mother, are you saying that the formermander still holds the true power of the Quinzels?"

    "Yes, unless a more deserving sessor is born."

    He didn''t know why, but Hanna''s image suddenly entered his mind.

    [A more deserving sessor, huh?]

    In the long dream that he had in the past, he was certain that one of the "Pirs" was a Shadow Maniption Technique user. But in that past, ''Hanna Quinzel'' had died early. Since his memories were blurry, he couldn''t remember if he had uncovered the true identity of the Shadow Maniption Technique user.

    [It must be Hanna, though. Even in my past life, she was the only child of Duke and Duchess Quinzel. Only someone with the Quinzel blood can inherit the Shadow Maniption Technique after all.]

    Although Hanna had a great uncle and a few male rtives from the father''s side, he couldn''t imagine someone else inheriting the true power of the Quinzels.

    [Hanna is special, I can tell.]

    "If Duke Rufus Quinzel didn''t inherit the true power of the Quinzels even after inheriting the duke title, then Hanna could steal it from Gavin Quinzel."

    "''Hanna?''"

    "She''s the only daughter of Duke and Duchess Quinzel, Mother," he exined. "Hanna is also the best candidate to be my Crown Princess."

    His mother looked shocked by his revtion. "Nero! You''re still a baby! Howe your fianc¨¦e is already decided?!" She clenched her hands, and she looked really annoyed. "Did Niki force you to enter a political engagement to strengthen the Royal Family''s power?"

    "It''s not like that, Mother," he said calmly. "Father isn''t forcing me to get married for political reasons. It''s my choice to keep Hanna by my side in that manner. As the Crown Prince, I need to choose my future wife wisely. After all, my future wife would be the future empress if ever Neoma gives up the throne."

    Hanna was the perfect Crown Princess for him.

    After learning that Hanna might also possess the power to keep the gods'' eyes away from his twin sister, there was no way that he would choose someone else to be his spouse.

    So he didn''t know why a certain name suddenly crossed his mind.

    [''Dahlia.'']

    He wanted to click his tongue, but he refrained from doing so because he didn''t want to be rude in front of his mother.

    "Hanna Quinzel, huh?" his mother said as if amused. "She''s the same age as you, so she''s nine years old."

    "Yes, Mother."

    "Nero."

    "Yes, Mother?"

    "I hate to say this, but that child isn''t destined to live long," his mother said in a sad voice. "I''ve seen that child''s future thest time I met Amber Quinzel."

    He wasn''t surprised to hear that.

    Even in the memories that he saw in his dream, ''Hanna Quinzel'' was no longer alive. But the existence of a Pir that could use the Shadow Maniption Technique was clear.

    "''Hanna Quinzel'' might die," he said, not wanting to ignore his mother''s vision. "But I have a feeling that even if that name disappears, she will return as the absolute sessor of the true Quinzel power."

    His mother looked relieved that her cruel words did not dishearten him. "You have that much faith in her, son?"

    "Hanna is one of the first people that Neoma chose," he said while smiling. "I trust everyone that Neoma trusts."

    [Except the boys, of course.]

    Her mother fell silent for a while before she spoke again. "Then, let me tell you a way to test if Hanna Quinzel has really inherited the true power of the Quinzels," she said. "It''s the method that I found out by observing Gavin whenever he would cover our tracks using his shadow in the past."

    Nero smiled and nodded. "That will be helpful, Mother."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "HOW DID you enter the ck Ocean on your own, Nero Roseheart?"

    Nero let out a frustrated sigh when William greeted him as soon as he arrived at the shore.

    His mother sent him back to the shore safely.

    Unfortunately, his mother couldn''t follow him anymore, even in her Spirit form. She had to recuperate the strength that she used when she took the form of a dolphin to follow him. But his mother promised to see him again once she had enough strength to do so.

    [Mother warned me that William might have tracked my traces, and she wasn''t wrong.]

    "Am I obliged to give you an answer?" Nero asked sourly. "Since when did I have to report to you?"

    "Hah!" William said, then he crossed his arms over his chest. "It was Mona, wasn''t it? Even though her physical body is trapped inside the block of ice, I''m pretty sure that she can still move in her Spirit form if she wanted to."

    He just walked past the Grand Spirit.

    "What did Mona tell you?"

    He stopped walking and faced William. "You''re a pretty useless Spirit Guardian, William," he said bluntly. "You let your anger for the de Moonasterios get the better of you. Come to think of it, if you were by my mother''s side the moment she was betrayed by Gavin Quinzel, then she might not have ended trapped in that block of ice. Ah, no." He paused before shaking his head. "You were supposed to be the leader of the Spirit Guardians. Had you paid enough attention to your job, you would have noticed that the Ice Spirit wasn''t loyal to my mother."

    Anger crossed the Grand Spirit''s eyes as expected. "Are you ming me now, Nero?"

    "No," he said with a shrug. "It was my mother and my father''s fault that they both have been fooled by Gavin Quinzel. I''m just saying that you shouldn''t make the same mistakes that you did in the past, William." He approached the Grand Spirit, then he gently punched his stomach. "If you have chosen me as your new master, then you better listen to me carefully. I''m not as soft-hearted as my mother."

    William smirked at him. "You? My new master? Aren''t you being too arrogant?"

    "I don''t think I said anything wrong," he said, then he tilted his head to one side when he remembered that the Grand Spirit could be useful to him at the moment. "William, can you help me show up in Hanna''s dream?"

    "Who''s that?"

    "Hanna Quinzel."

    "Ah, I remember now. That was the girl that I switched the filthy¨C I mean, Neoma de Moonasterio''s physical condition with," the Grand Spirit said. "Why do you need me to connect you to that girl?"

    "Call her ''youngdy,''" he said firmly. "Hanna Quinzel is the future Crown Princess."

    "Huh? You already have a fianc¨¦e? Aren''t you just nine years old?"

    "Royals and nobles could get engaged as early as twelve years old," he said casually. "But my engagement with Hanna Quinzel isn''t official yet."

    William made a disgusted face. "Argh," heined. "Don''t tell me you miss your unofficial fianc¨¦e so much that you want to appear in her dream?"

    "You could say that," Nero said indifferently. He didn''t owe William the truth, and he also didn''t care about the Grand Spirit''s wrong assumption, so he didn''t correct him. "Arrange it tonight," he said, then he turned his back on William. "Keep it a secret from Queen Tara."

    <strong>***</strong>

    APPARENTLY, a fire broke out in the Belle''s House dormitory where the courtdies-in-training lived.

    All the youngdies were saved except for one.

    Regina Crowell''s burnt body had been recovered. The mages that checked the remains confirmed that the body indeed belonged to Regina Crowell.

    "Bullshit," Neoma said after reading the formal report from Geoffrey Kinsley. "I don''t believe this shit."

    "Neither do I," her Papa Boss said, then he sipped his tea calmly. "Does it make sense that Regina Crowell died after I dispatched my Pdins to monitor her and the Draytons?"

    "Of course, it doesn''t," she said, then she fell silent while thinking.

    Right now, only her Papa Boss and Lewis were in her father''s office.

    The Pdins couldn''t be involved in their meeting because the Pdins weren''t aware of her past life. Thus, only the people who knew that she had the memories of her past life were allowed in the office.

    Anyway¡­

    To be honest, she almost forgot the deal that she made with Yule before. But after hearing the news about Regina Crowell, she suddenly remembered the condition that the Moon God asked her.

    [I need to find Lord Yule''s eyes for him.]

    "Papa Boss, do you think the damned crows have Lord Yule''s eyes?"

    Her father looked shocked by her question. "I don''t think so," he said after recovering. "If the crows have Yule''s eyes, then they would have already found you a long time ago." He paused before he tilted his head to one side. "Bute to think of it, Nichole said that she''s been covering your tracks ever since you were born. I don''t know how she did that though."

    "I want to talk to Aunt Nichole again."

    "We can''t do that for now," her Papa Boss said firmly. "All eyes are on you ever since Yule practically dered that you''ll act as Dominic Zavaroni''s recement until the new saint is born. If people find out that you have affinity to the Devil, it won''t be good for us."

    Argh.

    Yes, there was that.

    [First, I have to be Nero''s substitute. And now, I have to act like the former saint''s proxy. Just when can I live as ady of leisure?]

    "Neoma."

    "Hmm?"

    "Don''t worry about the matter regarding Regina Crowell," her father said. "I''ll make sure that we will find her as soon as possible. You can leave it to me."

    Maybe it was better to leave it to her father.

    She couldn''t move as Neoma de Moonasterio anyway. And she had other duties as the Crown Prince.

    "Okay, Papa Boss," she said. "But once you find Regina Crowell¡­"

    Her Papa Boss smirked. "I''ll hand that girl to you."

    She smiled, satisfied by her father''s answer. "Thanks, Papa Boss."

    Her father stared at her as if he was debating with himself.

    "What is it, Papa Boss?"

    "I''m just thinking whether it''s the right time for you to leave the pce to continue your mission," her Papa Boss said. "I don''t think the matter with the Hisa Tree is important right now."

    Hisa Tree.

    She was suddenly reminded of Madam Hammock.

    It was her mission to harvest the Hisa Tree with thete Healing Sage. But it didn''t happen because of what urred at the Death Camp.

    [But life goes on.]

    "It seems to be important, Papa Boss," she said when she remembered how stressed her father was these days. "Didn''t House Wisteria even volunteer to take Madam Hammock''s ce and help with the harvest?" She smirked before she sipped her tea. "I wonder why House Wisteria is very interested in a tree that''s supposedly monopolized by the Royal Family?"

    "Go and find out," her Papa Boss said, smirking back at her. "Lady Sera Wisteria will take Madam Hammock''s vacated ce."

    "Fufufu," Neomaughed evilly. "I will gobble House Wisteria up if I have to."

    Lewis, who was quiet the entire time, couldn''t help but think that Neoma and Emperor Niki were really father-and-daughter because of how simr their evil smirk looked.

    <strong>***</strong>

    "HEY."

    Hanna was surprised when she woke up in a strange.

    She was still on her bed, but it seemed like she was in a garden. Because it couldn''t happen in real life, she realized right away that she must be dreaming.

    Especially since Nero was standing in front of me.

    [But Nero has the Roseheart Blood. And the Rosehearts can use their soul as if it''s their physical body.]

    Hanna smiled at Nero. "Good evening," she greeted him. "What can I do for you, Nero?"

    The Crown Prince wasn''t the type to visit her dream just because he wanted to see her. He was too cold for things like that. Knowing him, he must have appeared in her dream because he needed her as a Quinzel and not as his potential fianc¨¦e.

    "There''s only one thing that I need from you, Hanna," Nero said while smiling. Ah, that smile. It was the smile of a crafty prince. "I want you to inherit the true power of the Quinzels."

    The true power of the Quinzels?

    Was it the power that her father couldn''t inherit because it chose her Uncle Gavin?

    [If Father couldn''t inherit it, then could I do it?]

    But looking at Nero gave her the courage. He didn''t ask her if she ''could'' inherit it. Nero had faith that she could and therefore, he asked her to get the true power of the Quinzels.

    Hanna smiled and bowed to her prince. "I won''t disappoint you, Nero."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "PRINCE NERO!"

    Neoma flinched when she heard Rubin Drayton''s loud voice when she was just on her way to meet the young lord in the garden of her pce.

    Much to her confusion, she saw the brat approaching her with hostility. She also noticed that he was alone. Rubin Drayton must have run and left his knights and servants to get to her as soon as he could.

    Oh, would you look at that?

    Rubin Drayton''s eyes were red and puffy, as if he spent the entire night crying.

    [Ah, he must have already heard about what happened to Regina Crowell.]

    "It''s your fault!" Rubin Drayton cried whileing at her. "If His Royal Highness didn''t send Regina to be a courtdy-in-training, she wouldn''t have died!"

    She didn''t move from her spot, even when Rubin Drayton came close.

    Why would she need to?

    Lewis, in an instant, subdued the angry Rubin Drayton. It happened so fast that the next thing she knew, Rubin Drayton was already on the ground, with his arms on his back. Of course, Lewis was holding Rubin''s arms with one hand, while the other hand was smashing the young lord''s face on the ground.

    [The silent ones are really dangerous, huh?]

    "Did I set the fire that killed Regina Crowell?" Neoma asked coldly, then she squatted down to meet Rubin Drayton''s eye level. The young lord red at her, but she remained indifferent. If she were her old self, it would hurt her to see how much Rubin Drayton cared for Regina Crowell. But right now, she was just simply amused. "Rubin Drayton, in the first ce, are you sure that Regina Crowell is already dead?"

    [Let''s use this dummy this time.]

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 327 - WHEN IT RAINS IT POURS

    <strong></strong>"WHAT DO you mean by that, Prince Nero?"

    Neoma hugged her knees and leaned down a bit to whisper to Rubin Drayton who was still pinned to the ground. "Does it make sense to you that the casualty of a fire that big is only Regina Crowell? Of course, I''m not saying that more people should have died. But I find the incident strange, Rubin Drayton."

    Thankfully, it looked like her words soothed the young lord.

    "I also find it strange, Your Royal Highness," Rubin Drayton said calmly. "The mage that inspected the burnt body and confirmed that it was Regina''s disappeared. Worst, he burned the remains to ashes without permission. When I arrived at the Belle''s House, they only gave me the urn where they put Regina''s ashes."

    Ah, that was a useful piece of information.

    "I tried to track the mage down, but my father wouldn''t let me," the young lord said remorsefully. "I don''t have the money to hire people since my father is monitoring my finances. He doesn''t want me to spend anything on Regina."

    "I''ll help you."

    "Huh?"

    "I said I''ll help you find that mage," she said carefully. "Tell me the details that will help us find him. I know someone who''s good at tracking shady people. Of course, I''ll pay for everything."

    "Wouldn''t it be dangerous for you to be involved with shady people, Your Royal Highness?" the young lord asked. "All eyes are on you because of Lord Yule''s will."

    "Don''t worry about that," she assured him. "I have my ways."

    "Why do you want to help me?"

    "I care about Regina Crowell," she lied, acting like she was sad. Heh. Behold the talent of a former child actress! "As you said, none of this would have happened if I didn''t invite Regina to be a courtdy."

    Lewis frowned at her lie but she ignored her son.

    [Thank goodness Rubin Drayton can''t see Lewis''s face.]

    "Can I trust you, Prince Nero?"

    "Well, it''s up to you," she said. "Can you trust me?"

    "Can you ask your knight to get off of me first?"

    She looked at Lewis and nodded.

    Lewis looked reluctant when he finally released Rubin Drayton''s arms. Then, her son stood up but didn''t bother to help the young lord.

    [Oh, son. Rubin is still a noble. When we''re in public, treat him with respect.]

    She had no choice but to offer her hands to Rubin Drayton after she stood up. Well, to be honest, even nobles couldn''t freely touch a royal''s body. But she figured it would be fine since she wore gloves anyway.

    [And I''m not sure if Rubin would ept my help anyway.]

    Much to her surprise, the young lord grabbed her hands and let her pull him up quietly.

    Even Lewis looked shocked by Rubin Drayton''s unusual behavior.

    On the other hand, she was once again surprised when she realized that Rubin Drayton was already way taller than her.

    [Tsk. He''s just going to get taller from here on.]

    "Prince Nero, thank you so much," Rubin whispered in a relieved voice. And the young lord hadn''t let go of her hands yet. "Thank you."

    She was a little startled when she noticed that Rubin''s voice and hands were both shaking. When she looked at his face, she realized she was on the verge of crying.

    [Ah, pretty people are still pretty even when crying, huh?]

    She should know, since she was pretty even when crying, too.

    "Rubin Drayton, you really care about Regina, huh?"

    "I do," Rubin Drayton said in a cracked voice. "Regina is the only person who cares about me genuinely."

    She held back a sigh.

    [Rubin is really a child. You''re wasting your emotions on the wrong woman, dude. But I guess that''s your karma.]

    Her thoughts were interrupted when Lewis suddenly used a "karate chop" to hit Rubin Drayton''s arms, effectively forcing the young lord to let go of her hands.

    [My son is in a rebellious phase again!]

    Rubin red at Lewis. "You¨C"

    "Crime," Lewis said in azy voice without even looking at Rubin. "Touch. Royal. Body."

    "Ah," Rubin said when he realized his mistake, then he turned to her and bowed. "I apologize for my rudeness, Your Royal Highness."

    "Nah, it was me who offered to help you anyway," Neoma said casually. "Anyway, let''s keep the thing about Regina Crowell a secret from everyone, okay?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "PRINCESS NEOMA, why are you kind to Rubin Drayton?"

    Neoma turned to Lewis andughed.

    Since only the two of them were in her office, it was fine for Lewis to address her by her proper title and name.

    "So, you''re speaking straight sentences again," Neoma, who was sitting behind her desk while reading Teacher Belmont''s report about the schrs of Sword Lily Foundation, said. "Anyway, I''m not being kind to Rubin Drayton. Can''t you tell that I onlyforted him because I want him to help us find Regina Crowell?"

    "Really?"

    She raised her head and looked at Lewis who was standing straight in front of her desk. "Really," she said whileughing. Then, she quickly changed the topic. "What''s my schedule in the afternoon?"

    Since she didn''t have a secretary yet, Lewis was also the one in charge of her schedule.

    [Should I get a secretary to lessen my son''s workload?]

    "You''re scheduled to meet the new head of the Hisa Tree expedition," Lewis said in his usual indifferent voice. "It''s a meeting with Lady Sera Wisteria."

    Wisteria, huh?

    [Is Lady Sera my daughter Juri''s aunt?]

    It was already hard to memorize all the nobles in the empire¨C especially the nobles from the Royal Capital. But she also had to memorize the family trees of those nobles.

    [The burden of being born a royal is pretty hard, huh?]

    "I wonder what kind of person Lady Wisteria is," Neoma wondered loudly. "Since Juri is my daughter, I hope I get along well with her."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "FORGIVE my rudeness but to be honest with Your Royal Highness, I feel the powerful urge to pull your hair at the moment."

    Neoma almost choked on her afternoon tea after hearing what Lady Sera Wisteria just said.

    [She''s the fox type, huh?]

    In Korea, women who fell under the "fox type" category were believed to be cunning.

    Lady Sera Wisteria, who was around her father''s age, was unbelievably beautiful and elegant. Her red dress was fabulous, and so were the jewels and ornaments that adorned her from head to toe.

    The only thing that she didn''t quite like was Lady Sera Wisteria''s strong perfume.

    "Lady Wisteria, did you mean you feel the urge to ruffle my hair affectionately?" Neoma asked while smiling politely. House Wisteria was an old family, so she was being extra careful with her manners. "My hair looks fluffy, doesn''t it?"

    "No, I meant what I said literally, Your Royal Highness," Lady Wisteria said eloquently. She didn''t know that someone could sound so elegant while spouting rude words. "Although you look like the child version of His Majesty, I can still see that you''re Lady Roseheart''s son." She sipped her tea before she spoke again. "I once pulled Lady Roseheart''s hair when I was younger."

    Once again, she almost choked on her tea.

    She discreetly looked around to see if she was the only one who felt ufortable with Lady Sera Wisteria''s straightforwardness.

    At the moment, she was having tea with the older noblewoman in her favorite garden.

    Their servants apanied them.

    And all the maids, knights, and butlers around them looked ufortable as well. Only Lewis had a poker face.

    [I''m relieved to know that I''m not just being sensitive.]

    "I regret that even until now," Lady Sera Wisteria, who didn''t seem to be good at reading the room, continued. "Lady Roseheart did nothing wrong." She raised her head and met her gaze. "I should have pulled thete Commander Quinzel''s hair instead."

    Her eyes widened in shock. [My appa? But why?]

    She was about to ask about the former Commander Gavin Quinzel when she heard someone clear his throat behind her.

    Ah, right.

    It wasn''t only Lewis who served as her guard for today.

    "Lady Wisteria, His Royal Highness Prince Nero has a tight schedule today," Geoffrey Kinsley, the Pdin that her father asked to apany her, said. "Please don''t talk about something that has nothing to do with the agenda."

    "Ah, is that so?" Lady Sera Wisteria said calmly, then she turned to her and bowed. "I apologize, Your Royal Highness."

    "It''s alright, Lady Wisteria," Neoma said politely. "Let''s move on to today''s agenda."

    [I''ll just ask her about my appater.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    "WHAT DID Glenn say?" Niki asked Dion Skelton after hearing the Pdin''s report. It wasn''t like he didn''t hear it properly. He just wanted to make sure that he understood Dion''s report correctly. "He''s noting back?"

    "Vicemander Glenn sent a letter saying that he''d stay in the Hazel Kingdom with Her Royal Highness Princess Brigitte permanently," Dion said in his usual stoic voice. "Apparently, his immigration to Hazelden Kingdom will be handled by the Hazelden Royal Family. Princess Brigitte''s messenger also informed us that they already sent a letter to the vicemander''s family."

    He scoffed upon hearing that. "Glenn has long been diswoned by House Exton," he said. "That''s a sloppy excuse. Did you check if the letter really came from Glenn?"

    "I checked it several times, Your Majesty," the Pdin said. "I''m certain that it was the vicemander''s handwriting and seal. But¡­"

    "But what?"

    "It didn''t sound like him at all."

    He smirked, impressed by Dion''s righteous judgment. "Investigate," he said. "And don''t let Neoma find out about Glenn''s predicament. She has to focus on her uing expedition."

    He was worried about Glenn.

    But he didn''t want Neoma to find out that Glenn must have been stuck in Hazelden Kingdom because he wanted to lessen his daughter''s workload. Although Neoma was acting as the Crown Prince, he still wanted her to act like the child that she was.

    [Neoma isn''t a child inside but for a parent, I guess their children will always be children.]

    He was d that he was able to make it up to Neoma before it was toote.

    [I pray for Nero''s faster recovery.]

    After all, he wanted the three of them to be a real family soon.

    [To make that happen, we have to work hard first for the empire.]

    Dion bowed deeply. "I understand, Your Majesty."

    "You''re dismissed," Niki said, then he focused on the documents in his hands. "I''m leaving Glenn to you, Dion Skelton."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "WHY DOES the young Crown Prince look like a girl? He''s so fucking pretty."

    "Huh? Does it matter? Moreover, isn''t the Crown Prince pretty because he''s the son of His Majesty? Have you seen our emperor''s face, you dumb bastard? I''m telling you, His Majesty is the enemy of men."

    "The Moon God has really blessed them with good looks, huh?"

    "Why do you care so much about the Crown Prince''s appearance when you''re going to kill him anyway?"

    The assassin smirked at his colleague''s remark. "I guess you''re right," he said yfully, then he looked at the Mana stone where the Crown Prince''s ridiculously handsome face was carved. "The Crown Prince is just a lump of meat that I need to butcher soon."

    Silence ensued after a few moments.

    When the assassin turned to look at the people in the pub, he realized that their demeanor had changed. The people he had been talking to earlier were now looking at him as if they had just seen him for the first time.

    "Who are you again?"

    "I don''t think I need to answer that," the assassin said in a light voice, then he stood up and blended into the crowd easily. "You won''t remember me anyway."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 328 - CHEESY PAPA BOSS

    <strong></strong>JASPER Hawthorne gulped when an unexpected visitor arrived at his office at a pub called Sinkhole. It was just a fa?ade though. After all, Sinkhole was an information guild located in Hyperion Street¨C an area between themoners'' district and the slums.

    And right now, he was hiding his real identity under the alias ''Vermilion.''

    He also dyed his hair and pupils ck. Moreover, he wore a voice-changing device around his neck. It was all to conceal the fact that the owner of the information guild was him.

    [I''ve destroyed the shady businesses that my family had been involved with in the past. But I can''t get rid of the Sinkhole. The people that I''ve worked with within the guild are all trustworthy. Moreover, it''s always good to have awork.]

    "Vermilion."

    Jasper smiled at Lewis Crevan who broke the silence.

    Yes, his unexpected client was the Silver Fox.

    Lewis Crevan wore a ck hooded robe over an all-ck outfit to probably hide his identity. But he brazenly removed the hood when he entered the office.

    "Lame alias."

    Jasperughed at the fox boy''s remark. "I knew it," he said. "You removed your hood because you already know my real identity. Did the princess send you here?"

    A soundproof barrier protected his office.

    "Don''t worry," he assured the young fox. "It''s safe to speakfortably here."

    "Three orders."

    "Hmm?"

    "First, find a mage," Lewis said bluntly, then he put a scroll on his table. "Second, investigate the fire that broke out in Belle''s House. Third, look for Regina Crowell."

    [Fourth, do not ask questions.]

    Lewis didn''t say it loudly but that was the warning in his eyes.

    And so, he didn''t ask questions regarding Princess Neoma''s strange orders. He already swore his loyalty to the royal princess, after all.

    "Here," Lewis said as he ced three pouches of gold next to the scroll. "Payment."

    Hmm.

    It seemed like Princess Neoma knew that the guild only epted cash, huh? After all, epting cheques was dangerous since it was traceable. Of course, it might only bemon sense. Still, he had a feeling that it was more than that.

    "Lewis, how did Princess Neoma know that I own an information guild?"

    "The princess is smart."

    He waited but it seemed like Lewis was already done exining.

    [Ah, it seems like Princess Neoma doesn''t intend to let me know how she discovered my information guild. Did she run a background check on me? If Her Royal Highness knows about my secret, does it mean His Majesty also knows that I''m the guild leader here?]

    "I can hear you thinking from here," Lewis Crevan said. "You secret is safe with Princess Neoma and I. And don''t think about it too much. Princess Neoma is a special existence who knows things beyond ourprehension. She is amazing."

    He stifled hisughter and pped slowly. "Lewis Crevan, you only speak coherent sentences when you want to. Even more so when you''re praising Princess Neoma."

    This time, the fox boy ignored him.

    [I wonder how Princess Neoma handles a difficult child like this one.]

    "Mission done," Lewis Crevan said. "I''ll go."

    Heughed softly. "You didn''t even ask if I''m epting the request that the princess entrusted to me."

    The fox boy''s gaze turned colder and sharper. "Are you rejecting it?"

    "What will you do if I say that I don''t want to do it?"

    He knew it was foolish to provoke Lewis Crevan. But it was amusing to pick a fight with him. After all, he considered the fox boy a rival.

    "I will tell everyone that the leader of the Sinkhole information guild is Duke Jasper Hawthorne if you reject Princess Neoma''s request."

    He was stunned because it wasn''t the reaction that he was hoping for. "You''re going to do something as petty as that, Lewis? Where''s your honor as a knight?"

    "What''s wrong with using an enemy''s weakness against them?"

    He opened his mouth to speak, but he couldn''t find a retort. "Ah, you''re right," he said, admitting his loss. "There''s nothing wrong with using that method. I just didn''t expect that from a knight like you."

    "I''m only a knight by name."

    "Hmm?"

    "I don''t have the honor of a knight since I don''t need it," the fox boy said. "I will do anything and everything¨C even immoral things¨C to survive and stay by Princess Neoma''s side."

    Ah, this stoic boy would only show emotions when Princess Neoma was involved.

    "I guess you''re right," he agreed with the fox boy. On a battlefield, survival was more important than honor. "Anyway, I don''t have any intention of rejecting Princess Neoma''s request. I''m just teasing you."

    The fox boy just let out a frustrated sigh.

    "I''m sorry, okay?" he said whileughing, then he changed the topic. "I heard about the expedition. When will you be leaving?"

    "Tomorrow."

    "Ah, yes," Jasper said when he remembered why there was going to be a big event tomorrow. "The parade. Is Princess Neoma going to be alright with it?"

    "Of course," Lewis Crevan said promptly, then he sighed. "Princess Neoma loves attention."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOU''re going to use Jeno Dankworth''s mist to hide your face?"

    "Not exactly to hide my face, Papa Boss," Neoma said while walking with her father in the rose garden of her pce. Only Lewis and Dion Skelton were following them behind so they were free to talk without her having to act as Nero. "I just asked Jeno to create a mist around me during the parade. So if anyone looks at me with keen interest, my image will appear blurry. But I asked Jeno to make it as subtle as possible."

    "That''s strange," her Papa Boss said. "You''re so proud of your pretty face that I''m surprised you''re nning to subtly hide it."

    "I have to go out and show up in the public to boost the Crown Prince''s image," she exined to her father. "But I don''t want anyone to have a clear image of me, Papa Boss. Nero and I, although we are twins, won''t look exactly the same, especially since we''re of different genders."

    "Ah, you''re right," he said while nodding his head. "I''m impressed that you''ve thought that far."

    "I''m using my cheat code, Papa Boss."

    "What do you mean by that?"

    She stopped walking, then she turned to Lewis and Dion Skelton. "Can you please leave us for a moment?"

    Of course, she didn''t need to send Lewis away who already knew her secret.

    But she didn''t want Dion Skelton to be suspicious or anything, so she had to ask her son to leave as well.

    Lewis and Dion Skelton bowed to her and her father before leaving quietly.

    "Why did you send them away?" her father asked worriedly. "Is it rted to your previous life?"

    She nodded before speaking again. "Papa Boss, around this time, Nero was almost killed by a renowned assassin."

    Her father''s eyes widened in shock, then he got down on one knee and put his hands on her shoulders. "An assassin?"

    "Yes, Papa Boss," she said seriously. "I remember because it''s the only assassination attempt that seriously put Nero in a dangerous situation back then. Unfortunately, I can''t remember when exactly it happened. All I know is it happened before Nero''s 10th birthday. Apparently, the assassin''s lucky number is 9, so he tried to kill my brother before he turned 10."

    The assassin was bizarre, but for some reason, she couldn''t remember anything else about him except for his gender.

    "Why didn''t you tell me something as important as that sooner, Neoma?"

    "I honestly forgot, Papa Boss," she said. "I just remembered it again when I sent Lewis to a secret mission yesterday."

    She remembered the assassin when she sent Lewis to Jasper Oppa''s information guild because that assassin was also a guild member.

    "I don''t dwell in the past because it has already changed the moment I regressed," she exined to her father. "I''m not sure if the person who targeted Nero back in my first life would make a move this time. But it doesn''t hurt to be careful."

    "Did Nero get hurt a lot back then?"

    She nodded sadly. "His personality got worse after that assassination attempt."

    Her father let out a deep sigh. "I shouldn''t have approved the expedition¡­"

    "It''s alright, Papa Boss," she said, consoling her father. "Nero was hurt that time because he snuck out of the pce alone. But I won''t be alone during the expedition. I have Lewis, Jeanne Audley, and Dion Skelton."

    "I should add more guards with you," her Papa Boss said. "Should I summon the twins back?"

    Come to think of it, she hadn''t seen the Fletcher Twins for a long time now.

    [I heard Papa Boss sent the twins on a mission regarding Nero''s request.]

    "Papa Boss, I swear I''ll be fine," she said. "Those people are working under Nero''s order. Don''t disturb them since I don''t need more guards." She pointed to her heart. "I also have Tteokbokki with me and my cute Spirits."

    Her father just frowned as if he wasn''t convinced.

    "Come on, Papa Boss," she said whileughing. "Don''t worry too much."

    "That''s impossible," her father said bluntly. "That''s what it means to be a father."

    [Pfft.]

    Although she was touched by her Papa Boss''s concern, she still couldn''t help but get goosebumps. Being cheesy didn''t suit her father at all!

    When her Papa Boss realized she was holding back herughter, his face turned red as if he was embarrassed. "Little rogue, don''t make fun of me. I''m trying."

    "I know, Papa Boss. I know," Neoma said whileughing, then she wrapped her arms around her father''s neck. Then, he gently patted his back. "I''lle back safely, Papa Boss."

    [This is awkward but this isn''t a bad feeling.]

    Her Papa Boss awkwardly hugged her back at first. But soon, he rxed and naturally patted her on her back as well. "Don''t make me worry too much, little rogue."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 329 - PERHAPS, MY KARMA

    "SIR DION, please have this," Neoma said with a big smile while handing a chocte candy to the Pdin. She addressed him formally instead of calling him by his first name because she had to ask a favor from him. "I made this chocte for you and the others."

    The night before, she made chocte truffles.

    It was the easiest kind of chocte to make. Of course, she could have just asked her new royal chef to do it for her. But she wanted to show her sincerity to her people. Thus, she made handmade choctes for them.

    "Thank you, Your Royal Highness," Dion Skelton said in his usually stoic face and voice. "I will treasure this¨C"

    "Please have one."

    "Right now?"

    "Yes."

    "Here?"

    "Yes," she said, then she smiled brightly at him. "The others aren''t here yet anyway."

    At the moment, she was in her favorite pavilion by the pond with Lewis and Dion Skelton. It was dawn, so the surroundings were cold and quiet. And even though most people were still asleep, the three of them were already ready to leave.

    But she purposely brought Dion Skelton there under the guise of taking an early walk.

    "Come on, Sir Dion," she said, then she acted sadly. "I promise it''s edible."

    "I''m not worried about that¡­" Dion Skelton trailed off, then he shook his head. After that, he opened the box and took one chocte truffle. Without further ado, he put it in his mouth and ate it quietly. His usually stoic face lit up a bit. "It''s delicious, Your Royal Highness."

    "Thank you, Sir Dion!" she said cheerfully. "And now that you took my present, you can''t refuse my request."

    The usually indifferent Pdin looked shocked and betrayed by her words.

    Of course, her conscience pricked her heart. But she had to do it because of her curiosity. She figured asking her Papa Boss about ''that'' matter would be sensitive, so she chose Dion Skelton to ask instead, even though the Pdin looked tight-lipped.

    [Well, that''s exactly why I resorted to bribing.]

    "Sir Dion, don''t worry too much," she assured him. "I just have one question."

    Dion let out a deep sigh. "I understand, Your Royal Highness," he said weakly. "But please address me casually. I can''t have Your Royal Highness speak formally to me."

    "Alright, Dion," she said. "Anyway, my question is simple. I just want to know how Lady Sera Wisteria is rted to the former Commander Gavin Quinzel."

    The Pdin looked surprised by her question.

    Yep, her curiosity was about her appa''s rtionship with Lady Sera Wisteria.

    Although her Papa Boss told her he wouldn''t be agitated by the mention of her appa''s name again, she still didn''t want to be insensitive.

    "I guess I can answer that since it isn''t a secret anyway," Dion said carefully. "Your Royal Highness, Lady Sera Wisteria almost got engaged with the formermander in the past."

    She gasped when she heard that.

    [I have a feeling that it might be the case but I can''t believe that I''m right!]

    "May I know why they didn''t get engaged?"

    "I''m sorry, but I cannot answer that," the Pdin said indifferently. "Moreover, Your Royal Highness said that he''d only ask one question."

    She clicked her tongue when she realized her mistake.

    [I shouldn''t have said that I will only ask one question!]

    She turned to Lewis for help, since she heard that the one who trained her son to be a White Lion Knight was Dion Skelton.

    [My precious son, please help me convince your master to spill the beans!]

    Much to her surprise, Lewis avoided her gaze.

    She gasped at the shock of being betrayed by her son!

    [Is he scared of Dion?]

    "Your Royal Highness, it''s time to head back to the pce," Dion said formally. "Shall we go?"

    Neoma pouted before she nodded. "Okay."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA smiled and waved at the people cheering and calling her name while the window of her royal carriage was open.

    She was supposed to ride on a horse during the parade. But after she informed her Papa Boss about the assassin that tried to kill Nero in her past life, her father changed the arrangement. This time, she quietly obeyed her Papa Boss when he asked her to greet the citizens inside the carriage instead of risking her life while riding on a horse.

    [I have to be careful since I don''t want to die yet.]

    Thus, she couldn''t fully enjoy the festive mood outside.

    "Prince Nero, you''re so pretty!"

    "We support our precious Crown Prince!"

    "Thank you for being Lord Yule''s Messenger, our dear Prince Nero!"

    [Ah, now I''ve be a "Messenger" of Lord Yule.]

    It was because of the damned prophecy that the Moon God left.

    [ording to that prophecy, I''m supposed to find the new saint in a few years. Papa Boss told me not to worry about it for now. But it bothers me that a lot of people are putting their faith in me¡­]

    Her thoughts were interrupted when Lewis, who was on a horse, appeared in her field of vision.

    Then, much to her shock, her son closed the window abruptly.

    "Your knight seems to have a bad temper, Your Royal Highness."

    Neoma tunred to Lady Sera Wisteria who was sitting on the couch across from her. Only the two of them were in the carriage. "Lewis''s temper isn''t the best, but he''s not a bad kid," she said with a smile. "He probably closed the window because he was worried about my safety. His manners are a littlecking but it''s because I didn''t teach him properly."

    "You don''t have to be defensive, Prince Nero," Lady Sera Wisteria said. "I didn''t say that your knight''s behavior offended me."

    She just smiled awkwardly.

    [I can''t seem to get along well with Lady Wisteria. She''s a little difficult to handle. Is this how the people I picked a fight with felt when they dealt with me?]

    For some reason, she felt like Lady Sera Wisteria was her karma or something.

    "Your Royal Highness, you may not know this but the White Lion Knights aren''t always known for their chivalry," Lady Sera Wisteria said while smiling quite bitterly. "Their formermander was known for his excellent reputation. He would always smile and act politely in front of the public. But once no one is looking¡­" she trailed off, then he let out a hollowugh. "That man was cunning and deceitful."

    She clenched her hands, unhappy that she was hearing bad things about her appa from a woman that she found difficult to deal with.

    [Is Lady Wisteria bitter because her engagement with my appa didn''t push through?]

    She was so upset but she made sure that it wouldn''t show on her face.

    "Lady Wisteria, it seems like you have an interesting history not only with my mother¨C but also with the formermander as well," she said light-heartedly. "As you know, it''s forbidden in the Royal Pce to talk about them, so I know little about my mother. No one is also willing to share stories with me. But you seem different."

    "It''s because I''m not afraid of His Majesty," the older noblewoman said. "But would you really like to hear a story about Lady Roseheart and the formermander? I''m sure that you''ve already heard the rumors about the two''s alleged indecent rtionship."

    "I''ve heard about them," she said carefully. "But aren''t they groundless rumors only?"

    "Those rumors aren''t groundless."

    Her heart thumped against her chest quite hard and loud. For some reason, she suddenly felt nervous. "You sound confident, Lady Wisteria."

    "It''s because I''m the source of those rumors," Lady Sera Wisteria said confidently. "The rumors may have been blown out of proportions. But the source has always been true."

    "Please borate."

    "During mying-of-age ceremony, I fancied a rare piece of jewel that arrived at the Royal Capital. It was a hair ornament," the older noblewoman exined. "But the formermander beat me to purchasing it. He even told the shop owner that it was his birthday present for the woman that he nned to confess his feelings to. I was foolish back then, and I thought I would be the one to receive the gift and the confession from themander."

    She gulped because she could already see where the story was going¡­

    "I told you I pulled your mother''s hair once, didn''t I?" the older noblewoman asked before she continued with her story. "I did that because I saw Lady Roseheart using the hair ornament."

    She gasped softly. "Then, the formermander confessed to my mother?"

    "He denied it," Lady Sera Wisteria said bitterly. "Themander denied saying that he told the shop owner that it was a present for the woman that he was in love with. That bastard made a fool out of me."

    "But why would the formermander do that?"

    "Isn''t the answer obvious, Your Royal Highness?" the older noblewoman asked whileughing hollowly.

    Her brows furrowed in confusion. "I don''t understand¡­"

    "The former Commander Gavin Quinzel wanted to destroy your mother''s rtionship with your father, Your Royal Highness," Lady Sera Wisteria said coldly. "And he used me as a tool to achieve that wicked goal."

    Neoma couldn''t believe what she just heard.

    That must be a misunderstanding. Moreover, why would she believe a person she just met over her appa?

    [My appa isn''t that kind of person!]

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

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 Chapter 330 - IS THIS A JOKE

    NEOMA took a deep breath and calmed herself before she spoke to Lady Sera Wisteria again. "Why?" she asked calmly. "Why are you saying this to me, Lady Wisteria?"

    Lady Sera Wisteria raised an eyebrow at her question. "Why, indeed," she said. "Perhaps, this olddy is wondering if you''re interested in knowing your parents'' history."

    "You''re not old, mydy," she said politely. "And if I want to know my parents'' history, then I will simply ask my father."

    The older noblewomanughed loudly. "That''s true, Your Royal Highness," she said while nodding. "But what if His Majesty doesn''t really know the truth about the past? To me, it seems like His Majesty and thete Lady Roseheart have been fooled and manipted by the former Commander Quinzel."

    She wanted to sigh, but she refrained from doing so to remain polite.

    [I can see that Lady Wisteria holds a grudge against my appa. But I don''t see the point of talking about it straight to my face.]

    "It seems like I have offended Your Royal Highness."

    "No, I''m not offended," she denied calmly while shaking her head. "I do feel bad for Lady Wisteria, though."

    Lady Wisteria visibly flinched. "And why does Your Royal Highness feel that way?"

    "It seems to me that you haven''t let go of the past yet, mydy," she said, acting like she pitied the noblewoman. "I can feel the bitterness in your heart. Did Commander Quinzel break your heart that badly?"

    "Your Royal Highness¨C"

    "Saying that the formermander has fooled and manipted my father and my mother is an insult to my family," she said bluntly, cutting her off. "Mydy said earlier that you''re not afraid of His Majesty. Is it because you''re confident that my father won''t touch someone from House Wisteria?"

    The noblewoman''s lips formed a thin line.

    "But I''m different from my father," she said, smiling sweetly this time. "Lady Wisteria, let''s be careful with our words."

    Lady Sera Wisteria bit her lower lip, then she nodded. "I apologize, Your Royal Highness."

    "I ept your apology, but please use a different carriage on our next stopover," Neoma said, then she smiled brightly. "You made me ufortable, after all."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOUR ROYAL Highness, did something happen between you and Lady Wisteria?"

    "Yes," Neoma smiled brightly at Jeanne Audley''s question. "Lady Wisteria pissed me off."

    Jeanne Audley and Dion Skelton, who were sitting side-by-side on the couch across from her, suddenly turned serious.

    [They will probably report this incident to Papa Boss.]

    Since only the three of them were in the carriage, she talked.

    "Lady Wisteria insulted my mother and my father by saying that they''ve been fooled and manipted by the former Commander Quinzel," she said. "She also bragged that she''s not afraid of my father. Thus, she ran off her mouth until my ears almost fell off from listening to her bullshit. That''s why I kicked her out my of carriage."

    She didn''t enjoy being a snitch.

    But she didn''t have time to deal with Lady Sera Wisteria''s grudge against her parents and her appa. And it looked like the issue was something that only her Papa Boss could handle anyway.

    [But I''m really curious as to why Lady Wisteria is that bitter towards my appa. It has been years already since the formermander was dered dead. So why is she still mad at my appa?]

    She knew that her appa wasn''t a saint, and no one could live a life without hurting other people whether it was intentional or not.

    [Still, I refuse to believe that my appa is the cunning and the maniptive type.]

    She spent years with her appa, and she just met Lady Wisteria now. Of course, she wouldn''t believe a stranger over her kind appa.

    [But what is this doubt in my heart...]

    "I shouldn''t have left you alone with Lady Wisteria," Jeanne Audley said remorsefully. Then she bowed to her. "I apologize for being inadequate, Your Royal Highness."

    Dion Skelton also bowed in silence.

    "It''s alright. Lady Wisteria is still a noble, so we have to treat her kindly," she said, then she looked at the view outside the window. It seemed like they had already entered the premise of the vi where she and her envoy would stay at. "Anyway, where are my children?"

    Jeanne Audley and Dion Skelton informed her earlier that Lewis, Juri Wisteria, Jeno Dankworth, and her baby Greko checked the vi first.

    [Something smells fishy, though.]

    Since when did her children get along well?

    [And Lewis left my side to join his siblings?]

    Although she was delighted because Lewis was now expanding his circle, she couldn''t help but feel suspicious.

    [Is this what they call maternal instinct?]

    "The children mentioned something about checking the vi employees'' faces," Dion Skelton said bluntly. "Apparently, they can''t let good-looking people work for Your Royal Highness."

    Her head whipped in Dion''s direction fast after hearing such bullshit. "Why would they do something so unnecessary?"

    Jeanne giggled before she answered. "Your Royal Highness, ording to Lewis, you lower your guard when you''re surrounded by good-looking people. Thus, the children thought they should select "average-looking" employees to serve you while we stay at the vi."

    Huh?

    Neoma held her nape when she felt her blood pressure rise. "How dare those kids to betray their mother?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "PRINCESS Neoma has three types."

    Juri Wisteria turned to Lewis, who rarely spoke coherently.

    [Scratch that, this is the first time he spoke to us first.]

    To be honest, when she invited Lewis to join them in the carriage, he didn''t expect him to agree and leave Princess Neoma to the Pdins. And so, right now, all the young princess''s "children" were in the carriage headed to the vi.

    Juri and Jeno sat side-by-side, while Lewis and Greko were next to each other on the couch across from them.

    "Since you''ve been with the princess longer, please tell us what you know," Juri said. It was safe to mention Princess Neoma''s real identity because of the spirit stones in the carriage that worked like a soundproof barrier. "What is Princess Neoma''s style?"

    Lewis jabbed his thumb in Greko''s direction. "Cute."

    Greko gasped softly, then he put his hands on his chubby cheeks. "I''m cute?"

    Lewis just nodded, then he pointed to Jeno. "Handsome."

    Jeno, who looked sleepy at first, suddenly sat straight as if hearing that he was handsome, woke him uppletely.

    Lewis then pointed to her. "Pretty."

    She couldn''t help but smile when a funny thought crossed her mind. "Did Princess Neoma choose us to be her knights because of our looks?"

    "I can''t say that it''s not one reason that Princess Neoma chose us," Lewis said, answering her yful question seriously. "But you know that Princess Neoma is quite¡­ sassy."

    She just smiled politely.

    [''Sassy'' is putting it nicely since Princess Neoma is he rude.]

    But it was a part of the young princess''s charm.

    "Princess Neoma doesn''t treat people she doesn''t genuinely like as her "children," so it''s safe to assume that she didn''t choose us just because of her looks," Lewis continued with his exnation. "But Princess Neoma remains weak to good-looking people. We can''t let the enemies realize that."

    "It''s a good thing that you mentioned that in advance," Juri said, then she pulled out an envelope from her sling bag. "I have the list of employees currently serving at the vi."

    Jeno looked at her suspiciously. "Where did you get that list?"

    "Jeno Dankworth, the vi we''ll be staying at belongs to the Wisteria family," she reminded the young lord. "I''m the granddaughter of the current head of House Wisteria, and Lady Sera Wisteria is my aunt. I asked my aunt to give me the list of the employees at the vi. And since I''m one of Princess Neoma''s personal guards, she entrusted it to me."

    "Right," Jeno said, uninterested.

    She grabbed the young lord''s cor with wide eyes. "Don''t ask if you''re not interested in what I say!"

    Jeno just avoided her gaze.

    "N-Noona, H-hyung, please don''t fight," Greko begged them. ''Hyung'' was a term used by young males to address older brothers or males older than them, while ''noona'' was a term used by young males to address older sisters or females older than them. Those were the terms that Princess Neoma taught them a while ago. "L-Let''s get along well, please?"

    She immediately let go of Jeno''s cor and faced Greko with a smile. "Maknae, your hyung and noona aren''t fighting."

    ording to Princess Neoma, ''maknae'' meant ''youngest.''

    Since Greko was the youngest among their group, she told them that they could call Greko ''maknae,'' and Greko gave them the permission to do so.

    "I''m sorry if we startle you," she said, then she elbowed Jeno at his side. "Right?"

    "Yes, we''re not fighting," Jeno said in a sleepy voice while rubbing his eyes with his hand. "Sorry for showing something shameless to you, maknae."

    Greko smiled, obviously relieved. "I''m d to know that, hyung and noona."

    Juri just smiled back, then she pulled out the documents inside the envelope. "Now, let''s choose the employees worth serving our Princess Neoma."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA immediately understood why the vi was called the ''Golden Field Vi.''

    In the middle of a golden-colored field stood a modest vi. Compared to the grand vis found in the Royal Capital, the one in front of her looked simple but cozy. And yes, the mansion could still house at least thirty guests minus the employees.

    [When I said ''modest,'' it''s based on my standards as a princess who lives in an enormous pce.]

    "I like this vi," Neoma said after admiring the vi. "I heard that the Wisteria gave this vi to the Royal Family as a present."

    Calling the vi a present was putting it nicely.

    Based on her studies, the Wisterias gifted the Royal Family the Golden Field Vi as a bribe. It was a known fact that the Royal Family monopolized the Hisa Tree. But the Wisterias and the Hammocks got their hands on the tree.

    [I don''t know what the Hammocks presented to the Royal Family as a bribe though.]

    Sending a member of the royal family to harvest Hisa Tree was only a formality. After all, the Hammocks and the Wisterias were the ones truly in charge of the harvest.

    [But since Madam Hammock is gone now, the Wisterias have taken over.]

    "I am d that you like the vi, Your Royal Highness," Lady Sera Wisteria, who was standing behind her, said. "The inside of the vi is just as beautiful outside."

    She didn''t waste any moment and walked towards the entrance.

    "We wee Your Imperial Highness, the Crown Prince Nero to the Golden Field Vi," the servants of the vi greeted her with their heads bowed deeply.

    As expected of people working for the Royal Family, even the servants looked fine.

    [And since they work for the Royal Family, most of them¨C if not all¨C are definitely nobles.]

    But her eyes focused on the shocking visuals of the four people behind the servants.

    Neoma smirked at her children, who looked somewhat proud, as if they had aplished something great. [Did those brats seriously hide all the god-tier beauties here?]

    <strong>***</strong>

    AFTER they formally introduced Neoma to Count and Countress Campbell¨C the caretakers of the Golden Field Vi¨C she headed to her room to rest for a while.

    Later, she would hold her first formal meeting with Lady Sera Wisteria and the mages that would harvest everything that they could harvest from the Hisa Tree. She saw the team earlier, and the mages looked like they were in their mid tote twenties.

    [Come to think of it, isn''t Lady Wisteria in her early thirties now? She''s still a Wisteria, so that means she isn''t married yet. But once her older brother inherits her father''s title, she cannot stay as ''Lady Wisteria'' anymore. After all, she can no longer be referred to as the daughter of House Wisteria if her brother bes the next duke.]

    Once that happened, Lady Wisteria wouldn''t be ady anymore and would be addressed as ''Miss Sera.''

    How cruel.

    [Is that the reason why Lady Wisteria is so bitter? I should be more patient with her.]

    "Eomma?"

    Hearing Greko''s small voice addressing her as eomma/mother interrupted her thoughts. She initially told Greko to call her noona/older sister. Butter, she realized that her youngest "son" should address her as mother.

    It was fine for Greko to speak thatfortably because a soundproof barrier protected her room.

    Neoma smiled at Greko, who was sitting beside her on the couch. "What were you saying again, maknae?"

    "Eomma''s cup is empty," Greko said shyly. "Can I refill it for you?"

    Greko wasn''t her servant so he didn''t have to do that.

    But she couldn''t say ''no'' to his adorable face.

    "Alright, you can do that," she said. "Our Greko is really sweet, huh?"

    Greko giggled, then he stood up and began refilling her cup with tea.

    Her son''s diligence impressed her.

    [It looks like Alphen is taking good care of Greko, huh?]

    Sadly, Greko was a ve and therefore, he didn''t have the right to enroll into an academy. It was a stupidw that she was determined to change soon.

    [Thankfully, Papa Boss ordered Count Kyle Sprouse to change Greko''s status into amoner. And just like what Papa Boss did to help Lewis before, we n to make Greko a knight for him to receive a title. In the empire, being a knight is the only way for amoner to be a noble.]

    But of course, a division between knights born as nobles and knights born asmoners still existed.

    [We have to close that gap.]

    "Eomma, here''s your tea," Greko said politely after refilling her cup. "Did I do well?"

    She smiled and nodded as she received her refilled cup. "You did well, baby," she said, then she ruffled his hair. "Where are your hyungs and noona?"

    Jeanne Audley and Dion Skelton were patrolling the area.

    Jeno Dankworth told her earlier that he would survey the area from above.

    But she didn''t know where Lewis and Juri had gone to.

    "Lewis Hyung and Juri Noona said that they are going to interview the employees who want to be eomma''s butler," Greko exined. "I think they will be here soon."

    She just smiled at her youngest "son."

    [Ah, so that''s what you''re up to, huh?]

    A Crown Prince wasn''t allowed to have a close female servant except for the head maid of his pce and female knights until he reached hising-of-age ceremony. And thus, the Golden Field Vi provided a butler for her.

    [Lewis and Juri probably chose the most average-looking butler to serve me.]

    As if on cue, she heard a knock on the door.

    As she expected, Lewis and Juri entered the room with her butler.

    "Your Royal Highness, we brought the butler that will serve you while we stay at the vi," Juri said cheerfully. "We''d like to introduce Mr. Xion to you."

    Lewis didn''t say anything, but he looked pleased.

    Thus, she didn''t understand why Juri and Lewis looked happy after they brought a man with a monster attached behind him.

    [Can they not see that weird ck thing behind "Mr. Xion?"]

    Xion was a tall man with ck hair and ck eyes. He looked like he was in his early twenties, and he carried himself like a nobleman despite not having a title. The butler also looked neat,petent, and polite.

    Most of all, Xion looked so damned handsome.

    [I expected my children to choose an average-looking butler. The fact that they look proud can only mean one thing.]

    Lewis and Juri couldn''t see the actual face of Mr. Xion.

    [Interesting.]

    "This humble servant greets the Lesser Moon of the Great Moonasterion Empire," Xion politely greeted her in a husky voice, then he bowed to her. She used to be addressed as ''First Star'' because he was acting as the royal prince. But after she had officially begun her duties as the Crown Prince, people addressed her as the "Lesser Moon" which was a title reserved for the emperor''s official heir to the throne. "My name is Xion and I''m honored to serve His Imperial Highness, Crown Prince Nero."

    When Xion bowed, the dark material behind him took the form of a man.

    And then, "it" opened its eyes.

    ["Red eyes,"] Tteokbokki snarled in her mind. ["It''s weak¨C but that thing is definitely a god!"]

    Neoma smiled brightly at Xion. "Hello, Mr. Xion."

    <strong>***</strong>

    <strong>IMPORTANT NOTE:</strong> Hi! I''m sorry about this but if you can help, I set up a tier in my P/atreon page for side stories featuring Neoma''s Harem for emergency funds. It''s $1 for this month, and hopefully, only this month. I''m sorry, and it''s totally okay if you can''t. ^_^

    You can check my page here: [https://.patreon./sc] or type s_c on the search bar.

 Chapter 331 - THE HISA TREE IS...

    <strong></strong>"WELCOME back, Mr. Sleeping Beauty."

    Nero frowned when Trevor''s face greeted him as soon as he opened his eyes. "Knock it off, demon."

    "The name''s Trevor," Trevor, who was on the bed with him while lying on his side, said. Thankfully, Nero''s physical body was ced between them. "You don''t have to sleep in your Spirit form, so I wonder why you''re always asleep these days."

    He got up and stretched his arms. It wasn''t like he was tired. Maybe it was just out of habit. "It''s none of your business."

    The only reason Tara allowed Trevor to step foot in the Spirit World was for his sake. But since the queen didn''t trust the demonpletely, she ordered Trevor to treat his physical body in the queen''s annex''s pce.

    Then Tara assigned William to guard the annex. Only the three of them were allowed in there. And sometimes, the queen would visit to check if Trevor was really healing him properly.

    "I can feel William''s Mana in you," Trevor continued in a yful voice. "Did he send you to someone''s dream or something?"

    He ignored Trevor but deep inside, it quite impressed him how sharp the demon was.

    [I guess he isn''t the Devil''s Grimoire for nothing.]

    "Ah, I see," the demon said while nodding his head even though Nero said nothing. "You''ve been visiting Hanna Quinzel in her dreams."

    He looked at Trevor to re at him. "You¨C"

    "Don''t worry, I''ll keep it a secret," Trevor cut him off rudely. "You also don''t need to worry about the eyes of gods. My demonic presence blinds them."

    It surprised him to hear that. [He can do that as well?]

    "Why do you look surprised?" the demon asked whileughing. "You already know that Darkness attribute users can block the eyes of gods. Have you forgotten that demons are children of Darkness?"

    He blinked, still surprised to learn that piece of information. "Is that so?"

    "How do you think Princess Nichole has sessfully hidden Princess Neoma from the crows all this time?"

    "Princess Nichole has been hiding Neoma''s tracks all this time?"

    "I don''t know how it happened, but Princess Neoma, ever since she was born, has been blessed with an affinity for the demons," Trevor exined seriously. "But since your twin sister is also blessed with overflowing Moonglow, her demonic power has been hidden all this time. His Majesty only noticed it when Princess Neoma opened a Hellgate. But it seems like your father decided to conceal that fact for now."

    His father''s decision was understandable.

    [The empire is afraid of the Demom n. If they find out that the "Crown Prince" has an affinity to the demons, Neoma''s life and position will be at risk.]

    "But why did you think that the demonic power in Neoma came from Princess Nichole''s protection?"

    "She said so herself," the demon said. "I just don''t know the specifics."

    "What kind of Devil''s Grimoire are you?"

    "The handsome and charismatic type?"

    He made a disgusted face as a response.

    Trevor got up andughed while clutching his stomach. "You and Princess Neoma are really twins!" he eximed happily. "That''s the face that she''d often make when I disgust her."

    "Enough," he said to the demon. "If you''re done treating my body for today, leave."

    The demon clicked his tongue. "You''re not thinking like a proper Crown Prince, Prince Nero. I just told you that my presence could blind the gods. Aren''t you going to take advantage of that?"

    Ah, that made sense.

    "I can''t stay on the surface for too long since I need to heal you," Trevor said. Although his annoying smirk was still on his face, his eyes looked quite serious. "But I can visit Princess Neoma and deliver her a message from her precious twin brother."

    That was a tempting offer.

    It wasn''t like he knew any other Darkness attribute user. Moreover, he couldn''t simply trust anyone, especially if it concerned Neoma''s safety.

    [I hate to admit this, but I know Trevor is trustworthy.]

    But he couldn''t tell Neoma the whole truth yet.

    [Mother said that Neoma grew up with Gavin Quinzel in another world. Thus, my twin sister sees the formermander as her father. I have to tell Neoma the truth in person.]

    "Trevor, can you cover our traces if I visit Neoma in her dreams?" he asked. "William isn''t a Darkness attribute user, but since the dream that he creates is his domain, he''s able to sessfully block the eyes of gods. Can you do the same?"

    "Unfortunately, I can''t do that," Trevor said while shaking his head. "I create nightmares, not dreams. If you want to see Princess Neoma in her dream, why don''t you ask William to do it for you?"

    He let out a frustrated sigh. "William and Neoma¡­ don''t get along well."

    The demonughed. "Then, record a message for Princess Neoma. I''ll deliver it to her and cover her with my Darkness attribute so the gods won''t see or hear your message."

    "Then, why don''t we just talk using amunication device?" he asked, confused. "I''ll ask William to cover my tracks, then you''ll cover Neoma''s tracks."

    "That''s too risky," the demon said. "It will be too suspicious if you and Princess Neoma disappear at the same time deliberately. We need to be careful, especially now that a Hellgate has been opened. Princess Neoma wrapped it up cleanly, but I''m pretty sure that not everyone is convinced that your twin sister is innocent." The demon clicked his tongue. "Princess Neoma doesn''t exactly act like an angel, you know?"

    "I know that very well," he said bluntly. "But that''s just a part of her charm."

    The demonughed. "Alright. When should I deliver your message?"

    "I will record itter," Nero said, then he gave the demon a suspicious look. "You''re only helping me because you need a reason to see my sister, aren''t you?"

    Trevor smiled brightly. "Why are you asking the obvious, Prince Nero?"

    [What a prick.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    "THERE are two types of Hisa Tree."

    Neoma listened carefully to Lady Sera Wisteria''s words as they explored the vast Golden Field. Only Hisa Trees grew in that field, and the Hisa Trees had golden-colored leaves. The trees were pretty to look at, and they smelled fragrant.

    "The first type is the one Your Royal Highness sees right now," Lady Sera Wisteria, who was walking behind her, said. "Those are artificial Hisa Trees our mages grew by nting the branches of the Mother Hisa Tree. As Your Royal Highness already knows, the original Hisa Tree only grows every fifty years. On the other hand, the artificial Hisa Trees could grow well and be harvested every ten years."

    She nodded because if she didn''t move, she was afraid she''d dozed off.

    "The artificial Hisa Trees we grow also produce the Hisa ointment," Lady Sera Wisteria continued with her exnation. "But of course, it''s not as effective as the one produced by the Mother Hisa Tree. We sell the lesser Hisa ointments to the nobility."

    She stopped walking and turned around to face Lady Sera Wisteria.

    Behind the older noblewomen were Jeanne Audley, Dion Skelton, and Lewis. Then, behind her official knights, were the two female mages and one male mage that worked with Lady Sera Wisteria.

    The female mages were the twins Lili and Maya¨C blonde, green eyes, both serious. Lili and Maya, although twins, worked for different families. Lili, the older twin with bob-cut hair, wore a wine-colored robe with the Wisteria crest. Maya, the younger twin with long hair, wore a navy blue robe with the Hammock crest.

    On the other hand, the male mage was a Royal Mage called Axel who wore a white robe with the Moonasterion Empire''s crest. He was a bulky brte that looked intimidating. But his chocte eyes were gentle. Plus, he was very shy. He couldn''t even look at her in the eye.

    "This has been bugging me all this time," Neoma said in a cheerful voice while acting innocent. "I thought only the Royal Family could use the Hisa ointment?"

    "That is correct, Your Royal Highness," Lady Sera Wisteria said. "The Hisa ointment produced by the Mother Hisa Tree could only be owned and used by the Royal Family. But the lesser Hisa ointment is a separate matter."

    "Why do you have to create a lesser ointment and sell them to the nobility?"

    Lady Sera Wisteria flinched, but she immediately caught herself. "It''s thanks to the generosity of the Royal Family. Your Royal Highness''s predecessors believe they shouldn''t monopolize the Hisa ointment and share its lesser version to the nobility¡­"

    [How is that "generous" when it''s only avable to the nobles?]

    But her greedy ancestors got one thing right.

    "Yes, the Royal Family shouldn''t be greedy," she said while smiling brightly. "That''s why I''m thinking¡­" She tilted her head to one side. "Why not make an ointment that themoners and the peasants could afford?"

    Lady Sera Wisteria and the mages collectively gasped.

    Her personal knights, however, remained indifferent, as if they were already expecting that from her.

    "We can''t do that, Your Royal Highness," Lady Sera Wisteria said firmly.

    "Why?" she said, then she raised an eyebrow. "Are you afraid that the value of the lesser ointment that you sell to the nobility will decrease, Lady Wisteria?"

    The older noblewoman flinched.

    "Come to think of it, the one who manufactures the Hisa ointment for the Royal Family is the Hammock family while the Wisteria family manufactures the ointment for the nobles," she said, still acting "innocent." "But now that the Hammock family has lost its representative, this year''s harvest is spearheaded by the Wisterias."

    "That''s correct, Your Royal Highness," Lady Sera Wisteria, who seemed to have gotten her act together, said clearly. "But the Wisterias won''t be doing all the work. That''s why the mage from the Hammock family and the Royal Mage Tower are here to help."

    "Because we don''t have Madam Hammock anymore, I guess it will be hard on you even with the help of the mages from the Hammock family and the Royal Mage Tower."

    "That''s correct, Your Royal Highness¨C"

    "Then I shall give you a hand," Neoma said, purposely cutting her off. "Juri Wisteria and Greko, my close aides, who both have the ability of a mage, shall help Lady Wisteria and the mages for this year''s harvest." She smiled brightly at her. "I hope you ept my sincerity, Lady Wisteria."

    Lady Sera Wisteria''s beautiful face hardened. "Very well, Your Royal Highness."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "WOW," Neoma said, amazed by the beautiful tree in front of her. "This is the Mother Hisa Tree?"

    Unlike the artificial Hisa Trees with golden-colored leaves, the Mother Hisa Tree had emerald leaves. Yes, those were leaf-shaped emerald gems that sparkled brightly against the sun. Even the trunk and the branches were sparkling, as if those were gemstones as well.

    They also separated the Mother Hisa Tree from the artificial ones. It was on top of a hill that was protected by severalyers of invisible barriers.

    "This is indeed the Mother Hisa Tree, Your Royal Highness," Lady Sera Wisteria, who was standing behind her, said. "I apologize, but we need Your Royal Highness''s blood. The Mother Hisa Tree in its gem-like state couldn''t be harvested unless it returns to a normal tree. And only the blood of a de Moonasterio could undo the Mother Hisa Tree''s protection."

    Ah, right.

    That was her purpose.

    Her Papa Boss, on the other hand, would only entrust a vial of his blood to Madam Hammock in the past.

    Tsk, that was careless.

    [Papa Boss, this is how the Wisterias have tricked the Royal Family all this time.]

    "I know the process," she said, then she stretched her arm. "Dion."

    With just one call, Dion already appeared by her side.

    [I didn''t call Lewis because this process requires physical contact.]

    The Pdin cradled her wrist. Dion''s other hand held a dagger. And with just one swift move, he cut her palm deeply. After all, she had to bleed.

    [I can cut myself but Papa Boss told me it''s my knight''s job to do so.]

    When her palm bled enough, she carefully ced her bleeding hand on the cold and hard gem-like trunk of the Mother Hisa Tree. And then¡­

    <"Please save me!">

    She groaned and covered her ears with her hands when she heard a woman''s crying voice ringing in her head. Before she knew it, she was already on the ground with her eyes tight shut.

    "Your Royal Highness!" Lady Sera Wisteria and the mages yelled worriedly.

    But none of them could approach her.

    After all, Dion and Jeanne already surrounded her and pulled their swords out.

    On the other hand, Lewis got down on one knee and inspected her. The anger in her son''s eyes was clear.

    "Prince," Lewis said in a low yet threatening voice, his golden eyes glowing dangerously. "Kill who?"

    Ah, this was bad.

    Every time Lewis spoke that way, it meant he was on the verge of losing it.

    "Don''t kill anyone," Neoma whispered, then she looked up at the Mother Hisa Tree. The woman was still crying in her head. Tteokbokki was calling her in her mind as well, but the cryingdy overwhelmed her Soul Beast''s voice. To be honest, she felt like her head was about to explode. "Let me just shut my brain first."

    By "shutting her brain," she meant fainting.

    <strong>***</strong>

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    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 332 - HIT TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE

    "YOUR MAJESTY, we have received a report from Dion."

    Niki immediately raised his head to meet Geoffrey Kinsley''s eyes. He was still in the throne room because his meeting with some old and annoying nobles just ended. Geoffrey would usually wait until he returned to his office before he gave his report. But for the Pdin to speak urgently like this could only mean one thing. "What happened to the Crown Prince?"

    Only the two of them were left in the throne room after he sent the knights away.

    But the throne room wasn''t as safe as his office and bedroom, so he addressed Neoma as the Crown Prince just to be extra safe.

    "Apparently, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince fainted after offering his blood to the Mother Hisa Tree," Geoffrey reported in a formal yet worried voice. "Dion and Jeanne have locked up Lady Wisteria, the mages, and everyone in the vi in their rooms for now."

    "I don''t care about that," he said impatiently. "What''s the Crown Prince''s condition?"

    "His Royal Highness hasn''t woken up yet," the Pdin reported. "Lady Juri Wisteria and the half-elf Greko are taking turns in checking on the Crown Prince''s condition. But apparently, the children are having a hard time doing so because of His Royal Highness''s Soul Beast."

    "What is the Soul Beast doing?"

    "The Soul Beast is allegedly preventing them fromying a hand on His Royal Highness," Geoffrey said. "Dion reported that the Soul Beast has cast a powerful barrier around the Crown Prince. Thus, they couldn''t move His Royal Highness to a morefortable ce."

    He was relieved to know that Neoma''s Soul Beast was keeping her safe.

    But of course, as a father, he couldn''t be at ease. If only he could go to Neoma¡­

    "Let''s wait for now," Niki said, his heart heavy because of the decision that he made. Unfortunately, he still had duties as an emperor. Until Nero and Neoma were strong enough to inherit his throne, he had to protect it for his children. Thus, he wouldn''t let the greedy people around him find a reason to remove him from his rightful ce. "Tell Dion to give us a report every one hour."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "THUG princess, are you awake?"

    When Neoma opened her eyes, she was greeted by Tteokbokki in his small dragon form. "Ah, I''m in your dimension?"

    After getting up, she found herself in a familiar space.

    It was the all-white room that floated in the space¨C the dimension where she first met Tteokbokki. But she found a thing that didn''t exist there before.

    [Isn''t that the ming throne that belongs to Crimson¨C Tteokbokki''s mean persona?]

    "I have to pull your consciousness here to protect you," Tteokbokki exined, then he clicked his tongue. "Don''t you remember what happened before you purposely "shut" your mind?"

    "I remember," she said, then she stood up and walked towards the ming throne. "I heard a woman''s crying voice when I touched the Mother Hisa Tree."

    To test if Tteokbokki was going to have a violent reaction, she sat on the throne.

    She wasn''t afraid to sit on the ming throne because the me didn''t hurt her. It just felt like a warm Mana that embraced her body.

    [Tteokbokki didn''t react.]

    Her Soul Beast even sat on the armrest.

    "It''s a vicious Spirit," Tteokbokki exined. "The poor Spirit seems to have been soaked in Darkness for a long time. I took a peek earlier to make it shut up but¡­" The Soul Beast gulped before it spoke again. "A horrendous sight greeted me."

    "What did you see?"

    "That Spirit¡­ has a physical body."

    She was confused. "Then, why call it a Spirit if it has a physical body?"

    "Because I''m not sure if she''s still alive!" the Soul Beast reasoned with her. "Her Spirit is definitely still alive. But her physical body has been stuck inside the tree for at least fifty years."

    "Is it an old woman? Her voice sounded young, though."

    "That''s the thing, thug princess," Tteokbokki said. "The Spirit''s physical body looks young. I think the woman looks like she''s in her early twenties."

    She clenched her hands tight. "Do you think they have sacrificed her to grow the Mother Hisa Tree?"

    "I don''t know," the Soul Beast said. "Do you think the Royal Family is capable of doing that?"

    The answer was yes.

    Looking at Tteokbokki reminded her of her father''s confession. ording to her Papa Boss, it was true that the de Moonasterio''s Soul Beasts were created from the souls of the male Rosehearts killed by the Royal Family in the past.

    She tried to ask Papa Boss for more details but when he said that dealing with the Soul Beasts in the past caused thete Empress Juliet''s death, she contained her curiosity. The pain in her father''s eyes made her unable to probe more.

    [Papa Boss said that he''ll tell her everything once he''s ready.]

    "Thug princess?"

    "Ah, yes," she said after she snapped out of her trance. "Tteokbokki, how can we save thedy trapped in the tree?"

    "Why do we have to save her?"

    "Do you think I can just leave her alone after knowing that my family is behind this atrocity?" she asked, scoffing. "Plus, it''s my job to unravel the secret of the Mother Hisa Tree. My Papa Boss wants to know why the Wisterias and the Hammocks have been so interested in Hisa Tree since time immemorial. Maybe I can find the answer if we save that woman."

    "Is that tree really special?"

    "Well, it''s the key ingredient in making the best ointment in the whole continent."

    "Ointment?" Tteokbokki asked, confused. "I thought you were after the flower-shaped jewels."

    Her eyebrows arched. "The Hisa Tree doesn''t produce flowers."

    "The jewel flowers grow inside the tree."

    "Huh?"

    "I saw it."

    "Then, how could you get the flowers from inside the tree?"

    "You brought mages with you, right?" Tteokbkki reminded her. "I think that''s their purpose."

    "Tteokbokki."

    "Thug princess."

    "You''re pretty useful today," she said, pleased. "Do you want a hug as a reward?"

    "Being hugged by a thug princess like you is not a reward but a punishment."

    She justughed it off. After all, she had gotten used to trash-talking with Tteokbokki. It was their unique way of bonding. "Anyway, let''s check it out tonight. I''m not a mage, but let''s see if we can save the woman and harvest the jewel flowers before Lady Wisteria does."

    Those jewel flowers would serve as a piece of evidence to prove that the Wisterias¨C and probably the Hammocks¨C had been embezzling something from the Hisa Tree all this time.

    "Hey, thug princess."

    "What?"

    "Shouldn''t you be more concerned with that man with the shadow of a god?" Tteokbokki scolded her. "I can feel his malice towards you. He could be an assassin, you know?"

    So far, Xion had been acting like a normal butler.

    She also realized that he wasn''t aware that she could see the god attached to him, so she had been pretending not to see it. And judging by her group''s normal reaction towards Xion, she could tell that only she was aware of the butler''s true identity.

    [The fact that Mr. Xion could hide his malice from Jeanne and Dion is impressive.]

    "Tteokbokki, it seems like this is a job that only the two of us could aplish."

    "What kind of job?"

    "Saving the Hisady and catching Mr. Xion," Neoma said cheerfully. "Let''s make a n while I''m here."

    "I have a n," Tteokbokkin said in a voice more cheerful than hers. "Let''s make you bait, thug princess."

    Ah, this brat was asking for a beating, huh?

    <strong>***</strong>

    WHEN NEOMA opened her eyes, she realized she was still in front of the Mother Hisa Tree where she had fainted.

    But what shocked her the most was the fact that it was already nighttime.

    [The sun was still up before I fainted¡­]

    "Princess¡­"

    Neoma smiled at Lewis. He wouldn''t have addressed her by her actual title if the area wasn''t safe. And seeing that her people surrounded her, she felt relieved. "Lewis, I''m fine. Thank you for worrying about me."

    After saying that, she got up and looked around.

    Jeno, Juri, and Greko were all looking at her worriedly.

    "I''m fine, children," she said as she slowly stood up. Thankfully, her motor skills quickly recovered. "Where are Jeanne and Dion?"

    "It''s their turn to patrol the area, Princess Neoma," Juri said, while looking at her with concern. "Are you alright?"

    "I''m fine," she said to assure her children. "My Soul Beast just went out of control."

    <"Hmph! Now you''re using me as a scapegoat!">

    Naturally, she ignored Tteokbokki''sint in her head.

    "E-Eomma¡­"

    She turned to Greko and ruffled his smooth head. "Eomma is fine, maknae. Did I scare you?"

    Greko nodded while sniffling, as if he had been crying the entire time. "I can''t help eomma because of the barrier¡­"

    Ah, right.

    Tteokbokki mentioned that he casted a barrier over her body when she fainted.

    "I will tell my Soul Beast to create a barrier that will allow my children in next time," she promised, then she turned to the oldest members of her group. "What happened after I fainted?"

    "Sir Dion and Dame Jeanne arrested Lady Wisteria and the mages for investigation," Jeno exined in a serious voice. For once, the always-sleepy young lord was wide awake. "They also put everyone in the vi at house arrest."

    She nodded, kind of expecting for that thing to happen since she, the Crown Prince, suddenly fainted. "I see."

    So, they locked everyone up in the vi except her guards.

    It was the perfect time to hit two birds with one stone.

    "Princess," Lewis, who stood beside her with a concerned look on his face, said. "Rest first."

    "Okay," Neoma said obediently. "But bring Mr. Xion to my roomter."

    Lewis, Juri, Jeno, and Greko all turned to her confused. "Who is Mr. Xion?"

    It was Neoma''s turn to get confused.

    [They don''t remember the sketchy butler?]

    <strong>***</strong>

    ["IF YOU really trust and respect me, stay and pretend to guard my room as if I''m here."]

    That was Neoma''s threat to her guards before they finally agreed to let her leave the vi alone. She didn''t have time to exin about the sketchy Mr. Xion. And thus, she just told them to trust her. It worked like a charm.

    [Well, not really. I''m pretty sure they''re keeping an eye on me.]

    Anyway, she came back to the Mother Hisa Tree alone.

    Her first purpose was to find a way to save the woman trapped inside the tree while Lady Wisteria and the mages were still under house arrest.

    And the second purpose¡­

    "It''s dangerous for you to be here alone, Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

    She turned around and found Xion in front of her, as expected. Yes, this was the second purpose¨C to lure the assassin to her.

    This time, the man no longer wore a butler''s uniform.

    [Oh, damn. What a handsome assassin.]

    Xion now wore a ck long-sleeve turtle-neck shirt, ck leather pants, ckbat shoes. A belt that held several daggers and a revolver gun was attached to his (thin!) waist. Moreover, the evil glint in his eyes was very clear since he was no longer hiding his malice.

    [The shadow of a man with red eyes behind him is still there.]

    "You must be wondering who I am," Xion said in a cheeky manner while smirking. "But don''t bother asking, my prince. After all, you''ll never remember who I am anyway¨C"

    "Shut up, Xion," Neoma said coldly. "You talk too much for an assassin."

    The assassin looked very surprised by what she said.

    In fact, it looked like his world suddenly crumbled.

    "You¡­" Xion began, still shocked. "How did you remember me?"

    Neoma scoffed, then she closed her eyes for a moment. "How you ask?" When she opened her eyes again, she was pretty sure that they had turned glowing red by now. "I have the blood of a god in my veins, duh."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 333 - BIRTH OF THE NEW GOD SLAYER

    "TTEOKBOKKI, Skewer," Neoma said, summoning her major weapon and her Soul Beast. "It''s time to execute what we''ve been practicingtely."

    The Lynx Ring that served as a storage device that hid her essories shone brightly.

    Then, the mini version of the Death Scythe that dangled as a pendant of her hidden choker sparkled before it turned into a fine dust. But it didn''t disappear. The fine dust reappeared above her right hand until Skewer materialized.

    She wasn''t using the Death Scythe''s replica¨C this time, it was the real deal. Trevor returned the Death Scythe to her before he left for the Spirit World with Nero. Since he didn''t need the Death Scythe to protect hisir anymore, he just returned it to her.

    And since it was the original Death Scythe, she was able to easily adjust its size to fit her small body. After all, the original size of the scythe was too big for her to swing.

    [Of course, my Skewer is customized. In the past, I only changed the handle''s color into baby pink¨C my favorite shade of pink. But this time, with Trevor''s help before he left, we changed the silver de into baby pink as well.]

    "Crown Prince," Xion said, his pupils shaking as if he was still in disbelief. "Do you really remember me?"

    "Yes," she said, then she swung Skewer while lighting up the curved de with Tteokbokki''s red me. [Tteokbokki, change your me to pink!]

    <"No,"> Tteokbokki firmly said in her mind. <"I won''t change my red me to pink, you thug princess! That vites my right as a Soul Beast! If you force me to change my me''s color, I will file a formalint against you!">

    She naturally ignored her Soul Beast''s whining.

    Plus, Xion finally moved.

    The assassin disappeared suddenly, catching her off-guard. It was as if he blended into the dark. She couldn''t even hear his footsteps or the sound of his breath. Worse, she also couldn''t feel his Mana.

    [Stealth, huh?]

    Since she couldn''t detect the human, she focused on the divine power of the god that she saw earlier. Her glowing red eyes soon met a pair of other red eyes above her.

    nk.

    The sound of a de shing against another de broke the night''s eerie silence as Xion appeared in front of her.

    Sizzle.

    The next sound was like the sound of samgyupsal getting barbecued on the grill. It came from Tteokbokki''s me, licking the de of Xion''s dagger. Eventually, the me grew bigger and swallowed the de whole until it melted.

    "Damn," Xion cursed under his breath before dropping the melting dagger to the ground.

    But his attack didn''t end there.

    The assassin threw several des at her while jumping backward to create a significant distance between them.

    "Skewer," she said, ordering her major weapon to do her bidding. "Baton form."

    Skewer''s curved de turned into ashes, and the scythe''s holder turned into a baby pink staff. Now it looked like the baton that a majorette would use. Now that it was easier to handle, she twirled the staff in her hand to block the daggers approaching her.

    She''d love to burn and melt the daggers, but she was conserving her Mana.

    That moment of distraction almost cost her and arm. A sharp, Mana-infused dagger pierced through her shoulder de as if it had the intention of cutting her arm off. If she wasn''t wearing her Coat¨C the Holy Barrier that covered her whole body, taught by the former saint¨C she would have received a grave injury.

    Thanks to her Coat, the Mana-infused dagger simply bounced off of her.

    [And yes, this is the reason I''m conserving my energy. The former Saint Zavaroni would often tell me that the Coat requires a lot of Mana when in use.]

    "Hah!" Xion said when his feetnded on the ground without a sound. The significant distance between them made her realize he was a long-range attacker. It was befitting of an assassin like him. "What an absolute defense."

    "My master taught me well," she said with a smirk, then she punched a hole in the ground by stabbing it with her staff¨C creating cracks all over. Then, the staff changed back to its original form with its curved de still burning in red me. "But I''m also good at attacking."

    Red me emerged from the cracks that led to where Xion was standing.

    The assassin jumped high to avoid the growing me.

    "Tteokbokki, catch him," she ordered her Soul Beast. "Or else, you have to change the color of your me to my favorite color!"

    <"Argh!">

    Tteokbokki groaned as ifining, but the red me between the cracks grew as high as the Mother Hisa Tree.

    [Hehe.]

    She saw the edge of the me turn into something like a whip. Then, the whip-like me wrapped itself around Xion''s ankle. The assassin groaned in agony as his ankle was burned immediately.

    "Bring him down, Tteokbokki!"

    Tteokbokki, that damned reptile, threw Xion in her direction.

    "Mochi," she summoned the Wind Spirit this time. "Give me wings."

    <"As you wish, Your Royal Highness.">

    It was Mochi''s voice, but the white bunny didn''t materialize.

    Instead, she felt an icy breeze on her back. It gently carried her until she was on the same level as Xion who was approaching her as if a catapult had thrown him. At this rate, she''d get hurt if they shed.

    "Soju," she said, summoning her Water Spirit. "Drown him."

    <"Sure, sweetheart.">

    Like Mochi, Soju didn''t materialize as well.

    But she felt the Water Spirit''s power when Xion suddenly stopped moving while still suspended in the air. Then, suddenly, an enormous sphere of water appeared and swallowed the assassin.

    Xion immediately reached for his neck while struggling to breathe.

    "Soju, don''t kill him," she said as she moved through the air with Mochi''s help. "Drop him once he''s unconscious."

    <"Understood, sweetheart.">

    She moved past Xion trapped in Soju''s Water Sphere to chase after the shadow of a man with red eyes. The "god" was running away from her.

    "Tteokbokki, is it really a god?"

    <"It could only be a god,"> Tteokbokki said. <"Only gods have red eyes. And oh, people like you, too. But since you only have the blood of a god, your eye color only turn into red when you experience a powerful emotion.">

    "Is there a possibility that it''s the same case for that shadow bastard?"

    <"No, those eyes are authentic eyes of a god.">

    "Then, can we kill it?"

    Her Soul Beast fell silent for a while.

    Then, Tteokbokkiughed. <"It''s already weakened, but it''s still a god so I can''t say that I''m confident. Still¡­ let''s try it!">

    Sheughed with her Soul Beast.

    Then she stopped while still suspended in the air. She realized she couldn''t close the distance between her and the god who was escaping fast.

    "Skewer," she said. "Spear mode."

    The scythe''s curved de strengthened and shortened like a spearhead. She stopped moving in the air and gripped the staff tightly. Then, without further ado, she threw it as if she was a Javelin athlete, even though she rarely used that kind of attack.

    It only worked because of her natural strength as a de Moonasterio.

    [Bull''s eye!]

    Skewer, in the form of a spear, flew straight to the god and pierced through the shadow''s chest. As a result, the god plummeted to the ground.

    Mochi then safely put her down next to the shadow man.

    "Tteokbokki said that you''re too weak for a god," she said as she looked down at the god full of malice. "But I didn''t expect you to be this weak."

    The god, who was on the ground lying on his stomach with Skewer still pierced through their chest,ughed. Then, the god looked up at her with glowing red eyes. "I see," the god said while looking at her as if they were examining her face. "You''re a de Moonasterio¨C the descendant of Yule."

    "Ah," she said. "You probably recognized me because of my hair and eye color."

    "No, you''re covered by a weird mist that I couldn''t see your features clearly," the god said calmly. "I just recognized you as Yule''s descendant because of your sheer arrogance. Only a de Moonasterio would talk down to a god."

    She let out a fake cough out of embarrassment.

    [Tsk. Why am I born this arrogant? Is this Papa Boss''s fault?]

    Anyway¡­

    "Are you a male or a female?" she asked carefully. "I mean, your voice sounds manly. But you may never know."

    "I''m a male."

    "May I know your name?"

    "I don''t remember," the god said. "But the family who worships me call me ''Lord Redgrave.''"

    "I see."

    She grabbed the staff, then she moved the spear from the god''s body.

    As soon as she did, the god''s appearance changed.

    His shadow form turned into a human appearance. Now he looked like an old man in his early fifties with long gray hair and red eyes. His skin was tanned, and he wore a white robe with red ents. Just like the only god that she had met so far, Redgrave also looked otherworldly, just like Yule despite looking old.

    "Little de Moonasterio," Redgrave said with a bitter smile on his face. "Your breath smells¡­ nice."

    Those words were creepy.

    But they weren''t the reason she swung her scythe and jumped backward to create a distance between her and the creepy god.

    Suddenly, Redgrave stood up. She didn''t notice it when he was lying down earlier. But damn, the god was tall. He was at least seven feet tall, and his limbs were long. For a nine-year-old child with a petite form like her, Redgrave looked like a tower.

    And that tower attacked her.

    Well, he wasn''t holding a weapon or anything, but his malice that was directed at her made her shiver. Then, much to her chagrin, she found herself frozen on the spot while being crushed by the god''s pure bloodlust.

    She couldn''t move an inch, and her body trembled in fear.

    [I am¡­ scared?]

    Her thoughts were interrupted when Redgrave squatted down and grabbed her face roughly.

    The calmness in the god''s eyes earlier turned into a frenzy. Now he looked like a man who had lost his sanity. And the worst of all? His insanity seemed to be focused on her.

    "Do you think I allowed you to "catch" me just to have a shallow conversation with you, little de Moonasterio?" Redgrave asked in an arrogant voice. But he wasn''t smiling. That made him look scarier. "You let your guard down easily just because you realized that I''m in my weakened state, didn''t you?"

    She wanted to retort, but she couldn''t find the right words to say.

    After all, the god was correct.

    She really let her guard down.

    [Fuck. I never learn.]

    "Your breath," Redgrave said, then he inched his face closer to hers and closed his eyes. "You''re literally breathing life into me."

    That gave her goosebumps.

    But she didn''t have time to react when suddenly, Redgrave grabbed her face harder until her mouth formed an ''O.'' Then he literally sucked her breath out of her mouth and inhaled it.

    So. Fucking. Disgusting.

    An ungodly amount of rage rose in her chest. As soon as her anger was awakened, a distinct presence inside her had woken up as well.

    She knew who it was even without checking.

    "Crimson," she said coldly, summoning the other personality of Tteokbokki¨C the vicious side of her Soul Beast. Ah, now that anger reced her fear, her body finally stopped trembling, and she found her voice again. "Burn this disgusting god to ashes."

    Her head hurt when Crimson''s demonicugh filled her head.

    But she endured it.

    A momentter, a ring of fire emerged from the ground. If she wouldpare Tteokbokki''s me with Crimson''s, then Tteokbokki''s me would be the spark from a match, while Crimson''s me would be Hellfire itself.

    "Hot," Redgraveined, then he was forced to let go of her face and jumped away from her.

    But he had nowhere else to go.

    They were now surrounded by Crimson''s me. Unlike Tteokbokki''s, Crimson''s me was pitch ck.

    "Hah!" Redgrave said as if impressed. "Why do you have a scary amount of demonic power stored in you, little de Moonasterio?"

    She was about to snap at the god when she realized something.

    [Lord Redgrave suddenly looks¡­ young?]

    His gray hair turned ck, the wrinkles on his face smoothened, and now he looked like a man in his twenties.

    [He looksnky earlier but he looks a little bulkier now.]

    "Are you surprised by my change of appearance?" Redgrave asked while smiling. Then, he opened his arms and motioned to himself. "This all thanks to you, little de Moonasterio."

    She tilted her head to one side. If she would rewind all the creepy things that Redgrave had done to her, she could only arrive at one conclusion. "Ah, so this is why you said my breath literally breathes life into you."

    "You don''t seem surprised."

    "Why would I get surprised?" she asked, then she motioned to herself with one hand. "Isn''t it only natural that every inch and part of me is special?"

    The godughed at her. "That''s going to be a problem, little de Moonasterio. But you don''t seem to realize how your existence as an Aether endangers your life."

    "Aether?" she asked, confused. "What is that?"

    "Aether is the pure air that gods in the Upper World breathe," Redgrave exined. "But the old Aether in the Upper World is slowly dying now. And thus, the air they breathe in has be polluted recently. What do you think they''ll do if they find out that you, little de Moonasterio, have the potential to be the next Aether?"

    The answer wasn''t that hard to guess.

    [They''re probably going to make me an air purifier or something.]

    "I''m nothing but a lesser god," Redgrave said, then he put one hand on his chest. "But if I tell the gods in the Upper World about how I discovered the next Aether, maybe the Major Gods will give me a spot up there?"

    "Maybe, maybe not. But Lord Redgrave, do you know?" she asked, then she smiled sweetly at her. "Dead men tell no tales?"

    "Are you saying that you''re going to kill me?"

    "Uh-huh," she said, then she created a Dome over the ring of fire that Crimson created earlier.

    Yes, now she and Redgrave were trapped inside the dome with fire.

    Redgraveughed when he realized his n. "I may be a lesser god with a human body right now," he said. "But you''re underestimating me too much if you think that killing me with smoke would work."

    "It will work, Lord Redgrave," she said, then her gaze went past the god. "I''ll just have to imitate what you did earlier."

    Crimson, in his human form, appeared behind Redgrave and grabbed the god''s face until his mouth formed an ''O.'' The god looked surprised, but the whips of fire that wrapped themselves around his body prevented him from moving. "Hello, nameless god," Crimson greeted Redgrave. "My name is Crimson¨C the God of Wrath."

    Redgrave was about to speak when suddenly, a whip of ck me covered his mouth.

    "Hold him like that, Crimson," Neoma said, then she took a deep breath. Mochi, the Wind Spirit, was helping her fill her lungs with clean air. "I will suck the life out of Lord Redgrave now."

    <strong>***</strong>

    THE SUN Priestess opened her eyes after a shocking vision entered her mind while she was praying.

    A god''s death.

    Granted that it was a lesser god whose physical body had weakened already, a god was still a god.

    [No way¡­]

    The Sun Priestess smiled in disbelief. "Are you telling me that a nine-year-old child has killed a god?"

    Well, the little de Moonasterio wasn''t alone.

    She saw the God of Wrath help her. But still, killing a god was a huge feat that not even Niki de Moonasterio¨C the strongest de Moonasterio born in history¨C had ever aplished.

    [But then again, only crazy people pick a fight with gods.]

    "Should we wake him up?" her aide asked while lighting the candles on the altar. "Didn''t little Ruto tell you to wake him up if the little de Moonasterio''s life is in danger?"

    "The little de Moonasterio''s life isn''t in danger though."

    "But little Ruto said¨C"

    "Yoan doesn''t need to wake up for something so trivial," the Sun Priestess said cheerfully. "A god yer is a bad match-up for our future king."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 334 - A GODS FAREWELL GIFT

    NEOMA absorbed it all.

    The divine power she stole from Redgrave by literally sucking his breath out of his mouth flowed through her body. But to be honest, it made little of a difference. After all, she already had an abundant amount of divine power overflowing in her body.

    Dominic Zavaroni, the former saint and her teacher, taught her how to circte her overflowing divine power.

    She had to cough up blood, though.

    [But I feel better now.]

    "I see," Redgrave, who was now kneeling on the ground, said weakly while looking at her with amusement in his eyes. He just didn''t sound weak. The god also lost his youth, and he looked like dried ginseng now. That meant his skin was wrinkled all over, and he looked like a skeleton covered with a thinyer of flesh. "You have a god in you."

    Neoma raised her eyebrow at Crimson.

    [He''s really a god, huh?]

    Crimson, who looked like a child the same age as her, had his long red hair tied in a high ponytail. He was dressed like a young master from a noble house, but his red dragon horns screamed he wasn''t an ordinary child. And yes, he had red eyes.

    [I think I should mention this to Papa Boss.]

    Crimson red at her. "What are you looking at?"

    "Our job isn''t finished yet," Neoma said, then she pointed to the god with her pouted lips. "He''s still alive."

    She removed the Dome that she created when the ck me that Crimson created disappeared.

    "He won''t be alive for too long," Crimson saidzily, then he put a hand in his pocket while his other hand covered his mouth when he yawned. "Can''t you see that my me is still burning him alive?"

    "Don''t yawn," sheined. "It''s contagious¨C"

    She couldn''t finish her sentence because she yawned.

    [See? Tsk.]

    But while yawning, her eyes focused on Redgrave.

    The thick ck smoke caused by the ck me earlier had dissipated significantly. And so she could see the surroundings clearly now.

    [White me?]

    Only then did she realize that the reason Redgrave couldn''t move was because he was being burned alive by Crimson''s white me. Also, the lower part of the old god''s body had already turned into ashes.

    [Daebak. Crimson''s me is really strong.]

    "Little de Moonasterio, do you know what it means to kill a god?"

    She shut her mouth this time.

    It wasn''t like she wanted to kill anyone¨C let alone a god. She just had to do it in order to survive. Moreover, Redgrave was nning to use her as an air purifier. How could she let such a dangerous existence continue living?

    "I don''t enjoy taking lives with my own hands," she said seriously. "Don''t make it sound like I''m a glorified killer."

    Crimson rolled his eyes at her, but she ignored him.

    Redgrave smiled bitterly. "Little de Moonasterio, your breath is the Aether that the gods need to live longer and to maintain their youthful appearance. But you can also literally take their breaths away." Heughed, and unlike his bitter smile, it sounded genuine. "You''re an interesting existence, Little de Moonasterio. It''s a shame that I wouldn''t be able to witness how you''d shake up the Upper World."

    "You make it sound like I''m a menace to the society, Lord Redgrave."

    "You are, though."

    "I''m only a menace to the people who want to harm me and my people."

    The godughed softly. "Little de Moonasterio, can you do me a favor?"

    "The audacity to ask me for a favor after you tried to kill me¡­" she said while shaking her head. "But let''s hear it."

    "The child that I raised¡­"

    "You mean Mr. Xion?"

    "Yes, that boy," the god said while nodding his head. "Don''t kill him."

    "Didn''t I just say that I won''t be merciful to people who intend to hurt me?"

    "Xion received the order to kill the Crown Prince, but he has no intention to do it. He only attacked you to gauge your strength," the god exined. "Xion doesn''t kill innocent children and women. Although he is an assassin, he only kills people who are beyond saving. If you don''t trust me, you can dig his past. You''ll see that his targets were all vicious people whomitted heinous crimes."

    That didn''t justify Xion''s actions.

    But she would be a hypocrite if she criticized the assassin based on that. After all, she also killed people with the justification that they didn''t deserve to live anymore formitting disgusting crimes against children.

    "Why do you want me to save Mr. Xion?"

    "He''s a pitiful child who inherited the crime of his ancestors," he exined. "Little de Moonasterio, I am the God of Forgotten Memories. I can erase my existence from the memories of humans and beings that I could manipte."

    [Ah, now I get a grasp of Mr. Xion''s ability.]

    "A long time ago, I lost an important person because of the Redgraves," the god continued. "Thus, I cursed their n. I cursed anyone other than people who have shared their dirty blood to never remember them."

    "It seems like your curse has turned into a blessing for them," she said. "An assassin who can''t be remembered by their targets? Even if they are sloppy killers, and even if someone witnessed their crime, the assassins will get away with it smoothly."

    Redgraveughed and nodded. "Their ancestor turned their family members into assassins. The assassin guild they built is infamous. They have normal people running the guild for them, so it won''t be forgotten. Only the assassins remain anonymous because of the curse I gave them."

    "Will the curse remain now that you''re dying?"

    "The curse will die with me," the god said. "But I will leave my ability to Xion. This time, I will also give him the ability to choose if he wants to be forgotten or not by the people he meets."

    "I don''t do charity, Lord Redgrave."

    "I am not that shameless, Little de Moonasterio," the god said, then he grinned. "I will leave you my eyes. Each eye will give you the ability to retrieve your forgotten memories. Thus, you can use my ability twice."

    "What will be the price of using your ability?"

    "You''ll temporarily lose your sight," he said. "If you use it one at a time, you''ll go blind for a week or two. But if you use both at the same time, it might take months before your eyesight return to normal."

    She gulped when she heard that. "Are you sure it will only be temporary?"

    "Ordinary humans do not have the rights and the ability to use a god''s eyes. On the other hand, powerful humans blessed with Manaparable to minor gods'' power will go blind permanently," Redgrave exined honestly. "However, you have the blood of a Major God flowing in your veins, Little de Moonasterio. Using my eyes won''t cost you your sight."

    "I see."

    She didn''t mean to make a pun.

    "Do you trust me, Little de Moonasterio?"

    "No," she said bluntly. "I will ask my Papa Boss and have your eyes checked first."

    "Yes, that''s right," the god said, whileughing. "You shouldn''t trust gods easily."

    She fell silent when she realized that only Redgrave''s head and neck hadn''t turned into ashes yet.

    [He doesn''t sound hurt even though he''s being burned alive.]

    Was Crimson''s white me gave painless death? Or Redgrave couldn''t feel pain because he was a god?

    "Do you ept my proposal, Little de Moonasterio?"

    "I won''t kill Mr. Xion," she said because right from the start, she didn''t n to kill him anyway. "But I won''t take care of him. He''s already an adult."

    "That''s good enough for me," Redgrave said in a tired voice, then he closed his eyes. "Good bye, Little de Moonasterio. It was fun meeting you."

    She closed her eyes because she didn''t want to see the godpletely turn into ashes.

    A few momentster, she felt something cold and hard in her free hand. When she opened her eyes and looked down, she saw a pair of red marbles the size of an eye socket.

    [Ah, these must be Redgrave''s eyes.]

    A blinding light suddenly blinded her, making her close her eyes. Then, she felt the eyes melt and enter her body as if they became blood that flowed in her veins now.

    However, she didn''t get the chance to close her eyes for longer than a minute because of what happened next. Skewer vibrated in her hand the same time the ground shook hard. When she opened her eyes, the sight that greeted her shocked the hell out of her.

    "Princess Neoma!" Crimson snarled at her angrily. "Why did you open the Hellgate again?!"

    Yes, a Hellgate emerged from the ground without warning.

    "I didn''t open it!" she said defensively.

    It was true¨C she didn''t summon it!

    But it was indeed the 9th Hellgate that she created with Trevor before. She was sure that it was the same Hellgate because the doors were pink. Yes, she asked Trevor to color her personal Hellgate pink.

    She also noticed that instead of skulls and bones like the other Hellgate that she saw in the past, roses and different flowers were engraved on the doors of her Hellgate.

    The door suddenly burst open, interrupting her thoughts.

    A strong gush of wind came out, and it almost blew her away. But thankfully, Crimson stood in front of her and created a shield to protect the two of them from getting blown away by the violent wind.

    [No, it''s a tornado.]

    Fortunately, the tornado didn''tst long. After it collected Redgrave''s ashes, the tornado returned inside the Hellgate. When the doors closed with a loud thud, the Hellgate sunk back to the ground.

    It disappeared as soon as it appeared.

    [Did the Hellgate appear because I killed someone?]

    Then would it appear every time Neoma killed a being?

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 335 - A HUGE BUT CHILLING FEAT

    "NEOMA de Moonasterio!" Crimson yelled as soon as he turned around to face her. "You should be grateful that one of your brats has covered us with mist or else the people at the vi would have seen you summon a Hellgate!"

    "I didn''t summon it," Neoma insisted in an annoyed voice. "And why are you yelling at me? Do you want to die?"

    The mean Soul Beast was about to say something when suddenly, a drop kick literally dropped and knocked him down.

    She beamed.

    It was Lewis and his legendary one-kick attack.

    "Princess," Lewis said worriedly, then he turned pale while looking at the dry blood around her mouth that probably dripped on her clothes as well. "Blood¡­"

    "It''s my blood, but I''m okay," she said, then she dropped Skewer. The Death Scythe immediately disappeared and returned to her choker as a Mini-Skewer pendant. "I just coughed up some blood."

    Lewis looked even more horrified now. "Greko. Heal. You now."

    Ah, it seemed like Lewis was so worried that he forgot how to speak properly again.

    "Damned fox," Crimson, who was now sitting on the ground in a lotus position while touching the back of his head,ined while ring at Lewis. "You''ll be my first kill once I regain my adult form."

    Lewis looked down at Crimson with an icy re.

    "Ignore him," she told Lewis. "He''s just Tteokbokki''s mean alter ego."

    This time, Crimson red at her. "I''m the God of Wrath, you disrespectful princess."

    Speaking of wrath, her anger subsided now, so¡­

    "Tteokbokki," she said while smiling brightly. "Come out. I don''t want to see that ball of fury anymore."

    Crimson opened his mouth toin, but suddenly, he fainted.

    Poof!

    Then, the Soul Beast''s appearance changed from a child into a small red dragon.

    "Thug princess, what happened?" Tteokbokki asked sleepily. "Did you summon me?"

    She smiled and snapped her fingers. "Go home and rest, Tteokbokki."

    Tteokbokki fell asleep on the spot.

    But before his body fell to the ground, hepletely disappeared. Then she felt her Soul Beast return inside her soul.

    [What a tiring night.]

    "Princess¡­"

    "What happened, Lewis?"

    "We followed you when we felt a strange and ominous presence appear," Lewis, who could finally talk normally again, exined. "We caught the butler and ording to your Spirits, he tried to assassinate you."

    It was probably Mochi because Mochi didn''t have a problemmunicating with humans when she wanted to.

    "The assassin is unconscious but to be safe, Jeno locked him up in a Prison Cube," her son continued. "We ran after you but a white me prevented us from getting close while you were fighting the ominous presence earlier."

    [That must be Crimson''s me.]

    "Sir Dion judged that it''s a fight that outsiders shouldn''t witness, so he asked Jeno to cover the entire ce with his mist. Jeno said that his mist also serves as a soundproof barrier."

    [Ah, that must be why Lewis addressed me as ''princess''fortably.]

    "All of you did a good job," she said, then she walked back to the Mother Hisa Tree because her job wasn''t done yet. "You and the rest deal with the assassin. I still have business with the Hisa Tree."

    "Princess, I''ll stay with you," Lewis said firmly. "Please."

    She looked at Lewis and sighed when she realized he wouldn''t change his mind. "Okay, stay with me."

    They walked back to the Mother Hisa Tree together.

    Dion, Jeanne, Jeno, Juri, and Greko all looked relieved to see her. But that relief instantly changed to anger when they saw the blood on her.

    "I''m fine, everyone," she said cheerfully, then she looked at Xion who was still unconscious inside a transparent coffin-like "cube."

    [It must be the Prison Cube that Lewis mentioned.]

    And it looked like it was made of clouds.

    "Eomma, are you hurt?" Greko asked worriedly, then he tugged gently at the hem of her shirt. "Please let me heal you."

    "Later, maknae," she said, then she smiled and gently ruffled Greko''s hair.

    "Later?" Juri asked worriedly. "Your Royal Highness, please rest first."

    "And please tell us what happened," Dion said sternly. "We must report this to His Majesty."

    Ah, right.

    Her Papa Boss must be worried.

    "I will tell you everythingter," she said firmly. "For now, I want you to bring Mr. Xion to the vi and keep a close eye on him. I will stay here with Lewis."

    "May I know what else you need to do, Your Royal Highness?" Jeanne asked worriedly. "We can''t leave Your Royal Highness alone without knowing anything."

    "There''s a living person trapped inside the Hisa Tree," she announced casually.

    Everyone looked shocked by her revtion.

    Even Lewis who usually wore a poker face, looked stunned.

    "I''m going to save that person," she dered, then she turned to Jeno. "Please keep the mist in the area, Jeno."

    Jeno, who still looked shocked, could only nod politely as a response.

    Neoma pped her hands to snap everyone back to reality. "Okay, everyone," she said cheerfully. "Let''s get back to work."

    <strong>***</strong>

    TREVOR clutched his stomach tight to refrain himself from throwing up.

    He wasn''t sick, but the vision that he just saw scared the living shit out of him. It wasn''t like the vision was scary. He just realized what kind of person Princess Neoma was.

    [My Moon Princess¡­]

    "What happened to you?" Prince Nero asked. Ah, right. He was having tea with the royal prince and the Queen of the Spirit World. "If you''re going to throw up, do it where I couldn''t see you¡­"

    Prince Nero trailed off when Queen Tara dropped her teacup on the table.

    Amazingly, the liquid and the broken pieces of the teacup disappeared before they even touched the queen''s body.

    [What a scary ability.]

    But then again, no one and nothing could hurt Tara in the Spirit World.

    "Your Majesty, what happened?" Prince Nero asked worriedly. "Did something happen?"

    "Your twin sister¡­" Tara said, then she gulped before she turned to the royal prince. "Princess Neoma just killed a minor god."

    "That god must have deserved it," Prince Nero said casually, then he sipped his tea. "Neoma isn''t the type of person to kill anyone without a proper reason."

    Tara looked concerned by how blinded Nero was with his love for his twin sister.

    "My prince, you don''t understand," Tara whispered. "Not anyone could just kill a god, even if it''s just an insignificant deity. Princess Neoma has be a God yer."

    God yer.

    Trevor felt a shiver down his spine.

    "A God yer," Trevor mumbled to himself. Although he was amazed by Princess Neoma''s new title, he couldn''t help but get worried. "The gods won''t leave her alone now."

    <strong>***</strong>

    DOMINIC Zavaroni hugged himself when he suddenly got goosebumps. "Princess Neoma has be a God yer."

    It was a huge but frightening feat.

    A god, no matter how minor or insignificant they were, was still a being that a normal human couldn''t kill. The Major Gods would probably ignore it. But the mid-tier gods wouldn''t simply let it slide.

    "You said it was just a weakened god with a decaying physical body. Moreover, you also said that another god helped Princess Neoma," Princess Nichole, who was sitting beside him on the bed, said. "I''m not undervaluing my precious niece''s aplishment. However, I don''t want to treat it like a big deal because I don''t want the gods to treat Princess Neoma as an enemy now."

    "It''s not only the gods that Princess Neoma should be wary of from now," he said worriedly. "ying a god is sphemy, Nichole. And remember, you are descendants of Lord Yule. You should know that there''s a being who judges and punishes the de Moonasterios whomit serious sphemy."

    "Who¡­" she trailed off, then she covered her mouth when she gasped softly. "Oh, him."

    "Yes¨C him."

    "Is he real?" she asked curiously. "I mean, I often cursed at the gods, but he hasn''t appeared yet to punish me."

    "Cursing and bad-mouthing the gods aren''t heavy offenses in his vocabry," he said. "But ying a god is a serious crime. He might appear this time."

    Nichole''s eyebrows furrowed. "You know him so well, Dominic."

    "Of course," Dominic said with a softugh. "The Moon Priest is my brother, after all."

    <strong>***</strong>

    <"HEY, you''re supposed to awaken when I enter a deep slumber as my representative.">

    The man sleeping on the moon ignored the loud voice in his head.

    <"Your brother betrayed me.">

    The man sleeping on the moon felt proud of his brother for finally following his heart and betraying the owner of the annoying voice in his head.

    <"Our precious Ne-Ne has just in a minor god.">

    The man sleeping on the moon thought nobody cared about minor gods these days.

    <"Isn''t it your job as the Moon Priest to investigate a sphemymitted by a de Moonasterio?">

    The man sleeping on the moon believed he wasn''t getting paid enough to deal with annoying things. Moreover, the fewer gods lingered on earth, the better it was for humanity, anyway. Frankly, the little de Moonasterio did a wonderful job.

    Case dismissed.

    <"Why are you ignoring me?">

    The man sleeping on the moon thought that someone who was supposed to enter a deep slumber shouldn''t be bothering him. What was the point of "sleeping" if he would just go around yelling at people''s minds anyway?

    <"The Sun Priestess is making a move again.">

    The man sleeping on the moon opened his jewel-like blue eyes and got up abruptly. "Where is she?"

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 336 - STRAY BUTTERFLIES

    "LEWIS, I''m going to enter the tree in my Spirit form," Neoma said while looking at Lewis seriously. "I''ll be bringing Tteokbokki with me, so I will leave my physical body defenseless."

    "I will protect you while you''re unconscious, Princess," Lewis said determinedly. "Pleasee back safely."

    She smiled and nodded. Then she closed her eyes and summoned her Soul Beast. "Tteokbokki, are you already awake?"

    Her question was met with silence.

    While waiting for Tteokbokki to respond, her mind drifted away for a moment.

    Before she sent the others back to the vi with the assassin, she talked to Dion and gave the Pdin some points that he needed to report to her Papa Boss. She didn''t have the time to give a detailed exnation, so she just gave the highlights of the events that transpired earlier.

    ["Please tell Papa Boss that I''m fine, but I might get in troubleter for killing a minor god."]

    ["Your Royal Highness, that ominous existence was a god?"]

    ["Yes, and it seems like the Hellgate I created will emerge every time I kill people and other beings."]

    ["¡­"]

    ["And oh, please tell Papa Boss that Lord Redgrave, the old minor god, said that I could be the next Aether. Apparently, the Aether is the pure air in the Upper World. It seems like my breath works like a miracle to them because when Lord Redgrave sucked in my breath, his youthful appearance returned."]

    ["Your Royal Highness¡­"]

    ["What?"]

    ["It seems like we can''t leave you alone."]

    Her Soul Beast''s response to her summon earlier interrupted her thoughts.

    <"Yes, I''m awake now,"> Tteokbokki said in a sleepy yet confused voice. <"What happened earlier?">

    "I''ll tell youter," she said. "We still have work to do."

    <"What kind of work?">

    She opened her eyes and touched the cold and hard surface of the Mother Hisa Tree that was still covered by a gem-like coat. "Remember thedy you saw inside this tree? We need to save her. I''m thinking of entering the tree''s dimension in my Spirit form. Is it possible?"

    <"Of course, it''s possible. Who do you think your Soul Beast is?">

    She smirked at Tteokbokki''s arrogance that he definitely inherited from her. "Good boy. Let''s go then."

    <"Thug princess, you better hold onto me tight. Traveling to another dimension isn''t a joke. One mistake and we''ll end up lost in space,"> Tteokbokki warned her. <"Do you understand?">

    "I understand," she said, then she raised her right hand as if she was making an oath. "I will stick to you like glue."

    "Princess, is Tteokbokki back in his dragon form?"

    "Yes," she answered Lewis''s question. "Why?"

    Lewis looked relieved. "I don''t like Tteokbokki''s human form. He''s handsome, and his face is your style."

    "That only applies to humans," she said defensively. "I''m not attracted to animals."

    <"I''m not an animal, you judgmental thug princess!">

    Neoma rolled her eyes at Tteokbokki''sint. "Whatever, reptile."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "Y-YOUR Majesty, we received another report from Dion."

    Niki, who was still in his office despite finishing all his work for that day, raised his head to meet Geoffrey Kinsley''s shaking pupils. The fact that his Pdin was acting nervous made him nervous as well. "Is my daughter safe?"

    "Princess Neoma is safe, Your Majesty," Geoffrey said, then he gulped. "For now."

    His jaw clenched. "Exin."

    "Apparently, the assassin that tried to kill Princess Neoma was supported by an old minor god."

    He held his breath unconsciously. [An old minor god?]

    "And Princess Neoma has in the minor god."

    He released the breath he was holding in slowly. "My daughter killed a minor god," he whispered in disbelief. "The other gods won''t let this slide easily."

    His daughter was truly¡­ brave.

    [Neoma''s soul is older than her current physical body. But she''s still young. To kill a god is a tremendous feat. It will also cause trouble in the future¨C especially if the believers and followers of gods hear about this.]

    But it was his job as Neoma''s father to deal with that to protect his daughter.

    "Dion also reported that the Hellgate that Princess Neoma created before emerged after Her Royal Highness has in the minor god."

    "Did anyone from Lady Wisteria''s side witness it?"

    The Pdin shook his head. "Fortunately, Young Master Jeno Dankworth covered the area with his mist."

    He nodded, relieved to hear that. "What else?"

    "Princess Neoma wishes to inform Your Majesty that the minor god sucked her breath in."

    Anger immediately rose to his chest. He mmed his hands on the table, and the poor table split in two. "How dare he to disrespect my daughter like that!"

    Geoffrey gulped again before he continued with his report. "After the old minor god did that horrible and disrespectful thing to Her Royal Highness, the god apparently regained his youthful appearance."

    Hearing that didn''t lessen his anger, but it piqued his curiosity. "My daughter can rejuvenate a god?"

    "ording to Princess Neoma, the minor god called her the next ''Aether.''"

    Aether?

    Hearing that familiar word caused him a splitting headache out of nowhere. He clutched his head and shut his eyes tight while groaning in pain. Suddenly, unfamiliar images flooded his mind.

    "Your Majesty!" Geoffrey yelled worriedly. "I''ll call Kyle and your Healing Sage!"

    He wasn''t able to stop the Pdin from leaving the room to call Kyle and Marcus¨C his personal Healing Sage. But he trusted that Geoffrey would keep it a secret from the others. The fact that he was in pain at the moment should never leak out.

    Soon, he stopped worrying about that.

    All because unfamiliar memories that he had with Mona came back to him.

    Ah, no ¨C those scenes weren''t "unfamiliar." Those were, in fact, the missing memories that Mona stole from him in the past.

    After realizing that, he calmed down and epted everything quietly.

    "The gods are nning to turn Neoma into the next Aether," Niki whispered to himself when he opened his eyes. "And Gavin¡­" He clenched his hands tight until his nails dug deep into his skin. "That scheming bastard!"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "THUG PRINCESS, remember this: Visualize the Mother Hisa Tree in your mind as vivid as possible," Tteokbokki, now in his baby dragon form, said as he wrapped his short arms around her arm. "And stick close to me!"

    Neoma nodded and gently patted Tteokbokki''s cute paws. "Sure, Tteokbokki."

    "Okay, now close your eyes."

    She nodded, then she closed her eyes.

    As per Tteokbokki''s instruction, she visualized the Mother Hisa Tree in her mind. The tree''s beautiful emerald impressed her, so she easily imagined it in her head. Plus, Mochi trained her to do things like that to summon Spirits.

    Moreover, Tteokbokki was with her anyway¡­

    Wait.

    [Tteokbokki?]

    She felt an icy breeze pass her by, and she realized that the baby dragon clinging to her arm also disappeared.

    [Damn, did I fail?]

    She slowly opened her eyes and was greeted by a different tree in the middle of a lush garden that smelled sweet.

    [Beautiful¡­]

    The white tree with diamond leaves took her breath away.

    [But this isn''t the Hisa Tree¡­]

    Shit, she got lost. Thankfully, she didn''t feel any danger or malice around her. In fact, the beautiful white tree was oozing with warmth as if it was weing her in that beautiful garden.

    [I''ll hear an earful from Tteokbokkiter.]

    Neoma let out a frustrated sigh. "How do I get out of here?"

    "The exit is that way, unnie."

    Her eyes widened in shock when she heard an unfamiliar voice of a little girl. ["Unnie?"]

    She whipped her head toward where the voice came from.

    To say that she was shocked to find a little girl who had the same appearance as her when she was living in Korea would be an understatement.

    Yes, the pale girl looked exactly like her except for the ck hair and ck eyes.

    It was like looking at the child version of herself in her second life.

    "You called me ''unnie,''" Neoma said, still in shock. ''Unnie'' was a Korean honorary title used by younger girls to call their older sisters or females older than them. "Who are you?"

    Her look-a-like just smiled at her and pointed her finger to her left side.

    Then, suddenly, the child suddenly burst into butterflies¨C colorful, pretty butterflies.

    Neoma looked at the butterflies that scattered above her. "Nabi¡­?"

    ''Nabi'' meant ''butterflies'' in the Koreannguage. She didn''t know why she called the butterflies in Korean instead of thenguage of that world. Was it because the child that she met spoke Korean to her earlier?

    [Is she my child version?]

    "Thug princess!"

    Neoma closed her eyes when Tteokbokki yelled loudly in her mind.

    And when she opened her eyes again, she found herself in a different dimension.

    Tteokbokki was floating right in front of her face, puffing and huffing while nagging at her for being "absent-minded."

    [But I wasn''t being absent-minded then!]

    "Shut up for a minute," she said while massaging her temples. "I swear I didn''t act careless this time. But I don''t know how I ended up in a different dimension. Do you know where that ce is, Tteokbokki?"

    "I don''t," Tteokbokki said while shaking his head. "Our souls are tied together. I just tugged at the thread that connects our soul to pull you here."

    She was about to say something when she noticed the tremblingdy behind her Soul Beast.

    [Ah, yes. We have to save someone.]

    "A d-de M-Moonasterio," thedy with short bob-cut mint green hair and sparkling turquoise eyes said while hugging the staff close to her chest. "Are you here to k-kill me?"

    Neoma smiled awkwardly and scratched her cheek.

    [Just what did my ancestors do to this poor girl for her to think a child is here to kill her?]

    <strong>***</strong>

    "IT seems like the Cosmic Tree is about to awaken earlier than expected," Tara, the Queen of the Spirit World, said while looking up at the beautiful white tree with diamond leaves. She was one of the select few who had the permission to enter the garden after they forced the Cosmic Tree into a deep slumber as a punishment. "And I believe it''s thanks to your nurturing, Nabi."

    Nabi, the Spirit with the same appearance as Princess Neoma, just smiled at her while watering the Cosmic Tree''s roots with a golden watering can. "I''m just doing what Ruto Oppa told me to do."

    Ruto, huh?

    That child brought the Spirit into the garden a few years ago. Since the Cosmic Tree''s home was out of her jurisdiction, she failed to stop Ruto from bringing a stray Spirit to the Cosmic Tree--- especially since the Cosmic Tree herself allowed it.

    Even though the Cosmic Tree was asleep, she still could convey her will to the surrounding beings.

    [I was wondering why Ruto became significantly weaker than what he used to be. But the answer is hiding in in sight.]

    Seeing Nabi covered with a powerful Mana made her realize Ruto gave up half of his power to protect the young Spirit. But Ruto wasn''t the type of person to be kind and merciful to someone who wasn''t Princess Neoma. If he did this for Nabi, it could only mean one thing.

    "Nabi, you have it, don''t you?"

    The Spirit ignored her.

    "You have it," Tara said while smiling. "Princess Neoma''s missing memories."

    Tara couldn''t clearly remember what happened during the lifetimes where Princess Neoma had previously died. But she could feel that this world had regressed, and the trigger was the young princess.

    As the queen of the Spirit World, she wanted to know how she failed to protect her world in the past to prevent the same thing from happening again. But unfortunately, even though she had a high rank as the queen of the Spirit World, her memories of the world before the regression were blurry.

    [Thus, I have no choice but to depend on the memories of other people.]

    Nabi turned to her and smiled brightly. "I will protect Neoma unnie''s memories even from you¨C just like what I promised Ruto oppa."

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 337 - THE JEWELED-HEART MAGES

    "I AM not here to hurt mydy," Neoma said carefully and politely to the confused and scareddy. "My name is Nero de Moonasterio, the current Crown Prince of the empire."

    She had to introduce herself as the Crown Prince because she was acting like one.

    "Nero de Moonasterio?" thedy asked, and she looked even more confused now. "I''m afraid I don''t remember that name from the Royal Family¡­"

    Ah, right.

    Tteokbokki mentioned that thedy''s soul had been trapped in this tree for years.

    "And as far as I know, the heir to the throne is His Imperial Highness, the Crown Prince Nichs."

    Her eyes widened in shock when she recognized that name.

    [Nichs de Moonasterio is my Papa Boss''s father!]

    Aka, her paternal grandfather¨C the cruel tyrant who had done atrocities during his reign, and one of those unspeakable acts was hunting the Silver Fox n for their Fox''s Marbles.

    "Mydy, I know this is hard to believe, but I''m the grandson of the previous emperor¨C"

    "Impossible!" thedy interrupted her with wide eyes, her pupils shaking from distrust and shock. "His Royal Highness Prince Nichs just got engaged to Lady udia Quinzel! Howe the Crown Prince has a grandson already? Did youe from the future¡­"

    Thedy trailed off and eventually shut her mouth.

    [Ah, she probably answered her own question.]

    "How¡­" thedy began to ask in a weak voice. "How long was I trapped in this dimension? It only feels like a year to me."

    A year?

    She clenched her hands before she gave an honest response. "You''ve been trapped in here for around fifty years, mydy."

    To be honest, she didn''t calcte her grandfather''s and father''s ages.

    She just remembered the fact that this particr Hisa Tree was nted fifty years ago, and thus it was time to harvest it now.

    "Fifty years¡­?" thedy asked weakly, her whole body trembling now. Then her knees buckled, and she fell to the ground while hugging herself. She looked shocked, confused, and on the verge of crying now. "I''ve been here for fifty years?"

    It hurt her heart to see the unnameddy crumble before her.

    So she avoided the pitiful sight by looking around. The dimension was pretty much like Tteokbokki''s space. It was a well-lit, yet empty room. She also noticed that there were several jewels and pretty ornaments scattered on the floor. Were those the precious items that Tteokbokki saw before?

    But something else caught her attention soon.

    [Is that her physical body?]

    Thedy''s physical body was entrapped inside a cage made of roots that emerged from the ground.

    "Is there a way for me to get out of here?"

    She immediately turned to thedy, who was still kneeling on the ground. "I promise to get you out of here," she said determinedly, then she turned to Tteokbokki in his baby dragon form. "Tteokbokki, how do we get out of here with thedy''s physical body?"

    "Let''s destroy this ce," Tteokbokki said casually. "But the physical tree outside would get damaged as well. I thought you need to harvest that or something?"

    That was true.

    Bute to think of it, only the Royal Family would get affected by the loss of the Mother Hisa Tree anyway. Considering that her Papa Boss didn''t care about the tree that much, then perhaps it wouldn''t be that big of a loss.

    [I mean, the Hisa ointment works well. But a human''s life is more important than that.]

    "Tteokbokki, go wild," she told her Soul Beast. "I will create a barrier to protect thedy and her physical body."

    "Alright," Tteokbokki said, then he opened his cute little wings and flew above her. "I''ll wait for your sign before I wreak havoc."

    She gave her Soul Beast a thumbs up. "Okay."

    Lewis was guarding her physical body outside, so even if the tree burst or something, she''d be fine.

    "Y-Your Royal Highness¡­"

    She squatted down and ced her hands on the floor while talking to thedy. "Don''t worry, mydy," she assured her gently. "I will get you out of here safely."

    After saying that, she covered the entire room with her Dome.

    It was amazing how she could still use her barrier despite being in her Spirit form. ording to Mochi, it was thanks to the Roseheart Blood flowing in her veins.

    [Mama Boss''s genes are exceptional, too.]

    "Your Royal Highness, my name is Paige Avery."

    She smiled and nodded. "It''s not to meet you, Lady Avery."

    But thedy seemed to be disappointed by her reaction.

    "It seems like Your Royal Highness didn''t recognize my name."

    Oh.

    Now she suddenly felt guilty even though she did nothing wrong.

    [But I''m d that Lady Avery seems to be taking everything better than expected.]

    "Your Royal Highness, I have a question," Paige Avery asked hesitantly, her pupils shaking as if she was scared. But the Crown Prince did not cause the fear. It was caused by whatever thedy wanted to ask. "Does the Avery n still¡­ exist?"

    Avery n.

    As a royal, she had memorized all the noble and important households in the empire. But Avery, despite being quite amonst name, was something that she hadn''t heard of yet.

    "Ah," Paige said, then she smiled bitterly. "It seems like our n has been wiped out."

    She felt a pang in her chest.

    The Avery n suddenly reminded her of the Silver Fox n.

    [My crazy grandfather wiped out the Silver Fox n for their Marbles. It seems like the Avery n is the key to the wonders of the Hisa Tree, and the Royal Family monopolizes the Hisa Tree all this time.]

    That could mean the Royal Family might have hidden the existence of the Avery n to monopolize their ability.

    [If Paige was still free before my crazy grandfather became the emperor, then their n must have been hidden or wiped out during Emperor Nichs''s reign. That''s probably the reason why I haven''t heard of the Avery n until now.]

    Tsk.

    [My grandfather must have really been a crazy bastard. May his soul never find peace.]

    Drip.

    Her thoughts got interrupted by the strange sight in front of her.

    Paige Avery''s chest, the part where her heart was supposed to be, turned into something that resembled a small ck hole. Then a heart-shaped red diamond emerged from the ck hole.

    And after that, the red diamond was split into hundreds of pieces.

    [What the¡­]

    Finally, the broken pieces of the red diamond fell to the floor.

    Much to her shock, the small pieces of the broken diamond turned bigger after falling to the ground. As someone who grew up in luxury in both of her previous lives, she could tell that they could sell those pieces of the jewel at astronomical prices.

    [Is this what the Wisterias are after?]

    "This is the ability of our n, Your Royal Highness."

    She raised her head to meet Paige''s gaze.

    Ah, Paige Avery was crying.

    "We, the Averys, are dubbed as the "Jeweled-heart Mages.""

    Oh.

    [She''s a mage?]

    "Our heart is made of a precious gem that resembles a red diamond," Paige exined in a cracked voice. "When we experience severe emotional pain, our diamond-like hearts break into pieces only to create more jewels. We turn the gems produced by our broken hearts into ornaments and weapons that could be infused with Mana using our magic power."

    That would exin the jewels and the ornaments scattered on the floor.

    [But weapons that could be infused with Mana? That sounds awfully familiar.]

    Ah, she remembered now¨C the Hazelden Kingdom.

    [Princess Brigitte''s kingdom produces Mana-infused weapons for non-Mana users, too.]

    "But aside from that, our n''s magic power could also give life to a special seed called ''Hisa,''" Paige continued with her story. Then she smiled bitterly at her. "Is that the reason the former Emperor Conrad de Moonasterio trapped me here?"

    Conrad de Moonasterio was Nichs de Moonasterio''s father.

    [That another crazy bastard is my great grandfather.]

    "The previous heads of our n disappeared before their time as well," the Mage continued in a sad voice. "Were they also trapped in the Hisa Tree like me?"

    "I apologize, but I can''t answer your questions regarding that, Lady Avery," she said apologetically. "I''ve only started with my investigation. It''s embarrassing to admit, but I didn''t know that somebody is trapped in here until I heard your voice."

    "I''ve been screaming for help all this time. But it seems like the people outside couldn''t hear me since my soul got separated from my physical body aftering here," Paige said, then she looked at her with interest. "Are you a Mage, Your Royal Highness?"

    "I am not a Mage," she said. "But my ability to hear Spirits like you is thanks to my Roseheart Blood."

    The Mage''s eyes widened in shock. "Your Royal Highness has Roseheart Blood?"

    "My mother was thest matriarch of House Roseheart."

    "Was?" the Mage asked, surprised. "The ducal House Roseheart no longer exists?"

    Ducal?

    Damn, this was the first time she heard that House Roseheart used to be a ducal family. What the hell did her crazy grandfather do for House Roseheart to be the baron family that she knew?

    Ah, thinking about it pissed her off.

    "Lady Avery, let''s talk again after we get out of here," she said in a serious voice.

    Paige seemed to notice her sour mood, for the Mage only nodded in silence.

    "Tteokbokki," Neoma said, then she looked up at Tteokbokki who was flying above her head, outside the Dome that she created. "Burn everything to ashes."

    Tteokbokkiughed, and hisughter sounded like a roar. "That''s my specialty!"

    <strong>***</strong>

    WHEN NEOMA opened her eyes, she found herself in Lewis''s arms.

    "Are you okay, Lewis?" Neoma asked weakly. "You hate skinship, so you can let go now."

    "I''m okay with skinship if it''s with you, Prince¨C" Lewis said, catching himself. Then his gaze subtly went past her before he looked at her in the eye again. "Prince."

    Ah, they weren''t alone.

    "Okay, put me down now," she said when she realized that Tteokbokki''s me was running wild behind her.

    He nodded before he carefully put her down.

    When she turned around, it surprised her to see the Mother Hisa Tree burning down. And a few meters away from the burning tree, an unconsciousdy wearing a robe was lying down on the grass while hugging her staff that was shaped like a cane.

    It was the Mage with mint-green bob-cut hair and turquoise eyes that she met earlier.

    Thankfully, Paige Avery was still protected by the Dome that she created a while ago.

    "Dion," Neoma called when she felt the Pdin''s presence nearby. "Bring the Lady Mage in the vi safely."

    She turned around and was already back to the vi with Lewis behind her when she heard Dion''s response.

    "As you wish, Your Royal Highness."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "GREKO, stay here with Lady Avery and monitor her condition closely," Neoma said to her youngest "son" while looking at the Mage lying on the bed. They brought Paige Avery to one of the guest rooms at the vi. "Call me if something happens."

    Juri gave Paige Avery a sponge bath and changed the Mage''s clothes into a clean pajama earlier. Paige Avery didn''t wake up despite all of that. But thankfully, the Mage was just sleeping soundly.

    "I will take care of Mage noona, eomma," Greko assured her. "I''m d to be of help to eomma."

    She turned to the child and ruffled his smooth head before she turned to Juri. This time, she put on an apologetic expression. "Juri, why do I always have to cause your family pain and trouble?"

    First, there was the issue with Madam Hammock¨C Juri''s maternal grandmother.

    This time, she was going to make House Wisteria pay for their crimes. The current head of the Wisterias was Juri''s grandfather, while Lady Sera Wisteria¨C the leader of that expedition¨C was Juri''s aunt.

    [This will directly affect Juri''s immediate family.]

    "It''s not Your Royal Highness''s fault that both sides of my family havemitted grave sins," Juri said politely, then she bowed her head. "Please proceed with our punishment as you deem fit without worrying about my feelings, Your Royal Highness."

    Hearing that made her clench her fists.

    [In this world, a person''s crime is the crime of the whole family. If I punish House Wisteria, Juri will be punished as well. But I can''t turn a blind eye to this¡­]

    "Alright, I understand," she said. "Stay here with Greko and monitor Lady Avery''s condition with him."

    After all, Juri could also heal people.

    Juri and Greko both bowed to her. "As you wish, Your Royal Highness."

    She just nodded at the two before leaving the room.

    All her people were currently busy.

    She sent Jeno to extinguish the fire with Mochi and Soju.

    Jeanne Audley was currently guarding Xion, the assassin, who was locked up in the basement prison.

    The other royal knights who apanied them to that expedition were guarding Count and Countess Campbell, along with the vi''s servants and employees, who were under house arrest.

    Dion and Lewis, on the other hand, fetched Lady Wisteria and the Mages.

    Ah, she felt tired even though most of the things that she did today were order people around.

    [This is all my ancestors'' fault for being crazy bastards.]

    She stopped cursing her ancestors when she arrived at the top of the grand staircase. From there, she could see Dion and Lewis guiding Lady Sera Wisteria and three Mages. Everyone stopped and looked up when they felt her presence.

    Seeing Lady Sera Wisteria made her blood boil.

    Neoma didn''t notice it but at the moment, she released a very dominating aura that made Lady Sera Wisteria and the other Mages kneel before her.

    Even Lewis and Dion felt the powerful urge to kneel. But since her anger wasn''t directed at the two, the pressure that Lewis and Dion weren''t as heavy as the one felt by Lady Sera Wisteria and the three Mages.

    "Avery n¨C the Jeweled-heart Mages," Neoma said in an icy voice slowly, making her sound scarier than normal. Even without looking at her reflection, she knew her eyes had already turned glowing red. "Are you aware that a Mage from the Avery n has been trapped inside the Mother Hisa Tree all this time?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 338 - I ATTRACT WEIRDOS?

    NEOMA sipped her tea while observing Lady Sera Wisteria who was sitting on the couch across from her.

    Right now, only the two of them were in the drawing room.

    She initially wanted to talk to the Mages that Lady Sera Wisteria brought along. But in the end, she talked to the boss first.

    "Your Royal Highness, my people and I aren''t aware that there''s a person trapped inside the Mother Hisa Tree," Lady Sera Wisteria said in a calm voice. Even her appearance showed that she wasn''t bothered, despite being in a predicament. This showed the elegance and the audacity of a true noblewoman. "I swear that on my honor as a Wisteria."

    Neoma put the teacup on the table quietly before she spoke. "Lady Wisteria, I am asking because Ick the knowledge regarding the origins of the Hisa Tree," she said carefully. "I''ve read in the History books that the Hisa Tree seeds were a gift by an unknown family to the Royal Family back when the empire was just built." She paused before she continued. "Was it, perhaps, the Avery n that gave the Hisa Tree seeds to the Royal Family?"

    "They named the Hisa Trees after the family that created it, Your Royal Highness."

    "Oh," she said, surprised. "There used to be a Hisa n in the empire?"

    "Yes, but they eventually disappeared. The only proof of their existence that remained is the Hisa Tree they left behind," the older noblewoman said. "The Royal Family had aplete monopoly of the Hisa Tree and the magical ointments produced from it until the time of thete Emperor Nichs¨C Your Royal Highness''s paternal grandfather."

    Ah, so it was during her crazy grandfather''s reign that the Royal Family began sharing the Hisa Tree with the Wisterias and the Hammocks.

    "Back when thete Emperor Nichs was still a Crown Prince, he worked with a n known as the Jeweled-heart Mages."

    "The Avery n."

    "That''s correct, Your Royal Highness," the older noblewoman confirmed. "The then-Crown Prince Nichs discovered that the magic power of the Avery n could make the Hisa Trees bear jewel flowers. But the price is too high."

    "The heart of a Mage from the Avery n?"

    Lady Sera Wisteria nodded solemnly. "The Avery n cut off their ties with the then-Crown Prince Nichs. But as soon as the Crown Prince became Emperor Nichs, he ordered his men to capture the entire Avery n."

    She clenched her hands because she already knew what her crazy grandfather might have done after that.

    "Thete Emperor Nichs ripped the hearts out of the entire Avery n," Lady Sera Wisteria said. "He crushed their jeweled hearts and used it as a fertilizer for the branches of the Hisa Tree they nted in order to create artificial Hisa Trees."

    She thumped her hand against her chest out of frustration. Her heart was heavy while listening to the atrocitiesmitted by her crazy grandfather.

    [No wonder Papa Boss had usurped the throne from the previous emperor.]

    "How about the Mother Hisa Tree that they nted roughly fifty years ago?" she asked the older noblewoman. "There''s a human trapped in there. How do you think that kind of thing happened, Lady Wisteria?"

    Lady Sera Wisteria fell silent for a while before she spoke again. "This is just a rumor that I heard when Father entrusted me with the Hisa business in the past," she said carefully. "ording to my father, the prodigy from the Avery n rejected thete Emperor Nichs and turned down his offer to be his Royal Concubine. Father thought it was the main reason thete emperor threw a fit and ordered the extinction of the Avery n."

    "What a scumbag."

    The older noblewoman just sipped her tea as if she was pretending that she didn''t hear the Crown Prince call the previous emperor a scumbag.

    "Lady Wisteria, do you know anything about that prodigy from the Avery n?"

    "All I heard is this prodigy is supposed to be the first Archmage produced by the Avery n," Lady Sera Wisteria said. "But the interesting thing I''ve heard is the day this prodigy disappeared, thete emperor personally nted the Mother Hisa Tree in the Golden Field. People in the past talked about it because it was the first time thete emperor dirtied his hand just to nt a tree."

    [Why do I have a feeling that the prodigy we''re talking about is Paige Avery?]

    "Lady Wisteria, are you implying that my crazy grandfather abducted the prodigy and somehow trapped her inside the Hisa Tree that he nted?"

    "That''s my hunch, Your Royal Highness," the older noblewoman said. "Is it a bit of a stretch to think that way?"

    "Nah, it''s something that my crazy grandfather could do."

    "I see."

    "I saved the Mage trapped inside the Hisa Tree," she confessed to the older noblewoman. "She didn''t know that she''s been trapped inside for over fifty years. I''ll ask her about what happened to her once she gets enough rest."

    Lady Sera Wisteria looked surprised, but she kept her expression calm again. "Are you going to use the Mages''s existence to expose the crime of the Wisterias, Your Royal Highness?"

    "Maybe, maybe not," she said with a shrug. "But Lady Wisteria, tell me. How do you harvest the jewels inside the Hisa Tree? What do your Mages do to harvest them?"

    "First, the Mages collect the emerald leaves," the older noblewoman said. "Then we chop up the tree, and the Mages would use a device to suck out the gems inside the trunk. The artificial Hisa Trees also produce mid-tier gems. To be honest, this is the first time I''m supposed to harvest a Mother Hisa Tree since they only bloom every fifty years."

    "What did your predecessors do with the jewels they harvested before?"

    "ording to the ledgers that our family keep, the number of jewels we harvested from the Mother Hisa Tree in the past is enough tost for at least three decades," she exined. "Thedies in the family turn those jewels into ornaments and weapons. After all, the jewels produced by the Mother Hisa Tree aren''t only beautiful¨C they''re also useful since we could infuse Mana in them."

    "Then what do you do after you create ornaments and weapons from those jewels?"

    "We sell them to a Merchant Guild that our family has been working with for a long time now."

    Merchant Guild, huh?

    [I want to gobble it up.]

    "What happens after you sell those to the Merchant Guild?"

    "We don''t care about that anymore," Lady Sera Wisteria said. "We only produce the ornaments and the weapons, then sell the products to them. The distribution is the Merchant Guild''s sole responsibility."

    She smirked at thatme excuse. "You do that because you don''t want the Royal Family that you embezzle the jewels you harvest from the Hisa Trees, right?"

    The older noblewoman just sipped her tea.

    "Silence means yes" perfectly applied to that situation.

    "Find out where the Merchant Guild sells the ornaments and weapons they get from the Wisterias," she ordered Lady Sera Wisteria. "While you''re at it, send me all the information regarding that Merchant Guild as soon as we return to the Royal Capital."

    Lady Sera Wisteria fell silent for a while before she opened her mouth again. "Thedies of the Wisteria family will take full responsibility."

    "Why only thedies?"

    "Because everything began during my great, great aunt''s time," the older noblewoman said. "She was an old maid. As Your Royal Highness know, thedies in the empire who refuse to get married get kicked out by their family once their brothers or other male rtives inherit their fathers'' noble title."

    She sipped her tea, suddenly feeling guilty because of the oppressivews towards women that her ancestors created.

    "My great, great aunt thought that thedies of our family must be self-reliant financially," Lady Sera Wisteria. "But since thedies in the empire could only own businesses rted to beauty and fashion, we have no choice but to be heavily involved with the Hisa Tree business."

    Ah, her conscience pricked her.

    To be honest, she didn''t care that the Royal Family had been robbed off for years. She just hated the idea that the thieves were rich nobles. Had the thieves been the poor, she would have turned a blind eye to it.

    "I''ll inform my father about this first," Neoma said, then she stood up. "We will return to the Royal Capital first thing in the morning."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "DION, once we return to the Royal Capital, I want you to contact the church and send some priests at the Golden Field," Neoma said while climbing down to the basement prison. Dion was walking in front of her, while Lewis was walking behind her. "I heard from Lady Wisteria that they nted the Hisa Trees in the Golden Field by sacrificing the lives of the Avery n members. I want the priests to bless the Hisa Trees."

    Dion turned to her and nodded politely. "I understand, Your Royal Highness."

    "Thanks," she said. "We will pay respects to the Avery n before we leave."

    After saying that, they finally arrived at the prison cell where Xion was locked up.

    Jeanne Audley, who was guarding the prison, bowed politely at her.

    "Good job, Jeanne," she said, then she turned to the prison cell.

    Then she got shocked.

    Xion, who was sitting on the floor with his hands tied behind him and his ankles chained to the wall, was bleeding from head to toe. The assassin was conscious though. He was even smiling brightly at her.

    [Did Jeanne torture him?]

    "The assassin tried to escape earlier, so I subdued him, Your Royal Highness," Jeanne said as if she was shy.

    But it didn''t look like the female Pdin simply "subdued" the assassin.

    [She definitely tortured him.]

    These Pdins were quite scary, huh?

    "Crown Prince, did you kill that monster?" Xion asked while smirking. "I can''t feel his presence anymore."

    "It''s a god and not a monster, dummy."

    The assassin looked shocked by her revtion. "What kind of god continues to punish an entire n up to the newest generation that has nothing to do with the sin of their ancestors? Even my grandfather doesn''t remember what kind of sin our ancestors havemitted against that damned monster."

    "He said he lost someone precious because of your ancestors," she said casually. "Gods live for a long time, and their sense of time differs from the rest of us. Perhaps what happened a few centuries ago only felt like yesterday to him. Thus, his grudge remained strong all these years."

    "Are you on his side?" he snarled at her. "We suffered for years because of his curse. Do you know how awful it is to be forgotten by everyone we hold dear¨C"

    "Xion," she said, cutting her off. "I will never forget you or your face." She gave him a thumbs up. "Your visual is totally my style."

    She heard Dion, Jeanne, and Lewis let out a deep sigh behind her.

    Of course, she ignored the three.

    "Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Xion asked with furrowed brows. Then, a momentter, he burst out inughter. "Well, it worked."

    "The curse of your n has been lifted already," she informed the assassin. "That means your family''s business is in danger now that people won''t forget about you anymore."

    The assassin looked shocked, as if he just realized it now.

    "Plus, you have to pay the price for attempting to kill me," she said casually. "I''m the Crown Prince, after all."

    "You can''t kill me."

    "What''s with the confidence?"

    Xion smirked haughtily. "Your Royal Highness, the damned monster told me an interesting fact before he disappeared," he said, then he looked at her from head to toe. "You''re a girl, aren''t you?"

    Suddenly, Jeanne, Dion, and Lewis were in front of her as if they were ready to kill the assassin.

    [Omo.]

    "You can''t kill me," Xion repeated, more confidently this time. "Using my family''s specialmunication device, I prepared a message telling them that the Crown Prince is a girl pretending to be a boy. If I die, that message will be sent automatically to every single member of my guild."

    "Dion, Jeanne, Lewis, step aside," she ordered sternly.

    The three instantly moved out of her way.

    "Do you think that kind of threat will work on me?" she asked, then she grabbed the bars of the prison cell that separated her from the assassin. "The fact that you didn''t expose my secret to your family yet only means one thing. You want to negotiate with me, don''t you?"

    "Wow, the Crown Princess is smart."

    [What a douche.]

    "I only have one wish, Crown Princess."

    She raised an eyebrow at her. "Alright, I''ll at least listen to it."

    "My wish is simple," Xion said, then he smiled brightly at her. "Let me be one of your people working for you, our dear Crown Prince."

    To be honest, she needed an assassin for her dream team.

    Since Redgrave assured her that Xion, despite being an assassin for a profession, hadn''t killed innocent people, she was thinking of hiring him to fill the spot.

    But Xion still attempted to kill her.

    [I need information¨C who wants to kill the Crown Prince of the empire? Xion is still useful, so it will be a shame to kill him right away.]

    But she didn''t want it to be easy for Xion to join her dream team.

    "You want to be my son?" she asked Xion.

    The assassin looked confused. "Excuse me?"

    She jabbed a thumb in Lewis'' direction. "This is Lewis, my personal knight. He''s also my oldest son," she said. Lewis wasn''t the oldest among her children, but he was still the first child that she adopted. But since Lewis had lived as a fox for a thousand year before he became a human, maybe she could count it as him being the oldest. "This time, I''ll let my children decide whether they want you to be their new sibling or not."

    "No," Lewis said promptly. "Don''t need that."

    "Hey," Xionined to Lewis right away. "I''m not a thing, and I''m older than you!"

    Neoma smiled in satisfaction. [This is going to be fun.]

    Jasper Hawthorne''s information guild.

    The Wisteria Ladies'' merchant guild.

    And now, Xion''s assassin guild.

    [I will gobble them up.]

    <strong>***</strong>

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    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 339 - ONE CHAOTIC FAMILY(?)

    <strong></strong>[I''M SO effing'' tired.]

    Neoma almost dragged herself out of the carriage because her body felt heavy.

    But she instantly beamed when she saw the person who opened the carriage for her. It wasn''t the coachman.

    "Papa Boss!" Neoma said happily, then she opened her arms. "Hurry! Carry me!"

    Her Papa Boss let out a huff, but he still carried her as gently and as carefully as possible. "Are your short legs tired again?"

    Sheughed when she remembered the time she asked her father to carry her in the past. "I also remember that moment, Papa Boss," she said, then she whispered in her Papa Boss''s ear. "It was when you brought me to the temple to sacrifice me to extend Nero''s life span, right?"

    Her father let out a (fake) coughing fit while walking back to his pce.

    She justughed at her Papa Boss'' reaction.

    They were free to talk that way because only the people who knew her royal secret were around them.

    She and her envoy used a secret road to enter the Royal Pce. Thus, only her Papa Boss and Geoffrey Kinsley greeted them. Even the people of the empire didn''t know that the Crown Prince had returned earlier than expected.

    [But Papa Boss will announce the assassination attempt to the publicter.]

    Anyway, her father dismissed their people earlier.

    But she told her people (aka her children) to report to her tomorrow. Lewis looked like he didn''t want to leave yet, but in the end, he was forced to do so because she gave several orders to her children.

    Since she needed to rest, she let her kids handle the matters regarding Lady Sera Wisteria, Paige Avery, and Xion the Assassin.

    [But I''ll work with them early tomorrow.]

    She was just exhausted after killing a minor god, interrogating Lady Sera Wisteria and Xion the assassin, then paying respects to the Avery n that were buried with the Hisa Trees before they left the Golden Field.

    Ah, of course, she had to talk to Count and Countess Campbell, too.

    [I think I deserve a break.]

    "Papa Boss, I know that Dion already sent you a report, but I still want to say it," she said while rubbing her eyes with her hand. "I brought the assassin with me. Jeanne already tortured him, so please spare his life."

    Her father frowned at her request. "That damned assassin is handsome, isn''t he? You''re weak to good-looking people."

    "I like his visual¨C he''s the handsome, brooding type," she admitted confidently. "But Papa Boss, that''s not the only reason why I want him alive. I want him to be a part of my dream team."

    "Neoma, what made you think I will allow you to keep the assassin who tried to kill you by your side?"

    "Papa Boss, listen to me," she said patiently. She had to convince her father to let Xion be a part of her team. "Xion''s ability is rare and very useful. It''s such a shame to let him go. Plus, he didn''t actually try to kill me."

    Her father let out a deep sigh. "Neoma¡­"

    "I''m stronger than him, so he can''t hurt me," she added. "Moreover, I have my children with me."

    Her Papa Boss shook his head. "I''m still not convinced."

    "I want to gobble up his assassin guild."

    Now her father looked interested. "You want to own an assassin guild?"

    "Papa Boss, I need a connection to the Underworld and the ck Market," she said seriously. "Although I know that we have to eradicate them, we also have to admit that we needed the information that flows in the Underworld? Do you know what guilds rule in the back alley?"

    "The information guild, the merchant guild, and the assassin guild."

    She smiled and gently patted her father''s head. "Papa Boss is so smart."

    Her father red at her.

    She justughed at his reaction. "Anyway, I have a n, Papa Boss. Just trust me on this one." She sped her hands together. "Pretty please?"

    "I''ll observe that punk first."

    That answer satisfied her for now. "Thank you, Papa Boss."

    "I heard the person trapped inside the Mother Hisa Tree is a Mage," her father said. "Do you also n to put her in your team? After all, you also need a Mage."

    "Yep, Papa Boss," she said cheerfully. "But only if Lady Avery wants to. To be honest, I''m not expecting much. After what my crazy grandfather did to her n, I''ll ept it whole-heartedly if she turns me down."

    Her father fell silent for a while. "Alright, I''ll leave it to you."

    "Thanks, Papa Boss."

    "Should I leave the matter with the Wisterias to you as well?"

    "I actually need your help with that matter, Papa Boss," she said, then she covered her mouth when she yawned. "I want to hear your opinion about the punishment I came up with."

    "Let''s talk about it tomorrow," her father said, then he opened the door to his bedroom. "You should rest first."

    Much to her surprise, the head maid, Stephanie was already waiting for her.

    The maid brought her sleeping clothes as if Stephanie already knew that she''d be sleeping in her father''s room.

    [Ah, Papa Boss must have called her in advance.]

    "Wash up first," her Papa Boss said as he carefully put her down. "I''ll just finish some more work before I head to bed."

    "Okay, Papa Boss," Neoma said sleepily while Stephanie was carrying her to the bathroom. "Fighting."

    <strong>***</strong>

    [I DON''T have the heart to tell Neoma.]

    Niki considered telling his daughter about the past memories that he retrieved. But he got scared. He got scared that Neoma might not believe him.

    After all, he saw how much his daughter loved Gavin Quinzel.

    [Although I hate Gavin Quinzel, I can''t deny that he''s a better father to Neoma than I am. If I tell Neoma that Gavin Quinzel might have not been honest with me and Mona in the past, would she think I''m just badmouthing her "appa?"]

    "Father-inw, what are you thinking so deeply about?"

    Niki raised his head to find Trevor, the demon boy, sitting at his table.

    It did not surprise him to see this punk here. After all, Trevor already sent a message to him this morning asking him to open the portal for him.

    "Who''s your father-inw, you punk?" Niki warned the demon boy coldly. "Watch your mouth before I rip it off."

    Trevor justughed and raised his hands in surrender. "Your Majesty, Princess Neoma isn''t in her room. Did you hide her in your pce?"

    Yes, the reason he brought Neoma to his bedroom was because he knew Trevor would go straight to his daughter''s room. And Trevor''s arrival was also the reason he returned to his office. He needed to talk to this punk, after all.

    "Don''t disturb Neoma''s rest," he warned the demon. "She''s tired."

    "I bet she is," the demon said yfully. "Killing a minor god is no easy feat."

    It did not surprise him to know that the news already reached Trevor.

    [I''m sure even the other gods and powerful beings on the continent have already heard about the "Crown Prince" ying a minor god.]

    He''d worry about thatter.

    For now¡­

    "Why are you here?" he asked the demon boy. "Did something happen to Nero?"

    "Prince Nero is doing well, Your Majesty," Trevor reported to him. "I only came here because His Royal Highness asked me to deliver a message to Princess Neoma."

    "It must be urgent if Nero sent you here personally."

    "I''m sorry, but even if His Majesty asks, I won''t tell you the content of the message."

    "I won''t ask anyway," he said sternly. "But I want to know if everything is alright between my children. They''re not fighting, are they?"

    "Don''t worry, Your Majesty. The royal twins aren''t fighting," the demon boy assured him. "Prince Nero and Princess Neoma will tell you about their little secret once the time is right."

    "I don''t want to hear that from you."

    The demon boy had the audacity tough in front of him.

    [This punk is fearless.]

    "I have a job for you, demon boy."

    "If will help me earn some brownie points from my future father-inw, then I will not hesitate to be Your Majesty''s servant."

    "Stop it or else¡­"

    The demon boy acted like he was zipping his mouth shut.

    "Find Gavin Quinzel for me while you''re here on the surface."

    Trevor''s eyes widened in shock. "Are you going to kill Gavin Quinzel, Your Majesty?"

    "That''s none of your business," Niki said while frowning. He could ask his Pdins to find Gavin Quinzel. But why not put the noisy Devil''s Grimoire to work, so he could separate the demon boy from his daughter? "All you have to do is find that bastard for me."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "I REFUSE to ept that assassin bastard as our teammate," Juri said firmly, then she crossed her arms over her chest. "He tried to kill our Princess Neoma!"

    She could speak freely like that because a powerful soundproof barrier of magic protected the basement prison.

    Yes, she was in the basement prison cell with Jeno, Greko, and Lewis.

    And the four of them were having a meeting right in front of Xion''s cell.

    It was okay to say Princess Neoma''s name in front of the assassin because earlier, Her Royal Highness dropped by and introduced herself to Xion. After that, she made Xion cancel the message that he was supposed to send to his guild.

    When Xionplied, Princess Neoma made the assassin take the Oath of Silence.

    "Hey, I didn''t try to kill Princess Neoma," Xion, who was sitting on the floor while he had a steel cor chain attached to the wall,ined. "I only wanted to gauge her strength."

    "You couldn''t kill Princess Neoma even if you fought seriously," Lewis said coldly, his golden eyes were glowing menacingly while ring at Xion. "Don''t be arrogant."

    Juri nodded in agreement. "I agree with Lewis." She turned to Jeno and Greko. "How about the two of you?"

    Greko lowered his eyes to the floor while his fingers fiddled at the hem of his shirt. "I''d l-like to support eomma''s decision."

    "Me, too," Jeno said, then he yawned while stretching his arms. "I also wronged Princess Neoma when I stalked her in the past. But she still forgave me and epted me as one of her personal knights."

    "Hey, Jeno Dankworth," Juri said while ring at the young lord. "Is stalking the same as assassination?"

    Jeno just avoided his gaze. "We need a tie-breaker."

    "Then should I vote, too?"

    It surprised all of them to hear an unfamiliar voice.

    Juri immediately summoned her sledgehammer and hid Greko behind her. On the other hand, Jeno pulled out his rifle.

    The only person who didn''t budge was Lewis.

    "Scary," the "visitor" said yfully while hiding behind Lewis. "My son, why are your siblings so scary?"

    Lewis let out an annoyed sigh. "I''m not your son, Trevor."

    Trevor?

    Ah, it was the demon friend of Princess Neoma.

    Juri''s sledgehammer vanished into thin air, and so did Jeno''s rifle.

    "Hello, my youngest son," Trevor, who teleported in front of Greko, said before he squatted down to meet the child''s eye level. "Do you remember me? We met at the camp. By the way, I''m Princess Neoma''s future husband, so that makes me your father."

    Greko, the innocent boy, beamed. "You''re my father?"

    The demon boy was about to open his mouth but was forced to shut up when Lewis appeared behind him.

    Lewis gave Trevor a dropkick.

    But the demon boy was quick, and he vanished with Greko.

    "Lewis, you really inherited your mother''s nasty temper," Trevor, who was now inside the prison cell with Xion, said. The demon boy was also carrying the confused Greko in his arms. "I can''t say that I hate that about you, though."

    Lewis, whose golden eyes were still glowing menacingly, grabbed the prison bars. "Come out."

    The demon boyughed. "I don''t want to die, though?"

    "What''s a nasty demon doing here?" Xionined while looking up at the demon. "You must be crazy if you believe Princess Neoma will marry a low being like you."

    Trevor turned to Xion with a creepy smile. "And who''s this cheeky bastard?"

    Xion smirked at the demon boy. "My name is Xion."

    "And what the hell is your deal?"

    "E-Eomma said we should decide whether we want Xion hyung to be a part of our team," Greko exined for the demon. "Juri noona and Lewis hyung don''t want Xion hyung to be our team member. But Jeno hyung and I are okay with it."

    "Ah, that''s why you said you need a tiebreaker," Trevor said while nodding. "As Princess Neoma''s future husband, I object to this adoption." The demon boy pointed a finger to Xion, who was now frowning at the demon boy. "I don''t want a cheeky bastard for a son."

    "You don''t have the right to vote, you nasty demon," Lewis said to Trevor coldly, then the fox boy effortlessly destroyed the gate that separated him from his "enemy." "I''ll kill you first before I kill the assassin."

    "Assassin?" Trevor asked, confused. Then he turned to Greko. "My youngest son, what does Lewis mean by that?"

    Greko gulped before he answered. "Xion hyung is an assassin who wasmissioned to kill eomma¡­"

    Trevor turned to Xion with a murderous look on his face. "You tried to kill my Moon Princess?"

    Xion gulped and moved away from Trevor until his back hit the wall. "Let me exin, dude¡­"

    Juri just watched the total fiasco with prime interest.

    [Princess Neoma is really popr among the boys, huh? As expected of my master.]

    "Are you alright?"

    She turned to Jeno, who asked if she was alright while Lewis, Trevor, and Xion were bickering. Greko, the poor child, looked like he was about to cry.

    "I''m alright," Juri said with a frown. "Why are you asking a stupid question?"

    She knew Jeno was asking because of what was happening to House Wisteria.

    As of the moment, Princess Neoma was having an audience with her father and her Aunt Sera. She was worried about her family. But on the other hand, she was prepared to receive any kind of punishment from Her Royal Highness.

    [I just hope that I still get to stay beside Princess Neoma as her knight¡­]

    Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt a hand pat her head.

    [What the¡­]

    Juri looked up at Jeno, who was gently patting her head. "What are you doing, Jeno Dankworth?"

    "Consoling you?" Jeno said casually, then he shrugged. "You''ve worked hard, gori girl."

    "Who the hell are you calling a ''gori?!''"

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA was supposed to head to the meeting room before her Papa Boss.

    But an urgent matter came, so she had to stay at her office a little longer and asked her father to dy the meeting for five minutes. She knew it was rude to do so. After all, she was the one who set up the meeting and summoned the important guests to the pce.

    She couldn''t help it, though.

    After all, she received a letter from Ruto.

    [I just need five minutes to read this letter, then I''ll head to the meeting room right away.]

    She excitedly opened the letter and read the content right away.

    But her excitement quickly disappeared while reading the letter. Before she knew it, her hands already crumpled the paper in anger.

    "Ruto," Neoma said under her breath. "What the fuck?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 340 - NOPE, HE CANT DO THIS TO ME

    <em><strong>[EARLY that morning¡­]</strong></em>

    NEOMA gulped while watching her Papa Boss and Count Kyle Sprouse''s reaction.

    Right now, the three of them were having breakfast in the dining hall in her father''s pce.

    Only Lewis and Geoffrey Kinsley were in the dining hall. The two were guarding by the door. Of course, the entire dining hall was covered with soundproof barrier magic.

    "Alright, let''s give it a try," her Papa Boss said after careful deliberation. "I believe the punishment that you came up with is appropriate, Neoma."

    She still held her breath because Count Kyle Sprouse remained silent.

    The count wasn''t just her father''s aide. Kyle Sprouse was also the chambein, and one of his jobs was managing the money and wealth kept in the Royal Chamber. So, of course, the count should be involved in nning the punishment for the Wisterias who embezzled rare jewels from the Royal Family.

    "Embezzlement isn''t that grave of a crime for the Wisterias to lose their title," Kyle Sprouse said carefully. "Thus, I also believe that the punishment that Princess Neoma came up with is the best way to wrap this up. However¡­"

    "Yes?" Neoma asked nervously. "Is there a problem?"

    The count nodded before he gave an exnation. "The nobles won''t easily agree with our n. We must appease them first, and the fastest way to do that is to temporarily withdraw the recent bill that we tried to pass." Kyle Sprouse turned to her Papa Boss. "Your Majesty, I''m talking about thatw that would allow outstanding individuals to receive noble titles. The majority of the nobles still object to it. We must give up on this one to push through Princess Neoma''s suggestion."

    It did not surprise her to hear that. After all, she already knew that the punishment that she came up with wouldn''t be easy to execute.

    "Punishing the Wisterias muste first," her Papa Boss said. "We will give up on the recent bill in the meantime."

    "Don''t worry, Papa Boss," she assured her father. "Once we execute this properly, I will create an opportunity for us to "revive" thew that we''re about to drop temporarily."

    Her father raised an eyebrow at her. "And how would you do that?"

    She just smiled.

    Of course, she had a n. She just didn''t want to share it with her Papa Boss yet because Kyle Sprouse was still with them. But to be honest, her n was simple.

    [I just need to turn my teammates into heroes of the empire.]

    Only Juri was the pure noble among her "children." Jeno was only "half-noble," Lewis was a knight but he was a former ve, Greko would be amoner soon, Xion was an assassin, and Paige Avery practically didn''t exist in that era.

    If her team aplished something big in the future, she could demand the nobles to reward her "children" with noble titles. That would open the discussion about granting outstanding individuals with noble titles.

    "Just trust me, Papa Boss."

    Her father sipped his tea. "Alright."

    "Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness, I must take my leave," Kyle Sprouse said in a hurry. "I shall prepare to meet our esteemed guests."

    After she and her father nodded, the count bowed and left the dining hall.

    They were supposed to continue their breakfast when Alphen, the head butler of her pce, arrived to deliver an urgent message to her.

    She beamed because she was expecting only one urgent message from the butler. In the past, she ordered Alphen that no matter where she was or what the situation was, he must report it to her once "he" sent a letter to her.

    "Your Royal Highness, please excuse me," Alphen said, then he leaned down to whisper in her ear. "A letter from Lord Ruston Stroganoff has arrived at the pce."

    Her smile widened.

    Before Ruto left the pce to study abroad, they decided tomunicate through letters. But since her identity as Neoma was a secret, they used aplicated method to make sure that only Alphen, her trusted butler, would receive Ruto''s letters for her.

    "Should I deliver it to Your Royal Highness after your meeting or¨C"

    "I''ll read it now!"

    Her Papa Boss looked surprised by her sudden enthusiasm. "What is it, Neoma?"

    "Ah, Papa Boss," Neoma said, then she sped her hands together. "Please dy the meeting for five minutes!"

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA risked it all just to read Ruto''s letter.

    She asked her Papa Boss to dy the meeting for five minutes because she knew she couldn''t concentrate while thinking of Ruto''s message. And she expected that reading it right away would give her the energy that she needed to get through today''s meeting.

    But what the fuck did she just read?

    ["Miss Ramsay, this is the first andst letter I''m sending to you. Please don''t wait for me to return as well. Thank you for caring about someone like me, but you can stop now. Sorry."]

    She wanted to throw the crumpled paper in her hand, but she stopped herself.

    [How can I be sure that this letter is really from Ruto? Granted that they delivered it through the method that Ruto taught Alphen, I still shouldn''t easily believe this letter. Even if this looks like Ruto''s penmanship, I don''t know if someone forced him to write this bullshit or what.]

    She needed to talk to him, but her five minutes were already up.

    [I''ll end the meeting first before I deal with this.]

    Neoma took a deep breath to calm herself. "Ruto won''t do this to me, right?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "DON''T you think this is too much of a punishment, Your Majesty? Your Royal Highness?"

    Neoma didn''t mean to look cold or arrogant today. But when she turned to Count Sergio Wisteria, she noticed that her icy re made the old man flinch.

    Count Sergio Wisteria didn''t resemble his daughter Juri at all. Well, the count was a good-looking and fit "ahjussi" in his mid-forties. He dressed like someone in his position, and his stoic face look intimidating.

    [I''m d Juri grew up as a bright child.]

    "Too much you say, my lord?" Neoma asked in an icy tone. Again, she didn''t mean to sound heartless. She just couldn''t help it because she was in a bad mood. "Then shall we justpute the cumtive amount that you have profited off of embezzling the rare jewels that the Hisa Trees produce, then make you pay for it?"

    Count Wisteria pulled out a handkerchief from the pocket of his suit, then wiped the beads of sweat on his forehead.

    She then quietly looked at the people around her.

    Her Papa Boss was seated around the round table, she was on her father''s right side, while Count Kyle Sprouse was on the left side.

    On the other hand, their guests were sitting on the couch across from the round table.

    Their esteemed guests were, of course, Count Sergio Wisteria and his wife Countess Jade Wisteria.

    [Countess Wisteria is Madam Hammock''s daughter¡­]

    She could see the resemnce between the duchess and thete Healing Sage.

    [Juri also looks like her mother''s younger version.]

    Anyway¡­

    Lady Sera Wisteria didn''t attend the meeting because she was still under house arrest. Only this time, she was locked up in the Wisteria State.

    [Duke Samuel Wisteria, the current head of House Wisteria, is sick, so his sessor attended the meeting in his ce. Count Sergio Wisteria came as his father''s representative, so we''re treating him like he''s the duke.]

    That meant she had to pressure the count to do the bidding.

    "Count Wisteria, you''re lucky we currentlyck nobles in the Royal Capital at the moment," her Papa Boss said in an icy voice, his eyes had now turned glowing red. "Had this happened before the recent "purge," you would have paid for your crimes with your entire family''s lives."

    She clenched her hands because she disagreed with her Papa Boss, but she didn''t let it show.

    [Well, Papa Boss is just scaring the count. But even if he''s serious, I would stop him. I can''t let Juri die.]

    "Is it too hard for you?" Neoma asked, her voice still cold and her aura different from usual. "Is it really hard for the Wisterias to invest in the non-profit hospital that the Royal Family ns to build for the poor?"

    Yes, that was her "punishment" for the Wisterias.

    But it wasn''t like she needed the Wisterias'' money. What she needed from the family was their support. After all, Wisteria was an influential family in the medical world.

    Of course, her demand didn''t end there.

    "I don''t think it''s difficult for the Wisterias to supportmoners who have the potential to be doctors and Healing Sages in the future," Neoma continued, then she smiled. But she was pretty sure that her smile was anything but friendly. "The empire''sw doesn''t forbidmoners and women from bing doctors and Healing Sages, right?"

    The Royal Family of the past thought lowly of being a doctor as a profession. They thought it was a job that didn''t suit the nobility. Therefore, they allowed intelligent and talentedmoners, even women, to be doctors and Healing Sages.

    But recently, when the empire recognized the importance of the said profession, the field was suddenly dominated by the rich who could afford to study Medicine.

    "We will do it."

    Her thoughts were interrupted when Countess Jade Wisteria spoke for the first time. The countess kept quiet after greeting them earlier.

    Count Sergio Wisteria turned to his wife with a shocked look on his face. "Darling¡­"

    "Your Royal Highness, I''m interested in this business," Countess Wisteria said softly while coldly ignoring her husband. Then she put a hand on her chest as if she was pointing to herself. "I would also like to suggest inviting House Hammock to be a part of this wonderful project."

    Neoma didn''t sense malice or greediness from Countess Wisteria.

    [As expected, women are the hope of this godforsaken empire.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 341 - ME??? DUMPED??? NO WAY!

    NEOMA was tired.

    The meeting with Count and Countess Wisteria looked longer than expected. It seemed like her Papa Boss noticed she wasn''t in a good mood, so he told her to attend to her other duties. But she didn''t have any other schedule for today. Thus, she realized it was her father''s way of telling her to rest.

    [I guess it''s fine since they don''t need me there anymore.]

    Her Papa Boss and Count Kyle Sprouse were the ones in charge of preparing the necessary documents, anyway. The Crown Prince didn''t have the authority to build something like a hospital. It was still within the emperor''s power to do so.

    "Wee back, Your Royal Highness."

    She smiled and waved at Alphen, the head butler, who greeted her when she entered her office. Just because her schedule was clear today didn''t mean she didn''t have work left to do.

    Since Alphen was already here and Stephanie wouldeter to serve refreshments for her, she dismissed the servants and the royal knights that apanied her to her pce. Her personal knights (aka her children) were in a meeting of their own.

    But¡­

    "My office seems quiet," Neoma said when she sat behind her desk. "Where are my children?"

    Her children asked for her permission earlier to visit Xion in the underground prison.

    But that was hours ago. Lewis wouldn''t leave her unprotected for too long even if they were in the pce. So the fact that Lewis wasn''t here yet was making her worry.

    "Your Royal Highness, I''m actually here to report the situation."

    "What situation?"

    "Your Royal Highness''s personal knights blew up the underground prison earlier¡­"

    She almost choked on her saliva when she heard Alphen''s report. "Why in the world did those brats blow up the underground prison?" She gasped when a thought crossed her mind. "They didn''t kill Mr. Xion, did they?"

    "Thankfully, it wasn''t like that," Alphen said while chuckling. "ording to Sir Skelton''s report, Lewis and Mr. Trevor fought."

    Her eyes opened wide. "Trevor is here?"

    [Why did that demon provoke my son again?]

    "Yes, Your Royal Highness," the head butler said. "But Mr. Trevor disappeared when Sir Skelton and Dame Audley arrived at the basement prison."

    [If it''s Trevor, he''ll appearter to see me.]

    "What happened to the other children?"

    "The other prisoners escaped when the underground prison blew up," Alphen exined. "Lewis, Young Lady Juri, and Young Lord Jeno helped Sir Skelton and Dame Audley to catch them. On the other hand, little Greko was summoned by Healing Sage Marcus because the patient, Lady Avery, woke up earlier."

    "Oh. Lady Avery is already awake?"

    "The youngdy fell asleep again, Your Royal Highness."

    "Ah, I see."

    "Sir Skelton dropped by Your Royal Highness''s office earlier to inform you he''d be bringing Lewis, Young Lady Juri, and Young Lord Jeno with him and Dame Audley to the other basement cell to transfer the prisoners as punishment," Alphen said. "Sir Skelton also said that this incident is big, so Your Royal Highness must punish the children."

    She let out a sigh.

    Her children weren''t official knights yet. But Dion Skelton was correct. She must punish the kids for blowing up the underground prison or else they would use her of giving her children preferential treatment.

    "Alright, I''ll think of a punishment," she said.

    But in her mind, she already decided to make the children domunity service as punishment.

    She was about to tell Alphen to summon Greko when she felt it.

    "Alphen, go and tell Stephanie to prepare refreshments for another person," Neoma said, then she leaned against her chair and turned to the window. "You''re here?"

    Trevor, who was sneakily entering his office through the window, smiled at her. "I''ve missed you, my Moon Princess."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "DID SOMETHING happen to Nero?" Neoma asked Trevor while watching the demon sip his tea elegantly. She ignored the grotesque bookworm attached to his back. "You wouldn''t havee here just to see my face, right?"

    "Princess Neoma, don''t underestimate my feelings for you," Trevor, who was sittingfortably on the couch across from her, said while smiling. "I''ll risk everything just to see you."

    She just rolled her eyes.

    Only the two of them were left in her office, and her office was protected by strong soundproof barrier magic so they could talk freely.

    "Prince Nero is safe," the demon assured her. "He''s treated like a king in the Spirit World, you know?"

    "That''s a relief to hear," she said, then she sipped her tea.

    "Prince Nero sent me here to deliver a message to you," he said. "He recorded a video of himself."

    She put her teacup down on the table quietly. "Then it must be important," she said seriously. "Nero wouldn''t have sent you here personally if he just wanted to say he misses me."

    "That''s right."

    She reached out a hand to him. "Give me."

    "What?"

    "Nero''s recorded message."

    "I don''t want to?"

    "Do you want to die?"

    Trevorughed as if he was having a good time pissing her off. "You''re going to kick me back to the Spirit World as soon as I deliver Prince Nero''s message to you, so I won''t give it to yet."

    "Are you crazy? If that''s urgent¨C"

    "It''s not urgent."

    She red at him. "You watched the video?"

    "I helped Prince Nero record it," he said proudly. "Moreover, have you forgotten that I''m the Devil''s Grimoire?" He jabbed a thumb to the bookworm. "This guy reads and copies the knowledge of the surrounding people, so Prince Nero can''t keep a secret from me anyway."

    "You can only do that because Nero isn''t aware of how the bookworm works," she said with a huff. "Your bookworm can''t read my mind now that I''m aware of how it works, right?"

    [I''m telling Nero your ability as soon as I talk to my twin.]

    "That, and because you''ve grown stronger," the demon said while pping his hands. "Princess Neoma, I''m so proud of you. You turned your overflowing Mana into a barrier that doesn''t deactivate even when you fall asleep or unconscious. Is that something that you learned from the former saint, too?"

    "No, it''s something that I came up with on my own," she said casually. "I thought it''s a waste to just let my Mana overflow like that, so why not create something useful from it? Since I''m only using the excess Mana from my Core, it doesn''t take a toll on my body."

    "That''s great."

    "Not really?" she said with a shrug. "I mean, it''s not that powerfulpared to the barriers that Mr. Zavaroni taught me?" She gestured to her body. To be precise, she gestured to the thinyer of barrier around her. "This will break if someone in the level of a Pdin attacks me."

    "My Moon Princess, for someone arrogant, you sometimes belittle yourself and your ability."

    "It''s not like that," she denied. "I''m saying this because I''m not satisfied with the barrier I created on my own. I intend to strengthen it in the future. If there''s one thing I learned from all the anime andics I consumed back in my second life, it''s "a good defense is the best offense.""

    The demonughed. "That sounds great."

    "I know, right?"

    "So, what made you upset?"

    "I''m not upset."

    "Oh,e on," Trevor said while giving her a calcting gaze. "Your mind is all over the ce, my Moon Princess. See? You didn''t kill me for calling you ''Moon Princess.'' Moreover, you didn''t even ask why Lewis and I fought earlier. If you were your usual self, you would have punched me as soon as you saw me for fighting your son."

    She clicked her tongue. "We rarely see each other, so howe you know me like the back of your hand?"

    "Power of love?"

    "Eww."

    "Let me guess," Trevor said yfully. "Did the cheeky royal chef dump you?"

    "I wasn''t dumped!" she denied strongly, her eyes wide open and her fists clenched tight. "Why would I get dumped in the first ce when my rtionship with Ruto isn''t like that, anyway? How did you evene up to that conclusion, huh?"

    "Ah, I was here earlier when I was looking for you," the demon exined. "And you know they named the Bookworm like that because it enjoys reading, right? So, the Bookworm just happened to see an interesting letter in the trash can¨C"

    She stood up and grabbed Trevor''s cor. "You read Ruto''s letter?"

    "You shouldn''t have thrown it if it was supposed to be a secret, my Moon Princess."

    She couldn''t refute that, so she just let go of his cor and sat back on her seat. "You''re so annoying, Trevor."

    He justughed. "Did his letter upset you?"

    "It wasn''t from Ruto," she said firmly. "I''m sure he was just forced to write it or something. There''s no way the Ruto I know will do that to me."

    Too bad she couldn''t contact Ruto to confront him.

    [But I know he didn''t write it from the bottom of his heart.]

    "Princess Neoma, can I diss you?"

    "Sure, if you want to die."

    "The problem with you is you trust the people you like too much," Trevor said, ignoring her warning. "Of course, it''s nice that you trust your allies. But you shouldn''t have blind faith in them."

    She wanted to snarl at Trevor but she couldn''t.

    [He¡­ he has a point?]

    "Just because someone is good to you doesn''t mean they''re good to other people as well," Trevor said seriously. "Of course, I''m not saying that you should easily believe what others say about the people you cherish. But it doesn''t hurt to keep those opinions in mind."

    She didn''t want to admit this, but Trevor made sense.

    "It especially applies to your rtionship with that damned royal chef," the demon continued. This time, he sounded like he was whining. "You don''t know him much, so why are you so firm in your belief that he won''t dump you?"

    "He didn''t dump me, okay?"

    "Whatever," he said with a shrug. "But Princess Neoma, you should have a conscience."

    "What do you mean by that?"

    "That damned royal chef is like, thirteen years old?" Trevor asked while grinning, then he tilted his head to one side. "You''re mentally a grandma, so if you go after a minor, it makes you a pedo¨C"

    "I''m not in that kind of rtionship with Ruto, you sted demon," Neoma said, then she stood up while cracking her knuckles. "Let''s go to the training ground and spar, huh?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "DID YOU finally kill Trevor?"

    Neoma groaned at her Papa Boss'' question, then she sat on the bed.

    She was going to sleep in her father''s room again because they had more important things to discuss. And aside from his office, her Papa Boss'' bedroom was the safest ce to openly talk.

    [Anyway¡­]

    After her spar with Trevor, she went to her pce to take a bath. Stephanie dressed her in pajamas, then the head maid and Alphen (along with some royal knights) escorted him to the Yule Pce.

    "I didn''t kill Trevor," Neoma said in a tired voice, then shey down on her side, propped herself with an elbow, and ced her cheek on her palm while watching her father who was sitting on the other side of the bed. "We just sparred, Papa Boss. I wanted to beat him to a pulp, but as expected, I couldn''t. He acts like a clown but he''s strong."

    She actually enjoyed her spar with Trevor.

    The two of them decided to fight without using weapons and Mana. She thought she''d dominate the fight because of her natural physical strength. But much to her shock, Trevor could keep up with her stamina.

    "Well, he was personally trained by the Devil himself," her Papa Boss said without even looking up at her because he was reading a book. "I already told you, didn''t I? The real Devil turned out to be Arche de Moonasterio. He may have been known as an ipetent emperor. But as a de Moonasterio, he also possessed monstrous strength when he was still alive. He must have passed down some of his techniques to the demon boy."

    "Uh-huh," she agreed, then she changed the topic. "Papa Boss, since our ancestor turns out to be the Devil¡­"

    "Yeah?"

    "Could it be the reason I have an affinity with the demons?" she asked carefully. "Is that the reason I have demonic power in me?"

    "If that''s the case, then Nero and I should have gotten the same power as you do," her father said, then he closed the book to turn to her. "Neoma, I believe you''re special. But I''m actually afraid to dig deeper because if people find out that you have demonic power, forget about being epted as the royal princess¨C the empire wouldn''t ept you as a citizen."

    "But it''s not my fault that I''m born this way, Papa Boss," she said firmly. "It will be hard to conceal my demonic power since the Hellgatees out every time I kill someone."

    "Endure it in the meantime, Neoma," her father said apologetically. "I''m thinking of reconnecting to Nichole soon."

    She beamed at that. "You''ll reconcile with Aunt Nichole, Papa Boss?"

    "I don''t know about reconciliation," her Papa Boss said vaguely. "But I intend to work with Nichole for your sake."

    She smiled, satisfied with that in the meantime. "Baby steps, Papa Boss."

    Of course, her Papa Boss ignored her teasing. "How does it feel to kill a minor god?"

    She let out a sigh while shaking her head. "It didn''t feel good, Papa Boss. If only I could stop him by simply locking him up, it would be great. But at that moment, I had a feeling that he wouldn''t stop until he literally took all my breath away."

    "To kill or be killed," her father said while nodding his head. "Don''t feel too bad, Neoma. It''s normal in this world to kill before you get killed. I know that you''ve experienced living a peaceful life in the past. But now that you''re back as a de Moonasterio, you can''t live in peace as long as you have power."

    "I know that, Papa Boss," she said. "That''s why I intend to work hard now, then live like ady of leisureter." She got up when she remembered something that she should have realized sooner. "Papa Boss, regarding our contract, you tricked me before!"

    "I tricked you?"

    "I forgot for a moment because it has been years since I lived like ady of this world," she said. "Back when I asked you to fulfill my three wishes, you promised you''ll give me a duchess title. But the empire doesn''t allow women to inherit noble titles. You signed the contract because you know that one of my wishes is impossible to attain, don''t you?"

    "I know at the time that your wish to be a duchess is impossible," her Papa Boss admitted. "But I didn''t correct you because even then, I already decided to change thew in order for women andmoners to receive noble titles."

    "Really, Papa Boss?"

    Her father nodded. "Maybe deep in my heart, despite losing some of my memories, I didn''t forget my promise to Mona¨C the promise to protect our daughters. Back then, we still didn''t know that Nero would be born a boy, so we worried that our daughter would live miserably as princesses in an empire that looks down on women."

    She couldn''t say anything as the emotions ying on her father''s face at the moment overwhelmed her.

    [Papa Boss still loves Mama Boss¡­]

    "But even before that, we already worried about you, Neoma," her Papa Boss said. "After all, your mother received a vision where she saw your grim future."

    "My grim future?"

    "The gods n to turn you into an Aether."

    She gasped because that was exactly what Lord Redgrave, the minor god that she killed, said to her. But confusion quickly reced her shock when she realized something. "Papa Boss, why do you talk like your missing memories have returned?"

    "I retrieved them, indeed," her father said. "I remember most of them now, Neoma. From what went wrong with my rtionship with Mona¡­" He paused for a moment before he continued. "Up to how Gavin Quinzel yed a part in destroying it."

    It shocked Neoma to hear that from her Papa Boss. "Appa destroyed your rtionship with Mama Boss?"

    "Yes, Gavin Quinzel did that," her Papa Boss said, then he smiled sadly at her. "But I guess it will be hard for you to believe me, Neoma."

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 342 - CASTING DOUBT ON

    [APPA destroyed Papa Boss and Mama Boss'' rtionship¡­?]

    Neoma was in disbelief.

    The appa and the eomma that she remembered in her second life seemed to be truly in love with each other. But her Papa Boss made it sound like her appa sabotaged his rtionship with Mama Boss.

    Her heart thumped loud and hard against her chest.

    [Appa isn''t that kind of person. But I also know that Papa Boss won''t lie about something like this. Papa Boss has already changed for the better¡­]

    At that moment, she heard Trevor''s voice in her head.

    <"The problem with you is you trust the people you like too much. Of course, it''s nice that you trust your allies. But you shouldn''t have blind faith in them.">

    Blind faith.

    Was she having blind faith in her appa?

    "Neoma, I''m not forcing you to believe me," her Papa Boss said gently. "I''m just telling you what I remember."

    Neoma clenched her hands, then she spoke her mind before she got devoured by fear. "Papa Boss, I''m sure Dion and Jeanne reported the argument I had with Lady Wisteria to you."

    Her father nodded. "They did. Apparently, Lady Wisteria used Gavin Quinzel of manipting me and your mother into breaking up."

    "Is that true, Papa Boss?"

    "Are you sure you want to hear my answer?"

    She took a deep breath before nodding. "Yes, Papa Boss."

    "Did Lady Wisteria mention how Gavin Quinzel turned her into a liar?" her father asked. "Thanks to that incident, Lady Wisteria has be aughingstock in the high society for a long time. Moreover, all her other potential husband candidates withdrew their marriage proposal thinking that Lady Wisteria was mentally ill during that time."

    She clenched her hands tighter until her nails dug deep into the skin of her palms. [If that is true, then I could understand why Lady Wisteria is still bitter towards appa.]

    "After Lady Wisteria caused a rumor about Mona and Gavin Quinzel to spread, I asked Glenn to investigate the incident secretly," her Papa Boss continued. "We found out that Lady Wisteria was telling the truth then. Gavin Quinzel really told the owner of the jewelry shop that he would give the hair ornament to the woman he was in love with."

    She felt a stab in her chest, but she kept her mouth shut.

    "Of course, Lady Wisteria was in the wrong to assume that Gavin Quinzel would give the hair ornament to her," her father said. "But Gavin Quinzel was also a bastard to strongly deny Lady Wisteria''s words. He even bribed the store owner to deny sharing that information with Lady Wisteria to make it seem like she was just making a story. If I didn''t personally interrogate the store owner, I don''t think he''d tell the truth since he received a hefty amount of money from Gavin Quinzel."

    Her heart screamed that Papa Boss was lying.

    But her mind remained calm while listening to her father.

    "I don''t know how Glenn and I had forgotten that certain part of our memories, though," her Papa Boss said. "But now, it''s clear in my head. I also clearly remember the times Gavin Quinzel provoked me."

    "How did appa provoke you, Papa Boss?"

    "First, he made me believe Mona would die if she gave birth to you and Nero," her Papa Boss said. "I''m not saying that he''s the only one to me. Back then, I chose Mona over you and your twin brother."

    It didn''t surprise or hurt her anymore since her Papa Boss already confessed that to her before.

    "But I hate the fact that Gavin Quinzel lied about his feelings for Mona," her Papa Boss said bitterly. "The day before they disappeared, he told me he was in love with your mother. I don''t know why I believed that lie during that time. But now that my mind is clear, I''m certain that he lied about his feelings."

    Hearing that surprised her. "Papa Boss, you don''t believe that appa is in love with Mama Boss?"

    "No, I don''t," her father said firmly. "If he was in love with Mona, I would have noticed. But Gavin Quinzel never looked at your mother the way I did. Moreover, if Mona knew Gavin Quinzel''s for her, your mother would have avoided him." He paused before he continued in an embarrassed voice. "I was a terrible lover when I was young. Mona knew I would have, uh, punished Gavin Quinzel if I noticed his feelings for her. Thus, knowing your mother, she wouldn''t have let it happen."

    Ah, right.

    If they would turn her Papa Boss and Mama Boss''s story into a fantasy romance novel, then her Papa Boss would fall under the "toxic, possessive ML" category. That kind of ML wouldn''t have let the "second male lead," her appa, to get near her Mama Boss.

    It made sense, but her mind was still confused.

    "In my memories, appa and eomma were happy and in love with each other," she said in a cracked voice. "How did it happen then, Papa Boss?"

    "Mona stole my ability to love and remember our happy memories," her father said carefully. "But for some reason, I also lost some of my memories that have something to do with Gavin Quinzel."

    "Papa Boss, are you implying that appa also erased some of your memories?"

    Her Papa Boss nodded. "If Gavin Quinzel could do that to me, then he could do that to your mother as well. Both Mona and I trusted him too much that we let our guards down around him."

    She hated that it made sense.

    But if her Papa Boss ended up being right, then the happy and loving family that she had in her second life¡­

    [Is nothing but an illusion?]

    She felt like breaking down at the moment.

    "I could be wrong, though," her Papa Boss said when he probably noticed that she was about to cry. "Should I have said nothing about this, Neoma?"

    Neoma shook her head. "I appreciate the fact that you opened up to me, Papa Boss," she said in a cracked voice. Then she smiled sadly at her father. "But my heart is confused. My mind is telling me that your story made sense."

    Pain crossed her Papa Boss''s eyes.

    Of course, her conscience pricked her. She just made up with her Papa Boss, so if she could, she would avoid anything that could ruin their rtionship again. But she couldn''t.

    Her appa was also precious to her.

    Neoma thumped her fist on her chest. "But my heart can''t ept that appa could do such a horrible thing to you and Mama Boss." Her tears finally fell. "I''m so sorry, Papa Boss."

    Papa Boss smiled sadly at her. "I understand, Neoma," he said softly. "You don''t have to apologize for that."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "DID YOU CRY¨C"

    Neoma red at Trevor, making the demon shut his mouth. Yes, she cried her heart out earlier. But she wasn''t in the mood to talk about it. "What are you doing in my room?"

    The security in her pce was tight.

    But it wouldn''t work on someone like Trevor.

    "I''m guarding the video recording device I handed to you," Trevor, who was on the sofa while lying on his side, saidzily. "You just left it carelessly in your drawer, you know?"

    "You told me only I could break it, didn''t you?"

    "It wouldn''t hurt to be extra careful, my Moon Princess."

    She was too tired to argue with Trevor, so she just shut her mouth and sat on her bed. Then she opened the first drawer of her bedside table.

    The demon raised an eyebrow at her. "You''re going to watch Prince Nero''s recorded message now?"

    She just nodded while picking up the small transparent orb the size of a tennis ball.

    To be honest, she wanted to watch it with Lewis. But her "son" was still busy with her other "children." She needed to get her mind off of the conversation that she had with her Papa Boss earlier. Thus, she changed her mind and returned to her pce instead of sleeping in her father''s room again.

    [It would just make us both awkward if I stayed.]

    "I''ll put another soundproof barrier magic around your room," Trevor said, then he snapped his fingers. "I''ll also cover our tracks with my Darkness attribute."

    "Okay," she said, then she looked at the orb in her hand. "Do I just break this?"

    "It would be better if you toss it on the wall," the demon advised her. "Once the liquid inside the orb touched the wall, it would turn into a monitor."

    "Wow, that''s convenient," she said, then shezily threw the orb to the wall.

    The transparent liquid sshed on the wall after the orb broke. Then, just like what Trevor said, the wall turned into a monitor.

    A few momentster, Nero''s handsome face showed up on the screen.

    She immediately smiled upon seeing her twin brother. "Nero," she said, even though she knew Nero couldn''t hear her. "I miss you."

    <"Neoma," Nero greeted her with a bright smile on his face. "First of all, I miss you.">

    She smiled and nodded.

    Trevor, on the other hand, slowly pped his hands. "Wow, you''re really twins. You say the same thing to each other at first sight."

    She ignored the demon.

    Plus, she focused on Nero when she noticed that her twin brother immediately turned serious. Trevor said that the message wasn''t urgent. But Nero''s face said otherwise.

    <"Neoma, we can''t waste time anymore, so please excuse me for being straightforward. I know that this will shock you, but I can''t think of a gentler way to break the news to you," Nero said in a serious voice, then he took a deep breath before he continued. "Our mother, Lady Mona Roseheart, is still alive.">

    It didn''t surprise her, though. "I know, Nero. Mama Boss is on Earth while waiting for me and appa."

    <"Neoma, our mother has been trapped in an enormous block of ice under the ck Ocean for almost ten years now.">

    This time, Nero''s message shocked her.

    She knew that her twin brother wouldn''t lie about their mother. He didn''t have any reason to do so.

    But how could that happen?

    "Trevor."

    "Yes, my Moon Princess?"

    "Where is the ck Ocean located?"

    "It''s a dimension simr to the Spirit World, Princess Neoma," Trevor said seriously. "It''s definitely not on Earth."

    She held her breath before releasing it slowly.

    "If Mama Boss has been trapped in that world for almost ten years now¡­" Neoma said, her tears falling once again. "Then who is the eomma I met in my second life?"

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 Chapter 343 - IM GOING CRAZY

    <strong></strong>A STORM formed inside Neoma''s head.

    Still, she listened to Nero''s recorded message since she couldn''t pause it. She was still shocked, but she had to focus on what his twin brother was saying.

    <"Neoma, I already met and talked to our mother in her Spirit form.">

    Neoma gasped. "You met Mama Boss?"

    She envied her twin brother at that moment.

    [Why is it always Nero¡­?]

    <"Unfortunately, I don''t have the power to free our mother from where she''s trapped,"> Nero continued with his report. <"But Neoma, our mother said that you have the power to melt the ice that she''s trapped in.">

    "I do?" she asked, surprised. Then she gasped. "Tteokbokki! Tteokbokki is a Fire Dragon, and fire can melt the ice!"

    She ordered Tteokbokki to find the strange tree that she saw before. But to be honest, what she wanted her Soul Beast to find was the Spirit of the girl who looked like her. She couldn''t get her out of her mind.

    And so, she asked Tteokbokki to look for the tree and the mystery girl.

    [Tteokbokki will return soon, so does it mean we can save Mama Boss right away?]

    <"Mother said she heard from the Spirits she talked to in the past that you gained a Fire Dragon for a Soul Beast,"> Nero said. <"Neoma, apparently, your Soul Beast''s ''Dragon Breath'' could melt the ice made by the Ice Spirit. If your Soul Beast learns how to breathe fire, then you could save our mother.">

    "Dragon Breath?" she asked, then she tilted her head to one side. "Tteokbokki could breathe fire just like a P*kemon?"

    She thought Tteokbokki was a Fire Dragon because he could control fire.

    "Of course, he could," Trevor chimed in. "But not yet."

    She was about to ask Trevor why Tteokbokki couldn''t use Dragon Breath yet, but it was answered when Nero spoke again.

    <"The problem is only adult Fire Dragons could use Dragon Breath, Neoma,"> Nero said in a frustrated voice. <"We have to wait for your dragon to be an adult before he could use the technique that could save our mother.">

    Right, Tteokbokki could grow in size at the moment, but that didn''t mean he was already an adult.

    <"Mother said she doesn''t mind waiting.">

    "But I can''t wait to meet Mama Boss," she whispered to herself. "I have so many questions for her¡­"

    <"Neoma, our mother also said that once your dragon bes an adult, William could teach him how to use the Dragon Breath,"> Nero said, then he smiled awkwardly at her. <"I know you''d hate it, but you''d have to work with William to save our mother.">

    The idea pissed her off.

    But she wasn''t a child. She may act immature sometimes, but not when the situation was as serious as this.

    "I don''t mind working with William," she said. "If I have to force him, I would."

    <"And Neoma?">

    "Yes, Nero?"

    <"I asked Mother if she wanted our father to know that she''s still alive¡­">

    She gulped while waiting for Nero to continue.

    <"At first, Mother said she didn''t want our father to know that she''s still alive. I guess she''s worried about Father''s obsessive love. Our mother doesn''t want Father to push you to train your Soul Beast in order to save her.">

    She understood where her mother wasing from, but¡­

    [Papa Boss isn''t that kind of person anymore.]

    <"But before we parted ways, Mother changed her mind,"> Nero continued, then he smiled at her. <"In the end, Mother told me to tell you it''s up to you whether you wanted Father to know that she''s alive or not. Mother said she''d trust your decision.">

    She didn''t have to think about it.

    [Papa Boss deserves to know the truth. Plus, Mother said it''s up to me. It seems like misunderstandings and mimunication fucked up my parents'' rtionship. I won''t let it happen again.]

    <"Neoma, Mother said she misses you,"> Nero said softly, his eyes sparkling with happiness for her. <"Mother said you were only a few months old when shest hugged you.">

    She was just a newborn baby when her Mama Bossst saw her?

    Then¡­

    [It confirms my eomma is a different person from Mama Boss¡­]

    She suddenly felt nauseous.

    [What the hell is happening?]

    <"Neoma, if you decide to send back a message for me, work Trevor to the bones.">

    Of course, Trevorined after hearing that. "My future brother-inw could really be evil sometimes."

    <"I can''t exin everything to you yet, but we should be careful of the gods who might be watching us,"> Nero said seriously. <"The gods need something from us, Neoma. To block their eyes, you need to cover your tracks with Darkness attribute.">

    She understood what Nero was saying, but she didn''t know why her twin brother was telling her all of that.

    "Trevor, you''ll exin everything to meter."

    "Yes, my Moon Princess."

    <"I''m in contact with Hanna.">

    Her eyes opened wide. "Hanna?"

    <"The Quinzels could block the eyes of gods because their Shadow Maniption Techniquees from the Darkness attribute,"> Nero exined gently. <"Hanna is currently working hard to master their family''s technique in order to assist us in the future.">

    Ah, Hanna mentioned nothing about that in her cousin''s recent letters.

    <"Neoma, please take care of yourself until I get better,"> Nero said gently. <"Once I return with my full strength, you don''t have to do anything. I''ll let you live like ady of leisure.">

    Neoma smiled after hearing that. "You can''t break that promise, Nero."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "TREVOR, I want to talk to Nero in person," Neoma said seriously after listening to her twin brother''s recorded message. "Can''t you use your Darkness attribute or something to cover our tracks then?"

    "Prince Nero also wanted to do that at first, but I refused," Trevor said casually. "I can''tpletely cover the two of you, since the gods watching you and your twin brother are strong. We need a stronger Darkness attribute to make that happen. Unfortunately, Hanna Quinzel still has a long way to go."

    "Is demonic power also some sort of Darkness attribute?"

    "Of course," he said. "That''s exactly why I have that attribute."

    "Then I can also learn how to cover my existence with the Darkness attribute," she said. "After all, I''ve been told many times that I possess demonic power."

    "Ah," the demon boy said, as if he just realized that. "That makes sense. I guess I can teach you how to do that but¡­"

    "But what?"

    "If your demonic power grows stronger, your Moonglow might not be enough to cover it," he exined to her. "As you know, the Moonglow is the unique divine power that the de Moonasterio inherited from Yule. That''s the reason your demonic power hasn''t been discovered by other people yet. It onlyes out when you use the Death Scythe. But if you strengthen it¡­"

    "I''ll cross the bridge when I get there," she said. "For now, I need to protect myself from the eyes of the selfish gods who want to turn me into their personal air purifier."

    "Air purifier? What''s that?"

    "Ah, they call it ''Aether,''" she exined. "ording to the minor god I killed recently, I have the huge potential to be the next Aether."

    Trevor''s face turned grim. "I won''t let you end up as a human sacrifice like I did, Princess Neoma." He put a hand on his chest as he bowed politely. "I will protect you at all cost."

    She smiled and nodded. "Yeah, you should. It will be a tremendous loss to the human world if the gods monopolize my beauty."

    When the demon boy raised his head, he smiled. "I know, right?"

    It was nice to see him smile again.

    Although Trevor''s grim expression made him look like a hot viin, she still didn''t want to spoil his mood because of her business.

    "Trevor, can you bring William to me?"

    "It will be hard, but I will try."

    "Tell him toe and see me if he wants to save my mother," Neoma said with a shrug. "If it doesn''t work, drag him here."

    Trevorughed, then he gave her a salute. "As you wish, my Moon Princess."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "LITTLE rogue, you''re way too young to let a boy in your room¨C especially at this hour."

    Neoma already expected to hear that from her Papa Boss when he arrived at her room after she sent him a message. "Papa Boss, Trevor is not a boy."

    "Then what am I, Princess Neoma?" Trevor asked, shocked. "Am I not manly enough for you?"

    She just waved his hand to dismiss hisints. "Trevor, I''m going to talk to Papa Boss. You know what to do, don''t you?"

    "Leave it to me, my Moon Princess," Trevor said, then he turned to her Papa Boss and smiled. "See youter, Your Majesty."

    After that, the demon boy disappeared.

    [Welp, I''m sure Trevor will cover our tracks just fine.]

    "What is this about, Neoma?" her Papa Boss asked after sitting down on the couch. "It''s way past your bedtime. What is it that you have to talk about to Trevor that it couldn''t wait until tomorrow?"

    She sat down on the couch across from her father.

    They prepared the tea on the table in advance. She asked Stephanie to prepare it before her Papa Boss arrived.

    "Papa Boss, Nero sent me a message."

    "So I have been told," her father said calmly, then he sipped his tea before asking. "Is it something that you can share with me?"

    Her heart was beating like crazy.

    She decided her father deserved to know the truth because he had changed a lot. He was no longer the toxic, obsessive, and possessive lover that her mother knew.

    [I''m doing the right thing.]

    "Papa Boss¡­"

    "Yes?"

    She took a deep breath before she spoke. "Nero told me Mama Boss is still alive."

    Her father dropped the teacup in his hand, the shock on his face was clear.

    She stood up when she realized that the tea spilled on her father''s legs. It was still hot, but it seemed like her Papa Boss couldn''t feel it. "Papa Boss, are you alright¨C"

    "Neoma, what did you just say?" her father asked, cutting her off. "Mona is still alive?"

    Seeing that her father wasn''t hurt, she went back to her seat and nodded. "Nero met Mama Boss in her Spirit form. He didn''t exin the details to me, but he had a long conversation with our mother."

    "Mona is in her Spirit form?" her father asked, confused. "Does it mean her physical body isn''t well?"

    As expected of the emperor, he was sharp.

    "Nero said Mama Boss is currently trapped in an enormous block of ice," she exined to her father. "And apparently, the block of ice is under the ck Ocean."

    Her father brushed his hands over his face. "Mona¡­ is still alive¡­"

    Since her Papa Boss covered his face with his hands, she couldn''t see his facial expressions.

    But his voice sounded relieved, and a little scared.

    "Papa Boss, I''m wondering how it happened, though."

    Her father removed his hands away from his face. He looked calm, but the storm in his eyes said otherwise. "What do you mean by that, Neoma?"

    "If Mama Boss has been trapped in the ck Ocean for almost ten years now, then who is the mother that raised me during my second life?" she asked, then she smiled bitterly. "Papa Boss, what''s the truth behind my previous life?"

    Her Papa Boss looked concerned, then he suddenly closed his eyes and clutched his head.

    "Papa Boss¡­?"

    "I feel like I know the answer," her Papa Boss said while obviously having difficulties in talking. "But my brain couldn''t remember it."

    Ah, right.

    Some of her Papa Boss''s memories were still missing. If only she could retrieve it for her father¡­

    [Wait, I could.]

    "Lord Redgrave''s eyes," Neoma whispered in shock. "He said his eyes could see forgotten memories!"

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 Chapter 344 - UNO REVERSE CARD

    <strong></strong>"THE MINOR god you killed gave his eyes to you?"

    "Yes, Papa Boss," Neoma said, then she tilted her head to one side when she realized something. "Ah, I haven''t reported it to you yet."

    Her Papa Boss let out a sigh. "Neoma, next time, report something like that to me right away."

    "Yes, Papa Boss," she said, acting like an obedient daughter this time. "Should we use it to retrieve your missing memories?"

    "I feel like it would be a waste to use it on me."

    "Why would it be a waste?" sheined. "Papa Boss, we have to figure out what happened during my second life. Plus, we need to save Mama Boss as soon as possible."

    Her poor mother had been trapped in the ice under the ocean for almost ten years.

    "You''re right," her Papa Boss agreed. "Can you show me the god''s eyes you received?"

    "Of course, Papa Boss."

    To be honest, she didn''t know how her body moved on its own ord.

    She just opened her hands, closed her eyes, and imagined the red orbs materializing, and vo!

    When she opened her eyes, the two red orbs were already in her hands.

    [Wow. How did I do it? Am I truly a genius?]

    "Neoma, where did you learn to do that kind of thing?" her Papa Boss asked. "Did the minor god teach you how to summon his eyes?"

    She shook her head. "I guess I''m just built different?"

    Her father gave her a look that said "stop spouting nonsense."

    "It''s true, though," she said while pouting. "Anyway, do you know how to use these eyes, Papa Boss? Lord Redgrave didn''t have the time to teach me."

    "This is the first time I''ve seen a pair of authentic divine eyes," her Papa Boss said. "But Trevor might know, since that demon boy is Mr. Know-it-all."

    She giggled because her father was right. "Trevor,e out."

    "I heard everything," Trevorined as soon as he materialized beside her. "Your Majesty, I''m not Mr. Know-it-all. My facts are legit, and not only for bragging¨C"

    "I don''t care," her Papa Boss cut him off rudely. "So, how do we use a god''s eyes?"

    "Lord Redgrave said he can see forgotten memories," she exined. "We need to retrieve Papa Boss''s memories. So, do you know how to use these eyes?"

    "Ordinary humans cannot use an item from a god," Trevor began carefully. "But the de Moonasterios aren''t ordinary humans, right?"

    "Of course, we''re not ordinary," Neoma and her Papa Boss said proudly at the same time.

    The demon boy smiled, but he looked pissed at the attitude they showed him. "Anyway, you just have to crush the eyes with your Moonglow until they turn into dust, then wash your face with it. But while washing your face with the dust, you have to focus on searching for your missing memories."

    "That sounds simple," she said, then she turned to her father as she handed him one of the red orbs. "It''s easy peasy, Papa Boss."

    Her father nodded, then he epted the red orb from her. "Yeah, I can do it."

    Trevorughed while pping his hands. "Ah, the de Moonasterios'' sheer arrogance never fail to amuse. Do you think it would be easy to crush a god''s eye¨C"

    Crack.

    The demon boy was forced to stop talking when the sound of the red orb cracking all over filled the entire room.

    She smiled when she realized how focused her Papa Boss was looking at the red orb in his hand. The red orb was now covered with a blu-ish and silver-ish light. Ah, that must be her father''s Moonglow.

    [It feels warm.]

    A few momentster, the red orb broke into hundreds of pieces. The broken pieces were then turned into a red, fine dust.

    [Just like that.]

    Neoma turned to Trevor with a smug smile on her face. "That''s my Papa Boss."

    Trevor just rolled his eyes as if he was already done with her and her father.

    "All I have to do is use this dust to wash my face, right?" her Papa Boss asked, then he washed his face with the red dust. "Trevor, I''ll kill you if this doesn''t work."

    <strong>***</strong>

    TREVOR was relieved when the method he taught the emperor actually worked.

    As of the moment, Emperor Niki was sitting still on the couch with his eyes closed. A red light that felt too aggressive to be called divine power surrounded his Majesty. Moreover, the dust from the broken red orb covered the emperor''s closed eyes.

    "Ah," Trevor said when he felt the barrier he created getting attacked from the outside. Then he turned to Princess Neoma who was sitting beside him while watching her father closely. "Princess Neoma, it seems like His Majesty''s Pdins have felt the god''s hostile energy. Can you tell them to calm down? I don''t like getting hurt."

    "You get hurt when your barrier is attacked?"

    "Oh, you know my barrier is getting attacked by the Pdins?"

    Princess Neoma nodded. "I can feel it."

    He smiled proudly.

    [Princess Neoma doesn''t notice stuff like before since she''s too self-centered.]

    "Mochi," Princess Neoma summoned the Wind Spirit. Then, a few momentster, a white bunny materialized on herp. "Can you go and assure the Pdins that Papa Boss is alright?"

    "Of course, Princess Neoma," Mochi said. "I enjoymunicating with humans, anyway."

    After saying that, the Wind Spirit disappeared.

    Trevor tilted his head while observing Princess Neoma. Something was bothering her, and he thought it was the right time to bring it up with Emperor Niki was still "unconscious." "Princess Neoma, do you remember how Bookworm works to gather information?"

    "Is this a quiz? Okay, I''ll humor you," his adorable princess said. "You and Bookworm don''t know everything immediately. Bookworm actually gathers data by reading the memories of the people around you, or reading the avable texts around."

    "Uh-huh," he said. "Do you know how I found out the method to use a god''s eyes?"

    "Isn''t it recorded in the bookworm''s logbook or something?"

    He shook his head firmly. "No. It''s a new data Bookworm gathered just now." It was rude, but he couldn''t help it when he pointed a finger at the princess. "A data from you, Princess Neoma."

    "From me?" the princess asked, surprised. "But I know nothing about it?"

    "Then how did you know the method of killing a god?"

    She tilted her head to one side. "Isn''t it just something like¡­mon sense?"

    "Common sense?"

    "I mean, Lord Redgrave tried to suck the life out of me," she said with a shrug. "So I used the uno reverse card on him."

    "Uno reverse card?"

    "Nevermind," the princess said. "I just copied what he tried to do to me. I''m just lucky that it worked."

    "Princess Neoma, I like you from the bottom of my heart but¡­"

    "Not like I care, but what?"

    "But you''re too carefree," he said sternly. "I''m telling you it''s not normal to know the method to kill a god. Even Bookworm doesn''t have enough data on it, and he lived longer than you do even if youbined all your previous lifetimes. Granted that Redgrave was just a lesser god, it still makes little sense a human like you sessfully killed him."

    "Okay, I get that it''s a huge feat," the princess finally acknowledged. "But I really don''t know how I managed to pull that off. It just felt¡­ natural."

    "Princess Neoma, it''s not like you don''t know it," he said. "I think you just don''t remember."

    "Impossible," she denied while shaking her head. "I remember everything."

    "Can you trust your own memories?"

    "What are you implying, Trevor?"

    "Save the other eye, Princess Neoma. No matter what happens, don''t let others use it," he said seriously. "You might need it someday."

    It looked like Princess Neoma was about toin but when the seriousness on his face didn''t change, she nodded like an obedient child. "Okay, I''ll save it for myself."

    Trevor grinned, and his hand hovered over Princess Neoma''s pretty head. "Can I pat you, Princess Neoma?"

    Princess Neoma smiled "sweetly" at him. "Sure, if that''s your death wish."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA could only stare at the ceiling while thinking about what her Papa Boss showed her earlier.

    Yes, her father sessfully retrieved his missing memories.

    And thanks to Trevor''s help, her Papa Boss was able to share it with her.

    She found out her Papa Boss and Mama Boss tried to cross over to the other world to save her from the gods'' evil n.

    [I''m really the next Aether, huh?]

    But it wasn''t what shocked her the most.

    [Yoon Jung. Go Areum. Nabi.]

    Her Mama Boss, with the help of an Ancient Spirit, found a world where they could live as a family¨C a world where the gods of this world couldn''t reach.

    [But they nned to leave Nero behind¡­]

    That was so fucked up.

    "Papa Boss and Mama Boss were both selfish," Neoma whispered to herself in a cracked voice. "How could they make such cruel decisions?"

    Granted that Yoon Jung, Go Areum, and Nabi were all supposed to die anyway, she still found it cruel that her Papa Boss and Mama Boss decided to take over the family''s physical bodies just to get away from their own problems.

    [Go Areum¡­]

    That woman was her eomma/mother in her second life.

    [Since Mama Boss failed to cross over to the other world, then she couldn''t be my eomma.]

    But Kim Won-shik¡­

    [Gavin Quinzel sessfully crossed over to the other world and possessed Kim Won-shik''s body. And I was able to cross over as well and possessed Nabi''s body, thus we became a family in my second life.]

    But what happened to Nabi''s soul? Did the poor baby really die? Was Nabi really destined to die or did she have to die because of her?

    [Argh.]

    She got up while clutching her stomach.

    [I want to throw up.]

    Still, there were many questions left in her head. Questions that her Papa Boss couldn''t answer since he failed to cross over to the other world. Only one person could give her the answers she wanted at the moment.

    [Appa...]

    The appa in her head was a loving man who raised her with affection. But the Gavin Quinzel that she came to know...

    "Trevor."

    As expected, Trevor immediately materialized in front of her. It seemed like the demon boy noticed how serious she was at the moment because he didn''t act cheeky after being summoned. "Yes, Princess Neoma?"

    Neoma stood up and ran her fingers through her hair. "Bring me to my appa now."

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 Chapter 345 - PULL NO PUNCHES

    "YOUR MAJESTY, your eyesight¡­"

    "Don''t worry about it too much, Kyle," Niki said casually while lying down on his bed. "My eyesight will return in a week or two."

    Neoma btedly remembered that the price for using the god''s eyes to retrieve forgotten memories was temporarily losing the user''s eyesight.

    But to be honest, it didn''t matter.

    Even if his daughter told him in advance that the payment for using the god''s power was to go blind for a week or two, he would still use it.

    [But I have to tell Neoma to never use it herself.]

    Although he didn''t mind being temporarily blind, it was a littlefortable to see darkness, even though his eyes were open. He didn''t want his daughter to experience the same thing. After all, he only wanted her to see pretty things.

    "Your Majesty, even if it''s temporary, losing your eyesight is still a big deal," Kyle Sprouse said worriedly. "Of course, we''ll keep it a secret from other people. But your safety¡­"

    He scoffed at the count''s useless worries. "I''ll be fine even if I lose my eyesight. I can tell who''s in my room at the moment, and I can fight in this condition."

    Moreover, he had his Soul Beasts with him.

    "Your Majesty, we will protect you with our lives," Geoffrey Kinsley, the current representative of the Pdins, said firmly. "Please rest well."

    He could also feel Dion and Jeanne''s presence.

    [Why are they worried about the strongest person in the empire?]

    "Then, Your Majesty, I will temporarily do your work in your stead," Kyle said. "I''ll sort out the documents that need your seal¡­"

    He got distracted when he felt the barrier in his room disturbed.

    But he stayed calm because he recognized the two presence immediately. It was Neoma and Trevor, and the two didn''t enter his room properly. The demon boy used a teleportation spell to get to his room.

    [Why are they together again?]

    "Papa Boss."

    He turned to where he heard Neoma''s voiceing from.

    [She sounds serious.]

    Neoma was a carefree person who would often use a yful tone when speaking. But this time, his daughter''s voice sounded icy.

    "I''m going out for a while," Neoma said in a serious tone. "I''ll return tomorrow."

    His brows furrowed in annoyance. "With Trevor?"

    "Yes, Papa Boss."

    "Don''t worry, Your Majesty," Trevor chipped in. "I''ll return Princess Neoma home safely."

    He still didn''t want to give his permission.

    But on the other hand, he knew what Neoma would do. It had definitely something to do with Mona or Gavin Quinzel.

    [Neoma isn''t a child, so it should be fine. I may not like Trevor, but I know he will keep my daughter safe. And I also know I shouldn''t worry too much about a person who could kill a god.]

    Still, as Neoma''s father, he couldn''t help but worry.

    [She might be hurt or feeling betrayed after she learned the truth about Gavin Quinzel''s deception.]

    "Papa Boss?"

    He was about to open his mouth to speak, but someone else beat him to it.

    "Princess Neoma, I don''t think it''s wise to leave the pce right now," Kyle said in a frustrated voice. "Now that His Majesty has temporarily lost his vision, the Crown Prince must fill in¨C"

    "Is my father incapacitated, Count Sprouse?" Neoma cut the count off coldly. "My father just temporarily lost his vision, but he''s still capable of doing his work. My father has sharp senses, so I''m sure he can move around just fine. If you''re worried about the documents that he needs to read, I''m pretty sure Papa Boss''s Soul Beasts could handle that."

    Everything Neoma just said was correct.

    He could use his Soul Beasts as his eyes. It was the method that he used before when he caught Neoma buying indecent romance books.

    "My father is a capable man," Neoma continued, still speaking in an icy tone. "Count Sprouse, you of all people should know that. Haven''t you been working as my father''s close aide for years now?"

    His daughter''s words touched him.

    But Trevor''s snicker ruined that warm moment.

    "I worried for nothing," Kyle said stiffly. "I apologize to Your Majesty and Your Royal Highness."

    "I appreciate your concern, Kyle. But my daughter is correct," he said. Neoma and Kyle never got along well, so he better end the two''s fight before it got worse. "Neoma."

    "Yes, Papa Boss?"

    "Send your location to me as soon as you arrived at your destination," he said sternly. "If you don''t return within twenty-four hours, I''ll send my Pdins to you."

    "I understand, Papa Boss," Neoma said, her voice still lifeless. "I''ll leave with Trevor now."

    Niki let out a sigh because he really didn''t want his daughter to leave, but he knew better than stopping her when she already made up her mind. "Take care, Neoma," he said softly. "No matter what happens, you have to return safely."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "PRINCESS?"

    Neoma''s heart broke when she saw the betrayed look on Lewis''s face after she told him she''d be leaving with Trevor, and Trevor only. "I''m so sorry, Lewis," she said, her heart heavy with guilt. "I can''t bring you with me."

    She didn''t return to her room after gaining permission from her father to go out of the pce. Instead of doing that, she asked Trevor to bring her to Lewis''s room.

    Which was just next to her own chamber.

    Lewis looked devastated. "Why?"

    "Lewis, when I''m gone, you''re the next person your siblings should follow," she said sternly. "Once my own Order of the Knights has been officially established, you''ll be themander. You must lead your siblings in my stead."

    Her son just frowned, as if he couldn''t ept her exnation.

    "Lewis, you and your siblings will start yourmunity service tomorrow morning," she reminded him of his punishment. "I''ll pick you up before the day ends."

    Lewis let out a deep sigh before he nodded reluctantly. "I''ll wait for you, Princess Neoma," he said, as if he was about to cry. But when he turned to Travis, his expression turned bitter. "Protect Princess Neoma with your life."

    Trevorughed while waving Lewis goodbye. "That''s the n, son."

    "Don''t fight," Neoma scolded the two. She hit Trevor at the back of his head, then she smiled at Lewis. "See you tomorrow, Lewis."

    <strong>***</strong>

    TELEPORTATION technique was really convenient, Neoma realized.

    But Trevor''s teleportation technique was unique. In fact, it would be more appropriate to say that he opened a portal. And the portal he created resembled a ck hole. But when they entered inside, it felt like she entered an elevator that kept moving forward.

    "Trevor, I want this skill," Neoma said, then she turned to him. "Teach me."

    "Nah, this skill isn''t for someonezy like you," Trevor said while grinning. "To use a portal, you must first know the coordinates of your destination. You can''t simply open a portal to a ce without coordinates, you know?"

    "Are you saying you already know the coordinates of where my appa is?" she asked, confused.

    "His Majesty asked me to bring Gavin Quinzel to him," he exined. "Since I want to earn some brownie points from your father, I immediately looked for the formermander. Luckily, I found him easily since he wasn''t hiding his presence this time."

    "But you didn''t bring him to Papa Boss right away?"

    "It''s not like I didn''t," he said seriously. "I just couldn''t."

    She clenched her hands when her heart began beating like crazy because of anxiety. "What''s my appa''s current situation?"

    "It''s easier to show you than to exin it with words, Princess Neoma."

    Hearing that made her feel more anxious.

    Thankfully, the "elevator" finally stopped moving. As soon as the door opened, she immediately stepped out of the portal.

    Cold sea breeze.

    The smell of salt.

    And a cave.

    It was only two in the morning, so the sky was still dark. But the entrance of the cave was illuminating.

    [Appa¡­?]

    She could feel her appa''s presence inside the cave. If Trevor couldn''t bring her appa to the pce, then her appa might be hurt. And so she immediately ran and went inside the cave.

    The scene that greeted her shocked her.

    Ice.

    There was an enormous block of ice, and her unconscious appa was trapped inside. She was supposed to be mad at her appa. But when she saw him in that state, she forgot why she was mad in the first ce.

    [Tteokbokki isn''t back yet so¡­]

    "Kimchi!" she summoned her Fire Spirit in an anxious voice. "Melt the ice!"

    Her Fire Spirit, in the form of a ming lizard simr to a Leopard Gecko, materialized andnded on top of her head.

    Kimchi breathed fire as big as the block of ice in front of them.

    But much to her shock, the me was extinguished before it even licked the ice. Plus, she heard Kimchi purr as if she was hurt. Then, the next thing she knew, her Fire Spirit copsed. Thankfully, she caught Kimchi before she fell to the ground.

    "Kimchi," she said worriedly. "What happened to you?"

    "The ice absorbed your Fire Spirit''s Mana," Trevor said as he stood next to her. "Don''t worry, she''ll be fine after a good rest."

    It relieved her to hear that.

    "I''m sorry, Kimchi," she whispered, then she closed her eyes and kissed the top of Kimchi''s head. "Take a rest for now."

    Kimchi purred softly before she vanished.

    "Why did that happen, Trevor?" she asked when she opened her eyes. "Kimchi''s me isn''t as strong as Tteokbokki''s me. But it''s still powerful enough to melt icebergs." She looked at the ice suspiciously. "What kind of ice is that?"

    "It''s ice created from the Ice Spirit''s power."

    "Ice Spirit?"

    "Yeah," the demon boy said. "I tried to melt it with my Hellme, but it only absorbed my energy. I doubt your Soul Beast would make any difference. Speaking of that, where''s that donkey, anyway?"

    "Hey, Tteokbokki is a dragon," she said defensively. "Only I may call him a donkey, okay?"

    "Okay," he said with his hands up as if he was surrendering. "Anyway, I''m not underestimating your Soul Beast, Princess Neoma. But the Ice Spirit''s ice could only be melted with an adult dragon''s Fire Breath."

    She gasped when she realized something. "It''s the same ice like the one where my Mama Boss is trapped in?"

    "Yeah."

    "How can you be so sure, Trevor? Is there, like, only one Ice Spirit in the world?"

    "There are other Ice Spirits out there, but only Mona Roseheart''s Ice Spirit Guardian could create something like this¡­" he trailed off when he probably realized his slip of the tongue. "Oh."

    "What did you say?" she asked with furrowed brows. "The Ice Spirit that created the ice where my Mama Boss was trapped in was her own Spirit Guardian?"

    The demon boy could only scratch his cheek.

    "Are you saying that my Mama Boss was betrayed by her own Spirit Guardian?" she asked in disbelief.

    "Is that what happened?"

    It was Mochi, and she was surprised when the Wind Spirit suddenly materialized in her white bunny form without being summoned.

    "Demon boy, answer me," Mochi said while floating in front of Trevor. "Did the Ice Spirit betray our master?!"

    "Mochi, you didn''t know?" she asked, confused. "Come to think of it, why didn''t you know what happened to my Mama Boss back then?"

    "Mona had to let go of us while she was preparing to cross over to the other world," Mochi exined. "Only her soul would travel to the other world, and that means her physical body would die. Thus, she had to let go of her Spirit Guardians. Since Mona was the only human who could tame us all at the same time, we decided to enter a deep slumber instead of searching for a new master. To us, Mona is irreceable."

    "But why are you awake?" Trevor asked. "You didn''t enter a deep slumber?"

    "I did," Mochi said defensively. "But the Exton family found myir and caught me¡­" She trailed off and shook her head. "Don''t change the topic, demon boy. Tell me! Did the Ice Spirit really betray our master?"

    "That''s what Mona Roseheart told Prince Nero," Trevor said hesitantly. "Apparently, the Ice Spirit helped Gavin Quinzel to trap Mona Roseheart in the ice, so she would fail to cross over to the other world."

    Mochi gasped in shock.

    "Appa was the culprit who trapped my Mama Boss in the ice?" she asked in disbelief. "Then why didn''t Nero tell me¡­?"

    "Prince Nero realized that Gavin Quinzel is someone important to you," the demon boy continued. "He knew you''d be hurt if you find out that the person who hurt your mother was the "appa" you cherish."

    Ah, Nero knew everything.

    She already expected that, but it still felt strange.

    [Nero and I need to have a long conversation soon.]

    "So the reason Mona failed was because she was betrayed by Gavin Quinzel and the Ice Spirit," Mochi said in disbelief. "That damned Ice Spirit¡­ I knew he couldn''t be trusted!"

    It seemed like Mochi already expected the Ice Spirit''s betrayal.

    Unlike her, who still couldn''t believe that her appa could hurt her Mama Boss that way.

    She clenched her hands while looking at her unconscious appa trapped inside the ice.

    [Why, appa? Why did you betray Mama Boss and Papa Boss? Why did you take me with you when you crossed over to the other world? Why? Why? Why?!]

    An ungodly amount of rage rose to her chest.

    "P-Princess Neoma, calm down," Trevor said, then he gulped. "Are you nning to crush us down with the pressureing from your Mana? My knees are about to buckle¡­"

    "Princess Neoma, I''m being crushed down by your Mana," Mochi said in a weak voice, her white bunny form turning translucent. "I''m sorry, but I can handle this much pressure in this form. Summon me if you need me again¡­"

    Mochi disappeared.

    Trevor, on the other hand, fell to his knees while gasping for air.

    She knew that the tremendous pressureing from the Mana and Moonglow leaking out of her body caused it all. But it wasn''t like she could turn it off. She couldn''t straight because she was so angry at the moment.

    [Appa, I need answers right now or else, I''ll lose my mind.]

    She approached the enormous block of ice with clenched hands. Tteokbokki wasn''t with her, so she really didn''t have a n. All she knew was her hands were itching to hit something.

    [Will the Moonglow work?]

    She thought it might be possible since her father''s Moonglow was strong enough to crush a god''s eye. And so she covered her fists with Moonglow.

    [Come to think of it, what''s the use of our Moonglow, anyway? All I know is that the Moonglow is the source of our divine power. Something that the de Moonasterios inherited from Lord Yule.]

    "Divine power, huh?" she whispered, then she clenched her hands tight and focused her gaze on the enormous block of ice in front of her. "You better create a miracle right now."

    After that, she punched the block of ice with her fists nonstop.

    It didn''t hurt because her fists were covered with Moonglow. But it was frustrating to see that her punches weren''t hitting the ice. That was when she realized something.

    [There''s a barrier¡­]

    The ice didn''t absorb Kimchi''s me. It was the barrier. But if only an adult dragon''s Fire Breath could melt the ice, why would there be any need for a barrier?

    [And who put it up?]

    Well, it didn''t matter anymore.

    She increased the amount of Moonglow and Mana that she covered her fists with. Her punches became stronger and faster as well. Since the de Moonasterios were blessed with unrivaled physical strength, her stamina was also good.

    [I can do this all night.]

    And her hard work was finally paying off.

    The barrier finally cracked. It didn''t take long before the cracks spread. And a few punchester, the barrier copsed.

    It broke into hundreds of several pieces.

    But before the broken pieces hit the ground, they melted like ice and vanishedpletely.

    "Wow," Trevor, who was still behind her, said. It was a relief to know that the demon boy could breathe properly again. "Princess Neoma, you didn''t even sweat."

    "Uh-huh," she said as she walked closer to the block of ice.

    Then she raised her hand and was about to ce it on the surface when¨C

    <"Stop right there, little de Moonasterio.">

    It came from an unfamiliar voice of a woman¨C a woman who sounded like the same age as Lady Sera Wisteria.

    "Argh!" Trevor groaned, as if he was in pain. Then it was followed by a soft thud as if he dropped to the ground again. "That voice is piercing my head! Princess Neoma, are you alright?"

    "I''m fine," she said with a frown. "But I hear an annoying buzz in my head."

    It didn''t hurt her like Trevor was experiencing at the moment.

    But she could feel that the voice they heard had the same aura as her Moonglow.

    [Like a divine voice or something?]

    She ignored the warning, then she closed her eyes and ced her hands on the block of ice.

    It might be futile, but she still used her Moonglow in an attempt to melt the ice by changing the attribute of her divine power. The Moonglow was cold, but she needed it to be hot enough to melt the ice.

    And so, she imagined turning her Moonglow into something like Crimson''s white me.

    Sizzle.

    She opened her eyes when she heard the sizzling sound.

    Much to her delight, she saw the part where she ced her hands melting. The block of ice was thick, but it gave her hope.

    <"Didn''t I tell you to stop, you little bitch?!">

    Little bitch?

    She smirked in disbelief. "Trevor, did I hear it right? Did that old hag really call me a "little bitch?""

    Trevor didn''t have the chance to respond because of the woman''s voice.

    <"Who are you calling an old hag?! Do you know who I am?!">

    "Don''t YOU know who I AM?"

    <"You''re just the Lesser Moon¨C I am someone who represents the Sun Goddess!">

    Trevor gasped softly. "The Sun Priestess?"

    Ah.

    The East Continent worshipped the Sun Goddess, so the Sun Priestess was an important figure to the East.

    But this was the West Continent¨C thend governed by Yule, the Moon God.

    In short, she was the second most important figure here.

    [So who cares about the god from the East?]

    "You talk big, so I thought you were a big shot," she said with a smirk. "But you''re nothing but the Sun Goddess''s little errand girl, huh?"

    <"Shut your mouth if you''ll only speak sphemy!">

    "You want me to shut up? Hah!" she said whileughing. "Make me."

    <"Wait for me, you little bitch¨C I''ll make you regret opening that foul mouth of yours.">

    "Ah, I''m scared," Neoma said sarcastically, then she turned serious and icy again. "Don''t keep me waiting, old hag."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 346 - CAT GOT YOUR TONGUE?

    TREVOR unconsciously let out a hup.

    Ever since he became a human sacrifice and had to spend his life in his tiny hellhole, nothing scared him anymore.

    Not until now.

    Did he really see Princess Neoma pick a fight with the Sun Priestess?

    [The Sun Priestess is one of the most powerful humans in the East. She received the love of the Sun Goddess. Thus, the Sun Priestess could use the power of her goddess as if it''s her own. Princess Neoma is strong, but she''s not as strong as Emperor Niki yet.]

    If the Sun Priestess and Emperor Niki fought at their full power, it might end up in a draw. That was how powerful the Sun Priestess was.

    "Trevor, boo!"

    Huh?

    Trevor blinked while looking at Princess Neoma''s (cute) attempt at surprising him. "Princess Neoma, are you acting cute for me?"

    "Of course not. I just wanted to surprise you because apparently, it helps in getting rid of hups," Princess Neoma exined. "But to be honest, just drink water."

    "I''m fine. Thank you for worrying about me, Princess Neoma," he said with a smile. "I just got nervous when you suddenly picked a fight with the Sun Priestess."

    She raised an eyebrow at him. "You sound like you''re afraid of me. Is she stronger than me, Trevor?"

    "Yes, she is."

    "She sounds like she''s someone spoiled by the Sun Goddess," shemented. "Did she receive her powers from the Sun Goddess herself?"

    "I believe so."

    "Can you tell what kind of power she has?"

    "I haven''t met the Sun Priestess yet, but I''ve met people who''ve had personal encounters with her," he exined. "ording to the data in their heads that Bookworm copied, the Sun Priestess has the Fire attribute just like you, Princess Neoma."

    It was probably why both Princess Neoma and the Sun Priestess were both hot-headed.

    [I heard most people with Fire attribute have a nasty temper.]

    "Trevor, is the Sun Priestess''s fire stronger than mine?"

    "Yes," he said honestly. "The Sun Priestess received her Fire attribute from the Sun Goddess herself. Thus, her fire is stronger than yours, Princess Neoma."

    He thought the princess would get annoyed by what he said.

    But much to his confusion, she smiled after hearing his answer.

    [Princess Neoma¡­ smiled?]

    And it was an evil smile.

    "Princess Neoma, what are you nning?" he asked nervously. "Will you really fight the Sun Priestess?"

    "I will," she said confidently. "But I don''t aim to win. It''s fine even if I lose. All I need to do is make her use her full strength."

    "But why?"

    "The Sun Priestess''s fire may be strong enough to melt the ice made by the Ice Spirit."

    Ah.

    That made sense.

    Using the Fire Breath of an adult Fire Dragon was the known method when it came to melting the ice by the Ice Spirit. But no one said it was the only way to melt the ice.

    "Princess Neoma, I thought we''re here because you''re angry at Gavin Quinzel," he said carefully. "But why are you desperate to save him now?"

    Princess Neoma gave him a bittersweet smile. "Because he''s still my appa."

    Trevor tilted his head to one side. "I''m afraid I don''t understand."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA fell silent for a while before she exined gently to Trevor. "I was deprived of love during my first life. But luckily, when I was reborn, I received unconditional love from my appa and eomma. I understand my appa has hurt my Mama Boss and Papa Boss. I''m still angry about that. But it''s enough to make me wish my appa is dead."

    Her feelings wereplicated.

    When she asked Trevor to bring her to her appa, she was determined to confront him. As if causing her parents to break up wasn''t cruel enough, her appa had to physically trap her Mama Boss in a block of ice under the ck Ocean for almost a decade, too.

    It hurt her to think that her Mama Boss was alone in there for so long. She was determined to hate her appa for that alone. But when she saw what happened to her appa¡­

    "I know that this is perhaps, appa''s karma," she said softly. "But I still want to save him, Trevor. Because at the end of the day, he''s still the father who showered me with unconditional love in the past. Am I making a poor decision?"

    "I can''t say I fully understand," Trevor confessed while scratching his cheek. "My parents were more evil than the Devil himself, so I don''t really understand how you could still love Gavin Quinzel after finding out the terrible things that he did to your biological parents."

    She flinched at his harsh yet somewhat truthful words.

    "But I don''t think you''re making a terrible decision, Princess Neoma," Trevor said seriously. "I don''t understand father-and-daughter rtionships, but I do know that it''s hard to hate a person who''s good to you."

    Sheughed softly because Trevor made it sound so simple, but she didn''t hate it.

    [Trevor can really say the right things at the right time.]

    She was about topliment the demon boy when suddenly, she felt and heard a strong vibration, as if the sky was shaking. If the ground shook, it was called an earthquake. Then could she call the shaking of the sky a "skyquake?"

    <"Amari, descend.">

    It was the Sun Priestess''s voice, and her spoken words were followed by the rumbling of the sky.

    She didn''t know why, but she felt ominous, so she grabbed Trevor by the cor and pulled him closer to her. Then she created a Dome¨C a thick and sturdy one. Her instinct was screaming at her to protect herself. She wanted to protect her appa, too. But she didn''t have the time to create a bigger Dome.

    And she figured if the Sun Priestess didn''t want her to melt the ice, it only meant that she would protect it. Or better yet, she hoped that the Sun Priestess''s attack would be strong enough to melt the ice.

    But she eventually realized why some people would say "be careful what you wish for."

    The force that struck her down was stronger than she expected.

    She couldn''t see it clearly because the force that hit the Dome came in a blinding light¨C forcing her to shut her eyes tight. But she felt it the moment it connect to her shield.

    Pain.

    Electric shock.

    Fear.

    Those were the three things that she felt when her Dome copsed.

    Yes, the shield that she thought was unbreakable because of her overflowing Mana and Moonglow broke down easily.

    Cough.

    She would have screamed from pain if she didn''t cough up a huge chunk of blood.

    To be honest, she couldn''t tell if her bones were all broken or if she was burned from the electric shock. Every fiber of her being hurt like hell, while her skin felt as if she was being melted by a hot liquid.

    "Princess Neoma!"

    When she opened her eyes, she found herself in Trevor''s arms. She noticed that demon boy looked perfectly fine. He looked worried about her, but he wasn''t injured.

    Was she the only one attacked by the Sun Priestess?

    [That bitch¡­]

    "Princess Neoma, we should get out of here," Trevor said, then he scooped her up before he stood up. "I''m sorry, I failed to protect you."

    She was about to say that Trevor didn''t have to apologize.

    But when she looked around, the sight that greeted her surprised her.

    The cave had copsed, and only the huge rocks were left as debris. But that wasn''t the worse. She also noticed that there were vast craters on the shore¨C burnt craters, to be exact. It was as if something smoldering hit the ground.

    "Thunderbolts," Trevor whispered when he noticed she was looking at the craters around. "We were hit by thousands of thunderbolts that descended from the sky, Princess Neoma."

    She suddenly felt a chill.

    [Thunderbolts?]

    She was suddenly reminded of Ruto''s power. But it wasn''t like only Ruto could produce thunderbolts. It just annoyed her that the Sun Priestess used the same power as her Ruto. The former used her thunderbolts to hurt her, while thetter used his thunderbolts to protect her.

    [And the more annoying thing is the block of ice didn''t melt despite being hit by thunderbolts.]

    <"I hope this encounter teaches you a lesson, little de Moonasterio.">

    She looked up when she heard the Sun Priestess''s voiceing from above her, then she gasped at what greeted her.

    It was a beautiful peacock.

    And it was shining so brightly she thought the sun had already risen.

    She was grateful that Trevor was carrying her in his arms. Because if she was standing, her knees would have copsed from the pressureing from the peacock. Trevor didn''t seem to be affected, and that was expected since the Sun Priestess (in the peacock''s form) was directly attacking her with her scorching Mana.

    Worse, she couldn''t even look at the peacock for long because it hurt her eyes.

    [It''s as if the Sun Priestess is telling me she''s the sun that lights up the sky, while I''m nothing but a mere shlight.]

    <"Princess Neoma, cat got your tongue?">

    She was insulted, but she couldn''t open her mouth to retort. For the first time in a while, she lost at the battle of words. But even if she had something to say, she would have still missed her chance to speak, because another presence distracted her.

    It was another beautiful creature.

    "I finally found you, loser."

    Her jaw dropped open when the big and beautiful jaguar with a silky ck coat spoke. It sounded like a voice of a man¨C deep and husky. Anyway, the jaguar ignored them and walked past them while looking up at the peacock suspended in the air like a mini sun.

    <"You''re the loser, you lunatic!">

    The Sun Priestess just called the beautiful jaguar a lunatic.

    "They know each other?" she whispered to herself in disbelief.

    She was distracted when Trevor let out a string of hups again.

    Neoma knitted her eyebrows and looked up at the demon boy. "Trevor, why is that happening to you again?"

    "Princess Neoma, we''re in big trouble," Trevor said nervously. "That jaguar is the Moon Priest."

    The Moon Priest?

    She suddenly remembered that her father mentioned to her about the existence of the Moon Priest when she returned home after killing a minor god. Her Papa Boss told her that there was a judge that had the authority to punish the de Moonasterios who crossed the line.

    But ording to her Papa Boss, that Moon Priest was neglectful of his duties. He didn''t even appear during her grandfather''s reign, thus her Papa Boss had to judge the previous emperor himself and forcefully ascended the throne.

    "The Moon Priest didn''t appear when my crazy father wasmitting atrocities in the past," Neoma whispered with a frown. "Why is he here now?"

    "Ah, Princess Neoma doesn''t know," Trevor said, then he turned to her with a worried look on his face. "The Sun Priestess and the Moon Priest are best friends."

    What a fucking plot twist.

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 347 - BETWEEN THE SUN AND THE MOON

    <strong></strong>FOR THE first time in Neoma''s third life, she felt small.

    The Moonglowing out of the ck jaguar was no joke. It seemed to be greater than her Papa Boss''s Moonglow.

    [And the Moon Priest''s divine power is stronger than the former saint, too.]

    "Come down, loser," the Moon Priest (in the form of a ck jaguar) said to the Sun Priestess arrogantly. "I don''t enjoy looking up at a snot-filled crybaby like you."

    The Sun Priestess, in the form of a glowing peacock,ughed. "What do I do?" she asked sarcastically while obviously looking down at the Moon Priest. "I enjoy looking down ON a lunatic like you."

    "Then I''ll just have to make youe down," the ck jaguar said, then he roared.

    It was the most piercing roar that Neoma had ever heard in her whole life.

    And she wasn''t the only one who felt that way¨C even the nature seemed to be affected by the ck jaguar''s growl.

    An earthquake urred, and the ripples suddenly grew big enough to be a tsunami. She was about to create a Dome to protect her and Trevor because she was sure the waves would wash them away. But much to her surprise, the giant waves suddenly stopped and remained suspended in the air.

    She had a feeling the Moon Priest stopped it.

    [Crazy. That dude is crazy strong.]

    She further realized that she was correct when the ck jaguar roared again.

    This time, the beautiful peacock dropped to the ground, and the spot it hit turned into a crater in an instant.

    [Damn.]

    Now that the peacock fell from the sky, it also lost its blinding glow.

    The sky had turned dark once again, and the moon reappeared while shining brighter than before.

    [Ah, the Moon Priest won.]

    "You lunatic haven''t changed at all," the Sun Priestess, still in the form of a peacock, said as she stood up. "Did you wake up when Lord Yule entered a deep slumber?"

    "I woke up because I heard you started a stupid game without me," the Moon Priest said, then he stood up in front of the peacock while looking down at thetter. Ah, yes. The ck jaguar was at least thrice the size of an adult jaguar. "Now this is how our eye levels should meet."

    "Hah!" the Sun Priestess let out a sigh of disbelief. "Lord Yule is a modest being. I wonder how his children became arrogant."

    "You just haven''t seen our lord during his youth," the ck jaguar said, then he put one paw on top of the peacock''s head. "Hey, loser. Don''t start a game without me. Let''s y again."

    The peacock scoffed. "We''re not children anymore, you lunatic."

    "Are you afraid of losing to me again?"

    "You can''t provoke me," the Sun Priestess said haughtily. "I''m no longer a child. Moreover, I don''t remember our childhood memories anymore."

    "Is that so?"

    "Yes."

    "Then I guess our record would remain in my favor: 10, 017 wins for me and 9,993 losses for you."

    "I won 10, 003 times, you damned cheater!"

    The ck jaguar. "Ah, so you remember."

    "Get your paw off of my head!"

    "`Kay," the Moon Priest said, then he did as he was told. "Now that you remember our record, let''s y a game."

    "What kind of game?"

    "It seems like you''re trying to protect that stupid block of ice from Lord Yule''s descendant."

    Neoma''s ears perked up. [Oh, they''re finally talking about me.]

    "The little de Moonasterio here is being arrogant to think she could melt Delwyn''s ice on her own," the Sun Priestess said. "I heard from the Nature itself that the First Star received a Fire Dragon as her Soul Beast."

    ["Her?"]

    Neoma froze when she realized the pronoun that the Sun Priestess used when referring to her. [She knows I''m a girl!]

    "Even if her Soul Beast is here, it''s useless if it can''t use Fire Breath," the Sun Priestess continued in a haughty voice. "If I''m not mistaken, the little de Moonasterio here is only nine years old. Since her Soul Beast''s growth depends on the age of her physical body, then it will take nine more years before her dragon bes an adult."

    Neoma''s eyes opened wide. [Nine years?! Then does it mean my poor Mama Boss has to spend nine more years trapped in a block of ice under the ck Ocean?!]

    Should she just find another Fire Dragon to save her mother?

    "Unfortunately for the little de Moonasterio, her Soul Beast is the only Fire Dragon left in the world."

    Neoma gasped in disbelief. [Tteokbokki is the only one who can save Mama Boss?]

    She almost lost hope when the Moon Priest spoke.

    "Three years."

    "Three years?" the Sun Priestess asked the Moon Priest. "What do you mean by that?"

    "I will raise Ne-Ne''s Soul Beast in three years'' time."

    Neoma was surprised to hear the Moon Priest use the pet name that Yule came up for her. [Lord Yule probably talked about me with the Moon Priest.]

    "If I seed in raising Ne-Ne''s Soul Beast into an adult dragon who could use Fire Breath, then I win," the Moon Priest said yfully. "But if I fail, I lose. And if you win this time, I will never ask you to y a game with me again."

    "Are you for real?" the Sun Priestess scoffed. "I haven''t heard of a Soul Beast growing into an adult form while their host is still a child."

    "Yes, it''s unprecedented," the ck jaguar admitted. "This is also the first time I''m using this kind of method."

    "Then why do you sound so confident if the method you''ll use is only experimental?"

    The Moon Priest scoffed. "Have you seen me fail at something I do for the first time?"

    "I freaking hate you, lunatic."

    "We both know it''s a lie," the ck jaguar said casually before smoothly changing the topic. "So, will you y with me?"

    "I will ept it if you tell me the method you''ll use first."

    "That''s cheating, but since it''s you, I''ll tell you," the Moon Priestess said, then heughed softly before he spoke again. "It''s the same cheap trick that you and your precious Yoan have used to screw me up in the past."

    The peacock took a step backward as if she was startled.

    Neoma, on the other hand, felt her heart thump against her chest loud and fast, as if she was palpitating¨C all because of the name that the Moon Priest mentioned earlier. [''Yoan?'' Why does it sound familiar?]

    "How did you know that, you lunatic?"

    "Is there anything I don''t know about a loser like you?"

    "Don''t you dare touch my Yoan¨C"

    "I won''t, if you y with me," the Moon Priest said while snickering. "Who knows what I''ll do if I get bored while I''m here?"

    "Fine, let''s y your stupid game," the Sun Priestess said, then her peacock form turned translucent. Why did it look like the Sun Priestess while running away from the Moon Priest? "Little de Moonasterio."

    Neoma red at the Sun Priestess. "What?"

    "See you after three years," the Sun Priestess said haughtily. "The next time we meet, I won''t be in this form."

    "And when that timees, I won''t be this weak," Neoma retorted. "I will pay you back for what I received tonight."

    The Sun Priestess smirked. "Little bitch."

    "Old hag," she snapped back.

    After a short exchange of insults, the Sun Priestess finally disappeared.

    "Put her down," the Moon Priest, who was now facing them after the Sun Priestess disappeared, said to Trevor. "I need to heal her. A "sunburn" from the loser isn''t a joke."

    She couldn''t believe it.

    [Did he just call the attack that almost roasted me a mere "sunburn?"]

    Trevor gently put her down without questions asked. It was rare for the demon boy to be this quiet and obedient. He must have felt the pressure from the Moon Priest''s overflowing divine power as well.

    Anyway¡­

    Her thoughts got cut off when she stood in front of the ck jaguar.

    It was taller than her!

    "You shouldn''t have picked a fight with the crybaby loser," the Moon Priest scolded him. Then, he closed his eyes and gently put his forehead on her forehead. "If wepare the three of us with animals, then the loser and I would be whales while you would be nothing but a shrimp¨C a shrimp that would get crushed when the whales fight."

    Neoma wanted to retort but as soon as she felt the cool aura that hugged her body, she felt sleepy right away.

    [Yeah, I''m nothing but a shrimp.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    [MY DAUGHTER picked up another weirdo.]

    Niki stared nkly at the face of the naked man in front of him.

    [He just suddenly appeared in my office and stopped the time here.]

    Because of that, Geoffrey Kinsley, Dion Skelton, and Jeanne Audley were all frozen as if time had stopped for them. Only he could move and talk.

    [I received the report from Trevor that they returned with another person, but I didn''t expect to have an esteemed guest.]

    Silver hair, blue jeweled eyes that shine like diamonds, pale skin. The man looked like Yule''s younger brother. Moreover, the divine power leaking out of the individual was more powerful and holier than the saint''s.

    Thus, he could only think of one identity that this vulgar man could possess.

    [I''ve met him when I called my Soul Beasts by their real names for the first time.]

    "The Moon Priest," Niki said bluntly. "Why did you return with my daughter?"

    "First of all, I have a name," the Moon Priest saidzily while yawning. "Call me ''Manu.''"

    "Alright, Manu."

    "Uh, don''t you think you should add a title before my name?"

    He just stared at him nkly. "I call Yule by his first name only."

    "I see, Lord Yule''s blood is indeed flowing in your veins," he said while shaking his head. "Did you know your daughter picked up a fight with the Sun Priestess?"

    Ah, he knew Neoma was a girl.

    "Did my daughter win?"

    "Of course, she didn''t," the Moon Priest snarled, then he put a hand on his hip. "Your daughter is as weak as a babypared to the Sun Priestess."

    He frowned, but he couldn''t refute that. After all, he knew that the Sun Priestess was one of the strongest beings in the East Continent. But that didn''t mean Neoma would stay inferior to the Sun Priestess forever.

    "Why are you here?" he asked, changing the subject.

    "Why do you think I''m here?" Manu askedzily. Then he snapped his fingers. After that, a white robe with the crest of Yule hugged his body. Thank goodness this man finally covered himself. "Niki de Moonasterio, have you forgotten my other title aside from being the Moon Priest?"

    "Ah," Niki said when he realized why the Moon Priest was here. "I almost forgot that you''re the ''King of the Soul Beasts.''"

    <strong>***</strong>

    [EXTRA:] Interview with Manu, the Moon Priest.

    Manu: s_c, did you forget about my character?

    s_c: *shaking, vomitting, sobbing* I d-didn''t forget you¡­ how could I???

    Manu: So, why did you introduce me early, then never mention me again? Is my existence a joke to you???

    s_c: *avoids his gaze* You weren''t needed in the story until now.

    Manu: You''re lying!

    s_c: ¡­

    Manu: You skipped a wholea$$ mini arc where I was supposed to be one of the main characters!!! Why did you skip it???

    s_c: B-Because your mini arc has nothing to do with the main story! I don''t want the readers to think I''m dragging the plot!

    Manu: *res at me* My story with Dominic Zavaroni and Nichole de Moonasterio is pivotal! You should still include it, so the readers would understand how certain individuals get chosen to be "children" of the main gods! Stop making excuses! You just don''t want to write an arc without Neoma! Forget about her¨C the world doesn''t revolve around her!

    s_c: NEOMA IS THE MAIN CHARACTER, SO THIS WORLD NATURALLY REVOLVES AROUND HER!

    Manu: I DON''T CARE¨C JUST WRITE MY FUCKING STORY!

    s_c: *sobs violently*

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 348 - THE POWERLESS KING

    "LET ME correct myself," Niki said with a scoff. "I should have said the powerless King of the Soul Beasts."

    Manu, the Moon Priest and the King of the Soul Beasts, scoffed and plopped on the sofa, even if he didn''t invite him to take a seat. "Are you still bitter about what happened when you and Mona Roseheart tried to free the Soul Beasts in the past?" he asked, then he smirked at him. "Well, it''s not like I don''t understand. After all, it''s a shame that Juliet died because of that incident."

    He clenched his hands and red at the Moon Priest. "Don''t you dare call Juliet by her name so casually."

    "What about it?" the Moon Priest asked, then he shrugged. "I call you Little Niko, do I not?"

    "Don''t call me with that stupid nickname," he snarled. "Your naming sense is as awful as Yule''s."

    Manu was the one who gave the Soul Beasts their awful names.

    This foolish man gave the Four Holy Guardians, his Soul Beasts, the following awful names: North (the ck Tortoise), East (the Azure Dragon), West (the White Tiger), and South (the ming Vermillion Bird).

    "I think your daughter''s naming sense is worse than mine and Lord Yule''s," Manu said with a softugh. "She calls Crimson by a weird name."

    He didn''tment on that.

    After all, it was true that Neoma gave her Soul Beast a weird name.

    "Speaking of her Soul Beast, I''m here to take it away with me," Manu said. "I''m going to raise it."

    "Why would you raise my daughter''s Soul Beast?"

    "We met the Sun Priestess earlier."

    He knitted his eyebrows. "What is an East person doing in the West Continent? Moreover, an important figure like the Sun Priestess must report to the empire if they step foot in here."

    "She didn''t appear in her human form," the Moon Priest exined. "Your daughter picked a fight with her, so she appeared in her Familiar''s form."

    "Neoma picked a fight with the Sun Priestess?"

    "Yeah," Manu said while nodding. "Your daughter is a true-blooded de Moonasterio."

    "I know Neoma has a nasty temper, but how did she encounter the Sun Priestess if the Sun Priestess''s physical body isn''t in the West Continent?"

    "Your daughter tried to free a man trapped in a block of ice, but the Sun Priestess stopped her from doing so."

    A man trapped in a block of ice?

    Neoma went out of the pce without telling him the reason why she had to leave. But he had a feeling that she went out to seek Gavin Quinzel. Could it be¡­?

    "Was it Gavin Quinzel?"

    "Right, that''s the name of the formermander of the White Lion Knights," the Moon Priest confirmed. "He''s trapped in a block of ice, but I don''t know why the Sun Priestess is trying to protect him."

    He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Who trapped Gavin Quinzel in that ice?"

    "I don''t know," the Moon Priest said. "But I''m pretty sure a person who could cover their tracks from the eyes of the gods and their representatives did it."

    "But the Sun Priestess is involved."

    "That means she knows what happened," Manu said casually. "But it''s not important right now. I''m here to talk about your daughter''s Soul Beast."

    "What about Neoma''s Soul Beast?"

    "Mona Roseheart is also trapped in the ice made by her former Ice Guardian," the Moon Priest said. "It''s the type of ice that only an adult Fire Dragon could melt by using Fire Breath. But a Soul Beast grows with their host, and that means it will take at least nine more years before your daughter''s dragons became an adult."

    He clenched his hands tight when he heard that. "Then it will take nine more years before we could save Mona?"

    "That''s correct," the Moon Priest said. "But if I raise her Soul Beast, I would only need three years to turn it into an adult."

    "Is something like that possible?"

    "Yes, because it''s me," Manu said confidently. "And you don''t know it yet, do you? You don''t know that the soul in your daughter''s Soul Beast doesn''t belong to a dead Roseheart¨C but to a sealed god."

    His eyes opened wide. "A god?"

    "The soul sealed in your daughter''s Soul Beast is the soul of the God of Wrath."

    "But why is a god''s soul sealed in Neoma''s Soul Beast?" he asked, confused. "This is the first time I''m hearing this."

    "It wasn''t too long ago when your daughter awakened Crimson, the God of Wrath," the Moon Priest exined. "You know, your daughter is weird. She easily epts things we consider a big deal, as if everything''s natural for her."

    He also noticed that.

    [Is it because this is already Neoma''s third life?]

    "Why did you put a god''s soul in my daughter''s Soul Beast?"

    Unlike Neoma, he was interested to know about his daughter''s Soul Beast.

    "During the time the male Rosehearts were rebelling against the de Moonasterios, they summoned the God of Wrath to destroy the Royal Family," the Moon Priest exined. "But the male Rosehearts failed because they couldn''t tame the god they summoned. Lord Yule had no choice but to step in, so he sent me to tame the God of Wrath, but¡­"

    "But what?"

    "I identally killed it."

    He let out a sigh while shaking his head. "How do you "identally" kill a god?"

    The Moon Priest just shrugged. "Anyway, the soul of the God of Wrath refused to rest even after its death. So, I just sealed it inside thest Fire Dragon of this world to shut it up. Then the Nature decided to give it to your daughter as her Soul Beast."

    "Hah!" He let out a frustrated sigh. "You make it sound simple. I really hate you and Yule for the atrocities you did to the male Rosehearts in the past."

    "Well, it''s all in the past."

    He just rolled his eyes at the Moon Priest. "Ask for Neoma''s permission, not mine," he said. "It''s her Soul Beast, so she gets to decide whether or not she''d let you raise it."

    "Okay," Manu said, then he yawned again. "I''m sleepy, Little Niko."

    "Don''t call me that," Niki said, annoyed. "I''ll ask my servants to prepare a room for you in my pce¨C so don''t hang around my daughter without my permission."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA was annoyed as soon as she woke up.

    She didn''t like that recently, she would often wake up in bed after getting knocked out. It made her feel weak and pathetic. She wanted to mope more, but when she saw Lewis and Trevor''s bruised faces, concern reced her irritation.

    "Did you fight again?" Neoma asked in a tired voice. "What is it this time?"

    Lewis pointed to Trevor. "Useless dog. Princess injured."

    Ah, her son was talking like that again.

    [Lewis must really be pissed.]

    "How dare you call your future father a "dog?"" Trevorined while ring at Lewis. "And I admit I failed to protect your mother. But I''m notpletely useless."

    She let out a sigh when the two began their little staring (ring) contest.

    "Stop fighting," she said, then she stood up. "I need to talk to Papa Boss. Lewis, call Stephanie. I''ll get changed first, so get out of my room."

    Lewis nodded at her request. "I will call Miss Stephanie," he said, talking normally again. "You," he said, then he put Trevor in a chokehold. "Out."

    Trevor groaned as aint. "You''re so harsh on your father, Lewis."

    "I''m not your son, Trevor."

    Neoma could only sigh and shake her head. "Why do Lewis and Trevor always fight?" she wondered to herself, then she tilted her head to one side. "Is it because of me?"

    If so, then she must be a sinful woman.

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA blinked while looking at the ridiculously handsome man who blocked her way while she was walking in the hallway leading to Paige Avery''s room. She heard from the servants that her Papa Boss went to Paige Avery after hearing that the mage was already awake. It was also the reason she was there.

    But while she and Lewis were walking in the hallway, a man turned up. But since she didn''t feel threatened, she asked her son to stay put.

    "Who are you?" Neoma asked bluntly. "Why do you look like a de Moonasterio?"

    Well, the man''s long hair was silver and not white, and his eyes were blue (like diamonds) and not ash gray. But his divine power¡­

    [Wait, his divine power is familiar!]

    "It''s me," the man said, and he had the same voice as the ck jaguar she met earlier. "I''m Manu, the Moon Priest, and this is my human form."

    She gasped softly. "Oh. You''re handsome."

    "Thanks."

    "Anyway, I know we have to talk about Tteokbokki, but I need to see my father first," she said, then she walked past him. "If you want, you can follow me."

    The Moon Priest walked alongside her. "You know, based on our rankings, you''re supposed to walk behind me. We''re not on the same level for you to walk alongside someone like me."

    "Ah, it''s missing again," she saidzily. "Lewis, can you see it?"

    "No, Your Royal Highness," Lewis, who already knew how to respond to her sarcastic remarks, said promptly. "I can''t see the damn you give to what the so-called Moon Priest said."

    The Moon Priest''s jaw dropped open.

    "You heard my son," she said as she opened the door. "I don''t give a damn."

    After saying that, she turned her back on Manu and entered the room¡­

    ¡­ only to be shocked when she saw Paige Avery p her Papa Boss hard on the cheek.

    "Nichs de Moonasterio," Paige Avery, who was standing in front of the stunned Emperor Niki, said angrily. "I will never forgive you!"

    Oh.

    Neoma gasped softly. [Paige Avery thinks Papa Boss is my grandfather¡­]

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 349 - FINAL TEAM MEMBER

    AVERY PAIGE woke up after a long dream.

    Ah, no.

    It was more of a nightmare.

    She recalled most of the memories of her life starting from childhood up to when she met the despicable Crown Prince Nichs de Moonasterio. Come to think of it, the moment she got involved with the Crown Prince was the moment her life was ruined.

    [Nichs de Moonasterio¡­!]

    She opened her eyes and immediately got up while catching her breath.

    A splitting headache greeted her as soon as she woke up.

    She had to shut her eyes tight and clutched her head tight.

    To be honest, her mind was a mess because after the nightmare that she had, she suddenly recalled the recent events that transpired.

    She met the new Crown Prince of the Great Moonasterion Empire.

    [He told me fifty years have passed since I''ve been trapped inside the Hisa Tree. But everything feels like yesterday.]

    Thus, she was very confused.

    "B-Big sister, you''re awake?"

    She opened her eyes when she heard a child''s voice. When she turned to her side, he saw a chubby, bald little boy sitting on the chair beside the bed.

    [He''s no ordinary boy.]

    If her diagnosis was correct, then the boy must be half human-half fairy.

    "Who are you?" Paige Avery, whose head was still spinning, asked. "Where am I?"

    "M-My name is G-Greko, and I''m one of Prince Nero''s protectors," the child exined. "Big sister, wait here. I''ll just inform my eomma that you''re already awake."

    Before she could even respond, the boy already bolted out of the room.

    [Prince Nero?]

    Was that the name of the child that introduced himself to him as the new Crown Prince of the empire?

    [Have fifty years really passed already?]

    She put little thought into it earlier because she was focused on getting out of the Hisa Tree. But now that she was free, fear devoured her.

    [The Avery n¡­ no longer exists¡­]

    She couldn''t help but let out a scream while thumping her fist against her chest.

    [What do I do now?]

    "Ah, you''re awake."

    She froze when she heard the voice of an unfamiliar man with a familiar divine power¨C the divine power that instantly made her nauseous.

    [Moonglow¡­?]

    "I met my child''s servants, and he informed me you''ve awoken, so I''m here to check on you," the man said. "My child can''t meet you right now. I came here in his stead."

    She raised her head while her heart thumped harder and faster against her chest.

    A pair of cold, ash-gray eyes greeted her instantly.

    White hair.

    Paleplexion.

    A face that would put a fairy''s beauty to shame.

    Well, there were two knights behind the majestic man, but shepletely ignored them. She couldn''t take her eyes off of that¡­ emperor.

    [Nichs de Moonasterio¡­?]

    She knew it couldn''t be Nichs de Moonasterio. Although the de Moonasterios aged very slowly once they reached their mid-twenties, Nichs de Moonasterio couldn''t be this young-looking after fifty years.

    But her body already moved in its own ord.

    Before she knew it, she was already in front of the emperor. Then she pped him hard on the face. Because in her eyes, she was looking at the person she hated most in the world.

    "Nichs de Moonasterio," Paige Avery said angrily. "I will never forgive you!"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "STOP," Neoma said when she saw Geoffrey Kinsley and Dion Skelton move after Paige Avery pped her Papa Boss. "I''ll take care of it."

    She went past the two Pdins without waiting for their response.

    Thankfully, her Papa Boss remained calm despite being pped. Since Paige Avery called him by the previous emperor''s name, she assumed that her Papa Boss realized the poor mage was seeing someone else in him.

    [I haven''t seen my crazy grandfather''s portrait when he was younger. But if Paige Avery mistook my Papa Boss for that psycho, then the previous emperor probably looked like my father during his youth.]

    "You''ve mistaken me for my father,dy. That old man has been buried six feet under for more than a decade now," her Papa Boss said in a calm yet irritated voice. "I am Niki de Moonasterio, the current emperor of the Great Moonasterion Empire."

    Paige Avery didn''t look shock, as if she had already expected that. But she clutched her chest tight while catching her breath. The devastated look on her face was clear, too. "Fifty years," she whispered weakly. "So, everything is true¡­"

    "Lady Avery, please rest a little more," Neoma said when she carefully approached thedy, who looked at her as if she saw her for the first time. Ah, it seemed like Paige Avery''s mind was a mess at the moment. To be honest, that was understandable. "Do you remember me? We met inside the Hisa Tree." She put a hand on her chest and bowed politely. "I''m Nero de Moonasterio, the current Crown Prince of the Great Moonasterion Empire."

    Paige Avery looked at her for a moment before recognition crossed her eyes. "Ah, I remember you," she said weakly. "You''re that child¡­"

    "Yes, that''s me," she said, then she turned to her father. "Father, can you give us privacy? I want to talk to Lady Avery alone."

    She called her Papa Boss ''Father'' to imitate Nero. That was how usually she talked when pretending as her twin brother, especially when they had an audience who didn''t know the royal secret.

    "Will you be fine?"

    "Yes, Father," Neoma said, then she smiled. "Lady Avery and I will be fine."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "WOULD you like me to pour some tea for you?" Neoma asked, but she still poured tea in Paige Avery''s teacup without waiting for her response. "I actually don''t know what tea is this. But Stephanie brewed this, so this must have a calming effect or something."

    Since she wanted to talk to the mage in private, she dismissed the servants who served the tea earlier. Then she asked Trevor to cover the entire tea room with soundproof barrier magic.

    Of course, Lewis was standing behind her.

    "Prince Nero, I don''t want to be rude, but can you get straight to the point?" Paige Avery asked weakly while holding the teacup in her hands. The mage wasn''t looking at her, too. "I want to leave the pce as soon as possible."

    "Alright, that works for me," she said, then she didn''t beat around the bush anymore. "Let me introduce myself again, Lady Avery."

    The mage looked up at her with a confused look on her face.

    "I am Neoma de Moonasterio, though I am not officially registered in the royal family registry," she said, then she drank the potion that she asked Marcus (her Papa Boss''s personal Healing Sage) to make.

    It was the same potion that thete Madam Hammock would make for her every time she wanted to be ''Neoma Ramsay.''

    Paige Avery gasped when Neoma''s hair grew longer.

    "I''m a royal princess," she said, then she removed the choker around her neck for the mage to hear her real voice. "And I''m just a proxy for my twin brother¨C the real Crown Prince."

    "Why?" the mage asked in disbelief. "Why would Your Royal Highness reveal your royal secret to me like that?"

    "Because I want to be honest with you," she said with a shrug. "Lady Avery, I need people by my side¨C people who would protect me and keep my secret safe. I already have a Fighter, a Tank, a Marksman, a Support, and a potential Assassin. The only spot left is for the Mage position." She pointed her hands politely to Paige Avery. "I would like to offer that position to you, Lady Avery."

    The mage looked shocked. "Does Your Royal Highness really think that I will work for a de Moonasterio?"

    "No," she said with a softugh. "But didn''t you hear what I said earlier? I''m not officially registered in the royal family registry. I practically don''t exist in this empire. But once my twin brother returns, I n to live as Neoma Ramsay¨C ady of leisure."

    "Even if you don''t use your family name, you''re still a de Moonasterio¨C"

    "Is it my fault that my grandfather, and probably most of my ancestors, were scumbags?"

    The mage looked shocked to hear a child curse her own family.

    "But I understand where you''reing from," she said when the mage was rendered speechless. "As a de Moonasterio, I inherit the sinsmitted by my predecessors. It''s the price I have to pay for living in luxury. Thus, once I sit on the throne, I n to destroy everything."

    "Sit on the throne?" Paige Avery asked in confusion. "Does Your Royal Highness n to pretend as your twin brother until he''s supposed to ascend the throne?"

    "Nah," she said casually. "I will be the first empress of this godforsakennd."

    The mage''s pupils shook, then she gulped hard before speaking again. "But thew forbids a woman to inherit the throne¡­"

    She shrugged before she sipped her tea. "We just have to change thew."

    "Can Your Royal Highness do it?"

    "I can''t do it alone," she admitted. "That''s why I need as much help as I could. After all, I''m aware that if you want to break a system, you have to break yourself first." She put a hand on her chest. "Paige Avery, if you follow me, I swear on my pride and vanity that I''ll let you see the downfall of the empire that hurt you and your family."

    Paige Avery blinked several times, then sheughed in disbelief. "Let me think about it, Your Royal Highness."

    "Sure."

    "And I have a favor to ask. Is that okay?"

    "Go ahead."

    "I want to see my old lover."

    She almost spat her tea. "L-Lover?"

    "I can feel that he''s still alive," Paige Avery said softly. "His name is Marcus, and his dream is to be a Healing Sage. I wonder if he achieved his dream."

    "Lord Marcus?" Neoma asked in disbelief. "My father''s Healing Sage?!"

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 Chapter 350 - I HURTâ€¦ PAPA BOSS?

    [WAIT¡­ Marcus is amon name.]

    Neoma decided not to jump to conclusions easily, but it was already toote. She had already opened her big mouth, and Paige Avery looked like she was waiting for an exnation. "My father has a Healing Sage named Marcus. But Lord Marcus doesn''t have a surname, so I''m not sure if he''s the one you''re looking for."

    And if she was going to be savage¨C er, honest, she''d say there was a huge possibility that the Marcus Paige Avery was looking for was already dead.

    "The Marcus I know doesn''t have a surname, too," Paige Avery said, her face suddenly looking hopeful. "He was disowned by his family after he chose to pursue his dream of bing a Healing Sage instead of running their merchant guild. I don''t know how it is today. But back in my day, being a doctor or a Healing Sage was frowned upon by the nobility."

    "Time has indeed changed," she said. "Today, being a doctor or a Healing Sage is a noble profession."

    For the first time since she met her, the mage smiled genuinely. "That''s a relief to hear."

    "Would you like to meet my father''s Healing Sage to check if he''s the one you want to meet?"

    "Yes, but not now," the mage said, then she looked at her pale and frail arms. "It seems like the Hisa Tree provided nutrients to my body the entire time I was trapped inside. I should have had a hard time gaining back my motor skills after being in aatose state for fifty years. But the little boy who stayed with me recently restored the energy I lost. He''s an amazing Healer."

    She smiled proudly while Greko was getting praised. [That''s my boy.]

    "But I still feel sluggish," Paige Avery continued, then she raised her head to meet her gaze. "Your Royal Highness, can I stay here a little longer?"

    "Of course."

    "And I''d also like to ask for a separate training room," the mage added. "I want to test if my magical power is still the same."

    "I understand," she said. "I will provide you with everything you need, Lady Avery."

    "Thank you for your generosity, Your Royal Highness."

    "No problem."

    "Uhm, I will not get executed, right?"

    Sheughed softly because she knew what the mage was worried about. "Don''t worry, Lady Avery," she said. "You won''t get executed just because you pped my father."

    The mage gulped. "Is pping the emperor not a big deal anymore?"

    "It''s not that it''s a big deal," she exined gently. "Even if my father isn''t an emperor, it would still be wrong to hurt an innocent person. But my father isn''t as narrow-minded as our predecessors. He knows you''ve mistaken him for his father, and he also knows the horrible thing the previous emperor did to you and your n. Thus, he understands your pain and anger."

    The mage smiled. "It seems like the current emperor is benevolent."

    "Nah, my father is far from that," she said while shaking her head. "I''m also not a benevolent person. But both of us are trying to be decent people and good leaders."

    "That''s good enough," the mage said, then she smiled bitterly. "Your Royal Highness''s grandfather wasn''t only a crazy bastard¨C he was also a terrible emperor."

    "I know, right?" she agreed, then she stood up and bowed deeply.

    Paige Avery gasped loudly, then she abruptly stood up¨C causing her chair to fall to the floor. "Y-Your Royal Highness, why are you bowing to a lowly person like me¡­"

    "Lady Avery, I know I said that my grandfather''s sin isn''t mine to inherit. But I can''t ignore his atrocities," Neoma said sincerely. If the previous emperor was just a distant ancestor, she wouldn''t have cared about his sins. But that crazy bastard was his grandfather¨C her Papa Boss''s father. "You don''t have to forgive my grandfather, but please allow me to apologize to you and your entire n that my blood has hurt."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "I HEARD from the Moon Priest that you found Gavin Quinzel trapped in a block of ice."

    Neoma wanted to curse the Moon Priest for beating her to reporting to her Papa Boss.

    But since she was having a yummy Eggs Benedict for breakfast, she didn''t let it ruin her mood. Plus, she and her father had both been crazy busy these days. This was the first time they had a meal together in a while.

    "That''s true, Papa Boss," Neoma said, then she sipped her orange juice. She could speak casually to her father because, like always, only Lewis and Geoffrey Kinsley were in the dining hall with them. Plus, the entire room was protected with a soundproof barrier. "But it was the same ice that entrapped Mama Boss, so I couldn''t save appa."

    "Did you really intend to save Gavin Quinzel?" her father asked carefully. "I''m not scolding you. I just want to know your n."

    She gripped the bread knife in her hand tight before she nodded. "Yes, Papa Boss. I can''t leave appa alone."

    "Even if you found out that Gavin Quinzel was the one who trapped your mother in that ice?"

    She flinched when she heard the bitterness in her father''s voice. "Did the Moon Priest tell you about it as well, Papa Boss?"

    "That man has loose lips."

    "I see," she said. "It''s not like I intend to keep it a secret from you, Papa Boss."

    "Neoma."

    "Yes, Papa Boss?"

    Her Papa Boss sipped his tea before he spoke with glowing red eyes. "I won''t stop you if you want to save Gavin Quinzel from that ice prison," he said, then he put the teacup down on the table quietly. "But after you saved him, you can''t stop me from punishing him. I hope you understand that his past actions have consequences."

    She gulped hard. "Papa Boss, it seems like the woman appa loves isn''t Mama Boss, but a woman called Go Areum that looks like my mother¨C"

    "Neoma, I don''t care about that," her father said coldly. "Does it justify that he hurt your mother just to be with the woman he loves? Moreover, even if you are correct about your hunch, we do not know how he met a woman from a different world. You may not see it because you love and respect your "appa" too much, but Gavin Quinzel is shrouded in mystery. He''s actually a suspicious person."

    She couldn''t talk back because she knew her father was correct. All she could do was lower her gaze to her half-eaten Eggs Benedict.

    Her appa, Gavin Quinzel, had so many secrets.

    She was able to end up with the conclusion that her appa loved her eomma, Go Areum, because she saw how much the two loved each other in her second life. But her father was correct. How did her appa meet her eomma when the two lived in different worlds?

    [This is why I want to talk to appa¡­]

    "I said I won''t scold you, but I still did in the end."

    She raised her head to look at her Papa Boss to see if his face was as sad as his voice.

    [Ah¡­]

    She felt something tug at her heart when she saw the frustration and regret in her father''s face.

    "I promised you I won''t lose my cool when we''re talking about Gavin Quinzel. I also promised you I will treat him fairly since he was good to you in your second life," her Papa Boss said in a quiet and sad voice. "But after knowing what he did to Mona, I can''t forgive him. I can''t let him get away with it easily, even though he has been a good father to you."

    She didn''t know why, but she suddenly felt guilty. "Papa Boss¡­"

    "I have to excuse myself now," her Papa Boss said bitterly as he stood up. His eyes already returned to their natural color, but the pained look in them didn''t disappear. "Enjoy your breakfast, Neoma."

    And just like that, her father left the dining hall with Geoffrey Kinsley.

    [How could I enjoy my breakfast now, Papa Boss?]

    She knew that her Papa Boss had the right to feel that way.

    But despite knowing what her appa did to her parents, she realized she couldn''tpletely hate her appa after seeing him trapped in that stupid block of ice.

    And because of her stubborn affection, she ended up hurting her Papa Boss.

    "Princess Neoma did nothing wrong."

    She looked up at Lewis who was standing behind her, then she smiled bitterly. "Really? I think I''m a terrible daughter."

    "None of it was your fault, though?" Lewis said bluntly, then he tilted his head to one side. "It''s the adults who messed up in the past."

    The way her "son" simplified her problem made her smile.

    She appreciated the way Lewisforted her.

    "Thank you, Lewis," Neoma said sincerely. "Thank you for always taking your mother''s side."

    Lewis let out a frustrated sigh. "You''re not my mother, Princess Neoma."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOU''LL NEED a new Soul Beast once I take the Fire Dragon with me."

    Neoma blinked several times while staring at Manu, the Moon Priest, who suddenly turned up in her office. This bastard disappearedst night while she was talking with Paige Avery. And now, he suddenly showed up when she was busy with her administrative works. "Aren''t Soul Beasts beings that are born with us? It''s not like I can just go and rent one just because Tteokbokki will be gone for quite some time."

    "I am the King of the Soul Beasts," Manu said bluntly while pointing to himself. "I can give you a new Soul Beast."

    "I''ll think about it if it''s a unicorn."

    "How about the Ice Spirit who betrayed your mother?"

    She raised an eyebrow at the Moon Priest. "But he''s a Spirit," she said, confused. "How can a Spirit be a Soul Beast?"

    Manu smirked arrogantly. "Do you trust me?"

    Neoma shook her head. "No."

    "Ungrateful brat."

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 Chapter 351 - NABIS MESSAGE

    "I CALLED your Soul Beast back¨C he''ll return soon."

    Neoma knitted her eyebrow. "My Tteokbokki answers to your call?"

    After Manu barged into her office and bothered her while working, she decided to take a break.

    The Moon Priest said he didn''t want any other person inside the room while the two of them talked. He received a dirty re from Lewis for that remark. But Neoma decided to follow Manu''s wish and asked her "son" to guard outside.

    [It can''t be helped. Lord Manu''s position is higher than the saint''s. As the Crown Prince, I have to treat him well.]

    "Of course, all the Soul Beasts respond to me," Manu said, then he sipped his tea. "Even if your Soul Beast doesn''t want to, he cannot refuse the call of the King who named him."

    "You''re the one who named the Soul Beasts?" she asked, then she frowned. "Gosh, Lord Manu. Your naming sense sucks."

    "It runs in the blood," the Moon Priest snapped back. "Who names a mighty Fire Dragon ''Tteokbokki?'' What does it even mean? At least, ''Crimson'' refers to him being a red dragon."

    "Tteokbokki also refers to his color."

    "That word makes little sense in this world."

    She raised an eyebrow. "Ah, you''re aware I lived once in a different world."

    "You''re a descendant of Lord Yule," the Moon Priest exined. "He tells me things I need to know to guide you in his ce."

    Ah, that was why the Moon Priest already knew that she was a girl.

    "I can''t help but think everyone already knows my secret," she said while shaking her head. "Even the Sun Priestess knows I''m a girl. Obviously, the Sun Goddess also knows my secret."

    "We have a friendly rtionship with the Sun Priestess and the Sun Goddess, so they''ll keep your secret safe."

    "The Sun Priestess roasted me literally and figuratively, Lord Manu."

    "It''s because you pissed her off."

    "Wow," she said sarcastically. "You''re taking her side? She was the one who picked a fight first when she stopped me from trying to save my appa."

    "That''s still your fault," the Moon Priest said coldly. "The Sun Priestess''s will is the same as the Sun Goddess''s will. Going against the authority of the Sun Priestess is equal to defying the Sun Goddess. You deserved to be punished for your sphemy."

    "I know I already hate you the first time I saw you."

    "Didn''t your father tell you what my job is?" the Moon Priest asked. "It''s the Moon Priest''s job to punish the de Moonasterios whomit sphemy against gods, and atrocities among humanity."

    Sheughed bitterly. "Then why didn''t you show up when my crazy grandfather killed innocent lives?"

    "I was asleep during Nichs de Moonasterio''s reign."

    "How convenient," she said sarcastically. "I''m disappointed, but not surprised. You and the gods up there only move when it benefits you."

    "Are you done dissing me?"

    "No, but I have a more pressing issue I want you to address," she said, then she changed the topic. "Lord Manu, is my royal secret an open secret to the gods up there? Even a minor god found out my secret when he saw me."

    "There are factions among gods," Manu exined carefully. "Lord Yule, the Moon God, has allies. They know your secret, and they''re doing their best to hide you from the eyes of the other gods who want to harm you."

    "Is the Sun Goddess one of Lord Yule''s allies?"

    "Yes," the Moon Priest confirmed. "Lord Yule and his allies all serve the Light. They''re the ones preventing the Absolute Darkness from swallowing this world again."

    "Absolute Darkness?"

    Manu clicked his tongue. "For a Crown Prince, you''re quite illiterate."

    "Don''t ever consider being an educator as a fallback career," she snapped back. "Plus, it''s better to admit yourck of knowledge than pretend you know everything. As an adult, it''s your responsibility to educate a person who wants to learn without shaming them." She clicked her tongue. "What a divine scumbag."

    The Moon Priest looked shocked. "Did you just call me a scumbag?"

    "Yes, I did," she said, then she sipped her tea.

    Manu fell silent for a while before he opened his mouth again. "During the Ancient Period, the Middle World was swallowed by Absolute Darkness. The gods that possess the power of Light descended to save the world frompletely turning dark."

    Her ears perked up. [Oh, interesting plot.]

    "The two most prominent gods that descended back then were the Moon God and the Sun Goddess," the Moon Priest continued. "Thus, after they lit up the entire world, the two were given the biggest continents as their "territory" to protect. The Sun Goddess received the East Continent, while the Moon God received the West Continent."

    "Ah," she said while nodding. "So, who caused the Absolute Darkness? If Lord Yule and the Sun Goddess saved the world, then they must have defeated the viin."

    "That''s the thing¨C they didn''t find out who caused the Absolute Darkness."

    "What a letdown."

    "I have to agree with you there," Manu said while nodding his head. "Even after the world was saved from being swallowed up by Absolute Darkness, humanity was deeply traumatized. The humans born after the Ancient Period were wired with fear of the darkness. Even now, that fear still exists in every member of the human race."

    Ah.

    She suddenly remembered something from her History lessons that may be connected to the Moon Priest''s story.

    "Is that the cause of prejudice against people with the Darkness attribute, Lord Manu?" she asked. "I read in one of the History books that there was a time people with the Darkness attribute were executed simply because their Manacked light."

    "That''s correct," the Moon Priest confirmed. "That''s why you have to be extra careful, little de Moonasterio. The demonic power inside you is a Darkness attribute."

    "Oh."

    "You said the minor god you killed discovered your secret, right?"

    She nodded weakly. "That''s right, my lord."

    "Your Moonglow hides the rose in your heart that reveals you''re a girl," Manu exined while pointing to her chest. "But every time you use your demonic power, your Moonglow decreases. Thus, the rose in your heart bes clearer¨C especially through a god''s eyes."

    She tilted her head to one side. "Then are you suggesting I use my demonic power less? I''m morefortable in using Skewer when I fight."

    The Moon Priest huffed. "You''re a de Moonasterio, for goodness''s sake! The de Moonasterios don''t need weapons to fight. Use your monster strength, and your Soul Beast."

    "I don''t want Tteokbokki to get into a lot of fights," she said bluntly. "Thus, I only summon him when I absolutely need to."

    "What are you saying?" the Moon Priest asked, confused. "The Soul Beasts exist to fight for the de Moonasterios. Why are you trying to protect your Soul Beast?"

    "Because I feel bad for Tteokbokki," she said honestly, while looking straight at Manu''s eyes. "I know the story behind Tteokbokki''s existence. Although his other persona ims that he''s the God of Wrath, the other Soul Beasts aren''t like that. Those Soul Beasts were created by using the souls of the male Rosehearts that the de Moonasterios killed in the past, right?"

    "Ah, so you know something."

    "I''m a Roseheart, too," she said firmly. "One day, I will continue to do what my Papa Boss and Mama Boss failed to do in the past."

    "Free the Soul Beasts?"

    She nodded as confirmation. "The souls of the male Rosehearts don''t deserve to continue existing as living weapons. It''s too cruel. Plus, you even erased their memories."

    "Hah," Manu said while shaking his head. "I thought you were a tough cookie. I didn''t know you were a softie."

    "I just happen to have a moralpass, thank you very much."

    "I''m not allowed to speak about the history of the Soul Beasts with you," Manu said carefully. "But don''t hate Lord Yule too much because of his involvement with the Soul Beasts. He did his best to protect the male Rosehearts back then."

    Hearing about Lord Yule again reminded her of something.

    [Lord Yule and Callisto de Luca¡­]

    "Lord Manu, I want to ask you something important," Neoma said seriously. "Are the crows still unaware that the current Crown Prince is actually the royal princess?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOUR NAME is Tteokbokki?"

    "Yes, that''s my awful name."

    "It''s cute, though?"

    "How on earth is that cute?"

    "Of course it is cute! I heard from oppa tteokbokki is a yummy food!"

    Tteokbokki looked at the soul of the child, who looked exactly like the thug princess, except for the hair and eye color. "The thug princess named me after a damned food?!"

    The little girlughed softly. "Neoma unnie is creative, isn''t she?"

    Argh.

    He found the girl that the thug princess asked him to find, but he couldn''t enter the garden the royal princess mentioned.

    The soul of the girl just met him at the entrance.

    "Did Neoma unnie send you here, Tteokbokki?"

    "Yes," he said while nodding. "I guess she''s curious about you since you look alike."

    "Can you tell Neoma unnie toe backter?"

    Tteokbokki tilted his head to one side. "Later? But whyter? I''m already here."

    "It''s not yet time¨C the Cosmic Tree will wake upter," the child who looked like his thug princess, said while smiling. "Please tell Neoma unnie to save me then."

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 Chapter 352 - DREAM AWAY (1)

    "ARE THE CROWS still unaware that the current Crown Prince is actually the royal princess they''re looking for?" Neoma asked Manu suspiciously. "It seems like every divine being already knows I''m a girl. I feel like the crows are already aware of my royal secret, too."

    "Little de Moonasterio, don''t underestimate Lord Yule''s protection," Manu said sternly. "His eyes were stolen, but it left little of a dent to his divine power. It was just inconvenient to lose his godly sight, though. But even without his original eyes, my lord could still see things he needs to see."

    "Wow," she said bluntly. "If Lord Yule is doing fine, I wonder why he still asked me to find his real eyes for him."

    "It''s for your own good, of course," the Moon Priest said bluntly. "Lord Yule and the other gods on our side are doing their best to hide you from the crows. Even the Devil is helping you by covering your tracks. All you have to do is to be extra careful and less wild. And stop picking fights with higher beings. You''ll blow your own cover."

    She pouted, but she still nodded. "Okay."

    "Oh," the Moon Priest said, surprised. "I didn''t expect you to agree with me easily."

    "I already learned my lesson," she said. "I became more arrogant because I killed a minor god. I was wrong to think that I could handle the Sun Priestess."

    "Uh-huh."

    "And I value my physical appearance¨C I don''t want to get roasted again," she admitted. "What would I do if I pissed the Sun Priestess or some higher being again and you''re not there to heal my wounds? I can''t let my arrogance destroy my beauty."

    "Vain much, aren''t we?"

    "My Ruto sacrificed his face to keep mine wless," she said, feeling bittersweet. Bitter because she was reminded of Ruto''s letter, and sweet because Ruto was Ruto. She just couldn''t hate him. "I don''t want his sacrifice to go in vain."

    The Moon Priest just looked at her nkly.

    "Papa Boss told me it''s up to me whether I''d let Tteokbokki go with you or not," she said, changing the topic. She had no intention of talking about Ruto with a person she didn''t trust. "I believe the correct choice is to let you take care of my Soul Beast, my lord. But I want to hear his opinion first. If Tteokbokki doesn''t want to go with you, I won''t force him."

    "You really care about your Soul Beast, don''t you?"

    "I consider Tteokbokki my younger brother," she said. "So, don''t put him in danger."

    "I care about the Soul Beasts more than I care about the de Moonasterios."

    "That''s not something the Moon Priest should say, but you do you," she said. "Ah, my lord. I''ve been wondering. We need Tteokbokki to be an adult, right?"

    "Yes. What about it?"

    "I remember when I fought my Papa Boss when I was a baby," she said. Not really a baby. She was probably five years old back then? "If my memory serves me right, Tteokbokki was furious then. He grew the size of a building, then he breathed fire. He could change his size if he wants to."

    "First of all, being an adult dragon has nothing to do with their size since they could shrink or grow in size whenever they wanted," the Moon Priest exined. "Moreover, even a baby dragon could breathe fire, but it would still differ from an adult dragon''s Fire Breath."

    "What''s the difference between a baby dragon and an adult dragon if they could both change in size and breathe fire? Except for the quality of the fire they produce, of course."

    "I''m assuming you''re asking what makes a dragon an adult."

    "Yes, my lord."

    "Like us, Soul Beasts have Cores, too," the Moon Priest exined. "Once a baby dragon turns into an adult, his Core would shrink until it disappeared?"

    She blinked in surprise. "I assumed it would get bigger."

    "That''s amon misconception," Manu said. "But a dragon, especially a fire dragon, is different. Dragons are beings who are well-adept to magic out of all the mythical beings in this world. Once they reached their adulthood, a mere "container" like a Core would burst because it wouldn''t be enough to hold their great power."

    She tilted her head to one side. "Huh? Tteokbokki is that amazing?"

    The Moon Priest let out a sigh. "Niki de Moonasterio has a water dragon. Didn''t your father teach you anything about dragons?"

    "My Papa Boss and I just have gotten closer recently. We used to have a strictly professional business in the past," she said. Argh, she was reminded that she had a fight with her father yesterday. "Anyway, the books I read about dragons before didn''t have the stuff you just told me about, my lord. It just says that a dragon could possess one powerful attribute."

    "Throw those books away¨C I''ll give you something betterter."

    "That would be nice, my lord," she said. "By the way, you haven''t told me about the method you''re going to use to raise Tteokbokki faster."

    "I will tell you, but on one condition: if I say I can''t answer your questions, don''t push it."

    "I knew it would be like this," she said, then she sighed. "But since I''m the one who needs your help, I will ept your condition."

    "I''m not being stingy. I''ll answer the questions I could answer," the Moon Priest said. "But there are things I cannot share with you even if I want to. After all, I don''t want to be punished. You remember what happened to Lord Yule, don''t you? They forced my lord to enter a deep slumber because he said things he shouldn''t have."

    "Oh, right."

    "Even the Cosmic Tree was forced to sleep because she did things she wasn''t supposed to do," the Moon Priest added. "You know about the Cosmic Tree, don''t you?"

    She nodded. "The Cosmic Tree is also called the World Tree. Apparently, it holds the secrets of the world. But the books I''ve read couldn''t describe it properly since ording to the author, only a select few have seen the Cosmic Tree in person. And those people were tight-lipped."

    "Then you should ask Mona Roseheart about the Cosmic Tree after you save her."

    Her eyes opened wide. "My lord, are you implying my Mama Boss has already seen the Cosmic Tree?"

    "You''re really clueless about your mother, huh? I wonder what kind of threat little Niki made to make everyone stop talking about Mona Roseheart," the Moon Priest said, then he clicked his tongue. "Anyway, your mother is known as the ''Daughter of Nature.'' Moreover, the Cosmic Tree practically raised Mona Roseheart like her daughter."

    She covered her mouth when she gasped softly. "Mama Boss is such a cool person. I really admire and respect her even though I haven''t met her yet."

    "You''re "cooler" than your mother."

    "Huh?"

    "Little de Moonasterio, I will now tell you the n," Manu said seriously. "I will enter your memories and bring Crimson to your first life''s timeline."

    "Can you please borate, my lord?"

    "Like I said earlier, your Soul Beast grows old with your physical body and therefore, Crimson would only reach adulthood once you turn eighteen years old. But you don''t want your mother to wait for that long, do you?"

    "Yes, I don''t want my mother to wait for that long," she said while carefully nodding. "But I don''t understand how my lord would raise Tteokbokki into an adult dragon in three years." She pressed her chin gently while thinking. "And is it possible to enter the memories of my first life?"

    "The memories of your first life would only serve as a door for me and your Soul Beast to enter the world where you lived during that timeline," Manu exined carefully. "The world where one individual has spent their previous life in is called ''Dead World.'' It still exists the same time your current life does."

    "That''s kind of simr to parallel worlds."

    "We call it ''Dead World'' here," the Moon Priest said. "I''m going to that world and raise Crimson with the First Life Neoma. Time flows differently in that world, so even if I stay there for a decade, only three years would pass by in this world."

    "I didn''t have a Soul Beast in my first life," she said worriedly. "I couldn''t awaken back then. Will that be alright?"

    Manu looked at her weirdly, then he shook his head. "Don''t worry about it."

    It looked like the Moon Priest was hiding something.

    [It''s probably something I shouldn''t learn.]

    Neoma was about to ask something else when she felt a powerful impact hit her chest. "Oh," she said as warmth spread through her body. "Tteokbokki is back."

    "Good," Manu said, then he stood up. "Let''s begin."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "THUG PRINCESS, are you throwing me away?!"

    Neoma wanted to tease Tteokbokki because he was so cute in his baby dragon form. But at the same time, she was pissed because he was yelling at her. [Well, I already expected this reaction from him.]

    "Why are you leaving me to the Moon Priest?" Tteokbokki continued toin, and he even put his cute paws on his hips(?). He was standing at her office desk while trying to look intimidating. But honestly? Tteokbokki just looked cute. "I worked my butt off for you, and now you''re throwing me away?"

    Neoma covered her ears with her hands. She couldn''t understand why Tteokbokki had to yell when she was just sitting in front of him. "I''m not throwing you away. I already exined to you the situation, so why are you acting this way?"

    "Hmph!" the Soul Beast said, then he plopped on the table while ring at her. "I don''t want to go, but since I''m interested in meeting Mona Roseheart, I will."

    "Why did you throw a tantrum when you''re going to agree with me, anyway?"

    "You do it all the time, too."

    She just rolled her eyes at him. "I didn''t know you were interested in meeting my Mama Boss."

    "Your mother is a celebrity!" Tteokbokki said excitedly. "When you told me to find the kid you met when you got lostst time, the Spirits I encountered along the way were nice to me when they found out I was the Soul Beast of Mona Roseheart''s child. I found the Cosmic Tree faster because of their help¨C"

    "Hold up," she said, cutting him off. "Why did you mention the Cosmic Tree?"

    "Thug princess, sometimes you seriously amaze me¨C and I''m not being sarcastic," her Soul Beast said. "I described the tree you saw to the Spirits I met while looking for the child. Most of them didn''t know what kind of tree it was, but the ones who knew were certain it was the Cosmic Tree."

    "So, you went to the Cosmic Tree?"

    "I may be a Soul Beast, but I''m still not worthy to meet the great Cosmic Tree," Tteokbokki said with a huff. "I could only get near to the entrance of the garden. The child who looked like you turned up and talked to me for a moment."

    "What did you talk about?"

    "Hmph! That child made fun of my name!"

    Sheughed softly. "Why would she make fun of your name like she knows what it means?"

    "She does!" her Soul Beast insisted. "She said ''tteokbokki'' is a food! How dare you name me after food, huh?"

    Her smile vanished. "She knows it''s tteokbokki is a type of food?"

    "She also uses strange words like you," Tteokbokki added. "She calls you ''Neoma unnie.''"

    Unnie?

    It was a Korean honorary title used by females to address their older sisters, or females older than them.

    [Howe a Spirit of this world speaks Korean words?]

    She got the chills. "Tteokbokki, what else did she say?"

    Tteokbokki suddenly turned serious. "The little girl said the Cosmic Tree will wake upter. And when that timees, she wants you to save her."

    "Then does it mean she doesn''t want to meet me yet?"

    "She said it''s not yet the right time."

    "Argh," sheined. "Does she want me to die of curiosity?"

    "Humans say knowledge is power, but I say too much knowledge is bothersome," Tteokbokki dered, then he pointed his paw to her. "Thug princess, you already have too much on your te, so forget about the child for now. She said she''lle to you once the time is right anyway."

    Neoma smiled, then she opened her arms and hugged Tteokbokki despite hisints. "Tteokbokki, if Lord Manu is harsh on you and you can''t continue with the training anymore, juste back to me," she said gently. "I will create a way to save my mother without needing an adult dragon''s Fire Breath."

    "Why are you suddenly being extra nice?" Tteokbokkiined in a shy voice, then he gently patted her arms with his paws. "I''m alsozy like you, so I''ll run home as soon as things get super hard for me."

    Neomaughed while hugging Tteokbokki tighter.

    <strong>***</strong>

    [AWKWARD.]

    Neoma avoided her Papa Boss''s cold gaze, then she closed her eyes and put her hands on her tummy. Right now, she was lying down on her bedfortably, like what Manu told her to do earlier.

    Only her Papa Boss, Lewis, and of course, the Moon Priest were in her room at the moment.

    "Lord Manu, all I have to do is sleep, right?" Neoma asked Manu to be sure. "I don''t have to think about my first life or something?"

    "Yes, that''s correct," Manu, who was probably standing beside her bed, said. "All you have to do is fall asleep. When you wake up, your Soul Beast and I will be gone. Have you properly said goodbye to Crimson?"

    "Yes, my lord."

    "Alright," the Moon Priest said. "Don''t forget about the method I taught you about creating a temporary Soul Beast."

    For thest three days, Manu gave her a quick course on how to create a temporary Soul Beast. He also left some items to her she just hid in the storage of her Lynx Ring. To be honest, she wasn''t happy with that.

    She was a Roseheart, and creating a Soul Beast (albeit being a temporary one) didn''t sit well with her.

    "I''ll think about it, my lord," Neoma said vaguely. "Should we begin now?"

    "Alright," Manu said, obviously ignoring his hesitation in creating her own Soul Beast. "I will enter your memories now with your Soul Beast."

    "Neoma," her Papa Boss said, then she felt her father cradle her hand. "I''ll stay until you wake up."

    Neoma almost cried, touched by her father''s unexpected warmth. [Papa Boss, I''ll apologize to youter.]

    "Me, too," Lewis said softly. "Good night, Princess Neoma."

    <strong>***</strong>

    [IS IT over?]

    Neoma had regained her consciousness already, but her eyelids still felt heavy, so she didn''t want to open her eyes yet. Plus, she could feel a big and warm hand holding hers tightly. She remembered her Papa Boss holding her hand before she fell asleep earlier.

    But why did it feel different now?

    "Neoma, I know you''re already awake."

    She gasped and opened her eyes quickly when she heard the unfamiliar, yet familiar voice of a man.

    Purple hair, dark violet eyes.

    The face of the man sitting beside her on a bed while holding her hand was very familiar. It was one of her most favorite faces in the world. But why did it look older now?

    And why was he wearing a Pdin uniform instead of a chef''s uniform?

    [Wait, we''re in bed?!]

    "What''s happening here?" Neoma asked, confused. "Ruto?"

    "Who''s Ruto?" the man asked, his eyebrows knitted. "Are you thinking of another man while we''re on a date?"

    "Huh?"

    "What?" the man asked, then his face turned red as if he was suddenly embarrassed. "Is this not a date? Am I getting ahead of myself, mydy?"

    She almost choked on her saliva. Seeing the man''s embarrassed face made her feel embarrassed, too. Was this a dream? Ah, whatever.

    [Let''s just y along with it.]

    "Who am I?"

    "Is this a game?" the man asked whileughing softly. "You''re registered as Neoma Quinzel. But soon, you''re going to use my name."

    She let out a fit of fake cough. "Excuse me?"

    "Uhm, have you forgotten that you approached me and made a deal with me?" the man asked, confused. "We''re going to have a contractual marriage for you to gain power and¨C"

    "Hold up," she said while raising a hand. "Who are you?"

    Was this really the Ruto she knew?

    "Mydy, it''s me," the man said, then he put his free hand on his chest. "I''m the newmander of the White Lion Knights¨C Yoan Stroganoff."

    "Yoan¡­?"

    Neoma gasped, then she let go of the man''s hand to clutch her head. She closed her eyes tight and let out a scream as she experienced a splitting headache. It felt like she would suddenly lose her mind when, all of a sudden, she realized she was reliving a part of her first life.

    She didn''t know how she knew, the realization just suddenly hit her.

    Ruto was themander of the White Lion Knights in her first life?

    [But why couldn''t I remember it until now?]

    <strong>***</strong>

    SIENNA, the Sun Priestess, dropped the ss of water to the floor when she heard Yoan''s ear-piercing cry from the other room.

    She immediately ran to him, only to find him writhing in pain on the bed. He had his eyes closed, and his hands clutching his head tight. His scream was full of agony, and the tears at the corners of his eyes were proof that he was in terrible pain.

    [This is the first time I saw Yoan in this state in this lifetime¡­]

    Thus, she was too stunned to move.

    "Sienna!" Ruto yelled in a desperate voice. "Someone is messing with Neoma''s memories!"

    "W-What?"

    "Her consciousness has drifted to the sealed memories of her first life!"

    She gasped when she heard that.

    "She met me," Yoan said, his voice still desperate but weaker now. "She met me as Yoan, themander of the White Lion Knights."

    Sienna clenched her hands tight. "That''s a big problem, my lord."

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 353 - DREAM AWAY (2)

    MANU felt a shiver down his spine as soon as he stepped foot in the Dead World¨C the world where Neoma de Moonasterio lived before her regression.

    It seemed like Crimson, the little de Moonasterio''s Soul Beast, had felt something was off too because he kept looking around. The baby dragon wouldn''t see anything strange, though. After all, they arrived at the vast Quinzel Estate, where the young Neoma Quinzel of this world was currently living.

    To be precise, he and the baby dragon were standing on the rooftop of the annex building. Of course, they were invisible, and he concealed their presence well. They should live quietly while they were there.

    [Crimson just needs to be near Neoma Quinzel while training.]

    "Is my thug princess alright?" Crimson, the baby red dragon, asked worriedly. "I feel a disruption in her soul."

    "Little de Moonasterio must be in pain," Manu said bluntly. "Someone is messing with her mind."

    "Then we should head back!"

    "We would if we could," he said. His duty was to protect the de Moonasterios, so he should have returned to the "current" world as soon as he felt Neoma de Moonasterio being attacked by a great force. "Unfortunately, we''ve been cut off."

    "Cut off?"

    "Neoma de Moonasterio is the door that connects the Dead World to the current world," he exined to the Soul Beast. "But by disrupting her soul, the world in her memories became unclear. Thus, the door closed and we''re trapped here."

    "But you''re the Moon Priest, aren''t you? You''re stronger than the saint since you''re the representative of the Moon God. You can''t help my thug princess?"

    "It''s true that I''m stronger than the saint."

    Yule, the Moon God, would always "adopt" two children to represent him.

    The Moon God would use the saint to deliver his message to the humans and help him gain more believers, while Yule would use the Moon Priest as his personal errand boy. Although he dealt with more annoying things than the saint, he was still grateful that he didn''t have to deal with people.

    Moreover, to be a saint, one had to be crafty.

    "But the saint is smarter than me," he admitted with a shrug. "If he was in my position, he wouldn''t have fallen into the enemy''s trap."

    Crimson''s eyes opened wide. "We fell into the enemy''s trap?"

    "Unfortunately, yes," he said, then he pointed to the blue sky. "Do you see that thing?"

    The Soul Beast looked up at the sky, then he gasped softly. "What''s the big round thing covering the sun? And why is it still bright even though that ck thing covered the sun?"

    "Because this is already a Dead World."

    "What does it mean?"

    "It means Darkness already won in this world," he exined. "Our presence is weaker than the Darkness here."

    "How can Darkness win in this world, especially in the continent governed by Lord Yule?" Crimsonined with a huff. "That doesn''t make sense!"

    "Neoma de Moonasterio was killed in this world, so how could we win without the Sky?"

    "I don''t understand."

    "Of course you wouldn''t," he said, then he turned to the poor baby dragon. "They murdered you in this world when you were just a baby."

    "What?! Who killed me?! I will make them pay once we return to our world!"

    He was relieved that Crimson was confident they would return to their world even after he said they were trapped there.

    [Neoma de Moonasterio''s arrogance rubbed off on him.]

    He squatted down to meet the baby dragon''s eye level. "The High Elves."

    "High Elves?"

    "To be precise, the Dark High Elves," he said to the Soul Beast. "They are called Dark High Elves because they are the type of elves who use Darkness attribute. But the problem is not only do they use Darkness attribute¨C they also serve a terrible god."

    "And who is that terrible god?"

    "I''ll be punished if I tell you, so let''s stop here."

    "Hmph!" Crimson said, then he put his paws on his hips while nagging him. "How can you stay calm when my thug princess might be in danger?"

    [Like master, like servant.]

    Neoma de Moonasterio was quick to brush off things she didn''t care about, just like Crimson who asked nothing after he said he couldn''t tell him more about the terrible god he mentioned.

    [They''ve been brainwashed pretty well, huh?]

    "Don''t worry about Neoma de Moonasterio," Manu said, then he stood up and stretched his arms. "Even if they got rid of me, Lord Yule, and the former Saint Dominic Zavaroni, Neoma de Moonasterio isn''t as alone as they thought she must be." He looked up at the ck hole that covered the sun. "They will soon realize that it''s not the Moon God and our people they should be worried about if they wanted toy a hand on the Sky."

    [The sun is bigger than the moon anyway.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA opened her eyes and got up while catching her breath.

    The dream that she had still felt vivid, so vivid she refused to believe it was just a dream. It was a fucking piece of memory that she couldn''t remember. If her Papa Boss, the strongest man in the empire, had his memories sealed, then it could happen to her as well.

    "Neoma?"

    She turned and saw her Papa Boss looking at her worriedly. Lewis was behind her father, and her "son" also looked worried about her.

    "Are you alright?" her Papa Boss asked worriedly, then he sat beside her. "What happened?"

    "Papa Boss, I''ll use Lord Redgrave''s eye," Neoma said urgently. "I think I have some pieces of my memory erased back in my first life."

    "What?"

    "I need to check," she said, then she opened her hand and summoned Redgrave''s eye. "I''ll use the eye now before I forget about my "dream.""

    "Neoma, you can''t be reckless," her Papa Boss scolded her, but his voice was gentle. "Tell me what happened first."

    "I''m sorry, Papa Boss," she said, while staring at the red orb in her eyes. She was pouring as much Moonglow as she could in the red orb in order to crush it. If she remembered it correctly, that was how her father crushed the god''s eye. Thankfully, she could see the red orb turn silver-blue as her Moonglow filled it. "I''ll tell you everythingter."

    The red orb in her hand crushed when it failed to contain the Moonglow she injected in it.

    She closed her eyes, thinking that she would remember her forgotten memories that included Commander Yoan Stroganoff of the White Lion Knights.

    But much to her surprise, she felt a burning sensation in her eyes instead.

    Then her vision literally turned red.

    She couldn''t see anything but that color that hurt her eyes.

    And it hurt.

    [It fucking hurts.]

    Neoma wanted to scream when she felt warm liquid roll down her cheeks, but she realized she couldn''t move an inch¡­

    <strong>***</strong>

    "NEOMA," Niki said worriedly while looking at her daughter. "Why are you crying blood?"

    He felt helpless as he could only watch his daughter sit on the bed still while crying blood.

    [Why can''t I do anything at times like this?]

    The moment he felt something was off after the red orb broke, he tried to reach for his daughter''s hand. But a strong electric shock stopped him when he touched her. He tried to use his Moonglow and his Soul Beasts to break the barrier made of electric shock, but none of those things worked.

    Lewis, on the other hand, bolted out of the room while yelling he''d call for Paige Avery and Greko.

    [We can''t call Axel, the Royal Mage.]

    After all, for some reason, Neoma''s hair suddenly grew longer.

    But he already sent a message to Marcus, his personal Healing Sage, toe and check on Neoma. It would be better for more people to check on his daughter''s condition.

    [Why do these things keep happening to my daughter?]

    He clenched his hands tight as his chest was suddenly flooded with guilt.

    [If only I didn''t force Neoma to pretend as Nero. All she wanted to do was to live a quiet and peaceful life. But those bastards¡­]

    To be honest, he couldn''t me those people alone.

    He was the first threat in Neoma''s life, after all. No matter how much he regretted it, the fact that he tried to kill her when she was still a baby remained¡­

    "Your Majesty, we''re here."

    He turned to the door and saw Paige Avery enter the room in a hurry. Lewis and Greko were walking fast behind the mage.

    "Neoma tried to use a god''s eye to recover her forgotten memories," Niki said calmly to Paige Avery, who stood on the other side of the bed while observing his daughter. "Then she suddenly cried blood. I can''t touch her, and my Moonglow isn''t working on her."

    "Your Majesty, what did you do to Princess Neoma?"

    He knitted his eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

    Paige Avery looked at him with a pale face, her turquoise eyes glowing in fear. "There are several curses sealed in Princess Neoma''s soul!"

    "Curses?"

    "My eyes could see curses," the mage exined. "Princess Neoma''s soul is sealed by curses¨C and those curses have the crest of the Moon."

    Greko, the half human-half fairy child, gasped in shock. "Curse of the Moon? I learned it from my Spirit Animal before¡­"

    Curse of the Moon?

    He clenched his hands. "Paige Avery, can you undo the curse?"

    "Of course, I can''t, Your Majesty," the mage said in a frustrated voice, then she opened her hand. A cane materialized, and she grabbed it with her hand. "But I will do my best to get rid of the filthy thing disrupting Princess Neoma''s soul first."

    "Filthy thing?" Niki asked, confused. "What filthy thing?"

    "High Elf," Paige Avery said seriously. "A High Elf is messing with Princess Neoma''s soul."

    "It''s a Dark Elf," Greko added, his eyes glowing now. "An elf that uses Darkness attribute."

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

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    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 354 - DREAM AWAY (3)

    "YOUR MAJESTY, how old is Princess Neoma now?"

    "My daughter is nine years old, but she''ll be ten in a few months," Niki answered Paige Avery''s question. "Is that relevant to the current situation?"

    "It is, Your Majesty," Paige Avery said while frowning at him. "The curses sealed in Princess Neoma''s soul are older than her current physical body. If she wasn''t a de Moonasterio, and if she didn''t have overflowing Moonglow, she would have been dead by now."

    He clenched his hands after hearing how dangerous his daughter''s situation was. "I didn''t know," he said weakly. "Thete Madam Hammock, my daughter''s personal Healing Sage, noticed nothing strange in her soul."

    "Hammock? The family that produces affordable medicine for the poor?"

    "They still do that," he said. "But the Hammocks are now known to produce the best Healing Sages in the empire."

    "A Sage tends to focus on a person''s physical condition," the mage said. "How about a mage? Your Majesty, have you ever asked the Royal Mages to give Princess Neoma a thorough check-up?"

    "The situation didn''t allow me to do so," he said sternly. "After all, we have to keep Neoma''s identity a secret."

    "In short, His Majesty trusted the sage too much."

    He frowned, hating the fact that he was being scolded by a young mage.

    [But if she has been trapped in the Hisa Tree for fifty years, then this mage is actually older than me.]

    "I''m not saying that His Majesty was wrong," Paige Avery added calmly. "Anyway, it''s not important at the moment. As a mage, I''ll do what I can for now." She raised her staff as if she was showing it to him. "Your Majesty, I will enter Princess Neoma''s soul to wake her up."

    He nodded, giving the mage the permission to do what she needed to do for his daughter. "I understand," he said. "If I feel something is off, I will wake you up."

    The mage smiled as if she was impressed by his intuition. "I''m relieved that Your Majesty is a lot morepetent than the previous emperor."

    He scoffed at that. "I''m insulted youpared me to my father in the first ce."

    Paige Avery justughed softly as a response. "I apologize for pping Your Majesty."

    He waved his hand dismissively. "If you''re sincere with your apology, then go and save my daughter."

    She nodded politely at his request, then she turned to the young boy standing beside her. "Greko, I need your assistance."

    Greko''s face beamed at the mage''s words. "How can I help you, Paige noona?"

    Niki almost sighed. [Neoma taught the child strange words, huh?]

    But his daughter should teach her children to not speak foreign words in front of other people because it was rude. Especially in front of him. He was still the emperor, after all.

    "I will take care of Princess Neoma''s soul, so you take care of her physical body," Paige Avery said to the little boy. "You can''t touch Her Royal Highness because of the strange barrier protecting her at the moment. But you have elf blood in you, little Greko. You don''t need to touch a person to heal them."

    "Yes, noona. Aurora, my Spirit Animal, taught me well," Greko said cheerfully. "I will do my best to stop eomma from crying blood."

    Niki was impressed while watching Greko and Paige Avery work together.

    [Neoma''s "children" are prettypetent.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    [TSK.]

    Sienna clicked her tongue when she saw Yoan cry blood while staying still.

    He was still sprawled on the bed, and he finally stopped screaming from pain. But his eyes were open, and he was crying blood.

    [That means Neoma de Moonasterio remembered a fragment of her memory with Yoan.]

    "This is why I told you to never show up in front of Neoma de Moonasterio until she''s eighteen years old," Sienna scolded Yoan, then she put a hand on his forehead. "If Neoma de Moonasterio ends up retrieving her old memories from the Dead World, you''ll end up forgetting yours. If that happens, our n will go downhill."

    Their mistake in Neoma de Moonasterio''s first life was treating her like she didn''t exist to protect her from the eyes of the higher beings who meant harm to her. But in the end, those evil beings still ended up realizing the neglected princess''s true worth.

    This time, they treated Neoma de Moonasterio with much importance. But it looked like they cared for her too much.

    [Whatever we do to hide her, she still stands out.]

    "I will enter Neoma de Moonasterio''s consciousness to block the flow of her memories," Sienna informed Yoan, then she closed her eyes. "Leave everything to me, my lord."

    <strong>***</strong>

    [WHAT a strange world.]

    When Paige Avery entered Princess Neoma''s consciousness, she found herself inside the strange world of her soul. It was a ce filled with tall buildings. The princess''s consciousness called it ''skyscrapers.''

    But only those buildings surrounded her. Not a single soul was there. But it didn''t mean the ce was empty.

    "Having Darkness attribute doesn''t automatically make a being evil," Paige Avery said while twirling her cane-shaped staff like a baton. Then she looked up and met the gaze of the being who had been observing her ever since she arrived. "But a Dark Elf like you gives Darkness attribute users a bad name."

    The Dark Elf, who was standing on the rooftop of a tall skyscraper, smirked at her. "I''ve been hiding in here for the past ten years, and none of the people who had checked on Princess Neoma''s condition have seen me," he said in an amused voice. "Are you a mage?"

    "I am, indeed," she said calmly, then she used flight magic to levitate herself until she was at the eye level of the Dark Elf. "You upy a small portion of Princess Neoma''s soul like a roach. If you didn''t purposely disrupt the little princess'' soul to mess with her, I would have a hard time finding you. But thanks to your recklessness, I found you easily."

    The Dark Elf justughed as if he found everything amusing.

    [Hah. He''s handsome. Too bad he''s evil to the core.]

    Short ash brown hair, silver eyes, pointed ears.

    Those were the Dark Elf''s features that stood out the most. The dark robe that the elf wore was infused with magic. It was probably created from materials that could repel magic attacks.

    [It won''t be easy fighting him.]

    But her goal wasn''t to fight or kill the Dark Elf, so she should be fine.

    "What''s your name, young mage?"

    "It''s rude to ask for my name when you haven''t introduced yourself yet, Dark Elf," she said, then she let out a smirk. "I bet you''ll regret it once you find out who I am."

    "I bet I won''t, since you look like an interesting person." The Dark Elfughed once again. "You found out I''m a Dark Elf right away, even though I''m hiding my hostility and my dark force."

    "An elf corrupting a portion of a child''s soul couldn''t be a good elf," she said with a shrug. "I''m not saying all Dark Elves who use Darkness attribute are bad. You just reek of evilness."

    Once again, the annoying Dark Elfughed. "My name is Lukas."

    "My name is Paige Avery."

    Lukas''s smile vanished, then he consciously took a step away from her. "Avery?"

    She finally let out a burst of richughter. "Didn''t I tell you you''d regret it once you find out who I am?"

    Why wouldn''t he?

    After all, she was an Avery¨C and the Averys were the natural enemies of evil Darkness attribute users like this arrogant Dark Elf.

    "Impossible," Lukas imed in disbelief. "The Averys have vanished a long time ago!"

    "Well, Princess Neoma found and saved me," she said sweetly, then she stabbed the sharp end of her staff to the ground. Of course, the floor immediately cracked, and the cracks quickly spread all over. "I will introduce myself again¨C I am Paige Avery."

    The building that she was standing on copsed right away.

    Of course, she and Lukas remained floating in the air without eye contact. But the two of them had different facial expressions at the moment.

    She was smiling confidently.

    On the other hand, the Dark Elf was sweating as if he was suddenly nervous.

    "I am a Light Mage," Paige Avery dered proudly. "And I am here to purify this space that you corrupted, you evil Dark Elf."

    "Purify?" Lukas snarled at her. "Try it if you can, Light Mage!"

    "I won''t try it¨C I will do it."

    After her bold deration, her turquoise eyes glowed at the same time the cane in her hand turned into crystal. She filled it with her Mana until the ss cane broke into hundreds of pieces. Then those pieces turned into colorful gems.

    "Scatter," she ordered the pieces of colorful gems floating around her. "Scatter and purify all the evil that exists here."

    The colorful gems then flew away from her and attached themselves to the surrounding skyscrapers. Earlier, the surrounding buildings were of dark colors. But as soon as her colorful gems attached themselves to the skyscrapers, each one of those buildings began to turn transparent.

    Lukas, on the other hand, clutched his chest with his hand and coughed up a chunk of blood. "How dare you¡­"

    "I should be the one saying that," Paige Avery said, her whole body was slowly being covered by her Light attribute at the moment. "How dare an evil elf like you mess with my new master, huh?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 355 - DREAM AWAY (4)

    [WINGS¡­?]

    Niki was impressed while watching Neoma''s "children" work together.

    First, Paige Avery fell asleep beside his daughter on the bed. The mage entered Neoma''s consciousness to help her.

    And now, Greko was doing something amazing.

    The young boy closed his eyes earlier and sped his hands together as if he was praying. Now he grew silver fairy wings. They looked like butterfly wings. Moreover, the auraing out of those wings was simr to the aura that Mona would emit when she was summoning her Spirit Guardians.

    [He''s half-fairy, so that makes him one of the children of Nature.]

    "Master, our little princess''s "children" are useful."

    He turned to see two of his Soul Beasts in their human form.

    The tall and bulky man wearing a ck robe was the ck Tortoise. On the other hand, the "child" wearing suspenders was the ck serpent called ''Center,'' and Center was sitting on the ck Tortoise''s shoulder.

    The two had opposite appearances, but they still had one thing inmon: pink hair. The strands of their hair was more on the red shade though.

    Those were the unique hair colors of the male Rosehearts.

    "Yeah, they''repetent," Niki said as a response to what North, the ck Tortoise, said about Neoma''s "children" earlier. "Unlike us."

    The ck Tortoise, the healer among his Soul Beasts, flinched as if he was guilty.

    "Master, don''t be like that," Center, who was acting like a child just because he looked like one, said yfully. "We can''t do anything to help Princess Neoma because she absorbs your Moonglow every time we touch her."

    That was true.

    He summoned the ck Tortoise earlier to check on Neoma''s condition.

    But his daughter absorbed his Moonglow with no sign of getting better. He wouldn''t have minded that had the situation been different. Right now, he couldn''t afford to lose consciousness while his heir was unconscious, too.

    "Lewis Crevan," he said to the fox boy who was standing beside Neoma''s bed while being so stiff. "Don''t tell Neoma what you just heard."

    "I don''t care," Lewis, who was looking at Neoma with glowing golden orbs and clenched hands, said coldly. "I don''t care even if His Majesty dies. It''s not something I would like Princess Neoma to worry about, so I won''t bother to bring it up to her."

    He didn''tment since he was already used to Lewis''s attitude. [Neoma spoiled him too much.]

    But his Soul Beasts looked obviously pissed.

    Centerughed, but even if he did, hisughter sounded sinister and not happy. "Master, I''m not your official Soul Beast since I''m just a ck serpent who can''t live without North," he said while cracking his knuckles. "Killing a disrespectful baby fox wouldn''t tarnish your name and your official Soul Beasts, so please allow me to do the honor."

    North, the ck Tortoise who was supposed to be a pacifist, nodded his head eagerly.

    "Leave him alone," he said to his Soul Beasts dismissively. "He''s Neoma''s favorite person."

    Lewis''s obviously liked what he heard because he turned to him with a less gloomy aura. "Your Majesty, I will keep it a secret from Princess Neoma."

    [See? So simple-minded. A child is still a child, after all.]

    "But Your Majesty, keeping this a secret from Princess Neoma will only make her upset. I suggesting clean to her soon."

    Hah.

    He couldn''t believe he was being scolded by his daughter''s "son."

    "I will tell Neoma about it soon," he said nonchntly. "For now, shut your mouth."

    Lewis just nodded, then he focused on Neoma again.

    "Master, that youngdy," the ck Tortoise said while pointing his hands politely to Paige Avery, who was unconscious beside Neoma on the bed. "She''s a Light Mage."

    "A Light Mage?" Niki tilted his head to one side. "Is it the same as Mona''s Light Spirit Guardian in the past?"

    "Lady Roseheart''s Light Spirit Guardian is more powerful, Master," Center said cheerfully. "But a Light Mage is also a poor match for Darkness attribute users, so if she stays by our little princess''s side, it will benefit Princess Neoma."

    <strong>***</strong>

    PAIGE AVERY slowly pped her hands while watching Lukas, the bad Dark Elf, gather the shadows around them and turn them into shadows.

    Now she understood why that roach created this kind of dimension.

    [Tall buildings create gigantic shadows.]

    "When did the Dark Elves learn how to manipte shadows, just like the Quinzels?" Paige Avery, her body now engulfed in white light while she was still suspended in the air, said. "The Quinzels aren''t the only people who could manipte shadows. But the technique you''re using at the moment is their signature move."

    First, Lukas tried to create the Shadow Veil which the Quinzels were famous for. But since it was just an imitation, she easily destroyed the Shadow Veil by creating a blinding light wave.

    Now, the bad elf was using his own shadow to attack her.

    "That''s cute," she said while avoiding the shadow that couldn''t keep up with her. After all, she was moving at light speed. When she got bored with avoiding the attacks aimed at her, she summoned her proper weapon. [It seems like Lukas is almost done creating a Shadow Beast, too.]

    Yes, she waited for the Dark Elf to collect enough shadows for hisst attack. She was a mage raised to only fight interesting battles. Thus, she waited for Lukas to be prepared.

    She opened her right hand and summoned her other weapon. The cane that she used earlier was her weapon of choice when creating spells. But when it was time to use her Light attribute, she would use her other weapon.

    And that weapon was a parasol¨C a frilly white parasol. The end top, tips, crook handle, and shaft were all gold. Of course, a parasol that could contain her Light power couldn''t be an ordinary parasol.

    [This is a Divine Item.]

    Yes, she was using a Divine Item as a weapon. Come to think of it, she got in trouble for "stealing" that item when she was a teenager.

    "You are that child."

    She smiled before she stabbed the sharp tip of the parasol on Lukas''s shadow''s forehead. All she needed as inject a small amount of her Light magic through the tip before the shadowpletelybust.

    "You''re the child who stole from the East Continent''s Pope sixty plus years ago," Lukas said whileughing. "I heard you stole the Divine Items gifted by the Sun Goddess to the people serving her. But a young mage from the West Continent stormed in and stole all the Divine Items."

    "Was that what happened?" she said with a bright smile. "It''s been so long that I don''t remember the details anymore."

    Lukasughed, a huge Shadow Beast that didn''t have a form nowplete behind him. "Liar," he said to her. "Lady Avery, should we make a deal? I''ll give up this space if you tell me where you hid the other Divine Items that you stole." He jabbed a finger at the Shadow Beast behind him. "If this beast goes on a rampage, it will severely injure Princess Neoma''s soul. Do you want something bad to happen to your "new master?""

    It was her turn tough.

    "Lord Lukas, the one who may offer a deal is the one who has the upper-hand," she said while smiling "sweetly." "I should be the one setting the deal, and you should be the one negotiating¨C not the other way around."

    He smirked, but he obviously looked pissed. "You think you have the upper hand?"

    "I don''t "think" I have the upper hand¨C I just do."

    She opened her umbre and as soon as she did, it started "snowing."

    Of course, it wasn''t real snow. The white balls of light falling from the sky were from her Light power. And soon, the Light fragments worked their magic.

    Screech.

    She saw Lukas flinch when the Shadow Beast behind him screeched so loudly it made the ground tremble. But that was all the Shadow Beast could do. After hundreds of balls of white light hit it, the beast melted.

    It was the same for the tall buildings around them. They all melted, and the only things that remained were the colorful gems that she scattered in the area earlier.

    Lukas red at her. "You¨C"

    "You can''t use your true power because you know I''m a Light Mage, right?" she asked, cutting him off while closing the parasol. The "snow" stopped as soon as she did that. "You look shocked when I said I''m an Avery, which means you know I''m your natural nemesis. But you know what? An ordinary Darkness attribute user wouldn''t fear the Averys. After all, Darkness is also a part of Nature."

    He flinched as if he knew where her words were headed to.

    "Dark Elves weren''t called Dark Elves just because they have Darkness attribute," she said, then she ced the shaft of her parasol on her shoulder. "But the problem is not every Dark Elf is born with natural Darkness attribute."

    Her turquoise eyes glowed as she scanned the man in front of her.

    "Lord Lukas, you weren''t born with Darkness attribute. You''re an elf, not a Dark Elf," she said, faking her "surprise." "I wonder where you got your Darkness attribute from."

    Lukas snarled at her, but instead of attacking her, he actually tried to escape.

    Of course, she didn''t let that happen.

    She pointed her parasol at Lukas''s direction, then the frills around the parasol turned into Light whips. The whips caught the Dark Elf and wrapped themselves around the man tightly.

    "This isn''t your physical body, so I can''t kill you," she said, still smiling while approaching him. "But I won''t let you go without squeezing some useful information from you first, Lord Lukas."

    Lukas sneered at her. "You said it yourself¨C you can''t kill me. What made you think you can make me talk?"

    She just smiled brightly, before she proceeded with her "interrogation." "I was born and raised in the West Continent. To be precise, I''m a person of the empire," she said vaguely. "Thus, I was also raised to worship Lord Yule¨C the Moon God. But I came to hate the god I worshipped while I was trapped inside the Hisa Tree."

    "I don''t care about your sob story¨C"

    "Shh!" she said, then she put a finger on his lips to stop him from talking. As soon as she touched his lips, another Light whips appeared and covered the elf''s mouth this time. "Losers should shut their trap."

    Lukas could only re at her.

    "It wasn''t only hate I felt while I was trapped," she continued with her "sob story." "I felt pain, anger, desperation, sadness, and despair as well. Do you know what happened after those negative emotions umted in my chest?" She leaned down to whisper in Lukas''s ear. "My Light attribute almost turned into Darkness attribute."

    She pulled away from Lukas to watch his reaction.

    As expected, he was calm. Although he was ring at her, she could see that he was nervous about what she would say next.

    "That was when I realized that extreme negative emotions bottled up like that could turn into Darkness," she continued. She was still smiling, but her voice sounded more serious now than ever. "If Princess Neoma didn''t find me when she did, I would have given in and eaten the part of my Light magic that turned into Darkness."

    Yes, she almost ate it.

    While she was miserable, the Darkness kept whispering in her ear while urging her to consume it. The Darkness promised to free her, and to kill the de Moonasterios that she hated most at that time.

    "I was reminded of that time when I saw you, Lord Lukas," she said, then she put a finger under his chin to lift his face and force him to meet her glowing turquoise eyes. "I told you, my eyes are special. I could see the filthy things you''ve consumed, and they''re eating at your soul."

    Of course, Lukas could only re at her as a response.

    [He''s not putting much of a fight, so he''s probably gathering his energy to escape.]

    She pretended not to notice about his escape n, so she kept talking.

    "You consumed Darkness made from despair," she continued while shaking her head disapprovingly. "But that despair wasn''t from you, but from another person."

    He looked at her as if saying, "so what?"

    She smiled, then grabbed his chin while leaning down until her face was only a breath away from his face. "Did you consume a Quinzel''s despair?"

    Lukas''s eyes turned into little crescent moons, and she could tell he was smirking creepily despite his mouth being covered by her Light whips.

    If she''d be honest, she''d say the bad elf''s smiling eyes gave her the chills.

    [What a lunatic.]

    She pulled away from him and let go of his chin roughly. But she didn''t actually keep her hands off of him. This time, she poked his chest area with her finger while talking.

    "You did," she did, even though Lukas didn''t confirm her theory. "So, that means you can copy the ability of the person you ate Darkness from. The Quinzels don''t teach their techniques to outsiders. You definitely ate a Quinzel''s despair and gained their ability."

    It was honestly a reach.

    But she experienced the same thing back when she was trapped in the Hisa Tree. Moreover, her eyes could analyze anything that had magic or Mana in it. When she saw a portion of her Light magic turn into Darkness, she analyzed it.

    She realized that the Darkness made from her despair contained her techniques and special magical power.

    [If that type of Darkness could be consumed, then my hypothesis would be correct.]

    Plus, the bad elf''s facial expression was interesting.

    Lukas wasn''t smiling anymore.

    But she was.

    "As a mage, this piece of information excites me," she said cheerfully, then she patted Lukas''s head. "Let me give you a farewell gift before you run away like a weakling you are."

    She grabbed a handful of Lukas''s hair and pulled it.

    "You''ve been living off of Princess Neoma''s negative emotions while hiding in the darkest depth of her soul like a roach," she said coldly. But of course, she was still smiling. She wasn''t a scary person, after all. "Are you hoping to copy Her Royal Highness''s abilities?"

    Once again, Lukas''s eyes curved into creepy crescent moons.

    She knew why this bad elf looked excited.

    Ah, his escape n had seeded. A ck swarm appeared just below his feet. And it began to suck everything in.

    Of course, she created a Light barrier to avoid getting sucked in by the swarm.

    [This protection won''tst long, though.]

    "I will allow you to leave, Lord Lukas," she said in a sweet, "caring" voice. "After all, you don''t deserve to stay here. But don''t expect to return, because I''ll be undoing all the curses you sealed in Princess Neoma''s soul. And most of all¡­"

    She let go of Lukas''s hair when the force sucking them in became stronger.

    Then she used another flight magic to get as far away as possible from the bad elf. When a decent distance was created between them, the Light magic that she used to tie him down (and shut his mouth) disappeared.

    After all, she needed all her magic back to protect herself.

    "We''ll meet again, Lady Avery," Lukas said with a smirk while being engulfed by whatever ck liquid it wasing from the swamp below his feet. "And the next time we meet, I''ll distort that beautiful face of yours with pain."

    "Thank you for calling me beautiful," she said, then she did a mock curt while opening her parasol. "But Lord Lukas, I hope I didn''t lead you on by getting a little touchy-feely with you earlier." She tilted her head, put a hand on her cheek, and smiled sweetly at him. "After all, I didn''t touch you because I wanted to."

    The bad elf looked shocked when the parts of his body that she touched earlier began to glow and burn.

    "Whose beautiful face is distorted with pain now?" Paige Avery asked with a beautiful smile on her face. Then she closed her parasol again and pointed the end tip at Lukas. "I, Avery Paige, purify the evil standing in front of me."

    A blinding light covered the entire dimension at the same time Lukas''s agonizing scream filled the space.

    <strong>***</strong>

    THE DARK skyscrapers all disappeared now.

    On the outside, those dark skyscrapers looked like roaches attached to Princess Neoma''s white soul. That was how Greko, the young half human-half fairy, saw the impurity that disrupted the soul of Her Royal Highness.

    "This part of Princess Neoma''s soul is the part where her negative emotions are stored," Paige Avery said to herself while looking up at the "sky" above. "But why does that "sky" contain sealed memories?"

    When Lukas disappeared earlier, the sky cleared and the Darkness covering it was purified by her Light magic.

    But it wasn''t enough to unseal the memories.

    [Well, it''s not my job to take care of that.]

    She looked around and saw the colorful gems scattered on the white floor. This part of Princess Neoma''s soul was already cleansed after she kicked Lukas out and purified the Darkness that he left. But¡­

    "I can''t stop you from feeling negative emotions, Princess Neoma, so this part of your soul will continue existing," Paige whispered to herself sadly, then she closed her eyes and hugged her parasol close to her chest. "But from now on, I won''t let anyone enter your soul without permission again."

    <strong>***</strong>

    WHEN NEOMA opened her eyes, she sighed loudly at the people who greeted her.

    Nero.

    Lewis.

    Trevor.

    Hanna.

    And the Commander Yoan Stroganoff she saw before.

    All of them, including her, were grown-ups. How could that happen when Hanna died as a child back in her first life, while Neoma died without meeting Trevor then?

    But they were all gathered at that moment.

    "Congrattions, Princess Neoma," Yoan Stroganoff greeted her with a warm smile. "You finally gathered the Four Pirs."

    Four Pirs?

    [That sounds familiar.]

    Neomabed her fingers through her long white hair with pink strands. "I didn''t die at Nero''s hands?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 356 - DREAM AWAY (5)

    WHEN SIENNA arrived at Neoma de Moonasterio''s soul dimension, everything was over.

    The malignant presence that disrupted the little princess''s soul already disappeared. Moreover, the Darkness that had been eating at her soul had also been purified. She didn''t expect that someone other than her could cleanse Neoma de Moonasterio''s soul this fast.

    "I suppose I''m stillcking."

    She turned around and found a youngdy holding a closed parasol.

    [A Light mage?]

    "I''m creating a spell that would protect Princess Neoma''s soul from being invaded," the young mage said. "But I guess I should create a more powerful spell if I want to drive away someone on your level, Sun Priestess."

    She was surprised when the mage recognized her as the Sun Priestess, even though she was in her peacock form.

    "Ah, please excuse my rudeness," the young mage said, then she elegantly did a curt as a greeting while hiding her hands that held the white parasol behind her back. "I''m Princess Neoma''s mage, and my name is Paige Avery."

    "Paige Avery?" Sienna asked, shocked. "The child who stole thest Pope''s Divine Items over sixty years ago?"

    "Oh, did I do that?" Paige Avery asked, obviously feigning innocence. "I apologize, but I''ve been trapped inside the Hisa Tree for fifty years. I don''t remember my childhood clearly."

    Sheughed, amused by the mage''s guts to lie in front of her even though she clearly knew that she was the Sun Priestess. "For a liar, you''re quite eloquent."

    "Ah, mydy is making me blush."

    Sheughed again. "Paige Avery, I like your eloquence," she said. "You should teach Neoma de Moonasterio some manners. That little bitch is rude as hell."

    Paige Avery smiled, but her smile looked a little scary. "If mydy promises to only use pretty words when talking to our Princess Neoma, then I''ll think about it," she said gently. "But if mydy asks me, Princess Neoma is fine the way she is right now."

    She wanted to say that Neoma de Moonasterio was problematic as hell.

    But she had a feeling Paige Avery''s "kind" fa?ade would slip away if she badmouthed the little princess again, so she held back. It wasn''t like she was afraid of the mage. She was also confident that as the Sun Priestess, she was stronger than her.

    Still¡­

    [It seems like Paige Avery is the type of person you wouldn''t want as an enemy.]

    "Neoma de Moonasterio is surrounded by amazing people, huh?" she said, acknowledging the fact that the little princess had a good eye for people and talent. "What made you serve Princess Neoma?"

    "Ah, I apologize, but I cannot answer mydy''s question," Paige Avery said, and she sounded sincere with her apology. "To be honest, I haven''t officially epted Princess Neoma''s offer to be her mage yet. I''m sure she''d ask me why I epted her offer despite my initial hesitation. Therefore, I want her to be the first person to hear my reason."

    "I see," she said, then she changed the topic to respect Paige Avery''s wish. "What happened here? I sensed something evil disrupting Neoma de Moonasterio''s soul. But it disappeared."

    "It was a Dark Elf eating at Princess Neoma''s soul," the young mage exined to her. "To be precise, he was eating Princess Neoma''s negative emotions. I believe he''s trying to copy Her Royal Highness''s abilities by consuming her negative emotions that have turned into Darkness."

    "Neoma de Moonasterio''s negative emotions have turned into Darkness attribute?"

    "I can''t be certain yet, but I experienced it first-hand," Paige Avery said. "You look shocked, mydy. Is my hypothesis that hard to believe?"

    "No, I''m not shocked because of that," she said while shaking her head. "I''m shocked because something like that shouldn''t have happened again. When the gods with the Light attribute defeated the Absolute Darkness during the Ancient Period, they also created a powerful spell to protect the human race. That spell prevented the humans'' negative emotions from turning into Darkness."

    "Does mydy suppose the spell has been broken?"

    "The Sun Goddess, the Moon God, and the Sky God, with the help of every god with Light attribute, created the spell," she said worriedly. "It''s a spell that''s impossible to break."

    "It wouldn''t hurt to look into it, mydy," the young mage said encouragingly. "I don''t know if it''s still the same, but when I was younger, I heard the Sun Priestess is adored by the Sun Goddess. If it''s mydy, I''m sure you can ask the Sun Goddess for guidance."

    She couldn''t help butugh again because of amusement. "Paige Avery, you talk smooth. I can''t believe you''re bossing me around so gently."

    "A mere mage like me wouldn''t dare boss around mydy," the young mage said "meekly" even though it was obviously an act. "If I crossed the line, then I apologize."

    "You don''t look sorry, though."

    Paige Avery acted like she was on the verge of crying. "Is this enough, mydy?"

    "You''re really amusing, Paige Avery," she said whileughing. "From now on, we need to work together. But I don''t mesh well with Neoma de Moonasterio. I''d like it if you be her representative when it''s time for us to cooperate with each other."

    The young mage smiled apologetically at her. "I''m afraid that''s for Princess Neoma to decide, mydy."

    "I will help you strengthen the protection of Neoma de Moonasterio''s soul," Sienna said while smiling. She really liked Paige Avery. It was a shame the mage decided to work for the little princess and not her. "Consider this as me sucking up to you, Paige Avery."

    Paige Averyughed softly. "I will graciously ept mydy''s help."

    <strong>***</strong>

    GREKO smiled when he saw Princess Neoma.

    Paige noona told him to heal the princess''s external wound. But when he followed the cause of why Princess Neoma was crying blood, he was led to the part of her consciousness where the princess was currently trapped.

    [Eomma''s soul is amazing.]

    It was like an extra dimension.

    Right now, he was in a beautiful garden. Princess Neoma was sitting under the shade of an immense tree. His eomma was looking up at the sky where a fragment of memory was being yed.

    [Why is eomma a grown-up in that memory?] Greko asked himself while watching the same scene y again and again. The scene in question was the moment Princess Neoma woke up, and five people greeted her. [I recognize some of them.]

    Aside from Princess Neoma, the first adult that he recognized was the one with silver hair and golden eyes.

    [That''s Lewis hyung.]

    There was also a young man who looked like Princess Neoma''s male version.

    [Is he eomma''s twin brother?]

    He also recognized Trevor, the demon who imed to be his "father."

    [But unfortunately, I don''t recognize the otherdy and the man wearing a knight''s uniform¡­]

    "Thedy with ck hair and green eyes is my cousin, Hanna Quinzel."

    Greko turned to Princess Neoma who was looking at him with a sad smile on her face. His heart hurt for his "mother." "Eomma¡­"

    Princess Neoma patted the space next to her. "Come here, Greko."

    He smiled and nodded, then he sat beside the princess. "Eomma, is that the memory that''s making you cry blood?"

    "I suppose so," she said casually. "It''s the only fragment of memory I retrieved using Lord Redgrave''s eye." The princess pointed to the man in a knight''s uniform. "That''s my Ruto. He''s a royal chef who dumped¨C I mean, who left to study abroad. I''ll introduce him to you once he returns to the pce."

    "Okay, eomma," he said, then he knitted his eyebrows. "But why are you an adult in your past memory, eomma?"

    The princess looked up at the sky while thinking, then she turned to him and patted his head. "I guess it''s time for you and your siblings to know the truth. You''ll be working closely with me from now on, so you need to know my circumstances. It will be too much for Lewis if he''s the only one who knows."

    He just looked at the princess because he didn''t really understand what''s she was saying.

    "I should call everyone here," Princess Neoma said, then she stood up and turned to him. "Greko, my eyes hurt. Could you heal it for me first?"

    Greko smiled and nodded. "Of course, Princess Neoma."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NIKOLAI beamed when Neoma finally stopped crying blood.

    But at the same time, Greko suddenly fell to the floor, unconscious. And Lewis, who was just standing fine a while ago, fell to his knees as well.

    "Lewis," Niki called the fox boy firmly. "What''s happening to you?"

    "Princess Neoma¡­" Lewis said, then his body copsed to the floor. "Calling¡­"

    And the fox boy lost consciousness.

    "I guess they''ve been summoned by Princess Neoma," Center said casually, then he pointed to Paige Avery. "That one was also summoned."

    "The little princess probably summoned her people," North, the ck Tortoise, said. "It''s amazing how Princess Neoma could use her Moonglow when no one taught her properly how to do it." He turned to Niki. "Perhaps, it''s natural for the de Moonasterios to use their Moonglow anyway they want."

    "Neoma could use her abilities unorthodoxly," Niki said, then he turned to his daughter worriedly. "But I wonder what caused her to summon her people."

    <strong>***</strong>

    TREVOR, who was pulling the unconscious William by the leg while dragging him to the exit of the Spirit World, suddenly stopped.

    "Did you feel it, too?"

    "Yes, I did," Trevor said, then he turned to Prince Nero who helped himnd a surprise attack on William earlier. "Princess Neoma is calling for us." He pointed to William with his lips. "What should we do to William, though? Princess Neoma asked me to drag him to her."

    "Forget about William for now," Prince Nero said casually. "We can''t ignore Neoma''s call. She''s not the type to do this on a whim."

    "You''re right, Prince Nero," Trevor agreed, then he dropped William''s leg. "Let''s go to Princess Neoma¨C I''ll cover our tracks."

    <strong>***</strong>

    RUFUS Quinzel caught Hanna before his daughter fell to the floor. "Sweetheart, what''s happening?" he asked worriedly while checking Hanna for injuries. "Are you hurt somewhere?"

    "Father, Neoma¡­" Hanna said weakly, then she slowly closed her eyes. "Neoma is calling me¡­"

    <strong>***</strong>

    JEANNE Audley was surprised when all of a sudden, Xion, Juri Wisteria, and Jeno Dankworth copsed to the floor at the same time.

    Juri and Jeno went to the prison cell with her to check on Xion.

    But the three children suddenly fell to the ground.

    "Dion, what should we do?" Jeanne asked, then she turned to Dion Skelton who was standing beside her. "We should report this to¡­"

    She trailed off when she saw Dion covering his eyes with his hand.

    But even though Dion''s hand was covering his eyes, he couldn''t hide the fact that his eyes were glowing at the moment.

    [His real eyes¡­?]

    "The children are fine," Dion said in a pained voice. "Their souls are sucked in by Princess Neoma''s Moonglow¨C they''ve been summoned by Her Royal Highness."

    She finally understood what was happening to him.

    "Ah, I see," Jeanne Audley said. "I was wondering what triggered your real eyes to activate on their own¨C it must be the Moonglow."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA smiled as she weed Nero, Lewis, Trevor, and Hanna to the part of her soul that looked like the Han River.

    She realized she could change the "setting" to anything she could imagine. So, she visualized the Han River that she missed so much. She wanted to show it to her friends. Thus, she chose that ce to meet them.

    [Anyway¡­ I''m going to talk to them first before I introduce them to my other "children."]

    Greko was waiting for his "siblings" in another ce.

    She would summon the "kids"ter after her talk with Nero, Lewis, Trevor, and Hanna.

    "Neoma," Hanna said as she walked towards her. "I missed you!"

    Neoma smiled and hugged Hanna. "I missed you, too, Hanna."

    Hanna squeezed her before she pulled away with a worried look on her face. "What happened? You wouldn''t summon us here without a reason."

    "Hanna is right," Nero said, then she held her hand and pulled her away from their cousin. "Neoma, what''s going on?"

    Lewis also approached her, and remained by her side with a worried look on his face.

    "It''s safe to talk here, Princess Neoma," Trevor said while stretching his arms. "I covered us with my Darkness attribute. I was worried that my power wouldn''t be enough to conceal us since we''re seriously powerful when gathered together like this. But thankfully¡­" He turned to Hanna. "Our future Crown Princess is helping me cover our tracks with her shadows."

    Hanna smiled proudly. "I''ve been practicing hard to improve my Shadow Maniption Technique."

    "I''m d everyone is doing well," Neoma said while smiling at them. "But before I give my speech, can we wait a bit?"

    "Who?" Lewis asked while tilting his head to one side. "Who are you waiting for, Princess Neoma?"

    Nero, Hanna, and Trevor also looked serious.

    [Gosh, this is making me blush.]

    "Ruto," Neoma said shyly, hoping her friends didn''t notice her cheeks rosier than usual. "Let''s wait for Ruto."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "I MANAGED to seal Neoma de Moonasterio''s memories of you before she remembers more things about you," Sienna said, now in her child form, as she sat on Yoan''s bed. "Are you alright?"

    Yoan went out of the bathroom while wiping his now blood-free face with a towel. "Yeah," he said. "My memories are still intact, so I''m guessing the memory Neoma retrieved isn''t directly rted to me."

    "We won''t worry about the little princess''s memories again," she said cheerfully. "She found an amazing Light mage."

    He smiled faintly.

    It was a smile that he rarely showed to anyone, and it annoyed her that Neoma de Moonasterio was the reason behind Yoan''s smile.

    [He doesn''t smile like that at me.]

    "Neoma probably "adopted" the Light mage," Yoan said while chuckling. "How cute."

    She just pouted at his reaction. Then she noticed the soft Moonglow that surrounded him. "Oh, your princess is summoning you, Yoan."

    "I know," Yoan said, then he looked at her coldly. "And stop calling me by that name."

    "Don''t go," Sienna said seriously, ignoring hisint. "Don''t go to her, Yoan."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 357 - MY PEOPLE

    <strong></strong>"NEOMA, I think we''ve waited enough."

    [Tsk.]

    Neoma wanted to wait longer, but Nero''s stern voice made her shut her mouth.

    "And think about Hanna," Nero added, sounding very displeased. "She said she fainted in front of Duke Quinzel. Don''t you think the duke would grow more worried the longer Hanna remains unconscious?"

    "Ah, it''s fine," Hanna said while waving her hands as if saying she didn''t need to worry about it. "I managed to tell my father you were summoning me before I fainted, Neoma."

    "It''s not okay, future Crown Princess," Trevor said bluntly, but it was obvious she wasn''t taking Hanna''s side. This damned demon just didn''t want to wait for Ruto. "I know it''s also hard for you to cover our tracks using your shadow."

    Hanna turned to Trevor with a cold smile on her face. "It''s not hard for me. If it''s too hard for the great Devil''s Grimoire to keep up with me, then I suppose I should just do it on my own."

    Trevor turned to Hanna with a pissed look on his face. "Excuse me?"

    "Don''t fight," Lewis said, then he stood behind Trevor and kicked the demon behind his leg¨C causing Trevor to fall to his knees while cursing Lewis. "Don''tsh out at Lady Hanna just because you''re weak."

    Neoma was surprised to hear Lewis address Hanna by her first name instead of ''Young Lady Quinzel.'' [When did they be close?]

    Hanna, who seemed satisfied by what Lewis did to Trevor, smiled at the fox boy. "Thank you, Lewis."

    [But it''s nice to see Lewis getting along well with other people.]

    She was proud of her "son" for expanding his world.

    "Everyone, calm down," Nero said in amanding voice that made everyone freeze and shut their mouths.

    [Yep, that''s our little Papa Boss there.]

    Nero really had the presence to make everyone obey him with just a few words¨C even someone like Trevor who was a menace to society listened to her twin brother.

    "Neoma, we can''t wait any longer," Nero said firmly while looking at her with cold eyes. "You didn''t gather us here just to wait for someone who''s obviously noting, right?"

    [Gosh, so brutal.]

    "I didn''t ask you to wait for Ruto just because I wanted to see him," Neoma said defensively. [Gosh, do they really think I''m that desperate to see Ruto¨C]

    "Really?" Nero, Hanna, Lewis, and Trevor asked as if they couldn''t believe she didn''t make them wait for Ruto just because she wanted to see him.

    She clenched her shaking hands.

    [So, they''re really thinking I made them wait just because I wanted to see Ruto?!]

    These brats¡­

    "Anyway, let''s talk," Neoma said, then she sat on the grass in a lotus position. "Everyone, gather around and form a circle."

    Nero sat on her right side, while Trevor and Lewis fought to take the space on her left side. But while Trevor and Lewis fought, Hanna sat on her other side. It surprised her a little, because she thought Hanna would sit beside Nero.

    [But my twin brother looks like he doesn''t care¡­]

    Anyway, in the end, Lewis sat beside Hanna while Trevor sat beside Nero. Since they were forming a circle, Lewis and Trevor still ended up sitting together¨C and the two obviously hated it.

    [Hehe. They''re so cute.]

    As soon as everyone turned to her with a serious look on their faces, she turned serious as well.

    "Ah, first of all, I have something to say to Lewis and Hanna since I don''t think I''ve already told you about it," she said, then she turned to her left side to look at Lewis and Hanna. "Lady Mona Roseheart, our Mama Boss, is still alive. Our mother is trapped in a block of ice under the ck Ocean, but we can still save her."

    Hanna gasped softly, while Lewis''s face lit up.

    This time, she addressed everyone.

    "I met the Moon Priest recently, and he took Tteokbokki with him," she exined. "An adult Fire Dragon''s me could melt the ice where Mama Boss is trapped. The Moon Priest took my Soul Beast with him in order to raise him to be an adult dragon in just three years. I decided to trust him with his promise."

    "Then you don''t have a Soul Beast right now?" Nero asked worriedly. "Will you be alright?"

    "I can fight without my Soul Beast," she assured her twin brother. "I still have Skewer and my natural strength, so I''m not really worried about Tteokbokki''s absence. Although the Moon Priest advised against using my demonic power too much. Apparently, the more I use it, the more I get exposed as a girl because the Moonglow that hides the flower in my heart weakens."

    "Should I return now?" Hanna asked worriedly. "I want to be by your side to protect you, Neoma."

    "Thanks, Hanna, but you mustplete your training first," she told her cousin. "Duke Quinzel told me you''ve begun training with his uncle."

    "But¡­"

    "Don''t worry, Hanna," she said while patting her hand. "Lewis is always with me, anyway."

    Lewis''s face lit up as he nodded eagerly. "I will protect you, Princess Neoma."

    "I know, Lewis. Thanks," she said whileughing softly.

    "Tsk," Trevorined. "If only I wasn''t stuck with a certain sleeping prince¡­"

    "Shut up, drama king," Nero said to Trevor before her twin brother turned to her. "Neoma, why did you ask Trevor to bring William to you when the Moon Priest already took care of your Soul Beast? I thought you needed William for your Soul Beast."

    "Because I need to be stronger than Tteokbokki once hees back," she said seriously. "If Tteokbokkies back stronger than I am, I wouldn''t be able to bully¨C er, tame him. Plus, Mama Boss told Nero I needed William to save her. I don''t think it''s only to locate her."

    "Okay, I understand," Nero said while patting her head. "I will tell William to behave around you, Neoma."

    She didn''t think William would listen to Nero, but she smiled anyway. "Thanks, Brother."

    Nero looked happy that she addressed him as ''brother'' instead of calling him by his name.

    [Well, it''s been a while since I''ve called him that way. Even though I''m mentally older, he''s still my oppa. I should call him ''brother'' often, seeing that it makes him happy.]

    "Aside from the crows, I found out I''m also being hunted by some gods who wanted to turn me into their personal air purifier," she continued with her report. "Some gods believe I could be the next Aether. They''re keeping an eye on me, that''s why I need some Darkness attribute to cover my tracks. Thankfully, we have Hanna and Trevor."

    She could also conceal herself since she had demonic power inside her, which was considered a Darkness attribute as well.

    [But I have to use it less to protect my identity.]

    "It won''t be easy to fight with gods," she said seriously. "So, if you don''t want to get involved with my problem, I''m giving you the chance to leave my side now¨C"

    She trailed off when she realized her friends were giving her a look that said, "are you kidding?"

    "Well, is it safe to assume you''re not leaving me?"

    "Of course," Hanna said, then she held her hand. "We''ll stay with you, Neoma."

    Nero, Lewis, and Trevor nodded in agreement with Hanna.

    "That''s a relief," she said. Of course, she already knew her friends wouldn''t leave her. But it was still nice to hear it from them. "I retrieved a piece of memory from my first life that I don''t remember."

    Now her friends looked curious.

    She turned to Nero. "Brother, it seems like you didn''t kill me back then."

    Nero looked surprised, then relief reced the shocked look on his face. "What did you see, Neoma?"

    "It''s not much, but it seems like I woke up after a long slumber," she said while gazing at the people around her. "Then, I met you and Ruto. The memory ended there."

    "Neoma, did you see me, too?" Hanna asked, confused. "I thought I died early in your first life."

    "That''s what I thought as well, Hanna," she said. "But I''m sure that it''s you. Ruto was also there¨C"

    "Why is he with us?" Nero, Lewis, and Trevor asked at the same time.

    She almost let out a hup out of surprise.

    [Ruto, why are you hated by these boys?]

    "I don''t know, and it even confuses me that I didn''t know he was themander of the White Lion Knights in my first life," she said, frustrated. "If he was themander then, I should have remembered him."

    "That damned chef is really suspicious," Trevor said while shaking his head.

    Lewis, on the other hand, nodded his head in agreement with what Trevor said.

    "Neoma, that chef¡­"

    She turned to Nero with a curious look on her face. "What about Ruto?"

    "In the memory that you retrieved, what hair color did he have?"

    "Purple?" she said, then she gasped softly. "Oh. Ruto has ck hair. But themander I met had purple hair."

    "Neoma, to be honest, Ruto turned out to be the person I''m looking for," Nero said. "I was actually looking for a guy with purple hair. In the dream that I had, that purple-haired bastard seemed to have yed a huge role in our first lives."

    "But I don''t remember him¡­"

    "That only proves that you haven''t retrieved all your memories yet," Nero said. "It seems like your memory ended when I stabbed you. But apparently, you survived." His gaze went past her and he looked at Hanna. "You and Hanna lived."

    "The fact that you don''t remember it only means something or someone sealed your memories," Trevor added. "But to be honest, you''re not supposed to remember your previous life in the first ce. You''re really special, Princess Neoma."

    "I''m so special that everyone wants a piece of me¨C literally," she said with a shrug. "The crows want to devour me, and the gods want to use me as their air purifier. As if that wasn''t enough, the Moon God wanted me to be the empress, too."

    Nobody asked her what she wanted to do or be.

    [Well, it''s not like my dream to be ady of leisure is grand.]

    "Speaking of bing the empress¡­" she said, then she turned to Nero. "Brother, I''m sorry, but I think I really need to ascend the throne."

    "I don''t mind," Nero said, then he gently patted her head. "I told you, I''m not interested in the throne."

    "Well, I don''t n to be the empress forever," she said. "So when my job is done, I will give the throne to you, Brother."

    Nero smiled and nodded. "Okay. Like I promise you before, I will give you the leisure life you want, Neoma. In short, I''ll grant you your retirement when the timees."

    Sheughed and gave her twin brother a thumbs up. "I''d love that, Brother."

    Nero smiled and ruffled her hair.

    "It''s unfair," Trevorined while looking at her with a frown. "Princess Neoma, you let Prince Nero touch you freely. But you almost bite me when I invade your personal space."

    "If you''re jealous, then die now and pray to whoever you worship for you to be reborn as Neoma''s brother in your next life," Nero said to Trevor with an arrogant smirk.

    She cleared her throat before Nero and Trevor got into a fight again.

    "Everyone," she said to get everyone''s attention, and she seeded. "Let''s meet again in person after three years."

    "Three years?" Nero, Hanna, and Trevor asked at the same time.

    Lewis, of course, didn''t have to react, since they would be together in the next three years, anyway.

    "I had a fight with the Sun Priestess earlier, and I lost," she dered in a serious voice. "If I can''t beat the representative of the Sun Goddess, then there''s no way I''m good enough to beat the crows with the same blood as me. Obviously, I don''t stand a chance if I fight a major god now." She pointed to everyone around her with her hands. "We are not yet ready to fight our enemies head-on."

    "So, we''re going to train for the next three years?" Trevor asked. "Is that why you summoned us here, Princess Neoma?"

    "Well, training is already a given," she said. "I summoned you here to give each one of you an assignment." She raised her index finger. "The crows." Then she raised her middle finger next to her index finger. "The gods who want to turn me into an air purifier." Finally, she raised her ring finger. "And the nobles who want to bring me down because of my Roseheart blood."

    "Our top enemies?" Nero, Hanna, Trevor, and Lewis asked at the same time.

    [They have a good rapport.]

    "Yes, we need to get rid of them for the next three years," she said seriously. Then she turned to Hanna. "Hanna, while you''re training to master the Quinzels'' Shadow Maniption Technique, can you dig more information about the Darkness attribute that could cover the eyes of gods?

    "Of course," Hanna said while nodding seriously. "I will be the best master of the Shadow Maniption Technique."

    "I trust you, Hanna," she said, then she held and squeezed Hanna''s hand before turning to Lewis. "Lewis, I entrust the training of your siblings to you. You''ll be themander of my Order."

    Lewis looked pleasantly surprised by her announcement.

    Nero and Trevor frowned, but they didn''t disagree with her decision. The two might fight with Lewis all the time, but Nero and Trevor also knew that Lewis deserved that position.

    "Congrattions, Lewis," Hanna said cheerfully while pping her hands. "You totally deserve it."

    "Thank you, Lady Hanna," Lewis said shyly, then he turned to her with a determined look on his face. "I won''t let you down, Princess Neoma."

    "I know you won''t. I trust you, Lewis," she said with a smile, then she turned to her twin brother. "Nero, I want the Spirit World."

    Nero didn''t even blink when he smiled and nodded. "I will give it to you soon, Neoma."

    "Thank you, Big Brother," she said, acting cute as a fan service to her twin brother. "To be precise, I''m interested in the Cosmic Tree."

    "Okay," Nero said while ruffling her hair again. "I''ll get all the pieces of information I could get about the Cosmic Tree, then send them to you as soon as I can."

    She smiled at her twin brother, then she turned to Trevor. "And for you¡­"

    "What is it, Princess Neoma?" Trevor asked excitedly. "I''m willing to do anything and everything for you."

    "Then find out everything you can find out about the ''Four Pirs,''" she said seriously. "I''ve heard about the Four Pirs from Lisica, the Silver Fox Queen I met before. She told me the Four Pirs in the past helped Princess Aruna de Moonasterio start a rebellion."

    "The Bloody Moon Hunt," Trevor said while nodding his head. "That rebellion failed, and they killed everyone who assisted Princess Aruna with her rebellion. That probably included the Four Pirs."

    "The Ruto that I saw in the memory I retrieved called you my Four Pirs."

    Trevor, Nero, Lewis, and Hanna all looked confused but interested in what she said.

    "I want to know what it means to be a pir, and if Princess Aruna''s rebellion is simr to what we''re doing right now. You know what they say about history, right?" Neoma said, then she smiled at her friends. "They say history often repeats itself."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA couldn''t help butugh when she saw her "children."

    Greko, Paige Avery, Jeno Dankworth, and Juri Wisteria were all there.

    Of course, Xion was also there because she summoned the assassin.

    And that was the thing she wasughing at.

    Xion was the only one tied up with some vines while seated on the ground, sulking.

    "We still don''t trust this assassin, Princess Neoma," Juri Wisteria exined while scratching her cheek. "We just wanted to make sure he couldn''t do anything funny."

    "This is abuse," Xionined while ring at Juri. "Even criminals have rights¨C mmf!"

    The assassin was forced to shut his mouth when Jeno Dankworth snapped his fingers, and balls of small clouds gagged Xion.

    [How savage.]

    "P-Please don''t fight," Greko said worriedly. "L-Let''s get along well."

    "Don''t worry, little Greko," Paige Avery said gently. "Your siblings are just ying."

    [Ohh, Paige Avery is a good babysitter.]

    Neoma pped her hands to get everyone''s attention.

    Her children were standing in front of her, while her Four Pirs were standing behind her. She could tell that the two groups were curious about each other.

    "Juri Wisteria, Jeno Dankworth, Paige Avery, Xion, and my baby Greko," Neoma said, then she gestured to the people behind her with her hands. "When I''m out ofmission, these are the people you should follow after me."

    She gently pulled Nero (who had his usual cold look on his face) by her side.

    "I know you can already tell who this is," she said cheerfully. "This is my twin brother, the real Crown Prince¨C Nero de Moonasterio."

    Juri, Jeno, Paige, Xion, and Greko all bowed and said their greetings. "We greet the Lesser Moon of the Great Moonasterion Empire."

    "Lift your heads," Nero said in his usualmanding voice. Then he stared at the faces of her children with cold eyes. "I remember your faces now. If something bad happens to Neoma, you''re the first people I''ll hunt down."

    Her "children" flinched, and they obviously realized Nero wasn''t joking.

    "Ignore my brother¨C he could be overprotective sometimes," she said, then she quickly changed the topic. She pointed her hands politely to Hanna. "This is Hanna Quinzel, the Quinzel Princess. She''s our cousin, and the potential Crown Princess in the future."

    The group greeted Hanna politely, but she could tell that Juri and Jeno were confused.

    "The news about the Quinzel Princess falling into aatose state after getting disfigured by the bombing incident was a lie," Hanna said gently. "I am well, but my real condition is a secret. Since Neoma trusts you, I will assume you''d keep my secret as well."

    Hanna was smiling, but her eyes looked intimidating.

    No wonder Juri, Jeno, Xion, Greko, and Paige nodded and promised to keep her secret without any more questions.

    [Huh? When did my sweet, innocent Hanna go? Is my terrible personality rubbing off on her?]

    "Anyway, you already know Trevor and Lewis," she said to Juri, Jeno, Xion, and Greko. Then she turned to Paige Avery who hadn''t met Trevor yet. "Lady Avery, Trevor is a demon I trust. You can also trust him¡­ maybe."

    "Princess Neoma, you''re hurting my feelings," Trevorined. "I''m a trust-worthy person, you know?"

    Of course, she just ignored Trevor''s whining.

    "Juri, Jeno, Greko, Xion, Paige," Neoma said, addressing her children casually. "I will tell you everything you need to know about me¨C me and the previous lives I lived."

    <strong>***</strong>

    [SHE still trusts people too much.]

    Ruto was there.

    He didn''t show up, and only listened to Neoma as she talked to her people. It took a while, but they finally left after having a long conversation. He was d that it was finally over because it wasn''t safe to gather powerful children in one ce¨C even while being covered by Trevor and Lady Hanna Quinzel''s Darkness attribute.

    [I should leave, too.]

    "Where do you think you''re going?"

    He froze, before he slowly turned around to meet the owner of the soul he secretly intruded.

    "Are you running away?" Neoma asked, then she crossed her arms over her chest. "Commander Yoan Stroganoff?"

    Ruto let out a sigh whilebing his fingers through his hair. "Please don''t call me by that name, Neoma."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 358 - COMMANDER YOANS CONFESSION (1)

    <strong></strong>"NEOMA."

    Neoma smiled when Nero approached her after everyone left. "Yes, Brother?"

    Nero said nothing. He just held her hand, then pulled her for a hug. "I''m d," he said as he wrapped his arms around her. "I''m d there''s a possibility you didn''t die by my hands in your first life."

    Ah, so this was why Nero kicked everyone out and stayed behind.

    "Why didn''t you tell me, Brother?" she asked, then she hugged Nero back. "Why didn''t you tell me you have memories of your first life, too?"

    "I don''t remember my past memories like you do," he confessed. "I just had a long dream, and the things I saw weren''t as detailed as your memories. It was as if someone just wanted to leave me some clues. Moreover, it happened when we were younger. I thought it was just a dream until things made sense recently."

    "I see," she said while patting his back. "Is that why you were nice to me since we were babies? You were just guilty for treating me badly in our past lives?"

    Nero pulled away from their hug, then he held her shoulders. "I genuinely like my lovely twin sister, who''s good to me," he said seriously. "How about you, Neoma? You have the memories of your past life ever since we were babies."

    "To be honest, I only remembered my past life when we were three years old."

    "Same difference," he said casually. "We were estranged in our past lives. But you acted nice to me, even though you know I killed you in your past life." He bit his lower lip before he spoke again. "Neoma, were you just sucking up to me all this time to prevent history from repeating itself?"

    Ouch.

    Her twin brother hit the bull''s eye.

    "That was my initial n, Nero," she confessed because there was no use lying now. "I wanted you to love me to death, so you couldn''t kill me in the end."

    "That was a weak n," he said disapprovingly. "If I were you, I would have killed the person who killed me as soon as I regressed."

    She couldn''t say she was surprised by what Nero said.

    [I mean, that''s sooo on his brand.]

    And Nero''s "brand" was "bad and crazy."

    "You were so cute when we were babies, Nero," she confessed. "I didn''t have the heart to kill you then. Plus, I never really hated you."

    "Why?"

    "Because I experienced having a loving family back in my second life."

    Yes, she also told Nero the story about her second life¨C even her connection with Gavin Quinzel, her appa.

    "I just wanted to live azy life when I regressed as Neoma de Moonasterio," she said. "I thought it was more important than getting my revenge. I guess I was just thankful that I died in my first life because if I didn''t, I wouldn''t be reborn in the modern world with loving parents. So, when I regressed here, all my ill-feelings toward you were already gone."

    "Then are your feelings for me genuine now, Neoma?"

    "They''ve always been genuine, Nero," she said with a softugh. "I genuinely like my crazy, yet loving twin brother."

    Nero smiled, satisfied by her answer. "I''m d you''re kind-hearted, Neoma."

    "I know, right?" she agreed. "If I killed you right away, I would have regretted it after I found out you might not be responsible for my death in my first life."

    He smiled and gently caressed her face. "I will be a proper brother this time, Neoma."

    "You already are, Nero," she said while smiling. "Let''s save our family together."

    He nodded, then he turned serious. "Neoma, I understand why you care about Gavin Quinzel. But after hearing your story about your encounter with the Sun Priestess, I don''t think it would be wise to save your "appa" right now. Can''t we focus on our Mother for now?"

    It was a rightful request from her twin brother.

    [Everyone around me has been hurt by appa. I can''t me them for seeing him as a viin. I should set my personal feelings aside.]

    "I understand, Nero," she said, then she smiled and patted his head. "Hurry and get well soon."

    He smiled and nodded. "I wille back in three years'' time, Neoma."

    "I''ll wait for you."

    He was about to say something, but he seemed to be distracted when his "body" turned translucent. "Ah, the Spirit World is calling me back."

    "Alright," she said, then she waved her hand. "See youter, Nero."

    "You should return, too," Nero said worriedly. "Father must be worried about you by now."

    "I will," Neoma said, then she looked up at the fake sky above them when she felt a familiar presence. "I''ll just have to greet a fashionablyte guest first."

    <strong>***</strong>

    IT WAS really Ruto.

    Neoma already suspected that herte visitor was Ruto. Still, it was nice to see him. Well, it was just him in his Spirit form.

    [Still, I''m d to see him.]

    It hurt her heart to see the huge burn scar on Ruto''s face. But no matter how selfish it sounded, she had to admit that her heart was happy. It was like proof of how special she must be for Ruto.

    [I might be my vanity talking, but whatever.]

    Ruto let out a sigh whilebing his fingers through his hair. "Please don''t call me by that name, Neoma."

    Neoma raised an eyebrow at him. "The Sun Priestess can call you ''Yoan,'' but I can''t?"

    He looked surprised by her question.

    [Gosh, why do I sound jealous?]

    "She didn''t tell me anything," she said, acting cool this time. Then she sat on the railing of the bridge where they were currently at. It was a replica of the Hangang Bridge in Korea. "But I remember the Sun Priestess mentioning the name ''Yoan.'' It seemed to trigger something in my memory." She turned to him and smiled. "Then I remember you as Commander Yoan Stroganoff."

    Ruto sat beside her, but he left a decent space between them. "Did you fight Sienna?"

    "Is that the Sun Priestess''s name?"

    "Ah, yes."

    "I lost to Lady Sienna," she said, then she stared at the Han River in front of them. Wow, the sun was already setting. She didn''t know she could change the "setting" that way. Was it because she didn''t want to see the sun at the moment? "She has the same ability as you."

    "Huh? Did Sienna strike you with thunderbolts?"

    "That wanna-be P*kachudy used thunderbolt on me, and it''s very effective," she said, then she looked at her arms. "I had "sunburn" all over my skin. Thank goodness the Moon Priest was there to heal me."

    "I''m so sorry about that, Neoma."

    She clicked her tongue, annoyed. "Why are you apologizing on her behalf?"

    "I¡­"

    She turned to him with a sharp look on her face. "You what?"

    "I serve the Sun Goddess, Neoma."

    "So what?" she asked, confusing Ruto. "I don''t care about the god you serve. I''m asking why you''re apologizing on behalf of the Sun Priestess. What''s your rtionship with Lady Sienna?"

    "We were raised together like siblings since we both serve the Sun Goddess," he said, still confused by her reaction earlier. "Sienna has always been a troublemaker, so I''m used to cleaning up after her mess and apologizing on her behalf."

    "Okay," she said, relieved to hear his exnation. "Did she also cause trouble for you in your previous life?"

    "She did, since she was a piece of work even then¡­" he trailed off, then he looked at her with a shocked look on his face. "Oh."

    "I knew it," she said. "You also remember your first life."

    "Neoma¨C"

    "I only have one clear memory of Commander Yoan," she said, cutting him off on purpose. "I remember waking up and seeing you with Nero, Lewis, Hanna, and Trevor. You called them my Four Pirs."

    "Did you conclude I remember my first life based on that?"

    "The way Commander Yoan looked at Neoma Quinzel is the same way Ruto Stroganoff looks at Neoma Ramsay."

    His face turned red, then he avoided her gaze. "Don''t ask questions," he said. "I''m not allowed to speak about my past life with you. Humans aren''t supposed to remember their first lives, but the gods made an exception this time. But there are strict rules I must follow."

    She already expected that much.

    [Lord Manu said Lord Yule and the Cosmic Tree were punished for speaking about things that should have been forbidden to talk about.]

    "Are you on my side, Ruto?"

    "Of course," he said without missing a heartbeat. "Not only me. The Sun Goddess is also on your side, Neoma. She''s working hard now that Lord Yule was forced into a deep slumber."

    "Is it okay to talk about that?"

    "That''s as much as I could tell you."

    "Why is it forbidden for you to talk about your past life with me?"

    "It will trigger your memories."

    "Am I not supposed to remember them, Ruto?"

    "Not now," he said. "You''ll eventually remember everything. But if you force it now, I will lose all the memories of my past life. If that happens, I can no longer help you." He turned to her with pleading eyes. "So, if you can help it, please don''t force yourself to remember everything. Let me help you this time, Neoma."

    "This time?" she asked. "Did you not help me before?"

    His head drooped as if he was embarrassed. "I failed," he said. "I failed to protect you, and the Four Pirs. We lost against Darkness."

    "I figured that much," she said with a shrug. Although it sucked that they lost to the enemies in the past, it was something she couldn''t change anymore. She didn''t want to waste her energy on something like regret. "That means I also failed to protect you then, Ruto."

    He turned to her with a confused look on his face. "But you''re not obligated to protect me. It should be the other way around."

    "I refuse to ept that," she said stubbornly. "You''re one of my people, Ruto."

    He said nothing, but his face beamed.

    She pointed to the burn mark on his face. "That would be the first andst injury you''d receive from protecting me."

    "Are you still bothered by this burn mark?"

    "Of course."

    "Why do you care so much about my face when you don''t find me handsome, anyway?"

    She almost choked on her saliva. "I like your face, though? You look nice and neat."

    "But not as handsome as the members of your harem, right?"

    Her eyes opened wide. "I don''t have a harem, though?"

    "Nero de Moonasterio, Lewis Crevan, Trevor Kesser, Jasper Hawthorne¨C"

    "I like your face the most!" she screamed while covering her ears with her hands. To be honest, she was yelling because she suddenly felt hot. She hoped she wasn''t blushing, but that might be wishful thinking. "And you look good in purple hair."

    "Really?"

    She turned to Ruto and was about to ask him to stop teasing her. But she forgot what she was about to say when he suddenly changed his appearance.

    [Wow¡­]

    Ruto changed to his adult form. He still had the burn mark on his face. But this time, his hair had turned purple. Even his eyes changed from ck to deep violet.

    And he was wearing the same knight''s uniform that she saw him wear in her dream.

    [What about me?]

    Just when she was about toin, she felt her limbs and hair grow longer. In just a few moments, she already transformed into her adult form as well.

    "This is how I look when I was Commander Yoan Stroganoff," Ruto said, then he smiled awkwardly. "Themander that you met in your past life was a failure, so I tried to change my identity when I regressed."

    When he put his hand on his chest, his knight''s uniform changed into a ck chef''s uniform.

    "I''m Ruto now," he said softly. "Can I stay being your Ruto, Neoma?"

    It was a romantic moment, but¡­

    "My Ruto, my ass," she said, annoyed. "You sent me a letter saying you will not contact me again."

    The confusion on his face made her realize something.

    "As expected, you weren''t the one who wrote and sent that letter to me," she said while shaking her head. "Could it be Lady Sienna?"

    He let out a sigh, then he nodded. "She could imitate my handwriting perfectly."

    She frowned. "Why weren''t you able to stop her, then?"

    "I was probably deep asleep when she sent you that letter."

    "Why were you asleep?" she asked, confused. "You couldn''t be sleeping normally, right? So, what happened?"

    "Uh, I drained my energy," Ruto said, then he avoided her gaze. "It happened after I trapped Gavin Quinzel in that block of ice."

    To say that she was shocked would be an understatement. "Excuse me?"

    "I''m also the one responsible for Regina Crowell''s disappearance," he said while scratching his cheek, still refusing to look at her in the eye. "I tried to kill her, but that little crow escaped."

    "Ruto."

    "Uhm, yeah?"

    "What else do I need to know?"

    "Hmm¡­" he said, then he stared at the Han River as if he was lost in thoughts. "Should I tell you?"

    "Tell me before I drown you in the Han River, Ruto."

    Her heart was beating fast and hard against her chest. Of course, there was a storm in her head.

    Ruto was the one who made Regina Crowell disappear?

    And Ruto was also the one who trapped her appa in that block of ice?

    Weirdly enough, she couldn''t be mad. It was as if she already knew that Ruto wouldn''t do any of that behind her back without her permission. She trusted him that much, and she btedly realized a fearsome truth.

    [Ruto has so much power over me.]

    "Neoma."

    "What?"

    "We were never more than friends," Ruto said while looking at her with a solemn look on his face. "The man you loved in your first life wasn''t me."

    Neoma closed her eyes, suddenly feeling an impending doom. "Please, please, please tell me it wasn''t Rubin Drayton."

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 359 - COMMANDER YOANS CONFESSION (2)

    <strong></strong>"DO YOU really want me to answer that question, Neoma?"

    Did Neoma really want to know if her previous self still chose to love Rubin Drayton in the end?

    Heck no.

    She thought she would be tempted to know the answer, but she was wrong. To her surprise, her heart and mind agreed that she didn''t need to know about her past self''s love affair.

    "No, don''t answer my question," Neoma told Ruto firmly. "Who "Neoma Quinzel" loved in the past has nothing to do with me."

    Ruto tilted his head to one side as if he was waiting for an exnation because he didn''t get what she just said.

    "Neoma Quinzel was a sad person," she said in a gentle voice. "Even if she ended up loving Rubin Drayton, the bastard who hurt her, I couldn''t me her. Neoma Quinzel was deprived of love, and Rubin Drayton was the first person who paid attention to her, except for Duke Quinzel. Of course, she''d get attached to him. That''s how it is for victims of domestic abuse."

    "But "Neoma Quinzel" knew that Rubin Drayton was insincere with her from the start."

    "That''s why first love is scary, Ruto," she said whileughing softly. "To be honest with you, when I met Rubin Drayton for the first time after I regressed, my heart almost wavered. I don''t want to say this, but his face is really the best¨C"

    She stopped herself from gushing about Rubin Drayton''s handsome face when she noticed Ruto was already frowning.

    "Anyway, Rubin Drayton is my first love," she said defensively. "I will respect Neoma Quinzel''s feelings. I won''t call her stupid for falling for the same man who hurt and almost killed her. It''s pathetic, but that''s the power of first love."

    "Then what could beat first love?"

    "Last love?"

    Heughed softly. "The candidates to be yourst love should work hard. Rubin Drayton is dangerous because his face is totally your type."

    She justughed it off because she could tell Ruto was just joking.

    Of course, she wouldn''t deny that she was a sucker for good-looking people. But if that was all it took for her heart to waver, then she would have fallen in love with Rubin Drayton again. After all, even after her regression, Rubin Drayton was still the most handsome person in her eye after Papa Boss and Nero.

    She was speaking objectively, of course.

    "I don''t like Neoma Quinzel''s love life, so let''s not talk about it," she said, then she turned to Ruto again. "Why did you do that to my appa? I''m talking about Gavin Quinzel."

    "Because he''s annoying."

    "What?"

    "Gavin Quinzel is annoying," he said firmly this time. "I had to trap him in a block of ice to get him out of my way."

    "Ruto, you''re making me upset."

    "That doesn''t change the fact that Gavin Quinzel is a hindrance," he said unapologetically. "His aim was to bring you back to Korea."

    Her eyes widened in shock.

    She remembered her appa told her about going back to Korea. Apparently, her and her appa''s physical bodies were currently on aatose state.

    "Ruto, you also know about that?"

    "I told you¨C I serve the Sun Goddess," he said. "She orders me around. But of course, I don''t follow her blindly. I always demand a detailed exnation before I move. That''s how I squeeze information from her and Sienna."

    "Tsk," she said, clicking her tongue again. "I don''t like it when you mention the Sun Priestess''s name so familiar."

    "I don''t like it when you gush about Rubin Drayton''s handsome face."

    Her conscience pricked her.

    "Touch¨¦."

    He smiled as if he was satisfied that she admitted that. "Knowledge is power, ignorance is bliss. Choose one, Neoma."

    She raised her hands and clenched them tightly. "Knowledge is power."

    "The real Nabi''s soul is still "alive.""

    She almost choked on her saliva again. "Nabi? The real child of Go Areum, my eomma?"

    "Correct."

    "And how did you know that, Ruto?"

    "Do you remember how old you were when you retrieved the memories of your past life after your regression?"

    She nodded. "Nero and I were three years old then."

    "It was because you were three years old when your soul returned to this world."

    "Then who upied my body while I wasn''t¡­" she trailed off, then she covered her mouth with her hands when she gasped. "Don''t tell me it was Nabi?"

    "Gavin Quinzel didn''t care about you and Lady Mona Roseheart when you and your mother crossed over to the other world," he exined to her. "He just wanted to stop Lady Mona Roseheart from possessing Go Areum''s body. He also didn''t want you to possess Nabi''s body. But it was already toote when he arrived. Since your soul is more powerful than Nabi''s, you easily possessed her and kicked her soul out of her own body."

    She suddenly felt guilty. "Oh."

    "I can''t tell you the details because it was a n orchestrated by the Sun Goddess, but when you took over Nabi''s body, we put Nabi''s soul in your physical body," he exined. "In short, you switched ces. While you were in Korea living your second life, Nabi''s soul was stuck in baby Neoma de Moonasterio''s body."

    She figured that much.

    But her head hurt from calcting, so she just asked Ruto instead.

    "Correct me if I''m wrong, Ruto," she said. "But you''re saying my second life exists at the same time this world does. But I''ve lived in Korea for more than twenty years. And while I''m there for over two decades, only three years have passed in this world?"

    "Time flows differently in two different worlds."

    "Ah, right," she said when she remembered hearing that from someone else before. "The Moon Priest said the same thing when he took Tteokbokki."

    "It''s difficult to find a door that leads to another world, let alone open it," he continued his exnation. "In this world, it took us three years before we found and opened one to bring you back here."

    It was amazing how only three years had passed in this world, but she spent over two decades in Korea back then.

    "What happened to Nabi''s soul after I returned here?"

    "I brought Nabi''s soul to Elen¨C the garden where the Cosmic Tree lives."

    She froze when she realized something.

    To be honest, the situation wasn''t appropriate. But a meme seriously popped up in her head at the moment.

    "I''ve connected the dots, Ruto."

    "Huh?"

    "When I saved my mage unnie who was trapped in the Hisa Tree, I got lost for a moment," she exined. "I was led to a garden that turned out to be where the Cosmic Tree lives. There, I met a soul who looks like me. That was Nabi, wasn''t it?"

    "The possibility is high," he said, then he knitted his eyebrows. "But Neoma, no one could enter Elen by getting lost. If it was that easy to see the Cosmic Tree, then most people or beings would have already met the Cosmic Tree."

    "Tteokbokki said I got lost because I didn''t concentrate enough on our destination."

    "I believe more in fateful encounters than co-incidences."

    She couldn''t help butugh. "Ruto, you sound like a male lead in a romance series."

    He just smiled at her remark. "Neoma?"

    "Yeah?"

    "I''m sorry."

    "Sorry for what?"

    "We promised Nabi that we''ll bring her back to her world once her job is done."

    She froze when she heard that.

    "That''s why I said Gavin Quinzel is a hindrance," he continued. "Gavin Quinzel intends to bring you back to Korea, but that ce belongs to Nabi. I had to trap Gavin Quinzel in that block of ice to stop his n."

    Okay, Ruto didn''t say anything wrong.

    But she was still hurt by the way he said it.

    "Ah, sorry," he said while scratching his cheek. "Did it sound too harsh?"

    "I mean, you''re not wrong," she said, kind of spacing out because of the unfamiliar emotions rising in her chest. "But it sounded like you''re mad at me for taking Nabi''s ce, even though I didn''t wish for it to happen."

    "Oh," he said in a guilty voice. "I didn''t mean to sound like I''m ming you. I''m sorry for hurting your feelings, Neoma."

    "No, I''m just being greedy."

    "Greedy? How?"

    "I know Nabi is a victim like me. In fact, Nabi has it worse," she said, then she avoided his gaze and watched the Han River in front of her. Was it just her or everything looked gloomy all of a sudden? "But I still hated the idea that you care about her more than you care about me. You didn''t even ask me if I wanted to return to Korea."

    She sounded ridiculous.

    To be honest, at first, she wanted to return to Korea with her appa. She wanted to see her eomma again. But after finding out that she took another person''s ce, her heart wavered. She couldn''t even think about her eomma left in Korea because of her guilt.

    Still, when Ruto acted protective of Nabi¡­

    "Gosh, I''m the worst," she said, scolding herself. "I''m being immature."

    "Neoma."

    She forced herself to turn to Ruto because she didn''t want to look like a loser in front of him. "Yeah?"

    "When ites to you, I be the personification of greed."

    Okay, that made her heart flutter.

    "I''m eager to send Nabi back to her world because I wanted you to stay here," Ruto confessed, then he avoided her gaze as if he was guilty. "I knew you''d want to stay in Korea because your life here is difficult. That''s why I made a vow¨C a vow to get rid of your enemies silently, so you could live peacefully here." He let out a deep sigh. "I was supposed to do it silently, but you found out anyway."

    Silently?

    "Ruto, is that why you didn''t tell me you fought Regina Crowell?" she confronted him. "What exactly did you do to her?"

    "I almost killed her," he said casually. "Too bad she escaped."

    "When did it happen?"

    "The night you raided the Death Camp."

    "Oh," she said, surprised. "You went there not because of me, but because you were hunting Regina Crowell?" She bit her lower lip when she felt anxious. "I knew the crows were at the camp. But I didn''t know Regina Crowell was there."

    "You were busy that time."

    She let out a frustrated sigh. "Ruto, you should have told me from the start. Why did you have to keep me from the dark?"

    "At first, I was disappointed."

    "Disappointed in me?"

    "In your decision," he exined, but it still hurt. "I honestly thought you''d prioritize killing Regina Crowell as soon as you gathered enough power."

    "I''ve been toocent."

    "You just wanted to live a quiet life this time," he said softly. "Considering what you went through the first time you lived as Neoma Quinzel, I understand why you didn''t seek revenge right away. But I also understand that as long as you''re a de Moonasterio princess, you will never live in peace."

    She already figured that much.

    "That''s why I came up with the decision to get rid of your enemies in secret," he said. "I''ve been dealing with the crows near you since you were a baby."

    "Huh?"

    "The only one I didn''t touch was Regina Crowell, since I wanted you to kill her with your own hands," he said indifferently, which made him sound like a different person. "But the situation at the camp was dangerous that night. I was worried Regina Crowell would realize you''re the princess they''ve been looking for. And so, I decided to kill her. She escaped, but she received severe injuries from me. I doubt she''d show up soon."

    "How did she escape?" she asked, confused. "I think you''re more powerful than her."

    "I am more powerful than her, but I lost all my power the moment I was about to strike her with a final blow."

    "Huh? How did you suddenly lose all your power?"

    He smiled awkwardly while avoiding her gaze. "You summoned Vetron at that moment."

    She remembered the cute doodle that allowed her to borrow Ruto''s power for a moment. Then she gasped. "You mean to say I didn''t borrow a small portion of your power¨C but the entirety of it?"

    "Entirety of the power I could use that time, to be precise."

    "What a bad timing," she said, kinda ming herself for Regina Crowell''s survival. Still, she couldn''t help but admire the little crow''s luck. "But wow. Regina Crowell is lucky."

    "Regina Crowell isn''t easy to kill because, just like you and me, she''s also loved by a god."

    "Huh?"

    "The crows wouldn''t exist for this long if they''re not supported by at least one powerful god."

    "Oh, that makes sense."

    [Ruto surely knows everything.]

    And yet, he kept her from the dark and acted like he knew nothing all this time.

    "Ruto."

    "Hmm?"

    "I don''t want to sound ungrateful, but I don''t like how you''ve made decisions for me," she said with a frown. "If it concerns me, shouldn''t you discuss things with me first?"

    "I understand why the current you could hate it," he said. "But I can''t let go of the promise I made with you in the past."

    "What promise?"

    She remembered her dream about a certainmander promising her he''d be a chef for her. It was Ruto, right? So, did she make another promise to her in the past?

    [Wait, can I even trust my dreams?]

    "Let''s take a walk," Ruto said, then he offered his hand to her. "Please change the scenery, Neoma."

    Neoma raised an eyebrow, but she allowed him to hold her hand. "Oh, I have a brilliant idea."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "WHY isn''t my daughter waking up yet?"

    That was what Paige Avery heard from the current emperor as soon as she regained consciousness.

    When she turned around, she realized little Greko and Lewis Crevan were already up, too. Princess Neoma remained sleeping, but thankfully, she was lying down on the bed now. Moreover, the princess finally stopped crying blood.

    [Greko did a good job.]

    "Your Majesty," Paige Avery greeted Emperor Niki politely after she stood up and faced him properly. "Princess Neoma hasn''t woken up yet because she''s still entertaining a guest that she has invited. But I assure Your Majesty that Her Royal Highness is out of danger now."

    "Who?" Emperor Niki asked, then he crossed his arms over his chest. "Who did Neoma invite this time?"

    She hugged herself when she shuddered at the memory of the "child" she saw earlier before she left Princess Neoma''s soul.

    The "child" looked like he was in his early teens. He had purple hair, dark violet eyes, and curses double the amount of Princess Neoma''s. That child''s soul was more restricted than Princess Neoma that she wondered how a person with such a soul could function well.

    [A cursed being.]

    But for some reason, Princess Neoma looked friendly with the cursed child.

    ["Shh."]

    The cursed child put a finger on the tip of his nose when their eyes met earlier. It was as if he was warning her not to tell a single soul about the curses that she saw in him.

    [I feel like he''d know if I speak about his curses, then he''de and kill me.]

    She thought she wouldn''t fear anything anymore after the hell she went through while trapped in the Hisa Tree. But she was wrong.

    [That cursed child scares me to the bone.]

    "It was Ruto," Lewis said in an annoyed voice. The young fox was clearly talking to the emperor, but he was staring at Princess Neoma''s sleeping face instead. "I saw him before I left."

    [Oh? Even Lewis knows the cursed child.]

    "If it''s Ruston Stroganoff, then it''s fine," Emperor Niki said, as if he was relieved. "I can entrust my daughter''s safety to the futuremander of the White Lion Knights."

    Huh?

    Paige was confused.

    [Does His Majesty know he''s entrusting Princess Neoma to a boy cursed by the gods?]

    <strong>***</strong>

    IT WAS AN instant regret.

    Neoma couldn''t help but frown while looking at Ruto, who looked so good in the school uniform that she put on him: zer, dress shirt, tie, pants, and ck shoes.

    [It suits him so well.]

    Of course, she also wore her high school uniform: zer, blouse, ribbon, skirt, and ck shoes.

    She changed the "setting" from Han River to the school that she went to back in Korea. It was nostalgic, but she couldn''t focus on her old school because of Ruto. Even though his hair was purple and his eyes were a darker shade of his hair color, he didn''t look out of ce.

    [He looks like a very handsome foreign student.]

    "Is this your old school?" Ruto asked while looking around. "It''s fascinating."

    What fascinating was Ruto just looked at her earlier with a nk look on his face, even though she was pretty sure she looked very cute at the moment.

    [I mean, I was practically the school idol-sh-goddess back in high school.]

    "It appears you have an excellent control of your soul, Neoma," Ruto said, then he finally looked at her face. "I guess it''s natural for you since you''re also a Roseheart. You know, not everyone can turn their soul into a different dimension freely. But it''s not good to use your soul as a meeting ce often because it will leave your physical body defenseless."

    "Ruto."

    "Hmm?"

    "Are you stronger than me?"

    He smiled and tilted his head to one side. "Knowledge is power, or ignorance is bliss?"

    That again?

    "How cheeky," sheined, then she put her hands on her hips. "You serve the Sun Goddess, and I''m a descendant of the Moon God. Although the gods we somewhat follow are good allies, I refuse to follow you blindly, Ruto."

    "I can see why you feel that way, Neoma," he said, but his eyes showed defiance. "But I can''t tell you the details of my n. Can''t you just trust me and allow me to protect you in silence?"

    "That will make my life easier, but it doesn''t sit well with me."

    It was her dream to be ady of leisure, but she still had a conscience.

    She wanted to earn the peaceful life she yearned. It would be ufortable for her to receive it from Ruto. Plus, she didn''t like being kept in the dark.

    [Why would Ruto do anything on his own anyway?]

    "Neoma¡­"

    "I won''t follow anyone who''s weaker than me."

    He gently patted her head. "You should listen to me, if that''s the case."

    "I''ll ask again: are you stronger than I am?"

    "I think so?"

    "I can''t ept that," Neoma dered, then she gently patted Ruto''s hand away from her head. "Ruto, let''s fight now to see who''s stronger."

    "Okay," Ruto said, then he smiled a smile that made her shudder. "But don''t cry if you lose, Neoma."

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 360 - COMMANDER YOANS CONFESSION (3)

    "LET''S MAKE the game simple, Neoma."

    [Simple, he said.]

    "Uh-huh. I think I know what you''re thinking," Neoma said while looking around. "I don''t have Tteokbokki, and I can''t use Skewer because that would require me to use my demonic power. I''m sure you wouldn''t want us to fight with our fists, so I only have one thing left: my Moonglow."

    "Why do you think you only have your Moonglow left?"

    "Huh?"

    Ruto smiled and shook his head. "I''ll tell youter," he said. "But you''re right about using your Moonglow in the game I have in mind."

    "What is it?"

    "Defend this school with your Moonglow."

    "Oh, by using a Dome?" she said while nodding her head. "Then you''re going to attack using Veton?"

    "I don''t have Veton with me right now," he said. "But Veton and I have the same attribute, so I''ll still be using thunderbolt."

    "Are you P*kachu?"

    "Hmm?"

    "Nothing," she said while pouting. "I just don''t like the fact that you and the Sun Priestess use the same attack."

    "I can use my actual power, but I don''t want to hurt you."

    She tilted her head to one side. "Your actual power?"

    "I only developed my electricity attribute because of Veton," he exined, then he ruffled his hair. "I''ll show you my actual power if you act cute in front of me."

    Her hand automatically moved to lightly punch him in the chest. She wasn''t mad. But she was just not used to Ruto behaving that way. After all, it was usually her who did the teasing and not the other way around. "No, my aegyo doesn''te that cheap!"

    He justughed it off before he jumped.

    [Hmm?]

    She was surprised when all of a sudden, several floating steps appeared behind Ruto as he continued jumping in the air backwards until he got smaller and smaller from her point of view.

    [Ah, right.]

    She took a deep breath, then she summoned her Moonglow until it leaked out like water with a sparkling surface on the floor.

    [Tsk, it''s harder than I thought.]

    She was trying to cover the entire school with her Moonglow, and this was the first time she''d cover something of that scale.

    [The school is too wide. But I can''t let the quality of my Dome drop. It has to be as sturdy as the previous Domes I''ve created or else it would break easily. I can''t switch to a Wall since Ruto would attack from above.]

    She took another deep breath.

    [Don''t panic,] she told herself. [All you have to do is pour more Moonglow, Neoma Ramsay. It''s alright since your physical body doesn''t restrain your ability to control your Moonglow in this dimension.]

    That was enough pep talk for her to gain more confidence.

    She summoned a massive amount of Moonglow. Since she was no longer hesitating, the amount of time needed to create a Dome of that size quickened. But just when she was starting to be confident she''d win, she felt an enormous amount of power that made her shudder.

    [What kind of power could feel this¡­ terrifying?]

    When she looked up, she was surprised to see Ruto suspended in the air. And he was holding a small yet blinding ball of light floating above his right hand.

    The feeling of impending doom wasing from that small ball of light.

    But why was she shaking in fear just because of that?

    [Ruto won''t hurt me, so why am I feeling this way?]

    She turned to Ruto to force herself to look away from the scary ball of light. But she froze when she met his glowing purple eyes that seemed to be lighter in shade than usual. His expression was nk, and so was his gaze.

    [He doesn''t look like my Ruto.]

    But strangely enough, she felt even more drawn to him more than ever.

    [He''s beautiful¡­]

    Was it because of the setting sun behind him?

    Well, to be honest, because he was positioned against the light, she couldn''t really see his expression aside from his glowing eyes. But there was something about his aura, and the terrifying ball of light in his hand, that made him look brooding and handsome.

    [Oh, Ruto looks hot when he looks dangerous.]

    One thought ruined that moment for her though.

    [Ruto is stronger than me¡­]

    And yet, Neoma still felt safe with him.

    <strong>***</strong>

    [IT SUCKS to be a loser though.]

    Neoma didn''t have the energy to move after using so much Moonglow at once, so she just plopped to the ground lifelessly.

    [Wow, look at all those craters.]

    The school waspletely destroyed.

    She felt like she was having d¨¦j¨¤ vu, since the same thing happened after the Sun Priestess attacked her with thunderbolts.

    [My poor Dome¡­]

    "Did you get hurt, Neoma?" Ruto asked when hended in front of her. Then he squatted down while checking her for injuries. "I didn''t identally hurt you, did I?"

    She wasn''t hurt because Ruto''s thunderbolts didn''t hit her.

    It was as if each thunderbolt was programmed to avoid her, and to only hit the school buildings after her Dome copsed. She tried to recreate the Dome each time it was destroyed until she ran out of Moonglow.

    "I''m hurt," Neoma said bluntly. "My pride is hurt. Getting beaten up back to back by two people serving the Sun Goddess hurts my pride as the Moon God''s descendant."

    "Well, isn''t this a humbling experience for the arrogant Princess Neoma?"

    "Shut up."

    "Are you upset?"

    "More like embarrassed," she said, then she covered her face with her hands. "Gosh, I recall the moments I called you weak in the past. My audacity to call you weak when my Dome didn''t evenst ten minutes is appalling."

    "Neoma, your Dome is the exact copy of Dominic Zavaroni''s Dome."

    "Well, he was my mentor."

    "Just because he was your mentor doesn''t mean you need to copy it exactly like how he did it, right?" he asked. "Neoma, acting like a model student doesn''t suit you."

    She removed her hands from her face to re at him. "Are you dissing me just because you beat me once, huh?"

    "That''s the attitude that you should apply to your techniques, Neoma," Ruto said casually, ignoring her outburst. "You have a fierce personality, so don''t y safe. Do you know what I think of your Dome?"

    She covered her ears with her hands. "I can tell you''re going to diss me again, so I don''t want to hear it."

    "Your Dome is so boring to look at," he said bluntly. "I was an eyesore, so I destroyed it as fast as I could."

    "Ruto, do you have a death wish?"

    "Your Dome is your only technique that doesn''t have your personality," he continued with his criticism. "I''ve seen you use the Death''s Scythe, and I liked it because I can tell it''spletely yours now."

    "Because I turned Skewer into pink?"

    He nodded. "You also use your Soul Beast''s ability in an unorthodox way. You''re the first one to use your Soul Beast''s abilities as ''gears'' instead of summoning it to fight for you. I like how you think outside the box, Neoma."

    She removed her hands from her ears. "Praise me more."

    He chuckled while fixing her hair that he tousled earlier. "Don''t copy Dominic Zavaroni''s techniquepletely. Since our Neoma is bright and creative, I''m sure you can improve your mentor''s technique and own it."

    "But I think his technique is already perfect, so I can''t think of a way to improve it," she said. "Ruto, you seem to know something. Spill it."

    "Do you want to be spoon-fed?"

    "Yes, I want to be spoiled."

    "I''ll give you a clue as apromise, since I can''t tell you everything," he said as a bargain. "Neoma, you often seem to forget that you''re half de Moonasterio-half Roseheart. Just because you''re using a technique that requires Moonglow doesn''t mean you can''t use your Roseheart Blood."

    She blinked in surprise. "Oh."

    "And think about why it''s called ''Roseheart Blood,''" he said, then he gently flicked her forehead. "Moreover, the rose embedded in your heart isn''t for decoration. Why are you denying your Roseheart Blood? You depend too much on your Moonglow and your demonic power."

    "It''s because I feel like Nero is more of a Roseheart than I am," she confessed while avoiding his gaze. "Nero was easily epted by the Spirit World while the Spirit World ignored me. I know it''s petty, but I felt like I should reject anything rted to me being a Roseheart before they reject me."

    "Neoma, do you want to beat me the next time we fight?"

    "Of course," she answered immediately, then she turned to him with burning eyes. She may be fond of Ruto, but that didn''t mean herpetitive spirit diminished already. "I will beat you helplessly next time."

    "Then listen to me," he said gently. "You have the three major attributes in your soul at the moment. Your Moonglow, the divine power you inherited from Lord Yule, is a Light attribute. The demonic power you have is the Darkness attribute. Andstly, your Roseheart Blood is something simr to Nature. If you learn how to bnce the three of them, Sie¨C I mean, the Sun Priestess and I could never beat you again."

    She tilted her head to one side while thinking.

    [Ruto has a point.]

    She had always treated her three sources of power as different elements, so she never triedbining them. Tteokbokki was always her number one weapon of choice. Then her Spirits. And finally, Skewer.

    [I should ask Mochi about my Roseheart Bloodter.]

    "Penny for your thoughts?"

    She smiled at what Ruto said. "I was just thinking we should have had this conversation as soon as I regressed. I think we could have taken this world over if we worked together earlier."

    "Retaining the memories of my previous life has its price, so I couldn''t move freely even now," he said. "And just like I said earlier, I was devoted to getting rid of your enemies without your knowing."

    "Do you intend to do that even after I already caught you?"

    "Yeah, I still have things to do that I can''t tell you," he said. This time, he looked and sounded apologetic. "I know it will make you ufortable, but I have to fulfill my duty not just as someone who follows you, but as someone who serves the Sun Goddess as well."

    "Even if I hate it?"

    He nodded. "Yes, even if you end up hating me."

    "Do we really have to work separately?"

    "For now," he said. "Don''t worry about the crows. I already blew up their secret headquarters here in the West Continent, and killed some of their executives."

    "You did what?!" she asked, very shocked. "You know where they hide?"

    "That''s how you use the memories of your past life properly, Neoma," he said in a slightly scolding voice. "Kill your enemies before they get the chance to kill you. Just because they haven''t done anything bad to you yet doesn''t mean they''ve be good people this time."

    "I beg to differ," she said stubbornly. "Nero was bad to me in my previous life, but he''s the opposite now."

    "I said enemies," he said stubbornly as well. "The crows. They won''t change, no matter how many times we regress."

    "In my defense, I didn''t know Regina Crowell was a crow until recently."

    "That''s why I nned to get rid of her secretly," he said while nodding. "Don''t worry about the crows for now. They lost so much in the recent years I''ve hunted them down, so they wouldn''t actively search for you in the meantime."

    "Ruto."

    "Hmm?"

    "What would you gain from all of this?"

    "I''m not really sure," he said with a sad smile on his face. "I just don''t want you to die first before me again."

    Ah, so that was it.

    "I died before you?"

    "A servant dying for his master is considered an honorable death," Ruto said bitterly, and it seemed like the bitterness was directed at himself. "But Neoma, what do you think a servant would feel if his master died for him instead of the other way around?"

    Neoma, at that moment, finally realized Ruto''s true feelings for her.

    And it wasn''t romantic love, it seemed.

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 361 - CHEFS KISS

    <strong></strong>NEOMA thought she was going to have a nosebleed while looking at Ruto in casual clothes.

    She put on a hoodie, a pair of skinny ripped jeans, and sneakers on him this time. Of course, she wore the same set of clothes because she was going for the couple look. Some people may not know this, but Koreans were really big on couple/matching items.

    "You look good on casual clothes, Ruto. I think anything will look good on you because you''re tall and you have a good athletic build," Neoma said while putting a headband on Ruto. It was a headband with panda ears. He was taller than her, but she didn''t have difficulties putting a headband on him because she was standing on his toes, and he did the "manner legs" aka stretching one''s legs sideways. "If you were Korean, you would have been scouted by an entertainmentpany already."

    "I see," Ruto said, then he stood properly. This time, he was the one who put a headband on her. He chose a headband with rabbit ears for her. "What does it mean to be scouted by an entertainmentpany?"

    "It means you can either be an actor or an idol or a singer," she said. "I think you''d be a great actor."

    "How can you say so?"

    "You''re good at acting," she said, then she crossed her arms over her chest. "I almost believed you''re in love with me."

    He frowned at her jab. "I was genuine with you all this time, Neoma."

    "Whatever," she said, then she turned her back on him to explore the area that she created. After her school was destroyed, she changed the "setting" into an empty amusement park. Hence, the casual andfortable clothes. "I guess it''s me who assumed wrongly about your feelings for me."

    "What did you assume my feelings for you were?" he asked while following her.

    "Romantic feelings."

    "And why do you think you''re wrong to assume that?"

    She stopped in front of the Ferris wheel, then she turned around to face him. "I think Commander Yoan''s feelings for Hanna Quinzel are closer to an obsessed follower''s faith than a romantic love."

    He smiled while looking at her as if he was amused. "Are you curious about our rtionship in the past?"

    "Not really," she lied smoothly. Gosh, her pride just couldn''t ept how jealous she was of her past self to have "Commander Yoan" go all through all of this for her. "It''s obvious that Commander Yoan and Neoma Quinzel''s love story didn''t end well."

    "There was love, but not a story," he said and although he was still smiling, he could see sadness in his eyes. "Neoma, you still didn''t live long, even though we revived you after Nero stabbed you with a sword in the heart. After that, you''ve undergone gruesome training. We didn''t have enough time to focus on other things."

    Really?

    But the little things she remembered said otherwise. Why would amander like him choose to be a chef in this lifetime just because he promised her he would be one for her?

    [Still, that''s not enough to convince me what Commander Yoan felt for Neoma Quinzel was love. I can''t pinpoint what it is, but something is missing. He makes my heart flutter, but it seems like he doesn''t want to see through it.]

    "Neoma, must we really talk about our rtionship in the past?" he asked with a sigh. "I don''t like how it ended."

    [Ah, I see.]

    Commander Yoan''s guilt for letting Neoma Quinzel die before him outweighed his love for her. He was doing all these sacrifices not to earn her love, but to atone for his mistakes.

    "You haven''t forgiven yourself for Neoma Quinzel''s death, have you?"

    "It''s hard to forgive myself after failing to protect the person I gave my oath as a knight to," Ruto confessed, then he let out another sigh. "Neoma, don''t make me talk more about it."

    "Stingy Ruto."

    Ruto looked like he wanted to apologize. "Neoma, you know I can''t¨C"

    "I know," Neoma said, then she grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him to the ride she wanted to try with him. "Ruto, let''s ride the Ferris wheel."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "I LOCKED up Delwyn in the Hazelden Kingdom."

    Neoma gave Ruto a dire stare. [Hecks romantic bone in his body.]

    Right now, the two of them were inside the gond. The night view was beautiful because the full moon was shining bright, and the city lights around them were also pretty.

    But the person sitting on the couch across from her was talking about "work" again.

    [Who the heck in Delwyn again?]

    "I caught Delwyn when I was taking care of my documents to study abroad," Ruto exined while looking outside the window. But even though the view outside was pretty, he still looked indifferent. "I stole one of his ice roses, and I used it to trapped Gavin Quinzel in a block of ice. Since I believe Delwyn is just a waste of air, I locked him up in the snow that he loves so much."

    Ah, she remembered now.

    Delwyn was her mother''s Ice Spirit.

    "That traitor," Neoma said, then she sighed. Gosh, Ruto was so workaholic that she had no choice but to keep up with his pace. "But why did you leave him in the Hazelden Kingdom?"

    "It''s always winter in the Hazelden Kingdom," he exined. "I need to keep Delwyn alive, so I locked him up in a ce where he would likely survive."

    "Why did you keep him alive for me?"

    "I thought you need a new pet since I knew your Soul Beast has to leave at one point."

    Huh.

    Ruto really did know everything.

    [I''m d he''s not an enemy.]

    "Lord Manu said the same thing," she said. "He wanted me to turn the traitorous Ice Spirit into my temporary Soul Beast."

    "Did the Moon Priest teach you how to do it?"

    She nodded. "He also left some items that I apparently would need in the future."

    "I don''t like the Moon Priest, but he''s not wrong," he said as if he was satisfied with the Moon Priest''s job. "Neoma, do you know what Prince Nero''s Soul Beast''s attribute is?"

    "Ice."

    "Yes, ice," he said. "If your temporary Soul Beast has the ice attribute, then you''d be free to use your Soul Beast in front of other people now."

    "Ah, I see," she said. "That makes sense."

    "So, I want you to think about it," he said gently. "I can''t tell you the exact ce where I locked up Delwyn since I just practically threw him somewhere cold, dark, and creepy. But I trust you, Neoma. I know you''d find him if you go to the Hazelden Kingdom."

    "Okay," she said. "I''ll go if I feel like it."

    "I can''t return to the West Continent yet since I need to recover," he said. Ah, he was saying goodbye again. "I will probably sleep for a long time."

    "You''re going to enter a slumber?"

    "Yeah," he said. "I''ve said things I shouldn''t have. I''ll be punished, but it would be a light punishment since I refrained from saying important stuff."

    Now she suddenly felt guilty. "I''m sorry¡­"

    "It''s my choice, so please don''t apologize," he said. "I just realized you were right with what you said earlier. We should have had this conversation a long time ago."

    "Ruto, don''t do everything on your own," she said with a frown. "It makes me sad when you treat me like a fragile ss. I want you to rely on me, too." She shook her head when she realized she had misspoke. "No¨C we should rely on each other."

    He smiled as if he liked what she just said. "You''re right¨C we have each other now."

    "I don''t care about how Commander Yoan and Neoma Quinzel''s love story ended. I don''t care if there was only a little love, and a short story between them," she said with clenched hands. Gosh, she sounded so cheesy. But she couldn''t help it, okay? "You''re Ruto now, and I''m Neoma Ramsay. We should write our own story, so I won''t bother remembering how tragic our first ending was."

    His face turned red, then heughed softly. "How can you look so cute while saying embarrassing things?"

    "Shut up," she snapped back at his teasing. "And don''tugh!"

    He justughed harder.

    [This little bastard¡­]

    "Neoma," he said, suddenly serious.

    Then he stood up.

    Well, he had to lean down since the gond was too small for someone his height. But when he leaned down, he put his hands on either side of her head. As if that wasn''t enough, he had to inch his face closer to hers.

    "I changed my name because I didn''t like the decisions I did in the past as Commander Yoan," he said while looking straight in her eye. "You were right when you said Commander Yoan''s duty outweighed his feelings for Neoma Quinzel."

    She bit her lower lip.

    To be honest, she wanted to avoid his gaze. But she couldn''t. She was frozen in her seat while wishing Ruto couldn''t hear her loud heartbeat.

    "But I''m no longer Commander Yoan," he continued. "I''m Chef Ruto¨C and we have plenty of time now to create our own love story."

    She covered her ears with her hands. "Gosh! You''re so cringey, Ruto!"

    But she wasn''t gonna lie¨C it made her heart flutter.

    "I''lle back after three years," Ruto said gently, then he covered her mouth with his right hand. "Please wait for me, Neoma."

    And then, Ruto closed her eyes and kissed the back of his hand that covered her mouth.

    Their lips didn''t touch.

    But Neoma closed her eyes, savoring that moment.

    <strong>***</strong>

    NIKOLAI clenched her hands. For some reason, he suddenly felt annoyed. Neoma was still asleep, and now it began to bother him. [Why do I feel like something is stealing my daughter away from me?]

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 362 - MOON QUEEN X SUN KING

    NEOMA was ring at Ruto, who was casually sitting beside her as if he didn''t just kiss her.

    Well, technically, he really didn''t kiss her since he kissed the back of the hand that he used to cover her mouth. But it meant he wanted to kiss her, right?

    "Ruto."

    "Hmm?"

    Neoma red at him even more. "I''ll snitch and tell Papa Boss you kissed me."

    Ruto turned to her with a surprised look on his face, then he chuckled. "I''ll take responsibility, Neoma."

    "You can''t take responsibility until I''m eighteen years old, at least," sheined. "And you''re four years older than me, Ruto. It''s wrong for an almost fourteen-year-old boy to make a move on an almost ten-year-old girl. A four-year gap isn''t that much, but only if you''re adults."

    "We''re not kids, Neoma," he said bluntly. "Not in this dimension, at least. I wouldn''t make a move on you outside. I didn''t hold back this time only because we''re in our adult forms."

    "You really have aeback in everything I say."

    "You won''t be interested in me otherwise, don''t you think so?"

    "Tsk," sheined by clicking her tongue again. "We should have really had this conversation a long time ago."

    He ruffled her hair again. "We promised to rely on each other from now on. Well, I can''t be useful for the next three years. But once I return, we''ll work together closely."

    ''Closely,'' he said.

    "You know how to pacify me," she said, then she crossed her arms over her chest. "Is it because you know Neoma Quinzel well, too?"

    "You''re very different from Neoma Quinzel," he said in an amused voice. "I got to know you by observing you, and getting friendly with you by feeding you well."

    "Even I can tell that I''m very different from Neoma Quinzel," she said with a bitterugh. "Ruto, I''m stronger now, am I not?"

    "You have a stronger personality now, but that doesn''t mean Neoma Quinzel wascking in that department," he said with a soft smile on his face as if he was reliving a fond memory. "Just because you were meek and sympathetic in the past didn''t mean you were weak. In fact, we were drawn by your silent and elegant aura back then."

    Silent?

    Well, yeah. She was pretty much "tamed" when she lived as Neoma Quinzel in the past.

    "I''m not the silent type now," she said. "Do you like my new personality, Ruto?"

    "Yeah, you never fail to amuse me since day one," he said. "My ns were almost ruined when you suddenly had to pretend as Prince Nero. At first, I thought you''d choose to be a Quinzel again. But in the end, I realized you made the right choice."

    She smiled proudly. "My big brain amazes me too sometimes."

    He just smiled before removing his hand from her hair. "That''s one of the reasons I didn''t show up right away. I know you can handle it yourself. If things didn''t get out of hand, I wouldn''t have revealed my true self to you."

    "Ruto?"

    "Yeah?"

    "Thank you," she said sincerely. "I may not agree with the way you handled things for me, but I appreciate everything you''ve done in order to keep me safe. I mayin a lot, but I hope you know I''m d you''re on my side."

    "If you''re really grateful, then act cute for me," he said teasingly.

    "Hey, I did aegyo for you before, but you acted so indifferent!"

    "It''s because I don''t know how to react when you''re being cute," he said whileughing. "Do it again and I''ll give a different reaction this time."

    "No can do," she said firmly. "I''ll do aegyo once we meet again after three years."

    "Prince Nero would have beenpletely healed by then, right?"

    "Yes," she said cheerfully, then she knitted her eyebrows. "Did you find out about Nero''s condition by observing me?"

    "No, His Majesty told me himself."

    "Papa Boss tells you stuff like that?" she asked, surprised. "Papa Boss seems to be really fond of you, Ruto."

    "His Majesty has taken a liking to me ever since I brought Veton in this continent. His Majesty is fascinated by the Elemental Guardians." He paused as if he hesitated for a moment before he spoke again. "To be honest, I can understand His Majesty''s intention as the emperor. Elemental Guardians are a rare existence. As the strongest man in the empire, he''d want to keep me by his side as an ally. But since I''m both a citizen of the East and the West Continent, the only way for His Majesty to tie me down in the Moonasterion Empire is to give me a notable position."

    "Ah, that''s why Papa Boss keeps saying he''d make you the nextmander of the White Lion Knights," she said, hiding her amazement by the fact that Ruto had dual citizenship. She didn''t know dual citizenship also applied in this world until he brought it up. "Was my father also the reason why you became themander in your past life?"

    "Pretty much," he said with a shrug. "I didn''t have a reason to refuse the position in the past. But now that I''ve found a new career, I don''t think I''d be themander of the White Lion Knights this time." He turned to her and tilted his head to one side. "Unless you want me to."

    "Nah, you must follow your heart."

    "Yeah, that''s why I''m following you."

    She avoided his gaze when she felt her cheeks heat up. "That''s so cheesy, Ruto."

    He justughed it off. "I really need to go, Neoma. I''m afraid I''d start talking about our past if I stayed here longer."

    "Yeah, we should part," she said. "You''re bad for my heart."

    Ruto extended his hand to her. "May I hold your hand before we part ways, Neoma?"

    Hah.

    As if she could say ''no'' to him at this point.

    It was funny how she was so eager to protect Ruto in the past because he was weak. But it turned out he was more powerful than her. At least, in the meantime.

    Moreover, he did a lot of things for her.

    "Okay," Neoma said, then she gave her hand to Ruto. "Since you feed me so well, you earn the right to hold my hand."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "I''M TIRED, Ruto," Neoma said while walking in the park with Ruto. Yes, they were still holding hands. And yes, she liked the feeling of Ruto''s big and warm hand in hers. "I think I''ve reached my limit."

    "You did well, Neoma," Ruto praised her. "You have a good grasp of how to use your Soul Dimension. You''re a natural talent."

    She smiled at thepliment she received. "I know, right?"

    He stopped walking, then he faced her. "I think I''ve already told you the things you should know about. The next three years will be tough, but I trust you, Neoma. Please don''t push yourself too hard. Remember to eat and y well, too."

    "Okay," she said obediently. "Where are you sleeping, Ruto? Can''t you just sleep at the pce? I''ll take care of you."

    "Ah, I''m sorry, but I can''t," he said apologetically. "I need to be in the East Continent. To be precise, I need to stay at the Sun Goddess''s Temple. Just like how you''re blessed by Lord Yule, I''m blessed by the Sun Goddess. Thus, to replenish my vitality as soon as possible, I need to stay at the temple."

    She raised an eyebrow at him. "With the Sun Priestess?"

    "The Sun Priestess is just like a younger sister to me."

    "But it doesn''t look like she only sees you as a brother," she insisted. "She tried to destroy our rtionship, Ruto."

    "I''ll make sure it won''t happen again."

    She frowned, but she nodded in the end. What else she could do? Ruto already said he needed to stay at the Sun Goddess''s Temple.

    "I will give you my authority while I''m asleep, Neoma."

    "Huh?"

    "I''m more influential on the East Continent than in the West," he exined. "I''ll hand over all my authority to you. That means you can use everything I have, including properties and people."

    "That¡­ doesn''t sound bad."

    "I''ll ask my mother to send you my crestter," he said. "As long as you have it, everything and everyone Imand would obey you."

    That made her smile. "Okay. Anything else?"

    "Hmm¡­" He looked up at the night sky as if he was thinking. "Since I''m going to be punished anyway, let me say one more thing."

    "What is it?"

    "I want you to ry a message for His Majesty," he said when he looked at her face. "Neoma, please tell His Majesty to stop looking for thete Empress Juliet''s stolen "corpse.""

    She froze after hearing that. "Right, I almost forgot that thete empress''s corpse has been stolen."

    Now she felt awful for forgetting that.

    But¡­

    "Ruto, why do I feel like you added air quotes when you said "corpse" earlier," she said. "What are you implying with that tone?"

    "If you tell His Majesty the message the way I said it, he''ll understand. Probably," he said with a shrug. "But it''s important that he listens. Please also tell His Majesty that if he continues to search the entire world for thete empress''s "corpse," he''ll only catch the attention of the people who shouldn''t know about it."

    He was speaking in riddles again.

    "It won''t be easy to convince Papa Boss to stop looking for thete empress''s "corpse," Ruto," she said with a sigh. "He cares a lot about her."

    "Then tell His Majesty that if does as I say, I will bring thete Empress Juliet back myself."

    "Do you know where thete empress''s "corpse" is?"

    "No, but I have a rough idea as to who might have stolen her "corpse,"" he said. "I never made a move to find her since I believe it''s better off this way for everyone."

    [Oh, he''s being vague.]

    It was probably something that he seriously shouldn''t be talking about.

    "I understand," she said. "I''ll convey your message to Papa Boss."

    "Thank you," he said in a tired voice before he let go of her hand. Then he suddenly leaned down and buried his face against her neck as if he just lost his strength. "I''ve really hit my limit."

    Ah, his body turned translucent.

    That meant Ruto was really about to go.

    "I''m only going to wait for three years," Neoma said, then she wrapped her arms around his translucent body. "Good night, Ruto."

    "Mm," Ruto said in a sleepy voice as he hugged her back. "Good night, Neoma."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOU''RE FINALLY up?"

    Neoma blinked several times while looking at her Papa Boss.

    Her father was the first person she saw when she opened her eyes. While looking at her Papa Boss''s face, everything came back to her. Ah, right. She had a very long meeting with her people in her ''Soul Dimension,'' as Ruto called it.

    [Lewis and the others aren''t here.]

    Did her father kick them out?

    "Papa Boss," Neoma said, then she remembered that she had a fight with her father recently. She suddenly got up while looking at her Papa Boss with a fierce look on her face. "I''m sorry for being insensitive of your feelings, Papa Boss."

    Her Papa Boss looked surprised by what she said. "I should also apologize to you, Neoma," he said gently, then he sat beside her. "I''m sorry for getting mad. I guess I''m still jealous of how much you treasure Gavin Quinzel."

    "But you didn''t say anything wrong, Papa Boss," she confessed while looking at her hands. "Even if appa is good to me, he still has to be held ountable for what he did in the past. I shouldn''t gloss it over just because he was a good father to me. It would be unfair to you and everyone that he has hurt before."

    "I''m d you understand that part now," her father said gently. "Still, I could have been nicer when we were discussing about it."

    "But being nice doesn''t suit you, Papa Boss."

    "Are you trying to pick a fight with me again?"

    She raised her head, thenughed when she saw her Papa Boss looking at her with a soft look on his face. Their rtionship had gotten better recently, but she still couldn''t get used to it. "Have we made up now, Papa Boss?"

    "I guess so," he said, then he gently patted her head. "You had a long talk with Ruston Stroganoff, huh?"

    Lewis and the others probably told her father that she met Ruto after they left.

    Neoma nodded eagerly as a response to her father''s question earlier. "Papa Boss, would you like Ruto to be your son-inw?"

    For the first time in a while, she saw her ''Angry Papa Boss'' mode.

    [But I thought Papa Boss is fond of Ruto!]

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 363 - FUTURE SON-IN-LAW MY A$$

    [REFRESHING.]

    Long and warm bath, check.

    New pajamas, check.

    Hot chocte with marshmallow, check.

    Neoma would have called it a perfectly rxing time if her Papa Boss, who was sitting on the sofa across from her, wasn''t ring at her.

    [Gosh, why is he angry again?]

    "Papa Boss, I only asked if you wanted Ruto to be your son-inw because you seem so fond of him," Neoma said defensively. "He told me that you shared Nero''s secret with him, and you want him to be the nextmander of the White Lion Knights. So I wondered if you like him to the point you''d ept him as your son-inw."

    "Heck no," Papa Boss, who rarely cussed, said in an irritated voice. "I share important national affairs with Ruston Stroganoff only because he''s useful. Moreover, he''s the youngest Elemental Guardian master in both the East and West Continent, so I want to tie him down on our continent by making him the nextmander of the White Lion Knights."

    "Uh-huh," she said, amazed that her father said the same things Ruto said.

    "But that doesn''t mean I want Ruston Stroganoff as my son-inw," her father said, then his jaw clenched. "He doesn''t deserve you."

    "Papa Boss, you just said Ruto is the youngest Elemental Guardian master¨C"

    "So what?" her father cut her off, then he sipped his tea. It was amazing how pissed her Papa Boss looked, but he still sipped his tea as elegant as ever. "He still doesn''t deserve to be your husband."

    "Papa Boss, I''m the one who''s going to choose my husband."

    Dark aura suddenly seemed toe out of her father. "Do you like Ruston Stroganoff or what?"

    "I just respect and trust him a lot, Papa Boss," she said sincerely. "He has been a huge help to me."

    "Then let''s leave it at that," he said bluntly. "Don''t grow your feelings for Ruston Stroganoff. I don''t care if you''re an adult mentally. As long as you''re physically a child, you''re not allowed to date."

    "I don''t have any n to date yet," she said, then she pouted as aint. "But this is unfair, Papa Boss. You''re so strict with and yet, you let Nero choose his fianc¨¦e already."

    "It''s a Crown Prince''s duty to choose his future Crown Princess early."

    She just let out a puff because she already knew that.

    "Let''s stop talking about this," her father said, then he quickly changed the topic. "While you were sleeping, Paige Avery gave me a detailed report of what she encountered when she entered your consciousness."

    "Oh."

    "Paige Avery wanted to report to you first, but I forced her to report to me first," her Papa Boss said. "She''s not yet a member of your Order officially, so she''s still obligated to prioritize the emperor''s order over yours."

    "Papa Boss, don''t make Lady Avery hate the de Moonasterios even more."

    "You''re my daughter, so I have the right to hear the report, too. And Paige Avery knows that."

    She just rolled her eyes at her father. "So, what did Lady Avery say?"

    Her Papa Boss let out a sigh.

    It was a frustrated sigh, and now her father looked very annoyed. But she knew that her Papa Boss was angry at someone else.

    "There was an elf who helped Mona in the past when we didn''t know that Gavin Quinzel was a traitor yet," her Papa Boss exined bluntly. "That elf and Gavin Quinzel worked together to deceive Mona and me. Moreover, that elf is the Messenger for the God of Eternal Darkness."

    "Eternal Darkness?" she asked curiously. "Does it mean the elf is a Darkness attribute user?"

    "Yes," her father confirmed. "That elf was the one who helped Gavin Quinzel cross over the other world. But he disappeared the day Gavin Quinzel disappeared in this world."

    "Uh-huh."

    "And Paige Avery encountered that same elf when she entered your consciousness."

    "Excuse me?"

    "Lukas, the Messenger of the God of Eternal Darkness, was upying a part of your soul all this time."

    She almost dropped her mug after hearing that. "That''s so fucking creepy. I''ll kill that damned scumbag! How dare he¡­" She hugged herself when she shuddered. "Gosh. Just thinking about a male residing in my soul gives me the creep."

    "It''s a shame Paige Avery failed to kill Lukas," her Papa Boss said. "But Paige Avery managed to drive him away. I don''t usually praise people I just met, but that young mage is impressive, Neoma. Lukas is the Messenger of the God of Eternal Darkness. There''s no way he''s an average elf. Moreover, the fact that he managed to hide his presence all this time is a testament to how strong he is. And yet, Paige Avery sessfully banished Lukas on her own."

    She smiled proudly while listening to her father praise one of her "children."

    [I''m awesome, so my "children" are naturally awesome as well.]

    "Papa Boss, did Lady Avery say why that damned elf hid in my soul?" she asked. "What''s his purpose?"

    "You wouldn''t like what you''d hear, so try not to get too angry," her Papa Boss said before he answered her question. "Apparently, Lukas was eating at your negative emotions."

    She grabbed the back of her neck when she felt her blood pressure rising. "I''m gonna rip that bastard apart limb from limb."

    "I''ll support you with that, Neoma," her father said. "For now, it''s a good thing Paige Avery discovered Lukas before it''s toote. Thanks to that, we also discovered that Darkness could be created from negative emotions. Paige Avery also discovered that Darkness is consumable, and once you consume it, you could copy the ability of the person who created the Darkness."

    "If Paige Avery just discovered that, does it mean you''re not aware Darkness could be created from a person''s negative emotions?"

    "Yes, we''re not aware," her father admitted. "After all, we''re taught that Darkness couldn''t be created by man. Moreover, as Yule''s descendants, we are considered as children of Light. It''s not like we''re forbidden to mingle with Darkness. We''re not just naturally inclined to do so."

    "But the fact that our enemies know something we don''t is a problem," she said. "We should learn more about the Darkness attribute, Papa Boss."

    "Paige Avery seems interested in conducting a deeper study about the Darkness attribute," her father said. "Ah, she also mentioned meeting the Sun Priestess."

    She clenched her hands tight. "Huh?"

    "Why do you look angry, Neoma?"

    "Papa Boss, do you know Ruto serves the Sun Goddess?"

    "Ruston Stroganoff again?" her father asked, and now he looked more pissed than her. "Of course, I know that. He''s from the East Continent, and he only arrived here at the West when he was three years old. But even though his father is from the West, their family chose to serve the Sun Goddess instead of Yule. What about it?"

    "I just found out Ruto is working with the Sun Priestess," she said. "Are you also aware of that, Papa Boss?"

    "Yes," her father said. "I heard Ruston Stroganoff and the Sun Priestess were raised together as siblings."

    "Tsk," she said, clicking her tongue again. "I''ll ask Lady Averyter about the Sun Priestesster."

    Her Papa Boss just nodded. "So, what did you and Ruston Stroganoff talk about? You kept getting distracted because of anything rted to that boy. I''m starting to think that you''re interested in him, Neoma."

    She sipped her hot chocte while avoiding her father''s gaze.

    [Papa Boss is uselessly sharp.]

    "I''m just amazed by Ruto''s strength, Papa Boss," she said. She didn''t want Ruto to get on her father''s bad side, so she was being careful with her words. "Plus, he told me some serious stuff, Papa Boss."

    "Serious stuff?" her Papa Boss said, then he raised an eyebrow at her while smirking. "Ruston Stroganoff didn''t say anything about taking responsibility for you or something, did he?"

    She tried so hard not to flinch.

    [Papa Boss''s intuition is so scary.]

    But it wasn''t the time to talk about something like that.

    "Papa Boss, Ruto asked me to ry a message to you," Neoma said carefully. "It''s about the missing remains of thete Empress Juliet¡­"

    As expected, the look on her Papa Boss''s face instantly turned devastated.

    [Ah, my father really cares about thete empress.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOUR MAJESTY, is something the matter?"

    Niki sipped the booze in his ss without turning to Geoffrey Kinsley.

    He was in his office at the moment. To be precise, he was sitting on the chair that he moved next to the window to watch the crescent moon outside. Geoffrey Kinsley, one of his Pdins, was standing next to him as his guard.

    "Ruston Stroganoff seems to be aware of the whereabouts of Juliet''s remains," Niki said, surprising his Pdin. "He asked me to stop looking for it."

    "Does it mean the Sun Goddess also knows the whereabouts of thete Empress Juliet''s remains all this time?"

    "That''s the only way for Ruston Stroganoff to know," he said. "But seeing that he asked Neoma to convey the message to me instead of directly saying it to my face, I can tell he''s trying to avoid the subject. It must be a forbidden topic."

    The gods could convey messages to their representatives. But that didn''t mean the representatives were allowed to talk about it to other people.

    "What should we do, Your Majesty?" Geoffrey asked worriedly. "Do we just trust Ruto''s words?"

    "We can''t ignore Ruston Stroganoff''s words," he said. "His words are often words by the Sun Goddess. Moreover, we''ve been looking for Juliet''s remains all these years. The fact we haven''t found it yet could only mean we''re not supposed to find it yet."

    "Shall I ask the Fletcher Twins to return, Your Majesty?"

    Wyatt and Warren Fletcher were the twin Pdins that he sent out for two missions: First, to gather the people Nero wanted them to find. Second, to look for Juliet''s remains.

    The Fletcher Twins were almost done with their first mission.

    But they hadn''t made progress with the second one.

    "Tell the Fletcher Twins to stop looking for Juliet''s remains," he said to his Pdin. "Ruston Stroganoff promised to bring Juliet''s remains back to the pce once the time is right. If Yule didn''t help me find Juliet''s remains, it only means its whereabouts fall under the Sun Goddess''s jurisdiction. I will entrust it to Ruston Stroganoff then."

    [I just don''t understand why Ruston Stroganoff only told me now.]

    That child was indeed strange.

    "I will contact the Fletcher Twinster, Your Majesty."

    He just nodded, then he finished the booze in his ss before he spoke again. "Are the twins done with their first mission?"

    "Thest time the Fletcher Twins sent a report, they said they found all the people Prince Nero asked to find," Geoffrey Kinsley reported. "But ording to the twins, they''re having a hard time dealing with the ck Witch. It seems like the ck Witch is giving them unreasonable demands."

    The ck Witch.

    Until now, he couldn''t understand why Nero needed a ck Witch. The ck Witches had been banned from the empire a long time ago. It was something that he couldn''t change easily. But since his son asked him for a favor, he couldn''t simply ignore it.

    So, even if it was dangerous to bring a ck Witch to their side, he still decided to trust his son.

    [I will support Nero and Neoma.]

    After all, he wanted to be a good father to his children this time.

    [Moreover, I can see that both Nero and Neoma could be good leaders in the future.]

    Niki raised an eyebrow at that. "Tell the twins toe back," he said. "And if possible, bring the ck Witch here in secret."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 364 - NEXT STOP: HAZELDEN KINGDOM

    IT WAS only morning, but Neoma''s energy was already drained.

    She listened to Paige Avery''s full report during breakfast. The more she listened to it, the angrier she got.

    [I''m d Lewis isn''t here or else he might have left the pce to kill Lukas.]

    Lewis, Juri Wisteria, and Jeno Dankworth weren''t done with theirmunity service yet. As the three''s punishment for breaking the underground cell recently, she sent them to poor areas to feed the less fortunate people.

    Xion, on the other hand, was still in the prison while being checked on by Greko. She asked their youngest to give the assassin a thorough check-up to make sure Lord Redgrave''s power had settled safely in Xion''s body.

    [It''s really hard to be a single mother. Thankfully, my children are all capable individuals.]

    "Princess Neoma, I''d like to investigate the matter about the Darkness attribute in depth," Paige Avery said politely. "May I?"

    "Sure. I''ll provide you with anything you''d need for your study."

    "Thank you, Your Royal Highness."

    "What do you think about working with the Sun Priestess in my stead?" she asked the mage. "Are you alright with it?"

    "Yes, Your Royal Highness," the mage said. "But may I know why Your Royal Highness doesn''t want to work with the Sun Priestess?"

    "I just don''t like the fact that she acts like she owns Ruto," she said with a shrug. "Oh, Ruto is thest guest that arrived when I summoned y''all. He''s the youngest royal chef in the pce. He''ll return after three years."

    She didn''t know if it was just her or did Paige Avery suddenly turn serious?

    "Princess Neoma, this may be impudent of me to ask, but do you really trust this ''Ruto?''"

    "I do," she said without missing a beat. "Don''t you find him trustworthy, Lady Avery?"

    "I''ve only seen a glimpse of him, so I can''t judge him lightly," Paige Avery said carefully. "But this ''Ruto'' is too strong, Your Royal Highness. I''ve always been wary of people like him."

    "Well, if that''s the case, then it''s okay if you don''t trust Ruto."

    "I''m afraid I don''t understand, Your Royal Highness¡­"

    "It''s toote for me to doubt Ruto, so please do it in my stead," she said. Although she sounded like she was joking, she was actually serious. "If you find something suspicious about him, then tell me right away. I promise not to get mad."

    The mage looked confused. "I thought Princess Neoma trusts that boy¡­"

    "I do, and that scares me, too," she confessed. "I recently found out Ruto has so much power over me. As an individual, I think it''s a beautiful thing to be able to trust someonepletely. But I''m not an ordinary individual. I am the future empress of thisnd. As a leader, I don''t have the luxury topletely trust a person who doesn''t belong to me."

    The mage looked at her, bewildered. Then sheughed softly. "Princess Neoma, the Sun Priestess asked me why I chose to serve you. I said I couldn''t tell her the reason since I haven''t said it to you in person yet. Aren''t Your Royal Highness going to ask about it now?"

    "Oh," she said. "So, why did you choose to serve me when you hate the de Moonasterios?"

    "It''s actually nothing grand," Paige Avery said with a smile. "I just thought it would be fun to follow a person who enjoys breaking the rules. It''s fascinating to watch you, Princess Neoma. I feel like there won''t be a dull moment with you. Is that an eptable reason?"

    "Of course it is," she said, then she gave her a thumbs up. "I''m a narcissist, Lady Avery. I enjoy the attention."

    The mage justughed again.

    "By the way, have you seen Lord Marcus?" Neoma asked curiously. "Is he the one you''re looking for?"

    "I''ve caught a glimpse of him earlier when he checked on Your Royal Highness''s condition earlier, but he didn''t see me," Paige said, then she smiled sadly. "He looks old now, but I can''t mistake that stupid face for someone else." Her gaze fell to the teacup in her hands. "I heard from Sir Kinsley that Marcus has his own family¨C he even has grandchildren now."

    Oh.

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOUR ROYAL Highness, Lady Sera Wisteria and Countess Jade Wisteria are here to meet you."

    Neoma covered her mouth when she yawned.

    She just had her afternoon tea in the garden earlier, but since she had guests, she would have to drink tea again. But she''d rather do that than get stuck in the mountain of paper works that she needed to read and sign today.

    [Okay, let''s take a break again.]

    "Alright," Neoma said, then she stood up and stretched her arms. "Are they in the drawing room?"

    "Yes, Your Royal Highness," Dion Skelton said. "I''ll escort you to the drawing room."

    "Okay," she said, then she began walking to the door. "Dion, I''ve heard from Jeanne that you can''t reach Sir Glenn recently. Is something wrong?"

    "Thest time Glenn sent a report to Geoffrey, he said he won''t being back to the empire anytime soon," the Pdin said as he opened the door for her. "Although the penmanship and the sign belong to Glenn, we can''t help but doubt the authenticity of the letter. We think something happened that forced Glenn to write that kind of report."

    That made her worry.

    "How does my father n to deal with it?"

    "His Majesty ordered the Fletcher Twins to return to the empire, and His Majesty asked the twins to take a detour and check on Glenn at the Hazelden Kingdom first."

    "I see," she said. "I miss the Fletcher Twins."

    "But Your Royal Highness isn''t close to the twins since they already left the empire before you got the chance to be friendly with them."

    "You don''t understand, Dion," she said while clicking her tongue. "The Fletcher Twins are gorgeous. Isn''t that enough reason for me to miss them?"

    "If Your Royal Highness says so¡­"

    "That''s why I need to go to Hazelden Kingdom and bless my eyes with the twins'' visuals."

    Dion frowned when he btedly realized her scheme. "Your Royal Highness, you''re just using the Fletcher Twins as an excuse to go to Hazelden Kingdom and y."

    Sheughed when she got caught. "I won''t just be ying," she said. "Ruto left a present for me at the Hazelden Kingdom. I have to get it before someone else beats me to it."

    "I don''t think His Majesty would allow you to go to Hazelden Kingdom, Your Royal Highness."

    "Then I''ll just have to run away with my children."

    Dion let out a frustrated sigh. "Your Royal Highness¡­"

    She justughed at the Pdin''s distress. "Dion."

    "Yes, Your Royal Highness?"

    She stopped in the middle of the hallway, then she turned around to face the Pdin. "I want to ignore it, but I can''t," she said seriously while looking up at Dion. "Ever since I woke up, I can''t help but notice your eyes absorbing my Moonglow. What''s up with that?"

    Dion stepped back as if he was surprised, then he avoided her gaze. "I deeply apologize, Your Royal Highness¡­"

    "Is it something that you can''t tell me?"

    He nodded, still refusing to meet her gaze. "But I assure Your Royal Highness that I''m not a threat to you."

    "I know," she said. "Papa Boss won''t allow you by my side if your eyes could harm me. I''m just curious, but not that curious, so it''s fine if you don''t tell me about your eyes."

    Dion let out a rare softugh, then he met her gaze again. "Thank you for understanding, Your Royal Highness."

    "I''m cool like that," Neoma said yfully. "But I''d like to see your real eyes someday, Dion."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA couldn''t help but smile while reading the documents that Lady Sera Wisteria and Countess Jade Wisteria handed to her.

    The document was about the merchant guild that partnered with the Wisteria Ladies regarding the ornaments and weapons made from the stolen "Hisa Jewels." She was delighted by the fact that the Wisteria Ladies had done a good job tracking the whereabouts of the stolen jewels. It seemed like destiny.

    "Hazelden Kingdom?" Neoma asked whileughing softly. "I thought the weapons they produce were produced by their own power. But it turned out their magnificent weapons were created from the stolen Hisa Jewels."

    "We also just found out about it, Your Royal Highness," Sera Wisteria said, then she sipped her tea before she continued. "It''s also notable to mention that the Hazelden Kingdom is also involved with a sketchy organization."

    "To be precise, they smuggle weapons to countries and kingdoms that they shouldn''t be dealing with," Countess Jade Wisteria added. "Your Royal Highness, we swear on our name that the Wisterias are not involved with the Hazelden Kingdom in any way. We only sell the Hisa Jewels to the merchant guild."

    "I know," she said yfully. "But that doesn''t make the Wisteriaspletely innocent, right?"

    Lady Sera Wisteria and Countess Jade Wisteria looked embarrassed by her words.

    "I''m giving you a chance to redeem yourselves, Lady and Countess Wisteria," Neoma said, then her eyes turned into crescent moons when she smiled. Although she had to admit that her smile was anything but innocent at the moment. "Would you like to visit Hazelden Kingdom with me?"

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 365 - WORK THEM TO THE BONE

    <strong></strong>"PAPA BOSS, I''m going to the Hazelden Kingdom to y," Neoma dered cheerfully. "I''ll give you the Hazelden Kingdom''s royal family as a souvenir."

    Her Papa Boss looked at her as if he was so done with her. "Kyle, it seems like our "Crown Prince" has too much time in her hands," he said while looking at Kyle Sprouse who was standing in front of her father''s office table. "Why don''t you give the Crown Prince half of my workload for today?"

    "That sounds like a good idea, Your Majesty. Our "Crown Prince" is good at administrative work," Kyle Sprouse said while looking at her as if he just found a new servant. "Your Royal Highness, should I send half of His Majesty''s workload to your office?"

    She let out a sigh.

    [These men aren''t taking me seriously.]

    But it wasn''t like she could me her Papa Boss and Kyle Sprouse for taking her words lightly. After all, she announced her n as if she was just telling them she''d go to a pic.

    "The royal family of the Hazelden Kingdom has been smuggling weapons to the countries and kingdoms that waged war on the Moonasterion Empire," she said in a serious and calm voice befitting her current disguise as the Crown Prince. "You know what''s more interesting? We found out that the weapons the Hazelden Kingdom is so proud of were actually made from the stolen Hisa Jewels."

    Her Papa Boss and the count looked shocked by her revtion.

    "Proof?" her Papa Boss asked seriously. "Hazelden Kingdom is a small kingdom, but they have enough military power to rival us."

    Kyle nodded in agreement with her father. "Moreover, the Hazelden Kingdom is one of our allied nations. If we attack them without enough proof, our empire would be put in a bad light."

    "That''s why I''m going to the Hazelden Kingdom," she said. "Papa Boss, Count Sprouse, I believe Sir Glenn discovered the Hazelden Kingdom''s secret."

    The two men looked surprised by her remark.

    "Dion told me Sir Glenn sent a report saying he wouldn''t return to the empire, but we all find it suspicious, right?" she shared her hypothesis with them. "What if Sir Glenn discovered the kingdom''s secret, thus he''s being forced to stay there? I bet the kingdom is using Princess Brigitte to tie him down."

    "That makes sense," her father said. "But as I said, we need irrevocable proof."

    "My team will take care of that, Papa Boss," she said. "I''m already working on it."

    "Then will you be going to the Hazelden Kingdom on an official visit, or will you be sneaking in?"

    "I will be officially visiting the kingdom under the guise of discussing the deal you made with Princess Brigitte in the past, Papa Boss," she said, then she snickered. "But my "children" will sneak in for a surprise attack."

    "It seems like you already have everything nned."

    "You can say that, Papa Boss," she said. "And I heard the Fletcher Twins will arrive at the Hazelden Kingdom, too. May I borrow them?"

    "I''ll tell Geoffrey to send the word to the twins," her father said. "Who will you bring with you aside from your "children?""

    "I''m thinking about bringing Lady Sera and Countess Jade Wisteria with me," she said. "I''ll use them to meet up with Princess Brigitte. I heard the king of the Hazelden Kingdom is a misogynistic pig, so I bet he''d lower his guard if I only bring women to meet up with his daughter."

    "Have you already talked to the Wisterias about it?"

    "Yes, Papa Boss," she said. "They still have to pay the price of stealing from our family. Especially after we find out that the goods they stole have been used to create weapons that are sold to the enemy nations."

    "Alright, I''ll leave it to you then," her father said, then he turned to the count. "You heard my daughter, Kyle. Come up with a usible excuse for the Crown Prince''s sudden visit, then send the word to the Hazelden Kingdom."

    Kyle Sprouse bowed to the emperor. "As you wish, Your Majesty."

    After saying that, the count excused himself and left her father''s office quietly.

    Now, only her and her Papa Boss were left in the room.

    "Papa Boss, I have something to say regarding this matter," she said seriously. Now that Kyle Sprouse was not there anymore, she could now talk freely. "Do you remember when the Holy Land was attacked a few years ago? The home of the former saint was attacked by the rebels from the enemy nations, and the refugees from the previous war under the saint''s wing were killed by the suicide group that the rebels brought with them."

    "How could I forget?" her father asked bitterly. "We were heavily criticized for what happened."

    They were criticized because the empire was the one in charge of the Holy Land''s protection. But the royal knights stationed there were easily defeated by the rebels. If it wasn''t for the Holy Knights, the damage they received would have been worse.

    "I believe the weapons used by the rebels during that attack were supplied by the Hazelden Kingdom," she said. "I came up with that conclusion after I went to the library to read the report regarding that incident. It turns out that the rebels we arrested were non-Mana users, but they were able to take down the royal knights easily."

    "I know what you''re talking about," her father said while nodding. "But unfortunately, we didn''t retrieve the weapons the rebels used for that attack. Thus, we didn''t have the chance to investigate where the weapons came from."

    "I believe those weapons could still be retrieved," she said. "If we retrieve them, they would serve as pieces of evidence against the Hazelden Kingdom."

    "Can you find those weapons?"

    "No, not me," Neoma said, then she smiled brightly. "But I trust my "children.""

    Her Papa Boss let out a softugh. "It seems like you n to work them to the bone, huh?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "ARE YOU bored?" Neoma asked when she saw Xion rolling on the bed like a child. "Was life in prison bored the hell out of you?"

    Xion, who stopped rolling on the bed, immediately got up and faced her. His face lit up when he saw her, but he also looked confused. "Your Royal Highness, I know this room is in your pce, but is it safe to walk around without your disguise?"

    Yep, right now, she was dressed as Neoma Ramsay.

    That meant her hair and eye color were changed into in brown, and she was also dressed as amoner. She even wore a hooded robe toplete her disguise.

    "It''s fine," Neoma assured the assassin. "Jeno and Lady Avery worked together to create a mist spell that would conceal my presence. Plus, I''m dressed like this because we''re going out of the pce, and I need you to go with me."

    "Does it mean I have yourplete trust now?" the assassin asked with a raised eyebrow. "Your Royal Highness also released me from prison."

    "You already took the Oath, so I''m not that worried about being betrayed by you," she said with a shrug. "Moreover, you''re an easy kill, so I don''t see you as a threat."

    Xion didn''t seem to mind, as he justughed at her sass. "Where shall I escort Your Royal Highness?"

    "I''ll introduce you to someone you''ll need to work closely with from now on," Neoma said seriously. "He''s someone I see as my older brother, so you better behave around him, Xion."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "PRINCESS NEOMA, your penchant for good-looking people is getting worse day by day."

    Neoma pouted at Jasper Hawthorne''s scolding voice. "Oppa, we haven''t seen each other for quite a while and yet, you''re already nagging at me?"

    Yep, she sneaked out of the pce with Lewis and Xion to go to Jasper Hawthorne''s information guild called Sinkhole.

    [Jasper oppa''s office here is safe, so we''re free to talk like this.]

    "I''m just worried about you, Princess Neoma," Jasper oppa said while giving Xion a side-eye. "I know that you''re fond of good-looking people, but I didn''t expect you to bring a Redgrave on your side. Is it because of his face?"

    Jasper Hawthorne didn''t recognize Xion since before Lord Redgrave died, no one could remember Xion''s face.

    But when Xion introduced himself to her oppa as ''Xion Redgrave,'' Jasper Hawthorne immediately recognized him as one of the assassins from the infamous Redgrave n. And now that the curse of the Redgraves was gone, she bet her oppa wouldn''t forget Xion after that meeting.

    [Jasper oppa doesn''t seem to like Xion, though.]

    Xion smirked while giving Jasper Hawthorne a side-eye of his own. "Princess Neoma, if you need information, you should have just told me. We didn''t have toe to a small-fry information guild like this one."

    "At least my guild is decent," Jasper Hawthorne said while smiling "brightly" at Xion. "Xion Redgrave, you of all people should know how filthy your family''s assassin guild is. Would you really like to bring our Princess Neoma in that kind of ce?"

    Xion visibly twitched, obviously offended by Jasper Hawthorne''s taunting.

    She let out a sigh, then she turned to Lewis with the intention of asking her "son" to meditate between Xion and her oppa.

    But she immediately noticed that Lewis was enjoying the fight between the two.

    "Let them fight," Lewis whispered to her as if he knew what she wanted him to do, but he wasn''t in the mood to follow her. "It''s fun."

    She let out another sigh.

    [Lewis can sometimes act like a sadist.]

    "Xion, Jasper oppa, I need both of your help," Neoma dered sternly, making Xion and Jasper Hawthorne turn to her at the same time. "So please get your shit together before I lose mine, okay?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 366 - EAT, SLEEP, PLAY, AND RULE

    "JASPER OPPA, can you steal something for Neoma?" Neoma asked in a sickeningly sweet voice while giving Jasper Hawthorne puppy dog eyes. Yes, she was doing ''aegyo'' for him. "Since your guild buys and sells information, I figured you wouldn''t mind stealing information for your cute and charismatic little sister."

    Jasper Hawthorne raised an eyebrow at her "aegyo." "I don''t have a cute and charismatic little sister," he said in a teasing voice. Then he sipped his tea before he spoke again. "I have a sly and maniptive one, though."

    Sheughed at how the young duke described her. "Sly and maniptive then," she said, agreeing with his assessment of her. Then she turned serious as she handed him a scroll. "These are the families who own the territories near the Holy Land, oppa. Those people were also the ones in charge of the investigation regarding the recent attack at the former saint''s home."

    The young duke unrolled the scroll and scanned the content. "What exactly do you want me to steal from these people?"

    "Weapons," she answered seriously. "To be precise, I want you to raid their weaponry."

    "I thought you wanted me to steal information, little miss."

    Sheughed softly at his teasing. "Oppa, those weapons contain the information I need," she exined. "The weapons that the rebels used to attack the Holy Land disappeared. Those weapons are tempting, oppa. I have a feeling that the families who investigated the incident stole the weapons and kept them for themselves. Don''t you find it suspicious that they caught the rebels, but the weapons they used disappeared?"

    "I can see why you''re suspicious," he said, then he tapped his index finger on thest line that she wrote on the scroll. Then he looked up at her and raised an eyebrow. "But Princess Neoma, are you sure about this one?"

    She just smiled and sipped her tea.

    "Thest group you''re suspecting of stealing those weapons is the Holy Knights," Jasper oppa said in a serious voice. "Princess Neoma, the Holy Knights are said to be as strong as His Majesty''s Pdins."

    Xion, who was standing behind her, smirked. "What? You''re scared of the Holy Knights? If you can''t do it, just say so. As long as I''m here, Princess Neoma doesn''t need another guild."

    Jasper oppa wisely ignored Xion. "Princess Neoma, I''m not hesitating because I''m afraid for myself. I''m just worried about you," he said while looking at her with a concerned look on his face. "The Holy Land is the home of Lord Yule, the god that governs the continent¨C and you''re the descendant of Lord Yule. If you pick a fight with the Holy Knights, it will tarnish your reputation as the "Crown Prince." Majority of the people of the empire worship the Moon God after all."

    "Oppa, I''m grateful for your concern, but please don''t worry too much," she assured him. "The Holy Land won''t touch the "Crown Prince" even if I pissed them off."

    The young duke blinked, then he let out a soft "ah." "Right," he said while nodding. "Lord Yule left a prophecy that says you''ll be the one bringing the next saint in the near future. The Holy Land would want to avoid a fight with you because of that."

    "Yep," she said. "I''d like you to suggest investigating High Priest Wellington first. ording to my experience as a veteran weeb, it''s always the saint or the high priest who turns out to be a wolf in sheep''s clothing."

    Jasper oppa looked confused by her words, but he still nodded in the end. "I understand, Princess Neoma. I will start my investigation with High Priest Wellington. He''s the one in charge of the Holy Knights now that the saint is gone."

    "Very well," she said, then she gave him a thumbs up. "Just run wild, oppa. If you and your guild get in trouble because of my order, I wille and save you."

    Jasper oppaughed softly. "It''s a relief to know that the great Princess Neoma has my back."

    "Aren''t you lucky you have a sly and maniptive little sister?"

    He smiled and nodded. "Princess Neoma, the moment you risked your life just because I asked for your help during the incident at the Death Camp, I already made a vow to myself."

    "Oh, what kind of vow?"

    The young duke just smiled, then he stood up. After that, he approached her. Then, much to her shock, he got down on one knee and held her hand.

    "I promised myself I''ll follow you even to hell, Princess Neoma," Jasper oppa said softly, then he kissed the back of her hand without breaking eye contact. "Whether you need me or not, I''m always here for you."

    Oh.

    That kind of made her heart skip a beat.

    [It''s like when your bias or favorite actor says sweet nothings to you as fan service.]

    "His Majesty¡­"

    [Huh?]

    She turned to Lewis who mentioned her Papa Boss out of the blue.

    "I''m going to be a snitch," Lewis said in a low yet cold voice, his golden eyes glowing for some reason. "I''m going to tattle on His Majesty that Duke Jasper Hawthorne kissed Princess Neoma."

    "Hey, it''s just my hand," Neomained, afraid that House Hawthorne would be the next noble household to disappear in the empire. "And I didn''t raise a snitch, you brat!"

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA smiled proudly while looking at her "children" who were standing in front of her like the gant knights they were.

    Lewis, Juri Wisteria, Jeno Dankworth, Paige Avery, Xion Redgrave, and little Greko.

    Right now, she gathered her children in his personal training grounds. But since it was hot, and she was feelingzy today, she was sitting on afortable chair while under a huge umbre. There was also a round table beside her, and a ss of orange juice on top of it.

    "Eat, sleep, y, and rule," Neoma said cheerfully. "That''s our team''s motto. I believe we already have had plenty of "eat and sleep" moments recently. And so, I believe it''s time for us to "y and rule.""

    It was funny how her children showed different reactions.

    Lewis, Xion Redgrave, Jeno Dankworth remained stoic.

    Juri Wisteria and little Greko looked excited.

    Paige Avery just smiled her signature calm and healing smile.

    "It''s time for us to y," she dered cheerfully. "And our target is the Hazelden Kingdom."

    Juri and Greko both pped their hands.

    Aside from the Hazelden Kingdom''s involvement with smuggling weapons to the enemy nations, she had two other reasons for visiting the kingdom.

    The second reason was to find Delwyn, the traitorous Ice Spirit.

    And the third reason was rted to Jasper oppa''s report regarding his search for Regina Crowell''s whereabouts. She asked the young duke to look for the little crow because she didn''t believe that she died in the fire.

    Actually, she went to Jasper oppa''s guild to ask him to stop looking for Regina Crowell since Ruto told her he had already taken care of the little crow. But the result of Jasper oppa''s investigation was already avable.

    ["Princess Neoma, the trace of the sole person who escaped from the fire at the Belle''s House ended at the border of the Hazelden Kingdom."]

    That was Jasper oppa''s report.

    [It won''t hurt to check it since I''ll be there anyway.]

    Although Ruto already promised her the crows would lie low in the meantime, she couldn''t be toocent. It wasn''t like she didn''t trust him. She just couldn''t leave everything to Ruto and the Sun Goddess.

    Most of all, she had a personal beef with Regina Crowell. She wanted to deal with the crows on her own for that very reason.

    [But I have to focus on our mission in the meantime.]

    "I''ll give you your assignments now," she said, then she turned to Paige Avery. "Paige."

    She called Paige by her first name instead of ''Lady Avery'' because it was her request. Paige Avery wanted to be called by her first name when the young mage realized she addressed the other "children" casually.

    "I want you to work with Duke Jasper Hawthorne," she said. "I asked His Grace to look for weapons made from the Hisa Jewels. Since you''re familiar with the Hisa Tree and the jewels it produces, I''m hoping you can help him find the weapons we need to find."

    "I understand, Princess Neoma," Paige Avery said with a gentle smile on her face. "I will create a device to detect weapons made from Hisa Jewels."

    "As expected of our dear mage," she said happily, then she turned to Xion. "Our dear assassin, my order for you is vague. But I want you to find a document in the Hazelden Kingdom¨C a document that will prove they''re smuggling weapons to our empire''s enemies. Is that too vague?"

    "No," Xion said with a shrug. "I''ve done missions like that in the past. I know where and what to look for, Princess Neoma."

    "Good," she said. "Bring Jeno with you. You''re both good at stealth. You can trust him to watch your back since he''s a long-range fighter."

    Xion and Jeno looked at each other briefly before ignoring each other.

    [Haaah.]

    "Lewis, Juri, and Greko will be with me," she said. "We will destroy the Hazelden Kingdom pce if we need to."

    "Yes, Princess Neoma," Juri said excitedly. "I''m good at destroying things!"

    Sheughed softly. "I know¨C that''s exactly why you''re the Tank."

    "Eomma, I''m also g-good at destroying things," Greko said shyly. "I will destroy anything you want me to destroy."

    Ah, no.

    She wouldn''t be bringing Greko with her for that reason.

    "Greko, you''re in charge of our health," she said to her youngest gently. "Your hyungs and noonas are in charge of destroying things. Leave it to them. Your job is to make sure none of us would get hurt. Can our maknae do that?"

    Greko nodded eagerly. "Of course, eomma. I will make sure everyone is healthy!"

    She just smiled at Greko''s cuteness overload.

    Then she stood up and addressed her children one by one with her gaze.

    "This mission is going to be your debut," Neoma said seriously. "Children, let''s shake the continent until everyone knows the existence of the Moonrose Knights."

    And Neoma didn''t lie.

    Her children destroyed the Hazelden Kingdom.

    She gained "ownership" of the Holy Knights.

    And she, along with her Moonrose Knights, eliminated the remaining members of the enemy nations who allied together to wage war on the empire.

    Thanks to her victory, her children became heroes of the continent overnight.

    Three yearster¡­

    <strong>***</strong>

    "I''M SO fucking pretty," Neoma said, then she let out a sigh while looking at her beautiful reflection in the mirror. Even though her hair was short and she was wearing the uniform for the male students of the Royal Moon Academy, she still managed to look pretty. It would be hard to pretend as a boy when her features were so lovely and soft. "Ah, the burden of being born with a shocking visual¡­"

    Thirteen-year-old Neoma would definitely be Royal Moon Academy''s most beautiful face as soon as she step foot on the school premises.

    [I can already see myself breaking so many innocent hearts.]

    "Y-Your Royal Highness!"

    She looked at Lewis, who was standing behind her, in the mirror.

    [Gosh.]

    Fifteen-year-old Lewis was a total hottie: tall, handsome, strong.

    She knew she shouldn''t be saying this towards her "son," but Lewis really grew up as a very attractive young man.

    [Here''s another heartbreaker in the making.]

    "B-Blood," Lewis said, his face red as he avoided her gaze in the mirror. "There''s a spot of blood in your pants, Princess Neoma."

    Blood?

    In her pants?

    Neoma gasped when she realized what it could be. "I got my period?"

    Why did her menstruation have to begin on her first day as an academy student?!

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 367 - MAKING OF THE LEGENDARY TEAM (1)

    <em><strong><A month before Neoma enters the Royal Moon Academy as a freshman¡­></strong></em>

    "LET IT go, let it go," Neoma sang as she glided in the ice rink while wearing the ice skate made of ice. While singing her heart out and dancing on the rink, pretending to be an ice skater, she didn''t miss avoiding the imps the size of a fountain pen being thrown at her. "Can''t hold it back anymore!"

    She raised her "finger guns" and hit the imps with arrows made of ice. As soon as her ice arrows hit the imps, her targets froze. And when those things fell and hit the ice rink, they broke into tiny pieces.

    "Let it go, let it go. Turn away and m the door," she continued singing. Since the "attack" had stopped, she began making ice statues of herself in different cute poses. "I don''t care what they''re going to say!"

    She spun like a ballerina until snow poured down on the ice rink. Since her "territory" was only around the ice rink, it was the only area affected by the change of weather. Outside the ice rink, it was still sunny.

    "Let the storm rage on," she sang once more, then she stopped spinning around. "The cold never bothered me anyway."

    "Are you done with your performance?"

    She took a deep breath before turning around to face the owner of the grumpy voice.

    And there he was.

    William was sitting on the railing of the pavilion in the middle of the ice rink.

    Ah, the ice rink was the frozen pond she would often visit when she was younger. Since Soju, her Water Spirit, didn''t need to dwell on the pond anymore, she decided to freeze it and turn it into an ice rink.

    "Must you always sing that strange song every time we do this?" William asked, annoyed. Then he opened his mouth and put an imp inside. Yes, an imp¨C a small goblin-like creature that was a menace to society. It was William''s favorite snack. "You''re not a talented singer, so stop," he said after he swallowed the imp. "And stop looking at me like you''re about to puke."

    "I can''t help it, though," sheined, then she put her hands on her hips. "Must you really eat those imps in front of me, Master?"

    He smirked at her. "I do it to annoy you, my precious student."

    She took a deep breath to keep herself calm.

    It had been three years since William became her master. Their rtionship improved, but they still liked to get on each other''s nerves. But at least they weren''t after each other''s throat now.

    [And it''s all thanks to my effort.]

    "Must the two of you always fight?"

    Neoma and William turned to the owner of thezy voice.

    [And there he is.]

    A man that looked a little like Jack Frost from the movie ''R*se of the G*ardians.'' White hair with blue strands, pale skin, green eyes¨C features that made him look like the flower boy type. His blue robe with a flower design also suited him.

    "Yo, Delwyn," she greeted the Ice Spirit, aka her fake Soul Beast, cheerfully. "You woke up earlier than expected."

    Delwyn yawned while stretching his arms before he responded. "You told me to wake up before you start attending school," he said in his usuallyzy voice. In short, he spoke slowly, in a low tone. But his voice sounded soothing, so she enjoyed hearing him talk. "You said something about showing me off to your schoolmates or something."

    She smirked proudly. "Yeah, about that¨C"

    "Why the hell do you need to show off that sloth?" William snapped again. Gosh, this man''s temper was really something. "You''ve been using your Ice Spirit as your fake Soul Beast for the past three years. Everyone in the empire already knows that the Crown Prince has ice attribute, so it won''t be a problem once Nero returns."

    She beamed at that. "Exactly," she said. "Nero will return in a few months. My contract with Delwyn will end by then, so I want to y with him as much as I could."

    "Seizing ourst remaining days together, huh?" Delwyn said, then he yawned again. "I don''t mind. But how should we y this time?"

    "I want to be the representative of the freshmen this year," she said. "To achieve that, a student must aplish three things: First, get the best score in the entrance exam. Second, get the highest score after they gauge the students'' Mana. Then finally, the match."

    The match would happen between the two students who would get the top two scores in the entrance exam and the Mana-calcting test.

    "I know about that match since I''ve been observing the de Moonasterios for a long time. As far as I know, ever since the Royal Moon Academy has been built, no de Moonasterio has ever lost in thest match to be the school''s representative," William said bitterly. But he suddenly smirked while looking at her. "Oh, maybe you''ll be the first de Moonasterio to lose the match."

    "Shut up. I won''t lose," she snapped at her master. "Nero wants to be the representative of the freshmen this year. He rarely asks for favors, so I don''t want to disappoint him."

    Even though Nero was still stuck in the Spirit World, he didn''t stop studying. The two of them studied the same materials. Plus, her twin brother had the Queen of the Spirit World herself as his private tutor.

    [I''m sure Nero won''t have a hard time adapting once I transfer all my work to himter.]

    "I''m gonna be a free woman soon," she said, whileughing like a viiness from a third-rate horror film. "My Papa Boss can''t give me the duchess'' title yet because of the existingw that we haven''t changed yet. But at least I''m free to live as Neoma Ramsay in the meantime."

    William rolled his eyes at her. "If you will not live as a de Moonasterio, then at least use your mother''sst name instead of a made-up one."

    "That''s why I said "in the meantime,"" she said defensively. "Nero and Papa Boss promised they''ll put my name in the family registry once everything is settled. I''m going to be Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio soon."

    "What about Mona? Is she going to be a part of your family, too?" the Grand Spirit asked seriously. "Manu and your Soul Beast will return soon. What does Niki de Moonasterio n to do once Mona is free?"

    She scratched her cheek while recalling how her Papa Boss was behaving these days.

    ["Neoma, when will your Soul Beast return?"]

    ["We can trust your Soul Beast, right?"]

    ["That damned Moon Priest better raised your Soul Beast properly or else I''ll kill him."]

    Those were the questions her Papa Boss often asked her these days.

    Yep, her father had been anxious recently. Her Papa Boss couldn''t wait for Tteokbokki to return, but it wasn''t because he cared about her Soul Beast.

    "I think Papa Boss is still in love with Mama Boss."

    "So what?" William scoffed. "Your useless father was also in love with Mona in the past, but he didn''t do shit to make her his wife."

    She couldn''t really defend her Papa Boss when William put it that way.

    But¡­

    "I believe Papa Boss will make things right this time," she said confidently. "I can tell he''s determined to make our familyplete soon."

    William rolled his eyes again. "Whatever."

    "Stop talking about your family drama¨C I''m getting bored here," Delwynined, then he yawned again while stretching his arms. "Neoma de Moonasterio, we should train again if you want to be the strongest student in the academy."

    "Okay," she said cheerfully. "Can I sing and dance again while training¨C"

    "No," Delwyn and William said sternly at the same time.

    Gosh, look at their rapport.

    [It''s as if the three of us didn''t try to kill each other three years ago.]

    She couldn''t help butugh while remembering their three-way battle in the past. It was bloody, and the three of them blew up a huge portion of the Hazelden Kingdom. Even her Papa Boss said he had never seen such a mess before.

    But look at them now.

    "I can''t say that the three of us are friends now, but we''vee a long way if you think about our three-way battle," she said, making Delwyn and William smirk. "Do you know what Papa Boss calls the three of us these days?"

    "Scammer trio," William said with a smirk. "I usually hate anything Niki de Moonasterio says, but I can''t refute that one."

    "I''ve been living for so long, but this is the first time I''ve been called a scammer," Delwyn said in an amused manner, then he turned to her and smirked. "It''s your fault, little Neoma. Ever since I signed a contract with you, you''ve taught me nothing but bad things."

    "Hey, you''re already a bad person¨C I only taught you how to put your evilness to good use," Neoma said defensively, then she flipped her hair. "Anyway, let''s go and scam more bad guys."

    <strong>***</strong>

    <em><strong>[THREE years earlier¡­]</strong></em>

    "MY MOON Princess, you''re finally awake."

    "I''ve been awake for several days now, Trevor," Neoma said, then she tore her gaze away from the document in her hands to look up at Trevor. The demon boy was standing in front of her desk. "Why are you here? Did something happen to Nero?"

    She was busy arranging her trip to the Hazelden Kingdom with her people.

    But she couldn''t ignore Trevor even if he dropped by unannounced. After all, Trevor was connected to Nero. She would always worry about her twin brother every time the demon boy appeared before her.

    "No, Prince Nero is doing fine," Trevor said cheerfully. "He''s sneakily learning from Queen Tara with the intention of stealing the Spirit World from her. Didn''t you tell Prince Nero that you wanted the Spirit World? He''s already on it."

    Ah, right.

    She told her brother that she wanted the Spirit World. But to be precise, she wanted him to keep an eye on it¨C especially the Queen of the Spirit World.

    ording to her Papa Boss, her Mama Boss doubted the Queen''s intention after finding out the gods were interested to turn her into an Aether. After all, being an Aether didn''t only mean giving pure air to the gods in the Upper World.

    [The Spirit World and the Underworld would also benefit from the Aether.]

    Gosh, everyone wanted a piece of her¨C literally.

    She smiled, setting those thoughts aside in the meantime. "Nero really likes me, huh?"

    "I think you like your twin brother as much as he likes you."

    She smiled warmly at that remark. "It''s a given since he''s my one and only brother in the world. Plus, we suffered together during the time Papa Boss was acting like a scumbag. Thanks to that, we developed a bond that wouldn''t break easily."

    "I''m starting to feel jealous, Princess Neoma."

    "Yes, yes. I''m a sinful woman," she said, already used to Trevor hitting on her. "So, what brings you here?"

    His face beamed instantly. "I have a gift for you, Princess Neoma."

    "I like gifts," she said. "So, where is it?"

    Trevor smirked, then he snapped his fingers. "Here."

    A ck hole opened up on the ceiling, then something huge came out of it and fell to the floor with a loud thud.

    "I''ll kill you, you fucking demon!"

    Trevor just shrugged.

    Neoma, on the other hand, knitted her eyebrows while looking at the man who just stood up while ring at her. "Oh, if it isn''t Uncle Scumbag."

    <strong>***</strong>

    <strong>NOTE: </strong>The timeline hereon will switch between past and present. I hope you don''t get confused~

    <strong>***</strong><strong></strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 368 - MAKING OF THE LEGENDARY TEAM (2)

    "I ALREADY delivered the goods, so I''m leaving now."

    Neoma tore her gaze away from William who was shooting her with death res to turn to Trevor. "You''re already leaving? I thought you''d stay and pester me longer."

    "I''d love to, but I need to pay attention to treating Prince Nero. I can''t stay away from his physical body for a long time," Trevor said, then he waved at her with a sad look on his face. "See youter, my Moon Princess."

    "See youter," she said while waving back at him. "And thank you for granting my request to bring William here, Trevor."

    "Anything for you, Princess Neoma," Trevor said, then he bowed to her until he disappeared.

    "So, what business do you have with me?" William asked, then he sat on the armrest of the sofa while facing her. "Nero and that damned demon worked together to knock me out again. I should have known it was your order, since you''re the only one who could boss those two around."

    "Well, aren''t I lovely?"

    He just gave her a cold look. "Spit it out," he said, annoyed. "I hate wasting time with a filthy bug like you."

    "The feeling is mutual, Uncle Scumbag," she deadpanned, then she went straight to the point. "Lord Manu, the Moon Priest, took my Soul Beast away to raise him. He promised to return in three years'' time with an adult Tteokbokki."

    William knitted his eyebrows. "It''s impossible to raise a Soul Beast to an adult in that short amount of time. A Soul Beast grows with its host physical body¨C"

    "I decided to trust the Moon Priest," she said, cutting him off. "So, in three years'' time, I''d be able to save Mama Boss."

    He looked too stunned to speak.

    "Uncle Scumbag, you''re really a scumbag," she said disapprovingly. "You knew all along how to save my mother, but you refused to tell me just because you hated me for being more of a de Moonasterio than a Roseheart."

    He red at her. "Nero could also break the ice since he has ice attribute¨C"

    "Get your shit together, will you?" she said, then she sighed while shaking her head. "William, I heard you were the de facto leader of my mother''s Spirit Guardians. But do you know the Ice Spirit betrayed my mother and helped the former Commander Gavin Quinzel trap her in that stupid block of ice?"

    He didn''t look as surprised as she thought he would be.

    She let out a deep sigh. "So, you knew all along?"

    "Mona''s Ice Spirit is unique, so I recognized the ice as his," he admitted hesitantly. "But I was in denial because I didn''t want to entertain the possibility of Mona being betrayed by one of her trusted Spirit Guardians."

    [Well, I can understand that part.]

    "After you woke me up, and I found out about Mona, I began searching for that damned Ice Spirit," the Grand Spirit continued. "Unfortunately, I haven''t found him yet."

    "Oh," she said, then she raised an eyebrow. "So, what would you do if you find the Ice Spirit?"

    "I''ll kill him, of course."

    "I won''t let you kill him since I need to make him my fake Soul Beast," she said bluntly. "Nero has an ice attribute, so I need to have an ice attribute while pretending to be him. Lord Manu suggested making the Ice Spirit my fake Soul Beast. He already taught me how to do it."

    "Wait," the Grand Spirit said. "Are you saying you know where the Ice Spirit is?"

    "Yep," she said. "I also know how to catch it."

    Ruto taught her the Ice Spirit''s weakness, so she was confident.

    "Tell me," William said impatiently. "Tell me where to find the Ice Spirit."

    "I will bring him to you, but if I do, you have to grant me one request."

    He frowned. "Why would I¨C"

    "Be my master and teach me how to be a proper Roseheart," she said, cutting him off again. "As I said earlier, get your shit together. Is your hatred for the de Moonasterios greater than your desire to save my mother?"

    Once again, he looked too stunned to speak.

    She used that opportunity to give him a piece of her mind.

    "Uncle Scumbag, we both want to save my mother," she said as calmly as she could. "Even if Tteokbokki turns into an adult dragon, what''s the use if I couldn''t control him? For that reason, I need you to train me as a Roseheart."

    "You¨C"

    "For the third time, get your shit together," she said, cutting him off again. "If you don''t want to grant me a request, then let''s just y a game."

    Now the Grand Spirit looked interested.

    "I want to make the Ice Spirit my fake Soul Beast, and you want to kill him. So, let''s y a game," she offered. "Once I find the Ice Spirit, I will summon you. Then we''ll have a race. Let''s see if you could kill him first before I make him my fake Soul Beast."

    He scoffed. "Do you think the Ice Spirit will stay still while we "race?""

    "Of course not," she said while rolling her eyes at him. "But that''s what makes the game more interesting. It would be a three-way battle." She raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you afraid you''d lose to me?"

    William snarled at her. "I won''t lose to a filthy bug like you."

    "We''ll see about that, Uncle Scumbag," Neoma said with a sweet smile on her face. "But I don''t think I''d lose to a grown-ass man who couldn''t get his shit together."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "I FELT William''s presence in your pce earlier."

    Neoma was surprised by what her Papa Boss said as soon as she entered his office. But thankfully, she quickly gathered her wits. "Trevor "delivered" William as per my request," she exined, then she put the documents she needed her father to sign on the table between them. "Papa Boss, I heard you also asked Trevor to bring William to you. I''m sorry, I should have stopped him before he left."

    "It''s alright. I no longer need to see him," her Papa Boss said calmly. "So, did you win?"

    "Hmm?"

    "I didn''t sense any fighting," her father exined. "But I''m sure you didn''t let William leave without giving him a piece of your mind."

    She smirked and gave her father a thumbs up. "I made him speechless several times, Papa Boss. Plus, I got thest words."

    "Good," her father said proudly. "I knew you wouldn''t lose when ites to battle of words. Did you curse at him?"

    "Of course, Papa Boss."

    "Very well," her Papa Boss said as if he was satisfied with her "win." "How''s the preparation for your trip to the Hazelden Kingdom?"

    "It''s going well, Papa Boss," she said. "We''ll be leaving the day after tomorrow."

    "Are you sure you''ll only be bringing Jeanne Audley with you?" he asked. "You can bring Dion Skelton and Geoffrey Kinsley, too."

    "It''s alright, Papa Boss. The Fletcher Twins and Sir Glenn will be there anyway," she said. "You need Geoffrey by your side. And I think Dion is ufortable with me these days."

    Her father knitted his eyebrows. "Did you bully Dion?"

    She gasped exaggeratedly. "Do you think I''m that kind of person, Papa Boss?"

    Her Papa Boss just gave her a dire stare that said, "yes, you''re a bully."

    She clicked her tongue because she couldn''t deny that. "I didn''t bully Dion," she said. "His eyes keep absorbing my Moonglow these days. I actually don''t mind since it doesn''t affect me negatively, anyway. But he looks guilty every time it happens."

    "Ah, that really sounds like Dion."

    "Papa Boss, do you know why Dion''s eyes are like that?"

    "Of course," he said. "That''s the reason why I chose him to be one of my Pdins. Do you want to know the story behind his eyes?"

    "I''m curious, but not that curious, so I''m fine."

    Her father chuckled. "Dion will tell you about it soon. Until then, contain your curiosity."

    "Okay, Papa Boss."

    Her Papa Boss looked at her as if he was hesitating to say something. But in the end, he still did. "Neoma, I won''t ask how you became acquainted with an infamous information guild. But be careful. Even if you''re in disguise, it''s still dangerous."

    She froze when she heard that. [Papa Boss knows¡­]

    And here she thought she did a good job sneaking out of the pce.

    "Papa Boss, are you keeping an eye on me?"

    "Of course," her father said while nodding. "As I said before, you''ll always be a child to me."

    She pouted. But deep inside, she was touched by her father''s concern. "Who tailed me, Papa Boss?"

    He chuckled while shaking his head. "Don''t underestimate my Pdins and my informationwork, Neoma. Before I became the emperor, I was a rebellious Crown Prince. How do you think I managed to usurp the throne from your tyrant grandfather?"

    She beamed at that. "Papa Boss, do you have a connection to the "dangerous crowd?""

    He smirked at her. "I''ll tell you about it after you return from the Hazelden Kingdom. That will be one of your rewards."

    Ohh, not bad.

    The informationwork of her Papa Boss would surelye in handy.

    "Let''s have a pic after I return, Papa Boss."

    He smiled warmly at her. "That sounds like a nice idea."

    She smiled, happy that she could have this heartwarming moment with her Papa Boss.

    "Do you need anything else from me?" her Papa Boss asked. "I can''t join you in your trip to the Hazelden Kingdom, but I can provide you with anything you might need."

    "Ah, I have a request, Papa Boss," Neoma said seriously. "Can I borrow one of your Soul Beasts?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    [GLENN¡­]

    Brigitte clenched her hands while looking at her unconscious lover on the bed.

    Glenn was covered with blood.

    She couldn''t even tell where he was injured because he was bleeding all over.

    Worse, she couldn''t personally check on his condition because the prison bars separated them. She was outside, while Glenn was in the basement cell bleeding to death.

    "Treat his injuries," Brigitte said, both of her palms bleeding because she was clenching her hands tightly. "If Glenn dies, I''ll murder our whole family."

    Her brother, Crown Prince ke Hazelden,ughed at her threat. "Do you think you could kill our whole family when you can''t even protect your lover?"

    She turned to her brother with a cold look on her face. "Brother, there''s a reason why you''re scared of me. Have you forgotten that you were chosen to be the Crown Prince only because of that stupid thing between your legs?"

    Her brother stoppedughing to re at her.

    She smirked, then she approached him and caressed his cheek with the back of her hand. "My pitiful brother," she said in an exaggeratedly sad voice. "If I were born a male, you wouldn''t stand a chance against me."

    He grabbed her wrist. "Brigitte Hazelden, don''t test my patience."

    "ke Hazelden, don''t test my patience, too," she said coldly. "I''ve been doing your bidding all this time. I told you to not touch Glenn, but you went ahead and hurt him."

    "He was the one who tried to send a message to the empire despite our deal¨C"

    "I don''t want to hear yourme excuse," she snarled at her brother. "We have a deal. I''m telling you to keep Glenn alive or else I''ll make you regret it."

    "You better do a good job then," ke said, then he roughly let go of her wrist. "Kill Crown Prince Nero de Moonasterio if you want to save your lover."

    "I already said I''ll do it," Brigitte said, then she turned her back on her brother. It was to hide her smile. [My foolish brother, the moment Prince Nero arrives here is the moment our Hazelden Kingdom will meet its end.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 369 - MAKING OF THE LEGENDARY TEAM (3)

    "FATHER, carry me," Neoma said to her father, who was there to send her off. When her father just looked at her with a nk look on his face, she raised her arms. Since there were "outsiders" who didn''t know about her that much, she addressed her father formally. "Come on, Father. My arms are hurting."

    Her Papa Boss looked around.

    At the moment, they were in the secret "parking lot" where the fancy carriages they would use to travel to the Hazelden Kingdom were parked. Since they would leave the pce without the knowledge of the public, they would use a path that only members of the royal family could use.

    Still, her visit to the Hazelden Kingdom was an official one. Thus, she and herpanions were dressed formally.

    Ah, herpanions at the moment were the following: Lewis, Greko, Juri Wisteria, Jeno Dankworth, and Xion Redgrave. Aside from her "children," Jeanne Audley, Sera Wisteria, and Jade Wisteria would also apany her.

    [Ah, is father shy to show her affection for me in front of his subjects?]

    She was about to tell her Papa Boss to forget it, she heard her father clear his throat.

    Then, much to her surprise, everyone around them suddenly lowered their gaze to the ground. By "everyone," she meant herpanions and her father''s guards. Her Papa Boss''s guards included Geoffrey Kinsley, Dion Skelton, Kyle Sprouse, and a few royal knights.

    [It''s actually pretty cool how everyone lowered their gaze as if they''re giving me and Papa Boss some privacy.]

    But there was no official rule regarding that.

    Was it an unspoken rule because it was unusual for a de Moonasterio emperor to show his affection towards his own child?

    Her thoughts were interrupted when her father carried her in his arms.

    "What is it?" her Papa Boss asked, his voice and face looked calm. But she could see the sparkle in his eyes. "What do you want to give me?"

    She reached for the inner pocket of her red suit. Then she pulled out a small box that she had been carrying all this time. She opened it and showed her father the clip-on ck ear stud inside. "Please wear this, Father," she said. "This is a device created from Paige''s magic. Before she left, she created an exclusive kind ofmunication device for us."

    Paige Avery was really super useful.

    She didn''t have to particrly order her to do stuff. The mage just knew what she had to do as soon as she heard about the mission. Plus, she was quick to create things.

    [Paige''s magic is no joke.]

    Her father looked at the ck ear stud in her right ear. "Will it be safe for you to wear that? I''m sure the Hazelden Kingdom is prepared to receive you as a guest. That means they definitely put their guards up against you."

    "Paige said thismunication device is undetectable by any kind of magic-checking device," she said. "ording to her, this earring would only appear as high-grade jewelry."

    "Do you trust your mage that much?"

    "Yes, Father," she said, then she picked up the ear stud and put it in her father''s right ear. "So please trust her, too."

    "I''ll only trust her because of you," her father said. "Be careful, my child."

    Okay, she was touched when her Papa Boss called her "my child" instead of Nero''s name. There were times that her father couldn''t avoid addressing her as ''Prince Nero'' in front of other people. But she appreciated his effort to avoid that as much as he could.

    "Don''t worry about me too much, Father," she said. "About my other request¡­"

    Aside from borrowing one of her father''s Soul Beasts, she asked for another request. But she asked it from the emperor and not her Papa Boss. As a Crown Prince without a solid backing yet, she had no choice but to rely a lot on her father.

    "Consider it done," her Papa Boss said confidently. "Just give me a signal, and I''ll take care of everything."

    [Yep, I''m lucky my father is a powerful emperor.]

    She could only go on a rampage because of her strong backing.

    "Thank you, Father," Neoma said, then she wrapped her arms around her father''s neck. Then she whispered in his ear. "It''s okay to act like a tyrant on the bad guys."

    Aka bullying the people they needed to intimidate for their n.

    Her Papa Boss chuckled, then he patted her back gently. "I don''t "act" like a tyrant, my dear child," he said bitterly. "I am a tyrant for the people of the nations and kingdoms we conquered¨C and that''s the sad reality."

    Ah, yes.

    And that was one of the many sins the de Moonasterios hadmitted from generation to generation.

    <strong>***</strong>

    NIKOLAI watched until thest carriage from Neoma''s envoy disappeared from his sight before he opened his mouth. "Dion."

    "Yes, Your Majesty?"

    "You may go now," he told his Pdin. "Make sure Neoma''s allies in Valmento won''t notice you."

    Yes, he asked Dion to go to Valmento¨C the Holy Land¨C where Neoma sent Paige Avery to.

    It wasn''t like he didn''t trust his daughter''s n. He was also sure Neoma had several backup ns. But as a father, he couldn''t help but provide additional support for his daughter.

    He had to keep it a secret, though.

    [I don''t want Neoma to think I don''t trust her n.]

    "Then I''ll take my leave now, Your Majesty," Dion said politely. "But before I go, may I ask a question?"

    He turned to the Pdin who was standing behind him. "What is it?"

    "Valmento is the Holy Land, so naturally, it''s filled with divine power," the Pdin said hesitantly. "It may affect my eyes. If that happens, would it be eptable for me to ask for Princess Neoma''s help?"

    "Dion, that''s exactly why I''m sending you to Valmento," Niki said, then he walked back to his pce. "It''s time for you to reveal the secret of your eyes to Neoma."

    After all, if Neoma had to deal with the people of Valmento, Dion''s eyes would be useful to his daughter.

    [Neoma is smart, and she''s good at messing with her enemies. But sometimes, she bes too overconfident that she loses sight of the bigger picture. She also trusts her people too much, as if the possibility of failing to aplish her primary n doesn''t ur to her.]

    "I understand, Your Majesty," Dion said politely. "Thank you for the opportunity."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "DON''T KILL each other," Neoma said to Xion and Jeno Dankworth bluntly. "And Xion, you''re the oldest member of the team. You should be more patient with your siblings."

    Physically, at least.

    Paige Avery was trapped in the Hisa Tree for fifty years, but she was only twenty years old when that happened.

    Xion, on the other hand, was already twenty-three years old.

    "Why is Your Royal Highness singling me out?" Xionined. "It''s not like I''m bullying the kids or something."

    She crossed her arms over her chest. "You''re being rude to them by giving snarkyments when talking to them. Act your age, Xion."

    The assassin clicked his tongue.

    "Are you crazy?" Lewis snapped at Xion. "Who do you think you are to click your tongue in front of Princess Neoma?"

    Even Jeno Dankworth red at Xion for clicking his tongue at her.

    She could only sigh while watching the three.

    [Thank goodness I created a Dome to prevent the others from hearing our conversation.]

    Right now, her envoy had a stop-over in the forest near the western border of the capital. Axel, the Royal Mage that apanied her to the Golden Field recently, was currently setting up the portal that would lead to the Hazelden Kingdom.

    Axel was already proven innocent when Sera Wisteria gave a testament saying that the Royal Mage didn''t know about the Hisa Jewels. But she still couldn''t trust Axelpletely, so she asked Juri and Greko to keep an eye on the Royal Mage.

    On the other hand, she asked Jeanne Audley to keep an eye on the Wisteria Ladies.

    "Boys, stop fighting," she scolded her "children." "Jeno, Xion, if the two of you don''t stop ring at each other, you''ll spend the whole trip holding hands."

    Jeno and Xion looked shocked by her "punishment."

    "W-We will not fight, Princess Neoma," Jeno said in a panic. "I''ll just ignore Xion from now on."

    Xion let out a frustrated sigh. "I''ll keep my mouth shut."

    "Good. Now, let''s talk about your mission again," Neoma said seriously. "I want the two of you to find some documents for me."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA felt like her eyes had been blessed when she saw two pretty men with the same face.

    Goddammit.

    [Why am I surrounded by good-looking men?]

    "Greetings, Princess Neoma," the Fletcher Twins greeted her while each one of them had one knee on the ground. "We''re here to serve you."

    [The "flower boys" are back.]

    Ash-brown undercut hair, chocte eyes, face and body that looked conventionally "pretty"¨C the Fletcher Twin could debut as Kpop idols had the two been born in the modern world.

    [Anyway¡­]

    The Fletcher Twins just popped out as soon as her carriage

    "Wee back, twins," Neoma greeted the two when she stepped out of her carriage. "I''m d you arrived safely. You may rise now."

    The Fletcher Twins got up at the same time.

    "I bet you''ve already heard about the situation from my father," she said. "Right?"

    "Yes, Your Royal Highness," Wyatt, the older and calmer twin, said politely. "We will sneak in the pce and look for Glenn."

    "I can''t believe that dumbass got caught," Warren, the younger and loud-mouth twin, said. "He''s equivalent to hundreds of knights and yet, he couldn''t save himself and escape this kingdom?"

    "Warren, shut it," the older twin scolded his younger brother. "Glenn probably couldn''t leave because he wanted to protect his lover."

    "That''s right," Neoma agreed while nodding her head. "Wyatt, Warren, find Sir Glenn. Once you do¡­" She smirked while looking at the twins who were intently waiting for her next order. "Go batshit crazy."

    <strong>***</strong>

    [WHAT A warm wee.]

    Neoma shed her business smile at the royal family of the Hazelden Kingdom that greeted her and her envoy.

    She recognized the people in front of her dressed in fancy clothes.

    King Landon Griffiths¨C gray hair, blue eyes. Tall and fit. `Looked like an annoying ''boomer,'' though.

    [Now I know why Princess Brigitte looks like a goddess.]

    Queen Emma Griffiths¨C strawberry blonde, green eyes. Tall for a woman, voluptuous. The queen didn''t look friendly, and it seemed like she was sizing her up.

    [This couple has good genes, though.]

    And it was evident of their children.

    Strawberry blonde hair, deep blue eyes, a face that could make anyone fall for her¨C those features belonged to Princess Brigitte, the first princess.

    [Princess Brigitte can''t look at me in the eye.]

    She used that opportunity to observe the first princess''s siblings.

    Princess Beatrice, the second princess, also had the same features. But unlike Princess Brigitte, who looked confident, the second princess looked timid.

    On the other hand, Princess Barbara, the third princess who looked close to her age, looked exactly like a mini version of Queen Emma. The attitude as well. Princess Barbara looked like the spoiled type, and she wasn''t even hiding her hostility.

    [What''s wrong with that brat?]

    "Wee to the Hazelden Kingdom, Prince Nero," King Landon Griffiths said formally. "Let me introduce the queen and our children to you." He turned to the young man beside him. "This is ke, our Crown Prince."

    Ah.

    Short strawberry blonde hair, sparkling green eyes, tall physique. The young man dressed in clothes and fancy as hers was undoubtedly the Crown Prince of the Hazelden Kingdom. And that very Crown Prince had a sly smile on his face at the moment.

    "I''m ke Griffiths," ke said as he reached out a hand to her. "It''s an honor to make Your Royal Highness an acquaintance."

    Neoma smiled as she epted the Crown Prince''s handshake. "Same here, Prince ke."

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 370 - MAKING OF THE LEGENDARY TEAM (4)

    "PRINCESS Neoma''s hunch is correct," Paige said, pleased when the device that she made a few days ago informed her that the weapons with Hisa Jewels were close. By ''device,'' she meant the yellow orb in her hand that wouldn''t stop glowing. "The temple really took the weapons for themselves, Your Grace."

    "I never doubted Princess Neoma''s words, but I''m still quite shocked," Jasper Hawthorne, the young duke that Princess Neoma introduced to her before they left the empire. "I guess it''s true that not all religious figures could be trusted."

    She nodded in agreement.

    Right now, she and Jasper Hawthorne were standing on the roof of one of the houses in the residential area in Valmento. From their spot, they could clearly see the Astello Temple, aka the house of the saint, that looked like a castle.

    "The Astello Temple is rich, huh?" she asked with a smile. [They''re not this rich when I was young.]

    "Well, most of the citizens in the empire worships Lord Yule," the young duke exined. "Moreover, the former Saint Zavaroni was the most loved saint in history. He was the reason the Astello Temple thrived this much."

    "Oh, dear," she said worriedly. "Does the former saint deserve the love he received from his devotees, or does His Holiness not know what his fellow churchmen do behind his back?"

    "I bet it''s thetter, Lady Avery," Jasper Hawthorne said confidently. "The former saint is also Princess Neoma''s former mentor. Would it be considered sphemy if I say I trust Princess Neoma more than I trust religious figures?"

    "I''m not a religious person, so I can''t give you an answer," Paige said candidly, then she put the ck ear stud in her right ear since it was time to report to Princess Neoma. "But like Your Grace, I trust Princess Neoma more than anyone else, too."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "HOW LONG are you going to pretend like you''re half-dead, you dumbass?"

    "Warren, that''s not how you talk to our vicemander."

    Glenn let out a smirk when he heard the familiar voices of his colleagues. "Why the two of you?" he yfullyined, then he opened his eyes to be greeted by two identical handsome faces. "Why did His Majesty send you kids?"

    "If you can still be that snarky, then I assume your injuries aren''t as serious as they look," Wyatt, the serious and the older twin, said. Despite the calm look on Wyatt''s face, he actually looked relieved to see that he was fine. "We''re not the only "kids" His Majesty sent to rescue you¨C Princess Neoma is here, too?"

    He got up immediately from shock, then he groaned in pain.

    Yeah, he immediately regretted his abrupt movement. Although his injuries weren''t life-threatening, his whole body still hurt like hell. After all, Princess Brigitte''s evil brother asked his knights to beat him to a pulp. Thankfully, they didn''t torture him.

    He wasn''t afraid of being tortured since he already expected to experience that at least once because of his line of work.

    [But I kind of lose my sanity when I get hurt too much.]

    He couldn''t afford that because that would ruin the n that he made with Princess Brigitte, so he endured.

    "Why did Princess Neoma personallye here?" Glenn asked after recovering from the shock. "Who did Her Royal Highnesse with except for the two of you? Lewis is surely with the princess, right?"

    "Of course, Lewis is with Princess Neoma," Warren said while looking around his prison cell. "There''s also the Wisteria Ladies¨C Juri, Sera, and Jade. Oh, and a child called Greko."

    "Jeno Dankworth and an assassin called Xion Redgrave also came, but they entered the pce in secret."

    An assassin?

    [Princess Neoma found a new team member while I''m here, huh?]

    "The princess also brought a few royal knights, but I think they''re just for show," Wyatt added. "It seems like Princess Neoma already gave instructions to her personal guards. Her Royal Highness also gave as an order after we save you."

    "What kind of order?"

    "Go on a rampage."

    He chuckled because it really sounded like something Princess Neoma would say.

    "Hey, Glenn," Warren said after he was done inspecting his prison cell. "We found you right away because this whole underground prison is covered with your earth power. Of course, it''s something that only people who know what your element could detect." He squatted down to meet his eye level, then he grinned. "You buried something in here, didn''t you? Is that the reason you let yourself get stuck in this prison when you can get out anytime you want?"

    "You probably blew up the entire underground prison and rebuilt it using your dirt¨C er, earth element," Wyatt added while nodding approvingly. "How did you blow up and recreate an entire underground prison without getting noticed?"

    He smiled proudly. "Princess Brigitte is a resourcefuldy. She doesn''t have Mana like we do, but she knows how to invest in premium Mana Stones."

    Princess Brigitte set up plenty of premium Mana Stones to conceal his movements. The first princess probably spent her whole life savings. But she told him not to worry about it. Still, he would definitely pay her back once the whole ordeal is over.

    "You''re lovesick fool¨C we get it," Warren said while rolling his eyes at him. "Anyway, hurry and tell us what you hid here."

    "That''s right," Wyatt said, while putting a ck ear stud in his right ear. "We need to report to Princess Neoma right away, so tell me everything you discovered while I heal your wounds."

    "Princess Brigitte and I discovered that the king and the Crown Prince of Hazelden Kingdom have been smuggling weapons to our enemy nations," Glenn said seriously. "We also found the documents as proof, and I buried them in order to keep it safe."

    <strong>***</strong>

    XION smirked after reading the content of the document he stole in the office of the kingdom''s chambein.

    To be precise, he found it in the secret room located in the office.

    Since he was used to jobs that included searching for the target''s dirty secrets, he knew where to look. It didn''t matter even if it was a kingdom. The document would always end up in some sort of secret room.

    And yes, the documents were also hidden in a safe.

    Too bad for the Hazelden Kingdom, but he was trained to open all kinds of safe that existed anywhere.

    [Princess Neoma gave me the right job.]

    "Kiddo, we hit the jackpot," Xion said, then he turned to Jeno Dankworth who was sitting on a floating piece of cloud. "We didn''t find the documents about the kingdom smuggling weapons to the enemy nations. But we got the names of this kingdom''s nobles who invest money for that sketchy business." He smirked, but it was out of anger this time and not amusement. "You know what''s worse?"

    "You look pissed," Jeno Dankworthmented bluntly. "What else did you find out?"

    "The detailed n to assassinate "Prince Nero de Moonasterio.""

    The young lord didn''t give a remark, but the murderous look on his face was enough to know he wouldn''t forgive the stupid royals and nobles of the kingdom for their n to assassinate their master.

    After all, whom the kingdom thought to be the Crown Prince was actually Princess Neoma¨C the empire''s secret princess, and thedy they swore to protect.

    [They will pay for this.]

    When Xion heard Princess Neoma''s life story from the princess herself, his resolve to protect and serve her well became stronger.

    [There''s something about Princess Neoma that simply draws me in.]

    "Let''s go," Jeno Dankworth said. "We should be at Princess Neoma''s side."

    "Kiddo, we''re not supposed to fight beside the princess. We are long-range fighters, and our job is to protect her from afar. Lewis and Juri are there anyway, so don''t worry too much," Xion said, then he put the ck ear stud that Paige Avery gave him before she left with the young duke. "For now, we need to report this to Princess Neoma."

    <strong>***</strong>

    [THIS IS the perfect spot to assassinate me.]

    Neoma wanted tough at her dark humor, but she was being serious.

    Right now, she was having lunch with the Hazelden Kingdom''s royal family in an open garden. Sure, the garden wasvish, and the lunch was sumptuous. Still, it was too often and the Hazelden Kingdom knights around were fucking weak.

    [They''re making it too obvious they want me dead.]

    But she wasn''t worried.

    Lewis, Juri, and Greko were standing behind her.

    Sera and Jade Wisteria were joining them for lunch. The two noblewomen looked meek and fragile, but she knew the two could protect themselves once shit hit the fan.

    "Prince Nero, I heard you took care of my oldest daughter while she was in the empire," King Landon said in a formal yet somewhat excited voice as if he was waiting for something good to happen. "My son and I prepared some gifts for Your Royal Highness."

    "We also prepared some gifts for His Majesty," Prince ke added. "It would be an honor if Your Royal Highness could deliver them to His Majesty personally, since those gifts require utmost care."

    Hah!

    She wanted tough at how ridiculous this whole thing was.

    [The queen and the three princesses haven''t uttered a word since our lunch began. They all just ate their food quietly. This sted father-and-son duo has been ignoring Lady Sera and Countess Jade Wisteria all this time, too.]

    And she clearly knew the reason.

    ["Women aren''t allowed to join the conversation among men."]

    It was the vibes the king and the Crown Prince were manifesting.

    Neoma was pissed, but she smiled anyway. "I''m sure my father would be delighted to receive gifts from a kingdom that the empire is friendly with."

    Bullshit.

    King Landon and Prince ke didn''t even bat an eye and just kept sprouting nonsense, even going as far as throwingpliments on her and her Papa Boss.

    [But I have to admit this father-and-son duo is also good at acting.]

    Maybe all politicians and public figures were also born natural actors.

    Thankfully, the king and the Crown Prince''s annoying voices were soon washed away when the beautiful voices of her allies began entering her mind. Those voices wereing from the ck ear stud she put on earlier.

    ["Your Royal Highness, this is Paige Avery. Duke Hawthorne and I have confirmed that the missing weapons made from Hisa Jewels have been kept by the Astello Temple. To be precise, those weapons are currently being used by the Holy Knights.]

    She smiled and sipped her tea.

    The tea tasted weird, but she didn''t care.

    ["Your Royal Highness, this is Xion Redgrave. Unfortunately, Jeno Dankworth and I didn''t find the documents rted to the smuggled weapons. But we got the names of the nobles who seem to be supporting the royal family''s illegal business. Moreover, we also got a hold of their detailed n to assassinate you while using the first princess as the scapegoat."]

    The first princess?

    She discreetly looked at Princess Brigitte, and she had to stop herself from smiling when she saw the fire in the first princess''s sparkling blue eyes.

    Princess Brigitte''s mouth was shut, but her eyes were still full of life and fight.

    ["Your Royal Highness, this is Wyatt Fletcher. Warren and I have already rescued Glenn. He''s fine. The documents regarding the Hazelden Kingdom''s smuggled weapons are also safe."]

    Ah, finally.

    She put the teacup down on the table quietly, but that action was still enough to make both the king and the Crown Prince shut their mouths.

    "Princess Brigitte," Neoma said, addressing the first princess directly. King Landon and Prince ke looked pissed while the queen and the younger princesses looked surprised when she talked to Princess Brigitte. She ignored all of them. "He''s safe now."

    Princess Brigitte immediately smiled, then she stood up and kneeled down in front of her while offering her a vial in her hands. "Please drink this antidote, Prince Nero."

    As expected, she was poisoned.

    [At least, not by coconut wine this time.]

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 371 - MAKING OF THE LEGENDARY TEAM (5)

    <strong></strong>"WHAT in the world are you saying, Brigitte Griffiths¨C you wench!" King Landon yelled, his veins popping out of his neck. "Are you implying we poisoned Prince Nero?!"

    Neoma smiled, then she continued drinking the poisoned tea.

    "What do you mean by ''we,'' Your Majesty?" Princess Brigitte asked the king coldly. "Your Majesty and Prince ke were the ones who ordered the chef to poison the Crown Prince of the empire."

    The king turned pale, as if he was about to faint anytime.

    "Brigitte!" Prince ke yelled, his angry face the exact replica of the king''s expression earlier. "Do you realize what you''re doing right now?"

    "I''m saving myself," the first princess said bluntly. "From now on, I''m disowning my family, so I''m not a member of the royal family anymore."

    Prince ke was left speechless.

    Queen Emma, Princess Beatrice, and Princess Barbara didn''t look surprised. But the three obviously looked scared.

    [Ah, they know too.]

    "Prince Nero, please stop drinking the tea," Princess Brigitte said worriedly. "The Wisteria Ladies should drink this antidote as well."

    "Don''t worry, Princess Brigitte," Neoma assured the first princess, then she finished her poisoned tea. "I''m immune to poisons."

    Her father had fed her different poisons since she was five years old. Because of that, she had built immunity to poisons. That was why she didn''t stop drinking the tea, even though she immediately noticed it was poisoned.

    [But I''m not being reckless. I know my limits, and I''ve consumed stronger poisons than this.]

    "You don''t have to worry about as well, Princess Brigitte," Countess Jade said in her usual calm and soothing voice. "The Wisterias deal with medicine on a daily basis, and that applies to poisons as well. Just like Prince Nero, we''re immune to poisons."

    Princess Brigitte looked relieved to hear that.

    "Prince Nero, I''ve acquired evidence of the king of the Hazelden Kingdom attempt to assassinate Your Royal Highness," Sera Wisteria said while putting the teacup she used earlier inside a transparent cube. "I''ll analyze what kind of poison was used, and track where it came from. By doing so, I''m confident we''d get a piece of solid evidence to prove that the Griffiths indeed tried to poison the empire''s Crown Prince."

    "Very well," she said, then she stood up and offered her hand to Princess Brigitte. "Please stand up, Brigitte unnie."

    Princess Brigitte looked surprised when she addressed her affectionately.

    Before the first princess left the empire, she taught her that ''unnie'' meant ''big sister'' in the Snian Language. Of course, it was a lie. She also didn''t tell Princess Brigitte that only girls could call their big sisters (or older females) ''unnie.''

    After all, Princess Brigitte wasn''t aware of her royal secret.

    "I apologize for not speaking out sooner, Prince Nero," Princess Brigitte said with a look of guilt on her face, then she epted her hand and stood up gracefully. "I shouldn''t have waited this long to open my mouth."

    "It''s alright, unnie," she assured the first princess. "I''m sure you''re just trying to protect Sir Glenn."

    She knew Sir Glenn stayed in the Hazelden Kingdom to protect Princess Brigitte, too.

    [Ah, true love.]

    "This is absurd!" King Landon eximed, his rtively handsome face looked like a viin''s now. "Prince Nero, did you connive with that foolish daughter of mine to bring me down?!"

    She smiled her business smile at the angry king. "Sire, I don''t think I need to connive with Princess Brigitte to bring you down," she said politely. "You''re already doing a good job of digging up your own grave."

    "How impudent¨C"

    "You have a contract with the Moonasterion Empire that states the Hazelden Kingdom would supply weapons to our knights exclusively," she reminded the arrogant king. "But we''ve gathered evidence that proves you''re selling the same weapons to our allied nations." She crossed her arms over her chest. "That''s the reason I''m here, Sire."

    The king turned pale, his body trembling in fear now.

    Prince ke, who looked calmer than his father, turned to the queen and nodded. "Mother, go."

    Queen Emma nodded at the Crown Prince, then she grabbed Princess Beatrice. Princess Beatrice then grabbed Princess Barbara. After that, the queen took out her fan, that suddenly turned into a magical scroll.

    She recognized what kind of scroll it was.

    [It''s a teleportation scroll¨C the queen and the two princesses are trying to escape.]

    But she didn''t have to tell any of her allies to stop the queen and the princesses from running away.

    As soon as the queen took out the teleportation scroll, several vines sprouted from the ground. Then the vines snatched the scroll from the queen, who screamed in shock. It didn''t end there, of course.

    The vines then wrapped themselves around the queen and the two princesses until the three were squashed together. Her Majesty screamed and demanded to be released. Princess Beatrice cried, while Princess Barbara yelled the empire would regret treating them this way.

    [Wow, the audacity¡­]

    "Who told you that you could run away while our dear Prince Nero is still talking?" Juri, the one who controlled the vines, asked in a cold voice. Ah, it seemed like her "daughter" was pissed, huh? "Do me a favor and be good girls, okay?"

    "Juri, dear, you''re being rude," Countess Jade Wisteria, Juri''s mother, scolded her daughter gently. "They may be traitors, but they''re still the royal family of a rtively small kingdom."

    "Yes, Mother."

    Rtively small kingdom?

    Neoma snorted. [Gosh, Juri''s mom is so savage.]

    Now the whole Griffiths family, save for Princess Brigitte, looked embarrassed.

    "Father, we could no longer talk it out with the empire''s Crown Prince," Prince ke said to the king, then he took out two ck orbs that looked like Mana bombs from his pockets. "We have no choice but to do it ourselves."

    Prince ke dropped the Mana bombs on the ground.

    It created something simr to a maic field that covered the entire vast garden.

    Then she felt her Mana weaken. It looked like she wasn''t the only one who experienced that. When she looked around at her allies, she was greeted by their frowning faces.

    "Interesting," she said to Prince ke. "You were able to create something simr to Mana bombs, but have an opposite effect. Instead of an explosion, those bombs actually prevent Mana-users from using their Mana."

    Prince ke smirked arrogantly. "The reason the empire is powerful is that the royals and the nobles in the empire were born with powerful Mana. Unfortunately, our "rtively small kingdom" doesn''t thrive in Mana. But that didn''t mean we''d allow you to trample on us because of that weakness."

    "I like your idea," she said, then she gave the Crown Prince a thumbs up. "Had you sold those Mana-suppressing bombs to the empire, we would have bought it. But since you poisoned me, I''ll just take them aspensation. I won''t say ''no'' to free stuff."

    "Sure," Prince ke said arrogantly. "If youe out here alive, Prince Nero."

    After saying that, the arrogant Crown Prince used his fingers to whistle.

    Several assassins came out of nowhere. But as soon as those ck figures appeared, she heard continuous gunshots. The next thing she knew, the assassins who were about to attack her and her group all drop dead on the ground¨C literally.

    Neoma smiled proudly. "That''s my Marksman."

    [Good job, Jeno Dankworth.]

    Prince ke looked surprised. "H-How¡­"

    "We don''t need Mana to fight," she said with a shrug. Then her gaze went past the Crown Prince. "And you should seriously worry about yourself."

    Prince ke seemed surprised when the queen and the princesses dropped to the ground, unconscious. The threedies weren''t bleeding anywhere visible. But a blunt force obviously knocked them out in the head.

    Then King Landon groaned loudly.

    Neoma''s smile widened when she saw Xion behind the king while holding a knife against King Landon''s neck.

    "How dare you?!" Prince ke yelled angrily at Xion. "Let go of my father!"

    "How about no?" Xion asked whileughing. It was augh to taunt the enemy Crown Prince, of course. "You''re not my boss, so don''t order me around."

    Prince ke tried to take a step forward, but he immediately stopped when a bullet almost hit him on the foot.

    It was definitely a warning shot from Jeno.

    "Prince Nero, are you really sure about threatening the Griffiths family like this?" King Landon threatened her. "If you make an enemy out of our kingdom, we''re not the only one you''ll be facing."

    Prince ke sneered at her. "The empire will regret this, Prince Nero."

    Sheughed at the father-and-son duo. "Juri, Lewis, I guess you''re bored with all this talk," she said without turning to Juri and Lewis. "How about you go and destroy all the pces here? It would be nice if you could suppress the royal knights of the kingdom, too. And oh, make sure no one could leave and enter the pce while you''re at it."

    "As you wish, Prince Nero," Juri said cheerfully. "Lewis, let''s y a game. Let''s see who''ll destroy more pces than the other. The winner will get to be Princess Neoma''s only escort for an entire month."

    Lewis red at Juri. "I won''t lose."

    After Juri and Lewis excused themselves to her politely, the two disappeared in the blink of an eye.

    See?

    Her "children" had inhuman speed even with their Mana suppressed.

    "Is this a game to you, Prince Nero?" Prince ke asked bitterly. "Like my father said, by doing this to us, you''re making enemies of other nations and kingdoms, too!"

    "Father, did you hear that?" Neoma said, then she touched the ck ear stud in her right ear. Of course, she wasn''t talking to herself. She was using themunication device to talk to her Papa Boss that she had to address formally in front of other people. "It seems like the Hazelden Kingdom has really connived with other nations and kingdoms to bring the empire down."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "I''VE HEARD it loud and clear, Prince Nero," Niki said, addressing his child and the "Crown Prince" formally in front of an audience. "I wonder who among the nations and kingdoms that pledged their loyalty to the empire has betrayed us, along with the Hazelden Kingdom."

    After saying that, he addressed each person he was talking to with a sharp look.

    Right now, he was sitting on his throne while having a virtual conference with the leaders of the nations and kingdoms that were supposed to be allies to the empire, just like the Hazelden Kingdom.

    He could see the faces of the leaders through the translucent pirs in front of him.

    Those translucent pirs that allowed him to see and talk to the leaders virtually were made of an advancedmunication device. Only the royals and the higher nobles could afford thatmunication device at the moment.

    He didn''t regret spending a fortune in purchasing thatmunication device.

    How else could see the arrogant leaders tremble in fear if he didn''t have that?

    "My son, Prince Nero, has gathered some solid evidence that proves the Hazelden Kingdom smuggles weapons to the enemy nations despite having an exclusive contract with the empire," he said, then he smirked when he saw how the leaders seemed to shrink at his presence. "And now, King Landon and Prince ke im that they have allies among you."

    He almostughed when the leaders suddenly imed they had nothing to do with the Hazelden Kingdom one by one.

    [Ah, this is why Neoma asked me to hold a conference with these imbeciles.]

    Yes, that was his daughter''s other request.

    "You don''t have to try so hard to prove your innocence right now," Niki said, then he smirked. "I''ve already sent people to your nations and kingdoms for investigation."

    Well, that was actually the job he assigned to Kyle Sprouse.

    [Work hard, Kyle.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    PAIGE clenched her hands, hoping that High Priest Dave Wellington didn''t notice her nervousness.

    [This situation isn''t looking good for us¡­]

    "Aside from the former Saint Zavaroni, I''m the only person in the Astello Temple who knows about the royal secret¨C the secret that Princess Neoma is currently pretending as Prince Nero at the moment," High Priest Wellington said with an annoying smile on his face. "But that''s not the only secret I know."

    Paige calmed herself down by sipping her tea, then she smiled. "Oh, dear. It seems like His Eminence is more knowledgeable than I expected."

    She could be cheeky because only the two of them were in the tearoom.

    [I hope Duke Hawthorne is safe.]

    The High Priest just smiled at her sarcasm. "The prophecy that Princess Neoma received about finding the next saint doesn''t apply to her."

    She lost her smile.

    After all, it was supposed their card to retrieve the weapons from the temple without waging war on the High Priest.

    [Princess Neoma says the temple will do as she says because of the prophecy¡­]

    "The prophecy said the First Star of the empire would bring the next saint to the temple in the near future," High Priest Wellington said, then he smiled "gently" at her. "But the real First Star is Prince Nero, not Princess Neoma."

    Paige let out a softugh to hide the hostility she suddenly developed towards the High Priest.

    [Should I just kill the High Priest and steal the weapons?]

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 372 - MAKING OF THE LEGENDARY TEAM (6)

    "SIRE, PRINCE ke, I have bad news for you," Neoma said in an exaggerated, sad voice. "It seems like your allies have abandoned you."

    King Landon and Prince ke both flinched at her words.

    "But then again, even if your allies didn''t abandon you, I don''t think they could help you in this situation anyway," she said with a shrug. "After all, my father is already in touch with the leaders of the nations and kingdoms under the empire''s g."

    Now the father-and-son duo looked helpless.

    "You underestimated me because I''m a child, and most of the guards I brought were women," she said, pointing out the two''s biggest mistake. "Poison and Mana-suppressing bombs? Don''t you think those methods are too weak to kill the empire''s Crown Prince?"

    "I believe my family is being framed by the Crown Prince," Prince ke, who now looked calm, dered shamelessly. "His Royal Highness mentioned the weapons our kingdom produces. Are you doing this to monopolize our military power?"

    Princess Brigitte let out a frustrated sigh. "Your shamelessness knows no bound, Brother," she said to Prince ke who red at her in return. But the first princess ignored the Crown Prince, then she turned to her. "Prince Nero, Glenn and I have uncovered the atrocities my family hasmitted against the empire."

    "Brigitte Griffiths!" King Landon and Prince ke yelled at the same time.

    "I''m no longer a Griffiths," Princess Brigitte dered with her head held high. "I will be Mrs. Glenn soon."

    She smiled at the first princess'' deration.

    [Congrats, Sir Glenn and Princess Brigitte.]

    "Xion," she called the assassin who still had the king at knife''s hold. "Knock them out."

    Xion smirked before bowing lightly to her. "As you wish, Your Royal Highness."

    She turned her back on King Landon and Prince ke since the two were an eyesore. As soon as she did, she heard the father-and-son duo''s painful groans.

    [Xion could really be¡­ rough sometimes.]

    "Greko, treat the Griffths, since I''m pretty sure they were hurt by Xion''s attack. Pay extra attention to the young princesses," she said to her youngest "son." "But make sure they won''t be able to move for a while. Can you do that for your eomma?"

    Greko nodded eagerly. "Yes, eomma. Please leave it to me."

    She smiled and ruffled Greko''s hair. Then she looked up at Sera Wisteria. "Lady Sera, stay here and assist Greko. The royal family may be unconscious for now, but they may pose threatter when they wake up."

    Sera Wisteria bowed to her politely. "As you wish, Your Royal Highness."

    She just nodded, then she turned to Countess Jade Wisteria. "Countess Wisteria, you''re a mage. Can you collect the Mana-suppressing bombs that Prince ke used earlier? If you can, dismantle and study it. We''ll bring those bombs back to the empire."

    Countess Jade Wisteria bowed to her politely. "I''ve received Your Royal Highness''s order."

    "I''ll take my leave first and returnter," Neoma said, then she turned to Princess Brigitte. "Brigitte unnie, please take me to the main pce."

    Princess Brigitte nodded politely. "Please leave it to me, Your Royal Highness."

    <strong>***</strong>

    [MAYBE I should ask Paige to make sunsses for meter.]

    And popcorn, too.

    She knew she was the one who asked Juri and Lewis to destroy the pces. But she didn''t expect the two to deliver the job this splendidly.

    [They''re my "children," but they still scare me.]

    Juri was destroying the Crown Prince''s pce using her sledgehammer, while Lewis was kicking the walls and pirs with his brute strength alone.

    "Your Royal Highness, I can''t believe your knights remain this powerful even without their Mana," Princess Brigitte, who was walking behind her, said in amusement. "Now I feel embarrassed for my father and brother''s choice of method to assassinate Your Royal Highness."

    Neomaughed softly. "To be fair, the Mana-suppressing bomb is a surprise. The n was just poorly executed, as if your father and brother didn''t have enough time to prepare."

    She found it strange, to be honest.

    The Hazelden Kingdom had a strong military force. Since the kingdom''s people weren''t blessed with Mana, they resorted to developing weapons that were strong enough to take down Mana-users.

    She wasn''t kidding when she said the Mana-suppressing bomb was a genius.

    [But why is their execution so lousy? The Hazelden Kingdom is the kingdom that managed to protect its territory for so long without depending on Mana users.]

    For some reason, she felt something was off.

    [This is easy¨C way too easy.]

    "Your Royal Highness, we arrived at the main pce," Princess Brigitte said politely. "It seems like your Pdin has taken care of the things here."

    By Pdin, Princess Brigitte meant Jeanne Audley.

    She asked Jeanne Audley in advance to take over the main pce with Axel, the Royal Mage. They had to bring the Royal Mage along because he was necessary for opening portals. Since Paige Avery wasn''t with her group, she had no choice but to rely on Axel instead.

    "Your Royal Highness, everyone working in the pces is safely locked up in the dimension that Axel created," Jeanne Audley reported to her. "I''ve suppressed the knights stationed in the main pce."

    [Yep, I can see that.]

    The unconscious bodies of the kingdom''s knights were scattered on the ground.

    "Sir Glenn and the Fletcher Twins are currently apprehending the other squads," Jeanne continued with her report. "Thest time I spoke to them, they told me everything was under their control."

    She suddenly felt uneasy again.

    [This is really way too easy for me to feel triumphant.]

    But she set that thought aside in the meantime. The more pressing issue at the moment was the seizure of the Hazelden Kingdom''s royal family.

    She turned to Princess Brigitte. And just like she expected, the first princess''s eyes were shining. "One of the twins treated Sir Glenn''s injuries, so I''m sure he''s fine now," she assured Princess Brigitte. "Unnie, you''ll see Sir Glenn againter. But for now, can you help me seize the kingdom? I know it would be difficult for you to betray your family like this, but I need you because I need a royal family member to take care of the nobles here."

    Princess Brigitte, who looked like she was about to cry earlier, suddenly looked determined now. "Your Royal Highness, I don''t see them as my family anymore," she said. "I will cooperate with the empire. The Griffiths family has to pay the price of their betrayal."

    It seemed like her unnie had already made up her mind.

    "Thank you, Brigitte unnie," Neoma said with a sad smile on her face. Although Princess Brigitte was acting like a tough cookie, she could still see fear and loneliness in the first princess''s eyes. After all, it wasn''t easy to abandon your family, no matter how much they had mistreated you. But the least thing she could do for Princess Brigitte right now was to stand by her decision. "Let''s go to the throne room."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA sat on the king''s throne.

    It looked more modestpared to her Papa Boss''s fancy seat. But she still felt the pressure as soon as she sat down.

    [The pressure on my shoulders once I be the empress would be heavier.]

    She sat on the king''s throne because she was about to make an announcement to the nobles of the Hazelden Kingdom. But she chose the throne room in particr because she wanted to test her feelings.

    [As expected, I really don''t want to be the empress.]

    She just borrowed someone else''s throne, but she already felt sad and lonely.

    [But I have to be the empress for the sake of everyone and everything I hold dear¡­]

    "Your Royal Highness, themunication device is ready," Axel, the Royal Mage who was standing in front of her, said. "We apprehended this kingdom''s Royal Mage earlier and asked her to connect us to the nobles here. Once Your Royal Highness is ready, please give me a sign. I will activate ourmunication device then."

    "Alright," she said.

    She was about to say she was ready when she heard Paige Avery''s voiceing from her ck ear stud.

    ["Your Royal Highness, we need your help."]

    She immediately straightened up in her seat. "Paige, what happened?"

    ["High Priest Wellington refuses to hand over the weapons to us despite being caught keeping those weapons to themselves."]

    She knitted her eyebrows. "What is His Eminence''s reason for refusing us?"

    ["Apparently, the prophecy that Your Royal Highness received from Lord Yule doesn''t apply to you because Prince Nero is the real First Star of the empire.]

    Crap.

    It was true that Lord Yule mentioned in his prophecy that the First Star of the empire would find the future new saint of the continent.

    And Nero was the real First Star.

    [I forgot High Priest Wellington knows my royal secret.]

    "Paige, wait for me," Neoma said seriously. "Tell High Priest Beef Wellington to expect my visit."

    Paige sounded confused when she spoke again. ["Beef Wellington?"]

    Oops.

    <strong>***</strong>

    "PAPA BOSS, I need to go to Valmento now," Neoma reported to her father while she was walking out of the throne room. She left the meeting with the nobles in Princess Brigitte''s capable hands. "High Priest Wellington refuses to hand over the weapons because I''m not the First Star. He refuses to cooperate because he knows that I''m not the person who would bring the next saint to the temple. In short, he doesn''t feel threatened."

    ["Ah, right. I almost forgot His Eminence knows your royal secret,"] her Papa Boss said calmly. ["But I don''t see the problem, Neoma."]

    She knitted her eyebrows. "What do you mean by that, Papa Boss?"

    ["You''re the First Star, Neoma."]

    Huh?

    Neoma froze in shock. "Excuse me, Papa Boss?"

    ["You''re the First Star,"] her Papa Boss said gently. ["You were born first before Nero, Neoma."]

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

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 Chapter 373 - MAKING OF THE LEGENDARY TEAM (7)

    "DUKE HAWTHORNE, were you surprised when we suddenly appeared?"

    Jasper Hawthorne smiled at the Holy Knight who came to his room and served him tea.

    Messy chestnut brown hair, round amber eyes, small face. Height on the smaller side, petite frame, androgynous-looking. Bram, the Holy Knight who was wearing an immacte white uniform, was a young man in his early twenties. But his carefree personality made it seem like he was a teenager.

    "We were surprised, Sir Bram," Jasper Hawthorne said politely, addressing the Holy Knight with his title and first name just like how it was done in the Holy Land. He came to Valmento as a representative of the empire, so he had to carry himself properly as a duke. "But we''re grateful since you still weed us warmly albeit our sudden visit."

    To be honest, he and Paige Avery were supposed to carry out the mission incognito.

    But aside from Bram, the captain of the Holy Knights weed them personally.

    Princess Neoma didn''t order them to fight or create chaos in Valmento. The only order they received was to retrieve the weapons quietly. Since most of the citizens of the empire were followers of Astello Temple, they must avoid a conflict with the High Priest who was currently in charge of the Holy Land after the former saint disappeared.

    [It''s a good thing Lady Avery has a good head on her shoulders.]

    "We know two of Prince Nero''s aides would being."

    Jasper looked up at Bram who was smiling shyly at him. He remained calm, but he still didn''t let his guard down. "May I know what you mean by that, Sir?"

    Bram''s face turned red, as if he was embarrassed. "Actually, I have the ability to see the near future that has something to do with the Holy Land. And that includes unexpected visitors."

    "I see," he said, then he smiled. "Sir Bram''s ability is useful in protecting the Holy Land."

    In fact, it was so convenient that he found it suspicious.

    [Precognition is a prettymon ability among people with divine power. But why does Sir Bram''s precognition ability tied to the Holy Land? It''s as if his ability is tailored to protect Valmento, and only Valmento.]

    His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a knock on the door.

    "It must be thedy mage," Bram said gently. "Let me open the door, Your Grace."

    He didn''t stop the Holy Knight from getting through the door.

    After all, despite Valmento being an independent state, his status as the empire''s youngest duke was still higher than an ordinary Holy Knight''s rank. He didn''t like the hierarchy, but he had to act in a way that wouldn''t embarrass Princess Neoma who was pretending as the empire''s Crown Prince.

    "Greetings, Lady Avery," Sir Bram greeted the mage cheerfully. "How was your meeting with His Eminence?"

    "It went better than I expected, Sir Bram," Paige Avery said with the usual gentle smile on her face. "Prince Nero will be hereter."

    Jasper was surprised at first, then he smiled when he remembered what Princess Neoma said to him before.

    He shouldn''t have been surprised.

    ["Just run wild, oppa. If you and your guild get in trouble because of my order, I wille and save you."]

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA burst outughing after her Papa Boss confirmed she was older than Nero.

    She knew how important being the First Star was, but she didn''t care about that. All that mattered to her at the moment was the fact she was older than her twin brother. She wasn''t the dongsaeng/younger sibling. It was great to know that she was actually the noona/big sister!

    [Kekeke. Nero, I''ll make you call me ''noona'' soon!]

    ["What''s wrong, Neoma?"] her Papa Boss asked in an amused tone. ["Are you that happy to know you were born first?"]

    "Of course, Papa Boss," Neoma said whileughing softly. "I want to hear Nero call me ''big sister.''"

    Her father chuckled. ["Nero would sulk for sure."]

    "Don''t tease my baby brother too much when that timees, Papa Boss."

    ["Neoma?"]

    "Hmm?"

    ["I''m sorry for keeping the fact that you''re the First Star a secret for this long."]

    "It''s alright, Papa Boss," she consoled her father. "I know why you had to keep it a secret."

    ["Thank you for being understanding, Neoma."]

    She just smiled. "Papa Boss, I''m going to Valmento now. We need the weapons in their hands to prove the Hazelden Kingdom supplied weapons to the rebels responsible for the terror attack in the Holy Land before. If we expose that to the entire continent, I''m pretty sure the Hazelden Kingdom won''t remain a kingdom anymore."

    ["The empire will absorb Hazelden."]

    She wasn''t happy to conquer another kingdom like this.

    But at least, war didn''t break out, and blood wasn''t shed.

    [Buildings were wrecked though.]

    "I have a n regarding the future of this kingdom, Papa Boss," she said seriously. "I will talk to you about it once I return."

    ["Alright."]

    "I''ll leave for Valmento now."

    ["Dion is already in Valmento and he''s waiting for you."]

    "Huh? Why is Dion in Valmento, Papa Boss?"

    ["I had a feeling things won''t go the way you wanted to in Valmento. It''s not that I don''t trust you, Neoma. I just know how annoying it is to deal with Yule''s fanatics."]

    Sheughed softly at how her Papa Boss called those religious men ''fanatics.'' "Thank you for looking out for me, Papa Boss. I''ll make Dion work to the bone. I''m sure there''s a reason you sent him to Valmento."

    ["You''ll know once you meet Dion,"] her Papa Boss said. ["May the Moon''s serenity, mercy, and blessings be upon you, Neoma."]

    Oh, that was the empire''s official greeting, equivalent to blessing someone.

    Neoma smiled at her father''s sincere blessing. "See youter, Papa Boss."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NIKOLAI already expected it, but he was still relieved to know that Neoma didn''t care about being the First Star.

    But then again, it didn''t matter. After all, Neoma was a princess and the empire''sw dictated that a woman couldn''t inherit the throne. Of course, he nned to change thatw, eventually. In the meantime, he was just d to confirm that Neoma and Nero had a good rtionship.

    [They''re not going to end up like us, Nichole.]

    "Your Majesty, how''s your eyesight?"

    Niki looked up at Marcus, his personal Healing Sage. He was currently on the sofa in the lounge room of his bedroom. He was just taking a break from work because it was time for Marcus to check on him. Since it was rted to his health, the Healing Sage had to monitor his condition in his chamber for secrecy. "It''s nearly back to normal."

    "Still, Your Majesty needs to rest," Marcus, who was sitting on the sofa across from him, scolded him. "You haven''t properly rested for the past two weeks."

    "Stop nagging, Marcus."

    "Then at least take a nap, Your Majesty."

    "Do you think I can sleep while my daughter is headed to Valmento?" he snapped at the Healing Sage. "I''m fine, so don''t be nosy."

    "Valmento?" the Healing Sage asked, then he sipped his tea. "Your Majesty, did Princess Neoma head to Valmento with the young mage she met at the Golden Field?"

    He raised an eyebrow at Marcus''s strange question.

    Then he remembered what Neoma would often call "tea." Apparently, Paige Avery''s old lover was Marcus. But since it wasn''t his business, he pretended not to know.

    "Yes, that''s correct," he said. "What about it, Marcus?"

    "Oh, nothing, Your Majesty," Marcus said while scratching his cheek. "I saw a glimpse of the young mage before, and she reminded me of someone I know in the past."

    Ah, this was awkward.

    But it wasn''t like he couldn''t rte to Marcus.

    [I would probably react the same way if I saw Mona again.]

    "Neoma and her team would return soon," Niki said, then he sipped his tea. "I''ll introduce you to the young mage once they returned."

    Marcus looked surprised at first, then he smiled. "I''m looking forward to it, Your Majesty."

    <strong>***</strong>

    [WOW, WHAT a spectacle.]

    Neoma was amazed when she saw the sorry state of Prince ke''s pce. It wasn''t as big as the nco Pce (her residence), but it was still considered grand. And yet, Lewis managed to destroy it under an hour without using his Mana.

    [But of course, the pce is empty. I sent Jeanne and Axel here in advance to apprehend the people working in the pces to keep them safe.]

    She wouldn''t punish innocent people no matter how angry she was.

    "Lewis," Neoma called her "son." She didn''t have to raise her voice because she knew Lewis had exceptional hearing. "Come out."

    The debris moved flew away everywhere but her direction until Lewis appeared in her sight. Her "son" approached her swiftly and carefully then.

    [Lewis still looks neat as if he just didn''t destroy a pce with brute force.]

    "Are you alright, Lewis?" she asked worriedly. "You didn''t get hurt, did you?"

    Lewis shook his head. "The effect of the Mana-suppressing bombs already disappeared, Your Royal Highness."

    Ah.

    That meant Countess Jade Wisteria seeded in dismantling the bombs in a short time.

    [The Wisteria Ladies are a force to be reckoned with.]

    She was d she brought Lady Sera and Countess Jade Wisteria with her. The two kween''s awesomeness motivated her to work harder.

    "Lewis, let''s go to Valmento for a quick detour," she said. "We''re going to devour a certain Beef Wellington."

    "Just the two of us?"

    "Yeah, you''re all I need," she said casually. [I mean, Dion, Paige, and Jasper oppa are already at Valmento anyway.]

    Lewis, for some reason, beamed.

    She tilted her head and was about to ask him what made him happy all of a sudden when she felt the presence of strong individuals approaching them.

    "Your Royal Highness."

    She turned around and smiled when she saw Sir Glenn.

    Well, she didn''t like that her favorite "uncle" was covered with dried blood. But she realized how much she missed Sir Glenn when she saw him. Of course, she was also d to see the Fletcher Twins since the two were eye candy as well.

    "Sir Glenn, I''ve missed you," she said sincerely. "I''m happy to see you again."

    Sir Glenn smiled his warm and gentle smile, then he got down on one knee in front of her while asking for her hand. "Your Royal Highness," he said when he held her hand, then he closed his eyes and press his forehead against the back of her hand. "Thank you. I know you didn''te here specifically for me and Princess Brigitte. But still, I''d like to thank you for saving us."

    "Sir Glenn, you and Brigitte unnie are both important family members to me," she said softly. "You don''t have to thank me for doing something obvious for my family."

    Sir Glenn chuckled, then he opened his eyes and looked up at her. "It''s an honor to be considered as Your Royal Highness''s family."

    "Sir Glenn, you were nice to me even when my father was acting like a semi-human scumbag in the past," she said with augh. "I won''t forget that. Plus, I really like Brigitte unnie. That''s why I''ll protect the two of you."

    Sir Glenn chuckled, then he gently let go of her hand before he stood up. "I heard Your Royal Highness has somewhere you ought to be," he said. "Please leave the kingdom to us in the meantime."

    "That''s what I intend to do, Sir Glenn," she said with a smile, then she addressed the Fletcher Twins with her gaze. "Please apprehend the nobles in the list that Xion found. I''ll need to "talk" to themter."

    She already talked to Princess Brigitte about her n.

    [Brigitte unnie would deal with the citizens. I''m sure the people of the kingdom have already heard about the pce being seized by the empire''s Crown Prince. We need to put them at ease.]

    "I understand, Your Royal Highness," Sir Glenn said. "We''ll keep things afloat here while you''re working in another ce."

    Wyatt and Warren Fletcher bowed to her. "Safe travels, Your Royal Highness."

    Neoma smiled at the Pdins. "Thank you, everyone," she said, then she turned to her "son." "Let''s go, Lewis."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA was led by Princess Brigitte to the portal that the Hazelden Kingdom would use to enter Valmento. The portal was activated by Axel, the Royal Mage. Since only her and Lewis would cross the portal, it didn''t take them long to reach the Holy Land.

    The portal, just like the portal Trevor would often use, was something akin to an elevator. Time flowed differently in there, of course. She and Lewis only stayed inside the elevator-like portal for at least thirty minutes, but it was already nighttime when they arrived at Valmento.

    "Wee to the Holy Land, Your Royal Highness."

    Neoma blinked in surprise while looking at Dion Skelton who greeted her.

    The mysterious Pdin still looked the same, only his eyes were different.

    "Dion, your eyes¡­" Neoma said, then she walked towards him to check on his eyes close. "Why do you have eyes like Lord Yule and the former saint?"

    Of course, she was talking about Yule''s temporary eyes.

    The Moon God''s sparkling blue eyes that looked like they contained the universe in them. The former Saint Zavaroni also had the same "universe eyes." She was pretty sure those kinds of eyes weren''t normal in this world.

    "Your Royal Highness, these are my real eyes," Dion said hesitantly. "And these are the eyes of an angel."

    Neoma almost choked on her saliva. "You''re an angel?!"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOUR EXCELLENCY, Prince Nero will be here any minute," Bram, who was standing in the middle of the prayer room alone, said to the crow sitting on the top of the Moon God''s statue ced in front of him. "How should I proceed?"

    ["You should proceed as nned,"] the crow with the metallic voice said. ["Prince Nero is our future god. The crows must help him gain the power to control the entire continent before he ascends the throne."]

    "Should we let His Royal Highness know we are the reason the Hazelden Kingdom fell into his hands easily?"

    ["We must support Prince Nero in secret for now, so be patient."]

    He pouted because he wanted to be close to Prince Nero as a crow, and not as a Holy Knight. But he couldn''t disobey His Excellency. "As you wish, Your Excellency."

    ["You must not fail like your sister, Bram."]

    "I won''t fail, Your Excellency," Bram said while smiling. "I am different from my sister Regina."

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

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 Chapter 374 - MAKING OF THE LEGENDARY TEAM (8)

    <strong></strong>[AN ANGEL, huh?]

    Neoma couldn''t say she was surprised.

    She already met the Devil, and Trevor was a demon. Heck, her ancestor was the Moon God himself. Meeting an angel didn''t surprise her anymore.

    "Cool," Neoma said, then she gave Dion a thumbs up. "Your eyes are pretty, Dion. Thank you for showing them to me. It must have been ufortable to reveal your eyes like this."

    After all, Lewis was also there.

    But of course, Lewis looked like he didn''t care about Dion''s pretty eyes. In fact, her "son" looked bored out of his mind. That was his default expression, though.

    "It''s alright, Your Royal Highness," Dion said, then he took a peek at Lewis before facing her again. "It''s not like Lewis cares about things that aren''t rted to Your Royal Highness."

    Well, that was true.

    "But is it okay for you to continue revealing your eyes like that?" she asked while looking around them.

    The portal connected to the Hazelden Kingdom was ced in a cabin in the middle of the forest, so only the three of them were there.

    [Gosh, now I know Valmento doesn''t consider Hazelden as a friend.]

    Valmento was a picky independent state that wouldn''t open its door to just anyone. It was said that the further a nation''s portal was from the town proper, the more estranged it was to the Holy Land.

    Considering that the Hazelden Kingdom''s portal to Valmento was outside the town proper, it meant the Holy Land didn''t consider the kingdom a close ally.

    [Heh.]

    Of course, the empire''s official portal was connected directly inside the Astello Temple.

    There were other secret portals not verified by the Holy Land. It was how the rebels invaded Valmento before, and how Paige and Jasper entered the independent state unofficially.

    "I can''t hide my real eyes in Valmento because this state is filled with divine power, Your Royal Highness," Dion confessedter. "My eyes won''t calm down because they are triggered by divine energy."

    "Oh," she said worriedly, because it looked like Dion was really ufortable with his eyes. "Can I do something to help you?"

    The Pdin nodded, then he got down on one knee to match her eye level. He was so tall that his neck probably hurt from looking down at her while talking.

    [Well, my neck hurts from looking up at him while talking, too.]

    "Your Royal Highness, the children Lord Yule looks over are called angels," Dion exined to her gently. "We stay in a ce called Paradise. There, Lord Yule chooses the best two angels that would represent him in the outside world. One would be the Moon Priest, and the other would be the saint."

    She beamed. "You were ssmates with Lord Manu and Saint Zavaroni?"

    Dion looked like he was holding back hisughter. "Your Royal Highness can say that," he said. "Once the Moon Priest and the saint were chosen, the angels would be required to return to our sleeping quarters. But I didn''t want to sleep, so I escaped when Saint Zavaroni was released to the outside world."

    "You escaped?" she asked curiously. "Dion, you''re such a daredevil."

    "I was young¡­ and bored," the Pdin admitted as if he was embarrassed by the story of his youth. "Saint Zavaroni begged Lord Yule to let me stay in the outside world. I lost my wings and most of my divine power when I became "human." But at least, Lord Yule allowed me to stay here. The only condition he asked was for me to stay by the then Crown Prince Niki''s side as his protector."

    Oh.

    That was probably how Dion became her father''s Pdin.

    But¡­

    "I don''t think Lord Yule made an exception for nothing. I mean, he probably treasures you. But I believe it was unfair for the other angels¡­"

    Dion nodded, as if he understood what she was trying to say. "To be honest, I only figured out recently the reason Lord Yule probably let me stay in this world," he said. "The reason was probably my eyes. You see, Your Royal Highness, each angel''s eyes are blessed with a gift."

    "Oh, okay," she said. "So, what''s your eyes'' gift?"

    "My eyes can see anything divine or blessed," the Pdin exined. "It applies to things and people."

    "People?"

    He nodded, then he politely pointed both of his hands in her direction. "I can tell at one nce that Your Royal Highness is a de Moonasterio because I can see your Moonglow."

    "I see," she said, no pun intended.

    Then she fell quiet when a thought crossed her mind.

    "Ah," she said, then she snapped her fingers. "Then will you be able to identify the next saint if we see them?"

    "I believe so, Your Royal Highness," Dion said confidently. "The glow of people chosen by Lord Yule differs from ordinary divine energy."

    She beamed at that.

    To be honest, she didn''t care about finding the next saint because she thought it would be Nero''s job. But after finding out she was actually the First Star¡­

    She groaned when she was hit by reality. "Argh. So, it''s my job to find the next saint."

    "I will lend you my eyes, Your Royal Highness."

    "Is something like that possible?"

    "Yes, Your Royal Highness," he said. "May I hold your hand?"

    "Why?" Lewis asked in a threatening voice. "You can''t."

    "I''m not asking you, Lewis," the Pdin snapped at Lewis. "Why are you the one answering anyway?"

    "Being overprotective is Lewis''s default setting, so please excuse his attitude," she said in defense of her "son." Then she gave her hand to Dion. "Why are we holding hands?"

    "I''m going to lend my eyes to Your Royal Highness."

    "Oh, nice," she said excitedly. "Would my eyes turn sparkly like they contain the universe in them, too?"

    "I lent my eyes to His Majesty once, but His Majesty''s eyes didn''t turn like mine when he used my ability," the Pdin said. "Instead of turning sparkling blue, His Majesty''s eyes turned glowing red, as usual. I guess it''s because the royal family''s Moonglow is greater than my divine power."

    Her shoulders slumped in disappointment. "What a pity. But I guess it''s better off this way. After all, you want your identity to be kept a secret, right? Otherwise, you wouldn''t have hidden your eyes all this time."

    Dion nodded slowly. "Aside from the former saint, no one from the Holy Land knows I''m a fallen angel. I''d like to keep it a secret since I don''t want to be directly involved with them."

    "Alright, I''ll keep your secret safe."

    "I''m much obliged, Your Royal Highness."

    "No problem," Neoma said, then she gently patted Dion''s head. "You did well, Dion."

    Dion gave her a faint smile. "Thank you for Your Royal Highness''s kind words," he said, then he closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against the back of her hand. "Please allow me to lend you my eyes, Your Royal Highness."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "WELCOME TO Valmento, Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince Nero."

    Neoma smiled amicably to the young man dressed in an immactely white knight''s uniform standing in front of a fancy white carriage.

    [He must be a Holy Knight.]

    Thanks to Dion''s eyes, she could now see people''s divine energy. It came in the form of an orb surrounded by a bluish glow in the chest area¨C the part where the heart was supposed to be. The size of the orb depended on the amount of an individual''s divine power.

    [Dion''s divine orb is as big as a tennis ball.]

    On the other hand, the young Holy Knight''s orb was as small as a ping pong ball.

    "Thank you for the warm wee," Neoma said in calm and gentle voice, pretending to be nice. "And I''d like to apologize for the sudden visit."

    "Your Royal Highness doesn''t have to apologize," the young Holy Knight said, then he bowed to her. "My name is Bram, and I''m one of the Holy Knights. I will be personally assisting Your Royal Highness while you''re here at Valmento."

    "Great," she said with a smile, then she politely pointed her hands in Lewis'' direction. "This is Lewis Crevan, my personal knight."

    Lewis bowed politely to Bram.

    She only brought Lewis with her because Dion needed to take a nap. The Pdin''s energy was exhausted after he lent her his eyes.

    "Wee to Valmento, Sir Lewis," the Holy Knight greeted Lewis politely.

    In the empire, the knights were addressed by their title andst name, if a knight had one.

    But in Valmento, whether a knight had ast name or none, they would be addressed by their title and their first name.

    "Your Royal Highness, His Eminence is waiting for you in the Astello Temple. Your friends Lady Avery and Duke Hawthorne are also there," Bram said, then he opened the door of the fancy carriage for her. "Shall we go?"

    Neoma smiled and nodded. "Alright."

    <strong>***</strong>

    [MY EYES hurt.]

    Neoma was surprised to see High Priest Wellington''s divine energy. The orb was probably as big as a volleyball, and it upied his whole chest area.

    [There''s a reason why he''s the High Priest, huh?]

    "Wee to Astello Temple, Your Royal Highness," High Priest Wellington greeted her politely. "It''s been a while."

    "That''s right, Your Eminence," Neoma greeted the High Priest respectfully. "It has been a while, indeed."

    Her gaze went past the High Priest.

    Paige Avery and Jasper Hawthorne were standing behind His Eminence. The two bowed their heads to her as a greeting when they met her gaze.

    [I''m d the two of you are safe.]

    "Your Eminence, I don''t want to sound rude. But I''m in a hurry," she said when she turned to the High Priest again. "Shall we talk about the issue now?"

    All the people in the tearoom knew about her royal secret anyway.

    Bram, the Holy Knight that ushered her and Lewis to the tearoom, left already.

    "Your Royal Highness, I believe you already know why I can''t grant your request," High Priest Wellington said seriously. "It''s true that we were wrong for confiscating the weapons from the rebels that attacked the Holy Land without reporting it to the empire. But I''d like it if you overlook the matter at hand. Just think of it aspensation for failing to protect us."

    Oh, she was being gaslighted.

    It was true the empire was supposed to provide protection for the Holy Land despite Valmento being an independent state. Still, being guilt-tripped didn''t sit well with her.

    "I believe the empire has properlypensated the Holy Land already, Your Eminence," she said with a smile on her face. "The weapons that you confiscated without the empire''s knowledge belong to the royal family."

    The High Priest looked surprised by her revtion. "How do those weapons belong to the royal family?"

    "I can''t tell Your Eminence the whole story, but I can tell you the main ingredient used to create those weapons came from the tree that the royal family owns," she exined, still smiling. "Moreover, I need those weapons to catch the culprit behind the terror attack that the Holy Land experienced not too long ago."

    "Your Royal Highness¨C"

    "I''m the First Star, not my twin brother."

    The High Priest looked shocked by her revtion. "Your Royal Highness is the First Star?"

    "Yes, my father said so," she said, then shebed her hand through her hair. "Is that a problem?"

    "It''s not like I don''t trust His Majesty, but I want to make sure Your Royal Highness is really the First Star," High Priest Wellington said seriously. "Henrik, the captain of the Holy Knights, has the ability to know if a person is telling the truth or not¨C"

    The High Priest was forced to stop talking when he felt the bloodlusting from Lewis, Paige Avery, and even Jasper Hawthorne.

    Ah, the three were offended in her ce.

    "Princess Neoma isn''t lying," Lewis said coldly. "Your Eminence is implying otherwise."

    She kind of felt guilty when Lewis defended her.

    [I mean, I''m a big liar sometimes¡­]

    "Ain''t this funny?" Jasper Hawthorne said, but his voice wasn''t amused. "In my understanding, it''s the Holy Land that lied to the empire in the first ce regarding the confiscated weapons. But now, Your Eminence is using Her Royal Highness of lying."

    "Oh, dear," Paige Avery said in a disappointed voice. "Should I create a device that would determine if a person is lying or not?"

    [Ah, these adorable humans love me a little too much.]

    She was about to tell her friends to calm down when the door suddenly burst open.

    "Your Eminence, is everything alright?"

    It was the Holy Knights.

    [They probably felt Lewis and the other''s bloodlust.]

    The man leading the Holy Knights was probably the captain. He was the only one who didn''t have his full armor on.

    [Woah, his divine orb is as big as Dion''s.]

    Blonde hair tied in a man-bun, full-beard, tall, and beefy. The captain looked intimidating because of his physique. But his green eyes were seriously pretty. Hisshes were long and thick, too!

    [Beefy guys aren''t my type, but his eyes are captivating for real.]

    "Everything is alright, Henrik," High Priest Wellington said, then he turned to her. "Your Royal Highness, this is the captain of the Holy Knights¨C Sir Henrik Benedict."

    Benedict?

    [Ah, that makes me think of yummy Eggs Benedict.]

    "Henrik, you already know who this esteemed guest is, don''t you?"

    "Of course, Your Eminence," Henrik said, then he got down on one knee and bowed to her. "Greetings, Your Royal Highness. I am Henrik Benedict, the captain of Holy Knights."

    "And I am Nero de Moonasterio, the First Star of the Great Moonasterion Empire," she greeted the captain, then she smiled brightly at him. "Am I lying or not, Captain Benedict?"

    The captain looked surprised by her question.

    Then he turned serious while looking at her as if he was assessing her. She didn''t get offended, though. After all, the captain''s eyes remained kind.

    [There''s a reason why Eggs Benedict is my favorite breakfast.]

    Henrik smiled warmly at her. "It''s an honor to meet the First Star of the Great Moonasterion Empire."

    Neoma smiled back at the captain. [Yep, Eggs Benedict is good.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    "IT''S TIME," Bram said to himself cheerfully while cutting his arm with a dagger. He was alone in the same prayer room where he would often meet His Excellency. It was his hide-out, and that room was covered with Darkness so he wouldn''t be caught. "It''s time for the crows to make Prince Nero a hero of the continent."

    His blood dropped to the floor generously because of therge and deep cut in his arm.

    But instead of red, his blood was ck.

    When the liquid touched the floor, it turned into literal Darkness. Like me licking the entire space, the Darkness quickly spread and swallowed up the whole room.

    "Go," Bram whispered excitedly. "Swallow up everything except Prince Nero."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "GET AWAY!" Neoma yelled at Lewis, Paige Avery, and Jasper Hawthorne who tried to run to her side. "I can handle myself!"

    She said that, but she was having a hard time breathing while being hugged to death by Henrik Benedict.

    Everything happened too fast.

    All of a sudden, Henrik''s pretty green eyes turned all ck as if he was possessed. Then the captain grabbed her and hugged her as if he wanted to break her bones. After that, she noticed a thick ck liquid swallowing them up.

    Her instincts were telling her it was Darkness.

    The other Holy Knights behind Henrik Benedict were also covered by the same ck liquid.

    "Mochi!" Neoma yelled for her Wind Spirit. "Get us out of here!"

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 375 - MAKING OF THE LEGENDARY TEAM (9)

    <strong></strong>BRIGITTE, who was standing on the balcony of the king''s pce while overlooking the mess the empire''s force had created, thought the Pdins were scary. She had forgotten about how terrifying the Pdins could be because Glenn was such a sweetheart.

    She once heard that each of Emperor Niki de Moonasterio''s Pdin was worth hundreds of above-average knights, but she thought it was an exaggeration.

    Not until she witnessed how four of His Majesty''s Pdins apprehended the hundreds of royal knights in the pce. The knights of the Hazelden Kingdom weren''t as strong as the Pdins, but they were certainly not weak.

    [I can''t believe it only took four Pdins, where one is even heavily injured, to take over the pce.]

    Ah, of course, Prince Nero''s personal knights were also impressive.

    [They destroyed the queen''s pce, the Crown Prince''s pce, and my younger sisters'' pce. The only pces they left alone were the king''s pce, and mine.]

    Thankfully, the empire''s force didn''t hurt or kill anyone.

    Not yet, at least.

    King Landon, Queen Emma, Prince ke, Princess Beatrice, and Princess Barbara were all locked up in the main pce.

    "Princess Brigitte."

    Brigitte turned around and smiled when she saw Glenn. "Are you alright, Glenn?" she asked worriedly. Then she looked at him from head to toe to check on his injuries. There was dried blood all over her lover, but it seemed like his wounds had been treated properly. "My stupid brother really messed you up."

    "I''m fine, Princess Brigitte," Glenn assured her with the usual gentle smile on his face. "Moreover, I only let Prince ke beat me to a pulp because I need him to be upied. Otherwise, he would have noticed that the basement prison has changed."

    She let out a frustrated sigh. "That''s why I told you to just escape and return to the empire when we got our hands on the documents. But no, you just had to be stubborn."

    He chuckled at herint. "Had I left, you would have been punished by your family." He extended his hands to her. "May I hold your hands, Princess Brigitte?"

    She smiled and nodded, then she held Glenn''s hands.

    As expected, he blushed immediately.

    [Aww, my puppy is so adorable!]

    "Glenn, I''m sorry for sounding like I was ming you for what happened. I was wrong, I''m sorry," she said when she realized she was victim-ming her lover earlier. "I lose my mind when I''m worried about you."

    "It''s alright, Princess Brigitte. I know you weren''t ming me," he said gently. "I should be the one apologizing for making you worry." He raised her hands near his lips. Then he ced a light kiss on her knuckles. "I''m sorry."

    Sheughed softly when Glenn''s ears turned red, too. "You were the one who kissed my hands, so why are you the one who''s as red as a tomato?"

    "I can''t help it," he said, still blushing. "Princess Brigitte, your hands are soft... Your skin is smooth... You smell nice..." He avoided her gaze and whispered the next words he uttered. "Everything about you makes me want to devour you¡­"

    It was her turn to blush.

    [The duality of this man¡­]

    One second, he was acting like a harmless puppy. The next, he was acting like a wolf who was ready to jump her bones.

    [I love both, though.]

    "Then why haven''t you officially proposed to me yet, Glenn?"

    He looked at her with a surprised look on his face, then he turned red even more. "I w-will propose to you once everything has settled down, Princess Brigitte."

    "Good. I''m looking forward to your proposal," she said with a big smile on her face. "For now, let''s both work hard."

    He smiled shyly and nodded. "The nobles you''ve summoned will be here any minute, Princess Brigitte. How should we proceed? Prince Nero told us Princess Brigitte is in charge while he''s away."

    She was honored and grateful for the trust Prince Nero put in her.

    Because of that, she promised herself she wouldn''t disappoint him.

    "I''ve received orders from Prince Nero before His Royal Highness left for Valmento," she said. "First, I''ll make an announcement for our citizens. Then I''ll have a talk with the nobles." She squeezed Glenn''s hands again. "I have to make them sumb to me with my own power."

    "I''m sure you can do it, Princess Brigitte," he encouraged her. "Prince Nero trusts you as well."

    She smiled and nodded. "Thank you for being supportive, Glenn."

    "You deserve the world, Princess Brigitte."

    Her heart skipped a beat.

    [Ah, I really love this man!]

    Brigitte cupped Glenn''s face between her hands, then she stood on her toes and closed her eyes as she pressed her lips against his.

    For a moment, she thought her shy lover would pull away, but he didn''t.

    Glenn actually snaked his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. Then he deepened their kiss. Or kisses, if she must say.

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA really thought her sturdy body would actually break when Henrik Benedict locked her in a bear hug.

    [But thankfully, it didn''t happen.]

    Lewis, now in his adult form while his nine tails were out, grabbed Henrik Benedict by the neck and forcefully pulled the captain away from her.

    She used that opportunity to punch Henrik Benedict in the face. When the captain loosened up his grip on her small frame, she was able to free herself from his death hug. After that, she jumped away from Henrik Benedict.

    [We got separated from the others.]

    When Mochi appeared to teleport her along with Henrik Benedict and the other Holy Knights, Lewis grabbed the captain. And thus, her "son" was teleported along with them.

    After Lewis helped her get free from Henrik Benedict''s death hug, she found herself leaning against the wall while Lewis, who had one knee on the ground, put his hands on either side of her head.

    [Oh, a kabedon.]

    It was just awkward because Lewis was in his adult form while she remained a child.

    "Your Royal Highness."

    Neoma flinched when she realized Lewis looked upset. "What?"

    "When you''re in danger, don''t ask me to get away from you," Lewis said through gritted her. "You must call for my help."

    "But I don''t need help¨C"

    "Your Royal Highness."

    She bit her lower lip to keep her mouth shut. [It''s not everyday Lewis cuts me off.]

    Was that the reason her heartbeat suddenly went erratic?

    [Crazy.]

    "I exist to protect you¨C not the other way around," he said, still visibly upset. His golden eyes were even glowing now. "You don''t need to protect me. Do you have any idea how I''d feel if you get hurt while protecting me, huh?"

    Oh.

    Lewis was talking so rudely to her that if other people heard him use that tone on her, he would have been arrested on the spot for insulting a member of the royal family.

    [But I''m not offended.]

    After all, she knew she was at fault. Thus, she understood why Lewis was upset with her.

    In fact, that incident reminded her of what Ruto told her recently: ["A servant dying for his master is considered an honorable death. But Neoma, what do you think a servant would feel if his master died for him instead of the other way around?"]

    This was who she was, probably.

    [I''d rather sacrifice myself than let my precious people die for me.]

    "Don''t relieve me of my purpose," Lewis said in a voice filled with pain. "Let me protect you, Princess Neoma."

    He said her name in a whisper to protect her identity from the Holy Knights around them.

    [Oh, right. We''re not alone.]

    "Okay, I get it," Neoma said, then she gently patted Lewis''s shoulder. She wanted to pat him on the head, but he didn''t like skin-to-skin contact. So she touched him on his shoulder, covered by his knight''s uniform. "I''m sorry¨C"

    "I will train you."

    "Excuse me?"

    "I will train you until you learn how to yell for MY help," Lewis said firmly, his glowing golden eyes filled with determination. "Is that clear?"

    She was so surprised by his demanding tone that she found herself nodding and speaking politely to him. "Yes, sir."

    He looked surprised by the tone she used, then heughed softly.

    "Very well," Lewis said with a faint smile on his face, then he gently patted her head. But his palm barely touched the top of her head. "Princess Neoma is a good girl."

    [???]

    Neoma didn''t like that Lewis suddenly made her feel weird emotions, so she just gave him a headbutt.

    "Ouch!"

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA had calmed down after giving Lewis a headbutt.

    Now, she was standing with her arms crossed over her chest while observing her surroundings.

    Mochi had teleporter her and Lewis, along with Henrik Benedict and the other Holy Knights, in what seemed like the knights'' indoor training area. It was spacious, and there was an alley of weapons disyed on the wall.

    [They''re not attacking us.]

    Henrik Benedict and the other Holy Knights were standing on the opposite side of the training area. They were walking aimlessly like zombies, but they seemed to be avoiding her direction.

    [Argh, gross.]

    The gross thing she was referring to was the fact that each of the Holy Knight was walking with his head down while throwing up a thick ck liquid from his mouth. And since the room was closed, the sound of them vomiting filled the space.

    "Darkness," Neoma said, then she turned to Lewis, who was standing next to her. "That ck liquid is simr to the Darkness attribute."

    Lewis, who was now back in his normal physique, nodded in agreement. His tails were no longer out, but she could tell his guard was still up. "It feels simr to Lady Hanna''s shadows."

    Right.

    The Quinzels'' Shadow Maniption Technique came from the Darkness attribute.

    "I can feel the same energy swallowing up the whole temple," she said while looking up at the high ceiling. "The Darkness is so thick and strong that it will be visible even to the naked eyes, right?"

    "Yes, Your Royal Highness," he said, speaking politely to her again. "Should we get out of here first?"

    "I need to purify it," she dered, then she turned to Lewis. "Darkness is not inherently evil because the darkness is also a part of nature. But this Darkness is full of malice. It''s like it''s begging me to purify it."

    Lewis tilted his head to one side. "But does Your Royal Highness know how to purify Darkness filled with malice?"

    "No, I don''t," Neoma dered boldly, then she snapped her fingers. "Mochi,e out and teach me how."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 376 - MAKING OF THE LEGENDARY TEAM (10)

    "MONA HAD a Light Spirit that purified things for her."

    "Oh, is that so?" Neoma said, disappointed. "I thought Mama Boss purified Darkness with malice, using her power as a Roseheart."

    She was talking carelessly now because she was certain Henrik Benedict and the other Holy Knights weren''t in their right minds to understand what she was saying. Otherwise, she wouldn''t talk that way.

    "Princess Neoma, I didn''t say Mona didn''t use her Roseheart Blood to purify Darkness," Mochi, the Wind Spirit in the form of a bunny, said while floating in front of her. "Rosehearts, as Summoners, could also purify Darkness even without a Light Spirit."

    She beamed after hearing that. "Really? Then how did Mama Boss purify Darkness with her Roseheart Blood?"

    "Mona used her blood literally."

    She frowned. "That sounds painful."

    "And dangerous," Lewis added worriedly, then he turned to her. "Princess Neoma, Paige Avery is a Light Mage. Just ask her to purify this ce."

    "I''m sure Paige is already taking care of it outside," she said, then she gestured to the room they were in. "But my dear son, look around you. We''re trapped here."

    "I''m not your son, Princess Neoma," the young fox said, then he looked around. After absorbing the "scenery" around them, he finally realized what she was talking about. "Oh."

    The ck liquid that the Holy Knight had thrown up turned into gas.

    Now, a thick ck smoke had covered the surrounding walls¨C including the door.

    "Lewis!" she yelled at him when she saw him about to touch the wall covered with ck smoke made of Darkness. "Don''t touch it!"

    Lewis looked surprised when she raised her voice, but thankfully, he immediately pulled his hand away from the wall. "Sorry."

    She let out a sigh. "I''m not mad. And I''m sorry for raising my voice. I just panicked when I saw you about to touch the wall." She pointed to the wall with her finger. "Lewis, that Darkness matter is filled with malice. Your soul as a fox who lived for a thousand-yearmitting no sin is pure. So, if you touch Darkness, I''m afraid it might devour you on the spot. I know you''re strong, but I don''t want you to take the risk."

    Thankfully, it looked like Lewis understood her exnation well.

    "I understand, Princess Neoma," Lewis said. "I''ll be more careful."

    She smiled and nodded at him.

    "Princess Neoma, I''m surprised," Mochi said. "Howe you know so much about Darkness? Did someone teach you about it?"

    "Papa Boss gave me a crash lesson about Darkness," she exined. "But¡­"

    She wanted to say it came to her naturally.

    Ever since she retrieved a small portion of her past memory, and Ruto told her some important stuff, her brain started to act like it discovered a hidden "knowledge stock." She suddenly knew things she hadn''t learned before.

    But she tried her best not to pay too much attention and act like it was natural for her to know all those things.

    [Ruto told me not to focus on my missing memories as they would return naturally.]

    "Never mind," she said, then she turned to Mochi again. "Mochi, I notice the Darkness is spreading everywhere but in my direction. Although I could tell we''re safe at the moment, I''m worried about the others outside. Please tell me how Mama Boss used her Roseheart Blood to purify evil."

    "It won''t be easy, little princess," Mochi said seriously. "You haven''t learned how to extract the rose in your heart. Even if I wanted to teach you that, I''m afraid I couldn''t because it''s a technique that''s only passed down to the Roseheart matriarchs."

    Oh.

    She suddenly remembered what Ruto said to her thest time they talked.

    ["Moreover, the rose embedded in your heart isn''t for decoration. Why are you denying your Roseheart Blood?]

    And Ruto also said something about her attributes.

    ["You have the three major attributes in your soul at the moment. Your Moonglow, the divine power you inherited from Lord Yule, is a Light attribute. The demonic power you have is Darkness attribute. Andstly, your Roseheart Blood is something simr to Nature."]

    Right.

    Her Mama Boss and Papa Boss gave her awesome genes and powers. She couldn''t let it go to waste. Plus, she felt like her big brain knew how to use her Roseheart Blood now. The memories were flowing quietly in her mind.

    "I think I can do it," she said confidently. "But first, I need to¨C"

    "Princess Neoma, can you please stop being so egotistic just for once?"

    She was so shocked when she heard those words from Lewis that she was rendered speechless. [I know I''m egotistic, so I won''t deny it. But to hear that from my "son" directly¡­]

    Mochi let out a hup, interrupting her thoughts. "I''m so surprised to hear Lewis scold Princess Neoma that I''m letting out a fit of hups."

    [Same, girl. Same.]

    Lewis ignored Mochi and focused on her. "You keep on saying ''I'' even though you''re not alone," he scolded her, using the same harsh tone he used on her earlier. "I thought you already got my point earlier when you apologized. But why are you being stubborn again?"

    "I''m not being stubborn," she said weakly. Lewis looked more upset now more than he was earlier, so she wavered a bit. "But this is something only I can do¡­"

    "I know you''re strong, but just because you''re strong doesn''t mean you have to do everything by yourself."

    "I don''t do everything, though?" she said defensively. "I boss all of you around¨C"

    "But you always take the most dangerous task by yourself," he argued with her. "Will it kill you to share that burden with me?"

    This time, she was the one who let out a hup.

    [Lewis is really talking roughly now¡­]

    "I almost forgot it because Lewis acts like a docile dog around Princess Neoma," Mochi whispered loud enough to reach her ears. "But a fox is still a fox."

    "I''m not your son, so why the fuck are you hellbent on protecting me?"

    Yes, those vulgar words came out of Lewis'' mouth.

    [L-Lewis c-cursed¡­]

    She thought hearing Lewis curse would be out of character.

    But looking at the dangerous glint in his glowing golden eyes, she realized Lewis might have been just hiding this side of him from her.

    Lewis let out a frustrated sigh after looking at her. "You said you need to get out of here first," he said, his golden eyes finally stopped glowing menacingly. Then he looked up at the ceiling. "The ceiling hasn''t been covered by Darkness yet."

    She looked up at the ceiling, too. "Yeah, I noticed that, too. That''s why I said I¨C" She gasped and covered her mouth with her hands while looking at Lewis. "I mean, we¨C"

    Lewis looked at her as if saying she was saying the wrong things again.

    [What does he want?]

    To be honest, she knew what Lewis wanted to hear. She was just being stubborn. And she also knew it wasn''t the right time to act like a spoiled brat.

    "Lewis, burst that ceiling open," she said with a sigh. "We need to get out of here."

    "As you wish, Princess Neoma," Lewis said with a nk look on his face. "And oh, I spoke too much earlier, so I''ll shut my mouth in the meantime."

    Neoma let out a deep sigh. [Lewis has officially entered his rebellious phase.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    PAIGE summoned her white parasol, then she unceremoniously stabbed the sharp end to High Priest Wellington''s chest. To be precise, she stabbed the High Priest''s divine orb that was being consumed by Darkness at the moment.

    His Eminence, who was still unconscious while lying on the grass, coughed up blood.

    "Lady Avery!" Jasper Hawthorne yelled in panic. "Did you just kill His Eminence?"

    "Oh, dear," Paige said using her usual gentle voice. "I did no such thing, Your Grace. I''m merely purifying the Darkness consuming the High Priest''s divine power."

    But the problem wouldn''t stop just because she purified the Darkness in the High Priest.

    Earlier, when Princess Neoma and Lewis disappeared along with the Holy Knights, High Priest Wellington suddenly threw up some ck liquid that she suspected to be some sort of Darkness substance.

    After that, Darkness began to spread in the room.

    Then she heard Princess Neoma''s order in themunication device in her ear, so she yelled at Jasper Hawthorne that they needed to get out of the temple right away.

    The young duke didn''t know what exactly was happening, but he was quick on his feet. He knocked out the High Priest and grabbed her. Then he used his red butterflies to quickly get them out of the temple.

    And now, they were in front of the temple¨C near the huge gate that protected the temple from outsiders.

    [But the citizens of the Holy Land are bound to see Darkness as huge as this.]

    "Right, Princess Neoma mentioned you''re a Light Mage," Jasper Hawthorne said, then he looked up at the current state of the temple. "An amazing one at that."

    She turned to the temple as well to get a look at the job she had done.

    The entire temple was now covered by a dome that looked like a honeb. It was supposed to be gold in color, but the lower part of the honeb dome was starting to turn ck. In short, it was being swallowed up by Darkness.

    [That honeb dome is supposed to purify the Darkness pouring down in the temple. But my power doesn''t seem to be working¡­]

    And it was already her strongest purification technique.

    "Lady Avery, we left Princess Neoma and Lewis inside," Jasper Hawthorne said worriedly. "I... don''t like this."

    "They''re both fine," she assured the young duke. "We didn''t leave them behind to save ourselves." She gently tapped the ck ear stud she was wearing. "Princess Neoma asked us to control the spread of the Darkness outside¨C oh, no!"

    She quickly stood up and raised her hands to release more Light energy when the honeb dome she created cracked.

    But unfortunately, she was running low on Light energy now.

    Just when she thought the honeb dome wouldpletely break, hundreds of white doves suddenly appeared and flocked on the cracks all over the dome. Then, just like a miracle, the cracks disappeared, and the Darkness slowed down from spreading inside the temple.

    [What kind of pure divine energy is this¡­]

    "Are you alright, Lady Avery?"

    She turned around and saw Dion Skelton, one of Emperor Niki''s Pdins.

    [He''s the one with the fake eyes.]

    She noticed right away that Dion Skelton''s eyes weren''t real. But since Princess Neoma already knew it, she didn''t pay attention to that thing.

    [The white doves came from his divine energy.]

    Unfortunately, this was the first time she encountered the type of divine energy Dion Skelton possessed. Thus, she couldn''t tell what or who he really was.

    "Sir Skelton," she greeted the Pdin politely. "I didn''t know you were here."

    "His Majesty sent me here in secret," Dion Skelton said, then he turned to the honeb dome behind her. "Is Princess Neoma trapped inside the temple?"

    "Ah, yes," she said while nodding. "Princess Neoma is trapped inside with Lewis and the Holy Knights. Her Royal Highness asked us to control the situation from the outside, but I failed to do so since I can''t hide the Darkness swallowing up the temple with my power."

    "Darkness as vast as that couldn''t be hidden," the Pdin said, then he turned to her. "Did Princess Neoma give another order?"

    She nodded before answering. "Princess Neoma told us to wait and trust her."

    "Then we''ll do that," Dion Skelton said. "I''ll inform His Majesty about the situation in the meantime. But when pushes to shove, we''lle and get Princess Neoma."

    She was about to respond to the Pdin when all of a sudden, they heard an explosion.

    The roof of the honeb dome copsed, and something shot up out of it.

    Wait, it wasn''t a thing.

    "Princess Neoma?" Paige asked in disbelief while looking at the young princess suspended in the air. "Where did those wingse from?"

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 377 - MAKING OF THE LEGENDARY TEAM (11)

    <strong></strong>NEOMA already knew it, but she was still amazed that the key to everything she needed was already embedded in her soul.

    This time too, what she needed was already inside her soul, so she just had to close her eyes and concentrate. And vo, she reached the part of her soul where the coral pink rose was nted on a small hill.

    [Is the hill supposed to be the representation of my heart?]

    It was a strange sight to see a hill with a single pink rose inside a in white room.

    "You remind me of the rose from The Little Prince," Neoma whispered to herself, then she squatted down and hugged her knees. "Ruto said you weren''t meant to be a decoration. But what am I supposed to do with you? How could you help me unleash my Roseheart Blood?"

    Wait, blood?

    The rose was embedded in her heart as if someone had stabbed her with it, right?

    [When someone gets stabbed, it''s bad to take the knife out because the knife serves as a plug. It helps to seal any blood vessels that may have been severed. So, by pulling the knife out, it''s like unplugging those vessels which would worsen the bleeding.]

    Then the pink rose embedded in her heart was the reason she couldn''t freely use her Roseheart Blood?

    "Will it be painful if I pull it out?"

    But it wasn''t like she had other choices.

    "My little rose, you have to help me purify Darkness," she said, then she touched the stem of the single rose. It had thorns, but it didn''t hurt her. Maybe because she wasn''t in her physical body. "Here goes nothing."

    She pulled out the rose unceremoniously.

    Just like she expected, the small hill bled. Then, all of a sudden, blood gushed out until the whole white room was literally painted red. Only her wasn''t touched by her own blood.

    "Will this be enough to purify the whole temple?" she whispered to herself, worriedly.

    When she talked to Paige earlier, the mage told the mysterious Darkness substance that seemed to havee from the people of the temple themselves corrupted her the whole temple.

    Paige also told her she put a dome over the temple to stop Darkness from spreading out.

    "Once Lewis breaks the roof, I''ll ask Mochi to use flight magic on me," she whispered to herself. And yes, she was thinking aloud at the moment. "But it would be cool if I could fly on my own."

    As soon as she said that, she felt a shift in the air.

    Then, much to her surprise, the blood sttered in the whole room turned into hundreds of red rose petals.

    [Huh?]

    It didn''t end there.

    The rose petals were carried by a gentle breeze, then they spiraled around her until they settled behind there.

    [Oh, it''s warm.]

    She felt a warm feeling on her back when the rose petals began flocking on her back. At first, she didn''t realize what was happening. Not until her feet weren''t touching the floor anymore.

    [Wait, I''m floating?!]

    When she looked behind her, she was shocked to see she grew wings!

    [And my wings are made of red roses!]

    To be precise, those wings were made of her Roseheart Blood that turned into rose petals.

    [Did this happen because I said earlier I wanted to fly on my own?]

    "Mama Boss, the blood I inherited from you is so awesome," she whispered to herself while practicing flying higher. Since she was naturally gifted, it didn''t take her long to fly like she was born with wings. "Now I understand why the nobles are so afraid of the Rosehearts."

    She could feel the Light attribute in her rose wings, but she had a feeling it wouldn''t be enough to purify the Darkness that swallowed up the temple.

    [It''s not like I don''t trust my Roseheart Blood. But my gut feel is telling me the Darkness that we need to purify is stronger than it looks. If that''s the case, then I need to step up my game. But how?]

    That was when she heard Ruto''s voice in her head again.

    ["You have the three major attributes in your soul."]

    Yeah, but she would only use one at a time. But that was exactly why her power remained stagnant all this time.

    ["Neoma, you often seem to forget that you''re half de Moonasterio-half Roseheart. Just because you''re using a technique that requires Moonglow doesn''t mean you can''t use your Roseheart Blood."]

    And vice-versa, right?

    That was Ruto''s advice to her before.

    "I''m using my Roseheart Blood right now," she whispered to herself while gathering the Moonglow in her body. "But it doesn''t mean I can''t use my Moonglow at the same time."

    She closed her eyes and focused.

    That way, she could visualize the flow of her Moonglow. Since her body was overflowing with Moonglow, it was easy for her to control its movement. After getting a hold of it, she directed her Moonglow to her back until it spread on her wings.

    [Ah, I suddenly feel cold.]

    Her Roseheart Blood felt warm, while her Moonglow felt cold.

    But soon, only a lukewarm feeling remained.

    [It''s done. I managed to inject my Moonglow in my wings made of my Roseheart Blood. Now I feel like we can purify the Darkness without a hitch.]

    When she opened her eyes, she was surprised to see that the white room had changed.

    Now, each wall had turned into a mirror.

    And wow, her wings changed colors!

    [My wings are purple now!]

    It was probably because her Roseheart Blood was, well, red. On the other hand, her Moonglow had always been bluish. So when shebined her powers, the colors that represented them also got mixed in. When youbined red and blue together, you''d get purple.

    That made her smile wide.

    [My wings have the same color as Ruto''s hair.]

    "Princess Neoma?"

    Oh, it was Lewis''s voice echoing in the room. Her "son" was probably worried since whenever she would enter her soul with her consciousness, she would be put in a vulnerable state.

    Neoma''s smile grew wider. "I''m ready, Lewis."

    <strong>***</strong>

    WHEN NEOMA opened her eyes, she immediately looked up.

    The night sky greeted her, since there was a huge hole in the roof now. She could also hear a rumbling outside, and the ground was shaking as well. The dome that Paige created probably copsed when Lewis destroyed the roof.

    [We have to purify the Darkness substance before it spreads outside.]

    "Princess Neoma, where did you get those wings?"

    She turned to Lewis who was suspended in the air.

    Mochi was floating beside her "son," and the two both had a shocked look on their faces.

    [Ah, Mochi probably used flight magic on Lewis. I asked the two to work together to destroy the roof before my consciousness traveled inside my soul.]

    "Princess Neoma, I can feel your Roseheart Blood in those wings," Mochi said in disbelief. "But I can also feel your Moonglow in them."

    Neoma smiled and gave Mochi a thumbs up. "You''re good, Mochi. You can sense both my Roseheart Blood and my Moonglow together because Ibined them to create these wings. I did a good job, right?"

    "You just didn''t do a good job, Princess Neoma¨C you did an excellent work!" Mochi said excitedly. "Mona is a genius, so of course, her daughter would be a genius as well!"

    She smiled at the Wind Spirit''spliment. [Kekeke.]

    "I don''t like the color of your wings."

    It was Lewis, and he was using a rude tone on her again.

    [Tsk, this rebellious punk¡­]

    "Why does it have to be purple?" Lewisined whileining. "Can''t they be silver?"

    Was it because Lewis'' hair was silver?

    And why was he hating on purple anyway?

    [Wait, I think I know why.]

    "I didn''t make my wings purple because of Ruto''s hair color," she exined even though she didn''t know why she needed to do that. "My Roseheart Blood is red, and my Moonglow is blue. So when Ibined them together, my wings turned purple."

    Lewis looked satisfied by her exnation. "Your wings look powerful, Princess Neoma."

    Look at this rebellious punk.

    [Now he''s using polite speech again?!]

    Gosh, she didn''t know how to handle Lewis and his mood swingstely!

    "Whatever," Neoma said while rolling her eyes at Lewis. Then, she stomped her foot on the ground. "It''s time to ''tobe fly!''"

    Neoma shot up the sky while singing ''Fly High,'' H*ikyuu!!''s opening song in her head.

    <strong>***</strong>

    NIKOLAI let out a deep sigh after hearing Dion''s report.

    [Neoma, my daughter, you have a knack for turning simple matters into something big.]

    His child said she would just visit the Hazelden Kingdom, then she went and swallowed it up. He heard his daughter even ask her "children" to destroy some pces.

    Then Neoma said she would just talk to the High Priest to retrieve the weapons they needed.

    And now, the Astello Temple that was built more than a hundred years ago was on the verge of copsing. It wasn''t caused by Neoma, but it wouldn''t change the fact that his daughter was the center of the mess.

    "Dion, I don''t care if you have to destroy the Astello Church, one of the continent''s treasures," Niki said firmly. "Just go and fetch my daughter, then bring her back safely to me."

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 Chapter 378 - MAKING OF THE LEGENDARY TEAM (12)

    Chapter 378 ¨C MAKING OF THE LEGENDARY TEAM (12)

    [PAIGE''S dome looks like a honeb.]

    That was Neoma''s observation while looking down at the honeb dome as it slowly crumbled after the roof copsed. But no worries. She asked Lewis and Mochi to rescue everyone left in the temple.

    Paige would purify the people corrupted by Darkness.

    Thus, she only had to worry about purifying the Darkness that swallowed up the temple. She was hoping her purification ability didn''t include breaking things. After all, Astello Temple was one of the West Continent''s treasures.

    Anyway¡­

    [Lewis is amazing for destroying a dome as strong as that one.]

    As a dome creator herself, she knew that a dome''s weakness was being hit from the inside. But a dome filled with a Light attribute wasn''t something one could easily destroy even if its weakness was attacked.

    [In conclusion, my "son" is awesome.]

    "Now it''s my time to show my awesomeness," Neoma said, though she didn''t really know what to do. She was just following her instincts. It was as if she had already done purification before, despite not having memories of it. "Darkness isn''t inherently evil, but it stops being harmless once it bes a threat to humans."

    She was tempted to summon Skewer, but this was the Holy Land. Using a weapon with Darkness attribute wouldn''t be wise.

    Thus, she had to rely on her "muscle memory."

    She pped her wings until the purple petals began to fall, just like what would happen when a tree was shaken. Hundreds of purple petals fell in a short amount of time, but they didn''t get carried by the wind.

    Her Moonglow guided the roses to the Darkness that was trying toe out of the falling honeb dome.

    [My Roseheart Blood and my Moonglow are working so well together.]

    When the petals touched the Darkness, the sh created a loud sizzle that reminded her of the sizzle that came when grilling samgyeopsal¨C except this one was louder.

    Plus, when you were grilling meat, the meat would turn brown or charcoal if you burnt it.

    The opposite happened when her ''purifying roses'' touched Darkness. It was as if her purification power turned into the detergent powder she would use back in her second life to wash her dirty clothes. The two had the same effect.

    [Wow, it''s beautiful.]

    The parts of the Darkness being touched by her purifying roses would instantly turn white, with some bluish lights all over.

    [It''s working, but it''s draining my energy fast.]

    She clutched at her chest when she suddenly found it hard to breathe.

    Her Moonglow was usually overflowing. But for the first time in her life, she was running out of Moonglow. Even her Mana was being exhausted. Even though she was just suspended in the air, she still felt worse than the time she was fighting in the Death Camp.

    "Fuck," Neoma cursed while panting hard. "It''s so fucking hard to be the main character."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOU''RE DOING well, Prince Nero," Bram whispered to himself excitedly while taking a video of Prince Nero who was busy purifying the Darkness that swallowed up the temple. "Your purple wings are beautiful."

    He was using monocle sses to record everything.

    The spot where he was hiding was the perfect ce to record the interesting things happening at the temple. Moreover, as the Crown Prince''s people were busy saving everyone and everything they could save, none of them would notice him sitting on the railing of the balcony of a nearby establishment.

    "Prince Nero, although we don''t like the fact you have Roseheart Blood in you, we won''t abandon you," he said. Yes, he liked talking to himself. But he was pretty sure that next time, he wouldn''t be alone anymore. He would make sure he''d be the Crown Prince''s best friend soon enough. "Your overflowing Moonglow is proof you''re more of a de Moonasterio than a Roseheart, anyway."

    But he had to say Prince Nero''s Roseheart Blood was a thorn to his side.

    He was trying to look into the Crown Prince''s soul earlier, but he couldn''t see anything. Not the midnight blue rose that was supposed to be embedded in his heart, and not his Soul Beast either. A powerful spell was blocking his vision.

    [It seems like a spell created by a powerful Light mage since the spell is oozing with Light attribute.]

    Then he remembered the mage that came with the Crown Prince.

    [Ah, that mage is probably in charge of protecting Prince Nero''s soul.]

    After all, the Rosehearts were known for having different dimensions in their souls. But that also meant someone could easily trespass their souls since there were many ''doors'' open, and they couldn''t possibly guard all of those doors at once.

    [Our dear prince is being smart, huh?]

    But why did he feel like Prince Nero was hiding something else?

    [I know the de Moonasterios are capable of hiding their Soul Beasts. But it doesn''t seem like His Royal Highness is simply hiding his Soul Beast. It''s as if¡­]

    "The part of his soul where his Soul Beast should be is empty?" he wondered to himself, then he tilted his head to one side while touching his chin. It was a habit he developed every time he would use his brain to think hard. "Impossible. Every de Moonasterio is automatically born with a Soul Beast embedded in their soul."

    Hmm.

    He felt like Prince Nero was definitely hiding something important, and his hands were itching to uncover the Crown Prince''s deepest secret.

    <"What are you thinking so deeply about?">

    It was the crow that His Excellency had sent, and itnded beside him.

    "Prince Nero is hiding something," Bram said cheerfully. "His Soul Beast¡­ it''s not there."

    <"A de Moonasterio without a Soul Beast? That''s unheard of.">

    "That only makes Prince Nero more interesting in my eyes," he said while grinning. "But if his secret happens to be annoying, it would be a shame."

    Because if Prince Nero turned out to be boring, then he might as well just kill him.

    Bram was the type of person who only lived to have fun, and he hated boring people the most.

    <"You have the right to decide whether or not we continue supporting Prince Nero,"> the crow with the metallic voice said. <"After all, you''re the Judge, Bram de Luca.">

    Heughed when he heard the surname that he hadn''t heard for a long time.

    A de Luca, that was what he and his siblings were.

    Just like Prince Nero, they were children that inherited the blood of Yule. Well, Yule''s father, to be exact.

    After all, Yule and Callisto de Luca were half-siblings.

    <"You are the Judge of the family, and we will always trust your verdict in choosing the right de Moonasterio heir¨C just like how you chose to support Niki de Moonasterio over the previous emperor.">

    Bram just smiled after hearing Niki de Moonasterio''s name. "Speaking of His Majesty¡­" His smile grew wide. "I hope he likes my present."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "THESE DAMNED crows!" Niki mmed his hands against the railing of his office''s balcony. The railing was destroyed, but he didn''t give a damn. He couldn''t take his eyes off of the hundreds of crows flying in the sky. "What the hell are they doing now?!"

    Hundreds of crows were flying all over the Royal Capital.

    And that didn''t end there.

    Several crows were gathered together, and each group carried a huge stone tablet where a video recording was currently ying for everyone to see. And the video ying showed Neoma purifying the Darkness that swallowed up Astello Temple.

    He didn''t even know Neoma had grown purple wings until he saw the video.

    [But that''s not what''s important right now!]

    "Your Majesty, this is bad," Geoffrey Kinsley, who was catching his breath when he arrived on the balcony, reported to him with an urgency in his voice. "A video tablet appeared in both the nobles and themoners'' za. Almost everyone in the Royal Capital has already seen the video!"

    [Goddammit!]

    The fact that Neoma was purifying the Darkness wasn''t the problem. Moreover, his daughter was still perfectly disguised as Prince Nero so everything was fine.

    Except for one thing.

    "The Darkness has stopped threatening humans for a long time now," Niki said through gritted teeth. "But now that Darkness with malice has reappeared, the people of the continent will remember their fear of Darkness once again."

    It would be bad, especially for Darkness attribute users.

    "And it also doesn''t help that it happened at Astello Church," Geoffrey Kinsley added worriedly. "Some people will definitely lose faith in the Moon God because of this."

    His Pdin was correct.

    "This is definitely the work of the damned crows," Niki said while frowning. "Are they doing this to build or break the Crown Prince''s reputation?"

    He didn''t want to admit this, but it was probably thetter.

    [Are the crows trying to turn the "Crown Prince" into a hero?]

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 Chapter 379 - MAKING OF THE LEGENDARY TEAM (13)

    Chapter 379 ¨C MAKING OF THE LEGENDARY TEAM (13)

    <strong></strong>"ISN''T THAT His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince?"

    "His Royal Highness is in Valmento?"

    "But why is Valmento covered by Darkness?"

    "Oh, Lord Yule! Have you forsaken us? Is Darkness back to swallow up the world again?"

    "Hey, don''t be ridiculous! Lord Yule will never forsake us! The Moon God is one of the major gods that lit up the world during the Ancient Period!"

    "That''s right! Have faith in our god!"

    "But Darkness is back¨C"

    "Why are you afraid of Darkness when we all see His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince putting his life on the line to purify the thing we''re all afraid of?!"

    "Lord Yule must have sent His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince to purify Darkness and save us all!"

    "Oh, our poor Crown Prince! His Royal Highness may be a de Moonasterio, but he''s still a child. And yet, His Royal Highness puts his precious body in the frontline to protect the people of this continent!"

    [Everywhere I go, people say the same things.]

    Tate, Jasper Hawthorne''s cousin and butler, blended in the crowd while discreetly observing the people around him.

    As a member of the information guild his master owned, it was his duty to collect information at times like this. As soon as the crows carrying hundreds of recording tablets appeared all of a sudden, he went out to investigate.

    Right now, he was in the za for themoners.

    The royal knights and the ck Hawk Knights (currently led by the vice-captain since Duke Rufus Quinzel was yet to return to the empire), tried to chase off the crows. But it was already toote.

    They may have chased off most of the crows that flocked to the za earlier, but the video recording tablets were already spread out to the Royal Capital.

    "But why is Valmento swallowed up by Darkness?"

    "Aren''t they called the ''Holy Land'' because Valmento used to be Lord Yule''s home when he descended into the human world during the Ancient Period?"

    "If and as holy as the Valmento could be swallowed up Darkness, how can we be sure that we''re safe here?"

    [Ah, as expected, Darkness brings out fear in humans.]

    "Don''t talk like that when His Royal Highness is working hard to purify Darkness!"

    "It''s an insult to His Royal Highness''s hard work!"

    "So what if Darkness is back? Darkness has never left in the first ce because Darkness is also a part of nature, just like what Astello Temple taught us! Darkness only bes evil when there is malice!"

    "Even so, we have people like His Royal Highness to protect us!"

    "Like I said, keep your faith alive!"

    [This situation is working to Prince Nero''s advantage.]

    The Crown Prince already built a good reputation after Lord Yule sent him a divine item. Thanks to the people''s support, the nobles who hated the Rosehearts couldn''t do anything to harm the Crown Prince.

    When he was at the za for the nobles earlier, he noticed the nobles were more concerned about the Crown Prince''s growing poprity among the people. Of course, there were still nobles who expressed their fear for Darkness. There were also some who were obviously charmed by the Crown Prince''s bravado.

    But most of the nobles feared Prince Nero''s growing influence.

    His thoughts were interrupted when people suddenly screamed and yelled.

    When he turned to the giant recording tablet floating in the middle of the za, he realized why the people had that reaction.

    Even he got worried.

    Prince Nero''s beautiful purple slowly faded away as the petals (instead of feathers!) fell one by one. Then, the Crown Prince began to plummet to the ground as if he had no energy left. His Royal Highness must have exhausted his divine power.

    Tate clenched his hands. [Prince Nero, please be alright! If something bad happens to you, my master will definitely go mad.]

    Thankfully, the Crown Prince was saved.

    Since the video recording was clear as if the person who recorded it was physically near the scene, he and the other citizens clearly saw a young boy jumping in the air as if he was stepping on some invisible steps in the sky.

    That young boy was none other than Lewis Crevan, the Crown Prince''s personal knight.

    [Is he using flight magic?]

    It wasn''t important, though.

    What mattered was Lewis caught Prince Nero in his arms.

    "Let us thank Lord Yule for saving our Crown Prince!"

    "The fox boy saved the Crown Prince, though?"

    "What do you know, child? Of course, the fox boy saved the Crown Prince because it was Lord Yule''s will!"

    "Hey, stop calling Sir Lewis Crevan as ''fox boy.'' He''s not a ve anymore."

    "Moreover, Sir Crevan is His Royal Highness''s personal knight. To be honest, at first, I thought a former ve like him doesn''t deserve to stand beside the Crown Prince. But seeing how he saved our dear Crown Prince just now, I want to believe in him now."

    "I have more faith in His Royal Highness''s eye for the right people. I want to trust the people the Crown Prince trusts."

    "Lord Yule personally assigned our Crown Prince to find the next saint, which already speaks volumes."

    "It''s as if His Royal Highness represents Lord Yule now."

    "We should support the Crown Prince and the people he personally chose to stay beside him."

    "They deserve our support seeing how hard they''re working to save Valmento!"

    Tate smiled faintly. [Prince Nero, it seems like you and your people are going to be the new heroes of the continent after this ordeal.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    [FREEFALL, huh?]

    Neoma, for the first time in this lifetime, exhausted her supposed-to-be overflowing Moonglow.

    It took all the petals in her purple wings made of roses topletely purify the Darkness that swallowed up Astello Temple. She was d to see the temple again after it was covered with Darkness earlier. Although it wasn''tpletely fine since the roof copsed, it was better than the whole temple being engulfed in Darkness.

    She had to pay the price of overusing her Moonglow, though.

    [I''m falling fast, and I''ll probably end up like a squashed pancake if I plummeted to the ground.]

    It was a violent thought, but she couldn''t help it.

    [I can''t even lift a finger.]

    But she stopped worrying about getting squashed to the ground when she felt a warm breeze pass her by.

    [Mochi?]

    And although her eyelids were heavy, her eyes were still open.

    She saw Lewis jumping in the air as if he was using some invisible steps to ascend to the sky and reach her.

    [Ah, Mochi is probably using flight magic on Lewis.]

    Knowing that she was safe now, she closed her eyes and felt her body finally copse from exhaustion.

    It was as if her body melted in Lewis''s arms when he caught and carried her.

    "Princess Neoma," Lewis whispered in her ear, his face buried in her hair. "You''re safe now."

    Neoma, touched by the fact Lewis caught her despite his aversion to physical contact, smiled weakly. "Thank you for always catching me, Lewis¡­"

    <strong>***</strong>

    NIKOLAI was irritated when he saw a crow sitting on top of his table when he returned to his office.

    It wasn''t an ordinary crow, of course.

    Geoffrey Kinsley immediately stood in front of him and drew his sword.

    <"It''s been a while, Niki de Moonasterio.">

    He frowned at the familiar metallic voice he heard from the crow. Of course, it wasn''t his first encounter with a crow. But this was the first time he had an encounter with one after he took the throne from his father.

    "How impudent!" Geoffrey Kinsley, who sounded really offended, yelled at the crow. "How dare a mere crow address His Majesty casually?!"

    <"It''s fine since we''re family, aren''t we?">

    Geoffrey began to undo the seal prohibiting him from using his actual power.

    "Stop," Niki ordered Geoffrey, then he put his hand on the Pdin''s shoulder and gently pushed him out of his way. "I don''t think the crow is here to fight, so leave us alone. I''ll talk to that impudent bastard."

    "But Your Majesty¨C"

    "Don''t make me repeat myself twice, Geoffrey."

    Geoffrey didn''t look happy with his decision, but he bowed and left the office quietly.

    Now it was only him and the crow in his office.

    "You''re that cheeky brat from before, aren''t you?" he asked the crow. "The weirdo who refers to himself as the ''Judge.''"

    When he was nning his rebellion against his father, the previous emperor, a crow who introduced himself as the ''Judge'' approached him. The ''Judge'' offered to help him overthrow the previous emperor because, ording to his so-called ''verdict,'' he deserved the throne more than his father did.

    At that time, it came as a shock to him because he thought he had already wiped out the entire crows after what they did to Nichole.

    But he also remembered the cheeky bastard dying by his hand back then.

    "I thought I already killed you the night you approached me so brazenly like you do now," he said while frowning. "Do you suppose your little cult should be renamed ''roaches'' instead of ''crows?'' You survive no matter how many times I kill you."

    The crowughed, its metallic voice sounded ominous. <"Niki de Moonasterio, if we were that easy to kill, our "little cult" would have ceased to exist a long time ago. Moreover, the de Moonasterios weren''t the only ones who shared the same blood as Yule.">

    Callisto de Luca.

    Yule''s half-brother, and the one who turned the ''Crown'' to ''Crows'' that hunted down the royal princesses of the empire in order to ''support'' the male de Moonasterios.

    [The executives of the crows definitely received Callisto de Luca''s blood.]

    <"I''m not here to pick a fight with you¨C I''m just here to drop my gift for Prince Nero''s uing tenth birthday.">

    He smirked bitterly at the crow. "By gift, do you mean creating a mess in Valmento to turn my child into a hero?"

    <"We think alike, don''t we? See? We''re family and you can''t deny it.">

    "My child doesn''t need your help."

    The crow justughed again. <"There''s another reason I''m here, Niki de Moonasterio.">

    "I don''t give a damn¨C"

    <"Where is she?">

    His lips formed a thin line.

    Of course, he already expected the fact that the crows were looking for his daughter. The crows wouldn''t appear in a generation where a royal princess wasn''t born.

    In short, the fact that the crows were here was proof they knew that a royal princess was born in this generation.

    [Thankfully, the crows don''t know Neoma is hiding in in sight.]

    <"Where did you hide the royal princess, Niki de Moonasterio.">

    Niki smirked at the arrogant bastard, his Moonglow now leaking out of his body. "Who knows?"

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 Chapter 380 - [Bonus ] 5-SECOND RULE

    Chapter 380 ¨C [Bonus ] 5-SECOND RULE

    THE PRINCESS Lewis was supposed to serve punched him.

    And now, he was summoned to the princess''s office for his punishment.

    It didn''t scare him, though. He was used to receiving punishments. And so, he just stood there while watching the "prince."

    [Humans blind. She not look prince. Princess pretty.]

    "You''re not listening to me, are you?" Princess Neoma asked while smiling. "What, are you distracted by my pretty face?"

    Lewis nodded. "Princess pretty."

    The princessughed, while the knight who rescued him cleared his throat loudly.

    "Lewis, be polite," Glenn, the vicemander of the White Lion Knights, said. "And please address His Royal Highness properly. Didn''t I tell you that the "prince" being a girl is a royal secret?"

    He just ignored the knight because he liked looking at the princess''s face.

    [Beautiful. Like moon. Me like moon.]

    "Don''t be too strict, Sir Glenn," the princess said. "My room and my office are both protected by a soundproof barrier."

    "We still need to be extra careful, Your Royal Highness," the knight said.

    "I understand," the princess said, then she looked at him. "Lewis, be extra careful from now on. Address me properly when there are other people around."

    Lewis just nodded as a response.

    "And for your punishment¡­"

    Lewis didn''t want to, but his body flinched at the mention of "punishment." Just because he was used to it didn''t mean that it no longer scared him. Perhaps, it was what trauma meant.

    "I want you to take a bath and wear the butler''s uniform properly," the princess said in a light voice. It seemed like she was acting tough. But her gaze and her voice were warm and soft. "Then, I want you to eat three meals a day. Ah, you also have to join me in my afternoon tea. And I will scold you if you miss a meal, okay? I don''t like kids who waste food."

    He tilted his head to one side, confusion. [This. Punishment?]

    "That''s why I want you to only get the amount of food that you can finish," the princess said. "I need to fatten you up so don''t waste food, understood?"

    He was too stunned to react.

    The princess''s punishment didn''t sound like punishment at all.

    "Lewis, His Royal Highness asked you a question," Glenn said to him patiently. "Don''t make the royal prince wait for a response."

    That snapped him out of his trance.

    Lewis looked at the princess and nodded. "Me understood, princess."

    Princess Neoma smiled warmly at him. "I''m d that Lewis is such a good boy."

    <strong>***</strong>

    LEWIS did as what Princess Neoma told him to do: he took a bath properly and wore the butler''s uniform neatly.

    And now, he was on his way to the dining hall reserved for the employees of the princess''s pce. Alphen, the pce''s head butler, brought him to the dining hall. But he had to leave to attend to the princess''s needs. Thus, he was left alone.

    He hated mingling with other people¨C especially with people who were obviously hostile to him.

    But he needed to fulfill his punishment.

    [Eat. Me must eat. No wasting food.]

    He ignored the re from the maids and the butlers in the dining hall, and went straight to the buffet with a te in his hand. Princess Neoma told him to only get the amount of food that he could finish. And so, he put three pieces of steak on his te.

    No vegetables since he hated those.

    Princess Neoma said that she needed to fatten him up. So, he needed to eat meat¨C

    An older and bigger butler bumped into his shoulder quite forcefully. Normally, such a simple movement wouldn''t have made him budge from his spot. But the butler used enough Mana to push him until he fell to the floor.

    Unfortunately, he dropped the te as well.

    [Food¡­ waste¡­]

    "How dare a mere ve to mingle with us?" the older butler scoffed. "We may be servants for the royals. But outside the pce, we are nobles."

    "A ve should know his ce."

    "Just because you were chosen to be His Royal Highness''s butler doesn''t mean you''re on the same level as we do."

    Lewis ignored the piercing words of the people around him.

    [No wasting food¡­]

    He picked up the steak on the floor and began to eat the meat. It didn''t matter that it fell on the floor. He was used to eating dirty food anyway.

    [Princess said she no like wasting food.]

    "Disgusting!"

    "Is he even human?"

    "Of course, a fox like him is an animal through and through!"

    "In the end, a ve is still a ve."

    "Is it Lewis''s fault that he became a ve?"

    Lewis stopped eating when he heard Princess Neoma''s voice. When he raised his head, he saw the people create a path for the princess, and the knight called Glenn. He also saw Alphen and the head maid behind the princess.

    After his eyes met the princess''s gaze, he immediately resumed eating.

    [Princess no like wasting food. Must eat. Fast.]

    He wanted to finish the meat as fast as he could but he was forced to stop once again when the princess squatted down in front of him.

    "Lewis, do you know the "5-second rule?""

    Lewis looked at the princess and shook his head.

    "The 5-second rule says food is okay to eat if you pick it up in 5 seconds or less," Princess Neoma exined. "Did you pick it up in 5 seconds?"

    If he calcted the time from when the te fell to the floor up to when he moved to pick the steak up, that would be at least ten seconds.

    "Ten," Lewis said. "Me pick meat ten seconds."

    "Then, you can''t eat it."

    "But prince said no wasting food¡­"

    "Yes, I don''t like wasting food," the princess said gently. "But your health is more important, Lewis. If you understand what I''m saying, then drop the steak. I''ll give you a yummier steakter."

    Lewis nodded, then he dropped the food to the floor. "Sorry, meat."

    The princessughed softly, then she stood up. "Stand up," she told him. "My butler should only eat yummy and clean food from now on."

    He just nodded again before he stood up in front of the princess.

    "Ah, I have something to say to you," the princess said, then she smiled at him. "Lewis, it''s not your fault that you used to be a ve. ves did nothing wrong."

    Lewis just blinked, confused.

    He could feel that the people around him began to feel ufortable. But the princess''s fierce gaze didn''t leave his face.

    And he found it endearing.

    This was the first time in his life that another human looked at him properly, and treated him as equal.

    "Those proud nobles should be the ones who feel ashamed of themselves because it''s their fellow nobles who create ves anyway," Princess Neoma said in a majestic voice. "And as a member of the royal family, I feel ashamed as well. It is our royal duty to protect the weak, but the fact that ves still exist in the empire is proof we haven''t done enough yet."

    Much to everyone''s shock, the princess bowed her head in apology.

    "Your Royal Highness!" Glenn, Stephanie, and Alphen all screamed in horror at the same time.

    But the princess didn''t raise her head.

    "I know this isn''t enough to make it up for all the sufferings that you''ve gone through because of our failure to protect the weak," Princess Neoma said. "But for now, please ept my apology, Lewis."

    That was the first time in his life that Lewis felt he was a human like anyone else.

    <strong>***</strong>

    LEWIS immediately turned in Princess Neoma''s direction when he heard a soft thud.

    He saw the princess bend down and hurriedly pick up the donut that she dropped to the floor. Then she cutely wiped the part of the donut that touched the floor with her hand.

    "Don''t look at me like that, Lewis Crevan," Princess Neoma said while pouting. Then she divided the donut into two and offered him the other half. This time, she smiled at him. "5-second rule, remember?"

    Lewis nodded, then he received the half-donut from his princess. "5-second rule."

    He ate the half-donut while observing the princess.

    For someone who imed to be an ''adult,'' Princess Neoma could act like a child sometimes.

    Moreover, there were also times she didn''t act like a royal.

    But that was the thing he liked about her.

    "Why are you looking at me like that, Lewis?" the princess asked. "You''re silently judging me, aren''t you?"

    He tilted his head to one side. "Judge?"

    "Yeah," she said with a pout. "Be honest. What do you think of me?"

    "Princess arrogant. Vain. Childish."

    "Whatever," she said while rolling her eyes at him. "You still have to be good to me because I''m pretty."

    "Princess superficial."

    Having said that, he still believed that Princess Neoma wasn''t a bad person.

    Not every person had to have depth all the time. The princess''s ''shallowness'' didn''t hurt anyone, anyway. Princess Neoma was just obsessed with herself.

    [Me can handle crazy]

    "Yes, yes, I''m superficial, but that''s just a part of my charm," Princess Neoma said with a shrug. "Right?"

    Lewis copied Neoma and shrugged his shoulders, too. "Maybe."

    <strong>***</strong>

    <em><strong>[A few yearster¡­]</strong></em>

    "I THOUGHT I could handle some crazy," Lewis said randomly while looking at Princess Neoma. The princess who would die and live for was currentlyughing like a viiness while in the middle of her three-way battle against William and Delwyn. "But Princess Neoma turned out to be aplete nutcase, huh?"

    How could he find someone as crazy as Princess Neoma so endearing?

    <strong>***</strong>

    NOTE: Hi! I posted this on my Patreon a few weeks ago, but I realized I should post it here instead. So here we go.

    If it''s okay with you, I''d like to create bonus chapters featuring the people around Neoma. The chapters may or may not be rted to the main story. Sometimes I just want to write some fluff. LOL.

    Would that be okay? Please let me know. Thank you~

 Chapter 381 - DE LUCA

    Chapter 381 ¨C DE LUCA

    "BLAKE, what should we do?"

    [Tsk.]

    ke refrained himself from clicking his tongue in front of his father. After all, his father was still the king of Hazelden.

    Right now, he and his father were locked up in the tearoom in the king''s pce. The entire room was covered with some sort of barrier that they couldn''t break. Moreover, the female Pdin that arrived with the Crown Prince was guarding the room outside.

    His mother, the queen, and his two younger sisters were locked up in the next room.

    [It looks like our knights have been apprehended as well. Worse, the nobles who expressed their support haven''te to help us yet. Shouldn''t they be here by now to demand the Crown Prince to release us?]

    "Calm down, Father," ke said, trying to console his father even though he was also anxious. "Hazelden Kingdom is still on a friendly term with the empire. His Majesty wouldn''t easily order to execute us as long as we deny we tried to assassinate the Crown Prince."

    "Are you sure?" his father, who was sitting on the sofa across from him, asked. "But the Crown Prince seemed to have obtained some pieces of evidence against us."

    "We just have to deny it firmly and use the Crown Prince of framing us to steal our weapons, Father."

    He was worried about the evidence that the Crown Prince had procured, though.

    Their kingdom was able to hide their illegal business for so long because the empire didn''t really care about weapons. Most of the knights and the nobles of the Moonasterion Empire were Mana users. They only needed weapons as a means to conserve their Mana.

    In short, the empire wasn''t strict, and they didn''t monitor their kingdom. Thanks to that, they were able to get away with their illegal transactions easily.

    [The empire is known for winning wars thanks to Mana, but not every country or kingdom on the continent could use Mana as their main source of military power. Thus, the demand for the weapons made by Hazelden is high.]

    The fact that their kingdom sold weapons to the enemy nations was a grave crime. But the profit they gained from those transactions was too tempting to ignore, so they took the risk.

    [If only that damned Pdin didn''t visit our kingdom!]

    "This is all Brigitte''s fault," ke said, frustrated. "Everything went downhill ever since she brought that damned Pdin to the pce. If only he didn''t discover our transactions with the enemy nations¡­"

    His father clicked his tongue. "We shouldn''t have weed that damned Pdin to our kingdom."

    It wasn''t like they could deny entry to the emperor''s closest aide.

    Moreover, Glenn wasn''t just an ordinary Pdin. He also came from the prestigious House Exton. Although Glenn imed that he had severed his ties with his family, his investigation said otherwise.

    [Pissing off the Extons is just as bad as pissing off the emperor. The Extons have been quiet ever since the current emperor ascended the throne. But there''s a reason the whole continent still acknowledges them as the emperor''s "wild dogs."]

    "It''s not just our illegal business we should be worried about, ke," his father said. "Our assassination attempt failed. And it looks like the Crown Prince trusts your worthless sister."

    "Again, we''ll deny the Crown Prince''s usation," he said firmly. "We''ll also use Brigitte of conniving with the Crown Prince to steal my position from me."

    Unlike the empire, Hazelden Kingdom didn''t prevent women from taking the throne.

    But it had been a while since a queen led the kingdom. And he would make sure it would stay that way.

    [I''m going to ovee this ordeal and take the throne from my father.]

    His father didn''t look convinced. "Have you sent a message to Luca?"

    Luca was the head of the Luca Merchant Guild¨C the guild that had been providing premium and special Mana stones to the kingdom. All the merchant guild leaders that inherited the guild would also inherit the name ''Luca.''

    Over the years, their kingdom had been on a friendly term with all the Lucas that ran the merchant guild.

    When ke talked to the current Luca about their predicament (about Glenn discovering the kingdom''s illegal business), the merchant guild leader offered his help. It was Luca who advised them to kill the Crown Prince and pin it on Brigitte.

    "Luca said once the Mana-suppressing bombs exploded, he''d received a signal," he exined to his father. "It has been a while since I released the Mana-suppressing bombs, so I''m sure Luca is on his way to save us."

    King Landon let out a deep sigh. "I hope Lucaes soon," his father said. "That damned Crown Prince will pay for this humiliation."

    ke nodded in agreement. "All we could do at the moment is wait for Luca, Father."

    <strong>***</strong>

    JURI turned to her Aunt Sera when she heard her let out a deep sigh.

    Right now, she was in the tearoom with Greko, her Aunt Sera, and her mother. The four of them were resting in the room next to the room where the Hazelden queen and the two princesses were currently locked up.

    "What''s wrong, Aunt Sera?" Juri asked curiously. "You look worried."

    "I just received a report from the people I asked to catch the Luca Merchant Guild," her Aunt Sera exined. "Apparently, all the headquarters that the Luca Merchant Guild used to upy have all been emptied. In short, the whole guild suddenly disappeared."

    Oh.

    That would be a problem for them, since the Luca Merchant Guild disappeared along with the remaining Hisa Jewels the Wisterias sold to the guild.

    "Is it possible they noticed us trailing them?" Countess Jade Wisteria, Juri''s mother, asked. Then she sipped her tea before she continued. "But Luca Merchant Guild is a huge guild. They can''t possibly disappearpletely in just a few weeks."

    "It sounds like the guild has been nning to disappear all this time," Juri said while putting more cookies on Greko''s te. "I don''t get it, though. Their guild is one of the richest guilds on the continent. Even if they supplied the Hisa Jewels to the Hazelden Kingdom, it''s not like theymitted a crime against the empire because it''s the Wisterias who sold the jewels to them."

    Her aunt and mother both flinched at her words.

    It was true, though.

    She loved her family, but it didn''t mean she would take a blind eye to the crimes they hadmitted. Moreover, she was ready to get punished with her family.

    "You''re right, daughter," her mother agreed after she recovered from her blunt words. "The Luca Merchant Guild wouldn''t disappear just because of that."

    "Unless they already know the "premium Mana Stones" we''ve been selling to their guild were actually Hisa Jewels that belong to the royal family," her Aunt Sera said. "If that''s the case, then we can assume the Luca Merchant Guild has been toying with us all this time."

    "We should report this to Princess Neoma," Juri said seriously. "She might be busy talking to the High Priest, so I''ll send a message to Her Royal Highness first."

    <strong>***</strong>

    [SNEAKY bastard.]

    Niki watched the dead crow on his table. It was dead, but that didn''t mean the ''Judge'' had died as well. After all, the crow was just a puppet.

    [They''re now looking for Neoma.]

    He felt like he couldn''t breathe, so he stepped out of his office and went back to the balcony.

    His Soul Beast, the Azure Dragon, was currently roaming the sky while eating the damned crows that almost covered the entire sky with their sudden appearance.

    [The crows haven''t changed at all. They appear whenever they think it''s the right time to build the Crown Prince''s power. At the same time, they also begin to assassinate the royal princesses they think would get in the way.]

    "Your Majesty?"

    It was Geoffrey Kinsley who went back to his office after the presence of the Judge disappeared.

    "Everything is alright," Niki assured the Pdin. "Like I said, the crow was only here to talk."

    "Are the crows rted to what''s happening to Valmento?"

    "That seems to be the case," he said. "The Judge also asked about Neoma''s whereabouts."

    "As expected, the crows already know that a royal princess was born in this generation as well," the Pdin said worriedly. "But I''m relieved to know they haven''t figured out yet that Princess Neoma is hiding in in sight."

    "But it''s only a matter of time before they do."

    The crows wouldn''t kill Neoma right away.

    Just like what the crows had done to Nichole, they would wait for his daughter to grow into an adult before they subject her to their cult''s disgusting experiment.

    "I just don''t understand one thing," Niki said when he remembered thest thing the judge said before it disappeared. "The Judge said something strange."

    <"I want to know if Prince Nero is truly the rightful heir to the throne.">

    Those were the Judge''s words¨C words that he never heard from the crows when he was still the Crown Prince since he was the sole heir to the throne back then. And Nero was supposed to be the sole heir, too.

    [So, why did the Judge speak like they have another candidate for the throne?]

    It couldn''t be Neoma, could it be?

    <strong>***</strong>

    "PRINCE NERO, I''m d you''re safe!"

    Neoma flinched when she saw Bram, the Holy Knight that she met earlier, approached her with tears in his eyes.

    For some reason, she felt weird while looking at him.

    [Bram''s divine orb is still the same, but what is THAT?]

    Her thoughts were interrupted when Bram suddenly held her by the shoulders.

    She felt her skin crawl.

    Before she knew it, she had already thrown Bram (who was probably twice her size) over her shoulders. Everyone in the room looked shocked by what she did, but she didn''t regret it. She felt like she had to do that.

    "Disgusting," Neoma said, her eyes now glowing red. "Why is your body now filled with Darkness?"

    It was the same Darkness that she saw the Holy Knights throw up earlier.

    She didn''t see it when she met Bram for the first time, but she could clearly see it now. Darkness seemed to be flowing in the bastard''s veins instead of blood. To be honest, she didn''t expect she''d be able to see something like that.

    [Is it because of Dion''s eyes? He didn''t say he could only see divine energy, after all.]

    Bram, who was now plopped on the floor,ughed loudly. "Prince Nero, you have good eyes!"

    And after saying that, Bram''s body turned into several ck crows.

    [What the hell just happened?!]

    <strong>***</strong>

    NOTE: Hi! As you already know, Volume 3 is about to end. Volume 4 wille up soon, and the volume title will be called ''FALL FROM GRACE.''

    I hope you subscribe to my privilege to ess the advanced chapters if you can (*cries in tiny* please, onegai, juseyo *sobs* let''s subscribe). I''m just excited for you to read the second to thest volume, and I wish I could read your thoughtsments in "real time" (as soon as I post the chapters).

    Volume 4: FALL FROM GRACE is my most favorite major arc, so I wish you could join me in this journey. The next volume has all my favorite reveals.

    (And HER MAJESTY''S epiceback).

    I''m not sure if I was supposed to say that. But anyway, y''all are smart. I knew you''ve already seen Her Majesty''s returning a mile away. LOLOLOL.

    Since this is the second to thest volume, and I really want to finish the MAIN story as soon as I could, you can expect more chapter releases this March. See you! Thank you for the support! Let''s wrap up Volume 3 now to wee Volume 4 the soonest~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 382 - I GOT PLAYED

    Chapter 382 ¨C I GOT PLAYED

    <strong></strong>PAIGE knew that the best way to help Princess Neoma while the princess purified the Darkness that swallowed up the temple was to find the source of it.

    Thus, she left the evacuation of the people in the temple to Duke Jasper Hawthorne''s capable hands. Then she and Dion decided to search for the source of Darkness. Since she was a Light mage, it was easy for her to look for Darkness¨C especially Darknessced with malice. But ordinary people wouldn''t find the task easy.

    And so, the Pdin''s power surprised her.

    "Darkness is also a part of nature, so it doesn''t really stand out," Paige said, breaking the silence between her and Dion while the two of them walked into the long and dark hallway of a secret dungeon they found. The strong presence of Darkness wasing from it. "What I''m trying to say is whether Darkness isced with malice or not, it wouldn''t be easy to find it. That''s how the Darkness attribute users, during the time they were hunted down just because of their attribute, managed to hide their power."

    It was safe for them to talk freely because she put a sound-canceling barrier around them.

    "If you want to know how I gain the ability to detect Darkness, you should have just asked me directly," Dion, who left a decent space between them, said without even turning to her. "It''s not like it''s a big secret."

    "Oh, dear. You have a nasty temper, Sir Skelton," she said, pretending to be scared of his attitude. "I just didn''t want to be rude. Moreover, you''re a Pdin. Isn''t there value in keeping your power a secret?"

    To be honest, she was really curious about Dion Skelton''s power.

    The Pdin''s divine energy was enough to make him a high-ranking priest if he wanted to. And the fact that he could detect Darkness would be a huge help everywhere.

    "You''re not an enemy, Lady Avery. Moreover, I already told Princess Neoma about my powers, so I don''t mind sharing them with you. The situation calls for it, anyway," the Pdin said. "I''m a fallen angel."

    She was shocked, but not because of his revtion.

    If she''d be honest, she''d say she was more shocked by how casual Dion Skelton revealed his secret. He said it as if he justmented on the weather.

    [Sir Skelton is amazing, huh?]

    "My eyes can detect divine energy," Dion casually continued with his exnation. "In that regard, my eyes can also detect Darkness. After all, Light and Darkness are two sides of the same coin." He paused as if he just remembered something important. "Ah, I think I forgot to tell Princess Neoma that my eyes can also detect Darkness since we were in a hurry earlier."

    She tilted her head to one side. "Did you lend your eyes to Princess Neoma or something?"

    He nodded as confirmation. "I did. Since we''re in the Holy Land, I figured my eyes could help Princess Neoma somehow."

    "Your intuition is amazing, Sir Skelton."

    "It''s a bare minimum for a Pdin to be at least that perceptive, so I don''t think I deserve your praise, Lady Avery."

    "Oh, dear. You''re a stubborn one, huh?" she said while shaking her head. "Is it that hard to say ''thank you'' to the person whoplimented you?"

    He didn''t give a response.

    Curious to see his reaction, she turned to him. Much to her pleasant surprise, she saw Dion blushing. Even his ears were red.

    "Oh, dear," she said teasingly. "Someone is awkward with women, huh?"

    He turned to her to give her a death re, but it didn''t look intimidating because of how red his whole face was.

    She couldn''t help butugh softly at the cuteness the stiff Pdin unexpectedly possessed.

    "Sir Skelton, now that I''m looking closer, you don''t look scary even if you''re ring at me like that," she said, having fun while teasing him. "Should I help you ovee your shyness by showering you with praises from now on?"

    "Shut up," he said, then he walked faster and left her behind.

    Sheughed while following him. "Sir Skelton, you''re tall. Your shoulders are wide. Your back looks strong."

    The Pdin covered his ears with his hands as he walked faster.

    Sheughed again, then she showered him with more praises.

    [This is fun.]

    But her fun soon ended when they reached thest room at the end of the hallway. The Darkness leaking out was thick and condensed. Worse, she could feel there were humans inside. She could feel their life force, so that meant the humans inside were still alive.

    They were slowly dying, though.

    It seemed like Dion Skelton also felt it because he pulled out his sword, then he shed the door in just one swift move. The metal door was sliced into two, and it copsed right away.

    The Darknessing out of the room tried to swallow them up.

    She was about to use her Light magic to purify it, but the Pdin was quicker than her.

    Dion used his aura as a Swordsmaster, then he mixed his divine energy with it. When he sliced the cloud of Darkness that attacked them, he purified it in the process.

    "Sir Skelton, you''re really amazing," she said, then she summoned her white parasol and swung it around. Like the Pdin, she did it to purify the Darkness that was trying to swallow them up. "And I''m not saying this just to tease you."

    "You, too."

    "Hmm?"

    Dion Skelton turned to her and looked at her straight in the eye. "You''re amazing, too, Lady Avery."

    Ah.

    She was caught off-guard that she didn''t know how to react by his suddenpliment.

    [Did I just get a taste of my own medicine?]

    "Sir Pdin! Lady Mage!"

    After she and Dion purified the Darkness that covered the entire room, the surroundings became clearer than it was earlier. The Darkness hadn''t disappeared yetpletely. Thus, the ck smoke around.

    But their purification power managed to calm it down in the meantime.

    [It won''t take long, though.]

    "I''m d that both of you are safe," Bram, the Holy Knight they met earlier, emerged from somewhere. He looked exhausted, and his divine energy was almost depleted as well. "And I''m relieved you found us here. We really need your help."

    Yes, Bram wasn''t alone.

    She noticed the other priests in the room. But those priests were lying on the floor as if they didn''t have the strength to move.

    [Where is this ce?]

    There was a huge open well in the middle of the room. The unconscious priests were actually surrounding it. She also noticed that the pirs were covered with gold. Even with the ck smoke screening her vision, she could tell the room was luxurious.

    "What is this ce?" she asked, then she focused her gaze on the open well.

    The supposedly blue sparkling water in the well had turned murky.

    Not only that¡­

    She covered her mouth with her hands when she gasped. "Oh¡­"

    "Corpses," Dion said while looking at the open well, too. "There are corpses of Elves in the water." He gave Bram, the only one capable of giving them an answer, a cold look. "What exactly is happening here? Judging by your uniform, you must be a Holy Knight. Why is a Holy Knight here with the priests?"

    Oh.

    Paige suddenly realized Dion Skelton was being openly hostile to Bram. But the surprising part was she agreed with him.

    Something was off, and she could feel it in her bones.

    But she couldn''t see anything different from Bram at the moment.

    "The priests asked me to apany them here when they noticed Darkness leaking out from here," Bram exined, his pupils were shaking as if he was afraid. "When we got here, we were shocked to find corpses of Dark Elves in the water. They seem to be the cause of the Darkness that swallowed up the temple. We tried to purify them, but as you can see, we failed."

    Huh?

    "Oh, dear," Paige said when she realized her bad feelings were never wrong. "I know that Dark Elves are elves that use Darkness attribute," she said warily. "But why does Sir Bram sound like you''re one hundred percent the corpses are Dark Elves? Judging by their rotting flesh, it looks like they''ve been dead for a long time now." She smiled "sweetly" at the Holy Knight. "Do you mind sharing your hypothesis with us?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "PRINCESS NEOMA, shouldn''t you rest first?"

    "I don''t have the luxury to rest," Neoma told Lewis while walking in the hallway leading to the room where the source of Darkness wasing from ording to Paige. She received the mage''s report earlier. "Paige and Dion have found the source of Darkness, so I need to help them purify it. Plus, I need to know the cause of this mess."

    The fact that High Priest Wellington, currently the highest-ranking person in the Holy Land, had fallen victim to Darkness would definitely create a huge scandal.

    Scratch that.

    Just the mere fact that Valmento, the only Holy Land in the West Continent, was swallowed up by Darkness was a big embarrassment already. The empire would surely get criticized again, and some people might lose their faith in the Moon God.

    [I need to fix this mess before it gets worse.]

    "The Darkness here seems to have been purified a lot," Lewis said when they arrived at thest room in the hallway. "Ah, the door is already broken. It''s definitely Sir Skelton''s work."

    Sheughed softly, amused by the fact Lewis knew Dion so well.

    [Right, Dion was Lewis'' direct supervisor back when he was training to be a knight.]

    "Prince Nero, I''m d you''re safe!"

    Neoma flinched when she saw Bram, the Holy Knight that she met earlier, approached her with tears in his eyes.

    For some reason, she felt weird while looking at him.

    [Bram''s divine orb is still the same, but what is THAT?]

    Her thoughts were interrupted when Bram suddenly held her by the shoulders.

    She felt her skin crawl.

    Before she knew it, she had already thrown Bram (who was probably twice her size) over her shoulders. Everyone in the room looked shocked by what she did, but she didn''t regret it. She felt like she had to do that.

    "Disgusting," Neoma said, her eyes now glowing red. "Why is your body now filled with Darkness?"

    It was the same Darkness that she saw the Holy Knights throw up earlier.

    She didn''t see it when she met Bram for the first time, but she could clearly see it now. Darkness seemed to be flowing in the bastard''s veins instead of blood. To be honest, she didn''t expect she''d be able to see something like that.

    [Is it because of Dion''s eyes? He didn''t say he could only see divine energy, after all.]

    Bram, who was now plopped to the floor,ughed loudly. "Prince Nero, you have good eyes!"

    And after saying that, Bram''s body turned into several ck crows.

    [What the hell just happened?!]

    All of sudden, Lewis, Paige, and Dion surrounded her like they were a human barricade.

    The ck crows flew together in one direction. Then they faded into a fine dust. After that, the dust turned into the shape of a man suspended in the air.

    "I covered the Darkness flowing in my veins using my divine energy. It''s good enough to fool the eyes of Sir Pdin and Lady Mage over there," Bram, who was now back in his human form, said while looking down at her from above. "But as expected, our dear Prince Nero is different¨C you saw through me right away."

    It was probably thanks to Dion''s eyes.

    [If Dion didn''t lend me his eyes, he would have noticed Bram''s deception before I did.]

    But that wasn''t important at the moment.

    "Who gave you the right to make me look up while you''re looking down at me?" Neoma said in a cold voice. She thought her Moonglow had already been exhausted. But when anger rose in her chest, so did her divine power. "Get down here, you crow bastard."

    Her Moonglow exploded out of her body.

    The pressureing from her overbearing divine power was strong enough to make Lewis, Paige, and Dion bend their knees for a moment. Thankfully, the three managed to catch themselves and stand firmly.

    Bram, the target of her bloodlust, failed to hold his ground.

    The crow bastard plummeted to the ground (smashing it at the process) while being crushed by her Moonglow. It was a delight to see Bram fall t on his face. And it was even more satisfying to have the crow bastard look up at her as she looked down at him.

    "This should be it," she said coldly as she approached Bram. Of course, her three guards stuck close to her. "This is the only appropriate eye level between us, `got it?"

    Bramughed like the maniac that he was. "Your sheer arrogance is proof you''re a de Moonasterio," he said. He struggled to get up, but he still seeded. `Guess he wouldn''t be a crow if he was weak. "But I''m not your enemy, Prince Nero. I''m pretty sure you already know by now that the crows exist to support the Crown Prince¨C the future emperor of thend governed by Lord Yule."

    The crow bastard wasn''t wrong.

    For princes and emperors who didn''t care about the royal princesses born in the family, the crows were useful allies. She also heard from her Papa Boss that the previous emperor, her crazy grandfather, was supported by the crows until her father started the rebellion.

    [But Nero and I, the new generation of the de Moonasterios, will never ept these crow bastards as allies.]

    "I''m not an enemy, Prince Nero," Bram said. "We''re practically family."

    She made a disgusted face that was ugly enough to be a viral meme. "Are you trying to make me puke?"

    "I guess you haven''t seen a de Luca in your life yet."

    [''De Luca,'' he says?]

    Callisto de Luca was Yule''s half-sibling¨C the crazy demigod who led the cult to where it was today.

    [Wait, is he saying¡­]

    Her curiosity was answered when Bram''s hair and eye colors suddenly changed.

    In the whole West Continent, only the de Moonasterios possessed white hair and ash-gray eyes. It was the symbol of Yule''s blood flowing through their veins. Thus, no other families were blessed with the same hair and eye colorbination.

    [But Bram''s hair and eye color now¡­ they''re the same as mine.]

    Only the left side, though.

    Bram''s hair color was divided into two, like T*doroki''s hair from My H*ro Ac*demia. The crow bastard''s left side of the hair was white, while the other half was ck. It was the same case for his eyes, too.

    The crow bastard''s left eye was ash-gray, while the right eye was ck.

    "The blood of the Moon also flows in my veins, Prince Nero," Bram said proudly. "I am Bram de Luca, the ''Judge'' among the crows."

    [How would Nero react in this situation?]

    She wanted to attack Bram since he was an enemy to her. But her personal grudge might give away her secret. She couldn''t think and act like a royal princess at the moment. What she had to do was to move as the Crown Prince.

    "I know why the crows exist," she said in a calm voice while hiding her bloodlust. She was thankful that Lewis, Paige, and Dion didn''t move an inch, as if they were matching her pace. "But I don''t understand why you''re here now. I''m a busy person, so if you''re only here to introduce yourself, then scram already."

    "Aww, don''t be like that, Prince Nero," Bram said cheerfully. "I''m here to deliver our presents for your uing tenth birthday. The crows celebrate it whenever our chosen heir approaches double digits in age. It''s a big deal to us, since it''s the age where we prepare you to be the emperor that we want you to be."

    [As if I''d let you boss me around.]

    But she held it in and acted casually. "So, where''s the gift you''re talking about? That better be worth my attention, you crow bastard."

    "You already have it in your hands, my dear prince."

    She just raised her hands to show him that she was empty-handed.

    Bramughed, then he pointed to her left hand. "You have the Hazelden Kingdom in your left hand," he said, then he pointed to her right hand. "And the Valmento, specifically the Holy Knights, on the other."

    Her arms dropped to her sides. Did she just hear the crown bastard speak bullshit? "Excuse me?"

    The crow bastard put his hands behind him, then he smiled innocently at her. "Prince Nero, I don''t doubt your ability. But if you think the Hazelden Kingdom fell into your hands all because you worked hard, then you''re wrong." He opened his arms. "The Hazelden Kingdom''s downfall, and the Valmento''s embarrassing defeat¨C the crows orchestrated all of that to make a hero out of you, our dear heir."

    Her brain understood what the crow bastard just said, but she couldn''t find it in her heart to ept it.

    How could she believe that bullshit?

    Bram was implying the only reason the Hazelden Kingdom fell into her hands was because the crows helped her do so. That wasn''t only an insult to her, but also to everyone who worked so hard for her.

    "Are you saying you handed everything to me for free? Did you just discredit me and my people?" Neoma smirked bitterly, insulted. "Don''t fuck with me, you damned crow."

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 383 - WHY BAD FEELINGS ARE NEVER WRONG

    Chapter 383 ¨C WHY BAD FEELINGS ARE NEVER WRONG

    <strong></strong>"PLEASE MIND yournguage, Prince Nero," Bram, the crow bastard, scolded her. "Do you know what merchant guild sells the jewels the Wisterias harvest from the Hisa Tree to the Hazelden Kingdom?"

    "ording to the Wisterias, it''s the Luca Merchant Guild¡­" Neoma trailed off when realization dawned on her, then she clenched her hands tight. "Luca Merchant Guild. De Luca. It was you."

    Bram smiled and nodded. "I may or may not have influenced the dumb royals of the Hazelden Kingdom to sell their weapons to the enemy nations behind the empire''s back," he said vaguely. "And while I''m at it, I also sneaked here and worked hard to be a Holy Knight. All of that just to poison the High Priest and the Holy Knights with my Darkness attribute."

    It was annoying how the crow bastard talk about it as if it was an easy feat.

    [But Bram has magnificent divine energy as a de Luca. I can see how he fooled the High Priest and the Holy Knights. Plus, it seems like he could hide his Darkness attribute really well.]

    "Now, our dear prince has discovered the crimes the Hazelden Kingdom hasmitted," Bram said while pping his hands. "All my hard work has paid off."

    "Shut the fuck up," she said through gritted teeth. "You speak as if you orchestrated everything. Are you implying the crows are already aware that the jewels the Wisterias sell came from the Hisa Tree that belongs to the royal family?"

    "Yes, we know because the crows are the ones who told your grandfather the way to make the Hisa Trees produce jewels that are better than premium Mana Stones," the crow bastard said, then he looked at Paige Avery meaningfully. "And it proves to be a sess."

    This bastard!

    [So, the crows were also the reason the Averys were used by the royal family!]

    Paige Avery''s Mana fluctuated. It was obvious that the mage wanted to kill the crow bastard right then and there.

    But when Neoma took a step forward, Paige calmed down.

    "My hospitality ends here, Bram de Luca," Neoma said sternly. "If you run your mouth off again, I''ll throw hands."

    "Let me just ask you one question then, my dear prince," Bram said. Then, much to her shock, he suddenly appeared in front of her while his hand reached for her chest. "Where are you hiding the royal princess?"

    It happened so fast she barely avoided Bram''s hand.

    Lewis, on the other hand, was quick enough to grab and twist the crow bastard''s arm behind him. She even heard the sound Bram''s arm made when Lewis broke it.

    Then Dion drew his sword and shed the crow bastard with it.

    She didn''t see what happened next because she found herself kneeling on the ground while clutching her chest tight.

    The tip of Bram''s finger touched her earlier, and now the part that he touched hurt like hell.

    [Goddammit!]

    "Your Royal Highness," Paige, who immediately helped her get on her feet, put her hand on her chest. "Don''t worry, I will purify it."

    Tsk.

    She had Darkness attribute inside her, so she shouldn''t be hurt. But the fact that it hurt only meant Bram used Darkness with malice on her. Plus, it wasn''t an ordinary Darkness.

    [It''s like a ck spider-web.]

    And she could feel the sharp end of the cobweb piercing through her heart. Her gut feeling told her purification wouldn''t be enough.

    "I got this, Paige," Neoma said, stopping the mage from touching the stain of Darkness spreading on her chest. "I need topletely cut it off instead of purifying it."

    The mage looked confused.

    She didn''t have the time to exin, though.

    So she just opened her hand and summoned the ''Holy Twin des'' (aka the ''holy scissors'') that she asked Yule to give him in the past. It was the pair of scissors that could cut connections to the soul. Her instinct told her it could also cut the stain of Darkness that got stuck on her.

    Without further ado, she grabbed the Holy Scissors manifested as soon as it materialized in the air. Then she used it to cut the cobweb of Darkness on her chest that was definitely connected to Bram. As soon as the cobweb was cut, the remaining stain on her chest faded into nothingness.

    She felt better after it disappeared from her body.

    "Oh, dear," Paige said, clearly impressed by the Divine Item in her hand. "Your Royal Highness is really impressive."

    "I know, right?" she said with augh, then she stood up and looked up.

    She clicked her tongue when she saw Bramughing while avoiding Lewis and Dion''s attack. But the crow bastard wasn''t unscathed. In fact, he was bleeding all over from the w marks on his body thanks to Lewis''s sharp nails. There was also a huge sh mark on Bram''s chest, courtesy of Dion''s sword aura.

    [Good.]

    "Lewis, Dion, cut the crow bastard all over," Neoma ordered the two firmly. "Make him bleed more."

    Lewis and Dion politely nodded their heads as a response.

    Bram, on the other hand,ughed loudly while doing a cartwheel in the air to avoid Lewis''s ws. "I didn''t know our dear prince is a sadist!"

    She ignored the crow bastard, then she turned to Paige. "His blood is Darkness itself," she told the mage. "Look, it''s already turning ck. Purify the blood spilling on the floor, Paige. I''ll take care of the rest."

    Paige bowed respectfully. "As you wish, Your Royal Highness."

    She looked up at the air again where the right was getting more intense.

    Lewis was mauling the hell out of Bram''s back, while Dion was using his sword techniqueced with a Swordmaster''s aura to cut the crow bastard all over his body. But Paige''s Light magic immediately purified the blood gushing out of Bram''s open wounds.

    And the mage''s Light magic wasing from the white parasol in her hand.

    [Okay, that''s pretty chic.]

    "Mochi," Neoma said, summoning the Wind Spirit, who immediately materialized in front of her in her white bunny form. "Bring that bitch to me."

    Mochiughed at her calling Bram a ''bitch.'' "As you wish, Your Royal Highness."

    She could bring the crow bastard down with her Moonglow like what she did earlier, but she didn''t this time because she was conserving her divine power for her next move.

    Mochi was more than good enough for the job, anyway.

    The Wind Spirit created a gush of violent wind that became visible to the eye because of the bluish light surrounding it. Thanks to that, she saw Mochi''s wind take the form of a snake that wrapped itself around Bram.

    Then Mochi dropped the crow bastard to the ground, cracking the floor in the process. The best part was when the Wind Spirit dragged Bram in front of her.

    "Good job, Mochi," she said, then she stepped on the back of Bram''s head when the crow bastard tried to look up. "Everyone, move."

    Lewis, Dion, and Paige all stepped away from her when they realized she was about to attack. But the distance the three created was still short enough for them to reach her fast if they had to. The three didn''t need to worry about that, though.

    Because her attack came in the form of creating a Dome to lock her and Bram inside it.

    As expected, Lewis, Dion, and Paige looked betrayed when she created a Dome over her and Bram. After all, from the point of view of her protectors, it wasn''t wise to leave her alone with the enemy.

    "Your Royal Highness, if you wanted to talk with just the two of us, you should have said so," Bram said, while standing up. It was annoying to see he could still move just fine despite his injuries. "You didn''t have to do this."

    "Hazelden Kingdom and Valmento, specifically its Holy Knights, will be mine," Neoma dered, ignoring Bram''s taunting words earlier. "I''ll admit I was pissed when you discredit me and my people''s efforts earlier. But I realized a person like me born who was born with a diamond spoon in his mouth can''t be oppressed, so I stopped sulking. It''s petty to do so."

    The crow bastard raised an eyebrow at her.

    "I acknowledge my privilege as the Crown Prince of the empire. Everything is practically handed to me," she exined with a shrug. "Everything except the love and respect of my people, that is. Choosing the right people to stay beside me is one thing I won''t let you take credit for." She opened her arms while acting like a generous person. "So, go ahead and give me everything you want. But if your little cult sends a psycho like you on my way again, all hell would break loose."

    "All I hearing out of your mouth is a warning, our dear prince," Bram said whileughing bitterly. "You''re basically threatening the crows not to touch your people."

    "I know how psychos like you think," she said. "I''m pretty sure you''re nning to get rid of my people and rece them with your own."

    "It looks like your father told you about the time the crows tried to rece his Pdins with our own people."

    "Uh-huh."

    "You haven''t answered my question yet," the crow bastard said. Then he hide his hands behind his back and smiled "innocently" at her. "Where''s the royal princess? The crows already know a royal princess was born in this generation. But for some reason, we can''t find her."

    "If I were the royal princess, I would fucking hide too if I knew ugly bitches like you were after my ass."

    His smile disappeared. "I already told you to watch yournguage, Prince Nero. That''s unbing of the future emperor¨C"

    "Fuck, fuck, fuck, bitch, bitch, bitch, shit, shit, shit," she said, just to annoy the crow bastard. She knew it was childish, but that was how trash-talking worked. Well, at least, for her. "I don''t give a damn if your ears fall off from my cursing," she said, then she gripped the holy scissors in her hand and use the de to cut her arm deep.

    Bram looked stunned by her action.

    But the stunned look on his face was soon reced by shock when her blood started to drip onto the floor. After all, as soon as the drop of blood touched the ground, it turned into a rose petal. Soon enough, the rose petals gathered in her feet.

    "My precious Roseheart Blood," she said softly. "Let''s purify this bitch."

    The roses on the floor were carried by her Moonglow towards Bram.

    That surprised the crow bastard, who immediately used his arms to block her attack. It was useless, though.

    There was a reason why she asked Lewis and Dion to cut Bram all over.

    And the reason was simple: it would be easier for her Roseheart Blood, in the form of rose petals, to enter Bram''s body. The crow bastard''s open wounds became an invitation for the rose petals to enter his body for purification.

    "Make it hurt like hell," Neoma told her Roseheart Blood. At that moment, her eyelids became heavy as her knees threatened to copse. God, she felt so exhausted, but she wasn''t done yet. "Purify that bitch in the most painful way possible."

    Soon enough, Bram''s agonizing scream filled the room along with the sizzling sounds while his whole body emitted smoke as if he was being barbecued alive.

    That was thest thing Neoma saw before everything turned ck.

    <strong>***</strong>

    BRAM barely escaped Prince Nero and his persistent guardians.

    He never thought he woulde out unscathed, but he didn''t think he''d make it out half-dead. The way the Crown Prince purified the Darkness in his veins hurt like a bitch. Ah, damn. Prince Nero''s foul mouth rubbed off on him easily.

    <"I can''t believe Prince Nero got you so bad.">

    Heughed at what His Excellency said, but he couldn''t move a muscle.

    Right now, he was lying on the floor of the cabin in the middle of the forest. It was the cabin where the portal connecting to the Hazelden Kingdom was located. His teleportation scroll brought him there because it was one of his escape routes.

    He couldn''t move yet, but he was sure he wasn''t being chased so he rxed.

    [Prince Nero fainted. Thus, his people are busy tending to him. They wouldn''t prioritize chasing me over the Crown Prince''s current condition.]

    "Our dear princebined his Roseheart Blood and Moonglow to purify the Darkness flowing in my veins," he exined to His Excellency. "The Crown Prince almost burned my insides into ashes."

    The crow, that was standing on the windowsill while facing him, let out augh that sounded metallic. <"The Crown Prince inherited Niki de Moonasterio''s nasty temper.">

    "Your Excellency, would you trust my judgment no matter how crazy it sounds?"

    <"I wouldn''t give you the ''Judge'' title if I don''t trust your verdicts.">

    "The Crown Prince would ascend the throne, but he would also destroy the empire we built from blood, sweat, and tears."

    <"Is the current Crown Prince an enemy?">

    "He''s not our Crown Prince."

    <"And what do you mean by that?">

    "The de Lucas are born with wired hatred for the royal princesses. The wrath our ancestors have for the female de Moonasterios is passed down from generation to generation," he said, then he slowly got up. He flinched because every part of his body hurt like hell. But there was another reason his mood turned sour. "I felt that hatred when I was talking to the Crown Prince earlier."

    Prince Nero was arrogant, so it was easy to hate him.

    Moreover, he didn''t like how the Crown Prince had a foul mouth.

    Even Niki de Moonasterio, known as one of the de Moonasterios with the nastiest temper, didn''t talk that way.

    But the irritation she felt towards Prince Nero wasn''t normal.

    [It was as if my brain was wired to reject him automatically.]

    His Excellency fell silent for a while before he spoke again. <"Are you saying the current Crown Prince is actually the royal princess we''ve been looking for all this time?">

    Bram tilted his head to one side. "That''s what my gut feel tells me, Your Excellency."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 384 - THE THREE-WAY BATTLE (1)

    Chapter 384 ¨C THE THREE-WAY BATTLE (1)

    <strong></strong>"HOW''S Neoma?" Niki asked while pinching the bridge of his nose. He just received Dion''s full report, and he wasn''t happy with what happened at Valmento. He wished he could Neoma, but he could only use themunication device in his ear at the moment. "Has she woken up?"

    ["Yes, Your Majesty,"] Dion said. ["But Princess Neoma seems to be in a bad mood."]

    "Her pride must have been crushed."

    He knew how arrogant his daughter was.

    The fact that a crow executive had showed up and dered the cult was giving Valmento and the Hazelden Kingdom to the Crown Prince as a birthday gift must be shocking for Neoma.

    [Scratch that¨C Neoma was definitely offended.]

    ["That seems to be the case, Your Majesty,"] Dion said. ["This may be impudent of me, but I believe this experience is necessary for Princess Neoma to grow stronger. Thanks to her encounter with Bram de Luca, Her Royal Highness has be wiser and more creative when ites to using her powers."]

    The Pdin was correct.

    Nobody taught Neoma how to use her Roseheart Blood properly, but she still managed to use it whilebining it with her Moonglow. Now he understood why most of the nobles had opposed his rtionship with Mona in the past.

    [Thebination of my Moonglow and Mona''s Roseheart Blood is terrifying.]

    "You''re not wrong, but don''t let Neoma hear that," he told Dion, then he leaned against his chair. His office was a mess after his encounter with the crow earlier, but the pce was quiet now. His Azure Dragon had already gotten rid of the crows in the sky. "As much as I adore my daughter, she''s a sore loser. It''s one of the ugly traits that she, unfortunately, inherited from me."

    ["Your Majesty is correct."]

    He should be offended that the Pdin easily agreed with him, but he couldn''t be angry with the truth.

    [It wasn''t like Dion was wrong.]

    "What does Neoma n to do next?" he asked the Pdin to change the topic. "Is she going to stay in Valmento?"

    ["No, Your Majesty. Princess Neoma intends to return to the Hazelden Kingdom as soon as she recovers enough strength to carry on,"] Dion said. ["Princess Neoma asked me, Lady Avery, and Duke Hawthorne to stay here and clean up the mess. Lewis will return to Hazelden with Her Royal Highness."]

    He let out a sigh.

    [I know Neoma needs to return to Hazelden to catch Delwyn, but I wish she''d rest first.]

    If only he could leave the pce and take care of either Valmento or the Hazelden Kingdom to help Neoma, he would. But it wouldn''t be wise to leave the pce while his sessor was away¨C especially now that the Royal Capital was in chaos because of the crows.

    "Do as what Neoma says, and keep in touch with me," Niki said firmly. "I''ll give you instructions once my daughter leaves for Hazelden."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "OH, I''M FULLY charged now," Neoma dered, then she looked at thece ribbon tied to her wrist. The other end was tied to Dion''s wrist. The two of them were sitting side by side on the sofa. After all, the Pdin was transferring his divine power to her. The process was simr to blood transfusion, and thece ribbon was a Divine Item that made it possible. "Paige, this is so convenient. Where did you get this Divine Item?"

    Paige smiled sweetly at her while untying thece ribbon around her wrist. "I stole it from the previous Pope of the East Continent, Princess Neoma."

    It was okay for the mage to address her that way because only the three of them were in the luxurious tearoom.

    Plus, Paige put a sound-canceling spell around the room for their privacy.

    [Wait, that''s not important right now!]

    "You stole from the Pope?" she asked, pleasantly surprised. "You''ve got balls of steel, Paige."

    "You were that child?" Dion asked, and the Pdin looked really shocked. "The child that stole the Divine Items given by the Sun Goddess to the Pope of the East Continent?"

    "That happened fifty years ago since I''ve been trapped in Hisa Tree for that long," the mage said while undoing thece ribbon around the Pdin''s wrist this time. "Do people still talk about that?"

    "Of course," the Pdin scoffed. "Lady Avery, you stole Divine Items and not mere toys. Moreover, you stole it from the Pope of the East Continent."

    Paige smiled innocently, then she put thece ribbon on a magical ck pouch that could apparently store stuff in a different dimension. "It''s not that much of a big deal, Sir Skelton."

    Neoma thought it was a big deal, but she kept it to herself.

    [It looks like Paige doesn''t want to talk more about it, so let''s just change the topic.]

    "Dion, what did Papa Boss tell you after you gave him a report of our situation?" she asked the Pdin.

    "His Majesty said he''ll be in charge of the matters here in Valmento once Your Royal Highness leaves for Hazelden," Dion reported to her. "His Majesty told me to follow Your Royal Highness''s orders."

    "Alright."

    She could call her Papa Boss if she wanted to.

    But she didn''t have the heart to personally tell her father she lost the fight against the crow bastard. Well, technically, no one actually won because she fainted and Bram de Luca escaped. Still, she knew that the crow bastard went easy on her.

    [God, this is so sad.]

    "Lewis and I will leave for Hazelden now," Neoma dered, trying to sound upbeat even though she felt shit at the moment. "I''ll return after I y with William and Delwyn. Take care of the things here while I''m ying."

    Paige and Dion bowed politely to her. "As you wish, Your Royal Highness."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "WHY DOES my little sister look gloomy?"

    Neoma, who was spacing out in front of the door of the portal leading to Hazelden Kingdom, snapped out of it when she felt someone poke her cheek.

    "Oh, your skin is soft," Jasper Hawthorne said, then he continued poking her cheek with his finger. "And smooth. Can I squish your face?"

    "Oppa, touching the precious body of a royal family member is a serious crime," Neoma reminded the young duke jokingly. "And you''re lucky Lewis isn''t here."

    Lewis was inside the portal room to make sure it wasn''t infested with Darkness.

    The Astello Temple had portals that led directly to the pces of the kingdoms and nations they had ties with. It was kind of unfair that the portals leading to Valmento that those kingdoms and nations had weren''t directly connected to the temple. Yet, the Astello Temple had direct portals leading to their pces.

    "Don''t beat yourself because of what happened, Your Royal Highness," Jasper oppa said as he stopped ying with her cheek. "A barely ten-year-old child purifying the Darkness that swallowed up the temple while making the culprit run away half-dead is already a huge feat."

    She just kept her mouth shut.

    Of course, she knew that for her current age, she already aplished something great. But it wasn''t enough if she wanted to bring the enemies down.

    "Most of the people think that way, too."

    Ah, right.

    She turned to the young duke. "You went out earlier, oppa. Have the people calmed down?"

    Her Papa Boss would release an official statementter to soothe the people of Valmento. But she wanted to know the situation outside at the moment. Unfortunately, she didn''t have the luxury to check on them personally, so she had to rely on Jasper oppa''s report.

    "Yeah. They saw Your Royal Highness purify the Darkness and faint after that, so the people are more worried about you more than the incident that took ce."

    She blinked several times, confused. "They saw me? I mean, I know I purified the Darkness up in the sky. But Valmento is pretty far from the residential areas. Howe they spotted me? Did they use a magical device or something?"

    The young duke looked hesitant to give her a full report at first, but he gave in eventually. "Your Royal Highness, it''s not only the people of Valmento who have witnessed your gant act earlier. In fact, people back at the Royal Capital have seen it, too. And since it was a major incident, I''m pretty sure the news has spread across the entire continent."

    "What?"

    "Someone recorded you earlier, and they spread that video to Valmento and the Royal Capital," Jasper oppa said. "I believe it was the work of the crow Your Royal Highness just encountered."

    Bram de Luca filmed her earlier?

    Thank goodness she didn''t summon Skewer!

    [Is this what Bram de Luca mean when he said the crows just turned me into the new hero of the continent?]

    Neoma held her nape when she suddenly felt stressed out. "Fuck `em crows."

    <strong>***</strong>

    JENO was surprised to see ''Soju,'' Princess Neoma''s Water Spirit in the form of a green toad, absorb all the water in the pond.

    [And Soju''s size didn''t change.]

    The pond was located inside a cave that wasn''t easy to find. It was deep in the woods, and it was hell traveling by foot because of the snow. But it was pretty rewarding because the cave was fascinating. There were ice gems on the roof and the walls.

    Moreover, the water that Soju had just absorbed was sparkling blue.

    "I''m full," Soju dered. He could hear and understand the Spirit because Soju allowed him and his "siblings" to interact with him. It was necessary for working together, after all. "Our job here is done, so let''s go."

    Jeno nodded politely. "I understand, Lord Soju."

    The Water Spirit belonged to Princess Neoma, so it was only right to use polite speech when talking to it.

    Soju then hopped so high andnded on the top of his head.

    Since he was already used to it, he didn''t mind. He went out of the cave with the Water Spirit sitting on the top of his head.

    "That was pretty quick."

    It was Xion who spoke.

    The assassin was squatting down in front of the cave while puffing a cigarette between his fingers. There were also unconscious wolves around him.

    Ah, yes.

    They encountered a pack of wolves on their way to the cave. Xion took care of those.

    "You didn''t kill the wolves, did you?" Jeno asked the assassin. "Princess Neoma told us not to kill them since apparently, the wolves of the North don''t attack humans unless they needed to protect their home."

    Princess Neoma seemed to have a soft spot for wolves, especially wolves who lived in a snowy mountain, for some reason.

    "I just knocked the wolves out, including the alpha," Xion exined, then he puffed a smoke out of his mouth. "I''m not an imbecile, you know? I listen well to Princess Neoma, kiddo."

    "I''m not a child," he said firmly, then he frowned while looking at the cigarette in Xion''s hand. "Princess Neoma may be older inside, but her physical body is that of a child. Second-hand smoke is bad for the health."

    "That''s why I don''t smoke around our master."

    "But it''s okay to smoke around me?"

    He puffed another smoke and smirked at him. "I thought you''re not a child?"

    "It''s not like only children get affected by second-hand smoke."

    "Ah, dammit. You nag too much," Xionined, then he thrashed the cigarette butt on the cave wall. After that, he stood up and faced him. "Happy now?"

    "I would appreciate it if you spray some perfume since you smell like¨C"

    "Lady Kimchi," Xion said, summoning Princess Neoma''s Fire Spirit and cutting him in the process. "Pleasee out."

    [This damned assassin definitely did that on purpose.]

    He didn''t have the time toin because Kimchi, Princess Neoma''s Fire Spirit in the form of a lizard, materialized on top of Xion''s head.

    Of course, there was a reason why Princess Neoma entrusted her Spirits with them.

    "Lady Kimchi, please help us find the trapped Ice Spirit," Jeno said, then he bowed his head. "We leave it to you."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "SO FUCKING cold," Neoma said while walking on a trail in the snowy mountain. That was the direction Xion and Jeno sent to her. She just needed to find their exact location. "The pce and the kingdom''s capital are both warm, but it''s freezing here."

    Her clothes were adorned with Fire Mana Stones that kept her warm. If she didn''t have those, she would have already been frozen to death.

    Lewis took off his jacket and put it on her shoulders.

    "Hey, you''ll be cold," she said while trying to shake the jacket off of her shoulders since she didn''t want her precious "son" to get sick because of her.

    "It''s okay, Princess Neoma," Lewis said, then he pulled the jacket up when it slipped off of her shoulders. "I''m a fox, so my body is naturally warm. I don''t get cold easily."

    "Are you sure?"

    "Yes, Princess Neoma."

    She smiled at him warmly. "Thank you, Lewis."

    "Mm," he said while piercing a hole in her face. "Are you still bummed about losing?"

    [Ah, there he goes again with his impolite manner of speech.]

    "Of course, I''m a sore loser," she said with a huff. "I''ve always believed defense is the best offense, so I focused my everything on perfecting my Dome. I didn''t pay much attention to training my physical body because as a de Moonasterio, my brute strengthes naturally. But after losing to that crow bastard, I want to change my style of fighting."

    He tilted his head to one side. "How?"

    "I''ll fight like how you do," she dered. "And I''ll test it out on William and Delwynter."

    Lewis knitted his eyebrows. "I don''t think it would be wise to experiment in a fighting style when you''re facing two individuals who wanted you dead, Princess Neoma."

    "I will still proceed with n A," Neoma assured Lewis, then she smirked while looking at the big fire in the woods in front of them. She was certain it was Kimchi''s fire. They must have already found Delwyn''s "cage." "I guess it''s time to summon Uncle Scumbag."

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 385 - [Bonus Chapter] LATE VALENTINE SPECIAL

    Chapter 385 ¨C [Bonus Chapter] LATE VALENTINE SPECIAL

    NIKOLAI wondered what Mona was up to when he found his lover staring at the sword lilies in the garden he gave to her as a present. He knew sword lilies were Mona''s favorite flowers, but he still found it unusual for her to space out like that. She didn''t even notice his presence.

    [What is she thinking about?]

    "Mona?"

    She didn''t hear him the first time he called her.

    So he squatted down beside her and gently nudged her shoulder while calling her name again.

    [Why is she so distracted?]

    Only then did Mona finally notice him. She turned to him and smiled at him sweetly, like she often did. "Oh, hello there, gorgeous."

    ''Gorgeous.''

    Only Mona would call the emperor who killed his own father to ascend the throne as ''gorgeous.''

    "You''re really something, Mona."

    Sheughed softly at his remark. "Where did thate from?"

    "You''re the only person on the continent who has the guts to call me ''gorgeous'' in my face."

    Sheughed softly. "Isn''t it my privilege as your lover to do so?"

    "Oh, you''re right," he said, then he stood up and offered his hands to her. "I only want to hear those words from you, anyway."

    She smiled and epted his hands, and she let him gently pull her up. Then she linked her arm with his. "Then I''ll tell you beautiful words every day." She tilted her head to one side as if she was deep in thought. "I think I''m weak against good-looking people. I hope our child doesn''t inherit this awful trait from me."

    "What''s wrong with appreciating good-looking people?" he argued, then he pulled out a chair for her. There was a table for two set up in the middle of the garden, and the refreshments were already served. But the servants were gone since he didn''t like his time with Mona to be interrupted by other people. "Moreover, you always tell me my only saving grace is my handsome face. You fell for my looks, didn''t you?"

    She sat whileughing and shaking her head. "Hey, I admit I like your face so much."

    Mona was the only person in the continent that would call him ''hey.'' If Kyle Sprouse heard her say that, the two would definitely fight again.

    He sat down on the chair opposite Mona''s. [I''m d Kyle isn''t here.]

    "But it''s not your face that made me stay with you," Mona said. "Your face isn''t enough to make up for your awful personality."

    "I already know that," he said, then he poured tea in Mona''s teacup first. If the servants saw him, the emperor, serving Mona tea, they would definitely freak out. But he didn''t want to serve him, especially since she was pregnant now. "So, what made you stay with me?"

    "Your body," she said, while eyeing the desserts on the table seriously.

    He, on the other hand, almost dropped the teapot.

    And he was pretty sure his face turned red, but he didn''t want to acknowledge that. So he pretended to be calm while pouring tea into his teacup.

    [I can''t blush just because she''s teasing me.]

    Mona picked up a piece of madeliene and looked at him with those sultry eyes of hers. "To be specific, your bedroom skills."

    He put the teapot down on the table and took a deep sigh. "Mona¨C"

    Sheughed while pping her hands, immediately cutting him off. "Niki, you should see your face. You''re blushing!"

    "I am not," he denied, even though he could feel his face heating.

    "I''m just messing with you," she said, then she took a bite of the madeleine in her hand. "It''s surprising, but I actually fell for your personality."

    "It''s indeed surprising," he said, thankful for the sudden change of topic. "You alwaysin about my personality, after all."

    "Iin because one of us has to stay sane and selfless," she said whileughing softly. But he could tell she was serious. "If both of us acted on our selfishness, then the entire world would crumble. Imagine a Roseheart and a de Moonasterio working together to do whatever they want to do." She sipped her tea before she spoke again. "I bet even the gods would step in to break us apart."

    He raised an eyebrow at her whimsical words. "I don''t quite get it."

    "I like how you act like you''d destroy everything if I get hurt."

    "But you always scold me when I lose it."

    "I told you¨C one of us has to stay sane for the sake of the world," she said. "But my selfish side loves how you''re willing to sacrifice the whole world just for me. I know that kind of love is toxic, but what can I do? At the end of the day, I''m just a woman who wanted to be loved unconditionally by the man I love the most in the world. If I could, I would stop thinking about anything else but you."

    Oh.

    Now he understood what her words earlier meant.

    "Unfortunately, I''m not an ordinary woman, and you''re not an ordinary man either," she said with a sad smile on her face. "Before I''m a woman, I''m the Roseheart Matriarch and the Daughter of Nature. On the other hand, before you''re a man, you''re the emperor of the most powerful territory in the West Continent. It''s already a luxury for us to be together. Anything more than this is already considered selfishness from both of us."

    Everything Mona just said now was correct.

    They had already broken many rules when they decided to be together. And now, they were expecting a child. Of course, only a few close friends knew about Mona''s pregnancy.

    But they couldn''t keep the secret forever.

    "I guess I will never stop feeling sorry for you, Mona," he said, his heart heavy with guilt. "You had to endure because I couldn''t abandon the throne to live a normal life with you."

    She smiled and shook her head. "I don''t want you to abandon the throne, Niki. You''re the only person who deserves to be the emperor of thisnd. Moreover, you need to make the empire a peaceful ce for our child."

    He wasn''t exactly thrilled to have a child because he only wanted to monopolize Mona.

    But he just kept it to himself.

    [Mona would be sad and upset if she knew what I just thought about our child.]

    "How long are we going to call them our ''child?''" he asked, changing the topic. And he knew Mona would love talking about their child, so he brought that up. "Shouldn''t we think about their names by now?"

    As expected, her face lit up. "I was just thinking about that, Niki!"

    "Really?" he asked, then he sipped his tea. "Since you''re a Roseheart, it''s almost confirmed you''d give birth to a daughter. Have you thought about what name to give her?"

    "I did, just now!" she said excitedly. "Swordlily."

    "Excuse me?"

    "Let''s name our daughter ''Swordlily'' since sword lilies are my favorite flowers."

    Ah.

    [So, that''s why she''s looking at the sword lilies intensely earlier.]

    Her shoulders slumped in disappointment when she noticed he wasn''t as thrilled as her about the name that she came up for their daughter. "Is it not good? Swordlily sounds cute, though."

    "It''s a little¡­" He cleared his throat and chose his words more carefully. "Mona, our daughter is going to be the royal princess of the empire. I know sword lilies have a wonderful meaning in the flowernguage, but I''m afraid our daughter''s name would be criticized for that. The nobles wouldn''t want a royal named after a flower."

    She let out a deep sigh. "This is one of the few times I want you to go on a rampage and end the bloodline of all the annoying nobles in the empire."

    Heughed softly at her remark. "I was reading an old book written in Snian Language."

    ''Snian Language'' was already a deadnguage, and only the members of the royal family were allowed to learn that.

    "I came across a word that might suit our daughter. Do you want to hear it?"

    Mona smiled and nodded eagerly. "Yes, I want to! What is it?"

    "''Neoma,''" he said softly. "It means ''beautiful moon'' in the Snian Language."

    Mona covered her hands when she gasped. "It sounds beautiful." She put her hands on her stomach. Her bump was barely visible yet, but the life in her womb was growing stronger and stronger each day. "Neoma, our pretty Neoma."

    Niki smiled while watching Mona talk to their child happily.

    [Maybe having a daughter wouldn''t be so bad, after all.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    "NOW THAT I think about it, you inherited your awful naming sense from your mother," Niki dered while looking at Neoma who was standing in front of his office desk. His daughter came to his office because apparently, she had something to give to him. Then, all of a sudden, he was reminded of his time with Mona when they were discussing what name to give their child. At that time, they didn''t know yet that Mona was carrying a pair of twins in her womb. "Mona almost named you ''Swordlily,'' you know?"

    "That would have been an awesome name, Papa Boss," Neoma said, her eyes sparkling with joy. Then she handed a well-wrapped chocte box to him. He knew it was chocte because he could smell the aroma. "Here, for you. I made those chocte truffles myself."

    He epted the box of chocte. "Is this a bribe?"

    His daughterughed and shook her head. "Happy Valentine''s Day, Papa Boss."

    Oh.

    Was it the asion where Neoma would hand out choctes to people she was fond of? He remembered not getting choctes from her all this time.

    [Not until now, that is.]

    "Thank you, Neoma," he said genuinely.

    "You have to give me a gift on White Day, Papa Boss. It''s on March 14th," his daughter said excitedly. "It''s a custom to give a gift to the person who gave you choctes on that day!"

    "Alright," he said, then he pointed to the map on his table. It just so happened he was checking on the mines that he owned when Neoma arrived in his office. "Would a diamond mine suffice as a present?"

    Neoma looked horrified by his suggestion. "Papa Boss, why would you give me a diamond mine just because I gave you some choctes?"

    "Well, isn''t it obvious?" Niki said, then he crossed his arms over his chest. "You''re my daughter, so you deserve only the best gifts in the world."

    <strong>***</strong>

    <strong>NOTE:</strong> Hi! Sorry for another bonus chapter. I''m writing some stockpile for the main story, and the fighting scenes are pretty hard to write since I''m quite busytely.. Sorry! Will post the next chapter for the main story tomorrow.

 Chapter 386 - THE THREE-WAY BATTLE (2)

    Chapter 386 ¨C THE THREE-WAY BATTLE (2)

    "AH, THERE it is," Jeno said after Lady Kimchinded on the branch of a tree with a huge thunderbolt mark carved on the trunk. "Princess Neoma told us to find the tree with a carved thunderbolt on it."

    Xion, who was standing next to him, yawned while stretching his arms. "So, what are we going to do now that we''ve found the tree?"

    He opened his hands politely.

    As if on cue, Lady Kimchi jumped from the branch. But instead ofnding on his hands, the Fire Spirit, in the form of a lizard,nded on the top of his head.

    [Oh, okay. Lady Kimchi enjoys resting on my head, huh?]

    "Princess Neoma left Lady Kimchi in our care to do one thing," Jeno said, then he pointed his finger at the tree. "Lady Kimchi, please burn that tree down."

    Apparently, something would appear after the marked tree burned down.

    "Damn, our Princess Neoma is really something," Xion said whileughing in excitement. "Now she wants to create a man-made wildfire, huh?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    [RUTO is really crazy, huh?]

    Neoma meant in a good way.

    Watching the trees forming a circle in the middle of the woods, separated from the other trees, amazed her. It was amazing because the fire burning the marked trees down wasn''t affecting the other trees in the woods.

    In short, it looked like the space where the marked trees were burning was separated from reality. After all, she could sense a barrier simr to her Dome. It was also the reason she didn''t feel hot, even though there was a big fire in front of her.

    [Thank goodness.]

    She didn''t want to create a man-made wildfire, after all.

    "Wee back, Your Royal Highness."

    Jeno and Xion greeted her politely while bowing their heads to her.

    "Good job, Jeno and Xion," Neoma said cheerfully, then she looked at her Spirits. Kimchi was sitting on top of Jeno''s head, while Soju was on top of Xion''s head. "Kimchi, Soju, both of you worked hard as well. Thank you, everyone."

    Jeno and Xion looked delighted by her praise, and so were her Spirits.

    Kimchi hopped andnded on her right shoulder, while Soju did the same andnded on her left shoulder.

    [Now, let''s see¡­]

    She looked at the center of the space surrounded by the burning marked trees.

    In the middle of it, there was an elevated snow-covered ground. On top of it was a floating and burning coffin-like ss. And it was melting already.

    [Okay, it''s time for the main character to work again."

    "Jeno."

    "Yes, Your Royal Highness?"

    "I''m going to use Skewer, and doing so will awaken my demonic power, which is also a Darkness attribute," she said seriously to the Marksman. "I need you to cover the entire mountain well with your mist. I don''t want outsiders to see what''s going on here."

    Jeno bowed to her. "I received Your Royal Highness''s order."

    "Very well," she said, then she turned to Xion. "A crow fucked me up earlier. He recorded my fight with the Darkness that swallowed up the temple. Xion, I don''t want the same thing to happen here."

    Xion, who seemed to have caught on easily, nodded firmly. "I will check on every nook and cranny of the mountain to make sure no one is spying on us. And I will particrly be careful of the crows."

    She smiled at how fast Xion was to catch on. "The crow I fought in Valmento was in his human form. Half of his physical appearance resembled a de Moonasterio a bit. But he also disguised himself as a brte young man with significant divine power. He looks innocent, so be careful if you met someone like that here."

    The assassin nodded. "`Got it, Your Royal Highness."

    "One more thing, his blood is made of Darkness," she added. "If you met this particr crow, bring him to me alive. But I also won''t mind if you bring him half-dead. As long as he could talk, that''s fine with me."

    Xion smirked, then he bowed to her. "I received Your Royal Highness''s order."

    "Very well," she said, then she turned to Lewis. "And for you, Lewis¨C"

    "I''ll stay with you, Princess Neoma," Lewis said firmly, then he raised an eyebrow at her. "You don''t have anyints, right?"

    Jeno and Xion looked shocked by Lewis''s rude manner of speech towards her.

    Neoma, on the other, was too stunned to react.

    [Herees Lewis''s bad boy era.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    "SOJU," Neoma said, then she pointed to the sky. "Water attack."

    Sojuughed at her order, then he hopped in the sky as if there was an invisible staircase up there. "As you wish, our dear Princess Neoma."

    And then, soon enough, it started to ''rain.''

    It wasn''t really raining, of course. Soju just literally spat out the magical water that she asked him to absorb. The reason she left Soju in Jeno''s care was for the Water Spirit to retrieve the water needed to extinguish the fire that served as Delwyn''s prison.

    The marked tree around the coffin was actually burning with a sealed fire within. To free the fire, the marked trees had to be burned down by a powerful fire. Kimchi was a strong Fire Spirit, so she knew Kimchi''s fire would do the job.

    [And I''m right.]

    After the trees were burned down, thest thing she needed was to extinguish the fire. Only the water in the frozen cave could put it out. It was the water Soju had absorbed earlier.

    [I''m d Jeno and Xion managed to work with Kimchi and Soju well.]

    "Princess Neoma, dangerous," Lewis said, then he stood in front of her protectively. "He''s awake."

    Her fox could only be referring to one person¨C Delwyn, the Ice Spirit.

    "Yeah, I can tell," she said, while looking at the melting ss coffin. She could see a figure getting up. The smoke from the fire was yet to vanish, so her vision was a little blurry. Still, she could see the little movements of the newly awakened Ice Spirit. "I wonder if he''s handsome."

    Lewis let out a sigh. "I hope the Ice Spirit is as ugly as an ogre."

    "Nah, I bet he''s handsome," Neoma said whileughing, then she turned serious. "I guess it''s time to summon Uncle Scumbag now."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "I GUESS they''re twins," Bram de Luca said hanging upside down at a tree branch like a bat. His Excellency''s crow was sitting on the same branch, too. "The Crown Prince and the hidden royal princess, I mean."

    He and His Excellency just arrived at the snowy mountain of the Hazelden Kingdom. Unfortunately, they couldn''t go deeper into the woods because of the thick mist hiding the woods. He could barely feel the presence of the people hidden in the mist.

    But his gut feel was telling him the ''Crown Prince'' was there since the young ''prince'' didn''t go straight to the Hazelden Pce.

    "If the royal princess is pretending to be the Crown Prince, then it only means they resemble each other a lot¨C enough for Her Royal Highness to pull it off," he said, then he crossed his arms over his chest. "And if the royal princess is pretending to be the Crown Prince, it only means the real sessor in a position where he couldn''t fulfill his duties yet. He must be hurt and currently recovering in a safe ce."

    <"I can only think of one force strong enough to harm the real Crown Prince,"> His Excellency said. <"It must be the work of the Devil.">

    "That''s what I thought, too," he agreed while nodding his head. "If the crows exist to get rid of the royal princesses, the Devil exists to kill the de Moonasterio male heirs." He clicked his tongue. "This is why I keep telling Your Excellency to prioritize hunting down the Devil."

    <"We still need the Devil''s ability,"> His Excellency reminded him. <"He''s the only person who could resurrect the dead perfectly.">

    He couldn''t refute that.

    "Still, it''s annoying that the Devil keeps on getting in our way," he said. "I can''t believe we almost lost the Crown Prince of this generation."

    <"As long as the real Crown Prince is still alive, our purpose still stands,"> His Excellency said in a patient tone. <"What should we do about the royal princess?">

    "We can''t kill the royal princess yet, since Niki de Moonasterio needed an heir to maintain his power over the nobles," he said. He had already thought about what to do while they were on their way to the Hazelden Kingdom earlier. "Moreover, the royal princess of this generation appears to be special. I''d like to watch her for now. We still have three more years left before ''they'' return, anyway. What do you think, Your Excellency?"

    <"I agree with your decision,"> His Excellency said. <"We need to lie low for the next three years, so it would be wise to quietly watch over the royal princess in the meantime¨C">

    The crow that His Excellency was using as amunication device was forced to stop talking when a dagger pierced through the bird''s head.

    At the same time, a dagger hit both of his legs¨C causing him to plummet to the ground.

    [Dammit!]

    He didn''t feel any presence around him, and he couldn''t tell where the flying daggers came from! Something like that could only be a work of a highly-skilled assassin.

    [A high-level assassin out of nowhere?!]

    It was annoying how he couldn''t feel the assassin''s presence, but he could feel a murderous aura directed at him. He just couldn''t pinpoint where it wasing from.

    [This is why I hate dealing with assassins.]

    "Come out while I''m still being nice," Bram said while standing up and pulling out the daggers piercing through his legs. He couldn''t feel pain, but he could feel his legs shaking. It looked like the daggers wereced with poison. "What a troublesome assassin."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA didn''t know where to look.

    On her left side, William was starting to materialize after being summoned. On the other hand, on her right side, Delwyn had fully awakened, and he was now getting out of his ss coffin. Both were very eye candy, but it looked like she was more drawn to the Ice Spirit.

    [Delwyn looks like a long-haired, adult version of J*ck Fr*st from the R*se of the G*ardians.]

    God, that face was so her style.

    Lewis, who was still standing in front of her protectively, clicked his tongue. "Annoying face."

    It was annoying for Lewis because Delwyn was gorgeous.

    Even his white robe looked good on him. And thezy look on the Ice Spirit''s face? God, that was so attractive.

    But she hadn''t forgotten that Delwyn betrayed her mother.

    "Mona," Delwyn said while rubbing his eye with his hand. Then he pointed a pale and slender finger in her direction. "Why did you shrink?"

    "Lady Mona Roseheart is my mother," Neoma said, her admiration for Delwyn''s face fading away as she prepared for the fight. "As her child, I''m here to make you pay for betraying my mother, Lord Delwyn."

    "Oh, interesting," the Ice Spirit said, his gentle and calm blue-jeweled eyes remained dead. "But child, you''re carrying a dangerous Divine Item in you."

    Her eyes widened in shock.

    By dangerous Divine Item, Delwyn could only be talking about the Divine Item that Manu, the Moon Priest, lent her to make the Ice Spirit her temporary Soul Beast.

    [How did he know¡­?]

    "Delwyn, you traitor!"

    It was William, and her Uncle Scumbag ignored her because he was focused on Delwyn.

    "Long time no see, William," Delwyn greeted the Grand Spiritzily. "Hey, you know I''m physically weak. I''m especially weak at the moment because I just woke up."

    "So what?" the Grand Spirit snarled at the Ice Spirit.

    "I know you want to kill me because I betrayed Mona," Delwyn said casually. "But I''m more scared of the Divine Item the little Mona is carrying."

    ''Little Mona?''

    [Why do these dudes keep giving me weird pet names?]

    "So, I have a proposal, William," Delwyn said, then he yawned before he continued. "Why don''t we work together first to get rid of little Mona, then I''ll give you a chance to kill me."

    Wow.

    She was too stunned to speak.

    "That doesn''t sound like a bad idea," William said, then he finally turned to her. "If the filthy bug dies, I''ll just tell Nero you killed her, Delwyn."

    Neoma was appalled. "Men and their audacity."

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 387 - THE THREE-WAY BATTLE (3)

    Chapter 387 ¨C THE THREE-WAY BATTLE (3)

    "I''M APPALLED that two grown-ass men are willing to work together just to take down a pretty, charismatic, and witty almost-ten-year-old girl boss. William, Delwyn, both of you are at least a century older than me, right?" Neoma said whileughing in disbelief. "I guess I''m a threat, so I''ll take it as apliment. But you know what?"

    She opened her right hand and summoned Skewer, aka the Death''s Scythe. As soon as the scythe materialized in the air, she grabbed the pink staff tight. Now that she wasn''t in the Holy Land, and Jeno was here to conceal her movements, she was free to go on a rampage using her full strength.

    At the end of the day, despite having her mother''s Roseheart Blood and her father''s Moonglow, she was still morefortable in fighting using her so-called demonic power.

    "I guess criticizing you would be a hypocrite of me, though," she said, then she smiled at the two fossils in front of her. "After all, I never nned to y fair in the first ce."

    She wasn''t that arrogant to think she''d win a fight against two oldies on her own.

    Even if Lewis was with her, the odds of them winning was low. Thus, she borrowed her Papa Boss''s Soul Beast.

    Plus¡­

    "Come out," she said firmly, then she hit the snow-covered ground with the end of the scythe''s staff. "Queen Lisica, Lord Rustin,e out and y with us!"

    The ground shook.

    Then, soon enough, a ck hole opened in the space between her and the two powerful oldies. After that, Lisica and Rustin came out of the hole as if they were standing on an elevated tform. Well, it was more like they were spat out by the ck hole since they shot up the sky.

    But Lisica and Rustinnded on the ground gracefully.

    "Spirit Foxes," William said, scoffing. "What a cheap trick."

    She ignored her Uncle Scumbag and faced Lisica and Rustin instead. The two Spirit Foxes got down on one knee and bowed their heads to her as a greeting.

    "We''ll talkter," Neoma said to the Spirit Foxes. "For now, I want you to hold back William and stop him from attacking me. You can fuck him up as much as you can, but don''t kill him. I need my Uncle Scumbag alive."

    "As you wish, Your Royal Highness," Lisica said, then she licked her lips seductively while checking out William from head to toe. The queen looked a little pervy at the moment. "It''s been so long since I got to meet a worthy enemy. I''m so excited it''s making me wet¨C"

    Rustin covered Lisica''s mouth with his hand. "We''ll do as Your Royal Highness said."

    "Thank you," she said, then she waved them goodbye. "I''m busy, so I''ll go ahead," she said, then she turned to Lewis. "Just do as what we''ve nned, Lewis."

    It was a n they created with Paige Avery.

    [We''re really lucky to have a very reliable mage on our side.]

    "I will follow our n," Lewis said, then he let out a frustrated sigh. "But call me if you need my help, Princess Neoma."

    "Yep," she said, then she looked up when a huge shadow cast over her.

    It was William, and he was swinging his big greatsword in her direction.

    [Yep, only Uncle Scumbag woulde at a child with the intention of killing her.]

    Thankfully, the three foxes all jumped in front of her to protect her.

    She knew she could trust Lewis, Lisica, and Rustin. So she didn''t hesitate to turn her back on William. Plus, she just realized Delwyn already escaped.

    But she already expected that.

    [It''s not like Delwyn can escape anyway.]

    "Kimchi," she said cheerfully while swinging Skewer. "Lend me your me."

    Kimchi materialized on top of the Death Scythe''s curved de, then her whole body turned into red fire. The me then licked the de of the scythe, and Kimchi became one with her me, which meant Kimchi''s physical body had lost its form.

    Now Skewer''s de was covered with red me.

    "Delwyn,e out," Neoma sang while hopping (and ignoring the fighting noises behind her). Well, to be precise, her steps while climbing the snowy mountain was light because Mochi was using flight magic on her. "Come out wherever you are~"

    <strong>***</strong>

    [XION?]

    Juri was worried when Xion sent a distress signal to her.

    If she received that signal, then Princess Neoma and the rest of their group had received it, too. Lady Paige Avery designed theirmunication device so they could ask for help if their life was put in danger.

    [Xion is a prideful man¨C he wouldn''t send a distress signal if his life wasn''t in serious danger.]

    "Paige noona, what should we do?" Greko, who also received the distress signal from Xion, asked worriedly. "Xion hyung sent a distress signal. That means he''s in grave danger, right? Shouldn''t we look for him?"

    Princess Neoma and Lewis weren''t here at the moment.

    She also couldn''t contact the princess and the fox boy, since the two were probably busy fighting. That meant the responsibility to save Xion was on her shoulders now.

    "Yes, we should go," Juri said seriously. "My mother and my aunt are working together with this kingdom''s first princess, anyway. Moreover, the Pdins are here to keep an eye on the Royal Family and their knights."

    To be honest, she and Greko were only in the room next to the room where the king and the Crown Prince were locked up in case someone needed some medical help. Greko was a Healer, and she was assigned to protect their youngest.

    Her mother and her aunt were in a meeting with Princess Brigitte, and she heard the threedies were also having a video meeting with His Majesty. The Pdins, on the other hand, were busy apprehending the nobles and other uninvited guests trying to save the Royal Family.

    "But where do we find Xion hyung?" Greko asked worriedly. "He didn''t send us his location, noona."

    "Xion and Jeno followed Princess Neoma to the snowy mountain, so let''s begin there," she said while gently patting the child''s head.

    "What''s going on?"

    She almost had a heart attack when she heard a voiceing from behind her.

    Even Greko flinched from surprise.

    When she turned around, she saw the Fletcher Twinsing in the room from the window. And wow, she couldn''t feel the two''s presence even when they were already inside.

    "Is there a problem?" Wyatt, the calmer twin, asked. "Sorry, but we overheard you saying you''re going to save a friend of yours."

    She nodded in response. "Xion, the assassin of our team, sent us a distress signal and we can''t contact him again. We''re extra worried because Xion escorted Princess Neoma to the snowy mountain."

    "Hyung wouldn''t send us a distress signal if his life wasn''t in danger," Greko added worriedly. "Unnie and I will go and look for him."

    "If your colleague who escorted Princess Neoma to the snowy mountain is in danger, then we can''t let you twoe and save him," Wyatt said sternly. "It''s not like we don''t trust you. But this is a job for the adults."

    "Let us tag along," she insisted. "Xion asked for our help, so it''s only right if we¨C"

    "No," Warren, the "wilder" twin, said firmly. He looked impatient, and he also looked like he was about to scold them. "To be honest, we''re also on our way to the snowy mountain to fetch an important guest who just arrived there. But her existence is a secret, and even though you are Princess Neoma''s so-called "children," we can''t let you see her."

    [An important guest that we''re not allowed to see? Who is she, then?]

    "It''s a royal decree from His Majesty himself that we protect this person''s identity at all cost," Wyatt said seriously. "Thus, I''m afraid we need to ask you to step back and entrust your colleague''s life to us."

    How could she argue when the Fletcher Twins already said it was the emperor''s order?

    She and her "siblings" worked for Princess Neoma, but Princess Neoma often told them to cooperate with the emperor''s people when she wasn''t around. Moreover, it looked like the Fletcher Twins wouldn''t hesitate to knock them out if they needed to.

    "Alright," she said, giving in while letting out a frustrated sigh. "But if you fail to save Xion, we will never forgive you."

    The Fletcher Twins just nodded as a response.

    "H-Hyungs, c-can you at least b-bring the m-medicine I made just in case my Xion hyung needs them?" Greko asked shyly. "I made a lot of medicine meant for healing different types of injuries with Paige noona."

    Juri smiled and patted Greko''s head affectionately, then she turned to the Fletcher Twins. "You heard our youngest, kind sirs."

    <strong>***</strong>

    [HE''S HERE.]

    Neoma stopped in the middle of the in field covered with snow. There was not a single tree in sight, and she felt like the space around her was separated from reality. Her gut feel was almost always correct, so she didn''t hesitate to trust her instincts this time as well.

    "`Found you," Neoma said, then she swung her ming Death''s Scythe. "Skewer, burn the whole area¨C argh!"

    She trailed off when suddenly, hundreds of ice daggers emerged from the ground.

    And yes, those daggers pierced through her body.

    Now the in white snow she was standing on was covered by her dripping blood. She even coughed up a huge chunk of blood, but thankfully, her vital organs were spared. Her injuries just looked bad because of the blood. She wasn''t hurt badly, though.

    "Sorry," Delwyn, who materialized in front of her, said coldly. "I don''t want to be your ve, so I had to be aggressive."

    "I''m not going to make you a ve," Neoma said while using her scythe as a crane because she could barely stand at the moment. Still, she felt excited so she couldn''t hide her grin. "But I also don''t want to lose this battle."

    The Ice Spirit knitted his eyebrows as if he was confused, then he looked around when he realized she was creating a Dome.

    Yes, she was creating a Dome to trap her and Delwyn inside.

    "What are you doing, Little Mona?" Delwyn asked while looking at her as if she had just grown another head. "You''ll be at a disadvantage if you trapped us here."

    "My name is Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio."

    "I don''t care¨C"

    "You should¨C because you should remember the name of your new master," Neoma said, then she looked up at the night sky. "South,e out."

    Yes, she just summoned her Papa Boss''s Soul Beast.

    South, the ming Vermillion Bird appeared and soared up the sky while lighting up the darkness with its blinding red me.

    [Now, things are about to get lit.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 388 - THE THREE-WAY BATTLE (4)

    Chapter 388 ¨C THE THREE-WAY BATTLE (4)

    "ARGH, I''M melting," Delwynined out loud. "You''re cruel, Little Mona."

    He wasn''t really melting. If it was easy for an Ice Spirit like him to melt, he would have been long gone. But Little Mona''s weapon was seriously hot, and so was the me of the Vermillion Bird sitting on top of the Dome the young princess created.

    [I see what Little Mona has done.]

    The young princess created a Dome infused with the ming Vermillion Bird''s me. Not even his ice could break it now. It would too hot for him to touch. And even if he managed to escape, the ming Vermillion Bird would just hunt him down.

    [It''s a surprise that Niki de Moonasterio lent one of his Soul Beasts to his daughter. Since when did the de Moonasterios care about a royal princess?]

    It seemed like times had changed in the short period he went into a slumber.

    [That, or Little Mona is just special.]

    Delwyn decided to take that fight seriously.

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOU keep calling me ''Little Mona,''" Neomained to the Ice Spirit while removing the lid of a vial in her free hand. It was a healing potion Greko made for her. She drank it to heal the physical injuries she received earlier from Delwyn''s ice daggers. "Why are you calling me that? I thought I look more of a de Moonasterio than a Roseheart."

    "Because you''re Mona''s daughter."

    "How did y you know I''m a ''daughter'' and not a ''son?''" she asked while checking herself from her neck down. Her clothes were still stained with her blood, but her wounds were quickly closing thanks to the healing potion she had just drunk. "Is my disguise reallyme?"

    "It''s not that your disguise iscking," Delwyn exined while moving his hands as if he was leading an orchestra. His hand movements looked elegant, but she could tell he was preparing for a dangerous attack. "But I carried you in my arms when you were still a baby. I left my scent on you, so I recognized you easily as Mona''s daughter despite your disguise."

    "You left your scent on me?" she asked while the vial in her hand was slowly fading away.

    The vials of her healing potions were designed to vanish as soon as the substance was consumed.

    [Convenient, right?]

    "It''s something that Spirits do out of our control," he exined. "Even if we don''t want to, we leave our scents on the humans we touch."

    "Okay, but when did you get a chance to hold me? Before you betrayed my mother?"

    "After," he said with a shrug. "You know, Mona could be a klutz sometimes. After she tried to cross over to the other world with you, both of your physical bodies were left defenseless in this world. I had to babysit you while your mother''s physical body was sinking into the depth of the ck Ocean."

    "And whose fault was that?" she snapped at him, the very person who was the reason her mother was trapped in that stupid block of ice.

    "You can me me all you want, but you can''t also deny the fact Mona had been careless."

    "Do you hate my mother?"

    "I don''t hate Mona," Delwyn said, and he kind of sounded genuine. "I just did what I had to do during that time."

    She wanted to ask what was he needed to do at that time.

    But she was distracted when Delwyn dropped his arms to his sides as if he just finished preparing for his attack.

    [Wow.]

    Then she realized Delwyn was now surrounded by ice rose that magically grew in the snow-covered ground. Thankfully, the ice roses didn''t reach her side. After all, the me covering Skewer''s curved de was melting the ice and the snow near her.

    "Little Mona, I don''t enjoy fighting children, but I don''t want to be a ve either," Delwyn said seriously. "So forgive me if I have to act like William in order to protect myself."

    "I know what you''re afraid of," she said, then she opened her left hand.

    She summoned the Divine Item that Manu, the Moon Priest, lent her in order to catch the Ice Spirit.

    "You''re afraid of this, right?" she asked, then she grabbed the white handgun that materialized in the air. "Lord Manu told me the bullets of this gun could melt you literally. He also told me it''s gonna be painful for you."

    "Yes, that''s correct," the Ice Spirit said while nodding. "I''ve been hit by that once, and I don''t want a repeat of that."

    "I wonder who let you have the taste of this baby boy."

    By ''baby boy,'' she meant the white handgun, of course.

    "Don''t remind me," Delwyn said while frowning. "That boy with purple hair¡­ I''ll never forget that punk."

    Purple hair?

    Her mind immediately thought of Ruto, but she kept her mouth shut. Ruto needed to sleep to recover, and she didn''t want this Ice Spirit to go after him. Plus, she wasn''t sure if Delwyn was really talking about Ruto just because the culprit had purple hair, too.

    She was curious about one thing, though.

    "This isn''t the only weapon that could make you suffer?" she asked curiously. "I thought only the Moon Priest possess such a weapon."

    "The Moon God isn''t the only major god out there," he said. "Of course, other gods have weapons that could hurt a Spirit like me that possesses Darkness attribute. Gods are wary of strong beings with Darkness attribute, after all."

    Ohh.

    The Ice Spirit had Darkness attribute?

    "Are you surprised?" Delwyn asked when he noticed her facial expression. "Yes, my ice element is one of the Darkness attributes. It''s because my ice is weak against Light attributes like the fire element. And that''s also one of the reasons why I wasn''tpatible with Mona. As if being the Daughter of Nature wasn''t enough to make me suffer, she also had to possess a Light Spirit and a Fire Spirit. It physically hurts me to be with them."

    She smirked bitterly. "Was that your only reason for betraying my mother?"

    "Why do you seem so interested in my reason for betraying Mona?"

    "Because I don''t want to regret my decision," she said, then she threw the white handgun in the air.

    Then she gripped Skewer''s handle tight before she swung it.

    And she swung the scythe the moment the handgun was falling down. The handgun was already split in half when it dropped to the ground. The red me that covered Skewer''s de licked the handgun as well.

    Now the handgun was getting burned into ashes slowly.

    "You didn''t inject the handgun with your Moonglow," Delwynmented, as if he was confused. "Had you done that, the handgun would have turned into an unbreakable weapon."

    "I know that," she said. "I purposely didn''t power up the handgun because I have no intention of using it on you."

    "And why is that?"

    "I need you to be my temporary Soul Beast, but I have no intention of forcing you to be my ve. I hate very," she said firmly. "So, let''s y a game. If I win, you''re mine. And if I lose, I''ll let you go."

    He smirked at her while shaking his head. "You''re saying that after you trapped me here?"

    "Because this is how we''ll y," she said whileughing. "You''ll win if you get out of the Dome before South, my father''s ming Vermillion Bird, melts my Dome."

    "This Dome is simr to the Dome that Lord Yule''s representatives learn before they descend to the Middle World as either a saint or a Moon Priest."

    "Bingo," she said. "The one who taught me how to create a Dome is the former saint."

    "Then this will be easier than expected," Delwyn said, then he raised his hand. As soon as he did, the ice roses around him were plucked and floated in the air. The pointed end of the ice roses were directed at her. "The Dome is almost unbreakable, but it will disappear once the creator faints or dies."

    Neoma smiled and gripped Skewer tighter. "I''ll make you sign a contract with me before the Dome melts."

    <strong>***</strong>

    [WHY DO I feel like the fox boy has suddenly been sloppy?]

    William, despite overwhelming the three foxes with his brute force, felt like something was off. It felt like his enemies were purposely attacking him without defending themselves properly. As a result, the foxes were now covered with blood.

    But to be honest, the adult foxes looked pretty crazy to him. The male and the female adult foxes were full of deep cuts from head to toe, and blood was gushing out of their open wounds. But the adult foxes wereughing like mad people while trying to maul him.

    [As expected, the foxes'' signature attack is still mauling the hell out of their enemies.]

    But it made him a little worried when he realized Lewis was calmpared to the two adult foxes.

    "Darling, it''s okay to defend yourself," the female fox said while grabbing his cor. But instead of wing his chest like he expected her to do, the female fox just ripped his shirt off and stared at his chest hungrily. Then she licked her lips. "Let me have a taste of you before I go back to hell."

    "I''ll send you back to hell now," William said, then he grabbed the female fox''s arm with the intention of breaking it. But his arm was grabbed by the male adult fox and dug his sharp nails into his skin until he was bleeding. [So damn persistent.]

    This time, he didn''t bother using his greatsword.

    The foxes were too much of a brute to be dealt by weapons. So he used his physical strength to fight them. While breaking the arms of the male and the female adult fox, he felt his back being mauled by Lewis, the young bastard fox.

    [Damn these foxes!]

    He gathered his Mana and turned it into an energy ball that exploded out of his body. It sessfully sent the three foxes away flying.

    [I''m wasting my time here.]

    The crazy male and female adult foxesughed as theynded on the ground, a few meters away from where he stood.

    Lewis, on the other hand, came at him again as soon as his feet touched the ground.

    "Draki, take care of the old foxes," William said, summoning his Familiar¨C the blue snake¨C while he was running towards Lewis. "I''ll deal with his arrogant punk."

    <"As you wish, Master.">

    He felt and heard an explosion behind him.

    It was definitely caused by Draki, in his huge blue snake form, emerging from the ground. The ground they were walking on was actually a frozenke. Draki was a water snake, so his Familiar had been hiding in theke below.

    [I don''t like using my power of nature on my fellow Spirits, but I need to join the fight between Delwyn and the filthy bug the soonest.]

    His thoughts were interrupted when Lewis reached for his chest. The young fox''s long and sharp nails suggested he was about to rip his heart out. It was a brute attack that the foxes enjoyed in the past, so he wasn''t really surprised by that move.

    [You''re reaching for my heart, huh? Let me show you how it''s done, young fox.]

    He grabbed Lewis''s by the wrist, then he used one of his abilities by smearing his blood on the young fox''s face and body.

    This time, he was using his Roseheart Blood.

    And that ability was turning his blood into ''weight,'' and it was working.

    Lewis''s feet sank into the snow-covered ground, and the frustrated looked on his face said everything he needed to know. The young fox''s body definitely felt heavy now, as if he just gained a ton of weight. Now, Lewis couldn''t move.

    He used that chance to summon his greatsword. As soon as his weapon materialized in front of him, he grabbed the handle and unceremoniously stabbed Lewis in the stomach. He even twisted the de to make sure it would hurt.

    Lewis''s poker face was amazing. He didn''t even flinch. Or perhaps, the additional weight on his body felt too heavy that he couldn''t even move his facial muscles.

    [But his eyes told me he''s in pain.]

    "Don''t worry, young fox," William said, then he snapped his fingers. "I''ll relieve you of your pain by giving it to your beloved princess."

    The young fox snarled at him.

    [Ah, he knows what I''m doing.]

    Lewis obviously knew about his ability to exchange an individual''s current physical/health condition with another person.

    Well, he wasn''t surprised. After all, he used that ability on the filthy bug. He remembered exchanging the royal princess''s physical/health condition with the Quinzel Heiress when thetter was barely alive because of a Mana bomb explosion, if he remembered it correctly.

    [Now I know why Lewis barely avoided my attacks earlier!]

    Lewis probably aimed to be hurt as much as he could without endangering his life because the young fox knew he''d use his ability to exchange two persons'' physical conditions.

    His thoughts were interrupted when all of a sudden, he felt an agonizing pain in his stomach.

    [What the¡­]

    When he looked down at his torso, he was surprised to see himself bleeding in the same spot where he stabbed Lewis. Aside from that, he also received all the deep cuts and bruises that he gave the young fox earlier.

    Moreover, his knees buckled from the unexpected additional weight he suddenly received.

    [My body feels so damned heavy.]

    In short, instead of transferring Lewis''s physical injuries to Neoma de Moonasterio, everything was transferred to him.

    [But how¡­]

    "Princess Neoma knew you''d use this ability."

    He looked up at Lewis who just talked, then he red at the young fox.

    "Princess Neoma asked Lady Avery, our team''s mage, to create a spell that would deflect this cunning ability of yours," Lewis, who was now standing in perfect condition, said arrogantly while looking down at him with glowing golden eyes. "So, Lady Avery created a spell that would protect me from this kind of attack, and bounce it back to the caster."

    Only highly-skilled mages could create a spell that could repel his attack and bounce it back to him.

    He was William¨C the Grand Spirit.

    A measly mage couldn''t do this to him!

    [Did the young fox say ''Avery?'' If the mage is an Avery, then I guess it''s possible. After all, the Averys are the greatest mages that existed on the continent. But they were supposed to have vanished a long time ago.]

    "The filthy bug seems to have picked up another useful ally, huh?" William said while wiping the blood that dripped at the corner of his mouth. "But Lewis, did that Avery gave Neoma the same protection you have against my ability?"

    Lewis''s cold face told him the answer he wanted to know.

    [No, the filthy bug doesn''t have the same protection.]

    The Avery that created the spell that could deflect his attack must be great. But no matter how great she was, she might have a limitation as a mage. A spell as great as that was hard to cast on two different people at the same time.

    Williamughed, then he snapped his fingers again. "Your beloved princess must be in pain right now, young fox," he said as he stood up, his body as light as a paper again. "Now, shall we y again?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 389 - THE THREE-WAY BATTLE (5)

    Chapter 389 ¨C THE THREE-WAY BATTLE (5)

    NEOMA did a cartwheel in the air to avoid the ice roses Delwyn threw at her. Then she swung Skewer in the Ice Spirit''s direction. A boomerang-shaped red me was sent flying to attack Delwyn.

    But the Ice Spirit deflected her attack by creating a wall of ice in front of him. The fire boomerang that she created was immediately put out upon hitting the wall of ice.

    [His ice is really something.]

    She did a back-to-back somersault in the air while avoiding the ice roses that came at her like daggers. Then, on her third somersault, she put her feet on the Dome''s roof while hanging upside-down like a bat.

    Of course, it was only possible because Mochi was using flight magic on her.

    The Wind Spirit opted to be an invisible support because, ording to her, she might lose her cool if she faced the traitor.

    But, to be honest¡­

    "I don''t hate you, Delwyn," Neoma dered while looking at Delwyn whose ice wall just crumbled into pieces. "I know you betrayed my mother, and I''m pissed at you because of that. But it isn''t as strong as the hate I have for William."

    "Are you trying to appeal to me in hopes I''d give in?" Delwyn asked while looking up at her with azy look on his face. "It won''t work. I''d rather die than be your ve."

    "I told you I don''t need a ve, and I''m seriously against very," she said firmly. "I''m being honest here. Plus, I''ve thought about it. My mother mentioned your betrayal, but she didn''t warn us about you."

    Her mother immediately warned Nero to make her stay away from her appa.

    But her Mama Boss never mentioned Delwyn as a threat.

    "I wonder why Mama Boss didn''t hold a grudge against you," she pondered loudly. "Could it be she realized why you had to betray her? You did say you just did what you had to do during that time."

    She was pretty confident in her gut feeling.

    Delwyn, despite betraying her mother, didn''t feel evil at all. At most, the Ice Spirit was just probably a weirdo. And it wasn''t in a creepy sense.

    [I mean, every friend group has that one "alien friend" who''s hard to understand, right?]

    "Don''t trust me too much, Little Mona," Delwyn said, then he positioned his arms as if he was about to hit her with an arrow. And soon enough, a bow made of ice (except for the string) materialized in his hands. The arrow was a single ice rose with a long stem. Of course, the pointed and sharp end of the stem was aimed at her. "You''ll make the same mistake as your mother did if you do."

    She smiled while holding Skewer like she was holding a baseball bat and was about to make a home run. Since Delwyn was going to hit her with an arrow shaped like a rose, she intended to deflect it while pretending she was hitting a baseball. "I have a feeling we''ll get along well better than you did with my mother. I''ll treat you well if youe to me, Delwyn."

    He just yawned, then he let go of the arrow-sh-ice rose.

    Ah.

    The arrow-sh-ice rose was sent flying in her direction faster than she expected. But she noticed it wasn''t aimed at her head or chest. Judging by its route, it seemed like Delwyn targeted her shoulder.

    [As I thought, Delwyn doesn''t intend to kill me.]

    She was happy to know that.

    But that happiness was short-lived when her whole body suddenly went numb and heavy. She was shocked when she dropped Skewer, then she found herself falling fast. Worse, she wasn''t able to avoid the arrow-sh-ice rose that Delwynunched earlier.

    As a result, she was hit by the arrow-sh-ice rose in her chest.

    She couldn''t feel pain at the moment, but she could tell her heart was grazed by the sharp end of the ice rose''s long stem.

    [Goddammit!]

    And soon, she plummeted to the ground. Mochi''s flight magic still protected her because if it didn''t, she would have been crushed when she fell. But her Wind Spirit''s protection cushioned her fall, so she was safe.

    But now she couldn''t contact the Wind Spirit, as if their connection was suddenly severed.

    That was when the numbness disappeared and she felt the pain all over her body. She couldn''t tell where she was hurting because every fiber of her being hurt like a bitch. There were cuts all over her, but the most painful was her bleeding stomach. It was like she had been stabbed, and the culprit twisted the de to torture her.

    [My cheap trick didn''t work.]

    It was her n to make Lewis fight William while she dealt with Delwyn.

    She knew William would use his ability to switch two people''s physical/health conditions, so she asked Paige to create a spell that would deflect it and return it to the caster (William).

    Paige seeded, but since it was on short notice, the mage didn''t have the time and the strength to cast her spell on two people. Thus, only Lewis was left with protection against William''s ability she''d like to call as ''Switch.''

    [If William used his ability on Lewis to switch Lewis''s injuries with mine but it bounced back on William, then Uncle Scumbag probably switched his own injuries with me.]

    It was apse on her part.

    She forgot to consider the possibility of William passing his own injuries to her directly.

    [Argh, I''m feeling sleepy.]

    The arrow-sh-ice rose was definitelyced with a sleeping potion. Or poison. So she''d either fall asleep or die.

    Neoma groaned as her eyelids turned heavy. "`Guess I''ll die then¡­"

    <strong>***</strong>

    DELWYN looked up when the Dome crumbled as soon as Little Mona fell asleep because of the sleeping potion he put in the ice rose he aimed at her earlier. To be honest, he didn''t expect Little Mona to go down easily. But he knew it wasn''t because of his own effort.

    [William meddled, huh?]

    He waited for South, the ming Vermillion Bird, to attack him. But instead of that happening, the Soul Beast just transformed into its human form.

    Now, a long-haired man wearing a red robe stood in front of him. The top of the man''s two-toned hair was ck, while the strands were a dark shade of pink. It was proof that the Soul Beast was a Roseheart in the past.

    [Only male Rosehearts could be turned into a Soul Beast, but this one looks like a woman because of his pretty face and slender figure.]

    "Are you going to hunt me down now that Little Mona is out ofmission?" Delwyn asked while watching South approach him. He wanted to step away from the Soul Beast, but he couldn''t move because of South''s threatening aura. It was as if this punk was saying he''d melt him on the spot if he tried to run away. "Cool it down, will you? You know I''m weak against fire elements."

    "And I''m weak against handsome men," South said whileughing softly. Then he stopped approaching him, leaving a decent space between them. "Don''t worry, I won''t attack you."

    But the heating from South''s aura was making him sweat profusely.

    [If I get exposed to his aura more than this, I''d melt.]

    "You won''t attack me?" he asked, confused. "I thought Little Mona borrowed you from her father to catch me."

    "That''s not the order I received," South said, then he put his hands behind him. Was the Soul Beast acting cute? "Princess Neoma just asked me to help her strengthen her Dome. Now that I''m done with my job, it''s time for me to return to my actual master."

    "You''re leaving just like this?"

    "Princess Neoma lost, and that''s none of my business," the Soul Beast reasoned quite casually. "Her Royal Highness didn''t ask me to save her or catch you if she lost. Moreover, she''s not my master, so I''m not obligated to protect her. Princess Neoma and my master, Niki de Moonasterio, both understand that."

    "That¡­ seems lenient of them."

    "I don''t know about the previous de Moonasterios, but the current monarchy isn''t as bad as you think they are," South said while smiling gently at him. "Delwyn, think about Princess Neoma''s offer. She may be arrogant and a little annoying sometimes, but her heart is in the right ce. Give her a chance, and she''ll make things fun for you."

    "Why are you vouching for Little Mona?"

    "Because Princess Neoma is the one who helped my master get himself together," the Soul Beast said whileughing. "Moreover, ever since Princess Neoma broke the wall around my master, every day has been fun. For old Spirits like us, life could turn mundane after living for so long. You need a person like Princess Neoma in your life to make your days bearable."

    "There''s a reason William and I refuse to work with Little Mona."

    "Whatever it is, I hope you change your mind."

    He didn''t respond.

    "I''m looking forward to working with you in the near future, Delwyn," the Soul Beast said cheerfully, his body now turning translucent. "I''ll give you a smooch when we meet again as allies."

    "That sounds tempting," Delwyn said while waving his hand at the Soul Beast. "But I don''t want to melt."

    "We can fix that¨C just give in to me," South said whileughing, then he waved back at him. "Take care of Princess Neoma for me. If shees home safe and sound, I won''t just give you a kiss¨CI''ll even sleep with you."

    "Stop making Little Mona as an excuse to make advances on me."

    South didn''t deny it¨C the flirty punk justughed before he disappeared.

    And now, he was left with the little princess.

    [What should I do?]

    He squatted down in front of the sleeping princess. "William, that cruel bastard," he whispered to himself while gently poking Little Mona''s chubby and rosy cheek. "He even sealed Little Mona''s Spirits."

    Aside from Gale (Mona''s former Wind Spirit), there was also a Fire Spirit and a Water Spirit inside the young princess''s body.

    But when William used his ability people dubbed as ''Switch,'' the Grand Spirit also sealed Little Mona''s Spirits so they wouldn''t be able toe out and help her. As the Grand Spirit, William''s power over Spirits weaker than him was absolute. So he could seal them as he wished.

    "Are you talking shit behind me?"

    He raised his head to find William standing in front of him while looking down at him, ring. "I just said you''re a cruel bastard," he said. "When I said I wanted to get rid of Little Mona, I only meant I wanted her off my back. But you''re serious about killing her."

    "You betrayed Mona," William snarled at him. "You do not have the right to criticize me."

    He ignored the Grand Spirit''s usation. "I know why you''re hell-bent on killing Little Mona. It''s because of the prophecy about Niki de Moonasterio, right?"

    The Grand Spirit flinched.

    [Ah, I hit the bull''s eye.]

    He stood up while giving William a disapproving look. "The prophecy that you kept a secret from Mona and Niki de Moonasterio," he said, then he looked down at the sleeping young princess. "For Mona''s sake, you wanted to get rid of Little Mona," he said, then he looked at William straight in the eye. "The way you eliminated the former Empress Juliet in the past."

    In just the blink of an eye, William was already in front of her while grabbing his cor. "Shut. Your. Mouth."

    [Oh, it was just a hunch, but I''m actually correct.]

    "Was it supposed to be a secret?" Delwyn askedzily, then he smirked. "So, Mona and Niki de Moonasterio never figured out you were the real reason the former Empress Juliet met her doom?"

    He could have revealed it, but he chose to keep his mouth shut then.

    After all, he agreed with William''s decision during that time.

    "I said shut your mouth!" the Grand Spirit snapped at him, his veins popping out on his neck. "If you know the truth, then why did you keep it a secret from them?"

    "Because I also chose Mona over everyone else."

    William looked shocked by his response. "You¡­ you betrayed Mona to save her, didn''t you?"

    "Of course," Delwyn saidzily. "Trapping Mona in my ice was my own way to protect our master, you dumbass." He smiled bitterly at William. "You just realized it now?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

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 Chapter 390 - THE THREE-WAY BATTLE (6)

    Chapter 390 ¨C THE THREE-WAY BATTLE (6)

    [WILLIAM did a number on Lewis, huh?]

    Neoma, before she lost consciousness, forced her soul out of her body. Just before she fell asleep, she remembered she could move in her Spirit form because she was a Roseheart. As soon as she felt William''s presence nearby, she ran away to check on her "son."

    [After all, the fact William came only means Lewis and the foxes lost to him.]

    "Lewis," Neoma said, then she squatted down beside her "son" who was lying down on the snow with his eyes closed. "Are you hurt?"

    Even when she was in her Spirit form, she knew he could see and hear her.

    But Lewis couldn''t touch her since her "son" wasn''t blessed with the ability to interact with souls in a physical way.

    "I''m not hurt," Lewis said, then he opened his eyes to look at her. "I''m just embarrassed."

    "Because you lost to William?"

    "It was over as soon as he got serious," he said as he got up. "William is stronger than the Pdinsbined."

    "Well, he lives up to his name as the Grand Spirit," she said with a shrug. "Too bad he wastes his power on hunting down de Moonasterios."

    Her "son" nodded in agreement with her. "He didn''t have the intention to kill me. If he did, I would have been dead by now. Probably."

    "But the fact you survived after William went serious mode speaks volumes, Lewis," she said while checking on his condition from head to toe. "I understand most of your injuries were transferred to William, but it''s still amazing how you survived in one piece. You barely have scratches on you."

    "William knocked me out in one hit," he said, slightly pouting. "But I survived thanks to your shield, Princess Neoma."

    She smiled widely. "William didn''t notice I covered your entire body with my Coat?"

    The Coat was the firstyer of defense in the Divine Field Technique that the former Saint Dominic Zavaroni taught her in the past. It was the type of Holy Barrier that would cover the entire body of the user.

    But she put a twist in it.

    She actually covered Lewis with her Coat instead of using it for herself.

    "Mr. Zavaroni said I can''t use more than one of the Divine Field Techniques at the same time," she said. "But he didn''t tell me I can''t use it on me and on another individual simultaneously. I thought it would work, and it did."

    "Still, I''m not a fan of your bad habit of acting on your whim," he said while shaking his head. "I''m just grateful your bizarre ideas work most of the time because you have the talent and the guts to pull it off."

    "Woah, Lewis," she said while shaking her head. "You talk a lot these days, but only to nag me."

    "Because Princess Neoma is dense."

    "Does it have anything to do with our topic?"

    "Yes," he said firmly. "I realize you won''t get things unless I spell it out for you."

    "I''m not dumb."

    "I said you''re dense¨C not dumb."

    [Look at this brat and the rude tone he uses on his mother.]

    "Gosh, someone remembered to wear their smarty-pants today, huh?" sheined, then she stood up and changed the topic. She had a feeling she''d lost the argument if she carried on. After all, Lewis was really acting like a smartass. "Where are Queen Lisica and Lord Rustin?"

    Lewis stood up before he answered his question. "They were beaten by William''s Familiar," he said. "The two probably went back to hell. Don''t you think it''s a waste to borrow them from the Grim Reaper when they failed to do their job? You made a deal with the Grim Reaper that guards the Eight Hellgate in order to borrow Lisica and Rustin, right?"

    Lisica and Rustin already belonged to Hell, so borrowing the two for her own benefit came with a price. Thest time she borrowed the two, ''Eight'' (the Grim Reaper) asked him for souls in return.

    This time, the Grim Reaper''s request wasn''t that hard to give.

    "Eight only asked for a huge amount of Darkness in exchange for lending Queen Lisica and Lord Rustin to me. Apparently, it''s like vitamins for Grim Reapers," she said while stretching her arms. "I already asked Paige to take care of it since there''s some Darkness left in the temple before we left Valmento. I''ll collect it from herter."

    "What''s your next move now, Princess Neoma?"

    "I''m going back to fight William and Delwyn in my Spirit form," she said. "Since those old dudes are both Spirits, I figured fighting them in this form would make our three-way battle more interesting."

    "Should I apany you?"

    "Nah," she said while shaking her head. "Look for Xion and rescue him. He sent a distress signal earlier, so he probably encountered an enemy. The mist is still hiding our location, so we can assume Jeno is safe. But knowing him, I''m sure he''s going to find and rescue Xion, too."

    Her "son" nodded in agreement.

    Xion and Jeno fought a lot, but both were the types of people who wouldn''t abandon a friend.

    "Juri and Greko may try to follow us, but I''m sure the Pdins wouldn''t let them leave the pce," she continued, her mind was now busy trying to figure out what the people around her might be doing at the moment. "The Pdins would probably insist oning here to rescue me. I told Juri to cooperate with them, so she''d definitely back down and listen to the adults."

    "Then we can assume the Fletcher Twins would be here any moment," Lewis continued, and it amazed her how quickly he caught on. "Jeanne Audley couldn''t leave the pce because her ability is needed to keep the Royal Family locked up, after all."

    "I don''t know what the Fletcher Twins'' abilities are since Papa Boss sent them for an away mission for years, but I''m sure they''re capable," Neoma said, then she waved at Lewis. "Anyway, I''m going back to my battle, so take care of your siblings," she said while her soul was slowly fading. It was one of the things she liked about being in her Spirit form¨C she could teleport using her will. "Contact me if things get worse, Lewis."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "WHAT DO you mean you trapped Mona in your ice to keep her safe?"

    "I was summoned by Gavin Quinzel back then," Delwyn began his exnation. "During that time, I already felt he was being backed up by a powerful elf. I could have told Mona about it, but I figured she didn''t have enough power to fight the enemies then. Moreover, it happened after Mona locked you up because you were being a dumbass."

    William scoffed at him. "Stop calling me a dumbass before I cut your tongue off."

    "But I''m telling the truth," he insisted. "You''re the strongest among the Spirits Mona owned back then. How could we win over an elf backed up by a god without you?"

    "Mona had the Light Spirit back then, and she''s just as strong as I am."

    "But Roseanne, the Light Spirit, couldn''t have won against the God of Eternal Darkness," he reasoned. "Fortunately, they thought I wasn''t loyal to Mona so they came to me and roped me in their ns."

    "They weren''t wrong, though," William scoffed at him. "You never really listened to Mona."

    "I only follow orders that sound fun," he said with a shrug. "But Mona had be a boring person ever since she became Niki de Moonasterio''s lover, especially when she got pregnant. I get that she was being careful because she already had precious people to protect. But I like reckless people who act on their whims."

    That reminded him of Little Mona.

    [Did she say her name is Neoma de Moonasterio?]

    Whatever the young princess''s name was, he had to admit he liked her personality. He had a feeling there would never be a dull moment with Little Mona. To be honest, he didn''t like bright people with a strong affinity for Light.

    That was why he didn''t get really attached to Mona, although he genuinely cared about her. But her previous master''s daughter was different.

    [There''s something about Little Mona that draws me to her. Although she''s bright and has an affinity to Light, just like her mother, she isn''tpletely kind or pure. There''s darkness inside her¨C literally and figuratively. Moreover¡­]

    "Little Mona is like a ticking bomb," Delwyn concluded. "I think I''d get along with her better than I did with her mother."

    "Are you crazy?" William snapped at him. "You know why I wanted that filthy bug dead¨C"

    "Do you know why I trapped Mona in my ice?" he asked, cutting the Grand Spirit off. "Because during that time, I already felt the presence of the Fire Dragon in her child''s soul. Fire is my weakness, so I''m sensitive to anyone and anything that has a fire element in them. That''s why I could tell right away that Mona''s child would be born with a Fire Dragon as her Soul Beast. But you''re saying you want to kill the person who could free Mona from my ice." He poked William''s chest with his finger. "You''re the one who''s crazy, William Roseheart."

    "I heard the filthy bug''s Fire Dragon is already in the care of the Moon Priest," William said stubbornly. "I can just put the Fire Dragon under my control once the filthy bug dies."

    He was about to say William''s obsession with Mona was irritating.

    But he was surprised when he saw a flying "boomerang" (a familiar curved de, to be precise) behind the Grand Spirit. It seemed like William didn''t feel it as well because the curved de hit his back.

    William groaned in pain. "Goddammit!"

    Delwyn immediately looked for the unconscious Little Mona. The child was still lying on the snow unmoving, but the Death''s Scythe had gone missing. Moreover¡­

    [Her soul isn''t in her body!]

    He was too absorbed in his conversation with William that he didn''t notice it, and it was definitely the same case for the Grand Spirit.

    It was toote for them to realize it, though.

    Delwyn smiled bitterly as blood trickled down the side of his mouth, a sharp staff piercing through his stomach. It was the staff of the Death''s Scythe, and only one person could wield it at the moment. "Little Mona," he said, then he turned his head to see the young princess in her Spirit form. "Your mother never yed dirty."

    "Well, I''m not my mother," Little Mona said whileughing like a little viiness. "I can''t really y fair when I''m fighting two of my Mama Boss''s former Spirit Guardians, you know?"

    Ah, as expected.

    Delwynughed softly. "I guess there will never be a boring moment with you, Neoma."

    "You''re weird, Delwyn," Neoma said whileughing. "You call by my name right after I stabbed you!"

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA quickly pulled the staff out of Delwyn''s bleeding torso when she felt the ominous presence behind her.

    She put on a Wall around her when she turned her back on the Ice Spirit, then she blocked the curved de using the staff of her Death''s Scythe. As soon as the staff and the curved de made contact, Skewer returned to her scythe form.

    "You filthy bug," William, who suddenly appeared right in front of her face, snarled at her. His hand was raised as if he was ready to punch her, and that hand was covered with a bluish light. It was Mana in its liquid form, so it looked like his hand was inside a water balloon. "You should have kept pretending to be unconscious if you wanted to live."

    "That''s not my style, Uncle Scumbag," Neoma said whileughing, then she swung her Death''s Scythe. "Skewer, spear form!"

    The Grand Spirit jumped and stood on the staff, then he quickly ran on it as if he was running on a bridge to close the distance between them.

    Ah, shit.

    [He''s so light I don''t even feel his weight even though he''s using my Skewer as a bridge!]

    She had no choice but to drop her weapon, then she covered her whole body with her Mana¨C especially around her hand.

    Yes, she answered William''s punch with a punch of her own.

    When her knuckles collided with William''s, a tremendous impact ensued. It was enough to make the ground shake. But at the same time, the mist covering the snowy mountain suddenly disappeared.

    The mist disappeared, so Jeno might be in danger as well.

    Neoma gasped when the realization hit her. "My children¡­!"

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 391 - AND HERE THEY COME

    Chapter 391 ¨C AND HERE THEY COME

    [WHY CAN''T I find that damned assassin?]

    Jeno, who was sitting on the cube made of cloud, had been flying all over the area while covered with his mist to look for Xion. That bastard was too prideful to call for help. The fact that he sent them a distress signal was worrying.

    [Did he encounter the crow that Princess Neoma warned us about?]

    His thoughts were interrupted when a vast shadow cast over him, and it was followed by the loud caw-ing sound from above. When he looked up, he was surprised to see a group of crows quickly descending on him as if they were ready to attack him.

    [They can see me?!]

    He quickly pulled out his rifle and began to shoot the crows. To be honest, a decent marksman should have the sense to leave his spot once he released his first shot. It was to ensure that his location wouldn''t be exposed to the enemies.

    But he didn''t have the luxury to leave his spot. All he could do at the moment was to move backward while still shooting the damned crows.

    [There''s no way these are ordinary crows!]

    He was about to pull out a Mana-infused grenade when, all of a sudden, one of the crows grew bigger and bigger until it turned into a silhouette of a human. And that very person jumped at him while extending their hand as if they intended to choke him.

    But he noticed the hand covered with a ck aura looked like an artificial hand. The color of the hand didn''t match the skin tone of the child. Moreover, he noticed the stitches around the child''s wrist like a bracelet, as if the hand was attached to the arm surgically¨C

    [Wait, a child?!]

    He hesitated to shoot when the unusuallyrge crow suddenly turned into a little girl who looked like she was just a little older than Princess Neoma. The little girl had long ck hair and glowing green eyes. She also looked familiar, but he couldn''t really think straight given his dangerous situation at the moment.

    "Jeno Dankworth, shoot!"

    It was Lewis''smanding voice.

    Thanks to that, he was able to snap out of his trance. Even though he was in an awkward position since he was barely standing on the cloud cube, but he still managed to aim the mouth of his rifle at the child''s hand.

    As soon as he pulled the trigger, the child moved her hand swiftly to catch the Mana-infused bullet.

    Much to his shock, the bullet turned into a speck of dust.

    He tried to shoot again, but the child grabbed the mouth of his rifle and it quickly turned into dust. Knowing the whole rifle would decay eventually, he dropped the gun before the child''s mysterious power touch him.

    [This child is dangerous!]

    And more so since he wasn''t a closebat fighter.

    He clicked his tongue, then stomped on the cube cloud to dissolve it. As a result, he descended from the sky via freefall. That was his goal, since that was the fastest way to create a huge distance between her and the child.

    [For a long-range fighter like me, distance is very important.]

    But he couldn''t widen the distance between them since the little girl kept descending on him.

    [She has¡­ wings?]

    The remaining crows he failed to shoot earlier gathered on the child''s back. Then the crows exploded into hundreds of ck feathers. After that, those feathers turned into a pair of wings for the child.

    [Snap out of it, Jeno Dankworth,] he scolded himself, then he raised both hands and summoned his two silver handguns. [That child is an enemy.]

    Now that he had gotten rid of his hesitations, he grabbed his silver handguns and pulled the trigger¨C aiming at the child''s vital organs. He shot at her consecutively, but none of the Mana-infused bullets hit her. The child caught every single bullet by her hands and turned them into dust effortlessly.

    [This child is faster than me!]

    He was about to hit the ground, so he created a pile of clouds to cushion his fall. It was only a brief moment, but his distraction almost cost him his life.

    [Dammit!]

    The child grabbed his cor using her artificial hand and was about to get a hold of his head with her hand.

    Fortunately, he was saved.

    Lewis came out of nowhere and kicked the little girl to the side¨C sending her flying away from them in the process.

    He let out a sigh of relief when his back hit the soft pile of clouds. "Thanks, Lewis."

    "Don''t let your guard down yet," Lewis said seriously, his glowing gold eyes focused on the little girl who just stood up as if nothing happened. It was a feat, since everyone who already sparred with Lewis knew that the fox boy''s kicks could literally kill a person. "That''s Regina Crowell."

    Jeno''s eyes widened in shock.

    Princess Neoma shared her life story with them, and he made sure to remember the names of her master''s enemies. And the name ''Regina Crowell'' was on the top of the list. Moreover, now he understood why the child looked familiar to him¨C he had seen her before in a banquet with Rubin Drayton.

    [Regina Crowell is thedy who stole Princess Neoma''s fianc¨¦ in her first life, and she''s apparently a crow.]

    Of course, in this timeline, that Regina Crowell was also a child like Princess Neoma.

    [I heard Regina Crowell is also the one responsible for the bombing attack that almost killed Lady Hanna Quinzel in the past.]

    God, how could a child be so rotten at such a young age?

    "Lewis Crevan, you rude bastard," Regina Crowell said whilebing her hair with her artificial hand. "Who said you could call my name casually?"

    Lewis, as expected, just looked at the girl with a poker face.

    [And it''s obvious Lewis doesn''t have any intention of speaking to Regina Crowell.]

    The youngdy crow got it right¨C Lewis could really be a ''rude bastard'' when he wanted to.

    "Lewis Crevan, it seems like my appearance here didn''t faze you. It''s as if you already know who I am," Regina Crowell, with a cruel smile on her face, said while approaching Lewis carefully. "How did you find out I''m a crow?"

    Lewis just came at Regina Crowell without a word.

    [As expected of Lewis, he won''t talk if he doesn''t feel like it.]

    Jeno stood up immediately, ready to assist Lewis in the fight against the young crow.

    But when he felt a cold presence behind him, he turned around while pointing his handguns at the enemy he was prepared to face. But much to his shock, he didn''t see anyone.

    Instead, he was attacked by Darkness in its liquid form.

    It entered his nose, mouth, and ears until he couldn''t breathe anymore¨C rendering him unconscious on the spot.

    [Lewis, be careful¡­]

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA was prepared to be attacked by William when she got distracted after realizing Jeno Dankworth might be in danger when the mist disappeared.

    But much to her shock, something else beat her to attacking William.

    Delwyn, too.

    [Just what is happening?]

    William and Delwyn were both on their knees while being attacked by Darkness in its liquid form.

    They were surrounded by Darkness that looked like murky water moving like water snakes in the air. It happened so quickly, but she was pretty sure the Darkness (that looked like water snakes!) entered Delwyn and William''s mouth earlier.

    And now, the two old Spirits were rendered unable to fight.

    [The Darkness in water snakes form also entered their nose and ears¡­]

    She turned to her physical body to check on her condition. Thankfully, her Coat was still working. She saw the "water snakes" trying to approach her physical body. But her invisible barrier blocked the water snakes.

    But she wasn''tpletely safe as she, in her Spirit form, was now surrounded by bigger and jet-ck "water snakes." Fortunately, she could tell the "water snakes" were being wary of her. When she stopped moving away from them, those things also didn''t budge.

    [Why do they look like they''re hesitating to attack me when they ambushed William and Delwyn right away?]

    "The hell are those?" Neomained, gripping Skewer''s handle tight. "Did Bram de Luca already follow me here?"

    She could tell the "water snakes" made of Darkness were something the crows could release.

    And she saw how Bram de Luca release Darkness back in the temple. She didn''t know how the crows got a hold of Darkness this way, but it was definitely bad news. After all, she was told humans were wired to fear Darkness.

    Thankfully, that didn''t seem to apply to her.

    Instead of fear, she felt something else while looking at the "water snakes" made from Darkness.

    "I''m suddenly hungry," Neoma said, her stomach growling. She didn''t mean to, but she could tell her eyes had suddenly turned glowing red. Plus, she suddenly felt famished. She also found herself licking her lips while looking at the "water snakes" that looked delicious for some reason. "Why are you begging me to eat you, Darkness?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    BRAM threw away the unconscious body of the assassin who dared to attack him earlier.

    After feeding the damned assassin with his blood made of Darkness, he immediately lost consciousness. It wasn''t a surprise since Darkness was something akin to poison for humans. So even if an assassin like him had built immunity against poisons, they would still be affected by the Darkness''s toxins.

    "I''ve already wasted enough time here," Bram said while brushing his hair with his hand, then he looked up at the snowy mountain that he could clearly see now. The mist had disappeared, so his foolish sister might have already found and dealt with whoever it was that concealed the snowy mountain earlier. "Now let''s find our dear "Crown Prince.""

    "Mister, I wouldn''t go there if I were you."

    His eyes widened in shock when he heard an unfamiliar voice behind him.

    [I didn''t feel anything!]

    When he turned around, he was even more shocked to find a child smiling at him sweetly. For the first time in a long while, his body trembled in fear involuntarily. And only one race could make a crow like him feel that way.

    He hated that he felt weak, especially against a damned child, but he was truly shaken to the core.

    "It can''t be," Bram said, then he gulped hard while looking at the youngdy with long red hair and big, roundedvender eyes, dressed in all-ck. "What''s a ck Witch doing here?"

    [Their bloodline ended a long time ago!]

    <strong>***</strong>

    <strong>NOTE: </strong>Hi! As you already know, Volume 3 is about to end. Volume 4 wille up soon, and the volume title will be called ''FALL FROM GRACE.''

    I hope you subscribe to my privilege to ess the advanced chapters if you can (*cries in tiny* please, onegai, juseyo *sobs* let''s subscribe). I''m just excited for you to read the second to thest volume, and I wish I could read your thoughtsments in "real time" (as soon as I post the chapters).

    Volume 4: FALL FROM GRACE is my most favorite major arc, so I wish you could join me in this journey. The next volume has all my favorite reveals.

    (And HER MAJESTY''S epiceback).

    I''m not sure if I was supposed to say that. But anyway, y''all are smart. I knew you''ve already seen Her Majesty''s returning a mile away. LOLOLOL.

    Since this is the second to thest volume, and I really want to finish the MAIN story as soon as I could, you can expect more chapter releases this March. See you! Thank you for the support! Let''s wrap up Volume 3 now to wee Volume 4 the soonest~

    <strong>***</strong>

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    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 392 - THE MOON, THE WITCH, AND THE CROW

    Chapter 392 ¨C THE MOON, THE WITCH, AND THE CROW

    [I''VE ALWAYS wondered if the so-called demonic power inside me is caused by Skewer, or if I was born with it.]

    Even her Papa Boss didn''t know where it came from. But her father was adamant about hiding her demonic power from other people. Because apparently, the demonic power inside her was a Darkness attribute. And as a descendant of Yule, it would be bad for her image if that secret of hers got exposed.

    [I''m a woman of secrets.]

    And now, she felt like she was about to discover what her Darkness attribute was for.

    Neoma gulped, her gaze fixed on the water snakes around her. "Uncle Scumbag, Delwyn, is it normal that I think these water snakes mades of Darkness look delicious?"

    William coughed up a chunk of Darkness before he spoke. "No, it''s not normal," he said while standing up. His whole body was now covered in bright light, and the water snakes that ambushed his body earlier had faded away. "But you''ve always been weird, so what''s new?"

    [Tsk.]

    Her Uncle Scumbag was being sassy again, so that meant he had recovered. He was ambushed earlier, but he quickly subdued the Darkness.

    [As expected of the Grand Spirit, of course.]

    "It''s definitely not normal to think that Darkness looks delicious. I''m a Darkness attribute user, but I find my own attribute disgusting," Delwyn, who was busy freezing the "water snakes" with his ice, said. Just like William, the Ice Spirit had quickly recovered after being ambushed earlier. "You have the Moonglow, which is one of the most powerful Light attributes in the world. Moreover, you''re the daughter of the Daughter of Nature. Although Darkness isn''t inherently evil, you still should feel the urge to purify it." He turned to her with a confused look on his face. "But you''re saying you find Darkness appetizing?"

    "This isn''t the first time I''ve seen Darkness this close," she said while eyeing the "water snakes" around her. For some reason, she felt like the "water snakes" were scared of her at the moment? Could those things understand that she wanted to eat them? "But this is the first time I find Darkness appetizing. I want to eat it."

    Delwyn tilted his head to one side, then he turned to William. "Is there something wrong with Mona''s child?"

    "Everything is wrong with that child," William said firmly. "Hey, you two. How about a temporary truce? The spirits of the mountain are crying for help since they''re being eaten by Darkness. As the Grand Spirit, I can''t ignore them."

    "I can''t ignore them as well, since the spirits here yed with me before," Delwyn said, then he turned to her. "Neoma, did you hear that?"

    She heard it, but her mind was already focused on something else.

    [I seriously want to eat Darkness.]

    Her heart was thumping hard and fast against her chest, and her stomach was seriously growling loud.

    For the first time in a long while, she felt famished.

    "I can''t stand this hunger," Neoma said, then she clutched at her chest tight and closed her eyes. "I need to consume it now."

    And when she opened her eyes, she realized she turned into a TREE?

    [F*cking hell.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    "AH, IT''S a beautiful tree," Dahlia said while looking up at the beautiful tree with purple leaves. The branches and the trunk of the tree were ck, and it actuallyplemented the pretty color of the leaves. She could also see the flower-shaped gemstones that looked like amethyst. Since it was already nighttime, the tree shined brightly. "As expected of the Great Moonasterion Empire''s First Star."

    The tree wasn''t just beautiful¨C it was also amazing.

    Half of it was pure, while the other half was corrupted. The purple leaves and flowers were pure because of the First Star''s Moonglow. The branches and the trunk (and definitely the roots as well) were ck because of her Darkness attribute.

    It was a strikingbination.

    "She finally figured it out," she said softly, then she turned to her Familiar. "She finally figured out that for her, the best way to purify Darkness is to eat it, just like what we do, Lapiz."

    Lapiz was a Spirit in the form of a baby Blue Whale¨C 18 feet in length, weighing 6k pounds.

    [I call Lapiz my Familiar because I''m a witch, but people call her an Elemental Guardian.]

    "Ah, Lapiz, don''t eat too much," she said worriedly, then she gently ced her hands on the aquarium. "The crows probably don''t taste good anyway, since they''re rotten to the core."

    Lapiz was currently inside a huge aquarium made from her Mana.

    It was big enough for a baby Blue Whale, and it still had enough room for Lapiz to swim around.

    The crystal-clear water inside the fish tank was actually the purified Darkness that Lapiz swallowed up earlier. After spitting it out, the Darkness had turned into a purified "water." It was actually Mana.

    But once put inside the aquarium she made, the purified Mana would look like clear water.

    "Spit him out now," she said to Lapiz gently.

    Lapiz moved her head as if she was nodding as a response, then she opened her mouth and spat out the crow.

    [Oh, he''s still alive?]

    When Lapiz spat out the crow that they caught earlier, she was pretty impressed to see that he was still breathing.

    But unlike before, the man was just flesh and bones now. His suddenly skeletal frame was emphasized by his clothes that had be too big for him. Moreover, his face was sullen, and he looked severely malnourished¨C as opposed to his healthy disposition earlier.

    "It can''t be helped," she said while shaking her head. "Lapiz purifies Darkness by eating it, and Darkness is literally flowing in your veins, Mr. Crow."

    Exining was no use since the male crow was already unconscious and half-dead.

    "Poor soul," she said sympathetically, then she touched the aquarium beside her. "Lapiz, we must go."

    The enormous aquarium broke into pieces when Lapiz, her baby Blue Whale, whistled. But of course, the broken pieces didn''t hurt her. They disappeared into bursting little lights even before the sharp pieces touched her body.

    After that, the purified Mana that looked like sparkling water spread in the air. Lapiz needed to "swim." Even as a Spirit, a whale still needed "water" to live. That was one reason why she needed to purify Darkness that pose a threat to humanity.

    Her thoughts were interrupted when Lapiz lowered her head.

    "Good girl," she said while gently patting the Blue Whale''s jaw, then she put flight magic on her to lift herself up and sit on top of Lapiz''s head.

    "Miss Dahlia, may we know where you''re headed?"

    The Fletcher Twins appeared in front of her.

    Wyatt, the older and the calmer twin, was holding the poor assassin in his arms.

    [Ah, thank goodness the First Star''s assassin friend is still alive.]

    Warren, the younger and the wilder twin, was holding the "malnourished" male crow by the neck.

    [I still get a hard time feeling their presence.]

    "Ah, you''re here," she greeted the twins with a polite smile. "I''m sorry, but can you clean up after my mess? I need to go somewhere first before we head to the empire."

    The Fletcher Twins told her she was being summoned by His Majesty, the emperor.

    She was supposed to secretly enter the empire with the help of the twins. But the Stars told her to head to the Hazelden Kingdom first. Fortunately, Wyatt and Warren received an order from His Majesty to assist the "Crown Prince" in that kingdom.

    [And here we are now.]

    "Miss Dahlia, it''s already bad enough a crow has found out about your existence," Wyatt scolded her lightly. "We can''t have more people meet you."

    The ck Witches had been banned in the empire long before she was born.

    But because of the request made by Prince Nero to Emperor Niki de Moonasterio, the Pdins had sought her. Just this once, she was allowed to step foot in the empire. But of course, it must be done in secret.

    [I shouldn''t be revealing myself like this, but the Stars have guided me here to meet that person.]

    "I can take care of it, Lord Wyatt," she assured him gently. "You know very well I can distort the memories of the people who meet me." She politely pointed to the male crow with her two hands. "I made sure Mr. Crow won''t remember me once he wakes up."

    Mr. Crow wouldn''tpletely forget about meeting "her."

    [It''s an ability slightly simr to the ability of the minor god known as ''Redgrave.'']

    But her power still worked differently.

    Instead of her appearance and identity, Mr. Crow would remember meeting his worst nightmare. Thus, his brain and his system would only remember severe fear with the thought of her. And that would force him to stop thinking about herpletely.

    [This is how the ck Witches protect our bloodline.]

    "Miss Dahlia, are you going to meet the "Crown Prince?"" Wyatt asked worriedly. "Must you really reveal yourself right now?"

    "Yeah, in that condition?" Warren added, then he looked up at the beautiful purple and ck tree that almost touched the night sky. "I doubt it if you could hold a proper conversation with the "Crown Prince" at the moment."

    "Everything will be fine, so please don''t worry too much," Dahlia said with a smile, then she looked up at the shining stars surrounding the full moon. "This is a meeting the heavens allowed to happen, after all."

    <strong>***</strong>

    REGINA barely dodged the aura that came from Lewis Crevan''s sword.

    [This shitty fox is switching from attacking like a beast to using aura as a Swordmaster.]

    Whenever she would close the distance between them in order to use her Decay Technique, Lewis Crevan would use his brute strength to maul her without giving her the chance to touch him. But once she jumped away from him, he would draw his sword and attack her with its aura.

    "Now I know why the empire hasn''t given up on swords yet when the neighboring countries and nations have already switched to guns and explosives," Regina said as shended on the branch of the tree she took refuge on to get away from the shitty fox. "For a beast like you, it''s impressive to see you''re already on your way to be a Swordmaster."

    Swordsmen and Swordmasters were the types of people that could produce aura when using their swords.

    The reason the Moonasterion Empire was a powerful empire was because their military power didn''t rely on weapons heavily. After all, the people who ran the empire were born with Mana.

    A person who could wield aura and/or use Mana was stronger than a batallion of knights who relied on weapons even if those weapons were infused with Mana stones.

    "Prince Nero is lucky to have picked up a pet like you, Lewis Crevan," she said, taunting him on purpose to get a reaction from him.

    But much to her disappointment, the shitty fox remained pokerfaced.

    Instead of giving in to her provocations, Lewis Crevan just sent another wave of aura at her by swinging his sword.

    She clicked her tongue as she grabbed the aura in the shape of a boomerang with her artificial hand. As soon as she closed her fingers around it, the aura turned into a cloud of dust. After all, her Decaying Technique worked on anyone and everything with Mana.

    Yes, she couldn''t turn non-Mana users and objects with her technique.

    [Our enemies don''t need to know that.]

    "You''re no fun, Lewis Crevan," she said, then she jumped to the other branch when Lewis Crevan came at her with his fangs and ws bared. "Hey, are you sure you want to waste your time fighting me?" she asked, then she pointed to the unconscious Jeno Dankworth on the ground. "I don''t know what kind of potion you fed him, but he still might die at any moment."

    After she ambushed Jeno Dankworth by releasing the ''Unholy Water'' (Darkness in its liquid form) that her annoying brother lent her, the young lord fell unconscious right away.

    But Lewis Crevan fed something to Jeno Dankworth. The Darkness that the young lord absorbed actually got purified. But the Unholy Water was still a poison to humans. A simple potion may purify Darkness, but it wasn''t a the best way to get rid of all the toxins left in the human body.

    The shitty fox didn''t seem like he cared about his colleague though.

    After all, Lewis Crevan ignored her warning and drew his sword again. It was obvious he was about to attack again. But the shitty fox froze when the ground shook, and a strong and chilling Mana exploded.

    Both of them turned to the source of the unknown force.

    [A tree¡­?]

    It wasn''t an ordinary tree, of course.

    Purple leaves, flower-shaped amethyst, charcoal ck branches and trunk.

    "Half of it is divine power, while the other half is corrupted," she said, amused. "And it smells like Nature."

    That tree was definitely the "Crown Prince."

    "What a beautiful tree," she said, then she turned to Lewis Crevan who couldn''t take his eyes off of the tree. His face remained poker-faced, but she saw a tiny glint of worry in those glowing golden eyes of his. "Lewis Crevan, is the rumored royal princess as pretty as that tree?"

    The crows had long known a royal princess of this generation existed.

    But the only question they had was ''where.''

    That was until today.

    The crows didn''t enjoy flocking together. But they had to do it to spread news fast to the whole family. Any piece of information regarding the whereabouts of the royal princess they were hunting down was shared the fastest, naturally.

    "Don''t ignore me," she snapped at the shitty fox, who just looked at her with a nk look on his face. "I''m sure you''ve already met the elusive royal princess." She smirked at him while cracking her knuckles. "Is she prettier than me?"

    "Everyone is prettier than you," Lewis Crevan, who spoke to her for the first time, said unabashedly. Then he pointed to his face. "Even me."

    Regina''s face turned cold. [I''ll kill this shitty fox.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    Author''s Note for this chapter: Neoma, Dahlia, and Regina have my heart. Kweens. I know y''all hate Regina, but as a character, she''s prettyplex. The crows will take the stage in the next volume, so I''ll bring her back as a worthy viiness. I''m excited about the next volume partly because I''ll finally get the chance to reintroduce Regina properly. LOL.

    Anyway, what do you think of Dahlia''s character/entrance so far?

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 393 - SHES THE MAIN CHARACTER

    Chapter 393 ¨C SHE¡¯S THE MAIN CHARACTER

    NEOMA could instinctively tell she had turned into a tree.

    Well, it was more like she was inside a tree that she could control. She could feel her roots deeply embedded in the snow, and the several branches that she had were moving on her will. It was like she gained several limbs.

    She should be weirded out, but to her surprise, she easily adapted to her strange transformation.

    [Am I a genius or what?]

    "I''m still famished," Neoma whispered to herself while looking at the Darkness in the shape of "water snakes." "They really look appetizing."

    [Oh, god. What''s wrong with my stomach?]

    By the way, she could also see William and Delwyn looking at her with a stupefied look on their faces. If she was in a normal situation, she would have already bragged to her two uncles that she was indeed amazing¨C just like the main character she was.

    But her hunger came first.

    She grabbed the "water snakes." But instead of her arms, she felt the branches of her tree form move ording to her will. The tree branches wrapped themselves around the "water snakes." Then the branches absorbed the Darkness just like how trees would absorb water through their roots.

    Darkness, in its liquid form, should be harmful to a person''s body. But as she "ate" the "water snakes," she started to feel full and energized. She could also feel her Moonglow purifying the Darkness she was absorbing.

    [More. I need more. These "water snakes" are seriously delicious.]

    This time, her roots emerged from the ground and chased the "water snakes" trying to escape from her.

    [More¡­]

    But the more she got full, the more she felt exhausted. After all, she was using her Moonglow to purify the "water snakes" she was absorbing. Moreover, her tree form was taking too much of her Mana, too.

    [I need more Mana to eat more of this delicious Darkness.]

    At that point, she was already turning into a glutton and it was making her lose her mind.

    She couldn''t think straight. All she knew was she needed to eat more. And so, she found the right people to help her sustain her strength¨C William and Delwyn.

    [Proteins¡­?]

    Neoma, who had already lost her mind to her gluttony at that moment, stabbed the unsuspecting William and Delwyn with her roots. Then the branches wrapped themselves around the two Spirits and lifted them in the air.

    William and Delwyn didn''t get the chance to fight back because as the two bled profusely, she immediately absorbed their Mana¨C rendering them weak in the process.

    The more she got stronger from William and Delwyn''s Mana, the more Darkness she was able to consume. And the fuller she got, the crazier she became. She didn''t even care that William and Delwyn were bleeding and probably dying out there.

    "Stop this madness, First Star!"

    Who the hell¡­?

    She wanted to curse at the intruder. But when she turned in the direction where the voice of a girl came from, she was surprised to see a huge Blue Whale give her a solid "headbutt" (that actually hit the trunk of her tree form)¨C getting the wind knocked out of her.

    The next thing she knew, she was already back in her human form while slumped on the ground and clutching her stomach tight. Then she coughed up a chunk of blood mixed with Darkness. And dammit, her chest hurt like hell!

    "I am so, so sorry!" said a very apologetic voice on the verge of crying said. "Are you alright?"

    "Do I look alright to you?" she snapped, then she looked up at the owner of the voice.

    Then she was rendered speechless, her whole body suddenly went numb and cold from shock.

    All-ck outfit, long straight hair, big and roundvender eyes.

    The ck Witch sitting on the top of the Blue Whale''s head looked younger than she remembered, but she wouldn''t mistake that angelic face for someone else.

    "Dahlia," Neoma whispered to herself in disbelief. [But why is she here?]

    "We finally met in this lifetime," Dahlia said as if she was relieved, then she slid down from the Blue Whale''s head andnded in front of her. Much to her shock, the ck Witch suddenly got down on her knees while her head hung low. "First Star, I''m here to offer my life to you."

    Why though?

    <strong>***</strong>

    REGINA groaned when Lewis Crevan''s white tail pped her on the cheek, and it almost broke her jaw. Worse, the impact of his tail hitting her was so strong she was sent flying until her back hit the trunk of a tree.

    His tail looked fluffy, but it was as hard as steel.

    [This shitty fox¡­]

    Regina spat out a chunk of blood. "How dare you hit ady on the face?"

    "You. Ugly," Lewis said bluntly. "Me don''t care."

    She knitted her eyebrows because she honestly didn''t understand what Lewis Crevan saying.

    [Moreover, why is he speaking incoherently now when he was just speaking fine a moment ago?]

    "You''re calling a face like mine ''ugly?''" she asked, taunting him again to make him lose control. "Are your standards too high because the royal princess is a beauty?"

    "This," the shitty fox said, then he pointed a finger at his face. "My standards."

    Look at this arrogant boy.

    Well, Lewis Crevan was indeed good-looking. But she didn''t care about that. To be honest, she was hard to please. Even Rubin Drayton, the arguably "prettiest" boy in the empire, looked average to her.

    After all, she knew someone among the crows who might just be the most handsome person in the human world.

    "Stop pretending like you don''t know the royal princess," she told him. "We already¨C"

    <"Regina, it''s time to head back.">

    She heard the voice of His Excellency in her head. The fact that he talked directly in her mind instead of sending a crow to her only meant His Excellency was in a position where he couldn''t send a messenger to her.

    [That means Bram has been defeated!]

    Hah!

    The audacity of her brother to call her foolish and weak when he was just the same.

    "Lewis Crevan, it''s a shame, but our ytime is now over," she said, then she pulled out a scroll from the pocket of her robe, then she ripped it.

    In an instant, her body turned translucent.

    Lewis Crevan clicked his tongue, then he gathered his Mana until two more of his white tails came out. The shitty fox was about to attack her, probably to stop her from running away. But he froze in his tracks when Jeno Dankworth suddenly coughed up a huge chunk of blood.

    "Take care of the young lord before he dies," Regina said whileughing, then she waved at the shitty fox. "Don''t worry, we''ll meet again. And¡­" She smiled, her green eyes glowing in mischief. "Tell the royal princess to protect her "ce" until we return to reim it for the true heir to the throne."

    <strong>***</strong>

    [DAHLIA is the real main character here.]

    Neoma was mesmerized while looking at Dahlia.

    The ck Wicth''s beauty was only second to hers.

    Moreover, her "background" was literally sparkling because of the crystal-clear "water" behind her. The Blue Whale also looked cute despite its enormous size. Plus, she could tell that the Blue Whale wasn''t an ordinary Spirit.

    Overall, she felt like she was looking at Dahlia inside a pretty frame in a weic.

    [If my first life was a novel, I would have been the viiness while Nero would have been the male lead. Naturally, Dahlia would have been the female lead.]

    But why was the main character kneeling in front of her? Plus¡­

    "Why are you offering your life to me?" Neoma asked, confused. "I don''t need it?"

    Dahlia got up, then she waved her hands.

    The next thing she knew, a transparent aquarium suddenly fell from the sky and trapped them inside.

    [Wow, this aquarium is really big since it managed to contain the Blue Whale.]

    Moreover, the crystal-clear "water" inside the aquarium was actually Mana. It was warm, and she didn''t feel threatened, so she stayed calm.

    [Anyway¡­]

    Behind the ck Witch, she saw William and Delwyn inside a round fish tank. The two men were unconscious. She also noticed that the water inside the round aquarium turned red because of blood.

    "Don''t worry, First Star," Dahlia assured her gently. "The Grand Spirit and the Ice Spirit are being treated. The sparkling water inside the round aquarium is a healing potion I created a while ago. I specifically made them for Spirits who possess temporary physical bodies they use in order to stay in the human world."

    She raised an eyebrow at the ck Witch. "That''s nice," she said carefully. "But why do I feel like you came here prepared because you already know what''s going to happen?"

    "I wasn''t aware of what exactly was going to happen," Dahlia exined. "The Stars only give me clues, not a detailed exnation."

    "The Stars?"

    "The Constetion of Stars, to be precise," the ck Witch said. "They sometimes talk to me and ask me to do things for them in order to protect our world."

    "I see," she said. "So, you already know my real identity?"

    Dahlia bit her lower lip as if she was hesitating to speak.

    "Is this aquarium soundproof?" she asked while looking at the transparent fish tank.

    [It has the same vibes as my Dome.]

    "Yes, this is soundproof," the ck Witch said as if she was shy. Her face even turned red. Why was a strong individual like her look so awkward? "I apologize for trapping you here without your permission. I just wanted to keep our conversation private."

    "No need to apologize, since you did the right thing," she said with a shrug. "Do you know my real identity?"

    Dahlia slowly nodded. "It''s an honor to meet you, Princess Neoma," she said, then she bobbed a curtsy to her. "My name is Dahlia, and I am thest ck Witch of this continent." She smiled shyly at her, then she lowered her eyes to the ground. "But it seems like Your Royal Highness already knows who I am."

    "I have the memories of my past lives," she said bluntly. She wasn''t being reckless by revealing her secret like that. It was just that she had a feeling Dahlia already knew who she really was. "Do you have the memories of your previous life, too?"

    The wisdom and calmness in Dahlia''s eyes couldn''t belong to a child living her first life.

    She knew because the ck Witch had the same look as she had, just like Ruto who also remembered his first life.

    "I don''t remember my past life the way Your Royal Highness does," Dahlia confessed, then she raised her head to look at her in the eye. "But each time Iplete a request from the Stars, they give me a fragment of my past life''s memories as a reward."

    The Moon God.

    The Sun Goddess.

    And now, the Stars.

    [I wonder what these supposedly powerful divine beings are thinking by sending children to solve their problems. This situation reminds me of the anime and some weics I consumed in my second life where the universe relies on teenagers to save humanity from the bad guys.]

    "But to be honest, most of the memories I retrieved revolve around Prince Nero," Dahlia said shyly. "There''s one thing that connects me to Your Royal Highness, though."

    "Really?" she asked curiously. "What is it that connects me to you, then?"

    "I am one reason for your eventual downfall, Princess Neoma."

    "Excuse me?"

    "The Stars prophesied that I''ll be one of the people who will make you fall from grace in the near future, Princess Neoma," Dahlia said in a sad voice, her eyes already brimming with tears. "So before it happens, Your Royal Highness must kill me now."

    Neoma let out a deep sigh, then she looked up at the night sky and raised both her middle fingers at the stars. "Fuck you all."

    <strong>***</strong>

    Author''s Note for this chapter: BIG THANKS TO ANTONIQUE FOR THE MAGIC CASTLE GIFT. Huhu I''m so touched. Thanks to the exposure Royal Secret: I''m a Princess! received because of the special gift, the story gained a lot of collection/readers today. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. :'')

    It''s fun to read thements of the new readers. They''re hating on Niki so bad. Kekeke.

    But to be honest, I don''t regret making Niki the scumbag that he was in the past.

    You see, I was one of the readers who got addicted to trending "cold/heartless/tyrant father dotes on cute daughter" trope. But no matter how fond I was of the said trope, it made me question why the supposedly cold/heartless/tyrant father suddenly softened up to their daughter just because the daughter was cute?

    I mean, I enjoy the fluff, but I just thought I wanted to see a bad father-daughter rtionship get better gradually instead of having the father adore the daughter right off the bat. Having said that, I still love the doting cold father and cute daughter trope. Haha!

    Anyway, I decided to write something I''d like to read so I created Niki de Moonasterio. He sure made your blood boil in the beginning, huh? Haha! Thank you for not dropping RS despite Niki''s horrible personality. <3

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

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 Chapter 394 - LADY MISFORTUNE

    Chapter 394 ¨C LADY MISFORTUNE

    "P-PRINCESS NEOMA, let''s calm down."

    Neoma turned to Dahlia when she sensed her nervousness. And sure enough, the ck Witch looked anxious after seeing her cursed at the stars or whatever. [She''s still the same klutz I remember from the past.]

    Lovely klutz, at that.

    You know, the clumsy yet kind main character type.

    "The Stars are already afraid of Your Royal Highness, so let''s not scare them anymore, please," Dahlia begged her in a tiny voice. "They''re just doing their job, Princess Neoma."

    "And clearly, they''re not doing their job well if they put all the hard stuff on my small shoulders," Neoma said, then she pinched the bridge of her nose. But she immediately stopped when she realized her Papa Boss''s habit had rubbed off on her. [Papa Boss often pinches the bridge of his nose when he''s stressed out¡­]

    She didn''t know how to feel now that she developed a habit because of spending so much time with her Papa Boss.

    [It''s a good thing, I guess.]

    "Princess Neoma, you heard what I said earlier," Dahlia said hesitantly while fiddling with her fingers. "I am one of your misfortunes."

    "Misfortunes?"

    The ck Witch nodded before she exined. "The Stars predicted that Your Royal Highness will meet three misfortunes that will cause your downfall in the near future."

    "When exactly is this "near future?""

    "Three yearster, Princess Neoma."

    She let out a sigh. "Seriously? I just nned a grand reunion with my precious people in three years''s time. Why does my supposed downfall has to happen in the same time frame? What a fucking co-incidence."

    "It''s not a co-incidence," Dahlia said firmly. "Everything will happen three yearster because it''s Your Royal Highness''s will. The stars align to support the moon''s desire. Every time the moon releases a strong resolve to make something big happen, it shines the brightest. And the bigger the light is, the bigger the shadow will be since Darkness always follows the Light."

    "So, you''re saying I attract the Darkness the more I shine brightly?"

    "That''s correct, Princess Neoma," the ck Witch said while nodding. "The stars and everything that adores the moon will move ording to Your Royal Highness''s will. Unfortunately, that only makes it easier for Darkness to follow you."

    "That makes sense," she said with a shrug. "It''s like creating a bonfire in the middle of a dark forest when you''re supposed to be hiding from the monsters."

    Dahlia nodded in agreement. "That''s why you need to be thoroughly prepared for the next three years, Princess Neoma," she said, then she put her hands over her chest. "If you could get rid of your future problems, then you must¨C"

    "If I have that kind of mindset, I would have killed Nero and Regina Crowell as soon as I returned," she said, cutting the ck Witch off. "Well, I admit sparing Regina Crowell might be a mistake. But I don''t regret letting bygones be bgygones when ites to Nero."

    Bute to think of it, maybe she didn''t have any ill-feelings towards Nero when she regressed because deep in her heart, she knew that her twin brother wasn''t the one who killed her in her first life.

    Every fiber of her being probably knew the truth, her mind just couldn''t remember it.

    "And you remember some bits of your past life," she reminded Dahlia. "Then you probably know what you mean to my twin brother."

    Dahlia''s face turned red, as if she was embarrassed. "Prince Nero and I may have had that kind of rtionship in the past. That it isn''t an assurance that we''ll have that kind of rtionship this time as well."

    That was true.

    In her first life, Nero was obsessed with Dahlia.

    But this time, it looked like her cunning twin brother chose Hanna to be his future Crown Princess despite knowing about Dahlia''s existence.

    [I get Nero, though. Unlike me, my baby brother has the mind of a maniptive ruler. He knows that if he wants absolute power, he has to choose Hanna Quinzel as his partner and not a ck Witch shunned by the empire.]

    "Oh, well. My baby brother''s love life is none of my concern," she said with a shrug. "I''m a cool noona like that."

    The ck Witch looked confused by her words.

    "It''s nothing," she said, then she changed the topic. "Dahlia, do you know how you''re going to cause my downfall?"

    "Are you not going to ask me if I''m going to betray you, Princess Neoma?"

    "You can''t betray me when I don''t trust you in the first ce."

    Dahlia looked shocked by her harsh words.

    "Don''t get me wrong¨C I don''t hate you," she assured the ck Witch. "But we just met in this timeline. We didn''t have the best rtionship in the past since I bullied you back then. That''s why I don''t expect you to swear your loyalty to me. You also don''t have to work with me just because the stars are asking you to."

    The ck Witch still looked confused.

    "What I''m saying is you''re free to do whatever you want to do, Dahlia," she exined. "Even if you betray me, I won''t hold it against you."

    "I won''t betray you, Princess Neoma," Dahlia said firmly. "I''m aware that we had a rough rtionship in the past. I also don''t expect us to be friends right away when we just met. But I know that supporting you is the right thing to do. Rest assured, I''m not blindly following the Stars."

    "That''s good to know," she said with a smile. "Did I offend you?"

    The ck Witch blushed again. "Your Royal Highness differs greatly from the Princess Neoma in my memories. And I''m not used to dealing with many people, so I easily get nervous around strangers. It doesn''t help that Your Royal Highness has a feisty personality."

    "Yeah, I''m rude and hot-tempered," she said whileughing. "I didn''t mean to offend you with my harsh words. I apologize."

    Dahlia looked surprised by her apology. "I-It''s alright, Princess Neoma. You don''t have to apologize¡­"

    "Nah, you deserve an apology from a rude bitch like me," she said. "And it looks like you were offended too, when I cursed at the stars earlier. I''m sorry about that as well. I know it sounds like an excuse, but I''m just fed up of those divine beings deciding things for me when they can''t even show up physically when I need help."

    "I understand Your Royal Highness''s feelings," the ck Witch said, then she gave her a weak smile. "Princess Neoma, I''m sorry, but I don''t know how I''m going to y a part in your supposed downfall. Even the Stars don''t know the exact details. All they could see are signs that they interpret on their own."

    "Then you don''t have to worry too much," she said. She wasn''t making light of the situation. But it wasn''t like her to worry about something that may or may not happen in the future. "I like focusing on the present, Dahlia. I know it''s important to look at the bigger picture. But this time, I trust my instinct."

    "May I know what Your Royal Highness'' instinct is saying right now?"

    Sheughed softly before she answered the ck Witch''s question. "My gut feel tells me I can trust you," she said. "See you after three years, Dahlia."

    Dahlia looked surprised. "Your Royal Highness knows I can''t stay in the empire for long?"

    "It''s not safe for you to stay in the empire yet, since ck Witches aren''t wee here," she said. "But to be honest, I''m curious why you''re here."

    "His Majesty has summoned me, Princess Neoma."

    "May I know why?"

    "Apparently, it was Prince Nero''s order to find me," Dahlia confessed hesitantly. "I''m not in the position to tell Your Royal Highness why. But I thought you must know that His Majesty and Prince Nero are the reasons why I''m here. It''s not like I can ignore their royal order."

    She wasn''t sure about that.

    In her past life, Dahlia never hesitated to defy Nero''s orders. She remembered the ck Witch even ignored the emperor''s order back then to stay away from Nero.

    She remembered because back in her first life, Nero''s rtionship with Dahlia was considered ''vulgar,'' and the nobles of the high society wouldn''t stop criticizing (and talking about) the two.

    Thus, she became privy of her twin brother''s love life during that time, even if she didn''t want to.

    [But then again, Dahlia was already a powerful ck Witch back then. Having said that, right now, she''s still a child. Maybe she doesn''t have the power yet to protect the things that she needed to protect. Thus, she''s being obedient.]

    That, or maybe there was another reason why the ck Wicth risked her life just to get here.

    [Since Dahlia isn''t talking about it, maybe it''s not something I should know about yet.]

    Still, she already decided to trust the ck Witch, so it didn''t feel right to meddle further.

    "I won''t ask any more questions," Neoma said, then she extended her hand to the ck Witch. "Dahlia, I sincerely hope we get the chance to be friends the next time we meet."

    Dahlia''s face lit up, then she smiled and epted her handshake. "I will pray for that to happen soon, Princess Neoma."

    <strong>***</strong>

    [I''M BACK.]

    Dahlia slowly removed the hood of her robe when she got off the carriage that secretly brought her to the empire''s Royal Pce.

    This was her first time to step foot in the pce in this lifetime, but the memories she had made her feel like she was back ''home.'' It was funny how she felt nostalgic, even though the memories she retrieved weren''t happy memories.

    "You''re here."

    She flinched when she came face-to-face with the strongest man in the empire¨C His Majesty, Emperor Niki de Moonasterio.

    Handsome, powerful, brooding.

    [His Majesty is as intimidating as the rumors suggest.]

    But in her heart, she didn''t see the emperor as just a powerful (and apparently, cold) ruler.

    Dahlia clenched her hands tight, her heart thumping hard and fast against her chest. [This man was my father-inw in my previous life.]

    <strong>***</strong>

    Author''s Note for this chapter: Imagine my struggle once the story reaches the point where Nero, Dahlia, and Hanna meet. LOL I pray for my future self''s sanity. But to be honest, Nero is such a maniptive ruler-in-the-making who''s obsessed with his twin sister (and has the high possibility of turning into a full-on yandere sis-conter) that I don''t think he deserves either Dahlia or Hanna. Haha! Sorry, Nero, but you''re a yandere through and through.

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 Chapter 395 - THE BLACK WITCHâ€™S DEMANDS

    Chapter 395 ¨C THE BLACK WITCH¡¯S DEMANDS

    [NERO is cooking up something behind my back.]

    Neoma realized that when Dahlia left with the Fletcher Twins.

    That was when she connected the dots. Wyatt and Warren were sent on an away mission a few years ago. Then the twins appeared in the Hazelden Kingdom at the same time Dahlia did. And now, the three left the kingdom together.

    [The Fletcher Twins have been with Dahlia all this time.]

    "Nero, did you ask our Papa Boss to look for Dahlia?" Neoma whispered to herself, then she smirked. "I guess you''re not waiting idly until your body gets better, huh?"

    This was one of the few times she was grateful for Nero''s obsession with her.

    [Imagine if Nero was obsessed with power instead of me. He would have been a tough opponent. I''m d my ''Operation: Make Nero Love Me to Death'' when I was three years old was a huge sess.]

    "Princess Neoma?"

    Neoma turned to Lewis, then she knitted her eyebrows when she saw her "son" sweating when it was freaking cold out there. "Did you run?"

    "I had to," Lewis said while approaching her. "I brought Jeno Dankworth back to the Royal Pce, then I hurried back to get to you, Princess Neoma."

    "Is Jeno okay?" she asked worriedly. "How about Xion? Did you find him?"

    "Jeno Dankworth was poisoned with Darkness," her "son" exined. "Wyatt Fletcher brought Xion to the Royal Pce. Just like Jeno Dankworth, Xion was also poisoned. But Greko and the Wisteria Ladies are already treating them."

    The Darkness that ambushed them was probably the same Darkness that attacked her kids.

    [I should check on them ASAP.]

    She had faith in Greko and the Wisteria Ladies'' ability to heal people. But her "children" probably needed purification as well.

    [But first¡­]

    She looked at William and Delwyn. The two old Spirits were still inside the big fishbowl that Dahlia created to heal them.

    [They''re still unconscious, and Mochi is still asleep after being knocked out by William earlier. How should I bring those two to the Royal Pce? Should I just leave them here while they recuperate?]

    "Princess Neoma, I fought with Regina Crowell earlier."

    Her thoughts were interrupted by Lewis'' report.

    "Regina Crowell?" she asked, shocked. "She was here? And she fought you?"

    "She even held back," he said in a frustrated voice. "It was as if she only fought me to buy time."

    "Then she wasn''t alone."

    "The twins encountered some crows, too," he said. "Wyatt Fletcher said he''ll give Your Royal Highness the full report after they escort a VIP to the empire. But Wyatt Fletcher wants Your Royal Highness to know that they''ve taken care of Bram de Luca."

    She clicked her tongue. "I knew it. The crows followed me here and brought Darkness with them."

    "His Majesty never mentioned the crows couldmand Darkness."

    That was true.

    There was a time people were prejudiced against Darkness, especially those who were born with that attribute, because of the Absolute Darkness that almost swallowed up the Middle World during the Ancient Period.

    [The times have changed, and people have be more epting of Darkness and its users. That means Darkness isn''t an enemy. But now that the crows are using it against us¡­]

    "No, that''s wrong," she scolded herself while shaking her head. "Just because bad people are using Darkness for evil deeds doesn''t make Darkness evil."

    "But isn''t the god that helped Gavin Quinzel in the past the God of Eternal Darkness?"

    She looked at Lewis, her brain buffered while trying to analyze the implications behind his words.

    The crows and the God of Eternal Darkness?

    "Are you implying they have joined hands?"

    "We can''t rule out that possibility," Lewis said with a shrug. "Moreover, the Dark Elf that dwelled in your soul for a long time was the Messenger of that god."

    "That makes sense," she said. "But why didn''t Lord Yule give me a heads-up? Nobody warned me about the God of Eternal Darkness. I don''t even have a cheat code since I only remember the awful things that happened in my first life, not my badass moments after I supposedly got revived."

    "Everything is going to be fine, Princess Neoma."

    "Are you making light of this situation, Lewis?"

    "No," Lewis said, then he shrugged. "I just figured you''re not the type of person who relies on gods and other beings you don''t even see."

    [He''s talking casually to me again.]

    But whatever.

    "You''re right. Let''s do things our way, as usual," she said, then she covered her mouth with her hands when she yawned. Despite being OP, her body was still physically young so she would often get exhausted after a long day. "Now that my Spirits are awake, I''ll leave them here to guard William and Delwyn. Let''s head back to the Royal Pce first."

    He nodded, then he turned his back on her as he got down on one knee.

    "Uhm, what are you doing, Lewis?"

    "You''re tired," he said, then he turned to her. "Piggyback ride?"

    "I don''t mind, but you hate physical contact."

    Lewis shook his head. "You''re my exception, Princess Neoma."

    Hah.

    This rebellious brat of hers really had his way with words, huh?

    "I can''t turn you down if you put it that way," Neoma said, then she leaned down and wrapped her arms around Lewis''s neck. "Let''s go, son."

    "I''m not your son, Princess Neoma."

    <strong>***</strong>

    DAHLIA was very, very nervous.

    It was a miracle her hands didn''t shake as she sipped her tea.

    Yes, she was having tea with His Majesty, Emperor Niki de Moonasterio, who was sitting on the sofa across from her. The emperor had a nk look on his face while looking at her with calcting eyes.

    [This is so nerve-wracking!]

    A Pdin who introduced himself as Geoffrey Kinsley earlier was standing behind the emperor. On the other hand, Wyatt and Warren Fletcher were standing behind her. Only the five of them were in the luxurious tearoom.

    Moreover, she could tell the entire room was soundproof and protected by a barrier made from His Majesty''s Mana.

    [I''m certain my identity and my existence are both safe here.]

    "Dahlia Leticia," Emperor Niki said in an indifferent voice. "Do you know that thest name you''re using was the name of one of the most infamous empresses in history?"

    The emperor was talking about Empress Leticia¨C the mother of Princess Aruna and Prince Arche de Moonasterio. Empress Leticia became an "infamous" figure in the empire''s history because of the revtion of Her Majesty''s hidden bloodline¨C the blood of a ck Witch.

    "The generation of ck Witches that was born after Empress Leticia''s death decided to use Her Majesty''s name as our new family name in her honor," Dahlia said politely. "I know the significance of myst name more than Your Majesty does."

    She said that in a cool and calm manner, but she was screaming, sobbing, and dying inside.

    His Majesty''s cold face, especially when his eyes turned glowing red, was really scary she almost cried on the spot.

    [Oh, god. Good-looking people indeed are the scariest ones in the world!]

    "You''re quite bold," Emperor Niki said in an amused tone, then he sipped his tea. "Are all Elemental Guardian owners cheeky?"

    Ah, right.

    [His Majesty knows I have an Elemental Guardian.]

    The Fletcher Twins found out about Lapiz, her Elemental Guardian, when she fought them during the time the twins trespassed at her home.

    "I apologize, Your Majesty," she said timidly. "I''m quite sensitive when ites to my n."

    The emperor just raised an eyebrow. Then, thankfully, he decided to change the topic. "I heard from the twins you made quite some difficult demands in exchange for being a part of my son''s Order."

    When the Fletcher Twins approached her, they made her take the Oath of Silence before the two revealed the royal secret about Prince Nero and Princess Neoma''s "switch."

    [I already know the royal secret before they approached me, so I didn''t mind taking the Oath of Silence. And I figured it''s one of the due-process the twins have to follow each time they recruit a possible member of Prince Nero''s Order.]

    And for those who refused¡­

    [Hmm¡­ I wonder what happened to them.]

    "I don''t find my requests unreasonable, Your Majesty," she said nervously. She was still scared of the emperor, but she wanted to speak her mind. "All I want is for Your Majesty to give me a well-secured private ind that only me and the people I allow could have ess to. Then I also refuse to speak with Prince Nero unless I absolutely have to do so. And finally, I''d appreciate it if Your Majesty could provide me a vial of Moonglow every month."

    The emperor raised an eyebrow again.

    She gulped and clenched her hands tight out of nervousness.

    "Lady Leticia," Geoffrey Kinsley, the Pdin, called her name sweetly. But when he smiled while adjusting his sses, his face turned quite intimidating. "That''s what we call unreasonable demands. You want to act like you have nothing to do with Prince Nero. And yet, you demand we treat you like a princess."

    Oh.

    That was a valid point.

    [But¡­]

    "I know my worth, Lord Kinsley," she said shyly to the Pdin, her heart thumping loud and fast against her chest. She knew she didn''t sound convincing because she was easily intimidated. Yet, she had to say what was on her mind for the sake of world peace. "My demands are reasonable, considering what I came to offer to His Majesty."

    "What is it?" Emperor Niki asked curiously. "What did youe to offer to me, young ck Witch?"

    "I know why William, the Grand Spirit, is adamant about killing Princess Neoma despite the risks," she said meekly, then she swallowed hard before she continued. "And it has something to do with Your Majesty."

    "Something to do with me?"

    "There was an old prophecy about Your Majesty that spread among the Spirits on the same level as William," she said carefully. "It''s a prophecy regarding the current moon, and the three flowers in His Majesty''s life."

    "Flowers are often used to symbolize women," the emperor said. "Who are these three flowers you speak of?"

    "I have no way of knowing since prophecies don''t work that way, Your Majesty."

    Emperor Niki''s face turned grim.

    "Your Majesty, among the three flowers that the moon treasures, only one will bloom," Dahlia said, hervender eyes now glowing brightly. "The other two will wither."

    <strong>***</strong>

    Author''s Note for this chapter: LOL Dahlia is a little chaotic. She''s strong, but she gets scared easily. Plus, she doesn''t trust good-looking/attractive people. Neoma should take note. Haha!

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 Chapter 396 - (GRAND)MOTHER KNOWS BEST

    Chapter 396 ¨C (GRAND)MOTHER KNOWS BEST

    [FIRST THINGS first.]

    To be honest, Neoma was physically, mentally, emotionally, and probably spiritually exhausted.

    She just transformed into a tree, for fuck''s sake.

    After that, she had an unexpected meeting with Dahlia¨C the person she bullied in the past. Moreover, the ck Witch said something shocking to her before she left.

    [Papa Boss, you have to exin to meter.]

    For now, she had to fulfill her duties as the "Crown Prince."

    And so, she went to check on her "children" as soon as she returned to the Hazelden Kingdom''s Royal Pce.

    Jeno and Xion were together in a heavily secured room while lying on separate beds.

    [They''re still asleep.]

    Juri and Greko were resting in the same room after they exhausted their Mana from healing their hurt "siblings."

    Lady Sera and Countess Jade Wisteria excused themselves after she said she wanted to have privacy with her people.

    "Everyone, good job," Neoma said proudly while addressing her "children" with her gaze. "We encountered some hups, but I''m happy and proud of how we all adapted and improvised to get things done." She pped her hands. "You deserve a round of apuse."

    Lewis, Juri, and Greko looked confused.

    But after she encouraged them to p, the three followed her lead.

    [I''ll p for Jeno and Xionter.]

    "Eomma also did a good job," Greko said brightly while pping harder. "Eomma also deserves a round of apuse."

    Lewis and Juri also pped their hands harder.

    That made herugh softly.

    "Thank you," she said, then she did a mock bow to show her appreciation to her cute "children."

    "Princess Neoma," Juri said, addressing her that way because the room had a soundproof barrier. "Please take a rest in the meantime. Jeno and Xion will be fine since Greko and I already extracted the toxins from their bodies."

    "I''ll rest after I check on Princess Brigitte," she said, then she turned to Xeno and Jeno. "For now, I''d like to purify Jeno and Xion to make sure that the Darkness they absorbed earlier wouldn''t be a problem in the future."

    As she said earlier, she had faith in Juri and Greko''s healing abilities.

    But Darkness, when used by the crows, could be tricky. Just like the time the Dark Elf managed to dwell inside her soul without her knowing. She wouldn''t let something like that happen to her precious people.

    "Don''t overdo it, Princess Neoma," Lewis scolded her lightly. "If you faint again, I''ll get mad for real."

    Neomaughed at Lewis'' light threat. "`Gotcha."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOU''RE AWAKE?"

    To say William was shocked would be an understatement. When he opened his eyes, he was greeted by the being he didn''t expect to see.

    [She''s already awake¡­?]

    His thoughts were distracted when he heard someone let out a hup.

    When he turned to his right side, he saw Delwyn. Just like him, the Ice Spirit was shocked (and a little scared) by the presence of the ''grandmother'' standing in front of them.

    "Is that how you greet the grandmother you didn''t see for almost a decade?"

    That snapped them out of their trance.

    William and Delwyn kneeled properly in front of their "grandmother," then they bowed their heads politely. "Greetings to the Mother of Nature, Lady Irina."

    Irina.

    Mother of Nature.

    Those were two of their "grandmother''s" nicknames. But there was one title everyone knew her for: the ''Cosmic Tree.''

    [How did we end up in the Cosmic Tree''s garden?]

    Thest time he remembered, he and Delwyn were attacked by Neoma de Moonasterio, who had turned into a tree. It was embarrassing to admit, but he fell unconscious after his Mana and divine power were absorbed by the filthy bug. Obviously, the same happened with the Ice Spirit.

    And now, the two of them woke up in the Cosmic Tree''s garden.

    [Only Lady Irina could have summoned us in her realm even though we were unconscious in the Middle World.]

    "It''s been a while since I saw you two, and yet you still cause troubles wherever you go," Irina, an olddy that looked elegant and wore fancy clothes in her human form, said. Then she put her hands on her hips. "The two of you had a hand in the big changes that urred in this world while I was asleep."

    He flinched, and Delwyn did, too.

    "Both of you plucked two of the flowers that the current moon treasures."

    Again, he and the Ice Spirit flinched.

    Irinabed her hands through her long and wavy gray hair, then she red at them with her glowing light brown eyes. "I can forgive Delwyn for trapping Mona in his ice since I can see why he did that," she said, talking straight to William. "But you, on the other hand, have been acting like a moron, William. You were involved with what happened to thete empress, weren''t you?"

    "I did not kill Juliet¨C"

    "You didn''t kill her directly, but you yed a part in her death," Irina cut him off coldly. "And now, you''re trying to kill the innocent Neoma de Moonasterio."

    "That child isn''t innocent, mydy," William said bluntly. "She has a foul mouth."

    "Little Neoma''s pronunciation when cursing is also very articte," Delwyn added in an amused voice. "I also heard from her Spirits that the princess has already memorized all the curse words in everynguage spoken in other continents. That child is indeed far from innocent."

    The Cosmic Tree let out a deep sigh. "You both know that''s not what I meant with what I said," she scolded them, then she turned to Delwyn. "I know you tried to protect Mona your own way, Delwyn. But it doesn''t change the fact that you betrayed your own master. If you intend to make it up to my daughter, I know you already know what to do."

    Ah, right.

    Mona was the ''Daughter of Nature''¨C one of the select few that the Cosmic Tree allowed in her garden.

    "Little Neoma and I made a bet, and she lost technically since William meddled in our fight," Delwyn said. "But in the end, I still lost to Little Neoma when ites to strength." The Ice Spirit smiled that rarely happened. "Her tree form reminds me of you, Lady Irina. I can''t possibly beat a person like that, so I decided to serve her temporarily."

    "Temporarily, you say?"

    "Lady Irina, you know I don''t like being tied down for long," Delywnined lightly. "I''m a free Spirit, after all."

    The Cosmic Tree let out another sigh. "As long as you serve Neoma de Moonasterio well, I won''tin."

    Delywn nodded firmly. "I''m fond of Little Neoma, so it won''t be a problem, mydy."

    "Very well," Lady Irina said, then she turned to her. This time, the Cosmic Tree looked serious. "William, you were able to act on your stupidity for the past ten years since your leash came off when Mona and I both disappeared. But now that I''m awake, I won''t let you get in the way anymore."

    He was getting in the way?

    But he had done nothing wrong.

    "Mydy should be taking my side," William insisted stubbornly. "The prophecy that we, the High Spirits, received before says that only one of the three flowers that the current moon treasures would bloom¨C and the other two would wither. I assume those flowers referred to Mona, Juliet Sloane-de Moonasterio, and Neoma de Moonasterio. In order to ensure Mona would be the one to survive, I thought I needed to get rid of the other two."

    "Do you think Mona would be happy if you do that for her?"

    "It doesn''t matter," he said firmly. "As long as she''s alive¨C"

    "This world wouldn''t survive if Neoma de Moonasterio died."

    He knitted his eyebrows. "I understand that the de Moonasterios are special, butpared to how big the world is, they''re still insignificant¨C"

    "Out of all the beings in the world, including the gods, the de Moonasterios possess the brightest and the purest Light that could defeat the Absolute Darkness," Irina said firmly. "Have you forgotten who Lord Yule''s wife was?"

    "Lady Roxana wasn''t someone you could easily forget," William said, speaking Roxana''s name with extra respect. "She was the greatest Light Goddess in history, and her power called ''Glow'' had literally lightened up the world during the Ancient Period. Moreover, she gave up her divinity to descend on the Middle World in order to protect the human race from being swallowed up by the Absolute Darkness."

    The war against the Absolute Darkness that happened during the Ancient Period was one of the longest wars in history. Without Lady Roxana, the gods and the humans wouldn''t have won against the Absolute Darkness.

    [I don''t want to admit this, but Lord Yule and Lady Roxana being the de Moonasterios'' ancestors is very impressive.]

    "The Moonglow is the result of thebined blood and divine power of Lord Yule and Lady Roxana, and it''s passed down to every de Moonasterio born in this world," Irina exined carefully. "And out of all the de Moonasterios born in this world so far, Princess Neoma''s Moonglow is the closest to Lady Roxana''s Glow."

    William clenched his hands when he heard that. [The filthy bug is that special?]

    "Now I know why Little Neoma is arrogant," Delywn said while nodding. "She has the skill to back it up."

    "William, if you kill Neoma de Moonasterio, this world would end," Irina said firmly. "What use is saving Mona when she''d die anyway if this world crumbles?"

    He hated to admit this, but it made a lot of sense.

    [But I didn''t know the world would end once that filthy bug died!]

    He wanted to think Irina was just exaggerating, but she wouldn''t be hailed as the ''Cosmic Tree'' if she sprouted nonsense.

    [Do I really have to get along with the filthy bug?]

    "I''m not telling you to love Neoma de Moonasterio, William," Irina said, then she let out a frustrated sigh. "But if you truly want to protect Mona, then you have to work with her. After all, Neoma de Moonasterio is the human destined to create the biggest miracle in this world¨C and that might include breaking all the prophecies rted to her."

    If that was true, then he had no choice.

    "I''ll try not to kill the filthy bug again," William said, finally giving in. "And I''ll work with her if it means saving Mona for real."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "BRIGITTE unnie, do you trust me?"

    Brigitte knew in her heart that she trusted Prince Nero.

    But the Crown Prince''s smile at the moment made her nervous. And why was the royal prince looking at the snowy mountain with an evil glint in his eyes?

    [His Royal Highness looks scary when he''s being like this. Still¡­]

    "I trust Your Royal Highness," Brigitte said sincerely. "But may I know what Your Royal Highness is nning?"

    "Avnche," Prince Nero said cheerfully, then he turned to her. "I''ll bury the Hazelden Kingdom with an avnche."

    EXCUSE ME???

    <strong></strong>[He will what?!]

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 397 - SCAMMER TRIO ORIGINS (1)

    Chapter 397 ¨C SCAMMER TRIO ORIGINS (1)

    [WOW, THAT''s the most beautiful face I''ve ever seen in all my multiple lives.]

    Neoma immediately realized she was summoned to another realm again while she was asleep. It pissed her off, but her anger melted away when she was greeted by a pretty face. Call her shallow all you want. But pretty faces would always heal her.

    "Annyeong, Neoma unnie!"

    Ah, it was Kim Nabi.

    Naturally, the most beautiful face she had seen in all her life was her own face.

    [As expected of a face genius like me.]

    "Well, this is awkward," Neoma said while looking around. "I didn''t expect you''d summon me here¡­ wherever this is."

    They were in a small garden on an ind floating in the sky.

    It wasn''t the garden that she saw when she got lost and saw Nabi for the first time.

    "This is my home in the Cosmic Tree''s vast garden, unnie," Nabi exined when she probably noticed she was wondering where they were. "Her garden is so vast, and even the sky in this realm belongs to her. I wanted privacy, so I asked for a floating ind as my home." She pointed at the gigantic tree with an aesthetic-looking treehouse in it. "That''s my house."

    "It''s a pretty house," she said sincerely, then she turned to Nabi. "How are you, Nabi-ya?"

    "Looking after the Cosmic Tree''s garden is fun," Nabi said cheerfully, then she opened her hands. A yellow watering can materialized in the air. She grabbed it tight and began watering the yellow roses in front of them. "Life here is monotonous, but I don''t get bored since Ruto oppa visits me from time to time."

    She knitted her eyebrows. "Ruto visits you?"

    "Yes, unnie," Nabi said, then she turned to her and giggled. "But don''t get jealous. Ruto oppa talks about you a lot."

    Of course, that should be the case.

    Her chest swelled with pride.

    "What did Ruto say about me?"

    "Hmm¡­" Nabi looked up as if she was thinking, then she turned to her with a bright smile on her face. "Neoma unnie, you''re Ruto oppa''s number one. He likes you more than he likes cooking."

    It was obvious Nabi didn''t want to tell her what she talked about with Ruto.

    [More like Nabi can''t.]

    She let it slide, since Nabi said nice things. But she was curious about one thing¡­

    "Nabi-ya, did Ruto teach you how to speak Korean?"

    Nabi smiled and nodded. "Oppa taught me almost everything I know, unnie."

    Interesting.

    [How did Ruto learn Korean, though?]

    Bute to think of it, Ruto mentioned in a passing that he was the one who brought her soul back to this world from Korea.

    [That means he went to Korea to fetch my soul there.]

    But did it mean¡­

    She let out a soft gasp when the realization hit her.

    [Was Ruto the one who sent me the coconut wine? But if he did, he practically poisoned me! Should I hate him for that?]

    But what if that was the only way to bring her back in this world?

    She understood that Ruto had to do it, that he didn''t have the luxury to ask her whether she wanted to go back as Princess Neoma de Moonasterio. But for some reason¡­

    [I feel vexed.]

    "Unnie, please have more faith in Ruto oppa," Nabi said, as if she could read her thoughts. "You can''t hate him, can you?"

    "I don''t like the fact Ruto is keeping a lot of things from me, but I understand he has to follow the rules that he has to in order to keep his past memories intact," she said, then she sighed. "And you''re right. I can''t hate him."

    Nabi just giggled. "Unnie, the Cosmic Tree is already awake. She woke up a little earlier than expected."

    "Oh," she said, surprised. "Then, is it time for me to save you? You told Tteokbokki to tell me to save you once the Cosmic Tree is awake."

    "I invited you here to talk about that, unnie," Nabi said, then she faced her. "Thest time Ruto oppa was here, he told me that our appa, Gavin Quinzel, was trapped in a block of ice. Apparently, only your Soul Beast can save our appa."

    She clenched her hands, her heart now thumping loud and fast against her chest. "My Soul Beast will return three years from now."

    "Unnie, you''re going to save appa, right?"

    [I knew it.]

    "Ruto oppa said you sent your Soul Beast to another world to train in order to save your real mother," Nabi said nervously. "But only your Soul Beast can save our appa. I know that in this world, our appa did bad things. Still, I want to meet him."

    She didn''t know why, but her heart hurt while listening to Nabi.

    "Ruto oppa told me our appa isn''t my biological father, but he''s the only father I have now."

    Ah, yes.

    Nabi''s biological father was already gone.

    "Unnie, both our appa and I¡­ we''re still alive on the other world, aren''t we?" Nabi asked carefully. "I''m talking about our physical bodies."

    "Apparently, you and our appa are in aatose state."

    "And our eomma is waiting for us to wake up," Nabi continued. "Unnie, the reason I changed my mind about asking you to save me after the Cosmic Tree wakes up is because of what happened to our appa. I don''t want to leave this world without him."

    She had already seen thising.

    But now that she heard it straight from Nabi''s mouth, she suddenly felt like she couldn''t breathe.

    [Nabi wants to leave this world with appa¡­]

    "Ruto oppa told me I can still return to my own world," Nabi said in a serious voice. "Unnie, I want to return to Korea to be with my appa and my eomma."

    [She said ''my appa and my eomma.'']

    Nabi wasn''t wrong to im Gavin Quinzel and Go Areum as her parents.

    She knew very well that Nabi owned the life and family that she had in her second life.

    In fact, the poor girl was the biggest victim out of them.

    Nabi was forced out of her own physical body, then her soul was brought to a different realm. Now she was living as a Spirit when she was supposed to be an ordinary Korean girl.

    [I know that, and yet¡­]

    "Unnie, can you help me be with my family?"

    It was an earnest wish from an innocent little girl.

    Yet, Neoma''s selfish and corrupted heart couldn''t give her an answer.

    "Unnie?" Nabi asked worriedly. "Are you crying?"

    "I''m sorry, Nabi-ya," Neoma said in a cracked voice, then she closed her eyes. "I''m really sorry."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "AH, SHIBAL," Neoma said as soon as she opened her eyes, cursing in Korean since she just talked with Nabi in her dream. When she got up, she still felt pissed so she cursed again using the empire''snguage this time. "Fuck it."

    "There''s something alluring about hearing Your Royal Highness curse as soon as you wake up."

    Right?

    She was totally on brand.

    "Lewis," she said, greeting the only person in the room. Her son was standing on the side of the bed like the loyal guard that he was. She was still in the king''s luxurious room, since only the king''s pce was suitable for the "Crown Prince" like her to use. Her "children" destroyed the other pces, after all. "I''m a bad person."

    Lewis just tilted his head to one side while giving her a look that said ''you just realized it now, Princess Neoma?''

    Argh.

    [The truth hurts, indeed.]

    "You''re being a smart-ass with your cheeky expression, Lewis," sheined, then she stretched her arms. "I had a conversation with Nabi."

    "The you in the other world?"

    "Yeah, the real daughter of Go Areum and Yoon Jung¨C and the one whose body I stole when I was a baby."

    "You didn''t steal her body, Princess Neoma," Lewis gently reminded her. He was free to address her that way because the room that she was using was protected by a soundproof spell that Juri made for her. "Just like Lady Nabi, you''re a victim of the adults'' foolish mistakes."

    Ah, she could really trust Lewis to make her feel better when she was feeling like shit. "But I haven''t told you yet what Nabi and I have talked about, Lewis."

    "It doesn''t matter since I will always side with you, Princess Neoma."

    That made her smile.

    "But I will listen to Your Royal Highness''s rant," Lewis said, using the word ''rant'' that she taught him the right way. "What did you talk about with Lady Nabi, Princess Neoma?"

    "Nabi wants me to help her return to Korea to be with our appa and eomma," she said, then she smiled bitterly. "I couldn''t give her a proper response, so I ran away."

    She ran away by forcing herself to wake up.

    "I know that Nabi deserves to return home and be with her family," she said, her heart aching once again. "But my appa and my eomma¡­ I also want to be with them. I can''t do that once Nabi returns to Korea, since I can''t use her physical body anymore."

    She was aware that she couldn''t leave the empire easily. Especially not now when she finally found people to cherish in this world.

    And yet, her heart still yearned for her appa and eomma.

    "I''ve spent over twenty years of my life with appa and eomma back in my second life. My life with them was filled with warm and happy memories," she said. "Even though I recently found out that my appa has done terrible things that hurt Papa Boss and Mama Boss, I still can''t hate my appa. A part of me wants to just forget everything in this world, then return to Korea with him. My eomma in that world is waiting for us, after all."

    Lewis looked devastated by her confession. "Princess Neoma, when all of this is over, do you still want to return to Korea?"

    "Even if I want to, I don''t think I have a ce in that world anymore."

    Just thinking about Nabi was enough to squeeze her heart with guilt, so how could she even think of returning to Korea? Moreover, if she left this world her appa, she would be betraying her Papa Boss and Mama Boss.

    [Nero, too. My baby brother will definitely go yandere mode if I leave abruptly.]

    Thinking about Nero gave her the goosebumps.

    "I think it''s not up to me whether I could leave this world or not," she said jokingly. "Nero would either destroy all the doors that lead to the other world, or lock me up somewhere." She yfully red at Lewis. "And I guess you''ll help my baby brother keep me in this world."

    "I won''t let Prince Nero take your freedom away, Princess Neoma," Lewis said seriously. "But it doesn''t matter to me whether you want to return to Korea or stay in this world. All I have to do is follow you, anyway."

    Neomaughed softly at Lewis'' response. "I think you''re a duckling and not a fox in your past life, Lewis."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "I''M NOT in a good mood," Neoma said when she returned to her temporary room. "William, Delywn, if you''re here to ask for a rematch, I''m afraid I have to turn you down. I''m busy."

    Yes, the two old Spirits were waiting for her in the room.

    William was sitting on the windowsill, while Delwyn was shamelessly lying on the bed.

    She wasn''t surprised to see the two fossils since Mochi, Soju, and Kimchi already reported to her earlier that William and Delwyn had already woken up.

    It happened while Juri Wisteria and Jeanne Audley were giving her a bath. Since she didn''t bring Stephanie to the Hazelden Kingdom, Juri and Jeanne volunteered to be her temporary maids. She didn''t need assistants when taking a bath, but she must follow the protocol, or else the people serving her would get punished.

    [Anyway¡­]

    She went back to her room alone because she knew she had to deal with William and Delwyn.

    Lewis, thankfully, followed her when she gave him an errand.

    But it wasn''t like she waspletely defenseless.

    "Didn''t you hear me? I said I''m busy," she said, then she sat on the sofa. "My people found out that most parts of the kingdom are under the control of a substance simr to Darkness, including the barrier. I have a feeling the crows are behind it, so I''m thinking of how to destroy it." She waved her hands. "So shoo. I don''t have time to y with losers like you."

    "We''re not here to y with you," William snapped at her. "And I''m not a loser."

    "You are, Uncle Scumbag."

    "You¨C"

    "I don''t have the energy to argue with you, Uncle Scumbag," she saidzily. "I should have buried you in the snow while you were unconscious earlier."

    William red at her.

    "I can help you with that," Delwyn saidzily. "I''ll lend you my power if you make a contract with me, Little Neoma." He pointed a slender finger outside at William. "Burying William under the snow won''t be difficult. After all, I''m chummy with the ancient Snow Spirit that guards the Hazelden Kingdom."

    Huh?

    There was an ancient Spirit guarding the Hazelden Kingdom?

    [Is that the reason why it doesn''t stop snowing in the areas not protected by the kingdom''s barrier?]

    "Don''t piss me off, Delwyn," William threatened the Ice Spirit, then he turned to her with an unusually hesitant look on his face. "Let''s make a contract, Neoma de Moonasterio."

    Oh.

    [He''s not calling me a ''filthy bug'' this time?]

    These two dudes attempted to work together in order to get rid of her, and now they wanted to make a contract with her?

    [Something is fishy.]

    Neoma smirked at the two old Spirits. "Are you proposing to me?" She put her elbow on the armrest, then she rested her chin on the palm of her hand while giving William and Delwyn an arrogant look. "If you want me to say ''yes,'' then try to make my heart flutter with your offer, not-so-gentle men."

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 398 - SCAMMER TRIO ORIGINS (2)

    Chapter 398 ¨C SCAMMER TRIO ORIGINS (2)

    "BUT FIRST things first," Neoma said while giving William and Delwyn a look full of suspicion. "What''s with the 180-degree turn? You both wanted to get rid of me earlier. And now you want me to work with you?" She raised an eyebrow at them. "What''s the catch, boys?"

    "No reason," William said bluntly. "Stop asking dumb questions¨C"

    "We were scolded by Lady Irina," Delwyn said, cutting off whatever William was about to say. "Lady Irina is the Cosmic Tree, and her orders are always absolute."

    That piqued her curiosity.

    "Is the Cosmic Tree''s position higher than the Spirit Queen''s?" she asked curiously.

    "The Spirit Queen is only responsible for the Spirit World, but the Cosmic Tree is responsible for both Spirits and every living thing, so it''s hard topare the two," the Ice Spirit exined. "Moreover, the Spirit Queen and the Cosmic Tree have different factions, since different beings follow each of them."

    "Oh, so there''s politics even among Spirits, huh?" she said, then she nodded. "But then again, everything is political."

    [But of course, politics isn''t everything.]

    "You said the Cosmic Tree''s orders are always absolute," she said while giving William and Delwyn a curious look. "What did she order you to do?"

    William just ignored her.

    "Lady Irina told us to work with you for the next three years," Delwyn revealed. "Since it''s the Cosmic Tree''s order, not even William can defy it."

    For the next three years, huh?

    "My influence on this world is too big," she said while shaking her head. "Just because I decided to move three years from now, everyone is following suit." She smirked, amazed by her awesomeness. "I was a social media star in my previous life. Never thought I''ll still be an influencer in this lifetime. But I guess it suits me."

    William and Delwyn exchanged confused looks.

    "Let''s just ignore her rumblings," William said to Delwyn. "That child isn''t normal."

    She just gave William a dire stare. After all, she couldn''t deny that she wasn''t a "normal child." A superstar like her couldn''t be normal, duh. "Uncle Scumbag, I have a question. I remember people telling me my mother is the ''Daughter of Nature.'' Apparently, Mama Boss is very close to the Cosmic Tree. Is that true?"

    The Grand Spirit nodded. "Yeah."

    "Then why didn''t the Cosmic Tree greet me after she woke up?" she asked. "I mean, if she knew I can influence the world the way I want to, wouldn''t it be more productive for us to talk to each other instead of asking the two of you to work with me?"

    "Hah. You''re really arrogant," William said while giving her a disapproving look. "What made you think the Cosmic Tree is on your side?"

    "Well, everyone made me feel like I''m the main character of this world recently."

    "No one is the main character here," the Grand Spirit said bluntly. "The Cosmic Tree exists to keep the world safe. She only seems like she''s taking your side because, at the moment, your goal aligns with hers. But once you made a dumb decision that could endanger the world she protects, you''ll know why the Cosmic Tree is feared by even the High Spirits like me and that bum."

    William pointed at Delwyn when he said ''bum.''

    [Delwyn is a High Spirit?]

    "Your expression looks dumb," William said, then he clicked his tongue. "Yes, Delwyn is a High Spirit. Every single Spirit Guardian that your mother owned in the past is on that level."

    "Amazeballs," she said, impressed by that discovery. "Anyway, are you saying the Cosmic Tree can''t meet me?"

    "Of course," William said, scoffing. "Now that the Cosmic Tree is awake, all eyes are on her, so she can''t just meet with you on a whim. But if she must, the Cosmic Tree will summon you."

    "What asion must rise in order for the Cosmic Tree to summon me?"

    "If the Cosmic Tree needs you for the "greater good," she will summon you."

    She smiled bitterly. "Everyone seems to want a piece of me."

    William raised an eyebrow at her. "Don''t you enjoy the attention, anyway?"

    "My worth back in my second life was astronomical," she said arrogantly. "I won''t be generous anymore. If you want me to work with you, pay up. I''ll teach this world how capitalism works."

    "I understand."

    "Huh?"

    "You want me to tempt you with an offer you can''t refuse, right?" William asked, then he stood up. "Then, in exchange for working with you for the next three years, I will give you Valmento''s Holy Knights."

    She tilted her head to one side. "I don''t need them, though?"

    "Don''t be foolish," the Grand Spirit scolded her. "Astello Temple is the biggest religion in the empire, and most of the people in the West Continent are devotees of Lord Yule. Right now, there''s no saint or Moon Priest to guide the temple in the right direction. The High Priest was easily controlled by Darkness, which is a testament to how little faith he has in Lord Yule. If a person like that continues to lead the temple, then it will crumble."

    She wouldn''t lie¨C religion was her least favorite subject.

    It wasn''t like she didn''t have respect for the divine beings. She was simply fed up since the beings she was supposed to respect had been meddling with her life from the beginning. Committing sphemy against the gods was her way of venting out her frustrations.

    [And it doesn''t help that the gods I''ve met so far aren''t very nice.]

    Yes, including Yule.

    [I mean, Lord Yule is partly to me for the crows'' existence¡­]

    "We have to push the current High Priest out of power," William continued seriously. "It won''t be easy because I''m certain the group of priests and priestesses that serve Astello Temple are supporting him. But the Holy Knights are different."

    "How so?"

    "The Holy Knights are loyal to the saint because they believe the saint is the closest being to Lord Yule," the Grand Spirit exined. "You may not know this because you''re not interested in religion, but the Holy Knights are obsessed with "miracles." Those punks probably want to experience the same thing the first generation of Holy Knights experienced."

    Now she was getting confused.

    [I should have taken my religion ss more seriously¡­]

    "Since the saint disappeared, the Holy Knights won''t care about who leads the temple. They will probably focus on protecting the temple until the prophesied next saint arrives," William continued with his lecture. "But we need the Holy Knights to care about the politics inside the temple because they''re the only ones we can use. And we need those punks to support the puppet that we would use to rece the current High Priest."

    She gently tapped her fingers on the armrest. Although she wasn''t interested in religion, she understood what William was trying to exin, since he was speaking politics now. "The Astello Temple thrived all this time because of the former saint," she said, her big brain now working. "But after the saint disappeared, this happened. That means the High Priest and most of the people serving the temple have been corrupted for a long time now."

    Knowing Dominic Zavaroni''s personality, he probably turned a blind eye because bad stuff hadn''t escted yet. Perhaps he thought he could stop it if things got worse. The former saint was passive, after all.

    [I know because he''s my former mentor.]

    Wasn''t Dominic Zavaroni''s passiveness the reason why he couldn''t do anything to save her Aunt Nichole in the past?

    [We can''t be passive now.]

    "But can we trust the Holy Knights?" she asked William. "Just like the High Priest, they were controlled by the crows, too."

    "We don''t need to trust them¨C we just need them to shift their faith on you," William said casually. "Like I said earlier, we''re going to use the Holy Knights for you to gain the right to kick out the High Priest, and rece him with one of your own."

    She gasped when she realized something. "Uncle Scumbag, are you telling me to find a recement for the High Priest among my people?"

    The Grand Spirit knitted his eyebrows. "You just realized it now? I didn''t know you could be pretty slow, Neoma de Moonasterio."

    "I''m not slow," she said firmly. "I just can''t believe you''re giving me an arduous task when you know there''s already too much on my te at the moment."

    "It''s not a hard task since you already have the perfect puppet in your hands."

    "Huh?"

    "We''ll talk about itter," William said, then he pointed his chin in Delwyn''s direction. "You and that bum should clean up the mess in this kingdom first. The whole ce reeks of Darkness, and the Spirits are dying because of it."

    Ah, yes.

    She remembered hearing the cries of the Spirits in the snowy mountain earlier. That was another reason for her topletely purify the kingdom.

    [Even if it means destroying half of it.]

    "Where are you going, Uncle Scumbag?" she asked, surprised when William''s body suddenly turned translucent.

    "I''m heading to Valmento first," William said nonchntly. "I''ll create a miracle for you to be recognized by the Holy Knights as their new master."

    And just like that, Uncle Scumbag vanished.

    Neoma pinched the bridge of her nose, realizing a little toote that her father''s habit, when stressed out, hadpletely rubbed off on her. "The adults around me give me too much credit."

    How the hell was she supposed to deal with William when they got along like oil and water?

    <strong>***</strong>

    "YOUR MAJESTY, is it really alright to let the ck Witch leave just like that?"

    Niki nodded at Geoffrey Kinsley''s question while wiping his hands with a white handkerchief. "It''s not safe for the ck Witch to stay here," he said while leaving the torture chamber. "Moreover, we have to respect her wishes. She''s an Elemental Guardian owner, just like Ruston Stroganoff. The empire can''t afford to lose such a rare existence."

    He would get in trouble if people found out he allowed a ck Witch to step foot in the empire in secret.

    But since Dahlia Leticia was an Elemental Guardian, he was willing to take the risk.

    [I''ll take responsibility for itter. Nero chose the ck Witch as one of his people, so I must have faith in my son''s decisions. All I have to do is prepare to support my children the best way I can.]

    He wouldn''t be an emperor forever, and even his influence over the nobles wouldn''tst long, judging by the current situation. The Noble Faction in the Royal Capital was quiet while Neoma, while acting as the Crown Prince, was gaining more power.

    There was no way in hell those Noble Faction bastards weren''t nning anything to stop the Crown Prince from being more influential.

    [Their silence only means they''re preparing to tear my child down.]

    He had to gather all the power he had. And hopefully, his Moonglow wouldst until he could sessfully establish both of his children''s positions in the empire.

    [But my Moonglow at the moment¡­]

    "Your Majesty?" Geoffrey called him worriedly. "Is something the matter?"

    "Nothing," he said, pushing the negative thoughts out of his mind. "What''s the situation with the Fletcher Twins?"

    "I talked to Wyatt earlier, and ording to him, they have safely brought the ck Witch back at her home," the Pdin reported to him. "The twins are on their way to Hazelden Kingdom to report to Princess Neoma about what happened to Bram de Luca."

    Hah.

    Neoma would surely be frustrated.

    When the Fletcher Twins brought Bram de Luca to the empire, the crow was nothing but an empty shell.

    "The body that Bram de Luca used this time is just one of his clones. It seems like he used the clone of the younger version of himself to enter Valmento as a young Holy Knight," he said. He had met Bram de Luca in the past, and he certainly didn''t look like a young innocent man back then. "Unfortunately, his soul managed to escape his shell while Dahlia Leticia was purifying the Darkness in his "body.""

    But the "shell" that the Fletcher Twins had brought back wasn''tpletely useless.

    He spent the past few days dissecting it. Thus, he had been cooped up in the torture chamber while getting his hands dirty. It was worth it, though.

    [I extracted a piece of a divine orb in the shell, after all.]

    "That means Bram de Luca is still alive," Geoffrey said while shaking his head. "The crows are truly the roaches of the sky."

    He could only agree with the Pdin.

    The Pdin clicked his tongue while continuing his rumblings. "Those crazy bastards¡­"

    Crazy, huh?

    That reminded him of the conversation he had with the ck Witch before she left the empire¡­

    ["Dahlia Leticia, give me one reason you don''t want to meet Nero at the moment."]

    ["Your Majesty, your son is scary,"] Dahlia Leticia said awkwardly, and she couldn''t even lift her head to face him as she continued talking about Nero. ["I apologize in advance, but Prince Nero is a psycho¨C I mean, a c-crazy hot blood that I should only meet when it''s absolutely necessary to do so."]

    Dahlia Leticia, as far as he knew, hadn''t met Nero personally yet. So the young ck Witch probably saw a vision rted to his son.

    [Otherwise, Dahlia Leticia wouldn''t have talked as if she already met Nero.]

    "Is Nero crazier than Neoma is?" Niki whispered to himself. "Or does my son''s "craziness" has something to do with his Lunacy?"

    <strong>***</strong>

    "I WONDER how Uncle Scumbag would create a "miracle" that can apparently make the Holy Knights loyal to him," Neoma wondered out loud. "Does he know a lot about Lord Yule and our religion because he hates the de Moonasterios so much?"

    "Little Neoma, you didn''t know?"

    She turned to Delwyn who had just gotten up from bed while stretching his arms. "Know what?"

    "The Founder of Astello Temple''s Holy Knights was a male Roseheart."

    "Huh?"

    "The first Holy Knight that served the first de Moonasterio ruler was a Roseheart," Delwyn said in a bored voice. "If I remember it correctly, the first Holy Knight was called Nero Roseheart¨C the owner of the White Lion."

    "Nero Roseheart?" Neoma asked, surprised. "My twin brother''s name is ''Nero,'' too."

    [And what exactly is a White Lion?]

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 399 - SCAMMER TRIO ORIGINS (3)

    Chapter 399 ¨C SCAMMER TRIO ORIGINS (3)

    "YOUR MAJESTY, I have returned."

    Niki didn''t show it, but he was relieved to have Rufus Quinzel back. "You took your time, Rufus."

    He did tell his cousin to stay with his daughter as long as he needed to, since Hanna Quinzel was currently in the process of mastering theplete Shadow Maniption Technique of the Quinzels. Thus, the child needed all the support that she could get from her family.

    But Rufus was still the duke of the empire. His cousin had duties to fulfill¨C especially now that the crows had formally announced their return.

    "I apologize, Your Majesty," Rufus, who was standing in front of his office table, said with a smile. "I came back as soon as I received the report about the crows'' appearance."

    The smile on the duke''s face disappeared, and his eyes turned sharp.

    [Of course, Rufus has a personal grudge against the crows after they almost killed his one and only daughter before.]

    "One crow executive showed up," he said to his cousin. "It was Bram de Luca."

    Rufus knitted his eyebrows. "He''s still alive?"

    "Unfortunately, yes," he said. "I thought I already eliminated those damned crows in the past. But it seems like most of them survived, then went into hiding."

    The duke let out a frustrated sigh. "As expected, people who carry the de Luca bloodline aren''t easy to kill."

    "Bram de Luca asked me where the royal princess is," he said in a cold voice. "The crows are showing interest in the royal princess now."

    "It''s probably because the royal twins are turning ten years old soon," his cousin said sympathetically. "The crows always make their presence known to the royal children once their ages turn two digits."

    He nodded in agreement. "I''m afraid they''ll find out Neoma''s secret soon."

    "Your Majesty¡­"

    "Don''t give me that look¨C I''m confident Neoma will be fine. I won''t let any danger befall on my children," he said firmly. He couldn''t stand the pity in Rufus'' gaze, so he changed the topic. "Rufus, there''s another reason I summoned you back here."

    "I''m listening, Your Majesty."

    "I didn''t send you a report about this because I thought this is something I should personally tell you," he said carefully. "Rufus, we already found where Gavin Quinzel is."

    The duke looked shocked, but his eyes also showed hisplicated feelings.

    "Your brother is trapped in a block of ice simr to where Mona is trapped."

    Rufus'' jaws clenched. "Then that means my brother will be trapped in there unless¡­"

    His cousin didn''t have to finish his sentence, since he already knew what the duke was trying to say.

    "Neoma intends to save Gavin Quinzel once her Soul Beast returns," he shared with Rufus. "But even if Neoma saves your brother, I still intend to punish him ordingly."

    The duke nodded slowly. "I understand, Your Majesty."

    "If you do, then go and buy thend where Gavin Quinzel is trapped."

    "Excuse me?"

    "It''s inside a cave near the shore of Aldives."

    "The so-called ''Sea of Stars'' because the water sparkles at night?"

    "Yes, that one."

    "Then it must be located in one of the private inds owned by House Lennox since their territory is in Aldives¡­" Rufus trailed off, then he nodded as if he understood why he had to ask him to buy thend instead of directly doing it. "Right. Your Majesty has a sour rtionship with House Lennox."

    After all, House Lennox was the maternal family of thete Empress Juliet.

    "You didn''t have to remind me," he snapped at Rufus.

    Of course, Rufus justughed it off.

    He was about to scold his cousin when, all of a sudden, the ground shook hard. It was followed by the explosion of a familiar aura that even Rufus recognized.

    [Could it be¡­]

    He immediately stood up and ran to the balcony of his office, his cousin following behind him.

    When the two of them reached the balcony, they were greeted by a strange view.

    The ss House, the greenhouse that he built for Mona in the past, could be clearly seen from the balcony. And so, they could also see the gigantic tree that suddenly grew big and prated the ss House''s high ceiling. The top of the tree almost touched the sky.

    He was damn well certain that a tree as huge as that didn''t exist in the ss House before.

    After all, when Mona disappeared, all the nts and trees in the ss House died as if they were frozen in time. He didn''t bother to take care of it, but he also didn''t have the heart to destroy the ss House. In short, he just left it untouched.

    "An enormous tree with white leaves. And that familiar aura¡­" Rufus, who was standing behind him, said in an amused voice. "Your Majesty, it''s a message."

    "Yes, and I got it loud and clear," Niki said, then he let out a sigh. "The Cosmic Tree is awake now."

    <strong>***</strong>

    ["I ALREADY forgot the details about the first Holy Knight from the Roseheart n, and the legend of the White Lion. It''s been so long, after all. But I''m sure William will tell you the whole story if you ask himter."]

    Neoma was dying of curiosity about the story behind Nero Roseheart, the first Holy Knight that served the first de Moonasterio ruler, but Delwyn literally slept on her. The Ice Spirit told her to wake him up when it was time for them to work.

    [Tsk. But it looks like Delwyn has really forgotten the story about the first Nero Roseheart. I guess I don''t have a choice but to ask Uncle Scumbag about itter.]

    "Your Royal Highness?"

    Neoma stopped getting distracted, then she turned to Juri Wisteria and Jeanne Audley who just entered her temporary office in the king''s pce. "Wee back," she said to her "children." "How''s the situation outside?"

    It had been a week since she had taken over Hazelden''s Royal Pce.

    Her father, Emperor Niki de Moonasterio, had already released an official statement throughout the empire (and the neighboring kingdoms and nations) about Hazelden Kingdom''s betrayal.

    Through something simr to a virtual press conference using a specialmunication device, Neoma and her Papa Boss presented the evidence of the atrocitiesmitted by Hazelden''s Royal Family against the empire.

    Princess Brigitte served as a witness.

    [And a whistleblower, I guess.]

    Paige Avery and Jasper Hawthorne, on the other hand, helped them by sending some of the weapons sold by the Hazelden Kingdom to the terrorists that attacked Valmento in the past.

    [Since the High Priest and the Holy Knights weren''t in the condition to fight, Paige and Jasper Oppa were able to "borrow" the stolen weapons with no more conflict. ording to Paige, His Eminence didn''t look happy about it. But unfortunately for High Priest Wellington, he still has to recover before he couldin.]

    Well, Paige and Jasper were taking good care of the people of the Astello Temple affected by Darkness, so she wasn''t too worried about the current state of Valmento.

    [I should wrap things up here so I could head over to the Holy Land soon.]

    "Princess Brigitte is talking to themoners in the za, Your Royal Highness," Jeanne Audley reported to her. "As nned, Princess Brigitte is giving detailed instructions to her people on how to stay safe in their homester. Glenn and the knights loyal to Princess Brigitte are there, too."

    Ah, right.

    The Pdins and her "children" didn''t apprehend the entire troop of Hazelden''s royal knights. It came as a surprise to her, but Princess Brigitte was actually well-loved by the people working in the pce. Most of the decent and the strongest knights supported her all this time.

    Plus, Princess Brigitte was also loved by themoners.

    [Her shitty family and the shitty higher nobles blocked Brigitte unnie''s chance to be the Crown Princess instead of her shitty brother, though.]

    Ah, she shouldn''t get too involved with Hazelden''s politics.

    Her Papa Boss told her to focus more on purifying the remaining Darkness left by the crows in the kingdom. Thus, her father and Princess Brigitte ended up working together while dealing with Hazelden''s Royal Family.

    Plus, her Papa Boss and the first princess were also discussing what punishment to give upon the nobles who supported King Landon and Crown Prince ke''s illegal businesses.

    [Well, Papa Boss is the emperor. It''s his job to deal with a case as big as a kingdom betraying our empire. And since Princess Brigitte is the only Hazelden''s Royal Family member that we can trust, she''s the best person to work with my father.]

    "Your Royal Highness, the Fletcher Twins have installed the Mana bombs in all the target areas we marked," Juri reported to her. "Everything is set here."

    That meant it was her turn to work.

    [Lewis should be done with his task by now.]

    "Good work," Neoma said to Jeanne Audley and Juri Wisteria. "For now, I ask everyone to stand by."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA felt like having a nosebleed while looking at Lewis'' adult form.

    [I hate having thoughts like this about my "son," but he''s really hot. He''s guaranteed to be a heartbreaker in the future, considering his cold personality. But he might change, since foxes are known to be cunning and, uh, well people say foxes use their good looks to their advantage.]

    Every time he would use all his nine-tails, Lewis would turn into an adult.

    Apparently, young foxes could turn into their adult form temporarily when using their nine tails because a child''s body couldn''t handle their Mana. So, they needed a bigger ''container,'' which was an adult''s body.

    [It''s possible for the Silver Fox n to do that since their soul is considered old, if we count their age from the moment they lived as a fox for a thousand years. Thus, being able to transform into an adult temporarily despite being physically a child (in humans'' years) is possible.]

    "I wish I could stay in this form permanently."

    Neoma, distracted by Lewis''s sudden monologue, snapped out of her trance. "Why, though? Aging naturally is still the best, Lewis. You still have a lot of things to learn."

    "I know," Lewis said, then he shrugged. "But whenever I''m in my adult form, I know you don''t see me as your "son" because you''re obsessed with my face."

    Wow.

    [Look at this punk talk casually to me while calling me out for my penchant for pretty faces.]

    "You didn''t have to put it that way," sheined, then she turned to her main objective and the reason Lewis was in that form.

    Right now, the two of them were on the snowy mountain.

    To be precise, they were in the middle of the woods.

    She asked Lewis to "unbury" Delwyn who literally buried himself in the snow just to sleep. Thankfully, her "son" was physically strong enough to dig the ground and unearth the Ice Spirit.

    [Tsk, this ahjussi¡­]

    Of course, the ''ahjussi'' in question was Delwyn who was lying on an ice bed and was still sleeping peacefully.

    "Delwyn, wake up," she said as she approached the ''sleeping beauty.'' "It''s time for you to be my temporary Soul Beast."

    Delwyn, thankfully, opened his eyes right away. Then he got up and turned to her with a sleepy look on his face. "Oh," he said. "Good morning, Little Neoma."

    "Good morning, Delwyn," she greeted him back even though it was already noon. Then she raised her right hand. The mark of the Lynx ring in her ring finger sparkled. "Come out, Tarot Cards."

    Her Lynx Ring, the ring that she received from the former saint Dominic Zavaroni, served as her invisible inventory. The ring concealed all the items she wanted to hide like her choker and the anklet that she received from Ruto.

    Of course, it hid not only the things she already wore but also her other weapons.

    Her Lynx Ring also hid Skewer, the scissors that Yule gifted her, and the Tarot Cards she received from Manu.

    "Tarot Cards?" Delwyn asked, then he tilted his head to one side. "I''m pretty sure they''re called the Soul Parchments."

    She smiled while looking at the "Tarot Cards" floating in front of her.

    Actually, Delwyn was correct.

    Manu called those cards ''Soul Parchments.'' Apparently, instead of animal skin, the Soul Parchments were made of, well, soul.

    [Obviously.]

    But the Soul Parchments had the shape and size of a tarot card. Plus, the Soul Parchments had drawings in it, too. Thus, she decided to change the name from Soul Parchments to Tarot Cards. She thought it would be fun that way.

    "Princess Neoma, you changed the name of your items again," Lewis, who seemed to be so done with her naming sense, said. Then his body turned translucent as he shrunk. A few momentster, he was back to his regr built. Goodbye, hottie Lewis and hello, her "son." "Your ancestors probably cry every time you give weird names to the items they treasured."

    "But I feel like I''ll work better with these items if I give them cute names," she said defensively.

    Lewis just sighed while shaking his head.

    "I think William is right," Delwyn said, then he let out a rare softugh. "Little Neoma, you''re not normal."

    "Ady who''s destined to be the first empress can''t be normal," Neoma said whileughing, then she ced her hands on the Tarot Cards. "Delwyn, let''s get this over and done with."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 400 - SCAMMER TRIO ORIGINS (4)

    Chapter 400 ¨C SCAMMER TRIO ORIGINS (4)

    NEOMA ced her hand on the Tarot Card that had a drawing of a wolf with two tails on it.

    Actually, the Tarot Card reminded her of the cards in C*rdcaptor S*kura.

    [If only I had a pretty wand, too. Should I ask Skewer to turn into a wand?]

    "Princess Neoma," Lewis called her gently. "You''re getting distracted again."

    Neoma cleared her throat to hide her embarrassment. "I''m sorry," she whispered, then she focused her gaze in the image drawn on the Tarot Card. The image of the wolf resembled Sev¨C Nero''s Soul Beast. "The ice wolf with two tails is my twin brother''s Soul Beast."

    Delwyn, who looked disinterested, nodded. "Uh-huh. The image drawn on the Soul Parchment is the "shell" of your twin brother''s Soul Beast."

    "Yes, that''s what Lord Manu said, too," she said. "This Tarot Card, with the shell of the real ice wolf, will be your entrance to my soul, Delwyn. After all, this Soul Parchment is made from the soul of the de Moonasterios."

    "Alright," the Ice Spirit said. "Then what should I do after that?"

    "Once you''re inside the space where my Soul Beast is supposed to be, you just have to tie your soul somewhere in there," she exined vaguely. Argh, she was just repeating what Manu said to her. "Sorry, I didn''t get a full exnation either. Lord Manu just told me you''d know what to do once you get there."

    "If Manu said that, then it will be fine," Delwyn saidzily, then he stretched his arms. "All I need is to enter the Soul Parchment, right?"

    "Uh-huh," she said, then she ced her other hand on the hand that she put over the back of the Tarot Card. She put a Wall in front of her to brace for the impact. "I''m ready, Delwyn."

    The Ice Spirit nodded, then he stepped backwards.

    After that, Delwyn crouched low while running full-speed towards her direction. When he was only a few steps away from her, he jumped and dived into the glowing Tarot Card. The Ice Spirit''s body hit the Wall that she created, and then his body fell to the ground limply.

    "He''s unconscious," Lewis said, then he squatted down beside the unconscious Delwyn. He also put a finger under the Ice Spirit''s nose. "He''s not breathing." Her "son" looked up at her. "Did he die when he hit your Wall, Princess Neoma?"

    "Of course not," Neoma said whileughing softly. "Delwyn is just unconscious because his soul left his body," she exined, then she put a hand over her chest. "I can feel his presence inside my soul now."

    <strong>***</strong>

    [THIS IS ridiculous.]

    Delwyn wasn''t surprised by the small tree in front of him. He had already seen the tree with purple leaves, and a ck trunk and branches.

    [That''s how Little Neoma looked when she turned into a tree before.]

    Thus, he wasn''t surprised to find a simr tree inside her soul.

    But this time, the purple tree only reached his hip. Moreover, the garden where the tree was nted was practically empty. The only thing that made the scenery pretty was the beautiful purple tree itself.

    Ah, no.

    The best thing in that ce wasn''t the tree, but the air.

    [To be precise, the air that the purple tree breathes.]

    "It''s too pure," Delwyn whispered to himself, then he closed his eyes as he inhaled the purple tree''s "breath." As a Spirit, he didn''t really need this kind of air to survive. But it was tempting even for him. "The gods will go crazy if they get a whiff of this."

    Aether.

    That was the first thing that entered his mind.

    [Aether is the pure air that the gods in the Upper World need to breathe. And apparently, the current Aether was a de Moonasterio.]

    "It''s always the de Moonasterios," he said as he opened his eyes. "Lord Yule, the bloodline that came from you and Lady Roxana, is far too great that everyone, the gods included, wants a piece of your descendants."

    If he remembered it right, Lord Yule and Lady Roxana were the reasons why the higher gods were forbidden from making children together¨C especially if the children would be sent and raised to the Middle World just like the de Moonasterios as humans.

    "The de Moonasterios are the gods among humans," he whispered to himself, then he gently touched a purple leaf. "Little Neoma, out of all the de Moonasterios I''ve met so far, you''re the one who has the highest potential to be as powerful as Lady Roxana¡­"

    He was forced to stop talking when the roots of the purple tree emerged from the ground, then they wrapped themselves around his wrist.

    [Ah, is this why Lord Manu said I''d know what I have to do once I get here?]

    He actually didn''t have to do anything.

    The sharp end of one root stabbed him in the arm, then it began to suck his Essence.

    [Essence is the ''Core'' of the Spirits like me. Ah, I get it now. The one I need to "tie" in Little Neoma''s soul is my Essence since I''m not a male Roseheart.]

    Roseheart was an amazing bloodline, too.

    It was a shame that most of the higher nobles in the empire was too dumb to see the real value of the Rosehearts.

    [Just like Lord Yule and Lady Roxana, Niki de Moonasterio and Mona Roseheart is also a dangerousbination. Their children carry both the Moonglow and the Roseheart Blood. Of course, their children would be this powerful.]

    Strong people should stop making babies together.

    "Little Neoma, if you desire to get married and build a family of your own in the future, let me give you a piece of advice¨C don''t fall in love with a powerful man," Delwyn said firmly. "Just choose an average guy for the sake of world peace."

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA smiled when the image of the wolf with two tails disappeared on the Tarot Card.

    [It means Delwyn has sessfully taken the form of the ice wolf.]

    Of course, topletely deceive the public, her fake Soul Beast must resemble Nero''s Soul Beast. Manu arranged everything for that to happen.

    [The Moon Priest wouldn''t be called the ''King of Soul Beasts'' if he couldn''t do that much.]

    "Oh," Lewis, who was standing beside her, said while looking at the second Tarot Card¨C the one that was nk earlier¨C vibrating while suspending in the air. "Something is appearing on the nk Soul Parchment."

    Uh-huh.

    The first Tarot Card, the one that Delwyn used as an entrance, had faded away once the image of the ice wolf disappeared.

    Then the second Tarot Card glowed brightly.

    [Ah, it''s time.]

    "Delwyn," Neoma said loud and clear. "Come out."

    The second Tarot Card suddenly shot up to the sky and spat out a huge ball of energy.

    Then the Tarot Card was shredded into several pieces while the ball of energy burst¨C releasing a blinding light. She had to squint to protect her pretty eyes. Closing them was an option, but she wanted to see what was happening.

    [Argh, I wish I had sunsses here.]

    Thankfully, the blinding light soon disappeared.

    Delwyn came out of the ball of energy. But this time, Delwyn was in the form of a wolf. But his size was bigger than normal wolves. He looked enormous in that form. No wonder the ground was decorated with long cracks when hended.

    [He has a beautiful coat.]

    "This feels weird," Delwyn said. He still could talk normally even in his wolf form. "But I enjoy doing new stuff, so this is fun."

    "I''m d you''re having fun," Neoma said, then she smiled at him. "Now let''s y."

    <strong>***</strong>

    BRIGITTE was nervous when the ground started to shake hard.

    She was standing on the balcony of the tower near the gate of the pce where she could clearly see the snowy mountain shaking as if it was about to erupt.

    The knights and the other servants watching with her also looked nervous.

    [But I trust Prince Nero. His Royal Highness said only the areas corrupted by Darkness would get buried in snow. And even if it happens, no one would get hurt.]

    Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt a big and warm hand cover hers.

    Oh.

    She turned and saw Glenn giving her a warm smile.

    Ah, her worries were instantly washed away.

    [I really love his smile.]

    "Everything will be fine, Princess Brigitte," Glenn assured her, then he gently squeezed her hand. "You and Prince Nero worked really hard for this moment."

    Hearing thoseforting words from the man she loved put her heart at ease.

    "I love you, Glenn," Brigitte said softly, surprising Glenn. "I really, really do."

    As a princess, she shouldn''t be saying stuff like that in public¨C especially not now when an avnche was about to fall on the Royal Capital and a snowstorm was threatening to happen. But at the moment, while she was looking deep into Glenn''s eyes, she knew the right moment was always the time she spent with him.

    "I love you, too, Princess Brigitte," Glenn said shyly. His whole face was red, but the love in his eyes was clear. And when he smiled at her, she fell in love with him all over again. "My princess, will you marry me?"

    She let out a gasp, but it was swallowed by the loud sound of the avnche hitting the Dome that Prince Nero created in advance. It was followed by the explosions courtesy of the Mana bombs that His Royal Highness installed in the areas needed to be purified.

    But despite all of that, she still gave her response to Glenn''s question.

    She knew her lover would hear her voice loud and clear.

    "Yes," Brigitte said while holding back her tears. "I will marry you, Glenn."

    And Glenn put a beautiful diamond ring on her finger as the chaos around them intensified.

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 401 - SCAMMER TRIO ORIGINS (5)

    Chapter 401 ¨C SCAMMER TRIO ORIGINS (5)

    <em><strong><In the neighborhood of the Hazelden Kingdom''smon people¡­></strong></em>

    <strong>***</strong>

    THE PEOPLE of the Hazelden Kingdom were strongly advised by Princess Brigitte to stay at home while Prince Nero purified the Royal Capital.

    But most of them, themon people, in particr, couldn''t help but open their windows to watch and talk among themselves. After all, their curiosity about the handsome young Crown Prince of the empire outweighed their fear.

    "Will the empire''s young Crown Prince really bury the Royal Capital in snow?" a mother asked while poking her head outside the window, just like her neighbors. "Are we going to be safe?"

    "I''m worried, too," an old man, who was sticking his head outside the window too, said. "The empire''s Crown Prince is still a foreigner. Moreover, the Royal Family of our kingdom betrayed the empire. How would we know we''re not being punished?"

    "What if the empire''s Crown Prince is lying about the Darkness that supposedly corrupted our kingdom?" a young man, brave enough to actually stand outside his house, asked.

    That got people talking aloud.

    Princess Brigitte announced a few days ago that King Landon and their kingdom''s Crown Prince worked with dangerous people who brought Darkness to the kingdom. Apparently, the Darkness almost killed all the living things in the snowy mountain.

    Aside from that, the Darkness was said to alsotch onto some areas in the Royal Capital. Thus, the empire''s young Crown Prince needed to purify it.

    "If we can''t trust the empire''s Crown Prince, then let''s trust our own Princess Brigitte," a youngdy, who was sitting on the windowsill while looking up at the sky. This girl was known in the kingdom as Princess Brigitte''s admirer. "We all know Princess Brigitte is more deserving than Prince ke to inherit the throne."

    The older folks gasped and scolded the youngdy.

    But the younger generation nodded and agreed with her. Thus, a small argument among themon people began.

    It was stopped when the ground suddenly shook hard.

    Then a loud roar in the sky followed.

    Everyone immediately looked up at the sky to see what was happening, and everyone was shocked when they saw the avnche. A mass of snow, ice, and rocks fell rapidly down the mountainside. But the people soon realized something wasn''t right.

    It was true that the avnche was happening.

    But the fallen mass of snow, ice, and rocks soon floated in the sky as if they were being carried by a strong gush of wind.

    Now a huge shadow cast over them.

    If that amount of avnche was dropped abruptly, the Royal Capital would definitely be buried under it. Half of Hazelden Kingdom would disappear from the map, and thousands of people would die for sure.

    Of course, that scared everyone who saw the avnche floating right above them.

    <"Everyone, how are you?">

    It was the voice of a young boy amplified by magic in order to be heard loud and clear.

    Perhaps¡­

    A collective gasp was heard when the floating avnche was split, as if giving way to a very important person.

    And there he was.

    The people of Hazelden Kingdom were in awe when they saw the young Crown Prince riding on a huge wolf with two tails. And the wolf was "walking" in the air.

    "That''s the empire''s Crown Prince?"

    "His Royal Highness is the most beautiful child I''ve ever seen in my life¡­"

    "Even the young Crown Prince''s wolf looks majestic!"

    Upon the appearance of the empire''s young Crown Prince, the people of Hazelden had temporarily forgotten their fear. Everyone was now focused on the beautiful prince riding on a majestic wolf walking in the air.

    It wasn''t like the people of Hazelden all had sharp eyes.

    They could clearly see the young Crown Prince because of the transparent tablet floating in the sky. It was a video recording device focused on the young prince. Thus, the people could watch his movements even without using a magical device to see things from afar.

    <"Hi! I am Nero de Moonasterio, the empire''s Crown Prince,"> the young prince introduced himself causally and cheerfully, as if he was talking to his friends. But he didn''t sound rude. He actually sounded warm and friendly¨C a far cry from how the Royal Family of their kingdom, aside from Princess Brigitte, talked to their people. <"I know that everything is scaring you at the moment, so I feel bad that I have to ask everyone to please hang in there.">

    A collective gasp was once again heard.

    The empire''s Crown Prince apologized to people of a foreign country?

    That was unbelievable.

    The Moonasterion Empire was the biggest and the strongest territory in the whole West Continent. And the Crown Prince of that empire just apologized to them!

    <"I believe Princess Brigitte already exined to you that there were areas in the Royal Capital corrupted by Darkness,"> the young prince continued talking to them in a warm yet clear voice¨C a voicemanding them to give all their attention to the speaker. <"Darkness isn''t inherently evil. But once Darkness is instilled with malice that threatens the safety of innocent people, then we must purify it. And that''s exactly what I''m about to do.">

    At that point, everyone was already calm.

    There was something about the young Crown Prince''s soothing voice that put everyone at ease. Even though the young prince was a foreigner, the people of Hazelden Kingdom felt like they could put their faith in him.

    The concern in the Crown Prince''s ash-gray eyes seemed to be genuine.

    <"In a few moments, the Mana bombs that we installed all over the Royal Capital will explode,"> the young prince said carefully. He was talking about something scary, and yet, he remained calm. Thus, the people listening to him also remained collected. <"We needed to bomb the areas infected by Darkness in order to make the substancee out. But don''t worry too much. We created a device that would silence the explosion, so you may all stay at homefortably. We have to apologize in advance, though. We couldn''t do anything about the earthquake that would follow the explosions.">

    Aside from the young Crown Prince''s soothing voice, the people of Hazelden Kingdom also noticed that he kept saying ''we.''

    The young prince wasn''t taking all the credit for himself.

    Now the respect that the people of Hazelden Kingdom had for the young Crown Prince increased tenfold.

    <"The explosions will definitely damage a lot of properties, but I swear on my life that none of you would get hurt. So once again, please hang in there for a little while,"> the young Crown Prince promised, and everyone easily ced their trust in him. <"Once all of this is over, I will treat you all to a barbecue party.">

    Barbecue party?

    What did it mean?

    Now everyone was confused¨C confused but curious, to be precise.

    The smile on the young Crown Prince''s pretty face was so bright everyone got excited even though they weren''t sure what a "barbecue party" was. But the excitement of the young prince''s face was enough to make the people of Hazelden Kingdom look forward to it.

    <"Everyone, we will get through this together,"> Prince Nero encouraged them brightly. Then he raised a fist in the air. <"Fighting!">

    It was a strange word said in an unfamiliar ent.

    Nobody understood what Prince Nero meant by "fighting," but everyone cheered for the empire''s young but gant Crown Prince, anyway.

    "Long live, Prince Nero!"

    <strong>***</strong>

    NEOMA smirked when she realized most of the explosions came from the high-end area of the Royal Capital.

    It was where the nobles lived.

    Some parts of the slum also exploded, though. But her people assured her that they had evacuated the citizens of the affected areas safely. There were also Hazelden Knights (those who were loyal to Princess Brigitte) roaming around with proper defense magic to make sure no one was lurking into the areas deemed as ''danger zones'' for that operation.

    "It''sing out," Delwyn, in the form of an ice wolf, said after the "live broadcast" ended. He was now free to talk after she turned off themunication device she used earlier. "The Darkness is emerging from the areas we bombed."

    "Let''s purify it now before it scatters," Neoma said seriously, then she moved her shoulders. Just like that, her purple rose wings appeared on her back. "Let it snow!"

    The avnche floating above fell down to the areas where the Darkness substance came out.

    Of course, that avnche¨C with the help of Delwyn and the Snow Spirit''s power¨C contained purifying magic that could cleanse the Darkness buried under it.

    But it wasn''t enough, since the substance already began to scatter in the air.

    Thus, Neoma ordered the Snow Spirit to make it snow. Then she mixed her Roseheart Blood with the falling snow in order to strengthen its purification element. As a result, the snow that covered the entire kingdom that way was red.

    It didn''t look gory, though.

    <For the people of Hazelden Kingdom, the image of the young Crown Prince using his blood as the purple roses in his wings faded one by one would be forever etched in their minds. The young prince purified the Darkness that almost swallowed up the kingdom. And, as His Royal Highness promised, none of the innocent citizens was hurt in the process.>

    <strong>***</strong>

    WILLIAM smiled bitterly when he finally arrived at the ce he didn''t want to see again, but he had to in order to make a contract with Neoma de Moonasterio.

    [I''m back, brothers.]

    By ''brother,'' he meant the male Rosehearts that were killed by the de Moonasterios in order to turn them into Soul Beasts.

    After all, he was in their graveyard.

    And the bones of the male Rosehearts who died that time were scattered around him.

    "I apologize in advance, brothers," William said as he clenched his hands tight. "I need to use your remains in order to create a miracle for a de Moonasterio."

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

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 Chapter 402 - SCAMMER TRIO ORIGINS (6)

    Chapter 402 ¨C SCAMMER TRIO ORIGINS (6)

    "IS THE "Crown Prince" raised as a thief?"

    Paige Avery maintained her polite smile while listening to the insulting wordsing out of High Priest Dave Wellington''s mouth.

    She was Princess Neoma''s Light Mage, so she had to be careful when dealing with the important figures in the empire. Unfortunately, the High Priest was one of the "VIPs" that she had to be patient with in order to help Her Royal Highness gain power.

    [I must be patient. I must be patient. I must be patient.]

    High Priest Dave Wellington wouldn''t be in that position longer, anyway.

    The thought that she had gathered some solid evidence to prove the High Priest''s corruption was enough for her to calm down.

    "And I can''t believe cunning people like you are working for the Crown Prince," High Priest Wellington continued with hisints while looking around the weaponry room.

    To be precise, it was the hidden weaponry room in the prayer room that only the former saint Dominic Zavaroni could use. It looked like the stolen weapons were transferred to that room when the former saint disappeared.

    [The High Priest probably thought we wouldn''t dare to step foot in the former saint''s room.]

    But to her, Princess Neoma''s order was absolute. She didn''t care if she had to break the rules of Astello Temple. Moreover, the emperor himself was backing them up. So why would she be scared of the corrupted High Priest?

    "You used the opportunity to raid the temple while me, along with the Holy Knights and the other priests, were still recovering from being poisoned by Darkness," the High Priest continued with hisints. "You sent some of the weapons to the empire without my permission. And now you sealed the remaining weapons here!"

    Everything the High Priest said was true.

    Some of the weapons, the high-grade ones, were sent by Dion Skelton to the empire.

    Then she sealed the remaining weapons using a spell she created. Only she and the people she allowed could unlock the ss case where the weapons were sealed.

    "As the High Priest of Astello Temple, I won''t allow the empire to trample on us like this!" His Eminence said angrily, his face now red from frustration. "I will file a formalint against His Majesty¨C"

    "It seems like Your Eminence has recovered well," Paige said, cutting the High Priest off with a smile on her face. She couldn''t stand being yelled at by the High Priest anymore, so she decided to speak up. But of course, she tried to keep her cool. "I won''t stop Your Eminence from filing aint. But since you seem to be in good health now, I hope you don''t mind answering my questions."

    The High Priest didn''t know yet, but she actually found some hidden "treasure" in the temple that they could use against His Eminence. Those treasures were hidden well.

    Since Astello Temple was known to ept refugees of war, it had a huge underground shelter. Some of the rooms were used to hide Holy Relics¨C Holy Relics that shouldn''t be in Valmento.

    Ah, of course, they had to blow up the doors in order to open the rooms.

    [But we promise to fix it since the shelter is important.]

    "Are you saying you want to investigate me?" the High Priest asked in disbelief. "Who gave you the right to do that?"

    "His Royal Highness Prince Nero, the Crown Prince of the Great Moonasterion Empire."

    "We both know the current "Crown Prince" isn''t the real one," the High Priest snapped at her.

    "What does it matter?" she asked, still using polite tone. "A de Moonasterio is still a de Moonasterio."

    The High Priest scoffed. "A female de Moonasterio holds no real power."

    [Oh, dear.]

    Her patience snapped, so her smile became "sweeter."

    "If Your Eminence wants to talk about power, then let''s talk about it," she said with a sickeningly sweet smile on her face. "Your Eminence, you''re currently the most powerful man in Valmento since you''re the temporary head of Astello Temple."

    The High Priest had the audacity to look smug.

    [I''m not praising you, old fool.]

    "So, pray tell me, why is Your Eminence still greedy for more power?"

    High Priest Wellington looked surprised by her question. "Whatever do you mean by that?"

    "Your Eminence serves Lord Yule, the Moon God," she said. Although she was still smiling, the High Priest should notice the coldness in her eyes by now. "Your Eminence shouldn''t concern yourself with Holy Relics that belong to another god."

    The arrogant look on the High Priest''s face disappeared, and it was actually reced by nervousness.

    "While looking for the stolen weapons that Your Eminence hid, we also identally found the Holy Relics that belong to the Cyran Temple of the East Continent," she said sternly. "We also found the contracts of the stolen weapons that you also sold to other parties. But instead of money, Your Eminence received Holy Relics as payment."

    At this point, the High Priest looked pale as if he was about to faint anytime.

    To be honest, Paige and herpanions found the Holy Relics and the receipts quite too easily. It was as if someone else already arranged it for them to find the dirt that could give them the power to remove the High Priest from his position.

    [It looks like the crows weren''t lying when they said they''re giving Valmento the the "Crown Prince" as a birthday present.]

    "We already sent the report about this to His Majesty, along with the Holy Relics and the receipts," she continued. "But don''t worry, we won''t reveal it to the public yet."

    The fact that the Astello Temple was almost swallowed up by Darkness was already enough to make the people angry. If the High Priest''s corruption was revealed at the same time, the bacsh that the empire would receive would increase tenfold.

    [But of course, Princess Neoma gets to decide what to do next.]

    "It''s not a crime to collect Holy Relics," High Priest Wellington said in a weak voice. "And even if I got them in exchange of the weapons in our artillery, I don''t see the problem. Like I''ve been saying from the start, we consider those weapons thepensation we got from the empire after Valmento was attacked by the rebels."

    She just smiled and nodded. "Your Eminence can say those things to the Crown Princeter," she said, then she bowed to him before she walked towards the door.

    Ah, right.

    She remembered something important, so she stopped and turned around to face the still pale High Priest.

    "Your Eminence, this may be impudent of me, but allow me to give you a piece of advice."

    High Priest Wellington knitted his eyebrows, but kept his mouth shut.

    "Be careful of counterfeits," Paige said gently, her smile as sweet as ever. "The real Holy Relics from the East Continent were stolen by a little thief more than fifty years ago."

    She should know.

    After all, Paige Avery was the "little thief" who stole the Divine Items and the Holy Relics from the East Continent''s Cyran Temple.

    <strong>***</strong>

    JASPER HAWTHORNE, as the youngest duke of the Moonasterion Empire, was officially tasked by Emperor Niki to investigate the Holy Knight called ''Bram'' that turned out to be a crow executive.

    Because Bram de Luca infiltrated the Holy Knights, he had requested an "interview" with Henrik Benedict as soon as the captain of the Holy Knights recovered.

    ["Sir Bram passed all the requirements needed to be a Holy Knight. Despite his poor background, we epted him because of the impressive amount of divine energy," Henrik Benedict said in his statement. ["But since he was still the lowest in rank, we would often send him to help the priests with their errands. One of Sir Bram''s previous tasks was helping the priests purify the water we drink."]

    Water.

    That was how Bram managed to poison everyone in Astello Temple with Darkness.

    He didn''t know how Bram de Luca did it, but he mixed liquified Darkness with drinking water used by the people in the temple. Despite being people blessed with divine energy, everyone in the temple was still poisoned. It was a huge feat.

    [And a big embarrassment for the temple.]

    "That ends my report, Your Majesty," Jasper, who was alone in the temporary office he was using in the temple, said. He was talking to the emperor using themunication device in his ear. It was a device made by Paige Avery, so he was confident that the line was safe. "How should we proceed?"

    <"It seems like the Holy Knights were also deceived by Bram de Luca,"> Emperor Niki said, who was speaking on the other line, said. <"But we can''t let our guard down. Investigate each one of them to make sure Bram de Luca didn''t have an aplice left in the temple.">

    "As you wish, Your Majesty."

    <"Have Neoma arrived safely at Valmento?">

    "Yes, Your Majesty. But¡­"

    <"But what?"> Emperor Niki asked impatiently. <"Did something happen, Jasper Hawthorne?">

    "Nothing major happened, Your Majesty," Jasper said hesitantly, then he gathered the courage to speak his mind. "It''s just that Princess Neoma is very exhausted, and she''s chugging an unhealthy amount of energy potions ever since she arrived here."

    <strong>***</strong>

    FOR NEOMA, "adopting" Paige Avery as her child was one of the best decisions she made in her life.

    Her Light Mage had done several wonderful stuff for her, but the energy potion was the best so far. She was a de Moonasterio, so she was born with a strong stamina. Thus, she had never felt so weak that she needed to take energy potions.

    [Not until now, that is.]

    She only asked Paige to make her an energy potion that tasted okay. But the Mage went beyond her expectations.

    "This tastes like grape juice, and grape juice is my favorite," Neoma said after slurping her 13th vial of energy potion. She was sitting (actually, she was almost lying down) on the sofa. After she arrived at Valmento, Paige brought her to the tea room. "You''re the best, Paige."

    Paige, who was sitting on the chair across from her, smiled awkwardly. "Princess Neoma, please take it easy," she said. She was free to address her that way because the room was protected by her soundproof magic. "Your Royal Highness seems to be low in divine energy, which is unusual since you''re always overflowing with Moonglow."

    "Ah, I must have spent a huge amount of my Moonglow after I purified a huge part of Hazelden''s Royal Capital."

    Paige looked at her with eyes filled of worry. "I wish Sir Skelton was here so I could transfer some of his divine energy to you, Princess Neoma."

    "Nah, I''ll be fine," she assured the Mage. Then she turned to Lewis who was quietly standing next to her. "Lewis, you must be tired as well. Have some energy potions, too."

    "I have some left," Paige offered immediately. "What vor do you want, Lewis?"

    "I''m fine¨C"

    "You''re not fine," she said, cutting off her "son." "Lewis, have some energy potions. That''s an order."

    Lewis was left with no choice but to nod politely, then he turned to Paige. "Lady Avery, I''ll take any vor but grapes since Princess Neoma likes it."

    Oh.

    That was kinda touching.

    Paige smiled warmly at Lewis. "You really care about Princess Neoma, Lewis."

    Lewis avoided the mage''s gaze, but they already saw his face turn red.

    Sheughed softly at her "son''s" reaction, but something came up.

    Then she sat up straight when she sensed a familiar hostility directed at her. "I feel a great disturbance in the force."

    "You''re speaking nonsense again, Neoma de Moonasterio."

    It was William.

    The Grand Spirit appeared in front of her¨C easily breaking the barrier that Paige created. The mage, as well as Lewis, didn''t look pleased about it.

    [Well, it can''t be helped since William is stronger than them.]

    "Follow me," William told her, his body turning translucent. "We''ll create a miracle, Neoma de Moonasterio."

    Neoma stood up and nodded. "Sure, Uncle Scumbag."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 403 - B*LLSHIT OF THE CENTURY

    Chapter 403 ¨C B*LLSHIT OF THE CENTURY

    [I DON''T know if this is a garden or a graveyard.]

    Neoma kept her mouth shut while looking around.

    The simplest way to exin that ce would be a "dead garden." It was obvious the garden had been neglected for quite some time now. And for some reason, there were human bones scattered on the ground.

    [I can''t believe a ce like this exists in Astello Temple.]

    When she followed William, she found herself on the open rooftop of the dome-shaped building in Astello Temple. But technically, it wasn''t an "open" space since there was a curved transparent roof over them. To be precise, it was a barrier.

    But William easily broke the barrier.

    "I didn''t break the barrier, if that''s what you''re thinking about," William said, even without looking at her. "The barrier just let us in. Of course, it won''t work on just anyone."

    If it wouldn''t work for anyone, then¡­

    [What do I have inmon with William?]

    "Is this barrier programmed to ept Rosehearts?" Neoma asked carefully. "I believe our Roseheart Blood is the only thing inmon we have, Uncle Scumbag."

    "You''re right," he said, then he turned to her. "This is the graveyard of the male Rosehearts who were killed and turned into Soul Beasts in the past. The bones you see belong to them."

    Oh.

    She slowly removed her feet from the bone that she identally stepped on.

    [I''m sorry¡­]

    To be honest, she could have avoided the bones when she was walking earlier. But for some reason, she felt sluggish and a little sleepy.

    [But I just drank a lot of energy potions earlier?]

    "Uncle Scumbag, why are these bones here?" she asked carefully. "Can''t we move them somewhere else and give them a proper resting ce?"

    "We can''t remove these bones here, since they serve as Astello Temple''s protection," he said. "Moreover, it was Nero Roseheart''s wish for him and his people''s remains to stay here."

    "Ah, I''m d you brought that up, Uncle Scumbag," she said. "Delwyn told me the first Holy Knight that served the first de Moonasterio ruler was called Nero Roseheart. Is my twin brother named after him?"

    "Mona and I never talked about it since I tried to kill her child when she was pregnant," he said bluntly. "During that time, I didn''t know she was carrying twins, and that one of them was a male Roseheart. But knowing your mother''s naming sense, I bet it was Niki de Moonasterio''s idea to name your brother after the First Holy Knight."

    She remembered her father telling her that her Mama Boss almost named her ''Swordlily.''

    [And people say I have a horrible naming sense.]

    "I think you''re right, Uncle Scumbag."

    "Nero Roseheart, the first Holy Knight of Astello Temple, was also the owner of an Elemental Guardian¨C the White Lion."

    Oh?

    That was interesting.

    "The Elemental Guardian of the sky is the Thunderbird, the Blue Whale for the ocean, and it''s the White Lion for thend," the Grand Spirit exined. "Do you know why the first Roseheart matriarch was granted the ''Lionheart'' title?"

    "I''d like to say it was because of their bravery, since most dictionaries describe being a ''lionheart'' as ''a person with exceptional courage and bravery,''" she said. "But I believe there would be a deeper meaning behind that title."

    William nodded before he spoke again. "The first de Moonasterio ruler was a king and not an emperor. As a royal child raised in ce of the real Crown Prince, you should know that much."

    She nodded. "I learned it from my History ss," she said. "The empire started as a small kingdom."

    "That''s correct," he said. "It wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that Nero Roseheart and the saint of that time helped the de Moonasterio build the empire that you have now. During Nero Roseheart''s time, Darkness was still the world''s enemy. But his divine energy, along with the de Moonasterio''s Moonglow, cleansed the whole continent together. During thest war before Darkness waspletely eliminated, Nero Roseheart and his White Lion sacrificed their lives for the empire. The title ''Lionheart'' was given to Nero Roseheart when he died, but it was erased from history. Thus, most people thought that the title solely belonged to the first Roseheart matriarch."

    Oh.

    "Ah, that''s why it was never mentioned in any history books," she said. [And I don''t remember hearing that even back in my first life.]

    "Even the fact that the first Roseheart matriarch was given the ''Lionheart'' title was erased from history."

    That was true.

    She didn''t know the Rosehearts were such a powerful existence in the empire. In her past life, she didn''t even know her mother was a Roseheart.

    "The nobles running the empire in the past didn''t want the people to know that the first Holy Knight was a male Roseheart¨C who was also an Elemental Guardian owner," William continued with his story. "The more the de Moonasterios gained power, the more they erased the Rosehearts in history. Of course, there was a reason why your ancestors of that time were adamant on doing that to the Rosehearts."

    She clenched her hands tight. "Was it because the de Moonasterios of that time were already targeting the male Rosehearts to turn them into Soul Beasts?"

    "I''m d you''re quick to catch on," the Grand Spirit said. "Anyway, the point is the first Holy Knight was a male Roseheart who also owned the White Lion. But I doubt if the current Holy Knights knew that."

    "They don''t know that the first Holy Knight was a Roseheart?"

    He shook his head. "They don''t. All they know is the first Holy Knight owned the holy White Lion?"

    "Why is it holy?"

    "Because the White Lion was the Elemental Guardian that Yule owned when he descended on the human world during the Ancient Period," William exined. "That''s the reason why the de Moonasterio''s family crest is a white lion. Even the emperor''s Order was named after it." He clicked his tongue. "Don''t you know that?"

    She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Wait, I think I remember that from my History ss," she said. "I was just confused for a moment because I never imagined that the Elemental Guardian White Lion we were talking about was the same White Lion as my family''s crest."

    "I can see why you''d be confused, since it was never mentioned in history that the second owner of the White Lion was a male Roseheart."

    "Second owner?" she asked curiously. "So, after Lord Yule, Nero Roseheart was the next owner of the White Lion? But Nero Roseheart didn''t live in the same era as when Lord Yule descended, right?"

    "That''s a testament to how picky the White Lion is when ites to choosing an owner," the Grand Spirit said. "In fact, after Nero Roseheart died, the White Lion was never summoned again. Many have tried, but they all failed."

    "Oh."

    Wow, she felt like her brain wasgging.

    She knew what William was trying to say, but her mind was kind of nking out so all she could say was ''oh.''

    [Gosh, why am I beingme?]

    She shouldn''t be feeling this way after she consumed energy potions. Paige Avery, her capable Mage and "daughter," couldn''t have made a potion that wouldn''t work. So why was she feeling more slugging and drowsy as time passed by?

    William looked at her disapprovingly, then he clicked his tongue. "You''re tired, Neoma de Moonasterio," he said. "You may refill your Mana with supplements like energy potions, but that doesn''t mean you''ll regain your strength. A powerful soul like yours needs a healthy body. You''re still a child physically, so you must not neglect your health."

    "Aww, Uncle Scumbag," she said yfully. "Are you worried about me?"

    "I can''t work with a corpse, can I?"

    She rolled her eyes at him. "So, what kind of miracle do we need to create in order to gain the favor of the Holy Knights?"

    "I will lend you my Rose."

    "You mean the rose stuck in your heart?"

    "Yes," he said. "Male Rosehearts have midnight blue Roses, while female Rosehearts have coral pink Roses in their hearts. The memories lingering in this graveyard can only be activated by a male Roseheart."

    "Why only a male Roseheart?"

    "Because in the past, women weren''t allowed to step foot in the temple," he exined. "Nero Roseheart was a decent man, but he had to respect the temple''s rules."

    "Okay, `gotcha."

    "The Holy Knights, no matter which generation, are obsessed with the first knight and the White Lion even though they don''t know the real identity of the First Holy Knight," the Grand Spirit said. "We will use that to our advantage."

    "By letting them know that the first Holy Knight was a Roseheart, and Nero, the real Crown Prince, was named after him?"

    "Yes, exactly that," he said. "Moreover, the memories that Nero Roseheart left in this ce were memories of his time with the White Lion. Like I said earlier, the Holy Knights adore the White Lion because it''s the Elemental Guardian that Lord Yule owned in the past."

    "Will something like that work?"

    "Yule''s fanatics are emotional people," the Grand Spirit said. "They''re gullible when ites to anything that may bring them closer to their god."

    She couldn''t rte because she wasn''t a religious person.

    "Don''t give me the look that says you don''t get it," he said while frowning at her. "Imagine if I tell you I''d show you the ten most beautiful people in the whole world. What would you feel?"

    All the drowsiness and exhaustion that she felt earlier instantly disappeared.

    "I''ll worship you if you do that, Uncle Scumbag," she said energetically. "But I guess there will only be nine faces to admire. After all, I''m pretty sure I''m in the top ten of the most beautiful people in the world."

    The Grand Spirit just gave her a dire stare. "Now you get it?"

    She gave him a thumbs up. "Totally."

    "Good. Now let''s proceed," the Grand Spirit said, then he put a hand over his chest. "I''ll pluck my Rose."

    "Okay," she said. "What should I do?"

    "Are you good at acting?"

    She smirked at that question. "You''re talking to a former child actress turned vlogger-sh-mukbanger here, Uncle Scumbag."

    "You just had to answer with ''yes'' or ''no.''"

    "I''m unapologetically ''extra'' like that, so deal with it."

    "Whatever. Now keep your mouth shut, Neoma de Moonasterio," William said coldly. "And try not to faint since you look like you''re about to pass out anytime."

    "As if," Neoma said haughtily. "Only an idiot would faint after drinking energy potions."

    It was at this moment she knew she fucked up.

    <strong>***</strong>

    "SIR HENRIK, call over the Head Priest and everyone who could move at the moment," Dave Wellington said to Henrik Benedict, the captain of the Holy Knights. "We will hold an emergency meeting."

    After his talk with Paige Avery, he immediately headed to Henrik Benedict''s personal training room.

    He was d that the captain was there because that room was safe for them to talk in private. It was soundproof, and only people with permission had ess on that floor. In that way, he could be assured that the "Crown Prince''s" people wouldn''t eavesdrop.

    "The Head Priest and the others have already recovered, so it''s possible to call them over, Your Eminence," Henrik Benedict said. "But may I know what the meeting would be about?"

    "I''m going to file a formalint against the empire," he said sternly. "I won''t let the Crown Prince do whatever he wants."

    The captain knitted his eyebrows. "But Your Eminence, His Royal Highness saved us¡­"

    He scoffed. "Don''t you find it strange that we were attacked by Darkness as soon as His Royal Highness arrived?"

    "Your Eminence, please watch your words," the captain said worriedly. "Even though Valmento is an independent state from the empire, sphemy against the Royal Family is still¨C"

    "Forget it," he cut the captain off. "The Holy Knights'' duty is to protect me and the temple. Even though the de Moonasterios are the descendants of Lord Yule, they aren''t the Moon God themselves. We worship Lord Yule¨C not the Royal Family."

    Being the obedient captain that he was, Henrik Benedict kept his mouth shut even though his eyes didn''t look pleased.

    [What a good dog.]

    "Just do as I say, Henrik," Dave Wellington said, then he put a hand on the captain''s shoulder. "This is for Astello Temple."

    <strong>***</strong>

    HENRIK BENEDICT was lost in thoughts while guiding High Priest Wellington, along with the other high-ranking priests in the temple, to the meeting hall.

    Since they didn''t want to get the attention of Prince Nero''s people, he didn''t bring the other Holy Knights with him. It was what the High Priest wanted, anyway. Thankfully, the meeting hall was in a separate building from the one that the Crown Prince was using. To be precise, it was in a secluded area.

    That area was also where the previous house of the First Holy Knight, called ''The Sacred Garden,'' was located¡­

    [Wait.]

    He stopped walking when he noticed a bright light that burst on the rooftop of The Sacred Garden. A sense of protectiveness washed over his chest as he clenched his fists tight.

    [Who dares to intrude the resting ce of the first Holy Knight?!]

    "Your Eminence, I apologize, but I need to go," Henrik Benedict said politely without even turning to the priests behind him. "I must check on The Sacred Garden first!"

    "Henrik, stop," High Priest Wellington said. "I didn''t allow you to leave!"

    He ignored the High Priest as he ran as fast as he could towards The Sacred Garden.

    And he wasn''t the only one headed in that direction.

    Halfway to the dome-shaped building, he met his fellow Holy Knights who also rushed to The Sacred Garden.

    He couldn''t say that he was surprised. After all, for every Holy Knight, the resting ce of their Founder was special to them. They didn''t need to talk¨C just the look on everyone''s face told him that all of them were there to protect the sacred ce.

    [I hope nothing bad happens¡­]

    When Henrik and the rest of the Holy Knights arrived at the rooftop, they were greeted by the Crown Prince.

    And Prince Nero wasn''t alone.

    A powerful Spirit with a strange divine energy was standing next to him.

    He and his fellow knights unconsciously reached out for their swords. It wasn''t their intention to do that in the presence of the Crown Prince. But the aura of the Spirit was hostile.

    "Gentlemen, please put your hearts at ease," Prince Nero said gently, his smile and tone soothing. "Lord William isn''t a dangerous Spirit. In fact, you could say that he''s rted to me. After all, he is a Roseheart."

    Ah, right.

    The Crown Prince''s mother was thete Lady Mona Roseheart.

    "I apologize for our behavior, Your Royal Highness," Henrik said politely, then he dropped his arm to his side. He signaled his men to do the same. "And I don''t want to sound rude, but this ce is a restricted area. May I know why Your Royal Highness is here? We saw a strange light on our way here¡­"

    "Ah, to be honest, I also didn''t know how I got here," the Crown Prince said in a mellow voice. "But earlier, I heard a voice softly calling for me. When I came to my senses, I''m already here."

    The Crown Prince turned to the Spirit who remained frowning while standing like a statue.

    [A handsome statue, at that.]

    "Lord William here was also summoned by the same voice I heard," Prince Nero continued, then he turned to him. "It seems like the first Holy Knight, your Founder, summoned us."

    He knitted his eyebrows in confusion and curiosity. "But why would the Founder of the Holy Knights summon Your Royal Highness?"

    Prince Nero smiled sadly, then he opened his mouth to speak.

    But then, the Crown Prince suddenly fainted.

    Henrik''s eyes widened from worry. "Your Royal Highness!"

    <strong>***</strong>

    [ONLY idiots would faint after taking in energy potions, huh?]

    That was probably the b*llshit of the century.

    William wanted to flick his fingers on Neoma de Moonasterio''s forehead, but he still had a job to do. "Stop," he warned the Holy Knights from approaching the royal princess who was now unconscious on the floor. "The Crown Prince is fine."

    The Holy Knights were surprised that they could understand him.

    After all, humans knew that they weren''t capable of hearing and understanding Spirits. But he was a special Spirit, so that rule didn''t apply to him.

    "But the Crown Prince fainted," the Holy Knight, who seemed to be the captain, said. "Shouldn''t we at least call a Healer?"

    Hmm.

    The n he had made with Neoma de Moonasterio earlier was now messed up since she fainted. And thus, he must adapt and adjust to the situation.

    "The Crown Prince didn''t faint because he was sick," he lied bluntly. After all, the key to lying was confidence. "The Crown Prince is currently in the middle of receiving a holy message from Nero Roseheart¨C the Founder of the Holy Knights whom he was named after."

    He heard a collective gasp from the Holy Knights.

    "The First Holy Knight, the Founder of our troop, was a Roseheart?" the captain asked, shocked. Then he turned to the unconscious "Crown Prince" on the floor. "And our Prince Nero was named after the First Holy Knight?"

    "Yes," William lied with a straight face again, then he snapped his fingers. "And I, under the order of Prince Nero, will now show you the memories of the first Holy Knight that we found in this sacred garden."

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 404 - TRUTH BE TOLD

    Chapter 404 ¨C TRUTH BE TOLD

    ["BUT UNCLE Scumbag, the captain of the Holy Knights can detect lies."]

    ["Don''t worry, Neoma de Moonasterio. It won''t work once I pluck out my Rose."]

    ["Why? Does your Rose has an amazing ability?"]

    ["You really don''t know anything about your Roseheart Blood, do you?"]

    ["Mama Boss wasn''t here to raise me as a Roseheart, duh. Mochi guides me from time to time, but she''s not a Roseheart so her knowledge is limited. And you, Uncle Scumbag, who should be guiding me in ce of my mother, curse at me every chance you get instead of educating me."]

    ["Whatever. Do you know why you''re domineering?"]

    ["I prefer to be called ''charismatic'' instead of ''domineering,'' thank you very much."]

    ["Charismastic or dominant, same difference. The point is Rosehearts are born leaders because of the ''Tyrannical Aura'' that we possess. People are naturally drawn to us because of our aura even if we don''t do anything. But if we use it on purpose, then we can easily manipte people. Which means even if we lie in front of a person that can detect lies, we won''t get caught if we use our Tyrannical Aura on him."]

    ["How do I use my Alluring Aura on purpose?"]

    ["Did you just change the name of our ability that has been passed down from generation to generation to something that suits your taste?"]

    ["Don'' sweat the details, Uncle Scumbag."]

    ["I can''t believe you¨C our ancestors are probably crying in the Afterlife."]

    ["I''ll just apologize to them once we meet in the Afterlife. So, how do I activate my Alluring Aura?"]

    ["It won''t be too hard since you''ve been talking with confidence from the start."]

    ["So, the key is confidence?"]

    ["Confidence and malice. If you''re going to lie, lie like you mean it. You have to have the intention to deceive and manipte the person you''re speaking to."]

    ["In short, I have to have ill-intentions?"]

    ["Precisely."]

    ["Uncle Scumbag, do you think the crows have a simr ability? After all, a crow managed to infiltrate the temple and pretend to be a Holy Knight despite the captain''s ability to detect lies."]

    ["That, or maybe the captain''s ability to detect lies is useless against people stronger than him."]

    ["Ah, `gotcha."]

    ["Now, stop talking nonsense, and let''s start scheming."]

    ["I like the sound of ''scheming,'' Uncle Scumbag. Kekeke~"]

    William frowned after remembering his conversation with Neoma de Moonasterio earlier. The little princess worried whether they could deceive the captain of the Holy Knights.

    But everything was going smoothly.

    [These Holy Knights are really gullible.]

    As of the moment, the Holy Knights, led by their emotional captain, were kneeling on the ground with their hands sped together as if they were praying. Each Holy Knight had a blindfold made of his Mana.

    Right now, the Holy Knights were watching the memories left by Nero Roseheart and the White Lion in that ce. The Holy Knights wouldn''t see and hear anything else until the "memory yback" stopped.

    [And here we have the idiot who fainted after consuming energy potions.]

    He squatted down beside the sleeping Neoma de Moonasterio on the ground. Yes, the arrogant princess was simply sleeping. And she was snoring loudly.

    [Thank goodness the Holy Knights aren''t seeing and hearing this.]

    Neoma de Moonasterio was still acting as the Crown Prince. Although snoring was something natural, it still wouldn''t have been proper for a royal like her to be snoring in the presence of her subjects.

    "This is what happens when you push yourself too hard when your current physical body isn''t even ten years old," William said, then he put his index finger on Neoma de Moonasterio''s forehead. "It doesn''t matter even if you drown yourself in energy potions when your body is in a bad condition. You de Moonasterios really overestimate your stamina."

    He used his ability ''Switch'' on him and Neoma de Moonasterio.

    It wasn''t enough topletely relieve the heavy toll on the young princess''s body, but her physical body should be in better condition now.

    Of course, that meant that all of Neoma de Moonasterio''s fatigue was transferred to him.

    He was surprised at the heaviness his body felt after that.

    [Wow. All this fatigue from a child whose age is still a single digit? No wonder she still fainted despite consuming energy potions.]

    He could already hear Neoma de Moonasterio teasing him for being concerned about her.

    But it wasn''t like he had a change of heart overnight.

    ["Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio¨C that child is destined to be the next Aether."]

    It was Lady Irina, the Cosmic Tree, who said those words to him.

    When he heard that, despite his hatred for the de Moonasterios, he still thought Neoma de Moonasterio was pitiful. After all, being chosen as the next Aether was like a death sentence. No matter how powerful an individual was, even if they were Yule''s descendant, how could they fight against the gods in the Upper World?

    [Yule can''t protect Neoma de Moonasterio from his fellow gods.]

    That meant Neoma de Moonasterio''s early death was inevitable.

    After realizing that, he decided to stop being hostile to the young and pitiful princess.

    "You''ll die early even if I don''t do anything, so I will just sit back and wait for the inevitable to happen," William whispered as he pulled his hand away from Neoma de Moonasterio''s face. "But don''t worry¨C this time, I''ll help you be more powerful in order for you to help me save Mona in the future."

    <strong>***</strong>

    [ARGH.]

    William wanted to roll his eyes while watching the Holy Knights cry silently after watching the memories of the First Holy Knight.

    Those punks wouldn''t shut up at how brave Nero Roseheart and the White Lion were.

    "I can''t believe they erased the First Holy Knight''s identity from history just because the nobles of the empire have a personal grudge against the Rosehearts," the captain said in an emotional voice. "And the Rosehearts kept it a secret all this time. Why did you do that?"

    Again, he wanted to roll his eyes.

    But he had to gain this fool''s favor in order to form a contract with Neoma de Moonasterio.

    "The Rosehearts don''t crave for fame and recognition," William said in a solemn voice. "That''s why even though Prince Nero found out that the First Holy Knight was the ancestor he was named after, he kept quiet. His Royal Highness just wanted the temple to be safe and protected in order to honor his ancestor."

    The gullible Holy Knights looked touched by his bullshit.

    [Now, to bait them even more¡­]

    "Thus, even though Prince Nero received a message from Nero Roseheart, I don''t think he''d share it with you," he lied with a straight face and firm voice. Then he gently patted Neoma de Moonasterio''s head and acted like he was concerned about her. "After all, he doesn''t want to meddle with the temple''s affairs."

    "Whatever do you mean by that, Lord William?" the captain asked worriedly.

    He raised his head and met the captain''s curious gaze. "Truth be told, I also heard the message that Prince Nero received from the First Holy Knight."

    "My lord, may we know what message did Prince Nero receive from the First Holy Knight?" the captain asked carefully. "I know it''s tacky to do that while His Royal Highness is unconscious. But I thought that if it has something to do with the temple, then we, the Holy Knights, also deserve to know the truth."

    "I understand where you''reing from, and I agree with your thoughts," he said. He agreed a little too easily because he wanted to get it over and done with. "But I will understand if you side with the temple."

    The captain and the rest of Holy Knights looked nervous now.

    "You know that the Rosehearts could still live as a Spirit even after their death, right? Just like me," he began carefully. "That''s the same case with the First Holy Knight."

    That wasplete bullshit.

    Not every Roseheart could live as a Spirit after death. He was only able to live as a Grand Spirit because he almost because a Soul Beast in the past. The de Moonasterios tampered with his soul, thus he remained in that form after his physical body died.

    [Living Rosehearts could live in their Spirit form as long as their physical body is alive, though.]

    "The First Holy Knight knew what happened to the temple recently, and he was concerned. Thus, he reached out to Prince Nero in order to ry his message to his sessors. And those sessors are you¨C the current Holy Knights of this generation," William said, purposely appealing to the Holy Knights'' emotions. "Nero Roseheart believes the temple needs to change its current leader, and he wanted our Prince Nero to choose the right person to rece the High Priest."

    <strong>***</strong>

    "NAME your candidate to rece the current High Priest."

    Neoma woke up to William bossing her around.

    [Did I fucking faint?]

    "Yeah, you''re the idiot who fainted even after consuming energy potions," William, who was standing in front of the bed with his arms crossed over his chest, said. "For the record, you were asleep for three days."

    "What?!" Neoma said, shocked. She immediately got up but when William snapped his fingers, she felt a powerful force push her down until she was sitting on the bed again. "Excuse me?"

    "Don''t worry too much. Your so-called "children" took care of most of the work."

    "What happened while I was unconscious?"

    "A lot," the Grand Spirit said. "First, the current High Priest filed aint against the empire for meddling with the temple''s affairs. They also implied that you caused the Darkness that almost swallowed them up in order to overthrow the High Priest."

    She knitted her eyebrows. "Really?"

    "But Jasper Hawthorne and Paige Avery countered it by revealing the deals that the High Priest made with questionable individuals. Apparently, the High Priest sold the stolen weapons they hid in exchange for Holy Relics."

    She was relieved to hear that. "I''m d that I can rely on Jasper oppa and Paige."

    "Lewis is on detention, though."

    "Why?!"

    "The High Priest and his cohorts tried to enter your room while Paige Avery was changing your clothes in order for you to sleepfortably," the Grand Spirit said. "Of course, your "son" didn''t let it happen. But he went a little crazy and destroyed the High Priest''s praying room."

    She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Lewis¡­"

    "Jasper Hawthorne thought Lewis went overboard, so he suggested that Lewis be detained in the meantime."

    "Jasper oppa did the right thing as the duke of the empire," she said. "Even though it pains me to know that my son is imprisoned, we still have to act ordingly. After all, the High Priest is the current leader of Astello Temple."

    The Grand Spirit nodded. "Although Lewis is imprisoned, it''s just for show. He''s being treated properly."

    "That''s a relief to know."

    "The captain of the Holy Knights made sure Lewis would be treated well."

    She raised an eyebrow. "Did everything go well even though I fainted?"

    "Of course," he said arrogantly. "I adapt and improvise well."

    "Are the Holy Knights on our side now?"

    "Yeah," William said confidently. "I told them Nero Roseheart, the First Holy Knight, reached out to you in order to make things right in the temple. And that will happen once the candidate you choose reces the current leader of the temple."

    She groaned inint. "Is that why you asked me to name a candidate earlier?"

    "The Holy Knights will support you," the Grand Spirit said. "And there are other high-ranking priests already siding with you after the High Priest''s corruption was exposed."

    "That''s good, but I can''t just name a candidate, Uncle Scumbag."

    "I already told you, didn''t I?" he asked in an impatient tone. "The perfect candidate is already in your hands."

    "Who?"

    "The Pdin with weird eyes."

    "Dion Skelton?"

    "Whatever his name is," he said. "That guy is a fallen angel, but he didn''tmit any crime aside from running away."

    "But the word ''fallen'' has a negative connotation," she said. "Won''t it be a problem?"

    "Fallen angels whose wings remain white are considered angels that Yule let go for a reason," he exined. "The fallen angels whomitted a sin have ck wings."

    "I can''t ask Dion to lead the temple," she said while shaking her head. "He ran away from wherever he came from because he didn''t want to be a person like the saint or the Moon Priest. He just wanted to live as a normal human."

    The Grand Spirit let out a sigh. "Neoma de Moonasterio, do you think Yule turned a blind eye to Dion Skelton''s escape just because of pity? Yule is a god, and gods don''t do charities. He probably let that boy go because he knew this day woulde."

    "But I don''t care whether Lord Yule intends for Dion to be the temporary leader of the temple until the new saint arrives," she said firmly. "Dion is his own person, and he has the right to live his life the way he wants to. I won''t force him to do anything that he doesn''t want to do."

    "I''ll do it, Princess Neoma."

    She gasped when Dion suddenly appeared behind William.

    "I apologize for startling Your Royal Highness," Dion said, then he stepped forward and bowed to her. "It was William''s idea to hide me while you talk."

    She gave William a confused look. "What for?"

    "Because I know you''d refuse to ask one of your people to do your bidding. I know fallen angels escape their home because they don''t want to be connected to the temple, so I figured the Pdin here had the same reason for running away," the Grand Spirit said. "Knowing you, I just figured you wouldn''t force that kind of person to be the next leader of the temple. So, I asked him to listen to your reasoning and then decide for himself."

    She let out a sigh, then she turned to Dion. "You don''t need to feel pressured, Dion."

    "The prophecy says the next saint will arrive in a few years," Dion said politely. "If it''s only temporary, then I''ll do it. I''ll protect the temple until the new saint arrives."

    "Are you sure?"

    "Yes, Your Royal Highness."

    "Again, are you sure?"

    "Yes, Your Royal Highness."

    "For thest time, are you sure?"

    Dion let out a small smile. "Thank you for being concerned, but please don''t worry too much about me, Princess Neoma," he said, then he bowed to her. "I want to do this because I want to help Your Royal Highness seed."

    "You heard the boy," William said, then he gave her a dire stare. "Just respect his decision, Neoma de Moonasterio."

    Neoma sighed, then she stood up. "Alright, let''s rock and roll."

    <strong>***</strong>

    SPECIAL EVENT because theck ofments makes me sad. Haha!

    If my notification blows up because ofments, I will upload 3 chapters tomorrow. I hope you don''t think I''m being mean. I appreciate silent readers, but sometimes I feel disheartened. Hehe! So I hope you leavements (if it''s not too much to ask) from time to time~

    Benefits of leavingments:

    1. Happy author, happy ending! Haha jk. But it will definitely motivate me to post more chapters. Hehe.

    2. I think there''s a ranking for the number ofments a story receives? Morements = higher in rank. And a high rank will give my story more exposure~

    That''s all. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

    <strong>***</strong>

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 405 - THATS A WRAP

    Chapter 405 ¨C THAT¡¯S A WRAP

    NEOMA became a (beautiful) tree.

    She turned Delwyn into her fake/temporary Soul Beast, and bombed Hazelden Kingdom.

    Then she met Dahlia and Nabi¨C the two women she wronged in the past and in the present, respectively.

    And now¡­

    "Open the doors," Captain Henrik Benedict said in amanding voice. "His Royal Highness Prince Nero has arrived!"

    Two of the Holy Knights opened the doors to the temple''s Council Room.

    To be honest, the sight inside the Council Room was impressive.

    High Priest Wellington and over a hundred of priests wearing white robes gathered inside. All eyes were on her, and everyone was obviously judging the "Crown Prince" from head to toe.

    [Lezzgo.]

    She wasn''t scared because she wasn''t alone.

    Lewis (now free) was standing behind her, on her right side. Jasper Hawthorne, the empire''s youngest duke, was standing on her left side.

    Dion Skelton and Paige Avery were behind Lewis and Jasper oppa.

    The royal knights that her Papa Boss sent from the empire were at the further back. And the royal knights were joined by some of the Red Butterfly Knights¨C Jasper oppa''s private army.

    "I understand that I''ve made a mistake. My love for the gods and the relics they''ve left in the world has made me greedy. I will pay the price for my mistakes, but I believe removing me from my position is too much," High Priest Wellington, who was standing on the podium, said after the greetings and formalities were finished. "I also can''t help but wonder if the Lesser Moon, His Royal Highness Prince Nero, has an ulterior motive. Am I the only one who finds it strange that the unbreakable barrier of Astello Temple was infiltrated by Darkness the moment the Crown Prince arrived? Is it really just a co-incidence?"

    Neoma, who was sitting on an elevated seat on the podium, right beside where the High Priest was, let out a sigh.

    This situation was funny, but she couldn''tugh or smirk.

    If she didn''t see Henrik Benedict''s disappointed face, she would have replied sarcastically to the High Priest. But she felt bad for the captain of the Holy Knights.

    [Sir Benedict is looking at His Eminence like his own father betrayed him.]

    She couldn''t make fun of the High Priest after seeing the look on Henrik Benedict''s face. It must have taken a lot of courage for the captain to take her side instead of the person he probably trusted the most before all of this.

    "Your Eminence, let me correct you first," Neoma said in a somber yet polite voice. "You didn''t make a mistake¨C youmitted a crime. You know what you were doing when you traded the stolen weapons for some Holy Relics."

    The High Priest flinched and was about to open his mouth when she interrupted him.

    "Duke Hawthorne''s investigation shows that the temple was infiltrated by a strange fellow after the saint disappeared," she said.

    She couldn''t say that the "strange fellow" was a crow executive because the empire didn''t know about the existence of the royal princess, save for the select few who knew her royal secret. People knew the crows only existed if a royal princess was born, so they covered up the fact that the fake Holy Knight was a crow.

    "But for months, you didn''t notice that the newly recruited young Holy Knight in your troop was actually a follower of Darkness," she continued. "He left the bodies of dead Dark Elves in the well that serves as the source of your drinking water. Thus, to say I caused the attack is a bit of a stretch. Don''t you think so?"

    The High Priest red at her.

    "But pointing fingers at each other is pointless," she said. "We must focus on the current situation."

    High Priest Wellington gave her a look full of resentment. "Your Royal Highness, are you that adamant to remove me from my position and ce one of your people as the next leader of Astello Temple?"

    "If it was only me, I wouldn''t dare meddle with the affairs of Astello Temple, since Valmento is an independent state," she said carefully. "But Your Eminence, it''s not me who wants to remove you from your position."

    "Then who might it be, Your Royal Highness?"

    "Do Your Eminence really have to ask?" she asked, pretending to be sad. "When you traded the stolen weapons for the other gods'' Holy Relics, as the follower of Lord Yule, who do you think have you betrayed?"

    Going by her logic, of course, the High Priest had betrayed Yule.

    When His Eminence realized he could no longer refute her words after she brought up Yule, he instantly turned pale.

    "Lord Yule, who is now in a deep slumber, has used the Spirit of the First Holy Knight as an instrument to send me another divine message," she lied with confidence. She was spouting bullshit, but her ''Alluring Aura'' was turning her into the best scammer on the continent at the moment. "The First Holy Knight revealed to me that when Lord Yule opened the gates of heavens to bring the former saint and the current Moon Priest to the human world, he also let one of his angels go in order to prepare this moment."

    A collective gasp was heard.

    And soon enough, the hall was filled with murmurs.

    "An angel?"

    "Did His Royal Highness just imply that a fallen angel hasnded on our continent?"

    "But an angel who fell on our world would be a fallen angel."

    "A fallen angel is still an angel, and if they kept their white wings, then it means Lord Yule still favors them."

    "If it''s a fallen angel who was chosen by Lord Yule to lead the temple before the new saint arrives, then they have all the rights to seize the position."

    Neoma was relieved to hear that most of the high-ranking priests gathered there were open to epting her candidate.

    But of course, there were some who expressed their displeasure about her meddling.

    [I bet they will get even more mad once they find out that the fallen angel I''m talking about is actually one of the emperor''s Pdins.]

    It would create a conflict of interest, but the solution was easy.

    "Everyone, let me introduce you to the fallen angel that the First Holy Knight and Lord Yule have chosen to lead the Astello Temple until the new saint arrives," Neoma dered, then she stood up and pointed both of her hands to Dion Skelton who was standing beside her. "This is Sir Dion Skelton, the fallen angel."

    Another collective gasp was heard in the hall, and even High Priest Wellington looked shocked by her revtion.

    Of course, it was followed by murmurs again.

    "Isn''t Sir Skelton one of His Majesty''s Pdins?"

    "His Majesty made a fallen angel his personal knight?"

    "Why didn''t His Majesty inform the temple about the existence of a fallen angel?"

    Neoma was about to open her mouth and make an excuse for her Papa Boss when someone else beat her to it.

    "It was me who asked His Majesty to hide my identity in order to experience having a normal human life," Dion Skelton said in his usual calm yet slightly cold voice, rendering everyone in the hall silent. "I was told by Lord Yule to keep my identity hidden from the world until the right timees."

    Her jaw almost dropped from shock while listening to Dion''s lie.

    Of course, she was the only one who knew that the Pdin was lying. And she had an ominous feeling it was William who told Dion to tell that lie.

    [Oh my god, I''m such a bad influence¡­]

    "I believe this is the right time for me to reveal my identity to the world," Dion continued, then he closed his eyes. When he opened his eyes again, his real eyes¨C the ones that looked like they contained the universe in them¨C shocked and impressed the audience. "From this day until the new saint arrives, I''ll serve and protect the temple."

    Then the Pdin moved his shoulders.

    His white wings oozing with pure divine energy appeared on his back, once again shocking everyone in the hall.

    [Oh, he''s a legit angel.]

    "I am now announcing my retirement as His Majesty''s Pdin," Dion dered firmly. "I cannot serve two masters at the same time, after all."

    And yes, that was the solution to the conflict of interest.

    But another problem urred.

    She let out a sigh internally. [Dion, we should have informed Papa Boss about your resignation first.]

    Of course, she didn''t let her distress show.

    "Everyone, I shared the will of the First Holy Knight and Lord Yule with you, but I won''t impose on you to do as I say. I believe in the freedom of choice," Neoma dered. She didn''t want to appear like a tyrant who seized power from the High Priest, so she decided to do this. "Thus, everyone present here today must cast a vote."

    Say hello to democracy, people of Astello Temple.

    On the other side of the world, though, a certain first princess was exercising the opposite of democracy.

    <strong>***</strong>

    BRIGITTE didn''t have Glenn this time.

    Glenn left Hazelden Kingdom in order to personally inform His Majesty about their uing wedding. After all, marrying the emperor''s personal knight would be a littleplicated¨C especially since Hazelden Kingdom was no longer an ally to the empire.

    But she wasn''t alone.

    The Crown Prince left the Wisteria Ladies (including Juri, of course), Greko, and Jeanne Audley to assist her with anything she needed.

    Moreover¡­

    "Princess Brigitte has arrived," Nowell Elwood, her cousin and a count of the kingdom, said to the knights guarding the doors of the conference room. "Open the doors."

    Nowell Elwood wasn''t present during the chaos because her cousin was on a mission. The count collected all the evidence that the nobles in her "hit list" were really involved with her father and brother''s illegal businesses.

    Originally, she already fired Nowell Elwood as her assistant because of an argument that they had. Helping her, in this case, was her cousin''s way of apologizing to her. Thus, she epted him by her side again.

    Her thoughts were interrupted when the doors finally opened.

    When she stepped into the room, the guilty nobles all stood up and bowed their heads to greet her politely.

    Brigitte smiled, then she sat on the center chair of the long conference table.

    It was a seat usually reserved for her father or her brother. But this time, she was the only family member who had the right to sit on that.

    "I know you know why I summoned you all here," Brigitte said, then she turned to Nowell who quietly put a ck book on the table. Then she looked at the nobles around her one by one. "Everyone here is involved with the illegal businesses of my father, the king."

    The room turned cold.

    Literally.

    After all, it was the moment the ice wolf appeared beside her. The wolf was sittingzily on the floor, but its sitting height reached the armrest of her chair. It was that big.

    [And yes, Prince Nero lent me his Soul Beast before he left.]

    The ice wolf wasn''t alone.

    A glowing snowke the size of a baby''s head was floating above the ice wolf''s head. Apparently, it was the Snow Spirit that was causing the unending snowstorm in the kingdom.

    The nobles knew what exactly the Soul Beast and the Snow Spirit were.

    [They know they should fear these Spirits.]

    "If you want to save your pitiful lives, you only have to do one thing," Brigitte said coldly, her eyes glowing dangerously while she was gently patting the ice wolf''s head. Prince Nero told him to do that in front of the nobles. "Withdraw your support for my brother, and dere me as your choice to be the queen of Hazelden Kingdom."

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 406 - HOME, AT LAST

    Chapter 406 ¨C HOME, AT LAST

    "ARE YOU getting married?" Niki asked as soon as Glenn stepped foot into his office. When the knight''s face turned red, he let out a smirk. "My hunch is correct, huh?"

    Glenn stood in front of his desk and covered his face with his hands. "I proposed to Princess Brigitte, and she said ''yes,'' Your Majesty," he said cheerfully, although his ears had turned red from being shy. "I''m so happy I could die."

    "You can''t die yet," he said, then he dropped the bad news¨C the reason why he told Glenn to return to the empire immediately. "Your family will probably kill you, though."

    The knight removed his hands from his face and showed him a very irritated face. "Your Majesty, did my father reach out to you, by any chance?"

    "Duke Exton sent a letter asking if I''m marrying you off to a foreign princess."

    "Please ignore my father''s rubbish, Your Majesty."

    "Why would I ignore it?" he said, scoffing. "I sent a reply saying that yes, I''m going to marry you off to Hazelden''s first princess, and it''s none of his business. I also reminded your father that you''ve officially removed yourst name from House Exton''s family registry a long time ago."

    Glenn looked relieved. "Thank you, Your Majesty."

    He leaned back against his seat while looking at Glenn solemnly. "As an advance wedding gift, I''ll give you the ''Grand Duke'' title, Glenn."

    The knight tilted his head to one side. "I think I''ve misheard Your Majesty¡­"

    "You didn''t mishear it," he said firmly. "I''m making you a Grand Duke, idiot."

    "But it''s a title only given to the emperor''s rtive."

    "That''s why I''m also making you my sworn brother."

    Glenn looked shocked. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. Then he just looked at him like he couldn''t believe what he just heard.

    "The emperor''s sworn brother gets the same right as his blood rtives," he said to Glenn who looked like he was about to faint anytime. "We practically grew up together, Glenn. Everyone in the empire knows you''re the only friend I have."

    Glenn gasped softly, finally snapping out of his trance. "You called me a ''friend,'' Your Majesty."

    "Shut up," he said, trying to mask his embarrassment.

    The knight smiled at him as if he just saved his life. "Your Majesty, I can''t turn down your offer," he said, as if he was embarrassed. "Princess Brigitte is the first princess of Hazelden Kingdom. She''d be the next queen, too. On the other hand, I''m just a knight without a family name."

    He scoffed. "Why are you undermining yourself? You''re a war hero, Glenn. Moreover, you''re the vicemander of the White Lion Knights. And you''re the empire''s ''Mad Dog.''"

    "Thest one is a bit¡­"

    He waved his hand to dismiss Glenn''s worries. "Don''t overthink too much, Glenn," he said. "Even though I''m saying I''m going to make you a Grand Duke, I can''t give you a territory since you''re going to marry a foreign princess. The nobles will criticize me if I do that, and I don''t have time to deal with them now."

    "I understand, Your Majesty," the knight said, then he put a hand over his chest as if he was expressing his gratitude. "The fact that you''re nning to make me your sworn brother is already more than enough."

    "I can''t give you a territory as a Grand Duke, but I''ll give you the Golden Field."

    "The Golden Field?" Glenn asked, confused. "The field where Hisa Trees grow?"

    "That''s correct," he said. "Before Princess Brigitte returned to Hazelden Kingdom before, we made a deal. She offered to supply the weapons created by their kingdom to us exclusively. In exchange for that, I sent some of our top knights to their kingdom to teach Hazelden''s knights how to properly fight against Mana users. But you know how it ended."

    Despite Princess Brigitte''s efforts to strengthen her kingdom''s military power, her own father and brother messed that up.

    It was recently revealed that the king and Crown Prince of Hazelden Kingdom sold their weapons to the enemies of the empire. Those feels even attempted to assassinate the "Crown Prince" of the empire while pretending to be the victim.

    "To be honest, that was just supposed to be the beginning of our good rtionship with Hazelden Kingdom," he continued. "Princess Brigitte offered a secret deal with me, but it didn''t push through because of what happened recently. Still, the offer is too good that I can''t let it go to waste."

    "Your Majesty, is it about the "living weapons" that they couldn''t retrieve because of the harsh snowstorm in the kingdom''s restricted area?"

    "That''s correct," he confirmed. "Princess Brigitte, upon learning that the "Crown Prince" is a Roseheart that can talk to Spirits, asked for our help since the one causing the snowstorms is a Spirit. But I told Princess Brigitte that we''ll push through the second deal once the first one seeds. It wasn''t like I don''t trust her. The people I didn''t trust were the king and the Crown Prince of their kingdom."

    "I see," Glenn said while nodding his head. "Now that the king and the Crown Prince will be removed from their position soon, Your Majesty wants to make a deal directly with Princess Brigitte."

    "Princess Brigitte will be the queen of Hazelden Kingdom soon, so yes."

    Glenn smiled at him brightly. "Princess Brigitte will be an excellent queen, Your Majesty. You can trust her."

    He smirked at how happy Glenn looked. Of course, he was happy for his friend. "I''m sure you''ll be a good partner to the future queen of Hazelden," he said. "Paige Avery will create a device that will help the Hisa Trees produce Hisa Jewels using her Jeweled Heart. Once I give you the Golden Field, you''ll be in-charge of everything. That means you''ll also be working with the Wisterias and the Hammocks."

    "Can we still trust the Wisterias and the Hammocks, Your Majesty?"

    "They''re good at what they do, and we have the things we need to keep them in check," he said. "And I''m giving you the Golden Field because I know you can handle it. You''re crazy on the battlefield, but you have a good head on your shoulders."

    That was the reason why Glenn stayed by his side, just like Kyle Sprouse.

    "Thank you for the trust, Your Majesty," Glenn said while smiling bashfully. "I won''t disappoint you."

    He was about to say something when the door suddenly burst open.

    "I apologize for being rude, but I just received a shocking report from Princess Neoma, Your Majesty," Geoffrey Kinsley, who entered his office in a hurry while ignoring Glenn, said. "Dion just revealed to the people of Astello Church that he''s a fallen angel."

    To say he was surprised would be an understatement.

    Even Glenn looked shocked.

    "And it doesn''t end there, Your Majesty," Geoffrey Kinsley said, then he gulped. "Dion also announced his retirement as a Pdin in order to be the next leader of the temple."

    "The next leader of Astello Temple?" Glenn asked, shocked. "But just because Dion is a fallen angel doesn''t mean the Astello Temple would ept him. In the first ce, why would he need to be one?" He trailed off, then he snapped his fingers. "Ah, right. Princess Neoma must have done something."

    Niki pinched the bridge of his nose because he agreed with what Glenn said. "What did Neoma do this time?"

    "Princess Neoma imed Lord Yule and the First Holy Knight sent Her Royal Highness a divine message telling her to name the new leader of Astello Temple," Geoffrey Kinsley said. "Princess Neoma announced it during the council meeting of the priests led by His Eminence. Of course, the High Priest and some of his supporters got into an argument with Princess Neoma."

    He felt a big headacheing while listening to what his daughter had done without informing him first.

    [I thought the little rogue went back to Valmento just to check on the citizens¡­]

    He didn''t know his daughter was scamming people behind his back.

    [There''s no way Yule or the First Holy Knight would send her a divine message. Yule is in a deep slumber, and the Spirit of the First Holy Knight disappeared along with the White Lion.]

    "To stop the argument, Princess Neoma suggested settling the matter by voting," Geoffrey Kinsley said. "Princess Neoma won the election, so Dion is now the new leader of Astello Temple."

    Niki could only sigh and shake his head. "My daughter has be a scammer."

    <strong>***</strong>

    [I''M GONNA get scolded big time for sure.]

    Neoma was a little nervous when she stepped out of the portal.

    The Astello Temple had a portal connected to one of the prayer rooms in Yule Pce¨C her Papa Boss''s residence. She used the portal to head home because her father told her toe home right away.

    [Papa Boss is probably upset that I didn''t consult him first. Let''s me it on William.]

    She only brought Lewis with her.

    Dion needed to stay in the temple, and she asked Jasper Hawthorne and Paige Avery to stay with the new leader of the temple.

    [I can''t believe we pulled off that shit. Do I have a knack for scamming people?]

    "Wee back, Princess Neoma."

    Oh?

    She beamed when she was greeted by Duke Rufus Quinzel.

    Sir Glenn was also there.

    And of course, her Papa Boss.

    "Duke Quinzel, Sir Glenn, you''re both back," Neoma said brightly while walking fast towards the two. She missed the duke and Sir Glenn so much. "I''m d to see you again!"

    She was so excited that she didn''t watch her steps and tripped.

    [Fuck, so embarrassing.]

    Since she slept like a baby for three days, she noticed that her body remained sluggish. So she was pretty sure she''d fall face-down because of her slowed reflexes. But it didn''t happen.

    Her Papa Boss, Duke Quinzel, Sir Glenn, and even Lewis all ran to catch her.

    But of course, her Papa Boss was the fastest.

    The next thing she knew, she was already in her father''s embrace. It felt sofortable that she found herself automatically wrapping her arms around her Papa Boss''s neck.

    "Are you alright?" her Papa Boss asked worriedly while gently patting her back.

    Oh.

    [Before, he asked me first if I''m alright instead of scolding me for being careless¡­]

    She was touched.

    "I''m alright, Papa Boss," Neoma said shyly, then she buried her face in her Papa Boss''s neck because she didn''t want anyone to see her blushing. "Thank you for worrying about me."

    Her Papa Boss continued patting her back gently. "I''ll bring you to my room," he said as he walked towards the door. "You must be tired, so you should rest first before we talk."

    "Okay, Papa Boss," she said, then she closed her eyes.

    [Gosh, this is a little awkward.]

    She suddenly realized that in this life, she was truly loved.

    In her first life, Papa Boss was a scumbag who neglected her. But at least back then, she had Duke Rufus Quinzel who treated her well.

    During her second life, she had her appa who gave her the unconditional love of a father.

    And this time, she fixed her rtionship with her Papa Boss. She still had Duke Rufus Quinzel and Gavin Quinzel as her father figures. Sir Glenn, on the other hand, was the good uncle that treated her well back when her father was being a scumbag to her.

    She was truly blessed in this lifetime.

    But unlike her, there was a child who didn''t even have a father figure because she was stuck in a different dimension after her physical body was stolen from her.

    [And I even had the audacity to act selfish with that poor child.]

    Neoma should kneel in front of Nabi and beg for her forgiveness.

    <strong>***</strong>

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 Chapter 407

    Chapter 407: PAPA BOSS¡¯S LITTLE ROGUE FOREVER

    [WHY DOES it smell like flowers here?]

    Neoma pretty much remembered that after taking a long bath, she went to her Papa Boss¡¯s room to sleep. Her father¡¯s room smelled nice, but it didn¡¯t smell like flowers.

    [Ah, am I having another dream?]

    ¡°Unnie, are you awake?¡±

    [¡®Unnie?¡¯]

    She opened her eyes and got up immediately.

    Nabi, who was sitting beside her while holding a flower crown, smiled at her. ¡°I knew it- unnie is already awake.¡±

    .....

    She was back in the floating garden where Nabi brought her before.

    This time, the two of them were sitting under the shade of the treehouse. She was also sitting on a bed made of flowers.

    [Ah, so that¡¯s why the scent is strong.]

    ¡°I made a flower crown for unnie while I¡¯m waiting for you to wake up,¡± Nabi said excitedly. Then she pointed a finger at the flower crown on her head. ¡°It¡¯s the same as the one I¡¯m wearing because I want to wear a matching item with unnie.¡±

    Nabi¡¯s innocence melted her corrupted heart.

    [How could she still treat me this well when I acted like a bitch thest time we saw each other?]

    ¡°Unnie, are you alright?¡± Nabi asked worriedly. ¡°You look sad.¡±

    ¡°Nabi-ya,¡± Neoma said, calling Nabi affectionately. ¡°Why are you being nice to me? I¡¯ve treated you badly thest time we met. You should get angry at me.¡± She thumped her fist against her chest. ¡°This unnie is trash. I don¡¯t deserve your kindness.¡±

    ¡°Unnie isn¡¯t trash,¡± Nabi said gently, then she smiled and put the flower crown on her head. ¡°Unnie is selfish and greedy, though.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± she admitted. ¡°I¡¯ve hurt you because I¡¯m selfish and greedy.¡±

    Nabi giggled like the child that she was. ¡°Ruto oppa told me that I have to be patient with unnie because unnie doesn¡¯t know how to process her emotions properly,¡± she said. ¡°Ruto oppa said that unnie is a grown-up who¡¯s still a child inside.¡±

    ¡°I want to deny that, but he¡¯s not wrong so...¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, unnie,¡± Nabi said whileughing softly. ¡°Ruto oppa said that even though unnie is greedy and selfish, she¡¯s still a ¡°softie¡± inside. Unnie summoned me because you feel bad for what happenedst time, right?¡±

    She tilted her head to one side. ¡°I summoned you?¡±

    ¡°Yes, unnie,¡± Nabi said while nodding her head. ¡°Only unnie and Ruto oppa can enter my home, and you can do that by simply wishing to meet me.¡±

    Ah, that made sense.

    She was thinking about Nabi and how much she wanted to apologize to the child before she fell asleep.

    ¡°Nabi-ya.¡±

    ¡°Yes, unnie?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± she said sincerely, then she held Nabi¡¯s hands and squeezed them gently. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for being selfish and greedy.¡±

    Nabi smiled, but her eyes glistened. ¡°Unnie, I mean it when I say I want to return to Korea and be reunited with our eomma and appa. But that doesn¡¯t mean you won¡¯t be a part of our family anymore. You¡¯ll still be my unnie, and you¡¯ll still be our eomma and appa¡¯s ¡®agi.''¡±

    ¡®Agi¡¯ meant baby, an affectionate term that Korean parents used on their children.

    Remembering how her eomma and appa would call her ¡®agi¡¯ despite being an adult brought tears to her eyes.

    She was good at blocking memories she didn¡¯t want to remember. That was how she endured the past years without going crazy from missing her eomma and appa. But now, in Nabi¡¯s presence, she didn¡¯t want to pretend that she was fine.

    ¡°I know this is unfair to say in front of you, but I really miss our eomma and appa- and the life that I had in Korea,¡± she said in a cracked voice. ¡°To be honest, when I heard you say you wanted to return to Korea to be with our eomma and appa, I felt very envious of you. Because deep inside, I wanted to do the same. I wanted to run away from here and reim my life as an ordinary girl in Korea.¡±

    Nabi began to cry as if she could feel her pain, too. ¡°Unnie...¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t cry for me, Nabi-ya,¡± she said while wiping Nabi¡¯s tears with her hands. ¡°I¡¯m notpletely fine, but I¡¯m no longer miserable. I¡¯m loved in this lifetime, and I honestly don¡¯t feel stuck here anymore. I don¡¯t mind if I stay here forever, but I will do everything in my power to bring you and appa back to Korea.¡±

    It wouldn¡¯t be easy to send her appa back to Korea because her Papa Boss was adamant about punishing Gavin Quinzel.

    And she couldn¡¯t me her Papa Boss for that.

    [Still, at least for Nabi...]

    ¡°Unnie deserves to be happy, too,¡± Nabi said between sobs. ¡°I¡¯m thankful that unnie is going to send me back to Korea. But if unnie feels like you can¡¯t live as a de Moonasterio anymore, let¡¯s run away together.¡±

    Sheughed softly while still crying, so she hugged Nabi because she didn¡¯t want her dongsaeng (younger sibling) to see her ugly crying. ¡°Thank you, Nabi-ya,¡± she said sincerely. ¡°Please hang in there a little longer. This unnie will bring you home as soon as we settle the matters with our appa here.¡±

    ¡°I trust unnie, so I will behave like a good girl and won¡¯t cause any problem,¡± Nabi said, then she hugged her tight. ¡°Unnie, take care of yourself, too. I¡¯m always praying for unnie¡¯s happiness.¡±

    Neoma smiled and gently patted the back of Nabi¡¯s head. ¡°I¡¯ll visit you often, Nabi-ya.¡±

    ***

    ¡°WAKE UP, Neoma.¡±

    Neoma slowly opened her eyes, and she was greeted by the person who gave her the best genes in the world. ¡°Papa Boss...¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re crying,¡± her Papa Boss said while wiping her tears off with his thumb. ¡°Did you have a bad dream?¡±

    ¡°Papa Boss, I met Nabi.¡±

    ¡°And who is that?¡±

    ¡°Go Areum and Yoon Jung¡¯s daughter.¡±

    It seemed like her father recognized the names that she mentioned.

    [Of course, Papa Boss knows them since he already retrieved his memories when he and Mama Boss were nning their escape in the past.]

    ¡°I thought the baby died when Gavin Quinzel ced your soul in her physical body,¡± her father said carefully.

    She smiled and got up. ¡°Ruto brought Nabi¡¯s soul to the Cosmic Tree¡¯s garden.¡±

    Her father flicked her forehead lightly. ¡°Why do you look excited when talking about Ruston Stroganoff?¡±

    She clicked her tongue while rubbing her forehead with her hand. ¡°It¡¯s just your imagination, Papa Boss.¡±

    Her father let out a sigh. ¡°Exin everything to me without mentioning Ruston Stroganoff. My blood pressure goes up when I hear you talk about that boy.¡±

    She pouted. ¡°But you used to be Ruto this, Ruto that before, Papa Boss. You¡¯re so fond of him that you¡¯re so adamant about making him the nextmander of the White Lion Knights even though he¡¯s clearly not interested.¡±

    ¡°That and your infatuation with Ruston Stroganoff are two different matters.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not infatuated with him- it¡¯s the other way around, Papa Boss.¡±

    ¡°That only makes it worse,¡± her Papa Boss said sternly. ¡°And I only like Ruston Stroganoff because he has an Elemental Guardian.¡±

    She flinched when she remembered something. ¡°Then, do you like the ck Witch, too?¡±

    ¡°Dahlia Leticia?¡± her father asked. ¡°I¡¯ve heard from the Fletcher Twins that Dahlia Leticia insisted on meeting you back in Hazelden. Did the ck Witch show her Elemental Guardian to you?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the first time that I saw Dahlia¡¯s Elemental Guardian,¡± she said. ¡°But that wasn¡¯t our first meeting.¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± her father said. ¡°You¡¯ve met her in your first life?¡±

    ¡°She was the ck Witch that I asked to create the forbidden spell that would tie my life force with Nero in my first life, Papa Boss.¡±

    Her father didn¡¯t look surprised because he had already heard about that from her. But he looked sad, as if he was hating his version in her first life. She could see the regret and bitterness in her Papa Boss¡¯s eyes.

    [Aww...]

    ¡°Papa Boss, Dahlia was Nero¡¯s lover in my first life.¡±

    Her Papa Boss looked surprised. ¡°Nero... and a ck Witch?¡± He paled, paler than he already was. ¡°The me in your first life probably opposed their rtionship.¡±

    ¡°You did, Papa Boss,¡± she said. ¡°But Papa Boss, if Nero and Dahlia fell in love with each other again in this lifetime, would you oppose their rtionship again?¡±

    ¡°No, I won¡¯t,¡± her Papa Boss said without missing a heartbeat. ¡°This time, I will prioritize my children¡¯s happiness.¡±

    [Aww, my Papa Boss is human now.]

    She smiled at her father¡¯s response. ¡°So, about Ruto-¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll talk about your potential suitors once you¡¯re thirty years old.¡±

    Her eyes widened in shock. ¡°Papa Boss, the legal age in our empire is eighteen-¡±

    ¡°Ah, I should change thatw before you be the empress,¡± her Papa Boss cut her off again. ¡°Better yet, I¡¯ll make aw that dictates a royal princess set to take the throne must only be allowed to ept suitors at age thirty. Then she must only be allowed to get married at age thirty-five. A five-year-long engagement should be a pre-requisite before marriage.¡±

    She groaned inint, then she red at her Papa Boss. ¡°That¡¯s riching from someone who was already a father when he was only a teen-¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll call your nanny and ask her to make your hot chocte,¡± her Papa Boss said, cutting her off once again to avoid the argument. Then he walked towards the door. ¡°Forget about Ruston Stroganoff for now, since we need to talk about more pressing matters at hand.¡±

    Neoma pouted, but she also nodded in agreement since they still had a lot of stuff to talk about. ¡°I want some cookies, too, Papa Boss.¡±

    ***

    .....

    IT WAS already morning when Neoma and her Papa Boss finished discussing the things rted to Hazelden Kingdom and Valmento.

    Both she and her Papa Boss probably had tea flowing through their veins now instead of blood. They had to drink tea to keep themselves awake. Her father encouraged her to sleep, though. But she insisted on staying up since her big brain wouldn¡¯t get a proper rest anyway unless they covered all the things they had to talk about.

    ¡°Scammer Trio,¡± her Papa Boss, who was sitting on the sofa across from her, said while pinching the bridge of his nose. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re going to make a contract with William and Delwyn.¡±

    Neoma, who was lying down on the sofa, yawned while stretching her arms. ¡°It¡¯s only a three-year contract, and the conditions are fair, so don¡¯t worry too much, Papa Boss.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I won¡¯t question your decision regarding that matter,¡± her father said. ¡°But about Dion...¡±

    ¡°I will find the new saint,¡± she assured her father. ¡°I know that Dion doesn¡¯t like to live as a divine figure for the temple. He will get his life back soon.

    ¡°That¡¯s good to hear.¡±

    She turned to her father. ¡°About the deal Princess Brigitte proposed to you in the past.¡±

    ¡°What about it?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s push through it,¡± she said. ¡°Delwyn is chummy with the Snow Spirit. If I be a middleman between the Snow Spirit and Princess Brigitte, I¡¯m sure we can safely retrieve their hidden ¡°living weapons.¡± All we have to do is convince the Snow Spirit to stop the harsh snowstorms in order to get to the restricted area where the ¡°living weapons¡± are hidden, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s correct,¡± her father said. ¡°Do you want to make a deal with Princess Brigitte in my ce?¡±

    She nodded. ¡°Can I, Papa Boss?¡±

    ¡°Of course, you can,¡± her father said. ¡°I¡¯ll entrust this job to you then.¡±

    She smiled at that. ¡°Papa Boss?¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°I want to reveal my real identity to Princess Brigitte.¡±

    This time, her father didn¡¯t respond right away. He looked like he was considering it. But his eyes still showed concern.

    ¡°I know that it¡¯s going to be a dangerous move, since the crows are already looking for me,¡± she said carefully. ¡°But that¡¯s exactly the reason why I want to reveal my real identity to the future queen of Hazelden Kingdom.¡±

    Understanding dawned on her father¡¯s face. ¡°You want to gain your own allies as Neoma de Moonasterio, and not as a fake Crown Prince?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Papa Boss,¡± she said firmly. ¡°It¡¯s not like I don¡¯t want Nero to take credit for my hard work. But I just thought it was about time for me to gain powerful allies that know my real identity. Because I know that the best way to support Nero is for me to be safe. I have a feeling that he will go batshit crazy if I get hurt.¡±

    ¡°Nero isn¡¯t the only one who will go insane if you get hurt, Neoma.¡±

    She knew that her Papa Boss was talking about himself, but she wanted to tease her father. ¡°I know, Papa Boss. Ruto will surely go insane, too-¡±

    ¡°Come to think of it, Ruston Stroganoff has dual citizenship since he¡¯s from the East Continent,¡± her father said, cutting her off again. ¡°I can change thew so that our empire could reject the entrance of people with dual citizenship-¡±

    ¡°Papa Boss, I¡¯ll take extra care of myself for you and Nero,¡± she said, while giving her father the best smile she could muster at the moment. ¡°Shall we have breakfast now? I¡¯m hungry.¡±

    Her Papa Boss looked at her solemnly. ¡°Don¡¯t eat Darkness again,¡± he scolded her lightly. ¡°We don¡¯t know why you turned into a tree that day, but I don¡¯t like it. The fact that you could change into a tree feels ominous, since the gods want to turn you into an Aether.¡±

    She turned serious, too. ¡°I¡¯ll do my best not to steal your Moonglow, Papa Boss.¡±

    Her father looked shocked by her announcement.

    ¡°Dahlia told me that I¡¯m stealing your Moonglow, Papa Boss,¡± she said. ¡°She told me when I asked her why my Moonglow seems to be overflowing, yet weak. Apparently, the Moonglow I steal from you is messing with my system.¡±

    ¡°Neoma-¡±

    ¡°If I steal all your Moonglow, are you going to die, Papa Boss?¡±

    Her father let out a deep sigh. ¡°It¡¯s a natural urrence among the de Moonasterios, Neoma,¡± he said softly. ¡°It¡¯s inevitable for the Lesser Moon to absorb their father¡¯s Moonglow in order to ascend the throne.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t like it,¡± she said stubbornly. ¡°I won¡¯t steal your Moonglow anymore, Papa Boss. I¡¯ll find a way to stop it.¡±

    Her Papa Boss smiled, then he stood up and ruffled her hair. ¡°You¡¯re good at breaking the rules, so I¡¯m looking forward to how you¡¯ll end another de Moonasterion tradition.¡±

    She smiled and nodded. ¡°Just trust me, Papa Boss.¡±

    Her father was about to say something, but he was interrupted when they heard a knock on the door.

    ¡°Come in,¡± her father said.

    She got up and sat properly when the door opened and Geoffrey Kinsley entered her father¡¯s room.

    ¡°Pardon my intrusion, Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness,¡± Geoffrey Kinsley said after greeting them politely. Then he turned to the emperor with a worried look on his face. ¡°We have an unexpected guest who wishes to see Her Royal Highness.¡±

    She turned to Geoffrey Kinsley. ¡°Me? Who is it?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Lady Yngrid, Your Royal Highness,¡± Geoffrey Kinsley answered politely. ¡°Lady Yngrid is Chef Ruston Stroganoff¡¯s mother.¡±

    Neoma almost choked on her saliva. ¡°My future mother-inw?¡±

    Of course, her joke earned her a death re from her Papa Boss.

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 408

    Chapter 408: A LITTLE BUMP ON THE ROAD

    [IS THAT... a modern hanbok?]

    ¡®Hanbok¡¯ was a traditional Korean clothing.

    She was pretty sure that the white top that thedy in front of her was wearing was a jeogori jacket- a basic upper garment of the hanbok. The see-throughce pattern of the sleeve part and waistline design looked elegant and neat, and so did the flower-patterned ck midi skirt. There was also a dangling tassel ornament tied to the ck belt that looked simr to norigae- a typical, traditional Korean essory hung from a woman¡¯s jeogori goreum or hanbok chima.

    Overall, the dress looked soft and flowing. Plus, the unique lines of the hanbok appeared even with the slight movements made by thedy wearing it.

    [That dress is definitely a modernized hanbok.]

    Thedy¡¯s closed-toe gray pump shoes made her overall outfit look so modern-ish.

    She was ignorant in her first life about a lot of things since her education was limited, and she didn¡¯t get to travel outside the empire so she didn¡¯t get to explore other countries¡¯ cultures.

    .....

    [Is this how people from Ruto¡¯s country dressed?]

    ¡°Greetings to the Lesser Moon of the Great Moonasterion Empire,¡± Lady Yngrid, Ruto¡¯s mother, said politely as she bowed to her. ¡°My name is Yngrid Stroganoff, and I¡¯m here to deliver an item my son Ruto wishes for His Royal Highness to have.¡±

    ¡°Please raise your head, Lady Yngrid,¡± Neoma said, then she smiled at her. ¡°And you may speakfortably here. This tearoom is soundproof.¡±

    Lady Yngrid raised her head and stared at her face with a gentle look on her face.

    Just like Ruto, Lady Yngrid¡¯s beauty wasn¡¯t the type to stand out in a crowd. But she was pleasant in the eyes. Her hair was also tied in a low braided bun neatly, so you could clearly see her face touched only by a light makeup.

    [Lady Yngrid has ss skin.]

    Nice.

    ¡°Then let me greet you again, Your Royal Highness,¡± Lady Yngrid said, her voice sweet and her face kind. ¡°It¡¯s an honor to finally meet you, Princess Neoma.¡±

    Yes, Lady Yngrid knew her royal secret.

    Her Papa Boss told her so earlier.

    [¡°The Stronagoffs know your royal secret because Ruston Stroganoff told his parents when he was young. I made them take the Oath of Silence, so it¡¯s fine.¡±]

    Neoma wasn¡¯t fine with it, though.

    [Seriously, Papa Boss? Just how many people know about my royal secret? It¡¯s a miracle that crows haven¡¯t found me yet.]

    ***

    [THIS IS daechu-cha.]

    Jujube tea or daechu-cha was a Korean tea made from jujubes. This was the first time she had that tea in this world.

    ¡°Your Royal Highness, how do you find the tea?¡± Lady Yngrid asked her. ¡°That¡¯s the tea that Ruto often makes for us. I figured you¡¯d like it, so I brought some.¡±

    Yes, the tea was even personally brewed by Lady Yngrid.

    ¡°I like it, Lady Yngrid,¡± Neoma said, then she smiled. She didn¡¯t want to show thedy that she was feeling a little ufortable because of the things that reminded her of Korea. It wasn¡¯t like she was simply getting homesick. ¡°Thank you for sharing this precious tea with me.¡±

    Lady Yngrid smiled. ¡°Your Royal Highness is my son¡¯s precious friend, so I want to treat you well.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m precious to Ruto,¡± she said, then she smiled and sipped her tea. ¡°He¡¯s also precious to me, ma¡¯am.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a shame I can¡¯t stay and chat with Your Royal Highness for too long,¡± thedy said. ¡°May I get straight to the point?¡±

    ¡°By all means, Lady Yngrid.¡±

    Lady Yngrid removed the tassel attached to her ck belt. When she put it down on the table between them, the tassel had turned into a ne with a gold engraved whistle pendant. ¡°This is the item that Ruto wishes to entrust to Your Royal Highness,¡± she said. ¡°This ne is the symbol of Ruto¡¯s authority as Veton¡¯s owner, and as the heir of our family.¡±

    She almost spat out the tea she just sipped.

    Then she remembered one of the conversations she had with Ruto before...

    [¡°I will give you my authority while I¡¯m asleep, Neoma.¡±]

    [¡°Huh?¡±]

    [¡°I¡¯m more influential on the East Continent than in the West. I¡¯ll hand over all my authority to you. That means you can use everything I have, including properties and people.¡±]

    [¡°That... doesn¡¯t sound bad.¡±]

    [¡°I¡¯ll ask my mother to send you my crestter. As long as you have it, everything and everyone Imand would obey you.¡±]

    Right, Ruto told her he would give all his authority to her while he was asleep.

    But she didn¡¯t expect him to be serious.

    ¡°If Your Royal Highness needs help from Veton or our family, all you have to do is blow the whistle,¡± Lady Yngrid exined. ¡°Veton wille wherever Your Royal Highness is. You can tell Veton whatever you need, and he will ry the message to us if needed.¡±

    She hesitated before she picked up the ne with the gold whistle pendant. ¡°Lady Yngrid, is it really okay for me to keep this?¡±

    Thedy smiled and nodded. ¡°That¡¯s what Ruto wants,¡± she said. ¡°I trust my son.¡±

    She held the ne in her hand carefully. ¡°Thank you for bringing this to me personally, Lady Yngrid.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing, Your Royal Highness,¡± Lady Yngrid said. ¡°I¡¯m also d that I get to visit my husband here.¡±

    Right.

    Ruto¡¯s father, Morton Stroganoff, was her Papa Boss¡¯s Exclusive Chef.

    She couldn¡¯t really focus on that fact, since she was busy admiring the pretty ne in her hands, her thumb brushing over the gold whistle pendant.

    [Ruto really entrusted me everything he has.]

    Her heart swelled with pride and joy.

    [Is this what they call... ¡®wifey privilege?¡¯]

    ¡°Princess Neoma, my Ruto really treasures you as a friend,¡± Lady Yngrid said with a gentle smile on her face. ¡°I hope your friendshipsts forever.¡±

    Ouch.

    She knew how to read between the lines, but she was going to pretend she was illiterate.

    ¡°Lady Yngrid, the foundation of my rtionship with Ruto is friendship,¡± she said politely. ¡°We can be both friends and something else at the same time. Would that be uneptable?¡±

    ¡°As a mother, I only wish the best for my one and only child,¡± Lady Yngrid said. She was still smiling, but it was obvious it didn¡¯t reach her eyes. ¡°That¡¯s why I sincerely hope and pray for my son to settle with a lovely yet ordinarydy, and have a peaceful life with her.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s my wish, too, Lady Yngrid,¡± Neoma said, then she smiled at Ruto¡¯s eomma. ¡°I also sincerely hope and pray to be ady of leisure in order to live a peaceful life.¡±

    ***

    THAT WAS nerve-wracking.

    Neoma couldn¡¯t help but let out a deep, frustrated sigh.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Princess Neoma?¡± Sir Glenn, who was standing in front of her office desk, asked worriedly. ¡°That was a big sigh.¡±

    ¡°Lady Yngrid doesn¡¯t like me,¡± Neoma said, then she leaned against her seat. ¡°My charm didn¡¯t work on her.¡±

    She couldin like that because Lewis wasn¡¯t in her office.

    Her ¡°son¡± went on an errand earlier. She asked Lewis to fetch her some energy potions from Marcus, her Papa Boss¡¯s Healing Sage, since Paige wasn¡¯t there. Lewis personally went to get the potions to make sure it wasn¡¯t tampered with.

    It was a normal protocol, so Marcus wouldn¡¯t be offended.

    ¡°Why would you want Lady Yngrid to like you in the first ce, Princess Neoma?¡± Sir Glenn asked, whileughing softly. ¡°Do you want to be her future daughter-inw or something?¡±

    She just smiled at him.

    Sir Glenn stoppedughing, then he almost choked on his saliva. ¡°Princess Neoma, don¡¯t joke like that in front of His Majesty.¡±

    ¡°I enjoy teasing Papa Boss, though,¡± she said whileughing, then she sighed again. ¡°Anyway, enough about me.¡± She gave the knight a yful re. ¡°I don¡¯t want to talk about my love life with a happily engaged man.¡±

    Sir Glenn immediately blushed while scratching his cheek. ¡°Princess Neoma, I should thank you for encouraging me during the time I didn¡¯t know how to deal with my feelings for Princess Brigitte. Thank you for being supportive of our rtionship.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m d to have yed Cupid for you and Princess Brigitte,¡± she said while smiling, then she turned serious. ¡°Sir Glenn, you¡¯re going to be the king of Hazelden Kingdom soon.¡±

    ¡°Princess Brigitte is going to be a queen regnant- a monarch who reigns in her own right over the kingdom,¡± Sir Glenn said happily. ¡°She will haveplete sovereign powers, and I¡¯ll just be a supportive h-husband.¡±

    [Look at Sir Glenn stammering as if he still can¡¯t believe he¡¯s going to be Brigitte unnie¡¯s husband soon.]

    Sheughed at how cute Sir Glenn was when being shy.

    But the knight wasn¡¯t just being modest when he said he would ¡®only¡¯ be a supportive husband, not that anything was wrong with that.

    It was just that the husband of a queen regnant traditionally didn¡¯t share the regnant¡¯s rank, title, or sovereignty. However...

    ¡°The concept of a king consort is umon,¡± she said. ¡°But I know you and Princess Brigitte won¡¯t fight over power or roles. If anything, I believe the two of you will be a power couple.¡± She closed her hands and raised them. ¡°Hwaiting!¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wee,¡± she said cheerfully. ¡°By the way, I decided to reveal my real identity to Princess Brigitte. I want to have a powerful ally who knows the real me. Papa Boss already approved of it.¡±

    .....

    The knight looked surprised by what she said.

    ¡°Once Nero returns, can I take a vacation in Hazelden?¡± she asked while smiling. ¡°Will you and Princess Brigitte temporarily ¡°adopt¡± me until my name makes it to the Royal Household¡¯s registry?¡±

    Sir Glenn smiled warmly at her. ¡°You didn¡¯t have to ask, Princess Neoma,¡± he said softly, then he put a hand over his chest. ¡°Princess Brigitte and I will wee Your Royal Highness anytime. Moreover, I¡¯m pretty sure Princess Brigitte will be delighted once she finds out that the ¡°Crown Prince¡± she knew was actually the royal princess. Of course, I also guarantee that she¡¯s keep your identity a secret.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Sir Glenn,¡± she said. ¡°And I trust Princess Brigitte. Thus, I decided to reveal my identity to her.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for trusting Princess Brigitte,¡± Sir Glenn said, then he paused for a while as if he was thinking. ¡°Regarding what Your Royal Highness said about Lady Yngrid not approving of your rtionship with Ruto...¡±

    She didn¡¯t say it like that, but Sir Glenn wasn¡¯t dense.

    ¡°This is just my hunch, but I think Ruto is simr to me,¡± Sir Glenn said. ¡°I believe he¡¯s also the type to cut his ties with his family to stand up for the things or people he loved.¡±

    She also knew that Ruto was that kind of person.

    ¡°Sir Glenn, may I know why you severed your ties with the Extons?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing grand, really,¡± Sir Glenn said, whileughing softly. ¡°My family wanted me to turn my back on His Majesty.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s ¡°nothing grand,¡± Sir Glenn.¡±

    He smiled and shook his head. ¡°The Extons are your usual, conservative nobles who believe that the de Moonasterion emperor must marry into a ¡°good¡± family in order to keep their bloodline superior. They supported His Majesty when His Majesty married thete Empress Juliet. But when the empress passed away and His Majesty brought Lady Mona Roseheart to the pce...¡± He trailed off, then he shrugged. ¡°I think Your Royal Highness can guess what happened next.¡±

    Oh.

    ¡°I guess the Extons really didn¡¯t like my Mama Boss, huh?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true, but my family is pretty much obsessed with Spirits,¡± he shared. ¡°So I guess they hated Lady Roseheart partly because they were jealous of her ability as a Summoner. When Lady Roseheart disappeared, my family searched everywhere for her Spirit Guardians. But as far as I know, they only found Miss Gale- the Wind Spirit Your Royal Highness fondly calls ¡®Mochi¡¯ now.¡±

    Ah, that was right.

    She almost forgot that it was Sir Glenn who gave Mochi to her as a birthday present before.

    ¡°Sir Glenn... did you steal Mochi from your family?¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t stealing because Miss Mochi never belonged to the Extons, Princess Neoma,¡± he reasoned, then he smiled innocently at her.

    Sheughed at his poor excuse, but she was willing to let it slide because it was Sir Glenn.

    [This man can never do wrong.]

    ¡°I feel better now after talking to you, Sir Glenn,¡± she said, then she smiled widely when she remembered something. ¡°Sir Glenn, I heard my father will make you his sworn brother. He will announce it to the publicter.¡±

    He smiled shyly. ¡°That¡¯s true, Princess Neoma. I don¡¯t think I deserve the title, but I will work hard to be worthy of it.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re already worthy to be my father¡¯s sworn brother, Sir Glenn,¡± she said encouragingly. ¡°Sir Glenn, can I call you ¡®uncle¡¯ from now on?¡±

    The knight looked shocked at first.

    Then he burst into tears.

    Sir Glenn sobbed as he gave his response to her request. ¡°That would be an honor, Princess Neoma.¡±

    Neomaughed softly. ¡°Please don¡¯t cry, Uncle Glenn.¡±

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 409

    Chapter 409: DAHLIA X NERO X HANNA

    [A DREAM...?]

    Dahlia was surprised to find herself in a dream. It wasn¡¯t her usual dreams where the Stars would talk to her and give her a task. This time, someone else ¡°summoned¡± her.

    The scenery was familiar, thankfully. Being in a familiar ce calmed her down a little.

    Right now, she was standing on the shore of the ¡°beach house¡± where she lived. It was on an ind in the middle of the ¡®Blood Sea.¡¯ But it wasn¡¯t named ¡®Blood Sea¡¯ just because the water was red.

    Apparently, the red water surrounding the ind where she lived was actually from the blood of an Ancient Spirit who was killed by a god in the past.

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t easy to meet you in your dream.¡±

    She held her breath when the person who entered her dream finally appeared in front of her.

    .....

    White hair.

    Ash-gray eyes.

    Pale skin.

    [Nero de Moonasterio...]

    ¡°We finally met,¡± Nero de Moonasterio said coldly. ¡°Dahlia, the ck Witch.¡±

    She let out a deep breath.

    [Calm down. He¡¯s not the Nero de Moonasterio in your dreams. In this lifetime, he¡¯s just a child like you.]

    ¡°Greetings to the real Lesser Moon of the Great Moonasterion-¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t need to receive your greetings,¡± he cut her off rudely.

    Okay, that almost made her cry.

    The people who raised her were all gentle and kind. She wasn¡¯t used to being treated harshly, so she didn¡¯t know what to do. Honestly, she had just put on a tough fa?ade in front of Emperor Niki before.

    But after that meeting, she cried on her way home as a way to release all the tension that had built up in her chest.

    And it was happening again.

    [Why are all the de Moonasterios rude and scary?]

    Even Princess Neoma was rude and had a foul mouth...

    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you saying anything?¡± the prince asked impatiently.

    She immediately lowered her head and stared at the white sand. ¡°W-What do Your Royal Highness want me to say after you c-cut me off earlier?¡± she asked nervously. Look at her hands tremble. ¡°I thought I-I clearly told H-His Majesty that I didn¡¯t want to m-meet Your Royal Highness.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t listen to my father,¡± he said, as if he was proud of it.

    [Being a disobedient son isn¡¯t something to be proud of, Prince Nero...]

    ¡°If you wanted me to do your bidding, you should have asked Neoma to deliver your message to me instead of the emperor.¡±

    [Being wrapped around your twin sister¡¯s finger isn¡¯t something to be proud of it either...]

    She heard the prince let out a loud sigh, but she didn¡¯t raise her head.

    If she could move her body the way she wanted to, she would have run away already. But she was stuck in that dream because the whole ¡°territory¡± was controlled by Prince Nero.

    [How can a child my age act so scary?]

    ¡°Dahlia, look at me when I¡¯m talking to you.¡±

    ¡°I d-don¡¯t want to,¡± she said. She was scared, but that didn¡¯t stop her from being stubborn. ¡°I don¡¯t l-like looking at a-angry people. And you¡¯re just s-scolding me anyway, so why do I need to look at you? Do you want to see me crying?¡±

    ¡°Are you crying?¡±

    Oh.

    There was a hint of worry in his voice.

    She slowly raised her head to see if she heard it correctly or if it was just all in her head.

    [Ah, his eyes are so pretty...]

    Scratch that.

    Everything about the prince was pretty.

    Surprisingly, he didn¡¯t look as angry as she thought it was. He looked grumpy, though. But maybe frowning was his semi-permanent ¡°default setting.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re really crying,¡± Prince Nero said in disbelief. ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything to you, though.¡±

    ¡°You h-hurt my feelings,¡± sheined while wiping the tears forming in the corner of her eyes. She wasn¡¯t full-on crying yet, but she was already teary-eyed. ¡°I¡¯m not used to dealing with mean people like you. You¡¯re giving me trauma here, you know?¡±

    He looked taken aback. ¡°You¡¯re not stammering now. I guess you¡¯re the type to grow a backbone when upset.¡±

    ¡°Do you not have a conscience, Prince Nero?¡± sheined. And yes, he was correct. She was the type to forget her fears when she was upset. ¡°If you already know that I¡¯m upset, then stop treating me like an object. I have feelings, too. Will it kill you to speak a little gently to me? I¡¯m a sensitive person!¡±

    This time, he literally took a step back while holding up his hands in surrender. ¡°Calm down.¡±

    ¡°Then p-please don¡¯t be too mean,¡± she said in a tiny voice, then she lowered her gaze again. Now that she had already expressed her frustration, she was back to her usual timid self. ¡°I have a w-weak heart.¡±

    He let out a sigh, then hebed his fingers through his hair. ¡°Let¡¯s get this done and over with,¡± he said in a calmer tone this time. ¡°You have the memories of your first life, don¡¯t you?¡±

    [Ah, I knew he came here to talk about that.]

    ¡°I don¡¯t remember everything, and the fragments of memory I received don¡¯te in chronological order,¡± she said in a soft voice.

    ¡°Then do you remember being my lover in that timeline?¡±

    [I remember being your wife back then.]

    But she was too shy to say that, so she just nodded weakly.

    ¡°I came here to tell you it won¡¯t happen in this lifetime,¡± Prince Nero dered bluntly. ¡°I will marry Hanna Quinzel once we became adults.¡±

    She let out a relieved sigh.

    [I thought he was going to ask me to marry him again in this lifetime. I¡¯m d I¡¯m wrong.]

    ¡°Congrattions in advance, Prince Nero,¡± she said sincerely. ¡°I truly wish you and Lady Hanna Quinzel a blissful marriage from the bottom of my heart.¡±

    She wasn¡¯t being sarcastic.

    In the memories that she retrieved, the ¡°Princess Dahlia¡± that she saw was always sad and crying because she wasn¡¯t used to living as a monarch. She wasn¡¯t even a noble in the first life. That kind of life didn¡¯t suit her.

    [But Lady Hanna Quinzel is a noble. I heard she¡¯s the best candidate to be Prince Nero¡¯s future Crown Princess. Unlike me, she¡¯s probably prepared to live the life of a monarch.]

    Her thoughts were loud because Prince Nero fell silent.

    Huh?

    [Did he already leave...?]

    She raised her head, then she was greeted by a pair of curious eyes.

    Prince Nero was quietly looking at her. His gaze was full of curiosity, and his face softened up a little.

    [How can someone look so pretty...]

    Maybe her guardians were right.

    [Handsome boys are evil, indeed.]

    ¡°You¡¯re weird,¡± Prince Nero said in an amused voice. ¡°Don¡¯t cry because I don¡¯t mean it in a bad way.¡±

    Huh?

    She didn¡¯t know how to react now that Prince Nero wasn¡¯t being mean to her. In fact, she suddenly felt at ease with him, even though he was just scolding her a moment ago.

    [What¡¯s wrong with me?]

    ¡°I¡¯ve already said what I wanted to say, so I¡¯m leaving,¡± Prince Nero said, his body now translucent. ¡°See you after three years, Dahlia.¡±

    And just like that, the Crown Prince was gone.

    Her knees buckled now that the source of her anxiety disappeared. She plopped on the sand while clutching her chest tight. Her heart was beating fast and hard against her chest.

    It was because of fear, right?

    ¡°That was so scary,¡± she whispered to herself. ¡°The de Moonasterios are very, very scary people.¡±

    [They¡¯re pretty, though.]

    Especially Prince Nero.

    .....

    ¡°Am I crazy?¡± she condemned herself, then she covered her face with her hands. ¡°Prince Nero is pretty, yes. But I shouldn¡¯t let my guard down just because of that.¡±

    The Dahlia that she saw in her past memories was miserable because of Prince Nero.

    [I won¡¯t end up like that,] Dahlia promised herself. [I must not be swayed by Prince Nero in this lifetime.]

    ***

    ¡°GOOD MORNING, Prince Nero.¡±

    [Argh.]

    Nero frowned when Tara, the Queen of Spirit World, greeted him as soon as he opened his eyes. He got up from lying down on the sofa, then he stood up and slightly bowed to the queen as a greeting. ¡°Wee back, Your Majesty.¡±

    Right now, the two of them were in the room he was using in the queen¡¯s pce.

    His physical body was on the bed, while he (in his Spirit form) ¡°slept¡± on the sofa earlier when he reached out to Dahlia through her dream.

    ¡°I¡¯ve only been away for a few days, but it seems like you already gained another ability even without guidance,¡± Tara said, then she sat down on the ent chair and motioned him to do the same. ¡°Prince Nero, it isn¡¯t an easy feat to enter a ck Witch¡¯s dream.¡±

    Ah, of course, the queen knew what he was up to.

    One of the reasons why he wasn¡¯tfortable in the pce was the fact that there were several eyes on him. The frustrating part was he couldn¡¯t see the beings monitoring his move. He had no choice but to endure it until he fully recovered, though.

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t that hard, though,¡± he said, then he sat on the sofa.

    ¡°How were you able to do that, Prince Nero?¡± the queen asked curiously. ¡°The ck Witch lives in a secluded ind protected by several High Spirits. It would be hard even for me to enter the ck Witch¡¯s dream.¡±

    ¡°I just did it,¡± he said casually. ¡°Whenever I want to see someone in my dream, I just focus on creating a link in their mind. It¡¯s something thates naturally to me.¡±

    Anyway...

    [When Her Majesty said the ind is protected by High Spirits, did she mean the marine life I saw before I got to meet Dahlia?]

    He was greeted by a beluga whale when he was trying to reach out to Dahlia. Then that whale guided him to the shore. He knew it wasn¡¯t an ordinary whale. But he also didn¡¯t expect it to be a High Spirit.

    ¡°It seems like Spirits are naturally drawn to you, Prince Nero,¡± the queen said in a satisfied voice. ¡°You¡¯re really Mona¡¯s son.¡±

    [The queen is too fascinated with my abilities, I should probably tone it down.]

    But he didn¡¯t know how to hold back since he had always been excellent at whatever he did.

    ¡°I still have a lot to learn, even if I am Mona Roseheart¡¯s son,¡± he said, since he remembered he needed to learn the ropes in controlling the Spirit World in order to give it to Neoma someday. ¡°That¡¯s why I need your guidance, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s continue with your training,¡± Queen Tara said, then she headed to the door with very light steps that her feet barely touched the floor. ¡°Follow me, Prince Nero.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty,¡± he said, then he stood up and followed the queen.

    [¡°Congrattions in advance, Prince Nero. I truly wish you and Lady Hanna Quinzel a blissful marriage from the bottom of my heart.¡±]

    He stopped in his tracks when he heard Dahlia¡¯s voice in his head.

    For some reason, it pissed him off when she congratted him in advance for his future wedding with Hanna Quinzel. He didn¡¯t know why he felt disappointed with the ck Witch¡¯s reaction. Was it because he felt like the memories of them together in his first life were just a lie?

    [Don¡¯t be a hypocrite,] he condemned himself. [Hanna Quinzel is the right woman for me if I want to have the power that will help Neoma ascend the throne safely.]

    Marriage was just another business contract for someone like him anyway.

    When he was just about to be at ease after reminding himself of his goal, Dahlia¡¯s crying face entered his mind.

    The ck Witch¡¯s crying face bothered him.

    After all, the adult Dahlia in the hazy memories of his first life was always, always crying because of him.

    [Stop crying. I won¡¯t marry you this time,] Nero said to the crying image of Dahlia- both in her current and adult form- in his mind, then he shut his eyes tight. [I will even build a wall between us, so please don¡¯t cry because of me.]

    ***

    ¡°HANNA, you¡¯re having a nosebleed.¡±

    Oh?

    Hanna¡¯s hand automatically moved to touch between her nose and upper lip. Her nose was indeed bleeding. ¡°I¡¯m d mother isn¡¯t here.¡±

    Right now, she was at the entrance of Forgotten Graveyard with her master.

    It was already nighttime, but the whole ce was still bright because of the floating fire stones around. They needed those lights in order to create shadows.

    ¡°We should take a break,¡± Uncle Garret said as he handed her a handkerchief and a vial of an energy potion. ¡°Your mother will kill me if she finds out we were training until your nose bled.¡±

    She smiled and epted the things her great uncle handed her.

    Then she drank the energy potion. When her nose stopped bleeding, she gently pressed the handkerchief against her nose to wipe the blood off.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, Uncle Garret,¡± she assured her great uncle. ¡°Let¡¯s continue.¡±

    Uncle Garret¡¯s face became worried.

    She couldn¡¯t help but remember her father in her great uncle.

    [Father would look exactly like Uncle Garret in twenty years or so.]

    ¡°Why are you rushing, Hanna?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve been training for a few months now, but I haven¡¯t gained the right to enter the Forbidden Graveyard yet,¡± she said in a frustrated voice. ¡°I quickly want to get stronger, Uncle Garret.¡±

    ¡°You told me you have three years.¡±

    ¡°But I don¡¯t see any progress...¡±

    ¡°Hanna, let¡¯s slow down,¡± her great uncle said firmly. ¡°Why are you acting desperate? I thought you were doing this in order to literally strengthen your heart? But with the way you¡¯re behaving, I feel like there¡¯s another reason for your desperation.¡±

    She clenched her hands tight.

    To be honest, she was acting this way because of the letter she received from Lewis the other day. The two of them kept in touch because she asked the fox boy to update her about anything rted to Nero.

    She also begged Lewis to keep it a secret from Neoma.

    [I don¡¯t want Neoma to know that I asked Lewis to monitor Nero for me. But if Neoma finds out about my secret alliance with Lewis, then I¡¯ll take responsibility.]

    ¡°Hanna?¡±

    ¡°Uncle, I want to be as powerful as a ck Witch.¡±

    Her great uncle looked shocked by what she said.

    She, on the other hand, was already spacing out.

    [¡®Dahlia.¡¯]

    ording to Lewis, a ck Witch named ¡®Dahlia¡¯ appeared and imed that she was summoned by Nero to the empire. Lewis also said that Neoma and the ck Witch seemed to know each other already.

    [If that¡¯s the case, then it means Neoma knows the ck Witch from her first life.]

    Nero knew the ck Witch, but Neoma didn¡¯t mention anything about Dahlia to her before.

    The question was why.

    She was a coward, though. Her heart refused to ept what her mind hade up with as a response to her ¡®why.¡¯

    ¡°Hanna, have you met a ck Witch?¡±

    ¡°Not yet, Uncle. But...¡±

    Uncle Garret¡¯s eyes burrowed. ¡°But what?¡±

    ¡°I have a feeling I will meet one soon,¡± Hanna said firmly. ¡°And I don¡¯t want to feel inferior once I do.¡±

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 410

    Chapter 410: SEASON 3 FINALE

    ¡°CAN YOU let me go now?¡± Trevor, who was imprisoned inside a giant hourss in the middle of a library. Since it was an hourss, it was ¡°raining¡± sand inside. He was sitting on top of the mountain of sand thanks to his power. If he was an ordinary person, he would have already been buried under it. ¡°The chaos is over now, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    When he felt the Darkness attack Princess Neoma, he immediately left the Spirit World to save her princess-in-distress.

    But he was kidnapped along the way.

    ¡°Trevor, you should be more careful in the future,¡± the Devil, Arche de Moonasterio, scolded him. The devil was sitting on top of a tall pile of thick and hard-covered books. He had his legs crossed while reading a book titled ¡®The Dead Royal Language.¡¯ ¡°The crows are now actively looking for Neoma de Moonasterio. If you hade to her rescue, the crows will wonder why you¡¯re aiding the ¡°Crown Prince.¡±¡±

    ¡°I was there when Princess Neoma attacked the crow that ran the Death Camp, though. The princess even used me as a scapegoat as to why a Hellgate appeared that time,¡± he reasoned. ¡°Why would it make a difference if I showed up next to the ¡°Crown Prince¡± now?¡±

    ¡°Because the crows are paying attention this time,¡± the Devil said, his eyes still stuck to the book he was reading. ¡°The royal twins are going to turn ten years old soon. For some reason, the crows begin to move once the royal children reach that age.¡±

    ¡°That has nothing to do with me,¡± he said stubbornly. ¡°How dare you deprive me of the opportunity to appear as Princess Neoma¡¯s demon-in-shining-armor?¡±

    .....

    ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio didn¡¯t need your help,¡± the Devil said, brushing hisints off just like that. ¡°And if she was in a seriously dangerous situation, I would have appeared myself to save her.¡±

    ¡°It was a pretty dangerous situation, though,¡± he insisted. ¡°My Moon Princess has turned into a tree!¡±

    He learned all of that through the Death Scythe¡¯s ¡®eyes.¡¯

    Whenever Princess Neoma would use that weapon, he would get a glimpse of what was going on around the princess.

    ¡°So what if she turned into a tree?¡± the Devil asked nonchntly. ¡°It¡¯s one of her abilities as Mona Roseheart¡¯s daughter. Neoma de Moonasterio isn¡¯t as good as Nero de Moonasterio when ites to controlling Spirits, but she inherited Mona¡¯s affinity to nature.¡±

    ¡°Prince Nero is better than Princess Neoma in controlling Spirits?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Nero de Moonasterio is the more talented Summoner between the twins,¡± the Devil exined. ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio gains Spirits by being their ¡°friend.¡± But Nero de Moonasterio is different. He can make a ve out of any Spirit hees contact with, regardless of their will. Even William and Tara are drawn to the prince.¡±

    ¡°Whatever,¡± he said while waving his hand. ¡°My Moon Princess is still the best in my heart.¡±

    ¡°Are you serious about your feelings for Neoma de Moonasterio?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re not that close for us to be having this kind of conversation, my lord.¡±

    Arche de Moonasterio finally closed the book he was reading, then he raised his head to give him a dire stare. ¡°Trevor Kesser, do you know why I let you escape?¡±

    ¡°Hey, you didn¡¯t let me escape,¡± he argued. ¡°My Moon Princess came and rescued me.¡±

    ¡°The key to your prison back then was the Death Scythe, and I knew Neoma de Moonasterio could wield it,¡± the Devil said. ¡°Do you think I¡¯m dumb to leave the key in there when I know the only person who could save you woulde and find you there?¡±

    He arched his eyebrows. ¡°You knew my Moon Princess woulde and get me?¡±

    ¡°I was the one who created the curse that almost killed Nero de Moonasterio,¡± the Devil reminded him. ¡°And I know you¡¯re the only one who can cure him. Naturally, I know the emperor would end up looking for the Devil¡¯s Grimoire in search of the cure for his son.¡±

    ¡°And you predicted the emperor would send Princess Neoma to that errand?¡±

    ¡°I just figured it would end that way when Niki de Moonasterio made his daughter pretend as the Crown Prince.¡±

    ¡°You should totally be a forteller, my lord.¡±

    The Devil grinned at his sarcasm.

    Uhm, okay. That evil grin sent shivers down his spine. He instantly regretted getting smart with the devil when he saw a glint of mischief in his now glowing red eyes.

    [One must think first before provoking the devil.]

    ¡°Trevor Kesser, let me read your fortune for you.¡±

    ¡°Uh, no, thanks.¡±

    ¡°In three years¡¯ time, you will lose Neoma de Moonasterio to the boy who owns an Elemental Guardian-¡±

    ¡°That damned Chef Ruto or whatever his name is?¡±

    The Devil gave him a cold stare for cutting him off.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, my lord,¡± he said, then he politely pointed both of his hands at him. ¡°Please carry on.¡±

    ¡°I, along with Nichole de Moonasterio and the rest, will abduct Neoma de Moonasterio as soon as Nero de Moonasterio returns.¡±

    ¡°Why are you saying that to me?¡± he asked, confused. ¡°Do you think I¡¯m no snitch? I¡¯m sorry, but I won¡¯t keep this a secret from my Moon Princess.¡±

    ¡°Feel free to do that, but know you¡¯re still going to lose your ¡°Moon Princess¡± forever if you don¡¯t take my side.¡±

    The Devil didn¡¯t sound like he was joking.

    Well, not that the Devil joked with him before.

    ¡°Trevor, something big will happen three yearster,¡± the devil said in a calm yetmanding voice. A de Moonasterio would always be a de Moonasterio, huh? ¡°We will be lying low for now in order to prepare for it. Moreover, if the crows notice I¡¯m protecting the ¡°Crown Prince,¡± they¡¯ll immediately realize that the ¡°Crown Prince¡± is actually the royal princess they¡¯re looking for.¡±

    ¡°So, you¡¯ll cut us off in the meantime?¡±

    The Devil nodded. ¡°Whatever happens to Neoma de Moonasterio, I, the Devil, will not make a move.¡±

    ¡°But what if Princess Neoma gets in serious trouble?¡±

    The Devil pointed a finger at him. ¡°I will leave Neoma de Moonasterio¡¯s safety to you.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re overestimating me, my lord.¡±

    Arche de Moonasterio snapped his fingers.

    The pile of books under him suddenly disappeared. And in just the blink of an eye, the Devil was now standing in front of the hourss. Then he ced his hand on the ss.

    [Oh, the sand stopped from falling.]

    Soon, the giant hourss turned into clouds of dust before disappearingpletely.

    Trevornded safely on his feet. But he couldn¡¯t move when Arche de Moonasterio suddenly grabbed his face- forcing his mouth to form an ¡®o.¡¯ [What the hell?]

    ¡°Stick out your tongue,¡± the Devil ordered him. When he didn¡¯t move, he gave her a warning look. ¡°Do you want me to cut it off instead?¡±

    He stuck out his tongue unwillingly.

    Arche de Moonasterio stared at his middle tongue piercing.

    Yes, he had a tongue piercing- and it was the cause of his curse.

    ¡°If Neoma de Moonasterio gets in a life-threatening situation, send me a signal,¡± the Devil said, then he let go of his face quite roughly. ¡°I¡¯ll undo your curse.¡±

    He was too shocked to react.

    ¡°Once I undo your curse, you¡¯ll be free,¡± Arche de Moonasterio said. ¡°But if Neoma de Moonasterio doesn¡¯t get into a life-threatening situation for the next three years, I will still undo your curse... if you keep your mouth shut and help me with my nter.¡±

    He clenched his hands tight because the Devil¡¯s offer was starting to sound so tempting.

    [My freedom...]

    ¡°You¡¯re not the Devil¡¯s Grimoire, and you¡¯re not even a real demon,¡± the Devil said, then he pointed at his mouth. He was probably pointing out at his tongue piercing. ¡°Don¡¯t forget who you truly are, Trevor.¡±

    ¡°I haven¡¯t forgotten who I am,¡± he said firmly, then he put a hand over his chest. ¡°I am Princess Neoma¡¯s future husband.¡±

    ¡°Do you want me to cut your tongue off?¡±

    He covered his mouth with his hands.

    Arche de Moonasterio looked at him long and hard before he spoke again. ¡°In this continent, people who study magic all their lives are called Mages. But the people who created the magic the mages study are called Sorcerers.¡± He pointed at him. ¡°Trevor Kesser, you are born with innate magical abilities so great even your own family sent you to the Devil out of fear.¡±

    ¡°My lord, it¡¯s unfair to bring up my trauma straight to my face.¡±

    ¡°Stop talking nonsense and get your act together from now on,¡± the Devil said seriously. ¡°The battle that will take ce after three years will be a gruesome one.¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you just revive the powerful people we need to get rid of the crows?¡±

    ¡°If it was that easy, I would have done it already,¡± the Devil said. ¡°Reviving Gavin Quinzel almost exhausted me already.¡±

    ¡°Just Gavin Quinzel?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡±

    ¡°Weren¡¯t you the one who stole thete Empress Juliet¡¯s corpse?¡±

    ¡°I only steal bodies of dead people, Trevor.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°I need to get going, so I¡¯ll kick you out of my territory now,¡± Arche de Moonasterio said, then he snapped his fingers. ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to seeing the youngest Sorcerer of the continent again to get in his prime again, Trevor Kesser.¡±

    Trevor grinned, then he stuck his tongue out. ¡°I will only show my good side to my Moon Princess.¡±

    ***

    ¡°THE BLACK Witch disappeared?¡±

    ¡°The damned Fletcher Twins are so good at erasing traces.¡±

    Regina covered her mouth when she yawned while listening to the adults in the family talk.

    .....

    Right now, she was in the study hall while listening to her Uncle Raven and Aunt Sonja talk about their next move. Of course, His Excellency was also present in the form of a ck crow ced on the center seat.

    His Excellency, in the form of a crow with a metallic voice, said.

    Regina rolled her eyes.

    The ¡®Masterpiece¡¯ His Excellency was talking about was the most perfect de Luca among the crow children- the strongest, the smartest, the most talented, the most charismatic, and the most handsome.

    His Excellency continued.

    Bram lived, and her useless brother was resting in his real body at the moment.

    [Good riddance.]

    ¡°Do we just let the royal princess gain that much influence while we still don¡¯t know where the real Crown Prince is?¡± her Uncle Raven asked.

    His Excellency said.

    [That makes sense.]

    Poor royal princess working hard for nothing.

    ¡°The Devil didn¡¯t make a move even after what happened,¡± her Uncle Raven said. ¡°They¡¯re being careful. Too careful for my taste.¡±

    ¡°They must be nning something big,¡± her Aunt Sonja said. ¡°It¡¯s been noisy recently. The Spirits, the Nature, and even the Constetion of Stars are being quiet. Will things really move after three years?¡±

    His Excellency said.

    Her Uncle Raven and Aunt Sonja turned to her at the same time.

    [Beautiful.]

    Gray hair, ck eyes, milky white skin.

    The de Lucas¡¯ beauty was only second to the de Moonasterios. Just like the Royal Family, the de Lucas also aged slowly.

    ¡°Ah, I¡¯m still mad we had to drop Rubin Drayton from our n,¡± her Aunt Sonjained, then her aunt cupped her face between her hands. ¡°My poor niece. All the time you spent seducing that dumb kid had gone to waste...¡±

    ¡°That n already went down the drain the moment Hanna Quinzel lived,¡± her Uncle Raven said. ¡°Regina was supposed to rece the Quinzel Princess.¡±

    Yes, that was the n.

    ¡°I still don¡¯t know how the fake Crown Prince¡¯s side realized I was a crow,¡± Regina said, removing her aunt¡¯s hands from her face. ¡°Lewis Crevan didn¡¯t look surprise when I appeared at Hazelden Kingdom. It was as if he already knew who I was.¡±

    His Excellency said.

    His Excellency stopped talking when the ground shook hard.

    It was followed by an earth-shattering roar of an angry animal. But the animal didn¡¯t feel normal at all.

    His Excellency flew to the balcony.

    Her Uncle Raven and Aunt Sonja followed, so Regina didn¡¯t have a choice but to go to the balcony and take a look at what was happening.

    She wasn¡¯t even surprised to see who caused themotion.

    [Of course, it¡¯s him.]

    ¡°I caught a pet,¡± the so-called ¡®Masterpiece¡¯ dered cheerfully. ¡°Did I do a good job?¡±

    THAT wasn¡¯t a ¡®pet.¡¯

    [Where did he even find THAT?]

    Uncle Raven and Aunt Sonja let out augh- augh filled with awe and excitement.

    Even His Excellency let out a chuckle which rarely happened. he said proudly.

    Regina¡¯s gaze met the Masterpiece¡¯s fake green eyes.

    [He¡¯s already ying his role perfectly.]

    ¡°Regina, I will avenge you and Bram,¡± the Masterpiece dered cheerfully while waving at her with both hands. ¡°I¡¯ll make sure you¡¯ll be able to return to the Royal Capital with your head held high!¡±

    She wanted to roll her eyes at him, but His Excellency and the adults were watching.

    In her world, the Masterpiece must be treated with care and respect all the time.

    Regina smiled the smile she learned from her seduction sses. ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to working with you, cousin.¡±

    ***

    [BARBECUE, barbecue, barbecue.]

    Neoma chanted the word ¡®barbecue¡¯ in her head like a mantra.

    She was back in Hazelden Kingdom to fulfill the promise she made with the townspeople. During the time she was purifying Hazelden¡¯s Royal Capital, she promised the citizens she¡¯d treat them with barbecue.

    But she had a business to attend to first before the barbecue party. Right now, she was in the restricted area in the snowy mountain.

    Of course, she wasn¡¯t alone.

    ¡°Princess Neoma, we didn¡¯te here to eat,¡± Lewis reminded her. ¡°Please wipe your drool from your chin.¡±

    Lewis was just teasing her.

    Right?

    ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio, let¡¯s begin our contract signing,¡± William, who suddenly appeared before her, said. ¡°We¡¯ll meet the Snow Spirit after this.¡±

    ¡°I already talked to the Snow Spirit,¡± Delwyn, who was now back in his ¡°human¡± form, said when he appeared beside William. ¡°She¡¯s willing to make a contract with the future queen of Hazelden Kingdom, so we must bring Brigitte Griffiths with uster.¡±

    ¡°`Gotcha,¡± Neoma said cheerfully, then she opened both of her hands and offered each one to William and Delwyn. ¡°Lezzgo.¡±

    ***

    ¡°I DON¡¯T wanna study anymore,¡± Neomained, then she leaned against her chair while ring at the pile of books that upied her entire desk. ¡°This is worse than the time I took my CSAT in Korea.¡±

    Well, actually, studying wasn¡¯t hard for her.

    It was just that...

    ¡°Studying is boring as hell,¡± she dered loudly, then she closed her eyes. ¡°I wanna y outside.¡±

    ¡°We can y once you finish yourst homework for today, Princess Neoma.¡±

    She opened her eyes and was too stunned to speak because of the ¡®view¡¯ that greeted her.

    Sixteen-year-old Lewis in his White Lion Knight uniform just hit differently. He was tall, handsome, and his posture was great, too. No wonder the maids, especially the young ones, were crushing on Lewis hard.

    [My son is a grown-up now.]

    ¡°I¡¯m getting emotional,¡± she said while looking at Lewis with glistening eyes. ¡°You grew up well, Lewis.¡±

    ¡°Of course, I did,¡± Lewis said bluntly while organizing the mess on her desk. ¡°After all, my goal is to be a person who can stand beside Your Royal Highness proudly.¡±

    She smiled, touched by Lewis¡¯s words.

    ¡°Ah, right,¡± Lewis said when he remembered something important. ¡°Princess Neoma, Duke Quinzel is here. I heard His Grace is here to talk about Lady Hanna¡¯s return-¡±

    ¡°Hanna ising home?¡± Neoma asked excitedly, then she stood up and quickly ran to the door. ¡°Let¡¯s go to Duke Quinzel, Lewis!¡±

    ***

    TREVOR opened his eyes when he felt someone¡¯s gaze on him.

    Ash-gray eyes.

    He was greeted by a pair of ash-gray eyes that soon turned glowing red.

    ¡°Prince Nero,¡± Trevor said in disbelief, then he got up and stared at the royal prince who was lying down on the bed weakly. It was the Crown Prince¡¯s physical body and not his Spirit form. ¡°You¡¯re finally awake.¡±

    ¡ªVOLUME 3 END¡ª

    ***

    [VOLUME 4 MINI TEASER]

    ¡°YOUR ROYAL Highness, I truly admire you, and I don¡¯t want you to hate me. Should I lose the match on purpose?¡±

    ¡°Excuse me?¡±

    ¡°Your Royal Highness¡¯s goal is to win and be the student representative, right? But if you lose this match-¡±

    ¡°Who said I¡¯m losing? Don¡¯t insult me, punk.¡±

    Her rival, in the form of a very handsome boy who somehow felt very simr to her and Nero, looked at her with pity in his green eyes.

    She didn¡¯t want to admit this, but she was seriously losing the match.

    This was definitely the most embarrassing moment of Neoma¡¯s third life yet.

    [Goddammit.]

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 411

    Chapter 411: SAVIOR COMPLEX

    NEOMA was in a good mood after she found out that Hanna might being home sooner than expected.

    But her mood soon turned sour when she was visited by an unexpected guest.

    A guest that she couldn¡¯t refuse, at that.

    ¡°Greetings to the Lesser Moon of the Great Moonasterion Empire,¡± Rubin Drayton greeted her politely. ¡°I apologize foring unannounced.¡±

    She looked at the fifteen-year-old Rubin Drayton in front of her.

    Dang, he looked taller and more handsome now that he was in his teens.

    [Rubi is probably around 178cm?]

    .....

    But of course, Lewis was still the best.

    [Lewis is a tad taller than Rubin at 180cm.]

    In short, she was between two ¡°towers¡± since Rubin was standing in front of her while Lewis was standing behind her.

    But she was by no means short, since she was taller than average girls in the empire.

    [My growth spurt was glorious.]

    163cm was pretty much impressive for a thirteen-year-old girl, and she would only continue to grow taller from there.

    If she remembered it correctly, during her first life, she hit the 170cm mark when she was sixteen years old. Yeah, it was like her growth spurt didn¡¯t stop until the age of sixteen. Even during her second life, she was pretty tall since she was 173cm when she died then.

    ¡°Hello, Lord Rubin,¡± Neoma greeted the young lord casually. ¡°What brings you here?¡±

    She didn¡¯t invite him for tea or ask him to join her for a walk. He came unannounced, so wouldn¡¯t it be better to just get straight to the point?

    It was still rude of her, but Rubin looked like he didn¡¯t mind.

    [Or maybe he¡¯s already used to how we treat each other like this.]

    ¡°I¡¯m here in my father¡¯s order,¡± Rubin said monotonously. ¡°My father asked me to see if I can help Your Royal Highness study for the uing entrance exam for Royal Moon Academy.¡±

    Ah, right.

    Rubin was her sunbae (senior) since he was an iing junior student at Royal Moon Academy once the new term begins.

    But...

    [Rubin is not the sharpest tool in the shed.]

    ¡°Thank you for the offer, but I can manage,¡± she rejected his offer politely. ¡°My tutor is doing an excellent job guiding me.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± Rubin said dully. ¡°If my father asked, please tell him I offered Your Royal Highness my help.¡±

    ¡°Sure,¡± she said, her brows furrowed.

    [Why does Rubin look lifeless these days?]

    They weren¡¯t particrly friends. Sometimes, Rubin would even pick a fight with her. But whenever they would meet recently, she noticed that he wasn¡¯t acting his usual self.

    [I thought he was doing better these days, but I guess I¡¯m wrong.]

    Perhaps Rubin was still longing for Regina Crowell.

    [Wait, it¡¯s none of my business.]

    ¡°Lord Rubin, is there something else you want to say?¡±

    ¡°I heard from my father that Duke Quinzel¡¯s daughter is returning to the empire in time for Royal Moon Academy¡¯s entrance exam.¡±

    She let out a sigh. ¡°Why does it seem like everyone is suddenly interested in Hanna?¡±

    House Quinzel registered Hanna¡¯s name for the uing entrance exam.

    It became the talk of the town since then. After all, everyone who knew the Quinzels thought Hanna was in a horrible state. Thus, it came as a surprise when House Quinzel registered Hanna for the entrance exam.

    ¡°Of course, everyone has their eyes on Lady Hanna Quinzel,¡± Rubin said bluntly. ¡°After all, isn¡¯t Lady Hanna Quinzel your fianc¨¦e, Your Royal Highness?¡±

    Well, nothing was official yet.

    Everyone just assumed Hanna was her fianc¨¦e because she had refused to meet the other Crown Princess candidates these past few years.

    ¡°Setting my rtionship with Hanna aside, I wonder why Lord Rubin seems to be curious of Hanna¡¯s return,¡± she said to avoid confirming or denying her rtionship with Hanna. She had to be careful with her words since the pce had ¡°ears.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t fancy you as someone who¡¯s interested in gossip.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not interested in Lady Hanna Quinzel per se,¡± the young lord said. ¡°I¡¯m more interested to know what Your Royal Highness feels about the controversy regarding the entrance exam.¡±

    [Ah, I get it now.]

    ¡°Lord Rubin, are you talking about the fact that Royal Moon Academy requires higher admission exam scores for girls than boys?¡±

    Yes, it was true.

    Girls needed higher entrance exam scores than boys.

    [Thanks to that stupid regtion, a lot of girls failed the exam in the recent years despite scoring higher than the lowest-scoring sessful male applicants.]

    ¡°Your Royal Highness is right- I¡¯m talking about that controversy,¡± Rubin said. ¡°I also heard from my father that Duke Quinzel, along with the other nobles who agree with his plea, has been appealing to the Ministry of Education to take corrective action for the past few years. When House Quinzel registered their only daughter for the entrance exam, only then did the education board change its passing threshold this year in order for the discrepancy to shrink.¡±

    That meant girls still needed higher entrance exam scores, albeit the lowered passing threshold for them.

    The Ministry of Education wanted to stay neutral, so that was the best they could do to address Duke Quinzel¡¯s concern. It was so obvious that the education board only exerted a little effort just so they wouldn¡¯t be used of ignoring the duke.

    ¡°People are saying Duke Quinzel only appealed to the Ministry of Education for the benefit of his own daughter,¡± Rubin continued. ¡°The Quinzels¡¯ reputation these days isn¡¯t that good.¡±

    [It looks like the Noble Faction is trying to bring House Quinzel down this time.]

    And it was probably because Hanna Quinzel was the best prospect to be the future Crown Princess.

    ¡°Duke Quinzel was just trying to make the educational system in the empire fair for the girls,¡± she said firmly, even though she knew she had to at least appear neutral. But she couldn¡¯t keep quiet when it came to people she cared about. [After all, in this house, Rufus Quinzel nder isn¡¯t allowed.]

    ¡°My father...¡± Rubin trailed off, then he shook his head. ¡°House Drayton, including the vassal families under us, was one of the people who opposed Duke Quinzel¡¯s appeal to the Ministry of Education. Do you know why?¡±

    ¡°I know,¡± she said firmly. ¡°If the educational system for girls and boys is fair, low-scoring male applicants like you wouldn¡¯t be epted.¡±

    After all, the regtion that required girls to have higher admission exam score was made in order to give the boys a higher chance to get epted in Royal Moon Academy. Because the moment the Royal Moon Academy opened its gates to girls, the nobles noticed that the number of girls passing the exam was higher than the boys.

    ¡°How did you know I was one of the low-scoring applicants during my entrance exam?¡±

    [Well, in my first life, your father beat you to a pulp for getting the lowest admission exam score among the Draytons who graduated from the Royal Moon Academy.]

    ¡°Just my hunch,¡± she lied. ¡°Why else would House Drayton oppose it?¡±

    Rubin smirked bitterly. ¡°My father was afraid that my future heir would inherit my stupidity, so he wanted to make sure the admission system in the most prestigious school in the empire wouldn¡¯t change.¡±

    That also meant that Rubin¡¯s father was expecting him to have a son, not a daughter.

    She didn¡¯t want to feel this way, but she felt a little bad for Rubin.

    ¡°I should have asked you to have tea with me,¡± she said, a little regretful. ¡°Discussing the current state of our empire¡¯s educational system is something that young lords like us should be discussing passionately over a cup of tea.¡±

    ¡°Discussing the educational system wasn¡¯t my intention, though,¡± Rubin said bluntly. ¡°I just wanted to see Your Royal Highness¡¯s reaction regarding the controversy that affects your fianc¨¦e.¡±

    ¡°But why?¡±

    ¡°Maybe because I wanted to see you as miserable as me because of a girl?¡±

    She pinched the bridge of her nose.

    [So, this miserable punk hasn¡¯t moved on from Regina Crowell¡¯s ¡°death¡± yet.]

    ¡°Rubin Drayton, you¡¯re a jerk,¡± she said bluntly. ¡°You won¡¯t see me and Hanna despair over that stupid controversy. We¡¯ll be fine- and we¡¯ll definitely ace the entrance exam together.¡±

    Rubin just smirked, then he bowed to her. ¡°See you at the academy, Your Royal Highness,¡± he said, then he raised his head to meet her gaze. ¡°I¡¯m sure Your Royal Highness will pass the entrance exam with flying colors since you¡¯re not dumb like me.¡±

    ¡°I like that you¡¯re self-aware,¡± she said bluntly, making Rubin smile. She clicked his tongue when she felt an ounce of pity for the miserable punk. ¡°I¡¯ll treat you to a meal once I be the student representative.¡±

    ¡°As if I¡¯d let an iing freshman treat me to a meal.¡±

    ¡°Then, you¡¯ll treat me? I don¡¯t say no to free food.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s see first if you¡¯ll be the student representative,¡± Rubin said, then he really said goodbye this time. ¡°Thank you for your time, Your Royal Highness.¡±

    After that, Rubin Drayton left and didn¡¯t look back at her.

    [Tsk, tsk, tsk. What a poor fellow.]

    Her thoughts were interrupted when he heard a sigh behind her. When she turned around, she saw Lewis scowling at her.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think I can support you in your goal to be the student representative, Your Royal Highness,¡± Lewis said coldly. ¡°I hope Your Royal Highness doesn¡¯t end up taking the first ce.¡±

    .....

    Neoma hit Lewis lightly on the arm. It was okay since it wasn¡¯t skin-to-skin contact. ¡°You punk- how dare you jinx your own mother?¡±

    ***

    ¡°I HEARD you¡¯re in hot water recently, Rufus,¡± Niki said while stirring his tea with a teaspoon. ¡°The parents of this year¡¯s student applicants are very upset that you tried to change the system- right when the entrance exam is just around the corner.¡±

    Of course, the parents that he spoke of were the higher nobles.

    Even some of the nobles in the Royal Faction opposed Rufus Quinzel¡¯s appeal to the Ministry of Education.

    ¡°We already expected this kind of bacsh, Your Majesty,¡± Rufus said whileughing softly, then he quietly put his teacup down on the saucer. ¡°But despite the bacsh, I¡¯m d that people are talking about the unjust educational system we have. Our main goal is to spark this a debate, after all.¡±

    And that was also the reason why he and Rufus were having tea in his office.

    ¡°It¡¯s a shame that I can¡¯t directly attack the Ministry of Education,¡± he said while popping back the teaspoon on the saucer, to the right of the cup. ¡°The Royal Faction was divided into two, so I had to pretend to be neutral this time.¡±

    If he wasn¡¯t protecting his children, he wouldn¡¯t have any problem forcing the Ministry of Education to do his bidding.

    But he couldn¡¯t afford to lose the support of the nobles right now.

    Thus, he had to pretend to be neutral.

    ¡°Don¡¯t feel too bad, Your Majesty,¡± Rufus encouraged him. ¡°It¡¯s a part of our n for me to be the center of attention so that Your Majesty can work on our secret project in silence.¡±

    Their secret project was the school they were building that only a few select knew about.

    Rufus would ultimately own the school, while he would be the biggest investor.

    He was using his own money to invest in the school under Neoma¡¯s name. But since Neoma¡¯s identity was still hidden, he had to be careful. He didn¡¯t want to draw attention to himself, so he just let Rufus do what he had to do.

    [It¡¯s self-serving, but it can¡¯t be helped.]

    ¡°Building a school took longer than we anticipated,¡± Rufus said, then he sipped his tea. ¡°But it can¡¯t be helped since we¡¯re doing it in secret.¡±

    He nodded in agreement and was about to say something when he heard a sharp voice in his mind calling him. The voice was so loud he scowled as a response.

    ¡°Your Majesty?¡± Rufus asked worriedly. ¡°Is something the matter?¡±

    He raised his hand to tell Rufus to keep quiet as he listened to the voice in his head.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have a son-inw,¡± he said coldly. ¡°Not even in the future.¡±

    ¡°I know,¡± he cut him off. ¡°What is it? I only allowed you to connect our minds together if it¡¯s for something important.¡±

    Niki, unconsciously, smiled at the piece of good news. ¡°Nero is awake?¡±

    He needed to hear it one more time.

    ***

    ¡°WHY ARE you upset at me again?¡± Neomained while walking backwards. She was walking that way in order to face Lewis. It was safe for her to walk that way since they were in the garden, so not much was in the way. ¡°Is it because I said I¡¯d treat Rubin to a meal?¡±

    ¡°If Your Royal Highness knows already, then don¡¯t ask.¡±

    [Wow, look at how this punk talks back to his mother.]

    ¡°Do I need to remind Your Royal Highness how Rubin Drayton has hurt you in your first life?¡± Lewis whispered coldly. ¡°It seems like Your Royal Highness¡¯s heart is so big you¡¯ve already forgiven the person who hurt you the most back then.¡±

    Lewis¡¯s sarcasm kinda hurt.

    ¡°In my defense, I lived a happy life for more than twenty years after my first life,¡± she said defensively. ¡°I was so happy back then that I almost believed the memory of my first life was nothing but a long nightmare. So, for me, it has been a long time since then.¡±

    Lewis let out a sigh. ¡°You pity him, don¡¯t you?¡±

    She bit her lower lip to stop herself from making an excuse. The more she talked, the more she would just get in trouble.

    ¡°The problem with Your Royal Highness is you think you need to save people by fixing their problems.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like that-¡±

    ¡°Just because you can save a person doesn¡¯t mean you have to,¡± Lewis said coldly. ¡°What will you do if you save Rubin from his misery now, only for him to betray youter?¡±

    She couldn¡¯t talk back.

    After all, she knew it was really stupid of her to feel bad for Rubin. She should have just minded her business and ignored his miserable state.

    But her heart felt heavy.

    [Do I have a saviorplex or something?]

    Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt a strange sensation.

    She couldn¡¯t exin it, but Nero¡¯s presence grew stronger even though her twin brother wasn¡¯t physically there. And, at that moment, only one thought filled her mind.

    ¡°Nero,¡± Neoma said, beaming up. ¡°I think Nero is awake.¡±

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 412

    Chapter 412: THE ROYAL TWINS¡¯ REUNION

    ¡°PAPA BOSS!¡± Neoma excitedly called her father as she entered his office. ¡°I think-¡±

    She trailed off when she saw Duke Rufus Quinzel sitting on the sofa across from her father. Only her Papa Boss and the duke were in the office, and Lewis was guarding outside. That meant it was okay for her to act like herself and not as ¡°Prince Nero.¡±

    Embarrassed by her behavior, she immediately stopped running. Then she put on a smile as she bowed lightly to the duke. She wasn¡¯t the real Crown Prince, and she wasn¡¯t even registered in the Royal Household as a family member.

    Thus, Duke Rufus Quinzel had a higher rank than her.

    ¡°Greetings, Duke Quinzel,¡± she greeted the duke politely. ¡°I apologize for my rudeness.¡±

    Duke Rufus Quinzel stood up and bowed to her to return her greetings. ¡°Princess Neoma, please don¡¯t be too formal with me,¡± he said, then he raised his head and smiled warmly at her. ¡°Your Royal Highness also doesn¡¯t have to apologize. I¡¯m d to see you healthy and energetic, as always.¡±

    She beamed, happy to be praised by the duke.

    .....

    Even though she had a good rtionship with her Papa Boss now, Duke Rufus Quinzel would always have a special ce in her heart.

    [Duke Quinzel will always be a father to me.]

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m happy and energetic,¡± she said cheerfully because she enjoyed talking to the duke. ¡°I¡¯m also tall for my age, but my proportions are good so I look fine, Your Grace.¡±

    [Praise me more, Duke Quinzel.]

    The dukeughed softly. ¡°You¡¯re right, Princess Neoma. I¡¯m surprised by your growth spurt.¡±

    She giggled. ¡°Me, too, Your Grace. But I pray I don¡¯t hit the 180cm mark. I don¡¯t want to be that tall.¡±

    ¡°Oh, may I know why? I don¡¯t think 180cm is that tall, though.¡±

    [It¡¯s because you¡¯re over 190cm, Your Grace.]

    ¡°I¡¯m a girl, Your Grace,¡± she reminded him yfully. ¡°I have the feminine urge to look small and cute next to my future boyfriend- I mean, lover.¡±

    It was toote when she realized that she fucked up.

    ¡°Boyfriend?¡± her Papa Boss, who had been quiet all this time, asked in an irritated voice. ¡°You¡¯re only thirteen years old, Neoma. Are you already thinking of getting yourself a lover, huh?¡±

    She gently pped her mouth.

    [Gosh, Papa Boss is irritating when he¡¯s being overprotective. But why do I also find it cute?]

    ¡°Come on, Your Majesty. Don¡¯t be too strict,¡± Duke Quinzel said teasingly. ¡°Weren¡¯t you already dating Lady Roseheart when you were around Princess Neoma¡¯s age?¡±

    Her Papa Boss almost choked on his tea.

    She, on the other hand, covered her ears with her hands. [I don¡¯t want to hear my parents¡¯ love story.]

    ¡°Rufus, you...¡± her Papa Boss said, but in the end, he just let out a sigh. ¡°This and that are two entirely different matters. What kind of father would be happy to hear his young daughter talk about wanting a lover?¡±

    ¡°That, I agree,¡± Duke Quinzel said, then he let out a sigh. ¡°But I have it worse than you, Your Majesty. My Hanna has been talking about her desire to marry Prince Nero since she was eight.¡±

    Her father¡¯s demeanor instantly changed.

    ¡°I can¡¯t me Hanna Quinzel,¡± her Papa Boss said proudly. ¡°My son is handsome, intelligent, rich, powerful, and capable, after all.¡±

    Duke Quinzel just let out a sigh.

    She, on the other hand, remembered why she came to her father¡¯s in the first ce when she heard her twin brother¡¯s name. ¡°Papa Boss, I felt a strange feeling earlier. It seems to be connected to Nero, so I want to check on him in person. Can I go to the Spirit World?¡±

    Her Papa Boss and the duke exchanged amused looks.

    [Okay, what¡¯s up?]

    ¡°I¡¯m impressed, Princess Neoma,¡± Duke Quinzel said when he turned to her. ¡°Your bond with Prince Nero is really unique.¡±

    Now she was confused.

    ¡°Trevor just contacted me earlier,¡± her Papa Boss said. He wasn¡¯t smiling, but his eyes were sparkling with happiness. ¡°He said Nero just woke up.¡±

    She gasped, then she sped her hands together. ¡°I knew it!¡±

    ¡°Trevor said William will fetch youter,¡± her Papa Boss said. ¡°They need you, so you muste to the Spirit World with your physical body.¡±

    Now that made her nervous.

    Even Duke Rufus Quinzel looked worried.

    ¡°Is something wrong, Papa Boss?¡± she asked worriedly. ¡°Did Trevor fail to fully heal Nero?¡±

    ¡°Trevor has sessfully undone the curse that almost killed your twin brother,¡± her Papa Boss assured her. ¡°But Nero¡¯s soul has been separated from his physical body for a long time. And so, your brother needs time before he gains his motor skills.¡±

    Oh.

    So, it was like howatose patients who just woke up couldn¡¯t move their bodies right away.

    [Master is right- the state of our physical body is just as important as having strong Mana.]

    ¡°It looks like you¡¯ll need to give Nero some of your blood and Moonglow in order for him to regain his strength quickly,¡± her Papa Boss added. ¡°That¡¯s why you needed to enter the Spirit World in your physical body.¡±

    She understood why Nero would need her Moonglow, but her blood, too?

    [Oh, perhaps my Roseheart Blood?]

    ¡°`Gotcha,¡± Neoma said, then she sped her hands together while giving her father a puppy dog eyes. ¡°Papa Boss, can I enter the Spirit World without my disguise?¡±

    ***

    ¡°WE¡¯RE NOT going to a pic, Neoma de Moonasterio.¡±

    Neoma ignored William as she admired herself in the mirror. She was in her room with her master, and they were supposed to leave now. But she couldn¡¯t take her eyes off of her face.

    Thanks to the potion that Marcus made for her, her hair grew long and it now reached her waist. Her hair was white and wavy, while the strands were a darker shade of pink. Stephanie, her nanny, tied her hair in a half-bun earlier.

    She also wore a pretty off-shoulder dress paired with ck ankle boots.

    [And I don¡¯t have to wear my voice-changing choker today~]

    Still, her neck felt empty, so she put on a ck choker with ribbon.

    ¡°Gosh, my beauty is seriously god-tier,¡± Neoma said while touching her face. ¡°I¡¯m a face genius- my visual is just so legendary.¡±

    She saw William, through his reflection in the mirror, frown.

    ¡°The de Moonasterios¡¯ narcissism never fails to amaze me,¡± Williammented while shaking his head. ¡°I understand why the Goddess of Beauty once tried to steal your bloodline¡¯s ¡®Gift of Beauty.''¡±

    ¡°¡®Gift of Beauty?''¡±

    ¡°As Yule¡¯s descendants, your bloodline was given three Gifts: Beauty, Youth, and Maturity,¡± he exined. ¡°That¡¯s why the de Moonasterios were born ridiculously beautiful. You also age very slowly. And as you already know, de Moonasterion children mature intellectually earlier than your peers.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± she said, then she stared at her face again. ¡°But I think I¡¯m still the most beautiful de Moonasterio born in history. I feel sorry for the Goddess of Beauty, but it is what it is.¡±

    William rolled his eyes at her, then he grabbed her (gently, by his standards) by her ponytail. ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± he said grumpily. ¡°Close your eyes- this will be a quick trip.¡±

    Neoma clicked her tongue, but she closed her eyes. ¡°You¡¯re such a killjoy, Master.¡±

    ***

    NEOMA felt like throwing up.

    That damned William said the trip would be ¡°quick,¡± but he didn¡¯t say it would be that quick. She had her eyes closed the entire time, but she still felt everything. If she needed topare her experience to something more rtable, then she¡¯d say it felt like riding a rollercoaster.

    But when the rollercoaster reached its highest point, it dropped her straight to the ground.

    [Blergh!]

    She couldn¡¯t even focus on their surroundings. To be honest, she didn¡¯t feel like they were in a different world. They were surrounded by trees, and it was pretty dark, so she thought they were just in an ordinary forest or something.

    ¡°You did well, Neoma de Moonasterio.¡±

    Neoma, who was too tired to argue, just red at William.

    ¡°If you were an average person, you wouldn¡¯t make it here in one piece,¡± William said while smirking. But she noticed that there was an unfamiliar emotion in her master¡¯s eyes while looking at her. ¡°The air in the Spirit World could actually suffocate humans, so it¡¯s terrifying to see you breathing fine even though you¡¯re in your physical body. It¡¯s as if...¡± He trailed off for a moment before he continued his words in a whisper. ¡°It¡¯s as if you¡¯re really born to be the Aether.¡±

    Why was her master acting so serious?

    ¡°Yeah, I may be born to be the Aether. But it doesn¡¯t mean I will be one. Main characters are born to defy their fate,¡± she said nonchntly. But just because she said it casually didn¡¯t mean her words had no weight in them. ¡°It¡¯s not that deep, Master.¡±

    William was about to say something, but they were interrupted.

    ¡°Wee to the Spirit World, Princess Neoma.¡±

    [What a soft and sweet voice.]

    The whole ce literally lit up after that.

    Hundreds of colorful Spirits flew around, and the leaves of the trees around them glowed beautifully.

    And the cause of the pretty change was a fairy.

    .....

    A beautiful, ethereal-looking fair that had a majestic vibe around her.

    [Oh.]

    ¡°Thank you for the warm wee, Your Majesty,¡± Neoma greeted the Queen of the Spirit World politely while bobbing a curtsy. ¡°I¡¯m Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio, and I¡¯m here for my baby brother.¡±

    ***

    [NERO...?]

    Neoma¡¯s heart was squeezed painfully when she saw Nero lying down on the bed weakly.

    Like her, Nero also grew up.

    But he was too thin for her liking.

    She knew that the Spirit World provided nutrients for Nero¡¯s body in order to keep him alive. But perhaps it wasn¡¯t enough to keep him healthy.

    It was Nero, and he spoke to her in her mind.

    He was probably too weak to open his mouth and speak.

    But when she saw the fire in her twin brother¡¯s eyes, her worries disappeared. Only Nero¡¯s body was weakened. His spirit was still burning brightly.

    That made her smile.

    ¡°Wee back, Nero,¡± Neoma said softly, then she kneeled beside the bed and held Nero¡¯s thin and warm hand in hers. Then she caressed his thin face with her other hand as she teased him. ¡°But shouldn¡¯t you call me ¡®big sister¡¯ from now on, hmm?¡±

    The shocked (and betrayed) look on Nero¡¯s face was priceless.

    [Come on, Nero¡ª call me ¡®noona~¡¯]

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 413

    Chapter 413: PREMIUM AIR PURIFIER

    [Pfft.]

    Neoma wanted tough as Neoma denied the truth.

    But she didn¡¯t want to show off her close rtionship with Nero their unwanted audience. She wasn¡¯t talking about Tara (the Spirit Queen) and William who were in the same room.

    There were several eyes watching them, but the owners of those eyes were hidden.

    [It seems like Nero is being closely monitored here, huh?]

    ¡°Master, Queen Tara, I¡¯d like to talk to my baby brother in private,¡± she said, then she turned to William and Tara who were standing next to each other behind her. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I¡¯ll be using my Dome and my Darkness attribute.¡±

    She didn¡¯t wait for any of the two to respond.

    .....

    [At least, I apologized in advance.]

    Then she unapologetically created a Dome (that was just big enough to cover the little space around the bed)ced with her Darkness attribute. It was to ensure that no eyes and ears would be able to watch her conversation with her brother. And since her Dome wasced with her Darkness attribute, it turned ck.

    Thus, they couldn¡¯t see anything outside.

    But that meant it also turned dark inside the Dome.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know you were being monitored here, Nero,¡± she said sadly, then she opened her hand and summoned Kimchi- her Fire Spirit. The area suddenly lit up, and Kimchi settled on her shoulder. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. It must have been ufortable to live here for so long while being monitored like that.¡±

    ¡°Good job, baby brother.¡±

    He let out a sigh.

    ¡°Papa Boss.¡±

    Sheughed. ¡°Nero, don¡¯t be too hard on Papa Boss. He had to tell me the truth because of the problem we encountered with the High Priest in the past.¡±

    His scowl deepened.

    ¡°Oh,¡± she said, amused. Then she sat on the bed and gently poked Nero¡¯s cheek with her finger. ¡°You look like Papa Boss¡¯s younger version when you scowl like that, Nero.¡±

    He fell silent while staring at her.

    ¡°I think we¡¯re around the same height,¡± she said while looking at his legs under the nket. ¡°You¡¯re quitenky, Nero. But you¡¯re too thin. We need to fatten you up.¡±

    ¡°Yep, Papa Boss told me about it already,¡± she said when she looked at her brother again. ¡°Ah, where¡¯s Trevor, by the way? I thought he¡¯d be here to greet me since that guy is a total simp for me.¡±

    Oh.

    Trevor must have been exhausted, yet he was still working hard for Nero¡¯s sake. She knew the demon boy was just fulfilling the deal that he made with her father, the emperor. Yet, she was a little impressed by Trevor¡¯s rigor.

    ¡°Nero, I¡¯m curious,¡± she said. ¡°How did Trevor cure you?¡±

    ¡°Huh? That sounds sus.¡±

    ¡°That really sounds like Trevor- carefree but capable.¡±

    ¡°I guess he¡¯s not the Devil¡¯s Grimoire for nothing.¡±

    She was about to ask Nero what he nned to do next when she noticed the sudden change in his expression. He was already pale, but this time, he turned paler. Plus, her baby brother took a deep breath, as if he couldn¡¯t breathe properly.

    ¡°Are you having a hard time breathing because of my Dome?¡± she asked worriedly. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, let me copse it-¡±

    She tilted her head to one side. ¡°Really? I¡¯m breathing fine. But then again, I just arrived here.¡±

    She raised an eyebrow at him. ¡°Nero, call me ¡®noona.¡¯ It means ¡®big sister¡¯ in the country where I spent my second life.¡±

    She clicked her tongue because Nero was right.

    [Papa Boss just calls Aunt Nichole by her name.]

    Sheughed at her twin brother¡¯s poor excuse. ¡°It¡¯s riching from someone who treated me like a baby all these years.¡±

    Nero ignored her.

    Or so she thought.

    Then she realized that the life in Nero¡¯s eyes was starting to fade as his breathing turned fast and shallow.

    [He can¡¯t breathe!]

    She panicked at first, then she remembered the time Lord Redgrave (the minor god that she killed in the past), literally stole her breath in order for him to get better. Would it work on Nero? It should be, since they had Yule¡¯s blood in them.

    ¡°Nero, I¡¯m sorry about this,¡± she said, then she gently grabbed his face until his mouth formed an ¡®o.¡¯ Then she leaned down and closed her eyes. ¡°You may find this gross, but please endure it for a moment.¡±

    She breathed into Nero¡¯s mouth.

    Of course, she wasn¡¯t giving her baby brother CPR. She imagined breathing LIFE into Nero. Thus, she could feel the airing from out of her mouth differently. It was warm, and the light hurting her closed eyes told her that yes, her breath was glowing.

    But she didn¡¯t know how much ¡°air¡± she should give Nero, since it was the first time that she had done it willingly. Moreover, she couldn¡¯t control it.

    [Should I stop now? Have I given enough ¡°air¡± for Nero? Did it even work?]

    Okay, she started to panic when her whole body turned warm. And she suddenly craved for Darkness. The sensation was familiar. Plus, there was a buzz in her head. It suddenly became noisy, as if there were several things hitting her Dome.

    But she didn¡¯t know if it was just her imagination or what.

    [This is like when I turned into a tree before!]

    ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio, put down your Dome.¡±

    It was William¡¯s voice.

    She opened her eyes and stopped breathing life into Nero at the same time she heard a crashing sound around.

    [Ah, I identally broke my own Dome when I panicked.]

    That wasn¡¯t her priority, though.

    When she turned to Nero to check on him, she let out a relieved sigh after seeing that his breathing was back to normal. The light in his eyes was also back.

    ¡°Thank goodness,¡± she said, then she held Nero¡¯s fine. ¡°Can you breathe properly now?¡±

    Nero blinked twice before speaking in her mind.

    She smiled at her brother, then she turned around to check on what happened around them.

    Why did the room turn into a huge mess? There were giant tree branches that pierced through the walls and the roof, and there were giant roots that emerged from the floor. If she didn¡¯t have the Dome earlier, she and Nero might have been hit.

    William and Tara looked fine, as expected.

    ¡°What happened?¡± she asked the two curiously while gesturing with her hands. ¡°Were we attacked by giant trees?¡±

    William let out a frustrated sigh. ¡°The nts in the balcony turned into giant trees when you released your...breath.¡±

    Oh, so it was her fault.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± she said, then she turned to the queen, who looked stiff next to William. ¡°Your Majesty, how can I pay for the damages I caused?¡±

    ¡°Please don¡¯t worry about the damages, Princess Neoma. We can easily fix it,¡± Tara said kindly, but the queen avoided her gaze. ¡°The important thing is you helped Prince Nero breathe properly.¡±

    Ah, so they knew what happened.

    ¡°It seems like it will be hard for Nero to stay here now,¡± she said worriedly. ¡°I believe it¡¯s time for Nero toe home.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s one reason why we needed you toe here personally,¡± William said. ¡°Let¡¯s discuss Nero¡¯s situation. Niki de Moonasterio told me to let you and Nero decide what to do next. Your father seems to trust the two of you too much.¡±

    Well, it was because her father knew that both she and Nero weren¡¯t really kids inside.

    [I wish Papa Boss bes more lenient when ites to my love life, though.]

    ¡°Allow me to excuse myself in the meantime to prepare for our discussion,¡± Tara said, then she smiled and curtsied, which made her look extra cute. But the queen still didn¡¯t look her in the eye. ¡°I¡¯ll also prepare a new room for Prince Nero.¡±

    After saying that, the Queen of the Spirit World gracefully left the room- flying.

    ¡°Master, the queen is not mad that I identally wrecked the room, is she?¡± Neoma asked worriedly. ¡°Her Majesty avoided my gaze twice.¡±

    William let out a sigh. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡±

    Tsk.

    [I did something wrong, didn¡¯t I?]

    ¡°Is it because I used my special breathing technique or whatever it is?¡± Neoma asked carefully, then she let out a sigh. ¡°It¡¯s so hard to live as a premium air purifier.¡±

    ***

    ¡°AH?¡± TREVOR said to himself, then he tilted his head to one side while sniffing the air. ¡°This is my Moon Princess¡¯s breath.¡±

    Of course, he wasn¡¯t talking about an ordinary ¡°breath.¡±

    Princess Neoma¡¯s ¡°air¡± was special.

    .....

    [But I wished you didn¡¯t use that power in here, Princess Neoma.]

    As if on cue, he heard a maniacalugh that sent a shiver down his spine. And a familiar voice followed thatugh.

    Trevor clicked his tongue. ¡°Someone wants to steal my Moon Princess again.¡±

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 414

    Chapter 414: THEY¡¯RE COMING HOME

    [THIS IS unbelievable!]

    Tara was d that she made it to her chamber before she turned into her human, adult size. But as soon as her bare feet touched the floor, her knees buckled. She hugged her shaking body tight while controlling her facial expression.

    She shouldn¡¯tugh.

    A queen like her must always smile kindly, notugh out loud.

    But she failed to stop herself from grinning in a very unrefined way.

    ¡°It was amazing,¡± Tara whispered to herself between chuckles. ¡°I only inhaled a bit of the ¡°air¡± Princess Neoma released, but it was enough to make me at least ten years younger.¡±

    For a Spirit like her, a decade was a very short time. It was like a month for humans, if she needed topare. Still, it was still an amazing feat. Because her energy was rejuvenated, she was able to transform back into her human form that she hadn¡¯t been able to do so for decades.

    .....

    Moreover, even the dying nts in Prince Nero¡¯s room earlier didn¡¯t juste back to life- the nts even turned into giant, healthy, and strong trees.

    [What would have happened if I have taken more of Princess Neoma¡¯s breath?]

    She shivered from excitement- the kind of excitement that she hadn¡¯t felt for decades.

    ¡°Princess Neoma is more valuable than I thought,¡± she whispered to herself. ¡°Did I choose the wrong twin?¡±

    Nero had the potential to be the next ruler of the Spirit World, though.

    Ah, the royal twins were making her greedy.

    ¡°If I can¡¯t choose, then I¡¯ll just grab them both,¡± she whispered to herself. ¡°They¡¯re twins anyway, so I shouldn¡¯t separate them. Right?¡±

    ¡°You can have Prince Nero, but I¡¯ll kill you if you touch my Moon Princess.¡±

    Her hand automatically moved to hit the demon, who suddenly appeared behind her. But her hand hit nothing but air.

    [He managed to break into my barrier?]

    She didn¡¯t have guards on the floor where her chamber was because she was confident she could protect herself well.

    ¡°I came here when I heard you mention my Moon Princess¡¯s name whileughing like a pervert,¡± Trevor, who appeared in front of her while floating in a lotus position, said while clicking his tongue. ¡°Your greed is showing, old hag.¡±

    She red at the demon for calling her an ¡°old hag.¡± ¡°Is this how you repay me for allowing you to stay here for years?¡±

    ¡°Oh, please,¡± he said while rolling his eyes at her. ¡°It¡¯s a win-win situation for you since you¡¯re obsessed with a male Roseheart like Prince Nero.¡±

    She clenched her hands. ¡°There are things I must do as the queen-¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t ask,¡± he cut her off rudely. ¡°My queen, don¡¯t be too greedy and just stick to the choice that you made for your beloved Spirit World. I already have a lot of rivals for Princess Neoma¡¯s attention without you adding on the list.¡±

    ¡°Before you worry about your ¡°rivals,¡± you should worry more about the fact that Princess Neoma doesn¡¯t even consider you as a suitor.¡±

    The demonughed like a maniac, but his glowing violet eyes showed his true feelings at the moment- anger.

    Hah.

    She smirked at his reaction. ¡°Did I hit a nerve?¡±

    ¡°Once I¡¯m free from my curse, I¡¯ll return,¡± Trevor warned her, his body now turning translucent. ¡°I¡¯lle back to return the favor, my queen.¡±

    And then he disappeared after leaving a threat.

    ¡°Did he say ¡°once¡± he¡¯s free from the curse?¡± Tara whispered to herself, confused. ¡°But I thought only the Devil himself could undo his curse?¡±

    If Trevor sounded confident, could it be...

    [Did he make a deal with the Devil?]

    ***

    ¡°IT¡¯S TIME, my lord,¡± Lukas said while cracking his knuckles. ¡°Lord Manu has opened the door to return here.¡±

    He was met with silence.

    Well, if there was someone spying on him in his house, they would have heard nothing. But Lord Helstor, the God of Darkness, was speaking in his mind.

    Only he could hear his god¡¯s voice.

    ¡°Yes, we can¡¯t let Lord Manu hand over the dragon to Princess Neoma,¡± he said. ¡°Princess Neoma must fail in saving either Lady Mona Roseheart or Gavin Quinzel.¡±

    Thus, he must steal the dragon before Lord Manu met up with Princess Neoma.

    ¡°I understand, my lord,¡± he said while nodding. ¡°Princess Neoma must not be happy in this lifetime- we must fill her with despair in order for us to seed.¡±

    The Darkness would only be free once the Light disappearedpletely.

    At this moment, Princess Neoma held the brightest and the strongest Light that threatened his god.

    ¡°Yes, my lord- I¡¯m on my way.¡±

    A certain Light mage suddenly entered his mind.

    Paige Avery.

    For some reason, he couldn¡¯t forget the Light mage that he fought three years ago. And he wanted to meet her again. This time, he wouldn¡¯t lose.

    Lukas smiled at that thought. [Paige Avery, let¡¯s meet again.]

    ***

    ¡°EVEN if you re at me, Neoma won¡¯t return faster,¡± Niki said to Lewis, who was ring at him while standing in front of his office desk. ¡°Or are you mad because I didn¡¯t let you see my daughter after she took off her disguise?¡±

    Lewis gave him a death stare.

    [Ah, I hit a nerve.]

    He smirked at Lewis. ¡°Yes, I did it on purpose,¡± he said proudly. ¡°Why would I let you see my daughter after she changed into the princess that she is?¡±

    After Neoma drank the potion to make her hair grow long, he forbade Lewis from stepping into his daughter¡¯s room.

    Neoma, at age thirteen, was already a remarkable beauty.

    Of course, his daughter had always been beautiful. But after her growth spurt, she became more ¡°lethal.¡± He was afraid the insects around her daughter (namely Lewis, Trevor, Jasper Hawthorne, and especially Ruston Stroganoff) would forget that Neoma was still a child just because she was tall.

    [I don¡¯t care if Neoma is literally an old soul- she¡¯s still a child to me.]

    ¡°Petty,¡± Lewis ¡°whispered¡± to himself. ¡°Your Majesty is petty.¡±

    He smirked. ¡°That¡¯s not how you talk to your master, Lewis.¡±

    The young fox just red at him again.

    He was about to say something when they heard a knock on the door.

    Then Kyle Sprouse entered his office and greeted him. The chancellor just gave Lewis (who bowed lightly to Kyle as a greeting) a quick nce before he turned to him and gave his report.

    [If Neoma was here, she would have scolded Kyle for ignoring Lewis.]

    ¡°Your Majesty, I have received a report from the Moonrose Knights.¡±

    Of course, the ¡®Moonrose Knights¡¯ would be Neoma¡¯s ¡°children.¡±

    But unfortunately, the Moonrose Knights weren¡¯t officially recognized by the empire yet. Thus, Lewis remained as a White Lion Knight until now.

    ¡°They¡¯re about to return to the Royal Capital,¡± Kyle continued with his report. ¡°The young knights have finished their training in time, Your Majesty.¡±

    Niki smiled, satisfied. ¡°Then that means it¡¯s also about time for Manu and Neoma¡¯s Soul Beast to return.¡±

    ***

    ¡°WE¡¯RE ALMOST home, Crimson,¡± Manu said to the big red egg in his arms. He covered the red egg with a dark blue nket that had fire resistance imbued with magic. Because, yes, the red egg was as hot as boilingva so he needed some protection. ¡°Or are you going to wake up as ¡®Tteokbokki?''¡±

    Neoma de Moonasterio¡¯s Soul Beast was strange because it had two different personalities.

    As ¡®Tteokbokki,¡¯ the Soul Beast was a crybaby who wouldn¡¯t shut up about missing his violent yet kind ¡°thug princess.¡±

    On the other hand, Crimson, the God of Wrath, was violent and just in bad.

    ¡°I guess that¡¯s not my problem anymore,¡± he saidzily. ¡°My job is done here.¡±

    The red egg in his arms contained the adult Fire Dragon.

    He had to put the Soul Beast inside an egg to bring it back to the other world safely. Crossing to the other world from the ¡®Dead World¡¯ with a conscious adult dragon who was still drunk with power would be difficult, so he had to put it to sleep.

    [Princess Neoma¡¯s Soul Beast has inherited her extreme arrogance.]

    His thoughts were interrupted when he finally reached the door at the end of the long and bright tunnel that he used to return to the ¡®present¡¯ world.

    [Has it been three years already here?]

    When he opened the door and he stepped out, he found himself in the garden of the old Roseheart Mansion that he used as his ndmark¡¯ in order to return safely.

    .....

    It wasn¡¯t as safe as he thought it would be, though.

    ¡°Wee back, Lord Manu.¡±

    [Argh, I should demand higherpensation.]

    He stepped into someone¡¯s territory.

    The whole Roseheart Estate was in istion from the ¡®real world.¡¯ It meant as long as the ce was under someone¡¯s territory, then it would be forgotten by the people living in the affected area.

    No one would see or remember the Roseheart Estate in the meantime.

    [Which means I¡¯m trapped here, and I can¡¯t ask for help.]

    Manu scowled while looking up at the handsome yet annoying man standing in front of him. ¡°Lukas, the God of Eternal Darkness¡¯s errand boy.¡±

    Lukas looked offended, but he hid it by smiling ¡®politely.¡¯ ¡°In case you have forgotten, I am Lord Helstor¡¯s Messenger.¡±

    ¡°Helstor?¡± he asked, then he snapped his fingers. ¡°Right, the God of Eternal Darkness has a name. I almost forgot since he¡¯s-¡±

    He wasn¡¯t able to finish his sentence when he felt a burning sensation in the corner of his mouth.

    The next thing he knew, he was already bleeding.

    He now had a long cut from his left cheek down to the corner of his mouth.

    ¡°I¡¯m aware of how arrogant the de Moonasterios are,¡± Lukas said, not smiling anymore. ¡°But I didn¡¯t know the Moon Priest is arrogant, too.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d rather be arrogant than a coward,¡± he said while wiping the blood off of his cheek with the back of his hand. ¡°You ambushed me here because you know I don¡¯t have the strength to fight after I raised the Red Dragon, right?¡±

    Lukas smiled ¡°innocently¡± at him. ¡°If you already know that, then you shouldn¡¯t have picked a fight with me. Hand me over the dragon, Lord Manu.¡±

    ¡°I refuse,¡± he said, hugging the red egg in his arms a little tighter.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be stubborn, Lord Muna,¡± Lukas said. ¡°Even if you weren¡¯t exhausted from raising the dragon, you¡¯re no match against me. As a Moon Priest, you weren¡¯t built for fighting.¡± His eyes glowed menacingly. ¡°You should be afraid of me- the Messenger of Lord Helstor?¡±

    Yeah, he should be afraid.

    [That¡¯s if I¡¯m alone.]

    He smiled ¡®politely¡¯ at the elf. ¡°I may not be built to fight, but why would I be afraid of a mere Messenger when my backup is Niki de Moonasterio?¡±

    Lukas looked shocked by what he said.

    It was toote for the elf to regreting there alone, though.

    The ground shook hard, and the barrier that trapped the Roseheart Estate under Lukas¡¯s territory cracked. Then the small cracks quickly turned into long cracks. It didn¡¯t take long for the ss-like barrier topletely break.

    ¡°You¡¯rete. I almost wet my pants here,¡± Manuined, then he looked up. ¡°You know I¡¯m not a fighter, Niki de Moonasterio.¡±

    Yes, it was really the emperor.

    Niki de Moonasterio was standing on the head of his Azure Dragon, flying in the sky.

    ¡°Niki de Moonasterio,¡± Lukas said through gritted teeth. ¡°Why are you here? An emperor shouldn¡¯t leave the pce when his heir isn¡¯t around!¡±

    Manuughed softly at the elf¡¯s confusion. ¡°If you didn¡¯t expect Niki de Moonasterio toe here just because the empire¡¯sw says the emperor and his heir couldn¡¯t leave the pce at the same time, then you¡¯re stupid,¡± he said. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t underestimate Niki de Moonasterio¡¯s obsession with Mona Roseheart.¡±

    Niki de Moonasterio ignored Manu, his glowing red eyes focused on Lukas. ¡°I¡¯ve waited for so long to see Mona again- for our children to meet their mother,¡± he said coldly. ¡°I will kill anyone who¡¯s stupid enough to get in my way.¡±

    Lukas visibly shivered from fear.

    Manu closed his eyes and sped his hands together. ¡°May you not rest in peace, Lukas.¡±

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 415

    Chapter 415: [Bonus Chapter] THE MENTORS

    Neoma returned to the empire as a hero.

    Her ¡°children¡± were also hailed as the new heroes of the continent for helping her subdue the Darkness in Valmento. They were also celebrated as heroes in Hazelden Kingdom for exposing the corruption of the king and the Crown Prince.

    She had to endure and smile during the whole parade.

    Yes, she and her ¡°children¡± received the hero¡¯s wee when they returned to the empire. The whole Royal Capital was filled with people who wanted to cheer for them. Everyone was happy for her, and proud of her achievements.

    [¡°The future of our empire is bright, thanks to our brave and righteous Lesser Moon.¡±]

    [¡°Our young Crown Prince was chosen by Lord Yule to find the next saint for a reason.¡±]

    [¡°His Royal Highness has the eye for people, too- his future knights were also brave and strong!¡±]

    .....

    Those were the things that she heard during the parade.

    But of course, not everyone was convinced by her aplishments.

    There were also some who brought up the ¡°questionable¡± backgrounds of his knights. Too bad for those people because they couldn¡¯t argue with sess. Plus, most of themon people were d that some of her knights were ordinary people and not nobles.

    ¡°For someone who loves attention, you¡¯re pretty sad.¡±

    She didn¡¯t have to turn to know it was her Papa Boss who joined her in her favorite spot in the pce.

    By favorite spot, she meant the floating pavilion by the pond. She couldn¡¯t sleep because there were a million things running through her head, so she took a walk. Before she knew it, her feet already brought her to the pavilion.

    [And now, Papa Boss is here.]

    She was sitting on the railing while admiring the pretty floating candles on the water when her Papa Boss stood beside her.

    Lewis, who was guarding by the pavilion¡¯s entrance, was joined by Geoffrey Kinsley.

    ¡°Papa Boss, I won my recent battles,¡± Neoma said without turning to her father. ¡°But at what cost?¡±

    She didn¡¯t know she¡¯d be quoting memes when talking to her father, the emperor and the strongest man in thend, but here she was now.

    ¡°Are you sad because your ¡°children¡± were hurt?¡±

    She nodded. ¡°I failed to protect them.¡±

    ¡°Why would you protect them when it was supposed to be the other way around?¡±

    ¡°Still...¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not your fault they were hurt,¡± her father said coldly. ¡°It¡¯s their fault for being weak.¡±

    She turned to her father with a pout. ¡°My ¡°children¡± aren¡¯t weak, Papa Boss. You just have high standards for powerful people. Not everyone who doesn¡¯t own an Elemental Guardian is weak.¡±

    Her Papa Boss was really impressed by Ruto¡¯s ability to tame an Elemental Guardian, so she thought Ruto¡¯s level was her father¡¯s standard.

    ¡°What are you saying?¡± her father asked, confused. ¡°I admit I¡¯m fond of Elemental Guardians, but Ruston Stroganoff is strong, even without one. That¡¯s why I approve of his strength, and not just because he owns Veton.¡±

    She gasped softly. ¡°Really, Papa Boss? Ruto is that amazing?¡±

    ¡°I will not indulge you with talks about Ruston Stroganoff,¡± her father said, then he immediately changed the topic. ¡°Your knights are okay for their age. But we need to prepare them for what will happen three years from now, so I suggest you give each of them a personal trainer with simr abilities or weapons as they do.¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± she said, easily convinced that it was a good idea. ¡°That sounds like a good idea. And it also sounds like you¡¯ve already found the best tutor for each of your ¡°grandchildren,¡± Papa Boss.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re not my ¡°grandchildren,¡± but yes,¡± her father admitted. ¡°I¡¯ve made a list, but the decision is yours.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll suggest it to my ¡°children,¡± but I won¡¯t impose it on them,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯ll never force them to do anything they don¡¯t want to.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re too soft on them.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re still children, Papa Boss.¡±

    ¡°Only the young elf is a child among your ¡°children.¡±¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m still older than them,¡± she reasoned. ¡°Plus, all of them actually need therapy. I want to look after their mental health as much as possible.¡±

    The concept of mental health in this world wasn¡¯t as progressive as what she hoped it would be. But to be honest, even in Korea, at least when she was still there, the stigma regarding mental health was still bad.

    Luckily, Go Areum, her eomma, was an active mental health awareness advocate.

    [I learned a lot of good things from eomma.]

    ¡°Therapy. Mental health. You really care about those things,¡± her Papa Boss repeated her words as if he was memorizing them. ¡°When we rescued the children from the Death Camp, you closely monitored them until they moved to the shelter we built for them. After that, you handpicked the Healers and the people in-charge of the shelter.¡±

    Oh, right.

    She remembered doing those things after the children from the Death Camp were rescued. It broke her heart that she could only do that much for the abused kids.

    ¡°When you were living in the other world, what do you do?¡± her Papa Boss asked awkwardly. ¡°Is your upation rted to caring for people with mental health problems?¡±

    ¡°No, Papa Boss. I¡¯m an advocate, though,¡± she said. ¡°I did modeling and social media for a living.¡±

    ¡°Modeling?¡±

    ¡°I advertised stuff like beauty cosmetics and famous brands for clothes, bags, and shoes. Ah, I also appeared in some CFs.¡±

    ¡°CFs?¡±

    ¡°Commercial films,¡± she exined, then she acted like she was holding a camera. ¡°It¡¯s the stuff where they film me while I act to endorse a product in front of the camera, then the CF would be broadcasted to different media. I once filmed a CF for a brand of beer with a famous actor. So they filmed us while we were drinking beer-¡±

    ¡°You had a drink with an insignificant male and you allowed people to film you? Worse, it was even broadcasted?¡±

    Omo.

    [Here goes overprotective Papa Boss again.]

    ¡°I was an adult then, Papa Boss,¡± she said. ¡°And that was a part of my job. But I don¡¯t always film CFs. I mostly just film myself doing mundane stuff in my daily life. I do mukbangs, too. I eat during live broadcasts.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s... considered a job?¡±

    Ouch.

    [Papa Boss sounds like those people who tell influencers and social media celebs to get a ¡°real job.¡±]

    But in her father¡¯s case, he was just probably confused.

    ¡°Yes, Papa Boss. I earned well from doing those things,¡± she said. ¡°I really enjoy the attention, but I didn¡¯t want to be controlled by the public, so I decided to be a ¡°half-celebrity¡± instead of bing an actress or an idol.¡±

    She used to be a trainee for an entertainment agency that produced idols. Since she used to be a child actress, she was recruited early to be a trainee. But it was such a bad memory for her, so she stayed away from the limelight for a while.

    Still, opportunities to be a celebrity came knocking at her door again and again- thanks to her famous parents. Her appa was a veteran actor while her eomma was a seasoned anchor/reporter. But most of all, she was a face genius.

    She also missed interacting with people who cheered her on, so she decided to be a vlogger where her boss was herself.

    ¡°It seems like you lived a bizarre life, Neoma.¡±

    Sheughed at her father¡¯s strange choice of words. ¡°My life back then wasn¡¯t that bizarre, Papa Boss. I was just privileged, and my parents were supportive, so I was able to do everything I wanted to do without the fear of failure. If I didn¡¯t have rich parents that also served as my safety, I wouldn¡¯t have lived such a carefree life.¡±

    ¡°They raised you well,¡± her father said softly. ¡°Go Areum... and Gavin Quinzel.¡±

    ¡°They did, Papa Boss,¡± she said in a soft tone. ¡°That¡¯s why I decided to bring appa and Nabi back to Go Areum. Eomma must still be waiting for them.¡±

    ¡°Neoma-¡±

    ¡°I know you wanted to punish my appa, Papa Boss,¡± she said, then she turned to her father with a sad smile on her face. ¡°But can¡¯t we just exile appa from this world as his punishment?¡±

    Her father turned his gaze away from her.

    ¡°I¡¯m aware that appa hurt you and Mama Boss in a very bad way,¡± she said. ¡°But appa also gave me the unconditional love I needed to gain my confidence back. Because of him and eomma, I became the Neoma that you know today, Papa Boss. And thanks to that, we¡¯re here now.¡±

    ¡°I understand where you¡¯reing from, but Gavin Quinzel hurt Mona the most,¡± her Papa Boss said. ¡°If your mother is willing to end his punishment in exile, then I¡¯ll consider it.¡±

    Papa Boss really loved her Mama Boss, huh?

    [But it sounds fair. Aside from Nabi, Mama Boss is the biggest victim here. I should stop here for now.]

    ¡°Okay, Papa Boss,¡± she said, slightly disappointed. ¡°I understand.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re upset, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°I am, but it¡¯s not your fault, Papa Boss,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m just used to getting what I want, so please just ignore my tantrum.¡±

    ¡°I refuse to ignore it,¡± her father said stubbornly.

    [Ah, so I really got my stubbornness from him.]

    ¡°Tell me what you want,¡± her Papa Boss said. ¡°I¡¯ll give it to you as an apology for hurting your feelings.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    Her father just nodded.

    Neoma smiled brightly. ¡°Then let¡¯s talk about Ruto, Papa Boss.¡±

    .....

    ¡°Just stay upset with me then,¡± her Papa Boss said bluntly, then he walked away without even looking back at her. ¡°Good night, little rogue.¡±

    ¡°Taking back your words is not nice, Papa Boss!¡±

    ***

    ¡°FOR JENO¡¯s personal mentor, you chose Sir Jaxson Emmett, the vice-captain of ck Hawk Knights?¡± Neoma, who was having breakfast with her father, asked. Then she tilted her head to one side until she remembered what ck Hawk Knights, the knights led by Duke Rufus Quinzel, were known for. ¡°Ah. They specialize in guns as weapons.¡±

    Duke Rufus Quinzel was a double gun user, if she remembered it correctly.

    But guns weren¡¯t popr in the empire because most of the elite knights were on the Swordsman level. Plus, they used Mana in fighting.

    ¡°Papa Boss, why didn¡¯t you ask Duke Quinzel?¡± she asked curiously. ¡°But then again, His Grace must be busy.¡±

    ¡°Jaxson Emmett is better than Rufus when handling guns,¡± her Papa Boss, who was sitting across from her, said. ¡°Rufus was raised to wield a sword, after all. And Rufus doesn¡¯t really need weapons, since he has his Shadow Maniption Technique.¡±

    ¡°Oh, `gotcha,¡± she said. ¡°Is Sir Emmett a good teacher?¡±

    Although she had lived as a Quinzel before, she wasn¡¯t close with the knights since she barely got out of the mansion back then.

    ¡°I heard Jaxson Emmett is pretty strict,¡± her Papa Boss said. ¡°He has to be since Rufus is soft-hearted.¡±

    ¡°Ah, so Sir Emmett is in charge of the discipline among the ck Hawk Knights,¡± Neoma said, then she sipped her orange juice before she spoke again. ¡°I hope Jeno gets along with Sir Emmett well.¡±

    ***

    ¡°LORD JENO, may I know how many guns you own?¡±

    Jeno felt a little awkward and nervous while facing the famous vice-captain of the ck Hawk Knights.

    Jaxson Emmett was a bulky man with burgundy hair tied in a man bun. His bearded face was also intimidating, especially the long and deep scar on his left cheek. The knight¡¯s hazel eyes looked warm and gentle, though.

    He already received a notice from Princess Neoma in advance. Apparently, Jaxson Emmett would visit him at home to see how he was trained to use guns. The royal princess also told him she asked the knight to be his mentor, but it was up to him whether or not he wanted to train under Jaxson Emmett.

    [I want to get stronger for Princess Neoma, so I won¡¯t waste this opportunity.]

    So when the vice-captain arrived at the Dankworth Estate, he brought him to his personal training area.

    ¡°I officially own six guns. Four rifles, and two handguns, Sir Emmett,¡± Jeno said nervously. ¡°I recently received two guns from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, but I haven¡¯t applied for official ownership of the guns yet.¡±

    By the ¡°Crown Prince,¡± she meant Princess Neoma. But Sir Emmett didn¡¯t know that, so he had to address the princess that way.

    ¡°So, eight guns in total,¡± Sir Emmett asked, as if he was impressed. ¡°How many guns do you use in a fight, Lord Jeno?¡±

    ¡°I usually just use one, but if there are over two enemies, then I use two.¡±

    ¡°Just two?¡± the vice-captain asked. ¡°Why don¡¯t you use all your guns when fighting, young lord?¡±

    ¡°I only have two hands to hold the guns...¡±

    Was his dumb answer.

    When Sir Emmettughed softly, he felt embarrassed. It wasn¡¯t like the vice-captainughed at him.

    He just felt dumb on his own.

    ¡°Can I use more than two guns at the same time?¡± Jeno asked determinedly. ¡°Is that possible, Sir Emmett?¡±

    Jaxson Emmett smiled at him. ¡°It is possible, Lord Jeno.¡±

    ***

    ¡°I¡¯VE BEEN curious ever since you said you chose Wyatt as Xion¡¯s mentor, Papa Boss,¡± Neoma said, now munching on strawberry and cream for dessert. ¡°Why only Wyatt? I thought Wyatt and Warren have simr abilities.¡±

    ¡°Wyatt will be enough,¡± Papa Boss, who had tea and not dessert after their breakfast, said. ¡°Warren is busy raising other children.¡±

    She raised an eyebrow.

    Then she remembered that the Fletcher Twins were the ones who brought Dahlia to the empire.

    ¡°Nero has hidden ¡°children,¡± right, Papa Boss?¡±

    Papa Boss just sipped his tea.

    ¡°I knew it,¡± Neoma said, then she smirked. ¡°My baby brother inherited my knack for raising interesting kids.¡±

    ***

    ¡°FOR AN assassin, you¡¯re sloppy.¡±

    Xion felt shit while being criticized by Wyatt Fletcher.

    But he couldn¡¯tin since he lost to a crow. He almost died, too.

    So all he could do was stand in front of the Pdin while listening to his criticism. He didn¡¯t know why they were standing in the middle of a sketchy alley in the slumps, though. The homeless people were eyeing them, but none made a move since he and Wyatt Fletcher both looked dangerous, even though both of them were wearing in, casual clothes that concealed their weapons.

    ¡°You can¡¯t even erase your presence properly,¡± Wyatt Fletcher said while shaking his head. ¡°You probably relied too much on your curse before. I heard you used to have the ability to make peoplepletely forget you. But since the curse was undone now, you¡¯ve turned into a mediocre assassin.¡±

    He clenched his hands and bit his lower lip to stop himself from snapping.

    [I must endure for Princess Neoma.]

    ¡°They told me to train you, but I want you to prove yourself to me first. I¡¯m not as obedient as my twin brother.¡±

    To be honest, he hated proving himself to people he didn¡¯t care about.

    But Princess Neoma was very important to him. If he wanted to protect Her Royal Highness, he must endure.

    ¡°I understand,¡± Xion said firmly. ¡°What must I do to prove my worth?¡±

    ¡°Find me,¡± Wyatt Fletcher said, his body slowly blending into the darkness. ¡°Find me in three days, Xion Redgrave.¡±

    ***

    ¡°IS LADY Sera a fighter?¡± Neoma asked curiously while walking in the garden with her Papa Boss. These days, strolling the garden after breakfast had been normal for them. ¡°I didn¡¯t fancy her as a fighter, since she looks delicate. Lady Sera has a sharp tongue, though.¡±

    ¡°Sera Wisteria destroyed Gavin Quinzel¡¯s carriage in the past,¡± her Papa Boss said bluntly, then he looked at his hands. ¡°With her bare hands and without using Mana.¡±

    She gasped. ¡°Lady Sera has monstrous strength?¡±

    ¡°The Wisterias do. I believe they developed a potion that makes their body healthy and sturdy,¡± her father said. ¡°How do you think Juri Wisteria swings an iron sledgehammer as if it¡¯s just a twig?¡±

    Oh, touche.

    ¡°If it¡¯s just strength, my ¡°daughter¡± won¡¯t lose,¡± Neoma said proudly. ¡°Her strength is solid.¡±

    Her Papa Boss smirked. ¡°Can Juri Wisteria fight without Mana, though?¡±

    ***

    JURI hit the wall, the strong impact creating long cracks on the wall that easily spread.

    She dropped her ¡°headless¡± iron sledgehammer to the floor- cracking it in the process. But the head of her sledgehammer had been missing, thanks to her Aunt Sera.

    One punch.

    It only took one punch.

    When her Aunt Sera¡¯s fist hit the head of her sledgehammer, it broke like fragile ss. After that, she was sent flying. Thank goodness only the two of them were using the training room at the moment.

    It would have been embarrassing if the knights of their family saw her shameless defeat.

    ¡°Darling, why are you so weak?¡± Aunt Sera asked, while putting on a new pair ofcy ck gloves. ¡°Did my brother and my sister-inw baby you too much?¡±

    ¡°This fight isn¡¯t fair,¡± Juriined while trying to stand, despite the pain all over her body. She could be a sore loser sometimes. ¡°You stabbed me with your poison earlier, Aunt Sera.¡±

    Her Aunt Sera¡¯s ¡°homemade¡± poison could temporarily make the victim unable to use their Mana for a period of time. The effects depended on the poison¡¯s dosage.

    ¡°You rely too much on your little toy,¡± her Aunt Sera said. ¡°But your sledgehammer is only stronger than normal sledgehammers because it¡¯s infused with your Mana. How will you protect yourself if you¡¯re unable to grab a weapon?¡±

    ¡°I can do spells, since I¡¯m also a half-mage.¡±

    ¡°My dear niece, let me teach you the wonders of brute strength,¡± her Aunt Sera said, smiling. ¡°Clench your teeth, Juri.¡±

    Juri almost met Lord Yule after being punched by her Aunt Sera that day.

    But for Princess Neoma¡¯s sake, she clenched her teeth again and again.

    ***

    ¡°IT¡¯S ALRIGHT, Paige,¡± Neoma said to the Light Mage who dropped by her office. ¡°You can do whatever you want.¡±

    Paige still looked worried. ¡°Is it really alright for me to turn down His Majesty¡¯s suggestion?¡±

    Her father suggested the Royal Archmage to be Paige¡¯s mentor.

    But the Light Mage politely declined because she had something else that she wanted to do.

    ¡°Papa Boss acknowledges your strength, Paige,¡± she assured her ¡°child.¡± ¡°Papa Boss only suggested the Royal Archmage in case you wanted to learn new magic. But my father said that he knows mages like you prefer to study on their own.¡±

    Yes, Paige wanted to travel the continent.

    ¡°I want to learn Lost Magic, Your Royal Highness,¡± the Light mage said softly. ¡°I feel like I won¡¯t be able to learn it if I get confined in the Royal Tower. And I¡¯ve been locked up inside the Hisa Tree for so long. I want to see the world with my own eyes.¡±

    ¡°You can do that,¡± she said, smiling. ¡°Just please return safely.¡±

    The mage bowed to her. ¡°Thank you, Your Royal Highness.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wee,¡± she said, then she changed the topic. ¡°I heard you met up with Lord Marcus the other day. Did everything go well?¡±

    Apparently, Lord Marcus was Paige¡¯s ex-lover.

    ¡°Yes, Your Royal Highness. Thank you for allowing me to meet Marcus,¡± Paige said, smiling. But there was a glint of sadness in her eyes. It looked like she didn¡¯t want to talk about it, though, as she changed the topic right away. ¡°I heard His Majesty chose Marcus to be our Greko¡¯s mentor.¡±

    ¡°Yep,¡± Neoma said, excited for Greko. ¡°Greko has a separate teacher for his basic lessons, but Lord Marcus is in charge of teaching our little Greko everything he needs to learn to be a good Healer.¡±

    ***

    ¡°GREKO, have you packed your things?¡±

    Greko smiled and nodded at Lord Marcus¡¯ question, then he gently patted the bag that contained the things he needed for traveling. ¡°Yes, my lord,¡± he said energetically. ¡°Paige noona packed my things for me.¡±

    The Healing Sage smiled sadly upon hearing her noona¡¯s name.

    He wanted to ask why, but he stopped himself from doing so because he wasn¡¯t even sure if the emotion he saw in Lord Marcus was correct.

    ¡°Is that so?¡± Lord Marcus asked, then he quickly changed the topic. ¡°Today, we¡¯re going to visit an orphanage. We will check on the children¡¯s condition, and give them the potions they need to stay healthy. Can you help me do that?¡±

    ¡°Yes, my lord. I will do my best to help you,¡± Greko said determinedly. [I will learn all the things I need to learn in order to be eomma¡¯s Healer.]

    ***

    ¡°PAPA BOSS, you¡¯re kidding, right?¡±

    ¡°Why would I even joke about that?¡± her Papa Boss asked, confused by her reaction. ¡°I said I will be Lewis Crevan¡¯s mentor.¡±

    Neoma¡¯s jaw dropped.

    [Omo, Papa Boss is serious.]

    So, her Papa Boss summoned her and Lewis in his office for this reason.

    [My gosh.]

    She turned to Lewis, who was standing next to her, pokerfaced.

    [This punk. Papa Boss just said he¡¯ll be your mentor. Show some reaction, Lewis. Aren¡¯t you scared? I¡¯m scared for you!]

    ¡°I¡¯ll be in your care, Your Majesty,¡± Lewis said, then he bowed to her Papa Boss.

    ¡°Sure,¡± Papa Boss said, then he stood up and rolled up his sleeves. ¡°Try not to die on me, Lewis Crevan.¡±

    She was too stunned to speak.

    ¡°Princess Neoma,¡± Lewis said, then he turned to her with burning motivation in his golden eyes. ¡°I won¡¯t let you down.¡±

    Seeing Lewis¡¯ motivation put her heart at ease.

    ¡°Okay,¡± Neoma said, then she raised her clenched hands. ¡°Fighting.¡±

    ¡°Do you have time to worry about other people, little rogue?¡± her Papa Boss asked, then he raised an eyebrow at her. ¡°Your training with William begins today, too.¡±

    ***

    ¡°SLEEP eight hours a day, drink plenty of water, eat healthy food, take afternoon naps, exercise moderately,¡± Neoma read the content of the paper William handed to her, then she turned to the Grand Spirit with a confused look. ¡°What¡¯s this, William?¡±

    ¡°Your training regime,¡± William said bluntly. ¡°What else would that be?¡±

    Now she was even confused.

    She went to her personal training ground fully prepared for a very intense training.

    But...

    [This is my training regime?]

    ¡°This isn¡¯t it,¡± she said, refusing to ept reality. ¡°What do you take me for, William?¡±

    ¡°An idiot who fainted after consuming energy potions.¡±

    Okay, she couldn¡¯t refute that.

    ¡°A strong soul needs a healthy body,¡± William said while looking at her disapprovingly. ¡°We will not begin your training until your body fully recovers.¡±

    For real?

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m serious,¡± the Grand Spirit said, as if he could read her mind. ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio, if you seed, I will teach you a skill. Nero has already acquired it with no one teaching him. So, don¡¯t you want to catch up with your brother?¡±

    ¡°What kind of skill is it?¡±

    ¡°The ability to enter a sleeping person¡¯s dream.¡±

    A sleeping person¡¯s dream...

    [Wait, Ruto is sleeping!]

    William raised an eyebrow at her. ¡°What do you want to do now, Neoma de Moonasterio?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll follow your training regime,¡± Neoma said energetically. ¡°I will be the healthiest person on the whole continent!¡±

    ***

    NOTE: Sorry for the long chapter! This is supposed to be the first chapter for Volume 4, so it¡¯s kinda long.

 Chapter 416

    Chapter 416: THE STRONGEST MAN IN THE EMPIRE

    NIKOLAI turned to the crystal ball the size of Neoma¡¯s fist on his office table.

    He felt a strange aura gathering inside the crystal ball that looked like a small moon. Thus, it didn¡¯t surprise him when the crystal ball glowed and burst. The broken pieces didn¡¯t reach him since he had a powerful protection on himself that would never wear off unless he was on the brink of death. Thus, the broken pieces turned into pieces of dust, eventually.

    The emperor¡¯s body was sacred, so not everyone could touch him casually. If a person who had bad intentions towards him dared to touch him carelessly, his barrier would get activated and attack what it considered as a threat.

    ¡°Your Majesty, isn¡¯t that the crystal ball that Lord Manu entrusted to you before he left the empire?¡± Geoffrey Kinsley, who was standing in front of his desk, stopped with his report to ask. ¡°Why did it suddenly break? It feels ominous.¡±

    Contrary to Geoffrey¡¯s worry, it was actually quite the opposite.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not ominous,¡± Niki said, his mood suddenly bright even though he spent the whole day worrying about his children. Neoma hadn¡¯t gone back yet, and he didn¡¯t know what Nero¡¯s exact condition at the moment was. ¡°The fact that the crystal ball broke only means Manu has returned.¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± the Pdin said, beaming. ¡°Then that also means Princess Neoma¡¯s Soul Beast has returned.¡±

    .....

    Yes, and it was exactly why his mood turned bright.

    Now that Neoma¡¯s Soul Beast was back, saving Mona would naturallye next.

    [Finally.]

    ¡°Your Majesty?¡± Geoffrey Kinsley asked, confused, when he stood up and grabbed his jacket that was hung on his chair. ¡°Are you going somewhere?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to fetch Manu myself.¡±

    The Pdin¡¯s eyes looked shocked. ¡°Your Majesty can¡¯t leave the pce when your heir isn¡¯t here. In this case, both Prince Nero and Princess Neoma aren¡¯t in the pce so-¡±

    ¡°There are individuals who wouldn¡¯t want us to save Mona,¡± he said, cutting Geoffrey Kinsley off while putting on his jacket. ¡°Judging by what happened the past few years, it¡¯s obvious there are eyes monitoring our movements. In that case, our enemies probably know that Manu has returned.¡±

    ¡°Allow me toe with Your Majesty then,¡± the Pdin said. ¡°If the enemies will attack, then I can¡¯t let Your Majesty go and face them alone.¡±

    ¡°Geoffrey Kinsley, are you insulting me?¡±

    Geoffrey immediately bowed to him. ¡°I misspoke, Your Majesty. Please forgive me,¡± he said. ¡°I am not and will never insult Your Majesty. It¡¯s just that as your Pdin, it¡¯s my job to apany you all the time- especially when you¡¯re about to face an enemy.¡±

    ¡°You have nothing to worry about,¡± he said nonchntly. ¡°I¡¯ll return before Kyle Sprouse notices I sneaked out.¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, Kyle will kill me if he finds out I let you go alone...¡±

    ¡°Glenn is no longer here, so it¡¯s your job to deal with Kyle now,¡± Niki said, then he walked towards Geoffrey Kinsley and patted the Pdin¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Good luck dealing with that grumpy man, Vicemander Geoffrey Kinsley.¡±

    Yes, Geoffrey Kinsley was now the vicemander of the White Lion Knights.

    The position of being themander was still reserved for Ruston Stroganoff, even though he didn¡¯t like how his daughter fawned over that boy.

    [Once Ruston Stroganoff bes themander of the White Lion Knights, I will move the Order¡¯s base to the farthest border from the Royal Capital.]

    Geoffrey Kinsley let out a worried sigh. ¡°Please return safely, Your Majesty.¡±

    ***

    [DEARL LORD Yule, I¡¯m about to witness a murder.]

    Manu knew that the moment Niki de Moonasterio created his own Field Istion, the kind of technique that separated the emperor¡¯s ¡°domain¡± from reality, Lukas was already dead meat.

    Lukas tried to escape, but the emperor¡¯s Field Istion covered the whole Roseheart Estate fast.

    It was impressive.

    Usually, when the ¡°territory¡± was as big as the Roseheart Estate, it would take for an individual with a skill like the emperor¡¯s Field Istion a few minutes to cover the entire area. But Niki de Moonasterio only needed a few seconds to establish his Field Istion.

    [Niki de Moonasterio¡¯s skills didn¡¯t get rusty, huh?]

    ¡°Manu.¡±

    [Look at this disrespectful little shi...]

    ¡°What?¡± Manu asked while looking up at Niki de Moonasterio, who was looking down at him with glowing red eyes. He immediately realized why the emperor called him when he saw him gathering his Moonglow in his fingertip. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine,¡± he said, assuring the emperor. ¡°I can protect myself and the dragon egg, so don¡¯t hold back.¡±

    To put the emperor at ease, he created a thick Dome to protect himself and the dragon egg. It was the same technique that Dominic Zavaroni possessed. After all, both of them learned the same thing while they were being trained as Lord Yule¡¯s representatives.

    ¡°Good,¡± the emperor, who seemed satisfied with his barrier, said.

    [He really never learned how to speak respectfully to his elders.]

    His internal whining was interrupted when Niki de Moonasterio¡¯s gaze fell on Lukas.

    He felt a shiver down his spine, even though the emperor¡¯s hostility wasn¡¯t directed at him. No wonder the elf visibly flinched.

    [Oh, the poor elf is scared.]

    Lukas looked like a mouse caught in a trap. It was also obvious that the elf was struggling to escape.

    Scratch that.

    The elf was now literally frozen on the spot where he stood. A ck snake was wrapped around his ankles, after all.

    [Ah, that¡¯s Niki de Moonasterio unofficial Soul Beast.]

    Unfortunately for the elf, his Darkness attribute was also weak against the emperor¡¯s Moonglow. Thus, Lukas couldn¡¯t even leave his physical body to escape with his soul. After all, the emperor¡¯s Field Istion was created from the pure divine energy that the de Moonasterios possessed.

    [Yes, this is really a one-sided fight.]

    Niki de Moonasterio raised a hand, his fingertips glowing with the bluish radiance of his Moonglow. Then he mmed his hand in the air, creating a powerful wave that fell down on Lukas, who was literally crushed in a second.

    [Oh, dang.]

    The air wave that crushed Lukas was made from pure Moonglow, after all.

    It mmed Lukas to the ground; the impact creating a vast crater, as if a huge and heavy object fell on it.

    [I wonder if the elf survived that...]

    If Niki de Moonasterio didn¡¯t use his Field Istion, the whole Roseheart Estate would have been destroyed by now.

    Scratch that.

    The Moonglow-infused air wave that the emperor threw at Lukas casually would have been enough to erase the Royal Capital from the map.

    His thoughts were interrupted when Lukas coughed up a huge chunk of blood.

    ¡°He¡¯s still alive,¡± he said to himself, impressed.

    ¡°I can¡¯t let him die easily since I need him as bait for his god whose name I already forgot,¡± Niki de Moonasterio said haughtily after hended on the ground gracefully. Then he walked towards the elf while drawing Calypso- the emperor¡¯s sword. ¡°But that elf needs to be purified. His Darkness attribute isn¡¯t normal.¡±

    He nodded in agreement. ¡°It¡¯s filled with despair that doesn¡¯t belong to him.¡±

    The emperor stopped in front of the fallen elf.

    Lukas then slowly raised his head to re at His Majesty.

    [Wrong move, fool.]

    Niki de Moonasterio unceremoniously stabbed the elf¡¯s right eye with his sword- making Lukas scream in agony. After all, the emperor¡¯s de was covered with pure Moonglow. ¡°Who gave you the right to re at me?¡± he asked the elf while twisting the de to make it more painful for Lukas. ¡°Are you mad I crushed you so easily?¡±

    Manu didn¡¯t want to sympathize with the elf who tried to harm him earlier.

    But watching the emperor torture and verbally assault Lukas made it look like that the elf was the victim.

    [Niki de Moonasterio looks like the viin here.]

    ¡°C-Curse you, Niki de Moonasterio,¡± Lukas said weakly. The elf was already crying blood in both eyes. ¡°You and your damned bloodline...¡±

    ¡°Stronger individuals and gods have already tried cursing our bloodline and failed. What makes you think a mere elf¡¯s curse will work on me?¡± Niki de Moonasterio said arrogantly. ¡°But your god¡¯s curse might work, so why don¡¯t you behave and tell the God of Whatever Darkness toe out and y with me?¡±

    Niki de Moonasterio really gave the God of Eternal Darkness an insulting name, causing Lukas to scream indignantly at the emperor who remained poker-faced.

    [God of Whatever Darkness?]

    Manu would probably go to hell forughing a little louder than he should have.

    ***

    ¡°MY MOON Princess, did you miss me?¡±

    Neoma, who was having tea in Nero¡¯s new room, looked up to see Trevor, who just entered the chamber with a huge grin on his stupidly handsome face.

    [It looks like Trevor is as tall as Rubin Drayton now.]

    The carefree demon¡¯s physical appearance right now resembled the adult Trevor in her memory.

    [God, I don¡¯t want to admit this, but Trevor¡¯s adult form is hot.]

    ¡°Princess Neoma, do you like my face that much?¡± Trevor asked, grinning. Then he sat on the armrest of the chair she upied. ¡°Here, look at my face closer.¡±

    It was an offer hard to resist.

    [My weakness against handsome faces is more embarrassing than the shameful end of my second life.]

    .....

    Still, she shamelessly stared at Trevor¡¯s handsome face.

    ¡°You punk,¡± Neoma said while looking at Trevor¡¯s face. ¡°Did you get more piercings?¡±

    Trevor grinned (cutely) as he tilted his head to one side, obviously acting cute for her. ¡°You noticed, my Moon Princess?¡±

    How could she not?

    Now that Trevor was this close to her, she noticed that he had a tongue piercing as well when he talked.

    But it wasn¡¯t the only thing that she noticed.

    ¡°Hmm?¡± she said, her hand automatically reaching for Trevor¡¯s eyebrow piercing.

    Yes, this punk had an eyebrow piercing, too.

    [This one is strange, though.]

    The demon boy¡¯s eyebrow piercing was giving him bad vibes.

    Trevor tried to avoid her touch, but that movement only gave her the reason to be aggressive. When she touched his eyebrow piercing, the image of the Devil suddenly entered her mind. She could tell right away that the piercing came from the Devil.

    ¡°Did you meet the Devil recently?¡± she asked, her eyes instantly turned glowing red.

    When Trevor didn¡¯t give a response and his lips just formed a thin line, she immediately wrapped her fingers around his neck.

    ¡°You did,¡± Neoma said sternly. ¡°Trevor, did you betray me?¡±

    Trevor let out an awkwardugh. ¡°Princess Neoma, how did you know?¡±

    ***

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 417

    Chapter 417: ROMANTIC BETRAYAL

    ¡°DON¡¯T LET the elf die,¡± Niki said to his Soul Beasts. ¡°But you can rough him up a little bit more.¡±

    North, the ck Tortoise in his human form,ughed softly while putting the unconscious and bleeding elf on his shoulder like it was a sack of potatoes. ¡°Your Majesty, you already took one of the elf¡¯s eyes, and you purified him until his insides were burned. And you still want us to rough him up?¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± he said without hesitation. ¡°That¡¯s the bastard who hid like a roach in my daughter¡¯s soul for years. He must pay for his sin by suffering every moment of his worthless life.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s rare for Your Majesty to curse,¡± Center, who was still in his snake form, said while crawling around North¡¯s leg. ¡°I guess Princess Neoma¡¯s foul mouth has rubbed off on you. But you¡¯re cooler when you curse, Master. Please keep it up.¡±

    He just ignored the ck snake.

    But the Moon Priest sharedmented on Center¡¯s remark.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think Niki de Moonasterio needs to curse to scare the living daylights out of anyone,¡± Manu said bluntly while giving him a disapproving look. ¡°Lord Yule showed mercy to humans by not blessing Niki de Moonasterio with a foul mouth. Imagine if he curses like his daughter on top of his horrible personality.¡±

    .....

    North and Center both stifled theirughter.

    ¡°Shut up,¡± he scolded the three, then he gave them his orders. ¡°North, Center, bring that elf to the old Light Temple.¡±

    The Light Temple was a temple dedicated to Lady Roxana in the past.

    It was abolished during his great grandfather¡¯s reign because the Royal Family of the time didn¡¯t like the idea of their people worshipping a female. Yes, even if that woman was the one who saved the world from Absolute Darkness during the Ancient Period.

    Still, the Light Temple was preserved as a national treasure.

    [Only because the temple is practically made of pure gold and other precious gems.]

    ¡°As you wish, Your Majesty,¡± North said. ¡°We will also call West to guard the temple with us, just in case the God of Whatever Darkness decides to show up at the party.¡±

    Manu stifled hisughter. ¡°God of Whatever Darkness...¡±

    [This Moon Priest is easily amused, huh?]

    ¡°Alright, do that,¡± he said to the ck Tortoise, then he turned to Manu, who was stillughing quietly beside him. ¡°I¡¯ll prepare a room for you in the pce. You¡¯ll be staying here until the egg hatches, correct?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll show my face to the Sun Priestess first,¡± Manu said while stretching his arms. ¡°We need to report to the representative of the Sun Goddess about the movement of the God of Whatever Darkness anyway.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re working with them now?¡±

    ¡°Do we have a choice?¡± the Moon Priest asked while shaking his head. ¡°Even though I was in the Dead World all this time, the Sun Priestess still found a way to create a link in my mind just toin about how Ruston Stroganoff handed all his authority over to Neoma de Moonasterio. My ears almost fell off.¡±

    Ah.

    So, the Moon Priest had been in contact with the Sun Priestess all this time.

    ¡°Now, half of the Sun Temple¡¯s power is in Neoma de Moonasterio¡¯s hands,¡± Manu continued with his whining. ¡°We cannot not work with the Sun people anymore.¡±

    He also knew that.

    Working with the Sun Goddess and her people when the threat of Absolute Darkness returning to the world was only natural for them- the people of the Moon God. It was the duty of gods and people with Light attributes to work together if Darkness became a threat again.

    [But I don¡¯t like the fact that it¡¯s Neoma and Ruston Stroganoff are the ones who are bringing the Sun and the Moon people together. It¡¯s as if...]

    ¡°It¡¯s as if I¡¯m looking at the Sun King and the Moon Queen when I imagine Neoma de Moonasterio and Ruston Stroganoff working together,¡± the Moon Priest said, casually saying the things in his mind that he didn¡¯t dare to say out loud. ¡°The future is bright with those two being together.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re not together,¡± he snarled at the Moon Priest. ¡°Just leave the egg here and scram.¡±

    Manuughed at his temper. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll leave the dragon egg to you, Niki de Moonasterio,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ll bring a souvenir for your daughter once I return from the East Continent.¡±

    ¡°Bring one for Nero, too,¡± Niki said, his mood brightening up. ¡°My son is awake now.¡±

    ***

    ¡°PRINCESS NEOMA, how did you know?¡±

    [Yeah, that¡¯s what I want to know, too.]

    Neoma believed it must have been her gut feeling that told her something was off about Trevor.

    But she didn¡¯t know how she saw the faint image of a man when she touched the demon¡¯s eyebrow piercing. And the fact she could tell that it was the Devil right away even though she hadn¡¯t met him personally yet?

    [Yeah, that¡¯s sus.]

    ¡°I think the Devil made his presence known to me on purpose,¡± Neoma said, slightly squeezing Trevor¡¯s neck a little tighter. ¡°It¡¯s as if the Devil wanted me to know he sessfully tempted you to betray me.¡±

    Trevorughed softly. ¡°That sounds like something the Devil might do.¡±

    This demon boy¡¯s shamelessness really knew no bounds.

    It was Nero.

    Her brother must have woken up because of the noise and the bloodlust she was shooting at Trevor. Interestingly enough, Trevor remained calm and didn¡¯t try to deflect or fight her bloodlust.

    She was distracted from her thoughts when the room suddenly turned icy cold.

    Nero was probably attempting to summon Sev- his Soul Beast, and the real ice wolf with two tails.

    ¡°Nero, stop using your Mana and conserve your energy,¡± she scolded her twin brother firmly. She turned to Nero with a frown, confident that Trevor wouldn¡¯t attack her even if she was busy talking to her brother. ¡°Your noona is fine, so don¡¯t worry too much about me.¡±

    Thankfully, Nero listened to her.

    The room¡¯s temperature returned to normal, but her baby brother released his own bloodlust directed at Trevor.

    [My pitiful dongsaeng who can¡¯t even open his mouth to talk...]

    ¡°Finish your job,¡± she said sternly to Trevor, then she let go of his neck. ¡°Nero is awake, but he hasn¡¯t fully recovered yet.¡±

    Trevor looked ¡°You still trust me, Princess Neoma?¡±

    ¡°You made a binding vow with Papa Boss- you¡¯ll die if you fail to cure Neropletely.¡±

    He beamed instantly. ¡°You don¡¯t want me to die?¡±

    ¡°How did you evene up with that ridiculous conclusion?¡± she asked while shaking her head. ¡°I¡¯m saying I trust you to cure Nero because you will die if you don¡¯t. You¡¯re not the type who¡¯d want to die in vain.¡±

    He just grinned at her.

    [This punk will only believe what he wants to believe.]

    ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m already here, so do what you need to do for Nero,¡± she said, changing the topic. ¡°You need my blood and my Moonglow, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Ah, yes, my Moon Princess,¡± Trevor said while nodding. ¡°I just created the magic device that could extract your Roseheart Blood and Moonglow safely.¡±

    Neoma tilted her head to one side. [Is creating magic devices easy?]

    Trevor sure made it sound easy, after all.

    ***

    [WOW, DAEBAK.]

    Neoma was seriously amazed by the magic device that Trevor made.

    He created two special syringes- and both were pink!

    The second syringe that Trevor used to extract her blood was amazing. Her blood was in liquid form when he extracted it. But when he put the blood in a vial, her blood turned into red petals.

    ¡°When I said I needed your blood, I didn¡¯t mean your ordinary blood,¡± Trevor, who was sitting on the chair next to her while pouring a healing potion on her arm to get rid of the needle mark, said. It was as if he could read her mind after seeing the amazed look on her face. ¡°I need the Roseheart Blood in you.¡±

    ¡°I figured that much,¡± Neoma said while looking at the vial, the one filled with little red petals, on the table in front of them. ¡°I didn¡¯t know it was possible to do it this way.¡±

    Right now, Neoma and Trevor were on the rooftop of the Spirit Queen¡¯s pce.

    It was the spot that William could see directly from his room. The queen probably lent her the rooftop, thinking that the Grand Spirit woulde and rescue her if Trevor decided to be a threat.

    [William is now my master, but I can¡¯t say he¡¯s fond of me as much as he¡¯s fond of Nero. So, I don¡¯t think he¡¯de to my rescue.]

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if this process was already done in the past,¡± Trevor said, distracting her from her thoughts. ¡°But I thought we needed this kind of device since you and Prince Nero need each other¡¯s blood and divine energy for emergencies, so I made one. I didn¡¯t think it would work, but it did.¡±

    He said it so casually, as if creating such a very specific device that worked on de Moonasterios was an easy feat.

    [Trevor... is amazing, huh?]

    The second syringe was pretty good, too.

    She didn¡¯t know how, but it sucked her Moonglow that took the form of a bluish light. When Trevor put the Moonglow in another vial, the Moonglow then turned to something like little blue light bulbs.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know our Moonglow can take a solid form,¡± shemented, amazed. ¡°Paige already did a simr method when she gave me some of Dion¡¯s divine energy before.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯ve heard about a Divine Item that works that way,¡± he said while pouring another healing potion on her second needle mark. ¡°So, Paige Avery has it.¡±

    ¡°Her collection of Divine Items and some Holy Relics is pretty impressive,¡± she said. ¡°You could have just borrowed it instead of creating one.¡±

    ¡°Do you know the difference between a mage and a sorcerer?¡±

    The random question threw her off a bit.

    [But Trevor wouldn¡¯t brought it up without a proper reason.]

    .....

    ¡°Mages like Paige Avery study existing magic, and they use devices that are already avable,¡± he said while closing the vial of now an empty healing potion. ¡°But do you know who created the magic and the devices they use?¡±

    She tilted her head to one side. ¡°The sorcerers?¡±

    ¡°My Moon Princess is truly smart.¡±

    ¡°I know,¡± she said bluntly. ¡°So, are you a sorcerer, Trevor?¡±

    Trevor gave her azy half-smile. ¡°What do you think, Princess Neoma?¡±

    [Damn this cheeky demon and his ridiculously handsome face.]

    Thatzy half-smile of his almost became the cause of her death.

    ¡°I¡¯m the youngest sorcerer in the empire, Princess Neoma,¡± Trevor said. ¡°At least, I was before I was sacrificed to the Devil. Since I¡¯m used to creating magic, I didn¡¯t think of borrowing a device that I could make.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± she said, then she looked at him straight in the eye. ¡°So, why did you join hands with the Devil?¡±

    ¡°Aww,¡± heined lightly. ¡°You¡¯re so straightforward, my Moon Princess.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m already being tolerant by allowing you to call me ¡®Moon Princess¡¯ without sucker punching you, Trevor,¡± she warned him lightly. ¡°Don¡¯t test my patience further.¡±

    Heughed softly, but his eyes were as serious as hers. ¡°Princess Neoma, I remember the story you used to share with Byron Thompson and Harry Alberts- the fake children that House Thompson and House Alberts used in order to hide the Devil¡¯s Grimoire. Do you still remember them?¡±

    ¡°Of course, I still remember my homies even though they turned out to be your disguise,¡± she said. ¡°I created a Reading Book Club where I share stories with them.¡±

    More like anime andics, but stories were still stories.

    ¡°I actually heard your stories back then,¡± the demon confessed. ¡°One story that stuck to me the most was the story about the Pirate Rubber Boy.¡±

    [Oh, he¡¯s talking about L*ffy from One P*ece.]

    ¡°You said that ording to the Pirate Rubber Boy, he doesn¡¯t want to be a hero because heroes will share their chunk of meat with other people- and he wants to eat all the meat.¡±

    She nodded. ¡°Yeah. But what about it?¡±

    To be honest, she could see where this conversation was heading- and she could already hear her heart breaking with the possibility of losing a friend.

    ¡°I can totally rte with that Pirate Rubber Boy,¡± Trevor said while looking at her with a look of seriousness that she had never seen in him before. ¡°I want to be a decent man for you, but a decent man would be someone who will support you quietly while you engage yourself with different kinds of danger in order to help your people.¡±

    ¡°I am not that heroic, Trevor.¡±

    ¡°You are, you just don¡¯t notice it because you¡¯re used to sacrificing yourself for people you treasure,¡± he said bitterly. ¡°I don¡¯t want you to sacrifice yourself for anyone, Princess Neoma. I want to keep you all to myself in order to keep you safe.¡±

    ¡°Do you think I¡¯d say ¡®thank you¡¯ if you do that?¡±

    ¡°No, that¡¯s why I¡¯ve already given up on bing a ¡°hero¡± for you,¡± Trevor said, the smile on his face looking whimsical. ¡°A hero will allow you to sacrifice yourself for the ¡°greater good,¡± but a viin will sacrifice the world for you.¡± He put a hand over his chest. ¡°And I¡¯m willing to be that kind of viin to keep you safe, my Moon Princess.¡±

    That was so cheesy, but she didn¡¯t tease or mock Trevor.

    More often than not, the demon¡¯s confessions were yful that she would just brush them off casually.

    But she could tell he was being real and honest this time.

    For the first time since Trevor confessed his love for her, his feelings finally reached her.

    ¡°Why do you look like that, Princess Neoma?¡±

    ¡°Look like what?¡±

    ¡°You look like you just realized I¡¯m seriously in love with you.¡±

    Since Trevor allowed himself to be vulnerable in front of her, she did the same.

    ¡°Trevor, I know I¡¯m often harsh to you,¡± she said carefully. ¡°But when I said you¡¯re my chingu, I mean it. You¡¯re really the first friend I made in this world.¡±

    Nero, Hanna, and Lewis were all family to her.

    Jasper oppa was a brother figure to her as well.

    But Trevor- he was her friend. That was the reason why she feltfortable enough to bicker with him. And thinking back, she probably never took his confession seriously because she didn¡¯t want to lose him as a friend.

    Perhaps, all this time, she was just pretending not to know Trevor¡¯s true feelings in order to protect their friendship.

    But now, she couldn¡¯t deny it anymore.

    ¡°I only see you as a friend, but that doesn¡¯t make you any less precious to me,¡± she said, her heart was being squeezed painfully at the moment. ¡°Trevor, your betrayal is breaking my heart.¡±

    Heughed- a shallow, bitterugh.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take that,¡± Trevor said while smiling sadly at her. ¡°At least, this time, you¡¯ll feel something in your heart when you think about me, my Moon Princess.¡±

    ¡°What did the Devil offer to you, Trevor?¡± Neoma asked, her voice cracked. ¡°What made you betray me?¡±

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 418

    Chapter 418: IN THE NAME OF LOVE

    ¡°TREVOR, do you know what will happen to Neoma de Moonasterio if either of the crows and the gods seed in taking her away from the empire?¡±

    Trevor scoffed at the Devil¡¯s ridiculous question. ¡°I don¡¯t think about things that¡¯s impossible to happen.¡±

    He was lying, though.

    Of course, he never wanted to lose Princess Neoma to the enemies.

    But he would be foolish if he didn¡¯t entertain the thoughts of the worst-case scenario that may happen if they lost the uing war.

    ¡°If the crows get their hands on Neoma de Moonasterio, they will use her to breed with the rare monsters they own- just like what they did to Nichole,¡± the Devil said. ¡°And if the gods get their hands on your Moon Princess, they will turn her into the next Aether.¡±

    He already knew that, so he just kept his mouth shut.

    .....

    ¡°But even if the crows and the gods fail to get Neoma de Moonasterio, your little Moon Princess will still die early,¡± the Devil said. ¡°Even if she acts like a selfish brat most of the time, she still has the qualities of a hero. You know, those fools who die for the ¡°greater good.¡±¡±

    He couldn¡¯t refute that.

    [Because it¡¯s true. Princess Neoma always talks and acts like a brat, but she¡¯s considerate to other people. Very considerate, as a matter of fact.]

    ¡°We won¡¯t let Neoma de Moonasterio die like that,¡± the Devil dered.

    ¡°But you won¡¯t let my Moon Princess live the life that she wants either,¡± Trevor said seriously. ¡°Your goal is to make her ascend the throne for your own goals.¡±

    ¡°Our goal hasn¡¯t changed, but we¡¯ve changed the method to do it.¡±

    ¡°Changed the method?¡±

    ¡°We will hand the throne over to Neoma de Moonasterio once the war is over.¡±

    Now he was confused.

    ¡°You¡¯ll hand the throne over to my Moon Princess when the war is over?¡± he asked, eyebrows knitted. ¡°You talk as if Princess Neoma won¡¯t be a part of it...¡± He trailed off when he realized the Devil looked serious. ¡°Oh. You¡¯re not going to let her join the war?¡±

    ¡°Exactly,¡± the Devil said. ¡°There will be at least two sides that we¡¯ll sh with if we want to keep Neoma de Moonasterio safe. Moreover, there¡¯s also the possibility of your Moon Princess sacrificing herself to protect everyone. Thus, the best way to ensure her safety is to pull her out of the war before it even begins.¡±

    ¡°Even if you seed in making Princess Neoma sit out of the war, how do you n to keep her hidden?¡± he asked, skeptical. ¡°Forget about the crows or the gods. Emperor Niki and Prince Nero would chase you even to the depths of hell if you steal Princess Neoma from them.¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you wondering why Nichole and Dominic Zavaroni aren¡¯t around?¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± he said. ¡°I am. Will you tell me where they are if I asked?¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t tell you where exactly they are at the moment,¡± the Devil said. ¡°But I can tell you they¡¯re already preparing for Neoma de Moonasterio¡¯s future... home.¡±

    He smirked. ¡°Home, you say. But it will be just confinement if you take her against her will, you know.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think she¡¯ll hate the ce I prepared for her, though.¡±

    ¡°What ce are you talking about?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you if you join us.¡±

    ¡°Hah,¡± he said whileughing sarcastically. ¡°As if I¡¯ll let you tempt me-¡±

    ¡°You can have Neoma de Moonasterio all to yourself, Trevor.¡±

    Okay, that sounded tempting. But...

    ¡°I don¡¯t want my Moon Princess to hate me,¡± he said firmly. ¡°So, I won¡¯t do anything to betray her-¡±

    ¡°Do you know what Ruston Stroganoff sacrificed for Neoma de Moonasterio?¡±

    Now he was pissed.

    ¡°Why would you bring up that damned chef?¡± heined. ¡°And why do you speak like you made a deal with him...¡± He trailed off again. ¡°Oh. You made a deal with that brat?¡±

    That chef was one step ahead of him again.

    [Dammit.]

    The Devil smiled his rare seductive smile. ¡°Once you hear what Ruston Stroganoff sacrificed for Neoma de Moonasterio, you¡¯ll realize how pathetic you sounded.¡±

    Trevor should have known.

    He should have known better than to listen to the Devil¡¯s enticing offer.

    ***

    ¡°WHAT MADE you betray me?¡±

    It was the question Trevor couldn¡¯t answer truthfully.

    After all, Princess Neoma wouldn¡¯t understand.

    ¡°Cat got your tongue?¡± Princess Neoma asked. ¡°Why can¡¯t you give me an answer, Trevor?¡±

    ¡°Because you won¡¯t understand my reason even if I tell you,¡± Trevor finally said, earning a cold re from his Moon Princess. He smiled at her anyway. ¡°Let¡¯s just say that it¡¯s my selfishness and greediness that pushed me to join hands with the Devil.¡±

    She raised an eyebrow at him. ¡°I¡¯m the person you desire most in this world.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not wrong, but did you really have to say it yourself, Princess Neoma?¡± he asked,ughing.

    But his Moon Princess wasn¡¯tughing.

    ¡°Since I¡¯m the person you desire most in the world, the Devil probably offered you a deal rted to me,¡± she said, not batting an eye.

    [Only my Moon Princess can say such cheesy words about herself without flinching.]

    Princess Neoma¡¯s arrogance and vanity were really as limitless as the vast sky.

    [It¡¯s crazy how I like that about her.]

    ¡°Did the Devil say he¡¯ll give me to you if you follow his orders?¡±

    It was scary how close to the truth his Moon Princess was.

    Of course, she didn¡¯t miss his reaction.

    ¡°Ah, the Devil did,¡± she said, not hiding her disappointment. ¡°Trevor, are you sure you won¡¯t regret your decision?¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t,¡± he said confidently. ¡°Because I know my choice will save you in the end.¡±

    ¡°So, you betrayed me in order to ¡°save¡± me in whatever doom you think ising my way?¡±

    ¡°I like that you know how I think, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Sure, but did I ask you to save me?¡±

    Heughed softly at how his Princess Neoma didn¡¯t sugarcoat her words. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t wait for you to ask me to save you because it may already bete when you do that, Princess Neoma. After all, you¡¯re the type who will only ask for help when you¡¯re already on the brink of death.¡±

    His Moon Princess didn¡¯t refute that.

    ¡°Trevor, you sound like you know what exactly is going to happen to me soon,¡± the ever-sharp Princess Neomamented. ¡°Did the Devil see the future? Did he tell you my life is going to be in danger?¡± She raised an eyebrow at him. ¡°Am I going to die?¡±

    He just smiled as a response. ¡°Before I temporarily disappear from your life, let me tell you about the Four Pirs,¡± he said, changing the topic. ¡°You asked me about them before, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°I did,¡± she said calmly, letting him change the subject. ¡°I¡¯m listening.¡±

    ¡°Lord Yule calls them ¡®Four Pirs of the Moon,¡¯ but the first generation of Pirs that served Princess Aruna in the past called themselves ¡®Four Pirs of the Sky,''¡± he said. ¡°But you already know that, don¡¯t you?¡±

    She nodded. ¡°Queen Lisica told me about in the past, since her master apparently served Princess Aruna back then.¡±

    ¡°Very well,¡± he said. ¡°The Fangs refer to the descendant of the Silver Fox n while the Shadow refers to the descendant of the Shadow. That means this generation¡¯s Fangs is Lewis Crevan, while this generation¡¯s Shadow is Hanna Quinzel.¡±

    ¡°I figured that much,¡± his Moon Princess said. ¡°I can¡¯t figure the Heart and the Contractor, though.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know about the Heart, but I am the Contractor.¡±

    ¡°Did the Devil say so?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± he said while shaking his head. ¡°But when the Bookworm and I looked for the identity of the Contractor, we found out that they were rted to the Demon n. Plus, they were also a Child of Magic.¡±

    ¡°Child of Magic?¡±

    ¡°That term usually applies to sorcerers, mages, and anyone who can use magic like the fairy n,¡± he exined. ¡°Moreover, the Devil said he let the two of us meet for a reason.¡±

    ¡°Well, it doesn¡¯t matter whether you¡¯re this generation¡¯s Contractor or not,¡± she said coldly. ¡°After all, you already betrayed me.¡±

    ¡°I did it in the name of love, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re just romanticizing your betrayal,¡± she said, not masking her disappointment as usual.

    He justughed it off. ¡°I¡¯m just thankful you haven¡¯t killed me yet.¡±

    ¡°You betrayed me because you think it¡¯s the only way to save me,¡± she said bluntly. ¡°For that, I won¡¯t kill you right now. But the next time we meet and you do something that I will absolutely hate, I will forget that you¡¯re my first friend in this world.¡± She stretched her arm and wrap her fingers around his neck lightly. ¡°This will be my first andst warning to you, Trevor.¡±

    He knew it wasn¡¯t the right time for inappropriate thoughts, but his mind went to the gutter while savoring the feeling of Princess Neoma¡¯s hand around his neck.

    .....

    [At this rate, I might get a choking kink...]

    ¡°Leave,¡± Princess Neoma said, then she stood up and walked away from her. ¡°This is me being merciful to you for thest time, Trevor.¡±

    His Moon Princess didn¡¯t even look back at him.

    It hurt, but he had already prepared himself for the consequences of his betrayal. He was just d that Princess Neoma didn¡¯t hate him.

    [Not yet at least.]

    ¡°I can¡¯t promise I won¡¯t do something that you¡¯ll hate in the future, Princess Neoma,¡± Trevor whispered to himself while looking at Princess Neoma¡¯s back. ¡°After all, it¡¯s the Contractor¡¯s job to make deals with different individuals who could keep you safe.¡±

    ***

    ¡°DON¡¯T even think about following Trevor,¡± Neoma warned the invisible Spirits around her. ¡°Let him leave in peace.¡±

    She couldn¡¯t see the Spirits, but she could feel their hostility directed at the ce where she left Trevor. Obviously, these damned Spirits who didn¡¯t have a concept of privacy eavesdropped on her conversation with the demon boy.

    It was thebined voices of one of the Spirits.

    ¡°¡®Take care of him,¡¯ how?¡± she said coldly, her hands starting to literally get cold because she was summoning Delwyn. ¡°I thought I already warned you not toy a hand on Trevor?¡±

    ¡°Trevor is still one of my people,¡± Neoma said, her eyes glowing red. ¡°If you attack him, I will consider it as an attack on myself as well.¡±

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 419

    Chapter 419: HOMECOMING

    ¡°TREVOR IS still one of my people,¡± Neoma said, her eyes glowing red. ¡°If you attack him, I will consider it as an attack to myself as well.¡±

    She was the one who was betrayed, so it was none of the Spirits¡¯ business.

    But of course, she understood why the Spirits got riled up. She was just in a bad mood so she failed to handle the situation calmly.

    ¡°I understand that you¡¯re worried that Trevor might attack the Spirit World now that he has turned his back on me,¡± she said in a calmer tone, the gathered Mana in her hands slowly disappearing. ¡°But I guarantee you that it won¡¯t happen. So let him leave in peace.¡±

    After saying that, she felt a strong wind passed her by.

    It was probably the Spirits who were very adamant to ¡°take care¡± of Trevor.

    [Ah, this is pissing me off. Should I just suck their energy or something since I can¡¯t see the Spirits?]

    .....

    Well, why not?

    If she could ¡°eat¡± Darkness, why couldn¡¯t she eat Spirits?

    [Let¡¯s see if it will work.]

    She opened her mouth to suck the life out of the Spirits that she couldn¡¯t see. This was the first time that she would try this technique, but for some reason, she was positive it would work.

    And it did.

    She TASTED the energy from the airing into her mouth...

    ... until a certain big and warm hand covered her mouth and forced her to stop sucking the Spirits¡¯ energy.

    ¡°Are you trying to dere war on the Spirit World?¡± William hissed at her, then he pulled his hand away from her mouth. ¡°And when did you even learn that technique? I didn¡¯t teach you that.¡±

    ¡°Nobody taught me this technique,¡± she said, pouting. ¡°I just thought it would work, and it did.¡±

    The Grand Spirit looked at her as if he was looking at a specimen he didn¡¯t understand. ¡°You just thought it would work... and it did?¡±

    She nodded. ¡°There are techniques that I can pull off in one try as if I¡¯ve always known how to do them.¡±

    It was probably stuck in her sealed memories.

    After all, they already established that she had been revived after Nero stabbed her in her first life. She probably gained power back then with the help of the people around her.

    ¡°When you feel like you¡¯reing up with a technique you haven¡¯t tried before, consult me first,¡± William said while shaking his head at her. ¡°Don¡¯t just use it on the spot. We don¡¯t know if it will have a recoil on your body, so don¡¯t be impulsive.¡±

    She nodded. ¡°Alright, Master,¡± she said, then she looked around. ¡°I can¡¯t see the Spirits, but they¡¯re quiet now. Did they leave?¡±

    ¡°No, they passed out when you tried to eat them.¡±

    ¡°That wasn¡¯t my intention, Master,¡± she said defensively. ¡°Well, I thought of eating them the way I ate Darkness before. But I changed my mind, and I only intended to suck their energy to immobilize them.¡±

    He let out a frustrated sigh. ¡°That¡¯s why I said don¡¯t act on impulse.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Master.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re apologizing to the wrong person, Neoma de Moonasterio.¡±

    ¡°I will apologize to the Spirits I¡¯ve hurt,¡± Neoma said obediently. ¡°I guess I also owe Queen Tara an apology.¡±

    ¡°Set your personal feelings aside, Neoma de Moonasterio,¡± William said sternly. ¡°Tara and the Spirit World still helped and protected Nero all this time.¡±

    ***

    ¡°MY DEEPEST apologies for my misbehavior, Your Majesty,¡± Neoma said sincerely to the queen of the Spirit World. She also slightly bowed her head. ¡°I heard the Spirits I¡¯ve hurt are still unconscious. I would like to apologize to them once they wake up.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to, Princess Neoma,¡± Queen Tara, who was surprisingly in her human form now, said kindly. Her kind voice and gentle demeanor actually suited her ssic beauty. ¡°We were also at fault. The Spirits listened to your conversation with Trevor, then they tried to attack him despite your warning.¡± The queen bowed her head. ¡°On behalf of my people, I apologize to Your Royal Highness.¡±

    After that exchange, she walked with the queen to the garden while talking about her next n now that Nero had slightly recovered after consuming her Moonglow and Roseheart Blood.

    All Nero had to do was drink from the vials.

    Trevor also left the devices that he used to extract her Moonglow and Roseheart Blood. Since she saw how the syringes were used, she could use them next time. Or she could also ask Paige Avery to do it for her.

    The important thing was she could now supply Nero with her Moonglow and Roseheart Blood to help him recover faster.

    ¡°Since the air in the Spirit World isn¡¯t good for Nero now that he¡¯s back to his physical body, I believe it¡¯s time for my baby brother to return to the surface,¡± she said to the queen. ¡°It¡¯s time for him to return, anyway.¡±

    ¡°Seeing how the Spirit World is rejecting Prince Nero¡¯s presence now that he¡¯s back in his physical body, I also believe it¡¯s time for him to return to the surface,¡± the queen said. ¡°It¡¯s a shame that the time Prince Nero spent here was brief.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Your Majesty- Nero will be back here after he recovers,¡± she said, assuring the queen while thinking of evil thoughts.

    [Nero will return to take over the Spirit World, you know?]

    ¡°Princess Neoma, you¡¯re also wee to return to the Spirit World anytime you want.¡±

    Oh.

    She almost raised an eyebrow at the queen¡¯s remark.

    But she was scolded by William earlier, so she was keeping her behavior in check.

    [It¡¯s funny, though. The Spirit World rejected my existence in the past because they chose Nero over me. But now, they¡¯re opening their doors to me?]

    Very sus.

    This was the first time the queen showed interest in her.

    [Her Majesty probably saw my value.]

    After all, if she remembered it correctly from what her Papa Boss told her before, the Spirit World would also benefit a lot if she became the next Aether.

    [The Spirit Queen is also greedy, huh?]

    ¡°It¡¯s not only Prince Nero who¡¯s wee here,¡± Queen Tara said, smiling ¡°kindly¡± at her. Well, the queen still looked nice. But there was a strange emotion in Her Majesty¡¯s eyes- she was looking at Neoma as if she was a rare item that she must acquire at all costs. ¡°We should spend time together some time, Princess Neoma.¡±

    Neoma smiled because, as a greedy person herself, she knew exactly how to deal with people simr to her. ¡°That would be lovely, Queen Tara.¡±

    ***

    ¡°SHOULD I piggyback you, Nero?¡± Neoma teased Nero who still looked sluggish. Well, admittedly, she was just half-joking. [I will piggyback my dongsaeng if I have to.]

    ¡°I¡¯d rather die than have you give me a piggyback ride, Neoma,¡± Nero, who looked insulted by her offer, said while frowning. ¡°I am not an invalid person.¡±

    Nero already drank some of her Moonglow and Roseheart Blood.

    Thanks to that, he could now talk and move. But he was still sluggish, and he could barely maintain his bnce while standing. Yet, her baby brother was too prideful to admit that he still needed her support.

    [Well, Nero didn¡¯t want to drink my Moonglow and my Roseheart Blood after he learned that Trevor betrayed me. But I assured him that it¡¯s fine. Nero doesn¡¯t trust Trevor, but thankfully, he hasplete faith in me.]

    ¡°You and your pride,¡± William, who was in the same room as her and Nero, said. Then the Grand Spirit grabbed Nero¡¯s arm when thetter stumbled when he tried to walk. ¡°I will carry you, Nero. It will be faster if we do it that way. You want to leave this ce as soon as you can, don¡¯t you?¡±

    Nero frowned, but he didn¡¯t deny William¡¯s words.

    ¡°We¡¯re not in a hurry, though,¡± she said. ¡°You can say goodbye to your friends here.¡±

    Nero turned to her with a confused look on his face. ¡°I don¡¯t have friends here.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± she asked, confused. ¡°You stayed here for years. Why didn¡¯t you make friends?¡±

    The queen may have an ulterior motive for being kind to Nero, but she and the Spirit World still treated her baby brother well.

    Based on the stories that she heard from William from time to time, the Spirits also grew fond of Nero. Plus, her baby brother spent time training with the Spirits along with Sev, his Soul Beast. Thus, she was shocked to hear Nero didn¡¯t consider the Spirits as ¡®friends.¡¯

    ¡°I have a positive rtionship with Queen Tara and most of the Spirits here, but I don¡¯t consider them as friends,¡± Nero said bluntly, his eyes and voice both cold. ¡°They are just tools I need to gain power over the Spirit World.¡±

    William looked proud of Nero.

    Neoma, on the other, felt shivers down her spine when she caught a glimpse of cruelty in Nero¡¯s eyes.

    [Those are the same eyes he had in the past...]

    She thought she had already tamed Nero, but here he was- treating people and Spirits (that were also kind of living things) as tools.

    ¡°Let¡¯s hurry,¡± Nero said when he turned to her. ¡°Hanna ising home too, right? I want to see her and talk about our official engagement.¡±

    Neoma clenched her hands.

    [I don¡¯t want Nero to end up with Hanna if he continues acting like a tyrannical d*ck.]

    ***

    SHE smiled when she realized that he hadn¡¯t noticed her presence yet, although she had been following him for a few minutes now.

    She felt proud of herself for concealing her presence from a person of his caliber.

    [My training paid off.]

    She happily followed him when he took a turn in a dark alley.

    Of course, at that moment, she already realized that he had already noticed her following him.

    .....

    But she was still surprised when he came at her all of a sudden.

    The next thing she knew, she was already pushed to the wall while a dagger was pressed against her neck threateningly.

    Hanna couldn¡¯t help butugh. ¡°Hey, it¡¯s me. It has been a long time, huh?¡± she said, while slowly removing the hood of her robe. At that point, he already recognized her voice, so he didn¡¯t move when she took off her hood. ¡°How are you, Lewis?¡±

    Lewis, who looked shocked at first (probably because he didn¡¯t recognize her presence right away), smiled a rare smile at her. ¡°Wee home, Lady Hanna.¡±

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 420

    Chapter 420: AWKWARD FATHER-AND-SON REUNION

    ¡°WHAT?¡± Rufus Quinzel, shocked by what he heard from Jaxson Emmett. He was talking to the vice-captain of his army using themunication device in his ear. ¡°Hanna disappeared? What happened, Jaxson?¡±

    Jaxson Emmett was scheduled to return to the Royal Capital the same day Hanna would.

    Amber, his wife, arrived yesterday but she was summoned by her family. Unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t fetch Hanna from the port town where the Quinzel Ship was moored to the pier. The ship was owned by his family, so it came with a private squad to keep his daughter safe.

    Still, he wanted Hanna to be escorted by someone he trusted.

    Thus, he asked the vice-captain to escort Hanna to the Royal Capital.

    He was actually on his way to the Royal Capital to fetch Hanna. They were supposed to meet at the capital¡¯s entrance when he received the news about his daughter¡¯s sudden disappearance.

    Jaxson Emmett said in a worried and apologetic voice.

    .....

    ¡°Are there signs of an attack?¡±

    Then that must mean his daughter left on her own ord.

    [When we were at Gonora, Hanna would often sneak out at night to stroll the town. I hope this is the same case.]

    ¡°Continue your search for Hanna in that area,¡± he said. ¡°I just arrived at the capital. I will look for Hanna here.¡±

    As soon as he finished the call, he noticed that his youngpanion, who was sitting on the sofa in the carriage across from him, moved to cover his head with his robe¡¯s hood.

    He smiled at the boy. ¡°Are you going to look for Hanna, Lewis?¡±

    Yes, he was with Lewis.

    Princess Neoma was supposed to apany him today to surprise Hanna. But the princess had to leave for the Spirit World in order to tend to Prince Nero who just woke up. Thus, Her Royal Highness sent Lewis in her stead.

    ¡°Yes, Your Grace. I will look for Lady Hanna,¡± Lewis said in his usual monotonous voice. ¡°I have a feeling she just sneaked out because she¡¯s bored. After all, going to the Royal Capital using her Shadow Maniption Technique is faster than riding a carriage.¡±

    He smiled, amused. ¡°How did you know that?¡±

    ¡°Letters,¡± the boy said. ¡°Lady Hanna would tell me stories about her life at Gonora through letters.¡±

    Oh, right.

    Aside from Princess Neoma, his daughter would also send letters to Lewis. Which reminded him...

    ¡°Hanna oftenined about how you almost never replied to her letters, though.¡±

    The fox boy scrunched his nose. ¡°It¡¯s because the few times I wrote to Lady Hanna, she just sent my letters back with some correction.¡±

    ¡°Correction?¡±

    Lewis let out a sigh. ¡°Lady Hanna corrected my grammar.¡±

    Hanna... corrected Lewis¡¯s grammar?

    [Aww... that¡¯s adorable.]

    It was so adorable that he couldn¡¯t help but chuckle.

    ¡°I¡¯m notughing at you, Lewis,¡± he said gently, just in case the boy was offended. ¡°I just find it cute.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not offended, if that¡¯s what Your Grace is worried about.¡±

    Rufus smiled warmly at the boy. ¡°Please help me find my daughter.¡±

    Lewis nodded firmly. ¡°I will, Your Grace.¡±

    ***

    [AH, it¡¯s now a restaurant.]

    Hanna was now leisurely strolling the za in the Royal Capital after she discreetly left the carriage earlier.

    She blended into the crowd by using her Shadow Maniption Technique to make a ck hooded robe for her. So, yes, the robe she was wearing today was made of shadows. Thus, it also served as her protection.

    Even if she was ambushed, her robe would deflect any attack directed at her.

    [I¡¯ll be fine on my own, so I hope Father wouldn¡¯t scold Sir Emmett and the other knights too much. But I will apologize to themter.]

    For now, she just wanted to stroll the za on her own.

    And her first stop was the ce where she almost died a few years ago.

    [Should I get lunch here?]

    Her dark humor found it funny to have a meal in the ce where she almost died. It was now a new establishment, but it was still the same ce.

    But to be honest, she wasn¡¯tpletely okay.

    The memories that she had of that ce weren¡¯t pleasant. Aside from the fear of dying alone, she was so scared back then to leave her parents broken-hearted. After all, she was an only daughter.

    Still, she decided toe there and face her fears.

    [I¡¯m notpletely okay yet. This is probably what trauma is. But I¡¯m d I got the courage to face it.]

    Her training for the past few years also strengthened her mentality.

    She was about to enter the restaurant when something caught her attention from her peripheral vision.

    [What a tall boy.]

    Well, the average height of males in the empire was slightly higher than the rest of the continent. Still, the boy¡¯s height was taller for his age. The amazing thing was the fact that he could blend into the crowd without standing out too much by moving faster.

    Moreover, his face was also obscured by his hooded robe.

    But she was able to tell who he was based on his aura. After all, he was thest of his n. Thus, she couldn¡¯t mistake it for anyone else.

    If she was still the same girl from a few years back, she probably wouldn¡¯t notice him.

    But thanks to her rigorous training, she honed her senses. Now she could pick up the presence of outstanding individuals from the crowd while hiding hers.

    [Let¡¯s follow him.]

    She smiled when she realized that he hadn¡¯t noticed her presence yet, although she had been following him for a few minutes now.

    She felt proud of herself for concealing her presence from a person of his caliber.

    [My training paid off.]

    She happily followed him when he took a turn in a dark alley.

    Of course, at that moment, she already realized that he had already noticed her following him.

    But she was still surprised when he came at her all of a sudden.

    The next thing she knew, she was already pushed to the wall while a dagger was pressed against her neck threateningly.

    Hanna couldn¡¯t help butugh. ¡°Hey, it¡¯s me. It¡¯s been a long time, huh?¡± she said, while slowly removing the hood of her robe. At that point, he already recognized her voice, so he didn¡¯t move when she took off her hood. ¡°How are you, Lewis?¡±

    Lewis, who looked shocked at first, smiled a rare smile at her. ¡°Wee home, Lady Hanna.¡±

    She smiled, happy that she heard those words from Lewis. ¡°Thank you, Lewis.¡±

    He turned poker-faced again as he removed the hood of his robe.

    Oh.

    [Ohh.]

    She was a little shocked to see Lewis¡¯s face clearly.

    Of course, she had always known that the fox boy was handsome. But the sixteen-year-old Lewis standing in front of her now was simply immacte. His silver hair was shiny, and his golden eyes were full of life despite his poker face.

    Her neck also hurt from looking up at him because he was so tall.

    [He¡¯s tall... and lean.]

    Lewis wore casual clothes under his robe. But she could tell that he had a good built. She supposed it was natural because, although he was young, he was still a knight.

    ¡°Sorry,¡± Lewis said, while looking at her neck. ¡°Did it hurt?¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m fine. You don¡¯t have to apologize since I was the one who sneaked behind you,¡± she said, then she changed the topic. ¡°Your growth spurt was amazing, Lewis- you¡¯re so tall now.¡±

    Lewis tilted his head to one side while running his fingers through his hair. It seemed like he was fixing his hair that got messed up when he removed his hood earlier. ¡°And you¡¯re still tiny, Lady Hanna.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not tiny,¡± she said, slightly offended. Her growth spurt was amazing too, after all. ¡°My height is above average for my age.¡±

    He put a hand over her head, but his palm didn¡¯t touch her hair. ¡°Tiny.¡±

    She justughed softly while shaking her head. ¡°Fine, I¡¯m tiny. I like being tiny anyway because...¡±

    Because being small and petite was more feminine.

    .....

    But she couldn¡¯t say it because after spending time with Neoma in the past, she learned that people and things shouldn¡¯t bebelled as ¡®feminine¡¯ or ¡®masculine.¡¯ Everyone was free to do whatever they wanted to do regardless the social norms as long as it didn¡¯t hurt anyone.

    Still, her upbringing as a high-ranking noblewoman was still etched in her heart.

    ¡°Lady Hanna?¡±

    She smiled and shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡±

    ¡°Then shall we go?¡± he asked. ¡°You should have sent your father a message after you ran away from your guards. Everyone is worried about you.¡±

    ¡°Ah, it slipped out of my mind since I was having fun.¡±

    Like she told herself earlier, she would just apologize to her father and the otherster.

    ¡°You¡¯ve be quite rebellious.¡±

    ¡°Have I?¡± she asked whileughing softly. ¡°While I was at Gonora, I felt stuffy from time to time. Then I remembered how Miss Ramsay would often sneak out before, so I said, ¡®why not do the same?''¡±

    ¡®Miss Ramsay¡¯ would be Neoma, of course.

    It wasn¡¯t safe to mention the princess¡¯s name outside, so she and Lewis decided to call her by her ¡°code name¡± when they were in a crowd.

    ¡°Miss Ramsay is such a bad influence on you,¡± Lewis said, his face softening up as they talked about the princess he treasured dearly. ¡°But you¡¯re not a bad kid, Lady Hanna. When you were still here, you were too hard on yourself. It was like you had a textbook you needed to follow.¡±

    She kind of flinched after hearing that because it was true.

    ¡°So it¡¯s nice to see you living a little more freely now.¡±

    Aww... she was touched.

    She smiled at Lewis. ¡°You¡¯ve be quite talkative, Lewis. Why didn¡¯t you respond to my letters more often?¡±

    He avoided her gaze.

    ¡°What is it?¡± she urged him, curious as to why he couldn¡¯t look at her in the eye. ¡°Hey, Lewis.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re two different matters,¡± he said while scratching his cheek. ¡°Talking to you and writing letters.¡±

    She knitted her eyebrows. ¡°How?¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t correct my grammar when I talk.¡±

    She blinked in surprise, then sheughed softly when she finally understood what Lewis meant. ¡°Were you offended when I sent back your letters before where I corrected your grammar?¡±

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t offended,¡± he said, still avoiding her gaze. ¡°I was just... embarrassed.¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t embarrassing,¡± she said seriously. ¡°And I didn¡¯t correct your grammar to make fun of you. I did it-¡±

    ¡°You did it because you wanted to help me get better in my studies,¡± he said, cutting her off gently. Then he turned to her with a warm look in his golden eyes. ¡°I know you were only looking out for me, Lady Hanna. You know that my goal is to be someone who can stand proudly beside Miss Ramsay- and you¡¯re just helping me be that kind of person.¡±

    She smiled, relieved that Lewis understood her intentions. ¡°I am and will always be rooting for you, Lewis.¡±

    ¡°I am and will always be rooting for you too, Lady Hanna,¡± he said sincerely. ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m d that I get the chance to break the good news to you.¡±

    She beamed. ¡°What¡¯s the good news?¡±

    He gave her a half-smile, then he leaned down to whisper in her ear. ¡°Prince Nero is already awake.¡±

    Hanna smiled and sped her hands together, her heart beating hard and loud against her chest from excitement. ¡°Let¡¯s go and see him now.¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Lewis said sternly. ¡°Go to your father first, Lady Hanna.¡±

    How strict!

    ***

    NIKOLAI was excited to see Nero again after a long time.

    He was anxiously waiting in his room since William decided to teleport with his children in there. After all, his chamber was the safest ce in the Royal Pce.

    ¡°Calm down, Master.¡±

    He turned to South, the ming Vermillion Bird in his human form, who was sitting on the sofa while hugging the red dragon egg. Since South¡¯s attribute was fire, he wasn¡¯t affected by the egg¡¯s burning heat.

    ¡°I know you¡¯re excited to see Prince Nero again, but calm down,¡± South said yfully. ¡°I can¡¯t wait to see Delwyn again, but look at me. I¡¯m calm.¡±

    He was wondering why South volunteered to look after the dragon egg.

    [I should have known it was because he wanted to see the Ice Spirit and not because he has the same attribute as the dragon...]

    ¡°I¡¯m calm,¡± Niki said, then he red at his Soul Beast. ¡°And stop seducing Delwyn in front of my daughter. You¡¯re giving Neoma ideas about romance and other things she shouldn¡¯t be thinking at her age yet.¡±

    ¡°Master, it¡¯s not my fault that Princess Neoma is infatuated with-¡±

    ¡°Shut up.¡±

    South really did shut up, but it wasn¡¯t only because of his threat.

    The air in his room changed, but the protective barrier didn¡¯t activate. It meant that the individual trying to enter his chamber wasn¡¯t a threat.

    In just a few seconds, William and Neoma already materialized in front of him.

    He was about to ask where Nero was when he realized William was carrying his son in his arms.

    That was when his heart sunk.

    [Nero...]

    His son was skin and bones.

    [I heard the Spirit World supplied nutrients to keep Nero¡¯s physical body alive. But obviously, those nutrients weren¡¯t enough to keep him healthy.]

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, Father,¡± Nero said bluntly while looking at him with the usual fierceness in his eyes. ¡°I look like this for now, but I can easily regain my strength if I consume some health potions.¡±

    ¡°No, you won¡¯t do that,¡± William said firmly. ¡°Consuming health potions won¡¯t be enough, Nero. You have to regain your health in the natural way. Start by eating healthy food in small amounts. You¡¯ll also be needing physical therapy. Health potions will only serve as supplements, not your main source of energy.¡± The Grand Spirit turned to Neoma with judging eyes. ¡°You should listen to me if you don¡¯t want to end up like a certain idiot who fainted after consuming energy potions.¡±

    Neoma just rolled her eyes at William, but she couldn¡¯t refute him.

    ¡°We¡¯ll do as William said,¡± Niki said, then he opened his arms. ¡°Hand my son over, William.¡±

    Nero looked taken aback. ¡°Excuse me?¡±

    He didn¡¯t wait for William to move.

    Niki walked towards the Grand Spirit, then he gently snatched Nero from William. His son looked shocked when he found himself in his arms. It must have been awkward for Nero.

    It was also awkward for him to carry his son in his arms when he was already grown.

    But he still savored the moment.

    ¡°Congrattions on your recovery, Nero,¡± Niki said gently, then he hugged his son tight. ¡°Wee home.¡±

    Nero¡¯s whole face turned red from embarrassment.

    ¡°This calls for a family hug!¡± Neoma dered, then she hugged him by the waist while gently patting Nero¡¯s head. ¡°Wee home, dongsaeng.¡±

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 421

    Chapter 421: THE ROLE OF THE HEART

    [NERO is so light.]

    Niki couldn¡¯t believe that his thirteen-year-old son only weighed this much.

    He wanted Nero to gain weight as soon as possible, but it was something that they shouldn¡¯t rush. Like what William said earlier, it should be done naturally.

    [I¡¯ll put Morton Stroganoff in charge of Nero¡¯s meals from now on.]

    Morton Stroganoff was his Executive Chef, so he could trust him.

    ¡°You should stay here in my room in the meantime, Nero,¡± Niki said after he put Nero to bed. ¡°I¡¯ll leave South by your side since he¡¯s in charge of the dragon egg, anyway.¡±

    Speaking of the dragon egg, Neoma, William, and South went to the room next door.

    .....

    William would probably teach Neoma how to help the dragon egg hatch.

    ¡°I don¡¯t mind,¡± Nero said, his face and voice void of emotions. ¡°But I don¡¯t think the pce is the right ce for me to stay at while recovering, Father.¡±

    He sat down on the chair beside the bed. ¡°What do you mean by that? The pce is the safest ce for you.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s safe if I don¡¯t leave your room, Father,¡± his son said. ¡°But I need physical therapy, just like what William said. Moreover, I want to train with my Soul Beast now that I¡¯m back in my physical body.¡±

    Ah, that made sense.

    There were far too many eyes in the Royal Pce.

    ¡°Would you like to stay with the Quinzels again?¡± he asked his son. ¡°Not at their estate in the Royal Capital, but at their dukedom.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think the Quinzel¡¯s dukedom is a safe ce either,¡± Nero said while shaking his head weakly. ¡°Everyone knows Hanna is my unofficial fianc¨¦e, so there might be a lot of eyes monitoring the Quinzels too.¡±

    ¡°Do you have a ce in mind?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Father,¡± his son said. ¡°I¡¯d like to spend my recovering time in Hazelden Kingdom.¡±

    ¡°Why Hazelden?¡± he asked curiously.

    ¡°The weather in Hazelden fits my attribute the best,¡± Nero exined. ¡°When I was in the Spirit World, the queen created a training area for me and Sev where snowstorms were unending. I want to train in a simr environment, so I thought Hazelden would be perfect.¡±

    Hazelden Kingdom was now ruled by Queen Brigitte and Glenn, the King Consort.

    Since Glenn was there, he could trust him to take care of Nero. But he was still anxious to be separated from his son again just when he returned home.

    ¡°Are you sure you want to recover in Hazelden?¡± he asked his son. ¡°Neither Neoma nor I could apany you there.¡±

    His son scoffed. ¡°I¡¯m not a child- I don¡¯t need a guardian.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re a child,¡± he insisted. ¡°And you¡¯re my youngest child, at that.¡±

    Nero red at him. ¡°Thank you for reminding me that you were the one who told Neoma the truth about our birth order, Father.¡±

    He smirked at his son¡¯s sarcasm. ¡°It wasn¡¯t like you could hide it forever. And the situation called for it. Neoma had to know the truth.¡±

    His son just let out a sigh.

    ¡°Are you hungry?¡± he asked. ¡°I¡¯ll ask the chef to prepare something light for you.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m still full from consuming Neoma¡¯s Moonglow and Roseheart Blood,¡± Nero said while shaking his head to let him know he wasn¡¯t hungry yet. ¡°Father, I heard from Neoma earlier that Hanna will being home today.¡±

    ¡°I heard from Rufus that Hanna Quinzel has already arrived at the capital,¡± he said. ¡°Would you like to meet the Quinzel Princess?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Father,¡± his son said. ¡°Before I leave for Hazelden, I¡¯d like to confirm if Hanna still wishes to be engaged to me.¡±

    ¡°There are other candidates to be the future Crown Princess,¡± he reminded his son. ¡°Are you sure Hanna Quinzel is the one you want to marry in the future? There¡¯s no need for you to rush your engagement, Nero.¡±

    ¡°Hanna Quinzel is the best among the other candidates,¡± his son said. ¡°She fits the picture of a perfect noblewoman, she came from one of the most prestigious families on the entire continent, and she inherited the Shadow Maniption Technique. In short, Hanna has it all- beauty, grace, intellect, prestige, and power.¡±

    He couldn¡¯t deny that.

    Hanna Quinzel was indeed the perfect choice to be the future Crown Princess.

    [Just like how Juliet was perfect for me in the past...]

    But even though he ended up marrying Juliet and making her the empress, he didn¡¯t treat her as a wife because his heart belonged to someone else. Fortunately, Juliet didn¡¯t love him romantically, and thete empress even helped him meet Mona during their marriage.

    Nero¡¯s situation reminded him of what he went through when he was the Crown Prince.

    [But unlike Juliet who only saw me as a friend, Hanna is different.]

    ¡°Nero, Hanna Quinzel has feelings for you.¡±

    ¡°I know, Father.¡±

    ¡°Do you have feelings for her?¡±

    ¡°Does it matter?¡± Nero asked, then he turned to him with a raised eyebrow. ¡°Father, didn¡¯t you marry thete Empress Juliet even though you didn¡¯t love her?¡±

    [This little punk... is really my son.]

    He couldn¡¯tin about Nero¡¯s attitude because his temper was worse than his son¡¯s when he was a teen.

    ¡°I entered a loveless marriage with Juliet to gain power because back then, my father was too ambitious to let me inherit the throne,¡± he exined calmly. ¡°But the situation is different now. You don¡¯t have to fight me or Neoma for the throne. The Royal Family¡¯s power over the nobles is stable. You don¡¯t need to enter a political marriage, Nero.¡±

    Perhaps he had gone too soft.

    To be fair, Nero wasn¡¯t wrong to choose Hanna Quinzel as his partner. Even though their power was currently stable, who knows what could happen in the future? It wouldn¡¯t hurt to have ties with the Quinzels through a political marriage.

    But he remembered what Neoma said about Nero¡¯s past life.

    [Nero loved the ck Witch.]

    ¡°I want you to marry the person that you love, Nero.¡±

    ¡°Father, I already did that in my first life- and it didn¡¯t end well,¡± his son said bluntly. ¡°I don¡¯t remember my first life the way Neoma did, but I could tell from the fragments I saw that my marriage back then was a failure.¡±

    ¡°But it could be different this time.¡±

    ¡°Right now, I don¡¯t want to love anyone more than I love Neoma,¡± Nero said firmly. ¡°I can¡¯t let my emotions sway me, Father. Neoma is far too soft-hearted. She curses a lot and acts like a spoiled brat most of the time, but at the end of the day, she¡¯s still too forgiving.¡± He put a hand over his chest. ¡°I have to be strong-hearted to lead Neoma on the right path.¡±

    Once again, he couldn¡¯t refute his son¡¯s words.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me, Father,¡± his son said, consoling him. ¡°I won¡¯t die if I don¡¯t marry the person I love- not that I have someone like that in my life at the moment.¡±

    [Ah, I get it now.]

    Nero was already avoiding the ck Witch before he developed feelings for her.

    He let out a deep sigh. ¡°Nero, don¡¯t hurt Hanna Quinzel,¡± he said to his son gently. ¡°I married Juliet out of duty, but Juliet didn¡¯t love me romantically, so we were able to remain good friends. Hanna Quinzel is different, though.¡±

    ¡°I intend to treat Hanna Quinzel well, and I¡¯ll be faithful to her,¡± Nero said. ¡°Moreover, we have plenty of time to get to know each other now that I¡¯m back. Learning to love her won¡¯t be impossible.¡±

    But he could tell that Nero had no intention of falling for anyone deeply.

    His son had the eyes of a ruler who wouldn¡¯t let his emotions be his weakness.

    It was sad to see his child have that kind of mindset at such a tender age. But he also knew that it was only natural for a de Moonasterio to lead this kind of lifestyle. Thus, he knew he couldn¡¯t interfere with his son¡¯s life further.

    ¡°Nero, I understand your choices,¡± he said, then he put a hand on his son¡¯s head. ¡°But you¡¯re not alone. I¡¯m here- and I¡¯m still the most powerful man in the empire. You can use me as a weapon, so I hope you rely on me more.¡±

    Nero smiled slyly at him. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Father,¡± he said yfully. ¡°I intend to fully take advantage of my emperor father.¡±

    Nikiughed softly because he knew Nero wasn¡¯t kidding. ¡°Children these days are indeed scary.¡±

    ***

    ¡°OUCH!¡± NEOMAined when she got burned after touching the big dragon egg engulfed in me. ¡°Why did I get burned?¡±

    South, the ming Vermillion Bird in his human form, was sitting on the bed while hugging the dragon egg- and he seemed fine! ¡°That¡¯s strange,¡± the Soul Beast said. ¡°Your Royal Highness has a fire attribute, so you shouldn¡¯t get burned from touching the dragon egg.¡±

    She nodded in agreement. ¡°I know, right? Tteokbokki¡¯s me never hurt me in the past.¡±

    ¡°It only means your Soul Beast is rejecting you,¡± William, who was standing next to her with his arms crossed over his chest, said bluntly. ¡°It seems like your Soul Beast is looking down on you, Neoma de Moonasterio. He probably thinks he¡¯s too powerful now to follow your orders.¡±

    Hah?!

    She was offended.

    Neoma smiled sweetly while cracking her knuckles. ¡°I guess it¡¯s time to put Tteokbokki back in his ce, huh?¡±

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 422

    Chapter 422: SPIRITED AWAY

    ¡°ARE YOU PICKING a fight with an egg now?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Master,¡± Neoma said to William while ring at the dragon egg. ¡°Tteokbokki doesn¡¯t want me to touch him because he thinks he¡¯s all that now? Hah! Only I should be arrogant between us.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± William said while nodding his head. ¡°You and your Soul Beast are both kids.¡±

    Southughed cheerily. ¡°William, at our age, even the oldest human on this continent is a kid.¡±

    ¡°I think the one who¡¯s picking a fight with me is Crimson and not Tteokbokki,¡± she said while ring at the red egg. ¡°My Tteokbokki is a good boy. Only Crimson will reject me as his boss.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not the issue here,¡± William said, then he turned to South. ¡°Where¡¯s Manu? He¡¯s supposed to be here until the egg hatches. Did he run away again to sleep?¡±

    ¡°Hey, give our Moon Priest a little credit for working hard these past few years,¡± South scolded William lightly. ¡°Manu just went to the East Continent to report to the Sun Priestess.¡±

    .....

    ¡°Ah,¡± William said, obviously disinterested. ¡°I see.¡±

    ¡°Why, though?¡± she asked, her eyebrows knitted. ¡°Why does Lord Manu have to report to the Sun Priestess? Did we make an alliance with them without my knowing?¡±

    William and South both gave her a look that practically screamed, ¡®are you for real?¡¯

    ¡°What?¡± sheined. ¡°Did I say something wrong?¡±

    ¡°Are you stupid?¡± William asked, irritated. Then he pointed at her neck. ¡°Do you even know the significance of the ne you¡¯re wearing? Do you treat it as mere jewelry?¡±

    Her hand automatically reached for the ne she was wearing- the one with the golden whistle pendant.

    It was the ne that Lady Yngrid, Ruto¡¯s mother, handed to her a few years ago. She would hide the ne in her inventory (aka the Lynx Ring) every time she was outside to keep it safe. But when she was just at home, she would wear it proudly.

    ¡°This is my personal treasure,¡± she said. ¡°What about it?¡±

    William looked too stunned to speak.

    South, on the other hand,ughed as if he was amused. ¡°Princess Neoma, that ne is the symbol of Ruston Stroganoff¡¯s authority on the East Continent. That means you also currently hold half the authority in the Sun Temple.¡±

    ¡°Ruston Stroganoff¡¯s maternal family, the Solfrid n, is one of the East Continent¡¯s Four Golden Families,¡± William exined. ¡°To be precise, his maternal family serves as the Guardian of the Cyran Temple. If the Astello Temple has the Holy Knights, then the Cyran Temple has the Solfrid n.¡±

    She already knew that.

    But she didn¡¯t want to hear about Ruto¡¯s family from other people, so she would often just brush off any conversation regarding that.

    [I want to hear it straight from Ruto.]

    ¡°Lady Yngrid is the current matriarch of House Solfrid. That¡¯s the reason why she¡¯s in a long-distance rtionship with her husband,¡± South added. ¡°Ruston Stroganoff is Lady Yngrid¡¯s only child, and that means he¡¯s also the sole heir of the Solfrid n.¡±

    And her Papa Boss wanted to make the sole heir of such a family the newmander of the White Lion Knights?

    [Wow... Papa Boss is ambitious.]

    ¡°But the Sun Priestess doesn¡¯t like you, Princess Neoma,¡± South said bluntly. ¡°She sends her messages to Manu instead of you.¡±

    ¡°The feeling is mutual,¡± she said, pouting. ¡°I don¡¯t like the Sun Priestess too, so I¡¯m d she didn¡¯t reach out to me.¡±

    She barely remembered putting Paige Avery in charge ofmunicating with the Sun Priestess.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to be friends with the Sun Priestess,¡± William said. ¡°You just have to use each other for your own personal gains. That¡¯s how people who represent the gods work together, anyway.¡±

    ¡°We need to work with them, especially now that Darkness is bing a threat again,¡± South said. ¡°Princess Neoma, please use Ruston Stroganoff¡¯s power wisely.¡±

    ¡°I will only use it if necessary,¡± she said, then she changed the topic. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m going to teach Tteokbokki a lesson today.¡±

    It felt weird to talk about Ruto¡¯s family when he wasn¡¯t here. Plus...

    [That punk never let me in his dreams for the past three years!]

    William taught her how to enter people¡¯s dreams.

    She was even able to do that to anyone she wanted to see in her dreams- anyone but Ruto.

    [And appa, too. But William said it¡¯s probably because appa is unconscious. Which means appa isn¡¯t deliberately rejecting me.]

    Ruto, on the other hand, was rejecting her on purpose.

    ¡°South, gimme Tteokbokki for a moment,¡± she said, then she extended her arms to the Soul Beast.

    ¡°Are you sure, Princess Neoma?¡± South asked worriedly. ¡°I don¡¯t want you to get burned.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m prepared this time,¡± she assured the Soul Beast. ¡°I covered my entire body with Coat.¡±

    ¡®Coat¡¯ was one of the three barriers that the former saint Dominic Zavaroni taught her in the past. It was the kind of barrier that would cover the user¡¯s entire body with divine energy.

    ¡°Alright,¡± South said, then he handed the red egg to her. ¡°Be careful, Princess Neoma.¡±

    She just nodded, then she carefully took the red egg in her arms.

    [Ouch, it stings a bit.]

    It was amazing how the red egg managed to burn her a little, even though she was covered with her Coat. She got pissed, so she increased the amount of Moonglow covering her entire body. The thicker it got, the lesser pain she felt until the heat didn¡¯t affect her anymore.

    ¡°You punk,¡± she said to the red egg. ¡°You¡¯re Crimson, aren¡¯t you? My Tteokbokki wouldn¡¯t attack or reject me.¡±

    The red egg vibrated as if it was responding to her.

    Then she felt the egg increase its temperature as if it was trying to burn her for real.

    [Yep, this is Crimson.]

    She stopped ying this time.

    Crimson needed to be subdued, after all.

    So, she ced her palm on the egg and gathered arge amount of Moonglow in her hand. Her divine energy was naturally cold, so it was a terrible match with Crimson¡¯s red me. She could feel that punk¡¯s me slowly losing its heat.

    The moment her eyes turned glowing red, it was game over for Crimson.

    Her Moonglow increased so much it extinguished the red me in an instant, resulting in the egg cooling down.

    [Subduingplete.]

    South pped his hands. ¡°Wow, the dragon really calmed down.¡±

    ¡°Sometimes violence works on violence,¡± William said while shaking his head. ¡°It¡¯s probably theirnguage.¡±

    ¡°Yep, that¡¯s our lovenguage,¡± Neoma said whileughing, then she kissed the egg. ¡°Tteokbokki, Crimson, see youter.¡±

    ***

    ¡°I HAVE returned, Your Royal Highness.¡±

    Neomaughed softly before she pulled Hanna into a tight embrace. ¡°Wee back, Hanna.¡±

    Duke Rufus Quinzel, who was standing behind them and beside Lewis, smiled warmly while watching the two of them.

    Lewis had a poker-face, but his eyes were sparkling.

    Even her Papa Boss, who was sitting behind his office desk, looked pleased to see her happy with her reunion with Hanna.

    ¡°I¡¯ve missed you, Princess Neoma,¡± Hanna said, addressing her formally because her father, the emperor, was in the same room. ¡°And you¡¯ve grown... a lot.¡±

    She pulled away from the embrace and looked at Hanna. Well, there was only a 3-inch height difference between them, so she didn¡¯t really tower over her cousin. But she¡¯d like to tease Hanna, since her reactions were cute. ¡°You¡¯re bite-sized, Hanna.¡±

    Duke Rufus Quinzelughed softly.

    ¡°157cm is average for girls our age, Princess Neoma,¡± Hanna said, pouting. ¡°You¡¯re the giant one.¡±

    Sheughed because she couldn¡¯t refute that. ¡°Shall we go? Nero is waiting for you.¡±

    Hanna nodded eagerly. ¡°Yes, please.¡±

    Neoma smiled at Hanna, although her feelings were quiteplicated at the moment. [I really don¡¯t want Hanna to end up with Nero.]

    ***

    HANNA was quite confused when Neoma brought her to the drawing room instead of where Nero was.

    Even Lewis, who served as their guard, looked confused.

    ¡°Neoma, why are we here?¡± Hanna asked carefully, addressing the princess casually now that only the three of them were in the drawing room. ¡°I thought Nero wanted to see me.¡±

    ¡°Yep, Nero wanted to see you,¡± Neoma said, then she sat down on the sofa while motioning her to do the same. ¡°My brother will probably ask you if you still wish to be engaged to him.¡±

    ¡°I figured that much,¡± Hanna said, then she sat down beside the princess while Lewis stood behind them. ¡°I came here to give my answer to Nero.¡±

    For some reason, the princess looked devastated. ¡°You still want to marry Nero?¡±

    She nodded. ¡°Yes, Neoma. I worked hard for the past few years to be the perfect Crown Princess for Nero,¡± she said. ¡°Do you... not want me to be your sister-inw?¡±

    ¡°Can I be honest?¡±

    .....

    ¡°Of course,¡± she said confidently, although she was a nervous wreck inside.

    ¡°I know this isn¡¯t my ce to say this, but I really think you¡¯re too good for Nero,¡± Neoma said carefully. ¡°Plus, I¡¯m worried because you have feelings for my brother. Whereas Nero...¡±

    ¡°Neoma, I¡¯m aware that Nero has no romantic feelings for me,¡± she said, smiling while ignoring the tiny throb in her heart. ¡°I¡¯m also aware that he only chose me because I¡¯m the best among the candidates to be the future Crown Princess.¡±

    She was very aware that her marriage with Nero would only be a political marriage.

    Still...

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Neoma. I¡¯ll be fine,¡± she assured the princess. ¡°Once Nero and I get married, we¡¯ll be spending the rest of our lives together. That means I have plenty of chances to make me fall in love with me.¡±

    ¡°Your optimism hurts my heart, Hanna.¡±

    Sheughed at the princess¡¯ worries. ¡°Neoma, please trust me.¡±

    ¡°I trust you, but I can¡¯t trust Nero,¡± Neoma said firmly. ¡°I know this is awful to say behind my brother¡¯s back. But I have to let you know that he¡¯s more cunning than he looks. And...¡±

    ¡°And he used to be in love with the ck Witch?¡±

    The princess nodded. ¡°Nero told me in passing that he already met Dahlia in this lifetime. Not personally, though. I think he said he met her in her dreams.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s probably a reason for Nero to meet the ck Witch,¡± she said casually. ¡°Nero chose me in this lifetime, Neoma. That¡¯s all that matters to me.¡±

    ¡°Hanna...¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine. I have another reason why I want to be the future Crown Princess,¡± she assured Neoma again, then she held the princess¡¯s hands and squeezed them gently. ¡°Neoma, once I gain power as the Crown Princess, I will help you reim your birthright as the royal princess of the empire.¡±

    ¡°Alright, I concede,¡± Neoma said, then she squeezed her hand a little tighter. ¡°But Hanna, if you find yourself wanting to run away from Nero in the future, don¡¯t hesitate to tell me- I will do everything in my power to help you.¡±

    ¡°I will help you, too,¡± Lewis, who broke his silence ever since they arrived at the drawing room, said while looking at her. ¡°I will help you escape anytime, Lady Hanna.¡±

    Hanna smiled at Neoma and Lewis¡¯s unwavering support. ¡°Thank you, Neoma and Lewis.¡±

    ***

    NEOMA left Hanna and Nero since she thought the two needed private time to talk about their engagement.

    After that, she returned to her bedroom because it was time for her afternoon nap.

    [William is so strict when ites to my afternoon naps, so I have to take it no matter how busy I am.]

    She thought her consciousness would fade away as soon as she hit the bed.

    But, just what would often happen to her, she ¡°woke up¡± and found herself in a different dimension again.

    [In fairness, it¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve been spirited away.]

    This time, she found herself...

    ... on the moon.

    Yes, the moon. But this half-crescent moon she was standing on was nted on the ground in the middle of a colorful garden.

    And she was looking down at a tiger cub standing in front of him.

    [A tiger with eyes that look like they contain the night sky in them.]

    Blue, sparkling orbs that seemed very familiar...

    ¡°You...¡± Neoma said, then she squatted down in front of the tiger cub. ¡°You¡¯re a representative of the Moon God, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    The tiger cub slowly nodded its head.

    ¡°What are you?¡± she asked curiously. ¡°Dion is a fallen angel. Lord Manu is the Moon Priest. What else could...¡±

    She trailed off when the former saint Dominic Zavaroni¡¯s image entered her mind.

    ¡°No way,¡± she said in disbelief. ¡°Are you... the next saint?¡±

    the tiger cub, who had the voice of a child which was hard to tell if it belonged to a girl or a boy, said cheerfully.

    She was about to say something, but when she opened her eyes, she was greeted by the familiar ceiling in her bedroom.

    Argh, she was back in reality.

    ¡°The new saint...¡± Neoma whispered to herself. ¡°The new saint has arrived in this world.¡±

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 423

    Chapter 423: TRACES OF THE NEW SAINT

    NERO, who was sitting on the bed while leaning against the headboard, looked at Hanna with amusement in his eyes.

    He was quite impressed by how Hanna managed to keep up a gentle face despite seeing how frail he looked now. To be honest, even he thought that he looked horrible at the moment. He and Neoma used to resemble each other a lot, regardless of their different genders.

    But now, nobody would believe him if he said he was Neoma¡¯s twin brother, even though they had the same hair and eye color.

    [People would probably think I just dyed my hair and pupils in order to look like a royalty.]

    ¡°I look horrible, don¡¯t I?¡± Nero asked Hanna. ¡°Have you changed your mind about marrying me now that you¡¯ve seen me in this poor state?¡±

    He was skin and bones, after all.

    Hanna smiled warmly at him. ¡°Nero, I didn¡¯t like you only because of your physical appearance,¡± she said. ¡°Moreover, I heard from His Majesty earlier that he put Chef Stroganoff in charge of your meals. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll regain your weight fast since the chef is known for being the best on the continent.¡±

    .....

    He just frowned at that.

    ¡°You don¡¯t like Chef Stroganoff because he¡¯s Lord Ruto¡¯s father, do you?¡±

    ¡°If you already know that, then don¡¯t ask.¡±

    Hanna justughed softly at his crankiness.

    And he couldn¡¯t help but notice how elegant she was even whenughing.

    [Hanna isn¡¯t loud even when sheughs, and just the way she sits already exudes elegance. Moreover, she¡¯s good at controlling her facial expressions.]

    ¡°Did I pass?¡± she asked while smiling kindly at him.

    Ah, so she noticed that he was ¡°appraising¡± her.

    ¡°You already know that you¡¯re the best candidate to be the future Crown Princess,¡± he said. ¡°But you also know that I¡¯m the worst partner you could have. I intend to treat you well, and I also promise to be faithful to you. Still, I can¡¯t dedicate my everything to you, Hanna.¡±

    He decided to bepletely honest with Hanna now that they were at the age where their engagement wouldn¡¯t end up in a verbal promise only. This time, if he and Hanna promised to marry each other in the future, then their engagement would be official.

    Neoma, who lived in a modern world in the past, would be upset by all of this. His twin sister was obviously against engagement and marriage between children.

    But what could he do? It was the norm in the empire for children of their status to get engaged early. A prince like him could even get married even before hising-of-age ceremony. Thew would make an exception if he needed to get married to ascend the throne.

    The least thing he could do to appease Neoma was to show her that he didn¡¯t force Hanna to be with him.

    And that was what he was doing now.

    ¡°Hanna, before I¡¯m your fianc¨¦, I¡¯m Neoma¡¯s twin brother and the Crown Prince,¡± he said seriously. ¡°That¡¯s why I can¡¯t promise you that I can give you the attention and affection you might be expecting from me. I will always prioritize Neoma and the duties I need to fulfill in order to protect her above anything else.¡±

    ¡°I understand, Nero,¡± she said in her gentle yet firm voice. ¡°I also intend to use my power as the future Crown Princess to help Neoma reim her birthright as the royal princess.¡±

    As expected, he really chose the right girl to be his partner.

    ¡°Nero, before we confirm our engagement, I just have one question.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°I heard some things about your rtionship with the ck Witch in the past,¡± Hanna said, her voice stern but her facial expression calm. ¡°Do you intend to make her a royal concubine in the future?¡±

    He was surprised to hear that from Hanna.

    [A royal concubine and not even a royal consort?]

    In the empire, the emperor was allowed to have other wives aside from the empress. The first wife (after the empress) would be referred to as ¡®queen consort,¡¯ and the following wives would be simply referred to as ¡®royal consorts.¡¯

    On the other hand, a ¡®royal concubine¡¯ was just a fancy term for a mistress- someone who apanied the emperor without the privilege of being a wife.

    [Hanna is asserting her superiority to Dahlia.]

    It was kind of adorable.

    ¡°I won¡¯t do that,¡± he said firmly. ¡°You¡¯re the only one I intend to marry, Hanna Quinzel.¡±

    Hanna smiled as if she was relieved to hear that. ¡°Alright,¡± she said cheerfully. ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to your marriage proposal once you¡¯ve fully recovered, Nero.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll give you the grand proposal that you deserve, Hanna,¡± Nero promised her. ¡°For now, please wait for me until I¡¯m done recuperating.¡±

    ***

    ¡°DID YOU have a pleasant dream, Princess Neoma?¡±

    Neoma wasn¡¯t surprised to see Manu, the Moon Priest, sitting on the windowsill.

    He wasn¡¯t there when she woke up, but she felt his presence a while ago.

    ¡°I saw a cute tiger cub,¡± Neoma said when she got up, then she leaned against the headboard. ¡°I think it¡¯s the new saint.¡±

    ¡°I also have a feeling that the new saint has arrived in this world,¡± Manu said while nodding. ¡°When a new representative of Lord Yule is dispatched here, we would feel it. After all, they¡¯re basically our brother.¡±

    ¡°Brother?¡± she asked curiously. ¡°Are all representatives of Lord Yule men?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± the Moon Priest said bluntly. ¡°The Light Temple used to be led by a saintess, though. But the de Moonasterios destroyed the temple, so Lord Yule never sent a saintess again.¡±

    ¡°Lord Yule was also in charge of the Light Temple in the past?¡±

    ¡°That was the case,¡± Manu said. ¡°Anyway, the saint is here. Did he say when or where would you meet him?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± she said while shaking her head. ¡°But Lord Manu, I¡¯ve always been curious about one thing.¡±

    ¡°About what?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re a lot older than the former saint Dominic Zavaroni,¡± she said. ¡°But you sometimes talk like you grew up together.¡±

    ¡°We grew up together,¡± the Moon Priest said. ¡°In Paradise, the ce where Yule¡¯s ¡°children¡± live, Dominic and I stood out among our batch. He was trained to be the saint, whereas I was trained as the Moon Priest. But I was dispatched earlier, since the Moon Priest is an existence that needs to oversee the Soul Beasts.¡±

    ¡°Dispatched earlier?¡± she asked curiously. ¡°But it still doesn¡¯t make sense. You speak of the de Moonasterio family as if you¡¯ve been around for at least a century. If I remember it correctly, the former saint is just a few years older than my Papa Boss.¡±

    ¡°Time flows differently in Paradise. Moreover, the way the saint and the Moon Priest are dispatched are totally different,¡± Manu exined. ¡°The children of Yule have consciousness the moment they are born in Paradise. Then we grow up like how human children do.¡± He put a hand over his chest as if he was pointing at himself. ¡°When I reached the age of twenty in Paradise, I was dispatched to the human world as I was.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see,¡± she said while nodding her head. ¡°Now I get the difference between you and the former saint. I read from the History books that the saints in the empire are born like ordinary humans.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± the Moon Priest confirmed. ¡°Saints are born like humans because they have to look like humans in order for them to be epted by your race. After all, humans fear things that differ from them.¡±

    Ah, that actually made sense.

    That was probably why Yule thought the saint must be born the ¡°normal¡± way.

    ¡°But even though the saint is born like a regr human, he still has the memories of his life in Paradise,¡± Manu continued with his exnation. ¡°That¡¯s how he could perform ¡°miracles¡± and talk to Lord Yule.¡±

    She nodded while absorbing that information. ¡°Then even if the new saint is a newborn baby, his past memories would remain intact.¡±

    ¡°Correct. The saint would also be capable ofmunicating through mental telepathy,¡± the Moon Priest added. ¡°But it wouldn¡¯t change the fact that he would still be a defenseless infant. Thus, we need to protect him until he¡¯s big enough to protect himself.¡±

    ¡°`Gotcha,¡± she said. ¡°But I wonder how on earth would I find him? Do I need to get a list of every single pregnant woman on the entire continent?¡± She tilted her head to one side. ¡°How did they find the former saint again?¡±

    ¡°Dominic was actually found by Nichole de Moonasterio,¡± the Moon Priest said. ¡°If I remember it correctly, it happened during the time the young Princess Royal was kidnapped. Dominic used his power to save the young princess. Thus, revealing himself as the saint.¡±

    ¡°Really? I didn¡¯t know that.¡±

    ¡°Your crazy grandfather gave the credit to Niki de Moonasterio for finding the saint.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°The former emperor spread the rumor that it was Niki de Moonasterio who found Dominic,¡± the Moon Priest repeated bluntly. ¡°Niki de Moonasterio hated that fabricated story so much that everyone was practically banned from talking about it. Thus, you¡¯d never hear people talk about how the former saint was found.¡±

    She pinched the bridge of her nose. ¡°I hope my crazy grandfather never finds peace wherever he is right now.¡±

    ¡°Well, history is about to repeat itself,¡± Manu said. ¡°You were assigned to find the new saint, but the credit would be given to the ¡°Crown Prince.¡±¡± The Moon Priest smiled bitterly. ¡°Don¡¯t you think Lord Yule is cruel? He ims he wanted you to take the throne. But all your hard work for the past years only benefits Nero de Moonasterio.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± she said casually. ¡°It¡¯s a main character thing, so I¡¯m already used to it. I need to suffer a little before I get the happy ending I deserve.¡±

    ¡°I like your positivity, Neoma de Moonasterio.¡±

    ¡°Thanks,¡± she said. ¡°By the way, how was your trip to the East Continent, Lord Manu?¡±

    ¡°The Sun Priestess is still as feisty as ever-¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care about her,¡± she said, cutting him off. ¡°Did you see-¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s already awake,¡± the Moon Priest said, cutting her off this time as revenge. ¡°Didn¡¯t you know?¡±

    She clenched her hands tight. ¡°Excuse me? Can you please repeat that?¡±

    ¡°Ruston Stroganoff is already awake,¡± he said with a shrug. ¡°I¡¯ve seen that boy ever since he was a toddler. And you know what? He changed a lot. The past years have been good to him.¡±

    She clenched her hands tight. ¡°He changed? How?¡±

    ¡°I never thought that Ruston Stroganoff is the handsome type since his face is kind of average, especially if youpare him to the men around you,¡± Manu said, and it was obvious he was teasing her at this point. ¡°But the Ruston Stroganoff I saw a while ago definitely belongs to the ¡®attractive¡¯ category now.¡±

    Neoma gulped hard. She wanted to see the seventeen-year-old Ruto so bad, but one thing was bothering her. ¡°Why didn¡¯t he contact me if he was already awake?¡±

    ***

    .....

    ¡°IT¡¯S SO cold,¡± Dahliained while hugging herself tightly. She couldn¡¯t move her body anymore, so she just squatted down while trembling like a small animal under a tree covered with snow. ¡°Do we really have to stay here in the meantime?¡±

    Lapiz, her Familiar-sh-Elemental Guardian who shrunk into the size of a mackerel while floating beside her,ughed softly. ¡°We must, Dahlia,¡± she said. ¡°The Stars told us to stay in Hazelden Kingdom and wait for him.¡±

    Waiting for him was easier said than done.

    Moreover, the ¡°mission¡± that she received this time was so vague.

    Dahlia let out a sigh and closed her eyes. ¡°Why am I the one who has to take care of him?¡±

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 424

    Chapter 424: WHO ARE YOU?

    ¡°ARE YOU crying?¡± Niki asked Rufus Quinzel in disbelief. ¡°For goodness¡¯ sake, don¡¯t do it in my presence. Go home to your wife and cry in her arms.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not crying,¡± Rufus Quinzel denied in a cracked voice. It was obvious that the duke was trying his best not to cry. He was failing, though. ¡°Your Majesty, your son is a thief. How dare His Royal Highness steal my precious daughter from my family this early?¡±

    He couldn¡¯t defend Nero this time, so he just sipped his tea.

    ¡°My wife and I know that this day woulde ever since our precious Hanna dered that she wanted to be the future Crown Princess,¡± the duke continued with his whining. ¡°But no parent would be prepared for the day their little princess would be taken away from them.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re being dramatic, Rufus,¡± he said while shaking his head. ¡°It¡¯s just an engagement- the children won¡¯t get married yet.¡±

    ¡°But once they get officially engaged, my daughter has to live in the Royal Pce to take bridal lessons,¡± the dukeined again.

    Hanna Quinzel wouldn¡¯t just be taking bridal lessons then.

    .....

    The future Crown Princess would also receive strict education on how to be a member of the Royal Family.

    ¡°You can visit Hanna Quinzel anytime you want,¡± he said in an attempt to console his cousin. ¡°I can even prepare a residence for you and your wife in the pce.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d love to take you up on your offer, but Amber would probably scold me.¡±

    He didn¡¯t doubt that.

    Amber Quinzel was the very definition of a perfect noblewoman.

    [Which means Amber Quinzel is ready to support her daughter in her journey to bing the future Crown Princess.]

    After all, in the empire, most of the noblewomen¡¯s goal was to marry into an excellent family.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much, Rufus,¡± he said as he put the teacup down on the table. ¡°Hanna Quinzel has Neoma. I¡¯m sure my daughter will always take your daughter¡¯s side.¡±

    Rufus looked surprised by what he said.

    ¡°We will take good care of Hanna Quinzel,¡± he promised his cousin. ¡°The Royal Family is changing now, Rufus.¡±

    It seemed like the duke understood his message.

    The Royal Family was now changing, and it meant Hanna Quinzel wouldn¡¯t be treated like a tool for them to gain more power.

    Hanna Quinzel would be treated like family.

    ¡°Your Majesty, why don¡¯t you start by calling my precious daughter by her first name instead of addressing her by her full name?¡± Rufus asked, smiling. ¡°After all, my Hanna is going to be your future daughter-inw.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll do that soon,¡± he said while nodding. ¡°For now, let¡¯s focus on the children¡¯s uing entrance exam first.¡±

    The duke nodded in agreement. ¡°Your Majesty, will Prince Nero depart on the day of the entrance exam?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the n,¡± he said. ¡°We will take advantage of the fact that everyone¡¯s attention will be focused on the ¡°Crown Prince¡± and the future Crown Princess on that day. Nero will leave for Hazelden on the same day with a few people.¡± He sipped his tea again before he continued. ¡°I already informed Glenn about Nero¡¯s arrival. He¡¯ll personally take care of my son there.¡±

    ¡°If it¡¯s Glenn, then my royal son-inw is in good hands.¡±

    Royal son-inw?

    He couldn¡¯t help but chuckle. ¡°You just called Nero a ¡®thief¡¯ a while ago, and now he¡¯s your royal son-inw?¡±

    The dukeughed softly. ¡°My Hanna will be sad if I treat Prince Nero poorly. She¡¯s so infatuated with the prince, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t me your daughter,¡± he said proudly. ¡°Nero is just perfect.¡±

    His cousin just nodded whileughing.

    ¡°Rufus.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty?¡±

    ¡°I have to apologize to you in advance.¡±

    ¡°For what, Your Majesty?¡±

    ¡°I said that the children will only get engaged in the meantime, but they might get married earlier than expected,¡± he said seriously. ¡°It might happen even before theiring-of-age ceremony.¡±

    The duke gulped. ¡°What¡¯s the rush for, Your Majesty?¡±

    He didn¡¯t want to admit this, but he suddenly felt bashful, so his gaze fell on the teacup. ¡°Mona will return home soon,¡± he said awkwardly. ¡°Once she returns, I intend to pursue her again. The nobles, including the ones in the Royal Faction, would definitely oppose it.¡±

    Well, the nobles might allow Mona to be his royal mistress.

    But he didn¡¯t want that for her.

    ¡°If Mona reciprocates my feelings for her, I will descend the throne and let Nero inherit it early,¡± he dered, looking straight at Rufus¡¯ eyes. ¡°Mona already spent thirteen years in that cold ce alone. I won¡¯t let her be lonely more than she already has, Rufus.¡±

    It was embarrassing to be sentimental in front of his cousin.

    But he wanted to be honest with him.

    After all, his selfishness would affect Hanna Quinzel¡¯s life.

    Rufus, who seemed to have understood the meaning behind his words, smiled at him warmly. ¡°I understand, Your Majesty. And I will support your decision to leave the empire in the hands of Prince Nero and Hanna.¡± He put a hand over his chest. ¡°I¡¯m saying this not as a duke or a subject- this is me speaking as your cousin who wishes for you and Lady Roseheart to be happy this time.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Rufus,¡± Niki, who rarely expressed his gratitude, said sincerely. ¡°I mean it.¡±

    ***

    ¡°I WISH I could send you off properly, but I¡¯m afraid I need to leave for the entrance exam,¡± Neoma said, regretful that Nero had to leave for Hazelden Kingdom at the same time she needed to leave the pce to take the exam. ¡°The entrance exam willst for three days, so Hanna and I will stay at the hotel nearby until then.¡±

    Applicants from different parts of the world would arrive tomorrow for the entrance exam.

    There were also applicants from the other continents since Royal Moon Academy was that prestigious.

    But of course, the Royal Moon Academy had already filtered the applicants beforehand. Not everyone who wanted to take the entrance exam could. Every applicant had to go through a screening first.

    Apparently, the academy would investigate the aspirant¡¯s background before they let them take the exam.

    ¡°I¡¯m d that you sound confident you¡¯dst until thest day of the entrance exam,¡± Nero, who was sitting on the bed, smiled at her. ¡°Can I expect you to be the freshman representative this year, Neoma?¡±

    She gave her baby brother a double thumbs up. ¡°Consider it done, dongsaeng.¡±

    The entrance exam onlysted for two days, technically.

    On the first day, the applicants would take the written exam and interview.

    Since the Royal Moon Academy would use advanced magic in order to grade the exams, the result woulde out on the next day¡¯s early morning. Only the applicants who passed the written exam and interview would proceed to the second round.

    The second round would gauge the applicants¡¯ Mana level.

    After all, the Royal Moon Academy wasn¡¯t just an educational institution. It was also known to train the finest young bloods to fight in order to bring glory to the empire.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll ace the exam,¡± she said confidently. ¡°I also have a feeling that Hanna would do the same.¡±

    ¡°Then there might be a chance that you and Hanna would face each other on the final day of the exam.¡±

    Only the top two applicants would proceed to thest round of the entrance exam.

    ¡°If that happens, I won¡¯t hold back,¡± she said. ¡°It will be an insult to Hanna if I hold back during our match.¡±

    Her baby brother nodded in agreement. ¡°Good luck, Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Call me ¡®noona¡¯ once I be the student representative, okay?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s talk about it when that happens.¡±

    Neomaughed softly, then she sat beside Nero and hugged him. ¡°I¡¯lle and visit you at Hazelden after the entrance exam.¡±

    Nero hugged her back. ¡°I¡¯ll be waiting for you, Neoma.¡±

    ***

    ¡°CRUSH them all.¡±

    Neomaughed at her Papa Boss¡¯s advice.

    Right now, she was standing in front of the royal carriage waiting for her while talking to her father. All the other applicants would probably arrive at the Royal Moon Academy with their parents. But since her father couldn¡¯t leave the pce yet, she had to go on her own.

    She wouldn¡¯t be totally alone, though.

    [Hanna and I will go together, and Duke Rufus Quinzel will escort us to the academy.]

    ¡°I will bring home the bacon, Father,¡± Neoma said, addressing her Papa Boss formally because they were surrounded by servants and royal guards at the moment. ¡°Let¡¯s have a barbecue party after the exam.¡±

    Her Papa Boss smiled and gently patted her on the head. ¡°See you on thest day of the exam, my child.¡±

    The emperor¡¯s presence during the final match between the top two candidates was required.

    Thus, even though thew dictates that the emperor and his heir shouldn¡¯t leave the pce at the same time, that event would be an exception. After all, during the exam, she wasn¡¯t the Crown Prince, but an ordinary exam taker.

    Her Papa Boss¡¯s deration that they would see each other on thest day of the exam was a testament to his faith that she¡¯d make it to the final round.

    Neoma smiled at her Papa Boss. ¡°See you then, Father.¡±

    .....

    ***

    ¡°I THINK Ruto ghosted me,¡± Neomained to Hanna. ¡°He refused to let me enter his dream all this time, and he didn¡¯t tell me that he was already awake.¡±

    Right now, she was in the royal carriage with Hanna.

    She fetched her cousin earlier at the Quinzel Estate to show off their ¡°intimate rtionship¡± to the public. Plus, this would be Hanna¡¯s first official public appearance after she left the empire a few years ago. Thus, she needed to stay by the future Crown Princess¡¯s side.

    [I¡¯m still not convinced by the Nero x Hanna ship, but I can¡¯t openly oppose their rtionship since their decision to get engaged was mutual.]

    ¡°We¡¯re talking about Lord Ruston here, Your Royal Highness,¡± Hanna, who was sitting on the couch across from her, said calmly. She also addressed her formally because even though only the two of them were inside the royal carriage at the moment, they still had to be careful since they were outside the Royal Pce now. The royal carriage was also protected by a soundproof barrier, but it wouldn¡¯t hurt to be extra careful. ¡°I¡¯m sure Lord Ruston has a valid reason for avoiding Your Royal Highness all this time.¡±

    ¡°I know, right?¡± she agreed. But her heart wasn¡¯t at ease yet. ¡°I wish he¡¯d contact me the soonest, though. After Trevor betrayed me, I¡¯ve be anxious.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t like she didn¡¯t trust Ruto anymore.

    But after her biggest simp turned her back on her, she felt like everything could happen now.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Your Royal Highness,¡± Hanna assured her gently. ¡°If you feel the need to storm to the East Continent to confront Lord Ruston, I will bring you there.¡±

    Sheughed while pping her hands. ¡°Thank you, Hanna. I appreciate that.¡±

    Unfortunately, their girl talk was cut short when they finally arrived at the Royal Moon Academy.

    The prestigious school was located in the upscale part of the Royal Capital. Moreover, the security was extra strict today so the line of the carriages waiting to enter the premise was long. But the guards did not stop the royal carriage.

    After all, it was her privilege as the Crown Prince to be exempted from the inspection.

    ¡°We¡¯ve arrived at the Royal Moon Academy,¡± Duke Rufus Quinzel, who opened the door for them, said cheerfully. ¡°Your Royal Highness and my precious Hanna.¡±

    Hanna smiled at the duke¡¯s sweetness.

    [Aww... I wish Papa Boss is here, too.]

    But she set her personal feelings aside.

    She got off the royal carriage first, then she extended her hand to assist Hanna.

    At that moment, she noticed the silence while her skin was being pricked by the several gazes directed at them.

    Everyone was watching her and Hanna, and nobody was hiding it.

    The carriages weren¡¯t allowed inside the academy, so the student applicants had to get off their personal vehicles at the academy¡¯s main gate. Aside from the aspirants, the teachers and the school guards also gathered at the entrance.

    [Welp, I love the attention, so bring it on.]

    ¡°Who¡¯s the Crown Prince between them?¡±

    Huh?

    Did she mishear it?

    But ording to the confused look on Hanna and Duke Rufus Quinzel, it seemed like she heard the student applicant near them correctly.

    Was there a citizen in the empire who didn¡¯t know what the Crown Prince looked like?

    [Oh, right. There are a lot of foreigners at the Royal Capital at the moment.]

    ¡°White hair, ash-gray eyes, pale skin- obviously, the one who got off the carriage with the Royal Family¡¯s crest is the Crown Prince.¡±

    ¡°The other boy has ivory hair and green eyes, but...¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t say it, silly.¡±

    ¡°But he really looks like Crown Prince¡¯s brother-¡±

    ¡°Shh!¡±

    Welp, she already heard it.

    Hanna remained calm, but her eyes wandered to the direction the other kids were pointing- and Neoma didn¡¯t miss the shocked look on her cousin¡¯s face.

    Duke Rufus Quinzel was also frozen in shock.

    She couldn¡¯t contain her curiosity anymore, so she turned to her side.

    [Oh, fuck.]

    The sight sent a chill up her spine.

    Ivory hair.

    Pale skin.

    Green eyes.

    The tall boy standing in front of the carriage behind the royal carriage turned to her at the same time she did, so their gazes met inevitably.

    He was dressed like a proper noble, but he carried himself like royalty.

    And most of all...

    [Why does he look like Nero if my twin brother was born with green eyes?]

    That meant the boy also resembled her a lot since she and Nero were twins.

    No, scratch that.

    [That boy looks like the younger version of Papa Boss.]

    Now she understood why the kids were confused between her and the boy.

    [But how...]

    ¡°Lord Calyx, we must head inside,¡± the male attendant of the boy, who looked like her brother, said calmly.

    [So, his name is Calyx.]

    She couldn¡¯t remember anyone with that name from her first life.

    [And it¡¯s not like there was a person who resembled Nero a lot back then.]

    Her thoughts were interrupted when Calyx smiled at her.

    [So freaking handsome.]

    Calyx bowed to her politely. ¡°Greetings to the current heir of the throne.¡±

    What kind of greeting was that?

    Everyone around them, including Hanna and Duke Rufus Quinzel, was bewildered by the boy¡¯s strange greeting.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± she said when she recovered from the shock. Then she gave the boy a business smile- the kind of smile that was reserved for people that she needed to keep an eye on. ¡°I think we should stick together, my lord.¡±

    Would it be a in co-incidence to meet a boy who resembled her and her twin brother on the day she stepped out of the Royal Pce to take the entrance exam?

    Maybe, maybe not.

    It could also be just her overthinking.

    [But it doesn¡¯t hurt to be suspicious of people I just met.]

    Calyx looked surprised and confused by what she said earlier. ¡°I¡¯m afraid I don¡¯t understand Your Royal Highness...¡±

    ¡°Good-looking people must flock together,¡± Neoma said cheerfully. She wanted to appear friendly in order to show people she wasn¡¯t ¡®shookt¡¯ by the boy¡¯s resemnce to her physical appearance. ¡°It¡¯s not every day I get to meet a boy as handsome as me, after all.¡±

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 425

    Chapter 425: ENTRANCE EXAM (1)

    ¡°GREETINGS to the Lesser Moon of the Great Moonasterion Empire,¡± the male attendant serving Calyx greeted her while bowing deeply. ¡°Please pardon our young master¡¯s rudeness. This may sound like an excuse, but our young master has been secluded in our humble estate for a long time because of his weak body. Thus, he¡¯s not yet ustomed to how to socialize properly...¡±

    Neoma thought it was ame excuse.

    During her time as ¡®Neoma Quinzel¡¯ in her first life, she had lived a life of seclusion as well. But although her knowledge and education were limited, they had taught her how to properly greet the Royal Family.

    But she didn¡¯t want to cause a scene.

    [Plus, the more I pay attention to Nero¡¯s look-a-like, the more people would also notice him.]

    She couldn¡¯t let that happen because today¡¯s stars should be the Crown Prince.

    [And the future Crown Princess, of course.]

    .....

    ¡°I made a mistake, Your Royal Highness,¡± Calyx, who seemed embarrassed by his behavior, said as he bowed to her deeply. ¡°Please pardon my ignorance.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, good sir,¡± Neoma said, acting like a benevolent royalty. ¡°We¡¯re both student applicants today, so you don¡¯t have to be too formal.¡± She turned to her fellow applicants with a bright smile on her face. ¡°And that goes for everyone.¡±

    Most of the people around them looked touched by her kindness.

    [Nero, good luck on acting like a friendly prince once you reim your spot.]

    ¡°Thank you for your generosity, Your Royal Highness,¡± Calyx said, then he raised his head and gave her a bright smile. ¡°Your Royal Highness is beautiful inside and out.¡±

    Beautiful?

    Most of the noblemen in the empire wouldn¡¯t usually use the word ¡®beautiful¡¯ to describe another boy because of their toxic masculinity. But Calyx looked innocent, as if it was natural for him topliment people that way.

    [Should I or should I not give meaning to what he just said?]

    ¡°Thank you, Lord Calyx,¡± she said, addressing Calyx politely even though she found him very sus. ¡°Good luck.¡±

    Calyx smiled brightly at her. ¡°I wish Your Royal Highness the best of luck as well.¡±

    She just smiled at Calyx before turning to Hanna. Then she offered her arm to her cousin. ¡°Shall we go, Lady Hanna?¡±

    Of course, she must also address Hanna politely in front of other people.

    Hanna smiled and nodded, then she linked her arm with hers. ¡°Thank you, Prince Nero.¡±

    She just smiled at Hanna, then she turned to Duke Rufus Quinzel, who was waiting for them, and gestured for them to move forward.

    As their guardian, it was the duke¡¯s job to safely escort them to the exam room. One guardian or attendant per applicant was allowed. Since her Papa Boss couldn¡¯t make it today, the academy made an exception and allowed Duke Rufus Quinzel to be a guardian for both the Crown Prince and the future Crown Princess.

    [Royalty privilege, y¡¯all.]

    Anyway, everyone around them greeted her- even the teachers at the front gate.

    It was useless to tell them to treat them as an ordinary student applicant, and it was hypocritical of her to ask them to do that in the first ce. After all, she had been enjoying her privilege ever since earlier.

    [Well, it is what it is.]

    ¡°Wee to the Royal Moon Academy, Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince,¡± a dignified-looking old noble greeted her as if he was the spokesperson of the academy¡¯s staff. He looked fit for a man in his early fifties, and yes, he also looked very strict. ¡°I am Alphonse Salvatore, and I am the Headmaster of the academy.¡±

    She already knew that since she did her research.

    Plus, even though she didn¡¯t attend the Royal Moon Academy back in her first life, the name of the Headmaster had reached her ears.

    Neoma smiled and bowed slightly to the Headmaster. ¡°It¡¯s an honor to meet the pir of the Royal Moon Academy, Lord Salvatore.¡±

    ***

    NIKOLAI raised an eyebrow after seeing the image that Rufus Quinzel sent to him using a Mana Stone Recorder.

    Jaxson Emmett, the vice-captain of the ck Hawk Knights, delivered it a while ago.

    The image that his cousin wanted to show him was clear in the thin Mana Stone shaped like a small piece of paper.

    [This is amusing.]

    ¡°Father,¡± Nero, who was sitting on the chair across from him, said while looking at the Mana Stone on the table between them. Then he raised his head to give him a look filled with suspicion. ¡°Do you have a secret love child?¡±

    Niki¡¯s face heated from embarrassment because of Nero¡¯s question, but he yed it cool while hoping his flushed cheeks didn¡¯t give him away. ¡°Your mother is the only woman I held in my whole life, Nero.¡±

    It was his son¡¯s turn to turn red.

    ¡°Father, I didn¡¯t need to know that.¡±

    ¡°You asked me if I have a secret love child- I just answered your question,¡± he said defensively.

    ¡°I bet everyone who saw that boy already thinks he¡¯s your secret love child,¡± his son said, and Nero sounded serious this time. Then he pointed at the image etched in the Mana Stone. ¡°That boy looks like your younger version, Father.¡±

    He didn¡¯t want to admit it, but his son wasn¡¯t wrong. ¡°And that boy looks like you if you were born with green eyes.¡±

    After all, Nero looked like his exact copy when he was his son¡¯s age.

    ¡°If that boy only had features that slightly resemble ours, then we could just easily dismiss it as co-incidence,¡± Nero said, and his eyes looked like hundreds of thoughts were already running in his mind. ¡°But that boy looks like you, Father. If he had a lighter shade of white hair, and if his eyes were ash-gray, then people would automatically assume that he was your bastard son.¡±

    His son was correct.

    Since the boy didn¡¯t have white hair and ash-gray eyes, then he couldn¡¯t be a de Moonasterio.

    But it was unnerving to see how the boy looked like his child.

    ¡°ording to Rufus¡¯ quick investigation, the boy is called Calyx Dalton,¡± he said to his son. ¡°Apparently, the boy¡¯s father is a viscount in the countryside. Their family isn¡¯t well-known, especially in the Royal Capital, but they¡¯re pretty well-off. But this is the first time that the Daltons have revealed their child to the public.¡±

    ¡°Why do I have a feeling that Calyx Dalton isn¡¯t an ordinary noble from a humble family?¡± Nero said, then he smirked. ¡°A boy who can pass off as the emperor¡¯s son made his public debut on the Royal Moon Academy¡¯s entrance exam. And he just so happened to be there when Neoma arrived. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a co-incidence, Father.¡±

    He nodded in agreement with his son. ¡°Rufus doesn¡¯t believe it¡¯s a co-incidence either. That¡¯s why he immediately sent a report to me.¡±

    ¡°And what do you think of all of this, Father?¡±

    ¡°Nero, there¡¯s a family that slightly resembles the physical traits of the de Moonasterios.¡±

    ¡°The de Lucas?¡±

    He smiled proudly at his son¡¯s sharpness. ¡°Yes, the de Lucas. After all, their founder shared the same blood as Yule- our ancestor.¡±

    ¡°But that doesn¡¯t exin why that boy looks like you, Father.¡±

    ¡°If the boy is really a de Luca, then creating a high magic that alters a person¡¯s appearance wouldn¡¯t be hard for them.¡±

    Nero slowly nodded, as if he was indulging the idea. ¡°You have a point, Father.¡± He let out a sigh while shaking his head. ¡°I can¡¯t believe that the crows areing at us so openly like this.¡±

    ¡°The crows aren¡¯t the type of enemies to hide themselves for too long,¡± he exined. ¡°After all, the crows don¡¯t believe they¡¯re in the wrong. For them, cing the de Moonasterio they choose on the throne is the natural thing to do. Thus, they unapologetically do what they think they ought to do for the sake of the ¡°empire.¡±¡±

    His son looked displeased by that. ¡°I wish I could stay here and help Neoma.¡± He paused for a second, as if he was thinking. ¡°Should I just stay here?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about your sister, Nero,¡± he assured his son. ¡°You must go to Hazelden Kingdom and recuperate first. Glenn said they have prepared the things that you asked them to prepare. The portal leading to Hazelden is ready, too. You may leave anytime you want.¡±

    ¡°Is it really alright for me to leave Hazelden now that a boy who might be a de Luca has shown up, Father?¡± his son asked worriedly.

    ¡°Your sister can handle it,¡± he said confidently. ¡°Moreover, I¡¯m here.¡±

    Nero looked relieved by that. ¡°Then I¡¯ll leave it to you, Father.¡±

    Niki smiled at his son and nodded. ¡°See youter, Nero.¡±

    ***

    [WE MET again.]

    Neoma was feeling proud of herself as she was the first person to finish the long written exam.

    But as she stood up to submit her papers to Headmaster Salvatore, she was surprised to see that she wasn¡¯t the only person who had finished the exam in such a short time. She expected Hanna to catch up to her, but it wasn¡¯t her cousin who was standing beside her at the moment.

    ¡°We met again, Your Royal Highness,¡± Calyx said cheerfully. ¡°Congrattions on finishing the exam fast.¡±

    Should she be pissed?

    Calyx congratted her on finishing the exam fast when he finished it around the same time that she did. She probably finished just a few minutes earlier than him. After all, when she handed the papers to the Headmaster, Calyx already appeared beside her.

    [And I didn¡¯t even feel his presence, dammit.]

    Worse, Calyx looked very innocent and genuine when he congratted her.

    Aside from the Headmaster who served as the proctor, the student applicants who were still taking the exam had their eyes on her and Calyx.

    [I must maintain myposure.]

    Neoma gave Calyx a bright business smile. ¡°Thank you, Lord Calyx,¡± she said ¡°cheerfully.¡± ¡°Congrattions on finishing the exam early, too.¡±

    Calyx smiled as if he was embarrassed.

    ¡°This is the first time that two student applicants finished the exam this fast,¡± Headmaster Salvatore, who looked impressed, said- obviously pleased. ¡°Since this is a special asion, perhaps it¡¯s only right to check Your Royal Highness and Lord Calyx¡¯s exam papers now and release your test result early as a reward for the two of you.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that doesn¡¯t sound bad since I do not want to prolong my agony while waiting for the exam result, Headmaster,¡± Calyx said as if he was relieved, then he turned to her. ¡°But I will follow what Your Royal Highness intends to do.¡±

    .....

    ¡°I don¡¯t mind, Lord Calyx,¡± Neoma said, then she turned to the Headmaster and gave him a smile. ¡°Then we¡¯ll be in your care, Headmaster Salvatore.¡±

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 426

    Chapter 426: ENTRANCE EXAM (2)

    1,000 Questions from Hell.

    That was what Royal Moon Academy¡¯s written exam was known for.

    The test was divided into five subjects, and each subject had two hundred questions. Then the student applicants were given two hours to finish each exam.

    In the morning, the student applicants would take two subjects.

    The morning entrance exam would begin at exactly 8am, and it would end at 12nn. Then the student applicants would be given an hour-long lunch break. Food would be served in the school restaurant, and the proctors would supervise the applicants even when eating.

    After the lunch break, the afternoon exams would begin at 1pm. There would be three subjects left to take, so the afternoon exam would end at 7pm.

    Of course, the student applicants weren¡¯t required to follow the schedule.

    .....

    For example, if an applicant finished their first exam early, then they could request their proctor to hand them the next exam. But most applicants wouldn¡¯t rush to take the exams. Most of them would often take their time double or triple-checking their exam papers before submitting them to the teachers.

    [I¡¯m in a different ssroom from Neoma.]

    Hanna remained calm, though.

    Neoma was in the ssroom supervised by Headmaster Salvatore himself.

    She, on the other hand, was in the ss supervised by Lord Herman Johanssen- the Vice-principal who was younger yet looked stricter than the Headmaster.

    It had been a while since the applicants upied each seat in the ssroom.

    But there were still a few minutes left before the clock hit 8am. Thus, the Vice-principal left the ssroom first and told them to keep quiet until he returned with the exam papers.

    A room full of arrogant noble children couldn¡¯t be quiet, though.

    ¡°That¡¯s Hanna Quinzel.¡±

    ¡°Oh, the Crown Prince¡¯s alleged fianc¨¦e?¡±

    ¡°Yes, and she¡¯s also Duke Rufus Quinzel¡¯s only child.¡±

    Hanna heard the young lords literally talking behind him.

    It was obvious that the immature boys wanted her to hear them. The young noble¡¯s voices were loud enough for everyone in the ssroom to hear. And now, everyone was ¡°discreetly¡± watching her. The kids were probably waiting for her reaction.

    She couldn¡¯t say she didn¡¯t expect to be the center of attention. After all, she went to the academy with the ¡°Crown Prince.¡± It was as if she and the ¡°Crown Prince¡± were announcing their engagement to everyone.

    [Let¡¯s just ignore the kids.]

    The ¡°kids¡± in question were noble children her age. But Neoma¡¯s way of addressing everyone around her as ¡°children¡± had rubbed off on her.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t Duke Quinzel appeal to the Ministry of Education for the nobledies to get a simr passing test score as the noble lords?¡±

    ¡°Well, the Ministry of Education dismissed the duke¡¯s appeal.¡±

    ¡°Of course, it would be dismissed. The fact that girls were allowed to take the exam was already an honor for them. Any more than that would be too much already.¡±

    The boys¡¯ ignorance and misogyny were so ridiculous she didn¡¯t have the energy to get mad.

    [If Neoma was here, she would have already ¡°killed¡± these kids with her sharp tongue.]

    The thought of Neoma putting those ignorant boys¡¯ in ce with her sarcasm made herugh softly.

    Oops.

    Her softughter caught everyone¡¯s attention. Most of them were probably wondering why sheughed in that situation. And even though she couldn¡¯t see the noisy boys¡¯ reaction behind her, she could already picture them getting taken aback by her reaction.

    She wasn¡¯t reallyughing at the boys, but everyone was probably thinking that she did.

    [Oh, well.]

    ¡°Did she justugh at us?¡±

    ¡°The audacity! Thedy must be acting arrogant because she¡¯s being backed up by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s see if she could stillugh after the exam.¡±

    ¡°The fact that Duke Quinzel appealed to the Ministry of Education must only mean that His Grace isn¡¯t confident that his daughter would pass the entrance exam.¡±

    [I know I shouldn¡¯t react, but I can¡¯t let them insult my father any further.]

    ¡°I would agree with you, but we would be both wrong,¡± Hanna said in a gentle yet clear voice that seemed to surprise everyone. Then she turned her head to face the ignorant young lords, who flinched when she met their gazes. ¡°If that¡¯s all, then this ¡°conversation¡± is finished. Let¡¯s just let our exam scores do the talkingter.¡±

    The boys red at her, but they didn¡¯t talk back to her.

    She just smiled at them, then she faced the front again. Her fellow student applicants immediately avoided her gaze. It was as if the kids didn¡¯t expect her to talk back, and the fact that she did seemed to scare them.

    [They¡¯re probably afraid to cross me because I¡¯m the future Crown Princess.]

    It was a shame, but it seemed like she couldn¡¯t make friends here anymore.

    ¡°Lady Hanna should have just kept her mouth shut.¡±

    It was Lady Vivienne Cornwell, her deskmate, who said that.

    [Lady Vivienne is the youngest daughter of Count Cornwell. If I remember it correctly, Lady Vivienne is also one of the candidates to be the Crown Princess.]

    Shiny blonde and curly hair, sparkling blue eyes, milky white skin.

    Lady Vivienne Cornwell was known for her beauty. But her reputation wasn¡¯t that good because apparently, she was condescending towards nobles who didn¡¯t meet her standards.

    ¡°The young lords weren¡¯t wrong, after all,¡± Lady Vivienne said without even turning to look at her, even though she was talking to her. Thedy¡¯s head was also held high, as if she was showing her that she wasn¡¯t afraid of her, despite the fact that she outranked her. ¡°We should be thankful that the Royal Moon Academy opened its door for thedies. We should be satisfied to have been allowed to take the exam, and we shouldn¡¯t ask for more.¡±

    Before meeting Neoma, she had the same mindset as Lady Vivienne.

    She didn¡¯t question why thedies enjoyed less privilege than the noblemen. Her mother also taught her to neverin. To keep her mouth shut when men were talking. She was also told to never share her opinions.

    And all her young life, she thought it was the right way to live as a noblewoman.

    She would be honest- she hadn¡¯t gotten rid of her strict upbringingpletely. But she was trying. She wanted to share the same mindset as Neoma.

    ¡°Why should we be satisfied with less human rights just because we are women?¡± Hanna asked Lady Vivienne, who turned to her with a shocked look on her face. ¡°Lady Vivienne, women deserve more. And we don¡¯t need men¡¯s validation for anything.¡±

    Lady Vienne looked horrified by what she said. ¡°Lady Hanna, you-¡±

    ¡°Everyone, settle down.¡±

    The youngdy was interrupted when Vice-principal Johannsen finally returned to the ssroom with their exam papers.

    Everyone turned ahead.

    But she could still feel the awkwardness in the air.

    Hanna let out a sigh.

    [I guess I won¡¯t be a popr Crown Princess now.]

    ***

    ¡°STUDENT applicants, don¡¯t be surprised.¡±

    Hanna, who was about to leave her seat to have lunch, sat down again when Vice-principal returned to the ssroom.

    Her fellow applicants also went back to their seats.

    A while ago, the vice-principal already dismissed them. Then he went out of the ssroom after telling them to get their lunch at the school restaurant. But a momentter, Vice-principal Johanssen returned with an excited look on his face.

    It was strange to see the stoic vice-principal suddenly get excited like that.

    [Ah, it must really be big news.]

    ¡°His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has already finished all his exam papers,¡± Vice-principal Johansse said in disbelief. ¡°And His Royal Highness wasn¡¯t the only one who finished his exam in such a short time- another student applicant named Calyx Dalton submitted his exam papers at the same time the Crown Prince did.¡±

    A collective gasp was heard.

    Then it was followed by loud whispers.

    ¡°Lord Calyx?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t he the young lord from the countryside who resembles His Royal Highness a lot?¡±

    ¡°It turns out that Lord Calyx just doesn¡¯t look like His Royal Highness- he also seems to be as capable as the Crown Prince.¡±

    ¡°Quiet, children,¡± Vice-principal Johanssen said, but he didn¡¯t sound that convincing. It seemed like the vice-principal partially agreed with what the other kids said. ¡°The Headmaster himself will grade His Royal Highness and Student Applicant Calyx¡¯s exam papers. Everyone is free to skip their lunch to watch the result of the two¡¯s exam if you want.¡±

    Hanna didn¡¯t feel hungry anymore.

    [I must be there.]

    ***

    NEOMA had a tutor when she was preparing for the entrance exam.

    .....

    But aside from her official tutor, she was also taught by William, Delwyn, Mochi, and some of her Papa Boss¡¯ Soul Beasts.

    And what do her unofficial tutors have inmon?

    [They lived during the time our empire¡¯s History books were written.]

    That meant the Spirits were living witnesses of the empire¡¯s history. Thus, even unknown history was drilled into her mind when they were teaching her. Because of that, she felt a little guilty because she thought she was cheating by having great Spirits as her tutors.

    On the other hand, that was the reason she was confident she would ace the exam.

    But she didn¡¯t expect this kind of oue.

    ¡°Magnificent!¡± Headmaster Salvatore eximed. ¡°Both His Royal Highness and Calyx Dalton got perfect scores in every subject!¡±

    Neoma clenched her hands tight.

    [We both aced the exam...]

    ¡°This is the first time that two students got perfect scores after a long time,¡± Headmaster Salvatore continued. ¡°Thest person to ace the exam was His Majesty Emperor Niki de Moonasterio.¡±

    Calyx smiled brightly. ¡°I¡¯m d that I continued His Majesty¡¯s legacy.¡±

    Huh?

    Neoma turned to Calyx with a raised eyebrow. ¡°His Majesty is my father, though?¡±

    [Why would you continue the legacy of someone else¡¯s father?]

    ***

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 427

    Chapter 427: ENTRANCE EXAM (3)

    AFTER NEOMA and Calyx Dalton agreed to have their exam papers graded early, Headmaster Salvatore brought them to a room that reminded Neoma of the auditorium hall in the Korean private high school that she attended in the past.

    The auditorium hall was practically empty.

    There was just a long table with seats that were probably reserved for the Headmaster and the faculty members. Behind the long table was a giant frame split in two. It looked ssy because the frame was made from gold.

    The parchment inside the frame was also oozing with magic that she wasn¡¯t familiar with.

    ¡°The Grading Tablet behind is the device the Royal Moon Academy uses to grade the exam papers fairly,¡± Headmaster Salvatore exined as he sat on the center seat. ¡°The schrs that the academy produced invented this device.¡±

    The Headmaster politely offered her and Calyx a seat, but the two of them refused and chose to stand in front of the principal.

    Then the Headmaster proceeded to exin how the grading device worked.

    .....

    ¡°All we have to do is let this machine read the exam papers,¡± Headmaster Salvatore exined while putting her exam papers inside a transparent rectangr ss case with golden engraved symbols. When the machine ¡°ate¡± the exam papers, the engraved symbols on the transparent ss case glowed. ¡°The machine is now grading Your Royal Highness¡¯s papers.¡±

    [Ohh, that¡¯s pretty lit.]

    The Headmaster put Calyx Dalton¡¯s exam papers on the other transparent rectangr ss case. What happened to the machine that ate her exam papers earlier happened to the machine that ate Calyx Dalton¡¯s exam papers.

    A grading machine was ced in front of each seat behind the long table.

    [So, this is how the Royal Moon Academy managed to grade the exam papers of thousands of applicants in just a few hours.]

    Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a sound simr to little bells ringinging from the giant frame behind the Headmaster.

    The golden frame glowed, exposing the engraved characters on it.

    [Ohh.]

    Then letters forming different words began to glow on the left side of the parchment.

    After a few seconds, ¡°her¡± name appeared with her exam permit number beside it.

    Then under her name and exam permit number, the name of the subjects of the exams she took appeared in a column. After a few seconds, numbers appeared next to the name subjects. Ah, those numbers were probably her exam score.

    She got the same score for every subject.

    She smiled because she got perfect scores on all subjects.

    At the bottom of the column that showed her exam scores was the total score that she got overall- in short, the final result.

    She was about to do a victory dance in her head when she realized that the other side of the golden frame showed the result of Calyx Dalton¡¯s exam...

    ... and they had the same result.

    [Wow, for real?]

    ¡°Magnificent!¡± Headmaster Salvatore eximed while looking at their exam results. ¡°Both His Royal Highness and Calyx Dalton got perfect scores in every subject!¡±

    She clenched her hands tight.

    [We both aced the exam...]

    ¡°This is the first time that two students got perfect scores after a long time,¡± Headmaster Salvatore continued. ¡°Thest person to ace the exam was His Majesty Emperor Niki de Moonasterio.¡±

    Calyx smiled brightly. ¡°I¡¯m d that I was able to continue His Majesty¡¯s legacy.¡±

    Huh?

    Neoma turned to Calyx with a raised eyebrow. ¡°His Majesty is my father, though?¡±

    [Why would you continue someone else¡¯s father¡¯s legacy?]

    But wait.

    She sounded like a jealous brat.

    ¡°I mean, although my father is a good emperor that deserves your respect, you do not have the obligation to follow in his footsteps, Lord Calyx,¡± she said, smiling to hide her temper that almost snapped a while ago. ¡°You should be your own person.¡±

    Calyx looked confused by her words. But in the end, he smiled the bright smile that she was starting to get used to. ¡°Thank you for your kind words, Your Royal Highness,¡± he said. ¡°I understand what you mean, but I simply want to express how much I admire His Majesty.¡±

    She matched Calyx Dalton¡¯s bright smile with a very bright smile of hers. ¡°I¡¯ll make sure to let my father know about the little fan of his that I met here.¡±

    Calyx¡¯s face turned red, as if he was embarrassed. ¡°Your Royal Highness doesn¡¯t have to go that far for me,¡± he said while scratching his cheek. ¡°Moreover, I¡¯ll get the chance to personally express my admiration for His Majesty on thest day of the entrance exam, anyway.¡±

    Her smile froze at Calyx Dalton¡¯s words.

    EXCUSE ME?

    Thest day of the entrance exam was reserved only for the top two student applicants, and it was the day that the emperor¡¯s presence was required.

    Which meant Calyx Dalton was confident he would be one of the top two applicants.

    The young lord¡¯s strong words didn¡¯t match his shy demeanor, and that got her wondering which among the two personalities he had shown was the real him: the humble young lord, or the confident noble that seemed to be getting on her nerves intentionally?

    ¡°If Your Royal Highness and Calyx Dalton get the top two best scores for tomorrow¡¯s exam, then you¡¯d definintely face each other on thest day of the entrance exam,¡± Headmaster Salvatore said in a cheerful manner. It seemed like the principal was truly happy that two applicants aced the written exam in a record-breaking time. ¡°Student applicants who get a perfect score in the written exam are exempted from the interview, so Your Royal Highness and Calyx Dalton may go home now to rest.¡±

    She was about to say something, but the doors of the auditorium hall suddenly burst open.

    It was then followed by hundreds of student applicants entering the hall while talking among themselves.

    [Ah, they¡¯re probably here to see our test results.]

    ¡°Your Royal Highness, I¡¯m looking forward to our test tomorrow,¡± Calyx said while smiling innocently at her. ¡°I can¡¯t wait to see Your Royal Highness¡¯s brilliant Mana. Ah, just thinking about how Your Royal Highness will be surrounded by your bright Moonglow is enough to make me shudder with excitement. I want Your Royal Highness to blind me with your radiance.¡±

    Brilliant? Bright? Radiance?

    [He sounded like a child who discovered thesaurus for the first time.]

    She smiled at Calyx. ¡°Lord Calyx, do you like shiny things?¡±

    The young lord looked surprised by her question at first. But he quickly recovered. Then he reacted in a way she didn¡¯t expect.

    Calyx Dalton smiled.

    It was the kind of smile that made showed a glint of mischievousness in his green eyes.

    ¡°How did Your Royal Highness know that I like shiny things?¡± Calyx Dalton said, still smiling that mischievous smile at her. ¡°My friends in my hometown often said that I must have been a crow in my past life because of how much I love shiny things.¡±

    A crow, huh?

    Neoma clenched her hands tight while maintaining her business smile.

    [Is this punk exposing himself as a crow straight to my face?!]

    ***

    ¡°PRINCE NERO has already left for Hazelden Kingdom with the Fletcher Twins, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°Very well,¡± Niki said as he poured whisky into his ss. It was only past lunch, but instead of tea, he was drinking whisky in his office. He couldn¡¯t help it. The appearance of the boy who could pass off as his son bothered him a lot. ¡°Have you looked into Calyx Dalton¡¯s background?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty,¡± Geoffrey Kinsley, who was standing in front of him, said. ¡°But unfortunately, there¡¯s only a little information that I could dig about Calyx Dalton. His background is clean- too clean.¡±

    He smirked, then he sipped his whisky before he spoke. ¡°If that child¡¯s record is too clean by your standards, then it only means his background is fabricated.¡±

    ¡°That seems to be the case, Your Majesty,¡± the Pdin said. ¡°And because Calyx Dalton¡¯s record is clean, we can¡¯t easily touch him, even if we suspect that he¡¯s a crow. Moreover, his first public appearance already caused a stir. He already got the public¡¯s approval in just a day.¡±

    Calyx Dalton didn¡¯t only look like Nero- the child was just as capable as the Crown Prince.

    The fact that Calyx Dalton also aced the exam quickly spread in the empire.

    A noble from a humble background getting in the same league as the Crown Prince boosted Calyx Dalton¡¯s reputation.

    ¡°How old is the child?¡± he asked the Pdin.

    ¡°Calyx Dalton is fifteen-years-old, Your Majesty,¡± Geoffrey said. ¡°ording to his record, he started school a littleter than his peers because of his weak constitution.¡±

    ¡°So, he¡¯s older than my children.¡±

    The Pdin nodded, his face showed concern. ¡°What is Your Majesty thinking?¡±

    ¡°That child looks like Nero and Neoma. Essentially, he looks like my younger version,¡± he said, then he quietly put the ss down on the table. ¡°But I¡¯m not the only one who has this face.¡±

    Geoffrey Kinsley, the smartest among the Pdins, gasped softly. ¡°Princess Nichole...¡±

    ¡°Just like Neoma and Nero, Nichole and I resemble each other a lot, despite our different genders,¡± he said. ¡°If Nichole would have an offspring, it wouldn¡¯t be a surprise if that child resembled my children.¡±

    He told Nero that he believed that the de Lucas might have used magic to alter Calyx Dalton¡¯s appearance.

    But truth be told, he had a feeling that the child might be rted to Nichole- his twin sister.

    He didn¡¯t have the courage to say it in front of his child for fear that he might be right. So, in the end, he just told Nero that Calyx Dalton might be a product of magic.

    ¡°Princess Nichole was abducted by the crows in the past,¡± Geoffrey said, his voice shaking and hisplexion pale. ¡°They performed cruel experiments on her... and... if...¡±

    The Pdin stopped talking.

    .....

    It seemed like the thought of Nichole bearing a child of a crow forcefully horrified him so much that he just shut his mouth.

    ¡°A few years ago, when the crows appeared to give the Crown Prince a birthday gift, they said something that stuck with me all this time,¡± he said, changing the topic that they both couldn¡¯t bear to talk about. ¡°The crows said they wanted to know if Nero was truly the rightful heir to the throne. They spoke as if there was another candidate that could inherit the throne aside from my child. At that time, I thought they couldn¡¯t be talking about Neoma because the crows hated the female de Moonasterios. So, when the child who looks like my younger version suddenly appeared, the crows¡¯ words back then entered my mind.¡±

    ¡°Could they be talking about Calyx Dalton?¡±

    ¡°The possibility is high,¡± he said grimly. ¡°If Calyx Dalton turns out to be Nichole¡¯s child, then he would have the right to inherit the throne.¡±

    ¡°But it never happened before, Your Majesty,¡± Geoffrey said worriedly. ¡°There was never a time where the child of a de Moonasterion princess inherited the throne.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s unprecedented because the de Moonasterion princesses in the past were killed by the crows before they even reached adulthood,¡± he reminded the Pdin. ¡°But Nichole is different. She survived the cruel experiments the crow had done to her. And there must be a reason why the crows didn¡¯t kill her right away.¡±

    The Pdin washed his face with his hands as if the current situation stressed him out. ¡°If Calyx Dalton is really Princess Nichole¡¯s child, then the crows would definitely use the child to challenge Prince Nero and Princess Neoma for the right to inherit the throne.¡±

    ¡°It also means that the crows don¡¯t favor Nero,¡± he added, frowning. ¡°If the crows think Nero doesn¡¯t deserve the throne, then they wouldn¡¯t hesitate to kill my son and rece him with Calyx Dalton.¡±

    Geoffrey Kinsley removed his hands from his face, exposing his now glowing eyes. ¡°Your Majesty, I know we don¡¯t have proof yet about Calyx Dalton¡¯s real identity. But he¡¯s dangerous,¡± he said worriedly. ¡°I believe we must eliminate him right away.¡±

    ¡°I have a feeling that Neoma and Calyx Dalton will face each other on thest day of the entrance exam,¡± he said, then his gaze fell down on his whisky. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be strange if Neoma, who¡¯s currently acting as the Crown Prince, identally kills her opponent in the match, right?¡±

    The Pdin gasped softly. ¡°Your Majesty, are you nning to ask Princess Neoma to kill Calyx Dalton during the match?¡±

    A father asking his own daughter to kill a person was cruel.

    But unfortunately, the Royal Family was never and would never be an ordinary family. If they didn¡¯t kill, they would be killed.

    ¡°The match is the perfect opportunity to kill Calyx Dalton,¡± he said to the Pdin. ¡°After all, there were instances in the past where the de Moonasterios had killed their opponents in the match. But if Neoma doesn¡¯t want to do it, then I won¡¯t force her to do so.¡±

    Geoffrey Kinsley gulped. ¡°Then, Your Majesty...¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll do it,¡± Niki said, his eyes turned glowing red. ¡°I¡¯ll kill Calyx Dalton before he touches my children.¡±

    ***

    [WHAT is he doing here?]

    Hanna was already wondering as to why the carriage that was supposed to fetch her waste.

    Unfortunately, her father couldn¡¯t fetch her personally because he had work to do as a duke. But her father told her that Jaxson Emmett, the vice-captain of the ck Hawk Knights, would be her escort.

    Thus, she was stuck in front of the academy¡¯s main building while waiting. Thankfully, there were other students around them.

    [He wouldn¡¯t do anything stupid, right?]

    ¡°Greetings to the future Crown Princess of the Great Moonasterion Empire,¡± Calyx Dalton, the boy who looked like Nero and Neoma, greeted her cheerfully. Then he extended his hand to her. ¡°I apologize for greeting youte, Lady Hanna. But it¡¯s betterte than never, right?¡±

    She didn¡¯t really like to associate with Calyx Dalton.

    There were eyes watching them, so she couldn¡¯t be rude. Thus, even though she didn¡¯t want him to touch her, she had no choice but to ept his hand...

    ... but just when her fingers were about to brush against Calyx Dalton¡¯s, a pale hand roughly grabbed the young lord¡¯s wrist.

    ¡°Who. You?¡±

    Hanna smiled, relieved. ¡°Lewis.¡±

    ***

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 428

    Chapter 428: ENTRANCE EXAM (4)

    AFTER NEOMA got her score for the written exam, she left the Royal Moon Academy to avoid Calyx Dalton who was trying to get chummy with her.

    Unfortunately, she still didn¡¯t have solid proof that Calyx Dalton was a crow, so she couldn¡¯t make a move yet. Plus, it wouldn¡¯t be wise to be hostile to that boy since he gained the public¡¯s favor by showing off his face (that looked like a de Moonasterio) and his abilities (that rivaled the Crown Prince¡¯s).

    Yes, the rumors that quickly spread alreadybelled Calyx Dalton as her rival.

    If she attacked Calyx Dalton without a valid reason, she would just appear bitter. And she couldn¡¯t afford to ruin her reputation. Not when Nero was about to return to his rightful ce.

    [I have to protect Nero¡¯s ce as the Crown Prince until he returns.]

    ¡°This penthouse is worth its price,¡± Neoma said while looking around the hotel¡¯s penthouse that she booked for the entrance exam¡¯s duration. ¡°No wonder the Quinzels are so rich. They got the best location for a luxury hotel.¡±

    Saros Hotel, the hotel near the Royal Moon Academy, was owned by the Quinzels.

    .....

    Even the standard rooms in that hotel already cost a fortune. The hotel was especially busy during the entrance exam season. After all, student applicants all over the world would travel to the Royal Capital to take the entrance exam. Most of the foreign applicants didn¡¯t have a house to stay in the empire, so they had no choice but to book a hotel room.

    For people with money and high status, Saros Hotel was the only choice for them.

    It was difficult to book a room in the hotel, especially the penthouse.

    [But of course, as the Crown Prince, Duke Rufus Quinzel easily gave me the hotel¡¯s penthouse when I said I wanted to stay here.]

    The de Moonasterios had a vi near the Royal Moon Academy. It was the residence used by the Royal Family members who would take the entrance exam. But she didn¡¯t want to stay in the vi alone.

    She chose Saros Hotel to hang out with Hanna.

    But unfortunately, it was considered vulgar if the Crown Prince and the future Crown Princess stayed in the penthouse together. Thus, the Quinzels reserved the whole floor below the penthouse for Hanna and her guards.

    [We can hang out in the restaurant or the lounge areater.]

    Saros Hotel was just as luxurious as the expensive hotels back in Korea. It was just a shame that swimming pools weren¡¯t a thing in the empire yet.

    [Should I invest in Saros Hotels and suggest indoor swimming pools?]

    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea,¡± she said to herself. ¡°I should bring it up to Hannater.¡±

    ¡°Lady Hanna isn¡¯t here yet.¡±

    She turned to Lewis, who was standing behind her.

    Lewis didn¡¯t apany her to the Royal Moon Academy earlier because he went to Saros Hotel first to ensure that the penthouse was safe for her to use as a temporary residence.

    There were also elite royal guards guarding the outside.

    [Too bad my other ¡°children¡± aren¡¯t here yet. I would have loved for our family to spend a short vacation here.]

    It was one of the reasons why she chose Saros Hotel over the royal vi.

    ¡°It¡¯s already past nine in the evening,¡± she said worriedly. ¡°The written exam should have ended at 7PM. And I heard the interview after the exam wouldn¡¯t take that long.¡±

    She had a bad feeling, and more often than not, her bad feelings were correct.

    ¡°Lewis.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Royal Highness?¡±

    ¡°Go to the academy and check on Hanna,¡± Neoma said seriously. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me because I have Delwyn- and William will be hereter.¡±

    Lewis, surprisingly, agreed immediately. ¡°I will bring Lady Hanna here safely.¡±

    [You do you, my little rockstar.]

    ***

    ¡°IS THAT Sir Crevan?¡±

    ¡°You mean the Crown Prince¡¯s personal knight?¡±

    ¡°Did hee here to fetch Lady Hanna?¡±

    ¡°But is Sir Crevan fighting Lord Calyx?¡±

    Hanna was slightly rmed to hear the students talk like Lewis was attacking Calyx Dalton.

    [Calyx Dalton gained a favorable impression from the public for being as good-looking andpetent as the Crown Prince, so we can¡¯t afford to make them think we¡¯re being hostile to the young lord.]

    ¡°Lewis, it¡¯s alright. Lord Calyx isn¡¯t a stranger,¡± Hanna said gently. ¡°Prince Nero and Lord Calyx are acquaintances to each other, and he¡¯s just giving his greetings to me.¡±

    Lewis let go of Calyx Dalton¡¯s hand, then he bowed his head as an apology to the young lord.

    ¡°Lord Calyx, you must have been startled,¡± she said to the young lord with an apologetic look on her face. ¡°I apologize.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Lady Hanna. You don¡¯t have to apologize,¡± Calyx said in an amiable tone. ¡°His Royal Highness must care about you a lot if he sent his best knight to fetch you, mydy.¡±

    She just smiled as a response.

    [I have no obligation to confirm my rtionship with Nero to anyone.]

    ¡°I have already given my greetings to you, so I will take my leave now,¡± Calyx said cheerfully, then he bowed. ¡°Be careful around explosions, Lady Hanna.¡±

    She felt a chill down her spines.

    Calyx Dalton said thest sentence in a low voice that only reached her and Lewis¡¯s ears.

    Lewis growled low as a response, and the fox boy would have attacked Calyx Dalton had she not grabbed him by the arm. When Lewis turned to her, his glowing golden eyes asking her why she was stopping him, she just shook her head.

    [We can¡¯t make a scene here.]

    Calyx Dalton¡¯s chuckle interrupted her ¡°eye-to-eyemunication¡± with Lewis.

    But when she turned to the young lord, he just bowed to her again and took his leave.

    Much to her surprise, a man wearing an all-ck outfit emerged from the darkness and joined Calyx Dalton. Then the two disappeared into the dark.

    She got another chill down her spines.

    [Calyx Dalton wasn¡¯t alone when he was talking to me earlier, and yet I didn¡¯t feel hispanion¡¯s presence?]

    She suddenly felt disappointed in herself.

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t only you, Lady Hanna.¡±

    She turned to Lewis. ¡°Hmm?¡±

    Lewis knitted his eyebrows as if he was annoyed. ¡°I also didn¡¯t notice hispanion¡¯s presence until he emerged from the darkness.¡±

    Then that only meant Calyx Dalton¡¯spanion was really on a different level.

    [Thatpanion definitely isn¡¯t an ordinary butler.]

    ¡°Lady Hanna.¡±

    She and Lewis both turned to Jaxson Emmett, the vice-captain of the ck Hawk Knights, who approached them in a hurry.

    ¡°I apologize for arrivingte, Lady Hanna,¡± Jaxson Emmett said while bowing deeply. ¡°We encountered a minor problem when the carriage entered the academy¡¯s premise.¡±

    ¡°What happened, Sir Emmett?¡±

    ¡°Crows.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    Jaxson Emmett raised his head, his eyes dead serious. ¡°A murder of crows attacked the coachman driving our carriage earlier, so we had to stop and drive the crows away.¡±

    She wanted to believe that it was just a co-incidence.

    But after the ¡°warning¡± that she received from Calyx Dalton earlier, she would be a fool if she brushed the incident off as a co-incidence. The fact that Calyx Dalton looked like Nero and Neoma was already suspicious enough.

    ¡°Sir Emmett, I¡¯ll go to the hotel with Lewis,¡± Hanna said in a low voice that only reach Lewis and Jaxson Emmett¡¯s ears. ¡°Please go to my father and report this incident to him personally.¡±

    Jaxson Emmett, one of the few people serving her family that understood the threat of the crows, didn¡¯t question her decision. He just bowed to her politely. ¡°I received your order, Lady Hanna,¡± he said, then he turned to Lewis. ¡°Lewis Crevan, I leave Lady Hanna in your capable hands.¡±

    Lewis nodded firmly. ¡°Lady Hanna is safe with me.¡±

    ***

    ¡°THEY¡¯RE going to kill you during the match and make it look like an ident.¡±

    Calyx justughed at his Uncle Raven¡¯s warning.

    Right now, he and his uncle were in the carriage headed to the Saros Hotel, where they booked a room for the duration of the entrance exam.

    ¡°You gave away your identity pretty easily,¡± his Uncle Raven, who was sitting on the couch across from him, said while shaking his head. His uncle was in disguise, hiding his traits as a de Luca by changing his hair and eye color. Right now, his uncle had in dark brown hair and chocte eyes. His uncle¡¯s Mana was also sealed, so no one would recognize him as a de Luca. ¡°Unless the Crown Prince and Hanna Quinzel are stupid, then they have definitely figured out that you¡¯re a crow.¡±

    To be precise, he was a de Luca.

    But the people outside their cult didn¡¯t know that there were two factions in their group: the Crowells and the de Lucas. For people like the de Moonasterios, all of them were just the crows.

    .....

    Not that it bothered him.

    [We¡¯re all family, after all.]

    ¡°His Excellency said he doesn¡¯t mind if I reveal my identity right away,¡± Calyx said cheerfully. ¡°Moreover, we¡¯re not in the wrong. So why do we need to hide? I¡¯m sick of them treating us like the bad guys when we just want the best for the empire.¡±

    ¡°I understand your sentiment, but I still want you to be careful,¡± his uncle said. ¡°The Crown Prince...¡± He trailed off, then he shook his head. ¡°The royal princess posing as Nero de Moonasterio is sharp. She wouldn¡¯t leave you alone now that she figured out you¡¯re a crow.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fine with me,¡± he said nonchntly. ¡°I also want to know how the royal princess figured out Regina is a crow when we¡¯ve protected her identity well. I can¡¯t help but think that the royal princess already knows who Regina is from the start.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then why didn¡¯t the royal princess kill Regina right away?¡±

    He tilted his head to one side. ¡°That¡¯s what I can¡¯t figure out, Uncle. But I guess we¡¯ll find out once the royal princess falls into our hands.¡±

    His uncle nodded in agreement, then he knitted his eyebrows. ¡°Did you really have to confront Hanna Quinzel?¡±

    He smiled sheepishly. ¡°Oh, I acted on impulse. I have a personal grudge against Hanna Quinzel, after all.¡±

    ¡°Personal grudge?¡±

    He nodded, then he pouted. ¡°Hanna Quinzel¡¯s ce belongs to Regina. But because she lived, our poor Regina was punished by the family.¡± He clenched his hands tight. ¡°Uncle, Hanna Quinzel must die this time. I promised Regina that I¡¯ll give her life in the capital back to her.¡±

    ¡°Killing Hanna Quinzel isn¡¯t our top priority at the moment, Calyx.¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s do it this way- I want a reward,¡± he said stubbornly. ¡°If I beat the fake Crown Prince in the match, because I¡¯m pretty sure we¡¯ll be facing each other on thest day of the exam, then you¡¯ll give me Hanna Quinzel¡¯s head as a reward, Uncle.¡±

    His Uncle Raven let out a sigh. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll kill Hanna Quinzel if you win against the fake Crown Prince in the match.¡±

    Calyx cheered and pped his hands. ¡°You¡¯re the best uncle in the world, Uncle Raven!¡±

    ***

    ¡°YOUR ROYAL Highness!¡±

    Neoma wanted to ignore Calyx Dalton and pretend that she didn¡¯t hear him.

    But their eyes already met.

    [Goddammit.]

    She was alone in the hotel¡¯s reception area, disguised as an ordinary young lord by hiding her face and hair color using a hooded robe, when Calyx Dalton arrived.

    [He¡¯s also staying here?]

    Thank goodness the other guests in the reception area were a little farther from them, so they didn¡¯t hear Calyx Dalton call her by her title. But the young lord still approached her joyfully, even though she was already giving her the cold look.

    [This dense punk...]

    ¡°Shh,¡± Neoma warned Calyx Dalton, who was now standing in front of her, then she put a finger on her nose. ¡°Can¡¯t you see I¡¯m in disguise?¡±

    Calyx Dalton¡¯s eyes widened in surprise, then he covered his mouth with his hands. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry, Your Royal-¡± he whispered. But he immediately stopped talking when she red at him. Panic crossed his eyes then. ¡°How should I address you...?¡±

    ¡°Just ignore me,¡± she said while shooing him away with her hand.

    ¡°But I can¡¯t leave you alone,¡± he said in a low and ¡°concerned¡± voice. ¡°It¡¯s dangerous for you to be alone, without a single guard. What will you do if someone recognizes you and attacks you suddenly?¡±

    She raised an eyebrow at him. ¡°Well, I think your butler is prettypetent to ¡°protect¡± me if that happens.¡±

    The fake worried look on Calyx Dalton¡¯s face was reced by genuine shock.

    ¡°Oh, should I pretend I didn¡¯t notice your butler?¡± she asked ¡°innocently,¡± then her gaze went past Calyx Dalton.

    She couldn¡¯t see the person behind him because that person was in ¡°invisible mode.¡±

    But she could tell that the ¡°butler¡± was keeping an eye on her intently.

    ¡°Thank you, Your Royal Highness.¡±

    She was surprised by what Calyx Dalton said, so she turned to him. ¡°Thank you for what?¡±

    ¡°Thank you for not being boring,¡± Calyx Dalton said, his grin wide and his eyes crazed. He was looking at her as if she was an interesting ything that would ease him from boredom. ¡°Please keep me entertained for a long time, Your Royal Highness.¡±

    [Great,] Neoma thought to herself sarcastically while looking at the crazy look on Calyx Dalton¡¯s face. [I met another psycho.]

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 429

    Chapter 429: ENTRANCE EXAM (5)

    [AM I a psycho ma?]

    Neoma could see the craziness in Calyx Dalton¡¯s green eyes.

    [I knew it.]

    As a veteran weeb/otaku/bookworm, she knew that overly cheerful people usually ended up as the craziest character in the story. She was d she followed her gut feeling to not trust Calyx Dalton. Plus, she never liked him the moment she saw him anyway.

    [There are people that you will simply hate at first sight just because.]

    ¡°Young master, please calm down.¡±

    Her thoughts were interrupted when the butler suddenly appeared behind Calyx Dalton.

    .....

    [As expected, it¡¯s the male attendant I saw this morning.]

    It was only her hunch that the ¡°invisible man¡± was Calyx Dalton¡¯s attendant/butler. But as expected of a genius like her, she was correct.

    ¡°Your Royal Highness, please excuse our rudeness,¡± the butler said. ¡°My name is Raven, and I¡¯m Lord Calyx¡¯s butler.¡± He bowed deeply to her. ¡°I beg Your Royal Highness¡¯s forgiveness for concealing myself in your presence.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Mr. Raven,¡± Neoma said, then she smiled ¡°innocently¡± at them. ¡°It¡¯s not like you hid in order to assassinate me, right?¡±

    Calyx Dalton, that smiling psycho,ughed as if he was amused.

    Raven, on the other hand, bowed deeply. ¡°Who would dare assassinate the Lesser Moon of the Great Moonasterion Empire?¡±

    [You crows, obviously.]

    Her thoughts were interrupted when Raven put his hand on the back of Calyx Dalton¡¯s head. Then the ¡°butler¡± gently pushed his young master¡¯s head down.

    So now, Calyx Dalton was bowing to her.

    ¡°I apologize for my rudeness, Your Royal Highness,¡± Calyx Dalton said, his head still hung low. ¡°This won¡¯t happen again.¡±

    Neoma smiled, acting as a benevolent royalty even in front of a potential enemy. ¡°It¡¯s alright, Lord Calyx and Mr. Raven,¡± she said, then she said the following words in a low voice: ¡°You can¡¯t take me down anyway, even if you try to.¡±

    Raven remained bowing deeply, but she could tell that the butler tensed up.

    Calyx Dalton justughed like the psycho he was, though.

    ***

    ¡°HE SAID that?¡± Neoma asked, her hands clenched tight. ¡°Calyx Dalton told you to be careful around explosions?¡±

    Hanna nodded solemnly. ¡°I can¡¯t help but be reminded of the crows who tried to kill me off in an explosion, Neoma.¡±

    She and Hanna could talk freely because the two of them were in the penthouse.

    It was a safe ce because a barrier that would prevent anyone or anything from ¡°wiretapping¡± them was activated.

    Although it was considered vulgar for the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess to spend the night together in the penthouse, having dinner in the penthouse was eptable. Thus, Hanna had a reason to hang out with her in her room before bedtime.

    ¡°That punk doesn¡¯t even bother hiding his identity,¡± she said, frustrated. To calm her nerves, she sipped her hot chocte. She and Hanna just had dinner, and she chose hot chocte instead of tea because she was craving something sweet. ¡°Should I just ¡°identally¡± kill him during the match?¡±

    The problem was her Hellgate.

    [Every time I kill someone, the Hellgate I created would open up. If I kill Calyx Dalton in front of a crowd, my attribute that¡¯s simr to demonic power would get exposed. I should have asked Trevor to teach me how to control it before that punk betrayed me.]

    Hah.

    She wanted tough bitterly.

    [When did I consider resorting to killing my enemies this easily?]

    It was a horrible change in her personality, and she didn¡¯t like it.

    Living as a privileged Korean vlogger in a peaceful country for so long gave her a clear moralpass. Thus, even though the world she lived in now was literally ¡°to kill or be killed,¡± she still felt conflicted every time she needed to resort to violence.

    ¡°During the match, you say?¡±

    Her thoughts were interrupted by Hanna¡¯s question.

    Hanna, who was sitting on the chair across from her, looked confused. ¡°Why do you talk like it¡¯s already been decided that you and Calyx Dalton will face each other in thest round of the exam?¡±

    Oops.

    She bit her lower lip. Her conscience suddenly kicked her. How could she talk like that in front of Hanna who was also a student applicant?

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Hanna.¡±

    Hannaughed softly. ¡°I¡¯m just teasing you, Neoma. I¡¯m not offended, so please don¡¯t apologize,¡± her cousin assured her. ¡°But that doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯ve given up. I still intend tost until thest round.¡±

    She smiled and nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s do our best, Hanna.¡±

    Her cousin chuckled while nodding, then she clenched her hands. ¡°Fighting.¡±

    It was her turn tough after her cousin used the term that she taught her before. ¡®Fighting¡¯ or ¡®hwaiting¡¯ was a Korean term/phrase that was used to encourage someone.

    [Hanna learns fast.]

    ¡°Will Duke Quinzel apany you tomorrow for the second round of test?¡±

    She couldn¡¯t stay with Hanna tomorrow because she and Calyx Dalton would take the second testte. Since they aced the exams, they were given the privilege to rest longer. Thus, she and Calyx Dalton would be thest ones to take the second test tomorrow.

    [The second test is about measuring one¡¯s Mana. So, rest is an important factor in order to be in our best condition tomorrow. That¡¯s the privilege given to the students who aced the written exam.]

    ¡°Vice-captain Emmett returned earlier with a letter from my father,¡± Hanna said seriously. ¡°Father said he¡¯ll wrap up his work tonight so he could apany me tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m relieved to hear that,¡± she said. ¡°We can¡¯t brush off that psycho¡¯s threat.¡± She turned to Lewis, who was standing behind her. ¡°Lewis, I¡¯ll bring you tomorrow to the academy as my attendant. Keep an eye on Hanna. The crows already tried to kill Hanna before. They might attempt to do that again.¡±

    Lewis nodded firmly. ¡°As you wish, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Thanks, Lewis,¡± she said, then she turned to Hanna. ¡°It¡¯s not like I¡¯m saying that you can¡¯t protect yourself, Hanna. I know that you¡¯ve grown stronger these past few years. But I just want to make sure the crows won¡¯t be able to hurt you again.¡±

    ¡°I understand, Neoma,¡± Hanna said with a smile. ¡°Even if I have grown stronger, I still wouldn¡¯t underestimate the crows. After all, I almost died because of them.¡±

    Hanna must have been traumatized by that unfortunate incident.

    Neoma held Hanna¡¯s hand and squeezed it gently. ¡°We have the power to stop the crows now, Hanna.¡±

    ***

    ¡°ARGH.¡±

    Calyxughed at his Uncle Raven¡¯s reaction when he came out of the bathroom after taking a shower and changing into his sleepwear. He knew why his uncle made a disgusted face upon seeing his actual appearance. ¡°Is my face that bad, Uncle?¡±

    The potion that he consumed earlier to change his hair and eye color had already worn off.

    ¡°Your face isn¡¯t bad,¡± Uncle Raven, who was sitting on the sofa like a king, said. There was still a disgusted look on his face, though. ¡°It just creeps me out since looking at you feels like I¡¯m facing the young Niki de Moonasterio.¡±

    Heughed at his uncle¡¯s words.

    Then Calyx caught his own reflection in the mirror hanging on the wall.

    White hair.

    Ash-gray eyes.

    Pale skin.

    He hadn¡¯t seen the current emperor personally yet. But every one in his family said he looked like His Majesty¡¯s younger version. And upon seeing the fake Crown Prince, he could already imagine how the emperor would look in the flesh.

    ¡°Uncle, why do you seem to hate His Majesty?¡± he asked curiously. ¡°The crows put him on the throne.¡±

    ¡°Calyx, he almost ended our bloodline before,¡± his uncle said bluntly. ¡°That ungrateful emperor tried to kill our family members after everything we¡¯ve done for him. If we didn¡¯t help him with his rebellion, he wouldn¡¯t have seeded in stealing the throne from his father.¡±

    ¡°But despite that, I think the family is still fond of Emperor Niki.¡±

    ¡°I me it on his charisma,¡± his uncle said while shaking his head. ¡°Niki de Moonasterio is just too irresistible. He¡¯s not a good person, but he¡¯s not evil. And even though he¡¯s greedy, he doesn¡¯t fall into temptations.¡± His uncle let out a dreamy sigh. ¡°Moreover, Niki de Moonasterio is the strongest emperor in history. He¡¯s perfect... but his taste in women sucks.¡±

    ¡°You sound like a jealous lover, Uncle,¡± he said while grinning. ¡°Actually, our whole family seems to be in love with the emperor, even though he almost ended the cult.¡±

    ¡°Because he shines,¡± Uncle Raven said defensively. ¡°And crows like shiny things.¡±

    ¡°I see- our family has a love and hate rtionship with the emperor.¡±

    His uncle just nodded in agreement. ¡°Calyx, for tomorrow¡¯s test, you must hold back as much as you can. If you let out your true power, everyone in the academy premise would die.¡±

    ¡°I know what to do even without you reminding me, Uncle.¡±

    ¡°You can be an airhead sometimes, so I need to make sure you won¡¯t mess up our ns,¡± his uncle said. ¡°It¡¯s a shame that you have to hold back, though. I wanted you to crush the fake Crown Princepletely.¡±

    ¡°The male de Lucas really hate the female de Moonasterios, huh?¡±

    ¡°The more threatening a female de Moonasterio is, the more hate we feel towards them,¡± his uncle said. ¡°The hate I felt towards Nichole de Moonasterio was already severe. But when I saw the fake Crown Prince earlier...¡± His uncle clenched his hands tight. ¡°I felt the urge to crush her. It was a relief that my bloodlust didn¡¯t leak out.¡±

    ¡°I find her interesting, though. And I can¡¯t hate her,¡± Calyx said, smiling. ¡°After all, the royal princess and the Crown Prince are still my little siblings.¡±

    .....

    ¡°Siblings?¡± his Uncle Raven asked, then heughed. ¡°Well, I guess you can say that.¡±

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 430

    Chapter 430: ENTRANCE EXAM (6)

    ¡°CONGRATULATIONS, sweetie.¡±

    Hanna smiled while looking at her father, who looked happier than she was.

    Her father came to Saros Hotel early this morning. The two of them had breakfast with Neoma and Lewis on the top floor that her cousin fondly referred to as the ¡®penthouse.¡¯ After their breakfast, she left the hotel with her father.

    When they arrived at the Moon Royal Academy, the result of the written exam was already posted on the bulletin board near the entrance. The applicants¡¯ names, exam permit numbers, and scores were posted.

    ¡°You got a higher score than your mother and I did when we took the entrance exam in the past,¡± her father said joyfully. ¡°I am so proud of you, Hanna- me and your mother, for sure.¡±

    To be honest, she was disappointed that she only scored 997/1000.

    She got three wrong answers, and she could tell that the three wrong answers she got were from the tricky questions that she failed to ovee.

    .....

    ¡°You did well, Hanna.¡±

    Hanna smiled at her father. ¡°Thank you, Father.¡±

    ¡°I know that you¡¯re a little disappointed because you didn¡¯t get a perfect score,¡± her father said gently. ¡°But I want you to know that you already did well, sweetie. I¡¯m sure your mother will say the same thing. Moreover, the entrance exam is just the beginning. You can always do better once school begins.¡±

    She wasforted by her father¡¯s warm words.

    But to be honest, the fact that she didn¡¯t get a perfect score wasn¡¯t the only thing that made her sad that morning.

    [Lady Vivienne Cornwell didn¡¯t pass the written exam.]

    But the young lords that tried to pick a fight with her yesterday passed the exam, even though Lady Vivienne Cornwell did better than them. The discrepancy between male and female student applicants was disgusting.

    ¡°Father.¡±

    ¡°Yes, sweetie?¡±

    She discreetly surveyed the area to see if there were people nearby who might be listening to their conversation.

    But luckily, there was none.

    After all, her father was one of the most powerful dukes in the empire. Even among all the nobles in the academy at the moment, their family outranked most of them. Thus, the other nobles would find it difficult to approach them.

    [The young lords yesterday were only able to pick a fight with me because I was alone. But even then, they stopped when I talked back to them. They knew that they were no match against House Quinzel.]

    ¡°About the school that you¡¯re secretly building... is it going to finish soon?¡± she asked her father.

    A few years ago, her father told her about the school that he was building with His Majesty.

    It was a secret that the investor was the emperor who put his investment under Neoma¡¯s name, of course.

    Changing the unfair system that the Royal Moon Academy had been using for a long time now was already close to impossible. Thus, her father and His Majesty decided to build a school to challenge the system that the Ministry of Education refused to change.

    Her father nodded. ¡°If everything goes smoothly, then the school might be ready to open next school year.¡±

    She was relieved to hear that.

    [Please hang in there for one year, Lady Cornwell. Royal Moon Academy may not be for you and the otherdies who failed because of the unfair system. But I promise that once our school opens, everything will change.]

    ¡°Are you thinking of the youngdies who failed the exam despite getting better scores than the low-ranking male applicants?¡±

    As expected of her father, he knew what she was thinking.

    ¡°Yes, Father,¡± she admitted. ¡°I feel bad for thedies who failed the exam today.¡±

    ¡°I understand your sentiment, but please stop worrying for other people in the meantime, sweetie,¡± her father said worriedly. ¡°Hanna, do you know how worried I was when I heard that the person who threatened you is staying at our hotel?¡±

    Her father was talking about Calyx Dalton, of course.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much, Father,¡± she assured him. ¡°Lewis stayed on my floor and guard the area with the ck Hawk Knights the whole night.¡±

    It was Neoma¡¯s order.

    [It¡¯s cute how Neoma can be a worrywart sometimes.]

    ¡°I doubled the number of knights guarding your floor in the hotel,¡± her father said. ¡°I wanted to spy on that kid, but...¡±

    But Neoma told her father not to do that.

    ording to Neoma, the fact that Calyx Dalton wasn¡¯t hiding his identity meant he was ready to kill if he was cornered. Moreover, the ¡°butler¡± guarding the young lord was also strong. The other guests in the hotel might be jeopardized if a fight broke out.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Father. I¡¯m being careful,¡± Hanna assured her father. ¡°I should go, Father. The second test will begin in a few minutes.¡±

    Her father nodded, then he gave her a hug. It was unusual for noblemen to show affection to their children- especially in public. But her father had always been an affectionate person. And she would never stop being grateful that her father was kind.

    ¡°Good luck, Hanna,¡± her father said gently. ¡°Please don¡¯t get hurt.¡±

    ***

    THE METHOD used to measure a student applicant¡¯s Mana was quite simple.

    And Hanna was ready.

    There were twenty-three ss pirs in the academy¡¯s fancy courtyard. Each seven-foot ss pir contained seven little ¡°moons¡± inside, ced on top of each other. By ¡°moon,¡± she meant crystal balls that resembled the moon.

    The student applicants would just need to ce their hands on the ss pir assigned to them. Then the student applicants would just need to fill as many little moons as they could with their Mana.

    ording to her research, the average number of moons that most student applicants could fill was two.

    [Yes, it¡¯s that hard to even fill one little moon with Mana.]

    Filling four little moons with Mana was already considered impressive. And those student applicants who could fill five to seven little moons were said to be already guaranteed a bright future in the academy.

    [Father said Mother filled five little moons while he filled six little moons during their time. Should I aim to fill six little moons like Father?]

    ¡°Student Applicant Hanna Quinzel, please head to ss Pir Number 9.¡±

    It was announced by one of the female teachers.

    She noticed that all eyes (except for the students taking the exam) were suddenly glued to her. Even the teachers supervising the exam were looking at her with expectant eyes.

    [They¡¯re already looking at me as if I¡¯m already the official Crown Princess.]

    In other terms, everyone was already waiting for her to make a mistake.

    Of course, she didn¡¯t let that get to her.

    With her head held high, she walked towards the assigned ss pir to her with confidence. Then, without so much ado, she ced her hands on the cold ss.

    [Let¡¯s hold back a little.]

    She needed to hold back to avoid putting too much strain on her heart.

    But she found it hard to do so.

    As soon as she gathered her Mana in her hands to let it flow to the ss pir, she felt a powerful force sucking her Mana dry.

    She groaned internally.

    [It¡¯s sucking all my Mana...]

    No wonder some of the student applicants taking the exam with her copsed when they hadn¡¯t filled one little moon yet.

    [Ah, I see.]

    She finally understood why the average number of little moons getting filled with Mana was only two. The gauging device was set up to suck out the applicant¡¯s entire energy.

    Two of the little moons inside her ss pir glowed. The two orbs at the bottom of the pir that were just filled with her Mana glowed beautifully, but the gauging device didn¡¯t show any sign of stopping. It continuously sucked out her Mana, not caring if her body could handle it.

    But she could.

    Although her knees buckled earlier from surprise, she immediately pulled herself together and stood firmly. She didn¡¯t let the ss pir suck her Mana dry- it was of her own volition to let her Mana flow freely.

    She didn¡¯t have the luxury to hold back, so she just went all out.

    Four moons.

    She now filled four little moons with her Mana, causing an uproar among the student applicants because she was the first person to achieve that yet.

    But it was far from over.

    When she filled the fifth little moon with her Mana, the teachers supervising the other ss pirs turned their attention to her.

    [Just one more moon.]

    She didn¡¯t want to admit this, but she was starting to get weak from filling the little moons with her Mana. Thus, she thought she would stop at filling six little moons. And so, she went all out at thest moment.

    Much to her pleasant surprise, thest two little moons lit up with her Mana.

    She slowly removed her hands from the ss pir after she was done.

    And so, she stood in front of the ss pir while admiring the glowing seven little moons that were filled with her Mana.

    .....

    Yes, she filled the seven little moons with her Mana without copsing.

    [Did I really seed?]

    Her disbelief was soon washed away when the crowd roared with loud ps and cheers from the people around her.

    That was when Hanna finally smiled and patted her shoulder for a job well done.

    ***

    [WOAH, IT¡¯S pretty lit.]

    Neoma knew the content of the exams, but she was still impressed when she saw the pretty ss pirs in the courtyard. The little moons inside the pirs that must be filled looked neat, too. She bet those orbs would look prettier once filled with Mana.

    The ss pirs with crystal balls inside looked more beautiful with the sunset that served as their ¡°backdrop.¡± The ¡°color palette¡± of the sunset that was reflected in the ss pirs and transparent orbs looked very aesthetically pleasing.

    [I didn¡¯t care about the entrance exam during my first life since I didn¡¯t enroll here back then, but I¡¯m pretty excited right now.]

    ¡°Your Royal Highness, Student Applicant Calyx Dalton.¡±

    She turned to Headmaster Salvatore who called their attention.

    The principal was standing next to ss Pir #1- the ss pir assigned to her.

    On the other hand, Vice-principal Johanssen was standing next to ss Pir #3- the ss pir assigned to Calyx Dalton.

    Yes, only one ss pir was between them.

    And a lot of eyes were watching.

    The teachers, student applicants with their guardians/attendants, and other academy staff waited for the others to finish the test just so they could watch the two students who aced the written exam get their Manas gauged.

    Of course, Hanna was also there.

    After all, as of now, Hanna Quinzel was the current top student applicant after getting a near-perfect score in the written exam, and the highest Mana level yet.

    [Hanna sessfully filled the little seven moons with her Mana.]

    She was so, so proud of her cousin-sh-bestie.

    The Headmaster¡¯s voice interrupted her thoughts.

    ¡°Are you both ready to get your Mana gauged?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m ready, Headmaster.¡±

    Neoma and Calyx Dalton said the same thing at the same time, and they even both turned to each other simultaneously, too.

    Argh.

    [I hate to admit this, but it feels like I¡¯m looking at myself with a filter that changes my hair and eye color when I¡¯m looking at this crow psycho.]

    ¡°Your Royal Highness, shall we make a little bet?¡± Calyx Dalton asked in a yful voice. ¡°If I get a higher Mana level than Your Royal Highness, then can Your Royal Highness make me his sworn brother?¡±

    EXCUSE ME?

    She was too stunned to speak.

    ¡°Student Applicant Calyx Dalton,¡± Vice-principal Johanssen called out the young lord sternly. ¡°You¡¯re being rude to His Royal Highness.¡±

    ¡°And making bets is forbidden in the academy,¡± Headmaster Salvatore added. ¡°If you¡¯re aiming to be a student of the Royal Moon Academy, then you must act ordingly.¡±

    Calyx Dalton bowed his head. ¡°I apologize for my rudeness, Your Royal Highness.¡±

    The psycho didn¡¯t look apologetic, though.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Lord Calyx,¡± Neoma said with a benevolent smile. Then, she turned to the Headmaster. ¡°Shall we begin?¡±

    The Headmaster nodded politely. ¡°Please ce your hands on the ss pirs, Student Applicants.¡±

    Neoma and Calyx Dalton ced their hands on their respective ss pirs.

    ¡°Now, fill as many little moons as you could with Mana,¡± the principal instructed them.

    She gathered her Mana in her hands carefully.

    Carefully because she was trying to hold back.

    She was just about to let her Mana flow to the ss pir and the little moons when she felt an enormous amount of Manaing from Calyx Dalton.

    And it was followed by a collective gasp from the crowd.

    [No freaking way.]

    The little moons inside Calyx Dalton¡¯s ss pir lit up one by one- the orbs were getting filled by his Mana at lightning speed!

    And he made it look so easy.

    In just the blink of an eye, Calyx Dalton just didn¡¯t fill the seven little moons with his Mana- the orbs that couldn¡¯t contain his abundant Mana were broken into tiny pieces.

    It was a beautiful sight that shocked the crowd.

    ¡°Oops,¡± Calyx Dalton said as he pulled his hands away from the ss pir, then he let out a sigh of relief. ¡°I almost broke the ss pir, too. Thank goodness the ss pir is sturdy enough to contain the minor explosions inside.¡±

    ¡°Lord Calyx, are you done?¡± she asked bluntly.

    The crow psycho turned to her with an ¡°innocent¡± look on his face. ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°Are you done showing off?¡± she asked while smiling. ¡°Because it¡¯s my turn to show off now, so watch me closely.¡±

    Calyx Dalton chuckled, then he opened his eyes wide. ¡°I¡¯m watching, Your Royal Highness.¡±

    ¡°Very well,¡± she said, then she focused on the ss pir in front of her.

    But instead of gathering her Mana in her hands, she let her Mana flow out of her entire body this time.

    As a result, her oozing Mana took the form of several elongated ¡°tree branches¡± that wrapped themselves around the remaining ss pirs. And as she filled the little moons in ss Pir #1 with her Mana, the other little moons in the surrounding ss pirs were also filled at the same time.

    After a few moments, all the little moons were filled with her Mana...

    ... but the orbs weren¡¯t strong enough to contain her Mana so they all ended up breaking.

    And not only did she break the little moons. The ss pirs that contained them also broke into tiny pieces at the same time.1

    To prevent other people from getting hurt by the sharp and broken ss pieces, she turned the ¡°tree branches¡± made from her Mana into Domes to contain the explosion of the ss pirs. Thus, no one was hurt by her showing off.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for breaking the ss pirs,¡± Neoma said to the shocked Headmaster. ¡°I¡¯ll pay for the ss pirs I broke with my personal funds.¡±

    [Welp, it¡¯s time to use the wealth I umted from working for Papa Boss before.]1

    ***

 Chapter 431

    Chapter 431: RECORD-BREAKING RESULT

    [I WANT a bowl of warm rice paired with grilled pork and beef. Some egg rolls and kimchi would be nice as side dishes. Oh, I want Korean fried chicken, too.]

    Neoma¡¯s (mouth-watering) thoughts were interrupted by a loud roar of cheering.

    She found the dyed reaction of the crowd amusing. After all, her awesomeness left people in disbelief for a few moments. And now that reality finally hit them, the crowd went crazy cheering for her.

    [Yes, keep the praisesing.]

    She was starting to get hyped when her mood was ruined by Calyx Dalton¡¯sugh. The crow psycho was even pping and stomping his feet on the ground as if he was ecstatic.

    ¡°Your Royal Highness, you¡¯re truly amazing,¡± Calyx Dalton said. In fairness, the psycho sounded genuine with his praise. ¡°I know this isn¡¯t apetition, but I clearly lost. Your Royal Highness¡¯ abundance of Mana is spectacr.¡±

    [I know, right?]

    .....

    ¡°Thank you, Lord Calyx,¡± Neoma said, acting the humble royalty that she wasn¡¯t. ¡°Your abundance of Mana is also impressive.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothingpared to Your Royal Highness¡¯, but thank you for acknowledging my skills.¡±

    [Why do I have a feeling we¡¯re both just bullshitting this ¡°small talk?¡±]

    Thankfully, their nonsense conversation was interrupted by the Headmaster who cleared his throat to get their attention.

    ¡°Your Royal Highness, Student Applicant Calyx Dalton, breaking the little moons and the ss pirs only means that our gauging device isn¡¯t enough to measure your Mana,¡± Headmaster Salvatore said. ¡°This is not the first time that the gauging device broke. Thest time it happened was when His Majesty took the entrance exam.¡±

    Heh.

    [You too, Papa Boss?]

    Nero would probably have done the same if he was the one who took the exam.

    ¡°However, this is the first time in the academy¡¯s history that three students filled the seven little moons,¡± the Headmaster continued. ¡°Your Royal Highness, Calyx Dalton, Hanna Quinzel- on behalf of the entire faculty staff of the Royal Moon Academy, I¡¯d like to congratte the three of you for being this year¡¯s top students.¡±

    She gasped softly. ¡°Headmaster, does it mean...¡±

    ¡°Your Royal Highness and Calyx Dalton both aced the written exam. The two of you also broke the gauging device, which both gives you a perfect score for this exam as well.¡±

    Oh?

    She thought she would get additional brownie points because she broke the other ss pirs, too.

    It was her fault for assuming that, though.

    ¡°Thus, Your Royal Highness and Calyx Dalton tied in the first ce,¡± Headmaster Salvatore said. ¡°Hanna Quinzel, who got the second highest score in the written exam, including the interview, filled the seven little moons with her Mana, too. That means Hanna Quinzel also got a perfect score for the second test, resulting in her cing second overall.¡±

    She gasped when she realized something. ¡°Headmaster, are you saying that...¡±

    The Headmaster nodded. ¡°For the first time in the academy¡¯s history, we will be holding a three-way match to choose this year¡¯s student representative among the iing freshmen!¡±

    Once again, the crowd went wild.

    [Hype is real, y¡¯all.]

    Neoma immediately turned in Hanna¡¯s direction.

    As expected, her cousin- the perfect noblewoman- was standing there gracefully with a calm look on her face.

    But Hanna¡¯s pretty green eyes were sparkling with happiness.

    [Congrats, girl! I¡¯m so, so proud of you, Hanna!]

    She smiled and gave her cousin a double thumbs up when their eyes met.

    Hanna smiled back at her.

    ¡°A three-way match sounds interesting.¡±

    Her smile slowly faded away when she heard what Calyx Dalton said.

    [Right. A three-way match means Calyx and Hanna will also fight each other.]

    After Calyx Dalton ¡°warned¡± Hanna, she wouldn¡¯t get it past him to use the match as an opportunity to ¡°take care¡± of Hanna.

    She turned to Calyx Dalton, her facial expression probably cold even though she was smiling. ¡°Yes, a three-way match is interesting,¡± she said to the crow psycho. ¡°I¡¯m already looking forward to it, Lord Calyx.¡±

    Calyx Dalton smiled at her. ¡°Same here, Your Royal Highness.¡±

    ¡°I apologize, but we have to make our top three students wait a little bit,¡± Headmaster Salvatore said, barging into their conversation politely. ¡°Since the match has turned into a three-way battle, we have to adjust the rules. I will be holding an emergency with the facultyter to decide the new schedule for the match. After that, we will send the new schedule to the three of you through an official letter from the academy.¡±

    Neoma smiled and nodded. ¡°Then we¡¯ll be waiting for it, Headmaster.¡±

    ***

    AFTER the Headmaster officially ended the second day of the exam with a short speech, he congratted everyone and retired for the day with the other key figures in the academy.

    But the members of the faculty that were in charge of the enrollment were still there.

    As of the moment, the enrollment for the student applicants who passed the entrance exam was taking ce in the academy¡¯s main building. It was a process that the iing students themselves must do, so the courtyard was empty now.

    The attendants and the guardians of the iing students were waiting in the greenhouse.

    And Neoma...

    ¡°Why are you following us, Lord Calyx?¡± Neoma asked without turning around. She just continued walking in the hallway while Hanna and Calyx Dalton followed behind her. As the Crown Prince, no one was allowed to walk on either of her sides. Thus, Hanna and the crow psycho had to walk a few steps behind her. ¡°Since we¡¯vepleted our enrollment process already, shouldn¡¯t we part ways here now?¡±

    As the top three students, they were prioritized during the enrollment.

    Thus, they were the first ones to finish the process.

    [But in fairness, even withoutputers and fast inte connection in this world, the enrollment process here is pretty efficient.]

    ¡°Oh, I heard that Your Royal Highness and Lady Hanna are unofficially engaged,¡± Calyx Dalton said casually. ¡°Am I being the third wheel here?¡±

    ¡°Ah, so Lord Calyx isn¡¯t dense, after all.¡±

    The crow psycho justughed at her taunting.

    She was distracted when she realized it was already nighttime after getting out of the main building. The sky was already dark, but the prettymp posts in the vast quadrangle in front of the building provided enough light.

    ¡°Your Royal Highness, Lady Hanna, we forgot to ask the Headmaster about a certain rule for the uing match.¡±

    She turned around and faced the crow psycho.

    Now she was facing Hanna and Calyx Dalton who were standing side-by-side. Of course, there was a significant space between the two.

    [I¡¯m d Hanna looks calm, even though I know she¡¯s ufortable with Calyx Dalton.]

    ¡°The Headmaster said they¡¯re going to adjust the rules for our three-way match,¡± she said to the crow psycho. ¡°So, what rule are you talking about, Lord Calyx?¡±

    Calyx Dalton smiled brightly before he dropped his bomb question. ¡°I¡¯m just wondering if I will get disqualified if I identally kill Lady Hanna during the match-¡±

    The crow psycho was forced to talk when a sudden shift in the air happened.

    It was followed by a crazy pressureing from a thick bloodlust directed at Calyx Dalton. Yes, it was so thick that she and Hanna felt it even though the target was the psycho crow.

    [This pressure is enough to knock out hundreds of civilians...]

    But the pressure wasn¡¯t enough to hold her down.

    In just one swift movement, she was now standing in front of Hanna protectively.

    ¡°Let me answer your question, Calyx Dalton.¡±

    It was Duke Rufus Quinzel, and he just appeared behind Calyx Dalton without making a sound.

    [As expected of a Shadow Maniption Technique user.]

    It was as if the duke had emerged from the shadows.

    [Wait, that could have happened.]

    Anyway, the duke didn¡¯te alone.

    Lewis also arrived in time and was now standing in front of her and Hanna protectively.

    ¡°First, it was arrogant of you to assume you could kill my daughter easily,¡± Duke Quinzel said in a calm yet threatening voice. ¡°Second, after making that threat, do you think I¡¯ll let you go alive?¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t a threat, Your Grace,¡± Calyx Dalton said calmly, and the psycho was still smiling even though the duke was standing behind him. ¡°It was just a hypothetical question. And you can¡¯t kill me. Not here, at least.¡± He pointed his finger upwards. ¡°You see, we¡¯re being recorded by my dear butler at the moment. If you kill me now, that recording will quickly spread across the entire continent.¡±

    Hah, that was pretty smart.

    [I¡¯d do the same if I were him.]

    ¡°Unfortunately for you, the recording device he¡¯s using doesn¡¯t have an audio recording function,¡± the crow psycho continued. ¡°So, if you kill me now, Your Grace would be forever branded as a murderer who killed his daughter¡¯s opponent. Why?¡± The psychoughed while pping his hands. ¡°Because he wasn¡¯t confident that his beloved child could win the match using her own power!¡±

    Duke Quinzel¡¯s face turned grim, and his aura became even more murderous.

    [Oh, no. House Quinzel will be put under fire if His Grace attacks the psycho-]

    .....

    ¡°Please calm down, Father,¡± Hanna said in a calm voice. ¡°Don¡¯t let Lord Calyx provoke you. His threat will remain a threat because he won¡¯t be able to kill me, anyway. I didn¡¯t spend thest few years away from home just to die in the hands of a lowlife like him.¡±

    Neoma gasped at Hanna¡¯s confident and savage remark. [That¡¯s my girl!]

    Even Lewis looked proud.

    Thanks to Hanna¡¯s savage remark, Duke Quinzel finally calmed down.

    ¡°Eh, you¡¯re not going to kill me anymore?¡± Calyx Dalton asked in a disappointed voice. ¡°What a bummer.¡±

    When Hanna stepped forward, Neoma¡¯s body automatically moved to step aside and give way for her cousin.

    Lewis did the same.

    That was howmanding Hanna¡¯s aura at the moment was.

    [So freaking cool.]

    ¡°Lord Calyx, do you know what animals represent the Quinzels?¡±

    Calyx Dalton just tilted his head to one side while looking at Hanna with sparkling eyes, as if he found her amusing.

    ¡°I¡¯m a hawk, and hawks are the main predators of crows. It will do you good to remember that,¡± Hanna dered in a calm yet firm voice. Then she smiled ¡°kindly¡± at the stunned crow pyscho. ¡°And oh! Be careful around shadows, Lord Calyx.¡±

    Neoma felt the urge to kneel and bow down to Hanna, the kween.

    [Calyx Dalton isn¡¯t hiding the fact that he¡¯s a crow, so why should we hide the fact that we already figured out who he is?]

    Duke Quinzel, who was nowpletely calm,ughed softly as he backed away from Calyx Dalton. ¡°I worried for nothing,¡± the duke said, then he stood beside Hanna and gently patted her head. ¡°Let¡¯s go home, sweetie.¡±

    Hanna smiled and nodded. ¡°Yes, Father.¡±

    The duke turned to Neoma, his eyes silently asking her what move they should do next.

    [Okay, I got this now.]

    She was about to open her mouth to talk, but the crow psycho beat her to it.

    ¡°You better do your best to find and kill me before the uing match,¡± Calyx Dalton said in a disgustingly friendly voice, and his words were directed at Neoma. Yes, this punk just stopped talking politely to her. ¡°Because I assure you, on that day, you won¡¯t be able to kill me anymore.¡±

    She shrugged casually. ¡°Really now?¡±

    ¡°I have prepared three gifts for Your Royal Highness on that day.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m pretty materialistic,¡± she said. ¡°Are those gifts worthy of my attention?¡±

    ¡°Oh, absolutely. Even His Majesty will surely enjoy the presents I prepared,¡± Calyx Dalton said cheerfully, then he began to walk away while waving his hands. ¡°Look forward to it, Your Royal Highness.¡±

    And just like that, they let Calyx Dalton leave unscathed.

    [Attacking him in the open wouldn¡¯t be wise since we have so much to lose if House Quinzel gets used of killing him for a ¡°petty¡± reason.]

    Most of the noble households in the empire weren¡¯t too fond of House Quinzel recently after Duke Quinzel appealed to the Ministry of Education to change the system. If the Quinzels got into another controversy, the noble households waiting for their downfall would definitely jump and devour them alive.

    [So the only option we have is...]

    ¡°We will track him down, Your Royal Highness,¡± Duke Quinzel said in a low yet firm voice. ¡°We will eliminate him as soon as we get the chance.¡±

    Yes, the option was to get rid of Calyx Dalton quietly.

    ¡°Alright,¡± she said. She was about to tell them to go home when, all of a sudden, she felt a sharp pain in her chest. ¡°Argh!¡±

    She groaned and clutched at her chest tight.

    Duke Quinzel, Hanna, and Lewis immediately surrounded her out of worry.

    ¡°Your Royal Highness?¡± Lewis asked worriedly. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°My chest is burning,¡± Neoma said, then she shut her eyes tight. ¡°Tteokbokki is calling me.¡±

    [But to be honest, I actually don¡¯t know if it¡¯s Tteokbokki or Crimson.]

    ***

    ¡°WHAT ARE you doing?¡±

    ¡°Cooking rice?¡±

    William shut his eyes tight while reminding himself to remain calm. ¡°Ruston Stroganoff, you know very well that¡¯s not what I mean by that question.¡±

    This bastard had the audacity to summon him.

    But Ruston Stroganoff offered him a deal that he couldn¡¯t resist. Thus, he followed the young man to talk about the deal they just made. But Ruston Stroganoff brought him to a kitchen, and then he began to cook.

    ¡°My request is not hard for you, is it?¡±

    He opened his eyes to look at the young man. ¡°It¡¯s not hard to enter the consciousness of the academy¡¯s Headmaster.¡±

    Yes, that was Ruston Stroganoff¡¯s request.

    The young man wanted him to enter the Headmaster¡¯s consciousness, then convince the Headmaster to set the date of the match on the day that Ruston Stroganoff chose.

    And that was what he didn¡¯t understand.

    He opened his eyes to watch Ruston Stroganoff¡¯s expression. ¡°Why do you want me to manipte the Headmaster to reschedule the match on the first day of school? That¡¯s two weeks from now. I heard they dyed the match because of the unexpected test result. But I don¡¯t think they would dy it for that long.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m asking you to manipte the Headmaster. I know you can do it,¡± Ruston Stroganoff said bluntly. ¡°But you don¡¯t need to know the reason why I chose the first day of ss as the new schedule for the match.¡±

    [This bastard...]

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to trust me, since you don¡¯t care what happens to Neoma, anyway,¡± Ruston Stroganoff said, then he turned to him with glowing dark purple eyes. ¡°Just do as I say and, as I promised earlier, I will awaken Neoma¡¯s Soul Beast now.¡±

    That was the offer that he couldn¡¯t resist.

    He and Manu were expecting the dragon egg to hatch in three to six months. But Ruston Stroganoff imed that he could awaken Neoma de Moonasterio¡¯s Soul Beast right now. And once the dragon was awake, they could go and rescue Mona immediately.

    The earlier, the better.

    He didn¡¯t want Mona to be stuck in that stupid block of ice any longer.

    ¡°Alright, I won¡¯t question you anymore,¡± William said, giving in easily because he didn¡¯t really care about anything else as long as he could see Mona again. ¡°Will you still be here once I returned?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Ruston Stroganoff said without hesitation. ¡°I have to go and hunt down the Masterpiece after I awakened Neoma¡¯s Soul Beast.¡±

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 432

    Chapter 432: STOP DOING GOD¡¯S WORK!

    ¡°I DON¡¯T understand why a representative of the Sun Goddess ims that he knows more about the Soul Beasts than I do- me, the King of the Soul Beasts,¡± Manuined while looking at Ruston Stroganoff coldly. ¡°I think my pride is hurt.¡±

    ¡°I never imed I know more about the Soul Beasts than you do, Lord Manu,¡± Ruston Stroganoff said while cing the red egg on the cushion on top of the tea table. ¡°In fact, my knowledge about the Soul Beasts is just as much as a regr person does.¡±

    He raised an eyebrow at what the young man said. ¡°A regr person only knows that a Soul Beast is a de Moonasterio¡¯s ¡°spirit guardian.¡±¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not convinced,¡± he said firmly. ¡°It seems like you know a lot about the Soul Beasts. Spill it out, child.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t,¡± Ruston Stroganoff said in a clear and convincing voice, then he looked at him straight in the eye. ¡°But I know a lot about gods.¡±

    ¡°Gods? What do you mean-¡± He trailed off, then he gave the young man a suspicious look. ¡°So, you know that Neoma de Moonasterio¡¯s Soul Beast is a god?¡±

    .....

    The young man just nodded, then he turned to the red egg. ¡°The reason why the egg hasn¡¯t hatched yet is because Crimson is still sleeping.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s only natural for him to sleep after the vigorous training he went through,¡± he said. ¡°After all, I raised him in a rush. In my estimation, it will take three to six months before the egg hatches.¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t have the luxury to wait for the egg to hatch.¡±

    He flinched at the young man¡¯s harsh words. ¡°I know that, but...¡±

    But he already did all he could do to hatch the egg faster. In the end, all his efforts were put in vain.

    Thus, he couldn¡¯t believe Ruston Stroganoff when he said he could hatch the egg early.

    ¡°I know you already did your best, Lord Manu,¡± the young man said as if he was consoling him. ¡°Let me take it from here.¡±

    He didn¡¯t want to say this, but Ruston Stroganoff sounded reliable.

    Moreover, the young man¡¯s dark purple eyes were clear- it was his gaze that was telling him he knew what he was doing.

    ¡°Alright, give it a try,¡± he said, giving in. ¡°Niki de Moonasterio trusts you, so I don¡¯t have a choice but to put my faith in you as well.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, my lord,¡± Ruston Stroganoff said politely, then he put a hand on the red egg and closed his eyes. ¡°This will be quick.¡±

    And the young man didn¡¯t lie.

    Manu didn¡¯t know what exactly happened.

    All he could understand was Ruston Stroganoff released a different kind of DIVINE ENERGY that a human like him shouldn¡¯t possess. The purple-ish glow that enveloped the young man¡¯s hand was simr to Moonglow, but it still felt different.

    [I don¡¯t think it¡¯s the divine energy that belongs to the Sun People, too.]

    What kind of divine energy was it, then?

    [It¡¯s so strong and it could even rival the de Moonasterios¡¯ Moonglow...]

    His thoughts were interrupted when suddenly, cracks appeared all over the egg. But the cracks stopped spreading immediately.

    ¡°Neoma can do the rest,¡± Ruston Stroganoff said when he opened his eyes, then he pulled his hand away from the egg. ¡°The Soul Beast is already awake, but its two personalities are fighting each other at the moment. I think only Neoma can solve that problem.¡±

    ¡°Ah, right,¡± he said. ¡°That Soul Beast has two personalities that always fight each other.¡±

    ¡°I already kept my end of the bargain, so I¡¯ll go ahead now,¡± the young man said.

    ¡°Wait.¡±

    It was South, the ming Vermillion Bird in his human form, who spoke. South had been quietly observing them while sitting on the sofazily. This was the first time South broke his silence ever since Manu and Ruston Stroganoff arrived at Niki de Moonasterio¡¯s room for the red egg.

    ¡°Ruto, are you leaving already?¡± South asked, addressing Ruston Stroganoff in a friendly manner. ¡°I heard from our master that Princess Neoma passed the entrance exam with flying colors. Won¡¯t you stay and congratte her?¡±

    ¡°I already cooked a warm meal for Neoma as a congrattory gift for her aplishment, Lord South,¡± Ruston Stroganoff said politely. ¡°I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t stay longer.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a shame then,¡± South said, while eyeing the young man in a way that could get the old Spirit arrested. ¡°I want to see Princess Neoma drool once she sees you.¡±

    ¡°My face isn¡¯t Neoma¡¯s type, though.¡±

    ¡°Nah, that can¡¯t be,¡± South said, licking his lips. ¡°Don¡¯t you know how sexy you look now, especially with that burn mark on your face, Ruto?¡±

    The young man remained poker-faced.

    ¡°Hey, that¡¯s sexual harassment. That child is only seventeen,¡± Manu said, calling out South. Then he turned to Ruston Stroganoff. ¡°It¡¯s okay to beat him to a pulp for his unsavoryment. You can also tattle on Niki de Moonasterio, so South would be punished.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s harsh,¡± Southined. ¡°I was justplimenting the boy!¡±

    Manu gave South a dire stare. ¡°An old man calling a minor ¡®sexy¡¯ isn¡¯t apliment- it¡¯s sexual harassment.¡±

    ¡°Fine, I take it back,¡± South said, then he turned to Ruston Stroganoff. ¡°I apologize for my unsavoryment, Ruto.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Lord South,¡± Ruston Stroganoff. ¡°But I agree with Lord Manu. Please be careful next time.¡±

    South nodded solemnly. ¡°I understand- this won¡¯t happen again. But to be clear, I am not interested in children.¡± He put a hand over his chest dramatically. ¡°My heart and body only belong to Delywn.¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t need to know that,¡± both Manu and Ruston Stroganoff said at the same time.

    ¡°Okay,¡± South said,ughing. Then he fell silent suddenly, his face turning serious. ¡°Ruston Stroganoff, my master wants to see you before you leave.¡±

    ***

    ¡°ARE YOU really not going to see my daughter before you leave?¡± Niki asked Ruston Stroganoff as soon as the young man entered his office. ¡°I received a message from Rufus. They¡¯re on their way to the pce. And apparently, Neoma experienced chest pain while iming that her Soul Beast is calling out to her.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s natural for Neoma-¡±

    ¡°Ruston Stroganoff, it¡¯s ¡®Princess Neoma¡¯ to you.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s natural for Princess Neoma to experience chest pains after I awakened her Soul Beast,¡± Ruston Stroganoff said, correcting himself indifferently. ¡°After all, Princess Neoma¡¯s soul is tied to her Soul Beast, and the link is located in the center of her heart. But Her Royal Highness will be fine once the eggpletely hatches.¡±

    He raised an eyebrow while observing the young man standing in front of his office desk.

    [I¡¯ve noticed this earlier, but there¡¯s really something different about Ruston Stroganoff now.]

    He couldn¡¯t tell if it was his aura.

    But the boy definitely changed.

    Still...

    ¡°Your Majesty, there¡¯s still at least an hour before the egg hatches,¡± Ruston Stroganoff said. ¡°Please let Princess Neoma have dinner first once shees home. Her Royal Highness likes her rice warm, so please don¡¯t let the food I cooked for her go cold.¡±

    [Yes, Ruston Stroganoff looks different now that he¡¯s grown, but his obvious adoration for my precious daughter remains.]

    It irked him to no end.

    ¡°I understand why a young man like you would be attracted to my daughter, but I didn¡¯t summon you here to listen to you fawn over Neoma,¡± he said, frowning at the young man. Then he immediately changed the topic. He didn¡¯t want to hear Ruston Stroganoff mention his daughter¡¯s name with so much affection. ¡°You didn¡¯t give me the details about the ¡®Masterpiece¡¯ that you mentioned earlier. Why is Calyx Dalton the crows¡¯ Masterpiece? And how did you know that it was him?¡±

    ¡°I know nothing about Calyx Dalton because I didn¡¯t meet him in the past.¡±

    By the ¡®past,¡¯ Ruston Stroganoff must be speaking about his first life.

    Neoma once mentioned to him that Ruston Stroganoff also remembered his first life, but they weren¡¯t allowed to talk about it. Ruston Stroganoff could give out information if needed, though. However, it seemed like Ruston Stroganoff would have to pay for it.

    And Neoma didn¡¯t know what kind of payment was.

    ¡°When I obliterated some of the crows¡¯ base across the continent, I discovered the blueprint of the experiment that they¡¯ve been doing for a long time now,¡± Ruston Stroganoff said in a solemn voice. ¡°It was simply called the ¡®Masterpiece.¡¯ Judging by what I¡¯ve read, the goal of the experiment is to create the perfect de Moonasterio. When I heard the news about the young nobleman who resembles the Crown Prince a lot, I immediately thought of that experiment.¡±

    ¡°¡®Create?''¡± he asked, his eyebrows knitted. ¡°Are you saying that Calyx Dalton isn¡¯t exactly human?¡±

    ¡°You can say that, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°Then what is he?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t tell Your Majesty until I get the proof I need to confirm my theory,¡± the young man said. ¡°Unfortunately, the blueprint I found was iplete, so I didn¡¯t know how the crows created the Masterpiece. All I have right now is my own theories, and I know that Your Majesty prefers an urate report over a mere spection that may or may not be correct.¡±

    Tsk.

    He didn¡¯t want to admit this, but he really liked Ruston Stroganoff¡¯s work ethics.

    ¡°Ruston Stroganoff.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty?¡±

    ¡°When will you officially return to the empire and be themander of the Order of the White Lion Knights?¡±

    ¡°When will Your Majesty allow Princess Neoma to entertain suitors?¡±

    His jaw clenched the same time his fists did. ¡°Never.¡±

    Ruston Stroganoff let out a softugh. ¡°That¡¯s also my answer, Your Majesty. I will never be themander of the White Lion Knights.¡±

    He didn¡¯t like the young man¡¯s rejection, but he was relieved to see himugh.

    Because when Ruston Stroganoffughed, it seemed like all the burden that he saw on his face earlier disappeared.

    Not that he would admit it aloud.

    ¡°Did you ask William to manipte the Headmaster to dy the match for two weeks in order for you to buy time?¡±

    .....

    The young man¡¯s smile turned bitter.

    He let out a sigh while shaking his head. ¡°Ruston Stroganoff, are you going to hunt him down and kill him yourself?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m the only one who can do it, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know Neoma¡¯s arrogance has rubbed off on you.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not saying this out of arrogance, Your Majesty,¡± Ruston Stroganoff said. ¡°I can¡¯t say why, but Your Majesty and Princess Neoma won¡¯t be able to kill the Masterpiece. Thus, I should be the one to do it.¡±

    He didn¡¯t like how Ruston Stroganoff had so many secrets.

    But he understood that a person like him who had the memories of his first life intact was restricted when ites to sharing information in so many ways. Thus, he would just let it slide.

    ¡°Can you kill the Masterpiece on your own?¡±

    ¡°It won¡¯t be easy, but I¡¯ll do everything to end him, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°Can you fight without your Elemental Guardian?¡±

    ¡°I never depended on my Elemental Guardian in the first ce, Your Majesty.¡±

    Well, that made sense.

    Why else would this punk leave his Elemental Guardian to Neoma if he needed it to fight?

    Ruston Stroganoff was extremely powerful- with or without Veton.

    ¡°Alright- I won¡¯t hold you back anymore. You may leave now,¡± Niki said while shooing him off with his hand. ¡°And don¡¯t you dare meet my daughter behind my back.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t, Your Majesty,¡± Ruston Stroganoff said, his smile looking a little sad. ¡°I won¡¯t meet Princess Neoma until the Masterpiece is gone.¡±

    ***

    NEOMA wondered why Stephanie ushered her to the dining hall as soon as she returned to the pce, while Alphen escorted Hanna and Duke Rufus Quinzel to the drawing room.

    But as soon as she saw the Korean food set on the table, she figured it out immediately.

    [Ruto was here!]

    Only Ruto could cook rice, grilled pork and beef, kimchi, rolled and steamed egg, fishcake, and Korean fried chicken for her.

    But why didn¡¯t he show up?

    [Are you hiding from me, you punk?]

    She knew it might be useless, but she still used themunication device that Ruto left for her before to call him. It wasn¡¯t the first time that she called him using that device, but he never picked up her call for the past few years they were apart.

    Thus, she wasn¡¯t confident that he would pick up this time, too.

    She was about to hang up when the other line just kept on ringing when suddenly...

    It was Ruto...

    ... and his voice was deeper and sexier now!

    ¡°¡®Congrattions,¡¯ my ass,¡± Neoma said grumpily, a lump forming in her throat. ¡°Ruston Stroganoff, you¡¯ll regret it if you don¡¯t show up in front of me now! Don¡¯t you know how prettier I¡¯ve be while you were sleeping?!¡±

    The punk had the guts tough.

    Ruto said softly.

 Chapter 433

    Chapter 433: [Bonus Chapter] SHIPS EVERYWHERE

    ¡°DON¡¯T LAUGH.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m notughing, though?¡±

    ¡°If you can¡¯t hold it back, then justugh out loud. You find it funny to see me wearing the priest¡¯s robe, right?¡±

    And Paige Avery really did burst outughing.

    Not only that- the Light mage also kept on hitting Dion Skelton on the arm. Surprisingly, the (ex-)Pdin just silently epted Paige Avery¡¯s ¡°violence.¡±

    [Oho?]

    Neoma watched everything unfold in front of her eyes with keen interest.

    .....

    For the first time in her life, she became the third wheel.

    [I don¡¯t mind, though.]

    It wasn¡¯t bad to spend her free time watching people flirt in front of her. In fact, she enjoyed it while drinking tea and having snacks that Lewis had brought for her earlier.

    Right now, she was in the former High Priest¡¯s extravagant room with herpany.

    [Yes, former.]

    High Priest Wellington, who was proven guilty of selling stolen items and collecting fake Holy Relics, was removed from his position. Unfortunately, people who served the Astello Temple couldn¡¯t be imprisoned as long as the crimemitted wasn¡¯t heinous.

    Thus, the High Priest was ¡°imprisoned¡± in the Thorne Garden. It was like the Astello Temple¡¯s ¡°vacation house.¡± Although the High Priest wasn¡¯t allowed to leave Thorne Garden anymore, he would still livefortably because the Thorne Garden had a manor and several servants working for him.

    That left a bitter taste in her mouth.

    ¡°It¡¯s funny how the High Priest who stole a lot from the empire got away with it with a fucking house arrest for a punishment,¡± Neoma said bitterly. ¡°But the poor people of our empire who are caught stealing food to feed their starving family are imprisoned and even executed sometimes.¡±

    Lewis, who was refilling her teacup with a freshly brewed tea, paused and turned to her with a questioning look on his face.

    Paige Avery and Dion Skelton, who were (flirting) sitting on the couch across from her, also stopped (flirting) talking to each other to turn to her.

    ¡°¡®Dura lex, sed lex,¡¯ my ass. It only applies tomon people,¡± she said, quoting a legal term from the world she lived in during her second life. Lewis, Paige, and Dion looked confused because the words she used were Latin- anguage that didn¡¯t exist in this world. And so, she tranted it for them. ¡°It means ¡®thew is harsh- but it is thew.¡¯ Like I said earlier, ¡®dura lex, sed lex¡¯ only applies to poor andmon people most of the time. After all, the rich and the influential people like the High Priest often get away with their crime easily.¡±

    ¡°Thew protects the rich,¡± Lewis said bluntly, then he stood behind her. ¡°Because the rich bribes the people who make thew.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s my ancestors¡¯ fault, so I have to take responsibility and fix the damnedws of the empire,¡± she said while shaking her head.

    Her Papa Boss had been fixing the unjustws that their ancestors made in the past.

    But even though her father was the emperor, it was still hard for him to change the currentws because of the powers that the nobles possessed. Thus, despite sitting on the throne for more than a decade now, the poor were still oppressed.

    ¡°Dion, while you¡¯re acting as the head of Astello Temple, I want you to influence the people serving the temple,¡± she said while looking at the fallen angel. ¡°Let¡¯s change thews of Valmento, so the people of the temple whomitted crimes would be punished ordingly.¡±

    Dion nodded his head politely. ¡°As you wish, Your Royal Highness.¡±

    ¡°Thanks,¡± she said, then she sipped her tea. ¡°You may continue flirting now.¡±

    Both Paige and Dion turned as red as gochujang.1

    [Aww... they¡¯re shy.]

    Paige cleared her throat as if to hide her embarrassment. ¡°We¡¯re not flirting, Your Royal Highness.¡±

    ¡°Why not?¡± she asked casually. ¡°You look cute together.¡±

    The age gap between Paige and Dion was pretty huge, though.

    If she remembered it correctly, Dion was twenty-eight years old while Paige was twenty-years-old (physically).

    Dion lived as a fallen angel before getting born in this world as a human, though.

    But, to be fair, Paige was trapped in the Hisa Tree for fifty years.

    [I guess their age gap is okay, since both of them are adults anyway.]

    ¡°Now I feel bad for making Dion the new head of Astello Temple. After all, the people who lead the temple aren¡¯t allowed to get married or get a lover,¡± Neoma said, geniunely feeling apologetic at the moment. ¡°Paige, can you wait until Dion steps down from his position?¡±

    Once again, Paige and Dion turned very red.

    Lewis let out a sigh. ¡°You broke them, Your Royal Highness.¡±

    ***

    PAIGE felt awkward now that she was alone in the drawing room with Dion after the short ceremony that officially made the ex-Pdin the temporary High Priest.

    Princess Neoma left earlier with Lewis.

    The royal princess told her to stay with Dion in the temple in the meantime to take care of the Holy Relics and to find where those things came from. But she had a feeling that Princess Neoma asked her to stay in the temple for other reasons.

    ¡°I apologize, Dion,¡± Paige said, breaking the silence. ¡°It seems like Princess Neoma misunderstood us because I kept on teasing you.¡±

    She was free to speak Princess Neoma¡¯s name because she protected the room with a barrier using her magic.

    ¡°Misunderstood what?¡± Dion asked, stopping mid-way when he was about to sip his tea. ¡°What did Princess Neoma misunderstand?¡±

    ¡°She thought we were flirting because I was teasing you a lot.¡±

    He looked genuinely shocked. ¡°We weren¡¯t... flirting?¡±

    She almost choked on her tea. ¡°Wait... you thought we were flirting?¡±

    He slowly nodded as he ced his teacup down on the saucer. ¡°Yes.¡±

    She gasped softly. ¡°What part of our banter were you flirting with me?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t banter with anyone,¡± he said bluntly. ¡°I also don¡¯t let anyone else hit me in the arm, even if they did it jokingly, aside from you.¡±

    She felt her cheeks burn when she remembered the times she would hit Dion¡¯s arm when she wasughing. Now she was even confused. ¡°Are you saying that you¡¯re interested in me?¡±

    ¡°I thought I was being obvious.¡±

    All she remembered was Dion keeping a poker face every time she teased him.

    [Oh, why did I tease him in the first ce?]

    Was it because she was interested in Dion and she just didn¡¯t realize it right away?

    It was funny since she remembered crying her eyes out during the first few days she spent in the pce after she found Marcus was already married and even had grandchildren now. But after spending a few days with Dion...

    [Am I the type to fall for someone easily?]

    But looking at how fine Dion was, she couldn¡¯t really me herself for getting attracted to him right away.

    ¡°When did you start having interest in me?¡± she asked Dion carefully.

    ¡°The moment you approached and teased me,¡± he said without missing a heartbeat. ¡°Most women avoid me because I have a scary face.¡±

    Scary face?

    [Dion is handsome, but I can see where he¡¯sing from.]

    The ex-Pdin had a semi-permanent frown on his face. Moreover, he had an aloof aura that made him hard to approach. But those things didn¡¯t bother her.

    Ah, now she understood why she liked Dion.

    [I wanted to crack his cold exterior because I thought it was fun, but I ended up liking him without me knowing.]

    ¡°And I enjoyed the little show you made when you bullied the former High Priest.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t bully him,¡± she said defensively. ¡°I was just putting him in ce after he disrespected our Princess Neoma.¡±

    Dion gave her a half-smirk, as if he was telling her it was exactly the reason why he found her interesting.

    That half-smirk was effective.

    It made her heart skip a beat.

    [Alright, I give in- I like Dion.]

    ¡°Even if you¡¯re just a temporary High Priest, you won¡¯t still be allowed to have a lover,¡± she said shyly. ¡°I won¡¯t tease you anymore.¡±

    ¡°I will step down as soon as the new saint arrives,¡± Dion said, blushing. ¡°But it will take years before it happens...¡±

    Paigeughed softly. ¡°I¡¯m good at waiting, Dion.¡±

    ***

    ¡°COUNT DANKWORTH1, you saw nothing today,¡± Neoma said to Count Sean Dankworth, Jeno¡¯s brother, seriously. ¡°You didn¡¯t see my newly purchased passionate romance novel.¡±

    It was an ident.

    Neoma snuck out of the pce with Lewis to visit Jeno, who was still recovering from being poisoned by Darkness, at the Dankworth Mansion.

    .....

    But before they went to the Dankworth Mansion, they visited her favorite bookstore first.

    Her favorite writer, Author S, released a new book. It was still a ¡°passionate romance novel,¡± but the main genre this time was different. And to be honest, it was shocking.

    [I mean that in a good way.]

    Anyway, she was about to hand Count Sean Dankworth the gift basket that she prepared (because she didn¡¯t want to visit empty-handed) when she realized that she had identally hidden the ¡°scandalous¡± book in the basket.

    Count Sean Dankworth saw the novel.

    The illustration and the book title suggested what kind of book it was, so there was no use lying to the count.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Your Royal Highness- I¡¯ll keep your secret safe,¡± Count Dankworth, who was sitting on the couch across from her, assured her. Thankfully, the always sleeping count was wide awake when she visited. Perhaps he didn¡¯t sleep this time because Jeno was heavily injured. ¡°And I tend to forget things that don¡¯t concern me easily.¡±

    That was a relief to hear.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± she said, then she sipped her tea.

    Right now, she was in the drawing room of the Dankworth Mansion while having tea with the count. ording to Count Dankworth, Jeno had just fallen asleep when she arrived. She didn¡¯t want to disturb her ¡°son,¡± so she was about to leave when the count invited her for tea.

    So, here they were now.

    Since she came to the mansion in secret, the count didn¡¯t let a single servant see her. He even brought and brewed the tea himself.

    Thus, only Lewis (who was standing behind her) was their guard.

    [Plus, Lewis and I still wear our hooded robes to cover our faces just to be extra safe.]

    ¡°I¡¯ve already read that book, Your Royal Highness.¡±

    She was shocked to hear that. ¡°Really? I didn¡¯t know you read romance novels, Count Dankworth. Not that something¡¯s wrong with it.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t really read novels since I tend to sleep a lot,¡± the count said. ¡°But that book caught my interest after it became a hot topic among the noblewomen.¡±

    Right.

    After all, Author S created another controversial book.

    [God, I hope Papa Boss doesn¡¯t get her arrested again.]

    ¡°Your Royal Highness, that romance novel features a romantic rtionship between men.¡±

    Yep, Author S just released her first BL (boys¡¯ love) novel.

    ¡°I know, Count Dankworth,¡± she said bluntly. ¡°I bought the book fully aware that it¡¯s BL.¡±

    The count looked confused. ¡°BL?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the book¡¯s genre,¡± she said. ¡°Anyway, BL is just like any other romance books, so don¡¯t sweat it.¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯s not normal, Your Royal Highness,¡± the count insisted. ¡°A romantic rtionship between two men isn¡¯t normal.¡±

    She understood why the count had that kind of mindset.

    Heck, even the world where she came from wasn¡¯t epting of same-sex rtionships, even though the modern world was supposed to be progressive.

    ¡°I believe that love has no gender, Count Dankworth,¡± she said seriously, shocking the count. ¡°Anyone can love someone just as equal as heterosexual- I mean, straight or ¡°normal¡± couples.¡±

    The shock on the count¡¯s face was soon reced by an emotion that she couldn¡¯t fathom.

    Was it relief? Gratefulness? Whatever it was, Count Dankworth looked touched.

    ¡°Your Royal Highness, please support my brother Jeno as much as you can.¡±

    She was surprised by what the count said because it seemed random. ¡°Uhm, sure.¡±

    Count Dankworth smiled, but it was kinda sad. ¡°Whatever the vassal families of House Dankworth say, I will never get married and have a child,¡± he dered boldly. ¡°I intend to make Jeno my sessor. But since my brother is an illegitimate child, the vassal families won¡¯t ept him as the heir to House Dankworth. When that timees, please help me pass my title to Jeno, Your Royal Highness.¡±

    ¡°Of course, I will help you and Jeno, Count Dankworth,¡± she promised. ¡°But are you sure you¡¯re not going to get married in the future?¡±

    ¡°I am certain, Your Royal Highness,¡± Count Dankworth said. ¡°After all, I can never marry the man I love.¡±

    ¡®Man.¡¯

    The count said ¡®man.¡¯

    She didn¡¯t expect that Count Dankworth woulde out to her just like that.

    ¡°I see,¡± she said calmly. ¡°Falling in love is a pleasant feeling. Good for you, Count Dankworth.¡±

    The count let out a chuckle. ¡°Your Royal Highness, I just told you that I¡¯m in love with a man, even though I¡¯m also a man.¡±

    ¡°As I said earlier, I believe that love has no gender.¡±

    And she already noticed way before that Count Dankworth had a thing for Marquis Gibson.

    She just didn¡¯t expect it to be this serious.

    [I ship him with Marquis Gibson for fun because they look so close, but it seems like their rtionship is deeper than I expected.]

    Now she should stop with her headcanon about Count Dankworth and Marquis Gibson1.

    Shipping real people was wrong, anyway. After all, shipping real people for your self-gratification differed from supporting the minority.

    [Let¡¯s not fetishize same-sex rtionships.]

    ¡°Count Dankworth, it won¡¯t be easy, but I n to turn my support for the minority into aw once I have the power to do so,¡± she said in a careful yet firm voice. ¡°I want the empire to recognize same-sex marriage one day.¡±

    The count¡¯s eyes widened in shock. ¡°Your Royal Highness...¡±

    ¡°I know that you don¡¯t need other people for validation,¡± she said carefully. ¡°But we¡¯re talking about the benefits of marriage here. I want you to have the same privilege that ¡°normal¡± married couples enjoy.¡±

    Much to his surprise, the count burst out crying.

    She panicked because she didn¡¯t know how to console a crying grown man.

    ¡°Your Royal Highness made the count cry,¡± Lewis whispered to her yfully. ¡°Your Royal Highness is a bully-¡±

    Lewis suddenly stopped talking, and she knew why.

    [Another guest has arrived, and he¡¯s quite strong.]

    The door suddenly burst open.

    ¡°Sean Dankworth, how long are you going to make me wait just to see your face?¡±

    It was Marquis Lawford Gibson.

    The marquis was focused on Count Sean Dankworth that he practically ignored her and Lewis.

    [Or maybe the marquis didn¡¯t notice us because both Lewis and I are wearing hooded robes.]

    ¡°I just woke up,¡± Count Sean Dankworth said to the marquiszily. ¡°I have guests-¡±

    ¡°I came here to tell you that it¡¯s already decided,¡± Marquis Gibson said, cutting the count off. ¡°You haven¡¯t read my letter yet, have you?¡±

    ¡°I was busy attending to Jeno,¡± the count said. ¡°What has been decided?¡±

    ¡°The date of the wedding.¡±

    ¡°Whose wedding?¡±

    ¡°My wedding,¡± Marquis Lawford Gibson said, his voice louder and clearer this time. ¡°I¡¯m getting married to Lady Almira rke next month.¡±

    If brokenhearted was a person, then it would definitely look like Count Sean Dankworth at that moment.

    Even Neoma felt the pain of an unrequited love that day.

    [That¡¯s life- some ships sail, some don¡¯t.]

 Chapter 434

    Chapter 434: BY YOUR FULL NAME

    ¡°I¡¯m already eating,¡± Neoma said after she just had a spoonful of steamed rice. She was now enjoying the food that Ruto prepared for her while talking to him using amunication device. ¡°We can talk while I eat, right? I¡¯ll kill you if you hang up.¡±

    Ruto, who was on the other end of the line, chuckled.

    She was momentarily frozen.

    [Dammit... Ruto¡¯s voice sounds sexier now!]

    It was deeper, huskier, manlier...

    ¡°I want to see you, Ruto,¡± she insisted. ¡°I want to match your voice with your face.¡±

    She clicked her tongue, then she stabbed an innocent piece of grilled pork using her fork and dipped it in the ssamjang that Ruto made for her. ¡°I¡¯m patient,¡± she said stubbornly. ¡°If I wasn¡¯t patient, do you think I¡¯ll be talking to you like this after you rejected all my calls? Plus, you didn¡¯t even let me in your dreams.¡±

    .....

    ¡°Of course, I am.¡±

    ¡°Gosh,¡± sheined, even though just the mention of her favorite dessert was enough for her to cave.

    Well, in the first ce, she couldn¡¯t really get mad at Ruto for not responding to her calls all this time. After all, she knew he was always working hard for her. It wasn¡¯t his fault that he had a lot of restrictions he had for having the memories of his first life intact.

    ¡°Do you think a tiramisu cake is enough to bribe me?¡± she asked teasingly.

    A Bank Crest was the equivalent of a credit card in this world.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want you to me me if you go bankrupt, Ruto.¡±

    Wow, someone was confident about their wealth, huh?

    To be fair, she heard Ruto¡¯s family was a big deal on the East Continent.

    Plus, Chef Morton Stroganoff was her father¡¯s Executive Chef. It was a job that pays a lot, but aside from that, the Stroganoffs also had a chain of famous restaurants all over the continent. And as far as she knew, the Stroganoffs also supplied food ingredients to the noblest households in the empire.

    [They¡¯re rich RICH.]

    And...

    Ruto was the sole heir to both House Solfrid and House Stroganoff.

    [Oh, RUTO is rich RICH.]

    ¡°Yes, since I¡¯m a material girl,¡± she admitted unapologetically. ¡°My dream is to be ady of leisure after all of this is over. And although I¡¯m already financially stable myself, I don¡¯t mind getting spoiled by someone who¡¯s also the same.¡±

    Heughed softly.

    ¡°Nah, your mother doesn¡¯t like me.¡±

    ¡°To be fair, my father doesn¡¯t like any boys around me.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s wrong, though. If I have you wrapped around my finger, you should have been in front of me the moment I asked you to.¡±

    Okay, he had a point...

    She couldn¡¯t refute his words, so she just put a piece of braised baby potato in her mouth.

    She almost choked on her baby potato.

    [Wait, I can¡¯t die because of baby potatoes this time!]

    She immediately grabbed a ss of water and chugged it down, then she scolded Ruto. ¡°Hey, I¡¯m eating- be careful with your words! I don¡¯t want to have another embarrassing cause of death!¡±

    He justughed it off.

    Hisugh sounded nice, so her irritation easily disappeared.

    [Gosh, why am I such a sucker for this punk?]

    ¡°Yeah,¡± she said, finishing her bowl of rice first before speaking again. ¡°You have no idea how much I¡¯ve missed your cooking.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t let you hear the words you want to hear from me as a punishment for ghosting me.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m d you know that,¡± she said, then she stuffed her face with the delicious side dishes. ¡°So, what are you up to now? Don¡¯t even think about lying, Ruston Stroganoff.¡±

    She justughed, then she finished the remaining grilled meat on the te.

    ¡°What kind of deal?¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± she said. ¡°Did you cause it?¡±

    She raised an eyebrow. ¡°Did you hatch the egg?¡±

    She let out a sigh while shaking her head.

    [Tteokbokki and Crimson are acting like brats again, huh?]

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll deal with them after my meal,¡± she said. ¡°But why did you wake up Tteokbokki instead of waiting for the egg to hatch naturally?¡±

    Oh, right.

    [I¡¯ve beencent recently.]

    Ruto continued with his report.

    She knitted her eyebrows. ¡°The match will be dyed for two weeks? But that¡¯s when the sses are supposed to begin, Ruto.¡±>

    ¡°But why do you want the match to be dyed for two weeks?¡±

    ¡°Ruto, why are you doing god¡¯s work again?¡±

    She wasn¡¯t even surprised that Ruto already knew about Calyx Dalton.

    At this point, she was already used to him knowing the things happening around her. The only question she had was why did he have to shoulder everything?

    ¡°Not literally- it¡¯s just a meme,¡± she said, then she changed the topic. ¡°Ruto, this is my fight with Calyx Dalton. I already know that he¡¯s a crow, and I also know that I can deal with him. I appreciate that you¡¯re doing god¡¯s work for me, but I don¡¯t like it when you do things that I can manage on my own. I feel like you¡¯re underestimating me.¡±

    Ruto said gently.

    ¡°But I really want to fight Calyx Dalton,¡± she said stubbornly. ¡°I have a personal grudge against him.¡±

    ¡°Well, I said that I wanted to fight Calyx Dalton. But to be honest, Duke Quinzel is looking for him, too. It¡¯s not like I can stop His Grace after he personally heard the crow psycho threaten Hanna.¡±

    Ruto sounded as stubborn as her.

    ¡°You should really tell your mother that you¡¯re not wrapped around my finger, Ruston Stroganoff.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll call you by your full name until I see your face again.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not upset just because I wanted to fight Calyx Dalton,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m upset because I feel like you don¡¯t care about yourself as much as you care about me. You always put your life in danger, Ruston Stroganoff.¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s exactly how I feel, too- I also want to protect you because you¡¯re one of my people, Ruston Stroganoff.¡±

    She bit her lower lip to stop herself from smiling.

    Ruto was obviously trying to pacify her by ¡°selling¡± himself to her.

    [Gosh, he¡¯s so cute.]

    Okay, that almost made her salivate.

    Since she was tall for her age, she wanted someone taller than her.

    ¡°Ruston Stroganoff, I don¡¯t want a whole body photo unless you¡¯re sending me a life-size cardboard cutout of yourself,¡± she said. ¡°Just send me a picture of your face. I want to see your face, okay?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m still upset with you, Ruston Stroganoff.¡±

    That made her smile.

    She knew that Ruto wouldn¡¯t do what he just said, but she was satisfied with the fact that he felt guilty for stressing her out.

    ¡°Keep feeling that way until the day you can apologize to me in person, Ruston Stroganoff.¡±

    <"What can I do for you to at least stop calling me by my full name, hmm?"

    She couldn''t see his face, but she could imagine him giving her puppy dog eyes by just listening to how he talked in a cute tone.

    "Well, maybe if you call me every day, I can forgive you little by little."

    She heard a loud explosion in the background, almost making her heart drop to the floor.

    ¡°Are you alright?¡±

    Why did she have a feeling that those ¡°annoying pests¡± were human beings?

    [Is he seriously fighting while talking to me?!]

    Ruto said gently.

    ¡°Hey, take care,¡± Neoma said, still worried even though she knew Ruto was strong enough to protect herself. ¡°Hurry ande back to me soon, Ruston Stroganoff.¡±

    .....

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 435

    Chapter 435: THE FUTURE CROWN PRINCESS

    ¡°CONGRATULATIONS on passing the entrance exam with flying colors, Hanna.¡±

    Hanna was a bit startled when His Majesty called her by her first name instead of calling her by her full name, as usual. Thus, she suddenly got tongue-tied.

    [It feels strange to hear His Majesty call me by my name casually.]

    The current emperor was known for addressing people by their full names.

    [Did His Majesty change the way he addresses me because we¡¯re going to be family soon?]

    ¡°Hanna, sweetie,¡± her father, who was sitting beside her on the couch, gently called her as if he was snapping her out of her trance. ¡°His Majesty just congratted you for passing the entrance exam with an impressive result.¡±

    Hanna politely bowed her head to the emperor. ¡°My utmost gratitude, Your Majesty.¡±

    .....

    His Majesty, who was sitting on the sofa across from them, just nodded. ¡°I¡¯ve already heard from your father about the threat that you received from Calyx Dalton. In order to ensure your safety, I¡¯d like you to move to nco Pce in the meantime.¡±

    [nco Pce is the Crown Prince¡¯s residence, right?]

    She already expected that the emperor would ask her to move to the royal pce.

    Once her engagement with Nero became official, then her stay at the pce would be permanent. After all, she¡¯d be taking bridal and royal etiquette lessons by then.

    ¡°Your Majesty, instead of the nco Pce, would it be alright if I stay in another pce?¡± she asked bravely, although her heart was beating erratically out of nervousness.

    Even her father looked surprised by her request.

    His Majesty sipped his tea elegantly before he spoke. ¡°If you wish to stay at Este Pce, then I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t grant your request. Este Pce is reserved only for the official Crown Princess. However, you can move there as soon as we announce your engagement with Nero.¡±

    She smiled and politely shook her head. ¡°I do not wish to move to Este Pce, Your Majesty. But I wish to move to Luna Pce instead of the Crown Prince¡¯s residence.¡±

    The emperor looked surprised by her request.

    Even her father looked surprised. ¡°Sweetie, Luna Pce is for the royal princesses...¡±

    ¡°I know, Father,¡± she said to her father gently, then she turned to the emperor again. ¡°Your Majesty, if it¡¯s possible, I¡¯d like to stay at Luna Pce as my temporary residence.¡±

    ¡°Well, since there¡¯s no official royal princess in the records, it would be possible for you to use Luna Pce as your temporary residence,¡± the emperor said. ¡°But I want to know why you chose Luna Pce.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d like to renovate Luna Pce and turn it into a residence that Princess Neoma deserves once she¡¯s finally acknowledged as the empire¡¯s royal princess, Your Majesty,¡± she said firmly. ¡°Now that Prince Nero is back, I¡¯m assuming Your Majesty would soon announce to the world that the Crown Prince has a twin sister.¡±

    Her father almost choked on his tea because of her brave words.

    To be honest, she was just pretending to be fearless. Deep inside, she was having a mental breakdown.

    After all, His Majesty¡¯s cold facial expression didn¡¯t change.

    ¡°I intend to use my personal funds for the renovation, Your Majesty,¡± she said to convince the emperor, then she turned to her father. ¡°Father, I can use my allowance for that, can¡¯t I?¡±

    ¡°Of course, sweetie,¡± her father said. ¡°It¡¯s your money- you can do anything you want with it.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Father,¡± she said, then she turned to the emperor with hopeful eyes.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to use your personal funds, Hanna. In fact, you won¡¯t need to spend a single coin while you¡¯re here,¡± the emperor said. ¡°I¡¯ll put you in charge of Luna Pce, and you¡¯ll receive an allowance from me from now on. If the cost of the renovation exceeds your budget, then you can always ask for more.¡± He sipped his tea before he continued. ¡°I¡¯ll send you the most elite servants the pce has, and you may choose whom you want to serve you closely. I¡¯ll also hire the best people to work with you for the renovation.¡±

    She was relieved to hear that.

    Not because she didn¡¯t want to use her own money- but because she wanted the emperor to actively care more about Neoma¡¯s well-being. Moreover, Neoma would be happier to know that her royal father was involved with the renovation of her future residence.

    [Neoma won¡¯t be Nero¡¯s proxy forever, so we have to start preparing for the time she finally reims her birthright.]

    ¡°Thank you for Your Majesty¡¯s generosity,¡± Hanna said while bowing to him politely. ¡°I will use the people and the allowance Your Majesty will send me wisely.¡±

    Much to her surprise, the emperor let out a chuckle.

    [Oh, it¡¯s rare for His Majesty tough...]

    ¡°I can already tell that Nero chose his Crown Princess well,¡± Emperor Niki said while looking at her with expectant eyes. It was as if the emperor was telling her he was expecting more great things from her as the future Crown Princess of the empire. ¡°Hanna, if Nero doesn¡¯t treat you right, tell me or Neoma- we¡¯ll scold him for you.¡±

    Hanna smiled and nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind, Your Majesty.¡±

    ***

    ¡°PRINCE NERO, you snuck out of the pce again.¡±

    ¡°Sev wants to y in the snow,¡± Nero, who was sitting on a rock while looking at the entrance of the cave where his Soul Beast ran off to, said in an indifferent voice. Then he turned to Glenn, who followed him there. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine, Sire.¡±

    He was currently in the deepest part of the Frozen Woods.

    It was a safe area since it was protected by a barrier that the Fletcher Twins created themselves. And the said twins were also currently hiding somewhere they could see him. Of course, if something was to happen, he was sure the twins were in a distance where they could reach him easily.

    [Not that I need their help.]

    ¡°Your Royal Highness doesn¡¯t have to address me formally,¡± Glenn, the king of Hazelden Kingdom, said as if he was shy, then he gently put a thick and warm nket on his shoulders. ¡°Please use this. I don¡¯t want you to get a cold.¡±

    ¡°That won¡¯t happen, Sire.¡±

    The king still looked worried, though.

    [I probably didn¡¯t sound convincing when I said I won¡¯t get a cold since I look like skin and bones at the moment.]

    ¡°Prince Nero, it¡¯s almost time for dinner,¡± the king said worriedly. ¡°Let¡¯s head back.¡±

    [Glenn is still a worrywart, I see.]

    Since he knew the king wouldn¡¯t return to the pce alone, he decided to call Sev by whistling, using his fingers.

    It was a trick that he and Sev learned together during their time at the Spirit World.

    As he expected, just a few seconds after he whistled, Sev came out of the cave.

    His Soul Beast was a wolf the size of a horse, with two tails that were starting to change. Ever since he gained his physical body back, he noticed the ice-like scales spreading across Sev¡¯s tails.

    [Wait... what¡¯s in his mouth?]

    His thoughts were distracted when he noticed a fish- the size of a mackerel- in Sev¡¯s mouth while his Soul Beast was running toward him.

    [The fish looks like a Blue Whale... but what kind of Blue Whale is that small?]

    Glenn seemed to notice the strange fish, too. After all, the king suddenly stood in front of him protectively.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Sire,¡± he said politely. ¡°Sev wouldn¡¯t bring me something that might harm me.¡±

    Glenn looked at him worriedly. ¡°Are you sure, Prince Nero?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Sire.¡±

    The king looked hesitant, but he still nodded in the end and stepped aside.

    Sev slowed down until he was just walking towards him, the strange fish still stuck in his mouth. The closer the wolf was, the more certain he was that the fish was a small Blue Whale.

    [But why does that Blue Whale look familiar...?]

    ¡°Did you bring me a present, Sev?¡± he asked, then he opened his hands in front of his Soul Beast. ¡°Did you catch that fish in the cave?¡±

    There must have been ake inside the cave.

    Sev opened his mouth, dropping the strange fish in his hands.

    And that was when he heard the unfamiliar voice in his head.

    He felt a pang in his head when the fish that turned out to be some sort of Spirit forced a link in his mind.

    [Argh!]

    As a result, he dropped the fish as he clutched his head tight.

    ¡°Prince Nero!¡±

    ¡°Ah, Lapiz!¡±

    Huh?

    It was a girl¡¯s voice- a familiar girl¡¯s voice, at that.

    When he raised his head, he was surprised by what greeted her.

    Well, it was really Dahlia who looked more mature now than he remembered.

    But the ck Witch, who was plopped on the ground while carrying the small Blue Whale in her arms like a baby, was surrounded by Glenn and the Fletcher Twins who just came out of thin air just like Dahlia.

    [I knew the twins would appear if something strange happens.]

    Anyway, the three men had drawn their swords, and all of it was pointing at Dahlia.

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s just Miss Dahlia,¡± Warren Fletcher said, but he didn¡¯t withdraw his sword. ¡°But what are you doing here?¡±

    ¡°His Royal Highness didn¡¯t summon you, Miss Dahlia,¡± Wyatt Fletcher said, and he actually sounded suspicious of the ck Witch. ¡°I don¡¯t know how you did it, but you wentpletely off our radar. Why did you approach Prince Nero while concealing your presence?¡±

    .....

    [Oh, dang.]

    Dahlia looked like she was about to cry.

    [She¡¯s so easily overwhelmed even now...]

    ¡°Uhm, Fletcher Twins, let¡¯s not overwhelm the youngdy,¡± Glenn said while withdrawing his sword and backing away to give Dahlia some space. But the Fletcher Twins didn¡¯t budge. ¡°Come on, guys...¡±

    ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry, good sirs,¡± Dahlia said in a cracked voice, her pupils shaking and so was her whole body. Why was a powerful ck Witch like her such a crybaby? ¡°I d-don¡¯t mean any harm to Prince N-Nero... I s-swear I¡¯m h-harmless...¡±

    He didn¡¯t want to admit this, but he was flustered to see Dahlia here.

    Although he asked his father to help him find the ck Witch, he didn¡¯t mean for them to have unexpected encounters like this. He just wanted to keep Dahlia at bay because her power as a ck Witch was useful.

    [She knows what kind of rtionship we had in our first lives, and I thought we already agreed that we wouldn¡¯t let it happen again in this lifetime.]

    He was about to tell Dahlia to leave when he got a good look on her face.

    Nero clicked his tongue, annoyed to see Dahlia on the verge of tears. ¡°Move away from her,¡± he ordered the Fletcher Twins who immediately withdrew. Then he stood up and offered his hand to Dahlia. ¡°Come here.¡±

    Much to his surprise, Dahlia grabbed his hand as if she was his lifeline.

    The moment their hands touched, Nero immediately regretted it- he regretted it because a gnawing feeling in him told him he wouldn¡¯t be able to let go of that hand anymore.

    ***

    ¡°DID YOU enjoy your meal?¡± Niki asked Neoma when his daughter arrived at his room to check on the dragon egg. ¡°It was Ruston Stroganoff¡¯s request to let you have dinner first before you go to work. But I would have done the same even without him reminding me to feed you first once you get home.¡±

    Neoma smiled, but her smile looked tired. ¡°Thank you for telling me, Papa Boss,¡± she said, then she sat beside him instead of the sofa across from them. Then she stared nkly at the red egg sitting prettily on the cushion on top of the table. ¡°You know, Papa Boss. I was ready to go ape on Ruto after he ghosted me. But I realized he might have a reason for avoiding me.¡±

    ¡°What happened?¡±

    ¡°We were talking earlier when I heard explosions in the background,¡± his daughter said. ¡°I think he was in the middle of a fight while we were talking. And I have a feeling that I¡¯m the reason why he was risking his life in a battle when he just woke up.¡±

    He scoffed because he didn¡¯t like seeing his daughter worry about some boy.

    Well, that boy was pretty useful. Still...

    ¡°Don¡¯t feel guilty,¡± he told his daughter. ¡°You didn¡¯t tell Ruston Stroganoff to fight for you.¡±

    ¡°I also said those words to Ruto,¡± she said whileughing, but thatugh was lifeless.

    [Let¡¯s not talk about Ruston Stroganoff.]

    Moreover, he needed to congratte his daughter for acing the entrance exam and making him proud once again.

    He was about to open his mouth when he heard Rufus Quinzel¡¯s voice in his head.

    Ah, right.

    Rufus kept on calling Hanna ¡®sweetie¡¯ earlier and now, it was stuck in his head.

    To be honest, he found it too cheesy to use endearment for his children. But Rufus made it sound... well, okay. After all, his cousin was naturally an affectionate person.

    [And Neoma admires Rufus.]

    Should he try copying Rufus and his parenting style this once?

    ¡°Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Papa Boss?¡±

    He cleared his throat first before he spoke. ¡°About your entrance exam...¡± He panicked a little, so he turned away from his daughter. Then his gaze fell on the first thing that caught his attention from the dessert trolley beside the tea table. ¡°Congrattions on acing the exam... Muffin.¡±

    Yes, he called Neoma ¡®Muffin¡¯ because it was the pastry that caught his eye first...

    ... and he immediately regretted it when his daughter turned to her with a shocked look on her face.

    Neoma, for the first time since her adolescence, gave her a look full of disgust. She even rubbed her arms as if she was showing him that she got goosebumps. ¡°Papa Boss, did you just call me ¡®Muffin?''¡±

    Niki covered his burning face with his hands. ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio, delete this moment from your memory- and it¡¯s a royal order from me!¡±

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 436

    Chapter 436: GAME CHANGERS

    DAHLIA, who was bundled up in a thick and warm nket, sat on the floor while facing the firece in Prince Nero¡¯s temporary residence in Hazelden Kingdom¡¯s Royal Pce.

    Oh, she also had a mug of hot chocte in her hands.

    The king had already returned to the main pce, but the Fletcher Twins remained guarding the prince. Thankfully, the intimidating twins gave them privacy and guarded outside.

    ¡°You¡¯re a ck Witch- can¡¯t you do something to keep yourself warm?¡± Prince Nero, who was sitting in a rocking chair behind her, scolded her. ¡°I haven¡¯t met another ck Witch aside from you, but I¡¯m sure they didn¡¯t get a cold as you did for staying in a cave unprepared.¡±

    Dahlia bit her lower lip to stop herself from crying. She was sensitive, and she really didn¡¯t enjoy getting scolded. But she also didn¡¯t want to cry in front of the prince again, so she held her tears back. ¡°I didn¡¯t have a choice, Prince Nero,¡± she said defensively while blowing on the hot surface of her drink. ¡°I could only use the minimum of my power or else the Fletcher Twins would have noticed my presence.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not a criminal, so why are you hiding from them?¡±

    ¡°Because I¡¯m trying to procrastinate, Your Royal Highness,¡± she confessed, then she carefully sipped her hot chocte before she talked again. ¡°I thought as long as you haven¡¯t found me yet, I could dy doing my job.¡±

    .....

    ¡°And what job is that?¡±

    ¡°To nurse Your Royal Highness back to health-¡± she trailed off, then she gasped and gently pped her big mouth. [Why did I say that?]

    It became even more awkward when she didn¡¯t hear a response from Prince Nero.

    [Did he fall asleep on me?]

    She slowly turned around to see if the Crown Prince had fallen asleep because he suddenly went dead silent.

    But she was surprised to see the huge wolf with two tails sleeping beside Prince Nero.

    [It¡¯s so cute!]

    She wanted to rub the wolf¡¯s belly, but she was afraid of its owner.

    When she slowly raised her head to check on Prince Nero, she was quite surprised to meet his confused eyes.

    ¡°Uhm, the S-Stars would often give me a t-task that would help the de Moonasterios defeat the D-Darkness that¡¯s slowly turning into a threat again,¡± she exined awkwardly. ¡°I¡¯m simply f-following the Stars¡¯ o-order, Prince Nero. It¡¯s not like I w-want to take c-care of you...¡±

    Prince Nero red at her. ¡°What will you do if I tell you to go back?¡±

    She flinched and slowly avoided his gaze. ¡°I w-won¡¯t. I¡¯ll just h-hide again ande out if I figured you needed me.¡±

    He let out a frustrated sigh. ¡°Dahlia, listen to me-¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not your wife, so why would I follow your order?¡±

    Oh.

    She shouldn¡¯t have snapped like that.

    Now the Crown Prince looked shocked.

    It was toote for her to stop, though. The way Prince Nero spoke like she must follow his every word reminded her of the awful memories she had with him in their past lives.

    ¡°Your Royal Highness also remembers his past life, so you must know that nothing good came out of you ordering me around all the time,¡± she said, her hands clenched.

    Since she was upset, she finally stopped stuttering.

    She was crying internally, though. After all, she hated confrontations. She¡¯d probably cry herself to sleepter. Like she said before, facing the de Moonasterios head-on was a scary thing- for real. It took her all the courage she got to talk back to Prince Nero.

    ¡°Your Royal Highness should listen to me this time,¡± she said bravely, but her heart was beating fast and loud against her chest. And thank goodness she was sitting! If not, her knees would have already buckled because her body was trembling- from fear and not from the cold! ¡°And stop giving meaning to my words and actions. Your Royal Highness is being too conscious of me because of your overthinking.¡±

    He looked offended by her implication. ¡°Excuse me?¡±

    Her cheeks burned from embarrassment, but she carried on with her rant. ¡°I¡¯m aware that Your Royal Highness is treating me bad because you wanted me to stay away from you,¡± she said, then she patted her chest when she felt suffocated. ¡°I wanted to stay away from you too, Prince Nero. Let¡¯s be real. Not everyone could put up with a de Moonasterio¡¯s awful personality.¡±

    Prince Nero looked like he couldn¡¯t believe her.

    She shut her eyes tight and continued with herints. At least now, she couldin with all her might without having to see the Crown Prince¡¯s scary reaction.

    [Here goes nothing...]

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to be your wife in this lifetime, so please be rest assured that I will never fall in love with you again!¡±

    ¡°Did you love me in your first life?¡±

    What kind of question was that?

    The ¡°Crown Princess Dahlia¡± in her memories was so in love with Prince Nero that she gave up her bloodline to be with him.

    It was Prince Nero who didn¡¯t reciprocate her feelings.

    ¡°I did, Your Royal Highness,¡± she said, then she slowly opened her eyes. ¡°But the Prince Nero in my memories didn¡¯t love me back. He just wanted to own me for my power. Thus, I was always crying then ...¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not true,¡± the Crown Prince said firmly. ¡°The Dahlia in my memories didn¡¯t love me back- and her cold treatment drove me insane.¡±

    Huh???

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what Your Royal Highness is talking about,¡± Dahlia said, confused. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure that the Dahlia in my memories was a neglected wife...¡±

    ¡°And the Nero in my memories was a weak bastard who went insane because of a broken heart,¡± Prince Nero said, and he looked as confused as she was. ¡°Dahlia, one of us must have false memories of the events that transpired in the past.¡±

    ***

    ¡°Shut up,¡± Ruto, who was standing in the middle of a room where the walls, the ceiling, and even the floor were ¡°decorated¡± by hundreds of glowing red eyes ring at him, said. Then he clenched his hands tight. ¡°Shut up and let me save her this time!¡±

    His Mana exploded when he yelled.

    The powerful force that shot up from different parts of his body hit some of the glowing red eyes on the ceiling, the floor, and the walls until those orbs were crying blood.

    It was followed by the wailing of the gods, who continued cursing him literally.

    ¡°Ruto!¡±

    Ruto opened his eyes and got up while clutching his chest and catching his breath.

    It was another nightmare- the nightmare that began when he fell into a deep slumber three years ago. Since his mind, soul, and body were in a weakened state back then, the gods who cursed him found their way to torture him mentally by appearing in his dreams.

    He fought them again and again, and it went on for years.

    Even now that he was already awake, the memories of the hellish days still haunted him. Thus, he hadn¡¯t gotten a decent sleep yet ever since he opened his eyes.

    That was the reason why he never let Neoma enter his dreams.

    [I don¡¯t want Neoma to see those holy pests.]

    ¡°Did you have a bad dream again?¡±

    He raised his head to see Sienna, the Sun Priestess in her human form, handing him a ss of water.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± Ruto said, then he drank the water. ¡°And thank you for waking me up.¡±

    Sienna let out a frustrated sigh. ¡°You should return to Cyran Temple and stay there until the Sun Goddess gets rid of your nightmares.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have the luxury to do that, Sienna.¡±

    Frustrated crossed the Sun Priestess¡¯s eyes. ¡°The crow that you¡¯re hunting down this time is dangerous, Ruto.¡±

    ¡°I know, but I can handle it.¡±

    ¡°Ruto-¡±

    ¡°I need to go,¡± he said, then he stood up. ¡°I¡¯m meeting the Devil today.¡±

    ¡°The fake Arche de Moonasterio?¡± Sienna asked with furrowed eyebrows. ¡°I thought you two already agreed to not meet each other again?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not actually the Devil that I¡¯m meeting,¡± Ruto confessed, then he let out a sigh. To be honest, he dreaded the confrontation that he was about to have with that personter. ¡°I really don¡¯t want to ask Princess Nichole about the time she might have given birth to the Masterpiece.¡±

    ***

    ¡°I made awesome friends, Your Excellency,¡± Calyx said excitedly while sitting on the railing of the balcony of his bedroom. His Excellency, in the form of a crow with a metallic voice, was beside him. ¡°The fake Crown Prince and Hanna Quinzel are both interesting.¡±

    His Excellency said.

    ¡°We just teased each other a little,¡± he said, grinning. ¡°I can¡¯t wait to y with them again.¡±

    His eyes widened with excitement. ¡°I have a new ymate?¡±

    Heughed and pped his hands. ¡°He must be good at ying hide-and-seek!¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± he asked excitedly. ¡°Who is it then?¡±

    His Excellency said.

    That monster...

    Calyx¡¯s smile instantly vanished, his fake eye color turning into glowing red when anger rose in his chest. ¡°I¡¯ll kill him,¡± he dered coldly. ¡°I will never forgive anyone who hurts my precious family members.¡±

    ***

    NEOMA would need to apologize to her Papa Bosster.

    .....

    After all, her father¡¯s beautiful garden blew up after she threw the dragon egg toward it.

    In her defense, she didn¡¯t have a choice.

    While she was having a funny conversation with her father about the ¡®Muffin Thing,¡¯ the dragon egg suddenly vibrated while the cracks spread fast all over the shell. She just knew right away that it was time for the egg to hatch...

    ... and Tteokbokki woulde out with a bang- literally.

    She contained the explosion by putting a Dome over the entire garden. Thus, no innocent people were hurt. But the garden was wrecked. But she hadn¡¯t seen the full damage yet because when the egg exploded, a thick smoke covered it.

    [I can feel Tteokbokki¡¯s aura now, and I can also see his silhouette behind the thick smoke...]

    And god, her Soul Beast was making angry dragon noises!

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for the damage, Papa Boss,¡± Neoma said to her father, who was standing behind her. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that there would be an explosion once the egg hatched.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about the garden, Neoma- you must worry about your own Dome first,¡± her Papa Boss said sternly. But her father didn¡¯t sound mad. She could detect the concern in his voice, in fact. ¡°Is your Dome stretchable?¡±

    She was confused by her father¡¯s question at first.

    But when the smoke that obscured her vision earlier disappeared, she finally got a clear view of her Soul Beast.

    Tteokbokki was slowly getting bigger and bigger...

    ¡°Eottoke,¡± Neoma said worriedly when Tteokbokki¡¯s ¡°growth spurt¡± didn¡¯t show any sign of stopping. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect an adult dragon to be this big...¡±

    [Can I tame Tteokbokki in that form?]

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 437

    Chapter 437: PUNCH OF LOVE

    HANNA already knew what to do as soon as Lewis fetched her from her current room in nco Pce before she moved to Luna Pce.

    Even though nco Pce was a little far from Yule Pce (the emperor¡¯s residence), she still felt the enormous powering from something that definitely didn¡¯t belong to a human. Thus, she connected the dots and came up with the conclusion that Neoma¡¯s Soul Beast, the one that was currently inside a dragon egg, was about toe out.

    And she knew what she needed to do.

    [Neoma probably knows I can do it now, so she asked Lewis to fetch me.]

    ¡°Lewis, let¡¯s stop here,¡± Hanna said, then she stopped running when they reached the entrance of the garden. ¡°And stay close to me.¡±

    Lewis told her earlier that Sir Geoffrey Kinsley had already evacuated the servants of the Yule Pce, so she didn¡¯t have to worry about innocent people getting hurt. Still, hiding Neoma¡¯s red dragon from other people¡¯s eyes was her job.

    She asked Lewis to stay close to her because she was worried that he would run straight to Neoma when the Soul Beast might go on a rampage.

    .....

    ¡°I need to stay by Princess Neoma¡¯s side-¡±

    ¡°Come here,¡± she said, cutting Lewis off. ¡°I know that it¡¯s your duty to stay by Neoma¡¯s side as her knight. But as you can see, His Majesty is with our princess. I¡¯m not saying that you¡¯ll just get in their way. I¡¯m also perfectly aware that you can protect yourself and do your job at the same time. But at times like this, isn¡¯t it better to serve as a support?¡±

    Lewis tilted his head to one side.

    ¡°Let Neoma do her thing and only make a move when you need to. I think that would work best for you considering your dynamics,¡± she exined. ¡°Neoma is the type of person who likes taking the lead, after all. Do you get what I¡¯m saying, Lewis?¡±

    ¡°I do,¡± Lewis said, then he frowned. ¡°But I don¡¯t like it.¡±

    Sheughed softly. ¡°Alright. I won¡¯t force you to listen to me. You may do what you want to do.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± he said, then he walked towards her and stood behind her. ¡°Then I¡¯ll stay here.¡±

    She turned to her with a confused look on her face. ¡°But I thought you don¡¯t like being apart from Neoma when she¡¯s in a fight?¡±

    ¡°Just because I don¡¯t like it doesn¡¯t mean I won¡¯t. I always have Princess Neoma¡¯s best interest at heart,¡± Lewis exined. ¡°Moreover, protecting the people Princess Neoma treasures is also a part of my job.¡±

    She smiled and nodded. ¡°I¡¯m d you know that, Lewis.¡±

    After that, she focused on doing her job.

    This was the first time she was going to perform the technique that she learned from her Uncle Garrett. She didn¡¯t want to mess up, so she closed her eyes and focused.

    She let her Mana flow down and gather at the sole of her feet.

    Then she let her Mana leak out until it reached her shadow.

    After that, she ¡°broke¡± her shadow¡¯s form to make it shapeless. Then she expanded it until the garden¡¯s entire ground was covered with her shadow. The next thing she did was to imagine her shapeless shadow turning into a dome that covered that entire garden.

    Her job didn¡¯t end there.

    Now that the entire garden was covered with her shadow, she created a Space inside her Shadow Field where reality wouldn¡¯t be affected. Thus, no matter how rough the fight between Neoma and her Soul Beast went, they wouldn¡¯t damage anything inside her Shadow Field.

    [I think I did it perfectly.]

    She slowly opened her eyes and was relieved to see that she really seeded.

    The entire garden was now covered by her Shadow Field.

    It turned out prettier than she expected because now the garden looked like it was covered by a ckce veil. Well, it was pretty simr to the Shadow Veil that the Quinzels were known for. But her Shadow Field was a bit different because of the thousands of tiny ck cubes floating inside the field.

    Those tiny ck cubes were the result of the Space she created in order to protect reality from getting affected by the fight.

    ¡°You did well, Lady Hanna,¡± Lewisplimented her. ¡°You¡¯ve grown stronger.¡±

    Hanna turned to Lewis and smiled proudly. ¡°Thank you, Lewis.¡±

    ***

    [FIELD ISOLATION?]

    Niki was pretty impressed by Hanna¡¯s Field Istion Technique.

    It was impressive because it was like thebination of Shadow Veil (the Quinzel¡¯s technique that they used to hide things they wanted to hide) and Field Istion (the technique where the user would create a space to protect reality from getting damaged).

    ¡°Neoma, your future sister-inw has some impressive skills,¡± Niki said to his daughter. ¡°It was rude of us to worry only about Calyx Dalton for the uing match. You should be on your guard around Hanna Quinzel, too.¡±

    ¡°That goes without saying, Papa Boss,¡± Neoma said, her eyes focused on the growing Red Dragon in front of them. ¡°I bet Hanna could hold her own against Calyx Dalton as well. Like she always says, she¡¯s a hawk- and hawks are the crows¡¯ natural predators.¡±

    He just nodded in agreement, then he analyzed the Red Dragon in front of them.

    [Neoma¡¯s Soul Beast¡¯s overall body length is probably around thirty-seven meters, with a wingspan of around forty-six meters.]

    ¡°Neoma, how do you n to deal with your Soul Beast?¡±

    ¡°Papa Boss, do you remember how I made Tteokbokki sumb to me when I first awakened as a de Moonasterio?¡±

    ¡°I remember you telling Nero that you cried until your Soul Beast gave up.¡±

    ¡°That was a lie, Papa Boss.¡±

    ¡°I thought so,¡± he said, not surprised by his daughter¡¯s confession. After all, even back then, he never believed that Neoma tamed her Soul Beast by simply crying. ¡°Did you beat it to a pulp?¡±

    ¡°Yep,¡± his daughter said proudly. ¡°And I¡¯ll do it again.¡±

    Niki let out a chuckle. ¡°I want to see my daughter beat up a full-grown dragon.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re in for a treat then, Papa Boss,¡± Neoma said while cracking her knuckles. ¡°But this time, I¡¯ll knock Tteokbokki out in one punch.¡±

    ***

    NEOMA gathered a huge amount of Mana in her right hand.

    Tteokbokki finally stopped growing. He was still making angry dragon noises, and his mouth was now emitting smoke. Plus, she could tell his dragon¡¯s power was getting stronger and stronger.

    [Ah, he¡¯s gonna breathe fire.]

    She wouldn¡¯t let Tteokbokki do that.

    ¡°Mochi, flight magic,¡± Neoma said. Then a cold breeze immediately lifted her, making her giggle because Mochi¡¯s wind power always felt gentle to her. ¡°Thanks.¡±

    Now that she was covered with Mochi¡¯s flight magic, she was free to move as if she was wings.

    Actually, she could have just used her own rose wings to fly.

    But she concentrated all her strength to her fist. She intended to finish the ¡°fight¡± as quickly as possible. Thus, she went all out right away.

    [Here goes nothing.]

    She shot up to the sky until she was at Tteokbokki¡¯s eye level.

    Her Soul Beast¡¯s eyes were glowing red. When she entered the dragon¡¯s field of vision, it instantly opened its mouth to roar or something.

    That was when she attacked.

    She did a front flip in the air, then shended gracefully on Tteokbokki¡¯s nose. It was a little hot in there was smokeing out of his nostrils. Thus, without further ado, she got down on one knee and punched Tteokbokki¡¯s nose until he was forced to close his mouth.

    The impact of her punch was no joke.

    She didn¡¯t feel pain because her fist was covered with Coat (her protective barrier), but Tteokbokki felt the full power of her punch. Thus, the dragon¡¯s angry noises turned into a loud cry as he plunged to the ground- creating a vast crater when the enormous dragon finally fell.

    Then she watched her poor Soul Beast fall to the ground with a loud and destructive thud while she was still floating in the air. Everything was crushed under Tteokbokki¡¯s fallen body, and the crater produced by the impact destroyed the ground.

    She surveyed the area and was relieved to see that her Papa Boss was safe. There was a bluish wall in front of her father, and it was no doubt a barrier made from his Moonglow.

    From the corner of her eye, she also saw Hanna and Lewis.

    Lewis was standing in front of Hanna protectively, but the tiny ck cubes in front of Lewis seemed like a barrier created by Hanna.

    [Thank goodness everyone is safe.]

    ¡°Sorry, Tteokbokki,¡± Neoma whispered to herself while looking at the unconscious Tteokbokki on the ground. ¡°But this small amount of violence is our lovenguage.¡±

    ***

    ¡°WHY DID my Tteokbokki shrink?¡± Neoma asked, confused. When shended on her feet, she was surprised to see that Tteokbokki returned to his baby form. If her estimation was correct, then his body length would be around four feet. ¡°Did my punch bring him back to his baby form?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not that great, Neoma de Moonasterio.¡±

    She didn¡¯t need to turn around to know it was William who dissed her.

    [Again.]

    William appeared on her left side while Manu appeared on her right side.

    ¡°Your Soul Beast shrank of his own volition,¡± Manu exined. ¡°But it¡¯s a good thing. Adult dragons could control their body size ording to what they wanted. Most adult dragons be morefortable using their human forms, too. So don¡¯t be surprised if your Soul Beast turns into his human form soon, Neoma de Moonasterio.¡±

    She remembered what Tteokbokki looked like in his human form, but she also remembered that Crimson was the dominant personality when her Soul Beast was in his human form.

    [No, thanks.]

    It wasn¡¯t like she hated Crimson. She just didn¡¯t have the time to deal with Crimson¡¯s unending rage, since her priority right now was to rescue her Mama Boss.

    .....

    [I¡¯ll deal with Tteokbokki¡¯s dual personalityter.]

    ¡°I can tell that the dragon grew up well,¡± the Grand Spirit said while nodding his head in approval. ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio, get ready.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s with the stupefied face for?¡± William asked with furrowed eyebrows. ¡°We¡¯re going to the ck Ocean to save Mona- now.¡±

    Neoma covered her mouth when she gasped. ¡°Now?¡±

    [I¡¯m finally going to meet my Mama Boss!]

    ***

    NEOMA smiled when Tteokbokki, who was currently lying down on her bed, finally opened his eyes. ¡°Good morning, Tteokbokki.¡±

    She said ¡®Tteokbokki,¡¯ but she wasn¡¯t sure which personality overtook the dragon¡¯s body at the moment.

    It didn¡¯t take her long to find out, though.

    ¡°How did you get so big, thug princess?!¡±

    ¡®Thug princess?¡¯

    Aww... it was her Tteokkbokki!

 Chapter 438

    Chapter 438: THE NATURE¡¯S SONG

    ¡°WOAH, TTEOKBOKKI,¡± Neoma said, amazed by her Soul Beast¡¯s transformation after Stephanie and Alphen dressed him up earlier. ¡°You look like a young noble now.¡±

    Tteokbokki, in his human form, wouldn¡¯t fit in her clothes because he was taller than her.

    Thus, her Soul Beast had to borrow clothes from Lewis.

    Tteokbokki just wore a simple linen dress shirt, pants, andbat boots. The essories he wore from head to toe were also on the simpler side. But there was something about the way he carried himself that reminded her Tteokbokki was supposed to be a god.

    ¡°Thug princess, your mob boss of a father almost killed me back when we were still both babies. Back then, it was inevitable because you and your father had a sour rtionship,¡± Tteokbokki, who suddenly hid behind her when the door of her bedroom burst open, whispered to her. ¡°So, I can¡¯t believe I almost died at your father¡¯s again just when the two of you have been getting along well recently.¡±

    ¡°Exactly, Tteokbokki,¡± Neoma whispered back. ¡°My Papa Boss almost killed you because we¡¯re finally getting along well. Papa Boss only has two moods: it¡¯s either he hates you enough to kill you or he loves you so much that he¡¯d kill for you- there¡¯s no in between.¡±

    ¡°You de Moonasterios are really crazy.¡±

    .....

    ¡°Stop stating the obvious, Tteokbokki.¡±

    Her Papa Boss cleared his throat to get their attention. ¡°Stop talking as if I¡¯m not here,¡± he said sternly. ¡°And you, puny dragon. As long as you¡¯re in your human form, I won¡¯t allow you to stay close to my daughter.¡±

    Her father waved his hand.

    And just like that, Tteokbokki was sent flying.

    [Again.]

    But this time, it seemed like her father held back. After all, Tteokbokki didn¡¯t hit the wall. Her Soul Beast was just sent to the other side of the room by her Papa Boss¡¯ wave force.

    [Poor Tteokbokki looks shocked.]

    If she looked closer, she¡¯d see that her Soul Beast was on the verge of crying.

    ¡°Papa Boss, stop bullying Tteokbokki,¡± she scolded her father. ¡°You¡¯re making him cry.¡±

    Her father red at her. ¡°So, you¡¯re taking his side?¡±

    ¡°Come on, Papa Boss,¡± she said while shaking his head. ¡°I already told you that I won¡¯t get seduced by the dragon I raised. Tteokbokki is just like another younger brother to me.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t trust you, Neoma.¡±

    ¡°But why not, Papa Boss?¡±

    ¡°Because you¡¯re weak against handsome boys.¡±

    Oh, god.

    Her reputation wasn¡¯t looking good. But she could deny her. She was really a sucker for pretty faces.

    ¡°But Tteokbokki isn¡¯t even human, Papa Boss,¡± she said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much.¡±

    Her Papa Boss remained frowning.

    ¡°Can you please stop speaking nonsense?¡±

    It was the always grumpy William, of course.

    The Grand Spirit, who left earlier saying that he needed to retrieve the key to the ck Ocean, finally returned.

    [Ohh... Master looks happy.]

    William had a semi-permanent frown on his face, but his eyes were shining. It wasn¡¯t every day you¡¯d see the Grand Spirit in a good mood.

    ¡°Is everything ready?¡± her Papa Boss asked.

    [Ah, it isn¡¯t only William who¡¯s happy and excited today.]

    Her Papa Boss had a resting bitch face, but his pretty ash-gray eyes were sparkling with excitement.

    ¡°Yes, everything is ready,¡± William said calmly. The Grand Spirit was always snapping at her Papa Boss for no reason. But this time, William was in a good mood, and as a result, he was interacting with the emperor like the proper adult that he should be. ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio just needs to get in her Spirit form, then we can leave.¡±

    It was pretty amusing to see two men, who were always grumpy, acting like little kids excited to open their birthday presents. Her Papa Boss and her Master both looked innocent at the moment- all for the same reason.

    [They really love Mama Boss.]

    Once again, she felt a fit of unreasonable jealousy towards her own mother.

    She couldn¡¯t help it, though.

    [Aside from my family and friends, everyone wants me dead. Mama Boss, on the other hand, is loved even by great Spirits. I mean, I don¡¯t need them to love me. But at least let me live in peace?]

    ¡°Neoma?¡± her father called for her, snapping her out of her trance. ¡°Is everything okay?¡±

    She smiled and nodded, telling herself to focus. ¡°Yes, Papa Boss,¡± she said, then she turned to William. She avoided her father¡¯s gaze on purpose because she didn¡¯t want him to realize that she was feeling jealous of how her Mama Boss was loved. ¡°Master, do I just need to get in my Spirit form?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± William said in a controlled yet still obviously excited voice. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of the rest. After all, I¡¯m the only one who can bring you and your Soul Beast to the ck Ocean safely.¡±

    She gave the Grand Spirit a thumbs up. ¡°`Gotcha.¡±

    ¡°Neoma, if it gets too dangerous, you may return.¡±

    She turned to her father with a shocked look on her face. Knowing how much her Papa Boss loved her Mama Boss, she couldn¡¯t believe she heard those words from him. ¡°But you can¡¯t wait to meet Mama Boss again, Papa Boss.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± her father admitted. ¡°But I don¡¯t want you to rescue your mother at the expense of your own safety.¡±

    William rolled his eyes at her father¡¯s sentimental words.

    If the situation wasn¡¯t serious, she would have teased her Papa Boss for being cheesy. But to be honest, she was touched by her father¡¯s words even though they were sappy.

    [Papa Boss loves Mama Boss more than he loves Nero and me.]

    So, to hear her father tell her to prioritize her safety over her rescue mission was touching.

    ¡°Mona wouldn¡¯t be happy if you get hurt while trying to rescue her,¡± her Papa Boss said gently. ¡°And I won¡¯t forgive myself for letting you shoulder this alone if that happens.¡±

    Crap.

    She almost cried.

    [Papa Boss, we¡¯ve truly gone a long way.]

    Neoma, to lighten the mood because she didn¡¯t want to cry, made finger hearts to her father. ¡°Papa Boss, saranghaeyo1.¡±

    Her Papa Boss looked confused because he didn¡¯t understand the Korean word she just said.

    Neoma didn¡¯t offer an exnation, though, because she was shy.

    [I¡¯ll say it properly to you someday, Papa Boss.]

    ***

    NERO, who was sitting on the rocking chair beside the window, clicked his tongue. ¡°Why are they noisy?¡±

    He was talking about the Spirits in the Frozen Wood.

    This time, it seemed like even the trees, the snow, and the animals in there were making noises. He was used to hearing Spirits. But for some reason, the noises he was hearing at the moment were too much for him.

    ¡°They¡¯re not making noises, Prince Nero,¡± Dahlia, who was still wrapped in a thick nket while having her second mug of hot chocte in front of the firece, said without looking at him. This crybaby was still avoiding his gaze. ¡°They¡¯re singing, Your Royal Highness.¡±

    To be honest, he wanted to ignore the ck Witch.

    But he was morbidly curious as to why the Spirits and the other ¡°living¡± things around them were ¡°singing.¡±

    He didn¡¯t have to ask, though, as she continued speaking to him.

    ¡°They¡¯re singing because they¡¯re happy about Lady Mona Roseheart¡¯s return.¡±

    He raised an eyebrow. ¡°My mother hasn¡¯t been rescued yet.¡±

    ¡°But she will soon emerge from the ck Ocean,¡± Dahlia said. ¡°My friends on the ind told me that Lady Roseheart will be returning to the surface.¡±

    ¡°Your friends?¡±

    ¡°The fish you met when you visited me in my dream, Your Royal Highness,¡± the ck Witch exined. ¡°They are Spirits.¡±

    Ah, yes.

    He remembered that the ¡°fish¡± that he met back then were Spirits.

    ¡°They should stop celebrating early,¡± he said disapprovingly. ¡°What will they do if they jinx my twin sister who¡¯s about to rescue our mother?¡±

    ¡°It won¡¯t happen, Prince Nero.¡±

    ¡°And you¡¯re certain because...?¡±

    ¡°Because Lady Roseheart is loved by the Nature itself,¡± Dahlia exined, then she turned to him with a smile. ¡°Prince Nero, are you excited to meet your mother?¡±

    He froze on the spot.

    After all, he didn¡¯t expect to see Dahlia smiling at him...

    .....

    ... and for some reason, his stupid heart suddenly started to beat hard and fast against his chest.

    ¡°Don¡¯t smile,¡± Nero said coldly. ¡°Don¡¯t smile at me and act like we¡¯re close, Dahlia Letizia.¡±

    He didn¡¯t expect his voice to sound as cold as it did, but he couldn¡¯t help it.

    Although he and Dahlia both recognized that they seemed to have a huge misunderstanding in their first lives, they both silently and mutually agreed not to fix it. After all, there was no need for them to reconcile.

    Whether there was a misunderstanding between him and Dahlia, it didn¡¯t change the fact that the one he needed to marry in this lifetime was Hanna Quinzel.

    [And I already made a promise to Hanna.]

    ¡°Prince Nero, you¡¯re being harsh,¡± Dahlia, who seemed like she was seriously hurt this time, look at him straight in the eye. This time, she didn¡¯t look like she would cry. In fact, she looked angry at him. ¡°Can you please give me the basic respect that I deserve?¡±

    He wanted to apologize when he saw the fire in hervender eyes.

    But his pride got in the way.

    ¡°I challenge you to a fight, Prince Nero.¡±

    Huh?

    ¡°If you win, I¡¯ll ignore the Stars and disappear from your sight,¡± Dahlia dered bravely. ¡°But if I win, you¡¯ll apologize to me properly.¡±

    Nero, who didn¡¯t want to back down, nodded his head. ¡°Fine, let¡¯s do that.¡±

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 439

    Chapter 439: HI, MAMA BOSS!

    NIKOLAI, who was busy signing a document, stopped and raised his head.

    He caught Lewis slowly and silently pulling out his sword.

    [I¡¯m quite impressed.]

    He and Lewis were currently in Neoma¡¯s room. They were there to guard his daughter who was sleeping on the bed. Since Neoma¡¯s soul was with William and the Soul Beast, her physical body was vulnerable.

    Thus, he and Lewis were there to protect Neoma.

    Gale and the other two Spirits Neoma was taking care of were also there. To be precise, Gale and her friends were lying down on the bed with his daughter.

    But the three weren¡¯t the only Spirits in the room.

    .....

    Thus, the fox boy was feeling restless.

    [Lewis can¡¯t see Spirits, but I guess he could feel their presence.]

    After all, there were quite a few Spirits among the group that ¡°visited¡± them.

    ¡°Calm down, Lewis,¡± Niki said, then he put his pen down on the table. He brought his paperworks to Neoma¡¯s room because if he didn¡¯t get any work done, Kyle Sprouse would nag at himter. But he couldn¡¯t concentrate when Spirits kepting in and out of his daughter¡¯s room. ¡°Those Spirits are harmless.¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± Lewis said, then he slowly put his sword back in the scabbard attached to his hip. ¡°Okay.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe that the news of Mona¡¯s return spread like a wildfire already when she isn¡¯t here yet,¡± Gale, who was in the form of a white bunny, said. Since Gale chose tomunicate with humans, Lewis could hear her as well. ¡°I me it on the Cosmic Tree.¡±

    ¡°The Cosmic Tree?¡± he asked curiously. ¡°What did she do this time?¡±

    ¡°Every time the Cosmic Tree is in a good mood, she¡¯d sing a song about Mona.¡±

    He raised an eyebrow. ¡°The Cosmic Tree made a song about Mona?¡±

    ¡°Yes, she did,¡± Gale confirmed,ughing. ¡°And she changes the lyrics of the song based on her mood. The Cosmic Tree probably sang a line about Mona¡¯s return, thus the news quickly spread among the Spirits.¡±

    That sounded like something the Cosmic Tree would do.

    ¡°I don¡¯t like the fact that the enemies probably already know that Mona is about to return,¡± he said, picking up his pen to resume his work. ¡°But at the same time, I don¡¯t want to hide her. That¡¯s why I don¡¯t know how to feel about what the Cosmic Tree did.¡±

    ¡°It will be alright, Little Niki,¡± Gale assured him. ¡°After all, the news about Mona¡¯s return has surely reached the ears of our old allies, too. Most of them entered slumber when Mona disappeared. But now that she¡¯s back, they will definitely return to our side as well.¡±

    That was true.

    Now that the crows had openly approached Neoma, they needed to gather as many allies as they could in order to protect his children. He could trust them because they were strong.

    Those people were just a little... entric, though.

    [Mona¡¯s allies only listen to her, but they would at least care for Neoma and Nero, right?]

    ¡°So, don¡¯t worry too much, Little Niki. I¡¯m sure Mona will be fine,¡± Gale said as if she was trying to console him. ¡°Your Little Muffin will make everything alright.¡±

    He gripped the pen tight until it broke in his hand while ring at Gale.

    The Wind Spiritughed, while Lewis did a poor attempt to hold back hisughter.

    [It¡¯s normal for Gale to know that I called Neoma ¡®Muffin¡¯ because she was probably listening back then...]

    But the fact that even Lewis, who had a semi-permanent poker face, stifled hisughter at the mention of ¡®Little Muffin...¡¯

    [How did he know?]

    Did Neoma tell Lewis that he called her ¡®Muffin?¡¯

    ¡°Princess Neomained a lot to me about being called ¡®Muffin¡¯ by His Majesty,¡± Lewis exined when he noticed that he was ring at him, too. ¡°But I don¡¯t think Princess Neoma hates it, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°Ban...¡± Niki said weakly while pinching the bridge of his nose. ¡°I will ban the use of that cursed word from now on- and no muffins would be served in the pce as long as I¡¯m the emperor.¡±

    Galeughed out loud. ¡°That¡¯s so petty of you, Little Niki!¡±

    ***

    NEOMA almost threw up.

    Wow.

    If there was one thing she wouldn¡¯t miss from the modern world, it was definitely the rollercoaster. Why would she miss riding that attraction when all she needed was to ask William to teleport her somewhere? She¡¯d get the thrill and the motion sickness that she would get from riding a rollercoaster by simply being teleported by her master.

    ¡°When will you get used to it?¡± William asked disapprovingly while shaking his head. ¡°It¡¯s not like it¡¯s your first time we teleported together.¡±

    ¡°But your teleportation technique is really aggressive, Master,¡± Neomained, feeling a little better now that her feet were touching the sand. ¡°Now that I think about it, why did nobody teach me how to teleport? It¡¯s a useful skill. I need to learn it.¡±

    ¡°You of all people should never learn any kind of teleportation technique,¡± he said bluntly. ¡°Why do you think your former mentor, the ex-saint, never taught you how to teleport?¡±

    ¡°Because it will be unfair to the world if I be more perfect?¡±

    William looked at her with a disgusted look on his face. ¡°No, it¡¯s because if you learn how to teleport, who knows what kind of ¡®door¡¯ you¡¯d open?¡±

    She tilted her head to one side, confused. ¡°What does it mean?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s stop talking nonsense,¡± he said grumpily, then he pointed to the vast, dark ocean in front of them. ¡°Your mother is trapped under the ck Ocean.¡±

    She clenched her hands tight while looking at the ck Ocean in front of them.

    It really lived up to its name because the water was very dark. The dim sky was also moonless. Overall, the ce looked very depressing.

    [And Mama Boss has been trapped here for thirteen years...]

    ¡°How will we cross the water, Master?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not water,¡± William said. ¡°That¡¯s Impure Mana. When a person or creature with a Darkness attribute dies, their Mana doesn¡¯t return to Nature. It turns into a harmful substance called Impure Mana.¡±

    ¡°Ah, yes, I remember you teaching me about Impure Mana,¡± she said. ¡°But this is the first time I¡¯ve seen it in personal...¡± Her stomach growled, then she licked her lips while looking at the ck water- er, Impure Mana. ¡°It looks delicious, Master.¡±

    For some reason, Darkness and Impure Mana both made her hungry.

    ¡°Don¡¯t eat it,¡± the Grand Spirit said, then he snapped his fingers.

    She was about to ask her master if she could maybe have a bite of the Impure Mana when she realized what William had just done.

    [Ohh...!]

    Her hair grew longer, the tips turning into pink. Then the suit that she was wearing had turned into a pretty dress. It was like a ¡°magical girl¡± moment- just like when her favorite icon, S*ilormoon, would transform into her cute costume.

    ¡°But Master, if you dress me up like a doll... it¡¯s awkward.¡±

    And her Papa Boss wouldn¡¯t like it either.

    ¡°I did it for a reason,¡± William exined, frowning. ¡°There¡¯s a giant water serpent guarding your mother under the ocean. Her name is Nathaira, and she¡¯s very loyal to Mona. The only person she¡¯s allowing toe near your mother is you.¡±

    ¡°But I thought Nero met our mother once when he visited the ck Ocean with you...¡±

    ¡°I dressed him up as a girl back then to make him look like you,¡± the Grand Spirit exined. ¡°You see, Nathaira is a dumb serpent.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s mean.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s true, though,¡± he said bluntly. ¡°Nathaira thought Nero was you just because I made your brother look like a girl.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think that cheap trick worked,¡± she said, giving Nathaira the benefit of the doubt even though they hadn¡¯t met yet. ¡°I think she gave Nero a free pass because she knows Nero is also my mother¡¯s child.¡±

    ¡°Whatever,¡± William said dismissively, then he raised an eyebrow at her. ¡°Summon your Soul Beast now.¡±

    ¡°`Gotcha,¡± she said, then she tapped her chest twice. ¡°Tteokbokki,e out.¡±

    In just the blink of an eye, Tteokbokki appeared in front of her.

    Her Soul Beast was still in his human form. God, it was so annoying how Tteokbokki towered over her.

    Tsk.

    ¡°Thug princess, this ce is depressing. I don¡¯t want to stay here for long,¡± Tteokbokki whined like a child, then he grabbed the sleeve of her dress. ¡°Let¡¯s do what we came here for, then let¡¯s leave.¡±

    Just like that, her irritation disappeared.

    [Tteokbokki can be cute when he wants to.]

    ¡°Alright,¡± she said, then she gently patted Tteokbokki¡¯s head. ¡°Then transform into your dragon form now. You won¡¯t go berserk this time, will you?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± the Soul Beast said. ¡°I¡¯vepletely beaten Crimson this time.¡±

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re finally aware of your other personality.¡±

    ¡°Lord Manu told me about him,¡± the Soul Beast exined. ¡°Moreover, I had to battle Crimson for the past years.¡±

    That made sense.

    But speaking of Lord Manu...

    [He disappeared again. I wonder where the Moon Priest goes to every time he disappears. Is he reporting to the Sun Priestess?]

    .....

    Hmm...

    ¡°Stop with your chitchat and hurry up,¡± William said grumpily. ¡°Red Dragon, I want you to breathe as much fire as you could once I bring you above the block of ice where Mona is trapped.¡±

    ¡°My name is Tteokbokki,¡± Tteokbokki said to William, then he turned to her. ¡°But the strength of my Fire Breath depends on the thug princess.¡±

    Tteokbokki would need to borrow her strength to create a powerful Fire Breath.

    It was the reason why William trained her to death for the past few years.

    ¡°Tteokbokki, don¡¯t worry- I got you,¡± Neoma said, then she gave her Soul Beast a thumbs up. ¡°We¡¯ll save my Mama Boss even if we both exhaust our Mana.¡±

    ***

    ¡°WHOHOO!¡± Neomaughed while standing on Tteokbokki¡¯s back. ¡°This is better than riding on a ne!¡±

    Tteokbokki was in his full dragon form now, and they were flying.

    William was standing beside her. But the Grand Spirit had his arms crossed over his chest while maintaining a poker-face.

    [Gosh, he doesn¡¯t know how to have fun.]

    ¡°You¡¯re having way too much fun, Neoma de Moonasterio,¡± William scolded her. ¡°Did youe here to y?¡±

    ¡°I would have died a long time ago if I didn¡¯t know how to have fun while dealing with bullshit,¡± she said. ¡°You know I¡¯ve been dealing with bullshit since I was three years old, right?¡±

    The Grand Spirit opened his mouth as if he was about to argue with her.

    But both of them got distracted when a giant snake suddenly emerged from the water. It was baring its fangs at them, so it looked pretty scary at the moment. But thankfully, the water snake failed to reach them because Tteokbokki flew higher to avoid the serpent¡¯s attack.

    ¡°She really hates me,¡± William said in an amused voice. Then he jumped abruptly. ¡°I¡¯ll deal with Nathaira.¡±

    As expected, it was the snake that had been guarding her Mama Boss all this time.

    And William just dropkicked poor Nathaira on the head. The giant water snake let out an angry hiss, but the cruel Grand Spirit continued attacking Nathaira until she fell back to the water.

    [I¡¯ll check on youter, bestie.]

    For now, she focused on the surface of the water.

    She could feel Delwyn¡¯s Mana under them, so she was pretty sure they were directly above the block of ice where her Mama Boss was trapped.

    Her heartbeat loud and fast against her chest in anticipation.

    [Papa Boss, Nero, I¡¯m going to save Mama Boss for our family.¡±

    ¡°Tteokbokki, prepare yourself,¡± Neoma said, then she grabbed one of Tteokbokki¡¯s horn with both of her hands. ¡°I¡¯m going to pour more than half of my Mana and Moonglow to you- so set the ocean on fire.¡±

    Tteokbokki roared, and that roar came with red fire that was hotter and more powerful than she expected from her Soul Beast.

    [Go, my little rockstar dongsaeng!]

    ***

    HOW MANY hours had it been?

    Neoma was guessing it had been at least fourteen hours since Tteokbokki and she began setting the ck Ocean on fire.

    To be honest, she couldn¡¯t tell if the block of ice under it was melting.

    But William assured her they were doing fine.

    The problem was her body.

    For the past few years, her Master focused on improving her stamina. She also never got sick again, nor did she pass out from exhaustion. Like she promised herself three years ago, she really became one of the healthiest people on the continent.

    Her clean record was broken this day, though.

    [Did I pass out?]

    She barely remembered closing her eyes for a while. Then her limp body just fell on Tteokbokki¡¯s body. But her Soul Beast seemed to have fainted as well.

    [Ah, we¡¯re free-falling...]

    She prepared herself to hit the ocean surface and get contaminated by the Impure Mana. Or maybe William would save her?

    None of those two options happened, though.

    Instead of the Impure Mana or William¡¯s strong body, she fell into something soft and warm. She also got a whiff of flowers. The sweet scent was pretty strong, too. For some reason, she felt rejuvenated at the moment.

    ¡°Neoma, my baby.¡±

    Huh?

    That voice was the sweetest and the most gentle voice she had heard in her life.

    She immediately opened her eyes, and she was attacked by a shocking visual that made her feel embarrassed about calling herself pretty all this time.

    Coral pink hair...

    Light-blue eyes...

    That beautiful, kind face...

    ¡°Mama Boss?¡± Neoma asked weakly. [Did I really wake up in my mother¡¯s arms, or am I dreaming?]

    If it was a dream, then it was too cruel.

    But her mind was a little confused since she felt exhausted, so she couldn¡¯t determine if this was reality or not...

    ¡°You¡¯re not dreaming, my precious baby,¡± her Mama Boss said in a cracked voice as if she could read her mind. Then, much to her pleasant surprise, her mother kissed her on the forehead. ¡°Thank you for saving me, my pretty Neoma.¡±

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 440

    Chapter 440: HELLO, MY BABY!

    NERO knitted his eyebrows after he heard what kind of match Dahlia wanted to do after she challenged him to a fight. He, who was standing on the porch of the vi he was using, turned to the ck Witch standing beside him. ¡°Come again?¡±

    ¡°Geez, Prince Nero,¡± Dahlia, who was still wrapped in a nket,ined. ¡°Weren¡¯t you listening to me earlier?¡±

    Hah.

    Look at this little crybaby.

    [Every time she¡¯s pissed, she bes outspoken.]

    That was... interesting.

    ¡°I said let¡¯spete by making an ice sculpture of Princess Neoma,¡± the ck Witch said. ¡°Whoever makes the prettier ice sculpture of the princess wins. Let¡¯s make the Fletcher Twins and the gracious king of Hazelden decide the winner.¡±

    .....

    Yes, that was the ¡°match¡± that Dahlia suggested earlier.

    Thus, he was taken aback.

    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± he asked, still confused. ¡°When you challenged me to a fight, I thought you wanted us to engage in a one-on-onebat.¡±

    ¡°Why would I beat up a person who just woke up from a long slumber?¡±

    He raised an eyebrow, offended at what she was implying. ¡°Excuse me? You¡¯re speaking as if you¡¯re confident that you¡¯d defeat me in a physical fight.¡±

    Her face turned red as if she was embarrassed, then she gently tapped her mouth. ¡°I apologize, Prince Nero. I¡¯ve misspoken.¡±

    [I don¡¯t think you¡¯ve misspoken, though.]

    Although Dahlia was awkward and clumsy most of the time, he could tell that she meant it when she implied that she could beat him up.

    ¡°I won¡¯t pick a physical fight with a person who went to away from home to recuperate,¡± Dahlia said, avoiding his gaze. ¡°So, let¡¯s justpete by using our Mana. It won¡¯t take a toll on your body, will it?¡±

    ¡°It won¡¯t, but I¡¯m not inclined to waste my energy on something like that.¡±

    ¡°I guess Your Royal Highness isn¡¯t confident that you can make a pretty sculpture of Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me?¡±

    ¡°I can do it,¡± she dered confidently.

    Then she took her arm out from under the nket. When she opened her hand, a wand that looked like a twig with pink flowers attached to it materialized.

    [Ah, yes. ck Witches use wands as well, just like the other witches.]

    ¡°I¡¯ve only met Princess Neoma once in person, but I can still remember her face clearly,¡± Dahlia said while waving her wand as if she was leading an orchestra. ¡°After all, Princess Neoma¡¯s face is not something you can easily forget.¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± he agreed wholeheartedly. ¡°My sister is the prettiest girl in the entire world.¡±

    The ck Witch justughed softly.

    [Oh, she canugh like that when she¡¯s not crying and trembling, huh?]

    His thoughts were distracted when he caught the ice sculpture that Dahlia was making in his peripheral vision. The head and the torso were already done.

    Ah, it was indeed Neoma¡¯s face.

    But his eyes twitched because Dahlia¡¯s ice sculpture that was modeled after his precious sister did not satisfy him.

    ¡°Your ice sculpture doesn¡¯t justify Neoma¡¯s beauty,¡± heined, then he raised his hand and gathered his ice Mana at his fingertips. ¡°My sister is a lot more beautiful than that. And if you¡¯re going to make an ice sculpture of the empire¡¯s royal princess, you must also capture her charisma.¡± He closed his fingers tight. ¡°Just like this.¡±

    And then Neoma¡¯s clear image in his mind came to life in the form of his ice.

    He wasn¡¯t satisfied with his creation, though.

    ¡°This is not it,¡± he said, frowning. When he opened his hand, the ice sculpture in front of him crumbled. ¡°Neoma is wless, so I have to make her ice sculpture as perfect as possible.¡±

    The ck Witchughed softly. ¡°Prince Nero, you really adore Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°I do,¡± Nero said, then he closed his hand again while trying to make a prettier ice sculpture of Neoma. ¡°So you don¡¯t have to worry about me getting obsessed with you in this lifetime.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not worried about that, Prince Nero,¡± Dahlia said in a soft voice. ¡°And Your Royal Highness must remember that strong denial is an affirmation.¡± She turned to him with an awkward look on his face. ¡°To me, it sounds like Your Royal Highness is convincing yourself that you won¡¯t get obsessed with me.¡±

    Nero wondered why he couldn¡¯t deny Dahlia¡¯s false assumption.

    ***

    [I¡¯M FINALLY FREE.]

    That was the first thought that crossed Mona¡¯s mind when her consciousness returned.

    It happened after her soul found its way back to her physical body. This time, she could move her body freely, as if she hadn¡¯t been trapped in a massive block of eyes for thirteen years.

    [Time really stopped for me while I was trapped.]

    She slowly opened her eyes when she felt a whip made of water snake itself around her waist, then it lifted her. As expected, it was Nathaira. The head of the giant serpent greeted her as soon as she opened her eyes.

    ¡°Thank you, Nathaira,¡± Mona said softly, then she gently patted Nathaira¡¯s head. ¡°Thank you for keeping me safe all this time.¡±

    She smiled and nodded, then she turned to look around.

    [The ck Ocean is on fire.]

    And the red me that set the ocean on fire was intense.

    [No wonder Delwyn¡¯s ice melted.]

    ¡°Mona, you¡¯re awake.¡±

    She turned in the direction of where the voice came from, and her eyes fell on William who was floating in front of her with a relieved look on his face.

    As a response, she just gave the Grand Spirit a cold look.

    But she got distracted when she felt the fluctuating Mana of a strong individual.

    When she looked up, she gasped softly when she saw her baby Neoma free-falling from the sky along with her Red Dragon. It seemed like the two had fainted.

    [Considering the intensity of the red me, it was a miracle they didn¡¯t faint sooner.]

    ¡°William, keep the dragon safe,¡± she said while shooting up the sky with her flight magic. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of my baby.¡±

    She didn¡¯t wait for the Grand Spirit to respond.

    When she went past the falling Red Dragon, she noticed that it was shrinking.

    [Poor dragon. He must have spent a lot of Mana in order to melt the ice. You did well, my baby¡¯s Soul Beast.]

    Of course, her precious Neoma did well, too.

    She didn¡¯t let her daughter hit the water, of course.

    Thankfully, she was able to catch Neoma in her arms. Her heart broke when she realized how exhausted her baby was. Her supposedly overflowing Moonglow also depleted.

    ¡°Neoma,¡± she whispered softly. ¡°My baby...¡±

    She thought her daughter had already fainted.

    So she was pleasantly surprised when she slowly opened her eyes.

    ¡°Mama Boss?¡±

    Hmm?

    [¡®Mama Boss?¡¯]

    Was that supposed to be her?

    [Ah, right. Nero mentioned to me before that Neoma calls Niki ¡®Papa Boss.¡¯]

    Aww... that was so adorable of her baby.

    But Neoma, at the moment, looked confused. It was as if she couldn¡¯t decide whether she was having a dream or not.

    ¡°You¡¯re not dreaming, my precious baby,¡± she said, her voice cracked. She suddenly became emotional when the reality finally hit her- she was really now holding her precious baby in her arms. She couldn¡¯t help but kiss Neoma on the forehead. ¡°Thank you for saving me, my pretty Neoma.¡±

    Neomaughed softly, as if she was relieved to know she was dreaming. ¡°I know, right? I¡¯m still pretty even if I look haggard,¡± she said, then she closed her eyes again. ¡°I inherited your pretty genes, Mama Boss...¡±

    And just like that, her daughter fell asleep.

    She didn¡¯t know how to react.

    Of course, she was happy that her baby was confident about her looks. It was just that...

    [My daughter sounds a little... uhm, narcissistic?]

    Well, perhaps her daughter was just saying it to cheer herself up after a long day.

    After convincing herself that Neoma couldn¡¯t be as vain or as conceited as she feared, she slowly and carefully descended while carrying her daughter in her arms.

    .....

    She then let out a sigh uponnding.

    When her feet touched on the sand, she found the two men she didn¡¯t want to see yet kneeling in front of her with their heads hanging low.

    ¡°We¡¯re d to have you back, Mona,¡± William and Delwyn said at the same time.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m not that thrilled to see you two,¡± she said bluntly. ¡°But since you helped my baby rescue me, I¡¯ll give you the chance to exin.¡± She turned her cold eyes on the Ice Spirit. ¡°Especially you, Delwyn.¡±

    Delwyn bowed so deeply that his forehead almost touched the sand. ¡°My utmost gratitude for your generosity, Mona.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like you to show me that amount of respect, since you were always rebelling against me in the past.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re angry,¡± Delwyn said bluntly. ¡°No Spirits could face you head-on when you¡¯re that angry.¡±

    She nodded in agreement. ¡°You should be d that my baby is in my arms. If Neoma wasn¡¯t here...¡±

    ¡°I know,¡± Delwyn said. ¡°I¡¯d be dead now.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m d you know that. You must thank my babyter for saving your life,¡± she said, then she turned to William. ¡°Where is Nero? Is he still in a slumber?¡±

    ¡°Nero has already woken up,¡± William said. ¡°He¡¯s currently recuperating at Hazelden Kingdom.¡±

    She was relieved to hear that Nero wasn¡¯t at the Moonasterion Empire.

    [I¡¯m sorry, but I¡¯m not yet ready to meet you, Niki.]

    ¡°We will go to Hazelden first to meet my baby Nero,¡± she said while hugging Neoma closer to her. ¡°William, I want you to fetch my baby Neoma¡¯s physical body wherever it is at the moment. Then bring it to Hazelden. I want to be reunited with my children properly.¡±

    ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio¡¯s physical body is currently being guarded by Niki de Moonasterio,¡± William said. ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯d be easy to do what you asked me, Mona.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s your problem,¡± she said. She was being cold, but she had the right to do so. ¡°Delwyn, get up and bring me to Hazelden. It¡¯s the kingdom of snow, so I¡¯m certain you¡¯ve already been acquainted with the Spirit that rules the kingdom. Ask them to open up a portal for me- the Daughter of Nature.¡±

    Delwyn raised his head and politely nodded. ¡°As you wish, Mona.¡±

    ¡°Very well,¡± Mona said, then she turned to Neoma who was still asleep in her arms. ¡°I¡¯ll make a quick trip to the Spirit World first.¡±

    ***

    NIKOLAI was shocked and devastated after he heard what William hade to say upon his return.

    He didn¡¯t like how William scooped up Neoma¡¯s sleeping physical body, but he was too shocked to react.

    Lewis, on the other hand, was shooting daggers at the Grand Spirit with his sharp eyes.

    ¡°Bring me, too,¡± Lewis said stubbornly while ring at William. ¡°I won¡¯t let you take Princess Neoma without me.¡±

    William rolled his eyes. ¡°Fine,¡± he said. ¡°You¡¯re lucky I¡¯m in a good mood, fox.¡±

    ¡°My name is Lewis.¡±

    ¡°Do I look like I care?¡±

    ¡°Mona is headed to Hazelden with Neoma to meet Nero?¡± Niki asked, interrupting Lewis and William¡¯s banter. ¡°She wants you to bring Neoma¡¯s physical body to Hazelden?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s correct,¡± William said bluntly. ¡°It¡¯s Mona¡¯s order, so you won¡¯t stop me from fulfilling my duty, will you?¡±

    Yes, he couldn¡¯t do that.

    As the emperor, he shouldn¡¯t let William take the Crown Princess to a foreign kingdom. But as a father, he knew Neoma deserved to be with her mother in her physical form.

    And Mona deserved to meet their children after being trapped in the ice for thirteen years.

    [It¡¯s just that...]

    But what about him?

    Niki clenched his hands tight. [Do you not want to see me, Mona?]

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 441

    Chapter 441: A MOTHER¡¯S DREAM COME TRUE

    ¡°I FINALLY feel refreshed,¡± Mona said cheerfully after stepping out of the bath. ¡°Thank you for letting me use your bathroom, Tara.¡±

    Yes, she went to the Spirit World for a quick shower.

    She wanted to spend time in the tub of warm water and fragrant rose petals that Tara prepared for her, but she didn¡¯t want to keep her children waiting for her for too long.

    To be honest, she didn¡¯t really need to take a bath.

    Although she had been trapped in the ice for thirteen years, time had stopped for her, so her physical body didn¡¯t change. But now that time had moved for her again, her real age caught up to her already. She looked more mature than she did earlier.

    ¡°I¡¯m d to be of use to you, Mona,¡± Tara, the Queen of the Spirit World, said. Then she pointed to the different yet pretty dresses floating around the room. ¡°I brought all the dresses that I think would suit you. You may choose anything you want from this collection. I¡¯ll do your hair and makeupter.¡±

    She smiled fondly at the queen. ¡°Just like the old times, huh?¡±

    .....

    The queen smiled back at her and nodded. ¡°We¡¯re still friends, Mona.¡±

    It didn¡¯t take her long to decide what to her. She chose the in peach V-neck long-sleeve maxi dress, and paired it with nude high-heeled shoes. After that, she let the queen do her hair and makeup.

    ¡°I heard my children have been under your care,¡± she said while Tara was styling her hair into a half-up crown braid. ¡°Thank you, Tara.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to thank me, Mona,¡± Tara said. This time, she was putting little flowers in her hair. ¡°I care about your children a lot.¡±

    ¡°Tara, do you find my children valuable to the Spirit World?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t deny that, Mona.¡±

    As expected, Tara really did find her children useful.

    Although the two of them were friends, she still acknowledged the fact that Tara was a queen. Thus, there were times Tara had to act as the Queen of the Spirit World and not her friend. She understood that.

    However...

    ¡°Tara, I will lend the Spirit World my strength if the timees that you¡¯d need help,¡± she said seriously. ¡°Just don¡¯t touch my children.¡±

    It was a warning.

    She knew it was rude of her to threaten the person that took care of her children for years. But Tara was her friend, so she knew the lengths the queen could go to protect the Spirit World.

    So Tara also needed to understand that she¡¯d do the same to protect her precious babies.

    ¡°I won¡¯t do something that will earn your wrath, Mona,¡± Tara promised her. ¡°After all, the Spirit World wouldn¡¯t want to make an enemy out of the Daughter of Nature.¡±

    Mona smiled at the queen. ¡°Let¡¯s preserve our friendship for a long time, Tara.¡±

    Of course, she didn¡¯t leave the Spirit World without giving anything back for the help that she received from the queen.

    Mona blessed Tara¡¯s favorite garden until the flowers bloomed like never before.

    ***

    ¡°MY VOTE goes to Dahlia¡¯s ice sculpture of Princess Neoma,¡± Wyatt Fletcher said. ¡°I just find it more fun to look at. It¡¯s full of life.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true, but I can¡¯t take my eyes away from Prince Nero¡¯s ice sculpture,¡± Warren said. ¡°It¡¯s so beautiful that I thought Princess Neoma has been turned into ice.¡±

    The Fletcher Twins turned to Glenn and spoke at the same time. ¡°Sire, you¡¯d be the tie-breaker.¡±

    ¡°I told you that you can speak casually to me when we don¡¯t have an audience,¡± Glenn said to the twins. Then he turned to the two ice sculptures in front of him. ¡°This is going to be a hard decision for me, since both ice sculptures have their own charm.¡±

    Nero sipped his tea while listening to the king and the twins¡¯ discussion.

    After he and Dahlia were done with their ice sculptures, he summoned the Fletcher Twins and asked Glenn toe to his residence if he had time. Of course, the king dropped everything to answer his call.

    Then the Fletcher Twins set up a tea table on the porch. The two also made tea for him while Dahlia asked for another mug of hot chocte.

    [She has the tastebud of a kid.]

    He hated how he found it adorable.

    [Anyway...]

    He didn¡¯t want to admit this, but although he was confident he made the prettier ice sculpture of Neoma, he still couldn¡¯t get his eyes off of Dahlia¡¯s ice sculpture.

    [Her sculpture of Neoma is so lively.]

    The ice sculpture that he made was of Neoma smiling elegantly. It captured his twin sister¡¯s beauty and grace. But admittedly, it was just that.

    On the other hand, Dahlia¡¯s ice sculpture of Neoma was full of life and innocence. The smile that the ck Witch put on her version of Neoma¡¯s ice sculpture reminded him of the time he and his twin sister spent at the pce leisurely.

    ¡°I¡¯ve made my decision,¡± Glenn said, then he pointed both of his hands at Dahlia¡¯s ice sculpture. ¡°I choose Miss Dahlia¡¯s ice sculpture because it reminds me of Princess Neoma¡¯s innocent days, where she doesn¡¯t curse yet.¡±

    Ah, so Glenn had the same feeling that he did.

    Since Dahlia¡¯s ice sculpture perfectly captured Neoma¡¯s innocence, he didn¡¯t feel that bitter after losing.

    [I wonder if I could keep both ice sculptures for life...]

    ¡°Thank you, gentlemen. You saved my life,¡± Dahlia said, relieved. ¡°Had I lost, I would have been forced to disappear from Prince Nero¡¯s sight without fulfilling my duty.¡±

    Glenn and the Fletcher Twins turned to him with questioning eyes.

    ¡°We made a bet,¡± Nero exined briefly. Then he stood up and bowed to Dahlia, earning a collective gasp from the ck Witch, the Fletcher Twins, and the Hazelden King. ¡°Miss Dahlia, I apologize for being rude to you all this time. I swear on my name that I won¡¯t be a jerk to you anymore.¡±

    What Dahlia said earlier hit him.

    [¡°And Your Royal Highness must remember that strong denial is an affirmation. To me, it sounds like Your Royal Highness is convincing yourself that you won¡¯t get obsessed with me.¡±]

    The ck Witch was right.

    His strong denial only made him look like he was trying hard to convince himself not to make the same mistake of getting obsessed with Dahlia. However, if he treated her like how he treated his allies, then wouldn¡¯t everything be settled?

    He could keep a decent distance between himself and Dahlia without being mean to her.

    [But why is she being quiet?]

    ¡°P-Please raise your head, Prince Nero.¡±

    It was Dahlia, and her voice sounded weak.

    When he raised his head out of curiosity, he froze at the sight that greeted him.

    Dahlia¡¯s blushing face was so adorable he didn¡¯t know what to do.

    [No, I shouldn¡¯t be feeling this way...]

    Dahlia stood up, then she bowed deeply to him. ¡°Thank you for honoring your promise, Prince Nero,¡± she said, her voice trembling. ¡°And thank you for apologizing. Let¡¯s get along well from now on.¡±

    He wasn¡¯t so sure about that.

    Thankfully, a sudden shift in the air distracted her from his unwanted thoughts.

    And in just the blink of an eye, he was already surrounded by Glenn and the Fletcher Twins.

    [Ah, so overprotective...]

    ¡°It¡¯s been a while, Nero.¡±

    It was William who just came out of thin air, and he wasn¡¯t alone.

    He wasn¡¯t thrilled to see Lewis and the Grand Spirit.

    But his eyes sparkled when he saw Neoma sleeping in William¡¯s arms. As far as he knew, his twin sister rescued their mother, who was trapped in the ck Ocean. Thus, she was supposed to be in her Spirit form.

    That wasn¡¯t the case, though.

    Neoma was in her physical body. Moreover, although his twin sister was wearing her usual attire when acting as the Crown Prince, her hair was long this time.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Nero asked as he approached William to check on his precious twin sister. ¡°Is Neoma alright?¡±

    William frowned at his question. ¡°You should be asking first if we were able to save your mother. Don¡¯t you care about Mona at all?¡±

    ¡°I do, but Neoma is my top priority,¡± he said bluntly, then he gently caressed Neoma¡¯s face. ¡°Although it would be nice if our mother could reunite with our family, I wouldn¡¯t want it to happen at Neoma¡¯s expense.¡± He turned to the Grand Spirit coldly. ¡°You should know how I feel since you didn¡¯t hesitate to harm innocent people in the past just because you thought you were protecting my mother.¡±

    The Grand Spirit couldn¡¯t refute his words, so he just red at him.

    Moreover, it became colder because of him.

    Everyone looked awkward now, except for Lewis, who maintained his poker face.

    ¡°Princess Neoma seeded in saving Lady Roseheart,¡± Lewis announced in an indifferent voice, breaking the awkward silence. ¡°Princess Neoma is just sleeping because her energy was depleted.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for the report, Sir Crevan,¡± he said, addressing Lewis formally because he wanted to create a wall between them.

    He hated the fact that Lewis¡¯ face was totally Neoma¡¯s type.

    The now sixteen-year-old fox looked handsome even to him. His twin sister was weak to good-looking people, and she was at the age where she could choose her future spouse. Thus, this was a sensitive time for him.

    He promised Neoma before that he would treat Lewis kindly.

    .....

    But that was when they were kids.

    [I must orchestrate a n to separate Lewis from Neoma without my sister hating me.]

    ¡°I won¡¯t leave,¡± Lewis said, as if he could read his mind. ¡°Your Royal Highness can try, but I won¡¯t budge.¡±

    Heh.

    Lewis was a worthy rival, indeed.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get inside first,¡± Nero said, then he opened his arms. ¡°Give my Neoma to me.¡±

    He had regained enough strength to carry Neoma without his legs giving up on him.

    [I hate to see her in the arms of an old man like William.]

    ***

    WHEN MONA followed William¡¯s traces, she found herself in a cozy room where she immediately found her babies.

    Neoma and Nero were sleeping together on the bed, holding each other¡¯s hand.

    [Aww... they look so adorable!]

    She was about to break down in tears, but she was distracted when the Fletcher Twins appeared. A boy with golden eyes also appeared with the twins.

    Ah, they must have been startled by her presence.

    [Well, I¡¯m d that my children¡¯s guards are alert.]

    She smiled at the twins and the unfamiliar boy that had the scent of a Silver Fox.

    Wyatt and Warren Fletcher bowed their heads respectfully, then they left the room silently.

    [It¡¯s good to know that they still trust me even though I left Niki in the past.]

    The fox boy¡¯s eyes lingered on Neoma first before he turned to her and bowed.

    [Oh? What¡¯s with the look that he gave my daughter just now? Hmm?]

    When the twins and the fox boy were gone, she slowly and carefully approached her children.

    Then she sat on the bed, careful not to make too much noise and movement, while watching her children sleep peacefully.

    Before she knew it, her tears were already rolling down her cheeks.

    She even had to cover her mouth with her hands to muffle her cry. But her heart still swelled with happiness. Was she really allowed to be this happy?

    [Finally... I¡¯m finally with my children.]

    ¡°Mama Boss?¡±

    ¡°Mother?¡±

    And Mona cried harder when Neoma and Nero woke up and called her at the same time.

    The twins had their father¡¯s eyes, so she was reminded of Niki. She missed him, too. But this time, she wanted to be with her babies first.

    She couldn¡¯t control herself anymore and hugged her children tight.

    Of course, she was careful not to crush them.

    ¡°Don¡¯t cry, Mother,¡± Nero said while gently patting her back. ¡°Neoma will get worried if you cry.¡±

    ¡°Mama Boss, that¡¯s Nero¡¯s way of saying he¡¯s worried,¡± Neoma exined, then she hugged her back. ¡°Wee home, Mother.¡±

    Mona only cried harder while hugging her babies tighter. ¡°I am home, Neoma and Nero.¡±

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 442

    Chapter 442: SNITCHES GET STITCHES

    NEOMA, who was lying on her stomach next to her mother, couldn¡¯t help but stare at her Mama Boss¡¯s face.

    Of course, her mother was still a beauty.

    But something was different from what she remembered when she saw her mother earlier.

    Her Mama Boss smiled at her. ¡°Baby, do I look older than what you remember when you first saw me?¡±

    As expected of her mother, she was sharp.

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say older,¡± Neoma said, happy that she was able to talk to her mother now. ¡°I¡¯d say you look more mature now than earlier, Mama Boss. When I saw you before, I almost called you unnie- I mean, big sister because you look just a few years older than me. But now, I see that you and Papa Boss are the same age.¡±

    But to be honest, her mother could still be mistaken as her older sister.

    .....

    [Gosh, Mama Boss looks youthful just like Papa Boss.]

    ¡°Time has stopped for me when I was trapped in the ice,¡± her mother exined. ¡°But now that I¡¯m free, my age has caught up with time.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that you¡¯d be able to move like you haven¡¯t been asleep for thirteen years, Mama Boss,¡± she said. ¡°When Nero woke up, he lost his motor skills. He had to absorb some of my Moonglow and Roseheart Blood. Then William helped him with his physical therapy.¡±

    ¡°I believe it¡¯s because time has stopped for me, so my body didn¡¯t lose its strength,¡± her mother exined. ¡°Moreover, my body is used to being an empty shell since I often separate my soul from my physical body. It¡¯s probably why my strength didn¡¯t change, even though my age caught up to me after time works for me again.¡±

    ¡°Mama Boss, you¡¯re amazing.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, baby.¡±

    ¡°Compared to you, Nero is such a weakling,¡± she teased Nero, who was lying down next to her. Yes, she was between her mother and her baby brother because Nero refused to lie on their Mama Boss¡¯s other side. ¡°He couldn¡¯t even talk when he woke up.¡±

    Of course, she was just teasing Nero, who was recovering well.

    She wouldn¡¯t joke about it if her baby brother was still in a grave condition.

    ¡°Ah, your brother¡¯s case is different because he was cursed,¡± her mother said gently. ¡°The fact that he was able to recover this much a few days after he woke up is already a miracle.¡± Her mother turned to Nero. ¡°You¡¯re doing well, baby.¡±

    Nero remained indifferent. ¡°Thank you, Mother.¡±

    [Tsk. Is Nero not excited to be with our Mama Boss?]

    ¡°Mother, I don¡¯t mind if you call Neoma ¡®baby¡¯ because she¡¯s a baby,¡± Nero said, then he got up to look at their mother properly. ¡°But can you please not call me ¡®baby?¡¯ I¡¯m already thirteen years old.¡±

    Huh?

    What kind of logic was that?

    ¡°Nero, we¡¯re twins,¡± she reminded him bluntly. ¡°And I¡¯m older than you. If I¡¯m a baby, then you¡¯re a baby, too.¡±

    ¡°No, we¡¯re different,¡± Nero argued. ¡°I have a fianc¨¦e, so that makes me more of a young adult than you.¡±

    She was too stunned by her baby brother¡¯s logic.

    ¡°I-I see...¡±

    It was their mother who spoke, but why was Mama Boss¡¯s voice shaking?

    ¡°Nero already has a fianc¨¦e,¡± Mama Boss said. She was smiling, but there were tears in her eyes. ¡°My baby boy already has a fianc¨¦e, huh? I know thirteen years is a lot of years to miss out on my children¡¯s lives, but I didn¡¯t expect the gap to be this huge...¡±

    She felt a pang in her chest.

    Even Nero¡¯s indifferent face cracked, and his eyes showed concern for their mother.

    [Poor Mama Boss...]

    For real, though. Thirteen years was truly a lot. Now she wanted to cry with Mama Boss.

    ¡°Mother, you may have missed out a lot, but I promise you that you won¡¯t be missing out on anything from now on,¡± Nero said in a gentle andforting voice. Even his face softened up. ¡°I may not tell you everything that¡¯s going on in my life. But I promise that you will always be a part of the big decisions I¡¯ll make starting this moment.¡±

    ¡°Me, too, Mama Boss,¡± she said eagerly. ¡°From now on, we will be best friends.¡±

    Her mother looked touched by their words. ¡°My babies grew up well. I can¡¯t believe Niki raised you well on his own.¡±

    Nero let out a sarcasticugh.

    She gently nudged her brother, but her action only made their mother suspicious. Still...

    [Nero, you won¡¯t throw our Papa Boss under the bus, right?]

    ¡°Father abandoned us in Luna Pce for years.¡±

    She closed her eyes when her twin brother began to snitch on their father.

    It wasn¡¯t like Nero was wrong to do so. Their Mama Boss already had the right to know how their father treated them in the beginning. But she felt bad because it felt like they were betraying Papa Boss...

    ¡°Father only remembered that he has children when Neoma awakened as a de Moonasterio.¡±

    She slowly opened her eyes to check on their mother¡¯s reaction.

    Their Mama Boss was listening intently, and she could see different emotions ying on her face. There was sadness, pain, guilt, regret, and anger (anger was definitely directed at Papa Boss). But their mother was doing a good job staying calm.

    ¡°I was treated better by Father and the servants because I was a male heir,¡± Nero continued indifferently. ¡°Neoma was treated harshly, though. The servants wouldn¡¯t even let her eat meat using theme excuse that they didn¡¯t want her to get fat. But the truth was they were eating Neoma¡¯s portion by themselves. They also stole from our personal funds. Thus, Luna Pce turned into a trashy residence.¡±

    This time, anger became clear on their mother¡¯s face.

    Neoma gulped hard.

    [Papa Boss, you¡¯re dead meat.]

    ¡°When I got cursed, Father forced Neoma to take my ce while I was being treated,¡± Nero continued unapologetically. ¡°There was a time when my condition got worse. Back then, Father tried to sacrifice Neoma¡¯s life to extend mine.¡±

    Their mother¡¯s anger took the form of a literally earth-shattering force.

    Amazingly, the stuff that fell from their ces didn¡¯t hit the floor. They just floated and got suspended in the air while being surrounded by some pinkish lights.

    [Mama Boss¡¯s Mana is both pretty and terrifying...]

    Papa Boss better sleep with one eye open from now on.

    ¡°Mama Boss, please calm down,¡± Neoma said because she was starting to feel seriously bad about Papa Boss. ¡°Nero didn¡¯t lie. But our rtionship with Papa Boss got better over the years. He genuinely loves us now. He even told me to prioritize my safety over saving you.¡±

    Wow.

    She couldn¡¯t believe the day when she would defend her Papa Boss woulde.

    [If I turn back time and tell the five-year-old me that I¡¯ll be defending Papa Boss from my mother, my younger self would curse the hell out of the present me.]

    ¡°It¡¯s true that Father has been good to us recently, but he messed up again.¡±

    Neoma turned to Nero and red at him. [Dongsaeng1, do you want Mama Boss to kill our Papa Boss?]

    Nero ignored her and continued talking to their Mama Boss. ¡°Mother, a child who looks like Father¡¯s younger self, has appeared. He¡¯s called Calyx Dalton, and he¡¯s older than us.¡±

    Neoma could only pinch the bridge of her nose.

    [I know that we should tell this stuff to Mama Boss, but shouldn¡¯t we celebrate first before engaging in a serious talk?]

    She wanted to have a barbecue party with their mother first!

    ¡°That boy has ivory hair and green eyes, but he looks like me and Neoma when she¡¯s in disguise,¡± Nero continued sabotaging their Papa Boss. ¡°He could easily be mistaken as Father¡¯s child despite his different hair and eye colors.¡±

    ¡°Is that boy sent by the crows?¡± Mama Boss asked calmly, but her light-blue eyes were glowing. ¡°He must be. The de Lucas also resemble the de Moonasterios in some way.¡±

    ¡°There are pieces of firm evidence that link the boy to the crows,¡± Nero answered straightforwardly. ¡°Father told me that the crows may have used high-level magic to change the boy¡¯s appearance. But I don¡¯t buy it.¡±

    Neoma didn¡¯t buy it either.

    But she didn¡¯t like the other conclusions that she came up with, so she pretended to believe that Calyx Dalton was just using high-level magic to alter his appearance.

    ¡°I believe Calyx Dalton is the son of either Father or the former Princess Royal.¡±

    Neoma hated to admit this, but she also came up with the same conclusions.

    [Aunt Nichole has suffered so much when she was kidnapped by the crows in the past...]

    Mama Boss let out a deep sigh, as if she was trying to calm down. ¡°I can see why you think Nichole might be the child¡¯s mother. But why do you think Niki could be the father? Your father might have a horrible personality, but I¡¯m sure he never held another woman in his life.¡±

    ¡°But at some point, Father was married to another woman,¡± Nero said bluntly. ¡°How can we be sure that nothing was conceived during their marriage? If Mother could erase the memories of the strongest man in the empire, how can we be certain that thete empress couldn¡¯t do the same thing? I heard that the former empress held an impressive power, too.¡±

    Neoma knew that it wasn¡¯t something that children should discuss with their mother, but she didn¡¯t stop Nero.

    Because right now, Nero was speaking as the Crown Prince whose position was threatened by the appearance of another possible prince. Whether Calyx Dalton was the son of Aunt Nichole or their Papa Boss, it wouldn¡¯t change the fact that he¡¯d be dered as a prince once proven that he was a de Moonasterio.

    [Calyx Dalton must be using an enchantment type of magic to hide his de Moonasterio traits- from his appearance up to his divine power.]

    ¡°I understand why you¡¯d suspect Juliet,¡± their Mama Boss said carefully. ¡°But I assure you, Nero and Neoma. Juliet wouldn¡¯t do that to me and your father.¡±

    Nero let out a sigh. ¡°It¡¯s not about whether or not thete empress is trustworthy, Mother.¡±

    ¡°Mama Boss, thete empress¡¯s body was stolen from her resting ce,¡± Neoma added solemnly. ¡°Even Papa Boss doesn¡¯t know when the body disappeared.¡±

    .....

    ***

    MONA DIDN¡¯T want her children to see her facial expressions, so she had to excuse herself.

    She went to the rooftop of the vi to breathe some fresh and cold air.

    Gale, her Wind Spirit that somehow ended up with Neoma, followed her.

    ¡°Gale, it¡¯s been a while.¡±

    The Wind Spirit, still in her bunny form, bowed her head. ¡°Wee back, Mona.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± Mona said, then her eyes glowed. ¡°Gale, tell me everything that has been going on while I¡¯m away.¡±

    ***

    ¡°I APOLOGIZE for asking you toe all the way here, Miss Dahlia.¡±

    Dahlia gasped, shocked when Queen Brigitte- the amazing, beautiful, and elegant queen regnant of Hazelden Kingdom- apologized to her. She immediately shook her head and waved her hands politely. ¡°P-Please don¡¯t apologize to me, Your Majesty,¡± she said meekly. ¡°I totally understand why I¡¯m not allowed in the same residence as Prince Nero and Princess Neoma.¡±

    Both she and the queen knew the royal secret, so it was alright to speak Princess Neoma¡¯s name in front of Her Majesty.

    The Fletcher Twins apanied her to the queen¡¯s pce earlier.

    Then the twins let Queen Brigitte know that she was one of Prince Nero¡¯s allies, and that she also knew about the existence of Princess Neoma.

    ¡°Although it¡¯s a secret that Prince Nero is staying in my vi, it still wouldn¡¯t be right to let an unmarried youngdy like you stay in the same residence as His Royal Highness alone,¡± Queen Brigitte said. ¡°Moreover, there¡¯s also the thing about the security. I hope you understand.¡±

    She smiled and nodded. ¡°It¡¯s really alright, Your Majesty,¡± she assured the queen. ¡°I¡¯m already grateful that Your Majesty lent me a room in the royal pce. And it¡¯s a wonderful room, at that.¡±

    To be precise, she was a guest in the queen¡¯s pce.

    The room that Her Majesty lent her was so luxurious that she was afraid to touch anything in case she identally broke it.

    Expensive things made her nervous, after all.

    ¡°I¡¯m d that you liked the room we prepared for you,¡± Queen Brigitte said kindly. ¡°I¡¯ll send people to serve youter, Miss Dahlia.¡±

    She tried to refuse politely, but in the end, she couldn¡¯t say no to the queen¡¯s kindness.

    After she assured Her Majesty that she was alreadyfortable in her room, only then did the queen leave the room with her guards.

    And now, she was alone in the bedroom with Lapiz.

    That was when her smilepletely vanished.

    ¡°Lapiz, what should we do?¡± she asked her Familiar in a cracked voice, then she covered her face with her hands to stop herself from crying. ¡°Why does a person as kind as Queen Brigitte have that kind of destiny?¡±

    The Stars showed her something that broke her heart.

    Lapiz said in a concerned voice.

    ¡°Why are the gods so cruel?¡± Dahlia asked, nowpletely sobbing. ¡°Princess Neoma might never forgive Lord Yule this time.¡±

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 443

    Chapter 443: THE ROSEHEART MATRIARCH

    ¡°NERO, are you trying to get Papa Boss killed?¡± Neoma, who was sitting on the bed while leaning against the headboard, confronted her twin brother. ¡°And you didn¡¯t have to shock Mama Boss like that. We should have let Mama Boss rest first before we dropped the shocking news to her.¡±

    Their mother had to excuse herself to breathe some fresh air.

    Mochi, who had been quiet all this time, appeared and followed their mother outside.

    [I¡¯m sure Mama Boss is digesting the things we just told her.]

    It was too much, so her mother would probably get a ¡°stomachache.¡±

    ¡°Neoma, we don¡¯t have the luxury to spend our days idly,¡± Nero, who was beside her in the same position as her, said. ¡°Our mother has to know the thing about Calyx Dalton and the missing empress right away.¡±

    ¡°Nero-¡±

    .....

    ¡°Neoma, you¡¯ve suspected that Calyx Dalton might be the child of Father with thete empress,¡± her brother said, cutting her off. ¡°But why did you keep quiet all this time?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t have the time to think about it, to be honest,¡± she said. ¡°After the entrance exam, I had to go and save Mama Boss from the ice under the ck Ocean.¡±

    And perhaps she didn¡¯t want to think about it.

    [Although if Calyx Dalton turned out to be Papa Boss and thete empress¡¯s son, then Nero and I would get pushed further down the line of session. After all, the crow psycho is older than us.]

    The empirew says that the first son of the incumbent regent would be next in line.

    But that wasn¡¯t the only problem.

    [Let¡¯s not forget the fact that thete Empress Juliet was the woman chosen by the nobles to be the ¡°Mother of the Empire.¡± Most nobles in power hate my Mama Boss. Those people would definitely choose the son of thete empress over Nero as their Crown Prince.]

    ¡°Ah, yes,¡± he said, then he gently patted her head. ¡°You¡¯ve worked hard, Neoma.¡±

    She was distracted from her thoughts because of Nero¡¯spliment. ¡°Thank you, dongsaeng-ah.¡±

    ¡°What made you think that Calyx Dalton might be Father¡¯s son with thete empress?¡±

    ¡°In the world where I spent my second life, a woman may get pregnant even without sex.¡±

    Nero blushed at the mention of the word ¡®sex.¡¯

    [Dongsaeng, why are you blushing after you bluntly told our mother that our father might have gotten another woman pregnant, huh?]

    ¡°A woman just needs a sperm cell,¡± she exined. ¡°A sperm is a male reproductive cell.¡±

    ¡°You mean the Seed?¡±

    Her brain buffered for a moment before she remembered the sex education ss that she had taken in this lifetime and the first one.

    Right.

    In this world, the sperm was called the ¡®Seed¡¯ while the egg cell was called the ¡®Bean.¡¯

    [Cringey, I know. But it is what it is.]

    ¡°Yes, the Seed,¡± she said, using the terms of this world instead of the one she had gotten used to. ¡°It¡¯s a process called Intrauterine Insemination or IUI. The sperm, aka the Seed, are ced directly into a woman¡¯s uterus. Thus, even without intercourse, pregnancy is still possible.¡±

    ¡°Then Father¡¯s Seed might have been stolen without his knowledge?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s possible,¡± she said. ¡°But we¡¯re not sure whose egg cells, aka Bean, were used to conceive a child using Father¡¯s sperm.¡± She paused. ¡°The crows might have stolen thete empress¡¯s body in order to steal her egg cells. I don¡¯t know how it works, though, if they have stolen the egg cells from a dead body.¡±

    But since magic existed in this world, it wasn¡¯t impossible.

    There was a more usible exnation, though.

    ¡°Then maybe thete empress was revived,¡± Nero said, his ash-gray eyes glowing in the dark. ¡°The Devil isn¡¯t the only Necromancer in this world. How else would the crows get revived again and again if they didn¡¯t have one?¡±

    ¡°Nero.¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°Ruto says he¡¯ll bring Empress Juliet back, but he never said he¡¯d bring back a corpse,¡± she said. ¡°Based on what he said, I¡¯m hoping that Empress Juliet isn¡¯t with the crows.¡±

    ¡°Well, I hope the former empress wouldn¡¯t turn out as an enemy,¡± Nero said nonchntly, then he smirked- the evil kind of smirk. ¡°If our hunch is correct, then I¡¯d hate to kill the precious son of Empress Juliet for the throne.¡±

    She didn¡¯t miss her baby brother¡¯s sarcasm.

    [Nero is so gonna kill Calyx Dalton if that crow psycho turns out to be a de Moonasterio.]

    Neoma could only sigh. She thought the inheritance problem was already solved when Nero agreed to give her the throne once she needed it. But the appearance of another potential sessor was unexpected.

    [The battle for the throne would be bloody.]

    ***

    MONA let out a deep sigh after hearing Gale¡¯s full report.

    Right now, she was sitting on the rooftop of the vi where her children were staying. Gale, her Wind Spirit in the form of a white bunny, was sitting on herp.

    Gale told her everything she needed to know while she was trapped in the ice. That included the hardships that her babies, especially Neoma, had gone through. Of course, it broke her heart that Nero was cursed and had to spend more than half of his life in aatose state. But the things that her daughter had experienced was beyond belief.

    Neoma had opened a Hellgate.

    Neoma had be a tree.

    And they had already prophesied Neoma to be the next Aether.

    There were so many powerful and evil people after her poor daughter for selfish reasons.

    The crows.

    The Spirit World.

    The gods.

    ¡°Princess Neoma made a contract with Lord Yule, so her goal is to be the first empress of the empire. And recently, Lord Yule tasked your daughter to find the next saint,¡± Gale continued with her report. ¡°The Moon God has been asking a lot from Princess Neoma without giving her adequate support. But I¡¯m guessing that it¡¯s because Lord Yule¡¯s hands are tied. After all, he isn¡¯t the only major god in the Upper World.¡±

    She also knew that.

    But she didn¡¯t like how Lord Yule passed his responsibilities to a child.

    ¡°It¡¯s a good thing that the Sun Goddess is still on our side,¡± Gale continued. ¡°And do you remember Ruston Stroganoff? The child who tamed Veton at such a tender age.¡±

    Mona smiled warmly when she remembered the young boy that Gale mentioned. ¡°Of course, there¡¯s no way I¡¯ll forget such a special child. I also remember that I asked Ruto to look after Neoma.¡±

    Back then, she didn¡¯t know that she was carrying twins in her womb.

    ¡°That boy has been a great support to Princess Neoma,¡± Gale said enthusiastically. ¡°He¡¯s one of your potential future sons-inw.¡±

    Her smile froze. ¡°One of my future sons-inw?¡±

    The Wind Spirit stifled herughter. ¡°Dearest Mona, Princess Neoma has quite a few admirers. She has a harem, you know?¡±

    She gasped softly. ¡°A harem? As expected of my daughter- she¡¯s a heartbreaker in the making.¡±

    Galeughed while nodding her cute bunny head. ¡°That, she is.¡±

    She appreciated the fact that Gale brought up that topic in order to lighten her mood.

    And it worked.

    Now that she had calmed down, her head also cleared.

    ¡°I will announce to the world that I have returned,¡± she dered, then she stood up. ¡°I have to let them know that they can¡¯t easily touch my children from now on.¡±

    After saying that, she closed her eyes and gathered all her Mana and Roseheart Blood in her hand.

    By that time, she felt the power of Nature mixing with her own power.

    When she opened her eyes, she extended her hand as if she was reaching for the moon. A single-stemmed red rose materialized over her palm, then it slowly floated in the air. It went up higher and higher until the rose kissed the clouds.

    And then it exploded like fireworks- lighting up the dark sky.

    ¡°I have returned,¡± Mona said calmly. ¡°The Roseheart Matriarch is back.¡±

    ***

    [IT¡¯S SO beautiful.]

    Neoma was looking at the phenomenon in the sky that was very simr to the Aurora Borealis. She had seen the Northern Lights several times because Find was one of her eomma and appa¡¯s favorite vacation spots in her second life.

    The only difference between the ¡°Aurora Borealis¡± here and the one in Find was the dominant color. After all, the Northern Lights were known for its green color.

    On the other hand, the beautiful dancing waves of light in the sky at the moment were pink.

    ¡°It¡¯s Mother¡¯s power,¡± Nero, who was standing beside her in front of the window while watching the dancing waves of light, said. ¡°Is Mother announcing her return?¡±

    ¡°That seems to be the case, Nero,¡± Neoma said, her eyes still glued to her mother¡¯s ¡°Auroa Borealis.¡± ¡°Mama Boss is so amazing.¡±

    ***

    .....

    ¡°IS THAT Lady Roseheart¡¯s power?¡±

    Niki nodded at Kyle Sprouse¡¯s question.

    Right now, the two of them were standing on his office balcony while watching the beautiful waves of pink light in the sky.

    This wasn¡¯t the first time that Mona had done it.

    ¡°Yes, it is Mona¡¯s power,¡± Niki said, clenching his hands tight. ¡°She¡¯s not just announcing her return- she¡¯s letting the entire world know that she¡¯s enraged.¡±

    [And I¡¯m probably the biggest cause of Mona¡¯s wrath.]

    ***

    ¡°LOOK at the sky, Trevor.¡±

    Trevor looked up at the sky because the Devil said so, then he smiled. ¡°Oh, my future mother-inw is back.¡±

    Only Lady Mona Roseheart could create such beautiful dancing waves of light in the sky.

    ¡°Yeah, your Moon Princess seeded in saving the Roseheart Matriarch,¡± the Devil, who was standing beside him, said. ¡°Now that Mona is back, things are about to uglier.¡±

    After saying that, the roof of the mansion behind them blew up.

    The Devil casually raised his hand and created a barrier to protect them from the falling debris.

    ¡°Nichole has lost it,¡± the Devil said. ¡°It¡¯s brave of Ruston Stroganoff toe here and ask Nichole about her ¡°children,¡± even though he knew Nichole would react this way.¡±

    Trevor scoffed.

    He and the Devil were outside the mansion that they were currently upying because of their unwanted guest.

    ¡°That damned chef is too meddlesome.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s just doing his job as the Sun¡¯s representative, Trevor,¡± the Devil said. ¡°Moreover, he¡¯s useful since he¡¯s also making our job easier.¡± The Devil smirked as if taunting him. ¡°No wonder Princess Neoma is fond of that young man.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not true,¡± Trevor said, which only made the Devilugh. ¡°But even if it is, it won¡¯t matter since he can¡¯t stop what¡¯s about to happen anyway.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t deny that,¡± the Devil said, then he looked up at the sky again. ¡°Even I didn¡¯t predict the appearance of the so-called ¡®Masterpiece.''¡±

    ***

    ¡°PUT UP a stronger barrier!¡±

    ¡°Hurry! Don¡¯t let the children y in the sky!¡±

    ¡°Tell everyone toe inside!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t touch the pink lights!¡±

    ¡°The Roseheart Matriarch- that wench is back!¡±

    Calyx, who was woken up by the noise outside, went to the balcony of his room while rubbing his eyes with his hands. ¡°What¡¯s happening, Your Excellency?¡± he asked the crow sitting on the railing of the balcony. ¡°Why is it noisy outside?¡±

    He did, and the beautiful dancing waves of pink light instantly made him smile. Now he was fully awake.

    ¡°It¡¯s beautiful!¡± he said while pping his hands. ¡°What is it?¡±

    the crow with the metallic voice said.

    ¡°I don¡¯t really understand, but it sounds dangerous.¡±

    ¡°Mona Roseheart?¡± he asked, then he tilted his head to one side. ¡°Oh. The wench that seduced His Majesty?¡±

    It was what his uncles and aunts had taught him in the past.

    ¡°Is she going to be my mother once the empire acknowledged me as a royal prince?¡±

    His Excellency scoffed.

    Calyx yawned and stretched his arms. ¡°But where is my mother?¡±

    ***

    RUTO came out of the Devil¡¯s mansion alive.

    He was bleeding from head to toe, but at least he was still in one piece.

    Now he realized how stupid it was to just stand there and ept all of Princess Nichole¡¯s physical attack. But in his defense, he knew he deserved to be beaten to a pulp after he triggered the Princess Royal¡¯s trauma.

    ¡°You reminded my future aunt-inw of her trauma just to satisfy your curiosity,¡± Trevor, who was leaning against the gate with his arms crossed over his chest, said tauntingly while looking at him with disgust. ¡°Are you happy now?¡±

    ¡°No, I feel miserable,¡± Ruto said bluntly. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to bring back Princess Nichole¡¯s trauma, but I had to ask.¡±

    The demonughed sarcastically. ¡°That was still a dick move, Ruston Stroganoff.¡±

    He couldn¡¯t deny that, so he just kept his mouth shut.

    ¡°What an insensitive jerk,¡± Trevor said. Ah, the demon wasn¡¯t done taunting him. ¡°But good job. If Princess Neoma finds out what you just did, I bet she¡¯d be really disappointed in you.¡±

    He felt a pang in his chest.

    All his life, he did things out of his will in order to protect Neoma. But this time, he had hurt one of the family members that she treasured a lot.

    Trevor was right- Neoma would surely be disappointed in him.

    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you saying anything?¡± Trevor asked, irritated. ¡°Am I talking to a wall?¡±

    ¡°I just don¡¯t feel the need to respond to your taunting,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m fully aware of the mistake I made tonight, and I¡¯m determined to make it up to Princess Nichole soon. But I don¡¯t owe you an exnation or an apology, Trevor.¡±

    Veins popped up in the demon¡¯s face and neck. ¡°Fine. But you definitely own Princess Neoma a long exnation. After all, I heard from the Devil that you¡¯re looking for thete empress.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s none of your busine-¡±

    ¡°Do you realize what will happen once you bring the empress back?¡± Trevor hissed at him, then he pointed to the pink light in the sky. ¡°Are you seriously bringing the empress back just when Lady Mona Roseheart has returned? Is that your idea of ¡°love¡± for Princess Neoma?¡±

    He clenched his hands tight, even though his heart was wavering at the moment. ¡°It¡¯s my job to bring the empress back.¡±

    The demon smirked. ¡°For what? The so-called greater good that righteous people like you are obsessed with?¡±

    ¡°Trevor, if things get uglier than it already is, Neoma would only suffer more,¡± he said. ¡°I have to lessen her burden-¡±

    ¡°By taking away her happiness?¡± Trevor asked coldly. ¡°I would sacrifice the world for Princess Neoma. I don¡¯t care about anyone or anything else as long as she¡¯s happy.¡±

    ¡°Neoma won¡¯t be happy once the world crumbles, Trevor,¡± he reminded the demon. ¡°Because this world is the home of the people she loves.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re just saying that because you don¡¯t have the courage to give up on everything for Princess Neoma¡¯s sake.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear that from the person who betrayed Neoma in the name of ¡°protecting¡± her,¡± he said, cutting the demon off rudely. ¡°If you¡¯re done with your insults, I¡¯m leaving.¡±

    Trevor red at him. ¡°Don¡¯t evere back, Ruston Stroganoff.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll return to apologize again to Princess Nicholeter,¡± he said, then he turned his back on the demon who cursed at him.

    He didn¡¯t want to hear Trevor¡¯s profanities, so he used his teleportation technique to disappear.

    Then, in just a poof, he found himself back in the room of the inn that he was currently renting. It was the inn near the mountain that the crows were using as a hide-out. He had been staying there for a few days now in order to observe the enemies.

    [Right, I still have to get rid of the Masterpiece.]

    Suddenly feeling beyond exhausted, he plopped down on the bed lifelessly. He didn¡¯t feel like treating his injuries as a punishment to himself.

    Both his heart and body were heavy.

    He was in a rush to figure out the Masterpiece¡¯s real identity that he failed to consider Princess Nichole¡¯s feelings. And now, he had hurt her.

    [I¡¯m really sorry, Princess Nichole...]

    He couldn¡¯t help but question himself if he was really doing the right thing.

    He turned to the window and saw the beautiful dancing waves of pink light in the sky.

    [Lady Roseheart is back.]

    He felt a pang in his chest again.

    ¡°Neoma, I¡¯m d that you¡¯re finally reunited with your mother,¡± Ruto whispered to himself, then he covered his tired eyes with his arm. Seeing the pink light that symbolized Lady Mona Roseheart hurt him to the core. And yes, it also pricked his conscience. ¡°Will you hate me if I bring back Empress Juliet?¡±

    Bringing back the empress would be for the ¡°greater good,¡± but it would definitely hurt Neoma and Lady Roseheart.

    But if he didn¡¯t do that, chaos would arise.

    Now he was torn between Neoma and the ¡°greater good,¡± as Trevor put it.

    [¡°I would sacrifice the world for Princess Neoma. I don¡¯t care about anyone or anything else as long as she¡¯s happy.¡±]

    Trevor¡¯s sharp words echoed in Ruto¡¯s mind.

    ¡°I envy you, Trevor,¡± Ruto said to himself. ¡°I would also do that if I could.¡±

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 444

    Chapter 444: SOMETIMES VIOLENCE IS OKAY

    NEOMA¡¯s day started right.

    She and her Mama Boss enjoyed a warm bath together first thing in the morning.

    The tub was big enough for two people to share, so here they were now.

    She was sitting between her mother¡¯s legs while her Mama Boss was gently rubbing her back with a sponge...

    ... while crying silently.

    Yes, her mother was sobbing behind her, but she pretended not to notice.

    [Mama Boss is probably happy that she could finally do things like this for me.]

    .....

    ¡°Your nanny has taken good care of you, baby,¡± her Mama Boss said in an emotional voice. ¡°Look at how soft and smooth your skin is.¡±

    ¡°Stephanie is good to me, Mama Boss,¡± Neoma said, smiling at the thought of her kind nanny. ¡°Even though she was originally Nero¡¯s nanny, she was still kind to me from the start. Stephanie and Alphen took good care of me and my baby brother. Have you met them in the past, Mama Boss?¡±

    ¡°I did,¡± her mother said softly. ¡°In fact, Stephanie was the only maid who volunteered to serve me when Niki brought me to the pce as his lover. After all, most of the elite servants at the time used to serve Juliet.¡±

    Ohh.

    [Stephanie is really kind, huh?]

    ¡°While Alphen is just... the perfect employee?¡± her mother said hesitantly, then sheughed softly. ¡°He¡¯s the type of person who works hard without caring about the things that don¡¯t have anything to do with his job. He¡¯s diligent, but not greedy. Attentive, but not nosy. And most of all, he¡¯s tight-lipped.¡±

    ¡°Ah,¡± she said, nodding. ¡°Now I know why Papa Boss trusts Alphen.¡±

    ¡°At least, even though Niki was a bad father to you at the time, he still put trustworthy people to take good care of you.¡±

    She nodded in agreement. ¡°Papa Boss also assigned Uncle Glenn as our personal knight before the other Pdins arrived.¡±

    ¡°Glenn is a wonderful person,¡± her mother said. ¡°I¡¯m d you were surrounded by the best people in Niki¡¯s circle.¡±

    Hmm...

    Should she snitch on a certain someone?

    [I mean, Nero already snitched on our Papa Boss. I can¡¯t do worse than that, right?]

    ¡°Not everyone around Papa Boss was nice to me, Mama Boss.¡±

    She felt her mother freeze behind her.

    ¡°It¡¯s Kyle Sprouse, isn¡¯t it?¡± her Mama Boss asked in a calm yet rigid voice. ¡°God, that prick hasn¡¯t changed at all, has he?¡±

    ¡°He was mean to me since day one,¡± she tattled on, pouting. ¡°He has calmed down recently, though. Instead of taunting me with offensive remarks like he did in the past, he just ignores me these days.¡±

    By ¡°ignoring¡± her, she meant Kyle Sprouse had stopped poking his nose in her business. The count hadn¡¯t nagged at Papa Boss for ¡°spoiling¡± her, too.

    But of course, Kyle Sprouse would still politely greet her whenever they would meet.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Mama Boss,¡± she consoled her mother, who fell silent. She could already tell that her Mama Boss was feeling guilty for not being there for her during the time Kyle Sprouse was bullying her. ¡°I bullied Count Sprouse as much as he bullied me. And I won all the war of nerves that we had.¡±

    Her mother finallyughed.

    ¡°Thank you for being strong, baby,¡± her Mama Boss said, then she gently wrapped her arms around her shoulders. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for not being there for you and Nero.¡±

    Her heart suddenly felt heavy with guilt.

    It wasn¡¯t her mother¡¯s fault that she had been trapped in the ice for so long. In fact, it was her appa¡¯s fault. And yet, she still had the audacity to think about asking her Mama Boss to forgive her appa.

    [No, I can¡¯t bring it up yet.]

    She knew that at some point, she and her Mama Boss needed to talk about Gavin Quinzel- her appa who was also trapped in ice.

    But not now- not when her mother was just starting to spend time with them.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to apologize, Mama Boss,¡± she said softly, then she leaned against her mother. ¡°Nero and I understand. We¡¯re just grateful that you¡¯re finally here with us.¡±

    Her mother hugged her tight.

    To be honest, she didn¡¯t expect that she and her Mama Boss would instantly hit it off because there was a thirteen-year gap between them. But they just naturally got along well.

    [Nero is still distant to our Mama Boss, though he¡¯s like that to anyone else aside from me.]

    ¡°Thank you, baby,¡± her mother said, then she kissed her on the cheek. ¡°We will make up for lost time from now on.¡±

    ¡°That sounds like a splendid n, Mama Boss,¡± she said, then she hesitated for a bit before she asked the thing that she had been itching to ask sincest night. ¡°Mama Boss?¡±

    ¡°Yes, baby?¡±

    ¡°When are we going back to the pce?¡±

    She was actually nervous, but she tried hard not to show it.

    ¡°Oh, right,¡± her Mama Boss said. ¡°You have royal duties to attend to.¡±

    That wasn¡¯t wrong, but that wasn¡¯t her point.

    ¡°I heard from Gale that you just passed the entrance exam for Royal Moon Academy,¡± her Mama Boss said. ¡°Congrattions, Neoma. I¡¯m so proud of you.¡±

    Aww.

    Her heart swelled with pride after hearing her mother say she was proud of her.

    She couldn¡¯t help but smile genuinely, momentarily forgetting the fact that she was supposed to convince her mother to return to the pce with her and meet Papa Boss. ¡°Thank you, Mama Boss.¡±

    ¡°I also heard from Gale that for the first time in the academy¡¯s history that three students topped the exams,¡± her Mama Boss continued. ¡°You¡¯re going to fight with the Calyx Dalton that we talked aboutst night, right?¡±

    She nodded, although she wasn¡¯t sure if Calyx Dalton would make it.

    [Ruto said he¡¯d take care of Calyx Dalton before the final match, so I¡¯m not sure if the crow psycho would still be alive then.]

    ¡°And who¡¯s the other one you¡¯re going to have a three-battle match with?¡±

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s Hanna,¡± she said excitedly, then she turned to her mother. ¡°Hanna Quinzel- Nero¡¯s would-be fianc¨¦e.¡±

    Her mother gasped softly. ¡°Hanna Quinzel? Is she Rufus and Amber¡¯s daughter?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Mama Boss,¡± she said. She was spilling the beans to her mother because Nero would never say anything unless her mother asked. ¡°Hanna is our future Crown Princess.¡±

    There was a strange emotion that sparkled in her mother¡¯s eyes. ¡°So, that baby lived,¡± her Mama Boss said softly. ¡°I¡¯m d that Hanna Quinzel lived.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean by that, Mama Boss?¡±

    ¡°I met Amber when she was pregnant with her daughter,¡± her Mama Boss exined. ¡°Back then, I felt that the child in her womb was weak. I had a gnawing feeling back then that the child wouldn¡¯t live long, but I didn¡¯t have the heart to tell Amber and Rufus. Thus, I could only give them some medicine that might help their daughter in some way.¡±

    Ohh.

    It was probably because Hanna wasn¡¯t originally meant to live long.

    [But Hanna changed her destiny.]

    She wanted to say to her mother that Hanna had died in her first life, but she held back. If she talked about her first life, she may not be able to stop herself from mentioning her second life. Any talk about her appa would be sensitive, and she didn¡¯t want to ruin her mother¡¯s mood.

    At least, not yet.

    Her Mama Boss, who caught her staring at her, smiled. ¡°What is it, baby? Do you have something to tell me?¡±

    ¡°Mama Boss, do you not want to see Papa Boss?¡±

    She didn¡¯t have the courage to mention Gavin Quinzel, her appa, so she just brought up her Papa Boss. And she really wanted to know if her Mama Boss was running away from her Papa Boss, anyway.

    Her Mama Boss smiled sadly at her. ¡°I heard from Gale that your father tried to marry you off to House Drayton when you were still a baby. And it was just the beginning of your father¡¯s mistreatment.¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± she said, then she nodded. ¡°But my engagement with House Drayton already fell through a long time ago, Mama Boss. And Papa Boss already apologized for everything.¡±

    ¡°I know I shouldn¡¯t get mad at your father when you have already forgiven him,¡± her mother said hesitantly. ¡°Moreover, I¡¯m partly to me for how he acted towards you and Nero. Because I took away his memories and his ability to love, he became cold and harsh to you and your brother. Still, hearing about how he treated you in the past makes my blood boil.¡±

    Well, that was understandable.

    ¡°But I¡¯m not avoiding your father because I didn¡¯t want to see him. I¡¯m doing this for his sake,¡± her mother exined. ¡°If I face him when my anger for him is still fresh, I might sucker punch him as soon as I see him. And I don¡¯t want to be violent in front of you and Nero.¡±

    She blinked several times.

    Oh?

    So, that was the reason why her Mama Boss refused to see her Papa Boss?

    Neoma couldn¡¯t help butugh. ¡°Mama Boss, it¡¯s totally okay to punch Papa Boss once. I love Papa Boss, but he still deserves it,¡± she said, then she gave her mother a thumbs up. ¡°Sometimes violence is okay to knock some sense into stubborn people like Papa Boss.¡±

    Her Mama Boss looked shocked at first, then sheughed. ¡°Oh, baby- you inherited your father¡¯s nasty temper.¡±

    [Don¡¯t be shocked, Mama Boss- I inherited all Papa Boss¡¯s ugly genes.]

    ***

    .....

    ¡°PRETTY,¡± NEOMA said while twirling around in her new dress. It was the dress that matched her mother¡¯s dress. So, technically, they were ¡°twinning.¡± ¡°Where did you get this dress, Mama Boss?¡±

    She and her Mama Boss were both wearing a pretty moss green dress with flower decorations. The dress also came with a pair of nude t shoes that matched the dress.

    That was why her mother tied half of her into a crown braid.

    [Now we look like fairies.]

    ¡°I made a quick tour to the Spirit World,¡± her Mama Boss, who was smiling warmly while watching her enjoy her new outfit. ¡°Tara gave us matching clothes, shoes, and essories to use.¡±

    She stopped twirling. ¡°Oh.¡±

    To be honest, she didn¡¯t like the Queen of the Spirit World that much.

    She was about to ask her mother if they could trust Tara. But she was interrupted when they heard a knock on the door.

    ¡°Mother, Neoma, it¡¯s me,¡± Nero said behind the door. ¡°Queen Brigitte and King Glenn are here. May wee in?¡±

    Her eyes sparkled.

    [My bestie is here!]

    ¡°Mama Boss, I¡¯ll open the door,¡± she said, then she practically ran towards the door and opened it.

    She was greeted by Nero, who was already dressed up like the royal that he was.

    But her gaze went past her baby brother.

    She greeted Glenn with a smile, but her attention instantly went to Brigitte who was dressed in a simple yet elegant dress that suited a modest queen like her.

    Brigitte smiled at her warmly. ¡°It¡¯s been a while, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve missed you, Brigitte unnie,¡± she said while approaching the queen. Brigitte told her to address her casually when they didn¡¯t have an audience. ¡°It¡¯s been a while, indeed.¡±

    She and her unnie hugged each other tightly.

    But as soon as she made contact with the queen, she felt a strong current that electrified her whole body.

    [What the fuck...]

    The next thing she knew, she was already on the ground while clutching her head tight- her mind filled with awful images that she could only interpret as visions.

    ¡°Baby!¡±

    ¡°Neoma!¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma!¡±

    The concerned voices of the people around her called her name again and again, but she couldn¡¯t lift her head.

    Tears just rolled down her cheeks, dripping to the floor uncontrobly.

    The vision that she had just seen devastated her to the core.

    [No way... I can¡¯t ept that kind of future!]

    ¡°Brigitte unnie...¡± she said in a cracked voice, then she raised her head to look at Brigitte who kneeled in front of her- the queen¡¯s face filled with worry. ¡°Are you pregnant?¡±

    Brigitte looked confused at first, then she turned bright red. ¡°How did you know, Princess Neoma?¡±

    Oh, no... just no fucking way.

    Neoma closed her eyes, now sobbing hard.

    Her Brigitte unnie was destined to give birth to the new saint...

    ... and the queen regnant would die from childbirth.

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 445

    Chapter 445: I¡¯M NO HERO

    BRIGITTE couldn¡¯t help butugh softly while watching Glenn who was anxiously helping her walk down the grand staircase.

    Her husband was holding her hand, while his other hand was ced gently on the small of her back. With every step she took, he would remind her to be careful. Glenn would also scold her lightly every time she took her hand off the handrail.

    ¡°Honey, I can walk on my own just fine,¡± Brigitte said to her husband. ¡°I appreciate what you¡¯re doing, but I don¡¯t want to be too spoiled. What will you do if I getzy and start depending on you too much?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, my queen,¡± Glenn said gently, then he smiled brightly at her. ¡°I¡¯ll carry you- literally and figuratively for the rest of our lives.¡±

    Aww... she almost broke down in tears.

    Ever since she became pregnant, she noticed that she became more emotional than usual.

    Yes, she was pregnant.

    .....

    In fact, she was already five-month pregnant. She was worried because despite being five-month pregnant, her baby bump was small. It wasn¡¯t that obvious, especially whenever she wore flowy dresses.

    She wasn¡¯t really hiding her pregnancy, but she didn¡¯t want to announce it yet either. After all, there were annoying pests who were trying to question her power recently. She wasn¡¯t scared to face them- but it wouldn¡¯t hurt to be extra careful either.

    [I can¡¯t wait to tell Princess Neoma about my pregnancy- I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll be as ecstatic as Glenn and I were when we first heard the news.]

    To be honest, she was a little sad that she couldn¡¯t share the good news with her family.

    Her family wasn¡¯t executed despite their attempt to kill the empire¡¯s Crown Prince. After all, she made a deal with them.

    In exchange for their lives, her brother gave up his ce as the Crown Prince. Then her father stepped down from the throne and named her the new queen of the Hazelden Kingdom. Although she already got the nobles¡¯ support by threatening them, it would be easier for her to ascend the throne if her father and her brother abdicated their positions ¡°willingly.¡±

    Of course, she still asked for Princess Neoma and Emperor Niki¡¯s permission before she made the deal with her family. But if Princess Neoma didn¡¯t convince His Majesty, she doubted the emperor would let her family live.

    To repay the emperor and Princess Neoma¡¯s generosity, she promised that she would never let her familymit any crime again.

    Right now, her family was banished to the countryside.

    The royal family owned a vi there, and it was heavily guarded by knights that she chose herself. Her father and brother were forever banned from getting out of the vi. However, her mother and younger sisters would be allowed to leave from time to time as long as they got her approval in advance.

    [The nobles are urging me to marry my sisters off to foreign kingdoms, but I refuse to treat my sisters as objects. Their only crime is believing that women are supposed to do what the men in their lives tell them to, thus they kept their mouths shut even though they were aware of my father and brother¡¯s attempt to kill the Crown Prince.]

    Her younger sisters hated her because of her guts. After all, the princesses of their family were raised to be mere ¡°decorations.¡±

    That was why she was trying to educate her sisters instead of giving up on them.

    ¡°My queen? What are you thinking?¡± Glenn asked worriedly. ¡°You suddenly fell quiet. Are you tired? Do you feel sick?¡±

    She smiled and shook her head to assure her doting husband that she was fine. ¡°I¡¯m alright, Glenn. Thank you for worrying about me.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t like she was hiding things from Glenn.

    She just didn¡¯t want him to worry.

    After all, even if she wanted to, informing her family about her pregnancy wouldn¡¯t be wise because they might hurt her baby as revenge. Her father and brother would never forgive her for ¡°stealing¡± the throne from them.

    Even though the two were under strict surveince, she still didn¡¯t want to risk it.

    ¡°Are you sure, my queen?¡± her husband asked worriedly. ¡°If you don¡¯t feel well, I can just ask our guests to visit your pce instead.¡±

    Glenn didn¡¯t mention their guests¡¯ names on purpose.

    Since she was technically sneaking out of her own pce to secretly visit the royal twins and their mother, there were no servants or guards around them.

    [Well, Glenn is the best knight that I could ask for, so I¡¯m not really worried.]

    Anyway, it was still better to be extra careful even though no one was around them.

    ¡°I¡¯m really fine, honey,¡± she said, then she gently pinched her husband¡¯s cheeks. ¡°You can be such a worrywart sometimes.¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± Glenn said kindly. ¡°I love you and our baby, so I won¡¯t stop worrying about the two of you.¡±

    ¡°My god, honey,¡± she said, feeling giddy. They had been married for a few years now, but Glenn never failed to make her feel like they had just started dating. ¡°I haven¡¯t given birth to our baby yet, but I already want to get pregnant with your child again.¡±

    Her husband¡¯s face turned red instantly.

    [Pfft.]

    This was why she loved teasing her honey.

    [I always tease him, but he still blushes every time.]

    ¡°Honey?¡±

    ¡°Yes, my queen?¡±

    She cupped her husband¡¯s handsome face between her hands. ¡°I love you, Glenn.¡±

    ¡°That came out of nowhere,¡± Glenn said whileughing softly, then he leaned down to kiss her on the forehead while gently rubbing her small baby bump. ¡°I love you, too, my queen. You and our baby.¡±

    Brigitte smiled, then she tiptoed to kiss Glenn on the lips.

    For some reason, she wanted to express her love for her husband even more.

    ***

    ¡°YOUR ROYAL Highness, the queen and king are here.¡±

    Nero gently put his teacup down on the saucer after hearing Warren Fletcher¡¯s report.

    He was having tea in the drawing room because Neoma and their mother were using the bedroom.

    [I want to monopolize Neoma, but I¡¯ll let Mother spend time with her in the meantime.]

    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Nero said, then he stood up and led the way. ¡°Only the queen and the king arrived?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Royal Highness,¡± Warren said opening the door for him. ¡°Miss Dahlia didn¡¯te with the queen and the king.¡±

    He stopped in his tracks to give the Pdin a cold stare. ¡°Did I ask about Miss Dahlia?¡±

    This was why he preferred Wyatt over Warren. The former was quiet and minded his own business. Warren, on the other hand, was unapologetically meddlesome.

    ¡°Prince Nero, I am more emotionally intelligent than you give me credit for,¡± Warren said smugly. ¡°And I know how to read between the lines.¡±

    ¡°Do you want to die?¡±

    The Pdin immediately bowed his head. ¡°I apologize for my rudeness, Your Royal Highness.¡±

    He just sighed, then he walked past him.

    When he arrived at the main entrance, he saw Wyatt with King Glenn and Queen Brigitte. He greeted the royal couple politely, and the two did the same.

    [Hmm?]

    He knitted his eyebrows when he felt a spark of faint divine energying from the queen.

    [And it¡¯s pretty simr to Yule¡¯s divine energy.]

    ¡°Prince Nero, is something the matter?¡± the queen who caught him staring asked worriedly.

    ¡°I apologize for staring,¡± he said with a slight bow. ¡°Let me lead Your Majesties to where Neoma and Mother are.¡±

    After that, he led the king and the queen to his bedroom, which was currently upied by Neoma and their mother.

    The king and the queen walked behind him.

    And the Fletcher Twins didn¡¯t follow them because the two were stationed to guard the vi outside.

    The one assigned to guard inside the vi was Lewis.

    [And there he is.]

    Lewis, who was standing beside the door, bowed to them as a greeting.

    Glenn and Queen Brigitte looked delighted to see the fox boy since the royal couple greeted Lewis enthusiastically.

    Nero ignored the fox boy, then he knocked on the door. ¡°Mother, Neoma, it¡¯s me,¡± he said. ¡°Queen Brigitte and King Glenn are here. May wee in?¡±

    The door immediately burst open.

    Neoma came out with an excited look on her face. Then his twin sister greeted Glenn before she focused on Queen Brigitte.

    It was obvious that Neoma was excited to see the queen.

    Queen Brigitte smiled. ¡°It¡¯s been a while, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve missed you, Brigitte unnie,¡± Neoma said while approaching the queen. ¡°It¡¯s been a while, indeed.¡±

    Her twin sister hugged the queen.

    It would have been a touching moment had Neoma not reacted as if it electrified her after getting in contact with the queen.

    The next thing he knew, Neoma was already on the ground while clutching her head.

    .....

    Nero¡¯s eyes widened in shock. ¡°Neoma!¡±

    His mother and Glenn also called his twin sister.

    He was about to check on Neoma when he froze on the spot.

    [Neoma... is crying?]

    It was shocking to see because Neoma rarely cried.

    He unconsciously clenched her hands tight, his jaw clenching at the same time.

    [Who and what made my sister cry?]

    When he calmed himself down, his head became clear.

    The look on Neoma¡¯s face suggested she was in a daze. He could only guess that his sister was seeing something in her head.

    [Perhaps a vision?]

    ¡°Brigitte unnie...¡± Neoma said in a cracked voice, then she raised her head to look at the queen who kneeled in front of her- the queen¡¯s face filled with worry. ¡°Are you pregnant?¡±

    Queen Brigitte looked confused at first, then she turned bright red. ¡°How did you know, Princess Neoma?¡±

    Ah.

    That was when Nero began to understand what was happening.

    The faint divine energy that he felt from the queen earlier was actuallying from the child in her womb. And there could only be one reason why a normal person who didn¡¯t even have Mana would have a child that possessed divine energy.

    [The queen is pregnant with the new saint.]

    Neoma probably saw a devastating vision earlier regarding Queen Brigitte and the new saint in the queen¡¯s womb.

    His thoughts were distracted when Neoma stood up, the anger in her glowing red eyes clear. Moreover, his twin sister¡¯s fluctuating Mana was a sign of her unstable emotional and mental state.

    Everyone was concerned.

    ¡°Give me a moment,¡± Neoma said in a cold voice before turning her back on everyone. ¡°Don¡¯t follow me.¡±

    Neoma¡¯s order was clear.

    But Lewis followed her anyway.

    Nero would have followed his twin sister as well, but he needed to act as the Crown Prince.

    ¡°Mother, please stay here,¡± Nero said when he noticed his mother, who was about to follow Neoma and Lewis. ¡°Neoma will be fine.¡±

    His mother still looked concerned. ¡°But your sister looks enraged, Nero.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯ll calm down after she kills the Moon Priest, Mother.¡±

    He knew Neoma very well, so he knew his twin sister bolted out of the mansion to hunt down Manu. After all, the Moon Priest was the closest being to Yule that she could interrogate about the situation.

    [And I would have done the same if I were Neoma.]

    But he shouldn¡¯t have said his twin sister¡¯s n to their mother.

    Now his mother looked even more worried.

    ¡°Pardon me, Prince Nero, but may I know if Your Royal Highness knows why Princess Neoma acted that way?¡± Queen Brigitte asked worriedly. Then she gently ced her hands on her stomach. Only then did the small bump be obvious. ¡°Does it have anything to do with the child in my womb?¡±

    Glenn, who was standing next to the queen with a worried look on his face, gently rubbed his wife¡¯s back as if he was consoling her.

    [Ah, the king and the queen of Hazelden truly love each other.]

    How tragic.

    He learned from his Theology ss that saints, after living in Yule¡¯s Paradise for years, would be born on earth the natural way. All saints were delivered by ordinary women...

    ... and all those women died in childbirth.

    [And that¡¯s exactly why Neoma was devastated.]

    ¡°Neoma saw a vision,¡± Nero said, gaining everyone¡¯s attention instantly. ¡°She finally met the new saint of Astello Temple.¡±

    The first person who realized what he meant by that was his mother.

    Then Queen Brigitte, who finally realized the implication of his words, turned pale. ¡°Is my baby the new saint, Prince Nero?¡±

    He nodded thoughtfully. ¡°Yes, Your Majesty,¡± he confirmed. ¡°You¡¯re carrying the new saint in your womb.¡±

    The queen looked shocked, then her arms instinctively wrapped around her stomach.

    Glenn looked as equally devastated as Neoma.

    [Sire Glenn is an ex-Pdin, and Pdins are knowledgeable in Theology. He probably knows that all the women who gave birth to the saints in the past died.]

    That was going to be a problem.

    Neoma wouldn¡¯t want Queen Brigitte to give birth to the new saint.

    Nero, on the other hand, would want the opposite.

    [The queen must give birth to the new saint in order for us to keep our power over Valmento and the Astello Temple.]

    This was one of the few times he wished Neoma wasn¡¯t soft-hearted.

    ¡°Queen Brigitte, King Glenn, I¡¯ll give you time to think,¡± Nero said indifferently, then he turned his back on the royal couple to retreat to his room. ¡°Please let me know if you¡¯d like to keep the baby or not, even after knowing the risk of your pregnancy.¡±

    ***

    ¡°LORD MANU,e out!¡± Neoma yelled at the top of her lungs as soon as she reached the Frozen Woods. It was far enough from the vi, so she wouldn¡¯t have to hold back. Had it not for Brigitte unnie and her baby, she would have exploded in anger in the vi earlier. ¡°I know you¡¯re here!¡±

    She also knew that Lewis followed her, but she didn¡¯t have the time to scold her ¡°son.¡±

    Her anger was directed at Manu since the Moon Priest was the closest being to Lord Yule. If she couldn¡¯t reach the Moon God himself, then Manu would do.

    ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio, please calm down.¡±

    It was Manu, and those were the first words he uttered as soon as he materialized in front of her.

    As expected, the Moon Priest was indeed in the Hazelden Kingdom.

    [Now I know why Lord Manu often disappears even though he was supposed to stay with us until the egg hatched- he was here, probably guarding the new saint.]

    ¡°I¡¯m still calm,¡± Neoma said coldly. ¡°If I already lost it, I would have attacked you right away.¡±

    The Moon Priest smiled bitterly. ¡°The fire in your eyes doesn¡¯t look convincing, Neoma de Moonasterio.¡±

    ¡°Take it back,¡± she said firmly. ¡°This world doesn¡¯t need a new saint- so take it back.¡±

    ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio, you need the new saint,¡± Manu said. ¡°Without the new saint, you wouldn¡¯t defeat the Darkness. Do you want this world to be engulfed with Absolute Darkness again?¡±

    ¡°Why should I carry the burden of saving this world when you¡¯re killing the people I love?¡± Neoma snapped at the Moon Priest. ¡°I¡¯m so fucking tired of being the hero that all of you don¡¯t deserve- so I quit,¡± she said, opening her hand to summon Skewer. ¡°I will choose my people over this damned world, Lord Manu- tell that to your boss.¡±

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 446

    Chapter 446: SLIVER OF HOPE

    NIKOLAI just received the terrible news from the Fletcher Twins.

    [Glenn¡¯s child is the next saint?]

    He didn¡¯t even know that Queen Brigitte was pregnant.

    But he understood why the queen kept quiet about her pregnancy. It was normal for monarchs like them to hide their children as much as possible. In some extreme cases, the heir to the throne would only be introduced to the public once they were old and strong enough to protect themselves from any kind of danger.

    ¡°I can¡¯t stay here anymore,¡± Niki dered, earning a surprised look from Kyle Sprouse and Geoffrey Kinsley. ¡°Open the portal to the Hazelden Kingdom.¡±

    Geoffrey gulped, then the Pdin turned to Kyle nervously while giving him a response. ¡°A-As you wish, Your Majesty...¡±

    The Pdin didn¡¯t move right away, though.

    .....

    Like him, Geoffrey was probably expecting the count to nag at him.

    ¡°I understand, Your Majesty,¡± Kyle Sprouse said indifferently. ¡°Will you bring Geoffrey with you?¡±

    Oh?

    He didn¡¯t want to admit this, but he was stupefied by Kyle¡¯s positive response.

    [I was ready to sneak out if he denied my request to travel to Hazelden.]

    ¡°Kyle, did you eat something strange?¡± Geoffrey asked, bewildered. ¡°Are you alright? Do I need to call Marcus to have him check on you?¡±

    ¡°Haha, very funny, Geoffrey,¡± the count said sarcastically, then he turned to him with a hurt look on his face. ¡°Your Majesty, I didn¡¯t know your expectations of me were this low. Do you really think I wouldn¡¯t allow you to go to Hazelden to console Glenn?¡±

    [Yes, I really didn¡¯t think you¡¯d allow me to leave easily.]

    He didn¡¯t say that out loud because he knew it would hurt Kyle¡¯s feelings even more.

    ¡°Even though Glenn and I don¡¯t always get along, he¡¯s still my friend,¡± Kyle continued. ¡°If I could, I would go tofort him as well. But as the chancellor of the empire, it¡¯s my duty to hold the fort while Your Majesty is away.¡±

    He raised an eyebrow at Kyle. ¡°You¡¯re not dying, are you?¡±

    The count let out a frustrated sigh. ¡°Your Majesty, please leave before I change my mind.¡±

    He immediately turned to Geoffrey. ¡°Prepare the portal to Hazelden, and tell the Fletcher Twins that I¡¯ll be there.¡±

    Geoffrey Kinsley bowed to him. ¡°As you wish, Your Majesty.¡±

    And just like that, the Pdin left his office.

    ¡°Kyle.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty?¡±

    ¡°Mona is in Hazelden.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m aware, Your Majesty,¡± Kyle said, indifferent again. ¡°And to be honest, I¡¯m in awe that Your Majesty managed to restrain yourself this long. I thought you¡¯d bolt out as soon as Lady Roseheart arrived at Hazelden.¡±

    Kyle wasn¡¯t wrong.

    If he was still the old Niki, he would have done that without considering Mona¡¯s feelings.

    But Neoma, his precious daughter, taught him how to treasure the people he loved properly. Admittedly, it was hard to break his bad habits.

    Still, for the sake of his family, he was trying his best to change for the better.

    ¡°I won¡¯t deny that my biggest reason foring to Hazelden is to see Mona and our children,¡± he confessed. ¡°But Glenn¡¯s unfortunate situation also requires my presence.¡±

    Kyle nodded in understanding. ¡°Your Majesty, what do you think Glenn would do if he was forced to choose between his wife and his unborn child?¡±

    ¡°Glenn isn¡¯t like me,¡± Niki said without missing a beat. He grew up with Glenn, so he knew his sworn brother like the back of his hand. ¡°It won¡¯t be easy, but he¡¯ll definitely choose his child over his wife.¡±

    ***

    [HE¡¯S JUST like Niki.]

    Mona couldn¡¯t help but see Niki in their son while he watched Nero¡¯s interaction with Queen Brigitte earlier.

    Before her son retreated to his room, the queen had asked two more questions.

    [¡°Prince Nero, I heard you say Princess Neoma will kill the Moon Priest. Is it because Her Royal Highness doesn¡¯t want me to give birth to my child?¡±]

    [¡°I apologize on behalf of my twin sister, Your Majesty. Neoma is very emotional right now, so she has forgotten that she doesn¡¯t have the right to decide for you and your husband. I will talk to herter.¡±]

    [¡°Your Royal Highness, as the Crown Prince of the empire, do you agree with Princess Neoma¡¯s choice regarding my baby?¡±]

    [¡°Can I be honest, Your Majesty?¡±]

    [¡°Of course, Your Royal Highness.¡±]

    [¡°I don¡¯t agree with Neoma¡¯s choice. I understand that she cares a lot about you, Queen Brigitte. But if my twin sister chose to save Your Majesty¡¯s life, I¡¯m afraid of the consequences that may not only affect Neoma- but the entire continent as well.¡±]

    Mona let out a sigh when she remembered the guilt in Queen Brigitte¡¯s eyes after Nero said that choosing the queen¡¯s life over the birth of the new saint would affect Neoma and the entire continent.

    It was like saying that innocent people would suffer if Queen Brigitte refused to give birth to the new saint in order to save her own life.

    ¡°That was a deep sigh, Mother,¡± Nero, who was sitting on the chair across from her, said as he ced his teacup down on the saucer. ¡°Are you still worried about Neoma?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m more worried about you, Nero,¡± Mona said, then she sipped her tea before she spoke again. ¡°Nero, you didn¡¯t have to put it that way. I¡¯m talking about your conversation with Queen Brigitte earlier.¡±

    ¡°I apologize, Mother, but I fail to see how else should have I phrased my words better,¡± her son said, indifferent. ¡°Queen Brigitte is the queen regnant of this kingdom. Her Majesty understands that she¡¯s a ruler first, before a wife and a mother. Even if I didn¡¯t say all of that, the queen knows that there will be consequences if she gave up the baby in order to live.¡±

    Nero wasn¡¯t wrong, but she didn¡¯t like how her son sounded calloused.

    It reminded her of how Niki would often act cold when fulfilling his duty as a monarch.

    [Nero is only thirteen years old and yet, he already acts so jaded.]

    ¡°Mother, I am not soft-hearted like Neoma,¡± Nero said solemnly. ¡°And I don¡¯t understand why Mother looks displeased by my decision to choose the new saint over the queen. If you were Queen Brigitte, you would choose your child over your own life, too.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not wrong, Nero. I chose you and Neoma over my life, but it was my own choice,¡± she said sternly. ¡°However, your words earlier sounded like you were pressuring Her Majesty to keep her baby. You made it so obvious that you do not care about the queen¡¯s well-being at all.¡±

    Her son, who obviously refused to admit his mistake, just sipped his tea.

    [Nero wasn¡¯t sincere earlier when he apologized on behalf of Neoma while saying that his twin sister forgot that she didn¡¯t have the right to decide for the queen. After all, he did the same under the pretext of sharing his opinion when Queen Brigitte asked for it.]

    In short, her son technically manipted the queen earlier.

    ¡°We do not have the right to make Queen Brigitte feel like her child¡¯s life is more important than hers,¡± she continued lecturing her son as gently as possible. She didn¡¯t raise her voice, and she remained calm. But her voice was firm and clear. ¡°Only Queen Brigitte has the right to decide whether or not to keep her baby, Nero. She may discuss it with her husband. But at the end of the day, only the queen may decide what to do with her body.¡±

    ¡°It seems like I¡¯ve made a mistake, Mother,¡± Nero said, but he didn¡¯t look or sound apologetic. ¡°I will apologize to the queenter.¡±

    She let out a sigh. ¡°Son, don¡¯t apologize if you don¡¯t mean it.¡±

    Her son opened his mouth to say something, but failed to do so when they heard an explosion outside.

    The explosion was made by Neoma since her Mana could be felt all over.

    Of course, that got her worried.

    [My baby...]

    Nero, on the other hand, let out a softugh. ¡°Neoma is having fun hunting down the Moon Priest,¡± he said. ¡°Mother, let¡¯s watch my sister go berserk on Lord Manu.¡±

    Mona was now extremely concerned about her children.

    Neoma¡¯s outburst reminded her of the times Niki would lose his temper. On the other hand, Nero was cold and vicious.

    Her children didn¡¯t act like children.

    [I don¡¯t want to admit this, but it looks like my babies are a little... scary.]

    ***

    ¡°HONEY, isn¡¯t our baby amazing?¡± Brigitte said whilebing her fingers through Glenn¡¯s hair. She was sitting on the edge of the bed in one of the guest rooms in the vi. Glenn, on the other hand, was kneeling on the floor while hugging her waist. Her husband¡¯s face was lightly buried in her baby bump. ¡°Since our baby is the next saint, then we can safely assume that he¡¯s a boy. I bet he¡¯ll look like you.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve made up your mind,¡± Glenn said in a hoarse voice. His voice became like that because he hadn¡¯t stopped crying ever since they entered the guest room for privacy. ¡°You want to keep the baby even if it means...¡±

    Her husband trailed off, then his sobs swallowed his words.

    It broke her heart to see and hear Glenn cry this much.

    Of course, she was also devastated by the possibility of her dying once she gave birth to their child.

    She wanted to meet her son.

    She wanted to stay with Glenn for a very, very long time.

    She wanted to have more children with her husband.

    She wasn¡¯t loved by her parents, and she didn¡¯t get along with her siblings. That was why she promised herself that she would build a happy family with Glenn. They would raise their children with love and care. And they would teach their children to look after each other affectionately.

    That was her simple dream, but...

    .....

    ¡°I¡¯m a queen, Glenn- I have duties to fulfill,¡± she said softly, holding back her tears. Glenn had already broken down into tears, so she must be strong for the two of them. If the both of them broke down at the same time, they wouldn¡¯t be able to make a wise decision. ¡°Moreover, our son needs to be born for the sake of the world.¡±

    ¡°I know that, but...¡± Glenn said, pausing a bit before he stopped hesitating. ¡°But you¡¯re my world, Brigitte.¡±

    ¡®Brigitte.¡¯

    The first time Glenn called her by her first name without her title was during their wedding day.

    Then it happened again during the first time they made love.

    This was only the third time that he called her by her name.

    [And this might be thest time.]

    She had to bite her bottom lip to stop herself from crying.

    ¡°When His Majesty went through the same thing in the past, I thought His Majesty was selfish for choosing Lady Roseheart over their children.¡±

    Her heart sunk because she could already see where the conversation was headed to.

    ¡°I thought it should be natural for any parent to prioritize the lives of their innocent children over their spouse- especially the mother,¡± Glenn said in a cracked voice. ¡°But now that I¡¯m in a simr situation, I realized how arrogant I was to think it was natural for a mother to sacrifice her life for her unborn child. I didn¡¯t know that all this time, I have this stupid prejudice that a woman¡¯s main purpose in life is to give birth to children. I owe every woman and every mother in the world an apology.¡±

    Ah, she really loved this man.

    [He¡¯s not afraid to admit and correct his mistakes.]

    ¡°Back then, I also didn¡¯t understand why His Majesty couldn¡¯t love Prince Nero and Princess Neoma,¡± Glenn continued between sobs. ¡°But now, I think I do.¡±

    ¡°Glenn...¡±

    ¡°My queen, I can¡¯t stop you from keeping our baby. You have full autonomy over your body, after all,¡± Glenn said, his voice barely audible from crying hard. ¡°However, I might find it difficult to love our son if he bes the reason why I have to lose you. My brain knows that it¡¯s not our child¡¯s fault. But my heart can¡¯t ept it...¡±

    For the first time since she met Glenn, he said hurtful words to her.

    But she couldn¡¯t me her husband for having such sad, painful thoughts.

    ¡°Please don¡¯t say that, honey,¡± Brigitte said, her voice cracking as her strong fa?ade finally faded. The thought of Glenn hating their son broke her heart. Before she knew it, her tears were already rolling down her cheeks like waterfalls. ¡°Please don¡¯t hate our baby.¡±

    Her husband fell silent for a moment, then he looked up at her.

    Glenn looked shocked when he saw her crying. After all, the first andst time he saw her cry was during their wedding day. Still, back then, she cried tears of joy.

    This time, she cried because she was hurt and scared.

    She could see the instant regret and guilt on her husband¡¯s face as soon as he saw her crying. It was as if he suddenly realized the cruelty of his words earlier.

    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry for being small-minded, my queen,¡± Glenn said, then his hands reached out to cup her face gently. His fingers wiped her tears away in a hurry. The panic in his eyes was clear while his other hand slid down until he was rubbing her baby bump carefully. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry I made our child listen to such harsh words.¡± He leaned down to kiss her baby bump. ¡°Your father is very sorry, child.¡±

    Her heart melted.

    Glenn was really a kind man.

    [Our precious child, even if I¡¯m gone, you¡¯ll grow up well because your father is a very incredible person.]

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry that I couldn¡¯t yield to you, Glenn,¡± Brigitte said, her heart heavy for making Glenn choose a difficult decision for the sake of the world instead of their own family. ¡°And thank you for supporting my decision, even if it kills you.¡±

    ¡°I love you, my queen,¡± Glenn whispered, then he raised his head to meet her eyes. His gaze was still full of warmth and love for her. ¡°I will love everyone and everything that you love, too.¡±

    ***

    NEOMA swung Skewer, her Death Scythe that was now engulfed with Tteokbokki¡¯s red me, in Manu¡¯s direction.

    A boomerang-shaped me came out of her scythe as a result.

    ¡°Stop it, Neoma de Moonasterio,¡± Manu said sternly, then he blocked her boomerang-shaped me with his hand covered with divine energy. ¡°This isn¡¯t the time for us to fight.¡±

    The boomerang me that the Moon Priest deflected ricocheted and hit the tree.

    That tree immediately caught fire.

    ¡°Don¡¯t burn the innocent trees, Neoma de Moonasterio,¡± Manu scolded her sternly. ¡°It¡¯s the home of the Spirits living here.¡±

    Yeah, that made her guilty.

    ¡°Delwyn, extinguish the fire and move the Spirits somewhere safe,¡± she said, then she dropped Skewer.

    Before the Death Scythe hit the ground, it vanished along with Tteokbokki¡¯s me.

    Then Delwyn, in his human form, came out of her back and flew toward the burning tree.

    On the other hand, she ran toward Manu while gathering her Mana in her right hand. As expected, a de Moonasterio¡¯s best weapon was their body.

    ¡°Hey, you¡¯re a de Moonasterio,¡± Manuined while running backwards. Oh, the saint was smart enough not to turn his back on her in the middle of a fight. ¡°Your physical strength is monstrous! I¡¯m not built for fights like this!¡±

    She stopped running, stomped one foot forward, bent her knees, twisted her hips and chest towards Manu¡¯s direction, and threw a powerful punch in the air.

    Since her fist was covered with Mana, a shock wave was created.

    The force in the air reached the Moon Priest fast. He was able to block it, but the impact sent him flying until he hit a tree.

    She followed her first attack with continuous air punches.

    Manu managed to create a wall-like barrier in front of him. Every time her air punch hit the barrier, it exploded. Long cracks instantly appeared all over the barrier, and she knew it wouldn¡¯t take long before it crumbled under her force.

    ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio, you do not have the right to decide for Brigitte Griffiths!¡± Manu yelled desperately. ¡°Only the queen has the full autonomy over her own body! You haven¡¯t even asked her if she wanted to keep her baby or not! Are you crazy?!¡±

    The Moon Priest¡¯s words woke her up, and she froze on the spot.

    [He¡¯s right- I do not have the right to tell Brigitte unnie what she needs to do with her body.]

    She must have gone crazy.

    Manu calling her out for her arrogance calmed her down immediately.

    ¡°Princess Neoma, please don¡¯t take it out on Lord Manu.¡±

    It was her Brigitte unnie¡¯s voice.

    When she turned around, she saw the queen apanied by Glenn. The two were holding each other¡¯s hand.

    Plus, both the queen and the king had puffy eyes.

    [Ah, they cried.]

    ¡°Princess Neoma, thank you for caring a lot about us and our precious child,¡± Uncle Glenn said in a croaky voice. ¡°My wife and I have already made a decision.¡±

    ¡°We want to keep the baby, Princess Neoma,¡± Brigitte unnie said. She smiled sadly at her, as if the queen knew her decision would break Neoma¡¯s heart. And it did. ¡°I can¡¯t give up on my child when he¡¯s already five-month-old. Moreover, I can¡¯t be selfish. I have duties to fulfill as a mother and a queen. If my child will end up being a light in this world, then I can rest in peace.¡±

    Her knees buckled, and she eventually plopped down on the ground- sobbing.

    She couldn¡¯t say anything since Brigitte unnie and Uncle Glenn already made a decision. Like what Manu said, she didn¡¯t have the right to decide for the royal couple.

    [But it hurts...]

    ¡°Neoma, stand up and stop crying.¡±

    Her tears stopped falling when she heard the familiar voice.

    She wasn¡¯t the only who was surprised.

    Brigitte unnie and Uncle Glenn also looked shocked when her Papa Boss, the emperor who was supposed to be cooped up in the Royal Pce, materialized in front of them while being engulfed by fading bluish lights that could only be Moonglow.

    ¡°Papa Boss...¡± she said weakly.

    Her father extended her hand to her and helped her get up, then the emperor turned to the royal couple.

    Well, to be precise, her Papa Boss was looking at his sworn brother.

    ¡°Glenn, good job choosing your child.¡±

    She gritted her teeth. Her father wasn¡¯t wrong, but it sounded cold saying it in front of the royal couple who made a hard decision for the sake of the fucking world. ¡°Papa Boss-¡±

    ¡°Now, it¡¯s time for the Moonasterion Empire¡¯s Royal Family to choose Queen Brigitte¡¯s life over the world,¡± her Papa Boss dered. ¡°There¡¯s a way for the queen to give birth to the saint without sacrificing her life during childbirth.¡±

    Neoma gasped, her respect for her father increasing tenfold at the moment. ¡°Papa Boss, you¡¯re so cool!¡±

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 447

    Chapter 447: (ROYAL) FAMILY FEUD

    [WHY IS Father here?]

    Nero stopped in his tracks when he felt his father¡¯s presence.

    Then he turned to his mother.

    The two of them were on their way to the Frozen Woods to follow Queen Brigitte and King Glenn after they heard from the Fletcher Twins that the royal couple followed Neoma.

    He and his mother were near the Frozen Woods when he felt her father¡¯s presence.

    ¡°N-Nero, go ahead,¡± her mother said, already backing away. ¡°Please look after Neoma for me.¡±

    And her mother was gone before he could even respond.

    .....

    ¡°Wyatt, Warren,¡± Nero called the Fletcher Twins, who immediately appeared before him. ¡°Did you know Father woulde here?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Royal Highness,¡± Wyatt said. ¡°We apologize for not telling you. His Majesty ordered us to keep it from you and Lady Roseheart.¡±

    Ah.

    His father probably didn¡¯t want to scare his mother with his unexpected arrival.

    [But Mother still ran away.]

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, I understand,¡± he said to the twins. ¡°Did Fathere alone?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Royal Highness,¡± Warren said. ¡°Geoffrey stayed in the pce, pretending that he¡¯s protecting His Majesty in the office so that people wouldn¡¯t realize that the emperor had snuck out.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± Nero said, then he turned his back on the twins and continued walking to the Frozen Woods. He didn¡¯t have the time to worry about his parents¡¯ dramatic affair. After all, he was busy wondering whether to take Neoma¡¯s side this time or not. [I want the new saint to be born, but I don¡¯t want Neoma to hate me...]

    ***

    ¡°REALLY, Papa Boss?¡± Neoma asked, then she sped her hands together. ¡°How can Brigitte unnie deliver the new saint in this world without sacrificing her life?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s simple,¡± her Papa Boss said bluntly, then he turned to her. ¡°The child just doesn¡¯t have to be the saint.¡±

    If she were a meme, question marks would probably appear above her head.

    Her father was about to exin when they were interrupted by a loud yelling.

    ¡°Niki de Moonasterio!¡± Manu, the Moon Priest who was usuallyid-back, yelled and grabbed his father by the shoulder. ¡°Are you trying tomit sphemy against Lord Yule?¡±

    ¡°Yes, and what about it?¡± her Papa Boss asked nonchntly.

    Neoma let out an exaggerated gasp at her father¡¯s savage remark. ¡°I raised you well, Papa Boss,¡± she said, then she patted her shoulder. ¡°Good job, self.¡±

    Her father ignored her to focus on the Moon Priest. ¡°Manu, I suggest removing your hand from my shoulder before you lose an arm,¡± he warned Manu. ¡°My Soul Beasts do not care that you¡¯re the Moon Priest.¡±

    The Moon Priest reluctantly removed his hand from the emperor¡¯s shoulder. But Manu still looked pissed. ¡°Are you crazy, Niki de Moonasterio?¡±

    ¡°I thought it was already an established fact that the de Moonasterios are a bunch of lunatics,¡± her Papa Boss said bluntly. ¡°Have you ever met a sane de Moonasterio?¡±

    Manu opened his mouth to speak, but he immediately closed it. ¡°Right, I¡¯m at fault for forgetting that your bloodline has produced the most insane people in history. But what the hell, Niki de Moonasterio? Acting crazy like usual andmitting sphemy against Lord Yule are two separate matters!¡±

    ¡°Who told you to choose female Non-Mana users to give birth to the saints in this world?¡± Papa Boss asked disapprovingly. ¡°Yule is the one who pushed us to resort to sphemy, so we did nothing wrong.¡±

    Neoma couldn¡¯t help but give her father a round of slow ps. ¡°If gaslighting was a person, it would be Papa Boss.¡±

    Gaslighting was bad, of course.

    But she was willing to let it slide this time...

    ¡°Niki de Moonasterio, it¡¯s your duty as Lord Yule¡¯s descendants to protect the saints born in this world,¡± Manu reminded her father, then the Moon Priest turned to her. ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio, Lord Yule even asked you to bring the new saint to Astello Temple.¡±

    ¡°He did, but I never said I would,¡± Neoma said, acting as nonchnt as her Papa Boss. ¡°And we also didn¡¯t have a contract rted to that.¡±

    [Gaslight. Gatekeep. Girlboss.]

    It was a negative phrase that promoted toxicity. But she and her Papa Boss were acting like the bad guys here, so it was okay to say that about herself.

    ¡°If the saint isn¡¯t born in this world because of your meddling, you¡¯ll be punished,¡± the Moon Priest warned them.

    ¡°So what?¡± Neoma and her Papa Boss asked at the same time.

    Manu looked shocked by their arrogant response. ¡°You¡¯ll regret this,¡± he said threateningly, then his body began to turn translucent. ¡°Lord Yule will definitely hear about this absurdity.¡±

    And just like that, the Moon Priest disappeared.

    [Wait... is Lord Yule already awake?]

    She missed the chance to ask her Papa Boss about the Moon God when Uncle Glenn and Brigitte unnie approached them.

    The royal couple exchanged polite greetings with her father.

    ¡°Your Majesty, thank you foring all this way to share the good news with us,¡± Glenn, who looked relieved and very much grateful. ¡°Can you tell us more about how to save my wife?¡±

    ¡°I chose to give birth to my child while knowing that it would literally kill me,¡± Brigitte said while gently rubbing her baby bump. ¡°But if there¡¯s a way for me to survive my childbirth, then please let me know, Your Majesty.¡±

    Glenn looked relieved to hear his wife¡¯s resolve to live.

    Neoma felt the same.

    The queen smiled sadly. ¡°I¡¯m being shameless. I¡¯ve heard the Moon Priest warn Your Royal Highness and Your Majesty about getting punished by the Moon God. Yet, here I am, desperately clinging to my survival, even though I already made a resolve to die for my baby.¡±

    Glenn seemed to share the same sentiment as his wife. ¡°We¡¯re terribly sorry that Your Royal Highness and Your Majesty have to go against Lord Yule for us.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Brigitte unnie and Uncle Glenn,¡± Neoma assured the royal couple. ¡°It¡¯s our choice to help you.¡±

    ¡°Gods do what they want regardless of the consequences, so why can¡¯t we do the same?¡± her Papa Boss added casually. ¡°It¡¯s Yule¡¯s fault for always doing things without considering the burden his orders put on us.¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Neoma said, nodding her head in agreement. ¡°Let¡¯s me it on Lord Yule.¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you two treating this too lightly, huh? Father? Neoma?¡±

    She and her Papa Boss flinched when they heard Nero¡¯s scolding voice.

    When they turned around, they saw Nero (with the Fletcher Twins behind him) who didn¡¯t look impressed.

    [Ah, my baby brother is upset...]

    ¡°We¡¯re not treating this matter lightly, son. I have a n,¡± her Papa Boss said while his eyes were wandering around as if he was looking for something.

    Or someone.

    ¡°Mother already returned to the vi,¡± Nero, who obviously noticed their father¡¯s behavior, said. ¡°Mother ran away as soon as she felt Father¡¯s presence.¡±

    Neoma would have made fun of her father had she not seen how dejected he looked.

    [Poor Papa Boss...]

    Even Uncle Glenn and Brigitte unnie lowered their gazes to the ground, pretending that they didn¡¯t see the emperor¡¯s heartbreak at the moment.

    ¡°We should head back to the vi, too,¡± Neoma said, breaking the awkward silence that ensued. ¡°Brigitte unnie can¡¯t catch a cold. It will be bad for the baby.¡±

    Brigitte unnieughed softly, then she turned to her with a grateful smile on her face. ¡°I¡¯m used to the cold weather in our kingdom, Your Royal Highness. But thank you for worrying about me and my baby.¡±

    Glenn smiled and nodded in agreement. ¡°Princess Neoma really cares about us a lot.¡±

    ¡°We need someone else to be here,¡± Papa Boss, who seemed to have gotten over his mini heartbreaking moment earlier, said. Then he turned to the Fletcher Twins. ¡°Wyatt, Warren, bring the ck Witch here.¡±

    Neoma raised an eyebrow. [Dahlia?]

    The Fletcher Twins bowed at the emperor¡¯s order without a question. ¡°We received Your Majesty¡¯s order.¡±

    And just like that, the twins disappeared.

    ¡°Lewis,¡± her Papa Boss said while looking at her ¡°son.¡± ¡°You have amunication device connected to Dion, right? I want you to contact him and set up the device in one of the rooms in the vi. Make sure the room is safe.¡±

    Lewis turned to her as if he was asking for her permission.

    ¡°Go,¡± Neoma said. ¡°Take care.¡±

    Only then did Lewis nod and bow to her father. ¡°As you wish, Your Majesty.¡±

    After receiving the emperor¡¯s order, Lewis left the Frozen Woods.

    ¡°Father,¡± Nero, who looked anxious all of a sudden, called their father. ¡°What are you going to make Miss Dahlia do?¡±

    ¡°Something that doesn¡¯t concern you, Nero,¡± her Papa Boss said.

    [Ohh... burn.]

    Nero wasn¡¯t amused by their father¡¯s remark. ¡°Father, don¡¯t make Miss Dahlia do dangerous things.¡±

    ¡°Why are so concerned about the ck Witch, son?¡±

    ¡°Because I was the one who brought her here,¡± Nero insisted. ¡°She¡¯s my responsibility.¡±

    .....

    ¡°That better be the only reason why you¡¯re concerned about Dahlia that much, Nero de Moonasterio,¡± Neoma warned her twin brother in a cold voice. ¡°I won¡¯t forgive you if you hurt Hanna because of your indecisiveness.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t something that they should be discussing in front of another kingdom¡¯s queen and king, but she couldn¡¯t help it.

    Hanna was very important to her, after all.

    ¡°You were the one who insisted on getting engaged with Hanna despite knowing about Dahlia¡¯s existence,¡± she reminded her brother harshly. ¡°If your heart is already wavering because of Dahlia, then you better break off your engagement with Hanna before I break all your fucking bones.¡±

    Nero, who looked shocked by her threat, quickly got over it to re at her.

    ¡°Neoma, aren¡¯t you being a little too harsh on your brother?¡± her Papa Boss scolded her lightly.

    Neoma gave her Papa Boss a cold stare.

    Father avoided her gaze, then he turned to Nero. ¡°Son, you should listen to your sister. She¡¯s right- don¡¯t y with other people¡¯s feelings.¡±

    Nero red at their father.

    This time, Papa Boss closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. ¡°Fine, just fight it out.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything that would warrant this kind of harsh treatment from you, Neoma,¡± Neroined as he approached her. Then he stood in front of her and crossed his arms over his chest. ¡°I am not cheating on Hanna by caring about Miss Dahlia. Just so you know, Miss Dahlia and I decided to get along well since we will be working together in the future.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, right. As if you care about every single person working for you,¡± she said sarcastically, then she put her hands on her hips to assert dominance. ¡°Nero, just a friendly reminder: emotional cheating is still cheating.¡±

    Her twin brother looked offended. ¡°Neoma, is that how lowly you think of me?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like that, but-¡±

    She was forced to stop talking when the sky- clear and bright- suddenly rumbled loudly.

    All of them automatically looked up at the sky.

    The booming sound hadn¡¯t ended and it was so intense that it created a skyquake, causing the ground to vibrate, too.

    It didn¡¯t end there.

    The skyquake was followed by a bolt of blinding white lightning falling down- and it was obvious it was trying to strike her.

    Neoma tried to push Nero away to save her brother...

    ... but Nero was quicker than her- he hugged her as if he was protecting her from the white lightning.

    ***

    ¡°NEOMA, NERO!¡± Niki yelled as the blinding white lightning struck his children. ¡°No!¡±

    Surprisingly, the lightning didn¡¯t create a crater.

    In fact, it didn¡¯t hit the ground.

    It was as if his children absorbed the lightning.

    And now, both Neoma and Nero were falling to the ground- unconscious.

    [Yule, you-]

    He didn¡¯t have the time to curse the Moon God as he rushed to catch his children. But he could only grab Nero.

    After all, someone else caught Neoma before him.

    ¡°Neoma...¡± Mona said worriedly while cradling Neoma in her arms, then she turned to the unconscious Nero in Niki¡¯s arms. ¡°Nero...¡±

    It was Mona.

    [It¡¯s really her.]

    Niki forgot to breathe when Mona¡¯s eyes finally met his.

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 448

    Chapter 448: NIKOLAI X MONA

    MONA didn¡¯t return to the vi, even though it was the excuse she gave Nero when she ran away earlier.

    She was ashamed that she ran away just because of Niki.

    But she didn¡¯t have the time to dwell on that.

    [A god¡¯s presence...?]

    She looked up at the sky when she noticed the strange sensation in the air.

    The sky was clear and bright, and the weather in the Hazelden Kingdom remained the same. But she couldn¡¯t be wrong. She was certain that a strong divine power was lingering in the air.

    [My babies...]

    .....

    She followed her gut feeling and ran towards where her children were.

    When she was near the entrance of the Frozen Woods, the sky roared angrily. And it was never a good sign. Thus, she ran using her maximum speed.

    She was stillte, though.

    [No!]

    A bolt of blinding white lightning descended on the ground- and it was about to strike her children who were hugging each other.

    She hated that she had to shut her eyes when the lightning¡¯s glow hit her eyes.

    ¡°Neoma! Nero!¡±

    She immediately opened her eyes when she heard Niki call their children¡¯s names.

    [No...]

    In her peripheral vision, she saw Glenn and Queen Brigitte who were able to protect themselves well. Glenn had drawn Ebony- his sword- and created a barrier in front of them.

    North- the ck Tortoise- was also standing in front of the royal couple. The ck Tortoise was Niki¡¯s Soul Beast known best for its defensive skills. The emperor probably sent North to protect Glenn and the queen.

    Niki, on the other hand, rushed towards their children who were falling to the ground- unconscious.

    She moved at the same time he did.

    The emperor grabbed Nero first because their son was closer to his reach.

    And thus, she caught Neoma.

    She plopped down on the ground while cradling her daughter in her arms, relieved that she caught her in time.

    ¡°Neoma...¡± Mona whispered to herself worriedly, then she turned to Nero. Like her, Niki plopped down on the ground while cradling their son in his arms. ¡°Nero...¡±

    The fact that Neoma and Nero were unconscious wasn¡¯t the only problem.

    [Their bodies have be empty shells.]

    She raised her head to meet Niki¡¯s eyes.

    He needed to know the condition of their children.

    But whatever she was about to say flew out of the window when she noticed that Niki was looking at her like she was the only person he could see at the moment.

    She hated to admit this, but her heart fluttered.

    [Many years have passed and yet, the way he looks at me didn¡¯t change...]

    ¡°I¡¯m d that you¡¯re back safely, Mona,¡± Niki said, then he turned to their children. ¡°Th lightning that hit the children has Yule¡¯s Moonglow. It must have been him.¡±

    She was a little surprised that Niki, who seemed to have been in a trance earlier, snapped out of it. For her, it was a testament to how much he cared about their children. This would sound arroganting from her. But in the past, she was the most important person in the emperor¡¯s life.

    This time, she could tell that Niki had be a proper father.

    [I should act like a proper mother, too.]

    ¡°Neoma and Nero¡¯s souls aren¡¯t here,¡± Mona informed Niki. ¡°They must have been summoned by Lord Yule.¡±

    He clenched his jaw hard.

    God, that was... sexy.

    She screamed internally for having inappropriate thoughts while their children were in a predicament.

    [Focus, Mona Roseheart- focus!]

    ¡°Niki, what happened?¡± she asked calmly, pulling herself together. ¡°Why would Lord Yule summon our children in a seemingly dangerous way?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re getting punished,¡± he said, pissed. But it was obvious that his anger was directed at the Moon God and not at her. ¡°We¡¯re about tomit sphemy against him, so he probably took the children to reprimand them.¡±

    She knitted her eyebrows, confused. ¡°sphemy?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s head to the vi first. I¡¯ll exin everything to you there,¡± Niki said, then he paused for a moment before he asked hesitantly. ¡°If that¡¯s okay with you, of course.¡±

    Oh.

    Niki was being considerate of her.

    It was the bare minimum, but it still gave her butterflies in the stomach.

    ¡°I understand,¡± Mona said, then she turned to their children and turned to their unconscious children. ¡°Let¡¯s bring Neoma and Nero to a warm ce first.¡±

    ***

    NEOMA panicked a little when she woke up in her Spirit form.

    She thought she had died and gone straight to hell. If not for her gut feeling telling her that she was still alive, she would have really believed that she was already dead.

    After all, the room they were in looked dark and ominous. The floor looked like a giant chessboard, and there were broken chess pieces around. She couldn¡¯t see much because the only source of light in the room was the window where the moonlight passed through.

    But there was an empty throne blocking it.

    ¡°Neoma, are you alright?¡±

    It was Nero, and her twin brother was sitting on the floor while leaning against the broken ck knight chess piece.

    ¡°I¡¯m alright,¡± Neoma said, then she got and leaned against the surprisingly intact white queen chess piece behind her. ¡°Are you alright, Nero? We¡¯re not dead, are we?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re not yet dead,¡± Nero assured her. ¡°But our powers seem to have been nullified.¡± He put a hand over his chest. ¡°I can still feel my connection to Sev, but I can¡¯t summon him. I also can¡¯t use my Mana here. Can you try if yours would work?¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    She tried to summon Tteokbokki- it didn¡¯t work. The other Spirits didn¡¯te out, too. Not even Skewer.

    ¡°Yeah, I can¡¯t also use my Mana,¡± she said, then she looked around. ¡°But I think we¡¯re safe here. Even if this ce looks ominous, I don¡¯t feel any threat. Plus, I think I felt Lord Yule¡¯s Moonglow from the lightning that hit us earlier.¡±

    Her brother nodded in agreement. ¡°I felt it, too.¡±

    An awkward silence ensued after that.

    [Ah, right. We fought earlier. And despite being the older one, I acted like a kid.]

    ¡°Nero, I was harsh earlier, right?¡± she said, breaking the awkward silence. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I shouldn¡¯t have lost my temper and cursed.¡± She pped her mouth gently. ¡°This noona will be more patient and careful in the future.¡±

    Nero fell silent for a while before he spoke again. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, too, Neoma. I overreacted.¡±

    She smiled, then she scooted over next to her twin brother. ¡°Nero, I was wrong when I spoke harshly. But please consider what I said. I don¡¯t want you to end up hurting Hanna and Dahlia.¡±

    Her twin brother nodded. ¡°I will be careful not to hurt either of them, Neoma,¡± he said. ¡°I intend to keep my promise with Hanna, but I also want to get along with Miss Dahlia since I chose her to be one of my people. I need her strength, Neoma.¡±

    ¡°As long as your reason for keeping Dahlia by your side is tonic, then I won¡¯t say anything anymore,¡± she said, then she held Nero¡¯s hand and gently squeezed it. ¡°Please be careful with their hearts, Nero.¡±

    Nero nodded. ¡°I won¡¯t hurt them, Neoma.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s touching to see you getting along as usual, Ne-Ne and Ro-Ro.¡±

    Neoma and Nero stood up and held each other¡¯s hand when they faced Yule who suddenly appeared sitting on the throne.

    [Is Yule here to scold us for our n tomit sphemy?]

    But something was different from the Moon God.

    [He doesn¡¯t look like he¡¯s here to scold us.]

    Yule was blindfolded, and there were streaks of bloody tears on his cheeks as if he had just cried blood.

    [Lord Yule looks like Gojo-sen... no! Stop!] Neoma scolded herself. [This isn¡¯t the time to be a weeb!]

    ***

    NIKOLAI, for the first time after a long while, felt happy andplete.

    He still couldn¡¯t believe that his whole family was in the same room now.

    .....

    Nero and Neoma, who were still unconscious, were lying down on the bed while holding each other¡¯s hands like usual.

    [The twins are really close, huh?]

    Mona, on the other hand, was sitting on the chair beside the bed.

    [God, she¡¯s so beautiful.]

    Mona let out a deep sigh. ¡°What¡¯s taking Lord Yule so long to return our children?¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡±

    He didn¡¯t realize he let out that stupid ¡°oh¡± until Mona turned to her with a questioning look on her face.

    ¡°What is it?¡± she asked gently.

    ¡°Nothing,¡± Niki, who was sitting on the chair across from Mona, said. ¡°I was just happy to hear you say the words ¡°our children.¡± It finally hit me that our family is reallyplete now. Thank you for not excluding me, Mona.¡±

    She fell silent for a while.

    And that made him extremely nervous.

    He knew he had a lot to apologize for, so he didn¡¯t really know where to begin. Moreover, the fact that he was breathing in the same room as Mona was making him feel weak.

    ¡°While waiting for the kids to gain consciousness, let¡¯s talk,¡± she said sternly.

    He gulped hard. ¡°About what?¡±

    Mona smiled ¡°sweetly¡± at him. ¡°How about we start talking about how you tried to marry Neoma off to the Draytons when she was still a baby, Niki de Moonasterio?¡±

    Niki shut his eyes tight while clenching his hands tight.

    [I¡¯m dead meat.]

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 449

    Chapter 449: THE THORNY PATH

    TO BE HONEST, Neoma thought it was a little creepy to see Yule in that state.

    [Could it be that his fake eyes were...]

    ¡°I thought I told you not to call me by a weird pet name, Lord Yule,¡± Neroined, frowning- interrupting her thought process. ¡°Please, just call me by my name normally, thank you very much.¡±

    The Moon God justughed.

    But it was different from Yule¡¯s usual jollyughter.

    ¡°Lord Yule, what happened to your eyes?¡± Neoma asked worriedly. ¡°Did you cry blood or...¡±

    ¡°My eyes were poked out.¡±

    .....

    She gasped softly, identally squeezing Nero¡¯s hand a little too tightly.

    [My hunch was right.]

    ¡°I¡¯m fine since my eyes were fake anyway,¡± the Moon God said. ¡°You haven¡¯t forgotten that my real eyes were stolen a long time ago, have you?¡±

    Right.

    [And I was supposed to look for them.]

    ¡°What kind of being could poke out your fake eyes, Lord Yule?¡± Nero asked carefully. ¡°We thought you were sleeping.¡±

    ¡°I woke up a littleter after the Cosmic Tree did,¡± Yule exined. ¡°I tried to give the Cosmic Tree a message, but the Darkness that came out of nowhere blocked my vision and took my eyes.¡±

    ¡°Lord Yule, are you saying that Darkness has already reached the Upper World?¡± she asked.

    ¡°That¡¯s correct, and Darkness has been silently yet effectively hunting down gods with the ability to defeat it,¡± the Moon God said. ¡°I recently lost contact with the Sun Goddess. I¡¯m guessing she¡¯s being chased by Darkness, too.¡±

    ¡°Oh... that sounds troublesome.¡±

    ¡°Ne-Ne, my fake eyes have the power to see through the future that¡¯s rted to you,¡± Yule said. ¡°But now that my fake eyes have been taken away from me, I can no longer guide you. My vision, from now on, will be constantly clouded by Darkness.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me, Lord Yule- I can manage,¡± she said in order to console the god. ¡°Just please take care of yourself more.¡±

    ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio, your life will be easier if you let the new saint be born as the saint.¡±

    She got goosebumps when Yule called her full name in a serious voice.

    ¡°The new saint¡¯s divine power would be the greatest out of all the saints born in the world yet,¡± the Moon God said. ¡°After all, I poured a huge amount of divine power in him. I was afraid that the Darkness might steal my divine power next, so I used the new saint as a vessel.¡±

    She bit her bottom lip. ¡°I can¡¯t give up on Brigitte unnie, Lord Yule. Why do you choose Non-mana users if you know they¡¯d die during childbirth?¡±

    ¡°Mana-users can¡¯t carry saints in their wombs because the saints¡¯ divine power would be poisonous to them,¡± Yule exined. ¡°Only a select few could have both Mana and divine power- just like you, the de Moonasterios.¡±

    She was still confused. ¡°But why would the divine power be poisonous to Mana-users?¡±

    ¡°Because if Mana-user gets pregnant with the child destined to be the saint, the child¡¯s divine power would purify any kind of energy different from it- like their mother¡¯s Mana. And once Mana is purified inside a person¡¯s body, the ¡°dead¡± Mana would turn into toxins. Then it would eventually poison the baby in the womb,¡± the Moon God exined. ¡°However, a Non-Mana user¡¯s physical body is like an empty vessel. Thus, the saint would safely grow inside their womb without a problem.¡±

    ¡°Then why would the mothers who delivered the saints die during delivery?¡± she asked, her curiosity not satiated yet.

    ¡°While the saint is growing inside his mother¡¯s womb, his divine power flows throughout the mother¡¯s entire body to protect her from any harm. After all, the mother needs to be safe in order for the saint to be born safely,¡± Yule exined again. ¡°But once the saint is born, the divine power in the mother¡¯s body would disappear... along with the mother¡¯s life force.¡±

    She raised an eyebrow at that. ¡°Excuse me?¡±

    ¡°The saint¡¯s divine power is alive and it needs nutrients in order to get strong,¡± the Moon God said. ¡°Since the divine power is using the mother¡¯s body as its host instead of the fetus, it eats the mother¡¯s life force.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s terrible, Lord Yule,¡± sheined. ¡°How could you let those innocent mothers die for that reason?¡±

    ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio, sacrifices are needed to make sometimes,¡± Yule said gently. ¡°This world needs the saint¡¯s existence.¡±

    She bit her bottom lip hard until she tasted blood in her mouth. ¡°Papa Boss said he could prevent that from happening. Do you know how Papa Boss ns to do that?¡±

    ¡°Niki de Moonasterio is probably thinking of extracting the divine power from Brigitte Griffiths¡¯s body,¡± Yule said. ¡°It was the theory that Dominic Zavaroni came up with in the past because he didn¡¯t want his sessors to me themselves for their mothers¡¯ death as he did. He probably shared his theory with your father before.¡±

    [The former saint is really kind.]

    ¡°Extract the baby saint¡¯s divine power?¡± she asked with furrowed brows. ¡°Then he won¡¯t be a saint anymore.¡±

    [Is that why Papa Boss said earlier that the baby just doesn¡¯t have to be the saint?]

    ¡°Niki de Moonasterio asked for the ck Witch, didn¡¯t he?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Father did,¡± Nero said a little too eagerly. ¡°What does Father intend to make Miss Dahlia do?¡±

    ¡°Do you know why the ck Witches were shunned by the empire?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± she and her twin brother answered at the same time.

    Well, it was practically a taboo to talk about the ck Witches.

    ¡°The ck Witches were banned from the empire because the old Royal Family were scared of them,¡± Yule informed them. ¡°After all, the ck Witches could steal any kind of divine power- including Moonglow.¡±

    She gasped softly.

    Nero, on the other hand, squeezed her hand gently. ¡°I see. Father would order Miss Dahlia to extract the new saint¡¯s divine power from Queen Brigitte¡¯s body.¡±

    ¡°Correct,¡± the Moon God said. ¡°The ck Witch, Dahlia, could extract the divine power from Brigitte Griffiths¡¯ body. But...¡±

    Okay, that made her nervous. ¡°But what, Lord Yule?¡±

    ¡°Once the divine power is extracted from its current host, it would be impossible to contain it,¡± the Moon God warned them. ¡°The new saint¡¯s divine power would explode and scatter.¡±

    ¡°Scatter?¡± she asked, surprised. ¡°Then if we want to make the baby saint be recognized as the saint, we have to gather the scattered pieces of his divine power?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Yule confirmed. ¡°But even I do not know what form would a broken divine power take. Are you confident that you¡¯d be able to find and collect them all, Ne-Ne?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not about whether I¡¯m confident or not,¡± she said. ¡°I just have to do it. After all, it¡¯s better than letting Brigitte unnie die.¡±

    ¡°You have to find and collect all the broken pieces at all cost, Ne-Ne,¡± the Moon God said, almost pleading with her. ¡°If the pieces fall into the hands of the wrong people, you know what would happen.¡±

    She nodded firmly. ¡°I know, so I won¡¯t let it happen, Lord Yule.¡±

    ¡°Do you still want to take the risk instead of letting the new saint be born with his divine power intact?¡± Yule asked again, as if he was still hoping for her to change her mind. ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio, are you sure about taking the thorny path instead of the easy one?¡±

    ¡°Yes, my lord.¡±

    The Moon God turned to her twin brother. ¡°Nero de Moonasterio, if your twin sister walks on the thorny path, you¡¯ll have no choice but to walk the same path as her because your destinies are tied together.¡±

    Ouch.

    [Way to make me feel guilty, Lord Yule.]

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have it in any other way, Lord Yule,¡± Nero said without missing a heartbeat, then he turned to her. ¡°I won¡¯t let Neoma walk on the thorny path alone.¡±

    Aww, she was touched.

    She selfishly made the decision to save her Brigitte unnie without consulting Nero. And yet, here he was- dering his will to walk the same thorny path as her.

    Neoma smiled and squeezed Nero¡¯s hand. ¡°Thank you, dongsaeng-ah.¡±

    ***

    DAHLIA let out a gasp, then she got up while catching her breath.

    The Stars had shown her a glimpse of the future.

    [Queen Brigitte¡¯s fate has changed.]

    And she would be a part of that change.

    The Stars warned her, though.

    If she decided to help the de Moonasterios, her life would change drastically as well. Moreover, her identity as a ck Witch would be revealed earlier than expected. It would be the price she had to pay if she got involved.

    To be honest, she was scared of that kind of future.

    But her admiration and respect for Princess Neoma overwhelmed her fear.

    ¡°Princess Neoma chose to walk the thorny path to save one person,¡± Dahlia whispered to herself. ¡°I won¡¯t regret following that kind of person.¡±

    ***

    ¡°LORD YULE, before you return us to our parents, I have a question,¡± Neoma said when she sensed Yule was about to send them back. ¡°You know Calyx Dalton, right?¡±

    Yule didn¡¯t respond right away, but she took his silence as ¡®yes.¡¯

    ¡°Is he our father¡¯s son?¡± Nero asked. ¡°We know that he¡¯s a de Moonasterio, but we don¡¯t know who his parents are.¡±

    ¡°If I tell you I do not know where the child came from, would you believe me?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± she and Nero said at the same time.

    ¡°It¡¯s the truth, children,¡± Yule said solemnly. ¡°The crows have sessfully hidden the child from me. But I can confirm one thing- he is a de Moonasterio, no doubt.¡±

    .....

    She felt a sense of dread.

    [The crows will definitely use Calyx Drayton to steal the throne from us.]

    ¡°As I said earlier, my vision has already been blocked by Darkness,¡± the Moon God continued. ¡°I cannot answer your questions regarding that child.¡±

    Nero let out a frustrated sigh. ¡°I guess our problem will be solved if we just kill them all.¡±

    As expected of her formerly psycho twin brother.

    [His psycho gene is still alive and kicking.]

    ¡°Lord Yule, if I find your real eyes, would you be able to see again?¡± she asked carefully. ¡°See, as in SEE, everything like you used to?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s correct,¡± the Moon God confirmed. ¡°My real eyes couldn¡¯t be blocked by Darkness, after all.¡±

    Then she should find it as soon as possible.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Lord Yule,¡± she said. To be honest, she was really feeling guilty about the Moon God¡¯s eyes. ¡°You¡¯ve already told me from a long time ago that I need to find your real eyes. But I don¡¯t even know where to look for it.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to apologize for that, Neoma,¡± Nero said. ¡°If Lord Yule himself doesn¡¯t know where his real eyes are, he shouldn¡¯t expect you to find it right away. Moreover, you¡¯ve gone through a lot of things with minimum help from Lord Yule and his representatives.¡±

    She could only smile awkwardly at the Moon God.

    [I could totally see Nero as the douchebag type ofwyer- excellent, but douchy.]

    ¡°You¡¯re not wrong, Nero,¡± Yule said, epting Nero¡¯s harsh words. ¡°Ne-Ne, you don¡¯t have to apologize to me. You¡¯ll find my eyes when the time is right. You¡¯re already doing a splendid job.¡±

    Her smile turned genuine because she enjoyed getting praised. ¡°Thank you, Lord Yule.¡±

    ¡°And even though you¡¯ve chosen the thorny path, I can still see you iming the throne for yourself,¡± Yule said, but his smile was sad. ¡°The only difference is in thest vision I saw, you were sitting on a bloody throne.¡±

    Bloody throne.

    It meant that the fight for the throne would really be deadly.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Neoma,¡± Nero assured her. ¡°I¡¯ll clean the throne for you once the timees.¡±

    Now Neoma couldn¡¯t say that she really didn¡¯t want to be the empress.

    ***

    YULE LIED.

    The thorny path that he mentioned earlier wasn¡¯t meant for Neoma to walk, but he didn¡¯t have the heart to tell the truth.

    ¡°Lord Yule, why didn¡¯t you tell them the truth?¡± Manu, who appeared beside him, asked. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell the twins that Neoma¡¯s choice would make Nero walk the thorny path in her stead?¡±

    Yes, the thorny path was meant for Nero- and Nero alone.

    ¡°Nero is the one who¡¯s destined to suffer from his beloved twin sister¡¯s choice,¡± Yule said, then he paused for a moment. ¡°But I believe in Neoma- I believe that she can also change her twin brother¡¯s future.¡±

    Thus, Yule didn¡¯t feel the need to tell the royal twins about something that wouldn¡¯t happen, anyway...

    ... hopefully.

    ***

    WHEN NEOMA opened her eyes, she was greeted by a strange sight.

    ¡°Nero, am I still dreaming?¡± Neoma asked while rubbing her eyes with her hands. ¡°This is a dream, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately, no,¡± Nero, who was sitting beside her while looking at the same view with a deadpan look on his face, said. ¡°Father is really kneeling in front of Mother.¡±

    And their Papa Boss looked like he was about to cry.

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 450

    Chapter 450: ROSEHEART-DE MOONASTERIO

    NIKOLAI almost forgot that Mona was truly fearsome when mad.

    He was overjoyed by the fact that his whole family was finallyplete. Thus, he forgot that Mona had plenty of reasons to hate him. She initially asked him to tell her the terrible things that he put their children through in the past, but he genuinely didn¡¯t know where to begin, so he kept his mouth shut while thinking.

    That was when Mona lost her temper. Instead of waiting for him to exin, she just used a skill on him.

    It was the skill that brought him to his knees literally while maintaining eye contact with Mona. Her light-blue eyes glowed beautifully. But although it was a mesmerizing sight, her eyes were actually ¡°reading¡± his memories through his eyes.

    In short, Mona was looking into his memories- memories rted to their children.

    Of course, he could have rejected it. Since he was more powerful than Mona, it was possible for him to reject the skill that she applied to him. But he chose to let her see the memories that she wanted to check.

    The only side-effect of Mona¡¯s skill was it hurt his eyes. In fact, he couldn¡¯t even blink. He wouldn¡¯t be surprised if tears rolled down his cheeks any moment now.

    .....

    After all, Mona¡¯s pretty light-blue eyes were literally blinding at the moment.

    ¡°Mama Boss, Papa Boss, what are you two doing?¡±

    Mona only tore her blinding eyes away from him when they heard Neoma ask them what they were up to.

    Thanks to Neoma, he could finally blink.

    A tear or two fell down when he did, so he wiped them off immediately.

    [This is a little embarrassing.]

    ¡°Neoma, Nero, you babies are finally awake,¡± Mona said in a relieved and grateful voice. ¡°Why did Lord Yule summon you? Did he scold you because of your father¡¯s idea tomit sphemy?¡±

    Niki turned to Mona after her unfair usation against him. ¡°How is it my fault?¡± heined lightly. ¡°I¡¯m just trying to be supportive of our daughter since she¡¯s determined to save the queen of Hazelden.¡±

    Mona turned to her with a ¡°sweet¡± smile on her face.

    He regretted talking back to her right away.

    [I should have kept my mouth shut.]

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t hear it quite clearly, Your Majesty,¡± Mona said, still smiling in a scary way. The fact that she addressed him by his title was already a sign that she was upset with him. ¡°What did Your Majesty say again?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s my fault,¡± Niki said without missing a heartbeat. ¡°Everything is my fault.¡±

    ***

    ¡°FATHER is such a sucker for Mother.¡±

    Neoma, who was about to sip her tea, turned to Nero with a meme-able face.

    [Seriously, Nero? You, of all people, do not have the right to say that to Papa Boss. You¡¯re such a sucker for me too, you know?]

    But she had to agree with Nero.

    Watching their father follow their mother like a duckling following its mother duck was surreal.

    Her Mama Boss insisted on putting the snacks from the dessert trolley on the table.

    To help their mother, their Papa Boss brewed the tea for them.

    [If people heard that the scary emperor of thisnd brewed tea for us, nobody would believe it.]

    ¡°Sit down, Niki,¡± Mama Boss told Papa Boss. ¡°You¡¯re distracting me.¡±

    Papa Boss sat down without a question.

    [Gosh, Papa Boss is a big simp for Mama Boss.]

    After Mama Boss finished serving all the snacks on the table, only then did she sit down.

    Since the tea-table was round, the four of them were sitting close together. She was sitting on the chair between Nero and Mama Boss, while her Papa Boss was sitting next to her twin brother. Thus, her father and mother were sitting side by side.

    Her mother and father looked so good together because both of their visuals were out of this world.

    She suddenly had the urge to bow to her parents to show them her gratitude.

    [Thanks to Mama Boss and Papa Boss, Nero and I were born pretty.]

    ¡°Babies, is that all that Lord Yule said to you?¡± their Mama Boss asked while cutting the pumpkin pie into slices. ¡°He didn¡¯t ask you to do something dangerous again, did he?¡±

    Neoma shook her head. ¡°No, Mama Boss. He just summoned us to tell us the consequences of saving Brigitte unnie¡¯s life.¡±

    She and Nero already told their parents about the conversation they had with Lord Yule.

    Their parents looked calm earlier, but she could see in their eyes that they were worried about the Moon God¡¯s light warning about the consequences they would be facing soon.

    ¡°Mama Boss, Papa Boss, I¡¯m sorry,¡± she said sincerely. ¡°Because of my selfish desire to save Brigitte unnie, we¡¯re going to face some troublesome things in the future.¡±

    ¡°Baby, you don¡¯t have to apologize,¡± her Mama Boss said kindly. ¡°Sacrificing the lives of the women chosen to give birth to the saints muste to an end, anyway. If we seed in saving the life of the queen of Hazelden while allowing her to give birth to the new saint, then no sacrifices would be made in the future anymore. Wouldn¡¯t that be a good thing?¡±

    ¡°Your mother is right,¡± her Papa Boss said. ¡°The former saint Dominic Zavaroni was the one who came up with the method of saving the lives of the women chosen to give birth to the saints. He shared it with me back then, hoping that no woman would end up like his mother again. But during that time, I thought his method was futile because I didn¡¯t know there was a ck Witch that survived the Witch Hunt in the past.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know that, too,¡± her mother said. ¡°I was pretty surprised when I saw the young ck Witch that you introduced to me earlier.¡±

    Dahlia came to the vi after Papa Boss summoned her.

    Right now, the ck Witch was currently checking on Brigitte unnie¡¯s condition. It seemed like the queen was surprised earlier when lightning struck her and Nero. Of course, Uncle Glenn was with them.

    ¡°Father, don¡¯t force Miss Dahlia to get involved with our n if she refuses,¡± Nero said bluntly. ¡°Our family would be punished once our n seeds.¡±

    The punishment Nero was talking about was the thorny path they would be walking on for suppressing the natural birth of the baby saint.

    ¡°Everyone who will help us will probably get punished, too,¡± Nero continued. ¡°Father, make sure to let Miss Dahlia know the consequence of lending us her power. And if she refuses, then don¡¯t force her.¡±

    Their Papa Boss looked taken aback by Nero¡¯s light warning. But in the end, he nodded. ¡°I understand. I won¡¯t force the ck Witch if she refuses.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Father,¡± her twin brother said, then he sipped his tea.

    ¡°Neoma, baby, I¡¯m d to see you eating well,¡± her Mama Boss said after she wolfed down her second slice of pumpkin pie. ¡°What else do you want to eat?¡±

    She turned to the variety of snacks spread on the table.

    Then sheughed when she saw the chocte muffins while gesturing the dessert to her father. It looked like her Papa Boss also remembered the time he called her ¡®Muffin¡¯ because her father¡¯s face turned red immediately.

    Nero and Mama Boss noticed that she and her Papa Boss had exchanged a private joke.

    ¡°What is it?¡± Nero asked curiously. ¡°What¡¯s with the muffin?¡±

    She had to swallow herughter before she spoke. ¡°Papa Boss tried to be affectionate and called me ¡®Muffin¡¯ as an endearment.¡±

    Nero and their mother looked shocked.

    ¡°It¡¯s true,¡± she said,ughing again. ¡°Papa Boss really called me ¡®Muffin.''¡±

    Nero, whose default setting was either to frown or smirk like a viin,ughed genuinely. It was a richugh that still sounded elegant- which suited a Crown Prince like him.

    Mama Boss alsoughed softly.

    This time, even Papa Boss¡¯s ears, and neck turned red from embarrassment.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be embarrassed, Niki,¡± her Mama Boss said. ¡°It¡¯s actually cute. You should give Nero a pet name, too.¡±

    Nero stoppedughing and went back to his grumpy default. ¡°No, thank you. I don¡¯t need a pet name, Mother.¡±

    Ah.

    She suddenly had the urge to tease her baby brother.

    ¡°But it won¡¯t be fair if only I get to have a cute pet name,¡± she said, earning her a re from Nero. She ignored her twin brother to look at their father. ¡°Papa Boss, Mama Boss is right. You should totally give Nero a cute pet name.¡±

    Mama Boss turned to Papa Boss with sparkling, hopeful eyes. ¡°Niki,e on. Give our son a cute pet name, too.¡±

    Papa Boss, who couldn¡¯t say ¡®no¡¯ to Mama Boss, let out a sigh. Then his eyes wandered to the table before he focused on Nero. There was a resigned look on her father¡¯s face as he spoke. ¡°Pumpkin,¡± her father said. ¡°You¡¯ll be ¡®Pumpkin¡¯ from now on, Nero.¡±

    Neoma burst outughing while Nero covered his face with his hands.

    [Papa Boss probably saw the pumpkin pie and chose it as Nero¡¯s pet name.]

    ¡°That¡¯s a cute pet name,¡± Mama Boss said, obviously pleased. Then she looked at Neoma and Nero with warm eyes. ¡°Now you¡¯re our Baby Muffin and Baby Pumpkin.¡±

    [God bless us and our family¡¯s horrible naming sense.]

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 451

    Chapter 451: BIG LIFE DECISIONS

    ¡°YOU don¡¯t have to help us if you don¡¯t want to,¡± Nero said after he exined to Dahlia what kind of help would they need from her. ¡°It¡¯s a dangerous task, and you might also get punished with us, Miss Dahlia. We won¡¯t resent you if you reject our request.¡±

    Right now, he was in the drawing room while having tea with Dahlia.

    He and Neoma decided to talk to Dahlia and the Hazelden¡¯s royal couple separately.

    His twin sister was in charge of talking to Queen Brigitte and King Glenn, while he was in charge of talking to Dahlia.

    It was Neoma¡¯s idea to do that all for one reason.

    [¡°Nero, let¡¯s give Mama Boss and Papa Boss some time to spend together. I¡¯m sure they have a lot of things they need to talk about in private. Let¡¯s give them the chance to reconcile.¡±]

    He honestly didn¡¯t care much about their parents¡¯ affair.

    .....

    But since it seemed important to Neoma, he went along with her n.

    ¡°I¡¯ll do it, Prince Nero,¡± Dahlia said determinedly. ¡°I¡¯m aware of the risks, but I still want to lend my power to you.¡±

    He already expected that the ck Witch wouldn¡¯t reject their offer.

    Still, he was impressed by her bravery.

    ¡°The ck Witches were banned from the empire because the old Royal Family was afraid of your ability to steal divine powers. And now, it¡¯s exactly the ability that we need from you,¡± he said carefully while stirring his tea. ¡°Because of that, a part of me expects you to turn us down. If I were you, I would make the Royal Family beg at my feet before I agree to help them.¡±

    Dahliaughed softly. ¡°That sounds like something that you would do, Prince Nero.¡± She ced her teacup down on the saucer. ¡°But I didn¡¯t say that I would work for free.¡±

    Ohh.

    That actually made him smile.

    ¡°Is the crybaby negotiating with me now?¡± he asked, then he raised an eyebrow at her.

    ¡°I¡¯m not a crybaby,¡± she denied while pouting. ¡°See? I¡¯m not even stuttering.¡±

    He pped his hands. ¡°Good job.¡±

    The ck Witch justughed.

    ¡°Let¡¯s hear it then,¡± he said, his smile fading.

    But he wasn¡¯t angry or anything.

    He just went into business mode. Even though he decided to be kind to Dahlia, he was still the Crown Prince of the empire. He had to be careful when making deals.

    ¡°Miss Dahlia, we wouldn¡¯t make you work for free. But as the Crown Prince of the empire, I can¡¯t carelessly say that I¡¯ll give you anything you want,¡± he said seriously. ¡°However, if it¡¯s within my power, then I¡¯ll grant you whatever reward you wish for.¡±

    The ck Witch smiled and nodded. ¡°I only have a simple wish, Prince Nero,¡± she said, then she turned serious. ¡°I can¡¯t do it alone, so please help me purify the ¡°water¡± on the ind I call home. Your Royal Highness has strong Roseheart Blood in you, so I believe you can help me with my wish.¡±

    Nero knitted his eyebrows. ¡°The bloody water on that ind is corrupted?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not water, Prince Nero,¡± Dahlia said, then she smiled sadly. ¡°It¡¯s the blood of the dead Ancient Spirit called Novak.¡±

    ***

    NEOMA smiled to lighten up the mood.

    After she told Brigitte unnie and Uncle Glenn their n, the royal couple looked troubled.

    She had to tell them the consequence of saving the queen¡¯s life during childbirth. After all, Brigitte unnie and Uncle Glenn had to know that their son would be born without his divine power.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Brigitte unnie and Uncle Glenn,¡± Neoma said cheerfully. ¡°We will find your baby saint¡¯s divine power, and give him back his rightful ce as the new saint.¡±

    It wouldn¡¯t be easy, but they had Dion.

    [Dion have eyes that could see anyone and anything with divine power. And he can lend me his eyes, so I¡¯m not that worried.]

    ¡°That¡¯s not what we¡¯re worried about, Princess Neoma,¡± Brigitte unnie said worriedly. ¡°Because of me, you¡¯ve taken the thorny path instead of the easy one...¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re grateful, but we couldn¡¯t help but feel guilty, Your Royal Highness,¡± Uncle Glenn added. ¡°You already have too much on your te, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d rather go on a search to look for the baby saint¡¯s scattered divine power than to lose Brigitte unnie,¡± she said, smiling. ¡°And I won¡¯t be doing it alone. I have you, right?¡±

    ¡°Of course, Your Royal Highness,¡± Brigitte unnie and Uncle Glenn said at the same time.

    ¡°That¡¯s why you don¡¯t have to worry too much,¡± she assured them again. ¡°I won¡¯t be taking this thorny path alone. And as long as I have everyone beside me, we can turn the thorny path into a flowery path.¡±

    It was cringey to say, but at least, she seeded in making the royal couple smile.

    ¡°Thank you, Princess Neoma,¡± Brigitte unnie said sincerely. ¡°We are indebted to you.¡±

    ¡°We promise to pay Your Royal Highness in any way we can,¡± Uncle Glenn said, his voice cracking from being emotional. ¡°Thank you for saving my family, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re a big family, Uncle Glenn,¡± she said, grinning. ¡°So please don¡¯t feel burdened, hmm?¡±

    The royal couple looked touched by what she said.

    ¡°I¡¯ll return to the pceter with Papa Boss,¡± she informed the two. ¡°But I will be back here as soon as thest match for my entrance exam is done.¡±

    When she mentioned the entrance exam, she noticed that Brigitte unnie and Uncle Glenn¡¯s expressions changed.

    It was as if they were hesitating to speak.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± she asked carefully. ¡°Please don¡¯t hesitate to speak your mind.¡±

    The queen and the king exchanged looks first before they responded to her question.

    ¡°Princess Neoma, to be honest, the news about the appearance of the boy who looks like His Majesty has already reached our kingdom,¡± the queen said. ¡°We also heard that Your Royal Highness is going to face him in the final match.¡±

    To be honest, that surprised her. ¡°It already reached a foreign kingdom?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not the only problem, Princess Neoma,¡± Uncle Glenn added worriedly. ¡°We didn¡¯t know who started it, but there was a strange rumor spreading among the nobles of Hazelden Kingdom.¡±

    Okay, that made her nervous.

    ¡°The rumor says that Calyx Dalton is His Majesty¡¯s son with thete Empress Juliet,¡± Uncle Glenn continued. ¡°And apparently, His Majesty threw away his son with thete empress in order to make his son with Lady Roseheart the heir to the throne.¡±

    She was shocked to hear that. ¡°That kind of rumor has already spread in Hazelden?¡±

    If that rumor had spread in a foreign kingdom, then it must have already spread in the empire, too.

    ¡°Now, the nobles of our kingdom are asking me to reconsider my alliance with Prince Nero,¡± Brigitte unnie said, then she let out a sigh. ¡°The nobles here are probably thinking that the current Crown Prince would lose his power once that boy, Calyx Dalton, turns out to be His Majesty¡¯s real firstborn son.¡±

    She couldn¡¯t believe it.

    ¡°Calyx Dalton doesn¡¯t have the physical traits to prove that he¡¯s a de Moonasterio, but people are already believing that he could be my father¡¯s son?¡± Neoma asked in disbelief, then she clicked her tongue. ¡°The crows are definitely spreading those rumors, and their purpose could be to condition the public into epting Calyx Dalton as a potential prince.¡±

    ***

    ¡°SWEETIE, would you consider withdrawing from the match?¡±

    Hanna already expected to hear that from her mother, but she still felt a pang in her chest. ¡°Is that what Grandfather and Grandmother wanted me to do?¡± she asked while putting her teacup down on the saucer. ¡°Mother, do you agree with my grandparents?¡±

    Her mother, who was sitting on the chair across from her, flinched.

    She returned home to pack her things before she officially moved to Luna Pce.

    The day she returned home was also the day her mother returned from visiting her grandparents (from the mother¡¯s side). When her mother invited her to have tea with a solemn look on her face, she already knew that they would be talking about something like this.

    ¡°Hanna, to be honest with you, I agree with your grandparents,¡± her mother said hesitantly. ¡°It hasn¡¯t been announced officially yet, but you¡¯re still Prince Nero¡¯s fianc¨¦e. My parents aren¡¯t pleased with the fact that you¡¯re going to fight His Royal Highness just to be the student representative.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not participating in the match ¡°just to be the student representative,¡± Mother,¡± she said gently. ¡°I¡¯m doing this because I want to inspire other girls that despite the limitations the society set to hold us back, we can still aplish a lot of great things.¡±

    ¡°You do not have to do that, sweetie,¡± her mother said worriedly. ¡°You¡¯ll be the future Crown Princess. It¡¯s already inspiring for girls your age.¡±

    She couldn¡¯t me her mother for having that mindset.

    After all, her mother was raised by a generation who believed that a woman¡¯s greatest aplishment was to be married into a good family.

    ¡°Mother, have you told Father that my grandparents want me to withdraw from the match?¡±

    Her mother shook her head. ¡°I know your father,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m sure Rufus would just say that he¡¯ll respect your decision...¡± Her mother trailed off. ¡°Hanna, sweetie, it¡¯s not like I don¡¯t respect your decision. As your mother, I just want the best for you.¡±

    ¡°I know that, Mother,¡± she said, smiling. ¡°But I¡¯m sorry- I won¡¯t withdraw from the match.¡±

    Her mother looked disappointed by her decision. ¡°Hanna...¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m really sorry, Mother,¡± Hanna said, her voice clear and firm. ¡°My decision is final.¡±

    ***

    MONA couldn¡¯t say that she was surprised when Niki stayed in the room.

    To be precise, the two of them were standing next to each other on the balcony while watching the sunset. The beautiful orange sky and the pure white snow in front of them looked beautiful. To simply say, the mood was perfect for a heart-to-heart talk.

    Their Baby Muffin and Baby Pumpkin went out to have a meeting with the queen and king of Hazelden. The twins would exin how they would save the queen from dying during childbirth.

    To be honest, Niki should be there to exin.

    .....

    ¡°You should go there and help our babies exin,¡± Mona said, even though she knew Niki wouldn¡¯t budge. ¡°You¡¯re the one who knows how to save the queen.¡±

    ¡°Neoma and Nero said that Yule already exined the process to them,¡± Niki said. As expected, he already made up his mind to stay here with her. ¡°They can handle it on their own. But I¡¯ll have a talk with Glenn before I leave.¡±

    Ah, right.

    Niki had to return to the Royal Pce.

    ¡°Neoma will return to the pce with me,¡± Niki added. ¡°She can¡¯t stay here for too long since she still has work waiting for her. Moreover, she¡¯s preparing for the final match that¡¯s a part of her entrance exam.¡±

    She also expected that since she had already heard about the entrance exam from Gale.

    ¡°The child that our Baby Muffin would fight in the match...¡± Mona began carefully, then she turned to Niki. ¡°Our children said there¡¯s a possibility that he¡¯s a de Moonasterio. They also said he looks like you.¡±

    ¡°That child isn¡¯t my son,¡± Niki said firmly. ¡°I swear it on everything I have, Mona. You were the only woman I ever held in my life.¡±

    Her cheeks flushed.

    She was embarrassed to meet his gaze, so she turned away from him.

    ¡°I know that,¡± she said. ¡°But the children are also convinced that there¡¯s a possibility that Juliet is still alive.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve also considered that possibility,¡± he admitted. ¡°Ruston Stroganoff said that he¡¯ll bring Juliet back if I just wait silently. But he never said he¡¯d bring back a corpse.¡±

    ¡°Ruston Stroganoff is a special one,¡± she said. ¡°The things he said in the past happened.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why I trust him.¡±

    ¡°Once Julietes back, the nobles will definitely demand that you reinstate her as the empress.¡±

    ¡°If that happens, I¡¯ll step down as the emperor.¡±

    She turned to him with a shocked look on her face. ¡°What did you say?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll give up the throne,¡± he said calmly. ¡°Once Nero is physically ready, I¡¯ll let him ascend the throne. His engagement with Hanna Quinzel will be announced soon. The Quinzels and the other families who are loyal to us will support our son.¡±

    ¡°Niki, are you out of your mind?¡± she asked, frustrated. ¡°Why would you give up the throne?¡±

    ¡°Because I want to be with you.¡±

    She couldn¡¯t say that she didn¡¯t expect to hear that from him. Still, she was surprised by his sudden confession. Whether or not she admitted it, her heart really fluttered. ¡°Niki...¡±

    ¡°Mona, I know that I have a lot to apologize for. And I¡¯m also aware that I ought to make it up to you and our children for the rest of my life,¡± he said softly. ¡°I will apologize to you again and again. I will kneel and bow my head to you until you forgive me for everything I have done that hurt you in the past.¡±

    It was true that she still had some resentment towards Niki.

    But after spending time with him and their children, her anger slowly melted.

    She realized that thirteen years had already been stolen from their family. Should she really be spending every moment of her life resenting Niki? It wasn¡¯t like she waspletely meless. She had also hurt the emperor in the past.

    Moreover, it was she who got fooled by Gavin Quinzel. If she didn¡¯t blindly trust him, she wouldn¡¯t have ended up in that ice of block.

    Thus, forgiving Niki wouldn¡¯t be impossible.

    [And I saw how he treats our children with my own two eyes. I can no longer see the Niki who wanted to kill our babies in the past. The Niki right now is a proper father.]

    She was aware that Niki had been a terrible father before.

    But Neoma and Nero had already forgiven him, and the twins had moved on from their bitter past with their father.

    Now, the three got along well.

    ¡°We still have a lot to talk about regarding the past, but I thought I should make my intentions clear first,¡± Niki said softly while looking directly into her eyes. ¡°Mona, I¡¯m still in love with you- and there wasn¡¯t a moment that I have stopped loving you.¡±

    ¡°Liar,¡± she said in a cracked voice. She was touched by Niki¡¯s heartfelt confession. But she was afraid of being too happy, so she was acting pessimist. After all, whenever she was happy in the past, tragedy would alwayse next. ¡°I stole your ability to love...¡±

    ¡°You did, but my love for you is stronger than the cursed you ced on me,¡± he said firmly. ¡°And our children broke that curse. Even though you stole my ability to love, I still ended up loving Neoma and Nero.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t hard to believe him.

    After all, her ability to steal emotions wasn¡¯t her forte. It was just a skill that she learned half-heartedly. And it might have worn off the moment Niki felt a stronger emotion than the hate that she instilled in his heart back then.

    ¡°Mona, I would like for us to be a whole family,¡± Niki said, almost pleading with her. ¡°So if you ept me, please marry me.¡±

    Niki¡¯s casual yet sincere marriage proposal made her tears fall like silent waterfalls.

    It was something that she had never experienced in the past.

    After all, Niki wasn¡¯t in the position where he could propose to her then- not when almost everyone around them expressed their disapproval against her.

    But now, she could tell that he didn¡¯t care about anything else.

    It was clear to her that Niki¡¯s priority right now was to make their familyplete.

    How could her heart not waver?

    ¡°I¡¯ll think about it,¡± she said, then sheughed softly when Niki¡¯s face lit up.

    She just said that she would think about his proposal, but he was already that happy. Then how would he react once she epted him into her life again?

    Yes, deep in her heart, she knew she would say ¡®yes¡¯ to Niki again.

    [I just need more time to prepare mentally and emotionally.]

    ¡°I¡¯ll wait,¡± Niki said, his face and voice full of hope. His usual dead ash-gray eyes were currently sparkling with joy. ¡°I¡¯ll wait for your answer no matter how long it takes, Mona.¡±

    Mona couldn¡¯t help but smile at this side of Niki that she hadn¡¯t seen yet. ¡°Niki, the next time you propose...¡± She trailed off on purpose, teasing him. Then she raised her left hand and pointed at her ring finger. ¡°Please do it properly.¡±

    Oh, no.

    Mona slightly regretted what she said when she saw the fire in Niki¡¯s eyes- the fire that said he would get her the most beautiful (and probably the most expensive) engagement ring in the entire world.

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 452

    Chapter 452: LOVERS

    ¡°LEWIS, say ¡®ah,''¡± Neoma said while offering a piece of candy to her ¡°son.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve neglected you, haven¡¯t I?¡±

    Lewis just gave her a nk look.

    Right now, she was in the snowy garden of the vi with her ¡°son.¡±

    Earlier, Lewis told her that he saw two ice sculptures of her in the garden. Thus, they went to check it out.

    And to her surprise, it was true.

    One of the ice sculptures made her look innocent, while the other captured her beauty and elegance. She liked thetter.

    But both ice sculptures were pretty, since she was the model.

    .....

    ¡°Lewis, my arm hurts,¡± she said. ¡°Come on, open your mouth.¡±

    Lewis let out a sigh, then he opened his mouth.

    ¡°Good boy,¡± she said, then she put the candy in his mouth. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for not paying attention to you recently, Lewis.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Princess Neoma,¡± Lewis said after eating the candy. ¡°I understand.¡±

    ¡°But you were sulking.¡±

    ¡°I just hate the fact that I¡¯m always not by your side when something terrible happens to you.¡±

    Ah, right.

    Lewis left to follow her Papa Boss¡¯s order before she and Nero were struck by lightning.

    ¡°Nothing serious happened, so don¡¯t let it bother you,¡± she consoled him. ¡°Cheer up, Lewis.¡±

    He just let out a sigh.

    ¡°Should I act cute for you?¡± she asked, then she stood in front of him while cupping her (beautiful) face with her hands. Then she opened her eyes wide and blinked prettily. Don¡¯t ask her how to blink prettily- it came naturally to her to do pretty things. ¡°Just look at my face and you¡¯ll feel better.¡±

    Lewis stifled hisughter.

    Then, much to her surprise, he ¡°wiped¡± her face with his gloved hand.

    It was rare for him to start physical contact. But maybe it was okay for him since he was wearing gloves, thus their skin didn¡¯t touch.

    ¡°Princess Neoma is right,¡± Lewis said. His face was back to its usual indifference, but his voice was warm and friendly. ¡°Looking at your pretty face makes me feel better. So please don¡¯t disappear from my sight.¡±

    She justughed his worry off. ¡°Why would I disappear from your sight? We¡¯re stuck to each other like glue, Lewis.¡±

    Lewis smiled again, and he was about to pat her head when it suddenly got colder.

    The change of temperature was followed by someone clearing his throat.

    She didn¡¯t need to turn around to know who it was.

    ¡°Ohh, the Pumpkin is here,¡± she teased her baby brother.

    Nero just rolled his eyes at her teasing, then he stood beside her while looking at Lewis. ¡°You¡¯re a White Lion Knight, Lewis. And once Neoma¡¯s Order is officially established, you¡¯d be amander.¡±

    She frowned. [Why is he suddenly scolding Lewis?]

    ¡°Thus, you must follow protocol at all times,¡± Nero continued in a scolding voice. ¡°You must not touch the body of any member of the Royal Family unless it¡¯s a life or death situation.¡±

    She was about to defend Lewis when her ¡°son¡± spoke.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t break any protocol,¡± Lewis said coolly. ¡°Princess Neoma isn¡¯t officially registered in the Royal Household. So, technically, she¡¯s not a member of the Royal Family.¡±

    She gasped softly.

    [Oh my god- that was savage.]

    Lewis wasn¡¯t wrong, but Nero wasn¡¯t impressed.

    [Ah, the Pumpkin is gonna snap.]

    ¡°Nero, Nero,¡± she said, calling her brother in a disgustingly sweet voice while clinging to his arm. When Nero turned to her, she gave him the best puppy dog eyes she could muster at the moment. ¡°Did you make those ice sculptures for me? They¡¯re so pretty- I love them!¡±

    ¡®Operation: Distract Nero From Killing Lewis¡¯ was a sess.

    Nero¡¯s face softened up when he smiled at her. ¡°Miss Dahlia and I had apetition. We made ice sculptures. Can you guess which one of the two did I make?¡±

    ¡°The one where I look really pretty and elegant?¡±

    ¡°Oh, how did you know?¡±

    ¡°I just know. Maybe because we¡¯re twins, so I know how you see me,¡± she said with a shrug. Then she linked her arm with Lewis¡¯ arm and dragged him back inside the vi. ¡°Anyway, did you win?¡±

    Lewis was still following them.

    But since she was giving her full attention to Nero, her baby brother had probably already forgotten about why he was upset earlier.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t win,¡± Nero said. And for someone who waspetitive, it looked like he didn¡¯t mind losing this time. ¡°Sire Glenn and the Fletcher Twins served as the judges. Sire and Wyatt voted for Miss Dahlia¡¯s ice sculpture. Apparently, they liked how Miss Dahlia captured your innocence in her ice sculpture.¡±

    ¡°I can see that. My innocent side is really charming,¡± she said while nodding. ¡°But I like yours better, Nero.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m d to hear that,¡± he said, then he changed the topic. ¡°Miss Dahlia agreed to help us, but she wanted to bepensated.¡±

    ¡°Of course, we¡¯llpensate her. That goes without saying,¡± she said. ¡°What did she ask for in return? Let¡¯s give it to her if it¡¯s within our means.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it- I¡¯ll take care of itter.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure?¡± she asked, just to be sure. ¡°I know Dahlia wouldn¡¯t take advantage of us. But you didn¡¯t agree to something dangerous or sketchy, did you?¡±

    ¡°Of course not,¡± he assured her, but he changed the topic again as if he wanted to avoid her interrogation. ¡°How did your talk with the queen and the king go?¡±

    ¡°Gosh, you won¡¯t believe this, Nero,¡± she said. ¡°The news about Calyx Dalton possibly being our father¡¯s son has already reached Hazelden. Worse, people are treating the rumor as if it was the truth. ording to Brigitte unnie, the nobles in this kingdom are already pressuring her to reconsider her alliance with us. Apparently, they believe Calyx Dalton would take the throne in the end because he is older than you- the real Crown Prince.¡±

    ¡°This is why you shouldn¡¯t have been lenient with those people,¡± Nero scolded her. ¡°You should have killed Queen Brigitte¡¯s family and buried the nobles in the avnche you created a few years ago.¡± He turned to her with an ¡®I-told-you-so¡¯ look on his face. ¡°See how they want to repay our generosity?¡±

    Neoma slowly pulled her arm away from Nero. [Why am I being scolded?]

    ***

    ¡°I FEEL terrible for spying on our daughter,¡± Mona said while cupping her face between her hands. ¡°I just wanted the Spirits to look out for her. But I didn¡¯t know they¡¯d give me a full report.¡±

    To be precise, the Spirits became her eyes and ears.

    As a result, she saw and heard Neoma¡¯s conversation with the Silver Fox boy.

    She turned to Niki.

    After his marriage proposal, she went to the kitchen because she wanted to cook for her family. The kitchen wasplete with high-quality food ingredients and cooking utensils. Apparently, the Fletcher Twins were in charge of making meals for Nero since no one else, aside from the queen and king of Hazelden, were allowed in the vi.

    [If I remember it correctly, Wyatt Fletcher is the designated chef among the Pdins.]

    Anyway...

    Niki followed her, but she already expected that. So, she just told him she wouldn¡¯t mind if he stuck to her all glue as long as he didn¡¯t bother her.

    And thus, Niki sat on the chair quietly.

    ¡°Is the Silver Fox our Muffin¡¯s personal knight?¡± she asked curiously. ¡°What¡¯s the boy¡¯s name again?¡±

    ¡°His name is Lewis Crevan,¡± Niki answered, frowning. It seemed like he didn¡¯t like that the boy was close to their daughter, huh? ¡°And he¡¯s Neoma¡¯s ¡°son.¡±¡±

    She almost dropped the spat from shock. ¡°Excuse me?¡±

    The emperor smirked as if he was amused. ¡°Your daughter refers to her friends as her ¡°children¡± since she¡¯s ¡°older¡± than her.¡±

    ¡°Older?¡±

    ¡°This is already Neoma¡¯s third life.¡±

    Ah, right.

    The first time she saw Neoma, she saw a glimpse of the two lifetimes she had lived. She only got a glimpse, but she didn¡¯t like either.

    Especially the second one.

    ¡°Gavin Quinzel,¡± she said, gripping the spat in her hand tight. ¡°She stole our daughter from us and lived as if she was his own daughter.¡±

    ¡°Neoma loves Gavin Quinzel,¡± Niki said in a careful voice as if he was being gentle with her feelings. ¡°She still sees him as her father.¡±

    She didn¡¯t like it.

    But the memories that she saw from Neoma¡¯s second life, her daughter was happy with Gavin Quinzel and the woman who looked like her twin sister.

    [That¡¯s Go Areum, right?]

    In the end, Gavin Quinzel seeded to build a family with her.

    .....

    ¡°Mona, Gavin Quinzel is currently trapped in the same ice that imprisoned you for thirteen years.¡±

    She nodded. ¡°Gale told me about it.¡±

    ¡°Neoma wants to free Gavin and send him back to the other world,¡± Niki said softly. ¡°But I told her I will only allow that to happen with your permission.¡±

    ¡°Even if I forgive Gavin, he still has to be punished,¡± she said firmly. ¡°He killed his own people, Niki.¡±

    ¡°Neoma doesn¡¯t know that,¡± he said. ¡°I didn¡¯t tell her that Gavin killed his own people.¡±

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell her?¡±

    ¡°Because I didn¡¯t have the heart to do so,¡± he confessed. ¡°We may hate Gavin for betraying us. But Neoma loves and respects him. Moreover, Gavin is the reason why Neoma has be who she is today.¡± He smiled sadly. ¡°Gavin is a better father than me, Mona. He loved and treasured her, even though she wasn¡¯t his own flesh and blood.¡±

    She couldn¡¯t refute that.

    And now, she didn¡¯t how to handle the situation.

    She couldn¡¯t forgive Gavin easily. But if Neoma begged her to, she wasn¡¯t confident that she could refuse her daughter.

    ¡°You also have to know that the soul of Go Areum¡¯s real daughter is trapped inside the Cosmic Tree¡¯s garden,¡± Niki added. ¡°The child is the reason why Neoma is desperate to save Gavin. She wants to send them back to the other world.¡±

    It must have been a hard decision for Neoma.

    [Her decision to send back Gavin and the child to the other world only means that she has already given up on the life that she could reim if she wanted to.]

    Neoma probably chose to stay here for them- her family in this world.

    ¡°I can¡¯t find it in my heart to forgive Gavin yet, Niki.¡±

    ¡°I find it hard to do, too, Mona. But...¡±

    Niki didn¡¯t need to finish his sentence because shepletely understood.

    [It won¡¯t be easy not to give in to Neoma¡¯s wish.]

    ¡°Mona, you don¡¯t have to forgive Gavin if you don¡¯t want to,¡± Niki said gently. ¡°I¡¯ll talk to Neoma.¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯ll talk to Neoma,¡± Mona said while shaking her head. ¡°The fact that she hasn¡¯t mentioned Gavin to me means she¡¯s not yet ready to open up to me about her second life. Let¡¯s wait for our Muffin, Niki.¡±

    He nodded in agreement. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s do that.¡±

    ¡°Are you okay with the Quinzels?¡± she asked. ¡°I heard Nero¡¯s fianc¨¦e is Rufus and Amber¡¯s daughter.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t hate Rufus for what Gavin did,¡± he said. ¡°The Quinzels didn¡¯t know about Gavin¡¯s n. Thankfully, I hadn¡¯t gone crazy enough back then to destroy their family after Gavin¡¯s betrayal.¡±

    It was probably because of Rufus.

    [Niki treats Rufus like his own brother, after all.]

    ¡°I¡¯m grateful that our Muffin saved me before our Pumpkin gets married,¡± she said, smiling. ¡°I¡¯ve missed out on a lot of things about our children¡¯s lives. But at least, I¡¯ll be there when they get married.¡± She tilted her head to one side. ¡°But I don¡¯t know if Neoma wants to get married, though. And since her identity as a royal princess is concealed, I guess it won¡¯t be easy for her to meet potential suitors, huh?¡±

    Niki scoffed. ¡°Your Muffin already has a little harem of her own.¡±

    Her eyes widened, surprised. ¡°Tell me more about it, Niki.¡±

    The change of topic was weed.

    [I don¡¯t want to think about Gavin for now. I¡¯ve just been reunited with my family. I want to catch up on things that matter most.]

    ¡°There are a lot of pests hanging around Neoma,¡± Niki said, frowning. ¡°Lewis Crevan, Jasper Hawthorne, Trevor, Ruston Stroganoff.¡±

    Sheughed softly.

    It was cute to see Niki sulking.

    [Aww... he doesn¡¯t want his daughter to be taken away from him.]

    On that note, she wished her daughter¡¯s future suitors a stroke of good luck.

    [They need it.]

    ¡°Are you that happy that your daughter has potential suitors now?¡± Niki asked, still sulking. ¡°Neoma is only thirteen.¡±

    ¡°Niki, we were already dating when we were Neoma¡¯s age.¡±

    He opened his mouth to protest, but he couldn¡¯t refute what she said so he just shut his mouth in the end.

    Sheughed at Niki¡¯s reaction.

    [God, I didn¡¯t know he could be this cute!]

    ¡°I¡¯m not just happy because Neoma has potential suitors now. Of course, I¡¯m d that there are people who admire our daughter,¡± she exined gently. ¡°But what really makes me happy is the fact that from now on, I can be with our daughter as she goes through the ¡®firsts¡¯ in her life.¡±

    Niki smiled at her as if he was happy for her. ¡°Mona, thank you,¡± he said sincerely. ¡°Thank you for protecting our children from me. To be honest, I can¡¯t apologize enough for trying to kill our children in the past. But right now, I can no longer imagine my life without Nero and Neoma.¡±

    She could see that.

    In the past, Niki could only see her. He didn¡¯t care about other people- not even their own children.

    But he was able to love their babies despite the fact that she stole his ability to love.

    ¡°Niki.¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s get married.¡±

    Niki looked shocked by her sudden proposal.

    [Understandable.]

    After all, she just told him a few minutes ago that she wanted to think about his proposal first. And now, it was her proposing to him.

    ¡°I thought I need more time to mentally prepare,¡± she exined. ¡°But I think that¡¯s stupid. Thirteen years have already been stolen from us. I don¡¯t want to wait anymore. I don¡¯t want to make you wait any longer.¡±

    There were still a lot of things that needed to be discussed between her and Niki. But she felt like she would be wasting time if she didn¡¯t spend it being honest with her feelings. She didn¡¯t want to part with Niki without making their rtionship clear.

    The only thing she hated about Niki in the past was his obsession with her. He was so obsessed with her to the point that he chose her over their children.

    But Niki¡¯s love for her didn¡¯t scare her anymore.

    [Niki has changed. It must have not been easy for a person like him to change. But he did- and he did it for our children.]

    Her heart swelled with her love for him.

    Ah.

    [I finally admitted to myself that I¡¯m still in love with him.]

    ¡°Mona?¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°Can I hold you?¡±

    She carefully put the spat down on the table. ¡°Yes.¡±

    Niki immediately stood up, then he walked towards her.

    Slowly.

    She couldn¡¯t wait anymore, so she quickly walked towards him. Then she grabbed Niki by the arm. When their bodies collided, she wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face against his chest- savoring his scent, his warmth, the feel of his embrace.

    ¡°I was just going to ask if I could hold your hands, but this is so much better than that,¡± Niki said whileughing, his chest vibrating in the process. Then he wrapped his arms around her. He gathered her in his arms in the most gentle way possible. It was as if he was afraid to identally crush her. ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since I held you. I don¡¯t know how much strength I should put in my embrace.¡±

    ¡°You can hold me tighter,¡± she encouraged him. ¡°I¡¯m not that fragile, Niki.¡±

    ¡°Alright,¡± he said softly as his embrace got tighter. ¡°I¡¯m not hurting you, am I?¡±

    She shook her head, then she looked up to see his face. ¡°God, you¡¯re still so handsome after all these years.¡±

    He suddenlyughed as if he remembered something funny.

    [Niki neverughed this much in the past.]

    ¡°Sorry,¡± he said when he calmed down afterughing hard. ¡°I just remembered when Neoma said you only liked me for my face and body because apparently, I only have my looks going for me.¡±

    She was surprised to hear that, then sheughed. ¡°Our Baby Muffin must have hated you so much in the past.¡±

    ¡°She used to call me ¡®scumbag,¡¯ too.¡±

    She gasped softly. ¡°Our baby curses?¡±

    ¡°Like a sailor,¡± he said. ¡°But I deserve it, so please don¡¯t scold her. I let it slide because she¡¯s an adult inside. And she¡¯s careful not to curse in front of other people.¡±

    ¡°Our Baby Muffin has an interesting personality, huh?¡±

    ¡°Yes, and that is what makes her more endearing.¡±

    She smiled warmly. ¡°I can¡¯t wait to get to know her more. Our Baby Pumpkin, too.¡±

    ¡°You will, and I won¡¯t let anyone take you away from us again,¡± Niki said, then he cupped her face between her hands. ¡°Can I kiss you, Mona?¡±

    Monaughed, then she closed her eyes. ¡°Oh, Niki- I thought you¡¯d never ask.¡±

    Niki leaned down and captured her lips for a chaste kiss.

    But his patience didn¡¯tst long.

    Soon, he was devouring her mouth as if he was making up for the lost time.

    [Thirteen years isn¡¯t a short time by any means.]

    ¡°Nero, this is the preview of how we were made.¡±

    ¡°Close your eyes, Neoma.¡±

    Mona tried to break the kiss as soon as she felt her babies¡¯ presence, but Niki wouldn¡¯t let her!

    He only stopped kissing her when she gently pulled his hair.

    Niki red at their children yfully. ¡°Go to your room, Muffin and Pumpkin.¡±

    ¡°And you should get a room,¡± Neoma and Nero said at the same time, the twins¡¯ identical faces mirroring each other¡¯s disgusted look while ring back at their father.

    Mona couldn¡¯t help butugh at Niki¡¯s yful interaction with their babies.

    [I hope this happinesssts long.]

    ***

    NEOMA cleared her throat to get her family¡¯s attention.

    Right now, they were having dinner together before she and Papa Boss return to the Royal Pce.

    And before that, she had an announcement to make.

    ¡°Let¡¯s beat the rumor that the crows spread with an even more shocking ¡°rumor,¡±¡± Neoma dered confidently. ¡°So, let¡¯s announce to the world that the Royal Family has a hidden royal princess.¡±

    ***

    JUST random thoughts:

    1. I feel bad that Lewis is always MIA (missing in action) when Neoma is in danger, but he¡¯ll get a big moment in this arc (connected to the Silver Fox n).

    2. The thing I don¡¯t really like about most of the anime/manga/weics/novels that I read is the ¡®the-heroes¡¯-parents-are-dead¡¯ trope. I¡¯m too weak-hearted to make Nero and Neoma orphans. Hehe! I love cliches and happy endings. LOL

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 453

    Chapter 453: FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE

    SAVORY PUMPKIN soup and pumpkin muffins.

    Neoma found it adorable that their Mama Boss prepared those dishes for them.

    [Now it¡¯s a running joke in the family.]

    Anyway, now she understood why her mother wanted to cook dinner herself.

    It was perfect since she had an announcement to make.

    In fact, she was about to say it earlier. So, when the Fletcher Twins told her and Nero that their parents were in the kitchen, they went there...

    ... only to catch Mama Boss and Papa Boss making out.

    .....

    Thus, she postponed her announcement first. Moreover, it looked like her parents had an important announcement to make, too.

    ¡°Mother, Father,¡± Nero said after their meal. ¡°Are you going to get married now?¡±

    ¡°Papa Boss, you¡¯re ¡®speed,''¡± Neoma said, then she gave her father a thumbs up. ¡°Congrattions.¡±

    Their parents suddenly looked embarrassed.

    ¡°We want to get married as soon as possible,¡± her Papa Boss said, then he turned to her. ¡°But we won¡¯t do it until you get officially registered in the Royal Household, Neoma.¡±

    Her Mama Boss nodded in agreement. ¡°We don¡¯t need other people¡¯s approval. But I want our whole family to beplete in our wedding.¡± Her mother reached for her hand. ¡°Neoma, please wait a bit more.¡±

    ¡°Once Nero has fully recovered, he will im his spot as the Crown Prince,¡± Papa Boss added. ¡°Then we will announce your existence to the world.¡±

    [Perfect!]

    She cleared her throat to get her family¡¯s attention.

    Well, their attention was already focused on her. But she just wanted to do that for a more dramatic effect. She was a diva that way.

    ¡°Papa Boss, Mama Boss, Brother Pumpkin,¡± she said. ¡°As I reported earlier, the crows are spreading the rumor that Calyx Dalton is Papa Boss¡¯ son. I think they¡¯re purposely spreading that false rumor in countries and kingdoms that pledged loyalty to us. Their goal is to take our allies one by one.¡±

    ¡°If their loyalty to us wavered just because of the appearance of a potential prince, then they weren¡¯t allies worth keeping,¡± Nero said. ¡°I guess this will serve as a test of loyalty to our current allies.¡±

    Papa Boss nodded. ¡°Nero is right.¡±

    ¡°But Niki, we know how harmful a rumor could be,¡± Mona said worriedly. ¡°If this rumor continues to spread...¡±

    ¡°Mama Boss, I have a solution for that,¡± she said, gaining her family¡¯s full attention.

    ¡°Let¡¯s beat the rumor that the crows spread with an even more shocking ¡°rumor,¡±¡± Neoma dered confidently. ¡°So, let¡¯s announce to the world that the Royal Family has a hidden royal princess.¡±

    Her whole family looked shocked by her suggestion.

    ¡°Fam, the crows already know that I exist anyway,¡± she said, convincing her family to agree with her n. ¡°Plus, I n to release the rumor that the royal princess is being hidden by the Cosmic Tree.¡±

    ¡°Why the Cosmic Tree?¡± her mother asked curiously.

    ¡°Because I want to appear mysterious,¡± she said, smiling. ¡°I want to make people think that I¡¯m just a myth.¡±

    ¡°But people always want to prove whether or not a myth is true,¡± Nero said, then he turned to her and smirk. ¡°If they get curious about the hidden royal princess, they¡¯ll easily forget the rumor about Calyx Dalton being Father¡¯s son.¡±

    ¡°Exactly,¡± she said while nodding. ¡°You get me, Nero.¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± her baby brother said. ¡°We¡¯re twins.¡±

    That didn¡¯t really exin anything.

    But for her and Nero, that reason was more than enough.

    ¡°We¡¯ll be fighting fire with fire then,¡± Papa Boss said. ¡°I don¡¯t hate the idea.¡± He turned to Mama Boss. ¡°What do you think, Mona?¡±

    ¡°I haven¡¯t visited Mother Tree yet. I believe this will be the perfect time to do so,¡± Mama Boss said, then she turned to her. ¡°I will make sure that Mother Tree would cooperate with our n, Baby Muffin.¡±

    It was cringey to be called ¡®baby¡¯ and Muffin, even more so when the two cheesy words werebined.

    But Mama Boss¡¯ voice was sweet and gentle.

    Thus, she didn¡¯t mind hearing that cringey pet name from her beloved mother.

    [It¡¯s not like I have the right toin when I call my parents ¡®Papa Boss¡¯ and ¡®Mama Boss.¡¯]

    ¡°Thank you, Mama Boss and Papa Boss,¡± she said, sincerely grateful for her parents¡¯ full support.

    ¡°How do you n to spread that rumor?¡± her twin brother asked. ¡°It¡¯s pretty specific.¡±

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s easy,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m going to ask Jasper oppa to help me spread the rumor.¡±

    After all, Jasper Hawthorne owned a big information guild.

    [Plus, I have my ¡°children.¡± I heard they¡¯ve already returned to the empire. But they haven¡¯t reported to me yet.]

    Now she wondered what her ¡°children¡± were up to.

    ¡°Well, I can¡¯t deny that Jasper Hawthorne is pretty useful when ites to gathering and spreading information,¡± Nero said, then he gave her a warning look. ¡°But don¡¯t get too close to him. I think the young duke is starting to have a delusion that you¡¯re his real sister.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with that?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m your only brother,¡± Nero said firmly. ¡°Stop calling Jasper Hawthorne your brother.¡±

    ¡°Whatever,¡± she said, teasing her brother. ¡°If you start calling me ¡®noona,¡¯ then I¡¯ll stop calling Jasper oppa my brother.¡±

    Nero just red at her.

    She red back.

    ¡°Children,¡± their Mama Boss said sternly. ¡°Don¡¯t fight- especially not in front of the food.¡±

    Neoma and Nero immediately avoided each other¡¯s gaze, then they turned to their mother and spoke at the same time.

    ¡°Yes, Mama Boss.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Mother.¡±

    ¡°Wait, that reaction is totally different from when I scolded you for fighting,¡± Papa Bossined. ¡°Why do you only listen to your mother?¡±

    Neoma and Nero just shrugged.

    ***

    ¡°BABY MUFFIN, I already miss you.¡±

    Neoma congratted herself for getting used to her new pet name.

    It was cringey, but her Mama Boss called her in such a lovely way that she couldn¡¯t help but smile even when being called with such a corny endearment.

    ¡°Mama Boss, I¡¯ll call you and Nero as much as I can,¡± Neoma, who was sitting on the bed while tying her Moonstone anklet (the one that Ruto gave her in the past), said. Then she raised her head to look at her mother. ¡°And I already miss you, too. I¡¯m sure Papa Boss does, too.¡±

    Nero and Papa Boss were having a private conversation in the study.

    While Neoma and Mama Boss were in the main bedroom.

    She had already changed into a princely outfit. And sadly, she had to cut her hair short. After all, once she and her Papa Boss returned to the pce, she¡¯d be ¡°Prince Nero¡± again.

    ¡°Neoma, where did you get that Moonstone anklet?¡± her Mama Boss, who was sitting on the chair beside the bed, asked while looking at her anklet with a worried look on her face. ¡°That anklet has eight Moonstones.¡±

    Okay, her mother¡¯s reaction towards her Moonstone anklet made her nervous.

    ¡°I got it from a close friend, Mother,¡± she said nervously. ¡°Why? Is there something wrong with my anklet?¡±

    Her mother turned to her worriedly before she answered her question. ¡°In the Kingdom of Suoh, an anklet with eight Moonstones serves as profession of undying love to the receiver.¡±

    That made her blush.

    But her mother wasn¡¯t done talking yet.

    ¡°But it also serves as a keepsake,¡± her Mama Boss added worriedly. ¡°Historically, knights who were dispatched to war would give their lovers an anklet with eight Moonstones as a way to say goodbye. After all, the knights knew they wouldn¡¯t being home alive.¡±

    Her heart thumped against her chest painfully.

    Ruto was from the Kingdom of Suoh. It was impossible for him not to know the meaning behind an anklet with eight Moonstones.

    [Did he give it to me because he knows he couldn¡¯t make it back to me?]

    ¡°Neoma,¡± her Mama Boss said, then she gently ced a hand over hers. ¡°Is the person who gave you that anklet important to you?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Mama Boss,¡± she said. ¡°He¡¯s important to me.¡±

    Ruto¡¯s always calm face entered her mind.

    The Ruto in her imagination was still young, since she didn¡¯t know what he looked like now. However, she was certain that the burn mark on his face that he received in her stead was still there.

    That burn mark was proof that he would always be there for her.

    .....

    ¡°Neoma, it¡¯s just an old tradition,¡± her Mama Boss said, trying to console her. She could also tell that her mother regretted telling her the history behind the anklet with eight Moonstones. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. I¡¯m sure the person who gave you that anklet is fine, my Muffin.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Mama Boss. I have faith in him,¡± Neoma said, smiling. ¡°Ruto is a strong person, after all.¡±

    ***

    ¡°I HEARD you were looking for me.¡±

    Ruto, who just returned to the room he was renting in an inn, was greeted by an uninvited guest.

    White hair.

    Ash-gray eyes.

    Pale skin.

    The boy¡¯s featuresplemented the dark night sky behind him.

    [He¡¯s not trying to hide his identity from me.]

    Calyx Dalton was sitting on his windowsill like the prince he was aiming to be.

    ¡°Ruston Stroganoff, you¡¯re being rude,¡± Calyx Dalton said yfully. ¡°You have dual citizenship. Thus, you¡¯re still obliged to recognize me as a member of the Royal Family.¡± He pointed to the floor. ¡°Kneel and give your greetings properly.¡±

    Ruto just looked at the boy, amused. ¡°I suppose I should thank you foring here without hiding your identity.¡±

    ¡°I figured I didn¡¯t have to since you won¡¯t live to tell my secret anyway,¡± the boy said confidently.

    ¡°Ah, that sheer arrogance is proof that you¡¯re a de Moonasterio, indeed.¡±

    The boy smiled smugly.

    ¡°But you¡¯re not His Majesty¡¯s son, Calyx Dalton.¡±

    The boy¡¯s smug smile disappeared instantly.

    ¡°You have divine power just like every other de Moonasterio in history, alright. But you don¡¯t have the glow of the firstborn,¡± he said in a taunting voice. ¡°And you don¡¯t even have Moonglow. After all, only the current emperor and his sessor could possess it.¡±

    The fact that both Neoma and Prince Nero had Moonglow was strange.

    It was as if even the heavens couldn¡¯t decide who between the royal twins should ascend the throne.

    But Calyx Dalton didn¡¯t have that kind of Moonglow in him.

    ¡°You have the traits of the de Moonasterios, but why do you still feel like a fake to me?¡± he continued, mocking the boy who was obviously fuming in silence. ¡°Calyx Dalton, don¡¯t delude yourself into thinking that you could be a part of the Royal Family.¡±

    ¡°Who are you to decide whether I could be a part of the Royal Family or not?¡±

    ¡°Who am I?¡± Ruto asked, amused to hear a child like Calyx Dalton ask about his identity. ¡°If you and your ¡°family¡± know who I am, you¡¯d be the one kneeling in front of me.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re speaking nonsense,¡± the boy said, then he stood up and ¡°smiled¡± at him. ¡°I don¡¯t care who you are, and I didn¡¯te here to get to know you. I¡¯m only here to avenge my dear cousin.¡± He tilted his head to one side. ¡°You remember Regina Crowell, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t remember the names of insignificant bugs I stepped on while walking.¡±

    It was a lie. Of course, he remembered who Regina Crowell was.

    But during his investigation, he noticed that the concept of family was drilled into Calyx Dalton¡¯s head.

    The concept of family in his mind was twisted, though.

    But he figured he could use that to rile up the boy and make him lose his cool. Thus, he was insulting Regina Crowell in front of Calyx Dalton on purpose.

    ¡°Regina isn¡¯t a bug- she¡¯s an important member of our family,¡± Calyx Dalton, whose Mana was starting to increase as he turned hostile, said in a voice that was obviously controlling his anger. Then, a few momentster, his eyes turned glowing red. ¡°I¡¯ll make you pay for insulting and hurting my precious cousin.¡±

    ¡°I pity you, Calyx Dalton,¡± Ruto said, his dark purple eyes glowed as he released his own Mana. ¡°You learned the concept of family from the wrong people.¡±

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 454

    Chapter 454: FAMILY TIME OVER

    ¡°THAT¡¯S thepensation that Miss Dahlia asked for, Father,¡± Nero, who was sitting on the receiving chair in front of his father, said. ¡°I epted it, since I thought it was something that I could do without putting our family at a disadvantage.¡±

    Yes, he gave the report to his father regarding Dahlia¡¯s request.

    But he didn¡¯t want Neoma to hear about it, so he brought his father to the study to talk while his twin sister and their mother were in the main bedroom.

    ¡°Nero, it sounds dangerous,¡± his father, who was sitting behind the mahogany desk, said worriedly. ¡°I didn¡¯t even know that Novak is already dead.¡±

    ¡°You know Novak, Father?¡±

    ¡°Yes, and your mother was pretty close to him,¡± his father said. ¡°Novak was the one who helped your mother cross to the other world. But your mother had been trapped in the ice as soon as she crossed over, so I guess she doesn¡¯t know what happened to Novak either.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll tell Mother about my deal with Miss Dahliater,¡± he said. ¡°Father, I intend to ask Mother for help. Miss Dahlia told me that she asked for my help because my Roseheart Blood is stronger than Neoma¡¯s. But if she needs Roseheart Blood to deal with Novak¡¯s corpse, then wouldn¡¯t Mother be able to deal with it better than I could?¡±

    .....

    And that was exactly why he gave a report to his father.

    ¡°Can I ask for Mother¡¯s help, Father?¡± he asked carefully. ¡°As you said, it sounds dangerous.¡±

    ¡°Nero, thank you for asking for my permission,¡± his father said. ¡°But you should get your mother¡¯s permission instead of mine.¡±

    Oh, he didn¡¯t expect to hear that from his father.

    ¡°I can tell what you¡¯re thinking,¡± his father said, smiling. ¡°Yes, I used to be a person who thinks I have the right to decide for Mona. I thought I was doing the right thing in order to protect her. But I only ended up as a toxic partner to your mother.¡±

    He didn¡¯t know the full story of his parents¡¯ affair.

    But he could tell that their past rtionship was destroyed because of his father¡¯s excessive love for his mother.

    ¡°Nero, the women of our empire don¡¯t have the same amount of privileges that men enjoy,¡± his father said gently. ¡°As a man, I thought I should protect your mother by sharing my privilege with her. Thus, I ended up controlling her. But I didn¡¯t know that I was doing it to feed my ego as a man.¡±

    He could see where his father wasing from.

    After all, he wanted to protect Neoma the same way.

    ¡°Nero, nobody told me that my idea of loving and protecting a person was toxic,¡± his father continued. ¡°I was raised by a crazy man who waspletely apathetic and cruel. Thus, I didn¡¯t know what affection was until I met Mona. But it was hard to break my bad habits. And so, I ended up hurting your mother in the end.¡±

    Ah, as expected, that was the reason why his parents¡¯ rtionship didn¡¯t work out in the past.

    ¡°Nero, don¡¯t make the same mistake that I did,¡± his father said. ¡°Treat women as your equal. No, scratch that. Just be a decent person and be kind to everyone.¡±

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound convincing, Father,¡± he said. ¡°You¡¯re not a decent man.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I have a rotten personality,¡± his father admitted while nodding. ¡°It¡¯s hard for me to change since I¡¯ve lived this way for a long time. I¡¯m a work in progress.¡±

    He couldn¡¯t tease his father, since he knew his father was really trying his best to be a better person.

    ¡°Nero, it¡¯s not toote for you to change your wrong ways,¡± his father said. ¡°Now that Neoma and Mona are here, I¡¯m certain you won¡¯t lose your way the way I did. I may not be the best person to raise you and your twin sister, but I¡¯ll do my best to help your mother guide the two of you to the right path.¡±

    He actually didn¡¯t expect to have this kind of conversation with his father, but it wasn¡¯t as bad as he thought it would be.

    ¡°Father, it won¡¯t be easy,¡± he said truthfully. ¡°I was born with a few loose screws.¡±

    His father let out a sigh. ¡°Out of all the things you could inherit from me, why does it have to be my craziness?¡±

    ¡°Father, all de Moonasterios are born this way,¡± he reminded his father. ¡°It¡¯s the side-effect of receiving a god¡¯s divine power.¡±

    ¡°Now that you mention it, you haven¡¯t experienced your Lunacy yet, Nero,¡± his father said worriedly. ¡°Neoma has already gone through it, and she survived. If you feel like you¡¯re losing your mind, don¡¯t hesitate toe to us.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind,¡± Nero said sincerely. ¡°Thank you, Father.¡±

    ***

    ¡°BABY, I¡¯m so sorry that we¡¯re deciding things for you,¡± Neoma said while her cheek was gently pressed against Brigitte unnie¡¯s baby bump. ¡°I know that you¡¯re destined to be the next saint, and you¡¯re probably looking forward to being born as one. But please wait for a while. I promise I¡¯ll return your divine power to you, Horangi-ya.¡±

    ¡°¡®Horangi-ya?''¡± Brigitte unnie asked curiously. ¡°What does it mean, Princess Neoma?¡±

    She raised her head to meet the queen¡¯s curious and sparkling eyes.

    Brigitte unnie already knew her royal secret, even the fact that this was already her third life. She felt the need to tell the queen about her second life because she wanted to share her experience of living in the modern world as a woman.

    ¡°¡®Horang-i¡¯ means ¡®tiger¡¯ in Korean,¡± she exined to the queen. ¡°And ¡®-ya¡¯ is like an endearment that we add to the names of people close to us.¡± She smiled at the queen as she continued with her exnation. ¡°Unnie, I forgot to tell you. But I met your baby through a dream. And in that dream, he¡¯s in the form of a baby tiger.¡±

    Brigitte unnie¡¯s face lit up even more. ¡°A tiger? Glenn would love to hear that. His favorite animal is a tiger.¡±

    She smiled widely, Brigitte unnie¡¯s good mood rubbing off on her. ¡°That¡¯s probably the reason why the baby saint took the form of a baby tiger when he showed up in my dream.¡±

    The queen smiled and nodded. ¡°Thank you for telling me, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wee, unnie,¡± she said, then she gently rubbed the queen¡¯s baby bump. ¡°I¡¯ll be back after my entrance exam.¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma, Hazelden Kingdom is and will always be your ally,¡± Brigitte unnie said seriously. ¡°Whether or not Calyx Dalton turns out to be a de Moonasterio, my support will always be yours. Glenn and I will deal with the nobles here and put them in their ce.¡±

    That was a relief to hear.

    She knew that Brigitte unnie wouldn¡¯t betray them. But it was still nice to hear that the queen would always be an ally.

    ¡°Thank you, unnie,¡± Neoma said, then she gently wrapped her arms around her unnie. ¡°Take care of yourself, my favorite queen.¡±

    Brigitte unnie hugged her back. ¡°Good luck on your entrance exam, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ***

    ¡°CONGRATULATIONS on bing a father,¡± Niki greeted Glenn who just entered the study after Nero left. ¡°How does it feel to be one?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m happy, Your Majesty,¡± Glenn said, smiling from ear to ear, as he stood in front of him politely. ¡°I want to say I could die from happiness, but I don¡¯t want to die yet. I now have the will to live long for my wife and child.¡±

    He chuckled. ¡°I understand how you feel.¡±

    ¡°It seems like Your Majesty has already been forgiven by Lady Roseheart, huh?¡±

    He smiled proudly. ¡°Mona and I decided to get married after we reveal Neoma¡¯s existence to the world. We want our daughter to be registered to the Royal Household first.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great news, Your Majesty,¡± the king said, and he looked very happy for him. ¡°Congrattions.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± he said, then he turned serious. ¡°Glenn, I have a favor to ask.¡±

    ¡°What is it, Your Majesty?¡± Glenn asked eagerly. ¡°I¡¯ll do everything and anything in my power to be of help.¡±

    ¡°I want you to start and spread a rumor here in Hazelden,¡± Niki said, following the n that he came up with his family. ¡°Buy the mouths of the right people, and tell them to spread the news that the Cosmic Tree will send the hidden de Moonasterion princess back to the empire.¡±

    ***

    ¡°MOTHER, can you help with Miss Dahlia¡¯s request?¡±

    Mona smiled after hearing Nero¡¯s request.

    She was wondering why her son asked her if they could talk in private after Neoma left the room to visit Queen Brigitte. To be honest, she didn¡¯t expect her son to ask for her help.

    Nero seemed to be the type that would rather suffer than rely on other people.

    [But I¡¯m d that I was wrong about my Pumpkin.]

    ¡°Of course, I¡¯ll help you, Nero,¡± Mona said, smiling. But her smile soon faded. ¡°Lord Novak had been my mentor in the past. I was wondering what happened to him after I was trapped. I didn¡¯t know he died.¡±

    ¡°We may find out how the Ancient Spirit died once we see his corpse.¡±

    She nodded in agreement. ¡°Nero, is there a reason why you didn¡¯t want Neoma to know about Lord Novak?¡±

    Her son asked her to keep it a secret from his twin sister.

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing big, Mother,¡± her son said. ¡°I heard from Miss Dahlia that Novak is an Ancient Spirit that had the form of a unicorn.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s true. But what about it?¡±

    ¡°Neoma loves unicorns even if she hasn¡¯t seen one yet,¡± Nero said. ¡°I don¡¯t want her to be sad if she finds out that a unicorn died.¡±

    Aww.

    She was touched by Nero¡¯s love and concern for Neoma.

    ¡°Nero, do you want to know one of your father¡¯s ¡°dirty¡± secrets?¡±

    Her son looked confused, but he shook his head. ¡°Not at all, Mother.¡±

    She justughed at Nero¡¯s blunt response. ¡°Niki used to be obsessed with unicorns, too, when we were young.¡±

    Nero looked disgusted by the trivia that she had just shared with him. ¡°I can¡¯t imagine Father obsessing with unicorns. That¡¯s too childish for someone like him.¡±

    Monaughed at her son¡¯s reaction. ¡°It¡¯s one of your Father¡¯s cute sides, Pumpkin.¡±

    ***

    ¡°I DON¡¯T want to leave.¡±

    Monaughed at Niki¡¯s whining.

    And the emperor was doing that while hugging her from behind, his face buried against her neck.

    .....

    [He¡¯s being clingy again.]

    Thankfully, their children weren¡¯t in the same room, or else they would tease them again for being clingy with each other.

    ¡°I know that it¡¯s better for you to stay here with Nero, but I¡¯m going to miss you,¡± Niki continued to whine. Then he put his chin on her shoulder. ¡°I want to stay here with our family longer.¡±

    ¡°I want that, too,¡± Mona said. ¡°But Kyle would nag at you if you don¡¯t return right away. He might me me again if you ditched your work for too long, Niki.¡±

    He groaned as aint. ¡°Are you going to check on Novak¡¯s corpse with Nero?¡±

    ¡°Yes, since it¡¯s our son¡¯s request,¡± she said. ¡°But I¡¯m also curious about Lord Novak¡¯s cause of death. I might discover something if I go there.¡±

    ¡°It sounds dangerous.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much,¡± she said, cing her hands on Niki¡¯s hands that were interlocked above her stomach. ¡°The Rosehearts thrive in ces simr to the Spirit World. And I won¡¯t let anything bad happen to our Baby Pumpkin.¡±

    ¡°I know,¡± he said. ¡°Please be extra careful, too, Mona. You just woke up. Please don¡¯t push yourself too hard.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t,¡± she promised him. ¡°You¡¯ll be attending the final match for the entrance exam, right?¡±

    ¡°I will. The final match requires the presence of the emperor. It¡¯s one of the few asions where the emperor and his sessor are allowed to leave the pce at the same time,¡± he said. ¡°Are you worried about Neoma?¡±

    ¡°I heard that Neoma will be facing Hanna Quinzel and Calyx Dalton,¡± she said. ¡°Of course, I¡¯m worried about our daughter. But I¡¯m also worried about Hanna Quinzel. Gale told me that the crows tried to kill the Quinzel Princess in the past.¡±

    ¡°Rufus will watch the match, too,¡± he assured her. ¡°We won¡¯t let the crows harm Neoma and Hanna.¡±

    She was relieved to hear that.

    ¡°Take care of yourself, Niki. Don¡¯t let your guard down,¡± she said worriedly. ¡°Now that the crows are actively starting a war for the throne, it only means that they don¡¯t need you anymore. They probably exposed their own de Moonasterio to the public in order to remove you from the throne.¡±

    ¡°I will protect the throne for Nero and Neoma,¡± he promised her. ¡°And I already made the resolve to live for you and our children, so don¡¯t worry too much.¡±

    Mona leaned against Niki and turned to him. ¡°I¡¯ll miss you, Niki.¡±

    Niki smiled, then he kissed her on the lips.

    ***

    ¡°YOUR EXCELLENCY, I don¡¯t think Calyx will beat Ruston Stroganoff,¡± Raven reported to His Excellency in an urgent voice. Then he put his hand over his bleeding chest. ¡°I barely escaped to ask for reinforcements.¡±

    Raven apanied Calyx to ambush Ruston Stroganoff in the inn near the border of their territory.

    He thought the Masterpiece was enough to bring down the child with purple hair.

    But much to his shock, Calyx was knocked down instantly. He knew they would both die if he interfered, so he just ran away to ask for help. But Ruston Stroganoff saw and attacked him. He had to use all the remaining strength in his body to escape.

    ¡°We underestimated Ruston Stroganoff,¡± he said, clenching his jaw. ¡°How can someone who just serves as the Sun Temple¡¯s knight be that powerful?¡±

    the crow with the metallic voice said.

    ¡°What should we do now, Your Excellency?¡± he asked worriedly. ¡°We can¡¯t let Calyx die. It wasn¡¯t easy creating a Masterpiece like him. It would be a shame if he dies without aplishing his purpose.¡±

    Unfortunately, if Calyx Dalton couldn¡¯t kill Ruston Stroganoff, then none of them could.

    After saying that, the crow with the metallic voice emitted smoke out of its small body.

    Then the crow began to melt like a candle, creating a substance simr to wax.

    The wax-like substance that dripped to the floor began taking the shape of a naked man slowly standing until its form became clear.

    He was stunned.

    This was the first time in a long while that His Excellency changed into his human form. Well, it was only a temporary shell, since his real body wasn¡¯t ready yet. Still, to see him in this form was a feast for the eyes.

    [His Excellency will really do anything for Calyx.]

    Raven kneeled and bowed down to the revered being in front of him. ¡°Wee back, Lord Callisto.¡±

    Yes- His Excellency was the one and only Callisto de Luca.

    ¡°I can¡¯t keep this form for too long, so lead the way,¡± His Excellency, Callisto de Luca, said in amanding voice. ¡°I¡¯ll deal with Ruston Stroganoff personally.¡±

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 455

    Chapter 455: WHEN EVILS UNITE (1)

    RUTO expected that he could beat Calyx Dalton, but he didn¡¯t expect it to be this easy.

    Granted that he used more power than he was supposed to, the battle still felt quite anticlimactic to him.

    [At least, no innocent life was taken from this fight.]

    It was a good call on his part to rent the whole inn. He also evacuated the owner and staff of the inn earlier. Hence, he had just returned to his room when Calyx Dalton and hispanion ambushed him.

    Speaking of the fake¡¯spanion, it was a shame that he had missed killing him.

    [That man must have called for back-up, so I should hurry up and kill Calyx Dalton.]

    He approached the boy smashed in the middle of the crater, and the crater was located where the inn was supposed to be. Unfortunately, the inn was erased from the face of the earth when he tried to crush Calyx Dalton with his divine power earlier.

    .....

    And it wasn¡¯t only the inn that waspletely wiped out.

    The forest that surrounded the inn and the foot of the mountain had been ttened outpletely.

    Yet, Calyx Dalton still survived.

    ¡°Evil people do live long, huh?¡± Ruto whispered to himself while looking at the unconscious Calyx Dalton on the ground. ¡°What kind of god gave their blessing to protect someone like you?¡±

    Despite being crushed by his divine power, Calyx Dalton survived in one piece.

    The boy¡¯s clothes were torn, and his exposed skin was burned. He was also bleeding from head to toe, probably from the impact when he was smashed to the ground while blocking his gigantic ball of divine energy.

    And yet, after all of that, Calyx Dalton was still breathing- barely, but still alive.

    [His body as a de Moonasterio is already sturdy, but I also see traces of pure divine power that could only belong to a god. No ordinary weapon could pierce through his body at this rate.]

    He pulled out a dagger from the knife holster attached to his hip.

    It was an ancient dagger called Moonblood.

    The sharp de and short handle covered with ancient texts from the dead Snian Language glowed beautifully as he filled it with his divine power. His divine power served as a catalyst to activate the curses etched all over the ancient dagger.

    After the curses were activated, he unceremoniously stabbed the dagger into Calyx Dalton¡¯s heart.

    Almost immediately, the boy coughed up blood and writhed his body while screaming in agony. He was still unconscious, but his body reacted to the pain caused by the ancient dagger and its curses. It must be killing him from the inside.

    But the ancient and the curses were only there to weaken the de Moonasterio- he must still continue to attack Calyx Dalton.

    ¡°You have some fancy weapons with you, Ruston Stroganoff.¡±

    To say that he was surprised when a naked man, who looked like he was made from wax candle, appeared beside him without making a single sound- whilepletely concealing his presence, at that- would be an understatement.

    He immediately moved to stab the stranger in the heart.

    But the de of the ancient dagger just pierced through the cold air. The wax-like man disappeared along with Calyx Dalton¡¯s body.

    [Dammit!]

    He jumped away from his spot when he felt a strong yet cold forceing his way.

    It was a good call since the ground where he was just standing a few moments ago melted. Smoke emitted from the substance that caused the ground to melt. He didn¡¯t know what it was exactly, but it looked like a melted candle.

    ¡°Ruston Stroganoff, why are you carrying a weapon made specifically to kill the de Moonasterios?¡± the ¡°wax man¡± asked,ughing. ¡°Are you a disciple of William or something?¡±

    William was known as the ¡®de Moonasterio Executioner,¡¯ after all.

    He just looked at the stranger who was carrying the unconscious Calyx Dalton in his arms.

    [That boy has already calmed down?]

    Calyx Dalton should still be crying and writhing in pain at the moment, but the boy was silent as if he was just sleeping.

    [Did it not work?]

    The strange silver glow that covered Calyx Dalton¡¯s entire body seemed to be doing miracles on the boy.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it worked,¡± the stranger assured him as if he could read his mind. ¡°The Moonblood was designed specifically to kill the de Moonasterios. Since the de Moonasterios have sturdy bodies, the first curse was designed to soften their skin to allow the de to pierce through.¡±

    He was surprised to hear that, but he tried his best to keep up a poker face.

    [How did he know that...?]

    ¡°The second curse is designed to poison the de Moonasterios¡¯ blood with Impure Mana,¡± the stranger continued. ¡°But the Impure Mana instilled in the ancient dagger didn¡¯te from the dead Darkness attribute users- it came from the dead gods who wielded Darkness when they were still alive.¡±

    He clenched his hands tight when his mind finally began to figure out who the ¡°stranger¡± was. But he found it hard to believe. If his hunch was correct...

    [How could he still be alive?]

    ¡°Finally, thest curse was designed to corrupt the divine blessing that the de Moonasterios received from my brother.¡±

    He felt his heart sank at the stranger¡¯s words that confirmed his suspicion.

    [As I thought- he¡¯s Callisto de Luca himself.]

    ¡°Once the divine blessing was broken down by the curse, the de Moonasterio stabbed by the ancient dagger would feel pain like never before,¡± Callisto de Luca said. ¡°Of course, the curses don¡¯t automatically guarantee the de Moonasterio¡¯s death. They only serve to weaken the de Moonasterio. You must continue attacking them while they¡¯re still in their weakened state.¡±

    He knew that.

    That was his n, but Callisto de Luca suddenly appeared.

    ¡°Fortunately, I was the one who created Moonblood,¡± Callisto de Luca said. ¡°Thus, I¡¯m the only one who could undo the curses.¡±

    Now that he had confirmed his suspicions, he didn¡¯t have any reason to listen to Callisto de Luca anymore.

    He threw the Moonblood, the ancient dagger, at the dark sky.

    It was suspended in the air, glowing beautifully above his head, while the pointed end was directed in Callisto de Luca¡¯s direction.

    ¡°Ruston Stroganoff, it won¡¯t work on me,¡± Callisto de Luca said,ughing. ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear me? I told you I was the one who created Moonblood. I can undo the curses even if I was reduced to this awful state.¡±

    He ignored the ¡°Half-blood God¡± and sent his divine power to the Moonblood.

    Then, in just the blink of an eye, the Moonblood was duplicated again and again until the copies reached thousands of pieces. And now, it looked like he had a dome made of daggers above him.

    ¡°I left the original Moonblood as it is,¡± Ruto said, spreading his divine power among the duplicates. ¡°But I modified the replicas I made in order to kill the de Lucas, too.¡±

    He smirked when Callisto de Luca fell silent.

    Then he waved his hand.

    The thousands of pieces of the Moonblood replicas all flew in Callisto de Luca¡¯s direction.

    He heard the Half-Blood God curse before he created a barrier to protect himself and Calyx Dalton.

    Soon, the two were covered with the daggers.

    By he knew that attack wouldn¡¯t be enough to kill Callisto de Luca and Calyx Dalton.

    This time, he used his Mana.

    He summoned Hiu- the ancient bow that had been hispanion even in his first life. Then he created a lightning bolt shaped like an arrow.

    That single lightning arrow could kill the Half-Blood God.

    If it hit the thousands of daggers that were currently attacking Callisto de Luca nonstop, the daggers would serve as a good conductor for his lightning arrow. Then it would explode and roast the de Luca head along with Calyx Dalton.

    ¡°Die,¡± he whispered to himself, then he shot the lightning arrow.

    ¡°Sorry, but I can¡¯t let them die yet.¡±

    His eyes widened from shock when a child suddenly appeared before him and grabbed his lightning arrow using his bare hand.

    The hand that grabbed the lightning arrow turned into a cloud of ck smoke and covered the lightning arrow until turned into dust.

    [No, that¡¯s not ck smoke.]

    It was Darkness- Darkness in its purest form!

    [This child...]

    ck-jet hair, glowing red eyes, gray skin that almost looked purple.

    [No, it¡¯s not a child.]

    It wasn¡¯t even human.

    The person standing in front of him pretending to be a child was like a huge lump of pure Darkness.

    ¡°Helstor,¡± Ruto said in disbelief. ¡°The God of Eternal Darkness.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m honored to be recognized by you even though I was reduced to this state,¡± Helstor said. ¡°Yes, you are right. I am Helstor- the God of Eternal Darkness.¡±

    Helstor had an angelic face, his voice sounded soft, and his gaze looked warm. He was even dressed like a noble child.

    .....

    But there was one thing that he learned to recognize at one nce when dealing with gods.

    It was something that the gods could never conceal.

    ¡°Eyes,¡± Ruto said while preparing to attack. ¡°Your eyes are crazier than Callisto de Luca¡¯s.¡±

    Helstor¡¯s eyes turned into little crescent moons when he smiled. ¡°Have you ever met a sane god, Ruston Stroganoff?¡±

    He immediately jumped in front of the god and grabbed his face to force Helstor to open his mouth. When the god¡¯s lips formed an ¡®O,¡¯ Ruto opened his mouth and immediately sucked in Helstor¡¯s divine power and life force.1

    To his surprise, instead of pulling away from him, Helstor grabbed him by the shoulders and kept him in ce.

    Ruto coughed up blood.

    He didn¡¯t know how Helstor did it, but he blocked him from absorbing his divine power and life force. The next thing Ruto knew, Helstor was already breathing pure and poisonous Darkness into his mouth.

    Then he heard and felt an explosion near them.

    He didn¡¯t have to turn around to know that Callisto de Luca managed to escape from the thousands of Moonblood replicas that he sent his way.

    After all, the original Moonblood found its way to his chest.

    He managed to move his body a little, so he prevented his heart from getting stabbed. But when he was stabbed in the back, the dagger still pierced through his chest. It barely missed his heart, but that didn¡¯t mean he was safe.

    After all, the de of the ancient dagger activated the own curses in his body. Thus, he did not only cough up blood this time- he was actually paralyzed by pain.

    ¡°How dare you make me bait?¡± Callisto de Lucained behind him, and he was obviously talking to Helstor. ¡°My Masterpiece almost got damaged badly because of your ridiculous n, Helstor.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯tin when you survived,¡± Helstor scolded Callisto de Luca. ¡°And I see that you already sent your Masterpiece to a safe ce, so why are you stillining?¡±

    Ruto couldn¡¯t believe this.

    Callisto de Luca and the God of Eternal Darkness should be enemies because of their conflicting goals, so why were the two forces working together now?

    [I did not see thising.]

    ¡°Callisto de Luca, you don¡¯t stand a chance against the real God ye1r,¡± Helstor said, then he turned to Ruto with glowing red eyes. ¡°He¡¯s the child of the god among gods sent to this world to hunt us down.¡±

    Ah, his identity was exposed.

    Then it left him with no other choice.

    Ruto closed his eyes, mixing his Mana and divine power together in order to make himself explode.

    [I¡¯ll take you down with me.]

    ***

    NEOMA gasped, shocked when her anklet suddenly snapped and the eight Moonstones suddenly flew in different directions. ¡°Oh, no.¡±

    She was just about to remove her anklet before she went to bed.

    But it suddenly snapped, and now she was stressed out while picking up the Moonstones rolling on the floor. She was alone in her bedroom since Lewis was guarding outside, while Stephanie went to the kitchen to get her a ss of warm milk.

    ¡°Why did you suddenly snap?¡± Neoma whispered to the Moonstones in her hands. Then she let out a sigh, disappointed in herself for not taking better care of the gift that she received from Ruto. ¡°I¡¯ll apologize to Ruto once we see each other again.¡±

    [I wonder if he¡¯ll surprise me at the final exam?]1

    ***

    NOTE: This is only Part 1 because this is supposed to be a long chapter... but myputer crashed and I wasn¡¯t able to recover the other half (my dumba$$ forgot to save). I didn¡¯t have the energy to rewrite the whole thing, so please ept this for now. Thankfully, this chapter was saved as a draft here on WN so I just had to revise it a bit, same with Ghoul Duke (already saved here, so update was posted earlier). Sorry. >.

 Chapter 456

    Chapter 456: WHEN EVILS UNITE (2)

    CALLISTO de Luca would admit that in his present state, killing Ruston Stroganoff would be difficult for him.

    Thus, his priority was to save Calyx.

    Escaping from the purple-haired boy with the Masterpiece wouldn¡¯t be impossible. He might suffer some damage, but he could take it since he wasn¡¯t using his temporary body was receable, anyway.

    [But the fact that Ruston Stroganoff easily knocked Calyx down is a problem.]

    Would the royal princess pretending to be the Crown Prince capable of taking down the Masterpiece, too?

    ¡°Callisto de Luca, should I help you get rid of Ruston Stroganoff?¡±

    He raised an eyebrow when a ¡°child¡± who looked like he was around eight years old appeared in front of him as soon as he stepped out of the mansion. If he didn¡¯t know any better, he¡¯d think it was just a lost noble child.

    .....

    But, of course, there was no way a ¡°child¡± with glowing red eyes could get lost in a mansion hidden in the middle of a trap and barrier-filled mountain.

    ¡°A god,¡± Raven, who was walking behind him, said in disbelief. ¡°But who...?¡±

    This was the first time that he saw the ¡°child,¡± but judging by the pure Darkness inside him, he could only think of one god who could possess such power.

    ¡°Helstor, the God of Eternal Darkness,¡± Callisto said indifferently. ¡°Are you here to fight?¡±

    Most of the crows were Darkness attribute users.

    But it didn¡¯t mean they worshipped the God of Eternal Darkness, the same way the de Lucas didn¡¯t worship Yule, even though they were also born with divine power from the Moon.

    ¡°I¡¯m not here to fight,¡± Helstor said, then he tilted his head to one side. ¡°Why would you even think that, Callisto de Luca?¡±

    He rolled his eyes before he gave a response. ¡°We have conflicting goals, Helstor. I exist with the intention of ruling the world. But you¡¯re a lunatic who wanted to drown the entire world in Absolute Darkness.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s quite an usation, Callisto de Luca,¡± the God of Eternal Darknessined. ¡°Why does everyone think I was the one who caused the Absolute Darkness during the Ancient Period? I was just a child back then.¡±

    ¡°Then what are your intentions for approaching me?¡±

    ¡°You and your n seeded in modifying the Darkness substance that you got from the Dark Elves that you massacred for your little experiment,¡± Helstor said. ¡°You know that the Dark Elves are some of the few followers that I have, don¡¯t you?¡±

    Ah, so the God of Eternal Darkness had been keeping an eye on his n all this time.

    They had to modify Darkness in order to use it without getting purified by their divine power. After all, the de Lucas were born with divine power, just like the de Moonasterios. Granted that their divine power was weaker than what Yule¡¯s descendants possessed, it would still automatically purify any kind of Darkness that would enter their bodies.

    Thus, modification was needed.

    ¡°The divine power of gods like me relies on the faith that our followers have in us,¡± Helstor continued. ¡°Major gods like Yule and the Sun Goddess have remained very strong from the Ancient Period until today because they govern two of the biggest continents in the world.¡±

    That was true.

    ¡°On the other hand, I¡¯ve grown weak after the Ancient Period,¡± Helstormented. ¡°The humans born after the Ancient Period were instilled with fear of Darkness, so only a few people who believed that Darkness isn¡¯t inherently evil continued to worship me. But as time goes by, they grew smaller in number, too.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± he agreed. ¡°I heard that you almost became a nameless god, since most people have forgotten about your existence already.¡± He raised a brow at that god. ¡°Thus, I¡¯m surprised that you¡¯re still alive.¡±

    ¡°Youngsters these days are really rude, huh?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have time to listen to your nagging, old man,¡± he said. ¡°I don¡¯t have time, so tell me what you want from me already.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s make a deal,¡± Helstor said bluntly. ¡°I¡¯ll help you get rid of Ruston Stroganoff. But in return, I want you to ¡°raise¡± Hanna Quinzel in my stead.¡±

    ¡°Too bad our Masterpiece wants Hanna Quinzel dead,¡± he said, rejecting the god¡¯s offer right away. ¡°Moreover, I don¡¯t need your help to get rid of a child. I may not be a pureblood like you, but half of me is still a god.¡±

    ¡°You and your so-called Masterpiece would die at Ruston Stroganoff¡¯s hands without my help.¡±

    He smirked while shaking his head. ¡°Ridiculous-¡±

    [Argh!]

    He groaned internally when Helstor¡¯s red eyes glowed brightly. The blinding light hurt his eyes, but he couldn¡¯t close his eyes to avoid it. His eyes remained wide open while unfamiliar images flooded his mind.

    The first image he saw was about Calyx¡¯s death. In that vision, Calyx died when Ruston Stroganoff stabbed the Masterpiece in the heart with Moonblood- the weapon that he created in the past to torture and kill the female de Moonasterios who would get in his way. He would also use that dagger to threaten the male de Moonasterios he wanted to control.

    [But Brother Yule confiscated the Moonblood from me in the past. How did Ruston Stroganoff get a hold of it when I didn¡¯t even know where my brother hid the dagger?]

    Moreover, Ruston Stroganoff also knew that he needed to keep attacking Calyx after he pierced his heart with the Moonblood. He created powerful lightning bolts and struck the Masterpiece with them until thetter died.

    [Those lightning bolts aren¡¯t normal...]

    His thoughts were distracted when the vision he saw next was his own death.

    He really died.

    Ruston Stroganoff just didn¡¯t destroy his temporary body- the young man also crushed his Essence. It was the thing that was protecting his soul.

    [If it gets crushed, I would be gone for real...]

    For the first time in a long while, he actually experienced fear again.

    ¡°That was the vision I saw,¡± Helstor said, snapping him out of his trance. ¡°I¡¯m certain you could tell whether the visions I showed you were real or not.¡±

    That was true.

    And the visions that Helstor showed him weren¡¯t fabricated.

    ¡°Who is Ruston Stroganoff?¡± he asked, confused and frustrated. ¡°All I gathered was he was only supposed to be one of the Sun Goddess¡¯ representatives who was tasked with protecting the Cyran Temple.¡±

    ¡°That was what I thought at first, too,¡± the god said. ¡°But you¡¯ll realize something is strange with that boy once you meet him.¡±

    It looked like Helstor already figured out who Ruston Stroganoff was.

    ¡°Why are you to trying to save me and my Masterpiece?¡± he asked carefully. ¡°You asked me to ¡°raise¡± Hanna Quinzel in your stead. But as far as I know, the Quinzels originally worshipped you, the God of Eternal Darkness. Why don¡¯t you raise her on your own?¡±

    ¡°The Quinzels no longer trust me after I helped Rufus Quinzel in the past,¡± Helstor said. ¡°Moreover, I made an oath with Rufus when we agreed to help each other before. He dealt with some scoundrels who used Darkness tomit atrocities that I didn¡¯t approve of. In return, I promised him that I would harm none of his family members. Thus, I cannoty a hand on Hanna Quinzel.¡±

    ¡°Harm?¡± he asked, confused. ¡°But you just asked me to raise Hanna Quinzel.¡±

    The God of Eternal Darkness smiled.

    And that cruel smile sent shivers down his spine.

    ¡°Callisto de Luca, do you think you raised your little crows properly?¡±

    It took him a minute before he understood what Helstor wanted him to do.

    Then heughed out loud.

    Of course, he didn¡¯t ¡°raise¡± the little crows the way a normal person would raise their child.

    ¡°I see,¡± Callisto said when he calmed down. ¡°You want me to ¡°raise¡± Hanna Quinzel that way. But if she breaks along the way, don¡¯t me me for it.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care if you break Hanna Quinzel little by little- just don¡¯t kill her right away,¡± Helstor said, then he smiled ¡°innocently¡± at him. ¡°The taste of the Quinzels¡¯ despair is scrumptious- so I want to savor it for as long as I can.¡±

    ***

    CALLISTO was actually skeptical when he made the deal with Helstor.

    After all, he knew better than trusting a god.

    But after he saw Ruston Stroganoff¡¯s real strength, he was d that he epted the offer made by the God of Eternal Darkness.

    [I almost died...]

    When Ruston Stroganoff used the Moonblood and its thousands of replicas against him, he survived thanks to the barrier that he created. Moreover, Helstor distracted the boy so he failed to release his final blow.

    Because Ruston Stroganoff was distracted, his control over the daggers weakened.

    That was when he had the chance to break free and destroy the daggers. Then he grabbed the original Moonblood. When he saw that Ruston Stroganoff was busy with dealing with Helstor, he took that chance to hand Calyx over to the unexpected reinforcement that came with Raven.

    But it was risky.

    ¡°Why did you show up here?¡± Callisto asked while handing the unconscious Calyx over to that person. ¡°What if Ruston Stroganoff saw and recognized you?¡±

    ¡°I altered my voice and my appearance, so Chef Ruto won¡¯t recognize me,¡± the man d in a ck hooded cloak assured him. ¡°Chef Ruto can¡¯t see the faces of average people like me.¡±

    Well, that was true.

    ording to their investigation, Ruston Stroganoff couldn¡¯t recognize the faces of ordinary people. But apparently, the boy could see Spirits and divine beings like gods clearly. Thus, their mole had been safe all this time.

    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t hurt to be careful, so leave now,¡± he said. ¡°Take Calyx back to the mansion.¡±

    The man just nodded, then he disappeared with Calyx.

    After he had secured his Masterpiece¡¯s safety, he hid his presence and attacked Ruston Stroganoff from behind. He stabbed the young man in the back, the Moonblood piercing through his chest.

    But even if he didn¡¯t do that, Ruston Stroganoff was already on the verge of dying.

    He didn¡¯t know what Helstor did, but the young man was paralyzed and his overwhelming Mana was fluctuating.

    [Ah, I can rx now.]

    ¡°How dare you make me bait?¡± heined to Helstor. ¡°My Masterpiece almost got damaged badly because of your ridiculous n, Helstor.¡±

    .....

    Yes, it was Helstor¡¯s n for him to hold back when fighting Ruston Stroganoff earlier.

    That was the reason why he just kept on defending instead of attacking.

    ¡°Don¡¯tin when you survived,¡± Helstor said in a nagging voice. ¡°And I see that you already sent your Masterpiece to a safe ce, so why are you stillining?¡±

    It was true, but he didn¡¯t like the fact that Calyx was almost damaged beyond repair.

    ¡°Callisto de Luca, you don¡¯t stand a chance against the real God yer,¡± Helstor said, then he turned to Ruston Stroganoff with glowing red eyes. ¡°He¡¯s the child of the god among gods sent to this world to hunt us down.¡±

    The real God yer?

    There could be hundreds of God yers in the world, but only one would be acknowledged by the gods themselves.

    It was the God yer who carried the blood of the god among gods.

    [Ruston Stroganoff is that child...?]

    But this young man¡¯s parents...

    ¡°Callisto de Luca, get away from Ruston Stroganoff!¡±

    His body moved on its own as soon as Helstor yelled in an urgent voice. Before he knew it, he already teleported behind the god.

    But Helstor didn¡¯t need to actually tell him to get away from the child.

    He also felt Ruston Stroganoff¡¯s increasing Mana and divine power. The two mixed and reached to the point where his body could have exploded.

    But as soon as Callisto and Helstor jumped away from the child, he froze.

    Ruston Stroganoff¡¯s fluctuating Mana and divine power suddenly halted. Then the young man fell to his knees while coughing up blood. But even though he looked like he was in a terrible state, there was still a dangerous aura around him.

    Thus, he and Helstor didn¡¯t approach Ruston Stroganoff yet.

    [How can someone who¡¯s on his knees while coughing up blood remain looking so powerful?]

    Was it Ruston Stroganoff¡¯s eyes?

    [His glowing dark purple eyes are still full of life...]

    His thoughts were once again distracted when, all of a sudden, the night sky literally lit up.

    A huge burning stone had dropped from the above, appearing to crush Ruston Stroganoff. But the huge burning stone disappeared before it hit the young man. Then the stone turned into a barrier made from fire.

    The Sun Fire, to be precise.

    [The Sun Goddess...?]

    Then a blinding light exploded on the spot where Ruston Stroganoff was.

    And just like that, the boy disappeared.

    Callisto knitted his eyebrows. ¡°Was it the Sun Goddess?¡±

    ¡°No, I made sure the Sun Goddess wouldn¡¯t be able to leave her little pce,¡± Helstor said confidently. ¡°It was probably the Sun Priestess.¡±

    Ah, so the people of the East Continent were getting involved now, huh?

    [Well, Yule is on good terms with the Sun Goddess.]

    ¡°Helstor, is it okay to let Ruston Stroganoff escape like that?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright- I already got what I wanted from that child when I ate some of his despair earlier.¡±

    Callisto raised an eyebrow. ¡°What did you get from him?¡±

    ¡°Some of his memories,¡± Helstor said, smiling as if he was satisfied. ¡°Callisto de Luca, have you ever heard of people called Regressors?¡±

    ***

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 457

    Chapter 457: ROUND TWO

    ¡°LADY YNGRID, how is Ruto?¡± Sienna asked Lady Yngrid, Ruto¡¯s mother, who just stepped out of the room where Ruto was. She liked calling Ruto by his previous name ¡®Yoan,¡¯ but it would be disrespectful to call him that in front of his mother, who gave him his current name. ¡°How serious are his injuries?¡±

    ¡°Helstor poisoned Ruto with pure Darkness,¡± Lady Yngrid said in an exasperated voice. ¡°Moreover, he was also stabbed with the Moonblood with Callisto de Luca¡¯s divine power. Thus, Ruto¡¯s curses were activated.¡±

    ¡°When did Callisto de Luca and the God of Eternal Darkness join forces?¡± she asked in frustration, then she clicked her tongue. ¡°The Sun Goddess didn¡¯t show me the vision of those two working together...¡±

    ¡°The Sun Goddess¡¯ vision has probably been blocked by Darkness, the same way Lord Yule has lost his fake eyes recently.¡±

    Ah, yes.

    It was one of their major problems recently.

    The gods on their side were being hunted down by Darkness intending to steal their sight.

    .....

    [Now, it¡¯s hard for our allies to predict the enemies¡¯ movement.]

    Moreover, the possibility of another Absolute Darknessing to engulf the world again had increased.

    ¡°Ruto didn¡¯t see thising as well,¡± she added. ¡°Killing Calyx Dalton would have been a piece of cake for him.¡±

    The fact that Helstor and Callisto de Luca had to work together in order to bring Ruto down was a testament to how fearsome Ruto was as an enemy.

    [Ruto faced a god and a half-god on his way, and yet he still survived.]

    Granted that she rescued Ruto, it wouldn¡¯t change the fact that he was able to stay alive while facing Helstor and Callisto de Luca.

    [I wouldn¡¯t- I wouldn¡¯t evenst a minute if I faced Helstor alone.]

    Helstor was often mocked as a ¡°nameless¡± god, and the God of Eternal Darkness himself imed that he had grown weak because of hisck of followers.

    But how could the god who governed the Darkness be weak?

    ¡°Ruto¡¯s curses were sealed off when I removed Callisto de Luca¡¯s divine power in his body,¡± Lady Yngrid said. ¡°While the poison was purified by his divine power. It took a while because the Darkness that Helstor fed him was pure, but his life isn¡¯t in danger anymore. I also treated his physical injuries.¡±

    ¡°Lady Yngrid, let¡¯s lock up Ruto,¡± she said determinedly. ¡°If I didn¡¯t arrive in time, he would have made himself explode.¡±

    It wouldn¡¯t have killed Ruto, but he would have been heavily injured if he resorted to that.

    Thankfully, the Sun Goddess had sent her an urgent message to rescue Ruto. Moreover, the Sun Goddess also lent Sienna her power to summon. A god¡¯s summoning power wasn¡¯t something that even Helstor or Callisto de Luca could stop. Thus, the two failed to stop her and Ruto from escaping.

    But if she had been a minutete...

    ¡°You need the strength of the Sun Goddess if you want to lock me up, Sienna.¡±

    Her gaze went past Lady Yngrid to see Rutoing out of the room.

    Look at this boy.

    He could barely move when she brought him to the Sun Temple. And just a few hours after Lady Yngrid had healed him, he was already walking like he almost didn¡¯t die earlier.

    ¡°Where are you going?¡± she confronted Ruto. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re going back to the empire?¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± Ruto said casually. ¡°Neoma has to know that Helstor is now working with Callisto de Luca.¡±

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll do it,¡± she insisted. ¡°I¡¯ll go to the empire to inform Neoma de Moonasterio about what had transpired.¡±

    ¡°I need to be there in person,¡± Ruto said. ¡°I need to be there in case Helstor and Callisto de Luca suddenly decided to attack Neoma. What if they ambushed her while she was fighting Calyx Dalton?¡±

    ¡°Do you think she¡¯d be alone during the match?¡± she snapped at him. ¡°And if Neoma de Moonasterio needs your help all the time, then I don¡¯t think she deserves to be the next ruler of the empire.¡±

    ¡°Why are being harsh toward Neoma?¡± Ruto asked her coldly. ¡°Neoma never asked for our help. It was my choice to do so, even though I know she¡¯s capable of protecting herself.¡±

    ¡°Exactly,¡± she said. ¡°She can protect herself, and there are other people willing to die for her. You don¡¯t need to always put your life on the line for her, Ruto.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re asking for the impossible, Sienna,¡± Ruto said seriously. ¡°I¡¯ve already decided to dedicate my life to Neoma, and nothing would change my mind.¡±

    She couldn¡¯t say anything anymore after she saw the firmness in Ruto¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°Son, is that really something that you should be saying in front of your mother?¡± Lady Yngrid asked in a gentle yet disappointed voice. ¡°Don¡¯t you feel sorry for me and your father? Saying that you dedicate your life to someone else already...¡±

    ¡°Mother, you know how important Neoma is to me,¡± Ruto said to his mother gently. ¡°I know that the things I do make you dislike her. But please don¡¯t me it on Neoma. The only thing she often asks me to do is to cook delicious food for her. Which she doesn¡¯t really have to do since it¡¯s my job as her personal chef.¡±

    Lady Yngrid let out a frustrated sigh. ¡°Dear, you already gave all your authority to Princess Neoma. And just the other day, I saw you taking out your Bank Crest.¡±

    Sienna let out a hollowugh. ¡°What, you¡¯re going to give all your wealth to Neoma de Moonasterio this time?¡±

    She was being sarcastic, but Ruto actually smiled.

    [He rarely smiles, though...]

    Thus, she felt a pang in her heart to see Ruto smiling because of Neoma de Moonasterio.

    ¡°I can¡¯t show up in front of Neoma empty-handed. And she was upset with me, so I n to spoil her a little once I returned to the empire as an apology,¡± Ruto exined cheerfully, then he turned to Lady Yngrid. ¡°Mother, thank you for healing my injuries. I¡¯ll get going now.¡±

    He didn¡¯t ask for permission.

    Ruto just simply informed Lady Yngrid that he was leaving, then he bowed his head and left the temple without even looking back at his mother.

    The disappointment in Lady Yngrid¡¯s eyes was clear.

    [Ruto¡¯s acting this way because of Neoma de Moonasterio...]

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Lady Yngrid,¡± Sienna assured her. ¡°I can head to the empire faster than Ruto since I still have the Sun Goddess¡¯ teleportation technique.¡±

    ¡°Dear, I¡¯m fine,¡± Lady Yngrid said while smiling to soothe her. ¡°Please don¡¯t do anything that will make Ruto mad at us.¡±

    ***

    ¡°HOW DID I lose to that guy?¡± Calyxined after he heard from his Uncle Raven that he had lost to Ruston Stroganoff. He listened to his uncle while he was sitting on the bed and leaning against the headboard. It was embarrassing to admit, but every inch of his body hurt so badly. ¡°But I never lost before.¡±

    ¡°Ruston Stroganoff isn¡¯t an ordinary human, so you shouldn¡¯t feel too bad about losing to him once,¡± Uncle Raven, who was sitting on the chair beside his bed, consoled him. ¡°You just need to get stronger so you wouldn¡¯t lose to him again, Calyx.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s not an ordinary human?¡± he asked, confused. ¡°But we did a thorough background check on him. He came from an affluent family, and although both his parents are impressive people, they¡¯re nothing but above-average Mana-users.¡±

    Yngrid- Ruston Stroganoff¡¯s mother- came from House Solfrid. It was a household favored by the Sun Goddess. Thus, the Solfrids had been tasked with protecting both the Sun Priestess and the Cyran Temple.

    As a result, the Solfrids had received the protection of the Sun Goddess.

    On the other hand, Morton Stroganoff was the head of the n. The Stroganoffs were known as hunters, and they excelled in archery. But these past few decades, the Stroganoffs had dedicated their hunting skills to hunting down animals as food ingredients.

    And now, House Stroganoff was known for owning a chain of fancy restaurants all over the continent instead of their archery skills.

    ¡°After the first de Moonasterio was born from Lord Yule and Lady Roxana¡¯s union, the rulers of the Upper World have forbidden major gods from bearing a child together,¡± Uncle Raven exined to him. ¡°But there are gods who wanted to have their sessors no matter what. Thus, they would break their Seeds into two. Then they would send half of the Seed to the female they chose to bear their child, then the other to the partner of the woman they¡¯ve chosen.¡±

    He lit up after hearing the exnation from his uncle. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s simr to how the Crowells were born.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± his uncle said. ¡°Ruston Stroganoff must have been born that way, too. There¡¯s no other exnation as to how he could have been born with divine power.¡±

    ¡°Hmm... then he cheated.¡±

    His uncle looked confused. ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Uncle, I¡¯m saying that Ruston Stroganoff cheated,¡± he said cheerfully. ¡°He turned out to be the son of a powerful god. Isn¡¯t that cheating? Even if I have de Moonasterio blood flowing in my veins, you can¡¯tpare it to someone born from a god¡¯s Seed.¡±

    ¡°Well, if you say so...¡±

    ¡°Thus, I didn¡¯t lose to Ruston Stroganoff,¡± he said firmly. ¡°Our fight wasn¡¯t valid in the first ce. Right, Uncle Raven?¡±

    His uncle looked confused at first, then heughed. ¡°You¡¯re right. Your fight with Ruston Stroganoff wasn¡¯t valid, so your ¡°no-losing¡± record hasn¡¯t been broken yet. Our precious Masterpiece can¡¯t lose to anyone.¡±

    He smiled and pped his hands. ¡°Great.¡±

    ¡°Calyx, if you feel better now, then get up and meet His Excellency at your private training room,¡± his uncle said, then he stood up while looking at him with a serious look on his face. ¡°His Excellency will teach you a new technique that will increase your chances of beating the fake Crown Prince during your match.¡±

    ¡°A new technique?¡± Calyx asked, then he tilted his head to one side. ¡°But I thought His Excellency already taught me everything I need to know as a de Moonasterio-de Luca.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a new technique that His Excellency learned from the God of Eternal Darkness himself,¡± Uncle Raven said, smiling. ¡°We will be working with Lord Helstor in the meantime.¡±

    ***

    ¡°PRINCESS NEOMA, are you heading out?¡±

    Neoma, who was disguised as ¡®Neoma Ramsay¡¯ (her hair and eye color dyed with magic, while she wore a hooded pink cloak), turned around.

    She was almost out of the pce¡¯s secret back gate when someone caught her sneaking out with Lewis (who was d in a ck hooded cloak, his hair and eye color also dyed with magic). And that person was a little unexpected.

    ¡°Count Sprouse,¡± Neoma greeted Kyle Sprouse. ¡°Have you just returned to the pce?¡±

    Kyle Sprouse nodded politely. ¡°I had something to take care of outside,¡± he exined. ¡°May I know where Your Royal Highness is headed with only Sir Crevan as an escort?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m meeting Duke Hawthorne,¡± she exined shortly. ¡°Are you going to stop me?¡±

    ¡°Not at all, Your Royal Highness,¡± he said, then he bowed to her. ¡°Have a safe trip.¡±

    Huh?

    It was a little surprising that Kyle Sprouse didn¡¯t scold her.

    .....

    [He didn¡¯t even ask me if I got Papa Boss¡¯ permission to go out.]

    But her thoughts were soon distracted when she felt a powerful aura above her.

    A rock engulfed with a bright, orange me was floating just right above the barrier protecting the whole Royal Pce. And it was also lighting up the dark night sky.

    [Dammit ¨C how am I supposed to sneak out now?!]

    She knitted her eyebrows, pissed at that stupid little thing that ruined her night. ¡°Who the fuck are you?¡±

    Neoma raised an eyebrow, then she opened her arms. ¡°Bring it on, darling.¡±

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 458

    Chapter 458: NEOMA VERSION 2.

    NIKOLAI knitted his eyebrows when he felt a disturbance in the barrier that protected the entire Royal Pce.

    The timing couldn¡¯t get any worse.

    [Why now of all times?]

    It was Mona¡¯s voice, and it wasing from the wall in front of him.

    The four corners of the wall were decorated with glowing premium Mana stones that served as amunication device. And those four premium Mana stones created a transparent screen in the middle.

    Mona¡¯s beautiful image upied the screen.

    He could see her having tea in the lounge of her bedroom.

    .....

    Niki was also having tea in the lounge area of his bed-chamber. After all, his room was the safest ce in the pce to have private conversations.

    ¡°There¡¯s an intruder,¡± Niki informed Mona. ¡°But I don¡¯t think it¡¯s an enemy.¡±

    He said that because of the tiny golden globe that looked like a little sun floating right in front of his face.

    It had a message that said: [¡°Greetings to the Moon of the Great Moonasterion Empire. I am Sienna, the Sun Priestess. I¡¯m here of my own volition to confront Princess Neoma de Moonasterio. But do not worry, Your Majesty. It will only be a friendly match.¡±]

    Friendly match, huh?

    [Why does Neoma always get into fights?]

    Mona asked worriedly.

    How could he tell Mona that he had just given Neoma the permission to go out at that hour, with only Lewis Crevan as her bodyguard?

    Moreover, Neoma was the intruder¡¯s target.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Mona,¡± he assured her. ¡°The Sun Priestess is just here to confront our daughter.¡±

    Mona knitted her pretty eyebrows.

    ¡°Mona, don¡¯t be surprised,¡± he said as calmly as he could. ¡°But to be honest, our daughter is a little... war freak.¡±

    She looked confused now.

    ¡°Yes,¡± he admitted, then he let out a long sigh. ¡°Neoma has a nasty temper, so she often gets into some fights. She mostly engages in verbal fights, though.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    Mona asked curiously.

    Heughed at Mona¡¯s logic.

    [God, she¡¯s so adorable.]

    ¡°Mona, your daughter will never lose in a fight now- especially in a verbal fight,¡± he assured her. ¡°Neoma is fluent in sarcasm. Moreover, she knows all the curses in the world.¡±

    She looked relieved to hear that.

    But then, she suddenly looked guilty.

    Mona said as if she was scolding herself.

    ¡°Of course,¡± he easily agreed. ¡°It won¡¯t be easy, but I¡¯ll make sure Neoma won¡¯t get into fights anymore.¡±

    Mona smiled brightly at him.

    Ah, his heart swelled with happiness.

    He couldn¡¯t help but smile back at Mona.

    Mona asked,ughing.

    ¡°Alright, I understand,¡± Niki said softly. ¡°Good night, Mona.¡±

    ***

    [IS THIS FIELD Istion?]

    Neoma noticed that Sienna¡¯s Mana covered the entire backyard. It was a technique used to create a space where they could fight without affecting reality.

    [We can go all out now.]

    ¡°Princess Neoma, should I deal with this?¡± Kyle Sprouse asked, while looking up at the sky. ¡°Although the representatives of the Sun Goddess are considered our allies, barging in like this is a little...¡±

    She understood where the count wasing from.

    Since Sienna created a technique simr to a Field Istion that could make an area disappear, she assumed that they were currently invisible to the people outside her ¡°domain.¡± But barging in like this could create misunderstandings.

    After all, the Royal Pce was home to the Moonasterion Empire¡¯s monarchs.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Count Sprouse,¡± Neoma told the count, her eyes fixed on the burning rock above that was taking the shape of a woman¡¯s silhouette. ¡°I¡¯ll deal with her quickly.¡±

    She meant that.

    This time, she wasn¡¯t being arrogant.

    After losing to the Sun Priestess in the past, she swore to herself that she wouldn¡¯t lose again. Thus, she endured the rigorous training that William had put her in. After improving her stamina and physical strength, she consulted with her Papa Boss on how to use her Mana and Moonglow better.

    [Too bad I suck at creating Field Istion, though.]

    ¡°I won¡¯t hold back this time, Neoma de Moonasterio.¡±

    She raised an eyebrow when she finally saw the Sun Priestess in her human form.

    [Thest time I saw her, she was a beautiful peacock.]

    Sienna¡¯s human form was stunning- ck hair engulfed with orange me, eyes that reminded her of tangerines, and pretty tanned skin.

    [Oh, she¡¯s wearing a modern hanbok.]

    Was that the traditional clothing in Ruto¡¯s mother¡¯s home country or what?

    ¡°I¡¯m in a rush, so let¡¯s make this quick,¡± Sienna said, then she raised her hand. The darkness suddenly lit up when hundreds of lightning bolts glowed in the night sky like long cracks. ¡°Amari, descend.¡±

    The sky roared angrily.

    Then the hundreds of lightning bolts descended upon her.

    ¡°Don¡¯t move,¡± she told Lewis and Kyle Sprouse, then she stepped forward. ¡°I got this.¡±

    She created a Dome to protect the three of them.

    But, of course, the Dome that she created this time was a hundred times stronger and sturdier than the one that she made when she fought Sienna a few years ago.

    The ground shook as hundreds of lightning bolts descended upon her Dome.

    But the lightning bolts hitting her Dome didn¡¯t make a sound.

    After all, her Dome absorbed the lightning bolts and sucked them in. Where did those things go after getting sucked by her Dome?

    Heh.

    [Herees the amazing part.]

    ¡°Lady Sienna,¡± Neoma said, then she raised her arms and gave the Sun Priestess a double thumbs up. It was the ¡®gesture¡¯ that she came up with when she created her new technique. ¡°Watch your back.¡±

    And she meant it literally.

    When she put her thumbs up down, a huge White Hole appeared behind Sienna.

    As soon as the Sun Priestess turned around, the White Hole spat out the hundreds of lightning bolts that she released earlier.

    Of course, those lightning bolts were now engulfed with her Moonglow after being absorbed by her White Hole. Thus, the lightning bolts that attacked the Sun Priestess were tenfolds stronger than the ones the Sun Priestess created.

    Sienna created a barrier to protect herself.

    But, as Neoma said, the lightning bolts engulfed with her Moonglow were ¡°updated¡± and stronger now. It only took a few of those Moonglow-covered lightning bolts to break Sienna¡¯s barrier.

    Then the Sun Priestess let out an agonizing scream when the lightning bolts struck her.

    The next thing she knew, Sienna was already free-falling from the sky. She noticed that the me that engulfed the Sun Priestess¡¯s hair earlier had already been extinguished.

    Neoma closed her hands, copsing the Dome in the process. Then she jumped in the air, her wings made of red rose petals appearing on her back. Once her wings opened widely, she shot up the sky and caught Sienna in her arms.

    The Sun Priestess was shorter than her, and she was pretty light.

    [But, damn... she¡¯s roasted.]

    The Sun Priestess was almost unconscious, her skin all red from the burn she received from the lightning bolts.

    [Did I underestimate my strength?]

    .....

    ¡°Hey,¡± Neoma said worriedly while she was suspended in the air. She didn¡¯tnd on the ground because she was wondering if she should fly to Marcus¡¯s residence or something. ¡°Should I call my father¡¯s Healing Sage?¡±

    Sienna groaned, then she slowly opened her eyes. ¡°God, I hate you. But I have to admit that you were cool just now, Neoma de Moonasterio. My heart fluttered when you caught me in your arms as if you were a prince or something.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m technically a prince, duh.¡±

    She was a royal princess, but she was posing as Nero- the Crown Prince.

    ¡°Ah, right,¡± the Sun Priestess, whose entire body suddenly glowed in a beautiful, golden light, said while nodding her head. ¡°Anyway, I can heal on my own, so you don¡¯t have to bring me to a Healing Sage.¡±

    After a few seconds, the golden light that engulfed the Sun Priestess¡¯s body disappeared.

    And just like that, the burns in Sienna¡¯s body were healed.

    [Cool.]

    ¡°You¡¯ve grown stronger, Neoma de Moonasterio.¡±

    ¡°I know, right?¡± she agreed with the Sun Priestess proudly. ¡°You¡¯re talking to Neoma Version 2.0, Lady Sienna. I¡¯m much stronger and prettier than ever.¡±

    The Sun Priestess rolled her eyes at her. ¡°God, why are you so full of yourself?¡±

    ¡°Do you want me to answer that for real?¡±

    ¡°No, never mind,¡± the Sun Priestess immediately denied her offer while shaking her head firmly. ¡°You¡¯d probably spend the entire night talking about how perfect you think you are.¡±

    She just smirked smugly as a response.

    Sienna opened her mouth to speak, but she immediately closed her mouth when they heard the sound of a ss breaking.

    Then bluish lights that looked like little bulbs poured from the sky.

    ¡°Ah, your father broke my Istion technique like it¡¯s nothing,¡± Siennamented, pouting. ¡°That¡¯s the emperor for you.¡±

    ¡°Neoma,e down here.¡±

    It was her father¡¯s voice.

    When she looked down, she saw her Papa Boss below and he was standing in front of Lewis and Kyle Sprouse. Her father was putting Calypso- his Holy Sword- back into the scabbard attached to his hip.

    ¡°Okay, Papa Boss,¡± she said, her wings pping in preparation to descend.

    ¡°Wait,¡± Sienna stopped her. ¡°I have something to say, and it¡¯s something that I want you to hear first before the emperor.¡±

    ¡°Sure,¡± she said, hiding the fact that she got a little nervous when the Sun Priestess suddenly acted all serious. ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s about Yoan.¡±

    ¡®Yoan¡¯ was Ruto¡¯s name in his previous life.

    Okay, now she was officially anxious.

    ¡°What about Ruto?¡± she asked nervously, refusing to call her Ruto by his old name. ¡°Did something happen to him?¡±

    ¡°He nearly died again because of you, Neoma de Moonasterio.¡±

    Her heart sank. ¡°What? He nearly died? Is he okay now?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s ¡°okay¡± because painkillers and Healing Potions are practically flowing in his veins now instead of blood,¡± the Sun Priestess said sarcastically. ¡°He should still rest because he¡¯s a patient. But guess what? He insisted on leaving the Sun Temple just to see you.¡±

    Normally, hearing that would have made her happy.

    But not this time.

    [It¡¯s true that I want to see Ruto, but not when he¡¯s supposed to be a patient.]

    ¡°What happened?¡± she asked the Sun Priestess seriously. ¡°Exin it from the start, Lady Sienna.¡±

    ¡°Yoan was ambushed by Calyx Dalton,¡± Sienna said bluntly. ¡°But after Yoan defeated that boy, Helstor and Callisto de Luca appeared and worked together in an attempt to kill him.¡±

    To say that she was shocked would be an understatement.

    ¡°Callisto de Luca is still alive?¡± Neoma asked in disbelief. ¡°And Helstor, the God of Eternal Darkness, appeared?¡±

    And those two oldies tried to kill Ruto?!

    ***

    RUTO coughed up another chunk of blood.

    The effects of the Healing Potions that he had consumed before leaving the East Continent were already wearing off. He was about to take out a vial of Healing Potion when the in, ck stud earring in his left ear vibrated.

    It was a call from Neoma, so he immediately picked it up.

    ¡°Hello, Neoma-¡±

    He froze in his tracks.

    Neoma¡¯s voice sounded unusually cold. He could tell right away that she was pissed.

    [Ah, she already knows...]

    Ruto closed his eyes and sighed.

    [Who ratted on me?]

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 459

    Chapter 459: CALL THE FBI!

    ¡°HELSTOR and Callisto de Luca have joined forces,¡± Niki said, clenching his hands tight. ¡°Are they nning to drown the world in Absolute Darkness together?¡±

    He found it hard to believe.

    After all, Callisto de Luca¡¯s goal had always been to rule the continent that Yule governed.

    ¡°Callisto de Luca wouldn¡¯t let the world drown in Absolute Darkness,¡± he said firmly. ¡°He wouldn¡¯t cling to his worthless life this long just to let the entire world die.¡±

    He wasn¡¯t surprised to hear that Callisto de Luca was still alive.

    [He never really died, anyway.]

    As a half-god, Callisto de Luca would still survive even without a physical body as long as his Essence was intact. To kill himpletely, one had to break his Essence and his physical body at the same time. Obviously, it wasn¡¯t an easy task.

    .....

    When he raided the cult¡¯s previous headquarter, he crushed the physical body that the crows were creating to be Callisto de Luca¡¯s new shell.

    [They probably created a new body for that sted half-god.]

    ¡°Yoan-¡± Sienna, the Sun Priestess, began to say. But she stopped and shook her head before continuing. ¡°Ruto suspects that Helstor and Callisto de Luca haven¡¯t been working together for that long, Your Majesty.¡±

    That made sense.

    [If Helstor and Callisto de Luca have worked from the beginning, then the crows would have already found Neoma a long time ago.]

    ¡°How is Ruston Stroganoff?¡± he asked. He didn¡¯t want to admit this, but he was truly worried about the young man. After all, even now, he still wanted Ruston Stroganoff to be themander of the White Lion Knights. ¡°He nearly died.¡±

    Helstor was a full god.

    Callisto de Luca, albeit hisck of a proper physical body, was still a half-god.

    Even though Ruston Stroganoff was a strong individual, he could still imagine the young man struggling while facing Helstor and Callisto de Luca at the same time.

    ¡°Luckily, Ruto survived since he was immediately treated by Lady Yngrid,¡± the Sun Priestess said. ¡°Lady Yngrid has received the Sun Goddess¡¯ healing powers, so she was able to heal the damage caused by a god.¡±

    That was a relief to hear.

    ¡°Have you told Neoma about what happened to Ruston Stroganoff?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I have, Your Majesty.¡±

    It was a surprise that his daughter still went out even after hearing what happened to Ruston Stroganoff.

    [Is it because of Hanna?]

    Apparently, aside from Jasper Hawthorne, his daughter and Lewis would also meet up with Hanna Quinzel.

    If he remembered it correctly, Hanna left the pce after she was summoned by her mother.

    [Neoma would probablye back to the pce with Hannater.]

    He was d to know that Neoma cared about Hanna more than she did about Ruston Stroganoff.

    ¡°Your Majesty, I have alsoe here to inform you about the current state of the Sun Goddess,¡± the Sun Priestess said solemnly. ¡°Her Divine Grace¡¯s vision was blocked by Darkness. Unfortunately, it means she couldn¡¯t provide us with her visions. In short, we¡¯re on our own until Her Divine Grace gets rid of the Darkness hunting her down.¡±

    ¡°ording to my children, Yule¡¯s fake eyes were also stolen. We¡¯re in the same boat as you,¡± he said. ¡°We can¡¯t rely on our gods¡¯ visions from now on. It seems like there¡¯s also a civil war among the gods at the moment.¡±

    The Sun Priestess nodded in agreement. ¡°Your Majesty, now that we have proof that Darkness is bing a threat to the world again, we must work closely together now. After all, you and your blood are the representatives of Lord Yule. And we, people of the Cyran Temple, are the representative of the Sun Goddess.¡±

    ¡°That, I agree.¡±

    ¡°But I have a request, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°Please don¡¯t overwork our Ruto,¡± Sienna said- no,ined. ¡°Your Majesty, do you know how hard our Ruto has been working just to help your little princess?¡±

    He didn¡¯t like the Sun Priestess¡¯s tone.

    But he didn¡¯t like her usation against his daughter even more.

    ¡°If Ruston Stroganoff is overworking himself, then maybe you and the other representatives of the Sun Goddess aren¡¯t being much of a help to him,¡± Niki scoffed, making the Sun Priestess flustered. But he wasn¡¯t done yet. How dare this youngdy me Ruston Stroganoff¡¯s suffering on his daughter? ¡°And if there¡¯s someone overworking herself to death here, then it would be Neoma- unlike Ruston Stroganoff, my daughter didn¡¯t have a choice but to fight for her survival ever since she was born.¡±

    ***

    SIENNA wanted to scream out of frustration. Since she was already standing on the roof of the Light Temple (that she visited to check on the imprisoned Dark Elf), she thought it was the perfect opportunity to vent out.

    She was frustrated because Emperor Niki was right about everything he had said earlier.

    Although both Yoan and Neoma de Moonasterio were suffering because of their holy duties, thetter was never given a chance to run away.

    [Moreover, she¡¯s a girl. Unlike Yoan who enjoys his male privilege, Neoma de Moonasterio has to fight as a royal princess who¡¯s not even registered to the Royal Household. For Neoma de Moonasterio, it¡¯s either die while fighting, or die while running away.]

    She knew that she shouldn¡¯t beparing Yoan and Neoma de Moonasterio¡¯s situation, but she couldn¡¯t help it.

    [Thus, even though I want to hate Neoma de Moonasterio for real, I can¡¯t.]

    ¡°You would never win an argument against a de Moonasterio, loser.¡±

    She didn¡¯t need to turn to know that it was Manu, the psycho, who appeared beside her.

    This time, the Moon Priest was in his human form. Thest time she saw the psycho, he was a jaguar. Although it was nice to see his handsome face, she didn¡¯t enjoy the warm feeling that she would get in her chest every time Manu would show off that face to her.

    ¡°Could you turn into your jaguar form if you want to talk to me?¡± Siennained without turning to the Moon Priest. ¡°I feel the urge to scratch your face every time you¡¯re in your human form.¡±

    Manu scoffed. ¡°Do you hate my face that much?¡±

    No, it was the opposite.

    But she¡¯d rather die than admit it and boost his ego.

    She was about to insult Manu (as a defense mechanism) when her knees buckled.

    The Moon Priest caught her, wrapping his arm around her waist and letting her lean against him.

    ¡°You were able to heal the physical wounds caused by Neoma de Moonasterio¡¯s attack earlier, but the internal damage that it caused still burns your insides,¡± Manu said, frowning. ¡°Am I right?¡±

    She nodded, since it was no use lying to him. ¡°I know that Neoma de Moonasterio has grown stronger, but I didn¡¯t know that she¡¯s already this strong.¡±

    The lightning bolts that Neoma had returned to her earlier were engulfed with her Moonglow.

    And although she had divine power herself, the Moonglow that entered her body when the lightning bolts struck her burned her insides. She had a feeling that Neoma de Moonasterio had no idea of how strong her attack was.

    ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio has gone through hell under William¡¯s training,¡± the Moon Priest said. ¡°Let me heal you. Since my divine power was a blessing from Lord Yule, the royal princess¡¯s Moonglow wouldn¡¯t reject it.¡±

    She didn¡¯t want to stay with Manu for too long, but she couldn¡¯t return to the East Continent in this state. ¡°Fine, since you insist.¡±

    He just smirked at her.

    She knitted her eyebrows when she realized that his usual annoying smirk didn¡¯t look annoying this time. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Who pissed you off?¡±

    He looked surprised. ¡°You noticed?¡±

    She nodded, then she smoothened the wrinkle on his forehead with a finger. ¡°What made you upset?¡±

    ¡°The de Moonasterios and their sheer arrogance.¡±

    ¡°Understandable.¡±

    Manu let out a chuckle at her response, but he immediately turned serious. ¡°They chose the thorny path instead of letting the new saint be born the natural way.¡±

    ¡°Ah, that sucks,¡± Sienna said sympathetically. ¡°Should we have a drink together?¡±

    ***

    ¡°DID YOU have a lovers¡¯ quarrel with Ruston Stroganoff or something?¡±

    ¡°Jasper oppa, Ruto and I aren¡¯t lovers,¡± Neoma said firmly, then she let out an angry puff. She called Ruto in Jasper oppa¡¯s office earlier, so the young duke heard everything. ¡°But yes, we fought. That stubborn punk likes me too much.¡±

    Jasper Hawthorne, who was sitting behind the mahogany desk,ughed out loud.

    He was free to act that way because at the moment, she and Jasper oppa was in his office, the one in the information guild that he owned. Of course, that space was safe for them to talk freely.

    Jasper oppa looked rxed, too. He wore casual clothes, but he still looked like the perfect noble that he was.

    [Gosh, oppa is so handsome.]

    The youngest duke in the empire was already eighteen-years-old, and he grew up really well. He was tall, lean, and very handsome. She didn¡¯t want to say this to someone younger than her (well, not physically, of course), but the young duke looked sexy as well.

    [His tan skin is just... chef¡¯s kiss.]

    ¡°Princess Neoma, it seems like the feeling is mutual between you and Ruston Stroganoff,¡± Jasper oppa said when he was doneughing. ¡°It¡¯s a shame.¡±

    ¡°Why is it a shame?¡±

    Jasper oppa smiled at her yfully. ¡°I was about to ask Miss Neoma Ramsay to marry me, you know?¡±

    Neoma was aghast. ¡°Jasper oppa, I¡¯ll call the FBI on you.¡±

    .....

    ***

    NOTE: Hi! It will be my birthday soon (May 23rd) and Iunched a project where I will release side stories featuring how the characters here celebrated their birthday. Episode 1 features Neoma and Nero¡¯s fourth birthday.

    Find out how Neoma used her scamming skills (at age 4!) to get Nero a birthday present.

    Warning: Annoying Neoma who talks in the third person is back. Haha!

    Link here: ko-fi/post/EPISODE-1-NEOMA-NEROS-4TH-BIRTHDAY-Q5Q2CRWRQ

    If the link doesn¡¯t work or shows up because of censorship, please head over to ko-fi page and look for my ount: s_c. Thank you!

    ***

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 460

    Chapter 460: REASON FOR THE MARRIAGE PROPOSAL

    WHEN NEOMA¡¯s initial shock by Jasper Hawthorne¡¯s marriage proposal disappeared, she realized that Jasper oppa referred to her as ¡®Neoma Ramsay.¡¯ It was an identity that she would often use when she was sneaking out of the pce. Her oppa knew that, so there must be a reason why he proposed to her alter-ego.

    [But thank goodness oppa ¡°proposed¡± when Lewis isn¡¯t here.]

    Lewis went out to fetch Hanna. The vice-captain of the Quinzels¡¯ private army would escort her cousin personally. But she still sent Lewis to fetch Hanna to be safe, and her ¡°son¡± obliged.

    [I don¡¯t want my ¡°son¡± to panic and report to my father about oppa¡¯s ¡°proposal.¡±]

    After all, she had a feeling that there was a reason behind that.

    Her big brain could onlye up with one exnation.

    ¡°Jasper oppa, are the vassal families under your household pressuring you to get married already?¡± Neoma asked carefully. ¡°Is that why you proposed to me?¡±

    .....

    Noble children as young as sixteen years old were already eligible for marriage.

    Jasper Hawthorne, who was already a duke at age eighteen, was a sought-after bachelor in the empire. She wouldn¡¯t be surprised if he had been proposed to by different households by now. To noble and royal children like them, it waspletely normal.

    [It sucks, but it¡¯s the norm here.]

    Of course, she would change that soon.

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Jasper oppa said while nodding his head. ¡°The vassal families are pressuring me to get married and have an heir.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re already asking you to produce an heir?¡± she asked, disgusted by Jasper oppa¡¯s vassal families. ¡°You¡¯re still young and healthy, oppa. And you¡¯re doing an excellent job as the youngest duke in the empire.¡±

    ¡°If I could, I would kill them all just to shut them up.¡±

    She sipped her tea after hearing her oppa¡¯s vicious words.

    [I almost forgot that Jasper oppa is a vicious person who wouldn¡¯t hesitate to choose violence if he needed to. After all, he wouldn¡¯t have be a duke at age thirteen if he was a normal, kind child.]

    ¡°But the empire iscking in nobles these days after most of them were punished because of the revtion of the tragedy that transpired in the Death Camp, so I¡¯m doing my best to hold back,¡± the young duke exined. ¡°If I killed the nobles serving my household, then it would create a problem for the Royal Family.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for your kind consideration, oppa,¡± she said,ughing. ¡°Anyway, were you thinking of using my identity as ¡®Neoma Ramsay¡¯ as your fake fianc¨¦e to introduce to your vassal families?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s correct,¡± Jasper oppa said while tapping his fingers on the table. ¡°When you asked me to spread the ¡°rumor¡± about the Crown Prince having a twin sister, I realized that Your Royal Highness is preparing to ¡°return¡± to her rightful ce as the empire¡¯s sole royal princess. Am I correct?¡±

    ¡°Yep, you got it right, oppa,¡± she confirmed. ¡°Now that my mother is back, my family and I decided that it¡¯s time to reveal my identity to the world.¡±

    The young duke nodded, as if saying that he understood. ¡°It may be impudent of me, but I was thinking of giving Your Royal Highness the position of the ¡®Future Duchess Hawthorne¡¯ as protection. I know that Your Royal Highness doesn¡¯t really need my protection, but it wouldn¡¯t hurt to have a powerful family like mine to back you up.¡±

    Well, her oppa wasn¡¯t wrong, so she just stayed quiet while listening to him.

    [Aside from Jasper oppa¡¯s wealth, his informationwork is an asset, too.]

    ¡°Considering how the empire treated the previous royal princesses in the past, I¡¯m afraid the nobles around you would just treat Your Royal Highness as someone they could marry off to a rich household to expand the Royal Family¡¯s wealth and influence,¡± Jasper oppa continued. ¡°I¡¯m sure His Majesty and Prince Nero won¡¯t let that happen, but the nobles could be pretty annoying when they¡¯re being persistent.¡±

    ¡°Just like your vassal families?¡± she asked teasingly.

    Jasper oppaughed and nodded. ¡°That¡¯s why I thought a fake engagement with us would work. Once I introduce ¡®Neoma Ramsay¡¯ to my household¡¯s vassal families as my fianc¨¦e, I¡¯m sure they wouldn¡¯t approve of Your Royal Highness right away. But that would at least stop them from sending women my way in the meantime.¡±

    [Ah, poor Jasper oppa.]

    He sounded fed up with his household¡¯s vassal families.

    ¡°And once it¡¯s finally revealed the ¡®Neoma Ramsay¡¯ is the Crown Prince¡¯s hidden twin sister, then my household¡¯s vassal families and the nobles around the Royal Family wouldn¡¯t bother us about marriage,¡± Jasper oppa said. ¡°Of course, if you epted my proposal, it would be nothing more than a contract engagement. I don¡¯t want to get killed by His Majesty and Prince Nero.¡±

    Sheughed at her oppa¡¯s concern, but she immediately turned serious. ¡°Oppa, your n sounds usible. But I¡¯m afraid I have to turn it down.¡±

    ¡°I already expected that,¡± the young duke said, smiling.

    ¡°But it¡¯s not because of Ruto,¡± she said, just in case her oppa was having a wrong idea. ¡°I n to dismantle the tradition that forces young people like us to get engaged and married at such a tender age. Of course, there are couples who choose to marry young. But most of the noble and royal children like us are forced to do that in order to expand our family¡¯s wealth and influence.¡±

    And that was the thing that she wanted to change.

    In some parts of the empire, child brides as young as twelve years old existed.

    ¡°If I, the empire¡¯s one and only royal princess, get engaged for convenience when I¡¯m only thirteen years old, then it would go against my principles,¡± she said, then she smiled at the young duke. ¡°Oppa, I can¡¯t say anything about your household affairs since you¡¯re a duke. I understand that you have things you must do in order to protect your people and your territory.¡± She sped her hands together. ¡°But I sincerely hope that you marry out of love and not out of convenience.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind,¡± Jasper oppa said solemnly. ¡°I won¡¯t choose just anyone to be your sister-inw, Princess Neoma. After all, you¡¯re my precious little sister.¡± He extended his hand to pat her head gently. ¡°I¡¯m taking back my proposal. I shouldn¡¯t have done that in the first ce. I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, oppa,¡± she said. ¡°I know that you only did that with good intentions.¡±

    He smiled and nodded while pulling his hand away. ¡°Thank you for understanding, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°No problem, oppa,¡± she said, then she changed the topic. ¡°How is my request going?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve already bought the mouths of the right people for this job,¡± the young duke assured her. ¡°Rest assured, before the entrance exam begins, the ¡°rumor¡± that the Crown Prince has a twin sister would have spread like wildfire already.¡±

    ¡°I trust you, oppa.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± the young duke said. ¡°And I also have another proposal to you.¡±

    She yfully red at him. ¡°Oppa, it¡¯s not another marriage proposal, is it?¡±

    ¡°Of course not,¡± he said,ughing while shaking his head. Then he exined. ¡°I came up with a way to spread the rumor faster while making it more believable. But I¡¯m not sure if you¡¯ll agree with it.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s hear it then, oppa.¡±

    She and Jasper oppa had been discussing his brilliant n for fifteen minutes when the two of them froze, then they turned to the door of his office at the same time.

    A strong presence was behind that door.

    It was strong, but not hostile.

    Even so, it rendered both her and Jasper oppa immobile for a moment.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if I should be scared or pissed,¡± Jasper oppa said after he recovered from the shock. ¡°Viscount Stroganoff, it¡¯s rude to barge in like that.¡±

    She wasn¡¯t surprised when Jasper oppa realized immediately that it was Ruto.

    [I don¡¯t know how Ruto did it, but he let us know who he is through his Mana.]

    Anyway...

    When Ruto was out of the kitchen, most nobles would address him by his title.

    And in the West Continent, Ruto was a young viscount. It was the lesser title of Morton Stroganoff that Ruto inherited.

    ¡°I apologize for my rudeness, Duke Hawthorne, but I¡¯m here for Miss Ramsay.¡±

    Neoma¡¯s heart suddenly thumped hard and fast against her chest.

    [Ruto is really here.]

    Jasper oppa clicked his tongue. ¡°I just btedly realized that Viscount Stroganoff knows that I own this information guild.¡±

    ¡°Ruto knows almost everything, oppa. But we can trust him,¡± she assured Jasper oppa, then she stood up and immediately headed for the door. Then she opened it without hesitation. ¡°I told you I¡¯ll kill you if you go here...¡±

    She trailed off.

    [Huh? A chest?]

    Then she looked up.

    She had to look up to see Ruto¡¯s face because he towered over her. Wow. And here she thought Lewis was already tall. Ruto¡¯s growth spurt was the most impressive, it seemed.

    [Is Ruto taller than Jasper oppa, too?]

    But looking at Ruto¡¯s face gave her heart a painful squeeze.

    [The burn mark on his face is still visible.]

    And yet, Ruto looked more handsome than she expected.

    Purple hair.

    Dark violet eyes.

    [He¡¯s no longer hiding his purple hair?]

    Now, Ruto looked like the ¡®Commander Yoan¡¯ in her past memories. But, of course, themander in her memories was bigger than Ruto, which was natural because themander was in his early twenties while Ruto was only seventeen years old.

    However, the face couldn¡¯t be mistaken.

    [Ruto is really Commander Yoan, huh?]

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re right,¡± Ruto said, then he tilted his head to one side while looking at her face intently. ¡°You¡¯ve be prettier, Neoma.¡±

    Neoma felt her entire face turn warm. ¡°I know, but you¡¯re toote to tter me,¡± she said, then she took a step backward while her eyes were still focused on Ruto¡¯s face. ¡°I just received a marriage proposal from Jasper oppa.¡±

    Jasper oppa let out a fake, loud cough from behind.

    She, on the other hand, was bewildered by her own words.

    [Why did I suddenly blurt it out?! Am I some sort of lunatic deprived of attention?! Am I a desperate woman?!]

    .....

    God, she hated herself at the moment.

    Her thoughts were distracted when Ruto raised an eyebrow.

    ¡°Is that so?¡± Ruto asked, obviously displeased. Then he took a step forward and leaned down to meet her eye level. ¡°Did you ept Duke Hawthorne¡¯s proposal, Neoma?¡±

    She crossed her arms over her chest. ¡°What if I did?¡±

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll leave,¡± he said, then he avoided her gaze.

    ¡°Are you upset?¡± she asked, aghast.

    ¡°I¡¯m upset with myself,¡± Ruto said, then he covered half of his face with his hand while still refusing to look her in the eye. ¡°I know I shouldn¡¯t be, but I can¡¯t help but get jealous.¡±

    Ruto was jealous?

    Neoma knew it was ridiculous, but it made her happy to hear that from Ruto.

    ***

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 461

    Chapter 461: OF YOUNG LOVE AND JEALOUSY

    ¡°I¡¯M GLAD that Lady Roseheart has returned safely,¡± Hanna said after hearing Lewis¡¯ report while adjusting the hood of her maroon cloak. ¡°I can¡¯t wait to meet my future mother-inw.¡±

    It was safe for them to talk that way because of her Shadow Maniption Technique.

    The barrier around her and Lewis was invisible to the eye, but thanks to that, no one could hear their conversation from the outside. Moreover, people who would look their way wouldn¡¯t see them clearly.

    [Anyway...]

    She was with Lewis- whose hair and eyes dyed with magic- because he picked her up after Sir Emmet, the vice-captain of his father¡¯s army, dropped her off at the za. That was where Lewis fetched her.

    ¡°But Lewis, did you say that Miss Dahlia would stay in Hazelden, too?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Lewis, who was walking beside her, said. ¡°But she¡¯s staying in the pce, not in the same vi as Prince Nero.¡±

    .....

    That was a relief to hear.

    She couldn¡¯t do anything with the fact that Dahlia was a valuable member of the Order that Nero was preparing. But she was d to know that Nero knew how to put a line between him and the ck Witch.

    [Nero promised that he will marry me, and I trust him.]

    ¡°Lady Hanna, are you okay?¡±

    She turned to Lewis, confused. ¡°I¡¯m okay, Lewis. I trust Nero. He won¡¯t betray me.¡±

    ¡°I hope so,¡± Lewis said. ¡°If the Crown Prince betrays you, I might be forced tomit treason and beat him to a pulp.¡±

    Sheughed softly at what Lewis said.

    But, to be honest, she was touched. Even if he was just saying that to console her, she still appreciated it.

    [Neoma raised Lewis well.]

    ¡°Thank you, Lewis,¡± she said, then she lightly bumped her shoulders with his. She was aware that Lewis hated physical contact, but she also knew that it was alright as long as they didn¡¯t have skin-to-skin contact. ¡°Did you hate it?¡±

    Lewis touched the part of his shoulder that touched hers. ¡°It¡¯s alright, Lady Hanna. I¡¯m fine if it¡¯s with you and Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Lewis, I don¡¯t mean to patronize you, but I believe it will help you get better if you get used to skin-to-skin contact slowly,¡± she said gently. ¡°I¡¯ve read in a book that physical contact is vital not only for mental and emotional health but physical health, too.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Do you remember the time when Neoma talked to the doctors who are in charge of taking care of the children that you saved from the Death Camp?¡± she asked. When Lewis just nodded, she continued. ¡°Neoma told the doctors and the Healing Sages to help improve the children¡¯s mental health. Ever since then, books that talk about the importance of mental health and how to take care of it were released by those doctors.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I see.¡±

    Sheughed at Lewis¡¯ indifference.

    [He really doesn¡¯t care about things that aren¡¯t rted to Neoma.]

    ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind,¡± Lewis said, surprising her. ¡°Since it¡¯s you who gave that piece of advice, Lady Hanna.¡±

    She couldn¡¯t help but smile widely at that. ¡°I¡¯m relieved to know that you listen to me, too.¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± he said. ¡°We¡¯re rooting for each other, aren¡¯t we?¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± she said, still smiling.

    But her smile soon disappeared when she felt someone approach them from behind sneakily.

    Lewis felt it, too, seeing how his body turned around immediately at the same time she did.

    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s just me.¡±

    Oh.

    It was Duke Jasper Hawthorne.

    She was about to greet the young duke politely, but he smiled and shook his head while gesturing at his casual outfit.

    [Ah, he¡¯s disguised as amoner.]

    It was the right thing to do since they were in themoners¡¯ area. Hence, both Lewis and she were also in disguise.

    In the end, she just smiled and nodded politely at the young duke.

    Then she deactivated the barrier that protected her and Lewis.

    ¡°Where¡¯s Miss Ramsay?¡± Lewis asked Duke Hawthorne sharply. ¡°I thought I told you to keep her safe while I was out.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much,¡± the young duke said casually. ¡°A stronger knight appeared.¡±

    She tilted her head to one side, curious.

    ¡°Viscount Stroganoff arrived,¡± Duke Hawthorne exined. ¡°Miss Ramsay and the viscount are having a lovers¡¯ quarrel, so I lent them my office in the meantime.¡±

    Lovers¡¯ quarrel?

    Because of those seemingly innocent words, she saw pain cross Lewis¡¯ eyes.

    ¡°Miss Ramsay and the viscount aren¡¯t lovers,¡± Hanna said firmly. When the young duke turned to her with a shocked look on his face, she smiled ¡°kindly¡± at him. ¡°Please refrain from assuming Miss Ramsay¡¯s rtionship with the viscount, Your Grace.¡±

    Duke Hawthorne looked taken aback. ¡°Uhm, I apologize,¡± he said, even though it looked like he was confused as to why he was apologizing to her. ¡°I misspoke... I guess?¡±

    She just smiled at the young duke, then she turned to Lewis.

    [Oh?]

    Lewis gave her a small, grateful smile when their eyes met.

    Hanna smiled back at him, happy to have fulfilled her friend¡¯s duties.

    [I¡¯ve got your back, Lewis.]

    ***

    ¡°YOU LIED earlier when you said I got prettier, didn¡¯t you?¡± Neoma confronted Ruto. ¡°You can¡¯t see my face, so how could you say I got prettier?¡±

    Ruto, who was writing a reflection paper, stopped midway to look at her.

    Yes, she made him write a reflection paper that said:

    Thus, Ruto was sitting in the receiving chair while writing on Jasper oppa¡¯s desk.

    Of course, she was sitting behind the table, using the young duke¡¯s chair as if it was hers.

    [Jasper oppa left and lent us his office. He said he¡¯d go and inform Lewis and Hanna that I have an unexpected guest.]

    She could have just left with Ruto.

    But she figured Lewis and Hanna would get worried, so she opted to stay in Jasper oppa¡¯s office. It was a safe ce, anyway.

    ¡°I can see your face clearer now, Neoma,¡± Ruto said. ¡°Because you¡¯ve be stronger.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t see the faces of average humans,¡± he exined. ¡°However, I can see the faces of gods and strong Spirits clearly.¡±

    ¡°So, the stronger the person is, the clearer their image is in your eyes?¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t apply to average humans. That means I can¡¯t still see the face of the strongest human in the world,¡± he said, then he continued writing his reflection paper. ¡°However, humans like the de Moonasterios are the exception. After all, you have divine powers that gods possess. Thus, the stronger you get, the clearer I could see you.¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t see me before,¡± she said, shocked. ¡°Am I that weak in the past?¡±

    ¡°You were strong for a human back then,¡± he said. ¡°But remember when Sie- I mean, the Sun Priestess beat you before?¡±

    She bit her bottom lip to stop herself from grinning like a fool.

    [Ah, he remembers that I hate hearing him call Lady Sienna by her first name.]

    ¡°For someone who received Lord Yule¡¯s divine power, you were pretty weak back then,¡± he said casually. ¡°The Sun Priestess is considered a little above average at best within people who have received their god¡¯s divine power, and yet she still defeated you.¡±

    She pouted. ¡°But I killed a minor god back then.¡±

    ¡°A dying minor god, you mean?¡±

    ¡°Ruto, I¡¯m a narcissist,¡± she reminded him bitterly. ¡°I¡¯m sensitive to criticism.¡±

    He stopped writing, then he raised his head to look her in the eye. ¡°You¡¯re prettier and stronger now, so the past doesn¡¯t matter.¡±

    ¡°Praise me more to make it up for criticizing me earlier.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re tall.¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh.¡±

    ¡°You look good as a brte, too.¡±

    She smiled and nodded. ¡°I know, right?¡±

    .....

    ¡°Let¡¯s stop this,¡± he said. ¡°A seventeen-year-old boy praising a thirteen-year-old girl¡¯s physical appearance feels wrong.¡±

    If she didn¡¯t know that both she and Ruto were adults inside, she wouldn¡¯t have let happen in the first ce.

    ¡°Then just praise me for my personality,¡± she urged him.

    ¡°Your personality is a little... uh...¡±

    She red at him. ¡°Ruston Stroganoff.¡±

    ¡°You really sound scary when you call me by my full name,¡± he said,ughing softly. Then he handed her the reflection paper he just finished. ¡°I¡¯m done with your punishment.¡±

    She read Ruto¡¯s reflection paper. Like what she told him to do, he filled the paper back and forth with his ¡°promise.¡±

    [Damn, his penmanship looks superb and elegant.]

    But the content was a little different from what she asked him to write:

    ¡°Why did you only put my first name?¡± she asked, confused. ¡°Why put a nk after my name instead of simply putting ¡®Ramsay¡¯ on it?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not a Ramsay.¡±

    ¡°Then you should have just used my surname,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m still a de Moonasterio, and I¡¯ll be registered to the Royal Household officially soon.¡±

    He gave her a half-smile. ¡°You won¡¯t be a de Moonasterio forever.¡±

    She had to cover her face with the paper to hide her silly grin from him. ¡°Ruston Stroganoff, you¡¯re trying too hard to pacify me, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°If you say so.¡±

    [This punk...]

    ¡°Neoma, let me see your face.¡±

    ¡°Fine,¡± she said, then she put on a serious face before she put the paper away from her face. ¡°Look as much as you can before I send you home.¡±

    He put his chin on his hand while he propped his elbow up on the table. ¡°You¡¯re really sending me back home?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re a patient, Ruston Stroganoff,¡± she said sternly. ¡°Don¡¯t make your mother worry too much.¡±

    ¡°But I¡¯m fine-¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not fine,¡± she said, cutting him off. ¡°I heard it from Lady Sienna. You nearly died because Helstor and Callisto de Luca ganged up on you. The Sun Priestess said it was a miracle that you survived the attack of a full god like Helstor, plus the half-god de Luca.¡±

    To be honest, she was shocked that Helstor and Callisto de Luca had joined hands.

    But she was more concerned about what happened to Ruto after he confronted the two for her sake.

    [To be precise, Ruto confronted Calyx Dalton.]

    And because of that, Ruto was ambushed by Helstor and Callisto de Luca.

    ¡°Those two oldies caught you because you tried to kill Calyx Dalton for my sake,¡± she said, her heart aching once again. ¡°I understand why your mother dislikes me.¡±

    ¡°Neoma, it¡¯s my decision to do the things I do for you.¡±

    ¡°Ruston Stroganoff, you may be an adult inside,¡± she said gently. ¡°But for your mother, you¡¯ll always be a baby. If I were in her shoes, I also wouldn¡¯t be happy to see my son putting his life on the line because of a girl.¡±

    ¡°But you¡¯re not just any girl, Neoma.¡±

    ¡°I know that. I¡¯m the most beautiful and probably the strongest girl on the entire continent, too,¡± she said shamelessly. ¡°But your mother doesn¡¯t care about that. For her, I¡¯m just someone who puts her son in danger. Usually, I don¡¯t give a fuck about other people¡¯s opinions of me. But I don¡¯t want to be disliked by your mother. After all, she¡¯s a precious person to you.¡±

    He kept quiet while listening intently to her, so she didn¡¯t stop talking.

    ¡°And after I got reunited with my Mama Boss, I realized that as a daughter, it¡¯s my responsibility to be careful not to do things that would make my mother worry,¡± she said gently. ¡°So, if you can, please don¡¯t make your mother suffer due to your stubbornness.¡±

    Ruto fell silent for a while, then he slowly nodded. ¡°I understand,¡± he said softly. ¡°I¡¯ll return home and apologize to my mother properly.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± she said sincerely. ¡°And remember that I care about you, Ruto.¡±

    His face lit up when she called him by his nickname.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want you to die for me,¡± she said, pouring her heart into every word she was saying. ¡°I want you to live for me instead, Ruto. If you die because of me, I feel like I¡¯d go crazy and destroy this world for real.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t just Ruto, though.

    If any of the people she loved died, she wouldn¡¯t forgive this world. Or the gods. Whoever or whatever it was that would take her precious people away from her, she would destroy them.

    ¡°So, for the sake of this world that you want to protect, please don¡¯t get hurt. Don¡¯t even think about dying, Ruston Stroganoff,¡± she said, dead serious. Her eyes even turned glowing red despite the magic that dyed her pupils brown. ¡°Don¡¯t make me destroy this world.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I understand. I¡¯ll be more careful from now on,¡± Ruto said obediently. ¡°Neoma?¡±

    ¡°Yeah?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re so cool,¡± he confused, awed. ¡°I think my heart skipped a beat.¡±

    That actually made herugh.

    She was used to getting praises for her unparalleled beauty, but it was rare for her to receive that kind ofpliment. It was refreshing, and she was d that it came from Ruto.

    ¡°Let¡¯s stop fooling around,¡± she said, then she turned serious1. ¡°I have some news about the baby saint, and the decision that our family hase up with about his birth.¡±

    Ruto turned serious, too. ¡°And I have information about the technique that Helstor used that nearly killed me. It¡¯s not much, but I can also tell you the things that I know about Callisto de Luca¡¯s current state.¡±

    ¡°As the representatives of the Moon God and the Sun Goddess, let¡¯s exchange information,¡± Neoma said, getting into ¡®business mode¡¯ in an instant. ¡°Let¡¯s take down the enemies together, Ruto.¡±

    ***

    ¡°UNCLE, am I really His Majesty¡¯s son?¡± Calyx asked his Uncle Raven while they were having dinner. ¡°Ruston Stroganoff said that I don¡¯t have the glow of the emperor¡¯s firstborn.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t think about useless stuff, Calyx,¡± his Uncle Raven scolded him. ¡°They don¡¯t have proof that you don¡¯t have the glow of the current emperor¡¯s firstborn. After all, only a select few could see that glow. One of those people is the saint, but that position is currently vacant. As long as the Astello Temple doesn¡¯t have a saint, the Royal Family couldn¡¯t prove to the public that you aren¡¯t Emperor Niki¡¯s real firstborn child.¡±

    He wasn¡¯t convinced by what his uncle said.

    To be honest, he wanted to know if he was really the emperor¡¯s son. But his uncle¡¯s vague response only made him confused.

    He and his Uncle Raven turned to His Excellency, who was back in his crow form- the crow with a metallic voice that was sitting on the backrest of the long table¡¯s center seat.

    ¡°A few years ago, Lord Yule left a message to the world that says the First Star would bring the new saint to the temple,¡± his Uncle Raven said. ¡°ording to Lord Helstor, the royal princess is the First Star and not the Crown Prince.¡±

    Calyx raised an eyebrow, his head hurting even more. [So... I¡¯m not the First Star?]

    ¡°It¡¯s a shame, but it¡¯s toote for us to change that since the Moon God himself announced the prophecy to the public,¡± his Uncle Raven said. ¡°The public already believes that the Crown Prince is the one destined to bring the new saint to the temple.¡±

    His Excellency Callisto de Luca said in an amused tone.

    ***

    Bted Happy Mother¡¯s Day to Neoma1, Mona, Amber, and Brigitte (and all the mothers in this novel!).

    A littleme extra...

    Neoma: *celebrating Mother¡¯s Day with her Papa Boss before she rescued her mother* Papa Boss, I want my Mama Boss.

    Niki: I also want your mother, Neoma.

    Neoma: ...

    Niki: ...

    Neoma: Eww, Papa Boss.

    ***

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 462

    Chapter 462: ONE-IN-A-MILLION SOUL BEAST

    [THIS IS not enough.]

    Nero, who was catching his breath after creating a snowstorm that produced sharp icicles instead of snow, wasn¡¯t satisfied with his current level. Even though the cave where he spent his time training in secret (he sneaked out of the vi while his mother was talking to his father via amunication device) was now covered with ice and icicles, he still felt like he wascking.

    [Neoma and her dragon are stronger than me and my Soul Beast.]

    His twin sister didn¡¯t summon her Soul Beast when she was at Hazelden a few days ago, but she didn¡¯t have to call the dragon to let him know how much stronger she had grown.

    He felt it.

    [Neoma¡¯s Moonglow is stronger than mine, and she¡¯s better at controlling her Soul Beast than me. She¡¯s more of a de Moonasterio than I am, it seems.]

    But even though he loved Neoma to death, he still didn¡¯t want to lose to her.

    .....

    [How can I protect her if I¡¯m weaker than her?]

    His thoughts were distracted when Sev, his two-tailed wolf, walked to him weakly while panting.

    ¡°Are you already tired, Sev?¡± Nero asked, then he got down on one knee and gently patted the wolf¡¯s head. ¡°Hang in a little more. We can¡¯t be satisfied with our current strength.¡±

    Sev whimpered as if he wasining.

    It wasn¡¯t the first time that he heard his Soul Beast¡¯s voice that sounded like it belonged to a young boy.

    But this was the first time that Sevined about being sick, so he got worried.

    ¡°You don¡¯t feel well?¡± he asked worriedly. ¡°Should I call William?¡±

    William was lurking in the shadows while stalking his mother. It looked like his mother hadn¡¯t forgiven William yet, so the Grand Spirit thought that stalking would make his mother forgive him.

    But he kept his mouth shut because he wanted William to suffer longer after the way he treated Neoma in the past. The Grand Spirit had mellowed down these days, but he was the type of person to hold grudges.

    [I haven¡¯t forgiven him yet for calling my Neoma a ¡°filthy bug¡± before.]

    ¡°Prince Nero, one of my tails feels heavy.¡±

    Tail?

    His eyes automatically went to Sev¡¯s two tails.

    Much to his shock, one of the wolf¡¯s tails grew longer.

    Wait, scratched that.

    The tail hadpletely changed in appearance!

    ¡°A tail feather?¡± he asked, confused.

    Sev turned his back on him to let him see his strange tail feather closer.

    [Ah, it¡¯s really a tail feather.]

    It was a long, dark purple tail feather. The feathers looked like they were made from ice, though. It was strange, yet beautiful.

    The tail feather was thirteen-inch long, but it didn¡¯t look awkward since Sev was huge.

    ¡°Why did your tail be like this?¡± he asked, then he carefully touched the tail feather with his finger. ¡°It¡¯s cold...¡±

    It wasn¡¯t Sev¡¯s voice, but it sounded close to his Soul Beast¡¯s voice.

    ¡°Who...¡± Nero asked, but he soon trailed off when his consciousness quickly faded away. [Ah, Mother would get worried if I faint here...]

    ***

    AFTER William followed the strange aura that he felt earlier, he found himself in front of a cave. The cave¡¯s entrance was blocked by a huge ice wall, and the Fletcher Twins were desperately trying to break it by attacking the ice wall with her Mana waves. Of course, it was futile. The ground shook because of the twins¡¯ attacks, but the ice wall remained unscathed.

    It could only mean one thing.

    His hunch was correct.

    [Nero is there.]

    ¡°It¡¯s no use,¡± William said, causing the Fletcher Twins to turn around and re at him. ¡°I¡¯ll get Nero out of the cave.¡±

    ¡°How?¡± Wyatt Fletcher, the older twin, asked while giving him a suspicious look. ¡°The ice wall is practically unbreakable.¡±

    ¡°And we can¡¯t use too much force,¡± Warren added. ¡°If the cave copsed, we might put Prince Nero in danger. We suspect that His Royal Highness has fainted because he wasn¡¯t responding to our call.¡±

    ¡°The barrier around the cave at the moment is the type of barrier that would fend off anyone- anyone but the Rosehearts,¡± he exined to the Fletcher Twins, then he walked past them. After that, he ced his hand on the ice wall. Just like what he expected, his hand pushed through the ice wall effortlessly. ¡°See?¡±

    The Fletcher Twins looked stupefied.

    He didn¡¯t wait for the twins to give a remark and just walked through the ice wall that didn¡¯t restrain him in any way.

    It didn¡¯t take him long before he found Nero.

    The young prince was unconscious on the ground, lying down next to the unconscious wolf with two tails...

    [Wait, is that a tail feather?]

    Confused, he got down on one knee to observe Nero and his Soul Beast.

    He put one hand on the young prince¡¯s head and used thermal magic to keep him warm, while he used his other hand to touch the tail feather carefully. But as soon as his finger grazed the tail feather, he pulled his hand away immediately.

    It hurt.

    The tail feather was so cold that it hurt.

    [Could it be...]

    William¡¯s eyes widened in shock when the realization hit him, then he turned to Nero and let out augh. ¡°Nero, did you gain another Soul Beast?¡±

    And it wasn¡¯t just an ordinary Soul Beast.

    William could tell that Nero¡¯s second Soul Beast was rarer than all of Niki de Moonasterio¡¯s four Soul Beastsbined.

    ***

    Mona was relieved to hear that the confrontation between Neoma and the Sun Priestess was over.

    But at the same time, she was concerned with what Niki said.

    [The Darkness is bing a threat to the human race again...]

    She raised her eyebrow, amused at how Niki looked so smug at the moment.

    The wall adorned with Mana Stones that functioned as amunication device showed Niki¡¯s image clearly. She could tell that the emperor was back in his bedroom. This time, he was leaning against the headboard of his luxurious bed.

    [But he¡¯s still wearing his work clothes?]

    Niki said proudly.

    She couldn¡¯t help butugh while shaking her head. ¡°Niki, narcissism really runs in your blood. Out of all the things that our Muffin could inherit from you, it really has to be your big ego, huh?¡±

    ¡°I see that you¡¯re spoiling our baby well.¡±

    Niki said softly.

    Her smile slowly vanished.

    Of course, she was happy to hear how much Niki treasured their children. But she didn¡¯t like the way he put it.

    ¡°Niki, I don¡¯t like how you¡¯re talking as if you¡¯d be gone soon.¡±

    He looked surprised by her remark.

    ¡°Is everything alright?¡±

    He paused for a moment before responding.

    ¡°You¡¯re lying.¡±

    he insisted gently. But when she just stared at him, he caved and let out a sigh.

    She felt a pang in her heart as fear rose in her chest. ¡°Niki...¡±

    he said, assuring her gently.

    She clenched her hands tight.

    The previous emperors whose Moonglow were ¡°stolen¡± by their sessors died eventually...

    he said worriedly.

    ¡°But all the other emperors in the past died after their sessors imed the throne...¡± she trailed off when she felt something strange, then she immediately stood up.

    ¡°Nero,¡± she said worriedly. ¡°Nero¡¯s Mana disappeared.¡±

    .....

    She was about to bolt out of the room to look for her son when suddenly, William appeared in front of her.

    And the Grand Spirit was carrying the unconscious Nero in his arms.

    ¡°My baby,¡± Mona said as she walked towards William to check on her son. ¡°What happened to my son, William?¡±

    ¡°Nero is going through his second Awakening as a de Moonasterio,¡± William informed her, then his gaze went past her. The Grand Spirit looked at Niki whose image was still clear on the wall. ¡°Nero just gained another Soul Beast, Niki de Moonasterio.¡±

    Mona and Niki, needless to say, were both pleasantly surprised by the news.

    ***

    [A BLUE phoenix?]

    The phoenix, who was standing on the branch of a dying and leafless tree, was at least twelve meters in height, and twenty meters in length. Its wingspan was huge, too- naturally.

    [It¡¯s cold and icy in color...]

    The ice phoenix had a medium blue tone at the top of the head, and it gradually got darker as it went down the body. Finally, just like what he saw earlier, the tail feather was a dark shade of purple.

    [Neoma would love this beautiful creature.]

    After all, his sister loved anything and everything beautiful.

    Although Nero didn¡¯t care much about things like that, he would admit that he was mesmerized this time.

    He couldn¡¯t help but admire the beautiful bird in front of him while he was in the middle of a snow-covered field. The ¡°sky¡± was clear, but it was white everywhere he looked. Even the pine trees around him were covered with snow. Yet, he could tell that he wasn¡¯t in the real world.

    Moreover, he knew the bird in front of him wasn¡¯t an ordinary bird.

    [It¡¯s a Soul Beast.]

    ¡°This is the first time I¡¯ve seen a blue phoenix,¡± Nero said, then he raised an eyebrow. ¡°Ah, should I call you an ice phoenix instead?¡±

    the ice phoenix said, and his voice was definitely the one he heard before he fainted earlier.

    That actually confused him.

    [Soul Beasts could be siblings? By blood or what?]

    Well, not that he cared.

    ¡°Am I in my second Awakening as a de Moonasterio?¡± he asked. ¡°Are you here to be my second Soul Beast?¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± he said, then he opened his hands while preparing to attack. ¡°You chose the hard way, huh?¡±

    the ice phoenix said while pping its gigantic and beautiful icy blue wings.

    ***

    NOTE: I just posted a new side story on my ko-fi page. Episode 2: Nichole and Niki¡¯s 13th Birthday: [In which Niki gave Nichole the best and the worst birthday present a brother could give his twin sister.]

    The side storiese with a simple art from me, so please check it out. Hehe.

    Link to my ko-fi ount (or just type s_c on the search bar): ko-fi/s_c

    Link to the story: https://ko-fi/post/EPISODE-2-NICHOLE-AND-NIKOLAIS-13TH-BIRTHDAY-T6T3CTBAL

    ***

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 463

    Chapter 463: THE ICE PHOENIX¡¯S TEST

    WHEN the ice phoenix disappeared, Nero already prepared himself for an attack.

    He couldn¡¯t summon Sev, and he didn¡¯t want to after he heard that the wolf was, apparently, the brother of the ice phoenix.

    Thankfully, he could feel his Mana. And he gained a little weighttely. He was still on the skinny side, but his stamina had improved. Thus, he was confident that his physical strength could take on a phoenix.

    Well, not really.

    But as a de Moonasterio, he had no choice but to trust himself.

    ¡°B-Brother...?¡±

    His thoughts were distracted when he heard the voice of a child that sounded really, really familiar to him.

    .....

    [No way...]

    A three-year-old Neoma suddenly appeared right in front of him.

    He knew that it was an illusion, but he almost ran to his baby sister who looked so cute while looking up at him with those big, round eyes of hers.

    And those chubby, pinkish cheeks...

    He had to clench his hands tight until his nails dug deep into his palms. That was the only way he could do to stop himself from hugging little Neoma.

    [But she¡¯s so cute...]

    ¡°Brother Nero?¡±

    He thought his heart stopped beating when two more little Neomas appeared before him. One was a five-year-old Neoma, while the other was her eight-year-old version.

    [God, are you testing my patience?]

    These three adorable little Neomas were too much for his poor heart!

    ¡°Nero?¡±

    Oh, god.

    Now a pretty thirteen-year-old Neoma was standing in front of him.

    [My heart is going to burst out of my chest at this rate.]

    His twin sister¡¯s beauty was blinding, after all.

    [Is this how the ice phoenix ns to kill me? By using my twin sister¡¯s cuteness to give me a heart attack? Well, it¡¯s working...]

    ¡°Prince Nero?¡±

    [¡°Prince Nero?¡±]

    When he turned around to see the owner of the familiar yet unfamiliar voice who addressed him by his title, he got the surprise of his life.

    He was greeted by an eighteen-year-old Neoma.

    [It¡¯s the Neoma in my past memories, the one that I stabbed to death.]

    And the adult Neoma in front of him was hugging the sword that he used to stab her close to her chest, her body trembling while she was looking at him with fear in her eyes.

    Nero clenched his hands tight once again.

    [Ah, this is the ice phoenix¡¯s true test.]

    ***

    [NERO?]

    Neoma stopped talking to Ruto and looked around when she felt Nero¡¯s presence in the office.

    She saw nothing strange, but the cold breeze she felt earlier lingered.

    ¡°Neoma?¡±

    She turned to Ruto.

    Judging by his calm appearance, it looked like he didn¡¯t notice the cold breeze that went past them earlier.

    ¡°I think Nero is in a slightly dangerous situation,¡± Neoma said, then she put a hand over her chest. ¡°I can feel his presence as if he¡¯s reaching out to me. But my physical condition is fine. Usually, if one of us is physically hurt, the other would feel it.¡± She tilted her head to one side. ¡°I feel like Nero has been disconnected from this world.¡±

    It sounded dangerous, but she didn¡¯t feel like her twin brother was in immediate danger. She could tell that he was safe. At least, for now.

    ¡°I see. Your bond with Prince Nero is interesting,¡± Ruto said, impressed. ¡°I¡¯ll walk you back to the pce, Neoma. If you feel like Prince Nero is in a dire situation, it would be wise to check on His Royal Highness in a safe ce.¡±

    And the safest ce to contact Nero would be the Royal Pce.

    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± she said. ¡°And I have something to give to you, Ruto.¡±

    His face instantly lit up.

    She suddenly got embarrassed.

    ¡°It¡¯s something that I designed myself, but don¡¯t expect too much,¡± she warned him. ¡°It will be unfair to the world if I be too perfect, so I wasn¡¯t born artistic.¡±

    He let out a softugh. ¡°Neoma, no need to get defensive. I¡¯ll appreciate it even if you give me a piece of trash.¡±

    She just pouted.

    [Sometimes I don¡¯t like it when Ruto spoils me too much.]

    But she was distracted when themunication device in her ear (a silver stud earring) vibrated. Since the call came from her Papa Boss, the call was connected immediately. The stud earring had a function where calls from her father would get connected, whether or not she picked it up.

    ¡°Papa Boss, it¡¯s about Nero, right?¡± she asked right away before her father could even speak from the other end of the line.

    ¡°I feel like Nero has been disconnected from this world,¡± she exined. ¡°What happened to my baby brother, Papa Boss?¡±

    ¡°Second Awakening?¡±

    ¡°Oh. So, Nero gained his second Soul Beast,¡± she said, a little surprised. ¡°That¡¯s why he was disconnected from this world.¡±

    Nero was probably taking his new Soul Beast¡¯s test in a different dimension.

    her father said.

    ¡°Yes, Papa Boss.¡±

    her Papa Boss said.

    She smiled and nodded, even though her father couldn¡¯t see her, anyway. ¡°Alright, Papa Boss. I¡¯ll be home soon.¡±

    After that, she hung up.

    Then she let out a long sigh.

    For a moment there, an awful feeling overwhelmed her.

    She had always known that Nero was born with everything. He was the favored de Moonasterio because he was a male heir, and he was also special as a male Roseheart.

    But to be honest, she thought she was stronger than Nero as a de Moonasterio. It was embarrassing to admit, but that made her feel a little better. Because deep inside her heart, the part that she didn¡¯t want to acknowledge, her insecurity towards her twin brother existed.

    And just when she thought she was getting over it, her twin brother suddenly gained a second Soul Beast, just like that...

    [I¡¯m inferior to Nero, huh?]

    God, she felt like a loser.

    Why couldn¡¯t she get rid of her inferiorityplex towards Neropletely? Was it because of herpetitiveness?

    ¡°Neoma, you have a god for a Soul Beast.¡±

    She raised her head to meet Ruto¡¯s warm gaze.

    ¡°Even if youbine all the rare and legendary Soul Beasts together, they would still pale inparison with your Soul Beast,¡± Ruto said as if he could read her emotions at the moment. Well, Ruto heard what she talked about with her father, so he probably had a rough idea about what was going on. ¡°Trust me, Neoma. You were the only de Moonasterio in history to have a god for a Soul Beast.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re spoiling me again.¡±

    He smiled and extended his hand to touch her face. To be precise, he smoothened the lines on her forehead with his fingers. ¡°Neoma, I can¡¯t pretend that I understand your feelings because I¡¯m an only child. But I know that when ites topetition, the only one you shouldpete with is your own self.¡±

    It was weird, but Ruto¡¯s words actually made her feel better.

    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± she said while nodding her head. ¡°The only one who can beat me is me.¡±

    Then sheughed at her own joke.

    After all, she quoted her favorite character from the anime/manga called K*roku no B*ske.

    ¡°Confidence looks good on you, Neoma,¡± Ruto said softly. ¡°Even if you be the most arrogant person in the entire world, I wouldn¡¯t mind it.¡±

    Neomaughed at what Ruto said. ¡°Why do I feel like you¡¯d regret saying that someday?¡±

    .....

    ***

    NERO eventually realized that he could imagine whatever he wanted in that dimension, and it would be a ¡°reality.¡±

    And so, he created a warm home for his little Neomas (plus the adult one).

    He yed and made snowmen with the three, five, and eight-year-old Neomas. Then he tucked the three little Neomas in bed after they got tired of ying.

    After that, he made a simple meal for the thirteen-year-old Neoma.

    The eighteen-year-old Neoma, on the other hand, had cooped herself up inside the main bedroom.

    [I should bring her a mug of hot chocte, too.]

    ¡°Where are you going, Nero?¡± the thirteen-year-old Neoma, who was now enjoying the hot chocte he made for her earlier, asked while sitting in front of the firece. ¡°Are you going to take care of the oldest Neoma, even though she was mean to you? She kept on ring at you earlier. And she even ignored us when you asked her to y with us.¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter even if she was mean to us,¡± he said. ¡°As long as she¡¯s Neoma, I don¡¯t care what form she takes. I¡¯ll still take care of her. That¡¯s my duty as your brother.¡±

    The thirteen-year-old Neoma grinned at him. ¡°You like me a lot,¡± she said, amused. Then she gave him her famous thumbs up. ¡°Good for you. Loving me to death is the best decision you made in all your lifetimesbined, Nero.¡±

    He smiled and nodded in agreement. ¡°Loving you is an honor, Neoma.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s cringe, but you do you, dongsaeng-ah1.¡±

    He was amused at how simr the illusion was to the real Neoma.

    [The ice phoenix did an excellent job in creating illusions of my twin sister.]

    After he excused himself, he left the thirteen-year-old Neoma to let her enjoy her hot chocte in peace.

    Then he went to the eighteen-year-old Neoma¡¯s room while holding a mug of hot chocte.

    ¡°I brought hot chocte for you,¡± he said when he entered the room. He knocked earlier, but the adult Neoma didn¡¯t respond. Even so, he let himself in. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I didn¡¯t put poison in it.¡±

    He put the mug on the bedside table, then he turned to the adult Neoma.

    She was standing in the corner of the room while looking at him nervously. And she was still hugging the sword tightly.

    [She¡¯s so wary of me.]

    How did the ice phoenix even know the eighteen-year-old Neoma that he stabbed in his first life?

    [Did the ice phoenix read my memories?]

    Ah, that must be it.

    That could only be the exnation as to how the ice phoenix made a perfect illusion of Neoma in different ages.

    [And I have an idea why the eighteen-year-old Neoma is acting this way.]

    ¡°Princess Neoma,¡± he said, addressing his twin sister by her title to put her at ease. This Neoma was afraid of him, so he figured addressing her by her name mighte across as him looking down on her. He didn¡¯t want her to think that, so he spoke politely to his twin sister. ¡°Please don¡¯t be afraid of me. I won¡¯t hurt you.¡±

    The eighteen-year-old Neoma obviously didn¡¯t believe him. She even slightly draw the sword from the scabbard as if she was about to attack him.

    [Ah, I knew it.]

    ¡°You¡¯re here to kill me,¡± he said carefully. ¡°Did the ice phoenix ask you to kill me?¡±

    The eighteen-year-old Neoma looked shocked. ¡°H-How did Your Royal Highness know...?¡±

    [I thought so.]

    After all, this was still a test from the ice phoenix.

    ¡°Princess Neoma, you may not believe this. But in the present world where I live, you¡¯re the person that I love the most.¡±

    ¡°L-Liar,¡± the eighteen-year-old Neoma said. Then she pulled out the sword from the scabbardpletely, gripping it. Ah, this Neoma didn¡¯t have a Soul Beast, and she didn¡¯t seem to know how to use her Mana, too. ¡°You only see Dahlia...¡±

    ¡°I can prove my love to you right now,¡± he said, then he opened his hand. In just the blink of an eye, a long and sharp icicle materialized in the air. ¡°You don¡¯t have to dirty your hands, Princess Neoma.¡±

    After he said that, he unceremoniously stabbed the icicle in his heart.

    The eighteen-year-old Neoma dropped the sword and covered her mouth with her trembling hands when she gasped. ¡°W-Why did you...¡±

    ¡°I told you, didn¡¯t I? You¡¯re the person I love most in this world,¡± Nero said, smiling despite the blood trickling down the side of his mouth. He didn¡¯t expect it since he thought he wouldn¡¯t feel pain in that dimension, but stabbing himself with an icicle made by his own Mana actually hurt like hell. Even so, it didn¡¯t matter to him. ¡°I¡¯ll give you anything and everything that you desire- even if it¡¯s my own life.¡±

    ***

    MONA gasped when Nero¡¯s chest suddenly began bleeding right after he tucked him into the bed. Her hands automatically reached out to cover the wound that just appeared abruptly on her son¡¯s chest. The bleeding was pretty bad, too.

    ¡°Niki, Nero¡¯s chest is bleeding,¡± Mona said to Niki. Themunication device was still active and connected to Niki. When she turned to him, she saw the concern on his face. ¡°This isn¡¯t normal, is it?¡±

    Niki shook his head.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. And this should never happen,¡± William, who was standing beside the bed while observing Nero, added. ¡°Even if a de Moonasterio fails to tame their Soul Beast, there¡¯s no reason for them to get physically hurt since they take the Soul Beast¡¯s test in their Spirit form.¡±

    [I knew it- this isn¡¯t normal.]

    She turned to Nero again, then she used her healing abilities to close the wound on her son¡¯s chest.

    A few momentster, her hands were engulfed with a pinkish light. Translucent images of red roses appeared and covered the wound on Nero¡¯s chest. Much to her relief, the wound slowly closed and the bleeding stopped as well.

    She whipped her head to the wall when she heard Niki call their daughter¡¯s name worriedly.

    Niki was no longer visible on the screen, but she could hear his voice.

    Mona felt like her heart sank to the floor. ¡°Niki, what happened to Neoma?¡±

    ***

    NEOMA went back to the pce with Ruto, Lewis, and Hanna in a hurry since she started feeling strange.

    Something bad had happened to Nero, and she felt it in her bones.

    Thus, as soon as the four of them reached the pce, she excused herself immediately and ran to her father¡¯s bedroom. Geoffrey Kinsley, who was guarding outside the room, greeted her politely and opened the door for her.

    ¡°Papa Boss...¡± Neoma said, but she trailed off when she felt a sharp pain in her chest. The next thing she knew, she was already falling to the floor and she couldn¡¯t move her body the way she wanted to. [Argh, did someone just stab and paralyze me?]

    ¡°Neoma!¡±

    She was surprised when suddenly, her Papa Boss appeared beside her and caught her before she hit the floor.

    ¡°Are you alright, Neoma?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not, Papa Boss,¡± Neoma said, then she put a hand over her chest. ¡°It hurts here, literally.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Nero,¡± Papa Boss said worriedly. ¡°Your brother got a chest wound while unconscious.¡±

    ***

    NOTE: I posted a new side story on my ko-fi page. Episode 3: Glenn¡¯s Hot Birthday Present: [Glenn has good self-control, unless he¡¯s on the battlefield... and he¡¯s in the bed with his wife.]

    The art that came with it is a little... sexy. *shy*

    Warning: The side story has mature scenes. Yes, it has a lot of s/ex. So don¡¯t read if you¡¯re notfortable with that kind of content. Hehe. *shy again*

    Link to my ko-fi ount (or just type s_c on the search bar): ko-fi /s_c

    Link to the story: https://ko-fi/Post/EPISODE-3-GLENNS-HOT-BIRTHDAY-PRESENT-H2H1CUHWC

    ***

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 464

    Chapter 464: MY NAME IS...

    HANNA sped her hands together, praying that nothing serious had happened to Nero.

    Since she and the others weren¡¯t allowed in the emperor¡¯s room, the head butler of the Yule Pce ushered them to the drawing room. Now, she was sitting on the sofa while Ruto (who borrowed the kitchen earlier), was serving tea for her.

    On the other hand, Lewis was sitting on the chair across from him. The fox boy didn¡¯t want to sit initially, but she reminded him that he was currently a guest in the emperor¡¯s pce and not as Neoma¡¯s knight. Lewis then sat down reluctantly.

    [At least he listened to me.]

    ¡°This tea will help you calm down, Lady Hanna,¡± Ruston Stroganoff said after he served her and Lewis each a cup of tea that he brewed himself. ¡°Lewis, drink the tea instead of staring at it.¡±

    Lewis, who was obviously not listening to Ruston Stroganoff, just continued staring at the teacup in front of him.

    [He really doesn¡¯t like the viscount.]

    .....

    Hanna smiled at the young chef. ¡°Thank you, Viscount Stroganoff. Lewis and I appreciate the tea you brewed for us.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it,¡± the young lord said, then he sat on the other end of the sofa that Lewis upied. ¡°And please feel free to address me by my nickname, Lady Hanna. I am not used to hearing people address me by my father¡¯s lesser title.¡±

    She smiled and nodded. ¡°If you insist, Lord Ruto.¡±

    He acknowledged her by nodding, then he looked back and forth between her and Lewis. ¡°I know that the two of you are worried about Neoma and Prince Nero. But if it¡¯s any constion, please be assured that the royal twins are both safe.¡±

    That was a relief to hear, but...

    ¡°How did you know that?¡± Lewis asked the young lord indifferently. ¡°We only heard the gist of what¡¯s happening from Princess Neoma earlier.¡±

    She nodded in agreement.

    All they heard from Neoma was the fact that Nero was going through his second Awakening as a de Moonasterio, and it looked like things weren¡¯t going well.

    The worried look on Neoma¡¯s face earlier scared her.

    [She wouldn¡¯t show that kind of emotion if Nero wasn¡¯t in a dire state.]

    ¡°If either Neoma or Prince Nero gets into a life-threatening situation because of the Soul Beasts, the Moon Priest would let us know since he¡¯s the one responsible for them,¡± Lord Ruto exined. ¡°The fact that the Moon Priest isn¡¯t here yet only means that Prince Nero is going through his Awakening just fine.¡±

    For some reason, Lord Ruto sounded trustworthy.

    Before she knew it, the young lord¡¯sforting words already put her at ease.

    Lewis frowned, but she could tell that the fox boy was also relieved by Lord Ruto¡¯s assurance.

    [Ah, now I know.]

    Hanna realized why Neoma liked Lord Ruto the most out of all the boys around her.

    [Lord Ruto is probably the person who can soothe Neoma the best when she¡¯s having a hard time.]

    ***

    MONA was relieved when Nero¡¯s chest wound finally stopped bleeding.

    But there was still a thorn left in her heart because her other child, her Baby Muffin, felt the same pain that her son was feeling wherever he was at the moment.

    ¡°William, look after Nero for a moment,¡± Mona said to the Grand Spirit, then she walked towards the wall to take a look at Neoma. She could see her daughter¡¯s image on the transparent screen created by themunication device attached to the corners of the wall. ¡°Baby Muffin, how are you feeling now?¡±

    Neoma, who was sitting on Niki¡¯s bed while leaning against the headboard, smiled at her reassuringly. she said, then she put a hand over her chest.

    Niki nodded in agreement. <"Mona, don''t worry too much. I also summoned Manu here to be safe."

    Manu was the Moon Priest, if she remembered it right.

    "That''s a relief," Mona said. Even so, her heart was still filled with worry as Nero hadn''t woken up yet. "But if Nero doesn''t wake up soon, I''ll force my way into the Soul Beasts'' dimension to get him out of there."

    ***

    NEOMA thought her mother was a badass after she said she''d force her way into the Soul Beast''s dimension just to get Nero out of there. She didn''t even know that someone who wasn''t a de Moonasterio could do that.

    [But Mama Boss is a Roseheart, and so are the Soul Beasts.]

    "Mona is considered the Daughter of Nature," her Papa Boss exined to her. "The Cosmic Tree helps her open any door that allows Spirits in their dimension. Since your mother is a Roseheart, she could travel anywhere in her Spirit form."

    "Ah, I see," she said while nodding.

    Her Mama Boss, who could be clearly seen on the translucent screen on the wall, smiled and nodded as confirmation.

    She was about to say something when she felt the shift in the air.

    Even her Papa Boss suddenly looked on guard.

    Then, suddenly, a drunk man wearingmoner clothes appeared in the room. He reeked of booze, and he couldn''t even stand straight. Most of all, his entire face was flushed red.

    "Lord Manu?!" she asked, surprised to see the Moon Priest in this state.

    [He looks like an ordinary yet very handsome civilian.]

    And surprisingly, he concealed his divine power well.

    Her Papa Boss clicked his tongue at the Moon Priest. "This is the first time I met a drunk representative of Yule."

    [Ohh... Papa Boss is not impressed.]

    "We enjoy booze, too, Niki de Moonasterio," Manu said. Thankfully, despite how drunk he looked, he still spoke clearly. "And anyone who serves a lunatic family like yours would need some booze to continue this work. Do you know how frustrating it is to work with and for the de Moonasterios?"

    "Papa Boss, Lord Manu has a point," she said, nodding. "I''d drink too if I need to work with a bunch of lunatics."

    Manu gave her father a look that said ''I-told-you-so.''

    Her Papa Boss just rolled his eyes, then he became serious. "Manu, Nero is going through his second Awakening. It appears like he has gained another Soul Beast. But his chest bled earlier."

    her Mama Boss asked worriedly.

    ¡°That¡¯s how it was supposed to be. If Nero de Moonasterio was physically hurt during his test in order to tame his new Soul Beast, it could only mean one thing,¡± Manu said solemnly, then he addressed each of them with an intense gaze before he dropped the bomb. ¡°Nero de Moonasterio probably tried to take his own life.¡±

    Neoma gasped loudly, while her Mama Boss and Papa Boss looked shocked by the Moon Priest¡¯s revtion. ¡°Lord Manu, please bring me to Nero now!¡±

    [What the hell are you thinking, Nero?!]

    But worst of all, Neoma had a feeling that she was the reason why Nero tried to kill himself.

    [Don¡¯t love me too much, you dummy!]

    ***

    ¡°ARE YOU crazy, Nero de Moonasterio?¡±

    ¡°Haven¡¯t you been informed that all de Moonasterios are insane? So, yes, I¡¯m crazy,¡± Nero asked, frowning. ¡°I have to say that your true form is quite disappointing.¡±

    The eighteen-year-old Neoma that ran toward him after he stabbed himself with an icicle slowly changed her form the closer she got to him. And when ¡°she¡± caught him before he hit the floor, his chest bleeding, ¡°her¡± appearancepletely changed.

    His ¡°twin sister¡± had turned into a male Roseheart.

    The person who caught him was a tall andnky ¡°young¡± man with shoulder-length pink hair, the strands a dark shade of red. He wore clothes that only nobles would wear under a thick, white fur coat. And he had the scent of the forest in him.

    [This is the human form of the ice phoenix.]

    ¡°Can you return to my sister¡¯s adult form?¡± he asked grumpily. ¡°I liked the worried look on Neoma¡¯s face when she saw me stab myself earlier.¡±

    ¡°That was me worrying about you using your twin sister¡¯s appearance¡ª not the real Neoma de Moonasterio,¡± the ice phoenix snapped at him. ¡°Do you know what you just did? Hurting or trying to kill yourself in this dimension would hurt you physically! Your chest is probably bleeding in the real world as we speak!¡±

    ¡°Good,¡± he said casually. ¡°The real Neoma is probably worried about me then.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re crazy,¡± the ice phoenix said bluntly. ¡°Now I¡¯m seriously thinking about failing you instead of letting you pass this test.¡±

    ¡°So, I passed?¡±

    The ice phoenix let out a sigh. ¡°You did, but your craziness is making me question if I made the right decision.¡±

    ¡°Did you test my love for my twin sister?¡±

    ¡°That, and your loyalty,¡± the ice phoenix said. ¡°You see, I don¡¯t have my memories of when I was still alive. But I learned the concept of ¡®family¡¯ and ¡®siblings¡¯ from my old master. He was your ancestor, so you definitely know him. Have you heard of Arche de Moonasterio?¡±

    He knitted his eyebrows. ¡°The most ipetent emperor in history?¡±

    ¡°My former master wasn¡¯t ipetent,¡± the ice phoenix said sternly while ring at him. ¡°But he was a fool for his twin sister. His love for and loyalty to Aruna de Moonasterio made me envy them. So, when I met the wolf that you call Sev, I made him my sibling. Sev isn¡¯t an official Soul Beast. He was one of those who were considered a failure, just like the ck serpent attached to the ck Tortoise.¡±

    Ah.

    The ice phoenix was talking about his father¡¯s Soul Beasts. But that wasn¡¯t what was important at the moment.

    ¡°Sev isn¡¯t an official Soul Beast?¡± he asked, confused. ¡°You¡¯ve seen my past memories since you were able to copy the eighteen-year-old Neoma from my first life. Then you should also know that in my first life, I didn¡¯t have you as my Soul Beast. In those memories, I only had Sev.¡±

    The ice phoenix nodded. ¡°You probably failed my test back then. Based on the memories that I saw, you and your twin sister didn¡¯t get along well in your first life.¡±

    Ah, that was right.

    [The old me wouldn¡¯t give up his life for Neoma.]

    .....

    ¡°But you have improved your rtionship with your twin sister, and you passed my test sessfully,¡± the ice phoenix said. ¡°You earned the right to call my real name.¡±

    To be honest, he was interested in hearing more about Arche and Aruna de Moonasterio¡¯s rtionship.

    The books taught him that Arche de Moonasterio was the most ipetent emperor in their history, and Aruna de Moonasterio was killed for being morepetent than her twin brother. Thus, he assumed that the twins had a bitter rtionship.

    But he figured he could ask the ice phoenix about itter, once the ice phoenix was under his full control as his Soul Beast.

    [Moreover, I want Neoma to hear the story about Arche and Aruna de Moonasterio, too.]

    ¡°Close your eyes, Nero de Moonasterio,¡± the ice phoenix said, then he closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against his. ¡°If you truly deserve to be my new master, you¡¯d be able to read my name without a problem.¡±

    Nero closed his eyes and as soon as he did, he saw himself lying on the snow while looking up at the sky. Snow was pouring hard, but he also saw some strange things up there. Icicles that formed weird texts floated above him.

    Soon, the unreadable texts began to make sense as his eyes turned glowing red.

    ¡°Zeru,¡± Nero said, then he opened his eyes. ¡°Bring me to Neoma, Zeru.¡±

    ***

    NEOMA threw the duvet and stood up, ready to drag Manu to wherever Nero was.

    But as soon as her feet touched the floor, the entire bedroom suddenly turned cold.

    As in icy cold.

    Then, all of a sudden, Nero materialized in the middle of the room when he was supposed to be in the Hazelden Kingdom at the moment.

    Her baby brother wasn¡¯t alone.

    An eagle-sized blue phoenix was sitting on his arm.

    Ah, no.

    It wasn¡¯t a ¡®blue¡¯ phoenix. The ¡®feathers¡¯ of the mythical bird looked like they were made from ice.

    [An ice phoenix?]

    Damn, the ice phoenix looked so beautiful and elegant- something that suited Nero well.

    The mythical bird was definitely the cause of the sudden change of temperature in the room.

    ¡°Neoma,¡± Nero greeted her with a bright smile on his face. ¡°I¡¯ve gained a new Soul Beast for you.¡± He gestured to the beautiful ice phoenix in his arm with his other hand. ¡°Meet Zeru, the ice phoenix.¡±

    Neoma smiled and gave her twin brother a double thumbs up. ¡°Nero, how does it feel to be god¡¯s favorite?¡±

    ***

    NOTE: Today is my birthday~ Please leave lots ofments~ Thank you.

 Chapter 465

    Chapter 465: SAFETY PIN

    NOW THAT Neoma had calmed down, she realized that Nero was in his Spirit form.

    She was relieved to know that. After all, she didn¡¯t want their Mama Boss to be left alone in the Hazelden Kingdom. Plus, it would be rude of Nero to leave Hazelden without saying goodbye to Brigitte unnie and Uncle Glenn personally.

    ¡°I¡¯m not ¡°god¡¯s favorite,¡± and I don¡¯t care even if it was true,¡± Nero said, frowning. ¡°I just want to be your favorite person, Neoma.¡±

    Okay, that was cringe.

    But she let it slide since Nero didn¡¯t know that the question ¡°how does it feel to be god¡¯s favorite?¡± was just a meme that she quoted.

    Even so, she had to admit that her question had a tiny bit of bitterness in it.

    [I mean, I know that Nero suffers, too. And I also know that we shouldn¡¯t bepeting with each other since we¡¯re twins. But sometimes, just sometimes, I feel like Nero has it easy.]

    .....

    Neoma just smiled at her twin brother, then she changed the subject. ¡°Congrattions on having a second Soul Beast, Nero.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s not my ¡®second¡¯ Soul Beast,¡± Nero said. ¡°Apparently, Sev is not an official Soul Beast.¡±

    She turned to Manu and was supposed to ask questions regarding Nero¡¯s remark because she had always been curious about the ¡°official¡± and ¡°unofficial¡± Soul Beasts.

    But s, the Moon Priest was lying face down on the sofa.

    Manu was sleeping and snoring loudly.

    [God, Lord Manu is so drunk.]

    She was so gonna snitch on Lord Yule once she met the Moon God again.

    ¡°Ah,¡± Papa Boss said. ¡°Like the ck serpent who¡¯s always with the ck Tortoise.¡±

    Oh, it was the ice phoenix who talked.

    [He has a nice, soothing voice.]

    Zeru, the ice phoenix, exined.

    Papa Boss raised an eyebrow. ¡°Then were you reborn when Nichole and I were born?¡±

    the ice phoenix said.

    ¡°I was never a good brother to Nichole, so that was pretty understandable.¡±

    She nodded in agreement. [We love a man who¡¯s self-aware. Good job, Papa Boss.]

    the ice phoenix exined.

    Neoma tilted her head to one side. ¡°Zeru, did you test Nero¡¯s love for me?¡±

    ¡°That sounds like something a pervert would say,¡± she said, aghast. Then she turned to her baby brother, her ¡°noona1 mode¡± activated. ¡°Nero, he didn¡¯t do anything perverted to you, did he?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Nero said while shaking his head. ¡°Zeru, in fact, showed me a lot of cute things.¡±

    Oh?

    That sounded more suspicious.

    But since Nero looked like he was satisfied with his Soul Beast, she didn¡¯tment on that anymore.

    ¡°Are you alright, Nero?¡± Papa Boss asked. ¡°You made us all worry when your chest suddenly bled. And have you forgotten that when you get physically hurt, Neoma would also feel the same pain?¡±

    Nero looked shocked, as if he just remembered that they were pretty much connected in that strange way. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry, Neoma. It slipped my mind...¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Nero,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure I was the reason you hurt yourself, anyway.¡±

    ¡°It was my decision to do that, so it wasn¡¯t your fault,¡± Nero said while shaking his head. ¡°I am responsible for my own choices, Neoma.¡±

    She smiled and gave Nero a thumbs up. ¡°Very well.¡±

    ¡°Nero, are you feeling better now?¡± Papa Boss asked, then he pointed at the wall. ¡°Your mother is worried about you, too.¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± Nero said, then he turned to the wall and greeted their mother politely. ¡°Mother, I¡¯m sorry for making you worry. I¡¯ming back now.¡±

    Mama Boss said sweetly.

    Neoma smiled, relieved that everything ended fine.

    [All¡¯s well that ends well.]

    ***

    ¡°NERO is safe now, so you don¡¯t have to worry anymore, Hanna,¡± Neoma said, sharing the good news with her cousin. ¡°He just gained his official Soul Beast, and it¡¯s a beautiful ice phoenix.¡±

    Nero¡¯s soul already returned to his body.

    So now, her baby brother was back in Hazelden Kingdom with their Mama Boss.

    She, on the other hand, left Papa Boss while her father was dealing with the drunk Manu who wouldn¡¯t wake up no matter how much they tried to stir him.

    [Gosh, Lord Manu can¡¯t handle his liquor.]

    ¡°That¡¯s a relief to hear,¡± Hanna said, relieved. ¡°Thank you for letting me know, Neoma.¡±

    She just smiled and nodded. ¡°It¡¯s alreadyte, Hanna. I¡¯m sure you¡¯re tired, so you should rest now.¡± She turned to Lewis, who was standing behind her. ¡°Lewis, you should walk Hanna to her room.¡±

    Lewis just frowned.

    But she knew why Lewis was acting that way, and it had nothing to do with Hanna.

    ¡°Neoma, you¡¯re making it too obvious that you want to ¡°get rid¡± of us to have some alone time with Lord Ruto,¡± Hanna said teasingly.

    She wanted to deny that, but she couldn¡¯t.

    Hanna told her earlier that Sienna, the Sun Priestess, suddenly appeared out of nowhere- drunk (just like Manu).

    [Sus.]

    Anyway...

    Hanna told her that Ruto excused himself to make coffee for the drunk Sun Priestess.

    [Yes, coffee exists in this world. It¡¯s not as famous as tea in the empire, but my father¡¯s pce has everything, so we definitely have coffee here.]

    Apparently, Sienna followed Ruto to the royal kitchen.

    ¡°It¡¯s not like that,¡± she said, slightly defensive. Then she showed Hanna the jewelry box in her hands. ¡°I just have something to return to Ruto.¡±

    Hannaughed softly. ¡°If you say so.¡±

    ¡°Really,¡± Neoma insisted, then she turned to Lewis. ¡°Walk Hanna to her room- I¡¯ll be back in a jiffy.¡±

    ***

    ¡°DRINK your coffee and sober up,¡± Ruto said, then he put the mug of coffee on the table. ¡°Why did you get so drunk, anyway?¡±

    It was a relief that the head butler of Yule Pce allowed him to use the royal kitchen in the emperor¡¯s pce.

    To be precise, it was the kitchen where his father worked.

    But it was currently empty since it was alreadyte at night.

    ¡°I felt bad for that psycho Manu for working with the crazy de Moonasterios, so I had a drink with him,¡± Sienna, who was sitting on the chair behind the long table, said. She sounded sleepy, but at least, her words were still clear. ¡°Manu said your little princess refused to let the new saint be born with his divine power. It¡¯s the same thing asmitting sphemy against the Moon God. But what could poor Manu do against a bunch of lunatics on his own? The de Moonasterios don¡¯t listen to anyone but themselves.¡± She patted her chest. ¡°My heart goes out to my old friend.¡±

    He could only describe Sienna and Maun¡¯s friendship as odd.

    [They always fight, but they empathize with each other well.]

    ¡°I don¡¯t think Neoma¡¯s decision was that bad,¡± he said casually. ¡°If there¡¯s a way to save both the mother and the baby, what¡¯s wrong with choosing that path?¡±

    ¡°You say that, but I¡¯m sure you wouldn¡¯t do the same thing,¡± Sienna said, smirking. ¡°Yoan, if it were you, I¡¯m certain you wouldn¡¯t choose the path that your little princess did. After all, you¡¯re the type of person who¡¯d sacrifice people for the greater good.¡±

    He couldn¡¯t refute that.

    If he were Neoma, he would choose to sacrifice the queen of Hazelden so that the new saint would be born safely.

    But he wasn¡¯t Neoma, and it wasn¡¯t up to him to make the call.

    ¡°Really, Ruto?¡±

    His thoughts were interrupted when Neoma suddenly appeared behind him.

    Without making a sound.

    Whilepletely hiding her presence.

    Before he knew it, his arm had already moved as a reflex.

    [No...!]

    .....

    He quickly grabbed his wrist with his other hand to stop himself from identally hitting Neoma. But he put a little too much force that he broke his own arm.

    It hurt, but he didn¡¯t care.

    Neoma, on the other hand, gasped when she heard his bone break.

    ¡°Are you alright, Neoma?¡± Ruto asked worriedly. ¡°Sorry, my reflex kicked in...¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine. I should be the one asking if you¡¯re okay,¡± Neoma said, while looking at his broken arm. ¡°Gosh, you didn¡¯t have to do that. You wouldn¡¯t have hit me, anyway.¡±

    Now that he was looking closely, Neoma was covered with her Coat1.

    She was right- he wouldn¡¯t have hit her even if he failed to stop his arm from moving. Still...

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t risk it,¡± he said. ¡°Again, I¡¯m sorry. I almost hit you identally.¡±

    If he had hit Neoma, even by ident, he would beat himself up.

    ¡°It actually makes me happy,¡± Neoma said, surprising her. ¡°Not the part where you almost hit me by ident. But the part where your reflex kicked in because you thought I was a threat, sneaking up behind you unnoticed. You didn¡¯t feel my presence, did you?¡±

    Ah, so that was the reason why she looked excited instead of getting upset.

    ¡°Yeah, I didn¡¯t notice you until you spoke,¡± he confessed, then he touched his nape. ¡°It felt like Death itself was breathing at the back of my neck, so my reflex kicked in immediately.¡±

    Neoma grinned happily. ¡°To be able to conceal my presence from someone like you... wow, I¡¯m amazing. I¡¯m great. I¡¯m powerful.¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes, you are,¡± he said, genuinely agreeing with her. ¡°You¡¯ve grown stronger, Neoma. I¡¯m proud of you.¡±

    Neoma smiled smugly. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s the only correct reaction.¡±

    ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio, you should learn some humility.¡±

    ¡°Oh, Sienna, you¡¯re drunk, too?¡± Neoma said in a surprisingly friendly voice when she turned to the Sun Priestess. ¡°Did you drink with Lord Manu? He¡¯s drunk out of his mind, and my father is pissed. Papa Boss will probably kick him out of the pce any minute now.¡±

    ¡°What? Niki de Moonasterio can¡¯t do that to my pitiful friend,¡± Siennained, then she stood up- her body turning translucent right away. ¡°Only I can bully that psycho.¡±

    And just like that, Sienna disappeared.

    ¡°Did you say that on purpose?¡± he asked Neoma when they were left alone in the kitchen. ¡°Did you say that to make Sienna leave?¡±

    ¡°Wow, Ruto,¡± Neoma said, as if she was in disbelief. Then she turned to him with a raised brow. ¡°You think I made Sienna leave sneakily so I could monopolize you? How conceited! Gosh, you¡¯re so full of yourself. Is that because of my influence?¡±

    ¡°Am I wrong?¡±

    ¡°Did I say you were wrong?¡± she said, then she patted his shoulder gently. ¡°You know me so well, kind sir.¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh,¡± he agreed with her statement, then he tucked her hair behind her ear. ¡°Have you made up with the Sun Priestess? You weren¡¯t hostile with her earlier.¡±

    ¡°Well, I already recovered my honor when I beat her on our second match,¡± she said, grinning. ¡°Ruto, I¡¯m stronger than Sienna now. So, you don¡¯t have to address her by her title when we talk about her. Feel free to call her by her name- I won¡¯t get jealous anymore.¡±

    That made him smile. ¡°So, you were jealous before?¡±

    Her grin instantly disappeared. ¡°Did I say that? Don¡¯t twist my words.¡±

    She said that defensively, but it didn¡¯t look convincing because her face was red and it was obvious she was trying hard not to cringe at her own wed logic.

    [How can someone be so cute?]

    If he could put Neoma in his pocket, he would.

    ¡°No need to be embarrassed about getting jealous. It¡¯s normal,¡± he said, teasing her because he wanted to see more of her cute reactions. ¡°I know I shouldn¡¯t be, but I feel happy when you get jealous.¡±

    ¡°Well, I can¡¯t deny that,¡± she said. ¡°But it¡¯s funny that out of all the boys around me, you got jealous of Jasper oppa. He¡¯s just a brother figure to me, and I¡¯m sure Jasper oppa only sees me as a little sister.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t propose to someone you see as a little sister, even as a joke.¡±

    ¡°Oh,e on,¡± she said,ughing while waving her hand dismissively. ¡°We¡¯re talking about Jasper oppa here. He only ¡°proposed¡± because of our circumstances. Oppa wanted to make his vassals stop forcing him to get married, and he just wanted to help me gain instant power once I made my debut as the empire¡¯s one and only royal princess. It would be a win-win situation had I epted his offer. But that¡¯s just it, Ruto.¡±

    If he didn¡¯t have the memories of his first life, he would have just brushed it off.

    But in that timeline, Neoma met Jasper Hawthorne when she was eighteen years old while the young duke was twenty-three. Both were already adults then. Thus, the two didn¡¯t grow up as childhood friends as they did in the present world, so they didn¡¯t have a ¡°brother-sister rtionship¡± in the first timeline.

    [Neoma, you don¡¯t remember, do you? You don¡¯t remember Jasper Hawthorne sacrificing his life for you- the only woman he loved in his life.]1

    ¡°Ruto, are you seriously jealous of Jasper oppa?¡±

    He shouldn¡¯t, but he was.

    [Let¡¯s just hope that Jasper Hawthorne¡¯s feelings for Neoma have changed in this timeline because they met earlier than they did before.]

    Perhaps the young duke really saw Neoma as a little sister in the present time.

    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you calling me ¡®oppa?''¡± he asked Neoma instead of answering her previous question. ¡°I¡¯m older than you, too.¡±

    ¡°How did you know what ¡®oppa¡¯ means?¡±

    ¡°You mentioned it before,¡± he lied with a straight face. ¡°And it¡¯s easy to deduct what it means since you always say Jasper Hawthorne is your older brother, even though Lewis is older than you, too.¡±

    ¡°Lewis is my ¡°son,¡± so I can¡¯t call him ¡®oppa.''¡±

    ¡°Then what am I to you?¡±

    ¡°My Ruto,¡± Neoma said, then she handed him the small jewelry box that she was carrying all this time. ¡°You¡¯re my safety pin.¡±

    That was an unexpected response.

    But that made him smile.

    ¡°I appreciate that,¡± Ruto said sincerely. ¡°May I open this now?¡±

    ***

    NEOMA was actually nervous while watching Ruto open the jewelry box that she handed to him. It contained the gift that she prepared for him.

    Well, it wasn¡¯t really new, but...

    ¡°It¡¯s a safety pin,¡± Ruto said, amused. Then he raised his head and look her in the eye, his pair of orbs sparkling as his face lit up. Ah, someone was happy. ¡°And you decorated it with Moonstones.¡±

    To be precise, her gift was a gold diamond-studded safety pin chain brooch. Four Moonstones dangled in the chain like pendants.

    She was lying when she said Ruto was her safety pin.

    All the people close to her made her feel safe. She also knew that she could rely on them. However, Ruto was still different.

    She felt like Ruto was the only person who could put her together if she got broken apart.

    [Just like a safety pin.]

    ¡°Are these the same Moonstones from the anklet that I gave you before?¡±

    She nodded her head. ¡°Ruto, I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    He looked confused. ¡°For what?¡±

    ¡°The anklet you gave me actually snapped, so I retrieved the Moonstones and turned them into a new essory,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for not taking care of your gift better.¡±

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s alright,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s not something that you should apologize for, Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Ruto...¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°Mother told me the meaning behind giving someone a Moonstone anklet as a present,¡± she confessed. ¡°I don¡¯t like the story behind it.¡±

    Guilt crossed his eyes. ¡°Ah... I¡¯m sorry, Neoma. It¡¯s not like I have no intention ofing back to you alive...¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to exin, Ruto,¡± she said while shaking her head. ¡°I turned the Moonstones you gave me into a different essory because I wanted to change the meaning of Moonstones between the two of us.¡±

    ¡°That sounds nice,¡± he said softly. ¡°What does this safety pin brooch mean between us then?¡±

    She pointed at the safety pin brooch attached to the breastpocket of her jacket.

    It was the same safety pin brooch that she gave Ruto, except for the color.

    Hers was silver because it was the color of the moon, while she chose gold for Ruto¡¯s safety pin brooch because it was the color of the sun.

    ¡°I put the remaining four Moonstones from the anklet on my own safety pin brooch,¡± she said. ¡°Now, these Moonstones signify that even if get apart due to our respective duties, we would still return to each other in the end- safe and sound.¡±

    He smiled warmly at her. ¡°Thank you for the meaningful gift, Neoma.¡±

    ¡°No problem.¡±

    ¡°Can you put this brooch on me?¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡±

    She was nervous while putting the safety pin on the breastpocket of Ruto¡¯s jacket. But she was happy that he appreciated her gift. Well, she was confident that he would like any gift that woulde from her.

    Even so, she liked that her present made him smile.

    ¡°I like that you chose a brooch to rece the anklet,¡± Ruto said softly. Even without looking, she could tell that he was looking at her face intently. ¡°I can wear your present near my heart all the time.¡±

    She grinned. ¡°That¡¯s exactly why I chose a brooch, Ruto. You can¡¯t forget whom your heart belongs to. I can already tell that we¡¯d be spending more time apart than together, but that doesn¡¯t mean you can let your feelings waver.¡±

    ¡°My feelings for you won¡¯t waver, Neoma.¡±

    [Ah, always so blunt.]

    Neoma raised her head to meet Ruto¡¯s warm gaze. ¡°You¡¯re my safety pin, so you have to return to me, okay?¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± Ruto said, then he gently pinched her chin. ¡°You¡¯re my anchor, so I¡¯ll always return to you, Neoma.¡±

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 466

    Chapter 466: DEFINE ¡®GREATER GOOD¡¯

    ¡°MOTHER?¡± Nero called for his mother, who just tucked him into bed, carefully. ¡°Please return to the Royal Pce with me.¡±

    His mother looked surprised by his request. ¡°I cannot refuse you if that¡¯s your wish, son. But may I know if there¡¯s a reason why you suddenly want to return to the pce?¡± His mother tilted his head to one side. ¡°Do you miss Neoma that much?¡±

    ¡°I miss Neoma every day,¡± he said bluntly. ¡°But I have a feeling that we must return to the pce before Neoma¡¯s match against Calyx Dalton begins, Mother.¡±

    His initial n was to stay in the Hazelden Kingdom until he hadpletely recovered.

    He thought it would take him months. But, surprisingly, he gained weight and muscles faster than he expected. Of course, he gained them naturally. He ate and slept well for the past few weeks, ever since he woke up. Moreover, he took energy potions that were good for the body.

    [And as a de Moonasterio, I have fast regenerative abilities.]

    He was still on the skinny side, but he looked healthier now than he did before. His skin looked better, too. In short, it wouldn¡¯t be too embarrassing now if he showed himself to the public and reimed his spot as the Crown Prince.

    .....

    ¡°I¡¯ll attend the academy instead of Neoma, so I must begin my preparations now,¡± he said. ¡°And Mother?¡±

    ¡°Yes, baby?¡±

    ¡°You should make your presence known to the Royal Pce, Mother,¡± he said. ¡°You and Father already decided to get married. There is nothing wrong with your rtionship, so let¡¯s not hide, Mother.¡±

    He knew that his mother wasn¡¯t hiding.

    But they had to be more assertive this time because...

    ¡°There¡¯s a high possibility that thete Empress Juliet is still alive,¡± he said solemnly. ¡°If Her Majesty returned, the nobles would probably demand Father to reinstate her as the empress. It would be nice if Mother and Father were already married if that timees.¡±

    But his parents decided to get married once Neoma was registered to the Royal Household.

    [It would take time.]

    ¡°But it also wouldn¡¯t be nice if Mother and Father rushed your wedding just because of the threat of Empress Juliet¡¯s return,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s your long-awaited wedding, so I guess you¡¯d want to prepare it as carefully as possible. But at least, Mother, let¡¯s announce your rtionship to Father proudly. Mother did nothing wrong- then and now.¡±

    ¡°Nero, baby, are you worried about Juliet¡¯s return?¡±

    He nodded. ¡°The nobles deem thete empress as the perfect partner for Father. If she returned, we know what will happen next.¡±

    ¡°But Juliet isn¡¯t an enemy, son.¡±

    ¡°If thete empress is still the same person that Mother and Father trust, then why did she hide all this time?¡± he asked. This time, he was speaking like it was already confirmed that thete empress was still alive. ¡°Mother, don¡¯t trust anyone too much.¡±

    His mother looked at him for a moment as if she was studying him. Then she smiled and shook her head.

    ¡°Nero, it would be nicer if you act more like a child than an adult.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t help it, Mother. The de Moonasterios develop faster than children our age,¡± he exined. ¡°Moreover, I have the memories of my past life. I was an adult in those memories, and I feel like I merged my personality with the past me that I saw in my dreams.¡±

    Thus, he never really acted like a child.

    And he didn¡¯t really have the luxury to act like a child because he had to grow up quickly to protect Neoma.

    ¡°My poor baby,¡± his mother said sympathetically, then she sat down beside him and hugged him. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for not being there for you and Neoma while you were growing up.¡±

    He almost said that he didn¡¯t need anyone else aside from Neoma.

    But it would have been insensitive to his mother. And if he hurt his mother because of his calloused words, Neoma would be disappointed in him. He didn¡¯t want that to happen, so he just kept his mouth shut.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Nero,¡± his mother said while patting his back gently. ¡°Whether or not Juliet turns out to be an enemy, your father and I will deal with her. You and Neoma should just focus on being children.¡±

    It was already toote for that.

    Before he and Neoma were children, they were the Crown Prince and the empire¡¯s one and only royal princess first.

    But, of course, for his mother, he and Neoma would always be her babies.

    ¡°We¡¯re family, Mother,¡± he said to console his mother. ¡°We should get through anything and everything together.¡±

    His mother smiled warmly at him. ¡°Neoma raised you well, my little Pumpkin.¡±

    ¡°Mother, it¡¯s the other way around,¡± he insisted. ¡°I was the one who raised Neoma.¡±

    His mother justughed it off.

    He just let out a sigh, then he changed the subject. ¡°Mother, there¡¯s another reason why I wanted to return to the pce earlier than scheduled.¡±

    His mother, who calmed down afterughing, looked at him intently. ¡°What is it, son?¡±

    ¡°Zeru, the ice phoenix, turned out to be Arche de Moonasterio¡¯s former Soul Beast.¡±

    ¡°Arche de Moonasterio...¡± his mother trailed off, then she snapped her fingers. ¡°Ah, him. The most ipetent emperor in history?¡±

    ¡°Zeru ims that Arche de Moonasterio wasn¡¯t ipetent,¡± he said. ¡°He also ims that Arche de Moonasterio cherished Aruna de Moonasterio as his twin sister.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s different from what the history books suggest about Arche and Aruna de Moonasterio¡¯s rtionship,¡± his mother said, confused but also curious. ¡°ording to the empire¡¯s history, Aruna de Moonasterio¡¯s brilliance dulled Arche de Moonasterio¡¯s radiance. Thus, the twins never got along well.¡±

    He nodded in agreement. ¡°But I believe Zeru is more trustworthy than the history books. Thus, I¡¯d like to hear his version of the story between Arche and Aruna de Moonasterio. Thus, I want to return to the pce as soon as possible.¡±

    The history between Arche and Aruna de Moonasterio wasn¡¯t something that he could discuss with Neoma via amunication device. And he couldn¡¯t bring it up earlier when he met Neoma in his Spirit form because of time constrictions.

    [Father and Neoma encouraged me to return to my physical body then so that Mother would stop worrying about me.]

    Of course, he¡¯d do anything Neoma told him to do.

    ¡°I¡¯ll talk to your father, and I will let him know that we will be returning to the pce,¡± his mother said. ¡°We should inform the queen and the king of Hazelden about our departure, too. Let¡¯s thank them properly for taking good care of us.¡±

    ¡°Of course, Mother.¡±

    ¡°And you should say goodbye to the ck Witch, too.¡±

    He tried not to react, but when he saw his mother¡¯s expression, he couldn¡¯t help but let out an exasperated sigh. ¡°I don¡¯t have that kind of rtionship with Miss Dahlia, Mother,¡± he insisted. ¡°I ammitted to Hanna Quinzel.¡±

    ¡°Son, your rtionship with Dahlia and Hanna Quinzel reminds me of your father¡¯s rtionship with me and Juliet in the past,¡± his mother said carefully. ¡°I hope history doesn¡¯t repeat itself.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Mother,¡± Nero assured his mother. ¡°I won¡¯t hurt either Hanna or Miss Dahlia.¡±

    ***

    NEOMA poured a healing potion over Ruto¡¯s broken arm.

    He got injured earlier when he stopped himself from hitting her by mistake. His instinct kicked in when she sneaked up behind him, so his arm moved on its own. Amazingly, he also managed to stop himself quickly.

    But he was hurt in the process.

    ¡°I should have healed your broken arm first before I gave you my present,¡± Neoma said apologetically. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to apologize, Neoma,¡± Ruto said softly. ¡°Thank you for healing my broken arm.¡±

    She smiled proudly and shook the empty vial in front of him. ¡°This is one of the healing potions that my baby boy sent me. It¡¯s effective, isn¡¯t it? My baby is a genius.¡±

    He raised an eyebrow at her. ¡°First, you call another guy ¡®oppa.¡¯ And now you¡¯re calling another guy ¡®baby¡¯ in front of me? Is it fun seeing me jealous, Neoma Ramsay?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m talking about Greko,¡± she said,ughing. It was obvious that Ruto was just joking with her. He wasn¡¯t that small-minded to get jealous of her ¡°children,¡± right? ¡°He¡¯s my youngest child. You know him, don¡¯t you?¡±

    He nodded. ¡°I know all the ¡°children¡± you adopted. And that reminds me, where are they right now?¡±

    ¡°I heard from Papa Boss that my children have arrived at the Royal Capital a few weeks ago,¡± she said. ¡°But they haven¡¯t contacted me yet. I guess their mentors haven¡¯t done giving them homeworks yet. I¡¯m getting a little worried, though. None of them has responded to my letters yet.¡±

    ¡°Do you want me to look for them?¡±

    She shook her head. ¡°Nah, just return home for now and stop making your mother worry.¡±

    He let out a sigh. ¡°Fine, I¡¯m going hometer.¡±

    She looked at him long and hard before she brought up the topic that she tried to forget. But she couldn¡¯t let it slide. After all, she wasn¡¯t the type to bottle up her feelings. ¡°Ruto, is it true that you¡¯d sacrifice people for the greater good? That if you were me, you¡¯d let Brigitte unnie die so that the baby saint would get born in the world with his divine power intact?¡±

    ¡°If there wasn¡¯t any other way, then yes, I would choose the new saint over the queen of Hazelden,¡± Ruto confessed carefully. ¡°But you found a way to save them both. And I agree with the path that you chose, Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Still, if something like that happens again, you¡¯d choose the greater good, right?¡±

    ¡°It depends.¡±

    ¡°On what?¡±

    ¡°Neoma, let¡¯s define what the ¡®greater good¡¯ means to me first,¡± he said, then he turned to her with sparkling, dark purple eyes. ¡°The ¡®greater good¡¯ is the benefit of the public, of more people than myself. But to me, the ¡®greater good¡¯ is the benefit of you, of your existence rather than the world.¡±

    She understood what Ruto meant, but at the same time, she didn¡¯t.

    [Ruto looks like a self-sacrificing hero to me. Although I¡¯m touched that he¡¯s willing to sacrifice other people for me, I can¡¯t say that I¡¯m entirely happy with it.]

    ¡°Having said that, I¡¯m obliged to do things that may hurt you,¡± Ruto confessed, and she could see the pain in his eyes. ¡°I will end up hurting you as I get rid of the thorns in your path, Neoma. Even so, I promise you that I will be beside you until all your wounds heal.¡±

    She let out a sigh. ¡°`Fess up, Ruto. In what way are you going to hurt me in the future?¡±

    ¡°I already know where Empress Juliet is.¡±

    She felt her heart sink to the floor. ¡°As expected, the empress is still alive.¡±

    ¡°Will you hate me if I bring her back to the empire?¡±

    .....

    ¡°Papa Boss and Mama Boss trust Empress Juliet,¡± Neoma said. Even so, her heart was still thumping hard and fast against her chest. ¡°The empress is not an enemy, is she?¡±

    ¡°I haven¡¯t met her personally yet, so I can¡¯t say,¡± he said. ¡°But the empress is a threat to you, Prince Nero, and Lady Roseheart.¡±

    ¡°Because of politics?¡±

    ¡°Because of politics,¡± he confirmed. ¡°Thus, I¡¯m asking you now: would you hate me if I bring the empress back to the pce?¡±

    Sheughed softly at his silly question. ¡°If I said that I don¡¯t want the empress to return, what would you do?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll kill her for you.¡±

    Her smile vanished instantly. ¡°Ruto, are you serious?¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t let you suffer again in this lifetime, Neoma,¡± Ruto said solemnly. ¡°I¡¯m willing to be a sinner if it means letting you walk the safe path.¡±

    His glowing dark purple eyes gave her the chills.

    [He¡¯s dead serious.]

    Neoma cupped Ruto¡¯s face between her hands. ¡°Mr. Ruston Stroganoff, I prefer a cinnamon roll over a yandere.¡±

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 467

    Chapter 467: I¡¯M NEOMA- I FIND WAYS

    ¡°OF COURSE, of course you may return to the pce anytime,¡± Niki said. Even in his own ears, his voice sounded excited. In fact, he sounded like a child excited to open his birthday present. ¡°I¡¯ll prepare all the necessary arrangements right away, Mona.¡±

    He was talking to Mona again.

    But this time, he was only using a pocketwatch instead of the entire wall as amunication device. It did not fully satisfy him with that. Even so, he was grateful to see Mona¡¯s beautiful face on thepact screen of the pocketwatch.

    It was a surprise that Mona called him again, but he wasn¡¯tining.

    ¡°Thank you, Mona,¡± he said softly. ¡°Thank you for deciding to return to the pce with Nero.¡±

    Mona smiled, then she traced her finger on the screen as if she was caressing his face.

    He smiled and nodded. Then he turned serious. ¡°Mona, I will announce your return to the pce properly. I won¡¯t hide your existence. Will that be alright with you?¡±

    .....

    To be honest, he knew he was asking for a lot.

    In the past, people med Mona for Juliet¡¯s death. They also used her of stealing the empress¡¯ spot, the reason why he couldn¡¯t marry her in the past. Thus, Mona ended up beingbeled as the emperor¡¯s concubine.

    But he wanted to change that this time.

    [Mona will be known as my beloved wife from now on.]

    Mona said, surprising him.

    Nero said something like that to Mona?

    Ah, he was proud of his son.

    He kissed the screen of the pocketwatch.

    If people had seen what he just did, he would bebeled as a lovefool emperor. Not that he cared.

    He pulled his face away from the pocketwatch immediately to see Monaughing.

    [Ah, she¡¯s really beautiful.]

    Seeing Mona happy made him smile.

    Again.

    [I¡¯m smiling an awful lot these days.]

    ¡°Neoma and I will be waiting for you and Nero here,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯ste- you should rest now, Mona.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t like he didn¡¯t want to talk to her anymore.

    But he saw Mona yawn earlier, and he could tell that she was already sleepy.

    Mona said while rubbing her eyes with her hand.

    ¡°Good night, my love.¡±

    Monaughed softly at the endearment that he used, then she sent him a flying kiss before she ended the call.

    He was left smiling from ear to ear.

    [No need to prepare a room for Mona- she¡¯s going to stay in mine.]

    After his call with Mona, he summoned Kyle Sprouse.

    It was an inappropriate time to call his subordinate in his bedchamber, but the count still arrived fast. Kyle was dressed lightly, but he didn¡¯t mind since he was the one who summoned the count at that ungodly hour.

    ¡°Your Majesty, you called for me?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± he said, then he looked at Kyle with a serious look on his face. ¡°Mona and Nero will be returning to the pce. Prepare the necessary arrangements.¡±

    ¡°By preparing the necessary arrangements, I understand that Prince Nero¡¯s existence must be hidden,¡± Kyle Sprouse said. ¡°However, Lady Roseheart¡¯s arrival must be announced properly. Did I get that right, Your Majesty?¡±

    This was why Kyle was the chancellor.

    The count understood all his orders well even without him giving the full details.

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s exactly what I want you to do, Kyle,¡± he said while nodding. ¡°Warn the people in the pce that anyone who speaks ill of Mona would die at my hands.¡±

    Kyle flinched. ¡°Your Majesty, are you really going to marry Lady Roseheart?¡±

    His eyes turned glowing red instantly while ring at the count. ¡°Do you have a problem with that, Kyle Sprouse?¡±

    The count fell silent for a while, then he shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s time for Your Majesty to choose your happiness over the empire. You now have a sessor that may continue your legacy, anyway. Your Majesty and Lady Roseheart have waited long enough to be with each other.¡±

    That surprised him.

    [I thought Kyle would express his opposition against my marriage with Mona, but I guess he just resigned himself to epting Mona as my wife, huh?]

    ¡°I¡¯ll excuse myself now, Your Majesty,¡± Kyle said, then he bowed to him. ¡°I have a lot of things to prepare.¡±

    He nodded, ignoring the iffy feeling in his chest, since he wanted to focus on his family¡¯s happiness. ¡°I leave everything to you, Kyle.¡±

    After the count left, he suddenly realized that he hadn¡¯t checked on Neoma yet.

    [It¡¯s past her bedtime... where is my little rogue?]

    ***

    [GOSH, RUTO¡¯s skin is so soft and smooth.]

    Neoma¡¯s thoughts, as usual, were inappropriate.

    ¡°A cinnamon roll?¡± Ruto asked, confused. ¡°Would you like me to make some cinnamon rolls for you?¡±

    She couldn¡¯t help butugh at his adorable misunderstanding.

    ¡°Silly, no,¡± Neoma said, then she gently pinched his cheeks. ¡°A cinnamon roll is a character who¡¯s kind, gentle, supportive, sweet, and too good for this world.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think I fit the description since I¡¯m not that good of a person.¡±

    ¡°You are,¡± she insisted. ¡°And you deserve better than your current situation.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean by that, Neoma? I¡¯m fine-¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not fine,¡± she said solemnly, then she pulled her hands away from his face. ¡°You carry the burden of the memories I don¡¯t remember.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not a burden to me.¡±

    ¡°Sure,¡± she said sarcastically. ¡°Your mother begs to differ, though. If you don¡¯t stop putting your life on the line because of me, Lady Yngrid would never approve of me.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like my mother hates you, Neoma,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s my fault. I¡¯ll exin it to Mother once Ie home.¡±

    ¡°Ruto, describe the Neoma you met in your first life in three words,¡± she said. ¡°Not my physical appearance, since I already know that I was beautiful and hot back then.¡±

    Heughed softly, then he looked up at the ceiling as if he was thinking. ¡°The Neoma I met back then was... bitter.¡±

    She couldn¡¯t refute that. [Well, in my defense, I had a shitty life back then.]

    ¡°The Neoma of the first timeline hated the world,¡± Ruto continued, still looking up at the ceiling as if he found it interesting. ¡°But she was too powerless back then. Even if she wanted to fight in order to live, she couldn¡¯t.¡± He turned to her, and for some reason, his face softened up. ¡°You were weak back then, Neoma. So weak that I still feel the urge to protect you even now.¡±

    [Ah, I knew it.]

    ¡°Ruto, do I still look weak to you now?¡±

    He shook his head. ¡°But I¡¯m still stronger than you.¡±

    ¡°Are you trying to piss me off?¡±

    Heughed again. ¡°Lastly, you were sassy even back then. Well, you were timid at first. But since you inherited the nasty temper that all de Moonasterio seemed to possess, you eventually snapped and showed your fierce personality.¡±

    ¡°Bitter, weak, sassy,¡± she said, pouting. ¡°Gosh, those are all negative traits. Did you only like me for my face back then?¡±

    ¡°I never saw your face back then,¡± he confessed.

    ¡°Huh? Really?¡± she asked, confused. ¡°But in my memories, Commander Yoan would always look me in the eye.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I can see your eyes,¡± he said, beaming. ¡°I told you before- my eyes could see gods. Since you have the eyes of a god, I could see them clearly.¡±

    ¡°You can see them even if my eyes aren¡¯t red?¡±

    He nodded. ¡°Emperor Niki and Prince Nero were strong, though. I saw their faces clearly back then.¡±

    She clicked her tongue. ¡°You¡¯re pissing me off.¡±

    ¡°That was before you died,¡± he said. ¡°After that...¡±

    ¡°Stop,¡± she said, then she covered his mouth with her hand. ¡°I don¡¯t want you to be punished and fall asleep again.¡±

    ¡°Mmm.¡±

    His breath tickled her palm, so she pulled her hand away from his mouth. ¡°Gosh, that tickles.¡±

    .....

    ¡°Are you upset?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t like that you¡¯re looking down on me, Ruto.¡±

    He looked shocked by her usation. ¡°When did I look down on you?¡±

    ¡°If you¡¯re not looking down on me, then have more faith in me,¡± she said, pouting. But even though she was acting childish, she meant every word she just said. ¡°Ruto, I¡¯m not the same powerless Neoma that you needed to protect back then. You may be stronger than I am, but that doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m weak.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not about you being strong or weak,¡± he said patiently. ¡°You¡¯re very precious to me, Neoma- then and now. I just want to do everything for you, so you could just live your life as ady of leisure. Isn¡¯t that your dream?¡±

    ¡°It is,¡± she said. ¡°But I¡¯m a de Moonasterio, Ruto. I¡¯m prideful, so I want to achieve my dreams with my own hands.¡±

    ¡°Neoma...¡±

    ¡°Treat me as your equal, Ruto,¡± she said firmly. She wasn¡¯t asking this time- she was telling him what to do. ¡°If you get hurt again because of me, I will hurt myself until I get the same injury that you got in the name of protecting me.¡±

    He frowned, obviously displeased by her threat. ¡°Don¡¯t do that to yourself, Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t patronize me,¡± she said sternly. ¡°Ruto, I¡¯m not that arrogant to think that I could fuck up my enemies on my own. I¡¯m perfectly aware that I need help. But I don¡¯t need you to do everything for me- I need you to treat me as your equal.¡±

    She noticed that it suddenly got hot in the kitchen.

    And it was because of her emotions. She was pissed, so her Mana naturally leaked out as if she was preparing for a fight. The only reason Tteokbokki hadn¡¯t appeared yet was because she was holding back by reminding herself that Ruto was a precious person to her.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s not fight,¡± Ruto said, as if he was in a panic. Then he put his hands on her shoulders carefully, his face full of worry. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Neoma. I was in the wrong. Let¡¯s calm down.¡±

    She¡¯d love to calm down, but her emotions were too high at the moment.

    Her eyes even turned glowing red, even though she was trying to calm the fuck down.

    ¡°Neoma, please excuse me- just push me if you hate it.¡±

    She was confused, but she didn¡¯t have the time to ask what Ruto meant by that when, all of a sudden, he wrapped his arms around her.

    He pulled her in a warm and tight embrace as if he didn¡¯t want to let go.

    Oh.

    Ohh.

    [Ruto is hugging me.]

    She felt like the heat that spread in the kitchen earlier was now gathered in her face, making her cheeks flush like a shy maiden that she wasn¡¯t.

    And gosh, her heart wouldn¡¯t shut up.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for making you angry, Neoma,¡± Ruto whispered, his face buried in her hair. ¡°You¡¯re right- my way of protecting you was wrong. We are supposed to be equals, to be partners, and yet I treated you like a fragile ss. I¡¯m so sorry for being uselessly overprotective.¡±

    Hearing Ruto¡¯s gentle and remorseful voice finally soothed her.

    ¡°Ruto, if you find yourself trapped between sacrificing people and saving the world, thene to me,¡± she said calmly, her arms still glued to her sides. For some reason, she couldn¡¯t bring herself to hug Ruto back. Was she nervous? ¡°It seems like you¡¯re the type of hero who¡¯s used to choosing between two options only. But I¡¯m different, Ruto. If I¡¯m trapped inside a room and you asked me to choose between Door A and Door B where sacrifices would be made whatever door I choose, then I¡¯d smash the wall and create my own exit.¡±

    When her heart finally calmed down a bit, she gathered the courage to look up at Ruto.

    He loosened up his arms around her when he pulled a little bit away from their hug to look at her.

    Her hands moved on their own to cup his face gently, her thumb brushing against his burn mark carefully. Ah, this burn mark. She hated and loved it at the same time. Of course, she hated that her Ruto had to carry this ugly mark on his face because of her.

    But it was also the proof of his love for her, so she couldn¡¯t hate itpletely.

    ¡°Ruto, who am I?¡±

    ¡°The most beautiful moon in existence?¡±

    That made her smile, her stomach getting attacked by butterflies at the moment.

    God, she was melting.

    How could Ruto melt her with just his smooth one-liner?

    [He¡¯s not this expressive before, but I¡¯m notining.]

    ¡°You¡¯re not wrong, but I¡¯m a woman of many talents so I am more than a pretty face,¡± she said, smiling smugly. ¡°Ruto, I¡¯m Neoma- I find ways. No one could force me to choose between two options only. If I don¡¯t like either choice presented to me, then I¡¯d make my own. So, if you find yourself trapped between two choices that you hate, thene to me. I am and will always be the right answer.¡±

    ¡°You are and will always be the right answer,¡± Ruto said, nodding and agreeing with her. ¡°I feel like that solves all my problems altogether.¡±

    ¡°Well, aren¡¯t you lucky that you have me in your life?¡± she teased him. ¡°You must have saved the world in your past life for you to be this lucky.¡±

    And that was how Ruto¡¯s face suddenly turned crestfallen.

    ¡°I did,¡± Ruto whispered in a weak voice. ¡°And it wasn¡¯t worth it.¡±

    Ah, right.

    She died before Ruto in the first timeline. Since she had died early, he was probably the one who finished the job she failed to aplish.

    [I left him all alone.]

    Was that the reason why Ruto was so overprotective of her?

    [My death probably traumatized him.]

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Ruto,¡± she assured him, then she wrapped her arms around his waist. ¡°I¡¯m not weak anymore. I won¡¯t leave you all alone again.¡±

    ¡°I know that, but I can¡¯t help but get worried,¡± he said. ¡°You¡¯ll be facing Calyx Dalton, too. I know that you can beat him easily. But with the appearance of Helstor, I¡¯m afraid they might use underhanded tricks to corner you.¡±

    ¡°Ruto, don¡¯t you know that I¡¯m the West Continent¡¯s biggest scammer? I made the entire empire believe I¡¯m a boy, didn¡¯t I?¡± she said smugly. ¡°I won¡¯t hesitate to use cheap tricks if I need to. Why would I y fair when my enemies are cheaters, anyway?¡±

    Honor?

    Dignity?

    Hah!

    She had been scamming her way to survival since she was five years old, so why would she care about those idealistic stuff now?

    ¡°Ruto, sometimes you have to stoop down to the enemies¡¯ level because you have to be a bad guy in order to fight the viins,¡± she said firmly. ¡°But since you¡¯re a cinnamon roll, you may not be used to scheming.¡± She gave him a thumbs up. ¡°Just leave the dirty stuff to me.¡±

    Heughed softly while looking at her with warm, loving eyes. ¡°Neoma, I¡¯m not as good as you think I am. I don¡¯t really fit the ¡°cinnamon roll¡± category that you speak of.¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh,¡± she said, not believing him. ¡°Ruto, do you know why the cinnamon roll type of hero has be popr in the romance genre?¡±

    He shook his head. ¡°No, you tell me.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s because cinnamon rolls are known to be very interested in their love interest¡¯s well-being,¡± she said. ¡°That makes you a cinnamon roll now, right?¡±

    Ruto was about to say something when, all of a sudden, they felt a thick bloodlust in the air.

    ¡°Ruston Stroganoff, how dare you hold my precious daughter in your arms?!¡±

    Oh, no.

    Neoma btedly realized that she was still locked in Ruto¡¯s (warm,fortable) embrace.

    And Papa Boss just caught them in that intimate position!

    [Shit¡¯s about to go down.]

    ***

    ¡°YOUR EXCELLENCY, we just received a report from the pce.¡±

    Callisto, who was in his crow form while watching Calyx throw up Darkness while sprawled on the floor of the training room, turned to Raven.

    ¡°Apparently, Mona Roseheart is about to return to the pce,¡± Raven reported indiffirently. ¡°And it seems like Niki de Moonasterio intends to marry her this time.¡±

    That was unpleasant news to hear.

    he said firmly, then he turned to Calyx who was still sprawled on the floor.

    Calyx looked like a mess, but the boy was doing fine.

    [With the technique that Helstor taught us, Calyx will surely defeat the royal princess in the uing match.]

    ¡°What should we do, Your Excellency?¡± Raven asked worriedly. ¡°If Mona Roseheart returns...¡±

    Callisto said sternly.

    ***

    NOTE: *kneels and bows down to the readers* I am deeply sorry for showing a seventeen-year-old boy hugging a thirteen-year-old girl in a not-so-tonic way. Both Neoma and Ruto are older than their current physical bodies/ages, but I feel like it¡¯s not a proper excuse. However, the story requires that kind of physical contact between Neoma and Ruto (I promise there¡¯s a reason for it).

    Even so, I apologize if the scene made you ufortable.

    In reality, it¡¯s not okay for a seventeen-year-old to have that kind of physical intimacy with a thirteen-year-old.

    Please let¡¯s keep that in mind.

    Again, I¡¯m sorry.

    And thank you for your understanding.

    T_T

    ¡ªs_c

    ***

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 468

    Chapter 468: CALM DOWN, PAPA BOSS

    [AH, it finally calmed down.]

    Ruto was relieved when Crimson, the God of Wrath, was knocked out after he absorbed Neoma¡¯s anger.

    The angrier Neoma got, the stronger Crimsom became.

    But the God of Wrath would only be a hindrance, so he had to knock it out. He was a little worried, though. After all, to absorb Neoma¡¯s anger without her noticing, he needed to hold her in his arms.

    This actually reminded him of the past.

    [But it was a bitter memory for me since Neoma chose to grab Crimson¡¯s hand back then instead of mine.]

    And in the first timeline, the God of Wrath wasn¡¯t a Soul Beast.

    .....

    ¡°Ruto, do you know why the cinnamon roll type of heroes has be popr in the romance genre?¡±

    Neoma¡¯s question snapped him out of his thoughts.

    Ruto shook his head, trying to focus on their conversation again. ¡°No, you tell me.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s because cinnamon rolls are known to be very interested in their love interest¡¯s well-being,¡± Neoma said excitedly. ¡°That makes you a cinnamon roll now, right?¡±

    Seriously.

    How could someone be so adorable?

    [This is frustrating.]

    Why didn¡¯t they regress when they were both adults? They met as adults in the first timeline, after all. But in this timeline, both of them were minors.

    If he and Neoma were adults now, then he wouldn¡¯t have to hold back...

    [Stop, Ruston Solfrid Stroganoff,] he scolded himself. [This isn¡¯t the time for that-]

    His thoughts were distracted when, all of a sudden, he felt a crushing pressure weighing down on his shoulders.

    [This bloodlust...]

    ¡°Ruston Stroganoff, how dare you hold my precious daughter in your arms?!¡±

    As expected, it was Emperor Niki de Moonasterio.

    [Needless to say, His Majesty is enraged.]

    Even Neoma, who would usually talk back to her father without holding back, looked a little scared of the emperor now.

    [I¡¯ve been careless.]

    He unwrapped his arms around Neoma, then he turned around and hid her behind him while Emperor Niki approached them with heavy strides.

    ¡°Ruston Stroganoff- you bastard,¡± Emperor Niki said, then he grabbed him by the cor. ¡°Touching the body of a royal family member is a grave crime that could get you beheaded- even if you came from a prestigious n.¡±

    He would argue that Neoma wasn¡¯t recognized as a royal family member yet, but he didn¡¯t want to fuel the emperor¡¯s anger. After all, he wanted His Majesty¡¯s approval as much as Neoma wanted his mother¡¯s blessing.

    ¡°Papa Boss,¡± Neoma, who stepped out of his shadow, faced her father bravely. ¡°It¡¯spletely consensual.¡±

    [Oh, Neoma...]

    Just as he expected, Neoma¡¯s words only infuriated the emperor even more.

    ¡°Neoma, I¡¯m talking to Ruston Stroganoff,¡± the emperor said sternly, then he let go of his cor while giving him a light push. ¡°Let¡¯s talkter.¡±

    If Neoma wasn¡¯t standing behind him, he had a feeling that the emperor would push him with enough force to send him flying.

    But since the royal princess was behind him, His Majesty let him go with a light tap.

    ¡°Papa Boss-¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re grounded indefinitely, Neoma de Moonasterio.¡±

    ¡°But Papa Boss-¡±

    ¡°All yourmunication devices connected to Ruston Stroganoff would be confiscated as well.¡±

    Neoma gasped, but this time, she didn¡¯t talk back.

    The royal princess probably realized that the more she talked back to the emperor, the heavier her punishment would be.

    ¡°Your Majesty, it¡¯s my fault,¡± Ruto said calmly. ¡°Please don¡¯t scold Neoma.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s ¡®Princess Neoma¡¯ to you, Ruston Stroganoff,¡± the emperor snarled at him. ¡°How many times do I have to tell you that?¡±

    He bowed his head. ¡°I apologize, Your Majesty. But please don¡¯t scold Princess Neoma. Everything is my fault.¡±

    ¡°Ruto...¡±

    He turned to Neoma.

    [Aww... she¡¯s worried.]

    He smiled at Neoma to assure her that he was fine.

    [It¡¯s not like His Majesty would kill me...]

    Right?

    ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio, go back to your room,¡± the emperor said sternly. ¡°Geoffrey Kinsley,e out.¡±

    Geoffrey Kinsley, one of the Pdins, came out behind the emperor.

    ¡°Escort Neoma back to her room,¡± His Majesty said to the Pdin. ¡°And as the vicemander of the White Lion Knights, I order you to punish Lewis Crevan for leaving the royal princess alone with a young man at this hour.¡±

    Neoma gasped aloud. ¡°Papa Boss, I¡¯ll ept any punishment. But don¡¯t involve Lewis-¡±

    The emperor looked at his daughter with cold eyes. ¡°If you don¡¯t return to your room in this instant, I¡¯ll relieve Lewis Crevan of his position as your personal knight for half a year.¡±

    ¡°I hate you, Papa Boss,¡± Neoma said, frowning. Then she bolted out of the kitchen with heavy steps. ¡°Mama Boss will hear of this.¡±

    Geoffrey Kinsley bowed to the emperor before he quickly yet silently followed Neoma.

    Ruto, on the other hand, refrained from letting out a sigh when he saw Emperor Niki¡¯s face after Neoma mentioned Lady Mona Roseheart.

    The emperor looked quite nervous.

    [Is His Majesty afraid that Neoma will rat him out to Lady Roseheart?]

    ¡°Your Majesty, please don¡¯t punish Lewis Crevan,¡± he said carefully. ¡°In return, I¡¯ll take double of the punishment that you intend to give me. Princess Neoma will be mad at you for real if you touch Lewis Crevan. Both Your Majesty and I know that Her Royal Highness treasures the fox boy a lot.¡±

    The emperor just red at him.

    ¡°Moreover, what will Your Majesty do if Princess Neoma came to Lady Roseheart crying?¡± he continued in a careful voice. ¡°I¡¯m certain that Lady Roseheart will take Princess Neoma¡¯s side. And Prince Nero might hate Your Majesty again if he finds out you made his twin sister upset.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you think you know too much about my family?¡± the emperor snarled at him. ¡°You¡¯re acting like you want to be a part of...¡± His Majesty frowned. ¡°No. Never. That won¡¯t happen.¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, this is all a misunderstanding,¡± he said carefully. ¡°Princess Neoma and I do not have that kind of rtionship.¡±

    Not yet, at least.

    ¡°Then are you saying that you¡¯re just toying with my daughter¡¯s feelings?¡± the emperor asked, his eye glowing red menacingly. ¡°How dare you hold my daughter in your arms with impure intentions? I don¡¯t care if you¡¯re the sole heir of the Solfrids. I can kill you, Ruston Stroganoff.¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, I held Princess Neoma in my arms because I was absorbing her negative feelings,¡± he exined politely. ¡°Princess Neoma was upset earlier, and it almost awakened the God of Wrath in her. Thus, in order to calm it down, I absorbed her anger. To simply say, I purified Princess Neoma¡¯s negative emotions with my body warmth.¡±

    He wasn¡¯t lying.

    As a Solfrid, he had received the ¡®warmth¡¯ of the Sun Goddess.

    His body warmth could literally purify Darkness. That was exactly why the people of the Sun Goddess couldn¡¯t be touched by impure things such as Darkness- since they could easily purify it.

    But he didn¡¯t need to tell the emperor that although purifying Neoma¡¯s negative emotion was his initial purpose for hugging the princess, there was another reason why he held her in his arms longer than he intended to.

    [I miss her- in and simple.]

    ¡°Why does it seem like Neoma didn¡¯t know that you purified her negative emotions?¡± the emperor asked curiously.

    Thankfully, His Majesty had already calmed down.

    ¡°Princess Neoma doesn¡¯t know,¡± he confessed to the emperor. ¡°She knew I was trying to calm her down, but she didn¡¯t know that I was purifying her negative emotions.¡±

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you let her know about that?¡±

    ¡°Because I don¡¯t want Princess Neoma to be too conscious of the God of Wrath, Your Majesty,¡± he exined. ¡°Princess Neoma must live without getting influenced by the God of Wrath. It¡¯s a good thing that Her Royal Highness favors her Soul Beast¡¯s other personality that she fondly calls ¡®Tteokbokki.¡¯ Thanks to that, the God of Wrath doesn¡¯t have power over the current Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°The current Neoma? Then does it mean the Neoma of the first timeline...¡±

    He waited to feel the crushing pressure he would feel every time he was about to say something from the past that he shouldn¡¯t.

    But he didn¡¯t feel anything.

    .....

    Perhaps he should thank the God of Eternal Darkness for it.

    [Helstor has been actively spreading his Darkness to cover not only the eyes of the gods- but also their ears. Maybe I could use this opportunity to share some of the important things from the past without getting punished.]

    Thus, he decided to test the waters first.

    ¡°Your Majesty, the past Princess Neoma set the world on fire because of the God of Wrath¡¯s influence,¡± he said solemnly. ¡°It was one of the reasons why the Princess Neoma of the first timeline met her demise early.¡±

    ¡°My daughter set the world on fire?¡± the emperor asked in disbelief. ¡°I¡¯m not underestimating Neoma. But the scale of an aplishment as grand as that is hard to imagine.¡±

    He could understand the emperor¡¯s disbelief.

    Setting the world on fire was something only bonafide gods could do. In fact, it was on the level that only the major gods could aplish something like that.

    But he didn¡¯t lie when he said the Neoma of the first timeline was weak.

    After all, she set the world on fire just because of the God of Wrath¡¯s influence. A strong person wouldn¡¯t be influenced by someone or something else easily. Having said that, he still understood why Neoma did what she had to do back then.

    ¡°Ruston Stroganoff, how did the God of Wrath be Neoma¡¯s Soul Beast?¡± the emperor asked. ¡°Even Manu doesn¡¯t know how it happened since he was asleep when Neoma and Nero were born.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid the Soul Beasts are out of my jurisdiction, Your Majesty,¡± he said while shaking his head. ¡°Even I was surprised when I realized that Princess Neoma¡¯s Soul Beast turned out to be the God of Wrath of the past. I¡¯m thinking Lord Yule might be involved, but knowing the Moon God¡¯s current situation, I don¡¯t think he could speak about it openly.¡±

    The emperor let out a frustrated sigh. ¡°I guess it doesn¡¯t matter how the God of Wrath ended up as my daughter¡¯s Soul Beast. What matters most is to prevent him from awakening and influencing Neoma¡¯s emotions. Is that correct?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty,¡± he said while nodding politely. ¡°So if we can, let¡¯s not make Princess Neoma mad. We don¡¯t want to awaken the God of Wrath now.¡±

    The emperor looked at him with cold eyes. ¡°Are you telling me what to do now?¡±

    ¡°How could I do that to Your Majesty?¡± he asked in a polite yet somehow indifferent voice. ¡°I¡¯m only giving a humble suggestion with Princess Neoma¡¯s best interest in mind.¡±

    ¡°Ruston Stroganoff, I won¡¯t deny that you have my trust. I also know that you¡¯re strong, capable, and reliable,¡± the emperor said, then he crossed his arms over his chest. ¡°I will ept you as themander of the White Lion Knights- but never as my son-inw.¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, only Princess Neoma has the right to choose her future spouse,¡± he said politely. ¡°And it¡¯s also alright if she chooses a life of single-blessedness. We do not have the right to decide for Her Royal Highness, Your Majesty.¡±

    His Majesty raised an eyebrow at him. ¡°You sound like it has nothing to do with you.¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma has no obligation to reciprocate my feelings for her. And even if she ends up choosing another man or a life of single-blessedness, my feelings won¡¯t waver,¡± he said sincerely. ¡°I just want her to be safe and happy this time.¡±

    ¡°Did you just confess your feelings for my daughter straight to my face, you punk?¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, there are things a man can¡¯t hide, and one of those is the fact that he¡¯s in love,¡± he said bluntly. ¡°I¡¯ll only make a fool of myself in front of Your Majesty if I deny it. However...¡±

    The emperor knitted his eyebrows. ¡°¡®However?''¡±

    He bowed his head to the emperor. And this time, he meant it. He was truly remorseful.

    ¡°In this timeline, Princess Neoma is a minor. She hasn¡¯t evene of age yet, and even so, I held her in my arms,¡± he said, ashamed of himself. ¡°I¡¯ve been careless. Although both Princess Neoma and I are adults inside, it doesn¡¯t change the fact that in this timeline, we¡¯re still minors. Moreover, I¡¯m older than her- then and now- so I should have been more careful. I promise this won¡¯t happen again.¡±

    ¡°Ruston Stroganoff, I never heard you talk this much before.¡±

    ¡°I just don¡¯t want Your Majesty to misunderstand my current rtionship with Princess Neoma,¡± he exined politely. ¡°So please don¡¯t punish Her Royal Highness too much.¡±

    The emperor let out a sigh. ¡°Raise your head.¡±

    He did as he was told.

    Fortunately, the emperor didn¡¯t look angry anymore.

    ¡°I vaguely remember that you promised me that you wouldn¡¯t meet my daughter behind my back, you punk.¡±

    Ah, right.

    He also barely remembered that promise.

    ¡°Since you broke that promise, and I caught you hugging my daughter, I will give you a punishment,¡± the emperor said sternly. ¡°In return, I will not discipline Lewis Crevan. And I¡¯ll also shorten Neoma¡¯s punishment.¡±

    He politely nodded. ¡°Thank you so much, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t thank me, since you¡¯ll shoulder their punishment.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m used to doing something simr to that, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t get used to it, punk,¡± the emperor said. ¡°From now on, you cannot meet with Neoma alone- especially at night. And if you need to contact her, you have to go through me first. Unless it¡¯s a life-and-death situation, you must absolutely refrain from directly contacting Neoma. Do you understand?¡±

    He tilted his head to one side. ¡°Is that... my punishment, Your Majesty? That is?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not satisfied with that? Do you want me to revoke your dual citizenship and exile you to the East Continent as a punishment?¡±

    He shook his head. ¡°No, not at all, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°Are you back here for good?¡±

    Again, he shook his head. ¡°Princess Neoma wanted me to go home and rest.¡±

    ¡°And will you listen to my daughter?¡±

    ¡°I will go home, but not now,¡± he said. ¡°I don¡¯t like going against Princess Neoma¡¯s wishes, but I still have something else to do here.¡±

    ¡°And what would it be?¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, my people have found traces of Empress Juliet.¡±

    The emperor looked shocked at first, then his face hardened. ¡°Ruston Stroganoff, how old are you again?¡±

    ¡°Seventeen, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°Sixteen-year-old young adults are legally allowed to drink light beer in the empire. You¡¯re not allowed to have hard liquor until you¡¯re eighteen, though.¡±

    He tilted his head to one side, confused. ¡°Yes...?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s have a drink,¡± Emperor Niki said, then he turned his back on him as ifmanding him to follow him. ¡°And then we¡¯ll talk about the empress.¡±

    Ruto nodded even though the emperor couldn¡¯t see him. ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡±

    ***

    ¡°YOUR PEOPLE have been monitoring the ce where you found Juliet¡¯s traces?¡± Niki asked while Ruston Stroganoff poured beer into his ss. He wasn¡¯t keen on drinking beer because he enjoyed hard liquor more, but he had to be careful because he was with a minor. ¡°Where is it?¡±

    Right now, it was safe for them to talk about Juliet because he brought Ruston Stroganoff into his study.

    It was just as safe as his bedroom.

    ¡°That¡¯s the thing, Your Majesty,¡± Ruston Stroganoff said while pouring beer into his own ss. ¡°The location is hard to find because it changes frequently. That¡¯s exactly why Your Majesty¡¯s Pdins have failed to locate Empress Juliet all this time.¡±

    He sipped his tea before he asked. ¡°Then what kind of people are working for you if they were able to locate Juliet when my Pdins couldn¡¯t?¡±

    ¡°Demigods.¡±

    He almost dropped his ss when he heard the young man¡¯s casual answer. ¡°Demigods? You mean... those who are part-human and part-divine offspring of a god and a human?¡±

    ¡°They vary, Your Majesty,¡± the young man exined. ¡°Some of them have partial or lesser divine status, some of them are minor deities, and there are also humans raised by a god. All of them are considered demigods, though.¡±

    He sipped his beer again.

    Of course, he knew demigods existed.

    After all, the de Moonasterios were descendants of Yule, the Moon God.

    But he also knew that the demigods weren¡¯t the type of beings to get involved with human fights. There were rules among celestial beings, after all.

    The fact that those types of beings follow Ruston Stroganoff was beyond impressive.

    [I will never give up on making this punk the nextmander of the White Lion Knights.]

    ¡°Your Majesty, there¡¯s something else that I also want to talk about.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve heard of the rumors about the Crown Prince¡¯s hidden twin sister.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re the ones who spread the rumor,¡± he said proudly. ¡°It¡¯s a part of the preparation we¡¯re working on in order to introduce Neoma as the empire¡¯s one and only royal princess.¡±

    ¡°But a royal princess is still powerless in the empire, even though Your Majesty is fond of Her Royal Highness.¡±

    ¡°You punk-¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, it¡¯s going to be chaotic once Empress Juliet returns. There¡¯s also the issue about Calyx Dalton being a de Moonasterio,¡± the young man said. ¡°Even if you introduce Princess Neoma to the empire, it won¡¯t have an impact. Princess Neoma will still be set aside if the crows use Calyx Dalton to challenge Prince Nero¡¯s right to the throne. After all, the empire only allows male heirs to be the heir apparent.¡±

    ¡°Get to the point, Ruston Stroganoff,¡± Niki said sternly. ¡°What are you trying to say?¡±

    ¡°I will get the entire East Continent involved with the sessors of the West Continent¡¯s Moonasterion Empire¡¯s uing fight for the throne,¡± Ruston Stroganoff said seriously. ¡°The Solfrid n, along with the other members of the Golden Families of the East Continent, will support Princess Neoma de Moonasterio instead of Prince Nero de Moonasterio.¡±

    ***

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 469

    Chapter 469: DE MOONASTERION BLOOD

    [IT FUCKING hurts.]

    After Neoma took a bath and changed into her pajamasst night, she suddenly felt abdominal cramps. She was determined to stay up all night and call her Mama Boss while snitching on her Papa Boss.

    But s.

    She fell asleep while enduring the pain.

    And when she opened her eyes, it was already morning.

    ¡°Good morning, Your Royal Highness,¡± Stephanie, her nanny and the head maid of nco Pce, greeted her with a smile. ¡°Your Majesty, the emperor, wishes to have breakfast with Your Royal Highness.¡±

    The mention of her father¡¯s title reminded her of the argument that they hadst night.

    .....

    [I don¡¯t mind being grounded, but if Papa Boss punishes Lewis...]

    ¡°I¡¯m fucking pissed,¡± Neoma said, surprising Stephanie. It wasn¡¯t like it was her first time cursing in front of her. Her nanny was just probably surprised to see her in a bad mood since she was usually a morning person. But her abdominal cramps were still killing her. ¡°Stephanie, I think I¡¯m going to have my first period soon.¡±

    Stephanie covered her mouth with her hands when she gasped.

    [Is it so shocking? But, well, I get my nanny. I¡¯m pretending to be a boy, so having my period will be bothersome.]

    She suddenly missed her eomma.

    When she got her first period during her second life, her eomma made sticky rice with red beans for her to celebrate her transition to womanhood.

    And back when she was ¡®Neoma Quinzel¡¯ during her first life...

    What was the tradition in the empire again?

    [Oh, right. I think Duchess Amber Quinzel threw away all my old clothes after I got my first period. Then she bought me new clothes- clothes in dark or neutral clothes. Because apparently,dies can¡¯t wear bright-colored clothes anymore once they entered womanhood.]

    ¡°Your Royal Highness, there¡¯s a traditional way for royal princesses to celebrate their first period by taking a bath in the Light Temple,¡± Stephanie exined gently. ¡°It is the temple dedicated to Lady Roxana, the Light Goddess.¡±

    ¡°Oh, Lord Yule¡¯s wife.¡±

    This was the first time that she heard about that tradition.

    After all, she wasn¡¯t raised as a royal princess back in her first life.

    ¡°But isn¡¯t the Light Temple already closed?¡± she asked her nanny. ¡°Did my Aunt Nichole take a bath in the Light Temple when she got her first period?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Royal Highness,¡± her nanny said. ¡°The Light Temple is only closed to the public. But it is well-maintained, and the Royal Family could use it anytime they want.¡±

    Stephanie still looked worried, and she knew why.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Stephanie,¡± she assured her nanny. ¡°I don¡¯t really care about upholding traditions.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t safe to use the Light Temple anyway.

    [If I remember it correctly, Lukas is imprisoned there and Jeanne Audley is using her power to make sure the Dark Elf stays there.]

    ¡°I understand, Your Royal Highness,¡± Stephanie said politely, then she smiled at her. ¡°Let¡¯s get you ready for breakfast now.¡±

    ¡°But I¡¯m feelingzy since my cramps hurt like hell,¡± she whined a little, then she sped her hands together and gave Stephanie her best puppy dog eyes. ¡°Can¡¯t you just bring me breakfast in bed?¡±

    Stephanie obviously looked torn. ¡°It will be difficult since Your Majesty requested your presence during breakfast, Your Royal Highness...¡±

    ¡°Just tell my father that I¡¯m sick,¡± Neoma said, then she smirked. [Let¡¯s make Papa Boss feel guilty for being harsh on me and Lewisst night.]

    ***

    [IT WAS a marriage proposal, wasn¡¯t it?]

    Niki pinched the bridge of his nose after he btedly realized that Ruston Stroganoff practically expressed his desire to marry Neoma by dering that he would support her instead of Nero.

    Well, Ruston Stroganoff asked nothing in return when he said he would support his daughter if a session war broke out. But to him, it sounded like Ruston Stroganoff wanted to use his position as the sole heir of the Solfrid n to support Neoma.

    [A political marriage between the de Moonasterion royal princess and the sole heir of the Solfrid n would definitely shake both the East and the West Continent.]

    ¡°Your Majesty, I¡¯ve already sent all the gifts that we prepared for Queen Brigitte and King Glenn of the Hazelden Kingdom.¡±

    His thoughts were distracted when he heard Kyle Sprouse¡¯s report.

    Ah, right.

    He was in the dining hall while waiting for Neoma so they could eat breakfast together. But his daughter waste.

    [Is she still upset with me because of what happenedst night?]

    ¡°We also donated an immense sum of money to all the foundations that the queen and king of Hazelden support using Your Majesty¡¯s personal funds,¡± Kyle Sprouse continued with his report. ¡°Is there anything else that Your Majesty would like me to prepare for them?¡±

    ¡°No, that suffices,¡± Niki said, taking his mind off of the conversation that he had with Ruston Stroganoffst night. ¡°Any more than that, and I¡¯m pretty sure Glenn would send the gifts back with his own set of presents for us.¡±

    The count chuckled. ¡°That sounds like something that Glenn would do.¡±

    He just nodded in agreement.

    Glenn and the queen of Hazelden took care of Mona and Nero. Thus, the gifts. He was that grateful to the royal couple for looking after his family.

    ¡°Your Majesty, I apologize for interrupting your meal,¡± Geoffrey Kinsley, who entered the dining hall with a concerned look on his face. ¡°Miss Stephanie was here earlier, and she informed us that His Royal Highness couldn¡¯t join Your Majesty for breakfast.¡±

    [Ah, Neoma is upset, indeed.]

    But then, he realized that Geoffrey wasn¡¯t done with his report yet.

    ¡°What is it?¡± Niki asked, concerned. ¡°Did something happen?¡±

    Geoffrey leaned down and whispered in his ear while covering his mouth with his hands. ¡°His Royal Highness is sick, Your Majesty.¡±

    ***

    ¡°THUG princess, are you really sick?¡±

    ¡°Yes, so please shut the fuck up,¡± Neoma said irritably to Tteokbokki. ¡°I feel like shit because of these damned cramps.¡±

    She was already using Tteokbokki as a heating pad.

    Since the dragon was naturally warm, she asked them to turn into a baby dragon the size of a bunny. Then she made Tteokbokkiy down on her abdomen. He was better than a heating pad, and it reduced the pain she was feeling earlier.

    But she still hated getting in pain. Thus, she became more irritable than usual.

    ¡°Princess Neoma, should I call the Healing Sage?¡± Lewis, who was standing beside her bed with a worried look on his face, asked. ¡°Maybe drinking some medicine will reduce the pain...¡±

    ¡°Nah, I¡¯m alright, Lewis,¡± she assured her ¡°son.¡± No matter how cranky she was, she wouldn¡¯t snap at Lewis. ¡°I just need to rest.¡±

    And it sucked because she wanted to train with Delwyn.

    She never failed to train with Delwyn every time she had free time. But because of her cramps, she wasn¡¯t sure if she could go to training today.

    [No- I can¡¯t bezy!]

    She tried to get up.

    Lewis immediately helped her sit, then he put a pillow behind her when she leaned against the headboard.

    Tteokbokki adjusted himself as well so he would be sitting on her abdomen.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± she said to Lewis and Tteokbokki, then she turned to her ¡°son¡± again. ¡°What¡¯s Hanna doing?¡±

    She asked Lewis to check on Hanna earlier.

    ¡°Lady Hanna had an early breakfast, then she went to the training room that you specifically built for her,¡± Lewis reported to her. ¡°She locked herself up in the room, and she didn¡¯t let anyone in since, ording to her, she didn¡¯t want to hurt anyone identally.¡±

    That made her smile.

    [Ohh, Hanna. You¡¯re doing queen shit, huh?]

    ¡°But Lady Hanna requested to have lunch with you, Princess Neoma,¡± Lewis continued with his report. ¡°Should I tell her that you¡¯re sick?¡±

    ¡°Nah, I don¡¯t want Hanna to worry about me. Plus, I don¡¯t want her to eat alone,¡± she said. But Lewis still looked worried, so she assured him. ¡°I¡¯m just being a drama queen, but I¡¯m fine. I won¡¯t die from cramps.¡±

    ¡°Of course you won¡¯t,¡± Tteokbokki said, scoffing. ¡°A thug princess like you won¡¯t die from a mere cramps-¡±

    ¡°Mere cramps?¡± she asked, pissed. ¡°Only women know how painful menstrual cramps are, so don¡¯t you dare look down on our personal hell.¡±

    Tteokbokki immediately nodded his head. ¡°O-Okay. I¡¯m sorry. Don¡¯t get mad.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not mad,¡± she snarled at him.

    ¡°You¡¯re mad!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not.¡±

    ¡°You are- mff!¡±

    Tteokbokki was forced to stop talking when Lewis covered his mouth with his hands.

    .....

    ¡°Tteokbokki, just shut up if you want to live,¡± Lewis ¡°whispered¡± to Tteokbokki. ¡°If Princess Neoma says she¡¯s not mad, then she¡¯s not.¡±

    She felt proud of her smart ¡°son.¡±

    Their fun moment was interrupted when they heard a knock on the door.

    She knew right away that it was her Papa Boss.

    ¡°Lewis, open the door.¡±

    Her ¡°son¡± nodded politely, then he walked towards the door and opened it.

    Lewis bowed politely to Papa Boss as a greeting.

    ¡°Leave the room, Lewis Crevan,¡± her Papa Boss said while walking past her ¡°son.¡± ¡°I need to talk to my daughter alone.¡±

    Of course, Lewis didn¡¯t budge.

    [I bet my ¡°son¡± wouldn¡¯t move even if it¡¯s the gods who order him.]

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, Lewis,¡± she said while waving her hand at him. ¡°You can check on Hanna in the meantime. I¡¯ll summon youter.¡±

    Lewis nodded politely, then he bowed before he left the room quietly.

    ¡°I¡¯m such a benevolent emperor,¡± Papa Boss said when he sat on the chair beside her bed. ¡°If it¡¯s another emperor, they would have already beheaded Lewis for ignoring their order.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s called tyranny, Papa Boss,¡± she argued. ¡°Lewis didn¡¯t ignore you- he even greeted you politely. But you can¡¯t expect him to obey your orders just because you¡¯re the emperor. He works for me, so it¡¯s natural that he only listens to me.¡±

    ¡°I already resigned myself to ept the fact that your ¡°children¡± will only listen to you,¡± her father said, then he turned serious. ¡°De Moonasterios rarely get sick. You¡¯re not using that as an excuse just to avoid me during breakfast, are you?¡±

    To be honest, her initial n was to ¡°act¡± like in pain to make her Papa Boss guilty.

    But she wasn¡¯t acting anymore. She was really in pain. Gosh, she almost forgot that menstrual cramp was a bitch.

    ¡°Papa Boss, I¡¯m having cramps.¡±

    As expected, her father looked clueless.

    ¡°Papa Boss, I¡¯m going to get my first period soon,¡± she exined. ¡°Menstrual period, thus the cramps.¡±

    Her Papa Boss looked horrified, then his face turned red. ¡°Blood...¡±

    ¡°Gosh, Papa Boss, it¡¯s just period,¡± she said, appalled by her father¡¯s reaction. ¡°Do you think it¡¯s gross?¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not like that,¡± her Papa Boss said. ¡°I just don¡¯t like it. I learned from the sex education I received during my adolescence that once a littledy transitions to womanhood, then... motherhood follows.¡±

    She almost choked on her saliva.

    But she understood what her father meant by that.

    [Once a girl gets her period, her chances of getting pregnant are high. And in this world, most people still think that a woman¡¯s life would only beplete once she bes a mother.]

    ¡°Papa Boss, I¡¯m already a mother.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me?¡±

    ¡°Lewis and the other kids are my children,¡± she reminded him. ¡°But I know what you¡¯re talking about, Papa Boss. You don¡¯t have to worry about that. After all, I¡¯m not sure if I want to have children in the future.¡±

    Her father looked surprised by what she said. ¡°You¡¯re not thinking of having children?¡±

    [Look at this man. He gets upset with my ¡°suitors.¡± But he looks in disbelief when I said I¡¯m not sure if I wanted children.]

    But she understood.

    In this world, women were expected to marry and have children.

    ¡°Papa Boss, I don¡¯t think I¡¯d be a good mother,¡± she confessed with a smile. ¡°I¡¯m vain, selfish, and I love myself too much. A person like me is not suited to be a mother.¡±

    Moreover, she didn¡¯t want her future children to inherit the fate she was burdened with.

    Her father¡¯s expression changed.

    [Oh, he¡¯s calm now.]

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Neoma,¡± her father said. ¡°You can just stay here with me and your mother forever.¡±

    ¡°Papa Boss, I still want to get married in the future.¡±

    Once again, her father looked shocked by her deration.

    ¡°Father, childless marriages exist,¡± she said, then she teased her father. ¡°And married couples are still a family, even without a child.¡±

    Her father fell silent for a moment. ¡°Neoma, your views are a little shocking to me. Please give me time to absorb and understand them.¡±

    Sheughed softly. ¡°It¡¯s alright, Papa Boss,¡± she said, then she turned serious. ¡°Papa Boss?¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    She bowed her head in apology. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Ruto and I did nothing more than hug each otherst night. Even so, I know that it doesn¡¯t look good for a seventeen-year-old boy to hold a thirteen-year-old girl in his arms.¡±

    Especially since both she and Ruto knew that the hug they shared was not so tonic.

    She got upset with her father because she was pissed. But now that she calmed down, she realized that she was just throwing a tantrum. She could me her cramps for her sour mood, but it wouldn¡¯t change the fact that she had been rude to her Papa Boss when her father had the right to get scold herst night.

    ¡°Neoma, raise your head.¡±

    She did, and she made sure she looked pitiful by giving her best pout and puppy dog eyes. It was a dangerousbination that not even Nero could resist. Thus, she was hoping her father would fall for her pitiful face. ¡°Papa Boss, I¡¯ll ept any punishment. But please don¡¯t punish Lewis. It was me who told him to leave me alone with Ruto.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t punish Lewis Crevan.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t punish him.¡±

    She beamed instantly. ¡°Really, Papa Boss?¡±

    ¡°Ruston Stroganoff convinced me not to punish Lewis Crevan,¡± her father exined. ¡°He also asked me to lighten your punishment. You¡¯ll still be grounded, but only for two weeks. From today onwards, you can¡¯t sneak out of the pce. If you need to talk to your people, then use amunication device for now.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Papa Boss,¡± she said sincerely. ¡°But may I know how Ruto convinced you?¡± She squinted her eyes at her father. ¡°He took all the me, didn¡¯t he?¡±

    ¡°From now on, you¡¯re not allowed to meet with Ruston Stroganoff alone,¡± her father said sternly. ¡°All his calls would be directed to mymunication device first. That was his punishment for holding you in his arms.¡±

    She couldn¡¯t reallyin because she and Ruto were in the wrong.

    Plus, she was grateful that Papa Boss gave light punishment.

    ¡°I understand, Papa Boss,¡± she said. Then she frowned when her abdomen throbbed again. ¡°Fuck...¡±

    Her father looked concerned. ¡°I¡¯ll ask Marcus to make some medicine for your cramps.¡±

    She nodded because she couldn¡¯t endure the pain anymore. ¡°Yes, please.¡±

    ¡°You haven¡¯t eaten breakfast yet,¡± her Papa Boss said worriedly. ¡°I¡¯ll ask your nanny to bring you breakfast. What would you like to eat?¡±

    ¡°Meat- definintely meat,¡± Neoma said immediately. ¡°I want steak and a lot of chocte for dessert, Papa Boss.¡±

    ***

    [AH, I¡¯m in a dream again.]

    When Neoma opened her eyes, she was attacked by an explosive visual of a woman she met for the first time.

    But, for some reason, she felt close to her.

    [Is it because we¡¯re both beautiful?]

    tinum blonde hair that reached her waist.

    Eyes with white pupils.

    Skin that was clearer than her future.

    [Ah... is she...blind?]

    But first of all, where the hell was she summoned to this time?

    When she looked around, she realized she was in the middle of a forest and she was actually dipped in ake that reached her waist.

    And the beautiful woman was standing on the water.

    [Daebak.]

    The strange yet beautiful woman also wore a flowy white dress that suited her image. She looked divine and pure. Plus, her presence was warm andforting.

    ¡°I finally reached you, my dear child.¡±

    [Gosh, even her voice is pretty.]

    Neoma looked up at the beautiful woman. She knew the stranger couldn¡¯t see her literally, but she also knew that thedy could see her in another way. ¡°I knew it,¡± she said while nodding. ¡°We¡¯re both ridiculously pretty, so there¡¯s no way we¡¯re not connected.¡±

    The beautiful womanughed softly.

    [She¡¯s oozing with elegance.]

    ¡°You don¡¯t look like a de Moonasterio, and your hair isn¡¯t pink, so you can¡¯t be a Roseheart. Then...¡± she trailed off, then she gasped. ¡°Are you, perhaps...¡±

    The beautiful woman smiled and nodded. ¡°I apologize for thete introduction,¡± she said, then she bobbed a curtsy. ¡°I am Roxana- the Light Goddess.¡±

    Her heart thumped fast and hard against her chest.

    [I knew it.]

    ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Grandma?¡±

    It wasn¡¯t an insult.

    She felt close to Roxana. Thus, she wanted to be close to her right away. Since they were family, she would rather call her ¡®grandma¡¯ instead of her title.

    [But I hope Grandma doesn¡¯t take it the wrong way...]

    Roxana smiled, and she was relieved that the Light Goddess wasn¡¯t offended when she called her ¡®grandma.¡¯ ¡°My dear granddaughter, I won¡¯t beat around the bush¡ª can you adopt another child for me?¡±

    Neoma¡¯s eyes widened in shock. ¡°Excuse me?¡±

    ***

    NOTE: Hi! It will be my birthday soon (May 23rd) and Iunched a project where I will release side stories featuring how the characters here celebrated their birthday. Episode 1 features Neoma and Nero¡¯s fourth birthday.

    Find out how Neoma used her scamming skills (at age 4!) to get Nero a birthday present.

    Warning: Annoying Neoma who talks in the third person is back. Haha!

    Link here: ko-fi/post/EPISODE-1-NEOMA-NEROS-4TH-BIRTHDAY-Q5Q2CRWRQ

    If the link doesn¡¯t work or shows up because of censorship, please head over to ko-fi page and look for my ount: s_c. Thank you!

    ***

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 470

    Chapter 470: JUST QUEENS DOING QUEEN SH*TS

    [THEY¡¯RE LIKE giant caviar.]

    Dahlia thought the new saint¡¯s divine power were like caviar inside Queen Brigitte¡¯s body. She entered the queen¡¯s consciousness in order to check on her Majesty¡¯s condition internally.

    [The caviar is really eating at the queen¡¯s life force, and it¡¯s worse than I thought.]

    Visually, the queen¡¯s consciousness that she entered look like a in, empty room.

    The white ceiling, walls, and floors were Queen Brigitte¡¯s life force. Thus, the ¡°caviar¡± clung to them like parasites. If it weren¡¯t for the protection that she covered her soul with, the ¡°caviar¡± would have already attacked her.

    [Scary. These things are scary.]

    The queen was only seven-month pregnant, but with the speed the new saint was eating at her life force, Her Majesty wouldn¡¯tst long.

    .....

    [This saint... is stronger than the former saint Dominic Zavaroni.]

    It was only a fetus for now, but the baby¡¯s divine power was already on the same level as the former saint. Thus, it needed more nutrients than the other saints born in the past. It was a miracle that Queen Brigittested seven months while fully functioning.

    [Queen Brigitte is amazing.]

    ¡°Your Holiness, I understand that you can¡¯t control your hunger, but please slow down,¡± Dahlia said, then she opened her hands. ¡°I will give you something else to eat in the meantime.¡±

    ck smoke came out of her hands.

    Then that ck smoke scattered like piles of clouds that fell on the floor. Then the clouds rose and slowly changed their form. After a few moments, the piles of clouds were already unrecognizable as they turned into ck fishs.

    Yes, fishs.

    But of course, they weren¡¯t normal.

    The fishs separated the ¡°caviar¡± from the queen¡¯s life force. Now the ceiling, walls, and floors were covered with fishs covered with silver light.

    It was Moonglow.

    To be precise, the Moonglow that the fishs were covered with came from the de Moonasterios that her predecessors executed in the past. Thus, the fishs made of Moonglow were actually made of those de Moonasterios¡¯ life force, too.

    After all, her predecessors stole the life force of the de Moonasterios who weren¡¯t scheduled to die yet.

    [In our coven¡¯s defense, the de Moonasterios they killed early deserved it.]

    Anyway, the Moonglow and the de Moonasterios¡¯ life force that umted from her predecessors¡¯ ¡°collection¡± were in her hands.

    She was thest ck Witch, after all.

    ¡°Please eat those fishs for now, Your Holiness,¡± Dahlia whispered to herself. ¡°We will save you and the queen, I promise.¡±

    ***

    [LITTLE Dahlia is doing well.]

    Mona was impressed.

    Right now, she was closely watching Queen Brigitte and Dahlia.

    The twodies were sleeping side-by-side on a huge bed while holding each other¡¯s hands. Dahlia entered the queen¡¯s consciousness to slow down the new saint¡¯s divine power from eating at his mother¡¯s life force.

    [It¡¯s possible since she¡¯s a ck Witch. Her predecessors have a collection of the Moonglow and life force that they stole from the de Moonasterios they executed in the past. She probably inherited the whole collection from her predecessors.]

    ¡°Lady Roseheart?¡±

    Mona turned to Glenn who was pacing the room back and forth earlier.

    Thankfully, the king finally stopped moving as he stood in front of her with a worried look on his face.

    [He¡¯s really worried about his wife.]

    ¡°Lady Roseheart, I¡¯ll get straight to the point,¡± Glenn said, then he gulped before he asked. ¡°Is there a way I could give half of my life force to Her Majesty? I noticed that my wife is getting weaker day by day. If my life force could help her recover her strength quickly, then please help me give half of it to her.¡±

    ¡°Glenn, I understand what you¡¯re feeling, but please listen to me first,¡± Mona said gently. She addressed Glenn casually because he insisted. But, of course, she would address him formally if they had an audience. ¡°To answer your question, yes. It¡¯s possible to transfer your life force to another person. But that technique only works best between two people connected by blood. In short, among family members.¡±

    And it worked especially best between twins.

    [Just like my Baby Muffin and Baby Pumpkin.]

    ¡°If giving your life force to a stranger is easy, then people who desire immortality would have already used that method to prolong their life,¡± she said carefully. ¡°But it¡¯s not, and only a select few have the ability to extract life force from one being and give it to another.¡±

    That select few included the ck Witch coven.

    ¡°Glenn, the process is dangerous even between people rted by blood,¡± she said, then she lightly patted his shoulder. ¡°It will be life-threatening for you if we do that. Do you want to die before your wife?¡±

    Glenn immediately shook his head.

    ¡°Then let¡¯s not do that,¡± she said. ¡°I don¡¯t think Queen Brigitte would like it if she finds out you want to give half of your life to her without asking for her opinion.¡±

    Glenn¡¯s shoulders slumped, and now he looked like an abandoned dog.

    [He looks so different when he¡¯s on the battlefield.]

    ¡°I just want to do something for my wife,¡± Glenn said dejectedly. ¡°She¡¯s suffering and yet, I can¡¯t take her burden for her.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to carry all the burden- your wife is not weak, Glenn.¡±

    ¡°I know that, Lady Roseheart. But it breaks my heart to see my wife in that state while the only thing I could do is worry for her...¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not true,¡± she said softly. ¡°You run this kingdom in behalf of the queen. Moreover, no matter how busy you are, you never left her side.¡±

    Glenn practically created an office in the corner of Queen Brigitte¡¯s room.

    ¡°Glenn, your presence and your support are two of the things that your wife need the most at the moment,¡± she said solemnly. ¡°You¡¯re doing well- as a husband, as a father, and as a king.¡±

    ¡°Lady Roseheart...¡± Glenn said in a cracked voice, his face filled with relief. ¡°Thank you.¡±

    She just smiled and nodded, then she changed the topic. ¡°I feel guilty that Nero and I have to leave so soon. I would like to stay here until the queen gives birth to your baby, but I couldn¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°Please don¡¯t worry about that, Lady Roseheart,¡± the king said. ¡°You¡¯ve done plenty enough for our family.¡±

    It was still enough.

    After all, aside from the fact that the Hazelden royal couple had been good to her family, Glenn was also like a brother to Niki.

    [Neoma even calls Glenn her uncle.]

    ¡°I asked the snow fairies residing in the Frozen Woods to look after your family,¡± she said. ¡°They will help Dahlia to take care of Queen Brigitte until she delivers your child. The snow fairies arebat fairies, too. Thus, you can rely on them to keep your wife and your baby safe. The other Spirits living in the kingdom will also look out for you and your family. They will inform me right away if something happens.¡±

    Glenn looked touched. ¡°Lady Roseheart...¡±

    Sheughed softly at the king¡¯s puppy-like expression. ¡°The Snow King also gave me the right to open a portal between his territory and the empire¡¯s pce. So, if you need our help, don¡¯t hesitate to call us.¡± She patted Glenn¡¯s shoulder again. ¡°My family and I wille running to you.¡±

    Glenn, who looked like he was about to cry, bowed his head in gratitude. ¡°Thank you, Lady Roseheart. Thank you for everything.¡±

    Mona bowed politely to the king as well. ¡°We are family, Glenn- and I mean it.¡±

    ***

    ¡°YOUR MAJESTY, please drink this tea.¡±

    Brigitte blushed when Lady Mona Roseheart handed her the teacup.

    Since she couldn¡¯t move yet, she was just sitting on the bed while leaning against the pillow behind her back. And Lady Roseheart was sitting on the chair beside the bed while serving her.

    Glenn left the room to ask the kitchen to prepare her lunch.

    Ever since she got pregnant, her husband had been more caring than ever. Since she got cravings from time to time, Glenn made it a habit to personally check on the food that the chef would prepare for her.

    On the other hand, Miss Dahlia had returned to her room to rest.

    Thus, at the moment, Lady Roseheart was the only person taking care of her.

    [God, this is embarrassing.]

    Such an important person on the entire continent, perhaps the whole world, was serving her tea. It should be the other way around!

    ¡°Thank you, Lady Roseheart,¡± Brigitte said, then she bowed to the Daughter of Nature. ¡°I should be the one serving you. I¡¯m sorry that someone like you has to do this for me, mydy. Once I get back in shape, I will make it up to you.¡±

    ¡°Oh, no. Please raise your head, Your Majesty,¡± Lady Roseheart said, and she seemed as flustered as she was. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be bowing to someone like you. I am just a matriarch of a fallen noble household.¡±

    It was true.

    If they followed the social hierarchy, then she outranked Lady Roseheart.

    But Lady Roseheart¡¯s ¡°value¡± didn¡¯t rely on her status or household. Her very existence was important as she was the Daughter of Nature- one of the select few that the Cosmic Tree had epted as its ¡°child.¡±

    [The noblemen of the Great Moonasterion Empire are stupid for not realizing Lady Roseheart¡¯s worth. They don¡¯t deserve her. Those scum- oh, no. I shouldn¡¯t curse. Baby, I¡¯m sorry. Mommy will only use pretty words from now on.]

    ¡°Your Majesty...¡±

    She raised her head and met Lady Roseheart¡¯s warm gaze.

    .....

    [Ah, she¡¯s really Princess Neoma¡¯s mother.]

    That made herugh softly.

    Of course, Lady Roseheart looked confused.

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m notuging at you, Lady Roseheart,¡± she said while waving her hands. ¡°I just find it adorable how your warm gaze resembles Princess Neoma¡¯s. Although her eyes have the de Moonasterio¡¯s physical traits, I see Lady Roseheart¡¯s spirit in them.¡±

    It seemed like Lady Roseheart was pleased to hear that because her face lit up.

    ¡°Thank you for saying that, Your Majesty,¡± Lady Roseheart said. ¡°My children look like Niki¡¯s replica because the de Moonasterio¡¯s physical features are strong. So, to hear that my daughter resembles me in some aspects makes my heart swell with happiness.¡± She smiled and sped her hands together. ¡°Your Majesty, if you don¡¯t mind, could you share more stories about my daughter? I heard that the two of you are close. I want to get to know Neoma more from other people¡¯s perspective since she doesn¡¯t like talking about her achievements.¡±

    That was true.

    Princess Neoma was arrogant, but she wasn¡¯t the type to brag about her achievements. She only enjoyed bragging about her looks.

    In some way, the princess was actually humble.

    ¡°Of course, Lady Roseheart,¡± Brigitte said, smiling. ¡°I¡¯d love to talk about Princess Neoma¡¯s greatness with you.¡±

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 471

    Chapter 471: ROMANTICIZING DARK HISTORY

    ¡°I WON¡¯T tell you anything about my former master.¡±

    Nero clicked his tongue at Zeru, the ice phoenix.

    The Soul Beast was back in his human form, and he was acting like a little shi...

    [No, I shouldn¡¯t curse.]

    He would rather pull out his sword and cut the throat of the person annoying him than cuss. But it wasn¡¯t like he could kill his own Soul Beast.

    ¡°Zeru, Arche de Moonasterio is known as the most ipetent emperor in history,¡± Nero said while swinging the sword he made from Zeru¡¯s ice. But since his body hadn¡¯tpletely healed yet, he was taking it easy by simply practicing his swings. It was like a good exercise on his part. ¡°Are you okay with that? Don¡¯t you want to change how the empire sees your beloved former master?

    ¡°My former master would never wish to change what is written in the history books.¡±

    .....

    ¡°Why not?¡±

    ¡°Because if the truth gets revealed, Master Arche¡¯s brightness would dull Princess Aruna¡¯s.¡±

    ¡°Princess Aruna is known as the brighter twin,¡± he said. ¡°Was that not the case?¡±

    ¡°Well, Princess Aruna was a great person. Smart, strong, morally upright. She could be immature sometimes, but she was young back then, so I guess that was normal to act stupid,¡± Zeru said while tilting his head to one side as if he was reminiscing the past. ¡°But my Master Arche was on a different level. He was always one step ahead of his twin sister. Princess Aruna knew that very well, so she became morepetitive. Thanks to that, she eventually saw Master Arche as an enemy instead of her twin brother.¡±

    ¡°Tell me more about it,¡± he said, then he stopped swinging his ice sword to face Zeru properly. ¡°What¡¯s the real history between Arche and Aruna de Moonasterio?¡±

    Zeru shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m not telling you.¡±

    He gripped his ice sword tighter as his eyes turned glowing red. Needless to say, he was tempted to sh his Soul Beast¡¯s neck. Just like any other de Moonasterio, he had a nasty temper. And his first solution to any minor inconveniences was violence.

    But he couldn¡¯t kill his Soul Beast.

    After all, Neoma liked pretty things.

    [Neoma is mesmerized by Zeru in his ice phoenix form. If I kill him, my twin sister would be sad. I must hold back for Neoma¡¯s sake.]

    ¡°Prince Nero, you¡¯re looking at me like you want to kill me,¡± the Soul Beast said in a teasing voice. ¡°Look, your eyes have even turned red.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I want to cut your throat so badly.¡±

    ¡°All because I didn¡¯t want to answer your question?¡±

    ¡°I believe you need some beating to get it into your head that I¡¯m your new master now, so you¡¯d stop yapping about my dead ancestor,¡± he said indifferently, then he tilted his head to one side. ¡°Luckily for you, my sister took a liking to your bird form. She likes pretty things, so I won¡¯t kill you. But...¡±

    Zeru raised an eyebrow at him. ¡°But what?¡±

    He smiled the smile that he had been practicing all this time.

    It was the same smile that Neoma would give to their subjects. His precious twin sister created an amiable image as a Crown Prince, so he would practice smiling in front of the mirror if he had free time.

    ¡°Zeru, I can¡¯t kill you, but I can cut your tongue off,¡± he warned his Soul Beast, smiling. ¡°You¡¯re not using your tongue to tell me the things I want to hear, so I should just cut it off since it¡¯s useless, right?¡±

    ¡°Are you serious?¡±

    He just smiled at his Soul Beast.

    But unlike Neoma¡¯s smile, that was warm andforting, it seemed like his smile appeared as cold and threatening.

    After all, Zeru took a step back with a frightened expression.

    ¡°You¡¯re crazy,¡± Zeru said, his body turning into an ice sculpture. ¡°You¡¯re only nice to your twin sister!¡±

    When Zeru¡¯s human form turned into aplete ice statue, it suddenly melted and turned into a puddle of water.

    The Soul Beast escaped, but it didn¡¯t matter to him.

    [Hmm... so aside from ice, I could control water as well if I train Zeru well.]

    He could probably make Zeru share all his skills with him, since it was the Soul Beast¡¯s job to share his power with him. But he had a feeling he couldn¡¯t make Zeru talk regarding the true history between Arche and Aruna de Moonasterio.

    Not without violence, at least.

    [It seems like Arche de Moonasterio romanticized the part of history rted to Aruna de Moonasterio in order to make his twin sister shine more than him.]

    He was curious about it, so...

    ¡°I should just leave it to Neoma,¡± Nero whispered to himself. ¡°She could probably scam Zeru and make him talk without shedding blood.¡±

    ***

    ¡°DAHLIA, you did well,¡± Mona said after tasting the tea that Dahlia brewed using the flowers that she provided. ¡°The Frozen Flowers that I received from the snow fairies are usually harmful to humans. If consumed raw, your insides would literally freeze. Only people like us could brew these flowers safely.¡±

    By ¡°people like them,¡± she meant people epted by Nature.

    ck Witches weren¡¯t inherently evil. It was only the de Moonasterios who used their coven of ridiculous crimes. But, unfortunately, those usations led to a bloodbath. When the ck Witches fought back, the de Moonasterios and the ns supporting the Royal Family at the time worked together to hunt the ck Witches down.

    A few households, including the Rosehearts, provided support for the ck Witches.

    But that part of history was erased, so not even Mona knew exactly what happened back then. Her predecessors never talked about the ck Witches in order to protect the coven. Their household acted like the ck Witches never existed, so the de Moonasterios wouldn¡¯t look for them anymore.

    ¡°Thank you, Lady Roseheart,¡± Dahlia said shyly, her cheeks red. ¡°Thank you for teaching me how to brew rare flowers.¡±

    Mona and Dahlia were in the tearoom of the vi the queen and the king of Hazelden provided for Nero.

    The ck Witch wasn¡¯t allowed to stay in the vi alone with the Crown Prince. Thus, Dahlia was given a room in the queen¡¯s pce. However, since Mona was in the vi now, the ck Witch was allowed to step foot in there.

    Moreover, she needed to teach the youngdy some things that could help her look after Queen Brigitte better.

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing, Dahlia,¡± she said while smiling at the young ck Witch. ¡°You learn quick, so it wasn¡¯t hard for me to teach you.¡± Her smile soon turned apologetic. ¡°I feel sorry. To be honest, I wanted to stay here until the queen delivers her child.¡±

    But she couldn¡¯t say no to Nero¡¯s request.

    ¡°Now that Nero and I are leaving, I don¡¯t have a choice but entrust Queen Brigitte to you,¡± she said to Dahlia. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for pushing all the work to you, Dahlia.¡±

    The young ck Witch immediately shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s fine, Lady Roseheart. Please don¡¯t apologize,¡± she said bashfully. ¡°To be honest, I have a different goal when I arrived at Hazelden at first. But when Princess Neoma changed Queen Brigitte¡¯s destiny, my role here has changed as well.¡± She put her sped hands together over her chest. ¡°The Stars have asked me to look after the queen until she gives birth to the new saint.¡±

    As expected, the young ck Witch was being guided by the Stars.

    [The Stars have always supported the ck Witches.]

    And their reason?

    Nothing much.

    [The Stars just hate the de Moonasterios with a passion.]

    ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll do a good job,¡± she said to Dahlia. ¡°But if you need help, don¡¯t hesitate to reach out to me. Since we¡¯re both children of Nature, we can easily reach out to each other.¡±

    Dahlia smiled and nodded. ¡°Yes, Lady Roseheart.¡±

    ¡°To be honest, I wanted to get to know more about you, Dahlia,¡± she said softly. ¡°The ck Witches, even though I haven¡¯t met one before you, have a soft spot in my heart. It¡¯s probably because I feel close to your coven.¡± She smiled sadly at the young ck Witch. ¡°After all, we were both shunned by the de Moonasterios of the past just because we have the power to kill them.¡±

    The ck Witch smiled back at her with a smile that mirrored her sadness. ¡°Lady Roseheart, I also want to get to know you better. I... I¡¯ve always been curious about something. But it¡¯s too personal...¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡± Mona asked, curious. ¡°You can ask me anything, even if it¡¯s personal, Dahlia.¡±

    ¡°How...¡± Dahlia asked, but she paused as if she hesitated. Then she took a deep breath before she got the courage to ask: ¡°Lady Roseheart, how did you fall in love with a man from the family that destroyed yours?¡±

    Oh.

    [Could it be that Dahlia... has feelings for Nero?]

    ***

    [I MUST BE crazy!]

    Dahlia couldn¡¯t believe that she asked Lady Roseheart about how she fell in love with a de Moonasterio.

    It sounded like she was asking for love advice!

    Moreover, thedy¡¯s expression earlier...

    [Lady Roseheart definitely thinks I have feelings for Prince Nero!]

    She must have really lost her mind.

    ¡°That was really embarrassing,¡± Dahlia whispered to herself while sitting on the staircase of the front porch, staring mindlessly at the two ice pretty statues of the beautiful Princess Neoma. Yes, those were the ice statues that she and Prince Nero made when they ¡°fought.¡± ¡°Should I just drown myself?¡±

    ¡°If you want to die, just tell me and I¡¯ll help you.¡±

    Of course, it was Prince Nero.

    [Did he have to be sarcastic as soon as we see each other?]

    She stood up and bowed to the Crown Prince. ¡°Greetings to the Lesser Moon-¡±

    ¡°Drop it,¡± he said, cutting her off. ¡°I¡¯m just here to say goodbye to you.¡±

    She raised her head and stared at the Crown Prince.

    .....

    He was still a little skinny, but he looked better and healthier now than he did when he first arrived at Hazelden.

    [It seems like the health potion that Lady Roseheart made for him was effective.]

    ¡°Take care, Prince Nero,¡± she said politely. ¡°Please say ¡®hi¡¯ to Princess Neoma for me.¡±

    ¡°Sure,¡± he said, then he pointed at the ice statues with his finger. ¡°Can I have the ice statue that you created? I n to bring them to the pce.¡±

    ¡°To the... pce?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll put them in my room, to be precise,¡± the Crown Prince exined. ¡°It won¡¯t melt since the ice we used to create the ice statues was made from our Mana. And I n to ask my Soul Beast to create a transparent ss case to protect them.¡±

    That wasn¡¯t really her point.

    She was just actually shocked that Prince Nero was serious about bringing the ice statues of Princess Neoma back to the pce.

    [He¡¯s really obsessed with his twin sister...]

    ¡°I don¡¯t mind, Prince Nero,¡± she said politely. ¡°You may bring the ice statue that I made with you.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Oh.

    It was a surprise that Prince Nero thanked her.

    ¡°Dahlia.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Royal Highness?¡±

    ¡°I heard from my mother that you¡¯re in charge of Queen Brigitte until she gives birth to the new saint.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Royal Highness.¡±

    ¡°Since you¡¯ll be busy, I will postpone it in the meantime.¡±

    She tilted her head to one side. ¡°Postpone what?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not the only one I recruited to be a part of my Knight Order,¡± Prince Nero said. ¡°The other people I recruited are just waiting for me to summon them. Would you like to meet your future colleagues?¡±

    Ah, she felt strange.

    She had been working alone since she could remember. Only the Stars were there to guide her. But now, she had people she could call colleagues.

    Dahlia smiled, pleased by that thought. ¡°I¡¯d like to meet them, Prince Nero.¡±

    ***

    ¡°NERO and Lady Roseheart are about to arrive?¡± Hanna, who had just finished her training, asked. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me earlier?¡±

    Lewis, who came to her personal training room to inform her of Nero and Lady Roseheart¡¯s arrival, raised an eyebrow at her. ¡°You just opened your room, Lady Hanna.¡±

    Ah, right.

    She locked herself up in the training room because she didn¡¯t want to hurt anyone identally as she released her Shadow Beast. If she didn¡¯t schedule a lunch date with Neoma, she would have stayed there the whole day to train.

    But aside from her appointment, there was another reason she had toe out of the training room: she could no longer use it.

    After all, it was a mess now.

    Behind her, all could be seen were the debris from the broken walls, floors, and the part of the ceiling that copsed.

    ¡°Oh, right,¡± she said, then she looked down at her clothes. ¡°I need to take a bath and change into proper clothes.¡±

    She was wearing her training clothes: a long-sleeved shirt, trousers,bat boots.

    ¡°Do I have enough time to doll up?¡± she whispered to herself, worriedly. ¡°I can¡¯t let my future mother-inw see me in this terrible state. I¡¯m not pretty like this.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re still pretty, even if you look like a mess.¡±

    She raised her head to look at Lewis, then sheughed softly. ¡°I know that every kind person to you is beautiful, Lewis. I appreciate it.¡±

    Neoma told her that Lewis called Regina Crowell ¡®ugly.¡¯

    She hated Regina Crowell with all her heart, but she wouldn¡¯t deny the fact that the crow was physically beautiful. Even the royal princess agreed with her.

    Thus, she and Neoma concluded that to Lewis, every bad person was ugly.

    ¡°That¡¯s not what I mean,¡± Lewis said nonchntly, but his eyes looked serious. ¡°I¡¯m saying Lady Hanna is objectively pretty.¡±

    Oh.

    His words actually made her blush.

    [I didn¡¯t expect Lewis to call another girl aside from Neoma ¡®pretty.¡¯]

    To be called ¡®pretty¡¯ by a boy who was used to seeing Neoma, the most beautiful face in the empire, was good for her ego.

    ¡°Thank you, Lewis,¡± Hanna said, grinning. ¡°That gave me the confidence I need.¡±

    Lewis just gave her a thumbs up.

    [Aww... Neoma¡¯s signature gesture has rubbed off on Lewis.]

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 472

    Chapter 472: NEOMA¡¯S ADOPTION CENTER

    ¡°GRANDMA, you want me to adopt someone?¡± Neoma asked, confused. ¡°Are they... your child with Lord Yule?¡±

    Roxana covered her mouth with her hands when she giggled. ¡°Do I still look young enough to have a child with my husband?¡±

    She gave her grandmother a double thumbs up. ¡°Totally.¡±

    The Light Goddess bobbed a yful curtsy for her. ¡°Thank you for thepliment, my precious granddaughter. You made this old woman happy.¡±

    She justughed softly as a response, then she turned serious. ¡°Grandma, I don¡¯t mean toin. But I¡¯ve been struggling all this time and yet, the moment we met each other for the first time, you asked me for a favor. Granted that I didn¡¯t ask for help, I still feel like you and Lord Yule are treating me like a pushover. You both give me near-impossible tasks to aplish while giving the bare minimum support.¡±

    To be honest, she felt bad for saying those things to her grandmother.

    But she already promised herself before that she would no longer work for free.

    .....

    Plus, her life was too precious for her to just simply ept all the tasks given to her by her ancestors. She knew that those tasks were meant to help her win the war. But she wouldn¡¯t blindly follow them just because of that.

    ¡°I understand,¡± Roxana said, then she sat beside her. But it looked like she was sitting on an invisible chair because there was nothing underneath. ¡°This may sound like an excuse, but it was really hard for me to meet you, Neoma.¡±

    ¡°May I know why is that the case?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m someone who¡¯s not supposed to exist anymore.¡±

    That came as a surprise to her.

    ¡°Grandma, do major gods like you die, too?¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± the Light Goddess said. ¡°During the Ancient Period, both Yule and I gave up our divine bodies to descend on the human world. In order to send Yule back to the Upper World to reim his spot as a major god, I chose to sacrifice myself. After all, only one of us could ascend during that time.¡±

    She waited, but it looked her grandma didn¡¯t have any intention of borating.

    ¡°But why does it have to be Lord Yule to ascend to the Upper World? Why did you have to sacrifice yourself, Grandma?¡±

    ¡°One of us had to stay in the human world to keep the Darkness at bay,¡± the Light Goddess exined gently. ¡°I am the Light Goddess, so it¡¯s my responsibility to hold the Darkness down. In order to fulfill my duty, I had to give up my physical body. Then I used my remains as humanity¡¯sst defense against the Darkness.¡±

    ¡°Gosh, that was brutal.¡±

    Her grandma justughed softly. ¡°I scattered my Essence all over the world. And it¡¯s exactly the reason why the Darkness hasn¡¯t taken over the human world yet. While I¡¯m holding the fort here, Yule and our friends are doing their best to stop the Darkness from spreading in the Upper World.¡±

    ¡°Is the Darkness polluting the air in the Upper World?¡±

    ¡°That seems to be the case, my dear.¡±

    She almost clicked her tongue, but she held back because she didn¡¯t want to be rude in front of her grandmother.

    [The Darkness is the one polluting the air up there, but I¡¯m the one ¡°destined¡± to purify it?]

    Holy bullshit.

    ¡°You said you¡¯re not supposed to exist anymore, Grandma,¡± she said, changing the topic to calm herself. ¡°But you¡¯re here...¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re only talking to a piece of my soul that I left in the Light Temple,¡± her grandmother exined. ¡°The piece of soul I left there ¡°wakes up¡± when a female de Moonasterio is about to get her first period. Usually, I only appear before them once they take a bath in my temple.¡±

    ¡°Ohh,¡± she said, a little surprised. ¡°Is that the reason why it became a tradition for female de Moonasterios to take a bath in your temple when they get their first period?¡±

    The Light Goddess nodded. ¡°That¡¯s correct. Once a female de Moonasterio gets her first period, it signifies her entrance to womanhood. And once that happens, my blessing activates.¡±

    ¡°Blessing?¡±

    ¡°I had a vision where the lives of the female de Moonasterios born in our family were clouded by darkness,¡± Roxana said in a sad voice. ¡°Thus, I decided to bless them with my protection. Yule¡¯s blood is thicker in the male de Moonasterios. But mine is thicker in the women in the family because of our period.¡±

    Hmm.

    [It seems like getting your period here is pretty important.]

    Come to think of it, if she remembered it correctly, the word ¡®menstruation¡¯ was etymologically rted to ¡°moon.¡± The terms ¡°menstruation¡± and ¡°menses¡± were actually derived from the Latin ¡®mensis¡¯ (month), which in turn was rted to the Greek ¡®mene¡¯ (moon).

    Well, that was from the world in her second life.

    ¡°Every female de Moonasterio gets their period in a full moon.¡±

    Oh.

    [Period is rted to the moon here.]

    ¡°And you will get it every full moon.¡±

    [Nice, I have a physical reminder of when I¡¯ll be getting my period every month.]

    She couldn¡¯t remember if that was the case during her first life.

    ¡°Grandma, why didn¡¯t you show up when I got my first period during my first life?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d like to know, too,¡± the Light Goddess said with a sad smile on her face. ¡°Unfortunately, I am nothing but a conscious piece of what I used to be. I do not have the memories of the past. Every time I wake up, Yule fills me in on all thetest events that happened in this generation¡¯s current Royal Family.¡±

    Oh, she didn¡¯t find the answer that she wanted to hear again.

    [Why was I neglected in my first life if I was supposed to be special? And why does Ruto doesn¡¯t want me to find the truth yet? I feel like instead of special, my existence was actually a threat in the past.]

    It would be a sick plot twist if she turned out to be the real viin in her first life.

    But she was probably just imagining it.

    Right?

    ¡°I woke up a few days ago, so I already have a grasp on what¡¯s happening to the current Royal Family,¡± Roxana said, then she turned to her. ¡°Hence, I asked to adopt the child that I secretly raised all this time.¡±

    ¡°If you raised them ¡°all this time,¡± they can¡¯t be a child.¡±

    ¡°Physically and mentally, she¡¯s still a little girl.¡±

    She beamed instantly. ¡°Oh, my gosh! It¡¯s a baby girl?¡±

    Roxana smiled and nodded. ¡°Unfortunately, that¡¯s the only thing I can say for now.¡±

    She knitted her eyebrows. ¡°Then how in the world will I find this baby girl?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll guide her to you once the right timees.¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t you give more hint, Grandma?¡±

    The Light Goddess shook her head apologetically. ¡°The Darkness has eyes and ears everywhere, my dear. In order to keep her safe, you must not speak about this to anyone. You also cannot mention that you met me.¡±

    ¡°Not even to my parents and my brother?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± the Light Goddess said firmly. ¡°The Darkness fears me the most. If the Darkness finds out that there¡¯s a conscious piece of me left in this world, they woulde and destroy me. In my current state, I cannot fight them off.¡± She paused, then she smiled sadly. ¡°And Yule can¡¯t protect me, either.¡±

    Oh, god.

    [Why do the most amazing women in my life have to suffer the most, too?]

    ¡°Alright, Grandma, I¡¯ll keep my mouth shut,¡± she said while shaking her head, tired of the fact that their gender always had to suffer for the dumbest reasons. But still, she couldn¡¯t abandon her grandmother. ¡°Girls have to stick together at times like this.¡±

    ¡°Not every female de Moonasterio thinks the same way you do, Neoma,¡± the Light Goddess said. ¡°Your predecessors rejected my existence, including Nichole de Moonasterio.¡±

    ¡°I know it sucks, but you have to understand them, Grandma,¡± she said gently. ¡°All the royal princesses in the past were treated like shit.¡±

    Ah, damn.

    She cursed.

    [Why couldn¡¯t my damned mouth stay polite for at least a few more minutes?]

    ¡°I¡¯m not different from the other female de Moonasterios that you¡¯ve met, Grandma,¡± she said, acting like she didn¡¯t say a vulgar word a few moments ago. ¡°But I¡¯m only epting your request because I hold grudges. I want to fuck up everyone who gave me hell so bad. In short, I¡¯m not fighting for world peace- I¡¯m fighting to get my revenge.¡± She put a hand over her chest. ¡°It¡¯s my ego that fuels my motivation to win this war.¡±

    Roxana looked shocked at first, then sheughed.

    [Gosh, even the way sheughs is elegant.]

    What a queen.

    ¡°Dear, Yule was right- you¡¯re really interesting,¡± Roxana said, smiling widely at her. ¡°I¡¯m really grateful that I got to meet you.¡±

    ¡°I know, right?¡± she said, smirking. ¡°There will never be a dull moment with me.¡±

    How could there be a dull moment with her when she was always fucking chased by people who wanted her dead?

    [This is the curse that I must live with as the main character.]

    ¡°Anyway, Grandma, I agree to adopt your child,¡± she said, changing the topic. ¡°But I¡¯m afraid I need to ask forpensation. You see, I¡¯m a single mother. My funds are also running low because I just paid the academy a huge sum of money for the things I broke during the exam. Gosh, those things are expensive.¡±

    [That is what I got for showing off.]

    ¡°But I also eptpensation other than financial support,¡± she said. ¡°So, if you could offer something that may help me win my uing battles, I¡¯ll wee them with a generous heart.¡±

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t ask you a favor withoutpensating you, my precious granddaughter,¡± Roxana said, smiling warmly at her. ¡°I will pass down my technique to you.¡±

    That was tempting, but...

    .....

    [Learning another technique only means I need to work again.]

    Argh.

    Couldn¡¯t she have something that she could enjoy?

    ¡°Learning my technique requires you to stay in a ce that could contain my power,¡± Roxana said. Although her pupils were pure white, she could tell that her eyes were sparkling with mirth. ¡°That means you also get to own the private inds I own- inds that are hidden from the world.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see.¡±

    ¡°Those private, hidden inds are filled with Mana stones and other precious gemstones.¡±

    She did a fist pump in the air. ¡°Now we¡¯re talking, Grandma. You¡¯re the best!¡± She put her hands above her head, creating a heart using her arms. ¡°Saranghaeyo!¡±

    ¡°Are you in a good mood now, my beautiful granddaughter?¡±

    Okay, that made her nervous.

    Even her grandmother¡¯s smile was suspicious now.

    ¡°W-What is it this time, Grandma?¡±

    The Light Goddess smiled apologetically at her. ¡°I usually appear when a royal princess gets her first period. But I showed up earlier than scheduled because I came to warn you. I heard from Yule that you¡¯re about to have a match soon.¡±

    She gulped hard. ¡°What about it, Grandma?¡±

    ¡°During the time a female de Moonasterio has her period, she wouldn¡¯t be able to use her Moonglow,¡± Roxana said, her face filled with worry. ¡°And you¡¯ll be physically weaker, too. But that¡¯s the reason why I¡¯m here...¡±

    Neoma shut her eyes tight, too annoyed to continue listening to what Roxana was saying. ¡°Fuck my life.¡±

    ***

    ¡°PARDON?¡± RUBIN asked, shocked by what his father had just said. ¡°Father...¡±

    ¡°You heard me the first time,¡± his father, Duke Drayton, said firmly without even looking up from the newspaper in his hands. ¡°Don¡¯t make me repeat myself, you dumb child.¡±

    His father wouldn¡¯t even look him in the eye, even though he was standing in front of his desk.

    He clenched his hands tight.

    His father summoned him to the study, and he came prepared to be scolded again for whatever it was that the duke had nitpicked on him this time.

    But what happened was worse than what he thought.

    ¡°Father, my engagement with the royal princess has been broken off a long time ago,¡± he said firmly, yet carefully. ¡°What do you mean by we must proceed with the engagement?¡±

    His father let out a sigh, then he put the newspaper down and raised his head to re at him. ¡°We were informed by the mole we nted in the royal pce about Mona Roseheart¡¯s return,¡± he said sternly. ¡°It just shows His Majesty¡¯s intention to make Mona Roseheart the empress this time. Prince Nero and the hidden royal princess will be more powerful once their mother bes the new empress.¡±

    He bit his bottom lip to stop himself from smirking bitterly.

    [Father wants to cling to the Royal Family like the parasite that he is.]

    ¡°There are rumors that the hidden princess has returned to the empire,¡± his father said coldly. ¡°Find the princess and make her yours- by any means necessary.¡±

    He didn¡¯t want to.

    After all, he was still waiting for Regina to return.

    [I believe that she¡¯s still alive somewhere...]

    ¡°Answer me, you fool!¡± his father yelled angrily, then he threw the newspaper at his face.

    His father covered the newspaper that he threw at him with his Mana. Thus, the papers became as sharp as a knife- cutting him as a result.

    Blood trickled down his face.

    It hurt, but he was used to the physical pain caused by his own father.

    ¡°I understand, Father,¡± Rubin said indifferently, then he bowed to hide his glowing blue eyes from his father- his nails digging deeper into his palms until they bled. ¡°I will find the royal princess and marry her.¡±

    ***

    NOTE: I just posted a new side story on my ko-fi page. Episode 2: Nichole and Niki¡¯s 13th Birthday: [In which Niki gave Nichole the best and the worst birthday present a brother could give his twin sister.]

    The side storiese with a simple art from me, so please check it out. Hehe.

    Link to my ko-fi ount (or just type s_c on the search bar): ko-fi/s_c

    Link to the story: https://ko-fi/post/EPISODE-2-NICHOLE-AND-NIKOLAIS-13TH-BIRTHDAY-T6T3CTBAL

    ***

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 473

    Chapter 473: REALITY CHECK

    ¡°WHY is Neoma not waking up?¡±

    Mona turned to Nero when she felt her son¡¯s Mana fluctuate. She was surprised and disturbed to see the murderous look on Nero¡¯s face. [Pumpkin...?]

    The color of Nero¡¯s eyes kept changing like blinking lights as well. One second they were ash-gray, the next they were glowing red. It was as if he couldn¡¯t control his emotions- and it looked like he would explode in anger anytime.

    [Is this normal?]

    They arrived at the empire¡¯s Royal Pce around noon, and they were informed that Neoma was resting. ording to Niki, Neoma was having abdominal cramps. Apparently, their daughter also suspected that she was about to get her first period.

    ¡°It¡¯s been hours since we¡¯ve arrived, but my sister hasn¡¯t woken up yet.¡±

    It was true.

    .....

    They arrived around noon, and it was already past midnight. Yet, Neoma was still deep asleep.

    ¡°Neoma is probably summoned by someone again,¡± Nero said in a voice that sounded like a low growl. This time, his Mana didn¡¯t fluctuate- it continued rising as if he was about to really explode. ¡°Why can¡¯t they leave my sister alone?¡±

    Mona, attempting to soothe her son, tried to touch his shoulder. ¡°Nero, calm down-¡±

    A loud whacking sound was heard in the room.

    It was the sound of Nero pping her hand away.

    [Oh...]

    She was surprised, and her hand hurt a little. But she didn¡¯t care about that. She was more worried about Nero who looked at her with ring red eyes as if he didn¡¯t recognize her. ¡°Nero, baby-¡±

    ¡°Nero de Moonasterio.¡±

    The situation got worse when Niki arrived...

    ... and the emperor had to witness Nero pping her hand away.

    ¡°Who do you think you are to hurt your mother?¡± Niki growled at Nero while approaching their son angrily, then he stood beside Nero and put a hand on the back of his head. ¡°Apologize. Now.¡±

    ¡°Niki, don¡¯t be too hard on our son,¡± she scolded him. ¡°Can¡¯t you see that he¡¯s not himself? Nero isn¡¯t feeling well!¡±

    Only then did Niki calm down. He removed his hand from the back of Nero¡¯s head, then he turned to their son and watched him closely.

    By that time, Nero was panting hard while loosening the tie around his neck.

    It was obvious that their son couldn¡¯t breathe.

    ¡°Father, my chest hurts and my mind is getting hazy,¡± Nero said, his eyes still glowing red. ¡°I... I can¡¯t breathe... And I feel like... I¡¯m losing my mind...¡±

    Those symptoms...

    [Could it be...?]

    ¡°Mona, I¡¯ll take care of Nero,¡± Niki said, then he grabbed their son by the arm in order to support him. After all, Nero couldn¡¯t stand straight anymore. ¡°Take care of Neoma. If she still doesn¡¯t wake up...¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll enter her consciousness,¡± Mona said firmly, then she turned to Nero. Her heart squeezed painfully when she saw her son panting hard while clutching his chest tight. ¡°Please take care of our Nero.¡±

    ***

    ¡°NERO, how are you feeling?¡± Niki asked after he tucked Nero into his bed. He brought his son to the room next to Neoma¡¯s bedchamber, and he put him into the bed because he was unstable. ¡°Is your mind still foggy?¡±

    He knew that Nero wasn¡¯t fine. After all, his eyes were still glowing red. But he needed to know how exactly his son was feeling in order to help him.

    ¡°Father, please knock me out,¡± Nero said in a weak voice. ¡°My bloodlust is urging me to kill...¡±

    Lunacy.

    As expected, Nero was going through his Lunacy.

    ¡°I understand,¡± he said, then he put a hand over Nero¡¯s red eyes. ¡°Sleep for now and try to calm down.¡±

    He used the ck Tortoise¡¯s calming spell to put his son to sleep.

    Since Nero wasn¡¯t rejecting the spell, it worked well. In just a few seconds, his son fell asleep.

    Thankfully, Nero¡¯s Mana stopped fluctuating as well.

    ¡°It¡¯s Lunacy, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    He turned to the that appeared right beside his son.

    A ¡°young¡± man with pink hair was lying down on his side, with his cheek pressed against his knuckles, while he used his elbow to prop himself up.

    If he was the old him, he would have threatened the Soul Beast for actingfortably in front of him while lying down shamelessly beside his son. But at the moment, he didn¡¯t care about anything else aside from protecting his family.

    ¡°Yes, it is,¡± Niki confirmed. ¡°My son is going through Lunacy right now.¡±

    ¡°I knew he wasn¡¯t acting normal when he threatened to kill me.¡±

    ¡°My son threatened to kill you?¡± he asked, surprised.

    He had always known that Nero had a violent nature ever since his son was a toddler. But he thought his son had calmed down recently. Thus, he was surprised to hear that Nero threatened his own Soul Beast.

    [Moreover, Nero is usually patient with people and things he deems as useful.]

    It seemed like the effect of Lunacy on his son was worse than he thought.

    [Is it because Nero is violent in nature?]

    ¡°Prince Nero was upset when I refused to tell him the true history of my former master, Arche de Moonasterio,¡± the Soul Beast said. ¡°He threatened to kill me at first. Then he changed his mind and said he¡¯d cut my tongue off instead...¡±

    The Soul Beast stopped talking when he finally read his mood.

    Niki wasn¡¯t particrly mad, but the Soul Beast said something that made him increase his guard even more. ¡°When a de Moonasterio dies, his Soul Beast or Soul Beasts die with him. Then the Soul Beasts return to Yule¡¯s home. They stay there until a new de Moonasterio that resonates with them is born. But once the Soul Beasts get reborn in their new master¡¯s consciousness, the memories of their past is supposed to be erased.¡± He looked at Nero¡¯s Soul Beast with a sharp gaze. ¡°Howe you remember your former master, ice phoenix?¡±

    The Soul Beast smiled, then he disappeared instantly.

    But of course, his Soul Beast was faster.

    South, the ming Vermillion Bird in his human form, caught the ice phoenix.

    The next thing he knew, the ice phoenix was already face down on the floor while South was stepping on his back. Everything happened right in front of Niki, who just watched silently while sitting on the chair next to Nero¡¯s bed.

    ¡°We¡¯re both from the Phoenix n, so let¡¯s not fight for real,¡± South said yfully, then he removed his foot from the ice phoenix¡¯s back. ¡°But if you try to escape again, I¡¯ll be angry.¡±

    The ice phoenix sighed, then he moved and kneeled properly in front of Niki. ¡°I¡¯m not going to escape anymore, but I won¡¯t answer your questions if I don¡¯t feel like doing so.¡±

    South tilted his head to one side. ¡°Your Majesty, should I rough up this brat a bit more?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s Nero¡¯s Soul Beast, so we can¡¯t touch him carelessly,¡± Niki said, then he observed the ice phoenix carefully. ¡°You¡¯re already a full adult.¡±

    The ice phoenix flinched, then he avoided his gaze.

    ¡°Soul Beasts grow with their hosts- the de Moonasterios,¡± he said, although he was pretty sure that the ice phoenix already knew what he was talking about. ¡°Although the Soul Beasts can alter their appearance, the age of your current Essence should be the same age as Nero.¡±

    His eyes glowed red while looking at the ice phoenix¡¯s heart.

    The Essence of a Soul Beast was visible in the eye of the de Moonasterios.

    ¡°You¡¯re already a full adult, ice phoenix.¡±

    Neoma¡¯s Soul Beast was the same age as her, so they had to rush the red dragon¡¯s growth in order to save Mona.

    But the ice phoenix...

    ¡°And you have the memories of your previous master,¡± Niki said, then he smirked. ¡°Interesting.¡±

    The ice phoenix tilted his head to one side, confused, as if he was asking him what was supposed to be interesting.

    He wasn¡¯t obligated to exin, but he felt like bragging about his children.

    ¡°My daughter has a god for a Soul Beast, and my son¡¯s Soul Beast turns out to be more special than I thought,¡± he said smugly. ¡°As a father, I couldn¡¯t be more proud of my children.¡±

    To be honest, he didn¡¯t know his children ended up with unique Soul Beasts.

    But he had a feeling why something like that had happened.

    ¡°We failed to free the Soul Beasts in the past,¡± Niki said, smiling bitterly. ¡°But I have a feeling that my children would seed.¡±

    And he also had a feeling that it wouldn¡¯t only be Neoma and Nero.

    The other children following Neoma and Nero all seemed promising as well.

    In short...

    ¡°The old generation¡¯s era is about to end,¡± Niki said firmly. ¡°It¡¯s time for the new generation to take over the world.¡±

    ***

    WHEN NEOMA opened her eyes, she was greeted by her mother¡¯s worried face.

    .....

    Ah, she was finally back to reality.

    ¡°Neoma, baby, you¡¯re finally awake,¡± her mother said, then she held her hand tight. ¡°Are you alright? How are you feeling?¡±

    She was about to say that she was alright, but she noticed William and Delwyn standing behind her mother.

    [Why do they look like they¡¯re about to go to war or something?]

    ¡°What¡¯s happening, Mother?¡± Neoma asked, her voice a little hoarse. ¡°Why did that two ahjussis- I mean, my mentors,e out?¡±

    Her mother helped her get up, then she handed her a ss of water before she answered the question. ¡°I was about to enter your consciousness to see why you aren¡¯t waking up. Since we don¡¯t know who summoned you, William and Delwyn insisted to apany me.¡±

    She drank the water slowly while observing William.

    Wow.

    William cared about her mother this much while he didn¡¯t give a shit about her even when she became her student? Well, she already knew that the Grand Spirit was obsessed with her mother. But it still felt strange to see it with her own eyes.

    ¡°Neoma?¡±

    ¡°Mother, I¡¯m fine,¡± she said, then she put the ss down on the bedside table. ¡°The person who summoned me is an ally.¡±

    ¡°May I know who that person is?¡±

    She looked at William and Delywn meaningfully.

    The two got her message clear, as expected.

    William and Delwyn both disappeared silently.

    ¡°Mother, I¡¯m sorry. I can¡¯t tell you who the person who summoned me was,¡± she said apologetically when it was only the two of them left in her room. ¡°But they¡¯re a good person.¡±

    She purposely didn¡¯t reveal her grandmother¡¯s pronoun.

    Her mother, on the other hand, smiled warmly. ¡°I understand, Neoma.¡±

    Oh?

    ¡°Mother, it seems like you already guessed who it was.¡±

    Her motherughed softly. ¡°I had a hunch after your father told me that you¡¯re having abdominal cramps. There¡¯s only one individual who would summon female de Moonasterios once they get their first period.¡±

    [Ohh... Mama Boss knows, no cap.]

    ¡°I was surprised that she appeared earlier, but since you¡¯re pretending as the Crown Prince, I can see why she had to reach out to you this way instead of waiting for you to take a bath in her temple.¡±

    [I got my big brain from Mama Boss.]

    No offense, Papa Boss.

    ¡°Neoma, my baby,¡± her mother said, then she held and squeezed her hands gently. ¡°It¡¯s a tradition in the empire to throw away a girl¡¯s old, colorful clothes once she gets her first period. Then her parents are supposed to buy her new clothes that aren¡¯t bright-colored.¡± Her mother smiled sadly at her. ¡°But we can¡¯t do that. We don¡¯t even have colorful dresses to throw away since you lived as Nero all this time.¡±

    Her old clothes were burned when she began living as Nero.

    The dresses that she would wear every time she would sneak out as ¡®Neoma Ramsay¡¯ were disposable clothes.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Mother,¡± she said while smiling. ¡°I like colorful outfits.¡±

    ¡°Oh, Baby Muffin...¡±

    ¡°Instead of getting new clothes, we can do something else,¡± she said cheerfully. ¡°During my second life, my eomma- Go Areum- cooked rice with ren beans when I got my first period. It doesn¡¯t have to be the same dish, but I¡¯d love it if you prepare a meal for me once I get my period, Mama Boss.¡±

    Her mother nodded immediately. ¡°Of course, I¡¯ll do that. I will also prepare a special tea for you.¡±

    She smiled and nodded, then she turned serious.

    Since she unconsciously brought up her eomma in the conversation, she was reminded of the topic that she had been putting off for a while now.

    [This is a good opportunity since only Mama Boss and I are here now.]

    ¡°Mama Boss, Go Areum is still waiting for me and appa to return to her side,¡± she said carefully. To be honest, she was more nervous now than she did when she was facing life-threatening situations. It didn¡¯t help that all the emotions on her Mama Boss¡¯s face disappeared suddenly. ¡°I can¡¯t return to my old world now. But I can send Nabi back. And if you allow me, I also want to save appa and send him back-¡±

    ¡°Neoma,¡± her mother said in a firm yet careful voice. ¡°Gavin Quinzel has hurt and killed his own people in the past.¡±

    She flinched, then she lowered her gaze.

    How could she look her mother in the eye?

    To be honest, a small part of her had always known that her appa might have killed his own people in the past in order to escape. But she chose to overlook the possibility because of her faith in her appa. But now, she was forced to face reality.

    Now she felt like cold water was poured over her.

    [Appa... killed his own people...]

    ¡°If getting trapped in a block of ice is the price that Gavin Quinzel has to pay for his sins, so be it,¡± her Mama Boss said sternly. ¡°Neoma, I understand that Gavin Quinzel has been kind to you. But after he stole you away from us, isn¡¯t that the bare minimum that he could do for you?¡±

    Her mother¡¯s words hurt like a knife.

    After all, Mama Boss made it sound like her appa only took good care of her out of guilt.

    [But... but Mama Boss has a point.]

    She was just shocked because she had never seen it from that standpoint.

    [No, appa¡¯s love for me is genuine...]

    ¡°Neoma, everyone has to pay the consequences of their own actions,¡± her Mama Boss reminded her firmly. ¡°I understand how you can forgive Gavin Quinzel easily. But what about the family left behind by the people he killed? To you, Gavin Quinzel is a father. To other people, he was the heartless murderer who killed their beloved ones.¡±

    She was being scolded, and every word her mother said hurt like hell.

    For the first time in a while, she felt like a little child afraid caught by her parents doing something bad.

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t even a war, Neoma,¡± her Mama Boss continued, her voice still stern. ¡°Gavin Quinzel didn¡¯t have to kill those people, but he still did.¡±

    A lump formed in her throat, and her vision turned blurry as her eyes became watery.

    Choking back her tears was painful.

    It hurt.

    But everything her mother said hurt more because they were true.

    ¡°Neoma, I¡¯m sorry, but I cannot allow you to save Gavin Quinzel and send him back to the other world,¡± her mother said, then she sat beside her and wrap her arms around her trembling body. ¡°Baby, even if you end up hating me, I won¡¯t change my mind.¡±

    She couldn¡¯t hate her Mama Boss for being fair.

    It was just that...

    [It¡¯s painful. I feel awful for loving my appa. After all, Mama Boss is right. For other people, the father that I love and respect is nothing but a mere criminal.]

    And so, for the first time in a long while, Neoma cried her heart out.

    ***

    NOTE: I posted a new side story on my ko-fi page. Episode 3: Glenn¡¯s Hot Birthday Present: [Glenn has good self-control, unless he¡¯s on the battlefield... and he¡¯s in the bed with his wife.]

    The art that came with it is a little... sexy. *shy*

    Warning: The side story has mature scenes. Yes, it has a lot of s/ex. So don¡¯t read if you¡¯re notfortable with that kind of content. Hehe. *covers face with hands*

    Link to my ko-fi ount (or just type s_c on the search bar): ko-fi /s_c

    Link to the story: ko-fi/Post/EPISODE-3-GLENNS-HOT-BIRTHDAY-PRESENT-H2H1CUHWC

    ***

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 474

    Chapter 474: FAMILY PROBLEM

    ¡°NEOMA, have you calmed down?¡±

    Neoma nodded at her mother¡¯s question.

    To be honest, she wanted to smile at her Mama Boss, but she couldn¡¯t. She knew that she was in the wrong. But she couldn¡¯t help but feel...

    [Bitter.]

    Yes, she was feeling bitter.

    Maybe she was just being stubborn, but the topic about her appa was a sensitive topic for her.

    ¡°Yes, Mama Boss,¡± Neoma said in a cracked voice. She was still emotional, so her voice sounded that way. ¡°But I¡¯m not fine, so is it alright if you leave me alone in the meantime?¡±

    .....

    It looked like her words hurt her mother¡¯s feelings.

    [Shit. Damn me and my bitter tone.]

    In her defense, she couldn¡¯t control her emotions at the moment.

    ¡°Neoma, are you upset with me?¡± her Mama Boss asked in a careful and nervous voice. ¡°I¡¯ve hurt your feelings, haven¡¯t I?¡±

    ¡°I was hurt because you spoke the truth, Mama Boss,¡± she admitted. It was no use lying, since she couldn¡¯t control her expressions at the moment. Thus, it was better to bepletely honest with her mother. ¡°But I¡¯ll be fine.¡±

    ¡°Did I overstep my boundaries?¡± her mother asked, and it was obvious that she was feeling very guilty. ¡°Did I sound like I was invalidating your feelings towards Gavin Quinzel?¡±

    Did she feel that way?

    To be honest, she didn¡¯t know. But she didn¡¯t want to have an argument with her mother.

    ¡°It¡¯s not like that, Mama Boss,¡± she said, then she avoided her mother¡¯s gaze. ¡°I was neglected in my first life. The first people who showered me with unconditional love were eomma and appa. That¡¯s probably why I¡¯m finding it hard to let go of them- especially appa. But I don¡¯t expect Mama Boss to understand me, so it¡¯s fine.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean by that, daughter?¡±

    ¡°Mama Boss, you grew up surrounded by people who love you- I didn¡¯t,¡± she said, her voice still bitter. ¡°There are many people who love you even after you were gone, you know? Even the Spirits adore you. Then there¡¯s the Nature, the Cosmic Tree, the Spirit World. So, Mama Boss doesn¡¯t know how it feels like to cling desperately to the few people who showed you what it feels like to be loved...¡±

    She trailed off when she realized she was just venting out her frustrations to the wrong person.

    When she turned to her mother, she felt a pang in her chest.

    She hurt her Mama Boss, and she could see the pain clearly in her mother¡¯s light-blue eyes.

    [I fucked up.]

    ¡°I guess you¡¯re right, Neoma. I spoke like I knew everything when I know nothing about you and the life you lived,¡± her Mama Boss said in a sad voice. She smiled as if she wanted to console her, but it only made her mother look sadder. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, baby. I¡¯ll let you rest now,¡± she said, then she stood up and kissed the top of her head. ¡°Good night, my precious daughter.¡±

    After saying that, her mother left her bedroom in a hurry.

    [She¡¯s going to cry, isn¡¯t she?]

    She saw the tears in the corners of her mother¡¯s eyes earlier.

    But even though she knew that, she couldn¡¯t bring herself to run after her Mama Boss and apologize. It wasn¡¯t like she didn¡¯t feel remorseful. She just didn¡¯t want to say the wrong words again, since her emotions were still unstable.

    [I need to calm down first and clear my head.]

    Neoma let out a sigh. ¡°I¡¯m an awful daughter.¡±

    ***

    ¡°I¡¯M AN AWFUL mother, Niki,¡± Mona said in a cracked voice while crying in Niki¡¯s arms- literally. The two of them were already lying down on the bed, with her using Niki¡¯s arm as a pillow while his other arm was gently patting her back. ¡°I¡¯ve hurt our daughter¡¯s feelings by acting like I know her feelings better than she does. No wonder she got upset with me...¡±

    ¡°Gavin Quinzel is very special to Neoma,¡± Niki said carefully. ¡°We can¡¯t me her for that. After all, it was true that Gavin Quinzel was a good father to her. You died in her first life, while I was a terrible father to her back then. I heard that Rufus was good to her during that time, but Amber Quinzel- not so much. Thus, Neoma only experienced having aplete, happy family when she grew up with Gavin Quinzel and Go Areum during her second life.¡±

    She already heard the kind of life that Neoma lived in the past.

    Niki and Gale told her that much.

    Moreover, she saw some fragments of her daughter¡¯s memories.

    Even so, hearing straight from her daughter how much she valued Gavin Quinzel was very different from simply being aware of it.

    ¡°I should have been more thoughtful,¡± she said, remorseful. ¡°I was only thinking about my resentment towards Gavin Quinzel. Because of my selfishness, I¡¯ve hurt Neoma. I want to apologize to her again, but I¡¯m afraid to make her more upset.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Mona,¡± heforted her. ¡°Neoma isn¡¯t a small-minded person. Well, she has a nasty temper. But we just need to give her time to breathe. Once she has calmed down, she¡¯ll be ready to face us again with a clear mind.¡±

    ¡°Do we really just need to wait?¡±

    ¡°Yes, my love,¡± he assured her while gently sliding his hand up and down her back. ¡°Neoma hates having mimunications. She¡¯ll talk to us once she¡¯s ready. As I said earlier, she¡¯s not small-minded.¡±

    She fell quiet before she confided another thing to Niki. ¡°It seems like Neoma feels a little... jealous of me.¡±

    ¡°How so?¡±

    ¡°She said I wouldn¡¯t understand her desperation to cling to Gavin Quinzel because I grew up surrounded by people and beings who love me,¡± she said hesitantly. ¡°Neoma thinks I had it easy because I was showered with love all my life.¡±

    She wouldn¡¯t deny that.

    Although House Roseheart was oppressed by most households in the empire, she¡¯d say she was still lucky to have met the right people in her life.

    Neoma was right- she was loved.

    But it wasn¡¯t always a good thing.

    ¡°Even so, it¡¯s not like I can tell Neoma that being loved by the people around me could also be considered a curse,¡± she said softly. ¡°It would be likeining about how full I am in front of a hungry child.¡±

    ¡°You and Neoma need to talk it out once our daughter is ready,¡± Niki said gently. ¡°I¡¯m sure with propermunication, you two will understand each other-¡±

    He trailed off when they felt a loud explosion of Manaing from outside.

    And that Mana was very familiar.

    Mona and Niki got up in an instant. ¡°Nero!¡±

    ***

    NEOMA ran to the room next door as soon as she felt Nero¡¯s Mana explode.

    Lewis, who was guarding outside her door, followed her.

    But the two of them were alreadyte.

    Nero was no longer in the room.

    Worse, Geoffrey Kinsley- the Pdin that her Papa Boss probably assigned to guard her baby brother- was heavily injured.

    ¡°Omo, are you alright?¡± Neoma asked worriedly when she saw that half of Geoffrey Kinsley¡¯s body- from the waist down- was frozen with ice. The Pdin¡¯s chest was also bleeding from a deep cut. ¡°Of course, you¡¯re not okay. I¡¯m sorry for asking something stupid.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m alright, Your Royal Highness,¡± Geoffrey Kinsley said, even though he was obviously in pain. ¡°But our esteemed guest...¡±

    The Pdin called Nero an ¡®esteemed guest¡¯ to protect her brother¡¯s identity.

    After all, the soundproof barrier was destroyed when the room was destroyed, too. Thus, anyone could hear their converesation from the outside. And since the explosion was pretty loud, the people staying in nco Pce would surely arrive any minute now.

    ¡°Lewis, make the employees return to their rooms,¡± she ordered her ¡°son.¡± ¡°Thene back here ASAP. We need to follow our esteemed guest before it¡¯s toote.¡±

    Lewis bowed to her, then he disappeared quietly.

    ¡°Tteokbokki,e out.¡±

    Tteokbokki, in his human form, came out instantly. Thankfully, he was wearing proper clothes this time. He looked like a young master from a noble household now.

    [Papa Boss probably threatened him not to appear naked in front of me again.]

    ¡°Tteokbokki, melt that ice,¡± she said while pointing at Geoffrey¡¯s lower half. ¡°You can melt that ice, right?¡±

    ¡°I melted Delwyn¡¯s ice,¡± Tteokbokki said smugly, then he pointed a finger at Geoffrey¡¯s directionzily. Red me appeared on the tip of his finger, then the me grew bigger as it reached for the ice that covered the Pdin¡¯s lower half. In just a few seconds after the red me licked the ice, it began to melt. ¡°So, I can melt any kind of ice now.¡±

    ¡°Gosh, so arrogant,¡± sheined. ¡°I wonder where you got that attitude from.¡±

    Geoffrey Kinsley turned to her with a disbelieving look on his face.

    On the other hand, Tteokbokki gave her a look that said he was tired of her bullshit.

    ¡°What?¡± sheined to the two.

    The Pdin shook his head immediately, while her Soul Beast just rolled his eyes at her.

    [This punk...]

    She couldn¡¯t scold Tteokbokki because he was doing his job properly.

    ¡°Your Royal Highness, what happened?¡±

    She turned around and was surprised to see Hanna- all alone.

    ¡°Why did youe alone, Hanna?¡± she asked worriedly. ¡°I thought Duke Quinzel left his elite knights to guard you?¡±

    .....

    ¡°They¡¯re slow,¡± Hanna said, smiling. Then she snapped her fingers. ¡°But they¡¯ll be here soon... probably.¡±

    After Hanna snapped her fingers, the portion of the pce that included her room and Nero¡¯s destroyed room was covered by a thin mesh ¡°veil¡± hovering above them like a dome.

    [So cool.]

    ¡°Well, I believe you can protect yourself well,¡± she said to Hanna. Then she gave her a thumbs up. ¡°Good job, girl.¡±

    Hanna just smiled and nodded.

    She then turned to Geoffrey Kinsley. ¡°Geoffrey, do you know why Nero suddenly sneaked out of the pce in this manner? It¡¯s safe to speak now, thanks to Hanna¡¯s veil.¡±

    ¡°I believe it¡¯s because of Prince Nero¡¯s Lunacy acting up, Princess Neoma.¡±

    Excuse me?

    [Lunacy?!]

    Nobody told her Nero was going through his Lunacy now! Bute to think of it, she wasn¡¯t in the condition to receive such news earlier.

    ¡°When I heard Prince Nero scream in agony earlier, I immediately dashed to his room,¡± the Pdin continued with his exnation. ¡°But before I could even ask what happened, His Royal Highness attacked me. Prince Nero¡¯s eyes were red, and it seemed like he wasn¡¯t in his right mind...¡±

    Yep, that was Lunacy.

    [I mean, Nero has never beenpletely sane. But he¡¯s not the type to attack our allies mindlessly.]

    ¡°`Gotcha, thanks for the tea,¡± she said to Geoffrey who looked confused by the words she used.

    She just ignored the Pdin¡¯s confusion because Lewis had returned already.

    ¡°Everyone has returned to their rooms,¡± Lewis reported to her. ¡°I threatened- I asked them politely to stay in their room...¡± His voice suddenly became barely inaudible. ¡°Unless they already want to die.¡±

    Hanna, who was standing beside Lewis, stifled herughter.

    She, on the other hand, clicked her tongue.

    Who raised this boy?

    [Oh, wait- I did.]

    ¡°What happened here?¡±

    [Ah, Papa Boss...]

    Hanna, Lewis, and Geoffrey all bowed deeply to her Papa Boss and Mama Boss.

    Neoma also bowed her head, but not as deep as the three did since she was also a member of the Royal Family.

    [Unofficially, but I¡¯m still my father¡¯s royal daughter.]

    ¡°Papa Boss, Mama Boss, Nero sneaked out,¡± she reported to her father and mother. ¡°ording to Geoffrey, it seems like Nero isn¡¯t in his right mind. That¡¯s why I¡¯m nning to chase after him to bring him back here.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a good idea,¡± her Papa Boss said. ¡°We can¡¯t let people see two Crown Princes. Nero is going through his Lunacy and therefore, his eyes are probably glowing red. Anyone who sees him will immediately realize that he¡¯s the Crown Prince.¡±

    ¡°Then should Ie out as Neoma?¡± she asked carefully. ¡°We¡¯re spreading the rumor that the royal princess is in the empire anyway.¡±

    ¡°No, that¡¯s too dangerous,¡± her Papa Boss said firmly. ¡°Calyx Dalton is still alive. I know that you¡¯re not afraid of them, but we have to be careful. We don¡¯t know what tricks they would pull now that Helstor is on their side.¡±

    Her father had a point.

    She shouldn¡¯t underestimate Helstor and the crows who sided with the God of Eternal Darkness.

    [The fact that they nearly killed Ruto is a testatement to theirbined strength-]

    ¡°I¡¯ll go,¡± Papa Boss dered, shocking them all. ¡°I¡¯ll look for Nero and bring him back.¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, you can¡¯t,¡± Geoffrey, who was just freed from the ice (thanks to Tteokbokki), protested. ¡°I¡¯ll go.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re injured, Geoffrey. Stay here and I¡¯ll heal you,¡± Mama Boss said sternly. Then she turned to Niki. ¡°Niki, it¡¯s also dangerous for you to go alone. I know that you¡¯re strong enough to protect yourself even from Helstor. But it won¡¯t hurt to be more careful if you¡¯re going out to look for our son.¡±

    Mama Boss had a point.

    But she couldn¡¯t open her mouth to agree because she was too ashamed to talk to her mother after her embarrassing outburts earlier.

    ¡°Then would it be alright if I apanied His Majesty?¡±

    Everyone turned their heads in Hanna¡¯s direction.

    Hanna remained calm as she addressed their questioning looks. ¡°I can erase His Majesty¡¯s tracks using my Shadow Maniption Technique,¡± she said politely. ¡°As long as I use my shadows, not even the God of Eternal Darkness would be able to see His Majesty¡¯s movements.¡±

    ¡°Right, the Quinzels¡¯ Shadow Maniption could cover even the eyes of gods,¡± her Mama Boss said, impressed. ¡°But apanying the emperor is a dangerous job, Hanna.¡±

    Ohh.

    [Mama Boss addressed Hanna casually.]

    Right, the two must have already gotten acquainted with each other while she was asleep.

    ¡°I understand, Lady Roseheart,¡± Hanna said politely. ¡°I¡¯ll be careful. Thank you for worrying about me.¡±

    Mama Boss smiled at Hanna warmly.

    [Ohh... Hanna earned some brownie points from Mama Boss.]

    ¡°That¡¯s fine with me,¡± Papa Boss said. ¡°I¡¯ll just change my clothes quickly.¡±

    ¡°Papa Boss, Hanna, once you leave the pce, try to look for the most dangerous alleys in the Royal Capital,¡± Neoma said solemnly. ¡°If I remember it correctly, in my first life, Nero would often go to those ces to satiate his blood-thirst.¡±

    Everyone, even Tteokbokki, looked shocked by what she implied.

    And they weren¡¯t wrong.

    ¡°Yes, Nero would often hunt down scumbags and kill them mercilessly under the guise of punishing them,¡± Neoma said bluntly. ¡°But in reality, the Nero in my past life was nothing but a mere violent psychopath.¡±

    ***

    NOTE: Today is my birthday~ Please leave lots ofments~ Thank you.

 Chapter 475

    Chapter 475: LIKE A PSYCHO

    ¡°YOUR MAJESTY, we have secured Prince Nero. But...¡±

    Niki understood what Rufus Quinzel was trying to say even though he didn¡¯t get to finish his report.

    The dead bodies scattered on the ground already let her know that he was toote.

    [Nero already killed many people...]

    Dead bodies lined up on either side of the alley, leading to a corner where he could feel Nero¡¯s violent aura. The stench of blood was stronger there, too. Thus, he could tell that there were more bodies in that area.

    ¡°Are there witnesses?¡± Niki asked indifferently. ¡°And did they recognize the Crown Prince?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty. The witnesses have recognized His Royal Highness because of his glowing red eyes,¡± Rufus said while nodding. ¡°We arrested them for now so they wouldn¡¯t spread the news to other people.¡±

    .....

    It was a good thing that he called Rufus and asked him to look for Nero.

    The duke, along with the ck Hawk Knights, was in charge of the Public Order in the Royal Capital, after all. Since it was their job to keep the peace and order in the Royal Capital, they knew best where the toughest alleyways were.

    [Moreover, Rufus has also covered the entire area with his veil, so it¡¯s safe for us to meet and talk like this.]

    ¡°You did well, Rufus,¡± he said to his cousin, then he turned to Hanna who was standing quietly behind him. ¡°Hanna, I¡¯m grateful that you apanied me here, despite the danger. You may not like what you¡¯d see if you get close to Nero. So why don¡¯t you just stay here and wait until I subdue my son?¡±

    ¡°His Majesty is right, sweetie,¡± Rufus said to Hanna worriedly. ¡°The sight isn¡¯t... pretty.¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, Father, I¡¯m grateful for your concern, but I¡¯ll be fine,¡± Hanna assured them politely. ¡°I¡¯m someone who lived in a graveyard for months in order to master the Shadow Maniption Technique. Seeing corpses doesn¡¯t faze me.¡±

    That was impressive, and he could see that Hanna didn¡¯t bat an eye despite the corpses around and the stench of blood in the air.

    But, to be honest, that wasn¡¯t what he was concerned about.

    ¡°Do you think you can handle Nero in his Lunacy state?¡± he asked Hanna seriously. ¡°You¡¯ll see my son and his insanity in all its ugliness. Are you sure you can ept him in that condition?¡±

    Hanna¡¯s face remained determined. ¡°Yes, Your Majesty,¡± she said firmly. ¡°I¡¯m ready to ept all of Prince Nero¡¯syers- even the ugly and the crazy ones.¡±

    That actually made him smile.

    He liked the determination and sincerity in Hanna¡¯s eyes. She was really fitting to be Nero¡¯s future Crown Princess.

    ¡°Alright,¡± he said, then he turned his back on the youngdy. ¡°Follow me then.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Your Majesty,¡± Hanna said politely.

    ¡°Rufus, clean up the mess here,¡± he said when he passed by the duke. ¡°And make sure no eyes are watching.¡±

    Rufus bowed his head towards him. ¡°I¡¯ve received Your Majesty¡¯s order.¡±

    He just nodded, then he continued walking.

    The young Quinzel Heiress followed him silently.

    He was once again impressed by Hanna¡¯s ability.

    She didn¡¯t hide her presence because it would be impolite of her to do that in his presence. But her footsteps were so light they were barely audible.

    [Hanna is strong.]

    And he was satisfied by the abilities of the empire¡¯s future Crown Princess.

    His thoughts were distracted when they rounded the corner. At the end of the dark alley, a pair of glowing red eyes greeted him.

    [Nero...]

    His son¡¯s white hair and pale skin were also clear in the dark.

    [There was no way the people wouldn¡¯t recognize him as the Crown Prince.]

    But the scene was gruesome.

    Nero was holding a cheap sword in his hand. He probably stole it from one of the people he killed. Then he turned the cheap sword into a murder weapon by covering its de with his Mana.

    The corpses at his feet were proof that a de Moonasterio didn¡¯t need a decent weapon to kill. All they needed were their naturally strong body and Mana.

    ¡°Nero,¡± he called his son carefully. ¡°Do you recognize me?¡±

    ¡°Father,¡± Nero said in an indifferent voice. ¡°What are you doing here?¡±

    He was relieved that his son recognized him, at least.

    ¡°I¡¯m here to pick you up,¡± he said. ¡°Let¡¯s go home. Your mother-¡±

    ¡°Did Lu snitch on me?¡± his son growled. ¡°Where is that traitorous bastard?¡±

    He was confused.

    [Who is ¡®Lu?¡¯]

    ¡°Your Majesty, perhaps Prince Nero is talking about Lewis,¡± Hanna whispered to him. ¡°I heard from Princess Neoma that in the past, Prince Nero would address Lewis as ¡®Lu.¡¯ But I don¡¯t understand why His Royal Highness is referring to Lewis by his old name.¡±

    He nodded in agreement without turning to Hanna. It wasn¡¯t like he was being disrespectful. He just didn¡¯t want to take his eyes off of his unstable son.

    [There¡¯s no reason for Nero to think that Lewis snitched on him, too. They¡¯re not close enough to do that to each other.]

    The way Nero spoke was strange.

    It was as if...

    His eyes went wide went the realization finally hit him.

    [Nero is speaking like... like he¡¯s the Nero from Neoma¡¯s first life.]

    He didn¡¯t have the memories of his first life. But he had heard enough from Neoma to know what kind of person his son was during the first timeline. Moreover, the fact that Nero addressed Lewis as if they were close was enough proof.

    ¡°Father, who is that girl behind you?¡±

    Nero didn¡¯t recognize Hanna.

    That further proved his hunch.

    [Did the memories of his first life take over because of his Lunacy?]

    ¡°Father, I asked you a question.¡±

    ¡°This is Hanna Quinzel.¡±

    ¡°Quinzel? House Quinzel doesn¡¯t have a daughter other than the one they adopted,¡± Nero said, confused. ¡°What¡¯s her name again? Neoma Quinzel? My stupid twin sister, right?¡±

    Now he was certain that Nero was acting and talking like the Nero in the first timeline.

    [He¡¯d be aghast once he came to his senses and remembered that he called Neoma ¡®stupid.¡¯]

    ¡°And doesn¡¯t that girl look too young for me, Father?¡± Nero snapped at him. ¡°Have you lost your mind?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re the one who lost your mind for you to speak to me that way,¡± he said sternly, his eyes glowing red. He was used to Nero talking back to him. But he had to subdue him this time. ¡°Get your act together- we¡¯re going home.¡±

    ¡°Father, I already told you that there¡¯s someone I want to marry,¡± Nero said while stepping out of the dark, approaching him menacingly. ¡°Dahlia Letizia is the only woman I want to marry- and you can¡¯t change my mind even if you remove me as the Crown Prince.¡±

    Niki suddenly felt awkward about Nero¡¯s deration.

    [Hanna heard him, didn¡¯t she?]

    ***

    ¡°ARE YOU worried about Prince Nero?¡±

    ¡°I know that Nero will be fine,¡± Neoma said, answering Lewis¡¯s question. They were free to talk that way because they were having tea in the lounge area of her bedroom at the moment. ¡°I¡¯m just sad that his violent nature showed up, even in this lifetime. I thought I already ¡°tamed¡± him. It seems like I failed as his older sister.¡±

    ¡°How is it your fault?¡± Lewis, who was sitting on the chair across from her, asked while tilting his head to one side. ¡°It¡¯s not your fault that Prince Nero ended up that way, Princess Neoma.¡±

    She smiled, touched by Lewis¡¯s encouraging words. ¡°You know how tofort your mother now,¡± she said proudly. ¡°You¡¯re the best son I could ever ask for, Lewis.¡±

    He frowned at her, as expected. ¡°I¡¯m not your son, Princess Neoma.¡±

    Sheughed. ¡°I haven¡¯t heard that catchphrase in a while.¡±

    Their ¡°mother-and-son¡± moment was interrupted when they heard a knock on the door.

    They both knew who it was.

    ¡°I¡¯ll get the door,¡± Lewis said, then he stood up. ¡°I¡¯ll be guarding outside, Princess Neoma.¡±

    Ah, Lewis already knew that she needed privacy with her mother.

    ¡°Alright,¡± she said, smiling at her ¡°son.¡± ¡°Thank you for working hard, Lewis.¡±

    Lewis just nodded, then he walked towards the door and opened it. After greeting her Mama Boss politely, he said his goodbye and left the room quietly.

    Neoma stood up and bowed to her mother as a greeting.

    .....

    To be honest, she was nervous around her Mama Boss. She acted like an insecure bitch and vented out on her mother. Now that she hade to her senses, she felt ashamed of herself.

    Mama Boss smiled at her. ¡°May I join you for a cup of tea, Baby Muffin?¡±

    Aww...

    How could her mother be so kind to her? She couldn¡¯t help but get emotional. How could she be so mean to her Mama Boss who was the sweetest to her?

    ¡°Mama Boss,¡± Neoma called for her mother, her voice cracked. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry.¡±

    Mama Boss suddenly burst into tears, then she closed the distance between them to give her a bear hug. ¡°I should be the one saying sorry, Neoma.¡±

    ***

    ¡°DAHLIA Letizia is the only woman I want to marry- and you can¡¯t change my mind even if you remove me as the Crown Prince.¡±

    Hanna heard Nero¡¯s deration loud and clear.

    She would be lying if she said she wasn¡¯t hurt.

    But she also knew that Nero wasn¡¯t himself. It was obvious that he had confused his past memories with his present memories. Thus, he was talking and speaking like the Nero in the first timeline.

    [It¡¯s okay. I already know that he loved Dahlia in his first life. But once hees back to his senses, his feelings for the ck Witch will disappear.]

    ¡°Nero, stop talking nonsense,¡± Emperor Niki scolded the royal prince. ¡°Let¡¯s return to the Royal Pce first- Nero!¡±

    The emperor yelled when the royal prince ran past him.

    Hanna was surprised when the next thing she knew, Nero was already in front of her...

    ... and his hand was wrapped around her neck.

    ¡°No hard feelings, child,¡± Nero said, his glowing red eyes turning darker as he squeezed her neck tighter. ¡°But I must kill you before you be a hindrance- argh!¡±

    She pped Nero hard, and it sent him flying until he hit the wall that crumbled instantly upon the impact.

    But she didn¡¯t use her hand.

    The moon was bright tonight. Thanks to the moonlight, the shadow behind her grew big- big enough for her Shadow Beast to emerge from it. While Nero was threatening her, she summoned the creature she fondly named ¡®Hebi.¡¯

    And Hebi was a Seven-headed Shadow Serpent.

    Nero was pped by Hebi¡¯s tail, and the royal prince was sent flying because the serpent¡¯s scales were as hard as steel.

    The royal prince looked shocked by what she did, and so was the emperor.

    She didn¡¯t feel sorry, though.

    ¡°I am the precious daughter of House Quinzel. Prince or not, you do not have the right to hurt me, Nero de Moonasterio,¡± Hanna dered coldly, her green eyes glowing brightly in the dark. ¡°I, Hanna Quinzel, demand an apology from His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince.¡±

    ***

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 476

    Chapter 476: THE SHADOW QUEEN

    HARMING the Crown Prince was a grave sin punishable by death.

    As the emperor, Niki felt the urge to stop the fight and punish Hanna for hurting his sessor.

    But as a father, he knew that Nero deserved it.

    [Like Hanna said, she¡¯s the precious daughter of House Quinzel. I wouldn¡¯t like it if someone hurt Neoma, so I¡¯m pretty sure Rufus and Amber wouldn¡¯t forgive anyone who hurt their daughter, too- even if it was the Crown Prince.]

    Thus, his heart as a father overwhelmed his mind as the emperor.

    ¡°Are you crazy?!¡±

    It was Nero, and his son¡¯s angry yell interrupted his thoughts.

    .....

    ¡°How dare you attack the Crown Prince?!¡± Nero growled at Hanna. ¡°You¡¯re just the daughter of House Quinzel!¡±

    ¡°And you¡¯re the disgrace of the Royal Family,¡± Hanna said in a calm yet clear voice, rendering Nero silent instantly. ¡°How dare you look down on the daughter of House Quinzel when all you bring to the Royal Pce is an embarrassment?¡±

    Niki was shocked. He had always thought that Hanna was a well-mannered yet meek child. So, he didn¡¯t expect her to hear such vicious words from her.

    [Hanna... is truly Neoma¡¯s friend.]

    She gestured to the corpses around her with her hands.

    Nero, on the other hand, was still staring at Hanna in disbelief.

    ¡°Should you really be proud of calling yourself the Crown Prince after you killed all these people?¡± Hanna asked bitterly. ¡°I don¡¯t care if they were criminals. But you do not have the authority to punish them, do you? I¡¯m afraid His Royal Highness would cause the Royal Family¡¯s downfall with that kind of attitude.¡±

    Niki nodded while crossing his arms over his chest, enjoying the show. [Son, at this point, you should just admit your mistake and beg for forgiveness.]

    ¡°Your Majesty.¡±

    He turned to Hanna, who called him in a polite yet stern voice. ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°I know it¡¯s toote to ask, but can I hit Prince Nero again?¡± Hanna asked politely. It was amazing how she could make a vicious request sound gentle. ¡°Since Prince Nero isn¡¯t acting like himself, I believe it would be smarter to just knock him out in order to bring him back to the pce quietly, Your Majesty.¡±

    He actually had to hold back hisughter.

    [This is amusing.]

    ¡°I give you the permission to do whatever you deem necessary in order to bring Nero back to the pce, Hanna Quinzel.¡±

    Hanna bowed her head towards him. ¡°My utmost gratitude, Your Majesty.¡±

    Nero, on the other hand, looked at him as if he had betrayed him. ¡°Father!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what you get for attacking an innocent person, Nero,¡± Niki said, then he turned his back on the children. ¡°Try not to kill each other, children.¡±

    As soon as he stepped out of the dark alley, he noticed that Hanna created a technique simr to Field Istion.

    [Hanna is really smart and capable.]

    His thoughts were interrupted when Rufus Quinzel blocked his way.

    Based on the anger he saw on his cousin¡¯s face, it was safe to assume that he saw Nero attack Hanna earlier.

    [Rufus is only holding back because I¡¯m here.]

    ¡°I will make sure that Hanna will receive a proper and sincere apology from Nero,¡± he promised Rufus, and it seemed like his promise shocked his cousin because he calmed down instantly. ¡°Our whole family wille and apologize to your familyter.¡±

    Rufus, who looked flustered, immediately shook his head. ¡°You don¡¯t have to go that far, Your Majesty. It¡¯s true that I¡¯m upset, but even so, I understand that Prince Nero is not in his sound mind at the moment...¡±

    ¡°Our precious son hurt your precious daughter,¡± he said apologetically. ¡°It¡¯s not something that we should brush off just because Nero is the Crown Prince. We are family, after all.¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty... I¡¯m touched.¡±

    He rolled his eyes at his cousin.

    But he was d to see that Rufus was back in his usual good mood.

    [He looks like he wanted to kill Nero earlier.]

    ¡°I know that Nero¡¯s current state of mind is not an excuse for attacking Hanna earlier,¡± he said carefully. ¡°And I understand if you find it hard to forgive my son. Having said that, I hope you still consider that Nero didn¡¯t recognize Hanna. If he did, I assure you that he wouldn¡¯t hurt your daughter.¡±

    Physically.

    To be honest, he couldn¡¯t tell if Nero was capable of loving another person other than Neoma. His son didn¡¯t even care about him and Mona as much as he cared about his twin sister.

    And therefore, he wasn¡¯t sure if Nero was even aware of what romantic love was.

    [Currently, if you make Nero choose among Neoma, Hanna, and Dahlia, he would no doubt choose his twin sister.]

    ¡°Your Majesty, you¡¯ve really changed,¡± Rufus said, his eyes glowing with happiness. ¡°You¡¯ve be a good father now.¡±

    It didn¡¯t show on his face, but he was happy to hear that kind ofpliment.

    ¡°I¡¯m still learning,¡± he confessed. ¡°I¡¯ve actually tried to copy your parenting style, Rufus.¡±

    ¡°My parenting style?

    ¡°I used endearment on my children since I always hear you call Hanna ¡®sweetie,''¡± Niki said, then he slowly avoided Rufus¡¯s curious gaze. ¡°I called Neoma ¡®Muffin,¡¯ and I called Nero ¡®Pumpkin.''¡±

    Rufus fell silent for a moment, then he burst outughing.

    [This punk...]

    ***

    HANNA blended into the darkness.

    After summoning Hebi, the Seven-headed Shadow Serpent, she covered herself with her own shadow. Now Nero wouldn¡¯t be able to see and hear her movements. She tried to conceal her presence as much as she could.

    But Nero had a sharp sense, so she wasn¡¯t really confident that she managed topletely hide from him.

    ¡°You asked for a fight, and now you¡¯re hiding?¡± Nero asked sarcastically after getting up. He was now moving his neck and shoulders as if he was exercising. ¡°You¡¯re a Quinzel, so you¡¯re a Shadow Maniption Technique user- argh!¡±

    The Crown Prince groaned in pain when Hebi¡¯s tail hit him in the stomach, sending him flying once again.

    [Nero, let¡¯s not talk in the middle of a fight.]

    But although the Crown Prince was caught off-guard again, he quickly got back on his feet.

    He wrapped his arms around Hebi¡¯s tail as he was flying towards the fall. But he wasn¡¯t just hugging the shadow serpent- he was turning it into an ice sculpture!

    [No... Hebi!]

    Nero cushioned his fall by gathering his Mana on his back. So he just bounced when he hit the wall, then he lifted the giant Seven-headed Shadow Serpent- now almost an ice sculpture- and throw the beast in her direction.

    She was still surprised even though she already expected it.

    [Nero can feel where I am even though he can¡¯t see and hear me.]

    It was scary how sharp his senses were.

    She raised her hands to ¡°catch¡± Hebi that Nero threw in her direction.

    But even though she said she ¡°caught¡± her Shadow Beast, it didn¡¯t exactly happen the way one would imagine it by her choice of word.

    When she raised her hands and opened her palms, a Shadow Hole appeared above her head. It swallowed Hebi, and it shall bring the serpent to her Shadow Realm. The realm that she created for her Shadow Beasts would melt the ice that Nero covered Hebi with in order to heal the serpent.

    After all, she created the Shadow Real as the home for the beasts she was raising.

    ¡°Argh!¡± Hanna let out a painful groan when she felt sharp and strong fangs pierced through her tiny waist. When she looked down, she realized that she had been bitten by Nero¡¯s Soul Beast- the giant wolf. ¡°That... hurts...¡±

    But even though it hurt, the wolf¡¯s fangs didn¡¯tpletely crush her lower body. After all, she was wearing her own shadow as her robe. It protected her from the Soul Beast¡¯s surprise attack.

    Unfortunately, her momentarily distraction caused her camouge to be exposed.

    ¡°You¡¯re there, huh?¡±

    When she looked up, she was greeted by Nero¡¯s ice sword.

    Ah, so he let go of the cheap sword he was carrying earlier in order to fight her with an ice sword made of his Mana.

    She quickly pulled out a Shadow Dagger from the inside of her robe¡¯s sleeve.

    Then she used the dagger to block Nero¡¯s sword while her other hand found the top of the ice wolf¡¯s head. She didn¡¯t want to hurt an animal, but she couldn¡¯t let the Soul Beast break her in two.

    And so, with a heavy heart, she gathered her Mana in her hand. Then she mixed it with the shadows that she collected in the area. Upon mixing the two, she created a Shadow Bomb.

    She dropped it on top of the ice wolf¡¯s head and boom!

    It exploded, throwing the Soul Beast away from her.

    [I¡¯m so sorry, Sev!]

    Nero growled at her as he pushed his ice sword against her Shadow Dagger harder.

    .....

    She was pushed back, unfortunately.

    [I can¡¯t win against a de Moonasterio when ites to physical strength alone!]

    And so, she created another Shadow Bomb and threw it at Nero¡¯s face while praying.

    [Please don¡¯t let Nero¡¯s face get burned or else Neoma will kill me...]

    She wasn¡¯t worried about herself when the Shadow Bomb exploded in Nero¡¯s face since she was protected by her robe.

    Nero, on the other hand, let out a painful groan while moving away from her.

    But as the Crown Prince jumped backwards, Sev growled and rushed in her direction while baring its fangs at her. She could see that gathered ice Mana inside the wolf¡¯s mouth. It was obviously going to release a Mana wave at her.

    She didn¡¯t have time to deal with the Soul Beast, so she stomped her feet on the ground to open a Shadow Hole in the space between her and the wolf.

    Then her second Shadow Beast appeared.

    It was a Griffin, a creature with the body, tail, and back legs of a lion; the head and wings of an eagle; and talons of an eagle as its front feet.

    ¡°Man,¡± she said, calling the Griffin by the name she gave it. ¡°Deal with Sev.¡±

    She heard the two animals make angry sounds against each other before shing.

    But she couldn¡¯t focus on them because Nero had gotten back to his feet already, and he was approaching her with no weapon. But that didn¡¯t make him less intimidating. After all, a de Moonasterio¡¯s greatest weapon was their body.

    [His face...]

    She felt a pang in her heart when she saw the burn marks on his face. In fact, his face was still emitting smoke.

    But the scary part?

    Nero looked calm.

    [Eerily calm, that is.]

    She would rather hear and see Nero yell angrily at her for burning his face.

    But the fact that he looked calm while his glowing red eyes became clearer was scary. The violent aura around him also calmed down. Now the Crown Prince looked like a predator going for the kill.

    [He¡¯s serious.]

    Nero wasn¡¯t summoning the ice phoenix. It was probably because the ice phoenix didn¡¯t exist in his life during the first timeline. But even though he only summoned the ice wolf, he still looked intimidating.

    To be honest, she was scared. Who wouldn¡¯t be scared in front of an already crazy de Moonasterio who had gone crazier because of his Lunacy? Still...

    Hanna smiled, then she blended into the darkness once again.

    This time, she blended into the shadows on the ground.

    Nero quickly created an ice sword to stab her shadow while freezing the floor with his ice.

    But when she finally got her hands on her target, the Crown Prince literally froze in his track. Even his ice stopped spreading on the ground immediately.

    ¡°I got it,¡± she said, then she picked up Nero¡¯s shadow from the floor as if it was a piece of clothing as she stood up.

    The Crown Prince¡¯s eyes went wide, but he couldn¡¯t do anything else because she was now controlling his shadow.

    ¡°This technique is one of the most basic moves of the Shadow Maniption Technique- but it¡¯s still the most effective when you want to immobilize your opponent,¡± Hanna said, smiling. Then she whacked the ¡°head¡± of Nero¡¯s shadow. ¡°Good night, my prince.¡±

    Nero just stared nkly at her.

    Then his glowing eyes slowly turned back to their original ash-gray color.

    [Oh... he¡¯s back to his usual self.]

    ¡°Hanna,¡± Nero whispered, recognition finally crossed his eyes. Then he smiled warmly at her. ¡°The Shadow Queen.¡±

    She ran towards Nero to catch him because he fainted after giving her a pretty nickname.

    Thankfully, she managed to catch him by wrapping her arms around his body. Since the Crown Prince had lost a lot of weight, he wasn¡¯t as heavy as she thought he would be. But since the prince wasnky, she still stumbled.

    She didn¡¯t fall on her but, fortunately.

    After all, both Sev and Man supported her from the back.

    ¡°Thank you, gentlemen,¡± Hanna said, then she patted Nero¡¯s head whose face was now buried against her neck. ¡°Nero, thank you for being my sparring partner for tonight.¡±

    This may be arrogant of her, but she didn¡¯t fight using her full strength.

    After all, Nero wasn¡¯t in his right state of mind. And her goal was to knock him out, not to defeat him. So, she held back.

    [I will show you what a true Shadow Queen is during the match, Nero.]

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 477

    Chapter 477: CLASHING MEMORIES

    [THE CHILD¡¯S y is over.]

    Niki and Rufus stopped chatting when they felt and heard the things settle down over the alley where Nero and Hanna were ¡°ying.¡±

    His son¡¯s violent aura disappeared, so he could tell the result of the ¡°fight.¡±

    ¡°Fifteen minutes,¡± Niki said while looking at the pocket watch in his hand. ¡°It only took Hanna fifteen minutes to knock Nero out. Impressive.¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty is too kind,¡± Rufus said, but he was smiling from ear to ear as if he was the one who received the praise. ¡°Hanna has still a long way to go.¡±

    He smirked at his cousin¡¯s reaction.

    [He¡¯s so proud of his daughter, and rightfully so.]

    .....

    ¡°The Shadow Maniption Technique is one technique that has always fascinated me,¡± he admitted to the duke. ¡°Although my mother was a Quinzel, a de Moonasterio like me isn¡¯t capable of inheriting power that has Darkness attribute.¡±

    Thus, Nero and Neoma didn¡¯t inherit the Shadow Maniption Technique, too.

    The de Moonasterios weren¡¯t capable of wielding power that originated from the Darkness attribute. Well, that should have been the case.

    But Neoma was the exception to the rule.

    [I still don¡¯t understand how Neoma could use the Darkness attribute. It¡¯s supposed to be a poison to us since we have divine power. To begin with, we don¡¯t even know where the demonic powers that she possesses came from.]

    ¡°Your Majesty, the de Moonasterios don¡¯t need the Shadow Maniption Technique,¡± Rufus said, confused as to why he brought up his admiration for the Quinzels¡¯ family technique. ¡°If the de Moonasterios were born with the ability to wield Darkness attribute on top of the divine power you received from Lord Yule and Lady Roxana, then the gods from the Upper World would have descended a long time ago to end your bloodline.¡±

    Heughed because it was true.

    [The de Moonasterios are already regarded as ¡®gods among men.¡¯ If we were born with the ability to wield Darkness attribute, the gods wouldn¡¯t be pleased with our existence. After all, the gods get sensitive when ites to Darkness.]

    ¡°Rufus.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty?¡±

    ¡°Darkness is emerging once again,¡± he said solemnly. ¡°I don¡¯t mean the Darkness attribute, since they never disappeared anyway. I¡¯m talking about the same Darkness that drowned the world during the Ancient Period.¡±

    The duke¡¯s eyes went wide. ¡°The Absolute Darkness?¡±

    ¡°Yes, the Absolute Darkness,¡± he confirmed. ¡°Once the Darknessced with malice begins terrorizing the world again, Darkness attribute users like the Quinzels won¡¯t be safe. Humans born after the Ancient Period were instilled with fear of Darkness, and they wouldn¡¯t hesitate to get rid of the thing that scares them.¡±

    Rufus turned serious, then he nodded firmly. ¡°I¡¯ll protect my family, Your Majesty.¡±

    The duke¡¯s simple promise weighed a lot.

    [I don¡¯t need to worry about the Quinzels.]

    ¡°Your Majesty, Father, I apologize for interrupting your conversation.¡±

    It was Hanna.

    And the youngdy arrived while ¡°carrying¡± Nero behind her. To be precise, a seven-foot formless shadow followed Hanna behind while cradling Nero in its ¡°arms.¡±

    Impressive.

    Hanna Quinzel was indeed deserving of the Crown Princess title.

    ¡°Your Majesty, I have subdued Prince Nero,¡± Hanna said politely. ¡°But I think His Royal Highness is in pain...¡±

    ¡°Nero is going through Lunacy, and he¡¯ll be in pain even in his sleep. Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s a normal process that a de Moonasterio like him has to go through,¡± Niki exined, then he approached Hanna and put a hand on her shoulder. ¡°You did well, Hanna.¡±

    ***

    ¡°MAMA BOSS, I¡¯m really sorry for the mean things that I said to you earlier,¡± Neoma said to her mother while the two of them were walking in the rose garden, holding hands. ¡°I was being honest when I said I envy you, but I should have chosen my words carefully.¡±

    The room felt stuffy, so she and her mother decided to have a stroll in her pce¡¯s garden.

    Lewis followed them behind quietly.

    ¡°Neoma, do you envy me because I grew up surrounded by people who love me?¡± her mother asked carefully. ¡°I understand where you¡¯reing from, but I want you to know that being loved isn¡¯t always a good thing.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean by that, Mama Boss?¡±

    ¡°Most of the people around me gave me love excessively,¡± her mother said. ¡°Your father is a good example of that, remember? He tried to kill you and Nero because he was afraid to lose me.¡±

    Oh, that made sense.

    ¡°There were some nobles who tried to own me iming that they loved me,¡± her mother continued in a sad voice. ¡°And while I¡¯m grateful for the love I received from the Cosmic Tree, the one who became the mother figure in my life, I have to admit that her love for mees with grand expectations that sometimes suffocate me. That¡¯s the same with the Spirit World.¡±

    ¡°Do they expect great things from Mama Boss because you¡¯re a Roseheart?¡±

    Her mother nodded. ¡°That¡¯s how I learn that love can be harmful, too.¡±

    Well, Mama Boss had a point.

    ¡°I used to receive all the love they gave me with an open heart,¡± Mama Boss said, this time, her voice was a little bitter. ¡°But, then, they became demanding. They made me feel like I owe them for loving me. Most of them even tried to make me believe that only them were capable of loving ¡°someone like me.¡± In the end, the pain I received grew bigger than the love I received.¡±

    Now she felt more guilty forshing out at her mother earlier.

    She could feel the pain and bitterness in her Mama Boss¡¯s voice. It was obvious that the people who had loved her in the past had also betrayed her.

    ¡°Neoma, you may not want to hear this from me, but it¡¯s better to receive genuine love from a few people close to you than receive shallow love from people who expect something in return for loving you,¡± her Mama Boss said gently. ¡°You have nothing to be jealous of me. The way I see it, the people around you love you genuinely.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± she said softly. ¡°I¡¯m aware that I¡¯m hard to love because of my arrogance. But there are people who actually love me for my personality. Unbelievable.¡±

    Because if it was her, she wouldn¡¯t love someone as arrogant as her.

    [Heh.]

    Her mother smiled warmly at her. ¡°Isn¡¯t it lovely that there are people who ept us for who we are?¡±

    That, she could agree with.

    She smiled and nodded at Mama Boss. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for being small-minded, Mama Boss.¡±

    ¡°Not at all, baby,¡± her mother said sweetly, then she squeezed her hand gently. ¡°Your feelings are valid. And like I said earlier, I understand where you¡¯reing from. You were born with a power that the gods desire, while your existence is something that the crows despise. But ultimately, both sides would benefit if you die.¡±

    She made a face at the reminder. [Greed is seriously the root of all evil.]

    ¡°But there are a lot of people who want you alive, Neoma,¡± her Mama Boss said. ¡°Even if everyone else turns their back on you, I won¡¯t. I¡¯m sure Niki and Nero wouldn¡¯t leave you, too.¡±

    Aww.

    She was genuinely touched.

    [That¡¯s the kind of love I crave.]

    It was foolish of her to feel envious of her mother.

    The love of the Cosmic Tree? The Spirit World? The Spirits like William and Delwyn?

    She didn¡¯t need any of that.

    [As long as my family and my friends love me, what else should I need?]

    ¡°Thank you, Mama Boss,¡± she said sincerely. ¡°Thank you for reminding me what matters most.¡±

    Her mother smiled warmly at her. ¡°Do you feel better now?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll feel much better if I receive a hug from my mother.¡±

    Mama Bossughed, then she gently pulled her for a warm and tight hug. ¡°I love you, Neoma.¡±

    Oh, she didn¡¯t expect that.

    She suddenly felt shy.

    Although she had sessfully raised Papa Boss to be a decent human being, her father was still far from being an affectionate father. Thus, her mother being expressive of her feelings shocked her a little.

    [A tsundere father and a cinnamon roll mother... it¡¯s a match made in heaven!]

    ¡°Me, too, Mama Boss,¡± Neoma said, still too shy to say ¡®I love you, too¡¯ directly to her mother. [Someday...]

    ***

    ¡°NEOMA, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s safe for you to meet Nero yet.¡±

    ¡°Why, Papa Boss?¡± Neoma asked worriedly. ¡°Is there a reason why I won¡¯t be safe if I meet Nero now?¡±

    Papa Boss and Hanna just came back home.

    To be safe from strange rumors going around, Hanna returned to the Luna Pce.

    She didn¡¯t get to see Nero because her twin brother was immediately confined in her father¡¯s bedroom. Mama Boss went inside to check on Nero, but her father stopped her when she was about to follow her mother.

    ¡°Nero is not himself,¡± her Papa Boss exined. ¡°He talks like he¡¯s the Nero in the first timelines.¡±

    She was shocked to hear that.

    .....

    But it was usible.

    Nero told her before that his memories of his first life came to him via dreams. Perhaps his memories flooded his mind because of Lunacy?

    ¡°Papa Boss, this is my chance to find out what happened to me after I died,¡± she said firmly. ¡°Maybe the Nero of the first timeline could give me a clue.¡±

    She knew that she promised Ruto she¡¯d be patient.

    But she couldn¡¯t waste this opportunity to get a clue about what happened to her in the first timeline.

    [I¡¯m sorry, Ruto.]

    ¡°Neoma, you said that you and Nero didn¡¯t get along well in the first timeline,¡± her father said worriedly. ¡°Will you be fine?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Papa Boss,¡± Neoma said firmly. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine.¡±

    ***

    ¡°WHY do you look younger than I remember?¡±

    Neoma froze when her eyes met Nero¡¯s glowing red eyes.

    [Ah, he looks intimidating.]

    Nero was just sitting on the bed while leaning against the headboard. It didn¡¯t look like he would attack her, but he still looked scary. Moreover, his violent aura filled the entire room.

    [Did I look this scary when I was going through my Lunacy?]

    ¡°I¡¯m not the only one who ¡°looks¡± young,¡± Neoma said carefully, then she slowly approached the bed. ¡°Have you looked at yourself in the mirror?¡±

    Nero just frowned, then he clutched his head. ¡°My head is splitting.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s normal,¡± she said, then she sat on the chair beside the bed.

    Nero looked calm.

    But she still covered her entire body with Coat- just in case he suddenly attacked her.

    ¡°Where is the Shadow Queen?¡± Nero asked her, then he looked her straight in the eye. His orbs were still glowing red, but he looked sane at the moment. Key word: ¡°looked.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t believe I lost to Hanna.¡±

    Oh?

    ¡°Do you remember Hanna now?¡± she asked, quite confused. ¡°You call her by her name.¡±

    [Are the memories of his first and second life shing against each other?]

    ¡°She introduced herself as Hanna earlier, that was how I knew her name,¡± Nero said in a grumpy voice. ¡°Tonight was the first time I met the Shadow Queen. In the flesh, at least.¡±

    She tilted her head to one side. ¡°You don¡¯t remember Hanna... but you know that she¡¯s...¡±

    Wait.

    When did Hanna¡¯s nickname be the Shadow Queen?

    In this timeline, not many people knew that Hanna Quinzel had mastered the Shadow Maniption Technique already.

    But Nero was talking about the ¡®Shadow Queen¡¯ as if...

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if that girl is really a Quinzel,¡± Nero said while observing her face. ¡°But there are rumors spreading across the entire continent about a female pirate who has mastered the Shadow Maniption Technique- and she¡¯s dubbed as the ¡®Shadow Queen.¡¯ Apparently, the female pirate is a beauty with ck hair and green eyes- just like the child I met earlier.¡±

    She gasped.

    A beautiful pirate with ck hair and green eyes?

    And good enough in using the Shadow Maniption Technique to be called the ¡®Shadow Queen?¡¯

    Her heart thumped hard and fast against her chest.

    ¡°That could only be Hanna,¡± Neoma whispered to herself, then she covered her mouth with her hands when she gasped. ¡°She didn¡¯t die in the first timeline?¡±

    [And Hanna became a pirate?!]

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 478

    Chapter 478: THE PRICE OF REMEMBERING

    [HANNA became a pirate...]

    Neoma was confused.

    And anxious.

    Her hand moved of its own ord to twirl her fingers around the strands of her hair.

    Ah, yes.

    She drank a potion to make her hair longer, then she put on a simple dress before she met Nero. Since her twin brother had the memories of his first life, he would be confused if she appeared in front of him in her disguise as the Crown Prince.

    [Anyway...]

    .....

    Based on what Nero had just told her, it seemed like Hanna of the first timeline didn¡¯t bother to hide her identity. The female pirate who had ck eyes and green eyes who mastered the Shadow Maniption Technique unique to the Quinzels?

    That could only be Hanna.

    [But if that kind of rumor spread across the empire, there was no way Duke Quinzel wouldn¡¯t hear about it...]

    Wait.

    ¡°Nero, how old do you think you are right now?¡±

    Nero raised an eyebrow at her, but he thankfully answered her question. ¡°Eighteen.¡±

    Ah, so his past memories that shed with his present memories came from when he was eighteen years old.

    [It¡¯s probably a few months before he hunted me down to kill me.]

    Plus, it was around that time that she discovered Rubin¡¯s illicit affair with Regina Crowell.

    [I tried to ask for Duke Quinzel¡¯s help back then to punish Rubin and Regina. But Duchess Quinzel had cut off any form ofmunication I had with the duke. And if I remember it correctly, it was also the time Duke Quinzel rarely came home.]

    It was because Duke Quinzel was busy being Nero¡¯s swordsmanship mentor during that time.

    And...

    She clutched her head when she suddenly got a splitting headache.

    [There was something else. I know that Duke Quinzel rarely came home during that time because he was busy teaching Nero swordsmanship. But he was also busy with other things then. Wasn¡¯t it the time the duke was sent to several territories to fix the dispute among some lords?]

    ¡°Hey,¡± Nero said while looking at her strangely. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you? I¡¯m getting a headache just looking at you.¡±

    ¡°Nero,¡± Neoma said firmly. ¡°At this time, is Duke Quinzel busy being your mentor?¡±

    Her twin brother scoffed. ¡°What do you mean he¡¯s busy being my mentor? Sure, he teaches me swordsmanship and shooting from time to time. But he

    Don¡¯t you know that Duke Quinzel practically lives in Firtha? There¡¯s even a rumor that the duke is nning to buy the entire port vige.¡±

    Firtha?

    The port vige known as... as...

    [I know what kind of port vige it is, but my brain can¡¯t remember!]

    ¡°Many people think the duke has gone crazy,¡± Nero continued, still scoffing. ¡°What would he possibly gain from owning a port vige rumored to be home to a vicious crew of pirates?¡±

    That was it.

    Firtha, home to an infamous crew of pirates.

    The female pirate dubbed as the ¡®Shadow Queen.¡¯

    [He knows.]

    The Duke Quinzel of the first timeline knew that Hanna was alive.

    It was the reason why His Grace rarely came home during that time.

    [Duke Quinzel was busy... busy spending time with his real daughter.]

    But why didn¡¯t the duke tell Duchess Amber that Hanna was still alive and she returned to the empire as a pirate?

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you know that?¡± Nero asked her in a taunting voice. ¡°Isn¡¯t Duke Quinzel your adoptive father?¡±

    She was in a bad mood already, so Nero mocking her didn¡¯t sit well with her.

    ¡°Nero, are you dumb?¡± she snapped back at him. ¡°The female pirate you¡¯re talking about has the same hair and eye color as the supposedly dead Quinzel Princess. And Duke Quinzel has been spending time in a port vige known to be that pirate¡¯s home.¡±

    His face hardened.

    ¡°Have you connected the dots, or do I need to spell it out for you?¡± she asked sarcastically. ¡°For a Crown Prince, you¡¯re pretty slow.¡±

    Nero wasn¡¯t slow, though.

    The Nero of the first timeline just didn¡¯t care about things like that.

    Moreover, she knew that he wasn¡¯t in the right state of mind at the moment.

    [He hasn¡¯t even questioned yet why I¡¯m here at the pce when I was supposed to be adopted by the Quinzels.]

    ¡°You- you¡¯re being too arrogant,¡± Nero growled, then he moved fast to grab her by the cor. ¡°Do you think I¡¯d let it slide just because you¡¯re my twin sister?¡±

    ¡®Twin sister.¡¯

    That wasn¡¯t the first time that she heard that since she was a twin. But when she heard those two words in her head, she heard them from a familiar yet also strange voice.

    Hanna?

    She was pretty sure that it was Hanna¡¯s voice, but it sounded mature in her head.

    [An older Hanna...?]

    She didn¡¯t meet Hanna before Nero stabbed her. Then, had they met, it could have happened after she was supposedly revived during the first timeline.

    ¡°You-¡±

    She was distracted when Nero suddenly let go of her cor while having a bewildered look on his face.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t hit you yet,¡± Nero said. ¡°Why is your nose already bleeding?¡±

    Huh?

    Her hand moved to touch the space between her nose and upper lip. Much to her shock, she felt the warm, sticky liquid that could only be her blood.

    [What the...]

    And the next thing Neoma knew, everything already went ck.

    ***

    NERO was surprised when Neoma Quinzel suddenly fainted.

    But he was even more shocked when his body moved on its own. He stood up fast to catch his estranged twin sister in his arms before she fell to the floor.

    [Huh?]

    Since when did he care about her?

    [I was told all my life to ignore my twin sister and pretend she doesn¡¯t exist...]

    He froze when that thought crossed his mind.

    Who told him to ignore Neoma? Why couldn¡¯t he remember?

    His messy thoughts were distracted when the doors of his room suddenly burst open.

    ¡°Lu,¡± he called the person who entered his room rudely with knitted eyebrows. ¡°Why do you also look younger?¡±

    ¡°Shut up,¡± Lu growled at him, his golden eyes glowing menacingly. ¡°What did you do to Princess Neoma?¡±

    ¡®Princess Neoma?¡¯

    Did Lu just call his twin sister ¡®princess?¡¯

    He was distracted from his jumbled thoughts once again when, all of a sudden, Lu moved to snatch Neoma away from him.

    [What the...]

    It happened so fast that the next thing he knew, Lu was already carrying his twin sister in his arms.

    Protectively.

    ¡°I came here as soon as I felt Princess Neoma¡¯s Mana weaken,¡± Lu said in a low, angry tone. ¡°But I didn¡¯t expect to see this. Why is Princess Neoma¡¯s nose bleeding? Did you hit her?¡±

    Lu¡¯s attitude snapped him out of his trance.

    .....

    ¡°Have you gone mad?¡± he growled at Lu. ¡°I know I¡¯m usually lenient to you, but how dare you talk to me that way?¡±

    Well, the fact that Lu spoke in long,plete sentences was already a shock to him.

    [He would just usually say ¡®yes,¡¯ ¡®no,¡¯ and ¡®annoying¡¯ to me.]

    ¡°What¡¯s happening here?¡±

    He clicked his tongue when his father arrived.

    But his annoyance was soon reced by confusion when he noticed the woman walking beside his father.

    Pink hair.

    Light blue eyes.

    The face that somehow resembled him and Neoma despite their strong de Moonasterio physical traits.

    [Roseheart...]

    What was their mother¡¯s name again?

    ¡°Mona...?¡± he whispered to himself.

    ¡°Nero, don¡¯t call your mother by her name like that,¡± his father scolded him. ¡°If you disrespect your mother again, I will not let it slide.¡±

    Mona Roseheart held his father¡¯s arm as if she was calming him down.

    Nero, on the other hand, was confused.

    [Mother is still alive...?]

    Come to think of it, why was Neoma in the pce in the first ce?

    [And everyone is younger...]

    He already noticed that even he was younger than he was supposed to be. But for some reason, his brain didn¡¯t question it.

    Not until now.

    [Argh.]

    He felt a massive headache iing.

    ¡°Niki, Neoma¡¯s head is bleeding,¡± Mona Roseheart said worriedly while looking at his twin sister. ¡°Lewis, let¡¯s bring my daughter to her room first.¡±

    Lewis nodded politely as a response.

    ¡°Nero,¡± his father called him sternly. ¡°What happened to your sister?¡±

    [Ah, this is annoying.]

    His mood turned sour, and his bloodlust leaked out.

    ¡°Father, everything annoys me,¡± Nero said coldly. ¡°Can I kill more scumbags?¡±

    His father let out a frustrated sigh.

    Then, the next thing he knew, his father was already standing in front of him while covering his eyes with his hand.

    ¡°Sleep, Nero,¡± his father said. ¡°And you¡¯ll be confined until you settle down.¡±

    ***

    Neoma couldn¡¯t help but stare at the older Hanna in front of her.

    [Wow. Hanna is so pretty. And she pulled off the pixie haircut perfectly.]

    Yes, that was how short Hanna¡¯s hair was.

    But since her face was small, the hairstyle suited her.

    [Even her outfit looks very different now.]

    The Hanna in the current timeline was the definition of a perfect nobledy whose wardrobe only consisted of pretty and colorful dresses.

    But the Hanna of the first timeline wore a loose linen shirt with vest, trousers, andbat shoes- all on earth color. And even though Hanna wasn¡¯t that tall, she was able to pull off that get-up. Plus, the way she carried herself was mesmerizing.

    [A true queen.]

    Anyway...

    She was conscious, but she knew that she was remembering a part of her forgotten memory through a dream.

    How did she know that?

    [Simple: I¡¯m currently on a pirate ship.]

    She was possessing the body of the Neoma of the first timeline. But unfortunately, she couldn¡¯t speak or move ording to her will.

    [All I can do is scream in my head like what I¡¯m doing now.]

    Neoma of the first timeline said in a slightly cold voice.

    Ohh.

    As expected, she really was revived after Nero stabbed her.

    [But the memories of my first life ended after I ¡°died¡± at my twin brother¡¯s hands.]

    She gasped even though Neoma of the first timeline didn¡¯t react.

    [Hanna was revived and raised by the Devil in the first timeline?!]

    the Shadow Queen exined.

    It was Ruto who revived her then.

    Why wasn¡¯t Neoma surprised anymore?

    [Argh!]

    Neoma clutched her head tight when a splitting headache hit her again. And for some reason, Ruto¡¯s image shed in her mind.

    [Ruto, you¡¯re making me nervous again.]

    ***

    RUTO clutched his head tight when he suddenly felt like his skull was being broken in two.

    To say that he was having a headache would be an understatement.

    Since the pain distracted him, his foot slipped when hended on the branch of the tree- causing him to fall down to the ground ungracefully. He didn¡¯t have the luxury to be embarrassed. In fact, he couldn¡¯t even move while he was sprawled on the ground.

    His head was killing him.

    Perhaps literally.

    [Neoma...]

    The princess¡¯s image in his head was starting to get blurry...

    [No...]

    He shut his eyes tight while trying to engrave Neoma¡¯s face in his mind.

    [It can¡¯t be...]

    ¡°Yoan!¡± Sienna yelled, then she knelt down beside him. ¡°What happened?¡±

    ¡°Neoma...¡± Ruto said while suppressing a painful groan toe out of his mouth. ¡°Neoma regained an important fragment of her memory. And...¡± He opened his glowing eyes, then he looked at Sienna with pleading eyes. ¡°And I¡¯m starting to forget a huge portion of my memories of Neoma.¡±

    ***

    ¡°WAKE UP, Yoan!¡± Sienna shouted worriedly when Yoan fainted. She couldn¡¯t help but grit her teeth in frustration. Although she told herself earlier that she would finally stop hating on Neoma de Moonasterio, her resolve was broken the moment Yoan¡¯s life was put in danger. [Neoma de Moonasterio, Yoan already told you not to remember your first life because it isn¡¯t the right time to do so yet!]

    Yoan said that a huge portion of his memories started to disappear.

    It only meant one thing.

    [Neoma gained a vital memory during the time she was revived in the first timeline. And it was probably connected to Yoan heavily.]

    Her thoughts were distracted when Yoan groaned lowly.

    Then, thankfully, he slowly opened his eyes.

    She smiled in relief- but that smile soon disappeared when she noticed that his eyes were unusual.

    The left eye remained dark purple.

    But Yoan¡¯s right eye turned glowing red.

    [Ah...]

    If it was like this, then she wasn¡¯t sure if Yoan¡¯s memory loss would be temporary or not.

    ¡°Sienna?¡± Yoan asked in a cold voice when he got up, then he looked around. ¡°What are we doing here? Isn¡¯t this one of the forbidden regions in the West Continent?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re here to save Empress Juliet,¡± she said, although she was a little nervous around THIS Yoan.

    ¡°Why are we saving Empress Juliet?¡±

    That question gave her the chills.

    [He already forgot...?]

    ¡°Father told me not to meddle with the affairs of the de Moonasterios,¡± he said, and he was definitely talking about the ¡®God Among Gods¡¯ and not Chef Morton Stroganoff. ¡°Let¡¯s head back to the East Continent.¡±

    Huh?

    Wouldn¡¯t he even ask why he tried to save the empress in the first ce?

    [As expected, this Yoan only listens to his divine father. But...]

    ¡°You promised her,¡± Sienna said carefully. ¡°You promised Neoma de Moonasterio that you¡¯d bring back Empress Juliet to the empire.¡±

    ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio?¡± Yoan asked, his face and voice voided of emotions. ¡°What does the abandoned princess have to do with me?¡±

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 479

    Chapter 479: EYE OF THE GOD SLAYER

    ¡°AH, DAMN IT.¡±

    ¡°The God yer has opened his eye!¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t escape the eye of the God yer, so we must tread carefully from now on.¡±

    ¡°Just when I thought the God Among Gods has finally given up on protecting humans, he suddenly makes a move and sends his only son after our tails.¡±

    ¡°But the God Among Gods only makes a move if there¡¯s a serious threat in the human world...¡±

    He felt it.

    Helstor felt it when everyone around him turned their piercing gazes in his direction.

    .....

    [And this isn¡¯t why I don¡¯t like going out to ¡°socialize.¡±]

    He called it ¡°socializing,¡± but he just went to a war to have a feast.

    There was an ongoing war in the North Continent, so he personally went there to ¡°watch.¡± After all, where there was war, there was despair.

    ¡°Eating despair isn¡¯t a crime,¡± Helstor said without looking at anyone. ¡°It doesn¡¯t pose a threat on humans.¡±

    His eyes focused on the survivors who were crying for help in the middle of and left with nothing but destroyed homes and corpses. Ah, there were also stray animals feeding on the dead bodies around.

    After all, famine would always follow a war.

    ¡°He¡¯s right, but...¡±

    ¡°... isn¡¯t he the God of Eternal Darkness?¡±

    ¡°Name? What¡¯s his name again?¡±

    He ignored the ¡°whispers¡± of the minor gods around him.

    Like him, his fellow gods were here to feed on the strong and negative emotions brought on by the ongoing war. After all, these minor gods were Darkness attribute users like he was. And beings like them enjoyed the negative emotions of humans as food.

    ¡°He looks pretty calm even though he¡¯s the biggest threat here...¡±

    ¡°Well, is it because he has grown weaker?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right- the Light Goddess¡¯s Essence is scattered all over the world. As long as her remains are here, the Absolute Darkness won¡¯t be able to emerge again.¡±

    Once again, he ignored the taunting he received.

    [I wasn¡¯t the one who created the Absolute Darkness during the Ancient Period, and I have no intention to drown the world in Darkness.]

    He wasn¡¯t a lunatic like his predecessor.

    [I¡¯m just a simple gourmet who enjoys feasting on high-quality food.]

    Speaking of high-quality meals...

    [The Quinzels¡¯ despair tasted really good. But the de Moonasterios are on a different level. Especially the little princess¡¯s despair.]

    He licked his lips when he suddenly felt hungry.

    [Neoma de Moonasterio has to suffer for me to enjoy a very delicious meal.]

    Well, he would taste the royal princess¡¯s despair very soon. The fact that Ruston Stroganoff, the legitimate God yer, had opened his ¡°god eye¡± only meant that he had forgotten Neoma de Moonasterio.

    And if Ruston Stroganoff lost a huge portion of his memory, it only meant that Neoma de Moonasterio regained hers.

    He chuckled while remembering the memories that he ¡°ate¡± from Ruston Stroganoff.

    ¡°Their love story is pretty cute,¡± Helstor whispered to himself, amused. ¡°I hope Calyx Dalton uses the information I gave him to ensure his win against Neoma de Moonasterio.¡±

    ***

    [THE stars are in a disarray.]

    Dahlia couldn¡¯t help but worry while looking up at the starry sky. She was sitting on the windowsill of the room she was upying in Queen Brigitte¡¯s pce. Since it was cold, she didn¡¯t open the window. She could see the stars even with the windows closed, after all.

    But...

    [I can¡¯t read Princess Neoma¡¯s Constetion.]

    Chosen people by a major god had their own ¡®Constetions.¡¯ Those Constetions would usually dictate the fate of the ¡°chosen ones.¡± But the Constetions of the de Moonasterios were made for a different reason.

    [The Constetions of the de Moonasterios were created to monitor them, since most of the de Moonasterios in history were nothing but menace to the world.]

    But now, even the Stars couldn¡¯t predict the fate awaiting the present de Moonasterios.

    Especially Princess Neoma¡¯s.

    ¡°I wonder what¡¯s happening,¡± Dahlia whispered to herself. ¡°Princess Neoma¡¯s Constetion suddenly got dull.¡±

    Lapiz, who was floating beside her in its ¡°baby form,¡± said.

    The biggest ¡°star,¡± huh?

    ¡°I¡¯ve always known that Lord Ruston Stroganoff is special,¡± she said. ¡°But I didn¡¯t expect him to be that special.¡±>

    Lapiz agreed with her.

    ¡°But I wonder why he suddenly revealed his identity now.¡±

    Humans with red eyes were very rare.

    The de Moonasterios possessed red eyes that would appear when their emotions were high, but it was natural for them to have the eyes of a god, since they were Lord Yule and Lady Roxana¡¯s descendants.

    Lord Ruston Stroganoff¡¯s case was special.

    Although he was the son of the God Among Gods, he was still born a human because both of his biological parents were humans. His biological father was a wealthy noble, while his mother was the matriarch of House Solfrid- the family blessed by the Sun Goddess herself.

    ¡°The de Moonasterios are the only humans known to possess red eyes for a long time,¡± she said. ¡°But now, another person with a red eye appeared.¡±

    The de Moonasterios had two red eyes because their ancestors were both gods- Lord Yule and Lady Roxana.

    Lord Ruston had only one red eye because he only had the God Among Gods as his divine parent. But his red eye was unique since it was literally the eye of the God yer. It was hard to exin, but his red eye could only belong to the son of the God Among Gods.

    And every divine being, including the Spirits, would immediately recognize the God yer.

    After all, their lives were in his hands.

    In short, everyone that the God yer could judge would be automatically informed of his appearance as a warning.

    That was the message of the God Among Gods that came along Lord Ruston¡¯s appearance.

    And yes, she also received that message.

    [After all, the ck Witches also fall under the jurisdiction of the God yer.]

    <"There could only be two reasons why Ruston Stroganoff has revealed his identity after hiding it for so long," Lapiz said.

    ¡°The enemies have already discovered his identity, so he decided to just let everyone know about his existence,¡± she said, finishing what Lapiz was about to say. ¡°Or it could be both.¡±

    ¡°I wonder how Princess Neoma feels,¡± she said worriedly. ¡°She seems close to Lord Ruston in a romantic sense. But it turns out that he has the license to kill her, literally.¡±

    ¡°I think the question is whether the God yer can really kill Princess Neoma,¡± she wondered aloud. ¡°Setting their personal feelings aside, I have a feeling that Princess Neoma is stronger than Lord Ruston.¡±

    ¡°I know that,¡± she admitted. ¡°But I feel like Princess Neoma has a lot more potential than Lord Ruston. For a God yer and the son of the God Among Gods, Lord Ruston¡¯s power has been pretty much stagnant. Since he¡¯s already very strong from the start, I don¡¯t think there¡¯s any room left for him to get stronger.¡±

    She nodded thoughtfully. ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong, though. Lord Ruston¡¯s strength as the God yer is the real deal. I just feel like Princess Neoma won¡¯t lose to him when ites to power. But I don¡¯t think I should be worried about that, though. Their bond seems to be stronger than their respective duties.¡±

    And she didn¡¯t have the luxury to worry about the others.

    Her purpose foring out to the surface was to ask for help regarding the ind she considered home. Lady Roseheart already promised to help her, and all she had to do was wait until Queen Brigitte safely delivered her child.

    After that, Lady Roseheart woulde home with her in order to check the ind¡¯s state.

    [I just need to wait a little longer. Queen Brigitte is already seven-month pregnant. Just two more months and I can finallye home with Lady Roseheart.]

    Waiting wouldn¡¯t be hard anyway, since she got along well with Queen Brigitte.

    That silence of the world bothered her, though.

    ¡°A storm ising up,¡± Dahlia said solemnly. ¡°We must prepare our ¡°shelter¡± soon.¡±

    ***

    SIENNA was still in disbelief when she and Yoan arrived at the Cyran Temple.

    Not once did he mention Neoma de Moonasterio while they were traveling. Granted that it was only a brief journey since they could teleport to the Sun Temple easily, she still couldn¡¯t believe that he hadn¡¯t regained his memory of Neoma de Moonasterio yet.

    [Yoan told me before that if the memories that Neoma de Moonasterio retrieves are trivial, his memory won¡¯t be affected that much. But howe he doesn¡¯t remember anything about the little princess in this timeline?]

    Did the God Among Gods tamper with Yoan¡¯s memories?

    .....

    [Even in the first timeline, the God Among Gods wasn¡¯t fond of Neoma de Moonasterio.]

    ¡°Why are you looking at me like that?¡± Yoan confronted her. ¡°Do you have something to say to me?¡±

    ¡°What do you remember in this timeline, Yoan?¡± Sienna asked carefully. ¡°Do you remember anything rted to Neoma de Moonasterio? You¡¯re pretty close to her.¡±

    ¡°I am?¡± he asked indifferently. ¡°Then Father must have ordered me to keep a close watch on Neoma de Moonasterio.¡± He closed his eyes and massaged his temples. ¡°My memory is a bit hazy. I should sleep and meet my father so that he could fill me in on the mission he gave me.¡±

    [It looks like he doesn¡¯t even remember his rtionship with Neoma even in his first timeline!]

    She opened her mouth to ask Yoan if he didn¡¯t really remember Neoma de Moonasterio even in his first life when, all of a sudden, she felt a cold, invisible hand strangling her neck as if stopping her from speaking.

    The forceing from the invisible hand gave her the chills.

    But Yoan, despite his sharp senses, seemed like he didn¡¯t feel it. That meant the force was directed at her. And only one being could conceal their presence in front of Yoan.

    That was the message that Sienna received from the God Among Gods.

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 480

    Chapter 480: MISTAKES WERE MADE

    SILENCE.

    Mona felt the chills in the air after she and Niki received the warning from the God of Among Gods.

    It was the message, in and simple.

    And yet, that warning probably had shaken up the entire world by surprise.

    ¡°Ruston Stroganoff is the God yer, and the son of the God Among Gods?¡± Niki said, then he ced his teacup down on the saucer. ¡°Now he deserves to be appointed as the newmander of the White Lion Knights even more.¡±

    She gave Niki a look full of disbelief.

    The emperor¡¯s arrogance was outstanding.

    .....

    [Even though Niki just found out that Ruto is the world¡¯s one and only legitimate God yer, he still wants the boy to be a meremander?]

    Now it was clear as to whom Neoma inherited her arrogance.

    ¡°Niki, you know that as a God yer, Ruto has the license to kill a de Moonasterio, right?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not a question whether or not he has the right to kill us,¡± he said nonchntly. ¡°The question is if he can. Just because a person has the ¡°license¡± to kill us doesn¡¯t mean we¡¯ll allow them to take our lives without fighting back.¡±

    Well, he had a point.

    But...

    Her eyes wandered to their sleeping Baby Muffin.

    Right now, she and Niki were having tea in the lounge area of Neoma¡¯s room. Their daughter was still asleep, but her internal bleeding in the hea1d finally stopped. To be fair, it wasn¡¯t an ordinary bleeding.

    The ¡°blood¡± came from the broken seal that protected her memories.

    [It means my daughter remembered something shocking from her previous life.]

    ¡°Ruto and Neoma seem very close,¡± she said. ¡°I don¡¯t feelfortable with the fact that my potential son-inw might kill our daughter if his divine father orders him to do so.¡±

    ¡°Son-inw? Who?¡±

    She turned to Niki who was frowning already. ¡°Ruto. Don¡¯t tell me you haven¡¯t noticed that he and Neoma are interested in each other in a romantic sense?¡±

    She hadn¡¯t met Ruto yet after her return.

    But Neoma told her about her close ¡°friendship¡± with Ruto. She recognized the sparkle in her daughter¡¯s eyes whenever he would talk about the young God yer.

    ¡°I oppose it,¡± Niki said firmly. ¡°The futuremander of the White Lion Knights can¡¯t marry my daughter. I won¡¯t ept Ruston Stroganoff as a son-inw.¡±

    [You won¡¯t ept anyone as your son-inw, anyway.]

    She was grateful that Niki cared about their daughter this much, but he was being overprotective now.

    However, since Neoma was only thirteen years old now (physically, at least), she didn¡¯t scold Niki. Although she was open to the possibility of Neoma having suitors, she wouldn¡¯t take it seriously yet as her daughter was still very young.

    [Niki and I started our rtionship early, but Neoma has a different mindset from us since she lived in a different world before.]

    ¡°How should we treat Ruto once he returns to the empire?¡± she asked Niki. ¡°He¡¯s the son of the God Among Gods. But I feel like we can trust him.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s so special about being the son of the God Among Gods?¡± Niki asked, and he wasn¡¯t being sarcastic. He was being sincere! ¡°He¡¯s still Ruston Stroganoff. That child grew up in front of me. I know that he prefers being a chef to being a God yer.¡±

    Niki¡¯s remark amazed her.

    [He wasn¡¯t being arrogant when he asked what was special about being the son of the God Among Gods. Niki simply knows that Ruto prefers a simple life.]

    That made her smile.

    ¡°Niki, you¡¯ll probably hate hearing this, but...¡± Mona couldn¡¯t help butugh softly when she saw Niki shifting ufortably in his seat. It looked like he already had an idea about what she was going to say. ¡°I think you¡¯re not really against Ruto having a close ¡°friendship¡± with our Baby Muffin.¡±

    ***

    ¡°WHAT ARE you doing here?¡±

    Hanna smiled.

    She didn¡¯t have to turn around to know that it was Lewis.

    Right now, she was in the pavilion by the pond. It was Neoma¡¯s favorite spot in the pce, and she gave her ess to it.

    ¡°You escaped from your guards again,¡± Lewis said, then he stood beside her while leaving a decent space between them. ¡°You¡¯ve be a bad girl, Lady Hanna.¡±

    Hannaughed softly, then she turned to Lewis. ¡°The pce is a safe ce, and I can protect myself. Moreover, this is Neoma¡¯s favorite spot. She put up a powerful barrier around the pavilion, and only people with ess like us can enter here.¡±

    ¡°Still, sneaking out is a bad habit.¡±

    ¡°You should tell that to Neoma.¡±

    She could mention Neoma¡¯s name because like she said earlier, the pavilion had a barrier. It included a soundproof barrier, too.

    Lewis shrugged at her earlier remark. ¡°Touche.¡±

    She just smiled. ¡°What are you doing here?¡±

    ¡°I just finished my night exercise when I saw you here,¡± he said, then he turned to the pond. ¡°Lady Roseheart told me I don¡¯t need to guard Princess Neoma tonight, since she¡¯ll stay with her the entire night.¡±

    ¡°Then go to sleep.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t sleep,¡± he said. ¡°I heard from Lady Roseheart that Princess Neoma has internal bleeding in the head. She said it wasn¡¯t that serious, but I¡¯m still worried.¡±

    It was obvious that he wasn¡¯t just worried.

    Come to think of it, Neoma had been busytely that she couldn¡¯t pay attention to Lewis.

    [Ah, that must be it.]

    ¡°Lewis, are you lonely?¡±

    ¡°I should be the one asking you that, Lady Hanna,¡± he said, then he turned to her. ¡°Why do you look... unhappy?¡±

    She didn¡¯t expect Lewis to notice since she was doing her best to hide her feelings. After all, she didn¡¯t want to be a downer.

    But since he already noticed, she decided to be honest.

    ¡°I¡¯m just thinking,¡± she whispered, her cheerful facade slipping away.

    He tilted his head to one side. ¡°May I know what you¡¯re thinking about?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m thinking if marrying Nero is the right choice.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re having second thoughts?¡±

    She nodded thoughtfully. ¡°I know that I don¡¯t exist in Nero¡¯s first life. But when he talked about Miss Dahlia in his Lunacy state, I finally realized how much he loved her in the past.¡±

    [And it hurts.]

    She may be too young to fall in love deeply. But her feelings for Nero had always been pure and sincere. And so it hurt.

    It hurt that he didn¡¯t feel the same way about her.

    But even if it was painful, she couldn¡¯tin since Nero wasn¡¯t obligated to reciprocate her feelings. It wasn¡¯t his fault that he didn¡¯t like her the way she did.

    ¡°Does it matter?¡± Lewis asked nonchntly. ¡°It¡¯s in the past, anyway.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s the case for Nero,¡± she said, then she smiled sadly. ¡°He has already met Miss Dahlia in this lifetime. And I believe her existence still matters to him a lot.¡±

    ¡°Is that the reason why you¡¯re having second thoughts about marrying him now?¡±

    ¡°Are you disappointed in me?¡± she asked jokingly. But she half-meant it. ¡°We promised to root for each other. But here I am now, doubting my decision. You must be disappointed, huh?¡± Sheughed to lighten up the mood, but herugh sounded shallow even in her ears. ¡°Everyone will probably be disappointed as well if I take back my decision to marry Prince Nero.¡±

    ¡°Who cares about what other people think?¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not disappointed,¡± Lewis said, then his hand moved to pat her head. He obviously hesitated at first. But in the end, he gently patted her head- his gloved hand barely touching her hair. ¡°Lady Hanna, you¡¯re allowed to change your mind.¡±

    Aww...

    His words touched her.

    Before she knew it, her eyes were already brimming with tears. The weight on her shoulders disappeared after hearing Lewis¡¯s encouraging words. When he told her that she was allowed to change her mind, her feelings felt validated.

    ¡°Thank you, Lewis,¡± Hanna said in a cracked voice, then she covered her face with her hands. ¡°Thank you for being a reliable friend.¡±

    ***

    [RUTO!]

    Neoma woke up and the first thing she saw was her hands trying to grab something in the air.

    [Oh.]

    .....

    She was back in reality.

    The ceiling that greeted her was the ceiling in her bedroom. But it was bright. Too bright. She remembered that it was nighttime when she confronted Nero.

    [I¡¯ve been asleep for the entire night?]

    ¡°Neoma?¡±

    She turned to her mother, who just entered her room while carrying a bouquet of strange yet pretty flowers in her arms.

    ¡°I¡¯m d you¡¯re finally awake,¡± her mother said cheerfully. ¡°I was about to brew a special tea for you from these flowers that I received from the fairies living in the pce.¡±

    ¡°Mama Boss, good morning,¡± Neoma said while reaching for hermunication device in the drawer. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but can I make a call first?¡±

    ¡°Oh, of course,¡± her mother said. ¡°Then should I step outside in the meantime?¡±

    ¡°You can stay here, Mama Boss,¡± she said while putting on her stud earring. It was amunication device directly connected to Ruto. Her Papa Boss told her she was forbidden to call Ruto directly, but it was an emergency. She would just apologize to her fatherter. ¡°I¡¯m just going to call Ruto.¡±

    Her Mama Boss smiled and nodded, then she went to the lounging area of her bedroom.

    She, on the other hand, focused on the ringing she could hear from the other end of the line.

    To be honest, she was nervous.

    After regaining an important part of her memories, she suddenly remembered the consequence of having it remembered. While thinking of Ruto, she couldn¡¯t help but worry.

    [Please let the consequence be light!]

    She felt her heart stop for a moment when Ruto finally picked up the call.

    ¡°Ruto, I¡¯m sorry,¡± Neoma said immediately, her heart heavy with guilt. ¡°I couldn¡¯t help my curiosity, so I asked Nero about the past and then, I suddenly remembered a huge portion of my past memory regarding Hanna-¡±

    She knitted her eyebrows. ¡°Lady Sienna?¡±

    Why did the Sun Priestess pick up her call instead of Ruto?

    She gulped before she asked. ¡°Is Ruto upied at the moment?¡±

    ¡°Excuse me?¡±

    She unconsciously held her breath while waiting to hear the confirmation that she was afraid to face.

    Neoma shut her eyes tight, the weight of her regret crushing her heart into tiny pieces.

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 481

    Chapter 481: THE HERO AND THE VILLAINESS

    ¡°NEOMA, it¡¯s not yet toote to stop all of this.¡±

    The orange sky held both the sun and the moon at the moment...

    ... along with the king and the queen that represented them, respectively.

    Commander Yoan Solfrid, the God yer and the son of the God Among Gods, hovered over the horizon where the sun and the moon met- above the surface of the ocean under his feet. He held Hiu, the ancient bow in his left hand, and a single lightning bolt for an arrow in the right.

    Neoma de Moonasterio, the abandoned princess who had lost her mind to the worst Lunacy in history, was also suspended in the air- opposite the Sun King. She held the ming horns of the God of Wrath that she had just killed in her bloody hands.

    But, if one looked closely, the ¡°ocean¡± below the two wasn¡¯t a real ocean- it was Impure Mana. The murky liquid was the substance produced by the Darkness attribute users who were burned to death.

    As most people knew, when a person or a creature with the Darkness attribute died, their Mana wouldn¡¯t return to Nature. It would be a substance called Impure Mana.

    .....

    The one who caused the me that burned those people was the abandoned princess.

    The one trying to stop the world frompletely getting engulfed in the fire was the God yer.

    As his title suggested, he had the license to kill gods.

    And the de Moonasterios were considered gods among men.

    But both the hunter and hunted looked beyond exhausted. It wasn¡¯t shocking, though. After all, the two had been fighting for countless days and nights now.

    Even so, despite their rugged appearance, the fire in their eyes hadn¡¯t died down yet.

    The moon¡¯s eyes still glowed red, while the sun¡¯s one eye remained the color of blood.

    ¡°How much longer are we going to fight, Neoma?¡± Commander Yoan asked in a tired voice. ¡°Why don¡¯t we stop now?¡±

    ¡°This fight will only end when one of us dies, Commander,¡± Neoma answered in an equally tired voice. ¡°You only have one lightning arrow left, and I can tell that you do not have enough power to create more lightning arrows.¡±

    ¡°I can say the same thing to you,¡± themander said. ¡°The me in those horns is slowly dying.¡±

    The abandoned princess smiled bitterly. ¡°That¡¯s true, and that means this fight will end once weunch each of ourst attack.¡±

    ¡°Neoma, just what went wrong between us...?¡±

    ¡°You chose to save the world for the greater good,¡± Neoma said indifferently, then she raised the horns in her hands. The me grew bigger and longer until it looked like des, while the horns served as the double ming swords¡¯ handles. ¡°And I chose to burn the world you¡¯re desperate to save. Commander, you know that the only way to stop my me from burning the world is to kill me, don¡¯t you?¡±

    The God yer just gripped the weapons in his hands tighter.

    ¡°I¡¯ve set the world on fire, and I¡¯ve taken more lives than I have saved,¡± she said in a mocking tone. ¡°I¡¯ve also killed gods, and ended several mythical races such as the Dark Elves and the fairies. Come to think of it, I also eliminated every single crow and de Luca in existence- not that I regret that.¡±

    ¡°Neoma-¡±

    ¡°The Spirit World, the Sun Temple, and the Cosmic Tree¡¯s garden were all destroyed by my hands, too,¡± she said, letting out a burst of shallowughter. ¡°Commander, did you know? Just recently, I grabbed the hand of the Devil. They will soon bring me to the Upper World. Should I say hi to your father while I¡¯m there?¡±

    ¡°I apologize in advance, but you won¡¯t be able to meet my divine father,¡± he said, his voice cold and his different-colored eyes void of emotions now. ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio.¡±

    Themander called the abandoned princess¡¯s name in a tone that didn¡¯t have a hint of affection.

    The abandoned princess concealed her pain by smiling.

    She was afraid that if she cried, themander would change his mind. Why else would she count the crimes she was forced tomit in front of his face if not to rile him up on purpose?

    Only themander could end her, so he must not lose his resolve to eliminate her.

    ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio, thest de Moonasterio in this world,¡± Yoan Solfrid said indifferently as he raised his bow and pointed its glowing lightning bolt of an arrow at the abadonded princess. ¡°I, the God yer, with the power granted by the God Among Gods, dere you as the most dangerous enemy of the world.¡±

    Themander released his final arrow as tears rolled down his cheeks.

    ¡°Don¡¯t cry yet, Commander Yoan- you can¡¯t kill me with a single lightning arrow anyway,¡± Neoma said, and she wasn¡¯t mocking themander. She was sincerely hoping he would use his REAL final attack. ¡°If you want to end the de Moonasterio bloodline with my death, then you must borrow the divine power of the gods in the Upper World.¡±

    After all, the Neoma de Moonasterio who received the Moonglow of Yule, her father, and twin brother, along with the Mana and life force of her Four Pirs, became the strongest de Moonasterio in history...

    ... and, unfortunately, the one who also suffered from Lunacy the most.

    Alone.

    ***

    NEOMA was falling while thousands of lightning arrows poured down to hit her.

    Ah, she was having that nightmare again.

    The nightmare where she was falling from the sky while reaching her hands to Commander Yoan- yearning to be held by him onest time.

    Of course, themander didn¡¯t move an inch.

    She couldn¡¯t see his face clearly because her eyes were misty. But she could see his lips move, and she could read what he was trying to tell her.

    It was a promise.

    A promise too sweet for her to believe.

    So, in the end, she would just close her eyes- dropping her arms, letting go of her tiny desire to live and be with him.

    And then she would fall into the deepest part of the ¡°ocean¡± made of Impure Mana- Impure Mana created from thousands of Darkness attribute users that she had killed. Her life would end in the part of the ¡°ocean¡± that light couldn¡¯t reach.

    That was how she would die in her recurring nightmare.

    Neoma of the first timeline was swallowed by the Darkness she created herself.

    After witnessing her own end, Neoma would wake up from that awful dream...

    ...while calling and reaching for Yoan.

    ¡°Neoma,¡± her mother called her name worriedly, then her mother gently grabbed her hands. ¡°It¡¯s alright, baby. I¡¯m here.¡±

    ¡°Mother...?¡±

    ¡°Yes, baby. It¡¯s me,¡± her mother said. ¡°But why are you suddenly calling me formally...?¡±

    She was still disoriented, so she couldn¡¯t understand why her mother was surprised by what she called her.

    What was she supposed to call her mother?

    Her brain couldn¡¯t understand.

    ¡°Mother, it¡¯s cold and dark in here,¡± she said weakly, her voice trembling. ¡°I¡¯m scared. I don¡¯t want to die alone again...¡±

    ¡°Neoma, what are you talking about...¡± Her mother trailed off. ¡°Your temperature keeps on rising,¡± she said worriedly. ¡°Your fever is so high, baby. Let me get you some medicine-¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t go, Mother,¡± she pleaded with her. ¡°Please don¡¯t leave me. The Darkness scares me.¡±

    ¡°But the lights are bright...¡±

    Were they?

    Then why couldn¡¯t she see anything at the moment?

    Well, she couldn¡¯t even tell whether this was a dream or a reality. Her mother died a long time ago, right? She didn¡¯t get to meet her. But she was talking to her so naturally now.

    [Am I imagining things as I sink deeper into the ocean?]

    Ocean?

    Hah.

    Who was she deceiving?

    ¡°The ocean that I created from the Impure Mana of the lives I¡¯ve taken... it¡¯s deep,¡± she whispered, her voice cracking. ¡°I wonder if this is as deep as the resentment they have against me...?¡±

    ¡°Neoma...¡±

    She could hear and feel the pain in her mother¡¯s voice.

    But she couldn¡¯t stop to ask her mother if she was alright.

    ¡°I don¡¯t mind dying for the sake of the world,¡± Neoma whispered, her tired eyes slowly closing. ¡°All I asked was to be surrounded by the people I loved before I go... but why do I always die alone?¡±

    ***

    ¡°WHEN Prince Nero stabbed and left me to die, I didn¡¯t feel any resentment towards my twin brother,¡± Neoma de Moonasterio, the dying princess, said while sitting on top of the rock. She was on the part of the Upper World where she could see the world still burning from her me- the me that would only die out with her death. ¡°I thought it was inevitable for me to end up that way because I tried to bind our lives together for my survival.¡±

    ¡°Is it different this time?¡± Yoan Solfrid, the God yer who couldn¡¯t turn his back on his divine duty, asked in a voice that barely reached the princess¡¯s ears. ¡°Do you resent me?¡±

    The dying princess smiled and shook her head. ¡°You did the right thing, Commander,¡± she said. ¡°I am the viiness who set the world on fire, and you¡¯re the hero who¡¯s about to save the world from its biggest enemy. I don¡¯t resent you, but...¡±

    ¡°But...?¡±

    ¡°But I feel lonely,¡± she said, then sheughed shallowly. ¡°I wish there was at least one person to watch me go.¡±

    Yoan Solfrid closed his eyes. ¡°Neoma...¡±

    ¡°But I can¡¯t ask you to die with me, can I?¡± Neoma asked, smiling sadly at themander. ¡°So, the next time we meet, please don¡¯t let me die alone, Yoan.¡±

    .....

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 482

    Chapter 482: DON¡¯T CRY- YOU¡¯RE NEOMA!

    NIKOLAI was surprised when Stephanie and Alphen came out of Nero¡¯s room with cuts on their faces.

    He also noticed that their clothes were dirty.

    Judging by the tray holding broken pieces of tableware in Alphen¡¯s hands, he could already guess what happened.

    [Nero probably threw his dinner at them.]

    Stephanie and Alphen were both Mana users. The fact that they got hurt only meant Nero used enough force to hurt the servants.

    ¡°Go to Marcus and get treated for your injuries,¡± Niki said to Stephanie and Alphen who were both bowing their heads toward him. ¡°You¡¯ll also bepensated for getting hurt while serving the Crown Prince.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for Your Majesty¡¯s generosity,¡± Stephanie and Alphen said at the same time.

    .....

    ¡°And I will scold Nero so that something like this won¡¯t happen again.¡±

    Both Stephanie and Alphen raised their heads in shock.

    ¡°Your Majesty, please don¡¯t scold Prince Nero for our sake,¡± Stephanie pleaded with him. ¡°We understand that His Royal Highness is currently unwell, so we don¡¯t me him for his actions.¡±

    ¡°I agree with Stephanie, Your Majesty,¡± Alphen said earnestly. ¡°We appreciate Your Majesty¡¯s concern. But we don¡¯t want Prince Nero to be scolded since he¡¯s already being punished. Please be lenient to His Royal Highness.¡±

    The two bowed deeper this time while asking for his leniency for Nero¡¯s sake.

    Tsk.

    Stephanie and Alphen would always take his children¡¯s sides. They would spoil his daughter like this, too. It was good to know that the two were loyal to Neoma and Nero, though.

    ¡°Don¡¯t spoil the kids too much,¡± he scolded the two slightly, then he waved them off. ¡°Leave and get yourself treated.¡±

    Stephanie and Alphen bowed their heads.

    Geoffrey Kinsley, the one he assigned to guard the room where Nero was confined in, bowed to him before opening the doors.

    He entered Nero¡¯s bedroom.

    Fortunately, his son was still awake.

    He was supposed to scold Nero, but he got worried when he saw his son clutching his head again. Although it had already been normal for Nero to have a headache ever since his Lunacy began, it didn¡¯t mean he had gotten used to seeing his son in pain.

    ¡°Nero, you should take your medicine,¡± he said, then he sat beside his son while looking for his medicine on the bedside table.

    ¡°Father...¡±

    He froze when he heard Nero¡¯s cracked voice.

    When he turned to his son, he was shocked to see him crying.

    ¡°Nero, what¡¯s wrong?¡± he asked worriedly. ¡°Where does it hurt?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, Father,¡± Nero said in a hoarse voice, his tears falling from his face nonstop. ¡°I don¡¯t know why I can¡¯t stop crying...¡±

    He wasn¡¯t good atforting other people.

    But as soon as he saw the pain in his son¡¯s eyes, he knew that he could only do one thing at the moment.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright to cry, Nero,¡± Niki said, then he gently pulled Nero for a hug. Then he patted his son¡¯s back. He would admit that he felt awkward because he wasn¡¯t used to getting this affectionate with his children yet. But as a father, he couldn¡¯t just watch his son cry withoutforting him. ¡°Just let it all out.¡±

    He expected his son to push him away since they had the same personality.

    Moreover, he knew that Nero didn¡¯t really like him.

    [Well, he only likes Neoma...]

    His thoughts were distracted when he felt Nero¡¯s arms around him as he buried his face against his chest.

    Ah.

    He felt shy, but he also felt touched that his prideful son who saw him as apetition (to his beloved twin sister¡¯s attention) relied on him.

    Nero let him see him in his vulnerable state, and he was grateful for that.

    As a father, he felt even more protective of his son.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Nero,¡± Niki whispered, saying those words again and again. ¡°Just cry your heart out- I¡¯ll be here with you until you feel okay.¡±

    ***

    MONA smiled while looking at Lewis Crevan.

    The fox boy was kneeling beside the bed while looking at Neoma without blinking. His glowing gold eyes were filled with worry. And even if there weren¡¯t tears in his eyes, she could tell that he was crying inside.

    [He really cares about my daughter.]

    ¡°Neoma has a high fever, and she was delirious as a result,¡± Mona exined gently to the child. ¡°But she has calmed down now.¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma¡¯s sleep... it¡¯s deep,¡± Lewis said worriedly. ¡°She has to wake up.¡±

    The fox boy didn¡¯t even turn to her.

    In a normal situation, that would have been considered disrespectful and he could have been punished for his misconduct in front of a matriarch. Although House Roseheart was no longer a proper noble household, she still had a higher rank than Lewis Crevan.

    But she didn¡¯t care about that.

    ¡°I¡¯m trying to wake her up, but I can¡¯t reach my daughter¡¯s consciousness. It¡¯s too dark in there,¡± she said in a sad voice. ¡°And she doesn¡¯t recognize me.¡±

    Lewis finally turned to her. ¡°Princess Neoma doesn¡¯t recognize her Mama Boss?¡±

    Aww.

    It was adorable how the fox boy referred to her using Neoma¡¯s endearment for her.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, she can¡¯t recognize me. She calls me ¡®Mother¡¯ instead of ¡®Mama Boss,''¡± she exined sadly. ¡°I have a feeling that her recurring nightmare is rted to her first life.¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± the young man said, his face devastated. ¡°Princess Neoma believes that she has no one in her first life. We can¡¯t probably reach her consciousness because she doesn¡¯t recognize any of us.¡±

    Ah.

    Lewis made a good point.

    [Neoma probably knows that I¡¯m her mother, but she thinks I¡¯m just her imagination.]

    ¡°The only one who can pull Princess Neoma out of darkness is herself,¡± Lewis said, then he stood up and pulled out a brilliant marble from the breast pocket of his knight¡¯s uniform. The stone that was the size of a quail egg looked like a mini replica of the moon. ¡°Lady Roseheart, may I feed this to Princess Neoma?¡±

    She approached the fox boy to take a closer look at the marble in his hand. ¡°That is not your Fox¡¯s Marble, is it?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not the Marble that contains my life force,¡± he assured her. ¡°I give Princess Neoma a precious marble made of my Mana every year as a birthday present. And in return, she gives me a marble that contains her favorite memory of the year.¡±

    Ohh.

    [They exchange marbles every year? That¡¯s cute.]

    ¡°This one is the marble that Princess Neoma gave me when she turned thirteen years old,¡± the young fox said. ¡°Will it help if we feed this to Princess Neoma?¡±

    She didn¡¯t think of that, but it wasn¡¯t a bad idea.

    [The marble contains Neoma, and it has pieces of her memories, too. It might clear the darkness that engulfs her consciousness at the moment.]

    ¡°That might work, Lewis,¡± Mona said while nodding. ¡°Let¡¯s do it.¡±

    Lewis bowed his head. ¡°Thank you, Lady Roseheart.¡±

    ***

    NEOMA found herself inside that nightmare again.

    She was sinking deep in Darkness, her hands reaching out to nothingness. Ah, she was dying again. She hoped it ended faster this time.

    [It¡¯s getting hard to breathe...]

    She was about to close her eyes when she saw a single ray of light.

    [Light?]

    She forced to open her tired eyes wide.

    And that was when she confirmed that she wasn¡¯t dreaming. There was really a small ball of light floating in front of her. It started as a small, blinding dot in the endless darkness. But as it got nearer, it also got bigger.

    Huh?

    The ball of light... talked?

    She closed her eyes when the ball of light suddenly shined brighter than it already was.

    She opened her eyes when she felt a hand grab her hand.

    Much to her shock, she saw her younger version in front of her. The young Neoma grabbed her hand gently, then she pulled her up.

    .....

    Huh?

    [What¡¯s going on?]

    How could this child pull her up easily when her body was supposed to be big and heavy? When she reached his maximum potential as a de Moonasterio, her physical appearance also changed. To be precise, her size.

    She became as huge as a mountain- just like when gods descend to the human world.

    But now that she was looking at her arm, she realized that she had turned back into her normal human size.

    [How did this happen...?]

    ¡°Child, stop,¡± Neoma said to herself. ¡°There¡¯s no way out in this endless Darkness!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Neoma- I find ways.¡±

    What?

    ¡°Girl, just trust me,¡± her younger version said. ¡°If I can¡¯t find a way, then I¡¯ll make one.¡±

    She was honestly bbergasted now.

    [This child looks like me, but she talks differently...]

    ¡°This is why the ocean scares me,¡± her younger versionined. ¡°It¡¯s so fucking deep.¡±

    Her eyes went wide. [Did the child just... just use a bad word?]

    ¡°And it¡¯s so dark,¡± the child continued whining, then she raised her other hand. ¡°Tteokbokki, let there be light!¡±

    [Who is she talking to...?]

    She was shocked when she heard the voice of a boy that vibrated in the ¡°water,¡± but she didn¡¯t see anyone else besides her and her younger version.

    The childughed. ¡°But Tteokbokki, you understand what I want anyway, right?¡±

    Much to her surprise, a ball of fire came out of the child¡¯s hand.

    Then the ball of fire skyrocketed until it reached what seemed to be the dark sky. Then it exploded like fireworks. The next thing she knew, the sky had already lit up.

    [What...]

    ¡°We¡¯re finally out,¡± her younger self eximed, then she turned to her. ¡°Girl, can you breathe now?¡±

    She was surprised to realize that, yes, she could finally breathe again.

    Moreover, the endless ¡°ocean¡± she was trapped in disappeared. And now, she found herself in the middle of a shore. The sand under her feet was... pink?

    ¡°I like pink,¡± her younger version said with a shrug, then she pointed at the sky. ¡°Look at the strawberry moon. It¡¯s pretty, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    When she looked up at the night sky, she realized that her younger self was correct.

    Even the moon was pink.

    [It¡¯s so pretty.]

    When did thest time she saw something as beautiful as a strawberry moon?

    Her chest was suddenly filled with a warm feeling.

    ¡°This is our world, so everything is possible as long as we put our mind into it,¡± her younger version said firmly, making her turn to the child. ¡°Neoma of the first timeline, don¡¯t cry.¡±

    Her hands automatically reached for her face.

    Ah, her younger self was right.

    Her face was wet with tears.

    ¡°Don¡¯t cry- you¡¯re Neoma. You are me, and I am you,¡± her younger self said, then she floated and cupped her face between her hands. She brushed her tears away with her fingers. ¡°We make people cry- not the other way around.¡±

    Neoma, for the first time since forever, let out a softugh.

    [Who¡¯s this weird kid?]

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 483

    Chapter 483: I LOVE YOU

    NIKOLAI caught Nero who fell asleep in his arms.

    He felt gutted when he saw his son¡¯s puffy eyes.

    [Nero is not the type to cry even when he¡¯s in pain- let alone cry in front of other people.]

    The fact that his son showed his vulnerable side to him was a testament to how much pain he was in.

    [Is this caused by his Lunacy? Or is he sharing Neoma¡¯s pain?]

    It seemed to be thetter.

    ording to Mona, Neoma was suffering from a high fever apanied by what seemed to be nightmares. Like Nero, their daughter would also cry uncontrobly in her sleep. Only the twins could understand each other¡¯s pain.

    .....

    [Unfortunately, Mona and I couldn¡¯t help our children at times like this.]

    But they could do one thing for Neoma and Nero, though.

    Niki carried Nero in his arms carefully, covering his son with the Azure Dragon¡¯s mist power in order to hide his face. [Our family must stay together during difficult times.]

    ***

    ¡°I THOUGHT you were my younger version,¡± Neoma said to the child in front of her. ¡°But the way you think and speak is different from me.¡±

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s because I¡¯m Neoma Version 2.0,¡± the child said, then she let go of her face. But she remained suspended in the air so that their eye level would remain even. ¡°You may not know this, so I¡¯m telling you now: we regressed after you died.¡±

    ¡°Regress?¡± she asked, confused. ¡°Are you saying that you traveled back in time? How old are you now?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s hard to exin, but yeah. That¡¯s the gist of it,¡± the child said while nodding. ¡°I¡¯m actually back as Neoma de Moonasterio, and I¡¯m currently thirteen years old. Just like you, I¡¯m not recognized as the royal princess. Not yet, at least.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re talking as if there¡¯s a chance you¡¯d be recognized as the royal princess.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll soon be introduced as the royal princess.¡±

    ¡°By whose order?¡±

    ¡°Papa Boss.¡±

    ¡°And who is that?¡±

    ¡°His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Niki de Moonasterio- the one and only Moon of the Great Moonasterion Empire.¡±

    Her eyes went wide. ¡°His Majesty... our father?¡±

    The child smiled at her smugly. ¡°I worked hard to change my life in the present. This time, I gained the love of people that matter to me. Do you know who my first victim- I mean, the first person to fall for my charm?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I don¡¯t understand...¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Nero,¡± the child said smugly. ¡°That twin brother of ours loves me to death. Heh.¡±

    She was too shocked to react.

    ¡°It¡¯s true,¡± the child insisted. ¡°I have another younger brother. His name is Tteokbokki, and he¡¯s my Soul Beast.¡±

    She was confused by what the child said. [She has a Soul Beast?]

    ¡°And I also have children now.¡±

    Her eyes went wide again. ¡°Excuse me?¡±

    ¡°My oldest son is called Lewis, and he¡¯s thest member of the Silver Fox n,¡± the child gushed. ¡°Well, physically, he¡¯s not the oldest among my six children. But since he¡¯s the first child I adopted, I call him my oldest.¡±

    Now she was really rendered speechless.

    [She said she¡¯s only thirteen. But why did she ¡°adopt¡± so many children?]

    ¡°I have three more sons: Jeno Dankworth, Xion Redgrave, and little Greko- our maknae,¡± her younger version said. ¡°And I have two daughters: Juri Wisteria and Paige Avery.¡±

    Some of the family names that the child mentioned were familiar.

    [Dankworth? Wisteria? Those are noble households in the empire.]

    She couldn¡¯t just remember if she had destroyed those two noble households during the war.

    ¡°Aside from my children, I have dependable friends, too,¡± her younger version continued boasting. ¡°My bestie Hanna Quinzel, my oppa Jasper Hawthorne, my unnie Queen Brigitte of Hazelden, and the Pdins. Oh, Stephanie and Alphen are really kind to me as well. I¡¯m not sure if I¡¯m already friends with Dahlia, but she passed the vibes check, so I guess we¡¯re cool?¡±

    She couldn¡¯t believe it.

    Those were familiar names, and some of them stood out.

    [We thought Hanna died when she was eleven. But my other self said earlier that she¡¯s thirteen years old. So, Hanna didn¡¯t die early in her timeline?]

    And one more thing...

    ¡°Jasper...¡± she said, breaking her silence. A lump formed in her throat, but she held back her tears. ¡°Is he doing well?¡±

    ¡°Jasper oppa? Yeah, he¡¯s doing well,¡± the child said. ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Jasper Hawthorne died for me.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t make him sacrifice his life for you,¡± she warned the child. Then she paused and shook her head before she rephrased her own words. ¡°Don¡¯t let anyone die for your sake.¡±

    ¡°Then should I let myself die instead?¡±

    She was taken aback not only by the child¡¯s sharp response, but also by the sudden glow of her now red eyes, but by the sudden glow of her now red eyes. ¡°That¡¯s not what I mean...¡±

    ¡°Well, you¡¯re not wrong,¡± the child said with a shrug. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t hesitate to sacrifice myself for my people, and I¡¯m sure that they would do the same for me. But the most ideal situation is to never sacrifice anyone in the first ce.¡±

    ¡°As you said, it¡¯s the ideal situation,¡± she said. ¡°But the reality isn¡¯t always ideal.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true, but my resolve to live is strong, so you don¡¯t have to worry about me,¡± the child said firmly. ¡°I will live, and I will protect my people.¡±

    She clenched her hands tight, her chest protesting.

    After all, she had once thought of living with the people she cherished, too.

    ¡°Young Neoma, what will you do if your world rejects your existence despite your efforts to save it?¡±

    ¡°I will run away to another world with my people.¡±

    She was surprised by the child¡¯s quick yet firm response.

    [It¡¯s as if she has already thought about it a long time ago.]

    ¡°I already know that this world only sees me as either a purifier or a threat- especially the gods,¡± the child said. ¡°If they can¡¯t have me, they¡¯d rather kill me. Isn¡¯t that right?¡±

    She couldn¡¯t deny that.

    The gods used her to defeat Darkness and save not only the human world- but the other worlds that they governed like the Spirit World. But instead of rewarding her for her good deeds, they asked her to be the Aether as if she owed them her life.

    And when she refused, they took away her precious people one by one.

    So, as revenge, she destroyed all the lives that she had saved before.

    ¡°I saw it when you set the world on fire.¡±

    She smirked bitterly. ¡°Saying that I set the world on fire is putting it nicely.¡±

    ¡°It was beautiful.¡±

    The child¡¯s remark surprised her. ¡°It was... beautiful?¡±

    ¡°I know that you wouldn¡¯t have set the world on fire on a whim,¡± her younger version said. ¡°But I also know that nothing justifies a mass murder.¡±

    ¡°Then why did you say it was beautiful?¡±

    ¡°It is what it is,¡± the child said firmly. ¡°And I only said that the me that engulfed the world was aesthetically pleasing. I didn¡¯t say it was right or wrong.¡±

    Oh.

    The child had a point.

    [But you wouldn¡¯t normally call an atrocity ¡®beautiful,¡¯ would you?]

    ¡°I can see that you regret it, though,¡± her younger version said. ¡°Were you sad because you died alone?¡±

    ¡°It was scary to die alone in a dark ce,¡± she confessed. ¡°Especially if you die in the hell that you created yourself.¡±

    ¡°I guess it¡¯s what you call ¡®karma.''¡±

    She frowned at the child¡¯s calloused remark. ¡°I don¡¯t appreciate how you take things too lightly, child.¡±

    ¡°Do I look like I¡¯m taking things ¡°too lightly?¡±¡±

    The look in the child¡¯s glowing red eyes gave her the chills.

    .....

    [Ah, I¡¯ve made a mistake.]

    The child wasn¡¯t taking things lightly.

    Her younger version spoke strange things that she barely understood. But the confidence and the calmness in the child¡¯s voice came from one thing: eptance.

    ¡°You already resigned yourself to your fate,¡± she said, amazed and scared at the same time. ¡°And you¡¯ve epted everything that came with it- even the tragedy.¡±

    ¡°When you take the life of another person, you must be prepared for your life to be taken away, too,¡± the child said solemnly. ¡°My pretty little hands have already killed many lives. Plus, the throne that I n to take is built on sins, blood, and tears. Sitting on that throne also means I¡¯m prepared to inherit the bad karma that the de Moonasterios have umted since time immemorial.¡±

    Ah.

    She was speechless.

    Those words were heavy,ing from a thirteen-year-old child.

    When she was at that age, all she had worried about was having a family that would love her. Compared to that, this young Neoma in front of her was already carrying the burden she had carried on her shoulders when she was in her early twenties.

    ¡°Just what kind of life have you lived so far, young Neoma?¡± she wondered aloud. ¡°And here I thought my life was miserable.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m living the life of the main character, so I¡¯m fine,¡± the child answered cheerfully. ¡°The genre of my life almost became a thriller during my childhood because our father was a scumbag back then, so I would often get the urge to stab him in the throat. But I raised him well, and now our father ispletely a human.¡±

    She didn¡¯t have the chance to get close to her father, but the young Neoma in front of her didn¡¯t seem like she was lying.

    ¡°Mama Boss, our mother, is also alive.¡±

    She was surprised to hear that.

    ¡°We¡¯re all living well,¡± the child continued softly. ¡°Me, Nero, Papa Boss, and Mama Boss.¡±

    Although she couldn¡¯t imagine how it happened, she was d to hear that.

    [This young Neoma... looks pretty happy and contented.]

    Why wouldn¡¯t she be?

    The child had aplete family, friends, and allies that would die for her, and a positive mindset to boot.

    She noticed something missing, though.

    ¡°Haven¡¯t you met him yet?¡± she asked nervously. ¡°I¡¯m talking about Commander Yoan Solfrid.¡±

    ¡°A Commander Yoan Solfrid doesn¡¯t exist in my world.¡±

    Her eyes went wide. ¡°Impossible. He may not be amander yet. But his name as a knight should already be famous around this time-¡±

    ¡°However, I met a boy with purple hair and dark purple eyes,¡± the child said, cutting her off. ¡°Gosh, that boy is such a simp for me.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m saying that he likes me too much,¡± her younger versionined yfully. ¡°His name is Ruto Stroganoff- and he¡¯s a very excellent chef.¡±

    A chef?

    [Ruto... Stroganoff.]

    Yoan¡¯s father was Chef Morton Stroganoff. But when he became themander of the White Lion Knights, he chose to use his mother¡¯s family name to honor the Solfrids who were known as the East Continent¡¯s Holy Guardians.

    But when the young Neoma regressed, the Yoan Solfrid of her timeline had be Ruto Stroganoff...

    ... and a chef, at that.

    Her heart thumped hard and fast against her chest as her eyes brimmed with tears.

    [Yoan, you fulfilled your promise.]

    She was certain that themander became a chef because of his promise to her.

    ¡°I¡¯ve seen thest moments of your life,¡± the child said in a soft, sympathizing voice. ¡°You set the world on fire, and so Commander Yoan ended your life in order to save the world. It was truly unfortunate, but I¡¯m grateful for one thing.¡±

    ¡°And what would it be?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m grateful that you and Commander Yoan didn¡¯t resent each other,¡± the child said, smiling sadly. ¡°Commander Yoan didn¡¯t hate you for burning the world he cherished, and you didn¡¯t hate themander for ending your life for the greater good.¡±

    She smiled, and her smile mirrored the child¡¯s. ¡°We made our own choices back then and stood by them, so why would we resent each other?¡±

    ¡°But it hurt, didn¡¯t it?¡±

    Sheughed, and this time, it was an honestugh from the heart.

    It was because she found the child¡¯s question cute.

    ¡°Young Neoma, when you¡¯re literally fighting against the entire world, a heartbreak would be the least of your concerns,¡± she exined to the child as gently and as simple as she could. ¡°You may not understand it yet. Butpared to being hunted down by the most powerful beings in the world, breaking up with your lover would be pretty trivial.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± the child said. ¡°If it were me, I¡¯d make a big deal out of a break-up.¡±

    Sheughed again, then she patted the child¡¯s head. It was probably too early to talk about love and rtionships with her younger self. ¡°Be kind to ¡°Ruto Stroganoff.¡± Don¡¯t take him for granted like what I did to Commander Yoan.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m good to him.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t leave him to carry the weight of saving the world alone.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m determined to deal with my problems on my own, if I could.¡±

    She turned more serious. ¡°Do you have all the memories of your past life?¡±

    The child shook her head.

    ¡°I thought so,¡± she said, already expecting that answer. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t stay sane if you remember all of your past memories.¡±

    Her younger version gulped, but she didn¡¯t open her mouth.

    ¡°Younger Neoma, aren¡¯t you going to ask about the past?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve already learned my lesson,¡± the child said while shaking her head firmly. ¡°You woke up because I learned something that I shouldn¡¯t learn yet. Although I¡¯m curious about my past, I have to hold back because now is an important time for me. I cannot lose my mind.¡±

    The child had a point.

    ¡°Moreover, your life is very different from mine,¡± her younger version said. ¡°The things that happened in the past may not happen in my timeline. However, I¡¯m sure we have the same enemies: the crows, the gods who want to make me their air purifier, and the nobles of the empire who hate me for being a female Roseheart. I know that the Devil is also a threat, but I feel like I can handle them just fine. And I¡¯m not sure about the Spirit World yet.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right for naming the crows, the gods, and the nobles as the biggest threats in your life,¡± she said seriously. ¡°I¡¯m d that you know who your enemies are. Now, let me tell you what you need in order to seed as a female de Moonasterio-Roseheart.¡±

    The child beamed. ¡°I¡¯m all ears.¡±

    ¡°First, bring back the former glory of the Four Pirs in order to seize the power over the nobles.¡±

    The child nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll remember that.¡±

    ¡°Then find Serafina- a celestial being who can help you turn the Upper World upside down,¡± she continued. ¡°Unfortunately, I don¡¯t know where you can find Serafina since she just appears whenever she wants to. If ever you met her, I guarantee you that you can trust her.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I will put my faith on you, girl.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± she said, then she paused before she said her final advice. ¡°Don¡¯t kill Regina Crowell.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not saying that she¡¯s an ally,¡± she cleared right away since she didn¡¯t want her younger self to misunderstand her words. ¡°But even if she¡¯s an enemy, her real ability is useful. One of my regrets in my life is killing her early. If I had known sooner that she had a valuable ability, I would have taken advantage of her first before I killed her.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s her ability?¡±

    She told the child about Regina Crowell¡¯s secret, but...

    ¡°Argh!¡± the young Neomained, then she covered her ears with her hands. ¡°There¡¯s a loud buzz in my head! I can¡¯t hear you!¡±

    She was confused as to why the child suddenly couldn¡¯t hear her.

    But she finally realized what was happening.

    [The present Neoma isn¡¯t supposed to know about this information yet.]

    That probably meant Regina Crowell hadn¡¯t discovered her real power yet in the child¡¯s present time.

    [The young Neoma couldn¡¯t be aware of a piece of information that isn¡¯t avable in her world yet.]

    She made a mistake.

    Because she tried to inform the young Neoma of something non-existent, they caught the attention of the gods.

    As a result, their time together was cut short.

    ¡°Oh, no,¡± the young Neoma said when she realized that her body was already slowly disappearing. When the child looked at her, she saw panic in her eyes. ¡°Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio of the first timeline- I love you!¡±

    She was surprised by what her younger self said. ¡°What...?¡±

    ¡°I love you even if you burned the world! I love you even if you made the wrong decision andmitted mass murder! I love you even if everyone had turned their backs on you!¡± the child yelled in a cracked voice, silent tears now rolling down her cheeks. ¡°It¡¯s okay even if you doubt Commander Yoan¡¯s love for you. But please remember to love yourself because even if you became the world¡¯s most dangerous enemy in the first timeline, I still love you!¡±

    Ah.

    Those words touched her heart genuinely. Before she knew it, she was already crying with her younger self.

    ¡°I know it¡¯s scary and sad to die alone in a dark ce, and you don¡¯t deserve that kind of ending,¡± the young Neoma said between sobs, between hups. ¡°But I still want you to know that you did well! Thank you for sacrificing yourself- for being the unsung hero of your time! I¡¯m proud of you for enduring it even though it was hard!¡±

    By that time, she was already sobbing hard.

    She didn¡¯t save the world (before her Lunacy) to be appreciated, but it felt nice to hear those words from her younger self.

    Before she lost her mind, only a few recognized her hard work. Most people and beings around her acted as if it should only be natural for her to save everyone because she had the ability to do so.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay to rest now!¡± young Neoma yelled as she sobbed harder. ¡°You deserve it!¡±

    She couldn¡¯t help but let out a loud cry this time.

    When she was still fighting for the world, nobody listened to her when she said she was tired. They made her feel guilty for ¡°not doing her best¡± during the times that she felt weak. But now, the weight was finally lifted off of her shoulders.

    ¡°I will live well for the both of us!¡± the young Neoma promised her. ¡°I will cherish our family, our friends, and our allies more! I will fuck up our enemies so bad they wish they weren¡¯t born in the same period as me!¡±

    Did the child just... curse?

    She couldn¡¯t help butugh when she heard her younger self cuss. Even so, her tears still wouldn¡¯t stop from falling.

    ¡°I¡¯m already too obsessed with myself, but I will love and treasure myself even more until my arrogance pierces the Upper World!¡± the young Neoma continued with her promises, her voice cracking- but not her resolve. ¡°I will collect more happy memories than the tragic ones you have! I will save more lives than you have taken! I will atone for all the sins that wemitted in the first timeline! I will save your soul!¡± The child sobbed harder while rubbing her eyes with her hands. ¡°We¡¯re okay now... We are loved now... And we will never be alone again, so please... Please rest in peace now...¡±

    Her younger self¡¯s feelings definitely reached her.

    She took a deep breath, then she cupped her mouth with her hands before she yelled at the top of her lungs- her cracked voice filled with gratitude. ¡°Let¡¯s not meet again, young Neoma! You don¡¯t have to return here again because this time, I will save myself! I want you to focus on your current self and live your life without worrying about the past! You cannot fix my mistakes, but you can make your life better! I will learn to love myself again, so please never fall into the Darkness!¡±

    It seemed like this time, the child could hear again because sheughed and nodded.

    ¡°Young Neoma, it¡¯s not and it will never be your responsibility to save the world- so please choose yourself if you can,¡± she said, smiling while wiping the tears off of her face with her hands. ¡°I love you, too.¡±

    The child put her hands together until they formed a heart.

    Aww, it was cute.

    Sadly, the child¡¯s body was barely visible now- she was disappearing fast.

    But she was grateful.

    She had finally found peace.

    Thanks to the appearance of the young Neoma, her recurring nightmare of dying alone in the ocean that she created from her sins would finally stop.

    ¡°Young Neoma, let¡¯s love and cherish them this time,¡± Neoma said to the young Neoma, smiling genuinely and warmly for the first time in a while. ¡°My Commander Yoan and your Chef Ruto.¡±

    ***

    WHEN Neoma opened her eyes, she was greeted by her family¡¯s worried faces.

    Nero.

    Mama Boss.

    Papa Boss.

    [Ah, I¡¯m back.]

    She was finally home.

    Neoma couldn¡¯t help but smile despite the tears trickling down her face. ¡°I love you,¡± she said softly while looking at her family members¡¯ surprised faces. ¡°Nero, Mama Boss, Papa Boss- I love you three so big.¡±

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 484

    Chapter 484: D-DAY

    AFTER NEOMA woke up from her deep slumber where she met the Neoma of the first timeline, she dedicated thest three days of her ¡°vacation¡± before school started.

    That also meant her fight with Hanna and Calyx Dalton would begin then.

    And her training?

    [Heh.]

    She smirked after creating a perfect, beautiful Dome that looked like it was made from clear ice. She mixed her Mana with Delwyn¡¯s ice to make a more durable Dome knowing that Lewis wouldn¡¯t hold back.

    Yes, she was currently sparring with her ¡°son¡± and she asked him not to hold back.

    From inside the Dome, she could see Lewis¡¯s glowing golden eyes while he was above her- his leg ready to kick the hell out of her shield.

    .....

    It was a drop kick from above.

    And as soon as the heel of Lewis¡¯sbat boot touched her Dome, her pathetic Dome crumbled like the fragile ss it was.

    [Fucking hell- Lewis is living up to his reputation as ¡®One-kick Lewis.¡¯]

    She shouldn¡¯t have given that fancy title to her ¡°son.¡±

    Tsk.

    She braced for the impact of Lewis¡¯s drop kick. But her pathetically weak body was sent flying from the impact of Lewis¡¯s Mana crashing against her broken Dome. The next thing she knew, her back already hit a tree since they were having their sparring at the forest that served as her private training ground.

    [Argh.]

    If she had her usual strength, the tree should have been destroyed by the impact of her back hitting its trunk. But since she was physically weak at the moment, the tree didn¡¯t even get an impact.

    She, on the other hand, felt a rib or two break from the impact. Worse, she felt the broken rib puncture her chest wall.

    It resulted to her coughing up blood.

    Of course, she covered her entire body with Mana as protection. But just like her fragile Dome, her Mana was so damned weak at the moment.

    [Oh, how the great Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio has fallen.]

    ¡°Princess Neoma!¡±

    She slowly stood up while her hand was ced gently on top of her sides where she felt her ribs break. She tried to smile at Lewis who was running full speed in her direction. But her smile faded as soon as she realized that there was pretty much a significant distance from where she was standing earlier to where she was sent flying.

    [I... was sent flying this far?]

    Lewis looked horrified when he saw the blood around her mouth. ¡°Princess Neoma, I¡¯m so so-¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t apologize,¡± Neoma scolded him. ¡°I¡¯ll feel more pathetic if you apologized, Lewis.¡±

    It hurt her ego.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go to the infirmary,¡± Lewis said worriedly. ¡°I think you broke your ribs.¡±

    ¡°Nah, I¡¯m not that hurt,¡± she said. ¡°I think Mama Boss can heal this level of injury.¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s go to Lady Roseheart.¡±

    She nodded, then she looked at her ¡°son¡± with sad eyes. ¡°Lewis, I¡¯m weak as shit right now. And so, I regret to tell you that I don¡¯t deserve to be your mother since you¡¯re stronger than me at the moment,¡± she said, her voice full of regret. Then she put a gloved hand on Lewis¡¯s shoulder. As long as it wasn¡¯t directly skin-to-skin contact, it was fine for him to touch him. ¡°Until I regain my strength, you shouldn¡¯t call me ¡®mother.''¡±

    He gave her an unimpressed look. ¡°I never called you ¡®mother,¡¯ Princess Neoma.¡±

    She clicked her tongue. ¡°Just y along, will you?¡±

    ¡°Stop being dramatic, Princess Neoma,¡± her ¡°son,¡± who looked so done with her, scolded her while shaking his head. ¡°Let¡¯s get you treated first.¡±

    She was astounded. ¡°Ya, how dare you disrespect your mother?!¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you just say that as long as you¡¯re weaker than me, you can¡¯t be my ¡°mother?¡±¡± Lewis asked cheekily, smirking the way she would. ¡°Princess Neoma, until you regain your full strength, you cannot call me your ¡°son.¡±¡±

    Neoma¡¯s jaw fell open.

    [I raised a bad boy!]

    ***

    NERO was on his way to Neoma¡¯s bedroom after Alphen, the nco Pce¡¯s head butler, informed him that his mother was treating his twin sister for an injury thetter got from sparring with Lewis.

    [That damned fox dared to hurt my precious twin sister?]

    ¡°Your Royal Highness, your Mana is fluctuating,¡± Alphen, who was walking behind him, reminded him politely. The way to Neoma¡¯s bedroom was cleared in advance so no other servants would see him. ¡°Please calm down.¡±

    He took a deep breath.

    Ever since he woke after crying in his father¡¯s arms (a shameful memory that he wanted to forget as soon as possible), he finally came back to his senses. But he couldn¡¯t say that he waspletely fine now.

    Minor inconveniences could still piss him off to the point that his bloodlust would leak unintentionally.

    But he found a perfect solution to calm himself down fast: look at Neoma¡¯s face.

    And thus, he began carrying a locket ne with his twin sister¡¯s picture in it.

    He pulled out his locket ne and opened it to look at Neoma¡¯s picture. But just when he was about to calm down, he saw Lewis standing by the door. His mother had probably begun treating Neoma¡¯s injury.

    Lewis bowed to him as a greeting, but his eyes didn¡¯t meet his eyes as if he didn¡¯t care about his existence.

    ¡°Lewis Crevan, how did Neoma get injured?¡± he asked as calmly as he could. ¡°And what kind of injury did she get from sparring with you?¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma hit the wall after my attack identally sent her flying,¡± Lewis said, his eyes focused on the wall in front of him as if he couldn¡¯t see him. ¡°Princess Neoma¡¯s broken rib punctured her lung.¡±

    Then his poor twin sister probably coughed up blood.

    That didn¡¯t sit well with him- and he felt the urge to return the ¡°favor.¡±

    Before he could stop himself from the intrusive thought that crossed his mind, his body had already moved on its own.

    He sucker-punched Lewis in the stomach.

    The fox boy was able to cover his entire body with Mana in time, but his punch was stronger. He felt it in his fist when he broke Lewis¡¯s ribs.

    [An eye for an eye.]

    Lewis coughed up blood.

    Unfortunately, the fox boy wasn¡¯t sent flying by his punch. Hisbat boots were stuck firmly on the floor, creating cracks around it. It was as if Lewis nted himself on the floor so that he wouldn¡¯t be sent flying.

    [I should have punched him harder.]

    But a broken rib didn¡¯t satisfy him.

    Moreover, seeing Lewis¡¯s blood made his bloodlust go crazy.

    Come to think of it, he hadn¡¯t used Zeru that much yet ever since he gained the ice phoenix. Lewis could be a pretty interesting sparring partner, since the fox boy looked like he wanted to kill him, anyway.

    [A few more broken bones won¡¯t kill him, right?]

    ¡°Prince Nero, please stop,¡± Alphen pleaded with him. ¡°Princess Neoma won¡¯t be happy if she finds out you¡¯ve hurt Sir Crevan!¡±

    He ignored the butler, smirking when he saw Lewis¡¯s golden eyes glow menacingly.

    [This fox is ready to fight.]

    He moved his hand that was now covered with a bluish aura, ready to summon Zeru- the ice phoenix- when he felt a terrifying bloodlust behind him.

    ¡°Nero, stop acting like a madman.¡±

    He closed his hand, the thinyer of ice forming around it breaking into tiny pieces. Then he turned around.

    Oh?

    ¡°Why are you making a scene in front of Neoma¡¯s room?¡± Hanna asked in a calm yet stern manner. ¡°I thought you have gotten better, but you¡¯re still acting like a madman. Should I tell His Majesty to confine you again?¡±

    ¡°What did I do wrong?¡± he asked indifferently. ¡°Lewismitted a grave sin by hurting a member of the Royal Family. I only punished him ordingly.¡±

    ¡°It was a sparring, and Lewis won fairly,¡± Hanna said firmly. ¡°Neoma lost because she was weaker than Lewis at the moment.¡±

    Neoma was weaker than Lewis? He didn¡¯t like the sound of that.

    ¡°Neoma must be embarrassed to have a twin brother who would ¡°avenge¡± her just for losing in a sparring,¡± Hanna continued taunting him. It was amazing how her voice could still sound sweet despite her sarcasm. ¡°Nero, if you don¡¯t want to embarrass Neoma further, then stop acting like an idiot.¡±

    He was shocked.

    Even Alphen and Lewis looked shocked by what Hanna said.

    [Did she just call me an idiot?]

    ¡°If you get it, then return to your room. You can¡¯t see Neoma anyway since she took off her clothes while Lady Roseheart is treating her injury,¡± Hanna said, then she turned to Alphen and smiled politely at the butler. ¡°Mr. Alphen, please escort His Royal Highness back to his room.¡±

    Alphen bowed his head towards Hanna.

    .....

    He, on the other hand, was rendered speechless.

    Especially when Hanna walked past him to attend to Lewis.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go to the infirmary, Lewis,¡± Hanna said worriedly. ¡°Neoma wouldn¡¯t like it if she finds out you were hurt because of her.¡±

    What was going on?

    He turned to Hanna with knitted eyebrows.

    Seeing the Quinzel Princess fuss over Lewis didn¡¯t sit well with him.

    ¡°Hanna Quinzel, what are you doing?¡± Nero asked coldly, his hands clenched tight. ¡°You are MY fianc¨¦e.¡±

    ¡°Our engagement isn¡¯t official yet, so I¡¯m not your fianc¨¦e,¡± Hanna retorted with as much coldness as his voice. Even the way she looked at him was void of any emotions. ¡°Even if I was, you do not have the right to control what I do, Prince Nero.¡±

    ¡®Prince Nero.¡¯

    At that moment, Nero felt the cold wall that Hanna put between the two of them.

    ***

    ¡°MAMA BOSS, I don¡¯t think Nero has gotten over his Lunacy yet,¡± Neoma said while shaking her head. ¡°We should still keep an eye on him.¡±

    She could hear and feel what was happening outside her bedroom.

    Hanna was helping her mother treat her broken ribs earlier, but her cousin stepped out to stop themotion outside.

    ¡°Neoma...¡±

    She turned to her mother and was a little confused when she saw that her Mama Boss looked sad.

    Then she realized what caused it.

    After all, her mother¡¯s gaze was focused on the chest binder that she was wearing.

    [Ah, Mama Boss probably feels bad that I have to wear this to hide my real gender.]

    ¡°My breasts started to developst year,¡± she exined to her mother gently. ¡°Paige, my ¡°daughter,¡± made this chest binder for me. This binder is as sturdy as a breastte, Mama Boss. But it feels like a normal fabric, so it doesn¡¯t make me ufortable. My daughter¡¯s magic is really the best.¡±

    ¡°But wearing might hinder your breast growth, baby,¡± her Mama Boss said worriedly. ¡°And doing that might cause damage to your body.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Mama Boss. I learned how to wear the binder properly,¡± she assured her mother. ¡°And Paige makes sure that I¡¯m always in my best condition. Now that Mama Boss is also here, I¡¯m pretty sure my health won¡¯t deteriorate.¡±

    Her mother still looked sad.

    [Ah...]

    ¡°Mama Boss, once Nero has settled downpletely, he¡¯ll reim his ce as the Crown Prince,¡± she said softly. ¡°I won¡¯t have to live like this anymore then. Once I return as Princess Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio, let¡¯s empty the shelves of every female clothing boutique in the whole empire.¡±

    Her mother finally smiled.

    ¡°My Baby Muffin is really sweet,¡± her mother said, then she hugged him and rubbed her cheek against hers. ¡°Neoma, say it again.¡±

    Okay, now she had a bad feeling about this.

    ¡°Say that you love me again, Neoma,¡± her Mama Boss said teasingly. ¡°I was so touched when you said that you love us, Baby Muffin.¡±

    Neoma groaned and cover her blushing face with her hands. [Kill me now!]

    ***

    ¡°TODAY is the beginning of the new academic year in the Royal Moon Academy,¡± Sienna said while standing on the balcony and looking at the rising sun in the sky. ¡°That means today is also the day of the three-way battle among Neoma de Moonasterio, Hanna Quinzel, and Calyx Dalton.¡±

    Yoan had nned to kill Calyx Dalton and save Empress Juliet before the final match.

    But since he lost his memories, he just stayed at the Sun Temple for the past few days while trying to contact his divine father. The God Among Gods didn¡¯t respond to any of his calls, though.

    ¡°Yoan, should we go to the West Continent and observe...¡±

    She trailed off when she turned to Yoan, who was standing beside her quietly.

    [Why...]

    Why was he crying?

    Yoan¡¯s tears were rolling down his cheeks uncontrobly, but it looked like he hadn¡¯t noticed yet that he was crying.

    [Are his memories returning?]

    ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio...¡± Yoan said in a cracked voice, then he clutched his chest tightly. ¡°I wonder why I feel this way whenever I hear her name.¡±

    Her conscience pricked her.

    Actually, Yoan already knew that losing his memories would be inevitable because he was aware of how impatient Neoma de Moonasterio could be. And thus, he made a request to her...

    [¡°Sienna, Neoma isn¡¯t good at listening to me. Her curiosity will surely get the better of her soon, so I have a feeling I¡¯d lose my memories before I aplish my goals. Once that happens, I want you to help me remember everything.¡±]

    [¡°Huh? You have a way to retrieve your memories after you lose them? How meticulous.¡±]

    [¡°Of course- I need to be this meticulous if I want to take care of a wild child like Neoma for the rest of my life.¡±]

    That day, Yoan called Neoma de Moonasterio a ¡°wild child¡± with a warm smile on his face- a smile that he rarely showed other people. And he talked as if ¡°taking care¡± of the little princess was his sole purpose in life.

    [¡°I know my past self very well, so I know that to remember Neoma, all I have to do is...¡±]

    Sienna was conflicted: should she fulfill her promise to Yoan to help him remember Neoma de Moonasterio, or should she just stay quiet, like what the God Among Gods wanted her to do?

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 485

    Chapter 485: I AM THE PLAN

    ¡°I¡¯M SO fucking pretty,¡± Neoma said, then she let out a sigh while looking at her beautiful reflection in the mirror. Even though her hair was short and she was wearing the uniform for the male students of the Royal Moon Academy, she still managed to look pretty. It would be hard to pretend as a boy when her features were so lovely and soft. ¡°Ah, the burden of being born with a shocking visual...¡±

    Thirteen-year-old Neoma would definitely be Royal Moon Academy¡¯s most beautiful face.

    [I can already see myself breaking so many innocent hearts.]

    And damn.

    Royal Moon Academy¡¯s school uniform was pretty cool.

    Actually, it wasn¡¯t that different from the male uniform in Korea. Her uniformprised a white button-down shirt, maroon jacket, maroon vest, maroon necktie (for freshmen), maroon pants, and ck shoes. The buttons and the ents in the clothes were all gold.

    But the coolest thing in the ensemble was the maroon shoulder cape with gold ents. Plus, the golden brooch attached to it: a full moon wearing a crown while floating above an open book- the Royal Moon Academy¡¯s emblem.

    .....

    ¡°Y-Your Royal Highness!¡±

    She looked at Lewis, who was standing behind her, in the mirror.

    Sixteen-year-old Lewis really looked good in his knight¡¯s uniform. Soon, her ¡°son¡± would wear the uniform of her own Knight Order and not the emperor¡¯s.

    [But, gosh.]

    She knew she shouldn¡¯t be saying this towards her ¡°son,¡± but Lewis really grew up as a handsome young man.

    [Here¡¯s another heartbreaker in the making.]

    ¡°B-Blood,¡± Lewis said, his face red as he avoided her gaze in the mirror. ¡°There¡¯s a spot of blood in your pants, Princess Neoma.¡±

    Blood?

    In her pants?

    Neoma gasped when she realized what it could be. ¡°I got my period?¡±

    Why did her menstruation have to begin on her first day as an academy student?!

    [I mean, I already expected this- but it¡¯s still shocking.]

    ***

    ¡°HANNA, you¡¯re so cute!¡± Neoma squealed as soon as Hanna entered her bedroom. ¡°And your uniform is cuter than mine!¡±

    As expected, girls¡¯ uniforms were the best.

    Hanna wore a white ruffle blouse with cor, maroon ribbon, maroon midi jumper skirt, ck thigh-high socks (that almost looked like leggings), and ck shoes. Her uniform also came with the same maroon shoulder cape and brooch that came with the boys¡¯ uniform.

    And her cousin added a little detail to her outfit that made her look cuter: a ck beret.

    That beret really looked good on Hanna!

    ¡°Thank you, Neoma. You look great, too,¡± Hanna said, smiling. But concern was still visible on her face. ¡°Are you okay? Period cramps are painful.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± she assured her cousin, then she put her hands on her abdomen. ¡°I¡¯ll live.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t bring sanitary garments in your bag since everyone¡¯s eyes will be on you. And although unlikely, we shouldn¡¯t diminish the possibility of your things getting stolen,¡± Hanna reminded her gently. ¡°I¡¯ll bring them for you. So, if you need to change, just tell me.¡±

    The ¡®sanitary garments¡¯ used by women in this world were underwear made of a special fabric that worked like a sanitary napkin.

    [Very convenient.]

    ¡°Thank you, Hanna,¡± she said, smiling.

    ¡°You should drink this pill first, Neoma,¡± her Mama Boss, who returned to her room with a ss of water and a pink pill in her hand, said. ¡°This will lessen your abdominal pain for eight hours.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Mama Boss,¡± she said cheerfully, then she took the medicine.

    Her Mama Boss, on the other hand, smiled while looking at her and Hanna. ¡°I¡¯m so proud of you, youngdies,¡± her mother said softly, and it was clear that she was getting emotional. ¡°It¡¯s not easy for girls to enter the Royal Moon Academy- but the two of you didn¡¯t only pass the exam, but you came on top. You did well, Neoma and Hanna.¡±

    Hanna bowed her head towards Mama Boss. ¡°Thank you, Lady Roseheart.¡±

    Her mother smiled and nodded at her cousin.

    A few momentster, Hanna had to leave first when Duke Rufus Quinzel arrived to fetch her. The duke wanted to escort Hanna to the academy in their family¡¯s carriage.

    [Which is understandable.]

    ¡°Is Amber with Rufus?¡± Mama Boss asked Hanna. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen Amber in a while.¡±

    Hanna smiled apologetically. ¡°Mother isn¡¯t with Father right now, Lady Roseheart. My mother went to pick up my grandparents toe and watch my final match. They will head directly to the academy.¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡± her mother asked, smiling understandingly. ¡°Then will it be alright if I invite your mother to the pce for an afternoon tea next time?¡±

    ¡°Of course, Lady Roseheart,¡± Hanna said, then she put her hands over her chest. ¡°I¡¯m sure my mother would love that.¡±

    After that, Neoma and her Mama Boss walked Hanna to the main entrance of the nco Pce where Duke Rufus Quinzel was waiting. After sending off the father-and-daughter duo, she and her mother went to Yule Pce.

    ¡°Neoma, I¡¯m worried,¡± her Mama Boss said while they were walking in the hallway of Yule Pce- holding hands. It was okay for her mother to call her by her name since they were walking while covered by a soundproof barrier. ¡°You¡¯re weak because of your period. Why don¡¯t you just use your Spirits to fight with you instead of depending on your Moonglow? Your Roseheart Blood isn¡¯t a secret, anyway. And since the people of the empire know that a male Roseheart is a special existence, they wouldn¡¯t think badly of you for using Spirits to fight.¡±

    Sheughed softly. ¡°Mama Boss, do you really think that¡¯s the case?¡±

    Her mother fell silent for a moment before her shoulders slumped. ¡°No,¡± she said, disheartened. ¡°The people of this empire would only recognize you if you use your Moonglow and your Soul Beast in the fight.¡±

    ¡°Yep,¡± she said, nodding. ¡°The West Continent worships Lord Yule, and the rulers of the Great Moonasterion Empire are the descendants of the Moon God. The Royal Moon Academy was originally established in order to educate the de Moonasterios properly, and it is run by people who have deep faith in Lord Yule. So, the majority of the poption would get disappointed if I fought using Spirits.¡±

    Moreover, summoning her Spirits required Mana.

    She was low in Mana and Moonglow, so she had to conserve them. The best thing she could do during the fight was to use powerful yet efficient attacks.

    ¡°Do you have a n, Neoma?¡± her Mama Boss asked worriedly. ¡°Will you really be okay?¡±

    ¡°Mama Boss, Grandma Roxana taught me a special technique. Plus, I have a n,¡± Neoma said confidently, then she pointed to herself. ¡°Me- I am the n.¡±

    ***

    ¡°ARE YOU still upset that Neoma scolded you for breaking Lewis Crevan¡¯s ribs?¡±

    Nero almost rolled his eyes at his father¡¯s teasing question.

    But he couldn¡¯t even look at the emperor without remembering the time he cried on his chest like a baby. He wasn¡¯t in his right mind then. Still, he was embarrassed to death. If he could trade half of his life just topletely erase that scene from his mind, he would do it.

    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you looking at me, Nero?¡± his father asked. ¡°Are you still embarrassed for crying-¡±

    ¡°Father,¡± Nero growled at his father, then he finally turned to him. ¡°Can we please not talk about it again?¡±

    The emperor, who was dressed formally (and adorned with luxurious, rare essories from head to toe),ughed merrily. ¡°I am this close,¡± his father said while showing him his index finger and thumb that were about to touch. ¡°I am this close to calling a mage to pluck out that warm memory of us and immortalize it through a photograph.¡±

    He red at his father. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare, Father. I¡¯m serious.¡±

    His father justughed again.

    Thankfully, they were interrupted when they heard a knock on the door. Then, a few momentster, Neoma and their mother entered his father¡¯s bedroom.

    ¡°Wow, Papa Boss,¡± Neoma eximed while looking at their father with sparkling eyes. ¡°You¡¯re extra handsome today.¡±

    Their mother didn¡¯t say anything, but the blush on her face suggested that she agreed with Neoma¡¯sment.

    [Well, it¡¯s true that Father is handsome and he¡¯s even more handsome dressed like that.]

    ¡°I need to look good because I¡¯ll be putting eupalettes on your shoulder capeter,¡± his father said to his twin sister.

    In the Royal Moon Academy, the student representatives of each year had eupalettes on their shoulder capes as a status symbol.

    Suffice to say, his father was already iming Neoma¡¯s victory.

    [And rightfully so.]

    ¡°I won¡¯t let you down, Papa Boss,¡± Neoma promised, then she looked at him- much to his surprise. ¡°I won¡¯t tarnish your reputation as the Crown Prince, Nero.¡±

    ¡°Just don¡¯t get hurt,¡± Nero said. Neoma losing had never crossed his mind. But he knew that it would be tough for his twin sister, since she was practically low on Mana and Moonglow. ¡°If you need to, kill Calyx Dalton. I¡¯ll deal with the consequences.¡±

    ¡°I would, but then my Hellgate would open up once I kill him,¡± his twin sister said. ¡°Anyway, I wish you and Mama Boss could watch me im my victory against that crow psychoter.¡±

    ¡°Your father will be using amunication device directly connected to mine so Nero and I could watch your match in real-time,¡± their mother said, then she hugged Neoma. ¡°Good luck, Neoma.¡±

    Neoma hugged their mother back. ¡°Thank you, Mama Boss.¡±

    Nero and his father both stood there like statues, but deep inside, both men wanted a hug from the two most important women in their lives.

    ***

    MONA was in Nero¡¯s room while attaching premium Mana Stones that served as amunication device to the wall when, all of a sudden, she felt an ominous aura that sent shivers down her spine.

    That happened just half an hour ago after Neoma and Niki left the Royal Pce for the Royal Moon Academy.

    [When the cat¡¯s away, the mice will y, indeed.]

    It wasn¡¯t funny.

    .....

    ¡°William, I know you¡¯re there,¡± Mona said, anger rising to her chest. ¡°Come out.¡±

    When she turned around, she saw Nero- who was sitting on the sofa- stop turning the page of the book in his hands. Then her son gave her a confused look.

    [Ah, Nero didn¡¯t feel it.]

    ¡°I¡¯m here,¡± William said as he appeared in front of her. ¡°What can I do for you, Mona?¡±

    ¡°Stay here and protect Nero with your life,¡± she said sternly. ¡°And make sure the entire room is covered with your divine power.¡±

    Nero looked shocked, while William remained calm, as if he already expected that.

    ¡°As you wish, my liege,¡± William said, bowing his head towards her. ¡°I¡¯ll hide and protect Nero with my life.¡±

    As expected of the Grand Spirit, he also felt the ominous thing that covered the entire Royal Pce. And he knew that he had to HIDE Nero aside from protecting him. Thus, even though he hadn¡¯t forgiven William yet, she knew she could entrust her son to the Grand Spirit.

    ¡°Mother,¡± Nero called her worriedly as he stood up. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    ¡°Eyes,¡± she said through gritted teeth. ¡°A god dares to set his eyes on you.¡±

    She opened her right hand and summoned Nydia- her main weapon.

    It was a rose-gold staff with vines snaked around it. The top of the staff had a fully bloomed pink rose on it encased inside a transparent ss sphere. A staff was usually used by witches and wizards to channel their magical energy.

    That concept was kind of simr to how she would use her staff.

    She could summon Spirits anytime, easily. But to borrow the power of gods, she needed her staff. In short, Nydia served as her medium to summon gods.

    ¡°Mother, I¡¯lle with you,¡± Nero said seriously. ¡°I can disguise myself and-¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Mona said sternly, cutting her son off. Then she walked towards the window while spinning the staff in her hand as if it was a baton. ¡°Let your mother take care of this, Nero.¡±

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 486

    Chapter 486: ROYAL PANDEMONIUM (1)

    LIKE ANY ceremony, the opening ceremony in the Royal Moon Academy was too formal and boring.

    Neoma almost yawned while listening to the headmaster¡¯s long speech.

    Her Papa Boss was on a higher tform behind the podium where the headmaster was standing on (and where the teachers were seated on the chairs behind the headmaster).

    The emperor was sitting regally on a fancy chair made of gold. Geoffrey Kinsley stood beside her Papa Boss while the royal knights surrounded the tform. And although not visible, she was pretty sure the Fletcher Twins were just hiding somewhere.

    [They appear and disappear whenever.]

    Oh, well.

    She was getting bored.

    .....

    To prevent herself from falling asleep while standing, her eyes wandered around discreetly.

    Right now, the students were gathered in the arena called Moon Arc.

    [Moon Arc actually reminds me of Wembley Stadium in London, especially the arch that supports the entire roof load. The major difference is the Moon Arc can actually open and close its roof. And the size, of course, since Wembley Stadium was much, much bigger than the Moon Arc.]

    Right now, the roof was closed.

    But she heard they would open the roof once the match began.

    [Anyway...]

    As of the moment, only the freshmen students in the Crescent Moon Division were standing in the field.

    [Ah, yes. There are two divisions in the Royal Moon Academy.]

    The first division was called the Crescent Moon, and it was like the middle school in the modern world. The Crescent Moon Division was divided into three grades: the Freshmen, the Sophomores, and the Juniors.

    Then there was the Full Moon Division. It was equivalent to high school in the modern world, but more intense. She could say that the division also acted like how universities in the modern world since Full Moon students were required to choose their ¡®Major¡¯ once they reached their second year.

    In the Full Moon Division, every student was called ¡®Senior.¡¯ But they were divided into three levels. Senior-1, Senior-2, and Senior-3.

    The Full Moon students were watching the ceremony, and they upied the right side of the bleachers. It was easy to spot the older students because instead of maroon, they wore navy blue school uniforms.

    On the other hand, the sophomores and the juniors of the Crescent Division upied the left side of the bleachers. She didn¡¯t want to admit this, but the Juniors caught her attention earlier because of one person: Rubin Drayton.

    [He¡¯s so handsome his face stands out in the crowd effortlessly.]

    Anyway...

    Although the freshmen were gathered in the center of the field, all eyes were on the three top students standing in the very first row.

    [Of course, that¡¯s me, Hanna, and the crow psycho.]

    Since she was acting as the Crown Prince, she stood between Hanna and Calyx Dalton. The rest of their fellow freshmen students were standing behind them.

    [Main character vibes.]

    ¡°Your Royal Highness,¡± Calyx Dalton whispered as he tilted his head in her direction. ¡°Our father looks especially handsome today, doesn¡¯t he?¡±

    Hah.

    Father?

    This crow psycho was iming her Papa Boss as his father? The audacity! She was the one who raised her Papa Boss to be a decent human (and a father, eventually)- and yet a delusional boy dared to harvest the fruits of herbor?

    ¡°Fuck you,¡± Neoma said, smiling. She was raised a royal, so faking her expression was easy peasy. ¡°I could be eloquent and creative in cussing you out, but you¡¯re not worth the effort. So, fuck you.¡±

    Hanna, who could hear their conversation, stifled herughter.

    ¡°My precious little sibling, do you kiss Lady Roseheart with that mouth?¡±

    She wasn¡¯t surprised when the crow psycho mentioned her Mama Boss. After all, her mother had announced her return to the world.

    ¡°You don¡¯t kiss Commander Yoan Solfrid with that mouth, do you?¡±

    Someone wanted to die early, huh?

    Hearing her precious Ruto¡¯s nameing out of the filthy crow psycho¡¯s mouth made her go insane immediately.

    Her bloodlust exploded the same time she moved to grab Calyx Dalton by the cor. She felt Hanna grab her by the wrist to stop herself from killing the crow psycho. But at that moment, she knew that it was toote to regain her senses...

    ... until she felt her Papa Boss¡¯s overwhelming bloodlust.

    She wasn¡¯t the only one who felt it.

    A lot of students- mostly the freshmen- fainted, the people who only had average Mana fell to their knees, some buckled, and only a few remained standing straight. The headmaster was forced to stop his speech, while the teachers stood up from their seats frantically.

    Neoma, Hanna, and Calyx Dalton were among the people who withstood the emperor¡¯s bloodlust.

    That was when Neoma gained back her senses and realized why the emperor did that.

    [Papa Boss probably covered my bloodlust with his bloodlust, so that people won¡¯t realize that I almost killed Calyx Dalton.]

    She was ashamed of herself for getting worked up by Calyx Dalton¡¯s provocations.

    But in her defense, the fact that the crow psycho mentioned Ruto¡¯s name in his previous life felt ominous to her.

    [Do the crows already know that Ruto and I regressed?]

    ¡°Your Royal Highness,¡± Hanna said, then she gently pulled her beside her. ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    Nero just nodded, then she ignored Calyx Dalton, who smirked at her.

    ¡°Think of what happened as a little test from me to see if the students of the prestigious Royal Moon Academy are really the cream of the crop here,¡± Emperor Niki, her Papa Boss, said in a bored voice. His voice echoed in the arena because of magic. ¡°I¡¯m satisfied to see that most of the students have withstood my aura despite it being a surprise attack.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t aura- it was bloodlust.

    But it wasn¡¯t like anyone had the guts to ¡°correct¡± the emperor.

    [Papa Boss, it¡¯s amazing how you can lie with a straight face even though you know that most people here know the difference between aura and bloodlust.]

    She couldn¡¯tin, though.

    After all, her father released bloodlust instead of aura to cover her bloodlust.

    ¡°I¡¯ll send a gift to the students as a rewardter. For now, bring the ones who fainted to the infirmary,¡± Emperor Niki said, then he looked down at the headmaster with cold eyes. ¡°Let¡¯s end the opening ceremony here and begin the final match, Headmaster Salvatore.¡±

    Headmaster Salvatore bowed his head deeply towards the emperor. ¡°As you wish, Your Majesty.¡±

    Neoma could only smile and shake her head.

    Her Papa Boss was as entitled and as rude as usual, but she loved him for it.

    [I owe you big time, Papa Boss.]

    ***

    NEOMA wasn¡¯t listening to Headmaster Salvatore who was exining the rules of the match while standing in the middle of the ring. She already knew the rules because the academy had sent a letter in advance to the contenders for the final match. The letter contained the regtions that the council hade up with for the fight.

    A concrete ring (a squared circle, just like the ring used in boxing minus the ropes) elevated in the field through magic. Thankfully, there wasn¡¯t a rule that said the contender would lose if they stepped out of the ring.

    Of course, the first rule stated that killing each other wasn¡¯t allowed.

    A contender could win in two ways: first, knock out the other two contenders. Second, make them surrender. If a contender still attacked the opponents who had already surrendered, then they would get disqualified.

    Tsk.

    [That means I can¡¯t kill the crow psycho.]

    The second rule was forbidding them from using poisoned weapons that might cause permanent damage to the opponents such as paralysis.

    Andstly, the losers must ept their defeat graciously.

    That meant whatever the result of the match was, the losers weren¡¯t allowed to take revenge outside the ring. Moreover, their families wasn¡¯t allowed to fight either.

    The third rule would definitely be breached.

    After all, no matter what the result would be, Neoma and Calyx Dalton would surely go after each other¡¯s throat after the match.

    Her thoughts were distracted when she heard Hanna sigh.

    She turned to her cousin, and she noticed that her eyes were screening the bleachers upied by the students¡¯ families.

    After the opening ceremony, a section of the Moon Arc was opened to allow the families of the students to be spectators of the uing match. And because there were students and civilians watching, an invisible barrier was created to separate the spectators¡¯ section from the ring.

    Only seven people, aside from the contenders, were inside the ring.

    First, there was Headmaster Salvatore, who would officiate the match and serve as the main judge. He was apanied by three faculty members: Sir Harris (one of most the extinguished Swordmasters of the West Continent), Lord Matthews (the Head of Security), and Lady Bailey (the famous Alchemist).

    Each contender was allowed to bring one knight or attendant who had the authority to withdraw their master from the match if they deemed that the contender could no longer continue the fight. It was one of the countermeasures created to ensure the safety of the contenders.

    It should be the role of the parents or guardians of the contenders, but that particr rule was flexible. Every time a de Moonasterio was among the contenders, the academy would change the rule to requiring the knights or attendants¡¯ presence instead of the parents.

    .....

    After all, a member of the Royal Family wasn¡¯t allowed to intervene the match.

    And so, Neoma brought Lewis, her precious ¡°son.¡±

    Calyx Dalton brought Raven, his ¡°butler.¡±

    Hanna brought Jaxson Emmet, the vice-captain of the ck Hawk Knights.

    ¡°Hanna, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Neoma asked her cousin worriedly. ¡°Are you nervous?¡±

    ¡°Yes, but for a different reason,¡± Hanna confessed in a low voice, so that the crow psycho standing behind them wouldn¡¯t hear. ¡°I can¡¯t see Mother and Father anywhere.¡±

    Okay, that made her worried.

    She took a quick nce at the section where the duke and duchess should be. Like what Hanna said, the Rufus Couple wasn¡¯t there.

    [Duke Rufus was here earlier. Did he leave...?]

    Her thoughts were once again distracted when she heard a snicker from behind.

    She didn¡¯t have to turn around to know that it was Calyx Dalton.

    [Did he hear what we¡¯re talking about?]

    ¡°Let¡¯s just ignore him, Your Royal Highness,¡± Hanna said, her voice loud enough for Calyx Dalton to hear. ¡°A ferocious crow that¡¯s about to be flightless isn¡¯t worth our time.¡±

    She smiled and nodded at her cousin.

    [Is it just me or Hanna gets scarier and scarier day by day?]

    ¡°And now, let¡¯s wee this year¡¯s top three students,¡± Headmaster Salvatore announced, making the crowd go wild. ¡°Lady Hanna Quinzel, Lord Calyx Dalton, and His Royal Highness, Prince Nero de Moonasterio are now making their entrance!¡±

    The three climbed the ring in the order of the score they got from the previous exams.

    Neoma climbed first, even though she had the same score as Calyx Dalton. It was because she performed better than him during the second exam where the levels of their Mana were gauged.

    [And admittedly, my status as the Crown Prince yed a huge part in it.]

    Calyx Dalton followed her.

    And Hanna followed behind the crow psycho.

    ¡°Lady Hanna, Lord Calyx, Prince Nero, on behalf of the academy, I wish you all the best. No matter the oue, know that you¡¯ve already made us and your families proud by standing on this stage,¡± Headmaster Salvatore said while the three of them stood in front of him. ¡°May Lord Yule bless this fight.¡±

    [Nah, Lord Yule can¡¯t see shit right now, so I doubt he could bless us today.]

    And it wasn¡¯t just because the Moon God lost his fake eyes. It was also because Yule¡¯s vision was obscured by Darkness.

    [Don¡¯t worry, Lord Yule- I¡¯ll dedicate my win for you to console your devastated soul.]

    ¡°I pray that this fight doesn¡¯t shed too much blood,¡± Headmaster Salvatore said. ¡°Let the match begin!¡±

    After saying that, the headmaster left the ring instantly.

    Neoma was ready to fight Hanna and Calyx Dalton when, all of a sudden, she felt the burst of Darkness behind her. It wasn¡¯t the harmful type- but the type of Darkness familiar with her.

    [Hanna?]

    When she turned around, she saw Calyx Dalton whispering in Hanna¡¯s ear.

    And her cousin was obviously enraged.

    She was about to move to separate the two when Hanna yelled.

    It wasn¡¯t a simple yell.

    Hanna¡¯s voice was mixed with an aura that created a gush of violent wind that sent Calyx Dalton flying.

    If Neoma didn¡¯t put a barrier around her, she would have been sent flying as well.

    [What the hell did Calyx Dalton say to Hanna for her to lose it?!]

    ¡°Calyx Dalton,¡± Hanna said, her voice filled with rage and the bloodlust oozing out of her body thick. The shadow forming under her feet was also terrifying. And her green eyes? They were glowing menacingly. ¡°You son of a bitch.¡±

    Neoma gasped aloud.

    [Omo, omo! Did Hanna just cuss?! The elegant, delicate, and kind-hearted Hanna that everyone knows and loves just used vulgar words?! Did I corrupt her?! Is it my fault?! Oh, my god! It must be my bad influence!]

    ¡°Nathaira!¡± Hanna yelled. ¡°Come out and devour the crow bastard!¡±

    Nathaira?

    Neoma was surprised.

    [Is it the same ¡®Nathaira¡¯ that I know? As in the Imoogi that protected Mama Boss while she was trapped at the bottom of the ck Ocean?]

    Her question was soon answered when a shadow emerged from the floor.

    It was the shadow of an two hundred meter imoogi. In Korean folklore, an Imoogi was a serpent beast that failed to be a full-fledged dragon. But in this world, an Imoogi was considered a giant snake demigod.

    [So, when Nathaira died, her physical body disappeared. But her Spirit was stuck on the bottom of the ck Ocean while her shadow was taken by the Quinzels?]

    Hanna had an Imoogi, a snake demigod, as her Shadow Beast?

    [Daebak.]

    Neoma was even more amazed when the Imoogi hissed loudly, opening its big mouth, baring its fangs at Calyx Dalton.

    Nathaira, despite being 200-meter in length and probably 6 tons in weight, moved fast and graciously like running water. The Imoogi lunged at Calyx Dalton at the speed of lightning, then she swallowed theughing crow psycho- a collective loud gasp erupting from the crowd.

    Most people in the audience probably didn¡¯t see Calyx Daltonugh instead of avoiding the Imoogi¡¯s attack.

    [He¡¯s really a psycho.]

    ¡°Your Royal Highness.¡±

    Neoma immediately turned to Hanna.

    Her cousin still looked very upset, and her green eyes were still glowing menacingly.

    She wanted to ask Hanna what happened, but the determined look on the Shadow Queen¡¯s made her shut her mouth.

    [Hanna...]

    ¡°I don¡¯t care if you break all his bones, but don¡¯t kill him,¡± Hanna said through gritted teeth. ¡°Calyx Dalton will die by my hands once I returned.¡±

    After saying that, Hanna¡¯s shadow emerged from the floor. Then it wrapped itself around her legs and snaked its way upward until her cousin was covered with her own shadow.

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave it to you, Your Royal Highness,¡± Hanna said in an urgent voice. ¡°And please tell His Majesty I apologize in advance for what I¡¯m about to do.¡±

    Then, without so much ado, Hanna disappeared- leaving Neoma in disarray.

    [Hanna, what are you going to do?!]

    The crowd¡¯s loud gasp and murmurs that followed snapped her out of her trance.

    But, in just a few seconds, something else drowned the noises around.

    A loud roar.

    The roar of what seemed to be a feracious beast shook the ground, sending the inexperienced people into panic. But the adults and the students who were confident about their skills remained observing the development calmly- not even blinking in fear of missing a critical scene that was about to unfold.

    Neoma was the same.

    After all, the loud roar wasing from inside the Imoogi that was violently shaking now. It didn¡¯t take a minute before the giant serpent beast fell to the ground, shrieking in pain.

    [It¡¯s about to explode.]

    Neoma created severalyers of Dome to brace for the impact of the uing explosion. And it came eventually.

    The ground shook once again when the Imoogi¡¯s body exploded.

    A blinding light went off, too- forcing Neoma to close her eyes, much to her chagrin. She was the descendant of Yule and Roxana- gods that wielded Light. A de Moonasterio like her shouldn¡¯t be hurt by any kind of light once her Moonglow was actively protecting her.

    Thus, the shock.

    [What kind of light is that?!]

    ¡°Your Royal Highness, didn¡¯t I tell you before that you can¡¯t kill me for three reasons?¡±

    It was obviously Calyx Dalton.

    Judging by the loud and panicking voices Neoma heard, most of the people in the crowd were also blinded by the light that exploded earlier. Thus, the confusion among the audience.

    She, on the other hand, had adjusted to the light.

    Neoma slowly opened her eyes, only to get the biggest shock of her life yet.

    ¡°This is the first reason,¡± Calyx Dalton said, smiling while petting the head of the majestic beast beside him. ¡°I own the symbol of the Royal Family.¡±

    And the White Lion beside the crow psycho roared once again, baring its fangs at her.

    Yes, it was THE White Lion- one of the rare Elemental Guardians, the divine beast that supposedly didn¡¯t allow anyone to be his master after Nero Roseheart (the first knight of the Astello Temple) died.

    [How did Calyx Dalton tame the White Lion?!]

    Neoma took a step back in disbelief while remembering what she had told her Mama Boss before she left the pce.

    [¡°Plus, I have a n. Me- I am the n.¡±]

    That was what she had said then.

    [Mama Boss, the n is now fucked up.]

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 487

    Chapter 487: ROYAL PANDEMONIUM (2)

    [IT¡¯S THE White Lion.]

    Niki was the first person who opened his eyes after getting hit by the blinding light.

    He thought the roar that he kept hearing wasing from Calyx Dalton¡¯s Soul Beast (assuming that the child was indeed a de Moonasterio). But much to his shock, the Elemental Guardian greeted him instead of a Soul Beast.

    [And it has to be the White Lion, of all things.]

    He gripped the armrests tight until they cracked under his hands.

    [The White Lion is the symbol of the Knight Order that serves the emperor. Moreover, the White Lion is considered the most elusive among the Elemental Guardians. In fact, this is the first time in history that the White Lion appeared after Nero Roseheart died.]

    ¡°It¡¯s an Elemental Guardian!¡±

    .....

    ¡°And it¡¯s the White Lion- no less!¡±

    ¡°I thought it had already disappeared because it didn¡¯t want to ept a new master?¡±

    ¡°But if Lord Calyx has tamed the White Lion, then does it mean he¡¯s someone special?¡±

    ¡°Maybe the rumor about him being the emperor¡¯s child is true-¡±

    ¡°Shh!¡±

    Having a sharp sense was both a curse and a blessing to Niki.

    Right now, he thought his sharp hearing was a curse. Why would he want to hear that people were now assuming that the obnoxious young crow was his child? It made his skin crawl.

    Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t have the power to stop people from talking.

    Thus, he ignored the noises around him.

    He focused his attention on his daughter, who was standing in front of Calyx Dalton and the White Lion. Neoma looked shocked upon seeing the Elemental Guardian.

    [Neoma...]

    To be honest, he was also worried about Hanna Quinzel.

    He saw Calyx Dalton whisper something in his niece¡¯s ear before the youngdy exploded in anger.

    [I¡¯m pretty sure Calyx Dalton is the reason why Hanna left the way she did.]

    He almost covered his ears when South, the Vermillion Bird, yelled in his head. His mind was connected to his Soul Beasts, so those little punks could invade his thoughts if necessary.

    He felt his heart drop to the floor. To say that he was worried would be an understatement.

    he asked the Soul Beast, speaking to South using mental telepathy.

    He gripped the armrests tighter, crushing thempletely in his hands.

    A god was an enemy he would never underestimate. Yes, one of his hobbies was ndering the gods he hated every chance he got. But that didn¡¯t mean he was looking down on their strength.

    [Is it a Major God?]

    The Major Gods weren¡¯t allowed to descend on the human world without a proper reason, though.

    If he could, he would split himself into two in order to stay here and guard Neoma, and go back to the pce for Mona and Nero at the same time.

    But he reminded himself that Mona wasn¡¯t weak, and she was capable of protecting their son while holding the fort even if she had to face a god. Moreover, William was there. The Grand Spirit was too obsessed with his wife and son for him to let them get hurt.

    he ordered his Soul Beast,

    He almost covered his ears again when South yelled.

    But it sounded like the Vermillion Bird was talking to someone else.

    West, the White Tiger, was the Soul Beast he sent to guard Lukas- the Dark Elf- who was currently locked up in the Light Temple. Aside from Lukas, Jeanne Audley (the only woman among his Pdins) was also there.

    What?

    Hanna was in the Light Temple, and she wanted to destroy it?

    [Does Rufus know... wait.]

    Come to think of it, Rufus and Amber Quinzel were nowhere to be seen.

    Hanna wasn¡¯t the type to quit a fight midway. If there was something that Calyx Dalton could threaten his niece with...

    [The crows have Rufus and Amber?]

    And the fact that Hanna headed straight to the Light Temple where the Dark Elf was currently locked up...

    [Helstor.]

    The God of Eternal Darkness was messing with the Quinzels with the help of the crows!

    Niki said firmly.

    ***

    [THE SUN is shining brightly today.]

    Neoma stared at the open roof of the Moon Arc Arena while Headmaster Salvatore was exining to the crowd that they had no idea why Hanna suddenly left. While spacing out, an imaginary bulb in her head lit up.

    Oh.

    [Delwyn, listen to my brilliant n.]

    She shared her crazily brilliant n with Delwyn while the headmaster was giving yet another boring speech.

    After Hanna quit the match without a word to the officials, the headmaster stopped the match for a moment and climbed up the ring. Then Headmaster Salvatore then announced that Hanna was now disqualified from the fight.

    Jaxson Emmett, the vice-captain of the ck Hawk Knights, left the premise to probably follow Hanna, even though he probably did not know where the Quinzel Princess had gone to.

    [Hanna, go and save Duke Rufus and Duchess Amber Quinzel.]

    She wasn¡¯t dumb, so she figured out what might have happened to her cousin.

    The Duke and Duchess Quinzel¡¯s disappearance.

    Calyx Dalton¡¯s ¡°whisper.¡±

    Hanna¡¯s outburst.

    [That fucking crow psycho definitely kidnapped Duke and Duchess Quinzel to force Hanna to quit the match.]

    And it was obviously a trap.

    [Hanna, be careful. If they forced you out of the match, then it only means they have set up a trap for you.]

    But Hanna was a smart girl, so she knew her cousin was aware of that.

    [Look at the sun smiling down at us as if it¡¯s saying today is a beautiful day tomit murder.]

    Yeah.

    Her Lunacy was seeping out again- threatening to devour her sanity- so she was staring at the roof to distract herself.

    The retractable roof structures over the east and the west ends of the stadium were open partially, allowing sunlight into the arena. It was a pretty sight, but she would have liked it better if it was nighttime.

    [The full moon peeking in the open space between the east and west roofs would be lovely.]

    ¡°Now that Lady Hanna Quinzel has been disqualified, we will restart the match between His Royal Highness Prince Nero de Moonasterio and Lord Calyx Dalton,¡± Headmaster Salvatore, who couldn¡¯t hide the sparkle in his eyes while stealing nces from the beautiful and majestic White Lion, dered. ¡°Your Royal Highness, Lord Calyx, the floor is yours!¡±

    After saying that, Headmaster Salvatore used a teleportation spell to leave the ring.

    Neoma gathered her shit together, hoping that it was enough for her to hold her Lunacy at bay before she faced Calyx Dalton and the White Lion.

    ¡°Now it¡¯s just the two of us,¡± Calyx Dalton said, smiling. ¡°Just like how it¡¯s supposed to be- argh!¡±

    The crow psycho was forced to stop talking as he coughed up a huge chunk of blood.

    [Who¡¯s dumb enough to wait and listen to their opponent¡¯s monologue in the middle of a fight?]

    A collective gasp once again erupted from the crowd as they witnessed hundreds of ice spears emerge from the ground- the ring that was now covered in a thinyer of ice- and stab Calyx Dalton¡¯s body.

    Long and sharp ice spears pierced through his chest, stomach, arms, and legs.

    Too bad the ice spears weren¡¯t long enough to reach his head.

    But she was a bit satisfied to see the crow psycho covered in his own blood.

    [Delwyn, gear mode.]

    Ice des appeared and attached themselves to the bottom of her shoes, elevating her.

    She glided through the ¡°ice rink¡± while crouching low. When she opened her hands, a pair of ice daggers materialized. She grabbed them by her hands, her eyesser-focused on Calyx Dalton, who was melting the ice spears with his Manaced with some bluish sparks.

    .....

    Oh?

    [Is it blue me?]

    The crow psycho could control the fire element just like her, huh?

    [A copycat, through and through.]

    The roaring White Lion suddenly appeared in front of her, leaping in the air with its huge mouth opened wide as if it was about to bite her.

    What a beautiful beast.

    [Its golden eyes remind me of Lewis¡¯s eyes.]

    She just observed the majestic White Lion, admiring its beauty while taking notes of the unusual things she noticed.

    Golden cor and chains, huh?

    [I wonder what those are for.]

    Just when the White Lion was close enough to maul the hell out of her, Delwyn appeared in his fake wolf form and growled, creating a sound simr to a wolf¡¯s howl while lunging at the Elemental Guardian.

    She almostughed while imagining Delwyn in his human form, howling like an animal that he wasn¡¯t.

    But she held back.

    If sheughed now, she would let out a frenziedugh like a viin she wished to be.

    So, she controlled her expression and ducked lower while Delwyn and the White Lion shed above her- the two beasts biting the hell out of each other.

    [Savage.]

    She slid through the ice faster, using the long ice de of her daggers like ski poles resulting in the des scratching the ice ring, when she noticed that the ice spears that had pierced through Calyx Dalton¡¯s body earlier had already melted.

    The crow psycho was now ring at her, his green eyes glowing menacingly while his ivory dancing with the winding from the palm of his hands. He was gathering his Mana in his hands until fireballs materialized above his palms.

    [Ballsy.]

    Calyx Dalton yelled angrily while throwing the fireballs at her.

    The two fireballs, while in the air, were divided into two. The process repeated again and again until she couldn¡¯t count them anymore. But she could clearly see Calyx Daltoning at her at full speed.

    She created a Dome to protect herself from hundreds of fireballs that attacked her all at the same time. Her Dome might be weaker than normal, but it was enough to protect her from the fireballs that bounced off of her barrier- making them fly away in different directions.

    Since there was a barrier around the ring, the audience was safe.

    The Headmaster, along with the other teachers and the remaining ¡®Guardian Knights¡¯ (Lewis and Raven) had to create their own barriers to protect themselves from the fireballs.

    She didn¡¯t have the time to worry about other people, though.

    Calyx Dalton produced a sword made of blue me. He swung it, producing a sharp sword aura that cut her Dome easily.

    [He¡¯s a Swordsmaster, huh?]

    After all, only Swordsmaster could create a sword aura.

    [Damn, Calyx Dalton is also built different.]

    Although the holes in his body were bleeding like crazy, he still moved like he wasn¡¯t injured. In fact, it even looked like he couldn¡¯t feel pain.

    [Crazy bastard.]

    She blocked the sharp aura with her ice daggers, but her weapons just melted- threatening to burn her hands, so she dropped the daggers like hot potatoes. It was a good call. After all, the weapons she dropped melted the part of the floor that they hit.

    Then, all of a sudden, the crow psycho was already in front of her.

    Calyx Dalton swung his ming blue sword again.

    This time, she blocked it by grabbing the ming ¡®de¡¯ with her bare left hand.

    Since she was a fire user as well, the aze sword didn¡¯t burn her. But she had to admit that her hand trembled because her physical strength had been reduced drastically due to her fucking period.

    ¡°Our dear Crown Prince is a genius, huh?¡± Calyx Dalton said sarcastically while pushing her harder using his ming sword. ¡°The fact that you can touch my me without getting burned means on top of having the ice attribute, you¡¯re also a fire user.¡±

    ¡°Cry about it then,¡± she said, dishing out a sarcasm against the sarcasm she received.

    If the real Nero got questioned about ¡®his¡¯ fire attribute, they would just say that he borrowed it from a Fire Spirit. Since her twin brother was a Roseheart, it was usible.

    ¡°You really hate losing in an argument, don¡¯t you?¡± the crow psycho growled.

    ¡°And you really love sprouting bullshit in the middle of a fight,¡± she snapped back at him, using all her strength to push back and take a step closer to him. Then she grabbed his neck with her other hand and squeezed it tightly- distorting Calyx Dalton¡¯s handsome face in pain. ¡°A de Moonasterio interrogates the enemy after subduing them, punk.¡±

    [Mochi, lend me your power.]

    She would love to lift Calyx Dalton while strangling him with her own strength.

    Unfortunately, she was weak at the moment. Thus, she borrowed Mochi¡¯s wind ability to lift the crow psycho. Thanks to the Wind Spirit, she just didn¡¯t haul him up roughly- she also threw him up in the air.

    Mochi¡¯s wind pushed Calyx Dalton higher and higher in the air until his back hit the trap that she set up above the ring.

    It was a sphere of ice with hundreds of sharp des attached to it.

    The real reason why she was looking up at the roof was that she was giving Delwyn instructions about the trap that she came up with. Plus, she crouched low at the beginning of the fight so that Calyx Dalton wouldn¡¯t notice the trap she set up above them.

    ¡°Piercing holes in my body again?¡± Calyx Dalton asked, smirking. His whole body was now engulfed with a blue me in an attempt to melt the ice sphere along with the ice des stabbing his body. ¡°The same trick won¡¯t work-¡±

    ¡°Who said it¡¯s the same trick?¡± she hissed, cutting him off. Then she put her hands together. ¡°Fuck off, psycho.¡±

    Calyx Dalton¡¯s eyes went wide when the ice sphere began swallowing him.

    Slowly but surely.

    The crow psycho struggled to detach himself from the ice sphere and the des embedded in his body, but his efforts were futile. In fact, ice quickly covered his entire body until he could no longer produce his blue me.

    In the end, the ice sphere swallowed Calyx Dalton.

    The ice was thick, and it wasn¡¯t clear, so the crow psycho disappeared from everyone¡¯s sight.

    Then the whole crowd fell silent, as if they couldn¡¯t believe what they had just witnessed. The silence didn¡¯tst long, though.

    A loud cheer erupted from the audience.

    But she didn¡¯t rx because the fight wasn¡¯t over yet.

    She turned around and saw Delwyn and the White Lion still engaged in a brawl. The ¡°wolf¡± was losing, though. The White Lion was mauling the hell out of Delwyn.

    [Poor ahjussi.]

    Delwyn was weaker than the White Lion because while fighting the majestic beast, Delwyn was also using more than half of his power to create and maintain the ice sphere.

    She ran at full speed towards the two beasts to rescue Delwyn while she was brainstorming with herself about what to do aside from subduing the White Lion.

    Even though it bruised her pride to admit this, Calyx Dalton was strong. He would definitely get out of the ice sphere in a few minutes. And once the crow psycho was out, she was pretty sure he¡¯d finally go out.

    Yep, she could tell that Calyx Dalton hadn¡¯t used his full strength yet.

    She wasn¡¯t insulted since she used the crow psycho¡¯s arrogance to her advantage.

    [I¡¯ll make him regret not going all out from the beginning.]

    ¡°Delwyn,¡± she yelled when the White Lion bit the wolf by the neck, then threw the bleeding and bruised Delwyn in the air. ¡°Take a break!¡±

    Delwyn, still in his wolf form, howled as a response.

    Then the Ice Spirit disappeared before he hit the ground.

    As soon as Delwyn vanished, the White Lion came at her while roaring. Then it disappeared. In the blink of an eye, the White Lion appeared right above her- charging at her in full force.

    The majestic¡¯s quick teleportation caught her off guard.

    [Fuck, beautiful beings are savage.]

    The next thing she knew, her back was already pressed against the hard and cold ground while the White Lion pounded her. If she didn¡¯t raise her arms in time, the majestic beast would have bit off her face.

    The White Lion¡¯s long and sharp fangs dug deep into her skin, almost snapping her poor, slim arms into two. If she didn¡¯t have the sturdy body of a de Moonasterio, she would have lost her arms by now.

    But that wasn¡¯t the reason why she was pissed as hell.

    ¡°You big savage cat,¡± she snapped, the blood from her arms trickling down to her face. ¡°If you touch my face, you¡¯re dead.¡±

    The White Lion roared angrily at her face.

    She growled back at it, surprising the beast.

    All of a sudden, the White Lion stopped biting her arms off. It was still crushing her with its weight, but it remained still while giving her a look of disbelief.

    [Oh?]

    She smirked when she realized that her hunch was correct. ¡°You¡¯re conscious,¡± she said, then she carefully touched the golden cor around its wide neck. There were also golden chains tied around the White Lion¡¯s legs. ¡°You¡¯re not serving Calyx Dalton at your will, are you?¡±

    The White Lion remained silent.

    But she could tell by the way its golden eyes stared back at her that it was listening to her intently.

    That was good enough for her.

    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best to free you, but you have to get away from me in the meantime,¡± Neoma whispered to the White Lion, then she gently ran her fingers through its soft and luscious mane. ¡°Run- I¡¯m about to self-destruct.¡±

    Only Neoma could beat Neoma, after all.

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 488

    Chapter 488: ROYAL PANDEMONIUM (3)

    [THEY TOLD me the royal princess is at her weakest today because of her period!]

    Calyx Dalton was enraged.

    He couldn¡¯t melt the stupid ice sphere that he was trapped him. The fact that the royal princess managed to create a powerful ice sphere like this using a fake Soul Beast was very insulting to him. If she had used her real Soul Beast, the Fire Dragon, would his blue me lose as well?

    ¡°That can¡¯t be!¡± Calyxined while punching the wall of the ice sphere with his fists covered with a blue me. His punches didn¡¯t even leave a crack, though. That frustrated him even more. ¡°I¡¯m supposed to be the perfect de Moonasterio!¡±

    He stopped banging his hands on the wall when he realized it was futile. Moreover, he must conserve his energy. There was no air inside the ice sphere. He could onlyst this long because of the breathing technique that he learned from his aunts and uncles.

    [Am I inferior to the royal princess because I do not have a Soul Beast?]

    ording to his family, it wasn¡¯t possible for his soul to produce a Soul Beast because half of him was a de Luca.

    .....

    [I think it¡¯s also the reason why no child was conceived when the crows sent de Luca females to the de Moonasterio males in the past. It only worked when they tried a different approach, and I¡¯m the result of that experiment.]

    But although he was born safely, he was iplete because he didn¡¯t have a Soul Beast.

    He really didn¡¯t understand why, but if he remembered it correctly, it had something to do with the oath that the de Moonasterios and the patriarch of the Rosehearts made in the past. Unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t remember what the oath was because he wasn¡¯t interested in that.

    After all, he was already contented with the elusive White Lion.

    [It¡¯s the symbol of the emperor. The Knight Order that serves His Majesty, my father, is named after the legendary White Lion. I was looking forward to showing off my Elemental Guardian to the royal princess, but she didn¡¯t give me the reaction I wanted from her!]

    ¡°She¡¯s so arrogant,¡± hemented to himself. ¡°The White Lion hasn¡¯t allowed anyone to be his master after Nero Roseheart died. I am the White Lion¡¯s new master after a long time! It¡¯s supposed to be the testament to my worth as a de Moonasterio and yet, the royal princess didn¡¯t even bat an eye. She just looked at the White Lion as if it was just a majestic yet ordinary beast!¡±

    Thatme reaction got on his nerves.

    It was as if the royal princess was saying, ¡°so what if you got the White Lion?¡±

    That was what her reaction told him.

    ¡°I was really looking forward to seeing the royal princess look at me with envy!¡± heined while stomping his feet on the ice floor. ¡°Nothing is going my way today!¡±

    He shut his eyes and mmed his forehead against the ice wall.

    [I need to get out of here fast before Headmaster Salvatore deres the royal princess¡¯s win. It¡¯s not like they¡¯ll wait forever for me toe out of here. I can only hope that the White Lion buys me enough time.]

    But his biggest concern at the moment was the fact that it was getting hard for him to breathe.

    The breathing technique that he learned could only do so much.

    [I must leave now before I faint.]

    Should he just use the method that Lord Callisto and Uncle Helstor taught him?

    He didn¡¯t want to use it because the technique was physically painful to execute. But it wasn¡¯t like he had the luxury of being stubborn now after he realized that the royal princess was something he shouldn¡¯t take lightly.

    [It was a mistake to underestimate the royal princess.]

    He opened his glowing eyes. ¡°It¡¯s time to get serious.¡±

    After taking a deep breath, he pulled out the short staff that he hid in the inner pocket of his maroon jacket. Then he poured some of his divine power into it. After that, he cut his palm with his nail and let the blood trickle down the end of the staff.

    A few momentster, the staff grew into a halberd- a polearm- that was taller than him.

    The end of the halberd was a long thrusting spike, and the back spike was a de shaped like the crescent moon. There was another crescent moon de on the other side.

    Hence, the halberd was called ¡®Twin Crescent Moons.¡¯

    Lord Callisto de Luca, the greatest cksmith of his time, created the halberd himself. It was one of the series of weapons that His Excellency made with the purpose of killing the de Moonasterios.

    [Don¡¯t worry, royal princess. This weapon was altered with Uncle Helstor¡¯s help so it wouldn¡¯t kill you. You¡¯ll be in so much pain, though.]

    He held the halberd¡¯s handle with both hands, then he used the long spike to poke the ice wall. The long spike was infused with Lord Callisto¡¯s divine power. Thanks to that, a single poke was enough to crush the ice sphere.

    It started with a single, long crack. Then it spread all over the sphere until it copsed. Finally, he broke free- and remained suspended in the air thanks to Wind Charm that Uncle Raven provided for him- as the ice sphere was broken into thousands of tiny pieces.

    The sound it made was simr to hundreds of sses breaking at the same time.

    No wonder the majority of the crowd was looking up at him. Thanks to his sharp eyesight, he could see the awe and disbelief on their faces. He didn¡¯t care about other people, though. His eyes immediatelynded on Emperor Niki.

    [Father...]

    His father wasn¡¯t looking at him.

    When he followed the trail of the emperor¡¯s gaze, he found himself looking at the royal princess, who was pinned to the ground while struggling to get away from the White Lion mauling her arms.

    [She¡¯s starting to be an eyesore.]

    But he was relieved to see her struggling against the White Lion. It seemed like what his family had told him was true: the royal princess was at her weakest at the moment.

    That, or perhaps she had used up too much of her Mana by creating an ice sphere.

    [ording to the information our family received, the royal princess¡¯s real Soul Beast is a Fire Dragon while the real Crown Prince owns an Ice Wolf. In order to deceive the people, the royal princess used an Ice Spirit that could copy the appearance of Prince Nero¡¯s Soul Beast.]

    He descended the ground by deactivating the Wind Charm hanging by his wrist. The bracelet had three strings, and the one on top snapped. It meant he could only use the Wind Charm twice.

    ¡°Move,¡± he told the White Lion firmly.

    The White Lion had no choice but to obey him.

    As soon as the majestic beast stepped aside, he stepped on the royal princess¡¯s shoulder to keep her in ce. He looked down at her- no, he wanted to look down ON her.

    He thought he would see the royal princess in a pathetic state.

    But despite looking rugged, she remained looking so dignified.

    That irritated him to no end.

    Just how?

    How could she still look so arrogant despite being in a disadvantageous position?!

    [Is it the clear and fierce look in her eyes? The majestic aura around her? Or is it the way she carries herself with confidence no matter what the situation is?]

    ¡°I wanted to be good to you since you¡¯re my little sibling,¡± he said, smiling. But he was pretty sure that his smile didn¡¯t reach his eyes. ¡°But you¡¯re not acting cute. I don¡¯t like kids who don¡¯t know how to respect their older siblings.¡±

    The royal princess just looked at him as if she was unbothered by his taunting.

    But that look bothered him so much.

    [Should I just kill her?]

    As soon as his bloodlust began leaking out, a thicker bloodlust mixed in the air.

    It gave him the goosebumps.

    When he turned to where the thick and heavy bloodlust wasing from, his eyes met a pair of glowing golden orbs.

    [Lewis Crevan, the Silver Fox...]

    The way Lewis Crevan looked at him coldly sent chills down his spine.

    [If I try to kill the royal princess for real, he will attack me.]

    Hah.

    What a fearsome, loyal dog.

    It was his Uncle Raven¡¯s voice ringing in his head through mental telepathy.

    His foot that was stepping on the royal princess¡¯s shoulder snapped.

    He had to swallow a painful groan when the bone in his foot broke when the royal princess grabbed and squeezed his foot to lift it off of her.

    [That monstrous de Moonasterio strength...]

    He had a sturdy body too since he possessed the same blood, so he was shocked that the royal princess managed to break his foot despite being at her weakest.

    A scary thought crossed his mind as he jumped away from her.

    [Just... just how strong would the royal princess be if she was in her prime condition?!]

    Hended on his left foot while using the halberd as a cane to support his injured right foot. But since it was just a light injury, it would heal on its own.

    One of the gifts that he received from his de Luca blood was the ability to heal fast.

    Of course, it only applied to light and shallow wounds.

    [Does the royal princess have the same ability?]

    After all, she stood up just fine despite her bleeding arms.

    The White Lion¡¯s ws weren¡¯t just sharp- they also had a unique ability. If he remembered it correctly, the White Lion¡¯s ws had the ability to make the flesh they cut go numb and heavy up to the point that the victim could no longer move.

    [But she¡¯s moving just fine.]

    .....

    ¡°You¡¯re using an enchantment that blocks our voice,¡± the royal princess said while walking towards him leisurely. ¡°It probablyes with a trick to cover our mouth too so that people wouldn¡¯t be able to read our lips.¡±

    The royal princess was right, but he didn¡¯t confirm it.

    He had the urge to step backwards because he felt like he was a prey that was about to be caught by a predator, but his pride didn¡¯t allow him to move an inch.

    But how did the royal princess do it?

    [She¡¯s walking leisurely as if she¡¯s just having a stroll in the garden and yet, the aura around her is terrifying.]

    There was no bloodlust or hostilitying from the royal princess.

    She was just straight up... intimidating.

    ¡°You enjoy talking shit in the middle of a fight, right? Fine, let¡¯s talk for a minute,¡± the royal princess said arrogantly. ¡°Consider it fanservice.¡±

    Fanservice?

    [What does it mean?]

    ¡°I realize you have some sort of noise cancelling enchantment since you wouldn¡¯t stop talking bullshit about us being siblings,¡± the royal princess said when she stopped in front of him, and only a distance of an arm¡¯s length separated them. ¡°Hey, you punk. I know that you have de Moonasterio blood in you.¡±

    He raised an eyebrow. ¡°Oho?¡±

    ¡°You also told me that you have three aces up your sleeves. Apparently, I can no longer touch you once you revealed those three secrets,¡± she said in a bored manner. ¡°The first one is the White Lion, right?¡±

    He frowned. [Yeah, but you didn¡¯t look surprised.]

    ¡°Your second ace is probably revealing your de Moonasterio blood in front of everyone during this match,¡± the royal princess said. ¡°You¡¯re using enchantment to change your hair and eye color, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    He flinched. [That¡¯s, indeed, my n...]

    She raised an eyebrow at him while shaking her head. ¡°Hey, I¡¯m good at acting. Do you want me to act surprised once you reveal your true identity?¡±

    He didn¡¯t understand what she was trying to do now, so he just red at her.

    The royal princess then gasped aloud while her eyes went wide. ¡°You¡¯re a de Moonasterio?¡± she asked in an exaggerated, shocked voice. ¡°You¡¯re my brother?¡±

    After her acting, sheughed.

    Ah, he got it now.

    [She¡¯s making fun of me.]

    ¡°Do you want me to act surprised or betrayed...¡±

    The royal princess trailed off.

    Then, much to her surprise, big fat tears suddenly rolled down her cheeks while her expression looked so sad and devastated.

    ¡°You¡¯re a de Moonasterio? I¡¯m not the First Star?¡± the royal princess asked in a cracked voice, as if she was truly heartbroken. ¡°Then what will happen to me now? Brother, must we really fight just because of the throne?¡±

    He¡¯d admit that if he didn¡¯t know better, he¡¯d get carried away by her acting.

    That was until the royal princessughed like a madwoman while wiping the tears off of her face with her hands.

    The way sheughed was unbefitting for a monarch like her.

    [She looks like a demon!]

    The royal princess looked scary at the moment, but he refused to cave.

    ¡°You¡¯re trying to intimidate me by acting like you don¡¯t care, aren¡¯t you?¡± he asked, then he smirked at her. ¡°Once I reveal that I¡¯m a de Moonasterio, your position as the ¡®Crown Prince¡¯ will be threatened.¡±

    ¡°So what?¡±

    [Ah, there goes her nonchnt attitude again that I¡¯m starting to hate.]

    ¡°I wholeheartedly do not give a fuck, even if you¡¯re a de Moonasterio or not,¡± she said. Although she wasughing, he could tell that she was serious. ¡°Even if you turn out to be my father¡¯s biological son by some cruel joke from the gods, I still do not care. I assure you- my mother, my twin, and especially my father do not care as well.¡±

    He knew that he shouldn¡¯t be affected by the royal princess¡¯s taunting, but he still did.

    It hurt so bad.

    He was raised to be Emperor Niki de Moonasterio¡¯s perfect son. Even though he loved his family, he had always craved his father¡¯s affection.

    After all, his entire family- the de Lucas- truly adored the de Moonasterios.

    To be honest, he wasn¡¯t greedy for the throne. He was only willing to join the session war for the sake of the de Lucas. He¡¯d like to repay them for raising him well, after all. But he had no personal desire to be the next emperor.

    However, there was one thing that he must get at all costs.

    [I crave Father¡¯s love and to achieve it, I must be his perfect son.]

    The crows wanted him to be the emperor¡¯s only son.

    [Personally, I want a big andplete family. I¡¯m even willing to embrace the twins as my siblings. However, the royal princess is making it hard for me to ept them.]

    ¡°Even if the crows sessfully push me and my twin out of the session line, my father¡¯s love for us won¡¯t disappear,¡± the royal princess said. ¡°You¡¯re unfortunate, though. After all, even if you be the Crown Prince, Father will never love you. He won¡¯t even spare you a nce.¡±

    He considered himself a benevolent person.

    He didn¡¯t like fighting with his family members.

    He was also sincere when he said he wanted to treat the twins as his siblings.

    But at that moment, his chest was filled with an ungodly amount of rage. For the first time in his life, he wanted to kill a person so bad.

    He clutched his chest tight while panting hard.

    [Calm down, Calyx. The arrogant royal princess doesn¡¯t know that the third ace is the real reason why they can¡¯t touch you after this match.]

    And the third ace was the key to his father¡¯s heart.

    Thanks to that thought, he finally calmed down.

    ¡°We¡¯ve talked enough,¡± he said sternly. ¡°Let¡¯s stop- argh!¡±

    He once again fell victim to the royal princess¡¯s surprise attack.

    Before he could even finish his sentence, the royal princess threw an ice spear at him. If he didn¡¯t move in time, he would have had his heart stabbed. But since he was able to move his body to the side, the ice spear missed his heart.

    He didn¡¯t have the time to rx because the royal princess suddenly lunged at him.

    This time, he was prepared and he didn¡¯t need the White Lion¡¯s help.

    He gripped the handle of the halberd tighter, then he positioned himself to time his movement with the royal princess¡¯s attack. His n was to stab her once she was close enough.

    [Huh?]

    His thoughts trailed off when he saw that royal princess coughed up a huge chunk of blood...

    ... mixed with some dark substance.

    [Is that... Darkness?]

    He didn¡¯t have the time to figure it out because he noticed that the royal princess fainted.

    Ah, finally- an opportunity.

    He smiled, then he didn¡¯t hesitate to stab the royal princess in the stomach with the long spike of the Twin Crescent Moons. Then he sent the ¡°gift¡± that they prepared for Her Royal Highness.

    The repercussions were quick, though.

    As soon as he released the ¡°gift,¡± he felt his insides burn. He had felt that sensation countless times while Lord Callisto was training him under Uncle Helstor¡¯smand. He had gotten used to the pain, but it didn¡¯t hurt less.

    [Endure, Calyx de Luca de Moonasterio,] Calyx reminded himself. [You have to do this to teach your younger sister a lesson she won¡¯t forget.]

    ***

    Niki ordered the fox boy using mental telepathy.

    But he knew that Lewis wouldn¡¯t listen to him, so he physically restrained the boy with his Moonglow. It was something that he could do by concentrating on a single person. The more powerful the individual was, the harder it was to restrain them, though.

    Fortunately, he was still stronger than Lewis Crevan so he was able to paralyze him from where he stood.

    Although he said that to Lewis, it was also his way of telling himself that everything was still ording to Neoma¡¯s n.

    If he could, he would kill that young crow right there, right now.

    But he had to remain calm, since the crowd was already panicking.

    Of course, most of the people there weren¡¯t pleased to see their precious Crown Prince stabbed like a piece of steak. The admiration that the majority had felt towards Calyx Dalton earlier had turned to hostility. As loyal followers of Yule, the devotees probably felt protective of the Crown Prince.

    Unfortunately, there were still some people who enjoyed seeing the Crown Prince suffer while cheering on Calyx Dalton in secret.

    [I¡¯ll remember your faces.]

    He didn¡¯t have the time to dwell on that since he saw Headmaster Salvatore making his way to the stage.

    ¡°Stop,¡± Niki said, his voice amplified by magic- making everyone flinch after hearing his cold voice. ¡°Do not disturb the match, Headmaster Salvatore.¡±

    The headmaster looked up at him with a worried look on his face.

    ¡°But too much blood has been spilled already in this match, Your Majesty,¡± Headmaster Salvatore argued. ¡°It¡¯s the academy¡¯s responsibility to protect the students-¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t make me repeat myself, Headmaster,¡± Niki said in a cold, stern voice rendering the headmaster- and everyone who had realized he was in a sour mood already- speechless. ¡°The match will only end if one of the contenders is unable to fight anymore- which is not the case.¡±

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 489

    Chapter 489: ROYAL PANDEMONIUM (4)

    [I DID it.]

    Calyx was proud of himself after knocking the royal princess out.

    But if he¡¯d be honest, he was actually doubting if he caused her to faint. If he remembered it correctly, the royal princess already fainted and coughed up blood (with some Darkness mixed in it) before he stabbed her with the Twin Crescent Moons, the halberd.

    [The royal princess probably fainted because of the injury she suffered from fighting the White Lion. And since I¡¯m the owner of the White Lion, I can take credit for it, right? After all, my aunts and uncles always say that I can take anything and everything I want as long as I remain loyal to the family.]

    He looked up to see his father¡¯s reaction.

    The emperor was looking at the royal princess with a nk expression on his face. Even his aura was calm.

    [Oh. He¡¯s not worried about the royal princess?]

    .....

    Maybe his father was disappointed in the royal princess for losing to him.

    Yes, that could be it.

    [When I was younger, I lost to Regina in a fight once. Lord Callisto and my uncles punished me back then. They said they would no longer treat me as a member of the family if I lost again.]

    Perhaps the emperor had the same mindset.

    [His Majesty probably favors the royal princess because she hasn¡¯t lost to other people before. But after I¡¯ve proved to Father that I¡¯m stronger than his daughter, his affection will now be diverted to me.]

    It was now time for the second ¡°surprise.¡±

    He turned to his Uncle Raven and gave him a slight nod as a signal to proceed with their n: to reveal that there were ¡°two Prince Neros.¡±

    One was stabbed by his halberd.

    And the other was in the royal pce.

    Uncle Raven, who received his signal, moved his hands to summon the crows with artificial eyes that worked as visual and sound recording devices. Those devices were connected to the biggest za in the Royal Capital where both nobles andmoners would cross paths.

    Of course, their n wouldn¡¯t beplete without the appearance of the true Prince Nero.

    Thus, Lord Callisto sent one of his old friends to literally take a look at the real Crown Prince. It wasn¡¯t a powerful god, but a god¡¯s eyes weren¡¯t something that one could easily block. Thus, they were confident that the god could take a clear picture of-

    His thoughts were distracted when, all of a sudden, several crows fell from the sky.

    [What...]

    Even Uncle Raven looked shocked by what happened.

    The crowd was also confused by the sudden ¡°rain¡± of crows.

    No one was as confused as him, though.

    [The crows are hidden with high concealment magic that not even high-ranking Mana users could detect!]

    And were those gunshot wounds?

    He didn¡¯t hear anything simr to a gunshot. But the crows that fell to the ground all had their eyes hit by a bullet.

    [Who could shoot those crows with such precision?!]

    ¡°What a nasty weapon you have, you crow psycho.¡±

    He turned to the royal princess who was already awake.

    She touched the twin crescent moon des as if they were admiring them. And it looked like she had no intention of pulling the long spike embedded in her stomach by herself.

    [Or maybe she can¡¯t.]

    ¡°These two nasty crescent moon des are filling my body with Darkness filled with malice. Are you trying to poison me with it?¡± she asked, then sheughed. ¡°Did you have to ask for Helstor¡¯s help just to defeat me?¡±

    He just frowned since he already learned that he couldn¡¯t win against the royal princess in a verbal argument.

    [She¡¯s fluent in sarcasm and bad words.]

    ¡°Calyx Dalton, what can you do on your own?¡±

    He didn¡¯t know why, but that question cut deep into his heart.

    ¡°Scratch that,¡± the royal princess said, then she looked at him straight in the eye. ¡°The way I see it, you¡¯re nothing more than a handsome puppet. I bet your family decides everything for you- down to what underwear you¡¯d wear every day.¡±

    His cheeks flushed from embarrassment.

    The royal princess wasn¡¯t wrong. But to be precise, he had an uncle who was in charge of his outfits- not just his underwear!

    ¡°Oh, fuck, I¡¯m right,¡± the royal princess said,ughing. ¡°What are you, a baby? Should I call you ¡®agi¡¯ from now on?¡±

    ¡°¡®Agi?''¡± he asked, confused.

    ¡°It means ¡®agi¡¯ in anguage I know. You¡¯re a sheltered baby bird, so I¡¯ll call you that from now on,¡± she said in a mocking tone, the arrogance smirk on her face getting worse as minutes passed. ¡°Agi-ya, can you pull this out?¡± she asked, but her voice sounded somanding that he felt like she was ORDERING him around, while pointing at the Twin Crescent Moons. ¡°This noona is too weak to pull this out, so be a good dongsaeng and help your noona a bit.¡±

    And now she was looking down on him by talking to him as if he was a baby!

    He couldn¡¯t fully understand what she was saying because she used some strange words, but he could tell that she was mocking him.

    Again.

    He pulled out the halberd since he was done sending the ¡°gift¡± to the royal princess anyway.

    It must have hurt a lot because, for the first time since the fight began, the royal princess¡¯s face was distorted with pain. Blood gushed out of the hole that he made in her stomach, and she also coughed up blood again.

    [The gift was delivered properly.]

    It was an unsightly sight to see but even though the royal princess was a big mess because of the blood all over her face and clothes, she still looked...

    [Beautiful and elegant.]

    It didn¡¯t make sense, but only people who could see the royal princess right now would understand.

    Even the crowd was mesmerized by her.

    He could tell that most of the people in the audience were worried about their precious ¡°Crown Prince,¡± but he could also see the admiration in their faces.

    At that moment, he finally realized what the royal princess had that hecked.

    [Charisma,] Calyx thought to himself. [The royal princess¡¯s charisma is overflowing.]

    ***

    Niki was relieved to hear Warren Fletcher¡¯s report that he received using mental telepathy.

    The Fletcher Twins were in charge of taking care of the area around the academy. He didn¡¯t expect Jeno Dankworth to appear, but he should have expected it. Neoma¡¯s ¡°children¡± prepared a gift for his daughter in advance because they were confident Neoma would win the match.

    He and Lewis Crevan were also involved in the preparation, but they had to keep it a secret from Neoma so it took them this long to finish the gift.

    [I¡¯m d that they finished it on time, though.]

    Since Calyx Dalton already yed dirty, why would it matter if they sent Neoma a healing potion in secret?

    Niki said, responding to Warren¡¯s report.

    He almost let out a smile.

    [Neoma¡¯s ¡°children¡± inherited her nasty temper.]

    Warren began with his new report.

    Ah, right.

    Neoma and her ¡°children¡± had a uniquemunication link that Neoma referred to as ¡°mental group chat.¡±

    He turned to Lewis Crevan who had finally calmed down.

    The boy must be busy talking to his ¡°siblings¡± using mental telepathy.

    [When Neoma is unavable, Lewis Crevan is in charge of the other children. And it looks like he¡¯s doing a good job leading them.]

    That lessened his worry a bit.

    [Mona, Nero, be safe,] Niki said to himself. [Please.]

    ***

    ¡°WHY IS it raining crows again?!¡±

    ¡°And who is that youngdy wrecking havoc in the za?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t she the one who¡¯s known as the ¡®Beautiful Beast of House Wisteria?''¡±

    ¡°Wisteria? Are we talking about Juri Wisteria here?¡±

    The people in the za, both nobles andmoners, wondered why Juri Wisteria was destroying themunication device known as the ¡®Translucent Walls¡¯ that appeared in the za out of nowhere.

    .....

    They thought the royal guards put the Translucent Walls there because people heard someone say that they¡¯d get to watch the Crown Prince¡¯s match if they went to the za. Themunication devices were really there, but they weren¡¯t activated.

    But what they saw was Juri Wisteria destroying the Translucent Walls with her sledgehammer.

    It was unsightly, but the ¡®Beautiful Beast of House Wisteria¡¯ was really an eye candy.

    The youngdy was still beautiful, even though she wasughing like a madwoman while casually swinging the heavy sledgehammer around.

    ¡°Whoever killed those poor crows must be a brute.¡±

    ¡°Tsk, tsk, tsk. The poor crows were beheaded by a sharp tool since the cut on the neck was clean.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, hunters would usually use guns to catch birds.¡±

    ¡°It looks like this was a work of an assassin.¡±

    ¡°Assassin? Pfft! Is there an assassin who would bother killing crows?¡±

    Unbeknown to the people of the empire, there was an assassin who would do just that- and he goes by the name ¡®Xion Redgrave.¡¯

    The assassin was Juri Wisteria¡¯s partner in wrecking havoc in the Royal Capital.

    ***

    HANNA couldn¡¯t enter the Light Temple normally because of the strong barrier that surrounded it.

    It was so strong that West, the White Tiger, was kicked out of it.

    She really wanted to blow it up, but the Soul Beast told her that Jeanne Audley, one of the Pdins, was taken hostage inside. So even if she received the emperor¡¯s permission to destroy the Light Temple, she changed her mind.

    [How could I enter the Light Temple...]

    ¡°Lady Hanna Quinzel, may I give you a hand?¡±

    Hanna turned around, then she smiled as soon as she saw the familiar face. ¡°Lady Paige Avery! How did you know I¡¯m here?¡±

    Paige Avery smiled, then she put a hand over her chest. ¡°Lewis sent me here to assist you, mydy.¡±

    ***

    NERO groaned as he clutched at his stomach.

    [Neoma...]

    Since he wasn¡¯t injured anywhere, he could only conclude that Neoma was badly injured in the same spot where his stomach hurt the most. He wouldn¡¯t have felt the same pain as his twin sister felt if it was only a shallow or light wound.

    [That means Neoma is heavily injured...]

    ¡°Calyx Dalton, you obnoxious crow,¡± Nero whispered to himself through gritted teeth, then he red at Zeru, in his human form, who was lying down on his bedzily. ¡°Let me out.¡±

    The ice phoenix created an ice igloo that covered his bed.

    He was trapped inside, and the ice was so thick he couldn¡¯t see a thing outside. But he could feel and hear William fighting. He just didn¡¯t know what kind of beings attacked them.

    ¡°No can do, Prince Nero,¡± Zeru said, then he got up to look him straight in the eye. ¡°You are the target of the eyes that attacked the pce. We can¡¯t let them see you, so I must hide you until William and Lady Roseheart subdue the enemies.¡±

    ¡°This is definitely the work of the crows,¡± he said. ¡°What are they trying to do now?¡±

    ¡°There are eyes around the pce looking for you,¡± Zeru said, then he moved his hand as if he was drawing in the air. As he did, a simple ice replica of the pce appeared. ¡°South told me that their side caught crows with cameras for eyes lurking around the academy.¡± A simple ice replica of the academy appeared this time. After that, he created a simple ice replica of the za in the Royal Capital. ¡°I heard from the emperor¡¯s Soul Beasts that they received another report that said there were crows at the Royal Capital, too. But they were already taken care of, along with the Translucent Walls that appeared out of nowhere.¡± The Soul Beast pointed at the mini ice statues floating in front of him. ¡°Do you see the big picture, Prince Nero?¡±

    A god who wanted to see him.

    Crows with cameras for eyes.

    Translucent Walls- devices that showed the things recorded by the cameras attached to them.

    ¡°They wanted to show the empire that there are two Crown Princes in different locations at the same time,¡± he said, clenching his fists tight. ¡°They wanted to reveal the royal secret.¡±

    Those damned crows.

    ¡°The crows and the cameras are easy to handle, but the god that appeared here...¡± Nero trailed off. ¡°Will Mother be alright alone?¡±

    Zeruughed as if he found his question funny. ¡°Prince Nero, your mother is Mona Roseheart,¡± he reminded him casually. ¡°THE Mona Roseheart.¡±

    ***

    ¡°THEY SAID only a god can fight another god,¡± Mona whispered to herself, smiling. She was standing on the roof of the highest tower in the Royal Pce while looking at the pair of gigantic red eyes above her. ¡°I don¡¯t like the fact that you¡¯re making me look up at you while you¡¯re looking down at me.¡±

    She pointed the end of her staff in the space between the two colossal red orbs.

    Just like that, the enormous pair of red eyes fell down to the ground fast- creating an enormous crater as a result.

    Now it was her turn to look down at the unnamed god.

    ¡°It¡¯s true that only a god can fight another god,¡± Mona said, then she raised her hand to gently pet the huge hand of the goddess beside her. ¡°Luckily, I have the ability to borrow the power of gods.¡±

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 490

    Chapter 490: AGAINST GODS (1)

    [A few minutes earlier...]

    ¡°LADY Hanna, you dropped something.¡±

    Hanna ignored Calyx Dalton who was standing behind closely.

    She knew he was up to no good when he sneaked behind her while Headmaster Salvatore was talking.

    Neoma, on the other hand, was busy trying not to fall asleep while standing.

    She almostughed at how cute the royal princess was.

    [Neoma is so bored.]

    .....

    ¡°I see that you¡¯ve mastered the art of ignoring someone you don¡¯t deem worthy of your attention,¡± Calyx Dalton continued whispering behind her. ¡°Very ssy, and that¡¯s an attitude that suits the future Crown Princess of the empire.¡±

    She ignored the crow again.

    [He wouldn¡¯t shut up, huh? Is he using an enchantment that would prevent people from hearing him and reading his lips?]

    That could be the only exnation as to why Calyx Dalton kept talking ever since earlier.

    Moreover, she could feel the light magic around the arena.

    [If it¡¯s not an enchantment attached to his body, then his guardian- Mr. Raven, if I remember it correctly- is probably controlling what the crowd could see and hear from the ring.]

    Of course, it wouldn¡¯t work on strong people like the emperor.

    But the fact that His Majesty wasn¡¯t saying anything about the enchantment meant that his emperor also thought that it was needed to conceal Neoma¡¯s... uhm, ¡°colorful¡± words.

    [Neoma already cursed earlier.]

    She had a feeling that Neoma was also aware of the enchantment. The royal princess was careful when acting as the Crown Prince in front of the public. But the fact that she cursed freely meant that she was somewhat aware that her words and the movement of her lips weren¡¯t being protected by the enchantment.

    [At least Calyx Dalton is useful in times like this.]

    ¡°Lady Hanna, your parents¡¯ engagement rings are beautiful.¡±

    She immediately turned in Calyx Dalton¡¯s direction.

    ¡°You¡¯re finally looking at me,¡± Calyx Dalton said while jiggling a pair of white gold diamond-studded wedding rings. One of the bands was thinner than the other. ¡°Duke and Duchess Quinzel¡¯s wedding rings are pretty unique, huh?¡±

    The crow wasn¡¯t lying.

    Her parents¡¯ wedding rings were unique in a way that a piece of her mother and father¡¯s soul werebined, then they were mixed inside the rings.

    Thus, there was no way her parents¡¯ rings could be faked.

    The realization hit her instantly.

    [Mother and Father... were kidnapped?]

    ¡°I pray that this fight doesn¡¯t shed too much blood,¡± Headmaster Salvatore said. ¡°Let the match begin!¡±

    After saying that, the headmaster left the ring instantly.

    [Calm down, Hanna Quinzel,] she reminded herself while clenching her hands tight. [This might just be the crows¡¯ trap to make you lose your control-]

    ¡°You have one hour to save Duke and Duchess Quinzel. Unfortunately, I don¡¯t think you have the time to participate in this match,¡± Calyx Dalton whispered in her ear. ¡°Right now, your poor parents are in the Light Temple- slowly being drowned by Darknessced with malice.¡±

    Darknessced with malice could harm people in the most painful way possible.

    In short, it was torture.

    She couldn¡¯t control it anymore- her Mana exploded at the same time anger filled her chest as she yelled angrily. A gush of violent wind followed the explosion of her Mana ¨C and it sent Calyx Dalton flying.

    ¡°Calyx Dalton,¡± Hanna said through gritted teeth, her green eyes now glowing menacingly. ¡°You son of a bitch.¡±

    She couldn¡¯t think of a more eloquent way to cuss Calyx Dalton out.

    After all, she couldn¡¯t think straight.

    The thoughts in her head were all violent and vulgar, so the words that came out of her mouth were just as vicious. It was unbing of a proper nobledy like her. But at that moment, she honestly didn¡¯t care.

    ¡°Nathaira!¡± Hanna yelled, her eyes focused on Calyx Dalton who wasughing while suspended in the air. It seemed like the crow was using a flight magic enchantment. ¡°Come out and devour the crow bastard!¡±

    Nathaira was the shadow of a two hundred meter Imoogi.

    ording to the empire¡¯s legend, an Imoogi was a dragon punished by the gods- reducing it to a giant serpent. But since the Imoogis remained powerful despite being punished, people began calling them snake demigods.

    [And I can clearly see why.]

    Nathaira, despite being 200 meter in length and probably 6 tons in weight, moved fast and graciously. The Imoogi lunged at Calyx Dalton at the speed of lightning, then she swallowed the crow- earning them a collective loud gasp from the crowd.

    [He¡¯s stillughing!]

    She let out a low growl.

    ¡°Your Royal Highness,¡± Hanna said, turning to Neoma who looked at her at the same time. ¡°I don¡¯t care if you break all his bones, but don¡¯t kill him,¡± she said through gritted teeth. ¡°Calyx Dalton will die by my hands once I returned.¡±

    After dering that, she covered herself with her own shadow.

    Using her shadow as a teleportation spell was one of the Shadow Maniption Techniques that she had learned from her great uncle. It was a useful skill, especially since she needed to move stealthily as the ¡®Shadow Queen.¡¯

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave it to you, Your Royal Highness,¡± Hanna said in an urgent voice. ¡°And please tell His Majesty I apologize in advance for what I¡¯m about to do.¡±

    ***

    THE LIGHT Temple was located in the ¡®Alta Vige.¡¯

    It was where the nobles that belonged to the high society lived. But it was generally a snobbish area, so the Quinzels chose to live in the friendlier ¡®Selena Vige.¡¯

    When the Light Goddess¡¯s poprity was on par with Lord Yule¡¯s, the greedy nobles built the Light Temple in the Alta Vige in order to monopolize the power of the temple. After all, the posh vige was exclusive to the nobles.

    But when the previous emperor abandoned the Light Goddess in order to weaken her influence, the nobles also abandoned the temple. Now it was nothing more than a beautiful building used by female de Moonasterios from time to time.

    Moreover, the Light Temple was moved from the center of the Alta Vige to the most isted area, with nothing but empty lots around.

    [It¡¯s really made of gold...]

    Hanna was amazed by the Light Temple¡¯s exterior, but the Darkness that engulfed it made her skin crawl.

    She was a little taken aback when a handsome ¡®young¡¯ man with deep blue sea eyes appeared in front of her.

    He looked like he was a tall,nky teenager.

    But she knew right away that he was way older than he looked.

    The stranger wore a wore a white robe and a white turtleneck shirt inside that covered not only his neck but also half of his face.

    But the most striking feature that the stranger had was his hair color: pink with red strands.

    [Ah... a male Roseheart.]

    ¡°I am West, the White Tiger,¡± the handsome stranger said, putting a hand over his chest. He spoke normally this time instead of speaking in her mind like he did earlier. ¡°One of His Majesty¡¯s Soul Beasts.¡±

    Hanna bowed her head and greeted the White Tiger politely. ¡°Lord West, may I know if you¡¯ve seen my parents inside? The crows took them, and I was told that they were brought here in the Light Temple.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t see any of the crows, but the Dark Elf bastard that I was guarding earlier threw up a significant amount of Darkness,¡± the White Tiger exined. ¡°I don¡¯t know what exactly it was, but it was powerful enough to drive me out of the temple.¡±

    He gestured to the entrance of the Light Temple.

    The doors were open, but a whirl of Darkness was blocking the way.

    ¡°I¡¯m being pushed out by that thing,¡± West exined while pointing at the whirl. ¡°It¡¯s designed to drive out anyone or anything that possesses divine power or Light attribute.¡±

    ¡°Then maybe I can pass through since I have Darkness attribute,¡± she said, then she excused herself and ran towards the whirl.

    But, much to her shock, she was pushed out.

    ¡°Careful, child,¡± West, who appeared behind her and held her shoulders to stop her from flying away, warned her gently. ¡°Let¡¯s not be reckless.¡±

    She turned to the Soul Beast. ¡°Should we just blow it up?¡±

    West looked surprised by her suggestion. ¡°Lady Hanna, this is unsolicited advice. But please stop hanging out with Princess Neoma. You¡¯re picking up her outrageousness.¡±

    That actually made her smile.

    It was obvious that the Soul Beast was just joking.

    [Right?]

    ¡°There are two reasons why I haven¡¯t blown up the Light Temple yet,¡± West exined while letting go of her shoulders. ¡°First, the Light Temple is important to the de Moonasterios. Second, Jeanne Audley is still inside.¡±

    Jeanne Audley was one of the Pdins.

    ¡°Jeanne Audley¡¯s ability is to create a maze in the areas under her domain. That¡¯s the reason why she¡¯s always in charge of guarding the prisoners,¡± West exined. ¡°So, even if we manage to enter the temple, it would be hard to find our way.¡±

    .....

    ¡°Oh,¡± she said. But she didn¡¯t lose hope yet. ¡°Then how about blowing up the roof?¡±

    The Soul Beast looked stupefied for a moment, then heughed. ¡°Alright,¡± he said. ¡°Let me just call my colleagues first and ask for His Majesty¡¯s permission.¡±

    After saying that, West disappeared.

    [How could I enter the Light Temple...]

    ¡°Lady Hanna Quinzel, may I give you a hand?¡±

    Hanna turned around, then she smiled as soon as she saw the familiar face. ¡°Lady Paige Avery! How did you know I¡¯m here?¡±

    Paige Avery smiled, then she put a hand over her chest. ¡°Lewis sent me here to assist you, mydy.¡±

    Lewis? But how he could he...

    [Ah, right. Lewis is themander of Neoma¡¯s unofficial knights. He probably has a way to contact them privately.]

    ¡°I actually came to the pce first when I felt the presence of a hostile divine being,¡± Paige Avery exined. ¡°But I saw Lady Roseheart there, and I knew instantly that I¡¯m not needed there.¡±

    ¡°Have you met Lady Roseheart before?¡±

    The mage shook her head. ¡°No, but even during my time, the Rosehearts are already famous- especially their pink hair. Moreover, her eyes remind me of Princess Neoma¡¯s despite their different eye colors.¡±

    She agreed with that statement.

    The spirit in Neoma and Lady Roseheart¡¯s eyes was the same.

    ¡°I instinctively knew that the woman I saw in the pce was Lady Roseheart- Princess Neoma¡¯s mother,¡± Paige Avery said. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to disturb her, so I just left. That was when we received Lewis¡¯s order. He told us that something strange is going around, and he specifically asked us to look for you, Lady Hanna.¡±

    Oh, Lewis did that?

    [I¡¯m touched.]

    ¡°We went around the Royal Capital to investigate,¡± Paige Avery continued. ¡°I sent Juri and Xion to the za, and Jeno and Greko to the academy.¡±

    The mage pointed to the Light Temple engulfed with Darkness.

    ¡°I¡¯m a Light mage, so I¡¯m sensitive to Darkness- especially in this scale,¡± Paige Avery exined. ¡°I followed the trail of Darkness until I got here.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± she said, smiling while nodding. But her smile faded as soon as she remembered why she was there. ¡°Lady Paige, I¡¯m here because the crows have abducted my parents. Calyx Dalton told me that my parents are here. Although it¡¯s not wise to believe the words of the enemies easily, my gut feeling told me that he wasn¡¯t lying. So I came here in a haste.¡± She pointed at the whirl blocking the entrance. ¡°But I can¡¯t pass through that whirl of Darkness.¡±

    Paige Avery turned to the Light Temple and observed it. ¡°I can purify it, but not for too long,¡± she said, then she turned to her. ¡°Lady Hanna, I can create an opening for you. But you must save your parents quickly. The Darkness that covered the Light Temple is too thick. We do not have a choice but to blow it upter before it scatters to the residential area.¡±

    She nodded firmly. ¡°I just need to enter the temple, Lady Paige.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll help blow the temple upter.¡±

    Both she and Paige Avery turned to West who appeared in front of her.

    ¡°His Majesty gave his permission to blow up the Light Temple if needed,¡± West informed them, then he turned to the mage. ¡°I can lend you my divine power if you need it, child.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Lord White Tiger,¡± Paige Avery said, then she turned to her while a white parasol materialized in the mage¡¯s hand. ¡°Lady Hanna, are you ready?¡±

    Hanna nodded firmly. ¡°I am ready.¡±

    ***

    IT ALL happened fast.

    A white honeb-like barrier swallowed the Light Temple. As soon as the whirl of Darkness blocking the entrance disappeared, Hanna found herself inside the temple after Paige Avery pushed her lightly.

    But when the surroundings lightened up a bit because of Paige Averys, she realized that West wasn¡¯t lying when he said the entire temple had been turned into a maze.

    ¡°The fact that Jeanne Audley¡¯s maze is still active means that she¡¯s alive. But she might be unconscious, since the maze isn¡¯t making way for us even though it¡¯s designed to allow allies to enter freely,¡± West said while looking around. ¡°The Darkness hasn¡¯t subsided here yet.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Lord West,¡± Hanna said, her green eyes glowing. ¡°I can see the traces of my mother¡¯s Mana.¡±

    Her mother had the ability to see traces or residues of Mana.

    But her mother also had the ability to leave the traces of her Mana, and her mother clearly knew how to use her power well.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go and save my parents,¡± she said, then she turned to the White Tiger. ¡°Lord West, please find and rescue Lady Audley. If she¡¯s unconscious, she might be in danger.¡±

    ¡°Will you be fine on your own?¡±

    ¡°Yes, my lord,¡± she assured him. ¡°So please don¡¯t worry about me.¡±

    ¡°Very well,¡± West said, then he quickly transformed into his Soul Beast form. ¡°I¡¯ll find Jeanne Audley and follow you after I rescued her.¡±

    After saying that, the White Tiger ran straight to the maze.

    ¡°Man,¡± she said, summoning her Griffin. ¡°Come out.¡±

    The beast with the body, tail, and back legs of a lion; the head and wings of an eagle; and talons of an eagle as its front feet appeared in front of her.

    She used her own shadow to lift herself up, then she mounted the Griffin.

    ¡°Follow the traces of my mother¡¯s Mana,¡± she told the Griffin. ¡°If the maze gets in the way, just smash through it.¡±

    Man roared as a response.

    After that, the Griffin flew above the maze. As expected, the maze was ¡®alive.¡¯ Vines suddenly emerged from the ground as if they had the intention to pull them down. But Man smoothly avoided all the attacks.

    She didn¡¯t cut the vines because she didn¡¯t want to identally hurt Jeanne Audley.

    Thankfully, the series of attacks ended soon.

    [West probably already found Lady Audley.]

    That was quick.

    Her moment of distraction was an opening for the enemy, though.

    Before she knew it, Darkness shaped like a whip already wrapped itself around Man. Then it pulled them down aggressively. The floor where they fell to crushed under the impact. After all, they fell to the room below it.

    She cushioned her fall with her own shadow while ordering Man to return to the Shadow Realm when she noticed that the Darkness was trying to swallow the Griffin. The Shadow Beast roared as a response to her order before it disappeared.

    ¡°It¡¯s an honor to be in the presence of the future Crown Princess of the Great Moonasterion Empire.¡±

    She immediately got on her feet and turned around to face the enemy.

    Oh?

    She was pretty sure that it was the Dark Elf that was supposed to be locked up in the temple. To be honest, she hadn¡¯t seen an elf in her life. But she thought they looked simr to humans, except for the pointy ears.

    [I also concluded that this is Lukas because of the pointy ears.]

    However, the THING in front of her was nothing but a lump of Darkness shaped like a Dark Elf.

    Even though she was also a Darkness attribute user, it still made her skin crawl.

    [This is Darknessced with malice.]

    ¡°I apologize, but I do not have anything prepared for the future Crown Princess,¡± Lukas said sarcastically, then he bowed in an exaggerated way. ¡°I have nothing to offer Her Highness except for Duke and Duchess Quinzel.¡±

    When the Dark Elf stepped aside, she almost lost her mind again.

    Her chest tightened, and she felt like crying on the spot. But she held it in. She wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything if she cried.

    There was a tank made of Darkness behind Lukas. The Darkness wasn¡¯t as murky as usual, so she could clearly see her unconscious parents inside. Her mother and father floated, with their faces on the surface. Even though they were unconscious, she was relieved to see that they hadn¡¯tpletely sunk to the bottom yet.

    She could see web-like threads holding her parents¡¯ bodies up.

    But she could also see that the level of Darkness inside was rising continuously.

    [I have to save them quickly!]

    ¡°Did you like my present, our precious Crown Princess?¡±

    ¡°I am Hanna Quinzel,¡± she said in a firm yet calm manner while gathering shadows under her feet. ¡°I do not identify myself as the ¡°future Crown Princess¡± alone.¡±

    ¡°Ah, were you offended?¡± Lukas asked,ughing. ¡°Should I apologize, Lady Hanna?¡±

    ¡°You can apologize by surrendering your life to me,¡± she said, then she lunged at the Dark Elf. ¡°Hebi,e out!¡±

    The Seven-headed Shadow Serpent emerged from behind her.

    Hebi hissed and attacked Lukas as she ran past the Dark Elf.

    Saving her parents was her priority, so she left the fighting to her Shadow Beast. But much to her confusion, she easily went past Lukas. She thought that the Dark Elf would stop her at all costs.

    Why did it seem like everything was going smoothly?

    [Don¡¯t tell me...]

    The crows¡¯ only intention was to keep me out of the match?

    She stopped thinking about it when she finally reached the tank where her parents were currently trapped in.

    [How did Father and Mother get caught?]

    She wondered as she ced her hands on the ss surface of the tank. Then she poured Mana into her hands with the intention of breaking the tank into pieces. The Darkness wouldn¡¯t affect her since she covered herself with her shadow.

    [Mother, Father...]

    She poured arger amount of Mana until cracks appeared all over the tank. Then it exploded. As soon as the tank broke into pieces, she jumped and created a shadow dagger to cut the threads attached to her parents¡¯ bodies.

    Then she gathered all the shadows around to create a shadow puppet big enough to catch both her mother and father at the same time.

    She smiled out of relief, but it soon ended when she heard Hebi¡¯s loud cry.

    When she turned around, she saw that Lukas had already cut off two of Hebi¡¯s seven heads. Her heart was squeezed painfully for her Shadow Beast.

    [Hebi!]

    ¡°If you have already saved your parents, then leave this ce now, Lady Hanna,¡± Lukas said yfully. ¡°My master enjoyed the despair that you felt while you were frantically looking for your dear parents.¡±

    What?

    She was confused.

    ¡°Do not defile the youngdy¡¯s ears with your vulgar words, Lukas.¡±

    She was surprised when Paige Avery suddenly appeared, then she kicked Lukas in the face to send him away from Hebi.

    ¡°Lady Paige,¡± she said, smiling and relieved again.

    Paige Avery turned to her with a smile. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of the Dark Elf, Lady Hanna. I need to purify the entire temple, anyway. And since you have Darkness attribute, you might get hurt by my purification spell.¡±

    ¡°I understand, Lady Paige. I won¡¯t get in your way,¡± she said while nodding. ¡°Thank you for helping me save my parents.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing,¡± the mage said. ¡°You¡¯re also a part of our family, Lady Hanna.¡±

    She was touched once again.

    But she knew it wasn¡¯t the right time to talk since Lukas was still there.

    So, Hanna summoned Hebi back to the Shadow Realm before she ran away with the shadow puppet holding her unconscious parents in its arms.

    [Please be safe, Lady Paige.]

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 491

    Chapter 491: AGAINST GODS (2)

    WHEN HANNA got out of the temple, West in his human form greeted her.

    The White Tiger held the unconscious Jeanne Audley in his arms while looking up at the temple.

    When she turned around, she realized that the white honeb barrier that covered the entire Light Temple was swallowing the Darkness oozing out of it. It was probably Paige Avery¡¯s purification spell.

    [Lady Paige is really strong.]

    ¡°Hanna Quinzel,¡± West yelled with urgency while running in her direction. ¡°Get down!¡±

    Hanna heard West, but when she felt a chilling presence above her, her head moved on its own and looked up...

    ... there, she saw a pair of red eyes literally ogling her.

    .....

    [A god...?]

    ***

    WHEN HANNA came to be, she found herself alone in a dark room while facing a pair of red eyes attached to the wall.

    [This... isn¡¯t reality.]

    She was probably summoned into a different dimension. If not a Spirit, then only a god could do something like this.

    A god.

    Lukas mentioned his master enjoying his meal earlier, and the voice that she heard earlier thanked her for a delicious meal, too. If she wasn¡¯t mistaken, the Dark Elf¡¯s master was...

    ¡°Lord Helstor,¡± Hanna said in disbelief. ¡°The God of Eternal Darkness.¡±

    ¡°I am more than that, Lord Helstor.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re praising me too much, my lord.¡±

    The godughed as if he was amused.

    ¡°It¡¯s because of Princess Neoma, respect must be earned,¡± she said politely. She addressed Neoma by her title because she was talking to aplete stranger. ¡°However, I¡¯m only being polite because of my upbringing and not because I respect you genuinely, my lord.¡±

    The god justughed once again.

    ¡°Yes, my lord.¡±

    ¡°I respectfully decline, Lord Helstor,¡± she said without missing a beat. ¡°I do not have the slightest desire to be your saintess.¡±

    The god¡¯s offer wasn¡¯t something worth mulling over, to be honest.

    She let out a sarcasticugh. ¡°My lord, is it natural to feast on the despair of the people you are ¡°fond¡± of?¡±

    ¡°My lord, you¡¯re mistaken about one thing,¡± she said, ignoring what the god said earlier. ¡°It¡¯s not you who gets to decide whether we are enemies or not- it¡¯s entirely up to me. And the moment you tried to hurt Princess Neoma, we¡¯ve already be enemies.¡±

    ¡°I am not Princess Neoma¡¯s follower,¡± she said. ¡°I am her family.¡±

    ¡°If you have nothing else to say, then do you mind sending me back, my lord?¡±

    Helstor warned her.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Lord Helstor,¡± Hanna said, smiling. ¡°The next time you summon me, I¡¯ll be strong enough to fight you.¡±

    ***

    THERE WAS a reason why there were gods who wanted Mona Roseheart to disappear from this world.

    And the reason was simple.

    ¡°Genevieve, it¡¯s been a while,¡± Mona whispered to herself while the rose at the end of her staff was glowing. ¡°Come out and let¡¯s punish those who break the rules.¡±

    No longer than a few seconds, a gigantic right hand overflowing with divine power appeared beside her.

    Long, slender fingers.

    Pristine nails.

    Fancy rings on each finger filled with pure Mana.

    Ancient letters tattooed all over the back of the hand.

    It was the divine hand of Genevieve- the Goddess of Divine Oaths.

    Just like what her title suggested, she was the goddess that regted the divine oaths made by the gods and the humans of the Ancient Period. One of the oaths made back then was the promise that the gods wouldn¡¯t descend into the human world without the approval of the God Among Gods.

    Genevieve had the authority to punish the gods who would break that particr rule.

    [That¡¯s why out of all the gods willing to lend their power to me, I chose Genevieve.]

    And she chose the Goddess of Divine Oaths because she wanted to make sure that the gods wouldn¡¯t be able to mess with the human world.

    She smiled when she felt a warm air embrace her.

    It was Genevieve who hugged her with her divine power since she didn¡¯t have a physical body.

    ¡°I¡¯ve missed you, too, Genevieve,¡± she said, smiling. ¡°Did you have a good nap while I was away?¡±

    When she was trapped in the block of ice at the bottom of the sea, Genevieve hid herself and entered a deep slumber to protect herself from the other gods. After all, the gods who wanted to go down to the human world needed to kill the Goddess of Divine Oaths in order to get rid of the oath that prevented them from descending.

    Genevieve was powerless without the ¡®Medium¡¯ that connected the Upper World and the human world.

    That ¡®Medium¡¯ was Mona Roseheart.

    And why was she chosen?

    ¡°They said only a god can fight another god,¡± Mona whispered to herself, smiling. She was standing on the roof of the highest tower in the Royal Pce while looking at the pair of gigantic red eyes above her. ¡°I don¡¯t like the fact that you¡¯re making me look up at you while you¡¯re looking down at me.¡±

    She pointed the end of her staff in the space between the two colossal red orbs.

    Just like that, the enormous pair of red eyes fell down to the ground fast- creating an enormous crater as a result.

    Now it was her turn to look down at the unnamed god.

    ¡°It¡¯s true that only a god can fight another god,¡± she said, then she raised her hand to gently pet Genevieve¡¯s hand. But since it was enormous, her hand was only big enough to touch one of the knuckles of her fingers. ¡°Luckily, I have the ability to borrow the power of gods.¡±

    Because only she among the Summoners in the world could actually wield the power of gods.

    Thus, the followers of the gods who wanted to descend to the human world were adamant about killing Mona, too. If she disappeared, Genevieve would weaken as well. And once the Goddess of Divine Oaths died, the oath would lose its effect.

    ¡°Genevieve, that one can¡¯t be a Major God, right?¡± she asked, while looking at the pair of red orbs. ¡°It doesn¡¯t even look like it has its own will.¡±

    A Mid God was a god with average power.

    Genevieve exined.

    ¡°Ah,¡± she said, nodding. ¡°That exins the hundreds of eyes in the pce right now.¡±

    Thankfully, William was there to get rid of the eyes that were literally looking for Nero.

    That was the reason why she was calm now.

    [I can entrust my son to William.]

    ¡°Genevieve, does the God of Recollection has the right to be here?¡±

    ¡°Is it possible that someone else has forced him to transform?¡± she said while looking at the pair of red orbs that remained unmoving while stuck in the crater they created on the ground. ¡°It looks lifeless.¡±

    ¡°Then can we take it as the God of Recollection breaking the rules?¡±

    That was all she needed to hear.

    She grabbed the handle of her staff tighter, then she pointed the fully bloomed rose at the red orbs. Her unique pink Mana and Genevieve¡¯s blue divine power gathered at the tip of the staff until the color changed intovender.

    The impact of her Mana and the goddess¡¯s divine powerbined together created a violent gush of wind around. In fact, the nearby establishments cracked, along with the roof of the tower that she was stepping on.

    [Sorry for destroying your properties, Niki!]

    ¡°God of Recollection, you no longer have the right to stay in the human world,¡± Mona said in a solemn voice, then she swung her staff hard. ¡°I bestow Divine Banishment upon you!¡±

    Nydia, her staff, produced avender energy shaped like a curved de.

    It hit the left eye first, then it ricocheted until it hit the right eye.

    Divine Banishment was a technique Mona would use to banish divine or transcendent beings and objects from specific ces where they weren¡¯t supposed to appear.

    That was exactly why she and Genevieve worked together well.

    Her thoughts were distracted when she heard a bloodcurdling cry followed by an earthquake.

    The ground shook because the red eyes were resisting the Divine Banishment.

    When Mona looked closer, she realized that the red eyes were brimming with what looked like ¡°ck¡± tears. But upon closer inspection, it became evident that the ck tears were actually Darkness in its liquid form.

    .....

    ¡°The eyes are going to explode,¡± she said with urgency. ¡°Should we kill him?¡±

    She was about to say something when she heard a chilling voice of a man in her head.

    She shut her eyes tight and clutched her head when the new presence forced a link in her mind.

    When she closed her eyes, she woke up in another dimension.

    There, in an empty white room, she saw an immactely handsome man sitting on a in white throne with his legs crossed, his elbow propped up against the armrest, and his cheek pressed against his fist.

    Curly, violet hair.

    Bored, red eyes.

    Pale skin.

    The man wearing a ck turtle neck shirt with a white robe draped over his shoulders, pants, and boots looked like a normal person.

    But his ridiculously strong divine power said otherwise.

    Mona, much to her shock, was forced to kneel in front of the god. She couldn¡¯t even raise her head because of the pressure crushing her body.

    That was how powerful he was.

    ¡°The God Among Gods,¡± Mona said through gritted teeth, resisting the pressure crushing her in order to raise her head and meet the god¡¯s red eyes. ¡°Lord Levi.¡±

    ¡°Mona Roseheart, I summoned you here because I believe we have something important to talk about,¡± Levi said in a bored yetmanding voice. ¡°As Yoan¡¯s father, I refuse to ept Neoma de Moonasterio as my daughter-inw- my kindhearted son is too good for your sphemous and untamed daughter.¡±

    Excuse me?

    Did this man just insult her Baby Muffin?

    Mona was offended. ¡°Lord Levi, you should be honored that my precious daughter whose standards are as high as the sky has taken an interest in your son.¡±

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 492

    Chapter 492: LEVI, THE GOD AMONG GODS

    ¡°MONA ROSEHEART, my precious son has it all.¡±

    Mona almost rolled her eyes when Lord Levi, the God Among Gods, began gushing over Ruto. [Lord Levi called him ¡®Yoan,¡¯ though.]

    ¡®Yoan¡¯ must be Ruto¡¯s divine name.

    She also remembered that when Neoma had a high fever, she kept on mentioning Ruto and ¡®Yoan¡¯ interchangeably. But she deduced that Ruto and Yoan were the same people because of the things that her daughter said when she was in a delirious state before.

    ¡°My precious Yoan is handsome like me,¡± Lord Levi said. His face remained looking bored, but his voice was full of enthusiasm. ¡°He¡¯s powerful like me, too. But thankfully, he didn¡¯t inherit my poor traits. After all, my son is diligent and kind. Thanks to that nice and dependable personality of his, he got a bunch of talented and incredible individuals following him.¡±

    Oh, god.

    [Here¡¯s another father who dotes on his child too much.]

    .....

    Lord Levi reminded her of how Niki doted on their children, especially on Neoma.

    ¡°Since my son has everything, I want him to end up with someone worthy of him- someone who has everything, too,¡± the god continued. ¡°Not someone like Neoma de Moonasterio.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not saying this because I want Neoma and Ruto to end up together. It¡¯s not for me to decide anyway,¡± Mona said, then she slowly stood up even though every inch of her body was protesting. But she refused to continue kneeling in front of Lord Levi when the god had nothing good to say about her daughter. ¡°But my Neoma isn¡¯tcking either.¡±

    ¡°Your daughter has everything except humility.¡±

    ¡°My daughter¡¯sck of humility doesn¡¯t make her a bad person,¡± she argued. She couldn¡¯t deny that Neoma was arrogant, but it wasn¡¯t like her daughter¡¯s arrogance hurt innocent people. ¡°To be fair, her arrogance stems from her vanity. And Ruto knows that well. If your son has no problem with it, then your opinion on my daughter¡¯s arrogance doesn¡¯t matter.¡±

    She hadn¡¯t been with Neoma for long, but so far, she hadn¡¯t heard or seen her daughter boast about things in order to offend innocent people.

    Neoma would just often praise her beauty, or annoy her enemies on purpose.

    [Maybe I¡¯m just being biased, but I don¡¯t think Neoma¡¯s arrogance is that bad.]

    ¡°I am Yoan¡¯s divine father,¡± Lord Levi insisted. ¡°I have the right to choose his future partner. And I¡¯m saying that I do not like Neoma de Moonasterio for my one and only son.¡±

    ¡°Well, Niki also thinks Ruto doesn¡¯t deserve our daughter.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me?¡± the god asked, obviously offended. ¡°It¡¯s the other way around. Your daughter is too wild for anyone to handle.¡±

    ¡°Why are we talking about Neoma and Ruto¡¯s rtionship, Lord Levi? Both of our children are still underaged. Although it¡¯s natural for royal and noble children to get married early, Niki and I have no intention of forcing Neoma and Nero to enter a political marriage.¡±

    ¡°You know that the Sun Goddess is my little sister, don¡¯t you?¡± the god asked. ¡°Only a select few humans know about my connection to the Sun Goddess. Since you¡¯re special, I know that you¡¯re aware of that.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve heard it before from the Cosmic Tree. What does it have to do with our conversation, my lord?¡±

    ¡°I chose the woman who serves my sister¡¯s temple to give birth to my divine child because I wanted him to be the Sun Goddess¡¯ sessor,¡± Lord Levi said. ¡°I intend to make Yoan the future Sun King.¡±

    ¡®Sun King.¡¯

    To be honest, she wasn¡¯t surprised.

    [It¡¯s clear that Ruto is raised to be the future Sun King.]

    ¡°Being a Divine Monarch is a status given to humans that gods choose to rule over their domain in the human world,¡± the god exined. ¡°It means Yoan will soon rule over the East Continent, and he¡¯ll have the same status as a god in the future.¡±

    ¡°But a God yer cannot be a Divine Monarch since a God yer should only answer to you, Lord Levi,¡± she said, confused. ¡°If Ruto bes the Sun King, then he will be obliged to answer to the Sun Goddess.¡±

    ¡°I can always choose another person to be the new God yer.¡±

    She had a bad feeling about it.

    [Only the God yer has the authority to kill gods, but Neoma has killed a minor god and she wasn¡¯t punished for it.]

    ¡°Lord Levi, you¡¯re not thinking of making my daughter the new God yer, are you?¡±

    ¡°Of course not,¡± the god said. ¡°I only turned a blind eye when she killed a minor god before because Yoan, back in his first life, shared his authority as the God yer with Neoma de Moonasterio. He hasn¡¯t taken it back yet, so I do not have the right to punish your daughter.¡±

    Ah.

    So that was what happened.

    ¡°But now that Yoan has forgotten about your daughter, all the rights that he shared with her will soon disappear,¡± Lord Levi said. ¡°Once my son gains full authority as the God yer, the gods who broke the rules while my vision was blocked would get punished.¡±

    ¡°Your vision was blocked, too, Lord Levi?¡±

    ¡°The air in the Upper World has be so polluted that our visions were blocked.¡±

    She clenched her hands tight.

    [If the air in the Upper World has be that polluted already, then that means the gods will soon be in need of a new Aether...]

    Neoma must be protected at all costs.

    ¡°I¡¯ll raise my son as the God yer for now, and as the Sun Kingter,¡± Lord Levi said. ¡°But my son can¡¯t do any of his jobs properly because he was always worried about Neoma de Moonasterio. I can¡¯t stand it anymore, so I summoned you here to let you know that I will never ept the little princess as my daughter-inw.¡±

    ¡°Are you telling me to tell my daughter to stay away from Ruto?¡±

    ¡°Precisely.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t do that.¡±

    The god frowned. ¡°Mona Roseheart-¡±

    ¡°I know that it¡¯s our job to guide our underaged children,¡± she said, cutting him off. ¡°But Neoma and Ruto are both adults inside. They have memories of their past lives. Thus, only the two of them know what¡¯s best for them.¡±

    Lord Levi scoffed. ¡°Their little love story ended tragically in the past.¡±

    She already deduced that much.

    When Neoma had a high fever, she kept on calling Ruto (and sometimes she would refer to him as ¡®Commander Yoan). Aside from that, her daughter had also said some sad things that made her realize how awful her life was in the first timeline.

    Of course, she kept the things she had heard from Neoma a secret from Niki and Nero.

    [Neoma¡¯s secrets aren¡¯t mine to share.]

    If Neoma wanted them to know about her past with Ruto, she would let them know. As long as her daughter was mum about it, then Mona would keep her mouth shut, too.

    ¡°Lord Levi, Neoma and Ruto are both aware of what transpired between them in the past,¡± she said firmly. ¡°If they still want to be together despite everything, then we do not have the right to get in their way.¡±

    ¡°Are you saying that I do not have the right to be involved in my son¡¯s life?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t twist my words, Lord Levi,¡± she said sternly. ¡°I¡¯m telling you that you do not have the right to make decisions for Ruto- especially when ites to his private life.¡±

    ¡°His private life? That¡¯s funny. Last I checked, I¡¯m still his divine father.¡±

    ¡°As parents, we don¡¯t own our children,¡± she said firmly. ¡°Lord Levi, Ruto is your son. He¡¯s not a puppet. If you want to raise someone who will always follow you blindly, then I¡¯ll just gift you a talking and walking magical tree.¡±

    The god opened his mouth to speak. But in the end, not even a word came out. He just looked at her with a bewildered look on his face.

    In short, Lord Levi was rendered speechless.

    ¡°Neoma and Ruto don¡¯t have a romantic rtionship yet, and they aren¡¯t even talking about it as far as I know,¡± she said. ¡°Neoma and Ruto are both mature individuals. They know that they shouldn¡¯t focus on their rtionship yet because both of them are physically young. It¡¯s not nice to see a seventeen-year-old boy forming a romantic rtionship with a thirteen-year-old girl, after all.¡±

    She let out a frustrated sigh.

    ¡°And to be honest, does Lord Levi think that Neoma and Ruto have time for reach other?¡± she asked while shaking her head. ¡°My daughter is busy carrying out the tasks that your fellow gods have put on her tiny shoulders, while Ruto is busy clearing the path for my daughter. Don¡¯t you feel bad towards the two children, my lord?¡±

    ¡°Exceptional individuals like my son and your daughter are bound to be instruments of gods for the greater good,¡± Lord Levi said. ¡°Every person in the world has a role to fulfill. It just so happened that Yoan and Neoma de Moonasterio¡¯s duties are greater than an average person¡¯s.¡±

    ¡°I would agree with you, but then we would be both wrong.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t appreciate your sarcasm, Mona Roseheart.¡±

    ¡°Then don¡¯t spout nonsense, my lord,¡± she said sternly. ¡°As adults, shouldn¡¯t we be ashamed that we¡¯re putting our hopes on children?¡±

    ¡°An individual¡¯s potential has nothing to do with their age,¡± the god said sternly. ¡°Even newborn babies have an important task awaiting them.¡±

    ¡°Are you talking about the future saint of Astello Temple?¡±

    ¡°Mona Roseheart, I¡¯ll be honest with you- I do not have the full memories of the first timeline,¡± Lord Levi said. ¡°Like anyone else who is aware that this world has regressed based on Yoan and Neoma de Moonasterio¡¯s will, I only have snippets of how the first world ended.¡±

    She didn¡¯t expect that.

    [If Lord Levi, the God Among Gods, doesn¡¯t have his full memories, then it¡¯s safe to assume that the same is true for the other gods.]

    ¡°Gods are supposed to keep their memories even when the world regressed, but Yoan found a way to break that rule,¡± Lord Levi said. ¡°And I have a feeling he stabbed me in the back in order to aplish that. Who knows? Maybe my son even killed me in the first timeline since he has the authority and the power to do that.¡±

    That surprised her.

    The god said it like it was nothing.

    ¡°It looks you¡¯re wondering why I don¡¯t resent my son for what he might have done in the past,¡± Lord Levi said. When Mona just nodded, he exined. ¡°I already told you that my son has everything- and that includes my life. My position as the God Among Gods doesn¡¯t exempt me from being in by the God yer.¡±

    The god had a point, but...

    ¡°Why?¡± she asked curiously. ¡°Why do you value Ruto that much, Lord Levi?¡±

    The god smiled, his eyes sparkling with life for the first time. ¡°Because only Yoan could give me what I want.¡±

    Of course.

    .....

    Gods would never care about someone without gaining anything in return.

    ¡°I genuinely love my son, Mona Roseheart,¡± Lord Levi said, as if he could read her mind. ¡°That¡¯s why I will give anything and everything to him- except Neoma de Moonasterio.¡±

    Ah, they were back to square one.

    ¡°Lord Levi, I already told you that I won¡¯t meddle in Ruto and Neoma¡¯s personal lives,¡± she said firmly. ¡°I trust them.¡±

    ¡°I should have summoned Niki de Moonasterio instead of you,¡± the god said in a remorseful voice. ¡°I¡¯m sure he would have agreed with me.¡±

    ¡°Even if Niki agreed with you, he wouldn¡¯t help you separate Ruto and Neoma on purpose, my lord.¡±

    Well, to be honest, she was aware that Niki had some ¡°evil schemes¡± to separate Ruto from Neoma. But she knew that the emperor wouldn¡¯t dare to execute it unless he wanted Neoma to start calling him ¡®scumbag¡¯ again.

    [Although in retrospect, I wanted to see and hear Neoma curse at Niki since I¡¯ve only heard it from Nero¡¯s stories.]

    ¡°My lord, if you have nothing else to say, then please send me back,¡± Mona said politely. ¡°I do not have the authority to kill gods, but I have the right to banish them for breaking the Divine Oath they made with Genevieve.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about that,¡± Lord Levi said, then he snapped his fingers. ¡°The God of Recollection has already been taken care of.¡±

    ***

    WHEN MONA came to be, she found herself literally lying down in the palm of Genevieve¡¯s floating giant hand. It was still suspended in the air, and when she took a look below them, the pair of red orbs that were quickly shrinking in size greeted her.

    It wasn¡¯t the only strange thing, though.

    She also noticed that each red eye had a lightning bolt shaped like an arrow pierced through the pupils.

    [Lightning bolt...]

    Genevieve said to her using mental telepathy.

    She stood up and turned in the direction of where a strong divine power wasing from.

    And there he was.

    Ruto was suspended in the air while holding an antique bow that was slowly turning into fine pieces of dust.

    The scene gave her goosebumps.

    Ruto had changed. He seemed out of reach now. Especially the detached look on his face.

    [And his power... has he always been this powerful?]

    When the boy turned to her, she felt the urge to bow and kneel in front of her as if she was facing Lord Levi again. But thankfully, she managed to stop herself from doing that. She didn¡¯t like being forced to bow and kneel to people.

    [Neoma didn¡¯t exin things in full details, but she told me Ruto may have already forgotten her.]

    ¡°Greetings, Lady Mona Roseheart,¡± Ruto greeted her politely, then he bowed to her. ¡°I apologize for stealing your prey from you.¡±

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s alright,¡± Mona said. ¡°I do not have the authority to kill him, anyway.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for your understanding, Lady Roseheart.¡±

    She just smiled as a response to that. ¡°Ruto, after you clean up here, are you going to watch Neoma¡¯s match?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Lady Roseheart.¡±

    She was surprised to hear that. ¡°Ruto, do you remember who Neoma is in your life?¡±

    ¡°Apparently, I lost half of my power because of her,¡± Ruto said indifferently. ¡°Sienna told me I need to see Princess Neoma in order to gain my full authority back.¡±

    Oh.

    Mona felt heartbroken for her daughter.

    [Ruto doesn¡¯t remember Neoma yet.]

    ***

    IT BECAME a two-on-two match.

    Delwyn (in his wolf form) versus the White Lion.

    Then Neoma versus Calyx Dalton.

    [Fuck, this is bad.]

    Neoma didn¡¯t expect that her ¡°self-destruction¡± would cost this much. And controlling Delwyn¡¯s ice was harder than she thought, too.

    Ice daggers.

    Ice swords.

    Ice spears.

    She had used different types of weapons made of ice, but they were all weak.

    Every time Calyx Dalton¡¯s halberd- that he would call ¡®Twin Crescent Moons¡¯- her ice weapon would instantly break. As a result, she was pushed back further and further until she almost fell out of bounds.

    She had to push the crow psycho back by creating a Dome.

    Then she stepped forward while the long spike of Calyx Dalton¡¯s halberd was poking her Dome continuously whileughing like the crazy bastard that he was.

    Blegh.

    She, on the other hand, clutched her stomach as she coughed up another chunk of blood.

    [Fucking hell.]

    When Calyx Dalton poked her stomach with that pretty weapon of his, a huge amount of Darkness entered her body. The Darkness was currently trying to melt her internal organs. Thus, she kept on coughing up blood.

    Although she was in excruciating pain at the moment, she realized one thing.

    [This is identical to the ¡°curse¡± that almost killed Nero in the past.]

    Yes, the ¡°curse¡± that took Trevor eight years to heal.

    But the ¡°curse¡± in her body was weaker than what Nero had received when they were children. That, or maybe her ¡°self-destruction mode¡± was helping her get through it.

    [I thought the ¡°curse¡± that Nero received before came from the Devil?]

    But then again, the Devil was also a Darkness attribute user. Maybe the ¡°curse¡± was something that Darkness attribute users could master.

    Her thoughts were cut off when Calyx Dalton stabbed her Dome with the halberd¡¯s long spike. And just like that, her barrier broke into hundreds of pieces like a fragile ss. Once again, she coughed up blood.

    [Fuck...]

    ¡°Your Royal Highness, this is getting boring,¡± Calyx Daltonined. ¡°Isn¡¯t it about time for you to get serious in the match?¡±

    [Listen to what this little piece of shit is saying...]

    She was serious.

    Ever since the start, she had taken the fight seriously. But her ¡°self-destruction mode¡± and Calyx Dalton¡¯s underhanded trick were literally destroying her internal organs and soul literally. If she was an ordinary person, she would have dropped dead already.

    [If I could make a surprise attack again while he¡¯s busy running his mouth, I would. But I¡¯m almost at my limit.]

    And so, she decided to talk in order to buy herself some time to recharge.

    ¡°Shut up, you minor viin,¡± Neoma said while wiping the blood off of her mouth. ¡°Main characters have to lose at the beginning of the match to make the fight more exciting.¡±

    ¡°You really say the most random things at the most inappropriate time,¡± Calyx Dalton said whileughing. ¡°Your Royal Highness, I truly admire you, and I don¡¯t want you to hate me. Should I lose on purpose?¡±

    ¡°Excuse me?¡±

    ¡°Your Royal Highness¡¯s goal is to win and be the student representative, right? But if you lose this match-¡±

    ¡°Who said I¡¯m losing?¡± she snarled at him, cutting him off roughly. ¡°Don¡¯t insult me, punk.¡±

    Calyx Dalton looked at her as if she was a pitiful, small animal shaking in front of a predator.

    Of course, she was insulted. However, that was the reality of her situation.

    She didn¡¯t want to admit this, but she was seriously losing the match.

    And this was the most embarrassing moment of her third life yet.

    [Goddammit.]

    ¡°Let¡¯s get this done and over with,¡± Calyx Dalton said, then he mouthed her the words that made her skin crawl. ¡°Prin. Cess. Ne. O. Ma.¡±

    Ah, the crow psycho already knew her name?

    And he knew that she was just Nero¡¯s proxy all this time?

    Oh, fuck.

    That realization sent a shiver down her spine.

    She would have fallen into her Lunacy state again had she not heard her savior¡¯s voice in her head.

    Neoma smiled, then every energy inside her body exploded at the same time: her Mana, her Moonglow, her Darkness attribute, and her LIGHT ATTRIBUTE.

    The explosion caused a thick cloud of smoke to leak out of her body- clouding her from everyone¡¯s eyes. But, in just a few moments, a fancy pure white Death Scythe emerged from the crowd¡¯s view.

    ¡°Skewer!¡± Neoma yelled,ughing as she finally got a hold of her favorite weapon. ¡°Let¡¯s butcher some crow psycho today!¡±

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 493

    Chapter 493: MADWOMAN

    [The day Neoma met Lady Roxana...]

    ¡°MY PRECIOUS granddaughter, even if your Mana and your Moonglow weaken that day, you can still use something else to fight.¡±

    ¡°Are you talking about a de Moonasterio¡¯s physical strength?¡± Neoma asked, then she pouted. ¡°But I thought I¡¯d also get physically weak once I get my period?¡±

    Roxana smiled and shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m talking about the demon power in you. It¡¯s Darkness attribute, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t use it, Grandma,¡± she said sadly. ¡°It¡¯s a known fact that a de Moonasterio can¡¯t wield Darkness attribute. That¡¯s why Papa Boss didn¡¯t inherit his mother¡¯s attribute, even though his mother is a Quinzel. Worse, my Darkness attributees from something simr to demon power. If people find out that I have demon power, they might doubt my de Moonasterion blood.¡±

    ¡°What if we purify your Darkness attribute?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    .....

    ¡°I have a Light attribute, so I can purify your Darkness attribute.¡±

    ¡°But won¡¯t it kill me, Grandma?¡±

    She knew that it wouldn¡¯t, but she asked just to be safe.

    ¡°Of course, it won¡¯t kill you,¡± her grandmother said, but she smiled sadly at her. ¡°The purifying process will hurt, though.¡±

    ¡°Oh. How painful?¡±

    ¡°Your insides will feel like they¡¯re being burned.¡±

    She wasn¡¯t used to pain, but that should be bearable.

    Tteokbokki wasn¡¯t in her body at the moment because she didn¡¯t want to identally summon him, so she left her Soul Beast with Lewis. Since Tteokbokki wasn¡¯t with her, she wouldn¡¯t be immune to fire or getting burned.

    [I have no choice but to endure.]

    ¡°I see,¡± she said while nodding. ¡°Grandma, what will happen if you purify my Darkness attribute?¡±

    ¡°Once I purify your Darkness attribute, you can wield it as if it was a Light attribute.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I get it,¡± she said when she realized what her grandmother was trying to say. ¡°It¡¯s like how dirty water is safe to drink again after it gets, well, purified.¡±

    Her grandmother looked confused, but she smiled anyway. ¡°But it¡¯s not a permanent thing, Neoma. My Light attribute will only ¡°cover¡± your Darkness attribute for a few hours. Thus, even if you summon your Darkness attribute, nobody will know that it¡¯s actually your demon power.¡±

    ¡°Really, Grandma?¡± she asked excitedly. ¡°Then can I summon Skewer?¡±

    ¡°What is ¡®Skewer?''¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s my weapon- the Death Scythe,¡± she exined. ¡°I got it from my chingu.¡±

    Her chingu (friend) would be Trevor, of course.

    Even though that demon bastard betrayed her and joined hands with the Devil, she still considered him as a friend.

    ¡°Skewer used to be the Devil¡¯s weapon, so it¡¯s filled with demon energy,¡± she exined. ¡°But it¡¯s my favorite weapon. Although I don¡¯t need a weapon since I¡¯m morefortable fighting using Tteokbokki and my fists, I like wielding Skewer. She looks cool, although a scythe isn¡¯t really a practical weapon.¡±

    ¡°If it¡¯s not practical, then why do you still like wielding it?¡±

    ¡°Because it¡¯s aesthetically-pleasing.¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°Nothing, Grandma,¡± she said while smiling and shaking her head. ¡°So, how should we proceed with our n?¡±

    ¡°I can stay in this form until the day you get your first period. Thus, I can purify your Darkness attribute myself,¡± the Light Goddess exined while tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. ¡°Give me a sign once you¡¯re ready to get your Darkness attribute purified, then I¡¯ll begin the process.¡±

    ¡°Okay, Grandma,¡± Neoma said, her big brain already. ¡°If I say that it¡¯s time for my ¡®self-destruct mode,¡¯ then please begin the purification process.¡±

    ¡°Very well,¡± Roxana said, smiling. ¡°Then I¡¯ll let you know once it¡¯s over, Neoma.¡±

    ***

    NEOMA¡¯S n with Roxana, the Light Goddess, and her grandmother, was a sess.

    After coughing up blood, again and again, the purifying process was finally over. It hurt a lot at first, but it was worth it. She felt her demon power in full bloom. God, after feeling weak all morning, she finally felt like she regained everything, especially her brute physical strength.

    [I¡¯m back in my top condition.]

    And the best thing about it? It didn¡¯t feel like it was a Darkness attribute.

    Anyone with knowledge about Mana, attributes, and elements would think that she was wielding a Light attribute.

    [I¡¯m sorry, Nero. You have to pretend that you have a Light attribute now.]

    ¡°Your Royal Highness, you really hate losing, don¡¯t you?¡± Calyx Dalton said, smiling while pointing at the Twin Crescent Moons- his halberd. ¡°And here I thought my Twin Crescent Moons is already a fancy weapon.¡±

    She understood where the crow psycho wasing from.

    Skewer, in her ¡°pure white version,¡± looked so fancy and angelic one would think that it was the perfect weapon for holy beings.

    But it was just so-so for her.

    [My pink Skewer is still the best.]

    ¡°Soju,¡± Neoma said, summoning her Water Spirit while ignoring Calyx Dalton. ¡°Clean mode, please.¡±

    In just a few seconds, the green toad appeared on her shoulder.

    Then a huge bubble appeared and ¡°swallowed¡± her. A rain shower poured into her while she was inside the bubble. But, of course, the water was made from Soju¡¯s power- the power to make her and her clothes magically clean.

    And it didn¡¯t only make her clothes clean- her torn uniform was also fixed, so it looked brand new again.

    Yep, just like how the magical girls in shoujo animes changed clothes.

    [It¡¯s a technique that I asked Soju to learn because I want to look pretty and neat while saving the world.]

    But that wasn¡¯t the best part yet.

    Soju¡¯s Water attribute had the ability to heal shallow wounds, so the w marks on her arms were also treated.

    [And now, I look pristine again.]

    ¡°Thank you, Soju,¡± she said while patting the toad¡¯s head with her head. ¡°You¡¯ve worked hard.¡±

    She justughed and nodded, then Soju disappeared along with the giant bubble.

    ¡°Thanks for waiting,¡± she said to Calyx Dalton, who didn¡¯t attack her while she was having her magical girl moment. ¡°As a token of gratitude, I¡¯ll end this fight quickly.¡±

    ¡°Your Royal Highness is truly vain and arrogant,¡± Calyx Dalton while chuckling. But, all of a sudden, he turned serious. ¡°You¡¯re already pissing me off.¡±

    After saying that, the crow psycho lunged at her.

    She, on the other hand,ughed like a madwoman when adrenaline rushed all over her system.

    Thrill.

    Excitement.

    Bloodlust.

    Those feelings were the strongest in her chest at the moment.

    ¡°Skewer,¡± she said, then she swung the Death Scythe (White Version) as hard as she could while stillughing like the lunatic that she was. ¡°Let¡¯s end it in one hit!¡±

    A powerful pure white energy shaped like a giant curved de emerged from Skewer, apanied by a violent surge of wind that almost sent the nearby spectators (Lewis, Raven, Headmaster, and the other teachers) flying.

    After all, her attack broke the barrier around the ring.

    The spectators had to create anotheryer of barrier in order to protect themselves from the powerful attack that she released.

    Unfortunately, the students and the guardians upying the first few rows of the bleachers didn¡¯t get the chance to protect themselves when the first barrier copsed. Thus, they ended up getting literally being swept away by the violent wind. As a result, the crowd was thrown in chaos.

    [Oops... sorry!]

    Calyx Dalton, on the other hand, stood his ground firmly by blocking Skewer¡¯s attack with his Twin Crescent Moons. A boomerang-shaped energy came out from his halberd to block her attack, but it was a lot smaller and weaker than hers.

    Thus, as a result, the crow psycho was pushed back- his face distorted in pain, veins popping up in his forehead and neck as he tried to block her attack.

    It was futile, of course.

    Calyx Dalton¡¯s resistance onlysted a few seconds before he screamed in agony. When his Twin Crescent Moons halberd broke into two, he was sent flying as the energy shaped like a curved de cut his torso mercilessly.

    The cut was so deep his blood gushed out as the wind swept him away until his back hit the new barrier around the ring.

    Then he coughed up a huge amount of blood.

    His heart and the vital organs in his abdomen were clearly hit by her attack that she¡¯d like to call ¡®Energy de.¡¯

    It was instantly game over.

    Tsk.

    .....

    Neoma was utterly disappointed.

    [I wanted to whoop his ass a little longer. Maybe I should have held back a bit? But I don¡¯t know how to hold back.]

    But Calyx Dalton¡¯s second ace up his sleeves was revealed, though.

    A loud, collective gasp from the audience emerged. It was followed by loud murmurs around. Everyone in the audience had their attention focused on the crow psycho. In short, another pandemonium among the crowd urred.

    After all, Calyx Dalton, who was trying to stand up while still coughing up blood had revealed his true appearance.

    White hair.

    Pale skin.

    Ash-gray eyes.

    Fuck, the crow psycho was indeed a de Moonasterio.

    And fuck again, Calyx Dalton looked more like Nero¡¯s twin than her.

    [Both Nero and Calyx Dalton look like Papa Boss¡¯s younger version.]

    She clicked her tongue.

    [Now that Calyx Dalton has revealed that he¡¯s a de Moonasterio, I must be more careful and end this match as smoothly as possible to avoid criticism from the public.]

    Magical Girl Neoma time was over- it was time for One-punch Neoma to take the spotlight.

    ***

    ¡°CALYX DALTON has the physical traits of the de Moonasterios!¡±

    ¡°I knew it- he¡¯s a de Moonasterio!¡±

    ¡°Then is Lord Calyx His Majesty¡¯s secret child?¡±

    ¡°But he¡¯s older than the Crown Prince...¡±

    Calyx could hear the people talking, and he was happy with what he was hearing.

    [Father, can you hear what the people are saying right now? I am your son. It¡¯s time for you to ept that fact.]

    And so, even though his insides were being grilled at the moment, he didn¡¯t care.

    He was curious, though.

    Lord Callisto told him that the technique Uncle Helstor taught him was the same ¡°curse¡± that the Devil used to almost kill the real Prince Nero in the past. He was told that his ¡°gift¡± for the royal princess wasn¡¯t as powerful as the ¡°curse¡± that the real Crown Prince had suffered from, but it should be enough to weaken her significantly.

    [But howe the royal princess became more powerful all of a sudden?]

    He didn¡¯t want to admit this, but he can no longer fight.

    Since he had to store the ¡°gift¡± in his body, he had to swallow a huge amount of Darkness. Lord Callisto, with Uncle Helstor¡¯s instructions, taught him how to swallow Darkness safely.

    He sent the ¡°gift¡± to the royal princess by pouring the Darkness in his body into his weapon- the Twin Crescent Moons. And when he stabbed the royal princess with the halberd¡¯s long spike earlier, he sent the Darkness to her body through the weapon impaled into her body.

    But there were remnants of the Darkness inside his body because he failed to send everything to the royal princess.

    When she hit him with the energy wave from her scythe oozing with Light attribute, the Darkness residue left in his body was purified. And it hurt like hell. He¡¯d rather swallow Darkness again instead of getting purified by a Light attribute.

    Thus, he could no longer fight.

    [It¡¯s game over.]

    He wanted to know one thing, though.

    ¡°You...¡± Calyx said while wiping off the blood around his mouth with the back of his hand. ¡°How did you suddenly be powerful?¡±

    ***

    ¡°IT¡¯S A MAIN character thing that you wouldn¡¯t get since you¡¯re just a minor viin,¡± Neoma said haughtily to answer Calyx¡¯s when he asked her how she suddenly became powerful, then she ced the handle of her Death Scythe against her shoulder. Then she gasped when she remembered something. ¡°Eottoke, agi-ya? I forgot to act surprised when you finally showed your true appearance!¡±

    Calyx Dalton growled at her, his ash-gray eyes turned glowing red out of anger.

    The crowd was thrown into chaos once again.

    This time, people were talking loudly. It was so loud that her sharp senses could pick up some of the ¡°tea.¡±

    ¡°Only descendants of gods could possess red eyes!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s possible to change your hair and eye color with magic, but everyone who knows magic is aware that dying your eyes red is not possible. After all, only gods and their descendants are allowed to have red eyes.¡±

    ¡°I agree- it¡¯s practically confirmed that Lord Calyx is indeed a de Moonasterio.¡±

    ¡°Then are we witnessing a session war at this very moment?!¡±

    ¡°But could be Lord Calyx¡¯s mother?¡±

    Neoma was forced to stop listening to the crowd when Calyx Dalton, despite his poor appearance, startedughing.

    What a lunatic.

    [He¡¯s really a de Moonasterio since he¡¯s as crazy as me.]

    ¡°Can you hear the people talking, Your Royal Highness?¡± Calyx Dalton said, then he put a hand over his chest while smiling proudly. ¡°They instantly recognize me as His Majesty¡¯s son. I can finally call His Majesty my father with my whole chest.¡±

    ¡°Agi-ya, there¡¯s a difference between being a de Moonasterio and being my father¡¯s child,¡± she said bluntly. ¡°We don¡¯t give a fuck if you¡¯re a de Moonasterio. It¡¯s not like our family name is worth gatekeeping. But you can never be my father¡¯s son.¡± She put a hand over her chest, too. ¡°I can say also say it with my whole chest that I am Father¡¯s oldest child. Only I have the glow of the current emperor¡¯s FIRST child- I am the First Star for that reason, you delusional bastard.¡±

    The crow psycho was about to protest. But, all of a sudden, he fell to his knees while coughing up blood again.

    Tsk.

    [I don¡¯t think he¡¯ll give up willingly, so I should just knock him out to end this match.]

    She dropped Skewer, but the Death Scythe disappeared before it even hit the floor.

    [Rest for now, Skewer.]

    She approached Calyx Dalton leisurely, then she grabbed and picked him up by the cor. Since her strength had returned, it was easy for her to lift the crow psycho as if he weighed nothing, even though he was bigger and taller than her.

    Calyx Dalton, for the first time since the match began, finally became quiet. But his red eyes remained glowing, a clear sign that he still had the spirit to fight.

    ¡°Agi-ya, I usually avoid hitting good-looking people in the face,¡± she said as she lifted her fist, ready to punch him in the face. ¡°But your face begs to be punched, Calyx Dalton.¡±

    ¡°Baby...¡±

    ¡°Yes, you¡¯re a baby,¡± she said, swinging her fist now. ¡°The devil¡¯s spawn-kind-of-baby.¡±

    ¡°You killed your baby during the first timeline.¡±

    Her fist stopped right before her knuckles hit Calyx Dalton¡¯s nose. She knew he shouldn¡¯t easily believe his words. But for some reason, her body instantly froze upon hearing what the crow psycho said about her having a baby in the first timeline.

    ¡°Lord Helstor ate some of Ruston Stroganoff¡¯s memories, and there he saw a snippet of your tragic love story,¡± Calyx Dalton said, then he smirked. ¡°You had a baby with Commander Yoan, but you killed that baby while the poor thing was still in your womb.¡±

    Neoma, whose sanity snapped, punched Calyx Dalton in the face.

    Again and again.

    And there was no sign of the madwoman stopping.

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 494

    Chapter 494: A PYRRHIC VICTORY

    SIENNA watched Yoan¡¯s reaction while they were watching the cruel, bloody fight between Neoma de Moonasterio and Calyx Dalton.

    Of course, they had to sneak in because the security around the academy was tight.

    Even so, they still managed to find a good spot to watch the match- and that spot was the roof of the arena¡¯s left-wing. They had to use a concealment spell so no one would see them, though.

    But they weren¡¯t the only ones who thought that it was a good spot to watch.

    Jeno Dankworth, one of Neoma de Moonasterio¡¯s ¡°children,¡± was watching the match while standing on the roof of the arena¡¯s right wing. He concealed himself with his Mist. The young man noticed her and Yoan earlier, but he ignored them since he recognized Yoan as ¡®Ruto.¡¯

    ¡°That Princess Neoma de Moonasterio...¡±

    Sienna turned to Yoan whose eyes were glued to Neoma de Moonasterio. ¡°What about her?¡±

    .....

    Yoan clutched his chest tight. ¡°She¡¯s a madwoman, isn¡¯t she?¡±

    She turned to the ring again where the ¡®match¡¯ was still ongoing.

    [What a one-sided match...]

    Calyx Dalton was lying down on the floor while Neoma de Moonasterio straddled his hips. The royal princess who seemed to have lost her mind, kept on throwing punches at the young crow¡¯s face.

    [God, Neoma de Moonasterio sure has monstrous strength.]

    The royal princess wasn¡¯t even using Mana or divine power with her punches- it was all brute force. If Calyx Dalton didn¡¯t have the natural sturdy body of the de Moonasterios, his face would have been destroyed by now.

    [Neoma de Moonasterio is a madwoman, indeed.]

    But this would surely ruin her reputation as the Crown Prince.

    [This is overkill. Calyx Dalton already revealed that he¡¯s a de Moonasterio. If she doesn¡¯t stop punching the hell out of him even though the young crow can¡¯t fight anymore, she¡¯ll be the viin.]

    See?

    The crowd was already silent, and most of the people were looking at the royal princess with fear in their eyes.

    ¡°Sienna, please punch me.¡±

    She turned to Yoan, surprised. ¡°Huh? Why would I punch you?¡±

    ¡°Because a thirteen-year-old girl is making my heart flutter,¡± Yoan said, as if he was disgusted with himself. ¡°I should be arrested and locked up in prison.¡±

    She just smiled and shook her head.

    [Yoan is always too hard on himself.]

    But to be honest, she was relieved that Yoan¡¯s n- before he lost his memories- seemed to be working.

    She was skeptical at first because his order sounded ridiculous to her.

    Ah, she suddenly remembered their conversation back then...

    [¡°Sienna, once I lose my memories, all you have to do is bring me to where Neoma is. I just need to see her.¡±]

    [¡°Huh? What would seeing Neoma de Moonasterio do to bring your memories back?¡±]

    [¡°Sienna, do you know what happened the first time I saw Neoma during the first timeline?¡±]

    ¡°Love at first sight,¡± Sienna said, cringing hard. ¡°Did you really fall in love with Neoma de Moonasterio at first sight?¡±

    ¡°Love at first sight?¡± Yoan whispered to himself. ¡°Is my heart that weak for me to fall in love with a child at first sight?¡±

    [Well, Neoma de Moonasterio wasn¡¯t a child the first time you met her in your first life.]

    ***

    MONA¡¯S job wasn¡¯t over yet.

    Ruto killed the God of Recollection and brought the god¡¯s remains with him when he left the pce earlier.

    She also sent Genevieve back since she wouldn¡¯t need the goddess¡¯s assistance this time.

    After all, she would be dealing with humans and not gods.

    [The barrier around the pce wasn¡¯t broken. It was temporarily deactivated to let the God of Recollection in. And once the god was inside, the barrier was activated again. Niki isn¡¯t in the Royal Pce at the moment, so the barrier should be controlled manually to deactivate and activate it.]

    And the control of the barrier was hidden in the throne room.

    Suspiciously enough, the royal guards who should be guarding the throne room weren¡¯t present. The throne room was even unlocked. Thus, she easily opened the doors without the need to break them.

    ¡°Stop,¡± Mona said, gripping Nydia- her staff- tighter as she pointed the end at the hooded man standing in front of the throne. ¡°Turn around and don¡¯t do anything funny, if you don¡¯t want your head to roll on the floor.¡±

    The throne room was poorly lit since the only source of light wasing from the space between the doors that she didn¡¯t closepletely.

    However, she could clearly see the figure of a tall man standing in front of the throne, his back turned to her. It was hard to figure out his identity because of the ck-hooded robe he was wearing, and she also couldn¡¯t feel any Mana from him.

    [He¡¯s concealing his presence well.]

    The only reason why she could tell that it was a man was because of her gut feeling.

    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have returned,¡± the familiar voice of a man said, then he slowly turned around while pulling down his hood as if he wanted her to see his face clearly. ¡°This empire doesn¡¯t need you, Lady Roseheart.¡±

    Why wasn¡¯t she surprised by the man¡¯s identity?¡±

    ¡°And here I was, wondering why you haven¡¯t shown your face to me yet,¡± Mona said indifferently. ¡°Have you been well, Kyle Sprouse?¡±

    ***

    [WHAT DID that crow bastard say to my daughter?]

    Niki clenched his hands tight while watching the match.

    The crowd had gone silent while Neoma was punching the living daylights out of Calyx Dalton who could no longer move.

    He knew that the Crown Prince¡¯s reputation would plummet, but he couldn¡¯t care less.

    [Neoma has a nasty temper, but she knows her limits while acting as the Crown Prince. The fact that she lost it could only mean that Calyx Dalton might have said something that triggered my daughter¡¯s wrath.]

    Was that the reason why the crows used an enchantment around the ring that would conceal Neoma and Calyx Dalton¡¯s conversation?

    ¡°Your Majesty,¡± Geoffrey Kinsley, who was standing next to him, leaned down and whispered to him while covering his mouth with his hand. ¡°I believe we have to stop the match. If Her Royal Highness ends up killing Calyx Dalton, the Crown Prince will be criticized heavily. Moreover, the crowd¡¯s reaction isn¡¯t looking good at the moment.¡±

    He hated to admit this, but his Pdin was right.

    [Even if Neoma wins this match, we¡¯ll still lose in the end if she lost the respect and admiration of her schoolmates.]

    It was time for him to step in.

    He was about to stand and stop the match, when, all of a sudden, a hooded figure interrupted the match while yelling.

    ¡°Stop this cruel match at once!¡±

    The familiar voice sent a shiver down his spine.

    [No way...]

    The hooded person threw a white handkerchief on the floor while crying. ¡°I¡¯m giving up the match in ce of my son!¡±

    [Son...?]

    Thest punch Neoma threw at Calyx Dalton created an airwave that pushed the person¡¯s hood- revealing her face, shocking everyone in the arena who recognized her.

    Red hair.

    Green eyes.

    Porcin skin.

    Niki stood up, his world moving in a slow-motion as everything else faded in the background- everything but the woman his eyes were glued to. ¡°Juliet?¡±

    ***

    ¡°I HAVE BEEN well until you returned, Lady Roseheart.¡±

    Monaughed, amused by Kyle Sprouse¡¯s response. ¡°You¡¯ve grown, Kyle,¡± she said, smiling at him. ¡°You can talk back to me now without trembling.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re mistaken,¡± Kyle said indifferently. ¡°I¡¯m still afraid of you.¡±

    ¡°If you are still afraid of me and still dared to do this sort of thing, then is it safe for me to assume that you¡¯re being backed up by someone you think is stronger than me?¡±

    ¡°You could say that.¡±

    ¡°Kyle, I understand that you hate me,¡± she said solemnly. ¡°But what I do not understand is your reason for betraying Niki.¡±

    She looked calm, but there was turmoil inside her.

    Niki trusted Kyle as much as he trusted Glenn, since both Kyle and Glenn were his childhood friends.

    .....

    [Kyle¡¯s betrayal will devastate both Niki and Glenn.]

    ¡°I have a lot of questions, but arresting you for treasones first,¡± she said sternly. ¡°Kyle Sprouse, if you don¡¯t want to get hurt, then don¡¯t resist.¡±

    ¡°I have no intention to resist,¡± the count said. ¡°After all, I know that I won¡¯t be imprisoned for so long.¡±

    ¡°What makes you so confident?¡±

    ¡°I did not betray the throne,¡± Kyle Sprouse insisted. ¡°I did what I had to do to protect the Royal Family.¡±

    Now she was even more confused. ¡°Protect the Royal Family from what?¡±

    ¡°From you, Lady Roseheart.¡±

    It was so ridiculous that she couldn¡¯t help butugh bitterly. ¡°Do you hate me that much? You betrayed Niki just to get rid of me?¡±

    ¡°I do not hate you,¡± he denied while shaking his head. ¡°I just simply believe that you do not have the right to be the empress. Only one woman is fit to stay by His Majesty¡¯s side- then and now.¡±

    ¡°I know that you¡¯re talking about Juliet, but she¡¯s-¡±

    ¡°Empress Juliet is still alive,¡± Kyle Sprouse said, cutting her off with a smile. ¡°And Her Majesty has finally returned to the empire.¡±

    To say that Mona was shocked would be an understatement. ¡°Juliet is back...?¡±

    ***

    Neoma¡¯s fist stopped when she heard both Lewis and Tteokbokki¡¯s voice in her head simultaneously.

    When she came to be, she found herself straddling Calyx Dalton¡¯s hips. The crow psycho was unconscious, and his face was bleeding all over. He had a broken nose and busted lips. He¡¯d probably get a ck eye, too.

    In short, his face was almost unrecognizable.

    [I... did this?]

    Judging by the blood and the blisters in her hand, yes, she really punched the living daylights out of Calyx Dalton.

    If he wasn¡¯t a de Moonasterio, then he would have already died.

    [Shit.]

    She lost it, and now that her head was clear, she knew very well that she fucked up.

    [¡°You had a baby with Commander Yoan, but you killed that baby while the poor thing was still in your womb.¡±]

    She clutched her head tight when she heard Calyx Dalton in her head. The crow psycho was repeating the things he had said to her earlier, as if it was a mantra. Thus, she felt like going crazy again.

    [I had a baby with Yoan? And I killed it? It can¡¯t be!]

    Her Mana fluctuated along with her jumbled emotions.

    [Calyx Dalton... should I just kill this bastard since my reputation as the Crown Prince has already plummeted anyway?]

    This time, her bloodlust oozed out along with her Mana.

    ¡°Please don¡¯t kill my son, Your Royal Highness!¡±

    She was surprised when a crying woman suddenly knelt beside her and grabbed her arm- the one with the bleeding hand from beating Calyx Dalton to a pulp.

    Thankfully, she managed to stop herself from hitting the woman out of reflex.

    She turned to her side to see what the woman who called Calyx Dalton her ¡®son¡¯ looked like, and she was blown away by her beauty.

    Red hair.

    Green eyes.

    Porcin skin.

    [Wait... this face...]

    Every year, her Papa Boss would visit the Royal Shrine to celebrate a memorial service for thete empress.

    [Ah...]

    The woman in the portrait hanging on the wall of the Royal Shrine, and the crying woman in front of her right now...

    ... they looked the same.

    Of course, the crying woman in front of her looked older than she did in the portrait. Even so, her beauty remained clear.

    Neoma felt the strength in her body leave when the realization hit her. ¡°Empress Juliet?¡±

    How did Empress Juliet be Calyx Dalton¡¯s mother?

    ***

    NOTE: A pyrrhic victory is, ording to webster dictionary, ¡°a victory thates at a great cost, perhaps making the ordeal to win not worth it.¡±

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 495

    Chapter 495: JULIET DALTON

    ¡°SWEETIE?¡±

    Hanna smiled when she saw her parents as soon as she opened her eyes.

    But her smile instantly disappeared when she remembered that it wasn¡¯t the right time to be relieved. She got up immediately, then she got confused when she found herself on an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room.

    ¡°We are at Count Robinson¡¯s mansion,¡± her father, who probably noticed her confusion, exined. ¡°The residents of the vige noticed the strange thing happening at the Light Temple, so they went there to check. Count Robinson helped us as soon as he saw us at the temple¡¯s entrance.¡±

    ¡°When your father and I woke up, we found you unconscious. Thankfully, Count Robinson and the other nobles arrived at the Light Temple shortly after we woke up,¡± her mother added worriedly while holding your hand tight. ¡°The doctor who checked on you earlier said that you fainted due to fatigue. But are you really okay, sweetie? You¡¯re not hurt anywhere?¡±

    Hanna shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m fine, Mother,¡± she said. ¡°But where are Lord West and Lady Audley?¡±

    ¡°Lady Audley is currently being treated by the doctor in the next room. But rest assured, the doctor said that Lady Audley¡¯s life isn¡¯t in danger. She has consumed some poisonous Darkness, but it¡¯s just a small amount that the doctor could purify it easily,¡± her father exined. ¡°Lord West, on the other hand, stayed at the Light Temple to help Lady Avery fight the Dark Elf.¡±

    .....

    Ah, right.

    Lukas, the Dark Elf imprisoned in the Light Temple, had broken free from his chains.

    [I hope Lady Avery and Lord West don¡¯t get hurt while fighting Lukas.]

    She knew that the Light mage and the Soul Beast were both strong individuals, so she was confident that the two would win against the Dark Elf.

    ¡°Mother, Father, what happened?¡± she asked worriedly, grabbing each of her parents¡¯ hands in hers. Then he turned to her father. ¡°Father, you dropped me off at the academy. Howe you suddenly disappeared?¡± She turned to her mother this time. ¡°Mother, I thought you were with Grandmother and Grandfather? Where are they? Are they safe?¡±

    ¡°We were just about to leave the mansion when we were attacked by two individuals who could turn into crows,¡± her mother exined. ¡°They took my parents as hostages, so I had no choice but to follow them. The crows asked me to lure your father to the Light Temple where they brought me, so I sent a message to him.¡±

    ¡°I knew instantly that it was a trap, since your mother had no reason to be at the Light Temple during your important match,¡± her father added. ¡°Your mother specifically said in her letter that I muste alone. I was afraid that they¡¯d hurt her if I secretly brought my people, so I decided toe to the Light Temple alone even though I knew it was a trap.¡±

    Her heart hurt for her parents.

    [I almost lost them because of those cruel crows...]

    ¡°When I arrived at the temple, your mother was already unconscious inside the tank,¡± her father shared. ¡°I tried to fight the crows and save your mother, but I was ambushed by Lukas. I saw them putting me in the tank with your mother before I lost consciousness.¡±

    ¡°That was how I found you, Mother, Father,¡± Hanna said in a trembling voice. The reality of almost losing her parents hitting her hard now. ¡°I¡¯m so d that I wasn¡¯tte.¡±

    ¡°But you had to withdraw from the match,¡± her father said, his eyes filled with sadness and guilt. ¡°We¡¯re so sorry, sweeties. Because we weren¡¯t careful enough, you had to withdraw from the match to save us.¡±

    ¡°You even had to risk your life just to save us,¡± her mother said in a cracked voice. ¡°We¡¯re so sorry, sweetie. And thank you for saving me and your father.¡±

    A lump formed in her throat.

    She was about to cry and tell her parents that they didn¡¯t have to feel sorry for her, or thank her for saving her because she would do everything for them.

    But their emotional moment was interrupted by an urgent knock on the door.

    She held back her tears while her father let Count Robinson- a short, chubby man in his fifties who had a kind face- inside the room.

    ¡°Lady Hanna, I¡¯m d that you¡¯re awake now,¡± Count Robinson said politely, but the urgent look on his face didn¡¯t disappear as he addressed her parents. ¡°Duke and Duchess Quinzel, I apologize for interrupting your family time. But I have an urgent piece of news that I need to share with you. Again, I am sorry.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Count Robinson,¡± her father said to the count. ¡°What happened?¡±

    ¡°My cousin who¡¯s at the academy right now to watch Prince Nero¡¯s match against Lord Calyx sent me an urgent message- and this piece of news has already spread in the Royal Capital,¡± Count Robinson said while wiping the beads of sweat on his forehead with a handkerchief. ¡°Lord Calyx¡¯s mother appeared to stop Prince Nero from almost killing Lord Calyx.¡±

    Her mother gasped.

    Hanna, on the other hand, wasn¡¯t surprised. But she was d that the count said ¡®almost.¡¯ It meant Neoma kept Calyx Dalton alive in the end.

    [Thank you, Neoma- I¡¯ll kill Calyxn Dalton myself soon.]

    ¡°The problem is the identity of Lord Calyx¡¯s mother,¡± Count Robinson said nervously. ¡°It turned out that his mother is the supposedly dead Empress Juliet.¡±

    Her father and mother looked shocked.

    Of course, Hanna had the same reaction.

    [What kind of trick are the crows trying to pull this time?!]

    ***

    ¡°YOUR ROYAL Highness, I¡¯m begging you- please don¡¯t kill my son.¡±

    Neoma was stupefied while watching Empress Juliet beg for her mercy.

    [Empress Juliet... is Calyx¡¯s mother?]

    She was too mind-blown to react.

    [What the fuck is going on?]

    She only snapped out of it when she felt her Papa Boss¡¯s intense presence looming in their direction.

    [Papa Boss must have been shocked, too.]

    ¡°I¡¯m not going to kill Calyx Dalton,¡± Neoma said when she recovered from her shock. Then she slowly stood up while helping Empress Juliet to stand up with her. ¡°Please don¡¯t cry, Your Majesty.¡±

    Empress Juliet suddenly stopped crying as if she was shocked by what she said. ¡°Why is Your Royal Highness addressing me as such? I¡¯m just the sister of a viscount in the countryside.¡±

    It was her turn to get shocked. ¡°Aren¡¯t you... Juliet Sloane?¡±

    ¡°My name is Juliet, Your Majesty,¡± the empress said. ¡°But I am Juliet Dalton and not Juliet Sloane.¡±

    There were only two usible exnations for this.

    First, Juliet Sloane and Juliet Dalton were two different people who just happened to share the same face.

    Second, a ssic trope.

    Amnesia.

    [Does Empress Juliet have amnesia?]

    ¡°Juliet?¡±

    Neoma turned to her Papa Boss who was now standing beside her.

    As expected, her father¡¯s eyes were glued to Empress Juliet, and the emperor was looking at her in disbelief.

    Empress Juliet, who looked shocked when the emperor called her name, immediately bowed her head towards His Majesty. ¡°Greetings to the one and only Moon of the Great Moonasterion Empire,¡± she said politely. ¡°My name is Juliet Dalton, and I am Calyx¡¯s mother.¡±

    After the initial shock on her Papa Boss¡¯s face, he returned immediately to having his signature grumpy face.

    [Oh?]

    ¡°Headmaster Salvatore,¡± the emperor said indifferently to the headmaster who was standing behind them. ¡°Calyx Dalton¡¯s guardian has already withdrawn him from the match. Let¡¯s end this match here and announce the winner.¡±

    ¡°A-As you wish, Your Majesty,¡± Headmaster Salvatore, who obviously sounded confused, cleared his throat before he yelled the result of the match. ¡°Calyx Dalton can no longer continue the match- Prince Nero de Moonasterio wins!¡±

    The majority of the crowd was silent.

    Only a few cheered and pped their hands.

    Neoma won the match- but it was an embarrassing win.

    [This is what a pyrrhic victory looks like.]

    ¡°Nero, go back to the pce and rest.¡±

    Neoma heard her Papa Boss¡¯s order, and she knew it was right for her to return to the pce first. But she froze on her spot when Calyx Dalton, who was almost dead earlier, suddenly gained consciousness.

    ¡°M-Mother?¡±

    ¡°Calyx,¡± Juliet Dalton said in a voice filled with a mix of relief and worry, then she immediately knelt beside her son and checked on him. She immediately cried again while looking at Calyx¡¯s beaten up face. ¡°L-Let¡¯s go to the infirmary first.¡±

    Calyx slowly got up while his mother helped him carefully. ¡°I¡¯m alright, Mother,¡± he said in a weak voice, then his trembling hand reached Juliet Dalton¡¯s face. He tried to smile, but his busted lips must have hurt because his smile immediately turned into a wince. ¡°Please don¡¯t cry. It¡¯s bad for your heart to worry too much. Mother shouldn¡¯t be here because of your weak body.¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s worrying about who now?¡± Juliet Dalton scolded her son between sobs. ¡°Can you stand, son?¡±

    The scene might have looked touching to the people watching the two.

    But Neoma felt iffy.

    She knew she had to do something, so she put on a gentle face and bent her knees while extending a hand to Calyx Dalton.

    ¡°I apologize for going overboard, Lord Calyx,¡± Neoma said in the most apologetic voice that she could muster. Since the barrier had been broken now, the enchantment that the crows had put had also disappeared so she was being careful with her words. ¡°My drive to win made me lose it. I know that it sounds like an excuse, but I truly am sorry for what I have done.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a fight, Prince Nero. You shouldn¡¯t say sorry for doing what you must in order to win,¡± Calyx Dalton said, acting like the benevolent bastard that he wasn¡¯t. Then he epted her extended hand and allowed her to help him stand up. ¡°I¡¯m alright, so please don¡¯t apologize. Your Royal Highness is young, so I understand why you got carried away by your passion to win.¡±

    She almostughed sarcastically.

    [Acting like a kind ¡°older brother¡± now, aren¡¯t we?]

    ¡°Moreover, it only looked like you went overboard because I was too weak to defend myself,¡± Calyx Dalton said lightly, then heughed as if he was embarrassed. ¡°But it¡¯s not Your Royal Highness¡¯s fault that you¡¯re too strong for me.¡±

    [Someone is good at acting, too, huh?]

    She smiled, her eyes now brimming with tears to appear remorseful. ¡°Thank you for your kindness, Lord Calyx,¡± she said in a cracked voice, not letting go of his hand yet. She even put her other hand over his hand. ¡°I can¡¯t thank you enough for your understanding.¡±

    .....

    Calyx Dalton smiled and nodded. ¡°Congrattions on winning, Prince Nero.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± she said, then she smiled sadly. ¡°But to be honest, with the benevolence that you¡¯ve shown towards me, I believe you¡¯re the true winner of the match.¡±

    ¡°Please don¡¯t say that, Prince Nero,¡± Calyx Dalton said, acting shy. ¡°I don¡¯t deserve your high praise.¡±

    ¡°You deserve it, Lord Calyx,¡± she said, then she finally let go of his hand. After that, she turned to Juliet Dalton and bowed her head towards her. ¡°I apologize for the violence I¡¯ve inflicted on your son, Lady Dalton. My unsightly behavior must have scared and traumatized mydy.¡±

    ¡°Y-Your Royal Highness, please raise your head,¡± Juliet Dalton said as if she was panicking. ¡°I was just shocked because this is the first time I saw my son in such a state. But Calyx is right- Your Royal Highness is still young, so it¡¯s only natural for you to lose control. What¡¯s more important is the fact that Your Royal Highness acknowledged what you have done now that your head is clear. So p-please raise your head now, Prince Nero.¡±

    She did as she was told, then she smiled kindly at the empress. ¡°Thank you for your benevolence, Lady Dalton.¡±

    Juliet Dalton smiled, and she was about to say something when Calyx Dalton stumbled. ¡°Son!¡±

    Neoma immediately caught Calyx Dalton, then she put his arm over her shoulders while she wrapped her arm around his waist to help him stand and walk. ¡°Lord Calyx, please allow me to bring you to the infirmary,¡± she said, then she turned to Juliet Dalton. ¡°Lady Dalton, is that alright with you?¡±

    ¡°Of course, Your Royal Highness,¡± Juliet Dalton said, then she smiled warmly at her. ¡°Thank you.¡±

    She just smiled.

    ¡°Your Royal Highness is really kind,¡± Calyx Dalton said, then he leaned down and whispered in her ear. He even covered his mouth with his hand so that his lip movement wouldn¡¯t be read. ¡°I told you, didn¡¯t I? Once all the aces up my sleeve are revealed, you can no longer kill me.¡±

    [This fucking bitch...]

    Neoma smiled anyway. ¡°You¡¯re wee, Lord Calyx.¡±

    ¡°Ah, what a beautiful disy of sportsmanship,¡± Headmaster Salvatore, who seemed to be genuinely touched, said and pped his hands. ¡°Prince Nero and Lord Calyx, both of you made the academy proud.¡±

    At first, only a few joined the headmaster in pping.

    But before Neoma and Calyx Dalton left the stage, almost everyone in the crowd was already pping and cheering for them.

    [Ah, Papa Boss...]

    Amid all of that, Emperor Niki and Juliet Dalton remained on the stage while looking at each other.

    ***

    [SHE¡¯S STILL a child in the end.]

    Helstor couldn¡¯t help butugh after he was informed that Neoma de Moonasterio lost it after Calyx Dalton told her about the ¡°baby¡± that she killed.

    He had just returned to his home in Altalune- the West Continent, governed by Yule- when Lucius gave him a blow-by-blow coverage of the ongoing match between Neoma de Moonasterio and Calyx Dalton.

    Lucius was a Dark Elf that served as his eyes in the Royal Capital, and he was also Lukas¡¯ twin brother.

    [Calyx Dalton really used the ¡°information¡± I gave him really well.]

    ¡°It was just rubbish, though,¡± Helstor whispered to himself, stillughing. ¡°I only made up a random story from the snippets I saw after eating some of Ruston Stroganoff¡¯s memories.¡±

    There was a baby in the story that Neoma de Moonasterio had apparently killed.

    But he couldn¡¯t tell from the images and voices that he had seen and heard whether the baby was conceived by Neoma de Moonasterio and Ruston Stroganoff. He just made his own conclusion and told Calyx Dalton to say it to the royal princess.

    Neoma de Moonasterio didn¡¯t have the full memories of her first life, so he thought of messing up with her head.

    And he seeded.

    [I didn¡¯t expect that Neoma de Moonasterio would really lose her mind in the middle of the match, though.]

    Knowing that his little trick worked on the amnesiac royal princess put him in a good mood.

    ¡°Everyone¡¯s attention is definitely on Empress Juliet¡¯s return,¡± Helstor whispered to himself. ¡°It¡¯s now the perfect time to go and save Lukas.

    ***

    ***

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 Chapter 496

    Chapter 496: WHERE THERE¡¯S SMOKE, THERE¡¯S FIRE

    ¡°IF WE fought three years ago, you could have killed me,¡± Paige said while stabbing the spike attached to the end of her white parasol in Lukas¡¯ chest- hitting his heart and his Mana Core. ¡°But unfortunately for you, the past three years have been good to me.¡±

    Traveling the world had been beneficial to her when it came to learning magic.

    Different continents, new learnings.

    But of course, a person of the West Continent like her would always return to her hometown.

    ¡°I can tell that,¡± Lukas, who was barely recognizable because of the Darkness that covered his entire body, said while smirking. But his smirk disappeared as soon as he coughed up a huge chunk of what seemed to be blood mixed with Darkness. ¡°But I¡¯m d that to see you again, Paige Avery.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t say the same for you,¡± she said while shaking her head. ¡°I almost didn¡¯t recognize you since you already threw away your physical body.¡±

    She suspected that Lukas sacrificed himself in order to corrupt the entire Light Temple.

    .....

    Although the temple had been abandoned a long time ago, the Blessed Light that protected it all this time was still strong. But no thanks to Lukas and the Darkness that he swallowed the Light Temple with, the blessing had faded away.

    [Is that their goal?]

    ¡°This is but a small sacrifice for my liege¡¯s sake,¡± Lukas said, grinning. ¡°If I can help my liege reach his goal by dying, then I¡¯ll dly leave this world...¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be delusional,¡± she said as she stabbed her parasol into his heart deeper. ¡°You¡¯re not dying for the sake of your liege. You¡¯re dying by my hands because you tried to harm the people that my princess cherishes.¡±

    ¡°Your princess, huh?¡± Lukas said, pain recing the mirth in his eyes. ¡°Paige Avery, my liege isn¡¯t Princess Neoma de Moonasterio¡¯s biggest enemy. We shouldn¡¯t be fighting.¡±

    ¡°We won¡¯t be fighting if you¡¯re not messing with Princess Neoma and her people.¡±

    Lukas justughed.

    ¡°Paige Avery, watch out!¡±

    She was startled by West¡¯s warning.

    Before she couldprehend what happened, she already found herself in the White Tiger¡¯s arms as he carried her princess-style. Then he jumped away from Lukas.

    She soon realized why the Soul Beast did that.

    [That¡¯s...]

    A strange child appeared right in front of Lukas, exactly on the spot where she stood before West scooped her up.

    [Red eyes...?]

    A god?

    The child with red eyes in front of her was dressed like a noble, but she could tell that he was a lot older than his physical appearance suggested. Moreover, the child couldn¡¯t be human.

    [Only gods have red eyes.]

    ¡°Helstor?¡± Paige Avery wondered out loud. ¡°The God of Eternal Darkness?¡±

    The ¡°child¡± smiled and bowed to her like the gentleman that he was trying to be.

    ¡°It¡¯s an honor to meet a Light Mage like you, Paige Avery,¡± Helstor said cheerfully. ¡°I...¡± His eyebrows knitted when he realized what she had just done while he was introducing himself. ¡°You¡¯re already leaving?¡±

    Yes, that was right.

    As soon as she realized that the ¡°child¡± was the God of Eternal Darkness, she immediately cast a teleportation spell over her and West. Now their bodies were turning translucent. It was already toote for Helstor to stop them, even if he wanted to.

    ¡°Why are you running away?¡± Helstor asked,ughing. ¡°Are you just going to leave Lukas here after locking him up here for years?¡±

    ¡°He has already served his purpose,¡± she said. ¡°You can take him back, Lord Helstor. I¡¯m not sure if he¡¯ll live long, though. After all, I already smashed his Core.¡±

    The god chuckled. ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to fight me?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I¡¯m not that great to challenge a god.¡±

    ¡°You should give some of your humility to your arrogant princess, Paige Avery.¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma is already a lost cause, my lord.¡±

    ¡°That, I agree,¡± the god said,ughing again. ¡°I still didn¡¯t expect you to run away as soon as you saw me. Don¡¯t you have questions for me? A mage like you is always curious about everything, after all.¡±

    ¡°Of course, I am curious about a lot of things about you, Lord Helstor,¡± she admitted. ¡°However, Princess Neoma told me to value my life over my curiosity. She also told us to never fight battles that we cannot win unless we absolutely have to. That¡¯s why I chose to run away instead of confronting you.¡±

    ¡°Your princess raised you well, Paige Avery.¡±

    ¡°That, she did.¡±

    ¡°Tell Neoma de Moonasterio that I will pay her a visit soon,¡± Helstor said, then he smiled ¡°innocently¡± as if he was a pure-hearted child. ¡°Until then, I hope she suffers greatly for me to continue enjoying the delicious taste of her despair.¡±

    West scoffed. ¡°What a sicko.¡±

    She had to agree with the White Tiger silently.

    ¡°I will ry your message to Princess Neoma, Lord Helstor,¡± Paige said, then she bowed to him. A god was still a god, after all. When she raised her head, she looked at Helstor straight in the eye while smiling haughtily. ¡°Until then, please stay healthy so that our beloved princess can beat you up to her heart¡¯s contentter.¡±

    ***

    NO MATTER how Niki looked at it, he was certain that the ¡®Juliet Dalton¡¯ in front of him was Juliet Sloane- the supposedly dead empress.

    [Her Mana, aura, and even the beauty mark below her left eye...]

    His gut feeling also told him that it was the real Juliet Sloane.

    But he couldn¡¯t simply dere it.

    [I don¡¯t know where Juliet came from, so I should be careful. Even though I do not want to suspect her, this situation is bizarre. I can¡¯t fully trust a person connected to the crows- even if it was the former empress.]

    ¡°Your Majesty, may I follow my son?¡± Juliet asked hesitantly. ¡°I¡¯m worried about Calyx, so...¡±

    ¡°You and Calyx Dalton areing back to me and my son to the Royal Pce,¡± Niki said indifferently. ¡°Geoffrey, escort thedy to the pce.¡±

    Geoffrey Kinsley, who was standing behind him, bowed. ¡°As you wish, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°Y-Your Majesty, why do we have toe with you to the pce?¡± Juliet asked, obviously scared. ¡°Did we do something wrong?¡±

    ¡°Calyx Dalton has the traits of the de Moonasterios,¡± he exined calmly. ¡°We have to investigate whether he¡¯s a member of the Royal Family or not. Moreover, your identity is suspicious, so we have to investigate you, too.¡±

    ¡°I-I¡¯m suspicious? What does Your Majesty mean by that...?¡±

    ¡°Juliet Dalton, you look exactly like thete empress.¡±

    Juliet looked shocked.

    [Why is she reacting that way? The Daltons live in the countryside, but it¡¯s still a part of the empire. They must know what thete empress looks like.]

    His suspicions towards Juliet grew bigger, even though it pained him to suspect her.

    Juliet looked hesitant. ¡°Must we really go to the Royal Pce, Your Majesty? To be honest, this is the first time that I¡¯ve seen my son in a long while, so I¡¯d like to spend more time with him in private first.¡±

    ¡°The issue regarding your identity and your son¡¯s background is more important than your little reunion,¡± Niki said indifferently, then he turned his back on Juliet. ¡°It will be for your own good if you cooperate with us, Juliet Dalton.¡±

    ***

    NEOMA wanted to push Calyx Dalton away from her, but she couldn¡¯t do it- not when many eyes were following her movements. Moreover, she and the crow psycho couldn¡¯t even move because students blocked the arena¡¯s exit.

    A certain group of aggressive and very curious individuals ¡°ambushed¡± them.

    [Student Journalists, huh?]

    The big press IDs hanging around the neck of each Student Journalist told her so.

    Just like the journalists and reporters back in the modern world, the young press people in the empire were also annoying. They were blocking her way while throwing questions meant to rile her up.

    ¡°Prince Nero, do you admit that you¡¯ve gone overboard earlier?¡±

    ¡°Does Your Royal Highness have anger management issues?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s address the elephant in the room- Prince Nero, did you try to kill Lord Calyx because he¡¯ll be a threat to you once he proves his legitimacy as a de Moonasterio?¡±

    [I quit the entertainment industry early because of my hatred towards D*spatch and other simr news outlets, but now I have to deal with shitty reporters again. Gosh, this is the price I have to pay for being born a superstar.]

    Thankfully, the Student Journalists were forced to give her and Calyx Dalton more room when Raven and Lewis finally reached them.

    She instantly handed Calyx Dalton to his ¡°butler.¡±

    [Good riddance.]

    Lewis, on the other hand, stood in front of her protectively- effectively making the Student Journalists step away from her out of fear.

    [I can¡¯t see Lewis¡¯s face at the moment, but he definitely looks murderous.]

    Now it was time for her to do her job as the Crown Prince.

    ¡°Everyone, the Royal Family will have a press conference soon,¡± Neoma said as calmly as she could. She wasn¡¯t smiling because she didn¡¯t want these little shitheads to think that she was taking the situation lightly. She chose to maintain a serene face- not too carefree, not too serious. ¡°We will answer your questions by then. For now, please let us through. Lord Calyx needs immediate medical attention.¡±

    Of course, the annoying pests didn¡¯t listen to her.

    .....

    They still asked her the same things again and again.

    This time, the Student Journalists were more curious about Calyx Dalton¡¯s real identity than her questionable behavior during the match earlier.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I don¡¯t think this is the right time for us to answer your questions,¡± Calyx Dalton said, acting as if he was embarrassed by the attention. ¡°I¡¯m worried about Prince Nero. He also needs medical attention.¡±

    She smiled when Calyx Dalton turned to her with a ¡°worried¡± look on his face.

    [Someone took acting lessons, too, huh?]

    Despite her and Calyx Dalton¡¯s act, the Student Journalists didn¡¯t listen to them. The little shitheads still tried to approach them.

    This time, both Raven and Lewis stepped up.

    ¡°You¡¯re all putting Prince Nero and Young Master Calyx in danger by blocking them from getting medical attention,¡± Raven said sternly. ¡°If something were to go wrong, would you take responsibility?¡± The old crow smiled at the students. ¡°You haven¡¯t forgotten that His Majesty is here, have you?¡±

    Raven¡¯s threat worked.

    The Student Journalists- who obviously got scared when the emperor was mentioned- finally made way for them. They were still throwing bomb questions at them, though. But it was easy to ignore them now that she and Calyx Dalton could walk properly.

    ¡°Will Your Royal Highness receive medical attention here?¡± one of the male Student Journalists asked.

    Neoma smiled at the student before she answered calmly. For some reason, she didn¡¯t like the vibes from the dude who asked that weird question. ¡°My personal doctor is here, so I¡¯ll receive treatment from him.¡±

    She knew that Greko was already here, since Aurora- the maknae¡¯s Spirit Guardian ¨C already reached out to her earlier. Jeno Dankworth was here, too.

    The suspicious male Student Journalist smirked. ¡°Is there a particr reason why Your Royal Highness can¡¯t receive treatment from the academy¡¯s doctor?¡±

    Ohh.

    [This dude is aiming at something.]

    ¡°Yes, there¡¯s a reason for that and it¡¯s called ¡®royal protocol,''¡± Lewis, who rarely talked to other people, said- shocking Neoma and the students. Most of the female students blushed, so they must have been shocked not because Lewis spoke but because his voice was hot. ¡°We¡¯re not allowed to touch and see the sacred body of the Royal Family members, especially the ones in line for the throne. Only the people with authorization from His Majesty could do that.¡±

    The sly Student Journalist frowned. ¡°But the Crown Prince is hurt-¡±

    ¡°Prince Nero¡¯s condition isn¡¯t life-threatening, so His Royal Highness doesn¡¯t need to receive immediate medical attention from the academy¡¯s doctor,¡± Lewis said sternly, cutting off the weird dude. ¡°Thank you for your concern, though.¡±

    She had to bite her bottom lip to stop herself from smiling, but her chest swelled up with pride.

    [I¡¯m so proud of you, Lewis.]

    She thought the issue was over, but the sly dude wasn¡¯t done yet.

    ¡°I believe I have a reason to be suspicious,¡± the sly Student Journalist insisted. ¡°There¡¯s a rumor that says Your Royal Highness has a twin sister.¡±

    [I know- we¡¯re the ones who spread that rumor.]

    She smiled apologetically. ¡°As I said earlier, the Royal Family will schedule a press conference to answer your questions, so for now-¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s also a rumor that says Your Royal Highness is not the real Crown Prince.¡±

    Okay, she was shocked this time.

    But thankfully, she was an expert in controlling her emotions.

    [That rumor didn¡¯te from our side. Moreover, if such a rumor is spreading in the empire, it would have reached us by now.]

    ¡°What does he mean by that?¡±

    ¡°The Crown Prince isn¡¯t the real Crow Prince?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s ridiculous.¡±

    ¡°Who is that guy again?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t he the kid who got kicked out of the Journalism Club because he spread a fake news about Lady Lara?¡±

    ¡°But it wasn¡¯t totally ¡°fake,¡± it was just exaggerated.¡±

    [Tsk.]

    Now people were talking.

    ¡°I¡¯m telling the truth!¡± the sly Student Journalist (that was apparently kicked out already) insisted. ¡°I heard that the Prince Nero in front of us right now is actually the hidden royal princess because the real Prince Nero is sick!¡±

    She was shocked even more now.

    [That¡¯s too detailed to be a mere rumor.]

    She immediately turned to Calyx Dalton and Raven. Other people may have not noticed, but those two crow bastards were smiling. Her blood boiled instantly.

    [It¡¯s them- they spread that ¡°rumor¡± to the students here!]

    ¡°Student, will you take responsibility?¡± Lewis asked in a calm yet cold voice. ¡°We will hold you responsible for ruining the reputation of the Crown Prince.¡±

    She liked how Lewis sounded confident and intimidating, but...

    [Fuck, that sly dude will definitely ask me to prove that I¡¯m the real Crown Prince.]

    ¡°Please stop this,¡± Calyx Dalton said in a ¡°concerned¡± voice. ¡°How do you want His Royal Highness to prove that he¡¯s the real Crown Prince anyway?¡±

    Fuck this crow psycho for adding fuel to the fire.

    [They¡¯re so adamant about fucking me up today, huh?]

    ¡°My source gave me a tip,¡± the sly ex-Student Journalist said. ¡°He said that the choker around Prince Nero¡¯s neck is a device used to change his voice.¡± The sly dude had the nerve to look her in the eye. ¡°Prince Nero, please remove your choker. If your voice doesn¡¯t change, then I¡¯ll pay for my mistake with my life.¡±

    For the first time, Neoma felt sick to the stomach.

    [I don¡¯t know how to get out of this...]

    The students around them were now whispering loudly, and some were even egging on her to remove her choker.

    ¡°It¡¯s just a simple process...¡±

    ¡°Why is His Royal Highness hesitating?¡±

    ¡°Removing a choker won¡¯t harm him unless he doesn¡¯t want to because he¡¯s hiding something.¡±

    ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s true that where there¡¯s smoke, there¡¯s fire.¡±

    Neoma saw the Lewis was about to snap, so she was about to speak up when all of a sudden, she coughed up another chunk of blood while falling to the ground.

    [Wait, why do I feel dizzy?]

    ***

    [AH, IT¡¯S game over.]

    Calyx stopped himself from grinning when the royal princess, Neoma de Moonasterio, coughed up blood and fainted to the ground.

    It was probably just an act to avoid the usation thrown at her.

    But even if she had avoided it today, the students and the rest of the poption would definitely be suspicious of her now.

    Uncle Raven said, speaking in his mind.

    ¡°Everyone, please give room for the Crown Prince,¡± Calyx said, ¡°concerned.¡± He was supposed to squat down and carry the royal princess in his arms, but Lewis Crevan, who was already kneeling beside her, red at him. He just shrugged. [Whatever, we already won anyway.]

    ¡°Lewis, I¡¯m fine.¡±

    Ohh.

    He raised an eyebrow when the royal princess woke up, then she got up on her own...

    ... while removing the choker on her neck.

    He turned to his Uncle Raven and, just like him, his uncle looked surprised.

    ¡°What¡¯s the big deal with this choker?¡± the royal princess asked when she stood up, then she threw the choker on the ground while wiping the blood off her mouth with her hand. ¡°Are you happy now?¡±

    Calyx¡¯s eyes went wide. [Her voice didn¡¯t change!]

    ¡°Or do you want me to strip in front of you?¡± the royal princess asked, then she smirked and removed her jacket.

    ¡°Your Royal Highness,¡± Lewis said in a panic. ¡°Please stop.¡±

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t want my new schoolmates to think that I¡¯m hiding something,¡± the royal princess said, then she removed her vest and necktie. After that, she unbuttoned her shirt. ¡°If you want to see my body that much, then just say so.¡±

    The students around them fell silent.

    Now, the royal princess¡¯s chest and stomach were exposed...

    ... and they looked like they belonged to the body of a young boy.

    Calyx, on the other hand, froze when the realization hit him.

    [This is the real Prince Nero!]

    But how?

    ***

    [IT MUST be recent.]

    Mona suspected that it hadn¡¯t been too long since Kyle Sprouse had betrayed Niki.

    She also believed that the count¡¯s betrayal had something to do with Juliet¡¯s sudden return. But after she imprisoned Kyle Sprouse in one of the guest rooms in the pce (that she locked with her power), the count refused to open his mouth.

    [I can¡¯t force a confession out of him since I don¡¯t have the authority to do so. Kyle is still a noble, an influential one at that, so I can¡¯t be careless.]

    Thus, for now, she returned to Nero¡¯s room to check on her son.

    [I should inform Nero about Juliet¡¯s return, too.]

    ¡°Nero...¡± Mona trailed off when she realized that Nero and William weren¡¯t in the room. Of course, she panicked right away. ¡°Nero, where are you...?¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 497

    Chapter 497: TWISTED MINDS THINK ALIKE

    ¡°AH, IT¡¯S over.¡±

    Nero was relieved when Zeru, his ice phoenix, said that it was over.

    The sounds of fighting outside the ice igloo had disappeared, too.

    [Mother did well.]

    ¡°Get rid of this,¡± Nero said while tapping the ice wall with his fingers. ¡°I need to talk to William.¡±

    ¡°Alright,¡± Zeru said, then he stood up and put his hands together. After that, the ice igloo slowly melted until it disappeared. ¡°Do you need me for something else?¡±

    He shook his head. ¡°You may take a rest now. I¡¯ll just summon you when I need you again.¡±

    .....

    The ice phoenix just bowed to him, then he disappeared.

    He turned to William, who was wiping the ck substance off his hands using a white handkerchief. ¡°Did Mother kill the god who wanted to see me?¡±

    ¡°Mona doesn¡¯t have the authority to kill gods,¡± William reminded him. ¡°That guy with violet hair. He came and killed the God of Recollection.¡±

    ¡°Ruston Stroganoff?¡± he asked with knitted eyebrows. ¡°Does he have the authority to kill gods?¡±

    ¡°We just recently found out that he is the divine son of Lord Levi, the God Among Gods.¡±

    ¡°What kind of being is that?¡± he asked curiously. ¡°Is he the king of the gods?¡±

    ¡°You can say that,¡± the Grand Spirit confirmed. ¡°The gods keep an eye on humans, while Lord Levi keeps the gods in check. He¡¯s the reason why the gods can¡¯t descend to the human world even if they wanted to. If it wasn¡¯t for him, then the Divine Oath wouldn¡¯t be possible in the first ce.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± he said. ¡°Is he that strong that the other gods can¡¯t bring him down, even if they ganged up on them?¡±

    ¡°Well, as far as I know, Lord Levi is the strongest god,¡± William said. ¡°But he would definitely go down if the other gods worked together.¡±

    ¡°Then why haven¡¯t they done it yet if they really wanted to descend to the human world?¡±

    ¡°They can¡¯t,¡± the Grand Spirit said a little too seriously. ¡°Lord Levi¡¯s existence is one-of-a-kind. He¡¯s irreceable. When he dies, the Upper World will copse. For that reason, they can¡¯t kill Lord Levi.¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°I just think that the solution to their problem is easy,¡± he said with a shrug. ¡°If the gods can¡¯t find a recement for Lord Levi, then they should just create one. Of course, I know that it wouldn¡¯t be easy. But I also don¡¯t think it¡¯s entirely impossible.¡±

    ¡°What are you saying?¡± William knitted his eyebrows. ¡°If something like that is possible, then the other gods would have tried that already.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re not sure about that,¡± he said, amused. ¡°Maybe they¡¯re already making a little Lord Levi as we speak?¡±

    ¡°Nero, stop saying sphemous things- you¡¯re not Neoma.¡±

    He just shrugged. ¡°Anyway, I have a question about your ability called ¡®Switch.''¡±

    ¡°What about it?¡±

    ¡°You can switch two people¡¯s physical conditions, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s correct.¡±

    ¡°Then can you also swap their physical bodies?¡±

    ¡°If they are physically close together, then yes, it¡¯s possible,¡± William said carefully while giving him a suspicious look. ¡°What are you nning to do?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go to the academy,¡± he said. ¡°I need to swap ces with Neoma.¡±

    ¡°What for?¡±

    ¡°Father¡¯s Soul Beast, the one called South, is giving Zeru a blow-by-blow report of Neoma¡¯s match,¡± he said. ¡°South also told me about the crows that fell from the sky. Apparently, those crows had cameras for their eyes. That¡¯s why I know what¡¯s happening.¡±

    ¡°And...?¡±

    ¡°I have a feeling that the crows are nning to expose the fact that the Crown Prince that participated in the match is actually the hidden royal princess,¡± he said. ¡°A god even visited just to ¡°see¡± me. Do you think it¡¯s a coincidence?¡±

    ¡°Of course not,¡± William said, scoffing. ¡°The crows probably sent that god here to capture your image, and send it to the people watching the match for them to realize that there are two Crown Prince in different ces.¡±

    He nodded. ¡°Correct. But the crows aren¡¯t dumb. If they are really adamant about exposing the royal secret today, they wouldn¡¯te up with a single n. They have at least two. And now that the first one failed, they will definitely proceed with the second.¡±

    The Grand Spirit raised an eyebrow at him. ¡°And you know what their second n is?¡±

    ¡°I have a hunch,¡± he said. ¡°If I were the crows and my grand n to expose the royal secret, then I would reveal it in the simplest possible way.¡±

    ¡°And that is?¡±

    ¡°The academy is brimming with young students who are easy to manipte,¡± he said, smirking. ¡°You just have to find someone dumb enough to risk their life just to tarnish the Royal Family¡¯s reputation for some thrill. Once you find the perfect pawn, you just have to tell them the royal secret and disguise it as a ¡°rumor.¡±¡±

    ¡°Do you think someone will be brave enough to bite your bait?¡±

    ¡°William, you will be surprised by how many stupid people are out there,¡± he said, shaking his head. ¡°But if you¡¯re unlucky and you can¡¯t find the perfect pawn, you can always resort to cheap tricks and brainwash people to do your bidding.¡±

    ¡°Nero... the thingsing out of your mouth are unbefitting of your status,¡± the Grand Spirit said, and he looked shocked by his words. ¡°Neoma is such a bad influence on you.¡±

    ¡°Neoma is the good twin- I¡¯m the deranged one.¡±

    William couldn¡¯t refute his words, so he just frowned.

    ¡°Anyway, I need to go to the academy so I can swap ces with Neoma easily.¡±

    ¡°Are you not going to ask for your parents¡¯ permission first?¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t because I know that they won¡¯t allow me to do what I want,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ll just leave a message to Mother if she¡¯s not yet here once we leave.¡±

    William let out a sigh. ¡°Fine.¡±

    He just nodded, then he turned to the door and raised his voice when he spoke. ¡°Stephanie, Alphen,e in.¡±

    The head maid and the head butler were always outside his door to wait for his orders.

    Stephanie and Alphen bowed and greeted him when they entered his bedroom.

    ¡°I need to dress up exactly like Neoma,¡± Nero ordered the head maid and the head butler while unbuttoning his shirt. ¡°Get me her school uniform, and the same choker that she uses- but get rid of the device attached to it.¡±

    Stephanie and Alphen bowed to him. ¡°We received your order, Your Royal Highness.¡±

    ***

    ¡°NERO...¡± Mona trailed off when she realized that Nero and William weren¡¯t in the room. Of course, she panicked right away. ¡°Nero, where are you...?¡±

    ¡°Lady Roseheart?¡±

    She turned around and smiled when she saw Stephanie. ¡°Have you seen Nero?¡± she asked worriedly. ¡°He¡¯s not in his room.¡±

    Although she knew Nero would be safe with William, she was still worried.

    Stephanie politely handed her a letter. ¡°Prince Nero asked me to give this letter to you before His Royal Highness left the pce, Lady Roseheart.¡±

    Mona¡¯s eyes went wide. ¡°Nero left the pce?¡±

    ***

    THE MATCH was over when Nero arrived at the academy with William.

    Right now, he was watching the stage with him on the roof of the arena. Jeno Dankworth was with them, too. William purposely teleported to where the young lord was because they needed his power.

    [We know that Jeno Dankworth is here because William surveyed the area first.]

    Unfortunately, because he took long, they didn¡¯t get to see the match.

    But something interesting happened, so he was still entertained.

    ¡°The crows have prepared well,¡± Nero said, smirking while watching the woman who looked like Empress Juliet im that she was Calyx Dalton¡¯s mother. ¡°Is she the real Empress Juliet?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s the real Juliet Sloane.¡±

    He turned to William when he noticed that his voice sounded distressed.

    And when he saw the Grand Spirit¡¯s face, he realized that he wasn¡¯t just upset. He also saw fear in William¡¯s eyes.

    [What is he scared of? This is the first time I¡¯ve seen him make that face.]

    ¡°How can you be sure that she¡¯s the real Juliet Sloane?¡±

    ¡°Juliet Sloane has a unique Mana. It¡¯s one of the reasons why she was chosen to be the empress in the first ce,¡± William, who still looked out of it, exined. ¡°I bet that even Niki de Moonasterio already knows that it¡¯s the real deal.¡±

    ¡°She ims to be Calyx Dalton¡¯s mother,¡± he said. ¡°Did Father lie when he said Mother was the only woman he held in his arms?¡±

    ¡°As if your father would lie about that,¡± the Grand Spirit said. ¡°And Calyx Dalton doesn¡¯t have the glow of the First Star. Every firstborn child of the current emperor is blessed with that glow.¡± He fell silent for a moment before he spoke again. ¡°It seems like Juliet Sloane has amnesia.¡±

    ¡°Then the crows must have done something,¡± he said. ¡°Maybe they stole her corpse, revived her, and erased her memories?¡±

    William fell silent.

    .....

    He raised his eyebrow, suspicious. [Why is he acting strange?]

    His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the crowd go crazy after Neoma, who was helping Calyx Dalton walk, left the stage and headed to the exit of the arena.

    He didn¡¯t like how physically close the crow was to his twin sister.

    [But I know that Neoma is just doing her best to show ¡°sportsmanship.¡±]

    ¡°They¡¯re asking all sorts of weird things to Neoma...¡± William trailed off, then his eyes went wide before he turned to him. ¡°Nero, your prediction is correct.¡±

    ¡°You can hear those people talking from here?¡±

    ¡°Of course, my senses are sharp,¡± the Grand Spirit said. ¡°A dumb kid is hinting that the Crown Prince is a fake.¡±

    ¡°I told you so,¡± he said, smirking. Then he turned to Jeno Dankworth. ¡°I¡¯ll swap ces with Neoma. Cover our movements with your Mist.¡±

    Jeno Dankworth nodded politely. ¡°I only ept orders from Princess Neoma, but since this is rted to her, I will do as Your Royal Highness says.¡±

    Although the young lord was stubborn, he didn¡¯t hate it.

    [I like that Neoma¡¯s ¡°children¡± are loyal to him.]

    And it was a good thing that Jeno Dankworth was here.

    He knew that William would be as discreet as he could.

    But he wanted to be more careful. After all, most people in the academy- including the students- were highly skilled Mana-users. Covering their movements with Mist would be handy. Still, he still wanted to add one more step to ensure that the swap would be smooth.

    And so, he put his hand over his stomach.

    Then he hit himself with an energy wave strong enough to hurt him internally and make him cough up blood.

    Jeno Dankworth looked shocked by what he did.

    ¡°Nero!¡± William called him in a scolding tone, then he grabbed him by the arm. ¡°What did you do that for?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± he said, even though his insides hurt. ¡°William, before you swap me with Neomater, switch our physical conditions first.¡±

    William looked at him weirdly. ¡°I don¡¯t mind doing that, but are you sure you want to give your pain to your beloved twin sister?¡±

    ¡°We need to distract the crowd,¡± Nero exined while letting the blood trickle down his chin without wiping it off. ¡°Once Neoma coughs up blood, swap me with her.¡±

    ***

    ¡°YOUR ROYAL Highness, are you alright?¡±

    [Ah, we¡¯ve swapped ces sessfully.]

    Nero opened his eyes and raised his head to meet Lewis Crevan¡¯s eyes. ¡°Lewis, I¡¯m fine.¡±

    Lewis Crevan¡¯s face suddenly changed from being worried to confused.

    [As expected, he noticed that I¡¯m not Neoma right away.]

    Thankfully, Lewis had a deadpan face that only the people closest to him would notice the minuscule change in his expression.

    He wasn¡¯t close to Lewis, but he was familiar with the way the fox boy looked at Neoma.

    [And Lewis isn¡¯t looking at me that way.]

    He didn¡¯t like it, but it wasn¡¯t the right time to think about it.

    Nero stood up, then he threw the choker that he had just removed to the ground. ¡°What¡¯s the big deal with this choker?¡±

    William already told him everything that he had heard from the students earlier.

    Thus, he already had a grasp of what was happening.

    He wiped the blood off of his mouth with his hand. ¡°Are you happy now?¡±

    At the corner of his eye, he saw Calyx Dalton turn to him with a shocked look on his face.

    [He¡¯s probably wondering why my voice didn¡¯t change.]

    ¡°Or do you want me to strip in front of you?¡± he asked to the suspicious student who suddenly went pale while taking off his jacket. He liked the pawn¡¯s reaction, so he smirked. [William told me that this boy said he was willing to pay with his life if he made a mistake for using me.]

    ¡°Your Royal Highness,¡± Lewis said in a panic. ¡°Please stop.¡±

    [Perhaps Lewis isn¡¯t 100% certain yet that I am not Neoma, thus the hesitation. After all, he and Neoma didn¡¯t know about the n I made while they were busy here.]

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t want my new schoolmates to think that I¡¯m hiding something,¡± he said, then he removed his vest and necktie. After that, he unbuttoned his shirt until his chest and stomach were exposed. ¡°If you want to see my body that much, then just say so.¡±

    The students suddenly fell silent, then most of them immediately lowered their eyes as if they were afraid to even get a glimpse of his exposed torso.

    He could almost taste the fear in the air.

    After all, every noble in the empire knew that physically touching a member of the Royal Family without permission was forbidden.

    And it was the same for looking at the Crown Prince¡¯s naked body.

    [Well, I¡¯m notpletely naked. But to make the Crown Prince undress...]

    If his father was the same cruel man that he was a few years ago, heads would be rolling on the ground by now.

    [You should all thank Neoma for taming our father- you lived because of my twin sister.]

    ¡°What is happening here?¡±

    [Speak of the devil...]

    Everyone bowed deeply as they made way for his father.

    When he turned to the emperor, he noticed that his eyes went a little wide when he saw his exposed torso. But since his father was a quick-witted man, understanding crossed his eyes after a few seconds.

    [Father already realized that I¡¯m the real Nero.]

    ¡°Did no one hear me earlier?¡± Emperor Niki asked coldly. ¡°Don¡¯t make me repeat myself.¡±

    No one dared to move at that moment...

    ... except for Lewis Crevan.

    The fox boy removed his jacket, then he draped it over Nero¡¯s chest. Lewis even buttoned it up to cover Nero¡¯s exposed torso.

    [Lewis is good at acting as long as he doesn¡¯t have to say anything.]

    ¡°It¡¯s my fault, Father,¡± Nero said, then he bowed to the emperor. ¡°I apologize for making a scene.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not asking for your apology, Nero,¡± His Majesty said sternly. ¡°I¡¯m asking what happened here for you to undress in front of your schoolmates.¡±

    ¡°I will take responsibility, Father,¡± he said, still bowing. ¡°As much as it is a crime to look at the naked body of a royal family member, it is also a crime for the royal family members to expose themselves to the public.¡±

    ¡°Fine,¡± the emperor said coldly. ¡°If you don¡¯t want to talk, then I¡¯ll punish you. How would you like it if you miss a whole month of ss as punishment?¡±

    [As if Mother would let you do that to us, Father.¡±

    Nero still bowed anyway. ¡°I will graciously ept Father¡¯s punishment.¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, please don¡¯t punish His Royal Highness.¡±

    He almost rolled his eyes when Calyx Dalton stepped up.

    [Two-faced bastard.]

    ¡°His Royal Highness is not at fault, Your Majesty,¡± Calyx Dalton said, his gaze and head lowered to the ground. ¡°A student used His Royal Highness of being the fake Crown Prince. ording to him, the Crown Prince that I fought during the match was the hidden royal princess. His Royal Highness, being the child that he is, probably thought that the fastest way to prove his identity is to undress and show everyone that he¡¯s the real Crown Prince.¡±

    The emperor fell silent for a moment.

    But His Majesty¡¯s bloodlust wasn¡¯t quiet at all.

    Everyone around them- except for Nero, Lewis, Calyx Dalton, and the other adult crow- withstood the thick bloodlust in the air.

    ¡°Father, please calm down,¡± Nero said, then he bowed even deeper. ¡°I know that I don¡¯t have the obligation to exin myself just to clear a rumor. I¡¯m also aware that I shouldn¡¯t have addressed it this way, that I should have released an official statement instead of exposing myself. I apologize for letting my emotion get the better of me.¡±

    Yes, he knew that undressing wasn¡¯t the best way to dispel the ¡°rumor.¡±

    But he had a reason why he chose that way.

    [Neoma loves drama.]

    ¡°Who?¡± Emperor Niki asked in a low, cold voice. ¡°Who dares to question the Crown Prince¡¯s identity?!¡±

    Nobody spoke a word, but the stifled cry of the faint-hearted students were heard.

    When Nero raised his head, he saw Calyx Dalton turn to the ¡°pawn¡± student that started it all. Then the other students around turned to the culprit, too.

    [You¡¯re dead.]

    The student who was as pale as the de Moonasterios now immediately dropped to his knees and lowered his head until his forehead hit the ground. ¡°I h-have cmitted a g-grave s-sin, Y-Your M-Majesty!¡± the pawn said in a trembling voice, already crying out of fear. ¡°P-Please f-forgive t-this l-lowly s-subject!¡±

    Nero had to hide his smirk.

    [That¡¯s the price you have to pay for messing with my twin sister, you insignificant rat.]

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 498

    Chapter 498: THE TWO ROYAL PRINCES

    ¡°ARE YOU hurt, Nero?¡±

    ¡°I did this to myself, Father,¡± Nero said while buttoning up the new, crisp shirt that he had just worn. ¡°I¡¯ll exin everything to youter.¡±

    He and his father were inside the royal carriage now, so it was safe for them to talk freely.

    A royal family member wouldn¡¯t leave the pce without several changes of clothes. Thus, he was able to change into a new shirt. He and his father still had to show up to the publicter. Hence, he changed his clothes to appear presentable.

    ¡°Where is Neoma?¡± his father asked worriedly. ¡°Is your twin sister okay?¡±

    ¡°Neoma is fine- she¡¯s with her ¡°children¡± right now.¡±

    His father looked relieved at first, but the concern on his face returned right away.

    .....

    ¡°How about your mother?¡± his father asked, and he actually looked more anxious this time. ¡°I heard the pce was attacked.¡±

    ¡°Mother took care of the intruder,¡± he exined. ¡°It was a god.¡±

    His father¡¯s eyes went wide. ¡°A god? Your mother didn¡¯t kill it, did she?¡±

    He shook his head. ¡°Ruston Stroganoff appeared and took care of the god.¡±

    His father looked relieved. ¡°That¡¯s a relief,¡± he said softly. ¡°After what happened, it¡¯s a miracle that your mother allowed you to leave the pce without her.¡±

    He slowly avoided his father¡¯s gaze.

    ¡°Nero.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± he asked defensively.

    ¡°Look at me.¡±

    He was forced to look at his father because of hismanding voice.

    His father frowned. ¡°You didn¡¯t ask your mother¡¯s permission before you left, did you?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t have the time to do so,¡± he said defensively. ¡°But I left mother a letter.¡±

    His father clicked his tongue. ¡°Nero, you don¡¯t know this because you haven¡¯t seen your mother get angry yet. But I¡¯m telling you now- Mona is scarier than me when she¡¯s mad,¡± he warned him. ¡°You better prepare yourself to receive your mother¡¯s wrath once we returned to the pce, Nero de Moonasterio.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t imagine Mother getting angry at me or Neoma,¡± Nero said nonchntly. ¡°You¡¯re just scaring me- but it won¡¯t work on me, Father.¡±

    ***

    ¡°IT¡¯S AN honor to finally meet you, Prince Nero.¡±

    ¡°Yes- you should be honored,¡± Nero, who was sitting on the chair while in the waiting area, said without even turning to the insignificant bug next to him. ¡°When else will you get the chance to sit next to me with your head intact?¡±

    Calyx Daltonughed. ¡°Are you saying that you¡¯ll chop my head off the next time I sit next to you on a different asion?¡±

    They were free to talk like that because aside from the two of them. Only Lewis and the old crow (Raven, if he remembered it right) were in the waiting area.

    And they were there because despite the pandemonium earlier, the ceremony must go on.

    Since Neoma won the match, the Crown Prince became the freshmen representative. His father, the emperor, would put epaulettes on his shoulder capeter. To be honest, he felt bad.

    [I¡¯ll harvest the fruits of Neoma¡¯s hard work again.]

    ¡°Prince Nero, you¡¯re thinking of your twin sister even though I¡¯m here with you, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°If you already know, then shut up,¡± he said. ¡°I can¡¯t concentrate on drawing Neoma¡¯s pretty image in my mind when you won¡¯t stop yapping about nonsense in my ear.¡±

    ¡°Are you... for real?¡±

    He let out a frustrated sigh. ¡°Ah, I forgot that a birdbrain like you can¡¯tprehend humannguage.¡±

    ¡°At least look at me when you¡¯re insulting me, Prince Nero.¡±

    ¡°If looking at my face will shut you up, so be it,¡± he said, then he finally turned to the crow.

    Calyx Dalton¡¯s face lit up as soon as their eyes met. ¡°You look better than your twin sister.¡±

    ¡°Then you must have poor eyesight,¡± he said bluntly. ¡°Anyway, you were mistaken earlier.¡±

    He tilted his head to one side. ¡°What do you mean by that?¡±

    ¡°When I said I won¡¯t let you sit beside me with your head intact next time, I¡¯m not talking about an ordinary seat,¡± he said. ¡°Calyx Dalton, there is only one throne for the Crown Prince and the future emperor. The moment you approach me while I¡¯m sitting on that throne...¡± He pressed a finger at his throat. ¡°You¡¯ll die.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re being unfair,¡± the crowined. ¡°If you are that greedy for the throne, then why didn¡¯t you fight your twin sister for it?¡±

    ¡°Everything I have belongs to Neoma, so why would we fight over a stupid throne?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s called favoritism,¡± Calyx Dalton whined again. ¡°I am your older brother. You and Princess Neoma are my younger siblings, so you should be kind and generous to me, too!¡±

    ¡°Calyx Dalton, I don¡¯t like my parents that much, so you can im to be my father¡¯s son for all I care,¡± Nero said coldly. ¡°But I¡¯m Neoma¡¯s one and only brother.¡± He wrapped his fingers around his neck. ¡°Know your ce, you birdbrain.¡±

    ***

    ¡°NERO de Moonasterio, congrattions for bing this year¡¯s freshmen representative.¡±

    [Neoma, congrattions.]

    Nero thought of his precious twin sister as his father, Emperor Niki, attached the pair of golden eupalettes to his shoulder cape.

    It was thest part of the ceremony.

    To be honest, he thought the atmosphere would be awkward after he made a scene earlier.

    The pawn- er, the student who tried to expose the royal secret was summoned by his father earlier to one of the private rooms in the arena. He hadn¡¯t heard about what kind of punishment the student had received yet, but he had a feeling that his father had been lenient.

    [After all, I¡¯ve alsomitted a crime by exposing my torso to the public.]

    However, because of that incident, everyone was reminded of how scary and powerful the emperor was.

    [Ah, is that it?]

    He was wondering why the people around him had been sucking up to him since earlier.

    Now he understood.

    He thought he would be ostracized because he heard that Neoma disyed violence during the match, and the people didn¡¯t like it. Moreover, there was also the ¡°issue¡± regarding Calyx Dalton being a de Moonasterio and the son of the woman who could be thete empress.

    [They probably changed their mind when they saw that the emperor treasures the Crown Prince a lot.]

    His thoughts were interrupted when the audience pped and cheered.

    ¡°You did well, Nero,¡± Emperor Niki said after putting the golden eupalettes on his shoulder cape. ¡°I¡¯m proud of you.¡±

    He just smiled bitterly at his father.

    [Neoma deserves all the praises- not me.]

    His thoughts were interrupted when, all of a sudden, his father pulled him for a hug.

    [Huh? Wait- what?]

    Did his father really hug him in front of the whole academy?! The students, the teachers, the staff, and even the guardians of the students were still in the arena!

    [Father, you¡¯re embarrassing me...]

    ¡°Neoma did well,¡± his father whispered to him. ¡°Neoma never fails to make us proud. Once we return home, praise your twin sister a lot.¡±

    Nero nodded, still feeling awkward that his father was hugging him in front of many people. ¡°I will, Father.¡±

    ***

    ¡°PRINCE NERO is shining, isn¡¯t he?¡±

    Calyx smiled and nodded. ¡°Prince Nero is shining.¡±

    The ending ceremony had just finished.

    Prince Nero had received golden eupalettes from the emperor, while he had received a silver tie clip/bar- the symbol of him winning second ce.

    The ceremony ended after that. But instead of going home, he and his uncle were waiting in front of the arena for the carriage that would pick them up. After all, His Majesty had invited them to the pce.

    [Mother is already there.]

    ¡°That¡¯s also how I felt the first time I saw His Majesty when he was still a Crown Prince,¡± Uncle Raven said, then he patted his shoulder. ¡°We, the de Lucas, are always drawn to the de Moonasterion princes and emperors. We can¡¯t help but adore them, no matter how infuriating they can be most of the time.¡±

    ¡°But you killed some of the previous emperors in history.¡±

    His uncle gave him a mysterious smile. ¡°Calyx, our love for the de Moonasterion princes and emperors has a time limit,¡± he exined. ¡°We adore the de Moonasterion emperor a lot. But once the de Moonasterion heir is born, we love the emperor less and love the Crown Prince more. That¡¯s how it is.¡±

    ¡°Is that the reason why...¡± He trailed off, then he clutched his chest tight. ¡°I feel more drawn to Prince Nero now?¡±

    All his life, he craved the emperor¡¯s affection.

    .....

    But the moment he met the real Prince Nero...

    His thoughts were interrupted when two fancy carriages arrived and stopped in front of them. Then, much to his pleasant surprise, Prince Nero stepped out of the first carriage.

    [It¡¯s the real Crown Prince!]

    He noticed that Lewis Crevan was sitting beside the coachman and eyeing him coldly, but he ignored him.

    [Why is Lewis Crevan here?]1

    Tsk.

    He actually wanted to monopolize the Crown Prince today.

    ¡°I apologize for beingte,¡± Prince Nero said. But although he was apologizing, he sounded like he was giving an order. ¡°His Majesty assigned me to escort Lord Calyx to the pce.¡±

    Calyx pouted. ¡°Why are you speaking formally to me?¡±

    ¡°This is an official business, Lord Calyx,¡± the Crown Prince said indifferently, then he turned to his Uncle Raven. ¡°Mr. Raven, you may take the other carriage.¡±

    Uncle Raven bowed to the Crown Prince as a response.

    After that, he and Prince Nero entered the carriage and sat on the couches across from each other.

    The Crown Prince ignored him the moment the carriage moved, though. Prince Nero just kept on staring at whatever picture was inside the locket in his hand. His Royal Highness¡¯s face looked calm while doing that, though.

    ¡°Prince Nero, may I know what you¡¯re looking at?¡±

    ¡°Neoma¡¯s picture.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m looking at Neoma¡¯s picture because it calms me down,¡± Prince Nero said without looking at him. ¡°Without this, I would lose my mind and kill you on the spot. You should be grateful to Neoma that I¡¯m letting you live another day.¡±

    Neoma, Neoma, Neoma.

    Prince Nero just kept on talking about Neoma de Moonasterio only.

    It was getting annoying now.

    [No- I¡¯m getting jealous.]

    ¡°Prince Nero, why do you like Princess Neoma so much?¡±

    ¡°Neoma is my only family.¡±

    ¡°His Majesty and Lady Roseheart are still alive.¡±

    ¡°I can live without my parents, but I can¡¯t live without Neoma.¡±

    His eyes went wide. ¡°You... can¡¯t live without Princess Neoma?¡±

    [Is that what family means?]

    He liked his family very much, and he also liked his rtives. But they didn¡¯t feel the same for him. In fact, he knew a handful of his family members who would be happy once he died. And that included his favorite aunts and uncles.

    He didn¡¯t resent them, though.

    After all, his family motto was: ¡®Only the strongest deserve to live happily.¡¯

    In short, it was to kill or be killed. Thus, even though he liked his family very much, he wasn¡¯t that attached to them.

    [But Prince Nero is saying that he can¡¯t live without Princess Neoma.]

    That kind of family- no, that kind of devotion...

    ¡°But what if Princess Neoma betrays you, Prince Nero?¡± he asked curiously. ¡°Princess Neoma loves herself too much. I¡¯m pretty sure she can¡¯t love you as much as you love her.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± he said. ¡°My love is enough for the two of us.¡±

    His heart squeezed painfully, so he clenched his chest tight.

    Calyx was born with everything, and his family provided him with the things he needed and wanted. Thus, he didn¡¯t grow up greedy. He grew up entitled, though.

    Prince Nero¡¯s love for and obsession with Princess Neoma...

    [I want it- no, I deserve it,] Calyx thought to himself. [I deserve Prince Nero¡¯s undivided love and attention more than Princess Neoma.]

    ***

    [I FEEL like I got hit by a truck.]

    When Neoma opened her eyes, she was greeted by an unfamiliar ceiling.

    She wanted to get up and check her surroundings, but every inch of her body hurt like hell. Only her eyes could wander around the room.

    [Oh? This room is very pretty.]

    It had pastel walls, and the dominant colors of the furniture were white and pink. It actually reminded her of her room back in Korea.

    [Huh?]

    She gasped when the realization hit her.

    [Was I hit by Truck-kun and got isekai¡¯d to another world?!]

    Again?!

    [Give me a break!]

    She was about to curse the gods when, all of a sudden, the door burst open and she was greeted by her favorite people in the world.

    ¡°Eomma, you¡¯re awake!¡±

    It was Greko.

    [My youngest son!]

    Juri Wisteria, Jeno Dankworth, Paige Avery and Xion Redgrave followed the maknae, then they all smiled and bowed politely to her. ¡°It¡¯s been a while, Princess Neoma.¡±

    Only Lewis was missing from her ¡°children.¡±

    To be honest, she was confused. She didn¡¯t even know where exactly she was at the moment. But despite everything, her heart swelled with joy.

    Neoma suddenly felt emotional. ¡°I¡¯ve missed you, my children.¡±

    ***

    NOTE: As always, thank you for supporting me.

    Can I ask a favor this month? Please purchase my privilege chapters. This might be shameless of me, but I suddenly got the greed to win WIN-WIN next month. I hope Royal Secret: I¡¯m a Princess gets a high rank in WIN-WIN in order for Neoma to get more promotions here on Webnovel. I haven¡¯t ranked high recently, so I¡¯m hoping to see Neoma up there once again. And, of course, it will only be possible with your help. :¡¯)

    Let¡¯s boost our baby girl, juseyo.

    If we seed, I will update at least two chapters a day in August. :>

    Thank you!

 Chapter 499

    Chapter 499: HELLO, LADY OF LEISURE!

    NEOMA was shocked when, all of a sudden, she found herself on the roof of the arena with William and Jeno Dankworth.

    [What the...]

    She was confused at first. Then, while looking at William¡¯s (somewhat distressed) face, she slowly realized what might have happened.

    ¡°Princess Neoma, are you okay?¡± Jeno Dankworth asked worriedly. ¡°Please wait here. I¡¯ll fetch Greko in a minute.¡±

    She was just about to say that she was okay when her ¡°son¡± suddenly disappeared.

    [Gosh, he¡¯s such a good boy.]

    ¡°William, why did you swap us?¡± Neoma confronted the Grand Spirit while she was sitting on the roof, holding her stomach tight. ¡°What is Nero nning?¡±

    .....

    ¡°He¡¯s obviously preventing your secret from getting exposed.¡±

    ¡°I can see that. I¡¯m asking what EXACTLY is Nero nning... never mind,¡± she said, giving up because she didn¡¯t have the energy to deal with William. She was so tired that shey down on the roof- letting the harsh sunlight hit her pretty face. She covered her eyes with her hand while squinting. ¡°I should ask Greko and Paige to make sunscreen for me.¡±

    ¡°Are you sleeping?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± she said, then she closed her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m just reying the match in my head.¡±

    To be precise, she was thinking about Delwyn and the White Lion¡¯s ¡°fight.¡±

    She made a fancy attack earlier to keep Calyx Dalton upied, so he wouldn¡¯t notice that Delwyn (in his wolf form) and the White Lion were just pretending to fight each other. In reality, the two beasts were talking.

    [I asked Delwyn to ¡°interview¡± the White Lion, and ask him what we can do to help him.]

    Unfortunately, the White Lion disappeared the moment Skewer¡¯s awesome Energy de hit Calyx Dalton.

    ¡°Delwyn,¡± she called him. ¡°What did the White Lion say?¡±

    Delwyn said in her head.

    Neoma smiled, then it faded as she let her sleepiness win.

    [Good night, world.]

    ***

    [¡°LADY AVERY, please return to the pce to let Lady Roseheart know that Empress Juliet has returned, and she ims she¡¯s Calyx Dalton¡¯s mother. I believe it won¡¯t be safe for Neoma to return to the pce, but it¡¯s not my call to make. So please let Lady Roseheart decide what¡¯s best for her daughter.¡±]

    That was what Paige heard from Hanna Quinzel.

    After her encounter with Lukas and Helstor, West (the White Tiger) brought her to where the Quinzels were. The Quinzels were about to return home. Thankfully, they got there on time.

    Her n was to head straight to the academy after checking on the Quinzels. But because of the news that she received, she went straight to the Royal Pce to meet Lady Quinzel. The matriarch was in Yule Pce, and she gracefully invited her to have tea with her.

    And so, Paige was now in the drawing room while having tea with Lady Roseheart.

    She has already ryed Hanna Quinzel¡¯s message, and the matriarch seemed to be thinking deeply about what to do next.

    ¡°So, Nero is with Niki in the academy right now,¡± Lady Roseheart whispered. ¡°And Juliet ims to be Calyx Dalton¡¯s mother. Since Calyx Dalton already revealed his de Moonasterion traits, everyone is probably thinking that he is Niki¡¯s son with Juliet. If that¡¯s the case, then we can assume that the crows have sessfully created a way to step foot into the Royal Pce safely.¡±

    Paige nodded in agreement. ¡°The news about Empress Juliet¡¯s return has already spread in the empire, and it will soon reach the entire continent. Now, people must be talking about how Calyx Dalton must be His Majesty¡¯s son with the supposedly dead empress. Because of that, we can no longer get rid of Calyx Dalton.¡±

    ¡°I also have a feeling that the crows will instigate the public to make a demand to reinstate Empress Juliet to her position as the ¡®Empire¡¯s Mother,''¡± the matriarch said while drumming her fingers on the table. ¡°Since Calyx Dalton is older than Nero and Neoma, those who support Juliet will probably pressure Niki to dethrone Nero, and rece him with Calyx.¡±

    She hated to admit this, but the crows hade up with a very effective strategy to push Prince Nero and Princess Neoma out of the session line- and to kick Lady Roseheart out of the pce, too.

    ¡°Lady Roseheart, I know that this may sound harsh, but can¡¯t His Majesty just dere that Calyx Dalton is not his son?¡±

    ¡°It will be hard to do that without enough evidence to support his im, Lady Avery,¡± Lady Roseheart said, smiling apologetically at her. ¡°Moreover, if Niki openly denies Calyx Dalton as his son, Juliet will get humiliated. The public sentiment would definitely go to Juliet, and Niki would be criticized heavily. After all, Calyx Dalton has the de Moonasterion traits.¡±

    ¡°But Calyx Dalton doesn¡¯t have the glow of the emperor¡¯s firstborn child- Princess Neoma has it.¡±

    ¡°Ordinary people can¡¯t see it,¡± the matriarch said. ¡°Only the saint can dere who the rightful heir is since he can see the Moonglow. Unfortunately, we don¡¯t have a saint anymore. It¡¯s not like the public will believe Niki if he says Neoma is the firstborn child.¡±

    The matriarch was right.

    Empress Juliet was apparently a beloved empress, so the public who loved her wouldn¡¯t think that Her Majesty was capable of deceiving the emperor.

    On the flip side, if His Majesty outright denied that Calyx Dalton was his son, he would earn the public¡¯s hatred. Once the people lost their trust in the emperor, then His Majesty would lose his power.

    That power would definitely go to Empress Juliet.

    [Since Empress Juliet is with the crows, then the crows will get more power and influence over the empire.]

    Paige clutched her head tight. ¡°Politics is tooplicated. I¡¯d rather study new magic spells than engage with the power struggle in the pce.¡± She paused for a moment, then she shook her head. ¡°That¡¯s what I want to say, but since I¡¯m serving Princess Neoma who¡¯s also in line for the throne, I can¡¯t avoid the politics here even if I want to.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true, but we are powerless here,¡± Lady Roseheart said. ¡°Neoma is also powerless because she¡¯s not officially registered to the royal household. So, even if she appears as the hidden royal princess, nothing will change. Thew doesn¡¯t recognize a female sessor.¡±

    She frowned. ¡°That¡¯s unfair. Princess Neoma was the one who worked the hardest all this time. But someone else will harvest the fruits of herbor.¡±

    That someone else was Prince Nero, of course.

    [I know that Princess Neoma is aware that this will happen from the beginning. I¡¯m also aware that Princess Neoma doesn¡¯t resent her twin brother. She also doesn¡¯t need the public¡¯s recognition. But as someone who witnessed her work hard for the sake of the Royal Family and the people of the empire, I can¡¯t help but feel bitter about all of this.]

    ¡°I understand your feelings, Lady Avery,¡± Lady Roseheart said sympathetically. ¡°But we don¡¯t have a choice but to leave this matter in Niki and Nero¡¯s hands. As the emperor and the Crown Prince respectively, only Niki and Nero can engage in the political power struggle against the crows.¡±

    Everything that the matriarch said was correct.

    [I still hate it, though. Princess Neoma should be the center of power here. She¡¯s the one who deserves to be the ruler of the empire.]

    But in the end, Princess Neoma wasn¡¯t even officially recognized as a princess.

    ¡°Lady Avery, Niki and Nero are aware of what Neoma deserves after working hard all this time,¡± Lady Roseheart said, then she smiled at her as if she was trying to assure her that everything would be fine. ¡°Thus, they won¡¯t waste Neoma¡¯s hard work. Niki and Nero¡¯s goal hasn¡¯t changed- it is and will always be to put Neoma on the throne. It won¡¯t be easy, and it may take a long time to do it, but I believe that they will aplish that.¡±

    The matriarch said that with confidence.

    [She really has faith in them.]

    Thanks to that, her heart was put at ease.

    ¡°I understand, Lady Roseheart,¡± she said. ¡°I will just do my job as Princess Neoma¡¯s protector.¡±

    ¡°On that note, can you take Neoma somewhere else after her business with the academy?¡± the matriarch asked seriously. ¡°The pce isn¡¯t safe for Neoma right now.¡±

    Paige smiled and nodded. ¡°Lady Roseheart, we have already built the perfect retirement home for Princess Neoma.¡±

    Lady Roseheart¡¯s eyes went wide a little. ¡°R-Retirement home?¡±

    ***

    ¡°AH, SO that was what happened, huh?¡± Neoma said while nodding after hearing her children¡¯s full report. Then sheughed softly while looking around. ¡°So, this is my ¡°retirement home?¡±¡±

    She felt like she didn¡¯t deserve to have a ¡°retirement home¡± this early.

    But she still appreciated it, since it was a gift from her beloved children.

    ¡°Eomma, please drink this,¡± Greko, who was sitting beside her, said while handing a white pill and a ss of water to her. ¡°The bad crow injected you with Darkness earlier, right? I made medicine that will clean the residue of the Darkness with malice that may have been left in your body. After all, purifying it will hurt you since you have Darkness attribute, too. So I thought of making medicine that will cleanse your body painlessly.¡±

    Aww.

    She was touched.

    ¡°Thank you, maknae-a,¡± she said, then she took the pill from him and put it in her mouth without hesitation. Then she gulped it down by drinking water. ¡°Wow. It¡¯s tasteless.¡±

    Greko smiled brightly. ¡°Eomma hates bitter pills, so I made it tasteless.¡±

    ¡°Gosh, my baby is so thoughtful,¡± she said while ruffling Greko¡¯s hair. ¡°Our Greko has grown into a young man that makes his eomma proud, huh?¡±

    ¡°Greko is only thoughtful to you, Princess Neoma,¡± Xion Redgraveined. ¡°He¡¯s not exactly caring when he¡¯s patching us up.¡±

    Jeno Dankworth added in agreement with the assassin. ¡°Greko is a scary little doctor.¡±

    ¡°Our maknae is like that to the two of you because you¡¯re always fighting,¡± Juri Wisteria scolded Xion and Jeno. ¡°If I was Greko, I would get tired of patching you up too if you kept on getting hurt just because you fight each other every five minutes. You should be thankful that our maknae is wasting his skills on you when your injuries were only caused by your stupidity.¡±

    Greko smiled and looked at Juri with sparkling eyes.

    Neoma couldn¡¯t help but smile while watching her children bicker.

    [I missed this.]

    ¡°Princess Neoma, what should we do now?¡± Paige Avery asked seriously, making the other children shut up. ¡°Empress Juliet and Calyx Dalton are already in the Royal Pce.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re going to do nothing,¡± she dered with a shrug. ¡°I mean, what can I do? I¡¯m just a princess in the name. I don¡¯t have real power to change the political power struggle in the pce. Papa Boss and Nero are the only ones who can fight the crows when ites to politics.¡±

    She had already done her part by pretending to be the Crown Prince for eight years.

    Now that Nero had reimed his rightful spot, it was time for her to step down and remove herself from the limelight.

    However, she knew that it wasn¡¯t the time for her to retire yet.

    She was just taking a ¡°hiatus.¡±

    The political power struggle in the pce wasn¡¯t her fight to win, anyway.

    .....

    [Nero, I leave that to you.]

    ¡°I think doing the dirty work suits me better,¡± Neoma said, smirking. ¡°But in the meantime, let¡¯s enjoy a well-deserved break first.¡±

    Paige, Juri, Greko, Jeno, and Xion all smiled and gave her a thumbs up. ¡°We will make you a truedy of leisure, Princess Neoma.¡±

    Neoma couldn¡¯t help butugh at her children¡¯s cute promise.

    [Gosh, I corrupted my children so bad.]

    ***

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 Chapter 500

    Chapter 500: THE CLEVER LUNATIC

    NEOMA smiled while sipping juice through the straw pressed between her lips.

    Right now, she was sitting leisurely on a sunlounger while facing the swimming pool in front of her. Of course, she was under the shade of a cantilever umbre (aka pool umbre). The sun was already setting, but she didn¡¯t want to risk getting sunburned.

    After all, she wore a thin sleeveless pastel pink dress that reached her mid-thigh. Plus, her long hair was tied into a messy bun- exposing her slender neck. She was showing that much skin without applying sunscreen, so she was trying to be careful.

    [If it wasn¡¯t for my damned period, I would have jumped into the pool by now.]

    When else could she enjoy this kind of vacation as Neoma?

    She was finally done pretending as Nero, so she was now allowed to wear girly clothes.

    [Plus, I already drank the potion that made my hair grow long. And the best part? I don¡¯t need to cut it anymore even if I was summoned to the pceter.]

    .....

    She was so happy that she began tough like a viiness again.

    Tsk.

    [Why does myugh sound sinister even though I¡¯m genuinely happy?]

    ¡°Eomma, are you happy?¡±

    It was Greko, and her maknae arrived with a tray of freshly cut fruits in his hands.

    [Our maknae grew up fast.]

    Greko was now ten years old. He lost his fat when he grew taller, and he wasn¡¯t bald anymore. In fact, his hair was now long enough to tie into a low ponytail. But, thankfully, his cheeks remained round like meat buns.

    Neoma smiled sweetly at her youngest ¡°son.¡± ¡°Yes, maknae. I¡¯m really happy. When did you even start building my dream house for me?¡±

    ¡°We started this project two years ago, eomma,¡± Greko said excitedly, then he put the te of freshly cut fruits on the round table before he sat on the sunlounger next to hers while facing her. ¡°We decided to give you a grand gift once you turn thirteen because we know that it would also be the time you¡¯d quit living as Prince Nero, and start living your life as Princess Neoma.¡±

    She couldn¡¯t help butugh merrily. ¡°So you decided to build a vi for me in the middle of nowhere?¡±

    It wasn¡¯t really ¡°in the middle of nowhere,¡± per se.

    But they actually built the vi on a floating ind hidden by clouds created by Jeno Dankworth himself.

    The floating ind was inside a transparent bubble-like barrier that didn¡¯t only serve as protection- but it was also the reason why they could breathe normally inside. Of course, it was created by Paige Avery- one of the best mages on the continent. The Light Mage was also the one responsible for keeping the ind afloat.

    [ording to Paige, the ind is floating right now. But it can alsond and stay hidden even then.]

    Juri Wisteria and Xion Redgrave were the ones responsible for building the vi. Juri was in charge of the design, while Xion was in charge of creating traps, emergency exits, and hidden weaponry in case of an invasion or surprise attacks by the enemies.

    [No wonder Juri asked me before about my dream house. I just told her that I wanted a ss house with a pool in the front yard, and that my bedroom has to be pink at all costs.]

    Greko, on the other hand, was the one who talked to the Fairy, Dwarf, and Elf Race to help them build the vi. Those three races were known to be hostile to each other, but they decided to work together in peace for Greko¡¯s sake.

    [Greko, being the half-fairy that he is, built a connection to different races while traveling the continent for the past three years. I heard from his siblings that Greko has made so many friends now. Of course, he has human friends, too. But apparently, our maknae is particrly close to children of other races.]

    ¡°It was Lewis hyung¡¯s idea to give you a ¡°retirement home,¡± eomma,¡± Greko said, grinning. ¡°Moreover, thend below actually belongs to Lewis hyung. He bought it from His Majesty, since thend belongs to eomma¡¯s Papa Boss.¡±

    Ohh.

    [Teamwork really makes the dream work.]

    And it was really funny that the children called her dream house ¡®retirement home.¡¯

    [They make it sound like they want me to retire already even though I haven¡¯t worked that much yet.]

    Wait, that made her sound like she was a workaholic or something.

    ¡°His Majesty also provided the materials needed to build the vi. The emperor also said that if you want, you can take Miss Stephanie and Mr. Alphen here to help you with your everyday chores,¡± Greko added cheerfully. ¡°And oh, Hanna noona was the one who filled eomma¡¯s closet with pretty clothes, shoes, bags, jewelry, and other essories.¡±

    She was touched to hear that even her Papa Boss and Hanna were involved in her ¡°retirement home.¡±

    ¡°Brigitte noonim and Glenn hyung-nim also sent you a gift, eomma.¡±

    Her eyes went wide. ¡°Even Brigitte unnie and Uncle Glenn?¡±

    Greko smiled brightly at her. ¡°Eomma, there are many people who love you.¡±

    Okay, those touching words almost made Neoma cry.

    [What did I do to deserve these wonderful children?]

    ***

    [I WISH Lewis was here.]

    Neoma couldn¡¯t help but miss her son while having a barbecue party with her other children besides the pool. Her children invented the barbecue grill stand ording to her description in the past, and they brought it to their vi.

    [It will be hard to bring Lewis here since he¡¯s known as the Crown Prince¡¯s knight.]

    Anyway...

    Right now, Juri was busy grilling samgyeopsal and sausages.

    Xion was busy cutting vegetables, and damn, his knife skills were no joke.

    Paige was setting the table by just flicking her fingers. Yes, the mage was using telekinesis to make things move around while she was reading a book on the sunlounger.

    Greko, her cute baby, was busy making iced tea.

    Jeno, on the other hand, was busy answering her questions because her ¡°son¡± just gave her a very interesting report.

    ¡°You saw Ruto at the academy?¡± Neoma asked nervously. Yes, she was nervous for some reason. Was it because what Calyx Dalton said about the baby she allegedly killed still bothered her? ¡°What was he doing then?¡±

    ¡°The chef was watching the match,¡± Jeno Dankworth said. ¡°He was with a girl that I didn¡¯t recognize.¡±

    That must be Sienna, the Sun Priestess.

    ¡°They watched the match?¡± she asked curiously. ¡°You said they were standing across from you. But when I swapped ces with Nero, I didn¡¯t see them.¡±

    ¡°Ah, they left after Empress Juliet appeared to stop the match.¡±

    Oh.

    Her shoulders slumped.

    ¡°Jeno, did Ruto not ask anything about me?¡±

    Her ¡°son¡± shook his head. ¡°We didn¡¯t even greet each other, Princess Neoma.¡±

    [Gosh, this kid is really unsociable.]

    She was about to ask Jeno what Ruto looked like when he saw him. Did Ruto look sad while watching her? She wanted to know if Ruto had really forgotten everything about her.

    But she was distracted by Jeno¡¯s stud earring that wouldn¡¯t stop blinking lights.

    Obviously, it was amunication device.

    ¡°Why won¡¯t you answer the call?¡± she asked with knitted eyebrows.

    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s just my brother. Please don¡¯t mind it, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Count Sean Dankworth?¡± she asked, then she smiled sadly. ¡°Jeno, don¡¯t ignore your brother.¡±

    [You don¡¯t know this, but your brother is heartbroken since his beloved is already married.]

    ¡°It¡¯s not like I want to ignore my brother,¡± the Marksman said while scratching his cheek. ¡°But he wants me to go home.¡±

    ¡°Why? Is there a family emergency?¡±

    ¡°Our vassal families are pressuring my brother to officially withdraw House Dankworth¡¯s support to Prince Nero, the current Crown Prince, so he wants me to help him deal with the vassals,¡± Jeno said hesitantly. ¡°It seems like most of the noble households are switching sides now to support Calyx Dalton, Empress Juliet¡¯s alleged son.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I already see thating,¡± she said while nodding, not surprised that most of the nobles were already abandoning Nero. Those bastards never really liked the Crown Prince for having Roseheart blood, anyway. ¡°I bet it¡¯s the same for Juri.¡±

    The Marksman nodded. ¡°Juri already destroyed hermunication device,¡± he said, then he whispered. ¡°I should destroy mine, too.¡±

    Sheughed softly, then she patted Jeno¡¯s shoulder. ¡°My son, Juri can do that because she¡¯s not the sessor to House Wisteria. However, you¡¯re different from her. You know that your brother is nning to make you his heir, don¡¯t you?¡±

    He sighed, then he nodded. ¡°Princess Neoma, aren¡¯t you worried? The nobles are withdrawing their support to the current Crown Prince.¡±

    ¡°Me?¡± she asked, surprised. Then she pointed at herself. ¡°Worried about Nero? Why would I be worried about him?¡±

    Jeno looked confused. ¡°Princess Neoma, if the nobles abandon Prince Nero for Calyx Dalton, then Prince Nero will lose his power as the heir apparent...¡±

    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be worried about him, Jeno,¡± Neoma said,ughing. ¡°Your Uncle Nero is a bigger lunatic than I am- a clever lunatic, that is.¡±

    ***

    ¡°Y-YOU¡¯RE giving up your position as the Crown Prince?¡± Calyx asked, shocked. ¡°And you¡¯re ¡°quitting¡± as His Majesty¡¯s son?¡±

    Could a child even ¡°quit¡± being his parents¡¯ son?!

    Right now, he was in the tearoom with Uncle Raven, Prince Nero, and His Majesty.

    .....

    Calyx thought that he had the upper-hand, but Prince Nero¡¯s announcement shocked him.

    Nero sipped his tea before he spoke. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m here to hand my resignation to His Majesty as the Crown Prince and his son,¡± he said, then he ced his teacup down on the saucer. After that, he smiled at him. ¡°Congrattions, Lord Calyx. You¡¯re now the new heir apparent, and Father¡¯s only son.¡±

    This wasn¡¯t what he and the de Lucas wanted to happen!

    Feeling lost and confused, Calyx turned to his Uncle Raven. But just like him, his uncle looked like he didn¡¯t know what to do with the unexpected turn of events.

    It was never the crows¡¯ intention to kick Prince Nero out of the pce!

    [The people that we wanted to get rid of are Princess Neoma and Mona Roseheart- not our precious Prince Nero!]

    ¡°Your Majesty,¡± Calyx said to the emperor. ¡°You¡¯re not going to dethrone Prince Nero, are you?¡±

    Emperor Niki let out a sigh. ¡°This matter is out of my hands now. More and more nobles are demanding Nero to step down as the Crown Prince, anyway.¡±

    How could the emperor be this cold to Prince Nero?!

    [Is it because His Majesty favors Princess Neoma over Prince Nero?]

    This wasn¡¯t what he wanted.

    Calyx taking the throne was only an option if the crows deemed Prince Nero unfitting to be the next emperor. But the n already changed when he realized that Prince Nero was truly the empire¡¯s Lesser Moon. They just wanted to pressure the emperor to ept him as his son in order to gain power as a royal prince.

    [But I don¡¯t want to be His Majesty¡¯s only son- I want Prince Nero to be my little brother!]

    ***

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 Chapter 501

    Chapter 501: OBSESSION

    NIKOLAI actually wanted to talk to Juliet in private, but it was impossible.

    When he returned to the Royal Pce, the representatives of the Twelve Golden Families: Count Sean Dankworth, Marquis Lawford Gibson, Duke Arman Winchester, Marquis Frank Bsco, Count Emerson Zachary, Marquis Russell Spencer, Count Benjamin Russo, Count Larry Dawkins, Count Tyler Lhesi, Viscount Austin Morrisey, Duke Rufus Quinzel, and Marquis Vincent Lennox.

    Out of the twelve representatives, he was d to see his cousin the most.

    [I¡¯m d you¡¯re safe, Rufus.]

    He could see it in Rufus¡¯ eyes that he had many things to report.

    [Let¡¯s talkter.]

    He didn¡¯t have the time to greet his cousin properly because he made eye contact with the person he didn¡¯t want to meet the most right now: Marquis Vincent Lennox- Juliet¡¯s maternal grandfather.

    .....

    [Juliet¡¯s mother was Marquis Lennox¡¯s only daughter. When his beloved wife and daughter passed away, Marquis Lennox poured all his love into Juliet.]

    ¡°Greetings to the Moon and the Lesser Moon of the Great Moonasterion Empire,¡± the representatives of the Twelve Golden Families greeted Niki and Nero who arrived together.

    But most of the representatives, even the servants behind them, were obviously more interested in Juliet and Calyx Dalton who were standing behind him and his son. Shock, disbelief, amusement ¨C those three emotions were the dominant reactions he saw.

    [Where¡¯s Kyle?]

    Kyle Sprouse was his chancellor. The count was supposed to be there to deal with the nobles in his stead. But he wasn¡¯t there.

    No wonder some of the nobles were attacking him with questions nonstop.

    He felt like a big headache wasing.

    ¡°Your Majesty, just what is happening here?¡± Marquis Vincent Lennox asked him sternly, then his confused yet longing gaze lingered on Juliet Dalton. ¡°Who is this woman who looks exactly like thete Empress Juliet?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what I want to know, too, Marquis Lennox,¡± Niki said, then he turned to Juliet Dalton, who looked confused. ¡°I brought Lady Juliet Dalton here with her son Calyx Dalton to know the truth.¡±

    He said that, but Marquis Vincent Lennox was already looking at Juliet Dalton as if it had already been confirmed that the woman was indeed Juliet Sloane.

    ¡°Your Majesty, did you bring me to the pce to confirm whether I¡¯m the same person as thete empress?¡± Juliet Dalton asked in a voice that trembled a little, then she grabbed Calyx Dalton¡¯s arm and hid behind her ¡®son.¡¯ ¡°Are you going to take my son from me?¡±

    It was hard for Niki to see Juliet in this state. After all, this wasn¡¯t the Juliet that he knew. Was losing your memory a reason for your personality to change a lot?

    [You said you never wanted to have a child in the past, Juliet...]

    ¡°Calm down,¡± Niki said to Juliet. He sounded indifferent because he didn¡¯t like most of the people around them at the moment. ¡°I invited you to the pce to have a private talk with you. We will discuss what will happen if your identity is confirmed. And regarding your son...¡±

    He turned to Calyx Dalton, then he knitted his eyebrows.

    When the ceremony at the academy began, he could tell that the young crow was interested in him. But right now, Calyx Dalton was staring at Nero, who obviously didn¡¯t care.

    [What¡¯s wrong with this young crow?]

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I¡¯m getting overwhelmed,¡± Juliet Dalton said, her face turning pale at the moment. ¡°Your Majesty, I¡¯m so confused right now. Can we do this another time? I¡¯d like my parents to be with me when we talk about me and my son.¡±

    ¡°Your parents?¡± Marquis Lennox asked, and he looked heartbroken when Juliet mentioned her ¡®parents.¡¯ ¡°Who dares to im to be Her Majesty¡¯s parents?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not the empress, so please don¡¯t address me as such,¡± Juliet Dalton said to the marquis. Then she clutched her head tight. ¡°Calyx...¡±

    Calyx Dalton finally took his eyes off of Nero to turn to his ¡®mother.¡¯ ¡°Mother, would you like to go home now?¡±

    He raised an eyebrow. [Home? Where? The crows¡¯ hideout?]

    Juliet Dalton nodded at her son¡¯s question, then she turned to him. ¡°Your Majesty, I¡¯m sorry, but I can¡¯t do this today. Moreover, my parents must be waiting for me.¡±

    ¡°Are you talking about the Daltons that live in the countryside?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°I miss my grandparents,¡± Calyx Dalton said to his ¡®mother,¡¯ then he turned to him. ¡°Your Majesty, my mother isn¡¯t feeling well. Can we go home for today?¡±

    He didn¡¯t really care about Calyx Dalton, but he was worried about Juliet Dalton because she really looked like she wasn¡¯t feeling well. ¡°Alright,¡± he said. ¡°But bring the Daltons with you when I summon you again.¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, are you really sending Her Majesty home?¡± Marquis Lennox asked, obviously displeased with his decision. ¡°Now that Her Majesty has returned, shouldn¡¯t we keep her in the pce to keep her safe?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Marquis Lennox,¡± he said indifferently. ¡°I will send Geoffrey Kinsley to escort Juliet Dalton and her son home.¡±

    Sending Nero with the Daltons was also an option.

    But he noticed that the nobles weren¡¯t happy when they saw Nero and Calyx Daltoning out from the same carriage.

    [They¡¯re probably thinking that Nero will try to harm Calyx Dalton.]

    He didn¡¯t want people to have that kind of misunderstanding, so he decided to send his trusted Pdin instead.

    ¡°I¡¯ll also send the ming Vermillion Bird,¡± he said.

    This time, most of the nobles were satisfied to know that he¡¯d be sending one of his Soul Beasts with Juliet Dalton.

    [They already decided that Juliet Dalton is indeed Empress Juliet.]

    ¡°I still believe that it will be in Her Majesty¡¯s best interest to stay here in the pce,¡± Marquis Lennox said, then he frowned at her. ¡°I wonder if His Majesty¡¯s determination to send Empress Juliet home has something to do with Lady Mona Roseheart who is residing in your pce.¡±

    [This old man dares to drag Mona here...]

    His bloodlust was already leaking, scaring most of the nobles.

    Even Marquis Vincent Lennox flinched when he felt his bloodlust directed at him.

    But all the tension in the air disappeared when they heard a softugh- and everyone turned to Nero with a shocked look on their faces.

    [Nero, my son, I don¡¯t think this is the right time tough...]

    ¡°My poor mother,¡± Nero said, smiling while shaking his head. ¡°Damned if she does, damned if she doesn¡¯t. The world could end tomorrow, and there are some people who would still me it on Lady Mona Roseheart.¡±

    Marquis Lennox¡¯s face turned red from embarrassment.

    Anotherughter erupted from the nobles behind the marquis. This time, it came from Count Sean Dankworth who was surprisingly wide awake this time.

    Marquis Lawford Gibson tried to cover the count¡¯s mouth, but the count swiftly avoided the marquis. It was interesting to see. Count Dankworth and Marquis Gibson were always physically close. But this time, there was a decent space between the two.

    [A fallout?]

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I can¡¯t help butugh at serious situations,¡± Count Dankworth said while rubbing his sleepy eyes with the back of his hand. ¡°But I agree with Prince Nero. Why does Marquis Lennox feel the need to bring up Lady Roseheart who¡¯s not here?¡±

    Marquis Lennox turned to Count Dankworth with a re. ¡°Why don¡¯t you just go back to sleep, young man?¡±

    Ah, this was amon ¡°sickness¡± of most old nobles.

    [They look down on younger nobles. Count Dankworth is one of the youngest among the representatives, but he is still one. And yet, Marquis Lennox didn¡¯t address him by his title.]

    Obviously, the count was offended.

    ¡°I¡¯d love to sleep, but Marquis Lennox¡¯s nonsense makes me so embarrassed that I can¡¯t fall asleep,¡± Count Dankworth retorted in azy manner. ¡°Aren¡¯t you implying that His Majesty can¡¯t make his own decisions, my lord? Because that¡¯s how it sounded to me.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not what I mean,¡± Marquis Lennox insisted. ¡°I am just worried about Empress Juliet.¡±

    ¡°Marquis Lennox, I understand that you feel strongly about this matter because thete Empress Juliet was your granddaughter,¡± Rufus Quinzel said firmly, clearly emphasizing the words that reminded the marquis that officially, the empress had already passed away. ¡°But please be mindful of your words. Nothing has been confirmed yet, so please don¡¯t patronize His Majesty.¡±

    And the representatives of the Twelve Golden Families began to argue among themselves.

    There were some who sided with Marquis Lennox, and the others sided with Count Dankworth.

    And of course, there were some like Rufus who tried to meditate.

    Niki, on the other hand, was impressed by Nero.

    [This is his work...]

    He looked at his son, who was smiling as if he found the representatives of the Twelve Golden Families funny.

    [Marquis Lennox tried to drag Mona to start an argument with me. But Nero used his mother¡¯s name to turn the tide. He only said a few words, but he managed to make the nobles fight among themselves. And now, he¡¯s acting like it¡¯s none of his business.]

    That was when Niki realized that Nero was indeed scarier than Neoma.

    [Nero is alwaysposed as long as Neoma isn¡¯t involved, but his calmness is eerie.]

    Nero turned to Niki, but his gaze went past him. This time, his son chuckled while shaking his head.

    [What does he find amusing this time?]

    ¡°Marquis Lennox, the woman you im to care about has already fainted while you were fighting with your fellow representatives,¡± Nero announced, catching everyone¡¯s attention. But the Crown Prince turned to the emperor. ¡°Mother might get med again for Lady Juliet Dalton fainting, so this dutiful son of yours will go now and fetch the Healing Sage, Father.¡±

    Niki was rendered speechless by his own son.

    [Nero doesn¡¯t curse like Neoma does, but his sarcasm could kill people...]

    This time, it was Calyx Dalton whoughed out loud while carrying the unconscious Juliet Dalton in his arms.

    [What¡¯s wrong with these kids?]

    ¡°I, at least, won¡¯t me my mother¡¯s weak body on Lady Roseheart,¡± Calyx Dalton said this time. ¡°Can Ie with you, Prince Nero?¡±

    .....

    ¡°That¡¯s fine with me, but...¡± Nero said, then he turned to Marquis Lennox with an innocent-looking smile on his face. ¡°Will it be alright if I apany them, Marquis Lennox? I¡¯m asking because you made it sound like my father, His Imperial Majesty Niki de Moonasterio, needed your permission before he made a decision.¡±

    Marquis Lennox could only close his eyes tight, as if he was going to faint from embarrassment.

    Now Niki was seriously terrified of Nero.

    [Marquis Lennox made a single crudement to humiliate Mona, and yet, Nero paid it back tenfolds.]

    ***

    ¡°I¡¯M LIKING you more and more, Prince Nero,¡± Calyx said, then he put a hand over his chest. ¡°You make my heart flutter.¡±

    Prince Nero remained poker-faced. ¡°I thought you wanted to y my brother, so why are you confessing to me now?¡±

    Heughed again.

    Right now, the two of them were standing in front of the carriage where his mother was already resting.

    Geoffrey Kinsley, the Pdin assigned by the emperor to escort them home, was already riding on a ck horse. South, the ming Vermillion Bird in its invisible mode, was suspended in the air- right above the carriage.

    Although it was a shame that he had to leave the pce now because his mother still insisted to go home after waking up, he was satisfied. Watching Prince Nero oppress the nobles who insulted his mother was fun.

    ¡°Prince Nero, you said you don¡¯t like your parents that much,¡± he said, giving him a suspicious look. ¡°But you humiliated Marquis Lennox who dragged Lady Roseheart into the conversation earlier.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t do it for my mother.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°I just don¡¯t like how Marquis Lennox acted like he was equal with Father, the emperor, so I put him in his ce,¡± the Crown Prince said bluntly. ¡°I only used my mother to aplish that.¡±

    Prince Nero sounded so emotionless while talking about Lady Roseheart as if he wasn¡¯t talking about his own mother.

    That made him happy.

    [I don¡¯t like Lady Roseheart because I was raised to hate her. So, I¡¯m d that my little brother isn¡¯t attached to his mother.]

    Initially, he was sent to the Royal Capital to steal the throne because His Excellency and the elders in his family didn¡¯t like how the ¡®Crown Prince¡¯ acted before. But now, they already knew that the reason they had a negative feeling about the ¡®Crown Prince¡¯ was because it was the royal princess in hiding.

    But the real Prince Nero was different.

    [It¡¯s a shame that he has Roseheart Blood running in his veins, but we can overlook that part since Prince Nero isn¡¯t attached to his mother. He¡¯s still the perfect Crown Prince, and he deserves to be the future emperor.]

    And this amazing young man was his little brother.

    [Ah, that makes me proud. It¡¯s like Prince Nero is Lord Yule, while I am Lord Callisto. But unlike what happened to Lord Yule and Lord Callisto, I won¡¯t let anyone or anything break my bond with my brother.]

    ¡°Prince Nero, the royal princess isn¡¯t in the pce, is she?¡±

    ¡°Neoma is always in my heart.¡±

    ¡°Argh, that¡¯s so cheesy!¡± heined. ¡°If you don¡¯t want to answer me, just say so. You don¡¯t have to make me jealous.¡±

    Prince Nero just rolled his eyes at him.

    Heughed again. ¡°It¡¯s my cue to leave, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Well, your mother seems to be genuinely unwell,¡± the Crown Prince said. ¡°Go home for now. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be back soon, anyway.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for worrying about OUR mother, Prince Nero.¡±

    The Crown Prince raised an eyebrow at him. ¡°I do not care that much about my own mother, so what makes you think I care about your mother?¡±

    ¡°Because I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll love my mother once you get to know her,¡± Calyx said positively, then he ruffled Prince Nero¡¯s hair- and that earned him a death re from the Crown Prince. He justughed, then he raised his hands in surrender because it looked like his little brother would kill him. ¡°Sorry!¡± he said,ughing while walking backwards. ¡°See youter, my little brother.¡±

    Prince Nero remained deadpan, a dead giveaway that he was unimpressed.

    [Aww... my little brother is so cute.]

    ***

    NIKOLAI was about to go to his bedroom to check on Mona after his meeting with the representatives of the Twelve Golden Families had ended.

    But on his way to his pce, his Soul Beasts informed him that Zeru, Nero¡¯s ice phoenix, had sent a message saying that his son wished to meet him in the throne room. He thought Nero would follow him to his pce after he sent off Juliet and Calyx Dalton, so he was surprised when his son summoned him to the throne room.

    [A Crown Prince summoning the emperor to the throne room... hah.]

    He wasn¡¯t offended, though.

    In fact, he was looking forward as to how Nero would surprise him this time.

    His mood turned sour, though, when he realized that no one was guarding the throne room. Kyle Sprouse was in charge of making sure that no unauthorized people could go in. But he was yet to meet the count ever since he arrived at the pce.

    [I have a bad feeling about this...]

    He shook the negative feeling off as he opened the doors to the Throne Room.

    And there was his son.

    [Ah?]

    Nero was sitting on the throne- the emperor¡¯s throne- quitefortably.

    ¡°If I was the same crazy person in the past, I would have punished you for sitting on my throne, Nero,¡± Niki said as he stood in front of the throne, looking up at Nero in the process since the throne was ced in an elevated tform. ¡°How¡¯s the view up there, Pumpkin?¡±

    It was a cringe endearment, but he said it on purpose to annoy his son.

    [It¡¯s just a petty payback for giving me a major headache.]

    Nero frowned when he called him using the endearment that he knew his son absolutely loathed. ¡°Father, any view without Neoma in it looks ugly to me.¡±

    Ah, Nero¡¯s world really revolved around Neoma.

    He recognized what it was because he was also a victim of it: obsession.

    ¡°Father, you¡¯re looking at me as if there¡¯s something wrong with me.¡±

    ¡°Nero, I know that I don¡¯t have the right to say this, but you know that obsessing over someone isn¡¯t healthy,¡± he said carefully. ¡°I lost your mother once because of my obsession with her. I don¡¯t want you to lose your twin sister for the same reason.¡±

    ¡°I wonder what Lord Yule had been obsessed with in the past.¡±

    He knitted his eyebrows, confused at his son¡¯s randomness.

    ¡°Father, don¡¯t you see it?¡± Nero askedzily. ¡°The true curse of our bloodline- it¡¯s obsession.¡±

    He wanted to tell his son that it was nonsense, but he couldn¡¯t.

    After all, he knew that the demise of their predecessors had something to do with obsessing about something to the point of ruin.

    Take his father, for example.

    The previous emperor was obsessed with immortality. It was the reason why the previous emperor hunted down the Silver Fox n that he believed could give him eternal life.

    [And I almost ruined myself because of my obsession with Mona.]

    ¡°I¡¯m aware that my obsession with Neoma isn¡¯t normal, but I can¡¯t help myself,¡± Nero said, then he gave him a knowing look. ¡°It¡¯s how Father was obsessed with Mother in the past, right? I don¡¯t think our obsessive trait is a mere coincidence.¡±

    ¡°If what you¡¯re saying is true, then what is Neoma obsessed with?¡±

    His son gave him a dire stare. ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious that Neoma is obsessed with herself?¡±

    He opened his mouth to defend Neoma¡¯s honor, but no words came out.

    [I¡¯m sorry, Neoma...]

    ¡°Father, I think Calyx Dalton has inherited the de Moonasterio¡¯s obsessive trait, too,¡± Nero said, then he smirked. ¡°And it looks like that crazy bastard is obsessed with me.¡±

    ¡°Is that supposed to be a good thing?¡± he asked, frowning. ¡°That sounds... disgusting.¡±

    His sonughed softly. ¡°It is disgusting, but I can use it to my advantage.¡±

    ¡°How?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll make that crazy bastard love me to death,¡± Nero said casually, then he changed the topic as if he just didn¡¯t say something crazy. ¡°And oh, I quit as the Crown Prince and as your son, Father.¡±

    Niki¡¯s eyes went wide. ¡°What the hell are you saying, Nero de Moonasterio?!¡±

    ***

    [EXTRA]

    [Meanwhile, somwhere in the sky...]

    ¡°IT¡¯S so hard to choose a dress when everything looks fucking good on me,¡± Neomained while looking at the pretty dresses sprawled on the bed. There she was, standing in the middle of the room in a sheer white dress (an undergarment) while frowning. ¡°Why do I have to be so fucking pretty?¡±

    She paused, then she shook her head.

    ¡°Ah, I take it back. I like being pretty,¡± she said, then she put a hand over her chest. ¡°To my parents¡¯ pretty genes that gave me this face, skin, and body, I¡¯m sorry forining.¡±

    After that, she spent another hour deciding what to wear.

    Just another, ordinary day for our pretty (vain) Neoma.

    ***

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 Chapter 502

    Chapter 502: FOR THE THRONE

    ¡°CALM DOWN, Father.¡±

    ¡°How can I calm down?¡± Niki snapped at Nero. ¡°Are you acting up because Neoma isn¡¯t here?¡±

    On his way home earlier, William had suddenly appeared in his carriage to inform him that Mona decided to send Neoma to the ¡°secret base¡± that Neoma¡¯s ¡°children¡± had built for her. After saying that, the Grand Spirit left without offering a longer exnation.

    It was the reason why he was eager to meet Mona.

    But he knew Nero wouldn¡¯t ¡°summon¡± him without a proper reason, so he went to see his son first.

    [Only to hear this nonsense?!]

    ¡°Father, why are you getting mad?¡±

    .....

    ¡°Give me a reason not to be mad, Nero de Moonasterio,¡± he said, then he closed his eyes while pinching the bridge of his nose. He thought Nero was more mature than Neoma. But why was his son giving him a bigger headache than his daughter now? ¡°If you give up your right to the throne, you¡¯ll just give the crows what they want.¡±

    ¡°What do the crows want, Father?¡±

    He opened his eyes, then raised his head to answer his son¡¯s question. ¡°The crows want to get rid of the female de Moonasterios and put a male heir to the throne.¡±

    ¡°Exactly,¡± his son said casually. ¡°That¡¯s why they won¡¯t allow me to leave the pce.¡±

    ¡°If they need you, they wouldn¡¯t have created Calyx Dalton.¡±

    ¡°Calyx Dalton is just a ceholder they created in order to threaten us.¡±

    ¡°What makes you say so?¡±

    ¡°Because Calyx Dalton is nothing but a poor version of a de Moonasterio,¡± his son said, smirking. ¡°He doesn¡¯t even have a Soul Beast.¡±

    ¡°I confirmed that Calyx Dalton doesn¡¯t have a Soul Beast while watching his fight with Neoma. If he had one, he would have already summoned it,¡± he said. ¡°But how did you know that he doesn¡¯t have a Soul Beast?¡±

    ¡°If you want to prove that you¡¯re a de Moonasterio, the first thing you¡¯ll show off is your Soul Beast,¡± Nero said. ¡°After all, you can change your hair and eye color with magic. But you can never fake your Soul Beast since evenmon people know what a Soul Beast looks like.¡±

    A mix of pure white and blue glow that couldn¡¯t be imitated surrounded soul Beasts.

    Moreover, even themon people knew the difference between a Soul Beast and an Elemental Guardian- thanks to the unique glow of the Soul Beasts.

    ¡°Calyx Dalton, in order to manipte the public, used a cheap trick,¡± his son said, smirking. ¡°He hid his true appearance, at first. Then he unveiled his de Moonasterion physical traits during a thrilling match, where he also summoned the White Lion- which is the symbol of the Royal Family. And, for the finale, he revealed that his mother is a woman who looks exactly like Empress Juliet. He exposed everything all at once to shock the public.¡±

    Ah, everything that his son said made sense.

    ¡°I hate to say this, but it was an effective way to stop the public from thinking deeply,¡± Nero continued exining. ¡°After the public saw Calyx Dalton¡¯s de Moonasterion traits and the woman who looks exactly like the supposedly dead Empress Juliet im to be his mother, then the fact that Calyx Dalton is the emperor¡¯s son with the former empress has already been established in their minds.¡±

    He nodded, agreeing with his son. ¡°Calyx Dalton¡¯s eyes even turned red during the match. The things that he prepared to prove that he¡¯s a de Moonasterio are enough to make people forget that he doesn¡¯t have a Soul Beast. Some may question it, but I¡¯m pretty sure that the general public already believes that Calyx is my son with Juliet.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, Father,¡± Nero said. ¡°And that¡¯s how I ended up with the conclusion that Calyx Dalton doesn¡¯t have a Soul Beast. I don¡¯t know what kind of trick they¡¯d pull to exin to the public why he doesn¡¯t have a Soul Beast, but I¡¯m pretty sure that they¡¯ll pull it off.¡±

    ¡°By using Juliet, am I right?¡±

    His son nodded. ¡°The beloved empress who met her untimely demise suddenly returned with a son- a son who¡¯s qualified to dethrone the current Crown Prince that most nobles refuse to ept because of his Roseheart Blood. I¡¯m sure that the nobles who support Empress Juliet will beginunching propaganda to bury the fact that Calyx Dalton doesn¡¯t have a Soul Beast just for him to be recognized as a royal prince.¡±

    ¡°You said it yourself, Nero,¡± he said while giving his son a confused look. ¡°The crows went through all those troubles just for Calyx Dalton to be recognized as a royal prince. And yet, despite knowing that, you still wish to ¡°quit¡± as a Crown Prince? Why would they bother to put Calyx Dalton in the pce if they think you¡¯re already enough?¡±

    ¡°Calyx Dalton only exists as coteral for the crows in case I turn out to be a ¡°failure¡± because of my Roseheart Blood,¡± Nero said confidently. ¡°But they love me- and I¡¯ll make sure that they continue to do so.¡±

    ¡°Nero, I don¡¯t understand.¡±

    ¡°Father, it¡¯s simple,¡± his son insisted. ¡°The de Lucas are powerful enough to survive alongside the de Moonasterios all this time. They even raised most of the previous emperors while killing off all the de Moonasterion princesses in the past. But if they like the empire that much, why didn¡¯t they take the throne for themselves? The de Lucas have the blood of a god, too. But why did they remain in the shadows while letting the de Moonaseterios shine as the empire¡¯s Moon?¡± He smirked as if he was amused by the answer that he came up with. ¡°It¡¯s not that they don¡¯t want to- but they can¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°They can¡¯t?¡±

    ¡°Only the de Moonasterios are meant for the throne, and the throne is only meant for the de Moonasterios,¡± Nero said seriously while drumming his fingers on the throne¡¯s armrest. ¡°It must be the rule of this world, but for what reason that particr rule exists, I do not know yet. However, I have a feeling that owning at least one Soul Beast is a requirement. Otherwise, they would have already exposed Calyx Dalton¡¯s existence to the world instead of waiting for me to grow up to see if I deserve to be the future emperor or not.¡±

    ¡°Nero.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Father?¡±

    ¡°I would like to officially recruit you to be my personal strategist.¡±

    ¡°I refuse, Father,¡± Nero said without missing a beat. ¡°I already made a resolve to only work for Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Tsk.¡±

    ¡°Father, you must be careful,¡± his son warned him seriously. ¡°I have a feeling that you already failed in the crows¡¯ eyes.¡±

    ¡°I failed?¡± he asked, then he sneered. ¡°I don¡¯t remember asking for their approval.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m talking about the reason why the crows choose the emperors who would sit on the throne,¡± Nero said, then he leaned against the thronezily. ¡°And I¡¯m pretty sure that they have a set of requirements for their future emperor.¡±

    ¡°And why did I fail?¡±

    ¡°Because you chose Mother, and the crows hate the Rosehearts,¡± his son said. ¡°The fact that you didn¡¯t give up on Mother after all these years may have made them realize that you wouldn¡¯t listen to them. There must be something that the emperor must do for the crows. Did they approach you in the past, Father?¡±

    ¡°They did,¡± he said while nodding. ¡°They came whining to me about how I should repay them for helping me during the time I started a rebellion to overthrow my father. If I remember it correctly, it looked like they wanted me to do a favor for them.¡±

    ¡°And...?¡±

    ¡°I killed them, of course,¡± he said, smirking. ¡°I never asked them to ¡°help¡± me ascend the throne, so why do I need to repay their ¡°kindness?¡±¡®

    ¡°Did Father kill everyone from the cult that still dared to approach you then?¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡±

    ¡°As expected of Father,¡± Nero said while nodding approvingly. ¡°Anyway, that ¡°favor¡± must be what the crows wanted from the de Moonasterios sitting on the throne.¡±

    ¡°And since they know that I will never do them a favor, I ¡°failed?¡±¡±

    ¡°Yes, Father,¡± his son said. ¡°Now that the crows have determined that I¡¯m the perfect de Moonasterio to put on the throne, they might try to assassinate you now. Not that they could.¡±

    At least, Nero was confident that he could protect himself from the crows.

    ¡°So, Father, I want you to ept my resignation letter,¡± Nero said. ¡°Once my resignation letter is in your hands, they won¡¯t kill you. Instead of getting rid of you, they will negotiate with you to keep me in power.¡±

    ¡°You sound confident,¡± hemented, to which his son only smiled. ¡°But what if the crows use the nobles to force me to reinstate Juliet as the empress? Reinstating Juliet means renewing my marriage with her, too.¡±

    His son smiled mischievously. ¡°I already prepared a solution to that, Father.¡±

    Oh?

    [Nero will really be a good strategist.]

    ¡°Interesting,¡± Niki said, amused by his son¡¯s quick thinking. ¡°I¡¯d like to hear it then.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s only one thing Father needs to do,¡± Nero said, then he smiled ¡°sweetly¡± at him while tilting his head to one side- and that smile reminded him of Neoma¡¯s own ¡°evil¡± smile. ¡°You just have tomit treason for our family, Your Majesty.¡±

    Niki thought that maybe his son just wanted him to die.

    ***

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 Chapter 503

    Chapter 503: FOR THE FAMILY

    MONA WAS relieved to see Niki and Nero enter the bedroom together.

    And now that relief flooded her system, her emotions as a mother finally emerged.

    The aura that she released was strong enough to push Nero down- forcing her son to kneel and bow his head to her. She didn¡¯t want to hurt her Baby Pumpkin since she knew that violence was never the solution. But she couldn¡¯t stop her anger that took the form of her aura.

    ¡°Nero de Moonasterio, who told you that you can leave the pce without my permission?¡± Mona asked coldly. ¡°You know how dangerous the situation was earlier. If you really needed to leave, you should have waited for me. I would have gone with you. Do you know how worried I was when I returned to the bedroom and I didn¡¯t find you there?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Mother,¡± Nero said in a clear yet cold voice. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but from now on, I have to cut you off from my life.¡±

    She was so shocked to hear that from her son that the aura crushing Nero disappeared right away.

    But it was quickly reced by Niki¡¯s heavy aura, so their son remained kneeling.

    .....

    ¡°Nero de Moonasterio, I can overlook your rudeness to me, but I won¡¯t tolerate you talking that way to your mother,¡± Niki said sternly. ¡°What is your problem?¡±

    ¡°I must make the crows believe that I¡¯m the perfect de Moonasterion Crown Prince that they want and need,¡± her son exined. This time, she could tell that Nero was kneeling and bowing voluntarily. ¡°The crows hate Mother for being a Roseheart, so I must act like I don¡¯t care about Mother. That I¡¯m denying my Roseheart Blood, too.¡±

    ¡°Must you really go that far, Nero?¡± Niki asked, frowning. ¡°You¡¯re hurting your mother¡¯s feelings. Do you think gaining the crows¡¯ ¡°approval¡± at the expense of your mother¡¯s feelings is worth it?¡±

    Mona couldn¡¯t refute what Niki was saying.

    Her heart broke when Nero said he was cutting her off of his life. She waited more than ten years to be with her children. So hearing that her son didn¡¯t want to have anything to do with her, even though it was only an act, was devastating.

    ¡°I must do this to protect the family that Neoma treasures,¡± Nero said in a slightly cracked voice. ¡°Only I can do this, so I need to be perfect.¡±

    Ah.

    [Nero¡¯s shoulders are shaking.]

    Niki, who also noticed that Nero¡¯s little frame was trembling, looked shocked.

    Hearing those sad words in Nero¡¯s broken voice broke her heart again. But this time, for an entirely different reason. She felt the weight of the burden on Nero¡¯s little shoulders when he said he must do what he needed to do to protect their family because only he could do it.

    Her babies were only thirteen-year-old kids and yet, both children already carried a burden that not even adults could carry on their own.

    And she couldn¡¯t even lift those burdens for her children.

    After that realization hit her, her hurt feelings suddenly felt trivial.

    [As Nero and Neoma¡¯s mother, I must do everything I can to lighten the burdens they carry. My feelings don¡¯t matter if it¡¯s for my children. If I can¡¯t free them from their duties, then I should at least not get in their way.]

    Mona knelt in front of Nero, then she gently cupped his wet face between her hands. ¡°I understand, Nero,¡± she said softly. ¡°Then please do what you must. Your father and I will do our parts too, in order to lighten your burden. Don¡¯t worry about us, don¡¯t worry about my feelings. Just focus on your goal.¡±

    Nero slowly raised his head to face her properly.

    [Ah, he¡¯s really crying.]

    Big, fat tears rolled down Nero¡¯s cheeks quietly, uncontrobly.

    [It looks like he doesn¡¯t realize that he¡¯s crying, though. His face remains nk even though his tears are falling nonstop.]

    Even so, seeing her son cry caused her to break into tears, too. Why did it have to be her children? What did her family owe to the gods for them to carry the burden of saving the world from the forces that wanted it gone?

    [Nero and Neoma didn¡¯t have the chance to grow up as normal children...]

    ¡°Mother, I said mean things about you behind your back earlier,¡± Nero confessed in a hoarse voice, his tears still wouldn¡¯t stop falling quietly. ¡°And I will continue doing so. I will tell the world that I don¡¯t care about you. I will deny you every chance I have to. I will always have to pretend that I don¡¯t have any attachment to you.¡±

    It still hurt to hear those words from Nero, but not as painful as it did earlier.

    Because now, she could see that cutting her off from his life was just as painful for her poor son. After all, in the end, Nero was still a child- a child that needed his family¡¯s love and support.

    ¡°Mother, I¡¯m used to not having a mother because I grew up without one ¨C both in the first timeline and here,¡± Nero said, his voice trembling along with his small frame. ¡°And unlike Neoma, I didn¡¯t really care when you returned to us. I thought nothing will change since I only need Neoma. That stands true even at this moment. But...¡± He clutched his chest tight. ¡°But why does it hurt here when I told Calyx Dalton that I do not care about you?¡±

    Mona covered her mouth with her hands when she let out a sob.

    [Oh, Nero...]

    Just how much did her son suppress his emotions for him not to realize his own feelings?

    ¡°I¡¯ve only spent a few weeks with Mother, but why does speaking rudely about you hurt me here so much?¡± he said, clutching his chest tighter. ¡°I thought I really don¡¯t care about Mother, but why do I feel upset that I had to ACT that way in front of other people?¡±

    She sobbed harder while wiping the tears off of Nero¡¯s cheeks, but it was useless.

    After all, her son¡¯s eyes already turned into waterfalls.

    ¡°Nero, I don¡¯t want to sound like I¡¯m dictating your feelings...¡± Mona said carefully while wiping off the tears from her face with her hands. ¡°But it sounds like you¡¯ve started caring about me without you knowing.¡±

    Nero looked surprised by what she said, then he let out a hollowugh. ¡°Surprisingly, I¡¯m not a monster.¡±

    Hearing that from her thirteen-year-old son made her upset.

    She didn¡¯t care, even if he had the memories of his past life that made him more mature than children his age. For her, Nero would always be her baby.

    ¡°Nero, don¡¯t say that about yourself,¡± Mona said while shaking her head. ¡°You¡¯re not a monster.¡±

    ¡°But I have to be one,¡± Nero insisted in a whisper. ¡°I have to throw away my useless feelings and my humanity so Neoma wouldn¡¯t have to give up hers.¡±

    She took a deep breath or else she would die from bottling up all the feelings rising in her chest while listening to her son¡¯s painful resolve. ¡°Nero, you also don¡¯t have to sacrifice your feelings and humanity...¡±

    ¡°Mother, your love and care... they don¡¯t feel bad, though. So I guess I already failed with throwing away my feelings,¡± Nero said, then he let out a shallowugh again. ¡°Did it make you cringe?¡±

    She shook her head. ¡°No, tell me more about your feelings, son.¡±

    On a different asion, she would have teased her son for being ¡®sappy.¡¯ But this was the first time he opened up to her, so she took everything he said to her heart.

    And the most painful part?

    [I have a feeling that this also might be thest time Nero would open up his heart to me- or to anyone else, for that matter.]

    ¡°Mother, Father, please don¡¯t hate me,¡± Nero begged them while looking back and forth between her and Niki. ¡°I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m saying this, and I might deny this once I returned to my senses, but please don¡¯t hate me.¡±

    ¡°Of course, we won¡¯t hate you,¡± Mona said, crying hard. Then she hugged Nero tight. ¡°Even if you say the meanest things about me, I won¡¯t hate you. It¡¯s not something that you should beg us for. No matter what you do, we will still love and ept you.¡± She rubbed her son¡¯s back. ¡°You don¡¯t even have to do this in the first ce, baby.¡±

    Niki dropped to his knees to both Mona and Nero. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have to carry this kind of burden- both you and Neoma,¡± he whispered. ¡°I¡¯m sorry that Mona and I aren¡¯t strong enough to protect the two of you from the world.¡±

    ¡°Mother, Father, Neoma and I aren¡¯t carrying this burden for the world,¡± Nero said in a calm voice now, his body finally stopped trembling. However, the emotions in his voice were still strong as he spoke. ¡°We¡¯re doing this for our own sake. I want to protect Neoma, and Neoma wants to protect our family.¡±

    Mona and Niki both held Nero in their arms in silence until their son finally calmed down. She didn¡¯t know how long they were in that position, but she wished it was longer. After all, she knew that once their Baby Pumpkin left the room, he would return to his usual cold persona.

    Just like what she feared, Nero had already returned to his usual emotionless self when he pulled away from their embrace.

    [I wish Nero could act like a child from time to time.]

    ¡°Mother, Father, I have to clear one thing first,¡± Nero said while wiping his tears away with the back of his hand. He had a deadpan look on his face again as if he didn¡¯t sob just a few minutes ago. ¡°Neoma is still my top priority, and she always will be.¡±

    She only smiled- both she and Niki were no longer surprised.

    [Nero won¡¯t be Nero if he doesn¡¯t put Neoma at the top of his priority.]

    And they couldn¡¯t me their son for it.

    [Niki neglected Nero and Neoma before, so Neoma practically raised Nero. The fact that I abandoned Nero to cross over to the other world with Neoma doesn¡¯t make me a better parent, though. So, Niki and I understood why Nero is this attached to Neoma.]

    ¡°But even if Neoma is my top priority, it doesn¡¯t mean Mother and Father aren¡¯t on the list.¡±

    Mona smiled warmly.

    [That¡¯s a roundabout way to say that you like us, Nero.]

    Although Nero had a poker face and his voice sounded indifferent, the little blush on his cheeks (plus the redness in his ears) let them know that he was actually feeling shy. He must be acting that way in order to hide his embarrassment.

    ¡°And I asked you not to hate me because I don¡¯t want Neoma to hate me, too,¡± Nero said. This time, his entire face turned red. Even his neck. Moreover, he couldn¡¯t even look them in the eye because he was probably embarrassed. ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong.¡±

    This time, Mona had to bite her lower lip to stop herself from grinning.

    Because of Nero acting awkwardly to hide his embarrassment, the heavy ambiance earlier suddenly became light. Even Niki whose face was full of guilt a few moments ago, had lightened up already.

    ¡°Moreover, I apologized in advance because I don¡¯t want to look like a person with no conscience to Neoma,¡± Nero continued with his awkward and defensive exnation. ¡°Since I¡¯m Neoma¡¯s older brother, I thought I should act like a decent person. At least, within our family.¡±

    Wow.

    Mona didn¡¯t know a person could turn so red until she saw her son blushing that hard.

    [Well, Niki and my children are paler than a sheet of paper. So when they turn red, they turn reaaally red.]

    ¡°Nero, it¡¯s alright,¡± Niki said in a light, yful voice. Then he put a hand on their son¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Your Mother and I already know that you¡¯re embarrassed to death.¡±

    Nero red at Niki who just grinned and raised his hands in surrender.

    Mona smiled while watching Niki and their son¡¯s awkward yet somehow arm interaction.

    [I don¡¯t expect Niki and Nero to have a normal father-and-son rtionship, but this isn¡¯t so bad either.]

    Even Niki¡¯s father-and-daughter rtionship with Neoma was strange because Neoma called him ¡®Papa Boss¡¯ as if she was his employer.

    Wait?

    .....

    Mona¡¯s smile slowly faded when the realization hit her.

    Oh.

    [Is Niki the problem?]

    ¡°I¡¯m going back to my pce to prepare for my next move,¡± Nero said indifferently, then he stood up- still avoiding their gaze. ¡°Have a good rest, Mother and Father.¡±

    ¡°Nero,¡± Mona stopped her son while Niki was helping her stand. ¡°Wait.¡±

    Thankfully, their Baby Pumpkin listened.

    He turned around and faced them (although his eyes were still wandering around) while waiting intently for what she wanted to say.

    [Look at this awkward, cutie Pumpkin.]

    Mona smiled at her son warmly, even though he wasn¡¯t looking at her. ¡°Nero, I love you,¡± she said softly. ¡°Niki and I love you and Neoma so much.¡±

    This time, Niki (who had his arm wrapped around her shoulders) looked awkward, too. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say that he loved their children as well. But then, his face turned red. Then he closed his mouth and fell silent for a moment before he spoke again. ¡°I feel the same as your mother.¡±

    Pfft.

    [Now I know where Nero got his awkwardness from.]

    Come to think of it, Neoma- despite her outspokenness on other matters- was actually wasn¡¯t vocal about her feelings, too. Their Baby Muffin also looked so awkward the time she said that she loved them.

    Their Baby Pumpkin cleared his throat, interrupting her thoughts.

    ¡°I...¡± Nero blushed a deeper shade of red, then he turned his back on them as he bolted out of the room while giving his awkward response. ¡°I don¡¯t hate Mother, and I hate Father less now.¡±

    And just like that, their Baby Pumpkin ran away.

    Mona and Niki turned to each other, then they smiled at each other.

    But those smiles onlysted for a few seconds. After that, she had to bear the bad news to Niki- the news about Kyle Sprouse¡¯s betrayal.

    ***

    Nero, who had just arrived in his bedroom, rolled his eyes at Neoma¡¯s teasing.

    He could hear his twin sister¡¯s voice from the stud earring in his right ear. The other pair was in Neoma¡¯s possession, of course. Obviously, the earrings were their exclusivemunication device.

    And yes, theirmunication device was activated while he was talking to their parents. He did that on purpose because he thought it was faster than him exining his n to her.

    ¡°I¡¯m still alive,¡± Nero said, then he plopped down on the bed. ¡°Barely.¡±

    ¡°Shut up, Muffin.¡±

    He was rewarded by his twin sister¡¯s preciousugh.

    Ah, now he missed her even more.

    Their father already exined that Neoma would stay on the secret base that her ¡°children¡± had built for her. Although he knew that it was for the best, he still missed his twin sister.

    Neoma said softly.

    He closed his eyes, savoring the gentle sound of Neoma¡¯s caring voice.

    ¡°If you feel sorry for me, then hurry ande home,¡± he said, whining a little. He was allowed to do at least that, right? ¡°You¡¯re still the royal princess of the empire, Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, leave that to me,¡± he said, then he opened his eyes. ¡°A rip-off version like Calyx Dalton can¡¯t win against the originals like us, anyway.¡±

    He just chuckled.

    Neoma praised him genuinely.

    He couldn¡¯t give Neoma a proper answer. After all, there was a reason why he allowed himself to crumble and be vulnerable in front of their parents earlier. His twin sister wouldn¡¯t like his reason, so he just kept quiet.

    [This will be thest time I¡¯ll cry,] Nero promised himself. [Tomorrow, I¡¯ll be the perfect Crown Prince.]

    ***

    [¡°NEOMA, what would you do if you need to be cruel to our parents? Will you keep it a secret from them to make your act look natural? Or will you confess it to them in advance so they wouldn¡¯t get hurt by your actions?¡±]

    [¡°Of course, I¡¯ll choose thetter. Misunderstandings like that would only tear our family apart. If you have to break our family apart for your mission, then abort it as early as now. Trust me, Nero- it¡¯s not worth it.¡±]

    Neoma was wondering why Nero asked her that question earlier through amunication device- a device with a connecting line exclusive to the two of them.

    She finally got her answer while listening to Nero¡¯s conversation with their parents.

    Yes, Nero called her, but he didn¡¯t hang up. It was clear that he wanted her to listen to the conversation because it would be faster than him exining his n to her. And it worked. She understood everything well by listening silently.

    [I seriously didn¡¯t expect Nero to cry.]

    So, here she was now.

    Lying down on the sunlounger (minus the umbre), crying her eyes out in silence while staring at the starry night.

    She actually felt guilty because she thought Nero wasn¡¯t capable of such emotions.

    When Nero said that, her conscience pricked her heart.

    [I created this image of Nero in my head as someone cold and detached. But I forgot that even though he has some memories of his first life, he¡¯s still a child. Moreover, Papa Boss has changed and Mama Boss has been kind to us since the day she returned to our lives. What made me think that Nero wouldn¡¯t get attached to our parents?]

    Perhaps it was her arrogance.

    She believed that she was the only person that Nero was capable of loving.

    Hearing his heartfelt conversation with their parents was a humbling experience.

    [Come to think of it, I should have expected that Nero was more prone to breaking down than me. He¡¯s the one who feels strong emotions like an obsession, after all. But it¡¯s not a bad thing. I¡¯d actually love it more if he bes more expressive.]

    After all, she didn¡¯t want Nero to end up like the emotionless psychopath that he was in the first timeline.

    [Still, hearing my baby brother cry like that...]

    ¡°As expected, I can¡¯t retire yet. I have to get back to work and help Nero win the political power struggle in the pce. As his noona, I have to support him,¡± Neoma whispered to herself, then she stood up and looked at the starry night sky while raising her fists. ¡°Bring it on, world! I¡¯m Neoma- I¡¯m always ready!¡±

    She gasped aloud when an unfamiliar female voice entered her mind abruptly.

    Then she stumbled to the floor and fell on her butt while covering her ears with her hands. And it hurt because the tiled floor on the poolside was solid.

    [Who the fuck?]

    Why the hell was her mind so easy to infiltrate, anyway?

    the female voice speaking in her mind said.

    The Cosmic Tree?

    Neoma knitted her eyebrows. ¡°Mama Boss¡¯s ¡®Mother Tree?''¡±

    ***

    NOTE: Sorry, I failed the WIN-WIN after the promise I made. There was an emergency. It¡¯s kinda embarrassing, though. Haha!

    Actually, I saw my ie for Royal Secret this month. I panicked because it was the lowest that I¡¯ve ever received ever since I began writing RS. As you know, I gave up my day job in order to continue writing here. But the ie I received this month isn¡¯t sustainable (my mother is sick, and the meds are expensive). Plus, my brother is about to graduate so there¡¯s an additional bill to pay for.

    So, I ended up picking up a project again. Since I picked up a project with such short notice, I also had to finish it as quickly as I could. Thus, I¡¯ve been busy these days. (The updates for my other on-going stories were already written weeks ago).

    I¡¯m really sorry for failing WIN-WIN this month, and for not being able to update these past few days.

    I need to work to survive. But I¡¯d really like to be able to finish my stories here, so please support me by unlocking the chapters if you can. Thank you. Hehe.

    Once I finish my project, I will post more.

    Let¡¯s hope that my situation gets better next month. I¡¯ll try my best to fulfill my promise of two updates daily for August.

    Thank you for waiting.

 Chapter 504

    Chapter 504: [BONUS CHAPTER] BASIC CURSING 10

    ¡°NERO, repeat after me,¡± Neoma, who was sittingzily on the sofa with her feet on the table, said. ¡°¡®You fucking piece of shit.''¡±

    Nero, who was sitting like the proper prince he was on the ent chair across from her while having tea, repeated her crude words without batting an eysh. ¡°¡®You fucking piece of shit.''¡±

    ¡°Aish,¡± sheined, irritated at how her twin brother could sound so elegant while cursing. Was it his pose? His dignified look? The majestic aura around him? ¡°That won¡¯t do, Nero. Scumbags won¡¯t take you seriously if you curse like you¡¯re singing a luby. You should sound tough. And move your mouth more to make your pronunciation clearer.¡±

    He tilted his head to one side. ¡°Am I doing it wrong?¡±

    ¡°If people hear you curse elegantly like that, they¡¯ll say ¡®thank you¡¯ instead of shaking in fear.¡±

    He just smiled before he sipped his tea. ¡°Is it that bad?¡±

    ¡°You look like the type of person who¡¯d use ¡®Shakespearean cursing.''¡±

    .....

    ¡°What is that?¡±

    ¡°Curses that Shakespeare, a prominent writer in the other world, used in his ys,¡± she exined. ¡°Shakespeare used insults like: ¡®gues upon you!¡¯, ¡®you peasant swain!¡¯, ¡®cut the viins¡¯ throats!¡¯, ¡®you froward and unable worms!,¡¯ ¡®though lump of form deformity!''¡±

    ¡°Ohh,¡± Nero said, impressed. ¡°Thest one¡¯s good.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but my personal favorite is his ¡®away, you three-inch fool!''¡±

    Nero chuckled while shaking his head. ¡°Is that type of cursing not good enough?¡±

    ¡°Well, I admit that they¡¯re good. I use that kind of insults too when I want to be eloquent,¡± she admitted. ¡°But at the end of the day, I still prefer using simple swear words like ¡®fuck¡¯ and ¡®shit,¡¯ then smashing them together toe up with more creative curse words.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I see.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll teach your stronger curse words, so repeat after me properly this time,¡± she said, then she cleared her throat before she cursed again. ¡°¡®You ain¡¯t shit, fuckface.¡±

    Nero put the teacup on the table and repeated after her. ¡°¡®You ain¡¯t shit, fuckface.''¡±

    She wasn¡¯t satisfied yet because Nero still sounded like he was reading a fairytale book to small children instead of cursing. But at least, he moved his mouth more dramatically this time. ¡°That¡¯s better, but you can improve more,¡± she said. ¡°¡®Don¡¯t fuckinge at me if you don¡¯t want to get shitfaced, you little piece of shithead.''¡± She nodded her head towards her twin brother. ¡°Say it.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± Nero said, then he cleared his throat before he repeated after it. ¡°¡®Don¡¯t fuckinge at me if you don¡¯t want to get shitfaced, you little piece of shithead.''¡±

    Wow.

    Her twin brother sounded stern and more rude this time. There was still a hint of elegance in the way he cursed, but it seemed like it was something impossible to get it out of his system.

    ¡°Good,¡± she said, then she crossed her arms over her chest. ¡°Now, I¡¯ll teach you my most used curse words. Repeat after me: fuck.¡±

    ¡°¡®Fuck.''¡±

    ¡°Scumbag.¡±

    ¡°¡®Scumbag.''¡±

    ¡°Shit.¡±

    ¡°¡®Shit.''¡±

    She clicked her tongue to sound tougher. ¡°You crazy bastard.¡±

    Nero also clicked his tongue, and he even smirked before he cursed. ¡°You crazy bastard.¡±

    ¡°Ohh! I got goosebumps!¡± she said, impressed. Then she hugged herself while rubbing her arms. ¡°Nero, you totally sounded and looked like a total asshole. Good for you, good for you. I knew you can do it if you just put your mind into it.¡±

    He just smiled as if he was satisfied.

    She was also satisfied, so she ended their lesson then.

    ¡°Nero, once you feel like your Lunacy is seeping through your consciousness again, stop it by cursing,¡± she said carefully. ¡°Our Lunacy pushes us to lose our mind and act violent. But I don¡¯t want you to go on a killing spree again. I know I don¡¯t have the right to say this because during my Lunacy, I was just as violent as you.¡±

    She hadn¡¯t forgotten that she had killed many people during that time.

    Whether those bastards deserved it or not, it wouldn¡¯t change the fact that shemitted an act of violence.

    ¡°I believe that cursing is also a form of violence, and it¡¯s better than taking lives of other people,¡± she continued giving her twin brother a piece of advice. ¡°So, if you feel like losing your mind, close your eyes and cover your ears with your hands. Then curse as loud as you can. Understand?¡±

    ¡°Alright, I understand,¡± Nero said, smiling at her. ¡°I¡¯ll practice swearing out loud to perfect my pronunciation.¡±

    ¡°Very well,¡± Neoma said, relieved to know that her twin brother still listened to her. Plus, knowing Nero, she knew that he would know when it was appropriate to curse or not. Satisfied with that thought, she gave him a thumbs up to encourage him. ¡°Nero, you¡¯re not me- so only curse when you absolutely have to.¡±

    ***

    ¡°FUCK.¡±

    Niki almost choked on his tea when he heard Nero curse under his breath. He looked up to see his son sitting on the couch across from him while reading a document in his hand. [Did I mishear it? This is Nero, not Neoma, right?]

    Right now, he and Nero were in his office.

    Since Neoma was busy training with William and Delwyn for her uing match, Nero had taken over her royal duties. His son would soon reim his spot as the Crown Prince anyway, so he thought this was the right time for Neoma to pass down her duties to her twin brother.

    Moreover, he thought that keeping Nero busy would prevent him from slipping into his Lunacy state again.

    ¡°Scumbag.¡±

    He was shocked when he heard Nero curse again.

    [I didn¡¯t mishear it- he really cussed out!]

    Nero clicked his tongue while shaking his head. ¡°Crazy bastard.¡±

    ¡°Nero, who are you cursing?¡± Niki asked with furrowed brows when he couldn¡¯t contain his curiosity anymore. ¡°And who taught you to curse anyway?¡±

    [Could it be...?]

    Nero raised his head to meet his gaze, then he beamed. ¡°Neoma.¡±

    ¡°I knew it,¡± Niki said, then he pinched the bridge of his nose. ¡°Nero, don¡¯t let Mona hear you curse- your mother thinks you¡¯re the more innocent twin.¡±

 Chapter 505

    Chapter 505: KYLE SPROUSE

    IT ALL started when Kyle received THAT item.

    A note addressed to him was attached to it.

    He knew that he should report it to His Majesty, but he didn¡¯t. Instead of doing that, he secretly snuck out of the pce to meet the person who sent that item to him. He didn¡¯t bring anyone with him, and he didn¡¯t even tell his people that he would be going out.

    It was risky, but he ignored all his warning bells.

    The meeting ce was, surprisingly, the Moon Arch Arena in the Royal Moon Academy.

    Since the sses hadn¡¯t begun yet, the arena was empty. Perhaps it was the reason why the security wasx. He was able to enter the academy smoothly without being detected.

    That, or maybe the person who got there first already took care of the security team.

    .....

    ¡°I heard you were loyal to the emperor, so I didn¡¯t expect you to show up here, Count Kyle Sprouse.¡±

    ¡°I am loyal to the throne and the Royal Family, that¡¯s why I¡¯m here,¡± Kyle said through gritted teeth, then he pulled out the item that he had carefully put in the inner pocket of his jacket. ¡°How did you get your hands on Empress Juliet¡¯s Blood Moon Ring?!¡±

    The Blood Moon Ring was a beautiful, fancy, and precious red diamond ring.

    It was the ring that symbolized Empress Juliet as the ¡®Mother of the Empire.¡¯ When Empress Juliet met her untimely demise, they buried the Blood Moon Ring with her. It disappeared along with her stolen corpse from the Royal Shrine.

    Thus, he was shocked when he received the Blood Moon Ring.

    [This ring is the one and only Blood Moon Ring in the entire world. You can copy the ring¡¯s design, but not the precious energies instilled in the red diamond. It has Empress Juliet¡¯s unique Mana, Emperor Niki¡¯s Moonglow, and the divine power that the former Saint Dominic Zavaroni bestowed the ring with when he blessed the Royal Wedding.]

    That was why he could tell that the Blood Moon Ring he had received was authentic.

    ¡°It was you, right?¡± he asked, angry. ¡°You were the one who stole Empress Juliet¡¯s remains from her resting ce!¡±

    ¡°We didn¡¯t steal Empress Juliet¡¯s ¡®remains,''¡± Calyx Dalton, the student who shocked the entire continent because of his uncanny resemnce to the emperor and the Crown Prince, said while looking up at the sky peaking between the slightly opened roof of the arena. ¡°There were no ¡®remains¡¯ in the first ce, Count Sprouse.¡±

    To say that he was shocked would be an understatement. ¡°You... are you saying that...¡±

    He wouldn¡¯t dare say the thing on his mind.

    It was impossible, after all.

    He didn¡¯t want to have false hopes.

    It took him many years before he had finally epted the fact that Empress Juliet was already gone. If he believed Calyx Dalton, an enemy who was obviously trying to manipte him emotionally, then it turned out that he was only fooling him, then he might die from getting broken-hearted all over again.

    ¡°You can¡¯t deceive me,¡± he said while shaking his head hard. ¡°Empress Juliet is long gone. Even a Necromancer couldn¡¯t revive her since she was a member of the Royal Family.¡±

    After all, ity members of the Royal Family who passed away to rest in the Royal Shrine in order to prevent their remains from being defiled.

    The holy power in the Royal Shrine would prevent the power of a Necromancer to reanimate the Royal Family members¡¯ remains. Once a Royal Family member was buried to the Royal Shrine, they were gone forever.

    ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± Calyx Dalton agreed while nodding. ¡°In the past, a Necromancer tried to revive the dead emperors in order to invade the empire. Thus, ever since then, the Royal Family created the Royal Shrine to prevent that incident from happening again.¡±

    ¡°If you know that, then why-¡±

    ¡°Who said that Empress Juliet is dead, though?¡± Calyx Dalton asked, then he tilted his head to one side. ¡°The emperor? And you believed him?¡±

    He was frozen when the realization hit him.

    ording to His Majesty, Empress Juliet died while he, along with Lady Mona Roseheart, was trying to free the Soul Beasts.

    [No, His Majesty couldn¡¯t have deceived us.]

    He saw Empress Juliet¡¯s remains.

    He was there when the empress was buried.

    ¡°I guess you will only believe me once I saw you a solid proof that you cannot refute,¡± Calyx Dalton said, then he pointed to himself. ¡°I am the proof, Count Sprouse.¡±

    He knitted his eyebrows.

    Just when he was about to ask what the boy meant by that, he was forced to shut up when Calyx Dalton was suddenly engulfed with a bluish light.

    Huh?

    [Isn¡¯t that divine power...]

    He was stunned once again when Calyx Dalton¡¯s appearance changed.

    White hair.

    Ash-gray eyes.

    Pale skin.

    ¡°A de Moonasterio,¡± he said in disbelief. ¡°You¡¯re a de Moonasterio?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not just a de Moonasterio, Count Sprouse,¡± Calyx Dalton said, smiling. ¡°I am the son of Empress Juliet and Emperor Niki.¡±

    He was too shocked to react.

    ¡°Empress Juliet, my mother, was pregnant with me when she ¡®died,''¡± Calyx Dalton said, his ash-gray eyes slowly turned glowing red. ¡°But my mother didn¡¯t want to get in the way of Emperor Niki and his lover, Mona Roseheart, so she faked her death and ran away.¡±

    ¡°How...¡±

    He was about to ask how the emperor got the empress pregnant when the two didn¡¯t even share a bedroom.

    But it wasn¡¯t like he knew everything that was happening behind closed doors.

    Even so...

    ¡°Empress Juliet faked her death?¡± he asked, shaking his head. ¡°I find it hard to believe.¡±

    If the empress truly faked her death, howe His Majesty didn¡¯t notice it?

    [Is it because His Majesty is actually relieved by the empress¡¯s death?]

    Somehow, he didn¡¯t find it hard to believe.

    [After all, His Majesty only cared about Lady Roseheart.]

    At that thought, anger rose in his chest- anger for Lady Roseheart who ruined the perfect Royal Family that he had loved and respected.

    ¡°I can¡¯t tell you everything because I wasn¡¯t born when it happened,¡± Calyx Dalton said. ¡°But my mother will exin everything to you once she returns.¡±

    His eyes went wide. ¡°Empress Juliet ising back?¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± the boy said, smiling. ¡°After all, her one and only son wouldpete in the final match of the prestigious Royal Moon Academy¡¯s entrance exam.¡±

    Ah, that was right.

    The final match...

    [Calyx Dalton will fight against Prince Nero- no, Princess Neoma.]

    ¡°So, Count Sprouse, help me,¡± Calyx Dalton said. ¡°Help me by telling me everything you know about Prince Nero...¡± He trailed off, then he shook his head. ¡°No. Tell me everything about the royal princess.¡±

    He was surprised to hear that. ¡°You already know...?¡±

    ¡°That the ¡®Crown Prince¡¯ is actually the royal princess?¡± the boy asked, then he smiled and nodded. ¡°Yes, Count Sprouse. We already know that.¡±

    ¡°By ¡®we,¡¯ do you mean the crows?¡±

    Calyx Dalton, when he appeared during the entrance exam, didn¡¯t bother to hide that he was affiliated with the crows.

    ¡°Count Sprouse, do you hate the crows?¡± Calyx Dalton asked. ¡°Do you know why our cult survived this long? It¡¯s because we¡¯re not really hated by the de Moonasterios. Only a few, like Emperor Niki, hate our existence. But most of the de Moonasterios actually worked with the crows- even the current emperor¡¯s father.¡±

    The boy was correct.

    Generally, the de Moonasterios didn¡¯t really hate the crows. Even the previous emperor, Emperor Niki¡¯s father, had openly received support from the cult. That was why there were nobles who didn¡¯t hide their support for the crows.

    It only changed when Emperor Niki sat on the throne.

    His Majesty had ended the crows of that time.

    [We thought the crows already perished, so we were surprised when they showed up a few years ago.]

    ¡°Count Sprouse, I heard that your father was a follower of the cult when he was alive.¡±

    He flinched.

    It was true.

    His father was a follower of the cult in the past. It was one of the reasons why his father died. Their whole n was supposed to be punished, but Emperor Niki spared him because of their friendship.

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing wrong with our existence, Count.¡±

    ¡°You kill every de Moonasterion princess born in history.¡±

    The boy shrugged. ¡°Do you care about the de Moonasterion princesses?¡±

    .....

    He couldn¡¯t open his mouth.

    To be honest, he never really cared about the de Moonasterion princesses. The princesses were only supposed to be sold off to wealthy and influential families. And the de Moonasterion princesses would never get a chance to give birth to a prince anyway since the crows would kill them before they reached adulthood.

    Of course, he felt bad for the royal princesses.

    But, if he¡¯d be honest, then he¡¯d say that the empire only needed the de Moonasterion princes born from the emperor¡¯s bloodline.

    ¡°Count Sprouse, the crows get rid of the de Moonasterion princesses so they wouldn¡¯t get a chance to give birth to a prince. Thew doesn¡¯t allow a female de Moonasterio to inherit the throne, but if a princess gives birth to a prince, then her son couldpete with the throne,¡± Calyx Dalton said, then he put a hand over his chest. ¡°The Crown Prince must be the son of the emperor, so the crows get rid of the female de Moonasterios before they be a problem.¡±

    He hated to admit this, but he understood the crows¡¯ intention.

    [The perfect heir could only be produced by the emperor and his perfect empress.]

    He was raised by Emperor Niki¡¯s side, so he knew very well that His Majesty was the best de Moonasterio to ever sit on the throne. Moreover, Emperor Niki married Lady Juliet Sloane- the only woman on the entire continent who deserved to be the empress and the mother of the Crown Prince.

    However, Empress Juliet passed away early.

    But even if she didn¡¯t, he doubted if Empress Juliet would give birth to a son because Emperor Niki only loved Lady Mona Roseheart all his life.

    In Kyle¡¯s eyes, Emperor Niki and Empress Juliet were the perfect Royal Couple. He wished they could have be the perfect Royal Family by producing an heir. But he had given up on that dream because of Lady Mona¡¯s Roseheart.

    But when he thought his dream had already failed, Calyx Dalton appeared in front of him and imed to be Empress Juliet¡¯s son.

    The fire in his chest that he thought had already died had been ignited once again.

    [The perfect Royal Family... it¡¯s not toote to create them.]

    Once Empress Juliet returned with Calyx Dalton, then his dream to witness a perfect Royal Family in his time would finallye true.

    [I still don¡¯t understand how Empress Juliet gave birth to Emperor Niki¡¯s son, and I haven¡¯t confirmed yet if Calyx Dalton is truly His Majesty¡¯s son. But Calyx Dalton said that Empress Juliet will being back. The fact that the boy has the Blood Moon Ring makes me believe that Empress Juliet is indeed with the crows.]

    ¡°Ah, I forgot one more thing to give you, Count Sprouse,¡± Calyx Dalton said as he approached him, then he grabbed his wrist and put something in his hand. ¡°My mother, Empress Juliet, kept this thing as if it was the most important thing in her life.¡±

    He slowly opened his eyes to look at the item that the boy had put in his hand.

    His knees almost buckled.

    ¡°This...¡± he said, a lump forming in his throat.

    He gently grasped the emerald ne in his hand. It was the emerald ne that he gave as a present to Empress Juliet before her coronation. He designed the ne himself, so he knew instantly that it was the genuine one.

    [I chose emerald because it¡¯s the color of Empress Juliet¡¯s eyes.]

    Empress Juliet seemed to have liked his gift a lot because she would often wear it. And thus, the emerald ne was also buried with her.

    He raised the ne while he closed his eyes, then he kissed the emerald.

    [Empress Juliet, you must really be alive.]

    He opened his eyes, then he met Calyx Dalton¡¯s glowing red eyes.

    Why did he even hesitate?

    Empress Juliet was alive, and she gave birth to a son- a de Moonasterio prince with Emperor Niki and Her Majesty¡¯s blood was the one who deserved to inherit the throne and not the current Crown Prince with the Roseheart Blood.

    Would he be betraying the empire if he supported Calyx Dalton?

    [No, since I pledged my loyalty to the throne and the Royal Family. I never pledged my loyalty to the royal twins. Most of the nobles don¡¯t even ept them. The only reason ¡®Prince Nero¡¯ was dered the Crown Prince was because His Majesty pressured Marquis Lennox to support his son. But if Marquis Lennox found out that his beloved granddaughter has a son, then the marquis will surely support Calyx Dalton.]

    Would he be betraying His Majesty if he supported Calyx Dalton?

    [In His Majesty¡¯s eyes, it may look like I betrayed him. But I¡¯m doing this for him. Empress Juliet is the only woman who deserves to be the empress, while Calyx Dalton is the one who deserves to be the Crown Prince.]

    Yes, he could see it now.

    [Emperor Niki, Empress Juliet, and Prince Calyx Dalton- the perfect Royal Family.]

    ¡°Neoma.¡±

    Calyx Dalton raised an eyebrow at him. ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio is the name of the royal princess pretending to be the Crown Prince,¡± he exined. ¡°Prince Nero, the real one, has just recovered from the curse that made him suffer for eight years. But His Royal Highness isn¡¯t well yet, so Princess Neoma had to take the entrance exam for him even though he had already returned.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± the boy said, smiling. ¡°For a princess, Neoma de Moonasterio is pretty strong.¡±

    ¡°She is,¡± he admitted. ¡°She has a Fire Dragon for a Soul Beast, but since she¡¯s pretending as the Crown Prince, she¡¯ll be using an Ice Spirit for the match.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the royal princess¡¯s weakness?¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma has a bad temper,¡± he said, frowning. ¡°If you pissed her off, she¡¯d lose control. But she has a sharp tongue, so she¡¯s good at riling up her enemies, too.¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh.¡±

    ¡°His Majesty cares about Princess Neoma a lot,¡± Kyle added, then she put a hand on Calyx Dalton¡¯s hand. ¡°If you want to win the match and His Majesty over, make sure that you won¡¯t overdo it once you fight the royal princess.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for the wonderful advice, Uncle Kyle,¡± Calyx Dalton said brightly. ¡°I can call you ¡®Uncle,¡¯ can¡¯t I?¡±

    ***

    KYLE was shaking when he returned to the Royal Pce.

    He did it.

    epting Calyx Dalton¡¯s hand could be considered treason. But he didn¡¯t regret it. He just did what he had to do for His Majesty¡¯s sake.

    [Empress Juliet and Prince Calyx are the ones who deserve to stay by His Majesty¡¯s side.]

    It was his duty as a citizen of the empire to lead the emperor on the right path.

    ¡°You... where were you?¡±

    Kyle flinched when he heard a voice behind him. When he turned around, he was surprised to see a familiar face that he didn¡¯t expect to see in the pce. ¡°Chef Ruto?¡±

    Chef Ruto knitted his eyebrows.

    [Ah, right. He can¡¯t see faces. And it¡¯s been a while since we¡¯vest seen each other, so he may have forgotten the sound of voice, too.]

    ¡°It¡¯s me- Kyle Sprouse.¡±

    Chef Ruto¡¯s knitted his eyebrows even more. ¡°Did you go outside, Count Sprouse? There¡¯s this strange stench clinging to you.¡±

    He was d that the young chef couldn¡¯t see his face.

    After all, hisment made him nervous.

    ¡°Yes, I was outside,¡± he said, because to create a lie, you must also mix some truth in it. ¡°His Majesty asked me to investigate some people, so I had to visit the information guild in disguise.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    If the chef believed him or not, the young man didn¡¯t let it show.

    ¡°When did youe back, Chef Ruto?¡± he asked, changing the topic. ¡°Are you back for good?¡±

    ¡°No, I only dropped by to cook dinner for Princess Neoma,¡± Ruto said indifferently. ¡°I¡¯m leaving now.¡±

    Kyle slightly bowed to the young man. ¡°Have a safe trip then, Chef Ruto.¡±

    ***

    ¡°YOUR MAJESTY, we received an official letter from the Royal Moon Academy,¡± Kyle informed the emperor. ¡°The date of the final match has been decided.¡±

    ¡°The final match will happen on the first day of sses, won¡¯t it?¡± Emperor Niki asked without even looking up from the documents he was reading. ¡°Am I right?¡±

    As a chancellor, it was his job to check the letters sent to the members of the Royal Family.

    But, of course, there were some letters that he didn¡¯t have permission to read. For example, Lady Hanna Quinzel¡¯s letters for Princess Neoma.

    ¡°You¡¯re right, Your Majesty,¡± he said. ¡°But how did Your Majesty know?¡±

    ¡°It was Ruston Stroganoff who decided the date of the final match.¡±

    He was surprised to hear that.

    [Is that the reason why I saw Chef Ruto here the other day?]

    ¡°May I know why Chef Ruto decided to dy the final match for two weeks?¡± he asked, and thankfully, his voice sounded natural. He was d that his curiosity didn¡¯t show. ¡°It¡¯s too long. The match usually happens right after the Mana-gauging exam.¡±

    ¡°Ruston Stroganoff ns to hunt down Calyx Dalton,¡± Emperor Niki said, then he looked up at him. ¡°He ns to get rid of the young crow for Neoma.¡±

    Kyle nodded slowly, but deep inside, he was seething. ¡°I see- Chef Ruto really cares about Princess Neoma.¡±

    [I have to warn Prince Calyx!]

    The day Kyle met Calyx Dalton to warn him about Chef Ruto was also the day he had met a crow called ¡®His Excellency¡¯- which turned out to be Callisto de Luca.

    ***

    ¡°UNCLE KYLE, I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    Kyle knitted his eyebrows when Calyx Dalton, who just woke up after almost getting killed by Chef Ruto, apologized to him as soon as he opened his eyes. ¡°Why are you apologizing?¡±

    A few minutes earlier, Callisto de Luca entrusted Prince Calyx to him.

    He ran away from the ¡°scene¡± with Calyx Dalton while Callisto de Luca and the God of Eternal Darkness fought Chef Ruto together.

    After fleeing, he went straight to the de Luca Mansion.

    Since he wasn¡¯t allowed in the main building, he had no choice but to leave Prince Calyx on the porch. But he already asked for a doctor.

    ¡°You gave us a tip that Ruston Stroganoff is going to hunt me down, so we looked for him first to ambush him...¡± Prince Calyx coughed up blood, but he just wiped it off with the back of his hand. ¡°And yet I still lost to him...¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Prince Calyx. I¡¯m just d that you¡¯re safe,¡± Kyle said, then he covered the child¡¯s eyes with his hand. ¡°Your life is more important than getting rid of Chef Ruto.¡±

    ***

    THERE was a reason why Kyle ¡®allowed¡¯ Emperor Niki to go to the Hazelden Kingdom.

    It was true that he was worried about Glenn, but he also thought that if the emperor left the pce for a short while, he¡¯d get the chance to tinker with the barrier that protected the Royal Pce all this time.

    [I just need to deactivate the barrier for a short while once the time is right.]

    It was the order that he had received from Callisto de Luca.

    The crows¡¯ goal was to reveal that the ¡®Crown Prince¡¯ fighting in the arena was actually Princess Neoma, while the real Prince Nero was stuck in the pce while recovering from his sickness.

    Thus, while Emperor Niki was in the Hazelden King with his so-called ¡®family,¡¯ he spent his time in the throne room tinkering with the barrier until he could control it even without permission from His Majesty.

    Kyle once again justified his actions.

    [This is all for Empress Juliet.]

    ***

    AND THE morning of the final match...

    ¡°Princess Neoma is currently at her weakest,¡± Kyle said, speaking to the Mana stone in his hand. It was amunication device, and his message was being received by Raven- Prince Calyx¡¯s caretaker. ¡°Princess Neoma just got her period, and female de Moonasterios get weak every time they get their period.¡±

    He was free to talk like that because he was alone in the throne room.

    Emperor Niki and Princess Neoma already left the pce to go to the Royal Moon Academy.

    Prince Nero and Lady Mona Roseheart were in His Majesty¡¯s bedroom. But in a while, he was pretty sure that Lady Roseheart woulde out. Unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t leave the throne room because he couldn¡¯t let the barrier stay deactivated for long.

    After all, he didn¡¯t wish for the pce to be attacked by other forces.

    [I just need to let the god that Callisto de Luca would sendter in.]

    Callisto de Luca already warned him that he would be caught, but he wasn¡¯t afraid of it. After all, everything will fall back into the right ce once Empress Juliet returned.

    ¡°I doubt that Princess Neoma could use at the moment because she¡¯s weak, but tell Prince Calyx to be wary of the princess¡¯s attack called ¡®White Hole,¡± he informed Raven. ¡°I saw Princess Neoma use it against the Sun Priestess, and it¡¯s a pretty powerful attack.¡±

    Raven said from the other line.

    Kyle nodded, then he closed his eyes and kissed the Blood Moon Ring on his finger.

    [I¡¯ll do anything and everything to give you back your rightful ce, my beloved Empress Juliet.]

    ***

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 Chapter 506

    Chapter 506: FRIENDS

    NIKOLAI listened to Kyle Sprouse.

    He listened to everything.

    From the moment Kyle said he had received Juliet¡¯s Blood Moon Ring from an anonymous sender, and up to the moment the count deactivated the barrier in the pce to let the God of Recollection in.

    He heard the traitor loud and clear, but he didn¡¯t understand a thing.

    ¡°You did everything for Juliet?¡± Niki asked through gritted teeth, then he grabbed the cell bars separating him from the traitor. ¡°You did everything to create the ¡®perfect¡¯ Royal Family? That¡¯s it? That¡¯s the only reason you betrayed me and sold my children out?!¡±

    To say that he was angry would be an understatement.

    For the first time in a while, his whole body was shaking in anger. His Mana was fluctuating and threatening to explode. But he was holding back because the underground prison where Mona threw Kyle in was below Yule Pce. It was the secret underground cell that the previous emperors would use if they wanted to punish someone personally.

    .....

    Nero was currently in his pce with Mona, so he was holding back from blowing up the entire underground basement.

    ¡°Your Majesty, I¡¯m also doing this for you,¡± Kyle, who was standing emotionlessly in front of him, said in an eerily calm voice. ¡°Your Majesty is the strongest and the most perfect de Moonasterion emperor in history. Your Majesty¡¯s only w was falling in love with the wrong woman.¡±

    He let go of the jail bars in fear of crushing them.

    [This bastard... he¡¯s not even a bit remorseful for what he did!]

    He was in utter disbelief.

    But perhaps he shouldn¡¯t have been surprised.

    ¡°I¡¯ve always known that you never liked Mona,¡± he said. ¡°But I didn¡¯t know that you hated her this much.¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty¡¯s predecessors had said many times that the Roseheart Blood is the blood that would end the de Moonasterion bloodline someday.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t give me that nonsense,¡± he snapped at the count. ¡°My predecessors have just always been afraid of the Rosehearts because they¡¯re one of the few people who could kill the de Moonasterios. They only wanted to get rid of the Rosehearts because of their own cowardice.¡±

    Kyle fell silent for a moment. ¡°That doesn¡¯t mean that Lady Roseheart is the right woman for Your Majesty.¡±

    He closed his eyes tight before his vision turned red. ¡°And who gave you the right to decide whether or not Mona is the right woman for me?¡±

    ¡°How could Your Majesty choose Lady Roseheart when someone as perfect as Empress Juliet exists?¡± the count asked, his voice filled with resentment. ¡°Empress Juliet is beautiful inside and out. She¡¯s well-educated, she came from a prominent family, and most of all, she¡¯s blessed with Mana that¡¯s said to be simr to divine power. Until now, we don¡¯t know what kind of Mana it is, but the former saint confirmed that her Mana is as pure as your divine power. Can¡¯t you see it, Your Majesty? Empress Juliet is born to be the Mother of the Empire!¡±

    ¡°Is that what Juliet wanted?¡±

    When Kyle remained silent, he opened his eyes.

    As expected, the count looked confused as if he had never considered what Juliet wanted for herself because he was too blinded by his own greed.

    ¡°For someone who ims to be loyal to Juliet, you don¡¯t even know what she truly wanted,¡± he said, mocking Kyle¡¯s ¡°loyalty.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know anything, do you?¡±

    ¡°I know what Empress Juliet wanted to be in the past, but it doesn¡¯t suit her,¡± Kyle insisted firmly. ¡°Empress Juliet¡¯s purpose was and will always be to be the Mother of the Empire.¡±

    Hah!

    This was truly futile.

    ¡°You only wanted to see the picture-perfect Royal Family in your head, Kyle,¡± he said coldly. ¡°But even though you know what Juliet truly wanted to be in the past, you still think that you have the right to decide that the life that you pictured for her was the life that she had to live? Are you that blinded by your own greed?¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty is the one who can¡¯t see the right path because you¡¯re blinded by your obsession with Lady Roseheart,¡± Kyle said, visibly confused. ¡°Your Majesty and Empress Juliet have the duty to rule the empire together. Your Majesty and Empress Juliet have the duty to produce apetent heir to the throne. Your Majesty and Empress Juliet were born for those reasons.¡±

    Hah.

    Why was he even trying?

    Talking sense into a person as close-minded as Kyle was a waste of time. The count had already convinced himself into believing the picture-perfect lie that he had created in his head.

    And the crows knew that.

    ¡°Kyle, you know what those crows did to Nichole,¡± he said, his voice filled with resentment. ¡°And yet, you dared to join hands with them?! You saw how my twin sister suffered because of them!¡±

    ¡°What happened to Princess Nichole was truly unfortunate,¡± Kyle said, but his face and voice were both emotionless. ¡°I consider it a blessing in disguise, though. If that didn¡¯t happen to the Princess Royal, then she wouldn¡¯t have given her life force to Your Majesty when you needed it to extend your life when you almost died-¡±

    ¡°Kyle Sprouse!¡±

    The anger in his voice made the ground shake hard.

    Kyle stumbled a bit, but he immediately regained his bnce.

    He wanted to believe that those damned crows had poisoned Kyle¡¯s beliefs, and this was the result of it. But based on what the count had said regarding Nichole, he could tell that Kyle had a corrupted mind all this time.

    [Kyle truly believes that I, along with Juliet and Calyx Dalton, willplete the perfect Royal Family in his head- and he¡¯s already too blinded by that delusion to see anything else.]

    He hated to admit this, but it was already toote for him to knock sense into his friend...

    Friend.

    That word made him smile bitterly.

    He genuinely saw Kyle as a friend, but...

    ¡°Kyle Sprouse, have you never thought of me as your friend?¡± he asked bitterly. ¡°Not even once?¡±

    ¡°How could I think of Your Majesty as my friend?¡± Kyle asked with as much bitterness. ¡°I was raised to be Your Majesty¡¯s aide. And as the empire¡¯s chancellor, it¡¯s my duty to keep Your Majesty in check, and lead you to the right path if you go astray.¡±

    Ah, so that was all he was to Kyle.

    A mere emperor that he needed to keep an eye on- someone who would lead the empire with the ¡°perfect Royal Family.¡±

    [All just toplete the image that he has created in his mind.]

    He couldn¡¯t understand Kyle¡¯s obsession with creating the Royal Family. But even if he asked the count, he was pretty sure that he wouldn¡¯t understand his exnation anyway.

    One thing was clear though: Kyle Sprouse had betrayed him.

    ¡°I guess I was the fool to think that we were friends all this time,¡± he said, clenching his hands, biting his lower lip until he tasted blood in his mouth. ¡°Mona, Juliet, Glenn, Gavin, Rufus, and you. The seven of us practically grew up together. There were others who got close to our circle, but they left one by one. Only the six of you had stayed with me until I ascended the throne.¡±

    But when he became the emperor, he had also lost most of them.

    ¡°Juliet passed away untimely, Gavin betrayed me, I lost Mona, and Rufus and I drifted apart after Gavin¡¯s betrayal,¡± he said. ¡°During that time, only you and Glenn stayed by my side.¡± He smiled bitterly at Kyle. ¡°I was a fool to trust even though you¡¯ve never hidden your hostility towards Mona and my children- especially towards Neoma. I shouldn¡¯t have given you the benefit of doubt. I should have taken your opposition to my family more seriously.¡±

    He thought everything was falling back into ce these past few years.

    After all, he and Rufus had patched up their almost broken rtionship ever since he had asked his cousin to help him hide his children.

    Even though Glenn left his side to be the king of Hazelden, he remained loyal to him.

    Then, recently, Mona had finally returned.

    So why was this happening now?

    He should be happy that Juliet had returned alive, but how could that be possible if she had returned with the crows behind her?

    And now, Kyle had betrayed him for Juliet.

    ¡°Your Majesty doesn¡¯t need friends,¡± Kyle said in a voice void of emotions. ¡°Your Majesty should only care about the Royal Family. Anyone other than the empress and your heir is nothing but a weakness.¡±

    Ah, he couldn¡¯t listen to Kyle and his nonsense anymore.

    ¡°That would be thest ¡°advice¡± I¡¯d hear from you as my aide and as the chancellor, Kyle Sprouse,¡± he said coldly. ¡°From now on, you¡¯re relieved from your position. Your entire family will be summoned and investigated, too.¡±

    The count didn¡¯t react as if he had already expected that.

    ¡°Since you¡¯vemitted treason, you don¡¯t need a trial- you¡¯ll be headed for public execution right away,¡± Niki said, then he turned his back on the traitor. ¡°I wish I could kill you myself, though.¡±

    ***

    ¡°YOUR MAJESTY, the news about Kyle Sprouse¡¯s betrayal has already spread in the empire as you instructed.¡±

    Niki, who was drinking vodka in his office, listened to Geoffrey Kinsley¡¯s report.

    ¡°I¡¯ve also informed Glenn- I mean King Glenn of Hazelden about the count¡¯s betrayal,¡± Geoffrey continued with his report. ¡°The Fletcher Twins are currently on an away mission given by Prince Nero, but I¡¯ve sent them a message regarding that, too.¡±

    Niki nodded, then he took a sip of his vodka because he spoke. ¡°Very well.¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, I believe the crows wille and save Kyle Sprouse,¡± the Pdin said nervously. ¡°Should I take care of him before they get to him?¡±

    ¡°No, let them save Kyle,¡± he said, since he already expected that to happen. [Kyle wouldn¡¯t be as calm as he is right now if the crows did not promise him to be rescued.]

    ¡°Your Majesty, do you still consider Kyle Sprouse as a friend?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not letting him escape because I still see him as a friend,¡± he said firmly. ¡°I¡¯m letting him escape because he couldn¡¯t be publicly executed. Although I told Kyle that he¡¯d be sent to public execution, both him and I knew that it¡¯s not possible.¡±

    ¡°How is not possible when Kyle Sprouse betrayed Your Majesty?¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t tell the public that he sold out Neoma and Nero¡¯s information because the royal secret would be revealed,¡± he said, frustrated. ¡°Moreover, most of the nobles would side with Kyle if he insisted that he betrayed me in order to help Juliet reim her ce as the empress.¡±

    But he knew it wouldn¡¯t end there.

    After all, the crows were involved.

    ¡°Worst of all, the crows are good at influencing the public,¡± he added, then he sighed. ¡°If the people of the empire found out that I¡¯ve punished Kyle Sprouse with public execution for helping Juliet and Calyx Dalton, I will only get criticized. Once that happens, the only thing I could do is to lock up Kyle Sprouse.¡±

    .....

    Geoffrey frowned. ¡°I can¡¯t believe Kyle would get away with betraying Your Majesty this easily.¡±

    He smirked at that. ¡°Geoffrey, do you know why I told Kyle that he¡¯ll get publicly executed even though I know that it¡¯s not possible?¡±

    The Pdin knitted his eyebrows, then he shook his head.

    ¡°It¡¯s because I want the crows to help him escape,¡± he said, smirking. ¡°Kylemitted treason, and before the investigation begins, he escaped. That¡¯s pretty much admitting that he was guilty.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I get it now,¡± Geoffrey said, his eyes went wide a little. ¡°If Kyle Sprouse escaped aftermitting treason...¡± He gulped hard. ¡°Then we gain the right to execute him on the spot once we get a hold of him.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right,¡± Niki said, his eyes were now glowing red. ¡°I¡¯ll let Kyle Sprouse escape now so I could kill him with my own handster.¡±

    ***

    GLENN only realized that he was crying when the letter in his hands became unreadable after getting wet with his tears so much. The content of the letter was written lightly, but the weight that came with it crushed his heart.

    [Kyle Sprouse has betrayed His Majesty, and sold out Princess Neoma and Prince Nero to the crows.]

    He knew that Kyle wasn¡¯t a fan of Lady Roseheart and the royal twins, but he didn¡¯t expect the crow to betray His Majesty that way. Moreover, he couldn¡¯t believe that he had joined hands with the crows, with all people.

    [He knows what happened to Princess Nichole and how that affected His Majesty in the past, and yet, he dared to join hands with them?]

    Glenn understood that Kyle had always been obsessed with Empress Juliet.

    Even so...

    ¡°I can¡¯t forgive you, Kyle Sprouse,¡± Glenn whispered to himself while crumpling the letter in his hands- his tears wouldn¡¯t stop falling yet. Because even though he was mad, he was also hurt because of Kyle¡¯s betrayal. He treated him as a friend despite their differences, but that would end now. ¡°I¡¯ll kill you myself when I see you, you traitor.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 507

    Chapter 507: NEOMA IS A PACIFIST, RIGHT?

    ¡°GOSH, why would you kill Kyle Sprouse? These ahjussis...¡± Neomained while looking at the gloomy faces of her Papa Boss, her Uncle Glenn, and Duke Rufus Quinzel. The three men had been discussing how to kill Kyle Sprouse ever since their ¡°video conference¡± started. ¡°Let¡¯s not resort to violence, gentlemen.¡± She put her hands over her chest. ¡°I, Neoma, am a peace lover, after all.¡¯

    The three ahjussis- er, gentlemen turned to her with a confused look on their faces.

    Her mother also looked confused.

    On the other hand, Nero just smiled as if he already knew what she was thinking about.

    [Twins telepathy, perhaps.]

    But Hanna was also smiling knowingly at her.

    [Oh, my bestie knows me very well, too.]

    .....

    But wait.

    [Why do I feel like Nero and Hanna don¡¯t believe me when I said I¡¯m a peace lover?]

    Anyway...

    Right now, she was in the study of her children¡¯s floating vi. The wall in front of her had turned into a projector. Moreover, the screen was even split into three.

    [It¡¯s so high-tech, but it¡¯s possible thanks to magic and not technology.]

    The upper part of the wall showed her Papa Boss sitting on the end of the sofa, while her Mama Boss was on the other end. Nero (on Papa Boss¡¯s left side) and Hanna (on her Mama Boss¡¯s right side) were sitting between her parents. They seemed to be in the lounge area of her parents¡¯ bedroom (the safest ce in the pce).

    At the bottom of the left side of the wall, Duke Rufus Quinzel could be seen clearly. He was alone, just like Uncle Glenn at the bottom of the right side of the wall.

    ¡°That¡¯s surprising to hear from you, Neoma,¡± her Papa Boss said. ¡°I thought you were the one who¡¯d be more adamant about killing Kyle.¡±

    ¡°Papa Boss, I do not care whether Kyle is alive or not. He is that insignificant to me,¡± she said, then she took a bite of the apple in her hand. ¡°And his betrayal didn¡¯t shock me. I already saw thating since I only sensed bad vibes from him ever since I was a baby. I just wished I took my intuition more seriously.¡±

    In her defense, he didn¡¯t expect Kyle Sprouse to betray her father that way.

    [But ording to Papa Boss, Kyle betrayed him for Empress Juliet. And it seems like Kyle believes that Calyx Dalon is my father¡¯s son with the empress.]

    What an idiot.

    ¡°Then why do you want Kyle Sprouse to live, Princess Neoma?¡± Glenn asked carefully. ¡°Hemitted treason. His life wouldn¡¯t be enough to pay for his sins.¡±

    ¡°Kyle also sold Princess Neoma and Prince Nero out to the crows,¡± Duke Quinzel added. ¡°He didn¡¯t break the Oath of Silence because the crows already know that Princess Neoma is pretending to be Prince Nero. But ording to His Majesty, Kyle shared the fact that Prince Nero is sick. Moreover, Kyle also shared Princess Neoma¡¯s weaknesses with them.¡± Anger crossed the duke¡¯s golden eyes. ¡°That alone is more than enough reason for Kyle to die.¡±

    ¡°But death is an easy route for a traitor like Kyle Sprouse to take,¡± Nero said, smirking. ¡°Isn¡¯t that right, my precious twin sister?¡±

    ¡°Calle me ¡®noona,¡¯ you punk,¡± sheined, but Nero just ignored her. ¡°Anyway, Nero is right. Killing Kyle is too light of a punishment.¡±

    Her Mama Boss let out a nervousugh. ¡°I¡¯m almost afraid to ask what you have in mind as a form of ¡°punishment¡± for Kyle Sprouse, Baby Muffin.¡±

    ¡°Lady Roseheart, don¡¯t worry,¡± Hanna assured Mama Boss gently. ¡°It¡¯s always exciting to watch Neoma have fun like she¡¯s in her natural habitat.¡±

    [Yaaa, Hanna. You make it sound like I¡¯m a wild child.]

    She wanted toin, but everyone nodded in silent agreement with Hanna.

    Tsk.

    Why was everyone treating me like I¡¯m a wild child these days?

    [My dignity has hit rock bottom, huh? I¡¯m supposed to be this cool, badass, and elegant princess, you know? Anyway, let¡¯s move on.]

    ¡°Papa Boss, Uncle Glenn, Duke Quinzel, I know that you were hurt by Kyle¡¯s betrayal because you considered him as a friend,¡± Neoma said carefully. ¡°Papa Boss, Mama Boss, I know that you were the ones who were hurt most by Kyle¡¯s bullshi-¡± She faked a loud cough, pretending that she didn¡¯t almost curse in front of the emperor, the duke, and the king of Hazelden. ¡°By Kyle¡¯s delusion. But killing him, like what my punk of a twin brother said, is an easy way out for him. And I don¡¯t think a traitor like him deserves a painless end after hurting the people precious to me.¡±

    She wasn¡¯t angry that Kyle had betrayed them- she was angry because he had hurt her precious people.

    ¡°That¡¯s why I want to let Kyle live for a very, very long time,¡± Neoma said, smiling- for theck of a better term- sadistically. ¡°Papa Boss, Mama Boss, my dear Nero, we have to let Kyle live in order for him to witness our happy andplete family thrive. Heck, it would be nice if that basta- I mean, that traitor gets to see Mama Boss and Papa Boss have another child.¡±

    Her Mama Boss and Papa Boss blushed, while Nero red at her.

    [LOL. He clearly hates the idea of us having another sibling.]

    Well, she would admit that she had said too much, so she immediately changed the subject.

    She cleared her throat, then she pointed a pretty finger at her pretty face. ¡°Kyle has to see me be the first empress of the Great Moonasterion Empire before he dies.¡±

    This time, the faces of the precious people listening to her lit up.

    ¡°To be honest, I¡¯m not that greedy to be the empress,¡± she said. ¡°But I can ascend the throne out of spite. I¡¯ll even invite Kyle Sprouse to my coronation and give him a VIP seat for him to see me in all my glory. I can be that petty.¡±

    Her Papa Boss nodded. ¡°I can see you doing that.¡±

    ¡°Mama Boss, Papa Boss, Nero, we don¡¯t need anyone¡¯s approval for us to be a family. We also don¡¯t need to be perfect. The fact that we are aplete, happy family is more than enough for me,¡± she said sincerely. ¡°So I don¡¯t really care if Kyle thinks that the ¡°perfect Royal Family¡± includes Papa Boss, Empress Juliet, and Calyx Dalton. That ¡°perfect Royal Family¡± in Kyle¡¯s head can only exist in his imagination, anyway. The reason I want to punish him is for hurting my family- and that includes Uncle Glenn and Duke Quinzel.¡±

    Uncle Glenn and Duke Quinzel looked touched by her warm words.

    She suddenly felt shy. But when she saw Mama Boss and Papa Boss looking at her proudly,

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be nice if we let Kyle Sprouse witness the ¡°perfect Royal Family¡± in his heade to life before we crush his delusion?¡± Nero asked, smiling. His smile was anything but innocent, of course. ¡°Let¡¯s begin by letting Calyx Dalton in the Royal Family.¡±

    ¡°Prince Nero, are you serious about that?¡± Hanna asked worriedly. ¡°If the Royal Family epts Calyx Dalton as a prince, then it¡¯s as if His Majesty also admitted that Calyx Dalton is his son with Empress Dalton. You might get dethroned.¡±

    ¡°I agree with my daughter, Prince Nero,¡± Duke Quinzel said, and he looked as concerned as Hanna. ¡°Some of the vassal families that support House Quinzel are urging me to reconsider Hanna¡¯s engagement with Prince Nero.¡±

    Neoma noticed that Nero and Hanna suddenly looked awkward when their engagement was brought up.

    [Oh? What¡¯s the tea?]

    ¡°Rufus, you shut them up, didn¡¯t you?¡± Papa Boss asked.

    ¡°Of course, I did, Your Majesty,¡± the duke said firmly. ¡°Those rude old men are implying that our family has to marry my daughter off to whoever gets the Crown Prince position in the end. I put them in their ce, and if they want to keep their heads intact, they will never bring up that nonsense again.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a relief,¡± Papa Boss said. ¡°If you need help, just tell me.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty,¡± Duke Quinzel said. ¡°I, the head of House Quinzel, don¡¯t care about Calyx Dalton because I know the truth. My support for Prince Nero and Princess Neoma will never waver. However, most nobles are hesitating now- especially the ones from the Royal Faction.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t a surprise.

    After all, most of the nobles had the same mindset at Kyle Sprouse.

    [Those who hate our Roseheart Blood will definitely choose the ¡°son¡± of Empress Juliet over us.]

    ¡°They don¡¯t care whether Calyx Dalton is really Papa Boss and Empress Juliet¡¯s son,¡± Neoma said while shaking her head. ¡°As long as that crow psycho has de Moonasterion blood in him, those bigots would choose him over me and Nero.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe people like that run our empire,¡± Hanna said while shaking her head. ¡°Neoma, I can¡¯t wait for you to ascend the throne.¡±

    She smiled at her cousin¡¯s words. ¡°And I can¡¯t wait for you to be Duchess Quinzel, bestie.¡±

    Hanna smiled and nodded.

    ¡°Niki, Rufus, you heard thedies,¡± Mama Boss said teasingly. ¡°When will you two change thew to let women inherit titles?¡±

    Papa Boss avoided Mama Boss¡¯s gaze, while Duke Quinzel faked a cough guiltily as if they were embarrassed.

    ¡°Lady Roseheart, His Majesty and Duke Quinzel are doing their best,¡± Uncle Glenn said nervously, as if he was afraid of Mama Boss, but he was still determined to defend Papa Boss and Duke Quinzel. ¡°It¡¯s not easy to change the mind of the nobles who have the most influence in the empire since most of them are old-fashioned.¡±

    Mama Boss smiled sadly. ¡°I wish we could change that soon.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Mama Boss- it¡¯s time for the old generation¡¯s reign to end,¡± Neoma dered. This time, it wasn¡¯t arrogant. She was merely iming it now. ¡°I will end it soon. It¡¯s about time for the new generation to take charge, anyway.¡±

    ¡°If you want to end it, then you must hurry ande back here,¡± Nero said. ¡°Father and I already made a n. We will ept Calyx Dalton in the Royal Family, but we will make sure that I¡¯ll keep my position as the Crown Prince. However, if our n fails, our whole family will get kicked out of the pce. We might even get exiled.¡±

    ¡°High-risk, high-reward, huh?¡± she said, then she gave her twin brother a thumbs up. ¡°I trust you, Nero. I know that your n with Papa Boss won¡¯t fail. After all, you¡¯re more cunning than me.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I can take care of the annoying stuff here,¡± Nero said. ¡°But I miss you already.¡±

    Gosh.

    [How can he say something embarrassing with a straight face?]

    But everyone who heard Nero didn¡¯t even bat an eysh as if they had already expected to hear that from her twin brother.

    ¡°I miss y¡¯all, too,¡± she said. It was too embarrassing to say ¡®I miss you, too¡¯ to Nero in front of an audience, so she just settled with that response before she changed the subject. ¡°And don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll be back very soon. I¡¯m coborating with Grandma Irina for my epiceback stage.¡±

    This time, everyone looked shocked.

    ¡°¡®Grandma Irina?''¡± her Mama Boss asked, her eyes a little wide. ¡°The Cosmic Tree?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Mama Boss.¡±

    ¡°The Cosmic Tree reached out to you?¡± her Papa Boss asked, then his eyebrows furrowed. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me, the Cosmic Tree asked something from you, too?¡±

    ¡°Grandma Irina called it a ¡®favor.¡¯ But since I no longer work for free, I asked something in return for my help, so it¡¯s like amissioned work for me now,¡± Neoma said, then she shook her head. ¡°Gosh, it¡¯s as if I¡¯m the most in-demand celebrity on the entire continent.¡±

    ***

    [The night the Cosmic Tree contacted Neoma...]

    ¡°LADY IRINA, I don¡¯t wanna be rude, but I have to say this in advance,¡± Neoma said when she recovered from the shock of someone entering her mind without permission. ¡°I don¡¯t work for free. And I¡¯m very busy. If I feel like your ¡®favor¡¯ is too much, then I won¡¯t ept it.¡±

    .....

    Being called ¡®pretty¡¯ immediately put a smile on her face.

    ¡°Gosh, why am I your granddaughter?¡±

    ¡°Fine. Since you call me pretty, I¡¯ll be your granddaughter now,¡± she said, then she stood up and sat on the sunlounger. ¡°What can I do for you, Grandma?¡±

    She put a hand over her chest, surprised. ¡°I have an uncle?¡±

    the Cosmic Tree exined.

    She was having a bad feeling about this now. ¡°Grandma Irina, may I know the identity of my uncle first?¡±

    Grandma Irina said.

    To say that she was shocked would be an understatement. ¡°The White Lion? As in the Elemental Guardian? The one that¡¯s currently under Calyx Dalton¡¯s control?¡±

    Gosh, the White Lion was the Cosmic Tree¡¯s adoptive son?

    [If that¡¯s the case, then it¡¯s not hard to ept the Cosmic Tree¡¯s favor. After all, I already promised the White Lion that I¡¯ll save himter.]

    But she still should get paid for her hard work, right?

    Oh.

    The first thing that entered her mind was her dongsaeng/little sister Nabi.

    And the other thing...

    ¡°Grandma Irina, I¡¯ll save my Uncle Kingston, but in return, I want you to give Nabi a better position in your world. And second...¡± Neoma smirked, her eyes definitely gleaming with mischievousness. ¡°Help me set up the main stage for my epiceback.¡±

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 508

    Chapter 508: NERO LOVES DRAMA, TOO

    HANNA SMILED while looking at Lewis who looked like it was already the end of the world for him.

    [He probably wants to follow where Neoma is.]

    After their video conference with her father, King Glenn of Hazelden, and Neoma, she excused herself after seeing that Nero had to talk to Lady Roseheart and His Majesty in private.

    And here she was now.

    Lewis and Sir Geoffrey Kinsley were guarding outside the door with the two royal knights (one male, one female) assigned to protect her while she was in the pce. She greeted the Pdin and the royal knights first, then she approached the fox boy.

    Hanna stood in front of her friend. ¡°Lewis, open your hands.¡±

    Lewis, without even asking why, just opened his hands and offered them in front of her.

    .....

    She smiled, satisfied. Then she put a bag of candies in his hands. ¡°Here. Our friend Rara said you like mint candies.¡±

    ¡®Rara¡¯ would be Neoma, of course. She used the royal princess¡¯ nickname because the royal knights assigned for her safety weren¡¯t aware of the royal secret. She was talking softly, and the royal knights were far enough not to hear their conversation.

    Even so, she had to be really careful.

    [If someone of Count Sprouse¡¯s status could betray His Majesty, his long-time friend, who¡¯s to say that the ordinary servants and knights couldn¡¯t do the same?]

    As expected, living in the royal pce was dangerous.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± Lewis said while putting the bag of candies in his pocket. ¡°Shall I walk you to your room, Lady Hanna?¡±

    She stifled herughter, then she shook her head. ¡°I have the royal knights with me. Moreover, Prince Nero is still inside the room. Why would you leave without His Royal Highness¡¯s permission?¡±

    Lewis frowned as if he was showing her how much he hated the idea.

    [If Lewis could, he would definitely ditch Nero to follow Neoma.]

    ¡°Cheer up, Lewis,¡± she said cheerfully. ¡°Once Raraes back, everything will be fun again.¡±

    Lewis didn¡¯t smile, but his face lit up.

    Aww.

    That was adorable.

    [He must be so excited to meet Neoma again.]

    She couldn¡¯t help but smile while watching Lewis¡¯ bright face.

    ¡°Hanna, let¡¯s go.¡±

    Her smile slowly disappeared when she heard the familiar voice. When she turned to her side, she wasn¡¯t surprised to see Nero standing next to her.

    Nero offered his arm to her. ¡°I¡¯ll walk you to your room.¡±

    Hanna nodded politely, then she put her hand on his arm as they began walking back to Luna Pce- her current residence.

    Lewis was walking behind them since the fox boy was the Crown Prince¡¯s personal knight.

    The two royal knights assigned to protect her were walking behind Lewis.

    ¡°When did you and Lewis get close?¡± Nero asked. They were walking ahead of their guards who were far enough not to hear them talking. ¡°You look friendly to each other.¡±

    ¡°We are friends,¡± Hanna said casually. ¡°Am I not allowed to be friends with Lewis?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like I have the right to do that,¡± he said. ¡°But be careful. There are eyes and ears in the pce. They don¡¯t care about the truth- they just want to gossip about people of our status.¡±

    She understood what Nero meant, and she wasn¡¯t offended.

    After all, he was only speaking the truth.

    [If I get too close to Lewis while everyone knows I¡¯m a candidate to be the Crown Princess, nasty rumors will definitely spread. And like what Lewis said, people do not care about the truth. They¡¯ll grab anything that they can in order to tear me down.]

    ¡°I¡¯ll be more careful,¡± she said while nodding. ¡°I don¡¯t want to drag Lewis into the messy power struggle here in the pce.¡±

    ¡°Power struggle, huh? You¡¯re right,¡± he said, then he turned to her. ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to break off our engagement? Thest time we talked, I¡¯m pretty sure you were ready to end this.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d lie if I said breaking off our engagement didn¡¯t cross my mind,¡± she confessed. ¡°But I thought this wasn¡¯t the good time to do that. Even if we break off our engagement right now, House Quinzel will continue supporting you.¡±

    By ¡®you,¡¯ she meant both Nero and Neoma, of course.

    ¡°However, it won¡¯t be good for both of our reputations,¡± she continued. ¡°People would point fingers at me and say I broke off my engagement with you because your position as the Crown Prince is threatened by Calyx Dalton. On the other hand, you will be the newughingstock of the nobles for getting dumped by your unofficial fianc¨¦e. In our world, our reputation matters- and it¡¯s especially true for you, the Crown Prince.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m d that you think the same,¡± he said, then he turned to her. ¡°So, until the matter regarding Calyx Dalton is resolved, we will not break off our engagement?¡±

    The two of them weren¡¯t engaged officially yet, so technically, there was nothing to break off.

    However, they both knew that official or not, she was already regarded as the future Crown Princess. Leaving Nero¡¯s side at this critical moment would hurt both the Royal Family and House Quinzel. They couldn¡¯t afford to let their families suffer the result of their ¡°break up¡± since it would only benefit Calyx Dalton and the crows.

    Thus, she must uphold her position as the future Crown Princess and provide support for Nero until they got rid of the delusional ¡°royal prince.¡±

    ¡°Yes, we must stick together for now,¡± she said. ¡°In three days¡¯ time, we¡¯ll start attending sses. We can¡¯t afford to create another rumor that our schoolmates will surely gobble up in a minute.¡±

    The participants of the final match were given three days off.

    After that, they were required to attend their sses normally.

    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± the Crown Prince agreed with her. ¡°Once we¡¯re out of the pce, the academy will be our next battlefield.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not really worried about that, since I know we can dominate the entire academy if we wanted to.¡±

    After all, she had learned a lot from watching Neoma pulverize her enemies with just her savage words.

    [I even learned how to curse because of her.]

    But cursing wasn¡¯t her style, so she decided to never cuss out again unless she needed to.

    Nero turned to her andughed softly, as if he was amused. ¡°I like your confidence, Hanna.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± she said with a slight bow. ¡°Ah, I have a favor to ask.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°Include me in your n to crush Calyx Dalton,¡± she said seriously. ¡°I will never forgive him for putting my parents in danger.¡±

    He smirked. ¡°You didn¡¯t have to ask.¡±

    ¡°Very well,¡± she said, satisfied. ¡°Anyway, we should also help her set up the grand stage for her return.¡±

    She was talking about Neoma, and she knew she didn¡¯t have to specify that.

    Nero already knew that she was talking about his twin sister, after all.

    ¡°I¡¯ll create a big messy family drama first, since Neoma loves theatrics,¡± Nero said, smirking. ¡°How does ¡®Dethronement and Divorce¡¯ for the title of a ¡°stage y¡± sound?¡±

    Hanna sighed and shook her head. ¡°You and Neoma are really a pair of wicked twins.¡±

    [Not that I¡¯mining.]

    ***

    ¡°KAJA,¡± Neoma said, speaking in Korean. It meant ¡®let¡¯s go,¡¯ and she said that to her ¡°children.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go to the East Continent first.¡±

    Her ¡°children,¡± Juri Wisteria, Jeno Dankworth, Greko, Paige Avery, and Xion Redgrave looked shocked by her deration.

    After all, they were having their breakfast peacefully when she dered that they wereing to the East Continent. She didn¡¯t consult them first. Well, to be fair, the thought just suddenly popped up in her mind and her big brain said ¡®why not?¡¯

    ¡°Of course, we will follow you, Princess Neoma,¡± Paige said calmly. She was the first among her ¡°children¡± to recover from the shock. ¡°But may we know why we¡¯re heading to the East Continent?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s for myeback stage,¡± Neoma said, then she held the fork and the steak knife in her hands a little tighter. ¡°Ruto and I need to have a face-to-face conversation.¡±

    ¡°But I heard Chef Ruto doesn¡¯t remember you, Princess Neoma,¡± Juri said worriedly. ¡°I¡¯m afraid that you might get hurt if he cannot recognize you.¡±

    ¡°I just have to ept it since it is the consequence of my stupidity,¡± Neoma said. ¡°I know that this may be futile, but I really need to talk to him about our baby.¡±

    She almost lost all her ¡°children¡± when they began choking on their food one by one.

    ¡°Are you all okay?¡± Neoma asked worriedly. ¡°Drink your water carefully, kids.¡±

    ¡°B-Baby?¡± Greko said, surprised. ¡°As in human baby, eomma?¡±

    Neoma nodded. ¡°Yes, that kind of baby.¡±

    ¡°Whose baby?¡± Jeno asked, his voice surprisingly shocked. ¡°Princess Neoma¡¯s and...¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t say it,¡± Xion said, then he covered his ears with his hands. ¡°I feel like I¡¯m going to kill that Chef Ruto or whatever his name is if you turn out to be correct, Dankworth.¡±

    ¡°Jeno is right, but don¡¯t kill him, Xion,¡± Neoma said, much to the utter shock and disbelief of her ¡°children.¡± Seeing their reaction, she felt the need to exin. ¡°Apparently, Ruto and I had a baby in our past lives- so I want to hear the truth from him.¡±

    Hopefully, it would trigger Ruto¡¯s memories to return.

    ***

    .....

    NIKOLAI thought that the crows couldn¡¯t shock him anymore- but they still seeded.

    This time, even the always calm and indifferent Nero looked shocked.

    But who wouldn¡¯t have the same reaction while watching a video recording of Juliet giving birth to Calyx Dalton? It was the evidence that the Daltons had provided for him, Nero, and the representatives of the Twelve Golden Families to witness.

    [How?] Niki thought to himself in disbelief. [How did Juliet give birth to a de Moonasterio?]

    ***

    NOTE 1: The timeline will make sense next update. Sorry for the confusion. I just really like this style of storytelling. Hehe. xD

    ***

    NOTE 2: As always, thank you for supporting me via purchasing privilege chapters. I hope to see you this July, too. This might be shameless of me, but I suddenly got the greed to win WIN-WIN next month. I hope Royal Secret: I¡¯m a Princess gets a high rank in WIN-WIN in order for Neoma to get more promotions here on Webnovel. I haven¡¯t ranked high recently, so I¡¯m hoping to see Neoma up there once again. And, of course, it will only be possible with your help. :¡¯)

    Let¡¯s boost our baby girl, juseyo.

    If we seed, I will update at least two chapters a day in August. :>

    Thank you!

 Chapter 509

    Chapter 509: DETHRONEMENT AND DIVORCE (1)

    DURING Nero¡¯sst day off before he officially entered the Royal Moon Academy, Calyx Dalton had returned to the pce with his ¡®butler¡¯ named Raven.

    Was he surprised?

    Of course not.

    [Anyway...]

    Since only Calyx Dalton and Raven were here yet, Nero and his father brought the two crows into the tea room while waiting for the other guests.

    He and his father were sitting side-by-side on the sofa.

    Calyx Dalton was sitting on the chair across from them, while Raven was standing behind the younger crow.

    .....

    ¡°Mother and my grandparents will arrive soon,¡± Calyx Dalton said cheerfully after he greeted Nero and Emperor Niki politely. ¡°I arrived earlier since I had to visit the academy and drop my things at the dormitory.¡±

    Ah, right.

    There was a dormitory in the academy.

    [If I remember it correctly, Neoma didn¡¯t sign up for the dormitory to protect her secret. But the dormitory life seems suitable for me. I need to keep an eye on my future pawns, after all.]

    ¡°I see,¡± his father, Emperor Niki, said indifferently as a response to Calyx Dalton¡¯s exnation as to why he arrived earlier than Empress Juliet and the other Daltons. ¡°The representatives of the Twelve Golden Families haven¡¯t arrived yet, so let¡¯s have tea first.¡±

    Calyx Dalton smiled and nodded. ¡°Yes, Father.¡±

    Nero wondered how Neoma would react if his twin sister were here.

    ¡°I¡¯m your father?¡± the emperor asked, then he let out a shallowugh. ¡°I don¡¯t have wings, though.¡±

    The smile on Calyx Dalton¡¯s face disappeared after the emperor said that he didn¡¯t have ¡°wings¡± because he wasn¡¯t a crow. His Majesty had implied that he knew Calyx Dalton was the result of an experiment between a de Moonasterion and de Luca Seed.

    Thus, His Majesty couldn¡¯t be the young crow¡¯s father.

    Even Raven, who had a poker face earlier, frowned.

    [Calyx Dalton, you should be thankful that Neoma isn¡¯t here. If my twin sister was here, you¡¯d be roasted even before you opened your mouth.]

    ¡°Sir Kinsley,¡± Nero said to the Pdin standing behind his father. ¡°Tell the servants to bring in the tea.¡±

    Geoffrey Kinsley bowed his head. ¡°As you wish, Your Royal Highness.¡±

    After a few minutes, the tea was finally served.

    Geoffrey Kinsley then excused himself to guard outside the door. Lewis should have been there, too, since the fox boy was supposed to be his personal knight. But Lewis received a call from Neoma earlier, so he relieved the fox boy from his duty.

    Nero wanted to break the silence since he knew his father would ignore Calyx Dalton, thus he said what he wanted to say.

    ording to the script that he wrote himself, of course.

    ¡°Calyx Dalton, I know why you¡¯re trying hard to be a de Moonasterion royal prince,¡± Nero said, then he sipped his tea before he dropped the bomb. ¡°I¡¯m here to tell you that I have no interest inpeting with you, so I¡¯m giving up my right to inherit the throne.¡±

    Calyx Dalton¡¯s eyes went wide- and he clearly looked shocked. ¡°Y-you¡¯re giving up your position as the Crown Prince?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± he said casually. ¡°Ah, I¡¯m also quitting as Father¡¯s son.¡±

    The young crow looked even more shocked now. ¡°And you¡¯re ¡°quitting¡± as His Majesty¡¯s son?¡±

    Nero picked up his teacup while observing Calyx Dalton.

    The foolish crow arrived at the pce, beaming with confidence. But with just a few words, he had managed to destroy that confidence of his. Even Raven, the ¡°butler¡± who had been doing a good job of keeping a poker face, finally let his fa?ade slip away when his eyes went wide.

    [Ah, it seems like they were expecting me to fight Calyx Dalton for the throne.]

    Nero sipped his tea before he spoke. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m here to hand my resignation to His Majesty as the Crown Prince and his son,¡± he said, then he ced his teacup down on the saucer. After that, he smiled at the foolish young crow. ¡°Congrattions, Lord Calyx. You¡¯re now the new heir apparent, and Father¡¯s only son.¡±

    The disbelief in Calyx Dalton¡¯s face told him that this wasn¡¯t what the crows had expected to happen. Then he turned to Raven as if he was asking for the so-called butler¡¯s help. But just like the birdbrain, Raven was also in a state of shock and confusion.

    Thanks to those reactions, it became clear to him.

    [They really need me to sit on the throne.]

    ¡°Your Majesty,¡± Calyx Dalton said when he turned to the emperor, desperation clear on his face. ¡°You¡¯re not going to dethrone Prince Nero, are you?¡±

    Emperor Niki let out a sigh. ¡°This matter is out of my hands now. More and more nobles are demanding Nero step down as the Crown Prince, anyway.¡±

    It looked like Calyx Dalton was shocked by the emperor¡¯s indifferent reaction.

    [Well, Father knows that this is just a part of my n. So, of course, he wouldn¡¯t be surprised.]

    But his father¡¯s reaction wouldn¡¯t hinder his n. After all, everyone knew that the emperor was cold and strict. His father only showed his soft and vulnerable sides to our family.

    Suddenly, he remembered the time his father hugged him during the academy¡¯s awarding ceremony. After his father put on the eupalettes on his shoulder cape, he suddenly pulled him for a hug in front of the whole academy.

    Argh.

    [I hope they didn¡¯t notice that.]

    Thankfully, Calyx Dalton was too shocked toprehend what was happening.

    ¡°Is it that shocking that I¡¯m quitting my position as the Crown Prince and as His Majesty¡¯s son?¡± Nero asked,ughing softly. ¡°Isn¡¯t it your goal to be the Crown Prince, anyway?¡±

    ¡°My goal is to be recognized as a royal prince and be included in the Royal Household Registry- not to steal the throne from you,¡± Calyx Dalton said, frowning. He looked like a child throwing tantrums now. And yes, this punk had started talking casually to him. ¡°Prince Nero, I won¡¯t allow you to quit as the Crown Prince and as His Majesty¡¯s son.¡± The birdbrain¡¯s eyes suddenly turned glowing red. ¡°We must be a family- you must be my little brother.¡±

    [Crazy bastard1.]

    He would have cussed out Calyx Dalton aloud, but he held back.

    After all, it was also a part of his n to manipte this birdbrain by using his emotions.

    For some reason, Calyx Dalton seemed to have been drawn to him to the point of obsession. Although it was disgusting for the birdbrain to have those kinds of feelings towards him, he decided to use it to his advantage.

    ¡°How can we be a family if the crows wanted me dead?¡± Nero said, smirking. Then he sipped his tea when he noticed Raven flinch, as if the butler had already realized that he was manipting Calyx Dalton. [It¡¯s toote, though.]

    ¡°I won¡¯t let themy a finger on you, Prince Nero,¡± Calyx Dalton dered, then he put a hand over his chest. ¡°I swear it on my life as your big brother.¡±

    Once again, Nero had only two words for this birdbrain.

    [Crazy bastard.1]

    ¡°I apologize for interrupting your conversation,¡± Geoffrey Kinsley said after knocking and entering the room. ¡°Lady Juliet and the Daltons have arrived.¡±

    ¡°Finally,¡± Emperor Niki said. ¡°Bring them to the conference room.¡±

    ***

    ¡°CALYX, can¡¯t you see that Prince Nero is trying to manipte you?¡±

    ¡°Uncle Raven, not now,¡± Calyx said in an urgent voice while walking fast. ¡°I need to follow my little brother.¡±

    Prince Nero didn¡¯t apany Emperor Niki to the conference room to meet the Daltons.

    He heard his little brother tell His Majesty that he wanted to inquire about the academy¡¯s dormitory system to see if he could still sign up for a room. After that, Prince Nero excused himself to follow his little brother to the nco Pce.

    The n was for him to apany his mother, Juliet, while proving their identities to the emperor with the evidence provided by his grandparents.

    But right now?

    [I don¡¯t care anymore!]

    ¡°Calyx!¡± Uncle Raven called him, then he grabbed his arm and forced him to turn around and face him. ¡°Why are you needlessly following Prince Nero anyway? Have you forgotten about our n?¡±

    ¡°I haven¡¯t, Uncle Raven. That¡¯s why I know that whether or not I¡¯m there, Mother could still prove that I¡¯m her son with Emperor Niki because you¡¯ve already prepared the evidence a long time ago,¡± Calyx said, then he pulled his arm from his uncle¡¯s grasp. ¡°But this is more important to me right now. I need to follow Prince Nero to ask him to be my roommate!¡±

    Uncle Raven looked at him in disbelief. ¡°You¡¯re ditching our n just to ask Prince Nero to be your roommate?¡±

    He just nodded firmly as a response.

    His uncle, on the other hand, looked seriously pissed.

    To be honest, he felt a little scared to see that dark expression.

    [Uncle Raven is usually gentle to me. He¡¯s the reason why our family says I¡¯m a spoiled brat. But even though he¡¯s scary, I won¡¯t back down.]

    ¡°I understand that our family has the tendency to get obsessed with the de Moonasterion Crown Princes,¡± Uncle Raven said, as if he was trying to calm himself. ¡°But Calyx, it¡¯s obvious that Prince Nero knows that- and he¡¯s taking advantage of it. He¡¯s using your adoration for him to manipte you!¡±

    ¡°Uncle Raven, I don¡¯t mind,¡± Calyx said, smiling. ¡°As long as I be a part of Prince Nero¡¯s family, I can always change his feelings towards me until we be proper brothers.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 510

    Chapter 510: DETHRONEMENT AND DIVORCE (2)

    NERO raised an eyebrow at Lewis who bowed his head as a greeting when he arrived at nco Pce. The fox boy was already waiting for him at the entrance. But although his greeting was considered respectful, Lewis¡¯ frown looked very sphemous. ¡°I know that you¡¯re not happy to see me,¡± he said. ¡°But at least control your expressions.¡±

    Lewis kept his sphemous frown. ¡°Rara didn¡¯t teach me how to act.¡±

    ¡®Rara¡¯ would be Neoma, of course.

    It was a code name that her ¡°children¡± would use whenever they were in a situation where they couldn¡¯t mention her name freely. Although the crows were already aware of Neoma¡¯s existence, they couldn¡¯t act carelessly.

    [If the crows could lure someone like Kyle Sprouse to their side, then we¡¯re pretty sure that there are servants that serve as spies for the crows.]

    It was a miracle they managed to keep the royal secret for thirteen years.

    ¡°Well, from now on, I¡¯ll teach you how to act,¡± Nero said with a shrug. ¡°After all, we¡¯ll be stuck to each other for the whole day, every single day, seven days a week.¡±

    .....

    Lewis raised an eyebrow at him.

    ¡°I n to enter the academy¡¯s dormitory, and I¡¯ll bring you with me,¡± he exined to the fox boy. ¡°Every student in the academy is allowed to bring one servant. Since you also trained as a butler before, I¡¯m pretty sure you¡¯ll do a good job as both my knight and butler.¡±

    ¡°Are you crazy?¡± Lewis snarled at him lowly. ¡°Why would I follow you to the dormitory? If you want to live there, bring someone else.¡±

    ¡°This crazy bastard,¡± he said indifferently. ¡°Do you want to die? How dare you defy the words of the Crown Prince?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re only a Crown Prince by name,¡± the fox boy retorted. ¡°It was a position handed to you by someone else.¡±

    Wow.

    Lewis sure knew how to insult someone without using curse words.

    ¡°You inherited Neoma¡¯s snark,¡± Nero said, then he gently patted his shoulder. ¡°My dear nephew.¡±

    Lewis red at him.

    Nero smirked. ¡°I can dish it out, so don¡¯t think about getting smart with me.¡±

    Lewis continued ring at him.

    ¡°Even if you re at me like that, I won¡¯t change my mind,¡± he said to the fox boy. ¡°If you didn¡¯t show the entire empire that you¡¯re the Crown Prince¡¯s loyal dog, then I would have tossed you away from the start. But everyone knows that you¡¯re the Crown Prince¡¯s closest aide. Thus, I have no choice but to bring you with me.¡±

    ¡°Do you really have to live in the dormitory?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± he said firmly. ¡°You can¡¯t change my mind, so stop arguing with me. Just get ready to leave the pce with me.¡±

    ¡°Just kill me.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll fake my death,¡± Lewis said stubbornly. ¡°I didn¡¯t pledge my loyalty to you.¡±

    ¡°This crazy bastard,¡± heined while looking at the fox boy in disbelief. ¡°You rarely talk. But it seems like you have a lot to say when defying me.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d rather die than get stuck with you.¡±

    ¡°And now you¡¯re speaking rudely to the Crown Prince,¡± he scolded him. ¡°As your uncle, it¡¯s my job to discipline you.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not my uncle,¡± the fox boy growled at him. ¡°Don¡¯t you have your own ¡°children?¡± Why don¡¯t you call them here and pretend family with them instead of pissing me off?¡±

    Nero was amused, but he tried to hide it.

    [Lewis really talks a lot when he¡¯s annoyed, huh?]

    ¡°They¡¯ll be here soon,¡± Nero said with a shrug. ¡°But even if they arrive here, I¡¯m still bringing you with me to the academy.¡±

    ¡°I already said that I don¡¯t want to.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not asking for your permission.¡±

    The fox boy let out a frustrated sigh.

    This was the first time Nero saw him in distress, and it was actually fun to see his ¡°nephew¡± lose hisposure.

    [It makes me want to bully him even more.]

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Lewis,¡± Nero said, patting both of Lewis¡¯ shoulders this time. ¡°I¡¯ll tell your ¡°mother¡± to praise you a lot for doing a good job as my personal knight-sh-butler.¡±

    If looks could kill, Lewis¡¯ death re would have killed him already.

    He had to swallow hisughter.

    [This is really fun.]

    ¡°Prince Nero!¡±

    His good mood was ruined as soon as he heard Calyx Dalton¡¯s voice.

    Argh.

    [He really followed me here, huh?]

    Calyx Dalton, like an annoying pest that he was, soon showed up in front of him- standing next to an equally annoyed Lewis.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to hear your conversation with His Majesty earlier, but is it true that you¡¯re thinking about signing up in our academy¡¯s dormitory system, Prince Nero?¡± Calyx Dalton asked excitedly. ¡°You are, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    Nero raised an eyebrow at him. ¡°And what about it?¡±

    The crow¡¯s face beamed. ¡°Let¡¯s be roommates!¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± he asked, unimpressed. ¡°So that you can kill me easily?¡±

    ¡°I already told you that I won¡¯t harm you in any way,¡± Calyx Dalton said seriously. ¡°I really want to get along with you.¡±

    ¡°You know that I can¡¯t simply take your word for it, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Then how should I prove it to you, Prince Nero?¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m giving that to you as an assignment,¡± Nero said, then he turned his back on Calyx Dalton. ¡°Let¡¯s go, Lewis.¡±

    Lewis followed him silently.

    ¡°I¡¯ll prove it to you, Prince Nero!¡± Calyx Dalton yelled cheerfully, while he was walking away from him. ¡°I¡¯ll prove to you that you can trust your big brother!¡±

    Nero rolled his eyes in disgust, but everything was going ording to his n.

    [I didn¡¯t expect to lure in the birdbrain this easily, though.]

    ***

    ¡°SAY IT again,¡± Niki said, his jaw clenched. ¡°What did you bring as a piece of evidence to prove that Juliet Dalton is the Empress Juliet that we lost many years ago?¡±

    He was in disbelief.

    Right now, he was in the conference room- sitting in the center seat, of course.

    There was a long table in front of him. And behind it, there was a long sofa where the Daltons were seated.

    Juliet Dalton was sitting between her ¡°parents.¡±

    There was an ordinary-looking old man on Juliet¡¯s right side. The old man was Viscount Carter Dalton. And the old woman on Juliet¡¯s left side was Joane Dalton, the Viscountess.

    ¡°Your Majesty, we have a video of the time Juliet was giving birth to Calyx,¡± Viscount Dalton said. The old man looked scared of him. But like any other noble, he still carried himself properly in front of the emperor. ¡°We heard from our daughter, Juliet, that you have mistaken her as thete empress. To be honest, Juliet isn¡¯t our real daughter. She came into our lives when our one and only daughter passed away due to-¡±

    ¡°You knew that thedy you adopted was the then-Empress Juliet?¡± Niki asked, cutting off the viscount¡¯s sob story. Usually, he would listen to his subjects if necessary. But he knew that it didn¡¯t matter at the moment. ¡°Then why didn¡¯t you report it to the pce?¡±

    ¡°It was my fault, Your Majesty,¡± Viscountess Dalton said, already crying. ¡°Juliet was the same as the daughter that we lost back then, so I begged my husband to adopt her when she came into our lives.¡±

    He clenched his jaw hard while trying to endure his anger. ¡°Why would you even think of adopting the empress? Have you lost your mind?¡±

    ¡°J-Juliet doesn¡¯t remember anything when we found her, Your Majesty,¡± the viscountess exined in a shaking voice, her gaze lowered to the floor as if she was afraid to meet his eyes. ¡°Moreover, my husband and I thought that she couldn¡¯t be the empress since the entire empire knew that Her Majesty had already passed away during that time. However, we couldn¡¯t be quite sure if she was a different woman or not because some of the things that she had with her during the time were bearing the symbol of thete empress.¡±

    ¡°We brought the things and clothes that Juliet wore during the day that we found her,¡± the viscount added, then he politely pointed to the treasure box on the table. ¡°We didn¡¯t touch those things ever since we kept them safe in the chest box, Your Majesty.¡±

    Niki turned to Geoffrey Kinsley who was standing beside him, then he signaled the Pdin to check the items.

    The Pdin bowed to him before leaving his side.

    Then Geoffrey Kinsley walked to the table and greeted the Daltons with a slight bow. After that, the Pdin opened the chest box and checked the items in silence. After a thorough inspection, the Pdin went back to his side and whispered.

    ¡°Your Majesty, they have Empress Juliet¡¯s Blood Moon Ring among the other essories customized for Her Majesty during her coronation,¡± Geoffrey Kinsley whispered in his ear while covering his mouth with his hand. ¡°They also have Empress Juliet¡¯s main weapon: The Blue Moon Scepter. And the clothes in the box look like the clothes that Empress Juliet received from House Sloane during your wedding day.¡±

    Niki nodded, then he sighed.

    [Those are the things that other people couldn¡¯t simply imitate.]

    Juliet Dalton was indeed the Juliet that he knew.

    ¡°But why,¡± Niki said coldly while looking at Viscount and Viscountess Dalton. ¡°Why would you even think of recording an intimate moment such as a mother giving birth to her child?¡±

    Anyone would agree that it was suspicious.

    .....

    [If the crows were the ones who nned this, then it¡¯s frightening to know that they have been nning this moment for fifteen long years.]

    ***

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 Chapter 511

    Chapter 511: [Bonus Chapter] NEOMA¡¯S FUTURE IN-LAWS

    PAIGE broke into a smile without looking up from the book she was reading in her hands. ¡°You really came?¡±

    She didn¡¯t have to know that it was Dion who sat next to her.

    [I actually sent him a letter saying that I¡¯m here, but I didn¡¯t expect him toe.]

    After all, it was already sote at night.

    Moreover, he was still the acting High Priest of the Astello Temple. Therefore, he wasn¡¯t someone who should be out alone.

    [I know that he¡¯s capable of protecting himself, even so...]

    ¡°If I didn¡¯te, I won¡¯t get to see you since I¡¯m always thest in your priority,¡± Dion said in a teasing voice. ¡°You¡¯re not even looking at me right now.¡±

    .....

    That pricked her conscience.

    But it wasn¡¯t like he didn¡¯t want to see him.

    Right now, she was in a small and shabby-looking bookstore in Valmento. To be precise, she was sitting on the floor while leaning against the bookshelf behind her.

    Since they were in the capital of the Holy Land, Dion was wearing a hooded robe that covered his face. Although the bookstore was nearly empty (it was only the two of them and the bookshop owner), it wouldn¡¯t hurt to be extra careful.

    ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t want to look at you,¡± Paige said, then she closed the book in her hands to look at Dion. ¡°I¡¯m just afraid that I wouldn¡¯t be able to leave once I see you again.¡±

    Dion let out a small smile while pulling down the hood of his robe to show her his face. ¡°Don¡¯t leave. Don¡¯t leave. Don¡¯t leave.¡±

    She couldn¡¯t help but let out a softugh. ¡°What are you doing?¡±

    ¡°Performing an incantation to make you stay?¡±

    She covered her face with the book in her hands to muffle herughter.

    [How can he say that with a straight face?]

    ¡°Please don¡¯t cover your face,¡± he pleaded with her. ¡°We didn¡¯t see each other for a long time.¡±

    It was true.

    She rarely dropped by at Valmento while she was traveling to both the West and East Continent to learn more magic. There wasn¡¯t much magic to learn from the Holy Land, after all.

    ¡°Lady Paige?¡±

    She pulled down the book from her face to look at Dion properly. ¡°You¡¯ve heard about it, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°About what?¡±

    She snapped her fingers to create a barrier in order to protect her conversation with Dion. As she said earlier, it wouldn¡¯t hurt to be extra careful. ¡°The circumstances of the future new saint.¡±

    Although Paige was separated from Prince Neoma and her ¡°siblings,¡± they would still often update each other with important news.

    ¡°I¡¯ve heard about it,¡± Dion said while nodding. ¡°Actually, His Majesty called me a few days ago to inform me about their decision to suppress the new saint¡¯s divine power in order for Queen Brigitte to deliver her child safely.¡±

    ¡°That means you¡¯ll be stuck as the temporary High Priest longer than expected,¡± she said. ¡°The new saint¡¯s divine power will get scattered the moment he¡¯s born. In order to help him be the new saint of the Astello Temple, we have to collect his scattered divine power first.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not worried about that,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ve personally seen Princess Neoma¡¯s tenacity. I¡¯m sure that she¡¯ll collect the new saint¡¯s scattered divine power sessfully. Moreover, she has you and her other ¡°children.¡±¡±

    She nodded in agreement. ¡°But will you be fine, Dion? The news about Calyx Dalton has reached Valmento, too.¡±

    Calyx Dalton was the student who appeared during the Royal Moon Academy¡¯s first and second entrance exam.

    The boy looked exactly like Prince Nero and Emperor Niki.

    Although Calyx Dalton didn¡¯t have the physical characteristics of the de Moonasterios, his uncanny resemnce to the current emperor and Crown Prince had shaken up the empire. A rumor that Calyx Dalton could be Emperor Niki¡¯s child spread across the continent like wildfire.

    Since Calyx Dalton was older than the royal twins, some of the nobles that were supporting the Crown Prince were wavering now.

    ¡°Yes, we¡¯ve already heard about the appearance of the boy who looks like the emperor,¡± Dion confirmed. ¡°But the Astello Holy Knights don¡¯t care about that. After all, they supported the Crown Prince because of his Roseheart Blood and not his de Moonasterion blood.¡± He tilted his head to one side. ¡°The Holy Knights of this generation is pretty strange.¡±

    She smiled fondly at him. ¡°But it seems like you¡¯ve taken quite a liking to them.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re still the person I like the most in the world, Paige.¡±

    She covered her face again with the book in her hands to hide her goofy grin from him. That kind of silly smile didn¡¯t fit her usual calm and elegant demeanor, so she hid it from Dion. She didn¡¯t want to ruin her image in front of him, after all.

    ¡°Why are you hiding your face from me again?¡± Dion whined like a child. ¡°I want to see your face, Lady Paige. And...¡± He fell silent for a while as if he was gathering the courage to speak his mind. ¡°And I want to hold hands.¡±

    She gasped softly.

    [He wants to hold hands already? But it¡¯s only been a year since we officially started seeing each other with marriage in mind! I didn¡¯t know that Dion is this... manly.]

    She slowly removed the book from her face and shyly took a peek at him.

    Dion looked at her with a soft expression on his face, then he shyly offered his hand to her. ¡°May I?¡±

    Still embarrassed, she nodded her head while putting the book down on the floor. Then she put her hand in his a bit too eagerly. ¡°We¡¯re going too fast, don¡¯t you think so?¡±

    He shook his head while entwining their fingers together.

    Now she felt her cheeks get flushed.

    Dion just didn¡¯t hold her hand- he even entwined their fingers together!

    [Do young people of this generation move this fast when seeing each other?]

    She didn¡¯t hate it, though.

    ¡°Actually, I want to do something else. Not now, but maybe soon,¡± Dion said shyly. This time, his face had turned red and he couldn¡¯t even look her in the eye. Ah, he must really be embarrassed. ¡°I want to embrace you, Lady Paige.¡±

    Okay, that made her blush even more.

    ¡°I want a hug, too, but my heart isn¡¯t ready for that kind of skinship yet,¡± Paige said shyly. This time, she averted her gaze away from him because she was too shy to see his reaction. ¡°Can you wait until I¡¯m ready to be held, Dion?¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± Dion, who was clearly embarrassed yet excited like her, said while gently squeezing her hand. ¡°I¡¯ll wait for you, Lady Paige.¡±

    ***

    JURI WAS pissed.

    She was already worried about Princess Neoma because of the appearance of a boy who apparently looked like Emperor Niki¡¯s son. As if that wasn¡¯t enough, she had to deal with her older brother who went to see her just to say nonsense.

    ¡°Consider my allegiance with Prince Nero?¡± Juri asked her older brother. Of course, when she said ¡®Prince Nero,¡¯ she actually meant Princess Neoma and not the recovering Crown Prince. ¡°Brother, are you holding a grudge against Prince Nero because he exposed our family¡¯s corruption regarding the Hisa Tree issue?¡±

    Justin Wisteria, her older brother and the sessor of House Wisteria, flinched as if he was guilty since she hit the bull¡¯s eye. ¡°It¡¯s not like that, Juri,¡± he said softly. Although her brother looked tough, he was actually a coward deep inside. ¡°I just want our family to make a wise decision regarding our position since I heard that a boy who could be His Majesty¡¯s older son has appeared-¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re a schr, brother. So, you¡¯re supposed to be smart,¡± she said, cutting him off with an ¡°innocent¡± smile. ¡°Why are you saying dumb things now?¡±

    Her brother¡¯s face turned red, as if he was embarrassed. ¡°Juri, I¡¯m still your older brother. You should respect me-¡±

    ¡°Did you respect my decision when I said ¡®no¡¯ to the marriage interview that our family wants me to attend? You didn¡¯t, did you?¡± she snarled at her older brother. ¡°You still sent my profile to the marriage interview organizer, even though I made it clear that I¡¯m not interested in getting married.¡±

    Not now, at least.

    She was open to the possibility since she didn¡¯t hate the idea of getting married and having children. But she wanted to do it at her own pace.

    ¡°Juri, you¡¯re already in your twenties. I¡¯m just worried about you,¡± Justin insisted. ¡°Girls younger than you are already married with good families. Do you want to be like our Aunt Sera who¡¯s growing old alone?¡±

    ¡°Aunt Sera isn¡¯t that old yet, and she¡¯s perfectly happy with her single-blessedness.¡±

    Her brother¡¯s eyes went wide. ¡°Are you saying that you want to be like Aunt Sera?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s none of your business, brother.¡±

    ¡°Juri Wisteria, how can I leave you alone when you keep on making worrisome decisions?¡± Justin said, then he let out a frustrated sigh. ¡°As if pledging your loyalty to the Crown Prince without consulting our family first wasn¡¯t bad enough-¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s your problem with the Crown Prince?¡±

    ¡°Well, if an older prince appears, the current Crown Prince might not be able to keep his position,¡± her brother said worriedly. ¡°After all, most nobles don¡¯t like Prince Nero because of his Roseheart Blood. So, I have reasons to believe that His Royal Highness doesn¡¯t have what it takes to be the future emperor.¡±

    ¡°Is that your honest thoughts as the sessor of House Wisteria, brother?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Justin said confidently. ¡°What about it?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll cause the downfall of our family then, since you don¡¯t have the eye for judging the right people to follow,¡± she said while shaking her head. ¡°Brother, you should be thankful thatdies aren¡¯t allowed to inherit titles. If wepete as the sessors of House Wisteria, I¡¯ll definitely beat you without that much effort.¡±

    ¡°Juri Wisteria!¡±

    Juri just rolled her eyes before walking out.

    When she got out of the mansion, she saw Jeno Dankworth waiting by the gate with a nk look on his face.

    [He¡¯s spacing out again.]

    ¡°Hey,¡± Juri greeted Jeno when she stood in front of him. ¡°I didn¡¯t ask you to pick me up, did I?¡±

    Jeno focused his gaze on her face, but he still had that stupid look on his face. ¡°Juri, have you ever been scolded by the old people in your household? Including the ones from the vassal families?¡±

    ¡°I think that¡¯s a universal experience for every noble child in the empire.¡±

    .....

    ¡°What did you do then?¡±

    ¡°Well, I followed my Aunt Sera¡¯s advice, so I made a scene by smashing the table to shut the oldies up,¡± she said. ¡°Why were you scolded by your family?¡±

    ¡°They were forcing me to get married already.¡±

    She let out a frustrated sigh. ¡°I had the same argument with my brother just now.¡±

    ¡°Your family also wants you to get married?¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately, yes.¡±

    ¡°Then... should we just get married to get them off our backs?¡±

    To say that she was surprised would be an understatement.

    But to be honest, it didn¡¯t sound so bad.

    [Jeno and I used to fight a lot in the past. But after spending the past few years together, we learned how to avoid getting on each other¡¯s nerves. Perhaps we¡¯ve also matured.]

    But she knew that it wasn¡¯t the only reason for their peacetely.

    [Jeno fights with Xion more these days, so he doesn¡¯t have time to piss me off.]

    She raised an eyebrow at him. ¡°So, like a contract marriage?¡±

    Jeno nodded firmly. ¡°You get it. We don¡¯t need to live as a married couple. After all, we¡¯re just going to get married for the sake of shutting our families up.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not a bad idea. Let¡¯s talk about it more,¡± Juri said while nodding, then she gasped softly. ¡°But how will we tell our ¡°mother¡± about our marriage?¡± She addressed Princess Neoma as their ¡°mother¡± because she couldn¡¯t carelessly mention her name outside. ¡°I bet she¡¯ll freak out.¡±

 Chapter 512

    Chapter 512: DETHRONEMENT AND DIVORCE (3)

    ¡°WELCOME, gentlemen,¡± Nero greeted half of the Twelve Golden Families representatives who had arrived earlier than the others. ¡°Father is still talking with the Daltons, so allow me to entertain in the meantime.¡±

    The representatives who arrived early were the following: Duke Rufus Quinzel, Duke Arman Winchester, Count Emerson Zachary, Marquis Russell Spencer, and Marquis Vincent Lennox.

    If he remembered it correctly, Duke Quinzel and Marquis Lennox belonged to the Royal Faction. While Duke Winchester, Count Zachary, and Marquis Spencer belonged to the Noble Faction.

    [The Noble Faction, huh? I guess I can toy with them. Neoma ignored them, but they could be useful when controlled properly.]

    Anyway...

    After exchanging half-hearted pleasantries with the nobles, he ushered them to the tearoom that was reserved for esteemed guests. Since he was surrounded by other nobles, Lewis had to stand behind his chair instead of guarding outside the tea room.

    Only after the tea was served did he break the silence.

    .....

    ¡°Marquis Lennox, congrattions,¡± Nero said, smiling at the old man. It was the smile that he practiced a lot in order to imitate Neoma¡¯s cheerful disposition. ¡°I haven¡¯t heard the full report yet, but it¡¯s pretty much confirmed that Lady Juliet Dalton is indeed Lady Juliet Sloane.¡±

    ¡°¡®Lady Juliet Sloane?''¡± Marquis Lennox asked in disbelief. ¡°Even though you are the Crown Prince, you do not have the right to address Her Majesty casually.¡±

    ¡°Save that for when Lady Sloane gets reinstated as the empress, Marquis Lennox,¡± Nero said, then he sipped his tea. ¡°When Lady Sloane ¡°died,¡± her name was removed from the Royal Household along with her title as the empress. Do you really need me to remind you of thew?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re being too arrogant now, Prince Nero.¡±

    He just smirked as a response because he found it funny to be called ¡®arrogant.¡¯

    [Oh, you should meet my twin sister if you want to see the personification of arrogance, you old man.]

    ¡°I was the one who helped you be the Crown Prince,¡± Marquis Lennox said in a threatening voice. ¡°I can only take that way from you at any moment.¡±

    ¡°Marquis Lennox,¡± Duke Quinzel said, calling the marquis as if he was giving him a warning. ¡°Are you threatening the Crown Prince now?¡±

    The old marquis scoffed. ¡°I¡¯m only speaking the truth, Duke Quinzel.¡±

    Duke Quinzel was about to retort, but he raised his hand to stop the duke.

    ¡°It seems like you¡¯re already thinking of crowning your ¡°grandson¡±, Lord Calyx, to be the new heir apparent, Marquis Lennox,¡± Nero said, smiling. ¡°Am I right?¡±

    The old marquis just sipped his tea.

    [He¡¯s being too obvious.]

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about your grandson¡¯s position, Marquis Lennox,¡± Nero said, prompting the marquis to look up at him with furrowed eyebrows. ¡°I already expressed my desire to step down as the Crown Prince to His Majesty.¡±

    Everyone in the room, except Lewis, looked shocked by his revtion.

    ¡°Prince Nero, what are you saying?¡± Duke Quinzel asked. The duke was vaguely informed by the emperor about their n. But, perhaps, the duke didn¡¯t expect him to announce it to the other nobles this early. Hence the surprise. ¡°You¡¯re stepping down as the Crown Prince? And what did His Majesty say about it?¡±

    ¡°Why do you all look shocked?¡± Nero asked, letting out a sarcasticugh. ¡°I heard that most of the nobles have already sent letters to my father, asking His Majesty to reconsider changing the Crown Prince.¡± He put the teacup down on the saucer. ¡°How cute.¡±

    ¡°Your Royal Highness is stepping down just because of that?¡± Marquis Spencer, the noble that Neoma would often call ¡°seaweed hair,¡± said in a sarcastic manner. ¡°I didn¡¯t peg Your Royal Highness to be someone who gives up without a fight.¡±

    ¡°Do you not possess the abilities to back up your arrogance, Prince Nero?¡± Count Zachary asked condescendingly. ¡°I must say that I¡¯m quite disappointed.¡±

    ¡°I feel the same,¡± Duke Winchester said, smirking haughtily. This old man was even looking at him like he was some pest, and he wasn¡¯t trying to hide it. ¡°Your Royal Highness, I was looking forward to a bloody session war.¡±

    ¡°Marquis Spencer, Count Zachary, Duke Winchester, you¡¯re crossing the line,¡± Duke Quinzel warned the three gentlemen.

    ¡°Let them bark, Duke Quinzel. Dogs aren¡¯t allowed in the pce, so it¡¯s nice to hear a simr sound that they make here,¡± Nero said casually, hisment earning a death re from the three offended noblemen. ¡°Don¡¯t give me that look. After all, I¡¯m giving you the opportunity of a lifetime, so you should be grateful to me.¡±

    Now, the nobles were confused.

    Even Duke Quinzel, who was taking his side from the beginning, looked like he didn¡¯t know what was going on anymore.

    Nero put a hand over his chest while looking at Duke Winchester- the leader of the Noble Faction who would attack the Royal Family for every little thing. ¡°Once I get dethroned, there will be chaos within the Royal Family. You can say that we will be vulnerable at that moment. Wouldn¡¯t it be the perfect opportunity for the Noble Faction to tear the monarchy apart?¡±

    ¡°Prince Nero!¡± Marquis Lennox, the leader of the Royal Faction, yelled at him angrily. ¡°Your words are bordering on treason!¡±

    This time, not even Duke Quinzel could defend him.

    ¡°Why should I care? I¡¯ll get dethroned soon anyway,¡± Nero said, smiling. Then he turned to Duke Winchester again. ¡°I¡¯m rooting for you and your faction, Duke Winchester. And since I¡¯m openly supporting you, let me give you a piece of advice: if you want to tear the Royal Family apart, then why don¡¯t you begin investigating the former Empress Juliet?¡±

    Marquis Lennox mmed his hands on the table, his bloodlust directed at Nero.

    It looked like the old marquis would attack him at any moment.

    Thus, Lewis drew his sword and pointed the de at Marquis Lennox.

    ¡°Move,¡± Lewis said indifferently. ¡°You. Die.¡±

    ¡°Marquis Lennox, calm down,¡± Duke Quinzel said threateningly. ¡°I won¡¯t just sit and watch if you try to harm the Crown Prince.¡±

    The warning from Lewis and Duke Quinzel was enough for the marquis to hide his bloodlust.

    Nero wasn¡¯t done provoking Marquis Lennox yet, so he continued his ¡°conversation¡± with Duke Winchester who looked like he was being tempted by his ¡°support¡± already. ¡°Duke Winchester, don¡¯t you think it¡¯s going to be so entertaining if we find out that a certain monarch who faked their death returned to the pce after joining an evil organization¡ª an organization that may ruin the empire and hurt the people? Will that person still be considered a monarch then?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re the one crossing the line now, Prince Nero,¡± Marquis Lennox said angrily. ¡°Are you implying that my granddaughter is a traitor?¡±

    Nero turned to the old marquis. ¡°Did I mention Lady Sloane¡¯s name?¡±

    For that, Marquis Lennox kept his mouth shut as a response.

    ¡°If a former monarch returns and we get to prove that they betrayed the throne and put the people of the empire in danger...¡± Duke Winchester said, then he smirked. ¡°The Royal Family will receive the wrath of the people.¡±

    ¡°And now, you have the perfect opportunity to dismantle the monarchy that you hated so much,¡± Nero said, smiling. ¡°Good luck, Duke Winchester.¡±

    ¡°Do you n to revive the Roseheart n, Prince Nero?¡± Marquis Spencer asked, then he scoffed. ¡°I heard that male Rosehearts were supposed to be special. Is that the reason why you¡¯re willing to give up the throne this easily?¡±

    ¡°My Roseheart Blood is indeed special, but that¡¯s not the reason why I¡¯m giving up my position as the Crown Prince.¡±

    ¡°Then what is Your Royal Highness¡¯s reason for stepping down?¡± Count Zachary asked curiously. ¡°We weren¡¯t born yesterday, so we don¡¯t believe that Your Royal Highness will step down as the Crown Prince without a proper reason.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s simple, really,¡± Nero said, then he smiled. ¡°I just want to show you that even if I step down as the heir apparent to the throne, the crown will still choose me.¡± He sipped his tea before he spoke again. ¡°After all, the de Moonasterios don¡¯t need the throne- it¡¯s the throne that needs a perfect de Moonasterio like me to sit on it.¡±

    ***

    NEOMA hugged herself when she suddenly felt the chills. ¡°Oh, god. What was that?¡± she asked herself while rubbing her arms. Gosh, look at those goosebumps. ¡°Why do I feel like Nero just let his intrusive thoughts win and allowed his lunatic side toe out and destroy the hell out of the annoying nobles in the pce?¡±

    ¡°Eomma, that¡¯s so oddly specific,¡± Greko, who was helping her choose flowers in the garden, said whileughing. ¡°Do you feel what Prince Nero feels because of your special bond as twins?¡±

    ¡°Sometimes,¡± she said with a shrug. ¡°But maybe I¡¯m just worried. I know that I let Nero handle the power struggle in the pce because I can¡¯t be bothered with politics. However, I¡¯m starting to regret it.¡±

    ¡°But why would eomma regret it?¡±

    ¡°Because Nero is crazy,¡± she said bluntly. ¡°Crazy in a scary sense, you know. If he¡¯s a meme, then he¡¯d be the child smirking in front of the camera while a house is burning down behind him.¡±

    Greko tilted his head to one side while smiling apologetically at her. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I don¡¯t really get it, eomma.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± Neoma said, then she changed the topic while looking at the pretty and colorful flowers in front of them. ¡°Let¡¯s just choose the best flowers to give Rutoter.¡±

    Yes, she was choosing flowers to give him.

    And yes, the floating ind was about to nd.¡±

    Neoma was on her way to the East Continent, and she couldn¡¯t visit Ruto empty-handed, right?

    [Ruston Stroganoff, you better give me a warm wee or else...]

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 513

    Chapter 513: DETHRONEMENT AND DIVORCE (4)

    [DAEBAK! IT¡¯S like magic!]

    Wait.

    That was definitely magic.

    Neoma was amazed while watching everything unfold right before her pretty, ash-gray eyes as she stood on the balcony of her vi, aka her ¡°retirement home.¡±

    The floating ind was about tond.

    At first, there was nothing but a barrennd below. All she could see earlier was cracks all over the dry soil. But as the floating ind got closer and closer to the ground, the barrennd got greener and greener.

    Before she knew it, the boring brown soil below had turned lush green.

    .....

    And it didn¡¯t end there.

    It began with a single pink flower that blossomed out of nowhere.

    Then a white one appeared.

    After that a purple flower.

    Followed by the rainbow colors.

    It didn¡¯t take a while before the entire green field was covered with colorful flowers. Even the smell around had changed. Now a sweet flower scent had been mixed in it.

    ¡°Whose idea is this?¡± Neoma asked, amazed. ¡°This is beyond my expectations.¡±

    ¡°We had a long brainstorming session before we came up with this idea, Princess Neoma,¡± Paige, who was standing behind her, said. ¡°But the magic isn¡¯t done yet. It will beplete once we finallynd.¡±

    Her smile grew wider. ¡°Well, I can¡¯t wait.¡±

    After a few moments, the floating ind finallynded.

    The ind ttened to the ground and the vinded in the middle of the flower field as if it had always been there. Even the vi¡¯s garden blended well with the flower field.

    When Neoma and her children stepped out of the vi, it began to transform.

    [Huh???]

    She watched in amazement as the vi quickly turned into a small mountain.

    Now the floating ind had disappeared.

    [Daebak indeed.]

    Neoma slowly pped her hands while looking at Paige, Juri, Jeno, Xion, and Greko who were all smiling warmly at her. ¡°My dear children, I¡¯m so proud of y¡¯all,¡± she said. ¡°Fortunately, you didn¡¯t inherit myck of creativity.¡±

    Yeah, she wasn¡¯t that creative.

    Maybe it had something to do with her blunt personality. The only time she would turn creative was when it was time to curse the hell out of somebody.

    ¡°We all want the best for you, Princess Neoma,¡± Juri said, then she grinned smugly. ¡°That¡¯s why we worked hard toe up with the best fortress for our family.¡± She pointed her hands to Paige politely. ¡°But we can¡¯t do any of this without Paige¡¯s magic, of course.¡±

    Jeno, Xion, and Greko pped towards Paige¡¯s direction.

    Paige shook her head politely. ¡°I could only do something like this because of everyone¡¯s input.¡±

    ¡°Gosh, my children are so humble,¡± she said. ¡°Are you really my children?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re only nice to you, Princess Neoma,¡± Xion said bluntly. ¡°We act like barbarians when you¡¯re not looking.¡±

    ¡°Speak for yourself,¡± Jeno said to Xion, but the marksman was looking at her. ¡°We always conduct ourselves properly, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, right,¡± Xion said sarcastically. The assassin was talking to Jeno but just like the marksman, the former was looking at her. ¡°A person who shoots first before asking questions sure is someone who conducts themselves ¡°properly.¡±¡±

    Jeno red at Xion.

    ¡°Jeno hyung, Xion hyung, please don¡¯t fight,¡± Greko, the real peace lover and peacemaker of the family, said. ¡°Eomma will be disappointed if you continue fighting.¡±

    She wanted to say that she enjoyed watching fights (especially since she knew that it was normal for siblings to bicker). But she didn¡¯t want to make Greko¡¯s job as the mediator difficult, so she just shut her mouth.

    ¡°You two should be embarrassed that our maknae is more mature than you,¡± Juri said while ruffling Greko¡¯s hair. ¡°Greko is the only decent son that you have, Princess Neoma. If Lewis was here, he would have bickered with Jeno and Xion, too.¡±

    Jeno and Xion both red at Juri.

    Neoma wanted to defend Lewis¡¯ honor as the oldest son, but nothing came out of her mouth since she could imagine Lewis bickering with Jeno and Xion.

    [Yep, Greko is best boy. Sorry, Lewis.]

    ¡°It¡¯s good to see you kids getting along well,¡± Neoma said to stop her children from bickering. ¡°But it¡¯s time for us to leave. So, how do we get to the East Continent? We can¡¯t use a teleportation spell since it¡¯s too far. Plus, I heard that it¡¯s difficult to enter the East Continent illegally.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll enter the East Continent through a luxury cruise ship, Princess Neoma,¡± Juri said excitedly. ¡°Since we no longer need to hide your identity as much as we did in the past, we thought you might want to travelfortably.¡±

    Her ears perked up. ¡°A luxury cruise ship?¡± she asked, smiling. Then she gave her children a double thumbs up. ¡°Gosh, you all know me so well. Good job, kids.¡±

    A luxury cruise ship for traveling to the East Continent didn¡¯t sound bad.

    Her children smiled proudly after gettingplimented.

    ¡°Paige, have you contacted Lady Sienna?¡± Neoma asked. Paige was in charge ofmunicating with the Sun Priestess, after all. ¡°Have you informed her that we¡¯ll be heading to their kingdom?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Princess Neoma,¡± Page answered. ¡°I¡¯ve also ryed your message for Chef Ruto.¡±

    The message that Neoma left for Ruto was simple: [¡°If you run or hide away from me, you¡¯re dead.¡±]

    Short but sweet, right?

    ***

    ¡°LORD RUBIN, we can board the cruise ship in a few minutes.¡±

    Rubin, who was sitting on the ufortable couch of a rental carriage, didn¡¯t even bother to look up at the attendant who informed him that they could board the cruise ship soon. He was busy reading the map in his hands. ¡°I told you to inform me once we¡¯re ready to board the ship,¡± he said. ¡°I don¡¯t need a reminder.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m just worried, my lord...¡±

    He finally raised his head to look at Albert- the butler that served him ever since he was a toddler. Albert was the only person who brought with him today.

    After all, his trip to the East Continent was a secret from his father.

    ¡°My lord, His Royal Highness the Crown Princess is about to attend the Royal Academy tomorrow,¡± Albert, who was sitting on the couch across from him, said worriedly. ¡°Duke Drayton said that it was imperative for my lord to greet the Crown Prince. His Grace also wanted my lord to get close to Lord Calyx Dalton.¡±

    He scoffed after hearing that.

    His father was truly a greedy person.

    The other nobles had already withdrawn their support for Prince Nero because most of them believed that Calyx Dalton, the emperor¡¯s apparent son with Empress Juliet who suddenly returned alive, would soon be the new Crown Prince.

    But his father considered the fact that His Majesty was fond of Prince Nero. After all, Prince Nero was the emperor¡¯s son with Lady Mona Roseheart- and everyone in the empire knew that Lady Roseheart was the only woman that His Majesty loved in his whole life.

    [Thus, Father wants to hold onto both Prince Nero and Calyx Dalton in the meantime.]

    And most of all...

    ¡°My lord, I heard that His Grace has also sent his elite knights to look for the hidden royal princess,¡± Albert added. ¡°It seems like His Grace wanted you to get engaged with the hidden royal princess again.¡±

    He crumbled the map in his hands.

    ¡°Father¡¯s greed knows no bound,¡± he snarled. ¡°He wanted to use me to get the royal princess to be a part of our family after that strange rumor spread.¡±

    ¡°The rumor about the royal princess being protected by the Cosmic Tree all this time?¡±

    He nodded bitterly. ¡°Father thinks that we can control the Cosmic Tree once I get married to the royal princess.¡±

    ¡°My lord, forgive me for what I¡¯m about to say,¡± Albert said, then he gulped before he spoke again. ¡°To be honest, I believe that Duke Drayton is being wise. The royal princess might not be worth that much if she¡¯s just a princess, since female de Moonasterios don¡¯t possess real power in the pce. However, if the royal princess is indeed connected to the Cosmic Tree, then it¡¯s a different story-¡±

    ¡°Shut up,¡± he said, cutting off Albert because he couldn¡¯t listen to his gibberish anymore. ¡°I don¡¯t care about the royal princess. As soon as find Regina, I will marry her.¡±

    He hadn¡¯t given up on Regina yet.

    The people he had hired years ago to find his beloved had finally found a trace that might help him find Regina.

    Thus, he took a leave of absence from the academy and headed out to the East Continent.

    ¡°My lord, you¡¯re only fifteen. You can¡¯t get married yet...¡±

    ¡°Thew on the East Continent is different,¡± he said. ¡°There are countries in the East that allow people as young as fifteen to get married.¡±

    Albert let out a sigh. ¡°My lord, your father will kill you if he finds out about this.¡±

    ¡°Father has been killing me little by little ever since I was born,¡± Rubin said bitterly. ¡°If I¡¯m going to die, then I¡¯d rather choose my death while having the freedom to do what my heart desires.¡±

    And his only desire was to be with Regina, of course.

    ***

    NOTE: Sorry, I failed the WIN-WIN after the promise I made. There was an emergency. It¡¯s kinda embarrassing, though. Haha!

    .....

    Actually, I saw my ie for Royal Secret this month. I panicked because it was the lowest that I¡¯ve ever received ever since I began writing RS. As you know, I gave up my day job in order to continue writing here. But the ie I received this month isn¡¯t sustainable (my mother is sick, and the meds are expensive). Plus, my brother is about to graduate so there¡¯s an additional bill to pay for.

    So, I ended up picking up a project again. Since I picked up a project with such short notice, I also had to finish it as quickly as I could. Thus, I¡¯ve been busy these days. (The updates for my other ongoing stories were already written weeks ago).

    I¡¯m really sorry for failing WIN-WIN this month, and for not being able to update these past few days.

    I need to work to survive, but I also love writing so I won¡¯t stop even if I gopletely broke (but I hope it doesn¡¯t happen haha). >.<

    Once I finish my project, I will post more.

    Let''s hope that my situation gets better next month. I''ll try my best to fulfill my promise of two updates daily for August.

    Thank you for waiting.

 Chapter 514

    Chapter 514: DETHRONEMENT AND DIVORCE (5)

    ¡°BUT WHY,¡± Niki said coldly while looking at Viscount and Viscountess Dalton. ¡°Why would you even think of recording an intimate moment such as a mother giving birth to her child?¡±

    Viscount Carter and Viscountess Joane Dalton flinched at his cold words.

    ¡°Your Majesty, is it really important why my parents decided to take a video of me giving birth to my child?¡± Juliet asked him hesitantly. ¡°I believe that my parents had to do that because of my situation. I heard that people who lost their memories would eventually retrieve their memories. And there were cases where the most recent memories would disappear once the old memories were retrieved. My parents probably took a video of me giving birth in order for me to remember that moment in case I forget it.¡±

    He didn¡¯t like how Juliet was defending her ¡°parents.¡±

    Seeds of doubt were starting to grow in his heart, after all. And Juliet was thest person he wanted to doubt.

    [The person who ¡°died¡± for me and Mona wouldn¡¯t betray us like this.]

    ¡°Viscount and Viscountess Dalton suspected that you were the supposedly dead empress,¡± Niki said indifferently. ¡°And yet, they still took a video of you giving birth. That itself is already a crime, Juliet. No one is allowed to see and touch the body of a monarch without permission.¡±

    .....

    Juliet looked afraid for her parents as she reached for the viscount and viscountess¡¯ hands. ¡°Your Majesty, please do not punish my mother and father. They just wanted to ensure that I won¡¯t forget about giving birth to my son.¡±

    That was obviously a lie.

    Calyx Dalton was the product of the crows¡¯ experiment.

    Obviously, Viscount and Viscountess Dalton had taken a video of Juliet giving birth to Calyx Dalton under the crows¡¯ order.

    [I just don¡¯t know how the crows made it look like Juliet was giving birth.]

    The video could be fake, though.

    ¡°Let¡¯s talk about Viscount and Viscountess Dalton¡¯s punishmentter,¡± Niki said indifferently. ¡°For now, I¡¯ll ask the Royal Archmage to see if the video is real or not.

    ¡°Before I leave, let me ask you a question, Juliet. Is it okay if I watch the video with the Royal Archmage?¡± he asked carefully. ¡°I have to see it with my own eyes, so I hope you understand.¡±

    ¡°I came here prepared, Your Majesty,¡± Juliet said determinedly. ¡°I don¡¯t really care about my own identity because I¡¯m already content with my life. But Calyx doesn¡¯t feel the same. He wants to reim his birthright as a prince. So as his mother, I¡¯m willing to do everything to prove my son¡¯s identity.¡±

    [Calyx Dalton is not your son, Juliet. He is not our son. I hate to see you this attached to that bastard.]

    That was what he wanted to say, but he had to hold back.

    ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t trust Your Majesty, but I also want to prove my son¡¯s identity to the other nobles,¡± Juliet insisted in a soft yet determined voice. ¡°Your Majesty, I¡¯m giving you my full consent to allow the necessary people to watch the video as well.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll talk about that once I proved that the video is real,¡± Niki said, holding back his urge to grab Juliet by the shoulders and shake her in hopes of snapping her back to reality. He hated the fact that Juliet had to show that video to the other nobles just to prove Calyx Dalton¡¯s identity. ¡°Stay here until we¡¯ve verified the authenticity of the video.¡±

    ***

    ¡°YOUR MAJESTY, I regret to inform you that the video is real.¡±

    Niki felt a thump in his heart after hearing Abigail Barlowe¡¯s report.

    Abigail Barlowe was the Royal Archmage, and the head of the Royal Tower. The woman with short blonde hair and blue eyes looked like she was only in her thirties. But she was way, way older than that.

    [Archmages live long while looking youthful thanks to magic.]

    He summoned the Royal Archmage into his office to check the device handed to him by the Daltons.

    The video-recording device that he received from them was a pretty old model. It was a stone tablet the size of a regr paper. The surface was smooth, and it had a transparent ss screen where the moving images were shown.

    He watched the video with Abigail Barlowe.

    Juliet was modestly covered while giving birth. Thankfully, the video didn¡¯t focus on her private part. Even so, the angle of the video clearly showed that a baby came out of her. He couldn¡¯t watch it properly in order to protect Juliet¡¯s privacy, but Abigail Barlowe confirmed that Juliet wasn¡¯t faking it.

    ¡°The device and the video itself weren¡¯t tampered with in any way,¡± Abigail Barlowe continued with her report. ¡°I cannot confirm if thedy in the video was truly Empress Juliet, but the possibility is high.¡±

    ¡°Did Juliet really give birth in that video?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty,¡± the Royal Archmage said. ¡°I was there when Your Majesty and thete Princess Nichole were born, and I saw the same bluish light that covered Your Majesty and thete Princess Royal when the baby came out. Calyx Dalton was covered in the same bluish light. That means the video really captured the moment that he was born in this world.¡±

    He let out a frustrated sigh.

    Now he knew why the crows were very confident. The evidence in their hands was solid. It wasn¡¯t something that he could easily refute.

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand how this could be real,¡± Niki said, his jaw clenched. ¡°Calyx Dalton was two years older than my children.¡±

    A rumor had already spread that Nero had a twin sister, so he was talking about the royal twins more openly now. Moreover, their family already decided to add Neoma to the Royal Household Registry soon. Thus, he wouldn¡¯t hide his daughter anymore.

    ¡°Juliet is already gone two years before the twins¡¯ birth,¡± he said while washing his face with his hands.

    And Juliet died while they were trying to free the Soul Beasts.

    In order to help him and Mona escape the ¡°cage,¡± Juliet had to sacrifice herself. In the end, she was locked up in the cage. No living could survive in that dimension, so the moment that the door closed, he knew that Juliet already died then.

    ¡°Your Majesty, it¡¯s true that Empress Juliet was dered dead after that unfortunate incident,¡± Abigail Barlowe said. ¡°But didn¡¯t Empress Juliet¡¯s body appear a few months before Prince Nero and Princess Neoma were born?¡±

    He froze when he remembered what happened in the past.

    Along with that, he was also reminded of his conversation with Nero a few years ago. That cunning son of his found out the truth about Juliet¡¯s death back then.

    [¡°Are Neoma and I really twins?¡±]

    [¡°You know that thete empress died before you and Neoma were born, don¡¯t you?¡±]

    [¡°No, the empress disappeared a few years before we were born. Her body was found just a few months before our birth.¡±]

    He didn¡¯t give Nero a direct answer back then.

    But his son was right.

    During the time that Mona hadpletely hidden herself away from him after running away with Gavin Quinzel, he had searched for her using unconventional ways. One of those was opening different dimensions with the help of his Soul Beasts. Since Mona was a Roseheart, she was capable of living in dimensions where living humans weren¡¯t allowed.

    Back then, he identally opened the dimension where the souls of the old emperors lived while guarding the cage of the Soul Beasts.

    There, he found Juliet¡¯s lifeless body.

    When he was kicked out of the cage, Juliet was thrown away with him.

    [Her body was preserved, but it was definitely lifeless.]

    But since the real cause of thete empress was hidden, only he and a few close friends and family members knew that Juliet¡¯s body was finally returned to the living world. After that, they quietly buried her body in the Royal Shrine.

    ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking, Abigail Barlowe,¡± he said while shaking his head. ¡°But Juliet¡¯s ¡°dead¡± body was stuck in the cage where the souls of the dead emperors dwell. It¡¯s a ce that not even the crows could reach.¡±

    ¡°Ah, Your Majesty is right,¡± Abigal Barlowe said while nodding her head. ¡°If Your Majesty allows it, I can check up on Empress Juliet to see if her body was modified in any way.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll have to ask Juliet¡¯s consent for that. It¡¯s her body, after all,¡± Nikid said firmly. ¡°For now, I want you to modify the video before we show it to the other nobles in order to protect Juliet¡¯s privacy.¡±

    ***

    ¡°WHAT did you do to Kyle Sprouse?¡±

    Nero rolled his eyes at Lewis. ¡°Will it kill you if you spoke politely to me, Lewis Crevan?¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Lewis said bluntly. ¡°What did you do to Kyle Sprouse?¡±

    Right now, the two of them were climbing up the staircase on their way out of the basement prison where Kyle Sprouse was imprisoned.

    Raven was in the pce, so today must be the day the crows would help Kyle Sprouse escape. Thus, he decided to visit the count and give him a little ¡°souvenir.¡± He couldn¡¯t kill Kyle Sprouse yet, but he could slowly punish him for hurting his family.

    ¡°Why are you asking me that when you saw everything anyway?¡± he asked Lewis with knitted eyebrows. ¡°I only talked to him.¡±

    ¡°You whispered something in his ear.¡±

    ¡°So?¡±

    ¡°Kyle Sprouse looked strange after that,¡± Lewis said. ¡°I know you did something else other than to whisper in his ear.¡±

    Ah, as expected of the person who could tell him and Neoma apart (during their disguise) at one nce.

    Lewis noticed that something changed in Kyle Sprouse after he whispered in his ear.

    ¡°Do you know that de Moonasterios are rewarded by a new power or ability once they ovee their Lunacy?¡± he asked Lewis, smirking. ¡°I heard Neoma opened a Hellgate during her time.¡±

    ¡°What did you get then?¡±

    ¡°Why are you so interested in the new ability that I gained?¡± he asked curiously. ¡°It¡¯s not like you to care about something that has nothing to do with Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Because your new ability gave me shivers,¡± the fox boy said bluntly, his golden eyes glowed warily. ¡°The new ability that you gained is as pure as a divine power from the Moon could get. But at the same time, it¡¯s also full of malice. If you use that on Princess Neoma-¡±

    ¡°Why would I use it on Neoma?¡±

    ¡°That new power that you gained seems to have a life of its own,¡± Lewis said in a low growl. ¡°And I don¡¯t think it¡¯s capable of telling allies and enemies apart. It¡¯s too dangerous. I don¡¯t want it near Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s only because I haven¡¯t controlled it yet. Thus, I¡¯m using Kyle Sprouse as a guniea pig,¡± Nero said defensively, his eyes glowing red menacingly since Lewis¡¯ aura was getting hostile. ¡°I¡¯ll take full control of my new ability soon, so don¡¯t think about telling Neoma about this if you don¡¯t want to get stuck with me forever.¡±

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 515

    Chapter 515: DETHRONEMENT AND DIVORCE (6)

    ¡°NOW THAT everyone is here, let¡¯s watch the video that proves Juliet Dalton is the Empress Juliet that we lost many years ago,¡± Niki said indifferently. ¡°But before that...¡±

    He turned to Geoffrey Kinsley.

    Nero and the representatives of the Twelve Golden Families also turned to the Pdin who bowed to him before leaving the conference room.

    When Geoffrey Kinsley returned, he brought the Royal Archmage with him.

    Nero was the only one who obviously didn¡¯t care.

    The representatives, on the other hand, looked really surprised to see the Royal Archmage. This might even be the first time for the younger representatives to see the Royal Archmage in person. After all, Abigail Barlowe rarely appeared in public events.

    If he remembered it correctly, thest time Abigail Barlowe officially left the Tower was during his coronation when he became the emperor.

    .....

    That was how elusive the Royal Archmage was.

    Thus, everyone (except for Nero) looked surprised to see her now.

    ¡°Abigail Barlowe, the Royal Archmage, is here to exin the modification that she made to the video under mymand,¡± Niki said, snapping the representatives from their trance. Was that really mesmerizing for them to see the Royal Archamage? ¡°It¡¯s a grave sin to see and touch the naked body of a monarch without permission, hence the video had to be changed a little.¡±

    Abigail Barlowe nodded in agreement with his exnation, then she faced Nero and the representatives.

    After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the Royal Archmage went ahead to exin.

    ¡°I, the Royal Archmage, have verified the authenticity of the video,¡± Abigail Barlow said in a firm voice. ¡°I swear it on my name.¡±

    The representatives looked satisfied.

    Making an oath like that meant that the Royal Archmage couldn¡¯t lie or else she would die on the spot.

    ¡°But like what His Majesty said earlier, it¡¯s a sin to see and touch the naked body of a monarch without permission,¡± Abigail Barlowe exined. ¡°Thus, I had to blur the part where Empress Juliet¡¯s exposed body parts were exposed. I also cut the video short, since His Majesty and I believe that a mother giving birth to her child wasn¡¯t something that we should be watching in the first ce. You¡¯ll just see what you needed to see to confirm Empress Juliet¡¯s identity, along with the child¡¯s identity as a prince.¡±

    ¡°You heard us,¡± Niki said. ¡°Is there anyone who¡¯s not happy that we modified the video?¡±

    As expected, no one raised an objection.

    After all, even though the Royal Archmage served the Royal Family, everyone in the empire knew that Abigail Barlowe was a righteous person. The Royal Archmage was also one of the few people that led the rebellion with Niki after the previous emperor lost his mind.

    ¡°I would like to express my gratitude to Your Majesty and Royal Archmage Barlowe,¡± Marquis Vincent Lennox said politely. ¡°I know that watching the video is necessary, but I¡¯m not happy that my granddaughter¡¯s intimate moment while giving birth would be witnessed by a bunch of noblemen. However, my heart is now at ease after hearing that the video was modified to protect Empress Juliet¡¯s privacy.¡±

    The other noblemen, even the ones that Marquis Lennox was in dispute with, nodded in agreement.

    [After all, they highly respected Juliet as the empress.]

    ¡°Then can we start now?¡± Nero asked in a bored voice. ¡°Father, let¡¯s get this done and over with.¡±

    Niki suppressed a sigh.

    [Nero, can you at least pretend to be interested in things not rted to Neoma?]

    ***

    NIKOLAI thought that the crows couldn¡¯t shock him anymore- but they still seeded.

    This time, even the always calm and indifferent Nero looked shocked.

    It was already his second time watching the video.

    When he saw it the first time, he wasn¡¯t able to watch properly because he wanted to respect Juliet¡¯s privacy. But now that Abigail Barlowe had modified the video to only show them the things that they needed to see, the realization had finally hit him.

    [How?] Niki thought to himself in disbelief. [How did Juliet give birth to a de Moonasterio?]

    The bluish light that covered the newborn¡¯s body was the divine power unique to them.

    [Now I have no choice but to dere Calyx Dalton as a royal prince.]

    He turned to Nero.

    The shocked look on his son¡¯s face earlier was now gone. He could tell that Nero¡¯s brain was working overtime at the moment.

    [Nero and Neoma are the same.]

    Both his children were quick to adapt to whatever ball was thrown their way.

    [¡°It¡¯s alright, Father,¡±] Nero said to him using mind telepathy. It was easy for him and his children to talk mentally because their Soul Beasts served as the link to their minds. [¡°I¡¯m just shocked that the crows used this brain this time.¡±]

    He suppressed the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose.

    [Nero could be harsher than Neoma sometimes.]

    [¡°Father, congrattions. You just gained a new son.¡±]

    He turned to his son with a cold look on his face.

    To be honest, he already knew from the start that he couldn¡¯t deny Calyx Dalton of his right as a de Moonasterio. But it meant the young crow would also be acknowledged as his son with Juliet. Even if he denied that, people wouldn¡¯t listen to him.

    [¡°I¡¯m just joking, Father.¡±]

    [¡°Jokes are supposed to be funny, Nero de Moonasterio.¡±]

    [¡°It was funny to me, though.¡±]

    Niki suddenly missed Neoma. He¡¯d rather get cursed at by his daughter than hear his son¡¯s savage ¡°jokes.¡±

    [¡°Father, let¡¯s proceed with our n.¡±]

    [¡°The n where you want me to be a traitor to our own empire?¡±]

    [¡°No need to be sarcastic, Father,¡±] Nero said, then he turned to him with an expectant look on his face. [¡°I know that you love our family more than the empire anyway.¡±]

    Yes, Niki really missed Neoma.

    ***

    ¡°NOW THAT we know that Lady Juliet Dalton is the Empress Juliet that we thought was already dead, I¡¯d like to discuss what we must do next.¡±

    Niki already expected that Marquis Vincent Lennox would raise that issue immediately.

    Right now, they were in the conference hall.

    He sat on a fancy andfortable chair on the podium.

    Nero, the Crown Prince, was seated on the less fancy chair beside him. The two of them were facing the twelve representatives that upied the seats in front of the long table. Six noblemen on the left side, six on the right side.

    As expected, they sat ording to their factions: the Noble Faction on the left, the Royal Faction on the right.

    The Neutral Faction was scattered.

    ¡°I strongly suggest that Empress Juliet be reinstated as the empress now that she has returned alive,¡± Marquis Vincent Lennox said, then his eyes wandered to Nero. ¡°Moreover, the empress returned with a son.¡±

    Nero, who looked bored earlier, suddenly smiled brightly.

    Niki was startled a bit.

    [Nero looks exactly like how Neoma did while disguised as him. And that smile. That smile means danger.]

    ¡°Congrattions, Marquis Lennox,¡± Nero said cheerfully. ¡°You now have a great-grandson. Do you want me to throw a party for you?¡±

    Marquis Lennox red at the Crown Prince.

    Niki, on the other hand, realized what Nero was doing.

    [He¡¯s imitating how Neoma would interact with the nobles. Neoma probably taught Nero how to act around certain people.]

    He didn¡¯t want to say this, but the royal twins were indeed scary.

    [They can burn the world if they want to once they work together.]

    ¡°I don¡¯t appreciate your sarcasm during this important time, Your Royal Highness,¡± Marquis Lennox said.

    ¡°Then don¡¯t beat around the bush, Marquis Lennox,¡± Nero said, smirking like how Neoma would when being provoked. ¡°Do you think I do not know how to read between the lines? You¡¯re implying that a candidate to be the Crown Prince has appeared because of LADY JULIET SLOANE¡¯s return, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    Marquis Lennox looked really pissed when Nero addressed Juliet as dy¡¯ and not as ¡¯empress.¡¯

    But the Crown Prince wasn¡¯t wrong, thus the marquis ended up getting tongue-tied.

    ¡°I agree with Marquis Lennox¡¯s proposition to reinstate Empress Juliet as the Mother of the Empire.¡±

    It was Marquis Russell Spencer who said that.

    Now everyone¡¯s attention was on him.

    Niki had a hard time maintaining a poker face.

    Marquis Russell Spencer was a part of the Noble Faction. It was rare for him to agree with Marquis Vincent Lennox who was a part of the Royal Faction.

    But he knew what the bastard was doing.

    .....

    [Russell Spencer... he¡¯s doing this because he knows Mona is back.]

    ¡°Empress Juliet was and will always be the only woman who deserves to be the empress,¡± Marquis Russell Spencer said. ¡°But I understand that it must be difficult for His Majesty to reinstate Empress Juliet. After all, once it happens, His Majesty¡¯s marriage with Empress Juliet will also automatically get renewed.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I see,¡± Duke Arman Winchester said while nodding. ¡°Your Majesty, does your hesitation have something to do with Lady Mona Roseheart¡¯s return? Is that the reason why you do not want Empress Juliet to be reinstated?¡±

    ¡°Duke Winchester,¡± Rufus Quinzel said sternly. ¡°You¡¯re being disrespectful to His Majesty.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m only speaking the truth, though,¡± Duke Winchester said. ¡°Moreover, once Empress Juliet is reinstated, Prince Nero¡¯s position as the Crown Prince might get revoked with the appearance of an older prince.¡±

    Niki had to clench the armrests of his seat tight.

    But since he and Nero already predicted the course of this meeting, he immediately soothed himself down. Moreover, he was amazed by his son¡¯s mind.

    [Nero¡¯s prediction is correct.]

    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry about me,¡± Nero said casually. ¡°I actually talked to Father about stepping down as the Crown Prince.¡±

    Now the entire conference room became quiet.

    He heard that Nero had already announced his resignation to some of the nobles here. But they may have been still shocked to hear it from the Crown Prince again, which only meant that he was being serious.

    [Now it¡¯s my turn to shock them.]

    ¡°I didn¡¯t say that I will not reinstate Juliet as the empress.¡±

    Now the representatives were even more shocked.

    ¡°I will reinstate Juliet as the empress,¡± Niki dered firmly. ¡°Then I will file for a divorce.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 516

    Chapter 516: DETHRONEMENT AND DIVORCE (7)

    ¡°FILE a divorce?! Your Majesty, you¡¯re being cruel!¡±

    It was Marquis Vincent Lennox.

    [Of course, it will be him.]

    Niki already expected that the first person who would react strongly as soon as he mentioned ¡®divorce.¡¯

    ¡°Your Majesty, do you hate Empress Juliet that much?¡± Marquis Lennox asked angrily. ¡°How could you throw my granddaughter away like this?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not throwing Juliet away,¡± Niki said firmly. ¡°In fact, while our divorce is being processed, I will step down as the emperor. Then I will let Juliet be the empress regnant once our divorce ispleted.¡±

    The entire room fell silent for a moment.

    .....

    Only for a moment, though.

    Once everyone had gotten over their initial shock, the entire room boomed with several voices speaking at the same time.

    ¡°Your Majesty, I strongly oppose this,¡± Rufus Quinzel, who wasn¡¯t aware of the entire n, said firmly. ¡°Please rethink your decision!¡±

    ¡°This has never happened before, and it mustn¡¯t happen now,¡± Count Benjamin Russo, the de facto leader of the Neutral Faction who rarely spoke during their conferences, said in a loud voice. ¡°Your Majesty, this is a terrible mistake. I respect Empress Juliet as a person and as a leader, but she lost her memories. I don¡¯t think she¡¯d be capable of running the empire in her current state.¡±

    Marquis Vincent Lennox red at Count Russo, but the marquis didn¡¯t say anything. After all, the count was correct.

    And once again, Niki was terrified of Nero who also predicted that oue.

    [¡°Father, reinstating Lady Juliet Sloane as the empress is stupid because she lost her memories. How could she run the empire then? However, if we point that out, Marquis Lennox will make it out like we¡¯re just trying to put his granddaughter down. So, let the other nobles bring that up. The representatives of the Twelve Golden Families aren¡¯t stupid to let an amnesiacdy run the empire in your ce.¡±]

    And his son was correct.

    Someone else pointed out that Juliet wasn¡¯t fit to run the empire because of her current state.

    ¡°Your Majesty, if you¡¯re going to step down while your divorce is being processed, who¡¯s going to run the empire?¡± Duke Arman Winchester, the leader of the Noble Faction, asked calmly. It was surprising to see the duke acting calm because out of all the nobles in the room, Duke Winchester was the one who wanted to see the Royal Family crumble the most. ¡°I thought Prince Nero would also step down as the Crown Prince.¡±

    [Duke Winchester acting this way is probably because of Nero.]

    If he remembered it correctly, his son told him that during this chaos, he would mobilize the Noble Faction in order to crack the power that the Royal Faction have over the Royal Family.

    [Nero wants our family, the de Moonasterios, to regain its absolute power over the nobles.]

    ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± Niki confirmed while nodding. ¡°However, I will step down first before the Crown Prince.¡±

    Once again, the room fell silent.

    ¡°While my divorce is getting processed, I will lend Nero my power temporarily,¡± Niki dered. ¡°Once I leave this conference room, Nero will be the Acting Emperor.¡±

    ¡°But don¡¯t worry because I made an oath that I will quit being the Acting Emperor after Father¡¯s divorce is finalized,¡± Nero said, and his voice was calm and confident- making him sound trustworthy at the moment. ¡°Once everything is settled, I will dere Lady Juliet Sloane as the empress regnant. Then, finally, I will step down as the Crown Prince as I promised.¡±

    The noblemen looked too shocked to react.

    Niki wouldn¡¯t stop getting terrified of Nero¡¯s bold decisions. He remembered what his son told him about dering Juliet as the empress regnant.

    [¡°We will announce that we will dere Lady Sloane as the empress regnant once your divorce with her is finalized, Father. But don¡¯t worry because it won¡¯t happen. After all, only my Neoma deserves to be the first empress regnant in history. I won¡¯t let anyone steal that from my precious twin sister.¡±]

    Even though that was Nero¡¯s n, his son managed to sound sincere when he said that he would dere Juliet as the empress regnant soon.

    [The de Moonasterion blood running through Nero¡¯s veins is thick.]

    ¡°Your Majesty, what will you do once you stepped down as the emperor?¡± Marquis Lawford Gibson asked, confused. ¡°Will you be an ordinary nobleman, then?¡±

    [Ah, here ites.]

    Nero turned to him with sparkling eyes.

    God, for the first time in Niki¡¯s life, he wanted to smack his precious son in the head. After all, Nero looked so excited for him to drop their biggest surprise.

    [The ¡°cherry on top¡± that will probably turn me into a traitor.]

    ¡°I will leave the empire with Mona and Neoma- our daughter, and the one and only royal princess,¡± Niki dered, finally bringing up Neoma in the meeting. ¡°I heard that the East Continent is a beautiful ce to settle down with your family.¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty!¡±

    Wow.

    He never thought that the day the representatives of the Twelve Golden Families, even the weakest ones, would yell at him woulde.

    But here they were, openly scolding him as if he was a child.

    Niki didn¡¯t have to turn to Nero to know that his son¡¯s eyes were full of mirth.

    [Happy now, Nero de Moonasterio?]

    ¡°Your Majesty is the descendant of Lord Yule, and the Moon God governs over the West Continent!¡± Marquis Lennox reminded him harshly. ¡°How could the descendant of Lord Yule migrate to East Continent- thend that the Sun Goddess governs?¡±

    ¡°Why not?¡± Niki asked casually. ¡°No one listens to me these days anyway. Doesn¡¯t it mean you¡¯re trying to prove to me that you don¡¯t need me anymore?¡±

    The nobles who opposed thew that he proposed flinched.

    ¡°The Moon God and the Sun Goddess are good friends,¡± Niki said, smirking. ¡°I bet the East Continent will wee me with open arms. As a matter of fact, I believe that I will be weed anywhere in the world.¡±

    ¡°Of course, Father,¡± Nero said cheerfully. ¡°After all, Father is Niki de Moonasterio- the strongest man in the empire. It will be the West Continent¡¯s loss and not the other way around. It¡¯s about time to remind everyone that the de Moonasterios do not need the throne- the throne needs the de Moonasterios.¡±

    It was obvious that the nobles got the chills from Nero¡¯s words.

    Niki knew because he felt shivers down his spines, too.

    ¡°Even if it isn¡¯t the East Continent, I¡¯m sure Father can find a new ce to settle in,¡± Nero said with a shrug. ¡°How hard would it be for a de Moonasterio as capable as Father to build his own empire, right?¡±

    Niki grabbed the armrests of his chair.

    Nero¡¯s words were sharp, and he could tell that the nobles were starting to shake in fear. In fact, the atmosphere was already ominous.

    And yet, the Crown Prince was talking happily.

    ¡°But I guess Father needs a break from being the emperor, so please forget what I said about building a new empire for now,¡± Nero said while looking at him. ¡°Father, enjoy your vacation with Mother and Neoma in the East Continent. I apologize in advance because I won¡¯t be able to join you soon. After I dere Lady Sloane as the empress regnant, I have to visit the Spirit World first.¡±

    ¡°The Spirit World?¡± Marquis Frank Bsco, the member of the Noble Faction who was interested in Spirits, asked curiously. ¡°May I know why Prince Nero would need to visit the Spirit World?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± Nero said, smiling brightly. ¡°But all I know is Queen Tara, the Queen of the Spirit World, needs a sessor. I wonder why she would summon me when she¡¯s supposed to be looking for the rightful one to inherit the entire Spirit World?¡±

    Obviously, the Crown Prince was implying that Tara was considering him to be the sessor of the Spirit World.

    Niki wasn¡¯t sure if he should be proud or scared of his own son.

    ¡°I guess it¡¯s because I was born a male Roseheart, and I¡¯m supposed to be special or something,¡± Nero said casually. ¡°However, I believe my twin sister is more amazing. After all, the Cosmic Tree is fond of her.¡±

    That was a lie.

    It was only recently that the Cosmic Tree had reached out to Neoma. But Nero¡¯s confident voice would make anyone believe his lie easily.

    ¡°Oh, I apologize for praising my twin sister in front of you,¡± Nero said sarcastically. ¡°I forgot that most of you here are too blind by their prejudice to see how amazing our Roseheart Blood is. I hope I didn¡¯t give you indigestion.¡±

    This time, Niki pinched the bridge of his nose.

    [Nero and Neoma are really twins.]

    Most of the nobles, the ones who bullied Mona in the past, looked offended by Nero¡¯s direct insult. However, none of them could retort to the Crown Prince.

    ¡°But hey, lucky you, because you still have Calyx Dalton,¡± Nero said in a cheerful voice. ¡°He doesn¡¯t have a Soul Beast, but at least he¡¯s a de Moonasterio born from your beloved empress, right? I mean, a Soul Beast is what makes a de Moonasterio unique from the other royal families out there. But what can I do?¡±

    The Crown Prince extended his right hand.

    In just a few moments, the beautiful blue phoenix appeared and stood gracefully on Nero¡¯s right hand. The ice wolf also appeared and settled at the Crown Prince¡¯s feet.

    The representatives of the Twelve Golden Families looked amazed by Nero¡¯s beautiful and strong-looking Soul Beasts. This was the first time that Nero showed off his ice phoenix, so most people was surprised to know that he possessed two Soul Beasts.

    ¡°You prefer Calyx Dalton, who doesn¡¯t have a Soul Beast over me just because you hate my Roseheart Blood,¡± Nero said indifferently. ¡°But cheer up. At least Calyx Dalton has an Elemental Guardian. Isn¡¯t the White Lion the symbol of the Royal Family or something?¡± The Crown Prince smirked while touching the head of the ice phoenix with his finger. ¡°I thought Elemental Guardians are supposed to be rare, though. But I know at least two more people who have them aside from Calyx Dalton. And one of them happens to be amoner.¡±

    The nobles who looked down on themoners flinched.

    Nero didn¡¯t lie, though.

    [After all, Dahlia who owns an Elemental Guardian is amoner.]

    By stating that, Nero was saying that anyone could own an Elemental Guardian- evenmoners.

    However, only the royal family could own a Soul Beast.

    [And nobles aren¡¯t fascinated with things that evenmoners can gain.]

    Thus, the nobles¡¯ admiration for Calyx Dalton¡¯s Elemental Guardian would fade once the fact that amoner also had an Elemental Guardian was exposed to the public.

    ¡°The Soul Beasts, the Spirit World, the Cosmic Tree,¡± Nero said nonchntly. ¡°I wonder how stronger the empire will be if the Spirit World and the Cosmic Tree break their neutrality to support the current Royal Family.¡±

    [Nero is practically telling the nobles what he could offer as the Crown Prince.]

    The greedy nobles who would benefit from a stronger empire gulped.

    .....

    Most of them were from the Noble Faction. Even though that faction hated the Royal Family, it didn¡¯t mean they didn¡¯t benefit from a strong empire.

    ¡°But I guess we¡¯ll never know,¡± Nero said, addressing the nobles with a gaze colder than his Soul Beasts¡¯ ice. ¡°Luckily, the empire will still be fine because you have Calyx Dalton, who came from your perfect empress.¡± He put his other hand over his chest. ¡°I sincerely pray that Lady Sloane regains her memories soon so she could run the empire with her son. I¡¯m sure Calyx Dalton could offer something else aside from his ¡°perfect¡± bloodline once he bes the new Crown Prince. Nothinges to my mind at the moment, but I guess he has a cheerful personality?¡±

    Niki had to fake a cough to conceal the fact that he almostughed at Nero¡¯s sarcasm.

    [Neoma, your twin brother is scarier than you even though he doesn¡¯t curse like you do.]

    Nero making fun of the nobles for choosing Calyx Dalton was something that he didn¡¯t imagine his son could pull off.

    But here they were now.

    ¡°Nero, it will be a problem if more than half of the representatives of the Twelve Golden Families died because of your sharp words,¡± Niki said, then he stood up. ¡°Let¡¯s end the conference here.¡±

    Of course, the noblemen reacted desperately.

    ¡°Your Majesty, please reconsider your decision!¡±

    ¡°Goodbye, gentlemen,¡± Nero said to the nobles before following him. ¡°Good luck on having Calyx Dalton as the future emperor.¡±

    Niki waited until they were far from the conference hall before he spoke to his son.

    It was safe to talk now that only Lewis Crevan and Geoffrey Kinsley were walking behind them as they headed back to the Yule Pce.

    ¡°Nero, are you satisfied now?¡±

    ¡°Not yet,¡± Nero said indifferently. ¡°Father, you lost your absolute power over the nobles because you ascended the throne by force. Thus, you can¡¯t even pass a single Emperor¡¯s Decree.¡±

    The Emperor¡¯s Decree was the emperor¡¯s right to pass aw without needing the Twelve Golden Families¡¯ approval.

    It was something that he had to sacrifice when he usurped the throne in the past.

    Since the previous emperor didn¡¯t pass the throne to him willingly, he had to gain the approval of the nobles. One of the things that they had asked of him was to give up his right to make the Emperor¡¯s Decree. He was in a tight spot back then, so he agreed to their terms in order to avoid spilling more blood.

    [If I killed them all back then, the empire would have been invaded by the other forces who wanted to swallow us. We would have lost if we were attacked by invaders while we haven¡¯t recovered yet from the rebellion that I started.]

    Thus, he chose to make a deal with the nobles in order to unify the empire.

    [I didn¡¯t want the people to suffer because of my pride, so I chose to give up the Emperor¡¯s Decree.]

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Niki said while nodding. ¡°The nobles became arrogant because of that.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll retrieve it for you,¡± Nero said, then he turned to him with a smug look on his face. ¡°Father, I¡¯m sorry, but I¡¯m going to be a better emperor than you. In my reign, I assure you that the Royal Family will be at its strongest. And once I reach the peak of power, I will pass the throne to Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes, you do that,¡± he said, and he wasn¡¯t being sarcastic.

    Unlike his father, the previous emperor, he didn¡¯t have the desire to cling to power.

    He actually wouldn¡¯t mind to pass the throne to either Nero or Neoma at this very moment if he could. Unfortunately, it wasn¡¯t easy to do that.

    ¡°Father, pack your things now,¡± his son told him. ¡°I want you and Mother to head to the East Continent before the day ends.¡±

    ¡°Alright,¡± Niki said, since he had already discussed that n with Mona in advance. ¡°What do you n to do?¡±

    ¡°Get ready to school,¡± Nero said, then he smirked. ¡°And wait for those arrogant nobles to grovel before me.¡±

    ***

    ¡°NO! NO! NO!¡± Callisto de Luca, who was forced to return to his terrible human form that made him look like a melting candle shaped like a man, screamed after receiving the bad news from Raven. ¡°Niki and Nero de Moonasterio cannot abandon the throne at the same time! Calyx isn¡¯t enough to keep the throne alive! That child is perfect as a de Luca, but he¡¯s nothing as a de Moonasterio!¡±

    When they said Calyx was the perfect Masterpiece, they only meant it within the de Luca standards.

    And they needed to butter up the child in order for him to be obedient.

    Thus, they had to raise him while showering him with praises.

    However, in reality, Calyx was just a pawn slightly better than his cousins.

    ¡°His Majesty and Mona Roseheart already left the pce after His Majesty officially filed for divorce, Your Excellency,¡± Raven said while kneeling and bowing in front of him. ¡°They are really headed to the East Continent.¡±

    He let out a bloodcurdling scream.

    East Continent?

    Of all ces, Niki de Moonasterio- the descendant of Yule, and the most perfect de Moonasterio in history- chose the East Continent that was governed by the Sun Goddess?!

    As Yule¡¯s brother, he was insulted.

    ¡°W-What should we do now, Your Excellency?¡±

    ¡°What else do you think?!¡± Callisto de Luca yelled at Raven, still enraged. ¡°Tell Calyx to negotiate with Nero de Moonasterio- bring Niki de Moonasterio back even if it means giving up on reinstating Juliet de Moonasterio as the empress!¡±

    ***

    ¡°THANK YOU, Marquis Lennox.¡±

    Vincent Lennox red at Duke Arman Winchester.

    The obnoxious duke approached him after the emperor and the Crown Prince had left the conference room.

    ¡°Thanks to your greed to get your granddaughter reinstated as the empress, we lost Emperor Niki- the mostpetent emperor in history,¡± Duke Winchester continued with his sarcasm, then he patted his shoulder. ¡°Soon, we¡¯ll lose Prince Nero to the Spirit World. I don¡¯t think your grandson has what it takes to run the empire well. So, I¡¯ll be resting in thefort of my own home while watching the monarchy crumble.¡±

    ¡°If you think the Royal Family will crumble just because of this, you¡¯re wrong,¡± Vincent Lennox said indifferently, then he turned his back on the duke who justughed at him.

    Deep inside his heart, he knew that Duke Winchester was right.

    [Empress Juliet has lost her memories, so he can¡¯t guide Calyx well.]

    Speaking of his grandson...

    [Howe a de Moonasterio doesn¡¯t possess a Soul Beast?]

    He already felt a headacheing.

    [At this rate, once the news spread across the continent, everyone would me me and Empress Juliet for losing Emperor Niki.]

    He fell into a trap set up by the Crown Prince.

    ¡°Prince Nero,¡± Vincent hissed to himself while clenching his hands tight. ¡°That damned Crown Prince found a way for people to dread Empress Juliet¡¯s return instead of celebrating it!¡±

    ***

    ¡°SIENNA, please kill me now!¡± Manu, drunk as hell now, whined. ¡°Those crazy de Moonasterios will end up killing me anyway.¡± He thumped his chest with his fist. ¡°Have you ever heard of the emperor and the Crown Prince ¡°quitting¡± at the same time? Abandoning the throne to migrate to the East Continent? Hah!¡±

    He knelt on the ground with his hands sped together while looking up at the ceiling.

    It was a good thing that he and Sienna were in the private lounge of a bar.

    ¡°Lord Yule, just take me with you!¡± he begged the Moon God. ¡°I can¡¯t handle your descendants anymore!¡±

    He was still angry at the current de Moonasterios for their decision to stop the new saint from being born a saint.

    Thus, he rarely showed up in front of the Royal Family.

    He only went out of his hiding when Sienna, the Sun Priestess, reached out to him because apparently, Niki de Moonasterio had requested to enter the East Continent with Mona Roseheart. Moreover, Neoma de Moonasterio was also headed that way.

    [Oh, Lord Yule...]

    ¡°Stop being so dramatic,¡± Sienna said while shaking her head. ¡°His Majesty and the Crown Prince won¡¯t abandon the throne for real. This is just a part of their n.¡±

    ¡°What n?¡± he snarled. ¡°Their n to kill me out of frustration? I knew it. I shouldn¡¯t havee out of my slumber.¡±

    The Sun Priestessughed at him. ¡°Prince Nero even dragged the Spirit World and the Cosmic Tree into this mess.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not defending that crazy Crown Prince, but I can see where he¡¯sing from,¡± he said, slightly sober now. ¡°Since the Spirit World and the Cosmic Tree obviously need something from him and Neoma de Moonasterio, maybe he thinks it¡¯s only right for him to use them as he pleased.¡±

    Sienna clicked her tongue while shaking her head. ¡°My old friend, I understand how you must feel as someone who serves that crazy family.¡± She patted him on the back. ¡°So drink as much as you want- it¡¯s on me.¡±

    Manu nodded firmly. ¡°I hope I pass out from too much drinking and only wake up when the de Moonasterios finally be sane again.¡±

    ***

    [WHY DO I like his face so much?]

    Neoma hated how she thought Rubin was beautiful as soon as their eyes met.

    It was a beautiful night.

    She was spending a pleasant evening away from her ¡°children¡± while having a leisure walk on the luxury cruise ship¡¯s deck when, unexpectedly, she saw the person that she least expected to see there.

    That pretty shade of blonde...

    Those mesmerizing light blue eyes...

    [Rubin Drayton.]

    ¡°That face...¡± Rubin Drayton said, frowning. ¡°You look like the female version of the Crown Prince...¡± He trailed off, then his eyes went wide. ¡°Oh.¡±

    She didn¡¯t want to be mobbed by strangers, so she dyed her hair ck using Paige¡¯s magic.

    And earlier, she walked around with Jeno¡¯s Mist spell in order to avoid people¡¯s gaze. However, since she was about to sleep before she decided to take a walk, she removed Paige¡¯s magic. She wore a hat, but it wasn¡¯t enough to hide her long hair.

    ¡°You must be her,¡± Rubin Drayton said indifferently. ¡°The hidden royal princess.¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m not so hidden anymore,¡± Neoma said, shrugging. ¡°I heard from one of my children- I mean, people that you were looking for me.¡±

    Xion was still connected to the information and assassin guild that he grew up with.

    Everything rted to her was reported to Xion by his people.

    That was how she heard that Rubin Drayton was looking for the empire¡¯s hidden royal princess.

    ¡°Yes,¡± Rubin Drayton said. ¡°But now that I¡¯ve seen you, I guess the fortune that I spent to look for you wasn¡¯t worth it.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not as beautiful as I thought you¡¯d be,¡± Rubin Drayton said. And he said it calmly that let her know he wasn¡¯t being mean- he was actually being sincere. ¡°Your Royal Highness, you should have just stayed hidden where I can¡¯t find you.¡±

    [Wow, I¡¯m appalled by this young man¡¯s audacity.]

    ¡°Rubin Drayton, the ocean is dark and scary,¡± she said, then she gave Rubin Drayton a look full of pity. ¡°I wonder if Regina Crowell¡¯s dead body was thrown in the ocean or something, since you can¡¯t find her?¡±

    Rubin Drayton¡¯s handsome face was distorted with anger.

    Neoma smirked upon seeing that expression. ¡°And that¡¯s why you should have just kept your mouth shut, you fucking piece of shit.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 517

    Chapter 517: NEOMA¡¯S AT IT AGAIN

    [WHY AM I being threatened by a child?]

    Ruto was confused.

    ¡°Sienna, I am older than Princess Neoma, am I not?¡± Ruto asked the Sun Priestess while they were in the middle of filling the pirs in the portal room with their Mana. ¡°A four-year gap isn¡¯t small either.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re older than Neoma de Moonasterio by four years,¡± Sienna, who was obviously drunk, said while cing her hands on one of the four pirs in the portal room. ¡°The little bratty princess may look like she¡¯s sixteen or seventeen years old because she¡¯s tall and very pretty already, but she¡¯s only thirteen years old. Physically.¡±

    Right now, they were tasked by his mother to activate the portal room located in the Cyran Temple- the home of the Sun Goddess in the East Continent that belonged to the Solfrid n.

    It was the only portal in the East Continent that was directly connected to the West Continent. To be precise, the portal was connected to Astello Temple. Valmento, the country where the Astello Temple was located, was an independent state. However, it was still in the territory of the West Continent.

    [His Majesty and Lady Roseheart must travel to Astello Temple first, then use the portal there in order to arrive here safely.]

    .....

    Yes, Emperor Niki de Moonasterio and Lady Mona Roseheart were on their way there.

    His mother, Lady Yngrid Solfrid, received the request to open the portal only a few days ago. Since then, they had been busy preparing for the amodations of the emperor and his lover. Of course, that included opening the portal room for the first time in a long while.

    ¡°Why did you ask?¡± Sienna asked, then she turned to her with a curious look on her face. ¡°Are you curious because you fell in love with her at first sight?¡±

    ¡°I just can¡¯t believe that the princess threatened me.¡±

    Through Sienna, Princess Neoma warned him not to hide from her ¡°or else...¡±

    [That was a threat, wasn¡¯t it?]

    ¡°Aside from being older than her, I¡¯m also practically a royal of the East Continent,¡± hemented. ¡°After all, the king of the most powerful kingdom here in the East Continent is my uncle.¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh.¡±

    ¡°Even though she¡¯s a descendant of Lord Yule, I¡¯m the son of the God Among Gods,¡± he continued with hisints. ¡°If you think about it, we¡¯re on the same league. So how can she treat me this way?¡±

    ¡°Yoan?¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t deny it when I said you fell in love with the princess at first sight.¡±

    He opened his mouth to deny it, but no words came out of his mouth.

    [But I don¡¯t want to go to jail...]

    ¡°I didn¡¯t fall in love with her at first sight,¡± he denied firmly.

    ¡°Of course,¡± Sienna said,ughing like the drunk woman that she was. ¡°Because you never stopped loving her ever since you fell for her in the first timeline.¡±

    He couldn¡¯t give a retort.

    His mind wasn¡¯t in the right state at the moment.

    ording to Sienna, all his memories of Neoma de Moonasterio and the things rted to the two of them had been wiped away. Thus, even though he had memories of both his first life and the current, he still had no idea who the royal princess was in his life.

    But even though his mind couldn¡¯t remember...

    [I should die for getting attracted to a girl four-year my junior.]

    In his defense, the first time she saw Neoma de Moonasterio after his memories were wiped away, he saw her in her grown-up form.

    And he saw her face clearly.

    [That means her power is on the same level as divine beings.]

    ¡°Her face is absurd,¡± heined again. ¡°How can someone be that beautiful?¡±

    ¡°I agree,¡± the Sun Priestess said while nodding. ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio is so ridiculously beautiful. She has a rotten personality, though.¡±

    ¡°She wouldn¡¯t be a de Moonasterio if she was nice.¡±

    Not that he agreed Neoma de Moonasterio had a rotten personality.

    [And even if she did, why do I have a feeling that I wouldn¡¯t mind?]

    ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± Sienna agreed, then she clicked her tongue. ¡°Lord Yule and Lady Roxana are two of the nicest and the most kind-hearted divine beings ever. I wonder how the de Moonasterios ended up as crazy and as rotten as they do? My old friend Manu would die of frustration while serving their bloodline.¡±

    ¡°The Moon Priest?¡± he asked curiously. ¡°He has a cold image. I can¡¯t imagine him getting stressed out because of the de Moonasterios.¡±

    ¡°Pfft,¡± the Sun Priestess said, holding back herughter. ¡°Manu? Cold? Yoan, once you turn eighteen, you should go get a drink with Manu. You¡¯ll see his real personality once he gets drunk. He¡¯s just a man-child.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not that interested to get to know him, so I¡¯ll pass.¡±

    ¡°Of course, you¡¯re only interested in Neoma de Moonasterio.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not true.¡±

    ¡°Then name three things on your mind at the moment.¡±

    He bit his bottom lip to stop himself from talking. Thankfully, a distraction came in the form of Veton- his Elemental Guardian who wasn¡¯t supposed to be with him at the moment.

    Even Sienna was surprised by Veton¡¯s arrival.

    The Thunderbird, the size of a swallow bird at the moment, had popped up on top of his head without warning.

    [If I remember it correctly, Sienna said I ¡°lent¡± Veton to Princess Neoma.]

    ¡°What are you doing here, Veton?¡± Sienna asked curiously. ¡°Did Neoma de Moonasterio create another problem that will shake the entire world AGAIN?¡±

    Ruto looked at Sienna weirdly.

    [Why does she talk like Princess Neoma is a menace to the world?]

    ¡°Right,¡± Sienna agreed whole-heartedly. ¡°So, what happened this time?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s ridiculous,¡± Ruto said. And even to his own ears, he sounded annoyed. But why was he mad? Moreover, he knew who Rubin Drayton was since he had memorized all the nobles in both the East and West Continent. He just didn¡¯t understand why he was irked to hear Rubin Drayton¡¯s name. ¡°I mean, Princess Neoma is objectively beautiful...¡±

    He shouldn¡¯t really be calling the young princess ¡®beautiful,¡¯ but he couldn¡¯t help it.

    ¡°Yoan, beauty is subjective,¡± Sienna reminded him bluntly. ¡°She may be conventionally beautiful for most people, but you shouldn¡¯t expect everyone to find her pretty.¡±

    Right.

    However, he had this strong belief in his mind that Princess Neoma was the most beautiful girl in the entire world...

    [Have I gone crazy?]

    ¡°For me?¡± he asked. And admittedly, his heart skip a beat. He wouldn¡¯t admit it aloud, though. ¡°What is it?¡±

    He nodded a little too eagerly for his own liking. ¡°I don¡¯t mind.¡±

    Veton just nodded her small head.

    Oh.

    He got worried when he heard Princess Neoma¡¯s crying voice.

    Sienna, on the other hand, just rolled her eyes.

    Ex-fianc¨¦?

    Rubin Drayton was Princess Neoma¡¯s ex-fianc¨¦?

    [How loathsome.]

    Sienna rolled her eyes again. ¡°See? I told you. Neoma de Moonasterio¡¯s personality doesn¡¯t match her pretty face. She¡¯s sooo vain.¡±

    That was true, but he didn¡¯t find it repulsive, so he just kept his mouth shut.

    And that was the end of Princess Neoma¡¯s voice-recorded message.

    [That¡¯s... the girl that I apparently fell for?]

    Yeah, he could clearly see why and how.

    Sienna clicked her tongue. ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio is so obsessed with herself.¡±

    Uh-huh.

    But he found it endearing.

    ¡°Yoan, are you listening to me?¡± Sienna asked with furrowed brows. ¡°Why did you suddenly fall silent?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m thinking,¡± Ruto whispered, avoiding Sienna¡¯s judgmental look. ¡°I¡¯m thinking of a hundred ways to call someone beautiful without being creepy.¡±

    ***

    ¡°THAT¡¯S WHY you should have kept your mouth shut, you fucking piece of shit,¡± Neoma snapped at Rubin Drayton, savoring the angry look on his face. ¡°Don¡¯t dish it out if you can¡¯t take it when others do the same to you.¡±

    ¡°How did you know that I¡¯m looking for Regina?¡± Rubin Drayton snarled while walking furiously towards her. ¡°And how dare you imply that she¡¯s already dead?!¡±

    .....

    She was sure that he was about to grab her, so she prepared to defend herself.

    However, it wasn¡¯t needed.

    Rubin Drayton suddenly stopped moving when he realized that a blueser-like thing appeared between his eyes.

    [Ah, it must be Jeno pointing a gun at Rubin from afar.]

    Gosh, her ¡°son¡± was really bad-tempered.

    [I mean, Rubin is still a high-ranking noble dude...]

    The problem was, it wasn¡¯t only Jeno Dankworth.

    Xion Redgrave and Juri Wisteria appeared behind Rubin Drayton, and both her ¡°children¡± were holding their dangerous weapons. Sledgehammer for Juri, and a dagger for Xion. The two also had the same murderous look on their faces.

    [Scary...]

    ¡°I suggest you stop approaching Her Royal Highness in that manner, Lord Drayton.¡±

    It was Paige Avery, and she stepped out of the darkness with Greko.

    [Oh? The whole family followed me?]

    Gosh, her children¡¯s stealth skills had improved since she didn¡¯t notice them.

    Her thoughts got interrupted when Rubin Drayton clicked his tongue, clearly annoyed.

    The young lord didn¡¯t dare to move, but he had the audacity to re at her.

    ¡°This conversation isn¡¯t over yet, Your Royal Highness,¡± Rubin Drayton warned her, addressing her by her title sarcastically. ¡°You¡¯re going to tell meter what you know about Regina, Princess Neoma.¡±

    After saying that, he walked out of her like the loser that he was.

    Hmph.

    She didn¡¯t want to admit this, but her pride was hurt when Rubin Drayton called her ¡®ugly.¡¯ Well, he didn¡¯t really say that. But it still sounded the same to her. She knew that not everyone would find her beautiful, even so...

    [I don¡¯t need validation from me, but I don¡¯t want to hear that from Rubin Drayton of all people.]

    ¡°Your Royal Highness, are you alright?¡± Paige asked worriedly. ¡°Did the young lord hurt you?¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± she said, causing her ¡°children¡± to panic. So, she exined right away. ¡°Rubin said I wasn¡¯t pretty. My pride was hurt.¡±

    ¡°He must be blind,¡± Xion said bluntly. ¡°Don¡¯t pay attention to his words, Princess Neoma.¡±

    Juri nodded in agreement. ¡°You don¡¯t need that young lord¡¯s validation, Your Royal Highness.¡±

    ¡°Eomma is pretty!¡± Greko said cheerfully. ¡°Very, very pretty!¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Jeno, who suddenly appeared beside Juri, added. ¡°Rubin Drayton is a blind fool.¡±

    Paige nodded while gently patting Greko¡¯s head. ¡°Princess Neoma knows that well, right?¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± Neoma said, smiling. ¡°Thank you for cheering me up, kids.¡±

    To be fair, her ¡°children¡± really did cheer her up.

    However, after Rubin Drayton dampened her mood, she knew that only one person could make her feel betterpletely.

    That reminded her that she needed to ¡°bother¡± that person.

    [Veton, I know you¡¯re there,] Neoma said to herself. [Wake up and deliver my message to your master.]

    ***

    ¡°MY MESSAGE for Ruto is annoying, isn¡¯t it?¡± Neoma asked Juri and Paige whom she was sharing the luxury cabin with. It was a room for three people (three single beds, and one bathroom). The cabin reminded her of a premium hotel room back in Korea. ¡°You can be honest with me.¡±

    She recorded her message for Ruto with Veton¡¯s help in the cabin.

    Thus, Juri and Paige heard the cringe-y things that she had said to Ruto. But admittedly, her message for him was half-meant.

    ¡°It was not annoying, Princess Neoma,¡± Juri, who was drying her hair with a towel, said. ¡°I¡¯m just a little surprised. Your Royal Highness is usually confident about yourself, and you¡¯re not that entitled to believe that everyone will find you pretty.¡±

    ¡°Is it because it was Rubin Drayton who didn¡¯t acknowledge your beauty, Princess Neoma?¡± Paige, who was already sitting on her bed while holding a book on herp, asked carefully. ¡°Does he still affect Your Royal Highness?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like that,¡± Neoma said while shaking her head. ¡°I just want to annoy Ruto by acting spoiled, hence I sent him that kind of message.¡±

    Juri and Paige¡¯s expressions both asked her ¡®why,¡¯ so she exined.

    ¡°Ruto doesn¡¯t remember me yet,¡± she said, slightly bummed out. But what could she do? It was the consequence of her own action. ¡°I want to bother him, so I¡¯ll live in his mind rent-free.¡±

    Once again, her ¡°daughters¡± looked confused by her words.

    ¡°I just want him to think about me a lot,¡± she exined in simpler terms. ¡°Ruto doesn¡¯t have a favorable impression of me at the moment. I can¡¯t charm him with my current personality, since I¡¯m aware that I¡¯m hard to love.¡±

    She had a better personality during the first timeline, so Ruto probably found me easy to love back then.

    [I mean, a timid personality is better than a narcissistic personality for most people...]

    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s the case, Your Royal Highness,¡± Paige said gently. ¡°I haven¡¯t personally interacted that much with Lord Ruto yet, but based on the stories I¡¯ve heard, he seems to care about Your Royal Highness a lot.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± Juri agreed while nodding. ¡°You have a term that you often use for men like Lord Ruto, Princess Neoma. You would use it to describe His Majesty and Sire Glenn whenever they would act like lovesick fools for their partners.¡±

    Sheughed when she realized what Juri meant by that.

    ¡°A simp?¡± Neoma asked, stillughing. ¡°Yeah, Ruto is a big simp for me.¡±

    [I¡¯m not just sure if Ruto will still simp for me.]

    ***

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 Chapter 518

    Chapter 518: TYRANT IN THE MAKING

    ¡°WELCOME to Astello Temple, Your Majesty and Lady Roseheart.¡±

    Niki nodded at Dion Skelton¡¯s greeting as soon as he and Mona stepped out of the portal ced in one of Astello Temple¡¯s prayer room.

    He was also d to see that the former Pdin, now the temporary High Priest of the temple, heeded his request not to let the Holy Knights know about their arrival. The Holy Knights had been infiltrated by the crows once.

    It wasn¡¯t like he didn¡¯t trust the Holy Knights anymore.

    He just wanted to be more careful.

    ¡°Thank you, Dion,¡± Mona said to the former Pdin. ¡°It¡¯s nice to see you again after a long time.¡±

    Dion bowed to Mona politely. ¡°It¡¯s an honor to have the chance to serve you again, Lady Roseheart.¡±

    .....

    ¡°Unfortunately, we don¡¯t have time for pleasantries,¡± Niki said. ¡°Is the portal room connected to the Cyran Temple ready?¡±

    Only the de Moonasterion emperors, the guardians of the Cyran Temple, and the saint were aware of the existence of the portal room between Astello Temple and the Sun Goddess¡¯ temple. Not even the High Priests were aware of it.

    [And it¡¯s one of the reasons why I asked Dion not to tell the Holy Knights about our arrival.]

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty,¡± Dion answered politely. ¡°I¡¯ve already activated the portal room with my Mana.¡±

    After saying that, the former Pdin discreetly led them to the secret room.

    Of course, Dion only found the portal room connected to the Cyran Temple because he told him about it.

    ¡°How are the Holy Knights reacting to the news of Calyx Dalton being the first ¡°true¡± prince?¡± he asked while they were walking in the hallway as quietly as they could. ¡°The Holy Knights must be confused.¡±

    Dion let out a sigh. ¡°At first, they didn¡¯t care about the news of the apparent first prince because they only cared about Prince Nero. After all, they still believed that His Highness, the Crown Prince is the reincarnation of Nero Roseheart.¡±

    ¡°The first Holy Knight in history?¡± Mona asked curiously. ¡°Niki, what about it?¡±

    ¡°Ah, right. I haven¡¯t told you about the biggest scam that Neoma had pulled off to trick the Holy Knights into supporting her as the Crown Prince,¡± he said, then he turned to her. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you about itter.¡±

    Mona just smiled and nodded.

    He turned to Dion again. ¡°Have they changed their mind about supporting Nero?¡±

    ¡°The Holy Knights were shaken when they heard that Calyx Dalton has the White Lion, Your Majesty,¡± Dion reported to him. ¡°Now, they are questioning if Prince Nero is actually the First Star that will bring the new saint to the temple since Calyx Dalton is older than the royal twins.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± he said grimly. ¡°It seems like Yule¡¯s prophecy hase back to bite us in the end.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not too worried about the Holy Knights even if they switched sides, Your Majesty,¡± Dion said confidently. ¡°I don¡¯t think Prince Nero or Princess Neoma would want people who are easily swayed by unverified news anyway.¡±

    He smiled at what the Pdin said. ¡°You¡¯re right. My children wouldn¡¯t need those kinds of people.¡±

    ¡°However, we cannot underestimate the influence that the Holy Knights possess,¡± Mona, his voice of reason, said worriedly. ¡°Niki, the Astello Temple also helped you ascend the throne in the past. If the former saint didn¡¯t support you then, the people wouldn¡¯t have epted you as the new emperor after you killed your own father for the throne.¡±

    ¡°Mona, I understand your concern,¡± he said softly. ¡°However, the true influence that the Astello Temple of the past hade from the former saint and not the Holy Knights themselves. Once Neoma brings the true new saint to the temple, everything will be solved. Moreover, Nero intends to expose Calyx Dalton soon.¡±

    Mona still looked worried, but she nodded in the end. ¡°I¡¯m not happy that we¡¯re relying too much on our children, Niki.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t like it either, Mona,¡± he said while shaking his head. ¡°However, such is a fate of a de Moonasterio. The royal children, unfortunately, do not get to have a normal childhood. Since we were born with the ability to mature faster than average people, we were also expected to act like adults early on.¡±

    Mona looked sad after hearing that.

    It was already toote for Nero and Neoma to have a normal childhood.

    Their son was currently turning the empire upside down while ying with politics, while their daughter was busy making deals with divine beings. Wherever you looked at it, Nero and Neoma could never be normal children because of their brains that worked differently.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Mona,¡± Niki encouraged her, then he held her hand and gently squeezed it. ¡°We may have failed to give Nero and Neoma a normal childhood. But we can protect their happiness this time.¡±

    Mona smiled and nodded. ¡°Sounds like a great n.¡±

    ***

    ¡°THIS IS amazing, Niki,¡± Mona said, amused. ¡°This is the most fascinating portal ¡°room¡± that I¡¯ve ever been to.¡±

    Most portal rooms would just lead you to a long and in hallway.

    But the portal room that was connected to the Cyran Temple of the East Continent was a whole RIVER. And the vehicle that they were using to travel? A cabin that navigated the river like a boat.

    ¡°It¡¯s like we¡¯re in an underground river,¡± she said while looking around. ¡°The ceiling and the walls of the portal room resemble a cave.¡±

    And the ¡°cave¡± walls were shining against the darkness because of the crystals attached to them.

    Plus, the river itself was beautiful. The surface of the water sparkled like little diamonds. And the water lilies? They were shining, too. There were also some special kinds of fish swimming under the cabin as if they were guiding them to the right path.

    ¡°Yes, this portal room is really beautiful,¡± Niki said as he joined her on the balcony of the cabin to watch the beautiful sight around them. ¡°This is already my third time using this portal room, but it never fails to fascinate me.¡±

    The cabin that served as their ¡°cruise ship¡± was good for a family of four.

    It had two bedrooms. The master bedroom had a big bed in it and an adjacent bathroom. On the other hand, the second bedroom had two single beds. There was a separate bathroom and toilet in the shared space.

    There was also a small living room, a small kitchen, a dining hall with a table for four, and a balcony.

    ¡°Ah, there are food and drinks enough tost us a week,¡± Niki said, then he shook his head. ¡°Dion packed a lot, even though we will only stay here for a day.¡±

    A normal boat from the West Continent would take at least a month to reach the East Continent by the sea. And it would take longer than that if the boat or the ship would need to stop in many ports.

    A luxury cruise ship headed to the East Continent from the West Continent would only take about a week since most luxury cruise ships had built-in portals. Of course, those luxury ships had permission from the cities or countries in the itinerary to use the portals, hence the price of the tickets for those kinds of ships was astronomical.

    ¡°It¡¯s amazing how it will only take us a day to reach the East Continent,¡± Mona said, amused. ¡°It¡¯s fast and efficient.¡±

    ¡°Well, to be fair, the length of the journey that this portal room depends on the amount Mana used to activate it,¡± Niki exined. ¡°I heard that Ruston Stroganoff and the Sun Priestess activated the portal room in the Cyran Temple with their Mana. Hence, it will only take us a day to reach the East Continent.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± she said, then she teased him. ¡°Niki, our future son-inw is impressive.¡±

    ¡°Son-inw?¡± Niki scoffed. ¡°There¡¯s no such person in this world, Mona.¡±

    She justughed at Niki¡¯s pettiness.

    But her joy didn¡¯tst long. After all, she was really worried about the twins. Especially now that they weren¡¯t with their children.

    ¡°We¡¯ll meet Neoma in the East Continentter, so I¡¯m a little relieved,¡± she said. ¡°However, I¡¯m worried about Nero. He¡¯s alone in the pce now. Worse, he¡¯s surrounded by the crows. Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s irresponsible of us to run away together and leave everything to Nero?¡±

    ¡°I hate to say this, but right now, Nero isn¡¯t our son,¡± Niki said firmly. ¡°We¡¯re following the orders of the future emperor. I can feel it in my bones- my time as the emperor is almost over.¡±

    Of course, she worried after hearing that. ¡°Niki, your Moonglow...¡±

    He smiled at her sadly. ¡°At first, it was only Neoma who absorbed my Moonglow. But recently, ever since Nero woke up from his deep slumber, he began absorbing my Moonglow, too.¡±

    ¡°That has never happened before,¡± she said in disbelief. ¡°Only the heir to the throne is supposed to absorb the current emperor¡¯s Moonglow.¡±

    ¡°Mona, both Nero and Neoma are destined to sit on the throne.¡±

    She already knew that.

    But, somehow, hearing that after learning that Niki was getting weaker day by day because their twins were absorbing his Moonglow, made her face the cruel reality.

    ¡°This is why I didn¡¯t want to tell you about it, but I know you¡¯d be more upset if I kept it a secret from you,¡± Niki said, then he cupped her face between his hands. ¡°However, can you keep this a secret from our children? I don¡¯t want my circumstances to hold them back from aplishing their goals.¡±

    She frowned at his request. ¡°Niki, you...¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t die, Mona,¡± he assured her.

    ¡°Lies,¡± she said, upset. ¡°No emperor in history survived after their sessor had absorbed their Moonglow.¡±

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll be the first,¡± he said casually. ¡°Isn¡¯t it our family¡¯s expertise to make history?¡±

    She was upset a moment ago.

    But after hearing Niki¡¯s confident words, her heart was put at ease. After all, he was right. Their family had set several precedents already.

    The emperor was right.

    [Nero was the first male Roseheart born in our household after a long time, and Neoma was prophesied to be the first empress regnant.]

    ¡°I won¡¯t let you die, Niki,¡± Mona promised, then she wrapped her arms around Niki¡¯s waist and buried her face against his chest. ¡°I¡¯ll fight the heavens if I have to just to keep you by my side.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s reassuring to hear,¡± Niki said,ughing. Then he wrapped his arms around her. ¡°I won¡¯t die, Mona¡ª I won¡¯t leave you and our precious twins alone.¡±

    ***

    ¡°YOUR ROYAL Highness, please change your mind.¡±

    Nero had to hold back hisughter when he was greeted by old men as soon as he stepped out of his pce.

    He purposely prepared for school early, but these old geezers were quick.

    [They¡¯re notplete, though.]

    Out of the representatives of the Twelve Golden Families, only eight had showed up to beg him: Duke Rufus Quinzel, Marquis Vincent Lennox, Count Sean Dankworth, Marquis Lawford Gibson, Count Benjamin Russo, Count Larry Dankins, Count Tyler Lhesi, and Viscount Austin Morrisey.

    [As expected, the Noble Faction didn¡¯t show up.]

    ¡°Change my mind about what?¡± Nero asked indifferently. ¡°About stepping down as the Crown Prince? About reinstating Lady Juliet Sloane as the empress? Or about processing my father¡¯s divorce once Lady Sloane became the empress again?¡±

    .....

    Since his father already left the pce with his mother, his immediate power as the Acting Emperor was now in effect.

    That was the reason why it wasn¡¯t only Lewis who was standing behind him.

    He also had Geoffrey Kinsley following him around. The royal knights were also under hismand now, thus he was surrounded by more knights than usual.

    [So bothersome.]

    ¡°Your Royal Highness, please stop everything and ask His Majesty to return,¡± Duke Quinzel begged him. ¡°Let¡¯s discuss the problem more thoroughly this time.¡±

    ¡°The problem doesn¡¯t lie with me and my father, Duke Quinzel,¡± Nero said to the duke, then his cold eyes wandered to Marquis Vincent Lennox, then he smiled. ¡°I wasn¡¯t the one who kept pushing his granddaughter to be reinstated as the empress.¡±

    Marquis Lennox flinched at his sarcasm.

    ¡°I heard you took Lady Sloane and Calyx Dalton home after the conference, Marquis Lennox,¡± Nero said,ughing. ¡°Did you have a fun family reunion?¡±

    Much to his surprise, the marquis lowered his head towards him.

    ¡°I recognize that I¡¯ve been arrogant and hasty, Your Royal Highness,¡± Marquis Lennox said calmly. ¡°I beg Your Royal Highness¡¯ forgiveness.¡±

    Nero raised an eyebrow. ¡°And...?¡±

    ¡°Please forget about reinstating my granddaughter as the empress,¡± Marquis Lennox said. ¡°And please don¡¯t step down as the Crown Prince. My great-grandson Calyx doesn¡¯t wish topete for the throne.¡±

    Oh?

    He didn¡¯t expect Marquis Lennox to back down this easily.

    [Did Calyx Dalton say something to the marquis?]

    Well, it didn¡¯t matter.

    [This proves that the crows really need either me or my father to sit on the throne.]

    ¡°Is that all?¡± Nero asked in a bored manner, then he pulled out his pocket watch to check the time. ¡°If you have nothing else to say, then excuse me. I don¡¯t want to bete for school.¡±

    ¡°Your Royal Highness, please wait a moment,¡± Count Benjamin Russo said a little firmly. ¡°What can we do to make you change your mind?¡±

    The other nobles agreed with Count Russo¡¯s ¡°offer.¡±

    [They¡¯re desperate to the point that they¡¯re willing to negotiate?]

    But these nobles had forgotten one important thing when it came to negotiation.

    [The one with the upper hand rules.]

    ¡°You should ask yourselves that,¡± Nero said as he walked past the nobles. ¡°What can you offer me?¡±

    While passing them by, he subtly gave Duke Rufus Quinzel a knowing look.

    Duke Rufus Quinzel gave a slight nod as a response.

    [Now, it¡¯s your turn to y your role, my future father-inw.]

    ***

    ¡°ARE YOU trying to give me indigestion?¡± Neoma asked the rude dude who joined her table without permission. ¡°I¡¯m holding a bread knife, so don¡¯t try me.¡±

    Rubin Drayton rolled his eyes at her. ¡°I told you, didn¡¯t I? Our conversation isn¡¯t over yet.¡±

    Right now, the two of them were in the dining hall of the cruise ship for breakfast.

    Her children were upying the tables around her while ring at Rubin Drayton.

    She didn¡¯t want to gain more attention. Even though she dyed her hair with magic to hide the fact that she was a de Moonasterio, her beautiful face still gained attention- especially unwanted attention from men who thought she was already sixteen. After all, she was tall.

    Anyway...

    Greko was supposed to join her, but Rubin Drayton beat him to it while the child was getting an omelette.

    ¡°Gosh, you¡¯re so annoying,¡± sheined while spreading butter on her bread with the knife that she wanted to impale Rubin Drayton with.

    ¡°How did you know I¡¯m looking for Regina?¡± Rubin Drayton asked while ring at her. ¡°How did you even know her when you were supposed to be hiding in the Cosmic Tree¡¯s dimension all this time?¡±

    Oh.

    [He¡¯s using his brain this time.]

    ¡°You hired people to look for me,¡± she said. ¡°I didn¡¯t like it, so I hired people to investigate you. That¡¯s how I found out that you¡¯re looking for a girl who may or may not be dead already.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re very obnoxious, do you know that?¡±

    ¡°Thanks,¡± she said sarcastically. ¡°I love being obnoxious to people like you.¡±

    ¡°How much do you know about Regina?¡±

    ¡°I just know that you¡¯re obsessed with her,¡± she said, then she paused before she raised her head to meet Rubin Drayton¡¯s light blue eyes. Gosh, how could someone so horrible possess such pretty eyes, huh? ¡°If we were engaged, you would betray me for her, wouldn¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°We wouldn¡¯t have gotten engaged in the first ce,¡± he said bluntly. ¡°I would rather die than marry you.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t tempt me,¡± she warned him. ¡°I could marry you out of spite just to see you die little by little every fucking day.¡±

    His jaw clenched. ¡°You-¡±

    ¡°Why are you headed to the East Continent?¡± she asked, cutting him off. ¡°Did you get a tip that Regina Crowell is on the East Continent or something?¡±

    Rubin Drayton red at her. ¡°That¡¯s none of your business.¡±

    ¡°Then fuck off,¡± Neoma said, then she took a bite of her toast while giving Rubin Drayton a dead look. ¡°This conversation is over now, Rubin Drayton.¡±

    ***

    HANNA should have known that Nero would also turn the academy upside down...

    ... and make her his ¡°aplice¡± to the crime.

    [Dear Mother and Father, your daughter has be a delinquent on her first day of school.]

    Right now, she was literally covering up Nero¡¯s crime using her Veil of Darkness.

    Inside the Veil, Lewis was beating up the noblemen that were foolish enough to pick on Nero earlier. Of course, Lewis was only beating them to a pulp under the Crown Prince¡¯s order.

    [Dear Neoma, your ¡°son¡± Lewis has also turned into a delinquent knight under Nero¡¯smand. I¡¯m sorry, I failed to protect Lewis. I thought it would be better to let him beat our schoolmate because if I let Nero go ballistic on them, he would just kill those kids.]

    Well, those young lords were the same age as them.

    But she got influenced by Neoma who would refer to everyone around them as ¡°kids.¡±

    ¡°Nero, that¡¯s enough,¡± Hanna said firmly when she thought the kids that Lewis was beating up wouldn¡¯tst long. ¡°Tell Lewis to stop.¡±

    Nero looked at her with a raised eyebrow. ¡°Why? I¡¯m not yet done punishing them.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re going to die at this rate,¡± she said firmly. ¡°That¡¯s enough punishment.¡±

    She heard what the kids had said earlier that made Nero mad. Thus, she kind of understood where Nero¡¯s anger wasing from. However, too much violence was too much.

    ¡°I¡¯m not satisfied yet,¡± the Crown Prince said, his eyes turned glowing red.

    [Ah, he¡¯s losing it again.]

    There was only one way to stop Nero from falling into his Lunacy state.

    ¡°I¡¯ll tattle on Neoma if you don¡¯t stop this instant.¡±

    Nero clicked his tongue, his eyes returning to normal immediately. ¡°Lewis,¡± he said as he turned to the fox boy. ¡°Stop.¡±

    Hanna secretly let out a relieved sigh.

    [Nero is turning into a little tyrant.]

    ***

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 Chapter 519

    Chapter 519: THE CROWN PRINCE¡¯S GRAND SCHEME

    ¡°DUKE WINCHESTER, I don¡¯t think you see the big picture here,¡± Rufus said to Duke Arman Winchester, the leader of the Noble Faction. ¡°I know that you¡¯re watching everything unfold with glee because you believe that the monarchy is about to get abolished.¡±

    ¡°Well, isn¡¯t that the case, Duke Quinzel?¡± Duke Arman Winchester scoffed. ¡°His Majesty already ran away to the East Continent, and Prince Nero took an oath to step down once he reinstated Lady Juliet Sloane as the empress, and processed His Majesty¡¯s divorce.¡±

    He sipped his tea before he spoke. ¡°I didn¡¯t know that you were this small-minded, Duke Winchester.¡±

    ¡°Did you visit my manor just to insult me, Duke Quinzel?¡±

    That was right.

    Rufus was the one who visited Duke Arman Winchester.

    Thus, he was having tea in the older duke¡¯s drawing room. Since they were having a confidential conversation, only the two of them were inside the room while Jaxson Emmett, the vice-captain of his private army, was waiting for him outside.

    .....

    The Noble Faction didn¡¯t show up earlier to beg for Prince Nero¡¯s forgiveness. But he had already expected that.

    [Prince Nero predicted the Noble Faction¡¯s movements.]

    Andst night, the Crown Prince sent him a letter.

    It was a short message and yet, Prince Nero had clearly told him how to deal with Duke Arman Winchester. After all, once he convinced Duke Winchester, the other members of the Noble Faction would follow the older duke¡¯s movement.

    [Hence, Prince Nero told me that I only need to convince Duke Winchester to follow the n.]

    ¡°I¡¯m not insulting you, Duke Winchester,¡± Rufus said calmly. ¡°I¡¯m criticizing you.¡±

    Duke Winchester knitted his eyebrows. ¡°How am I small-minded?¡±

    ¡°The monarchy won¡¯t be abolished even if His Majesty and Prince Nero left the Royal Family,¡± he said in a serious voice. ¡°If His Majesty and Prince Nero left, Lady Juliet Sloane would be reinstated as the empress and Lord Calyx Dalton would be dered as the new Crown Prince. Thus, there will only be a change to the session line. However, the Royal Family will remain and the monarchy will still be the form of government in the empire.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s easy to solve since Prince Nero has been generous to us by revealing the weaknesses of Lady Sloane and Lord Calyx,¡± the older duke said haughtily. ¡°Lady Sloane could never run the empire properly since she lost her memories. On the other hand, Lord Calyx doesn¡¯t have a Soul Beast. Having an Elemental Guardian can¡¯t cover up that fact.¡±

    ¡°Like I said, you¡¯re being small-minded, Your Grace,¡± he said. ¡°Lady Sloane and Lord Calyx would still be the empress and the Crown Prince respectively because of Marquis Lennox¡¯s support. He¡¯s the most influential noble in the empire, and you know that.¡±

    Duke Winchester flinched.

    [Now we¡¯re talking.]

    It was scary how Prince Nero knew how to make Duke Winchester react to their ns.

    ¡°The Twelve Golden Families reign over the empire,¡± he continued in a firm and convincing voice. ¡°House Quinzel, my family, rules the South Region. Count Benjamin Russo, Count Larry Dawkins, Count Tyler Lhesi, and Viscount Rustin Morrisey rule the North Region.¡±

    Yes, those who belonged to the Neutral Faction (Count Russo, Count Dawkins, Count Lhesi, and Viscount Morrisey) ruled the North Region.

    ¡°Your Grace and Marquis Russell Spencer rule the East Region, while Marquis Frank Bsco and Count Emerson Zachary rule the West Region.¡±

    That was why the Noble Faction hadplete control over the East and the West Region.

    ¡°Finally, in the Center Region, we have Marquis Lawford Gibson and Count Sean Dankworth ruling over the lower nobles,¡± he continued. ¡°However, the one who rules the high society in the Royal Capital is none other than Marquis Vincent Lennox. Almost all the upper nobles follow him- including House Wisteria, House Hammock, and even the elusive House Exton. Does Your Grace understand what I¡¯m trying to say?¡±

    Duke Winchester sipped his tea before he spoke. ¡°You think Marquis Lennox would use all the power and influence that he has in order to ce Lady Sloane as the empress and Lord Calyx as the Crown Prince?¡±

    ¡°Absolutely,¡± he said firmly. ¡°Marquis Lennox would do it, even if it means waging war against you and your faction, Duke Winchester. Is Your Grace confident that you could win if you fought Marquis Lennox and his faction in a war?¡±

    Duke Winchester paled, but he failed to give a response.

    ¡°Just so Your Grace knows, if Marquis Lennox waged war against you, me and the rest of the Royal Faction would support him,¡± he added. ¡°After all, it¡¯s His Majesty and Prince Nero¡¯s will to reinstate Lady Sloane as the empress, and to make Lord Calyx the Crown Prince. The Neutral Faction would probably remain neutral then, so you can¡¯t depend on them.¡±

    ¡°Duke Quinzel, is that a threat?¡±

    ¡°Not at all, Your Grace,¡± he said calmly. ¡°I¡¯m simply giving you a glimpse of the future.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re being foolish, Duke Quinzel,¡± the older duke said, smirking. ¡°Don¡¯t you know that Prince Nero wishes for the monarchy to get abolished? He approached and encouraged me to use this golden opportunity to bring down the Royal Family.¡±

    Rufus felt shivers down his spines, but he couldn¡¯t stop himself from smiling.

    [Prince Nero, you¡¯re truly a terrifying force. How did you lure an old noble like Duke Winchester to fall into your trap with just a few words?]

    ¡°Duke Winchester, you¡¯re not wrong- Prince Nero truly wishes to abolish the current monarchy,¡± he said, then he sipped his tea before he continued. Of course, everything that wasing out of his mouth was from the ¡°script¡± that Prince Nero sent to him. ¡°But his purpose is not topletely eradicate the Royal Family.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± Duke Winchester said. ¡°What does Prince Nero want then?¡±

    ¡°A change in government,¡± Rufus said seriously. ¡°Prince Nero ns to dissolve the absolute monarchy in the empire, and turn it into a constitutional monarchy.¡±

    The old duke knitted his eyebrows. ¡°Constitutional monarchy?¡±

    ¡°There are countries in other continents that are known for their constitutional monarchy, just like the Kingdom of Suoh in the East Continent as an example,¡± he said to the older duke. ¡°As Your Grace probably already knows, a constitutional monarchy is the system of government in which a monarch shares power with a constitutionally organized government.¡±

    Duke Winchester, who probably already realized where the conversation was headed to, gulped hard.

    [Prince Nero also predicted this kind of reaction from Duke Winchester.]

    The Crown Prince was starting to scare him for real.

    ¡°Once the empire adapts the constitutional monarchy as our new form of governance, the power that the Royal Family currently has would be split into two,¡± Rufus said calmly. He didn¡¯t want to sound excited even though he could tell that Duke Winchester had already fallen into Prince Nero¡¯s trappletely. ¡°The Royal Family will be the Head of State. However, the ability to make and pass legition will reside with an elected Parliament. That means the authority will belong to the Head of the Government- the Prime Minister.¡±

    By this time, he could already see the spark of greed in Duke Winchester¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°The Royal Family will continue its rule of session, while the Prime Minister will get elected,¡± he continued. ¡°The Head of State and the Head of Government will both be bound by the constitution of the empire.¡±

    ¡°In that kind of government, the monarch has no formal authority,¡± Duke Winchester said. ¡°Does Prince Nero truly want that kind of change?¡±

    ¡°Prince Nero ns to turn the Royal Family into an economic powerhouse,¡± he said, as per Prince Nero¡¯s instruction, since the Crown Prince also predicted that Duke Winchester would question his decision. ¡°In short, Prince Nero cares more about prosperity than maintaining the absolute power of the Royal Family. Times have changed, Your Grace. The younger generation was born in peace, so their priority differs from our generation. They believe that in the current society, money is the most important thing in the world.¡±

    Rufus remembered what Princess Neoma would often say about where the current society was headed to.

    [Princess Neoma calls it ¡®capitalism.¡¯]

    However, old-fashioned nobles like Duke Winchester would want nothing else in the world other than power and authority.

    [Duke Winchester is someone who wanted to abolish the Royal Family because he wanted to rule in their stead. Prince Nero knew that, so he encouraged Duke Winchester to put an end to the Royal Family.]

    ¡°Why did Prince Nero choose me when I¡¯m the leader of the Noble Faction?¡±

    Rufus had to hold back hisughter.

    [Look at Duke Winchester, Prince Nero. Just like you predicted, he really assumed that you ¡°chose¡± him for the position of the Prime Minister.]

    ¡°Marquis Lennox will never agree to abolish the absolute power of the Royal Family, and that stays true for most of the people supporting them,¡± Rufus exined calmly even though he wasughing inside. ¡°However, the nobles in the Noble Faction are different. You hate that the Royal Family hasplete power over the nobles and the poption, don¡¯t you?¡±

    Duke Winchester nodded as if he acknowledged what he had said about the Noble Faction. ¡°How about you, Duke Quinzel? Why do you support Prince Nero¡¯s n when you¡¯re a member of the Royal Faction?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s simple,¡± he said. ¡°My daughter is engaged to Prince Nero. It¡¯s unofficial for now, but it will happen in the near future. As long as my daughter bes the empress, I do not care what kind of government the empire would have by then.¡±

    Of course, that was a lie.

    [I don¡¯t care about power, so I¡¯m fine even if Hanna doesn¡¯t be the empress as long as she¡¯s happy.]

    However, he had to lie in order to deceive Duke Winchester.

    ¡°Think about it, Duke Winchester,¡± he said, and he was about to wrap it up since he could see Duke Winchester had already been convinced by Prince Nero¡¯s n. ¡°If Lady Sloane and Lord Calyx be the empress and the Crown Prince respectively, then Marquis Lennox would be the one running the empire since Lady Sloane lost her memories.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t let that happen,¡± the older duke growled.

    [It helps that Duke Winchester and Marquis Lennox have hated each other since they were young.]

    ¡°I also don¡¯t want that to happen because if Prince Nero gets dethroned for real, then my daughter will also lose her position as the future empress,¡± he lied again. ¡°That¡¯s why we need to work together to back up Prince Nero, Your Grace. Moreover, we also need His Majesty back. After all, we need the emperor to spearhead the proposal to change our current government since the Crown Prince doesn¡¯t have the authority to do that.¡±

    ¡°Does His Majesty agree with Prince Nero¡¯s n?¡±

    ¡°Your Grace, Lady Roseheart returned to His Majesty¡¯s side after more than a decade,¡± he reminded the older duke. ¡°Do you think His Majesty cares about anything else right now? His Majesty has already abandoned the empire for his lover.¡±

    His conscience pricked him.

    [I¡¯m so sorry for saying those horrible things, Your Majesty and Lady Roseheart. I am only following Prince Nero¡¯s script.]

    Duke Winchester scoffed. ¡°You¡¯re right, Duke Quinzel. His Majesty already ran away to the East Continent with Lady Roseheart and left everything to Prince Nero.¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately, Prince Nero doesn¡¯t have enough power to back him up because Marquis Lennox and his own faction openly supports Lord Calyx.¡±

    Marquis Lennox had a separate faction of his own aside from the Royal Faction.

    ¡°What do we have to do to bring back Prince Nero and His Majesty?¡± Duke Winchester asked, then he raised an eyebrow at him. ¡°You cannot fool me, Duke Quinzel. I know that you approached me because Prince Nero already has a n.¡±

    Rufus smiled and nodded. ¡°Prince Nero told us to think about what we can offer for him to stay- and I hade up with two things that His Royal Highness might want.¡±

    Lies.

    [Of course, it¡¯s Prince Nero who came up with these offers and not me.]

    Also, nobody said the Crown Prince would appoint Duke Winchester as the Prime Minister in the future.

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

    .....

 Chapter 520

    Chapter 520: DANGEROUS SLIP OF THE TONGUE

    ¡°DID YOU meet Duke Winchester?¡±

    ¡°I did, Marquis Lennox,¡± Rufus answered Marquis Lennox¡¯s question. ¡°Someone has to keep the representatives of the Twelve Golden Families, after all.¡±

    When he got to his office, it did not surprise him to find Marquis Lennox waiting for him.

    He couldn¡¯t work at the current state of affairs anyway, so he invited the marquis to the drawing room for some tea.

    [This is already my second tea for the day.]

    ¡°You look like you¡¯re in a good mood,¡± Marquis Lennox observed. ¡°Did you convince that stubborn old man to cooperate with us?¡±

    He nodded before he answered. ¡°Duke Winchester and the rest of the Noble Faction will join us when we meet Prince Nero againter.¡±

    .....

    ¡°How did you convince him?¡±

    ¡°I just told Duke Winchester that if Prince Nero and His Majesty really ended up stepping down from their positions, then Lady Sloane would get reinstated and Lord Calyx would be dered the new Crown Prince,¡± he lied with a straight face. ¡°His Grace abhors the idea of you gaining more power than he has, my lord.¡±

    Marquis Lennox looked at him with a nk look on his face, but he didn¡¯t show whether he believed it or not.

    [Not that it matters- I¡¯m sure he¡¯s desperate to have Prince Nero and His Majesty back, too.]

    ¡°Prince Nero told us to think about how we can make him stay,¡± the marquis said. ¡°Among the representatives of the Twelve Golden Families, you are the closest to the current Royal Family. I¡¯m sure you know what they may want from us.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯vee up with two things, Lord Lennox.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m all ears.¡±

    ¡°First, to register Princess Neoma de Moonasterio to the Royal Household immediately.¡±

    ¡°The Crown Prince¡¯s twin sister, huh?¡± the marquis said while nodding. ¡°That¡¯s easy.¡±

    Of course, the first offer was easy because the second offer was the real deal.

    ¡°Second, approve the bill that His Majesty and I have been proposing to the Twelve Golden Families for a long time now,¡± Rufus said seriously. ¡°I¡¯m talking about the bill where women will get the right to inherit their family title- and that includes granting the royal princesses the right to inherit the throne, too.¡±

    Marquis Lennox¡¯s eyes went wide. ¡°You¡¯re asking for too much, Duke Quinzel!¡±

    ***

    ¡°GRANDFATHER, how did your meeting with Duke Quinzel go?¡± Calyx asked Vincent Lennox as soon as his grandfather came home. ¡°Did he say how we can convince Prince Nero and His Majesty to return?¡±

    Duke Rufus Quinzel was the closest noble to His Majesty.

    There was no way that the duke wouldn¡¯t know about the emperor and Prince Nero¡¯s n.

    Today was supposed to be his first day at school, but he didn¡¯t want to leave without hearing what Vincent Lennox had talked about with Duke Rufus Quinzel.

    ¡°Duke Quinzel came up with two offers to make Prince Nero and His Majesty stay. The first one is easy to aplish, but the second one is difficult,¡± Vincent Lennox said. ¡°Duke Quinzel wants us to pass thew that allows women to inherit their family title- and it also grants the de Moonasterion princesses to inherit the throne.¡±

    When the marquis said the second offer was hard, he expected something that would harm him or his mother.

    But...

    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± he asked with knitted eyebrows. ¡°What¡¯s so difficult about that, Grandfather?¡±

    The marquis looked surprised by his response. ¡°Calyx, if we pass thatw, women will have the right topete against their men in their family-¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care, Grandfather,¡± he almost growled at the old man. ¡°If passing that bill is what it takes for His Majesty and Prince Nero to stay, so be it. Do everything and anything to make theme back!¡±

    Vincent Lennox was stupefied by his reaction.

    [I should calm down.]

    ¡°Grandfather, I want aplete family,¡± Calyx said, his voice cracking. Of course, it was just for show. After all, when his gaze went past his grandfather, he saw his mother climbing down the grand staircase. ¡°I want to be with my father and younger brother, too.¡±

    ¡°Calyx, dear, go and attend your afternoon sses,¡± Juliet Sloane, his mother, said to him gently. Then she turned to his grandfather. ¡°I will talk to Lord Vincent.¡±

    ***

    NERO¡¯S FIRST day of school was boring.

    Most people avoided him, and he could tell that everyone was being careful not to mention Calyx Dalton. Thankfully, he didn¡¯t die of boredom because Hanna was in the same ss.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to eat at the cafeteria,¡± Nero dered, then he turned to Hanna who was walking beside him. She would usually walk a step behind him in the past. He didn¡¯t know when she started walking alongside him, but he wasn¡¯tining. ¡°Let¡¯s look for a restaurant instead. I need to show my face to the people anyway.¡±

    Students weren¡¯t forbidden to eat outside the academy.

    After all, most of the students there were nobles who had an ¡°elite¡± pte that looked down on cafeteria food, even though the academy had hired famous chefs to cook for them. It was a normal urrence for the students toin about the food, so the academy eventually allowed students to leave the school premise to eat outside.

    ¡°The student handbook says we need to get permission from Lord Matthews, the Head of Security if we¡¯re going to eat out,¡± Hanna exined gently. ¡°Let¡¯s head to his office first.¡±

    ¡°Alright,¡± he said, then he turned behind them.

    Lewis, who looked like it was the end of the world for him, had a very cold look on his face.

    As the Crown Prince of the empire, and the current Acting Emperor (although it was a fact known only within the pce for now), he was required to bring his knight everywhere.

    Yes, even inside the ssroom.

    But, of course, Lewis had to stand in a corner.

    ¡°What do you want to eat, Lewis?¡± Nero asked. ¡°Stopped frowning, I¡¯ll feed you with delicious food.¡±

    ¡°East,¡± Lewis said eagerly. ¡°I want to eat food from the East Continent.¡±

    [He¡¯s really a rebel through and through, huh?]

    He turned his back on the fox boy. ¡°Let¡¯s find a restaurant that serves delicacies from the East Continent then.¡±

    If they could go to the East Continent where Neoma was headed, he would have gone there already.

    But he must finish the fight that he started here first.

    ¡°Ah, if it isn¡¯t the Crown Prince.¡±

    His thoughts got interrupted when a group of three young lords literally block their way.

    [Gold neckties?]

    Then these noblemen were Juniors of the Crescent Moon Division.

    Their division was divided into three grades, and students wore different colors of neckties ording to where they belonged. Freshmen like him and Hanna wore maroon neckties, it was silver neckties for the Sophomores, and gold for the Juniors.

    ¡°Let me introduce myself,¡± the young lord in the middle said. He had familiar curly, dark green hair. ¡°I¡¯m Keith Valencia, the nephew of Lord Russell Spencer.¡±

    [Ah, that¡¯s why his curly, dark green hair is familiar.]

    If he remembered it correctly, Russell Spencer was the pervert noble who chased his mother in the past.

    [Neoma calls that person ¡®seaweed.¡¯]

    The other two introduced themselves as well, but he wasn¡¯t listening. All he could remember was the two were a part of the vassal families serving House Spencer.

    ¡°I fail to understand why introductions are needed here,¡± Nero said, bored. ¡°Unless you¡¯re here to be my servants, I¡¯m not interested in making you an acquaintance.¡±

    ¡°My uncle said you were arrogant, and I can see that my uncle didn¡¯t lie,¡± Keith Valencia said. ¡°It seems like His Royal Highness doesn¡¯t know your ce, so let me remind you that your position as the Crown Prince is in danger with the appearance of Lord Calyx Dalton.¡±

    Ah.

    Sometimes, he wondered how dumb people like this boy survived this ruthless world with those tiny brains of theirs.

    [I guess Duke Quinzel is still talking to Duke Winchester around this time. So, members of the Noble Faction who aren¡¯t aware that Duke Winchester is about to be my ve think I¡¯m about to get dethroned.]

    Hah!

    [Interesting.]

    ¡°My uncle said you¡¯ll need some strong backing if you want to stay in power,¡± the arrogant and dumb young lord said. Were the other two that he brought with him just mere decorations? ¡°That¡¯s why you¡¯re sucking up to Hanna Quinzel, right? You want to marry the Quinzel Princess to have a powerful support since the Quinzels are the richest noble household in the empire.¡±

    Hanna didn¡¯t say anything, but she looked disgusted by what the stupid boy was saying.

    [To be looked at with disgust by someone as kind as Hanna can only mean that you fail as a human being.]

    ¡°So, House Spencer and House Valencia have an offer for Your Royal Highness,¡± Keith Valencia said arrogantly, then he pointed to himself. ¡°Give your hidden twin sister to me- and I¡¯ll make her my favorite ything. I mean, mistress. She¡¯s not even a proper princess, so she¡¯s not worthy to be my wife.¡±

    And the three dumb kidsughed as if it was funny.

    Ah.

    [Someone wishes to die today.]

    The thick bloodlust in the air wasn¡¯t onlying from Nero- Lewis and Hanna looked as murderous as him at the moment.

    But the dumb trio looked oblivious to their killing intent.

    [Dumb kids with zero sense of danger- no wonder they¡¯re brave.]

    .....

    ¡°Lewis,¡± Nero said, smiling coldly. ¡°Break their bones.¡±

    ***

    ¡°PRINCESS NEOMA, the teleportation circle is ready.¡±

    ¡°Finally,¡± Neoma said, relieved by what Paige said. ¡°I can¡¯t stay in this cruise ship anymore and have Rubin follow me around.¡±

    She couldn¡¯t enjoy the amenities on the cruise ship because 1.) her face stood out, so she was often hit on by men, 2.) her ¡°children¡± almost murdered the men who approached her for reason #1, and 3.) Rubin kept following her around.

    [If I stay here any longer, I might strangle Rubin Drayton the next time I see that punk.]

    ¡°Lady Sienna said that we can activate the teleportation scroll that she sent in this port since she has a secret base in this region,¡± Paige exined. The Sun Priestess was fond of Paige, so Sienna would talk to Paige instead of Neoma. ¡°All we have to do is step inside the circle, then it will bring us straight to the Cyran Temple.¡±

    ¡°Great,¡± Neoma said, then she turned to her ¡°children¡± who were all looking at her as if they were waiting for her next order. ¡°Lezzgo, kids.¡±

    ***

    NEOMA had forgotten that she didn¡¯t cope well when using a teleportation device.

    Just like what she would often feel when using one, she got an upset stomach. She felt like she had been on a rollercoaster ride that made her feel nauseous.

    [Argh, I want to throw up.]

    She was about to ask Greko for medicine, but her knees suddenly buckled. It was embarrassing, but she could already see her ¡°children¡± fussing over her. But it wasn¡¯t one of her kids who caught her after she almost hit the ground.

    ¡°Are you okay, Princess Neoma?¡±

    She raised her head when she heard the familiar voice.

    Then she was greeted by that ugly yet lovely burn mark on her most favorite face at the moment.

    Yes, it was Ruto.

    He held her by the shoulders to help her get on her feet.

    She didn¡¯t know why she suddenly felt emotional, but she wanted to break into tears in front of Ruto. Remembering what that hateful Calyx Dalton told her about her baby in her past life scared her. She knew that she shouldn¡¯t trust the enemy¡¯s words, but for some reason, hearing about the baby made her weak.

    ¡°You, tell me,¡± Neoma said, forgetting the fact that she wanted to throw up earlier. Then she grabbed Ruto¡¯s cor. The action obviously startled him, but she didn¡¯t let go. ¡°I know it¡¯s my fault why you forgot about me, but you have to remember everything now, Ruto. You have to remember what happened to our baby.¡±

    Ruto¡¯s eyes went wide- and it was clear that he was shocked by her revtion. ¡°B-Baby? Yours and mine?¡±

    She was about to answer him.

    When, all of a sudden, she felt an ominous aura behind her.

    ¡°What are you talking about, Neoma de Moonasterio?¡±

    [Papa Boss?]

    ¡°How can a baby talk about having a baby?¡±

    [M-Mama Boss?]

    Neoma turned around, then she gasped when she confirmed what she feared.

    Much to her shock, she really saw her Papa Boss and Mama Boss who looked like they wanted to kill Ruto right there, right now.

    [They¡¯re already here?!]

    And it wasn¡¯t only her ¡°children¡± and her parents that she saw- Sienna (the Sun Priestess), Lady Yngrid (Ruto¡¯s mother), and Manu (the Moon Priest) were also there, standing with a shocked look on their faces.

    She instinctively stood in front of Ruto protectively.

    ¡°Papa Boss, Mama Boss, everyone- please calm down,¡± Neoma said nervously. ¡°Let me exin.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 521

    Chapter 521: BABY TALK

    HANNA WAS relieved when Nero finally ordered Lewis to stop beating Keith Valencia and his group into a pulp.

    However, the Crown Prince wasn¡¯t done yet.

    Nero leaned down to grab Keith Valencia and pull him up. Then he whispered something in his ear. The Crown Prince even cupped his face over his mouth so that the others probably wouldn¡¯t be able to read his lips.

    Aside from that, she also felt an ominous feeling literallying out of Nero that she couldn¡¯t exin.

    She just knew that it was something bad.

    ¡°He¡¯s hiding something, is he?¡± Hanna asked Lewis who stood behind her, then she turned to him with furrowed brows. ¡°What is Nero doing right now, Lewis?¡±

    The fox boy had been apanying Nero these days, so he must know something.

    .....

    However, Lewis remained silent even though she could see in his eyes that he knew what she was talking about.

    ¡°Did Nero tell you to keep it a secret?¡±

    Lewis just nodded.

    ¡°Ah, he must have threatened you with something rted to Neoma,¡± she said. ¡°Otherwise, you wouldn¡¯t keep it a secret from me.¡±

    Lewis just nodded again.

    She let out a sigh, then she turned to Nero again.

    The Crown Prince whispered something in the other two noble children¡¯s ear. Seeing that made her ufortable.

    Hanna could only sigh internally.

    [Neoma, your twin brother is up to no good again- and I hope you¡¯re not doing the same thing as Nero.]

    ***

    MONA was once again amazed when she saw what awaited them at the end of the ¡°river.¡±

    There was a shore with golden sand where a temple that resembled the Cyran Temple in her memory was waiting for them. But the replica of the Sun Temple was smaller than the original. That didn¡¯t surprise her since the replica was only used as a portal.

    ¡°We¡¯re here,¡± Niki said after they disembarked from the cabin that served as a ship while they were traveling for a whole day. ¡°It¡¯s still the same portal.¡±

    ¡°I like it,¡± Mona said, smiling. Then they entered the temple. ¡°I like how fast and convenient it is to travel on the East Continent using this portal.¡±

    ¡°Well, it depends on the Mana that serves as the portal¡¯s fuel,¡± he exined. ¡°If the Mana used to activate the portal is weak, it would take us at least a week to reach our destination.¡±

    ¡°We should thank Dion then,¡± she said, then she linked her arm with Niki¡¯s. ¡°Of course, we should thank Sienna and Ruto as well. Especially Ruto, since I heard that he has the authority to open the portal in the temple.¡±

    As the Sun Priestess, Sienna was the head of the Cyran Temple.

    However, the authority to use the portals connected to the temple belonged to Ruto. After all, the Solfrid n was the guardian of the temple.

    ¡°Ruto is quite an important figure in the East Continent,¡± she said, amused. ¡°I can¡¯t believe that he chose to spend his childhood in your empire. Moreover, I heard that he worked as a royal chef in your pce for years. What a humble young man.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t praise him,¡± Niki protested. ¡°Ruston Stroganoff is a fellow with a dark heart. He only worked in the pce because he has a hidden agenda. He¡¯s a cunning young man who¡¯s actually been targeting our daughter all this time.¡±

    She just hummed happily, ignoring Niki¡¯s ¡°rant.¡±

    [He¡¯d lose it if I said I¡¯d long known that Ruto and Neoma would be together for a long time.]

    Thus, when Ruto was only a toddler, she asked the boy to look after her daughter.

    She could see the future from time to time. Most of them were clear, but some were vague¡ª just like how she saw a glimpse of her daughter¡¯s future. Thus, she knew that Ruto would be loyal to Neoma.

    However, she didn¡¯t know what kind of rtionship Ruto and Neoma would have.

    [And I¡¯m not inclined to worry about that yet since both of them were still children.]

    ¡°Mona, do you really like Ruston Stroganoff for Neoma?¡±

    ¡°I just think that Ruto is a good person who deserves the right to stand beside our precious daughter,¡± she said, then she gently squeezed Niki¡¯s arm. ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much, Niki. I haven¡¯t been with Neoma for that long yet, but I can already tell that she loves herself more than anything in this world.¡±

    That wasn¡¯t meant to be an insult to her daughter.

    Neoma¡¯s vanity was a part of her charm, after all. Moreover, she¡¯d like it if her daughter became more obsessed with herself so she wouldn¡¯t think about sacrificing her life for the world again.

    ¡°Niki, if you asked her to choose between herself and Ruto, who do you think she¡¯d choose?¡±

    ¡°Neoma would choose herself without a doubt,¡± Niki said, then he smiled smugly. ¡°Thank you, Mona. That made me feel better.¡±

    Mona justughed at Niki¡¯s cuteness.

    [You can really be so simple-minded sometimes, my love.]

    ***

    ¡°WE GREET Your Imperial Majesty, Emperor Niki, and Your Grace, Matriarch Roseheart.¡±

    Niki was pleased with the greeting that they received from Ruston Stroganoff, Yngrid Solfrid, and the Sun Priestess Sienna. Manu, the Moon Priest, was also there but he kept his mouth shut.

    [Is he still upset because of our decision not to let the new saint be born as a saint?]

    Anyway, he didn¡¯t care.

    He was already in a good mood because, after a long time, people had finally greeted Mona with her rightful title again.

    [Mona is the matriarch of House Roseheart. Moreover, they have the status of a duke. If only it wasn¡¯t for the previous emperor, they wouldn¡¯t have fallen to a lowly baron status. And everyone knows that.]

    ¡°Thank you for opening the portal despite giving you such short notice,¡± Niki said formally. ¡°It must have caused a lot of trouble.¡±

    ¡°Not at all, Your Majesty,¡± Yngrid Solfrid said. ¡°The Great Moonasterion Empire and the Kingdom of Suoh have a long history. There¡¯s also a pact between the two that says whenever the emperor of the Great Moonasterion Empire asks to open the portal to the East Continent, the Kingdom of Suoh must answer without any question.¡±

    That was true.

    The portal that connected the West Continent to the East Continent was located in the Cyran Temple. Thus, the power to open the portal belonged to the Solfrid. In short, they didn¡¯t need the king¡¯s permission to use it.

    ¡°Even so, I appreciate the fact that you quickly responded to my call,¡± Niki said. ¡°Thest time I used the portal to go to the East for business purposes, the journey took a week. But this time, it only took a day.¡±

    Yngrid smiled proudly. ¡°We have Sienna and my son Ruto to thank for that, Your Majesty.¡±

    He didn¡¯t have any n to acknowledge Ruston Stroganoff, but Mona pinched his forearm.

    It was a light movement that shouldn¡¯t hurt. However, Mona was Mona. Like the de Moonasterios, she was physically strong.

    ¡°Sienna and Ruston Stroganoff, you did well,¡± he said stiffly. ¡°I appreciate your hard work.¡±

    Sienna, the Sun Priestess, bowed her head towards him. ¡°It¡¯s an honor to serve Your Majesty.¡±

    Ruston Stroganoff bowed his head, but he didn¡¯t say anything.

    [He¡¯s acting strange. Did he really lose his memories?]

    Neoma confided with Mona before their daughter left. ording to Neoma, Ruston Stroganoff had lost his memories. Although he felt bad for his daughter who felt guilty for what happened, he couldn¡¯t help but think that it was a good riddance.

    ¡°Your Majesty, are you really trying to kill me?¡± Manu whined in a dead voice, with a dead look in his eyes. ¡°First, you decided to steal the new saint¡¯s divine power so he wouldn¡¯t be born a saint. And now, you left the throne and ran all the way here to the East Continent. I feel like I¡¯m going to lose my mind trying to understand your family¡¯s thought process.¡±

    ¡°Manu, right now, my children are in charge of everything,¡± he said to the Moon Priest. ¡°You¡¯ll really get crazy if you try to understand Nero and Neoma¡¯s thought process because only the two of them understand each other the best. Just have faith in them.¡±

    ¡°It should be the other way around,¡± the Moon Priest whined again. ¡°The representatives of Lord Yule thrive because of the faith of his devotees. But the current de Moonasterio family just does what they want without even consulting us!¡±

    ¡°Well, you were busy sleeping when the previous emperor- my father- was busy destroying the important ns in the empire because of his greed,¡± he said bluntly. ¡°I took care of that matter without your support. What makes you think I need your opinion this time?¡±

    This time, Manu didn¡¯t get to retort.

    Sienna patted the Moon Priest¡¯s shoulder, obviously sympathizing.

    Mona, on the other hand, cleared her throat to break the awkward silence that ensued. ¡°I heard that Neoma is already on her way here,¡± she said, changing the topic. ¡°May I know where exactly my daughter is right now?¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma¡¯s Mage has activated the teleportation scroll that I sent to their group, Lady Roseheart,¡± Sienna said politely. ¡°They¡¯ll be here any moment.¡±

    As if on cue, the door on the podium in the middle of the room lit up.

    ¡°They¡¯re here,¡± Ruston Stroganoff announced, then he walked towards the door. ¡°Let me open the door for them.¡±

    After saying that, the boy opened the door.

    A few momentster, a staggering Neoma came out.

    [Is she sick?]

    He was worried that his daughter would fall to the floor. But fortunately, Ruston Stroganoff had caught her.

    [Wait, it¡¯s not ¡°fortunate.¡±]

    He frowned while ring at Ruston Stroganoff¡¯s hands on Neoma¡¯s shoulders.

    [How dare this boy touch my daughter¡¯s shoulders right in front of me?!]

    Ruston Stroganoff then asked his daughter: ¡°Are you okay, Princess Neoma?¡±

    .....

    Neoma raised her head, obviously pleasantly surprised to see the royal chef. Then she spoke with urgency. ¡°You, tell me,¡± she said, then she grabbed Ruston Stroganoff by the cor. ¡°I know it¡¯s my fault why you forgot about me, but you have to remember everything now, Ruto. You have to remember what happened to our baby.¡±

    Ruto¡¯s eyes went wide- and it was clear that he was shocked by her revtion. ¡°B-Baby? Yours and mine?¡±

    What...?

    Did he hear his daughter correct?

    His own thoughts were interrupted when Mona¡¯s fluctuating Mana filled the room. Based on Mona¡¯s anger, it seemed like he had heard Neoma and Ruston Stroganoff¡¯s conversation correctly.

    Niki almost growled due to the anger that rose in his chest. ¡°What are you talking about, Neoma de Moonasterio?¡±

    Mona, who almost squeezed his arm while trying to control her anger, said in an eerily calm voice. ¡°How can a baby talk about having a baby?¡±

    Ah, Mona was angry.

    Neoma turned around to face them. First, she looked shocked to see that there were other people in the room aside from Ruto. Then fear crossed her eyes when she saw her mother¡¯s face.

    [I pity you, Neoma. Not even I can save you from your mother¡¯s wrath.]

    Neoma then stood in front of Ruto protectively. ¡°Papa Boss, Mama Boss, everyone- please calm down,¡± she said nervously, and it was rare to see Neoma nervous. ¡°Let me exin.¡±

    ***

    [I DON¡¯T think you can calm them down with just your words, Princess Neoma.]

    Ruto was rarely nervous, but seeing both Emperor Niki and Matriarch Roseheart angry made him gulp.

    And, for some reason, his body moved on its own.

    Before he knew it, he was already pulling Princess Neoma by the arm as gently as he could. He hid the young princess behind him, and he stood in front of her protectively.

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re protecting me, Ruto?¡±

    He turned to the young princess who whispered those words to him.

    God, he thought he was going to go blind when Princess Neoma smiled brightly at him.

    [I¡¯ve seen several goddesses in my life that are supposedly known for their beauty, but they all pale inparison to Princess Neoma.]

    He was so going to hell for thinking that way about a girl four years her junior.

    ¡°See, your mind doesn¡¯t remember me, but you still care about me,¡± Princess Neoma whispered smugly, then she patted his shoulder. ¡°Good job.¡±

    If someone else acted that way towards him, he would have felt insulted.

    However, he didn¡¯t find Princess Neoma annoying.

    [Am I trapped under her spell or something?]

    ¡°We have to soothe the adults, Ruto,¡± the young princess whispered to him. ¡°Let¡¯s start by begging?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Just say that you¡¯ll take responsibility.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me?¡±

    ¡°Trust me, Ruto,¡± the young princess said, then she kicked the back of her knees.

    Argh!

    It seemed like Princess Neoma had forgotten about her monstrous strength as a de Moonasterio.

    Before he knew it, he was already kneeling on the floor.

    He wanted to be mad, but when Princess Neoma knelt beside him while looking up at her parents with a pitiful look on her face, his anger melted.

    [Why can¡¯t I get mad at her?]

    ¡°Mama Boss, Papa Boss, we didn¡¯t do anything bad,¡± Princess Neoma said in a cracked voice. ¡°Please don¡¯t be mad.¡±

    Huh?

    How could someone who was just smiling smugly earlier be on the verge of crying now?

    ¡°Drop the act, Neoma de Moonasterio,¡± Emperor Niki, who was now standing in front of them beside Lady Mona Roseheart, said sternly. ¡°Your fake tears won¡¯t work on us.¡±

    The young princess clicked her tongue.

    Ruto was stunned.

    [Did... Did Princess Neoma just click her tongue at the emperor?]

    ¡°Neoma, dear,¡± Lady Mona Roseheart said. Even though the matriarch called her daughter affectionately, her voice sounded a little cold. ¡°I expect a clear exnation about what we heard just now.¡±

    Princess Neoma avoided her mother¡¯s gaze, then the young princess turned to him with a hopeful look on her (ridiculously beautiful) face.

    [What do you want me to do, Your Royal Highness?]

    Princess Neoma gave her the most pitiful, but also the most adorable puppy dog eyes that he had seen in his life yet. ¡°Rutooo...¡±

    Hah.

    [I give up.]

    He gathered all the courage he had and raised his head, bravely meeting Emperor Niki¡¯s glowing red eyes and Lady Roseheart¡¯s glowing light blue eyes.

    Seeing the most powerful couple of the West Continent look at him like they wanted to crush him put immense pressure on his shoulders- literally and figuratively. However, it was toote to back out now.

    ¡°Your Majesty, Matriarch Roseheart,¡± Ruto addressed the power couple politely, then he gulped hard. ¡°I¡¯ll take responsibility.¡±

    Of what, that he didn¡¯t know.

    ***

    ¡°MAMA BOSS, Papa Boss, I swear that Ruto and I haven¡¯t done anything indecent,¡± Neoma said after she exined to her parents that Calyx Dalton told her that she killed her baby in the past. ¡°I was talking about the alleged baby in our past life, not in this current timeline. I won¡¯t betray your trust, and Ruto wouldn¡¯t touch a child inappropriately, either.¡±

    Right now, they were using a tearoom in the Cyran Temple.

    Her ¡°children¡± were staying in the room next door.

    On the other hand, Ruto was talking to his mother and the Sun Priestess. He was probably being scolded by his mother because of what had happened earlier.

    [I¡¯m sorry, Ruto...]

    ¡°Then are you saying that in the past, you had an intimate rtionship with Ruston Stroganoff?¡± Manu asked with knitted eyebrows. ¡°That¡¯s ridiculous. Are you trying to recreate the mistake that Lord Yule and Lady Roxana had made in the past?¡±

    Neoma knitted her eyebrows. ¡°What mistake did theymit?¡±

    ¡°Lord Yule and Lady Roxana are both powerful major gods,¡± Manu said bluntly, then he pointed a finger at him. ¡°Your crazy bloodline was the fruit of their love. That¡¯s exactly the reason why the major gods were forbidden from conceiving children together.¡±

    ¡°What does it have to do with me and Ruto?¡± she asked. ¡°We¡¯re not gods, so the rule doesn¡¯t apply to us.¡±

    The Moon Priest wasn¡¯t able toe up with a retort.

    ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio, I know that it¡¯s the past you,¡± Papa Boss said, frowning. ¡°But I don¡¯t like it. I¡¯m forbidding you to meet Ruston Stroganoff from now on.¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t do that to me, Papa Boss,¡± sheined. ¡°I¡¯m already an adult inside, so I know what I¡¯m doing.¡±

    ¡°Your mental age has nothing to do with this,¡± her father said firmly. ¡°I¡¯m your father, so you¡¯ll listen to me. We can¡¯t trust Calyx Dalton¡¯s words, but it doesn¡¯t hurt to be careful. Your rtionship with Ruston Stroganoff didn¡¯t work in the past, so it may not work in this lifetime as well.¡±

    ¡°Papa Boss-¡±

    ¡°Do you have romantic feelings for Ruston Stroganoff now?¡±

    Oh.

    Why couldn¡¯t she answer that question?

    [I know that Ruto has feelings for me, but why can¡¯t I admit that I have feelings for him, too? Does my past self resent him?]

    ¡°Niki, calm down,¡± Mama Boss said, then she touched Papa Boss¡¯s arm before she turned to her and smiled warmly. It was a very different reaction from what her mother showed her earlier. ¡°I¡¯m relieved that you and Ruto haven¡¯t done anything inappropriate, Neoma. I know that this should be a big deal. However, I don¡¯t think we should make a fuss over something that Calyx Dalton said. He could have just said that to rile you up.¡±

    ¡°I know, Mama Boss,¡± she said, sighing. ¡°That¡¯s why I want to talk to Ruto. He has to remember it for us.¡±

    Her mother smiled and nodded. ¡°Then go ahead and talk to Ruto.¡±

    Papa Boss turned to Mama Boss with a look of disbelief on his face. ¡°Mona.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s talk, Niki,¡± Mama Boss said firmly, then she turned to her. ¡°Go ahead, Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Okay, Mama Boss,¡± Neoma said, then she quickly stood up from her seat and bolted out of the room before her mother changed her mind. ¡°`Love you, you¡¯re the best!¡±

    ***

    NEOMA was humming happily while looking for Ruto.

    Thankfully, she didn¡¯t have to look for long because she saw hime out of the room at the end of the hallway soon. She was about to call him, but her smile slowly faded when she saw a prettydy walking behind him.

    Oh?

    The girl (ck hair, ck eyes) was wearing a modern hanbok, just like what Lady Yngrid (Ruto¡¯s mother) wore. It seemed like the standard clothing in the kingdom.

    ¡°Princess Neoma?¡±

    Ah, as expected, Ruto immediately spotted her.

    When he called her, thedy behind him also turned to her and smiled warmly.

    [She looks like a bunny.]

    That was apliment.

    The woman¡¯s ¡°bunny smile¡± reminded her of some of the female Kpop idols that she used to stan in her second life.

    ¡°Ruto, I was looking for you,¡± Neoma said while standing in front of him and the woman. ¡°Can we talk in private?¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma, can it wait?¡± Ruto asked hesitantly, then he turned to thedy behind him. ¡°I have a prior appointment with Phoebe.¡±

    ¡®Phoebe.¡¯

    He called her by her first name.

    [Are they close?]

    ¡°Greetings, Princess Neoma,¡± thedy named ¡®Phoebe¡¯ said, smiling. ¡°My name is Phoebe Willows, and I am Lord Ruto¡¯s fianc¨¦e.¡±

    She turned to Ruto for confirmation. ¡°Do you know that she¡¯s your fianc¨¦e?¡±

    Ruto looked confused by her question.

    But she didn¡¯t like how he didn¡¯t deny Phoebe Willow¡¯s im right away.

    [Did Ruto express his feelings for me while he¡¯s engaged to another girl?]

    She had seen that story before- no, she had already experienced it. The role wasn¡¯t right, though. After all, she was the fianc¨¦e in the first story. However, the fact that the person she liked was involved with another girl was the same.

    At that moment, an unwanted memory suddenly emerged from the darkest part of her mind.

    [¡°Rubin, are you cheating on me with Regina Crowell?!¡±]

    She closed her eyes tight and covered her ears with her hands when she heard her older self¡¯s desperate voice in her head.

    [¡°Shut up, Neoma. I¡¯m not in the mood to deal with you.¡±]

    ¡°Princess Neoma?¡± Ruto asked worriedly. ¡°Are you alright?¡±

    She could hear Ruto¡¯s voice, but the voices in her head were louder.

    [¡°Answer me, Rubin Drayton!¡±]

    [¡°I told you to shut your damned mouth!¡±]

    The next thing that she heard in her mind was the sound of Rubin¡¯s hand pping her cheek hard.

    More than once.

    She thought she had gotten over it.

    But the next thing she knew, she had already fallen to the ground while her entire body was shaking.

    It was a distant memory. And she had honestly forgotten about the part where Rubin Drayton had physically hurt her. After all, it was something that she had tried to forget really hard because she was ashamed of it- like how most victims of abuse felt.

    However, hearing that Ruto might be engaged with another girl triggered the most painful memories of her past with Rubin Drayton.

    Everything became clear in her head once again.

    ¡°N-No... Stop it...¡± Neoma said in a trembling voice, her eyes still shut tight while her hands were pping her ears. ¡°I¡¯m s-sorry... I¡¯m sorry... please stop...¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma!¡±

    She shut her eyes tighter. It was Ruto, she was aware of it. However, Rubin Drayton¡¯s angry voice as he continued hitting her was ringing louder in her ears.

    ¡°I¡¯m s-sorry!¡± Neoma yelled, her voice still trembling. ¡°P-Please stop, Rubin...¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 522

    Chapter 522: I¡¯VE SEEN THIS FILM BEFORE

    ¡°MONA, why did you ask Neoma to leave when we weren¡¯t done with the conversation yet?¡±

    Mona already expected Niki to be upset, so she proceeded to calm him down first. ¡°Calm down and listen to me first, my love.¡±

    As soon as she called him ¡®my love¡¯- her endearment for him- he instantly calmed down.

    [Really simple, aren¡¯t we, my love?]

    Right now, only the two of them were left in the tearoom.

    After Neoma left, Manu excused himself, too.

    [I think I heard Mana say he¡¯ll look for the Sun Priestess or something close to that.]

    .....

    ¡°Neoma and Ruto had a special rtionship in the past,¡± she said gently, holding Niki¡¯s hand and ying with his fingers. She would often do that whenever he was upset to soothe him down. ¡°We can¡¯t change it anymore. Even if it was true that they had a baby before, it¡¯s none of our business. They were two consenting adults. As long as Ruto doesn¡¯t touch Neoma inappropriately THIS TIME, we shouldn¡¯t punish the children for what happened in the past. Moreover...¡±

    He tilted his head while waiting for her to continue. ¡°What is it, Mona?¡±

    ¡°I have a feeling that Neoma and Ruto didn¡¯t get the chance to have a baby, anyway.¡±

    And that was exactly why she told Neoma to leave.

    [I don¡¯t want my Baby Muffin to hear this.]

    ¡°Ruto is the only divine son of Lord Levi,¡± she said carefully. ¡°Based on my understanding, during the time that they got close, Neoma was already on the verge of bing the perfect Aether. I don¡¯t think the gods would allow her to have a baby then. Moreover, ording to Calyx Dalton, it was Neoma who killed the baby in her womb. I know that we shouldn¡¯t trust the boy¡¯s words. However, we can¡¯t also brush it offpletely.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want Calyx Dalton to be right,¡± Niki said, frowning. ¡°Because if everything he said was true, then I can¡¯t imagine how much pain Neoma had to go through in the past. If even Ruston Stroganoff wasn¡¯t able to protect her and their alleged child back then, it only meant Neoma had no one to lean on during that time. I hate it- I hate the idea of Neoma literally carrying the world on her shoulders alone.¡±

    That was exactly what seemed to have happened in the past.

    [We won¡¯t let history repeat itself- we will make sure that Neoma will live happily this time.]

    ¡°Neoma was forcing herself to talk about it lightly earlier,¡± she said in a sad voice. ¡°But I can see the fear and the loneliness in Neoma¡¯s eyes when she was talking about her alleged child in the past. We shouldn¡¯t bring it up again, Niki. It¡¯s between our daughter and Ruto now.¡±

    Thankfully, this time, understanding crossed Niki¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± he said, nodding. ¡°We shouldn¡¯t talk about it again. After all, Neoma¡¯s current situation is different from her past life. She¡¯s no longer alone this time.¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh,¡± she said, then her hand moved to smoothen the knot on Niki¡¯s forehead. ¡°But why do you still look upset, my love?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s obvious that Ruston Stroganoff has feelings for Neoma even now,¡± Niki said, huffing. ¡°I don¡¯t care what kind of rtionship they had in the past. But I won¡¯t let himy a finger on our daughter now- especially not when Neoma is still a child physically.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m with you on that, my love,¡± Mona said, smiling and nodding. ¡°Even if it¡¯s Ruto, he¡¯s not allowed to have an intimate rtionship with our Baby Muffin.¡±

    [Not yet, at least.]

    ***

    RUTO immediately knelt beside Princess Neoma as soon as he realized that something was wrong. ¡°Princess Neoma!¡±

    He tried to shake her shoulders, but he noticed that she was shaking violently.

    [She¡¯ll be more startled if I suddenly touched her...]

    ¡°I¡¯m s-sorry!¡± Neoma yelled, her voice still trembling. ¡°P-Please stop, Rubin...¡±

    He knitted his eyebrows.

    ¡®Rubin?¡¯

    [Rubin Drayton?]

    He didn¡¯t know why, but an ungodly amount of rage rose in his chest. For the first time in a while, he felt the urge to kill someone.

    ¡°Do you want me to kill him for you, Princess Neoma?¡±

    Princess Neoma suddenly stopped shaking violently.

    She hadn¡¯tpletely calmed down yet because he could still hear her shaky breath. But, fortunately, it seemed like she was slowlying back to her senses.

    [Princess Neoma, just what did Rubin Drayton do...?]

    ¡°Her Royal Highness seems to be having a panic attack,¡± Phoebe Willows said worriedly. ¡°I believe we should summon the princess¡¯s physician.¡±

    He was about to respond, but he stopped when he heard Princess Neoma take a deep breath.

    ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary, Lady Willows,¡± Princess Neoma said, then she raised her head while wiping her tears away with her hands. ¡°My ¡°children¡± will kill you if they saw me in this state.¡±

    Phoebe Willows looked confused when the young princess said ¡°children.¡±

    And so was Ruto.

    ¡°I apologize for showing you a shameful behavior unbefitting of a royal princess like me,¡± Princess Neoma said in a calm voice, then she stood gracefully as if she didn¡¯t fall on her knees just a moment ago. In just the span of a few seconds, the young princess had collected and presented herself elegantly in front of them. ¡°I¡¯d appreciate it if Lady Willows and Lord Stroganoff would pretend that this didn¡¯t happen.¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± Phoebe Willows said gently. ¡°I¡¯ll never speak of this to anyone, Princess Neoma.¡±

    The young princess smiled. ¡°Thank you, mydy.¡± After that, she looked at him and Phoebe Willows back and forth, then she slightly bowed her head. ¡°Now, if you¡¯ll excuse me...¡±

    After politely excusing herself, Princess Neoma began to walk away without even looking back.

    Ruto was stunned.

    [She left even without sparing me a nce again...]

    ¡°Lord Ruto, shall we go to my parent¡¯s house now?¡±

    Ruto turned to Phoebe Willows with an indifferent look on his face. ¡°Lady Willows, I was told I never epted your family¡¯s marriage proposal,¡± he said. ¡°But why did you introduce yourself to Princess Neoma as my fianc¨¦e?¡±

    ¡°Because I¡¯m confident that our engagement will push through, Lord Ruto,¡± Phoebe Willows said, smiling. ¡°I was told that Lord Levi, the God Among Gods, has personally chosen me to be your betrothed.¡±

    ¡°That was my divine father¡¯s decision.¡±

    ¡°Can you go against your divine father¡¯s decision, my lord?¡± Phoebe Willows said, then she let out a softugh. ¡°How can you do that when your divine father governs the other gods and you¡¯re just a child in his eyes, Lord Ruto?¡±

    ¡°Then watch me,¡± Ruto said, then he turned his back on Phoebe Willows. ¡°Watch me rebel against my divine father.¡±

    ***

    [¡°DO YOU WANT me to kill him for you, Princess Neoma?¡±]

    After Neoma heard Ruto say that, she snapped out of her trance.

    If there was someone who would kill Rubin Drayton, it should be her and only her.

    As soon as that thought entered her mind, different ways to kill that bastard began flooding into her head. That was the reason why she stopped shaking. When she slowly calmed down, she took a deep breath.

    And just like that, she could breathe properly again.

    [I¡¯m allowed to have a meltdown from time to time, but I don¡¯t have the luxury to dwell on my misery.]

    Because this time, she was thirsty for revenge.

    Of course, in this timeline, Rubin Drayton hadn¡¯t done anything that could hurt her. However, after remembering that he had physically hurt her in the past, she knew she couldn¡¯t live in peace until she got her revenge.

    [If I¡¯m being petty, so be it.]

    ¡°Princess Neoma!¡±

    She had already reached the main entrance of the Cyran Temple when she heard Ruto¡¯s voice.

    [Ah, right.]

    She turned around to face Ruto who looked like he didn¡¯t know what to say.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Lord Stroganoff,¡± Neoma said. She didn¡¯t mean for her voice toe out cold, but she did. ¡°I know that Lady Willows isn¡¯t your real fianc¨¦e. I mean, she could be thedy that your family chose for you. But I know that you wouldn¡¯t flirt with me if you had a fianc¨¦e waiting for you here.¡±

    Ruto wasn¡¯t Rubin, after all.

    Ruto looked confused. ¡°If you know that, then why...?¡±

    ¡°Why am I upset?¡± she said, then she shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m upset because I know that I shouldn¡¯t be upset with you, but I can¡¯t help it. I know that it was my fault that you lost your memories. But because you lost your memories, you probably also forgot about Lady Willows. Hence, you didn¡¯t know how to introduce her to me. However, it hurt me that you didn¡¯t deny it when she imed to be your fianc¨¦e.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Ruto said, sighing. ¡°I was told that I never epted her family¡¯s proposal. But I don¡¯t know why there are talks about our engagement again. Thus, I was confused.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± she said a little indifferently, because honestly? She already stopped caring. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m giving you back the authority you gave to me.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°I know that you don¡¯t consider Lady Willows as your fianc¨¦e, but that doesn¡¯t seem to be the case for her,¡± she exined. ¡°I was once in her shoe, you know. My ex-fianc¨¦ was involved with another woman, and it sucked so much that I didn¡¯t want other girls to experience it.¡±

    ¡°But Lady Willows isn¡¯t my fianc¨¦e.¡±

    ¡°You should clear your rtionship with her first,¡± she said firmly. ¡°Until then, let¡¯s stay away from each other in the meantime. I don¡¯t want to be the cause of another woman¡¯s misery. I don¡¯t want to see my old self in Lady Willows.¡±

    Ruto, for the first time since she met him, showed a desperate expression. ¡°Princess Neoma...¡±

    Her heart almost gave in, but she put a rein in it.

    .....

    After all, the current Neoma was the type of person who would always put herself first. She was already ruined by a man in her first life. Thus, she wouldn¡¯t let another man be the cause of her downfall again.

    [Not that I think Ruto would do anything that would hurt me on purpose.]

    ¡°We don¡¯t have a clear rtionship anyway,¡± Neoma said, then she gently patted Rubin¡¯s shoulder. ¡°See youter, Ruto.¡±

    After saying that, she turned her back on Ruto to hide her teary eyes from him.

    [It¡¯s not the time to cry, Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio!] she scolded herself. [We have a bastard to kill.]

    Yep, that was right.

    [When will Rubin Drayton arrive in the East Continent again?]

    Neoma touched her hair, then she whispered to herself. ¡°I should cut my hair short.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 523

    Chapter 523: ALL IS FAIR IN LOVE AND WAR

    WHEN NEOMA arrived at the boys¡¯ room (aka the room shared by Xion, Jeno, and Greko), she scanned the ce and noticed that the one she was looking for wasn¡¯t there.

    Jeno was sitting on the windowsill while cleaning his rifle while Greko was reading a book on his bed. The two immediately stopped what they were doing to stand up and bow to her politely.

    ¡°Hello, kids,¡± Neoma said while looking around. ¡°Where¡¯s Xion?¡±

    Jeno was about to open his mouth, but he just closed it instantly.

    After all, Xion suddenly appeared in front of her.

    [Oh, there you are.]

    Xion bowed his head towards her. ¡°You called, Your Royal Highness?¡±

    .....

    ¡°Uh-huh,¡± she said. ¡°Xion, go and stalk Rubin Drayton. I want you to find everything about his business here on the East Continent- from his destination, his itinerary, his goal, and the people he¡¯s meeting with. Report everything to me, no matter how trivial it is. Can you do that?¡±

    Xion nodded confidently. ¡°I can do that, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Very well,¡± she said. ¡°Also, while you¡¯re at it, find everything you can about Regina Crowell. Obviously, Rubin is here because he believes that Regina Crowell is on this continent. But I want to know what led him here. He isn¡¯t that capable.¡±

    She wasn¡¯t underestimating Rubin Drayton- she was simply speaking facts.

    The assassin tilted his head to one side. ¡°Are you thinking that Regina Crowell might have lured Rubin Drayton here?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± she said, nodding. ¡°Rubin is not that cunning, and I don¡¯t think he has capable people around him. He wouldn¡¯t have ¡°found¡± Regina on his own.¡±

    On the other hand, Regina Rowell was smart and crafty.

    [Regina didn¡¯t let go of Rubin in the past, so there must be a reason why the crows targeted the Draytons back then.]

    Now she needed to know if Rubin Drayton was really relevant to Regina Crowell.

    ¡°I received Your Royal Highness¡¯s order,¡± Xion said, then he bowed to her. ¡°Then I¡¯ll take my leave now.¡±

    ¡°Wait,¡± she said, then she crossed her arms over her chest. ¡°If things get too dangerous for you to handle alone, what would you do?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll run away.¡±

    ¡°Because...?¡±

    ¡°My life is more important than the mission.¡±

    ¡°Very good,¡± she said, smiling. She was satisfied with her son¡¯s urate response. ¡°No mission is worth dying for, kids. You have to return to me alive at all costs or else I¡¯ll go cray-cray. So, for the sake of world peace, don¡¯t get hurt.¡±

    Her ¡°sons¡± bowed to her to acknowledge what she had just said.

    [Gosh, my children are really good kids.]

    ¡°Be careful, Xion,¡± she said, then she patted the assassin¡¯s shoulders. ¡°Report to me every hour, okay? And send a copy of your report to Paige, too.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t official yet, but she was thinking of making Paige the vicemander of her Knight Order.

    [I mean, Lewis is themander because he¡¯s the strongest. But I don¡¯t expect him to do administrative jobs, since he¡¯ll probably stick to me like glue once he¡¯s free from Nero¡¯s clutches. So, it will be wiser to put someone as reliable as Paige to be the vicemander.]

    ¡°I understand, Princess Neoma,¡± Xion said, then he smiled at her. ¡°Please stay safe while I¡¯m away. If you get hurt, we will also go crazy.¡±

    She smiled and gave Xion a thumbs up. ¡°Gotcha.¡±

    Xion bowed to her again, and this time, he left without even a word to his siblings.

    [Just assassin things.]

    She turned to her your youngest child after Xion left. ¡°Greko, can you call your Juri noona and Paige noona for me? They¡¯re in the next room, right?¡±

    Greko smiled and nodded. ¡°Okay, eomma. I¡¯ll call them and return soon.¡±

    She just ruffled their maknae¡¯s head affectionately.

    Greko giggled, then he excused himself politely before leaving the room.

    And now, she was alone with Jeno, whom she needed to talk to in private. She didn¡¯t want Greko to hear what she was about to ask the Marksman to do, thus she sent the youngest to an errand.

    ¡°Jeno.¡±

    Jeno, who obviously knew that she had an order for him, immediately bowed his head to her. ¡°I¡¯m at your service, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Your Mist that can create illusions, I need that,¡± Neoma said, her eyes turning glowing red as her head was suddenly filled with murderous thoughts. ¡°I need that to torture someone mentally.¡±

    ***

    SIENNA almost dropped the precious bottle of wine that she stole- uhm, ¡°borrowed¡± from the wine cer after she heard what Phoebe Willows said while they were walking in the garden. ¡°Come again? How did you introduce yourself to Neoma de Moonasterio?¡±

    ¡°I introduced myself as Lord Ruto¡¯s fianc¨¦e,¡± Phoebe answered innocently. ¡°Why? Did I make a mistake?¡±

    She almost dropped the bottle of wine again, so this time, she hugged it close to her chest in order to protect it. ¡°It¡¯s a miracle that you¡¯re still alive, Phoebe. I told you to be careful around Neoma de Moonasterio. That child is a hazard to the world!¡±

    Her childhood friend justughed at her warning. ¡°What are you saying, Sienna? Princess Neoma is quite collected when I met her. Moreover, what she feels for Lord Ruto is nothing but a mere crush. It¡¯s actually cute.¡±

    [No, you don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.]

    It was probably because Phoebe Willows didn¡¯t know that Neoma de Moonasterio was an adult mentally and spiritually, and so was Yoan.

    [The Willows n is the main family that serves Lord Levi. But even though they have served Lord Levi for generations now, it¡¯s not like Lord Levi would spill Neoma de Moonasterio and Yoan¡¯s secrets to his followers.]

    ¡°I can¡¯t be threatened by a child,¡± Phoebe said confidently. ¡°Moreover, Lord Levi sent his Messenger to our family to inform us that I am the only woman worthy of his son.¡±

    She wanted to roll her eyes at the false hope that Lord Levi gave Phoebe and the Willows.

    [Lord Levi will choose anyone over Neoma de Moonasterio because he doesn¡¯t want Yoan to end up with the princess. He only probably chose Phoebe because she¡¯s the same age as Yoan. Physically, that is.]

    ¡°Phoebe, Yoan already rejected your family¡¯s marriage proposal when you were both kids,¡± she reminded her childhood friend. ¡°Did you suddenly bring up the marriage talk again because you heard that Yoan has lost a big portion of his memories? Do you think he¡¯ll change his mind?¡±

    ¡°Exactly,¡± Phoebe said brightly. ¡°Maybe Lord Ruto losing some of his memories is a sign for me to pursue him.¡± She clenched her hands tightly, her face lighting up. ¡°I can¡¯t let go of a perfect man like Lord Ruto, so I¡¯ll do my best to win him over this time.¡±

    She wanted to tell Phoebe not to get her hopes high, but she remembered that ¡®all is fair in love and war.¡¯

    Thus, she just kept her mouth shut.

    ¡°Whatever you do, just don¡¯t cross Neoma de Moonasterio,¡± Sienna warned Phoebe. ¡°Trust me, Phoebe- you can¡¯t handle the crazy princess.¡±

    ***

    ¡°CYNTHIA Braun, Jennifer O¡¯Kelly, Susan Alberts,¡± Nero said while drumming his fingers on the table. ¡°I heard those three making fun of you, Hanna.¡±

    ¡°Leave them alone,¡± Hanna told her while she was busy cutting the steak onto her te. ¡°I¡¯m not affected by their words.¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh.¡±

    He said that, but he already had a n formed in his head to punish thedies who were spreading nasty rumors about Hanna.

    [I suppose I can¡¯t kill them.]

    But he could end their social lives, along with the downfall of their families.

    ¡°Seriously, Nero,¡± Hanna said, then she smiled at him as if she was trying to appeal to him. ¡°I¡¯m really fine. I will stand up for myself if I have to. But right now, they¡¯re pretty harmless.¡±

    He just sipped his apple juice.

    Right now, Nero and Hanna were having lunch at a fancy restaurant near the Royal Moon Academy. It was called ¡®The Pte.¡¯ Most guests at the moment were from the same academy as them.

    But since he was the Crown Prince, he had the whole private lounge on the second floor to himself and hispany.

    Lewis was seated at the table next to him and Hanna.

    ¡°Prince Nero, I finally found you.¡±

    He instantly lost his appetite as soon as he saw Calyx Dalton approach him. The fake prince was followed by the restaurant staff, who was probably trying to stop the crow.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± he said to the restaurant staff. ¡°You can leave now.¡±

    The restaurant staff bowed before leaving quietly.

    Lewis, on the other hand, stood up and blocked Calyx Dalton¡¯s way.

    ¡°Stop,¡± Lewis said indifferently. ¡°Say. Now. Business.¡±

    He rolled his eyes.

    [Lewis is speaking incoherently again.]

    No wonder Calyx Dalton looked confused.

    It was an opposite reaction from Hanna who looked entertained at the moment. To be precise, Hanna was looking at Lewis with sparkling eyes as if she was amused.

    [I don¡¯t like it.]

    For some reason, it turned his mood sour.

    .....

    ¡°As you can see, I¡¯m in the middle of my meal,¡± Nero said indifferently. ¡°State your business as shortly as possible, Lord Calyx.¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma will be registered to the Royal Household soon, and thew that will allow women to inherit their family title will be passed along with that,¡± Calyx Dalton said in a serious voice. ¡°Of course, thatw will also grant the de Moonasterion royal princesses the right to seed the throne.¡±

    Hanna gasped softly.

    He wasn¡¯t surprised since he had already expected that oue.

    [Still, Duke Quinzel deserves credit. He followed the script well.]

    But he wasn¡¯t satisfied yet.

    ¡°All the representatives of the Twelve Golden Families have already signed thew, so we¡¯ll only have to wait for it to be official,¡± Calyx Dalton continued. ¡°Isn¡¯t it about time for you and His Majesty to quit ying around?¡±

    ¡°Do you believe it¡¯s enough for us to reconsider stepping down from power?¡±

    The crazy bastard knitted his eyebrows. ¡°What do you mean by that?¡±

    ¡°Putting Neoma in the Royal Household Registry is something that even the Crown Prince has the power to do so,¡± he said in a bored voice. ¡°And I¡¯m confident that I can make the Twelve Golden Families sign thew that allows women to inherit their family title if I wanted to. In short, I don¡¯t need something that I can achieve with my own power.¡±

    Of course, he was half-bluffing.

    It was true that putting Neoma in the Royal Household Registry was easy.

    However, thew that would allow women to inherit their family titles would be hard. If it was easy without the approval of the Twelve Golden Families, then his father would have already made them pass thew a long time ago.

    But, thankfully, Calyx Dalton was easy to fool.

    ¡°Then what else do you want, Prince Nero?¡± the crazy bastard asked desperately. ¡°What will make you and His Majesty stay as the Crown Prince and the emperor, respectively?¡±

    ¡°I only want one thing,¡± Nero said, smirking. ¡°And that¡¯s absolute power.¡±

    Hanna and Lewis both turned to Nero with a surprised look on their faces.

    On the other hand, Calyx Dalton¡¯s eyes went wide when he realized what Nero meant by what he said. ¡°Are you talking about the Emperor¡¯s Decree?¡±

    Nero smiled and shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ll leave that to your imagination, Calyx Dalton.¡±

    ***

    ¡°YOU DO not deserve my son, Neoma de Moonasterio.¡±

    Neoma was wondering how she ended up meeting the ¡°apparition¡± of Lord Levi, the God Among Gods or whatever, when she just wanted to eat rice and chicken. But since she was already there, she blurted out the thing that she had always wanted to say to Ruto¡¯s ¡°divine father.¡± ¡°And you do not have the qualifications to be my father-inw, Lord Levi.¡±

    So, how did she end up in this situation again?

    ***

    NOTE: Hi. It would be nice to readments other than ¡®please update.¡¯ Back when I was updating daily, I rarely receivedments. Sometimes I feel like talking to a wall when I update and there are little to noments. Hehe. I mean, it¡¯s not a requirement. It would just be nice to hear from you since it motivates me more. ??

    PS: Big thanks to the people who are consistent with leavingments.

 Chapter 524

    Chapter 524: I¡¯LL WIN WHETHER IT¡¯S LOVE OR WAR

    NEOMA let out a sigh after her rebellious ¡°children¡± refused her request.

    [Gosh, kids grow up so fast. They know how to say ¡®no¡¯ to me now.]

    ¡°Eomma, please don¡¯t do this!¡± Greko begged her while hugging her by the waist. ¡°Please reconsider it!¡±

    ¡°I agree with Greko, Princess Neoma,¡± Juri, who looked stressed out, said. ¡°Please don¡¯t cut your beautiful, luscious hair short!¡±

    Yep, she asked Greko to fetch Juri and Paige because she wanted to ask either of the two if they knew how to cut hair. But the reaction that she received from her ¡°children¡± was explosive. It was funny, actually.

    ¡°Princess Neoma, we know that you have the right to decide what you want to do with your own hair,¡± Paige said calmly. ¡°However, we know how much you¡¯ve longed to let your hair grow long after posing as Prince Nero for many years. Although we do not how what made Your Royal Highness decide to suddenly have a haircut, we¡¯d like to ask you to please not act on a whim.¡±

    As expected, the Mage knew how to convince her to change her mind in a calm manner.

    .....

    ¡°May we know why you suddenly want to cut your hair short, Princess Neoma?¡± Juri asked carefully. ¡°We know how much you treasure your long hair, after all.¡±

    ¡°Ady introduced herself to me as Ruto¡¯s fianc¨¦e.¡±

    The silence that ensued after her casual revtion was a little cold.

    [If Ruto was here, my ¡°children¡± would have attacked him already.]

    ¡°Then we should cut Ruto Stroganoff¡¯s life short and not your hair, Princess Neoma,¡± Jeno, who was sitting on the windowsill quietly, dered. ¡°Should I do it for Your Royal Highness?¡±

    ¡°Nah, it¡¯s not Ruto betrayed me,¡± she said, then she sat on the bed. ¡°Lady Phoebe Willows was the woman Ruto¡¯s family chose for him. But apparently, he already turned her down a long time ago. However, for some reason, the Willows have brought up the marriage talk between Ruto and Lady Willows again.¡±

    ¡°And what did Lord Stroganoff say about it?¡± Juri asked, her eyebrows furrowed. ¡°He never mentioned about the otherdy to Your Royal Highness before, did he?¡±

    ¡°He didn¡¯t, but it wasn¡¯t like it was relevant, so I get why he didn¡¯t tell me before,¡± she said. She wasn¡¯t defending Ruto- she was merely exining his side from her point of view since she could rte to his situation. ¡°It¡¯s normal for noble and royal children to get engaged early. Even in this lifetime, I was almost sold off to Rubin Drayton when I was still a toddler.¡±

    It happened during the time that her Papa Boss was still, uhm, subhuman.

    ¡°So, it doesn¡¯t really bother me that Ruto had a fianc¨¦e in the past,¡± she said. ¡°And as far as I understand, the marriage talk has been brought up again recently. Thus, he didn¡¯t get the chance to tell me about it.¡±

    Especially since he lost his memories of her.

    [My fault, so I can¡¯tin that much.]

    ¡°Eomma, your level of trust in Ruto hyung-nim is high,¡± Grekomented, then he sat beside her. ¡°Ruto hyung-nim must really be a trustworthy man.¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s true, but if I was going to be honest, then I¡¯d say my level of trust in myself is higher,¡± she said,ughing. Yes, it was her arrogance talking again. But what could she do? She wouldn¡¯t be Neoma (Version 2.0) if she wasn¡¯t arrogant. ¡°I¡¯m Neoma, so I¡¯ll always win, whether it¡¯s love or war. And it¡¯s not like there¡¯s apetition, anyway.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t like she was underestimating Phoebe Willows.

    She just didn¡¯t see her as a threat or a rival since she knew that Ruto wasn¡¯t even mildly attracted to Phoebe Willows, so why would she be bothered?

    ¡°Ruto already has me, so why would he still look for another girl?¡±

    Greko and Juri bothughed.

    Jeno just nodded his head solemnly as if what she had said made sense.

    On the other hand, Paige covered her face with a fan to probably hide her silly grin. The mage¡¯s eyes couldn¡¯t lie, though.

    She just smiled at the reaction of her ¡°children.¡± ¡°Moreover, if Ruto gets attracted to a child like Phoebe Willows, I will kill him.¡±

    She could understand Ruto¡¯s attraction to her since they both knew that they were adults inside.

    But getting attracted to a child like Phoebe Willows was a different matter.

    [What is Ruto¡¯s family even thinking? They know that Ruto isn¡¯t a normal ¡°child,¡± right? Gosh.]

    ¡°Princess Neoma, I understand now why you wanted to cut your hair short,¡± Paige said. ¡°I¡¯m not saying that you should do it for real, but would you like to see how you¡¯d look with short hair? Not as short as it was when you were posing as Prince Nero.¡± The mage touched her shoulder gently. ¡°How about this length?¡±

    Oh, that was brilliant.

    Juri turned to Paige with furrowed brows. ¡°Paige, what¡¯s the point of doing that if Princess Neoma wouldn¡¯t cut her hair short for real anyway?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s amon ¡°knowledge¡± in the empire that a woman who¡¯s going through a heartbreak cuts her hair short,¡± Paige said to Juri, smiling. But the mage¡¯s smile was anything but innocent. ¡°Princess Neoma,¡± she said as she turned back to her. ¡°Would you like to see how Lord Stroganoff would react once he sees your short hair?¡±

    Yep, she absolutely wanted to see that.

    Neoma smirked haughtily. ¡°I love your n, Paige.¡±

    Greko and Jeno whispered at the same time. ¡°Girls are scary.¡±

    ***

    [I WANT rice and fried chicken.]

    Neoma woke up past midnight while craving for rice and fried chicken, so she got up and went out of her bedroom alone.

    Right now, the whole Cyran Temple was upied by her family.

    Ruto and his family let them have the Cyran Temple for privacy while the Solfrids were still preparing their amodations in the Solfrid mansion.

    Since her Papa Boss sent such short notice, the preparations of their amodations weren¡¯t done yet. Thus, they had to spend the night in the Cyran Temple. But everything was provided for them. Except for servants, since her Papa Boss and Mama Boss requested it.

    So, after the servants served them dinner and prepared their bath earlier, the servants left the temple.

    [Wow, the kitchen isplete with ingredients.]

    She was amazed by the kitchen, especially by the different kinds of rice that she saw.

    [Most of the countries and kingdoms on the East Continent eat rice. It reminds me of Asia, to be honest.]

    She was busy strolling through the kitchen with a happy heart when she felt the presence of her ¡°children¡± outside. It was Jeno and Juri. As expected, she knew that her knights wouldn¡¯t let her move alone.

    But, thankfully, Jeno and Juri stayed outside to give her privacy.

    [Now, let¡¯s cook.]

    She was rolling the sleeves of her pajama top when, all of a sudden, the air in the kitchen changed.

    [Ah, dammit! Your girl can¡¯t even catch a break!]

    She was about to bolt out of the kitchen because she wasn¡¯t in the mood to deal with bullshit. So, the n was to hand the problem to her children. However, just before she could reach the door, the entire kitchen had changed.

    It became a in and empty white room, and she stood in the middle alone.

    [I¡¯m in a different dimension.]

    ¡°Ah, fucking shit,¡± Neoma said, then she put her hands on her waist. ¡°Show up before I fucking blow up this ce.¡±

    It didn¡¯t take her long to know who summoned her to that dimension.

    Before she knew it, she was already standing in front of a semi-transparent ¡°person¡± who looked like Ruto¡¯s older version.

    She had to discreetly wipe her mouth to make sure that she didn¡¯t drool.

    [So fucking handsome.]

    She felt sorry for Ruto, but she had to say that his divine father was so damned hot.

    [What¡¯s his name again? Lord Levi? The God Among Gods or something?]

    ¡°You do not deserve my son.¡±

    ¡°And you do not have the qualifications to be my father-inw, Lord Levi,¡± Neoma said bluntly. [Handsome or not, you do not cross Neoma de Moonasterio.] ¡°Gosh, are you here to offer me money to stay away from Ruto?¡±

    That was a ssic scene in Kdramas where the rich mothers would bribe the ¡°undeserving¡± girl that their son was dating with money to make them disappear from their son¡¯s life.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to say this, but if you want to separate me and Ruto, then you should convince your son to ¡°unlove¡± me, my lord,¡± she said, then she crossed her arms over her chest. ¡°It¡¯s Ruto who¡¯s more desperate to be with me, after all.¡±

    Lord Levi¡¯s handsome face looked shocked by her arrogance. ¡°I heard that you were arrogant, but I didn¡¯t expect you to be this arrogant.¡±

    Neoma was about to say something when, suddenly, the entire room shook hard.

    Then she heard a familiar voice outside.

    ¡°Just when will you all leave my daughter alone?¡±

    She gasped when she realized who it was. ¡°Papa Boss?!¡±

    ¡°Ah, I¡¯m d that your father is here,¡± Lord Levi said, then he snapped his fingers. ¡°I want to talk to Niki de Moonasterio about your rtionship with my son.¡±

    Neoma¡¯s eyes went wide with shock. ¡°Are you dering war against my Papa Boss, Lord Levi?!¡± She shook her head hard. ¡°Papa Boss is crazier than I am, you know?¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 525

    Chapter 525: [Bonus Chapter] SWEET HOME... ALABAMA?

    ¡°PRINCESS Neoma, you called?¡±

    Neoma smiled and nodded when Juri entered her office.

    Her ¡°children¡± were nice enough to give her an office in the floating vi that they gifted to her.

    She was using the office well.

    Even though she wanted to take a rest, she couldn¡¯t. There were things that needed her immediate attention, like the official positions of her ¡°children¡± in her Knight Order.

    ¡°Sit down, Juri,¡± Neoma said, smiling. ¡°We have something important to discuss.¡±

    Juri nodded, then she sat on the receiving chair in front of Neoma¡¯s desk. ¡°May I know what this is about, Your Royal Highness.¡±

    .....

    ¡°You all know that I¡¯m going to be registered to the Royal Household officially soon, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Princess Neoma,¡± Juri said, smiling brightly. ¡°Congrattions.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± she said. ¡°Although that¡¯s not the reason why I brought it up.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡±

    ¡°Juri, once I get recognized as a royal princess officially, my Order of Knights would be officially formed as well. As I said before, I¡¯ll appoint Lewis as themander of my Order.¡±

    To be honest, she could already see the process gettingplicated.

    After all, while she was pretending to be Nero all these years, Lewis was glued to her as her personal knight. Thus, everyone in the empire expected Lewis to be themander of her own Knight Order.

    [But Lewis would rather retire as a knight instead of serving Nero permanently as his personal guard.]

    Thus, even though she would be criticized for ¡°stealing¡± her twin brother¡¯s most trusted knight, she was willing to risk it all just to bring Lewis back to her side. Nero had his own (mysterious) set of ¡°children¡± anyway.

    ¡°Appointing Lewis as themander of your Order is a wise decision, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°I know, right?¡± she asked, then she casually dropped the bomb- aka the reason why she summoned Juri to her office. ¡°And I n to make you the vicemander, Juri.¡±

    Juri Wisteria was the second ¡°child¡± that she ¡°adopted.¡±

    Plus, as the ¡®Tank¡¯ of the team, she thought Juri would make a greatmander in the battlefield.

    [Because I know that Lewis won¡¯t leave my side if we find ourselves in a dangerous situation. I know, I know. Teaching my ¡°son¡± to be independent of me is my responsibility as his mother, but he¡¯s better at me when ites to being stubborn-]

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I cannot ept your offer, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Yes, you really deserve to be the vicemander...¡± her ¡°autopilot mode¡± stopped when she realized that Juri turned down her offer- as opposed to what she had expected from her ¡°daughter.¡± ¡°Huh? You¡¯re turning down the position of being my Order¡¯s vicemander?¡±

    Juri gulped as if she was suddenly nervous, then she nodded. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry, Princess Neoma.¡±

    Oh.

    Hearing Juri¡¯s apology made her realize that she had overreacted.

    ¡°No, you don¡¯t have to apologize, Juri,¡± she said while shaking her head. ¡°I¡¯m not mad- I¡¯m just surprised since when we first talked about this, you entertained the idea of bing the vicemander of my Order. I won¡¯t force you to do something that you don¡¯t want to. However, may I know what changed your mind?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m actually getting engaged soon, Your Royal Highness.¡±

    Okay, that almost made her choke on her saliva. ¡°I haven¡¯t heard about this before, my precious daughter. Who dared to take you away from me without officially asking me for your hand in marriage?¡±

    Well, she wasn¡¯t Juri¡¯s mother.

    However, in her heart, she cared about her ¡°daughter¡± as if she was her own.

    ¡°And I don¡¯t understand what your engagement has to do with my offer for you to be the vicemander of my Order.¡±

    Juri scratched her cheek as if she was embarrassed. ¡°I made a deal with my family, Princess Neoma. In order for me to choose my husband freely, they asked me to turn down a dangerous position from Your Royal Highness¡¯s Order. That¡¯s why I can¡¯t be the vicemander.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡±

    ¡°Moreover, after Paige joined our team, I realized that she¡¯s more reliable than me,¡± her ¡°daughter¡± added. ¡°Paige is always calm and collected, unlike me. Lewis, our futuremander, has a nasty temper as I do. So it would be nice for someone gentle like Paige to be Lewis¡¯s second-inmand.¡±

    That actually made sense.

    [However, I don¡¯t think Paige is as gentle as we think she is.]

    Sometimes, she thought Paige was a sadist.

    [Anyway...]

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll consider your rmendation,¡± she said, then she went back to the topic. ¡°So, who did you choose to be your husband and why did you keep it a secret from me?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like we wanted to keep it a secret from you, Princess Neoma,¡± Juri said nervously. ¡°Jeno and I are just looking for the perfect timing to tell you.¡±

    ¡°Jeno?¡± she asked with knitted eyebrows. Of course, she already knew what Juri was implying. However, she wanted to make sure that she understood it correctly. Thus, she pretended not to understand anything. ¡°What does Jeno have to do with this?¡±

    ¡°Jeno and I have agreed to marry each other, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    She wouldn¡¯t be this nosy if she knew that Jeno and Juri had feelings for each other.

    As far as she could remember, there wasn¡¯t an ounce of romantic sparks between the two who often fought like cats and dogs.

    But then again, there was a reason why the enemies-to-lovers trope was famous.

    Her heart protested, though!

    ¡°I can¡¯t let this marriage happen!¡±

    Juri¡¯s eyes went wide as if she was shocked by her reaction. ¡°But Princess Neoma, you always tell us to respect other people¡¯s decision, especially if that decision was made by an adult capable of making decisions for themselves.¡±

    ¡°This is a different matter,¡± Neoma insisted, then she mmed her hands on the table. ¡°You and Jeno are siblings, Juri Wisteria!¡±

    ***

    NEOMA crossed her arms over her chest while ring at Jeno, who was kneeling in front of her.

    After Juri left, she summoned Jeno to her office.

    She hadn¡¯t said anything yet when the Marksman suddenly knelt in front of her as if he already knew why he was summoned.

    ¡°Jeno Dankworth,¡± Neoma said indifferently. ¡°Why are you kneeling?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m here to ask Your Royal Highness for Juri¡¯s hand in marriage,¡± Jeno said nervously, and he couldn¡¯t even look her in the eye. ¡°Please allow me to marry Juri, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Are your families pressuring you to get married?¡±

    Her bullshit about Juri and Jeno being ¡°siblings¡± was just nothing but bullshit.

    She was upset because she didn¡¯t want her precious ¡°children¡± to give in to the stupid norm of their society to let the young nobles marry early for the sake of politics.

    ¡°I can talk to the Wisterias and the Dankworths, if you want to,¡± she offered. ¡°I don¡¯t want you and Juri to resort to marrying each other just for the sake of stopping your families from bugging you. Jeno, I care about you and Juri a lot. That¡¯s why I want you to marry out of love, even though I know that I shouldn¡¯t be meddling with your affairs.¡±

    After all, Juri and Jeno were two consenting adults who knew what they were doing.

    [Probably.]

    ¡°I¡¯m marrying out of love, Princess Neoma.¡±

    Wait, what?

    [Did I get it correctly?]

    ¡°I¡¯m marrying out of love, Your Royal Highness,¡± Jeno repeated calmly. ¡°I mean, I¡¯m not totally in love with Juri yet. However, if I¡¯m thinking about someone I want to spend my life with, Juri enters my mind.¡±

    Huh???

    ¡°I know that we often fight,¡± he said. ¡°But I wouldn¡¯t have bothered her a lot if I wasn¡¯t interested in her.¡±

    Ohh.

    Her children actually had feelings for each other?

    Without her knowing?

    [Well, I¡¯ve been busy these days...]

    She cleared her throat while organizing her thoughts. ¡°Have you told Juri about your feelings for her yet?¡±

    Jeno fell silent for a while before he nodded slowly. ¡°I told her that being her husband doesn¡¯t sound bad at all.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s it,¡± the Marksman said, then he tilted his head to one side. ¡°Is there something wrong with that, Your Royal Highness?¡±

    ¡°No, there¡¯s nothing wrong with that,¡± she said while scratching her cheek. ¡°I was just wondering if your feelings have reached Juri properly.¡±

    ¡°I think they did,¡± Jeno said, then he gave her a gentle smile that he rarely showed other people. ¡°Juri said that being my wife doesn¡¯t sound so bad, too.¡±

    .....

    Oh.

    [Ohh.]

    Neoma was defeated.

    [These two idiots are in love with each other without their knowing what exactly their feelings meant.]

    ***

    ¡°GREKO, you can¡¯t marry without my permission,¡± Neoma said while hugging Greko who was busy mixing potions. She was being a nuisance, but she didn¡¯t care anymore. ¡°Do you know that Jeno and Juri decided to get married?¡±

    ¡°Jeno hyung told me after you met him, eomma,¡± Greko said cheerfully. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, eomma. I will marry you when I grow up.¡±

    Aww.

    That was cute.

    There were some children who would say that they would marry their parent without knowing what it meant in reality.

    ¡°You can¡¯t marry me, Greko,¡± Neoma said smugly. ¡°Ruto won¡¯t let you.¡±

    ¡°I know, eomma,¡± Greko said,ughing. ¡°But how did Ruto hyung get involved in the conversation?¡±

    Oops.

 Chapter 526

    Chapter 526: NAW (NEOMA ALWAYS WINS)

    ¡°THEY WOULDN¡¯T really let our daughter catch a break, huh?¡± Nikimented while on his way to where the strong divine energy wasing from. ¡°These gods know no boundaries.¡±

    As soon as Niki and Mona felt the divine energy at the same time Neoma¡¯s presence disappeared, the two of them quickly went out of their bedroom to

    ¡°It must be Lord Levi,¡± Mona, who was walking beside him, said worriedly. ¡°This is the same energy that I felt from him when he summoned me before.¡±

    He clenched his hands tight.

    Mona told him about her encounter with the God Among Gods recently. He wasn¡¯t happy with what he heard- especially the part where Mona was forced to kneel in front of Levi.

    [How dare he do that to my Mona?]

    His thoughts got interrupted when he heard the noise that Neoma¡¯s ¡°children¡± were making in front of where the kitchen was supposed to be.

    .....

    Right now, a big white cube was floating in front of them.

    [Gods and their love for empty, white spaces inside cubes.]

    Anyway...

    Jeno Dankworth was continuously shooting the cube with his two pistols with a silencer.

    Juri Wisteria was hitting the cube nonstop with her sledgehammer.

    Paige Avery was using her white cane to cast attack spells at the cube.

    Greko, the youngest among Neoma¡¯s ¡°children,¡± was busy filling up his ¡°siblings''¡± Mana through the strange pink flowers that the boy was controlling. Those pink flowers were attached to Jeno, Juri, and Paige¡¯s napes.

    [Xion Redgrave is not here?]

    ¡°Stop,¡± Niki ordered sternly, effectively making the children stop with their fruitless efforts. ¡°Only divine energy could scratch a god¡¯s territory.¡±

    He wasn¡¯t being mean to Neoma¡¯s ¡°children,¡±- he just stated a fact.

    The children obviously knew that as well, since no matter how much they attacked the cube, it remained unscathed.

    [Let me show you how to do it properly.]

    When he stepped forward, the children stepped aside to give way for him.

    He then ced his hand on the cube¡¯s surface. Then he released a wave of divine energy from his hand. Just like that, the part that the wave hit exploded. Since he only created it for demonstration, it didn¡¯t do much damage.

    Even so, the fact that the part was dented seemed to have amazed the children.

    Niki pointed at the cube. ¡°And that¡¯s how you destroy a god¡¯s territory.¡±

    Neoma¡¯s ¡°children¡± gave him a round of apuse.

    ¡°Good job, Niki,¡± Mona said while rubbing his arm. ¡°You¡¯ve announced our arrival splendidly.¡±

    As if on cue, the cube shook violently.

    The energy it released wasn¡¯t hostile. In fact, it was an invitation. Levi was summoning him- and only him.

    He clicked his tongue in annoyance.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Niki,¡± Mona said. ¡°It seems like Lord Levi opened a door that only descendants of gods could enter.¡±

    Mona wasn¡¯t wrong.

    He could tell that the cube was the type of dimension that only descendants of gods like him could enter. Levi probably made it specifically for him and Neoma.

    [How dare you exclude Mona, you damned god?]

    ¡°I¡¯ll be quick, Mona,¡± Niki said, then he ced his hand on the cube. ¡°I¡¯ll bring Neoma back safely.¡±

    Mona smiled and nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll wait for you and Neoma, my love.¡±

    ***

    ¡°YOU HAVE balls of steel to dere war on my Papa Boss, Lord Levi,¡± Neoma said, making the so-called God Among Gods almost choke on his saliva. ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    ¡°How vulgar,¡± Lord Levi scolded her. ¡°How could a youngdy like you use such profanenguage right in front of a god like me?¡±

    ¡°Gosh, it¡¯s just a body part.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a MALE body part.¡±

    ¡°And so?¡± she asked, then she shook her head. ¡°If you want to talk about vulgar, should we talk about how you became Ruto¡¯s divine father, my lord?¡±

    The god looked shocked by what she said.

    ¡°I heard it through the grapevine,¡± she said, then she crossed her arms over her chest. ¡°Apparently, strong gods aren¡¯t allowed to conceive children together. But you wanted a child. And so, you used your divine seed or something and split it in half. Then you chose Lady Yngrid, a devoted follower of the Sun Goddess, to be the mother of your divine son even though she was already married to Ruto¡¯s father.¡±

    Lord Levi scoffed. ¡°It was an honor for Yngrid Solfrid that half of her son was born a god.¡±

    ¡°Bullshit.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me?¡±

    ¡°You have the mindset of a scumbag, Lord Levi,¡± she said bluntly. ¡°Compared to my dirty mouth, your whole personality is more vulgar.¡±

    Lord Levi¡¯s eyes turned glowing red, then he growled at her lowly.

    She growled back at the God Among Gods.

    ¡°Ah,¡± Lord Levi said, surprised when she literally growled at him. Then he took a step backward. ¡°You¡¯re really a wild child, Neoma de Moonasterio.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll take that as apliment, my lord,¡± she said, then she fixed the baby hair stuck on her forehead. ¡°Anyway, I heard that you chose Lady Phoebe Willows to be Ruto¡¯s fianc¨¦e.¡±

    ¡°Have you already met her?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± she said, then she scowled at the god. ¡°Lord Levi, don¡¯t you have a conscience?¡±

    ¡°Excuse me?¡±

    ¡°Aside from the OBVIOUS FACT that Ruto isn¡¯t mildly interested in Lady Willows romantically, it bothers me that you chose a literal child to be Ruto¡¯s partner.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear that from a thirteen-year-old brat who is unofficially seeing my son.¡±

    ¡°This and that are entirely different matters, my lord,¡± she insisted, then she pointed at herself. ¡°I am physically a child. But I¡¯m an adult emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. And Ruto is the same. How could you choose a child for your son, knowing that he¡¯s a grown man inside?¡±

    ¡°Does it matter?¡± the god asked nonchntly. ¡°Phoebe Willows will be of legal age soon.¡±

    She gasped, then she put her hands on her hips this time. ¡°My lord, that¡¯s called grooming and it¡¯s WORSE! It¡¯s wrong for an adult like Ruto to ¡°wait¡± for his fianc¨¦e to be of legal age just so he could marry her. That¡¯s wrong on so many levels.¡± She clicked her tongue in annoyance. ¡°Gosh. I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re the de facto leaders of the gods in the Upper World, Lord Levi. If those fellows up there have the same mindset as you, then I hope you never find clean air to breathe in.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m appalled,¡± Lord Levi said in disbelief. ¡°I¡¯m appalled that my son chose a disrespectful brat like you over a decentdy like Phoebe Willows.¡±

    ¡°Well, you just have to get used to it, my lord,¡± she retorted, then she pointed at her face. ¡°Your son will disobey you for this disrespectful and pretty brat any day.¡±

    ¡°How can you remain that confident when my son doesn¡¯t remember you?¡±

    ¡°Ruto only lost his memories of me- not his emotions and his other senses,¡± she said, rolling her eyes and flipping her hair at the same time. ¡°If Ruto could easily move on from me, he wouldn¡¯t have ruined his life by fixing mine.¡±

    Maybe saying that Ruto had ruined his life for her was an exaggeration.

    However, he could have lived a peaceful life on the East Continent- away from her. But Ruto still chose to cross the seas just to meet her again despite the consequences.

    ¡°You said it yourself,¡± Lord Levi said. ¡°You¡¯re ruining my son¡¯s life. Are you that thick-skinned to continue holding onto him despite all of that?¡±

    ¡°Yes, my lord,¡± she said bluntly. ¡°As long as Ruto chooses me, I will choose him, too.¡±

    ¡°You already have a vague idea as to how your story with my son ended in the past.¡±

    ¡°It was your fault, not ours.¡±

    The god knitted his eyebrows. ¡°What did you say?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know the whole story yet, but I know that Ruto and I didn¡¯t choose to kill each other- y¡¯all pushed us to be each other¡¯s enemy,¡± she said bravely. ¡°The gods¡¯ cruel schemes pushed me to insanity, while Lord Levi probably pushed Ruto to save the world that you couldn¡¯t protect from my wrath.¡±

    Lord Levi looked like he was in disbelief. ¡°How can you say that when you don¡¯t know the truth?¡±

    ¡°I will only believe the truth that existed between me and Ruto in the past,¡± she said. ¡°You can keep your truth to yourself, Lord Levi. I will only believe and trust myself. The rest can fuck off.¡±

    ¡°Your arrogance pierces the sky, Neoma de Moonasterio.¡±

    ¡°Good,¡± she said. ¡°I hope the gods up there get impaled by my arrogance.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to talk to you anymore,¡± Lord Levi, who looked exhausted even though they only talked, pinched the skin between his eyes. Then he waved his hand dismissively. ¡°Go. I¡¯ll talk to your father alone.¡±

    After saying that, her body began to turn translucent.

    Tsk!

    ¡°Lord Levi, this is a friendly warning: don¡¯t force Ruto to do things that he doesn¡¯t want to do,¡± Neoma said firmly. ¡°I¡¯m a very petty person and I hold grudges, my lord- so please don¡¯t test my patience.¡±

    ¡°Are you threatening a god now, Neoma de Moonasterio?¡±

    .....

    ¡°Not a threat, but a FRIENDLY warning.¡±

    Lord Levi looked so done with her this time. ¡°Same difference, you little brat.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t ept you as my father-inw yet, so please work on yourself to be deserving of that title, my lord. And please think about arguing with me again,¡± Neoma said, then she bowed her head to hide her smirk. ¡°Because Neoma always wins.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 527

    Chapter 527: BOTH- BOTH ARE BAD

    NIKOLAI clicked his tongue as soon as he realized that Neoma wasn¡¯t in Levi¡¯s territory anymore.

    He met the god¡¯s red eyes, then he clicked his tongue again.

    After that, he turned his back on Levi to leave. What was the point of staying there if his daughter wasn¡¯t there anymore?

    ¡°No wonder Neoma de Moonasterio is so rude,¡± Levi said mockingly. The God Among Gods was sitting on a white throne- the only piece of furniture in that boring, white room. ¡°You, the de Moonasterios, reallyck manners.¡±

    Niki faced Levi and raised an eyebrow at him. ¡°Let me share with you what Neoma used to tell me in the past: respect is earned, not imposed.¡±

    Levi raised an eyebrow at him. ¡°Is the fact that I¡¯m the God Among Gods not enough for your daughter to respect me?¡±

    ¡°Maybe if you didn¡¯t bully her, she would have shown you basic courtesy.¡±

    .....

    ¡°And when did I ¡°bully¡± that wild child of yours?¡±

    ¡°You were sprouting nonsense about how Neoma doesn¡¯t deserve Ruston Stroganoff, weren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°I thought we were on the same page, Niki de Moonasterio,¡± the god said. ¡°You don¡¯t want your precious daughter and my son to end up together, do you?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± he admitted. ¡°However, it¡¯s not because my Neoma iscking. It¡¯s your son who¡¯s not deserving of my daughter.¡±

    ¡°How is my son not deserving of your daughter?¡± Leviined. ¡°Yoan- or Ruston Stroganoff for you- is my one and only divine son. He¡¯s THE God yer, and he¡¯s being followed by exceptional individuals. Moreover, he was born as a human in a family treasured by the Sun Goddess. Whether he chooses to stay here or live in the Upper World in the future, he¡¯ll thrive.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I agree that Ruston Stroganoff is indeed an exceptional individual,¡± he said. ¡°He¡¯s good enough to be themander of the White Lion Knights. But unfortunately, he¡¯s not good enough to be my son-inw.¡±

    The god smirked, his eyes turning a deeper shade of red. Obviously, he wasn¡¯t happy with what Niki had said about his so-called ¡°divine son.¡±

    He wasn¡¯t done yet.

    ¡°Neoma is the one and only royal princess of the Great Moonasterion Empire, and she¡¯s also destined to be the first woman in history to sit on the throne,¡± Niki said smugly. ¡°Moreover, her existence in the entire world is relevant. You gods can¡¯t even live in the Upper World just because you don¡¯t have clean air to breathe anymore.¡± He clicked his tongue in annoyance. ¡°Your world literally needs my daughter¡¯s breath to survive- that¡¯s how important Neoma is. And you expect me to be amazed by your one and only divine son? Hah! Even if you give birth to more divine children, none of them wouldpare to my daughter.¡±

    ¡°I can tolerate your disrespect towards me because I¡¯m a benevolent god,¡± Levi growled lowly. ¡°However, I won¡¯t tolerate any disrespect towards my precious son.¡±

    After saying that, the God Among Gods released his bloodlust directed at Niki.

    Argh.

    The amount of bloodlust that hit Niki almost made his knees buckle.

    Almost.

    Now he understood how Levi managed to bring someone like Mona to her knees. Obviously, the title ¡®God Among Gods¡¯ wasn¡¯t a mere fancy title.

    However, he countered the god¡¯s bloodlust with his own bloodlust while standing straight.

    He refused to fall to his knees in front of Levi- not after the damned god made Mona fall to her knees. As if that wasn¡¯t enough, the damned god also insulted his precious daughter. After reminding himself of how Levi treated Mona and Neoma, his bloodlust intensified.

    Soon, the wave of his bloodlust that hit Levi caused his throne to crack all over.

    Then Niki stepped forward and stomped his foot on the floor.

    This time, the floor cracked and those long cracks spread quickly.

    Levi didn¡¯t simply receive his attack, of course. The god¡¯s second wave of bloodlust exploded and hit the walls- creating long cracks that mirrored how he destroyed the floor earlier.

    [At this rate, this room will explode.]

    He was worried that the outside world might be affected. Of course, he knew that Mona was very capable of protecting herself. However, he didn¡¯t want to risk it. But when he was just about to end their confrontation, Levi beat him to it.

    The God Among Gods coughed up a huge chunk of blood, causing the god to withdraw his attack.

    Thus, ending their confrontation just like that.

    ¡°It¡¯s rare to see a god bleeding like that,¡± Niki said, then he raised an eyebrow at Levi. ¡°Are you dying?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Gods don¡¯t die easily- especially not from a disease,¡± the god exined. ¡°However, as you can see, I¡¯m affected by a disease that also affects the other gods living in the Upper World.¡±

    ¡°What kind of disease could make a powerful god like you cough up blood?¡±

    ¡°This is the effect of the air pollution in the Upper World.¡±

    He was surprised to hear that.

    Not that he cared about the gods suffering from air pollution. However, he had a bad feeling about this...

    ¡°The situation in the Upper World isn¡¯t looking good,¡± Levi said while wiping the blood off of his mouth with a white handkerchief. ¡°The gods who are affected by the air pollution are getting impatient now to rece the current Aether that provides air in the Upper World.¡± He burned the bloody handkerchief with a flicker of some violet me. ¡°Niki de Moonasterio, you know that your daughter has the potential to be the next Aether, don¡¯t you?¡±

    Niki¡¯s jaw clenched. ¡°You can all drop dead for all I care- but I assure you, I will never let you exploit Neoma in any way.¡± He smirked bitterly at Levi. ¡°Moreover, do you think my daughter is the type that you can force to do something she doesn¡¯t want to do?¡±

    ***

    ¡°CHILDREN, Neoma¡¯s presence has already disappeared from here,¡± Mona said to Neoma¡¯s ¡°children,¡± smiling. ¡°Would you look for her? I don¡¯t think she¡¯s in the Cyran Temple anymore.¡±

    The children looked surprised, but they all nodded politely.

    To be honest, she was also surprised when she felt Neoma¡¯s presence disappear. But she knew that her daughter had returned to this world safely. It was just that Lord Levi didn¡¯t send Neoma back to the Cyran Temple.

    Her daughter was near, though.

    [However, I don¡¯t have the luxury to look for Neoma myself.]

    ¡°We will take our leave now to find Princess Neoma then,¡± Paige, the leader of the group when Neoma and Lewis weren¡¯t around, said. ¡°Take care, Lady Roseheart.¡±

    After saying that, the children bowed to her respectfully before they left silently.

    [As expected of Neoma¡¯s ¡°children,¡± they have sharp senses.]

    The children obviously felt that they had a ¡°guest.¡±

    ¡°You maye out now, Lady Yngrid.¡±

    A burst of orange me suddenly appeared in front of Mona.

    Then it slowly took the form of a person.

    A woman, to be precise.

    Finally, Lady Yngrid had appeared in front of her.

    ¡°Good evening, Lady Roseheart,¡± Lady Yngrid greeted her politely. ¡°First of all, I would like to apologize for failing to protect your family. As the matriarch of House Solfrid and the Guardian of Cyran Temple, I am ashamed.¡± She bowed her head. ¡°I deeply apologize for what happened.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Lady Yngrid,¡± Mona said gently. ¡°I understand. I don¡¯t think Niki and I could have stopped Lord Levi from summoning Neoma to his territory. So please raise your head.¡±

    Lady Yngrid raised her head and faced her again, but she still looked guilty. ¡°Lord Levi treasures Ruto a lot,¡± she said. ¡°He treasures him more than my husband and I do. Thus, he can be overprotective most of the time. I¡¯m sure he summoned Princess Neoma to ask her to stay away from Ruto. I feel bad for Her Royal Highness.¡±

    ¡°Please don¡¯t feel bad for Neoma, Lady Yngrid,¡± she said, smiling and shaking her head. ¡°I¡¯m sure Lord Levi can¡¯t intimidate my daughter. I know that I shouldn¡¯t say this as her mother, but Neoma could be pretty rude to people who rub her the wrong way. Although I wish my daughter could be a little calmer and more patient, I¡¯m still d that she knows how to stand up for herself.¡±

    ¡°I see. That¡¯s a relief to hear then.¡±

    ¡°I think we should worry more about Niki and Lord Levi,¡± she said, then she sighed. ¡°Niki is also overprotective of our daughter. I don¡¯t think he¡¯d be ready to ept the fact that Neoma would get suitorster. He absolutely hates the idea.¡± She shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m sure Niki would speak ill of Ruto, so I apologize in advance, Lady Yngrid.¡±

    Come to think of it, Niki and Lord Levi were both bad- bad at expressing their (excessive) love for their children.

    Lady Yngrid gave her a look full of sympathy. ¡°It¡¯s alright, Lady Roseheart. Ipletely understand.¡±

    She smiled at her, but she turned a little more serious than she was earlier. ¡°But Lady Yngrid, you share the same sentiments with Lord Levi, don¡¯t you?¡± she asked carefully. ¡°You also don¡¯t want my Neoma to end up with your Ruto.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not because I don¡¯t like Princess Neoma as a person. I just don¡¯t want Her Royal Highness and my son to focus on each other at the moment, since both of them have duties they have to fulfill.¡±

    She was relieved to hear that.

    [I don¡¯t know how I¡¯d react if Lady Yngrid says she doesn¡¯t like Neoma as a person.]

    ¡°I believe that Princess Neoma and Ruto shouldn¡¯t get too serious about each other for now. However, I¡¯m not good with words,¡± Lady Yngrid said worriedly. ¡°I¡¯m afraid that I may have hurt both Ruto and Princess Neoma when I talked to them before. You know me, Lady Roseheart. Most of the time, I can¡¯t read the room.¡±

    She knew Lady Yngrid way before she got married to Lord Morton Stroganoff.

    [Lady Yngrid was so famous when she was young that even the nobles from the East Continent knew her. However, her reputation wasn¡¯t good back then. She was known as ¡°snobbish.¡± But I know that it¡¯s only because she¡¯s reserved, and she doesn¡¯t talk much.]

    ¡°Lady Yngrid, would you like to have tea with me?¡± Mona asked, smiling. ¡°I think Niki and Lord Levi don¡¯t need us to wait for them here.¡±

    Lady Yngrid smiled, then she nodded. ¡°I¡¯d love that, Lady Roseheart.¡±

    ***

    ¡°NIKOLAI DE Moonasterio, you don¡¯t want your daughter to end up with my son, do you?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Niki said, then he crossed his arms over his chest. ¡°To be precise, I don¡¯t think anyone in this world will be good enough for my daughter.¡±

    He felt gutted after saying that.

    There was a small voice in his head yelling at him that Neoma would hate him again if he continued acting like a tyrant (that he used to be). To be fair, he was just saying all of that half-heartedly. In the end, he knew that he wouldn¡¯t and couldn¡¯t stop Neoma from pursuing her happiness.

    .....

    However, until Neoma became a legal adult, it was his right as her father to protect her.

    ¡°The reason why I don¡¯t want Neoma de Moonasterio for my son is because she has too much power over him,¡± Levi said, then he sighed. ¡°In this lifetime, I¡¯m one hundred percent certain that Yoan will choose Neoma de Moonasterio over the world. And I can¡¯t let that happen. The world would copse if my divine son chooses your daughter.¡±

    He raised an eyebrow at the God Among Gods. ¡°Why will the world copse if Ruston Stroganoff chooses Neoma?¡±

    Levi smiled bitterly. ¡°Because the God Among Gods must live in solitude.¡±

    Niki knitted his eyebrows. ¡°You¡¯re nning to make your own son live a miserable life as the next God Among Gods?¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 528

    Chapter 528: NEOMA IS P(R)ETTY

    ¡°THE BABY is hungry,¡± Neoma whispered to herself, then she kicked a poor pebble in front of her. ¡°I¡¯m the fucking baby.¡±1

    She was ¡®hangry.¡¯

    Angry because she was hungry, yes.

    [I just want a fried chicken...]

    After Lord Levi kicked her out, she found herself in a fancy garden decorated with pretty lights around. However, she was pretty sure that she hadn¡¯t seen that garden when she took a stroll around the temple earlier. She didn¡¯t know where she was, so she just kept on walking without a destination in mind.

    ¡°All I wanted is to have a short vacation while being treated like a baby. But why can¡¯t I even get my fried chicken without getting abducted by a god just to threaten me to stay away from his son?¡± She kicked another pebble. ¡°Gosh, this is so frustrating-¡±

    ¡°Ouch!¡±

    .....

    Huh?

    Did she identally hit someone when she kicked the pebble earlier?

    [Oh, no! I forgot that I¡¯m OP!]

    She immediately rushed in the direction where the voice came from.

    There, she found a boy squatting down in front of a pond while rubbing the back of his head. The culprit (aka the pebble that she kicked earlier) was near the stranger¡¯s feet.

    [Oops.]

    ¡°Hi!¡± Neoma greeted the boy, then she squatted down in front of him. ¡°Sorry, you were hit by the pebble that I kicked. Do you want me to bring you to my doctor son?¡±

    The boy raised his head and red at her. ¡°How can someone as young as you have a son...¡± He trailed off, then he blinked rapidly as if he couldn¡¯t believe what he was seeing. ¡°This is absurd.¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°Your face!¡± the boy eximed while pointing at her face. ¡°How can someone be so ridiculously beautiful? Are you a fairy?!¡±

    ¡°No,¡± she said bluntly. ¡°I¡¯ve already seen the fairy queen, and I think I¡¯m more beautiful than her. But thanks for thepliment. I love hearing that I¡¯m pretty.¡±

    ¡°Wow,¡± the boy said. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if I¡¯m shocked because you imed that you¡¯ve already seen the fairy queen, or if I¡¯m shocked because I¡¯ve never met a girl as conceited as you before.¡±

    ¡°Then it must be your lucky day,¡± she said, then she gave him a round of apuse. ¡°So, how does it feel to meet someone more beautiful than the fairy queen herself?¡±

    ¡°Well, I guess getting hit by steel is worth it.¡±

    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t exaggerate,¡± sheined, then she picked up the pebble and showed it to him. ¡°This is what hit you- an innocent pebble.¡±

    ¡°It was covered by aura when it hit my head, so I thought I was being assassinated!¡±

    Ah, she must have unconsciously used a bit of strength when she kicked the pebble earlier because she was upset.

    However, it was probably covered by her Moonglow and not aura.

    [But I guess a child can¡¯t tell what a Moonglow is, so he thought it¡¯s something simr to aura.]

    Thus, she didn¡¯t correct him.

    ¡°Why would someone assassinate you?¡± she asked curiously. ¡°Are you a VIP or something?¡±

    Well, based on the boy¡¯s expensive clothes and essories, she could tell that he was a noble. But since she didn¡¯t have the time to memorize the names and the faces of the VIPs on the East Continent, particrly in the Kingdom of Suoh, she had no clue who the boy was.

    He looked familiar, though.

    ck hair, ck eyes, a face that seemed gentle. She had a feeling that she had seen that face before, but she was too hungry to use her brain properly.

    ¡°What¡¯s a ¡®VIP?''¡±

    ¡°A very important person.¡±

    The boy beamed. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m a very important person. How about you? You act like you own the world, so you¡¯re probably a VIP, too.¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t measure how important I am to this world, so don¡¯t ask me such a silly question.¡±

    ¡°Wait a minute...¡± the boy said, then he looked at her face carefully. ¡°White hair with some pink strands, ash gray eyes, and skin as pale as the moon...¡± He gasped, then his eyes went wide. ¡°Are you a Roseheart?!¡±

    Huh???

    Well, she was a Roseheart, and it wasn¡¯t a secret.

    However, wouldn¡¯t most people say that she was a de Moonasterio after seeing her white hair, ash gray eyes, and pale skin?

    ¡°Wait, I mean, you¡¯re a Roseheart and a de Moonasterio,¡± the boy, who suddenly seemed to be more energetic and curious about her, said. ¡°Since you¡¯re a girl, then you must be Princess Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio. I heard that Emperor Niki de Moonasterio is in the Cyran Temple with his family! Lady Mona Roseheart is here, too, right? But it¡¯s a shame that Prince Nero Roseheart de Moonasterio isn¡¯t here with you...¡±

    And the boy continued with his ¡°fanboying.¡±

    [Yep, this boy is definitely a fanboy.]

    ¡°Kid, are you a fan of the Rosehearts?¡±

    ¡°Of course, I am!¡± the boy said. ¡°Every Summoner in the world looks up at the Rosehearts, you know?¡±

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re a Summoner?¡±

    The boy suddenly stood up, then he put his hands on his stomach politely before he bowed to her respectfully. ¡°I greet the Second Star and the one and only royal princess of the Great Moonasterion Empire!¡±

    Ah, right.

    [Most people still think Nero is the First Star.]

    And they didn¡¯t correct it on purpose.

    After all, the one destined to bring the new saint to the Astello Temple was the First Star. She was posing as Nero when she received that oracle from Lord Yule. Thus, her twin brother would bring the new saint to the templeter and not her.

    ¡°My name is Preston Willows, Your Royal Highness!¡±

    Willows?

    She almost choked on her saliva. ¡°Kid, how are you rted to Lady Phoebe Willows?

    Preston raised his head to look at her with sparkling eyes. ¡°Phoebe is my big sister, Your Royal Highness.¡±

    Ah!

    [That¡¯s why this kid¡¯s face looks familiar.]

    She stood up and stretched her arms.

    [Oh, well. Preston is his own person, so it shouldn¡¯t matter that he¡¯s rted to Lady Phoebe even though I don¡¯t want to see Lady Phoebe and Ruto in the meantime.]

    ¡°Wow, Your Royal Highness is really tall,¡± Preston said while looking up at her since she was a foot taller than her. ¡°You¡¯re taller than me even though we¡¯re the same age.¡±

    ¡°Oh, we¡¯re the same age?¡±

    He nodded. ¡°I¡¯m thirteen years old! But I look small for my age, don¡¯t I?¡±

    ¡°Nah, it¡¯s fine,¡± she said. ¡°Girls grow taller than boys around this age. But once you hit puberty, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll grow taller.¡±

    Phoebe Willows was tall, so it probably ran in their genes.

    [Let¡¯s just hope that Preston inherited that gene too since it seems like he wants to be taller.]

    The boy grinned and nodded. ¡°Your Royal Highness, may I know if you already have your own Spirits?¡±

    ¡°I do,¡± she said, smiling because the boy¡¯s energy was contagious.

    [I like this kid¡¯s enthusiasm. He¡¯ll probably faint once he meets Mama Boss.]

    His eyes sparkled even more. ¡°May I know what kinds of Spirits have you tamed yet, Your Royal Highness?¡±

    ¡°I have Mochi, the Wind Spirit. Soju, the Water Spirit. Kimchi, the Fire Spirit...¡± She trailed off, then sheughed softly when she saw that Preston was already on the verge of crying. ¡°Why are you crying, kid?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m touched,¡± Preston said, then he sped his hands together as if he was praying. ¡°Your Royal Highness is the same age as me, but you¡¯ve already summoned Elemental Spirits. I, on the other hand, have only summoned a minor Spirit even though I¡¯ve been studying magic like crazy since I was a toddler.¡± He forced out augh, then he scratched his cheek as if he was embarrassed. ¡°And yet, I had the audacity to introduce myself as a Summoner.¡±

    It looked like the kid had an inferiorityplex.

    [I¡¯m d Preston hasn¡¯t met Nero yet. My genius twin brother who¡¯s loved by the Spirit World would be bad for the kid¡¯s ego. A narcissistic person like me still gets jealous of Nero from time to time, so I can already imagine how Preston would feel once he met Nero- the perfect Roseheart. And a male Roseheart, at that.]

    ¡°Hey, I know that you wouldn¡¯t want to hear this from someone whom you think is superior to you, but we all grow at our own pace,¡± she said in an attempt to cheer him up. ¡°Don¡¯tpare your growth to someone else¡¯s growth. Remember this, kid. The only person you shouldpete with is yourself. But if you really want to do aparison, thenpare your growth to your past self. Then you¡¯ll see how much you improve, and how much hard work you must put in if you want to do better.¡±

    Thankfully, it looked like the boy was listening to her words carefully.

    ¡°Plus, the grass is always greener on the other side,¡± she added with a shrug. ¡°Just get obsessed with yourself so you wouldn¡¯t care about anything else.¡±

    The boy suddenly burst outughing. ¡°Your Royal Highness, you sounded like an adult before. But thetter part of your advice sounds silly. How can someone be obsessed with themselves?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s easy,¡± she said. ¡°I just love myself a little too much.¡±

    Now the boy looked confused.

    ¡°Never mind,¡± she said, then she changed the topic. ¡°Anyway, what kind of Spirit do you have?¡±

    .....

    The energetic boy suddenly lost his smile.

    Oh?

    [Is it a sensitive topic for him?]

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for suddenly asking that out of the blue,¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯s okay if you don¡¯t answer my question.¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s okay,¡± Preston said, but he couldn¡¯t even look at her in the eye. ¡°The Spirit that I made a contract with... is a fairy.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s nice.¡±

    ¡°Myah isn¡¯t abat fairy, though,¡± he said. This time, he lowered his head as if he was too embarrassed to face her. ¡°Myah is just a fairy who can make edible flowers that humans can consume. Her fairy dust turns into something simr to sugar. And if you pour her ¡°sugar dust¡± onto any kind of flowers, they be candied flowers that we can safely eat.¡±

    ¡°A fairy that can make edible flowers...?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s prettyme, isn¡¯t it? Funny, even,¡± Preston said as if he was embarrassed, then he raised his head and let out a nervousugh. ¡°It¡¯s okay tough-¡±

    ¡°Your fairy sounds cool, Lord Preston!¡± she said excitedly. ¡°Gosh, I didn¡¯t know that there are fairies who can make edible flowers! That¡¯s so amazing! You hit the jackpot!¡±

    ¡°R-Really?¡± the boy asked, confused. ¡°Your Royal Highness thinks that Myah is cool and amazing?¡±

    ¡°Totally!¡± she said, then she gave him a double thumbs up. One for Preston, and one for the fairy called ¡®Myah.¡¯ ¡°I¡¯d love to meet Myah, if that¡¯s alright with you.¡±

    The boy was about to say something, but he stopped when her stomach grumbled loudly.

    Ah, right.

    She was hungry.

    Neomaughed while rubbing her stomach. ¡°I guess my stomach wants to meet Myah, too.¡±

    Preston, who looked visiblyfortable now,ughed along with her. ¡°Then I guess this is the perfect opportunity to introduce Myah to you, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ***

    ¡°LORD RUTO, wait for me.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Phoebe, but I¡¯m in a hurry,¡± Ruto said while following the trail of Princess Neoma¡¯s Moonglow. ¡°You don¡¯t have to follow me, so you may go back to the main mansion.¡±

    When he felt his divine father¡¯s presence, he quickly went out to follow him.

    But he changed his mind when he felt Princess Neoma¡¯s presence in the Solfrid Mansion. It looked like his divine father had ¡°thrown¡± the royal princess to the mansion instead of sending her back to the Cyran Temple.

    Princess Neoma wasn¡¯t familiar with the Solfrid Estate yet, so he thought he should find Princess Neoma first even though his father¡¯s presence was still in the temple.

    [I guess Emperor Niki can deal with my divine father...]

    ¡°Lord Ruto, it¡¯s cold,¡± Phoebe whined, then he grabbed the hem of his jacket. ¡°You¡¯re dressed warmly. Must be nice.¡±

    He stopped walking and turned around to face Phoebe.

    She wore light clothes- her sleeping clothes, if he wasn¡¯t mistaken- since she was about to go back to her bedroom when she saw and followed him outside.

    ¡°You should head back to the mansion,¡± he said. ¡°You know your way back, right?¡±

    ¡°I know, but it¡¯s cold,¡± Phoebeined, then she hugged herself and rubbed her arms. ¡°I can¡¯t move since it¡¯s too cold.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± he said. ¡°Then excuse me.¡±

    After saying that, he put his hand on Phoebe¡¯s head lightly. Then he sent a warm wave of energy from his hand to her body. As a follower of the Sun Goddess, he was warmer than average people, and he could share that warmth with other people.

    ¡°There,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s not cold anymore, isn¡¯t it? You should go back now.¡±

    He walked away before Phoebe could even give a response.

    However, she still followed him.

    He just let her be since he felt Princess Neoma¡¯s presence closer. And he was right. A few momentster, he already heard her voice.

    That sound, clear, and confident voice of hers, to be precise.

    ¡°Would you like toe with me to the West Continent, Lord Preston?¡±

    What?

    [Why is Princess Neoma asking Preston toe with her to the West Continent?]

    He frowned, then he walked faster.

    All the negative feelings he felt earlier disappeared when he saw Princess Neoma sitting on the ground- beside Preston, right in front of the fishpond.

    [Why is she dressed lightly when it¡¯s so cold here?]

    Ah, right.

    The royal princess probably didn¡¯t have time to wear proper clothes when she was summoned by his divine father.

    [Father, you¡¯re really...]

    ¡°Lord Ruto,¡± Preston greeted him when he saw him. ¡°You¡¯re here... with my sister?¡±

    He just nodded in response to Preston, then his eyes immediately looked for Princess Neoma.

    Their eyes met.

    [Ah, Princess Neoma¡¯s eyes are pretty... sharp.]

    Was the royal princess ring at him?

    Then he saw her put a little violet flower in her mouth.

    ¡°Princess Neoma, why are you eating flowers?¡± Ruto asked worriedly while taking off his jacket. Then he got down on one knee and draped his jacket over Princess Neoma¡¯s shoulders to keep her warm. ¡°Are you hungry? Do you want me to cook for you? What do you want to eat?¡±

    ¡°Why are you asking, Lord Stroganoff?¡± Princess Neoma asked indifferently. ¡°You lost your memories. Do you know how to cook my favorite dishes in your current state?¡±

    The royal princess wasn¡¯t wrong, though.

    He couldn¡¯t remember anything rted to cooking at all.

    [But why do I want to cook for Princess Neoma so bad?]

    ***

    NEOMA smiled widely while watching Myah sprinkle her ¡°sugar dust¡± on the little violet flowers that she picked up earlier.

    Myah was a fairy the size of her hand. She had teal blue hair, green eyes, and a dress that would change color every minute. Moreover, the fairy had blue butterfly wings, too. The scepter in her hand had a four-leaf clover on top.

    [She¡¯s so cute!]

    Myah dered in a chirpy voice.

    The little violet flowers in her hands had turned into something simr to candied edible flowers that she used to have before.

    [Let¡¯s see if they taste the same.]

    She put one flower in her mouth, then her eyes went wide.

    ¡°It¡¯s good!¡± Neoma eximed after eating one edible flower. ¡°It¡¯s sweet, and it tastes like caramel candy. Myah, you¡¯re so amazing! I want to put you in my pocket and bring you home.¡±

    Myah giggled as if she was embarrassed, then she bobbed a curtsy.

    She smiled and nodded, then she turned to Preston who was sitting beside her.

    [Ah, he looks proud that I praise Myah.]

    The boy took off his jacket earlier and lent it to her to use as a nket when they sat on the ground- right in front of the fishpond.

    [Something about our meeting is strange, but this is interesting so let¡¯s go along with it.]

    ¡°Hey, kid.¡±

    Preston smiled at her. ¡°Yes, Princess Neoma?¡±

    ¡°Would you like toe with me to the West Continent, Lord Preston?¡±

    The boy looked shocked, at first.

    But before he could give her a response, he got distracted when some uninvited ¡°guests¡± arrived.

    ¡°Lord Ruto,¡± Preston greeted the ¡°guest.¡± ¡°You¡¯re here... with my sister?¡±

    [Tsk.]

    Neoma wasn¡¯t happy when she saw Phoebe behind Ruto. She saw the two after Myah disappeared as if the fairy was startled by Ruto and Phoebe¡¯s arrival.

    Of course, she knew that there must be a reason why the two were togetherte at night.

    However, that didn¡¯t mean she liked the situation.

    [I mean, Phoebe is a child. Even though I know that Ruto isn¡¯t interested in her, I still feel bad that Phoebe is chasing a grown man. It¡¯s wrong on so many levels.]

    She was distracted when she met Ruto¡¯s dark purple eyes.

    And she stopped herself from greeting him by putting a candied flower in her mouth.

    [Even though it¡¯s unintentional on your part, it¡¯s still wrong to lead on a child, Ruto.]

    ¡°Princess Neoma, why are you eating flowers?¡± Ruto asked worriedly while taking off his jacket. Then he got down on one knee and draped his jacket over her shoulders even though she wasn¡¯t cold. ¡°Are you hungry? Do you want me to cook for you? What do you want to eat?¡±

    ¡°Why are you asking, Lord Stroganoff?¡± Neoma asked, surprised after Ruto fussed over her. She didn¡¯t want to let a stupid grine out, so she just gave him a poker face. ¡°You lost your memories. Do you know how to cook my favorite dishes in your current state?¡±

    Ruto looked too stunned to speak at first.

    In fact, it looked like he was confused by his own actions. It didn¡¯tst long, though. He immediately regained hisposure.

    ¡°I don¡¯t remember anything rted to cooking,¡± Ruto confessed, but some unknown emotion sparkled in his eyes. ¡°However, I can learn how to cook again for you. So, tell me, what do you want to eat at the moment, Princess Neoma?¡±

    [Gosh, he¡¯s treating me like I¡¯m his baby.]

    It wasn¡¯t a bad feeling, though.

    ¡°I want some creamy mushroom soup, Lord Ruto!¡± Phoebe said excitedly as she approached them, her eyes focused on Ruto. ¡°It¡¯s cold, so it will be nice to have some warm soup right now.¡±

    [Phoebe is a child, Neoma de Moonasterio,] she reminded herself. [Don¡¯t be petty.]

    Thankfully, Ruto didn¡¯t turn to Phoebe because he was too focused while waiting for her response.

    She should be satisfied by the fact that Ruto was giving her his undivided attention.

    However, her mouth suddenly had a life of its own.

    ¡°Ruto,¡± Neoma said, addressing him by his name this time because she was being petty. ¡°I want some ice cream.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 529

    Chapter 529: PRIDE AND JEALOUSY

    NEOMA wanted to strangle herself.

    [I¡¯m in my super petty era.]

    ¡°Forget it,¡± Neoma said before she stooped even low. ¡°I¡¯m not craving ice cream. And I know that you can¡¯t make it at your current state anyway.¡±

    Ruto frowned at her words. ¡°That sounds like a challenge to me.¡±

    ¡°Children should be in bed by now, so let¡¯s all go home.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not a child,¡± Ruto said, confused. ¡°I¡¯m older than you, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m talking about me and Lord Preston,¡± she said, then she turned to Preston. ¡°My same-age friend, let¡¯s go. It¡¯s past our bedtime already. And staying upte isn¡¯t good for our skin.¡± She raised the edible flowers in her hands. ¡°Thank you for these. I love them.¡±

    .....

    Preston smiled and nodded. ¡°You may not be familiar with this ce yet, Princess Neoma. Would you like me to walk you back to the temple?¡±

    ¡°Thank you for the offer, but it¡¯s alright, Lord Preston,¡± she said. ¡°My children are already here.¡±

    The young lord looked confused when she said ¡°children,¡± but she didn¡¯t feel the urge to exin.

    [Anyway, if Greko and the other children have found me here, then they probably know the way back to the temple.]

    ¡°Eomma1!¡±

    She turned in the direction where she heard Greko¡¯s voice, then she smiled and waved when she saw her youngest son. ¡°Maknae1, I¡¯m here.¡±

    Greko smiled and waved back at her.

    Her youngest son was visibly alone. But she could feel her other children¡¯s presence.

    [Gosh, why are they so protective of me when I¡¯m stronger than all of thembined?]

    Of course, she appreciated the fact that her children cared genuinely for her. And she would always, always be grateful to them. She just didn¡¯t want her children to get hurt trying to protect her for every little thing because she could manage herself anyway.

    Her thoughts got interrupted when Ruto and Preston both offered their hands to her when she was about to stand.

    She grabbed both hands, then she let the two boys pull her up.

    [I mean, I can stand on my own. But I don¡¯t want two boys to fight over me. Gosh, me and my sinful beauty.]

    ¡°Thank you, gentlemen,¡± she said while removing the jacket that Ruto draped over her shoulders earlier. ¡°Here, Lord Stroganoff. Thank you for lending me your jacket.¡±

    ¡°You can keep it and just return it to meter, Princess Neoma,¡± Ruto said. For some reason, he looked pissed even though he was acting politely towards her. ¡°I don¡¯t want you to get cold on your way back to the temple.¡±

    Greko, who finally reached them, cleared his throat. ¡°It¡¯s alright, Lord Stroganoff,¡± he said, addressing Ruto the way she did even though Greko would usually refer to him as ¡®Ruto hyung.1¡¯ ¡°My eomma doesn¡¯t get cold since she has fire attribute.¡±

    After saying that, Greko snatched the jacket away from Neoma¡¯s hand and returned it to Ruto who didn¡¯t have the chance to say something back.

    ¡°Everyone, thank you for taking care of our precious eomma,¡± Greko said, addressing Ruto, Phoebe, and Preston with a polite bow. Then Greko held Neoma¡¯s hand. ¡°I¡¯m taking eomma with me now. Don¡¯t worry because we know our way back to the temple. Have a good night.¡±

    Wow, would you look at that?

    [Greko is making me proud again.]

    ¡°Wait,¡± Ruto said. And for the first time since she met him, this was the first time that she saw the always calm and collected Ruto panic a little. ¡°Princess Neoma, about the ice cream-¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Lord Stroganoff,¡± Greko said, cutting him off. ¡°We have ice cream at home.¡±

    She almost burst outughing.

    But her conscience poked her heart out a little.

    [Greko is a polite boy, but he cut off Ruto just like that. I can¡¯t let my rudeness rub off on him, so I should talk to himter.]

    ¡°Lord Stroganoff, I was just joking about craving ice cream,¡± Neoma said while gently squeezing Greko¡¯s hand to tell her youngest son that she got this already. ¡°It was true that I was hungry earlier, and I was actually craving fried chicken. However, my hunger was already satiated when Lord Preston and Myah gave me some delicious, edible flowers.¡±

    Ruto looked disappointed, and he didn¡¯t bother to hide it. ¡°I see. Then I shall prepare a meal for you next time, Princess Neoma.¡±

    She just smiled and didn¡¯t give him a response.

    After that, she turned to Lord Preston and bowed lightly. ¡°Thank you for keeping mepany, Lord Preston. I had fun. Please extend my gratitude to Myah, too.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s an honor for both Myah and I to keep youpany, Princess Neoma,¡± Preston said politely, then he bowed to her. ¡°Let¡¯s meet againter, Your Royal Highness.¡±

    Neoma smiled brightly. ¡°Yep, let¡¯s y againter, Lord Preston.¡±

    [And the next time we meet, I¡¯ll make sure you¡¯ll spill the beans.]

    ***

    ¡°EOMMA, am I a bad kid?¡±

    ¡°Of course not,¡± Neoma said without missing a heartbeat. ¡°Greko, you know what you did wrong earlier, don¡¯t you?¡±

    Greko, who looked guilty, nodded. ¡°I was rude to Lord Stroganoff. We¡¯re in their territory, so I shouldn¡¯t have been rude to our host. Moreover, I got upset with him even though it wasn¡¯t his fault that he forgot about you, eomma.¡± He looked up at her with a pitiful look on his face. ¡°I will apologize to Lord Stroganoff first thing in the morning.¡±

    Aww.

    She stopped walking, then she faced Greko and gave him a big hug.

    ¡°I¡¯m so proud of you for realizing your mistake and for your willingness to be held ountable for it,¡± she said while patting Greko¡¯s back. ¡°I¡¯m proud of you, maknae-ah.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, eomma.¡±

    She put her hands on Greko¡¯s shoulders, then she pulled away from their hug. ¡°But why are you upset with Ruto just because he forgot about me? Greko, you know that it¡¯s my fault, right?¡±

    ¡°Because he made you jealous,¡± Greko said hesitantly. ¡°Eomma, I know the look on your face earlier. You weren¡¯t happy to see Lord Stroganoff with Lady Willows, were you?¡±

    ¡°Of course, I wasn¡¯t happy,¡± she said. For some reason, she sounded so defensive even to herself. ¡°I mean, I know that Ruto won¡¯t touch a child like Lady Phoebe. I also know that he¡¯s not interested in her. But I just felt bad for Lady Phoebe because she might be getting the wrong idea since Ruto is a gentleman...¡± She trailed off when she realized that she was just sprouting bullshit. ¡°Yep, I¡¯m really arrogant. I¡¯m arrogant to assume that Ruto isn¡¯t interested in her, and I¡¯m arrogant to feel bad for Lady Phoebe as if I¡¯m looking down on her feelings for Ruto.¡±

    ¡°Eomma.¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    Greko tilted his head to one side as if he couldn¡¯t understand what she was trying to say. ¡°Eomma, you¡¯ve always been arrogant. Why worry about it now?¡±

    Burn.

    Princess Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio, the future empress of the Great Moonasterion Empire, was roasted by her own beloved youngest son.

    [Greko is indeed my son, huh?]

    Her thoughts got interrupted when she heard stifledughter behind her.

    [Oh, I almost forgot that they¡¯re also here.]

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, children,¡± she said, sighing. ¡°You canugh all you want. I won¡¯t get offended, since I deserved that roast.¡±

    A few momentster and her other children appeared.

    Juri stood on her left side and linked her arms with hers, while Paige appeared on her right side. Jeno appeared in front of her and stood beside Greko, then Jeno ruffled Greko¡¯s hair affectionately while their youngest looked confused.

    ¡°Did I say something wrong?¡± Greko asked, confused. ¡°Eomma, did I offend you?¡±

    ¡°Not at all, maknae-ah,¡± Neoma said while shaking her head, then she gave her youngest son a thumbs up. ¡°Thanks to you, I¡¯ve been humbled. And I mean that sincerely.¡±

    Greko still looked confused, but he smiled anyway.

    ¡°Princess Neoma, why don¡¯t you just admit that you¡¯re jealous?¡± Juri teased her. ¡°Are you embarrassed because your love ¡°rival¡± is a child?¡±

    Ouch.

    ¡°Juri, you¡¯re all grown up,¡± Neoma said,ughing. ¡°You know how to tease your mother now.¡±

    She was fine with it, of course.

    [It¡¯s nice that my children don¡¯t worship me. Well, not as much as they did before, at least.]

    ¡°It¡¯s fun,¡± Juri said yfully. But she suddenly fell silent, then she turned serious even though she was still smiling. ¡°Princess Neoma, it¡¯s nice to know that you get jealous like other people do. Of course, I don¡¯t enjoy seeing you upset. However, moments like this remind me that you¡¯re still human. Princess Neoma always does awesome things that I often forget that you¡¯re still human like the rest of us.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± she said,ughing. ¡°I¡¯m not humble, but I¡¯m still human.¡±

    ¡°Yes, and you have to remain one forever, Princess Neoma,¡± Juri said, smiling softly at her. ¡°We don¡¯t want you to be an Aether, or a god that would save the world. Just be our little arrogant, sassy princess for the rest of your life.¡±

    Ah, so that was exactly what Juri meant when she said she wanted her to remain human forever.

    [I¡¯m touched.]

    ¡°I won¡¯t be any of that,¡± Neoma said to assure her children. ¡°What is my life goal again, children?¡±

    ¡°To be ady of leisure,¡± Juri, Jeno, Greko, and Paige said at the same time.

    ¡°Very good,¡± she said. ¡°Let¡¯s go back to the temple.¡±

    ¡°Do we just leave him alone, Princess Neoma?¡± Jeno asked worriedly. ¡°That boy dares to send fairies to spy on Your Royal Highness.¡±

    Yep, Preston Willows sent a little army of fairies after her.

    .....

    If Neoma and her children were ordinary people, they wouldn¡¯t have noticed the presence of the fairies that were tailing them. The fairies were actually using barriers that were supposed to hide their presence. But, of course, it didn¡¯t work on them.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± she said. ¡°Preston isn¡¯t a bad kid. He¡¯s just curious.¡±

    ¡°About you, eomma?¡±

    ¡°Nope,¡± she said while shaking her head. ¡°That boy doesn¡¯t care about me at all.¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡± Paige asked as if she was suddenly curious. ¡°Have you already figured out the boy¡¯s intention, Princess Neoma?¡±

    ¡°I guess I should thank my over-inted ego this time,¡± Neoma said cheerfully. ¡°I know when someone is looking at ME properly, and not at someone who resembles me.¡±

    ***

    ¡°WELCOME back, my love,¡± Mona said when Niki went out of the kitchen. The cube earlier had already disappeared, and the kitchen had returned to normal. ¡°Have you had fun talking to Lord Levi?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it was so fun,¡± Niki said dryly, then he turned to Lady Yngrid with an indifferent look on his face. ¡°You¡¯re here?¡±

    Lady Yngrid bowed her head towards the emperor. ¡°I apologize for this mishap, Your Majesty. I heard from my son that Princess Neoma is on her way back to the temple. Her Royal Highness is safe, and she¡¯s being escorted by her... uhm, ¡°children?¡±¡±

    ¡°Neoma calls her knights ¡°children,¡±¡± Mona exined, smiling at the confuseddy. ¡°Should we walk you back to your ce, Lady Yngrid.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for the offer, but I¡¯ll be fine since I need to go the way that I arrived,¡± Lady Yngrid said, then she bowed her head again. ¡°Have a pleasant knight, Your Majesties. We will see each other again tomorrow.¡±

    After excusing herself politely, Lady Yngrid¡¯s body had turned into orange me before disappearingpletely.

    ¡°Lady Yngrid addressed me as ¡®Your Majesty,''¡± Mona said awkwardly. ¡°That¡¯s... kind of pressuring.¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s how you address an emperor¡¯s wife, so Lady Yngrid wasn¡¯t wrong.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not yet your wife, Niki.¡±

    ¡°But you will be soon,¡± he said, then he kissed the back of her hand.

    ¡°Eww.¡±

    Mona stifled herughter when Niki froze upon hearing their daughter¡¯s voice.

    When she turned in the direction where Neoma¡¯s voice came from, she saw her daughter alone. Her ¡°children¡± must have left after escorting Neoma there in order to give their family privacy.

    ¡°Mama Boss, Papa Boss, stop being lovey-dovey in front of your children,¡± Neomained, but her smile said otherwise. ¡°Anyway, are you both alright?¡±

    ¡°We should be the one asking you that, Baby Muffin,¡± Mona said worriedly. ¡°Lord Levi didn¡¯t say or do anything bad to you, did he?¡±

    ¡°Lord Levi sure talked bullshi- I mean, ¡®nonsense,¡¯ Mama Boss,¡± her daughter said. ¡°But don¡¯t worry. I didn¡¯t let him walk all over me.¡±

    She was relieved to hear that. ¡°As expected of our brave little Muffin.¡±

    Neoma just smiled.

    ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio,¡± Niki said, all serious suddenly. ¡°I¡¯ll give you everything and anything in this world except for Ruston Stroganoff.¡±

    Mona wanted to scold Niki, but when she saw the clear look in Neoma¡¯s eyes, she kept her mouth shut.

    [My Baby Muffin got this.]

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Papa Boss. You don¡¯t have to give Ruto to me,¡± Neoma said, smiling. ¡°I get what I want with my own two hands, anyway.¡±

    ***

    NERO WAS getting tired of this ¡®circus.¡¯

    He knew he was the one who ¡®directed¡¯ this ¡®drama,¡¯ but it was getting boring now that Neoma was not here.

    [I miss her.]

    Thus, it was time to end this fiasco.

    ¡°What do you want?¡± Nero asked indifferently to the representatives of the Twelve Golden Families. ¡°If you¡¯re just here to tell me that you¡¯ll approve of adding Neoma to the Royal Household Registry, as well as thew that allows women to inherit family titles- which also includes granting princesses the right to inherit the throne- then forget it.¡±

    ¡°Please hear us out first, Your Royal Highness,¡± Marquis Vincent Lennox, who looked calmer now than thest time he saw him, said politely. ¡°We have something else to offer to Your Royal Highness this time.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll give you five minutes. I don¡¯t want to bete for school,¡± he said curtly. ¡°What else can you offer me?¡±

    ¡°The Emperor¡¯s Decree,¡± Marquis Lennox said. He sounded like he was hesitating at first. When he opened his mouth again, he sounded more confident this time. ¡°We¡¯re giving back the Emperor¡¯s Decree to the Royal Family, Prince Nero.¡±

    [And rightfully so.]

    He had to hold back his smile.

    [The absolute power over the nobles and themon people... it¡¯s mine now.]

    Finally, Nero had something worthy to offer to Neoma.

    ***

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 Chapter 530

    Chapter 530: NERO IS ALL GROWN-UP NOW

    [HIS ROYAL Highness did it.]

    Rufus was still in disbelief after all the representatives of the Twelve Golden Families signed thew that would allow the Royal Family to regain the Emperor¡¯s Decree. It was the tool that the previous emperors had abused in the past. However, Emperor Niki had to give it up when His Majesty ascended the throne by force in the past.

    [The Emperor¡¯s Decree was the emperor¡¯s right to pass aw without needing the Twelve Golden Families¡¯ approval. Since Emperor Niki lost it, the Royal Family¡¯s power over the nobles greatly weakened.]

    He couldn¡¯t believe that Prince Nero retrieved the Emperor¡¯s Decree this fast.

    But he could see how the young prince managed to do that.

    [I don¡¯t know how, but Prince Nero has Lord Calyx wrapped around his finger. As far as I know, it was Lord Calyx who convinced Marquis Lennox to give the Emperor¡¯s Decree back to the Royal Family. As for Duke Winchester...]

    The greedy smile on Duke Arman Winchester said it all.

    .....

    [His Grace truly believes that Prince Nero will use the Emperor¡¯s Decree to change our government from being a monarchy into a constitutional monarchy. He probably thinks that Prince Nero will appoint him as the Prime Minister once that happens.]

    Since Duke Winchester agreed with it, the other members of the Noble Faction followed suit.

    As for the Neutral Faction...

    [They didn¡¯t put up a fight. I sometimes wonder what the Neutral Faction¡¯s goal is.]

    ¡°Duke Quinzel, are you listening?¡±

    Ah.

    Rufus snapped out of his trance and turned to Prince Nero who was about to board the royal carriage. ¡°Yes, Your Royal Highness?¡±

    ¡°Clearly, you weren¡¯t listening,¡± Prince Nero said. ¡°I just told Your Grace to pick up Hanna after schoolter. I won¡¯t return to the pce tonight.¡± The royal prince snapped his fingers. ¡°Ah, you can take Lewis with you. I don¡¯t need him.¡±

    His eyes went wide. ¡°Prince Nero, where are you going alone?¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t be alone,¡± the royal prince said. ¡°I¡¯ll meet up with the Fletcher Twinster.¡±

    ¡°Where?¡±

    ¡°Do I need to tell you, Your Grace?¡±

    ¡°Of course, Your Royal Highness,¡± he said firmly. ¡°His Majesty specifically asked Sir Geoffrey Kinsley to guard you. But you sent Sir Kinsley on an errand, and you only bring Lewis with you. And now you also want Lewis gone from your side.¡±

    ¡°Your Grace.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Royal Highness?¡±

    ¡°Why do I need to be protected by people weaker than me?¡± Prince Nero asked. ¡°I can protect myself.¡±

    The royal prince wasn¡¯t wrong, but...

    ¡°Even so, Your Royal Highness must let his people do their jobs,¡± he said sternly. ¡°At least tell us where you¡¯re meeting the Fletcher Twins, Prince Nero.¡±

    ¡°To the East Continent?¡±

    Rufus¡¯ eyes went wide. ¡°Prince Nero, you can¡¯t leave the pce and go that far unattended!¡±

    ¡°I can,¡± Prince Nero said, smirking. ¡°I¡¯ll bring home some souvenirs for you and Hanna, Your Grace.¡±

    ***

    ¡°ARGH,¡± Neoma groaned when she felt a shiver down her spine, then she sipped her hot chocte before she spoke. ¡°I feel like Nero is bullying someone this early.¡±

    She was having breakfast with her parents right now.

    Unfortunately, her children declined politely when she asked them to have breakfast with her family. Since she knew how stiff her Papa Boss with around other people, she decided to spare her children the awkwardness.

    Her Mama Boss looked pleasantly surprised by what she heard. ¡°You can tell things like that, Baby Muffin?¡±

    ¡°I might be exaggerating a bit, Mama Boss,¡± she admitted. ¡°But there are only a few things that give me goosebumps. More often than not, it happens when Nero is up to no good. Our bond is pretty deep like that.¡±

    [I mean, if we can feel each other when we¡¯re in pain, I guess it¡¯s only natural that we also feel it when the other is doing crazy shit.]

    ¡°That¡¯s pretty interesting,¡± her Mama Boss said. ¡°I wonder who our Baby Pumpkin is bullying this early.¡±

    ¡°Probably my oldest son,¡± she said, then she sighed. ¡°Once we return to the pce, I¡¯ll take Lewis with me. It¡¯s time for Nero to bring his own ¡°children¡± to the pce anyway.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll be recognized as the one and only royal princess of the empire once we returned to the pce, Neoma,¡± her Papa Boss said. ¡°What do you n to do by then?¡±

    ¡°Dismantle the patriarchy,¡± she said casually. ¡°And oh, I¡¯ll start looking for Lord Yule¡¯s eyes for real this time.¡±

    Her parents looked surprised by her announcement.

    ¡°I mean, it¡¯s been so long since I made a contract with Lord Yule,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯ve been busy surviving and pretending as Nero, so I didn¡¯t have the time to look for his eyes. But now that Nero is back, and I¡¯ve grown stronger than before, it¡¯s about time for me to fulfill my long-overdue duty.¡±

    And there was also the thing that Grandma Roxana asked of her. She needed to find a way to free Kingston- the White Lion- from Calyx Dalton¡¯s grasp.

    [Gosh, I¡¯ll be so busy soon.]

    ¡°Are you going to leave the pce?¡± her Papa Boss said, frowning. ¡°But it hasn¡¯t been that long since your mother returned. We ought to spend more time as a family first, Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Papa Boss, I understand where you¡¯reing from,¡± she said softly. ¡°But I¡¯m doing this so we can spend more time togetherter. Once I¡¯m free from my duties, I¡¯ll be ady of leisure. Once that happens, I¡¯ll stick to you and Mama Boss until you get tired of me.¡±

    ¡°We will never get tired of you, Baby Muffin,¡± her Mama Boss said, and her Papa Boss nodded in agreement. ¡°Don¡¯t say that.¡±

    She just smiled and nodded, but deep inside, she knew that her parents wouldn¡¯t say that once they were in their honeymoon phase.

    By that, she meant the ¡®official¡¯ honeymoon phase that the two would have soon.

    [Mama Boss and Papa Boss will get married this time, right?]

    ¡°Neoma, I¡¯ll ask you the same thing that I often hear you tell your ¡°children,¡±¡± her Papa Boss said seriously. ¡°If it gets too dangerous, run away ande back to us- alive and well. No duty is worth dying for, even if it¡¯s a duty you need to fulfill to save the world.¡±

    ¡°I know, Papa Boss,¡± she said, smiling. ¡°I know that my life is more important than the safety of the world.¡±

    Because as long as she was alive, the world wouldn¡¯t perish as well.

    ¡°Neoma, baby, you¡¯re not leaving as soon as we return to the empire, are you?¡± her Mama Boss asked. ¡°I¡¯d like to teach you my techniques as a Summoner before you embark on your journey. Would that be alright?¡±

    ¡°Of course, Mama Boss,¡± she said excitedly. ¡°Gosh, who in their right mind would refuse to be THE Mona Roseheart¡¯s disciple?¡±

    Her motherughed. ¡°Our Baby Pumpkin already turned me down when I told him I¡¯d teach him everything I know as a Roseheart.¡±

    ¡°Mama Boss, Nero is not in his right mind,¡± she said, but she was curious. ¡°Did Nero say why he declined your offer?¡±

    ¡°Your twin brother said he already learned everything he needed to learn as a Roseheart when he was staying at the Spirit World,¡± her mother said. ¡°And...¡±

    She tilted her head to one side. ¡°And...?¡±

    Her Mama Boss sighed. ¡°Nero said I should teach you my technique so you could catch up to him as a Roseheart.¡±

    She shut her eyes tight while clenching her teeth. ¡°Nero Roseheart de Moonasterio...¡±

    Her pride was hurt.

    However, she couldn¡¯t really say anything back since her twin brother was indeed the better Roseheart. Heck, even Queen Tara and the Spirit World itself had acknowledged Nero¡¯s skills back when he was still in aatose state.

    [Well, Nero is the boy who has everything.]

    She knew that Nero said those things on purpose to awaken herpetitive side. And it worked. It worked so damn well.

    ¡°Neoma, baby, don¡¯t be upset with your twin brother,¡± her Mama Boss said worriedly. ¡°Nero probably only said that to motivate you...¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Mama Boss,¡± she said, then she opened her eyes and smiled. ¡°A healthy sibling rivalry won¡¯t hurt. Plus, this kind of thing is more natural between siblings.¡±

    [I mean, Nero¡¯s obsession with me is unhealthy. So I¡¯d rather he act like a superior brother who looks down on his inferior sister for motivation than act like he worships me. I guess he¡¯s slowly growing out of his obsession with me.]

    ¡°As long as you and Nero don¡¯t fight for real, then it¡¯s fine topete with each other from time to time,¡± her Papa Boss said. ¡°And-¡±

    Her father suddenly stopped talking, so Neoma and her Mama Boss turned to him.

    Papa Boss groaned and shut his eyes tight while pinching the bridge of his nose.

    [Oh, Papa Boss ismunicating with his Soul Beasts.]

    That was the face that her father would make when talking to his Soul Beasts mentally, if her hunch was right.

    ¡°Niki?¡± Mama Boss asked, then she gently touched Papa Boss¡¯s arm. ¡°Is everything alright?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m fine. Thank you for worrying about me,¡± Papa Boss said to Mama Boss when he opened his eyes. Then he turned to Neoma. ¡°Nero used his Soul Beast to send a message to me through my Soul Beasts.¡±

    Argh, soplicated.

    [Why didn¡¯t Nero just send a message to Papa Boss directly?]

    ¡°Nero has seeded,¡± Papa Boss dered, and he sounded happy. ¡°Neoma, you¡¯ll be added to the Royal Household Registry soon. Moreover, you¡¯ll now have the right to inherit the throne. Of course, the women in the empire will also receive the right to inherit their family titles.¡±

    She smiled at the good news. ¡°As expected of Nero. He probably terrorized and traumatized the poor nobles of the Twelve Goldie Families or whatever to get what he wants.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Twelve ¡®Golden¡¯ Families, Neoma,¡± her father corrected her.

    .....

    ¡°Hmm, that makes me wonder, Papa Boss,¡± she said. ¡°What made them ¡®Golden,¡¯ and why are they important? They practically have the same power as the Royal Family...¡± She trailed off, then she shook her head. ¡°Ah, please forget it, Papa Boss. I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll only feel the urge to dismantle the Twelve Golden Families if I hear the story behind their founding. And I don¡¯t have time to spare for that.¡±

    Mama Bossughed softly. ¡°Our Baby Muffin is like a bee- always so busy.¡±

    Papa Boss nodded in agreement, then he snapped his fingers as if he remembered something. ¡°Ah, right,¡± he said. ¡°Nero said there¡¯s one more thing that he gained from the Twelve Golden Families. But he wants to share it with us in person, so he¡¯s urging us to return to the empire as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I might not return to the empire with you, dear parents,¡± Neoma said, surprising her Mama Boss and Papa Boss. ¡°I have something else to do here first.¡±

    [I call it ¡®Operation: Obliterate Rubin Drayton.¡¯]

    ***

    ¡°XION has improved his stalking- er, detective skills,¡± Neomaplimented her son while fixing the robe that she just wore over her suit. ¡°It seems like the Fletcher Twins had been good to him.¡±

    It had only been two days since she sent Xion to investigate Rubin Drayton, and her son had already found out where the little piece of shit was. Moreover, Xion had already discovered the bastard¡¯s whole itinerary.

    ¡°The Fletcher Twins traumatized him, Princess Neoma,¡± Juri said,ughing. ¡°Xion is usually a reserved person. But the first time we regrouped after our individual training, heined a lot about the Fletcher Twins while we were drinking. He called them ¡®demons¡¯ when he got drunk.¡±

    Sheughed because it sounded funny. ¡°Now I wanted to grow up quickly and drink with you. I used to have a high tolerance for alcohol, you know?¡±

    ¡°Then Your Royal Highness must wait for a little while,¡± Paige said. ¡°You still have five years before you¡¯re legally allowed to drink, Princess Neoma.¡±

    She grinned. ¡°¡®Legally.''¡±

    Juri and Paige looked horrified at what she implied.

    ¡°Just kidding!¡± she said yfully. ¡°I won¡¯t drink until I¡¯m legally allowed to do so.¡±

    [I just have to find a country that allows minors as young as sixteen years old to drink, you know?]

    Juri and Paige looked at her suspiciously.

    [Oops. My daughters know me so well.]

    ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s go,¡± Neoma said, changing the topic. ¡°We can¡¯t let Nero wait for long.¡±

    [Yep, Nero sent me a message earlier.]

    ***

    PRESTON was beyond thrilled.

    He would finally meet his master in the flesh!

    For the past few years, he had only ¡®seen¡¯ and ¡®talked¡¯ to him through his dreams. But, this time, his master finally said he woulde and meet him in person. Thus, as soon as his master arranged their meet up, he didn¡¯t hesitate to sneak into the Cyran Temple.

    After all, his master asked him to meet in the portal room.

    It was risky since the de Moonasterion Royal Family was staying in the temple. However, he took the risk since he wanted to greet his master, who literally crossed seas to meet him.

    [I should calm down.]

    Preston took a deep breath after he entered the portal room, then he whispered in the dark. Yes, it was dark in the room. However, he could feel the presence of someone else. ¡°Master, I have arrived.¡±

    ¡°Ah, you¡¯re there.¡±

    He felt his heart skip a beat when he heard his master¡¯s familiar voice.

    Then, in just a few moments, he finally appeared- Prince Nero Roseheart (de Moonasterio).

    The first male Roseheart born after a long while.

    The son of THE Mona Roseheart.

    And the only one who deserved to inherit the Spirit World.

    ¡°Wow,¡± Preston whispered in disbelief while looking at how pretty Prince Nero was. ¡°You¡¯re really pretty, Prince Nero.¡±

    He wasn¡¯t sure if calling Prince Nero ¡®pretty¡¯ was correct.

    But that was the first thing that entered his mind. To be honest, the Crown Prince looked androgynous. It was hard to tell his gender even though he was wearing a suit that most young lords in their empire wore.

    ¡°I hope Your Royal Highness wasn¡¯t offended,¡± Preston said worriedly. ¡°I¡¯m sure most boys don¡¯t like being called ¡®pretty.''¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, Lord Preston- Nero doesn¡¯t have a fragile masculinity.¡±

    Huh?

    Why did Prince Nero speak like he was a different person...

    He trailed off when the realization hit him.

    [Oh!]

    His hunch was confirmed when ¡°Prince Nero¡± was suddenly engulfed by a blinding white light- forcing him to close her eyes for a moment. Then, when the blinding light disappeared and he opened his eyes again, the ¡°Prince Nero¡± that he saw earlier had disappeared.

    Princess Neoma was now standing in front of her whilebing her long hair with her fingers.

    [I knew it.]

    ¡°I was wondering why Nero allowed me to go to the East Continent even though he knows that Ruto is here,¡± Princess Neoma said, but it sounded like she was talking to herself. ¡°Now I know why.¡± She clicked her tongue. ¡°Nero is all grown up now, huh? He has the nerve to manipte his noona now.¡±

    ¡®Noona?¡¯

    [What does it mean?]

    ¡°So, Preston Willows,¡± Princess Neoma said, then she looked at him with glowing red eyes. ¡°Are you one of Nero¡¯s ¡°children?¡±¡±

    Ah, he was already busted.

    ¡°You¡¯re correct, Princess Neoma,¡± Preston confirmed, then he put a hand over his chest as he bowed to the royal princess. ¡°I am Preston Willows, the youngest ¡°child¡± of Prince Nero.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 531

    Chapter 531: MASTER OF DECEPTION

    ¡°ARE YOU crazy?¡± Neoma snarled at Nero, then she realized that she asked a stupid question. ¡°Right, you¡¯re crazy. But still, no. You can¡¯te here, Nero.¡±

    Right now, she was on her bed- lying down on her stomach while talking to Nero using their oldmunication device: the pocket watch with a ¡°mirror¡± that served like a monitor. So, basically, the two of them were having a ¡°video call.¡±

    ¡°Why not?¡± Nero, whose handsome face filled the ¡°mirror¡± of the pocket watch in her hand, asked in a bored manner. ¡°You and our parents are having fun on the East Continent without me. Why can¡¯t I follow you?¡±

    ¡°Because you¡¯re the acting emperor, duh,¡± she said, rolling her eyes. ¡°You can¡¯t leave the pce.¡±

    ¡°But I already have everything under my control.¡±

    ¡°And you have to stay there to keep it that way,¡± she said. ¡°But be honest with me, Nero. You¡¯re not nning to go here to see us, are you?¡±

    ¡°What made you say so?¡±

    .....

    ¡°I met a Roseheart fanboy.¡±

    ¡°What about it?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t like the way the boy looks at me as if he¡¯s looking at someone else,¡± she said vaguely. ¡°I mean, if you¡¯re looking at me, you should only be thinking about ME and no one else.¡±

    Her twin brother raised an eyebrow at her. ¡°And what does it have to do with me?¡±

    Oh, someone was ying dumb.

    She actually brought up Preston Willows (aka the Roseheart fanboy) because she was gauging Nero¡¯s reaction. But as expected of her twin brother, his expression didn¡¯t even change. However, he looked anything BUT innocent.

    [He¡¯s definitely hiding something.]

    ¡°Nero, you¡¯re one hundred years too early to fool your noona.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not my ¡°noona,¡±¡± he denied, frowning. But his frown onlysted for a second as he gave her a triumphant smile soon. ¡°And you¡¯ve already done what I needed you to do when I sent you there, Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me?¡± she asked, offended. ¡°You sent me here? It¡¯s my will to go to the East Continent to meet Ruto, you know?¡±

    ¡°If I didn¡¯t send Mother and Father there, you wouldn¡¯t have stepped foot in the Cyran Temple or the Stroganoff Estate properly,¡± he said. ¡°Knowing you, I¡¯m certain that you would have met Ruston Stroganoff in secret.¡±

    Oh.

    That was true.

    Her original n was to summon Ruto to the hotel that she booked with her children. However, that n was forgotten when Nero said he¡¯d sent their parents to the East Continent. Then her Mama Boss and Papa Boss told her to meet them at the Cyran Temple.

    ¡°You tricked me intoing here?¡± she asked in disbelief, then she red at her twin brother. ¡°For what?¡±

    Nero sipped his tea before he responded. ¡°I think you already served your purpose, my dear twin sister. You may leave the East Continent now if you want.¡±

    Her eyes went wide- she was shocked! ¡°Are you bossing me around?¡±

    He chuckled as if he found her amusing. ¡°It¡¯s just a suggestion.¡±

    ¡°Do you want to die, Nero Roseheart de Moonasterio?¡±

    ¡°No, that¡¯s why I changed my mind abouting to the East Continent in person,¡± he said, stillughing. ¡°I was supposed to meet someone in the portal room in the Cyran Temple. But I think you can already handle that, Neoma.¡±

    She knitted her eyebrows. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll see youter, Neoma,¡± Nero said, then he waved his hand at her. ¡°I miss you.¡±

    After saying that, he ended the call.

    Then the ¡°mirror¡± turned ck.

    ¡°This brat,¡± Neomained, huffing. ¡°At least say that you miss Mama Boss and Papa Boss, too.¡±

    ***

    REMEMBERING her ¡°video call¡± with Nero earlier was making Neoma upset again.

    However, since she was facing Preston Willows, she acted calm on the outside. Fortunately, the kid caught her attention, so she was able to focus on him.

    ¡°You¡¯re Nero¡¯s ¡°child?¡±¡± Neoma asked, then she rolled her eyes. ¡°Gosh, my dear twin brother has no originality. Is he copying me or something?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not true,¡± Preston Willows denied vehemently, then he put a hand over his chest. ¡°When I heard that Princess Neoma calls her knights her ¡°children,¡± I volunteered to be Prince Nero¡¯s ¡°son.¡± It was my idea.¡±

    She crossed her arms over her chest. ¡°And why would you do that?¡±

    ¡°Because I want Prince Nero to see me as family, too.¡±

    [Poor kid.]

    If Nero really considered Preston Willows as one of his people, then Nero would have already summoned the kid to the empire. The fact that Preston Willows was still here on the East Continent only meant one thing.

    [Nero is treating this kid as a ¡®spare team member.¡¯]

    A reserve, a bench warmer, a substitute.

    In short, Preston Willows was only one of Nero¡¯s ¡°options.¡±

    But she didn¡¯t want to break the kid¡¯s heart, so she just kept her mouth shut. She might not be a good person, but she had a weak spot for children.

    ¡°I¡¯ll cheer you on,¡± she said encouragingly. ¡°It would be nice if you can melt Nero¡¯s frozen heart, so I¡¯ll root for you starting this moment. Fighting!¡±

    Preston¡¯s face lit up. ¡°Then are you saying that approve of me?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Prince Nero said that he¡¯ll invite me to the empire IF Princess Neoma acknowledges me,¡± the kid said. ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯ve been acting cute ever since we¡¯ve met, Your Royal Highness.¡±

    Okay, she was too stunned to speak.

    [Nero, you have the guts to use your noona this way?!]

    It looked like her twin brother couldn¡¯t ¡°get rid¡± of Preston Willows himself, so Nero used her as an excuse to reject the poor kid.

    [I know Nero, so he definitely didn¡¯t like how Preston fanboys over us. He¡¯ll probably tell Preston that he can¡¯t invite him to the empire because I didn¡¯t want to. Aigoo. Will you look at that? My twin brother is really all grown-up now!]

    ¡°You know what, Lord Preston? I¡¯ll officially invite you to our pce,¡± Neoma said, smiling ¡°sweetly¡± at the kid. ¡°I¡¯ll even let you use the guest room on the same floor as Nero¡¯s bedroom.¡±

    Preston Willow¡¯s face lit up. ¡°I¡¯d love that, Princess Neoma!¡±

    ***

    ¡°YOUR ROYAL Highness, I beg your forgiveness!¡±

    Nero almost rolled his eyes at Keith Valencia¡¯s plead.

    Yes, the crazy bastard who ¡°offered¡± that he¡¯d make Neoma his mistress was now kneeling in front of him. To be precise, Keith Valencia was kneeling in front of his ssroom- causing a scene for everyone to see.

    ¡°He didn¡¯t know that Prince Nero is currently the acting emperor?¡± Calyx Dalton, who was standing beside him as if they were close, said while shaking his head. ¡°How dumb.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s only sorry because he¡¯s afraid of his family,¡± Hanna, who was standing on Nero¡¯s other side, whispered. ¡°Rumors say Marquis Russell Spencer haspletely cut off House Valencia from the main family after he heard what happened.¡±

    The fact that Keith Valencia offended him already circted in the entire academy.

    But, of course, no one else knew what exactly offended him except for Nero, Hanna, and Lewis.

    [No need for these unworthy bastards to utter Neoma¡¯s name.]

    ¡°I¡¯ve been stupid and arrogant, Your Royal Highness,¡± Keith Valencia, whose forehead was already touching the floor, said desperately. ¡°Please have mercy on this lowly subject of yours, Prince Nero.¡±

    Hmm.

    ¡°I heard that House Valenica has a beautiful vi located in the finest area in the East Region,¡± Nero said light-heartedly. ¡°It would be nice if I can have my own vacation house in the East Region, since I don¡¯t have a private property there yet.¡±

    Keith Valencia visibly flinched.

    [At least he gets what I¡¯m trying to say.]

    After Nero said his piece, he walked away from Keith Valencia without looking back.

    Of course, as soon as he got out of the ssroom, Lewis followed him silently.

    ¡°Prince Nero, you¡¯re truly the best,¡± Calyx Dalton, who was still walking beside him, said cheerfully. ¡°House Valencia always boasts about their vi, since it¡¯s apparently brimming with history. It¡¯s actually their family¡¯s pride and joy. But it seems like Your Royal Highness will soon take possession of the legendary vi.¡±

    [It won¡¯t be mine since I n to put the vi under Neoma¡¯s name.]

    But he didn¡¯t bother to say that because he didn¡¯t want to waste his breath on Calyx Dalton.

    ¡°Why are you following us, Lord Calyx?¡± Hanna confronted the crazy crow in a gentle manner. ¡°We¡¯re about to head back to the pce.¡±

    ¡°Can I go with you?¡± Calyx Dalton asked, then he turned to Nero with a hopeful look on his face. ¡°Prince Nero, should we have tea together? Just you know, I was the one who convinced my grandfather to give you back the Emperor¡¯s Decree. I deserve a reward, don¡¯t you think so?¡±

    ¡°Not today,¡± Nero said, then he turned to Calyx Dalton. ¡°You¡¯ll be busy today.¡±

    The crazy crow looked confused. ¡°Me? Why will I be busy today?¡±

    ¡°Keith Valencia wasn¡¯t alone when he pissed me off,¡± he said. ¡°But I can¡¯t think of a way to punish his cohorts.¡±

    .....

    It took the crazy crow a couple of seconds before he finally understood what he wanted him to do

    [Thankfully, he¡¯s not as dumb as I thought he was.]

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Prince Nero. I¡¯ll deal with them for you,¡± Calyx Dalton said excitedly, then he began to walk backwards while waving his hands. ¡°Your Royal Highness really has to treat me better from now on!¡±

    He just waved him off.

    Then, just like that, Calyx Dalton was out of sight.

    ¡°What are you doing, Nero?¡± Hanna asked, frowning. ¡°Why are you keeping Calyx Dalton beside you?¡±

    ¡°Because he¡¯s still useful,¡± Nero said bluntly. ¡°Moreover, once Fatheres back, he¡¯ll dere Calyx Dalton as a royal prince. In order to discourage the nobles and themon people from supporting Calyx Dalton for the throne, I have to show them that I hold that leash on that crazy bastard.¡±

    Even if the Twelve Golden Families were under his control at the moment, there would still be people who¡¯d think Calyx Dalton deserved to be the Crown Prince more for being Juliet Sloane¡¯s son.

    He had to stop that delusion by showing them that Calyx Dalton was wrapped around his finger- even if it meant tolerating the crazy crow as one of his people.

    [I¡¯ll just throw him awayter.]

    ¡°Well, it looks like you know what you¡¯re doing, so I won¡¯t say anything anymore,¡± Hanna said, then she changed the topic. ¡°By the way, Father told me to keep an eye on you. Apparently, you¡¯re nning to go to the East Continent.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Lewis, who wouldn¡¯t usually butt in a conversation, reacted- obviously surprised. ¡°I¡¯ll go, too.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not going anywhere anymore,¡± he said. ¡°Neoma already scolded me, so I changed my mind about leaving.

    Lewis clicked his tongue, annoyed.

    ¡°I feel sorry for Lewis, but you made the right choice, Nero,¡± Hanna said while giving Lewis an apologetic smile. ¡°You can¡¯t leave the pce when you¡¯re the acting emperor. Aside from the fact that it¡¯s dangerous, it would be irresponsible of you to do that.¡±

    Nero just nodded, then he turned to Lewis. ¡°I¡¯m going to sleep as soon as we get home,¡± he said. ¡°Make sure no one will disturb me as I ¡°rest.¡±¡±

    ***

    NEOMA was surprised when a bowl of chocte ice cream was served instead of tea.

    When she looked up, she was even more surprised to see Ruto instead of a servant.

    [Damn, I didn¡¯t notice him.]

    She was already used to his presence before, so why didn¡¯t she detect his presence now? Did he get stronger suddenly?

    ¡°I made ice creamst night,¡± Ruto exined. ¡°It was thanks to muscle memory, I guess. I¡¯m not confident, but it tasted fine when I had some earlier. So I hope you like it.¡±

    To be honest, she didn¡¯t expect to see Ruto today.

    Right now, she was in the temple¡¯s garden while enjoying the scenery. There was a wooden table and bench that matched the aesthetic of the garden, so she thought it would be a good spot to have her afternoon tea.

    She was with Greko earlier, and her youngest son volunteered to brew tea for her.

    ¡°Where¡¯s my son?¡± Neoma asked, confused. ¡°He said he¡¯ll make tea for me.¡±

    ¡°I asked Greko if I could have some time alone with you,¡± Ruto exined. ¡°But in case you turn me and my ice cream down, he told me to call him.¡±

    Ah, that was probably Greko¡¯s way of apologizing to Ruto.

    [Greko is best boy indeed.]

    ¡°Have a seat, Lord Stroganoff,¡± she said politely, since it was rude to make someone of his status stand while she was seated. ¡°I¡¯ll listen to what you have to say, since I don¡¯t think you¡¯ll approach me without a reason.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± he said, then he sat on the wooden bench across from her. ¡°But can I not approach if I just wanted to... hang out?¡±

    ¡°Of course, you can¡¯t,¡± she said while she picked up the spoon. ¡°Moreover, I don¡¯t have much time left. I¡¯ll leave the templeter.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re already leaving?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll stay here on the East Continent, but I¡¯ll be meeting Rubin Drayton,¡± she said, then she scooped a spoonful of ice cream. ¡°He¡¯s in a different region, so I need to catch him before he moves to a new ce.¡±

    She put the spoonful of ice cream in her mouth.

    Oh, goodness.

    [You can never really go wrong with chocte ice cream.]

    ¡°It¡¯s good,¡± she said, then she smiled at Ruto gratefully. ¡°Thank you, Lord Stroganoff.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wee,¡± Ruto said. ¡°By the way, I¡¯m also going where you¡¯re headed to, so let¡¯s leave together.¡±

    ¡°That sounds like bullshit, my lord.¡±

    He avoided her gaze slowly. ¡°I really need to go to that ce, too.¡±

    She raised an eyebrow at him. ¡°Do you even know where I¡¯m going?¡±

    ¡°I still think we should leave together,¡± he said. ¡°I can guide you there since I¡¯m from here.¡±

    ¡°I can read a map, thank you very much.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m more urate than a map.¡±

    ¡°Why can¡¯t you just say that you want to be with me?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not allowed to do that,¡± Ruto said, then his dark purple eyes met hers. ¡°I¡¯m not allowed to until I regain my memories.¡±

    She was about to open her mouth, but the sudden shift in the air made her stop.

    Even Ruto suddenly became alert.

    ¡°I heard about your engagement Lord Stroganoff- congrattions.¡±

    Neoma almost choked on her chocte ice cream after Nero, in his Spirit form, suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

    [What is he doing here?]

    ***

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 Chapter 532

    Chapter 532: THE COOL ¡°AUNT¡±

    NEOMA red at Nero who sat on the armrest of her chair.

    Her twin brother was in his Spirit form. But she could still feel and touch his body as if it was his physical body.

    ¡°Neor Roseheart de Moonasterio, I remember telling you that you can¡¯t leave the pce,¡± Neoma said, frowning. ¡°The emperor and the acting emperor can¡¯t be at the same ce at the same time. What¡¯s the point of being the acting emperor if you¡¯re here, too?¡±

    ¡°My physical body is in the pce, so I didn¡¯t really leave,¡± Nero reasoned. ¡°Lewis is currently guarding my body, so if something bad happens to me, me your ¡°son.¡±¡±

    She red at him. ¡°You little piece of shi-¡±

    Oops.

    She covered her mouth with her hands when she remembered that Ruto was sitting across from her. Of course, she was aware that Ruto didn¡¯t mind her cursing. But he had lost his memories, and she didn¡¯t want to shock him with her foul mouth.

    .....

    [Although I¡¯m pretty sure I already cursed in front of Ruto before...]

    Nero just gave her a weird look before he turned to Ruto. ¡°You¡¯re still here?¡±

    ¡°You rude little punk,¡± she scolded Nero. ¡°Why are you talking that way to Ruto? He¡¯s our host. Plus, his family opened the Cyran Temple for us.¡±

    Again, Nero ignored him. ¡°I already gave my congrattions on your engagement, Lord Stroganoff. I¡¯d like to talk to my twin sister in private, so can you scram already?¡±

    She was about to scold Nero again, but Ruto beat him to it.

    ¡°Prince Nero, I am not engaged to Phoebe Willows so your congrattory remark is unnecessary,¡± Ruto said calmly, then he stood up. ¡°However, I know my ce so I won¡¯t overstay my wee.¡±

    Okay, she swooned.

    [We love a calm and mature man who can handle a brat like Nero in a polite way.]

    ¡°I¡¯ll take my leave now,¡± Ruto said politely, then he turned to her. ¡°See youter, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Well, I see you when I see you,¡± she said, shrugging.

    Ruto smiled faintly as if he took her words as a challenge. But he turned serious again when he faced Nero. ¡°Ah, Prince Nero. I heard a rumor that says you¡¯ll announce your official engagement soon.¡±

    Neoma didn¡¯t bat an eye and just went back to eating her ice cream.

    [I mean, it¡¯s nothing new. Everyone in the empire already acknowledges Hanna as the Crown Princess. So, I¡¯m not surprised that the news reached the East Continent.¡±

    Nero raised an eyebrow at Ruto. ¡°What about it? Are you going to congratte me for my engagement, too?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d like to do that, however...¡± Ruto said, pausing for a moment to smirk. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if I should congratte you for getting engaged to Lady Hanna Quinzel for political reasons, or for getting your heart entangled with Miss Dahlia.¡±

    Neoma almost choked on her ice cream. [RUTO DID NOT JUST-]

    But he did!

    It was so funny to hear Ruto roast Nero calmly that she burst outughing, not caring a bit even though she sounded like a dying hyena.

    [Ruto will still like me anyway.]

    Nero, on the other hand, stared at Ruto coldly.

    [Oh, Baby Pumpkin. You can dish it out but you can¡¯t take it, huh?]

    Ruto, who had a triumphant look on his face, bowed to them and excused himself politely before he left quietly.

    She was stillughing her ass off when, all of a sudden, she remembered something.

    [Wait... Ruto knows Dahlia?]

    Most of all, Ruto was aware of Nero¡¯s past rtionship with Dahlia? Judging by what the royal chef earlier, it also sounded like he knew that Nero and Dahlia had already met in this lifetime.

    It seemed like only Neoma was truly wiped away from Ruto¡¯s memories.

    [Fucking hell.]

    ¡°As soon as I be the emperor, I will ban Ruston Stroganoff from stepping foot in the West Continent,¡± Nero dered, and it sounded like he was still annoyed by the roast that he had received from Ruto earlier. ¡°I will also revoke his dual citizenship.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, good luck with that,¡± she said, rolling her eyes because she wouldn¡¯t let Nero do that to Ruto if ever her twin brother was serious about his threat. ¡°Anyway, why are you here? You could have just called if you wanted to talk.¡±

    Nero turned to her and stared at her face. ¡°The video-capturing devices don¡¯t justify your beauty. Looking at you in person is much better.¡±

    ¡°Understandable, your reason is justified.¡±

    Heughed at her response, then used the top of her head as an armrest.

    [Argh!]

    ¡°You already met Preston Willows,¡± Nero said. ¡°What do you think of him? He¡¯s weak, isn¡¯t he?¡±

    ¡°If we¡¯re talking aboutbat skills, then I¡¯d say he¡¯s weak,¡± she said. ¡°There must be a reason why you put him in your roaster, though. But to be honest, I don¡¯t get it. Your mind these days is too twisted for my understanding.¡±

    ¡°Preston has a useful skill,¡± he said, ignoring thest part of what she said. ¡°The fairy hemands can turn flowers, leaves, and even tree branches edible.¡±

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s pretty useful.¡±

    ¡°That skill can be useful on the battlefield.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Food supply is one of the most important things in a war,¡± he said bluntly. ¡°Of course, our empire is rich, so we can provide for our knights if a war breaks out. However, anything is possible in a LONG war. Preston¡¯s ability to turn mundane things edible would be useful then.¡±

    She felt shivers down her spine. ¡°Nero, why are we suddenly talking about war? We live in a peaceful generation, you know?¡±

    He looked at her with a nk look on his face. ¡°Do we?¡±

    She could only gulp as a response.

    [The look in Nero¡¯s eyes is crazy. I mean, I know that he¡¯s not sane most of the time. But I can tell that, at this moment, he¡¯s already looking at a distant future.]

    ¡°Nero.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Use that big brain of yours to stop a war from breaking out,¡± she said sternly. ¡°I don¡¯t want it. When a war breaks out, the poor and themon people suffer the most. So, avoid it at all costs.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t promise you that, Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Nero-¡±

    ¡°The Twelve Golden Families already returned the Emperor¡¯s Decree to our family,¡± Nero said, cutting her off. ¡°We now hold the absolute power over the nobles and themon people, Neoma.¡±

    Okay, that was shocking to hear.

    ¡°Is that the news that you want to tell Papa Boss and Mama Boss in person?¡± she asked with knitted eyebrows. ¡°That you¡¯ve retrieved the Emperor¡¯s Decree for the Royal Family?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t retrieve it for the Royal Family,¡± he said bluntly. ¡°I did it for you.¡±

    ¡°Why would I need the Emperor¡¯s Decree?¡± she asked, then she held her shoulders. ¡°These tiny shoulders of mine are already heavy with responsibilities. I don¡¯t want another burden, thank you very much.¡±

    ¡°Neoma, do you know what your problem is?¡±

    ¡°I have a lot of problems,¡± she said. ¡°A whole day isn¡¯t enough to list them one by one-¡±

    ¡°You can be short-sighted sometimes,¡± he said, cutting her off again. ¡°Neoma, sometimes you have to see the bigger picture, too.¡±

    She couldn¡¯t refute her twin brother¡¯s words.

    [Fuck, he really knows how to poke at my weaknesses.]

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, Neoma. There¡¯s a reason why we were born twins,¡± Nero said, then he patted her head. ¡°I will do the things that you cannot do because you¡¯re too kind for your own good.¡±

    That didn¡¯t make her feel better, so she just changed the subject.

    ¡°Should we go to Papa Boss and Mama Boss?¡± she asked. ¡°I¡¯m sure they already know that you¡¯re here.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I¡¯d like to but I can¡¯t stay in this form for so long,¡± Nero said, then he stood up. ¡°I just wanted to ask you about Preston Willows in person, since I¡¯m thinking about whether I¡¯d summon him in the pce or not.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that,¡± she said, then she smirked. ¡°I already invited Lord Preston to the pce.¡±

    His eyes went wide, then he red at her.

    Hah!

    Now she felt better.

    ¡°I like Lord Preston,¡± she said, grinning. ¡°He introduced yourself as your ¡°child.¡± Unfortunately, I know that you won¡¯t raise him kindly. So, I want to be the cool aunt who¡¯ll raise him with love and care. I don¡¯t want an innocent child like Lord Preston to get corrupted by the darkness of your heart, Nero.¡±

    He just rolled his eyes. ¡°Do what you want.¡±

    ¡°Hell, yeah, I will.¡±

    ¡°I will ensemble the official members of my Order soon,¡± he said seriously. ¡°So, as soon as you return to the empire, you can take Lewis Crevan with you.¡±

    She did a fist pump in the air. ¡°Finally!¡±

    .....

    ¡°Are you that happy to be with Lewis again?¡±

    ¡°My precious son definitely suffered after serving a little tyrant like you,¡± sheined. ¡°My poor son. Will it kill you to treat your nephew kindly?¡±

    He tilted his head to one side, confused. ¡°My kindness is only reserved to you.¡±

    ¡°Right, I shouldn¡¯t have asked.¡±

    Nero was about to say something, but he suddenly closed his mouth and fell silent as if he was listening to something that only he could hear. ¡°I really need to go.¡±

    ¡°What happened?¡± she asked nervously.

    ¡°Kyle Sprouse has escaped.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± she said, then she waved her hand. ¡°Go and deal with it. I don¡¯t want to handle anything rted to Kyle Sprouse.¡±

    ¡°I know,¡± Nero said, then he wrapped his arms around her. ¡°Come back to the empire as soon as possible, Neoma,¡± he said, and it sounded like a light threat. ¡°I don¡¯t know how long I¡¯m going to stay sane without being physically close to you.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be dramatic, Nero,¡± Neoma said while patting his back. She knew that Nero wasn¡¯t being ¡°dramatic,¡± but she didn¡¯t want to spoil him too much. ¡°I¡¯ll return when my business here is done.¡±

    ***

    NEOMA was about to return to the temple.

    But to her surprise, she saw Ruto waiting for her at the entrance of the garden. She didn¡¯t feel his presence again, so she was a little pissed.

    [Yep, he definitely grew stronger again.]

    Stronger than her, at that.

    [Goddammit.]

    However, her irritation melted right away when she saw that Ruto looked down for some reason. She could guess what made him upset, though.

    ¡°Don¡¯t mind what Nero said earlier,¡± Neoma said, consoling Ruto since she didn¡¯t want to see him sad. ¡°He heard about your engagement from Lord Preston. But he knows that you didn¡¯t agree with that. He just wants to annoy you.¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma, now I know that I put you in a bad light,¡± Ruto said, his voice full of regret. ¡°I should have made it clearer that I won¡¯t marry Phoebe Willows before I approached you before. Now I¡¯m ashamed to stand next to you in fear that you be the center of a nasty rumor because of me.¡±

    She knew that she told Ruto that they should spend time apart.

    However, she didn¡¯t like that he was feeling guilty for getting close to her. It wasn¡¯t like they did anything wrong in the first ce.

    [Lord Levi should be the one who feels ashamed for setting up Ruto with a child.]

    ¡°Ruto,¡± she said, addressing her by his name this time. ¡°You literally saved the world in your past life.¡±

    He knitted his eyebrows as if he was confused. ¡°What does it have to do with this conversation?¡±

    ¡°You saved that world in your past life so you were rewarded greatly in this lifetime,¡± Neoma said proudly, then she put a hand over her chest. ¡°I¡¯m your reward, so don¡¯t be ashamed to im me as yours when the time is right.¡±

    For the first time in her life, she saw Ruto turn as red as a red chilli paste.

    [Gosh, I¡¯m so smooth like butter.]

    ***

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 Chapter 533

    Chapter 533: I DON¡¯T VIBE WITH IT

    [WOW, I can be so cringe-y sometimes.]

    Neoma realized how corny her words were, but she maintained a dignified look on her face. Plus, it was worth it since she made Ruto blush.

    ¡°Hey, you can¡¯t have that reaction to other girls, okay?¡± Neoma warned Ruto. ¡°If you let other girls make you blush...¡± She trailed off, then she pped her mouth gently. ¡°No, I take it back. I¡¯m sorry. I don¡¯t have the right to tell you how to act around other people.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t mind, though.¡±

    ¡°Even if you don¡¯t, I do,¡± she said. ¡°Because I¡¯d hate it if you tell me how to act around other people. So, even if you like me so much to the point that you¡¯d disobey your dictator of a divine father for me, you must STILL set your boundaries, Ruto.¡± She put a hand over her chest. ¡°I am so full of myself that most of the time, I don¡¯t even notice that I¡¯m already being obnoxious. Don¡¯t hesitate to call me out when that happens.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not upset with me anymore?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    .....

    ¡°You called me ¡®Ruto¡¯ again instead of ¡®Lord Stroganoff,''¡± Ruto said, then he smiled at her. ¡°That¡¯s nice.¡±

    [Gosh, look at this punk...]

    ¡°You didn¡¯t listen to a word I said, did you?¡± she said, huffing. ¡°Aigoo.¡±

    ¡°I listened well,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ll call you out when you¡¯re being obnoxious. But I¡¯m not sure if that will ever happen since I really don¡¯t mind your personality.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re just saying that now because you don¡¯t have your memories.¡±

    [You aimed your arrow at me in the past, you know?]

    ¡°Anyway, I¡¯ll go ahead,¡± she said. ¡°I need to talk to my dear parents.¡±

    After all, she noticed something in Nero that bothered her.

    ¡°Wait, Princess Neoma,¡± Ruto said, and he sounded and looked more serious this time. ¡°I have something else to tell you.¡±

    ¡°Gosh, and here I thought you waited for me here because you can¡¯t get enough of me.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d like to confirm that, but I must hold back for now,¡± he said, then he quickly changed the subject. ¡°About Prince Nero...¡±

    ¡°Ah, did you see it, too?¡±

    As expected of the man who gained the right to stand beside her.

    ¡°I did,¡± Ruto said, nodding. ¡°Prince Nero gained possession of a god.¡±

    She almost choked on her saliva. ¡°That was a GOD?! I thought it was just a Spirit.¡±

    Of course, she wasn¡¯t looking down on the Spirits when she said ¡®just.¡¯ She was simply surprised that her twin brother had taken possession of a god.

    ¡°No, I¡¯m pretty sure it was a god,¡± Ruto said casually. ¡°It¡¯s not a major god, but it¡¯s not a minor god either. It was hiding its real identity, so I can¡¯t really gauge its strength. Though I can say that right now, Prince Nero¡¯s god is pretty much stronger than an average god.¡±

    ¡°Oh my god,¡± she said, then she unconsciously grabbed Ruto¡¯s arms. ¡°What should I do, Ruto?¡±

    ¡°What did you do?¡±

    ¡°I...¡± Neoma said, then she gulped before she continued. ¡°I strangled it earlier.¡±

    ***

    [A few minutes ago...]

    ¡°NERO, before you leave...¡± Neoma said, then she trailed off when she stood up. ¡°Can you step aside for a moment?¡±

    Neroughed as if he already knew what she was about to do, then he stepped aside.

    As soon as her twin brother was literally out of her way, she caught the thing that was bothering her the moment Nero appeared.

    She ¡°caught¡± it by grabbing it by the neck.

    [It seems like a Spirit.]

    To be honest, she couldn¡¯t see it clearly. All she saw was a silhouette of a grown woman. But she could hear it. It kept on giggling and whispering in Nero¡¯s eyes.

    That would be fine if it was a harmless whisper.

    However, she noticed that Nero¡¯s Mana would fluctuate every time the Spirit would whisper in his ear. Plus, there was even a moment when her twin brother¡¯s eyes turned red briefly. She could have just ignored it since it looked like Nero was acquainted well with the Spirit.

    But her big sister mode was triggered.

    ¡°Nero, I don¡¯t vibe with this little Spirit of yours,¡± Neoma said coldly while staring at the silhouette. She hated to admit this, but she couldn¡¯t really see it except in its hazy form. ¡°What are you doing to my little brother, huh?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not your ¡°little¡± brother,¡± Neroined. ¡°We¡¯re twins, so we were born at the same time. A few minutes don¡¯t count as an age gap.¡±

    Gosh, the hypocrisy.

    [You¡¯re saying that now, but you kept on calling me your baby sister when we didn¡¯t know yet that I¡¯m actually older than you by a few minutes.]

    Thus, she ignored her twin brother¡¯sint.

    ¡°You feel ominous,¡± she said, talking to the Spirit that she couldn¡¯t see. ¡°I feel the urge to exorcise you. Why is that?¡±

    The Spirit screeched at her.

    Of course, she screeched back- shocking the Spirit who was suddenly rendered speechless.

    Nero, on the other hand,ughed as if he was amused. ¡°Neoma, did you just screech back at Larissa?¡±

    ¡°Larissa?¡± she asked, then she turned to her twin brother. ¡°That¡¯s the name of the empress pce.¡±

    nco Pce was for the Crown Prince.

    Luna Pce was for the royal princesses and princes that weren¡¯t chosen as the sessor.

    Yule Pce was for the emperor.

    And Larissa Pce was for the empress.

    [The pce that my Mama Boss can¡¯t use...]

    Anyway, those were the four main residences in the Royal Pce.

    [Come to think of it, why wasn¡¯t the empress pce named after my grandmother Roxana?]

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Nero said. ¡°But it¡¯s not like only one person may use the name ¡®Larissa.''¡±

    ¡°Well, you have a point. However, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a coincidence that a Spirit that has the same name as the empress pce hase to you, Nero.¡±

    ¡°Who cares?¡± he said, shrugging. ¡°I have it under my control anyway.¡±

    ¡°Just when did you get this Spirit?¡±

    ¡°Neoma, you received the ability to create a Hellgate during your Lunacy phase, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± she asked, surprised. ¡°You received this Spirit during your Lunacy?¡±

    He nodded. ¡°So, please don¡¯t kill Larissa. Her ability is useful.¡±

    ¡°But she makes you unstable, Nero,¡± she said sternly. ¡°This Spirit is dangerous.¡±

    ¡°I can handle it, Neoma.¡±

    Well, she couldn¡¯t say anything now since it was Nero¡¯s business. Her twin brother never asked her to stop Skewer even though Skewer was dangerous for her because of its Darkness attribute that a de Moonasterio wasn¡¯t supposed to have.

    Thus, she must respect Nero¡¯s choice.

    ¡°Fine,¡± she said. ¡°But I need to tell about this to Mama Boss and Papa Boss. I won¡¯t return to the empire for a while, so I want them to keep a close eye on your Spirit in my ce.¡±

    He shrugged. ¡°Nothing will change even if you tell our parents, so go ahead. I will still use Larissa¡¯s ability whenever I want.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re really a brat who has no sense of danger.¡±

    ¡°Like you have the right to say that when you¡¯re the same,¡± Nero said, frowning. ¡°You¡¯re the one who doesn¡¯t have a sense of danger, Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Touche,¡± Neoma said, then she turned to the Spirit. ¡°Larissa, if you harm my twin brother in any way, I¡¯ll feed you to my Hellgate and make you suffer for eternity.¡±

    ***

    [Back to present...]

    ¡°I EVEN threatened Larissa,¡± Neoma said, then she thumped her chest with her fist. ¡°Now I know why the gods hate me.¡±

    Ruto looked at her as if it was amused. ¡°Well, you only did that because you believe Larissa is a threat to Prince Nero. Don¡¯t worry about it too much.¡±

    She let out a sigh. ¡°Yeah. There¡¯s no use crying over spilled milk anyway.¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh.¡±

    ¡°Gosh, Nero is really something,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m half amused-half jealous that a god likes him. Aside from Lord Yule and my Grandma Roxana, I think all the other gods hate me- including Lord Levi.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t like them either, do you?¡±

    .....

    Sheughed at Ruto¡¯s remark. If that was his way of consoling her, then it worked. She was d that he didn¡¯t say anything clich¨¦ like ¡°don¡¯t be jealous,¡± or ¡°you¡¯re amazing in your own right, too.¡±

    [He really knows me well even though he lost his memories.]

    ¡°I don¡¯t think that you¡¯re the people pleaser type, Princess Neoma,¡± he said. ¡°And about my divine father, you don¡¯t have to listen to him. I don¡¯t, either.¡±

    Again, sheughed.

    [Ruto is really still my Ruto.]

    ¡°Okay, I won¡¯t listen to anyone who hates me,¡± she promised him. ¡°Anyway, I really need to go.¡±

    ¡°Tell me where you¡¯re going,¡± Ruto begged her, giving her the puppy dog eyes that she couldn¡¯t refuse. ¡°Please?¡±

    Argh.

    She couldn¡¯t say no to that face.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to the Lawless Jungle.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Ruto asked, then his eyebrows furrowed. ¡°That¡¯s a Forbidden Zone because it¡¯s dangerous, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°I know,¡± Neoma said, shrugging. ¡°That¡¯s why I didn¡¯t want to tell you.¡±

    ***

    ¡°AH, FINALLY!¡±

    He almost forgot what the human world look like.

    The Devil was indeed the devil for making him work like a ve for the past few years. But he didn¡¯t mind since all the hard work that had been through was for his Moon Princess anyway.

    And now that their hurdle was over, the Devil gave him back his freedom.

    ¡°Trevor, let¡¯s go,¡± Gin, his partner for this mission, said impatiently. ¡°The security here in East Continent is tighterpared to the West Continent. There are deities here who work for the God yer, so we must be careful.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like we¡¯re going to fight them all,¡± Trevor said, then he stretched his long arms. ¡°We just need to grab Princess Neoma and go1.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 534

    Chapter 534: ROAAAR!!!

    ¡°DID NERO already leave?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Mama Boss,¡± Neoma said while her eyes were busy choosing among the variety of snacks on the tea table. ¡°He just went here to piss me off...¡± She bit her lower lip, then she raised her head to meet her mother¡¯s beautiful light blue eyes. ¡°Sorry, Mama Boss. I shouldn¡¯t curse in front of the food, right?¡±

    Her Papa Boss, who was sitting next to her mother while having tea, scoffed. ¡°Since when did you care about that? You curse straight to my face, and you¡¯ve been doing that since you were five years old.¡±

    ¡°Three,¡± she corrected her father. ¡°I was three years old when I first cursed at you, Papa Boss.¡±

    Her Papa Boss froze, and he looked really shocked by her revtion.

    Neoma slowly avoided her father¡¯s using gaze. Somehow, her conscience was poking her a bit. Just a little bit.

    [In my defense, Papa Boss acted like a scumbag back then.]

    .....

    Anyway, right now, she was having tea with her parents.

    Their family was supposed to move into the Solfrid Estate. But since Nero had summoned her parents back, her Mama Boss and Papa Boss decided to spend theirst day in the East Continent in the temple. Unfortunately, it was time for her to leave with her ¡°children.¡±

    It was a shame since her Mama Boss and Papa Boss would do some sightseeingter before they leave. She actually wanted to go with them since this was her first time on the East Continent. However, she had a job to do that she couldn¡¯t reschedule.

    [You should be honored I¡¯m paying this much attention to you, Rubin Drayton.]

    Anyway, her evil thoughts were interrupted when her Mama Bossughed softly.

    [Ah, Mama Boss¡¯sugh is healing. She looks angelic, she sounds angelic, and she does angelic things since she¡¯s so kind. Heck, what happened to me? Why do I look like the devil¡¯s spawn when my mother is this angelic?!]

    Oh, wait.

    She knew why she ended up that way.

    [Right, my father is Papa Boss.]

    ¡°Well, at first, I was startled when I heard you curse,¡± her Mama Boss confessed. ¡°But I got used to it. Although you are physically young, I¡¯m aware that you are an adult mentally and emotionally. Moreover, I know that you don¡¯t curse innocent people. That¡¯s enough for me.¡±

    She put a hand over her chest, touched by her mother¡¯s kindness. ¡°Mama Boss, saranghaeyo.¡±

    ¡°Oh, what does it mean again?¡±

    She grinned cheekily. ¡°Secret!¡±

    For now.

    She had already said ¡®I love you¡¯ to her parents. But even though she was already an adult who knew that she shouldn¡¯t be embarrassed by showing affection to her family, she would still get shy.

    [I mean, I¡¯m used to hearing confessions and not the other way around.]

    Gosh, her arrogance, really...

    Her Papa Boss cleared his throat to get their attention.

    Ah, thankfully, her father had already gotten over the fact that his daughter had been cursing at him since she was three years old.

    ¡°Anyway, did Nero say anything else aside from picking a fight with you?¡± Papa Boss asked, changing the topic. ¡°He didn¡¯te here in his Spirit form just to see your face personally, did he?¡±

    ¡°My love, we¡¯re talking about Nero here,¡± Mama Boss said, chuckling. ¡°Would you put it past him to travel to another continent just to see his precious twin sister?¡±

    ¡°Ah, right,¡± her father agreed, nodding. ¡°That sounds like something Nero would totally do regardless of the consequences.¡±

    [Gosh, I can¡¯t even defend Nero because Mama Boss and Papa Boss are just spitting facts.]

    So, for her twin brother¡¯s honor, she decided to change the topic. They had some important things that they needed to discuss anyway.

    ¡°Mama Boss, Papa Boss, Nero actually came here to inform me about the surprise that he prepared for us,¡± she said. ¡°But I didn¡¯t ask him if I can tell you about it, so I¡¯ll just keep my mouth shut in the meantime.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, Neoma,¡± her Mama Boss said. ¡°To be honest with you, your father and I have an idea about what Nero¡¯s surprise is anyway.¡±

    Oh?

    ¡°He retrieved the Emperor¡¯s Decree for the Royal Family, didn¡¯t he?¡± her Papa Boss asked. ¡°Nero mentioned it to me before, so I have a feeling that he got us for us.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wrong,¡± she said, surprising both her mother and father. ¡°Nero said he didn¡¯t retrieve it for the Royal Family- he retrieved it for ME.¡±

    ¡°Ah,¡± her Mama Boss and Papa Boss said without even batting an eysh.

    [They look like they¡¯re already so used to Nero¡¯s obsession with me...]

    Gosh, she was embarrassed for some reason.

    ¡°The next thing I¡¯m about to say might shock you, though,¡± she said, then pausing for a moment for some dramatic effect. ¡°Mama Boss, Papa Boss, do you know that Nero gained a GOD as a ¡°weapon?¡±¡±

    [Yep, that¡¯s the reaction that I want to see.]

    Her parents looked as shocked as she was when Ruto said that Nero¡¯s new ¡°weapon¡± was a god and not a Spirit.

    ¡°A god?¡± her Mama Boss asked, covering her mouth with her hands. ¡°Did Nero inherit my ability?¡±

    Huh?

    Wait, what?

    ¡°Why do you look confused, Neoma?¡± her Papa Boss asked. ¡°Don¡¯t you already know that your mother can borrow the gods¡¯ power?¡±

    Really?

    Well, her big brain was filled with so much information that she would sometimes forget things that weren¡¯t directly rted to her.

    Anyway, this confirmed that Nero was really more of a Roseheart than a de Moonasterio.

    [Gosh, he¡¯s really the boy who has everything except sanity.]

    She clenched her hands tight. Of course, she didn¡¯t hate Nero. But herpetitive spirit was ignited by her twin brother¡¯s new achievement.

    [My perfect twin brother pisses me off.]

    ¡°Baby Muffin, do you happen to know what kind of god Nero made a contract with?¡± her Mama Boss asked worriedly. ¡°Gods can be tricky most of the time, so I¡¯m afraid our Baby Pumpkin might have been deceived.¡±

    ¡°Mama Boss, it¡¯s the other way around,¡± she said. ¡°We should worry about the god that Nero made a contract with. They¡¯re probably being scammed by my twin brother as we speak.¡±

    Papa Boss clicked his tongue. ¡°Why did my children grow up as scammers?¡±

    Mama Boss red at Papa Boss. ¡°Don¡¯t call my babies ¡®scammers.¡¯ They¡¯re just doing what they have to in order to survive.¡±

    ¡°Right,¡± Papa Boss said, and he looked genuinely scared of Mama Boss. ¡°I misspoke. I won¡¯t call our children ¡°scammers¡± again.¡±

    Her mother looked pleased.

    Neoma, on the other hand, got goosebumps.

    [Gosh, seeing your parents flirt in front of you is so cringey.]

    ¡°Dear parents, I don¡¯t vibe with the god that Nero is working with.¡±

    Her parents looked confused by her choice of words, so she exined.

    ¡°I mean, I don¡¯t like them,¡± she exined in simpler words. ¡°They felt ominous. Moreover, I feel like they¡¯re messing with Nero¡¯s head.¡±

    ¡°Gods do that,¡± her Mama Boss said worriedly. ¡°Some of the gods that I worked with in the past tried to drive me insane since they wanted to possess my body. As you already know, strong gods aren¡¯t allowed to descend anymore. Hence, some of them would resort to ¡°borrowing¡± human bodies. But if a god possessed a human¡¯s body, their host would go insane. However, only powerful gods have the ability to do that.¡±

    ¡°That means Nero is working with a powerful god,¡± Papa Bosss aid. And he sounded a bit proud of Nero. ¡°As expected of our son.¡±

    [Ah, Ruto is right when he said Nero¡¯s god might be powerful.]

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Mama Boss,¡± she assured her mother. ¡°Nero said that he can control the god and not the other way around. However, I¡¯m telling you about this because we need to keep an eye on my twin brother. I can tell that his Lunacy phase isn¡¯t over yet.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll do that,¡± Papa Boss promised her. ¡°Neoma, do you really have to go now?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± her Mama Boss added. ¡°Why don¡¯t youe home with us first? The ce you¡¯re headed to is a dangerous zone. I¡¯m worried that you might get hurt, Baby Muffin.¡±

    ¡°Well, there¡¯s a strong reason why I need to go to the Lawless Jungle, dear parents.¡±

    Of course, Rubin Drayton wasn¡¯t the only reason why she needed to go to that dangerous ce. She wouldn¡¯t risk her life for that punk.

    ¡°The Lawless Jungles is apparently the home of Kingston, the White Lion.¡±

    Her parents looked surprised by her revtion.

    ¡°The White Lion is currently owned by Calyx Dalton,¡± she exined further. ¡°And there¡¯s a crow in the Lawless Jungle at the moment. Mama Boss, Papa Boss, do you know what I think?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re thinking that there might be a reason why the crows are in the Lawless Jungle,¡± her Papa Boss said seriously. ¡°Perhaps, you¡¯re thinking that the crows have forcefully taken the White Lion from its home?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, Papa Boss.¡±

    ¡°Neoma, I know that Lady Roxana asked you to retrieve the White Lion from the crows,¡± her Mama Boss said carefully. ¡°But why do you need to head to the White Lion¡¯s home if the White Lion is currently with Calyx Dalton?¡±

    ¡°There must be a reason why the crows are still at the Lawless Jungle. I just want to fuck them up,¡± Neoma said, then she acted like a roaring lion. ¡°It¡¯s time they have a taste of Neoma¡¯s Sweet Revenge.¡±

    Roooaaarrr!

    .....

    ***

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 Chapter 535

    Chapter 535: GIRL TALK

    ¡°SO, NERO helped you be a better Summoner?¡± Neoma asked Preston Willows while the two of them were having a stroll in the garden. She was munching on the edible flowers that Myah, the ¡°sweet fairy,¡± made for her earlier. ¡°That¡¯s why you pledged your loyalty to him?¡±

    She was surprised to hear it when Preston told her that Nero personally trained him for a few months.

    Apparently, thanks to her twin brother¡¯s guidance, Preston was able to see fairies more clearly than he did before. And after obtaining Myah, the fairies who followed Myah decided to follow Preston, too.

    [But that only means that if Preston lost Myah, the other fairies would leave him.]

    Now she understood why Nero wasn¡¯t keen on keeping the kid by his side.

    [Preston still has a long way to go.]

    If it was her, she would be patient with Preston and guide him until he reached his full potential. That was it meant to be a ¡°mother,¡± after all. However, she knew that Nero didn¡¯t have the patience for that.

    .....

    [Nero was born good at everything. He doesn¡¯t know how it feels to struggle to achieve something.]

    ¡°That¡¯s one of the main reasons,¡± Preston Willows said, blushing as if he had turned into a shy young maiden. ¡°But, to be honest, it was like love at first sight for me. Prince Nero is just so charismatic. There¡¯s just something about him that screams power. Moreover, he¡¯s so majestic! It was like he was really born to be a great emperor!¡±

    Hmm.

    Listening to Preston gush over Nero was a little annoying.

    [I wonder if this is how people who hear me brag about myself feel. Is this how annoying I sound? Gosh, how I wish I can buy humility so I won¡¯t be as arrogant as I am right now.]

    ¡°Princess Neoma, are you listening?¡±

    ¡°Not really,¡± Neoma admitted shamelessly. ¡°I mean, I¡¯m currently having a sibling rivalry with Nero. So, hearing you praise the hell out of him doesn¡¯t feel good. But don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m a cool aunt so I¡¯ll allow you to fanboy over my twin brother.¡±

    [I¡¯ll just make Ruto praise meter until my ears are cleansed.]

    ¡°You know, Princess Neoma, I actually envy you for being with Prince Nero since you were in Lady Roseheart¡¯s womb,¡± Preston said, a little solemn. ¡°But if I put myself in your shoe, I think you¡¯re in a pitiful position.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me?¡± she asked in disbelief. ¡°Me? In a pitiful position?¡±

    Her position was bothersome, but she never thought she was in a pitiful state.

    ¡°It¡¯s hard to have a perfect twin brother like Prince Nero, isn¡¯t it?¡± Preston said, ignoring what she had just said. ¡°Prince Nero is handsome, smart, talented, powerful, charismatic, and very regal. If I were you, I¡¯d be insecure for real.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re annoying, but you have a valid point,¡± she said, trying to be more patient since she was talking to a child. ¡°However, I have everything that Nero has. I¡¯m super pretty, I have a big brain, I¡¯m talented as fuck, more powerful than Goku, charming as hell, and I¡¯m the only and only royal princess of the Great Moonasterion Empire.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± the kid said, but he was clearly NOT impressed by her. ¡°But Prince Nero is the better Summoner between the two of you, so I like him better.¡±

    Wow, she was impressed by her willpower.

    She almost punched the kid in the face, but she managed to hold back.

    [Come on, Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio,¡± she scolded herself. [Not everyone will like you, or get impressed by your abilities. Plus, Preston has the right to choose whom to idolize.]

    ¡°And since Prince Nero is such a great Summoner, I know that he¡¯s not interested in someone like me.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m d that you¡¯re self-aware.¡±

    Preston pouted like the child that he was. ¡°You¡¯re supposed tofort me, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°You need a reality check, not false hope,¡± she said firmly. ¡°I¡¯m not saying this because I¡¯m jealous of Nero or something. But you should know that my twin brother isn¡¯t really a warm person. He has this bad habit of judging people based on their ¡°worth.¡±¡±

    He smiled and nodded. ¡°I¡¯m aware of that, Princess Neoma. I know that Prince Nero doesn¡¯t find me valuable. However, he hasn¡¯t discarded me yet, so there¡¯s still hope for me.¡±

    Aigoo.

    [This kid really respects Nero.]

    ¡°That¡¯s why I have a question, Princess Neoma,¡± Preston said while looking at her with pleading eyes. ¡°How do I make Prince Nero like me even just a little bit?¡±

    ¡°You have to be reborn as ME to make Nero like you.¡±

    The kid clicked his tongue.

    ¡°Hey, kid, did you just click your tongue at me?¡± she asked, then she clicked her tongue, too. ¡°This rude punk.¡±

    Preston just pouted. ¡°If only I¡¯m a better Summoner. Prince Nero taught me for months, but I barely improved. I understand why he has given up on me. But I still want to get better. Maybe then he¡¯ll look at me again.¡±

    She hadn¡¯t seen Nero teach anyone yet.

    But based on her experience, she knew that her twin brother wasn¡¯t the best teacher.

    [I mean, when we were babies, he told me to beat the shit out of my Soul Beast in order to tame it.]

    ¡°Lord Preston, just out of curiosity, how did Nero teach you to be a Summoner?¡±

    Preston flinched, then he avoided her gaze before he responded. ¡°Prince Nero told me that I must... dominate the Spirits that I want to control.¡±

    ¡°By ¡°dominate,¡± you mean to beat them to a pulp?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure Prince Nero doesn¡¯t mean it that way.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s exactly what he meant by ¡°dominate,¡±¡± she said, shaking her head. ¡°It works for Nero, but that kind of method doesn¡¯t suit a child like you.¡±

    He turned to her with a pout. ¡°I¡¯m not a child, Princess Neoma. Moreover, we¡¯re the same age.¡±

    ¡°Sure,¡± she said, then she put thest edible flower in her mouth. ¡°Befriend them.¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re a good kid, and Myah seems to like you genuinely,¡± she said. ¡°You don¡¯t have to do it like Nero. My twin brother has this intimidating aura around him that makes the Spirits fear him. But that¡¯s not the only way to control the Spirits.¡±

    Preston finally looked at her properly. ¡°How did you control your Spirits, Princess Neoma?¡±

    ¡°I made a genuine bond with them,¡± she said, smiling. ¡°Plus, I only take the Spirits who like me back.¡±

    The kid tilted his head to one side. ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m telling you not to underestimate the power of friendship,¡± she said,ughing. The ¡®Power of Friendship¡¯ was a famous trope whether it was in the anime, weics, manga, or TV shows. Most fans often made fun of that trope. But there was a reason why it was popr. ¡°I know that it¡¯smon to have an employer-employee rtionship with the Spirits. But it doesn¡¯t mean that it¡¯s the only rtionship that you can form with them, Lord Preston. After all, Spirits are living things and not mere objects. They also have feelings like we do, so it¡¯s only right to treat them equally.¡±

    Preston¡¯s eyes sparkled. ¡°Princess Neoma, are you friends with your Spirits?¡±

    ¡°Hell yeah, I am. They¡¯re my chingus,¡± Neoma said,ughing. Then she opened her arms. ¡°Mochi, Soju, Kimchi,e out and let¡¯s y.¡±

    Unbeknown to both Neoma, that moment really made her a ¡°cool aunt¡± in Preston¡¯s eyes.

    ***

    ¡°PRINCESS NEOMA, I think you and my younger brother look good.¡±

    Hmm.

    Neoma wondered how she should put Phoebe Willows in her ce.

    She was minding her business while taking ast look at the Cyran Temple when Phoebe Willows approached her. It looked like the child didn¡¯t want her to leave in peace, huh?

    ¡°Preston is an introvert, and he adores Prince Nero,¡± Phoebe Willows, who was standing beside her, said while looking ahead. It looked like the child was looking at the temple, but she knew that she was stealing nces from her as if she was watching her reaction. ¡°Hence, I was surprised when I saw him having a good time with Your Royal Highness.¡±

    ¡°Well, we did have a good time,¡± Neoma said, uninterested. ¡°Preston and my Sprits got along easily.¡±

    After all, both Preston and her Spirits had this child-like innocence in them.

    ¡°Preston is the same age as Your Royal Highness,¡± Phoebe continued. This time, she turned to her and faced her properly. It was cute how Phoebe had to look up at her because Neoma was taller than her. ¡°In our kingdom, children as young as twelve years old are allowed to get engaged.¡±

    ¡°So what?¡±

    ¡°I heard that Your Royal Highness is set to have a grand debut after you¡¯re officially added to the Royal Household Registry,¡± the child said carefully. ¡°Since the East Continent has a good rtionship with the Great Moonasterion Empire, I thought it would benefit the Kingdom of Suoh and the de Moonasterion Royal Family if Your Royal Highness gets engaged with my brother.¡±

    ¡°Interesting,¡± she said, smirking. ¡°Carry on.¡±

    [I haven¡¯t heard such bullshit in a long while, so carry on and entertain me, child.]

    ¡°Princess Neoma, I¡¯m sorry if this sounds offensive, but I know that the royal princesses in the Great Moonasterion Empire are actually powerless,¡± Phoebe said seriously. ¡°But if you introduce yourself to the empire with my family¡¯s backing, then the nobles in your empire won¡¯t look down on you.¡±

    ¡°Are you saying that I need to cling to your family to gain political power?¡±

    ¡°Please don¡¯t make it sound like my suggestion is bad, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not bad- it¡¯s insulting,¡± she said calmly. She was insulted, but she was trying to be gracious because Phoebe Willows was a child. An adult like her should always be understanding to children, after all. ¡°Why do I need to get engaged just to gain power? I¡¯m a royal princess. I know that we¡¯re treated like shit in our empire. But you implying that I need a man to be respected is far more insulting, Lady Phoebe.¡±

    The child looked horrified by what she said. ¡°I don¡¯t mean it that way, Princess Neoma. I¡¯m just trying to help you-¡±

    ¡°No, you¡¯re not,¡± she said, cutting the child off on purpose. ¡°You¡¯re just setting me up with Lord Preston because you want to separate me from Ruto.¡±

    ¡°How could you address Lord Ruto so casually, Princess Neoma?¡± Phoebe asked, frowning. ¡°He¡¯s older than you. And even if you are a royal princess, Lord Ruto is not someone that you can address without honorifics.¡±

    ¡°I can, because he gave me permission to do so.¡±

    The child was obviously not pleased with what she said. ¡°Lord Ruto is my fianc¨¦. Please respect that, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Before you tell me to respect your non-existent rtionship with Ruto, shouldn¡¯t you respect his decision first? He already declined your marriage proposal.¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯s Lord Levi himself who chose me to be Lord Ruto¡¯s fianc¨¦e!¡±

    .....

    ¡°Lord Levi doesn¡¯t have the right to decide for Ruto.¡±

    Phoebe looked horrified. ¡°How can you speak that way towards a god, Princess Neoma?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not just for Ruto,¡± she said, ignoring the child¡¯s question. ¡°Lady Phoebe, you shouldn¡¯t let your family decide for you, too.¡±

    ¡°But they did not force me,¡± the child said, frowning. ¡°I really like Lord Ruto. I¡¯m sure that he¡¯s the one I want to be with for the rest of my life.¡±

    ¡°Does he feel the same way?¡±

    Phoebe bit her lower lip. ¡°Lord Ruto rejected me already. But I don¡¯t want to give up yet. As long as Lord Ruto isn¡¯t married yet, then I won¡¯t give up on him.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± she said. ¡°Good luck then.¡±

    She wasn¡¯t being sarcastic; she meant it.

    [I don¡¯t have the right to tell Phoebe Willows to stop liking Ruto. After all, Ruto and I don¡¯t have a formal rtionship yet.]

    The child red at her. ¡°Are you that confident that Lord Ruto¡¯s feelings for you won¡¯t waver?¡±

    ¡°So, you¡¯re aware that Ruto has feelings for me.¡±

    ¡°Are you not threatened by my presence in Lord Ruto¡¯s life, Princess Neoma?¡± Phoebe asked, clearly frustrated. ¡°I hate how you look at me like I¡¯m just a harmless child. I¡¯m a woman worthy to be your love rival, but you¡¯re looking down on me.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not looking down on you or your feelings, Lady Phoebe,¡± she said calmly. ¡°But I don¡¯t see you as a rival because I know that whatever you do, Ruto won¡¯t look your way. You already had your chance when I disappeared from his memories. But did that change anything? It didn¡¯t, did it? Ruto still came back to me, even though he doesn¡¯t remember me and our rtionship.¡±

    This time, pain crossed Phoebe Willows¡¯ eyes.

    [Ah, I hate ying the bad guy, but this child needs a reality check before she does something that she¡¯ll regret in the future.]

    ¡°I won¡¯t stop you from liking Ruto,¡± she said firmly. ¡°But don¡¯t do something as annoying as setting me up with Lord Preston again. That will only make Ruto hate you.¡±

    The child suddenly broke down into tears. Then she squatted down and covered her face with her hands. ¡°Why you? You¡¯re just a child.¡±

    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t understand even if I tell you why Ruto likes me.¡±

    ¡°But why does it feel like Ruto¡¯s feelings for you are one-sided?¡± Phoebe said, frustrated. Then she removed her hands from her face to look up at her. Her eyes were already red from crying. ¡°Princess Neoma, do you really like Ruto as much as he likes you?¡±

    That question stung a bit.

    She couldn¡¯t say that she liked Ruto as much as he obviously did. After all, having a romantic rtionship with him right now was impossible. But she wasfortable with her ce in Ruto¡¯s life at the moment.

    [Ruto and I need to talk about thister.]

    ¡°I¡¯ll be honest with you, Lady Phoebe. I like myself more than anyone else at the moment,¡± Neoma confessed. Phoebe had been honest with her, so she thought the child deserved her honest thoughts, too. ¡°But if you steal Ruto from me using cheap tricks, I will burn down all the willow trees in the entire world- that may or may not include your n.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 536

    Chapter 536: UNLOVE ME FOR NOW

    [¡°NEOMA, do you know that the Forbidden Zones are dangerous because they are ces where the Sun Goddess¡¯s blessing doesn¡¯t reach?¡±]

    [¡°I see, Mama Boss. I guess that¡¯s why the Lawless Jungle is called that way.¡±]

    [¡°But even if you lose the protection of the gods that keep an eye on you like Lord Yule, you¡¯ll still be fine. That¡¯s why your father and I allowed you to go to the Lawless Jungle even if it¡¯s very dangerous.¡±]

    [¡°Is it because I¡¯m awesome, Mama Boss?¡±]

    [¡°Yes, and because you¡¯re a Roseheart. A ce that isn¡¯t blessed by a god is a ce swallowed by the Darkness. As a Roseheart, you know what we do, don¡¯t you?¡±]

    [¡°We purify Darkness.¡±]

    [¡°That¡¯s right. It seems like Nero has inherited my ability to summon Spirits and gods. On the other hand, you inherited my ability to purify Darkness, Neoma.¡±

    .....

    [¡°Yep, I was born to be a purifier.¡±]

    [¡°I will teach you how to purify Darkness properly,¡±] her Mama Boss said seriously. [¡°I won¡¯t send you to a dangerous ce unprepared.¡±]

    Neoma got excitedly foolishly. [¡°Yehey, I get to have private lessons with THE Mona Roseheart.¡±]

    [¡°Good luck, little rogue,¡±] her Papa Boss said, and he even patted her shoulder as if he wasforting her. [¡°You need that.¡±]

    Gosh, why did she get excited back then?

    Neoma was grateful to have a crash course about purifying Darkness from the legend herself- Lady Mona Roseheart. However, now every inch and fiber of her being was crying from pain now. Even her supposedly overflowing Moonglow was depleted!

    Demon.

    [I didn¡¯t know that Mama Boss can be a demon!]

    Her Papa Boss trained her in the past when he taught her how to control her Soul Beast.

    However, she had to say that her Papa Boss was more lenient than her Mama Boss. It was unexpected. But if she had to choose, she¡¯d rather have Papa Boss train her again and again than experience her mother¡¯s Spartan-like training once more.

    [Now I know why Papa Boss wished me luck then!]

    ¡°Princess Neoma, may I enter your room?¡±

    She was surprised to hear Lady Yngrid¡¯s voice.

    After all, she was expecting Greko and Paige Avery. The two were in charge of her health, so she summoned them to her room to relieve her muscle pain.

    ¡°You maye in, Lady Yngrid.¡±

    When Ruto¡¯s mother entered her room, she tried to get up and maintain a poker face while doing so. However, not only did she wince- but she also failed to move an inch. Her entire body really hurt like a bitch.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to get up, Princess Neoma,¡± Lady Yngrid said, then she sat on the chair beside the bed. ¡°I¡¯m here to relieve your pain.¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± Neoma said, surprised. ¡°How did you know I¡¯m in pain, Lady Yngrid?¡±

    ¡°Lady Mona and I met earlier,¡± thedy exined. ¡°When she told me that she¡¯d give you a private lesson about purifying Darkness, I knew instantly that Your Royal Highness would end up bedridden from muscle pain.¡±

    She smiled awkwardly. ¡°Lady Yngrid, why do you sound like you¡¯re speaking from experience?¡±

    ¡°I am,¡± thedy admitted in a gentle voice. ¡°I can hear the voices of gods, and I¡¯m the only one who does on the East Continent. On the other hand, the Rosehearts have always been known as great Summoners who can borrow the power of gods. Hence, in order for me to develop my talent, my family sent me to House Roseheart when I was a child.¡±

    Ohh, that was pretty interesting.

    ¡°Lady Roseheart was younger than me, but she was far more talented that I was,¡± Lady Yngrid, her face softening up as she reminisced about the past. However, the softness on her face quickly disappeared when she talked again. ¡°But Lady Roseheart isn¡¯t good at teaching. Everythinges naturally to her, so she doesn¡¯t understand why a less talented person like me struggles. Hence, she teaches us the way she learns things. As a result, the people she¡¯s trying to teach end up draining their strength just to catch up to her.¡±

    She clenched her hands when she felt a connection with Lady Yngrid.

    [I can rte with you, Lady Yngrid. That¡¯s also how I feel when Nero teaches me stuff. He¡¯s a genius, so he doesn¡¯t understand why I don¡¯t get the things he teaches me at first try.]

    ¡°Ah, I apologize if I sound like I¡¯m bad-mouthing Lady Roseheart.¡±

    She shook her head. ¡°No, not at all. Please don¡¯t apologize, Lady Yngrid. Ipletely understand what you¡¯re saying.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for understanding, Princess Neoma,¡± Lady Yngrid said, then she extended her hand to her. ¡°I am the High Priestess of the Sun Goddess. I pray to her in order to borrow her healing powers. Will Your Royal Highness allow me to help you regain your strength?¡±

    It was Greko¡¯s job to heal her.

    However, she couldn¡¯t refuse Lady Yngrid.

    [I¡¯m sure Greko will understand.]

    ¡°Of course, Lady Yngrid,¡± she said, then she epted thedy¡¯s hand. ¡°Please take care of me then.¡±

    Lady Yngrid nodded, then she put her other hand over her hand. Then she closed her eyes and prayed.

    Neoma assumed that Ruto¡¯s mother was praying based on the concentrated look on her face.

    [It¡¯s working, though.]

    She felt a strange yetforting warmth from Lady Yngrid¡¯s hands. Then that warmth spread throughout her body. It didn¡¯t take long before all her muscle pain disappeared. Moreover, even her Moonglow started to flow freely again.

    [Ah, I feel like I had a good massage in just a few minutes.]

    Needless to say, she was satisfied.

    Lady Yngrid opened her eyes. ¡°How do you feel, Princess Neoma?¡±

    ¡°Very light, Lady Yngrid,¡± Neoma said cheerfully. ¡°All the muscle pain I felt earlier disappeared.¡± She got up properly and bowed to her politely. ¡°Thank you so much, mydy.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wee, Princess Neoma.¡±

    She raised her head and expected Lady Yngrid to say her goodbye already.

    But, much to her surprise, Ruto¡¯s mother asked a question that she didn¡¯t expect to hear from her.

    ¡°Princess Neoma, do you know why I married Morton Stroganoff?¡±

    ¡°Uhm, is it because of love?¡± she said, a little surprised so she blurted out the first thing that entered her mind. ¡°I mean, Lady Yngrid is from the East Continent while Lord Stroganoff is from the West. It wouldn¡¯t make sense if it was an arranged marriage since as far as I know, Lord Stroganoff is a normal rich nobleman. He doesn¡¯t have any political power or influence.¡±

    If the Solfrid n would arrange a marriage for Lady Yngrid, she figured they would choose an influential man from the East Continent rather than a normal nobleman from the West Continent that wouldn¡¯t spread their influence in any way.

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t an arranged marriage,¡± Lady Yngrid confirmed. ¡°I married Morton because he was the only one who agreed that we live separately after we conceived an heir.¡±

    Oh.

    [I¡¯m not sure if I want to hear this...]

    ¡°As the High Priestess of the East Continent, I¡¯m allowed to marry and have children,¡± Lady Yngrid exined. ¡°In fact, it was my duty to get married and conceive an heir. However, I¡¯ve always known that my real calling is to serve the Sun Goddess for the rest of my life. And so, I¡¯m aware that I won¡¯t be a good wife or a good mother. After all, I only see having a husband and a child as a duty.¡±

    She would have said that it was sad to hear that.

    However, the fact that she didn¡¯t detect any regret or sadness from Lady Yngrid only meant that she was satisfied with her life.

    In short, there was no need for her to pity the woman.

    [She knows what she wants, and she stood by it.]

    ¡°I thought I was going to have a change of heart when I gave birth to Ruto, but I didn¡¯t,¡± Lady Yngrid continued. ¡°I¡¯ve always felt bad for Morton and Ruto. But my husband assured me that he¡¯s happy as long as I¡¯m happy. Moreover, he said he¡¯s also busy running his business, so he¡¯s relieved that I don¡¯t resent him for it. Ruto, on the other hand...¡± Thedy paused for a moment. ¡°Ruto has always been a good and obedient son. However, most of the time, I think Ruto doesn¡¯t see me and my husband as his parents. After all, he¡¯s been mature ever since he was a child.¡±

    [It¡¯s because he¡¯s an adult inside.]

    ¡°What I want to say is that for my family, duty alwayses first before our personal feelings,¡± Lady Yngrid said. ¡°That¡¯s why I was disappointed in Ruto when he began neglecting his duty for you, Princess Neoma. In the end, I resented you for it.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s unfair to say that Ruto has neglected his duties for me, Lady Yngrid,¡± Neoma said as carefully as she could. ¡°We both know that he¡¯s a grown man inside capable of making sound decisions. Just because he disobeyed Lord Levi¡¯s ridiculous orders doesn¡¯t mean he¡¯s neglectful of his duties, mydy. Moreover, I don¡¯t think you should resent me for it because I never asked Ruto to do those things for me.¡±

    ¡°I know that,¡± thedy said. ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m here to apologize for saying harsh words to you before, Your Royal Highness.¡±

    Much to her surprise, Lady Yngrid bowed her head to her.

    She suddenly felt embarrassed.

    [I mean, this is Ruto¡¯s mother...]

    ¡°Lady Yngrid, it¡¯s alright,¡± she said. ¡°Please raise your head.¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma, I have a request,¡± Lady Yngrid said, then she raised her head and looked at her straight in the eye. ¡°It¡¯s about Ruto.¡±

    If it was about Ruto, of course Neoma would listen.

    ***

    ¡°NIKOLAI, what are you thinking about?¡± Mona asked when she saw Niki standing on the balcony of the floating vi. He looked like he was staring at the river mindlessly, but she knew that he was deep in thought. ¡°Does it have something to do with what Neoma told us earlier?¡±

    Right now, they were already on their way back to the empire using the same vi that they used to get to the East Continent fast.

    [Neoma sent us off earlier.]

    They were about to spend the day sightseeing, but they changed their mind after hearing that Kyle Sprouse had finally escaped from prison.

    [We can¡¯t leave everything to our poor, overworked son.]

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m thinking about why the god that Nero gained is named Larissa,¡± Niki said, then he turned to her. ¡°The Roxana Pce used to exist before it was reced by the Larissa Pce, which is now known as the empress pce. As far as I know, they removed the Roxana Pce from the Royal Pce and the people in power of that time turned it into the Light Temple. However, there was no record of why the new empress pce was named ¡®Larissa.''¡±

    .....

    ¡°That bothers me, too,¡± she said, nodding in agreement. ¡°It also bothers me that the ¡°presents¡± that our children received after getting through their Lunacy period were far too dangerous. Neoma received the ability to create a Hellgate, while Nero received a questionable god with the same name as the empress pce.¡±

    ¡°Although they are dangerous, we can¡¯t deny that they make our children powerful,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s useful, too. Just like how Nichole regained her regenerative ability after she had gone through her Lunacy period.¡±

    She knitted her eyebrows when she remembered something. ¡°That makes me wonder, Niki. You never told me about what you received after your Lunacy period.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I received an item.¡±

    ¡°What kind of item?¡± she asked curiously. ¡°Have you used it before?¡±

    ¡°No, I threw it away.¡±

    Mona¡¯s eyes went wide. ¡°Why did you throw it away?¡±

    ¡°Because it¡¯s dangerous,¡± Niki said in a serious voice. ¡°It must disappear at all costs.¡±

    ***

    [AND FINALLY, I wish you scold Lord Levi for me, Lady Elina,] Neoma said, her eyes closed and her hands sped together while praying to Lady Elina- the Sun Goddess. [I heard from Mama Boss that you are Lord Levi¡¯s little sister, mydy. It¡¯s hard to have a twisted brother, right? I know because I have one.]

    She was already done with the proper prayer.

    Hence, she took this opportunity to snitch on Lord Levi. She firmly believed that gods would enjoy listening to some ¡°tea¡± from time to time instead of the normal prayers they would hear from their devotees.

    So, after she prayed, she talked to the Sun Goddess as if they were close.

    [I don¡¯t usually snitch on people, but I snitch on bullies,] she said, justifying her ¡°prayer.¡± [Please knock some sense into Lord Levi¡¯s thick skull, Lord Elina. I seriously believe that doomsday is near if men like Lord Levi continue running the world. They¡¯re lucky girls like us exist to save their asses.]

    She didn¡¯t know if it was just her imagination, but she thought she heard a softugh beside her. Then she felt a warm hand touch the top of her head.

    Oh?

    She got goosebumps, but not in a bad way, if that made sense.

    However, when she opened her eyes, she saw no one in the prayer room. She was still alone there, kneeling in front of the beautiful wall where the Sun Goddess¡¯s beautiful statue was engraved.

    ¡°Did you just pat my head, mydy?¡± she asked,ughing. ¡°I¡¯m cute, am I not?¡±

    She didn¡¯t hear a burst ofughter this time.

    But she felt a warm hand on her head again.

    ¡°You¡¯re warm, mydy. Now I know why you¡¯re friends with Lord Yule,¡± Neoma said, smiling. Then she stood up and bowed politely in front of the Sun Goddess¡¯s statue. ¡°Lady Elina, I will work hard to fulfill my duty as Lord Yule¡¯s descendant. As my divine grandfather¡¯s friend, please lend me your strength, too. And...¡± She hesitated at first, then she raised her head and looked straight at the statue¡¯s eyes. ¡°Please protect Ruto in my ce.¡±

    ¡°Is that something that you should ask the Sun Goddess when you can do it yourself?¡±

    Gosh, she really hated how she couldn¡¯t sense his presence again.

    Neoma turned around and faced Ruto with a frown. ¡°It¡¯s rude to listen to someone else¡¯s prayer.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to,¡± Ruto said. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I got here first, but you didn¡¯t seem to notice. I was about to leave quietly when you began praying, but...¡±

    ¡°But what?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t keep my eyes off of you,¡± he confessed while scratching his face as if he was embarrassed. ¡°There¡¯s only a handful of people that I could see clearly. However, out of all the faces I see, yours is my favorite.¡±

    Gosh.

    Ruto lost his memories, but not his ¡®smoothness.¡¯

    [He¡¯s making this hard for me.]

    ¡°Hey, Ruto.¡±

    Ruto tilted his head to one side. ¡°Yeah?¡±

    Neoma smiled at him sadly. ¡°Unlove me for now.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 537

    Chapter 537: NOT IN HIS VOCABULARY

    ¡°PRINCESS NEOMA, I have a request,¡± Lady Yngrid said, then she raised her head and looked at her straight in the eye. ¡°It¡¯s about Ruto.¡±

    If it was about Ruto, of course, Neoma would listen.

    [As long as it¡¯s not the same request as Lord Levi¡¯s request, then why not?]

    She just hoped that Lady Yngrid wouldn¡¯t ask her to ¡°break up¡± with Ruto. But judging by the gentle look on thedy¡¯s face, it didn¡¯t seem to be her request.

    ¡°What is it, Lady Yngrid?¡± Neoma asked politely. ¡°I¡¯ll do it as long as it¡¯s within my power.¡±

    ¡°The burn mark on my son¡¯s face...¡±

    Ouch.

    .....

    Her conscience pricked her heart.

    After all, she was the reason why Ruto had a huge burn mark on his face.

    ¡°Lord Levi can actually remove the burn mark on Ruto¡¯s face, but he refused to have it removed.¡±

    ¡°But why?¡± she asked, confused. ¡°I was told that the burn mark can¡¯t be removed because it was the payment for the contract that I made with the Devil.¡±

    ¡°Nobody can touch the divine son of Lord Levi,¡± Lady Yngrid said. ¡°That¡¯s the rule of this world.¡±

    Such a rule existed?!

    ¡°The Devil has been quiet for a few decades now,¡± thedy continued. ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m certain that they wouldn¡¯t pick a fight with Lord Levi. So, if Lord Levi says he¡¯ll remove the burn mark on Ruto¡¯s face, I don¡¯t think the Devil willin.¡±

    [So, that¡¯s how it is.]

    Then maybe Ruto didn¡¯t have to pay the price in her ce.

    [I mean, if Lord Levi could scare the Devil, I¡¯m sure Papa Boss could do the same.]

    She may be biased, but she had a feeling that Papa Boss was stronger than the Devil.

    ¡°Then why did Ruto refuse to have his burn mark removed?¡± she asked, confused. Then she tilted her head to one side. ¡°Did Lord Levi ask something difficult in return?¡±

    Thedy shook her head. ¡°No, Lord Levi didn¡¯t ask anything in return. He really wants the burn mark on Ruto gone. After all, he wants his divine son to remain wless physically.¡±

    ¡°A burn mark isn¡¯t a w, though.¡±

    ¡°That may be true, but I understand Lord Levi¡¯s feelings,¡± Lady Yngrid said gently. ¡°As Ruto¡¯s mother, even a mosquito bite on my son¡¯s skin makes me worry. The first time I saw the huge burn mark that almost covered half of his face, I fainted. After all, I¡¯m not used to seeing my son hurt.¡±

    Oh.

    So, something like that happened.

    [I didn¡¯t put myself in Lady Yngrid¡¯s shoes. Of course, as a mother, she wouldn¡¯t be happy to see her son gain a burn mark because of someone else¡¯s carelessness.]

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Lady Yngrid. It was my fault that Ruto got that huge burn mark on his face,¡± she said apologetically. ¡°And I¡¯m sorry for myment earlier. Although having a mark isn¡¯t really a w, I still failed to consider your feelings as Ruto¡¯s mother. I apologize for my insensitivity.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Princess Neoma. You¡¯re not wrong, anyway,¡± thedy said. ¡°And you don¡¯t have to apologize. I know that it was Ruto¡¯s decision to pay the price in your ce.¡±

    She clenched her hands.

    Even if Lady Yngrid was being generous to her, she still felt guilty.

    ¡°Ruto didn¡¯t say it directly, but I have a feeling that he doesn¡¯t want the burn mark gone because he considers it as a sign of his devotion for you. Even after he lost his memories of you, he still didn¡¯t want to get rid of the burn mark,¡± Lady Yngrid said. ¡°I know that you don¡¯t feel the same way, Princess Neoma.¡±

    She was surprised to hear that. ¡°That¡¯s true, Lady Yngrid. But how did you know that I feel that way?¡±

    ¡°Because I know what it feels to be in love,¡± thedy said, her face softening up. ¡°I may not be an affectionate wife, but I still get upset when Morton hurts himself for my sake. I hate it even more when he ims he doesn¡¯t mind getting hurt for me. It¡¯s foolish, though. For me, love doesn¡¯t have to hurt- physically and emotionally.¡±

    She covered her mouth with her hands when she gasped softly. ¡°Love doesn¡¯t have to hurt- physically and emotionally,¡± she said, repeating Lady Yngrid¡¯s wise words. ¡°I totally agree, Lady Yngrid. I appreciate that Ruto paid the price in my ce, but I hate seeing the burn mark on his face. Not because it¡¯s unsightly, but because I hate seeing him hurt.¡±

    ¡°I hope you can change Ruto¡¯s mind, then,¡± Lady Yngrid said, then she bowed her head towards her. ¡°My son only listens to you, Princess Neoma.¡±

    That didn¡¯t sound good.

    Neoma gathered the courage to hold Lady Yngrid¡¯s hands, making the woman look up at her with a surprised look on her face. ¡°Lady Yngrid, please listen to me this time.¡±

    ***

    ¡°UNLOVE ME for now,¡± Neoma said to Ruto. ¡°You do foolish things because of your feelings for me, so I want you to rein them in for now.¡±

    ¡°Is ¡°unlove¡± a proper word?¡±

    ¡°It is because I said so,¡± she said, slightly annoyed. ¡°You get what I mean anyway. I want you to stop loving me too much.¡±

    ¡°To ¡°unlove¡± you, I have to love you first,¡± Ruto said, obviously wearing his smarty-pants at the moment. ¡°Have I ever confessed that I¡¯m in love with you?¡±

    ¡°Action speaks louder than words.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not wrong, but words of affirmation are also important.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to say the words ¡®I love you¡¯ directly for me to know- unless you¡¯re a scumbag,¡± she argued. ¡°Which I know you¡¯re not.¡±

    ¡°Even so, ¡°unlove¡± isn¡¯t in my vocabry, so I can¡¯t do it.¡±

    Gosh, look at how stubborn this young man was.

    [Fine, let¡¯s be direct then.]

    ¡°Ruto, the burn mark on your face isn¡¯t the sign of your devotion to me,¡± she said solemnly. ¡°It¡¯s just a sign of my immaturity, of me letting my anger get the better of me. You were the one who suffered because of my recklessness.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t remember how I got this burn mark,¡± he said, then he put a hand over his burn mark. ¡°However, I can¡¯t seem to get rid of this even though Lord Levi offered to get rid of it without asking for anything in return.¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t get rid of me because you love me too much.¡±

    He let out a softugh. ¡°Princess Neoma, those kinds of things shouldn¡¯te out of your own mouth.¡±

    ¡°Am I wrong, though?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± he said, shrugging. ¡°But you sound convincing.¡±

    ¡°Right?¡± she said, smiling. She even gave him her famous beautiful puppy dog eyes. ¡°So, you¡¯re going to get the burn mark removed, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°I will decide once I retrieve my memories.¡±

    Her smile disappeared instantly. ¡°Gosh, when will that happen?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll tell my mother that I¡¯ll think about it,¡± he said. ¡°She¡¯ll be satisfied with that answer.¡±

    She flinched.

    [Oh, he knows I talked to his mother.]

    ¡°Don¡¯t be surprised,¡± he said. ¡°Mother has been more persistent in convincing me to remove my burn mark when I lost my memories. I find it weird that you¡¯re suddenly on my case, too. So, I figured my mother talked to you about it.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll say this in advance: Lady Yngrid didn¡¯t force me to convince you to remove your burn mark,¡± she said in defense of Lady Yngrid. ¡°Don¡¯t get the wrong idea. Your mother is not a bad person.¡±

    ¡°I know that.¡±

    ¡°If you know that, then treat your mother better,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m not saying you¡¯re a bad son. But you have a record of disobeying your parents just because of me.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m an adult, and I like to make my own decisions especially if it concerns my private life.¡±

    ¡°Even though you¡¯re already an adult, that won¡¯t stop your parents from worrying about you,¡± she scolded him lightly. ¡°We all know that you¡¯re strong and capable of protecting yourself. But for your parents, especially your mother, you¡¯ll always be a baby that they won¡¯t even let a mosquito bite you. Don¡¯t be too stubborn.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m saying that I¡¯ll try to be a better son.¡±

    She smiled, relieved. ¡°Okay, that¡¯s good. And you better be serious when you said you¡¯ll consider removing your burn mark.¡±

    Ruto didn¡¯t have his memories yet, so she didn¡¯t want to push it.

    Moreover, her goal was only to convince him. After all, she couldn¡¯t force him to do something that he didn¡¯t want to do.

    ¡°Is it unsightly?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°The burn mark on my face,¡± Ruto exined. ¡°Is it the reason why you want it gone?¡±

    She crossed her arms over her chest. ¡°Is that how low you think of me? I mean, I know that I¡¯m super vain. But have I ever judged a person based on their appearance?¡±

    Ruto lost his memories, but she knew that deep inside him, he was still the Ruto that knew her like the back of his hand.

    Hence, she asked him those questions.

    ¡°I know that you¡¯re not that kind of person,¡± Ruto said, then he avoided her gaze while muttering. ¡°But you also like Rubin Drayton¡¯s face too much. I can¡¯tpete with his face.¡±

    Gosh, someone was jealous.

    .....

    ¡°Well, Rubin Drayton is really handsome.¡±

    Ruto gave her a betrayed look.

    She just shrugged.

    [Rubin Drayton is a vile person, but I can¡¯t lie and say that he¡¯s ugly.]

    ¡°Don¡¯t be jealous,¡± she said. ¡°Rubin Drayton is handsome, but I like your face better- with or without the burn mark.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Really.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s true, then let me be your escort once you made your debut as Princess Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio,¡± Ruto said confidently. ¡°I heard His Majesty and Lady Roseheart are nning to throw you a party once you returned to the empire.¡±

    Okay, she was confused at first.

    Then sheughed.

    [What a way to ask me out. Sorry, but guilt-tripping doesn¡¯t work on me. It¡¯s cute, though.]

    ¡°Ruto, I have a yandere brother,¡± she warned him lightly. ¡°If you want to be my escort for my grand debut, then you have to outsmart Nero. Good luck with that.¡±

    ¡°Is that a challenge?¡± he asked with a raised eyebrow. ¡°I ept it then.¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh,¡± she said, then she approached him and patted his shoulders. ¡°See youter.¡±

    He let out a sigh, then he gently grabbed her wrists. ¡°Are you really headed to the Lawless Jungle?¡±

    ¡°Yep,¡± she said, nodding. ¡°And you can¡¯t follow me. I know that you have a job to do here. And I don¡¯t like guys who neglect their duties.¡±

    ¡°But I can follow you once I¡¯m done with my duties, right?¡±

    ¡°As long as you do an excellent job, then fine,¡± she said. ¡°I don¡¯t have the right to tell you what to do during your free time anyway.¡±

    ¡°Very well,¡± he said, then he slowly let go of her wrists. ¡°Take care then, Princess Neoma.¡±

    She had a feeling that she wouldn¡¯t be seeing Ruto for a long time.

    Hence, she followed what her heart desired at the moment. Her family might kill her for it (especially Nero), but she knew Ruto is worth the risk.

    And so, she put her hand over the burn mark on Ruto¡¯s cheek.

    Then she tiptoed and kissed the back of her hand.

    ¡°I love your burn mark, because it reminds me that you¡¯ll stand by me even if I turn out to be the biggest threat to mankind,¡± Neoma said solemnly. ¡°And my feelings won¡¯t change even if the burn mark disappears, Ruto.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re being unfair,¡± Rutoined lightly, but the beautiful glow in his violet eyes told her his honest feelings: he was delighted. ¡°With or without my memories, you still have power over me, Neoma.¡±

    [Ah, he finally calls me by name again.]

    ***

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 Chapter 538

    Chapter 538: WINNING PEOPLE OVER

    ¡°LADY YNGRID, what do you mean by that?¡±

    It broke Yngrid¡¯s heart when she saw the devastated look on Phoebe Willows¡¯ face. However, she had to correct the mistake that the adults had made. ¡°On behalf of the Solfrid n, I officially decline House Willows¡¯ marriage proposal to Ruto- my precious son.¡±

    She invited Phoebe Willows for an afternoon tea to break it to her gently.

    But no matter how gentle she sounded, it seemed like her words still came out harshly. After all, the youngdy shed tears instantly.

    She was d that only the two of them were in the tearoom at the moment.

    [Phoebe is a good child, and she seems to like Ruto genuinely. However, my son is more important to me than what Lord Levi wants to happen.]

    And she only realized that after talking to Princess Neoma.

    .....

    ¡°I thought you were on my side, Lady Yngrid,¡± Phoebe said between sobs. Her tone was a little usatory, but Yngridpletely understood why the child felt betrayed. ¡°What made you change your mind, mydy?¡±

    ¡°At first, I went along with Lord Levi¡¯s n because I thought you¡¯re suited more to be my son¡¯s partner,¡± she confessed. ¡°However, I never thought that Ruto would be so firm with his decision to not marry you even after he lost his memories. And that¡¯s when I realized that his feelings for Princess Neoma are serious. Hence, I decided not to get in their way anymore.¡±

    ¡°But Lady Yngrid, it will be more beneficial for the Solfrid n to marry me instead of a powerless royal princess from the Great Moonasterion Empire.¡±

    ¡°Phoebe, you¡¯ve already met Princess Neoma,¡± she said calmly. ¡°Do you really think that she¡¯s powerless?¡±

    The child flinched.

    ¡°It is true that a royal princess from the Great Moonasterion Empire is usually only a princess by name,¡± she said as carefully as she could, because she didn¡¯t want to upset Phoebe even more. After all, a child was still a child. She wanted to be careful with her feelings, since this was her first heartbreak. ¡°However, a person as charismatic as Princess Neoma is bound to attract strong and outstanding individuals. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve already met Her Royal Highness¡¯s personal knights.¡±

    Some of Princess Neoma¡¯s knights were nobles, and some were not.

    But the knights all had something inmon: each individual that followed Princess Neoma was the type of person that couldn¡¯t be controlled.

    ¡°Princess Neoma¡¯s knights are terrifying individuals that not even I could tame,¡± Yngrid continued cautiously. This time, she was amazed while talking about Princess Neoma¡¯s knights. ¡°Can you believe that such people have willingly followed Princess Neoma? That only goes to show that Her Royal Highness has what it takes to lead the empire as well as Emperor Niki does.¡±

    ¡°I know that she¡¯s amazing, but she¡¯s still bad for Lord Ruto,¡± Phoebeined, still crying like the child that she was. ¡°Isn¡¯t that the reason why you don¡¯t want Princess Neoma for your son, Lady Yngrid?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± Yngrid said, nodding. ¡°But I¡¯m allowed to change my mind, am I not?¡±

    Especially after talking to Princess Neoma...

    ***

    [A few moments ago...]

    ¡°RUTO DIDN¡¯T say it directly, but I have a feeling that he doesn¡¯t want the burn mark gone because he considers it as a sign of his devotion to you. Even after he lost his memories of you, he still didn¡¯t want to get rid of the burn mark,¡± Yngrid said to Princess Neoma. ¡°I know that you don¡¯t feel the same way, Princess Neoma.¡±

    Princess Neoma seemed to be surprised by what she said. ¡°That¡¯s true, Lady Yngrid. But how did you know that I feel that way?¡±

    ¡°Because I know what it feels to be in love,¡± she said to the princess, her expression probably softening up at the moment. She couldn¡¯t believe that she was showing her vulnerable side to Princess Neoma, but she couldn¡¯t help but open up to her since the young princess made herfortable. ¡°I may not be an affectionate wife, but I still get upset when Morton hurts himself for my sake. I hate it even more when he ims he doesn¡¯t mind getting hurt for me. It¡¯s foolish, though. For me, love doesn¡¯t have to hurt- physically and emotionally.¡±

    Her Royal Highness covered her mouth with her hands when she gasped softly. ¡°Love doesn¡¯t have to hurt- physically and emotionally,¡± she said, repeating what she had just said as she found her wordsforting. ¡°I totally agree, Lady Yngrid. I appreciate that Ruto paid the price in my ce, but I hate seeing the burn mark on his face. Not because it¡¯s unsightly, but because I hate seeing him hurt.¡±

    ¡°I hope you can change Ruto¡¯s mind, then,¡± Yngrid said, then she bowed her head towards her. ¡°My son only listens to you, Princess Neoma.¡±

    It still hurt a bit to admit that Ruto listened to Princess Neoma and not to her.

    However, she could me her son.

    After all, she was aware that she didn¡¯t be a good mother to him.

    Her thoughts got interrupted when Princess Neoma held her hands.

    ¡°Lady Yngrid, please listen to me this time.¡±

    She looked up at the young princess with a surprised look on her face. It wasn¡¯t like she hated physical contact. She just didn¡¯t expect Princess Neoma to be affectionate to her because she thought the young princess didn¡¯t like her as a person.

    [Again, I won¡¯t me Princess Neoma if that was the case since I knew I was mean to her the first time we met.]

    ¡°Lady Yngrid, may I know why you think that Ruto doesn¡¯t listen to you?¡± Princess Neoma asked carefully. ¡°I¡¯m aware that there were times that Ruto disobeyed your order and followed his own decisions. However, I have a feeling that mydy thinks Ruto doesn¡¯t care about you. If I¡¯m wrong, please correct me. If I¡¯m being too nosy, then I apologize.¡±

    She was surprised by Her Royal Highness¡¯s question, but she wasn¡¯t offended.

    Moreover, it wasn¡¯t something that she wanted to hide anyway.

    To be honest, she had always wanted to have someone to share her burden as a mother with. She wasn¡¯t able to do that when she had tea with Lady Mona Roseheart before. After all, she knew that Lady Roseheart had already so much to deal with.

    Of course, she knew that Princess Neoma was also a busy person.

    However, she found herself confiding in the young princess that may or may not be her daughter-inw in the future.

    ¡°As I said earlier, Morton and I only married each other for convenience,¡± Yngrid began to confide to Princess Neoma. ¡°We both wanted an heir, but we both didn¡¯t want to live with a spouse because the two of us are focused on our own things. Even so, we both love Ruto genuinely.¡±

    She knew that it was a strange marriage.

    However, that didn¡¯t mean that Morton and she didn¡¯t care about each other. They did. But their feelings for each other weren¡¯t strong enough for them to live together as a normal married couple. They remained faithful to each other, though.

    ¡°But when we found out that Ruto is Lord Levi¡¯s divine son, I think I started to see my son as a god that I need to worship instead of a son that I want to raise with love,¡± Yngrid said, then she smiled sadly. ¡°I believe Ruto noticed that I¡¯m treating him like a little god instead of a son, and that was when he began acting distant from me. I felt guilty about that, so I allowed Ruto to live with her father on the West Continent. I thought I already failed as a mother, so I left him in his father¡¯s care.¡±

    Princess Neoma¡¯s face was full of sympathy while listening to her intently.

    And that encouraged her to talk more.

    ¡°Since I thought I already failed as a mother, I¡¯ve given up on being a proper parent and focused on guiding Ruto as the High Priestess instead,¡± Yngrid continued. She wasn¡¯t proud of what she was sharing with Princess Neoma. However, the young princess never looked at her with judgment, so she felt morefortable as time went by. ¡°Before I knew it, I was already raising Ruto as Lord Levi¡¯s son instead of my own. That¡¯s why I know that Ruto also stopped seeing me as his mother. I know that it was my fault, and I thought I should ept that. However...¡±

    Princess Neoma gently squeezed her hands. ¡°Lady Yngrid, you miss Ruto, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°We used to be close when he was a kid,¡± she said, smiling. But she knew her smile was sad. ¡°You¡¯re right, Princess Neoma. I miss MY son, and not the divine son that Lord Levi ims as his. I want to be close to my Ruto again, but I know it¡¯s already toote for that.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not yet toote, Lady Yngrid,¡± Princess Neoma said while shaking her head. ¡°My father, Emperor Niki, used to be a scumbag. He was a total jerk to me, too.¡±

    To say that Yngrid was shocked to hear Princess Neoma call His Majesty a ¡®scumbag¡¯ would be an understatement.

    [This is the first time I heard a child curse her own father...]

    ¡°Despite all the terrible things that Papa Boss did to me before, we still managed to fix our father-daughter rtionship,¡± Princess Neoma said proudly. ¡°I¡¯m sure there¡¯s still hope for you and Ruto, Lady Yngrid. If a subhuman like my father in the past can be a decent human, so could you, mydy.¡±

    Yngrid gulped. ¡°Princess Neoma, is it alright to talk about Emperor Niki that way?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Lady Yngrid,¡± the young princess assured her. ¡°We¡¯re not talking behind Papa Boss¡¯ back because I say these things straight to his face, too.¡±

    She didn¡¯t know how to react to that. ¡°Princess Neoma seems to have an interesting bond with His Majesty.¡±

    The young princess grinned. ¡°It¡¯s not normal, is it? A child cursing at her father... it¡¯s rude. However, you can¡¯t me me for cursing at Papa Boss in the past. But even if we used to have a dysfunctional rtionship in the past, everything has changed now. Thus, I know that Lady Yngrid can also fix your rtionship with Ruto.¡±

    ¡°But I don¡¯t know how to do that.¡±

    ¡°Would you like me to help you, Lady Yngrid?¡±

    ¡°If it¡¯s not too much of a bother.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not, mydy,¡± the young princess said, smiling. ¡°I¡¯ll help you.¡±

    She couldn¡¯t help but smile. ¡°Now I know why Ruto is infatuated with you, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°I know, right?¡± Princess Neoma said. ¡°I¡¯m pretty, strong, charming, witty...¡± She trailed off, then she pped her mouth as if she had just realized what she just said. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Lady Yngrid. Were you shocked by my narcissistic side? Ites out when I receivepliments.¡±

    Yngrid was shocked at first, then sheughed. It had been a while since sheughed out loud. And it was a good feeling. ¡°Thank you for making me feel better, Princess Neoma,¡± she said, then she bowed her head to her. ¡°Please take care of my Ruto from now on.¡±

    ***

    [At the present...]

    ¡°FROM NOW on, I will not get in the way of my son¡¯s private life again,¡± Yngrid dered. ¡°If he wants to be with Princess Neoma, so be it. Ruto is MY son, and not Lord Levi¡¯s.¡±

    ¡°As a person who serves Lord Levi, I cannot ept this, Lady Yngrid,¡± Phoebe said firmly. ¡°I am thedy chosen by Lord Levi to be with Lord Ruto.¡±

    ¡°The Solfrid n willpensate the Willows for turning you down, Phoebe.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t need anypensation,¡± the child said stubbornly. ¡°As long as Lord Levi is on my side, I won¡¯t give up. I won¡¯t lose him to a child like Princess Neoma.¡±

    [But Princess Neoma doesn¡¯t even see you as a rival, Phoebe...]

    That was the difference between the two youngdies.

    ¡°Princess Neoma isn¡¯t the problem,¡± she said carefully. ¡°Even if Princess Neoma is out of the picture, Ruto won¡¯t miraculously fall in love with you, Phoebe. Please ept that and move on. You¡¯re still young¡ª you¡¯ll still meet more people in the future.¡±

    ¡°I only want Lord Ruto,¡± Phoebe said firmly, then she stood up while on the verge of crying again. ¡°Thank you for the tea, Lady Yngrid. I¡¯ll be taking my leave now.¡±

    After that, the child really left.

    Yngrid could only sigh and shake her head. ¡°Ruto, you¡¯re a sinful young man.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 539

    Chapter 539: BREAKFAST FOR TWO~

    ¡°WE¡¯RE HERE, Prince Nero.¡±

    Nero just put his teacup down on the saucer, then he stood up to greet his guests.

    Despite his personal (and negative) feelings for Calyx Dalton and Lady Juliet Sloane, his manners didn¡¯t allow him to be rude. Not in front of the servants, at least. After all, he was still raised and groomed as a proper royal prince.

    ¡°Thank you for epting my invitation, Lord Calyx, Lady Sloane,¡± Nero said. He looked indifferent, but he talked politely. Then he pointed at the table with both of his hands as a sign of respect. ¡°Please join me for breakfast.¡±

    Yes, he invited Calyx Dalton and Lady Juliet Sloane for breakfast.

    Right now, they were in the main dining hall of the nco Pce- his official residence. A sumptuous feast was spread on the table. In fact, even by the royal standards, the amount of food on the table was still too much for three people.

    However, as the current acting emperor, he had to show off.

    .....

    ¡°Thank you for inviting us, Your Royal Highness,¡± Lady Juliet Sloane said, bowing her head towards him. ¡°It¡¯s an honor to have breakfast with you.¡±

    [Yes, you should be honored.]

    However, he just kept it in his thoughts.

    Then he gestured for his esteemed guests to take a seat.

    He was seated at the center of the table, of course. After all, he had the highest rank among them.

    Calyx Dalton, that thick-skinned bastard, sat on the chair on his right side.

    On the other hand, Lady Juliet Sloane sat on his left side.

    When the three of them started eating, Nero asked the servants to leave. Except for Lewis, of course. The fox boy remained standing near the entrance.

    ¡°Father and Mother are scheduled to arrive in the afternoon,¡± Nero announced while spreading butter on his toast. Unlike Neoma, he didn¡¯t like having a hearty breakfast. Bread was enough to make him full in the morning. ¡°After that, we¡¯ll talk about having Lord Calyx added to the Royal Household.¡±

    Lady Juliet Sloane looked relieved. ¡°Thank you for acknowledging my son as a de Moonasterio, Prince Nero. I thought Emperor Niki wouldn¡¯t ept Calyx as his son.¡±

    ¡°We acknowledge that Lord Calyx is a de Moonasterio,¡± Nero said. ¡°But I didn¡¯t say he¡¯d be epted as Father¡¯s son.¡±

    The former empress looked confused by what he said.

    ¡°Then how would be I added to the Royal Household if I wasn¡¯t acknowledged as Emperor Niki¡¯s son?¡± Calyx asked, confused. ¡°I should be added as Emperor Niki¡¯s son.¡±

    ¡°Does it matter?¡± Nero asked casually. ¡°It doesn¡¯t change the fact that you¡¯d be a royal prince, anyway. And being a royal prince means you get the right to steal the throne from me.¡±

    To be honest, he and his father were nning to add Calyx as the emperor¡¯s nephew. But they were still debating about it since Princess Nichole de Moonasterio, his father¡¯s twin sister, was still alive.

    [But, of course, the general public doesn¡¯t know that the Princess Royal isn¡¯t dead yet.]

    ¡°And anyway, you only need to be recognized as a royal prince,¡± Nero said, turning to Calyx. Then he smiled ¡°sweetly¡± at him. ¡°Now the crows get the lovely opportunity to kill me and make you the emperor, Lord Calyx.¡±

    Calyx frowned at his remark. ¡°Prince Nero, why do you always say that I¡¯ll kill you when I don¡¯t intend to do that?¡±

    He just let out a sarcasticugh, then he took a bite of his toast.

    ¡°Prince Nero, why do you speak like that towards my son? I don¡¯t know what crows are. But if those things are harmful to the royal family, then I can confidently say that Calyx isn¡¯t rted to them,¡± Lady Sloane, who stopped eating her sd, asked. Judging by the frown on her face, the former empress looked obviously upset. ¡°My son and I already told Your Royal Highness that we¡¯re not interested in the throne, so we will not fight for it. Calyx only wants to be with his family.¡±

    ¡°Lady Sloane,¡± Nero said, ¡°smiling.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve yed dumb for fifteen years already, and I¡¯d like it if you continue doing so. Please, just eat your sd quietly and pretend that you hear nothing.¡±

    The former empress¡¯s face turned red from embarrassment.

    Calyx, on the other hand, looked like he didn¡¯t care that Nero just humiliated his mother.

    [For someone who ims that they love each other dearly, Lady Sloane and Calyx don¡¯t look close at all. If someone humiliated Neoma in front of me, I would kill that person on the spot. I won¡¯t just sit there like what Calyx is doing.]

    ¡°Prince Nero, are you still suspicious of me?¡± Lady Sloane asked, hurt. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then why did you agree to acknowledge Calyx as a member of the Royal Family?¡±

    ¡°Because watching a circus show in the first row is more fun,¡± Nero said, smirking. ¡°I¡¯m the Crown Prince, so I¡¯m entitled to get the best seat to watch the y that you obviously orchestrated for the Royal Family, anyway.¡±

    Lady Sloane¡¯s face turned red even more. ¡°You¡¯re being rude, Prince Nero.¡±

    ¡°I am, and I¡¯m doing you a favor, Lady Sloane,¡± Nero said indifferently. ¡°My twin sister is the epitome of ¡®rude.¡¯ If you can¡¯t handle my insolence, then pray to your gods that you don¡¯t cross paths with Neoma. You won¡¯tst a minute with her if you¡¯re that sensitive.¡±

    But, of course, his precious twin sister was only rude to people rude to her.

    [Neoma¡¯s behavior depends on how you treat her, after all.]

    ¡°Stop talking about Princess Neoma,¡± Calyx Daltonined. ¡°You¡¯re making my stomach upset, Prince Nero.¡±

    [Do I look like I care?]

    ¡°If I already made the two of you upset, then my duty for today is done,¡± Nero said, wiping his mouth off using the table napkin. Then he stood up and lightly bowed his head, smirking. ¡°Enjoy your meal, Lord Calyx, Lady Sloane.¡±

    ***

    NEOMA was still as sleepy as hell.

    But she was a working girl, so she had no choice but to suck it up.

    She woke up at the crack of dawn, took a bath for hours with the help of Juri and Paige, and got ready. The only saving grace of working this time was she was free to wear pretty dresses now- just like what she wore for today.

    But since she was keeping a low profile, she chose a simple maroon dress that went well with her ck ankle boots.

    And her hair?

    ¡°Short hair looks good on you, too, Princess Neoma,¡± Paige said after putting the wig on her. ¡°I guess you¡¯ll still be pretty even if you get bald.¡±

    Juri nodded in agreement. ¡°Princess Neoma¡¯s face is small.¡±

    ¡°I know, right?¡± Neoma agreed, then she covered her mouth when she yawned. ¡°Mama Boss and Papa Boss¡¯s genes are the best- I¡¯m their best masterpiece.¡±

    Nero, too, since they had the same face.

    ¡°Do you have to make a wig, though?¡± Juri asked Paige. ¡°Don¡¯t you just use a potion before to make Princess Neoma¡¯s longer? I¡¯m sure you can make a potion that makes hair short, too.¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma intends to keep her hair long this time,¡± Paige exined. ¡°Using too much potion might damage her hair. We have to keep Her Royal Highness¡¯s hair luscious.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I see,¡± Juri said, nodding. Then she turned to Neoma. ¡°Princess Neoma, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll give Ruston Stroganoff a heart attack.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the n,¡± Neoma said, smiling. ¡°Ruto actually invited me for breakfast.¡±

    ***

    NEOMA got the reaction she wanted from Ruto as soon as she entered the dining hall in the Cyran Temple.

    Ruto looked shocked while looking at her short hair.

    The wig that Paige made for her was actually shorter than she expected. It didn¡¯t even reach her shoulders. But it framed her small face, so she knew she still looked good.

    ¡°You... cut your hair.¡±

    ¡°Thanks for noticing,¡± Neoma said, then she sat on the chair that Ruto pulled for her. ¡°But why do you look shocked? Does it not suit me?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like that,¡± Ruto said, then he got down on one knee while looking up at her with a worried look on his face. ¡°But thedies in the West Continent cut their hair short when they get their heart broken. Did I break your heart?¡±

    ¡°What made you think that you can break my heart?¡± she asked, ying snobbish. ¡°What if there¡¯s another boy who can break my heart?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no one like that in your life except me.¡±

    That caught her off guard.

    Of course, Ruto wasn¡¯t wrong. But she didn¡¯t want to admit that easily.

    ¡°There¡¯s Rubin Drayton, you know?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not worried about that,¡± Ruto said bluntly. ¡°Aren¡¯t you on your way to kill him anyway?¡±

    Again, Ruto wasn¡¯t wrong.

    ¡°Gosh, don¡¯t make my heart flutter until you retrieved your memories,¡± she scolded him. ¡°You have to make it up to me once you remember everything. I know that it¡¯s my fault that you lost your memories. But I still miss the Ruto who spoils me.¡±

    ¡°How do you want me to spoil you?¡±

    [Gosh, I just told him not to make my heart flutter.]

    ¡°Are you sure about that, Mr. Ruston Stroganoff?¡± she asked. ¡°I¡¯m high-maintenance, you know? Plus, I¡¯m materialistic and I enjoy luxury.¡±

    He tilted his head to one side as if he was confused. ¡°I¡¯m rich, though?¡±

    ¡°I know,¡± she said. ¡°But I¡¯m sought-after. In a bad way. I have a lot of enemies.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, I¡¯m strong.¡±

    She smirked. ¡°Fine, you passed. I¡¯m giving you the right to spoil me.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± he said, then he turned serious. ¡°Neoma.¡±

    She had to stop herself from smiling goofily when Ruto called her by her name again, finally dropping the ¡®Princess¡¯ at the start. ¡°Yeah?¡±

    ¡°I decided to have my burn mark removed,¡± Ruto said solemnly. ¡°But I need to physically ascend to the Upper World in order to meet Lord Levi, so I don¡¯t know how long I¡¯m going to be gone.¡±

    .....

    Neoma was surprised. ¡°You can ascend to the Upper World?¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 540

    Chapter 540: [Bonus Chapter] ALL ABOUT HER

    [s_c: Why do you like Neoma?]

    Answer:

    ***

    ¡°PRINCE NERO, why do you like Princess Neoma so much?¡±

    If Nero wasn¡¯t in the ssroom, he would have just ignored Calyx Dalton or told him to get away from him.

    However, the two of them were currently working on a school project together. If it was up to him, he would have grouped with Hanna. Unfortunately, the teacher chose the pairings in the ss for the team assignment.

    That was how he ended up sharing a table with the crazy bastard.

    .....

    ¡°Why would you ask that?¡± Nero asked without looking up at Calyx Dalton. He was busy answering the worksheet so he wouldn¡¯t have to deal with the crazy bastard longer than he had to. ¡°And what made you think I will answer your stupid question?¡±

    ¡°I thought you¡¯d like it, though,¡± Calyx Dalton, whose hands were also moving as fast as his while solving the other half of the worksheet, said. ¡°Bragging about Princess Neoma, I mean.¡±

    ¡°Are you dumb?¡± he asked bluntly, then he finally looked up at Calyx Dalton who was looking at him intently. It was creepy, but he had already gotten used to it. ¡°I have a mental list of all Neoma¡¯s lovely qualities. They¡¯re a lot, so a day won¡¯t be enough to talk about them. However, I refuse to share them with you.¡±

    ¡°But why?¡±

    ¡°Because you¡¯ll definitely fall in love with Neoma once you get to know how endearing she is,¡± he said bluntly. ¡°There are already too many pests hanging around my precious twin sister. I don¡¯t want you added to the list.¡±

    ¡°That won¡¯t happen. I will never fall in love with Princess Neoma,¡± the crazy bastard said confidently. ¡°You¡¯re far more interesting than Her Royal Highness, Prince Nero.¡±

    ¡°Crazy bastard.¡±

    ¡°I just asked why you like Princess Neoma because I want to be like her,¡± Calyx Dalton said, smiling ¡°sweetly¡± at him. ¡°Prince Nero, I want you to like me as much as you like Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°That will never happen,¡± Nero said without missing a heartbeat. ¡°I¡¯ll never like anyone else as much as I like Neoma- not even our parentse close.¡±

    ***

    ¡°IS GREKO already asleep?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Princess Neoma,¡± Paige said to the royal princess politely. ¡°And I already brought the teleportation scroll that you asked me to make.¡±

    ¡°Very good,¡± Princess Neoma said, then she sat on the sofa across from her. ¡°Paige, do you know why I asked to make a powerful teleportation scroll like that?¡±

    Princess Neoma summoned her in the royal princess¡¯s office.

    It was alreadyte at night, and Princess Neoma¡¯s work hours ended for a while now.

    The fact that the royal princess summoned her to her office at that time, without Lewis Crevan, only meant that Her Royal Highness needed to talk to her. Since Princess Neoma asked her to bring the teleportation scroll that she made, she thought the royal princess needed her advice as a mage and not as her ¡°daughter.¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma, the teleportation spell that you asked me to make is objectively one of the hardest teleportation scrolls to make. Even the Royal Archmage would have a hard time creating one,¡± Paige said carefully. ¡°And because of its difficulty level, I was only able to produce one. But knowing Your Royal Highness, I don¡¯t think you asked me to make the teleportation scroll for yourself.¡±

    The teleportation scroll that she made took her more than a year to make.

    Moreover, it almost drained her entire magic. She had to buy expensive premium Mana stones in order toplete the teleportation scroll. That was how hard it was to make one.

    The royal princess nodded, then she sipped her tea first before she spoke. ¡°Actually, I already consulted Lewis about this before I asked you to make the teleportation scroll. After all, Lewis is themander of our Order.¡±

    She nodded.

    Even though Lewis was the second youngest (physically, at least) among them, no oneined or questioned Princess Neoma for making the fox boy themander.

    [Lewis deserves the position more than anyone else.]

    ¡°I n to tell this to the other kidster. Since you¡¯re the vicemander, I figured I should tell you first,¡± Princess Neoma said. The royal princess was unusually serious at the moment. ¡°Paige, I actually asked you to make that teleportation scroll for Greko.¡±

    To be honest, she wasn¡¯t surprised.

    All of them knew that Princess Neoma had a soft spot for kids, especially for kids like Greko who had gone through a lot of horrible things at such a tender age.

    ¡°If you think it¡¯s unfair that I only asked to make a teleportation scroll for Greko, you may speak now,¡± Princess Neoma encouraged her. ¡°I¡¯m listening.¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma, when you asked me to create a teleportation scroll that will bring the user to your room in the Royal Pce regardless of the location the scroll was used, I already had a feeling that Your Royal Highness won¡¯t use it for yourself,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m not surprised that you n to use the teleportation scroll on Greko. However, I¡¯m worried about what Your Royal Highness is preparing for.¡±

    ¡°As expected, you¡¯re sharp,¡± the royal princes said, smiling. ¡°Well, Nero has already reimed his ce as the Crown Prince. I¡¯m sure the crows won¡¯t have a reason to keep me alive. Moreover, we¡¯ll find ourselves in plenty of dangerous situations soon. And if we did find ourselves in a life and death situation, I¡¯d like at least one of us to survive.¡±

    She frowned. Of course, she understood where Princess Neoma wasing from and she liked Greko to be safe, too. However, it was upsetting to know that despite everything that Her Royal Highness had gone through in her past life, she still had a heart that was willing to sacrifice for her people.

    ¡°Greko is the youngest one among us,¡± Princess Neoma exined carefully. ¡°I can¡¯t let him die young. I know that it¡¯s unfair to everyone of you because all of you are young, too. However, I won¡¯t change my mind. I¡¯m sorry, but just this once, please allow me to be a bad mother who favors her youngest child.¡±

    Princess Neoma didn¡¯t need to say ¡®sorry¡¯ or ¡®please.¡¯

    She was sure that her ¡°siblings¡± would feel the same way as her.

    [Our Princess Neoma is really too kind for her own good.]

    ¡°I understand, Princess Neoma,¡± Paige said gently. ¡°If ever we find ourselves in a life and death situation, we will use the teleportation scroll on Greko and send him to safety. I take it that we must keep it a secret from our youngest?¡±

    The royal princess nodded. ¡°Greko won¡¯t ept it that he¡¯s the only one that we¡¯ll be sending to safety if ever we find ourselves in a gravely dangerous situation, so we must keep it a secret at all costs.¡±

    ¡°That sounds usible, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m d that you feel the same,¡± Princess Neoma said, smiling as if she was relieved. ¡°Thank you, Paige. I hope the other kids take it positively, too.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll do,¡± Paige assured the royal princess. ¡°And I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll agree with me, too, Princess Neoma.¡±

    Princess Neoma looked confused, but Paige didn¡¯t offer an exnation.

    [I¡¯ll make another teleportation scroll for Princess Neoma even if it kills me.]

    ***

    ¡°PRINCESS NEOMA, do you know that my older brother likes men?¡±

    Jeno asked that casually, but he didn¡¯t expect Princess Neoma to smack him in the head all of a sudden.

    After all, the royal princess had never been violent to any of her ¡°children.¡±

    ¡°Jeno Dankworth, are you out of your mind?¡± Princess Neoma asked, grabbing him by the cor. ¡°How dare you out Count Dankworth to me, huh?¡±

    ¡°Uhm, it¡¯s not like that, Princess Neoma,¡± Jeno exined, panicking. Princess Neoma really looked upset at the moment, and he didn¡¯t want the royal princess to hate him. ¡°My brother already told me that you already know why he¡¯s making me his sessor. I wouldn¡¯t have asked that if I knew you weren¡¯t aware of my brother¡¯s orientation yet.¡±

    The royal princess instantly calmed down. ¡°Ah, I see. Sorry,¡± she said, then she let go of his cor. She even brushed off his shoulders with her hands. ¡°However, be careful. You shouldn¡¯t talk about your brother¡¯s secret openly like that. There¡¯s nothing wrong with his orientation. But we should respect the fact that he wants to keep it a secret.¡±

    He nodded.

    Of course, he was being careful about his older brother¡¯s secret.

    That was exactly the reason why he only mentioned that now that he and Princess Neoma were alone in front of Gemma¡¯s grave.

    Gemma was his little sister who passed away early.

    After he became a Dankworth, he buried his little sister¡¯s remains in a beautiful garden within the Dankworth Estate. Of course, he did that with his older brother¡¯s permission.

    ¡°I understand, Princess Neoma,¡± Jeno said politely. ¡°I¡¯ll be more careful in the future.¡±

    ¡°Very well,¡± Princess Neoma said, then she put a long-stemmed white rose on Gemma¡¯s grave. ¡°But why did you ask me about that anyway?¡±

    ¡°My brother is nning to reveal to the vassal families that he likes men.¡±

    The royal princess turned to him with a surprised look on her face. ¡°Really? I mean, I hope he¡¯s doing that because he wants to and not because he¡¯s getting pressured toe out.¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately, it¡¯s thetter.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s making Count Dankworth pressured then?¡±

    ¡°The vassal families that support House Dankworth refuse to acknowledge me as my brother¡¯s sessor since I¡¯m a bastard son,¡± he exined. ¡°They¡¯re pressuring my brother to tell them the real reason why he doesn¡¯t want to get married or have an heir, at least. That¡¯s why my brother is thinking ofing out. He knows that the vassal families would find him disgusting if he says he¡¯s gay. And my brother is hoping that the vassal families will finally acknowledge me as their heir if that happens.¡±

    Princess Neoma let out a frustrated sigh. ¡°I want Count Dankworth toe out because he¡¯sfortable and not for something like that. I know I¡¯m being nosy, but I can¡¯t let that happen. Nero has already reimed his ce as the Crown Prince. But I¡¯m sure that he¡¯ll listen to me if I asked him to help you get acknowledged as the sessor of House Dankworth. Will it be alright if my twin brother and I lend you a hand, Jeno?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d be thankful if you and Prince Nero could help us, Princess Neoma,¡± he said. To be honest, he wasn¡¯tfortable with Prince Nero. But he¡¯d do anything to help his older brother. ¡°Brother Sean has always been nice to me. I want to be of help to him. But I don¡¯t have enough power to do it alone.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Jeno,¡± the royal princess said, grinning. ¡°I¡¯m your mother, so you can rely on me when things get tough. It¡¯s my duty to help my son. Plus, your Uncle Nero is more powerful than me. Let¡¯s take advantage of his love for me while we¡¯re at it.¡±

    It was weird to hear that from a youngdy.

    However, he felt relieved that he had a ¡°mother¡± like Princess Neoma.

    ¡°Uhm, Princess Neoma, does it not bother you?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡±

    ¡°That my brother likes men,¡± he whispered, then he scratched his cheek. ¡°To be honest, I still feel awkward around my brother after he came out to me.¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t bother me,¡± Princess Neoma said bluntly. ¡°But I understand where you¡¯reing from. In this world, at least in the empire, being gay is treated like a disease. To be fair, even in the modern world where I came from, the gays are still a part of the minority. However, I still have hope for both worlds. I know that one day, people will be more open-minded.¡±

    Ah, this.

    He knew that following Princess Neoma was the best decision that he had made in his life.

    [Are you seeing this, Gemma? This amazing person is Princess Neoma- the person I swore to protect with my life.]

    .....

    ¡°Love has no gender,¡± Princess Neoma said, then she turned to him. ¡°It¡¯s alright if you don¡¯t understand your brother now, Jeno. But I hope that you won¡¯t shun him just because of his orientation. Being gay doesn¡¯t make anyone less of a person.¡±

    Jeno smiled and nodded. ¡°I will remember that, Princess Neoma,¡± he said, then he bowed to her. ¡°Thank you.¡±

    ***

    ¡°JURI, I apologize if my question is too personal. But do you n to have children with Jeno after you get married?¡±

    Well, that was indeed a surprising question.

    However, Juri had been with Princess Neoma for a few years now, so she already knew that the royal princess was full of surprises. ¡°Well, Jeno needs an heir, and I don¡¯t mind having a child with him. However, we¡¯re not nning to have children anytime soon.¡±

    Princess Neoma, who was punching a sandbag hanging on the branch of a tree in her secret training ground, stopped with her exercise to turn to her. ¡°Is it because you¡¯re worried about the rule that says female knights are obliged to retire once they get married?¡±

    She nodded. ¡°I was told female knights need to retire because they won¡¯t be able to fulfill their duties once they get pregnant.¡±

    ¡°Bullshit.¡±

    Sheughed, already used to Princess Neoma cursing like a little sailor. ¡°I agree with Your Royal Highness.¡±

    ¡°I will abolish that stupidw once I reim my ce as the royal princess,¡± Princess Neoma dered. ¡°To be honest, I¡¯ve already proposed severalws that would make the lives of female workers everywhere in the empire fair. However, I don¡¯t want to pass that job to Nero. Am I being selfish?¡±

    ¡°Not at all, Princess Neoma,¡± she said firmly. ¡°You¡¯ve already sacrificed a lot when you took Prince Nero¡¯s ce for many years. Almost all your hard work went to the Crown Prince¡¯s credit. It won¡¯t be selfish of you to keep one to yourself.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for saying that, Juri.¡±

    She just smiled and nodded to the royal princess politely.

    ¡°Juri can you wait for a little more?¡± Princess Neoma asked. ¡°I want to do this for the women of the empire as Princess Neoma. This is one thing that I don¡¯t want Nero to take credit for. After all, this is something that I want to do for the women and not for the empire. So, please wait until I get more power as the royal princess.¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t have to ask, Princess Neoma,¡± Juri said, then she bowed to the royal princess. ¡°I¡¯m sure every woman in this empire will patiently wait for the change that Your Royal Highness is about to bring.¡±

    ***

    ¡°UH, YOU don¡¯t have to be here, Princess Neoma,¡± Xion said worriedly. ¡°It¡¯s boring, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Nah, it¡¯s fun,¡± Princess Neoma said, smiling and pping her hands while watching a gang fight from the spot where they were hiding. ¡°It¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve seen a fight like this. But what the hell are the royal knights doing? They should be patrolling the area.¡±

    Right now, they were hiding in an old building in the slums.

    Princess Neoma promised him that she would apany him so he wouldn¡¯t get bored with his current mission. But he didn¡¯t expect her to really be here.

    [Her Royal Highness even escaped from Lewis¡¯ watch.]

    ¡°Xion, you can¡¯t control it, can you?¡±

    He flinched. ¡°When did you find out, Princess Neoma?¡±

    ¡°That you can no longer use the gift that Lord Redgrave gave you?¡± the royal princess asked, then she turned to him. ¡°I noticed that you no longer use your ability to make people forget about you. I thought you had the liberty to choose whether you¡¯d be forgotten or not. However, I noticed that you can no longer use it after Lord Redgrave disappeared.

    ¡°I still have the ability, but I can¡¯t control it even after the Fletcher twins trained me,¡± he confessed, ashamed. ¡°I¡¯m afraid that if I lose control of it, everyone- including Your Royal Highness- will forget about me.¡±

    It was a secret that he was afraid to share with anyone else.

    However, Princess Neoma almost made him feel safe. Hence, it was easy for him to open up to her.

    And he wasn¡¯t wrong with his choice.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid of your ability, Xion,¡± Princess Neoma encouraged her. ¡°I will never forget you- and even if anyone else does, I¡¯ll help them remember who you are.¡±

    Xion smiled, knowing that Princess Neoma really meant those words. ¡°Then I¡¯ll make you keep your promise if ever my feares true, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ***

    ¡°IS THIS all the list from the kids, Greko?¡±

    ¡°Yes, eomma,¡± Greko answered his eomma¡¯s question cheerfully. ¡°The children wrote their favorite animals in those papers, just like what you asked.¡±

    He was talking about the children that Princess Neoma, his eomma, saved from the Death Camp.

    The royal princess had been taking good care of the children ever since then.

    And now, she was even doing voluntary work to help the people in charge of the survivors¡¯ well-being.

    ¡°Then let¡¯s begin making stuffed toys based on each child¡¯s favorite animal,¡± Princess Neoma said while rolling up the sleeves of her blouse. ¡°I hope the children will be happy to have a stuffed toy of their favorite animal. It will help their mental health if they have something that will help them calm down.¡±

    He really didn¡¯t understand the thing about mental health that Princess Neoma would often talk about.

    But he felt happy to see his eomma caring about the children genuinely.

    ¡°Eomma, being with you is healing. My heart feels at ease,¡± Greko said, then he hugged his eomma who justughed and patted his head. ¡°I don¡¯t think anyone deserves to be my father, eomma.¡±

    [Not even Ruston Stroganoff.]

    Princess Neoma justughed it off, but Greko was serious.

    [My eomma is too good for anyone in this world.]

 Chapter 541

    Chapter 541: YOU ARE NEOMAHOLIC ;>

    [Y¡¯ALL, get yourself a man who can cook.]

    ¡°Ruto, did you really lose your memories?¡± Neoma asked suspiciously. ¡°Howe you were able to cook a sumptuous meal for me? All of them are Korean food, too. And delicious. Definitely delicious, especially the bulgogi beef.¡±

    Her Ruto prepared a hearty Korean breakfast for her, and she finished it all.

    She didn¡¯t care if she appeared like a glutton in front of him. As a former mukbanger when she was still in Korea, she knew that she was pretty even when eating, anyway.

    ¡°I saw the recipe book in my room,¡± Ruto exined while putting a slice of tiramisu cake on her te. It was time for dessert now, and he prepared one of her favorite desserts for her. ¡°Fortunately, the ingredients listed in the cookbook are avable in the kitchen. I just followed the instructions listed. I¡¯m d that the dishes I made turned alright.¡±

    ¡°Gosh, is there anything that CANNOT do?¡±

    ¡°Unloving you?¡±

    .....

    She almost choked on her tiramisu cake.

    Admittedly, Ruto¡¯s casual yet sincere indirect confession made her heart flutter. But she didn¡¯t like how it was easy for him to make her feel giddy. It made her feel vulnerable.

    She felt safe with Ruto, but she still wanted to guard her heart more carefully.

    ¡°I thought our rtionship would change drastically after you lost your memories of me,¡± shemented. ¡°However, it seems like losing your memories only made you more flirty.¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡± he asked, then he went back to his seat. ¡°Apparently, I already anticipated that I¡¯d lose my memories of you. Hence, I prepared a solution in advance by asking Sienna¡¯s help in advance.¡±

    ¡°The Sun Priestess?¡± she asked curiously. ¡°What did Lady Sienna do to help you?¡±

    ¡°ording to Sienna, I asked her to bring me to you once I lost my memories.¡±

    She knitted her eyebrows. ¡°And what would bringing you to me aplish?¡±

    ¡°Apparently, seeing you once would be enough for me to fall in love with you at first sight. So, whether I remember you or not, it wouldn¡¯t matter since I¡¯d still be wrapped around your finger,¡± Ruto said in a casual yet genuine tone. ¡°And it was true.¡±

    Again, she almost choked on her tiramisu cake.

    [Flirty Ruto is bad for my heart.]

    She didn¡¯t want to die from a heart attack, so she decided to lighten up the mood by joking.

    ¡°Gosh, you¡¯re such a simp,¡± she teased him, her face was probably as red as gochujang at the moment. After all, she could feel her cheeks flush. ¡°Ruto, are you a ¡®Neomaholic¡¯ or something?¡±

    ¡°¡®Neomaholic?''¡±

    ¡°People addicted to alcohol are called alcoholic, workaholic refers to people addicted to work, so ¡®Neomaholic¡¯ means you¡¯re addicted to me.¡±

    ¡°Hmm,¡± he said, nodding. ¡°Sounds about right.¡±

    Oh, he didn¡¯t deny it.

    [And he admitted it with a straight face.]

    ¡°Gosh, Ruto,¡± sheined while fanning her face with her hands. ¡°I don¡¯t know what to do with you.¡±

    ¡°Love me back?¡±

    She covered her (red) face with her hands. ¡°Stop, juseyo1.¡±

    Ruto let out a heartyugh.

    Oh, it had been a while since she heard himugh like that.

    So, despite her embarrassment, she still moved her fingers so she could take a peek at Ruto¡¯sughing face.

    As expected, her man was handsome.

    [Are you telling me that I won¡¯t see his face for a long time when we just got reunited after three years of no contact at all?]

    God, this world was really trying to drive her insane.

    ¡°Ruto, are you going to stay long in the Upper World?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve ascended to the Upper World, so I can¡¯t tell,¡± Ruto said, turning serious. ¡°However, I promise that I¡¯ll hurry back to you.¡±

    Okay, that made her heart flutter again.

    It was sad that they had to part when they just got reunited. However, she knew that the world would literally copse if both she and Ruto neglected their duties.

    [Damn this world for choosing youngsters like them as its saviors.]

    ¡°I¡¯m not a patient person, so don¡¯t take long,¡± she ¡°threatened¡± him lightly.

    He nodded. ¡°Missing you will also make me go crazy, so I don¡¯t think I¡¯d let myself get stuck in the Upper World longer than I needed to.¡±

    She smiled, satisfied by his answer. ¡°Oh, I have a favor while you¡¯re in the Upper World, Ruto.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°Do you think you can find the current Aether while you¡¯re there?¡±

    ¡°As far as I remember, the Aether is located in the center of the Upper World that¡¯s heavily protected by the gods,¡± he exined. ¡°However, I believe I can sneak in if you want me to do it.¡±

    She nodded. ¡°I need you to ry a message to the Aether for me.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± he said. ¡°What would you like me to tell the current Aether?¡±

    ¡°Tell them to endure,¡± she said seriously. ¡°Tell the current Aether that they can¡¯t die yet.¡±

    Ruto looked at her questioningly.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be brutally honest here, Ruto,¡± she said seriously before she offered an exnation. ¡°I need the current Aether to live as long as they could not just because I¡¯m worried about them. To be honest, I need them to stay alive because once they die, the gods would definitely hunt me down in a heartbeat. Despite my arrogance, I know how to face reality. And the cruel truth is I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll survive if several gods attack me all at once.¡±

    Anger crossed Ruto¡¯s pretty dark purple eyes.

    Of course, she knew that her man¡¯s anger wasn¡¯t directed at her.

    [He looks like he¡¯s ready to murder the gods who would dare to harm me.]

    However...

    ¡°Ruto, I know that you will protect me,¡± she said. ¡°Papa Boss, Mama Boss, Ruto, Lewis, and my other children will not let me die, too. But I¡¯m also aware that once the gods set their eyes on me for real, a war will break out. I want to avoid it as much as possible because I don¡¯t want innocent people to suffer.¡±

    She hated to admit this, but she could see herself volunteering to be the next Aether if it meant saving thousands of innocent lives.

    Hah.

    She was so vain and arrogant when it came to her physical appearance.

    But why couldn¡¯t she love her life the way she loved her face?

    ¡°Thus, I need the current Aether to hold out until I find a way to solve the problem within the Upper World¡¯s polluted air without me bing their new air purifier,¡± she said, then she let out a frustrated sigh. ¡°Gosh, they¡¯re a lot older and more powerful than I am. Why am I the one who should solve the pollution in their world?¡±

    ¡°The gods like to solve their problems the easiest way.¡±

    ¡°And the easiest way is to use me as an air purifier.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the easiest and the most effective way,¡± Ruto said, nodding bitterly. ¡°Moreover, I believe that the Aether¡¯s breath not only cleanses the upper air that they breathe. Apparently, it also makes them stronger. Hence, they refuse to rece the Aether with a less effective method that would solve their problem.¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m about to end their addiction to Aethers.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll help you, Neoma,¡± Ruto promised her sincerely. ¡°I won¡¯t let you be the next Aether.¡±

    ¡°I know that,¡± Neoma said, nodding in agreement with Ruto since she had no ns to be the next Aether. Moreover, she also wanted to make sure that no innocent person would be sacrificed again just to cleanse the pollution in the Upper World. ¡°Ruto, you go to the Upper World and deal with the annoying things up there that could end up causing trouble for us. I¡¯ll take care of the things here then.¡±

    Gosh, this world really needed Neoma and Ruto.

    [Are we a power couple or something?]

    ***

    ¡°REGINA, I¡¯ve finally found you again.¡±

    Hah.

    Regina rolled her eyes, annoyed to see Rubin Drayton as soon as she came out of the Lawless Jungle.

    Since it was a territory that not even the most powerful noble could simply enter, she had to meet the young lord in the little town outside the jungle. And it was so troublesome toe out of their hideout just to see his face.

    ¡°I told you not to find me if it¡¯s not important,¡± Regina said, then she crossed her arms over her chest. ¡°Why did you have to drag Rubin Drayton¡¯s body here? That young lord is as fickle as a flower.¡±

    ¡°Rubin¡± smirked at her. ¡°I¡¯m not the young lord, though?¡±

    Yes, because she was actually talking to Rubin¡¯s ¡°other personality.¡±

    ¡°Gavin,¡± she said sternly. ¡°I¡¯m not ying with you.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t call me by that stupid fake name,¡± ¡®Gavin¡¯ said sternly. ¡°Call me by my real name, Regina Crowell.¡±

    She really didn¡¯t want to.

    .....

    However, the ¡°person¡± inside Rubin Drayton was not someone she could mess with.

    Her entire crow family believed that the stupid Calyx de Moonasterio was the perfect masterpiece because the boy inherited the de Moonasterio¡¯s physical traits. And if Calyx wasn¡¯t acting dumb like he would most of the time, then he could probably be a serious threat.

    But Regina ced her bets on someone else.

    And it was the reason why she needed Rubin Drayton all this time.

    ¡°Come out,¡± Regina said, then she put a hand over Rubin Drayton¡¯s cheek. ¡°Dn Crowell.¡±1

    ***

    NOTE: Hi. I posted some Nero-Neoma phone wallpapers on my k/o-fi ount that you can download and use. You may visit my page: k o-fi /s_c (just remove the space). Or simply G*ogle k o-fi s_c. You may or may not buy me a coffee (donate). Thank you!

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 542

    Chapter 542: TIME FOR DARKNESS TO SHINE

    NEOMA felt anxious now that she was about to embark on a dangerous journey. After all, she was headed to a ce that the blessings of gods didn¡¯t reach. But she wasn¡¯t afraid for her life because she knew that she was strong enough to protect herself from any danger.

    However, totally leaving the empire made her nervous.

    [I mean, technically, I already left the empire since I¡¯m currently on the East Continent. But you get what I¡¯m saying, right?]

    It was as if everything would turn wrong once she left.

    [Is this what mothers feel when they leave their children under the care of other people? But when did the empire be my child? Oh, is it because I¡¯m going to be the empress regnant soon? After all, themon people would often refer to the empress as the ¡®Mother of Empire.¡¯]

    But she had already given Nero, her parents, and even Manu instructions about what they must do while she was away. Hence, she didn¡¯t know why she was still worried.

    [My people arepetent, so I have to trust them.]

    .....

    Gosh.

    Neoma was indeed a ¡°mother¡± through and through.

    ¡°What are you thinking about, Neoma?¡±

    Ruto¡¯s question snapped her out of her trance.

    Right now, the two of them were at the entrance of the Cyran Temple to say goodbye to each other.

    Ruto didn¡¯t have to send her off because her group would use a teleportation spell that Paige created to bring them to the port town. They needed to ride a boat in order to reach the ind where the Lawless Jungle was located.

    ¡°It¡¯s hard being a mother,¡± Neoma said, sighing. ¡°I¡¯m worried since my family is getting bigger and bigger, but I can¡¯t divide my attention equally. I feel like I¡¯m failing as a mother.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re doing a good job, though,¡± Ruto said while handing her the packed lunch box that he prepared for her. ¡°Being a single mother isn¡¯t easy, but I can see that you¡¯re doing your best.¡±

    She waited for Ruto to add something like ¡°I can be the father of your children,¡± but he didn¡¯t.

    Then an image of a certain demon entered her mind.

    Right, Ruto was different from Trevor.

    [Only Trevor will say some bullshit like that.]

    She frowned when she suddenly remembered the demon boy. Well, to be fair, she would think of Trevor from time to time. After all, even though he had betrayed her, she knew that he wasn¡¯t a bad person.

    [Tsk, that fool. Joining the Devil just to ¡°protect¡± me...]

    ¡°And now you¡¯re frowning,¡± Ruto said worriedly. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°Ruto, aren¡¯t you going to volunteer to be the father of my ¡°children?¡±¡± she asked. Well, this time, she wasn¡¯t flirting with him. She was just genuinely curious. ¡°Just asking.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not up to me to decide whether I get to be the ¡°father¡± of your ¡°children¡± or not,¡± Ruto said calmly. ¡°The choice is yours to make, Neoma. Moreover, I don¡¯t need to be the ¡°father¡± of your ¡°children¡± before I lend you my hand. I am here to lessen your burden, whether you choose me to be your partner or not.¡±

    100 points.

    That direct and sincere response from Ruto just gained him one hundred favorability points in her book.

    ¡°Okay, good answer.¡±

    Ruto just looked at her as if he was confused.

    She was about to say something when, all of a sudden, the dark sky suddenly roared.

    [Oh, damn.]

    Ruto let out a sigh. ¡°Why does it have to rain when you¡¯re about to travel by boat?¡±

    ¡°I know, right?¡± Neoma agreed with him. ¡°It feels ominous, especially since we can¡¯t see the moon or the sun when the sky is that dark.¡±

    ***

    ¡°IT PAINS me to betray Prince Nero this way, but I still have a duty to fulfill as a de Luca,¡± Calyx said cheerfully. He was sitting on the chair while petting the White Lion¡¯s head. Kingston, the White Lion, was sleeping at his feet- sleeping after he fed it a potion, since it was the only way for him to tame it. ¡°I helped you escape because you said you have some information that will help me get epted by the public as a royal prince while stepping on Princess Neoma in the process.¡±

    Kyle Sprouse, who was kneeling in front of him, flinched.

    With the help of the crows that Calyx sneaked into the Royal Pce while he was there, they managed to bring Kyle Sprouse out of prison.

    Right now, he was hiding the count in the mansion that Marquis Vincent Lennox prepared for him and his mother. Since he couldn¡¯t send Kyle Sprouse to the crows¡¯ hideout yet, he had no choice but to hide him in his current residence.

    [Hiding someone in in sight works anyway.]

    ¡°Prince Calyx, do you remember the prophecy that Princess Neoma received from Lord Yule himself?¡± Kyle Sprouse asked when he raised his head. It looked like he hesitated at first. However, the hesitation on his face soon disappeared. ¡°The prophecy about the First Star bringing the new saint to Astello Temple.¡±

    He nodded. ¡°Because of that prophecy, Prince Nero received the support of the Astello Temple and the Holy Knights. After all, it¡¯s a secret that Princess Neoma has pretended to be the Crown Prince until recently.¡±

    ¡°But neither of Prince Nero and Princess Neoma are the real First Star,¡± the count said. ¡°Since you are the firstborn son of Emperor Niki, Prince Calyx.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°Hence, I¡¯ll tell you this: Princess Neoma has already found the new saint.¡±

    He stopped petting the White Lion¡¯s head. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma has already found the new saint, but the situation isplicated,¡± Kyle Sprouse said. ¡°Apparently, the women destined to give birth to a saint are supposed to die. But Princess Neoma wants to prevent that. And so, she¡¯s nning to prevent the child from being born a saint. If Princess Neoma¡¯s n seeds, then the child would be born without his divine power.¡±

    ¡°The royal princess will prevent the birth of the saint just to save the mother¡¯s life?¡± he asked in disbelief. ¡°Is she crazy? The saint¡¯s divine power is more important than a random woman¡¯s life.¡±

    ¡°The woman in question is Queen Brigitte Griffiths of the Hazelden Kingdom,¡± the count informed him. ¡°Princess Neoma treasures the queen as a friend. Hence, the royal princess is adamant about saving Queen Brigitte¡¯s life, even if it means sacrificing the power of the new saint.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s uneptable,¡± he said, frowning. ¡°The empire needs a new saint.¡±

    ¡°And that¡¯s exactly the reason why I¡¯m sharing this information with you, Prince Calyx,¡± Kyle Sprouse said seriously. ¡°I believe that the child must be born a saint, regardless of the consequences.¡±

    He raised an eyebrow at the count when he remembered something. ¡°But isn¡¯t Queen Brigitte the wife of Sir Glenn- your childhood friend?¡±

    ¡°The world wouldn¡¯t end if Queen Brigitte dies, but the world might end if the new saint lost his divine power,¡± the count insisted. ¡°I feel sorry for Glenn. However, the world needs the new saint more than they need a receable queen. Since Glenn is still young, I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll find another woman to love and marry in the future.¡±

    Heughed after hearing the count¡¯s reasoning.

    [I can¡¯t believe that he can say those awful things about his friend.]

    Well, what should he expect from the person who betrayed Emperor Niki?

    ¡°As the real First Star of the Great Moonasterion Empire, please let the new saint be born properly,¡± Kyle Sprouse said, bowing his head towards him. ¡°Only you can do that, Prince Calyx.¡±

    ¡°Of course. I won¡¯t disappoint you, Count Sprouse,¡± Calyx said, smiling. Then he snapped his fingers- summoning the crows assigned for his protection. ¡°Bring Queen Brigitte to me- now.¡±

    ***

    ¡°CALYX already found the new saint?¡± Helstor, who was putting his ck gloves on, said. ¡°He¡¯s pretty useful, huh?¡±

    Lucius, the Dark Elf, nodded. ¡°The crows are asking for our assistance, my lord. I was informed that Calyx Dalton wants to abduct Queen Brigitte alive. I believe he wishes the new saint to be born with his divine powers intact, then present the child to the Astello Temple.¡±

    Right now, he was in the inn in the town closest to the Lawless Jungle.

    But since he already had a fill of Darkness from that ce, it was time for him to leave.

    [Moreover, I have somewhere else I need to be at.]

    ¡°That¡¯s an effective way to gain the support of themon people and the Holy Knights,¡± Helstor said, amused. Then he turned to Lucius. ¡°Go and assist them, Lucius.¡±

    The Dark Elf looked like he was hesitating.

    And he knew why.

    ¡°Lucius, I know that you¡¯re worried about Lukas, your twin brother,¡± he told the young Dark Elf. ¡°I promise that I will take care of your brother until he fully recovers.¡±

    Only then did Lucius look relieved. ¡°Thank you, my lord,¡± he said. ¡°But if I leave your side, will you be alright alone? I know that my lord is capable. However, I thought my lord is conserving his energy at the moment.¡±

    ¡°An opportunity that I can¡¯t miss presented itself to me, so I have no choice but to move now,¡± he said, smiling widely. ¡°A little bird informed me that Ruston Stroganoff will ascend to the Upper World soon. I have to sneak in and follow him.¡±

    He, the God of Eternal of Darkness, was banned from entering the Upper World, so he had no choice but to use Ruston Stroganoff to sneak in.

    The Dark Elf tilted his head to one side. ¡°Is it time for my lord to return to the Upper World?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s because I¡¯m getting impatient. The gods are leaving Neoma de Moonasterio alone because the current Aether is still alive,¡± Helstor said, sighing while shaking his head. ¡°So, I have no choice but to kill the current Aether now in order for the gods to hunt down the little arrogant royal princess.¡±

    ***

    BRIGITTE put a protective arm around her baby bump as soon as she felt the presence of other people in her office.

    Then her free hand slowly reached for the gun in her drawer.

    ¡°Your Majesty, we don¡¯t want to hurt you identally, so please don¡¯t move.¡±

    A masked man emerged from the darkness in the corner of her office.

    Although the intruder¡¯s face was covered with a mask, she noticed some of his physical traits that told her that he was an elf- just like his pointed ears. The intruder looked like a Dark Elf, to be precise, judging by the Darkness attribute that she could feel from him.

    And he wasn¡¯t alone.

    She had a feeling that the three ck crows behind the Dark Elf weren¡¯t ordinary birds.

    .....

    ¡°If you don¡¯t want to hurt me, then you¡¯re obviously here to abduct me alive. And you¡¯re asking me not to defend myself?¡± Brigitte snarled at the intruder, then she pulled out the gun from the drawer. Then she stood up and unlocked the gun before she pointed it at the Dark Elf. ¡°Do I look like a pushover to you, huh?¡±

    The Dark Elf let out a sigh. ¡°Don¡¯t say I didn¡¯t warn you, Your Majesty.¡±

    Brigitte pulled the trigger as soon as the Dark Elf moved.

    And then, instead of a bullet, a semi-transparent of Princess Neoma¡¯s image appeared right in front of the intruder, making him stop dashing at her instantly.

    She smirked at the Dark Elf¡¯s reaction.

    Princess Neoma¡¯s ¡°hologram¡± said.

    Brigitte smiled because the ¡°hologram¡± that Princess Neoma asked Paige to create really sounded like her. It was just a recorded device, but she knew in her heart that the royal princess would act exactly that way if she were there.

    Actually, before Princess Neoma left the Hazelden Kingdom, she asked Paige Avery to create a weapon for her.

    Since Brigitte was a gun user, Princess Neoma asked her mage to create a gun for her that would bring out a barrier around its user instead of a bullet. After all, the royal princess already predicted that the enemies would soon find out that she was carrying the new saint in her womb.

    Of course, she and Glenn were also expecting that to happen.

    ¡°Princess Neoma was right.¡±

    She didn¡¯t have to turn to know that it was her husband.

    Glenn, who entered the room through the window, immediately turned to her and looked at her from head to toe as if he was checking if she was hurt or not.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, my king,¡± Brigitte assured her husband. Then she gestured the semi-transparent barrier around her. It appeared after she pulled the trigger earlier and Princess Neoma¡¯s ¡°hologram¡± appeared. ¡°Princess Neoma made this specifically for me.¡±

    Glenn looked relieved, then he smiled while drawing Ebony- his personal sword. ¡°Give me a moment, my queen,¡± he said, then his gaze went past her. ¡°Miss Dahlia?¡±

    Dahlia, who appeared behind her (outside the barrier), nodded at Glenn. ¡°I¡¯ll protect Her Majesty, Sire.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± Glenn said, then he smiled at Brigitte before he turned to the intruder. The king¡¯s smile was gone instantly, his turquoise eyes glowing menacingly. ¡°I¡¯ll make you pay for threatening my wife and my child.¡±

    Brigitte smiled and clenched her fists, then she said the word that Princess Neoma taught her before. ¡°Fighting, my king!¡±

    ***

    ¡°HAH,¡± Manu, who was suspended in the air right above the main pce in Hazelden, smirked when he noticed the Darkness in the form of a cloud of smoke snake around the tall building. ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio was right- the crows and Helstor will surely target Brigitte Griffiths once she leaves.¡±

    He extended his arms, his hands covered by a bluish light.

    In order to purify the darkness, he had to use his divine energy.

    For that reason, Neoma de Moonasterio sent him to the Hazelden Kingdom after scolding him for ¡°sulking.¡±

    ¡°Tsk,¡± Manuined to himself. ¡°That little princess sure is bossy. No wonder Ruston Stroganoff, who outranks her in every aspect, follows her like a puppy who can¡¯t live without his master.¡±

    ***

    NOTE: Hi. I posted some Nero-Neoma phone wallpapers on my k/o-fi ount that you can download and use. You may visit my page: k o-fi /s_c (just remove the space). Or simply G*ogle k o-fi s_c. You may or may not buy me a coffee (donate). Thank you!

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 543

    Chapter 543: THE NEW MOON

    [Before the crows attacked the Hazelden Kingdom...]

    ¡°GOSH, I¡¯M so cute,¡± Neoma couldn¡¯t help but admire herself again while looking at her reflection in the full-length mirror in front of her. ¡°My face is lethal.¡±

    Right now, she was in her cabin on the cruise ship that would take them to the nearest ind to the Lawless Jungle. Since the Lawless Jungle was a Forbidden Zone, they had no choice but go to the ind next to it. They hadn¡¯t finished nning how to get to the Lawless Jungle yet.

    [We¡¯ll cross the bridge when we get there.]

    Literally and figuratively, maybe.

    At the moment, her priority was herself.

    After all, her outfit was really cute! She styled herself today. After all, she was free to dress girly now.

    .....

    She wore a ck corset over a red puff long-sleeve blouse, a ck skater skirt she designed herself, and a pair of knee-lengthced-up boots.

    [I look like the visual member of an elite Kpop girl group.]

    The skirt fell above her knees, though. Hence, she had to wear it after Papa Boss and Mama Boss left. She loved her parents, but sometimes they could be too conservative. Her mother was easy to convince to let her wear whatever she wanted, but her father was the problem.

    [I can¡¯t me Papa Boss, though. He was raised in a very strict environment, after all. However, I appreciate the fact that Papa Boss is doing his best to understand the modern girl in me. I just don¡¯t have the mental capacity to deal with him right now.]

    Anyway...

    She looked pretty even without makeup because her skin was naturally glowing. Moreover, the half-bun hairstyle suited her small face. Her hair also looked cooler because of its natural pink strands.

    [In short, I¡¯m such a beauty.]

    ¡°Princess Neoma, is it just me or...¡± Paige paused for a moment to look at her with full admiration in her eyes. In fact, the mage was looking UP at her literally because Paige was, uhm, a short queen. ¡°Did you get taller again?¡±

    ¡°Nooo!¡± Neoma screamed dramatically, then she covered her ears with her hands. ¡°Please don¡¯t say that, Paige. I don¡¯t want to get taller than I already am!¡±

    The growth spurt of the de Moonasterios was different from normal kids- their physical bodies continued to grow faster than the average.

    She knew that she had grown taller these past few weeks, but she refused to ept reality.

    ¡°But why do you not want to grow taller, Princess Neoma?¡± Paige asked, confused. ¡°It¡¯s inevitable. I have never seen a de Moonasterio shorter than 170cm.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Juri said, nodding. ¡°Even thete Princess Nichole was, like, 180cm?¡±

    That was true.

    ¡°Still, I don¡¯t want to grow taller than I already am,¡± Neoma insisted. ¡°I wanna stay tiny and cute next to Ruto. Our height difference at the moment is very cute.¡±

    Paige and Juri looked at each other, then the two shook their heads while smiling.

    ¡°Eomma, why do you have to specifically look small for Ruto hyung?¡± Greko asked innocently. ¡°I¡¯m sure Ruto hyung¡¯s growth spurt isn¡¯t over yet. If he grows taller than he already is while you remain the same, then your height difference won¡¯t be cute anymore. You¡¯d look like a mushroom next to a pine tree.¡±

    Burn.

    Y¡¯all, Neoma was roasted by her youngest son again.

    Jeno, who was minding his business while sitting on the windowsill and assembling his rifle, stifled hisughter.

    [Only Greko is allowed to roast me like this.]

    ¡°Eomma, you shouldn¡¯t stop your growth spurt for shallow reasons,¡± Greko said, then he smiled brightly at her. ¡°Let¡¯s grow tall together, hmm?¡±

    Neoma smiled awkwardly at her son. ¡°O-Okay. Let¡¯s grow tall together.¡±

    Greko just smiled at her.

    [Gosh, I can¡¯t really win against my youngest son.]

    Hence, she just changed the subject.

    ¡°Everyone, please leave the room for a moment,¡± Neoma said, turning serious this time. ¡°My guest is here.¡±

    ***

    ¡°YOU¡¯RE LATE,¡± Neomained when Manu appeared. Right now, she was sitting on the chair with her arms crossed over her chest. ¡°Lord Manu, I know that I said you must follow us discreetly. But you¡¯re stillte.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not easy to shake off the people stalking me,¡± Manu exined, then he sat on the chair in front of her. ¡°But I followed your instructions. I made them believe that I¡¯m headed back to the empire.¡±

    ¡°Is it the crows, my lord?¡±

    The Moon Priestess nodded. ¡°I believe so.¡±

    Of course, they had already expected that the crows would watch their movements.

    As soon as her Mama Boss and Papa Boss left the empire to visit the East Continent, the crows had already sent their people to keep an eye on her family.

    That was exactly why she asked Manu to go to the East Continent, too.

    [Yep, it was me who ordered Lord Manu to stick to Lady Sienna all this time. Plus, I also asked William and Lord Delwyn to do some stuff for me. Hehe.]

    ¡°Lord Manu, are you still upset by our decision regarding the new saint.¡±

    The Moon Priest just scowled as a response.

    She let out a frustrated sigh. ¡°My lord, please stop sulking.¡±

    Manu¡¯s eyes went wide. ¡°Me? Sulking? Neoma de Moonasterio, my feelings are valid. I have the right to be upset.¡±

    ¡°But that doesn¡¯t give you the right to neglect your duties, my lord,¡± she said sternly. ¡°I know that you¡¯ve been drinking your sorrows away recently. Your drinking buddy is Lady Sienna, right?¡±

    The Moon Priest flinched, and he looked guilty as hell.

    Once again, she let out a frustrated sigh. ¡°Lord Manu, the new saint is still going to be a saint. I swear on my life that I will collect his divine powers, so please have more faith in me.¡±

    Manu looked her straight in the eye. ¡°Fine, I will put more faith in you,¡± he said. ¡°You called me here for a reason, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Kyle Sprouse has escaped, and he knows that Brigitte unnie will give birth to the new saint. I¡¯m sure he already shared that information with the crows,¡± Neoma said in a serious tone. ¡°So, Lord Manu, I want you to secretly head to the Hazelden Kingdom to protect Brigitte unnie and the baby saint from the enemies.¡±

    ***

    ¡°THAT¡¯S right, Sire Glenn,¡± Nero, who was talking to the King of Hazelden through the pocket watch, said. ¡°Kyle Sprouse has escaped. I¡¯m certain that he will share the information regarding the new saint with the crows. Hence, I want you to be extra careful. The crows may attack you and the queen at any moment.¡±

    Sire Glenn, who looked very serious at the moment, said.

    ¡°That¡¯s good to know,¡± he said. ¡°Then I wish you seed. Let me know if you need help. I will send the Fletcher Twins.¡±

    Sir Glenn said, then he smiled at her.

    As expected of his lovely twin sister.

    ¡°I see,¡± he said. ¡°May the Moon favor you and the Hazelden Kingdom, Sire.¡±

    After that, he said his goodbye to the king of the Hazelden Kingdom and ended the call.

    He was busy at the moment, so he didn¡¯t have much time to talk. Moreover...

    ¡°Prince Nero,¡± Geoffrey Kinsley, who just entered his office, said. ¡°His Majesty and Lady Roseheart are about to arrive.¡±

    ¡°Great,¡± he said, then he stood up. ¡°I¡¯ll meet my parents then.¡±

    Of course, Lewis followed him when he left his office.

    They headed to the portal room where her Mother and Father would arrive. It was the portal room connected to the Cyran Temple. Since it was a sacred ce for the Royal Family, Lewis and Geoffrey Kinsley had to wait and guard outside.

    Only Nero stepped inside the portal room.

    Fortunately, his parents were already there when he arrived.

    ¡°Mother, Father,¡± Nero greeted his parents while approaching them. ¡°Wee back.¡±

    His mother smiled and hugged him. ¡°I¡¯ve missed you, Nero.¡±

    He still felt awkward receiving affection from his mother, so he just lightly patted his mother¡¯s back. Then he pulled away from her hug to face his father. ¡°Father-¡±

    Nero was about to report to his father about his conversation with Sire Glenn earlier.

    But Emperor Niki suddenly coughed up blood while stepping away from him, as if his father was recoiling away from him in fear.

    [Uh, what did I do?]

    ***

    NIKOLAI was dying.

    That was the first thing that entered his mind when he saw Nero. He was used to his children absorbing his Moonglow LITTLE BY LITTLE.

    However, as soon as he stepped into the same room as Nero, his son absorbed his Moonglow unconsciously like there was no tomorrow. He could tell that his son didn¡¯t know that he was literally killing him by doing that.

    Nero turned to him. ¡°Father-¡±

    Niki wasn¡¯t able to hear what Nero was about to say because he suddenly coughed up a huge chunk of blood.

    .....

    Mona, who was standing beside him, panicked immediately. ¡°Niki!¡±

    Argh.

    Niki unconsciously stepped back, avoiding Nero unconsciously when the bitter realization finally hit him in the gut.

    [Nero is going to be the next emperor... and it¡¯s happening sooner than I think.]

    ***

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 Chapter 544

    Chapter 544: NO MISSION IS WORTH DYING FOR

    ¡°PRINCESS NEOMA, we lost contact with Xion.¡±

    Neoma, who was standing on the deck while staring at the dark sea in front of her, clenched her hands tight after hearing Paige¡¯s report. ¡°Did Xion send a message before he totally went out of the radar?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Royal Highness,¡± Paige said solemnly. ¡°¡®Don¡¯t follow me.¡¯ That was Xion¡¯sst message.¡±

    ¡®Don¡¯t follow me.¡¯

    If that was Xion Redgrave¡¯s final message, then it could only mean that he was in a very dangerous situation.

    [As if we won¡¯t follow you just because you said so, my foolish son.]

    She turned to Paige. ¡°Where was hisst location pointed at?¡±

    .....

    ¡°I believe Xion is still in the Lawless Jungle, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Then we¡¯ll proceed with our n- we¡¯re still headed to the Lawless Jungle,¡± she said, then her gaze went past Paige. Juri, Jeno, and Greko were behind the mage while waiting for her instructions. ¡°Get ready. Our top priority is to find and save Xion.¡±

    Paige, Juri, Jeno, and Greko bowed their head towards her. ¡°As you wish, Princess Neoma.¡±

    Her original goal for going to the Lawless Jungle was to get revenge against Rubin, and find the reason why Kingston (the White Lion) fell into Calyx Dalton¡¯s filthy hands.

    However, Xion¡¯s disappearance changed everything.

    ¡°No mission is worth dying for,¡± Neoma repeated, her eyes glowing red by now. ¡°But the lives of my people are always worth fighting for.¡±

    ***

    ¡®THE MAD Dog.¡¯

    When Brigitte heard that people called Glenn the ¡®mad dog¡¯ on the battlefield, she thought it was only a joke.

    After all, Glenn looked like a puppy to her. He was kind, warm, and sweet.

    But, right now, she finally understood why Glenn was called ¡®Mad Dog.¡¯

    The limbs of the enemies who attacked them were flying everywhere as Glenn cut them with his sword one by one.

    Thank goodness she was inside the barrier that Princess Neoma made for her. If not, then blood would have been sshed on her already- just like how Glenn was already covered by the intruders¡¯ blood.

    But the amazing thing about Glenn¡¯s sword- Ebony- was its ability to turn the limbs that it cut into rocks. Hence, once the limbs fell to the ground, they no longer looked like human parts- they already looked like mere rocks.

    [Right, my husband has the power to manipte the earth.]

    Her thoughts were interrupted when a pair of ck hands suddenly mmed against the barrier- right in front of her.

    She was startled, hugging her baby bump while stepping away from the attacker.

    Of course, she had faith in Princess Neoma¡¯s barrier. But her body moved on its own to protect her baby. Fortunately, she soon confirmed that the royal princess¡¯ barrier was really something that she could depend on.

    After all, the hands that mmed against the barrier earlier suddenly sizzled as if they were getting burned.

    Soon, the body that owened the ck hands appeared.

    The Dark Elf that led the crows earlier screamed in agony while trying to remove his hands from the barrier, but to no avail. Hence, this time, the Dark Elf¡¯s entire body smoked as if he was being barbecued.

    [He got away from Glenn, but he can¡¯t win against Princess Neoma¡¯s barrier.]

    ¡°Princess Neoma¡¯s barrier is made from her Moonglow and her purification ability as a Roseheart,¡± Dahlia, who was holding what seemed like a fishing glowing in a bluish light, said- obviously mocking the Dark Elf. ¡°A Darkness attribute user filled with malice can¡¯t possibly touch our royal princess¡¯ barrier.¡±

    After saying that, Dahlia threw the fishing at the Dark Elf.

    It seemed like the fishing had a life of its own because as soon as it touched the Dark Elf, it wrapped itself around the enemy and squeezed him tight.

    Brigitte was about to let out a sigh of relief when, suddenly, the Moon Priest appeared.

    Lord Manu¡¯s pale face didn¡¯t look good.

    ¡°ck Witch, give that Dark Elf to me!¡± Lord Manu yelled in a hurry. ¡°Now!¡±

    Brigitte let out a painful groan when her stomach suddenly hurt.

    Then, the next thing she heard was the Dark Elf¡¯s frenziedugh before the explosion.

    ***

    ¡°NIKOLAI, are you sure we don¡¯t need to summon Marcus?¡±

    Niki shook his head in a response to Mona¡¯s question. ¡°I¡¯m fine, Mona,¡± he assured her. ¡°I just need some rest.¡±

    After they returned to his pce, Mona insisted that he should rest first.

    Hence, instead meeting the representatives of the Twelve Golden Families, here he was- lying down on the bed.

    Of course, Mona still looked worried. ¡°Nero is waiting outside. Should I call him in now?¡±

    He nodded. ¡°Your son and I need to talk, Mona.¡±

    To be honest, he didn¡¯t want to exclude Mona from his conversation with their son.

    However, he knew that there were things that Nero couldn¡¯t say in front of his mother. Hence, even though he didn¡¯t want to, he had no choice but to ask Mona to give him and his son some privacy.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± he said, his heart heavy with guilt.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be,¡± Mona said while shaking her head. ¡°I know that there are things that you and Nero have to talk about as the emperor and the sessor to the throne.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for understanding, Mona,¡± he said, then he put a hand over her hand. ¡°And please don¡¯t tell Neoma about what happened. She already has too much on her te. I don¡¯t want her to worry about me on top of all of that.¡±

    Neoma and Nero were only thirteen years old.

    He didn¡¯t care if their children were adults inside. The fact that they were already young and yet the entire world was on their shoulders didn¡¯t sit well with him. Of course, it was aware that it was only normal for royal children to have such burdens.

    However, just because it was normal didn¡¯t mean it was right.

    [And I¡¯m sure Mona feels the same way.]

    ¡°I won¡¯t tell Neoma,¡± Mona said, frowning. ¡°But I hope you talk to our Baby Muffin about it soon. After all, she deserves to know her father¡¯s physical condition.¡±

    ¡°I am not dying yet, Mona,¡± he assured her. ¡°I still have at least five years left.¡±

    His own father lived six more years after the previous emperor coughed up blood from him stealing his Moonglow.

    Hence, he calcted that he still had five more years left.

    However, Mona didn¡¯t look too happy about what he said.

    ¡°Does it make your condition better, huh?¡± Mona asked in a hurt tone. ¡°We¡¯ve been apart for thirteen years, Niki. Five years aren¡¯t enough to make up for the lost time.¡±

    He knew that.

    But all emperors in history had to die for their sessors to ascend the throne. Even the emperors who abdicated the throne to their sessors in peace still ended up dying.

    However...

    ¡°I¡¯m just telling you my current condition because I didn¡¯t want to keep it a secret from you,¡± he said. ¡°But it doesn¡¯t mean I have given up. I intend to live a long life with you, Mona. Moreover, I won¡¯t die and leave the insects around our daughter alone.¡±

    Finally, Mona smiled again.

    [She might think that I was joking. But it was true that one of my motivations to live is to get rid of Neoma¡¯s annoying suitors.]

    ¡°I¡¯m d that you have a lot of will to live,¡± Mona said, then she hugged him. ¡°I won¡¯t let you die, Niki.¡±

    ¡°I know,¡± Niki said, hugging Mona back. ¡°I don¡¯t want to die too- not when we¡¯re finally together again.¡±

    ***

    ¡°FATHER, am I killing you?¡±

    Nero could see that Emperor Niki, his father, already looked better than he did earlier. However, he still had to ask because he had an idea as to why his father coughed up blood as soon as he saw him.

    ¡°It¡¯s because of my Moonglow, isn¡¯t it?¡± Nero, who was standing in front of his father¡¯s bed, asked again. ¡°I¡¯m stealing yours.¡±

    ¡°The fact that you¡¯re stealing my Moonglow is correct,¡± his father, who was sitting on the bed while leaning against the headboard, confirmed. ¡°However, don¡¯t me yourself for it. After all, it¡¯s only natural for the sessor to steal the Moonglow of his predecessor.¡±

    ¡°Does it confirm that I get to be the emperor before Neoma?¡±

    ¡°Neoma is also stealing my Moonglow unconsciously, so I can¡¯t tell for sure,¡± his father said. ¡°However, right now, you¡¯re the one who¡¯s stealing my Moonglow the most. We can say that you¡¯re the closest to the throne, though.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± he said, nodding. ¡°Then, Father, do you resent me?¡±

    It was funny that his son asked him the question that he asked his father in the past.

    To be honest, he knew that this day woulde. However, in the past, he thought he would resent his sessor not for stealing his Moonglow but for killing Mona. But, right now, none of that mattered anymore.

    After all, he had already learned to love his children sincerely.

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t resent you,¡± Niki said softly. ¡°I won¡¯t resent you and Neoma for stealing my Moonglow. Moreover, I refuse to die because of that.¡±

    .....

    Because he knew that Nero and Neoma would still me themselves if he died after all of his Moonglow was drained.

    That was one of his biggest reasons to live.

    ¡°I¡¯m d that you have that resolve, Father,¡± Nero said. ¡°I won¡¯t let you die because Neoma will be sad if- argh!¡±

    ¡°Nero,¡± he said worriedly when his son suddenly clutched his head. He stood up immediately and walked towards Nero. ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡±

    His son raised his head, his eyes now glowing red.

    [He¡¯s anxious...]

    ¡°Neoma¡¯s presence disappeared,¡± Nero said indifferently. ¡°Our connection has been cut off, Father.¡±

    ¡°Ah,¡± Niki said, sighing. ¡°Neoma must have already entered the Lawless Jungle.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 545

    Chapter 545: LEOFLOR ISLAND

    LEOFLOR ISLAND.

    That was the formal name of the ¡®Lawless Jungle¡¯- the jungle on the isted ind that stood exactly between where the different colors of water of the Unholy Sea met.

    The locals named it as such because the sea had different colors.

    From where she stood, the seawater on the left side of the ind had a murky color, while the seawater on the right side was clear. The locals believed that the murky side was the territory of the demons, while the clear side of the seawater was the side protected by the Sun Goddess.

    Of course, Neoma could exin that the ocean color depended on how light interacted with the materials in the water. But who was she to act like a know-it-all in a foreignnd? Moreover, gods and goddesses literally existed in this world.

    Hence, the locals¡¯ beliefs might be true.

    [Not everything has to be exined by science.]

    .....

    Especially not when the blood of the Moon God, an existence that science can neither affirm nor deny, flowed in her veins.

    Her thoughts were interrupted when the boat- simr to a modern yacht- that she bought at the port town earlier finally docked at the Leoflor Ind. While standing on the deck of the yacht, she looked up and flinched a little.

    [It¡¯s worse than expected.]

    There was a gigantic piece of ck cloud suspended right above the jungle in the middle of the ind. Of course, that wasn¡¯t ¡°cloud.¡±

    [That thing is pure Darkness.]

    ¡°Paige,¡± Neoma said, calling her daughter. ¡°Did you finish the things that we made together?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Princess Neoma,¡± Paige, who was standing on her right side, said politely. ¡°Should I bring them out now?¡±

    ¡°Later,¡± she said, then she jumped off the yacht. ¡°Everyone, stay there until I say so.¡±

    As soon as her feetnded on the sand, she felt her body be so heavy that she almost stumbled.

    ¡°Princess Neoma!¡±

    Of course, all her children cried her name immediately.

    ¡°Stop,¡± she said, raising her hand. Even without looking back, she knew that her children were about to jump off the yacht in order to help her. However, she didn¡¯t need help since her body was starting to get light again. ¡°I¡¯m fine, so don¡¯te near me.¡±

    She wasn¡¯t lying- she was really fine.

    Her body felt light, though.

    [So light that it¡¯s actually worrying now.]

    Soon, she realized why her body suddenly felt light. The moment she saw the bluish balls of light leave her body, she finally figured out what was happening to her.

    Her Moonglow, the source of her divine power, was escaping her body.

    She was losing the holy blessing that she had received since birth.

    And as a result...

    She heard a collective gasp from behind her.

    Ah, her children must have been shocked when her hair changed color. Yep, her hair that was originally white because it signified the purity of her divine power changed after her Moonglow disappeared.

    Now, her hair had turned FULL PINK.

    ¡°You¡¯re pretty even if your hair turned pink, my Moon Princess.¡±

    The voice was deeper and huskier than she remembered, but she was certain the voice that came from behind belonged to Trevor.

    [He¡¯s the only one who calls me ¡®Moon Princess,¡¯ after all.]

    ¡°Skewer,¡± Neoma said, opening her right hand. ¡°Come out.¡±

    She grabbed Skewer, the Death Scythe that she ¡°dyed¡± hot pink, as soon as it materialized in the air. Then she turned around and swung her weapon. However, she immediately stopped herself from attacking the demon boy.

    [Oh, wow. Trevor is so hot.]

    If she remembered it correctly, when Trevor changed into his child form years ago, he chose to have the physical body of a boy the same age as her.

    Since she was thirteen years old now, the demon boy was the same.

    However, he was two inches taller than her.

    [And his hair is long...]

    Trevor even tied his hair into a half-ponytail, and it looked so damned good on him. It should be illegal for a ¡°young¡± boy like him to be that handsome already!

    [I can¡¯t imagine how handsome he¡¯d be in the next few years...]

    ¡°Ah, I¡¯m d,¡± Trevor said, smirkingzily at her. His face was pale, and he looked like he¡¯d faint anytime. Moreover, he was out of breath as if he had just finished running a marathon. And yet, his dark eyes were sparkling with joy. ¡°I¡¯m d that Princess Neoma still likes my face. Thank goodness I was born handsome.¡±

    Well, she couldn¡¯t deny that.

    [I really like Trevor¡¯s face.]

    But that wasn¡¯t the reason why she stopped attacking Trevor earlier. She may be vain, but she wasn¡¯t THAT shallow.

    [Right?]

    ¡°What happened to you?¡± she asked, knitting her eyebrows. ¡°Why are you so out of breath?¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m not you,¡± Trevor asked. Then, in just the blink of an eye, he was already standing in front of her- his cold hands cupping her small (and beautiful) face. After that, the demon boy had the audacity to close his eyes and lean down, as if he was going to kiss her. ¡°Princess Neoma, I need you to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on me...¡±

    ¡°Wow,¡± Neoma said in disbelief, looking at Trevor coldly. ¡°Tteokbokki, burn this pervert.¡±

    And that was how Trevor got barbecued for real.

    [Demon barbecue, anyone?]

    ***

    NERO clicked his tongue as soon as Lewis entered his office.

    He summoned the fox boy because he had a very important mission for him. However, his heart was protesting. If it weren¡¯t an emergency, he wouldn¡¯t be forced to send Lewis to that ce.

    Again, he clicked his tongue.

    Lewis, who was standing in front of his desk with his hands behind his back, also clicked his tongue in a response to him. ¡°If you¡¯re just going to click your tongue at me, then should I just leave? I¡¯d rather stare at the wall than deal with your tantrum.¡±

    Nero red at the fox boy. ¡°You deal with Neoma¡¯s tantrum just fine, though?¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma is adorable- you¡¯re not.¡±

    Well, the fox boy was right, so he couldn¡¯t reallyin.

    [After all, Neoma is cute whatever she does. Even if she burns the entire world to ashes, I¡¯d still find her lovely.]

    Imagining his twin sister¡¯s beautiful face put his heart at ease.

    ¡°Here,¡± Nero said calmly, cing a clear vial filled with some glowing blue liquid on the desk. Then he pushed it towards Lewis. ¡°Deliver that to Neoma.¡±

    Lewis beamed instantly. ¡°Then does it mean-¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sending you to the East Continent to regroup with your team members,¡± he said, cutting off the fox boy. ¡°You must deliver that vial to Neoma as fast as you can.¡±

    The excitement in the fox boy¡¯s face suddenly turned into worry. ¡°That¡¯s your Moonglow, right?¡±

    ¡°Correct,¡± he said grimly, sighing. ¡°Neoma has entered an ind that nullifies any kind of divine power or energy. It is and that doesn¡¯t reach the blessings of the gods. Hence, I¡¯m pretty sure that my twin sister can¡¯t use her Moonglow right now.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, though,¡± the fox boy said. ¡°Princess Neoma can use her Roseheart Blood. Moreover, she also has Darkness attribute.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re being na?ve,¡± he said, shaking his head. ¡°Neoma is Neoma because she has the Moonglow, the Roseheart Blood, and the mysterious Darkness attribute in her body. She can¡¯t afford to lose any of those three when she¡¯s in a ce where she needs to use her purification ability. If it wasn¡¯t the case, I wouldn¡¯t send you to where Neoma is. After all, I love picking on you by tantly separating you from my twin sister.¡±

    Lewis red at him. ¡°Petty.¡±

    He just smirked at the fox boy¡¯s rude remark. ¡°Anyway, you must leave now before I change my mind.¡±

    ¡°How do I get to where Princess Neoma is?¡±

    ¡°Ah, right,¡± he said, then he clicked his tongue again because there was one more person that he summoned to the pce. ¡°You¡¯ll be leaving with Duke Jasper Hawthorne.¡±

    He had no choice but to summon the young duke.

    After all, Jasper Hawthorne knew all the illegal portals that could bring him and Lewis to the East Continent in the fastest way.

    It wasn¡¯t like he could ask the Cyran Temple to open its portal for Lewis. Hence, he had no choice but to rely on Jasper Hawthorne. It didn¡¯t matter if the young duke would need to use illegal portals.

    As long as Lewis and Jasper Hawthorne delivered the vial to Neoma, he¡¯d take responsibility.

    [If I could go to Neoma right now, I would.]

    However, he had to clean up the mess in the pce first.

    Lewis clicked his tongue. ¡°I don¡¯t like Jasper Hawthorne.¡±

    .....

    ¡°Neither do I,¡± Nero agreed with the fox boy bitterly. ¡°I hate the fact that Neoma calls the young duke ¡®oppa.''¡±

    ***

    ¡°NO,¡± Dahlia whispered to herself while inspecting Queen Brigitte¡¯s condition. The queen suddenly fainted. And when Her Majesty lost consciousness, the barrier gave way to her as if it understood the situation. Hence, she was able to enter it and check on the queen. She didn¡¯t have the time to marvel at the flexibility of Princess Neoma¡¯s barrier, though. ¡°Your Majesty, hang in there.¡±

    Queen Brigitte, who was so pale, just let out a deep sigh, her eyebrows knitted as if she was still in pain even though she was already unconscious.

    [This is bad.]

    But there was a bigger problem than the queen fainting.

    ¡°You can¡¯te out yet,¡± Dahlia said, then she put her hand over Queen Brigitte¡¯s baby bump. She could feel the fetus inside kicking the queen¡¯s stomach. ¡°It¡¯s not yet time, Your Holiness.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 546

    Chapter 546: BREATHE IN, BREATHE OUT

    [OF COURSE, he¡¯s still alive.]

    Neoma poked Trevor¡¯s cheek with the end staff of Skewer¡¯s handle as gently as she could.

    The demon boy was on the ground, smoke emitting from his entire body after she used Tteokbokki¡¯s me to burn him.

    [He¡¯s like meat served in a sizzling te.]

    ¡°Stop being dramatic, Trevor,¡± Neoma said, then she squatted down to get a closer look at the demon boy. ¡°I know your skin can resist that level of heat since I only asked Tteokbokki to burn you a little.¡±

    Trevor grinned, but he was still out of breath. ¡°Princess Neoma... you¡¯re really amazing... for you to breathe in Darkness as if it¡¯s nothing...¡±

    Ah, as expected.

    .....

    The air in the ind was really different.

    That was exactly the reason why she asked her children to stay in the yacht in the meantime. She knew that there was a thinyer of barrier around the ind. She didn¡¯t know what would happen once they went through the barrier, so she went inside first.

    She lost her divine power, but she didn¡¯t notice that the air was mixed with Darkness. After all, it never affected her.

    But now she knew.

    [I see. The air in the ind is dangerous for humans. That¡¯s very fitting for a ce deemed as a Forbidden Zone. No wonder there are no guards at the entrance- there isn¡¯t a need to ce them since the air would kill intruders.]

    She smiled because everything fell under her expectations.

    [So, I was right. Since I was told that the ind is engulfed by Darkness, I knew instantly that the air here might be polluted.]

    Hence, she worked with Paige in order to create a device that would protect them from it.

    ¡°Paige,¡± Neoma called her daughter, then she looked up to see her children on the yacht¡¯s deck while obviously waiting for her order. ¡°Distribute the oxygen masks that we made to your siblings. Wear them before youe here.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Royal Highness.¡±

    She just nodded after hearing her children¡¯s response, then she turned to Trevor again. ¡°How long have you been here, Trevor? Are you alone?¡±

    ¡°So cruel,¡± Trevorined lightly. ¡°I¡¯m out of breath... and you¡¯re interrogating me...¡±

    ¡°Do I have to be merciful on a traitor like you?¡±

    ¡°Ouch,¡± the demon boyined again, grinning. Gosh, look at him. He was on the verge of death and yet, she was still acting cheeky. ¡°Well, you have to help me.¡±

    She raised an eyebrow at him. ¡°Why does it sound like a threat?¡±

    ¡°Maybe because it is?¡±

    She smirked at him. ¡°Do you think you¡¯re in the position to threaten me-¡±

    ¡°Xion Redgrave, is it?¡±

    She grabbed Trevor by the cor and lifted him up a bit. ¡°What did you do to my son?¡±

    ¡°Oh, is he another son of OURS?¡± Trevor asked,ughing weakly. ¡°Princess Neoma, I am not alone. Mypanion is taking care of OUR son at the moment. But thatpanion of mine is a little nasty. I don¡¯t know what he¡¯ll do if I don¡¯te back alive.¡±

    So, it was a threat.

    ¡°You won¡¯t die even without my help,¡± she said, scoffing. ¡°You¡¯re talking fine now and you¡¯re breathing normally again.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s because you¡¯re speaking close to my face, my Moon Princess,¡± he said. And although he was smiling, she could tell that he was being serious. ¡°You¡¯re literally breathing life into me every time your breath hits my face.¡±

    Gosh.

    As expected, even her breath was priceless.

    [I¡¯m so special from head to toe.]

    ¡°I understand what you¡¯re saying, but it sounds creepying from you,¡± sheined, then she let go of him- causing him to fall back to the ground. ¡°If you¡¯re already fine, then tell me where Xion is.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a small vige near the entrance of the so-called Lawless Jungle,¡± the demon boy said, putting his hands over his stomach. ¡°There¡¯s only one inn there, so you¡¯ll find it easily. Mypanion is there with OUR son.¡±

    This damned demon boy wouldn¡¯t stop emphasizing ¡°our son¡± when talking about Xion, huh?

    [I should have burned him even more.]

    ¡°Princess Neoma, here¡¯s your oxygen mask.¡±

    She raised her head to see that her children had safely stepped into the ind, thanks to the oxygen mask that she created with Paige.

    It was a transparent mask connected to a transparent small tank worn like a backpack.

    Each small thank had a single-stemmed pink rose inside. The pink rose was the one providing clean air inside the tank. Of course, that pink rose wasn¡¯t an ordinary flower.

    It was a secret technique that she learned from William for the past three years.

    [William still hates me, but he¡¯s a proper mentor. He taught me how to use my ¡°Aether skills¡± the right way.]

    ¡°I don¡¯t need an oxygen mask,¡± she said, but she epted the oxygen mask that Paige handed to her. Although instead of putting it over her face, she put it over Trevor¡¯s nose and mouth. ¡°This dude needs it more than I do.¡±

    [I¡¯m d we made extra masks.]

    And even if they ran out of it, Paige could easily make one.

    ¡°Thank you, Princess Neoma,¡± Trevor said weakly, but he still had the strength to give her a full-blown smile. ¡°As expected, you still love me even after I betrayed you-¡±

    ¡°Shut the fuck up,¡± Neoma said, cutting Trevor off before she stood up and stretched her arms. ¡°Jeno, carry that dude over your shoulder like a sack of potatoes- we¡¯re entering the town proper now.¡±

    ***

    [THIS IS really bad.]

    Dahlia had to attend to Queen Brigitte properly, but Sire Glenn was still fighting the Dark Elf.

    Even after the Dark Elf had almost gotten burned by Princess Neoma¡¯s barrier, it still had the strength to fight. Worse, it looked like the Dark Elf was on par with the king¡¯s strength. She had faith that Sire Glenn would win the fight, but they were running out of time.

    [Queen Brigitte needs immediate medical attention in a proper facility!]

    Hence, she had no choice but to use her power to stop the fight and drive the Dark Elf away.

    ¡°Lapiz,¡± Dahlia said, summoning his Elemental Guardian. ¡°Come out and bring a tsunami with you!¡±

    [I¡¯d like to apologize in advance for breaking the pce, Queen Brigitte and Sire Glenn.]

    ***

    ¡°PRINCE NERO~¡±

    Nero wanted to cover his ears with his hands after hearing Calyx Dalton¡¯s call.

    But since they were at the academy, he refrained from acting like he wanted to kill the crazy bastard (even though he wanted to).

    Instead, he weed Calyx Dalton with a bright smile.

    He would me it on Neoma until the day he died. After all, it was his cute twin sister who created a friendly persona for a Crown Prince. Hence, at least when he was in public, he had to act like an amiable person.

    ¡°Good morning, Lord Calyx,¡± Nero said, smiling. ¡°Did you sleep well?¡±

    ¡°Wow, Your Royal Highness is scaring me,¡± Calyx Dalton whispered when he walked beside him. Of course, this time, the crazy bastard was talking in a low voice that only he would hear. However, he was smiling as if he was showing their schoolmates that they were close. ¡°Why isn¡¯t Lady Hanna with you?¡±

    ¡°Hanna is in charge of the school garden after she joined the Gardening Club,¡± he exined. ¡°Hence, she¡¯s required toe to school earlier.¡±

    There was no point in going to school early with Hanna.

    ¡°That¡¯s good news for me,¡± Calyx said cheerfully. ¡°I¡¯ll go to school with you starting next week, Prince Nero.¡± He tilted his head to one side while grinning at him. ¡°After all, my mother and I will be officially moving to the Royal Pce this weekend.¡±

    Yes, the dreaded move would happen this weekend.

    ¡°Do what you want,¡± Nero said, ¡°smiling¡± back at the crazy bastard. ¡°Even if you dropped dead in front of me, I don¡¯t care.¡±

    ***

    ¡°PRINCESS NEOMA is really here?¡± Regina asked, then sheughed. ¡°Is she obsessed with Rubin or something?¡±

    Right now, she was busy working in the Lawless Jungle.

    It was already annoying enough that Rubin Drayton had found her (and brought Dn Crowell with him too), but now she had to deal with Neoma de Moonasterio. Just recently, they almost caught one of the people that the royal princess sent to follow Rubin Drayton.

    [And now, Princess Neoma herself has arrived here.]

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Dn, who was currently back in Rubin Drayton¡¯s body, said. ¡°But judging by their recent interaction, it seems like Princess Neoma and Rubin Drayton hate each other to the core. I don¡¯t understand their rtionship, though.¡±

    She didn¡¯t understand, too.

    As far as she knew, Princess Neoma was almost sold off to House Drayton.

    But other than that, the two had never met properly.

    [And I feel like Princess Neoma has some personal grudge against me, too.]

    .....

    Was it only because she found out that I almost killed Hanna Quinzel in the past, or there was something else that she didn¡¯t know about?

    ¡°I was asleep most of the time since Rubin Drayton had learned how to control his emotions recently, so I don¡¯t know if I missed something since Princess Neoma looks like she wants this boy dead,¡± Dn said while cracking his knuckles. ¡°How should I deal with the royal princess?¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t kill Her Royal Highness since Lord Helston needs her alive,¡± Regina said, then she tilted her head to one side. ¡°But let¡¯s y with her emotions.¡±

    [After all, I¡¯m curious as to why Princess Neoma has a deep hatred for Rubin Drayton.]

    ***

    NOTE: Hi! Sorry for the inconsistent update. My mother is sick again, but she¡¯s getting better. I hope to update more in the following days. Sorry and thank you for waiting. :¡¯

 Chapter 547

    Chapter 547: QUEEN OF CUSSING

    A TSUNAMI.

    That was thest thing Glenn remembered.

    A tsunami suddenly appeared in the middle of the office while he was busy fighting the Dark Elf. But before the tsunami hit him, a blue whale swallowed him.

    Honestly, he thought he already died.

    [What a shameful death.]

    He was willing to fight whatever it was that he needed to fight in the afterlife in order toe back to life as soon as he opened his eyes.

    But, much to his shock and confusion, he woke up in the infirmary.

    .....

    To be precise, it was the infirmary that they built next to Brigitte¡¯s bedroom. Since his wife¡¯s pregnancy was sensitive, he decided to bring the infirmary close to her. Rosel, the queen¡¯s royal physician, stayed in the infirmary with Dahlia.

    [What am I doing here?]

    ¡°Ah, you¡¯re awake.¡±

    Glenn blinked in confusion when Manu, the Moon Priest, suddenly appeared in front of his bed. ¡°Your Eminence...¡±

    ¡°Dahlia released her Elemental Guardian, hence the tsunami that destroyed the main pce,¡± Manu, with his arms crossed over his chest, exined. ¡°Lapiz, the blue whale, swallowed you in order to protect you. You were knocked out, though.¡±

    He flinched because it was true, and he was embarrassed that he was knocked out in the middle of an important fight.

    ¡°How about my wife and Miss Dahlia?¡± Glenn asked worriedly. ¡°Are they both fine?¡±

    ¡°Dahlia is fine. She brought you and your wife here with the help of her Elemental Guardian,¡± the Moon Priest exined. ¡°The crows that you fought were already dead, and Lapiz threw their bodies outside the kingdom. However, the Dark Elf escaped.¡±

    To be honest, he couldn¡¯t care less because he didn¡¯t hear what he wanted to hear the most.

    ¡°Your Eminence, I asked about my wife,¡± Glenn asked nervously, then he stood up. Every inch of his body hurt like hell, but he swallowed the pain. ¡°My wife is safe, isn¡¯t she?¡±

    ¡°The queen is in her bedroom,¡± Manu said, avoiding his gaze. ¡°You better see it for yourself.¡±

    He didn¡¯t need to hear another word.

    The infirmary had a connecting door to Brigitte¡¯s room that would only open up for him, Brigitte, and Dahlia.

    As soon as he put his hand over the door, it lit up while scanning his Mana. After the door recognized his Mana as him, only then did it open up for him. It was Princess Neoma who designed that door for his wife¡¯s protection.

    ¡°My queen!¡± Glenn eximed as soon as he saw his wife lying down on the bed while Dahlia stood next to it. Then he felt his heart stop and sink to the floor. ¡°Miss Dahlia, what happened to my wife?¡±

    Brigitte was unconscious, and the entire bed was inside a cube that looked like a fish tank. The ¡°water¡± inside didn¡¯t look like ordinary water, though. It looked like crystal blue Mana in its liquid form.

    [Ah, it must be Miss Dahlia¡¯s Mana.]

    ¡°Your Majesty, I put the queen in a medicine-inducedatose,¡± Dahlia said politely. ¡°I can wake her up anytime, however...¡±

    He gulped before he asked. ¡°However...?¡±

    ¡°Once Her Majesty regains consciousness, she¡¯ll immediately give birth to the new saint.¡±

    He gasped, surprised. ¡°But my wife is only eight months pregnant. Wouldn¡¯t it be dangerous for my wife if she gives birth to a premature baby?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s dangerous for both the queen and the new saint,¡± Manu, who appeared beside him, said sternly. ¡°The ck Witch has been stealing the new saint¡¯s divine power all this time. If the new saint is born prematurely, then he¡¯d be weaker than an ordinary child.¡± The Moon Priest clicked his tongue. ¡°This is why I told the crazy de Moonasterios to let the new saint be born normally...¡±

    ¡°And just let my wife die?¡±

    He didn¡¯t mean to be snarky towards the Moon Priest, but he couldn¡¯t help it. Especially since his wife and his child were both in danger at the moment.

    However, he had to remind himself to be calm in order to have a clear mind.

    ¡°I apologize for my rudeness, Lord Manu,¡± Glenn said, bowing slightly to the Moon Priest. ¡°I said harsh words.¡±

    ¡°No, I was harsher. If Neoma de Moonasterio was here, she would have called me scumbag,¡± Manu said, then he slightly bowed his head towards him. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for my harsh words, Your Majesty.¡±

    He just smiled and nodded politely.

    Then he turned serious again when he turned to the young ck Witch.

    ¡°Miss Dahlia, will it be too risky if we let my wife stay in aatose state until it¡¯s time for her to give birth to our child?¡±

    ¡°I will be honest with you, Your Majesty,¡± Dahlia said solemnly, hervender eyes clear. ¡°Putting the queen in a medicine-inducedatose state can¡¯t be one hundred percent safe. However, it is safer than letting the queen give birth to the new saint this early.¡±

    He didn¡¯t like seeing Brigitte in aatose state.

    However, he also thought that it would be safer for his wife to stay in that state instead of letting her give birth to their baby prematurely.

    Moreover, he had faith in Dahlia.

    [The ck Witch may be young, but she is highly skilled. Most of all, Princess Neoma trusts her. I have faith in all the people that Her Royal Highness chooses.]

    ¡°Your Majesty, I will do my best to keep Queen Brigitte safe no matter what choice you make,¡± Dahlia said firmly. ¡°You also don¡¯t have to make a decision in this instant. After all, both options are risky.¡±

    He smiled gratefully at the young ck Witch, then he turned to Manu. ¡°How about you, Lord Manu? May I hear your opinion about this?¡±

    ¡°You already know what I feel about all of this. However, Neoma de Moonasterio already took away my right as the Moon Priest to decide for the new saint¡¯s fate,¡± Manu said, shaking his head. ¡°I am here right now not as the Moon Priest- but as Neoma de Moonasterio¡¯s representative. If you know the royal princess well, then I guess you already know what she¡¯d say if she was here.¡±

    He smiled because the Moon Priest was correct.

    [Princess Neoma is the type of person who respects other people¡¯s wishes.]

    ¡°I already made up my mind,¡± Glenn dered firmly, then he bowed his head to the young ck Witch. ¡°Miss Dahlia, please take care of my wife until it¡¯s time for her to give birth to our child.¡±

    ***

    YOU¡¯D think that a Forbidden Zone like the Leoflor Ind would be empty.

    Of course, it wasn¡¯t.

    Although normal people would be discouraged to visit the ind that not even the authorities would dare to step foot on, that wasn¡¯t the case for some.

    There were people desperate enough to escape to the ind.

    And most of them were ouws.

    [The reason the jungle in the Leoflor Ind is called ¡®Lawless Jungle¡¯ is because it became the home for the most notorious criminals in the world.]

    Neoma and her children had already encountered some before they reached the town proper.

    ¡°You can¡¯t fucking cross the gate unless you pass the damned test,¡± the drunk man- tall, burly, full of scars- dressed like a pirate said in one of the less spokennguages on the East Continent. ¡°And these fucking kids look like damned nobles. What the hell are these kids doing here? Well, not that I fucking care. We¡¯ll just screw them upter. Not that you understand what I¡¯m saying.¡±

    The other men behind himughed.

    Neoma¡¯s children looked a little concerned because it was obvious that they couldn¡¯t understand what the drunk man was saying.

    Even Paige, who traveled the East Continent before, looked confused.

    [It¡¯s understandable because thenguage that the drunkard speaks is rare even among the natives of the East Continent.]

    However, Neoma understood the drunkard clearly.

    ¡°Fuck you all,¡± the drunkard said while pointing at Neoma and her children. ¡°I hate nothing more in this world than fucking nobles who-¡±

    ¡°Fuck you, too,¡± Neoma said in a clear and firm voice, speaking the samenguage as the drunkard fluently. ¡°Is ¡®fuck¡¯ the only curse word you know in thisnguage? Gosh, you should be more creative. Do you want me to teach you how to cuss out people properly, huh?¡±

    The drunkard and the men behind him dropped their jaws to the ground.

    But she wasn¡¯t done yet.

    [I didn¡¯t study all the curse words used on the East Continent for me to just stop here.]

    ¡°You fucking piece of shit should cut your tongue off and donate it to someone who can use it better,¡± Neoma hissed, stepping forward. ¡°Fuckface. Douchebag. Shithead. Jizzstain. Dickhead. Asshole. Son of a bitch. Bastard. Motherfucker. There are a lot of curse words out there, so why are you only using ¡®fuck¡¯ and ¡®damn?¡¯ So fucking frustrating.¡±

    She even thumped her chest with her fist because she was really frustrated.

    ¡°I don¡¯t speak thatnguage,¡± Juri ¡°whispered¡± to her siblings. ¡°But ourdy just spewed out a string of profanities, didn¡¯t she?¡±

    It was decided that her children would address her as ady instead of a royal princess while they were on the ind.

    ¡°That, she did,¡± Paige said. ¡°Splendidly, at that.¡±

    ¡°Eomma is really good at speaking othernguages,¡± Greko said cheerfully. ¡°I should learn how to speak othernguages, too.¡±

    ¡°You should start with swear words,¡± Jeno said. ¡°It¡¯s okay for a child like you to learn swear words as long as you don¡¯t use them on innocent people.¡±

    [These kids...]

    Trevor, who was draped over Jeno¡¯s shoulder,ughed. ¡°My Moon Princess, what the hell did you teach our children?¡±

    She ignored the demon boy who was already awake, but still too weak to move on his own.

    Her thoughts got distracted when the drunkard let out a loud hup.

    ¡°Oh, right,¡± Neoma said, then she crossed her arms over her chest. ¡°What were you saying about the test again?¡±

    .....

    The drunkard, who flinched at her words, pointed to the arch behind him. ¡°It¡¯s not visible in the naked eye, but there¡¯s a barrier under that arch. Your group will only be able to get through that gate if you offer the ¡®Scent of Blood¡¯ to the barrier. If the barrier isn¡¯t fed first before your entire group enters the town, then the barrier will strike you-¡±

    ¡°Scent of Blood?¡± she asked, cutting off the drunkard. She was being rude on purpose because she was asserting dominance. After all, the ind was the kind of ce where the weak and the meek were trampled on mercilessly. ¡°What kind of bullshit is that?¡±

    ¡°Leoflor Ind is for the ouws, and the barrier here gets stronger the more Scent of Blood is offered to it,¡± the drunkard exined. ¡°Only people who have taken at least a hundred lives by their own hands have the Scent of Blood, though. If none of your group could offer that, then you must pay ten gold coins each...¡±

    The drunkard trailed off when Neoma stood under the arch without hesitation.

    Scent of Blood, huh?

    Neoma smirked while touching the arch made of wood. ¡°I¡¯ve taken more than a hundred lives by my own hands, so get drunk with the scent of a murderer all you want.¡±

    ***

    THE DRUNKARD let out a hup once again.

    He had been guarding the ¡®Arch¡¯ for more than a decade now.

    And thanks to that, he had seen all kinds of criminals who had stepped foot on the ind to hide from whoever it was that was hunting them down. Since he had been dealing with hardcore criminals every single day, it wasn¡¯t new to him to meet a criminal who had killed more than a hundred people.

    However, this was the first time that he met a CHILD who had taken so many lives in her own little hands. And it didn¡¯t end there.

    [Death...]

    The hair at the back of his neck stood up when an image of a Death Reaper shed behind the child for a moment.

    It only meant one thing.

    [The child didn¡¯t only kill humans- she has also killed beings from other races.]

    For the first time in a long while, the drunkard felt FEAR once again.

    [I shouldn¡¯t mess with this kid.]

    After all, the little girl was as deadly as she was beautiful.

    He should have known that the child was dangerous as soon as she opened her foul mouth.

    [Kids these days are terrifying...]

    Well, speaking of terrifying kids, the drunkard was reminded that there were other kids (just a little older than the beautiful girl) on the ind that scared the living shit out of him, too.

    And that made him wonder while looking at the girl with pink hair...

    [Is she a Crowell, too?]

    ***

    NOTE: Hi. I posted some Nero-Neoma phone wallpapers on my k/o-fi ount that you can download and use. You may visit my page: k o-fi /s_c (just remove the space). Or simply G*ogle k o-fi s_c. You may or may not buy me a coffee (donate). Thank you!

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 548

    Chapter 548: DYSTOPIAN B*LLSHIT

    ¡°WHY DO you look so satisfied?¡± Nero asked Hanna. ¡°Is the Gardening Club interesting?¡±

    ¡°It is,¡± Hanna, who was sitting across from him inside the royal carriage headed back to the pce, said excitedly. Her face was beaming, and she even showed him the ck fingerless gloves that she was wearing. Those gloves weren¡¯t a part of her usual outfit, since she was the type of student who would wear her uniform properly. ¡°And I received these gloves from the club president.¡±

    He tilted his head to one side. ¡°I understand why you¡¯d need gloves in gardening. But those aren¡¯t the type of gloves I imagine you¡¯d use, though. Moreover, why are theyced with magic?¡±

    ¡°As expected, you noticed it,¡± she said, her face still brimming with excitement. ¡°These are customized gloves that the Gardening Club requested to the academy. After all, we need to be properly equipped when dealing with poisonous nts.¡±

    His eyes went wide a little. ¡°The Gardening Club handles poisonous nts?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s actually the reason why I joined the club,¡± she said, smiling. ¡°Did you think it was an ordinary Gardening Club?¡±

    He nodded in admittance. ¡°I mean, I know you enjoy gardening. You almost put the royal gardener out ofmission when you renovated the garden in the Luna Pce.¡±

    .....

    Sheughed softly. ¡°I still enjoy normal gardening, and I¡¯ll continue doing so in the future. However, it doesn¡¯t hurt to learn a new skill.¡±

    ¡°A new skill, you say?¡± he asked, smirking. ¡°I can¡¯t wait for the Shadow Queen to turn into Poison Queen soon.¡±

    ¡°I believe someone else already owns that title in the academy.¡±

    ¡°Then just steal it.¡±

    Hanna justughed it off. ¡°Anyway, aren¡¯t you going to join a club? We only have a few days left before the recruitment period ends.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not going to join a club- I¡¯m building one.¡±

    She looked surprised. ¡°Really? Do they allow freshman students to build a club?¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m the Crown Prince,¡± he said, shrugging. ¡°The Royal Moon Academy was founded by my ancestors. Why would they deny me the right to make my own club?¡±

    ¡°Nero, you¡¯re abusing your authority.¡±

    ¡°I am,¡± he said shamelessly. ¡°But I use my privilege to do good things. After all, I want to make the empire a better and safer ce for Neoma.¡±

    Hanna let out a sigh while shaking her head. ¡°What kind of club are you nning to make then?¡±

    ¡°A Neoma Fanclub where the members and I will spend our time worshipping Neoma.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re joking, right?¡±

    He was about to say that of course, it was a joke. But...

    ¡°A Neoma Fanclub already exists in the pce,¡± she said with a straight face. ¡°Why do you need to build one at school?¡±

    His jaw dropped, surprised. ¡°Who founded that club?¡±

    Hanna looked at her hard, then she suddenly burst outughing. ¡°I was just joking, Nero. Moreover, I also know that you were joking about building a Neoma Fanclub. You hate sharing your precious twin sister with the world, so I don¡¯t think you¡¯d like seeing other people ¡°worship¡± her.¡±

    Well, she was right.

    He would keep Neoma to himself if he could.

    However, right at that very moment, he got distracted while watching Hannaugh freely. She was very different from the Hanna he remembered.

    When did she learn how tough so freely like that?

    [The Hanna I remember is very reserved. She smiles politely, but sheughs as quietly as possible like how noblewomen were taught to behave. However, she¡¯sughing without inhibitions now.]

    It was a nice change to see.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to tell me about your club until you¡¯re ready to do so,¡± Hanna said, smiling. ¡°As long as it¡¯s a harmless club, I¡¯ll support you.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± he said, nodding. ¡°I¡¯ll invite you to join my club once the necessary preparations areplete.¡±

    Their conversation ended when the royal carriage finally arrived at the Royal Pce.

    He was surprised when he saw his father and mother waiting for them after he and Hanna stepped out of the royal carriage. Moreover, he noticed that the servants and the knights were standing as far away as possible from his parents. That made him think that his parents had something to say to them that the servants shouldn¡¯t hear.

    Of course, that made him worry right away.

    [I hope nothing bad happened to Neoma.]

    ¡°Father, Mother,¡± Nero greeted his parents, then he got straight to the point. ¡°Did you hear from Neoma?¡±

    He had just sent Lewis and Jasper Hawthorne to the East Continent a few hours ago...

    ¡°It¡¯s not about your sister,¡± his father said firmly. ¡°Like we expected, the crows really attacked the queen of Hazelden Kingdom as soon as Kyle Sprouse escaped.¡±

    That meant the former count leaked the secret of the new saint to the crows.

    [Kyle Sprouse has really turned his back on Father.]

    ¡°The damage the attack caused is pretty severe,¡± his mother added worriedly. ¡°Queen Brigitte is currently in aatose state.¡±

    He was shocked to hear that.

    To be honest, he didn¡¯t feel the need to send reinforcement to the Hazelden Kingdom since he thought Sire Glenn and Dahlia were enough to deal with the crows. Neoma also mentioned sending Manu, the Moon Priest, to protect the queen.

    [And yet, they still suffered great damage?]

    Then...

    ¡°Then how about Miss Dahlia?¡± Nero asked worriedly. ¡°Is she alright?¡±

    His parents looked at him strangely.

    And he understood why.

    Even to his own ears, he sounded crazy worried about Dahlia.

    [Tsk.]

    Nero calmed himself down before he turned to Hanna who was standing a few steps behind him. ¡°Hanna, please don¡¯t misunderstand.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not misunderstanding anything, Prince Nero¡± Hanna said, addressing him formally in front of his parents. She looked calm on the outside, yet she sounded cold and distant at the moment. ¡°I believe Your Royal Highness has something important to discuss with His Majesty and Lady Roseheart. I¡¯ll excuse myself now.¡±

    Then Hanna politely said goodbye to his parents before leaving.

    His father, the emperor, patted his shoulder out of sympathy.

    ¡°Son, aren¡¯t you going to follow Hanna?¡± his mother asked carefully. ¡°Your father and I will wait at the conference room to discuss our next move to protect Queen Brigitte and the new saint.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Mother,¡± Nero said firmly. He felt bad for Hanna, but he already decided to break their engagement soon. Maybe this was for the best. ¡°The current crisis is more important than my personal affairs.¡±

    ***

    NEOMA wanted to walk the flower road, not the bloody path.

    However, at the moment, her children (with Greko¡¯s exception) were literally painting the town red with their enemies¡¯ blood.

    Not really ¡®enemies,¡¯ per se.

    But since they were obviously of noble blood, and this ce was swarming with hardcore criminals, they didn¡¯t have a choice but to spill blood.

    After all, most criminals there wanted to either sexually assault them or sell them as prostitutes. She was d that her children couldn¡¯t fully understand the vulgar things that the criminals were saying while nning how to ¡°ravish¡± each one of them. She wanted to spare her children the details.

    Hence, she would only point at the bastards who wanted to harm them.

    She only had two instructions for her children: first, cut off their tongues. Then their penises.

    Killing those bastards was also an option, but that would make the entire town their enemies. And she didn¡¯t have time for that. Hence, they only resorted to ¡°self-defense.¡± She also didn¡¯t want her children to expose their actual strength, so she asked the three to use normal swordsced with a small amount of their Mana.

    [So noisy.]

    She could ignore the violence that Juri, Paige, and Jeno were inflicting on the enemies.

    However, the agonizing cries of the criminals were hurting her ears.

    Of course, she didn¡¯t feel bad for them. She just hated the noise. But she had to endure because if she snapped, she might kill everyone around them.

    [I can¡¯t open the Hellgate when I know that Regina and the other crows might be here.]

    ¡°Greko, we¡¯re almost in the inn,¡± Neoma said. She was holding Greko¡¯s hand while walking. ¡°Don¡¯t open your eyes until I say so.¡±

    Greko was walking with his eyes closed because she told him to do that. ¡°Okay, eomma.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re so protective, my wifey,¡± Trevor, who caught on that she was hiding the fact that she was a royal princess, ¡°whined¡± while calling her ¡°wifey.¡± Argh, so cringe. ¡°Our youngest will grow weak if you dote on him too much. When I was his age, I already killed a few men-¡±

    ¡°Just because you experienced it doesn¡¯t mean we should normalize traumatizing children,¡± Neoma snapped, cutting off Trevor who was walking beside her. ¡°And stop calling me ¡®wifey¡¯ or else I¡¯ll burn your oxygen mask.¡±

    Trevor pouted whileining. ¡°So strict.¡±

    She just rolled her eyes at the demon boy.

    Thankfully, just before they reached the one and only inn on the ind, the criminals around them finally gave up on them.

    ¡°Very good, children,¡± Neoma praised her children. ¡°Let¡¯s check in so you could get a warm and nice bath.¡±

    .....

    After all, her children were literally soaked with blood.

    [I¡¯m just d that it¡¯s not their blood.]

    ¡°You can¡¯t enter the inn without buying air from us,¡± the old man, who was sitting beside the inn¡¯s entrance, said. The old man, just like them, was wearing what seemed to be an oxygen mask. ¡°I see that you already have your own mask. But, if you want to stay in this inn, then you must follow our rules.¡±

    Hah.

    Neoma couldn¡¯t believe that on this ind, people had to PAY just to be able to breathe clean air.

    [What kind of dystopian bullshit is this?]

    But the oxygen mask that the old man wore caught her attention.

    To be precise, the air inside the small tank where the mask was attached looked familiar.

    It was glowing with bluish balls of light.

    [It¡¯s divine power simr to mine,] Neoma wondered to herself. [There might be a divine being here.]

    And that divine being was selling AIR?!

    [My hand is itching to punch something...]

    Preferably, a capitalist (divine) pig.

    ***

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 Chapter 549

    Chapter 549: MYSTERIOUS OLD MAN

    ¡°RUTO, are you really alright losing the gold mine that you own to the Willows?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Mother,¡± Ruto assured his mother who looked worried and guilty for what happened. ¡°It¡¯s just a gold mine.¡±

    He and his mother just finished talking to the Willows to officially stop the engagement talks with the Willows. Right now, the two of them were walking back to the Cyran Temple. It was time for his mother to pray to the Sun Goddess, so he offered to walk her there.

    [Neoma told me to be kinder to my mother.]

    Moreover, it looked like his mother was upset with how the discussion ended so he wanted to console her.

    The Willows were offended that he rejected Phoebe after Lord Levi chose the youngdy himself to be his bride. Hence, aspensation, he let the Willows have his gold mine. He didn¡¯t care though, since it wouldn¡¯t even leave a dent to his wealth.

    ¡°It¡¯s not ¡®just¡¯ a gold mine,¡± his mother said, sighing. ¡°Gold is the most valuable mineral on the East Continent since it symbolizes the Sun Goddess. Moreover, your gold mine produces the best gold on the continent. And now, the Willows own it.¡±

    .....

    ¡°They promised to never approach me again with a marriage proposal,¡± he reasoned. ¡°If you asked me, then I¡¯d say it¡¯s worth it, Mother.¡±

    His mother let out a sigh. ¡°Do you hate the idea of marrying Lady Phoebe that much?¡±

    ¡°I do,¡± he said firmly. ¡°Why would I marry a child?¡±

    Physically, he was the same age as Phoebe Willows.

    However, he was a grown man inside. Hence, he saw almost everyone around him as children. Yes, even his own parents.

    ¡°Princess Neoma is also a child, son.¡±

    ¡°Physically, yes,¡± he said. ¡°But we¡¯re both adults inside, so...¡±

    To be honest, he was being extra careful because even though it wasmon for royals and nobles to be engaged as young as twelve years old, he knew that it shouldn¡¯t be normalized.

    His mother smiled softly at him. ¡°You must really like Princess Neoma. With or without your memories, your feelings for her never wavered.¡±

    That was true.

    [Neoma has so much power over me.]

    The royal princess¡¯ clear gaze mesmerized him the moment their eyes met. And, right then and there, he already realized why his past self followed Neoma¡¯s will even though someone of his stature shouldn¡¯t be bowing to a royal princess from the West Continent.

    ¡°Mother, Neoma and I both know that it¡¯s not yet the right time for us to focus on our feelings,¡± he assured his mother. ¡°We both have duties we need to fulfill first, so rest assured, we won¡¯t be hasty and reckless.¡±

    ¡°I feel reassured and guilty,¡± his mother said. ¡°You and Princess Neoma carry the burden to save the world.¡±

    ¡°That was the burden that the past me carried, Mother,¡± he corrected her carefully as he could. ¡°But right now, I don¡¯t think I¡¯m interested in saving the world. After spending time with Neoma, albeit the time being short, I realized my own feelings despite my missing memories: I only do things that will benefit Neoma. If she wishes to burn the world, I¡¯ll dly do it for her this time.¡±

    His motherughed nervously. ¡°That sounds scary because I know you and Princess Neoma are capable of destroying the world. Maybe not now. But in the future, once both of you have regained your previous strength, then it¡¯s possible.¡±

    He was about to agree with his mother, but he stopped when he saw the person waiting for them at the entrance of the temple.

    [Phoebe Willows.]

    He was wondering why Phoebe Willows was absent earlier. The youngdy must have been waiting for him here all this time. He pretended not to notice the child¡¯s puffy eyes.

    [She cried for a long time, didn¡¯t she?]

    ¡°Lord Ruto, can we talk?¡± Phoebe Willows asked after greeting his mother earlier. ¡°I won¡¯t take too much of your time.¡±

    He thought it was the least thing that he could do for the child, so he agreed.

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll excuse myself now,¡± his mother said before leaving.

    And now, it was only him and Phoebe Willows.

    ¡°Once again, I apologize for rejecting the marriage proposal that our side brought up first,¡± Ruto said, bowing his head to the child. [After all, it¡¯s Lord Levi¡¯s fault and he¡¯s my divine father. Hence, I should take responsibility.]

    ¡°I¡¯m not here to hear your apology again, Lord Ruto,¡± Phoebe Willows said in a cracked voice. ¡°I¡¯m only here to ask you some questions.¡±

    He raised his head, worried that Phoebe Willows might cry in front of her.

    To be honest, he didn¡¯t really care about the youngdy on a personal level.

    However, Neoma had a soft spot for kids. He didn¡¯t want the royal princess to hate him if she found out that she made a child cry.

    ¡°What is it, Lady Phoebe?¡± he asked, addressing the child properly this time to put some distance between them.

    ¡°It¡¯s Princess Neoma, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    He remained silent because he had no intention of talking about his rtionship with Neoma to a person he wasn¡¯t close with.

    The youngdy smirked bitterly. ¡°You said you weren¡¯t interested in me because I¡¯m a ¡°child,¡± and yet you chose a girl younger than me?¡±

    ¡°First of all, I wasn¡¯t interested in you just ¡°because you were a child,¡±¡± he said bluntly. ¡°Even if you were older, I don¡¯t think I¡¯d be interested in you, Lady Phoebe.¡±

    He didn¡¯t mean to be harsh, but he also didn¡¯t want to sugarcoat his words.

    It would be better if Phoebe Willows¡¯ admiration for him would turn into hate.

    ¡°Why her?¡± Phoebe Willows asked, tears brimming in her eyes this time. ¡°Why Princess Neoma?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Ruto said honestly, sighing. ¡°But having these warm feelings for Neomaes as natural as breathing.¡±

    ***

    ¡°HOW MUCH?¡± Neoma asked the old man. ¡°How much does an oxygen mask cost?¡±

    ¡°One silver,¡± the old man said indifferently. It was obvious that the old man was already so used to running this business. ¡°Each mask will give you fresh air for five days.¡±

    One silver was a small amount for a noble and a royal like her. However, in a poor town like that, one silver was definitely too much for a mask. Obviously, it was the price for rich people like them.

    [Well, it can¡¯t be helped since it¡¯s obvious we¡¯re nobles even though we¡¯re wearing in clothes.]

    ¡°Give me all the masks that you can sell me today,¡± Neoma said, then she threw a bag of gold coins at the old man (who caught it swiftly). Again, she was being rude on purpose. ¡°And give me the same number of masks every day while we¡¯re here.¡±

    The old man, who looked indifferent, as if he was already used to ¡°customers¡± like her, nodded. ¡°Understood, little princess.¡±

    Her children, even Trevor, suddenly released their bloodlust to the old man who remained passive.

    Neoma, however, remained calm since she was amused by the old man¡¯s personality.

    ¡°What?¡± the old manined. ¡°Unless the little princess¡¯ hair color is fake, then she must be a Roseheart since only the Rosehearts have pink hair in the entire world. The news about the hidden royal princess, the child born between Lady Mona Roseheart and Emperor Niki de Moonasterio, has reached even this isted ind. Only fools who do not know about politics wouldn¡¯t realize that the little girl with pink hair is a royal princess from the West Continent.¡±

    Oh, the old man was sharp.

    ¡°How do you exin my pure pink hair, then?¡± she asked, testing the old man¡¯s wit. ¡°The de Moonasterios are known for three physical traits: their white hair, ash gray eyes, and pale skin.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s simple: the blessings of the gods don¡¯t reach this ind,¡± the old man exined in a bored manner. ¡°Even a de Moonasterio will lose their divine power as long as they¡¯re here. Your white hair symbolizes the divine blessing that you received from the Moon God. If you didn¡¯t have Roseheart Blood in you, then your hair would have turned ck and not pink. After all, strangely enough, you have Darkness attribute in you.¡±

    Okay, this time, she was rmed.

    [I thought I have concealed my Darkness attribute quite well. But this old man...]

    Hmm.

    It was true that she was rmed. However, she didn¡¯t feel any threat from the old man. In fact, he looked like he didn¡¯t give a fuck.

    [Gosh, I like hiszy vibes.]

    ¡°He knows too much,¡± Trevor, whose eyes were already glowing menacingly, whispered to her. ¡°My Moon Princess, we should-¡±

    ¡°I want to adopt you, old man,¡± Neoma dered, ignorning Trevor¡¯s warning. ¡°Do you want to be my son- mmf!¡±

    She wasn¡¯t able to finish her sentence because Paige and Juri suddenly covered her mouth.

    Jeno, on the other hand, wrapped his arm around her waist and gently pulled her away from the old man. Then the Marksman dragged her inside the inn despite herints. Paige and Juri remained covering her mouth, too.

    Trevor, that bastard,ughed as if he found her situation funny.

    Greko bowed to the old man. ¡°Grandpa, please give me the masks that my eomma purchased.¡±

    Neoma couldn¡¯t believe that her children could do this to her.

    [I¡¯m telling you¡ª they¡¯re in their rebellious phase!]

    ***

    ¡°MY LADY, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s safe to ¡°adopt¡± anyone without running a background check on them first.¡±

    Neoma was being scolded by Paige, but she was distracted.

    After all, as soon as they entered the inn, the person that she had been looking for already appeared before her.

    ¡°We met again,¡± Rubin Drayton said indifferently. ¡°Are you stalking me?¡±

    Usually, she would have already reacted violently.

    However...

    ¡°Why do you look ugly today, huh?¡± Neoma asked, confused. She didn¡¯t want to say this, but Rubin Drayton was the most handsome young man she had seen in all her previous lives, even now. She could see the same in front of her at the moment. But the vibes were strange. ¡°Who the fuck are you?¡±

    .....

    ***

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 Chapter 550

    Chapter 550: ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER SLAY

    ¡°YOU¡¯RE the first girl who ever told me that I¡¯m ugly.¡±

    Neoma was disgusted.

    [I¡¯M TELLING YOU, THAT LINE IS SO CRINGEY THAT I¡¯M INTERNALLY SCREAMING IN CAPSLOCK WITH EXCESSIVE EXCLAMATION MARKS!!!!!!!!!! I¡¯M IN TEARS! SOBBING! THROWING UP!]

    ¡°I can¡¯t read minds, but I can tell that you¡¯re having sphemous thoughts about me,¡± Rubin said, approaching her shamelessly. ¡°Have you been well, princess?¡±

    Bloodlust.

    Her precious released their bloodlust directed at Rubin Drayton after the bastard called her ¡®princess¡¯ in a rude and condescending way. Hence, even though the bastard called her that way, no one would take it seriously.

    Anyway, only Trevor remained calm while mumbling to himself. ¡°Oh, boy. That won¡¯t work on my wifey.¡±

    .....

    The inn suddenly went silent.

    She could tell that everyone¡¯s eyes were on their group now. Well, people were discreetly eyeing them the moment their group stepped into the inn earlier. However, this time, they were no longer discreet.

    Most of the guests, who were probably ouws, watched the scene with interest. She could already tell that instead of getting scared of a fight breaking out, the people around them were actually anticipating it.

    [No one even blinked when my children, who are soaked with blood, entered the inn. Obviously, people killing each other is a normal urrence here.]

    Gosh, what a dangerous world it was for a pretty, fragile girl like her.

    Neoma cleared her throat, then she stepped forward to face Rubin properly. ¡°Children, your mama got this.¡±

    We just that, her children finally rxed.

    Rubin looked down at her- literally since he was a foot taller than her. ¡°You still speak gibberish things that don¡¯t fit your status.¡±

    She just ignored his taunting because she was distracted.

    [Gosh, Rubin is already this tall and handsome. He¡¯s fifteen years old now, isn¡¯t he? No wonder his appearance is getting close to the man I once loved with all my heart.]

    Paige cleared her throat, then she leaned down in her ear while cupping her mouth with her hand. ¡°Mydy, you¡¯re getting distracted.¡±

    Oh, right.

    She suddenly got sentimental in the middle of admiring Rubin. His now slightly mature face reminded her of her first love, after all.

    ¡°Why are you being quiet?¡± Rubin asked, smirking arrogantly. ¡°You¡¯re getting boring.¡±

    Ah.

    That smirk reminded her of the time that this bastard physically abused her in the past. It was many decades ago. But unfortunately for Rubin Drayton, she was good at holding grudges.

    ¡°I¡¯m thinking.¡±

    Rubin raised an eyebrow at her response. ¡°Thinking about what?¡±

    ¡°About how to kill you in the most painful way possible,¡± she said, then she raised her hand and caressed Rubin¡¯s face in a cold, indifferent manner.

    [This bastard and most of the guests here aren¡¯t wearing face masks.]

    Rubin flinched, but he didn¡¯t p her hand away.

    More like the bastard couldn¡¯t.

    After all, this time, Neoma¡¯s bloodlust filled the entire room. Unlike her children¡¯s heavy and thick bloodlust, hers was light and quiet.

    However...

    THUD.

    THUD.

    THUD.

    The sound of people dropping to the floor unconscious one by one echoed in the room.

    It was soon followed by vicious profanities, though.

    The people who could still move tried to attack her. But, of course, she didn¡¯t have to bother with them because her children (aside from Greko) dealt with the small fries.

    [I¡¯m so proud of my children who can withstand my bloodlust now.]

    ¡°Gavin,¡± she said, savoring the shocked look on his face.

    ¡°Why do you look shocked?¡± she asked, running her fingers over Rubin¡¯s smooth and soft skin. ¡°You told Nero that you have a split personality.¡± Of course, that was a lie. It was she who spent some time with Rubin as a child and not her twin brother. ¡°Nero told me that your other personality is called ¡®Gavin.''¡±

    First of all, she knew that you shouldn¡¯t touch someone without permission.

    However, she was going against her personal principle because she needed to physically touch Rubin.

    [What¡¯s this weird energy inside him I can¡¯t absorb?]

    It was a negative feeling close to Darkness.

    She tried to purify it, but it didn¡¯t work.

    ¡°Tsk,¡± she said, clicking her tongue and letting go of Rubin¡¯s cheek. Since her purifying powers didn¡¯t work, she just gave up, since she was afraid her hand would rot from touching a piece of shit. ¡°You¡¯re not even worth killing.¡±

    After saying that, she released her bloodlust.

    Only then did the room return to normal.

    Rubin held his throat while catching his breath, then he red at her. ¡°You-¡±

    ¡°Please keep quiet, sir,¡± Greko said ¡°politely¡± to Rubin, then her youngest son smiled at Neoma while handing his handkerchief to her. ¡°Eomma, please wipe your hand with this since you just touched a piece of garbage. I put a potion in it that will cleanse your hands.¡±

    Sheughed at the maknae¡¯s words while receiving the handkerchief from him. ¡°Thank you, maknae-ah.¡±

    Rubin red at Greko this time. ¡°How dare a mere ve-¡±

    ¡°If you finish the sentence, I¡¯ll cut your tongue off right here- right now.¡±

    Since her bloodlust was directed at Rubin this time, the bastard fell to the ground with just one re from her.

    ¡°You¡¯re Rubin¡¯s personality who¡¯s obsessed with Regina, aren¡¯t you?¡± she said, looking down at the bastard with glowing red eyes. Everyone in the inn aside from her group had already been knocked out already, so she didn¡¯t have to hide her red eyes. ¡°I¡¯m d that you were the one who showed up this time and not the coward Rubin that I know.¡±

    Well, they were the same person.

    [But ¡®Gavin¡¯ is the one who¡¯s more obsessed with Regina Crowell, it seems.]

    ¡°Your life isn¡¯t worth taking,¡± Neoma said coldly. ¡°So, I¡¯ll take the life of the girl you love and cherish the most, Rubin Drayton.¡±

    ¡°Why do you sound so confident when I haven¡¯t even confirmed whether Regina is alive or not?¡±

    ¡°Lies.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t be here if you weren¡¯t at least 50% certain that Regina is here,¡± she said, flipping her hair. ¡°So, let¡¯s have a race, Rubin. If you find Regina first, I¡¯ll let you run away with her. But if I find her first...¡± She smiled while ¡°slicing¡± her throat with her thumb. ¡°I¡¯ll kill her in front of you.¡±

    Rubin red at her. ¡°If you touch even a strand of Regina¡¯s hair, I won¡¯t forgive you.¡±

    If she was the old Neoma, she would have already died of jealousy.

    But she had already regained the confidence and the self-respect that Rubin took away from her in the past.

    Hence, she was fine now.

    ¡°I¡¯m not going to ask for forgiveness, though?¡± Neoma said, walking past Rubin with Trevor and her children trailing behind her. ¡°You and Regina are the ones who need to kneel and beg for my forgivenesster.¡±

    ***

    ¡°MY MOON PRINCESS, I will never run away from you, so do you really have to lock me up?¡±

    Neoma rolled her eyes at Trevor¡¯s dramatic ass.

    Right now, she was in the room that she shared with Juri and Paige. It was thergest room in the inn, it had its own bathroom.

    Paige didn¡¯t get soaked in blood, so the mage just changed her clothes using her magic. Then the mage excused herself to do an errand for her.

    On the other hand, Juri was soaked in blood and was now taking a bath.

    Greko and Jeno were in the room next door.

    Hence, at the moment, she was alone in the bedroom with Trevor...

    ... and she ¡°locked up¡± the demon boy inside the Dome that she made.

    She often used the Dome to protect herself and her people. However, since she was confident that her barrier couldn¡¯t easily be broken, she realized that she could also use it to lock up her enemies.

    ¡°Where¡¯s Xion?¡± Neoma, who was sitting on the bed with her arms crossed over her chest, asked Trevor. ¡°Is he okay?¡±

    ¡°No, he¡¯s not.¡±

    .....

    She already expected that, but that didn¡¯t mean it no longer made her worry.

    ¡°Are you not going to use me of hurting our son?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s my son, not yours,¡± she said coldly. ¡°And I know that you¡¯re not the one who hurt Xion. You¡¯re a simp for me, so there¡¯s no way you¡¯d hurt my people.¡±

    Trevor smiled as if he was satisfied by what she said. ¡°What if I identally killed him because I didn¡¯t realize right away that he was one of your people?¡±

    ¡°Then you wouldn¡¯t have the courage to face me.¡±

    His smile widened. ¡°My Moon Princess, I¡¯m touched that you know how much I love you.¡±

    ¡°Is this the part where I reject you again?¡±

    ¡°Xion Redgrave was almost half-dead when we found him.¡±

    [Look at this scoundrel changing the topic smoothly.]

    ¡°Was my son attacked?¡±

    ¡°Yes- by the air in the Lawless Jungle,¡± Trevor exined, turning serious this time. ¡°The air here is already bad, but it only gets worse once you enter the Lawless Jungle. If we didn¡¯t have the mask that the Devil made for us using Dominic¡¯s divine power, then we wouldn¡¯t havested long.¡±

    Dominic.

    Trevor was talking about her former mentor- the former saint Dominic Zavaroni.

    [Mr. Zavaroni is really working with the Devil now. I hope he¡¯s well and happy with Aunt Nichole.]

    ¡°Wait,¡± she said, knitting her eyebrows. ¡°Did youe here with Gin? He¡¯s also working for the Devil, after all.¡±

    She was talking about the ck Cat.

    [The bastard who showed me the thing I feared most when I was still a weak baby girl.]

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Trevor said, nodding. ¡°I¡¯m surprised that you still remember Gin, my Moon Princess. I thought you would erase insignificant people in your memories.¡±

    ¡°How is Gin insignificant when he¡¯s in my Death N*te?¡± she said, scoffing. ¡°I told you- I hold grudges.¡±

    The demon boy justughed.

    ¡°Carry on,¡± she said, nodding at Trevor. ¡°How did you find Xavier?¡±

    ¡°He was running out of clean air to breathe when we found him,¡± the demon boy exined. ¡°I lent him my mask after the Bookworm told me he¡¯s one of my people. Since the Darkness in the Lawless Jungle was thick, I had to leave our son in Gin¡¯s hands. I was about to return to the Devil¡¯sir to ask for another mask when I found you.¡±

    Ah, that was why Trevor was almost dying when they met on the ind.

    [He must have inhaled arge amount of Darkness after he gave his mask to Xion.]

    ¡°But why did you have to leave Gin and Xion in the Lawless Jungle?¡±

    ¡°Well, actually...¡± The demon boy slowly avoided her gaze. ¡°We were attacked, then Gin and Xion were kidnapped.¡±

    ¡°You bastard! Why didn¡¯t you say that earlier?!¡± Neoma growled at Trevor, clenching her hands tight. ¡°Who dared to kidnap my son?!¡±

    Trevor gulped hard before he turned to her again with shaking pupils. ¡°The Lion Tribe.¡±

    The what?!

    ***

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 Chapter 551

    Chapter 551: NEOMA¡¯S LAW

    LEOFLOR ISLAND.

    It was said to be the home of Kingston- the White Lion.

    Thus, it made sense that the Lion Tribe lived in the Lawless Jungle. However...

    ¡°I thought the Lion Tribe has already perished the moment the Lawless Jungle has be uninhabitable,¡± Neoma said, confused. ¡°But you¡¯re telling me that the people of the Lion Tribe kidnapped Xion?¡±

    ¡°And Gin,¡± Trevor added. ¡°I wasn¡¯t able to protect them since I was literally running out of breath. My n was to quickly return to the Devil¡¯sir to get more masks, thene back here to rescue the two.¡±

    Xion wouldn¡¯t enter the Lawless Jungle for nothing.

    [I asked him to search for Regina. If my son entered the Lawless Jungle, then it only means that Regina is there.]

    .....

    ¡°Moon Princess.¡±

    ¡°Shh,¡± she said, putting a finger on her nose while hushing the demon boy. ¡°I¡¯m connecting the dots, so don¡¯t disturb me.¡±

    Trevor acted like he was zipping his mouth with his hand.

    [Good.]

    Now that her peace and quiet had returned, her big brain worked its magic again.

    [Obviously, Kingston was captured by Calyx Dalton and the crows. And Regina is residing in the Lawless Jungle, the home of the White Lion and the Lion Tribe. The Lion Tribe was presumed to have been annihted already, but it turns out that there are survivors.]

    She walked towards the window and opened it.

    The picture of the beautiful sunset sky was ruined by the Darkness that covered the entire Lawless Jungle. From where she stood, the view of the jungle embraced by a thick ck smoke was visible.

    [If Regina and the other crows are there with the Lion Tribe, then...]

    ¡°They must be using the survivors of the Lion Tribe to threaten Kingston,¡± she mumbled to herself. ¡°Hence, the White Lion has no choice but to ept Calyx Dalton as his new master.¡±

    She finally connected the dots.

    [Grandma Roxana asked me to free the White Lion from Calyx Dalton¡¯s grasp. Regina and the crows must be holding the Lion Tribe as hostage. So, I need to free the survivors.]

    If there was no hostage, maybe Kingston would be able to fight back then.

    But she wasn¡¯t that arrogant to think that she had figured out everything now.

    [Aside from the survivors of the Lion Tribe being held as hostages, the crows must have something else in their hands that they¡¯re using to threaten Kingston.]

    Then, if that was the case...

    She turned around and faced Trevor again, then she snapped her fingers- breaking the barrier that she made, freeing the demon boy. ¡°We rented the entire floor, so choose any room you want.¡±

    ¡°Are you asking me to leave now?¡±

    ¡°Obviously.¡±

    ¡°Are you not wondering why I¡¯m here?¡±

    ¡°Why would I ask the obvious?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re here to kidnap me, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    Trevor¡¯s eyes went wide in shock. ¡°How did you know that, my Moon Princess?¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m not dumb,¡± she said, shrugging. ¡°Do you think I wouldn¡¯t notice that you¡¯re waiting for me to drop my guard?¡±

    The demon boy flinched.

    ¡°Moreover, there¡¯s nothing on this ind that you¡¯d want more than you want me.¡±

    This time, Trevor gave her a slow round of apuse. ¡°My Moon Princess, once again, I¡¯m touched to know that you realize how big my love for you is-¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not talking about your feelings,¡± she said, cutting him off. ¡°I¡¯m talking about the Devil¡¯s goal. He already revealed his desire to take me away from this world in the past. The fact that he sent you here only means that he believes it¡¯s the right time to snatch me away from here and send me to wherever it is that the gods¡¯ hands can¡¯t reach.¡±

    The demon boy looked at her with sparkling eyes.

    ¡°I¡¯ve always known that the Devil has been keeping an eye on my movements all this time,¡± she continued. ¡°When he realized that I¡¯m headed to the Lawless Jungle, he probably thought that it was the perfect time to kidnap me since I¡¯d lose my divine power here. Right?¡±

    Trevor grinned and shrugged. ¡°Noment.¡±

    ¡°Well, there¡¯s one thing that the Devil failed to consider.¡±

    ¡°And what might it be, my Moon Princess?¡±

    ¡°Losing my divine power won¡¯t be a disadvantage to me,¡± she said, twirling happily. ¡°Not when I can freely use Skewer here.¡±

    Then she opened her hand and summoned Skewer. As soon as the pink Death Scythe materialized in the air, she grabbed it and made a shing motion. The de produced a ck aura shaped like a boomerang, and it attacked the demon boy.

    Trevor created a red, heart-shaped barrier to block her attack.

    Since she didn¡¯t have the intent to kill the demon boy, the shing aura created by Skewer disappeared quickly.

    But her aura was still strong enough to break the stupid, heart-shaped barrier.

    ¡°Ouch,¡± Trevorined. He even put a hand over his chest. ¡°You broke my heart again, my Moon Princess.¡±

    ¡°Shut up,¡± she said, dropping Skewer. But before the pink Death Scythe hit the floor, it vanished into thin air. ¡°I¡¯m tired, so fuck off already.¡±

    The demon boy justughed at her crude words. ¡°I¡¯ve really missed you, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Of course, you would,¡± she said as if that was the most natural thing in the world. ¡°I would miss myself too if I were you.¡±

    ¡°Has Ruston Stroganoff retrieved his memories already?¡±

    ¡°Why are you suddenly bringing him up?¡±

    ¡°Why are you so protective of that damned royal chef?¡± the demon boy whined. ¡°He¡¯s not a good match for you, Princess Neoma. He already chose the world over you once. What makes you think that he¡¯ll choose you this time?¡±

    She let out an exhausted sigh.

    Gosh.

    [Ruto and I aren¡¯t official yet, but there are already a lot of people opposing our rtionship. The world is literally against us, huh?]

    ¡°Trevor.¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°The more you and the world tell me that Ruto isn¡¯t the right man for me, the more I covet him,¡± Neoma said, her ash gray eyes glowing as she smirked. ¡°Don¡¯t forget that I¡¯m Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio. I always get what I want with my own hands- and that¡¯s myw.¡±

    That deration sessfully shut Trevor up.

    ***

    ¡°YOUR ROYAL Highness, I¡¯ve done what you asked me to do.¡±

    Neoma, who was sitting on the bed while Juri braided her hair with a towel, smiled at Paige who had just returned to their room. ¡°Good job, Paige.¡±

    She bought all the masks that the mysterious old man was selling earlier.

    They didn¡¯t need it.

    In fact, right now, the entire floor of that inn was covered by her barrier. And, inside the barrier, her children could breathe normally without the need to use an oxygen mask. After all, the barrier was filled with her breath.

    Hence, the air inside the barrier was safe and clean.

    ¡°Distribute the masks to the children and the elderly who need the masks,¡± Neoma said. ¡°And those who deserve it.¡±

    The ind was known to be home to the most notorious criminals.

    However, she noticed that there were a lot of children there. She could tell that most of the kids were born on the ind. And there were also some people, especially the elderly, who looked like they only ended up there out of desperation.

    She was confident that Paige could tell the innocent people apart from the hardcore criminals on that ind.

    ¡°Put a spell that will prevent the masks from getting stolen,¡± Neoma added. ¡°The masks are expensive, so people will kill to have them for free. We must protect the people who will receive the masks that we will distribute.¡±

    ¡°As you wish, Your Royal Highness.¡±

    ¡°Done, Princess Neoma,¡± Juri said after braiding her hair prettily. ¡°What should we do next?¡±

    ¡°We need to wait,¡± Neoma said. ¡°Trevor is already doing what he can to locate Gin and Xion.¡±

    She was worried about Xion Redgrave, but she was doing her best to remain calm.

    [Haste makes waste, after all.]

    Jeno and Greko, on the other hand, were in charge of keeping an eye on Rubin.

    To be honest, she wanted their maknae1 to stay with them. But Greko pouted and insisted on being put in the same job as his Jeno hyung. She didn¡¯t have the heart to say no to their youngest, so she gave in.

    .....

    ¡°Princess Neoma, I thought you made a bet with Rubin Drayton,¡± Juri said carefully. ¡°I don¡¯t mean to question your decision to stay put and wait for Rubin Drayton to make his move first. I¡¯m just wondering why Your Royal Highness is waiting instead of moving to find Regina Crowell first.¡±

    Ah, right.

    She made a ¡°bet¡± with Rubin earlier.

    Right, that was what she said.

    ¡°It¡¯s just a bluff, though,¡± Neoma confessed, shrugging. ¡°I scammed Rubin, so he¡¯d be forced to go to where Regina is.¡±

    Juri and Paige were confused.

    ¡°Rubin lied first,¡± she exined to her daughters. ¡°He said he hasn¡¯t confirmed yet whether Regina is still alive or not, but I¡¯m sure they already met. In fact, I can tell that he just came back from the Lawless Jungle.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Paige said, then she asked. ¡°How can Your Royal Highness tell?¡±

    ¡°There are some residue of Darkness left on Rubin,¡± she said. ¡°I tried to purify it, but it didn¡¯t work. It wasn¡¯t because my purifying power was weak, but it was because it has already been cleansed.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± the mage said, nodding. ¡°That makes sense. The residue doesn¡¯t need to be purified anymore since they will disappear on their own.¡±

    ¡°Yep, that¡¯s right,¡± Neoma agreed with the mage. ¡°Rubin lied to me, so I lied to him, too.¡±

    She wanted to say more, but the sudden shift in the air stopped her.

    ¡°My Moon Princess,¡± Trevor, who suddenly appeared out of nowhere, greeted her with a serious look on his face. ¡°I¡¯ve located Gin and Xion Redgrave.¡±

    After the demon boy said that, Neoma¡¯smunication device- the heart-shaped earring in her right ear- rang and automatically answered the call of the person on the other line.

    Jeno greeted her politely.

    ¡°Good,¡± Neoma said, then she stood up and cracked his knuckles. ¡°It¡¯s time to work, children.¡±

    ***

    ¡°PRINCESS NEOMA already entered the Lawless Jungle?¡± Calyx Dalton, who just woke up, asked while rubbing his eye with his hand. ¡°But why are you asking ME about how to proceed?¡±

    He pouted, then he fully opened his eyes to look at the small crow on his windowsill.

    The small crow, just like any of their messenger crow, had a mechanical voice. But the speaker¡¯s manner of speech could only belong to one person.

    ¡°Regina, why are you always hostile to me?¡±

    ¡°Right,¡± he said, brokenhearted. ¡°You only like Dn ever since we were kids.¡±

    [Regina and Dn have a really twisted rtionship.]

    What were they talking about again?

    [Ah, what to do with Princess Neoma who finally stepped foot in the Lawless Jungle?¡±>

    Hmm.

    The royal princess was interesting, but he didn¡¯t like the fact that Prince Nero was so obsessed with his twin sister.

    [Prince Nero should give me all his love and affection instead~]

    ¡°You started a new experiment, didn¡¯t you?¡± Calyx asked, then he yawned before going back to bed. ¡°Just abduct Princess Neoma and use her as a test subject.¡±

    ***

    NOTE: Hi. I posted some Nero-Neoma phone wallpapers on my k/o-fi ount that you can download and use. You may visit my page: k o-fi /s_c (just remove the space). Or simply G*ogle k o-fi s_c. You may or may not buy me a coffee (donate). Thank you!

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 552

    Chapter 552: [Bonus Chapter] MUSEUM DATE

    A SLAP ON THE FACE.

    It was the ¡°gift¡± that Niki received from his father on his 13th birthday.

    An extravagant banquet was prepared for him.

    However, behind the curtains, Niki was struck on the face by his very own father- the current emperor.

    The aides, the royal knights, and the servants that surrounded His Majesty pretended that they didn¡¯t see the emperor hit the Crown Prince.

    And he didn¡¯t expect them to take his side.

    The only one who tried to protect him was his Gavin Quinzel- his closest friend and personal knight. If he didn¡¯t step forward to stop Gavin from reacting, that idiot would have been punished for trying to harm the emperor.

    .....

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Father,¡± Niki said, bowing his head to the emperor. ¡°I beg your forgiveness.¡±

    Why was he apologizing again?

    Ah, right.

    The emperor coughed up blood suddenly and His Majesty med it on him.

    ¡°Ungrateful bastard,¡± the emperor said in a cold, harsh tone. ¡°After all the things that I¡¯ve done for you, you¡¯re just going to steal my Moonglow and kill me? You haven¡¯t proven anything yet and you already want my throne?!¡±

    [Who wants the stupid throne?]

    But he couldn¡¯t voice out his honest thoughts, so he just bowed his head again while clenching his hands tight.

    As a result, his nails dug deep into his skin until his palms bled.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Father.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t need your apology!¡± the emperor yelled angrily, then he raised his hand again. ¡°You worthless piece of garbage!¡±

    He was prepared to get hit again, but it didn¡¯t happen.

    ¡°Dear, enough.¡±

    That cold, stern voice belonged to his mother.

    [It¡¯sical how Father listens to Mother even though the two has a sour rtionship.]

    ¡°We can¡¯t keep the guests waiting,¡± his mother said sternly.

    His father scoffed, then he walked away. ¡°Give me five minutes topose myself.¡±

    After dering that, the emperor left with his entire entourage.

    Only then did Niki raise his head.

    ck hair, amber eyes.

    His mother looked like a Quinzel that she was.

    He didn¡¯t inherit a single physical feature from his mother. It couldn¡¯t be helped though. After all, every de Moonasterio in the world would inherit the strong physical traits that they got from the Moon God: white hair, ash gray eyes, pale skin.

    ¡°Mother,¡± Niki greeted his mother politely. ¡°Where is Nichole?¡±

    ¡°She left the banquet early because she wasn¡¯t feeling well,¡± his mother said indifferently, then she looked at the blood at the corner of his lips. ¡°Go to Marcus and get yourself treated. You can¡¯t appear in the banquet hall looking like that.¡± After saying that, his mother¡¯s gaze went past him. ¡°Gavin, escort the Crown Prince to the Healing Sage.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡±

    His mother smiled at Gavin faintly, her usually stern face softening up a bit. ¡°Gavin, you silly child. You¡¯re allowed to call me ¡®aunt¡¯ when we don¡¯t have an audience.¡±

    After saying that, his mother left with her servants without saying anything to him again.

    [Mother is clearly more fond of Gavin than her own son.]

    Your Royal Highness, I¡¯ll take you to Lord Marcus,¡± Gavin said worriedly, then he offered his handkerchief to him. ¡°And you should change clothes, too.¡±

    After all, the blood from his mouth trickled down his clothes.

    ¡°Gavin, I¡¯ll probably treat my future heir the same way my father treats me right now.¡±

    Gavin¡¯s face turned stiff. ¡°Please don¡¯t say that, Your Royal Highness. You¡¯re different from His Majesty.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± Niki said bluntly. ¡°The emperor and the empress have chosen Juliet as the Crown Princess. I don¡¯t love Juliet, so I¡¯m sure I would never love our child.¡± He smirked bitterly. ¡°And once my child starts stealing my Moonglow the way I¡¯m stealing my father¡¯s Moonglow, I¡¯ll probably end up resenting him, too.¡±

    ***

    ¡°PAPA BOSS!¡±

    Niki blinked, confused.

    First of all, he didn¡¯t expect that he¡¯d end up falling asleep on the sofa in his office.

    Second, he was a little surprised to see Neoma¡¯s face as soon as he opened his eyes.

    ¡°Neoma, what are you doing here in my office?¡± Niki asked while getting up. ¡°Do you need something?¡±

    ¡°I need you to go and prepare for our outing now, Papa Boss,¡± Neoma said,ughing softly. ¡°Today is the day that we¡¯re scheduled to visit the ce where all the stolen things on the continent go to.¡±

    He knitted his eyebrows, confused. ¡°And what ce would that be?¡±

    ¡°The Moonasterion Museum, of course.¡±

    ***

    ¡°IT¡¯S SERIOUSLY criminal how many stolen artifacts our museum owns, Papa Boss.¡±

    Niki had to hold back hisughter after hearing Neoma¡¯sment (said in a whisper) while his daughter admired the holy artifact in front of them. It was a small holy tree made of gold. ording to thebel, it was from the kingdom that the empire colonized fifty years ago.

    [Nobody hates the monarchy as much as Neoma does.]

    And his daughter¡¯s earlyment was really funny.

    But he realized that he shouldn¡¯t beughing because, just like the previous emperors, he was also responsible for ruining some of the countries and kingdoms on the continent.

    In his defense, he never started a war¡ª he would just finish what the enemies had started.

    [Anyway...]

    The Moonasterion Museum was currently closed to the public, so only Niki and Neoma were there.

    But the Pdins, the royal knights, the aides, and the servants were in the same room.

    Hence, he didn¡¯t want anyone else to see or hear himugh.

    ¡°Papa Boss,¡± Neoma whispered, then she turned to him with sparkling eyes. ¡°What if a thief breaks in, then steals all the items in the museum and returns them to their rightful owners?¡±

    He raised an eyebrow at his daughter. ¡°Is there a thief who can break in and steal all the items here?¡±

    ¡°Someone like Nero can probably do it, though?¡±

    He almostughed again, but he instantly turned serious when he realized that his children were actually capable of doing that.

    [If Neoma asked, Nero would do it for sure.]

    And the scary part?

    [Nero would actually seed.]

    He was about to tell his daughter to leave the museum alone for now. But he froze when he felt something was suddenly wrong with his body.

    Neoma knitted her eyebrows worriedly. ¡°Papa Boss?¡±

    ¡°Excuse me for a moment.¡±

    After saying that, he left the room and asked everyone to stay with the ¡°Crown Prince.¡±

    Only one stubborn fellow had the guts to disobey him.

    ¡°Your Majesty...¡±

    He raised his hand to stop Glenn from talking. Then, when he finally entered the men¡¯s bathroom, only then did he allow himself to cough up the blood stuck in his throat.

    Yes, blood.

    [Neoma is stealing more and more Moonglow from me.]

    He stayed quiet, analyzing his own emotions.

    But he didn¡¯t feel any kind of resentment or bitterness towards his daughter. In fact, if he needed to give all his Moonglow to Neoma, he had a feeling that he¡¯d do it in a heartbeat.

    That thought made him smile.

    ¡°Your Majesty, is this the time to be smiling?¡± Glenn asked worriedly. ¡°If Princess Neoma sees you in that state...¡±

    .....

    Niki just ignored his knight while savoring the warm feeling in his chest.

    [Maybe I have really learned to love my children.]

    ***

    Hi! I¡¯d like to invite you to read my new story Spooky Soulmate. It¡¯s a teen fic with a touch of fantasy/supernatural in modern society. Please leavements and reviews if you can. Thank you~

 Chapter 553

    Chapter 553: INTO THE LION¡¯S DEN (1)

    ¡°YOU¡¯RE HERE,¡± Regina greeted Dn who arrived at the mansion in Rubin Drayton¡¯s body. ¡°You even brought extra baggage with you.¡±

    By ¡°extra baggage,¡± she meant Neoma de Moonasterio and her knights.

    ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio has a deep grudge against Rubin Drayton,¡± Dn said, then he plopped down to the bed. ¡°It¡¯s amusing how much they hate each other even though they barely interacted all these years. And the one who spent time with the young lord was supposedly the Crown Prince.¡±

    ¡°Obviously, that ¡°Crown Prince¡± was the royal princess in disguise,¡± she said, then she sat stood in front of the open window and looked outside. ¡°Now that Princess Neoma walked into the lion¡¯s den on her own, we¡¯ll use this opportunity to squeeze the truth out of her.¡±

    She didn¡¯t hear a response from Dn.

    [Rubin¡¯s body probably fell asleep already.]

    She didn¡¯t bother to turn around because she was busy observing the outside.

    .....

    The mansion that the crows built on the Leoflor Ind was located in the deepest part of the Lawless Jungle.

    Most of the family members residing there were researchers conducting some experiments under her leadership. She may only be fifteen years old, but her ability was already recognized by His Excellency.

    She may have failed before, but she wasn¡¯t someone that the Crowells or the de Lucas could easily dispose of.

    [That¡¯s what it means to be one of the ¡°favored children.¡±]

    But she was the only girl who achieved that title, so she couldn¡¯t fail this time.

    [I¡¯d hate to hear those bastards say that I can¡¯t do anything right just because I¡¯m a girl.]

    She looked at her gloved hand.

    Yes, it was the hand that Ruston Stroganoff had cut off during their confrontation in the past. The mage in the family managed to attach a different hand for her. However, she could no longer use that hand to turn things into ashes.

    But it didn¡¯t matter since it wasn¡¯t her only ability anyway.

    [Ruston Stroganoff, I wonder how you¡¯d react if I sent Princess Neoma¡¯s severed hand to you?]

    ording to the information shared within the family, Ruston Stroganoff- apparently- treasured Neoma de Moonasterio as if the royal princess was his lover.

    She didn¡¯t expect that from the royal chef, though.

    [Ruston Stroganoff, do you not have any conscience? I know that Princess Neoma is a beauty who looks older than her age. But she¡¯s only thirteen years old, you cradle snatcher.]

    As expected, men were really the scum of this world.

    ¡°What are you thinking, Regina?¡±

    Ah, it wasn¡¯t Rubin¡¯s voice.

    [Dn...]

    ¡°I¡¯m thinking about Ruston Stroganoff.¡±

    ¡°Are you trying to make me angry?¡±

    Before she knew it, Dn had already nted both of his hands on her either side- trapping her between the window and his solid body.

    [The perverted psycho is acting up again.]

    She let out a sigh before turning around to face Dn.

    Jet-ck hair, ck eyes (with heavy bags underneath them), and pale skin that might be paler than the de Moonasterios.

    This man that looked depraved of sleep was the true appearance of Dn Crowell.

    [And that ridiculous amount of earrings and piercings...]

    She wondered how Dn¡¯s ears hadn¡¯t fallen off yet despite being covered by different earrings and piercings.

    [I know that it¡¯s to seal his powers, but it¡¯s still ridiculous.]

    ¡°Why are you thinking of Ruston Stroganoff?¡± Dn interrogated her in a cold, stiff voice. ¡°Isn¡¯t he the bastard who cut off your hand?¡±

    Regina smirked at Dn¡¯s disgusting reaction. ¡°So what? Are you going to say that you¡¯re going to cut off his hand to avenge me?¡±

    ¡°Do you think I¡¯m not capable of doing that?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not,¡± she said bluntly while nodding. ¡°Ruston Stroganoff is the divine son of the God Among Gods. Calyx is not even a match to him.¡±

    ¡°Are you implying that Calyx is better than me?¡±

    ¡°Well, who¡¯s called the ¡®Masterpiece¡¯ between the two of you?¡±

    She was bluffing.

    Of course, she knew very well that Dn was a lot stronger than Calyx.

    The only reason Calyx was chosen as the ¡®Masterpiece¡¯ was because he could act like a decent person. Aside from his socializing skills, Calyx was actually smart if only he would stop acting dumb just to look ¡°cute¡± and ¡°friendly.¡±

    Dn, on the other hand, was a hopeless case.

    [After all, Dn is just a killing machine.]

    ¡°Regina,¡± Dn said coldly, then he pinched her chin and forced her to look at his face. ¡°Don¡¯t test my patience.¡±

    She didn¡¯t want to admit this, but she felt a shiver down her spine.

    [Not yet.]

    She wasn¡¯t strong enough to confront Dn yet, so she must stop here for now. Or else he might really lose it and harm her.

    However, she didn¡¯t want to back down like a coward.

    ¡°What, are you going to snap at me?¡± Regina asked, smirking. Then she used the back of her (normal) hand to caress Dn¡¯s cheek- slowly yet roughly as if she wanted to scratch his unnecessarily handsome face. ¡°But didn¡¯t you already sumb to me...¡± She trailed off on purpose, then she tip-toed and whispered in his ear. ¡°Brother.¡±

    Dn suddenly grabbed her by the waist, then he buried his head against her neck while growling lowly. ¡°You only call me ¡®brother¡¯ when you know you¡¯re in trouble.¡±

    She rolled her eyes, but her hand moved tob his messy hair. ¡°You know that, and yet you fall for it every time.¡±

    Heughed like the lunatic that he was, then he wrapped his arms around her body. ¡°When will you cry FOR me again, Regina?¡±

    She bit her bottom lip when she was reminded of the biggest mistake of her life.

    But she refused to entertain Dn¡¯s provocation.

    ¡°Stop acting sentimental and get back to work,¡± she said, then she pulled Dn¡¯s hair to force him to look at her.

    As expected, Dn was smiling even though she had just pulled his hair.

    ¡°I like it when you¡¯re being this aggressive, Regina,¡± Dn said, his smile getting creepy every time she saw it. ¡°But I like it more when you act like a good baby sister since I wouldn¡¯t worry about identally killing you.¡±

    [See? Men are indeed the scum of this world. Especially if the man in question is your perverted psycho older brother.]

    She let go of his hair. ¡°Then should I act cute for you?¡±

    He just raised his eyebrow at her as if he was challenging her.

    ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio came with the demon who turned out to be the Devil¡¯s Grimoire,¡± Regina said, acting pitifully. Then she put her hands on his chest. ¡°Will you help your poor, weak baby sister to get rid of Trevor Kesser, my reliable brother?¡±

    God, this was disgusting.

    But she had to survive in this godforsaken family.

    ¡°I know you¡¯re just acting, but it¡¯s still fun to see you act like a good girl that you¡¯re not,¡± Dn said, then he grabbed her face and leaned down until their faces were only a breath¡¯s away from each other- without breaking eye contact. ¡°As a reward, I¡¯ll deal with Trevor Kesser for you- we belong to the same bloodline anyway.¡±

    ***

    NEOMA was startled when Trevor suddenly shivered beside her.

    They just entered the Lawless Jungle.

    As expected, they were attacked by different forces right away. The first things that ¡°weed¡± them were the crows. But she didn¡¯t get the chance to see the enemies properly since her children took care of the attackers swiftly.

    Juri, the Tank, led the party and attacked the enemies with her sledgehammer.

    Since Lewis- the Fighter- wasn¡¯t there to help the Tank on the frontline, Paige- the Mage- took theirmander¡¯s ce.

    Jeno, of course, was in the rear while attacking the enemies.

    But the Marksman was currently using his Mist ability to conceal himself, so the only thing that let them know about his presence was the continuous gunshots they heard.

    [Greko and I are taking it easy.]

    Jeno created a flying sofa made of clouds for her and their maknae.

    Trevor, on the other hand, was lying on his stomach while using Bookworm as a flying vehicle to keep up with them.

    [What a horrible master.]

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Neoma asked Trevor who was rubbing his arms. ¡°Did you get goosebumps or something?¡±

    .....

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Trevor said, then he touched the back of his neck. ¡°I feel like someone is aiming for my life here.¡±

    ¡°Why would anyone target you when I¡¯m here?¡± she asked, confused. Then she put a hand over her chest. ¡°I¡¯m the gold prize here, you know? Everyone should just focus on me.¡±

    The demon boy looked at her as if he was confused, then heughed heartily. ¡°My Moon Princess, you really love attention, huh? Even if they are from the enemies.¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± she said, then she looked ahead. ¡°I need the enemies to focus on ME and only me so they will leave my people alone.¡±

    After all, she was the strongest among her people.

    She wasn¡¯t underestimating them, but she would feel more at ease if she was the one in danger instead of the people she loved.

    Trevor, who wasughing like a hyena earlier, sighed. ¡°Princess Neoma, you¡¯re too kind for your own good.¡±

    ¡°I hate to agree with Mr. Trevor, but he¡¯s right,¡± Greko said. ¡°Eomma, I hate that you have a sacrificial mindset.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not true,¡± Neoma denied firmly. ¡°I don¡¯t enjoy sacrificing myself fr other people, though? I¡¯m a selfish, vain princess.¡±

    [Right?]

    ***

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 Chapter 554

    Chapter 554: INTO THE LION¡¯S DEN (2)

    AFTER NEOMA dered that she wasn¡¯t someone who enjoyed sacrificing herself for other people, Greko and Trevor just looked at her with pity in their eyes.

    [Why are they looking at me like that...?]

    She got distracted when she felt faint divine energy in the air.

    Hence, she immediately focused on Juri and Paige on the frontline.

    Juri, as expected of the Tank that she was, plowed through the enemies by hitting them with her sledgehammer...

    ... whileughing like a lunatic.

    [Ahem.]

    .....

    Paige, on the other hand, had turned her white parasol into a rapier sword. The mage sliced her enemies in an elegant manner as if she was dancing ballet instead of going on a killing spree.

    [These crows are weak.]

    By ¡°crows,¡± she meant the assassins that were obviously sent by the Crowells. At first, the enemies came at them in their bird form. Then they turned into their human form in order to attack her.

    But, obviously, Juri and Paige wouldn¡¯t let the assassins near her.

    Aside from that, she already protected her children with a Coat- the type of barrier that covered a person¡¯s entire body. At first, she could only use a Coat on herself. But since she was a genius, it didn¡¯t take her long to learn how to extend her barrier to the people she wanted to protect. And since she had overflowing Mana, she could cover all her children with Coats easily.

    Hence, Juri, Paige, and Jeno could focus more on attacking instead of defending against the crows.

    [Yep, I¡¯m sure that we¡¯re fighting against crows.]

    After all, she could feel the disgusting Darkness from them- the Darkness that was unique to the Crowells.

    [They¡¯re not the source of the faint divine energy I feel in the air.]

    And the divine energy still lingered even after her children had gotten rid of all the crows that appeared earlier.

    [Someone else ising.]

    ¡°Juri, Paige, Jeno!¡± Neoma yelled, calling her children¡¯s attention. ¡°Behind me- now!¡±

    She didn¡¯t have to say it twice.

    Her children all hid behind her as soon as she said the word.

    After that, she stood up and created a Dome strong enough to stand an attack created by divine energy.

    In just the blink of an eye, the Dome was hit by several collisions between them.

    ¡°Ah, they came out,¡± Trevor said, amused. ¡°The lions.¡±

    The demon boy was correct.

    Three big lions collided with the Dome that she created. However, after that, the lions didn¡¯t make any movement at all. The beasts just kept on growling low while circling them.

    [But they¡¯re not hostile.]

    ¡°Trevor.¡±

    ¡°Yes, my Moon Princess?¡±

    ¡°Are they the lions that abducted Xion and Gin?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if they¡¯re exactly the same lions, but those three are definitely Beastmen so they probably came from the same Lion Tribe.¡±

    ¡®Beastmen.¡¯

    As its name suggested, Beastmen were the type of people who could shapeshift ording to their tribe or ss.

    [This is my first name meeting Beastmen.]

    Apparently, the Lion Tribe abducted her son.

    [But they don¡¯t feel dangerous.]

    And she trusted her gut feeling.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to remove the Dome,¡± Neoma announced while clenching her hand tight. ¡°Be on your guard, but do not attack the lions.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Royal Highness,¡± her children said at the same time.

    As soon as she unclenched her hand, the Dome vanished.

    Despite the barrier copsing, the lions didn¡¯t attack them.

    [As expected, they¡¯re not here to fight.]

    But she didn¡¯t know why the lions collided with her Dome earlier.

    [Well, let¡¯s just ask them.]

    ¡°Hello, kids,¡± Neoma greeted the three lions circling them cheerfully. ¡°Don¡¯t be rmed. I know that my beauty is out of this world, but I¡¯m just an ordinarydy-¡±

    The lions growled at her at the same time she heard a strange sound in her head.

    [Oh?]

    However, Trevor and her children were startled, so they suddenly raised their weapons against the lions who growled again.

    ¡°Don¡¯t attack the kids,¡± Neoma said sternly. ¡°They¡¯re not growling because they¡¯re angry- they¡¯reughing.¡±

    Everyone looked at her strangely.

    ¡°Princess Neoma, could it be that you can hear their thoughts?¡± Paige asked curiously. ¡°Beastmen in their beast form is said to be simr to Spirits. And since Princess Neoma is a Roseheart, perhaps...?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Neoma confirmed while nodding. ¡°I can hear the kids talking.¡±

    The lions sounded young in her head, so she called them ¡®kids.¡¯

    Neoma giggled while listening to the kids¡¯ conversation. ¡°They called me Xion¡¯s ¡°mother.¡±¡±

    Her children¡¯s face beamed right away.

    ¡°That means Xion hyung is with them,¡± Greko said happily. ¡°Is that right, eomma?¡±

    She smiled and nodded. ¡°You¡¯re right, maknae-ah.¡±

    ¡°Xion would rather kill himself than speak Princess Neoma¡¯s name to the enemies,¡± Juri said, smiling. ¡°If Xion mentioned Princess Neoma to the lions, then it can only mean that we can trust them.¡±

    Jeno nodded in agreement. ¡°And now we¡¯ve also confirmed that he¡¯s still alive.¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Neoma agreed, letting out a sigh of relief. ¡°I¡¯ll ask the kids to take us to Xion.¡±

    ¡°My Moon Princess,¡± Trevor said while smiling brightly at her. ¡°Can you also ask the kids if Gin is alright-¡±

    Neoma pushed Trevor with her left hand as soon as she noticed the sudden shift in the air.

    Then she raised her right hand and created a te-like barrier to block the dagger aimed at where the demon boy was standing a moment ago.

    However, much to her shock, her barrier BROKE and the dagger changed its trajection.

    ¡°Princess Neoma!¡±

    She understood why Trevor and her children cried out her name.

    After all, the dagger pierced through her hand. Not only did she bled, but her hand also turned ck slowly as if it was rotting. Ah, she was poisoned by Darkness.

    And it hurt like hell.

    ¡°Fucking shit,¡± Neoma said coldly, her eyes glowing red by now. ¡°Someone wants to have a private tour in my Hellgate tonight, huh?¡±

    ***

    NERO dropped the teacup when his right hand suddenly turned numb.

    And it hurt like crazy.

    [Neoma...?]

    ¡°Nero!¡± her mother, whom he was having tea with, immediately stood up and squatted down in front of him. With just one snap of his mother¡¯s fingers, the broken pieces of the teacup floated and turned into ashes. ¡°Did you get burned?¡±

    He shook his head and was about to tell his mother that the tea wasn¡¯t burning hot, but he was interrupted when the door to the tearoom burst open.

    ¡°What happened?¡± his father asked as soon as he saw the residue of the ashes in the air. ¡°Are you both alright?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, but Nero¡¯s tea spilled on his legs...¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m alright, Mother,¡± he assured her. ¡°I¡¯m not burned. But...¡± He looked at his hand that was ced on the table idly. ¡°I can¡¯t move my right hand, and it hurts so much that I feel like passing out.¡±

    He wasn¡¯t being sarcastic.

    .....

    Although he said that with a nk look on his face, it really hurt. However, he tried his best to remain calm and analyze the strange sensation in his hand.

    ¡°Mother, Father, I believe it¡¯s poison-¡±

    He didn¡¯t get to finish his sentence because as soon as the word ¡®poison¡¯ came out of his mouth, his parents¡¯ bloodlust leaked out and it made him shiver.

    [My parents can be a little scary, huh?]

    His mother stood up and opened her hand, a light pink energy ball materializing above her n. ¡°I¡¯ll take the poison out of Nero¡¯s body.¡±

    His father nodded in agreement. ¡°I¡¯ll personally arrest everyone in the kitchen first.¡±

    ¡°Mother, Father, please calm down and let me finish first,¡± Nero said, proceeding to exin right away before his parents got the chance to overreact again. ¡°I¡¯m not saying that I was the one who got poisoned.¡±

    It only took a second for his parents to get what he was saying.

    His mother covered her mouth when she gasped. ¡°Then, Neoma...¡±

    ¡°Neoma¡¯s presence disappeared the moment she entered Leoflor Ind since it¡¯s a ce that can¡¯t be reached by gods¡¯ blessings,¡± his father said worriedly. ¡°The fact that you felt the same pain that your twin sister is probably going through only means that...¡±

    ¡°It must have hurt a lot for the pain to reach me even though Neoma is supposed to be temporarily erased from this world,¡± Nero said in a very cold voice, then he stood up with his entire right hand limping from numbness. ¡°Please excuse me for a moment, Father, Mother.¡±

    [I have a crazy bastard to torture first.]

    ***

    THERE.

    Neoma didn¡¯t waste time.

    As soon as she felt the assant move to change locations after throwing the poisonous dagger, she summoned her wings and shot up to the sky.

    If she had her Moonglow, her wings would have turned purple.

    However, since she could only use her Roseheart Blood at the moment, her wings remained red since they were made of red roses.

    ¡°Don¡¯t follow me!¡± Neoma yelled because she felt the presence of the crows again. This time, the group that arrived was stronger than the small fries that her children took care of earlier. ¡°Protect Greko and the lions!¡±

    Her children seemed to have obeyed her orders.

    Unfortunately, there was one who didn¡¯t fall under that category.

    However, she didn¡¯t have the time to argue since she almost caught up with the assant who must be using flight magic to fly like S*perman. It was a ck-haired man dressed in all ck. And judging by his body build, it seemed like he was older than her.

    [I got you now, bastard!]

    Neoma grabbed the cor of the assant.

    However, it disappeared as soon as she touched it.

    [Wow, what a slippery bastard.]

    She didn¡¯t have the time to curse the assant more, though.

    After all, she was forced to stop flying further when the assant suddenly appeared in front of her. She couldn¡¯t really see his face, though. After all, the young man wore a turtleneck shirt that covered half of his face.

    However, the young man¡¯s ears were pretty eye-catching.

    [This is the first time I¡¯ve seen someone with as many piercings as Trevor does.]

    ¡°As expected of the royal princess,¡± the assant said while pulling down the mask that covered half of his face. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I¡¯m not here to y with you.¡±

    Wow.

    That handsome face...

    That vast magic power...

    Those earrings and piercings...

    ¡°Dude,¡± Neoma said, a little shocked while staring at the young man. ¡°You¡¯re like the poor man¡¯s version of Trevor.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 555

    Chapter 555: POOR MAN¡¯S VERSION

    ¡°AH, SO it¡¯s true that Your Royal Highness is rude.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t be nice to the person who did this to my precious hand, can I?¡± Neoma said, smiling while showing the young man her right hand. ¡°You fucking piece of shit.¡±

    ¡°Why are youining?¡± the young man asked, shrugging. ¡°It¡¯s already healing even though you can¡¯t use your divine power on this ind.¡±

    That was right.

    Her divine power and Moonglow weren¡¯t working.

    [That¡¯s why my barrier is also weaker than usual. If I have my Moonglow, that bastard wouldn¡¯t have broken my barrier with a daggerced with poisonous Darkness.]

    Thankfully, her Roseheart Blood was also capable of purifying Darkness- and it worked its magic before her condition got worse. First, her Roseheart Blood numbed the pain in her hand. Then it began purifying the poisonous Darkness that entered her body.

    .....

    And now, her hand was as good as new.

    ¡°This is why I¡¯m deeply grateful that my mother is THE one and only Mona Roseheart,¡± Neoma said proudly. ¡°Your petty tricks won¡¯t work on me even if I can¡¯t use my divine power here.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t y a petty trick on you,¡± the young man denied calmly. ¡°You weren¡¯t my target in the first ce.¡±

    ¡°Ah, right,¡± she said, nodding. ¡°The dagger was aimed at Trevor.¡±

    [This dude can pass off as Trevor¡¯s older brother, though.]

    Physically, the young man looked older than Trevor¡¯s current appearance. The two could even pass off as twins.

    [But this dude looks like the sleep-deprived version of Trevor.]

    Just look at how heavy the bags were under his eyes.

    [Maybe I¡¯m just being biased since I still consider Trevor as my chingue, so I¡¯m finding fault in this dude.]

    ¡°Why did you save Trevor Kesser?¡± the dude asked her. ¡°I heard he betrayed you.¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± she said, smirking. ¡°Did Kyle Sprouse already spill that much tea?¡±

    They already expected that Kyle Sprouse would leak information about her to the crows.

    And she wasn¡¯t disappointed.

    [As expected of that traitor.]

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about, little princess.¡±

    ¡°Drop the act, dude,¡± she said. ¡°I know you¡¯re a crow- you reek of bullshit.¡±

    ¡°Kids these days are so rude,¡± the young man said. ¡°Your foul mouth makes me want to cut off your tongue and feed it to the crows.¡±

    Oh?

    That actually gave her goosebumps. After all, she could tell that this young man was the real deal. The dude was strong, and so his threat wasn¡¯t empty.

    [Ah, finally. An opponent who can actually scare me.]

    She couldn¡¯t help butugh in excitement.

    ¡°You¡¯reughing?¡± the young man asked, unimpressed. ¡°I hope you know I don¡¯t give empty threats.¡±

    ¡°Precisely,¡± she said, opening her hand after summoning Skewer. As soon as the pink Death Sycthe materialized in the air, she grabbed it tight. ¡°Are the crows blind? You should have been the ¡®Masterpiece¡¯ and not Calyx Dalton.¡±

    ¡°Oh, you can tell at one nce?¡± the young man said, raising an eyebrow at her. This time, a glint of interest sparked in his ck eyes. ¡°Someone dear said the same thing to me earlier.¡±

    ¡°Then my assumptions must be correct,¡± she said, smirking. ¡°You¡¯re crazier than Calyx Dalton.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s precisely why I wasn¡¯t chosen as the ¡®Masterpiece,''¡± he said, shrugging. ¡°Calyx is good at pretending to be a dumb person- I¡¯m not.¡±

    ¡®Pretending to be a dumb person,¡¯ huh?

    [He¡¯s saying that the Calyx Dalton is only pretending to be dumb.]

    The young man who observed her reaction lifted the corner of his mouth into azy smirk.

    [Gosh, he really looks like Trevor.]

    ¡°It worked, didn¡¯t it?¡± he asked indifferently, the smirk he shed earlier disappeared the moment it appeared. ¡°You must be all thinking that Calyx is an easy target. But whatever you say, that child is still a de Moonasterio. Like any royal child with the Moon God¡¯s blood, his mind developed early. He was already an adult inside even before his age hit double digits.¡±

    Well, it was the same for Neoma and Nero.

    [We never really had a ¡®toddler phase¡¯ because we matured fast.]

    ¡°If I knew that Your Royal Highness talks a lot, I would have invited you to have tea with me.¡±

    ¡°Are you done?¡±

    ¡°You were the one who initiated this talk, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°No, not that,¡± she said, opening her arms to gesture to their surroundings. ¡°I¡¯m asking if you¡¯re done gathering Mana.¡±

    The arrogant look on the bastard finally disappeared.

    ¡°Do you think I wouldn¡¯t notice that you¡¯re collecting Mana in order to fight?¡±

    The young man frowned. ¡°If you already know what I was doing, then why didn¡¯t you attack first?¡±

    ¡°Because that¡¯s boring,¡± she said, summoning Tteokbokki¡¯s me. In just a couple of seconds, the red dragon¡¯s red me engulfed Skewer¡¯s curved de brilliantly. ¡°I want to fight a strong bastard like you in your best condition, so you wouldn¡¯t have an excuse as to why you lost once I beat you to a pulp.¡±

    ¡°How arrogant,¡± the young man said, then he opened his hands. ¡°I¡¯ll make you regret your ¡°generosity,¡± Princess Neoma.¡±

    It only took a second for them to literally sh.

    In just the blink of an eye, Skewer¡¯s curved de collided with the Darkness-covered curved de of the young man¡¯s scythe.

    [Yep, we wield the same weapon.]

    The impact created a strong wave, sending both Neoma and the dude away from each other.

    Then the wave caused by the sh exploded in the air, causing a sky quake.

    Yep, the sky shook as if a loud thunder just rumbled. It was strong enough to cause the ground to shake as well. If they fought on the ground, half of the ind would have been wiped off already.

    [This dude is indeed the real deal.]

    She smirked after hearing her Soul Beast¡¯s thoughts in her head.

    [You sound excited, Tteokbokki.]

    ¡°Now I know why Calyx lost to Your Royal Highness,¡± the young man said, then he put a hand over his chest and bowed to her. ¡°I apologize for thete introduction. My name is Dn Crowell.¡±

    Crowell, huh?

    [I thought he was a de Luca.]

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect such courtesy from someone like you, Mr. Dn.¡±

    ¡°I only respect two types of people,¡± Dn said, his face and voice remaining nk. ¡°First, family members who are worth killing. Second...¡± He removed the earrings and piercings in his left ear one by one. ¡°Opponents who force me to remove my seal.¡±

    Neoma got chills when Dn¡¯s real power leaked out.

    But it wasn¡¯t the crow who made her feel that way.

    ¡°Why...¡±

    She looked over her shoulder to find Trevor behind her, suspended in the air just like her and Dn Crowell.

    [He¡¯s angry, for real.]

    This was the first time Neoma saw Trevor this angry.

    ¡°You damned crow,¡± Trevor, whose entire body was covered with dark energy. Ah, it must be his demon power. ¡°Why do you have my father¡¯s piercings?! Those are the Kesser Family¡¯s heirlooms!¡±

    [Oh my gosh!]

    ¡°Is there a reason for me not to inherit the family heirlooms?¡± Dn said, smirking at Trevor. ¡°Brother?¡±

    Neoma gasped softly. [What a shocking plot twist!]

    ***

    ¡°GO BACK.¡±

    Nero looked at Hanna, who literally blocked his way, coldly. ¡°Do you even know where I¡¯m headed to?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re obviously headed to the residence you provided to Lord Calyx and Lady Sloane,¡± Hanna said calmly. ¡°Seeing as you left without your knights, I can tell that you are headed there in a hurry. And judging by your bloodlust...¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t kill that crazy bastard,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ll just punish him a bit.¡±

    ¡°What happened to Neoma?¡± she asked, ignoring what he just said. ¡°You won¡¯t react that way if it has nothing to do with Neoma.¡±

    .....

    ¡°Neoma is hurt,¡± he said, then he looked at his right hand. ¡°But I suppose it already healed since the pain is gone and I can feel my right hand again.¡±

    He was relieved.

    Thanks to their Moonglow and divine power, their minor wounds would heal on their own. Moreover, both Nero and Neoma were immune to the most deadly poisons known to man.

    But he was worried since the ind would prevent Neoma¡¯s divine power from working.

    [Perhaps her Roseheart Blood helped her this time.]

    He was d that their mother was Mona Roseheart.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then you don¡¯t have tosh out at Lord Calyx.¡±

    He raised his head to meet Hanna¡¯s firm gaze.

    ¡°Don¡¯t re at me. You know I¡¯m right,¡± Hanna said sternly. ¡°Moreover, you shouldn¡¯t let the enemies know that Neoma was hurt.¡±

    Ah, right.

    He was too consumed by anger that he almost made a mistake.

    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± he admitted. ¡°Thank you for preventing me from making a mistake, Hanna.¡±

    ¡°Although it¡¯s lovely to see you care for Neoma that much, don¡¯t let your emotions get the better of you.¡±

    ¡°I understand,¡± he said, nodding. Then he changed the topic. ¡°Where are you headed?¡±

    ¡°I set an appointment with His Majesty,¡± she exined. ¡°I wish to get His Majesty¡¯s approval.¡±

    ¡°Approval for what?¡±

    ¡°I n to build an apiary in my current residence.¡±

    ¡°Apiary?¡± he asked, confused. ¡°Isn¡¯t that a bee yard?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s correct.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re nning to raise bees?¡±

    ¡°Yes, and some poisonous flowers,¡± she said. ¡°Oh. I may need to get His Majesty¡¯s approval to raise poisonous flowers, too.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s an interestingbination.¡±

    Hanna just gave her a proud smile.

    Aha.

    [Hanna is up to something sneaky.]

    It was Neoma¡¯s (bad) influence, wasn¡¯t it?

    ¡°Mother and Father are in the tearoom,¡± Nero said, then he offered his arm to Hanna. ¡°I¡¯ll escort you there.¡±

    ***

    NIKOLAI was about to follow Nero who stormed out of the tearoom when, all of a sudden, he felt a slight discord in the barrier that he put around the entire Royal Pce.

    In just the blink of an eye, a jet-ck rooster appeared in front of him.

    Of course, it couldn¡¯t be an ordinary animal.

    Hence, he stood protectively in front of Mona.

    Then his Soul Beast South (the Vermillion Bird) came out in his human form.

    ¡°I apologize, Master,¡± South said while kneeling and bowing in front of him. ¡°I failed to stop that bastard froming here.¡±

    That ¡®bastard?¡¯

    [South calls everyone he doesn¡¯t like a ¡®bastard.¡¯ But he¡¯s particrly irked with people from the same tribe as him. That¡¯s why he doesn¡¯t get along with Nero¡¯s ice phoenix.]

    Then the rooster...

    South turned to the ck rooster and growled. ¡°You disrespectful bastard! How dare you address my master by his name?!¡±

    South opened his mouth toin, but he beat the Soul Beast to it.

    ¡°Keep quiet, South.¡±

    South immediately turned to him and bowed his head. ¡°Yes, Master.¡±

    ¡°Vespera1,¡± Niki said while looking down at the ck rooster. It wasn¡¯t its original form, of course. ¡°Why did Nichole send you here?¡±

    Yes, the ck rooster was Nichole¡¯s Soul Beast- the ck Phoenix.

    [It probably changed into a rooster, a weak animal, so that the barrier wouldn¡¯t reject it.]

    Of course, only Nichole could manipte the barrier that he made because his twin sister had always been more talented than him when it came to making barriers.

    He was surprised to hear that. ¡°Nichole wants to meet me in person?¡±

    Ah.

    Now he had a feeling as to why Nichole wanted to meet him.

    [Vespera talks to Mona respectfully while he¡¯s rude to me...]

    Well, not that he deserved Vespera¡¯s respect after he harmed Nichole in the past.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Lady Vespera,¡± Mona said, smiling. She also spoke politely to the Soul Beast, addressing Vespera as dy¡¯ because it was Vespera¡¯s wish to be referred to that way. ¡°Please send my regards to Princess Nichole.¡±

    ¡°Alright, take me to Nichole,¡± he said, then he turned to Mona. ¡°Is it okay if leave for a moment? I would love to take you with me, but I believe one of us has to stay here for Nero.¡±

    After all, the crows were in the pce at the moment.

    ¡°Of course, it¡¯s alright with me,¡± Mona said, smiling. ¡°I¡¯ll protect our son and the pce while you¡¯re out.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± he said. ¡°Ah, I just remembered that I¡¯m supposed to meet Hannater. I already signed the documents that she needed to renovate her residence again. If it¡¯s alright with you, can you hand them to Hanna?¡±

    ¡°Leave it to me, my love.¡±

    He couldn¡¯t help but smile because he really loved hearing Mona call him her ¡®love.¡¯

    ¡°I¡¯m lucky to have you,¡± Niki said, then he leaned down to whisper in Mona¡¯s ear. ¡°My love.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 556

    Chapter 556: WHAT SORCERY IS THAT?

    FIRST, IT was Calyx Dalton who suddenly appeared out of nowhere and imed that he was a de Moonasterio.

    And now, another crow appeared and imed that he was a Kesser.

    Neoma¡¯s big brain worked double time.

    [I feel like there¡¯s a connection here, but I can¡¯t pinpoint it yet.]

    ¡°You¡¯re saying you¡¯re my brother?¡± Trevor asked. Well, he practically growled lowly at Dn Crowell because that was how angry he sounded. And he sounded scary even though he wasn¡¯t raising his voice yet. ¡°You must be fucking kidding.¡±

    [Oh... Trevor cursed.]

    That made her proud of him.

    .....

    ¡°I only had one brother, and I¡¯m sure as hell it wasn¡¯t you,¡± Trevor continued. ¡°And if you were my brother, then you should have been way older than your current age. Only the de Moonasterios and people with the blood of gods age slowly. You do not have the blood of any god. Moreover, your soul matches the age of your physical body.¡±

    Of course, the demon boy could see things like that.

    [I often treat Trevor like a clown because he¡¯s goofy, but I shouldn¡¯t forget that he¡¯s supposedly the youngest Sorcerer of his time.]

    ¡°Look at my earrings, Brother,¡± Dn Crowell said. ¡°Only the Kessers could wear them, and you know that very well.¡±

    ¡°You might have Kesser blood because although House Kesser doesn¡¯t exist anymore, it¡¯s possible for our descendants to exist up to this day,¡± Trevor said coldly. ¡°However, it¡¯s impossible for you to be my brother since we were born in different eras.¡±

    ¡°We may be born in different eras, but I assure you we have the same father, Trevor Kesser.¡±

    Oh.

    [That dude is confident.]

    Trevor, who looked pissed, probably noticed that Dn Crowell looked too confident to be lying.

    [That or the dude is just good at lying.]

    However...

    ¡°Dude, I have a question,¡± Neoma said when she couldn¡¯t contain her curiosity anymore. ¡°You introduced yourself as a Crowell. Does it mean your mother is a Crowell?¡±

    Dn Crowell looked at her with a nk look on his face. ¡°That¡¯s correct, Your Royal Highness. My mother is a Crowell.¡±

    [He said ¡®is.¡¯]

    Neoma got goosebumps when she finally started to put the puzzles together.

    [My big brain is connecting the dots!]

    ¡°Is?¡± Trevor, who also caught on, asked. ¡°Your mother is still alive, and yet you¡¯re iming we have the same father? My father is long gone, you fake bastard.¡±

    Dn Crowell shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m not here to convince you, since I don¡¯t need your validation to im that I am a Kesser.¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t scam me-¡±

    ¡°Sperm banking,¡± Neoma said, identally cutting Trevor off. Both young men turned to her, but she just continued her ¡°monologuing.¡± ¡°Posthumous sperm retrieval is also possible.¡±

    ¡°Moon Princess?¡±

    ¡°Posthumous sperm retrieval is a procedure where you collect a dead man¡¯s sperm. Ah, it¡¯s called ¡®Seed¡¯ here,¡± she exined to the demon boy. ¡°The crows may have collected your father¡¯s sperm when he was still alive, or perhaps when he had just died. Then they froze his sperm and use themter.¡±

    Dn Crowell¡¯s face turned grim as if Neoma just said something that she shouldn¡¯t.

    Aha!

    [That reaction makes me confident that I got it right.]

    Trevor, on the other hand, looked confused. ¡°Use the Seedter? What do you mean by that, Moon Princess?¡±

    ¡°Intrauterine insemination or IUI, aka ¡°artificial insemination.¡± It¡¯s a procedure where a physician inserts the sperm directly into the woman¡¯s uterus,¡± Neoma exined as simply as she could. ¡°It could also be in vitro fertilization or IVF, a procedure where you surgically remove the woman¡¯s egg cells aka Bean, and the man¡¯s sperm aka Seed. Then you join the woman¡¯s egg and a man¡¯s sperm in aboratory dish to create an embryo.¡±

    The demon boy knitted his eyebrows. ¡°Embryo?¡±

    ¡°A fetus, a baby,¡± she said. ¡°Once the embryo is sessfully created, it will be transferred back to the uterus in hopes of achieving pregnancy.¡±

    The shock on Trevor¡¯s face told her that those procedures weren¡¯t known to this world yet.

    However, Dn Crowell red at her.

    [The names of the procedures might be different in this world. But based on the dude¡¯s reaction, everything I said was right.]

    Hah!

    Trevor then red at Dn Crowell. ¡°What kind of sorcery is that?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s notplete sorcery,¡± Neoma chimed in. ¡°It¡¯s modern science. However, there might be some sorcery involved if it happened in this world.¡± She smiled at Dn Crowell. ¡°Isn¡¯t that right, Mr. Dn?¡±

    ¡°I was informed that Your Royal Highness is highly intelligent,¡± Dn Crowell said. ¡°But nobody told me that Your Royal Highness is also creative. Since you can never inherit the throne, perhaps, Princess Neoma is nning to be a novelist as a fallback?¡±

    Trevor growled at Dn Crowell again. ¡°Princess Neoma is destined to be the first empress regnant of the Great Moonasterion Empire, bastard.¡±

    Dn Crowell just scoffed.

    Now that she had confirmed that she was right about how Dn Crowell was conceived, she started to get angry.

    [Those crow bastards wouldn¡¯t have stopped with de Moonasterios and the Kessers, right?]

    ¡°We may have the same father, but you¡¯re obviously the inferior brother,¡± Trevor said, scoffing. ¡°How can you not see that my Moon Princess is meant to be the empress regnant and not a mere novelist? Are your eyes for decorations only? Don¡¯t tell anyone you¡¯re a Kesser- you¡¯ll just embarrass me.¡±

    ¡°Trevor, my traitorous chingu, calm down. There¡¯s nothing wrong with Mr. Dn¡¯s suggestion. In fact, I already have a plot in mind,¡± Neoma said cheerfully, then she cleared her throat before she went monologuing again. ¡°What do you think about this story? It¡¯s about a viinous n called ¡®Crowells¡¯ who taints the world with Darkness. They¡¯re originally a weak-ass family, but they gained power by swallowing other households. And do you know how they do that?¡±

    ¡°That sounds interesting, my Moon Princess,¡± Trevor, who quickly caught on her ¡°act,¡± asked merrily. ¡°How do the viinous n swallow other households?¡±

    ¡°By stealing the eggs and the sperms of the people who belong to powerful ns, then they proceed to conceive a child that carries half of their filthy blood,¡± Neoma said, growling a bit this time- her eyes glowing red now. ¡°Dn Crowell, you don¡¯t have a little Roseheart in your ¡°family,¡± do you?¡±

    If the Crowells had the audacity to steal eggs and sperms from the de Moonasterios and the Kessers, then they also had the guts to do that to other families such as the Rosehearts.

    [Come to think of it, the Kessers and the Rosehearts are both FALLEN families.]

    Perhaps the two prominent ns¡¯ downfall had something to do with the Crowells and their evil schemes.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about, Princess Neoma,¡± Dn Crowell said, then he smirked arrogantly while looking at her pink hair. ¡°However, I think I may have seen a pink-haired child on the estate once.¡±

    SNAP.

    That was the sound of her patience snapping.

    ¡°Haaah,¡± Neoma said, letting out a deep sigh. Then she swung Skewer, sending a boomerang-shaped dark energy from the curved de towards Dn Crowell. ¡°Go to hell, fuckface!¡±

    ***

    ¡°IT¡¯S BEEN a while, Nichole,¡± Niki greeted his twin sister casually. Then his eyes moved to the man standing next to Nichole. ¡°You, too, Dominic Zavaroni.¡±

    The former saint just smiled and nodded at him politely.

    It was surreal to see his twin sister, who looked so different from what he remembered.

    Nichole had cut her hair short, and that hairstyle actually made them resemble each other even more.

    Dominic Zavaroni looked different, too. He also cut his long hair short. It actually made him look younger. But instead of donning the white robe that he used to wear as the saint, he wore the same ck hooded robe that Nichole wore.

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s been a while,¡± Nichole said indifferently. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you to follow Lady Vespera and meet me, though.¡±

    Well, if he was still the old Niki, he probably wouldn¡¯t meet his twin sister.

    However, his children had softened him up.

    Moreover, now that Mona was back in his life, he couldn¡¯t imagine returning to the miserable and cruel person that he was once.

    He wouldn¡¯t say that he was a good person, though.

    [I just learned to treasure my family- and that includes Nichole, of course.]

    ¡°I see that you¡¯ve been considerate in choosing the location of our meeting,¡± Niki said while looking around the Light Temple. It was destroyed by Hanna Quinzel¡¯s fight with the God of Eternal Darkness and the Dark Elf. Unfortunately, the reconstruction hadn¡¯t been finished yet. ¡°And I also see that you¡¯ve put a powerful barrier around.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m just trying to be careful,¡± Nichole said bitterly. ¡°But I see that you¡¯ve bex, Niki. After all, you allowed the crows to live in the Royal Pce.¡±

    He looked at Nichole and saw the resentment in her eyes.

    [She must have felt betrayed.]

    He understood where his twin sister wasing from, and it actually pained him.

    ¡°It¡¯s not like I wanted to wee the crows in the Royal Pce,¡± Niki exined. ¡°However, the situation required me to do so. I¡¯m sure you already know that Juliet returned with Calyx Dalton and imed that he was her son. Since Calyx Dalton has the de Moonasterio traits, people won¡¯t believe me if I denied him as my son. I have to protect my position until I can safely hand over the throne to either Neoma or Nero.¡±

    However, he neither confirmed nor denied that Calyx Dalton was his child.

    ¡°Niki, is Calyx Dalton my son?¡±

    He avoided Nichole¡¯s gaze because he couldn¡¯t handle the pain in his twin sister¡¯s eyes. ¡°We¡¯re not sure,¡± he said. ¡°But we believe that Calyx Dalton might be your son.¡±

    .....

    ¡°Are you kidding me?¡±

    He turned to Nichole when he felt her approach him.

    And as soon as he did, his twin sister grabbed him by the cor.

    ¡°How did that happen, Niki?¡± Nichole asked angrily. ¡°I heard there was evidence that Juliet gave birth to Calyx Dalton. Hence, I was hoping you¡¯d tell me that the bastard isn¡¯t my son. So why aren¡¯t you telling me the thing I wanted to hear from you?!¡±

    Niki clenched his hands tight. ¡°Neoma told me that there¡¯s a method in the modern world she came from where it¡¯s possible for a woman to get pregnant with someone else¡¯s child. She said that your Bead, the one she calls ¡®egg cell,¡¯ might have been removed from you. Then using a Seed from a male de Luca, the crows used it to create a child with your Bead. After the baby was conceived that way, they put it inside Juliet¡¯s body.¡±

    To be honest, he had a hard time wrapping his head around Neoma¡¯s exnation even though his daughter had exined it as simply as possible. It wasn¡¯t like he didn¡¯t have faith in Neoma. It was just hard to believe at first.

    However, that was the only reason that could exin how Juliet gave birth to Calyx Dalton when he was sure he wasn¡¯t the boy¡¯s father.

    ¡°Are you telling me that I can no longer have a child with Dominic because those damned crows have ruined my reproductive organs, and yet I had given life to Calyx Dalton- that damned young crow who threatens the throne?!¡± Nichole yelled, her voice filled with anguish. ¡°What the hell are you doing, Niki?! For someone who¡¯s supposed to be the strongest man in the empire, why haven¡¯t you eliminated the crows yet?!¡±

    His twin sisters¡¯ words hurt.

    But to see Nichole crying in anger pained him even more.

    He couldn¡¯t remember when was thest time he saw his twin sister cry. Yet, here she was now- tears brimming from her eyes filled with pain, weeping in front of him.

    [For Nichole to show her vulnerable side to me...]

    ¡°Nichole,¡± Dominic said softly, then he quietly put his arms around Nichole¡¯s shaking body. ¡°I¡¯m here, I¡¯m here.¡±

    Nichole turned around and buried her face against Dominic¡¯s chest, then she sobbed harder.

    All Niki could do at the moment was watch his twin sister crumble before him.

    He was really pathetic.

    [Just like in the past, I can¡¯t do anything for Nichole.]

    ***

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 Chapter 557

    Chapter 557: SORCERER CHINGU

    [HE¡¯S NOT a small fry.]

    That was Neoma¡¯s conclusion while Skewer shed with Dn Crowell¡¯s scythe.

    Their des didn¡¯t sh literally, though. The energy waves their weapons produced every time they swung them were the ones colliding with one another. Each collision created a tremor in the sky.

    But she knew shing with her de was nothing more than a distraction.

    ¡°Hah,¡± Neoma said, letting out a frustrated sigh. ¡°You crow bastard. How long are you going to disrespect me?¡±

    Dn Crowell raised an eyebrow at her, and he looked confused for real. ¡°Whatever Your Royal Highness mean by that?¡±

    ¡°shing with my de while sneakily gathering your Mana above...¡± She shook her head, then she looked up at the night sky. ¡°You sorcerers are really crafty.¡±

    .....

    Meteorites.

    Hundreds of meteorites were suspended in the air, waiting to plummet to the ground.

    She didn¡¯t know what they were called in this world since those things were made by a sorcerer. However, in her eyes, those rocks looked like meteorites.

    And it was so obvious Dn Crowell nned to attack her with those giant rocks.

    ¡°Is Your Royal Highness upset because I¡¯m using ¡°cheap¡± tricks?¡± Dn Crowell asked, obviously mocking her. ¡°I didn¡¯t know that the royal princess who scammed the empire and the Holy Land for years would care about stuff like that.¡±

    As expected, the crows already knew that she was pretending as Nero during the time she pulled off the biggest scam of the decade.

    ¡°What are you talking about? I¡¯m totally fine with cheap tricks and foul games since I¡¯m good at those things, too,¡± she said proudly. ¡°But the thing I feel offended about is the fact that you¡¯re going easy on me.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me?¡±

    ¡°You tried to distract me by shing des with me while gathering those meteorites above me, probably for a ¡®surprise¡¯ attack,¡± she said, then she clicked her tongue in annoyance. ¡°But why are those meteorites weak-ass?¡±

    ¡°Weak?¡± Dn Crowell asked, obviously offended. ¡°Those celestial rocks are enough to erase the entire ind off the map.¡±

    [Ah, so meteorites here are called ¡®celestial rocks.¡¯]

    ¡°Then you better try harder,¡± Neoma said, snapping her fingers. ¡°Tteokbokki!¡±

    The me that engulfed Skewer¡¯s curved de disappeared.

    Then Tteokbokki, in his human form, appeared- squatting down on top of the curved de.

    Although the Soul Beast in his human form looked like her age, he wasn¡¯t heavy. It was probably because his little dragon wings were actually keeping him afloat.

    ¡°Thug princess, can I y to my heart¡¯s content?¡±

    Neoma smiled smugly while looking at Tteokbokki.

    [My annoying baby brother grew up well.]

    Tteokbokki was handsome, tall, and dapper like the nobleman that he imed to be.

    [And most of all, this is my Tteokbokki.]

    The God of Wrath had been quiet these days.

    ¡°Go ahead, Tteokbokki,¡± Neoma said, eyeing Dn Crowell this time. ¡°Show the crow bastard how he should fight with us properly.¡±

    Tteokbokki¡¯s red eyes glowed menacingly, then he smirked while looking at Dn Crowell.

    [Just look at how Tteokbokki¡¯s red eyes turn into little crescent moons.]

    Dn Crowell, who definitely felt Tteokbokki¡¯s bloodlust, immediately moved his hand. As soon as he did, the meteorites that were just suspended in the air earlier finally began to plummet to the ground at an rming pace.

    Tteokbokki justughed like a madman, then he shot up to the sky- his dragon wings getting bigger as he flew higher.

    [Everyone, Tteokbokki isn¡¯t a viin even though he looks and sounds one right now...]

    It was hard to justify that her Soul Beast wasn¡¯t the bad guy, though.

    After all, Tteokbokki released a growl that definitely didn¡¯t belong to a sane person.

    Then the entire sky soon turned into a floating sea of fire.

    Tteokbokki melted the meteorites with his Fire Breath. It was the same me that melted Delwyn¡¯s ice.

    It didn¡¯t take that long for the celestial rocks to melt.

    And now, it looked like it was raining magma.

    Of course, Neoma was safe since she used her Coat to protect herself. Trevor was capable of protecting himself, so she didn¡¯t feel the need to create a barrier for him.

    She hoped Dn Crowell would be burned alive by the magma.

    But unfortunately, the crow bastard was a sorcerer capable of creating a powerful barrier.

    ¡°I¡¯m quite disappointed in Your Royal Highness,¡± Dn Crowell said sarcastically. ¡°I thought the royal princess cares about her people. Are you really going to let them deal with the magma that you created on their own?¡±

    Gosh, talk about gaslighting.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m sure those people are capable of protecting themselves,¡± Dn Crowell continued with his bullshit. ¡°But how about the innocent people on the ind, Princess Neoma? I¡¯m aware that more than half of them are hardcore criminals who don¡¯t deserve to live anymore. However, there are children born in this ind, too. There are ordinary families built here.¡± He tilted his head to one side. ¡°Are you going to let them die, Your Royal Highness?¡±

    ¡°Gosh, you talk a lot,¡± Neoma said, shaking her head. ¡°You¡¯re really Trevor¡¯s brother since he talks a lot, too.¡±

    Trevor, who seemed to have finally calmed down, scoffed. ¡°My Moon Princess, please don¡¯tpare me to that fake bastard.¡±

    She just shrugged at Trevor¡¯s words, then she turned to the ¡°fake bastard¡± again. ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate my people. One of them is a mage who¡¯s capable of creating a barrierrge enough to protect the entire ind.¡±

    Her faith in Paige was unshakable.

    And she wasn¡¯t mistaken.

    Soon, the entire ind was covered with a barrier made of Light magic. It was impressive. However, she knew that the barrier wouldn¡¯tst long.

    [Don¡¯t worry, Paige. You already did well. Let me handle the rest.]

    ¡°It¡¯s weak,¡± Dn Crowell said bluntly while looking at the barrier below his feet. ¡°This kind of barrier will melt in a few minutes. It will be a different matter if it was Your Royal Highness¡¯s Dome, though. Unfortunately, your barrier is weak at the moment.¡±

    ¡°I know,¡± Neoma said, then she turned to Trevor. ¡°But I have a sorcerer chingu here.¡±

    Trevor turned to her, smiling. ¡°Thank you for giving me a chance to impress you again, Princess Neoma, my lovely Moon Princess.¡±

    She rolled her eyes at him. ¡°Let¡¯s see if I¡¯ll be impressed.¡±

    The demon boy justughed like he had lost his mind.

    [Everyone, he¡¯s not a viin, okay?]

    Trevor shut his eyes tight while removing his piercings in the ears.

    Then, when he opened his eyes again, his different-colored horns grew on his forehead again. And then a very strong aura leaked out of his body.

    [Ohh... someone became stronger~]

    Even Dn Crowell looked shocked by Trevor¡¯s overwhelming demonic power.

    [No, it¡¯s not his demon power.]

    The air around Trevor suddenly turned into magic.

    She was suddenly reminded of her past conversation with the demon boy.

    Trevor asked her that question, and he was also the one who answered it.

    Since Neoma was smart, she was also reminded that sorcerers like Trevor were born with innate magical abilities.

    And she could feel it at the moment.

    [Go, Trevor.]

    ¡°Moon Princess, I will protect everyone on this ind,¡± Trevor said, grinning. Then he snapped his fingers. ¡°Just like this.¡±

    And, just like that, the magma created from the melted celestial rocks that threatened to melt the ind disappeared.

    Yes, without a trace.

    Neoma was impressed. [Gosh, Trevor wouldn¡¯t be easy to kill, huh?]

    Even the crow bastard looked shocked by Trevor¡¯s ability.

    ¡°How?¡± Dn Crowell asked in disbelief. ¡°How did you do that?¡±

    ¡°Well, a magician doesn¡¯t reveal his tricks to the person in the same industry,¡± Trevor said yfully. ¡°However, I¡¯ll give you a clue. I didn¡¯t make the magma disappear- I just sent it to a different space.¡±

    Neoma tilted her head to one side. ¡°Where?¡±

    ¡°I saw a mansion in the deepest area of the Lawless Jungle,¡± Trevor said cheerfully while looking at Dn Crowell meaningfully. ¡°My dear brother, I hope you didn¡¯t leave anything precious in that mansion.¡±

    .....

    Dn Crowell, who was already pale before, looked paler now.

    And, without a word, the crow bastard vanished into thin air.

    [Ah, Dn Crowell probably went to save Regina who was definitely in the mansion that Trevor mentioned.]

    Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard the demon boy coughed.

    When she turned to him, she realized that Trevor actually coughed up blood.

    ¡°You overdid it, didn¡¯t you?¡± Neoma asked, shaking her head. ¡°Sending that amount of magma to a different area took a toll on your body.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s worth it because it¡¯s for you, my Moon Princess,¡± Trevor said, grinning. However, his eyes looked tired. And he was unstable already. ¡°Princess Neoma, will you catch me if I fall?¡±

    After saying that, Trevor suddenly fainted...

    ... and Neoma had to catch the demon boy and carry him like a princess.

    ***

    ¡°I WILL ALLOW you to put Calyx Dalton in the Royal Household Registry as my son.¡±

    Niki was shocked to hear that from Nichole.

    He waited until his twin sister calmed down, but he didn¡¯t expect that it was the first thing that he would hear from her after her long silence earlier.

    ¡°Why do you look shocked?¡± Nichole asked him, scoffing. ¡°I know that you agreed to meet me to ask me that favor.¡±

    He didn¡¯t deny that, but he felt awful.

    ¡°I already knew it would turn out like this,¡± Nichole said indifferently. ¡°You must have made a deal with the crows for them to give up on Juliet Sloane being reinstated as the empress.¡±

    ¡°They want Calyx Dalton to be recognized as a royal prince,¡± Niki said. ¡°But if we registered the crow as my son, he would have the right topete with Nero and Neoma for the throne.¡±

    Hence, the only way to ept Calyx Dalton as a prince without making him a direct heir to the throne was to register him as the emperor¡¯s nephew.

    It was possible to do even though Nichole was already ¡°dead.¡±

    [After all, a monarch doesn¡¯t stop being a monarch after their death.]

    ¡°Do it,¡± Nichole said firmly. ¡°I don¡¯t care anymore.¡±

    ¡°I would be thankful if you give us the permission, but...¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t feel bad, Niki,¡± his twin sister said coldly. ¡°Consider this favor as my apology in advance.¡±

    He knitted his eyebrows. ¡°What do you mean by that, Nichole?¡±

    ¡°This is a formal deration of war from the Devil,¡± Nichole said seriously. ¡°Niki, we will take Neoma de Moonasterio under our wings.¡±

    Niki clenched his jaws. ¡°Try it if you can, then.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 558

    Chapter 558: COPY PASTE

    ¡°CHILDREN, are you all okay?¡± Neoma asked her ¡°children¡± as soon as her feetnded on the ground. And gosh, she felt like a hero in a romance fantasy novel since shended with the unconscious Trevor in her arms. ¡°Is anyone hurt?¡±

    Thankfully, the children and the lions were still in the part of the forest where she left them earlier.

    [And they look okay.]

    It seemed like the children and the lions had huddled together when the celestial rocks turned into magma after she melted them by using Tteokbokki¡¯s fire.

    [Good job, my babies.]

    Anyway, instead of answering her right away, her ¡°children¡± all red at the unconscious Trevor in her arms as if the demon boy hadmitted a grave sin.

    [Gosh, my babies are so protective of me.]

    .....

    Hence, when Jeno approached her, she didn¡¯t argue and just handed Trevor to his son.

    Then Jeno draped the unconscious demon boy over his shoulder like a sack of rice.

    [Trevor, the children don¡¯t respect you, I¡¯m afraid...]

    ¡°We¡¯re all fine, Princess Neoma. We should be the one asking you if you¡¯re alright,¡± Paige said worriedly. ¡°The celestial rocks that the crow summoned were one of the greatest spells a sorcerer could summon. I can¡¯t believe that you managed to melt them just like that...¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Neoma asked, shrugging. ¡°Is that supposed to be hard?¡±

    ¡°Your Royal Highness is very impressive, as expected,¡± Paige said, nodding. Then her eyes darted to Trevor who was hanging over Jeno¡¯s shoulder. ¡°But Trevor¡¯s ability as a sorcerer is also impressive. To make the magma disappear like that...¡±

    ¡°He fainted, though.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s already impressive that he only fainted, Princess Neoma. If it was some other sorcerer, then they would have died orbusted,¡± Paige said, obviously in awe of the demon boy. ¡°I doubt it if the crow sorcerer could achieve the same feat. Making the celestial rocks disappear is a bigger achievement than summoning them.¡±

    It was cute to see Paige fangirling over Trevor¡¯s magical abilities as a sorcerer.

    [Well, if I remember it correctly, mages like Paige study the magic spells or devices that sorcerers like Trevor invent.]

    ¡°Paige, it¡¯s fine if you praise the demon boy when he¡¯s unconscious,¡± Juri said, putting a hand on her hip. ¡°But don¡¯t do it when he¡¯s awake, okay? Let¡¯s thank himter, but let¡¯s not stroke his ego. That insolent boy is applying to be our ¡°father,¡± after all.¡±

    Jeno nodded in agreement. ¡°He might think that we already approve of him if we praise him too much.¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± Paige said, gasping and covering her mouth with her hands. ¡°I almost forgot that.¡±

    ¡°But I think it¡¯s okay. Trevor hyung isn¡¯t much of a threat,¡± Greko said seriously. ¡°The person that we should keep an eye on the most is Ruto hyung. You see, out of all eomma¡¯s suitors, Ruto hyung is the most dangerous because he cooks well- and eomma will choose a delicious meal over an eye-candy any time.¡±

    Neoma almostughed when Paige, Juri, and Jeno nodded seriously at Greko¡¯s remark.

    [Greko... might be my most overprotective and obsessive child.]

    Thankfully, she was distracted when the three lions approached her.

    Like what the lions did earlier, they talked in her mind again.

    Neoma smirked, happy to beplimented for her strength and beauty. ¡°Kids, can you take us to where Xion is?¡±

    And the response of the lions came in unison.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± Neoma said, then she snapped her fingers. ¡°But first...¡±

    Tteokbokki, still in his human form, appeared in front of her. ¡°What now, thug princess?¡±

    ¡°Tsk,¡± Neomained when she had to look up while talking to Tteokbokki because he towered over her. ¡°Why are you taller than me?¡±

    Tteokbokki looked smug when he shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I enjoy the view,¡± he said,ughing. ¡°The top of your head looks pretty from here, thug princess.¡±

    SNAP.

    Her children, who obviously noticed that her patience just snapped, slowly backed away from her.

    Greko even silently guided the lions away from her.

    [Good job, kids.]

    Only the arrogant Tteokbokki remained clueless.

    ¡°Should I break your kneecaps?¡± Neoma asked, smirking as her eyes turned glowing red. ¡°Or should I turn you into a baby dragon again?¡±

    She didn¡¯t know if thetter was possible, but she knew she could do anything that she put her mind into.

    [I¡¯m Neoma, after all.]

    It looked like the red dragon finally realized she was pissed because the arrogant look on his face disappeared.

    ¡°I¡¯ll kneel,¡± Tteokbokki said, then he got down on one knee while looking up at her. ¡°Happy now?¡±

    ¡°Very much so,¡± Neoma said, smiling. Her eyes returned to their original color. But she remained serious. ¡°Tteokbokki, I need you to go to Nero and report to him personally.¡±

    ¡°No can do,¡± Tteokbokki said firmly. ¡°I can¡¯t leave you alone. You already lost your Moonglow. What will you do without your Soul Beast?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine, and my children are with me,¡± she said. She didn¡¯t have any intention to back down. ¡°You have to go to Nero directly using the dimension that only the Soul Beasts like you could use.¡± She put her hand in the pocket of her skirt, then she pulled out a recording device that looked like a marble. ¡°Give this to Nero. It contains the conversation that Trevor and I had with Dn Crowell earlier.¡±

    Yep, she recorded their long and meaningful conversation earlier.

    If there was one thing that she had learned from her modern life, it was to always keep a ¡°receipt.¡± She didn¡¯t have a phone in this world. But recording devices existed here. They were expensive and rare, but it was no problem for a royal like her.

    [Too bad I didn¡¯t use a video recording device.]

    She thought Dn Crowell would notice, hence she settled for an audio-recording device instead.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you just call Prince Nero and exin everything to him?¡± Tteokbokki asked, confused. ¡°Do I really have to go there?¡±

    ¡°Tteokbokki, I wouldn¡¯t have asked you to go to Nero directly if I could justmunicate with him,¡± she said seriously. ¡°I¡¯m about to faint, and I don¡¯t know how long I¡¯m going to stay passed out. Hence, I need you to deliver my message to Nero as soon as possible. Juste back when you¡¯re done.¡±

    ¡°Wait!¡± Tteokbokki, who looked confused and scared, said. ¡°You¡¯re going to faint?!¡±

    ¡°Yeah. My sheer arrogance is the only reason why I¡¯m still standing,¡± she said. ¡°I used Skewer and my Roseheart Blood without holding back. Usually, my Moonglow and my divine power work together to supplement me with extra stamina. But I don¡¯t have them right now. This body is still the body of a thirteen-year-old child, so I need to rest.¡±

    After exining, she turned to her ¡°children¡± who looked obviously worried about her.

    Ah, she felt guilty.

    She was the person who shouldn¡¯t faint at times like this, but she forgot to hold back since Dn Crowell wasn¡¯t a small-fry.

    [I¡¯ll reflect on my recklessness.]

    ¡°Paige, I leave everything to you,¡± Neoma said seriously. ¡°Jeno, use your Mist to cover our movements from this moment onwards.¡±

    And, just like that, Neoma fainted.

    ***

    ¡°HOW CAN they do something like that?¡±

    Nero looked at Hanna who appeared to be disgusted after hearing the audio recording that he received from Neoma¡¯s Soul Beast.

    He was with his fianc¨¦ while having tea with her when Tteokbokki appeared.

    Thankfully, the two of them decided to have tea inside his pce instead of in the garden. He didn¡¯t want the spies in the royal pce to see his twin sister¡¯s Soul Beast.

    ¡°Now that I delivered it directly to you, I¡¯m leaving,¡± Tteokbokki, in his human form, said in a hurry. ¡°Ah, the thug princess didn¡¯t leave a particr message because she said you¡¯re smart enough to figure out why she sent you that recording.¡±

    ¡°Is Neoma alright?¡± Nero asked. ¡°Why did she have to send you here when she could have sent a message?¡±

    ¡°The thug princess fainted.¡±

    He let out a sigh. ¡°Did she overdo it?¡±

    ¡°We melted celestial rocks and turned them into magma.¡±

    Ah, Neoma definitely overdid it.

    Hanna, on the other hand, gasped softly. ¡°I didn¡¯t know celestial rocks can be melted...¡±

    Tteokbokki shrugged. ¡°What the thug princess wants, the thug princess gets.¡±

    Nero and Hanna both agreed with that remark silently.

    ¡°You may leave now,¡± Nero said to the Soul Beast. ¡°Tell Neoma to take better care of herself.¡±

    Tteokbokki just nodded, then he disappeared in a burst of red me.

    ¡°Nero, we should inform His Majesty about this,¡± Hanna said when there were only the two of them left in the tearoom. ¡°The crows¡¯ cruel experiment involves creating children from the Seeds and Beads of outstanding individuals in the world. I have a feeling that the Seeds and Beads that they used were stolen or taken forcibly.¡±

    That was what he was thinking as well.

    But something else bothered him.

    ¡°We¡¯ve already confirmed the existence of a boy created from the Seed of a Kesser,¡± he said carefully. ¡°And the crow also hinted that a child with Roseheart Blood exists, too.¡± He turned to his fianc¨¦e because he knew that Hanna was quick to catch on. ¡°The Kesser and the Roseheart. Do you know what they have inmon, Hanna?¡±

    ¡°They were both a part of the founding members of the empire that fell from grace,¡± his fianc¨¦e said. ¡°Moreover, two of the original Four Pirs were a Kesser and a Roseheart...¡±

    .....

    Nero nodded firmly. ¡°My mother once had a vision that Neoma would gain four guardians, and we believe Mother was talking about the Four Pirs: the Heart, the Fangs, the Contractor, and the Shadow. It seems like the crows are copying their existence.¡± He paused for a moment before he continued. ¡°But three out of the families that produced the Four Pirs already disappeared- except for one.¡±

    ¡°The Quinzels. Our family is the only family from the Four Pirs who remained standing,¡± Hanna said nervously. ¡°Nero, are you saying that the crows also created a child with our family¡¯s blood?¡±

    ***

    BLOODY HELL.

    Regina thought she was going to die when arge amount of hot magma suddenly poured like rain.

    Aside from herself, she also had to protect Rubin who was still unconscious.

    Thankfully, her ability was useful this time.

    Shadows.

    Regina smiled while looking up at the Shadow that protected her and Rubin from getting burned by the magma. ¡°At times like this, having the Quinzel Blood is useful.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 559

    Chapter 559: DESTRUCTIVE ONE-LINER

    [THE MAIN mansion melted.]

    When Regina came out of the annex building, she wasn¡¯t surprised to see that the main mansion melted- along with the servants who failed to escape.

    [Tsk.]

    The entire estate was protected by a powerful barrier. But, apparently, it wasn¡¯t strong enough to protect them from the magma. Thankfully, she never trusted the barriers made by her own family.

    Hence, she protected the annex building- her residence- with her Shadows.

    [Fortunately, all the research data and materials that we have are hidden in my building.]

    She knew that in case of an attack, the enemies would attack the main mansion first. Hence, she chose the smallest annex building to be her residence. And today¡¯s incidence proved that she made the right decision.

    .....

    [The only loss that we suffered today was the loss of her servants.]

    ¡°Regina, are you alright?¡±

    Dn Crowellnded in front of her, but he didn¡¯t remain standing for long. Soon, he fell to his knees while coughing up a huge chunk of blood.

    [His Mana is so unstable.]

    ¡°What happened?¡± Regina asked, crossing her arms over her chest while looking down at Dn Crowell. ¡°I thought you were going to eliminate your brother so you¡¯ll be thest Kesser standing?¡±

    ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio...¡± Dn said, then he paused when he coughed up blood again. ¡°She melted my celestial rocks.¡±

    To say that she was shocked to hear that would be an understatement.

    Celestial rocks weren¡¯t ordinary rocks, obviously.

    Only highly-skilled sorcerers could summon celestial rocks that came from the Upper World. How did Neoma de Moonasterio melt celestial rocks?!

    ¡°When the royal princess melted the celestrial rocks, they turned into magma,¡± Dn, who was still coughing up blood, continued with his exnation. ¡°And Trevor Kesser made the magma disappear with just a snap of his fingers.¡±

    She couldn¡¯t believe that.

    ording to their investigation, Trevor Kesser was the Youngest Sorcerer of his generation. The Kesser family sacrificed him to be the Devil¡¯s Grimoire. But the demon boy¡¯s power should be sealed.

    ¡°Did the Devil unseal Trevor Kesser¡¯s power already?¡± she asked curiously. ¡°And why was he with Neoma de Moonasterio when he already betrayed her?¡±

    All the information that they had came from Kyle Sprouse.

    [Did he lie to us?]

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but it seems like the two are working together just fine,¡± Dn said, then he stood up until he was standing in front of her. Then he buried his face against her neck. ¡°I sent the remaining magma to the sea. It drained my energy.¡±

    Ah, so that was why the magma disappeared after melting the main mansion.

    ¡°I¡¯m d you¡¯re fine,¡± Dn whispered against the side of her neck. ¡°Only I have the right to kill you, Regina Crowell.¡±

    She just rolled her eyes. ¡°Go and return to Rubin¡¯s body,¡± she said. ¡°You can¡¯t keep that body any longer.¡±

    ¡°I hate going back to that body.¡±

    ¡°Who told you to lose to Neoma de Moonasterio then?¡±

    ¡°Shut up.¡±

    ¡°You shut up,¡± she retorted. ¡°Don¡¯t be stubborn and just return to Rubin¡¯s body. You need to help me gather all the research data and materials we have here. Now that Princess Neoma¡¯s group knows where our hideout is, I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll head here right away.¡±

    ¡°But you know it would take me at least a whole day to make a transportation spell that¡¯s big enough to transport the entire annex building back to the main office, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m telling you to return to Rubin¡¯s body right now to start making the spell,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯ll deal with Princess Neoma and her group once they get here.¡±

    ¡°Will you be fine?¡±

    ¡°My goal is not to win, but to buy you some time.¡±

    ¡°Fine,¡± Dn said, then he pried himself away from her to look at her in the eye. ¡°Once I return to Rubin Drayton¡¯s body, don¡¯t call me ¡®Gavin.¡¯ That¡¯s the name that you gave to that boy¡¯s so-called ¡°alter-ego.¡± Even Princess Neoma calls me by that name whenever she thinks Rubin Drayton is acting strange- and it¡¯s annoying.¡±

    Ah, right.

    Whenever Dn would possess Rubin Drayton¡¯s body, thetter¡¯s behavior would change. It led to some people thinking that the young lord had a split personality. Since it was a fun misunderstanding, she didn¡¯t correct it.

    She even named Rubin Drayton¡¯s ¡°split personality¡± and called it ¡®Gavin.¡¯

    ¡°Well, what can I say?¡± Regina said, smiling. ¡°¡®Gavin¡¯ is special to me.¡±

    ***

    [WARM...]

    When Neoma opened her eyes, she was surprised to see Tteokbokki lying down beside her.

    Her Soul Beast was in his dragon form. Not in his full size as an adult dragon, of course. Tteokbokki was smart enough to adjust his size and only be big enough to upy half of the bed.

    ¡°Tteokbokki, wake up,¡± Neoma said, then she got up and stretched her arms. ¡°Report.¡±

    The red dragon just answered with a loud snore.

    ¡°Do you want me to give you the punch of love again, my cute little brother?¡±

    Tteokbokki immediately opened his eyes and got up. And when he did, he immediately changed from his dragon form to his human form. ¡°Thug princess, you ought to cut me some ck,¡± he whined. ¡°Traveling using the dimension for the Soul Beasts isn¡¯t easy-¡±

    ¡°Report.¡±

    ¡°I delivered the recording device to Prince Nero,¡± the Soul Beast said. ¡°The royal prince and his fianc¨¦e were very worried about you.¡±

    ¡°Oh, Hanna was there?¡±

    ¡°They were having tea when I arrived.¡±

    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s great to know that they are getting along well,¡± she said, then she looked around. ¡°It looks like we finally arrived at the lions¡¯ den.¡±

    The room she was in was a standard room.

    A double bed, a bedside table, and a closet.

    The window to her right left showed that the sun had just set.

    [Oh... I slept for hours.]

    If she remembered correctly, it was past midnight when she fainted.

    Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a soft knock, then the door opened as quietly as possible.

    ¡°Princess Neoma, you¡¯re finally awake,¡± Paige, who looked delighted to see her, said. ¡°Are you alright?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I feel refreshed,¡± Neoma said, smiling. ¡°But is it possible to take a bath here?¡±

    ***

    NEOMA wasn¡¯t that shameless to use the water that the vige people had reserved for their everyday use.

    She only borrowed the bathroom of the house that took them in, then she summoned Soju- her Water Spirit- to give her the water she needed to take a bath. After that, Juri and Paige helped her get dressed.

    And now, she looked pretty and presentable enough to meet the owner of the house.

    ording to Paige, their benefactor was also the person who was taking care of Xion all this time.

    ¡°Thank you for taking us in, Miss Sharon,¡± Neoma said politely, bowing her head. ¡°And for saving my ¡°son.¡±¡±

    Her ¡°children,¡± who were already used to the one only royal princess bowing her head to people worthy of her respect, didn¡¯t stop her.

    Instead, her ¡°children¡± bowed as well.

    [I know that a royal princess shouldn¡¯t bow her head easily, but I do what I want.]

    ¡°Princess Neoma, please don¡¯t bow your head,¡± Sharon, who was obviously flustered, said. Then she bowed her head deeply. ¡°We only did what we had to do to wee our savior.¡±

    ¡°Savior?¡± she asked, confused. ¡°Me?¡±

    Sharon raised her head and nodded, the determination was clear in her eyes. ¡°Yes, Princess Neoma,¡± she said firmly. ¡°The Cosmic Tree has dered in the past that Princess Neoma de Moonasterio wille and save the Lion Tribe.¡±

    Oh, wow.

    Neoma could only smile awkwardly.

    [Why do they keep on making me a savior without my permission?]

    ***

    ¡°HOW HORRIBLE,¡± Mona whispered in disbelief after listening to the recording that Nero brought to them. The recording was sent by Neoma using her Soul Beast. ¡°The crows have created children using the Seeds and the Beans of some of the outstanding individuals in the empire?¡± She hugged herself when she got the chills. ¡°And they also created a Roseheart child...¡±

    Based on the conversation that she heard, the crow that Neoma fought hinted that there was a pink-haired child under their wing.

    Only the Rosehearts had pink hair in the entire world.

    .....

    [It¡¯s a gift from Nature, so only the Rosehearts are born with natural pink hair.]

    ¡°Those bastards...¡± Niki, who rarely used vulgar words, cursed under his breath. ¡°That kind of horrible experiment...¡±

    ¡°Mother, Father, I have a request,¡± Nero, the only calm person in the emperor¡¯s room at the moment, said. ¡°Can you summon Duke Rufus Quinzel here? In secret, of course.¡±

    ¡°I can do that,¡± Niki said, looking at their son curiously. ¡°What¡¯s your n, Nero?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s highly possible that a crow with Quinzel Blood also exists,¡± their son said calmly. ¡°I want to see if my hypothesis is correct, and House Quinzel is the perfect piece to help me do that. After all, the Quinzels are loyal to us.¡±

    ¡°Nero, you¡¯re not going to harm the Quinzels, are you?¡± Mona asked her son nervously. ¡°Remember, Hanna is a Quinzel.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Mother,¡± Nero said, ¡°smiling¡± at them. ¡°They won¡¯t get harmed... probably.¡±

    ***

    ¡°LEWIS, what are you doing here?¡±

    Jasper Hawthorne was pleasantly surprised to see Princess Neoma wee them as soon as they arrived on Leoflor Ind. Although it wasn¡¯t a pleasant ce to be because of the polluted air, he was d to see the royal princess.

    However...

    [Why is Princess Neoma alone here?]

    His thoughts were distracted when, all of a sudden, Lewis drew his sword and pointed it at Princess Neoma.

    As soon as the fox did that, he also summoned his poisonous butterflies.

    [Lewis will rather die than hurt Princess Neoma. The fact that he pointed a sword at the ¡°royal princess¡± only means it¡¯s not the real one.]

    ¡°Aww, I¡¯m already busted?¡± the fake Princess Neoma asked, pouting. ¡°How did you know I¡¯m not the real one?¡±

    That was right.

    Even Jasper was almost fooled, because the fake looked like the real Princess Neoma.

    ¡°Princess Neoma is one million times prettier than you,¡± Lewis said bluntly. ¡°And you can¡¯t copy her natural charisma.¡±

    The fake was obviously offended, growling fiercely at Lewis until her disguise disappeared.

    But the real appearance of the fake caught Jasper off guard.

    ¡°Silver hair and golden eyes...¡± Jasper whispered in disbelief, then his gazended on thedy¡¯s white tails. ¡°A Silver Fox?¡±

    But he thought Lewis was the only Silver Fox left in the world!

    ¡°That¡¯s right, I¡¯m a Silver Fox. The only female Silver Fox alive,¡± the fake said, smiling seductively at Lewis. ¡°Lewis Crevan, we¡¯re the only Silver Foxes in the world, so what do you think about making babies together to save our bloodline?¡±

    Lewis looked at the fake indifferently. ¡°Eww.¡±

    The fake¡¯s face turned red from embarrassment.

    Jasper almostughed his butt off at Lewis¡¯ response because he was pretty sure that the fox boy had learned his sass from Princess Neoma.

    Lewis ¡°destroyed¡± his enemy with just one word.

    [Princess Neoma, you raised your ¡°son¡± well.]

    ***

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 Chapter 560

    Chapter 560: FATHER, I CRAVE VIOLENCE

    IT WAS true that the Cosmic Tree had asked Neoma to help Kingston, the White Lion, be freed from Calyx Dalton.

    However, nobody told her she was supposed to save the entire Lion Tribe.

    [Dear Cosmic Tree, is it too much to ask for a heads-up?]

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Princess Neoma?¡± Sharon asked worriedly. ¡°Am I mistaken?¡±

    ¡°No, not at all,¡± Neoma said, shing her business smile. It wasn¡¯t like she was being fake. She was just trying to hide her irritation at the Cosmic Tree because she didn¡¯t want tosh out at Sharon, or anyone else for that matter. ¡°Miss Sharon, I¡¯m deeply grateful to you. I will repay your kindness whatever happens.¡±

    Sharon looked relieved by what she said.

    Saving people wasn¡¯t a big deal to her.

    .....

    However, she hated how the celestial beings around her treated her as if she was a delivery person who would always ¡°deliver¡± their ¡°food¡± at their behest.

    Gosh.

    [No wonder I set the world on fire during my first life.]

    ¡°Miss Sharon, I¡¯d like to continue our conversationter,¡± Neoma said carefully. ¡°For now, may I see Xion?¡±

    ¡°Of course, Your Royal Highness,¡± Sharon said politely. ¡°Please follow me.¡±

    ***

    NEOMA knew that Xion was alive.

    Hence, she was relieved initially. But seeing Xion¡¯s current condition almost made her snap. If she knew her ¡°son¡± wasn¡¯t one hundred percent fine, then she wouldn¡¯t have wasted her time fighting with Dn Crowell.

    [Those bastards...]

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, Princess Neoma,¡± Xion, who was bedridden and couldn¡¯t move without help, assured her in a weak voice. ¡°I survived.¡±

    That was true.

    However, there were ck patches all over Xion¡¯s face and body.

    Those weren¡¯t mere patches, at that.

    She could tell that those were remnants of Darkness that were slowly sipping Xion¡¯s Mana and LIFE FORCE. It seemed like the divine energy in the room was slowing down the process. If it weren¡¯t for the protection in the room, her ¡°son¡± would have died already.

    [I suddenly crave violence.]

    She hated it when people were hurt, especially if it was because of her. To think that the people who hurt her ¡°son¡± were the people that she should have killed before...

    ¡°R-Red eyes!¡±

    ¡°The royal princess¡¯s eyes turned glowing red like magic...¡±

    ¡°Only gods and their descendants have red eyes.¡±

    She snapped out of it when she noticed the three young boys (probably eight or ten years old) at the foot of the bed.

    Neoma wanted to see Xion alone, so she asked Sharon and her ¡°children¡± to wait outside.

    She didn¡¯t expect that her ¡°son¡± wasn¡¯t alone. Moreover, the children¡¯s voices were familiar.

    ¡°Ah,¡± Neoma said, then she smiled. ¡°You¡¯re the lions who brought us here.¡±

    She couldn¡¯t believe that those lions were just kids!

    The three boys suddenly stood properly, then they bowed to her as they introduced themselves one by one.

    ¡°Greetings, Princess Neoma,¡± the boy with light brown hair, orangey eyes, and freckles said. ¡°My name is Sam.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Mac!¡± the boy with chestnut hair and dark brown eyes said. ¡°Princess Neoma, you¡¯re so pretty!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± the boy with chocte brown hair that matched his eyes said shyly. ¡°My name is Ben, Your Royal Highness.¡±

    Aww... how cute!

    She almost had the urge to adopt the kids, but she scolded and reminded herself that people weren¡¯t P*kemons that she should be collecting.

    ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you, Sam, Mac, and Ben,¡± Neoma said, smiling at the kids. ¡°I heard you three were the ones who rescued Xion and Gin when they were being attacked by the crows.¡±

    ¡°We hate the crows, so we saved the people they were trying to kill,¡± Sam, the calmest out of all three children, exined. ¡°But we¡¯re happy that the people we saved are your people, Princess Neoma.¡±

    Mac and Ben nodded their heads in agreement.

    Neoma already heard about what happened from Sharon while they were on the way to Xion¡¯s room.

    Apparently, the three children came to the ¡°surface¡± to find food for the Lion Tribe.

    That was when Sam, Mac, and Ben saw Xion and Gin getting attacked by the crows. For some reason, Gin- the demon cat- mentioned her name. When the lion kids heard her name, they decided to rescue the two from the crows.

    [It seems like every lion in this tribe knows about the ¡°prophecy¡± of ¡°Princess Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio¡± saving their tribe.]

    Anyway, she still wanted to hear Xion¡¯s side of the story.

    ¡°Kids, I¡¯ll give you a token of my appreciationter,¡± Neoma said to the kids gently. ¡°For now, can you give me and Xion some privacy?¡±

    Sam, Mac, and Ben looked at each other before they turned to her and nodded with a smile.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± she said to the kids. ¡°And please ask someone to bring the ck cat here.¡±

    Sam, Mac, and Ben looked thrilled to receive an order for her. They even bowed deep to her. ¡°As Your Royal Highness wishes.¡±

    After that, the kids left the room.

    Now only Neoma and Xion were there.

    ¡°Princess Neoma, I¡¯m sorry,¡± Xion said, avoiding her gaze as if he was afraid of her. ¡°I followed Rubin Drayton to the mansion in the middle of the forest as Your Royal Highness ordered. And when I was about to retreat, I found Trevor and Gin. I had a little squabble with them when Trevor said he was here to kidnap Your Royal Highness.¡±

    Neoma rolled her eyes. [That dumbass...]

    ¡°That was how the crows found us,¡± Xion continued with his report, then he finally had the courage to look at her. ¡°The crows ambushed as by attacking us with Darkness. I inhaled most of it, but...¡± He paused as if he didn¡¯t want to continue with his report. But, in the end, he did. ¡°Gin and Trevor protected me, Princess Neoma. Trevor took most of the Darkness for me and Gin while making face masks for us. But unlike Trevor, Gin and I were almost knocked out. That was when the lions came. We thought the lions were going to attack us, so Gin and I asked Trevor to leave since he was already losing his breath.¡±

    Ah, so that was how she found Trevor alone when she and her ¡°children¡± came to the ind.

    ¡°The lions took care of me and Gin while we were here,¡± Xion said, but it seemed like he was guilty. ¡°Miss Sharon and the kids told me about the Cosmic Tree¡¯s prophecy. I was carried away by their hospitality and warmth. I¡¯ve let down my guard and I began talking about Your Royal Highness without verifying whether the lions were telling the truth or not. I¡¯m really sorry about my carelessness, Princess Neoma.¡±

    In retrospect, she could see why Xion was apologizing to her.

    However, deep in her heart, she hadplete faith in her ¡°son.¡± Xion was the most cautious out of all her ¡°children.¡± The fact that he let his guard down only meant that the lions were trustworthy people.

    [But it was still wrong for Xion to mention my name carelessly.]

    ¡°I¡¯ll punish youter,¡± Neoma said because she knew that Xion would feel morefortable if she punished him. ¡°For now, let me treat you.¡±

    Xion bowed his head. ¡°Thank you, Princess Neoma.¡±

    Their conversation was interrupted when they heard a knock on the door.

    Then it burst open and Trevor entered the room with an unconscious ck cat in his arms. It was probably Gin. And even in that form, the ck cat needed to wear a face mask.

    [Oh, Trevor is already up.]

    ¡°It¡¯s not visible because Gin has a ck coat, but he also has patches of Darkness all over his body,¡± Trevor reported when he stood in front of her. ¡°Are you going to treat Gin too even though you know that we¡¯re here to kidnap you?¡±

    ¡°You protected Xion,¡± Neoma said bluntly. She wasn¡¯t taking light of Trevor¡¯s threat. It was just that she didn¡¯t care about that at the moment. ¡°As Xion¡¯s ¡°mother,¡± it¡¯s my duty to repay his debt to you. So, I¡¯ll treat you and Gin.¡±

    ¡°Me?¡± Trevor asked. ¡°I¡¯m already fine, though.¡±

    ¡°We need to make sure that you don¡¯t have a single drop of Darkness in your body,¡± she said, then she pointed to the bed. ¡°Lay down before I change my mind.¡±

    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am,¡± Trevor said, then he put Gin, still in his cat form, next to Xion. Then Trevor alsoy down next to Gin. ¡°I will still kidnap Your Royal Highness after this, though.¡±

    Xion red at Trevor.

    Neoma, on the other hand, just sighed. ¡°Whatevs.¡±

    ***

    IT WAS thanks to the divine energy inside the room that allowed Neoma¡¯s Moonglow and divine power to temporarily return to her.

    Hence, purifying the Darkness in Xion, Gin, and Trevor came easy.

    She used her breath to purify Darkness.

    As a result, the room was now filled with bonsai trees that only reached her hips. The trees absorbed the Darkness in the men¡¯s bodies. Hence, the healthy trees that her breath produced had turnedpletely ck.

    ¡°You¡¯re all as good as new now,¡± Neoma said while stretching her arms. ¡°Can you get up?¡±

    Xion and Trevor got up at the same time.

    Gin was a littlete because he transformed back into his human form...

    .....

    ... naked.

    Thankfully, Neoma¡¯s eyes were spared because Trevor immediately threw a nket to cover the lower part of Gin¡¯s body.

    Xion, on the other hand, covered Gin¡¯s torso with a pillow.

    [Gosh, they¡¯re so overprotective.]

    ***

    ¡°THE FOX is here.¡±

    Regina didn¡¯t want to admit it, but the fact that the fox had arrived as reinforcement was a huge relief. ¡°Where is she now?¡±

    Dn, who was now using Rubin Drayton¡¯s body, let out a sigh. ¡°Unfortunately, she encountered Lewis Crevan and the young duke.¡±

    The young duke?

    ¡°Jasper Hawthorne?¡± she asked, confused. ¡°If Lewis Crevan came with Jasper Hawthorne... could it be because of Princess Neoma?¡±

    But it wasn¡¯t like Princess Neoma came to the ind knowing that one of the crows¡¯ biggest branches was there.

    As far as she knew, the royal princess was only there to follow Rubin Drayton.

    [And confirm whether I¡¯m alive or not, perhaps.]

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± Dn said. ¡°Princess Neoma isn¡¯t the only young monarch that we should be wary of.¡±

    Ah, right.

    [Prince Nero is just as cunning as Princess Neoma.]

    Well, thanks to the royal prince, a brilliant idea just urred to her.

    ¡°Send a word to the fox,¡± Regina said, smiling. ¡°Tell her to bring Lewis Crevan to us alive. We need the boy¡¯s Seeds to revive the Silver Fox n, after all.¡±

    Dnughed while shaking his head. ¡°As you wish, my dear sister.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 561

    Chapter 561: THE LION¡¯S PRIDE

    NEOMA was d to see that the patches of Darkness on Xion and Gin finally disappeared.

    And Trevor looked more energetic now.

    ¡°It¡¯s been a while, Princess Neoma,¡± Gin greeted her cheerfully. ¡°Thank you for saving my life. As a token of gratitude, I will be extra careful when we kidnap youter.¡±

    Gosh, for a man with cat ears, Gin sure looked good that she didn¡¯t care about the bullshit that he just said.

    [I¡¯m not a furry person, but that cat dude is really hot.]

    Xion cleared his throat. ¡°Princess Neoma, you¡¯re getting distracted again.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, my Moon Princess,¡± Trevorined. ¡°You said you weren¡¯t a ¡°furry person.¡±¡±

    .....

    Tsk.

    Trevor learned the modern words that she would often use fast, and he knew exactly how to use them. Like, how?

    Ah, right.

    [Trevor is still Devil¡¯s Grimoire.]

    ¡°You may rest here in the meantime,¡± Neoma said, turning her back on the boys. ¡°I¡¯m a busy girl, so I¡¯ll leave.¡±

    Of course, none of the boys stayed in the room to rest.

    Xion, Trevor, and Gin followed her as if they were little ducklings.

    No wonder Paige, Juri, Jeno, and Greko looked surprised when Neoma opened the door and came out with the three men behind her.

    ¡°Status report,¡± Neoma said, looking at Paige and Jeno since she sent the two to survey the mansion that Trevor mentioned earlier. ¡°Are the crows still there?¡±

    ¡°The main mansion was melted by the magma, and it seemed like there are only a few survivors, Your Royal Highness,¡± Jeno reported to her politely. ¡°The annex building survived.¡±

    ¡°Ah,¡± Neoma said, quite disappointed. ¡°Then Regina and Rubin might still be alive.¡±

    After all, ording to Xion earlier, Rubin Drayton was still in the mansion.

    ¡°Princess Neoma, a strong spell covered the annex building,¡± Paige said seriously. ¡°I believe the sorcerer that you fought was preparing for a teleportation spell that could move the entire annex building to a different space. It was a difficult spell to make, but based on my observation, the spell is almostplete.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t let Regina and the crows run away,¡± Neoma said. ¡°I¡¯ll go and fuck them up.¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma!¡± her childrenined with the intention of stopping her.

    ¡°Eomma, you need to rest,¡± Greko said while clinging to the sleeve of her dress. ¡°Your divine power temporarily returned because of the divine energy in this house. But you almost drained your Mana during yourst fight, and you just used your purification ability. As your doctor, I advise against fighting again.¡±

    ¡°Please leave it to us, Princess Neoma,¡± Juri said. ¡°We will go and stop Regina Crowell from running away.¡±

    ¡°I understand your concern, but you can¡¯t stop me, children,¡± Neoma said sternly. ¡°Regina Crowell is the enemy that I want to crush with my own pretty hands.¡±

    Her ¡°children¡± knew that she was dead serious.

    That was probably why none of them were able to oppose her anymore.

    ¡°Moon Princess, we¡¯ll help you,¡± Trevor said cheerfully. ¡°If you fight, Gin and I will fight with you, too.¡±

    ¡°Sure,¡± Neoma said, then she pointed her thumb at Trevor and Gin. ¡°Children, those dudes will probably kidnap me while I¡¯m fighting with Regina Crowell. Keep an eye on them and make sure they won¡¯t be able toe near me starting from this moment.¡±

    And, just like that, Trevor and Gin was pushed away by the bloodlust of her ¡°children.¡±

    The look of betrayal on Trevor and Gin¡¯s faces was priceless.

    [Heh.]

    ¡°Princess Neoma...¡±

    Neoma turned around when she heard Sharon¡¯s voice.

    She wasn¡¯t afraid to show her back on Trevor and Gin (who was obviously nning to kidnap her for real) because she was surrounded by her ¡°children¡± now.

    ¡°Miss Sharon, please be assured that I will return and pay you back for taking care of us,¡± Neoma said in a gentle tone. ¡°I just have some trash to take out at the moment.¡±

    ¡°Are you going to raid the crows¡¯ mansion, Princess Neoma?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the n, Miss Sharon.¡±

    ¡°Then may I implore Your Royal Highness to please retrieve the treasure that the crows have stolen from Lord Kingston, the White Lion that leads our tribe?¡± Sharon asked politely. ¡°We don¡¯t know what exactly it is. But, a few years ago, the crows have stolen something from Lord Kingston. Because of that incident, our Lord Kingston was forced to follow the crows.¡±

    Ah.

    Something like that happened.

    The thought that Kingston¡¯s ¡°treasure¡± may have been melted in the main mansion crossed her mind for a moment.

    But remembering that Regina Crowell protected the annex building changed her mind.

    [Regina wouldn¡¯t have protected the annex building for nothing. The treasure that they stole from Lord Kingston might still be there.]

    ¡°Our Lord Kingston calls his treasure the ¡®Lion¡¯s Pride,''¡± Sharon said, then she bowed her head to Neoma. ¡°Please retrieve it for our tribe, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°I made a promise with Lord Kingston that I will free him from the crows,¡± Neoma said, then she put her hand over her chest. ¡°If the treasure that the crows stole will set him free, then I shall retrieve it for the Lion Tribe.¡±

    ***

    ¡°CALYX, we received a report from Regina.¡±

    ¡°What did she say?¡± Calyx, who was choosing a tie to use, asked without even turning to his Uncle Raven. ¡°Are they still on the ind?¡±

    ¡°Regina and Dn decided to send the research data and materials back to the main office.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± he asked, turning to his uncle. ¡°I know that Dn is apetent sorcerer. But he hasn¡¯t reached his full potential yet. Can he create a teleportation spell that¡¯s big enough to transfer the entire annex building to the main office?¡±

    ¡°Well, they¡¯re trying to make it work,¡± Uncle Raven, who was allowed in the Royal Pce as his butler, said. ¡°Regina will stay and fight Princess Neoma in order to buy time for Dn toplete the spell. However, it¡¯s taking time since Dn is back in Rubin Drayton¡¯s body.¡±

    ¡°Ah, so today is the day Regina will die at the hands of Princess Neoma.¡±

    He told Regina before to ¡°just¡± kidnap Princess Neoma and do experiments on the royal princess.

    But, to be honest, he said that half-heartedly.

    He knew that it was almost impossible to do that.

    [But Regina is capable of making miracles. I¡¯m not hoping too much, though. So, if Regina seeds, then I¡¯ll just consider it as my being lucky.]

    His uncleughed while shaking his head. ¡°Do you not have faith in Regina?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d like to say that I do, but I¡¯ve personally experienced how strong Princess Neoma is,¡± he said. ¡°Regina is no match against Princess Neoma.¡± He grinned at his uncle. ¡°But that is IF the fight is fair.¡±

    Yes, IF the fight was fair, Regina would obviously lose.

    But the crows never fought fair and square, especially if they were in a disadvantageous position.

    [Princess Neoma, you scammed the empire for years by pretending to be Prince Nero. You wouldn¡¯tin if we y dirty this time, would you?]

    Uncle Raven, who obviously got what he meant, grinned back at him. ¡°Is it time for us to make our next move?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Uncle. Regina is my favorite family member, so I won¡¯t let her die,¡± Calyx said, then he grabbed the red tie. Princess Neoma looked good in red, so he chose that color to get Prince Nero¡¯s attention. Not that the royal prince would see him today. ¡°Open the portal to the Hazelden Kingdom,¡± he dered cheerfully. ¡°It¡¯s time to steal the baby saint AND the ck Witch.¡±

    ***

    ¡°YOUR MAJESTY!¡±

    Niki was in the middle of a meeting with Nero and Rufus Quinzel when Geoffrey Kinsley, his current personal knight, barged into the conference room. ¡°What¡¯s with the disgraceful behavior, Geoffrey Kinsley?¡±

    ¡°I apologize for my rudeness, but I have an urgent report, Your Majesty,¡± Geoffrey Kinsley said, bowing his head. ¡°Lord Calyx Dalton and his ¡°butler¡± trespassed in the portal room and used the one that¡¯s directly connected to the Hazelden Kingdom.¡±

    His eyes went wide a little. ¡°They used the portal to Hazelden without permission?¡±

    He clenched his hands tight.

    [That¡¯s probably why those crows were adamant about entering the Royal Pce!]

    ¡°That¡¯s correct, Your Majesty,¡± Geoffrey Kinsley said. ¡°Unfortunately, Calyx Dalton destroyed the portal after using it.¡±

    [Tsk.]

    ¡°Rufus,¡± Niki said, turning to his cousin. ¡°Send a word to Glenn and warn them about Calyx Dalton¡¯s arrival.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s enough to just send them a word, Your Majesty,¡± Rufus said politely. ¡°I shoulde to Hazelden myself in order to protect Queen Brigitte and the future saint. Thankfully, Glenn created a portal in my estate that directly opens to his pce in Hazelden in case of an emergency. This seems to be the best time to use it.¡±

    After all, the only reason the crows would go to Hazelden was for the future saint.

    ¡°No need to do that, Duke Quinzel,¡± Nero said, standing up- his eyes glowing red. ¡°I¡¯lle to Hazelden myself.¡±

    Niki pinched the bridge of his nose because he knew why Nero suddenly snapped.

    [My son must be worried about Dahlia.]

    .....

    ***

    ¡°DIVINE Father, with all due respect, what are you doing?¡± Ruto asked indifferently. ¡°Do you wish for me to destroy the Upper World now?¡±

    ¡°The future you may have been capable of destroying the Upper World, but you¡¯re not at that level yet,¡± Levi, his divine father, saidzily while sitting on his throne. ¡°Hence, your threat won¡¯t work.¡±

    He looked around his surroundings.

    His divine father had locked him up inside a room where the walls were mirrors.

    Hence, he could clearly see the slight change in his physical appearance.

    When he was in the human world, his hair was purple. Sometimes the shade would turn dark that it almost looked ck.

    But, in the Upper World, his divine power as Levi¡¯s son was infinite.

    And people with divine power or blood from a divine parent had light-colored hair, just like how the de Moonasterios had white hair.

    Hence, right now, Ruto¡¯s purple hair had turned pale that it almost looked silver.

    And his right eye was glowing red.

    He hated his current appearance because that was how he looked when he killed Neoma in their first life.

    ¡°Stay here until the ordeal is over, Yoan.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I¡¯m not an obedient son,¡± Ruto said, gathering the divine power in his hands. ¡°Divine father, you should know by now that this time, I am choosing Neoma over the world.¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t stop what is meant to happen, my precious son,¡± Levi said while shaking his head. ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio¡¯s downfall has already begun.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 562

    Chapter 562: ANTAGONIST

    ¡°NERO, let Rufus handle this,¡± Niki said firmly. ¡°I won¡¯t allow you to go to Hazelden when you can¡¯t even keep your emotions in check.¡±

    He couldn¡¯t scold his son and say that he was only acting that way because of Dahlia- not in front of Rufus who was the father of Nero¡¯s fianc¨¦e.

    Hanna wasn¡¯t officially the Crown Princess yet.

    However, he wasn¡¯t that thick-skinned to mention another girl that his son fancied right in front of Rufus.

    ¡°Your Royal Highness, I believe His Majesty is right,¡± Rufus said to Nero politely. ¡°Let me and my knights handle the fight in the Hazelden Kingdom.¡±

    ¡°Father, Duke Quinzel, my gut feeling is telling me I need to be there,¡± Nero insisted, his eyes returning to their original color while looking straight at Rufus. ¡°Moreover, I believe it¡¯s better if Your Grace would stay here in the Royal Pce as Father¡¯s shield.¡±

    He knitted his eyebrows in confusion.

    .....

    Rufus also looked confused. ¡°Your Royal Highness, of course, it¡¯s an honor to take that position if I am not needed anywhere else. However, right now, I don¡¯t think His Majesty needs me as his shield specifically. Aside from the fact that His Majesty is the strongest man in the empire, His Majesty has also his Pdins and the royal knights. Hence, I¡¯m still the best person to serve as reinforcement for Glenn and the queen.¡±

    ¡°Father is no longer the strongest man in the empire,¡± Nero said matter-of-factly. ¡°Duke Quinzel, I want you to know that Father is dying because I¡¯m stealing his Moonglow from him.¡±

    Niki was bbergasted at how Nero blew his condition out of proportion casually.

    No wonder Rufus looked at him as if he was about to cry from too much worry.

    ¡°Is that true, Your Majesty?¡± Rufus asked worriedly. ¡°Why didn¡¯t Your Majesty tell me that your condition has worsened?¡±

    ¡°Because it hasn¡¯t,¡± Niki said, scoffing. ¡°I still have at least five years before my condition deteriorates.¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, please don¡¯t talk like that,¡± Rufus said in a cracked voice. ¡°You have to live longer than that...¡±

    [God, why is Rufus still such a crybaby when he¡¯s already this old?]

    Niki clicked his tongue, then he red at Nero.

    [See what you¡¯ve done?]

    Nero just shrugged, feigning innocence. Then he changed the topic. ¡°Father, I¡¯m not thinking of going alone. I actually n to bring Mother with me.¡±

    Ah, he could see why Nero thought of bringing his mother with him.

    Aside from Manu, the Moon Priest, Mona could provide much-needed help in protecting the future saint and the queen of Hazelden.

    [That¡¯s not a bad idea...]

    ¡°Duke Quinzel, please stay here in the Royal Pce,¡± Nero said firmly. ¡°The crows have finally made their move. We can¡¯t leave Father to fend for himself.¡±

    Niki frowned. ¡°I can protect myself, thank you very much.¡±

    ¡°Father, only Neoma is allowed to be that arrogant in our family,¡± Nero said sternly, as if his son was scolding him. ¡°As I said before, the crows don¡¯t have any use for you anymore, Father. Now that they have me and Calyx Dalton, they won¡¯t hesitate to go all out and kill you. The crows will put either me or the crazy bastard once they get rid of you, so please don¡¯t be toocent.¡±

    He knew that his son was correct, however...

    [Nero is blunt- too blunt that it hurts.]

    Now Niki wondered if this was his karma for all the times that he said cold and harsh words to Neoma many years ago.

    [No wonder Neoma used to call me ¡®scumbag.¡¯]

    ¡°Father, Duke Quinzel, the crows have portals that lead to different parts of the world. I¡¯m sure they have a portal that¡¯s directly connected to Hazelden,¡± Nero said seriously. ¡°But Calyx Dalton openly and illegally used the portal here in the Royal Pce, and he even destroyed it as if he was ¡°trying¡± to stop us from following him. However, to me, it seems like he was actually provoking me to go and follow him to Hazelden.¡±

    Niki raised an eyebrow at his son. ¡°And how did youe up with the conclusion that Calyx Dalton¡¯s supposed message was directed at you?¡±

    ¡°Because I¡¯m the thing that Calyx Dalton desires the most,¡± Nero said casually. ¡°That crazy bastard definitely wants to show me his worth.¡±

    [Calyx Dalton ¡°desires¡± my son?]

    Now Niki was confused.

    [Should I be worried?]

    ***

    ALMOST TWO days.

    Jasper traveled with Lewis Crevan for forty hours in silence.

    They rode ships and used illegal portals again and again in order to get to the East Continent the fastest way. The long trip was tiring and expensive.

    [Illegal portals are expensive, after all.]

    Not that he cared since Prince Nero gave them an astronomical amount of budget.

    Anyway, during that long trip, Lewis barely responded to him. Even when his questions were answerable by ¡®yes¡¯ or ¡®no,¡¯ the fox boy would just either nod or shake his head. Lewis also had a bad habit of talking incoherently when he didn¡¯t feel like holding a conversation.

    Why was Jasper reminiscing about the awkward time he spent with Lewis?

    Simple.

    ¡°You¡¯re ugly. How dare you try to imitate Princess Neoma? Delusional wench.¡±

    Jasper was still in shock while listening to Lewis spit out those words bitterly.

    He was listening to the fox boy intently because it was more effective than following his movements with his eyes. It was hard to do that because Lewis moved really fast. But he had to focus because he was sending his white butterflies in Lewis¡¯ direction in order to give the fox boy clean air to breathe.

    The entire ind was engulfed with Darkness, after all.

    Thankfully, since his butterflies were a part of Nature, they had the ability to purify Darkness. But it was only on the level where the butterflies could provide clean air for them for a few hours. It wouldn¡¯tst long.

    ¡°Even if you die and get reborn, you¡¯ll never reach Princess Neoma¡¯s level. Know your ce.¡±

    Jasper was impressed by Lewis¡¯ insults.

    [Princess Neoma, your son is very offended that someone tried to copy you. Now he¡¯s talking a lot. Well, more like throwing insults, to be precise...]

    ¡°Shut up, you arrogant fox! How dare you turn me down?! I¡¯m the only female Silver Fox alive in the world!¡±

    ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re a fox, too? Foxes are supposed to be pretty like me. Why are you ugly?¡±

    Jasper stifled hisughter after hearing Lewis¡¯ insult to the foxdy.

    [Oh, god. Lewis knows he¡¯s pretty. He¡¯s really Princess Neoma¡¯s ¡°son.¡±]

    Anyway, Jasper could only listen to Lewis and the foxdy¡¯s aggressive banter.

    After all, his eyes couldn¡¯t follow the two¡¯s movements properly. He could see the white tails move from time to time.

    But only the foxdy had white tails.

    Ah, Jasper could also hear the sound of Lewis¡¯ de shing with the foxdy¡¯s sharp and strong nails.

    [Lewis is fighting with his sword instead of his ability as a Silver Fox.]

    ¡°Kyaaah!¡±

    The foxdy was sent flying until she hit a huge sea stack- aka a vertical rock formation standing in the sea.

    Of course, it copsed due to the impact and the foxdy fell in the water.

    When she stood up, it was clear that she wasn¡¯t happy with getting soaked.

    [She¡¯s probably around Lewis¡¯ age?]

    Just like the fox boy, the foxdy also had silver hair and golden eyes. Moreover, she had three white tails.

    Oh, just three?

    [If I remember it correctly, Lewis has nine tails.]

    But maybe the foxdy wasn¡¯t using herplete strength yet.

    [She should if she wants to leave, though.]

    It was amazing how Lewis, who wasn¡¯t that devoted to the sword, was on the same level as a Sword Master.

    [I heard Emperor Niki personally trained Lewis in the past.]

    But His Majesty wasn¡¯t a Sword Master, too. After all, the de Moonasterios were known for their brute strength and Soul Beasts. In short, the Royal Family had no use for weapons.

    [The Sword Masters on the continent who dedicated their entire lives being one with the sword would cry if they find out that a person like Lewis reached their level without devoting himself to the sword.]

    Jasper was spooked when he suddenly met the foxdy¡¯s glowing golden eyes.

    ¡°What are you looking at?¡± the foxdy hissed at him. ¡°You damned butterfly nerd.¡±

    Ouch.

    However, he was raised as a proper noble.

    ¡°I apologize for staring, mydy,¡± Jasper said politely, slightly bowing to the female fox. ¡°I¡¯m Jasper Hawthorne, the Duke of Langhuie. May I know mydy¡¯s name?¡±

    .....

    ¡°It¡¯s Eloise,¡± the foxdy growled at him. ¡°Why do you want to know my name?¡±

    Jasper smiled before he responded politely. ¡°So that I would know what name to write on your grave, Miss Eloise.¡±

    Eloise was obviously enraged as she came at him at full speed.

    Jasper summoned his red butterflies, the poisonous ones, to create a wall in front of him and block Eloise¡¯s attack while drawing his sword.

    However, he stopped when Lewis suddenly appeared above Eloise...

    ... then Lewis gave Eloise a dropkick, causing the foxdy to plummet to the ground with a loud thud (and a shriek from the poor girl).

    The impact even created a crater- a testament as to how strong the kick was.

    No wonder Eloise was knocked out in an instant.

    [How barbaric.]

    ¡°Lewis, your ¡°mother¡± will be sad if she saw how you treat ady.¡±

    Of course, Jasper was only teasing Lewis.

    [Gender doesn¡¯t matter in a fight. In fact, it was good that Lewis didn¡¯t hesitate just because the opponent is a girl.]

    ¡°Princess Neoma will understand. I fought for her honor and defeated the evil that tried to copy her unrivaled beauty,¡± Lewis said as he safelynded on the ground in his feet. Then he turned to him with a frown. ¡°But Princess Neoma isn¡¯t my ¡°mother.¡±¡±

    Jasperughed, but it didn¡¯tst long.

    He grabbed Lewis and hid the fox boy behind him when he felt the sudden surge of Darkness emerge from Eloise.

    [Ah, this is far from over.]

    ***

    ¡°WHAT AN honor!¡± Calyx said when he was greeted by King Glenn himself as soon as he crossed over the portal that led to Hazelden Kingdom. ¡°Your Majesty, how¡¯s the queen doing?¡±

    King Glenn just drew his ck sword- Ebony, was it?- and pointed it at him. ¡°Lord Calyx, you aren¡¯t officially recognized as a royal prince yet,¡± he said firmly. ¡°And even if you are, using the portal without permission is still a crime. I am entitled to punish and arrest you, young lord.¡±

    ¡°Be my guest,¡± he said, shrugging while looking around the empty room. ¡°The fact that Your Majesty is alone here only means that Queen Brigitte is well-protected.¡±

    The king just gave her a dire stare.

    ¡°Sire, I want you to understand that I¡¯m only doing this with the best intention in mind,¡± he said to the king. ¡°This world needs the new saint more than your wife.¡±

    King Glenn responded by releasing his bloodlust against him.

    [Oho, he¡¯s pretty strong.]

    ¡°Your Majesty, should we make a deal, then?¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t make a deal with you, young lord.¡±

    ¡°Aww, it¡¯s a pity,¡± he whined. ¡°I was going to ask you to hand over Dahlia to me in exchange for leaving the queen alone.¡±

    Of course, that was a lie.

    He was greedy- so he wanted both the baby saint and the ck Witch.

    King Glenn knitted his eyebrows. ¡°Why do you need Miss Dahlia?¡±

    That was when his smile faded.

    He was always closely monitoring Prince Nero. And he happened to hear the royal prince¡¯s conversation with his parents that involved the little ck Witch...

    That was the first time he heard Prince Nero worry about someone else who wasn¡¯t Princess Neoma, and that was also when he realized that Princess Neoma wasn¡¯t his sole rival.

    Hence, he mobilized his people to investigate Dahlia.

    Luckily, the ck Witch was already on their family¡¯s target list. Hence, information about Dahlia was already avable.

    ¡°Because that wench seduced Prince Nero,¡± Calyx said, all the yfulness on his face and voice gone. ¡°Sharing my dear brother with Princess Neoma is already hard enough- I won¡¯t let that ck Witch get in my way.¡±

    ***

    WHEN NEOMA died in her first life- the death that she knew before meeting Ruto- she remembered looking up at the sky and finding a crow watch her draw herst breath.

    She died alone while the crowughed at her seemingly.

    But now, the situation had been reversed.

    Neoma was the one that soared in the sky because of her rose wings while Regina plummeted to the ground after her surprise attack.

    However, she wasn¡¯t happy with what she discovered.

    ¡°Shadows?¡± Neoma asked in disbelief while looking at the barrier Regina made to protect herself. It was made of Shadows that were very simr to the Quinzels¡¯ signature Shadow Maniption Technique. ¡°Did you steal the Quinzels¡¯ technique or something?¡±

    Wait, could someone steal it in the first ce?

    There were other people who could use shadows as a weapon, but the Quinzels¡¯ Mana was too unique for her to mistake it for something else.

    Hence, she was confused.

    Regina, whose back was stuck on the ground,ughed bitterly while looking up at her. ¡°Princess Neoma, I heard from Rubin that you know about his split personality,¡± she said, blood trickling down from the corner of her mouth. ¡°Do you remember the name of Rubin¡¯s alter-ego?¡±

    She suddenly remembered a conversation that she had with Rubin the moment she discovered about his split personality when they were younger...

    ¡°I remember Rubin introducing his other personality to me as ¡®Gavin,''¡± Neoma said. ¡°And he also said that you were the one who named his alter-ego.¡±

    She discarded it as a coincidence then because ¡®Gavin¡¯ was amon name.

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Regina said proudly. ¡°You see, I¡¯m quite fond of the name ¡®Gavin.''¡±

    [I am, too.]

    But Regina didn¡¯t have to know that. Moreover, she was doing her best not to think of Gavin Quinzel- her appa- these days.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t steal the Shadow Maniption Technique from the Quinzels,¡± Regina said, smirking. ¡°I inherited it from my father.¡±

    She suddenly got the chills.

    Her heart wanted to deny it, but her brain had already figured it out.

    The reason why Regina asked her if she knew the name of Rubin¡¯s other personality...

    The fact that it was Regina who named the alter-ego ¡®Gavin...¡¯

    [No, no way...]

    ¡°Regina Crowell,¡± Neoma said, her voice shaking from anger. ¡°Are you saying that Gavin Quinzel is your biological father?¡±

    ¡°That, I am,¡± Regina said,ughing. ¡°But why are you so angry, Princess Neoma?¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 563

    Chapter 563: TRIGGER

    [A few moments earlier...]

    ¡°YOU CALLED us, my Moon Princess?¡±

    Neoma nodded at Trevor¡¯s question.

    She was sitting on the chair beside the bed when Trevor and Gin entered the room. It was the same room where Xion was confined in earlier. She borrowed the room from Sharon again because it was the room with the strongest divine protection.

    Hence, she could use her divine power there.

    [I really need to have a long talk with Miss Sharonter.]

    ¡°Wee,¡± Neoma said without moving an inch. ¡°I have something to discuss with you.¡±

    .....

    She didn¡¯t have to stand up, since she had the highest rank in the room. Trevor was a noble so he was probably aware of royal etiquette. And Gin also seemed like he learned etiquette since he was well-mannered.

    Anyway, it wasn¡¯t like she was abusing her authority as the royal princess.

    There was a reason why she remained seated.

    ¡°Discuss with us?¡± Trevor asked curiously. ¡°What is it, Princess Neoma?¡±

    She smirked and gave the demon boy a thumbs up. ¡°Since you graciously shared the location of the mansion with us, now I can go there andunch a surprise attack.¡±

    ¡°¡±I?¡±¡± Gin, who was sensitive as hell, asked cautiously. ¡°Where are we in that n of yours, little princess?¡±

    ¡°Here,¡± she said, smirking.

    Then she snapped her fingers while standing up.

    Before Trevor and Gin could escape the room, they already found themselves trapped inside Neoma¡¯s Dome.

    Trevor and Gin attacked the Dome in order to break it, but to no avail.

    The reason she didn¡¯t stand up earlier was because she was afraid Trevor and Gin would read her bodynguage while she was preparing to trap them inside her Dome. Hence, she sat down to appear rxed.

    ¡°Princess Neoma, I thought your Dome weakened because of the Darkness on this ind,¡± Gin said, smirking bitterly at her. ¡°So why the hell is your Dome so sturdy now?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s thanks to the divine protection of this room,¡± she exined. ¡°To be honest, I haven¡¯t talked to Miss Sharon yet about this secret hide-out. But that has to wait, since I need to deal with Regina Crowell first before she escapes.¡±

    ¡°My Moon Princess, you¡¯re heading to the enemy¡¯s hide-out,¡± Trevor warned her. ¡°Dn Crowell is there. You need me to fight that shitty fake-ass sorcerer.¡±

    Oh.

    [Trevor is usually rude, but this is the first time I¡¯ve heard him be so crude. It¡¯s not my (bad) influence, is it?]

    ¡°I know what you mean. It certainly will be easy to fight against Regina and Dn Crowell with you, Trevor,¡± she said, then she crossed her arms over her chest. ¡°But I know you will only use that opportunity to separate me from my children and kidnap me while I¡¯m busy fighting the crows. I won¡¯t let you do that, so I¡¯m locking you up here- you and Gin.¡±

    Trevor frowned. ¡°My Moon Princess-¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t let you stab me in the back again, Trevor,¡± Neoma said in a serious tone that she rarely used on the demon boy. ¡°The first time you betrayed me, I let it slide because you have the right to choose which side to take. You never swore your loyalty to me in the first ce, so I never considered you as one of my people who will live, fight, and die for my sake.¡±

    The demon boy smiled sadly at her. ¡°Well, that¡¯s sad. I¡¯m always sincere with you, Princess Neoma-¡±

    ¡°I know,¡± she said, cutting him off. ¡°And I¡¯m sincere when I said you¡¯re my chingu. Well, now you¡¯re my ¡°frenemy¡± because you decided to join the Devil¡¯s side in order to ¡°save¡± me. Even so, I know you¡¯re doing this for my sake, so I can¡¯t really hate you.¡±

    Trevor looked touched by her words. ¡°Princess Neoma...¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why I can¡¯t let you cross the line,¡± Neoma said firmly. ¡°Even though I¡¯m easy-going, rude, and arrogant- I¡¯m still the one and only royal princess of the Great Moonasterion Empire. If you kidnap me, you¡¯ll be a criminal for real. Moreover, my family won¡¯t forgive you since they love me so much. You might think Nero and Papa Boss are the scariest members of my family, but you¡¯re wrong. It¡¯s actually Mama Boss that you should be afraid of if you dared toy your hand on me.¡±

    ¡°Yep, that¡¯s the Princess Neoma that we know and love,¡± Gin said, chuckling while pping his hands. ¡°I¡¯ll never get tired of your arrogance, Your Royal Highness.¡±

    ¡°Why, thank you.¡±

    The ck cat justughed.

    Trevor, on the other hand, just smiled warmly at her. ¡°Twenty minutes,¡± he said, the Bookworm materializing around his shoulders. ¡°I think I might be able to break this Dome in 20-30 minutes, my Moon Princess.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s more than enough for me to deal with the crows,¡± Neoma said, turning her back on Trevor and Gin. ¡°See youter, boys.¡±

    ***

    NEOMA started the real discussion of her ns with her children in the next room.

    She already told Sharon that Trevor and Gin would be locked up, so the lions wouldn¡¯t be shocked when they found the two trapped in her Dome.

    ¡°I¡¯ll bring Paige and Jeno with me,¡± Neoma said while looking at her children. ¡°Juri, Xion, Greko- you three will stay here to keep an eye on Trevor and Gin, and protect the lions as well.¡±

    Neoma might be awesome, but she sucked at using magic.

    Hence, she needed Paige in order to counter Dn Crowell¡¯s ¡°magic tricks¡± since she couldn¡¯t trust Trevor at the moment. Jeno, on the other hand, was needed as their hidden card in case Regina had a trap set up for them.

    [I mean, Regina is smart. She knows I¡¯ll raid the mansion as soon as I recover, and she won¡¯t wait idly. That¡¯s why she¡¯s trying to run away, after all.]

    ¡°Princess Neoma, is it safe to assume that Trevor and Gin will now be treated as enemies?¡± Juri asked carefully. ¡°If they managed to break the Dome, do we have permission to fight them for real?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Neoma said. She had a feeling that Trevor and Gin wouldn¡¯t prioritize escaping over fighting her ¡°children,¡± though. ¡°Do your best to hold them back. However, if it gets too dangerous-¡±

    ¡°Drop it because no mission is worth dying for,¡± Juri, Greko, and Xion said at the same time.

    ¡°Very good,¡± Neoma said,ughing. Then she turned to Paige and Jeno. ¡°Let¡¯s go, kids.¡±

    Paige and Jeno bowed at hermand. ¡°As Your Royal Highness wishes.¡±

    ***

    [THIS ISN¡¯T my first time riding on Jeno¡¯s cloud, but I still feel like I¡¯m Son G*ku whenever he rides his yellow magical cloud.]

    Of course, it wasn¡¯t Neoma¡¯s first time to experience using Jeno¡¯s cloud as transportation.

    However, it was still as exciting as the first time since her ¡°son¡± was going full speed. She could barely see the top of the trees in the jungle. But even though they were flying above the jungle, the air wasn¡¯t hitting their face harshly. They also didn¡¯t have trouble breathing.

    It was all thanks to Paige¡¯s magic protection.

    ¡°Oh, I see it now,¡± Neoma said, pointing a finger at the ¡°mansion¡± ahead of them. ¡°Wow, only the annex building is left, huh?¡±

    She could see that there used to be a mansion in that vastnd.

    However, it was obvious that the surroundings were melted by the magma. Only the annex building was left unscathed, and that building was currently surrounded by a bluish barrier of some sort.

    ¡°The annex building is inside a magic circle, Princess Neoma,¡± Paige exined, her turquoise eyes glowing in the dark beautifully. ¡°Based on my calctions, it will bepleted in ten-fifteen minutes.¡±

    ¡°`Gotcha,¡± Neoma said, smiling as she spotted a familiar blob of ck hair below. Well, it wasn¡¯t easy to find because that person was trying to blend in the Darkness scattered in the estate, but she could see them clearly. ¡°Paige, Jeno, find a decent spot to hide and standby. And watch out for Dn Crowell, too.¡±

    After saying that, she jumped off the flying cloud and summoned her wings.

    Her wings made of red roses grew from her back, stabilizing her ¡°free fall.¡±

    This time, her target had already noticed her presence.

    Regina Crowell looked up, her glowing green eyes widened in shock upon seeing her.

    ¡°Annyeong!¡± Neoma greeted Regina using the Koreannguage to confuse her for fun. ¡°Please ept my heartfelt gift, Regina Crowell!¡±

    The gift that she mentioned was Tteokbokki¡¯s giant fireball.

    ¡°Curse you,¡± Regina Crowell mouthed at her, then she raised her arms to block her attack. ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio.¡±

    Neoma¡¯s smile faded as soon as a te-like barrier appeared out of Regina¡¯s hands.

    [Shadows...?]

    ***

    REGINA coughed up blood as soon as her back hit the ground.

    The impact made a crater.

    But it was because she used Shadows to cushion her fall. If she had stumbled without protection after blocking Princess Neoma¡¯s me, she would have broken her skull.

    Even so, using arge amount of Shadows took a toll on her body right away.

    [I just have to endure for a few minutes...]

    ¡°Shadows?¡± Princess Neoma, who was suspended in the air (thanks to her wings made of red roses) asked while looking down at her. ¡°Did you steal the Quinzels¡¯ technique or something?¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma, I heard from Rubin that you know about his split personality,¡± Regina said, blood trickling down from the corner of her mouth. ¡°Do you remember the name of Rubin¡¯s alter-ego?¡±

    ¡°I remember Rubin introducing his other personality to me as ¡®Gavin,''¡± the royal princess said. ¡°And he also said that you were the one who named his alter-ego.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± she said proudly. ¡°You see, I¡¯m quite fond of the name ¡®Gavin.''¡±

    And it was because Regina was raised with the adults drilling into her head that she was the daughter of Commander Gavin Quinzel- the former heir of House Quinzel, and the man apparently seduced by Lady Mona Roseheart.

    [I was told Gavin Quinzel was already dead while growing up, though.]

    However, ording to the reports, Gavin Quinzel had been revived but currently missing.

    .....

    ¡°I didn¡¯t steal the Shadow Maniption Technique from the Quinzels,¡± Regina said, smirking at the royal princess. ¡°I inherited it from my father.¡±

    [Oh?]

    The royal princess¡¯ eyes suddenly turned glowing red.

    ¡°Regina Crowell,¡± Princess Neoma said, her voice shaking from anger. ¡°Are you saying that Gavin Quinzel is your biological father?¡±

    ¡°That, I am,¡± Regina said,ughing. ¡°But why are you so angry, Princess Neoma?¡±

    As expected of the royal princess, she was quick to catch on. Her Royal Highness immediately realized why she suddenly talked about the name of Rubin Drayton¡¯s ¡°other personality.¡±

    Dn Crowell couldn¡¯t act like a normal human whenever he would possess Rubin Drayton¡¯s body.

    Hence, Regina had no choice but to make House Drayton believe that the young lord had a split personality. She even named the ¡°persona¡± ¡®Gavin¡¯ in order for the servants to realize whenever Rubin Drayton was acting strange (because of Dn and his insanity).

    Since Duke Drayton considered it shameful for Rubin Drayton to have a mental illness, it was kept a secret.

    [But Rubin and Dn exposed themselves to ¡°Prince Nero¡± in the past.]

    However, Regina didn¡¯t understand why Princess Neoma looked so angry at the moment just because she revealed she was Gavin Quinzel¡¯s daughter.

    Her thoughts were interrupted when Princess Neomanded on her feet, then pulled her up by the cor.

    Argh!

    [Who knew Princess Neoma could be this barbaric?]

    ¡°Did you steal Gavin Quinzel¡¯s Seed, too?¡± Princess Neoma asked in an eerily calm manner. ¡°Just how did you do that?¡±

    ¡°If you want answers, then make me talk,¡± Regina said, then she grabbed Princess Neoma¡¯s neck. ¡°Princess Neoma, why do you hate me so much?¡±

    ***

    NERO clutched his chest tight.

    He felt like his heart was burning up. But he was fine, so it could only mean one thing: it was Neoma who carried this heavy anger in her chest.

    [What set her off this time?]

    It was Zeru, the ice phoenix, talking to him in his mind.

    Nero let out a sigh. ¡°I figured that much.¡±

    He wasn¡¯t alone in the portal room inside the Quinzel Estate.

    Hanna, Duke Rufus Quinzel, and his mother all turned to him with a curious look on their faces.

    But the three immediately realized that he was talking to his Soul Beast.

    He knitted his eyebrows. ¡°What made Neoma angry this time?¡±

    Nero¡¯s eyes widened in shock. ¡°Regina Crowell is Gavin Quinzel¡¯s daughter?¡±

    Hispanions looked as shocked as he was.

    Hanna covered her mouth when she gasped, while his mother¡¯s eyes went wide.

    ¡°What?¡± Duke Rufus Quinzel asked, obviously shocked. ¡°My brother has a daughter? And it¡¯s the youngdy who tried to kill our Hanna in the past?!¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 564

    Chapter 564: PLAY DIRTY

    [WHY ISN¡¯T it working?!]

    Regina, aside from having Quinzel Blood that granted her the ability to use the Shadow Maniption Technique, also received a special ability from her Crowell Blood.

    She could turn anything or anyone with Mana into ashes with just a touch.

    Neoma de Moonasterio was like a lump of Mana, so the royal princess should be decaying by now!

    However, even though she was strangling the princess, her ability wasn¡¯t working.

    ¡°Gosh! I gave you the chance to try and decay my ss skin, but it¡¯s not working, huh?¡± Princess Neoma, the ever arrogant royal princess said, then she grabbed her by the wrist. ¡°I felt bad because Ruto and Jeno told me about your ability to turn things or people with Mana into ashes or something with just one touch. So, I gave you the chance to use your ability on me. But it seems like it doesn¡¯t work on people who¡¯s stronger than you.¡±

    Regina frowned, but she couldn¡¯t deny it.

    .....

    But it wasn¡¯t as simple as what Princess Neoma said.

    [My ability didn¡¯t work on Her Royal Highness because she¡¯s covered with divine power from head to toe. It¡¯s true that any kind of divine power or blessing doesn¡¯t work on this ind. However, that doesn¡¯t change the fact that the de Moonasterios are born divine.]

    In short, Princess Neoma wasn¡¯t someone she could touch easily.

    Regina¡¯s thoughts were interrupted when Princess Neoma suddenly broke her wrist before pushing her away hard.

    ¡°You bitch!¡± Regina screamed in pain. ¡°How dare you- argh!¡±

    She didn¡¯t get to finish her sentence because Princess Neoma pped her on the face hard, causing her to stumble a bit.

    And she could also taste blood in her mouth.

    ¡°That¡¯s for Hanna,¡± Princess Neoma said, then she pped her other cheek. ¡°That¡¯s for Duke and Duchess Quinzel.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t like Regina wanted to just stand there and ept all Princess Neoma¡¯s ps.

    But she literally couldn¡¯t move her body.

    The bloodlust oozing out of Princess Neoma¡¯s body rendered her immobile.

    ¡°And this one is for my old self,¡± Princess Neoma said while cracking her knuckles. ¡°Clench your teeth, Regina Crowell.¡±

    Princess Neoma warned her, but she didn¡¯t give her a second to ¡°clench her teeth.¡±

    Regina almost cked out after the damned royal princess punched her in the face- hard!

    ***

    [NOW IT makes sense.]

    Hanna had always wondered whether the crows had targeted her family in Neoma¡¯s first life just because they were close to the Royal Family.

    But now, she finally understood why Regina Crowell reced her in that timeline.

    ¡°Neoma isn¡¯t the type who will believe an enemy¡¯s words easily,¡± Hanna said, causing everyone in the portal room to turn to her. ¡°If Neoma judged that Regina Crowell is Uncle Gavin¡¯s daughter, then it must be true.¡±

    Her father clenched his jaws tight.

    She didn¡¯t like that reaction.

    ¡°Father, just because Regina Crowell turned out to be Uncle Gavin¡¯s daughter doesn¡¯t make her a part of our family,¡± Hanna said firmly. ¡°I¡¯m certain Uncle Gavin doesn¡¯t even know he has a daughter.¡±

    ¡°Your daughter is right, Rufus,¡± Lady Mona said. ¡°You already heard about how Calyx Dalton was conceived. The crows might have done the same in order to ¡°give birth¡± to Regina Crowell.¡±

    Her father blinked a few times before he finally regained hisposure. ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for losing it for a moment. I was just... spooked.¡±

    ¡°Duke Quinzel, I¡¯ll leave this matter in your hands since this is your family¡¯s affair,¡± Nero said. ¡°I already gave you a hint as to where you may begin your investigation. I trust that you¡¯ll put it to good use.¡±

    Oh, that was right.

    Hanna remembered that His Majesty and Nero summoned her father to the Royal Pce.

    [It seems like Neoma and Nero have already realized how all of those things happened behind our backs.]

    As expected, the royal twins were really scary.

    ¡°I won¡¯t disappoint you, Prince Nero,¡± her father said, bowing to the Crown Prince. ¡°Please leave this matter to me.¡±

    Nero just nodded, then he turned to her. ¡°Hanna Quinzel.¡±

    Hanna stepped forward. ¡°Yes, Your Royal Highness?¡±

    She addressed Nero formally because she noticed that he called her as a subject of the empire and not as his fianc¨¦e.

    [It means he has a job for me.]

    ¡°Protect the royal pce for me,¡± Nero said, then he leaned down and whispered in her ear. ¡°I want you to stay beside Father and...¡±

    The next things that the royal prince told her startled her a little.

    However, she knew that Nero wasn¡¯t the type to spout nonsense. Even though she wasn¡¯t sure about the royal prince¡¯s order this time, she still decided to follow him.

    ¡°I understand, Your Royal Highness,¡± Hanna said when the royal prince stepped backwards after giving her an order. ¡°I will do as you say.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Hanna,¡± Nero said indifferently, then he turned to his mother and offered his arm to her. ¡°Shall we go, Mother?¡±

    Lady Mona smiled and nodded before she linked her arm with Nero¡¯s. Then thedy turned to Hanna and her father. ¡°Please take care of Niki for us.¡±

    Hanna and her father bowed to Lady Mona. ¡°As you wish, Your Ladyship.¡±

    ***

    [I CAN¡¯T KILL her.]

    Neoma wasn¡¯t satisfied even after pping and punching Regina Crowell.

    But she had to hold back.

    [My former self said I can¡¯t kill Regina Crowell because she has a useful ability that wille in handy in the future. But she didn¡¯t tell me what kind of ability it is.]

    Well, there was one way to find out.

    ¡°Regina Crowell, you better fight with all that you have if you want to survive,¡± Neoma said in a serious voice. ¡°Don¡¯t even think about running away- I won¡¯t let you.¡± She pointed at the annex building engulfed with a bluish light. This time, the light around it began to flicker as if it was about to die out. ¡°My ¡°daughter¡± is doing her best to deactivate the teleportation spell that your copy-cat sorcerer created.¡±

    ¡°Are you talking about the mage in your group?¡± Regina asked, smirking while wiping the blood on her face with the back of her hand. ¡°Do you think a mere mage can stop or break a sorcerer¡¯s spell?¡±

    ¡°I do.¡±

    She was so serious about her faith in Paige and Regina noticed that.

    Hence, the crow lost the arrogant smirk on her face.

    ¡°I know that you don¡¯t have any intention of running away,¡± Neoma said indifferently, opening her hand after she summoned Skewer. When the pink Death Scythe materialized, she grabbed the handle tight. ¡°But there must be something in the annex building that you desperately want to hide from me. If your only goal is to run away, then you wouldn¡¯t have taken a long time just to create a spell that¡¯s powerful enough to teleport a whole-ass building to a different ce.¡±

    Regina fell silent for a while, then sheughed like the viiness that she was. ¡°Princess Neoma, I don¡¯t really like you.¡±

    ¡°Oh, my. What a coincidence,¡± she said sarcastically. ¡°The feeling is mutual.¡±

    At that moment, the air around Regina had changed.

    [Ah, she¡¯s about to get serious now.]

    However, Regina was distracted when a crow magically appeared on her shoulder.

    [Oh, she didn¡¯t expect that either, huh?]

    Neoma had a feeling about the crow so she pointed a finger at it. ¡°Tteokbokki,¡± she said, the tip of her finger lighting up in a red me as if it was a lighter. ¡°Mini fire ball.¡±

    A small ball of fire shot out of her finger, directed at the crow.

    She thought Regina would block her attack, but the viiness didn¡¯t move an inch.

    The crow, however, flew and smacked the small fireball with its wing- the fireball hitting huge debris that turned into magma quickly.

    [Tsk.]

    Neoma knitted her eyebrows when she recognized the voiceing out of the crow. ¡°Calyx Dalton?¡±

    She just pointed Skewer¡¯s curved de in Regina¡¯s direction. As soon as she did, Tteokbokki¡¯s red me licked the de and engulfed it in a moment.

    Neoma was startled, but she didn¡¯t let it show.

    [Brigitte unnie...]

    It was too early for the saint to be born, so something must have happened.

    [A premature birth?]

    It was worrying.

    ¡°I don¡¯t deal with crazy bastards like you,¡± Neoma said, rolling her eyes. ¡°If you have nothing more to say-¡±

    .....

    Regina smirked, but it looked bitter.

    [Hmm?]

    ¡°Calyx Dalton, stop with your bullshit,¡± Neoma said, tired of dealing with the crazy bastard. ¡°Even if you¡¯re determined to kill Brigitte unnie and Uncle Glenn, I know you won¡¯t seed. Dahlia and Lord Manu are there. You¡¯re not even on my level, so what made you think you can harm my people?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Neoma said without missing a heartbeat. ¡°And stop talking, you¡¯re corrupting my ears.¡±

    Regina¡¯s eyes suddenly went wide.

    [Ah, her senses are quite sharp.]

    It was already toote, though.

    Tteokbokki, in his human form, already appeared behind Regina. He grabbed the crow while he strangled Neoma with his other hand. Then, without further ado, the Soul Beast put the crow (the animal!) in his mouth and swallowed it whole.

    [Eww.]

    After that, Tteokbokki let out a burp.

    Neoma frowned. ¡°How does it taste?¡±

    ¡°Just like any other bird,¡± the Soul Beast said, implying that he had already eaten LIVE birds before.

    [What kind of life have you led before you met me, Tteokbokki?]

    Anyway...

    ¡°Are you sure the crow isn¡¯t poisonous or something?¡±

    ¡°Nah, it was just an ordinary bird possessed by Calyx Dalton¡¯s Mana,¡± the Soul Beast said, shrugging. ¡°His presence disappeared as soon as I grabbed the crow, so it turned back into being an ordinary bird.¡±

    [That¡¯s a relief.]

    Tteokbokki turned to Regina who was wing the Soul Beast¡¯s arm while choking. ¡°Thug princess, this one is tough, too. I can¡¯t snap her neck easily.¡±

    [Well, I told Tteokbokki not to kill Regina, so he¡¯s probably controlling his strength.]

    She just needed Tteokbokki to draw Regina¡¯s true strength.

    [Let¡¯s see what the old me has seen in that girl.]

    ¡°Princess Neoma, you¡¯re not fighting fair and square,¡± Reginained, and it was obvious that she was having difficulty in breathing. ¡°How can a royal princess like you y dirty? Do you not have any honor?¡±

    ¡°I care more about my beauty than my honor. Haven¡¯t you heard, Regina Crowell?¡± Neoma asked, smirking. Then she put a hand over her chest. ¡°I am the biggest scammer on the continent.¡±

    [Self-proimed, to be precise. But Regina doesn¡¯t need to know that.]

    ¡°You¡¯re really pissing me off, Neoma de Moonasterio,¡± Regina said coldly, her eyes losing their light. Then her green eyes turnedpletely ck, and they looked like they were zed over. ¡°Why don¡¯t you just drop dead already?¡±

    Neoma, all of a sudden, lost all her strength in her body.

    [Wait, what¡¯s happening to me?!]

    ***

    ¡°EH, YOU¡¯RE still alive?¡± Calyx asked yfully. ¡°Is it the power of love?¡±

    He was wondering how Glenn, the king of Hazelden, could still stand despite bleeding from head to toe.

    To be honest, he thought it would be an easy fight.

    [I guess he¡¯s not the former vicemander of the White Lion Knights for nothing. And that sword...]

    ¡®Ebony,¡¯ was it?

    The jet-ck sword called Ebony had the ability to enhance its user¡¯s power. Hence, Glenn¡¯s ability to control the earth was amplified. In fact, if he was an ordinary person, he would have already been trapped in the ¡°rock cage¡± that the king enjoyed creating.

    In fact, the entire room looked like a rocky mountain now, instead of a portal room.

    ¡°Sire, I like your sword,¡± Calyx said while approaching the weakened king. ¡°Can you give it to me?¡±

    Glenn tried his best to stand straight, then he pointed his sword at her. ¡°I¡¯ll give you my sword if you give me your neck.¡±

    Heughed at the king¡¯s sarcasm.

    [Interesting.]

    Calyx was about to give Glenn the death blow when, suddenly, he found himself trapped inside a bubble filled with water.

    [Argh!]

    Then, she appeared.

    [My love rival.]

    Dahlia, the ck Witch.

    ¡°Stop coveting things and people that already belonged to someone else,¡± Dahlia said indifferently. ¡°You have a bad habit, Lord Calyx.¡±

    He ced a finger on the bubble that looked like a round fish tank, then he put enough Mana to break it.

    The ¡°water¡± spilled as soon as the ss bubble broke into tiny pieces.

    ¡°I¡¯m d we finally met, Dahlia,¡± Calyx said, smiling. ¡°Now, let me get this straight: Prince Nero is mine.¡±

    ¡°Prince Nero belongs to Princess Neoma, though?¡± Dahlia said, smiling back at her. ¡°And he can never be yours, Lord Calyx.¡±

    What a way to rub salt into his wound.

    ¡°I was told that I should bring you alive,¡± Calyx said, his eyes now glowing red. ¡°So don¡¯t make me want to kill you, witch.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 565

    Chapter 565: NEOMA¡¯S FIRST MISFORTUNE

    BEFORE NEOMA knew it, she was already on her knees while clutching her chest tight.

    It was as if someone was ripping her heart out of her chest.

    And it wasn¡¯t only her.

    Tteokbokki also dropped to the floor while clutching his chest, just like her.

    Only Regina, who looked like she was in a trance, remained standing. However, it seemed like the crow wasn¡¯t herself. The look on her face was void of emotions, and she was stiff.

    [It¡¯s not the right time to think about the enemy...]

    Neoma coughed up a chunk of blood.

    .....

    Then, the next thing she knew, her Spirits were forcefully pulled out of her body. To be precise, her soul since it was the home of her Spirits.

    Mochi, the Wind Spirit in the form of a white bunny.

    Soju, the Water Spirit in the form of a toad.

    Kimchi, the Fire Spirit in the form of a Leopard Gecko.

    Her Spirits were shouting, but she only heard static in her head.

    Neoma couldn¡¯t hear the Spirits, but she could tell that they were worried about her. But she felt the same.

    After all, her Spirits started to look transparent.

    [They¡¯re disappearing!]

    ¡°No...¡± Neoma said weakly, her trembling hands reaching out to her Spirits. ¡°Stay with me, Mochi, Soju, Kimchi...¡±

    However, her wish wasn¡¯t granted.

    Mochi, Soju, and Kimchi disappeared and turned into dust in the blink of an eye.

    Seeing them vanish right in front of her while she couldn¡¯t do anything to save them was pure torture.

    ¡°No!¡±

    ¡°Thug... princess...¡±

    Neoma immediately turned to Tteokbokki.

    Then, much to her shock, the Soul Beast had turned into his baby dragon form. Not only that, his body had also turned translucent!

    ¡°No...¡± Neoma said, forcing herself to stand up despite her aching body. She forced her legs to run towards Tteokbokki, passing by Regina Crowell who was as still as a statue. ¡°Tteokbokki, return to your dimension!¡±

    ¡°Thug princess...¡± Tteokbokki said in a cracked voice, reaching out his little paw to her. ¡°Take care of yourself...¡±

    [Why do you sound like you¡¯re already saying goodbye?!]

    Neoma knelt and hugged Tteokbokki. However, she was already toote. Her Soul Beast turned into dust in her arms. ¡°Ttteokbokki!¡±

    She didn¡¯t have the time to mourn the disappearance of her Spirits and Soul Beast when every inch of her body began to hurt like hell.

    To be honest, she couldn¡¯t pinpoint where it hurt.

    The pain was everywhere, after all.

    She couldn¡¯t understand what was happening. After all, she didn¡¯t see Regina Crowell do anything strange. In fact, it looked like the crow had fainted.

    [And the color of her eyes changed.]

    Neoma tried to stand up, but she fell to her knees again.

    And the next thing she knew, she already SHRANK. It happened so fast that in just the blink of an eye, her long limbs became short. For some reason, the clothes that she was wearing adjusted to her size as well. It was obviously magic. But whoever came up with that magic was considerate- wait, this wasn¡¯t the right time for this!

    She looked at her hands and was horrified when she saw BABY hands.

    It wasn¡¯t that she had shrunk- her body turned into the body of a toddler!

    Neoma touched her face and was once again horrified when she realized that her CHUBBY cheeks made aeback. ¡°I became a baby again?!¡±

    ***

    ¡°YOUR MAJESTY, thank you for stalling time for us,¡± Dahlia said to the king standing behind her. She knew it was rude to talk to His Majesty without facing him properly. But she knew that the king understood that she couldn¡¯t take her eyes off Calyx Dalton. ¡°Please leave the crow to me.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Miss Dahlia,¡± King Glenn said apologetically. ¡°I¡¯ll leave the young lord to you.¡±

    ¡°I am a PRINCE,¡± Calyx Dalton insisted. ¡°A royal prince, at that.¡±

    ¡°As far as I know, there¡¯s only one royal prince in the Great Moonasterion Empire- and that¡¯s His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince Nero de Moonasterio,¡± King Glenn said. ¡°I hope we never see each other again, Lord Calyx.¡±

    Dahlia gulped as she watched the king walk past by Calyx Dalton casually.

    To be honest, even though she provoked the young lord earlier, she was scared inside. She didn¡¯t like fighting, but now she was on the frontline.

    It was taking her all that she got to stop herself from crying out of fear.

    [No, I have to be strong.]

    ¡°Do you think I¡¯ll just let you leave after you insulted me?¡± Calyx Dalton said, then he grabbed the king by the shoulder. ¡°You disrespectful scoundrel-¡±

    Dahlia gasped when she saw King Glenn suddenly swung his sword.

    The next thing she knew, Calyx Dalton was already screaming in pain while covering his bleeding face with his hands.

    It was fast.

    And Dahlia saw it clearly.

    If Calyx Dalton didn¡¯t use his Moonglow in time to block King Glenn¡¯s sword, then the prince- no, the YOUNG LORD would have been beheaded already.

    The king looked like he felt bad that he missed cutting off the crow¡¯s head with one swing.

    ¡°It seems like the fact that I let you think you dominated the fight earlier has gotten into your big head, huh?¡± King Glenn said indifferently. ¡°Young lord, you may have de Moonasterio blood in you. But your natural gift isn¡¯t superior to my experience in several wars.¡±

    After saying a piece of his mind, the king left the portal room.

    It wasn¡¯t King Glenn¡¯s job to finish Calyx Dalton.

    His Majesty was only there to ¡°greet¡± the young lord in order to spare Dahlia and Manu some time.

    [Now it¡¯s my turn to do my job.]

    ¡°Are you saying that the king only toyed with me to spare you some time?¡± Calyx Dalton asked angrily while removing his hands from his face. ¡°Spare you time for what?¡±

    Dahlia was startled.

    Not because of Calyx Dalton¡¯s glowing red eyes- but because of the huge and deep nted cut from his left eyebrow down to his right cheek.

    [Oh, god...]

    ¡°The new saint,¡± Calyx Dalton whispered, his face looked like the realization just hit him. ¡°The new saint is already born, isn¡¯t he?¡±

    Yes, the young lord got it right.

    [But Calyx Dalton doesn¡¯t need to know that.]

    Dahlia, instead of answering, just summoned her wand- the one that looked like a twig with pink flowers attached to the end. ¡°Lord Calyx, please leave while I¡¯m still asking nicely.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 566

    Chapter 566: BACK TO SQUARE ONE

    ¡°REGINA Crowell, what did you do to me?¡± Neoma asked, hating the way how her words sounded clearly in her head. But her actual voice was, well, sounded like a baby. And she also hated the fact that she had to look up at Regina Crowell while talking to her. ¡°How did you do this to me, huh? I¡¯m supposed to be immune to spells.¡±

    But was it really a spell?

    Regina Crowell wasn¡¯t a mage or a sorcerer. Her strength didn¡¯te from the ability to wield magic.

    [And the power that exploded in her earlier wasn¡¯t Darkness either.]

    In fact, it was simr to divine power.

    [Wait, divine power?]

    But Regina Crowell had the Darkness attribute. She wasn¡¯t supposed to be capable of wielding divine power...

    .....

    Huh, wait.

    [I have both divine power and the Darkness attribute. Does it mean Regina Crowell and I are the SAME?]

    She loathed the idea.

    But then, she suddenly remembered what her old self said to her before.

    [Old Neoma, is this the power you said you needed from Regina Crowell? Is this way you don¡¯t want me to kill her?]

    Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt bloodlust behind her.

    When she turned around, she was shocked to see Rubin Draytoning at her with a sword. It was obvious that the scumbag was about to cut her into two even though she was in her baby form.

    [Does he not have any conscience left?!]

    Neoma raised her short arms and opened her tiny hands. ¡°Tteokbokki, fire attack!¡±

    Nothing happened, though.

    And she also failed to make a Dome!

    She thought it was already her end when, out of nowhere, she heard gunshots.

    [Jeno, my boy!]

    Hence, she was forced to cover her ears with her hands. However, she didn¡¯t take her eyes off Rubin Drayton.

    [This bastard who won¡¯t hesitate to kill a cute baby...]

    Justice was served when Rubin Drayton managed to avoid the bullets...

    ... but not Regina Crowell who was shot in the chest several times. The crow who was still out of herself, bled a lot, but she remained in her trance. She didn¡¯t even fall down.

    Neoma smirked, knowing that Jeno did that on purpose.

    ¡°Regina!¡± Rubin Drayton said, hugging Regina until the two fell to the ground. ¡°Argh!¡±

    Tsk.

    The bullet that was supposed to hit Regina Crowell in the head grazed the top of Rubin Drayton¡¯s head when he threw his body (covered by Mana) to protect his woman.

    Ha!

    [Rubin Drayton, even in this lifetime, you¡¯re still a fool for Regina Crowell!]

    ¡°You damned little princess,¡± Rubin Drayton, who stood from the ground while holding the bleeding and dazed Regina Crowell in his arms, said while looking at her with a gaze full of hate. ¡°What did you do to Regina?!¡±

    Huh?

    [He thinks I¡¯m the one who put Regina Crowell in that state? Does it mean the crows aren¡¯t aware of her power?]

    Would you look at that?

    [An opportunity to be a scammer again presented itself to me easily.]

    ¡°I just Regina Crowell in ce,¡± Neoma said, smirking as annoyingly as possible for a baby like her. ¡°Now let that serve as a lesson not to cross me again.¡±

    Rubin Drayton growled at her, then he stepped forward in an attempt to attack her again.

    However, he was shot in the shoulder.

    [Go, Jeno! You¡¯re making your eomma proud!]

    Then it began to rain bullets again.

    Hence, Rubin Drayton had no choice but to step backwards until he and Regina Crowell turned translucent.

    Huh?

    [Can Rubin Drayton use teleportation magic? He didn¡¯t use any device...]

    Apparently, he could.

    After all, Rubin Drayton disappeared with Regina Crowell in just the blink of an eye.

    Neoma turned to the annex building as soon as the two disappeared.

    Much to her surprise, the building was still there. However, the blue light that engulfed it earlier had already disappeared. She couldn¡¯t feel the strong teleportation spell attached to it before.

    [Did Paige seed in deactivating the spell?]

    ¡°Princess Neoma!¡±

    Neoma turned around and saw her Marksman of a son.

    Jeno, who looked like he was about to cry, got down on one knee while looking at her with a devastated look on his face. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry I waste, Your Royal Highness... You...¡±

    She frowned while looking at her son¡¯s condition.

    Jeno had a huge cut on his chest, but it looked like he couldn¡¯t feel the pain because he was more worried about her.

    ¡°What happened to you?¡±

    ¡°Lord Drayton is a known archer,¡± Jeno exined as if he was embarrassed. ¡°But I only remembered that when I was hit by his arrow in the back. Then he managed to cut me before I was able to get away from him. But don¡¯t worry, Princess Neoma. My injury only looks worse than it is. The cut isn¡¯t that deep.¡±

    ¡°Use the healing potion that Greko made for us.¡±

    ¡°Later, Your Royal Highness,¡± her ¡°son¡± said. ¡°What should we do about Your Royal Highness¡¯ condition...¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine- I just turned into a baby.¡±

    Well, she wasn¡¯t really okay.

    She couldn¡¯t summon Tteokbokki and her Spirits. Heck, she couldn¡¯t even use her barriers. It was as if her body didn¡¯t just get young- it seemed like it also reverted back to the time when she hadn¡¯t tamed Tteokbokki yet, or back when she didn¡¯t know how to summon Spirits or create barriers yet...

    [Wait.]

    ¡°Jeno.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Princess Neoma?¡±

    She pointed a finger at her face. ¡°How young do I look right now?¡±

    ¡°Uhm, I think Your Royal Highness is around three or four years old?¡±

    She gasped when the realization hit her.

    When she was three years old, she hadn¡¯t met Tteokbokki yet. It was also the time that her Papa Boss was still a scumbag who neglected his children because of his misery. And, back then, she didn¡¯t know yet that her mother was a powerful Summoner.

    [And the former saint hasn¡¯t taught me how to create barriers back then.]

    That exined why Tteokbokki and her Spirits disappeared, and why she couldn¡¯t create barriers anymore.

    [Does it mean I¡¯m back to square one?]

    ¡°No!¡± Neoma yelled while pulling her hair. ¡°I refuse to start all over again!¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 567

    Chapter 567: UNCLE-NEPHEW DUO

    ¡°AHHHHHHHHHH!¡±

    Jasper had to cover his ears with his hands when Eloise, the foxdy who coveted Lewis Crevan, screamed in agony while pressing her hands against her bleeding eyes.

    It was his work.

    Earlier, a surge of Darkness exploded in Eloise.

    It almost hit Jasper and Lewis. Thankfully, he managed to summon his butterflies in time and use them to block the Darkness. Since his butterflies had a purification element, they survived the surprise attack.

    After that, Jasper immediately drew his sword and attacked the foxdy.

    Yes, he targeted Eloise¡¯s eyes.

    .....

    He didn¡¯t like how the foxdy looked at Lewis lewdly.

    [Those lewd eyes of hers remind me of my trauma.]

    It reminded him of the time when he and Lewis were almost sexually assaulted in the Death Camp. Needless to say, it was a horrible experience that he didn¡¯t want to happen to anyone.

    ¡°Are you alright, Lewis?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Lewis said indifferently. ¡°I would have plucked her eyes out if you didn¡¯t beat me to it.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t let a child do something as horrible as that,¡± Jasper said while shaking his head. ¡°Especially since you have the same eyes as her.¡±

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t affect me,¡± the fox boy said. ¡°Just because she came from the same tribe doesn¡¯t mean we¡¯re family. There¡¯s only one person I consider as such.¡±

    ¡°Ah, Princess Neoma- your ¡°mother.¡±¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma isn¡¯t my mother.¡±

    He justughed it off. ¡°Go, Lewis.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°This foxdy seems to be obsessed with you,¡± Jasper said, holding his sword tight when he noticed that Eloise was nning to attack while pretending to ¡°cry.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll send some butterflies with you so the air you breathe will remain clean. Go and find Princess Neoma. My gut feeling is telling me that this foxdy is sent here just to stall us.¡±

    ¡°But-¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m older than you, so listen to me.¡±

    ¡°What does age have to do-¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma considers me her older brother, so that makes me your uncle,¡± Jasper teased the fox boy, then he looked over his shoulder to look at Lewis¡¯ precious frown. ¡°My dear nephew, listen to your uncle and go.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not your nephew,¡± Lewis denied vehemently, then he turned his back on him. ¡°Don¡¯t die, Duke Hawthorne. Princess Neoma will get sad if you die.¡±

    After saying that, the fox boy ran at a full speed and his butterflies barely caught up to him.

    ¡°Did you let Lewis Crevan escape because you don¡¯t want him to witness your death?¡±

    Jasper turned to Eloise who was already done preparing.

    Weirdly enough, the foxdy used one of her white tails to cover her bleeding eyes.

    ¡°I won¡¯t sacrifice myself just to stop you,¡± he said. ¡°As my little sister often says, no mission is worth dying for.¡±

    His ¡°little sister¡± would be Princess Neoma, of course.

    ¡°Then why did you let the fox leave first?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re the first Silver Fox that Lewis saw aside from himself,¡± he said, preparing for an attack with his sword. ¡°I just don¡¯t want him to witness the death of the only female Silver Fox that he¡¯d seen in this world.¡±

    ¡°How arrogant,¡± the foxdy said, growling at him. ¡°Now I¡¯m more interested in you, Jasper Hawthorne.¡±

    Jasperughed at the foxdy¡¯s ¡°confession.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but my heart is already taken.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want your heart!¡± Eloise growled,ing at him at full speed. ¡°Give me your liver!¡±

    ***

    NEOMA raised her arms while looking up at Jeno. The boy was already on his knees, but he was still way taller than her. ¡°Carry me, Jeno.¡±

    ¡°How could I dare touch the body of a Royal Family member-¡±

    ¡°Just do it,¡± she said, cutting him off. ¡°It¡¯s fine. You¡¯re my family, too.¡±

    Jeno looked like he debated with himself for a moment before he nodded. Then, ever so carefully, he put his hands on her waist and lifted her before putting her in his arms. ¡°A-Are you okay, Princess Neoma? Am I not crushing you?¡±

    ¡°Nah, you¡¯re doing good,¡± she assured him.

    He looked relieved. Only then did he stand up, with Neoma still carefully ced in his arms.

    ¡°Where¡¯s Paige?¡±

    Jeno turned to the annex building. ¡°When Paige realized that Dn Crowell wasn¡¯t here, she headed to the annex building to deactivate the teleportation spell.¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s go there,¡± Neoma said, pointing her short and plump finger to the annex building. ¡°Let¡¯s look for the lion¡¯s treasure.¡±

    ***

    IT LOOKED like Glenn had grown old, indeed.

    In his prime, he could cut someone of Raven¡¯s caliber with just three swings of his sword.

    But, this time, it took him more than fifty swings before he was able to hit a vital organ. When the crow finally bled, he cut him up into pieces.

    It was pretty anti-climactic.

    But, to be honest, Raven wasn¡¯t someone that he would waste time with. The crow might be an executive. Even so, the fact that the crows assigned him as Calyx Dalton¡¯s mere babysitter only meant he was in the lower branch.

    [A ¡°small fry,¡± as Princess Neoma would call it.]

    ¡°You didn¡¯t find my wife, did you?¡± Glenn asked Raven¡¯s severed head, smiling. ¡°Of course, you couldn¡¯t.¡±

    After saying that, he walked away from the crow¡¯s dismembered body.

    Calyx Dalton only dominated their fight earlier because he wasn¡¯t using his full strength.

    Aside from the fact that he was only there to stall the young lord, he had already exhausted half of his power in strengthening the security in Brigitte¡¯s room.

    The room where his queen gave birth to their son.

    And now...

    Glenn opened the door to the portal room that he connected to the Quinzel Estate, then he bowed to the esteemed guests that he had been waiting for. ¡°Wee to our kingdom, Prince Nero and Lady Roseheart.¡±

    ¡°Raise your head, sire,¡± Lady Roseheart said, addressing him formally. ¡°It¡¯s faint, but I can feel the divine power in this pce. Could it be...¡±

    ¡°Yes, Lady Roseheart ¨C my son is born safely, and my wife is doing well,¡± Glenn said, raising his head to meet Lady Roseheart¡¯s worried gaze. ¡°But we need your help regarding my son¡¯s divine power, mydy.¡±

    ¡°I will do my best to help,¡± Lady Roseheart said, then she turned to the Crown Prince. ¡°Son, can you summon William and Delwyn for me?¡±

    ¡°Of course, Mother,¡± Nero said, then he turned to him. ¡°Sire, where¡¯s Dahlia?¡±

    Glenn was confused by the question, but he still gave a response. ¡°Miss Dahlia is currently holding Lord Calyx back, Your Royal Highness.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 568

    Chapter 568: WHOSE BABY IS IT?

    ¡°P-PRINCESS NEOMA, what happened to you...?¡±

    ¡°I became a cute baby again,¡± Neoma answered Paige¡¯s question calmly. ¡°I lost Tteokbokki, my Spirits, and my ability to create barriers. I¡¯m not fine, but I don¡¯t have the luxury to grieve.¡±

    She wasn¡¯t being sarcastic to her ¡°children.¡±

    If she said that she was fine, she would only make them worry about her even more because they knew she couldn¡¯t be fine in her current state.

    Hence, she decided to be honest.

    In that way, her ¡°children¡± could easily believe the assurance that she would give them.

    ¡°But even if I feel like shit right now for failing to protect my people, I¡¯m still fine,¡± Neoma said firmly. ¡°My head is still clear, and I¡¯m only looking at what I could right now instead of what I could have done. And even though I turned into a baby, I don¡¯t feel like my life is threatened in any way. It¡¯s inconvenient, but it¡¯s not that bad.¡±

    .....

    And she was determined as hell to bring back everything that she had lost tonight- Tteokbokki, her Spirits, and her ability to make barriers.

    With those words, Paige and Jeno finally looked relieved.

    ¡°I already checked the annex building and found theboratory that the crows were using,¡± Paige reported to her. ¡°However, all the data and the materials here were burned to ashes. I have a feeling that it was Dn Crowell¡¯s work. He probably destroyed the data and the materials stored in here after he realized that I was messing with his teleportation spell.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± she said, nodding. ¡°Did you check every nook and cranny of this ce?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Royal Highness,¡± the mage said. ¡°I checked the entire ce twice already. However, I didn¡¯t find anything worthy enough for Regina Crowell to risk everything just to send the entire annex building to somewhere else.¡±

    She raised an eyebrow when she noticed that Paige wasn¡¯t convinced. ¡°Your face tells me you still need to check the entire building one more time.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, Princess Neoma,¡± Paige admitted. ¡°I have a feeling that there¡¯s something special in this ce.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t feel anything special, but I trust you, Paige,¡± Jeno said, then he turned to her. ¡°Princess Neoma, should we roam the building?¡±

    She was about to say something when, all of a sudden, she heard a voice in her head.

    ¡°A baby,¡± Neoma said while looking around. ¡°There¡¯s another baby here.¡±

    After saying that, she saw small balls of red lights.

    But Paige and Jeno were only looking at her with a confused look on their faces, so Neoma realized that only she could see it.

    ¡°Jeno, Paige, let¡¯s go,¡± Neoma said, pointing in the hallway. ¡°Let¡¯s follow the light!¡±

    ***

    THE ENTIRE room was covered with rocks.

    Of course, those weren¡¯t ordinary rocks, since each one was coated with Mana.

    ¡°Glenn, it must have drained your energy,¡± Mona said to Glenn. Only the king could use the earth element that way. It was the reason why he became the vicemander of the White Lion Knights in the past. And she could see that his strength and abilities didn¡¯t go anywhere. ¡°Good job, Sire.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Lady Roseheart,¡± Glenn said shyly. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if I deserve your praise, though. After all, it¡¯s not enough to contain my son¡¯s divine power here.¡±

    The room was almost empty.

    Queen Brigitte was sleeping on the bed while her newborn baby slept next to her.

    There was a bedside table which contained necessary things that a mother and a baby would need.

    Manu was also there.

    And of course...

    Three huge, transparent spheres solely made of divine power.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe a newborn baby has that much divine power,¡± Mona said in disbelief. ¡°The new saint is stronger than when the former saint Zavaroni was born.¡±

    Manu nodded in agreement. ¡°That¡¯s right, Mona Roseheart.¡±

    ¡°Sire, you¡¯re really doing a good job containing that amount of divine power in this room for this long,¡± Mona praised Glenn again because he deserved it. ¡°You¡¯re doing very well for your wife and son.¡±

    Glenn looked moved by her words, then a sense of pride sparked in his eyes.

    [And rightfully so.]

    ¡°Mona Roseheart, we need to release the new saint¡¯s divine power now or else it will explode here and kill us all,¡± Manu said seriously. ¡°However, this amount of divine power would be noticed by anyone who could see divine things. We can¡¯t let that happen.¡±

    ¡°I know what to do,¡± she said. Thankfully, she finally felt the presence of the people that she had been waiting for ever since Nero left to provide support for Dahlia¡¯s fight. ¡°Willian, Delwyn,e out.¡±

    Just like that, the two Spirits appeared before her at the same time.

    William and Delwyn both got down on one knee while bowing to her. ¡°We¡¯re at your service, mydy.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re going to release the new saint¡¯s divine power,¡± Mona dered, summoning Nydia- her main weapon. It was a rosegold staff covered with vines snaked around it. The top of the staff had a fully-bloomed pink rose on it encased inside a transparent ss sphere. ¡°We¡¯re going to create a snowstorm on the entire continent.¡±

    ***

    NEOMA COULD see how Paige missed the baby.

    The light led them back to the destroyedboratory. However, the light guided them to the wall.

    Yes, the baby was hidden within the walls.

    When she asked Paige to destroy the wall as carefully as possible, they found a child inside a transparent egg.

    It was a baby girl, probably around two or three years old.

    The baby girl had blonde hair and pale skin. All that the poor child was wearing was a in white dress that was a little big for her.

    ¡°Baby,¡± Neoma said, cing her hand on the surface of the transparent egg. ¡°Are you okay- argh!¡±

    She was surprised when the egg suddenly exploded, then a thick cloud of smoke covered it.

    Jeno and Paige immediately protected her.

    Her son jumped away from the egg, while the mage stood in front of them protectively.

    Huh?

    It was the baby¡¯s voice!

    When the smoke finally cleared, the three of them were shocked to find the baby girl suspended in the air.

    [Pink eyes...]

    The baby girl had pink eyes.

    the baby girl said while looking at Neoma. ¡°Have you been well, Neoma, my lovely baby?¡±>

    Huh???

    Neoma pointed a finger at herself. ¡°How am I your ¡°baby,¡± baby girl?¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 569

    Chapter 569: WHAT IS THIS INSANITY?

    ¡°GLENN, please take the queen and the baby away from here,¡± Mona said in a serious voice. ¡°Manu will protect your family.¡±

    Manu, who was already holding the sleeping saint in his arms, nodded when their eyes met. ¡°I won¡¯t let any harm befall the new saint and his parents.¡±

    That was a relief to hear.

    Glenn, on the other hand, carried the sleeping Queen Brigitte in his arms. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for leaving this to you, Lady Roseheart,¡± he said in a voice full of remorse. Then he bowed his head towards her. ¡°Please be safe, mydy.¡±

    Mona smiled and nodded. ¡°Go.¡±

    Manu and Glenn didn¡¯t have to be told twice- the two immediately ran out of the room while carrying precious people in their arms.

    Now Mona was left in the room with William and Delwyn...

    .....

    ... and the giant spheres of divine power, of course.

    ¡°Nydia, I trust you,¡± Mona said, kissing the top of the rose-gold staff while muttering a short prayer since she needed all the support that she needed. After that, she opened her eyes. ¡°William, Delwyn, I¡¯m going to borrow Genevieve¡¯s power- so get ready.¡±

    William and Delwyn looked calm as they nodded. ¡°We¡¯re ready, mydy.¡±

    That was what she needed to hear the most.

    Now that she was relieved, she stabbed the end of the staff on the floor- the impact creating a magic circle that she didn¡¯t need to draw since she could just naturally do it with her weapon.

    The huge magic circle on the floor lightened up, causing the spheres of divine power to fly.

    ¡°Genevieve,¡± Mona said, calling the goddess¡¯ name firmly and clearly. ¡°Come out and lend me your power!¡±

    A gigantic hand then appeared and grabbed the spheres of divine power effortlessly.

    ***

    the baby girl said while looking at Neoma. ¡°Have you been well, Neoma, my lovely baby?¡±>

    Huh???

    Neoma pointed a finger at herself. ¡°How am I your ¡°baby,¡± baby girl?¡±

    Jeno and Paige looked at her with a confused look on their face, so she felt the need to exin.

    [They can¡¯t hear the baby, huh?]

    ¡°The baby called me her ¡°lovely baby,¡±¡± Neoma exined to her ¡°children.¡± ¡°Why do I feel like someone yed a reverse uno card on me and now, I¡¯m the one being adopted instead of the other way around?¡±

    Jeno and Paige just got confused even more.

    And so was she.

    ¡°Baby, why are you iming me as your ¡°lovely baby?¡±¡± Neoma asked, confused. She didn¡¯t feel any threat from the baby girl. But she wanted to clear up the misunderstanding. ¡°My parents are still alive. My father is Emperor Niki de Moonasterio, and my mother is Matriarch Mona Roseheart.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t like it was a secret.

    Everyone knew who her parents were, even the enemies.

    the baby girl, who kept calling her ¡°baby,¡± said.

    ¡°How is knowing who my parents makes me your child?¡±

    the baby girl said, smiling warmly at her.

    Neoma felt her heart drop to the floor when she realized who the baby girl might be.

    Her head was screaming it was impossible.

    However, she followed the whisper in her heart.

    [If I was going to be her stepmother, then she could have been my stepmother.]

    Only one woman could have been her stepmother then.

    ¡°Empress Juliet?¡± Neoma asked nervously. ¡°If your soul belongs to Her Majesty, then who is the Empress Juliet in the Royal Pce right now?¡±

    ***

    NIKOLAI was in an awkward position.

    He was in his bedroom because he suddenly coughed up blood again.

    Geoffrey Kinsley, his current personal knight, was horrified after he saw it. Hence, the Pdin convinced him to take a rest in his room since he didn¡¯t have any scheduled audience for today.

    However, he wasn¡¯t used to not working, so he brought some documents to his room.

    He asked the servants to bring him tea, but much to his surprise, the one who brought him tea was Juliet.

    Even Geoffrey wasn¡¯t able to stop the former empress.

    Since he felt sorry for Juliet, he decided to ept the tea that she had brewed for him. Moreover, he thought it was high time for them to finally talk.

    But not in his bedroom.

    ¡°Lady Sloane, let¡¯s move to the drawing room,¡± Niki said, standing up. ¡°It¡¯s not right for us to...¡±

    He trailed off, strength escaping his body for some reason.

    Then, the next thing he knew, he was already plopped down onto the sofa. To be honest, his mind was suddenly in a mess that he couldn¡¯t understand what was going on. All he knew was it was Juliet who helped him lie on the sofa because he couldn¡¯t move properly.

    ¡°Your Majesty, you must have been tired,¡± Juliet said, her hands on his chest. ¡°Let me help you rx...¡±

    For some reason, Juliet¡¯s touch made his skin crawl.

    He tried to summon his Soul Beasts, but to no avail.

    Heck, he didn¡¯t even have the strength to speak. Moreover, his eyelids were getting heavier. He knew that he was about to faint at any time now...

    [No, this can¡¯t be happening-]

    ¡°Your Majesty, pardon my intrusion.¡±

    Whatever it was that put Niki in a weird trance disappeared when the door suddenly burst open.

    Even Juliet, who was almost on his top, looked surprised by the intrusion.

    ¡°Lady Sloane,¡± Hanna said, greeting the former empress with a smile. The youngdy sounded polite. However, her green eyes were burning with suppressed anger. ¡°Just what do you think are you doing to my father-inw?¡±

    Niki was surprised to hear that from Hanna.

    [This is the first time she called me ¡®father-inw.¡¯]

    Juliet immediately got off Niki and stood up with an embarrassed look on her face. ¡°It¡¯s not like that, Lady Hanna,¡± she exined shyly. ¡°His Majesty just suddenly lost his strength. I was just helping himy down for a moment.¡±

    He couldn¡¯t deny what Juliet said because it was true.

    After all, he really did lose his strength.

    It was probably because his Moonglow was decreasing. He even coughed up blood earlier. To be honest, fainting wouldn¡¯t be strange in his current condition.

    Niki, who regained some of his strength after Hanna arrived, stood up. ¡°Lady Sloane, I¡¯d like to have a private conversation with my daughter-inw,¡± he said. ¡°Let¡¯s talk next time.¡±

    Juliet, who couldn¡¯t meet his gaze, nodded politely. ¡°Please take care, Your Majesty.¡±

    After saying that, Juliet left the room quietly.

    Hanna, who looked worried about him, approached him carefully. ¡°Your Majesty, are you alright?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Niki said, then he looked at Hanna carefully. ¡°Hanna, why are you here?¡±

    It wasn¡¯t like his future daughter-inw couldn¡¯t go to his pce.

    However, Hanna was a proper nobledy. She wasn¡¯t the type to enter someone else¡¯s bedroom. Especially the emperor¡¯s bedroom just like what Juliet just did.

    And that was weird.

    [In the past, even if we were married, Juliet had never entered my room without my permission. So I can¡¯t believe what she just did.]

    Was it because Juliet lost her memories?

    ¡°Your Majesty, to be honest, Nero asked me to stick with you like glue,¡± Hanna said worriedly. ¡°It seems like Nero is suspicious of Lady Sloane.¡±

    Niki pinched the bridge of his nose. ¡°And I¡¯m starting to feel the same way, too.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 570

    Chapter 570: THE ARRIVAL OF THE NEW SAINT

    [A few hours earlier...]

    GLENN, who was carefully wiping Brigitte¡¯s hand with a washcloth, was a bit startled when he heard Dahlia¡¯s loud gasp.

    [What happened...?]

    Even Manu, who was reading a holy book on the windowsill, turned to the ck Witch.

    Dahlia, who fell asleep on the sofa earlier, woke up and got up abruptly- hervender eyes glowing as if she had just had a horrible dream. ¡°Your Majesty, this is bad,¡± she said while standing up, her hands sped together. ¡°The Stars just showed me a premonition: Lord Calyx Dalton is on his way here.¡±

    That was indeed a huge problem.

    There was only one reason why Calyx Dalton woulde all the way here: to steal his son, who hadn¡¯t been born yet.

    .....

    [Those crows...]

    He couldn¡¯t believe that this time, the crows sent their ¡°masterpiece.¡±

    ¡°You have to make a decision now,¡± Manu said to him. Then the Moon Priest stood up and closed the book. As soon as he did, the book in his hand disappeared. ¡°Calyx Dalton¡¯s goal is to take the saint. Obviously, he doesn¡¯t care about the queen¡¯s life as long as he gets what he wants.¡±

    He knew that very well.

    Glenn gently put Brigitte¡¯s hand on the bed before he stood and faced Dahlia. ¡°What can I do to help while Miss Dahlia and Lord Manu help Brigitte deliver our child?¡±

    He knew he would just get in the way.

    Hence, he was leaving Brigitte and their son in the care of the ck Witch and the Moon Priest.

    ¡°We need a room that can withstand the new saint¡¯s divine power,¡± Dahlia said. ¡°While Her Majesty is giving birth to the new saint, I will extract the baby¡¯s divine power. I n to put the divine power in the round fish tank I make, but it won¡¯t be enough. A sturdy room is required for additional support, Your Majesty.¡±

    A sturdy room that could withstand the possible explosion of divine power.

    [Then...]

    ¡°I can control the earth element,¡± Glenn said, uncertain. ¡°With my power, I can cover the entire room with rocks imbued with my Mana. I¡¯m not sure if it would be enough, though.¡±

    ¡°Have some confidence in your ability, you meek child,¡± Manu said, patting his back a little too hard. ¡°Before I entered a long slumber, I¡¯ve seen you in your adolescence. If Gavin Quinzel was Niki de Moonasterio¡¯s sword, then you were the emperor¡¯s shield.¡±

    That was true.

    Gavin Quinzel, the formermander of the White Lion Knights, was the best Sword Master on the entire continent.

    Well, Glenn was more known as the ¡®Mad Dog¡¯ on the battlefield.

    However, after he resolved his issue with his family (by disowning them), he finally calmed down and focused on his ability to control the earth element. Thanks to that, he learned how to create barriers from rocks and the dirt itself.

    That was how he had be the shield of the emperor.

    [And now, it¡¯s time for me to be my wife and child¡¯s shield.]

    ¡°I¡¯ll do it,¡± Glenn said, more confident this time. ¡°I will turn this room into a sturdy room that can withstand my son¡¯s divine power.¡±

    Dahlia smiled, but the worry on her face remained. ¡°However, Your Majesty, doing so will exhaust your Mana.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± he said, then he touched the scabbard attached to his hip. Ever since the pce was first attacked, he never went around anywhere without his sword. Ebony, his sword, amplified his ability to control the earth element, after all. ¡°I need to make the room as sturdy as possible, after all.¡±

    The ck Witch looked like she had something more to say, but was too shy to speak her mind.

    [She¡¯s probably being considerate of me.]

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Miss Dahlia,¡± Glenn urged her gently. ¡°If there¡¯s anything else that I can help you with, please don¡¯t hesitate to tell me.¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, I believe Lord Manu and I would need a lot of time while helping the queen give birth to the new saint,¡± Dahlia said shyly. ¡°I wanted to ask Your Majesty if you could fight Calyx Dalton to buy us some time. But your Mana will get exhausted after Your Majesty turn this room into a sturdier one. I can¡¯t ask Your Majesty to put your life in danger after I realized the risks...¡±

    The ck Witch had a point.

    Calyx Dalton may be young, but he still had de Moonasterio blood in him.

    He understood where Dahlia wasing, and he could see why it was dangerous.

    However...

    ¡°If it¡¯s for my wife and child, then I¡¯ll dly do it,¡± Glenn said, smiling at Dahlia to give the child assurance. ¡°Miss Dahlia, I¡¯ll buy you and Lord Manu some time by stalling my fight with Calyx Dalton.¡± He gently put a hand on the ck Witch¡¯s shoulder. ¡°I leave my wife and child to you.¡±

    ***

    DAHLIA wanted to cry with Queen Brigitte.

    This was the first time she assisted in child delivery, so she was a little clumsy. If Lord Manu wasn¡¯t with her, then she would have been lost already.

    [No, you can¡¯t cry,] Dahlia scolded herself. [You can¡¯t let King Glenn down.]

    ¡°Just a little more push, Your Majesty,¡± Dahlia said in a panic when she saw the head of the babying out. ¡°Just a little more...¡±

    Queen Brigitte let out another agonizing cry.

    This time, Dahlia sobbed because she could tell how much in pain the queen was. She couldn¡¯t help but empathize with Her Majesty. And this was probably what made her a crybaby.

    [But what can I do? I hate seeing other people in pain...]

    ¡°Child, the saint¡¯s divine power is already sucking out the life force of the queen,¡± Manu said in a hurry. ¡°Can you begin extracting the divine power from the saint now?¡±

    Dahlia wiped the tears from her face with her forearm, then she nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll perform the extraction now, my lord.¡±

    ***

    [IT¡¯S DONE.]

    Dahlia ignored the blood dripping from her nose.

    Her attention was focused on the three round fish tanks that she made after extracting the new saint¡¯s divine power. The round fish tank that she created looked like a transparent sphere because of the pure white light that the divine power emitted.

    [The new saint is so powerful. If this kind of power falls into the wrong hands...]

    Her gloomy thoughts were interrupted when she heard the cry of the baby saint.

    When she looked over her shoulder, she saw Lord Manu holding the baby wrapped in a white cloth in his arms. It looked like the Moon Priest used his power to clean both the mother and the baby quickly.

    From where she stood, she could see the baby¡¯s sand-blond hair.

    [Aww... he has the same hair color as His Majesty.]

    But the baby couldn¡¯t open his eyes yet, so she couldn¡¯t guess what his eye color would be.

    [If he was born with his divine power, then his eyes would look like they contain the universe in them.]

    ¡°My baby...¡±

    It was Queen Brigitte¡¯s weak voice, and her hand was reaching out to the saint.

    ¡°The saint was born safely, child,¡± Lord Manu said, then he gently ced the baby next to the queen. ¡°Have you thought of a name for the saint?¡±

    ¡°Skylus,¡± Queen Brigitte said, smiling faintly while looking at the baby with all the love in her heart. The queen looked very exhausted, but the warmth in her gaze never wavered. ¡°Our lovely prince...¡±

    ¡®Skylus...¡¯

    Dahlia smiled warmly while looking at the queen and the baby saint.

    [Your mother and father gave you a lovely name, Prince Skylus.]

    ***

    [Present...]

    DAHLIA didn¡¯t expect it.

    The silver choker that Calyx Dalton put around her neck while he was straddling her on the floor was the very item that the ck Witches had sacrificed their lives for.

    Those silver chokers known as the ¡®Divine Judgement¡¯ were used to hunt the ck Witches in the past. Once the choker was put around their neck, only the de Moonasterios could remove it, and no one else.

    Why the de Moonasterios?

    Simple: the Royal Family created the chokers, after all.

    ¡°How?¡± Dahlia asked weakly. It had only been a minute since Calyx Dalton put the choker on her neck forcefully and yet, she already felt her entire strength leaving her body. She couldn¡¯t even summon her Elemental Guardian now. ¡°All the pieces of the Divine Judgement should have been disposed of already...¡±

    The remaining ck Witches a decade ago sacrificed their lives in order to destroy all those stupid silver chokers in the world!

    [All for my sake... so why does Calyx Dalton have it?!]

    ¡°Callisto de Luca,¡± Calyx Dalton said, smirking like the lunatic that he was. ¡°Our Excellency was the one who created the chokers to hunt down ck Witches like you. What made you think His Excellency can¡¯t make another?¡±

    But Callisto de Luca should no longer have the power to do that.

    She had heard from Prince Nero in the past that they had found out recently that Callisto de Luca was still alive. But, apparently, he didn¡¯t have his own body.

    [So how did he manage to create another piece of Divine Judgement...?]

    .....

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter how I got my hands on this item,¡± Calyx Dalton said. ¡°So, just shut up and- argh!¡±

    The young lord was suddenly sent flying.

    That was when Dahlia noticed that he was there.

    [Prince Nero...]

    It seemed like the Crown Prince had kicked the young lord sideways, sending the crow flying until he hit the wall.

    [His Royal Highness looks taller and healthier than thest time I saw him.]

    ¡°Can you stand up?¡± Prince Nero asked indifferently, then he offered his hand to her. ¡°Here.¡±

    Dahlia swallowed her sobs, then she epted the Crown Prince¡¯s hand and let him pull her up gently. She wanted to ask him to remove the choker around her neck. However, she didn¡¯t need to do that.

    Prince Nero immediately reached out for the choker. ¡°Excuse me for a moment.¡±

    And, just like how Calyx Dalton easily put the choker on her neck, Prince Nero removed it effortlessly.

    ¡°How?¡± Dahlia asked weakly. ¡°How did you know that the choker is affecting me negatively?¡±

    [Did the Crown Prince hear me yell earlier?]

    ¡°For a holy item, this one sure reek of malice,¡± Prince Nero said, then his sharp gaze darted to Calyx Dalton who stood up while cupping his swollen cheek. ¡°You brought an interesting item with you, Calyx Dalton.¡±

    ¡°The fun was just about to begin, but you caught me already,¡± Calyx Dalton said,ughing. ¡°Did you miss me that much, Prince Nero?¡±

    Dahlia seriously got the chills.

    However, she was interrupted when the ground shook hard.

    Then, out of nowhere, the sky darkened.

    The next thing she knew, a snowstorm had already begun!

    [It¡¯s not an ordinary snowstorm, though.]

    And the sky...

    She could see it clearly.

    Dahlia could see that the three transparent ¡°fish tank¡± that she used to contain Prince Skylus¡¯ divine power had already exploded...

    ... and they scattered in the sky, hidden by the snow.

    [Now it¡¯s time to find and collect Prince Skylus¡¯ divine power.]

    ***

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 Chapter 571

    Chapter 571: NEOMA IS FLABBERGASTED

    the baby girl said, smiling warmly at her.

    Neoma felt her heart drop to the floor when she realized who the baby girl might be.

    Her head was screaming it was impossible.

    However, she followed the whisper in her heart.

    [If I was going to be her stepmother, then she could have been my stepmother.]

    Only one woman could have been her stepmother then.

    ¡°Empress Juliet?¡± Neoma asked nervously. ¡°If your soul belongs to Her Majesty, then who is the Empress Juliet in the Royal Pce right now?¡±

    .....

    Now Paige and Jeno looked shocked.

    The two looked confused at first.

    After all, only Neoma could hear the baby girl¡¯s voice in her head.

    However, all her ¡°children¡± were quick to catch on. Hence, they looked as shocked as she was at the moment.

    Empress Juliet said.

    The Lion Tribe?

    Ah.

    [Could it be...]

    ¡°Your Majesty, are you the lion¡¯s ¡°pride?¡±¡± Neoma asked carefully. ¡°The very precious treasure that the crows stole in order to control Kingston- the White Lion?¡±

    Empress Juliet, in the body of a baby girl, confirmed.

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty,¡± she said politely. ¡°We can head back to their hideout-¡±

    She stopped talking when she felt the sudden shift in the air.

    Then, when she looked up, she was greeted by a pair of glowing dark eyes.

    ¡°Trevor!¡± Neoma yelled, pointing at the ceiling. ¡°Paige, stop him!¡±

    The mage didn¡¯t have to be told twice.

    Paige immediately pulled out her white parasol that immediately turned into a rapier. Then she jumped high and attacked Trevor who was suspended in the air.

    However, Neoma didn¡¯t get the chance to watch the fight.

    She was startled when she heard gunshots.

    The next thing she knew, she was already watching Jeno open fire on Gin who had already returned to his ck cat form.

    [Tsk. They¡¯re really determined to kidnap me. Me and my irresistible charms!]

    ¡°I deeply apologize for the noise, Princess Neoma,¡± Jeno said. The boy was holding her in one arm while shooting Gin with a gun in his free hand. ¡°I need to use more guns, so please cover your ears in the meantime.¡±

    Covering her ears with her hands wouldn¡¯t really work.

    However, she did as she was told to put her son at ease.

    The next scene was interesting, so it was worth it.

    A rifle appeared on top of Jeno¡¯s head, on his left side, and on his right side. The guns then shot bullets at Gin nonstop.

    At first, she was worried that baby Empress Juliet might get identally shot.

    However, she noticed that the bullets imbued with Jeno¡¯s Mana were only shooting at Gin.

    [Wow, impressive control.]

    She was so proud of her Marksman ¡°son.¡±

    Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt the ground shake.

    When she looked up, she saw Paige swinging her sword at Trevor who blocked the mage¡¯s attack with his horn that he was using as a weapon.

    The white light from Paige¡¯s sword, and the ck light from Trevor¡¯s horn collided.

    Then it exploded.

    Paige and Trevor were both pushed back.

    That was when Neoma noticed that Paige had put a barrier around her, Jeno, and baby Empress Juliet to keep them safe.

    She was touched, and incredibly proud of her ¡°daughter.¡±

    [Paige, you¡¯re doing well.]

    Now Neoma suddenly felt useless.

    [If only I have my powers...]

    Baby Empress Juliet said. Then the transparent egg that she was in moved until the baby empress was floating right in front of her already.

    [I knew it.]

    Neoma had always known that using teleportation was the best skill, but the ¡°masters¡± around her had forbidden her from learning it.

    [I should learn from Baby Empress Juliet in secret.]

    ¡°Okay, Your Majesty,¡± Neoma said, then she put a hand on the surface of the transparent egg and closed her eyes while visualizing the hide-out in her head clearly. ¡°This is where the lions are currently hidden.¡±

    ***

    A WHITE ROOM with floating white cubes that served as chairs.

    [Yep, I was summoned by a divinity again.]

    When Neoma opened her eyes, she was frustrated to death after realizing that she was still in her baby form.

    To be honest, she thought that her baby form was just a temporary effect of Regina Crowell¡¯s unexpected and mysterious ability. After all, she didn¡¯t feel any side effects of the attack aside from the fact that she went back from ¡®beautiful¡¯ to ¡®cute.¡¯

    But now she was getting nervous.

    [Did I really be a baby again?]

    Fucking hell.

    ¡°The gods are testing my patience,¡± Neoma whispered to herself while looking at her baby hands. Even without a mirror, she could tell that her eyes were glowing red. ¡°I swear if I don¡¯t return to my original body soon, I¡¯ll seriously dere war on the Upper World.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a scary thought, my precious granddaughter.¡±

    Ah, it was Roxana- Yule¡¯s wife and her beautiful grandmother.

    Neoma¡¯s anger melted upon seeing Roxana¡¯s gorgeous face. Her eyes were blessed, and she was healing already. That was how pretty faces affected her positively.

    [I¡¯m aware that I¡¯m being shallow, okay? Leave me be. I deserve to heal this way!]

    ¡°Grandma, it¡¯s been a while,¡± Neoma said happily. ¡°I thought I¡¯ll never see you again, but I¡¯m super happy right now.¡±

    Great.

    Her voice sounded normal in this dimension.

    Earlier, she could hear herself talk clearly. And it seemed like the people around her understood her just fine. However, she was aware that she sounded like a baby since her body had reverted back to the time that she was around three years ago.

    ¡°We got this precious opportunity to meet again because you¡¯ve aplished the mission that I gave you before,¡± Roxana said cheerfully, then she picked baby Neoma up and put her in her arms carefully. ¡°My little princess, thank you for finding that child for me.¡±

    At first, she was confused.

    Then she remembered that her grandma asked her to find a child and adopt her.

    [Grandma Roxana is saying that I already found that child, but the only baby that I met so far is...]

    Neoma let out a gasp. ¡°The child you wanted me to ¡°adopt¡± is the child that the former Empress Juliet is possessing right now, Grandma?¡±

    ¡°Juliet isn¡¯t possessing that child, my precious granddaughter,¡± Roxana denied gently while shaking her head. ¡°Juliet has been reincarnated in that body.¡±

    Oh.

    Of course, at the back of her mind, she already knew that the real Empress Juliet was already gone. But it was hard for her to wrap the fact around her head because there was another ¡°Empress Juliet¡± living in the Royal Pce at the moment.

    [How did that happen...?]

    ¡°A human is supposed to forget their past memories once they get reincarnated,¡± Roxana exined. ¡°Only a select few like you and Ruston Stroganoff could remember your past memories. However, you don¡¯t retrieve your entire memories. Some of them were concealed on purpose, while some were deleted ording to your wish.¡±

    Ah.

    .....

    It seemed like her grandmother had realized what she was talking about.

    ¡°Grandma, are you saying that Empress Juliet doesn¡¯t remember everything about her past life?¡±

    ¡°Juliet may not remember how she died and got revived,¡± Roxana said. ¡°I¡¯m saying this in advance because I don¡¯t want you to have false hopes. Of course, Juliet¡¯s past memories can help you in some way. But please don¡¯t rely on thempletely.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not going to do that, Grandma,¡± she said, shaking her head. ¡°I¡¯m just afraid that the former empress remembers her painful past. I don¡¯t know what exactly happened, but I can already tell that she ended up that way because of the crows.¡±

    Her grandmother remained silent.

    But she didn¡¯t need to hear anything from Roxana.

    Her gut feeling had already told her everything she needed to know.

    [The crows are really getting on my nerves now.]

    ¡°Little Neoma, I can feel your anger rising in your small body.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand it, Grandma,¡± she said, letting out a frustrated sigh. ¡°I can¡¯t understand how the crows continue to exist for this long, even aftermitting so many horrible crimes. The more I get to know the impurities of this world, the more I understand why my past self had set the world on fire. I mean, that was a dick move but...¡± She gently pped her mouth after saying a bad word in front of her grandmother. ¡°What I¡¯m saying is I¡¯m not trying to justify my evil deed in the past. I know that I was horrible for setting the world on fire and killing many living things in the process. I¡¯m just saying that I understand my past self.¡±

    Roxana smiled at her gently. ¡°I understand what you¡¯re trying to say, Little Neoma. But I hope you don¡¯t end up setting the world on fire again.¡± Her grandmother kissed her forehead. ¡°Hence, Yule and I are doing our best to do the things that we failed to do for you in the past. Thankfully, this time, we seeded in sending them to your world.¡±

    ¡°¡®Them?''¡±

    ¡°The new saint has already been born in your world, my dear.¡±

    She gasped out loud. ¡°Brigitte unnie already gave birth to the baby saint?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, my dear,¡± her grandmother said. ¡°And now, you found the saintess.¡±

    ¡°The saintess?¡± she asked, confused. But that confusion didn¡¯tst long. Soon, she was gasping again. ¡°Empress Juliet reincarnated as a saintess?¡±

    Roxana smiled and nodded. ¡°The Moon Saint and the Light Saintess,¡± she said while gently caressing her cheek. ¡°They will be your representatives once you¡¯re gone.¡±

    Huh?

    Her grandmother was smiling warmly at her as if she didn¡¯t raise her death g with her vague words.

    But Roxana¡¯s smile told her she didn¡¯t have any n to exin.

    Excuse me?

    [You can¡¯t just raise my death g and say nothing at all!]

    ¡°Once I¡¯m gone?¡± Neoma asked, bbergasted. ¡°Why will I be gone?!¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 572

    Chapter 572: NERO¡¯S FIRST THORN

    ¡°WHYYY?!¡±

    ¡°P-Princess Neoma, are you alright?¡±

    Huh?

    [Dammit!]

    Neoma¡¯s conversation with Grandma Roxana was cut short.

    And, as usual, she didn¡¯t get the answer that she wanted again.

    When Neoma opened her eyes, she was greeted by Juri¡¯s worried face. She tried to get up. But she realized she was still stuck in her cute, baby form. ¡°Juri, can you help me get up?¡±

    .....

    ¡°Of course, Princess Neoma,¡± Juri said, then she immediately helped her sit up carefully. She even put a pillow on her back. ¡°Are youfortable, Your Royal Highness?¡±

    She nodded her big head (literally). ¡°Where is Empress- I mean the other baby?¡±

    ¡°The other baby is in the other room,¡± Juri exined. ¡°Greko is with the baby. The transparent egg broke when you arrived here, then the baby fell unconscious.¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± she said worriedly. ¡°How is the baby now?¡±

    ¡°Greko was here earlier to check on Your Royal Highness,¡± her ¡°daughter¡± exined. ¡°He said the baby is sleeping now. After checking on Your Royal Highness, he went back to check on the baby again.¡±

    That was a relief to hear.

    [If Greko is with Empress Juliet, then I have nothing to worry about.]

    ¡°Are Paige and Jeno okay?¡± Neoma asked worriedly. ¡°They fought Trevor and Gin earlier.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re both fine, Princess Neoma,¡± Juri assured her. ¡°Paige and Jeno are helping the lions hide the hideout from Trevor and Gin. The baby told Miss Sharon that Trevor and Gin aren¡¯t wee here anymore, and the lions seem to listen to the baby.¡±

    ¡°Are you curious about her identity?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Princess Neoma,¡± her ¡°daughter¡± said, nodding. ¡°But if it¡¯s something that I shouldn¡¯t know, then it¡¯s fine.¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s something you all need to know because from now on, we¡¯re going to protect her,¡± Neoma said seriously. ¡°Juri, don¡¯t be surprised. But that baby is the reincarnation of thete Empress Juliet.¡±

    Juri gasped out loud. ¡°Then who is the Lady Sloane that we met in the empire?¡±

    ¡°I know, right? That¡¯s what I want to know, too,¡± Neoma said, then she raised her tiny arms since her legs were too short to walk (and she was tired). ¡°Juri, bring me to Empress Juliet.¡±

    ***

    ¡°DO YOU think it was the tea, Hanna?¡±

    ¡°I think it is, but I¡¯m not yet sure, Your Majesty,¡± Hanna said to the emperor politely. Then she put down the teacup that His Majesty used before he almost fainted earlier. Then she turned around to face him properly. ¡°However, the fact that the flowers Lady Sloane used to brew the tea can¡¯t be found in the pce is suspicious.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± Emperor Niki, who was standing with his arms crossed over his chest. His gaze was fixed on the tea set on the table. ¡°To be honest, I didn¡¯t think it was because of the tea. I honestly believed it was because of my deteriorating body.¡±

    She was aware that the emperor was currently losing his strength because Nero was absorbing His Majesty¡¯s Moonglow.

    It was a secret that only people close to the royal family knew.

    [But is it a coincidence that His Majesty almost fainted right after Lady Sloane served him a tea that can¡¯t be found in the pce or in the royal capital, for that matter?]

    Her heart wasn¡¯t at ease.

    ¡°I apologize for suspecting Lady Sloane, Your Majesty,¡± she said politely. ¡°However, I agree with Prince Nero when he said we should be wary of Lady Sloane.¡±

    He addressed Nero formally in front of the emperor.

    ¡°We know that it¡¯s hard for Your Majesty to doubt Lady Sloane,¡± she continued. ¡°But we still need to be vignt. Hence, I¡¯d like to ask Your Majesty if I could investigate the flowers that Lady Sloane used to brew the tea.¡±

    Although she said she would only investigate the flowers used for the tea, it was still the same as doubting Lady Sloane. She was afraid that the emperor would get offended, since she knew that His Majesty treasured the former empress as a friend.

    Thankfully, the emperor didn¡¯t get upset.

    ¡°Alright,¡± His Majesty said while nodding. ¡°Do what you must, Hanna.¡±

    ¡°Then is it alright if I invite some of my friends from the academy here, Your Majesty?¡± she asked carefully. ¡°I could meet them outside, but Prince Nero told me to never leave your side until he returns.¡±

    And she thought her presence could serve as the emperor¡¯s protection from Lady Sloane.

    She didn¡¯t want to doubt the former empress because even her father only said good things about Her Majesty.

    But seeing Lady Sloane in apromising position with the emperor was weird.

    ¡°You may do so,¡± the emperor said. ¡°If you need something,e to Geoffrey Kinsley. I don¡¯t have a new chambein yet, but you can rely on him in the meantime. I¡¯ll tell him to provide you with anything you might need.¡±

    She smiled and bowed politely. ¡°Thank you, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing,¡± Emperor Niki said. ¡°This is the least thing I can do for my daughter-inw.¡±

    ¡®Daughter-inw.¡¯

    Hanna was happy to hear the emperor acknowledge her as his daughter-inw. But on the other hand, she felt a pang in her chest.

    [I don¡¯t know how long I¡¯m going to be your daughter-inw, Your Majesty.]

    ***

    ¡°IT WAS our family doctor.¡±

    Niki clenched his jaws after hearing Rufus Quinzel¡¯s report regarding the affair within House Quinzel at the moment.

    Right now, the duke was in his office while giving his report to me.

    [It was fast, but it was what I expected from Rufus.]

    ¡°Before Prince Nero left, he told me that only one person could touch our body and secretly steal our Seeds without getting caught,¡± Rufus said, his expression dark. ¡°I¡¯ve thought about it hard until I realized that His Royal Highness was correct. The only person who could touch us was the family doctor.¡±

    ¡°Your family doctor is your maternal uncle, right?¡±

    His cousin let out a sigh. ¡°Yes,¡± he said grimly. ¡°I went to his house to confront him. I didn¡¯t bring my knights with me. But he ran away as soon as he saw me as if he already knew why I was there.¡±

    ¡°Did you catch him?¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± Rufus said. ¡°He¡¯s currently locked up in my mansion. I already began my interrogation, but he still refuses to talk. I don¡¯t want to resort to violence because he¡¯s still a family member. But at this rate, I don¡¯t think I can hold back anymore.¡± His cousin¡¯s expression darkened even more. ¡°After all, he also used to check on Hanna¡¯s condition back when my daughter was still sickly.¡±

    Ah, yes.

    That was more than enough for his cousin to lose his cool.

    [If I were Rufus, I¡¯d lost it as well.]

    Of course, he already made a move, too.

    [My doctor, Marcus, is currently being interrogated by the Fletcher Twins.]

    ¡°Your Majesty, should we inform the other noble households about this matter?¡± Rufus asked worriedly. ¡°ording to Princess Neoma¡¯s report, it¡¯s not only House Quinzel. The crows might have nted a spy in every noble household in order to steal the Seeds or Beads of talented individuals that caught the crows¡¯ attention.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s do that after we gather some solid evidence,¡± Niki said. ¡°Right now, the Fletcher Twins are interrogating Marcus. He¡¯s been my physician since I was young. I trust him, but I want to make sure that I can continue trusting him. After all, he has checked on Nero and Neoma¡¯s condition before, too.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t easy to doubt Marcus.

    [But if Kyle could betray me, then anyone could betray me at this point.]

    He was just consoling himself with the fact that if Marcus was innocent, then he had nothing to worry about.

    Rufus looked like he was about to say something, but stopped when they heard a noise.

    Then, much to their surprise, snow suddenly poured from the dark sky.

    [A snowstorm?]

    It wasn¡¯t an ordinary snowstorm, though.

    ¡°Is it just me or the snowstorm is caused by Lady Roseheart?¡± Rufus asked, confused. ¡°I can feel Lady Roseheart¡¯s Mana in every drop of snow falling from the sky. And she¡¯s not hiding it.¡±

    What Rufus said was correct.

    And Niki could see why.

    His eyes turned glowing red as a response to the powerful divine power scattered in the sky that only people with strong divine power like him could see.

    ¡°The new saint,¡± Niki said. ¡°The new saint has been born already.¡±

    ***

    ¡°FOR A HOLY ITEM, this one sure reek of malice,¡± Nero said while holding the silver choker that he removed from Dahlia¡¯s neck earlier. ¡°You brought an interesting item with you, Calyx Dalton.¡±

    ¡°The fun was just about to begin, but you caught me already,¡± Calyx Dalton said,ughing. ¡°Did you miss me that much, Prince Nero?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t, but I¡¯m d to see you right now,¡± he said, smirking while looking at the crazy bastard¡¯s bleeding face. The cut was deep, pleasing him. ¡°I hope it scars.¡±

    ¡°This is something that a premium healing potion can heal, but if Your Royal Highness is into guys with scars, then I¡¯ll dly keep it.¡±

    .....

    Nero immediately lost his smirk out of disgust. ¡°Crazy bastard.¡±

    ¡°Prince Nero, you¡¯re not creative when ites to cursing, are you?¡± Calyx asked,ughing. ¡°Is ¡°crazy bastard¡± the only curse word you know?¡±

    ¡°Shut up,¡± he said, snapping his fingers.

    Sev, his ice wolf, appeared and immediately attacked the crazy bastard.

    But Calyx Dalton justughed and snapped his fingers, too.

    Then Kingston- the White Lion- appeared and blocked Sev. Now, the two beasts began fighting each other.

    Hence, this time, Nero summoned Zeru.

    His ice phoenix materialized in the form of a beautiful ice sword.

    Turning his Soul Beast into a literal weapon was something that he had learned from Neoma by watching her turn Tteokbokki into different kinds of weapons in the past.

    Calyx Dalton also drew his sword this time.

    ¡°Dahlia, leave this to me. My mother might need your assistance, so pleasee and help her take care of the queen and the new saint,¡± Nero said to Dahlia who was standing behind him. However, he didn¡¯t hear a response from her. Hence, he looked over his shoulder. ¡°Dahlia...¡±

    He trailed off when his eyes met a pair of glowing red orbs.

    His eyes went wide.

    [A god...?]

    A man with glowing red eyes looked like he was made of melting wax. And that disgusting person¡¯s hands were covering Dahlia¡¯s mouth.

    Worse, Dahlia was already unconscious.

    The ck Witch was in no way weak despite being young.

    But the fact that Dahlia wasn¡¯t able to get out of the stranger¡¯s grasp only confirmed his fear: it was a god.

    And based on his appearance...

    ¡°Callisto de Luca,¡± Nero growled lowly when he remembered the detailed report that he read regarding Callisto de Luca¡¯s appearancetely. ¡°How dare you-¡±

    ¡°The ck Witch has a pretty interesting ability that I need, so let me borrow her in the meantime,¡± Callisto de Luca said in a voice that sounded like it came from under the ground. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t kill her since I don¡¯t want you- our future emperor- to break down early.¡±

    Nero couldn¡¯t swing his sword carelessly because Callisto de Luca was hiding behind Dahlia.

    Hence, he tried toe at the god who was starting to turn translucent already.

    However, his movements were restrained when Calyx Dalton hugged him from behind very tightly.

    Nero tried to break out of his grasp but to no avail.

    [This crazy bastard¡¯s physical strength isn¡¯t normal!]

    He had no choice but to drop his ice sword and summon Zeru in his Soul Beast form.

    ¡°Your Excellency, see youter!¡± Calyx Dalton said cheerfully. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of Prince Nero!¡±

    Callisto de Luca justughed, then he disappeared with Dahlia.

    ¡°No!¡± Nero yelled, gathering his Mana in order to create an explosion. ¡°Dahlia!¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 573

    Chapter 573: WHEN THINGS GO SOUTH (1)

    ¡°YOUR MAJESTY, we made Lord Marcus take Anwir Pills- and he didn¡¯t die.¡±

    Niki was secretly relieved after hearing Warren Fletcher¡¯s report.

    [If Marcus didn¡¯t die after consuming the Anwir Pills, then he¡¯s innocent.]

    Right now, Marcus- the Sage in charge of his health- was locked up in the Fallen Tower because of the issue regarding the stolen Seeds and Beads.

    It was the tower used for interrogating nobles and other high-ranking people in the empire.

    Since Marcus was a Sage with a high position, he was brought in a room in the Fallen Tower. The Healing Sage was imprisoned, but he was still treated like the noble he was.

    ¡°Making him consume the Anwir Pill must be degrading for a Healing Sage like him,¡± Nikimented while walking on the hallway leading to the room where Marcus was locked up. ¡°How did Marcus react?¡±

    .....

    The Anwir Pills were the ¡®truth pills¡¯ used to make criminals confess to their crimes.

    Only the Alethea could produce such pills.

    Those pills were useful, so the Royal Family had a stock of premium Anwir Pills stored in the treasury. However, they would only use the pills to high-profiled criminals.

    [If I were Marcus, I would be offended.]

    ¡°Lord Marcus was calm throughout the investigation, Your Majesty,¡± Warren reported politely. ¡°He cooperated well, so we didn¡¯t have a hard time questioning him.¡±

    ¡°And your verdict...?¡±

    ¡°Wyatt and I believe that Lord Marcus is innocent,¡± the Pdin said firmly. ¡°Lord Marcus isn¡¯t connected to the crows in any way. He also looked genuinely horrified when we purposely used him of stealing Your Majesty¡¯s Seeds in order to get a reaction from him.¡±

    He trusted the Fletcher Twins and their verdict.

    Niki practically raised the Fletcher Twins, so he had faith in their abilities to determine whether a criminal was lying or not even without the Anwir Pills. Moreover, his gut feeling also told him that Marcus was innocent.

    [He has plenty of chances to steal my Seeds because he¡¯s the only doctor who has checked on my condition ever since I was a boy, but it never happened.]

    His thoughts were interrupted when Wyatt, the one guarding at the door of Marcus¡¯ room, greeted him.

    After that, Wyatt announced his arrival and opened the door for him.

    He found Marcus having tea in the room. The Healing Sage stood up and greeted him formally as soon as he saw him.

    ¡°Marcus, do you resent me because I have you locked up in this tower without following the proper procedure?¡±

    Since Marcus was a high-ranking noble, he shouldn¡¯t have been locked up right away considering that there wasn¡¯t evidence of the crime they used him of.

    Hence, he wouldn¡¯tin of the Healing Sage was offended.

    ¡°I don¡¯t resent Your Majesty,¡± Marcus said politely, and he seemed genuine with his words. ¡°I understand the situation. The Fletcher Twins haven¡¯t told me anything directly. But based on their questions, I figured out the reason for this interrogation.¡±

    ¡°And that would be...?¡±

    ¡°It seems like there have been cases where the Seeds or Beads of high-ranking individuals have been stolen by the crows. Then they used them to create children who would inherit exceptional abilities from the stolen Seeds or Beads.¡±

    As expected of the Healing Sage, he was quick to catch on.

    ¡°Do you think it¡¯s possible?¡± he asked Marcus. ¡°I¡¯d like to hear your opinion.¡±

    Of course, he believed Neomapletely.

    However, he also wanted to hear the opinion of a celebrated Healing Sage regarding the fact that children could be conceived in a very unconventional way.

    ¡°This isn¡¯t the first time I¡¯ve heard of that theory, Your Majesty,¡± Marcus said in a serious tone. ¡°However, I believe we should discuss this thing with the Royal Archmage. As far as I know, Lady Barlowe is studying about how to conceive children using the Seeds or Beads in order to help women who can¡¯t conceive a child to have a baby.¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s do that,¡± Niki said, then he turned to the Fletcher Twins. ¡°Summon Abigail Barlowe to my pce now.¡±

    ***

    ¡°AW, NOW we can¡¯t find them,¡± Trevor said, a little disappointed. ¡°My Moon Princess really doesn¡¯t trust me anymore.¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma has always been too guarded,¡± Gin, who was in his human form, said. ¡°We just have to look for the lions¡¯ hideout again after we rested for a bit.¡±

    Right now, the two of them were having dinner in the only inn in the town proper.

    Thankfully, Trevor and Gin were able to bring the masks that Princess Neoma made for them.

    There were masks avable in the market, but the royal princess¡¯ masks were more effective. Some guys tried to force them to buy their low-quality yet expensive masks, but fortunately, his horns were enough to drive them away.

    And now, no one bothered him and Gin while they were in the middle of resting.

    ¡°But I wasn¡¯t hallucinating earlier, was I?¡± Gin asked, then he sipped his beer before he continued. ¡°The royal princess has be a baby.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I saw that, too,¡± he said, nodding. ¡°It¡¯s not just her appearance. She also weakened significantly.¡±

    It could have been easier to abduct Princess Neoma if her ¡°children¡± weren¡¯t there.

    Moreover...

    ¡°I think Princess Neoma collected another baby to adopt,¡± Trevor said when he remembered the other baby that he saw earlier. ¡°That baby who used a teleportation spell to escape with them has strong divine powers.¡±

    The ck cat nodded in agreement. ¡°And the baby was able to use divine power in a ce like that. Princess Neoma is really good at adopting powerful kids.¡±

    He smirked proudly. ¡°That¡¯s my future wife for you.¡±

    ¡°Trevor, as your friend, I¡¯m telling you to give up already,¡± Gin said while shaking his head. ¡°Moreover, we¡¯re here to kidnap her. So, instead of praising the royal princess¡¯ ¡°children,¡± let¡¯s do our best to find the lions first.¡±

    He was about toin when he heard a noise outside.

    Of course, it was normal for a ce like that for a fight to break out suddenly. However, this time, the Mana that exploded felt familiar.

    Gin, who felt the Mana as well, smirked. ¡°And I was wondering where Princess Neoma¡¯s favorite ¡°son¡± has been all this time.¡±

    As if on cue, Lewis Crevan entered the inn with a nk look on his face.

    The fox boy quickly scanned the room before his gazended on Trevor and Gin.

    ¡°Ah, if it isn¡¯t my son,¡± Trevor said, smirking. [If it¡¯s Trevor, then I¡¯m sure Princess Neoma wille to me herself in order to save Lewis at all costs.]

    Lewis frowned at him. ¡°I am not your son, demon.¡±

    ***

    ¡°CALLISTO DE LUCA,¡± Nero growled lowly when he remembered the detailed report that he read regarding Callisto de Luca¡¯s appearancetely. ¡°How dare you-¡±

    ¡°The ck Witch has a pretty interesting ability that I need, so let me borrow her in the meantime,¡± Callisto de Luca said in a voice that sounded like it came from under the ground. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t kill her since I don¡¯t want you- our future emperor- to break down early.¡±

    Nero couldn¡¯t swing his sword carelessly because Callisto de Luca was hiding behind Dahlia.

    Hence, he tried toe at the god, who was starting to turn translucent already.

    However, his movements were restrained when Calyx Dalton hugged him from behind very tightly.

    Nero tried to break out of his grasp, but to no avail.

    [This crazy bastard¡¯s physical strength isn¡¯t normal!]

    He had no choice but to drop his ice sword and summon Zeru in his Soul Beast form.

    ¡°Your Excellency, see youter!¡± Calyx Dalton said cheerfully. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of Prince Nero!¡±

    Callisto de Luca justughed, then he disappeared with Dahlia.

    ¡°No!¡± Nero yelled, gathering his Mana in order to create an explosion. ¡°Dahlia!¡±

    He finally broke free from Calyx Dalton¡¯s grasp when he let his Mana explode- causing thousands of ice spears toe out of his body. Of course, the crazy bastard had no other choice but to let go of him in order to avoid the ice spears.

    But he was already toote.

    He couldn¡¯t sense Dahlia or Callisto de Luca¡¯s presence. Hence, he didn¡¯t know where to follow them.

    ¡°Prince Nero, calm down,¡± Calyx Dalton, who suddenly appeared before him, said while leaning down- invading his personal space once again. ¡°His Excellency won¡¯t kill Dahlia. We just need her ability for our new experiment.¡±

    Nero growled and grabbed Calyx by the cor. ¡°You¡¯re going to bring me to Dahlia- now!¡±

    ¡°Ah, what to do?¡± the crazy bastard asked, then he cupped Nero¡¯s face between his hands. He even stroked Nero¡¯s cheeks with his thumbs affectionately. ¡°When you¡¯re this close, I feel like I can¡¯t say ¡®no¡¯ to you, Prince Nero.¡±

    That made his skin crawl.

    Nero summoned Zeru, his ice phoenix, in the form of an ice dagger. Without saying a word, he stabbed Calyx in the chest.

    However, the crazy bastard grabbed the ice de- causing his hand to bleed.

    ¡°As expected, this won¡¯t do,¡± Calyx said, his eyes starting to look zed over. ¡°I feel like I¡¯d give up my life if you asked me to, but I can¡¯t die yet. So, I apologize, my prince.¡± He caressed Nero¡¯s cheek with his other hand. ¡°I¡¯ll let His Excellency borrow my body for a moment.¡±

    He knitted his eyebrows.

    [Is he talking about Callisto de Luca?]

    He didn¡¯t get the chance to ask before Calyx Dalton fell to the floor.

    .....

    To avoid falling with the crazy bastard, he was forced to pull out the dagger in Calyx¡¯s chest and move away from him. However, he didn¡¯t miss the chance to attack the crazy bastard while he was still unconscious.

    His ice dagger turned into an ice sword.

    But when Nero was about to stab Calyx Dalton in the chest, his body disappeared.

    Then he was suddenly crushed by an unseen yet powerful force.

    The next thing he knew, he was already on the ground- his cheek pressed against the cold floor.

    [Tsk.]

    ¡°Prince Nero, should we have a little talk?¡± ¡°Calyx Dalton,¡± who was squatting down in front of him, said. Then he grabbed him by the hair to force him to look up at him. The crazy bastard¡¯s eyes were glowing red now. ¡°Should I turn you into a puppet now?¡±

    Nero smirked because he didn¡¯t have to answer the crazy bastard.

    All of a sudden, the heavy aura that was crushing him disappeared.

    Then the fragrance of roses filled in the room.

    ¡°How dare you touch my son with your filthy hand?¡±

    Nero smiled at the person who appeared behind ¡°Calyx Dalton.¡± ¡°Mother.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 574

    Chapter 574: WHEN THINGS GO SOUTH (2)

    ¡°YOAN, YOU¡¯RE finally back~¡±

    ¡°I go by ¡®Ruto¡¯ now, Lady Astrid,¡± Ruto said to the ¡°youngdy¡± who approached him after breaking free from the room where his divine father had locked him up. ¡°Please don¡¯t call me by my old name again.¡±

    If he knew he¡¯d meet Astrid as soon as he blew up the annex building in Levi¡¯s estate, he would have gone the other way.

    But what could he do?

    He needed to go to the Light Garden.

    And the fastest route would be the Eternity Maze. It sounded dangerous, but the maze posed no threat to him since it was his yground before. Hence, he knew the ce like the back of his hand.

    [Unfortunately, I¡¯m not the only one who knows their way here.]

    .....

    Pale blonde hair, red eyes that sparkled like rubies, milky white skin.

    For some reason, Lady Astrid wore the traditional clothing in his kingdom on the East Continent.

    [Neoma said our traditional clothes are simr to Korean ¡®hanbok.¡¯]

    If only Ruto had more time to spend with Neoma back then, he would love to see her wearing their traditional clothes.

    [I¡¯m sure Neoma will look good in it.]

    Scratch that.

    Neoma would look good on everything.

    ¡°You¡¯re looking at my clothes,¡± Astrid said ¡°shyly.¡± ¡°I wore the traditional clothes from your country because I wanted to catch your attention. And it looks like I seeded.¡± Her hands moved to ¡°slightly¡± open the robe until her cleavage was visible. ¡°How do I look?¡±

    Ruto let out a sigh while looking at the ¡°youngdy¡± straight in the eye. ¡°I don¡¯t want to be rude, but if Lady Astrid doesn¡¯t stop behaving this way, then I will file aint against you.¡±

    ¡°What kind ofint?¡±

    ¡°Sexual harassment.¡±

    Astrid looked horrified by his statement. ¡°Am I sexually harassing you right now?¡±

    ¡°No matter what my mental age is, I¡¯m still a minor, while you¡¯re already an old hag.¡±

    He didn¡¯t want to be rude, but he didn¡¯t have any patience left.

    ¡°An ¡°old hag?!¡±¡± Astrid asked, obviously offended. ¡°How dare you call me an ¡°old hag,¡± Ruston Stroganoff?!¡±

    [At least, she got my name right this time.]

    ¡°Are you not?¡± he retorted calmly. ¡°The Goddess of Beauty is just a few centuries younger than the major gods.¡±

    Yes, Astrid was the Goddess of Beauty who changed her appearance to look like a youngdy in her teens.

    [I don¡¯t want to sound conceited, but I have a feeling she did that to match my age.]

    ¡°Ruto, don¡¯t you know you shouldn¡¯t mention ady¡¯s age?¡± Astridined. ¡°That¡¯s rude.¡±

    ¡°I know, but it¡¯s also not right for a person your age to be ¡°seducing¡± a minor.¡±

    ¡°Ohh,¡± thedy said, smiling. ¡°Is it working?¡±

    He remained poker-faced. ¡°Does it look like it¡¯s working?¡±

    Astrid frowned, then she sighed. ¡°I wonder why my charm magic isn¡¯t working on you.¡±

    Charm magic, huh?

    As its name suggested, it was the kind of magic that could bewitch other people. But since Astride, the Goddess of Beauty, was said to be the most beautiful woman in the world, her face worked more than her charm magic.

    However...

    ¡°I¡¯ve already since the most beautifuldy in the world, so Lady Astrid¡¯s charm doesn¡¯t work on me.¡±

    Ah.

    He didn¡¯t mean to say that out loud.

    ¡°You¡¯re talking about Neoma de Moonasterio, aren¡¯t you?¡± Astrid asked, growling. ¡°How can a child be more beautiful than the Goddess of Beauty herself?!¡±

    ¡°Beauty is subjective, so you shouldn¡¯t be offended,¡± Ruto said, turning his back on the goddess. ¡°It¡¯s just that Neoma is the prettiest in my eyes, now and then.¡±

    ***

    [IT REALLY is dying.]

    Ruto already expected to see the Aether in a dying state.

    However, he didn¡¯t expect it to be like this.

    The trunk and the branches had already turned charcoal-ck. On the other hand, half of the leaves had already started to decay. The remaining emerald-like leaves that should be sparkling with all their might had begun to dull already.

    No wonder the air in the Upper World had be polluted already.

    This was his first time in this lifetime to see the Aether in person.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Ruto whispered, then he ced a hand on the trunk. ¡°I¡¯m really sorry, but please hang in there. My Neoma still needs more time. She¡¯s not yet strong enough to fight the gods. If you die right now, it¡¯s going to be a huge problem.¡±

    The Neoma right now was still far from the Neoma that set the world on fire in the first timeline.

    [She can¡¯t face the gods yet, hence I can¡¯t let the Aether die.]

    To give more strength to the Aether, he gathered his divine power in his hands and ced them on the tree¡¯s trunk.

    Yes, he was giving the Aether some of his divine power.

    Since his divinity hade from Lord Levi himself, his divine power was one of the purest divine energies in the entire universe. Even if he only gave the Aether a fraction of his divine power, it would still be enough to provide the Aether with a few more years to live.

    And his divine power created a miracle right away.

    A huge portion of the Aether had been purified. Half of its charcoal-colored trunk had returned to its original state. And the leaves that were already decaying hade back to life. Now, even the emerald-like leaves were sparkling like premium gems.

    The effect of his divine power was quick and evident.

    However, it also took a toll on his body fast.

    He felt his strength leave his body, and he began coughing up blood. Hence, he had no choice but to stop giving more of his divine power to the Aether.

    It was a shame because he wanted to give more.

    But he also had to conserve his divine power in order to descend back to the human world on his own. After all, he had a feeling that Lord Levi wouldn¡¯t send him back willingly.

    [He tricked me.]

    After all, his divine father hadn¡¯t removed the burn mark on his face yet.

    [I really don¡¯t mind, but Neoma will get upset.]

    ¡°Ruston Stroganoff, I hate to say this but your effort to save the Aether would be for naught.¡±

    His eyes widened in shock when he heard the familiar voice.

    Then, before he knew it, a sword had already stabbed him in the chest. Thankfully, it missed his heart.

    However, the sword began to ABSORB his remaining divine power!

    The de of the sword that pierced through his body was covered with Darkness. He tried to purify it while removing the de from his chest, but his hands got burned when he touched the de.

    He growled in pain.

    [How...]

    He didn¡¯t feel the intruder¡¯s presence!

    ¡°Thank you for bringing me to the Aether.¡±

    He looked up when he heard the voiceing from above him.

    And there, he found the intruder.

    Helstor, the God of Eternal Darkness, stood on a branch with his hand ced on the Aether¡¯s body. His red eyes which were filled with mischief, glowed. Then, after uttering an ancient spell that Ruto didn¡¯t understand, the god set the Aether on fire.

    To be precise, a ck me made of Darkness.

    Ruto¡¯s eyes went wide with shock. ¡°No!¡±

    ***

    ¡°AS EXPECTED, this won¡¯t do,¡± Calyx said, his eyes starting to look zed over. ¡°I feel like I¡¯d give up my life if you asked me to, but I can¡¯t die yet. So, I apologize, my prince.¡± He caressed Nero¡¯s cheek with his other hand. ¡°I¡¯ll let His Excellency borrow my body for a moment.¡±

    He knitted his eyebrows.

    .....

    [Is he talking about Callisto de Luca?]

    He didn¡¯t get the chance to ask before Calyx Dalton fell to the floor.

    To avoid falling with the crazy bastard, he was forced to pull out the dagger in Calyx¡¯s chest and move away from him. However, he didn¡¯t miss the chance to attack the crazy bastard while he was still unconscious.

    His ice dagger turned into an ice sword.

    But when Nero was about to stab Calyx Dalton in the chest, his body disappeared.

    Then he was suddenly crushed by an unseen yet powerful force.

    The next thing he knew, he was already on the ground- his cheek pressed against the cold floor.

    [Tsk.]

    ¡°Prince Nero, should we have a little talk?¡± ¡°Calyx Dalton,¡± who was squatting down in front of him, said. Then he grabbed him by the hair to force him to look up at him. The crazy bastard¡¯s eyes were glowing red now. ¡°Should I turn you into a puppet now?¡±

    Nero smirked because he didn¡¯t have to answer the crazy bastard.

    All of a sudden, the heavy aura that was crushing him disappeared.

    Then the fragrance of roses filled in the room.

    ¡°How dare you touch my son with your filthy hand?¡±

    Nero smiled at the person who appeared behind ¡°Calyx Dalton.¡± ¡°Mother.¡±

    ¡°Son, get up.¡±

    Nero didn¡¯t have to be told twice.

    As soon as his mother kicked Callisto de Luca (in Calyx Dalton¡¯s body) away from him, he immediately stood up and took a step backward. After that, he created a barrier around himself to make sure that he wouldn¡¯t get into his mother¡¯s fight.

    It was a shame to admit this, but he knew he didn¡¯t have the power to face a god yet.

    [Even if Callisto de Luca is weak at the moment, he¡¯s still a god.]

    Nero couldn¡¯t even lift himself from the god¡¯s aura earlier.

    [Mother, I leave this fight to you.]

    Since he could only watch the fight at the moment, he watched it well. After all, he could learn a lot from watching his mother¡¯s battle.

    First, he noticed that his mother was using his main weapon- a rosegold staff.

    [If I remember correctly, Mother calls it ¡®Nydia.¡¯]

    And he could feel the divine power every time his mother swung the staff.

    Several lights shaped like semi-transparent roses woulde out and when those lights hit Calyx Dalton¡¯s body, the crow would get burned.

    Ah.

    [A purifying spell?]

    Unfortunately, Calyx Dalton had self-healing abilities.

    And now, the crow was fighting back with his brute strength.

    Calyx Dalton came at his mother with a punch. His fist was covered with a pure light divine energy that could only be Moonglow.

    Hence, when his mother blocked his punch with the staff, the staff got broken in two.

    [Mother!]

    He was worried for a moment.

    But his mother didn¡¯t even flinch. As soon as the rose-gold staff was broken, his mother dropped the weapon and blocked Calyx Dalton¡¯s punch with her own punch.

    Of course, his mother and Calyx Dalton¡¯s fists didn¡¯t connect literally.

    After all, his mother¡¯s fist was also covered with a red light that could only be her Mana.

    When Calyx Dalton¡¯s Moonglow-covered hand collided with his mother¡¯s Mana-covered hand, it created an explosion that sent the two away from each other.

    He was worried about his mother, but he soon had to worry about himself when the White Lion suddenly crushed him.

    Right.

    He forgot that Sev (his ice wolf) was fighting with Kingston (the White Lion).

    [Kingston broke my barrier easily.]

    And Sev lost the fight.

    The next thing he knew, he was already on the ground while using his arms to block the White Lion¡¯s mouth while trying to stop it from biting him.

    But soon, the White Lion suddenly stopped as if it was frozen while looking at his face.

    [What happened to him?]

    The White Lion had already fought with Neoma (who was pretending to be him during the trials in the academy). So why was Kingston looking at him as if he was seeing his face for the first time?

    Nero flinched when the White Lion talked in his head. ¡°I¡¯m not your master.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 575

    Chapter 575: SHE¡¯S BEAUTY, SHE¡¯S GRACE

    ¡°EOMMA, you¡¯re so cute as a baby!¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± Neoma smirked proudly after Greko showered her withpliments. ¡°I was born pretty, son.¡±

    Greko, who was holding her in his arms as carefully as he could, giggled. ¡°Eomma, your cheeks are so chubby. Can I bite them?¡±

    She was about to tell her ¡°son¡± that she still had the dignity of a royal princess to keep so she couldn¡¯t let him do that. Well, to be fair, she didn¡¯t mind. However, she was a royal princess. She didn¡¯t want other people to think that Greko was being rude to her since there were lions watching them discreetly.

    Neoma was about to exin it to Greko when someone else beat to it.

    Juri, who was standing by the door, cleared her throat. ¡°Maknae-ah, you can¡¯t do that. In the first ce, we can¡¯t even touch the body of a monarch casually.¡±

    Greko¡¯s shoulders slumped. ¡°You¡¯re right, noona,¡± he said, obviously disheartened. He even looked at Neoma with puppy dog eyes. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for being disrespectful, eomma.¡±

    .....

    Aww.

    Her heart melted.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Baby Greko,¡± Neoma said, gently patting his cheek. ¡°You can just fill your eyes with my cuteness.¡±

    Greko smiled and nodded. ¡°Okay, eomma.

    Juri, who was relieved now that Greko was in a good mood, smiled before she turned to her. ¡°Your Royal Highness, shall we?¡±

    Neoma nodded. ¡°Yep, lezzgo.¡±

    Her ¡°daughter¡± obliged and opened the door for her.

    Greko, who was still holding her in his arms, entered the room and walked to the bed.

    Empress Juliet, in her baby form, was sitting on the bed while leaning against some pillows behind her back.

    Oh?

    She already knew that Empress Juliet had pink eyes.

    However, she noticed that something had changed in the baby empress¡¯ eyes: the pink orbs had be shinier.

    Neoma couldn¡¯t exin it in words, but she had one thought in her mind.

    [Empress Juliet¡¯s eyes look like supernova.]

    ¡°Little Neoma, you¡¯re here?¡± Empress Juliet greeted her cheerfully. ¡°Did you get a good rest?¡±

    ¡°Not really, but I¡¯m fine, Your Majesty. Thank you for asking,¡± Neoma said politely, then she gently patted Greko¡¯s arm. ¡°Maknae-ah, put me down.¡±

    Greko nodded, then he put her next to Empress Juliet.

    Juri and Greko then stood by the door like the proper guards that they were.

    ¡°Your Majesty, I apologize but I told my ¡°children¡± about your real identity without asking for your permission first,¡± Neoma said, bowing her head to the former empress. It was hard to do it because her head was bigger than her body. But thankfully, she was able to control her body gracefully. ¡°I¡¯m really sorry.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to apologize, Little Neoma,¡± the former empress said. ¡°And I trust you. I know that your ¡°children¡± are tight-lipped.¡±

    ¡°They are, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m d to know that,¡± Empress Juliet said kindly. ¡°Little Neoma, I¡¯m no longer the empress so you don¡¯t have to address me as such.¡±

    ¡°But how do I address Your Majesty then?¡± Neoma asked shyly. ¡°Both Papa Boss and Mama Boss- I mean, my mother and father- respect you a lot, Your Majesty. I can¡¯t just address Your Majesty casually.¡±

    ¡°Little Neoma, to be honest with you, I already want to forget my life as the former ¡®Empress Juliet,''¡± the former empress said in a serious voice. ¡°I don¡¯t know if Niki and Mona already told you this, but I never really wanted to be the empress. In fact, I didn¡¯t even want to be a wife or a mother. However, Niki needed to marry me in order to stabilize his position in the empire. And I want to help him be a powerful emperor. Hence, I entered a contractual marriage with your father.¡±

    ¡®Contractual marriage.¡¯

    [If this was a romance fantasy novel, then Papa Boss and Empress Juliet would have been in love with each other while under the contract marriage.]

    However, this was real life.

    She could tell that the former Empress Juliet didn¡¯t really like her position.

    ¡°I both love Niki and Mona genuinely,¡± the former Empress Juliet said. ¡°I wanted to protect them, hence I epted the role of Niki¡¯s wife and the position of bing the empress. The original n was for me and Niki to divorce once he finally got power over the nobles. But the n was ruined when I died.¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± she said, then she bowed her head. ¡°I heard from Papa Boss and Mama Boss that Your Majesty sacrificed yourself in order to save them when the three of you tried to free the Soul Beasts in the past.¡±

    Obviously, that n failed.

    ¡°Little Neoma, look at me.¡±

    She did as she was told...

    ... and she was blown away by the expression on Her Majesty.

    The former Empress Juliet wasn¡¯t smiling. But she had a serene look on her face. Hence, even though Her Majesty was in the body of a child, she still looked like the dignifieddy that she was.

    Neoma could practically see a crown on top of the former empress¡¯ head even though she was a baby.

    [She¡¯s beauty, she¡¯s grace...]

    ¡°I never regretted my decision back then,¡± Empress Juliet said calmly. Her face actually looked strict now that she wasn¡¯t smiling. However, the empress¡¯ sparkling supernova-like eyes were warm. ¡°Even if I turned back time, I would still sacrifice my life for Niki and Mona.¡±

    ¡°Gosh, Your Majesty,¡± Neoma said, frowning. ¡°Were you a saintess? Of course, I¡¯m very grateful that you saved my Papa Boss and Mama Boss back then. But I¡¯m sure that Your Majesty knows the pain your death caused to my parents. So, if Your Majesty can turn back time, please do your best toe out alive with Papa Boss and Mama Boss. Your Majesty¡¯s life is also precious.¡±

    The former empress looked surprised by her words.

    Then Her Majesty gave her a ghost of a smile. It wasn¡¯t a full-blown smile. And, to be honest, her smile disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

    [I can tell that Empress Juliet isn¡¯t the type to smile a lot.]

    She could imagine the former empress to be the type to have a ¡°resting bitch face.¡±

    [But, obviously, Empress Juliet has a warm heart.]

    ¡°Little Neoma, I don¡¯t know if you¡¯re going to be disappointed, but saving Niki and Mona back then was actually a self-service act,¡± Empress Juliet said firmly, her face serene and serious again. ¡°Of course, I genuinely wanted to save them. However, I also did it for myself.¡±

    Neoma knitted her eyebrows, confused. ¡°But how was sacrificing Your Majesty¡¯s life for Papa Boss and Mama Boss considered self-service?¡±

    ¡°Because I was promised by Lady Roxana, the Goddess of Light, that she would reward me for my sacrifice- she said she¡¯d let me reincarnate as the person that I¡¯ve always wanted to be.¡±

    ¡°The person that Your Majesty has always wanted to be...?¡±

    ¡°A saintess,¡± the former Empress Juliet said, putting a hand over her chest. ¡°I never wanted to be a wife or a mother because I¡¯ve always wanted to serve Lady Roxana as her saintess.¡±

    Neoma was honored to hear about the former empress¡¯ dream.

    Then she felt enraged.

    [How dare the crows use Empress Juliet, someone who never wished to be a mother, to give birth to Calyx Dalton?!]

    ***

    ¡°THANK YOU for bringing me to the Aether.¡±

    He looked up when he heard the voiceing from above him.

    And there, he found the intruder.

    Helstor, the God of Eternal Darkness, stood on a branch with his hand ced on the Aether¡¯s body. His red eyes that were filled with mischief, glowed. Then, after uttering an ancient spell that Ruto didn¡¯t understand, the god set the Aether on fire.

    To be precise, a ck me made of Darkness.

    Ruto¡¯s eyes went wide with shock. ¡°No!¡±

    The damage had been done, though.

    He couldn¡¯t believe that Helstor could summon such arge amount of Darkness in the Upper World- the ce that could purify any kind of Darkness right away.

    However, the Darkness continued to burn the Aether.

    Why?

    Why wasn¡¯t the Darkness getting purified?!

    Ruto growled lowly when he realized what was happening.

    [The fact that Helstor, the God of Eternal Darkness who has been banned from the Upper World could roam here freely, only means he got help from some of the gods here.]

    And those gods probably wanted the old Aether to die in order to find a new one.

    [They knew that Neoma has the possibility to be the next Aether.]

    ¡°Crazy bastards,¡± Ruto cursed under his breath. Then he used all the divine power that he could muster at the moment. ¡°I won¡¯t let your n seed.¡±

    He couldn¡¯t grab the sword that pierced through his chest earlier because it wasced with Darkness. However, that changed when he covered his hand with his divine power. He easily pulled out the sword out of his chest and purified the Darkness that engulfed the de.

    Helstor, who watched all of that happened, clicked his tongue. ¡°Ruston Stroganoff, you should give up while it¡¯s still early. I know that you just realized that I¡¯m not the only one who wants the old Aether to die.¡±

    He ignored the puny god.

    .....

    Even without looking at his reflection, he could tell that his right eye had already turned glowing red.

    And his hair...

    [It definitely looks closer to white now that I¡¯m using my full divine power.]

    He hated it.

    Ruto didn¡¯t like it when his hair turned closer to white from using his divine power because it made him look like a de Moonasterio.

    Thest thing he wanted was to look like Neoma¡¯s brother.

    ¡°Ruston Stroganoff, it¡¯s futile to resist,¡± Helstor warned him while the god was gathering all the Darkness he had in his body. ¡°Can¡¯t you see that no god is willing to help you right now?¡±

    Ruto smirked bitterly. ¡°Who said I need those useless gods to defeat you?¡±

    After saying that, the sky darkened, and thunder rumbled continuously. Then it was followed by huge lightning that struck across the now vibrant sky.

    It was followed by the pouring rain.

    Of course, the ¡°rain¡± wasn¡¯t water- it was actually his divine power in liquid form.

    In just the blink of an eye, the ¡°rain¡± poured harder until the divine power- in its liquid form- began to quench the Darkness that burned the Aether.

    To simply put, he purified the Darkness that Helstor used in an attempt to kill the tree.

    ¡°Ruston Stroganoff,¡± Helstor growled at him. No matter how much the god tried to make his Darkness bigger to burn the Aether, it didn¡¯t work since the ¡°rain¡± automatically purified the ck me. In the end, the god jumped off the tree and came at him. ¡°When will you realize that you can¡¯t save Neoma de Moonasterio no matter you do?¡±

    Ruto summoned his ancient bow and arrows. ¡°I¡¯ll save Neoma this time,¡± he said while aiming his arrow at Helstor. ¡°That, or I¡¯ll just help her burn this world again.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 576

    Chapter 576: WHAT A SHAME

    ¡°I¡¯M NOT your master,¡± Nero said, pushing the White Lion off him. ¡°You¡¯re heavy.¡±

    The de Moonasterios were known for their brute strength.

    However, no matter how strong he was, he still failed to push the White Lion off him.

    Fortunately, Zeru came to his rescue.

    His Soul Beast was back in its beast form.

    The ice phoenix was thrice the size of an adult eagle. To be honest, although Zeru was huge, he still didn¡¯t expect the Soul Beast to grab the White Lion¡¯s cor using its talons.

    But it did.

    .....

    Zeru managed to lift the White Lion and throw it away.

    However, the next thing Nero knew, his Soul Beast was already howling in pain. The talons that Zeru used to lift the White Lion were now covered with Darkness.

    Come to think of it, the White Lion¡¯s cor was strange.

    ¡°Zeru,e here,¡± Nero said when he stood up, reaching for the ice phoenix¡¯s talons. ¡°It¡¯s alright, I¡¯ll fix them.¡±

    The ice phoenix let him touch its talons.

    He didn¡¯t properly study how to purify Darkness. But simply touching Zeru¡¯s talons with the intention to purify the Darkness that clung to it did the trick. His hands emitted some red light. Obviously, it wasn¡¯t his Moonglow or divine power.

    [It¡¯s the Roseheart Blood in me.]

    He was born with the innate ability to purify Darkness with his touch.

    And he could also tell that Zeru¡¯s strength had been drained when it touched the Darkness that covered the White Lion¡¯s cor.

    [Tsk.]

    ¡°Zeru, Sev, return,¡± Nero ordered his Soul Beast. ¡°I can¡¯t use either of you to fight right now.¡±

    It was a shame, but he didn¡¯t have a choice but to let his Soul Beasts rest in the meantime.

    Zeru let out a cry, then it disappeared in some bluish lights.

    Sev, who was lying on the floor unmoving, also disappeared.

    After that, Nero faced the White Lion.

    He noticed that the cor around its wide neck was now producing a ck me. It was like a new variant of Darkness. He had a feeling that it wouldn¡¯t be easy to purify it, but he still had to try.

    Scent?

    So, the White Lion had mistaken him as its master because of his scent and not his face.

    [So, it¡¯s the reason why the White Lion didn¡¯t react this way when he met Neoma.]

    But why would he have the same scent as Nero Roseheart?

    He was aware that Nero Roseheart was the first Holy Knight in history, and he also happened to the first master of the White Lion.

    [Am I the reincarnation of Nero Roseheart or something?]

    That would beughable.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about,¡± Nero said, looking at the White Lion with dead eyes. ¡°But let¡¯s talk again after I purify that disgusting thing around your neck.¡±

    After saying that, he came at the White Lion.

    Without wasting a second, he grabbed the cor.

    His hands burned as soon as he touched the cor, causing him to flinch. However, he didn¡¯t let go. He gathered all his Mana in his hands in an attempt to purify the Darkness.

    [Argh!]

    His hands were starting to get burned for real.

    He didn¡¯t like getting hurt because he knew Neoma would also feel his pain. But he couldn¡¯t let go of the cor. The Darkness was trying to burn him alive. Hence, he had to cover his entire body with his Moonglow in order to prevent himself from literally burning.

    the White Lion yelled in his mind worriedly.

 Chapter 577

    Chapter 577: NEOMA¡¯S SECOND MISFORTUNE

    [AH.]

    Ruto btedly realized that he had finally retrieved his memories of Neoma while watching the ¡°rain¡± pour hard.

    The moment that he unleashed his divine power in the Upper World, his memories came back. But he had been too upied with escaping from his divine father¡¯s grasp that he only realized it now.

    [Neoma...]

    ¡°Why did you stop?¡± Ruto asked Helstor who suddenly stopped in front of him. Since the enemy had already stoppeding at him, he also lowered his bow. Hunting was only fun when the prey was moving, after all. ¡°Did you notice it?¡±

    Helstorughed nervously while stepping away from him. ¡°You¡¯re neither a sorcerer nor a wizard, so how can you create a deadly magic circle like that?¡±

    The magic circle that the god mentioned was indeed deadly. In fact, it was forbidden for humans to use. But since he wasn¡¯t technically an ordinary human (after all, he was the divine son of Lord Levi), the rule didn¡¯t apply to him.

    .....

    If he managed to lure Helstor to step inside the magic circle, then the god would have been torn into pieces.

    ¡°Well, I know a trick or two,¡± Ruto said, shrugging. ¡°However, now I know that I don¡¯t have the talent for creating magic circles. If I was better at it, then I could have hidden the magic circle from you.¡±

    It was true.

    Since he had an abundant amount of Mana and divine power, studying magic came easy for him. But he didn¡¯t like memorizing spells because he found it boring. Moreover, in this lifetime, he prioritized learning how to cook.

    [I¡¯ve been toocent since I was born with innate abilities.]

    ¡°Now you¡¯re just humble bragging,¡± Helstor said,ughing. ¡°Even Trevor Kesser, the Youngest Sorcerer of his time, would cry if he heard you say you didn¡¯t have the talent in casting spells after you made that deadly magic circle.¡±

    He just shrugged.

    After all, he still believed that he wasn¡¯t good enough to be a sorcerer or wizard. He thought he was a failure since he didn¡¯t seed in luring Helstor into the magic circle that he created.

    ¡°I concede,¡± Helstor said, raising his hands in surrender. ¡°I already achieved my goal here.¡±

    Ruto clicked his tongue.

    Even though the ¡°rain¡± quenched the ¡°fire¡± that Helstor used to burn the Aether, the damage had already been done.

    [The Aether looks worse than it did before I healed it earlier.]

    ¡°Lord Helstor, do you think I¡¯ll let you leave alive?¡±

    ¡°You have to,¡± Helstor said, smiling. ¡°You may be the God yer, but you can¡¯t kill a god without Lord Levi¡¯s permission. Right now, my only sin was trespassing in the Upper World. It¡¯s not punishable by death.¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± he snarled at the god. ¡°You tried to kill the Aether. That gives me the right to kill you.¡±

    The God of Eternal Darkness smiled arrogantly. ¡°It does not.¡±

    He was about to draw his ancient bow again when, all of a sudden, several Celestial Knights appeared and surrounded Helstor.

    After that, the Celestial Knights drew their swords and pointed them at the god.

    Every god in the Upper World had their own army of Celestial Knights. It was easy to tell which god the knights served by just looking at the crest and the uniforms they wore.

    Sky blue and white uniform with a crest that showed a pair of angel wings hugging the cloud.

    [They are the Celestial Knights of the Sky God.]

    The Sky God was like the king of the gods, the second highest position in the Upper World after Lord Levi.

    [They appear now when they practically ignored Helstor when he was burning the Aether?]

    ¡°Lord Ruto, we¡¯ll take care of Lord Helstor,¡± Rafael, the Vice-captain of the Sky God¡¯s Celestial Knights, said to him politely. The vice-captain was older than him physically, but he still treated him with respect as the God yer. ¡°We were ordered by the Sky God to bring the God of Eternal Darkness to him.¡±

    He wanted to argue, but the mark of curses on his soul suddenly set his body on fire.

    Well, not literally.

    He just felt like he was being burned alive.

    It was a warning from the gods who ced the curse on him. They were telling him not to interfere any longer.

    Helstor, who was smiling arrogantly, knew that.

    Even though the god was surrounded by Celestial Knights, the god was calm and it looked like Helstor didn¡¯t have any intention to escape.

    [I see. Helstor already made contact with the people who let him burn the Aether.]

    He was in a disadvantageous position since his divine power was almost spent.

    [I have no choice but to yield for now.]

    ¡°Alright. Do what you must,¡± Ruto said indifferently, the ¡°rain¡± starting to pour lighter until itpletely stopped. ¡°But inform the Sky God to expect my visit very soon.¡±

    ***

    ¡°YOU¡¯RE ferocious despite being the youngest duke in the empire, Your Grace.¡±

    Jasper just clicked his tongue at what Gin, the ck cat in his human form, said.

    Right now, he was exchanging blows with the enemy.

    To be precise, he was currently pushing Gin with his sword. The ck cat was unfortunately doing a good job blocking his attack with his own sword. Their des, both covered with Mana, collided again and again.

    His poisonous butterflies, on the other hand, were trying to attack Trevor.

    However, his insects couldn¡¯t even get near the demon.

    He was starting to get impatient since Trevor had already created a whirlpool of ckness on the ground.

    [It¡¯s obviously a teleportation spell.]

    He needed to save Lewis, or else Princess Neoma would kill him.

    ¡°Duke Hawthorne, stop getting distracted.¡±

    He had to pay a huge price for getting distracted by useless thoughts.

    Jasper groaned in pain and had to step back after Gin shed his upper body. Thankfully, he managed to step away in time so he wasn¡¯t cut that deep.

    [Tsk.]

    ¡°How?¡± Jasper asked, making a conversation in order to dy the two while he was catching his breath. ¡°I¡¯m sure Lewis wouldn¡¯t let his guard down around you.¡±

    Ginughed. ¡°We tricked Lewis, of course. There¡¯s no way we can subdue him fair and square.¡±

    ¡°For someone who uses foul y to win, you sure are proud.¡±

    ¡°Do you think we care about our reputation, Your Grace?¡±

    ¡°Touche,¡± he said. ¡°So, what did you do to trick Lewis?¡±

    ¡°Well, Trevor just created a very believable illusion of Princess Neoma to distract Lewis for a second.¡±

    ¡°Impossible,¡± Jasper said. ¡°A crow tried the same trick earlier and Lewis didn¡¯t fall for it.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why I said ¡°for a second,¡±¡± Gin exined. ¡°We knew that Lewis wouldn¡¯t fall for it. But we just needed to distract him for a second.¡±

    ¡°While Lewis couldn¡¯t take his eyes off Princess Neoma¡¯s illusion for a second, I hit his head from behind,¡± Trevor said proudly. ¡°And to make sure he¡¯d be subdued, I also used a sleeping potion on him.¡±

    No wonder Lewis was kidnapped.

    Jasper let out a sigh. ¡°Cheating bastards. Is this how the great Devil raised you?¡±

    It seemed like Gin was offended when he mentioned the Devil because the ck cat released bloodlust directed at him.

    [Hah, he has the nerve to be offended by my sarcasm?]

    ¡°Gin, don¡¯t kill the young duke,¡± Trevor warned the ck cat. ¡°Princess Neoma considers him as her older brother.¡±

    ¡°I know that,¡± Gin said. ¡°Are you done with the teleportation spell?¡±

    ¡°Yes, so let¡¯s go already.¡±

    Jasper tried to move in order to attack Trevor directly this time.

    But when the demon raised his hand, his movements were suddenly restricted. He couldn¡¯t even open his mouth to speak!

    [These cheating bastards!]

    ¡°Bye-bye, Jasper Hawthorne,¡± Trevor said cheerfully. ¡°Please tell my lovely Moon Princess toe and find me if she wants to be reunited with her favorite son.¡±

    After saying that, Trevor and Gin jumped into the teleportation circle and disappeared.

    Only then was Jasper freed.

    [God, I failed to protect Lewis...]

    ***

    .....

    RUTO felt despair once again.

    Even though he wanted to heal the Aether again, he couldn¡¯t.

    He didn¡¯t have enough divine power left.

    It looked like the gods present in the Garden right now didn¡¯t have any intention to help him. On the other hand, the major gods weren¡¯t even there.

    [They already gave up on the current Aether!]

    ¡°Give me a few more days,¡± Ruto whispered while touching the trunk of the Aether. ¡°I will return and heal you after I recovered.¡±

    After that promised, he returned to his divine father¡¯s manor.

    And he was d that he made it home.

    Ruto copsed on the floor while clutching his chest tight. As soon as he stepped foot inside the mansion, he felt a pang in his heart. It was as if someone was trying to rip his heart out of his chest, and he couldn¡¯t do anything to stop it.

    The strangest thing was the sound of a ticking clock in his head.

    [What is that?]

    ¡°My poor son, I thought you already retrieved your memories?¡±

    He didn¡¯t have the energy to raise his head, but he knew it was his divine father.

    ¡°Then you should remember by now that the one you made contract with was the Ancient Devil himself, and not the current one,¡± Lord Levi said, then his divine father squatted down and grabbed his chin to force him to look up at him. ¡°Yoan, the thing that you gave up wasn¡¯t your memories with Neoma de Moonasterio.¡±

    He was confused by what his divine father said at first.

    Then he heard an unfamiliar voice in his head.

    ¡°My heart...¡± Ruto whispered to himself when he finally remembered the real price that he had to pay for turning back time. ¡°And my love...¡±

    ***

    [IT HURTS.]

    At first, Neoma felt a burning sensation in her little hands.

    She was sure that something bad happened to Nero.

    However, after the burning sensation in her hands disappeared, her chest suddenly tightened until she could no longer breathe.

    And before she knew it, she was already crying.

    She felt like her heart was getting ripped out of her chest.

    And the worst part?

    Ruto¡¯s image was clear in her head at first. Then, just like ss, it suddenly broke into hundreds of pieces.

    [Is this a bad premonition?]

    But Ruto was in the Upper World, right? He should be safe, since Lord Levi seemed protective of his divine son.

    If something bad happened to her man...

    ¡°Ruto better be safe, dear gods up there,¡± Neoma said while wiping the tears from her face with her little hands. Then she looked up outside the window and red at the night sky. ¡°Don¡¯t make mee up to the Upper World because you wouldn¡¯t like what I¡¯d do once I get there.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 578

    Chapter 578: THE BABY IS SICK

    ¡°YOU¡¯RE still here,¡± Neromented while looking at the White Lion. ¡°I thought you¡¯d be gone when Calyx Dalton escaped.¡±

    ¡°Is it because I broke the leash that the crows are using to control you?¡± his mother asked the White Lion. ¡°Are you free now?¡±

    the White Lion exined.

    Nero looked at his hands. ¡°No wonder my hands were burned.¡±

    the White Lion said. The White Lion turned to his mother.

    ¡°The purifying power that the Rosehearts possess is greater than the Moonglow or any other divine power in the human world,¡± his mother said as a matter of fact. She didn¡¯t sound arrogant, even though she had all the right to brag about her ability that surpassed the de Moonasterios. ¡°After all, unlike the de Moonasterios who received the blessing of the Moon God, the Rosehearts received our power from Nature. And Nature is the worst enemy of Darkness. Hence, our purifying ability is better than the de Moonasterios¡¯ divine power.¡±

    the White Lion said.

    .....

    His mother looked embarrassed by the White Lion¡¯spliment.

    [Neoma, you didn¡¯t inherit our mother¡¯s modesty.]

    ¡°Thank you for the high praises, Lord Kingston,¡± his mother said, obviously still embarrassed after gettingpliments from the White Lion.

    [Right, Neoma said the White Lion¡¯s name is ¡®Kingston.¡¯]

    the White Lion said.

    His mother just smiled shyly. ¡°But, Lord Kingston, you did mention that there are two conditions to meet. May we know the other one?¡±

    the White Lion exined.

    ¡°But what treasure are you talking about?¡± Nero asked curiously. ¡°And it¡¯s a treasure that the Light Goddess entrusted to you?¡±

    ¡°The Light Goddess is long gone,¡± his mother added. ¡°But as far as I know, Lady Roxana scattered pieces of her soul in ces that they needed to be. Lord Kingston, did you find a piece of the Light Goddess¡¯ soul?¡±

    the White Lion said.

    Nero and his mother were both shocked to hear that. ¡°A baby inside an egg?¡±

    ***

    ¡°EOMMA, you¡¯re burning with fever.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, Greko,¡± Neoma assured her son. To be honest, she was shocked that she suddenly got a fever. No wonder her little body felt warm. Plus, she couldn¡¯t move since she would get dizzy every time she tried to get up. So, right now, she was stuck in bed. ¡°Just give me a healing potion or something.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t do that, eomma,¡± Greko said worriedly while shaking his head. ¡°You¡¯re a baby right now. Babies shouldn¡¯t be fed with potions.¡±

    ¡°But I¡¯m a de Moonasterio,¡± she argued. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine.¡±

    Greko shook his head. ¡°I¡¯ll make you some medicine drops that suit a baby, eomma. Please hang in there in the meantime.¡±

    After saying that, her youngest ¡°son¡± bolted out of the room.

    [Even the maknae is in his rebellious phase, huh?]

    Cute.

    ¡°Princess Neoma, please understand Greko,¡± Paige, who was sitting on the chair while twisting a wet towel, said. ¡°He¡¯s just worried about Your Royal Highness.¡±

    She smiled and nodded. ¡°I know that. I¡¯m not mad that he disobeyed my order. I know that he¡¯s doing it for my sake.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for Your Royal Highness¡¯ generosity,¡± the mage said, then she gently put the towel on her forehead. ¡°I¡¯m currently looking for a spell rted to what happened to you. I promise I¡¯ll reverse the spell as soon as I can.¡±

    ¡°Paige, I don¡¯t think this is a spell.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean by that, Princess Neoma?¡±

    ¡°The power that turned me into this state... I¡¯m pretty sure it¡¯s a curse from a god.¡±

    Paige¡¯s eyes went wide. ¡°A curse from a god?¡±

    ¡°Well, not really a god,¡± Neoma said, racking her brain to remember what exactly happened the moment Regina Crowell turned her into a baby. ¡°The power that came out of Regina back then felt simr to divine power, but stronger. However, it looks like she¡¯s not aware of that power yet. It was as if Regina was possessed by a god at that moment.¡±

    Now the mage looked even more surprised. ¡°It¡¯s almost impossible for a god to use a human body as a host, much more lend them their power.¡±

    ¡°But doesn¡¯t my Mama Boss borrow power from Spirits and gods she has a contract with?¡± she asked curiously. ¡°I thought what Regina did was simr to how my mother fights.¡±

    ¡°While I was traveling around the world for the past three years, I¡¯ve learned about how Lady Roseheart became one of the most powerful women on the entire continent,¡± Paige said slowly. ¡°Lady Roseheart can borrow the power of strong Spirits and gods because her body, soul, and Mana are built for it. However, Regina Crowell is different. She has the Darkness attribute since she has Quinzel Blood in her. It wouldn¡¯t be easy for a god to possess her body since a god¡¯s divine power is a bad match for Darkness attribute...¡±

    She wanted to listen to Paige more.

    However, she suddenly became dizzy until the mage¡¯s voice sounded like static in her head. Then,ter, she heard unfamiliar voices in her head.

    When she closed her eyes, images of the ¡°people¡± asking for her help became vivid in her mind. Ah, no wonder she could hear their voices. They were close.

    And those ¡°people¡± were asking for her help.

    Neoma opened her tired eyes and removed the towel from her forehead, then she raised her arms- confusing Paige. ¡°I need to go out,¡± she said weakly, her breathing shallow. ¡°They¡¯re waiting for me to save them.¡±

    Paige looked devastated by what she said. ¡°Princess Neoma, you¡¯re sick and your body isn¡¯t in a normal state,¡± she said worriedly. ¡°This is not how a person who aims to be ady of leisure should act.¡±

    ***

    ¡°I THOUGHT you were going to take your ¡°bride¡± home. I didn¡¯t know you liked men. But don¡¯t worry, I don¡¯t judge.¡±

    Trevor thumped his fist against his chest, frustrated.

    The person who threw those sarcastic words at him as soon as he entered the mansion- with the unconscious Lewis draped over his shoulder- was none other than the Devil himself.

    [So, I can¡¯t talk back recklessly to... them.]

    To be honest, he wasn¡¯t sure about the Devil¡¯s gender.

    They had the appearance of Arche de Moonasterio, the ¡°most ipetent¡± emperor in history.

    However, the soul inside the shell belonged to the genius Aruna de Moonasterio.

    [Twins are so weird.]

    Trevor¡¯s thoughts were interrupted when Gin, now back in his form as a ck cat, climbed up the Devil¡¯s body until the ck cat was sitting on top of the Devil¡¯s head.

    ¡°I failed to kidnap my Moon Princess,¡± Trevor said. ¡°I n to lure her out using our ¡°son.¡±¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t I already tell you that it wouldn¡¯t be easy to kidnap Neoma de Moonasterio if you won¡¯t use force?¡± the Devil asked, then they leaned against the railing of the grand staircase while crossing their arms over their chest. ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio isn¡¯t at her prime yet. Had you fought her seriously, you would have won. Well, probably. You should have done that instead of using petty tricks.¡±

    ¡°But that would make her hate me.¡±

    ¡°If you ended up kidnapping her sessfully, she¡¯d still hate you.¡±

    ¡°She won¡¯t hate me if she got kidnapped after I used cheap tricks,¡± he argued. ¡°But she¡¯d hate me if she got kidnapped AFTER she lost to me in a fight.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡±

    ¡°I love Princess Neoma with all my heart, but I have to admit that she could be a petty loser sometimes,¡± Trevor said, sighing while shaking his head. ¡°Princess Neoma will treat me as a rival instead of a ¡°chingu¡± if she lost to me in a fight.¡±

    The Devil smiled faintly. ¡°It¡¯s funny to hear that from you since I know that in the first timeline, Neoma de Moonasterio killed you easily.¡±

    He flinched. ¡°Did I really lose easily during that time?¡±

    ¡°Yes, and the viiness princess used your horns as weapons.¡±

    ¡°Well, if it¡¯s the ¡°evil¡± Princess Neoma, I¡¯d even let her step on me.¡±

    ¡°The Neoma de Moonasterio of the first timeline didn¡¯t just step on you- she trampled you to death.¡±

    Trevor just frowned because it wasn¡¯t that fun to hear how he died at Princess Neoma¡¯s hands in the first timeline. Hence, he changed the topic. ¡°Are you going somewhere?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m headed to the tomb of the Ancient Devil.¡±

    The Ancient Devil- the one that existed during the Ancient Period when the world was swallowed by Absolute Darkness. Even after his death, the Ancient Devil still remained the source of the current Devil¡¯s power.

    [And as far as I know, all the previous contracts that the Ancient Devil signed in the past have been passed down to the current Devil like some sort of inheritance.]

    ¡°Yoan Solfrid- no, Ruston Stroganoff¡¯s real contract with the Ancient Devil has finally been activated,¡± the Devil said cheerfully. ¡°It¡¯s time for that young man to pay the price for turning back time.¡±

    ¡°That fool,¡± Trevor cursed under his breath. ¡°He really threw away everything for Princess Neoma.¡±

    ***

    [¡°I WAS the one who gave Neoma de Moonasterio the power that surpassed the arrogant gods in the Upper World.¡±]

    He already knew that.

    The only being in the world who could give Neoma that kind of power was the Ancient Devil himself.

    [¡°That child freed me from the grave where the gods had buried me during the Ancient Period.]

    [¡°Why are you telling me that?¡±]

    [¡°Well, I¡¯m bored now that Neoma de Moonasterio is dead. The world has healed peacefully- thanks to you, Yoan Solfrid.¡±]

    .....

    That was a painful reminder.

    He chose the world over Neoma de Moonasterio.

    And now, he was lonely.

    So lonely that he destroyed the Upper World.

    However, even after that disgusting world was destroyed, Neoma didn¡¯te back to life. Hence, he didn¡¯t have any reason to live.

    That was when the Ancient Devil came up to him.

    [¡°Do you want to turn back time to save your precious princess?¡±]

    [¡°Do you have the power to turn back time?¡±]

    [¡°I¡¯ll do it if the price is right.¡±]

    [¡°What do you want in return?¡±]

    [¡°Your heart.¡±] The Ancient Devil pointed at his chest. [¡°Your unexinable attraction towards her. Strong emotions that made you fall for the abandoned princess. And that unconditional love you have for her. Those things that you feel for Neoma de Moonasterio, I want to eat them all.¡±]

    Ruto opened his eyes after remembering the part of his deal with the Ancient Devil through a vivid dream.

    And then he woke up feeling like something was stolen from him.

    ¡°Neoma,¡± Ruto whispered under his breath. ¡°Why can¡¯t I remember your face?¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 579

    Chapter 579: MOONASTERION EMPIRE¡¯S HOPE

    NEOMA felt dizzy.

    She felt like she¡¯d faint at any time, but her sheer willpower was enough to keep herself awake even though her little body was on fire.

    [Why do I have to get sick right now?]

    Being turned into a baby was such an inconvenience to her.

    ¡°Princess Neoma, is this the ce you wanted to go to?¡± Paige asked worriedly. ¡°There are only trees here.¡±

    ¡°Yep,¡± Neoma said in a rasped voice, nodding her head weakly. ¡°This is where I need to be.¡±

    The Lion Tribe was hidden in the Underground City that they built to hide from the crows that turned Leoflor Ind into their hideout.

    .....

    To be precise, the Underground City was under the Lawless Jungle.

    The animals that lived in the jungle had turned into monsters as a negative effect of the Darkness that swallowed them.

    Right now, they were in the center of that dangerous jungle.

    Juri and Jeno were taking care of the monsters at the moment. She couldn¡¯t see her ¡°children,¡± but she could hear Juri¡¯s frenziedugh as she beat the monsters with her sledgehammer. On the other hand, she could also hear the soft gunshots from Jeno¡¯s weapons.

    Xion and Greko were left in the care of the Lion Tribe. Xion still needed to rest, while Greko was too young to join them in an unnned subjugation of the monsters.

    She also asked Xion and Greko to stay by Baby Empress Juliet¡¯s side.

    [Plus, Juri and Jeno are enough since the monsters here aren¡¯t that strong.]

    Anyway, Neoma was in Paige¡¯s arms while wrapped like a baby burrito in a nket with thermal magic.

    ¡°What does Your Royal Highness need to do here?¡± Paige asked worriedly. ¡°It¡¯s dangerous in your current state to be exposed to Darkness right now.¡±

    Paige and her other children were still wearing the oxygen masks that she created for them.

    They also forced Neoma to wear one.

    But, to be honest, she knew that it wasn¡¯t needed. She only wore the mask because she didn¡¯t want her ¡°children¡± to be worried about her.

    ¡°Paige, I lost Tteokbokki and my Spirits when my body turned into a baby. However...¡± Neoma said, then she removed the mask. It was too big for her anyway. In fact, Paige had to adjust its size with magic to fit her. ¡°I didn¡¯t lose my ability to purify Darkness with my breath. In fact, I¡¯m hungry right now.¡±

    ¡°Hungry?¡± Paige asked worriedly. ¡°Princess Neoma, are you saying that you¡¯re going to eat the entire Darkness that covered the Lawless Jungle?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma!¡±

    Paige didn¡¯t raise her voice to scold her. It was obvious because the mage was worried about her. Out of all her ¡°children,¡± Paige was the calmest and the most logical.

    [If Paige is freaking out now, then the other kids will react worse.]

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Paige,¡± she assured her ¡°daughter.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not pushing myself too hard. I know that this is something that I can achieve even when I¡¯m in my baby form.¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma, must you really do this?¡±

    ¡°The babies are crying,¡± she exined to the mage. ¡°I can ignore most things. But I can¡¯t ignore babies, especially when they are crying for help.¡±

    Paige knitted her eyebrows. ¡°You¡¯re the only baby I see here, Princess Neoma.¡±

    [Hehe.]

    Neoma gestured at the trees around them. ¡°Those trees are still considered babies,¡± she said. ¡°They can¡¯t endure the Darkness that¡¯s killing them, so they¡¯re asking for my help.¡±

    The trees around them almost looked charcoal ck now because of the Darkness.

    ¡°You can hear them?¡± the mage asked, surprised. ¡°Since when can Your Royal Highness hear the trees talk?¡±

    ¡°To be honest, just now,¡± she said in a serious voice. ¡°I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s my Roseheart Blood, or there¡¯s something else that triggered this ability toe out.¡±

    She didn¡¯t want to admit this, but she had a feeling Regina Crowell had something to do with her newfound ability.

    [Is this why Neoma of the first timeline doesn¡¯t want me to kill Regina?]

    ¡°Princess Neoma, how do you n to ¡°eat¡± the Darkness that covered the Lawless Jungle?¡± Paige asked worriedly. ¡°The size of the jungle is vast.¡±

    ¡°Like this,¡± Neoma said, then she opened her small mouth as wide as she could. [Nom, nom.]

    ***

    ¡°YOUR MAJESTY, how are you feeling?¡± Mona asked the queen who just gave birth to the new saint. ¡°Does Your Majesty need anything else?¡±

    Queen Brigitte, who was carrying the baby saint in her arms, shook her head and smiled softly. ¡°I already have everything I need, Lady Roseheart.¡±

    After saying that, the queen turned to her son and husband with warm eyes.

    Glenn, who was sitting beside the queen with his arm wrapped around Her Majesty¡¯s side, blushed as he smiled back at his wife.

    [Aww... what a picture-perfect family.]

    ¡°I¡¯m d to hear that,¡± Mona said, smiling. ¡°Again, congrattions on giving birth to Prince Skylus safely.¡±

    ¡®Skylus¡¯ was the name of the baby saint and the prince of Hazelden Kingdom.

    Queen Brigitte smiled, but it was sad. ¡°I feel sorry, though. Because you have to protect me and my baby, Miss Dahlia was kidnapped.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not your fault, my queen,¡± Glenn said,forting his wife right away. ¡°It was mine. If only I was strong enough to protect everyone...¡±

    ¡°Your Majesties, please stop ming yourselves,¡± Mona said to the royal couple. ¡°The only people that we should me for all of this are the crows. They were the ones who tried to harm the queen and the baby saint. None of this is our fault.¡±

    Even though she said that, the two still looked guilty.

    And she couldn¡¯t me the king and the queen. After all, both were kind people. Moreover, they genuinely cared for Dahlia.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Your Majesties,¡± she assured the two. ¡°I attached a tracking spell to Calyx Dalton and Callisto de Luca. Nero is already preparing to go after her. As soon as Calyx Dalton and the fallen god settled to wherever they were hiding, the spell will get activated.¡±

    Now the royal couple looked relieved.

    ¡°Lady Roseheart, please let me know if we can help you with anything,¡± Glenn said seriously. ¡°We will spare no resources for you.¡±

    Queen Brigitte nodded, her eyes burning with determination. ¡°We can also lend you the treasure of the Hazelden Kingdom if needed.¡±

    The ¡°treasure¡± that the queen mentioned was the reason why Delwyn settled in the Hazelden Kingdom recently.

    And it was the ¡°treasure¡± that even Neoma was excited about.

    Mona opened her mouth to speak, but she was interrupted when the door suddenly burst open and Nero entered the room in a hurry. She frowned at her son¡¯s rudeness. ¡°Nero, you¡¯re in the presence of the king and the queen of Hazelden.¡±

    ¡°I apologize, Mother, Your Majesties,¡± Nero said indifferently, his face nk. However, there was panic in his eyes as he made eye contact with her. ¡°We have an emergency, Mother. I believe we should return to the empire as soon as we can.¡±

    Nero was in a haste to follow Dahlia earlier.

    But if her son was saying that they needed to return to the empire right now, as if he had already forgotten that Dahlia was kidnapped, then it only meant one thing.

    ¡°What happened to Neoma?¡± Mona asked worriedly. ¡°Is she alright?¡±

    ¡°The Soul Beasts that Father and I own sent us an rming message,¡± Nero said, then he gulped before he continued. ¡°Apparently, Neoma¡¯s Soul Beast disappeared as if he was no longer in this world.¡±

    ¡°And that¡¯s not only the strange thing that happened.¡±

    Mona was surprised when William and Delwyn suddenly appeared in the room.

    She asked the two to track where the baby saint¡¯s divine power was scattered. Hence, she was surprised that they suddenly appeared without warning. Delwyn apologized to Queen Brigitte and Glenn for their appearance, but the royal couple said it was fine.

    ¡°What happened, William?¡± Mona asked, her heart thumping hard and loud against her chest. ¡°Did you contact Neoma?¡±

    William shook his head. ¡°I mentored Neoma de Moonasterio for three years. And during those times, I got acquainted with her Spirits. And as the Grand Spirit, I can detect the Spirits that I have contact with wherever they are. But, all of a sudden, Neoma de Moonasterio¡¯s Spirits disappeared as if they no longer exist in this world.¡±

    Mona¡¯s heart almost fell to the floor.

    Nero and the royal couple also had the same worried and shocked look on their faces.

    ¡°The fact that Neoma de Moonasterio¡¯s Soul Beast and Spirits suddenly disappeared is unsettling,¡± Delwyn said. ¡°She¡¯s not the type to neglect them.¡±

    The Spirits were right.

    Moreover, the Soul Beast was an existence that would only disappear from this world once their masters died.

    Mona suddenly turned cold. ¡°Neoma...¡±

    ¡°Mother, don¡¯t worry,¡± Nero assured her, then he got down on one knee and held her hands tight while looking up at her with a determined look on his face. Surprisingly, his ash-gray eyes remained calm. ¡°Neoma is still alive- I can feel it.¡±

    That was the only assurance that she needed to hear.

    Nero and Neoma were connected to each other in a special way. If her son said that her daughter was still alive, then it must be true.

    After hearing that, she finally calmed down.

    ¡°Let¡¯s head back to the empire, Nero,¡± Mona said in a serious voice. ¡°Your father must be worried about Neoma, too.¡±

    .....

    ***

    ¡°IT SEEMS like Neoma de Moonasterio is the hope of the not-so Great Moonasterion Empire.¡±

    Paige gasped when she heard an unfamiliar voice of an old man behind her.

    When she turned around, she was even more shocked to see the old man that they saw at the inn before- the one selling overpriced masks.

    [He¡¯s the old man that Princess Neoma almost adopted as soon as we arrived here!]

    But how did the old man get near her without her noticing his presence?

    [He even slipped through Juri and Jeno¡¯s defense easily!]

    Moreover...

    [That boy...]

    ¡°Duke Jasper Hawthorne?¡± Paige asked, knitting her eyebrows when she recognized the unconscious young lord that the old man was holding by the cor. Then she hugged the sleeping Princess Neoma in her arms tightly as she stepped away from the old man slowly. ¡°Who are you?¡±

    She was anxious.

    [Why did the old man have to appear when Princess Neoma fainted after absorbing the Darkness on this ind?]

    Yes, that was what had happened.

    The Darkness that covered the Lawless Jungle had finally disappeared. Hence, the sky and the air were both clear and clean now, respectively.

    ¡°I won¡¯t hurt you,¡± the old man said. ¡°Especially not that child.¡±

    Paige was about to cast an attack spell when she felt a small and warm hand on her shoulder.

    It was Princess Neoma, and the royal princess was already awake.

    ¡°He¡¯s not a dangerous person, Paige,¡± Neoma said, her glowing red eyes focused on the old man. ¡°But Grandpa, kindly exin why my Jasper oppa is in that state first.¡±

    [¡®Grandpa...?¡¯]

    ***

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 Chapter 580

    Chapter 580: LIVED TO TELL THE TALE

    ¡°I KNOCKED the young duke unconscious because I know he wouldn¡¯t trust me if I said I¡¯ll bring him to you,¡± the old man exined. ¡°I¡¯m not good at expressing myself with words, so I knocked him out and brought him here to you.¡±

    Neoma observed the old man.

    She could tell that he wasn¡¯t lying. Moreover, she could see that her Jasper oppa wasn¡¯t injured seriously. That was enough for her.

    [I wonder why Jasper oppa is here, though.]

    ¡°Alright, Grandpa,¡± Neoma said. ¡°It looks like you have something important to tell me, so why don¡¯t youe with us?¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma, I don¡¯t mean to question your decision, but can we really trust the old man?¡± Paige asked carefully. ¡°Me and my siblings won¡¯t mind following your orders. But Your Royal Highness is about to bring a stranger to the lions¡¯ den.¡±

    She understood where the mage wasing from.

    .....

    After all, the lions¡¯ den wasn¡¯t under their territory. If the old man turned out to be a dangerous person, then the lions¡¯ safety would be jeopardized.

    She understood that, but still...

    ¡°I¡¯ll take responsibility if something bad happens,¡± Neoma said in a serious voice. ¡°Let¡¯s bring the old man to the lions¡¯ den.¡±

    ***

    NEOMA wasn¡¯t surprised when Sharon and the rest of the Lion Tribe weed her when she returned with the old man and her ¡°children.¡±

    The grateful look on Sharon¡¯s face already told her that the lions knew what she did.

    She wasn¡¯t surprised, though.

    The ¡®Underground City¡¯ that the lions built to hide from the crows had huge, ck tree roots where some houses were built. The ck roots were the ones responsible for absorbing the Darkness seeping through the soil in order to give the lions clean air to breathe.

    Hence, the roots had turned ck and the air underground was starting to get polluted.

    However, right now, the roots had turned to their natural color. Moreover, the air was cleanerpared to before.

    [All¡¯s well that ends well.]

    ¡°Princess Neoma, thank you,¡± Sharon said, kneeling in front of her with her head hanging low. ¡°On behalf of the entire Lion Tribe, we thank Your Royal Highness for saving us and purifying the Darkness that swallowed our home.¡±

    The other lions followed suit and kneeled and bowed before her.

    It was a little overwhelming.

    [I mean, I only did what I had to because the baby trees were crying.]

    ¡°You really don¡¯t have to thank me,¡± Neoma said in a solemn voice. ¡°I¡¯m just trying to return the favor since you saved my ¡°son¡± Xion.¡±

    ¡°Even so, if it weren¡¯t for Your Royal Highness, our home would remain the hide-out of the crows,¡± Sharon said, then she raised her head and looked at her with sparkling eyes. ¡°Most of all, Your Royal Highness also saved the lion¡¯s pride.¡±

    [Ah, she must be talking about Empress Juliet.]

    ording to Paige, when Sharon saw the ¡°baby¡± inside the transparent egg the first time they returned to the lion¡¯s den with Empress Juliet, Sharon and the old lions recognized Her Majesty as the lion¡¯s pride.

    She wanted to discuss more things with the lion, but she felt sleepy. It was hard to resist the drowsiness since she was in a baby¡¯s body right now.

    ¡°Paige.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Princess Neoma?¡±

    ¡°The Darkness is gone, and I feel my connection to Nero improving. I guess we can send a message to my family now,¡± Neoma said in a sleepy voice while rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. ¡°Once I fell asleep, send a word to my Papa Boss about my current condition...¡±

    ***

    [WOW, IT¡¯S already morning?]

    Neoma was a little surprised when she saw sunlight seeping through the window of the room.

    [This baby body must have been tired.]

    She wanted to talk to the old man, but it seemed like she had fallen asleep in Paige¡¯s arms since she was too exhaustedst night.

    ¡°Good morning, Princess Neoma,¡± Paige greeted her, then she handed her a small ss of water. ¡°Have you slept well?¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh,¡± Neoma said, then she sipped the water before she asked again. ¡°Where¡¯s Jasper oppa and the old man?¡±

    ¡°Duke Hawthorne is resting next door, and Greko is with His Grace at the moment,¡± Paige said, then she sat on the chair next to the bed. ¡°Xion is guarding the old man in the other room. Juri is helping Miss Sharon prepare breakfast. And Jeno is outside while waiting for a reply.¡±

    ¡°Reply?¡±

    ¡°As Your Royal Highness instructedst night, we sent a message to the pce as soon as you fell asleep,¡± the mage said. ¡°Sending a message through magical devices was difficult before because of the Darkness that blocks any kind of magic. But after Your Royal Highness purified the Darkness, I was able to send a message to His Majesty using mymunication device.¡±

    ¡°Good job,¡± she said. ¡°Then we must prepare to leave the tribe now.¡±

    ¡°Will we be bringing Empress Juliet with us even though Her Majesty is considered the Lion Tribe¡¯s treasure?¡±

    She nodded. ¡°I believe Empress Juliet wants to meet Papa Boss and Mama Boss.¡±

    ¡°I understand, Your Royal Highness. I¡¯ll prepare the necessary arrangements then,¡± Paige said, then she paused for a moment. ¡°How about the old man, then?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll talk to himter,¡± Neoma said. ¡°I want to check on Jasper oppa first.¡±

    ***

    JASPER wondered when everything went downhill.

    He asked Lewis to leave the foxdy to him.

    However, as soon as the fox boy left, Jasper encountered a problem.

    Before he could deal the final death blow to Eloise, the foxdy, a white fox with nine white tails appeared. It stood in front of Eloise, who was plummeted to the ground, quite protectively.

    Obviously, it wasn¡¯t an ordinary fox.

    Moreover, the Darkness surrounding the nine-tailed white fox was too strong. The butterflies that were working hard to give him clean air to breathe were no match against it.

    In short, Jasper would die if he got close to that thing.

    It was the fox, and he could hear its voice in his head.

    [I think it¡¯s a male fox.]

    ¡°I would if I could,¡± Jasper said, shrugging. ¡°But I don¡¯t want to die.¡±

    the fox said calmly.

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t just me,¡± he said. ¡°Princess Neoma aplished more than I did during that incident.¡±

    Princess Neoma was acting like Prince Nero back then.

    However, he was informed that the crows were already aware of the royal princess¡¯ ¡°scam.¡± Hence, the truth came out of his mouth.

    ¡°Of course, it is,¡± he said. ¡°If I die right now, Princess Neoma will be sad.¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma always told us to choose our battles well,¡± Jasper said, not falling for the fox¡¯s provocation. He didn¡¯t care if he was called a coward- he had heard worse than that. ¡°No mission is worth dying for, so I¡¯m retreating.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d rather be a coward yet alive than brave, but dead,¡± he said, smirking. ¡°Moreover, this is not the end. Once I¡¯m stronger than I am now, I can always find you again.¡±

    ¡°And what made you think I don¡¯t have an escape n?¡± Jasper retorted, then he snapped his fingers. ¡°It¡¯s your turn to choose your battle now, Mr. Nine-tailed White Fox.¡±

    Eloise, the foxdy, screamed in pain when Jasper¡¯s poisonous butterflies attacked her.

    [Ah, so she¡¯s still alive.]

    He only attacked the foxdy with his butterflies, even though she was already down because he needed to escape. The white fox wouldn¡¯t stand protectively in front of Eloise if the foxdy wasn¡¯t important to him.

    Hence, Jasper ced a bet on that.

    Fortunately, it worked.

    When the white fox ran to Eloise¡¯s side, Jasper used his butterflies to disappear.

    And as soon as he ran away from the foxes, he followed Lewis.

    He could trace the fox boy because he sent some of his butterflies for him to breathe properly.

    Unfortunately, he was already toote.

    When Jasper arrived at the inn, Lewis was already captured by Trevor. Unfortunately, he failed to save his ¡°nephew.¡±

    Worse, he had to face the anger of the owner of the inn and the guests.

    Trevor and Gin destroyed the inn, so why did he have to face the wrath of their victims? But since he was a duke, he had a noble pride to uphold. He was willing topensate them when, all of a sudden, he was knocked out from behind.

    And that was thest thing Jasper remembered.

    When he opened his eyes, he saw the most adorable baby that he had seen in his life.

    ¡°Jasper oppa, you¡¯re awake?¡± the adorable baby asked in her cute baby voice. ¡°It¡¯s me, oppa.¡±

    .....

    ¡®Oppa?¡¯

    Only one person in this world called him that way.

    Come to think of it, the baby had white hair, big ash-gray eyes, and pale skin.

    Jasper¡¯s eyes widened in surprise. ¡°Princess Neoma?¡±

    ***

    NEOMA listened to Jasper oppa¡¯s exnation well.

    Apparently, the young duke was sent to the ind by Nero with Lewis.

    However, Jasper oppa and Lewis encountered a foxdy who wanted to breed with Lewis.

    [The audacity of the b*tch to look at my ¡°son¡± with lewd eyes!]

    She was already burning with anger then.

    But something worse happened next.

    ¡°Trevor kidnapped Lewis?¡± Neoma asked through gritted teeth. ¡°And he ns to use my ¡°son¡± to lure me out?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, Princess Neoma,¡± Jasper oppa, who sat across from her, said in a voice filled with remorse. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for failing to save Lewis, Your Royal Highness.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not your fault, oppa,¡± she said while shaking her head. ¡°It¡¯s my fault for being generous to Trevor and Gin. Had I known they would touch my precious ¡°son,¡± I would have sent them to hell the moment they showed up.¡±

    Now she truly felt betrayed by Trevor.

    [Trevor, I turned a blind eye to you before because you were my chingu. But you shouldn¡¯t have touched Lewis. You of all people should know how much I treasure my ¡°son.¡±]

    ¡°Princess Neoma, may I know what happened to you?¡± Jasper oppa asked. ¡°You turned into a baby...¡±

    ¡°I also don¡¯t know what happened to me,¡± she said, sighing. Then she paused when she felt the sudden shift in the air. ¡°We have a guest.¡±

    And that guest appeared in the blink of an eye.

    Jasper oppa immediately stood up and drew his sword.

    However, she remained calm since she easily recognized the uninvited guest. ¡°What a pleasant surprise, Master.¡±

    Jasper oppa silently returned his sword to its scabbard after recognizing the Grand Spirit.

    William, who was suspended in the air while covered with some bluish lights, scoffed after seeing her new appearance. ¡°So, your children¡¯s report was true- you have really turned into a baby.¡±

    ¡°It is what it is,¡± she said, shrugging. ¡°But why are you here? Are you with my family?¡±

    ¡°I was with Mona and Nero,¡± the Grand Spirit exined. ¡°I¡¯ll exin everything to you while we¡¯re on our way back to the empire.¡±

    ¡°Oh, so you¡¯re our personal shuttle bus.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what a shuttle bus is, but I guess that¡¯s an insult.¡±

    ¡°No way,¡± she denied. ¡°A shuttle bus is a vehicle than can carry many people. It¡¯s super convenient back in my world, you know?¡±

    ¡°Then I¡¯m not a shuttle bus,¡± William said indifferently. ¡°I can only bring one person with me since the distance between the East and West Continent is pretty vast.¡±

    ¡°Oh, so I¡¯m the only one you can bring with you?¡± Neoma asked, disappointed. ¡°Aigoo, I didn¡¯t know my master is weak-ass.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 581

    Chapter 581: THE HEAVY PRICE

    THAT NIGHT, Niki received some good and bad news.

    The good news was Mona and Nero returned safely.

    Right now, his family gathered in the bedroom that he and Mona shared.

    ¡°Dahlia was kidnapped?¡± Niki asked. ¡°By the crows?¡±

    That was the bad news.

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Mona said solemnly. ¡°Callisto de Luca possessed Calyx Dalton¡¯s body. I fought him but unfortunately, they escaped.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± he said,forting Mona right away. ¡°We¡¯ll just have to find them again. You said you attached your Rose Petal to those bastards. It¡¯s only a matter of time before we find them.¡±

    .....

    ¡°Mother, Father, I¡¯ll lead Miss Dahlia¡¯s rescue operation,¡± Nero dered boldly. ¡°As soon as Mother locates those crazy bastards, I¡¯ll head straight to them.¡±

    ¡°Are you crazy?¡± Niki asked his son sternly. ¡°You¡¯re the Crown Prince of the empire. Do you think I will allow you to head straight to the enemy base?¡±

    ¡°But Father-¡±

    ¡°No, I won¡¯t let you do what you want this time,¡± he said firmly. ¡°I understand that you want to save Dahlia yourself. But that¡¯s not the job of the Crown Prince. I will order my Pdins to rescue Dahlia when the timees.¡±

    ¡°Father!¡±

    Niki was surprised when his son raised his voice at him since it was the first time that he yelled at him.

    Nero always talked back to him. His son even threatened to kill him and steal the throne from him in the past. But this was the first time that Nero raised his voice. Moreover, his son¡¯s eyes turned glowing red in a threatening matter.

    ¡°Nero,¡± Mona scolded Nero sternly. ¡°Don¡¯t raise your voice at your father when he¡¯s only concerned about you. Moreover, as the Crown Prince of the empire, you¡¯re not tied to one person only.¡±

    ¡°But Mother,¡± Nero protested. ¡°I want to save Dahlia myself. I can¡¯t trust other people to rescue her.¡±

    ¡°Baby, your father and I understand what you feel,¡± Mona said softly. ¡°But going straight to the enemy¡¯s base is too dangerous. We won¡¯t concede this time.¡±

    ¡°Mother...¡±

    ¡°And have you forgotten that we¡¯re here to talk about what might have happened to Neoma?¡± Mona reminded their son firmly. ¡°Are you sure you want to head to the enemy¡¯s base when your twin sister might be in danger?¡±

    That seemed to knock some sense into their son¡¯s head.

    Nero finally looked calm.

    In the end, Neoma was the most important person in their son¡¯s life.

    [Mona really knows how to handle our children¡¯s temperament.]

    Niki immediately pulled out the pendant dangling on his ne.

    It was themunication device that Paige Avery made for him. However, instead of directmunication, the pendant was just a receiver of the voice message sent from the other line.

    In this case, the message sounded like Paige Avery¡¯s voice.

    He was surprised to hear that.

    Mona and Nero also looked shocked.

    [Purifying Darkness with that scale is almost next to impossible.]

    The White Lion suddenly appeared and listened to the voice message.

    Mona and Nero brought the White Lion with them after they rescued the Elemental Guardian from Calyx Dalton.

    He clenched his hands from nervousness.

    [If Neoma can¡¯t give me a report yet, it only means my daughter is unconscious. But since her ¡°children¡± could send me a voice message, then it¡¯s safe to assume that Neoma is fine.]

    He knitted his eyebrows. ¡°A sorcerer?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a rare existence,¡± Mona said, surprised. ¡°I haven¡¯t met a sorcerer in my life yet.¡±

    Niki pinched the bridge of his nose. ¡°Those hical bastards...¡±

    Mona and Nero looked disgusted, as well.

    Niki¡¯s eyes widened in shock. ¡°Neoma lost?¡±

    Even Mona and Nero looked like they couldn¡¯t believe the news.

    [Is that why Neoma lost her Soul Beast and Spirits?]

    Niki, Mona, and Nero reacted at the same time. ¡°A baby?!¡±

    ***

    ¡°IF OUR Neoma has turned into a baby, then it exins why she lost her Soul Beast and her Spirits,¡± Mona said worriedly. ¡°She didn¡¯t lose her Moonglow and Roseheart Blood because she was born with them. However, she must be defenseless while she¡¯s in that state. Thank goodness her ¡°children¡± are reliable.¡±

    ¡°Even so, Neoma is in a vulnerable state right now,¡± Niki said worriedly. ¡°Should I ask the Royal Archmage to fetch Neoma from the East Continent? The Royal Archmage is known for her ability to create long-distance teleportation spells.¡±

    ¡°But we can¡¯t truly fully trust the Royal Archmage, Father,¡± Nero said. ¡°I heard that the Royal Archmage was a close confidant of Lady Sloane in the past. Remember thest part of Paige Avery¡¯s voice message?¡±

    ¡°Our son is right, Niki. Even though we want to trust Juliet, we can¡¯t dismiss Paige¡¯s warning. Neoma must have found something,¡± Mona said, then she fell silent for a moment. ¡°William can create a long-distance teleportation spell, too. And we can trust him.¡±

    Niki frowned, but he didn¡¯t protest.

    Nero, on the other hand, let out a sigh. ¡°It¡¯s a good thing that William followed us here.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll summon William then,¡± Mona said firmly. ¡°I¡¯ll ask him to bring Neoma back to us safely.¡±

    ***

    ¡°I¡¯M A WHAT?¡±

    ¡°A weakling,¡± Neoma answered William¡¯s question with a lovely smile on her face. ¡°I know having a teleportation skill is already amazing. But for a Grand Spirit like my master, it¡¯s pretty disappointing that you can only bring me with you.¡±

    Of course, she was only provoking William on purpose.

    She was aware that it wasn¡¯t easy to teleport from the East Continent to the West Continent. But she couldn¡¯t leave alone. She must at least bring Baby Empress Juliet and Greko with her.

    ¡°I know what you¡¯re trying to do,¡± William said while looking at her with a nk look on his face. ¡°I can¡¯t bring everyone with us since the bigger the group, the riskier it gets when ites to using a long-distance teleportation spell. But since you¡¯re acting this way, I suppose there¡¯s an important person you want to bring along.¡±

    ¡°There are actually two people,¡± she corrected him. ¡°One is Greko.¡±

    ¡°Your youngest ¡°son?¡±¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± she said. ¡°The other one I want to bring with us is a baby.¡±

    ¡°A baby?¡± the Grand Spirit asked, knitting his eyebrows. ¡°I don¡¯t rmend bringing a baby with us. As I said earlier, using a long-distance teleportation spell is dangerous.¡±

    ¡°I know that, but the baby I¡¯m talking about is a special one.¡±

    William raised an eyebrow. ¡°How special?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll know when you see her,¡± Neoma said, then she raised her arms. ¡°William, I¡¯m giving you the honor of carrying me in your arms.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me?¡±

    ***

    ¡°MASTER, you¡¯re going to be a horrible father,¡± Neomained. ¡°Is this how you¡¯re supposed to hold a baby?¡±

    William wasn¡¯t holding her.

    She was sitting on a giant leaf that worked like the magic/flying carpet. Moreover, she could feel the wind hugging her like a seatbelt. Hence, she felt safe.

    ¡°Shut up,¡± William snarled at her. ¡°You¡¯re so tiny, I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll identally crush you.¡±

    ¡°Gosh, you should really work on your temper, Master.¡±

    ¡°I only run out of patience when I¡¯m dealing with you.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s discrimination.¡±

    ¡°Please,¡± William said through gritted teeth. ¡°I want to walk to the next room in absolute silence.¡±

    [What an eloquent way of saying ¡°shut the fuck up.¡±]

    She acted like she was zipping her mouth.

    But, of course, her silence onlysted for thirty seconds. After all, it was her joy to see William annoyed as hell.

    ¡°There!¡± Neoma said in a very loud baby voice while pointing at the room where Baby Empress Juliet was staying. ¡°The baby girl is there!¡±

    As expected, William let out an annoyed sigh before he snapped his fingers.

    Then they entered the room.

    Greko stood up from his seat and greeted them politely.

    .....

    On the other hand, Baby Empress Juliet was seated on the bed- her back straight even though it was obvious she was struggling to maintain that posture because of her current body. Her Majesty¡¯s expression was solemn as she rarely smiled.

    [Even in her baby form, Empress Juliet looks so dignified from head to toe.]

    ¡°Who is that child?¡± William asked curiously. ¡°Why is she filled with divine energy?¡±

    ¡°Be polite, Master,¡± Neoma said in a serious tone. ¡°You¡¯re looking at the reincarnation of the REAL Empress Juliet.¡±

    The Grand Spirit looked shocked at first.

    But he probably realized that Neoma may be a scammer, but she would never use Empress Juliet¡¯s name in vain.

    [Plus, he¡¯s a Grand Spirit, so he can probably tell if the soul is old or not.]

    Anyway, she didn¡¯t expect the Grand Spirit to kneel and bow in front of the former empress.

    [Huh? What¡¯s happening?]

    ¡°It¡¯s an honor to meet you again, Empress Juliet,¡± William said in a polite tone that he would only use with Mama Boss. ¡°I, William the Grand Spirit, greet the savior who sacrificed her life to save the Soul Beasts in the past.¡±

    Ah, right.

    Something like that happened.

    ¡°You may rise now,¡± Empress Juliet said in a firm voice. Her voice sounded like a baby voice, of course. But the way the former empress talked wasmanding- something that suited her well. ¡°It¡¯s been a while, William. Are you still bothering Mona even now?¡±

    Neoma stifled herughter when the Grand Spirit flinched.

    [Now I know why many people loved and respected Empress Juliet.]

    ***

    RUTO couldn¡¯t remember Neoma¡¯s face.

    All his memories with her were clear except for one thing: Neoma¡¯s face was covered with a ck smoke in every image in his head.

    There was also the strange feeling in his chest that he lost something important.

    It wasn¡¯t hard to guess what it was.

    ¡°My fondness for Neoma¡¯s beauty,¡± Ruto whispered to himself. ¡°It disappeared.¡±

    He was sad that he could no longer remember Neoma¡¯s face, but he was used to it.

    In his first life, he didn¡¯t see Neoma¡¯s face until thetter part of her life- the moment when she became powerful. After all, he couldn¡¯t see the faces of weak humans.

    Moreover, Neoma¡¯s physical appearance didn¡¯t matter that much to him.

    [Don¡¯t get me wrong. Neoma is the most beautiful girl in my eyes- now and then. However, my feelings for her won¡¯t change just because I can¡¯t remember her face anymore.]

    He was d that the first thing the Ancient Devil ate was his admiration for Neoma¡¯s beauty. Since it was only a small reason why he fell in love with her, it wouldn¡¯t affect him that much even if she couldn¡¯t appreciate her face the way he did before.

    The price that he had to pay for turning back time was indeed hefty.

    Fortunately, he could pay it little by little.

    However, he must hurry.

    [There¡¯s still time. I must pave the way to Neoma¡¯s sess in this lifetime before the Ancient Devil eats my strong emotions for her.]

    ¡°I have to return to the human world,¡± Ruto said firmly. ¡°For Neoma.¡±

    Always for his Neoma.

    ¡°Must you really return to the human world?¡±

    Ruto looked at his father coldly. ¡°Are you going to stop me?¡±

    ¡°My original n was to lock you up here,¡± Levi said, then he approached him and put a hand on the burn mark on his face. ¡°However, I changed my mind.¡±

    He knitted his eyebrows. ¡°And what made you change your mind, my lord?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re pitiful,¡± his divine father said casually. ¡°I didn¡¯t know the price you have to pay for making a deal with the Ancient Devil was this heavy. It pains me to see that bastard eat your emotions, but I can¡¯t do anything to help you.¡±

    ¡°I am not asking for your help, my lord.¡±

    Levi just smiled, his hand on Ruto¡¯s face getting warm.

    Ah.

    That was when he realized what his divine father was doing.

    [My lord is erasing the burn mark on my face.]

    Only the God Among Gods could do that.

    ¡°I¡¯ll let you go for now, Yoan,¡± Levi said, pulling his hand away from Ruto¡¯s face. ¡°After all, I know you¡¯ll return to my side as an obedient son once you lose all your feelings for Neoma de Moonasterio.¡±

    It was a cruel thing to hear from his divine father, but he couldn¡¯t refute it.

    After all, Ruto knew that Levi was correct.

    [When I¡¯m done paying the full price, I¡¯ll probably be an empty vessel that Lord Levi can easily control.]

    ***

 Chapter 582 - 582 Iâ€™M BABIE AGAIN

    582 I¡¯M BABIE AGAIN

    ¡°MISS SHARON, I know that the baby girl is the lions¡¯ pride,¡± Neoma said carefully. She didn¡¯t reveal the fact that the ¡°baby girl¡± was the reincarnation of thete Empress Juliet because it was confidential. Moreover, it was also Her Majesty¡¯s wish to keep it a secret. ¡°But I need to bring her to the empire. Of course, I already asked her opinion, and she¡¯d like to go with me.¡±

    Right now, she was in Sharon¡¯s room while having a serious talk with her.

    Paige made a high chair for Neoma using magic.

    Although she could sit on her own now, the mage still stood behind her. And she wasn¡¯t alone. This time, Juri was guarding her with Paige.

    [Anyway¡­]

    Sharon looked confused by what she said. ¡°Princess Neoma, you don¡¯t need my permission. The baby that came out from the egg might be the lions¡¯ pride. But Your Royal Highness was the one who saved her. Hence, if the baby wanted to go with you, then we will support her.¡± She put a hand over her chest. ¡°I¡¯m certain that this is what Lord Kingston would want us to do.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m d to hear that. Thank you.¡±

    ¡°We should be the ones thanking you, Princess Neoma. Now we can safelye out of the surface. Moreover, the crows are no longer here. We can finally take back thend that they stole from us.¡±

    ¡°The crows may have been gone, but the ind remains dangerous, Miss Sharon,¡± she reminded the older woman gently. ¡°Now that the Darkness that swallowed the Lawless Jungle, the criminals who want to be the king of the ind will definitely fight for power.¡±

    .....

    The woman smiled, her eyes glowing beautifully. ¡°The lions won¡¯t lose, Princess Neoma. Now that the Darkness and the crows that use dirty tricks are no longer here, we won¡¯t lose again,¡± she said confidently. ¡°We will regain our authority over the ind. After all, Lord Kingston needs a proper home to return to.¡±

    Neoma¡¯s heart was put at ease after seeing the determination and confidence in Sharon¡¯s eyes. She could entrust the safety of Leoflor Ind to the lions.

    [I don¡¯t need to do anything more than I already have.]

    But why did she feel like she needed to do more for the lions?

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll leave everything to you and the lions, Miss Sharon,¡± Neoma said, smiling even though there was a slight protest in her chest. ¡°I promise Lord Kingston wille home. And hopefully, the day I return here with my people, we would find a safe and thriving Leoflor Ind.¡±

    It wouldn¡¯t be easy, though.

    The criminals that lived on the ind for a long time wouldn¡¯t be easy to drive away. Those bastards would do everything to im authority over thisnd.

    [I know that I should leave the matters of the ind to the lions, but¡­]

    The unsettling feeling in her chest bothered her.

    Neoma was thinking of leaving one of her ¡°children¡± here to help the lions rule Leoflor Ind.

    [But who should I send?]

    ¡°Thank you, Princess Neoma,¡± Sharon said, smiling. ¡°Your Royal Highness is truly the savior of the Lion Tribe.¡±

    ¡°Instead of beingbeled as the Lion Tribe¡¯s savior, I¡¯d rather be your friend,¡± Neoma said, smiling back at Sharon. ¡°So, from now on, let¡¯s take care of each other.¡±

    ***

    AND THAT was how Neoma¡¯s conversation with Sharon, the ¡°mother¡± of the lions, went.

    So, now, she and her ¡°children¡± were preparing to leave the lions¡¯ den.

    Jasper oppa, Juri, Xion, Jeno, and Greko were standing in front of her while Paige was holding Neoma in her arms.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Jasper oppa and kids,¡± Neoma said guiltily. ¡°I can only take Greko and Her Majesty with me. You have to go back to the empire the normal way.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Princess Neoma,¡± Jasper oppa assured her. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of my ¡°nieces¡± and ¡°nephews.¡±¡±

    Their ¡°children¡± didn¡¯t protest, but they obviously looked displeased by what the young duke said.

    [They didn¡¯tin since I consider Jasper oppa as my older brother.]

    ¡°Thank you, oppa,¡± Neoma said. ¡°And I¡¯m sorry. Nero sent you here to apany Lewis, but you were hurt because of that.¡±

    ¡°Please don¡¯t apologize. I did what I needed to do as your ¡°oppa¡± and the duke of the empire,¡± her oppa assured her. ¡°Moreover, I should be the one who feels sorry. I failed to protect Lewis, and we also failed to deliver the vial of Moonglow that Prince Nero sent Your Royal Highness.¡±

    Lewis and Jasper oppa¡¯s mission was a total failure.

    ¡°I¡¯m d that you¡¯re safe, though,¡± Neoma said. ¡°Even though Lewis was kidnapped by Trevor, I know that he won¡¯t treat my ¡°son¡± badly.¡±

    Jasper oppa smiled at her. ¡°Thank you for your generosity, Princess Neoma.¡±

    As soon as she arrived at the empire, she would find a way to return to her original size.

    [Then I have to rescue Lewis.]

    ¡°Jasper oppa, kids, safe travels to you,¡± Neoma said sincerely. ¡°And please make sure to bring the old man to the empire safely.¡±

    Jasper oppa, Paige, Juri, Jeno, Xion, and Jeno bowed to her. ¡°As Your Royal Highness wishes.¡±

    ***

    ¡°GRANDPA, you will travel with Jasper oppa and my ¡°children,¡±¡± Neoma informed the old man who was having meat soup on the table in the room that Sharon provided for him. ¡°Please don¡¯t think about escaping.¡±

    She went to check on the old man before she left.

    Right now, Neoma was being carried by Greko. They were only waiting for William and Baby Empress Juliet.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t escape,¡± the old man assured her. ¡°After all, I need to have a long conversation with you.¡±

    ¡°Grandpa, please speak politely,¡± Greko said gently. ¡°Grandpa is talking to Her Royal Highness after all.¡±

    Their maknae would address Neoma formally in front of people they weren¡¯t close with.

    Anyway, despite Greko¡¯s light warning, the old man just scoffed.

    ¡°I will talk to the royal princess politely when she finally learns how to use her power as a de Moonasterio properly,¡± the old man said, then he looked at Neoma with dead eyes. ¡°You¡¯re wasting your potential, child. Your former master didn¡¯t teach you anything right, did he?¡±

    A sage?

    A future master?

    A prophet?

    Those were the things that entered Neoma¡¯s mind when she thought about what the old man¡¯s identity could be.

    ¡°Master William helped me get stronger, though?¡±

    ¡°As a Roseheart, yes,¡± the old man said. ¡°But being a de Moonasterio doesn¡¯t only mean using your brute strength or your Soul Beast in a fight.¡±

    Now she was curious about what else she needed to learn as a de Moonasterio.

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll be looking forward to our future lessons, Grandpa,¡± she said, smiling. ¡°Grandpa is acting like a tsundere, but you actually want to teach me, right?¡±

    The old man scoffed. ¡°And you¡¯ll trust an old man like me to teach you?¡±

    ¡°I trust my gut feeling, Grandpa,¡± Neoma said, now smirking. ¡°If I can¡¯t adopt Grandpa as my ¡°son,¡± then I¡¯ll adopt Grandpa as my potential new master.¡±

    [And I¡¯ll figure out your real identity while I¡¯m at it, Grandpa.]

    ***

    ¡°TRAITOR,¡± Neoma, who was still in Greko¡¯s arms, said as soon as William entered the room where they agreed to meet after the Grand Spirit finished his teleportation spell. ¡°How can you do this to me, Master?¡±

    William entered the room with Baby Empress Juliet IN HIS ARMS.

    The Grand Spirit was carrying the baby empress carefully when he just used a floating magic leaf to ¡°carry¡± Neoma earlier!

    [Anyway¡­]

    Only Neoma, Greko, William, and Baby Empress Juliet were in the room. No one else was allowed to step into the room since the magic circle that the Grand Spirit made to perform a long-distance teleportation spell was there.

    Hence, she already said her goodbyes to Jasper oppa, Sharon and the lions, and her ¡°children¡± earlier.

    ¡°This is discrimination!¡± she continued with herints. ¡°tant favoritism!¡±

    ¡°Shut up,¡± William snarled at her. ¡°Do you want me to treat Empress Juliet harshly?¡±

    She bit her lower lip. ¡°Good job, Master.¡±

    The Grand Spirit just rolled his eyes at her.

    ¡°William, you¡¯re being rude to the one and only royal princess of the Great Moonasterion Empire,¡± Baby Empress Juliet scolded the Grand Spirit. ¡°Don¡¯t be like that.¡±

    Oh?

    The Grand Spirit didn¡¯tin.

    William just bowed his head to Baby Empress Juliet.

    [Would you look at that?]

    ¡°Eomma, are you okay?¡± Greko asked worriedly when Neoma began thumping her chest with her tiny fist. ¡°Are you having chest pains?¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m fine,¡± Neoma said, then she red at William. ¡°I¡¯m just a little frustrated.¡±

    ***

    NEOMA was reminded that William¡¯s teleportation spell was the worst that she had experienced so far.

    Since the distance between the East Continent and the West Continent was vast, they took longer than expected inside the teleportation ¡°room.¡± It was the ¡°room¡± that functioned like an elevator. The ¡°room¡± climbed up for a long time.

    Hence, when they finally got out of the ¡°elevator,¡± she felt like throwing up.

    .....

    But she held it in when she saw Nero, Mama Boss, and Papa Boss looking at her with a shocked look on their faces.

    [Oh, right. My appearance has changed.]

    ¡°Nero, Mama Boss, Papa Boss, it¡¯s me,¡± Neoma said cheerfully while pointing at her chubby cheeks. ¡°I¡¯m babie again.¡±

    Papa Boss pinched the bridge of his nose. ¡°Ah, this is bad.¡±

    Huh?

    Why was it bad?

    [I mean, I know that the fact I turned into a baby is bad. But what¡¯s with Papa Boss¡¯ reaction?]

    ¡°You¡¯re right, Father,¡± Nero said, then he covered his mouth with his hand when he cursed. Yep, she was pretty sure that Nero cursed under his breath before he spoke again. ¡°We shouldn¡¯t let outsiders see how cute Neoma is in her baby form.¡±

    Papa Boss nodded firmly in agreement with her twin brother¡¯s crazy remark.

    [???]

    Nero and Papa Boss were acting weird.

    [Not that it¡¯s new.]

    Hence, Neoma turned to the only normal person in the room¨C her Mama Boss. But as soon as she met her mother¡¯s misty, light blue eyes, she suddenly felt emotional.

    [Mama Boss, why are you crying?]

    ¡°I missed your childhood, so I never expected that I¡¯d get to see what you looked like as a baby in person,¡± Mama Boss said between sobs. Then she cupped Neoma¡¯s chubby face in her trembling hands. Her mother tried to smile, but big, fat tears rolled down her cheeks. ¡°Neoma, my baby¡­¡±

    Neoma suddenly cried like the baby that she wasn¡¯t.

    For the first time, she was grateful for Regina Crowell¡¯s trick, because it allowed her Mama Boss to see her as a baby.

    [Mama Boss, please feel free to admire my cute form.]

    ***

 Chapter 583 - 583 CUTENESS OVERLOAD

    583 CUTENESS OVERLOAD

    [TOO MUCH love will kill you, indeed.]

    Neoma was in Greko¡¯s arms in one minute, then she was being hugged tight by her Mama Boss the next.

    [I can¡¯t tell Mama Boss that I can¡¯t breathe properly, so I must endure.]

    Unfortunately, it wasn¡¯t just her mother who was showering her with love and attention.

    Nero was gently pinching her left cheek while her Papa Boss was poking her right cheek.

    [I hoped they washed their hands, though.]

    ¡°Cute,¡± Nero said while pinching her cheek gently. ¡°I know this is an emergency, but you¡¯re so cute, Neoma.¡±

    Neoma gave her twin brother a dire look. ¡°I know, duh.¡±

    ¡°This takes me back to the time when you used to curse me with your ¡°colorful¡± words,¡± her Papa Boss, who was enjoying poking her cheek with a finger, teased her. ¡°Your face back then was as cheeky as it is right now.¡±

    .....

    ¡°Papa Boss, do you want to hear my ¡°colorful¡± words again?¡±

    Her father¡¯s hand stopped moving because of her threat.

    [Good.]

    She only had to re at Nero now. ¡°Seriously, dude. Stop squishing my cheek.¡±

    Nero frowned, but at least he stopped paying attention to her cheek now.

    ¡°Look at what the two of you have done,¡± Mama Boss scolded Nero and Papa Boss when she saw how red her cheeks were because of the two. ¡°Don¡¯t carelessly touch our Baby Muffin.¡±

    Nero and Papa Boss both nodded obediently at Mama Boss¡¯ scolding.

    Neoma smirked smugly.

    Heh.

    [Mama Boss is THE boss in this family.]

    But wait.

    This wasn¡¯t the right time to be having a precious family moment!

    ¡°Mama Boss, Papa Boss, Nero,¡± Neoma said in a serious voice, then she pointed at Baby Empress Juliet (carried by William) with both hands as a sign of respect. ¡°We have a very important guest, so please prepare a room where our conversation won¡¯t get leaked.¡±

    ***

    [GOSH, I hate this.]

    Neoma was currently on Nero¡¯sp, and her twin brother¡¯s arms that were wrapped around her waist served like a seatbelt.

    [He really secured me on hisp, huh?]

    Since she couldn¡¯t move freely anyway because her little body was a bit heavy for her, she could only lean against Nero¡¯s chest to befortable in that position.

    [Anyway¡­]

    Mama Boss and Papa Boss were sitting on the sofa across from them.

    Baby Empress Juliet, on the other hand, sat on a chair on her own. Mama Boss put pillows around the baby empress, though, to make sure Her Majesty wouldn¡¯t fall.

    [It really never fails to impress me how Baby Empress Juliet looks dignified all the time.]

    ¡°I can sense a powerful divine power in the child,¡± Papa Bossmented while looking at the baby empress. ¡°Who is this child, Neoma?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s the baby that Lady Roxana wanted me to find,¡± Neoma answered. ¡°She also happens to be the treasure that the crows stole from Lord Kingston.¡±

    ¡°Ah,¡± Nero said, then he snapped his fingers. ¡°Come out.¡±

    At first, she thought her twin brother summoned his Soul Beasts.

    But, to her surprise, the White Lion suddenly appeared in front of the baby empress!

    ¡°Mother freed the White Lion from Calyx Dalton¡¯s control by breaking his leash,¡± Nero exined. ¡°But ording to the White Lion, to gain full freedom, his treasure must be released as well. Now we know how he got freed.¡± He gently patted her head. ¡°Good job for retrieving the treasure that the crows stole from the White Lion, Neoma.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything that warrants such praise,¡± she said, and she was being honest. In fact, if Regina Crowell didn¡¯t protect the annex building, then Her Majesty would have been hurt because of her and Trevor¡¯s attack. ¡°But I¡¯m d that we found the treasure in time.¡±

    Kingston, the White Lion, finally looked at peace while standing beside the baby empress.

    Baby Empress Juliet, on the other hand, was patting the White Lion¡¯s head.

    [Hmm. I wonder how the two got acquainted.]

    ¡°I feel something familiar with the baby, though,¡± Mama Bossmented, then she turned to her. ¡°Neoma, do we know her?¡±

    As expected of Mama Boss.

    [My mother is indeed sensitive.]

    ¡°Mama Boss, Papa Boss, Nero,¡± Neoma said in a serious and polite voice. ¡°This child is the reincarnation of thete Empress Juliet. Fortunately, she has the memories of her previous life.¡±

    The silence that ensued was deafening.

    [It¡¯s okay, I already expect this kind of reaction.]

    By that, she meant the shocked look on Papa Boss and Mama Boss. Even if she couldn¡¯t see Nero¡¯s face, she was sure her twin brother had the same look on his face.

    [I was shocked as well the first time I met the real Empress Juliet.]

    ¡°It¡¯s been a while, Niki, Mona,¡± Baby Empress Juliet in a gentle yet firm voice. ¡°I¡¯m delighted to know that the two of you are still together. And it¡¯s alreadyte, but congrattions on having your precious twins.¡±

    Mama Boss and Papa Boss still looked like they were in disbelief.

    [Understandable, though.]

    ¡°Neoma, it¡¯s not that I don¡¯t trust your words. But let me ask questions to this child first,¡± Papa Boss said firmly without tearing his gaze away from the baby empress. ¡°If you truly are the reincarnation of Juliet, then tell me why she didn¡¯t want to be the empress.¡±

    ¡°I have three reasons,¡± Baby Empress Juliet said, raising her three cute, chubby fingers. ¡°First, I don¡¯t and will never see you as a man, Niki. You¡¯re just like a frustrating younger brother to me.¡±

    Neoma had to stifle herughter.

    ¡°Second, I genuinely wish for Niki and Mona to be happy together since you love each other very much,¡± Baby Empress Juliet said. ¡°Unfortunately, in order to protect the two of you, I had no choice but to be the empress.¡±

    Neoma knew that story, too.

    [I heard that Empress Juliet and Papa Boss had a contractual marriage, and that they never shared a bed¨C not even once.]

    ¡°But the most important reason why I didn¡¯t want to be the empress was because I¡¯ve always wanted to serve the god that I¡¯ve put my faith in,¡± Baby Empress Juliet said, then she put her tiny hand over her chest. ¡°After all, I pledged my loyalty to Lady Roxana¨C the Light Goddess.¡±

    For someone whomitted a grave sin, the former empress sure sounded proud.

    And Neoma was amazed.

    [Thew of the Great Moonasterion Empire dictates that the emperor and the empress must only pledge their loyalty to Lord Yule, the Moon God.]

    Of course, that rule applied to the royal children.

    ¡°Only Niki and I knew that Juliet pledged her loyalty to Lady Roxana instead of Lord Yule. We kept it a secret even from Rufus and Gavin because pledging your loyalty to the Light Goddess instead of the Moon God is a serious crime for people rted to the royal family,¡± Mama Boss said in disbelief. ¡°Is that really you, Juliet?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s really me, Mona,¡± Baby Empress Juliet said. ¡°I know it¡¯s hard to believe, but with the help of the Light Goddess, I was reincarnated as the future Light Saintess.¡±

    ¡°A Light Saintess?¡± Mama Boss asked curiously. ¡°But currently, the Light Goddess doesn¡¯t have enough followers to build a proper religion dedicated to Lady Roxana.¡±

    ¡°I believe that¡¯s the reason why Lady Roxana helped me get reincarnated,¡± Baby Empress Juliet said firmly. ¡°I n to create a temple that worships the Light Goddess.¡±

    Neoma was once again in awe.

    [Empress Juliet has her shit together, huh? It seems like she was being honest when she said that even though she was grateful to be born as ady with a high rank, she still wasn¡¯t that happy with her previous life.]

    ¡°Wait,¡± Papa Boss said, confused and worried. ¡°If you were the real Juliet, then who is the Juliet residing in the pce right now?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what I want to know, too,¡± Baby Empress Juliet said. ¡°I¡¯m certain I died when we were trying to free the Soul Beasts before. After all, I met Lady Roxana as soon as my soul left my body. When she offered me the chance to be reincarnated in exchange for creating a religion devoted to the Light Goddess, I agreed right away. Then I spent the following years in Oblivion while waiting to be reborn. Hence, I couldn¡¯t possibly be revived without my soul.¡±

    ¡°We epted ¡°Lady Sloane¡± in the pce because her Mana was simr to yours,¡± Papa Boss said. ¡°As you know, you have a unique Mana that felt simr to divine energy. And since Mana often stems from a person¡¯s soul, we stupidly epted that person as the former empress.¡±

    Neoma felt bad for her Papa Boss who looked like he wanted to punch himself.

    She hated seeing her father in that state, so she consoled him.

    ¡°It¡¯s not your fault, Papa Boss,¡± Neoma said,forting her father. ¡°Empress Juliet¡¯s body was stolen and revived. ording to Trevor, the current Devil didn¡¯t do it.¡±

    They first suspected the Devil because they had the ability to revive dead people just like how they revived Gavin Quinzel¨C her appa.

    ¡°And since the fake Lady Sloane came here as Calyx Dalton¡¯s ¡°mother,¡± then it was obvious everything was orchestrated by the crows,¡± Neoma continued with her exnation. ¡°If they are capable of stealing Seeds and Beads from talented individuals in the empire, then they must have used an unknown spell or magic device to revive Empress Juliet¡¯s body without needing her soul.¡±

    ¡°They must have used a different person¡¯s soul,¡± Nero added. ¡°Hence, the fake Lady Sloane ims she lost her memories.¡±

    ¡°The children are right,¡± Mona said, sighing. ¡°I can¡¯t believe we almost fell into the crows¡¯ trap.¡±

    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped, Mama Boss, Papa Boss,¡± Neoma said. ¡°After all, both of you treasure Empress Juliet very much.¡±

    Hence, Mama Boss and Papa Boss were weak against the fake Lady Sloane.

    .....

    ¡°I¡¯m touched to hear that, Niki, Mona,¡± Baby Empress Juliet said, then she turned to Neoma and Nero. ¡°Children, may I talk to your parents in private?¡±

    Neoma and Nero both bowed at Empress Juliet politely, but Neoma almost fell forward because she couldn¡¯t control her body.

    [Ack, my head is too big!]

    Literally, okay?

    Thankfully, Nero caught Neoma before she fell from hisp.

    But her twin brotherughed softly at what happened.

    Even Baby Empress Juliet, Mama Boss, and Papa Boss all looked at her with warm eyes as if they found Neoma cute.

    [Embarrassing!]

    ***

    JULIET was conflicted.

    She heard what happened to Ethan Sloane¨C her brother. Moreover, House Sloane was no longer a noble household.

    [ording to Niki, my brother tried to kill Neoma who was posing as Nero. But before Niki could punish my brother for attempting to kill his heir, my brother was found dead. And when the family members and vassals were punished, House Sloane naturally met its demise.]

    She knew in her head that her brother deserved to be punished.

    [Brother, to harm the one and only heir to the throne... no wonder House Sloane is no more.]

    This may sound callous, but she was never close to her brother. Hence, she didn¡¯t feel pain or sadness.

    However, it was the opposite of what she felt towards Marquis Vincent Lennox.

    ¡°Grandfather,¡± Juliet said in a sad voice. ¡°It pains me to know that his emotions are being used by the fake Juliet to control House Lennox.¡±

    Her grandfather had always been fond of her.

    In fact, her grandfather doted on her more than her parents did.

    ¡°Then do you want to meet Marquis Lennox and tell him the truth?¡± Niki asked. ¡°We must save House Lennox since they¡¯re being tricked by the crows.¡±

    ¡°Niki is right, Juliet,¡± Mona said. ¡°We can provide evidence to Marquis Lennox for him to believe us.¡±

    She knew that it was the easiest way to save House Lennox.

    However, she had already made up her mind.

    [I have already thrown away my attachment to my previous life.]

    ¡°Mona, Niki, I have something important to say,¡± Juliet said in a solemn tone. ¡°The memories of my previous life as Juliet Sloane will disappear soon.¡±

    ***

 Chapter 584 - 584 NEOMAâ€™S LUCKY CHARM

    584 NEOMA¡¯S LUCKY CHARM

    ¡°NEOMA, you¡¯re so cute!¡±

    ¡°I know,¡± Neoma said, then she closed her right eye when Hanna kissed her cheek. ¡°Gosh, you¡¯re treating me like a baby.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re a baby,¡± Hanna, who was hugging her and showering her with kisses, said. ¡°A very adorable baby, at that.¡±

    Aigoo.

    She just let Hanna do what she wanted.

    [It¡¯s my fault for being very cute anyway.]

    Nero cleared his throat. ¡°Neoma, while I enjoy seeing you in that cute state, we must hurry and find a way to bring you back to normal. Tell me everything you remember before you turned into a baby.¡±

    After Empress Juliet politely asked Neoma and Nero to leave, the two of them went to Luna Pce where Hanna was currently residing.

    Of course, her twin brother made sure no one would see her in that state.

    .....

    Right now, Neoma was on Hanna¡¯sp while Nero sat across from them. Hanna and Nero were having tea, while Hanna prepared a ss of milk for her.

    ¡°Mother already asked William to look for a cure that will bring me back to normal,¡± Neoma said. ¡°Greko also headed to hisboratory to see if there was a medicine that could break a spell. And Paige is also looking for a way to help me. Everyone is working hard for me, so I¡¯m confident we¡¯ll find a solution soon.¡± After saying that, she waved her hand dismissively. ¡°Enough about me. I have an important report to make.¡±

    She wanted to talk about rescuing Lewis from Trevor.

    But her twin brother¡¯s expression bothered her.

    Nero let out a frustrated sigh.

    Neoma raised an eyebrow. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s because you don¡¯t treat yourself well, Neoma,¡± Hanna scolded her. ¡°You¡¯re quick to move when your people are in danger. But when ites to yourself, you act like you don¡¯t care about what happens to you.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like that,¡± Neoma said. ¡°I know I¡¯m stronger than most people, so that means I won¡¯t die easily.¡±

    ¡°That arrogance of yours will kill you someday,¡± Nero said, frowning. ¡°You¡¯re stronger than most, but you¡¯re no immortal.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m just saying that I don¡¯t feel like my life is in danger even though I have turned into a baby,¡± Neoma exined. ¡°I know that I have be an easier target now. But I¡¯m confident that no harm will befall me because I have all of you to protect me.¡±

    Nero and Hanna looked satisfied by what she said.

    [Okay, let¡¯s get straight to the point now.]

    ¡°I need to leave soon to save Lewis,¡± Neoma dered. ¡°My ¡°son¡± was kidnapped by Trevor.¡±

    ¡°Lewis was kidnapped?!¡± Hanna asked worriedly. ¡°Princess Neoma, please bring me with you. I want to save Lewis, too.¡±

    Neoma was about to ask if it was really okay for Hanna to go with her because it would mean being absent from the academy.

    But her twin brother beat her to it.

    ¡°Why do you have to personally save Lewis Crevan?¡± Nero asked coldly. ¡°Hanna Quinzel, you are still my fianc¨¦e. What makes you think I¡¯d allow you to risk your life to save some boy?¡±

    ¡°With all due respect, our engagement isn¡¯t official yet, Prince Nero,¡± Hanna retorted, addressing Nero by his title in an indifferent voice. ¡°And even if I was your fianc¨¦e officially, what makes Your Royal Highness think that you have the right to tell me what I can and can¡¯t do?¡±

    Oh. My. God.

    Neoma desperately wished she had 3D movie sses and a bucket of popcorn right now while watching Nero and Hanna fight.

    [Yeah, boy! This is what the royal family is supposed to be! Full of drama and scandals!]

    ***

    ¡°A REINCARNATED person isn¡¯t supposed to remember their previous life,¡± Juliet continued with her exnation to Mona and Niki. ¡°But while I was in the Oblivion and waiting to be reincarnated, Lady Roxana kept mepany. Her power as the Light Goddess was scattered all over the world to prevent the Absolute Darkness from emerging again. Because of that, she lost her physical body. But also because of that, she has eyes everywhere. We watched the terrible things that happened to you unfold.¡±

    But since both Juliet and Lady Roxana were powerless, all they could do was watch in silence.

    Unfortunately, she didn¡¯t get to watch what happened to Mona and Niki for thest three years because it was the time she was sent to earth as a newborn under the care of Kingston, the White Lion.

    [That was until the crows stole mest year when they invaded Leoflor Ind.]

    To protect herself from the crows, she created a shell from her divine power. Hence, Neoma found her inside a transparent ¡°egg.¡± She slept inside the ¡°egg¡± so that the crows wouldn¡¯t be able to use her further.

    [I remained their hostage, though.]

    Hence, Kingston was forced to serve Calyx Dalton.

    [But I¡¯m d Kingston is finally free. Moreover, I¡¯m also relieved to see that Mona and Niki are finally together again with their children.]

    ¡°I was always worried about the two of you, since I know you med yourselves for my death,¡± Juliet continued. ¡°Hence, I asked Lady Roxana to let me keep the memories of my previous life in order to get the chance to say goodbye to you, Niki and Mona.¡±

    Niki and Mona looked sad at what she said.

    Juliet felt a warm feeling in her chest. ¡°Don¡¯t be sad for me,¡± she scolded the two lightly. ¡°I can¡¯t say that my life as Juliet Sloane was full of happiness. But I¡¯m lucky that I have the two of you. Thanks to your exciting love story, I never got bored.¡±

    But just because she didn¡¯t get bored didn¡¯t mean she was fulfilled.

    Of course, she wouldn¡¯t deny the fact that she lived in luxury because she was born a noble, and she even became the empress for a short period of time.

    However, she never got the chance to live her life to the fullest.

    ¡°Juliet, are you sure this is what you want?¡± Mona asked seriously. ¡°Are you really not going to say goodbye to other people?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sure,¡± Juliet said while nodding. ¡°While I know revealing myself to my grandfather right now would solve the problem regarding the fake Juliet, I feel like I wouldn¡¯t be able to live a new life if he finds out that I was reincarnated as the future Light Saintess.¡±

    She wanted to start anew.

    It was enough for her that the current royal family knew the truth because it would help her in the future¨C once she started building a religion centered on Lady Roxana¡¯s existence.

    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± Niki said. ¡°It will put you in a disadvantageous position if we reveal that you¡¯re the real Juliet Sloane. Moreover, your life will be in danger since the crows will definitely hunt you down¨C especially if they found out that you¡¯re trying to revive the Light Goddess¡¯ temple. Right now, the crows are working with the God of Eternal Darkness.¡±

    And the God of Eternal Darkness feared the Light Goddess the most.

    Hence, for that reason, it would be safer for her to live quietly while rebuilding the temple for the Light Goddess in secret.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for being selfish,¡± Juliet said. ¡°I can help you reveal the fake Juliet, but I chose to hide in order to live a new life.¡±

    Mona and Niki frowned at her apology.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to apologize, Juliet,¡± Niki said. ¡°It was my fault to begin with since I let the crows steal your physical body right under my nose. Hence, let me atone for it by dealing with the crows. Don¡¯t worry about a thing. You don¡¯t have the obligation to help us.¡±

    She was relieved to hear that.

    It wasn¡¯t like she didn¡¯t want to help Mona and Niki. But, right now, she didn¡¯t have enough power to protect them and herself.

    [Not yet, at least.]

    ¡°Juliet, when will you lose your memories?¡± Mona asked worriedly. ¡°How much time do we have left¡­?¡±

    ¡°Name,¡± Juliet said, smiling at Mona and Niki. ¡°If you give me a new name, I¡¯ll lose the memories of my previous life in order to start anew.¡±

    ***

    [IT¡¯S ALREADY nighttime?]

    Neoma remembered falling asleep in the middle of enjoying Hanna and Nero¡¯s fight.

    But when she opened her eyes, she was shocked to find herself on the bed.

    Her family was there, though.

    Mama Boss and Papa Boss were setting the table. Since her current appearance was a secret, she wasn¡¯t surprised to see her parents prepare dinner inside Nero¡¯s room. It was big anyway, hence the lounging area turned into a small dining hall.

    Anyway, it was cute to see Baby Empress Juliet sitting in a highchair.

    [The other highchair is for me, obviously.]

    ¡°You¡¯re awake?¡± Nero asked, then he carried her in his arms without asking. ¡°Can you eat steak, or do you want to eat something else?¡±

    ¡°No, steak is fine,¡± Neoma said. ¡°Babies at my age need protein.¡±

    Her twin brother just nodded, then he carefully put her in the highchair before he sat next to her. Nero even put a bib on her, and he was obviously enjoying taking care of his ¡°baby¡± sister.

    [Tsk. Someone is having the time of his life.]

    Anyway¡­

    Mama Boss and Papa Boss sat on the sofa across from them.

    Soon, they began eating.

    It was hard for Neoma¡¯s tiny hand to use the steak knife, so Nero cut her steak into bite-sized pieces.

    Mama Boss did the same for Baby Empress Juliet.

    ¡°Neoma, your brother mentioned that Trevor kidnapped Lewis,¡± Papa Boss said sternly. ¡°And you¡¯re nning to rescue your ¡°son?¡±¡±

    Neoma red at Nero who just shrugged before he sipped his grape juice.

    [What a snitch.]

    ¡°Where do you think you¡¯re nning to go in that state?¡± Papa Boss asked, frowning. ¡°You¡¯re not leaving the pce until we find out a way for you to return to your normal body.¡±

    .....

    ¡°I agree with your father, Baby Muffin. Although we understand how you feel, we can¡¯t let you save Lewis on your own,¡± Mama Boss said. ¡°You lost your Soul Beast and your Spirits. It¡¯s too dangerous for you to face Trevor and the Devil in your current condition.¡±

    Oh.

    She couldn¡¯t talk back to her mother.

    [It¡¯s easy to argue with Papa Boss, but Mama Boss is a little scary¡­]

    ¡°Moreover, we need to n our next move carefully,¡± Papa Boss said. ¡°Right now, the fake Juliet is staying in Marquis Lennox¡¯s mansion. She moved there after the incident where I almost fainted in her presence. Obviously, it was a nned move. The crows that Calyx Dalton brought here also disappeared, but we can¡¯t discard the possibility that they left some spies. Hence, we¡¯re being very careful.¡±

    Neoma just kept her mouth shut because she couldn¡¯t promise that she¡¯d stay put despite the danger.

    [It¡¯s Lewis, okay? I¡¯ll risk everything for my ¡°son.¡±]

    ¡°The new saint has been born already. Lord Manu and Delwyn are there to protect the saint and the queen,¡± Mama Boss said. Then she let out a sigh. ¡°Neoma, we seeded in saving the queen¡¯s life. But we failed to protect one person.¡± Her Mama Boss reached out to her and held her tiny hand. ¡°Dahlia was kidnapped by the crows.¡±

    Neoma gasped. ¡°Poor Dahlia¡­¡±

    [How can I rescue Lewis and Dahlia?]

    ¡°You and Nero are really twins,¡± Papa Boss said while shaking his head. ¡°Your brother also insisted to rescue Dahlia on his own as if he forgot that he¡¯s the Crown Prince of the empire.¡±

    Neoma turned to Nero with a raised eyebrow and tried tomunicate with her twin brother with her eyes. [What the fuck, Nero? You got upset with Hanna when she said she wanted to rescue Lewis. And yet, you volunteered to save Dahlia on your own? What a hypocrite.]

    Nero, who seemed to have understood what she conveyed through her (burning and judging) eyes, just looked at her with a nk look on his face in an attempt to y dumb.

    Neoma red at her twin brother harder. [You¡¯re guilty, aren¡¯t you? You should be!]

    ¡°They¡¯re fighting, aren¡¯t they?¡± Baby Empress Juliet asked while looking at Neoma and Nero in amusement. ¡°That¡¯s how Niki and Nichole would also fight in the past.¡±

    ***

    ¡°I THOUGHT you were going to sleep in Lady Roseheart and His Majesty¡¯s room.¡±

    ¡°Well, I figured Mama Boss and Papa Boss need to talk to Baby Empress Juliet,¡± Neoma, who was sitting on Hanna¡¯s bed while surrounded by a bunch of pillows, said. ¡°I don¡¯t want to get in the way, so I told them I¡¯d sleep in your room.¡±

    Nero was sulking because he wanted to sleep together.

    [But we¡¯re already too old to share the same bed.]

    Hence, she ditched her twin brother for Hanna.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Neoma,¡± Hanna said, smiling. ¡°I¡¯ll protect you.¡±

    ¡°I know,¡± Neoma said, gesturing her hands around them. ¡°This room is protected by Shadows, after all.¡±

    ***

    [AH, it broke.]

    Neoma felt bad for Hanna (who went to the bathroom) when the barrier around her room broke easily.

    Well, not really ¡°easily.¡±

    [The opponent is just too strong.]

    Neoma¡¯s eyes widened in shock when the person she least expected showed up in front of her. ¡°Ruto?!¡±

    She doubted her eyes at first because Ruto¡¯s appearance changed.

    First, the burn mark on his face was finally gone.

    Second, his purple hair was lighter than normal. It almost looked silver now with the strands having a darker shade of purple.

    Third, his right eye was glowing red.

    [Ah, right. He¡¯s the divine son of Lord Levi, hence the red eye.]

    But, overall, her man still looked good.

    ¡°Princess Neoma¡­?¡± Ruto asked, obviously shocked. Then he stepped backwards as if he couldn¡¯t believe the sight in front of him. ¡°Why did you turn into a baby?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll tell youter,¡± Neoma said, frowning while looking at the dried blood all over Ruto¡¯s clothes. ¡°Let¡¯s treat your wounds first.¡±

    He looked at his clothes first before he turned to her and shook his head. ¡°This isn¡¯t my blood.¡±

    She let out a relieved sigh. ¡°Thank goodness. Who did you kill?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t kill them,¡± Ruto said indifferently. ¡°But I harmed a certain god and his Celestial Knights before I left the Upper World. I guess I¡¯m a fugitive now.¡±

    What?!

    Ruto shook the Upper World upside down?

    [And he picked up a fight with a god, no less!]

    Oh, dear.

    [Ruto is now a fugitive???]

    ¡°Heh,¡± Neoma said, smirking. ¡°That¡¯s hot.¡±

 Chapter 585 - 585 RUTOâ€™S ONE AND ONLY MUSE

    585 RUTO¡¯S ONE AND ONLY MUSE

    [A few hours earlier¡­]

    ¡°I APOLOGIZE, but you do not have permission to get near the Aether, Lord Ruto.¡±

    Ruto raised an eyebrow at what Rafael, the Vice-captain of the Sky God¡¯s Celestial Knights, said to him. ¡°Why am I not allowed to get near the Aether?¡±

    Right now, the entire za was surrounded by Celestial Knights blocking anyone froming near the Aether.

    Moreover, there was also an invisible ¡°barrier¡± around the tree itself.

    Only people on his level could see it, though.

    ¡°The Sky God is now responsible for the restoration of the Aether,¡± Rafael exined. ¡°Hence, no one is allowed near the Aether. Please understand, Lord Ruto.¡±

    ¡°I would, if the Sky God truly wanted to restore the Aether,¡± Ruto said indifferently. ¡°I can¡¯t see faces normally, but I can clearly see that you¡¯re not restoring the tree¨C you are doing the opposite.¡±

    The ¡°barrier¡± was sucking the life out of the Aether, after all.

    .....

    Rafael quickly moved to draw his sword, but he was already toote. The Celestial Knight was shocked when he realized that he had a huge and deep cut on his torso¨C from his chest to his waist.

    Ruto walked past Rafael, his sword and his clothes dirty with Rafael¡¯s blood.

    Yes, he shed the Celestial Knight and walked past him just like that.

    Several Celestial Knights attacked him all at the same time.

    Ruto wasn¡¯t a Swordmaster, and he didn¡¯t like using swords in the first ce. Hence, this time, he used his Mana that was in the form of a violent wind, to send everyone flying¨C away from him.

    And every time he would use his strength to the maximum, it would affect the weather. Even the weather in the Upper World wasn¡¯t exempted.

    However, he could only control half of the sky.

    Hence, half of the sky was dark, while the other was bright.

    [After all, the Sky God controls the sky.]

    Obviously.

    ¡°Lord Ruto, if you touch the Aether, you¡¯ll make the Sky God angry,¡± Rafael, whose voice wasing from behind, warned him in a hoarse voice. ¡°You may be Lord Levi¡¯s divine son, but you do not have the authority to meddle with the Sky God¡¯s job. Don¡¯t forget the rules, milord. Each god has their own jurisdictions.¡±

    He clenched his jaws when he heard the word ¡°rules.¡±

    [All I did in my previous life was follow all those stupid rules. I¡¯ll be damned if I follow the same rules again.]

    That was why in this lifetime, he ¡°killed¡± Commander Yoan Solfrid.

    [I¡¯m Ruto now¨C Neoma¡¯s Ruto.]1

    ¡°There¡¯s only one rule that I need to follow in my life: keep Neoma happy and safe,¡± Ruto said, then he ced a hand on the invisible barrier around the Aether. It stung a bit when he touched it, but that was it. But it was only because it was him. If another person had touched the barrier, then they would have turned into dust on the spot. ¡°If the rules of this damned ce threaten Neoma in any way, then I¡¯ll rewrite them one by one until the rules are in her favor.¡±

    He put enough divine power in his hand to blow up the entire barrier.

    The explosion causes the ground to shake, and it also harmed the surrounding Celestial Knights who were trying to stop him.

    Ruto was unaffected since he protected himself with his own barrier.

    [If you really want to stop me from approaching the Aether, then you should have put up a stronger barrier to keep me away from it.]

    <¡°It wasn¡¯t that the barrier was weak¨C you¡¯re just a monster.¡±>

    He frowned when he heard the creepy, deep voice in his head.

    Now that he had begun paying the price of turning back time, the Ancient Devil¡¯s consciousness had also awakened. But since the Ancient Devil didn¡¯t have a physical body yet, his consciousness was stuck in the mark that the Ancient Devil left in his soul.

    It was annoying, but it wasn¡¯t that bad.

    <¡°Especially now that you have ess to my power.¡±>

    That was right.

    Now that the Ancient Devil¡¯s consciousness was ¡°residing¡± in his soul, his ancient power gave a boost to Ruto¡¯s own power.

    The Devil¡¯s power came from the Darkness attribute.

    But the Ancient Devil¡¯s power was called the ¡®Holy Darkness.¡¯ It was so simr to a god¡¯s divine power that the Light Goddess herself couldn¡¯t purify it. Hence, Ruto was able to borrow the Ancient Devil¡¯s without it shing with his divine power.

    ¡°I don¡¯t need your power,¡± Ruto said while walking towards the Aether. ¡°Not yet, at least.¡±

    <¡°Well, of course. You¡¯re already a monster at this age. But your power isn¡¯t enough yet to destroy the Upper World as you did in past.¡±>

    He ignored the Ancient Devil this time.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯mte,¡± Ruto said to the Aether, then he ced his hands on the huge trunk. As expected, it was weaker than before even after he sent the Aether a huge amount of his divine power earlier. But, thankfully, the Aether would still live a few more years. It would buy him some time. ¡°You¡¯ll live a few more years as long as the filthy gods here don¡¯t touch you. So please forgive me for what I¡¯m about to do.¡±

    He was about to put a barrier around the Aether.

    But instead of sucking the life out of the tree, the barrier that he would create would protect the Aether from anyone and everyone that wasn¡¯t him or Neoma. In short, only Ruto and the royal princess would be able to break through the barrier.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for restricting your movements just to prolong your life, even though I know you already want to rest,¡± Ruto whispered, then he closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against the trunk. ¡°I will make it up to you by making sure you¡¯ll be thest Aether in this world.¡±

    Afterpleting the impregnable barrier, the sky grumbled as if it was angry.

    The sky had turnedpletely dark. But, this time, it wasn¡¯t because of his power¨C it was the Sky God.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t I say I was going to pay you a visit?¡± Ruto said while looking up at the angry, dark sky. ¡°But considering the fact that you prevented me from approaching the Aether, I guess it¡¯s safe to say that you don¡¯t have any intention to meet me.¡±

    The sky roared angrily.

    ¡°I¡¯m just as angry as you are,¡± Ruto said, then he summoned his ancient bow and pointed the arrow at the sky. ¡°This will be myst warning: leave Neoma alone.¡±

    He only fired a single arrow.

    But as soon as he let go of the string, the arrow split into two. And then the other arrow did the same. The process continued again and again until there were already hundreds of lightning arrows headed to the sky.

    Of course, the Sky God tried to block the arrows¨C but to no avail.

    It wasn¡¯t that Ruto was already strong enough to fight a major god. He was simply taking advantage of the fact that the Sky God was weak. Out of all the gods currently active in the Upper World, the Sky God was the one most affected by the pollution in this world.

    [Hence, the Sky God mobilized his Celestial Knights instead of facing me head-on.]

    In short, he was attacking a sick ¡°person.¡±

    It was neither honorable nor something to be proud of. However, he didn¡¯t care about honor anymore. He would do anything and everything for Neoma¡¯s safety and happiness.

    His thoughts were distracted when ¡°red rain¡± started pouring.

    Of course, the ¡°red rain¡± wasn¡¯t water dyed with red.

    It was blood.

    To be precise, the sick Sky God¡¯s blood.

    [Ah, I¡¯ve done it¨C I¡¯ve harmed a god who didn¡¯t ¡°technically¡±mit a crime.]

    ¡°Divine Father, your son has be a sinner,¡± Ruto whispered while talking to Lord Levi. ¡°Good luck cleaning up after my mess, milord.¡±

    ***

    ¡°AND THAT was what happened.¡±

    Neoma was amused after hearing Ruto¡¯s story as to how he became a ¡°fugitive.¡±

    [You see, if Ruto was born in the modern world, he¡¯d be a straitced model student. That¡¯s also the vibes that he gives off until recently.]

    That was why she was pleasantly surprised by Ruto¡¯s change.

    [My man is a rule breaker now, huh?]

    ¡°Thank you for telling me what happened,¡± Neoma said, then she raised an eyebrow. ¡°But why are you talking to me while standing as far away as possible?¡±

    Ruto¡¯s back already hit the wall behind him.

    ¡°I followed Veton¡¯s traces since Veton is still with you, but I didn¡¯t expect you to be alone in the room,¡± Ruto exined, and it looked like he didn¡¯t have any intention to get near her. ¡°For an unmarried man and woman to be alone in the bedroom is a little¡­¡±

    ¡°Aish, it¡¯s alright,¡± she said causally. ¡°You just have to take responsibility when we get older.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s awkward to hear that from a baby,¡± he said while scratching his cheek. ¡°I feel like the door would suddenly burst open and the royal knights would arrest me.¡±

    She was suddenly reminded of the ¡°FBI, open up!¡± meme.

    And shepletely understood what Ruto meant by that.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know how Regina Crowell turned me into a baby,¡± she exined. ¡°But I have a feeling that this is only temporary.¡±

    ¡°Regina Crowell?¡± he asked, surprised. ¡°I didn¡¯t know she has that kind of power.¡±

    Oh?

    So, Commander Yoan Solfrid didn¡¯t encounter this strange power of Regina Crowell in the first timeline.

    [Then how did the old Neoma discover Regina Crowell¡¯s mysterious power?]

    .....

    ¡°You didn¡¯t get bald even though you¡¯ve turned into a baby this time.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me?¡± Neoma asked, offended. ¡°I was never bald, okay?¡±

    ¡°You were bald when you were a baby,¡± he insisted. ¡°But I¡¯m d that I can see your long hair this time. It¡¯s easier for me to recognize you since your hair color is unique.¡±

    She knitted her eyebrows. ¡°What do you mean by that? Can you no longer see my beautiful face since I¡¯ve grown rtively weak after I lost Tteokbokki and my Spirits?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s one reason.¡±

    ¡°Is there another reason why you can¡¯t see my beautiful face again?¡±

    Ruto was about to answer, but he stopped and turned to the door.

    When Neoma turned to the door, it swung open and revealed Hanna who entered the room quietly and closed the door behind her.

    ¡°I apologize for interrupting your conversation,¡± Hanna said politely, then she turned to Ruto with a strict look on her face. ¡°But Lord Ruto, it¡¯s inappropriate for a young lord to visit the royal princess at this hour. I know that the two of you are talking about something important. But I can¡¯t leave you here alone since if I did, Nero and His Majesty would surely make a big deal out of this incident.¡±

    Ah, Hanna was right.

    Nero and Papa Boss would surely overreact if they found out she was alone in the room with Ruto at this hour.

    [But we¡¯re talking about something important¡­]

    ¡°Neoma, we have a lot of things to discuss, but both of us need to rest in the meantime,¡± Ruto said. ¡°Can we have breakfast togetherter?¡±

    ¡°Later¡± because it was already past midnight.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s do that.¡±

    ¡°Can Ie closer?¡±

    She smiled at his question. ¡°I thought you¡¯d never ask.¡±

    Ruto just smiled faintly, then he came closer to her until he was standing next to the bed. Then he got down on one knee and extended a hand to her. ¡°May I hold your hand, Neoma? I want to see if I can find the reason why you turned into a baby.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± she said, then she epted his hand.

    [It¡¯s warm.]

    She smiled out of relief.

    [My man really came back alive.]

    But¡­

    ¡°Ruto, your purple hair turned super pale it¡¯s almost white,¡± she said, frowning. ¡°Now we look like siblings. I don¡¯t want people to think we are rtives.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t like it either,¡± Ruto said. ¡°But that¡¯s the side effect of using my divine power to the maximum. It will return to normal once I calmed down.¡±

    She beamed. ¡°Good.¡±

    ¡°I looked like this during ourst fight in the past timeline,¡± he said. ¡°Don¡¯t you remember?¡±

    She shook her head. ¡°I didn¡¯t pay attention to your appearance back then¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah, right,¡± Ruto said teasingly. ¡°My face isn¡¯t your type.¡±

    Argh!

    She hated that the most handsome face that she had seen in her life was Rubin Drayton¡¯s face. But she couldn¡¯t lie to herself. This was the downside of her extreme vanity.

    However¡­

    ¡°Your face is my most favorite face in the entire world, Ruto,¡± Neoma said, then she put her other hand on his cheek¨C the one where his burn mark was before. ¡°And I will never get tired of seeing your face. In fact, I want to see it every day, every night, for the rest of my life.¡±

    That sounded like a proposal, but whatever.

    [Ruto and I are endgame anyway.]

    ¡°I understand. I¡¯ll do something to reverse your current condition. For now, take some rest,¡± Ruto said, nodding. Then he smiled at her. He rarely showed her a full-blown smile, but he did¨C and that made her happy. ¡°And this iste, but I¡¯m home, Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Wee home, Ruto,¡± Neoma said, smiling back at him. ¡°Thank you foring back to me safely.¡±

    ***

 Chapter 586 - 586 NOT ON THE SAME LEVEL

    586 NOT ON THE SAME LEVEL

    ¡°SO, SOMETHING like that happened while I was away?¡± Mona asked through gritted teeth. ¡°That fake Juliet dared toy a hand on my man?¡±

    The incident that Niki mentioned was when he almost fainted in the fake Juliet¡¯s presence. When he came to be, he found the fake Juliet on top of him. Thankfully, nothing happened because Hanna came on time.

    [I should thank our precious Hannater.]

    If she had heard of that incident, then she would have figured out right away that the Juliet Sloane who appeared out of nowhere was a fake.

    After all, she knew that the real Juliet wouldn¡¯t do that.

    ¡°Haah. I can¡¯t believe that the fake is using my body in that way,¡± Juliet, who was sitting on the bed while surrounded by pillows, said in an annoyed voice. ¡°I was never romantically or sexually attracted to someone in my past life. And yet, that fake dared to use my body to sleep with the person I consider my brother?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry I was stupid,¡± Niki said, letting out a frustrated sigh. ¡°I know that Juliet wouldn¡¯t do something like that, so I believed her excuse when she said it was an ident. Had I been more suspicious of her, then I wouldn¡¯t have let her leave the pce.¡±

    After that day, the fake Juliet had gone to Marquis Lennox¡¯s mansion.

    Mona couldn¡¯t me Niki.

    .....

    After all, the two of them were weak against Juliet since they both med themselves for her death. Hence, it was hard for them to doubt the fake Juliet.

    [That¡¯s why I understand why Niki chose to believe the fake Juliet¡¯s excuse.]

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Mona,¡± Niki said, wrapping an arm around her waist. ¡°It was my fault.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, my love,¡± Mona said while putting a hand over Niki¡¯s hand on her waist. ¡°Now that we know that she¡¯s a fake, it will be easier for us to deal with her.¡±

    The problem would be Marquis Vincent Lennox.

    [We made the mistake of epting the fake Juliet as the real one easily. Hence, we have to find a way to prove that the Juliet Marquis Lennox is protecting is a fake.]

    It wouldn¡¯t be easy, though.

    ¡°I thought of a way to convince my grandfather that the other Juliet is a fake,¡± Juliet dered. ¡°After all, that fake Juliet doesn¡¯t have my memories, does she? And even if she does, I¡¯m sure she can¡¯t memorize every single thing that happened in my life¨C especially in my childhood.¡±

    ¡°Are you thinking about using your memories against the fake one?¡± Niki asked. ¡°That might work.¡±

    ¡°The hard part is to convince my grandfather to put the fake Juliet on a test,¡± Juliet said seriously. ¡°And, of course, you must do it without the fake Juliet¡¯s knowledge. Hence, until we pull my grandfather to our side, you all must pretend that you haven¡¯t realized yet that the fake Juliet is a fake.¡±

    That would be a little hard.

    Mona wanted to punish the fake for touching her man. But for the real Juliet¡¯s sake, she had to hold back for now.

    [Just for a little while.]

    ¡°Alright. We will act like we don¡¯t know she¡¯s a fake in the meantime,¡± Mona said firmly, then she turned to Niki. ¡°My love, I trust you. But I don¡¯t trust the fake and her dirty tricks. So please, make sure you¡¯ll never be alone with her again.¡±

    Niki kissed her forehead and nodded. ¡°I promise, my love.¡±

    The peaceful moment that they were having was interrupted when the three of them felt an intruder.

    Fortunately, they could easily tell who the ¡°intruder¡± was.

    It was Ruto, and the young man made his presence known on purpose.

    [He¡¯s saying that he doesn¡¯t mean harm.]

    ¡°That insolent punk,¡± Niki growled under his breath. ¡°How dare he visit my daughter at this hour?¡±

    Mona stopped Niki when he was about to bolt out of the room, probably to chase Ruto out of the pce. ¡°Leave them be, Niki. If Ruto wanted to meet Neoma behind our backs, he could do so since he¡¯s capable of hiding his presence from us. But he didn¡¯t do that. He intentionally let us know about his arrival because he wanted to gain our trust.¡±

    The emperor continued frowning, obviously still displeased by Ruto¡¯s visit.

    It was a little frustrating when Niki was being this stubborn, but it was also cute.

    [He really cares about our Baby Muffin.]

    ¡°Moreover, you know Ruto is the no-nonsense type,¡± Mona said gently. She was on Ruto¡¯s side this time, and she wanted Neoma to have more freedom. ¡°He wouldn¡¯t visit Neoma at this hour if it wasn¡¯t important.¡±

    Niki let out a frustrated sigh. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll let it slide this time. But I won¡¯t let Ruston Stroganoff date my daughter. Neoma is only thirteen years old!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re one to talk,¡± Juliet said, scoffing. ¡°You and Mona were already dating at that age.¡±

    Monaughed when Niki turned red from embarrassment.

    [Juliet can really ¡°break¡± Niki with just a few words.]

    ***

    ¡°WHAT DID you bring with you?¡±

    Ruto raised his eyebrow when Prince Nero blocked his way in the dark hallway. ¡°I¡¯m not sure what Your Royal Highness is talking about.¡±

    ¡°Neoma¡¯s sense may have gone weak when she turned into a baby, but you can¡¯t fool me,¡± Prince Nero said. ¡°You brought a monster with you.¡±

    Ah.

    The Crown Prince must be talking about the Ancient Devil.

    He tried to suppress the Ancient Devil as much as he could because he knew there were several strong people in the Royal Pce. To be honest, he thought he concealed the Ancient Devil¡¯s presence well.

    But Prince Nero still sensed it.

    ¡°It won¡¯t hurt Neoma,¡± Ruto said vaguely. ¡°Unlike Your Royal Highness, I can control the ¡°monster¡± within me.¡±

    The Crown Prince let out a frustrated sigh. ¡°You¡¯re an eyesore.¡±

    ¡°Your Royal Highness¡¯ words won¡¯t affect me,¡± he said. ¡°After all, Neoma just told me that my face is her most favorite face in the entire world.¡±

    ¡°Neoma is obsessed with her face, and we have the same face,¡± Prince Nero said, scoffing. ¡°So, what are you talking about?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m saying Neoma likes my face in a romantic sense,¡± Ruto said confidently. ¡°We¡¯re not on the same level, Prince Nero.¡±

    ***

    ¡°PARRICIDE,¡± Trevorined after coughing up blood. ¡°Lewis Crevan, you should be arrested for attempted parricide crime! How dare you try to kill me¨C your ¡°father?¡±¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not my father,¡± Lewis growled lowly, his golden eyes glowing menacingly. His fangs and sharp ws were out. And it looked like the fox boy wanted to maul Trevor to death even though his kick almost killed Trevor already. ¡°If you don¡¯t let me out, I will kill you¨C¡±

    ¡°Lewis, have some snacks first.¡±

    Thankfully, Lewis¡¯ bloodlust disappeared as soon as Princess Nichole and Dominic Zavaroni entered the room.

    The Princess Royal brought a tray filled with different snacks.

    On the other hand, the former saint brought cups of hot chocte for them.

    [Lewis only behaves when Princess Nichole and Dominic Zavaroni are here.]

    It was probably because Princess Nichole was Princess Neoma¡¯s aunt, while Dominic Zavaroni was Princess Neoma¡¯s former mentor.

    [Would you look at that?]

    Lewis sat on the chair quietly.

    ¡°This is discrimination,¡± Trevorined when he stood up while holding his stomach that Lewis kicked a moment ago. ¡°Lewis, you almost killed me with your infamous ¡°one-kick attack.¡± And now you¡¯re pretending like a good boy.¡±

    Lewis gave her a dire stare. ¡°Speak. Don¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°Wow!¡± Trevorined in disbelief. ¡°And now you¡¯re talking incoherently to me after you threatened me with cold words a few minutes ago!¡±

    The fox boy ignored him to drink his hot chocte.

    ¡°Trevor, calm down,¡± Dominic Zavaroni said,ughing softly. ¡°Lewis is being harsh to you because you¡¯re annoying.¡±

    Ouch.

    ¡°My man is right,¡± Princess Nichole said, then she turned to Trevor and clicked her tongue. ¡°I¡¯m d my niece isn¡¯t interested in you. I don¡¯t know if I can ept you as my nephew-inw, Trevor.¡±

    Ouch again.

    Lewis, on the other hand, smirked.

    ¡°Wow, you¡¯re ganging up on me,¡± Trevorined, then he sat on the chair next to Dominic Zavaroni. ¡°Anyway, should we contact Princess Neoma now? Based on the information that we collected, Her Royal Highness is already back in the Royal Pce. I¡¯m sure Princess Neoma wille out for her precious ¡°son.¡±¡±

    Lewis red at Trevor.

    ¡°It won¡¯t be as easy to kidnap Neoma even if we managed to lure her out of the Royal Pce,¡± Princess Nichole said. ¡°Ruston Stroganoff is back, and he¡¯s currently with Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Then let me fight him,¡± Trevor said. ¡°This time, I¡¯ll win.¡±

    The Princess Royal didn¡¯t look convinced.

    ¡°What, why?¡± Trevor asked, confused. ¡°You don¡¯t trust me?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like that, Trevor,¡± Princess Nichole said. ¡°But¨C¡±

    ¡°Ruston Stroganoff has already awakened the Ancient Devil.¡±

    It was the Devil.

    Lewis, upon seeing the Devil¡¯s appearance, looked surprised.

    .....

    Aruna de Moonasterio, in the body of Arche de Moonasterio, appeared in the room cloaked in ck from head to toe.

    [Now that they¡¯re back, Princess Nichole¡¯s power as the ¡°temporary¡± Devil is almost non-existent now.]

    The hierarchy was a little confusing since the title ¡®Devil¡¯ belonged to two people.

    ¡°Ruston Stroganoff is already a problem since he¡¯s too powerful despite his young age,¡± the Devil said. ¡°But now that he made contact with the Ancient Devil, he has be untouchable.¡±

    ¡°The Ancient Devil?¡± Trevor asked, confused. ¡°Just how many Devils are there?¡±1

    ***

    ANNOUNCEMENT: Neoma is already an adult in the advanced chapters. Hehe. Please subscribe to my priv chapters to meet the 19-year-old Neoma if you can. Thank you~

    ***

 Chapter 587 - 587 MALE LEAD, SECOND MALE LEAD

    587 MALE LEAD, SECOND MALE LEAD

    ¡°HANNA, I look like a dim sum, don¡¯t I?¡± Neoma asked, frowning while looking at herself in the mirror. ¡°Gosh, I hate my chubby cheeks.¡±

    Right now, she was sitting on Hanna¡¯sp while her cousin was tying her hair into space buns in front of the vanity mirror.

    They took a bath earlier together.

    Since what happened to her was a secret, not even Stephanie and Alphen (the head maid and the head butler that raised her) were informed that she had turned into a baby.

    Papa Boss had be more guarded after Kyle Sprouse betrayed him.

    [Anyway¡­]

    Hanna was the one who gave her a bath because Mama Boss was taking care of Baby Empress Juliet.

    Thankfully, her baby clothes were still in the Luna Pce.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what a ¡°dim sum¡± is,¡± Hanna said. She looked like she was in a good mood while fixing her hair for her. ¡°But if you¡¯re worried about your ¡°chubby¡± cheeks, then don¡¯t be. You look cute, Neoma. And your weight is normal for a baby.¡±

    .....

    Neoma let out a sigh. ¡°If I knew Ruto would return earlier than expected, I would have chased Regina Crowell to the depths of hell just to bring me back to normal.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure Lord Ruto isn¡¯t the type of man who cares about physical appearance,¡± her cousin consoled her. ¡°Moreover, I don¡¯t think Lord Ruto will look at you THAT way until you be an adult.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m an adult¨C we both are.¡±

    ¡°Physically, you¡¯re not,¡± Hanna said, smiling while shaking her head. ¡°Neoma, calm down. Lord Ruto isn¡¯t going anywhere.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know why, but I feel anxious every time I see Ruto,¡± Neoma confessed. ¡°I feel like he¡¯s going to disappear if I don¡¯t hold on to him tight.¡± She gasped when the realization hit her. ¡°Omo. I¡¯m like a male lead in a romance fantasy novel.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡±

    ¡°Male leads in romance fantasy novels are either the Crown Prince or a Northern Duke. They¡¯re often arrogant, handsome, rich, rude, obsessive, possessive, and very toxic,¡± Neoma exined, then she thumped her chest with her little fist. ¡°I fit the bill, Hanna. I¡¯m a wealthy royal princess who¡¯s very pretty, arrogant, rude, and acts like a bitch sometimes. And now I¡¯m turning into an obsessive and possessive partner!¡± She cupped her face with her little hands. ¡°I¡¯m a walking red g!¡±

    She once told Hanna that Nero was a ¡®red g¡¯ and exined what it meant.

    Hence, she was sure that her cousin knew what she was trying to say.

    Hannaughed as if she was amused. ¡°Well, I guess Lord Ruto¡¯s favorite color is red.¡±

    ***

    NIKOLAI knew he¡¯d find Ruston Stroganoff in the royal kitchen of Luna Pce where Neoma was currently staying (with Hanna Quinzel).

    Hence, while Mona and Juliet were taking a bath early in the morning, he sneaked out and headed to the kitchen. The twodies would definitely stop him from confronting Ruston Stroganoff, so he didn¡¯t tell where he was going.

    Ruston Stroganoff bowed to him politely. ¡°Your Majesty, I took the liberty of borrowing the kitchen from the chef and the kitchen staff assigned to Luna Pce.¡±

    It would be easy for Ruston Stroganoff to do that since he was still a royal chef.

    Moreover, his position was also quite high for a young lord. Hence, no one could stop him from borrowing the royal kitchen.

    [Even so, he doesn¡¯t have the right to covet my daughter.]

    ¡°You reeked of bloodst night,¡± Niki confronted the young man, then he crossed his arms over his chest. ¡°And it wasn¡¯t ordinary blood, either. It smelled like the blood of divinity.¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty is amazing,¡± the young man said. ¡°Only a monster like Your Majesty could smell the blood of gods.¡±

    ¡°Did you just insult me?¡±

    ¡°It was apliment, Your Majesty.¡±

    Hah.

    It was frustrating to see how indifferent the young man looked, even in his presence. But he should have expected it.

    [The God yer exists to kill gods, so he won¡¯t easily be intimidated by a mere emperor.]

    He wasn¡¯t demeaning himself, of course.

    It was just a fact.

    ¡°Who did you kill?¡±

    Ruston Stroganoff¡¯s divine power was overwhelmingst night.

    But, right now, the young man looked normal.

    His appearance changed a little, though.

    [The burn mark on his face disappeared.]

    ¡°I didn¡¯t kill any god yet from the Upper World yet, Your Majesty,¡± Ruston Stroganoff said. ¡°I just had a quarrel with the Sky God.¡±

    ¡°The Sky God is a major god,¡± Niki said, slightly surprised. ¡°Why would you pick a fight with the Sky God?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t get the chance to investigate properly since I let my emotions get the better of me,¡± the young man said. ¡°However, I¡¯m pretty certain that the Sky God let Helstor, the God of Eternal Darkness, enter the Upper World.¡±

    He knitted his eyebrows. ¡°Helstor entered the Upper World? For what purpose?¡±

    ¡°To kill the current Aether.¡±

    He felt a shiver down his spine.

    Of course, he immediately understood what killing the Aether meant.

    ¡°Those greedy gods,¡± Niki said through gritted teeth. ¡°They want to kill the Aether and rece her with Neoma.¡±

    ¡°The current Aether is already weak. In fact, it¡¯s almost dying,¡± Ruston Stroganoff added. ¡°Hence, the current Aether¡¯s power isn¡¯t enough to clean the polluted air in the Upper World. For that reason, some of the gods wanted to kill it to have the justification for bringing in a new Aether. But they didn¡¯t want to take responsibility for killing the current Aether to avoid fighting the other gods who are protecting it.¡±

    ¡°So, they brought Helstor,¡± he said, clenching his jaws. ¡°They want the God of Eternal Darkness to kill the Aether and take the me, so the factions in the Upper World won¡¯t fight each other.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s correct, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°As the God yer, do you not have the authority to punish the gods who want the current Aether gone?¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately, I don¡¯t have proof that those godsmissioned Helstor,¡± the young man said. ¡°Moreover, the fact that I attacked the Sky God might cost me my position as the God yer.¡±

    ¡°For someone who¡¯s about to lose his high position, you look calm and peaceful.¡±

    ¡°Well, once I¡¯m no longer the God yer, then I don¡¯t have to follow the rules,¡± Ruston Stroganoff said, his dark purple eyes glowing. ¡°I can kill anyone and anything without needing the approval of my divine father.¡±

    He didn¡¯t want to admit this, but he felt a chill down his spine.

    ¡°As expected,¡± Niki said while nodding. ¡°You really deserve to be the Commander of the White Lion Knights, Ruston Stroganoff.¡±

    ***

    ¡°GOOD morning, Lewis,¡± Nichole greeted the fox boy that she found on the balcony of the guest room. The young boy looked like he was about to jump off in an attempt to escape the mansion. ¡°Even if you escape here, I don¡¯t think you¡¯ll find your way back to the surface.¡±

    The ¡°surface¡± would be the human world, of course.

    ¡°Even though it looks like we¡¯re in the estate of a rich noble, we¡¯re not in the human world,¡± Nichole said, then she leaned against the railing and crossed her arms over her chest. ¡°There are man-eating demons outside the mansion. Even if you¡¯re strong, I don¡¯t think you¡¯dst a few days fighting them day and night.¡±

    Lewis stood properly in front of her and bowed as a greeting, but he didn¡¯t say anything else.

    His golden eyes said he¡¯d still try to escape, though.

    [He¡¯s really stubborn.]

    ¡°Lewis, don¡¯t you want to know why we want to kidnap Neoma?¡±

    The fox boy shook his head without hesitation.

    ¡°You¡¯re not curious?¡±

    Again, he shook his head.

    She couldn¡¯t help butugh at the fox boy¡¯sck of reaction. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you curious?¡±

    ¡°Because in my book, kidnapping Princess Neoma is a crime,¡± Lewis said indifferently. ¡°I won¡¯t ept any justification.¡±

    She burst outughing again. ¡°You¡¯re so different from Trevor,¡± she said. ¡°When he heard the reason why we want to kidnap my precious niece, he instantly joined hands with us.¡±

    Lewis fell silent.

    She honestly thought that the fox boy was done talking to her. After all, she knew that he was a man of few words.

    Hence, she was surprised when he spoke again.

    ¡°I know that Trevor cares for Princess Neoma genuinely,¡± Lewis said carefully. ¡°But I don¡¯t like how he thinks he has the right to judge what¡¯s good or not for Her Royal Highness. And that applies to Princess Nichole, Lord Dominic, and the Devil. Why are you all deciding for her? Princess Neoma is smart¨C she knows what she¡¯s doing, and she can take care of herself.¡±

    The fox boy¡¯s words hurt a little.

    [He doesn¡¯t talk a lot but when he does, he strikes a nerve.]

    ¡°Lewis, I know that this isn¡¯t Neoma¡¯s first life,¡± Nichole said gently. ¡°I¡¯m also aware that my niece is smart and capable. But that doesn¡¯t mean that she can always make the right decision. Hence, this time, we took the liberty of deciding for her.¡±

    The fox boy frowned at her reasoning.

    [He¡¯s really different from Trevor, even though both of them love Neoma.]

    ¡°What are you going to do if Neoma makes the wrong decision, Lewis?¡±

    .....

    ¡°I will stick with Princess Neoma whether she makes the right or wrong decision,¡± Lewis said without hesitation. ¡°Knowing Princess Neoma, she¡¯d rather make the wrong decision and learn from it than let other people pick the ¡°right¡± decision for her. Hence, I¡¯m prepared to protect Princess Neoma from the consequences of her decisions.¡±

    ¡°Why would you choose that when there¡¯s an easier way to survive?¡±

    ¡°Because Princess Neoma is arrogant.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡±

    Lewis smiled faintly. ¡°Princess Neoma is arrogant,¡± he repeated in a soft, warm voice. ¡°It will hurt her pride if we paved the easy road for her. Princess Neoma is the type of person who would choose the path that no one else has taken yet, because she doesn¡¯t like following other people. And I respect her for that.¡±

    Ah.

    That very moment, Nichole finally realized what Lewis was in Neoma¡¯s life.

    Her niece imed the fox boy as her ¡°son.¡±

    But that wasn¡¯t the right term.

    A long time ago, there was a title for the chosen knight of the emperor. However, it was abolished when the previous emperors got scared of the own ¡°monsters¡± that they had created along with that position.

    However, Nichole had a feeling that Neoma would restore that position once she became the first empress of the Great Moonasterion Empire.

    [I can see it now.]

    ¡°Guardian Knight,¡± Nichole said, smiling. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be the first Guardian Knight of the future Empress Neoma, Lewis Crevan.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care about titles or ranks,¡± Lewis said, his golden eyes glowing beautifully. ¡°As long as I can stay beside Princess Neoma, then I can be anything or everything she needs me to be.¡±

    ***

    ANNOUNCEMENT: Neoma is already an adult in the advanced chapters. Hehe. Please subscribe to my priv chapters to meet the 19-year-old Neoma if you can. Thank you~

    ***

 Chapter 588 - 588 THE ROYAL FAMILY IS BUSY

    588 THE ROYAL FAMILY IS BUSY

    ¡°SO, HOW did your confrontation with Ruto go?¡±

    Niki flinched at Mona¡¯s question as soon as he returned to his bedroom.

    He took a bath and changed his clothes in a different room to use it as an excuse as to why he left early. But it was useless.

    [Mona already knows that I went out to confront Ruston Stroganoff, so I can¡¯t deny it.]

    ¡°Niki, you¡¯re so petty,¡± Juliet said, then she sipped her milk. ¡°Neoma is an adult inside. Moreover, I heard from Mona that Neoma and Ruto seemed to have been lovers in the first timeline. What¡¯s wrong if they continue their rtionship now?¡±

    ¡°Neoma is still too young to have a lover,¡± Niki said firmly, then he sat on the chair next to Mona¨C joining thedies in the round table where a simple breakfast was spread. ¡°She¡¯s only thirteen years old. I know it¡¯s riching from me who was already dating Mona at that age. However, my opinion won¡¯t change.¡±

    ¡°While I agree with you in that matter, I still don¡¯t like how you terrorize the poor young men who admire our beautiful daughter,¡± Mona said while shaking her head. ¡°You¡¯re especially mean to Ruto, my love.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s because Neoma likes him the most.¡±

    ¡°And how did you know that our daughter likes Ruto the best?¡±

    .....

    ¡°Because Ruston Stroganoff looks the inest out of all the boys around Neoma,¡± Niki said. ¡°And yet, Neoma who¡¯s obsessed with pretty faces, chose him.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t that Ruston Stroganoff was seriously ¡®in.¡¯

    In fact, the young chef was considered handsome by normal standards.

    However, the boys around Neoma were all ridiculously handsome.

    Lewis.

    Trevor.

    Jasper Hawthorne.

    And of course, the so-called ¡°most handsome boy on the entire continent¡±¨C Rubin Drayton. Many people had been singing praises about how that punk¡¯s face that it even reached his ears. Him, the emperor.

    [That¡¯s how famous Rubin Drayton is for his handsome face.]

    ¡°You know, my love,¡± Mona said while putting a hand over his. ¡°The more you pick on Ruto, the more protective Neoma will get with him.¡±

    Juliet nodded in agreement. ¡°You¡¯re practically announcing Ruto as your son-inw by paying attention to him, you know?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not true,¡± Niki insisted. ¡°I hate all the boys around Neoma EQUALLY.¡±

    Juliet just shook her head, obviously frustrated with his stubbornness.

    ¡°Let¡¯s talk about Neoma and her suitorster,¡± Mona said, fortunately changing the topic as she turned more serious. ¡°I have news to share with you. First, Lord Manu and Delwyn are done locating where two of Prince Skylus¡¯ scattered divine powersnded.¡±

    That was some good news.

    ¡°The crows know that the new saint¡¯s divine power was scattered, so they must be looking for it as well,¡± Niki said in an impatient tone. ¡°We must collect the new saint¡¯s divine power first and return it to the young prince.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯d like to talk to you about with our children,¡± Mona said, nodding. ¡°The Rose Petals that I attached to Calyx Dalton and Callisto de Luca have been activated.¡±

    ¡°That means the targets have settled down,¡± Niki said. ¡°Where are they hiding?¡±

    ***

    ¡°THE BLOOD Sea?¡± Nero asked, knitting his eyebrows while looking at the map spread on the table. ¡°It¡¯s Dahlia¡¯s home.¡±

    Right now, Nero was in the study in his father¡¯s pce.

    His parents were with him.

    The former empress Lady Juliet Sloane (in her baby form) was also with them. But the former empress was sleeping on the sofa.

    [Anyway¡­]

    The Blood Sea was a hidden ind surrounded by sea dyed with an Ancient Spirit¡¯s blood.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, son,¡± his mother said while looking at the map, too. ¡°A portion of the new saint¡¯s divine powernded in the Blood Sea.¡±

    Nero clenched his hands tight. ¡°All the more reason why we must rescue Dahlia. If she was with us, we can easily retrieve the divine power that fell on the Blood Sea.¡±

    ¡°Son, we know that you¡¯re desperate to save Dahlia. But listen to us first,¡± his father said. Then the emperor pointed at one of the ¡°forbidden zones¡± of the continent. To be precise, his father pointed at the Saanya Desert. ¡°This is where your mother located Calyx Dalton and Callisto de Luca. There¡¯s a high chance that Dahlia is there, too.¡±

    ¡°The Blood Sea and the Saanya Desert are literally oceans apart.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not the only problem, Nero,¡± his father said sternly. ¡°The second portion of the new saint¡¯s divine powernded on the Saanya Desert.¡±

    His eyes widened a bit from surprise. ¡°That¡¯s not an ideal situation.¡±

    Because if the crows had a hide-out in the Saanya Desert, then it wouldn¡¯t be easy for them to retrieve it.

    ¡°As expected, I must go,¡± Nero said firmly. ¡°Mother, Father, we must divide our forces. I volunteer to rescue Dahlia and retrieve the divine power thatnded on the Saanya Desert. And I¡¯m doing this not only because I wanted to save Dahlia.¡±

    His father frowned. ¡°Then what¡¯s the other reason?¡±

    ¡°The knights that I recruited to be a part of my future Knight Order are finallypleted,¡± Nero informed his parents. ¡°They¡¯ve been staying in the Royal Capital for quite some time now.¡±

    His father¡¯s frown turned into a smirk. ¡°Nero, do you think I¡¯ll allow you to raid the enemies¡¯ base with a group of newly-recruited knights who haven¡¯t even worked together before? I hope you¡¯re not underestimating the crows.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like that, Father,¡± Nero insisted. ¡°This won¡¯t be the first time that I willmand those people, so it will be fine. I know how to use each of them to the fullest.¡±

    His parents looked confused, hence he exined.

    ¡°The people that I asked the Fletcher Twins to gather for me are the members of my Knight Order in my previous life.¡±

    Now his parents looked shocked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t remember my previous life the way Neoma does,¡± Nero said carefully. ¡°I only saw some fragments of the past through many long dreams. And in some of those dreams, I saw the people who served me faithfully back then. Hence, I recruited them to be my people in this timeline.¡±

    ¡°But even if that¡¯s true, they haven¡¯t met you yet, Nero,¡± his mother said worriedly. ¡°How do you know if they¡¯ll also be loyal to you this time?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Mother,¡± Nero assured her. ¡°I didn¡¯tze around while I was still in aatose state before. I regrly met my knights in my Spirit form in order to train them in secret. Hence, I¡¯m confident that I canmand them well.¡±

    ¡°Nero, it¡¯s still too dangerous for you to face the crows head-on,¡± his father said, sighing.

    ¡°I don¡¯t need to fight the crows to death,¡± Nero said. ¡°My objective is to rescue Dahlia and retrieve the divine power in the Saanya Desert.¡± He looked at the emperor straight in the eye. ¡°Your Majesty, please have faith in me. I am the Crown Prince of the empire. Hence, I won¡¯t fight a battle that I know I can¡¯t win.¡±

    A glint of pride sparkled in his father¡¯s eyes as if he was proud of him.

    Nero already knew by then that he had already won the argument.

    [Father, Mother, you love your children a little too much.]

    ***

    NEOMA was enraged.

    She felt like going crazy from too much anger after she heard Ruto¡¯s story about the poor Aether that the gods in the Upper World were trying to kill just because it was too weak and too old to perform its job.

    ¡°If they¡¯re so crazy about breathing clean air, then why don¡¯t they fucking find the source of pollution in their goddamned world instead of finding a new Aether?¡± Neoma said, her tiny fists clenched hard. ¡°Bringing in a new Aether is like putting a band-aid on a gunshot wound¨C it¡¯s stupid and useless just like their freaking worthless asses!¡±

    [AAARRRGGGHHH!!!]

    Neoma screamed internally while Ruto just sipped his tea calmly.

    Okay, that did the trick.

    Looking at Ruto¡¯s serene face also soothed her raging heart. There was something about his calm demeanor that never failed to heal her.

    [Yep, looking at Ruto is healing.]

    ¡°Are you done being angry?¡± Ruto asked politely as he quietly put the teacup down on the saucer. ¡°Would you like some more chicken?¡±

    Neoma nodded calmly. ¡°Yes, please.¡±

    Ruto made pancakes and fried chicken for breakfast.

    But she was already done with her pancake.

    Hence, she was focused on the fried chicken this time. And since only the two of them were in the room, she used her hands to eat the chicken drumstick that Ruto handed to her.

    [This is how you eat a fried chicken anyway.]

    She wasn¡¯t conscious to eat like that in front of Ruto since she knew she was still pretty even if she ate with her hands.

    [And Ruto likes whatever I do.]

    Thankfully, Hanna allowed Neoma and Ruto to stay in the same room.

    ording to her cousin, she trusted that the young lord wouldn¡¯t make a move on a baby. Hence, Hanna graciously excused herself to give Neoma and Ruto some private time.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m calm now,¡± Neoma said after she ate two more chicken drumsticks. ¡°I¡¯m full.¡±

    ¡°Very well,¡± Ruto said, then he stood up and walked towards her. Then he used a wet handkerchief to clean her face and hands. ¡°Should I pour you some milk?¡±

    ¡°Yes, please.¡±

    He just nodded, then she poured milk onto her teacup.

    Only then did Ruto return to his seat.

    .....

    [Hehe. Ruto is treating me like a princess. Well, I am HIS princess.]

    Anyway, it was time to get serious.

    ¡°Ruto, as I said earlier, Lewis was kidnapped,¡± Neoma said solemnly. ¡°I know that it¡¯s a trap set up by the Devil to kidnap me. But I still want to save my ¡°son¡± first.¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s do it,¡± Ruto said. ¡°Let¡¯s save Lewis.¡±

    Her eyes widened in surprise. ¡°You¡¯re going with me?¡±

    ¡°If you allow me, then I¡¯d like to go with you this time.¡±

    She nodded eagerly, but her shoulders slumped quickly when she remembered her biggest worry at the moment. ¡°But I¡¯m being selfish, Ruto. Dahlia was kidnapped, and the new saint was already born. We have to save Dahlia and collect the scattered divine power. But, here I am, prioritizing Lewis just because he¡¯s my ¡°son.¡±¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with that?¡± he asked calmly. ¡°Saving the ck Witch and collecting the new saint¡¯s divine power aren¡¯t your sole responsibilities, Neoma.¡±

    ¡°But Dahlia is a friend,¡± she reason. ¡°And I promised the baby saint that I will return his divine power to him.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re too soft-hearted, Neoma.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear that from the person who chose the world over the love of his life in the first timeline.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why I ¡°killed¡± Commander Yoan Solfrid.¡±

    Ah, so that was it.

    Ruto was saying that he changed his name this time in order to forget the fool that he was in his past life.

    ¡°Well, I love myself too much to kill even a less pretty part of me,¡± Neoma said, shrugging even though the movement made her look like she was dancing. ¡°But is it really okay for me to be this selfish, Ruto? The entire world is in danger. But I want to save my family first.¡±

    And that family was Lewis, of course.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay for you to be selfish, Neoma,¡± Ruto said seriously. ¡°If someone says otherwise, I¡¯ll deal with them.¡±

    She couldn¡¯t help butugh at what he said. ¡°It sounds like we¡¯re two viins talking about how we¡¯ll destroy the world.¡±

    ¡°Well, we have the power to do so¡­¡±

    She justughed it off.

    Then she noticed that even though they were talking, Ruto wasn¡¯t looking at her face. He wasn¡¯t even meeting her gaze.

    [It¡¯s quite rude to do that.]

    But she knew that Ruto wouldn¡¯t do that just to be rude to her.

    Plus, her gut feeling was telling her something was off.

    ¡°Ruto?¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you looking at me properly?¡± Neoma asked carefully. ¡°Do you feel awkward because I¡¯m in a baby form?¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± he said, but it sounded like he was lying. Moreover, he changed the topic right away. ¡°Speaking of your baby form, I believe you¡¯ll return to normal even if we don¡¯t do anything.¡±

    He seeded in distracting her because he mentioned a very important discussion.

    [But I¡¯ll get youter, Ruto.]

    ¡°Really?¡± she asked. ¡°I¡¯ll return to normal on my own?¡±

    ¡°Your divine power is stronger now than it was when I checked on you earlier,¡± Ruto exined. ¡°The stronger your divine power is, the bigger ¡®vessel¡¯ is needed. And by ¡®vessel,¡¯ I mean your physical body.¡±

    She looked at her tiny hands. ¡°But I didn¡¯t grow an inch.¡± She looked up at Ruto with a pout. ¡°What will happen if my divine power gets stronger but the vessel remains the same? Am I going tobust or something?¡±

    ¡°I can see why you think you¡¯dbust,¡± he said. ¡°But don¡¯t worry, I assure you that it won¡¯t happen. The blessing that you have is stronger than the spell that turned you into a baby. It will break the spell before it harms you.¡±

    ¡°So, all I have to do now is wait?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Will Tteokbokki and my baby Spiritse back once I return to normal?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Ruto said while nodding. ¡°Your Soul Beast and Spirits disappeared because your vessel can¡¯t handle their presence.¡±

    ¡°Then where did they go?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re somewhere inside your soul,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s hard to exin because you don¡¯t remember, but there¡¯s a space in your soul that only you can ess. And it¡¯s also connected to the reason why you¡¯re not allowed to learn teleportation spells.¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t tell me what it is?¡±

    ¡°Not yet, at least,¡± Ruto said apologetically. ¡°But please trust me on this, Neoma.¡±

    ¡°I trust you, Ruto,¡± she said softly. ¡°Hence, I¡¯ll wait until you¡¯re ready to tell me why you can¡¯t look at my face properly.¡±

    He looked surprised by what she said.

    ¡°I know it¡¯s not just because I look like a baby right now,¡± she said. ¡°There must be a reason why you can¡¯t look at me. I know that you can¡¯t see my face clearly since I¡¯m weak as hell at the moment. But I don¡¯t understand why you look guilty every time our eyes meet briefly.¡±

    Heughed but it sounded like a nervousugh. ¡°I really can¡¯t hide anything from you, can I?¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t, so don¡¯t even think about keeping things from me for too long,¡± she warned Ruto lightly. ¡°You know what¡¯s worse than mimunication? It¡¯s hiding things from your partner that they ought to know.¡± She sipped her tea before she continued. ¡°If we want to be endgame, we should be honest to each other as much as we could.¡±

    Ruto smiled yfully at her. ¡°Are we endgame, Neoma?¡±

    She knew that it was way too early to talk about that.

    Moreover, even though she was usually (over)confident of herself, she hadn¡¯t forgotten that Ruto once chose the entire world over her.

    Whether she¡¯d like to admit it or not, that did a number on her confidence.

    [I mean, I haven¡¯t done anything for Ruto yet. It¡¯s always me who receives wonderful things from him.]

    ¡°That depends on you, Ruto,¡± Neoma said cheekily. ¡°I won¡¯t ask you to choose me over the world. You¡¯re an adult, so it¡¯s up to you how we¡¯ll end up this time.¡±

 Chapter 589 - 589 NEROâ€™S SECOND THORN

    589 NERO¡¯S SECOND THORN

    ¡°YOU¡¯RE going to rescue Miss Dahlia with your Knight Order?¡± Hanna asked, then she sipped her tea before she dropped the next question. ¡°And you want me to go with you?¡±

    ¡°I need your strength, Hanna,¡± Nero said. ¡°If possible, I¡¯d like to join us.¡±

    Haaah.

    What was she expecting?

    Nero asked her to have breakfast with her.

    Since she wanted to give Neoma and Lord Ruto some privacy, she agreed with the Crown Prince¡¯s request.

    [But I didn¡¯t expect Nero to ask me to help him rescue Miss Dahlia.]

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I already told Neoma I¡¯m joining her to rescue Lewis,¡± Hanna said. ¡°But I will pray for you and your knights to rescue Miss Dahlia sincerely.¡±

    She really hoped that Dahlia would get rescued soon.

    .....

    However, in her heart, Lewis was more important to her than a youngdy she hadn¡¯t met yet. If she was being mean and heartless, so be it.

    ¡°Why do you need to go with Neoma?¡± Nero asked, frowning. ¡°Since that insolent Ruston Stroganoff is here, I¡¯m assuming he¡¯ll stick to my sister like glue. The two of them are more than enough to rescue Lewis from the Devil.¡±

    ¡°For someone who¡¯s obsessed with his twin sister, you look pretty calm about sending Neoma to rescue Lewis with Lord Ruto.¡±

    To be honest, she didn¡¯t expect it.

    ¡°I hate to say this, but I acknowledge Ruston Stroganoff¡¯s strength,¡± the Crown Prince said. ¡°And I know that our Aunt Nichole won¡¯t hurt Neoma. Hence, I¡¯d rather send my sister to the Devil¡¯s side than the crows¡¯ base.¡±

    She raised an eyebrow at that remark. ¡°And yet you want to bring me there just to use my power in order to rescue Miss Dahlia?¡±

    He let out a sigh. ¡°Hanna, I¡¯m not going to rescue Miss Dahlia just because of our rtionship in the first timeline. I¡¯m doing this because I can¡¯t let the crows use her to harm Neoma and the Royal Family.¡± He put a hand over his chest. ¡°I¡¯m just performing my duty as the Crown Prince of the empire.¡±

    ¡°I understand, so you don¡¯t have to exin to me,¡± she said calmly. ¡°Didn¡¯t I already say I¡¯d pray for your sess?¡±

    ¡°Hanna Quinzel, what is Lewis to you?¡±

    ¡°Why do I have to answer that?¡±

    ¡°Neoma has been raising that fox since she was a toddler, so I understand why she¡¯d choose to rescue Lewis even though it¡¯s already time for us to gather the new saint¡¯s divine power,¡± he said indifferently. ¡°But I don¡¯t understand why you care about Lewis that much.¡±

    She didn¡¯t know why Nero was interrogating her as if she hadmitted a mistake, but she didn¡¯t want to argue with him further so she just gave him an answer. ¡°Lewis is my friend.¡±

    ¡°A friend, huh?¡± Nero asked sarcastically. ¡°The future Crown Princess is going to put her life at risk for a friend. Are you aiming to be a saintess?¡±

    ¡°When Neoma is being sarcastic, it¡¯s entertaining. But when you do it, you just sound in evil,¡± Hanna retorted. She was boiling inside, but her upbringing as a prim and proper nobledy allowed her to look and sound as calm as possible. ¡°Nero, do I have to remind you that our engagement isn¡¯t official yet?¡±

    ¡°That may be true, but the empire already considers you the Crown Princess,¡± he said. ¡°I know that we agreed to end our ¡°rtionship¡± soon. So, until then, can you act as my fianc¨¦e?¡±

    ¡°And by acting as your fianc¨¦e, do you meaning with you to rescue Miss Dahlia?¡± she asked in disbelief. ¡°Nero de Moonasterio, you¡¯re driving me crazy in a bad way.¡±

    If she was the old Hanna, she wouldn¡¯t dare talk back to the Crown Prince.

    Moreover, she was raised as a textbook nobledy. That meant she was taught that it was ¡°normal¡± for noblemen to have a mistress or two. And a ¡°proper¡± wife was supposed to turn a blind eye to her husband¡¯s infidelity.

    When marriage talks between her and Nero started, her mother told her to prepare herself because as the future emperor, the Crown Prince was allowed to have a concubine.

    In short, she was taught to ¡°graciously¡± ept her future husband¡¯s other women.

    For a time, she believed that it was the right thing to do.

    But after meeting Neoma, she had to unlearn most of the things that was taught to her while growing up. It wasn¡¯t an easy thing to do, though. Sometimes she would take a step forward, only to take two steps backwards and find herself yielding to what the society expected from a nobledy like her.

    [Old habits are hard to break, after all.]

    She was determined this time, though.

    ¡°Nero, I¡¯m selfish and greedy,¡± Hanna said calmly. This time, her heart was really at ease. After all, it was refreshing to be honest with herself. ¡°If I¡¯m going to get married in the future, then I want my husband to be faithful to me. I don¡¯t want to share him with anyone else. Hence, if you still intend to make me the Crown Princess despite our agreement to break up soon, then you better make up your mind and stop being indecisive.¡±

    She hated how she was still willing to give Nero a chance, but she couldn¡¯t help it.

    [I really like him, huh?]

    ¡°Are you asking me to choose between you and Dahlia even though Dahlia is nothing to me?¡±

    ¡°For someone who is ¡°nothing¡± to you, you sure are desperate to save her.¡±

    Nero smirked bitterly. ¡°I see you learned sarcasm from Neoma.¡±

    ¡°No one can teach sarcasm better than Neoma does,¡± Hanna said, then she stood up while looking at Nero coldly. ¡°I won¡¯t wait for you forever, Nero.¡±

    ***

    A CAT.

    Neoma made eye contact with a ck cat that came out of nowhere.

    [Of course, it can¡¯t be a normal cat.]

    What kind of cat could break through the Shadow Barrier that Hanna put over the entire bedroom? Moreover, Ruto was with her and he was protecting Neoma with his power too even though they were only having tea at the moment.

    Ruto ced the teacup down on the saucer. ¡°Should I kill it?¡±

    The ck cat growled at Ruto.

    ¡°You¡¯re Gin, aren¡¯t you?¡± Neoma asked while looking at the ck cat. ¡°If you don¡¯t want Ruto to take one of your nine lives, then you better state why you¡¯re here.¡±

    <¡°Princess Neoma, do you know where Gavin Quinzel is at the moment?¡±>

    It was Gin¡¯s voice, indeed.

    ¡°As far as I know, appa is stuck in a block of ice on a certain ind,¡± she said, trying to ignore the pain in her heart as she remembered her appa and the harmful things that he did to Mama Boss and Papa Boss in the past. ¡°Why are you asking me about my appa?¡±

    <¡°Do you know it was the great Lord Ruto who trapped your ¡°appa¡± in ice?¡±>

    Of course, she wasn¡¯t aware since she didn¡¯t monitor her man¡¯s activities.

    But Gin didn¡¯t need to know that, so she maintained an indifferent face.

    ¡°So what?¡± she asked nonchntly. Thankfully, she was good at acting. ¡°Get to the point or you¡¯ll lose one of your many lives by my tiny hands.¡±

    She clenched her fists and raised them to threaten the ck cat.

    But Gin only snorted as if he found her cute instead of scary.

    <¡°Let¡¯s meet where Gavin Quinzel is two days from now¨C and we¡¯ll return Lewis to Your Royal Highness unharmed.¡±>

    ¡°Sure,¡± Neoma said. ¡°Just so you know, I¡¯m not going alone.¡±

    <¡°Of course. Princess Nichole and the Devil wouldn¡¯t want you to go alone either, Neoma. After all, we always wish for your safety happiness.¡±>

    It must mean the Devil¡¯s side was confident they could kidnap her even though she had Ruto, Hanna, and her ¡°children¡± with her.

    [Fine, bring it on.]

    <¡°Now that I¡¯ve delivered my message, I¡¯ll be leaving now,¡±> Gin said, his body turning transparent already. <¡°See youter, Princess Neoma.¡±>

    ¡°Feed Lewis well, okay?¡± Neoma warned the ck cat. ¡°If there¡¯s so much as a mosquito bite on my ¡°son,¡± I¡¯ll destroy you all.¡±

    The ck cat justughed before he disappearedpletely.

    ¡°Is it alright to just let the ck cat go like that?¡±

    ¡°Gin wouldn¡¯t be a good hostage anyway,¡± Neoma said, shrugging. ¡°The Devil¡¯s side won¡¯t exchange Gin¡¯s life for Lewis. And we won¡¯t benefit anything from killing him.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡±

    ¡°What would have you done if you were in my ce, Ruto?¡±

    He shook his head. ¡°I only want you to hear pretty things, so I won¡¯t answer that question.¡±

    ¡°Pfft,¡± she snorted. ¡°You talk as if you don¡¯t know I curse all the time. Hear only pretty things? Oh, please. I¡¯d rather SEE pretty things instead of just hearing them. I¡¯m a visual kind of person.¡±

    ¡°Even so, I still want to treat you kindly.¡±

    ¡°Gosh, you¡¯re so in love.¡±

    [I¡¯m d that Ruto has retrieved his memories already, but why do I feel off?]

    Ruto just smiled and sipped his tea. ¡°Neoma, aren¡¯t you going to ask me why I trapped Gavin Quinzel in a block of ice?¡±

    ¡°Will you answer me honestly if I asked?¡±

    ¡°Gavin Quinzel was trying to take you away,¡± he said. ¡°Had he seeded, everyone that you hold dear would have been in danger. Hence, I stopped him. I¡¯m sorry for deciding for you.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t like it when people decide for me,¡± she admitted. ¡°However, I know that I wouldn¡¯t be able to choose the right decision when ites to my appa. I¡¯m not saying that I¡¯m happy with what you did, and I won¡¯t say ¡®thank you¡¯ either.¡±

    ¡°I understand.¡±

    ¡°And don¡¯t do it again,¡± she warned him lightly. ¡°The next time you decide for me, I¡¯ll get angry for real.¡±

    He nodded. ¡°I won¡¯t do it again.¡±

    .....

    ¡°Okay. Now answer me honestly,¡± Neoma said, turning serious. ¡°I don¡¯t have Tteokbokki right now. Since you were the one to trap my appa in that ice, is it also possible for you to melt the ice that you made?¡±

    Ruto raised an eyebrow at her. ¡°And what will you do if I said I can do that?¡±

    ***

    ¡°DON¡¯T WORRY¨C we don¡¯t need the Bead of a ck Witch.¡±

    Dahlia gulped hard when a man in a white coat appeared in front of the cell where she was locked up.

    The prison was designed to trap a ck Witch like her.

    Hence, no matter what she did, she couldn¡¯t break free. Worse, she couldn¡¯t even summon Lapiz¨C her Elemental Guardian. It was as if the crows were so used to imprisoning ck Witches like her.

    She couldn¡¯t also tell where the crows had taken her.

    [I thought they abducted me to steal my Bead.]

    She was d to know that it wasn¡¯t the case. But it wasn¡¯t like she could rx. After all, the stranger in front of him spelled bad news.

    The man had a shoulder-length hair tied in a messy low ponytail. His eyes were jet-ck. He had long limbs that even though he was hunching because of poor posture, it was obvious that he was tall.

    ¡°I¡¯m Sydrion de Luca,¡± the man introduced himself in azy manner. ¡°And I¡¯m here to steal that ability from you.¡±

    Dahlia scooted back until her back hit the wall. ¡°What ability?¡±

    ¡°The one that could make Nero de Moonasterio suffer.¡±

    She felt a shiver down her spine when she remembered what the Stars had told her before.

    <¡°You are destined to be the First Star¡¯s misfortune, and Second painful thorn.¡±>

    ¡°It looks like you already know what I¡¯m talking about,¡± Sydrion de Luca said, then he touched the prison bars with his bare hands¨C melting them in the process. ¡°Now let¡¯s begin.¡±

    Dahlia swallowed the sob that was threatening toe out. ¡°I won¡¯t let you do as you please.¡±

    ***

 Chapter 590 - 590 GOODBYE, EMPRESS JULIET

    590 GOODBYE, EMPRESS JULIET

    IT WAS supposed to be a family lunch, but all they talked about was work.

    Moreover, Neoma wondered.

    [When did our family be this big?]

    Mama Boss, Papa Boss, and Nero were a give since they were her immediate family.

    This time, they were joined by Ruto, Hanna, and Baby Empress Juliet.

    They gathered in the emperor¡¯s room to have lunch together (since Neoma and Baby Empress Juliet¡¯s current state were both a secret).

    [This might also be ourst meal together in a while.]

    But she set that sad thought aside in the meantime.

    ¡°Okay, let me summarize it,¡± Neoma said, everyone¡¯s attention on her. It was a little embarrassing to take the lead because she was a baby sitting in a highchair, but whatever. ¡°Ruto, Hanna, and I will rescue Lewis from the Devil¡¯s side. Mama Boss and William will go to the Blood Sea to retrieve a piece of the baby saint¡¯s divine power. Then Nero and his ¡°children¡± will go to Saanya Desert to save Dahlia and retrieve the other portion of the divine power that fell nearby. And finally, Papa Boss will defend the fortress while we¡¯re all away.¡±

    .....

    The ¡°fortress¡± would be the empire, of course.

    In short, Papa Boss couldn¡¯t leave the Royal Pce and support either of them physically. No wonder her father looked like a lost puppy at the moment.

    ¡°Papa Boss, don¡¯t be sad,¡± Neoma consoled her sulking father. ¡°Your job is the most important here.¡±

    Papa Boss let out a sigh. ¡°I wish I could clone myself and send one to each side,¡± he said, then he looked at her with a worried look on his face. ¡°Especially to you, Neoma. After all, you¡¯re in that state at the moment.¡±

    Oh?

    She was touched.

    [I thought Papa Boss would choose to go with Mama Boss if he could.]

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Your Majesty,¡± Ruto said, and he had the nerve to talk to Papa Boss while cutting the rib-eye steak in Neoma¡¯s te into bite-size pieces. ¡°I will protect Princess Neoma.¡±

    Neoma smiled proudly.

    [I don¡¯t like when Ruto addresses me by my title, but he has to in front of the emperor.]

    Papa Boss and Nero red at Ruto, though.

    ¡°I¡¯m especially worried because of you,¡± Papa Boss said. ¡°After you save Lewis, I want you to stay away from my daughter.¡±

    Nero nodded firmly in agreement with Papa Boss¡¯ ridiculous threat.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t do that, Your Majesty,¡± Ruto said politely, looking at Papa Boss properly this time. ¡°I¡¯ll only leave if Princess Neoma wants me to.¡±

    Papa Boss and Nero¡¯s expressions turned grim.

    On the other hand, Mama Boss and Hanna smiled warmly.

    Only Baby Empress Juliet remained indifferent. ¡°Enough with your childishness, Niki,¡± she scolded the emperor. ¡°You too, Nero. Don¡¯t copy your father¡¯s bad example.¡±

    Nero cleared his throat. ¡°Yes, mydy.¡±

    Wow.

    Neoma was impressed when Nero addressed the former empress as ady.

    Her twin brother wasn¡¯t wrong. She just admired him because she couldn¡¯t do it. After all, even in a baby form, the former empress still exuded majestic vibes.

    [Nero doesn¡¯t really get fazed easily, huh?]

    ¡°Neoma, can I talk to you in personter?¡± Baby Empress Juliet asked. ¡°I have something important to tell you.¡±

    Neoma politely nodded. ¡°Of course, Your Majesty.¡±

    Oops.

    [I addressed her as if she was still the empress again¡­]

    Thankfully, it seemed like no one minded.

    ¡°Hanna, dear, I¡¯d like to talk to you in private, too,¡± Mama Boss said, smiling. ¡°Do you have time?¡±

    Hanna looked flustered at first, then she nodded shyly. ¡°Of course I have time for you, Lady Roseheart.¡±

    [I guess it¡¯s time to say goodbye to each other againter.]

    Neoma was sad to separate from her family once again, but she was also d that she didn¡¯t have to say goodbye to Ruto this time.

    [It¡¯s okay to be a little selfish sometimes, right?]

    ***

    HANNA was surprised when Lady Roseheart handed her a beautiful single-stemmed rose in a ss case. The color of the flower was unique, though. ¡°This is the first time I saw a blue rose in my life, Lady Roseheart.¡±

    When Lady Roseheart invited her to her bedroom, she thought they would only talk.

    Hanna didn¡¯t expect to receive a precious gift.

    ¡°Only the Rosehearts can produce blue roses naturally,¡± Lady Roseheart said kindly. ¡°I heard from the gardeners that you¡¯re cultivating some poisonous flowers. Hence, I thought a blue rose would be an appropriate gift to you.¡±

    She gasped when she realized what thedy meant by that. ¡°This is a poisonous flower, mydy?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s correct,¡± thedy said, nodding. ¡°Hence, please don¡¯t take it out of the ss case unless you have a need to.¡±

    ¡°May I know what kind of poison the blue rose has, mydy?¡± she asked curiously. ¡°And may I also know how it works?¡±

    ¡°You just have to stab the heart with the stem of the rose,¡± Lady Roseheart exined. ¡°The rose will absorb that person¡¯s blood. Once the rose¡¯s color turns from blue to red, the person stabbed with the rose will die within seconds. And¡­ the corpse won¡¯t be pretty.¡±

    That gave her the chills.

    [This blue rose is scary, huh?]

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Lady Roseheart said while scratching her cheek as if she was embarrassed. ¡°Maybe it wasn¡¯t an appropriate gift for a youngdy like you, after all.¡±

    Hanna smiled and shook her head. ¡°I love this, Lady Roseheart,¡± she assured thedy. ¡°And if I need to cleanse my eyes after seeing a hideous corpse, then all I have to do is look at Princess Neoma¡¯s pretty face.¡±

    Thedyughed softly, then she turned serious.

    ¡°Hanna, thank you,¡± Lady Roseheart said kindly, then she put a hand over hers. ¡°I heard what happened from Niki. I¡¯m talking about the incident when the fake Juliet put her hands on the emperor.¡±

    Ah, she remembered that.

    To be honest, she knew that what happened wasn¡¯t a mere ident as the fake Lady Sloane imed. However, back then, she couldn¡¯t understand why the former empress would lie. Hence, she let it slide.

    But after Neoma revealed that the baby she brought to the pce was the real former Empress Juliet, it finally clicked.

    [The fake Lady Sloane doesn¡¯t have the grace that the real empress possesses.]

    Hence, she felt like a fool for being deceived.

    ¡°If it weren¡¯t for you, then Niki would have been in grave danger,¡± Lady Roseheart said. ¡°Thank you for saving the emperor, Hanna.¡±

    ¡°I just did what I had to do, Lady Roseheart,¡± Hanna said, smiling. ¡°We¡¯re family, after all.¡±

    And she didn¡¯t say that just because she was Nero¡¯s potential fianc¨¦e.

    Emperor Niki was her uncle, and Lady Roseheart would be her aunt once the emperor married Lady Roseheart (and Hanna knew it would happen soon).

    But moreover, she already considered Neoma as her sister.

    [Whether I be Nero¡¯s wife or not, Neoma is already my family.]

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Lady Roseheart said, smiling warmly at her. ¡°We are family, Hanna.¡±

    And Hanna was happy to have that confirmed.

    ***

    NEOMA gasped after hearing what Baby Empress Juliet said. ¡°Your Majesty is going to lose your memories?¡±

    ¡°Normal humans like me aren¡¯t supposed to remember our previous lives,¡± Baby Empress Juliet exined. ¡°I only got to keep mine because I begged Lady Roxana to let me meet Niki and Mona as my former self for onest time. But since Lady Roxana is no longer a powerful goddess, she could only lend me the memories of my previous life for a limited time.¡±

    ¡°When will Your Majesty lose all your memories?¡±

    ¡°I believe I only have a few hours left until I lose them all.¡±

    Neoma gasped again. ¡°Already?¡±

    ¡°I already said my goodbyes to Mona and Niki,¡± the baby empress exined. ¡°Moreover, we¡¯re also done devising a n to expose the fake Juliet. I¡¯m leaving everything in your hands now.¡±

    She was sad, but what could she do?

    The former empress had already made a decision.

    ¡°Empress Juliet, were you not happy during your previous life?¡±

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say that I wasn¡¯t happy,¡± Baby Empress Juliet said while shaking her head. ¡°After all, I was born lucky and privileged. Most of all, I met true friends in Mona and Niki. However, I can¡¯t say that I lived a fulfilling life. After all, I wasn¡¯t able to do the thing that I wanted to do most.¡±

    ¡°To serve the Light Goddess?¡±

    .....

    ¡°That¡¯s correct,¡± the baby empress said. ¡°Because I was born a noble in the Moonasterion Empire, my parents forced me to worship Lord Yule even though I¡¯ve admired Lady Roxana since I was a child. I was deeply moved when I learned that it was the Light Goddess who contributed most when saving the world from the Absolute Darkness during the Ancient Period.¡±

    Ah, she heard that story before.

    ¡°But I never understood why Lord Yule was the one celebrated the most even though it was Lady Roxana who sacrificed herself for the world,¡± Baby Empress Juliet said. ¡°And the stupid patriarchal society that we have even erased the traces of Lady Roxana to manipte more people to worship Lord Yule and Lord Yule only.¡±

    Oh?

    [So they destroyed Lady Roxana¡¯s temple to force the people to worship Lord Yule?]

    The nobles of this empire, really¡­

    [I should ask Nero to discipline the noblester.]

    ¡°But now that I¡¯ve been reborn, no one can stop me from serving Lady Roxana by bing the Light Saintess,¡± Baby Empress Juliet said. ¡°Hence, I need to forget who I was in my past life. I want to devote my new life to serving the Light Goddess.¡±

    She was touched by the former empress¡¯ devotion.

    To be honest, Neoma was rude to the gods, since most of the gods wanted her dead just because she had the potential to be the next Aether.

    [But I often forget that not all gods are bad.]

    She should stopmitting sphemy left and right.

    [I promise to be more respectful from now on.]

    ¡°I¡¯ll support your decision, Your Majesty,¡± Neoma said sincerely. ¡°I wish Your Majesty happiness.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± the baby empress said. ¡°Neoma, can I ask a favor?¡±

    ¡°Of course, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°Before you rescue your ¡°son,¡± can you bring me to the Hazelden Kingdom?¡±

    She heard that the Quinzels had a portal directly connected to the Hazelden Kingdom. Moreover, she was still waiting for Jasper oppa and her ¡°children¡± to arrive. Hence, she still had time before her scheduled meeting with the Devil¡¯s side.

    ¡°Of course, Your Majesty,¡± Neoma said. ¡°But may I know why Your Majesty needs to head to Hazelden?¡±

    ¡°Lady Roxana asked me to stay by the new saint¡¯s side until I¡¯m big enough to be independent,¡± the baby empress exined. ¡°Apparently, she asked Lord Manu to raise me along with the new saint.¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± she said, surprised. ¡°I thought Your Majesty is going to stay here in the empire. But considering that the empire worships Lord Yule, it only makes sense that Your Majesty moves to a different country.¡±

    ¡°Most of the people in Hazelden worship Lord Yule since the kingdom is still a part of the Altalune Continent, and the continent is governed by the Moon God,¡± the baby empress said. ¡®Allune¡¯ was the official name of the Western Continent. ¡°However, Hazelden is more tolerant of people with different religions. It won¡¯t hurt to start spreading the Light Godess¡¯ words in that kingdom instead of the empire.¡±

    She nodded in agreement. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then I¡¯m sure Brigitte unnie and Uncle Glenn will support Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°I hope they like me enough to adopt me.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Ah, I forgot to tell you,¡± the baby empress said as if brushing off what she said about getting adopted. ¡°Neoma, I have a new name now. Please call me by the name that Mona and Niki gave me.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± she asked, happy for the baby empress. ¡°What should I call Your Majesty from now on?¡±

    ¡°¡®Monik,''¡± the former Empress Juliet said with a warm look on her face. ¡°Mona and Niki gave me a name from their namesbined together.¡±

    She didn¡¯t know, but she suddenly felt emotional.

    [Mama Boss, Papa Boss, and the former Empress Juliet¡¯s friendship is so genuine.]

    ¡°That¡¯s a beautiful name,¡± Neoma said, smiling. ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you, Monik.¡±

    ***

    MONIK closed her eyes and savored the warmth of Mona and Niki¡¯s embrace.

    Right now, she was in the arms of Mona as Niki hugged both of them.

    This would be thest time that the three of them would be together before all her memories as Juliet Sloane disappeared.

    Later, she would awaken as Monik¨C the Light Saintess.

    [My head will only be filled with Lady Roxana¡¯s words, just like how the Moon Saints were born with their head filled with Lord Yule¡¯s words.]

    ¡°Safe travels, Monik,¡± Mona whispered softly. ¡°We will take care of everything.¡±

    ¡°You may rest in peace now as Juliet,¡± Niki said gently. ¡°And live your life the way you want to as Monik.¡±

    She was never a crybaby.

    But for thest time, she allowed herself to shed tears.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry I have to leave you again, and thank you for being my friends. You made Juliet¡¯s life worth living,¡± Monik whispered between sobs. ¡°Mona, Niki, let¡¯s all be happy until the end this time.¡±

    Goodbye, Juliet Sloane.

    Goodbye, Empress Juliet de Moonasterio.

    Goodbye, Mona and Niki.

    [Goodbye, my previous life.]

 Chapter 591 - 591 NEOMAâ€™S RARE HUMBLE MOMENT

    591 NEOMA¡¯S RARE HUMBLE MOMENT

    ¡°LORD KINGSTON, you¡¯reing with Monik?¡± Neoma asked, surprised when the White Lion appeared while she was sitting on the bed and waiting for Hanna who was packing her things in the other room (the equivalent of a modern walk-in closet). ¡°You¡¯re not going to return to the Lion Tribe yet?¡±

    ¡°I will return hometer, and give my greetings to the Cosmic Tree,¡± Kingston said. ¡°But only after I¡¯m certain that Lady Monik has settled down somewhere safe. The Light Goddess personally asked me to care for the Light Saintess. Hence, I¡¯ll be her guardian in the meantime.¡±

    She smiled at the Elemental Guardian. ¡°That¡¯s a relief.¡±

    ¡°Please wait for me, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°I will stay with Lady Monik until she¡¯s capable of protecting herself,¡± Kingston said firmly. ¡°Butter, please allow me to serve you as your Elemental Guardian.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± she asked, surprised. ¡°Me? Why me? Nero mentioned you¡¯ve mistaken him as your previous master. So, I thought you¡¯d choose him as your new master.¡±

    ¡°I was surprised by the simr ¡°scent¡± that Prince Nero and my previous master exuded,¡± the White Lion exined. ¡°But that doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯ll serve the Crown Prince just because of that. I didn¡¯t feel any connection to Prince Nero at all.¡±

    ¡°Oh, is that so?¡±

    .....

    Kingston nodded. ¡°Lady Roseheart and Prince Nero contributed a lot in freeing me. However, it was you who recognized that I needed help, Princess Neoma. It was you who gave me hope first. If you didn¡¯t promise that you¡¯d free me from Calyx Dalton¡¯s clutches, then I wouldn¡¯t have the will to fight.¡±

    She smiled shyly. No matter how arrogant she was, she knew when to take apliment and when not to. ¡°It¡¯s embarrassing since I didn¡¯t do much to warrant this kind of praise from you, Lord Kingston.¡±

    The White Lionughed merrily. ¡°Princess Neoma, it¡¯s in your nature to help people. Hence, you don¡¯t think it¡¯s a big deal. But for the people you saved like me, we owe you our lives.¡±

    ¡°But I¡¯m just doing the bare minimum,¡± she said, still feeling bashful for some reason. She could brag about her beauty and brains all the time. But when it came to her good deeds, she wanted to keep quiet about them since for her, it wasn¡¯t a big deal. ¡°Living decently while helping the less fortunate is normal. In fact, sometimes, it¡¯s arrogance itself.¡±

    ¡°You truly are the hope of the Great Moonasterion Empire, Princess Neoma,¡± Kingston said gently. ¡°I can¡¯t wait for the day when I can serve you fully, Master.¡±

    Neoma covered her small face with her tiny hands. ¡°Now I¡¯m shy.¡±

    The White Lion justughed as if he was amused.

    Fortunately, she recovered from her being embarrassed when she remembered there was a reason she wanted to talk to Kingston.

    ¡°My lord, I have a favor to ask.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to ask me for a favor, Master,¡± Kingston said, making Neoma shy again. ¡°Your will is mymand.¡±

    [Aigoo.]

    She cleared her throat to mask her embarrassment from being called ¡®Master¡¯ by someone like the White Lion. ¡°I can¡¯t summon the Spirits or contact the Cosmic Tree since I became a baby. Can you help me with that?¡±

    ¡°I can reach out to the Cosmic Tree now that I¡¯m free from the crows,¡± the White Lion said. ¡°I canmunicate with the Spirits, too. But it depends on which Spirit it is, Princess Neoma. I¡¯m afraid I cannot reach out to Higher Spirits.¡±

    ¡°I just need a Spirit who can send a message to the Queen of the Spirit World.¡±

    ¡°The Cosmic Tree and the Queen of Spirit World, huh?¡± Kingston mused while giving her a look full of amusement. ¡°I wonder what my Master is up to.¡±

    ¡°They both owe me a lot,¡± Neoma said, smirking. ¡°It¡¯s time for the Cosmic Tree and the Queen of Spirit World to pay what they owe me.¡±

    ***

    ¡°NIKOLAI, our children are waiting for us,¡± Mona said while patting Niki¡¯s arms that were wrapped around her waist tightly. ¡°And we need to go now.¡±

    Niki just hugged her tighter, burying his face against the crook of her neck. ¡°You and our twins are leaving to do dangerous missions. And I¡¯m left here in the Royal Pce, safe while my entire family is risking their lives. I hate it.¡±

    ¡°Just because you¡¯re in the Royal Pce doesn¡¯t mean you¡¯re safe,¡± she scolded him. ¡°And your responsibility to hold the fortress while we¡¯re gone is just as important as our missions. You have to do well, okay?¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± he said even though it was obvious that he was still sulking. ¡°I¡¯ll keep the Royal Pce safe while running the empire well. I won¡¯t let either the nobles or the crows disrupt the peace that we have here.¡±

    ¡°Very well, my love.¡±

    ¡°Please return to my side safely, Mona,¡± Niki begged her. ¡°I don¡¯t know what I¡¯ll do if I lost you again.¡±

    ¡°Of course, my love,¡± Mona assured him. ¡°The twins and I wille home as quickly as we could.¡±

    ***

    ¡°NERO, as soon as I¡¯m done saving Lewis, I will follow you and your team in Saanya Desert,¡± Neoma said while looking at Nero who was holding her in his arms. ¡°So hang in there, okay?¡±

    Right now, Neoma and Nero were in the room next to the Papa Boss¡¯ room. Their parents were still saying goodbye to each other, and they refused to see it.

    [I mean, no child wants to see their parents flirt¡­]

    Anyway¡­

    She was telling Nero that she would act as reinforcement, since she was confident that they could save Lewis quickly since she was with Ruto and Hanna. Plus, her ¡°children¡± would follow them as well.

    [The Devil¡¯s side won¡¯t kill me, so it¡¯s possible to escape from them.]

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to follow me since I¡¯ll be fine,¡± Nero said confidently. ¡°In fact, I¡¯d like it more if you return to the Royal Pce as soon as you¡¯re done saving Lewis. After all, you can¡¯t fight as long as you¡¯re in the body of a baby.¡±

    ¡°But you need our help,¡± she insisted. ¡°You¡¯re heading to the enemy base, Nero. As your noona1, it¡¯s my responsibility to help you.¡±

    To be honest, it wasn¡¯t just Neoma¡¯s idea.

    Hanna actually asked her if they could aid Nero in saving Dahlia once they were done saving Lewis.

    [But Hanna doesn¡¯t want me to tell Nero that she asked me that favor.]

    Nero frowned. ¡°Who¡¯s my older sister? We¡¯re the same age. And I don¡¯t need your help¨C¡±

    ¡°Shh,¡± she scolded her twin brother, putting a finger on his lips. ¡°Just listen to your noona. And calling for backup isn¡¯t a sign of weakness. It shows you¡¯re smart and prepared. In fact, it¡¯s stupid to go to war without n B-Z. And speaking of which, I even prepared a backup n in case saving Lewis would take longer than expected.¡±

    He knitted his eyebrows. ¡°And what else did you prepare?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll find outter, my baby brother,¡± Neoma said while patting Nero¡¯s cheek gently. ¡°But I really hope and pray that we won¡¯t need their assistance.¡±

    Because needing the help of outside forces meant they lost the fight.

    [We can¡¯t lose this time.]

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me, Neoma,¡± Nero said, then he sighed and hugged her tighter. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine as long as you¡¯re safe.¡±

    She smiled while savoring her twin brother¡¯s embrace.

    [Why do I have a feeling that we won¡¯t see each other in a while after this¡­?]

    But she set those negative thoughts aside when the door burst open and their parents entered the room.

    [Oh, did Papa Boss cry? Gosh, he¡¯s so clingy to Mama Boss.]

    Before Neoma knew it, she and Nero were already locked in Mama Boss and Papa Boss¡¯ tight and very warm embrace.

    [Aww¡­ I really love our family.]

    ***

    ¡°DUKE QUINZEL, I leave Papa Boss to you,¡± Neoma said to the duke in a serious voice. ¡°Please protect the empire with him.¡±

    Neoma, Hanna, Ruto, and Monik were in the Quinzel Estate in order to use the portal that connected to the Hazelden Kingdom directly.

    [I left a message to Paige and told her to head straight to Hazelden instead of the empire.]

    Duke Rufus Quinzel already informed Brigitte unnie and Uncle Glenn of their arrival.

    [Anyway¡­]

    Right now, she was in Hanna¡¯s arms.

    Monik (the former Empress Juliet), on the other hand, returned to the transparent egg that she was now using as some sort of flying vehicle.

    And, finally, her Ruto was standing behind quietly.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Princess Neoma. I will protect His Majesty and the empire,¡± Duke Quinzel promised her. ¡°I will also pray for your safe return.¡±

    Neoma smiled and nodded. ¡°Thank you, Your Grace.¡±

    The duke smiled back, then he turned to Hanna. ¡°Sweetie, please take care. Your mother and I will wait for your safe return.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll hurry back to Mother and Father,¡± Hanna promised the duke. ¡°Please be safe, too.¡±

    Duke Quinzel nodded at his daughter¡¯s request, then he turned to Ruto. ¡°Lord Ruto, thedies are capable of protecting themselves. Even so, I still entrust them to you.¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± Ruto said politely. ¡°I¡¯ll keep them safe, Your Grace.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, young lord,¡± Duke Quinzel said, then he turned to Monik. After that, he bowed politely to her. As the duke of the empire, His Grace was only supposed to bow that way to the Royal Family. ¡°It¡¯s an honor to meet you again, Lady Monik. I wish mydy the best in this lifetime.¡±

    Yep, Neoma told Duke Quinzel that Baby Monik was the former Empress Juliet because the former empress wished to say goodbye to the duke.

    [And as far as I know, Papa Boss will need Duke Quinzel¡¯s help to expose the fake Juliet.]

    ¡°Thank you, Rufus,¡± Monik said, smiling faintly at the duke. ¡°I¡¯m happy to see that you finally have your own family.¡±

    Neoma smiled sadly when the duke¡¯s shoulders trembled.

    Duke Rufus Quinzel did or did not cry at that moment.

    [I have to protect the duke¡¯s dignity.]

    ***

    .....

    [OF COURSE, they¡¯re shocked.]

    Neoma already expected Brigitte unnie, Uncle Glenn, and Manu to be shocked after she introduced Monik as the former Empress Juliet.

    Monik said that she¡¯d exin the rest.

    Hence, Neoma and Ruto were left to babysit Baby Skylus¨C the Crown Prince of Hazelden Kingdom, and the new saint.

    Right now, they were watching the baby who was lying down in the crib.

    [Hanna is being considerate, so she volunteered to stay with Monik to carry her even though Monik has the transparent egg for a flying vehicle.]

    ¡°Gosh, look at his eyes,¡± Neoma, who was in Ruto¡¯s arms, said while looking at Skylus¡¯ sparkling blue orbs. ¡°They look like they contain the milky gxy in them.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s amazing,¡± Rutomented. ¡°Even though Prince Skylus lost most of his divine power, he remains this strong. I know it¡¯s too early to say this, but I think Prince Skylus is the strongest saint born in history yet.¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± she said. For some reason, she felt proud. ¡°Prince Skylus belongs to our generation, and our generation is destined to shake the world.¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh.¡±

    ¡°Prince Skylus, I¡¯ll give you the title ¡®The Strongest Baby in the World,''¡± Neoma said to the baby saint. ¡°This noona is sorry that we took your divine power from you. But I promise we¡¯ll retrieve them for you.¡±

    <¡°Princess Neoma, please abandon Lewis Crevan.¡±>

    She frowned and massaged her temple when the voice of a young boy entered her mind without her permission. ¡°Ruto, the baby saint just talked to me in my head,¡± she said. ¡°Did you hear his voice, too?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t,¡± Ruto said while shaking his head. ¡°What did Prince Skylus say?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s total bullshit,¡± Neoma said, her eyes glowing red. She wasn¡¯t mad at the baby saint. It was just she couldn¡¯t control her emotions because the baby saint¡¯s words were obviously a prophecy. And she didn¡¯t like it¨C not one bit. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for cursing, but please don¡¯t say something as nonsensical as asking me to abandon Lewis, Prince Skylus.¡±

    ***

 Chapter 592 - 592 THE LIGHT SAINTESSâ€™ REQUEST

    592 THE LIGHT SAINTESS¡¯ REQUEST

    ¡°I KNOW it¡¯s a hard request. After all, you just gave birth to your firstborn son,¡± Monik said to Glenn and his wife, Brigitte¨C the queen of the Hazelden Kingdom. ¡°Hence, I will understand if you cannot adopt me as your daughter. I¡¯m not also asking you to give me an answer right now. Take your time.¡±

    She asked Glenn and Brigitte to adopt her because she needed a powerful family to protect her until she could move on her own.

    Knowing Glenn, that big softie, she knew that he would ept her request.

    However, this was the first time that she met the queen. She knew that Glenn wouldn¡¯t choose a horrible woman for a wife. However, what did she know?

    [I was never interested in romance, but I know love could make a person blind or crazy.]

    Niki was a prime example of that.

    ¡°Your Majesty, we don¡¯t need time to decide,¡± Glenn said politely, then he put a hand over Brigitte¡¯s hand. ¡°Of course, we will wee you into our family.¡±

    Huh?

    [That easy?]

    .....

    Brigitte, who was on the bed because she hadn¡¯t fully recovered yet, smiled and nodded. ¡°We will process the adoption as soon as possible, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± Monik asked, confused. ¡°Isn¡¯t this something that you should discuss first?¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, I failed to protect you when I was appointed to serve you in the past,¡± Glenn said in a cracked voice. Even though he was already a family man, he was still a crybaby, huh? ¡°I¡¯ll do anything and everything to make sure Your Majesty will attain peace and happiness this time.¡± After saying that, he turned to his wife. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, my queen. It might be selfish of me to ask you this, but it will make me happy if we can adopt Empress Juliet into our family.¡±

    ¡°Glenn, you don¡¯t have to apologize,¡± Brigitte said, smiling warmly at her husband. ¡°I know it won¡¯t be easy for us because this is the first time we¡¯re going to be parents to two babies, but I also know that everything we¡¯ll be fine as long as we¡¯re together.¡±

    [They really love each other.]

    Monik was happy for Glenn.

    [He¡¯s like a younger brother to me. I honestly worried about Glenn before since he was too loyal to Niki. I thought he wouldn¡¯t get married. But I¡¯m d that he found someone to cherish and spend the rest of his life with.]

    ¡°Empress Juliet, this is my first time bing a mother,¡± Brigitte said politely. ¡°I may becking, but I¡¯ll do my best to be a good mother to Your Majesty and our Prince Skylus.¡±

    She wanted to say that she¡¯d be fine since she wasn¡¯t really a child.

    However, she would lose her memories soon. And she wasn¡¯t sure how she was going to behave by then. It was the prime reason why she needed a guardian that could be a good influence on her in the first ce.

    ¡°I trust Glenn, and I also trust the choices he makes,¡± Monik said as gently as she could. Glenn and the others were used to her sternness. But she didn¡¯t want to scare the queen, so she was being careful. ¡°Moreover, Neoma only said good things about you, Queen Brigitte. I know that I¡¯m in good hands.¡±

    Brigitte smiled as if she was shy. ¡°Thank you for trusting me, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°I should be the one thanking you,¡± she said. ¡°I know it¡¯s not easy to ept a stranger to be your daughter. Especially since you¡¯re a royal family.¡±

    ¡°Please don¡¯t worry about that, Your Majesty,¡± Glenn assured her. ¡°We¡¯re happy to have a bigger family.¡±

    The queen smiled and nodded.

    [I can trust these people.]

    Speaking of trust¡­

    Monik frowned when she remembered something unpleasant. ¡°Niki told me Kyle Sprouse betrayed him and shared the royal twins¡¯ confidential information with the crows.¡±

    Glenn¡¯s face turned grim when he nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right, Your Majesty. That Kyle Sprouse turned out to be a traitor in the end.¡±

    ¡°And he imed that he betrayed Niki for me?¡±

    The king nodded again. ¡°Foolish, isn¡¯t he? He didn¡¯t even notice that the current Lady Sloane that he¡¯s serving is a fake.¡±

    To be fair, even Mona and Niki didn¡¯t notice it.

    However, that didn¡¯t mean she would forgive Kyle Sprouse easily.

    ¡°Mona, Niki, and I devised a n to expose the fake Juliet,¡± Monik said, clenching her tiny hands. ¡°I may have already lost my memories during that time. But once Niki and Mona caught Kyle Sprouse, could you bring me to him, Glenn? Tell him that I was the reincarnation of the Juliet that he imed to ¡°love.¡± But, of course, don¡¯t do it in front of me. I don¡¯t wish to know that I was the empress in my past life.¡±

    Glenn nodded politely. ¡°As you wish, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°You can stop addressing me by my title now, Glenn and Queen Brigitte,¡± Mona said, then she put a hand over her chest. ¡°From now on, just call me ¡®Monik.¡¯ It¡¯s the name Mona and Niki gave me. And just speak informally to me.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s your wish, Monik,¡± Glenn said awkwardly, then he smiled sheepishly. ¡°It¡¯s kind of awkward, but I guess it¡¯s weirder to talk to our daughter formally.¡±

    She nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°Monik, can I hug you?¡± the queen asked, then she opened her arms. ¡°I want to hug my daughter.¡±

    Okay, for some reason, she suddenly felt shy.

    But she set that thought aside.

    Monik moved the transparent egg, her personal flying vehicle, towards the queen. And when the transparent egg vanished, Brigitte caught her in her arms. ¡°Nice catch, Mother.¡±

    Brigitte¡¯s face turned red, then she smiled warmly at her. ¡°Wee to our family, daughter.¡±

    Glenn didn¡¯t say anything, but he smiled kindly before hugging Brigitte and Monik.

    [This is my new family now.]

    ***

    ¡°LORD MANU, I entrust Prince Skylus and Baby Monik to you,¡± Neoma, who was sitting on Brigitte unnie¡¯sp, said while rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. ¡°Please raise them as the Moon Saint and Light Saintess respectively.¡±

    Brigitte unnie and Uncle Glenn would surely raise Skylus and Monik as their children.

    But they needed Manu¡¯s guidance, since the children were destined to be a saint and a saintess.

    ¡°I will,¡± Manu, who was watching Skylus and Monik sleep on two different cribs that were next to each other, said. Then the Moon Priest turned to him with knitted eyebrows. ¡°How about you, Neoma de Moonasterio? Are you going to be stuck as a baby?¡±

    The adults were talking about a serious topic because Skylus and Monik were both sleeping.

    [And they look like little angels!]

    ¡°That¡¯s what I want to know, too, Princess Neoma,¡± Brigitte unnie said worriedly. ¡°I was so surprised when I saw you in that state, Your Royal Highness.¡±

    ¡°Ruto said that I¡¯ll return to normal soon, and I trust him.¡±

    Speaking of Ruto¡­

    [He stepped out and apanied Uncle Glenn in patrolling the area around the main pce since Ruto said he felt a strange presence earlier.]

    Gosh, her man was so dependable.

    [And I feel like a burden now that I can¡¯t even sense the presence of other strong individuals.]

    ¡°I¡¯m d that this is only temporary,¡± Brigitte unnie said, then she gently pinched her cheeks. ¡°And I¡¯m also grateful to see you in your baby form, Princess Neoma. You might just be the cutest baby on the entire continent!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a given, unnie. But you shouldn¡¯t say that,¡± Neoma said,ining lightly. ¡°Prince Skylus might get jealous if you say that I¡¯m the cutest baby on the continent even though it¡¯s true.¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯s not like my son can understand us¡­¡± the queen trailed off, then she asked nervously. ¡°Can he?¡±

    ¡°He can,¡± Neoma confirmed. ¡°In fact, he just gave a prophecy to me earlier.¡±

    [A cruel prophecy, that is.]

    Brigitte unnie gasped.

    ¡°As expected, he already awakened as a saint even though his divine power was taken away from him,¡± Manu said, sighing. Then he turned to the queen. ¡°Brigitte Griffiths, all the saints born in this world already have the mental maturity of a young adult, at least. And as they grow, they will only be more and more mature. After all, before they were sent into this world, they have already reached adulthood back in the world where they havee from. Since the saints are representatives of the Moon God, they get to keep the memories of their past life.¡±

    [Ah, Monik mentioned something simr. She said that once she forgets her memories as Empress Juliet, her head will be filled with Lady Roxana¡¯s words that will help her establish the temple for the Light Goddess in the future.]

    ¡°Most of the women who gave birth to the saints died,¡± the Moon Priest continued. ¡°Hence, most of the saints were raised by their mother¡¯s rtives. However, normal humans had the tendency to hate the saints for being born with a developed mind.¡±

    Neoma could rte.

    [The de Moonasterion children are also born more mature than kids our age.]

    During her childhood, even though she was posing as Nero back then, most of the kids her age avoided her for being mature.

    [To be fair, I¡¯m an adult inside.]

    But she remembered that even in her first life, her mind developed faster than normal children.

    [Unfortunately, the de Moonasterion children don¡¯t get to have a normal childhood because of how our brains are wired. Is that the reason why most of us go crazy? Or are we just really born this way?]

    How curious.

    ¡°I hope Prince Skylus¡¯ maturity doesn¡¯t scare or disgust you, young queen,¡± Manu said, putting a hand over his chest. ¡°That¡¯s my earnest wish as the Moon Priest.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Lord Manu,¡± Brigitte unnie said firmly. ¡°There¡¯s no way my son will scare or disgust me. Glenn and I will love him with all that we have.¡±

    Manu smiled at that assurance.

    Neoma smiled, too, but she was distracted when Ruto suddenly appeared in the middle of the room¡­

    ¡­ while grabbing an old man by the cor.

    [And that old man¡­ the one that I want to adopt!]

    ¡°Grandpa, why are you already here?¡± Neoma asked, shocked. ¡°Where are my children¡­¡±

    She trailed off when the old man¡¯s appearance changed.

    .....

    Suddenly, Neoma was looking at a very beautiful young woman with wavy white hair, ash-gray eyes, and pale skin.

    ¡°Huh?¡± Neoma asked, confused. ¡°A de Moonasterio?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Ruto said calmly. ¡°That face belongs to Princess Aruna de Moonasterio.¡±

    Say what?!

    [Isn¡¯t Princess Aruna de Moonasterio the twin sister of the Arche de Moonasterio¡ª the most ipetent emperor in history?!]

 Chapter 593 - 593 FIRST ROYAL TWINS

    593 FIRST ROYAL TWINS

    [A few minutes earlier¡­]

    ¡°HE FELL asleep,¡± Neoma said while staring at Skylus who suddenly fell asleep after telling her his cruel prophecy. Now she felt guilty. ¡°Did I scare the baby saint when I scolded him?¡± She pped her mouth with her tiny hand. ¡°Gosh, I shouldn¡¯t have done that. Me and my foul mouth.¡±

    ¡°Neoma, stop hurting yourself,¡± Ruto said, scolding her slightly. ¡°It¡¯s not your fault that the new saint fell asleep suddenly. It looks like he just exhausted his divine power because he revealed a prophecy to you. Since only a small amount of divine power is left in him, revealing a prophecy won¡¯t be easy for him.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± she said, sighing. ¡°I feel bad that the baby saint¡¯s divine power is limited now. On the other hand, I¡¯m amazed that he could still receive prophecies even in his state.¡±

    ¡°The saints serving the Moon God have always had the power of a prophet,¡± he exined. ¡°It¡¯s a gift innate to them.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡±

    Come to think of it, the former saint Dominic Zavaroni prophesied that she would be the first empress of the Great Moonasterion Empire.

    ¡°Our Ruto is so knowledgeable,¡± she praised him while gently pinching his cheeks. ¡°Do you also have a grimoire like Trevor?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I do.¡±

    .....

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Trevor Kesser is the Devil¡¯s Grimoire. The de Moonasterios have the Royal Grimoire,¡± Ruto exined. ¡°Lord Levi has the Divine Grimoire that he passed down to me when I became an adult in my previous life.¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± she said, surprised. ¡°I was just actually joking. But I didn¡¯t expect that you also have a grimoire.¡±

    ¡°The Divine Grimoire is only essible to God yers since the book contains the secrets of killing gods. It also helped me find the weakness of the Upper World in the past,¡± he exined casually. ¡°I would lend it to you if I get my hands on it this time again.¡±

    ¡°But I¡¯m not a legit God yer.¡±

    ¡°You will be one,¡± Ruto whispered as if he didn¡¯t want her to hear. ¡°Soon.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    Their moment was interrupted when they heard a soft knock on the door.

    A momentter, Uncle Glenn entered the room.

    ¡°Princess Neoma, Lord Ruto, thank you for looking after my son,¡± Uncle Glenn said. ¡°Did he fall asleep?¡±

    ¡°Prince Skylus revealed a prophecy to me, Uncle Glenn,¡± Neoma reported to the king. ¡°Revealing the prophecy took a toll on his body, so he fell asleep.¡±

    Of course, the king looked like his heart dropped to the floor out of worry.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Your Majesty,¡± Ruto assured the king. ¡°The prince will recover by just sleeping. His life isn¡¯t in danger.¡±

    ¡°Please trust Ruto, Uncle Glenn,¡± she said.

    Uncle Glenn let out a sigh of relief. ¡°Thank you for the assurance,¡± he said, then he turned to Skylus who was sleeping in the crib peacefully. The king smiled before turning to Neoma. ¡°Princess Neoma, Monik has fallen asleep.¡±

    Hearing that made her feel bittersweet.

    [Once Monik wakes up, she¡¯ll wake up as the Light Saintess without the memories of her past life as Empress Juliet.]

    ¡°Your Majesty,¡± Ruto said while looking outside the window. ¡°You have an uninvited guest.¡±

    Neoma frowned.

    [Mypetitive side isn¡¯t happy that Ruto can detect the presence that I can¡¯t.]

    Uncle Glenn carried Skylus in his arms very carefully. ¡°Lord Ruto, let¡¯s put the babies in my wife¡¯s room first¨C Lord Manu is there.¡±

    [¡®Babies?¡¯]

    Neoma pointed a finger at herself. ¡°I¡¯m not a baby, Uncle Glenn.¡±

    The king just smiled before heading towards the door.

    ¡°You¡¯re a baby, though,¡± Ruto whispered while following the king. ¡°My baby.¡±2

    ¡°That¡¯s so corny, Ruston Solfrid Stroganoff,¡± Neomained, covering her face with his hands to hide her goofy grin. ¡°Let¡¯s hope no one calls the FBI on you.¡±

    ***

    ¡°WE DON¡¯T have a portal in this ce.¡±

    ¡°Whoever cast the teleportation spell is highly skilled,¡± Ruto said while heading to the Frozen Woods with King Glenn. They personally surveyed the area where he felt the strange energying from. ¡°We are expecting Neoma¡¯s children, but if it was them, then they should have used the official portal that is connected to the Quinzel Estate.¡±

    Before they left, Neoma sent a message to Paige Avery instructing the group to head to the Quinzel Estate after returning to the Royal Pce.

    Duke Rufus Quinzel would then guide the ¡°children¡± to use the portal.

    Hence, it was weird that a presence was trying to get into the Royal Pce of the Hazelden Kingdom in a strange way.

    ¡°Could it be the crows again?¡± King Glenn asked worriedly while holding the scabbard attached to his hip. ¡°I swear if it¡¯s them again¡­¡±

    At that moment, the two of them felt it.

    A swirl of blue light appeared right in front of them¨C a portal.

    [It¡¯s the type that is often used in long-distance teleportation.]

    ¡°An old man¡­?¡± King Glenn asked when a stranger stepped out of the portal. ¡°Who¡­¡±

    Ruto knitted his eyebrows when he recognized the soul inside the ¡°old man.¡± ¡°You,¡± he said, then he grabbed the ¡°old man¡± by the cor. ¡°What are you doing here?¡±

    ***

    [Present time¡­]

    AS A part of Neoma¡¯s education, she had to study the entire history of the de Moonasterios.

    Of course, that included studying the lives of the previous monarchs.

    There were portraits of former emperors, empresses, princes, and princesses in the Royal Archive. Hence, she thought she¡¯d recognize Princess Aruna de Moonasterio since she had memorized the faces of her ancestors.

    However¡­

    [What is this? The portraits don¡¯t justify Princess Aruna¡¯s beauty! Is she more beautiful than me?]

    For the first time in her life as Neoma version 2.0, she felt insecure.

    [Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio, this isn¡¯t the right time for you to think about useless things!]

    ¡°How did I not know that you¡¯re a de Moonasterio in disguise?¡± Neoma asked, horrified. ¡°Did I be a weakling ever since I stepped foot on the ind?¡± She pulled her hair out of frustration. ¡°Que horror! I need to train again to be the very best like no one ever was!¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma, calm down,¡± Brigitte unnie said while fixing her hair that she messed up because of her dramatic ass. ¡°Your Royal Highness isn¡¯t weak.¡±

    ¡°For normal people, you are not weak,¡± Aruna de Moonasterio said while looking at Neoma as if she was sizing her up. ¡°However, for a de Moonasterio, you¡¯re pretty average.¡±

    Neoma gasped, clutching her chest tight. ¡°This is the first time in my life I heard someone call me ¡®average¡­''¡±

    ¡°Your Royal Highness, I don¡¯t think you¡¯re here just to criticize Neoma,¡± Ruto said sternly. ¡°And I believe Your Royal Highness owes Neoma an exnation as to where the ¡°children¡± are.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Neoma said. ¡°You didn¡¯t hurt my children, did you?¡±

    ¡°The children are safe,¡± Aruna assured her. ¡°Currently, they¡¯re already near the border of the Western Continent. They¡¯ll bete since the illegal portals that Jasper Hawthorne used were all closed. Moreover, the other legal portals are currently full. Many people are trying to get into the East Continent, after all. To be precise, people are rushing to Leoflor Ind to check if the Darkness that swallowed the Lawless Jungle has really disappeared. I can¡¯t bete, so I created my own portal to get here after I heard you¡¯re currently staying in Hazelden.¡±

    Ah, so that was why Paige said they might not make it in time.

    Neoma raised her eyebrow at her ancestor. ¡°Then, Princess Aruna, why didn¡¯t you bring my ¡°children¡± with you when you used a portal?¡±

    ¡°My portal can¡¯t be used by living people,¡± Aruna exined. ¡°You know I¡¯m no longer human, don¡¯t you?¡± She put a hand over her chest. ¡°I¡¯m just a Spirit with a limited time in this world.¡±

    ¡°If Your Royal Highness only has a limited time in this world, then you¡¯re not here to y,¡± Neoma said, then she gulped hard. ¡°Do you also have a job for me?¡±

    [I mean, every special being Ie across asked me for a favor¡­]

    ¡°Wait,¡± Manu said while eyeing the ancient royal princess. ¡°Are you really Aruna de Moonasterio?¡±

    Huh?

    Neoma was confused. Bute to think of it¡­

    [Ruto said the face belongs to Aruna de Moonasterio. Is he saying that the soul inside didn¡¯t belong to the ancient royal princess?]

    OMG.

    ¡°Aruna and Arche de Moonasterio were the first royal twins born in the de Moonasterion history,¡± Manu said, raising an eyebrow. ¡°Upon their death, it was discovered that the twins had a special ability that they kept a secret from everyone else when they were still alive.¡±

    ¡°What ability?¡± Neoma asked curiously. ¡°Is it something that I¡¯m allowed to know?¡±

    ¡°Why not? It was exposed a long time ago, anyway,¡± Aruna said, then she turned to Ruto. ¡°I believe the gentleman here is also aware of that secret. Please feel free to quench Neoma de Moonasterio¡¯s curiosity.¡±

    [Gosh, why is Princess Aruna talking like an old man?]

    Wait.

    [She IS old.]

    ¡°ording to the deleted records from the Royal Archive, Princess Aruna and Emperor Arche de Moonasterio were the first pair of twins born in the Royal Family,¡± Ruto said carefully. ¡°And after the royal twins¡¯ death, it was revealed that they had the ability to switch souls with each other.¡±

    ¡°Daebak,¡± Neoma said in disbelief, speaking Korean because she was impressed by the plot twist. Then she remembered when Manu asked if the person in front of them was truly Aruna de Moonasterio. Only then did the realization hit her. ¡°Then, are you Princess Aruna or Emperor Arche de Moonasterio?¡±

    .....

    ¡°I am Arche de Moonasterio,¡± the ancient monarch said. ¡°This is the second time we¡¯ve met, Neoma de Moonasterio.¡±

    Huh?

    [We already met?]

    So many things had happened recently that Neoma couldn¡¯t remember events that had happened a few years ago.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter whether you remember our first meeting or not,¡± Arche de Moonasterio said, then the former emperor raised his hand. ¡°Come here¨C I¡¯ll teach you how to draw the power of the Moon properly.¡±

    What?

    Was she going to have a training arc again???

    The next thing Neoma knew, she was already floating in the air while headed towards the former emperor.

    Arche opened his arms as if he was about to catch her.

    But Ruto caught Neoma and carried her in his arms instead.

    ¡°Neoma is in a vulnerable state right now, Your Majesty,¡± Ruto said, changing how he addressed the ancient monarch now that they knew it was actually Arche and not Aruna de Moonasterio. ¡°Can a baby handle the training? Moreover, why are you in a rush?¡±

    ¡°Because we don¡¯t have time,¡± the former emperor said. ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio has to be prepared before we face Aruna.¡±

    Neoma knitted her eyebrows. ¡°You¡¯re tagging along, Your Majesty?¡±

    ¡°Of course¨C Aruna is the reason why I¡¯m here,¡± Arche said, sighing. ¡°That brat needs a scolding.¡±

    [Is Arche the oppa1?]

 Chapter 594 - 594 RUTO CAUGHT IN 4K

    594 RUTO CAUGHT IN 4K

    ¡°NEOMA, are you a necromancer? You bring dead people back to life.¡±

    ¡°I wouldugh, but the situation is too extreme for me to enjoy this,¡± Neoma responded to Hanna¡¯s ¡°joke.¡± ¡°And what do you mean by I bring dead PEOPLE to life?¡±

    Hanna, who was busy choosing what dress to lend her, stopped what she was doing to look her in the eye. ¡°Princess Nichole, my uncle Gavin Quinzel, the fake Lady Sloane, the real Empress Juliet, and now your ancestor¨C Emperor Arche in Princess Aruna de Moonasterio¡¯s body. All of them are supposed to be dead already, but they came back to life as if to meet you.¡±

    Now that her cousin put it that way, she couldn¡¯t deny it.

    [Anyway¡­]

    Neoma was in Hanna¡¯s room at the moment.

    Brigitte unnie and Uncle Glenn lent them the best guest room in the queen¡¯s pce.

    Ruto was upying the room next door, and he was currently talking to Emperor Arche de Moonasterio.

    ¡°Come to think of it, we can also add Lady Roseheart to the list,¡± Hanna said, amused. ¡°Lady Roseheart didn¡¯t die, but she was considered dead until you freed her from the ice.¡± Her cousin looked at her teasingly. ¡°We can¡¯t also forget Trevor whom you freed from the Devil¡¯s hand, and Lady Paige whom you rescued from the Hisa Tree.¡±

    .....

    She groaned as aint because she was starting to believe that she was some sort of ¡®necromancer.¡¯ ¡°I don¡¯t want to think about it because I might attract it,¡± she whined. ¡°I¡¯m already in demand as the future Aether. I can¡¯t imagine how the people after me would be greedier if I turned out to be a necromancer, too.¡±

    After all, the necromancers in this world were rare. Hence, they were deemed valuable. She didn¡¯t need to be more special than she already was.

    ¡°You¡¯re right. We can¡¯t have you attract more bad people,¡± Hanna said, then she pointed at the two dresses that shey on the bed¨C next to Neoma. ¡°Which one would you like to wear, Neoma? The red dress or the purple one?¡±

    ¡°The purple one.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± Hanna asked, surprised. ¡°I was so sure you¡¯d choose red since it¡¯s your color.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll look good in any and every color,¡± Neoma said confidently. ¡°But I¡¯ll choose purple this time because Ruto is here.¡±

    Her cousin smiled at her yfully. ¡°Neoma, you¡¯re so smitten.¡±

    She pouted. ¡°Ruto is more smitten.¡±

    Hanna justughed, then she proceeded to choose matching essories and shoes for the dress that Neoma chose.

    They were choosing clothes because Arche de Moonasterio told her to do so.

    <¡°Your dress won¡¯t amodate your body once you return to normal.¡±>

    Hence, here they were now.

    ¡°Neoma, do you believe that Emperor Arche can return you to normal?¡± Hanna asked worriedly. ¡°Do you trust him?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have another choice but to trust him,¡± Neoma said while looking at her tiny hands. ¡°I want to return to normal as soon as possible.¡±

    ***

    ¡°GRANDPA Arche, why do you have a blindfold on you?¡± Neoma asked curiously. ¡°Is it a part of a ritual or something?¡±

    Right now, Neoma and the former emperor were on the balcony of her bedroom.

    To be precise, she was sitting on the chair while wrapped in a white nket. She was naked underneath, after all. Hanna helped her undress, and it was also her cousin who brought her out onto the balcony.

    Hanna also covered the entire balcony with her Shadow Veil in order to protect them from prying eyes.

    ¡°Ruston Stroganoff made me wear this blindfold,¡± Arche, who was kneeling in front of her while holding her tiny hand, exined. ¡°He said he¡¯d kill me if I saw any part of your body once you returned to normal.¡±

    ¡°Gosh, so overprotective.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t like she couldn¡¯t protect herself.

    The clothes that she would wear once she returned to normal were neatly folded on the table next to her.

    Moreover, once she returned to normal, her power woulde back as well.

    Hence, she could use her own barrier to cover herself. She could turn the transparent shield misty so that the people outside wouldn¡¯t see anything inside.

    ¡°I already told that boy that I wouldn¡¯t look at my own descendant that way, but he didn¡¯t listen,¡± Archeined, sighing. ¡°If I didn¡¯t put this blindfold on, he wouldn¡¯t let me step out of the room.¡±

    Ah, so that was why the former emperor waste.

    ¡°Grandpa, please excuse Ruto¡¯s behavior,¡± Neoma said. ¡°He¡¯s not a bad kid. He just likes me a little too much.¡±

    ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio, that boy is the divine son of Lord Levi.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m aware, Grandpa.¡±

    ¡°Then you should also be aware that strong individuals like you and that boy can¡¯t be together,¡± the ancient monarch said. ¡°The heavens wouldn¡¯t even let you produce a child to avoid creating a powerful bloodline like the de Moonasterios.¡±

    Aigoo, why did she have to hear such bullshit from the person who she wanted to get along with?

    Her grandpa should be grateful that he could turn her back to normal.

    Hence, she bit her lower lip to stop herself from being disrespectful.

    ¡°Grandpa, I know that Ruto and I are adults inside,¡± Neoma said carefully. ¡°But we¡¯re still both minors at the moment. We¡¯re not thinking about getting married and having children yet.¡±

    Wow.

    [Did I really say ¡®yet?¡¯]

    Maybe she was getting ahead of herself.

    [Neoma de Moonasterio, you should be embarrassed!]

    ¡°That¡¯s a relief to hear then,¡± Arche said, nodding. ¡°You have plenty of time to reconsider your rtionship. And plenty of chances to break up, too.¡±

    Neoma didn¡¯t want to curse her ancestor, so she just red at the former emperor since he couldn¡¯t see her anyway. ¡°Grandpa, let¡¯s just begin, please,¡± she begged the ancient monarch. ¡°I have a disease that will kill me if I don¡¯t curse in more than an hour.¡±

    ¡°What an eloquent way to say you couldn¡¯t wait to curse me after I return you back to normal.¡±

    She just coughed to cover up her embarrassment.

    [Ah, so Grandpa knows that the only reason I was holding back was because I was afraid he wouldn¡¯t help me if I curse at him.]

    ¡°Close your eyes, Neoma de Moonasterio,¡± Arche told her sternly. ¡°Imagine a huge and bright full moon in your mind.¡±

    Oh, nice.

    Neoma was good at visualization, so she knew she already got it in the bag.

    She closed her eyes and imagined a huge and bright full moon just like what her ancestor told her to imagine.

    However, the image didn¡¯t appear in her mind how she wanted it to.

    After all, the full moon that she visualized was wrapped around with a thick chain that was oozing with ck energy.

    ¡°Is it Darkness?¡± Neoma wondered out loud. ¡°Grandpa, I can see the full moon in my head clearly. But the full moon is chained. Moreover, the chains were covered with what looks like Darkness.¡±

    ¡°Those chains are the reason why your body shrunk,¡± Arche exined to her. ¡°Whoever cast that spell on you put their chains on your vessel to limit your ability. But the spell is weak as if the one who cast the spell is new at their job.¡±

    ¡°Ah, it seemed like Regina Crowell didn¡¯t know what she was doing back then,¡± she said. ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m kind of aware that the spell is weak.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re lucky since you can break the chains with your own hands.¡±

    ¡°Do I just have to break the chains?¡±

    ¡°Yes, but it¡¯s not easy¨C¡±

    CLACK.

    The former emperor stopped talking when a loud snap cracked the silence of the night.

    When Neoma opened her eyes, she saw the broken chains in her hands. ¡°I¡¯m done,¡± she informed the ancient monarch. ¡°I just imagined breaking the chains with my bare hands, and this is what happened, Grandpa.¡±

    Arche removed the blindfold, then his eyes widened a bit when he saw the chains in her hands. ¡°To be able to remove the chains physically¡­¡± He looked at her with approval in his eyes. ¡°You¡¯re more of a genius than I am, Neoma de Moonasterio.¡±

    Huh?

    Arche de Moonasterio was a ¡°genius?¡±

    [But isn¡¯t Emperor Arche known as the ¡°most ipetent emperor¡± in history?]

    ***

    ¡°RUTO, I¡¯m already done changing my clothes so you cane in now,¡± Neoma said cheerfully. ¡°Hurry and marvel at my beauty again.¡±

    She had so many questions about Arche de Moonasterio and his supposed genius.

    However, she had her priorities straight.

    [And my priority this time is to show Ruto that I¡¯ve returned back to normal.]

    She was excited to see Ruto¡¯s reaction because she dolled up for him tonight.

    However, her smile slowly disappeared as soon as he came out on the balcony.

    It was followed by the goosebumps that she felt all over her body.

    [This creepy sensation¡­]

    .....

    Neoma looked at Ruto in disbelief when he stood up in front of her.

    To be precise, she was looking at his SHADOW that was walking behind him like it had a life of its own. However, that shouldn¡¯t be possible.

    [Even the Quinzels can¡¯t make their shadows like that¡­]

    And the shadows¡¯ appearance wasn¡¯t the only thing that bothered him.

    ¡°Ruto, what¡¯s that thing behind you?¡± Neoma asked while watching the ¡°shadow¡± eat the excess divine power oozing out of Ruto¡¯s body. ¡°Why are you feeding that thing with your power?¡±

    Moreover...

    ¡°Why are you looking at me like that, Ruto?¡± Neoma asked nervously. ¡°Like you¡¯re trying to remember my face even though you¡¯re looking at me?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Neoma,¡± Ruto said softly. ¡°I can¡¯t remember what you look like. And no matter how much I look at you, all I see is a nk face.¡±

    [I knew it.]

    Ruto had been acting strange all this time.

    He had face blindness, but she was one of the exceptions since she was strong enough for him to see her face.

    [And he said he can¡¯t ¡°remember¡± my face anymore.]

    It wasn¡¯t normal.

    Just like that thing.

    ¡°Neoma!¡±

    Ruto was toote, though.

    Neoma breezed past Ruto to grab the ¡°shadow¡± by its neck. ¡°What did you do to Ruto?¡±

    <¡°It¡¯s the price he has to pay for turning back time, so don¡¯t me me,¡±> the ¡°shadow¡± said. <¡°Seriously, Neoma de Moonasterio. You still have a nasty temper.¡±>

    ¡°Why are you talking as if you know me?¡±

    <¡°Because I do.¡±>

    She turned to Ruto. ¡°Who is that?¡±

    Ruto let out a sigh. ¡°It¡¯s the Ancient Devil, Neoma,¡± he said. ¡°The one who helped me turn back time.¡±

    [He made a deal with the Ancient Devil?]

    ¡°Are you crazy?!¡± Neoma asked, then she grabbed Ruto by the cor. ¡°What did you offer the Ancient Devil in return, Ruston Solfrid Stroganoff?!¡±

    ***

 Chapter 595 - 595 HOW TO KILL A DEVIL

    595 HOW TO KILL A DEVIL

    ¡°THE ANCIENT Devil will eat my emotions the more you remember about your previous life, Neoma.¡±

    Neoma let go of Ruto¡¯s cor because she was afraid she might identally hurt him. ¡°Carry on.¡±

    ¡°Right now, the Ancient Devil already ate my attraction for you,¡± Ruto said, avoiding her gaze. ¡°I can¡¯t see or remember your face anymore. Hence, I don¡¯t feel any physical attraction towards you.¡±

    She clenched her hands tight until her nails dug deep into the skin of her palms. ¡°What? You¡¯re no longer attracted to me?¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t mean I don¡¯t love you anymore,¡± Ruto said, looking at her with pleading eyes. ¡°Neoma, I still feel the same for you.¡±

    ¡°But you¡¯re not attracted to me,¡± she said weakly, then she pointed at her face. ¡°What¡¯s the use of my otherworldly beauty if the person I want to fall for this face isn¡¯t and cannot be attracted to me?¡±

    ¡°I know that it¡¯s a big deal to you, but please don¡¯t be upset,¡± he said while trying to pacify her. ¡°Even if I don¡¯t feel attracted to your face anymore, nothing will change¨C¡±

    <¡°Don¡¯t give the princess false hopes, young man,¡±> the Ancient Devil said, rudely cutting off Ruto. <¡°It will only get worse from here. After I ate your feelings of attraction for Neoma de Moonasterio, next eat love her little by until you fall out with her.¡±>

    What?

    .....

    Ruto tried to stop the Ancient Devil from talking, but Neoma put a finger on Ruto¡¯s lips while looking at the damned shadow.

    ¡°Carry on,¡± she ordered the Ancient Devil. ¡°I want to hear everything.¡±

    <¡°Once the young lord falls out of love with you, I will then eat devotion he has for you. Little princess, you should be careful once lose his because that happens, no longer feel urge to serve or protect you,¡±> the Ancient Devil said yfully, like a child expressing how excited he was to eat his favorite fried chicken. <¡°But it doesn¡¯t end there. I will next eat his loyalty. Now suggest you kill the young lord when that happens. After all, once he loses loyalty to you, could sell out enemies without batting an eye.¡±>

    Ruto would betray her?

    The thought never crossed her mind because she knew how deep his feelings for her were. But once the Ancient Devil ate all those feelings¡­

    ¡°You won¡¯t forget me, but you¡¯ll lose all your feelings for me,¡± Neoma said while looking at Ruto. ¡°It¡¯s worse than you forgetting all the memories that we shared together then and now.¡±

    Ruto gently grabbed her hand to remove her finger pressed lightly against his lips. ¡°Neoma, don¡¯t worry,¡± he said. ¡°I won¡¯t let myself harm you¨C¡±

    <¡°I already told you not to give the princess false hopes,¡±> the Ancient Devil chimed in again. <¡°I will eat all the remaining positive feelings you have for her, young lord. Amusement, interest, satisfaction¨C everything. Once I¡¯m done with feelings, I then little negative he has until there¡¯s nothing left in his heart.¡±>

    ¡°Is that the price of turning back time?¡± Neoma asked the Ancient Devil. ¡°You¡¯re not hiding anything else, are you?¡±

    <¡°No, that¡¯s everything that the boy owes from me.¡±>

    ¡°Can¡¯t you change it?¡± she asked, then she put a hand over her chest. ¡°I can give you anything and everything you want if you let me pay Ruto¡¯s debt.¡±

    ¡°Neoma, you shouldn¡¯t easily say that you¡¯ll give someone anything and everything,¡± Ruto scolded her sternly. ¡°And I won¡¯t let you pay my debt.¡±

    She turned to her with a re. ¡°But you turned back the time for me!¡±

    ¡°And it was worth it.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°It was worth it,¡± Ruto repeated firmly, then he put her hand on his cheek as if he wanted her to caress his face. ¡°You are worth it, Neoma.¡±

    ¡°You won¡¯t get away with this with that ttery, Ruston Solfrid Stroganoff.¡±

    ¡°Please don¡¯t call me by my full name¨C it sounds scary.¡±

    ¡°You should really be scared,¡± she growled at him. ¡°Do you think I will be happy if losing all your feelings for me is the price you have to pay for turning back the time?¡±

    ¡°Neoma, you don¡¯t need me to be happy.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°You can throw me away like you did in your first life when I got in your way of destroying the world,¡± Ruto said indifferently. ¡°Or live how you did when you were in Korea¨C a strong, independent woman who doesn¡¯t need a man.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I don¡¯t need you,¡± Neoma said, knitting her eyebrows. ¡°But I WANT you, Ruto.¡±

    Oh, he blushed.

    She would have been happy to see Ruto¡¯s red and embarrassed face, but she wasn¡¯t in the mood to celebrate her victory.

    <¡°I love tragic stories!¡±> the Ancient Devil eximed enthusiastically. <¡°Please love each other harder and deeper, so your tragic ending would be more devastating!¡±>

    SNAP.

    That was the sound of Neoma¡¯s patience breaking.

    ¡°The only tragedy that you should look forward is your death,¡± Neoma said to the Ancient Devil coldly, then she turned to the shadow. ¡°That¡¯s right. If you die, then Ruto doesn¡¯t need to pay his debt to you.¡±

    <¡°How can you kill someone who¡¯s already dead? I don¡¯t even have a physical body,¡±> the Ancient Devil said, shrugging. <¡°Moreover, you¡¯re being selfish. Are you really going to turn your beloved into a person who doesn¡¯t know how pay his debts? Have forgotten that just like you, he has pride of noble and divine son uphold?¡±>

    Okay, being called out like that made her flinch.

    [The Ancient Devil isn¡¯t wrong, but I still hate it!]

    ¡°Neoma, the Ancient Devil is right,¡± Ruto said gently. ¡°We made a fair contract. He turned back the time. Hence, I ought to pay the price for it.¡±

    ¡°Is that easy for you to ept the fact that you¡¯re going to lose all your feelings for me?¡±

    ¡°Do I look like that in your eyes?¡±

    No.

    Ruto looked as devastated as she was. He didn¡¯t need to shed tears because the sadness and the yearning in his eyes were enough to break Neoma¡¯s heart. After all, he was looking at her as if he was so scared to lose her, yet he couldn¡¯t hold onto her either.

    However, she refused to give up.

    [I won¡¯t give up on you, Ruto.]

    ¡°Something simr happened to Papa Boss and Mama Boss in the past,¡± Neoma said when she remembered her parents¡¯ situation before. ¡°Mama Boss took away Papa Boss¡¯ ability to love her. And yet, Papa Boss broke the spell and fell in love with Mama Boss again.¡± She cupped Ruto¡¯s face between her hands. ¡°You just have to love me harder, Ruto.¡±

    Ruto smiled faintly and nodded. ¡°Loving you is as easy as breathing, Neoma. Hence, you don¡¯t have to tell me to do something I¡¯m already doing.¡±

    Aww.

    It was a little corny, but it melted her heart.

    <¡°The spell of taking the ability to love someone can easily be broken since is something you relearn,¡±> the Ancient Devil said, obviously ruining their moment. <¡°However, losing your feelings for someone is the end. You cannot take back things that you already lost forever. Don¡¯t get hopes up, children.¡±>

    ¡°Take your negativity somewhere else and fuck off,¡± Neoma snarled at the Ancient Devil, then she gently patted Ruto¡¯s cheeks. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Ruto¨C we¡¯ll figure this out together.¡±

    Ruto nodded and squeezed her hands. ¡°Yes, together.¡±

    ***

    ¡°I¡¯M GOING to kill the Ancient Devil,¡± Neoma dered. ¡°Grandpa Arche, teach me how to kill a devil.¡±

    Hanna almost choked on her tea.

    Arche, on the other hand, looked at her as if she just lost her mind.

    [Was I too blunt?]

    When she returned to Hanna¡¯s room, she found her cousin having tea with Arche.

    ¡°Does the Ancient Devil deserve to be killed, though?¡± Arche asked while giving her a dubious look. ¡°Or are you just picking on him because of Lord Levi¡¯s divine son?¡±

    Well, she couldn¡¯t really answer that, so she just changed the topic for now.

    ¡°Why aren¡¯t my Soul Beast and Spirits back yet?¡± she asked worriedly. ¡°I thought they were going to return as soon as I came back to normal.¡±

    The ancient monarch let out a sigh. ¡°I was about to teach you how to summon your Soul Beast back, but you said you wanted to show off your beauty to Lord Levi¡¯s divine son.¡± He shook his head disapprovingly. ¡°Your priority is messed up, child.¡±

    ¡°Neoma is usually level-headed, but all her reasons fly out of the window when ites to Lord Ruto,¡± Hanna said calmly while stirring her tea in an elegant manner. Gosh, her cousin was indeed the personification of beauty and grace. ¡°Lord Arche, please also teach our dear princess some self-control.¡±

    ¡°Young Lady Quinzel, you¡¯re asking for the impossible,¡± Arche said, shaking his head. ¡°Just one look at Neoma de Moonasterio and I can already tell she has everything except three things: sanity, humility, and patience.¡±

    Hanna stifled herughter.

    Neoma, on the other hand, pouted. ¡°Neoma version 1.0 used to be sane, meek, and patient one lifetime ago, Grandpa.¡±

    ***

    ¡°WHAT DID you and Juliet talk about before she left?¡± Mona asked William curiously. ¡°Juliet summoned you privately, didn¡¯t she?¡±

    William averted his gaze from her. ¡°The former empress just said her goodbye.¡±

    [He¡¯s lying.]

    There was a strange tension between Juliet and William.

    She wanted to probe more, but she couldn¡¯t since they had already arrived at their destination: the Blood Sea.

    To be precise, Mona and William were suspended in the air above it.

    ¡°There it is,¡± Mona said while looking at the violent whirlpool in the middle of the sea. ¡°I can sense the new saint¡¯s divine power in the middle of the whirlpool.¡±

    It wouldn¡¯t be easy to retrieve it even for her.

    ¡°Sea monsters,¡± William said while looking at the sea monsters that were emerging from the water one by one. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of the sea monsters, Mona.¡±

    ¡°Alright,¡± Mona said, then she opened her hands to summon Nydia¨C her weapon. ¡°Let¡¯s end this quickly.¡±

    ***

    .....

    [PERFECT.]

    Nero was satisfied to see the bright full moon in the night sky.

    [The brighter the moon is, the more power I can draw from it.]

    ¡°Your Royal Highness, we have arrived.¡±

    Nero closed the window of the carriage, then he turned to the carriage door where the Fletcher Twins were waiting for him. ¡°Are they here?¡±

    Of course, he was talking about his knights.

    Wyatt nodded politely at his question. ¡°They¡¯re here, Prince Nero.¡±

    ¡°Very well,¡± he said, then he moved and stepped out of the carriage.

    And there they were¨C his loyal knights waiting for him.

    Nero was d to finally meet them in the flesh. ¡°I hope you¡¯re all ready to die for me this time again.¡±

    ***

    ¡°ARCHE is here,¡± Aruna, in her brother¡¯s body, dered while she was having dinner with her ¡°family.¡± ¡°Abducting Neoma de Moonasterio has just be a suicide mission.¡±

    Lewis, who obviously looked pleased with the news, smirked haughtily.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t Arche de Moonasterio the most ipetent emperor in history?¡± Trevor asked casually, unbothered. ¡°Even the records in your grimoire say so.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not the problem,¡± she said vaguely.

    ¡°Then what is?¡± Nichole de Moonasterio asked curiously. ¡°I thought you can deal with your brother easily since you¡¯re superior to him in every aspect.¡±

    Dominic Zavaroni nodded in agreement. ¡°That¡¯s what I heard, too.¡±

    ¡°The problem is the fact that Arche uses my body.¡±

    ¡°How is that a problem?¡± Gin, the ck cat in his human form, asked. ¡°You¡¯re using his body anyway.¡±

    Aruna let out a sigh. ¡°HE¡¯s going to go crazy once he finds out that ¡°Aruna¡± is here.¡±

    ***

    ¡°YOUR EXCELLENCY, where do you think you¡¯re going in that state?¡± Sydrion asked, sighing while looking at the pathetic state of Callisto de Luca at the moment. ¡°Please stay here and receive your treatment properly.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s here,¡± Callisto de Luca hissed, clenching his chest tight even though he looked like a melting human-shaped candle at the moment. ¡°How can I calm down when my beloved has finally appeared after hiding from me for decades?!¡±

 Chapter 596 - 596 POWER OF THE MOON

    596 POWER OF THE MOON

    ¡°GRANDPA, what do you mean by all I have to do is draw the power of the moon?¡± Neomained. ¡°That¡¯s so vague. Not even Papa Boss taught me I can borrow the power of the moon when I need it.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s because the previous emperors, including Niki de Moonasterio, were too proud to ¡°borrow¡± strength from anyone or anything,¡± Arche exined. ¡°Hence, they never bothered drawing the power of the moon.¡±

    She groaned as aint.

    At the moment, Neoma and Arche were sitting on the sofa that they ced on the balcony. Apparently, the first thing they needed to do was ¡°soak¡± themselves with the Moonlight.

    ¡°Nero de Moonasterio already knows how to draw the power of the moon.¡±

    Neoma turned to Arche with wide eyes. ¡°Huh? Nero does? But he didn¡¯t tell me that.¡±

    Her twin brother wasn¡¯t a stingy person.

    During the brief moments that their family wasplete, Nero would check on her abilities and share what he learned with her.

    [Unfortunately, Nero isn¡¯t a good teacher. Since he learns everything NATURALLY, he gets frustrated when I don¡¯t get what he says on the first try. He forgets most of the time that not everyone is on his level.]

    .....

    By ¡®level,¡¯ she meant MAIN CHARACTER level.

    [Nero has the so-called ¡®MC Halo.¡¯ You know, the thing that makes a main character¡¯s life easier since he gets everything and anything without any trouble.]

    ¡°I don¡¯t think Nero is aware that what he¡¯s doing is a skill,¡± Arche exined to her. ¡°Drawing the power of the moon came naturally to him after he gained the god by his side. Hence, he didn¡¯t think it was a big deal.¡±

    Oh, right.

    When Nero had gotten through his Lunacy phase, he gained a god (or was it a goddess) called ¡®Larissa.¡¯

    Her twin brother also gained a weird ability.

    [Apparently, Nero went around whispering in other people¡¯s ears.]

    She never got the chance to ask Nero about his ability. After all, even though they were twins, she thought it wasn¡¯t right to pry on his skills.

    [And I don¡¯t want to get jealous.]

    ¡°But Grandpa, how did you know that Nero has learned drawing out the power of the moon already?¡±

    ¡°I can see it,¡± Arche exined, his beautiful ash-gray eyes focused on the full moon above them. ¡°When you get on my level, you¡¯ll also begin seeing the things that the naked eye cannot.¡±

    [Wow, so pretty.]

    She was aware that the ancient monarch was saying something important.

    But Neoma, who was obsessed with beautiful faces, got mesmerized by Arche¡¯s beauty.

    ¡®Androgynous.¡¯

    That was the best way to describe Arche and Aruna de Moonasterio¡¯s beauty.

    She was aware that Arche, the emperor, was inside the body of Aruna. However, it didn¡¯t really matter since she couldn¡¯t tell whether the body was a male or a female anyway.

    [And I don¡¯t know a voice could sound androgynous too until I heard Grandpa talk.]

    No wonder Arche and Aruna were able to trick the people of their time.

    [Speaking of which, it reminds me¡­]

    ¡°Grandpa, don¡¯t be upset,¡± Neoma said carefully. ¡°But Arche de Moonasterio was recorded in history as the most ipetent emperor ever.¡±

    ¡°Do you believe that?¡±

    ¡°ording to the old documents that I¡¯ve studied during History ss, I¡¯d say the Emperor Arche was indeed ipetent,¡± she said. ¡°The decisions that he made during his time had almost cost the downfall of the empire. However¡­¡±

    The ancient monarch turned to her. ¡°However¡­?¡±

    ¡°Now that I¡¯m talking to you, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s the case, Grandpa,¡± she said while shaking his head.

    ¡°Then why do you think I went down the history as the most ipetent emperor?¡±

    Neoma looked up at the full moon while voicing her opinion. ¡°This is just a wild guess, but I think Grandpa made a fool of himself on purpose to make Princess Aruna shine.¡±

    The ancient monarch didn¡¯t say anything.

    Hence, she turned to him.

    ¡°I¡¯m right, am I not?¡± she asked curiously. ¡°Grandpa only pretended to be dumb in order for Princess Aruna to shine brighter.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you the entire story once you learned how to draw the power of the moon,¡± Arche said, then he stood up and gently patted her head. ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio, to borrow the power of the moon, you just have to ask.¡±

    [That¡¯s so vague, Grandpa.]

    ***

    NEOMA fell asleep.

    And guess what?

    She found herself in a different dimension.

    [Ah, fuck. Here we go again.]

    She found herself in a strange graveyard. The sky was orange, the trees were dead, and the soil was dry. In short, it was a graveyard straight out of a horror webtoon.

    [Oh, the main character is here!]

    By that, she meant the old Neoma de Moonasterio.

    [I¡¯m so fucking pretty even with my hair cut short.]

    The old Neoma de Moonasterio had shoulder-length hair. Her face was so pretty as usual, but she wore a ragged robe (that didn¡¯t diminish her beauty, okay?).

    But the thing that caught her attention was the things in her old version¡¯s hands.

    [Are those Trevor¡¯s horns?]

    <¡°The Devil¡¯s Grimoire said that the Ancient Devil has power to help me destroy world,¡±> old Neoma said in a tired, cold voice. <¡°If I revive you, will you grant me the power to destroy everything in my way?¡±>

    She covered her mouth with her hands when she gasped aloud.

    [Omo¨C do I have the power of a necromancer?!]

    Unfortunately, she didn¡¯t get the chance to find out because a soft voice stirred her up.

    ¡°Neoma, wake up.¡±

    [Oh, my man is calling me.]

    When Neoma opened her eyes, she was greeted by Ruto¡¯s gentle and neat face.

    [Good morning(?) to me.]

    ¡°We should get moving, Neoma,¡± Ruto said while brushing the strands of hair on her cheek with his fingers. ¡°Aruna de Moonasterio is here.¡±

    Neoma almost choked on her saliva. ¡°Wait, what?¡±

    ***

    <¡°ARE YOU really leaving, Princess Neoma?¡±>

    The voice that entered Neoma¡¯s mind belonged to Prince Skylus¨C the baby saint.

    ording to Ruto, Arche de Moonasterio ¡°greeted¡± his twin sister Aruna de Moonasterio in order to buy them some time.

    Neoma, Ruto, and Hanna had to leave now.

    [Our meeting with Aunt Nichole will proceed as n, so we¡¯ll head there to rescue Lewis. And ording to Ruto, it looks like Princess Aruna¡¯s target this time is Emperor Arche. Hence, the current Devil won¡¯t chase us.]

    But, in order for the royal family of Hazelden to be safe, the three of them had to leave.

    That was why Neoma, Ruto, and Hanna were already saying goodbye to Brigitte unnie and Sir Glenn.

    [It¡¯s a shame that Monik is still asleep, so I won¡¯t be able to say goodbye to her.]

    But, perhaps, it was for the best.

    After all, once Monik woke up, she wouldn¡¯t remember her life as Empress Juliet anyway.

    <¡°Princess Neoma, you¡¯ll be in grave danger if you leave Hazelden.¡±>

    Prince Skylus, who was in the arms of the queen, talked to her again.

    ¡°Baby Skylus, I appreciate your concern, and I know you only want the best for me,¡± Neoma said carefully, then she gently took the baby saint¡¯s hands. Now that everyone knew that she could talk to the baby saint in her mind, no one wasn¡¯t giving her a strange look. ¡°However, I cannot abandon Lewis.¡±

    Prince Skylus¡¯ face turned crestfallen.

    [For a baby who was just born, the baby saint sure is expressive.]

    As expected, baby saints were built different.

    <¡°Are you really going to save Lewis Crevan even if doing so will lead your final misfortune?¡±>

    .....

    ¡°Yes, nobody can stop me,¡± Neoma said firmly while nodding. ¡°I don¡¯t care what kind of misfortune I¡¯d encounter. Lewis is more important to me than my own safety.¡±

    Hanna suddenly looked nervous.

    She couldn¡¯t read her cousin¡¯s mind, but she could tell that Hanna was worried about her and Lewis based on what she was hearing.

    [I¡¯ll exin everything to youter, Hanna.]

    <¡°Then let me give a piece of advice, Princess Neoma.¡±>

    ¡°Please do so, Prince Skylus.¡±

    This time, she addressed the baby saint formally.

    <¡°Once you get the chance to escape, don¡¯t look back.¡±>

    That gave her the chills.

    To be honest, the baby saint¡¯s piece of ¡°advice¡± was really vague. But she could tell that thest misfortune that she was about to meet was fatal.

    She would lie if she said she wasn¡¯t nervous.

    However, she wasn¡¯t alone.

    Neoma turned to Ruto who was already looking at her.

    Even though he couldn¡¯t see her face, she could recognize the warmth and affection in his dark purple eyes.

    That gave her the strength and confidence that she needed.

    ¡°Thank you for the advice, Prince Skylus. I¡¯ll keep that in mind,¡± Neoma said, then she closed her eyes and kissed the baby saint¡¯s knuckles. ¡°I leave Monik, the empire, and this kingdom under your blessing, Your Holiness.¡±

    ***

    ¡°WHAT MADE youe out, Arche de Moonasterio?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s weird to see my own face talk to me,¡± Arche responded to Aruna¡¯s question. ¡°How long are you going to do stupid things using my body, Aruna de Moonasterio?¡±

    He felt his twin sister¡¯s presence just outside Hazelden¡¯s royal pce.

    Since it seemed like Aruna wasn¡¯t there for Neoma de Moonasterio, he told Ruto to escape with thedies.

    Then he lured Aruna to the Frozen Woods where they wouldn¡¯t identally hurt anyone if ever they fought.

    [I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll fight, though.]

    Aruna frowned at his remark. ¡°Of course, everything I do will look stupid to my genius twin brother.¡±

 Chapter 597 - 597 UNHEALTHY OBSESSION

    597 UNHEALTHY OBSESSION

    ¡°NEOMA, why are you still up?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m soaking the Moonlight,¡± Neoma said while standing on the deck of the ship, her elbows on the railing and her hands cupping her face. ¡°Grandpa told me that borrowing the power of the moon will help me recover my strength faster. I want to see Tteokbokki, Mochi, Soju, and Kimchi the soonest, so I¡¯m soaking up as much as Moonlight as I can before the moon disappears.¡±

    Hence, she was here instead of sleeping.

    On the other hand, Hanna was training in the cabin. Her cousin¡¯s training required total darkness in the room, so she decided to step out and soak in the moonlight.

    [Hanna isn¡¯t worried because she knows Ruto will follow me, and she¡¯s right.]

    Anyway, the ship they were boarding was headed to the ind where her appa, Gavin Quinzel, was literally frozen alive. But they were only boarding that ship to get close to the ind. Once the exact location was nearby, they would use a teleportation scroll.

    [The teleportation scrolls were provided by Ruto.]

    ¡°Have you figured out how to draw the power of the moon?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± Neoma said, shrugging. Then she turned to Ruto who stood next to her. ¡°Did the old Neoma learn how to use the power of the moon?¡±

    .....

    ¡°What do you think?¡±

    ¡°I think she did,¡± she said. ¡°Ruto, I had a dream earlier.¡±

    ¡°About what?¡±

    ¡°It seems like I was the one who awakened the Ancient Devil in the first timeline,¡± she confided to him. ¡°I freed the Ancient Devil and in return, he helped me set the world on fire.¡±

    The fact that he remained quiet told her that he already knew that.

    [Of course, he already knows.]

    She let out a frustrated sigh. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have done that. If I didn¡¯t awaken that old thing, then you wouldn¡¯t have met him.¡±

    ¡°Do you hate the fact that I turned back time?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m actually conflicted,¡± she admitted. ¡°Of course, I¡¯m grateful that you gave me the chance to help me be Neoma version 2.0. But, on the other hand, I hate the price that you have to pay for doing that.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s worth it as long as you¡¯re happy and safe.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m greedy, Ruto,¡± she reminded him. ¡°Of course, I¡¯m happy and contented even without you in my life. But I¡¯ll be HAPPIER if we can stay together until the end in this lifetime. Without killing each other, of course.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that would be nice.¡±

    She pouted at her reaction. ¡°Why are being so passive? Have you resigned yourself to your doomed fate?¡±

    ¡°Sorry. I¡¯m just used to staying calm since you¡¯re already full of energy, Neoma,¡± he said, chuckling. ¡°Can you imagine what will happen if both of us are too hyper?¡±

    For some reason, she suddenly imagined herself and Trevor together, since they were both hyper.

    ¡°The dynamic you just described suits me and Trevor well,¡± she said,ughing softly while shaking her head. ¡°Both of us are too loud and self-obsessed, so we bicker a lot. The problem is because of that, we often talk over each other. We don¡¯t listen to what the other has to say¡­¡±

    She trailed off when she realized that Ruto fell silent.

    Then she burst outughing after seeing his reaction.

    ¡°Ruto, are you sulking?¡± Neoma asked, thoroughly enjoying the moment. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re jealous because I¡¯m talking about Trevor?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not jealous,¡± Ruto said, but his pout and his tone said otherwise. ¡°I just don¡¯t want to hear you talking about other guys when we¡¯re together. But that would be too narrow-minded of me, right?¡±

    ¡°So, you were jealous of Trevor?¡±

    ¡°Just a little.¡±

    ¡°Then is there someone you¡¯re jealous of the most?¡±

    ¡°Rubin Drayton.¡±

    She made a disgusted face. ¡°Why would you be jealous of that dude of all people?¡±

    ¡°Because you like his face,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s childish, isn¡¯t it? We¡¯ve already had this conversation before, but I brought it up again. I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s my fault,¡± she said, shaking her head. ¡°I¡¯m too obsessed with pretty faces and won¡¯t shut up about it. I didn¡¯t realize that it was affecting you negatively. I¡¯m sorry, Ruto.¡±

    ¡°Are you really sorry?¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°Then can I touch your face?¡±

    ¡°Did you wash your hands?¡±

    He let out a sigh while shaking his head. ¡°Neoma, you really know how to ruin a romantic moment.¡±

    Oh?

    Was he making a move on her?

    [Now I¡¯m shy.]

    ¡°Sorry. I¡¯m so used to making the first move, so I didn¡¯t know you were flirting with me,¡± she said, then she looked up at him. ¡°Go. Touch my face as much as you want.¡±

    ¡°Just so you know, I washed my hands,¡± he said before he moved his hands to touch her face.

    ¡°You avoid skinship with me as much as possible,¡± she teased him. ¡°So, why are you being brave right now?¡±

    ¡°Because this is the only way I can ¡°see¡± your face,¡± he said softly while touching her forehead, then her cheeks. ¡°You have lovely features, Neoma.¡±

    It was a bittersweet thing to hear.

    [That¡¯s right¨C he can¡¯t see my face.]

    ¡°Ruto, I know that you¡¯re only paying your debt to the Ancient Devil,¡± she said carefully. ¡°But I still won¡¯t let him eat all your emotions. So, I¡¯m going to be shameless and stop him at all costs.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like I can stop you,¡± he said, smiling. ¡°And even though I look calm, I haven¡¯t given up yet. I¡¯m doing my best to negotiate with the Ancient Devil.¡±

    She pouted at him. ¡°Why did you agree to the price that he named anyway?¡±

    ¡°Because I didn¡¯t expect it.¡±

    ¡°Expect what?¡±

    ¡°That we¡¯ll grow closer like this again,¡± Ruto confessed while lightly touching the bridge of her nose. ¡°My n was to stay in the shadows and do all the dirty works in order for you to walk the flower road. But in the end, I was forced to reveal myself since my status is a huge help to you.¡±

    She raised an eyebrow at him. ¡°Is that the only reason why you revealed yourself to me?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t bear it.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Staying away from you,¡± Ruto confessed softly. ¡°It made you cringe, right?¡±

    ¡°A little,¡± Neoma admitted,ughing. Then she closed her eyes when Ruto¡¯s fingers touched the space between her eyebrows and eyes. ¡°But I¡¯ll let it slide because it¡¯s you, Ruto.¡±

    ***

    ¡°IS IT done?¡± Calyx asked impatiently as soon as Sydrion entered his room. ¡°Give it to me!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re still a rude little piece of shit,¡± Sydrion saidzily. ¡°I was rooting for Mona Roseheart to roast you to death. What a shame that you survived.¡±

    He survived, but he was burnt from head to toe.

    If he wasn¡¯t a de Moonasterio, then he would have died already.

    Moreover, thanks to Dn¡¯s ability, his burn marks were lessened.

    Yes, lessened.

    Even the sorcerer¡¯s magical abilities weren¡¯t enough topletely heal him.

    As a result, there were patches of red marks all over his face and body. It wasn¡¯t too obvious because he concealed the marks with a magic powder that Dn made. However, he wasn¡¯t happy that his perfect skin had been blemished.

    [Princess Neoma is wless. But now I¡¯m far from pristine. How can I seduce Prince Nero at this rate if I¡¯m no match against the royal princess when ites to beauty?]

    ¡°Stupid shitty little brother, are you still with me?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Calyx snarled at Sydrion. He was usually lenient to disrespectful family members because he thought it was fun bickering with them. But he wasn¡¯t in the mood at the moment. ¡°I¡¯m anxious, Brother. I¡¯m no longer immactely beautiful. How will Prince Nero like me now?¡±

    ¡°To be fair, Prince Nero never liked you in the first ce.¡±

    ¡°Brother, don¡¯t make me kill you.¡±

    Sydrion just shrugged, then he threw a pouch at him. ¡°Take that. Extracting that from the young ck Witch wasn¡¯t easy. Seducing Prince Nero or beating Princess Neoma at her own game¨C you better seed with that.¡±

    He smiled when the thing that they needed to crush Princess Neoma was finally in his hands. ¡°Brother, I love you!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t need your fake affection,¡± his brother said, then he plopped down on the sofa. ¡°Ah, you better get going.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°I heard from our guards that they spotted Prince Nero in the town proper.¡±

    He instantly beamed. ¡°Prince Nero is already here?¡±

    .....

    ¡°You know that he¡¯s not here for you, right?¡± Sydrion reminded him. ¡°Prince Nero is here to save the ck Witch.¡±

    ¡°Is that wench still alive?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not easy to kill a ck Watch.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re useless, Brother.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not in my job description to kill that child. Moreover, she¡¯s on the brink of death anyway,¡± his brother said, then he yawned. ¡°Calyx, using the ck Witch¡¯s ability will put your life at risk. You better use it carefully, okay?¡±

    ¡°I will, Brother.¡±

    ¡°For once, stop acting dumb. It doesn¡¯t suit you,¡± Sydrionined beforeying down on the sofa. ¡°Your original personality is much better.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll stop acting dumb soon and act like a proper de Moonasterio,¡± Calyx said confidently. ¡°But Prince Nero is obsessed with Princess Neoma who¡¯s like a ball of sunshine, so I¡¯m trying to copy the royal princess¡¯ personality.¡±

    ***

    ¡°WHY ARE you so adamant about taking Neoma de Moonasterio away?¡± Arche confronted his twin sister. ¡°This world needs her, Aruna. And you know that.¡±

    ¡°Brother, that¡¯s exactly why we need to take her away,¡± Aruna insisted. ¡°This world doesn¡¯t deserve Neoma de Moonasterio.¡±

    ¡°Did you get her opinion about this matter?¡±

    ¡°Neoma will soon realize that we¡¯re only doing this for her sake.¡±

    ¡°Are you still ming yourself for the doomed fate of the royal princesses?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t,¡± Aruna warned firmly. ¡°Don¡¯t even think about bringing that up, Arche de Moonasterio.¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t your fault, Aruna!¡± Arche insisted. ¡°It wasn¡¯t your fault that Callisto de Luca was obsessed with you!¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 598 - 598 NEROâ€™S MISMATCHED PAWNS

    598 NERO¡¯S MISMATCHED PAWNS

    ¡°WHO WOULD want to die for a crafty little prince like you?¡±

    It was Alucard Dionisio (a demon pretending to be the heir of Viscount Leo Dionisio).

    Long ck hair, gray eyes, pale skin¨C the demon had the vessel of a teenage boy.

    There were demon worshippers in the Great Moonasterion Empire hiding in the North Region. Nero, with the help of the Fletcher Twins, destroyed the cult that summoned and worshipped Alucard. After that, he made a contract with the demon for him to be his knight.

    Just like what happened in his first life.

    Nero had what Alucard wanted the most: his blood.

    [Yes, Alucard is a blood-sucking demon who¡¯s obsessed with my blood. I agreed to be his personal source of nutrients in return for his loyalty.]

    ¡°I can¡¯t die until I meet Princess Neoma in person, Prince Nero!¡±

    It was Sanford Devon, a former prince of a fallen nation that the empire invaded eleven years ago.

    .....

    Blond hair that shone like gold, brilliant green eyes, milky white skin.

    The fallen prince¡¯s nation was destroyed by the current emperor.

    [Yes, Father invaded his kingdom in the past.]

    But Sanford Devon didn¡¯t resent the current emperor because he knew how corrupted his nation was, even though he was only ten years old when that happened. Emperor Niki let the young prince live because he was the only member of the Devon Royal Family who didn¡¯t take part in his family¡¯s disgusting activity.

    [If I remember correctly, Sanford¡¯s parents and older brother were all pedophiles who would demand themon and noble households to ¡°offer¡± their children to the Royal Family. Even if Father didn¡¯t invade their nation, the oppressed citizens would have revolted against the Devons, anyway. In the end, the lives of their people improved when their nation was absorbed by the empire.]

    Sanford Devon was offered a noble title after the fall of his nation, but he refused it. But he didn¡¯t actually need a noble title to be famous.

    [After all, Sanford Devon is one of the youngest Swordmaster in the empire.]

    But that wasn¡¯t the fallen prince¡¯s ¡°real¡± identity.

    [Sanford Devon is actually a Rogue who has a penchant for stealing from the rich. He then shares his loot with the poor.]

    ¡°Prince Nero, I only agreed to be loyal to you because I¡¯m obsessed with pretty faces,¡± Sanford Devon said, then he sped his hands together as if he was praying. ¡°You said Princess Neoma is prettier than you, even though you¡¯re twins. I want to bless my eyes with the image of the most beautifuldy in the empire, so please allow me to see Her Royal Highness before I die.¡±

    If Sanford Devon was interested in Neoma in a sexual way, he would have killed the fallen prince a long time ago.

    [That would prove that he was a pedophile like his family.]

    But that wasn¡¯t the case.

    [Sanford Devon is just obsessed with pretty faces. His penchant for beauty is like other people¡¯s penchant for jewelry or shiny things. In short, this crazy bastard sees people as mere statues that he could judge as either ¡°beautiful¡± or ¡°ugly.¡±]

    ¡°If I¡¯m satisfied with your job, then I¡¯ll let you see Neoma,¡± Nero lied with a straight face. ¡°So you better not ck off.¡±

    Sanford Devon grinned at him. ¡°Prince Nero, I¡¯ll show you the power of a Swordmaster.¡±

    He just rolled his eyes while the fallen prince did a weird ¡°victory dance.¡±

    ¡°Can we stop talking already?!¡±

    It was Lucien Attewell, the seventeen-year-old crazy wizard who had run away from the Royal Mage Tower four years ago. Curly red hair, bright orange eyes, and tanned skin¨C this boy would look like a decent noble child if he would only keep his mouth shut.

    ¡°Let¡¯s make everything explode!¡± Lucien Attewell eximed. ¡°I want to test my new babies!¡±

    By ¡°babies,¡± the wizard meant bombs and other kinds of explosives.

    [Crazy kid.]

    ¡°Prince Nero, can I go home?¡±

    Nero turned to Melvin Luchessi¨C the most important member of his team.

    Blue hair, really pale blue eyes, skin as white as now.

    Thisnky and frail-looking neen-year-old boy was Nero¡¯s secretary who was in charge of administrative jobs.

    [He¡¯s also the second son of Count Tyler Luchessi of the Neutral Faction. The members of the Neutral Faction are the kings of the North Region, where the demon worshippers hid. When I helped the lords of the North destroy the cult, I asked Count Luchessi to give his second son to me to be my secretary.]

    Of course, there was a reason why he chose Melvin Luchessi even though the young lord looked like he would be the first one to die on the battlefield.

    ¡°I¡¯m useless in a fight,¡± Melvin Luchessiined, his pupils shaking with fear. ¡°I don¡¯t understand why Your Royal Highness brought me here. I¡¯m just a simple schr! What if I died here? I¡¯m only neen years old! I want to have a wife and an heir!¡±

    ¡°If you died, let¡¯s me it on Alucard,¡± Nero said casually. ¡°He¡¯s in charge of our protection, health, and transportation anyway.¡±

    Sanford Devonughed while pping his hands. ¡°That¡¯s right! I should write a will and ask my friends to kill Alucard if I died during our missions!¡±

    ¡°You cheeky rascals,¡± Alucard growled lowly. ¡°I may look like a child in this vessel, but I¡¯m still older than your agesbined!¡±

    ¡°I told you to stop talking!¡± Lucien, the crazy wizard,ined while stomping his feet on the sand. ¡°Let¡¯s make everything explode now!¡±

    Melvin frowned, his eyes brimming with tears.

    [This group is so¡­ mismatched.]

    Maybe it was time to get serious.

    ¡°Everyone, shut up.¡±

    Nero¡¯s cold andmanding voice pierced through the noise.

    And then everyone fell silent in an instant.

    Alucard, Lucien, Sanford, and Melvin all looked at him while waiting for his next order intently.

    [Finally, some peace and quiet.]

    The silence matched the creepy atmosphere of Saanya Desert.

    Right now, Nero and his group were standing in the middle of nowhere. Everywhere they looked, all they could see was sand and some cactus.

    However, he knew that they were in the right ce.

    ¡°Raku,¡± Nero said, summoning the final member of the team. ¡°Come out.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Raku, the most silent member of the team, didn¡¯t utter a word in a response to his summons.

    But a huge shadow cast over them.

    Then, when that personnded, it caused an earthquake.

    Raku, thirty-five years old, over two meters, huge built. Short ck hair, snake-like golden eyes, skin covered by ck scales.

    Thest member of Nero¡¯s team was half human-half dragon.

    [I¡¯m d we¡¯re allies in this lifetime.]

    ¡°This is our first time working together, but I have faith in the people that I have chosen,¡± Nero said in amanding voice. ¡°If you don¡¯t want to die tonight, then follow my lead well.¡±

    Raku, Alucard, Lucien, Sandford, and Melvin bowed to him. ¡°As you wish, Prince Nero.¡±

    ***

    ¡°NEOMA, here.¡±

    ¡°Oh, thank you,¡± Neoma said when she received the teleportation scroll from Ruto. ¡°Do we just have to rip the scroll?¡±

    Neoma, Ruto, and Hanna were in her cousin¡¯s cabin at the moment.

    The three of them were standing inside the magic circle that Ruto created. ording to him, the long-distance teleportation scrolls would only work with a magic circle. She didn¡¯t expect that he knew how to draw magic circles, too.]

    [Gosh, my man is really a jack of all trades.]

    ¡°Yes,¡± Ruto said, answering her question. ¡°The ship is near the ind where Gavin Quinzel is. But it will take us another day to reach the ind if we don¡¯t use the teleportation scrolls. Since we¡¯re in a hurry, we¡¯ll be using these scrolls then.¡±

    [I hope my ¡°children¡± can catch up to us soon.]

    She wasn¡¯t worried because she trusted Ruto and Hanna.

    But she didn¡¯t want her ¡°children¡± to worry about her, so she wanted to be with them as soon as possible.

    ¡°Will you be okay, Neoma?¡± Hanna asked worriedly. ¡°You often get dizzy when using teleportation devices, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°I think I¡¯ll be fine this time,¡± Neoma said, looking at Ruto with bright eyes. ¡°Because Ruto will make sure I¡¯m fine.¡±

    Ruto cleared his throat and avoided her gaze, his cheeks, and ears red from embarrassment. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of you, Neoma.¡±

    ***

    [I WANT to throw up.]

    Neoma wasn¡¯t feeling well when theynded on the beach where her appa was trapped.

    ¡°Are you alright?¡± Ruto asked worriedly while patting her back. ¡°Do you want candy?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Neoma said while shaking her head. ¡°I¡¯ll feel better soon.¡±

    .....

    It wasn¡¯t like she had the luxury to worry about herself.

    ¡°I can feel Uncle Gavin¡¯s presence,¡± Hanna said while looking at the cave in front of them. ¡°He¡¯s in there.¡±

    Hanna probably felt it because she had the same attribute as her uncle.

    Neoma, on the other hand, only felt an aura simr to Ruto.

    [Is it because it was Ruto who trapped appa in the ice?]

    ¡°My Moon Princess, you¡¯re finally here~¡±

    Neoma raised her head and there, she found familiar faces who appeared out of nowhere.

    Aunt Nichole.

    The former saint Dominic Zavaroni.

    Gin, the ck Cat.

    Trevor.

    And finally¡­

    ¡°Lewis,¡± Neoma said, smiling. She was relieved to see her ¡°son.¡± ¡°They didn¡¯t starve you, did they?¡±

    Lewis shook his head, then he pointed at Trevor. ¡°Trevor beat me up, though.¡±

    Trevor looked like he was betrayed by Lewis. ¡°Son, did you really have to snitch on me¨C aw!¡±

    The demon wasn¡¯t able to finish his sentence.

    After all, Neoma punched Trevor in the face¨C sending him flying. ¡°How dare you hit my ¡°son,¡± Trevor Kesser?¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 599 - 599 THE DEVILâ€™S PLAN

    599 THE DEVIL¡¯S PLAN

    HANNA didn¡¯t miss her timing.

    When Neoma attacked Trevor, she saw Princess Nichole and the former saint Dominic Zavaroni move quickly as if they were about to grab the royal princess.

    Of course, Ruto didn¡¯t allow that to happen.

    [Now!]

    And that was when she used her shadow.

    She summoned Hebi, the seven-headed Shadow Serpent.

    Hebi emerged from Lewis¡¯ shadow, then the serpent snaked its tail around the fox boy¡¯s waist and lifted him.

    Fortunately, Lewis recognized her Shadow Beast and didn¡¯t put up a fight.

    Hence, in just the blink of an eye, the fox boy was already in front of her.

    .....

    ¡°Are you alright, Lewis?¡± Hanna asked worriedly while checking on him from head to toe. ¡°You¡¯re not hurt, are you?¡±

    Lewis looked fine, and his clothes were different from what he would usually wear.

    Hence, she could tell that the Devil¡¯s side had taken care of him. But, of course, she still wanted to hear straight from Lewis that he was fine.

    [Neoma and Lord Ruto are fighting, but I¡¯m sure they can handle themselves.]

    So, Hanna just focused on Lewis.

    ¡°I¡¯m not hurt anywhere,¡± Lewis assured her. ¡°Thank you for worrying about me, Hanna.¡±

    She smiled and nodded. ¡°Neoma was worried more about you.¡±

    Lewis didn¡¯t say anything, but his face beamed while his cheeks turned red.

    [Ohh. Someone is happy that his princess is worried about him, huh?]

    She was about to tease Lewis, but her smile quickly faded when she felt a familiar presence and aura moving close to Neoma.

    And she wasn¡¯t the only one who noticed that.

    Hanna and Lewis both turned to the cave, and they were also shocked when they recognized the personing out of it.

    [Uncle Gavin?!]

    ***

    NEOMA BLOCKED Aunt Nichole¡¯s scythe using Skewer. She was about tond another attack on Trevor when her aunt suddenly appeared before her. The next thing she knew, her own Death Scythe was already shing against her aunt¡¯s weapon.

    Huh?

    [I summoned Skewer unconsciously?]

    Daebak.

    Her Ruto was right¨C her power would slowly return to her. Now that she was thinking about it, she could also feel Tteokbokki¡¯s presence in her soul now.

    [My Spirits, too.]

    ¡°What are you thinking about in the middle of a fight, my precious niece?¡± Aunt Nichole scolded her. ¡°Are you cking off because Ruto is here to keep you safe?¡±

    ¡°Ruto makes me feel safe, but I will never put my life in the hands of someone else,¡± Neoma retorted, pushing her aunt back by putting more strength into Skewer. ¡°Anyway, Aunt Nichole, I¡¯m not happy with what you did. You know how precious Lewis is to me, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°It was Trevor¡¯s idea to use Lewis to lure you here,¡± her aunt said,ughing as if she was amused. ¡°But I have to say that it was a brilliant idea.¡±

    She red at Trevor, but the demon was no longer where he was thest time she saw him.

    [Tsk, that damned demon boy!]

    Trevor joined the former saint Dominic Zavaroni in attacking Ruto. Thankfully, even though her man was outnumbered, it looked like he could win the fight.

    [Heh, that¡¯s Ruto for you.]

    Plus, she also felt Hanna use her Shadow Beast earlier. Even without looking, she could tell that her cousin had already saved Lewis.

    [Oh, we don¡¯t have to waste time here anymore.]

    After all, she promised to follow Nero and help him rescue Dahlia.

    ¡°Lady Vespera,¡± Aunt Nichole said firmly, summoning her Soul Beast. ¡°Teach my niece a lesson about not getting distracted in the middle of a fight.¡±

    Neoma was surprised when Aunt Nichole¡¯s scythe suddenly took the form of a beast.

    A ck Phoenix, to be exact.

    Verspera, the Soul Beast, let out a shriek that turned into a ball of ck me.

    [Fuck it!]

    She raised her one hand, praying that her ability to create barriers had already returned as well. But, much to her pleasant surprise, something else better hade out.

    ¡°I¡¯m back, thug princess!¡±

    Yes, it was Tteokbokki in his baby dragon form.

    However, despite being in a cute size, her Soul Beast managed to block the ck Phoenix¡¯s ball of ck me with his own Fire Breath.

    When the ball of ck me and red me collided, it created a huge impact.

    Aunt Nichole was sent backwards.

    And so was Neoma.

    The heels of her boots dug deep into the soil as she was pushed backwards. However, it stopped when her back hit something warm and solid behind her.

    [Oh, I know this feeling.]

    ¡°Are you alright?¡± Ruto, who put his hands on her shoulders gently to stop her from getting pushed back, asked worriedly. ¡°I¡¯m d that your Soul Beast is back, but it may have taken a toll on your body.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m alright, Ruto,¡± Neoma assured him, then she looked over her shoulder. ¡°Are you done¡­¡±

    She trailed off when she saw Trevor and Dominic Zavaroni behind.

    Both the demon and the former saint were coughing up blood while pulling out an arrow that was impaled on their chests, in the area near their hearts, at that.

    [Yep, of course, Ruto is fine even after fighting Trevor and Mr. Zavaroni.]

    If Neoma and Nero were OP, then Ruto was a cheat character who could do anything and everything in this world.

    [Well, he¡¯s not the divine son of the God Among Gods for nothing.]

    Her thoughts were soon cut off when she felt a familiar presenceing out of the cave. Ruto felt it too, because they both turned to the cave at the same time.

    And there HE was.

    Neoma let out a loud gasp. ¡°Appa?¡±

    It was really the former Commander Gavin Quinzel.

    She thought her appa was still trapped in the ice block that Ruto made. Hence, she was surprised to see her appa as if he had just woken up from a power nap. The formermander looked strangely refreshed.

    ¡°I only mimicked the ice that Delwyn makes by borrowing the power of an Elementalist who could control ice,¡± Ruto exined, whispering in her ear. ¡°Hence, someone on the level of the real Devil could melt the ice that I made.¡±

    The ¡°real¡± Devil.

    Then it wasn¡¯t her Aunt Nichole who melted the ice to free her appa.

    [I don¡¯t see the ¡°real¡± Devil, though. Does it mean they melted the ice and left? But where did they go? Are they going to ambush me in a surprise attack?]

    She couldn¡¯t help but wonder about those things even though her appa was in front of her.

    [Am I distracting myself to run away from reality because I¡¯m not yet ready to face appa even though I missed him?]

    Her heart was conflicted, it seemed.

    ¡°Neoma,¡± her appa said upon seeing her, his voice filled with longing. He also looked like he wanted to run to her and hug her. ¡°Neoma, my daughter, I¡¯m d to see you here.¡±

    ¡°Appa¡­¡± Neoma said unconsciously hiding behind Ruto. [Wait, why am I hiding?!]

    Thankfully, Ruto didn¡¯t question her and he just stood in front of her protectively.

    On the other hand, pain crossed her appa¡¯s eyes when he realized that Neoma hid from him.

    It made her guilty, of course.

    ¡°Neoma, why are you hiding from me?¡± her appa asked, his voice sounded devastated. ¡°Are you not happy to see me?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not that I¡¯m not happy to see you, appa,¡± Neoma said, talking to her appa while looking at him over Ruto¡¯s shoulder. ¡°But I¡¯m not ready yet, not after I finally learned what appa had done to Mama Boss and Papa Boss in the past.¡±

    Her appa looked shocked by her revtion.

    ¡°Because of what appa did, I almost lost my real mother. But thankfully, she¡¯s still alive and our family was reunited now,¡± Neoma said. And even though she didn¡¯t want to sound resentful, that was what she sounded at the moment. ¡°Appa, how could you do that to Mama Boss and Papa Boss? They trusted you. But you betrayed them just to achieve your own happiness.¡±

    .....

    She wasn¡¯t against someone who was chasing their happiness.

    But it was a different matter if you had to hurt other people just to obtain that happiness, wasn¡¯t it?

    [Especially if the people you betrayed are your friends who trust you with their lives.]

    ¡°Neoma, I understand that you¡¯ve grown attached to His Majesty and Lady Roseheart now,¡± her appa said carefully. ¡°But how about your eomma? Are you going to abandon your mother? You know she¡¯s waiting for us, don¡¯t you?¡±

    Go Areum was her eomma, and her Korean mother was still waiting for them in the other world.

    Although she resented her appa for betraying Mama Boss and Papa Boss, she couldn¡¯t say the same for eomma. Her Korean mother loved her genuinely, and her Korean mother yed a huge part in her second life.

    [If it wasn¡¯t for eomma, I wouldn¡¯t be the confident Neoma that I am today.]

    And she tried not to think about her Korean mother all this time because she didn¡¯t want to miss her, but now that her appa reminded Neoma of her eomma, her heart wavered.

    [Eomma, I miss you¡­]

    ¡°Let¡¯s go home, Neoma,¡± her appa said, extending his hand to her. ¡°Your eomma is waiting for us.¡±

    Neoma unconsciously took a step forward.

    But Ruto literally blocked her way.

    Thanks to that, she snapped out of her trance.

    [Oh, what happened to me?]

    That was when Neoma realized that Trevor, Aunt Nichole, and the former saint Dominic Zavaroni were already standing behind her appa.

    Hanna and Lewis, on the other hand, were standing behind Neoma and Ruto.

    [I almost reached out to appa¡­]

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, appa, but I¡¯m not going with you,¡± Neoma said firmly. ¡°Moreover, it¡¯s not like we can cross over to the other world easily.¡±

    Her appa dropped his arm to his side. ¡°We can.¡±

    Huh?

    ¡°Neoma, this is why we lured you here,¡± Aunt Nichole said in a serious tone. ¡°We¡¯re going to send you and Gavin Quinzel back to the other world, to the country called ¡®Korea.''¡±

    Neoma gasped out loud. ¡°That was your n all along?!¡±

    ***

    ¡°FINALLY,¡± Arche said while looking at his hands. ¡°I missed my real body so much.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t that bad being trapped in Aruna¡¯s body, since they had the same face.

    But the flow of their Mana was different. Hence, being trapped in his twin sister¡¯s body weakened him since he couldn¡¯t use his power the way he wanted to.

    Not anymore, though.

    [Anyway, I¡¯m d that Aruna and I had this conversation before it¡¯s toote.]

    Leaving that dimension to look for his twin sister was also a good call. The uing ¡°misfortune¡± of the de Moonasterios could only be stopped if Arche and Aruna worked together.

    ¡°I returned your body to you, so you better keep your promise,¡± Aruna said, her voice threatening. ¡°You can¡¯t betray me, Brother.¡±

    He let out a sigh. ¡°I won¡¯t. If you told me your grand n from the start, then I would have helped you right away.¡±

    To be honest, he thought Aruna was still clouded by her wrath.

    However, after hearing his twin sister¡¯s n, he realized that she just genuinely wanted to protect Neoma de Moonasterio.

    [The hope of this godforsaken empire.]

    The harming Neoma de Moonasterio¡¯s way was inevitable. Hence, he agreed with Aruna¡¯s n.

    ¡°I knew you¡¯d appear at thest minute,¡± his twin sister said confidently. ¡°But thank you for agreeing to help me, Brother.¡±

    ¡°Thank meter,¡± Arche said while putting the robe of his hood over his head. ¡°I¡¯ll head to Niki de Moonasterio now.¡±

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll head to Mona Roseheart,¡± Aruna said, nodding. ¡°Nichole and the rest will take care of Neoma de Moonasterio.¡±

    About Nero de Moonasterio¡­

    [He¡¯s someone who has to face this alone.]

    ***

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 Chapter 600 - 600 LAST THORN & MISFORTUNE

    600 LAST THORN & MISFORTUNE

    AN ABANDONED vige.

    The Saanya Desert was protected by a strong illusion magic that made it look like the desert was empty.

    However, Alucard¨C the demon¨C managed to break the spell.

    But what greeted them was an abandoned vige.

    ¡°There¡¯s no sign of life in here,¡± Nero said, frowning. ¡°Keep your guards up, everyone.¡±

    He couldn¡¯t also detect the divine power that was supposed to have fallen on the desert. The entire ce was so quiet that it was unnerving.

    ¡°It¡¯s a beautiful night to eliminate Princess Neoma from this world.¡±

    Nero looked up because the voice who dared to say those words came from above him.

    He wouldn¡¯t say that he was surprised to see Calyx Dalton¨C suspended in the air, a pair of ck crow wings keeping him afloat.

    .....

    [Only that crazy bastard would say that about Neoma right in front of my face.]

    Calyx Dalton appeared to be alone, but there was something strange about his aura.

    ¡°Crazy,¡± Sanford whispered in disbelief while looking up at Calyx Dalton. ¡°He¡¯s crazy handsome, Prince Nero! Damn. Are all de Moonasterios THAT good-looking? I want his face.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for your interest, but I belong to Prince Nero,¡± Calyx Dalton said, putting a hand over his chest. ¡°But I appreciate your eye for beauty.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± Sanford asked, turning to Nero. ¡°Your Royal Highness, are all de Moonasterios arrogant?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Nero said without missing a heartbeat, then he turned his attention to Calyx. ¡°You know why I¡¯m here. Are you confident that you¡¯re going to face us alone?¡±

    Only Nero and his knights were there.

    He already asked the Fletcher Twins to return to the Royal Pce, since he had a feeling his father would need his Pdins more than he did.

    ¡°I¡¯m not here to fight you, so why would I need other people with me?¡± Calyx asked, then he made a gesture with his hand. ¡°Come up here, Prince Nero.¡±

    Much to Nero¡¯s annoyance, his body was pulled up by a strong, invisible force.

    His knights tried to stop it from happening, but Calyx sent them flying with just a movement of his hand.

    Even Raku, the strongest among his knights, was sent flying.

    [Did Calyx get strong?]

    Nero hated being controlled by other people who weren¡¯t Neoma. Hence, to stop himself froming closer to Calyx, he summoned his Soul Beast. Zeru, the ice phoenix, appeared below him in order to catch her when he broke out of the crazy bastard¡¯s control.

    So now, Nero was standing on Zeru while facing Calyx.

    ¡°Better,¡± Calyx said, smiling creepily at him. ¡°You¡¯re more handsome up close, Prince Nero.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not wrong, but I don¡¯t want to hear that from you,¡± Nero said indifferently. ¡°If you have something to say, then say it now. I¡¯ll attack you in a minute.¡±

    Unlike Neoma who would attack first before listening to the enemy, Nero preferred talking first.

    His twin sister would probably disagree with him, but that was how he fought.

    [Sometimes listening to what the opponent has to say has its own merit, too.]

    ¡°Prince Nero, do you know why the de Moonasterios of the past hunted down the ck Witches?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it because the ck Witches have the ability to kill the de Moonasterios?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not wrong, but it¡¯s too vague,¡± Calyx said, smiling. Then his gaze went past him. ¡°The ck Witches can kill the de Moonasterios because they have the ability to ¡°kill¡± the Moon¨C the source of strength for our bloodline.¡±

    Nero looked over his shoulder, and there he saw the bright full moon starting to turn dim because of the ck cloud obstructing it. ¡°Are you ¡°killing¡± the Moon right now?¡± he asked Calyx when he turned to him again. ¡°In order to weaken me?¡±

    ¡°If I ¡°kill¡± the Moon, I¡¯ll also get weak because I, too, have the blood of a de Moonasterio running through my veins,¡± the crazy bastard said. ¡°Hence, I had to borrow the power of the other gods who want Princess Neoma gone.¡±

    Nero red at the crow. ¡°You crazy bastard¨C¡±

    ¡°The ck Moon will only affect Princess Neoma,¡± Calyx said, cutting him off rudely. ¡°And finally, I will ¡°kill¡± your beloved twin sister using the ability I stole from Dahlia¨C the ck Witch.¡±

    ***

    ¡°PRINCESS Neoma, this world will reject you soon.¡±

    Okay, shocking.

    Neoma was confused, but also interested in what the former saint Dominic Zavaroni said. ¡°Is that a prophecy, Mr. Zavaroni? Do you still receive prophecies from the Moon God even though you were already exmunicated?¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t me who received the warning, Princess Neoma,¡± Dominic Zavaroni said while shaking his head. ¡°It was Princess Aruna who did.¡±

    ¡°And do you expect me to believe it easily?¡±

    ¡°Whether you believe it or not, we¡¯re still going to protect you,¡± Aunt Nichole said. ¡°Neoma, you can¡¯t fight the world once it rejects you.¡±

    ¡°Once the world rejects you, it will do everything in its power to eliminate you,¡± Trevor exined. For once, the demon boy looked serious. ¡°That¡¯s why you need to hide in the other world in the meantime.¡±

    ¡°Go home with me, Neoma,¡± her appa said. ¡°Please.¡±

    Neoma knew in her heart that the Devil¡¯s side wasn¡¯t lying. Hence, she was pissed. ¡°The nerve of this world to reject my precious existence,¡± she snarled. ¡°What¡¯s their problem this time?¡±

    ¡°This world is afraid that a Holy War among gods might start because of you,¡± Aunt Nichole exined. ¡°As you already know, there are gods who want to turn you into the new Aether. But of course, there are also gods who are on your side.¡±

    Neoma turned to Ruto. ¡°Really? I thought all gods want me to be an air purifier.¡±

    ¡°There are some gods on your side, and some on the neutral side,¡± Ruto exined. ¡°But the majority wants to turn you into an Aether. They even want to burn the old man because they can¡¯t wait to get their hands on you.¡±

    ¡°Why, though?¡± Neoma asked, curious. ¡°The Aether is still doing its job properly.¡±

    ¡°Because you¡¯re special,¡± Ruto said. ¡°The current Aether only cleans the polluted air in the Upper World. But your breath can make them younger, just like what you did to the minor god that you killed before. The older gods who are dying of old age are the ones who sought you the most because of that.¡±

    Neoma could only let out a frustrated sigh. ¡°How will this world reject my existence? Are they going to kill me or something?¡±

    As if on cue, as soon as she asked that, the already dark night sky turned darker.

    Then, the full moon went dull.

    [Are those ck clouds obstructing the moon¨C ah!]

    Neoma clutched her chest tight when a sudden pang hit her straight in the heart.

    ¡°Neoma!¡± Ruto yelled worriedly. ¡°What¡¯s happening¨C argh!¡±

    Ruto tried to touch her, but a strange cylinder-shaped barrier prevented him from getting near her.

    [What¡¯s that barrier?!]

    Judging by the confused look on Aunt Nichole, Dominic Zavaroni, Trevor, and her appa, it didn¡¯t like the Devil¡¯s side n.

    [Then where did this barriere from?!]

    Ruto tried to break the barrier by firing his lightning arrows.

    Hanna summoned Hebi, the seven-headed Shadow Serpent to attack the barrier.

    Lewis, whose eyes turned glowing gold, kicked the barrier non-stop. Her son¡¯s fluffy tails also appeared, which meant he was using his maximum strength.

    But none of the attacks worked.

    ¡°Thug princess, hang in there,¡± Tteokbokki, still in his small dragon form, said weakly. He was trying to break the ss from the inside by using his Fire Breath. But the surface of the barrier wasn¡¯t even scratched. ¡°I¡¯ll break this barrier soon¡­¡±

    Neoma wanted tofort her Soul Beast, but she was surprised when a strong force from above pulled her up all of a sudden.

    Argh!

    [What now?!]

    ***

    ¡°WHAT DO you mean you¡¯d kill Neoma using Dahlia¡¯s ability?¡± Nero growled at Calyx. ¡°Just what kind of ability is that?!¡±

    ¡°The ability to create a story that would change the reality of this world,¡± Calyx said, his eyes turned glowing red. ¡°Only Dahlia, thest ck Witch, has that ability.¡±

    He couldn¡¯t utter a word because he was confused.

    ¡°Haven¡¯t you wondered why the history of the ck Witches was erased neatly?¡± the crazy bastard asked. ¡°And no matter how much you look for information regarding the ck Witches, you won¡¯t find anything useful. After all, they only released what the world wanted to know.¡±

    ¡°Are you saying that the ck Witches manipted history?¡± he asked in disbelief. ¡°The only people who can rewrite history are the victors. But the ck Witches lost the war when they were hunted down by the de Moonasterios.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll show you how they did it,¡± the crow said, smirking while putting a hand over his chest. ¡°I already possess the ability that we stole from the ck Witch anyway.¡±

    He wanted to have a retort, but when his eyes met Calyx¡¯s glowing red eyes, he was instantly frozen on the spot.

    [What¡¯s happening to me¡­?]

    He couldn¡¯t move a muscle, and he couldn¡¯t evenmand his soul to separate from his physical body.

    Worse, it looked like even Zeru and his knights were frozen on the spot like him.

    [No, it feels like the world suddenly stopped moving.]

    .....

    ¡°Nero de Moonasterio, from now on, the only beloved sibling that you will remember and love unconditionally is me,¡± Calyx said in a deep voice that didn¡¯t sound like it belonged to him. ¡°Starting this moment, you and everyone or any being who knows Neoma de Moonasterio will forget about her existence¨Cpletely.¡±

    Nero¡¯s eyes widened in shock. ¡°You can¡¯t erase Neoma¡¯s existence in my memories!¡±

    ***

    NOTE: For those who have already forgotten, Dahlia used her ability to manipte memories in Chapter 391: THE MOON, THE WITCH, AND THE CROW. :>

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 601 - 601 SEASON 4 FINALE

    601 SEASON 4 FINALE

    ¡°YOUR MAJESTY, do you expect me to believe that the Juliet who returned to us is a fake?¡±

    ¡°I know it¡¯s hard to believe, Marquis Lennox,¡± Niki said in a serious tone. ¡°That¡¯s why I told you the way to check whether the granddaughter who returned to you is a fake or not.¡±

    It was a matter of great importance.

    Hence, he summoned the marquis even though it was already an ungodly hour for the emperor to meet his subject privately. He told the marquis to test the fake Juliet using the method that the real Juliet¨C now Monik¨C taught him before leaving.

    [But we need to expose the fake Juliet as soon as possible.]

    Thus, he risked everything even if he knew that the marquis would be offended.

    ¡°Your Majesty, I hope you¡¯re not doing this just because you can¡¯t ept that Juliet has returned to us alive,¡± Marquis Lennox said firmly, the frown on his face a clear indication that he wasn¡¯t happy with his ¡°usation.¡± ¡°I will do what Your Majesty told me to do because I¡¯m a loyal subject. However, if Your Majesty¡¯s little ¡°game¡± doesn¡¯t prove anything, I¡¯ll take it as an insult to House Lennox.¡±

    The marquis was saying he would retaliate against the royal family if that happened.

    [In a normal situation, I would have punished Marquis Lennox for threatening the crown. But I understand him, so I¡¯ll just let it slide.]

    .....

    ¡°You can file a formalint against the royal family if, and only if, I turned out to be wrong,¡± he said. ¡°Marquis Lennox, Juliet is a dear friend of mine. Hence, I won¡¯t let a fake steal her identity.¡±

    Marquis Lennox clenched his jaws, but he didn¡¯t say anything.

    The marquis just bowed and left his office.

    [Haaah.]

    He let out a sigh.

    It was already past midnight, but he still couldn¡¯t sleep. How could he do that when Mona and their children were risking their lives at the moment?

    [I feel useless.]

    And stuffy.

    Hence, he stood and headed to the window to open it.

    He stared at the bright full moon while trying to enjoy the fresh air. However, the serene moment didn¡¯tst long.

    The moon that he was admiring was suddenly obscured by dark clouds.

    And then it happened.

    The entire office was suddenly trapped inside someone else¡¯s Domain. Hence, even though he felt Geoffrey Kinsley and the Fletcher Twins used their power to open the office, the Pdins weren¡¯t able to burst through the barrier.

    Niki, on the other hand, tried to summon his Soul Beasts.

    However, he failed to do so as if his power was suddenly void.

    He also found himself unable to move while silver chains that appeared out of nowhere wrapped themselves around his body.

    [Silver chains¡­?]

    In the history of the Royal Family, only one person was known to have wielded silver chains during his reign.

    ¡°How are you, Niki de Moonasterio?¡±

    Niki knitted his eyebrows when he noticed the person who appeared in front of him. ¡°Arche de Moonasterio?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m d you recognize your ancestors,¡± Arche said, then he looked at him with pity in his eyes. ¡°It pains me to say this, but your time as the emperor will end tonight.¡±

    He didn¡¯t have any attachment to the throne, so he didn¡¯t really care.

    However¡­

    ¡°My children still need me as the emperor of thisnd,¡± Niki said, frowning. ¡°And who are you to dismiss me anyway? With all due respect, I don¡¯t think a dead ancestor has the power to oust me.¡±

    ¡°This world is already rejecting Neoma de Moonasterio¡¯s existence.¡±

    He knitted his eyebrows. ¡°And what do you mean by that?¡±

    ¡°This world is trying to kill your daughter.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°The World doesn¡¯t want the gods to fight over Neoma de Moonasterio, so the World decided to reject your daughter¡¯s existence,¡± the old monarch said. ¡°But the World also knows that eliminating Neoma would gain the wrath of the gods in the Upper World. Hence, Aruna gave a suggestion: to open up a new Door that leads to the other world.¡±

    He scoffed after hearing that. ¡°Are you saying that Aruna can talk to the ¡°World?¡± How do you even talk to the ¡°World¡± in the first ce?¡±

    ¡°Strictly speaking, you don¡¯t ¡°talk¡± to the world verbally,¡± Arche said as if he was exining to a child. ¡°A person¡¯s grand action that could potentially change the World is what does it. Hence, by finding a Door that leads to the other world, Aruna let the World know that she wants to bring Neoma de Moonasterio to that ce. If the World wanted that to happen, then the World will help my twin sister with her n tonight.¡±

    He turned to the window where he could see the full moon turning ck.

    This time, it wasn¡¯t because of the dark clouds.

    The moon itself was turning ck as if it was getting poisoned.

    ¡°Is Aruna de Moonasterio the reason behind that?¡± Niki asked, turning to Arche de Moonasterio with a re. ¡°I won¡¯t let you bring my daughter anywhere without her consent.¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately, it¡¯s not for you or Neoma de Moonasterio to decide,¡± Arche de Moonasterio said, snapping his fingers. ¡°This time, we will all follow Aruna¡¯s will.¡±

    ***

    ¡°THIS IS Lord Novak¡¯s blood¡­¡± Mona whispered to herself while floating above the water that looked like blood¨C and it was. ¡°Who killed you, Lord Novak?¡±

    Therge sparkling sphere that looked like a diamond in her hand was a part of the new saint¡¯s divine power. She safely retrieved it while William slew the sea monsters. Now, different sea monsters were floating in the sea¨C all dead.

    Although she was able to retrieve the new saint¡¯s divine power, she didn¡¯t feel like celebrating her victory.

    [What happened, Lord Novak?]

    Novak was the Ancient Spirit that took the form of a unicorn. It was also the Ancient Spirit who helped her and Neoma go over to the world in the past.

    ¡°Mona!¡±

    She looked up to see William flying towards her in a hurry.

    But the Grand Spirit soon disappeared from her sight.

    A woman with white hair, ash-gray eyes, and pale skin appeared out of nowhere and stood in front of her.

    Just like Mona, the woman was also floating above the sea.

    [Who¡­]

    ¡°Mona Roseheart.¡±

    She prepared to fight as soon as the woman mentioned her name.

    However, she suddenly felt like all her abilities and power were taken away from her. The next thing she knew, her body was already wrapped in silver chains.

    [Silver chains?]

    In the history of the Royal Family, only one person used silver chains for a weapon. It was Arche de Moonasterio. However, the person in front of her was a woman.

    [But the former emperor had a twin sister¡­]

    ¡°Aruna de Moonasterio?¡± Mona asked carefully. ¡°Am I right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, you are. I am Aruna de Moonasterio,¡± the old monarch confirmed. ¡°Mona Roseheart, I¡¯m sending you back to Earth. To be precise, the world where you wanted to raise Neoma in the past.¡±

    To be honest, she was confused.

    She had so many questions for Aruna de Moonasterio. However, the former royal princess¡¯ offer was too tempting.

    [I don¡¯t feel any hostility from her anyway.]

    However¡­

    ¡°I¡¯m not leaving this world without my family,¡± Mona said firmly. ¡°Especially without their consent.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I don¡¯t need your consent¨C you, Neoma, and Niki de Moonasterio have to leave this world now.¡±

    Her eyes widened in shock. ¡°How about Nero?¡±

    ¡°The throne can¡¯t be abandonedpletely, and you know that,¡± Aruna said sternly. ¡°Nero de Moonasterio has to be abandoned.¡±

    Just like how she chose Neoma over Nero in the past.

    ¡°No, I won¡¯t make the same mistake that I did back then. I won¡¯t abandon Nero this time,¡± she said firmly while shaking her head. ¡°William!¡±

    William appeared beside Aruna.

    But the Grand Spirit didn¡¯t look like he was going to help her.

    ¡°What are you doing, William?¡± Mona asked, her voice full of resentment. ¡°Are you going to betray me?¡±

    ¡°I killed Juliet Sloane.¡±

    ¡°What¡­?¡±

    Did she hear it right?

    .....

    [William killed Juliet?]

    ¡°I didn¡¯t kill her directly,¡± William confessed to her in a weak voice. ¡°However, I left her to die. I could have saved her from getting trapped in the dimension where the Soul Beasts live, but I didn¡¯t. I did that because of the prophecy that said only one among the three flowers of Niki de Moonasterio could live. I wanted it to be you, so I let the former empress die.¡±

    To say that she was shocked to hear that would be an understatement.

    ¡°William!¡± she yelled, her voice full of anger. ¡°How dare you face Juliet after what you did to her?!¡±

    ¡°I know Imitted an unforgivable sin,¡± William said. ¡°That¡¯s why I begged for Juliet Sloane¡¯s forgiveness. To atone for the unspeakable act I made in the past, she told me that I must send you back to the other world with Neoma and Niki de Moonasterio.¡±

    Now it made sense why Juliet summoned William privately before the former empress left the empire to go to the Hazelden Kingdom.

    [Could it be¡­?]

    ¡°A prophecy,¡± Mona whispered in disbelief. ¡°Did Juliet¡­¡± she stopped, then she shook her head. ¡°Did Monik reveal a prophecy to you back then? If Monik ordered you to send me back to the other world with Neoma and Niki, that only means she already saw what the future holds.¡±

    She took the Grand Spirit¡¯s silence as a ¡®yes.¡¯

    ¡°Mona Roseheart, the crows have already performed a ritual using the ability that they stole from Dahlia, the ck Witch,¡± Aruna exined to her. ¡°The entire world will soon forget about Neoma de Moonasterio¨C including the gods of the Upper World.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Mona asked in disbelief. ¡°This world will forget about my daughter?¡±

    That was rming, of course.

    However, she hadn¡¯t forgotten about the first issue that she had earlier.

    ¡°If the entire world is going to forget about Neoma, then the more we have to bring Nero with us,¡± Mona said firmly. ¡°We won¡¯t abandon our son!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Aruna said, pping her hands¨C and that gesture made Mona sleepy on the spot. ¡°But we have to leave Nero de Moonasterio.¡±

    Mona wanted to fight, but her drowsiness was too heavy to resist.

    [Nero¡­ my Baby Pumpkin¡­]

    ¡°Mona, I swear on my life that I will protect Nero,¡± William promised in a whisper. ¡°Please leave this world with Neoma and Niki de Moonasterio.¡±

    ***

    <¡°PRINCESS NEOMA will soon be erased from this world.¡±>

    <¡°We don¡¯t have enough power to protect your memories, but we will use all our remaining divine send you the person who can do it.¡±>

    To say that Paige was confused would be an understatement.

    When she and her ¡°siblings¡± arrived in the Hazelden Kingdom, they were greeted by the king and the queen¡­

    ¡­ along with two babies.

    The first one was Prince Skylus, the newly-born saint.

    And the other one was the baby they found on Leoflor Ind. She introduced herself as ¡®Monik¡¯ this time.

    The two babies were speaking to them using telepathy while floating in the air.

    [Prince Skylus and Monik are holding hands, too.]

    It was a cute sight, but the babies¡¯ words were frightening.

    ¡°The entire world will forget about Princess Neoma?¡± Paige asked, confused. ¡°But who can protect our memories if you two can¡¯t do it?¡±

    <¡°Brother Ruto,¡±> Prince Skylus and Monik said at the same time. <¡°Only he can do it.¡±>

    ***

    <¡°I¡¯M SORRY, Mother, Father¨C we can¡¯t protect our memories.¡±>

    It was Skylus who apologized to Brigitte and Glenn after sending Princess Neoma¡¯s ¡°children¡± to where Ruto was.

    <¡°Moreover, it will be dangerous for us and the entire kingdom to remember Princess Neoma. Until it¡¯s time her return this world, we must relinquish our memories of her. That¡¯s only way can do support future empress.¡±>

    That was what Monik said.

    Brigitte was scared of the world without Princess Neoma in it.

    However, she gained courage when Glenn held her hand and squeezed it gently.

    ¡°Us forgetting Princess Neoma is only temporary,¡± Glenn said, then he turned to Brigitte with a warm look on his face. Of course, her husband looked worried for the entire royal family. However, he was acting brave for her. ¡°Brigitte, my queen, I¡¯m sure that once Princess Neoma returns, we will remember her. And even if we don¡¯t, I¡¯m certain we¡¯ll still end up loving our charming royal princess.¡±

    That was all she needed to put her heart at ease.

    ¡°You¡¯re right, Glenn,¡± Brigitte said, finally smiling. ¡°Princess Neoma is our future empress, after all.¡±

    ***

    ¡°NEOMA UNNIE!¡±

    Huh?

    When Neoma thought she was going to die from heart attack while suspended in the air, an ¡°angel¡± fell from the sky. ¡°Nabi-ya?¡±

    It was Nabi, the soul of Go Areum¡¯s real daughter.

    Nabi fell from the sky, so despite her pain, Neoma still opened her arms to catch her out of reflex.

    Since Nabi was only a soul, she didn¡¯t weigh a thing.

    ¡°Unnie, the Cosmic Tree sent me here to help you,¡± Nabi said cheerfully, then she ced a hand on the cylinder-like barrier where she was currently trapped. ¡°The Cosmic Tree received the message that you sent through Lord Kingston.¡±

    Ah, that was right.

    Neoma asked Kingston, the White Lion, to send a message to the Cosmic Tree.

    [¡°It¡¯s time for you to pay me back for my service, Grandma Cosmic Tree.¡±]

    That was the message that she sent.

    Neoma¡¯s thoughts were interrupted when the cylinder-like barrier suddenly broke into tiny pieces. ¡°Nabi-ya, did you do that?¡± she asked, surprised. ¡°You¡¯re strong.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not strong, unnie,¡± Nabi said while shaking her head. ¡°The Cosmic Tree only lent me her strength because she couldn¡¯te down to personally help you. Moreover, Princess Aruna asked the Cosmic Tree to send me here because it¡¯s time for us to go home.¡±

    ¡°What¨C ah!¡±

    She was surprised when she suddenly fell from the sky as soon as the barrier that trapped her disappeared.

    But she didn¡¯t have to call Tteokbokki.

    Ruto caught her in his arms smoothly.

    [Wow~]

    ¡°Are you alright, Neoma?¡± Ruto asked worriedly while putting her down. ¡°You¡¯re not hurt anymore?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Neoma said, then she put Nabi down carefully. ¡°Thank you for catching me, Ruto¡­¡±

    She trailed off when people she didn¡¯t expect suddenly arrived.

    First, it was Arche de Moonasterio with Papa Boss.

    Then Aruna de Moonasterio arrived with Mama Boss.

    Both her parents were unconscious!

    Papa Boss was draped over Arche¡¯s shoulder like a sack of potatoes, while Mama Boss was sleeping in Aruna¡¯s arms like a princess.

    [No way¡­]

    ¡°Mama Boss, Papa Boss¡­¡± Neoma whispered in disbelief. Then she turned to the ancient royal twins with knitted eyebrows. ¡°Are you saying that you¡¯re sending me to Korea with Mama Boss and Papa Boss?¡±

    ¡°Niki de Moonasterio¡¯s reign as the emperor had ended already,¡± Arche exined. ¡°The crows will kill him if we let him stay in this world.¡±

    ¡°And we can¡¯t separate Mona from you,¡± Aruna added. ¡°Hence, your entire family has to leave this world.¡±

    ¡°Entire family? What are you talking about?¡± Neoma growled at the ancient twins. ¡°Where¡¯s Nero?¡±

    ¡°Nero de Moonasterio can¡¯t leave this world,¡± Aruna said coldly. ¡°You must abandon the Crown Prince.¡±

    ¡°No!¡± Neoma yelled angrily. ¡°I will not abandon Nero in this world!¡±

    The look that Arche and Aruna gave her told her that they wouldn¡¯t change their mind.

    Frustrated, Neoma turned to Ruto and grabbed him in the arm. ¡°Ruto, let¡¯s bring Nero.¡±

    ¡°Neoma, they are right,¡± Ruto said in a solemn voice. ¡°Nero can¡¯t leave this world. The de Moonasterion throne needs him.¡±

    ¡°Are you telling me to abandon my twin brother?!¡± Neoma snapped, ring at Ruto. ¡°I won¡¯t leave this world without Nero!¡±

    ¡°Neoma, you must go.¡±

    It was Hanna.

    She turned to her cousin, calming down in an instant. And she calmed down because she realized one thing.

    [I have to leave them, too¡­?]

    ¡°If this world is trying to eliminate you, then you have to leave for now,¡± Hanna said, her eyes brimming with tears. ¡°I will protect Nero until you return.¡±

    Neoma almost choked on her tears. ¡°Hanna¡­¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma.¡±

    She broke down when Lewis called her.

    [Do I have to separate from Lewis when we just got reunited?]

    ¡°Go,¡± Lewis said in a cracked voice, then he put a hand over his chest. ¡°I will wait for you no matter how long it takes, Princess Neoma.¡±

    [No¡­]

    Neoma couldn¡¯t stop herself from running and hugging Lewis even though her ¡°son¡± was ufortable with skinship. ¡°I don¡¯t want to leave like this¡­ Lewis, I don¡¯t want to leave you alone in this world¡­¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t be alone in this world, Princess Neoma,¡± Lewis assured her, then he wrapped his arms around her tightly. ¡°And even if the whole world forgets about you, I promise that I won¡¯t.¡±

    She sobbed harder. ¡°Lewis¡­¡±

    ¡°Please go, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Do you really want me to leave, Lewis?¡±

    ¡°No, but I¡¯d rather get separated from you temporarily than lose you forever.¡±

    Her ¡°son¡± was right.

    But it was still hard to leave him.

    ¡°Princess Neoma,¡± Lewis said firmly, then he pulled away from her embrace. After that, he put her hands on his shoulders. ¡°You must return to us all costs.¡±

    Then, much to her surprise, Lewis pushed her gently.

    Neoma¡¯s back hit a familiar chest.

    ¡°Neoma, I¡¯ll take care of everything,¡± Ruto promised her while holding her shoulders. ¡°I won¡¯t let your people forget you.¡±

    Neoma turned around and faced Ruto, looking up at him with a re while grabbing his cor again. ¡°You better not forget me, Ruto.¡±

    Ruto just smiled at her, then he wrapped his arms around her tight.

    He hugged her and buried his face against her neck.

    ¡°Why are you not answering me, Ruto?¡± Neoma asked nervously. ¡°You¡¯re not going to forget me, are you?¡±

    ¡°Neoma.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    Ruto pulled away from her, then he held her shoulders tight and looked at her straight in the eye. ¡°I love you, Neoma,¡± he whispered softly. ¡°Saranghae, jagiya.¡±

    What?

    He just said ¡®I love you, sweetheart¡¯ in the Koreannguage.

    [How¡­?]

    Neoma was about to ask Ruto where he learned those Korean words, but she was frozen on the spot because of what he did next.

    Ruto leaned down and kissed her at the corner of her mouth, barely touching her lips.

    And then she felt sleepy.

    That was when Neoma realized that Ruto put a sleeping spell in his kiss.

    ¡°Ruto, I won¡¯t say ¡®I love you¡¯ until I punish you for doing this to me¡­¡± Neoma warned Ruto lightly, her eyelids and entire body feeling heavy at the moment. When she closed her eyes, she was pretty sure that tears rolled down her cheeks. ¡°Nero, my baby brother¡­¡±

    ***

    ¡°NOW THAT everyone is here, let¡¯s begin.¡±

    Ruto, who didn¡¯t have the time to grieve for having to let Neoma go again, addressed everyone with his sharp gaze.

    Hanna Quinzel.

    Lewis Crevan.

    Paige Avery.

    Juri Wisteria.

    Jeno Dankworth.

    Xion Redgrave.

    Greko.

    Everyone looked devastated.

    Hanna hadn¡¯t stopped crying ever since Neoma left.

    Arche, Aruna, Nichole, Trevor, and Dominic Zavaroni used all their powers to send Neoma, Lady Roseheart, Emperor Niki, Gavin Quinzel, and Nabi to the other world. The Door was the cave itself.

    The cave disappeared after that.

    And the Devil¡¯s side also vanished into thin air.

    That was when Neoma¡¯s ¡°children¡± appeared. Apparently, the new saint and saintess sent them to him to protect their memories.

    Because only Ruto could do that.

    <¡°If you protect all those people¡¯s memories, then you¡¯ll lose more than half of your power,¡±> the Ancient Devil said excitedly. <¡°And if that happens, then I¡¯ll be free to eat your emotions all at once.¡±>

    Ruto just ignored the Ancient Devil.

    After all, no matter how dangerous or risky it was, he would still do it for Neoma.

    [She will return, and she needs people who will protect her once she¡¯s back.]

    He didn¡¯t know what would happen to him in the near future, but as long as Neoma¡¯s ¡°children¡± were here, his heart would be at ease.

    [As long as Hanna and Lewis will lead these children, everything will be fine.]

    ¡°You of all people can¡¯t forget Neoma,¡± Ruto said to Neoma¡¯s people indifferently. ¡°Neoma will return, hence you must stay alive until then.¡±

    ***

    CALYX FINALLY got what he wanted.

    He hugged Nero, who was unconscious in his arms, tightly and buried his face against his neck.

    ¡°You¡¯re finally mine, Nero.¡±

    Making the entire world forget about Neoma de Moonasterio, except for the high-ranking people in the cult, was a huge gamble.

    The gods in the Upper World would forget about her, after all.

    However, it would also work to their advantage.

    The gods wanted Neoma dead, but the crows needed her alive. Hence, making everyone forget about her would benefit the crows more.

    [We just have to catch her soon.]

    And now that everyone had forgotten about her, no one could protect her anymore.

    That was their goal.

    ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio, I will steal the love and loyalty of the people who have forgotten you,¡± Calyx said, smiling while staring at Nero¡¯s perfect face. ¡°And I¡¯ll start by making Nero love me to death.¡±

    ***

    [Somewhere in Korea¡­]

    ¡°YOUNG LADY, are you interested in bing an idol?¡±

    ¡°She has the face of an actress, so she¡¯s more suited to be an actress instead of an idol!¡±

    ¡°Hey, I spotted her first!¡±

    ¡°No, I did!¡±

    ¡°What are you all talking about? I¡¯ve been scouting her for an entire year already!¡±

    ¡°So what? It¡¯s not like she already signed a contract with your agency!¡±

    SHE sighed while watching those men and women fight over her.

    Again.

    Her ssmates and schoolmates, who were already used to seeing talent scouts from big and small agencies fight over her, teased her.

    ¡°Our school idol is at it again~¡±

    ¡°Dal High School will be so boring without you, so please don¡¯t sign with any of them!¡±

    ¡°Sunbae-nim, just stay with us forever!¡±

    Sheughed softly at the kids teasing her.

    ¡°If you want me to stay as your ¡°school idol¡± forever, then you better take care of me well!¡± she teased her schoolmates, then she flipped her hair when she faced the talent scouts who looked smitten by her beauty. ¡°Unnies, oppas, I¡¯m sorry but I¡¯m toozy to be an idol.¡±

    upation: Student/Lady of Leisure

    Nickname: Nation¡¯s Prettiest Teen

    Age: 19 (Korean age), 18 (international age)

    Name: Neoma Ramsay

 Chapter 602 - 602 STILL A PRINCESS

    602 STILL A PRINCESS

    [NERO, HOW are you? I hope you¡¯re not too lonely there. Even though you probably don¡¯t remember me anymore, I¡¯m sure you still miss me. Just so you know, I miss you too.]

    ¡°Are you shooting a music video or what?¡±

    Neoma¡¯s musing was interrupted when Park Garam, her friend and ssmate, teased her while she was looking outside the window of their ssroom.

    Just like the main character that she was, she sat in the back row¨C next to the window.

    It was already their break time, but she was still in the ssroom instead of the snack bar because she was waiting for Garam who helped their teacher earlier.

    ¡°Are you done being a good ss president?¡± Neoma teased Garam, turning to her friend who looked like the idol trainee that she was. ¡°You made me wait for you, so you better treat me to the snack bar.¡±

    Park Garam¨C dyed red hair tied in a messy bun, light brown contact lenses that made her eyes look pretty.

    [She¡¯s an idol trainee who¡¯s been my friend since middle school.]

    Garamughed, then she mocked bow to her. ¡°As Your Royal Highness wishes.¡±

    .....

    Pfft.

    In this school, Neoma was treated like the princess that she was.

    It was definitely because of her outstanding visuals.

    When she returned to Earth, her white hair had turned ck while her ash-gray eyes had turned dark gray. It was the same for Mama Boss, Papa Boss, and the others.

    But despite those changes, they still didn¡¯t look like pure Koreans. Because of their looks, they pretended to be half-Caucasians when they made their fake identities. They would still experience discrimination from time to time.

    Not like they let it bother them, though.

    [Compared to what my family has gone through for many years, being discriminated against because of our ridiculously pretty faces is the least of our concerns.]

    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Neoma said, then she stood up and linked her arm with Garam¡¯s. ¡°I¡¯m hungry. If the snack bar runs out of my favorite sausage rolls and banana milk, it¡¯s your fault. You have to treat me to tteokbokkiter if that happens.¡±

    ¡°You know you shouldn¡¯t worry about that, right?¡± Garam teased her again,ughing. ¡°Even if you don¡¯t get in line in the snack bar, you will still get your favorite snacks. Why do you think people call you ¡®princess?''¡±

    ¡°Well, there are also people who call me ¡®princess¡¯ sarcastically.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re just jealous of you,¡± her friend said. ¡°And it¡¯s not just because of your beauty.¡±

    Haaah.

    She let out a long sigh because she knew exactly what Garam meant by that.

    ¡°Neoma, you¡¯rete today.¡±

    It wouldn¡¯t be an exaggeration to say that the entire hall fell silent when Hwang Dae-hyun approached her.

    [The most handsome boy in Dal High School.]

    Just like in Neoma¡¯s case, talent scouts would often fight over Hwang Dae-hyun. But, as far as she knew, he hadn¡¯t signed up with any agency yet.

    To be honest, the boy was an eye candy.

    But she had an issue with him.

    [If Rubin Drayton was born Korean, he would definitely look like Hwang Dae-hyun.]

    Yes, the kid was that handsome.

    [If Hwang Dae-hyun is a webtoon character, flowers and sparks would appear on the background every time he has a scene.]

    And that kind of kid fell in love with Neoma at first sight, naturally.

    ¡°Here,¡± Dae-hyun said, handing over a stic bag to Neoma. ¡°I got you your favorite snacks.¡±

    ¡°Oh, thanks,¡± Neoma said, then she immediately pulled out her wallet from the pocket of her skirt. ¡°Let me pay¨C¡±

    ¡°Just treat meter,¡± Dae-hyun said, smiling charmingly at her even though he just cut her off. ¡°Then I¡¯ll call it quits.¡±

    [Look at this kid¨C]

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but Princess Neoma already made ns with me.¡±

    Argh.

    [There hees.]

    Neoma looked at the person who was the reason why the entire school had been calling her ¡®princess.¡¯ ¡°Trevor.¡±

    Trevor just grinned at her.

    Since the demon boy had copied her age ever since they were kids, he grew up with her in that world as well.

    A neen-year-old Trevor was beyond gorgeous.

    Fortunately, their school was an art school that had been producing idols and celebrities for years now. Hence, the school allowed Trevor to cover his ears with piercings. And they also allowed him to grow his hair long enough to cover his ears, too.

    [Gosh, Trevor is so unnecessarily tall and handsome.]

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, chingu,¡± Trevor said while patting Dae-hyun¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Better luck next time.¡±

    Dae-hyun¡¯s usual warm face turned cold because of Trevor¡¯s teasing.

    Aigoo, look at those kids fighting over Neoma.

    Garam whispered to Neoma. ¡°Are we shooting a teen drama or what?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s my fault,¡± Neoma said while shaking her head. ¡°Me and my sinful face.¡±

    ***

    ¡°YOU SHOULD seriously reject that kid already, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°I already rejected Hwang Dae-hyun the first time he confessed to me,¡± Neoma said while walking side-by-side with Trevor. ¡°It¡¯s not my fault that he doesn¡¯t know how to ept a ¡®no¡¯ for an answer.¡±

    Since it was already rush hour, the streets were crowded.

    However, it was amusing to see people making way for Neoma and Trevor while looking at them with full admiration on their faces.

    Neoma was tall for an average Korean woman, so she stood out.

    And Trevor was over 190 centimeters.

    She refused to reveal her height because she wasn¡¯t that happy being tall. Anyway, their height difference wasn¡¯t that big, so they looked good together.

    [Just visually speaking, okay?]

    It was actually hard for Neoma and Trevor to walk in peace because they were often approached by talent scouts. Thankfully, after years of getting scouted, they learned how to avoid those people swiftly.

    [Ah, finally!]

    After dodging people who wanted to either scout Neoma and Trevor or hit on them, they finally arrived at the Ramsay Flower Caf¨¦.

    The first floor was a flower shop run by Mama Boss.

    While the second floor was a coffee shop with some books, and it was owned by Go Areum (who had retired from being a news anchor).

    [My eomma.]

    Ramsay Flower Caf¨¦ was closed for today because they had an important family meeting.

    When Neoma and Trevor arrived on the second floor, their family was already waiting for them.

    ¡°You¡¯rete!¡±

    It was Tteokbokki.

    [In his human form.]

    Since Tteokbokki was also the same age as Neoma, Tteokbokki was also neen-years-old in Korean age now.

    [And boy, my brother is hot.]

    Tteokbokki was currently working as a barista in the coffee shop, and he was one of the reasons why Ramsay Flower Caf¨¦ was a trending spot in the area.

    ¡°Gosh, why are you being grumpy?¡± Neomained, then she crossed her arms over her chest. ¡°Tteokbokki, it seems like your fame is making your head big for you to scold me. Do you want me to humble you again?¡±

    ¡°No. I¡¯m sorry, thug princess,¡± Tteokbokki said meekly, avoiding her gaze. ¡°And please call me ¡®Tan.¡¯ Kids here call me ¡®Tan oppa¡¯ or ¡®Tan hyung¡¯ now, you know?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care,¡± Neoma said, scoffing. ¡°You¡¯re still ¡®Tteokbokki¡¯ to me.¡±

    [Fortunately, ¡®Crimson¡¯¨C the God of Wrath¨C hasn¡¯t shown up ever since we came into this world. Thanks to that, Tteokbokki remains my Tteokbokki.]

    ¡°Unnie!¡±

    It was Nabi¡­

    ¡­ in the body that Neoma possessed before returning as Neoma de Moonasterio before.

    Nabi was now physically in her mid-twenties. But her mental age was only eighteen years old since that was how long she had lived ever since Ruto brought her soul to the Cosmic Tree.

    .....

    [Thankfully, Nabi has adapted to her life as Kim Nabi now.]

    After waking up in aa, and after everything was settled, Nabi changed her legal name from ¡®Kim Neoma¡¯ to Kim Nabi.

    [But she continued my previous job as a mukbanger.]

    And now that Neoma was looking properly, Nabi and she didn¡¯t resemble each other that much anymore.

    She didn¡¯t know what happened, but Nabi looked pure Korean now.

    [Her fans didn¡¯t notice the change, though.]

    ¡°Unnie, guess what?¡± Nabi asked excitedly. She still called Neoma ¡®unnie¡¯ even though she was physically older. But of course, she wouldn¡¯t address her as ¡®unnie¡¯ in front of strangers. ¡°Our channel just hit fifteen million subscribers!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great!¡± Neoma said, genuinely happy for Nabi. ¡°That calls for a celebration!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s drink!¡± Trevor said. ¡°We¡¯re not Koreans anyway, so we can drink even if thew of this country considers Neoma and I as minors.¡±

    ¡°Are you trying to make my daughter aw-breaker, you rascal?¡±

    Oh, it was Papa Boss.

    And her father didn¡¯te alone.

    Papa Boss was with Mama Boss, of course.

    There was also her appa and eomma: Gavin Quinzel/Kim Won-shik and Go Areum.

    And finally, Aunt Nichole and Uncle Dominic.

    [Yes, Aunt Nichole and Uncle Dominic are here too. And they are posing as Trevor¡¯s parents in this world.]

    She still felt like she was dreaming.

    ¡°It¡¯s surreal to see everyone together like this,¡± Neoma said, smiling at her big family. ¡°It was as if we didn¡¯t try to kill each other the first time we arrived in this world.¡±

 Chapter 603 - 603 TYRANT IN THE MAKING

    603 TYRANT IN THE MAKING

    DINNER with the family.

    Neoma was still amazed to see her now big family sharing a long table, even though it had been five years already since they got together like this.

    [Time flies, huh?]

    ¡°It¡¯s a noir movie, and the director is promising. My gut feeling tells me this is a good project.¡±

    It was still strange to hear that from Papa Boss although it had been three years since Raon Entertainment was established.

    Yes, it was an entertainment agency.

    [¡®Raon¡¯ means ¡®joyful¡¯ in the Koreannguage.]

    As of now, there were only three artists who were signed with Raon Entertainment: Kim Won-shik (still a famous actor after hiseback), Go Areum (now an influencer/vlogger after retiring as a news anchor), Kim Nabi (the top mukbanger in Korea at the moment), and Trevor (model, but would only ept deals if he felt like working).

    ¡°Your gut feeling has never been wrong so far, so let¡¯s choose the noir film for myst project this year,¡± Won-shik/Gavin appa said. ¡°Daepyo-nim.¡±

    .....

    ¡®Daepyo-nim¡¯ meant CEO.

    Yes, the CEO of Raon Entertainment was none other than Papa Boss.

    [I guess I shouldn¡¯t be surprised Papa Boss has the knack for running a business. From emperor to CEO real quick. My father is really born to boss people around, huh?]

    But it didn¡¯t shock Neoma since she knew Papa Boss would survive anywhere.

    [The thing that shocked me is the fact that Papa Boss and appa could talk now like civilized people. Before, they would often go after each other¡¯s throat. If Mama Boss and Areum eomma didn¡¯t step in, there would have been a bloodbath already.]

    Ah, those were the (exciting) days¡­

    ¡°I hope your new project brings a lot of money and sess,¡± Uncle Dominic (the former saint) said with a bright smile on his face. ¡°After all, Eternal Love Orphanage depends on your donations.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Aunt Nichole agreed while nodding. ¡°Our family is growing bigger, so we need more help financially.¡±

    Yep, Uncle Dominic and Aunt Nichole¨C who were already married in this world¨C were running an orphanage together.

    [And they¡¯re trying to make a baby with the help of modern technology in this world.]

    ¡°I¡¯ll donate all my earnings from myst vlog to the orphanage,¡± Areum eomma said, smiling. ¡°Most of my followers also donate to the orphanage after they found out about it.¡±

    Although Areum eomma already retired as a news anchor, she was still an online celebrity.

    ¡°Speaking of the orphanage, please don¡¯t forget that we¡¯re scheduled to visit the kids there this weekend,¡± Mama Boss reminded them. ¡°Free your schedule, okay?¡±

    Areum eomma and Mama Boss could still pass off as twin sisters.

    But, this time, the difference between the two was evident.

    [I don¡¯t know how to exin this, but Areum eomma looks pure Korean (because she is). Mama Boss, on the other hand, looks like the ¡°European¡± version of eomma? Ah, it¡¯s hard to exin, but that¡¯s how I see it.]

    ¡°Kids, did you hear what I said?¡± Mama Boss asked. ¡°You¡¯re all free this weekend, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Mama Boss,¡± Tteokbokki said cheerfully, addressing Mama Boss like how Neoma did. ¡°I will bake pastries for the kids!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll help Tan oppa, Aunt Mona,¡± Nabi said, addressing Tteokbokki by the Soul Beast¡¯s ¡°human name.¡± ¡°We can also teach the kids flower arrangement!¡±

    ¡°I guess we have time,¡± Trevor said, then he turned to Neoma. ¡°But Princess Neoma and I will be busy that day.¡±

    Now everyone at the table looked at Neoma while expecting her answer.

    ¡°We always have time for the kids in the orphanage,¡± Neoma said, smiling at her family. ¡°I have a ¡°date¡± in the afternoon, though.¡±

    ***

    ¡°GREETINGS, PRINCE Calyx.¡±

    ¡°Hello, Sanford,¡± Calyx greeted back Nero¡¯s most enthusiastic knight. ¡°How¡¯s my baby brother?¡±

    There were two guards outside Nero¡¯s office.

    The first one was Sanford Devon, a fallen prince, and also one of the few young Swordmasters on the entire continent. And the other was Raku, the quiet half human-half dragon who just bowed to Calyx without saying a word.

    [They¡¯re useful because they¡¯re loyal to Nero, and I get along well with them.]

    ¡°Well, Prince Nero is always grumpy,¡± Sanford said,ughing. ¡°But I think His Royal Highness is angrier today than usual. I actually feel bad for Melvin.¡±

    Melvin Luchessi was Nero¡¯s aide/secretary.

    ¡°Now I¡¯m nervous,¡± Calyx said,ughing. ¡°I wonder if I should go in or just go backter. I¡¯m afraid of Nero when he¡¯s in a sour mood.¡±

    Of course, that was a lie.

    He just wanted to hear how Nero¡¯s knights would react to hisment.

    ¡°You have nothing to be afraid of, Prince Calyx,¡± Sanford said encouragingly. ¡°Prince Nero is mean to everyone but Your Highness. Moreover, only Prince Calyx can make Prince Nero calm.¡±

    Raku didn¡¯t say anything, but he nodded eagerly in agreement with what Sanford said.

    And that made Calyx smile.

    Yes, those were the words that he wanted to hear from the closest people to Nero.

    [If Nero¡¯s closest aides can tell that I¡¯m special to him, then it must be true. Nero is only kind to me, and I¡¯m the only one who can make him calm.]

    ¡°Alright,¡± Calyx said, grinning. ¡°Announce my arrival now, Sanford.¡±

    Sanford cleared his throat before speaking. ¡°Your Royal Highness, Prince Calyx has arrived.¡±

    After that announcement, Raku opened the doors for Calyx.

    ¡°Scram!¡±

    Calyx witnessed Nero throwing a thick pile of documents at Melvin Luchessi¡¯s face.

    [Aw, poor secretary.]

    Melvin, who looked exhausted and fed up with Nero¡¯s outbursts, just bowed to the Crown Prince before picking up the scattered documents on the floor. Then he quietly walked towards the door after greeting Calyx in silence.

    Calyx just patted Melvin on the shoulder to console the poor aide.

    [Hang in there, Melvin.]

    ¡°Nero, don¡¯t be too hard on your secretary,¡± Calyx scolded him lightly. ¡°Melvin is proficient at his job, you can¡¯t afford to lose him. Understood?¡±

    Nero raised his head to re at him.

    [Ah, so freaking handsome.]

    Thest five years had only been good to Nero when it came to his aesthetics.

    Aside from Nero¡¯s gorgeous face, his height and body were both ideal, too. The Crown Prince was tall and fit. His clothes hid the lean muscles underneath. Hence, even though His Royal Highness looked thin, he actually had an athletic body.

    [And that gorgeous young man is mine.]

    His and his alone.

    ¡°If you¡¯re just here to scold me, then leave,¡± Nero said coldly. ¡°I don¡¯t have the time to listen to your nagging.¡±

    Calyx justughed it off, then he sat on the table while facing the Crown Prince. ¡°What¡¯s making you upset?¡±

    ¡°Those darn pirates¡­¡±

    Ah, the Pirates of the South.

    The royal family had their eyes on Duke Rufus Quinzel¡¯s territory in the South Region where the Quinzels ruled for many generations now.

    However, they couldn¡¯t do a proper business with the South Region now because of the pirates that invaded the Lajar Sea. It was the safest route that they could take in order to get to the duchy. But the pirates that came out of nowhere a few years ago were ruining their ns.

    ¡°Can¡¯t we just kill them?¡± Calyx asked. ¡°Are they that hard to kill?¡±

    ¡°I already sent Lucien and the first squadron of the Order with him, but they can¡¯t still deal with those damned pirates,¡± the Crown Prince said, obviously frustrated. ¡°They¡¯re like roaches of the sea.¡±

    Hmm.

    That was indeed a problem.

    Lucien Attewell was the ¡°problem child¡± in Nero¡¯s Order of Knights since the wizard was too much of a war freak who liked throwing explosives here and there. The wizard liked fighting because he always had a new bomb or explosive to test on the battlefields.

    But the fact that Lucien Attewell couldn¡¯t overpower the pirates was worrying.

    ¡°Then should I go to the South and deal with the pirates myself?¡±

    ¡°And what?¡± Nero asked, raising an eyebrow at him. ¡°You¡¯re going to leave me here in the pce alone?¡±

    Aww.

    Would you look at that?

    [It looks like Nero would rather kill me than let me leave him.]

    That kind of possessiveness only thrilled Calyx.

    .....

    [Yes, Nero should be THIS clingy to me.]

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I misspoke,¡± Calyx said, smiling. ¡°I¡¯m not going anywhere. Not without you, at least.¡±

    ¡°At least you know that,¡± Nero said, then he leaned down and pressed his forehead against Calyx¡¯sp. ¡°So, what brings you here?¡±

    [Aww¡­ he must be tired for him to lean on me like this.]

    ¡°I¡¯m here to fetch you, of course,¡± Calyx said while running his fingers through Nero¡¯s smooth and silky hair affectionately. ¡°Mother wants to see us.¡±

    ***

    NERO BOWED to the woman sitting on the throne. ¡°Greetings, Mother.¡±

    ¡°Oh, raise your head, darling.¡±

    He did as he was told.

    Juliet de Moonasterio¨C the Empress Dowager¨C smiled at him warmly. ¡°Prince Nero, I heard you¡¯re having a hard time dealing with the Pirates of the South?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s embarrassing that Mother has to hear about my difficulties,¡± Nero said indifferently. ¡°I apologize for making Mother worry. I¡¯ll make sure to wrap everything up the soonest.¡±

    The Empress Dowager was ced on the throne after the previous emperor, his father, ran away with his lover¨C Mona Roseheart.

    [And no one knows where the two have been after eloping.]

    Emperor Niki abandoned the throne, but Nero couldn¡¯t fill his father¡¯s vacancy because he was a minor back then.

    But fortunately, Juliet Sloane had returned.

    Since the former empress was the mother of Calyx, the representatives of the Twelve Golden Families¨C led by Marquis Vincent Lennox¨C made Juliet Sloane the Empress Dowager.

    After that, Calyx was officially recognized as the First Prince since he was older.

    Nero, on the other hand, remained the Crown Prince since he had the support of the Empress Dowager and the First Prince.

    [And I¡¯m the one with the Soul Beasts, so naturally, more people supported me.]

    ¡°Prince Nero, the South Region is ruled by the Quinzels,¡± the Empress Dowager said, her gaze going past him. ¡°Hence, I took the liberty to invite the Quinzel Princess to help us deal with the matters concerning the Pirates of the South.¡±

    The doors to the throne room bust open.

    And then the Quinzel Princess entered the room with a bright smile on her face, then she greeted Nero politely.

    ¡°Greetings to the Lesser Moon of the Great Moonasterion Empire.¡±

    He nodded as a way to greet back the Quinzel Princess. ¡°It¡¯s been a while, Lady Regina.¡±

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s been a while, Prince Nero,¡± Regina Quinzel said, then she smiled apologetically at her. ¡°I apologize, Your Royal Highness. I was supposed to bring Lady Hanna here, but she¡¯s currently sick.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± Nero said indifferently. ¡°I¡¯m aware that Hanna¡¯s heart disease is worsening.¡±

 Chapter 604 - 604 THE QUINZEL PRINCESS

    604 THE QUINZEL PRINCESS

    [IT¡¯S RIDICULOUS.]

    Regina couldn¡¯t believe that more than half of the shopping district in Grandiose Avenue¨C the high-end part of the Royal Capital¨C belonged to one person.

    Only the higher nobles could afford the shops in this district.

    ¡°To think that Hanna Quinzel owned more than half of the shops here,¡± Regina whispered to herself while looking outside the window of the carriage she was currently using. ¡°What a greedy little wench.¡±

    House Quinzel was arguably the richest noble household in the empire. But their main source of ie was limited to the chains of luxury hotels that they owned all over the continent.

    However, this was the first time in history that the Quinzels bought more than half of the shopping district in Auberon¨C the official name of the Royal Capital.

    These days, the Quinzels were involved in almost all the thriving fields in the empire: high fashion, jewelry stores, restaurants, hospitals, and a lot more. Heck, the Quinzels even invested in coffee shops. The majority still preferred tea, but after the Quinzels invested in the coffee industry, more and more people were choosing coffee over tea.

    [The rise of caf¨¦s all over the empire is staggering.]

    Aside from getting wealthier, the Quinzels also earned more prestige after they built and opened a school formoners.

    .....

    [Eranthis Academy.]

    It was the name of the school that the Quinzels built.

    [And in the empire, the eranthis flowers (which the school is named after) symbolized hope and new beginnings. Hence, the meaning touched themoners who finally got the chance to get educated in a proper school. Moreover, despite being a private institution, Eranthis Academy is free formoners.]

    It was like the Quinzels were bragging about their wealth.

    Some of the nobles were offended.

    However, most of the nobles supported the Quinzels by donating money to Eranthis Academy.

    [But even though I say ¡®Quinzels,¡¯ the only person who owns all the businesses that the family has is Hanna Quinzel. After thew that allows women to inherit noble titles, the women of the empire also gained the right to own businesses under their names.]

    Most of the Quinzels¡¯ assets were legally owned by Hanna Quinzel now.

    [Except for Eranthis Academy. The founder of the academy is Duke Rufus Quinzel, and an unnamed business partner. If I remember correctly, the duke¡¯s secret business partner is a phnthropist who refuses to be named.]

    When the crows tracked the phnthropist, they found out that the business partner was none other than the former Emperor Niki. But other than the academy, the former emperor wasn¡¯t involved in the Quinzels¡¯ businesses.

    Hence, the crows concluded that Eranthis Academy was thest project that the former emperor worked with Duke Quinzel.

    Since the crows couldn¡¯t touch the Quinzels, they just let them be for now.

    [Five years ago, the former emperor disappeared along with Mona Roseheart and Neoma de Moonasterio.]

    However, they made sure that the people connected to the former royal family, especially the missing royal princess, hadn¡¯t made contact with the missing Neoma de Moonasterio. That was how the crows found out that there were people who weren¡¯t affected by the spell that Calyx made five years ago.

    Lewis Crevan.

    Paige Avery.

    Juri Wisteria.

    Jeno Dankworth.

    That pipsqueak called ¡®Greko.¡¯

    Those five people disappeared the day the royal family did.

    The crows had been monitoring House Wisteria and House Dankworth since then because of Juri and Jeno, respectively. But both families had also been looking for their children and came up with the conclusion that Juri and Jeno had eloped.

    [We concluded House Wisteria and House Dankworth really have no idea about Juri and Jeno¡¯s whereabouts.]

    The crows also kept an eye on Dion Skelton¨C the current High Priest of Astello Temple because he was Paige Avery¡¯s lover. But upon checking Dion Skelton¡¯s memories, they had confirmed that his memories of Neoma de Moonasterio, along with the people connected to the royal princess, were wiped off.

    Hence, Dion Skelton thought he became the High Priest because of the former emperor¡¯s order.

    [Well, the High Priest won¡¯t be a problem since he¡¯s already under our control.]

    The crows also monitored Marcus, the former emperor¡¯s Healing Sage. After all, the old man was a mentor to Greko. But for the past five years, the child never tried to contact his former teacher.

    [But to make sure that Marcus isn¡¯t going to be a problem, we kicked him out of the pce.]

    Lewis didn¡¯t have any family or friends, hence they had no one to investigate.

    [The former emperor¡¯s Pdins disappeared, though.]

    When the crows took over the Royal Pce when Prince Nero fell into aatose state briefly, they arrested the Pdins using Calyx¡¯s authority. They used the Pdins of helping the former emperor abandon his duties.

    But Geoffrey Kinsley, Jeanne Audley, and the Fletcher Twins disappeared a few dayster after getting locked up.

    And the crows could only think of one person who could free the Pdins easily.

    Ruston Solfrid Stroganoff.

    [Lord Ruto also disappeared five years ago. But the crows can¡¯t touch his father who was left in the Royal Pce. After all, we don¡¯t want to make an enemy out of the Solfrids¨C the monarchs of the East Continent.]

    Fortunately, the Solfrids had forgotten about Neoma de Moonasterio, too.

    [It seems like Lord Ruto isn¡¯t using the Solfrids anyway.]

    In conclusion, the crows had sessfully taken over the empire.

    Regina¡¯s thoughts were interrupted when the carriage stopped when she arrived at her destination.

    The door opened, and a Quinzel knight escorted her as she stepped out of the carriage.

    She was supposed to head to the fancy restaurant in front of her, but she stopped when the huge building across the street distracted her.

    The entire building upied an eight-hectare ofnd.

    It wasn¡¯tpleted yet, but it was already the talk of the town. After all, every piece ofnd sold in the Grandoise Avenue cost a fortune. The fact that a single person purchased an eight-hectarend to build a strange building shook the entire continent.

    And it wasn¡¯t the Quinzels this time.

    [Speak of the devil¡­]

    Regina greeted the nobleman who got out of the carriage next to hers. ¡°Greetings, Lord Hawthorne.¡±

    Jasper Hawthorne¨C still the youngest duke in the empire.

    The young duke was the epitome of tall, dark, and handsome. Moreover, His Grace was intimidating. He rarely appeared in social gatherings, so everyone was surprised when he suddenly bought eight hectares ofnd in the most expensive part of the Royal Capital.

    [Since Duke Hawthorne has a connection to Neoma de Moonasterio, we checked if he has really forgotten about the royal princess. And based on our investigation, the spell also worked on him. Hence, the young duke reverted back to hating the royal family that caused the death of his parents.]

    Jasper just looked at Regina with a nk look on his face, then he tried to walk past her without saying anything.

    ¡°Your Grace, I heard the business that you¡¯re building on the eight-hectarend that you bought is called a ¡®mall,''¡± Regina said, smiling charmingly at the young duke. ¡°I¡¯d love to hear more about your new business venture, Duke Hawthorne. This is the first time I¡¯ve heard of a mall¨C¡±

    ¡°And why would I share my business ns with a mere servant like you?¡±

    What?

    Regina was used to being looked down on ever since she posed as a servant in House Drayton during her younger years.

    However, for some reason, the duke¡¯s disgusted gaze made her feel humiliated.

    ¡°Your Grace, with all due respect, I¡¯m not a servant¨C¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you the maid who¡¯s always trailing behind Lady Hanna?¡±

    Hah.

    Now she was really insulted.

    [Duke Hawthorne calls Hanna Quinzel with respect, and yet he treats me like I¡¯m a bug.]

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s because Your Grace doesn¡¯t appear in high society that much, but I am actually Lady Hanna¡¯s cousin,¡± Regina said as calmly as she could. ¡°Duke Quinzel already confirmed that I am thete Commander Gavin Quinzel¡¯s illegitimate daughter¨C¡±

    ¡°An illegitimate daughter of a traitor, huh?¡± Duke Hawthorne said, cutting off her again. ¡°Even though I don¡¯t attend social gatherings that much, I know all the nobles in the empire. And I¡¯m pretty sure that you¡¯re not yet officially a Quinzel.¡±

    She clenched her hands tight.

    What the young duke said was correct.

    [Although I go around attending banquets while introducing myself as a Quinzel, the duke and duchess are yet to adopt me.]

    ¡°Moreover, even if you get adopted by the Quinzels officially, I don¡¯t think you have what it takes to be a real nobledy¨C considering that you don¡¯t even know proper etiquette at your age,¡± Duke Hawthorne scoffed, walking past by her. ¡°Evenmoners know that a lowly noble should not approach a higher noble carelessly.¡±

    And just like that, the young duke left Regina humiliated.

    [I¡¯ll kill that arrogant bastardter!]

    ¡°Regina, why haven¡¯t youe in yet?¡±

    She was too absorbed in hating Jasper Hawthorne internally that she didn¡¯t notice HIM approach her.

    Ah, would you look at that?

    Rubin Drayton¡¯s unbelievably handsome face melted Regina¡¯s anger.

    The boy had always been handsome. But now that he was in his twenties, Rubin¡¯s face had reached new heights. No wonder he was the most-sought after bachelor in the entire empire.

    .....

    [Rubin¡¯s face is lethal.]

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Regina?¡± Rubin asked worriedly. ¡°I saw you talking to Duke Hawthorne earlier. Did he say something rude to you?¡±

    ¡°If I said that Duke Hawthorne humiliated me, what would you do?¡± Regina asked, forcing tears toe out of her eyes. It worked, and now she was speaking between sobs. ¡°Rubin, will you help me sabotage Duke Hawthorne¡¯s new business if I tell you I wanted to pay him back for the humiliation I suffered at his hands?¡±

    ***

    ¡°REGINA, you¡¯re early. I thought you were having lunch with Lord Rubin¡­ oh, why are your eyes puffy?¡±

    [Ah, so noisy.]

    Duchess Amber Quinzel greeted her as soon as she returned to the mansion.

    Regina smiled at Duchess Amber Quinzel anyway.

    Of course, she made sure that her smile was sad to gain the duchess¡¯ sympathy.

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing, Aunt Amber,¡± Regina said softly, trying to look and sound pitiful. ¡°Rubin and I just had a small argument.¡±

    Duchess Amber held her hands, her face full of concern. ¡°Is it because Duke Drayton is still opposed to your rtionship with Lord Rubin?¡±

    Well, that was the excuse that she was using to make Duchess Amber pity her. But, to be honest, it was the truth.

    Even now, Duke Drayton still didn¡¯t like her for Rubin.

    [After all, the duke still looks down on me since the Quinzels haven¡¯t adopted me officially yet.]

    Regina smiled sadly and nodded. ¡°Even though I¡¯m the daughter of Gavin Quinzel, I¡¯m nothing but an illegitimate child of a traitor. Uncle Rufus and Aunt Amber have taken good care of me. However, other people don¡¯t recognize me as a Quinzel. Some even think I¡¯m Lady Hanna¡¯s servant.¡±

    The duchess looked horrified by what she said.

    And that was Regina¡¯s goal since Duchess Amber was easier to manipte than the kind yet guarded Duke Rufus.

    [Yes, Duchess Amber. You should feel guilty. Why don¡¯t you hurry and adopt me already?]

    Once Regina became a Quinzel officially, then she would have the right to inherit House Quinzel and all the assets that currently belong to Hanna.

    ¡°Aunt Amber, isn¡¯t Lady Hanna going to be the Crown Princess soon?¡± Regina asked carefully. ¡°Once Lady Hanna bes the Crown Princess, she can¡¯t inherit the duke¡¯s title. Who¡¯s going to be your sessor when that happens?¡±

    And that was when the realization hit Duchess Amber.

    [Yes, you need to name me as your sessor¨C I need to be the real Quinzel Princess.]

    ***

    ¡°AH, YOU¡¯RE still alive,¡± Regina whispered while looking at the sleeping Hanna Quinzel on the bed. ¡°Thank you for working hard to make the Quinzels richer and more powerful. Now let me harvest the fruits of your hard work.¡±

    At first, the crows doubted it if Hanna Quinzel really lost her memories of Neoma de Moonasterio.

    After all, the Quinzel Princess was with the royal princess before thetter disappeared.

    But Hanna returned alone to the royal capital after the ordeal.

    Regina and the other crows personally examined Hanna and her memories. They had confirmed that she had no recollection of Neoma de Moonasterio.

    The crows thought about killing Hanna Quinzel since Regina was supposed to take over House Quinzel. However, the crows changed their minds because out of all the nobledies in the empire, Hanna Quinzel was suited to be Prince Nero¡¯s wife the best.

    [The crows care about the future generations, so we must select the Crown Princess carefully.]

    And it was a good decision because Hanna Quinzel turned out to be a genius merchant.

    However, the future Crown Princess shouldn¡¯t have too much power or wealth.

    Hence, justst year, Regina began poisoning Hanna Quinzel little by little. They wouldn¡¯t kill her until she gave birth to Prince Nero¡¯s sessor. However, the crows would make sure that the Crown Princess would be a fragiledy who couldn¡¯t leave her bedroom on her own.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, my dear cousin,¡± Regina said while caressing Hanna¡¯s cheek with the back of her hand. ¡°I will use the wealth you umted well.¡±

    ***

    WHEN HANNA opened her eyes, the first person who greeted her was her cousin.

    ¡°Regina,¡± Hanna said, smiling at her cousin. ¡°You¡¯re already here?¡±

    ¡°Of course. I miss you, after all,¡± Regina said while helping her get up, then she down next to her and touched her forehead. Then she knitted her eyebrows with worry. ¡°Oh. You still have a mild fever, Lady Hanna.¡±

    ¡°I told you to just address me by my name,¡± she said. ¡°You¡¯re older than me, after all.¡±

    Her cousin smiled shyly. ¡°How can I call the Quinzel Princess by her name?¡±

    ¡°But you¡¯re also a Quinzel, Regina.¡±

    ¡°Not officially, though,¡± her cousin said in a sad voice. ¡°That¡¯s why Duke Drayton cannot ept me as Lord Rubin¡¯s partner yet.¡±

    Ah, that was sad.

    Everyone in the empire knew that Regina and Lord Rubin loved each other. However, everyone also knew that Duke Drayton was opposed to the two¡¯s rtionship because of Regina¡¯s vague social status.

    ¡°Oh, no,¡± she said, then she consoled her cousin. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Regina. I will convince Mother and Father to adopt you. I¡¯m sure that¡¯s what Uncle Gavin would want us to do¨C to take care of his daughter well.¡±

    Regina looked relieved by what she said. ¡°Thank you, Lady Hanna. I don¡¯t really care about the Quinzel name. But I want people to recognize me as a part of our family.¡±

    ¡°You are family, Regina.¡±

    Her cousin hugged her tight.

    ¡°Thank you, Lady Hanna,¡± Regina said in a cracked voice, embracing her tighter. ¡°Your words mean a lot to me.¡±

    Really now?

    As soon as Hanna hugged back Regina, her expression hardened. Her smile fell, and her eyes turned glowing green as the anger in her heart aze silently.

    All of this disgusted her, but she had to endure.

    [Regina Crowell, you¡¯re a good actress. But I¡¯m sorry to tell you this: I am better than you since I was trained by the ¡®Scammer Queen¡¯ herself¨C Neoma.]

    Princess Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio, the one and only royal princess of the Great Moonasterion Empire.

 Chapter 605 - 605 BIRTHDAY PREPARATIONS

    605 BIRTHDAY PREPARATIONS

    ¡°PRINCE CALYX, please return before your birthday banquet.¡±

    Calyx turned to Kyle Sprouse and smiled. ¡°Of course, I¡¯ll be back before my birthday banquet. I can¡¯t miss it for the world.¡±

    Right now, he was having tea in the garden of nco Pce.

    It was the pce reserved for the Crown Prince, and it was supposed to be for the Crown Prince only.

    However, Calyx and Nero had a special bonding as half-siblings.

    Hence, he was living in the Crown Prince¡¯s pce even though he had his own residence.

    Kyle Sprouse looked relieved by what he said. ¡°We will prepare the banquet of the century for you, Prince Calyx.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± he said, then he sipped his tea. ¡°And I¡¯ll pay you back by bringing a present that will strengthen the hold of the royal family over the nobility and themon people.¡±

    It was his birthday, but he was also preparing a present as the First Prince of the empire.

    .....

    Kyle knew what he was preparing, hence the chambein for the Empress Dowager looked proud of him.

    Yes, the former traitor had been reinstated in the Royal Pce.

    This time, Kyle Sprouse had be his mother¡¯s aide.

    [And he seems happy to serve my Mother.]

    ¡°Your Majesty, you¡¯re here,¡± Kyle said as he stood up, his face beaming while looking at the Empress Dowager. ¡°Please take a seat.¡±

    Calyx smiled at his mother while standing up. ¡°Hello, dear Mother.¡±

    Even though there were servants behind the Empress Dowager, it was still Kyle who pulled the chair for Her Majesty.

    [Kyle looks like Mother¡¯s ve despite his position.]

    ¡°Thank you, Kyle,¡± his mother said after sitting on the chair across from him. Then the Empress Dowager smiled at them. ¡°You may sit now.¡±

    Only Calyx sat down.

    Kyle just smiled and bowed, then he stood behind the Empress Dowager like the ve¨C er, servant that he was.

    They kept quiet while a maid served tea to the Empress Dowager.

    When the servant left, only then did his mother speak.

    ¡°Must you really go before your birthday party, son?¡± his mother asked worriedly. ¡°Can¡¯t you just ask one of our people to go in your stead?¡±

    ¡°That won¡¯t do, Mother,¡± Calyx said while shaking his head. ¡°I have a duty to fulfill as the First Star of the Great Moonasterion Empire.¡±

    His mother sighed, her face filled with concern. ¡°If you put it like that, then what more can I say?¡±

    ¡°You can give me your blessing to leave, Mother,¡± he said, smiling at his mother charmingly. ¡°And you can tell me toe home safely.¡±

    The Empress Dowagerughed softly. ¡°My son is indeed brilliant,¡± his mother said, then he held his hands and squeezed them gently. ¡°Calyx, my not-so-little prince, hurry ande back to me safely. And of course¡­¡± His mother¡¯s eyes glowed brightly. ¡°Don¡¯t forget to bring it back, too.¡±

    ¡°Of course, Mother,¡± Calyx said, his ash-gray eyes glowing mischievously. ¡°As the First Star of the Great Moonasterion Empire, it is my duty to bring the new saint to the Astello Temple.¡±

    And by doing so, the crows would finally have absolute power over the people who worshipped the Moon God.

    ***

    <¡°NERO, you fucking brat.¡±>

    Argh!

    Nero got up and opened his eyes while clutching his head tight.

    [That darn dream again¡­]

    Recently, he had been dreaming about a girl with a foul mouth. He couldn¡¯t see the girl¡¯s face clearly, but he could remember that she had the same hair and eye color as him. And that was the weirdest part.

    [A girl with the same hair and eye color as me?]

    Only the de Moonasterios had abination of white hair and ash-gray eyes in the entire world. But there was no female de Moonasterio in existence as of the moment. It wasn¡¯t like he had a sister or¡­

    ¡°A sister,¡± Nero whispered to himself, clutching his chest tight this time when he felt a pang in his heart. ¡°Why¡­ am I feeling this way?¡±

    He shut his eyes tight, trying to remember the face of the girl in his dreams.

    But all he saw was darkness.

    However, the girl¡¯s voice kept ringing in his ears.

    <¡°Nero, you absolute moron!¡±>

    <¡°Gosh, you¡¯re so fucking annoying.¡±>

    <¡°When will you get your shit together, huh?¡±>

    He groaned in aint, then he opened his eyes. ¡°Will she die if she doesn¡¯t curse? What a vulgardy.¡±

    No matter how much he tried to remember, he couldn¡¯t recall an incident where he met a girl with a dirty mouth.

    In the academy, only Hanna had the guts to talk to him.

    [And Hanna is the example of a perfect nobledy: beautiful, gentle, elegant. Moreover, she¡¯s reserved. She only speaks when she has to, and she¡¯s always careful with her words.]

    But the girl in his dreams¡­

    [She only knows how to curse.]

    ¡°Nero~¡±

    He raised his head when the door to her bedroom burst open.

    As expected, Calyx entered his room as if it was his own.

    He didn¡¯t really mind, but he was kind of pissed as to how Sanford and Raku would let the First Prince enter his bedroom easily.

    [I¡¯m still the Crown Prince, and I deserve some privacy, do I not?]

    ¡°Oh, have you just woken up?¡± Calyx asked, then he sat beside him. After that, he put a hand on his cheek. ¡°It¡¯s rare for you to take a nap after ss. You usually go straight to your office after you change your clothes.¡±

    He was in his senior year as a student at the Royal Moon Academy.

    Now that it was hisst year in school, he could finally go home earlier than usual to fulfill his royal duties.

    Usually, he would head straight to his office, just like what Calyx said.

    But for some reason, he felt tired today. Hence, he took a nap. But it seemed like his nap turned into a deep sleep.

    ¡°I¡¯m just a little tired,¡± Nero said, then he took a look at Calyx¡¯s outfit. The First Prince was always dressed fabulously. But it seemed like he was dressed up more than usual today. ¡°Where are you going?¡±

    Calyxughed softly, as if he was amused. ¡°Did you forget that I¡¯m headed to the Holy Land today?¡±

    Ah, right.

    The First Prince had an official outing starting today, and it had something to do with fulfilling his royal duty.

    ¡°Right, the prophecy,¡± Nero said when he remembered what the First Prince¡¯s duty was. ¡°Many years ago, we received a prophecy that said the First Star of the Great Moonasterion Empire would bring the new saint to the Astello Temple.¡±

    He pped his hands. ¡°I¡¯m d you remembered, Nero.¡±

    ¡°Have you found the new saint?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll find out once I get there.¡±

    Hah.

    Calyx was being vague.

    But since Nero wasn¡¯t interested in the matters of the temple, he didn¡¯t pry anymore. ¡°Alright,¡± he said. ¡°Have a safe trip.¡±

    ¡°Is that all you¡¯re going to say?¡± Calyxined, pouting. ¡°I was hoping to hear you say you¡¯ll miss me.¡±

    He just gave the First Prince a disgusted look.

    Of course, Calyx was special to him since they were siblings. But the thought of expressing his emotions verbally and physically made his skin crawl.

    [And for some reason, I feel ufortable.]

    ¡°I¡¯m going to miss you, Nero,¡± Calyx said, hugging him tight. ¡°What are you going to do while I¡¯m away?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m busy,¡± Nero said, patting Calyx¡¯s back gently. ¡°The Royal Family of the Hazelden Kingdom will be here soon.¡±

    ***

    ¡°SKYLUS, MONIK, where are you going?¡±

    ¡°Mommy, Sister and I will be backter,¡± Skylus said cheerfully as a response to his mother¨C the queen of Hazelden. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we won¡¯t bete!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll take care of Skylus, Mom!¡± Monik assured their mother. ¡°Bye-bye, ude.¡±

    .....

    ude was their three-year-old baby brother, but he wasn¡¯t the youngest.

    ¡°Bye-bye, Baby Angel,¡± Skylus said softly, his tiny hand rubbing his mother¡¯s baby bump. ¡°Your big brother and big sister will returnter.¡±

    ¡®Baby Angel¡¯ was the nickname that their family came up with for the baby in their mother¡¯s womb.

    Their parents didn¡¯t know the gender of the child yet.

    However, Skylus and Monik already knew.

    [It¡¯s a baby girl!]

    ¡°You two are up to no good again, aren¡¯t you?¡± their mother teased them,ughing softly. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll pretend that I haven¡¯t noticed that you¡¯re keeping a secret from mommy and daddy. But make sure that you won¡¯t get hurt, okay?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Mommy!¡±

    ¡°Yes, Mom!¡±

    Their mother chuckled. ¡°Very well.¡±

    After saying their goodbyes to their mother and baby siblings, Skylus and Monik ran out of the queen¡¯s bedroom while holding hands.

    ¡°Son, daughter, where are you going?¡±

    It was their father¨C the king of the Hazelden Kingdom.

    ¡°Does your mother know that you¡¯re up to no good again?¡± their father, who squatted down in front of them, asked with a big smile on his face. ¡°Skylus, Monik¡­ babies?¡±

    Skylus and Monik justughed when they ran past their father who looked confused.

    ¡°Sorry, Daddy!¡± Skylus yelled,ughing while looking over his shoulder to watch them. ¡°Sister Monik and I will just have a meeting!¡±

    Their father stood up, his face full of concern. ¡°What meeting? Babies don¡¯t do meetings, children¡­¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re not babies!¡± Monik said,ughing while waving at their father. ¡°We¡¯re the future of Hazelden Kingdom, Dad!¡±

    Their fatherughed. ¡°Take care, Skylus, Monik.¡±

    It looked like Skylus and Monik were running freely alone.

    However, that wasn¡¯t the case.

    The Shadow Knights that the queen and king assigned to them were following them in the dark.

    [Anyway¡­]

    After saying goodbye to their father, Skylus and Monik went straight to their secret room.

    The name sounded cool, but it was just an empty prayer room¨C a prayer room for no one.

    Hence, it was the perfect ce for Skylus who worshipped the Moon God, and Monik who worshipped the Light Goddess.

    Their parents were generous enough to let them choose their religion at a tender age.

    ¡°Sister, I locked the room,¡± Skylus whispered. ¡°But the Shadow Knights are outside.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Brother,¡± Monik said, then she waved her hands. Pinkish lights filled the prayer room in a matter of seconds. ¡°I recorded our voices when we were reading fairy tale booksst night. The Shadow Knights will hear our recorded voices and not what we¡¯re talking about at the moment. So, they will think that we¡¯re just reading books here.¡±

    Skylus pped his hands, his face full of amazement. ¡°You¡¯re really great, Sister.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Brother,¡± Monik said, then she stood up and twirled around. ¡°Now, let¡¯s begin our meeting!¡±

    The four walls inside the prayer room lightened up.

    Then the faces of their allies showed one by one.

    The wall on their right side showed Hanna Quinzel¡¯s face.

    The wall on their left side showed Jasper Hawthorne¡¯s face, who had a ck cat sitting on top of his head.

    The wall in the back showed a man wearing a fox mask that showed his pair of golden eyes. There were also people behind him.

    And finally, the wall in front of them¡­

    ¡°Annyeong, everyone,¡± Princess Neoma, who was wearing an ugly mask, greeted them cheerfully. ¡°Let¡¯s start our meeting~¡±

    Skylus and Monik both smiled and nodded.

    The challenges that they had faced for thest five years weren¡¯t easy, but here they were now...

    ***

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 Chapter 606 - 606 MASTER MANIPULATOR

    606 MASTER MANIPULATOR

    NEOMA smiled while looking at her allies. ¡°First of all, I want to say that I¡¯m happy to see everyone looking well.¡±

    Right now, she was in the study alone because Trevor (who was supposed to join the meeting) was summoned by the ancient royal twins.

    The wall in front of them had turned into something simr to a projector.

    It was divided into four ¡°screens.¡±

    The screens showed Hanna, Lewis (whose face was covered with white bandages), Jasper oppa (and Gin in his ck cat form sitting on the top of the duke¡¯s head), Hanna (who looked skinnier than thest time she saw her), and finally, Skylus and Monik.

    [They grew up so well.]

    Monik was now eight-years-old. Her blonde hair had turned paler, and her pink eyes looked more sparkly than usual.

    Skylus, now five years old, inherited Uncle Glenn¡¯s sandy blond hair and Brigitte unnie¡¯s deep blue eyes. Unfortunately, since the baby saint lost his divine power, his eyes weren¡¯t sparkling like how Monik¡¯s eyes did.

    [No worries, Baby Skylus. I¡¯ll still make you a saint. Just hang in there for now.]

    .....

    ¡°Now, let¡¯s hear Jasper oppa¡¯s report,¡± Neoma said cheerfully. ¡°Oppa, how¡¯s the status of our shopping mall?¡±

    Yes, ¡°their¡± shopping mall.

    The empire had several shops, of course. But the concept of a shopping mall hadn¡¯t been introduced to that world yet. Hence, she wanted her side toe up with that first. After all, they needed to get a hold of the empire¡¯s economic power.

    [To whoever came up with the shopping mall idea first, I¡¯m sorry for stealing your concept and bringing it to the other world.]

    ¡°The shopping mall is in its final stage of production,¡± Jasper said. ¡°We can have its opening before the year ends, Miss Ramsay.¡±

    Yes, ¡®Miss Ramsay.¡¯

    There were two rules that Hanna and Jasper had to follow: First, they must never see Neoma and Lewis¡¯ faces. Second, they must never mention Neoma and Lewis¡¯ real names out loud.

    That was the reason why Neoma and Lewis were covering their faces.

    [Ruto and his demigod friends protected the memories of our allies. In order to deceive the crows to think that Jasper oppa and Hanna really lost their memories of me, Hanna and Jasper must never see my face and mention my name out loud.]

    Since Lewis was always with Neoma, Ruto suggested that Hanna and Jasper oppa refrain from remembering and mentioning Lewis to be safe.

    Hence, her son was covering his face as well.

    [Ruto said seeing Lewis might trigger Hanna and Jasper oppa¡¯s memories of me since they associate my son with me, so Lewis has to cover his face as well.]

    ¡°That¡¯s good to know,¡± Neoma said. ¡°And the stores that we willunch in the mall?¡±

    ¡°All the stores that Lady Hanna owns have secured a lease in our mall,¡± Jasper oppa said proudly, then he looked at Hanna. ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure doing business with Lady Hanna. She¡¯s smart, and she knows what she wants.¡±

    Hanna smiled shyly. ¡°I¡¯m d to hear that, Duke Hawthorne. But I wouldn¡¯t be able to learn about running a business if it wasn¡¯t for Your Grace.¡±

    ¡°Lady Hanna, I told you that you can address me casually in private.¡±

    ¡°Very well, Lord Jasper.¡±

    [Aww, they¡¯re getting along well.]

    ¡°Hanna, why do you look skinnier than thest time we had a meeting?¡± Neoma asked worriedly. ¡°And you¡¯re pale, too.¡±

    Hanna smiled sweetly. ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing to be worried about, Miss Ramsay. Regina is just trying to kill me little by little with poison.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡±

    She wasn¡¯t the only one who got worried after hearing that.

    Jasper oppa and the kids looked surprised as well.

    Even Lewis. Although his face was covered with white bandages, his golden eyes glowered for a moment¨C indicating that he was upset.

    ¡°Hanna, how is that something that we shouldn¡¯t be worried about?¡± Neoma asked worriedly. ¡°Since when did you know that Regina was poisoning you?¡±

    ¡°It started a year ago,¡± Hanna said, still smiling. ¡°She started putting a small amount of poison in my tea a year ago.¡±

    Neoma clenched her hands tight. ¡°It¡¯s been going on for a year already?¡±

    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s the type of poison that¡¯s hard to detect because it¡¯s odorless, colorless, and tasteless,¡± Hanna exined. ¡°It¡¯s also the type that works slowly, so you have to start by feeding your victim a small amount of it every day. Then the victim will slowly yet continuously lose their strength. Since I¡¯ve been taking the poison for a year already, I¡¯ve grown weaker to the point that I can¡¯t get up from bed most of the time.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure Duke and Duchess Quinzel are worried about you,¡± Neoma said. ¡°And I¡¯m sure they¡¯ve called the physician to check on you. Did they not find the cause of your deteriorating health?¡±

    ¡°Our family doctor has been changed after what happened five years ago,¡± Hanna said. ¡°I suspect that the doctor working for House Quinzel right now is a crow. After all, she diagnosed my ¡°sickness¡± as a heart disease caused by my overflowing Mana.¡±

    ¡°Heart disease?¡± Neoma asked, frowning. ¡°She¡¯s clearly lying.¡±

    After all, Hanna had already gotten over her heart disease by mastering the Shadow Maniption Technique.

    ¡°That¡¯s how I knew that the doctor is a crow,¡± Hanna said. ¡°She keeps on acting like I¡¯m going to die soon. I think the crows¡¯ goal this time is to hasten my marriage with Nero.¡±

    Neoma knitted her eyebrows. ¡°What? They¡¯re killing you, and yet they want you to marry Nero soon?¡±

    Hanna smiled bitterly. ¡°Regina often mentions how it¡¯s already time for the Crown Prince to have an heir. I think the crows want me to give birth to the future emperor¡¯s sessor before they get rid of me.¡±

    Neoma clenched her hands tight. ¡°How dare those fucking bastards to treat you like a breeding machine?¡±

    Hanna smiled and shrugged. ¡°They want me for Nero because I have the noblest blood among thedies in the empire,¡± she said. ¡°Moreover, Regina is greedy for my inheritance. She probably wants to hasten my wedding with Nero in order to rece me as the Quinzel Heiress. After all, once I be the official Crown Princess, I will lose the right to inherit the family title and wealth.¡±

    ¡°Then is Regina trying to convince Duke Quinzel and Duchess Quinzel to adopt her?¡± Neoma asked, frowning. ¡°Being appa¡¯s illegitimate daughter and being adopted by Duke and Duchess Quinzel officially are two separate matters. If thetter happens¡­¡±

    Hanna nodded even though Neoma wasn¡¯t done with her words yet. ¡°What you¡¯re thinking is correct, Miss Ramsay,¡± she said. ¡°She¡¯s not contented as Uncle Gavin¡¯s illegitimate daughter. She wants the right to inherit the family title. I also noticed that these days, Regina is trying to get involved with the businesses I run.¡±

    Neoma frowned, hating that Regina was trying to be a legit Quinzel just like how she did in her first life. ¡°Hanna, are you fine? The poison...¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not going to kill me,¡± Hanna said confidently. ¡°I¡¯ve been studying poisons for thest five years, and I¡¯ve built immunity against them. Moreover, I have secret allies who are helping me get rid of the toxins in my body. So please don¡¯t worry about me too much.¡±

    Neoma could see the confidence in Hanna, so that put her at ease. ¡°Alright. Then let¡¯s just focus on stopping Regina¡¯s n to swallow up the Quinzel¡¯s wealth.¡±

    ¡°I actually met thatdy crow the other day,¡± Jasper oppa said. ¡°She asked me about what a ¡°mall¡± is as if she¡¯s interested in my business. Of course, I dismissed her. But I have a feeling that it won¡¯t be the end of it.¡±

    Neomaughed bitterly. ¡°It seems like the crows and I have the same idea,¡± she said, smirking. ¡°If you wantplete power over the entire empire, you have to get a hold of three things: the royal family, the nobility, and the economy. The crows already have the royal family and the nobility in their hands, so now they want money.¡±

    Nero once mentioned that he wanted to have power over the empire¡¯s economy.

    However, as the direct members of the Royal Family, Neoma and Nero weren¡¯t allowed to have private businesses. They were expected to perform Royal Duties by running the empire.

    But that rule didn¡¯t apply to her.

    Not yet, at least.

    [After all, I¡¯m not officially registered as a member of the Royal Family Household.]

    That was why at the moment, she was using ¡®Ramsay¡¯ as ast name instead of ¡®de Moonasterio.¡¯

    ¡°Hanna, Jasper oppa, you two will dominate the empire¡¯s economy,¡± Neoma said. ¡°And you must be careful who to do business with.¡±

    Hanna and Jasper oppa bowed to her. ¡°As you wish, Miss Ramsay.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± Neoma said, then she turned to Lewis. ¡°My son, have you be the Pirate King already? Should I call you ¡®Luffy¡¯ now?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not your son, Rara,¡± Lewis said, calling her by the pet name that they hade up with a few years ago. ¡°The wealth that we umted by stealing from the crows who try to cross the sea is being used well.¡±

    ¡°And the ind that I inherited from Grandma Roxana?¡±

    The reward for finding Monik was a well-hidden ind that the Light Goddess gifted to her. It was currently being used by Lewis and her other ¡°children¡± as a hide-out.

    ¡°It¡¯s being maintained well,¡± Lewis said confidently. ¡°We¡¯re just waiting for you, Rara.¡±

    Neoma smiled proudly. ¡°I knew I could entrust everything to you, Lulu.¡±

    ¡®Lulu¡¯ was the pet name that she came up with for her ¡°son¡± many years ago. Nero used to call Lewis ¡®Lu¡¯ in the past, but she didn¡¯t want to copy her twin brother.

    Hence, she gave Lewis ¡®Lulu¡¯ as a pet name.

    [Jasper oppa and Hanna can¡¯t mention Lewis¡¯ name out loud, so I¡¯m calling Lewis by a pet name so his real name won¡¯t get stuck in Jasper oppa and Hanna¡¯s minds.]

    Now that she had heard the adults¡¯ report¡­

    ¡°Skylus, Monik,¡± Neoma said, finally addressing the divine babies. ¡°I heard that Calyx is in contact with the Astello Temple these days.¡±

    ¡°A new divine power is born in the world!¡± Skylus said cheerfully, his curious eyes wide. ¡°But it¡¯s not natural! It¡¯s like an artificial divine power! And it¡¯s scary!¡±

    ¡°Having said that, we still feel a small amount of genuine divine power from it,¡± Monik said calmly. ¡°Worse, it seems stronger than mine and Skylus¡¯ divine powersbined.¡±

    ¡°I know it¡¯s worrying, but don¡¯t worry too much, babies,¡± Neoma said, smiling at the two. ¡°The fake can never rece the original.¡±

    Thankfully, Skylus and Monik looked relieved by what she said.

    ¡°Anyway, I heard the empire will celebrate Calyx¡¯s birthday soon?¡±

    Hanna let out a sigh as if she was frustrated. ¡°I can¡¯t believe they¡¯re throwing an extravagant birthday banquet for Calyx when it¡¯s Nero¡¯sing-of-age ceremony a few months from now.¡±

    ¡°It was the Empress Dowager¡¯s decision, and the Empress Dowager is milking out the love and respect that people have for the real Empress Juliet,¡± Jasper oppa said, shaking his head. ¡°Hence, people can¡¯t reallyin openly about how Prince Calyx¡¯s birthday banquet seems to be more extravagant than the Crown Prince¡¯s approachinging-of-age ceremony.¡±

    ¡°If the Empress Dowager is preparing that much for Calyx¡¯s birthday, then I suppose I should send them an extravagant gift,¡± Neoma said, smiling. Then she put a hand over her chest. ¡°Should I put a cute ribbon on top of my head when I show up to the party?¡±

    ***

    .....

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 Chapter 607 - 607 LOOKING FOR LOVE

    607 LOOKING FOR LOVE

    ¡°HOW WAS the meeting, Neoma?¡±

    ¡°Same old, same old,¡± Neoma said, then she sat down on the sofa next to her mother. ¡°The crows are still crazy.¡± She hugged Mama Boss¡¯ arm andid her head on her mother¡¯s shoulder. ¡°They¡¯re hastening Nero and Hanna¡¯s marriage because they want Hanna to give birth to Nero¡¯s sessor as soon as possible.¡±

    After her meeting with her allies, she went to the living room and found Mama Boss watching her favorite Kdrama.

    It was a ¡®makjang¡¯ type, aka ludicrous dramas that would only make your blood boil.

    [Mama Boss likes watching makjang when she¡¯s not working at the flower shop.]

    ¡°Hasten Nero and Hanna¡¯s marriage?¡± Mama Boss asked, obviously shocked. But then, she suddenly looked like she was guilty. ¡°Perhaps I don¡¯t have the right to react this way. After all, I was also that young when I gave birth to you and Nero.¡±

    She knew that her Mama Boss was a teenage mom.

    But in the other world, the concept of a teenage mom was the norm. People in the empire married early. Plus, the royal family and the nobility relied heavily on their sessors. Hence, it was normal for their people to get married and have children at a young age.

    [I can¡¯t apply my modern values to the other world.]

    .....

    Anyway¡­

    Neoma, Mama Boss, and Papa Boss were currently living in an apartment.

    They were neighbors with Trevor, Aunt Nichole, and Uncle Dominic.

    Nabi, Won-shik appa, and Areum eomma were living in a more upscale apartment, though. But it was also near their neighborhood. Hence, getting together was easy.

    ¡°Mama Boss and Papa Boss had Nero and me because of love,¡± Neoma said to console her mother. ¡°It¡¯s not simr to Nero and Hanna¡¯s situation. The crows are hastening the marriage between the two because of two things. First, Regina Crowell is eyeing the Quinzels¡¯ wealth. Once Hanna bes the Crown Princess, Duke and Duchess Quinzel will need a new sessor since they don¡¯t have other children.¡±

    ¡°I can see why even the crows will be greedy for the Quinzels¡¯ assets. After all, their wealth is immeasurable,¡± her mother said. ¡°But what could be the other reason for the crows to hasten Nero and Hanna¡¯s wedding?¡±

    ¡°This is just my hunch, but my gut feeling is telling me that it¡¯s time,¡± Neoma said, turning serious for once. ¡°It¡¯s time for the rightful ruler to sit on the throne.¡±

    ¡°Neoma¡­ you¡­¡± Mama Boss gently pulled away from her hug to look her in the eye. ¡°Is the throne calling for you?¡±

    ¡°To be precise, it¡¯s the moon,¡± she said, sighing while shaking her head. ¡°Ever since I turned eighteen, the moon has been seducing me to take the throne. I know that I¡¯m destined to be the empress, but I also know that Nero needs the throne more than I do.¡±

    Because if Nero couldn¡¯t take the throne for himself, then the crows would kill him.

    Hence, Neoma was worried.

    [I can¡¯t return to the other world yet, so Nero, you must survive until your noonaes back, okay?¡±]

    ***

    ¡°WHY ARE you so noisy?¡± Nero whispered to himself while looking at the emperor¡¯s throne. ¡°You keep on reaching out to me, but why are you calling another name with mine?¡±

    He was alone in the throne room at the moment.

    Even though the Empress Dowager had the highest position as the elder in the Royal Family, she had never sat on the throne.

    The Empress Dowager had a fancy seat of her own, though.

    On the other hand, the throne had been sealed away in this room for the past five years.

    ¡°Nero and who?¡± he asked the throne even though he knew it wouldn¡¯t respond. ¡°Why can¡¯t I hear the other name you¡¯re calling?¡±

    Yes, the throne wasn¡¯t calling out his name alone.

    There was another one whose name he couldn¡¯t hear clearly. Although he was pretty sure it wasn¡¯t Calyx.

    Even though he had a feeling that he should cherish Calyx, he couldn¡¯t wholeheartedly say that his brother was that important to him. But it was probably because of his apathy towards his monotonous life.

    To be honest, the only thing that could bring him joy these days was the dream he would often have.

    The dream about the girl with a foul mouth.

    [Just¡­ who are you?]

    He had been sleeping a lot these days just to

    ¡°Prince Nero, I¡¯ve been looking for you everywhere!¡±

    It was Melvin Luchessi, his annoying secretary.

    ¡°Why?¡± Nero asked, annoyed. ¡°I told you not to look for me when I¡¯m here in the throne room, didn¡¯t I?¡±

    ¡°It was also Your Royal Highness who told me to deliver the news to you about the ck Witch as soon as I have one,¡± Melvin retorted in a more annoyed tone. ¡°Should I just leave then?¡±

    He grabbed the secretary by the throne. ¡°Have you found the ck Witch?¡±

    Dahlia¨C thest ck Witch in the world.

    Calyx captured the ck Witch a few years ago.

    Nero, for some reason, knew that Dahlia was a part of the life that he couldn¡¯t remember clearly. He didn¡¯t know why, but he felt so drawn and attached to the ck Witch to the point that he wanted to hide her from Calyx.

    His brother wanted to use Dahlia for his experiments.

    The day Nero was about to help the ck Witch escape, she disappeared.

    ¡°We haven¡¯t confirmed it yet,¡± Melvin said while patting his arm. ¡°But one of our people has seen the ck Witch on the East Continent.¡±

    He let go of the secretary¡¯s cor, then he knitted his eyebrows. ¡°The East Continent?¡±

    ¡°And she wasn¡¯t alone,¡± the secretary said. ¡°Apparently, Miss Dahlia was seen with a young man with purple hair.¡±

    Purple hair?

    Argh!

    He clutched his head with his hands when he suddenly felt like his skull was being split into two.

    It was as if his memory was triggered for some reason.

    But it was futile, since nothing important came to his mind.

    ¡°Prince Nero, are you alright?¡± Melvin asked worriedly. ¡°Should I call Alucard?¡±

    Alucard was the demon that also served as his personal physician.

    However, the demon hated mingling with humans. Hence, he would often hole up in his home and would only step foot in the Royal Pce when summoned.

    [Thatzy bastard¡­]

    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Nero said, pinching the bridge of his nose. ¡°Just send a message to Alucard. Tell him to bring the ck Witch to me if he doesn¡¯t want me to blow up his little castle.¡±

    ***

    ¡°MY MOON Princess, I have good news for you.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Neoma asked while spacing out. She was on the balcony while staring at the starry night sky. ¡°Did you talk to Grandma Aruna and Grandpa Arche?¡±

    The ancient royal twins didn¡¯te with them to Earth since the two were Spirits bound to the other world.

    However, it was thanks to Aruna and Arche that they could maintain a connection to their allies back in the empire. If it weren¡¯t for the ancient royal twins¡¯ help, they wouldn¡¯t be able to create a bridge between the two worlds.

    [A lot of things really happened for the past five years.]

    Trevor stood beside her and looked up at the moonless sky. ¡°The door that leads to the other world will open soon. Are you ready to return to the empire?¡±

    Neoma scoffed at the demon boy¡¯s question. ¡°You should be asking if the Great Moonasterion Empire is ready for myeback.¡±

    The demon boyughed. ¡°You¡¯re right. The empire is the one who should get ready for your return.¡±

    ¡°Is that all you¡¯re going to report to me?¡±

    ¡°Is there something else I¡¯m missing?¡±

    ¡°Have you found Ruto?¡± Neoma asked, then she turned to Trevor. ¡°I asked you to mobilize your people in the empire to look for Ruto, didn¡¯t I?¡±

    Up until three years ago, Ruto had been working with them.

    But he suddenly vanished one day.

    [He didn¡¯t say goodbye to me, so I know something happened.]

    Ruto wasn¡¯t the type who would just disappear on her.

    ¡°There¡¯s a rumor of his whereabouts, but I haven¡¯t verified it yet so I¡¯m not sure if I should report it to Your Royal Highness.¡±

    ¡°Just spill it, Trevor.¡±

    ¡°A young man with purple hair has appeared on the East Continent,¡± the demon boy. ¡°It¡¯s a rare hair color, especially to the East Continent dominated by people with dark hair. Moreover, the Solfrids are known to have a sessor with purple hair.¡±

    She knitted her eyebrows, confused. ¡°Why don¡¯t you just get straight to the point, huh?¡±

    Trevor sighed before responding to her. ¡°Princess Neoma, my people have seen Ruston Stroganoff with Dahlia, the ck Witch.¡±

    First, she was happy to hear that Dahlia was safe.

    Even so¡­

    .....

    ¡°But why?¡± Neoma asked, more confused now. ¡°Why are Dahlia and Ruto together?¡±

    ***

    SHE MISSED her step when she jumped to the next tree branch, causing her to slip.

    [Oh!]

    She was about to summon her Elemental Guardian, but she didn¡¯t have the time to do so because his savior already caught her before she even utter Lapiz¡¯ name.

    ¡°Are you alright?¡±

    The slightly strong breeze caused the young man¡¯s hood to get pulled down¨C revealing purple locks that looked smooth and silky.

    Those dark purple eyes¡­

    And the strong body that was holding her¡­

    [He¡¯s really handsome.]

    ¡°Miss Dahlia?¡±

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m fine,¡± Dahlia said, her cheeks burning from embarrassment. ¡°I¡¯m alright, Lord Ruto. Thank you for catching me.¡±

    Ruto just nodded, then he put her down carefully before turning his back on her. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    Ah.

    Before she knew it, the young lord was already gone.

    [Lord Ruto is kind, but he¡¯s really aloof1¡­]

    ***

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 Chapter 608 - 608 END OF THE OLD MOON

    608 END OF THE OLD MOON

    HUH?

    Neoma was glowing.

    Well, to be fair, she was always glowing because of her healthy and ss-like skin. Plus, her beautiful face was blinding, whether she had makeup or not. Anyway, that wasn¡¯t the point.

    She was LITERALLY glowing.

    ¡°Wow,¡± Trevor said while looking at her with wide eyes. ¡°Princess Neoma, your life force, Mana, Moonglow, and divine power just doubled up all at the same time.¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Neoma said weakly, then she ran to the living room where she found her Mama Boss talking to someone on the phone. Based on her mother¡¯s pale face, the phone call couldn¡¯t be a simple phone call. Hence, as soon as her Mama Boss hung up, she asked: ¡°Mama Boss, is that Papa Boss? Where is he?¡±

    ¡°It was G-Gavin,¡± Mama Boss said in a trembling voice. ¡°He said Niki copsed earlier and was brought to the hospital. Gavin wasn¡¯t there when your father copsed, so the employees who saw what happened called the ambnce.¡±

    She already suspected that Papa Boss copsed when Won-shik appa wasn¡¯t with him.

    After all, if Won-shik appa was there, then he would have brought Papa Boss home instead of a hospital.

    .....

    [Because Papa Boss won¡¯t copse for a normal reason.]

    ¡°Gavin said he was headed to the hospital,¡± Mama Boss said. ¡°Neoma, let¡¯s go.¡±

    ¡°You go ahead, Mama Boss,¡± Neoma said while shaking her head. ¡°I have something to discuss with Trevor first. But we¡¯ll be there as soon as possible.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t like she wasn¡¯t worried about Papa Boss.

    And her Mama Boss knew that.

    ¡°I understand,¡± Mama Boss said, then she pulled her for a tight hug. ¡°Neoma, this isn¡¯t your fault. Your father would also hate it if you me yourself for what happened to him.¡±

    Ah, as expected of the person whom she inherited her big brain from.

    [Mama Boss already knows the reason Papa Boss copsed. But I guess it¡¯s pretty obvious since I¡¯m literally glowing from the Moonglow that doesn¡¯t belong to me.]

    ¡°Okay, Mama Boss,¡± Neoma said, nodding. ¡°Drive safely.¡±

    Yep, Mama Boss knew how to drive a car now.

    [Mama Boss and Papa Boss like cars.]

    Anyway, after her mother left, she called Trevor.

    It looked like she didn¡¯t have to say anything because the frown on the demon boy¡¯s already told her he already knew what she wanted him to do.

    ¡°It¡¯s only a temporary solution, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°I know.¡±

    Trevor ran his fingers through his hair as if he was frustrated. ¡°If you do that, you¡¯ll lose the chance to get the throne the EASY way. Do you want to walk the harder path to the throne?¡±

    Neoma crossed her arms over her chest. ¡°Whatever path I take, it will lead me to the throne in the end. I don¡¯t care if I have to suffer a little,¡± she dered bravely. ¡°Papa Boss is more important to me than having an easy life.¡±

    ***

    ¡°HANNA, sweetie, I have something to say to you.¡±

    ¡°What is it, Mother?¡± Hanna asked, smiling. ¡°I¡¯m listening.¡±

    When her mother asked her to take a walk in the garden with her, she already knew that her mother wanted to talk to her about something important.

    [Mother is probably going to talk about Regina.]

    ¡°Sweetheart, you¡¯re our one and only child,¡± her mother began carefully. ¡°Your father and I weren¡¯t blessed with another child because of my poor constitution. Even so, we are very happy and blessed to have you in our lives. Youplete us, daughter¨C youplete our family.¡±

    She smiled, touched by what her mother said. ¡°You¡¯re making me emotional, Mother. My life is also filled with love and happiness because I was born as your daughter.¡±

    Her mother smiled back at her and nodded, then she held her hand. ¡°Hanna, about Regina¡­¡±

    [I knew it.]

    ¡°She¡¯s Brother Gavin¡¯s daughter,¡± her mother said carefully. ¡°She may be an illegitimate child, but she¡¯s still our family. But since her father was dered a traitor by the previous emperor, it will affect her social standing if we register her in the family as Brother Gavin¡¯s daughter. So, I¡¯m thinking¡­¡±

    [Ah, here it is.]

    ¡°I¡¯m thinking of adopting Regina into our family.¡±

    Hanna tried to maintain her smile.

    [Regina Crowell, whatever spell you created to make my mother and father that you almost killed me, it worked.]

    Five years ago, she was shocked when she realized that her mother and father didn¡¯t only forget Neoma¨C her parents also forgot that Regina Crowell was an enemy who tried to kill her when she was younger.

    [If it wasn¡¯t for Lord Ruto, I would have already exposed the truth that I didn¡¯t forget Neoma.]

    However, she finally learned how to control her emotions now.

    [That¡¯s why I can act like I treasure Regina as my sister.]

    ¡°Hanna, once you be the Crown Princess, you may no longer inherit the family title,¡± her mother said carefully. ¡°Of course, you will still get your inheritance. But your father and I will need a sessor. Instead of naming a distant rtive as our sessor, what do you think about Hanna being the new Quinzel Heiress?¡±

    She was already prepared for that moment.

    Hence, Hanna smiled. ¡°I will follow what Mother and Father want, of course.¡±

    [But I¡¯m sorry, Mother¨C I won¡¯t let Regina take anything away from me.]

    ***

    ¡°I HEARD you closed a business deal with Duke Hawthorne,¡± Nero said to Hanna while they were in the carriage. They were headed to the Royal Moon Academy for a banquet celebrating the academy¡¯s foundation day. ¡°Since when did you two get close?¡±

    ¡°Duke Hawthorne and I often met at auction houses where old properties are sold,¡± Hanna exined gently. ¡°His Grace is a good business partner.¡±

    ¡°Is that all?¡±

    ¡°What do you want to know, Prince Nero?¡±

    He looked at his fianc¨¦e while studying her face.

    Hanna may not be the drop-dead gorgeous type, but she was pretty. She had a gentle face that was easy on the eyes. Moreover, she was the most elegantdy that he had met in his life. Even the dark moss green dress that she wore for tonight¡¯s party looked very ssy on her.

    [The dress matches her pretty green eyes.]

    To simply put, Hanna was the onlydy who was suited to be the Crown Princess.

    ¡°Prince Nero?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just strange that you¡¯re the only business partner that Duke Hawthorne epted even though many investors wanted to join the new business that he¡¯s building,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s called a ¡®mall¡¯ or something, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Hanna smiled charmingly at him. ¡°Perhaps I¡¯m the mostpetent out of all the businessmen who reached out to Duke Hawthorne?¡±

    ¡°Is that you¡¯re way of telling me to stop meddling with your business?¡±

    ¡°Prince Nero, jealous men aren¡¯t attractive.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not jealous.¡±

    Hanna just smiled at him again. ¡°If you say so, my prince.¡±

    He knitted his eyebrows. ¡°But why are you addressing me by my title when it¡¯s only the two of us here? Are you trying to build a wall between us when we¡¯re about to get married?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re about to get married?¡± she asked. ¡°Really?¡±

    He knitted his eyebrows.

    Hanna was still smiling. However, she looked cold at the moment. She didn¡¯t look like the sweet and kind fianc¨¦e that she was used to seeing.

    He was about to ask her what was wrong when the carriage stopped.

    The coachman announced that they had arrived.

    And a few momentster, Sanford Devon opened the carriage door.

    Sanford, the huge flirt that he was, ignored Nero to smile seductively at Hanna. ¡°Good evening, Lady Hanna,¡± he greeted the future Crown Princess casually. ¡°You¡¯re as beautiful as the moon.¡±

    Nero looked at Sanford with cold eyes.

    [I¡¯ll throw that flirty bastard into the dungeonter.]

    ¡°As beautiful as the moon, huh?¡± Hanna said,ughing softly. ¡°I appreciate the praise, but please don¡¯t say it again, Sir Devon. It¡¯s an insult to the person who¡¯s actually more beautiful than the moon.¡±

    Sanford looked like he was about to shower Hanna with praises again.

    ¡°Shut it, Sanford Devon,¡± Nero said coldly. ¡°How dare you flirt with my fianc¨¦e in front of me?¡±

    This time, Sanford finally backed down by bowing and retreating.

    Nero stepped out of the carriage, then he extended his hand to Hanna. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    Hanna nodded, then she held his hand and let him guide her out of the carriage.

    Together, Nero and Hanna entered the Ballroom after their arrival was announced at the door.

    .....

    And now, all eyes were on them.

    Since he was the Crown Prince, he was thest to arrive. The Empress Dowager didn¡¯t attend the foundation night because Her Majesty didn¡¯t want to steal the spotlight from him.

    [The Empress Dowager wants me to take the throne after mying-of-age ceremony.]

    Hence, the Empress Dowager wanted him to convince the nobles to ept him as the future emperor by socializing.

    ¡°Prince Nero?¡±

    It was Hanna who called him while looking at him with a shocked look on her face.

    And it wasn¡¯t just her.

    Everyone in the room fell silent while looking at him in disbelief.

    Nero didn¡¯t have to ask what was wrong.

    He knew everyone was shocked because his entire body suddenly glowed literally.

    Blue and white lights surrounded him from head to toe.

    And those strange lights were doing miracles on him.

    His life force, Mana, Moonglow, and divine power doubled up.

    [Ah, it¡¯s happening.]

    ¡°That¡¯s the Moonglow that only the emperors and the future emperors could possess,¡± Marquis Lennox said in a loud and clear voice. Since the entire ballroom was silent, everyone heard the marquis¡¯ words. ¡°Prince Nero has been chosen by the throne to lead a new era that will bring more glory to the Great Moonasterion Empire!¡±

    Hanna knelt and bowed in front of Nero. ¡°Congrattions, Prince Nero.¡±

    Then everyone in the ballroom, including the representatives of the Twelve Golden Families, followed suit.

    Everyone was kneeling and bowing in front of Nero now.

    ¡°Long live the new Moon!¡±

    Nero should be happy.

    However, he only felt a pang in his chest. He felt gutted for some reason. Worse, tears rolled down his cheeks uncontrobly.

    If he was now the new Moon, then what happened to the old Moon?

    [Is Father¡­ gone?]

    ***

    ¡°I¡¯M SORRY for your loss, Ma¡¯am.¡±

    What?

    Mona was confused when the doctor said those words to her.

    When she arrived in the private room where Niki was confined, she was surprised to see a group of doctors and nurses.

    Everyone, including Niki¡¯s male secretary, looked heartbroken.

    She already knew what happened, but she refused to ept it.

    ¡°What are you saying, doctor?¡± Mona asked, her voice cracked. ¡°Niki can¡¯t be dead¨C my husband can¡¯t be dead!¡±

 Chapter 609 - 609 MY BELOVED PAPA BOSS

    609 MY BELOVED PAPA BOSS

    ¡°MAMA BOSS, please don¡¯t cry,¡± Neoma said firmly when she saw her mother crying over Papa Boss¡¯s¡­ dead body. ¡°It¡¯s not yet toote.¡±

    When she arrived at the hospital, Mama Boss was already mourning Papa Boss¡¯ death.

    But, thankfully, the hospital staff had left her mother alone in the room to grieve. Hence, she didn¡¯t need to ask everyone to give her family some privacy.

    Neoma and Trevor arrived at perfect timing.

    ¡°Neoma, what are you nning to do?¡± Mama Boss asked in a worried, cracked voice. Her mother¡¯s eyes were puffy from crying, but the glint in those orbs showed her deep concern. ¡°Don¡¯t do anything dangerous, daughter. Please.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Mama Boss,¡± she said, smiling. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine.¡±

    Mama Boss shook her head firmly. ¡°No,¡± she said. ¡°I won¡¯t let you do whatever you¡¯re nning, Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio.¡±

    Not gonna lie¨C it was scary to hear Mama Boss call her by her full name.

    However, she wouldn¡¯t change her mind.

    .....

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Mama Boss,¡± Neoma said, smiling sadly at her mother. ¡°Trevor.¡±

    The demon boy appeared behind her mother silently.

    And when Trevor covered Mama Boss¡¯ eyes, Mama Boss fainted right away.

    ¡°Whew. If Lady Roseheart isn¡¯t in a vulnerable state right now, sneaking behind her wouldn¡¯t have been possible¨C much less making her faint through a sneaky sleeping spell,¡± Trevor said, relieved, as he carried Mama Boss in his arms princess-style. Then the demon boy looked at her with a stern look on his face. ¡°Are you still going to do it, Princess Neoma?¡±

    She didn¡¯t answer Trevor right away.

    Instead of doing that, she walked towards the bed where Papa Boss was ¡°sleeping.¡± Then she held her father¡¯s hand.

    It was cold.

    ¡°Papa Boss, your hand is as cold as your heart back when you were still a scumbag,¡± Neoma joked, a lump forming in her throat as her eyes were brimming with tears. ¡°But don¡¯t worry,¡± she whispered, then she closed her eyes. ¡°I will bring you back at all costs, Papa Boss.¡±

    ***

    [¡°PAPA!¡± Neoma said in a very sweet voice that made her want to puke. But instead, she got off the chair, ignored her brother, and ran towards the emperor. Then, she clung to his leg while looking up at him with puppy dog eyes. ¡°Are you here to take Neoma with you, Papa?¡±]

    [When Emperor Niki raised an eyebrow at her, Neoma felt like she wanted to punch herself in the throat.]

    That was how Neoma met her Papa Boss for the first time during her third life.

    Back then, Papa Boss was a scumbag who only cared about Nero¨C his sessor.

    [¡°Papa, Neoma saw a monster in my dream,¡± Neoma said in the cutesy voice that Nero couldn¡¯t resist. Also, she gave her father the best puppy dog eyes that she could muster, despite her urge to punch his throat. How could the emperor be this heartless towards a cute little girl like her?! ¡°Can you tell Neoma about it, Papa?¡±]

    [Emperor Niki gave her a look that said he was disgusted by her. ¡°I don¡¯t want to talk to a princess who can¡¯t even talk properly.¡±]

    But in retrospect, Neoma was so cringe-y during the time she was sucking up to her father.

    Even so, that wasn¡¯t an excuse for a father to treat his daughter badly. Her Papa Boss even put her life at risk just to protect Nero!

    [¡°You¡¯re no longer a princess, Neoma de Moonasterio. From now on, you¡¯ll live as Prince Nero de Moonasterio,¡± Emperor Niki said coldly while looking down at her with glowing red eyes. ¡°Try to survive until your twin brotheres back to take his rightful ce, understood?¡±]

    Hence, no one could me her for disrespecting her Papa Boss by calling him a ¡®scumbag.¡¯

    Back then, Neoma really saw Papa Boss as a sorry excuse for a father¨C no, for a human. Papa Boss was just a ¡®sperm donor¡¯ and not a father.

    Especially since his reason for hating her back then was Mama Boss.

    [¡°Papa Boss, why do you hate me so much?¡± Neoma asked with a dangerous glint in her clear, round ash gray eyes she got from him. ¡°Is it because my mother hurt you really bad?¡±]

    [He looked offended by that. ¡°Excuse me?¡±]

    [¡°If you have truly moved on from my mother, then you wouldn¡¯t punish me for her alleged sins,¡± she insisted. ¡°Papa Boss, there¡¯s a thin line between love and hate. Make up your mind.¡±]

    [He red at her.]

    [She opened her eyes wider in return. ¡°Will you please stop being mean to me now? I¡¯m not even asking you to like me. If you want to prove to me and to yourself that you¡¯re really over my mother, then let¡¯s at least be civil to each other.¡±]

    To be honest, she really hated Papa Boss before.

    But the hatred in her heart melted little by little as time went by.

    [¡°Once my stamp is done, I¡¯m going to write a formal contract of our deal,¡± she reminded him. ¡°I will put a use that says you can¡¯t bully me.¡±]

    [¡°I¡¯m not bullying you,¡± he insisted as if he was offended by her usation. ¡°What am I, a child?¡±]

    [She nodded eagerly. ¡°Lewis is more mature than you, Papa Boss,¡± she said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I will raise you as my second child.¡±]

    [¡°You¡¯re speaking nonsense again,¡± Emperor Niki said, then he turned his back on her and walked out of the room.]

    [¡°Tsk. My life would have been easier if he was just a tsundere,¡± Neoma mumbled to herself. A tsundere was someone who was cold on the surface but would eventually show their soft side. She was 100% certain that the emperor wasn¡¯t like that. ¡°He¡¯s just an outdated mean dude.¡±]

    Huh?

    Come to think of it, Neoma seeded in raising Papa Boss into bing a decent human. She deserved a Noble Peace Prize for turning a scumbag father into a wonderful Papa Boss.

    [¡°How was it, Papa Boss?¡± Neoma asked excitedly after Emperor Niki took his first bite of the beef wellington. The royal chef finally perfected it and he served it to them for their lunch. She already had a bite and it tasted divine. ¡°Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s good enough to be called ¡®Beef Moonasterio?¡±]

    [¡°The dish is excellent,¡± Emperor Niki said in his usual cold voice, the trace of vulnerability nowpletely gone in him. ¡°But the royal family¡¯s name cannot be simply used to name a dish. Instead of calling it ¡®Beef Moonasterio,¡¯ it would be better to call it Royal Fillet Steak. From now on, this is going to be a staple dish on the menu.¡±]

    [¡°`Kay,¡± she said cheerfully. ¡°Thank you, Papa Boss.¡±]

    [¡°Just finish your meal,¡± he said dismissively. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen you train your Soul Beast for a while. We¡¯re going to have a sparringter.¡±]

    Right, that was how her daughter-father rtionship with Papa Boss began to get better.

    After a heart-to-heart conversation with her father, they began to get closer to each other.

    [¡°I¡¯m sorry, Neoma,¡± Niki said in a cracked voice. ¡°I¡¯m really, really sorry for being an awful father. I¡¯m sorry for making your life miserable. I¡¯m sorry for throwing you away in the past. I¡¯m sorry for almost sacrificing you just to save Nero. I¡¯m sorry for neglecting you while thinking that you¡¯re nothing but Mona¡¯s painful gift. I¡¯m sorry for not giving you your rightful surname. I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± His tears began to silently roll down his cheeks as his hands moved to wipe the tears off Neoma¡¯s face. Just like him, his daughter was also crying in silence. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for loving you a little toote, my precious daughter.¡±]

    [¡°You should have loved me as soon as I was born, Papa Boss! That¡¯s how normal parents feel when they get a child!¡± Neomained between sobs. Then, much to his surprise, she moved to hug him tight. She wrapped her frail arms around his neck and buried her face against his neck. ¡°Why did you make it hard for your own daughter to love and trust you, Papa Boss?¡±]

    [¡°I¡¯ll be a better father to you, Neoma,¡± Niki promised softly while gently patting Neoma¡¯s back. ¡°I will raise you and Nero properly this time.¡±]

    That was the moment Neomapletely opened her heart to Papa Boss, and the moment Papa Boss finally apologized for being a horrible father in the past.

    After that moment, Neoma and Papa Boss became a true family.

    It was a long and painful journey, but the end was worth it.

    Neoma went from being a neglected three-year-old royal princess to a beloved daughter, while her Papa Boss went from being a scumbag to a doting father.

    Hence, she wouldn¡¯t ept the reality that her father was already dead.

    [I won¡¯t ept your death, Papa Boss¨C Mama Boss, Nero, and I still need you.]

    ***

    CRYING VOICES.

    When Neoma opened her eyes, she realized that the crying voices that she heard belonged to her Papa Boss¡¯ Soul Beasts.

    The Soul Beasts were in their human form while surrounding Papa Boss¡¯ soul.

    Her father¡¯s soul was ¡°sleeping¡± on what looked like an altar. Moreover, Papa Boss was wearing the emperor¡¯s red robeplete with cape and mantle.

    It looked like a befitting solemn funeral for a monarch.

    After all, the entire ¡°room¡± also resembled the Royal Shrine where the deceased members of the Royal Family were put to rest.

    She couldn¡¯t help but smirk bitterly.

    ¡°North, Center, East, West, South,¡± Neoma said, calling the Soul Beasts one by one. ¡°Why are you all crying as if you¡¯ve already given up on Papa Boss?¡±

    The Soul Beasts turned to her with a confused look on their faces.

    She had already seen the human forms of North (the ck Tortoise), Center (the ck snake attached to North), West (the White Tiger), and South (the ming Vermillion Bird). But this was the first time that she saw East¡¯s human form.

    The Azure Dragon, just like all other Soul Beasts (well, except for Tteokbokki) had pink hair.

    East was just a little different than the rest.

    After all, the Azure Dragon hadplete ck eyes and his skin was covered with blue dragon scales.

    [He looks cool.]

    ¡°Princess Neoma,¡± East greeted her, bowing to her politely. ¡°It¡¯s the first time we met while I¡¯m in this form, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Neoma said, nodding. ¡°You look cool, East. It¡¯s an honor to meet you.¡±

    The Azure Dragon smiled sadly at her. ¡°It¡¯s such a shame that we have to meet like this, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± she assured the Soul Beast. ¡°I¡¯ll turn this tragedy into a joyful asion.¡±

    She patted the Azure Dragon¡¯s shoulder before walking past him to approach the altar where Papa Boss was sleeping.

    It broke her to see her father in that state, but she held back her tears.

    ¡°Princess Neoma, what are you nning?¡± Center, the ck snake who had the appearance of a child, asked in a cracked voice. ¡°Are you going to bring our master back to life?¡±

    .....

    North, the quiet ck Tortoise with the appearance of a bulky man, looked confused. ¡°Is that possible?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not,¡± South (the Vermillion Bird) said, his eyes puffy. ¡°The throne has already chosen its new heir. Our master¡¯s soul will remain here until Prince Nero sits on the throne officially. However, bringing him back to life is impossible.¡±

    ¡°A de Moonasterion emperor¡¯s life is dictated by the amount of Moonglow he has,¡± West, the West Tiger with the appearance of a tall andnky teen, added in a hoarse voice. ¡°Our master¡¯s death was abrupt because the throne gave both Prince Nero and Princess Neoma a chance to be the next emperor. Hence, the throne took back all the Moonglow in our master¡¯s body and equally divided it to Prince Nero and Princess Neoma.¡±

    That was the exnation for Papa Boss¡¯ sudden death.

    This was probably the first time in history that the throne favored two sessors at the same time. If the damned throne only chose one between Neoma and Nero, then Papa Boss¡¯ health would just deteriorate¨C her father would have not died instantly.

    ¡°Papa Boss isn¡¯tpletely dead, is he?¡±

    All the Soul Beasts looked at her with a confused look.

    ¡°Trevor told me that an emperor isn¡¯tpletely dead yet until the new emperor took the throne,¡± Neoma said. ¡°Nero hasn¡¯t been dered as the emperor officially yet, hence we can still save Papa Boss.¡±

    Trevor was the Devil¡¯s Grimoire, so she knew she could trust his words.

    ¡°How do you n to bring back our master, Princess Neoma?¡± East, the Azure Dragon, asked curiously. ¡°Is there a way?¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± Neoma said, then she put a hand over Papa Boss¡¯ chest. To be precise, in the area where her father¡¯s heart was. ¡°I¡¯m Neoma, I find ways.¡±

    After saying that, her body suddenly released bluish lights around her.

    The Soul Beasts were surprised and uttered the same thing: ¡°Moonglow¡­¡±

    And they were right.

    The Moonglow that she released soon gathered in her hand¨C the hand on top of Papa Boss¡¯ chest.

    Yes, she was giving her Moonglow back to her father¡¯s soul.

    [This is the method that Trevor taught me.]

    ¡°Princess Neoma, stop!¡±

    Ah, the Soul Beasts finally realized what she was trying to do.

    ¡°Princess Neoma, giving your Moonglow to our master means you¡¯re sharing your life force with him!¡± South said, obviously panicking. ¡°Our master won¡¯t be happy if he finds out that his beloved daughter shortened her life span for him!¡±

    Yep, that was the true meaning of ¡°giving back¡± her Papa Boss¡¯ Moonglow.

    She was actually extending her father¡¯s life span by giving him some of the years left in her own life span.

    [But even I don¡¯t know how many years I have left.]

    Even so, that didn¡¯t stop her from bringing back her father.

    [My beloved Papa Boss.]

    ¡°Princess Neoma, pardon my words, but you¡¯re being crazy!¡± Center yelled, obviously in a panic. ¡°This is the first time in history that a royal princess shared her life span with the emperor!¡±

    Sheughed softly. ¡°I like setting a good example to the next generation.¡±

    The Soul Beasts looked speechless at her response.

    [But they also look grateful.]

    As expected, her father¡¯s Soul Beasts weren¡¯t ready to let go of Papa Boss yet just like her. After all, Papa Boss¡¯ death was so abrupt.

    ¡°Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio!¡±

    To say that Neoma was surprised when Papa Boss suddenly got up and grabbed her wrist was an understatement.

    But her shock soon turned into surprise.

    ¡°It worked,¡± Neoma said, smiling because of relief. ¡°Papa Boss, you came back¡­¡±

    But her father didn¡¯t look happy¨C he looked devastated.

    ¡°Five years,¡± Papa Boss said, his voice full of pain. ¡°You gave me at least five years of life! What will you do if you only have five years and one day to live, huh?!¡±

    Her father raised his voice at her for the first time after a long while.

    However, she knew that Papa Boss only raised his voice because he was worried about her. Very worried, at that.

    [Seeing my father getting this emotional is rare.]

    ¡°Take it back,¡± her Papa Boss begged her desperately. ¡°Take it back, Neoma. I don¡¯t want my life to be extended if that means stealing from your life span.¡±

    ¡°Why are you saying that, Papa Boss?¡± Neoma asked, a lump forming in her throat again. ¡°Don¡¯t you want to be with our family anymore? Are you ready to leave us now? We haven¡¯t been reunited with Nero yet, and you already want to die?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like that, Neoma,¡± her father said. ¡°But how can I live knowing that your life span shortened because of me?¡±

    She wanted to say that it was ¡°only¡± five years, but she knew that it wasn¡¯t a small deal.

    After all, just like her father said, if she only had five years and one day left to live, then she would die tomorrow because she already gave her father five years of life.

    But did she regret it?

    [No, not at all.]

    ¡°Papa Boss, I need you. We still need you,¡± Neoma said, cupping her father¡¯s face between her hands. ¡°I don¡¯t want you to leave us yet. We worked so hard to be a real family. I won¡¯t let the throne decide that it¡¯s already time for you to die.¡±

    Her father¡¯s eyes suddenly brimmed with tears. ¡°But I also don¡¯t want you to die early because of me, Neoma.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not going to die, Papa Boss.¡±

    And even if Neoma died, she knew there was at least one person who wouldn¡¯t hesitate to bring her back to life.

    [Or turn back time again for me.]

    ¡°Neoma,¡± Papa Boss said, his voice hoarse from holding back his tears. Then he held her hands and squeezed them gently. ¡°I don¡¯t know how to feel. Half of me hates myself for stealing five years of your life. But half of me is happy and relieved that I have more years to spend with you and our family.¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t steal anything from me because I gave them to you on my own will, Papa Boss,¡± she said while shaking her head. ¡°Papa Boss, this is only a temporary solution. I will find a way to stop the Moonglow from deciding whether your time is up.¡±

    ¡°Neoma¡­¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go home, Papa Boss,¡± Neoma said, smiling at her father. ¡°Mama Boss and Nero are waiting for us.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what I did to deserve a wonderful daughter like you,¡± Papa Boss said while wiping the tears off her face. She didn¡¯t even realize she was crying until her father did that. ¡°Neoma, my forever little princess¡­¡± Her father smiled warmly at her. ¡°I love you so much.¡±

    ***

    NOTE: Hi. I¡¯ll post the bonus chapter tomorrow. Sorry, I received some bad news yesterday, so I wasn¡¯t able to finish the bonus chapter. :<

    Story time. LOL you can skip this part since this is practically a rant. T^T WN actually made a mistake regarding my ie for this month so I was exchanging mails with them for the entire week. In the end, my editor said they¡¯ll send the remaining bnce on January 2023. Hence, my Christmas budget is ruined. I was looking forward to buying a new phone (just an Android phone which is only 150-200USD, a lot cheaper than iPhone). I need a new one since my old phone is barely working.

    *sigh*

    Anyway, I hope I¡¯ll get over my disappointment soon.

    Sorry for sharing a depressing story. Hehe. I¡¯ll make sure the bonus story is full of fluff. Thank you for listening. ^_^

    ***

 Chapter 610 - 610 THE FIRST EMPEROR

    610 THE FIRST EMPEROR

    ¡°LET¡¯S GO home, Papa Boss,¡± Neoma said, smiling at her father. ¡°Mama Boss and Nero are waiting for us.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what I did to deserve a wonderful daughter like you,¡± Papa Boss said while wiping the tears off her face. She didn¡¯t even realize she was crying until her father did that. ¡°Neoma, my forever little princess¡­¡± Her father smiled warmly at her. ¡°I love you so much.¡±

    ¡°Neoma, my forever little princess¡­ I love you so much.¡±

    Okay, usually, Neoma would find it cringe-y.

    But she almost her Papa Boss. Hence, instead of getting embarrassed about hearing her father say he loved her, she actually felt touched.

    ¡°I love you, too, Papa Boss,¡± Neoma said softly. ¡°That¡¯s why I can¡¯t ept your abrupt death.¡±

    Papa Boss looked conflicted. Obviously, he was happy with what he heard from her. However, it looked like he was also sad after getting reminded that he lived because of his daughter¡¯s sacrifice. ¡°Neoma, I will treasure my life even more now,¡± he promised her. ¡°I will devote my life to our family.¡±

    She smiled and nodded, but that smile vanished when she felt a chilling presence behind her.

    Even before Papa Boss and the Soul Beasts could react, a gigantic hand already grabbed Neoma by the waist and lifted her.

    .....

    ¡°No!¡± Papa Boss yelled, jumping up to follow her. ¡°Neoma!¡±

    She wanted to assure her father that she would be fine, but the surroundings suddenly changed and Papa Boss disappeared from her sight.

    The next thing she knew, she was already sitting on a golden cube chair.

    A floating teapot was pouring tea onto the floating teacup in front of her.

    [Everything here is¡­ gold.]

    The gods who summoned her before brought her in a in white room with white cubes all over the space.

    This ce, however, was made of gold.

    ¡°Gosh, I can already tell that the owner of this ce is very greedy,¡± Neoma said, then she grabbed the teacup and inspected the content. After bringing the teacup near her nose, she confirmed what it was. ¡°Latte.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s my current favorite drink.¡±

    A man sitting on the golden cub across from him said.

    Long and wavy white hair, brilliant ash-gray eyes, pale skin the same color as the white robe he was wearing.

    If the man wasn¡¯t moving, she would have mistaken him for a statue.

    [Oh, god. He¡¯s so handsome. But¡­]

    ¡°That¡¯s an awful crown, good sir,¡± Neoma said, frowning. ¡°That looks like the crown in B*rger King. You should fire the person who designed your crown.¡±

    The man looked at her with a nk look on his face.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but your crown looks ugly, good sir,¡± she said, sighing while shaking her head. ¡°It ruins your beautiful aesthetics.¡±

    ¡°Then would you like to design the new crown for the future empress of the Great Moonasterion Empire?¡±

    Ohh.

    ¡°Your words are sus, good sir,¡± she said, then she sipped thette. She could recognize if the drink was harmful to her or not. And she was confident that it wasn¡¯t bad for her soul. ¡°May I know who the gentleman might be?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t remember my name anymore.¡±

    ¡°Gosh, so sus.¡±

    ¡°You may call me the ¡®First Emperor,¡¯ though.¡±

    Okay, that almost made her spit out her coffee. ¡°Good sir, you¡¯re the first emperor of the Great Moonasterion Empire?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s correct.¡±

    ¡°Then you¡¯re the biological son of Lord Yule and Grandma Roxana?¡±

    The man smiled and nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    She gasped out loud. ¡°Daebak. I¡¯m talking to a historical figure.¡±

    ¡°Historical figure?¡± he asked,ughing. ¡°Well, you can say that.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll get straight to the point because I don¡¯t want Papa Boss to get worried about me,¡± Neoma said in a serious tone. ¡°Why did you summon me, Grandpa?¡±

    Everyone rted to Neoma was a grandpa and a grandma to her.

    She knew that it was the wrong title to call her ancestors, but she felt morefortable referring to them that way.

    Fortunately, the First Emperor didn¡¯t seem to mind what she called him.

    ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio, I¡¯ll tell you how many years you have left after sharing your life span with Niki de Moonasterio.¡±

    To be honest, she wasn¡¯t interested to know.

    However, she was going to wage war against the crows soon. She needed to know how many years she had left in order to make a long-term n.

    [I still need to be the empress, after all.]

    But dealing with a fossil¨C er, an ancestor meant she should be super careful.

    ¡°That would be a very useful piece of information,¡± Neoma said carefully. ¡°However, I know you wouldn¡¯t give it for free. What do you want in return, Grandpa?¡±

    ¡°Nothing.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Nothing.¡±

    Oh, the First Emperor answered twice when she fell silent.

    ¡°Shocking,¡± Neoma said after she got over her shock. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that. I¡¯m used to powerful entities summoning me to ask me for a favor. I¡¯m not sure if I can believe Grandpa right now.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s just say that you¡¯ve already paid in advance,¡± the First Emperor said. ¡°To be precise, your ¡°children¡± did me a favor.¡±

    ¡°My ¡°children?¡±¡± she asked, confused. ¡°They did you a favor?¡±

    ¡°Unconsciously, that is,¡± he said. ¡°My mother, Roxana, gave you an ind, didn¡¯t she?¡±

    She nodded. ¡°I haven¡¯t been to the ind yet, but my ¡°children¡± are using it as a hide-out.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± he said, nodding. ¡°And they¡¯ve been diligently cleaning my memorial ever since they came to the ind.¡±

    ¡°Grandpa¡¯s remains were buried in that ind?¡±

    ¡°Correct,¡± he confirmed. ¡°I¡¯m grateful to your ¡°children¡± for maintaining the cleanliness of the ind. They may not know it, but the way they took care of the ind gave me strength. That¡¯s how I was able to summon you here, Neoma.¡±

    She smiled proudly. ¡°Aren¡¯t my ¡°children¡± lovely?¡±

    He chuckled and nodded. ¡°And that¡¯s exactly why I¡¯m giving you a reward.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m ready, Grandpa,¡± she said, turning serious. ¡°I¡¯m ready to hear how many years I have left.¡±

    ¡°Five years.¡±

    Okay, she almost choked on her saliva because of shock. Not because of how little time she had, but because of how bluntly the First Emperor said it.

    [Gosh, Grandpa has no filter.]

    And she liked that.

    ¡°Okay,¡± Neoma said, then she sipped her coffee. ¡°Thank you for telling me, Grandpa.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡±

    ¡°Five years is enough to achieve my goals,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯ll leave the rest to Nero after that.¡±

    To be honest, the fact that she had a short life even in this lifetime hardly surprised her.

    [Even if I didn¡¯t share my life span with Papa Boss, I only had ten years left to live. I think I was only in my twenties when I died in the first timeline. And that was also the case when I lived in Nabi¡¯s body.]

    ¡°Why does it look like you¡¯ve already resigned yourself to your grim future?¡± the First Emperor asked curiously. ¡°Are you fine with the fact that you only have five years left to live?¡±

    ¡°This is already my third life,¡± she said. ¡°The first one was full of misery, the second one was full of happiness. And the current life is a mix of the two. I wouldn¡¯t have any regrets as long as I aplished my goals.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you want to be with your loved ones longer?¡±

    ¡°Of course, I want to,¡± she said,ughing softly. ¡°Grandpa, even though I¡¯ve epted the fact that I have a few years left to live, it doesn¡¯t mean I won¡¯t find ways to live longer. I¡¯m simply saying that I won¡¯t despair just because I found out I only have five years left.¡±

    The First Emperor let out a sigh of relief. ¡°I¡¯m d that you have that kind of mindset,¡± he said, nodding approvingly. ¡°Since you are my blood, I¡¯m certain you have a noble goal in mind.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s obvious,¡± Neoma said, smiling. ¡°I¡¯m going to marry Ruto and live like a truedy of leisure. Since Ruto and I are both financially stable, I believe it will be possible to live a life without working.¡±

    ¡°What is Ruto?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s a wonderful person, Grandpa!¡± she said, upset by the fossil¨C er, grandpa¡¯s question. ¡°He¡¯s Ruston Solfrid Stroganoff. He has pretty purple hair, attractive dark purple eyes¨C¡±

    ¡°Lord Levi¡¯s divine son?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Neoma said proudly. ¡°That¡¯s my man.¡±

    .....

    ¡°Are you his concubine then?¡±

    ¡°Excuse me?¡± she asked in disbelief. ¡°How am I Ruto¡¯s ¡°concubine?¡±¡±

    ¡°But I heard Lord Levi¡¯s divine son is going to marry the Goddess of Beauty?¡±

    She dropped the teacup in her hand.

    But before it hit the floor, it disappeared.

    Even without seeing her own reflection, Neoma could tell that her eyes were now glowing red.

    Ruto was marrying the Goddess of Beauty?

    [There¡¯s a Goddess of Beauty?!]

    ¡°Is the Goddess of Beauty more beautiful than I am, Grandpa?¡±

    The First Emperor looked at her, surprised. Then heughed. ¡°That¡¯s your question? Are you not going to ask about the Goddess of Beauty¡¯s marriage with the divine son?¡±

    ¡°Grandpa, I¡¯m aware many women are trying to covet my man because he¡¯s husband material,¡± she said, shrugging. ¡°But I have faith in Ruto.¡±

    ¡°Oh, dear. What if he betrays you in the end?¡±

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll kill him.¡±

    Once again, the First Emperorughed. ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio, since you made meugh today, I¡¯ll give you another present.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll teach you everything you need to know about the demonic power inside you.¡±

    Yes, that would be very useful.

    However¡­

    ¡°Grandpa, answer my question first.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s more beautiful?¡± Neoma asked, then she pointed a finger at her face. ¡°Me or the Goddess of Beauty?¡±

    And the First Emperor¡¯s joyousugh echoed in the entire space.

    [I¡¯m serious, Grandpa.]

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 611 - 611 VISUAL GODDESS

    611 VISUAL GODDESS

    ¡°DO YOU know why you have demonic power in you, Neoma de Moonasterio?¡±

    ¡°No, Grandpa,¡± Neoma said while shaking her head. ¡°I have a theory, though.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s hear it then.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve seen fragments of my first life,¡± she exined. ¡°It seems like I¡¯ve made a contract with the Ancient Devil in order to burn the world during the first timeline. I¡¯m thinking that the contract I made with them in the past is the root of my demonic power.¡±

    ¡°The divine blessing and power that we received from my father, Lord Yule, are both designed to purify any kind of Darkness attribute just like a demon¡¯s power.¡±

    Yep, she was aware of that.

    [It¡¯s the reason why Papa Boss didn¡¯t inherit his mother¡¯s Shadow Maniption Technique. After all, the Quinzels¡¯ power is a type of Darkness attribute.]

    ¡°But Grandpa, if that¡¯s true, then why did Princess Aruna inherit her mother¡¯s ck Witch blood?¡± she asked curiously. ¡°ording to history books, Empress Leticia¨C the mother of Princess Aruna and Emperor Arche¨C was a ck Witch. But, apparently, only de Moonasterion females could inherit the ck Witch blood. Hence, Emperor Arche didn¡¯t¡­ wait.¡± She knitted her eyebrows. ¡°Only female de Moonasterions can inherit the ck Witch blood?¡±

    ck Witches were Darkness attribute users.

    .....

    [Plus, Aunt Nichole can also use Darkness attribute. But I thought it was because she died and was revived by the Devil¡­]

    The Firs Emperor smiled at her. ¡°Did you figure it out?¡±

    She put a hand over her chest. ¡°Are female de Moonasterions built different? Do we have the ability to wield Darkness attribute?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s correct.¡±

    ¡°But why only the women in the family?¡± she asked, knitting her eyebrows. ¡°Where did we get that ability?¡±

    ¡°From my wife.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°My wife was the Demon Queen.¡±

    Okay, she almost choked on her saliva. ¡°Granda, you are the child of the Moon God and the Light Goddess. You¡¯re, like, a legit divine being. And yet you married a Demon Queen, a being who¡¯s probably born from Darkness attribute.¡± She gave the First Emperor her signature double thumbs up. ¡°You got balls, Grandpa. How did you convince the people to ept the Demon Queen as your wife?¡±

    ¡°Actually, I didn¡¯t know that she was the Demon Queen until she gave birth to our second child¨C a princess,¡± he exined. ¡°Our daughter was born with strong affinity to Darkness attribute. That was when I found out that she was the Demon Queen.¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t leave her?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t,¡± the First Emperor said, smiling warmly. ¡°I loved Gwen so much I didn¡¯t care whether she was the Demon Queen or not.¡±

    ¡°Aww, that¡¯s sweet, Grandpa.¡±

    [He ¡°forgot¡± his name, but not the name of his wife.]

    The First Emperor¡¯s smile faded. ¡°Uncle Callisto killed Gwen the moment he found out that she was the Demon Queen.¡±

    ¡°Fucking bastard,¡± she said through gritted teeth. ¡°Grandpa, please don¡¯t call Callisto de Luca ¡®Uncle.¡¯ He doesn¡¯t deserve to be respected.¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± the First Emperor said, surprised. Then he nodded. ¡°You¡¯re right, Neoma. It¡¯s a bad habit that¡¯s hard to break since the ¡°fucking bastard¡± raised me and my son.¡±

    She nodded, satisfied to hear the First Emperor curse at Callisto de Luca.

    [You¡¯re doing well, Grandpa.]

    ¡°My life ended when I tried to kill Uncle Callisto for killing my wife,¡± the First Emperor said. ¡°But, fortunately, before I died, I managed to seal my daughter¡¯s demonic power. I used a spell that would protect all the future female de Moonasterios that would inherit my wife¡¯s demonic power. It was a spell that

    ¡°Oh, right,¡± she said, nodding, when she remembered something important. ¡°ording to history books, Grandpa is the first Great Archmage of the Altalune Continent.¡±

    The First Emperor smiled and nodded. ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio, all the female de Moonasterios in history were born with affinity to Darkness attribute. But you know what happened to them before they reached their full potential.¡±

    [The crows killed them.]

    ¡°However, you¡¯re still special, Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± Neoma said, nodding in agreement. ¡°I always knew I was born the main character.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Please carry on, Grandpa.¡±

    The First Emperor nodded. ¡°When Gwen died, she asked me to turn her demonic power into a weapon. She wanted to give it to our daughter as an heirloom. But I didn¡¯t know what happened to that weapon after I died.¡± He then smiled at her knowingly. ¡°Until I met you, that is.¡±

    Neoma gasped out loud. ¡°Skewer¡­?¡±

    ¡°The Death Scythe is a weapon I made from Gwen¡¯s demonic power,¡± the First Emperor confirmed. ¡°I don¡¯t know how it fell into the hands of the Devil, but I¡¯m certain that the weapon with you is the weapon I made using my wife¡¯s Darkness attribute.¡±

    She suddenly felt like everything was falling into its rightful ce.

    ¡°The first time I met Skewer, the Death Scythe, was when I met the Devil¡¯s Grimoire,¡± Neoma shared with her ancestor. ¡°Everyone wondered why I had an affinity to Darkness attribute. Now it makes sense.¡±

    It also made sense why not even Papa Boss knew about it.

    [The fact that the First Emperor¡¯s wife was the Demon Queen was kept hidden as a secret all this time.]

    ¡°And now I understand why I fell in love with Skewer,¡± Neoma said. ¡°As a de Moonasterio, Papa Boss raised me not to depend on weapons because our brute strength is already our main weapon. However, even though the Death Scythe is an impractical weapon, I still like using it because I feel safe with it.¡±

    Now she understood why.

    Since the scythe was made from her grandmother¡¯s demonic power, she felt attached to it.

    ¡°I¡¯ll teach you how to draw out the true power of the Death Scythe, Neoma,¡± the First Emperor said, smiling. ¡°Are you ready?¡±

    Neoma smiled and nodded. ¡°Yes, Grandpa.¡±

    ***

    ¡°NEOMA, baby!¡±

    Oh.

    [I¡¯m back.]

    When Neoma opened her eyes, she saw Mama Boss and Papa Boss hovering above her. The two looked very worried about her. And it wasn¡¯t like she didn¡¯t know why.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Mama Boss, Papa Boss,¡± Neoma said while getting up, both her parents helping her in every little movement that she did. From getting up to leaning against the headboard of the hospital bed. ¡°Talking to Grandpa took longer than expected.¡±

    Well, they didn¡¯t just talk.

    Her soul felt tired because of the technique that the First Emperor taught her.

    ¡°Grandpa?¡± Papa Boss asked worriedly. ¡°Who did you meet this time?¡±

    ¡°He said he already forgot his name,¡± Neoma exined. ¡°But he told me to call him the First Emperor. He¡¯s the son of Lord Yule and Lady Roxana.¡±

    Her parents looked surprised by her revtion.

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Papa Boss said in a whisper. ¡°The history books only called the first emperor by his title and never by his name.¡±

    ¡°But why did the First Emperor summon you?¡± Mama Boss asked worriedly. ¡°What did he say to you, daughter?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll exin everythingter, Mama Boss,¡± Neoma said in a hurry. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I need to find Trevor first.¡±

    ***

    ¡°PRINCESS NEOMA, I heard you were summoned by the First Emperor¨C¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not important right now, Trevor,¡± Neoma said in a hurry. ¡°I need you to send an urgent message to Jasper oppa for me.¡±

    Right now, Neoma and Trevor were in the hospital room.

    This time, she was the one confined because her parents didn¡¯t want her to leave the hospital yet. Her body was a little exhausted, hence she agreed to be injected with IV drip. Her parents, on the other hand, were working together to erase the memories of the people who dered Papa Boss dead earlier.

    ¡°Did you find something?¡± Trevor asked curiously. ¡°What will you ask Jasper Hawthorne to do?¡±

    ¡°Jasper oppa owns an information guild, and I want him to spread a rumor that will reach the East Continent.¡±

    ¡°What kind of rumor would that be?¡±

    Neoma pointed at her face. ¡°I want Jasper oppa to spread that a Visual Goddess who is more beautiful than the Goddess of Beauty was born on the West Continent. Her face would put the Goddess of Beauty to shame despite being a mere human.¡±

    The demon boy knitted her eyebrow. ¡°Princess Neoma, are you ready to announce your return already?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± she said bluntly. ¡°I just want to provoke the Goddess of Beauty.¡±

    ¡°And why would you do that?¡±

    She clenched her hands tight. ¡°It seems like the Goddess of Beauty is spreading a false rumor about her marrying Ruto.¡±

    Trevor gave her a dire look. ¡°And how did you know that it was a ¡°false¡± rumor? You lost contact with Ruston Stroganoff two years ago. It¡¯s enough time for him to move on, you know?¡±

    ¡°A person who turned back time for me won¡¯t do that.¡±

    But, despite Neoma¡¯s bravado, she was actually a little scared.

    [If the rumor about Ruto and the Goddess of Beauty was true, then it only means Ruto may have already lost all his feelings for me.]

    That was why she wanted to know the truth.

    ¡°I need to find Ruto first,¡± she said firmly. ¡°If the Goddess of Beauty took my bait, I¡¯m sure she¡¯d react negatively to my provocation. And if she was really with Ruto, then we might find a clue as to where they are currently hiding.¡±

    .....

    ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll ask Jasper Hawthorne to spread the rumor about the Visual Goddess who is more beautiful than the Goddess of Beauty despite being a mere human,¡± Trevor said while shaking his head. ¡°But what will you do if the rumor about the goddess and Ruston Stroganoff is true?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll cross the bridge when I get there,¡± Neoma said through gritted teeth. ¡°But perhaps I¡¯ll enter my yandere phase if Ruto really betrayed me.¡±

    ***

    NOTE: Thank you to everyone who saw my IG story yesterday about my minor ident and expressed their concerns. Sorry, I forgot to put on a trigger warning sign when I posted the picture of my bleeding leg. Hehe. I¡¯m fine now, but I broke my promise again. Huhu. >.<

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 612 - 612 [Bonus Chapter] REOMA THROUGH THE YEARS

    612 [Bonus Chapter] REOMA THROUGH THE YEARS

    <Ruto 3 7, Neoma>

    ¡°YOU¡¯RE THE cutest bald baby in the world,¡± seven-year-old Ruto said while looking at the sleeping three-year-old baby Neoma¨C the real Neoma and not the poor soul from the other world. ¡°When you wake up, you¡¯ll wake up as the real Neoma.¡±

    The soul inside that small body before belonged to Kim Nabi.

    He already brought the poor soul to the Cosmic Tree for its protection.

    ¡°You¡¯ll be fine,¡± Ruto assured her. ¡°The life you lived as Kim Neoma will help you navigate this life. And I¡¯m here. I¡¯ll protect you from afar.¡±

    Neoma, who seemed to have understood his words, smiled.

    [What a cute, bald baby.]

    ***

    <Ruto 8 12, Neoma>

    .....

    [THE BALD baby grew up well.]

    How old was she again now?

    [If I¡¯m twelve, then she¡¯s eight.]

    Ruto, now working as the head chef of nco Pce, watched Neoma from afar while she munched on her ¨¦ir with so much gusto.

    He said ¡®afar,¡¯ and he meant it.

    To be precise, he was standing on the rooftop of the Royal Library while the royal princess (who was posing as Prince Nero) was on her favorite spot in the entire Royal Pce: the pavilion on theke.

    He could see Neoma clearly despite the distance because he borrowed Veton¡¯s eagle-like vision.

    ¡°That ¨¦ir¡­¡±

    ¡°It was from Sugar Boulevard, my lord,¡± James Bloomfield, his sous chef, said. ¡°I heard that Prince Nero keeps on sneaking out of the pcetely just to buy ¨¦irs from that store.¡±

    James sounded bitter, and it wasn¡¯t like he didn¡¯t understand.

    The two of them were in charge of the Crown Prince¡¯s meals and snacks. It didn¡¯t feel great to know that ¡°Prince Nero¡± kept oning back to a dessert store when the royal kitchen was fully capable of serving the same snack.

    [Is my cooking not to Neoma¡¯s liking?]

    ¡°James.¡±

    ¡°Yes, my lord?¡±

    ¡°Lead me to Sugar Boulevard,¡± Ruto said. ¡°I need to know why the Crown Prince is obsessed with their ¨¦irs.¡±

    ***

    SURPRISINGLY, Sugar Boulevard turned out to be a small dessert shop located in the za for themoners.

    No wonder the owner looked nervous when he arrived.

    ¡°Viscount Stroganoff, wee to Sugar Boulevard,¡± rence, the middle-aged shop owner, greeted him nervously. The man was amoner, hence he didn¡¯t have ast name. ¡°May I know what brought someone of your importance to our humble shop?¡±

    He almost forgot that he inherited one of his father¡¯s lesser titles ¡®Viscount Stroganoff¡¯ because he rarely heard people call him that way.

    After all, he was ¡®Chef Stroganoff¡¯ to most people.

    [And my father goes by ¡®Chef Morton¡¯ to avoid confusion in the pce.]

    ¡°Thank you for the warm wee,¡± Ruto said politely, then he went straight to the point. ¡°I¡¯m here to meet the head chef, sir.¡±

    ¡°My lord, you don¡¯t have to speak formally to me,¡± the shop owner said, embarrassed. ¡°Please just speak informally. I¡¯ll feel morefortable that way.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± he said, speaking informally this time. But his voice remained polite, of course. ¡°As I said earlier, I¡¯m here to meet the head chef. To be precise, I want to meet the one in charge of the ¨¦ir you sell in this store.¡±

    Now rence looked even more nervous. ¡°I¡¯m the shop owner and the pastry chef in charge of the ¨¦ir, Viscount. Is there a problem with our ¨¦ir, sir?¡±

    [The problem is Neoma likes your dessert more than the ones I prepare for her¡­]

    But he recognized that it was petty of him, so he set those selfish thoughts aside.

    ¡°It¡¯s an honor to meet a great pastry chef like you, rence,¡± Ruto said. ¡°If it¡¯s not too much to ask, would it be alright for you to teach me how you make your ¨¦ir?¡±

    The pastry chef fell silent while looking at him in disbelief.

    ¡°I know I¡¯m asking for too much,¡± Ruto said, refusing to give up. ¡°I¡¯m also a chef, so I know the importance of keeping the recipe for your best dish a secret. But if you choose to share your secret recipe with me, Ipensate you in any way you want.¡±

    ¡°Are you going to build your own dessert shop, Viscount?¡±

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t have any intention of doing that.¡±

    ¡°Then may I know why my lord wants to learn my recipe?¡±

    ¡°I want to make it for the most important person in my life.¡±

    rence looked surprised at first, then he smiled as if he understood. ¡°If the viscount isn¡¯t going to use my recipe for business, then I¡¯d love to share my recipe with you. And you also don¡¯t have topensate me, my lord.¡±

    That easy?

    He was confused.

    ¡°But you don¡¯t have proof that I won¡¯t use it for business,¡± he argued. ¡°And it¡¯s foolish not to receivepensation for your hard work.¡±

    He used to be that kind of person.

    [I never asked for anything in return for maintaining world peace. And in the end, instead of being rewarded for my hard work, they took Neoma away from me.]

    Hence, he swore to never work for free again.

    ¡°This may be presumptuous of me to say, but I can see that you¡¯re talking about someone you love dearly, Viscount Stroganoff,¡± rence said, smiling warmly at him. ¡°Hence, I won¡¯t mind sharing my recipe with my lord if it can make that person happy.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, rence. I appreciate it a lot,¡± Ruto said softly. ¡°And please ept thepensation I¡¯ll give youter. I insist.¡±

    That was also an apology in advance to rence.

    [Because Sugar Boulevard will lose Neoma as a customer once I learn how to make their ¨¦ir.]

    ***

    <Ruto 13 17, Neoma>

    ¡°GOSH, SO you¡¯re the reason why Sugar Boulevard suddenly became huge,¡± Neomained after hearing Ruto¡¯s story. ¡°Now they even have a branch in Grandiose Avenue because you sponsored their store. Nobles line up very early just to get their famous ¨¦ir, you know? That¡¯s why I can¡¯t sneak out anymore just to buy from their store.¡±

    The confession happened while Ruto and Neoma were having dinner on the cruise ship headed back to the West Continent. When they arrived on the cruise ship, the first thing Ruto did was to ¡°invade¡± the kitchen. Since he was a famous chef all over the East and West Continent, the kitchen staff agreed.

    Hence, Ruto had been preparing Neoma¡¯s meals since then.

    Since they didn¡¯t want to get attention, they opted on in eating in the cabin Neoma shared with Hanna Quinzel. But the youngdy excused herself because, apparently, she wanted to have a solo tour around the cruise ship.

    [But Hanna probably did that to give me and Neoma some privacy.]

    ¡°Well, you have me,¡± Ruto said, shrugging. ¡°You can just ask me to make ¨¦ir for you since I learned how to make the exact same ¨¦ir as the ones sold in Sugar Boulevard.¡±

    ¡°Gosh, I don¡¯t think I can live without your food anymore.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the n,¡± he shamelessly admitted. ¡°The way through my picky princess¡¯s heart is through her stomach.¡±

    ¡°Damn right.¡±

    He smiled while watching Neoma eat the ¨¦ir he made with so much gusto.

    ¡°You really know what I like most in the world, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°I do. Excluding your friends and family, I know the top three things you like the most in the world,¡± Ruto said while wiping the chocte smudge off the corner of her mouth. ¡°First, obsessed with yourself. Second, you¡¯re fond of pretty faces. And, finally, you like good food.¡±

    ¡°Ohh, you¡¯re right.¡±

    ¡°I want to be your number one in at least one of those aspects,¡± Ruto confessed. ¡°I know that I can¡¯t make you obsessed with me the way you¡¯re obsessed with yourself, and I can¡¯t beat Rubin Drayton as the most handsome guy in your eyes. Hence, I devoted myself to cooking.¡±

    ¡°Why are you suddenly mentioning Rubin Drayton?¡± sheined, pouting. ¡°You¡¯re making me lose my appetite.¡±

    She said that, but her hand reached for her third ¨¦ir.

    [Cute.]

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± he said. ¡°I won¡¯t mention him again.¡±

    ¡°Rubin Drayton is the most handsome guy in my eyes because I can¡¯t lie to myself when ites to my style,¡± Neoma admitted. ¡°But you¡¯re the number one in my heart. I won¡¯t get tired of looking at you, Ruto. And I¡¯m 100% certain I¡¯ll still like your neat and calm face even after we grow old.¡±

    Ruto smiled. ¡°I like how you talk as if you¡¯re already sure we¡¯re going to grow old together.¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± she said firmly. ¡°Ruto, if you add all the years we¡¯ve been alive, then it¡¯s not an exaggeration to say we¡¯re a grandma and a grandpa already.¡±

    ¡°You have a point.¡±

    ¡°But Ruto¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    .....

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if I want to have biological children,¡± Neoma confessed nervously. ¡°I know I¡¯ve said this before, but I¡¯m not really confident that I could be a good mother. I¡¯m not confident that I could love my children as much as I love myself.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright. I feel the same,¡± Ruto confessed, too. ¡°I¡¯m not confident if I could love someone else as much as I love you¨C even if they were our children¡­¡±

    He trailed off, then he felt his entire face turn warm.

    Neoma also blushed hard.

    [Did I just say I love Neoma out loud?]

    It wasn¡¯t that he lied. He just didn¡¯t want to confess when Neoma was still young because it felt wrong. After all, he was aware of her modern values.

    ¡°Say it again,¡± Neoma said, her eyes sparkling. ¡°You what me?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Ruto said, then he stood up and bolted out of the room. ¡°You¡¯re so impatient, Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Rutooo~~~¡±

 Chapter 613 - 613 THE CHOSEN ONE

    613 THE CHOSEN ONE

    THE MOONGLOW that enveloped Nero¡¯s entire body dimmed a little after a long while, but it¡¯s still visible to the naked eye.

    It had already been an hour since the Moonglow manifested for everyone to see.

    The people around him had calmed down.

    And now, the banquet that was supposed to celebrate the foundation day of Royal Moon Academy had be a stage for the nobles to fight.

    ¡°It¡¯s too early for the Crown Prince to ascend the throne,¡± Duke Arman Winchester, the leader of the Noble Faction, said firmly. ¡°Your Royal Highness hasn¡¯te of age yet.¡±

    For some reason that he couldn¡¯t remember, Duke Arman Winchester was hostile to him.

    [I think he mentioned once about a promise that I supposedly broke. But I can¡¯t remember it. And when I asked Duke Winchester, it seems like he also couldn¡¯t remember it well. Hence, it¡¯s weird for him to hate on me this much.]

    ¡°No one said Prince Nero will ascend the throne right at this moment,¡± Marquis Vincent Lennox, the Empress Dowager¡¯s grandfather, retorted to Duke Winchester. ¡°But why are you already opposing it, Duke Winchester? Prince Nero is the rightful heir to the throne.¡±

    It was really amusing to watch Marquis Lennox defend Nero.

    .....

    [Calyx is the marquis¡¯ biological grandson. But even though Calyx has the right to im the throne as well, Marquis Lennox has been supporting me just because Calyx and the Empress Dowager support me.]

    ¡°I¡¯m just saying that Prince Nero isn¡¯t ready to ascend the throne yet,¡± Duke Winchester insisted. ¡°And I believe I¡¯m not the only one who feels the same way.¡±

    ¡°Really now?¡± Marquis Lennox asked sarcastically. ¡°Why do you sound like an instigator then, Duke Winchester?¡±

    This time, the other nobles joined the fight.

    Of course, the Royal Faction supported the marquis while the Noble Faction supported the duke.

    Nero wanted to roll his eyes.

    [God, they¡¯re so childish.]

    Nero turned to Hanna and was about to ask her to leave the hall with him when he noticed her expression. He knitted his eyebrows because of confusion.

    [Why does Hanna look like she¡¯s about to cry out of worry?]

    Nero was about to ask Hanna what was wrong when a loud voice echoed in the entire hall.

    ¡°Duke Winchester, Marquis Lennox, please stop fighting,¡± Duke Rufus Quinzel said firmly. ¡°It¡¯s inappropriate for nobles of your standing to be fighting like children in front of the students. Why don¡¯t we calm down and set a good example to the new generation of young nobles present in this banquet?¡±

    As expected of the Twelve Golden Families¡¯ peacemaker.

    Duke Winchester and Marquis Lennox didn¡¯t apologize to each other. But, at least, they kept their mouths shut this time.

    ¡°Headmaster, I apologize on their behalf for causing a scene,¡± Duke Quinzel said to Alphonse Salvarore, the headmaster of Royal Moon Academy. ¡°Please carry on with the program.¡±

    Headmaster Salvatore smiled and nodded. ¡°Thank you, Duke Quinzel¨C¡±

    The headmaster was once again interrupted because of the sudden shift in the air.

    [What is it this time?]

    In just the blink of an eye, Nero found himself behind Sanford and Raku¨C his personal knights. Even Jaxson Emmett, the vice-captain of the ck Hawk Knights, surrounded him and Hanna. After all, his fianc¨¦e was the daughter of House Quinzel.

    The other royal knights who came with him also surrounded me.

    ¡°Protect the other guests,¡± Nero ordered his royal knights. ¡°Sanford and Raku are enough. Moreover, the Quinzel Knights are here anyway.¡±

    The royal knights bowed to him before scattering around the hall in an orderly fashion.

    ¡°Prince Nero, please leave the hall with Lady Hanna,¡± Sanford whispered to him. ¡°We¡¯ll handle this ce.¡±

    Jaxson Emmett nodded in agreement. ¡°I shall escort Your Royal Highness and Lady Hanna.¡±

    ¡°Why do we need to run when we¡¯re capable of protecting ourselves?¡± Nero said, scoffing. ¡°Hanna and I are stronger than all of youbined.¡±

    ¡°Geez,¡± Sanfordined in an obviously annoyed tone. ¡°Prince Nero, will it kill you to let us do our job¨C mmf!¡±

    Raku covered Sanford¡¯s mouth with his hand.

    ¡°Prince Nero, the knights are just doing their jobs,¡± Hanna said, holding his hand in an attempt to calm him down. ¡°It will be easier for them to move if we¡¯re not here.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like I¡¯m being difficult,¡± Nero exined, calmly this time. Then he gently squeezed Hanna¡¯s hand. ¡°I just don¡¯t feel that the strange presence here is hostile. Hence, there¡¯s no need for us to be this cautious.¡±

    ¡°Then you should have exined it clearly,¡± Hanna scolded him. ¡°This is the first time I felt this kind of presence.¡±

    ¡°It feels familiar to me,¡± Nero said, entwining their fingers together while looking around. ¡°But I can¡¯t remember where I felt this presence before.¡±

    And soon, the being finally showed itself.

    It started with a golden butterfly appearing in the middle of the hall. Then it flew towards her while being followed by other colorful butterflies.

    <¡°Greetings, Prince Nero.¡±>

    [This voice¡­]

    It sounded very familiar, but he couldn¡¯t remember where he had heard it before.

    <¡°It¡¯s me, Tara.¡±>

    That name¡­

    Nero knitted his eyebrows. ¡°The Queen of the Spirit World?¡±

    Hanna looked surprised, and so was everyone in the hall.

    Soon, the golden butterfly turned into a petite youngdy with golden butterfly wings.

    Thedy¡¯s otherworldly beauty and strange clothes made it clear that she was indeed a Spirit and not an ordinary person.

    He knew that he was acquainted with the Queen, but he didn¡¯t know how.

    [I vaguely remember I was sick when I was young, and it was the queen who took care of me in the Spirit World. But I don¡¯t remember the rest.]

    And his brain was stopping him from remembering.

    ¡°I came here as soon as I feel the blessing of the Moonglow descend upon Your Royal Highness.¡±

    The Queen of the Spirit World said that while walking towards him.

    [Well, more like flying.]

    The nobles, the knights, and even Sanford and Raku made way for the queen as if they were enchanted.

    ¡°Congrattions, Prince Nero,¡± Tara said, putting a hand over her chest. Then she descended gracefully on the floor. And, as soon as she did, she got down on one knee and bowed to him. ¡°As the Queen of the Spirit World, I came here to dere that the entire Spirit World supports the ascension to the throne of Your Royal Highness¨C the future emperor of the Great Moonasterion Empire.¡±

    Nero didn¡¯t understand why Tara would support him, but it was a weed support.

    [The Spirit World¡¯s support will shut up the nobles who are opposing my future ascension to the throne.]

    ***

    ¡°HANNA, your fianc¨¦ is pretty amazing.¡±

    ¡°Sandie, you¡¯re probably the only person in the empire who would refer to Prince Nero as my fianc¨¦,¡± Hanna said,ughing at what her friend said. ¡°It¡¯s usually the other way around.¡±

    Sandie lowered her gaze to the pot in her hands and whispered, ¡°I don¡¯t like your fianc¨¦.¡±

    Her friend was free to talk that way because only the two of them were in the parlor room at the moment.

    It was the parlor room reserved only for the Royal Family.

    But Nero already left the banquet to introduce Queen Tara to the Empress Dowager. Hence, only her and her guests could enter the parlor room.

    The Crown Prince left the quiet Sir Raku as her personal knight.

    ¡°Sir Raku is guarding outside the parlor room, Sandie,¡± Hanna reminded her friend. ¡°Although I protected the entire room with my Shadow Veil to keep our conversation private, we can¡¯t be toocent. After all, I don¡¯t know what Sir Raku¡¯s abilities are.¡±

    ¡°Well, if your fianc¨¦ is the type of prince that would kill everyone who talked badly of him, then the empire is doomed.¡±

    Hanna couldn¡¯t help butugh.

    Sandie Morrisley was the daughter of Viscount Austin Morrisley¨C one of the Twelve Golden Families¡¯ representatives.

    But unlike Hanna¡¯s father who was one of the pirs of the Royal Faction, Sandie¡¯s father belonged to the Neutral Faction whose territory was located in the Northern Region of the empire.

    The families under the Neutral Faction were elusive.

    Even though Sandie attended the Royal Moon Academy, she never made other friends aside from Hanna.

    And there was only one reason why Sandie decided to leave the North.

    Apparently, there was a poisonous nt that only grew in the Royal Moon Academy.

    [That¡¯s the Poison Queen for you.]

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect the Queen of the Spirit World to appear here just to congratte your fianc¨¦ for being chosen by the throne,¡± Sandie said, looking up at Hanna. ¡°With this, the Noble Faction can¡¯t openly oppose your fianc¨¦¡¯s ascension to the throne anymore.¡±

    Dark blue short hair with side bangs that covered the left side of her face¨C Sandie looked a little spooky, especially since she wore ck all the time.

    [And there¡¯s also a perpetual dark bag under her right eye.]

    .....

    Even though Sandie was hard to approach because she looked aloof and detached to the world, Hanna could see in Sandie¡¯s ocean blue eyes that she was curious about certain things in the empire.

    ¡°Sandie, your family belongs to the Neutral Faction,¡± Hanna said carefully. ¡°If I be the Crown Princess of the empire and you be the viscountess of your family, will you support me?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t like your fianc¨¦, so our family would probably remain neutral even by then.¡±

    Sheughed at her friend¡¯s answer. ¡°I¡¯m d,¡± she said. ¡°I don¡¯t like the current royal family either.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then why are still sticking to your fianc¨¦?¡±

    ¡°Because I promised a dear friend I¡¯d protect Prince Nero,¡± Hanna said firmly. ¡°That¡¯s why I need your help again, Sandie.¡±

    ¡°Did you run out of the antidote?¡±

    Sandie knew Hanna was being poisoned, and it was also Sandie who made the antidote for the poison that Regina fed Hanna.

    [Fortunately, Sandie isn¡¯t the type to ask questions.]

    ¡°No, but I need your power,¡± she said to her friend. ¡°To be precise, I want us to use the technique that we invented bybining our powers together.¡±

    Sandlie tilted her head to one side. ¡°You want me to make a clone of you using your shadow?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that,¡± Hanna said, nodding. ¡°I need to meet Duke Hawthorne in secret.¡±

    Because Hanna needed to know if Emperor Niki had really passed away.

    [Neoma, I hope you and your family are okay.]

    ***

    REGINA entered the royal parlor reserved only for the Royal Family members.

    But since Raku¨C one of Nero¡¯s knights¨C was guarding the door, she was able to enter the room even though she wasn¡¯t invited by Hanna.

    ¡°How rude.¡±

    It was Sandie Morrisley¨C Hanna¡¯s closest friend in the academy.

    ¡°Are you perhaps talking about me, Lady Sandie?¡± Regina asked thedy. ¡°How am I being rude when I¡¯m only here to fetch my cousin?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m talking to my pot,¡± Sandie said, her gaze fixed on the pot in her hands. ¡°I don¡¯t talk to filthy humans who don¡¯t know their ce.

    Regina was about to remind Sandie Morrisley that she was a Quinzel, but...

    ¡°Sandie, Regina, please stop fighting,¡± Hanna said in a sad voice. ¡°Let¡¯s get along well, hmm?¡±

    Regina turned to Hanna, then she knitted her eyebrows.

    [Something doesn¡¯t feel right about Hanna¡­]

    ***

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 Chapter 614 - 614 NERO THE MENACE

    614 NERO THE MENACE

    ¡°QUEEN TARA appeared in the banquet just to congratte Nero?¡± Neoma asked, then she raised an eyebrow. ¡°Very sus.¡±

    <¡°Thanks to that, it¡¯s almost certain that Prince Nero will ascend the throne during hising-of-age ceremony,¡±> Jasper Hawthorne, whose face upied the entire wall in front of Neoma, said. <¡°Princess Neoma, is it really alright to let Prince Nero be the emperor?¡±>

    ¡°Yep,¡± she said, nodding. ¡°Nero needs the throne more than I do.¡±

    ¡°But how about Your Royal Highness?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m only lending the throne to Nero. I can easily take it back if I put my mind into it,¡± she said confidently. ¡°Anyway, this is the perfect time to spread the rumor about the Visual Goddess.¡±

    <¡°Won¡¯t it just be overwhelmed by the news of Queen Tara visiting Prince Nero?¡±>

    ¡°Then just add the fact that the Visual Goddess has white hair, ash-gray eyes that turn red when angry, and pale skin.¡±

    <¡°But if we do that, the enemies will know you¡¯re back, Princess Neoma.¡±>

    ¡°Exactly,¡± she said, scoffing. ¡°I want to give them anxiety while waiting for myeback.¡±

    .....

    Jasper oppaughed at her response. <¡°You¡¯re really cute, Princess Neoma.¡±>

    ¡°I know, oppa. Thanks,¡± she said. ¡°Oppa, you¡¯re looking for Ruto, right?¡±

    <¡°Of course, I¡¯m looking for him as you requested. But my future brother-inw is elusive.¡±>

    ¡°Gosh, oppa. What ¡°brother-inw?¡± You¡¯re making me shy,¡± she said, a little embarrassed. ¡°Say it again.¡±

    Her oppa justughed again.

    It looked Jasper oppa was about to say something when the door behind him opened.

    Neoma beamed. ¡°Annyeong, Hanna.¡±

    <¡°Princess Neoma,¡±> Hanna said, entering Jasper oppa¡¯s office while pulling down the hood of the ck robe she was wearing. <¡°What happened? Is Emperor Niki¡­¡±>

    ¡°Oh, Papa Boss is okay,¡± Neoma assured her cousin. ¡°He¡¯s currently resting with Mama Boss.¡±

    Actually, she was supposed to be resting.

    But she couldn¡¯t ignore the emergency call that she received from Jasper oppa. Hence, here they were now.

    <¡°I¡¯m d to hear that,¡±> Hanna said, letting out a sigh. <¡°I almost broke down into tears when Nero was suddenly basked in Moonglow earlier.¡±>

    Oh.

    Maybe it would be a bad choice if Neoma told Hanna that she sacrificed her life span to bring Papa Boss back to life.

    [Yep, let¡¯s take this secret to my grave.]

    ¡°Is it alright for you to leave the banquet?¡± Neoma asked worriedly, changing the topic as well. ¡°Where¡¯s Nero?¡±

    <¡°Nero went back to the pce with Queen Tara meet Empress Dowager,¡±> Hanna said, then she sat on the chair that Jasper oppa pulled for her. <¡°I snuck out of the banquet, but I left my clone there.¡±>

    Ah, right.

    Hanna once mentioned that she met a friend named ¡®Sandie¡¯ who could turn Hanna¡¯s shadow into a perfect clone.

    <¡°Hawthorne! Quinzel!¡±>

    Neoma was distracted when Gin, in his human form, entered Jasper oppa¡¯s office with urgency.

    <¡°The street is filled with crows,¡±> Gin reported in a hurry, then he turned to Hanna. <¡°It seems like were followed, child.¡±>

    Oh, no.

    ¡°Jasper oppa, take Hanna home safely,¡± Neoma ordered right away. ¡°Gin, get rid of the crows while Hanna and Jasper oppa escape.¡±

    Gin, Hanna, and Jasper oppa all bowed to her. ¡°As youmand, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ***

    ¡°I DON¡¯T understand why you suddenly dere your support for me, but I appreciate it,¡± Nero said to Tara, the Queen of the Spirit World. ¡°It looks like you have something you wish to discuss with me. But unfortunately, I have a scheduled appointment.¡±

    Nero brought Tara to the Royal Pce.

    To be precise, he brought the queen to the drawing room in the Empress Dowager¡¯s pce¨C the Larissa Pce.

    [Anyway¡­]

    The appointment would be greeting the Royal Family of the Hazelden Kingdom.

    They were supposed to arrive tomorrow morning because it was when the portal was scheduled to bepleted.

    However, the portal was fixed earlier than expected.

    Hence, the Griffiths decided toe to the empire earlier in order to return to the Hazelden Kingdom at the earliest.

    [It¡¯s obvious that they really don¡¯t want to be here.]

    ¡°I understand, Prince Nero,¡± Tara said, smiling at him. ¡°I¡¯d love to have a conversation with Juliet anyway.¡±

    The queen addressed the Empress Dowager casually, huh?

    [I wonder if they were friends.]

    His memories of his parents were a little hazy in his memories.

    The people in the pce rarely talked about Emperor Niki and Lady Mona Roseheart, too. But, he could vaguely remember that his biological mother was the one who was actually friends with the Queen of the Spirit World.

    [Well, I also heard that my mother and the Empress Dowager used to be close friends. In short, everyone must have been friends in the past.]

    ¡°I¡¯ll take care of Her Majesty, Nero, so you may leave and perform your royal duties,¡± the Empress Dowager said, then she held and squeezed his hands gently. ¡°Congrattions on getting chosen by the throne, son. I¡¯ve always known you were the rightful heir.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°Why are you still calling me that?¡± the Empress Dowager said,ughing softly. ¡°I am your mother, Nero.¡±

    ¡°I understand,¡± Nero said politely. ¡°Thank you for always supporting me, Mother.¡±

    The Empress Dowager smiled and cupped his face between her hands. ¡°Anything for you, son.¡±

    ¡°What a lovely scene,¡± Tara said, smiling at them. ¡°The current royal family is indeed picture-perfect.¡±

    ***

    AFTER NERO left Tara and the Empress Dowager, he went straight to nco Pce.

    His esteemed guests were waiting for him in the tearoom.

    Sanford opened the door for him, and the knight followed him inside the room, where the guests stood up as soon as he arrived.

    ¡°Greetings to the Lesser Moon of the Great Moonasterion Empire.¡±

    The entire Royal Family of the Hazelden Kingdom greeted him politely while bowing to him.

    Queen Brigitte.

    King Glenn.

    Prince Skylus.

    And finally, his target for tonight¡­

    [Princess Monik.]

    ¡°You may now rise,¡± Nero said, then he sat on the chair across from the sofa. ¡°And please take a seat, everyone.¡±

    The queen and the king sat on the sofa.

    Queen Brigitte had Princess Monik sat on herp, while King Glenn had Prince Skylus on hisp.

    There was only one aid behind the Royal Family.

    [It¡¯s Count Nowell Elwood¨C Queen Brigitte¡¯s cousin. Well, I suppose they don¡¯t need knights. After all, King Glenn was a former Pdin who served my Father in the past.]

    Remembering his father made him feel a pang in his chest.

    But he set his personal feelings aside at the moment.

    ¡°First of all, I¡¯d like to thank you foring all the way here,¡± Nero said politely. ¡°I know your kingdom¡¯sw dictates that the entire Royal Family shouldn¡¯t travel together.¡±

    The empire had the samew.

    It was to make sure that if ever an ident befall the Royal Family on the way, the heir would survive and continue the royal bloodline.

    ¡°But because I summoned the entire Royal Family of the Hazelden Kingdom, you¡¯re all here now,¡± Nero continued. ¡°I apologize for my selfish request.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Prince Nero,¡± King Glenn said, smiling. ¡°Me and the queen aren¡¯tfortable to leave our young children at the pce anyway. Fortunately, we only need to use the portal to get here.¡±

    ¡°Moreover, this is the empire,¡± Queen Brigitte added. ¡°We feel safe andfortable enough toe over with our entire family.¡±

    Ah.

    .....

    [Look at the smart queen.]

    The queen sounded like she was saying that she felt safe in there because of their kingdom¡¯s close rtionship with the empire.

    However, Nero interpreted it in another way: ¡®You¡¯re going to keep us safe, aren¡¯t you?¡¯

    [The queen is actually threatening me to keep their family safe while they¡¯re here.]

    ¡°Of course, you¡¯re safe here,¡± Nero said, smiling. ¡°Unless you don¡¯t give me what I want.¡±

    Now that was a direct threat.

    No wonder the ambiance suddenly changed.

    Queen Brigitte and King Glenn were obviously on guard now while hugging their children close to their bodies.

    [How lovely.]

    ¡°Whatever do you mean by that, Prince Nero?¡± King Glenn asked carefully. ¡°What does Your Royal Highness need from our family?¡±

    Nero picked up the teacup on the table. ¡°My older brother¡¯s birthday ising up soon.¡±

    ¡°We are aware, Your Royal Highness,¡± Queen Brigitte answered carefully. ¡°The Hazelden Kingdom has carefully prepared a birthday present for Prince Calyx.¡±

    ¡°Good for you,¡± Nero said. ¡°Too bad I am yet to find the perfect present for my older brother.¡±

    The queen and king looked at him as if they were something that had nothing to do with them.

    [And that¡¯s where they¡¯re wrong.]

    ¡°As you know, my older brother doesn¡¯t have a Soul Beast,¡± Nero said, then his gaze fell on Princess Monik who flinched when their eyes met. ¡°I happen to hear that Princess Monik has an amazing Elemental Guardian. It¡¯s the White Lion, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    The queen and the king suddenly paled after realizing Nero¡¯s goal.

    ¡°The White Lion is the symbol of the de Moonasterion Royal Family,¡± Nero said, smiling at the young princess. ¡°Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s the perfect birthday present for Calyx, my precious older brother?¡± Even without looking at himself in the mirror, he knew that his ash-gray eyes had turned glowing red by now. ¡°Princess Monik, why don¡¯t you be an obedient little princess and give the White Lion to me while I¡¯m still asking nicely?¡±

    Princess Monik, much to his shock, smiled sweetly at him. ¡°What a lunatic.¡±

    Excuse me?

    ***

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 Chapter 615 - 615 THE CONFRONTATION

    615 THE CONFRONTATION

    ¡°WHAT A lunatic.¡±

    To say that Nero was surprised to hear the young princess of the Hazelden Kingdom call him a lunatic.

    Well, the young princess didn¡¯t say that directly to him.

    But it was obvious Princess Monik was referring to him when she said ¡®lunatic.¡¯

    ¡°Princess Monik is only eight years old, isn¡¯t she?¡± Nero asked the queen and the king of Hazelden, but he was looking at the young princess. ¡°Your vocabry is quite problematic, young princess.¡±

    ¡°Your Royal Highness¡¯ attitude is more problematic, though,¡± Princess Monik whined light-heartedly. ¡°Prince Nero is already eighteen years old, isn¡¯t he? Why are you trying to steal from an eight-year-old little girl?¡±

    ¡°Steal? Your words are quite harsh, young princess,¡± Nero said, then he turned to the royal couple. ¡°Don¡¯t you think your daughter is being quite rude to the Crown Prince of the empire, Your Majesties?¡±

    ¡°With all due respect, it was Your Royal Highness who was rude first,¡± Queen Brigitte said calmly. ¡°Of course, Monik could have used nicer words. However, isn¡¯t it a fact that Your Royal Highness is pressuring my daughter to give up her Elemental Guardian for the First Prince?¡±

    ¡°Lord Kingston, Monik¡¯s Elemental Guardian, is a part of our family, Your Royal Highness. He is Monik¡¯s best friend,¡± King Glenn added firmly. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but we can¡¯t give him to you, Prince Nero.¡±

    .....

    It seemed like the Griffiths had already made up their minds.

    [If they won¡¯t give in while I¡¯m still asking nicely, then¡­]

    ¡°Are you sure about that?¡± Nero asked in a threatening voice. ¡°Think about our trading business, Your Majesties.¡±

    A few years ago, the empire and the Hazelden Kingdom began their trading business.

    The empire supplied the Hisa jewels for Hazelden, while the kingdom imported weapons infused with Mana stones to the empire exclusively.

    [It was a business that my father established with Hazelden.]

    And that business was left in his care after his father vanished.

    ¡°Even if Your Royal Highness threatened us, our decision is final,¡± King Glenn said firmly. ¡°We will not give up on Lord Kingston.¡±

    He wanted to click his tongue in annoyance.

    ¡°Prince Nero, I have something to say to you,¡± Princess Monik said, still smiling at him. ¡°Can Ie near you?¡±

    Nero raised an eyebrow. He could tell by the evil glint in her eyes that the young princess was up to no good. Even so, he was still interested in what she wanted to tell him. ¡°By all means, Princess Monik.¡±

    Monik turned to her parents as if she was asking for permission.

    Only when Queen Brigitte and King Glenn nodded did the young princess step down from her mother¡¯sp.

    ¡°Be careful,¡± Prince Skylus whispered worriedly. ¡°Noona.¡±

    ¡®Noona?¡¯

    It was a strange word that Nero was certain didn¡¯t belong to anynguages he knew. However, it sounded so familiar to him.

    But he only got a headache while trying to remember where he had heard that strange word.

    ¡°Prince Nero, please lean down for a moment.¡±

    Confused and distracted, Nero leaned down absent-mindedly.

    ¡°I know this pretty unnie who looks like Prince Nero¡¯s female version,¡± Princess Monik whispered to him. Her voice was low enough that only he would hear it. Moreover, he could tell that the young princess used some strange power to ensure that her voice would only reach his ears. ¡°She told me to tell you this if you started like a viin.¡±

    ¡°What¨C¡±

    ¡°¡±You sorry excuse for a little brother,¡±¡± Princess Monik said, cutting him off rudely. ¡°¡±I will beat the living daylights out of you once I returned.¡±¡±

    He was shocked to hear the young princess say those vicious words in a cheerful voice.

    ¡°Prince Nero, you¡¯re lucky that my unnie doesn¡¯t want me to use harsher words,¡± Princess Monik said,ughing. ¡°What I told you was actually the watered-down version. The original was harsher.¡±

    ¡°Who said¨C¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t I already tell Your Royal Highness that it was an unnie who looks like your female version?¡± Princess Monik continued taunting him. ¡°It¡¯s a pretty unnie with white hair, ash-gray eyes, and pale skin just like you, Prince Nero~¡±

    Ah.

    The image of the girl who was bothering him in his dreamstely entered his mind.

    White hair.

    Ash-gray eyes.

    Pale skin.

    [And her foul mouth¡­]

    All of a sudden, Nero pictured a clear image of a beautiful girl who had the same face as him. And, as soon as he did, he felt a splitting headache that made him clutch his head tightly.

    [That girl¡­ I know her¡­]

    ¡°Oops,¡± Princess Monik said, stepping away from him with a bright smile on her face. ¡°Good night, Prince Nero.¡±

    Nero was confused at first, then everything turned ck.

    ***

    ¡°IF YOU pulled that sword out of the scabbard, I¡¯ll take it as a threat to the royal family of the Hazelden Kingdom.¡±

    It was Glenn¡¯s threat to the knight who immediately grabbed his scabbard when Prince Nero suddenly fainted.

    Of course, it wasn¡¯t an empty threat.

    His voice wasced with an aura that he used to literally pressure the Crown Prince¡¯s knight. Hence, even though the young knight wanted to pull his sword out of the scabbard, he couldn¡¯t do it because he was paralyzed by Glenn¡¯s aura.

    ¡°Sanford Devon, isn¡¯t it?¡± Glenn asked while observing the young knight. ¡°I heard you¡¯re one of the youngest Swordmasters on the entire continent.¡±

    Sanford Devon growled at him. He couldn¡¯t move, but the fire in his eyes wasmendable. ¡°What did you do to Prince Nero?!¡±

    Oh, the young knight could still yell despite being crushed by Glenn¡¯s aura, huh?

    [That¡¯s quite impressive.]

    ¡°We didn¡¯t do anything to the Crown Prince,¡± Glenn said firmly, then he opened his arms to Monik who came running towards him. He hugged his daughter and carried her when he stood up. Then he carried Skylus on his other arm so that Brigitte could stand up with ease. ¡°We¡¯ll exin ourselves once Prince Nero wakes up.¡±

    To be honest, he didn¡¯t know what to exin.

    Monik had always been a special child.

    He was aware that his daughter did something that made the Crown Prince faint, but he also knew that his daughter wouldn¡¯t do that without a proper reason.

    Hence, even though it was dangerous, he would stand by his daughter¡¯s side.

    ¡°Our third child is left alone with his nanny in the vi Prince Nero provided for our family,¡± Brigitte, who stood up while her hands were ced on the baby bump on her tummy, said. ¡°We don¡¯t want our ude to feel lonely for too long, so we¡¯ll excuse ourselves now. But we won¡¯t run away. Please let us know once Prince Nero is awake. We¡¯ll return here as soon as you give the word.¡±

    Sanford Devon finally broke free from Glenn¡¯s aura.

    However, as soon as the young knight pulled his sword out of the scabbard, the de of his sword was cut in two.

    ¡°What the¡­¡±

    Sanford Devon looked confused because both of Glenn¡¯s hands were upied, as he was carrying Skylus and Monik in his arms.

    What the young knight failed to see was Ebony¨C Glenn¡¯s sword¨C floating in the air.

    Yes, Glenn couldmand his sword to attack his enemy without holding it.

    [But it¡¯s just a trick that works on people who don¡¯t know how I wield my sword. I¡¯m sure Sanford Devon won¡¯t be tricked twice, but he doesn¡¯t need to know that.]

    ¡°I may be the king of Hazelden now,¡± Glenn said, smiling at the young knight who looked like he was questioning his skills as a Swordmaster now. ¡°But Sanford Devon, as a fellow Swordmaster, I hope you didn¡¯t forget what I was before I became a king.¡±

    ¡°A Pdin,¡± Sanford Devon whispered to himself, gulping hard as if he was suddenly afraid for his life. ¡°The former Emperor Niki¡¯s Pdin, to be precise.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, young Swordmaster,¡± Glenn said, his eyes glowing menacingly at the moment. ¡°If you draw your sword in front of me and my family again, your head will roll to the ground before you knew what hit you.¡±

    ***

    ¡°YOU¡¯RE SUCH a sweet child, Prince ude,¡± she said to the three-year-old young prince lying down on the bed while looking at her with sparkling blue eyes. ¡°Thank you for not crying, even though your parents and your siblings aren¡¯t here.¡±

    The king, queen, prince, and princess of Hazelden were summoned by Prince Nero.

    Queen Brigitte asked her to bring Prince ude to the vi that the Crown Prince prepared for them because when they arrived in the empire, Prince ude was sleeping soundly.

    As Prince ude¡¯s nanny, it was her duty to apany the young prince.

    ¡°ude isn¡¯t a baby,¡± Prince ude said, referring to himself in the third person. ¡°So ude won¡¯t cry.¡±

    She chuckled at the young prince¡¯s words. ¡°Our little prince is brave, huh?¡±

    ¡°ude isn¡¯t afraid even if Mommy, Daddy, Sister, and Brother aren¡¯t here,¡± the young prince said, then he smiled brightly at her. ¡°ude is happy because Sister Paige is with ude.¡±

    ¡°Shh,¡± she said, putting a finger on her nose. ¡°Prince ude, didn¡¯t you promise not to call me by my real name?¡±

    ¡°Oops,¡± Prince ude said, then he covered his mouth with his hands. ¡°ude is sorry, Sister Penelope. ude forgot that Sister is ying spy.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, Prince ude,¡± Paige said,ughing softly. ¡°I¡¯m here to spy on the bad guys.¡±

    .....

    And the ¡°baddest¡± person in the royal pce at the moment seemed to be Prince Nero.

    [Princess Neoma would be so disappointed.]

    ***

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 Chapter 616 - 616 PIRATE IN SHINING ARMOR

    616 PIRATE IN SHINING ARMOR

    REGINA thought it was weird.

    The Hanna that she met earlier seemed off. She couldn¡¯t pinpoint what it was, and she didn¡¯t have time to observe the Quinzel Princess more. Fortunately, she wasn¡¯t the only one who noticed that something was wrong.

    ¡°It¡¯s not the real Hanna Quinzel.¡±

    It was Rubin Drayton.

    [To be precise, it¡¯s Dn talking.]

    ¡°It was a clone made from Hanna Quinzel¡¯s shadow,¡± Dn said while handing a ss of champagne to her. ¡°And I guess Hanna Quinzel¡¯s friend has a power rted to creating clones.¡±

    ¡°Sandie Morrisley,¡± Regina said, scoffing. ¡°I knew that darn nerd is troublesome.¡±

    Right now, Hanna was on the balcony of the hall with ¡°Rubin.¡± It wasn¡¯t strange to be alone with him, since people thought they were dating each other anyway.

    [It¡¯s just creepy because it¡¯s actually Dn who I often meet.]

    .....

    And Dn was her half-brother.

    ¡°Where did the real Hanna go?¡± Regina asked curiously. ¡°And why did she have to make a clone if she was just going to leave the banquet?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you see her expression earlier?¡±

    ¡°I was mesmerized by the Spirit Queen¡¯s beauty.¡±

    Dn scoffed, then he caressed her face with the back of his gloved hand. ¡°You¡¯re prettier than the Spirit Queen, though.¡±

    She rolled her eyes at him, sipping her champagne before speaking again. ¡°Stop being disgusting, Dn.¡±

    ¡°Hanna was about to cry when Prince Nero got basked in Moonglow earlier,¡± he said, dropping his hand to his side. ¡°It was as if she realized that Emperor Niki could already be dead.¡±

    ¡°How did you evene up with that conclusion?¡±

    ¡°Then why did Hanna Quinzel look like she was grieving while looking at Prince Nero?¡± he asked back. ¡°If anything, she should have been happy since that meant her position as the future empress was already secured when the throne chose Prince Nero. But no. She looked broken. Almost as if she was mourning for the former Emperor Niki.¡±

    She knitted her eyebrows. ¡°Even if Hanna Quinzel remembers the former emperor, were they close enough for her to mourn His Majesty¡¯s death?¡± She tilted her head to one side. ¡°Well, that girl is too soft-hearted, so it¡¯s possible.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then we have nothing to worry about,¡± Dn said. ¡°But what if the former emperor isn¡¯t the only one Hanna Quinzel remembers?¡±

    Dn¡¯s words sent a shiver down her spine.

    Her crazy half-brother actually made sense.

    [And the fact that Hanna Quinzel snuck out of the banquet by using a clone is really suspicious.]

    Moreover¡­

    ¡°The poison that I¡¯m feeding her doesn¡¯t seem to be working the way we want it to,¡± Regina said, now feeling a bit anxious. She sipped her champagne to soothe herself. ¡°She¡¯s getting weaker day by day, but she should have been bedridden by now.¡±

    ¡°See?¡± Dn said, shrugging. ¡°Hanna Quinzel is suspicious. I actually sent crows to follow her. Do you know where the crows are at the moment?¡±

    ¡°Where?¡±

    ¡°In the slums,¡± he said. ¡°To be precise, Hanna Quinzel is near a famous information guild. The crows can¡¯t find her exact location, but she¡¯s somewhere there.¡±

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll go,¡± Regina said firmly, then she finished the remaining champagne in the ss in one gulp. ¡°I¡¯ll catch Hanna Quinzel.¡±

    Dn grabbed Regina¡¯s wrist, then he raised her hand until the ss of champagne she was holding was grazing his lips. To be precise, his lips touched the part of the ss with her lipstick stain on. ¡°Bring me with you.¡±

    ***

    ¡°LORD JASPER, we must go separate ways here,¡± Hanna said in an urgent voice. ¡°The crows are everywhere, and it¡¯s only a matter of time before they find us.¡±

    She was using her shadows to hide both herself and Duke Jasper Hawthorne.

    But she couldn¡¯t use her ability to the fullest to avoid alerting the crows who could detect Mana. Hence, the two of them were moving very slowly in the dark.

    ¡°What are you saying, Lady Hanna? I can¡¯t leave you alone here,¡± Lord Jasper whispered. He didn¡¯t have to whisper because Hanna¡¯s Shadow Veil was soundproof. But the duke was very cautious. ¡°Moreover, Princess Neoma asked me to escort you back home safely.¡±

    ¡°But the crows will find us if we keep moving together,¡± Hanna said firmly. ¡°Lord Jasper, listen to me carefully. The fact that the crows followed me here only means they¡¯re already suspicious of me.¡±

    She wouldn¡¯t be surprised if the crows already knew that she didn¡¯t forget Neoma.

    [Lord Ruto also warned us that the spell he used to protect our memories would weaken eventually until it bes ineffective.]

    ¡°But the crows aren¡¯t suspicious of you yet,¡± Hanna continued. ¡°Hence, you have to escape and conceal yourself. It will be bad if both of us are caught here now. Princess Neoma needs at least one of us to manipte the empire.¡±

    It seemed like the duke was about to protest, but he prevented himself from doing it when he realized that she had a point.

    ¡°Lord Jasper, please have faith in me.¡±

    ¡°Hanna Quinzel, will you really be alright alone?¡± Lord Jasper asked. ¡°Like you said, the crows are everywhere.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine, my lord,¡± Hanna said, smiling to assure the duke that she was really fine. ¡°See youter.¡±

    ***

    [I¡¯M GLAD I already sent Lord Jasper away.]

    That was Hanna¡¯s first thought when she found herself floating in the air when a huge shadow hand grabbed her by the waist.

    The next thing she knew, she was already facing Regina Crowell.

    [This wench¡­]

    Regina Crowell was standing on top of a three-story shabby inn.

    The shadow hand that was squeezing Hanna¡¯s body was connected to the crow¡¯s own shadow. Thanks to the clear and bright moon, their shadows were stronger that night.

    ¡°Fancy meeting you here, my dear cousin,¡± Regina said, crossing her arms over her chest while raising an eyebrow at her. ¡°What are you doing in a ce like this when you¡¯re supposed to be celebrating with Prince Nero?¡±

    Hanna smiled at the crow. ¡°I¡¯m not obliged to answer your question, dear cousin.¡±

    After saying that, she summoned her Shadow Beast.

    Nathaira, the shadow of an Imoogi trapped in the ck Ocean, emerged from Hanna¡¯s shadow. Then the Imoogi hissed loudly before biting the giant shadow hand that was grabbing Hanna.

    Just like that, the hand shadowbusted and turned into dark ashes.

    Hanna thennded on her feet gracefully.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to fight you, dear cousin,¡± Regina said in a taunting voice. ¡°If you answer my questions honestly, I¡¯ll pretend this confrontation didn¡¯t happen.¡±

    ¡°How curious,¡± Hanna said calmly. ¡°I wonder what you¡¯re so curious about that you have to stalk me here.¡±

    ¡°Oh, dear. I¡¯m just worried about you,¡± Regina said in a fake, sympathetic voice. ¡°After all, your body is weak. You should be by home at this hour.¡±

    ¡°Stop beating around the bush, dear cousin.¡±

    ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio.¡±

    Okay, she didn¡¯t expect Regina Crowell to be that straightforward.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t forget Neoma de Moonasterio, did you?¡± Regina asked,ughing. ¡°You fooled us for five years, huh?¡±

    It looked like there was no use in lying anymore.

    After all, even if Hanna denied Regina¡¯s usation, it wouldn¡¯t change the fact that she was already suspicious of her.

    [This ce isn¡¯t safe for me anymore.]

    Hanna could tell that Regina was nning to get rid of her for real.

    ¡°It¡¯s a shame, really,¡± Regina said, the shadow behind her starting to take the form of a beast. But the form was still too vague to realize what kind of beast it was. ¡°The crows have chosen you as the future empress because of your noble lineage. But if you¡¯re going to get in our way, I have no choice but to do this.¡±

    Hanna scoffed, maintaining aposed smile on her face. ¡°Are you going to kill me?¡±

    ¡°Later,¡± Regina said, her green eyes glowing menacingly. ¡°For now, I¡¯ll extract your Beans because we need your noble lineage to create the next Crown Prince.¡±

    That was absolutely horrible and disgusting.

    [The crows are really using stolen Beans and Seeds to create lives!]

    She had already heard about the crows¡¯ experiment from Neoma a few years ago. But to hear it straight from Regina still gave her the chills.

    It was also frightening to think the crows were targeting her Beans.

    [I¡¯m not a baby machine!]

    ¡°Nathaira,¡± Hanna said sternly. ¡°Kill that arrogant wench.¡±

    Nathaira hissed before moving to attack Regina.

    The crow also summoned her Shadow Beast this time, but Hanna didn¡¯t get to hear what Regina said because she got distracted by the presence she felt behind her.

    When Hanna turned around, she was taken aback to see a dagger headed her way.

    Unfortunately, she couldn¡¯t move.

    She btedly realized that Regina¡¯s shadow had shackled her ankles, causing her to get stuck on where she stood. Just when she was about to summon another Shadow Beast, someone suddenly appeared right in front of her.

    .....

    CLANG!

    It was the sound of a de hitting another de.

    The tall and lean man who appeared in front of her blocked the dagger that was about to hit her with a sword.

    [This back¡­]

    ¡°Are you alright, Lady Hanna?¡±

    And then that person turned around.

    Silver hair.

    Golden eyes glowing beautifully.

    And that unbelievably gorgeous face?

    [He has the face that could rival Rubin Drayton¡¯s...]

    The young man in front of Hanna was both familiar and strange to her.

    Hanna was mesmerized. ¡°Is that you, Lewis?¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 617 - 617 LEWISâ€™ DECEPTION

    617 LEWIS¡¯ DECEPTION

    JASPER didn¡¯t feel right leaving Hanna Quinzel alone.

    He understood that the youngdy had a point. The crows had already caught Hanna, and it wouldn¡¯t do any good if the crows also realized that he didn¡¯t forget Princess Neoma all this time. However, his heart protested.

    [Lady Hanna is strong and I shouldn¡¯t treat her like a fragile ss. But Princess Neoma entrusted the youngdy to me.]

    He was about to return to where he had left Hanna when, suddenly, a man blocked his way.

    Jasper was about to draw his sword when his eyes met a pair of glowing golden orbs.

    [Oh.]

    ¡°Lewis Crevan?¡±

    It had been five years since hest saw the fox boy. After all, for thest five years, he had always covered his face in order to protect his memories.

    ¡°You¡¯re Lewis Crevan, right?¡±

    .....

    Silver hair, golden eyes.

    And that face¡­

    ¡°It¡¯s me,¡± Lewis said, his voice deeper and huskier than Jasper remembered. ¡°You must have forgotten my face since it¡¯s been a while.¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not that I forgot your face,¡± Jasper said while shaking his head. ¡°It¡¯s just that I can¡¯t believe how ridiculously handsome you¡¯ve be.¡±

    Rubin Drayton had enjoyed his fame as the most handsome young man in the empire.

    But Lewis could probably snatch that title away from the bastard.

    ¡°Is that surprising?¡± Lewis asked, tilting his head to one side. ¡°My face is Princess Neoma-approved, after all.¡±

    If someone else said those words, they would sound like they were bragging.

    [But Lewis said it as a matter-of-fact. He even looked innocent. Well, he¡¯s not wrong since Princess Neoma approved his looks a long time ago.]

    Wait, this wasn¡¯t the right time for this.

    ¡°I¡¯ll ask why you¡¯re hereter, but for now, I need to go back to where I left Hanna Quinzel.¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯ll go,¡± Lewis said indifferently. ¡°I want you to do something for me, Hawthorne.¡±

    ¡°Listen to this disrespectful brat,¡± Jasperined after the fox boy called him casually by hisst name. ¡°I¡¯m your uncle, you know?¡±

    ***

    [IS IT really Lewis?]

    Hanna wasn¡¯t sure because this was the first time she had seen Lewis¡¯ face after five years.

    In order for Lord Ruto¡¯s spell tost longer, Hanna and the rest were forbidden from seeing Neoma and Lewis¡¯ faces. They weren¡¯t also allowed to mention Neoma and Lewis¡¯ names out loud.

    Although Hanna had seen Lewis¡¯ physical changes in his body through the countless video call meetings that they had for thest five years, she still couldn¡¯t believe that the person in front of her was really Lewis.

    [I¡¯m not into looks like Neoma is, but it¡¯s hard not toment on Lewis¡¯ appearance when he has THAT face.]

    ¡°Lady Hanna?¡±

    Hanna was distracted when she realized it wasn¡¯t the right time to be talking since they were being attacked everywhere. Hence, she grabbed Lewis by the sleeve of his robe (carefully avoiding touching his skin directly) before she created a Shadow Ring.

    It was a technique simr to Neoma¡¯s Dome.

    ¡°Regina Crowell isn¡¯t alone,¡± Hanna said. Now that they were inside her Shadow Ring, they could talk freely even though the barrier was being attacked relentlessly. They just couldn¡¯t see what kind of attack the shield was receiving because her Shadow Ring was, well, dark since it was made of shadows. ¡°We need to fight them soon, but I need to know why you¡¯re here first, Lewis. Did something happen?¡±

    ¡°Prince Skylus sent us a message a few days ago,¡± Lewis exined. ¡°He said I must go to the Royal Capital and take you away from here.¡±

    ¡°Is that a prophecy?¡±

    ¡°Most likely,¡± he said. ¡°Judging by the fact that Regina Crowell attacked you today, it¡¯s safe to assume that you can¡¯t continue living here while acting like your memories of Princess Neoma were erased.¡±

    She already thought that was the case.

    But she was worried about her parents.

    ¡°If I leave now, I¡¯m sure Regina will make it look like I died,¡± Hanna said worriedly. ¡°She¡¯ll probably swallow up my inheritance once I disappeared.¡±

    ¡°I have a n.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    Hanna was distracted when a strong force hit the Shadow Ring, causing it to have long cracks all over.

    [It¡¯s going to break!]

    She was about to tell Lewis to get ready when the unthinkable happened.

    [Huh?]

    Much to Hanna¡¯s surprise, Lewis gloved hand gently grabbed her by the arm, then he pulled her closer.

    ¡°Please excuse me, Lady Hanna.¡±

    She was wondering what it was all about.

    Then Hanna got the shock of her life when Lewis suddenly carried her in his arms. Of course, she panicked.

    ¡°Hey, Lewis,¡± Hanna said, her eyes widening a bit. ¡°You hate physical contact¡­¡±

    ¡°Lady Hanna and Princess Neoma are the exceptions,¡± Lewis said, then he looked up as if he was waiting for the Shadow Ring topletely break apart. ¡°About my n¡­¡±

    ¡°Y-Yes?¡±

    Lewis turned to Hanna. ¡°I will kidnap you.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me?¡±

    Lewis smiled at her yfully.

    Oh.

    Hanna was a little blown away by his smile.

    After all, Lewis rarely smiled¨C let alone smile like he was up to no good.

    She was about to ask the fox boy what he was up to when, suddenly, white bandages appeared out of nowhere and covered his face quickly.

    ¡°It¡¯s Paige¡¯s magic,¡± Lewis exined, calling Lady Paige Avery casually now. ¡°I need to cover my face for another reason.¡±

    Hanna didn¡¯t have the time to ask what Lewis meant by that when the Shadow Ring finally copsed.

    That was when she realized Lewis didn¡¯te alone.

    And Regina Crowell brought someone with her, too.

    Rubin Drayton was there, and the young lord was protecting Regina Crowell from the bulletsing out of nowhere by shing them with his swords.

    Bullets¡­?

    [Ah, Lord Jeno is probably hiding somewhere.]

    ¡°Tsk,¡± Lewisined while ring at Rubin Drayton. ¡°Ugly.¡±

    Hanna covered her mouth with her hands when he giggled. ¡°Lewis, you¡¯re the only person on the continent who¡¯d call Rubin Drayton ¡®ugly.''¡±

    ¡°He is,¡± Lewis insisted, then his cold gaze fell on Regina. ¡°Her, too.¡±

    Hanna turned to Regina and remembered that Nathaira¨C her Shadow Beast¨C fighting the crow¡¯s strange Shadow Beast.

    [It looks like a deformed giant snake.]

    But the strange Shadow Beast was pretty strong because it was pushing Nathaira backwards.

    Hanna raised her hand to control Nathaira.

    ¡°Lady Hanna, don¡¯t,¡± Lewis said. ¡°Don¡¯t fight the crows.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m kidnapping you,¡± Lewis exined, then he looked at her with glowing gold eyes. And that look in his eyes looked mischievous. ¡°So you can¡¯t use your full strength.¡±

    Oh.

    Now she was starting to see the big picture.

    Hanna smiled while shaking her head. ¡°Should I pretend to have fainted?¡±

    ¡°Later.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I got it.¡±

    Hanna ordered Nathaira toe back.

    .....

    But, before that, she asked the Imoogi to give the weird Shadow Beast a hard p on the face using its tail.

    The weird snake-like Shadow Beast was sent flying after getting hit by Nathaira on the face.

    ¡°Good girl,¡± Hanna praised her Shadow Beast that wasing near her. ¡°You did a great job, Nathaira.¡±

    The closer Nathaira got to her, the smaller she became until the Imoogi turned into a cute snake. Then the Shadow Beast snaked around Lewis¡¯ leg and climbed up his body until it reached Hanna.

    After that, Nathaira crawled on Hanna¡¯s body until it reached her neck.

    The Imoogi wrapped itself around Hanna¡¯s neck and became a tattoo that looked like a choker. And then it vanished to the naked eye.

    ¡°Hanna Quinzel.¡±

    It was Regina Crowell who called her, but the crow was looking at Lewis.

    ¡°That man,¡± Regina said. ¡°That¡¯s Lewis Crevan, right?¡±

    ¡°Shut it,¡± Hanna said indifferently. ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear Lewis¡¯ nameing out of your filthy mouth.¡±

    Regina sneered. ¡°You¡¯re being harsh, dear cousin. What¡¯s wrong with mentioning Lewis¨C mff!¡±

    The crow wasn¡¯t able to finish her sentence.

    After all, Hanna grabbed Regina¡¯s face. To be precise, she used her shadow. Thanks to elongated arm of her shadow, she was able to grab Regina¡¯s face even though the crow was a few meters away from them.

    ¡°I told you to shut it,¡± Hanna said firmly, closing her fist tightly because her shadow mimicked his physical actions. Hence, the shadow grabbed Regina¡¯s face tighter. ¡°You don¡¯t deserve to utter his name.¡±

    Hanna would have liked to at least p Regina.

    But Rubin Drayton sliced off the arm of Hanna¡¯s shadow¨C causing Regina to be freed. Then the young lord threw a dagger at them.

    Lewis slightly turned his body and used his white tail to block the dagger¨C sending it flying back to Rubin Drayton.

    [It¡¯s cute seeing Lewis use his tail like that!]

    Rubin Drayton managed to move his head in time to avoid the dagger, but the de still managed to graze his cheek.

    And it bled easily.

    Lewis let out a smirk. ¡°Heh.¡±

    [Uhm, Lewis, you kind of look corrupted right now¡­]

    ¡°How dare you?¡± Rubin Drayton snapped, his blue eyes glowing menacingly. ¡°How dare you hurt the face of the most handsome person on the entire continent?¡±

    ¡°You handsome not,¡± Lewis said in a broken sentence. ¡°Ugly personality. Ugly face. Ugly all.¡±

    Hanna held back herughter.

    [Lewis talks in broken sentences when he hates the person he¡¯s dealing with.]

    Their short banter was quickly interrupted when, suddenly, they felt an intimidating aura from the person both Hanna and Lewis knew all too well.

    ¡°Lady Hanna,¡± Lewis whispered to her. ¡°It¡¯s time.¡±

    ¡°I know,¡± Hanna said, then she closed her eyes to pretend that she had fainted. [Good luck, Lewis.¡±

    ¡°Lad, give me back my daughter while I¡¯m still asking nicely.¡±

    Yes, it was Duke Rufus Quinzel.

    [Father, how did you get here?]

    ***

    JASPER let out a sigh of relief.

    As per Lewis¡¯ request earlier, he brought Duke Quinzel to that area as fast as he could. He used a teleportation scroll to get to the Royal Moon Academy where the older duke was, then he used a teleportation scroll again to bring Duke Quinzel to the slums.

    Since he had a good reputation as a fellow duke, the patriarch of House Quinzel didn¡¯t doubt him when he said he saw Hanna Quinzel being abducted by the Pirates of the South.

    That was the part Jasper didn¡¯t quite get.

    [Lewis, why are you abducting Lady Hanna?]

    ***

    MERRY CHRISTMAS to those who celebrate it! Sorry for the short chapter andte update, we had a family reunion. And I know y¡¯all miss Neoma. We¡¯ll see her next chapter kicking some butts. You¡¯ll get to see how much Neoma has grown in thest past five years. Hooray!

    HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 618 - 618 ONE THOUSAND MEN

    618 ONE THOUSAND MEN

    ¡°DUKE QUINZEL, I have a piece of information that you need to know.¡±

    At first, Rufus was confused when Jasper Hawthorne, still the youngest duke in the empire, approached him stealthily in the garden in front of the banquet hall.

    He was looking for Hanna when the young duke approached him.

    Jasper Hawthorne wasn¡¯t invited to the banquet celebrating the foundation day of the Royal Moon Academy because he wasn¡¯t an alumnus. And the fact that the young duke was wearing a dark robe over some simple clothes was a clear sign he sneaked in.

    It seemed like it was an urgent matter.

    [Duke Hawthorne may be young, but he¡¯s still a duke like me. He won¡¯t pull a prank on me because he knows it can lead to a war between our families.]

    ¡°You¡¯re not the type of person who will approach me for nothing,¡± Rufus said carefully. ¡°What is it that I need to know this urgently, Duke Hawthorne?¡±

    Jasper Hawthorne looked confused. ¡°Are you just going to trust me blindly, Your Grace?¡±

    ¡°Of course not,¡± he said. ¡°I just know I can trust the words of an information guild owner.¡±

    .....

    The young duke looked surprised.

    [Ah, right. It¡¯s supposed to be a secret.]

    ¡°Yes, I found out you¡¯re the owner of arge information guild while I was looking for the former Emperor Niki a few years back,¡± Rufus exined. ¡°But don¡¯t worry. I didn¡¯t tell anyone about it, and I have no intention of doing so.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a warning, isn¡¯t it?¡± Jasper Hawthorne asked. ¡°You revealed you know my secret to let me know you¡¯d expose it if I lied to you.¡±

    He smiled at the young duke¡¯s sharpness. ¡°You can think whatever you want to think.¡±

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t lie to the father of my precious business partner.¡±

    Rufus was aware that Hanna had been working with Jasper Hawthorne for the past few years. Hence, he decided to trust the young duke even though he was a little suspicious. ¡°Duke Hawthorne, let¡¯s not waste time on trivial stuff more than we already had.¡±

    ¡°I received a piece of information from my people stationed in the slums,¡± Jasper Hawthorne said in a serious tone. ¡°Apparently, they saw a member of the South¡¯s Pirates abducting Lady Hanna Quinzel.¡±

    Rufus grabbed Jasper Hawthorne by the cor. ¡°Bring me to my daughter now!¡±

    ***

    AND THAT was how Rufus arrived at the slums in just a few minutes.

    Jasper Hawthorne already left to hide because he wanted to hide his identity as the owner of arge information guild.

    It didn¡¯t matter to him, though.

    In the corner of his eyes, he could see Regina and Rubin Drayton. To be honest, he had a lot of questions for the two. However, his attention was focused on the man with golden eyes who was holding the unconscious Hanna in his arms.

    Rufus¡¯ face hardened. ¡°Lad, give me back my daughter while I¡¯m still asking nicely.¡±

    He had expected a confrontation, so he immediately grabbed his scabbard.

    However, much to his shock, the kidnapper bowed to him politely.

    ¡°Good evening, Duke Quinzel,¡± the pirate greeted him respectfully. ¡°I apologize in advance, but I need to take Lady Hanna with me. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll feed her well.¡±

    For some reason, hearing the pirate talk to him politely lessened his anger.

    Before he knew it, he was already calm even though the abductor had his precious daughter in his arms.

    [Why do I feel like I could trust this person?]

    He must be crazy to think he could trust his daughter¡¯s kidnapper.

    [I heard pirates are barbaric. But this person in front of me¡­]

    [Snap out of it, Rufus Quinzel!]

    Rufus drew his sword and as soon as he did, the entire de was soon covered by shadows. He could have summoned his Shadow Beasts, but he didn¡¯t want to hurt Hanna identally. ¡°I already warned you¨C¡±

    He was surprised when he heard gunshots.

    Hence, he moved his sword to block the bullets. However, the bullets went past him. When he looked over his shoulder, he saw Regina and Rubin Drayton getting pushed back by the gunshots that seemed to be targeting the two.

    [The kids¡­]

    ¡°Uncle Rufus,¡± Regina said worriedly. ¡°Please don¡¯t worry about us and just save Lady Hanna!¡±

    Rubin Drayton nodded in agreement. ¡°I¡¯ll protect Regina, Duke Quinzel.¡±

    He felt sorry for the children, but Hanna was more important to him at the moment. Both Regina and Rubin Drayton were capable of fighting anyway.

    Rufus then faced the pirate again.

    But, much to his shock, he realized that the kidnapper had already closed the distance between them.

    He unconsciously took a step backwards.

    ¡°I¡¯m taking the future Crown Princess with me as a sign of rebellion.¡±

    ¡°Rebellion?¡± Rufus asked, knitting his eyebrows. ¡°Against the Empress Dowager?¡±

    After all, as the senior member of the Royal Family, the Empress Dowager had the most authority in the pce at the moment.

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t waste my time on someone as insignificant as the Empress Dowager.¡±

    His eyes widened a bit. ¡°Did you just call the Empress Dowager ¡°insignificant?¡±¡±

    ¡°An insignificant puppet, to be precise,¡± the pirate exined. ¡°Duke Quinzel, tell the Crown Prince that I won¡¯t return the future Crown Princess until he gets himself together.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t return Lady Hanna while the Crown Prince is still living like a fool.¡±

    ¡°Is that what you mean when you said you¡¯re starting a rebellion?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± the pirate said, nodding. ¡°You should also get yourself together, Duke.¡±

    He knitted his eyebrows. ¡°And what do you mean by that?¡±

    ¡°Why do you trust Regina Crowell and the current royal family?¡± the pirate asked. ¡°You should protect the Crown Prince from Calyx Dalton.¡±

    ¡°What¨C¡±

    ¡°She¡¯sing back,¡± the pirate said, cutting him off. ¡°The future empress ising home soon, so I hope you get back to your senses soon.¡±

    The future empress?

    [Argh!]

    Rufus clutched his head tight when he suddenly had a splitting headache.

    At the same time, pieces of clouds suddenly began to cover the pirate and his daughter.

    [No¡­]

    Rufus tried to grab Hanna, but he felt himself quickly losing consciousness.

    [Hanna¡­]

    ***

    ¡°REGINA, just what in the world happened?!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry, Aunt Amber,¡± Regina said to the hysterical Duchess Quinzel. ¡°Lady Hanna said she wanted to go to the night market in themoners¡¯ area, so I asked Lord Rubin to apany. We didn¡¯t know we would be ambushed by pirates who traveled all the way here just to abduct the future Crown Princess¡­¡±

    That was the story that Regina and Dn (in Rubin Drayton¡¯s body) hade up with.

    After all, they had to return to the Quinzel Mansion with the unconscious Duke Rufus Quinzel with them.

    The duke didn¡¯t fight Lewis Crevan, but the two had a long conversation.

    Unfortunately, Regina and Dn didn¡¯t hear what Lewis Crevan said to Duke Quinzel.

    [There was a thick fog around Lewis Crevan and Duke Quinzel when they were talking. That stupid fog served as a soundproof barrier.]

    The person who shot Regina and Dn nonstop was probably the one who controlled the mist, too. If her hunch was correct, then that person could be Jeno Dankworth. He was the only one who could wield a gun and control clouds, after all.

    [Princess Neoma¡¯s people are showing up one by one, huh?]

    ¡°My baby¡­¡± Duchess Quinzel whispered between sobs while sping her hands together. ¡°My baby was kidnapped¡­ and my husband came home unconscious¡­¡±

    [Is she going to break down?]

    Regina had always thought Duchess Amber Quinzel was weak mentally.

    Hence, it was easy for her to manipte the duchess even without using any kind of spell or medicine.

    [It¡¯s such a shame that Duke Quinzel witnessed Hanna Quinzel being ¡°kidnapped.¡±]

    If Hanna Quinzel was just taken away by Lewis Crevan without any other witnesses aside from Regina and Dn, then Regina would have told Duke and Duchess Quinzel that their daughter was killed by the pirates.

    [That would have made it easier for me to swallow up Hanna Quinzel¡¯s inheritance.]

    .....

    But no.

    Since Duke Quinzel witnessed Hanna being kidnapped, then Regina couldn¡¯t im that the Quinzel Heiress had died.

    [Dn tried to manipte Duke Quinzel¡¯s memories, but it didn¡¯t work.]

    Unfortunately, they couldn¡¯t figure out why Dn¡¯s power didn¡¯t work because Jaxson Emmett and the ck Hawk Knights found them. Apparently, the duke instructed the Quinzel Knights to follow him before he left the banquet.

    ¡°Sir Emmett.¡±

    Regina snapped out of it when she heard Duchess Amber¡¯s firm voice when she summoned the Vice-captain of the ck Hawk Knights. And when she got a good look at the duchess¡¯ face, she felt a shiver down her spine.

    ¡°Gather the entire troop,¡± Duchess Amber said firmly, her green eyes glowing dangerously. ¡°I will lead the search for my precious daughter.¡±

    Jaxson Emmett bowed his head. After all, when the duke was out ofmission, the Quinzel Knights were instructed to follow the duchess¡¯ will. ¡°As youmand, Your Grace.¡±

    Regina didn¡¯t want to admit this, but perhaps she was wrong about Duchess Amber being mentally weak.

    [Or perhaps the duchess is just too scared to lose Hanna Quinzel.]

    ***

    [MY NAME is Taylor Taylor.]

    It might sound like a joke, but Taylor chose that name himself because he didn¡¯t like the sound of Crowell or de Luca as ast name.

    He wasn¡¯t a part of the two main families, anyway.

    However, just because he wasn¡¯t a part of the two main families didn¡¯t mean he sucked at his job.

    For the past five years, he was stationed to guard the cave where Princess Neoma de Moonasterio and the others had disappeared to. ording to his bosses, the forgotten royal princess might return anytime using the same ¡°door.¡±

    Hence, it was his duty to kill Princess Neoma as soon as she stepped out of the cave.

    [It¡¯s okay. I have one thousand elite assassins with me. Even if she¡¯s a de Moonasterio, she can¡¯te out unscathed after getting attacked by a thousand men¨C]

    His thoughts were interrupted when suddenly, he heard footsteps from inside the cave.

    ¡°Men, get ready,¡± Taylor Taylor yelled while drawing his sword. ¡°Someone ising out of the cave!¡±

    His thousand men yelled as a response but¨C

    THUD.

    THUD.

    THUD.

    Huh?

    The mean on the frontline began to copse one by one.

    [No, they just didn¡¯t copse¨C they¡¯re dead already!]

    Taylor Taylor had good eyesight. Hence, even though he was in the rear, he could see that the people on the vanguard were dying one by one while grabbing their necks as if they couldn¡¯t breathe. And when the victims fell to the ground, their bodies had already shriveled as if life was sucked out of them literally.

    He rarely got goosebumps, but he did get one this time.

    Taylor opened his mouth to speak to the enemy, but he realized that breathing suddenly became PAINFUL.

    [Why¡­]

    ¡°Trevor, how many people are here again?¡±

    Huh?

    Although Taylor was dying, he couldn¡¯t help but notice that the voice he heard just now sounded so beautiful in his ears.

    ¡°A thousand men, Princess Neoma.¡±

    Taylor¡¯s eyes widened in shock.

    [Princess Neoma de Moonasterio!]

    Taylor Taylor was shocked when two people came out of the cave¨C a male and a female who were both so good-looking.

    Especially thedy.

    White hair, ash-gray eyes, skin as pale as the moon¡­

    [It¡¯s really Princess Neoma!]

    Taylor Taylor had always thought that the rumors about Princess Neoma¡¯s beauty were an exaggeration. But now, he could clearly see that people didn¡¯t lie when they said the royal princess could rival the Goddess of Beauty herself.

    [So beautiful¡­ yet so dangerous-looking¡­]

    ¡°A thousand men? Only a thousand?!¡± Princess Neoma asked as if she was offended, then her beautiful ash-gray eyes turned glowing red. ¡°This is so embarrassing! At least a hundred thousand enemies should havee and greeted me just like how Luffy fought one hundred thousand fishmen!¡±

    Uhm, what?

    Taylor Taylor couldn¡¯t help but think Princess Neoma was a little weird.

    However, those thoughts of his were soon forgotten when he saw what appeared behind the royal princess.

    It was a gate.

    To be precise, a Hellgate.

    Taylor Taylor only had one thought then.

    [Tonight is the night I¡¯m going to die, right?]

    ***

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 Chapter 619 - 619 BREATH-TAKING BEAUTY

    619 BREATH-TAKING BEAUTY

    ¡°AUNT NICHOLE, Uncle Dominic, it¡¯s time for me to return to the other world,¡± Neoma said politely to her most favorite aunt and uncle in the world. ¡°I¡¯ll take your resentment with me and wreak havoc in the other world, so you don¡¯t have to.¡±

    It was time to say goodbye to her family in this world.

    This time, only Neoma and Trevor would return to the empire because the door hadn¡¯t beenpletely opened yet. The maximum number of people who could use it was two. Hence, she decided to bring the demon boy with her.

    [There¡¯s no special reason for choosing Trevor. He¡¯s just useful since Grandma Aruna and Grandpa Arche left the key to the other world to him.]

    Anyway, she went to Eternal Love Orphanage to personally say goodbye to Aunt Nichole and Uncle Dominic. After all, she didn¡¯t know when she¡¯d get to meet the two again. Plus, she loved the kids in the orphanage, so she wanted to y with them onest time.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Neoma,¡± Aunt Nichole said, holding her hands. ¡°If I was a good person, I would have forgiven the crows for what they did to me. But I¡¯m not. So, even if it¡¯s a burden, please kill all of them for me.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not a burden, Auntie,¡± Neoma said, smiling. ¡°And it¡¯s okay if you don¡¯t forgive them. I don¡¯t have the intention to forgive them either.¡±

    There were people who believed that forgiving your assant would give you peace.

    [I mean, if forgiving the person who hurt you gives you peace, then good for you. But don¡¯t shove it down on other people¡¯s throats.]

    .....

    Just like Aunt Nichole, Neoma was also the type to hold grudges.

    [And I find peace in getting my revenge, so what about it?]

    ¡°I shouldn¡¯t be saying this as the former saint, but I¡¯m d that you¡¯re not the type to easily forgive people who have wronged you, Neoma,¡± Uncle Dominic said. It took a while, but he finally gotfortable in addressing her by her first name instead of ¡°Princess Neoma.¡± ¡°I would love to see you wreak havoc in the world, but I couldn¡¯t leave my family here.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Uncle. I¡¯ll take photos and videos for you,¡± Neoma said cheerfully, then she looked back and forth between Aunt Nichole and Uncle Dominic. ¡°Just focus on your family, Aunt Nichole and Uncle Dominic. I sincerely hope you seed in having a baby this time.¡±

    ¡°I hope so, Neoma,¡± Aunt Nichole said, smiling. ¡°Have fun causing chaos in the empire.¡±

    ***

    ¡°APPA, EOMMA, Nabi-ya, bye-bye,¡± Neoma said to her second family. ¡°Please don¡¯t cry¨C I¡¯m not returning to the empire to die.¡±

    Areum eomma and Nabi just cried harder.

    Gavin Quinzel¨C no, Won-shik appa¨C smiled at her even though his eyes were also brimming with tears.

    ¡°Neoma, you have to return to us, okay?¡± Areum eomma said in a cracked voice, then she cupped Neoma¡¯s face between her hands. ¡°Don¡¯t get hurt, my baby. If things get tough, don¡¯t hesitate to return home. We will always be waiting for you.¡±

    Okay, that made her emotional.

    Her eomma, Go Areum, gave her all the unconditional love that a mother could give her daughter. Even though Nabi had returned, her eomma still treated her very well.

    ¡°Eomma, I¡¯m the main character of my life,¡± Neoma assured her eomma. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine.¡±

    ¡°Unnie always says that, but that doesn¡¯t mean we¡¯ll worry less,¡± Nabiined lightly while sobbing, then she hugged her from behind. ¡°Teach the bad guys a lesson that they won¡¯t forget, then return to us, unnie.¡±

    ¡°Of course, dongsaeng-ah.¡±

    ¡°Neoma,¡± Won-shik appa said gently, holding her hand with both of his hands. ¡°I understand that you need to go back to the other world to fulfill your duty. However, I wish you also find your happiness while you¡¯re there.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, appa,¡± Neoma assured him. ¡°Ruto is in that world, after all.¡±

    [Nero, Hanna, Lewis, Jasper oppa, the Hazeldens, and my children, too.]

    Neoma definitely didn¡¯t forget about them just because her mind was upied by Ruto these days, okay?

    ***

    NEOMA knew that it would be hard to say goodbye to Papa Boss and Mama Boss, so she went to themst.

    But she couldn¡¯t find the right words to say, so she just hugged them.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to miss you, Mama Boss, Papa Boss,¡± Neoma said sincerely. ¡°But you don¡¯t have to hurry just to follow me to the other world. I¡¯ll be fine, since Trevor will be going with me. Grandma Aruna and Grandpa Arche will meet us in the other worldter.¡±

    ¡°I wish we could follow you as soon as possible,¡± Mama Boss said, sighing while hugging her back. ¡°As soon as the door isplete, we will cross over to the other world.¡±

    ¡°Take your time, Mama Boss,¡± she said. ¡°Papa Boss still needs to rest more.¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯ve already recovered,¡± Papa Boss said stubbornly. ¡°We will follow you as soon as possible, Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio.¡±

    Sheughed because the fact that her Papa Boss called her by her full name meant he was upset.

    [Papa Boss still couldn¡¯t believe that I gave him a portion of my life span.]

    Her father would lose it if he found out she actually gave him HALF of her remaining years, so she had no intention of letting him know about it.

    ¡°Neoma, please take care of Nero,¡± Mama Boss told her gently. ¡°Your baby brother lost his memories of you, so don¡¯t be too harsh on him, okay?¡±

    ¡°Just smack him at the back of his head once,¡± Papa Boss added, clearly displeased with Nero¡¯s actions for the past five years. ¡°Maybe that would help Nero retrieve his missing memories.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll take care of Nero, Papa Boss, Mama Boss,¡± Neoma assured her parents,ughing softly. ¡°I¡¯ll give Nero a punch of loveter.¡±

    ***

    ¡°WHY DIDN¡¯T you say goodbye to anyone?¡± Neoma asked Trevor while the two of them were walking inside the tunnel. The tunnel was connected to the cave that they used as a portal five years ago. ¡°Are you trying to act cool?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not,¡± Trevor said,ughing. ¡°I just don¡¯t like saying goodbye.¡±

    ¡°Well, we¡¯ll return anyway.¡±

    ¡°Exactly,¡± the demon boy said, nodding. ¡°That¡¯s why I don¡¯t think saying goodbye to them was necessary.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    She fell silent because she remembered that she only had five years left to live.

    [I wonder how I should say goodbye to my people once my time is up.]

    ¡°Oh,¡± Trevor said while they wereing closer to the light at the end of the tunnel. ¡°There are ~guests~ waiting for us on the other side of the gate, Princess Neoma. I think they¡¯re around a thousand of them?¡±

    Neoma clicked her tongue. ¡°As expected, the crows found out that we will return to the ce where we disappeared to.¡±

    As soon as she took the next step forward, she felt it.

    [Ah, this is my world.]

    The world where the Great Moonasterion Empire existed.

    She didn¡¯t know how to exin it, but the atmosphere in this world felt different. But in this ce, her body was lighter. Moreover, it was easier for her to breathe here.

    [Let¡¯s test my new power then.]

    She didn¡¯t almost die under Grandma Aruna and Grandpa Arche¡¯s hellish training for nothing.

    As soon as Neoma stepped out of the cave, she was greeted by arge number of hostile people. But for every step she took, a couple of those men dropped dead one by one. After all, for every move she made, she took the breath of the people around her¨C literally.

    If she could breathe life into other beings, she could also suck out the life in them by literally taking their breath away.

    ¡°Trevor, how many people are here again?¡±

    ¡°A thousand men, Princess Neoma.¡±

    Gosh.

    She was insulted.

    ¡°A thousand men? Only a thousand?!¡± Neoma asked, her beautiful ash-gray eyes turned glowing red. ¡°This is so embarrassing! At least a hundred thousand enemies should havee and greeted me just like how Luffy fought one hundred thousand fishmen!¡±

    ¡°Argh, why do you have to remind me of it again?¡± Trevorined. ¡°I can¡¯t believe we left the other world without knowing what the one piece is.¡±

    She smirked bitterly. ¡°Don¡¯tin. My favorite Kpop groups are on hiatus when we left, and I¡¯m not sure if I¡¯d be there on their nexteback. So shut up and suffer with me here.¡±

    The demon boy was about to say something.

    But a loud cough interrupted them.

    Neoma immediately found the leader of the pesky crows around them. ¡°You must be the leader,¡± she said, using her finger to gesture the leader toe closer. ¡°Come here.¡±

    ¡°Prince Neoma, my name is Taylor Taylor and I¡¯m here to¨C ahhh!¡±

    The leader who introduced himself as ¡®Taylor Taylor¡¯ screamed his lungs out when a strong gush of wind pushed him in Neoma¡¯s direction.

    Of course, the wind was caused by Mochi¡¯s power.

    [Thanks to Mama Boss¡¯ hellish training, I finally mastered using all my Spirits.]

    The violent gush of wind dropped Taylor Taylor in front of Neoma, then a slightly strong breeze kicked the back of the enemy¡¯s knees¨C causing him to kneel in front of her.

    ¡°Taylor Taylor,¡± Neoma said,ughing. ¡°You have a funny name.¡±

    [¡°Coming from the person who named me ¡®Tteokbokki?''¡±]

    Neoma ignored Tteokbokki¡¯s voice in her head.

    ¡°I need you to tell me everything you know about the crows,¡± Neoma said, her red eyes glowing differently. ¡°Now.¡±

    Taylor Taylor looked like he would protest at first. However, while looking at Neoma¡¯s face, his eyes soon turned zed. ¡°So beautiful¡­¡± he whispered under his breath. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you everything you want to know, Princess Neoma.¡±

    Trevorughed while shaking his head. ¡°That fool doesn¡¯t even realize that the more enamored he is with your beauty, the more he¡¯s losing his breath¨C literally.¡±

    Neoma smirked at Trevor¡¯s words. ¡°Who knew my beauty is breath-taking?¡±

    .....

    And Neoma meant it quite literally.

    ***

    ¡°LORD RUTO, have you heard the news?¡± Dahlia asked Lord Ruto worriedly. ¡°The Crown Princess was kidnapped by the Pirates of the South.¡±

    Lord Ruto, who was busy looking at the map spread on the long table, looked up at her with an indifferent look on his face. ¡°I¡¯ve already heard the news. It¡¯s quite unfortunate.¡±

    She waited for him to say more, but he didn¡¯t.

    [That¡¯s it¡­?]

    ¡°Are we not going to save Lady Hanna?¡± Dahlia asked carefully. ¡°Lady Hanna is Princess Neoma¡¯s precious cousin.¡±

    ¡°So?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Why do I have to save Lady Hanna?¡±

    Dahlia gulped before she answered. ¡°B-Because Lady Hanna is important to Princess Neoma¡­¡±

    ¡°I know that, but what does it have to do with me?¡± Lord Ruto asked as if he was genuinely curious. ¡°I¡¯m not Princess Neoma¡¯s servant, so I don¡¯t have the duty to save her people.¡±1

    ***

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 Chapter 620 - 620 FUCK AROUND AND FIND OUT

    620 FUCK AROUND AND FIND OUT

    IT WAS a beautiful mess.

    Neoma sat on a huge rock while watching her Hellgate suck the souls out of the people she had just killed.

    A thousand men just dropped dead after she literally took their breath away.

    It would be brutal of her to say this, but the sight of shining blue bulbs getting sucked in by her pink Hellgate was pretty.

    [Yes, pink Hellgate.]

    With Trevor¡¯s help a few years ago, she finally turned her edgy, ck Hellgate into a lovely, pastel pink color. The skulls that served as decorations also changed into Tteokbokki¡¯s chibi figurines. Yes, she made chibi figurines of her Soul Beast¡¯s baby dragon form and reced the skull decorations with them.

    She also made figurines of baby Soju, Kimchi, and Mochi to decorate her Hellgate.

    [I just returned, and I already took a thousand lives with me.]

    Of course, she felt bitter. But she didn¡¯t have any choice.

    .....

    [If I didn¡¯t kill them now, they would just returnter to kill me again.]

    She was foolish and merciful in the past, and that was exactly the reason why she couldn¡¯t be ady of leisure.

    [If only I chose revenge over azy life right off the bat¡­]

    In her defense, when she returned as Neoma de Moonasterio, she didn¡¯t know about the existence of the crows. Hence, her goal was to live quietly as a hidden princess mooching off her twin brother. But life hated her.

    One day, she suddenly had to be Nero¡¯s proxy.

    Then, boom!

    She found out about the crows, and that Regina Crowell stole Rubin Drayton from her, not because the two were in love. That wench just made her life a living hell because she was a de Moonasterion princess.

    [My life is like a webnovel.]

    ¡°Princess Neoma, this dude doesn¡¯t hold important information,¡± Trevor said, throwing the now unconscious Taylor Taylor on the ground. ¡°Should I kill him?¡±

    Neoma looked at the unconscious Taylor Taylor.

    She sucked out half of the young man¡¯s life force. Hence, the healthy Taylor Taylor had turned skin and bones. He was also barely breathing now.

    [At this rate, he¡¯s die slowly but surely.]

    ¡°Let him live,¡± Neoma said, then she turned to the pink Hellgate again. ¡°Someone has to live to tell the tale anyway.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s the right time to announce that you¡¯ve returned?¡±

    ¡°We can directly face the crows yet since they have the empire under their control at the moment,¡± she said, sighing. ¡°But if I don¡¯t make my presence known, Nero might do something that he would regretter. I have to stop him.¡±

    ¡°The spell to undo the spell that Calyx Dalton used to make everyone forget you isn¡¯tplete yet, though.¡±

    For the past five years, Trevor and the Bookworm worked hard together to create a spell that would make everyone remember her again.

    It wasn¡¯t easy because in the first ce, the spell to counter that didn¡¯t exist.

    Hence, Trevor and the Bookworm had to make the counter spell from scratch.

    ¡°I have to mess up with their minds,¡± Neoma said. ¡°Especially Nero¡¯s. If I wait until the counter spell ispleted, it might be toote by then. I can¡¯t let Calyx Dalton continue corrupting my baby brother.¡±

    Well, to be fair, Nero had always been a corrupted child.

    [I¡¯m sorry, but it¡¯s true.]

    But, at least back then, Nero was crazy by choice. This time, however, her foolish twin brother was acting crazy because his memories and emotions were being manipted.

    ¡°How do you n to meet Prince Nero then?¡±

    ¡°Trevor, what¡¯s my middle name?¡±

    ¡°Roseheart?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right¨C Nero and I are both Rosehearts,¡± she said. ¡°I don¡¯t need to physically meet him. Not yet, at least.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± Trevor said, nodding. ¡°You¡¯re going to hijack Prince Nero¡¯s dream.¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh,¡± Neoma said, then she looked up at the orange-y sky. The sun had just set, and the moon hadn¡¯t shown up yet. ¡°Actually, why don¡¯t I use the moon to deliver a message to everyone?¡±

    ¡°You can do whatever you want, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Right?¡± she said, smirking. Then she stood up and stretched her arms. ¡°We should leave now.¡±

    After saying that, she opened her hand and cut her palm with her long nail.

    The drop of blooding from the cut on her palm turned into a pink rose before it hit the ground. After that, the pink rose floated until it was right in front of her face.

    Then Neoma blew on the flower gently.

    Just like how dandelions¡¯ seeds would scatter after getting blown on a single breath, the pink rose¡¯s petals scattered too. Each petal had turned into a pink rose, and the breeze that she summoned using Mochi blew on the new flowers until their petals scattered in the air. Of course, those petals had be pink roses, too.

    The process repeated again and again until there were enough pink roses for everyone she had killed on that ind.

    Trevor shook his head. ¡°You¡¯re too kind, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t do it to pay my respect¨C I only did this to make me feel good about myself,¡± she said, then she changed the topic. ¡°Let¡¯s head to Astello Temple first. Didn¡¯t Taylor Taylor say Calyx Dalton was headed to the Holy Land?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± the demon boy said. ¡°That¡¯s the only useful information that we got from him.¡±

    ¡°Skylus and Monik said they felt a surge of strange divine power recently,¡± she said. ¡°I have a rough idea as to why Calyx Dalton headed to the Astello Temple.¡±

    ¡°I think I know why he¡¯s there, too,¡± Trevor said, tilting his head to one side. ¡°Are you going to confront Calyx Dalton right away?¡±

    ¡°If he¡¯s unlucky enough to meet me, then I have no choice but to murder the fuck out of him,¡± Neoma said, scoffing while flipping her hair. ¡°Anyway, enough talking. Open a portal that leads to the Astello Temple.¡±

    ¡°As youmand, my Moon Princess.¡±

    ***

    [I AM SO going to resign as soon as I get back to the empire.]

    That was Alucard¡¯s thought while resting on the rooftop of Astello Temple.

    [If the ck Witch isn¡¯t here, I¡¯m going to throw a tantrum.]

    Alucard was sent to the Holy Land because ording to Melvin Luchessi, Dahlia wasst seen in that ce. He arrived this morning, and he already scanned the area. But, so far, he didn¡¯t catch even a glimpse of the ck Witch.

    Thest ce in the Holy Land that he needed to check was the Astello Temple.

    Since he was Prince Nero¡¯s aide, the priests of the temple allowed him to enter without making a fuss.

    But since he was a demon, the fact that he entered a holy ce was making him weak.

    [Only a bit, though. After all, even though Astello Temple is supposed to be the center of the Holy Land, it feels somehow¡­ I don¡¯t know, less holy?]

    No way, right?

    [After all, Prince Calyx is the one personally in charge of keeping the Astello Temple in check.]

    To be honest, the reason Alucard didn¡¯t stay in the Royal Pce was because he didn¡¯t like the First Prince. Actually, he had a feeling that Prince Calyx hated him. The First Prince would always give him the cold look, especially each time he would ask Prince Nero for blood.

    His stomach suddenly growled loudly.

    Ah, right. He was hungry.

    [I haven¡¯t had Prince Nero¡¯s blood in a while since Prince Calyx would always get in my way as if he was a jealous lover.]

    Argh.

    Alucard didn¡¯t want to say this, but the look Prince Calyx would give Prince Nero was really disgusting.

    [Let¡¯s not think about that for a moment.]

    ¡°I¡¯m hungry,¡± Alucard whispered to himself. ¡°How nice it would be if it suddenly rained de Moonasterion blood¨C¡±

    He was forced to stop talking when a huge shadow was cast over him.

    But he was more distracted by the fact that a drop of blood entered his mouth.

    [Huh? This blood¡­]

    ¡°Bloody hell!¡± Alucard eximed, getting up abruptly. ¡°It¡¯s delicious!¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    Alucard quickly stood up and turned around when he remembered he wasn¡¯t alone. He was about to confront the individual, but he was stunned after seeing THAT face. ¡°Prince Nero¡­ as a girl?¡±

    White hair, ash-gray eyes, pale skin.

    The (unbelievably beautiful)dy in front of him wasn¡¯t just a de Moonasterio¨C she also had the same face as Prince Nero!

    [But Prince Nero has no sibling other than Prince Calyx¡­]

    ¡°Is it good?¡± the (really pretty)dy asked, showing him her palm with a deep cut. Ah, that was where the blood that Alucard tasted earlier hade from. ¡°My blood, that is.¡±

    .....

    ¡°Your blood¡­¡± Alucard said, gulping because he was having a hard time stopping himself from attacking thedy. He was thirsty, and he was drooling for thedy¡¯s blood. But he wasn¡¯t an animal. He was a noble demon, hence the self-control. Moreover, he was confused. ¡°Why does your blood taste like the blood of a de Moonasterio¡­ ma¡¯am?¡±

    He was used to talking informally even to Prince Nero.

    However, the aura around the beautifuldy was so dignified that he found himself speaking to her respectfully even though he was obviously older than her.

    ¡°If I look like a de Moonasterio and my blood tastes like a de Moonasterio, what do you think I am, then?¡±

    Alucard could recognize the youngdy¡¯s sarcasm.

    He was supposed to be offended, but he couldn¡¯t bring himself to get mad at thedy. In fact, he was using all the courage in him to look her straight in the eye. It was difficult, but he had a reputation to uphold as Prince Nero¡¯s knight.

    ¡°My brain is telling me that mydy is a de Moonasterio,¡± Alucard said, still speaking politely to thedy. ¡°But as far as I know, there¡¯s no royal princess in existence.¡±

    ¡°Well, you just met one,¡± thedy said cheerfully. ¡°You¡¯re Alucard Dionisio, aren¡¯t you? The demon serving Nero.¡±

    ¡°How¨C¡±

    He was forced to stop talking when the young man disappeared beside thedy, only to appear next to him.

    The young man even wrapped an arm around Alucard¡¯s shoulders.

    [I can¡¯t move¡­]

    ¡°Prince Nero found a useful ally,¡± the young man said. ¡°Blood-sucking demons are usually little bastards, but they¡¯re pretty strong.¡±

    Alucard wanted toin, but he couldn¡¯t open his mouth.

    [What the hell is happening to me¡­?]

    ¡°I see,¡± thedy said. ¡°Then let¡¯s bring that dude with us.¡±

    ¡°As youmand, my Moon Princess.¡±

    Huh?

    Alucard, before he knew it, already fainted after getting hit at the back of his head.

    [Who are these monsters?]

    ***

    ¡°WAKE UP, dongsaeng-ah.¡±

    ¡®Dongsaeng-ah?¡¯

    Nero woke up after hearing the unfamiliar word in his head.

    Much to his surprise, he found himself inside a¡­ pink room1.

    The room was empty, but the walls, the ceiling, and the floor were all pink. Even the cubes floating around the space were in different shades of pink, too.

    ¡°You¡¯re awake?¡±

    Nero was shocked to see a beautiful girl sitting on a pastel pink cube¨C and the girl looked like his female version.

    [She¡¯s so beautiful.]

    He wasn¡¯t saying that just because the girl looked exactly like him. It was a truth. He was immune to good looks because his face was already immactely handsome. Even so, the girl in front of him was on a different level.

    [I¡¯ve seen that face before¡­]

    And that was when the realization finally hit him.

    ¡°It¡¯s you,¡± Nero said in disbelief. ¡°The girl in my dreams who keeps on cursing at me.¡±

    ¡°Well, you deserve it.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not excused,¡± the girl said sarcastically. ¡°I¡¯ve been keeping an eye on you and your people for the past few years. I may be in the other world, but I have eyes and ears in the empire. And god, Nero Roseheart de Moonasterio. I know you¡¯re not in your right mind at the moment, but fuck the shitty things you¡¯re doing these days.¡±

    He knitted his eyebrows.

    For some reason, Nero couldn¡¯t get mad at the girl even though she was openly insulting him. In fact, he had to clench his hands to stop the urge to hold the girl in his arms.

    [Why¡­ do I want to hug this rude, nasty-tempered, and foul-mouthed girl?]

    His thoughts were interrupted when, suddenly, the entire room shook.

    ¡°Fuck, already?¡± the girlined while clicking her tongue. ¡°Nero, you¡¯re quite protected by your fake family, huh?¡±

    ¡°Fake family?¡± Nero asked, confused. ¡°What do you mean by that?¡±

    He should be asking who the girl was.

    But deep in his heart, he felt like he didn¡¯t have to ask since he already knew who she was¨C he just couldn¡¯t remember it.

    [Argh!]

    He clutched his head when he felt a splitting headacheing.

    ¡°What do I mean by everything I said?¡± the girl asked, smirking haughtily at him. ¡°Nero Roseheart de Moonasterio, just fuck around and find out.¡±

    At that moment, a single word entered his mind abruptly.

    Nero shut his eyes tight. ¡°Neo¡­ ma?¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 621 - 621 CRINGE FEST

    621 CRINGE FEST

    ¡°WHAT ARE we going to do with this blood-sucking demon, my Moon Princess?¡±

    Neoma looked at the demon that Trevor draped over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. ¡°We¡¯re going to protect that dude.¡±

    Trevor knitted his eyebrows, obviously confused. ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s Nero¡¯s person, duh,¡± she said, rolling her eyes at the demon boy for asking such a silly question. ¡°ording to Hanna, all the people in Nero¡¯s Order are loyal and good to him. Plus, I vaguely remember a demon that was glued to Nero¡¯s side in the first timeline. I think he died for my baby brother back then.¡±

    It was a big breaking news during that time. Hence, she remembered.

    [If my memory serves me right, people were shocked when it was revealed that one of Nero¡¯s aides was a blood-sucking demon. Too bad I can¡¯t remember how Alucard died back then since I didn¡¯t give a damn.]

    ¡°Huh? Blood-sucking demons are known for being little shits because they¡¯re selfish and only care about themselves. I can¡¯t imagine a blood-sucking demon sacrificing his life for his liege.¡± Trevor fell silent for a while before he snapped his fingers as if he remembered something important. ¡°Ah, I know. Perhaps Prince Nero of the first timeline sacrificed this poor demon?¡±

    ¡°Just what do you think of my baby brother?¡±

    ¡°An obnoxious psychopath.¡±

    .....

    She opened her mouth to defend Nero¡¯s honor, but no words came out since it wasn¡¯t like Trevor lied. ¡°Fuck, you got me there.¡±

    Trevorughed while shaking his head. Thankfully, the demon boy changed the topic right away. ¡°Should we just leave this blood-sucking demon here?¡±

    ¡°No?¡± she said while shaking her head. ¡°I¡¯m going to purify the whole temple. Since Alucard is a demon, he might get hurt in the process. He¡¯s not as strong as you, Trevor.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t like he was underestimating Alucard Dionisio.

    [I¡¯m just spitting facts.]

    Trevor was in a league of his own since, even though he was a demon, it wouldn¡¯t be easy even for Neoma to purify him.

    [Probably because Trevor was human before he was forced to be a demon.]

    Which reminded her¡­

    ¡°Trevor?¡±

    ¡°Yes, my Moon Princess?¡±

    Trevor asked while creating a swirl of darkness on the floor. Then the demon casually tossed Alucard Dionisio there. The swirl closed and disappeared after swallowing up the blood-sucking demon.

    Neoma looked at Trevor with a serious look on her face. ¡°Trevor, do you want to be human again?¡±

    ¡°No?¡±

    She blinked, surprised by his quick response. ¡°Gosh, you didn¡¯t even pretend to think for a moment.¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m more powerful as a Demon Sorcerer than as a human Sorcerer. After all, I only got the Bookworm when I became a demon,¡± Trevor exined lightly. ¡°Moreover, I want to live longer while maintaining this youthful look.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Because I have a feeling that you¡¯re going to live a long life, Princess Neoma,¡± he said, grinning. ¡°And de Moonasterios are blessed by the Moon God, so you age reaaally slow. I want to be pretty next to you.¡±

    Oh.

    That was supposed to be cringe-y. But she felt a little sad.

    [Trevor, I only have five years left to live.]

    ¡°Why are you looking at me like that, my Moon Princess?¡±

    ¡°Do you think I¡¯m going to live long, Trevor?¡± she asked solemnly. ¡°Of course, I don¡¯t have any intention to die early like how the previous de Moonasterion princesses had died in the past. But let¡¯s be honest. Even the previous emperors rarely reached the age of fifty.¡±

    The de Moonasterios didn¡¯t live long because throughout their lives, the de Moonasterios were destined to be ruined by their Lunacy.

    That was why the de Moonasterios were born mature.

    [Because we can¡¯t waste our lives acting like children.]

    ¡°Princess Neoma, you¡¯re destined to be the first empress regnant of the Great Moonasterion Empire,¡± Trevor said, smiling. ¡°And I also have a feeling that you¡¯ll be the first de Moonasterio to live a really, really long time.¡±

    Neoma smiled at Trevor¡¯s silly prediction. ¡°I hope you¡¯re right, Trevor.¡±

    ***

    [¡°THUG PRINCESS, I¡¯ve finally ¡°hacked¡± the dimension where Prince Nero¡¯s Soul Beasts are using!¡±]

    That was some good news.

    [Tteokbokki really learned a lot of modern words, huh?]

    But Neoma wasn¡¯t happy with the realization that hit her, though. ¡°Tteokbokki, why are you addressing Nero politely?¡±

    [¡°Because I don¡¯t address people I dislike intimately, duh.¡±]

    Tteokbokki really said ¡®duh,¡¯ huh?

    [Gosh, just where did he learn to talk like that?]

    ¡°Fine, whatever,¡± Neoma said while lying down on the bed that Trevor made for her. Of course, it was a pink bed. ¡°Since we can¡¯t miss this chance, I¡¯ll enter Nero¡¯s thought right here, right now.¡±

    They were still on the rooftop of the Astello Temple.

    If they weren¡¯t running out of time, she would have chosen a bed in one of the rooms in the temple. But they couldn¡¯t miss this chance, so she had to make do with what was avable.

    ¡°I¡¯ll protect you while you ¡°sleep,¡± Princess Neoma,¡± Trevor said, smiling. ¡°Good night.¡±

    Neoma nodded, then she closed her eyes while creating a Dome above her. It wasn¡¯t like she didn¡¯t trust Trevor. But it wouldn¡¯t hurt to be more careful. ¡°See youter, Trevor.¡±

    ***

    IT TOOK Neoma two years to create a ¡°space¡± using her soul.

    Celestial beings would often summon her to a in, white room that existed in a different dimension. She wanted to learn that technique, so she asked Aruna and Arche de Moonasterio to teach her how to create her own room.

    Of course, it had to be pink because it had to have ¡°Neoma vibes¡± to be fun.

    Actually, this was the first time that she invited a person in the Pink Room.

    It was only right that her first guest would be Nero, her beloved twin brother.

    She couldn¡¯t use the special connection that she had with Nero because he had lost his memories of her. Hence, she asked Tteokbokki to forcefully create a link in her twin brother¡¯s mind by using the dimension where the Soul Beasts could enter.

    It was the same technique that Neoma, Nero, and Papa Boss would use tomunicate with each other using their Soul Beasts.

    Luckily, it worked.

    And right now, Nero was standing in front of her with his eyes shut.

    ¡°Wake up, dongsaeng-ah.¡±

    Nero knitted his eyebrows before he slowly opened his eyes.

    ¡°You¡¯re awake?¡±

    Her baby brother looked at her as if he was stunned.

    [Of course, everyone would be shocked by my blinding visual.]

    Since she was born beautiful, she was already used to that kind of reaction.

    ¡°It¡¯s you,¡± Nero said in disbelief. ¡°The girl in my dreams who keeps on cursing at me.¡±

    Heh.

    Would you look at that?

    [Nero doesn¡¯t seem like he haspletely forgotten about me.]

    Neoma was pleased. ¡°Well, you deserve it.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not excused,¡± Neoma said sarcastically. ¡°I¡¯ve been keeping an eye on you and your people for the past few years. I may be in the other world, but I have eyes and ears in the empire. And god, Nero Roseheart de Moonasterio. I know you¡¯re not in your right mind at the moment, but fuck the shitty things you¡¯re doing these days.¡±

    Thest ¡°crime¡± that Neromitted was threatening Monik to give up Kingston so just he could give the White Lion to Calyx Dalton as a birthday present.

    [I said it before, didn¡¯t I? I have eyes and ears everywhere.]

    Anyway, Nero looked confused by her words.

    And it seemed like he was forcing himself to remember her because he clutched his head tight with his hands.

    [Oh.]

    Neoma felt guilty for giving Nero tough love.

    Of course, she knew that her baby brother wasn¡¯t in his right mind so scolding him wasn¡¯t really fair.

    However, she knew Nero like the back of her hand.

    [I have to make a deep impression so that Nero wouldn¡¯t forget about this meeting. Hence, I chose to give him tough love even though it pains me to be this mean to my baby brother.]

    .....

    Her thoughts were interrupted when the Pink Room began to shake.

    An outside force was trying to enter her space.

    [Aside from Nero¡¯s Soul Beasts, something else is trying to get in.]

    ¡°Fuck, already?¡± Neomained while clicking her tongue. ¡°Nero, you¡¯re quite protected by your fake family, huh?¡±

    ¡°Fake family?¡± Nero asked, confused. ¡°What do you mean by that?¡±

    Once again, her poor baby brother clutched his head tightly as if she was having a splitting headache.

    [My poor dongsaeng¡­]

    ¡°What do I mean by everything I said?¡± Neoma asked, smirking haughtily at Nero even though she wanted to run to him and hug him tight. ¡°Nero Roseheart de Moonasterio, just fuck around and find out.¡±

    Nero shut his eyes tight. ¡°Neo¡­ ma?¡±

    She gasped softly when she heard him say her name. ¡°That¡¯s right, Nero,¡± she said while the Pink Room was starting to copse. ¡°Don¡¯t forget my name.¡±

    Nero opened his eyes, then his tears suddenly rolled down his cheeks. ¡°Neoma¡­?¡±

    Aww.

    She couldn¡¯t hold back anymore.

    Neoma stood up and ran towards Nero as fast as she could, then she tried to hug him¡­

    ¡­ but Nero suddenly disappeared.

    She bruised and scraped her knees when she fell to the ground while hugging the air. But she didn¡¯t mind the physical pain. However, the void in her chest squeezed her heart painfully.

    Before Neoma knew it, her eyes were already brimming with tears. ¡°Nero, I miss you¡­¡±

    ***

    ¡°WHO ARE you?!¡±

    ¡°How dare you enter this sacred ce while wielding that demonic weapon?!¡±

    ¡°A de Moonasterio¡­ princess?¡±

    ¡°But she¡¯s with a demon!¡±

    ¡°Stop them at all costs!¡±

    ¡°With all due respect, please shut the fuck up,¡± Neoma said, swinging Skewer and creating an airwave shaped like a boomerang. It hit the statue of Yule, breaking it into two. When the statue copsed and was broken into pieces, the priests yelling at them finally shut their mouths. ¡°How dare you use Lord Yule¡¯s statue as a storage for Darkness?!¡±

    When the statue was broken, a swirl of Darkness emerged from the broken pieces.

    [The disrespect!]

    Neoma was already in a bad mood after waking up without having to get to hug Nero.

    Her mood turned worse when she entered the temple with Trevor and realized that it had be like a storage room for Darkness.

    And the ¡°priests¡± that ¡°greeted¡± them?

    [They¡¯re no longer humans!]

    The ¡°priests¡± were just a huge lump of Darkness with human skin.

    Neoma growled while swinging Skewer¨C creating multiple boomerang-shaped airwaves to destroy all the corrupted statues inside the main hall of the Astello Temple. ¡°My Grandma Roxana sacrificed herself to get rid of Darkness! How dare you use Lord Yule¡¯s home to store Darkness, you fucking bastards?!¡±

    Of course, she was cursing the crows.

    The ¡°priests¡± around her finally showed their true colors. Darkness emerged from their bodies, and the ¡°priests¡± were about to attack her when suddenly, it rained arrows.

    [Arrows?]

    Neoma¡¯s body froze when she felt the familiar presence behind her.

    It was raining arrows in the entire hall, but the arrows were avoiding Neoma and Trevor. Hence, only the fake priests were being hit. And since the arrows were made of lightning, the victims would get electrocuted before dying.

    [This kind of attack¡­]

    Trevor clicked his tongue. ¡°What is HE doing here?¡±

    Hearing what the demon boy said only made Neoma¡¯s heart beat faster and harder against her chest.

    [Is it really him¡­?]

    ¡°Greetings, Princess Neoma.¡±

    She let out a soft gasp, then she finally gathered the courage to turn around.

    Purple hair.

    Glowing different-colored eyes¨C the left was dark purple, while the right was red.

    It was really Ruto.

    [Only my man¡¯s face could give me the peace I crave.]

    ¡°I¡¯m not ¡®Princess Neoma,¡¯ though,¡± Neoma said, displeased by the fact that Ruto addressed her formally. ¡°I¡¯m your ¡®jagiya.''¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 622 - 622 REOMA IS ALWAYS ONE STEP AHEAD

    622 REOMA IS ALWAYS ONE STEP AHEAD

    [I¡¯M EIGHTEEN years old now, so it means Ruto is twenty-two.]

    No wonder Neoma thought Ruto was manlier than ever.

    Aside from his neat face that she liked, she also couldn¡¯t ignore how tall and DEFINED his body was.

    Ruto was wearing a white linen shirt that was a little tight on the chest area (those poor little buttons barely holding the shirt together). It was because of his wide expanse of chest. Moreover, the sleeves were also rolled up to his elbows¨C exposing those sexy forearms of his.

    Oh, god.

    [Ruto and ¡®sexy¡¯ in one sentence? Gosh, my thoughts are getting lewd!]

    She couldn¡¯t help it, though.

    Ruto¡¯s long legs were also emphasized by the ck pants he was wearing, and those ckbat shoes made him look extra cool. The ck cloak and ck short gloves thatpleted his outfit also boosted his brooding vibes.

    [My man is in his edgy era, and I¡¯m loving it.]

    .....

    ¡°Are you done checking me out, Princess Neoma?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Neoma answered shamelessly, then she looked up at Ruto¡¯s face to look at him straight in the eye. ¡°I¡¯ll give you 9 out of 10 points.¡±

    Ruto didn¡¯t look impressed. ¡°The way you stared made me think you¡¯d give me a ten.¡±

    ¡°I would have given you a perfect ten had you looked at me with sparkling eyes,¡± she said, shrugging. ¡°But you¡¯re giving me a rather indifferent look, so I deducted a point.¡±

    ¡°Am I supposed to marvel at your sight?¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± Trevor answered in Neoma¡¯s ce. ¡°You should be thankful to breathe the same air as my Moon Princess.¡±

    ¡°Shut it, Trevor,¡± Neoma said, then she turned to Ruto again. ¡°You¡¯ve really forgotten all the romantic and positive feelings you have for me, huh?¡±

    Ruto nodded. ¡°That seems to be the case.¡±

    ¡°Even so, I¡¯m d that you still remember me,¡± Neoma said. ¡°All I have to do is make you fall in love with me again.¡±

    ¡°You make it sound easy.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Neoma, I find ways,¡± Neoma said, her gaze passing by Ruto. ¡°Let¡¯s talkter¨C they are here.¡±

    The Holy Knights, led by Captain Henrik Benedict, finally arrived.

    [It¡¯s been a while, Egg Benedict.]

    Aside from the captain of the Holy Knights, she saw another familiar face.

    ¡°Dion Skelton,¡± Neoma said after seeing the current High Priest of the Astello Temple. ¡°I¡¯m here to save you.¡±

    As expected, Dion Skelton didn¡¯t look like himself at the moment.

    [He used to have eyes that look like they contain the universe in them. But now, his eyes look dull.]

    Obviously, Dion was being controlled by the crows.

    ¡°We¡¯ll ask questionster,¡± Dion said in amanding yet indifferent voice. ¡°Arrest the intruders first.¡±

    Henrik Benedict. ¡°As youmand, High Priest.¡±

    And the Holy Knights began to charge at them.

    Aside from the threat of the Holy Knights, the Darkness that emerged from the broken statues had taken the shape of a being closely simr to a giant. In short, it became a huge lump of Darkness acting like a human that it wasn¡¯t.

    ¡°Trevor, get rid of the Darkness monster,¡± Neoma said, walking past Trevor and Ruto. ¡°Ruto, take care of the Holy Knights¨C but don¡¯t kill them. I¡¯ll deal with Dion Skelton.¡±

    ¡°As youmand, my Moon Princess~¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m only following your order because it sounds reasonable,¡± Ruto said. ¡°It doesn¡¯t mean anything.¡±

    ¡°I know, Lord Ruto,¡± Neoma said, dodging the Holy Knightsing at her. ¡°You sound defensive, though~¡±

    She would have loved to tease Ruto more, but saving Dion Skelton was her priority at the moment.

    Fortunately, Trevor and Ruto were both highlypetent.

    The Darkness and the Holy Knights couldn¡¯te close to her. Hence, she was able to reach Dion Skelton in time.

    But, of course, as a former Pdin, the current High Priest could also fight.

    Dion drew his sword as soon as Neoma was within his range.

    ¡°Stop,¡± Neoma said in a low andmanding voice. ¡°I don¡¯t want to identally hurt you, Dion Skelton.¡±

    Fortunately, her Alluring Aura worked on the High Priest.

    The original name of the technique where a de Moonasterio would suppress the enemy with their aura was ¡®Tyrannical Aura.¡¯

    But Neoma didn¡¯t like the name, so she changed it to ¡®Alluring Aura.¡¯

    [It fits me better that way.]

    Anyway¡­

    Dion Skelton was frozen in his ce.

    ¡°You haven¡¯t forgotten about Paige Avery, have you?¡±

    For a moment, the spark in Dion Skelton¡¯s eyes returned.

    [Aww¡­ it¡¯s true love, I¡¯m telling you.]

    It was only for a moment, though.

    Soon, Dion clutched his head with his hands and shut his eyes tight while screaming as if he was in agony.

    [Ah, Dion is probably fighting whatever it is that¡¯s been controlling him all this time.]

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Dion,¡± Neoma said, putting a hand over Dion¡¯s head. ¡°I¡¯m here to save you.¡±

    She gathered a huge amount of divine power in her hand, then held Dion¡¯s head tighter as she purified the Darkness that corrupted the High Priest¡¯s soul.

    Dion yelled louder until he copsed.

    When Neoma let go of Dion¡¯s head, she realized that her hand had turned ck because of the Darkness that she sucked out of the High Priest¡¯s soul.

    And now, that Darkness was trying to enter her body to corrupt her, probably.

    She could feel the Darkness pricking her skin while trying to break in.

    ¡°The audacity,¡± Neoma said, scoffing. Then she clenched her hand tight. As soon as she did that, the Darkness vanished and her hand returned to normal. ¡°How dare you try to corrupt the one who inherited Lady Roxana¡¯s Light?¡±

    ***

    [RUTO got himself a harem while I wasn¡¯t looking, huh?]

    It was a joke, of course.

    Neoma just found it ~interesting~ that Ruto was traveling the continent with two girls who were familiar to her.

    The first one was Dahlia.

    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you looking at me, Miss Dahlia?¡± Neoma asked carefully. ¡°Did I do something wrong?¡±

    Right now, Neoma was in the drawing room of the temple with Dahlia.

    She asked Trevor to guard Dion Skelton and the Holy Knights who were still unconscious.

    Ruto and the other dy~ who came with him to the temple were outside. Apparently, the two were trying to contact the remaining members of their group.

    ¡°Princess Neoma didn¡¯t do anything wrong,¡± Dahlia said while looking at her hands instead of looking at Neoma. ¡°I just feel guilty. After all, if it wasn¡¯t for my ability that the crows stole from me, this world wouldn¡¯t have forgotten about Your Royal Highness.¡±

    ¡°I fail to see how it was your fault, Dahlia,¡± Neoma said, shrugging. ¡°It wasn¡¯t your fault that the crows kidnapped you to steal your ability.¡±

    ¡°But if only I was strong enough to escape¡­¡±

    ¡°If you put it that way, then it was my fault because I failed to protect you.¡±

    Dahlia raised her head to look at her while shaking her head firmly. ¡°It¡¯s not Princess Neoma¡¯s fault! It was the crows!¡±

    ¡°Right?¡± she said, smiling. ¡°The crows are the root of evil in this world, so let¡¯s not me each other for something that has already happened.¡±

    Dahlia bit her lower lip. ¡°Are you not mad at me, Princess Neoma?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not,¡± Neoma said,ughing. ¡°Why would I be?¡±

    ¡°But I don¡¯t know the counter spell for my own ability.¡±

    She waved her hand dismissively. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, girl. Trevor is already working on the counterspell, and he¡¯s about to finish it.¡±

    Dahlia suddenly burst out crying as if she was relieved. ¡°Princess Neoma is really cool.¡±

    Neomaughed while handing a handkerchief to Dahlia. ¡°I know, right?¡±

    .....

    Their moment was cut short when the door burst open.

    Ruto entered the room with the other dy~ that he came with.

    ¡°It¡¯s been a while, Princess Neoma,¡± Phoebe Willows greeted her cheerfully. ¡°You¡¯re all grown up now, huh?¡±

    Phoebe Willows¨C Ruto¡¯s almost fianc¨¦e.

    [When the cat is away, the mice will surely y.]

    Since Neoma disappeared from the world, it looked like Levi did his best to put Phoebe Willows beside Ruto.

    [But I wonder how Phoebe Willows remember me?]

    Did Ruto protect the child¡¯s memories of her?

    ¡°You¡¯re right, Lady Phoebe,¡± Neoma said calmly. ¡°It¡¯s been a while, and I¡¯ve grown into a Visual Goddess.¡±

    Phoebe¡¯s smile froze. ¡°Visual Goddess? What does it mean?¡±

    Neoma pointed at her face confidently. ¡°This.¡±

    Fortunately, Phoebe understood what she meant by that. But the child obviously looked displeased. ¡°You dare call yourself a goddess of beauty when Lady Astrid already exists?¡±

    ¡°And who is that?¡±

    ¡°Lady Astrid is the TRUE Goddess of Beauty!¡±

    ¡°Is there a rule that says only one Goddess of Beauty is allowed to exist?¡± Neoma asked innocently. ¡°What can I do? I also have god-tier beauty.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s sphemous topare your beauty to the Goddess of Beauty!¡± Phoebe yelled angrily. ¡°Your arrogant pierces the sky, Princess Neoma!¡±

    ¡°I know,¡± Neoma said, still calm. ¡°I¡¯m hoping the bad gods above get pierced by my arrogance.¡±

    Phoebe looked at a loss for words.

    Dahlia, on the other hand, snorted as if the ck Witch was trying to hold back herughter.

    Okay, now it just looked like she was trying to bully Phoebe Willows.

    In her defense, she was simply expressing her confidence with her face.

    [But I should stop my teasing here. Phoebe is still a child. I should be the bigger person since I¡¯m older.]

    Neoma noticed that Phoebe Willows seemed to be close to the Goddess of Beauty, though.

    [Are they BFFs?]

    ¡°Fine. I admit your beauty isparable to Lady Astrid¡¯s beauty,¡± Phoebe said, smirking. ¡°But what use does your beautiful has when Lord Ruto has already forgotten about his love for you?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Neoma said, then she looked at Ruto. ¡°I have Ruto¡¯s permission to seduce him anyway.¡±

    Heh.

    [Did you really think I would just sit and do nothing while I¡¯m perfectly aware that Ruto would slowly yet surely forget his love for me? As I said earlier, I¡¯m Neoma and I find ways.]

    Phoebe looked stupefied. ¡°What do you mean by that?¡±

    Ruto, who also looked confused, knitted his eyebrows while looking at Neoma. ¡°I gave you permission to seduce me?¡±

    ¡°You probably don¡¯t remember, but you hired me to seduce you once you¡¯ve lost all your love for me, Ruto,¡± Neoma said, smiling. Then she pulled out the precious contract from her Lynx Ring¨C aka her ¡°inventory.¡± She showed the important piece of paper to Ruto. ¡°We made a LOVE CONTRACT because we both expected that your father will mess with your memories once you forget about your feelings for me, my dear jagiya.¡±

    ***

    NOTE: BUCKLE UP, Y¡¯ALL! The romance part of the story is here! >:>

    ***

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 Chapter 623 - 623 BATTLE OF THE FIRST STARS

    623 BATTLE OF THE FIRST STARS

    ¡°PRINCE NERO, are you finally awake?¡±

    ¡°What do you think?¡± Nero snapped at Melvin Luchessi¨C his personal aide. Then he got up and looked around, realizing that he was back in his room. ¡°Where is the Hazelden¡¯s Royal Family?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re staying at the vi that Your Royal Highness prepared for them,¡± Melvin answered indifferently. Obviously, his secretary was already used to his mood swings. ¡°Should I summon them to the pce?¡±

    That should be the obvious thing to do.

    However, he still couldn¡¯t get over the ¡°dream¡± that he had. It was so vivid that it felt stupid to call it a ¡°dream.¡±

    [It¡¯s real¨C I definitely met that rude girl.]

    What was her name again?

    [Argh!]

    Nero clutched his head with his hands and shut his eyes tight.

    .....

    Why couldn¡¯t he remember her name? He was pretty sure he already figured out what it was. But all he got at the moment was a splitting headache.

    ¡°Prince Nero, should I call the royal physician?¡±

    Nero took a deep breath and waited until he calmed down before he spoke again. ¡°No,¡± he said, then he opened his eyes. ¡°What happened after I passed out? You didn¡¯t touch the Hazelden Royal Family, did you?¡±

    ¡°The Empress Dowager wanted to interrogate them at first, but they volunteered to be under house arrest until you woke up,¡± Melvin answered politely. ¡°Moreover, you weren¡¯t hurt. The royal physician said you fainted due to fatigue. Since there was no foul y, the Empress Dowager had no reason to antagonize the Griffiths.¡±

    And the Empress Dowager made the right decision.

    [The Hazelden Kingdom might be a small nation, but it¡¯s full of resources that we can use to strengthen our military power.]

    ¡°It seems like the Empress Dowager let it slide because Her Majesty is being considerate of you, Prince Nero. After all, the Hazelden Royal Family is your guest,¡± Melvin continued with his exnation. ¡°Moreover, we have a big problem.¡±

    Nero knitted his eyebrows. ¡°What happened?¡±

    ¡°I have two pieces of bad news for you, Prince Nero. The one involves the ck Witch, and the other involves the Crown Princess,¡± his secretary said. ¡°Which one should I report first?¡±

    ¡°What happened to Dahlia?¡±

    ¡°I sent Alucard to the Holy Land where our people havest seen the ck Witch, but just now, Alucard¡¯s presence disappeared.¡±

    Nero felt another headacheing.

    If Alucard¡¯s presence suddenly disappeared, then the possibility that he had been caught by Dahlia was high.

    He was annoyed, but not really worried.

    [If Alucard was weak, I wouldn¡¯t have recruited him in the first ce.]

    To be honest, he couldn¡¯t really remember why he chose the people close to him. He just knew that he could trust them with his life.

    ¡°Alucard wouldn¡¯t die easily,¡± Nero said, sighing. ¡°If Lucien is already done with his business in the South, then tell him to rescue Alucard.¡±

    ¡°As youmand, Prince Nero.¡±

    ¡°What happened to Hanna?¡±

    ¡°Lady Hanna was kidnapped by the Pirates of the South, Your Royal Highness.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± he asked, shocked. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me earlier?!¡±

    ¡°I gave Your Royal Highness two choices earlier, and Your Royal Highness chose to hear the news about the ck Witch first.¡±

    ¡°You should have woken me up as soon as you learned Hanna was kidnapped!¡± heined. ¡°She¡¯s the Crown Princess!¡±

    Melvin bowed his head in apology. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but the condition of the Crown Prince is more important than the state of the Crown Princess.¡±

    Nero could only let out a sigh.

    It wasn¡¯t like what Melvin said was wrong. For the people working in the pce, the Crown Princess was receable¨C but there was only one Crown Prince.

    ¡°What are the Quinzels doing?¡± Nero asked. ¡°Have they found clues as to where Hanna was taken to?¡±

    He didn¡¯t expect the Pirates of the South to go to the Royal Capital.

    [But the fact that the pirates left the sea is bothering me. They wouldn¡¯te here and kidnap Hanna for nothing.]

    Clearly, the pirates abducted the Crown Princess to get Nero¡¯s attention.

    ¡°Duke and Duchess Quinzel are leading the search for Lady Hanna,¡± Melvin exined. ¡°Last I heard, the ducal couple is nning to return to their territory.¡±

    Ah, right.

    The Southern Region of the empire was dominated by the Quinzels.

    [And it just so happened that the Pirates are currently dominating the Southern Sea.]

    ¡°Prince Nero, actually, Duke Quinzel requested an audience once you¡¯re awake,¡± Melvin said. ¡°Should I summon the duke now?¡±

    ¡°Do that,¡± Nero said, standing up. ¡°Prepare the bath for me first.¡±

    ***

    [I SHOULD STOP here. Phoebe is still a child. I should be the bigger person since I¡¯m older.]

    ¡°Fine. I admit your beauty isparable to Lady Astrid¡¯s beauty,¡± Phoebe said, smirking. ¡°But what use does your beautiful has when Lord Ruto has already forgotten about his love for you?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Neoma said, then she looked at Ruto. ¡°I have Ruto¡¯s permission to seduce him anyway.¡±

    Phoebe looked stupefied. ¡°What do you mean by that?¡±

    Ruto, who also looked confused, knitted his eyebrows while looking at Neoma. ¡°I gave you permission to seduce me?¡±

    ¡°You probably don¡¯t remember, but you hired me to seduce you once you¡¯ve lost all your love for me, Ruto,¡± Neoma said, smiling. Then she pulled out the precious contract from her Lynx Ring¨C aka her ¡°inventory.¡± She showed the important piece of paper to Ruto. ¡°We made a LOVE CONTRACT because we both expected that your father will mess with your memories once you forget about your feelings for me, my dear jagiya.¡±

    Ruto looked even more confused now.

    [Understandable.]

    Neoma was ready to exin about the Love Contract, but the door suddenly burst open and Trevor entered the room.

    ¡°Moon Princess, Dion Skelton is awake,¡± Trevor reported to her, ignoring Ruto. ¡°And we have a problem.¡±

    [Thates first.]

    Neoma returned the Love Contract in her inventory, then she stood up and faced Trevor. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go to Dion,¡± she said, then she turned to Ruto. ¡°Do you have business with the High Priest?¡±

    After all, Ruto couldn¡¯t have gone to Astello Temple for her¨C

    ¡°I¡¯m actually here for you, Princess Neoma.¡±

    Huh?

    She was quite surprised to hear that.

    However, she knew that Ruto wouldn¡¯t look for her for the reason that she was expecting from him.

    [He doesn¡¯t remember that he loves me, after all.]

    ¡°I have business with you,¡± Ruto said indifferently. ¡°We, the masters of the Elemental Guardians, have something important to discuss.¡±

    Neoma pointed at herself. ¡°I¡¯m a master of an Elemental Guardian?¡±

    ¡°Kingston pledged his loyalty to you, not to the young princess he¡¯s guarding.¡±

    She had many questions about her new title, and as to why Ruto needed to gather the masters of the Elemental Guardians.

    But that could wait, and he didn¡¯t look like he was in a hurry anyway.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s talkter,¡± Neoma said. ¡°I¡¯ll check on Dion Skelton first.¡±

    ***

    ¡°PRINCESS NEOMA, wee back.¡±

    ¡°I should be the one saying that,¡± Neoma said, smiling at Dion who finally returned to his senses. ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t have to stand.¡±

    Dion Skelton tried to stand to probably give her a proper greeting.

    Of course, she wouldn¡¯t want a patient to do that.

    ¡°Tell me,¡± Neoma said as she sat down on the chair next to the bed. ¡°I know a lot has happened, but let¡¯s talk about thatter. For now, I want to hear about the problem that Trevor mentioned earlier.¡±

    Trevor, who was standing behind Neoma like a bodyguard, spoke. ¡°Apparently, Calyx Dalton was here yesterday.¡±

    Ah, so she returned a little toote.

    [But, thankfully, Dion didn¡¯t forget his old memories when he returned to his senses.]

    Fortunately, it seemed like Trevor¡¯s counterspell worked on Dion.

    [Trevor¡¯s counterspell is iplete, but it works. The only problem is he can¡¯t use it on many people at the same time. But since Dion is the only person here who needs to remember me, Trevor¡¯s counterspell worked.]

    .....

    ¡°Calyx Dalton brought a child here yesterday, Princess Neoma,¡± Dion reported to her with a worried look on his face. ¡°He asked me to confirm that the child was a saint.¡±

    ¡°Gosh, they found a fake saint.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Princess Neoma,¡± Dion said, bowing his head in apology. ¡°As the High Priest, I confirmed the child as the new saint by giving Calyx Dalton the Astello Temple¡¯s Insignia. With that, the empire would recognize the child as the new saint.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t apologize, Dion,¡± she scolded him lightly. ¡°It wasn¡¯t your fault since you were not in your right mind.¡±

    ¡°Even so¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± she assured him. ¡°It¡¯s not toote to make Prince Skylus the real saint.¡±

    Dion raised his head. ¡°Do you have a n, Princess Neoma?¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± Neoma said confidently. ¡°Prince Skylus¡¯ divine power was scattered into three pieces. Mama Boss got one of those, and I brought her here.¡±

    Five years ago, Nero was supposed to retrieve the second piece. But it obviously failed, and the crows managed to get their hands on that.

    [That¡¯s probably what Calyx Dalton used to create the fake saint.]

    But not all hopes were lost yet.

    ¡°ording to Hanna, the third piece of Prince Skylus¡¯ missing divine power hasn¡¯t been found yet,¡± Neoma said. ¡°If we beat the crows to it, then it wouldn¡¯t be hard to prove that Prince Skylus is the real saint.¡± She put a hand over her chest. ¡°I¡¯m the real First Star anyway.¡±

    ***

    ¡°WERE YOU waiting for me?¡± Neoma teased Ruto when she found him waiting for her in front of Dion Skelton¡¯s room. ¡°If you were here to talk about the business that involves the masters of the Elemental Guardians, then you should have brought Dahlia with you. But since you¡¯re alone¡­¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± Ruto said, nodding his head. ¡°I¡¯m here to tell you to forget about seducing me.¡±

    She would have been hurt if she wasn¡¯t prepared for this moment.

    Fortunately, Neoma and Ruto already predicted that this would happen between them. Hence, they made all the necessary preparations to make their rtionship work.

    ¡°It¡¯s not up to me,¡± she said, shrugging. ¡°My man was the one who hired me, and he told me he made sure his ¡°stupid self¡± wouldn¡¯t be able to reject me.¡±

    ¡°I can,¡± he said, extending his hand to her. ¡°Give me the contract.¡±

    ¡°Fine~¡±

    She pulled out the Love Contract from her Lynx Ring, then she handed it to Ruto.

    As expected, he tried to tear it.

    [Keyword: ¡°tried.¡±]

    ¡°Argh!¡±

    Ruto didn¡¯t only fail to tear the Love Contract¨C but he also got electrocuted, causing him to copse to the floor.

    Neoma was also shookt.

    [Ruto, my man, just what kind of spell did you cast on yourself?!]

    ***

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 Chapter 624 - 624 LOVE CONTRACT

    624 LOVE CONTRACT

    [Three years ago¡­]

    ¡°NEOMA, the Ancient Devil has already eaten most of my positive feelings for you.¡±

    Hearing that from Ruto broke Neoma¡¯s heart, but she didn¡¯t let it show. ¡°Should I return there?¡±

    Right now, Neoma was sitting in front of her vanity mirror. But instead of her reflection, she was looking and talking to Ruto. Yes, that mirror was amunication device that Trevor created with blood, sweat, and tears.

    [It¡¯s not an exaggeration. Trevor might be one of the best Sorcerers out there, but it¡¯s still not easy to create amunication device that could link two different worlds together.]

    But Trevor seeded, proving that he was a genius.

    ¡°The door is iplete yet, but I think Trevor could make it work if he¡¯s just sending me.¡±

    The door wasn¡¯t totally open yet.

    Hence, using it might be risky even if it was just one person.

    .....

    [But I¡¯m willing to take that risk for Ruto.]

    ¡°It¡¯s too dangerous to use a door that¡¯s not even fifty percentplete,¡± Ruto said while shaking his head. ¡°I can¡¯t let you take the risk. Moreover, even if you get here, it¡¯s not like I¡¯ll magically recover all my feelings for you.¡±

    ¡°Ouch.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m just stating our reality.¡±

    ¡°Have you given up on us?¡±

    ¡°Of course not,¡± Ruto said while shaking his head. ¡°I have no intention to let this rtionship fail.¡±

    Neoma smiled, satisfied by Ruto¡¯s response. ¡°You sound confident. Do you have a n?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m thinking of hiring you to seduce me.¡±

    Sheughed, thinking that he was joking.

    But Ruto remained serious.

    ¡°Oh, for real?¡± Neoma asked, surprised. ¡°You want to hire me to seduce you?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Ruto said while nodding. ¡°Although I¡¯m aware I should pay the price for receiving the Ancient Devil¡¯s help in the first timeline, I still don¡¯t want to live this life without loving you, Neoma.¡±

    Aww, she was touched to hear that.

    Of course, she would admit that it was a little cheesy. But considering their dire situation at the moment, she couldn¡¯t and didn¡¯t want to dwell on trivial matters. She wanted to savor each moment she had with Ruto.

    ¡°So, I want you to seduce me,¡± Ruto continued. ¡°I have faith in our feelings for each other. Even so, I know it won¡¯t be easy for us to make this rtionship work.¡±

    Yes, it wouldn¡¯t be easy.

    Neoma was the most confident with her face¨C but Ruto didn¡¯t remember what she looked like anymore.

    And her personality¡­

    ¡°Once you forget all the positive feelings you have for me, it would be difficult for me to seduce you because I¡¯m aware I don¡¯t have the best personality out there,¡± Neoma said hesitantly. ¡°You won¡¯t remember meter, so I¡¯m afraid you¡¯d be turned off by my arrogance, vanity, and selfishness. I know you embraced all my uglyyers because you love me, but would it still stand true once you lost your feelings for me?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d lie if I said the way I see you wouldn¡¯t change,¡± Ruto confessed softly. ¡°Even so, I¡¯d still like to give it a try. I don¡¯t want to give up on you, Neoma. So even if it¡¯s selfish on my part, please let¡¯s make this work.¡± He gave her a pleading look. ¡°Please.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to beg, you know,¡± she scolded him lightly. ¡°I¡¯m not hesitating because I¡¯m scared of failing¨C I¡¯m only hesitating because if I seduced you after you lost all your positive feelings for me, I¡¯m afraid I¡¯d turn into a toxic male lead.¡±

    He knitted his eyebrows. ¡°Toxic male lead? What do you mean by that?¡±

    ¡°Most romance novels have toxic male leads, especially in the romance fantasy genre,¡± she exined, pouting. ¡°They don¡¯t take a ¡®no¡¯ for an answer, they¡¯re very pushy, and more often than not, they harass their partner just to get what they want.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine with me, even if you turn into that kind of person.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± she asked, still pouting. ¡°But I always preach about how ¡®no¡¯ is aplete sentence. If Ie on to you strongly even after you rejected me, then it would be me harassing you. It would make me a hypocrite because I always advocate for respecting your partner.¡±

    ¡°Neoma, at times like this, you ought to be flexible.¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t be forcing yourself on me because you have my permission to seduce me with any means necessary,¡± Ruto said, chuckling while shaking his head. ¡°Neoma, set aside your moralpass for now because our case is special. I¡¯m going to forget all my love for you against my will. If that happens, I¡¯m sure my divine father would also meddle.¡±

    ¡°Lord Levi?¡±

    He nodded before exining. ¡°Lord Levi hates the idea of us ending up together. Hence, I have a feeling that he will mess with my memories of you even though I¡¯m already losing my positive feelings for you.¡±

    Oh, she wouldn¡¯t put it past Levi to do something as horrible as that.

    ¡°If that happens, you will lose mepletely if you stay passive just because you wanted to cling to your principles, Neoma,¡± Ruto said in a sad voice. ¡°Are your principles more important than me?¡±

    Ouch.

    Ruto was calling her out a little too bluntly.

    [He has a point, though. Our case isn¡¯t normal, so I have to be flexible. After all, I don¡¯t want to lose Ruto.]

    ¡°Are you sure about this, Ruto?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve never been so sure in my life until this moment, Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Gosh,¡± sheined lightly. ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s okay with you if I act possessive of you even though we wouldn¡¯t have a clear rtionship after you lose your love for me?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m fine with that.¡±

    ¡°Is it okay if get jealous and go batshit crazy on the girls who try toy a finger on you even though you wouldn¡¯t belong to me by then?¡±

    ¡°I will always belong to you even if I don¡¯t remember it.¡±

    ¡°Tsk,¡± she clicked her tongue, hoping to stop her foolish grin froming out. ¡°What if I really go crazy and lock you up in a room with me?¡±

    Ruto smiled yfully at her. ¡°I think I¡¯d like that, and it might even help me retrieve my feelings for you faster.¡±

    ¡°Gosh, are you a pervert?¡±

    ¡°We just look young, but our mental and soul ages are old enough for us to talk about ¡°perverted¡± things.¡±

    Neomaughed softly at Ruto¡¯s teasing. ¡°You¡¯re not holding back anymore, are you?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have the luxury to hold back,¡± he said while shaking his head. ¡°We¡¯re running out of time.¡±

    Ruto was right.

    They were indeed running out of time.

    ¡°Then I will seduce and im you even if you no longer remember that you belong to me,¡± Neoma dered boldly. ¡°But I will do it in moderation because I don¡¯t want your future self to hate me, Ruto.¡±

    ¡°Alright, I trust you,¡± Ruto said, then he paused for a moment. ¡°Then should we make a contract?¡±

    ¡°A contract?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid to forget this moment if my divine father decides to mess with my memories,¡± he exined. ¡°If that happens, then I¡¯d like you to have some solid physical proof that I gave you permission to seduce, im, and own me in any way you want.¡±

    Okay, that made her blush.

    [But I like it.]

    ¡°Let¡¯s call it a Love Contract,¡± Neoma suggested. ¡°We have to sign it with our signature and blood, and let¡¯s seal it with a piece of our soul.¡±

    It sounded gruesome, but that kind of contract was normal in their world.

    [I also signed that kind of contract when I worked for Papa Boss back when I was a baby.]

    ¡°I¡¯ll ask Trevor to make a device that could deliver the Love Contract to you.¡±

    ¡°That sounds like a good idea,¡± he said while nodding. ¡°I also need to physically touch the contract.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll cast a spell on it.¡±

    She knitted her eyebrows curiously. ¡°What kind of spell?¡±

    ¡°A spell to ensure that the future stupid version of myself wouldn¡¯t be able to get rid of the contract and say ¡®no¡¯ to our agreement.¡±

    She waited for him to exin more, but he didn¡¯t say anything else.

    [Just what is Ruto nning this time?]

    To be honest, she felt a little nervous for the future Ruto who might get punished by his past self for something that he didn¡¯t wish to happen in the first ce.

    [Ruto is always lenient and understanding to me, but he can¡¯t do the same for himself.]

    ¡°Don¡¯t be too hard on your future self, Ruto,¡± Neoma scolded him lightly while shaking her head. ¡°In the first ce, you had to pay a hefty price to the Ancient Devil for my sake.¡±

    ¡°Even so, I will never forgive my future self if he hurts you in any way.¡±

    ¡°I have a nasty temper, but I can be patient for you.¡±

    His face beamed at what she said. ¡°That¡¯s sweet.¡±

    .....

    ¡°It¡¯s true,¡± she said,ughing. ¡°You sacrificed a lot for me, Ruto¨C now and then. It¡¯s my turn to give you the love you deserve.¡±

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll leave it to you,¡± Ruto said, smiling warmly at her. ¡°Please make me crazy in love with you once again, Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll drive you crazy, Ruston Solfrid Stroganoff,¡± Neoma promised him confidently. ¡°So crazy we might end up burning the world once again.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 625 - 625 AMBUSH

    625 AMBUSH

    ¡°WERE YOU waiting for me?¡± Neoma teased Ruto when she found him waiting for her in front of Dion Skelton¡¯s room. ¡°If you were here to talk about the business that involves the masters of the Elemental Guardians, then you should have brought Dahlia with you. But since you¡¯re alone¡­¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± Ruto said, nodding his head. ¡°I¡¯m here to tell you to forget about seducing me.¡±

    She would have been hurt if she wasn¡¯t prepared for this moment.

    Fortunately, Neoma and Ruto already predicted that this would happen between them. Hence, they made all the necessary preparations to make their rtionship work.

    ¡°It¡¯s not up to me,¡± she said, shrugging. ¡°My man was the one who hired me, and he told me he made sure his ¡°stupid self¡± wouldn¡¯t be able to reject me.¡±

    ¡°I can,¡± he said, extending his hand to her. ¡°Give me the contract.¡±

    ¡°Fine~¡±

    She pulled out the Love Contract from her Lynx Ring, then she handed it to Ruto.

    As expected, he tried to tear it.

    .....

    [Keyword: ¡°tried.¡±]

    ¡°Argh!¡±

    Ruto didn¡¯t only fail to tear the Love Contract¨C but he also got electrocuted, causing him to copse to the floor.

    Neoma was also shookt.

    [Ruto, my man, just what kind of spell did you cast on yourself?!]

    She remembered Ruto assuring her he would make sure the future him wouldn¡¯t be able to reject her. But she didn¡¯t expect him to be this extreme on himself!

    ¡°Ruto, are you alright?¡± Neoma asked while squatting down beside Ruto. She gently patted his shoulder because she didn¡¯t want to touch him without permission. But she needed to tap him to check if he was conscious, though. ¡°Wake up.¡±

    Fortunately, Ruto woke up soon after. He got up with a bewildered look on his face while looking at her suspiciously. ¡°What did you do to me?¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t me.¡± she denied. ¡°I¡¯m a woman of many talents, but I don¡¯t have an affinity for lightning and electricity.¡±

    ¡°Oh, right.¡±

    ¡°It was your old self who cast a spell on yourself,¡± she exined to him. ¡°I don¡¯t exactly know what kind of spell it is. But, apparently, it¡¯s the type that would physically punish you if you refuse to follow the Love Contract.¡±

    He knitted his eyebrows. ¡°And I supposed to just let you seduce, im, and own me?¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s what your old self wanted to happen.¡±

    ¡°Are you not going to respect my wishes? I already said ¡®no.''¡±

    ¡°I know, right? That was also my biggest dilemma, since I hate chasing after people who already rejected me. I already did it once, and I learned the hard way from that horrible experience,¡± she admitted, sighing. ¡°But you told me that at times like this, we need to be flexible. Hence, even if you already said ¡®no¡¯ to me, I will still fulfill the contract.¡±

    ¡°Do you like me that much?¡±

    ¡°Not as much as you like me, though.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t like you¨C argh!¡±

    Once again, Ruto was electrocuted. But thankfully, this time, it wasn¡¯t as powerful as the one he got earlier. ¡°Forbidden words,¡± he said to himself in disbelief while clutching his chest tight. ¡°If I say the registered forbidden words in my body, then I¡¯ll get electrocuted.¡±

    Ah, so that was it.

    [Ruto figured out the spell that his old self had cast on him.]

    That was pretty savage.

    [I already told you not to be too hard on yourself, jagiya.]

    ¡°You should rest for now,¡± Neoma said while standing up. ¡°Let¡¯s talk about the Elemental Guardianster.¡±

    ***

    ¡°WOW, it¡¯s pretty,¡± Hanna whispered to herself while looking at the ind in front of her. ¡°Is the sand pink?¡±

    ¡°It is¨C it¡¯s a pink beach,¡± Lewis, who was standing beside her, said. ¡°This ind really suits Princess Neoma.¡±

    Right now, the two of them were on the deck of the pirate ship that was being maneuvered by precious Hisa Jewels. Hence, it was sailing the sea on its own.

    Hisa Jewels were magical gems simr to Mana Stones that Paige Avery infused with her magical power. It was simr to the stones that the Hazelden Kingdom was using to create war weapons.

    [But, of course, Lady Paige¡¯s Hisa Jewels are more powerful.]

    ¡°This is the ind that Lady Roxana gave to Neoma, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Lewis confirmed. ¡°It¡¯s a hidden ind in the Southern Sea.¡±

    ¡°Our family ruled over the Southern Region for many years. I can¡¯t believe there¡¯s a hidden ind in the Southern Sea,¡± Hanna wondered out loud. ¡°Is this, perhaps, the reason why the crows are suddenly interested in the Southern Region?¡±

    Because if Regina Crowell managed to steal Hanna¡¯s inheritance, then the entire territory would also fall into the wench¡¯s filthy hands.

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t put it past the crows,¡± Lewis said. ¡°They wanted the Quinzels¡¯ wealth so badly.¡±

    ¡°I got into serious trouble this time,¡± she said, turning to him. ¡°If you weren¡¯t there to ¡°kidnap¡± me, then I¡¯m sure Regina Crowell would make it look like I died. It was also a good thing that Lord Jasper brought my father there to witness everything.¡±

    She was confident that Regina Crowell wouldn¡¯t be able to kill her, but she also knew that she wouldn¡¯t have a choice but to retreat after her secret was exposed.

    After all, she wouldn¡¯t be able to fight the crows on her own.

    Hence, escaping was the only option she had if Lewis didn¡¯te to her rescue.

    ¡°We should thank the saintter,¡± Lewis said. ¡°He was the one who predicted that the crows would target you that night.¡±

    ¡°Of course, we will do thatter,¡± she said. ¡°But Lewis, you should give yourself some credit, too. It was your idea to ¡°kidnap¡± me in front of my father so that the crows wouldn¡¯t be able to lie and say I died.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing much.¡±

    Sheughed softly at his modesty. ¡°You and Neoma both really don¡¯t boast your achievements, even though you have all the bragging rights to do so.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m just d that you¡¯re safe.¡±

    Aww.

    Hanna was so touched that she wanted to praise Lewis by patting his head gently.

    But she caught herself because she touched him when she remembered that he didn¡¯t like physical contact.

    [Moreover, Lewis is too tall for me to reach without standing on my toes.]

    She didn¡¯t even reach Lewis¡¯ chest.

    [Why am I born short when both Mother and Father are tall?]

    She was about to withdraw her hand when, suddenly, Lewis lowered his head as if he was offering it to her.

    ¡°You can pat my head,¡± Lewis encouraged her. ¡°I don¡¯t mind.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± he said. ¡°I feel bad that you have to stand on your toes just to reach the top of my head.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re so short,¡± Lewis said bluntly. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you grow an inch for the past five years, Lady Hanna?¡±

    Okay, she was a bit offended, since she was sensitive when it came to her height. ¡°I grew a lot, you know? You¡¯re just too tall!¡±

    He looked at her in disbelief. ¡°You grew? Really?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re annoying.¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯s not bad being short,¡± Lewis said. ¡°It¡¯s easy to carry you around. And I feel like you can fit in my pocket.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not that short,¡± sheined. ¡°And why would you even put me in your pocket?¡±

    Lewis blinked as if he was confused himself. ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know?¡±

    Hanna couldn¡¯t help butugh at his reaction, then she ruffled Lewis¡¯ hair with her hands instead of patting his head. ¡°Lewis, you can be oddly cute sometimes.¡±

    ***

    [SOMETHING is strange.]

    Glenn noticed that the Royal Vi, the one inside the Royal Pce where his family was currently staying, was TOO quiet.

    He and Brigitte didn¡¯t bring the Hazelden Knights with them as a sign that they trusted the de Moonasterion Royal Family. But they brought a few servants with them since his wife was pregnant, and they needed people to take care of their children.

    Moreover, the Crown Prince also sent servants to the Royal Vi to serve them.

    Hence, it didn¡¯t make sense that the entire ce was this silent.

    ¡°Brigitte, my queen, get our children.¡±

    It was the first thing that Glenn said as soon as he entered the bedroom.

    Brigitte looked confused at first, but she didn¡¯t ask any questions. His queen stood up right away and woke up the sleeping Monik, Skylus, and ude on the bed. Thank goodness their children decided to sleep in their bedroom instead of their own room.

    .....

    Glenn, on the other hand, slowly drew Ebony¨C his sword¨C from the scabbard. ¡°Come out.¡±

    ¡°As expected of the previous emperor¡¯s former Pdin.¡±

    Much to his surprise, a familiar figure appeared in front of them.

    ¡°Prince Calyx?¡± Brigitte, his wife, asked in disbelief. ¡°Why did Your Royal Highnesse here in this manner?¡±

    Prince Calyx was wearing a ck hooded cloak and simple clothes, as if he was hiding his real identity.

    Moreover, the First Prince wasn¡¯t alone.

    The entire room was now surrounded by at least twenty assassins all dressed in ck.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for visiting you in this manner, but I can¡¯t let Nero know I¡¯m here,¡± Prince Calyx said, smiling. ¡°And I need to get somewhere else after this, so I¡¯ll get straight to the point: hand over Prince Skylus to me.¡±

    Glenn knitted his eyebrows, then he pulled his sword out of the scabbardpletely. ¡°You must be out of your mind if you think I¡¯d hand over our son to you, Prince Calyx. Especially not when you¡¯re oozing with bloodlust.¡±

    Prince Calyx was there to kill Skylus.

    It was obvious.

    Hence, Glenn felt an ungodly amount of rage in his chest.

    ¡°Your Majesty, if you hand Prince Skylus to me, I¡¯ll let your entire family live,¡± Prince Calyx threatened him. ¡°But if you stay stubborn, then I have no choice but to forcefully take Prince Skylus and kill everyone in this room.¡±

    ¡°Do you think you can get away with killing an entire royal family?¡±

    ¡°Well, you attempted to kill Nero, the Crown Prince of the empire. Royal or not, no one would say anything if I killed your entire family here formitting treason,¡± Prince Calyx said yfully. ¡°I¡¯m just punishing the family who harmed my precious little brother.¡±

    [Ah, so that¡¯s it.]

    The First Prince was talking about the incident where Prince Nero fainted while talking to his family.

    And it looked like Prince Calyx was trying to frame his family for treason.

    ¡°I guess our rtionship with the Great Moonasterion Empire ends here today,¡± Glenn said coldly. ¡°Brigitte, my love, take care of our children.¡±

    Fortunately, they always carried a teleportation spell with them in case of an emergency.

    But the teleportation spell that was meant to take more than two people would take time before it was activated. Hence, he had to protect his family until then. And that was the reason why he couldn¡¯t escape with them.

    ¡°Glenn, you can¡¯t die here,¡± Brigitte warned him in a cracked voice. He could tell that his wife didn¡¯t want to leave him, but as a mother, his wife knew that she had to prioritize their children¡ª especially the one in her womb. ¡°You have to return to us, whatever happens.¡±

    He just smiled and nodded, his heart heavy with guilt because he couldn¡¯t promise his wife and his children that he could return home safely.

    Then, at that moment, he heard a loud roar from behind him.

    Kingston, the White Lion, appeared.

    He was relieved.

    ¡°Lord Kingston, please protect my family,¡± Glenn said to the White Lion. ¡°I¡¯ll leave them to you.¡±

    The White Lion roared in response.

    ¡°You¡¯re really going to fight me?¡± Prince Calyx asked while shaking his head. ¡°How stupid.¡±

    The First Prince then signaled the assassins to attack¡­

    ¡­ but the assassins suddenly copsed one by one.

    [Huh?]

    Glenn was confused, and so was Prince Calyx.

    And that was when he noticed the shadow running around the room while killing the assassins with one hit.

    [Who is that?]

    His thoughts were interrupted when the window on his left side suddenly broke into pieces.

    Then ady dressed like a mage while holding a white parasol appeared standing on the windowsill.

    Glenn knitted his eyebrows when he recognized thedy. ¡°Miss Penelope?¡±

    She was ude¡¯s nanny, but something was strange about her.

    ¡°Paige Avery,¡± Prince Calyx hissed while ring at the woman. ¡°So, you¡¯re here¨C¡±

    The First Prince was forced to stop talking because of the two things that happened next.

    First, a man d in ck appeared behind Prince Calyx and held a dagger against the First Prince¡¯s throat.

    Second, a FLOATING ind appeared behind Miss Penelope.

    [That Prince Calyx called ¡®Paige Avery¡¯ earlier.]

    ¡°Xion, I¡¯ll leave that fake, delusional, and insufferable ¡°prince¡± to you,¡± Penelope (or was it Paige Avery?) said to the man (that looked like an assassin) behind Prince Calyx. Then the woman turned to Glenn. ¡°Your Majesty, under Princess Neoma¡¯s order, we are here to save the Griffiths Royal Family.¡±

    Glenn clutched his head with one hand when he felt a splitting headache after hearing the unfamiliar yet familiar name. ¡°Princess¡­ Neoma?¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 626 - 626 NEOMAâ€™S PRECIOUS TEARS

    626 NEOMA¡¯S PRECIOUS TEARS

    [¡°PRINCESS NEOMA.¡±]

    As soon as Brigitte heard that name, a warm feeling enveloped her chest. She didn¡¯t know why, but she felt relieved. Just a few moments ago, she felt helpless because her family was in grave danger.

    But now, she felt safe even though nothing had changed yet.

    She felt like she could trust thedy who mentioned the precious name, but she couldn¡¯t get carried away by her personal feelings when she had to protect her children.

    [Moreover, Miss Penelope lied to us about her identity.]

    Brigitte liked Penelope the moment she saw her during the time she applied to be ude¡¯s nanny. But she didn¡¯t like that Penelope lied about her identity because it meant there was a reason she approached her family as a nanny.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, Mommy,¡± ude, the third child she was carrying in her arms, said while touching her cheek. ¡°We can trust Sister Paige.¡±

    Brigitte was surprised to hear that from her son. ¡°Baby, you already know Miss Penelope¡¯s real identity?¡±

    ude nodded, but he looked guilty. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for keeping it a secret, Mommy.¡±

    .....

    ¡°We¡¯re sorry, too, Mommy.¡±

    It was Skylus and Monik who spoke at the same time.

    Her oldest son and daughter were clinging to her long skirt while looking up at her with huge and round pleading eyes.

    ¡°Mommy, we also know Sister Paige,¡± Monik said. ¡°We¡¯ll exinter, but please trust us this time.¡±

    Skylus nodded in agreement with his sister. ¡°That¡¯s right, Mommy. Sister Paige and the others will protect us from the bad First Prince.¡±

    ¡®Bad First Prince.¡¯

    Right.

    Compared to Prince Calyx, Brigitte knew that she¡¯d rather trust Penelope and the ¡®Princess Neoma¡¯ that she mentioned than the evil First Prince.

    ¡°Glenn,¡± Brigitte called her husband firmly. ¡°Let¡¯s follow Miss Penelope.¡±

    Her husband looked over his shoulder.

    ¡°As you wish, my queen,¡± Glenn said gently, then he turned to Penelope¨C no, Paige Avery. ¡°Lady, please take my family first.¡±

    Brigitte understood what Glenn meant by that when a murder of crows appeared out of nowhere and headed straight in their direction.

    As the crows got nearer, their shapes changed and they quickly turned into humans.

    [More assassins!]

    Brigitte looked at Skylus and Monik. ¡°Children, run.¡±

    Skylus and Monik immediately ran to Paige Avery.

    Brigitte also ran with ude in her arms while praying that the baby in her womb wouldn¡¯t get harmed because of her current state.

    Fortunately, she rxed when she saw Paige Avery carry Skylus and Monik in her arms.

    The assassins who got past Glenn tried to get to Brigitte and the children.

    But Kingston, the White Lion, fought and killed the enemies by biting their necks.

    ¡°Your Majesty, is it okay if I use flight magic on you?¡± Paige Avery asked politely. ¡°I assure you it won¡¯t affect the baby in your womb.¡±

    Pregnant women were sensitive to magic, especially people like Brigitte who were Non-Mana users.

    However, she knew that she could trust this person.

    Brigitte nodded politely. ¡°Please.¡±

    ***

    [THEY ESCAPED.]

    Calyx was busy exchanging blows with Xion Redgrave that he couldn¡¯t focus on the Hazelden Royal Family.

    Paige Avery, that wicked wench, helped the Griffiths escape.

    Of course, he sent more assassins after them even though they disappeared after jumping from the window.

    He knew that the assassin crows that he brought wouldn¡¯t be enough to kill King Glenn and the White Lion. But he couldn¡¯t use his full strength because the Royal Vi was within the Royal Pce. If he used his Mana, then Nero would know he was there.

    ¡°Tsk,¡± Calyx clicked his tongue while blocking Xion Redgrave¡¯s dagger with the de of his sword. ¡°I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m wasting my time here. Xion Redgrave, you should be thankful that I can¡¯t use my real strength right now or else, you would have been dead already.¡±

    Xion scoffed, then he stepped back to avoid the swing of his de. ¡°It¡¯s riching from you when I almost slit your throat earlier.¡±

    Well, that was true.

    He let his guard down when he got distracted by Paige Avery¡¯s appearance.

    But it wasn¡¯t like Xion was the first person who tried to slit his throat from behind. His family members had been doing that to him since he was a toddler. But none of them seeded because of the ability that he developed.

    It was a simple technique: he just used his Mana and gathered it around his neck.

    That was why the de of Xion¡¯s de broke into two as soon as it touched his throat.

    ¡°Like I said, I¡¯m holding back since I don¡¯t want my precious little brother to know I¡¯m here,¡± Calyx insisted, hating the smug look on Xion¡¯s face. ¡°Consider this your lucky day, Xion Redgrave.¡±

    ¡°If you¡¯re going to act arrogant, you should have the skills to back it up,¡± Xion said in a bored voice. ¡°Do you know why no one couldin about Princess Neoma¡¯s arrogance? Yes, it¡¯s because she actually walks the talk¨C unlike you.¡±

    He knitted his eyebrows. ¡°How dare youpare me to a mere royal princess who has been forgotten by the entire world, save for a few of you who follows her stupidly?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have the right to insult our Princess Neoma when you can¡¯t even tell you¡¯re not fighting my main body.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    Xion sneered at him before he stabbed his own heart with his dagger.

    But instead of blood, smoke came out of the hole in his chest.

    Then, slowly, ¡°Xion¡± turned into dust. ¡°So long, dumb prince.¡±

    And just like that, the assassinpletely vanished into thin air.

    Calyx snarled when he realized the Xion Redgrave that he fought was nothing but a clone. ¡°Where is his main body, then?¡±

    ***

    NERO¡¯S JAW clenched after watching and hearing everything that happened in the Royal Vi through the mirror that the intruder was holding.

    Yes, there was an intruder in his room.

    He was about to leave his bedroom to meet Duke Rufus Quinzel when someone suddenly appeared right in front of him.

    Of course, Raku and Sanford immediately barged in to protect him.

    There was a short fight, and he was impressed that the intruder managed to dodge all of Raku and Sanford¡¯s attacks.

    But he noticed that the intruder wasn¡¯t fighting back.

    Hence, he realized it wasn¡¯t an assassin.

    And his hunch was confirmed when the intruder pulled out a mirror from his huge baggage. Then a video that seemed to be happening in real-time appeared.

    Calyx was there, threatening the Griffiths to hand over Prince Skylus to him.

    That was when he asked Raku and Sanford to stop attacking the intruder.

    Then he spent the next few minutes watching the video.

    ¡°You used your clone to record what was happening in the vi,¡± Nero said after the video ended. ¡°You have the same face as the assassin who fought Calyx, after all.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s correct, Prince Nero,¡± the intruder said. ¡°My name is Xion Redgrave.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I heard Calyx call your name earlier,¡± Nero said indifferently. ¡°And I also heard your femalepanion mention the name ¡®Neoma.''¡±

    It was the thing that struck him the most.

    As soon as he heard the woman mention ¡®Neoma,¡¯ his heart thumped fast and hard against his chest.

    Despite that, he felt calm.

    [It¡¯s as if I finally found my inner peace.]

    ¡°Are you also here under Neoma¡¯s order?¡± Nero asked the intruder. ¡°And if you are, then what is Neoma¡¯s purpose for doing this?¡±

    ¡°Our Princess Neoma wishes to protect Your Royal Highness from the insufferable¨C I mean, the First Prince.¡±

    ¡°And why does she feel the need to protect me from my own brother?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s for you to find out, Prince Nero,¡± Xion Redgrave said, his body slowly turning into dust, just like what happened to his clone earlier. ¡°But there¡¯s one thing I can tell you: everything about the dumb prince is fake.¡±

    After saying that, the intruder finally vanished.

    ¡°Wow, that fellow was he vague,¡± Sanfordined, then he turned to him. ¡°Should we chase after him, Prince Nero?¡±

    .....

    Raku looked at Nero with eyes that said he was ready to follow the intruder.

    ¡°Forget it,¡± Nero said, ignoring the weird sensation in his chest. ¡°I need to meet Duke Quinzel first.¡±

    [I¡¯ll deal with Calyxter.]

    ***

    [OKAY, this is definitely destiny.]

    Neoma was on the rooftop of the Astello Temple¡¯s main building because she was about to release and feed Alucard Dionisio with her blood.

    But Ruto suddenly fell from the sky.

    [But not really ¡°suddenly,¡± I¡¯m just being dramatic.]

    To be precise, her man was riding on Veton¨C the giant Thunderbird¨C beforending on the roof. It looked like that Ruto didn¡¯t expect to see her there.

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t stalking you,¡± Neoma said defensively. ¡°I¡¯m here because of some business.¡±

    The entire temple was still oozing with her purification energy. Hence, the rooftop was the safest ce to release Alucard Dionisio.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t say anything,¡± Ruto said indifferently. ¡°Are you free to talk now? Myrades would arriveter. Before that, I need to speak with you and Miss Dahlia about the Elemental Guardians.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be free after a quick task.¡±

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll wait for you in the drawing room with Miss Dahlia.¡±

    ¡°Oki-doki,¡± she said, then she paused for a moment before she asked: ¡°Do you feel better now, Ruto?¡±

    ¡°Of course not,¡± he said, sighing. ¡°All the forbidden words engraved to my soul are connected to you. It¡¯s as if my old self was too scared to offend you.¡±

    That put a smile on her face.

    [Aww, Ruto. You¡¯re so sweet.]

    ¡°Are you happy?¡±

    ¡°A little,¡± she admitted. ¡°Are you upset?¡±

    ¡°I am,¡± Ruto confessed while nodding. ¡°Will the ¡°Love Contract¡± continue bothering me even if I fall in love with another woman?¡±

    Huh?

    Neoma¡¯s smile immediately vanished, a painful grip squeezing her heart mercilessly.

    ¡°Why are you looking at me like that?¡± Ruto asked, confused and defensive. ¡°Did the thought of me falling in love with another person never cross your mind?¡±

    She couldn¡¯t answer.

    Just thinking about Ruto loving someone who wasn¡¯t her was enough to devastate her.

    And the worse thing?

    It was possible.

    [Now that Ruto doesn¡¯t have any positive feelings for me, it¡¯s possible for him to fall in love with another woman.]

    It even seemed like he was fed up with her and the Love Contract already.

    She didn¡¯t want to think about it, but she was reminded of the time Rubin Drayton chose Regina Crowell over her.

    That was when she realized that she got her heart broken once again.

    But the pain and betrayal that she suffered back then was iparable to the pain that was breaking her heart at the moment.

    [Because I love Ruto more than I loved Rubin in the past.]

    ¡°Princess Neoma,¡± Ruto said, his dark purple eyes widening a bit. ¡°Why are you crying?¡±

    Neoma tried to exin, but only sobs came out of her mouth.

    Oh, god.

    [I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m crying over a man¡­ again.]

    ***

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 Chapter 627 - 627 JUST ANOTHER FACE IN THE CROWD

    627 JUST ANOTHER FACE IN THE CROWD

    ¡°PLEASE calm down, Princess Neoma.¡±

    Neoma growled at Ruto because of the three mistakes hemitted in one sentence.

    First, he called her by her title.

    Second, he used formal speech.

    And third¡­

    [YOU DON¡¯T TELL A CRYING WOMAN TO ¡®CALM DOWN¡¯ BECAUSE IT WILL ONLY MAKE HER MORE HYSTERICAL.]

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to calm down,¡± Neoma said stubbornly. ¡°Let me get mad!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not mad¨C you¡¯re crying.¡±

    Okay, at least he switched back to talking informally to her. That closed the distance between them a little bit.

    .....

    ¡°I¡¯m not crying,¡± she insisted even though she was aware she was being childish. ¡°It¡¯s raining, okay?¡±

    He knitted his eyebrows. ¡°Raining¡­?¡±

    ¡°If I said it¡¯s raining, then it¡¯s raining¨C¡±

    She was forced to stop talking when ¡°rain¡± suddenly poured.

    Well, to be precise, the ¡°rain¡± only poured on the spot where Neoma and Ruto were standing. In short, it was an artificial downpour.

    And she could only think of one person who could do something like that.

    ¡°Trevor,¡± Neoma growled lowly. ¡°Are you crazy?¡±

    ¡°You said you wanted it to rain,¡± Trevor, who suddenly appeared beside Ruto,ined. ¡°I just did what you¨C ouch!¡±

    The demon boy let out an agonizing groan when Ruto suddenly covered Trevor¡¯s eyes with his hand.

    Hmm?

    Neoma was confused by Ruto¡¯s action, especially when she realized that his face was red.

    [And he can¡¯t even look at me now¡­]

    She was starting to get upset when Ruto momentarily removed his hand away from Trevor¡¯s eyes to take off his cloak.

    Then Ruto quickly draped the cloak over her shoulders before he covered Trevor¡¯s eyes again. After that, he excused himself while dragging the demon boy with him. Trevor kept onining, but it seemed like Trevor didn¡¯t have enough power to wiggle out of Ruto¡¯s grasp.

    The artificial rain finally stopped pouring when

    [Just what happened here?]

    She was confused until she looked at the front area of her soaked blouse.

    Oh.

    She was wearing a whitece blouse today. And after her top got soaked from the rain, it became transparent and exposed the bra she was wearing underneath.

    That was probably why Ruto dragged Trevor away while covering the demon boy¡¯s eyes.

    [And why he couldn¡¯t look at me earlier.]

    ¡°Gosh,¡± Neoma said in disbelief while pulling thepels of the cloak closer to her body. Ruto¡¯s body warmth still lingered on the cloak, and so was his scent. She smiled because it felt like Ruto was hugging her to keep her warm. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll forgive you for making me cry today.¡±

    She stayed there for a little longer because she wanted to savor that moment.

    And, well, she didn¡¯t want people to see her puffy eyes.

    [But it¡¯s getting colder. I need a warm bath.]

    Neoma was about to leave when the door to the rooftop suddenly burst open, then Dahlia came running to her while holding a thick towel in her hands. She noticed the symbol of the Astello Temple embroidered on the towel.

    [Ah, right. We¡¯re borrowing the amenities of the temple while we¡¯re here. I¡¯ll take it as a payment since I purified the entire temple.]

    ¡°Princess Neoma, let¡¯s hurry inside. You¡¯ll catch a cold at this rate,¡± Dahlia said worriedly while wrapping the thick towel around Neoma¡¯s body. ¡°I¡¯ll prepare a warm bath for you.¡±

    ¡°How did you know I was here? And to bring a towel for me?¡±

    She already knew the answer, but she still wanted to confirm her hunch.

    ¡°I bumped into Lord Ruto earlier,¡± Dahlia exined. This time, she was using a small towel to dry Neoma¡¯s soaked hair. ¡°He told me to bring you a towel since you got soaked by the rain made by the stupid demon¨C I mean, Lord Trevor.¡±

    Pfft.

    [Did Ruto call Trevor a ¡®stupid demon?¡¯]

    Ruto had always been the most mature among the boys around her, and it was obviously because he was already old inside.

    Hence, it was funny to hear Ruto call Trevor names.

    ¡°Princess Neoma?¡±

    Neoma shook her head and smiled at the ck Witch. ¡°Dahlia, do you want to take a bath with me?¡±

    For some reason, Dahlia¡¯s face suddenly turned red.

    ***

    ¡°DAHLIA, I didn¡¯t invite you to take a bath with me for you to serve me as if you¡¯re my maid,¡± Neoma said while shaking her head. ¡°You don¡¯t have to do this for me.¡±

    The Astello Temple¡¯s bathroom was like an inner swimming pool.

    Hence, she invited Dahlia to join her because it would be boring to take a dip in the tub alone. But instead of joining her, the ck Witch began serving her as if she was a maid.

    [Just like what she¡¯s doing now.]

    While Neoma was in the tub big enough for ten adults to use, Dahlia sat on the small and low chair beside the tub while scrubbing her arm with a washcloth.

    She was used to being served like this, but she still felt awkward.

    [I mean, Dahlia isn¡¯t a maid. She¡¯s the freakingst ck Witch in the world. A VIP!]

    And yet, such a person was serving Neoma.

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t dare join the royal princess in a bath,¡± Dahlia said shyly. ¡°I¡¯m honored to serve you, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°I think that¡¯s the problem,¡± Neoma said, a little light bulb popping up in her head. ¡°Let¡¯s be friends, Dahlia.¡±

    Her eyes went wide. ¡°I-I can¡¯t be friends with Your Royal Highness¡­ I¡¯m just a ck Witch¡­¡±

    ¡°No, don¡¯t say that,¡± she said gently. ¡°You¡¯re thest of your kind, Dahlia. The ck Witches did nothing wrong, so you should be proud of your bloodline.¡±

    ¡°Even so¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not even an official royal princess,¡± she said, shrugging. ¡°If you put it that way, then doesn¡¯t it make me amoner, too?¡±

    Dahlia turned to her, then she chuckled. ¡°How can you say that when you have royal blood flowing in your veins, Princess Neoma?¡±

    Sheughed with her. ¡°Let¡¯s just say I¡¯m desperate to be your friend. But I don¡¯t want to make you feel ufortable, so I¡¯ll stop here for today.¡±

    After all, Neoma knew that friendship wasn¡¯t forced¨C it was something that woulde naturally.

    [I¡¯ll wait until Dahlia isfortable enough with me.]

    ¡°Princess Neoma, may I ask something personal?¡±

    ¡°Sure, fire away.¡±

    ¡°Did you fight with Lord Ruto?¡±

    ¡°Oh, are my eyes still puffy?¡±

    ¡°A little bit,¡± Dahlia said, then she paused for a moment before speaking again. ¡°And I saw how Lord Ruto looked earlier.¡±

    ¡°How did he look like?¡±

    ¡°Like he wanted to punch himself.¡±

    Ah, Ruto must have felt guilty for making her cry.

    But Neoma wouldn¡¯t dare assume he felt remorseful because he had feelings for her. She was perfectly aware that Ruto was a good person. Hence, he wouldn¡¯t want anyone to cry because of him.

    After all, right now, Neoma was just another face in the crowd.

    ¡°Ruto asked me if I¡¯d still bother him if he falls in love with another girl.¡±

    Dahlia gasped, dropping the washcloth into the water. ¡°Oh, dear.¡±

    ¡°I know, right?¡± Neoma asked,ughing bitterly. ¡°I cried like a baby after I realized Ruto could now love another girl after he lost all his feelings for me. I feel stupid for crying over a man again.¡±

    The ck Witch fell silent for a moment as if she was thinking hard.

    [No, she¡¯s hesitating.]

    .....

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, Dahlia,¡± Neoma encouraged her. ¡°Speak your mind.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong, Princess Neoma. I absolutely hate the fact that you cried,¡± Dahlia said carefully. ¡°But I don¡¯t think the reason you cried was stupid. Lord Ruto deserves your tears, Princess Neoma.¡±

    Oh.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t think of it that way,¡± Neoma said, admitting her mistake. ¡°My arrogance often clouds my judgment.¡±

    But now that Dahlia mentioned it, she realized that the ck Witch was right.

    [Ruto deserves my tears, indeed. He didn¡¯t mean to hurt me. All of this was out of his control, so I shouldn¡¯t resent him for anything.]

    To simply put, Neoma was humbled by Dahlia¡¯s words.

    ¡°Princess Neoma, actually, I know how Lord Ruto lost all his feelings for youpletely.¡±

    Ah, that was right.

    [ording to Hanna, Dahlia was rescued by a man she believed to be Ruto. Hence, Dahlia spent the past few years with my man.]

    ¡°How?¡± Neoma asked curiously. ¡°How did the Ancient Devil end up swallowing Ruto¡¯s feelings for me?¡±

    ¡°A few years ago, the gods slowly retrieved their memories of you,¡± Dahlia told her. ¡°The spell that the crows cast to make everyone forget about Your Royal Highness didn¡¯tst its effect on the gods. Hence, the gods who wanted to use you as the next Aether nned to force a door to the other world open.¡±

    She gasped, surprised. ¡°Those fuckers¡­¡±

    The ck Witch blushed when Neoma cursed, but she continued with her exnation. ¡°To stop the gods from looking for you, Lord Ruto ascended to the Upper World again. But he didn¡¯t have the power to fight and kill all the gods up there. So he just restored and improved the curse that the crows used.¡±

    ¡°To make the gods forget about me again?¡±

    [Wow, Ruto is really OP.]

    Dahlia shook her head. ¡°It was hard for Lord Ruto to do that since he had already used a huge portion of his power to protect the memories of Your Royal Highness¡¯ people,¡± she exined. ¡°Hence, Lord Ruto could only erase a portion of the gods¡¯ memories¨C so he made them forget about Princess Neoma being an Aether.¡±

    Ah, so that was how she lived in peace for thest five years.

    [And that¡¯s also probably the reason why the gods haven¡¯t bothered me yet even though I¡¯ve already returned to this world.]

    ¡°Seriously,¡± Neoma whispered to herself. ¡°How can I let go of Ruto now?¡±

    ***

    ¡°RUTO, I have something to tell you.¡±

    That was the first thing Neoma said to Ruto when she bumped into him while she was on her way to the kitchen.

    Ruto stopped walking, then he looked at her as if he was listening to her intently.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay if you fall in love with someone else,¡± Neoma dered boldly, even though it broke her heart to say those things. ¡°But I have a condition. I mean, I know I don¡¯t have the right to do this to you, but I have to for the sake of our Love Contract.¡±

    Ruto let out a sigh. ¡°What are your conditions?¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t fall in love with the Goddess of Beauty because she¡¯s too old for you, and you can¡¯t also choose Phoebe Willows because she¡¯s too young for you.¡±

    She knew it was childish and petty of her to tell Ruto whom NOT to fall in love with.

    But Neoma decided to be a wicked woman and forget about her moralpass this time.

    [It was Ruto who told me to be flexible about these things anyway.]

    ¡°Then who am I supposed to fall in love with?¡±

    Neoma pointed at her face. ¡°It has to be someone who¡¯s more beautiful than me.¡±

    Ruto looked at her in disbelief, then he chuckled. ¡°Are you telling me to be a bachelor forever then?¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 628 - 628 PICK-ME GIRL

    628 PICK-ME GIRL

    ¡°ARE YOU telling me to be a bachelor forever then?¡±

    Hmm?

    Neoma was a little surprised when she heard Ruto¡¯s response. ¡°Does it mean you think you won¡¯t ever find a girl who¡¯s more beautiful than me?¡±

    That was shocking.

    After all, she thought Ruto had already forgotten her face. Moreover, he had also lost his physical attraction to her. Hence, she couldn¡¯t believe that Ruto still considered her the most beautiful girl in the world.

    [Well, he didn¡¯t say that exactly, but whatever.]

    Neoma was more excited about the fact that Ruto finallyughed and smiled.

    [He¡¯s been grumpy ever since we met here.]

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure why I said that,¡± Ruto said, his precious smile slowly vanishing. ¡°I heard that Princess Neoma is very beautiful, though. I guess you can say I¡¯m merely stating the obvious.¡±

    .....

    That was bittersweet to hear.

    She was d to hear Ruto say she was beautiful, but it didn¡¯t feel genuine because he only ¡°heard¡± it from other people.

    [But I¡¯m not in a position where I canin about that.]

    She was just grateful that, at least, she was the most beautiful girl in Ruto¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°I see,¡± Neoma said, nodding and epting his excuse. ¡°Thank you.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°For regarding me as the most beautiful girl in the world.¡±

    As she said earlier, Ruto DID NOT say that.

    She exaggerated it a bit.

    But, thankfully, Ruto didn¡¯t deny it.

    [And because Ruto didn¡¯t deny it, it¡¯s now official: I¡¯m the most beautiful girl in the world.]

    It was childish, but she still felt victorious.

    ¡°You seem to be in a good mood now,¡± Rutomented. He was no longer smiling, but his face was brighter than earlier. ¡°Have you forgiven me already for making you cry earlier?¡±

    ¡°Look at this punk,¡± Neomained. ¡°You knew you were the reason I cried earlier, and yet you didn¡¯t apologize.¡± She paused for a moment after realizing her mistake. ¡°Not that you owe me an apology. I¡¯m just used to you spoiling me, but I guess I have to lower my expectations from now on to avoid getting hurt and disappointed.¡±

    ¡°You have a strong mental fortitude,¡± hemented, a little surprised. ¡°I didn¡¯t apologize on purpose because I wanted you to hate me.¡±

    ¡°In hopes that I give up on you?¡±

    He nodded slowly. ¡°I don¡¯t like making people cry.¡±

    ¡°Then I won¡¯t cry because of you anymore.¡±

    [Well, not in front of you, at least.]

    ¡°You can¡¯t make me hate you, Ruto,¡± Neoma said in a gentle yet firm voice. ¡°I¡¯m not sure how much of your memories were messed up by Lord Levi, but you loved me very much in the first timeline. And you still do, even now. You just can¡¯t feel it because the fucking Ancient Devil swallowed up your emotions.¡±

    Ruto let out a sigh. ¡°You¡¯re very determined, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Is there a reason why you¡¯re adamant about rejecting me¨C except for the fact that I¡¯m annoying, of course?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not annoying.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not?¡±

    ¡°I ignore people who annoy me.¡±

    That made her happy, but she hid it well because she didn¡¯t want to get ahead of herself. ¡°Then why are you making me hate you?¡±

    ¡°It was my divine father¡¯s order.¡±

    That made her frown. ¡°What did Lord Levi say?¡±

    ¡°Catastrophes strong enough to end the world would ur if the two of us end up together,¡± Ruto confessed indifferently. ¡°Hence, my divine father ordered me to avoid you at all costs.¡±

    She smiled ¡°sweetly.¡±

    [Wee to the list of people I absolutely detest, Lord Levi.]

    ¡°And you¡¯re just blindly following Lord Levi¡¯s order?¡±

    ¡°I have no reason to disobey my divine father.¡±

    Ah, it made sense.

    After all, Ruto¡¯s sole reason to defy Levi in the past was his love for her. And now that the Ancient Devil took away his emotions, he no longer had a reason to rebel against his divine father.

    ¡°Then I just have to give you new reasons to defy Lord Levi¡¯s order.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°I told you¨C I¡¯m here to seduce you,¡± she insisted. ¡°Once you fall for me, then you won¡¯t have any reason to follow Lord Levi¡¯s order anymore.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you understand, Princess Neoma? The world would get destroyed if we end up together.¡±

    ¡°The world would still end if I lose you, Ruto.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°I already have a record of setting the world on fire,¡± Neoma said, dead serious. Even without looking at her reflection, she knew that her eyes had turned glowing red. ¡°Do you think I won¡¯t and can¡¯t do it again?¡±

    Ruto looked at her in disbelief. ¡°You¡¯re going to burn the world if you don¡¯t¡­ have me?¡±

    Aww.

    He looked pretty shy when he said that.

    [Cute, but I need to remain serious.]

    ¡°I¡¯m not saying I¡¯d burn the world on purpose. But you know that de Moonasterios are crazy, don¡¯t you?¡± she said, shrugging. ¡°Who knows what I¡¯m capable of doing once I lost my mind after losing you?¡±

    Okay, that sounded like a threat.

    It wasn¡¯t cute anymore, so she¡¯d stop here.

    [For today.]

    ¡°Let¡¯s stop flirting for now.¡±

    Ruto looked genuinely shocked. ¡°We were¡­ flirting?¡±

    ¡°Of course, we were,¡± Neoma said, smiling. ¡°But it¡¯s time for us to work, so let¡¯s have dinner first before we go straight to business.¡±

    ***

    ¡°I¡¯M SORRY, but I only made food for me, Lord Ruto, and Miss Dahlia.¡±

    Neoma looked at Phoebe Willows indifferently.

    [For someone who¡¯s apologizing, she sure doesn¡¯t look sorry at all.]

    Right now, Neoma was in the dining hall of the temple with Trevor, Dahlia, Ruto, and Phoebe.

    ¡°I cooked dinner for the High Priest and the Holy Knights,¡± Phoebe continued with her exnation. Then she cupped her face with a hand while acting like she was sorry. ¡°Unfortunately, all the fresh ingredients have run out. Hence, I only managed to cook for three people¡­¡± She turned to Neoma and Trevor. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Princess Neoma, Sir Trevor.¡±

    What a load of bullshit.

    But since Neoma didn¡¯t care, she didn¡¯t react. In the first ce, she didn¡¯t expect Phoebe Willows to make dinner for them.

    ¡°Princess Neoma, you can have my dinner,¡± Dahlia said, flustered. ¡°I¡¯m not hungry anyway.¡±

    Ruto didn¡¯t say anything, but he definitely didn¡¯t look pleased.

    [Aww. My man looks hot when he¡¯s pissed.]

    For that, she was thankful to Phoebe Willows for acting like a third-rate viiness.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Dahlia,¡± Neoma said casually. ¡°Trevor and I brought our own food.¡±

    Dahlia still looked worried.

    Neoma smiled and patted Dahlia¡¯s shoulder before turning to Phoebe Willows. ¡°Lady Phoebe, thank you for making dinner for Dion and the Holy Knights. In return, Trevor and I will make everyone¡¯s breakfast tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Trevor said, then he turned to Phoebe Willows with a sneer. ¡°My Moon Princess doesn¡¯t eat food made by just anyone anyway.¡±

    Phoebe Willows¡¯ face turned red from embarrassment.

    Neoma nudged Trevor in the stomach.

    [Gosh, stop bullying the poor child.]

    .....

    Trevor, who read her facial expression, just shrugged.

    ¡°Enjoy your meal,¡± Neoma said politely. ¡°Trevor and I will use the other table, since you might find the food we brought unpleasant.¡±

    [Most people find the smell of kimchi unpleasant at first, after all.]

    Before anyone could react, Neoma and Trevor already moved to the next table.

    She purposely chose the seat where she would have to turn her back on Ruto. It wasn¡¯t like she didn¡¯t want to see him. She was just afraid that she might end up staring at him while he was having dinner.

    [I don¡¯t want to make him more ufortable than I already had.]

    Hence, Trevor ended up taking a seat that faced Ruto¡¯s table.

    [And Trevor looks smug for some reason.]

    ¡°Tteokbokki,¡± Neoma said. ¡°Come out and eat with us.¡±

    In just the blink of an eye, Tteokbokki materialized in his human form and sat on the seat next to Neoma.

    ¡°Hyung2, did you bring it?¡± Tteokbokki said excitedly. ¡°I want ramen!¡±

    Neoma clicked her tongue. ¡°Are you not even going to greet me? And since when did Trevor be your ¡°hyung?¡±¡±

    Tteokbokki turned to her with a knitted eyebrows. ¡°Why do I have to greet you when we¡¯re always together anyway?¡±

    ¡°Look at this disrespectful little piece of shit¨C¡±

    ¡°Noonim1,¡± Tteokbokki said, grinning after he cut her off. ¡°I called you ¡®noonim¡¯ instead of thug princess, so don¡¯t be upset, okay?¡±

    Tsk.

    Ever since Tteokbokki had spent time as ¡®Tan¡¯ in Korea, he became a little¡­ childish.

    But since there was this glow of innocence on the Soul Beast¡¯s face, she found it hard to stay mad at him.

    ¡°Stop fighting, you two,¡± Trevor scolded them, then he snapped his fingers. ¡°Let¡¯s start eating now.¡±

    A pic basket materialized on the table.

    Then Trevor opened the lid and brought out things one by one.

    First, a portable butane stove and a grill.

    Second, marinated meats (chicken, samgyeopsal, and beef).

    Third, the banchan (side dishes) such as kimchi, gimbap, lettuce, soybean sprouts, baby potatoes, fish cake, egg rolls, green onion pancake, and many others.

    Lastly, utensils such as tes, chopsticks, spoons, forks, tongs, and scissors.

    ¡°Your storage device is really amazing, hyung,¡± Tteokbokki said, then he began putting meat on the grill when it was hot enough for cooking. ¡°Respect.¡±

    That was true.

    Trevor storage devices were cool. They also served like a mini fridge. Hence, they were able to store food from Korea like marinated meats and banchan.

    Neoma had her own storage device, too.

    [I put all my skincare products in there.]

    And the most amazing part?

    [Tteokbokki has learned how to travel into different dimensions. And he found a door that leads to the other world. Unfortunately, he could only bring back items from the other world and not people. Moreover, it takes a lot of his strength whenever he does that.]

    ¡°Princess Neoma?¡±

    She raised her head to meet Trevor¡¯s gaze. ¡°Yeah?¡±

    Trevor raised an eyebrow at her. ¡°Are you going to leave that rude wench alone?¡±

    ¡°Of course not,¡± Neoma said, scoffing. ¡°Today marks the first day of my viiness era.¡±

    ***

    ¡°ANNYEONG,¡± Neoma greeted Phoebe Willows casually. ¡°Let¡¯s talk for a moment.¡±

    She cornered Phoebe Willows when the child was about to go to the bathroom.

    [I literally cornered her.]

    Neoma stood in front of Phoebe Willows while the child was leaning against the wall.

    ¡°Is this about Lord Ruto? That¡¯s the only reason why Your Royal Highness would approach me,¡± Phoebe said smugly. ¡°I¡¯m not doing anything wrong. You¡¯re not in a rtionship with Lord Ruto, Princess Neoma. You don¡¯t have the right to tell me to make a move on him.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not here to do that,¡± Neoma said, crossing her arms over her chest. ¡°Because even if I don¡¯t threaten you, Ruto will never like you back.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me?¡±

    ¡°Do you think picking on me will make Ruto like you?¡± she scoffed. ¡°Phoebe Willows, picking on me only makes you look like an insecure bitch.¡±

    The child¡¯s face turned red. ¡°Princess Neoma, your words are too harsh.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t pretend to be ssy now after the cheap trick you pulled earlier,¡± she scolded her. ¡°If you want Ruto to like you back, then start acting like a decent human being. Girl, stop acting like a ¡®pick-me girl.''¡±

    Phoebe knitted her eyebrows. ¡°A ¡®pick-me girl?¡¯ What is that?¡±

    ¡°A girl who puts down other girls just to get male validation,¡± she exined to the child. ¡°I¡¯m telling you this. Even if I disappear from this world again, Ruto won¡¯t like you back if you continue acting like a bitch.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t need your advice, Princess Neoma,¡± Phoebe said coldly. ¡°If you¡¯re done with your lecture, then I¡¯m leaving.¡±

    The child tried to leave.

    But Neoma made her ultimate move: the ¡®kabedon¡¯ aka wall m.

    She hit her hand on the wall and leaned down to meet Phoebe Willows¡¯ eye level. Since she was tall, she towered over the child who was forced to look up at her the entire time they were talking.

    ¡°Come out,¡± Neoma said in a cold voice. ¡°Stop messing with this poor child.¡±

    Phoebe knitted her eyebrows. ¡°I don¡¯t understand what you¡¯re talking about, Princess Neoma¡­¡±

    ¡°Drop the act.¡±

    ¡°What are you saying¨C¡±

    ¡°Are you afraid to meet me¨C the Visual Goddess, and the most beautiful girl in Ruto¡¯s eyes?¡±

    Phoebe Willows¡¯ face suddenly turned grim, then she closed her eyes. And when she opened them again¡­

    [Ohh, red eyes.]

    Yes, Phoebe Willows¡¯ eyes had turned glowing red.

    [The eyes of a god.]

    ¡°It seems like I¡¯ve really lived a long life now,¡± Phoebe said. Her face and voice remained the same, but it was obvious that there was a different person inside the child at the moment. ¡°How dare a mere human like you give yourself a title simr to my title, the Goddess of Beauty?¡±

    ¡°How dare an old woman like you seduce a young man using a child¡¯s body, Lady Astrid?¡± Neoma retorted, addressing the Goddess of Beauty by her name. ¡°Why don¡¯t you go and meet gods your age, Grandma?¡±

    The shriek that Astrid let out broke Neoma¡¯s eardrums.

    [Fucking hell.]

    ***

    ¡°DON¡¯T.¡±

    Ruto raised an eyebrow when Trevor, the demon apanying Princess Neoam, blocked his way. ¡°Move.¡±

    If Princess Neoma and Phoebe Willows fought, he was afraid that thetter might get hurt.

    [I know Princess Neoma¡¯s strength, so I know Phoebe doesn¡¯t stand a chance.]

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Princess Neoma and the child will only talk.¡±

    After the demon said that, they both heard a loud scream that echoed in the hallways. At the same time, a powerful burst of Mana exploded in the air¨C creating a skyquake.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± Ruto said in response, then he tried to walk past the demon. ¡°You¨C¡±

    ¡°I heard your conversation with Princess Neoma earlier,¡± the demon said, cutting him off. ¡°The part about you falling in love with someone else.¡±

    ¡°What about it?¡±

    ¡°Thank you for giving me a precious opportunity to win over Princess Neoma¡¯s heart, Ruston Solfrid Stroganoff,¡± Trevor said, smiling while patting his shoulders. ¡°If you can fall for another person, then Princess Neoma can also fall in love with another person¨C hopefully, with me.¡±

    The demon didn¡¯t say anything wrong.

    But Ruto found himself clenching his hands as tight as the painful squeeze in his heart.

    [Why am I feeling this way?]

    ***

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 Chapter 629 - 629 WE ARE NOT THE SAME

    629 WE ARE NOT THE SAME

    NEOMA was forced to step back while covering her ears with her hands.

    Astrid (who was using Phoebe Willows¡¯ body) was screaming in a high-pitched voice. Of course, it wasn¡¯t an ordinary shriek. The Goddess of Beauty was actually using soundwave that was pushing her back.

    Of course, she didn¡¯t stay still.

    She used her Dome to protect herself from the attack.

    Oh?

    She was impressed when the Goddess of Beauty managed to crack her Dome. It had been a while since she met a worthy opponent, so she got excited.

    [Heh.]

    Neoma removed her hands covering her ears, then she took a deep breath. As in a very, very, very deep breath.

    [I have a good lung capacity, you know?]

    .....

    After a few moments of holding her breath, she finally released it in an epic way¨C she screamed at the top of her lungs.

    Her own Dome broke from the airwave that she released¨C hitting Phoebe Willows after the barrier was smashed.

    She saw the child create a barrier in a hurry, but it was no use.

    The shield that Phoebe Willows used copsed in an instant, causing the poor child to be pushed back when she was already leaning against the wall.

    As a result, the wall behind Phoebe Willows also copsed, creating and huge hole on it¨C eventually causing her to get sent flying into the room behind her. It was the bathroom that Neoma used a while ago. The next thing she knew, Phoebe Willows was already drowning in the tub full of water.

    It seemed like the child lost consciousness because she didn¡¯t get up even though the water in the tub wasn¡¯t that deep.

    [Oops.]

    Neoma raised her hand, creating a ¡°finger gun¡± in an attempt to copy a certain ¡°ghost fighter¡± from a certain anime. ¡°Soju,¡± she said, summoning her Water Spirit. ¡°Pull her up.¡±

    <¡°As youmand, Princess Neoma.¡±>

    The water in the tub changed its shape as it rose, carrying the unconscious Phoebe Willows. Eventually, the water took the form of a huge hand grabbing the kid by the waist.

    That was when Neoma noticed that Phoebe Willows¡¯ ears were bleeding.

    [Oh.]

    It wasn¡¯t the extent of the damage she caused.

    In fact, she btedly realized that the walls and the floors had long cracks all over. The windows and everything fragile in the hallway¨C like the vases and statues that served as decorations¨C were broken into tiny pieces. It was a miracle that the roof didn¡¯t copse on them.

    [Wow¡­ I forgot I¡¯m OP.]

    Neoma curled her finger, gesturing Soju¨C who was controlling the water grabbing Phoebe Willows¨C to move closer.

    ¡°You insufferable brat.¡±

    When Phoebe Willows raised her head, she red at Neoma with glowing red eyes.

    [Ah, the Goddess of Beauty is still here.]

    ¡°Don¡¯t get ahead of yourself and think you¡¯re someone special just because you beat me today,¡± Astrid, in Phoebe Willows¡¯ body, warned her. ¡°It just happens that this child is a weak vessel. If we were to fight face-to-face, you wouldn¡¯t evenst a minute in my presence.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t ¡°think¡± I¡¯m special¨C I am,¡± Neoma said, then she crossed her arms over her chest. ¡°Why are you picking a fight with me?¡±

    ¡°Because you challenged my authority as the Goddess of Beauty by having people call you the ¡®Visual Goddess!''¡±

    Ah, so the rumor about the ¡®Visual Goddess¡¯ already spread to the point that it reached the ears of the Goddess of Beauty.

    It was funny that Astrid got mad just because of it.

    ¡°Cry about it, then,¡± Neoma said casually. ¡°You crossed me first.¡±

    The Goddess of Beauty, who was wearing Phoebe Willows¡¯ face, looked confused. ¡°What are you talking about?¡±

    ¡°You touched my man,¡± Neoma said, her eyes turned glowing red. ¡°And you dered war on me by spreading rumors that you¡¯re going to marry him.¡±

    Astrid looked shocked at first, then she burst outughing like the madwoman that she was. ¡°You talk big. But in the end, you¡¯re nothing but a hypocrite. You talk about morals all the time, but you don¡¯t practice what you preach. Just like me, you¡¯re trying to im Ruto for yourself!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re in his DMs, I¡¯m in his heart and Love Contract¨C we are not the same.¡±

    The Goddess of Beauty looked confused.

    [Oops, I talked in ¡®meme¡¯nguage again.]

    ¡°I¡¯m saying we¡¯re not the same,¡± Neoma exined casually. ¡°You¡¯re forcing yourself on Ruto WITHOUT his permission, I¡¯m keeping him all to myself WITH his permission. I even have a Love Contract to prove it.¡±

    ¡°You¨C¡±

    ¡°Yes, me. Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio and Ruston ¡®Ruto¡¯ Solfrid Stroganoff belong to each other BY CHOICE¨C end of discussion,¡± Neoma said, opening her hand. ¡°Lady Astrid, I¡¯m sorry but I have to banish you now. Possessing Phoebe Willows is detrimental to her life because her weak body isn¡¯tpatible to host a powerful goddess like you.¡±

    What materialized above Neoma¡¯s palm was a silver pair of scissors.

    Yes, it was the scissors that Yule gifted her to her many years ago. The proper title of the divine item was too cheesy for her to say, so she would just refer to it as what it was¨C scissors.

    Astrid, who recognized the divine item in her hand, looked shocked. ¡°How did you get your hands on that precious divine item?¡±

    ¡°This was a gift from my grandpa¨C Lord Yule,¡± Neoma said, then she stomped her feet on the ground lightly. ¡°Mochi.¡±

    <¡°As youmand, Princess Neoma.¡±>

    Flight magic in the form of fine golden dust was poured on Neoma until she was floating in the air. She didn¡¯t have to use her rose wings for this, so she just asked her Wind Spirit to lift her until she was on the same eye level as Phoebe Willows.

    ¡°What do you think you¡¯re doing, you arrogant princess?¡± the Goddess of Beauty, who couldn¡¯t get out of Soju¡¯s grasp because Phoebe Willows¡¯ body was too weak now, snarled at her. ¡°It was Phoebe Willows who offered to be my host! Are you not going to respect her wishes?!¡±

    ¡°Does Phoebe Willows know that the more she allowed you to use her body, the quicker she would age?¡±

    The Goddess of Beauty looked shocked. ¡°How did you know that?¡±

    ¡°I also have the eyes of a god, Lady Astrid,¡± Neoma said, her eyes still glowing red. ¡°I can see you¡¯re absorbing Lady Phoebe¡¯s YOUTH. Is that how you maintain your beauty and youthful appearance? By stealing young people¡¯s vitality?¡±

    Astrid hissed, but she couldn¡¯t deny Neoma¡¯s usation.

    [My expectations were low, but what the fuck?]

    ¡°I knew it,¡± Neoma said, disappointed but not surprised. ¡°Get the fuck out of here and leave the poor girl alone, Lady Astrid.¡±

    The Goddess of Beauty screamed in pain when Neoma stabbed her hand in Astrid¡¯s ¡®Fragment.¡¯

    [A ¡®Fragment¡¯ is a piece of someone¡¯s soul.]

    Yes, she only targeted Astrid¡¯s soul so Phoebe Willows¡¯ physical body wasn¡¯t harmed.

    It was easy for Neoma to touch someone else¡¯s Fragment or soul because she was a Roseheart. She could turn any part of her body into her Spirit form at will.

    [Now I know why people feared the union of a Roseheart and a de Moonasterio in the past.]

    Anyway, Astrid¡¯s Fragment was pretty¨C it took the form of a pretty white ribbon. It was tied to Phoebe Willows¡¯ soul. Hence, the Goddess of Beauty could take over the poor child¡¯s mind and physical body whenever she wanted.

    As much as Neoma wanted to respect Phoebe Willows¡¯ wish, she couldn¡¯t let her die.

    [Preston, Lady Phoebe¡¯s baby brother, would get heartbroken if she died.]

    Moreover, she could imagine that Phoebe Willows wouldn¡¯t want to age faster and die of old age when she was only in her twenties.

    [I¡¯m sure Lady Astrid didn¡¯t tell Lady Phoebe the consequences of being her host.]

    Neoma¡¯s thoughts were interrupted when Phoebe Willows let out a cry when she cut Astrid¡¯s Fragment using the scissors¨C a divine item that could sever rtionships in this way. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Lady Phoebe.¡±

    After cutting Astrid¡¯s Fragment, the scissors in her hand vanished since they had already served their purpose.

    Neoma suddenly coughed up blood, causing her to stagger while she was suspended in the air. All of a sudden, she lost control of her powers.

    But she didn¡¯t have time to worry about herself because when she lost control of her own power, Soju¡¯s control over the water also disappeared¨C causing Phoebe Willows to fall. She wanted to save the child, but Mochi¡¯s control over the wind responsible for Neoma¡¯s flight magic also vanished.

    Fortunately, Ruto came and caught Phoebe Willows before the child hit the floor.

    Unfortunately, Neoma couldn¡¯t summon Tteokbokki or her rose wings.

    Heck, she couldn¡¯t even move a muscle as if she was paralyzed.

    [Well, I¡¯m a de Moonasterio so I have brute physical strength. Falling from this height won¡¯t kill me¡­ right?]

    Whatever.

    [It is what it is.]

    Neoma braced herself for the fall, thinking that a broken bone or two wouldn¡¯t hurt that much. After all, the fact that Ruto caught Phoebe Willows instead of her was already the most painful thing that could happen to her at the moment.

    Luckily, she got a little heartbreak but not a broken bone since she didn¡¯t hit the floor.

    It was thanks to Trevor catching her in time.

    ¡°Whew,¡± Neoma said, relieved. ¡°Thanks, chingu.¡±

    She noticed that the demon boy was frozen in shock while looking at her with wide, glowing eyes.

    .....

    [Hmm?]

    ¡°Trevor?¡± she asked, waving a hand in front of his face. ¡°Dude, are you okay?¡±

    ¡°What the hell, Princess Neoma?¡± Trevor said in disbelief while looking at her straight in the eye. ¡°Five years¡­?¡±

    Neoma felt a shiver down her spine when she understood what Trevor meant by that.

    [How did Trevor find out about my remaining life span?!]

    ***

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 Chapter 630 - 630 THE SECRET IS OUT

    630 THE SECRET IS OUT

    ¡°THE KIDNAPPER said that taking the Crown Princess with him was a sign of his rebellion against me?¡± Nero asked Duke Rufus Quinzel. ¡°And that he would only return Hanna if I get myself together?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s correct, Prince Nero,¡± Duke Quinzel said, nodding. ¡°I don¡¯t know what it means, though. Does Your Royal Highness know the Pirates of the South?¡±

    Right now, Nero was having a meeting with Duke Quinzel in the drawing room of his pce.

    The duke left the rescue team in Duchess Amber¡¯s hands to talk to him.

    Nero sipped his tea before hemented. ¡°If I knew their identity, I would have arrested them a long time ago.¡±

    Calyx and the Empress Dowager had tried to start a trading business with the South since the territory owned by the Quinzels was the richest region in the empire. However, those damned pirated would always attack and loot the royal ships.

    [Come to think of it, the pirates only attacked the royal fleet.]

    ¡°The pirate seemed to resent Your Royal Highness,¡± Duke Quinzel said. ¡°Moreover, he said three strange things that bothered me.¡±

    ¡°What did he say?¡±

    .....

    ¡°Could Your Royal Highness clear the room first?¡±

    Nero raised his hand¨C a signal telling Raku, Sandford, and the servants to leave the room.

    Everyone bowed politely before leaving quietly.

    ¡°We¡¯re alone now,¡± Nero said, putting the teacup down on the saucer quietly. ¡°Speak, Your Grace.¡±

    Duke Quinzel sipped his tea first before speaking. ¡°First, the pirate called the Empress Dowager an ¡°insignificant puppet.¡±¡±

    He frowned.

    To be honest, he wasn¡¯t that attached to the Empress Dowager. But he respected Her Majesty, especially as Calyx¡¯s mother. Hence, he didn¡¯t like that a mere pirate insulted the Empress Dowager.

    ¡°I¡¯ll kill that impudent scoundrel as soon as I get my hands on him for insulting Her Majesty,¡± Nero said sternly. ¡°What else did he say?¡±

    The duke hesitated before speaking his mind. ¡°The pirate asked me to protect Your Royal Highness from Prince Calyx.¡±

    He knitted his eyebrows. ¡°To protect me from Calyx?¡±

    That came as a surprise.

    Everyone knew that Nero and Calyx had a good sibling rtionship.

    The First Prince willingly gave up his right to the throne for Nero even though Calyx was the first-born son. Moreover, even the Empress Dowager supported him.

    [Her Majesty has the right to control the empire the way she wants as the elder of the Royal Family. However, the Empress Dowager has never overstepped her boundaries. She puts me in charge of all the important matters in the empire.]

    Hence, he never saw Calyx and the Empress Dowager aspetition for the throne.

    Having said that, he heard a small voice in his head.

    [Can I really trust Calyx? He tried to kidnap Prince Skylus and when the king and queen of Hazelden refused, he tried to assassinate the entire family. And he did everything behind my back.]

    He also clearly remembered hearing Calyx say that he didn¡¯t want Nero to find out that he was already back in the empire.

    [Why is Calyx doing questionable things behind my back? And why did he attempt to harm the Griffiths? The Hazelden Kingdom may be a small kingdom, but it¡¯s rich and powerful¨C especially its military force.]

    ¡°Prince Nero?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing,¡± Nero said while shaking his head, putting on his mental note to confront Calyxter. ¡°What else did the pirate say?¡±

    ¡°Thest thing he said was what bothered me the most, Your Royal Highness.¡±

    That made him even more curious.

    [If it bothered Duke Quinzel, then it only means it¡¯s something important.]

    ¡°The pirate said we should be ready for the return of the future empress.¡±

    He knitted his eyebrows. ¡°Was he talking about the time he would return Hanna to us?¡±

    After all, Hanna would be his empress once he ascended the throne.

    ¡°No, Your Royal Highness,¡± Duke Quinzel said while shaking his head. ¡°Based on the pirate¡¯s tone and manner of speech, I think he was talking about an empress regnant.¡±

    Nero scoffed after hearing that. ¡°An empress regnant? I don¡¯t even have a sister topete with for the throne¡­¡±

    He trailed off.

    For some reason, he felt gutted after saying that he didn¡¯t have a sister. Then he suddenly remembered the foul-mouthed girl that he couldn¡¯t forget.

    [That girl has white hair, too¡­]

    And although she couldn¡¯t remember her face well, he could imagine her having ash-gray eyes like he did.

    What was her name again?

    It was on the tip of his tongue, but his brain wasn¡¯t cooperating with him.

    ¡°Your Royal Highness?¡±

    ¡°Duke Quinzel, aren¡¯t you the closest person to my father?¡±

    The duke was the only person who never stopped looking for his father and mother. And every time the duke would hear people talk ill about his parents, His Grace would defend them.

    ¡°I can¡¯t say I¡¯m the closest to His Majesty, but I guess I¡¯m one of the closest to him.¡±

    [He¡¯s really humble like Hanna.]

    ¡°Then does Your Grace know if my father had a daughter with someone else?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s preposterous, Prince Nero,¡± the duke said while shaking his head. ¡°His Majesty had only one wife and one lover.¡±

    The wife was obviously the Empress Dowager while the lover was his mother.

    ¡°Then¡­ was I born alone?¡±

    ¡°What does Your Royal Highness mean¡­¡± Duke Quinzel trailed off, then he knitted his eyebrows when he probably realized what Nero was trying to say. ¡°Oh, a twin?¡±

    Nero¡¯s heart beat like crazy for some reason. ¡°That¡¯s right¨C a twin.¡±

    The duke fell silent for quite a while. ¡°I¡¯d like to say it¡¯s impossible for Your Royal Highness to have a twin. However, Lady Roseheart gave birth outside the pce. Moreover, there wasn¡¯t a witness because ording to what I remember from His Majesty¡¯s story, it was Lady Roseheart¡¯s Spirits who helped her give birth. When His Majesty and his Pdins found her, Lady Roseheart apparently handed Your Royal Highness to your father.¡±

    For some reason, he felt nervous. ¡°Does it mean there¡¯s a possibility that I have a twin sister?¡±

    ¡°We can say that,¡± Duke Quinzel said hesitantly. ¡°But is there a reason why you believe you have a twin sister, Prince Nero?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s just a gut feeling,¡± Nero confessed, sighing. ¡°I guess I need to summon William.¡±

    [After all, William knows everything about my mother.]

    ***

    ¡°LADY HANNA, here¡¯s your dinner.¡±

    Hanna smiled at Juri Wisteria who served her a te of steak. ¡°Thank you, Lady Juri.¡±

    Right now, the two of them were on the balcony of the small vi by the beach.

    Jeno Dankworth was busy mooring the pirate ship, while Lewis was inside the vi.

    ¡°Is this vi already here when you got to this ind?¡± Hanna asked curiously. ¡°The design looked pretty old, but ssy.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right,¡± Juri agreed while nodding. ¡°We just had to clean it when we got here. But other than cleaning, we didn¡¯t do anything else. Since we¡¯re only borrowing the ce for a while, we thought it would be rude to renovate it.¡±

    ¡°I can feel how much you respected this ce,¡± she said after observing how clean the vi and the entire beach were. ¡°I¡¯m sure Neoma will be pleased once she gets here.¡±

    ¡°I hope so,¡± Juri said, and it was obvious that she was excited by the idea of finally reuniting with Neoma. ¡°Lady Hanna, we owe you an apology.¡±

    ¡°For what, Lady Juri?¡±

    ¡°ording to imperialw, this part of the South Sea is a part of your Territorial Waters,¡± Juri exined. ¡°But we¡¯re here illegally.¡±

    Hannaughed softly while shaking her head. ¡°It¡¯s alright, Lady Juri. Moreover, this ind belongs to Lady Roxana. The Quinzels wouldn¡¯t dare to im thend owned by the Light Goddess as a part of our territory. So please don¡¯t worry about it.¡± She put a hand over her chest. ¡°As the legitimate sessor of House Quinzel, I wee you to Edevane with open arms.¡±

    Evedane was the name of the Quinzels¡¯ duchy.

    Juri looked relieved by what she said. ¡°Thank you, Princess Quinzel.¡±

    She justughed when Juri addressed her by her title. ¡°By the way, where are the others?¡±

    ¡°Paige and Xion are in the Royal Capital. They brought the floating ind with them to rescue the Griffiths,¡± Juri exined. ¡°But they¡¯ll be hereter.¡±

    Hanna let out a sigh of relief. ¡°I¡¯m d to hear that.¡±

    Their conversation was interrupted when Lewis came out and joined them. And the fox boy wasn¡¯t alone.

    ¡°Greetings, Hanna noona.¡±

    Huh?

    Hanna¡¯s eyes widened a bit while looking at the tall teenage boy in front of her. ¡°Is that you, Greko?¡±

    .....

    Greko used to be a cute, bald, and plump child.

    Now, he was a big-boned boy who had a face that could heal anyone with its brightness. Moreover, he had grown out his hair.

    [Our Greko is a brte.]

    And their youngest was like a very adorable teddy bear.

    ¡°You¡¯re almost as tall as Lewis now,¡± Hanna gushed. ¡°Aren¡¯t you only, like, fifteen?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be turning fifteen in a few days, noona,¡± Greko said politely while smiling at her. ¡°I grew up well because eomma and my noonas and hyungs took really good care of me.¡±

    ¡°Aww, that¡¯s good to hear.¡±

    Hanna couldn¡¯t stop smiling, and so did Juri.

    [Greko is like a big baby that everyone loves to spoil.]

    ¡°It¡¯s my turn to take care of everyone now that I¡¯m already this big,¡± Greko said cheerfully, then he got down on one knee and extended his hand to her. ¡°Noona, can I check on your condition? You¡¯ve been consuming poisontely, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Thank you,¡± Hanna said. She was pretty sure that she was alright, but it wouldn¡¯t hurt if a great Healer like Greko would check on her condition. ¡°You don¡¯t have to kneel, Greko. I don¡¯t want you to bruise your knees.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, noona. Lewis hyung told me to bend my knees when talking to you.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    Greko smiled innocently. ¡°Lewis hyung said Hanna noona is really, really, really tiny.¡±

    Haaah.

    Hanna red at Lewis who nervously avoided her gaze, while Juri burst outughing.

    [I am not THAT small, Lewis Crevan!]

    ***

    [PRINCESS NEOMA really picked up a fight with a goddess, huh?]

    As expected of his Moon Princess.

    Trevor was impressed.

    However, he didn¡¯t like what he saw when he arrived at the ¡°scene.¡± He arrived the exact moment Princess Neoma suddenly lost her powers. It was hard to see something like that, but he had the Bookworm who could absorb information around it.

    Hence, he could tell that Princess Neoma had lost her powers for a moment.

    He ran to catch his Moon Princess, but Ruston Stroganoff ran past him.

    Trevor thought the damned chef would catch Princess Neoma. But to his relief, Ruston Stroganoff actually caught the brat named Phoebe Willows.

    However, Ruston Stroganoff summoned his Elemental Guardian to catch Princess Neoma.

    [Hmp!]

    Trevor pushed Veton, the Thunderbird, with just a snap of his fingers. Then he caught Princess Neoma in his arms before she hit the floor. He was proud of his achievement.

    Until that moment.

    A ¡®Gap¡¯ appeared.

    The Bookworm was called the Devil¡¯s Grimoire because it knew everything since it could absorb information around it. It was the reason why Trevor found out about Princess Neoma¡¯s multiple lives the first time they met.

    However, the Bookworm wasn¡¯t an omnipotent being¨C it had restrictions, too. For once, the Bookworm couldn¡¯t absorb information from strong people who could protect themselves well. He hated to say this, but the Bookworm had never seeded in absorbing information from Ruston Stroganoff from the start.

    [That damned chef is THAT strong.]

    It was the same thing for his Moon Princess.

    After Princess Neoma grew stronger, the Bookworm was unable to absorb any information from her anymore¡­

    ¡­ not until this moment.

    When the Gap appeared¨C the exact moment where Princess Neoma¡¯s guard dropped¨C the Bookworm was able to absorb information about her.

    <Neoma 5 de Moonasterio, Remaining Lifespan: years.>

    That was the information the Bookworm obtained before Princess Neoma recovered her strength.

    But he had already seen it.

    ¡°What the hell, Princess Neoma?¡± Trevor said in disbelief while looking at her straight in the eye. ¡°Five years¡­?¡±

    Princess Neoma frowned at him. ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking, but let¡¯s not talk about it here.¡±

    Right.

    Trevor also wouldn¡¯t want Ruston Stroganoff to know about Princess Neoma¡¯s current condition.

    [He doesn¡¯t care about my Moon Princess anyway.]

    ¡°Put me down for now,¡± Princess Neoma ordered him sternly. ¡°I need to talk to Ruto.¡±

    Trevor could only sigh and follow his Moon Princess¡¯ order. However, that didn¡¯t mean he would set the issue aside. He¡¯d bring it up againter.

    [Princess Neoma, I won¡¯t let you die early.]

    ***

    NEOMA IMMEDIATELY confronted Ruto as soon as Trevor put her down. ¡°Ruto, do you know that the Goddess of Beauty is absorbing Lady Phoebe¡¯s vitality?¡±

    If she could see that, there was no way Ruto couldn¡¯t.

    [I mean, we¡¯re equals in terms of strength. Well, Ruto might just be a LITTLE bit stronger than me. But it¡¯s only because I¡¯m not obsessed with getting strong, okay?]

    Ruto¡¯s face remained passive. ¡°Do I have to answer your question, Princess Neoma?¡±

    [Oh, he knows.]

    Neoma, for the first time in her life, was let down by her man. ¡°I¡¯m disappointed with you, Ruto.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 631 - 631 GATHER THE ALLIES

    631 GATHER THE ALLIES

    ¡°MOMMY, we¡¯re flying!¡±

    Brigitte smiled while watching Skylus, Monik, and ude ran in the garden of the floating ind.

    [I can¡¯t believe that we¡¯re really on a floating ind¨C and it¡¯s moving.]

    A dome-like ¡°roof¡± covered the entire ind. ording to Paige Avery¡¯s exnation earlier, the dome kept the air inside normal. Hence, they could breathe just fine. Moreover, the floating ind was hidden by clouds created by Jeno Dankworth.

    [The children¡¯s names are familiar since some of them are nobles in the empire. I haven¡¯t heard of Lady Paige¡¯s name before, but she feels familiar to me. And it¡¯s not only because she used to work as ude¡¯s nanny.]

    Anyway, the entire ce was really pretty.

    In the middle of the small ind was a strange yet beautiful vi. She said ¡®strange¡¯ because she hadn¡¯t seen that kind of architecture before, especially the interior design. However, she wouldn¡¯t deny that the entire ce was beautiful.

    Especially¡­

    ¡°Mommy, can we swim?¡±

    .....

    Brigitte wasn¡¯t sure how to answer Monik¡¯s request because the ¡®swimming pool¡¯ in front of the vi. It was like a huge tub that could fit at least twenty people.

    [Lady Paige called it a ¡®swimming pool¡¯ earlier.]

    If she remembered it correctly, the water in the pool was six feet deep. Her children were still very small¡­

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Your Majesty,¡± Paige Avery assured her. ¡°Our Princess Neoma sent some items over that the children can use to safely y in the pool.¡±

    As if on cue, the man named ¡®Xion Redgrave¡¯ appeared while holding some strange yet cute items.

    ¡°Donuts!¡± Skyler said while pointing at the giant ¡°donuts¡± that the man was holding. ¡°I want the blue donut!¡±

    ¡°I want the donut, too!¡± ude eximed excitedly. ¡°I want the yellow one!¡±

    ¡°I want that big pink mingo!¡± Monik said while pointing at the huge mingo-like item on the side of the pool. ¡°Can I ride that, Uncle Xion?¡±

    ¡°Only if your mother approves,¡± Xion said, then he turned to Brigitte. ¡°Your Majesty, these are called intable floaters. These will help the princes and the princess y in the water safely. Of course, I¡¯ll also keep an eye on them.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve also prepared proper swimming attires for everyone,¡± Paige added. ¡°The children will be able to y in the water morefortably if they wear proper attires.¡±

    Brigitte turned to her children.

    Monik, Skylus, and ude were all looking up at her with big, round puppy dog eyes.

    [Aww¡­ how can I say ¡®no¡¯ to these cuties?]

    ¡°I think it¡¯s alright to trust these children, my queen,¡± Glenn, who was standing beside her, said. By ¡°children,¡± he was talking about Xion and Paige. ¡°I feel like our children are safe with them.¡±

    ¡°I feel the same way, honey,¡± Brigitte said, then she turned to Xion and Paige. ¡°I leave our babies to you.¡±

    ***

    NOW THAT the children were ying in the pool while being guarded by Xion, it was time for a serious talk.

    Brigitte and Glenn were having tea with Paige Avery in the garden of the vi. From their spot, they could see the pool. Hence, Brigitte and her husband could still keep an eye on their children from their location.

    ¡°Your Majesties, first of all, I¡¯d like to apologize for deceiving you,¡± Paige said, bowing her head towards her. ¡°I have no intention of hurting your family when I applied as Prince ude¡¯s nanny. But I understand that in the end, I still deceived you. I¡¯m really sorry.¡±

    ¡°To be honest, my husband and I felt betrayed at first,¡± Brigitte said. ¡°However, if it wasn¡¯t for you and Xion Redgrave, Prince Calyx would have killed our entire family.¡±

    She felt chills all over her body after getting reminded that her entire family was almost killed by the First Prince.

    Since the Great Moonasterion Empire was the most powerful on the entire continent, she was pretty sure that they could cover up even the death of the entire Griffiths family. Hence, she didn¡¯t want to imagine what could have happened to the Hazelden Kingdom had they died.

    ¡°Lady Paige, we¡¯re in your debt,¡± Glenn said. ¡°Thank you for saving our family.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing, Your Majesties,¡± Paige said politely. ¡°We were only following Princess Neoma¡¯s order.¡±

    That name again.

    [The name that could give me inner peace by simply hearing it.]

    And it was also the name that made Brigitte trust Paige Avery and Xion Redgrave. She could tell that it was the same for Glenn.

    [We feel safe just because of a name. I wonder what we¡¯d feel once we met her?]

    ¡°To be honest, I¡¯d like to hear about Princess Neoma¡¯s story,¡± Brigitte said. ¡°However, I¡¯m worried about the Hazelden Kingdom. The First Prince tried to assassinate our entire family. But since he failed, I¡¯m afraid Prince Calyx would attack our kingdom while we¡¯re away.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m also worried about Prince Calyx framing us for attempting to kill Prince Nero,¡± Glenn added worriedly. ¡°What if his goal is to create a reason to wage war on our kingdom? What if there are imperial troops already on their way to invade Hazelden?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Your Majesties. That won¡¯t happen,¡± Paige assured her. ¡°Right now, the Ice Spirit is protecting Hazelden. To be precise, Lord Delwyn is hiding the kingdom from the outside. Even if Calyx Dalton sent troops to attack Hazelden, they will never find it.¡±

    Brigitte looked surprised because of how confident Paige Avery sounded.

    [And she sounds trust-worthy.]

    She could tell that her husband felt the same way.

    ¡°Your Majesties, please trust us. The Hazelden Kingdom will be fine for a few days even if you don¡¯t return right away,¡± Paige said in a polite yet firm manner. ¡°Princess Neoma will be arriving in our secret base. Would you like to meet her first before returning to Hazelden?¡±

    ***

    ¡°ARE YOU going on a vacation, Duke Hawthorne?¡±

    To say that Jasper was surprised to see Rubin Drayton in his estate would be an understatement.

    And it just so happened that he was about to go on a ¡°vacation.¡±

    But he didn¡¯t want to appear suspicious. Hence, he didn¡¯t try to hide the fact that he was leaving the estate for a few days. However, he didn¡¯t expect Rubin Drayton to personally pay him a visit as soon as his departure was confirmed.

    [There¡¯s a spy among my people then.]

    ¡°How rude,¡± Jasper scoffed. ¡°You¡¯re just a noble child who hasn¡¯t inherited his father¡¯s title yet. Where did you get the audacity toe to my estate UNANNOUNCED?¡±

    ¡°I apologize for my sudden visit, Your Grace,¡± Rubin Drayton said, and he didn¡¯t look sorry at all. ¡°However, I believe we have something important to talk about.¡±

    ¡°What do we need to talk about?¡±

    ¡°The night Lady Hanna was abducted by the pirates,¡± Rubin Drayton said, smirking at him. ¡°You were there, weren¡¯t you?¡±

    [Ah, so they already suspect me.]

    ¡°Meow.¡±

    Hmm?

    Gin, who was in his cat form, meowed loudly while looking up at Rubin Drayton.

    ¡°What?¡± Rubin Drayton growled at the cat. ¡°Stay away from me, you filthy animal.¡±

    Gin suddenly jumped high enough to reach Rubin Drayton¡¯s face and scratch it with his sharp ws. ¡°Meow, bitch.¡±

    Rubin Drayton, whose face was bleeding from the cat¡¯s scratch, yelled angrily.

    That was Jasper¡¯s cue to fight and run.

    ***

    THE ATMOSPHERE between Neoma and Ruto had been awkward since the moment she said she was disappointed with him.

    However, she didn¡¯t have time to make up with him because they had to work.

    [Thankfully, I could use this reason to avoid Trevor in the meantime.]

    Right now, Trevor was guarding Phoebe Willows who was still unconscious after she cut off the string that connected the child to Lady Astrid¨C the Goddess of Beauty.

    On the other hand, Neoma was in the drawing room with Ruto and Dahlia.

    [This is a meeting among Elemental Guardians¡¯ masters.]

    ¡°So, are you saying that the fourth Elemental Guardians summoned us?¡± Neoma summarized after hearing the story from Ruto and Dahlia. ¡°But they wanted us to find them once the three of us are together?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Ruto confirmed while nodding. ¡°However, the fourth Elemental Guardian is a yful one. They want us to find them.¡±

    ¡°Is it hard even for you to find them?¡± she asked curiously. ¡°I thought you can recognize Elemental Guardians?¡±

    ¡°The fourth Elemental Guardian is special,¡± Ruto exined. ¡°They can change their form every time they are reborn.¡±

    ¡°They gave us a clue,¡± Dahlia added. ¡°Apparently, they were born as an animal that can walk, swim, and fly. But both Lord Ruto and I are having a hard time figuring out what kind of mythical creature could walk, swim, and fly. We tried looking for all the mythical creatures on the continent that fit the description, but to no avail.¡±

    Okay, she felt relieved to hear that.

    [Now I know why Ruto and Dahlia had been traveling together all these years.]

    Not that she was jealous, okay?

    [Anyway...]

    She knitted her eyebrows, confused. ¡°But why are you looking for mythical creatures instead of normal animals?¡±

    Ruto tilted his head to one side, confused by her question. ¡°Because it¡¯s an Elemental Guardian, so it must be a majestic creature like the Thunderbird, the White Lion, and the Blue Whale...¡±

    Well, Ruto had a point.

    .....

    The Thunderbird that ruled the sky could control lightning-sh-electricity.

    The Blue Whale that reigned the sea hadmand over water.

    The White Lion, on the other hand, was the king of thend.

    Of course, it was natural for Ruto and Dahlia to think that the fourth Elemental Guardian was as majestic as the other three.

    However, she thought differently.

    ¡°It¡¯s a duck.¡±

    Ruto and Dahlia both looked confused by what she said.

    ¡°It¡¯s a duck,¡± Neoma said casually. ¡°A duck can walk, swim, and fly¡ª and it¡¯s majestic, too.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 632 - 632 THE 4TH ELEMENTAL GUARDIAN

    632 THE 4TH ELEMENTAL GUARDIAN

    ¡°THE GRIFFITHS family already left the empire and went back to Hazelden?¡± Nero asked, pretending to be surprised. He was in his office, sitting behind his desk while listening to the report. ¡°Why did they suddenly return home without even saying goodbye to me? That was rude of them.¡±

    ¡°I apologize on behalf of my friend¨C King Glenn¨C Your Royal Highness,¡± Kyle Sprouse said, bowing his head towards him. ¡°The king and queen received urgent news from Hazelden. Apparently, an unknown group of terrorists is headed to their kingdom.¡±

    Hah.

    [Calyx probably decided to attack Hazelden to stop the king and queen from revealing the fact that he tried to assassinate the Griffiths.]

    ¡°Kyle.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Royal Highness?¡±

    ¡°If I remember correctly, King Glenn is your long-time friend. Am I right?¡±

    Kyle smiled as if he was proud. ¡°That¡¯s right, Your Royal Highness. King Glenn and I grew up together. We were raised as the previous emperor¡¯s ymates. And when we came of age, we took positions that allowed us to stay by His Majesty¡¯s side.¡±

    That was right.

    .....

    King Glenn was Emperor Niki¡¯s former Pdin and personal knight, while Kyle Sprouse became the previous emperor¡¯s closest aide.

    Hence, he should believe that King Glenn and Kyle Sprouse were really friends.

    [But would a ¡°friend¡± hide the fact that his friend was almost killed by the First Prince?]

    It wasughable.

    And the realization that hit him almost made him kill Kyle Sprouse on the spot.

    [Thispdog is loyal to Calyx and not me even though I¡¯m the Crown Prince.]

    How else would Kyle Sprouse know that the Griffiths already left the empire?

    [I bet Calyx told Kyle Sprouse to help him cover up his crimes. And Kyle Sprouse used his ¡°friendship¡± with the king of Hazelden to make me believe his lies.]

    It was pretty meticulous, he¡¯d give them that.

    ¡°Prince Nero?¡±

    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s nothing,¡± Nero lied with a straight face. ¡°I was just thinking how it was a shame Calyx wasn¡¯t here. If he was present, then I would have asked him to punish the Griffiths for disrespecting me like this.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Your Royal Highness,¡± Kyle said, beaming. ¡°I received a message from Prince Calyx. Apparently, he¡¯s about to return home.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I see,¡± he said, acting like he was thrilled. ¡°Then I¡¯ll just wait for Calyx¡¯s return before I decide how to punish the Griffiths. But is that alright with you, Kyle? The king is your friend.¡±

    ¡°Although I feel bad for my old friend, I still believe that the Griffiths must be punished for disrespecting the Crown Prince of the empire.¡±

    Hah.

    [I¡¯m no saint, but I feel bad for King Glenn for having a disloyal ¡°friend.¡±]

    If Kyle Sprouse could betray his childhood friend with a smile on his face, then this traitor could also stab Nero in the back.

    [Kyle¡¯s loyalty lies with Calyx, so perhaps he wants Calyx to be the emperor instead of me.]

    Unfortunately, Kyle Sprouse already lost his trust.

    ¡°Your Royal Highness, I have something to report regarding Alucard¡¯s location¡­¡± Melvin, Nero¡¯s secretary, entered his office while talking. But he trailed off as soon as he saw Kyle Sprouse. ¡°Ah, Lord Sprouse. You¡¯re here.¡±

    Kyle Sprouse just smiled and nodded at Melvin¡¯s greeting before facing Nero again. ¡°I¡¯ll take my leave then, Your Royal Highness.¡±

    Nero just nodded before dismissing Kyle Sprouse.

    And as soon as the door closed¡­

    ¡°Melvin, keep an eye on Kyle Sprouse and report everything he does to me.¡±

    Naturally, Melvin looked surprised by his order. ¡°Prince Nero, are you asking me to spy on the Empress Dowager¡¯s aide?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t make me repeat myself twice,¡± Nero snapped at Melvin. ¡°I also want you to secretly investigate the errands that Kyle is doing for the Empress Dowager.¡±

    ¡°Your Royal Highness.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    Melvin slowly pulled out a white envelope from the inner pocket of his suit. ¡°I¡¯d like to submit my resignation letter¨C¡±

    Nero snapped his fingers, causing Melvin¡¯s resignation letter to turn into ice. ¡°No.¡±

    ***

    ¡°WHY AM I running away?¡± Jasperined while running in the man-made forest of his own estate. ¡°Rubin Drayton was the one who trespassed in my mansion! Even if I killed him, I wouldn¡¯t be punished by thew!¡±

    ¡°Do you think thew is on your side right now, Lord Jasper?¡± Gin, who was now in his human form while running beside him, asked. ¡°As long as the fake Empress Dowager and Calyx Dalton are controlling Prince Nero, you¡¯ll never win even if you take Rubin Drayton to a noble trial. Rubin Drayton obviously came here to provoke you. Don¡¯t fall into their trap!¡±

    ¡°But running away like this only makes me look guilty!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll deal with the witnesses at the manor earlier,¡± Gin said. ¡°Moreover, you¡¯re officially on vacation right now so it¡¯s okay if you suddenly ¡°disappeared.¡± And you even put your cousin, Lord Tate, in charge while you¡¯re not here.¡±

    Ah, right.

    Tate was his cousin and personal aide.

    ¡°But if I disappeared while the crows are already suspicious of me, then they might harm Tate and my estate.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll protect Lord Tate while you¡¯re gone.¡±

    He knitted his eyebrows. ¡°Are you saying you won¡¯t escape with me?¡±

    ¡°Yep, I¡¯ll stay here to protect your people and estate,¡± Gin said casually. ¡°We¡¯ve created a safe distance from the crows chasing us. This is the perfect opportunity for me to send you to Paige Avery.¡±

    The two of them slowed down until they stopped running.

    Gin didn¡¯t waste time and immediately handed him a Teleportation Ticket.

    Yes, it was called a ¡®Teleportation Ticket¡¯ and it was personally made by Paige Avery. His name and the location where he would be headed were written on the ticket. Hence, only Jasper could use that ticket, and he could only use it once since it was for long-distance teleportation.

    [Lady Paige mastered creating long-distance teleportation spells. It wouldn¡¯t be an exaggeration to say that she¡¯s now the master of teleportation on the entire continent. It¡¯s just a shame that she doesn¡¯t want the Teleportation Tickets she made to be sold to the public.]

    ¡°Are you really noting with me?¡± Jasper asked worriedly. ¡°The two of us are supposed to meet up with Paige Avery.¡±

    ¡°I saw a tracker among the crows chasing us. If we leave together, they¡¯ll just find out where we¡¯re headed,¡± Gin exined. ¡°I¡¯ll stay here and erase your trace.¡±

    He knew that the ck cat made the right decision.

    Instead of getting caught together, it was better if at least one of them could leave and meet up with Princess Neoma¡¯s ¡°children.¡±

    But just because it was the wise thing to do didn¡¯t mean it would be easy for him to ept.

    ¡°Don¡¯t die, Gin,¡± Jasper said firmly. ¡°You must absolutely return to me alive.¡±

    Ginughed at his concerns. ¡°Lord Jasper, I have a few lives left to spare. I don¡¯t mind giving up one for your sake.¡±

    ¡°Argh, that sounds so cheesy. Aren¡¯t you embarrassed?¡±

    ¡°I regret it as soon as those words came out of my mouth.¡±

    Jasper just sighed, then he ripped the Teleportation Ticket. As soon as he did, a whirlpool appeared below his feet¨C slowly swallowing him up. ¡°See youter, Gin.¡±

    Gin bowed to him politely. ¡°I¡¯ll be waiting for you, Lord Jasper.¡±

    ***

    ¡°I¡¯M ASHAMED of myself for not considering the fact that a small animal like a duck could be an Elemental Guardian.¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not like I can me you for that,¡± Neoma said to Dahlia. ¡°The other three Elemental Guardians are huge. Hence, both you and Ruto thought that the fourth Elemental Guardian was the same.¡±

    Right now, Neoma and Dahlia were in her bedroom because she wanted to take a rest first before leaving the Astello Temple.

    And Ruto was still waiting for his teammates.

    She just couldn¡¯t understand why Dahlia was standing behind her whilebing her hair as if the ck Witch was serving a princess¡­ oh, wait.

    [I¡¯m a princess.]

    ¡°Ducks are cute,¡± Dahlia gushed. ¡°I think it would be great if the fourth Elemental Guardian was really a duck.¡±

    Neoma smiled at the ck Witch¡¯s innocence. ¡°Oh, Dahlia. Ducks may look cute, but ducks are bastards. They¡¯re not soft. You should see duck-on-duck violence. The mating season for ducks is a particrly brutal time for them. I also know nine more horrifying facts about ducks, but I¡¯ll stop here because I don¡¯t want to traumatize you.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for your consideration, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°No problem.¡±

    The ck Witch fell silent for a moment before she spoke again. ¡°Uhm, Princess Neoma, did you fight with Lord Ruto?¡±

    ¡°Maybe,¡± she said, sighing. ¡°I¡¯m just a little disappointed with him.¡±

    ¡°If it¡¯s about Lady Phoebe, then I guess you should know¡­¡± Dahlia paused for a moment before speaking again. ¡°Princess Neoma, actually, Lord Ruto has a n to get rid of Lady Astrid. He didn¡¯t just watch the Goddess of Beauty corrupt Lady Phoebe all this time.¡±

    Neoma turned to Dahlia with knitted eyebrows. ¡°borate.¡±

    ***

    .....

    <¡°HEY, HANDSOME young man.¡±>

    Jasper thought he had seen it all.

    But THIS experience still blew his mind.

    <¡°You smell like money, and I money.¡±>

    Huh?

    <¡°You¡¯re old money, aren¡¯t you? People of money smell nicer than those who just got rich recently.¡±>

    That was true, but he couldn¡¯t speak because he was still stunned.

    <¡°You also look like you¡¯re a high-ranking noble even though you dressed down on purpose. Young man, can¡¯t deceive my eyes.¡±>

    Jasper finally found his voice. ¡°I am not trying to deceive your eyes¡­¡±

    <¡°I don¡¯t have a name¨C but people call me ¡®Duckie.''¡±>

    That was quite befitting for a TALKING duck.

    ***

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 Chapter 633 - 633 ARE WE FLIRTING?

    633 ARE WE FLIRTING?

    ¡°MY MOON Princess, I¡¯ve waited long enough.¡±

    ¡°Gosh, so impatient,¡± Neomained to Trevor, who appeared on the windowsill of her bedroom. The demon boy showed up as soon as Dahlia left. [I should have asked Dahlia to sleep here with me to avoid Trevor¡¯s interrogation.]

    ¡°I knew your lifespan would shorten the moment you share it with Emperor Niki,¡± Trevor said, his voice full of confusion and anxiousness. ¡°But you only have five years left to live? That¡¯s too short!¡±

    ¡°Trevor, that¡¯s life,¡± Neoma said solemnly. ¡°You either live a short life being celebrated as a hero, or you live a long life until you turn into a viin. I don¡¯t know about you, but I choose the former.¡±

    ¡°Being a hero doesn¡¯t suit you, Princess Neoma,¡± Trevor said in a more serious voice. ¡°Let¡¯s live a long life together as viins.¡±

    ¡°Heh. Tempting.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m serious,¡± he said. ¡°I won¡¯t let you die early. And if I can¡¯t prevent your death, then I¡¯ll perform necromancy.¡±

    ¡°Do you know necromancy?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to learn it now.¡±

    .....

    ¡°You¡¯re crazy.¡±

    ¡°Not as much as you are, my Moon Princess,¡± Trevor said while shaking his head. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s because I have shitty parents. But I can¡¯t imagine myself sharing my lifespan with my family.¡±

    Sheughed softly. ¡°Maybe I love Papa Boss more than I thought.¡±

    He didn¡¯tugh.

    Trevor remained serious while looking at her as if he was already nning how to revive her if she ever died under his watch.

    [Welp, Trevor is so damn serious.]

    ¡°Trevor Kesser, I¡¯m not giving you permission to revive me through necromancy.¡±

    ¡°I apologize in advance then.¡±

    Aigoo.

    [I should indicate in myst will and testament not to revive me if I died naturally. I¡¯m sure my children will respect my final wish and let me rest in peace.]

    Right?

    ¡°If I have to give up my identity as a Demon Sorcerer to be a Necromancer, I¡¯ll do it in a heartbeat,¡± Trevor dered firmly. ¡°I don¡¯t care if I be the new Devil, if it would grant me the power to bring you back to life, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°What a disrespectful little piece of shit,¡± Neoma said, irritated. ¡°If you don¡¯t have any intention of listening to me, then get out of my sight.¡±

    Trevor bowed to her.

    It was a bow that showed his deep apology.

    [Which means he has really no intention to respect my wishes.]

    It wasn¡¯t like she didn¡¯t understand where Trevor wasing from. But even though she wanted to live longer, she didn¡¯t want to extend her life at the expense of Trevor¡¯s sacrifice.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Princess Neoma. I can¡¯t let you die early,¡± Trevor said in a whisper. ¡°I just can¡¯t.¡±

    Neoma had only one thought at that moment.

    [If Trevor is reacting this way after he found out I only have five years to live, I wonder how Papa Boss, Mama Boss, and Nero would feel then?]

    Her children might ept her fate easier since her children listened to her well.

    But her family would be different.

    [Especially Nero. He¡¯ll probably lose his mind.]

    And about Ruto¡­

    To be honest, she was d that her man couldn¡¯t feel anything for her at the moment.

    [Maybe Ruto losing his love for me is a blessing in disguise. After all, even if I died after five years, he wouldn¡¯t get his heart broken.]

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell anyone about my secret or you¡¯re dead,¡± Neoma warned Trevor. ¡°I¡¯m serious.¡±

    Trevor raised his head, his eyes glowing determinedly. ¡°And so am I, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ***

    [THE EARLY bird catches the worm, indeed.]

    Neoma was the bird, and Ruto was the worm.

    She thought she already woke up early, but her man was earlier than her. When she arrived at the temple¡¯s kitchen, Ruto was already there¨C cooking.

    [Gosh, my man looks good in his apron. My corrupted heart and soul are being healed by his face.]

    ¡°I heard from a reliable source that you haven¡¯t cooked in ages,¡± Neomamented while tying her hair into a high ponytail. ¡°So, I¡¯m quite shocked to hear you here.¡±

    ¡°Is Miss Dahlia your ¡®reliable source?''¡±

    Of course, she yed dumb. ¡°I promised my reliable source that I won¡¯t reveal her identity.¡±

    Ruto turned to her with a calm look on his face. ¡°It¡¯s alright. Miss Dahlia asked me in advance if she could share stories involving me with you.¡±

    Oh?

    So, the ck Witch asked for Ruto¡¯s permission first.

    [Dahlia is really a good girl.]

    ¡°Oh, okay. That¡¯s a relief then.¡±

    After saying that, Neoma looked and scanned the ingredients on the sink since Ruto was already done with the prep.

    She realized what he was trying to cook.

    Neoma turned to Ruto with beaming eyes. ¡°You¡¯re making potato soup for breakfast?¡±

    [Gosh, I was also thinking of cooking potato soup. We¡¯re really meant to be, huh?]

    ¡°Yes,¡± Ruto said while nodding. ¡°It¡¯s the standard breakfast for people serving the Astello Temple. Moreover, since Sir Dion Skelton and the Holy Knights are still recovering from their injuries, they can¡¯t eat solid food yet.¡±

    ¡°Aww, you¡¯re so thoughtful.¡±

    Ruto fell silent for a moment. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°You have a lot of things to be sorry for, so please specify what you want to apologize for this time.¡±

    He flinched.

    And she suddenly felt bad.

    [Did I sound like a bitch? Tsk. Me and my nasty temper.]

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Ruto,¡± Neoma said, and she was being really sincere. ¡°That was mean of me.¡±

    She may be the IT girl among the IT girls, but she wasn¡¯t perfect. There were times that she would get snarky towards Ruto because she was upset by their current situation. Which was brought by her past, stupid self.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± Ruto said. ¡°I¡¯d like to apologize on behalf of Lady Phoebe¡¯s recent behavior.¡±

    Oh?

    She felt happy that Ruto address Phoebe with a title instead of calling the child by her first name. It was petty, but it really made her think that maybe there were residues of Ruto¡¯s love for her left in his heart.

    [After all, Ruto knows I don¡¯t like it when he addressed Lady Phoebe casually.]

    It was a little win, but a win was still a win.

    ¡°Is that why you decided to cook breakfast for everyone?¡± Neoma asked. ¡°Because I said I¡¯d do it?¡±

    Ruto nodded slowly. ¡°Yes. I feel like simply apologizing wouldn¡¯t be enough. Hence, I decided to help you make breakfast.¡± He scratched his cheek as if he was embarrassed. ¡°But I suppose I should have asked you first.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± she said, shrugging. ¡°You probably couldn¡¯t ask me if you could help me prepare breakfast because of what I said thest time we¡­ argued.¡±

    She took his silence as confirmation.

    [Well, I was really mean to him earlier without knowing Ruto¡¯s n.]

    ¡°I heard from Dahlia that you were actually nning to separate Lady Astrid¡¯s Fragment from Lady Phoebe¡¯s body.¡±

    Ruto fell silent for a moment as if he was debating whether to tell her or not. Fortunately, in the end, he still opened his mouth and exined. ¡°I don¡¯t have the kind of divine item that you used to cut off Lady Astrid¡¯s Fragment from Lady Phoebe¡¯s body,¡± he said. ¡°I kept Lady Phoebe by my side not only because my divine father ordered me to do so. I decided to bring her with us because I nned to slowly yet surely break the Fragment without harming the child.¡±

    Okay, hearing Ruto call Phoebe a child already made her day.

    [Heh. He doesn¡¯t see her as a woman, does he?]

    ¡°I asked Miss Dahlia to help me cover my divine power every time I use it to break the Fragment,¡± Ruto said, then he avoided her gaze. ¡°I actually had to do it every time Lady Phoebe was asleep because it was when her guard was down. And Miss Dahlia was there each time. I know that entering ady¡¯s room is wrong. But I swear I didn¡¯t do anything else.¡±

    Neoma tried to smile while clenching her hands tight. ¡°You don¡¯t have to exin to me, Ruston Solfrid Stroganoff. I¡¯m a benevolent and understanding woman.¡±

    ¡°Then don¡¯t look at me like you want to kill me.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just my resting bitch face.¡±

    .....

    ¡°Your what?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s just cook,¡± Neoma said while rolling the sleeves of her blouse. ¡°Let¡¯s make side dishes for the potato soup.¡±

    ¡°Uhm, is that it? Are you not going to ask me more about my n?¡±

    ¡°Nah, I trust you,¡± she said. ¡°And Dahlia told me that you¡¯re replenishing Lady Phoebe¡¯s vitality with your own. That¡¯s probably why Lady Phoebe probably didn¡¯t suspect that the Goddess of Beauty was stealing her youth.¡±

    ¡°I thought you loved me.¡±

    Okay, that came out of nowhere, so she almost choked on her saliva.

    ¡°What are you saying, Ruto?¡±

    ¡°You thought I was just letting Lady Astrid steal Lady Phoebe¡¯s vitality,¡± Ruto said. And was he sulking?! ¡°Did you really think that the man you loved could do something like that?¡±

    Tsk.

    ¡°That¡¯s why I apologized,¡± Neoma said defensively, pouting. ¡°But in my defense, you were being a dick to me ever since we reunited.¡±

    Ruto looked flustered because of the vulgar word that she had just used.

    [Oops.]

    ¡°But in my defense, you were being mean to me ever since we reunited,¡± Neoma repeated what she had just said a moment ago, but she changed one word to make it a little less dirty. ¡°I¡¯m not used to it, and I don¡¯t want to get used to you treating me less than I deserve. That¡¯s why I decided to teach you how to spoil me again.¡±

    Because that was how Ruto would begin learning how to love her again.

    [I¡¯ll make it happen.]

    Ruto took a step backward, his hand over his chest. ¡°Are we¡­ flirting right now?¡±

    Oh?

    A brilliant idea suddenly popped up in her mind.

    ¡°Yes, yes. We¡¯re definitely flirting,¡± Neoma said, then she smiled at him¨C the smile that not even the ¡°heartless¡± Ruto could resist. ¡°Now, say ¡®Neoma is pwetty¡¯ three times.¡±

    Yep, she really said ¡®pwetty¡¯ instead of ¡®pretty¡¯ because she was aegyo/cute.

    [It¡¯s cringe, but I¡¯m desperate, okay?]

    No wonder Ruto looked horrified. ¡°Am I a baby¨C no, don¡¯t answer that.¡±

    ¡°But I want to,¡± Neoma said yfully. She was about to be cringe-y, but she¡¯d take anything as long as she cracked the wall around Ruto¡¯s heart (and memories). ¡°You¡¯re my baby, Ruto~¡±

    [I want to punch myself for being so cringe-y, but I¡¯m doing this in the name of love. Don¡¯t judge me!]1

    Ruto covered his red face with his hands. ¡°Now I¡¯m embarrassed.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 634 - 634 TREVORâ€™S PERSISTENCE

    634 TREVOR¡¯S PERSISTENCE

    ¡°PRINCESS NEOMA, can I have two vials of your blood? Please?¡±

    ¡°Sure,¡± Princess Neoma said, then she extended her arm to her. ¡°But if you do anything bad with my blood, I¡¯ll make you bleed to death.¡±

    Trevor smiled at Princess Neoma¡¯s threat. ¡°Nothing beats a good, chilling threat in the morning from my Moon Princess.¡±

    It was the right choice to ask for Princess Neoma¡¯s blood after she had breakfast.

    [Breakfast that she made with the damned royal chef.]

    No wonder his Moon Princess looked like she was in a good mood while having tea with Dahlia.

    ¡°Your ttery won¡¯t get you anywhere, Trevor,¡± Princess Neoma said. ¡°I know you¡¯re going to use my blood to threaten Alucard Dionisio.¡±

    Oops.

    [My Moon Princess is really sharp.]

    .....

    ¡°It¡¯s not like I don¡¯t trust you, but don¡¯t fuck him up,¡± Princess Neoma warned him. ¡°Alucard Dionisio is still Nero¡¯s ¡°child.¡±¡±

    Trevor bowed to Princess Neoma politely. ¡°As youmand, my Moon Princess.¡±

    ***

    ¡°DION, I¡¯ll be leaving the Astello Templeter,¡± Neoma said. ¡°I¡¯ll leave the Holy Knights to you.¡±

    Unfortunately, the Holy Knights hadn¡¯t recovered yet.

    Although she had already purified the Darkness that corrupted the Holy Knights for five years, it didn¡¯t mean that they would recover right away. The Darkness messed with the Holy Knights¡¯ heads to make them follow Calyx Dalton¡¯s words. Hence, it would take a while before they returned to their senses.

    [Dion is fine now because he¡¯s a fallen angel¨C which means he¡¯s built different.]

    ¡°I¡¯ll take care of the Holy Knights, Princess Neoma,¡± Dion Skelton said politely. ¡°And I¡¯ll make sure they¡¯ll recover before we execute our n for Calyx Dalton¡¯s birthday banquet.¡±

    She spent the entire morning with Dion Skelton while nning Skylus¡¯ grand debut.

    [Prince Skylus is the real saint. That damned Calyx Dalton can introduce a fake saint all he wants. But at the end of the day, I¡¯ll make sure the crows can¡¯t beat the original.]

    In the first ce, Neoma was the real First Star anyway.

    ¡°Now that we¡¯re done talking about business, allow me to apologize to you, Dion.¡±

    Dion looked surprised by what she said. ¡°Your Royal Highness has nothing to apologize for.¡±

    Neoma shook her head and spoke in a serious voice. ¡°I asked you to be the temporary High Priest of the Astello Temple for at least two years. But because I lost to the crows five years ago, you had to suffer under the control of the crows.¡±

    But that wasn¡¯t the worst thing that happened to Dion.

    ¡°And because of that, you¡¯re now estranged from Paige,¡± Neoma said remorsefully. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for letting you go through all of those horrible things alone.¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t your fault, Princess Neoma,¡± Dion said while shaking his head. ¡°The crows were able to control me because I wascking.¡± He paused for a moment. ¡°Moreover, it¡¯s not like it¡¯s toote for me and Paige.¡± He smiled at her, and he rarely smiled so it was a big thing. ¡°Hence, I ept Your Royal Highness¡¯ apology.¡±

    Oh, would you look at that?

    She was happy to see that Dion was determined to make his rtionship with Paige work.

    [I¡¯m sure my ¡°daughter¡± feels the same.]

    ¡°Thank you for not resenting me, Dion,¡± Neoma said gently. ¡°I am and will always be rooting for you and Paige.¡±

    ***

    TREVOR smirked while watching Alucard Dionisio gulp down the vial full of Princess Neoma¡¯s precious blood. ¡°Is my Moon Princess¡¯ blood that delicious? You¡¯re supposed to be a refined nobleman despite being a blood-sucking demon. But I can¡¯t feel or see an ounce of elegance while watching you wolf it down.¡±

    Alucard¡¯s face turned as red as Princess Neoma¡¯s blood from embarrassment. ¡°Yes, thedy¡¯s blood is delicious.¡±

    The fact that a mere blood-sucking demon referred to Princess Neoma as a dy¡± instead of a ¡°princess¡± pissed him off.

    But he let it slide for now.

    [Princess Neoma told me not to harm Prince Nero¡¯s ¡°child.¡±]

    Trevor pulled out another vial full of Princess Neoma¡¯s blood from the inner pocket of his jacket. ¡°Princess Neoma told me to kick you out of here once you¡¯re done with your meal,¡± he said. ¡°I can give you this vial as your ¡°lunch box.¡± Do you want it?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re both demons, so I know it won¡¯t be free,¡± Alucard said, then he gulped before asking. ¡°What do you want as payment?¡±

    ¡°Information,¡± he said bluntly. ¡°I need you to tell me everything you need to know about necromancy.¡±

    Unfortunately, the Bookworm didn¡¯t have books rted to necromancy.

    The Devil was a Necromancer, and so was the Ancient Devil. Hence, they erased every record about necromancy. Even the human world didn¡¯t have a wide selection of records about it. Hence, despite being the Devil¡¯s Grimoire, Trevor didn¡¯t have information about necromancy.

    [This is why Necromancers are very rare.]

    ¡°Why are you asking me about necromancy?¡± Alucard asked, confused. ¡°I¡¯m a Vampire.¡±

    ¡°And blood-sucking demons are also known as the ¡°undead¡± of the Underworld,¡± Trevor said, his patience running short because of this slow-witted bastard. Why couldn¡¯t everyone be as sharp as his Moon Princess? ¡°Now, hand me over the history book of the blood-sucking demons¡¯ origin.¡±

    ***

    ¡°RUTO, I understand that we need to find the fourth Elemental Guardian ASAP, but I have ces to be,¡± Neoma said as soon as she found Ruto in the kitchen. ¡°Omo. Are you making a packed lunch?¡±

    Ruto nodded. ¡°Since we¡¯ll be leaving for the Astello Temple, I thought we might as well have some packed lunch.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± she said, nodding. ¡°Are we going our separate ways again?¡±

    He fell silent for a moment before he spoke again. ¡°Lady Phoebe is still unconscious. I need to wait until she¡¯s up before I send her back to the East Continent. Moreover, mypanions who are supposed to be here encountered a problem, so their arrival was dyed.¡±

    ¡°Then can we leave first?¡± she asked. ¡°I need to meet up with my children. And, to be fair, I can¡¯t bring you and yourpanions to our secret base. I hope you understand.¡±

    Ruto wasn¡¯t HER Ruto at the moment.

    Worse, Ruto listened to Levi well right now.

    [I have to protect my people, even from Ruto.]

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Princess Neoma. I understand,¡± Ruto said, then he paused for a moment. ¡°But can you bring Miss Dahlia with you? I can tell that she wants to go with your group instead of mine.¡±

    ¡°Sure,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯ll ask Dahlia. If she said she wants toe with us, then I¡¯ll bring her along.¡±

    She could trust Dahlia because she knew that the ck Witch was already loyal to her.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± Ruto said, then he looked at her straight in the eye. ¡°Princess Neoma, let¡¯s meet again after we¡¯re done with our respective duties. Is that okay with you?¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± she said. ¡°Ruto, you should know by now that I¡¯m not letting you go.¡±

    She liked how his face turned red again.

    [Although Ruto can¡¯t remember his old feelings for me, it¡¯s not like he can¡¯t develop new feelings for me, right?]

    And that was the ¡°loophole¡± that Neoma and HER Ruto decided to take advantage of.

    [Hence, my Ruto ¡°hired¡± me to seduce him.]

    ¡°Ahem.¡±

    Neoma red at Trevor who entered the kitchen while clearing his throat loudly.

    But her anger melted away as soon as she saw him.

    ¡°Gosh, you¡¯re so handsome, Trevor,¡± Neoma gushed. She didn¡¯t mean to say it in front of Ruto, but she couldn¡¯t help herself. ¡°Why are you wearing sses?!¡±

    She didn¡¯t know sses suited Trevor until she saw him wear one.

    [Oh, god. I don¡¯t usually like men with specs. But Trevor¡¯s face is crazy.]

    ¡°Thank you for thepliment, Princess Neoma,¡± Trevor said, smiling at her. ¡°I love how you¡¯re obsessed with my face.¡±

    Neoma clicked her tongue, but she couldn¡¯t refute the demon boy¡¯s ¡°usation.¡± ¡°My heart doesn¡¯t have eyes, though.¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately,¡± Trevor agreed. ¡°Anyway, can I borrow the damn chef¨C I mean, Lord Ruto for a moment?¡±

    Ruto raised an eyebrow.

    Even Neoma was suspicious. ¡°Why are you suddenly acting polite to Ruto?¡±

    And Trevor just answered her with an apologetic smile.

    ***

    IN PRINCESS Neoma¡¯s first life, she was revived by the Four Pirs.

    But in Trevor¡¯s understanding, it wasn¡¯t only the Four Pirs who revived his Moon Princess. In that particr memory, Ruto was there.

    [And he seemed to be the ¡°leader¡± of the Four Pirs.]

    He hated to admit this, but he knew that in Princess Neoma¡¯s past life, Ruto was her anchor.

    ¡°Why did you want to talk to me in private?¡± Ruto asked him after Princess Neoma left the kitchen to give them privacy. ¡°If you have something to say, say it now.¡±

    ¡°Then allow me to be straightforward,¡± Trevor said before stating his business. ¡°Do you know anything about necromancy?¡±

    .....

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that the Devil¡¯s forte?¡± Ruto asked back. ¡°And you¡¯re the Devil¡¯s Grimoire.¡±

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be asking you if there were records about necromancy in my library,¡± he said, then he crossed his arms over his chest. ¡°If you don¡¯t know anything about necromancy, then do you know anything about bringing someone back to life?¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s going to die?¡±

    Damn.

    [I almost forgot that this damned chef is on the same level as Princess Neoma when ites to catching on to important stuff.]

    And, well, he wasn¡¯t being discreet with his questions.

    ¡°I¡¯m just preparing for the unexpected,¡± Trevor said vaguely. ¡°I can¡¯t lose Princess Neoma, you know?¡±

    Ruto just looked at him nkly.

    ¡°I¡¯m not asking you for free,¡± Trevor said defensively. ¡°If you tell me what you know, I¡¯ll call you ¡®hyung.''¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re older than me,¡± Rutoined immediately. ¡°Why would you call me ¡®hyung?''¡±

    ¡°Well, you¡¯re taller than me.¡±

    But only by a few centimeters, okay?

    Trevor was busy defending his height when the realization hit him. ¡°Wait, ¡®hyung¡¯ is a Korean word used by males to address older males. It technically means ¡®older brother.¡¯ But how did you know what it means?¡±

    Of course, he already heard from Princess Neoma that Ruto knew a few Korean words.

    His Moon Princess trusted the damned chef so much that she didn¡¯t bother asking him about it. But he was different. He was very curious.

    ¡°What are you hiding from Princess Neoma?¡±

    ¡°Even if you asked me now, I can¡¯t give you a proper answer,¡± Ruto said while shaking his head. ¡°My memories are a bit hazy at the moment.¡±

    ¡°Tsk,¡± Trevorined. ¡°Then just answer my question.¡±

    ¡°Answer mine first.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    Ruto looked at him with a serious look on his face. ¡°What¡¯s happening with Princess Neoma?¡±

    ¡°Nothing,¡± Trevor said firmly. ¡°And I¡¯ll make sure nothing will happen to my Moon Princess.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 635 - 635 RUDE DUCKIE

    635 RUDE DUCKIE

    <¡°YOU CRAZY OLD money, little bastard! What do you think you¡¯re doing to the GREAT me?! I¡¯m way, way older than are! Show some respect!¡±>

    ¡°Sure,¡± Jasper said while moving his finger as if he was leading an orchestra. ¡°Duckie, the more you move, the more my butterflies will annoy you.¡±

    Right now, he was testing if the duck was possessed or something close to that.

    His butterflies were lesser Spirits. Hence, they could detect if a person, a thing, or an animal was being possessed. Moreover, his butterflies were sensitive to Darkness.

    But fortunately, the talking duck appeared to be safe.

    [Even so, this duck is clearly not normal.]

    <¡°You better pay me for this humiliation, you little old money bastard! I only ept cold cash, okay?¡±>

    ¡°I¡¯m not trying to harm you¨C I¡¯m just checking if you¡¯re imbued with Darkness.¡±

    <¡°Darkness?! How preposterous! You dare use me of colluding with Darkness?! I may be a ve for money, but am not THAT cheap to join hands Darkness! If this world is swallowed up by the Absolute Darkness again, then how supposed earn money?! Think again before you something stupid, old money little bastard!]< p>

    .....

    He wanted to tell the duck to stop calling him ¡°old money little bastard,¡± but he couldn¡¯t reveal his identity carelessly even though there was no one else in that haunted castle on the cliffe.

    It was their meeting ce.

    Paige Avery would be thereter.

    They chose the abandoned castle by the cliff as a meeting ce because it was one of the ces that Darkness couldn¡¯t reach. Which also meant the crows wouldn¡¯t be able to see them there. And the reason why the castle was a safe ce?

    [This used to be the base of the ¡°pirates.¡±]

    <¡°Aren¡¯t you done with your inspection yet, little old money bastard?¡±>

    As the youngest duke of the empire, he should have been offended by the insults thrown at him by the duck.

    But he actually found it fun.

    ¡°You¡¯re bad tempered, and you have a nasty mouth,¡± Jasper said, amused. ¡°You remind me of someone dear to me.¡±

    <¡°Do they also like money?¡±>

    ¡°Who doesn¡¯t like money?¡± he asked back,ughing. ¡°But she¡¯s not obsessed with money like you are. After all, she has money tost her a lifetime.¡±

    In fact, the entire empire would fall into Princess Neoma¡¯s handster.

    <¡°Then your friend must be rich, too! I want to meet her!¡±>

    He was about to say something when he felt the presence of someone else.

    ¡°Lord Jasper, did you get yourself a new pet?¡±

    Jasper looked over his shoulder and found Paige Avery approaching him. ¡°No, I didn¡¯t,¡± he said. ¡°This duck came to me while I was waiting for you.¡±

    Paige Avery knitted her eyebrows as if she was confused. ¡°Then why are you abusing the poor duck?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a money-obsessed duck who¡¯s good at cursing.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re talking as if you can hear the duck talk, Lord Jasper.¡±

    Now it was his turn to be surprised. ¡°You can¡¯t hear the duck talk, Lady Paige?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± Paige asked, confused. ¡°The duck is talking?¡±

    Jasper was too stunned to react.

    <¡°That¡¯s right, old money little bastard,¡±> the duck said smugly. <¡°Only you have received the privilege of hearing my magnificent voice!¡±>

    ***

    TREVOR raised an eyebrow at Ruto. ¡°What are you hiding from Princess Neoma?¡±

    ¡°Even if you asked me now, I can¡¯t give you a proper answer,¡± Ruto said while shaking his head. ¡°My memories are a bit hazy at the moment.¡±

    ¡°Tsk,¡± Trevorined. ¡°Then just answer my question.¡±

    ¡°Answer mine first.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    Ruto looked at him with a serious look on his face. ¡°What¡¯s happening with Princess Neoma?¡±

    ¡°Nothing,¡± Trevor said firmly. ¡°And I¡¯ll make sure nothing will happen to my Moon Princess.¡±

    ¡°You should be more careful next time, Trevor Kesser,¡± Ruto said in a scolding tone. ¡°It¡¯s not hard to figure out what¡¯s happening when you¡¯re this agitated. You¡¯re a demon who¡¯s attached only to one person. Hence, the fact that you¡¯re desperate to learn necromancy could only suggest that you¡¯re preparing for that person¡¯s death.¡±

    The damned chef didn¡¯t have to drop names.

    [We both know that we¡¯re talking about Princess Neoma here.]

    ¡°Whatever,¡± Trevor said, tantly ignoring Ruto¡¯s lecture. ¡°I only said these things to you because it¡¯s you.¡±

    ¡°And what do you mean by that?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t care about Princess Neoma anymore.¡±

    Ruto didn¡¯t respond.

    [Ah, this conversation is over.]

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell anyone about this,¡± Trevor warned him. ¡°If you do, I¡¯ll make you regret it, hyung.¡±

    Of course, he called the damned chef in the most sarcastic way possible.

    [It feels good to be an asshole to your love rival sometimes.]

    After threatening Ruto, he left the kitchen.

    To be honest, it was a risk.

    He could trust the Ruto that was obsessed and in love with Princess Neoma, but not the current Ruto.

    Even so, he still had to do it because he was desperate.

    <¡°Trevor,e here.¡±>

    [Argh!]

    Trevor clutched his head tight when Princess Neoma summoned him by forcing a link in their minds. Still, he wasn¡¯t mad. ¡°I¡¯ll be there, my Moon Princess.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t hard to find Princess Neoma.

    In just the blink of an eye, he was already in the rooftop where his Moon Princess was waiting for him.

    [Ah, she looks upset.]

    ¡°I put Tteokbokki in sleep, so we can talk freely right now,¡± Princess Neoma said while creating a Dome. It was probably to keep their conversation private. ¡°What did you talk about with Ruto? Normally, I wouldn¡¯t ask since it¡¯s your business. But you¡¯ve been busy today, haven¡¯t you?¡±

    Of course, his Moon Princess would know.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Princess Neoma¨C I didn¡¯t tell Ruto about your lifespan.¡±

    Princess Neoma looked at him long and hard before he spoke again. ¡°Trevor, I know that I may seem like I don¡¯t care about dying. It¡¯s not true. Of course, I want to live long and spend time with my loved ones. Heck, I even wanted to retire and enjoy a luxurious life.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then why are you trying to stop me from finding ways to extend your life?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like that,¡± his Moon Princess said while shaking his head. ¡°I just don¡¯t have the luxury to think about it since we¡¯re very busy at the moment. Hence, I want you to focus on our fight instead of looking for a way to extend my lifespan, Trevor.¡±

    He frowned at what his Moon Princess said. ¡°This is more important than fighting the crows, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be a fool, Trevor Kesser.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°If the crows won this time, I¡¯d die early again,¡± she reminded him. ¡°Instead of finding a wayt to bring me back to life, I want you to focus on our current fight.¡±

    ¡°You cannot hide your condition forever, Princess Neoma,¡± Trevor said carefully. ¡°I¡¯m not threatening you. The way you coughed up blood earlier when you used your power wasn¡¯t normal.¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± Princess Neoma said. ¡°I was actually wondering about that. Do you know why I coughed up blood?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not a doctor, so please take my words with a grain of salt,¡± Trevor said. ¡°But based on my observation, it seemed like your shortened lifespan took a tool on your physical body. Your abundant Moonglow is now limited, and the Mana Core in your heart has shrunk. Hence, it¡¯s like there¡¯s a gauge in your system now, Your Royal Highness.¡±

    Princess Neoma fell silent for a moment. ¡°So, you¡¯re saying that I can¡¯t push past my limit anymore? The gauge in my body will stop me from using too much Moonglow and Mana. Is that correct?¡±

    He nodded, impressed by his Moon Princess¡¯ wit. ¡°That¡¯s right, Princess Neoma. You coughing up blood means you¡¯ve reached your limit.¡±

    ¡°Tsk,¡± Princess Neoma said, clenching her hands tight. ¡°That¡¯s so inconvenient.¡±

    ¡°If you keep on coughing up blood, people will soon realize your poor condition¨C especially your ¡°children.¡±¡®

    ¡°I¡¯m aware of that,¡± his Moon Princess said, scoffing. ¡°But I have a feeling that my children will respect my wishes.¡±

    Trevor smiled bitterly while shaking his head. ¡°You¡¯re underestimating your children, Princess Neoma. They loved you more than you know. I¡¯m sure I won¡¯t be the only one who¡¯d get desperate to save you once your secret is out, Princess Neoma.¡±

    If it was easy for everyone to ept Princess Neoma¡¯s death, then she wouldn¡¯t have lived three consecutive lifetimes already.

    .....

    [I¡¯m sure it¡¯s the same even for this lifetime.]

    ¡°I want to secure everyone¡¯s future first,¡± Neoma said, then she turned her back on him. ¡°I¡¯ll think of a way to extend my lifespan after that.¡±

    He clenched his hands and bit his lower lip to stop himself from talking back.

    Then, in just the blink of an eye, Princess Neoma was already gone.

    ¡°I can¡¯t make a deal with the Ancient Devil to extend your lifespan, Princess Neoma,¡± Trevor whispered to himself, then he shut his eyes tight. ¡°But if I have to be the Devil to aplish that, then I¡¯m willing to throw away my remaining humanity for you.¡±

    ***

    ¡°LEWIS, they¡¯re here,¡± Hanna said while looking up at the floating ind that was slowly descending on the beachside. ¡°The floating ind looks cool.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll give you a tourter.¡±

    She turned to Lewis who was standing beside her. ¡°Really?¡±

    Lewis turned to her and nodded before speaking. ¡°You helped us decorate Princess Neoma¡¯s room in the vi. I want to show it to you.¡±

    ¡°That would be nice.¡±

    ¡°I want to put you in a good mood before Princess Neoma returns.¡±

    Okay, that made her nervous.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Hanna asked carefully. ¡°Why do you have to go out of your way to put me in a good mood? I¡¯m already happy to reunite with Neoma soon.¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma sent a message earlier,¡± Lewis said indifferently. ¡°She¡¯lle here with Miss Dahlia.¡±

    [Oh.]

    ***

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 Chapter 636 - 636 LOVING HIM IS RED

    636 LOVING HIM IS RED

    ¡°OI, VAMPIRE.¡±

    Alucard red at Lucien Attewell. ¡°What, crazy mage kid?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not a kid¨C I¡¯m already twenty-two this year,¡± Lucien growled at him. ¡°What the hell happened that our lunatic Crown Prince had to send me to fetch your ass here?¡±

    ¡°Language, kid.¡±

    Since Lucien was small and petite, he looked like a kid in Alucard¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°Shut it, old man.¡±

    Lucien red at the crazy mage for calling him an ¡°old man¡± when he wasn¡¯t that old yet.

    To be honest, he didn¡¯t really remember what happened to him.

    The next thing he knew, he was already in an inn in the capital of Valmento¨C the Holy Land. To be precise, he woke up lying down on a bed in an unknown tavern.

    .....

    But there was a gap in his memory.

    ¡°I can¡¯t remember what happened,¡± Alucard admitted. ¡°But I¡¯m sure I didn¡¯t see Miss Dahlia.¡±

    Lucien smirked haughtily. ¡°So you failed your mission?¡±

    ¡°Did you catch the Pirates of the South?¡±

    Lucien lost his arrogant smile.

    It was Alucard¡¯s turn to smirk. ¡°So you also failed your mission?¡±

    ¡°Screw you, old man.¡±

    ¡°Language, kid!¡±

    ***

    ¡°DID YOU send Nero¡¯s ¡°child¡± off safely?¡± Neoma asked Trevor who just returned to the Astello Temple. ¡°And what about his memories?¡±

    ¡°I left the blood-sucking demon in the first inn I saw in the capital,¡± Trevor exined while stretching his arms. ¡°I messed with his memories. He won¡¯t remember that he met us here.¡±

    ¡°Good job.¡±

    She initially thought of letting Alucard Dionisio leave the temple without asking Trevor to tamper with the vampire¡¯s memories.

    But she didn¡¯t want the kid to get in danger just because he encountered her.

    [Well, I¡¯m pretty sure the crows will figure out I met Alucard Dionisio because he lost his memories. But, at least, they wouldn¡¯t think that the vampire kid decided to join my side. Hence, Nero and his ¡°children¡± will be safe.]

    ¡°Prepare the portal, Trevor,¡± Neoma said. ¡°I already left instructions to Dion. We can leave now and meet my children. I heard the Brigitte unnie, Uncle Glenn, and the babies are also headed to the secret ind.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± Trevor said. ¡°Princess Neoma, is Miss Dahliaing with us?¡±

    ¡°I have a feeling that she will, so make sure the portal can amodate three people,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯ll go and ask Dahlia first.¡±

    After talking to Trevor, she went to Dahlia¡¯s room.

    Upon entering the ck Witch¡¯s room, she realized that she was already done packing her things.

    ¡°Princess Neoma, Lord Ruto told me that I don¡¯t have to move with his group now that we¡¯ve found you,¡± Dahlia said, her face beaming. ¡°Since we can just regroupter, he told me I cane and join your group if I want to.¡±

    Neoma smiled and nodded. ¡°Yeah, Ruto and I talked about that already. That¡¯s why I¡¯m here to ask if you want to join me and Trevor. We¡¯re headed to the secret ind where my ¡°children¡± are staying. The Griffiths would also be there.¡±

    The ck Witch nodded eagerly. ¡°I¡¯d like to join your group, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Cool,¡± she said, then she paused. ¡°Dahlia, I¡¯ll be honest with you. Hanna is already in the ind.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡±

    ¡°I know it¡¯s going to be awkward because you have seen the snippets of your past life with Nero,¡± Neoma said bluntly. ¡°You were Nero¡¯s unhappy wife before while Hanna is currently Nero¡¯s unhappy fianc¨¦e.¡±

    [Goddammit, Nero. You make these two amazing girls sad because of your indecisive ass.]

    ¡°It seems like my stupid twin brother is still obsessed with you, yet he can¡¯t still let go of Hanna,¡± Neoma said. It wasn¡¯t like she was snitching on Nero. She was simply stating a fact that everyone already knew. ¡°I know I¡¯m overstepping my boundaries here by meddling with your private life. But I want to stay friends with both you and Hanna. So, I¡¯m hoping we¡¯ll all get along well.¡± She smiled at the ck Witch apologetically. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for being a busybody.¡±

    Dahlia smiled and shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s alright, Princess Neoma. And I know what you¡¯re worried about. I promise you that it won¡¯t happen. Even if I remember the snippets of my past life with Prince Nero, I have no intention of coveting a man who already belongs to someone else.¡±

    Neoma fell silent for a moment while gathering her thoughts. ¡°I¡¯m sure Hanna won¡¯t hold on to Nero if only Nero would finally make up his mind. Even so, it won¡¯t be easy for Hanna to break up with Nero because of their status.¡±

    Haaah.

    She really couldn¡¯t understand why Nero couldn¡¯t let go of Dahlia and Hanna.

    [I mean, once he bes the emperor, he¡¯d be allowed to have other wives other than the empress. But it¡¯s clear that neither Dahlia nor Hanna wanted to be a concubine.]

    Her hand suddenly itched to give Nero a punch full of love.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to be confined in the Royal Pce like I was in my past life,¡± Dahlia confessed in a soft, yet sincere voice. ¡°Princess Neoma, I don¡¯t want to fight Lady Hanna over Prince Nero.¡±

    ¡°Good girl,¡± Neoma said, nodding. ¡°A man who can¡¯t make up his mind doesn¡¯t deserve you, Dahlia. You and Hanna both deserve better.¡±

    [I¡¯m sorry, Nero, but you can¡¯t do this to Dahlia and Hanna.]

    ***

    ¡°I DON¡¯T like it when two people vie for one person,¡± Neoma dered out of nowhere. ¡°Ruto, you shouldn¡¯t lead on girls, okay? You should reject everyone else except me.¡±

    Ruto, who was just handing her the lunch box he made for her group, looked surprised by what she said. ¡°Where did thate from?¡±

    ¡°I know a certain someone who¡¯s obsessed with his previous lover, yet he also doesn¡¯t want to break up with his current fianc¨¦e.¡±

    ¡°Ah, so you¡¯re talking about Prince Nero.¡±

    [Gosh, so Nero¡¯s reputation in the romance department has plummeted this much, huh?]

    She hugged the packed lunch close to her chest because it was quite heavy. ¡°But, technically, the two girls aren¡¯t fighting over him. It¡¯s just him who can¡¯t make up his freaking mind.¡± She red at Ruto. ¡°Don¡¯t follow Nero¡¯s footsteps, Ruto. And you also shouldn¡¯t let them spread rumors that you¡¯re going to marry them.¡±

    He just looked at her nkly.

    But she knew that expression.

    ¡°Ruto, if you have something to say, then just say it.¡±

    ¡°The rules of the ¡°Love Contract¡± you mentioned also apply to you, right?¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°You should only flirt with ME.¡±

    Neoma bit her lower lip to stop herself from giggling when Ruto¡¯s face turned red.

    [Gosh, why is he acting cute?]

    ¡°Where did thate from, Ruto?¡±

    ¡°You seem to favor Trevor Kesser¡¯s face.¡±

    ¡°Well, Trevor is the second most handsome¨C no, never mind.¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s the first?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Is it Rubin Drayton?¡± he asked. ¡°I heard he¡¯s the most handsome man on the entire continent.¡±

    [Goddammit.]

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Neoma said remorsefully. ¡°I¡¯ll stop obsessing over pretty faces from now on.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to do that for me,¡± Ruto said. ¡°I know you only like their faces anyway. As long as you only act the way you do with me, then it¡¯s fine.¡±

    She raised an eyebrow at him. ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t remember my feelings for me?¡±

    ¡°Possessiveness has nothing to do with love,¡± Ruto said indifferently. ¡°And it¡¯s a negative feeling. The Ancient Devil took away all the positive feelings that I have for you, and he left all the negative feelings that I used to suppress.¡± He clutched his chest tight. ¡°These negative feelings I have for you might end up hurting you, Princess Neoma.¡±

    Now she was starting to get a grasp of Ruto¡¯s new personality.

    ¡°The pure and protective love that I have for you is already gone. I can love you again, but it won¡¯t be the same,¡± Ruto continued, his eyes and voice still nk. ¡°If you continue stirring my heart like this, I might end up developing feelings for you. But I can tell that they will turn toxic and suffocating¨C the kind of love that would make me want to ruin you with my own hands.¡±

    Not gonna lie¨C she got the chills.

    Ruto was practically saying that he was starting to turn into a walking red g, and it was something that he had no control over.

    [My green g Ruto is no more¡­]

    ¡°Are you scared now, Princess Neoma?¡±

    ¡°Call me ¡®Neoma.''¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°If you don¡¯t want to call me by my name, then just call me ¡®jagiya.''¡±

    .....

    Ruto knitted his eyebrows as if he was frustrated. ¡°Did you not understand what I¡¯m trying to say to you? I am bad for you, Princess Neoma.¡±

    She gasped when she remembered something more important than Ruto¡¯s warning. ¡°Should we call each other ¡®babe?¡¯ ¡®Jagiya¡¯ was what my sweet, green g Ruto used to call me. But you¡¯ve turned into a red g now, so I think ¡®babe¡¯ as an endearment would fit us better.¡±

    ¡°I see, you¡¯re not listening to me.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t like she wasn¡¯t listening. She just knew that Ruto could throw threats all he wanted, but she was already at the point where she couldn¡¯t give him up.

    [I mean, we already gave up on each other in the first timeline.]

    They would be damned if they gave up on each other again.

    ¡°Ruto, I look good WITH red.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m also a red g,¡± Neoma said, then she smiled at Ruto. ¡°Should we ruin each other, babe?¡±

    Ruto sighed while shaking his head. ¡°With all due respect, Your Royal Highness is crazy.¡±

    ***

    [I¡¯M NOT jealous of a child, I¡¯m not jealous of a child, I¡¯m not jealous of a child.]

    Neoma was saying that over and over in her head like a mantra.

    She was about to enter the portal with Trevor and Dahlia. The demon boy attached his portal to one of the many guest rooms in the temple. They just had to open the door and walk in the tunnel inside to get where Paige Avery¡¯s portal was.

    [Yes, it¡¯s a long-distance portal that Trevor and Paige made together.]

    Anyway, Neoma was sulking because Ruto was carrying the still unconscious Phoebe Willows on his back.

    ¡°Princess Neoma, we have to go,¡± Trevor said, scolding her. ¡°Paige Avery can¡¯t hold the portal open for long. She¡¯s not as powerful as me, so have mercy on your poor daughter.¡±

    Neoma continued pouting while looking at Ruto.

    [I know men can¡¯t read women¡¯s minds. But it will be too embarrassing to ask Ruto to drop Lady Phoebe. Can¡¯t you tell what I¡¯m feeling when I¡¯m sulking like this, babe?]

    ¡°Princess Neoma?¡± Dahlia said, catching her attention. ¡°Is everything alright?¡±

    Neoma nodded and mindlessly answered. ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s go,¡± Trevor said impatiently, grabbing her by the hand. ¡°The portal is closing.¡±

    Neoma didn¡¯t mind getting dragged by Trevor.

    But something interesting happened.

    Ruto, in just the blink of an eye, was already standing in front of her.

    It barely registered in Neoma¡¯s mind that he literally dropped Phoebe Willows (that was caught by Veton, Ruto¡¯s Thunderbird) to get to her in just a few seconds.

    Then, much to Neoma¡¯s delighted surprise, Ruto took her hand away from Trevor¡¯s grasp.

    ¡°Jealousy is another negative feeling that the old me tried to suppress. But I don¡¯t have the kind of patience that he had,¡± Ruto said, talking as if the old ¡®Green g Ruto¡¯ wasn¡¯t him. ¡°Are you sure you still want me, Princess Neoma?¡±

    Dahlia gasped loudly, while Trevor made a gagging sound.

    ¡°I¡¯ve never wanted anyone as much as I want you, Ruto.¡±

    Okay, that was admittedly cringe-y. But she only had five years left (for now). She¡¯d be damned if she didn¡¯t make the most out of it.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s meetter,¡± Ruto said, then he leaned in to whisper in her ear. ¡°Babe.¡±

    Neoma felt a shiver down her spine.

    [Should I consider myself a degenerate for finding the Red g Ruto hot?]

    ***

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 Chapter 637 - 637 FAMILY REUNION

    637 FAMILY REUNION

    <¡°SHE ALSO smells like old money, but the scent of expensive jewels on her is stronger. Little money bastard, you have great friends.¡±>

    Of course, Jasper knew that the duck wasn¡¯t ordinary since it was a talking duck.

    But he was more amazed by the fact that the duck could smell money on people.

    [Lady Paige used to be a noble before her family met its downfall. Hence, she would ¡®smell¡¯ of old money. Moreover, the Averys were known for their jewel hearts. That¡¯s probably why the duck could smell expensive jewels on her.]

    ¡°Lord Jasper, the duck is making loud noises,¡± Lady Paigemented. ¡°May I know what the duck is saying?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s saying that you smell like expensive jewels, Lady Paige,¡± Jasper answered politely. Yes, the duck said it was a male. ¡°And the others are nonsense that will only sully mydy¡¯s ears.¡±

    Lady Paige chuckled.

    <¡°I¡¯ll charge you for humiliating me again, little old money bastard!¡±>

    [Is ¡®bastard¡¯ the only curse word he knows? In that respect, then Princess Neoma is more creative. Her Royal Highness knows all the curse words in the world.]

    .....

    <¡°How long are we going to walk? I¡¯m already tired. And hungry!¡±>

    It hadn¡¯t even been five minutes since they entered the portal.

    The reason why Jasper and Lady Paige chose the castle on the cliff (the children¡¯s old secret base) as a meeting ce was because it had a portal directly connected to the ind (the children¡¯s new secret base).

    But, of course, only Lady Paige could open and close the portal.

    [Hence, Lady Paige had toe and fetch me herself. I heard she was on the floating ind beforeing here to get me. It just goes to show how great Lady Paige¡¯s teleportation skills are now.]

    The mostplicated form of teleportation was creating portals that could send multiple people from one location to another in the shortest time possible. It all depended on the skills and Mana level of the person who created the portal.

    That was why Lady Paige was impressive.

    [The ¡®Teleportation Ticket¡¯ that I used earlier brought me from the Royal Capital where my estate is located, to the Southern border. And now, we¡¯re using a portal to get to the ind from the castle in the South where we hade from earlier.]

    The portal that they were using right now was simr to a long hallway.

    Except that the surroundings were stunning.

    <¡°Little old money bastard, this portal makes me feel like we¡¯re walking underwater!¡±>

    The noisy duck was correct.

    After all, the portal had an impressive design that was based on Princess Neoma¡¯s favorite ce in the other world.

    [I think it¡¯s called ¡®aquarium.¡¯]

    The ceiling and the walls were made of ss. Hence, they could clearly see the different types of fish swimming around. Lady Paige designed the portal based on the ¡®aquarium¡¯ that Princess Neoma would often describe to them.

    <¡°Finally, I see the end!¡±>

    After more than thirty minutes of walking, they finally saw the end of the portal.

    All of a sudden, Lady Paige blocked their way.

    To be precise, the mage blocked the duck¡¯s way while looking at it with cold eyes.

    Jasper just quietly watched and listened.

    ¡°Mr. Duck, every single person on the ind at the end of the portal is important to me,¡± Lady Paige said in a cold voice. ¡°If you do anything funny, I¡¯ll kill you right away.¡± She turned to Jasper. ¡°Is that alright, Lord Jasper?¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± Jasper said immediately. ¡°You don¡¯t have to do it yourself, Lady Paige. Since I was the one who found the duck, I¡¯ll be the one to kill it if it bes a threat to our people.¡±

    Lady Paige looked satisfied by his answer.

    The duck, on the other hand, was obviously not pleased.

    <¡°You little bastards! If you don¡¯t trust me, then why did bring me here?!¡±>

    ¡°Lord Jasper, what is the duck saying?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s asking why we brought him here when we don¡¯t trust him.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious, Mr. Duck?¡± Lady Paige asked, scoffing. ¡°You¡¯re here as emergency food.¡±

    Jasper had to stifle hisughter as the duck cried out dramatically.

    <¡°I¡¯m not food, you cruel bastaaards!¡±>

    ***

    HANNA could feel her heart beating erratically.

    [Neoma is finallying back.]

    Hence, right now, they were gathered in front of the cabin house. It was where the portal would appearter.

    [By ¡®us,¡¯ I¡¯m talking about Neoma¡¯s ¡°children¡± and the Griffiths family.]

    Hanna greeted Queen Brigitte, King Glenn, Princess Monik, Prince Skylus, and Prince ude earlier. The Griffiths family arrived through the floating ind with Xion Redgrave. Apparently, they were with Paige Avery earlier.

    But the mage had to leave the floating ind midway to fetch Duke Jasper Hawthorne.

    Paige Avery and the young duke eventually arrived using a different portal.

    That was when the mage announced that Neoma was already on her way to the ind with Trevor.

    The news put everyone in a good mood.

    [Even Queen Brigitte and King Glenn who don¡¯t remember Neoma yet look excited.]

    But the most excited person out there would be¡­

    ¡°Lewis,¡± Hanna said, smiling while looking up at Lewis. ¡°How do you feel now that we¡¯re about to see Neoma in the flesh?¡±

    The fox boy didn¡¯t have to answer verbally.

    After all, the way Lewis¡¯ (handsome) face beamed was enough for Hanna to know that he was really, really, reaaally HAPPY at the moment.

    [If ¡®happy¡¯ was a person, it would be Lewis.]

    ¡°I¡¯m happy that we¡¯d be reunited with Neoma soon,¡± Hanna said, and she wouldn¡¯t get tired of smiling for today¡¯s happy asion. ¡°But I think I¡¯m happier to see you this happy, Lewis.¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma is and will always be my happiness.¡±

    Aww.

    [To be honest, I can¡¯t name the love Lewis has for Neoma. Sometimes, I think it¡¯s romantic. But most of the time, I think it¡¯s something deeper and more meaningful than romantic love. It¡¯s probably an emotion that only Lewis and Neoma would know.]

    After all, Hanna knew that the bond Lewis and Neoma had was very strong.

    ¡°Everyone, they¡¯re here,¡± Paige Avery announced. The mage tried to be calm, but the excitement in her voice was very obvious. ¡°Our Princess Neoma is finally here.¡±

    Hanna held her breath.

    And after what seemed like an eternity, the portal finally opened its door and revealed the most beautiful girl that everyone had seen in their lives.

    ***

    ¡°I¡¯LL TELL His Majesty and Lady Roseheart that the damned chef called you ¡®babe.''¡±

    Neoma red at Trevor. ¡°Gosh. Are you proud to be a snitch?¡±

    Trevor red back at her. ¡°His Majesty and Lady Roseheart said you can¡¯t have a boyfriend until you¡¯re an adult.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m legally an adult here.¡±

    ¡°Twenty is the age considered as an adult in Korea.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re not in Korea, duh.¡±

    ¡°Even so, I¡¯ll snitch on you,¡± Trevor said, scoffing. ¡°I¡¯ll also tell them that you¡¯re chasing after him even after he rejected you already.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s see if you can still talk if you¡¯re already dead,¡± Neoma warned the demon boy. Of course, it was just a threat that she had no intention of executing. But that didn¡¯t mean she couldn¡¯t beat Trevor until he was half-dead. ¡°Trevor, everyone knows I have a nasty temper so don¡¯t test my patience, okay?¡±

    ¡°Whatever.¡±

    Neoma thumped her fist against her chest to console herself from the stress that Trevor was unnecessarily giving her.

    [Should I knock him out?]

    ¡°P-Princess Neoma, let¡¯s just take a look at the beautiful fish around us,¡± Dahlia, who was obviously trying to put her in a good mood, said. ¡°This portal is amazing. It¡¯s like we¡¯re surrounded by fish tanks.¡±

    Okay, that immediately put her in a good mood.

    Neoma smiled proudly. ¡°Paige, my ¡°daughter,¡± made this portal. She based the design on the aquarium I often visit¡­¡± She trailed off when she locked eyes with one fish on her right side. ¡°Aigoo, what an ugly fish.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a monkfish, Princess Neoma,¡± Dahlia said, her eyes sparkling. ¡°I think it has its own charm even though it¡¯s not visually pleasing.¡±

    Now Neoma was sure Dahlia had bad eyes.

    [No wonder she fell for Nero¡­]

    .....

    It was a joke.

    After all, she had almost the same face as her twin brother.

    ¡°We¡¯re here,¡± Trevor announcedzily when they were only a few steps away from the end of the portal. ¡°I see that everyone hase to wee you, my Moon Princess.¡±

    Neoma, before she knew it, was already running towards the end of the portal.

    [My family¡­]

    As soon as Neoma stepped out of the portal, the first person that she saw was the first member of her family.

    [My son¡­]

    Lewis was running towards her.

    Huh?

    [Is that ridiculously tall and handsome man really our Lewis?!]

    She knew what adult ¡®LU¡¯ looked like during her first life. Her son still looked the same. But, for some reason, Lewis looked one hundred times more handsome than she remembered!

    [What a crazy glow-up.]

    ¡°Lewis, congrats!¡± Neoma said cheerfully. ¡°You inherited my beauty genes¨C aw!¡±

    She was forced to stop talking when Lewis suddenly hugged her.

    [I did not expect that.]

    She actually slowed down and stopped because she knew Lewis didn¡¯t like physical contact.

    Hence, she was surprised when the fox boy suddenly hugged her tight.

    And since she didn¡¯t expect that, she instantly lost her bnce.

    Before Neoma knew it, she was already lying down on the sand while Lewis was on top of her¨C his face buried against her neck.

    [Dear diary, I wasn¡¯t prepared¡­]

    Neoma thenughed when she remembered a precious memory. ¡°This reminds me of our first meeting, Lewis,¡± she said while rubbing Lewis¡¯ back. ¡°I woke up with you straddling me and calling me a ¡®princess.''¡±

    ¡°I missed you very much, Princess Neoma.¡±

    Oh.

    Her neck was suddenly wet with warm liquid.

    Neoma cupped Lewis¡¯ face and gently lifted it to see him. ¡°Why are you crying, my dear son?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not crying,¡± Lewis said in a cracked voice, his cheeks wet with tears. ¡°And I¡¯m not your son, Princess Neoma.¡±

    [There you go¨C Lewis¡¯ famous catchphrase.]

    ¡°I missed that,¡± Neoma said, smiling. Then she wrapped her arms around his neck. ¡°And I missed you, too, Lewis.¡±

    ***

    PS: I¡¯m a little sad tonight. Please sendments if you can. Hehe thank you.

    ***

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 Chapter 638 - 638 WARM HUGS

    638 WARM HUGS

    NEOMA couldn¡¯t help but smile like a fool while looking up at Lewis.

    Her neck didn¡¯t hurt much because she wasn¡¯t that much shorter than him. Moreover, she wouldn¡¯t even notice such trivial things when she was THIS happy seeing her ¡°son¡± in the flesh after five years.

    Of course, it was a given that Lewis grew up as a handsome young man.

    But the most important thing was that her ¡°son¡± was healthy.

    [At least, he¡¯s not as sad and lonely as I thought he¡¯d be for thest five years. Adopting other kids for Lewis to have siblings was the best decision I made in this lifetime.]

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Princess Neoma,¡± Lewis said apologetically. ¡°Did you get hurt?¡±

    ¡°Pfft. As if falling on the sand would hurt me,¡± Neoma said haughtily, putting her hands on her waist. ¡°It wasn¡¯t like you crashed me with your weight, either. I am NOT frail.¡±

    He looked relieved by that.

    ¡°I¡¯m the one who¡¯s actually worried,¡± she said. ¡°Are you okay, Lewis? I know you don¡¯t like physical touch¡­¡±

    .....

    ¡°Yeah, I hate it.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma and Lady Hanna are the only exception.¡±

    Oh?

    [Hanna? Hmm. Well, I guess they grew closer over the years.]

    ¡°Eomma¡­¡±

    Okay, she momentarily forgot about her other children because Lewis, her most precious first ¡°son,¡± greeted her energetically.

    [Now I feel like a horrible mother.]

    When Lewis stepped aside to give way for his ¡°siblings,¡± Neoma finally saw her other ¡°children.¡±

    And the first child she saw¡­

    ¡°Greko,¡± Neoma said, a little surprised. Of course, she had seen Greko during their weekly meetings. But her ¡°son¡± was often seated, so she was surprised to see him now. ¡°You¡¯re so tall now, maknae-ah.¡±

    Greko smiled widely while approaching her. ¡°Eomma is still taller than me, though?¡±

    Ouch.

    She had a slightplex with her height because she was taller than most boys her age back in Korea. But she didn¡¯t have to worry about that in this world because the people in the empire were naturally taller than the average Koreans.

    ¡°You¡¯re still young, so you¡¯ll still grow taller,¡± she said while cupping Greko¡¯s face with her hands. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for making you wait, Greko. Now that I¡¯m back, I¡¯ll raise you to be the best Healer in the world. We will build a hospital in your name.¡±

    Greko smiled and nodded. ¡°Thank you, eomma. But, to be honest, I don¡¯t need a hospital in my name. I just want to be with you, eomma.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re my ¡°son,¡± Greko. You should be greedier.¡±

    Greko justughed at what she said.

    [I¡¯m serious, though.]

    After giving Greko a hug, it was Xion Redgrave who greeted her next.

    [Oh, my children are lining up? How cute.]

    Xion bowed to her politely. ¡°It¡¯s been a while, Princess Neoma. I¡¯m d you came back safely.¡±

    Neoma¡¯s heightplex hit her again when she realized that she was almost as tall as Xion now. But she ignored it since this wasn¡¯t the time to think about useless stuff. ¡°I feel the most apologetic to you since I left most of the dirty works to you, Xion. Now that I¡¯m back, let¡¯s share the burden.¡±

    ¡°I exist to lessen your burden, Princess Neoma.¡±

    She chuckled while shaking her head. ¡°Hearing that only makes me want to give you a more normal life, you silly assassin.¡±

    After giving Xion a hug, it was Paige Avery¡¯s turn to greet her.

    [Ah, the ¡°child¡± I¡¯m most grateful to.]

    ¡°We¡¯ve been talking a lot through themunication device for thest five years, Princess Neoma,¡± Paige said, smiling at her warmly. ¡°But nothing beats seeing Your Royal Highness¡¯ beauty in person. Wee back, our future empress.¡±

    ¡°No words can describe how much I¡¯m grateful to you for keeping our family intact, Paige,¡± Neoma praised the mage. After all, it was Paige who carried out most of her orders since her power as a mage was really helpful to them. ¡°You did a good job.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Princess Neoma.¡±

    She hugged Paige and whispered in her ear. ¡°I met Dion, and he¡¯s safe now. I¡¯ll give you the other pair of themunication device that I left him so you could talkter.¡±

    Paige let out a sigh of relief. ¡°Thank you again, Princess Neoma. I mean it.¡±

    She just nodded before letting go of the mage.

    And now, it was Juri Wisteria and Jeno Dankworth¡¯s turn to greet her. The couple were holding each other¡¯s hands.

    [Oh? They¡¯re affectionate now, huh? They used to bicker a lot in the past.]

    ¡°Wee back, Princess Neoma,¡± Juri said cheerfully. ¡°We¡¯ve missed you a lot. And god, you¡¯ve grown into such a beautiful youngdy.¡±

    Of course, that made Neoma grin. ¡°I know, right? My beauty is also popr back in the other world.¡±

    Juriughed softly.

    Jeno, on the other hand, nodded in agreement with what Neoma said. ¡°I feel the urge to protect you from the male gazes you receive, Princess Neoma. We have to work harder to protect you from the pests around you.¡±

    And the Marksman gave Trevor a meaningful look.

    The shameless demon boy just shrugged.

    [Aigoo.]

    Neoma cleared her throat. ¡°Juri, Jeno, I¡¯m sorry for making you wait. Now that I¡¯m here, let¡¯s n your wedding.¡±

    Juri and Jeno dyed their wedding because they wanted her to attend the ceremony.

    [They no longer need to marry each other after running away from their families to hide. But the fact that they still wanted to get married only means they¡¯re doing it for love and not for duty now.]

    Juri and Jeno, who both suddenly looked shy, nodded at what she said.

    [Aww¡­ they¡¯re already acting like newlyweds.]

    Neoma gave Juri and Jeno a big hug.

    After the couple, it was finally her favorite cousin¡¯s turn.

    ¡°Pfft,¡± Neoma said, holding back herughter while literally looking down at Hanna. ¡°Gosh, you¡¯re so tiny. I want to put you in my pocket, Hanna.¡±

    Lewis, who was standing behind Neoma, stifled hisughter.

    Hanna huffed, still cute even though she was slightly upset. ¡°I am not THAT tiny, Neoma. You¡¯re just tall.¡±

    ¡°Aw, the short queen is mad,¡± Neoma teased her cousin, then she hugged her tight. ¡°You¡¯re the perfect size for cuddles, Hanna. I¡¯m sorry, don¡¯t be upset.¡±

    ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll let it slide this time,¡± Hanna said yfully, then she finally smiled at her. ¡°Wee home, Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    After letting go of Hanna, Neoma finally faced the Griffiths.

    Brigitte unnie and King Glenn hadn¡¯t remembered her yet. Even so, the royal couple looked emotional while looking back at her as if they had missed her.

    Neoma was about to greet the queen and the king when three little minions ¡°attacked¡± her.

    The little ¡°minions¡± were Monik, Skylus, and ude.

    [Oh. The second prince doesn¡¯t know me since he wasn¡¯t born a saint like Skylus. Even so, Monik and Skylus would sometimes let ude join our meeting. And ude is good at keeping secrets because he thought it was a game.]

    ¡°It¡¯s the goddess on the screen!¡± ude gushed while looking up at her with sparkling eyes. ¡°You¡¯re more beautiful in person, goddess!¡±

    Neoma smirked haughtily. ¡°Of course, kids don¡¯t lie.¡±

    ude just giggled.

    ¡°We kept our promise!¡± Skylus eximed proudly. ¡°We used our visions to guide your people, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma, we were attacked by the bad crows!¡± Monik reported right away. ¡°Please punish them!¡±

    ¡°Yes, I will punish those bad crowster,¡± Neoma promised the young princess. Then she looked at Skylus and Monik with a smile on her face. ¡°Thank you for guiding my people for the past five years. And now that I¡¯m back, I promise to protect you and put you back in your rightful ces.¡±

    Skylus and Monik who understood her words well nodded firmly as if they were saying that they trusted her.

    [And I don¡¯t break promises, especially the ones I made with children.]

    Finally, Neoma faced Brigitte unnie and Uncle Glenn while the three precious minions were still clinging on her. ¡°It¡¯s been a while, Brigitte unnie and Uncle Glenn. I know that you don¡¯t remember me, but don¡¯t worry.¡± She pointed at Trevor. ¡°He will help you retrieve your missing memories.¡±

    ***

    NEOMA FELT refreshed after taking a long bath and sleeping for hours.

    When she woke up after a whole day of resting, she finally got ready to face Brigitte unnie and Uncle Glenn again.

    .....

    Time was running, hence they had to hurry.

    [We can¡¯t leave the Hazelden Kingdom alone because Delwyn can¡¯t protect it alone for a long time. Moreover, I left my traces here and there so the crows definitely know I¡¯m back. I have to greet the enemies properly, right?]

    ¡°Princess Neoma¡­¡±

    The way Brigitte unnie and Uncle Glenn looked at her with warmth in their eyes told her that the royal couple had finally retrieved their memories. They looked so happy to see her.

    [Damn, your boy Trevor is really a genius.]

    ¡°Brigitte unnie, Uncle Glenn, thank you for remembering me. I know you have a lot of questions, and I¡¯m ready to answer them now,¡± Neoma said, smiling. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you what happened five years ago.¡±

    ***

    [FIVE years ago¡­]

    KOREA.

    Neoma, who lived in Korea in her second life, knew that they were sent to that world as soon as she saw the surroundings.

    They were in a modern hospital.

    Neoma, Papa Boss, and Mama Boss were currently inside a private room where a youngdy was confined.

    [It¡¯s Nabi¡­]

    ¡°Neoma?¡±

    And the woman who looked so shocked upon seeing her was none other than her eomma.

    Neoma instantly got emotional. ¡°Eomma¡­¡±

    She wanted to run to her Korean mother, but she btedly remembered that Papa Boss and Mama Boss were with her.

    [And they look confused.]

    Just when Neoma was about to exin, the door suddenly burst open.

    A skinny and weak man wearing a patient¡¯s clothes entered. Several hospital people were running after the man who obviously escaped from his room.

    Neoma gasped softly. ¡°Appa¡­¡±

    It was Gavin Quinzel who was back in Won-shik appa¡¯s body.

    Then Neoma heard a growl behind her.

    The next thing she knew, Papa Boss was already lunging at Won-shik appa.

    ¡°Niki!¡± Mama Boss yelled. ¡°Calm down!¡±

    Neoma felt a splitting headacheing.

    [Fuck.]

    ***

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 Chapter 639 - 639 FIVE YEARS AGO (1)

    639 FIVE YEARS AGO (1)

    [THIS WORLD is really different from ours.]

    Nichole was still impressed even though it wasn¡¯t her first time in Korea.

    The Devil¨C Aruna de Moonasterio¨C prepared them for this moment by sending them to Korea two years ago (in the empire¡¯s timeline).

    Yes, that was the reason why the Devil¡¯s side was quiet for the past few years.

    [A few years back, the Devil obtained the key to the other world from Ruston ¡®Ruto¡¯ Stroganoff. But that sneaky little bastard¨C who¡¯s making a move on my niece¨C didn¡¯t tell us where to find the Door.]

    Fortunately, the Devil had been looking for the Door way before Neoma returned. Moreover, Trevor joining their side was truly a blessing.

    [That demon boy is loud and annoying, but he¡¯s truly a genius Sorcerer.]

    Trevor and the Devil worked hard together to find the Door and fix it. ording to the two, the Door was already destroyed when they found it. And they had a suspect.

    [¡°It was definitely the damned chef. There were some Mana residues left in the site. His Mana is unique, so I recognized it right away. Breaking a Door that leads to the other world is an almost impossible task even for me. That damned chef is really a monster.¡±]

    .....

    That was what Trevor said.

    [But what Trevor doesn¡¯t realize is he¡¯s also a monster. After all, he managed to fix the Door with his magic. It¡¯s true that the Devil helped him. Even so, it was Trevor who did most of the work.]

    Thanks to that, they were able to use the Door.

    They spent thest two months creating a life in Korea while keeping a close eye on Go Areum, Kim Nabi, and Kim Won-shik. During that time, Kim Nabi and Won-shik were still in aa, and Go Areum never left their side.

    [Yes, we only spent two months in Korea.]

    They disappeared from the empire for two years, but it was only two months in Korea.

    It was because of the difference in the passage of time between the two worlds.

    When Neoma¡¯s soul left Korea, time in this world had slowed down. Based on their rough calctions, one year in the empire was only equivalent to one month in Korea.

    It happened because of Ruto¡¯s interference.

    The young God yer made a deal with the god of this world to slow down time until Kim Nabi¡¯s soul returned to her body.

    But that was all they knew.

    [We don¡¯t know what kind of deal Ruto made with the god here, and we also don¡¯t know why he wanted the child called Nabi to live.]

    In fact, if Trevor¡¯s ¡®Bookworm¡¯ didn¡¯t ¡°absorb¡± the information from the traces of Ruto¡¯s Mana, they wouldn¡¯t even realize why the passage of time between the two worlds was different. They thought it was normal at first. But it turned out Ruto had a hand in the bizarre change.

    Anyway, despite being only in Korea for two months, they were able to prepare most of the things they needed to live there.

    In the first ce, they were already a little familiar with the familiar world. After all, before the Devil sent them to Korea, she created an illusionary world that mimicked Korea based on Gavin Quinzel¡¯s memories.

    [It served as a simtor and the purpose was to familiarize ourselves with the modern world. And to know what kind of adjustments we needed once we get there.]

    Hence, they were already prepared and made the most out of the two months they had.

    [Learning thenguage was easy because of the device Trevor made for them. It was a trantor device that can trante anynguage used in the modern world.]

    Sincemunicating became easy, they were able to move freely then.

    First, they exchanged the gold and expensive gems they had for cash.

    Trevor found a ¡°ck market¡± and associated himself with an infamous ¡°Korean mafia¡± for that. After all, legal establishments wouldn¡¯t exchange their gold and gems for money since they didn¡¯t have identification cards yet.

    [¡°Princess Nichole, Lord Dominic, meet my friend Uncle Min.¡±]

    One day, Trevor just brought a tough-looking man who looked like he was in histe thirties to early forties.

    Mr. Kim Min1 was tall, handsome (handsome enough for Dominic to get jealous just because Nichole praised the man¡¯s face), and a little intimidating for a human. It was also worth noting that Mr. Kim Min¡¯s arms were covered with cool tattoos.

    [¡°Trevor, how did you find that person?¡±]

    That was Dominic¡¯s question.

    [¡°I asked the Bookworm to search for a person who can help us exchange our golds into cash, and someone who can help us forge our identities. People like that exist in the ck market in our world. Kim Won-shik yed several ¡°mafia¡± roles when he was active as an actor. So I figured people like that exist in Korea.¡±]

    Nichole only had one question. [¡°Can we trust that person?¡±]

    [¡°ording to Bookworm, Uncle Min is a person full of integrity. Although he came from a mafia family, he worked hard to change their organization and turn it into a legalpany. Even so, he¡¯s willing to help us forge our identities because he could tell we¡¯re not from this world.¡±]

    [¡°Huh? He knows? And you didn¡¯t manipte his memories?¡±]

    [¡°That person has a unique family, Princess Nichole. Apparently, they trade with people from a different world. Hence, he¡¯s used to helping people like us settle here in Korea.¡±]

    That was interesting.

    Since Nichole trusted Trevor¡¯s judgment, she didn¡¯t question him anymore.

    Moreover, they really needed Mr. Kim Min¡¯s help.

    After getting the money they needed, Trevor asked Mr. Kim Min to create fake IDs for them. The IDs, despite being fakes, were high-quality. Of course, it was because Trevor used his magic to make the IDs look more authentic.

    Forged documents to create their fake identities followed. Since they seemed to appear in Korea out of nowhere, and they didn¡¯t look like pure Koreans, they had to establish a story that they came from Europe. Apparently, their looks were closer to the people living there.

    [Well, it was a little biased since there are Korean people who have Western looks. But it was easier for us to establish a foreigner status, so that we wouldn¡¯t be questioned too much.]

    Anyway, Trevor became Nichole and Dominic¡¯s son.

    [Trevor looks like he¡¯s a thirteen-year-old boy, so he needs guardians.]

    After they secured money and fake identities, they purchased houses.

    [Korea has a lot of apartment buildings. We bought two units near the expensive neighborhood where Go Areum and her family lives.]

    They couldn¡¯t buy a house there because it wasn¡¯t amodating to ¡°foreigners.¡±

    [By the way, the building where we bought the apartments is owned by Mr. Kim Min. Hence, we were able to buy it without difficulties.]

    That was how the Korean mafia, Mr. Kim Min, became a part of their group.

    After their preparations for living in Korea were done, they returned to the empire to fetch Neoma.

    And they brought her niece with them back to Korea.

    This time, they also brought Niki and Mona along.

    ¡°Nichole, are you alright?¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh,¡± Nichole said, her gazending on the unconscious man on the bed. ¡°We made it back safely, huh?¡±

    The man on the hospital bed with an apparatus attached to his body was Kim Won-shik.

    [It¡¯s the body Gavin Quinzel used when he was here.]

    ¡°He also made it back,¡± Dominic, who was looking at Kim Won-shik¡¯s hand that moved a little, said. ¡°Gavin Quinzel sessfully returned in Kim Won-shik¡¯s body.¡±

    The cave where the Devil hid the Door that led to Korea brought Nichole and Dominic to the hospital room where Kim Won-shik was confined.

    Ah, right.

    [It¡¯s not just Dominic and me.]

    ¡°I¡¯ll wake him up now.¡±

    Nichole and Dominic both turned to Trevor who had his hand ced on top of Kim Won-shik¡¯s chest.

    ¡°Since Gavin Quinzel will definitely check on Go Areum and Kim Nabi right away, I will lend him enough strength to get up.¡±

    That was what Trevor said.

    Hence, Nichole protested. ¡°Trevor, Kim Won-shik is in aatose state for more than a year. The doctors will definitely get suspicious if he wakes up with his motor skills fine. We have to be more careful since Kim Won-shik is a famous celebrity in this world.¡±

    Trevor just shrugged. ¡°I can just manipte their memoriester.¡±

    ¡°We should check on Kim Nabi, too,¡± Dominic said worriedly. ¡°Nabi¡¯s soul belongs to an ordinary human. Even though she spent years under the Cosmic Tree¡¯s protection, her soul remains weak because she¡¯s not capable of wielding Mana.¡±

    Nichole let out a sigh, then she nodded. ¡°You¡¯re right, darling,¡± she said, then she turned to Trevor. ¡°We¡¯ll leave it to you.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± Trevor said, his hand was now covered with dark bluish light. ¡°But we should be alert since I¡¯m pretty sure Emperor Niki would kill Gavin Quinzel on the spot.¡±

    ***

    THE STRANGE cave brought Neoma and her parents to Korea.

    To be precise, right at this moment, they were in a modern hospital.

    The unconscious youngdy on the bed, with an apparatus attached to her body, was none other than the ¡°shell¡± she used while she was living in Korea before.

    [It¡¯s Nabi¡­]

    She could feel Nabi¡¯s soul inside the weak body.

    ¡°Neoma?¡±

    Ah.

    .....

    The woman who just entered the private room was the person that she missed a lot for the past thirteen years.

    Neoma instantly got emotional. ¡°Eomma¡­¡±

    Yes, it was her Areum eomma.

    She wanted to run to her Korean mother, but she btedly remembered that Papa Boss and Mama Boss were with her.

    [And they look confused.]

    Well, Papa Boss and Mama Boss were aware of Go Areum¡¯s existence.

    [But seeing eomma in person, and seeing how she resembles Mama Boss a lot in person, is probably shocking.]

    Just when Neoma was about to exin, the door suddenly burst open.

    A skinny and weak man wearing a patient¡¯s clothes entered. Several hospital people were running after the man who obviously escaped from his room.

    Neoma gasped softly. ¡°Appa¡­¡±

    It was Gavin Quinzel who was back in Won-shik appa¡¯s body.

    Just when Neoma was getting emotional, she suddenly heard a growl behind her. The next thing she knew, Papa Boss was already lunging at Won-shik appa.

    ¡°Niki!¡± Mama Boss yelled. ¡°Calm down!¡±

    Neoma felt a splitting headacheing.

    [Fuck.]

    Fortunately, Mama Boss was able to grab Papa Boss by the shoulder and stop thetter from attacking Won-shik appa.

    ¡°Everyone, let¡¯s calm down.¡±

    Oh?

    Neoma was surprised to see Trevor with Aunt Nichole and Dominic Zavaroni.

    But it was more surprising when she realized that Trevor was using a calming spell that made themon people around them listen to him.

    [It¡¯s something simr to hypnotism.]

    ¡°Weak people, you may return to work,¡± Trevor, whose voice wasced with magic, said. ¡°Forget everything that happened here as you leave.¡±

    The eyes of the ordinary people by the door turned hazy.

    Then they left with a nk look on their faces one by one.

    [They¡¯ve been hypnotized.]

    Fortunately, it didn¡¯t work on Areum eomma who looked confused.

    [Aw, poor eomma¡­]

    ¡°Niki, calm down,¡± Aunt Nichole scolded Papa Boss, then she turned to Won-shik appa. ¡°You, too, Gavin Quinzel.¡±

    Papa Boss didn¡¯t move on his spot, but he kept on ring at Won-shik appa.

    Won-shik appa was looking at Areum eomma¡­

    ¡­ but Areum eomma was looking at Papa Boss.

    [Hmm?]

    Areum eomma looked like she was about to cry while looking at Papa Boss intently. ¡°Yoon Jung¡­?¡±

    Oh.

    Yoon Jung was Nabi¡¯s biological father.

    [And Yoon Jung looks exactly like Papa Boss. Well, more like Papa Boss¡¯ Korean version because of the difference in hair and eye color.]

    Even so, the two men still looked alike.

    [Just like how Mama Boss and Areum eomma could pass off as twins.]

    This was a pandemonium.

    ¡°Everyone except for eomma, please leave the room,¡± Neoma said firmly. ¡°I want to talk to eomma alone.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 640 - 640 FIVE YEARS AGO (2)

    640 FIVE YEARS AGO (2)

    ¡°YOU¡¯RE NEOMA, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    Neoma smiled and nodded while holding Areum eomma¡¯s hands. ¡°It¡¯s me, eomma.¡±

    She was d that her eomma recognized her right away.

    In this timeline, Neoma was already in her twenties. But right now, she was only thirteen years old. And yet, her eomma recognized her without difficulties.

    [Eomma doesn¡¯t look surprised, though.]

    And she knew why.

    If she remembered correctly, Gavin/Won-shik appa told the truth about his real identity to Areum eomma. Moreover, Areum eomma already knew from the beginning that her real ¡°daughter¡± died, and Neoma¡¯s soul used the baby as a vessel.

    ¡°What does this mean, baby?¡± Areum eomma asked, confused. ¡°If you¡¯re here in that body, then does it mean¡­¡±

    Her eomma stopped talking and turned to Nabi who was still in aatose state.

    .....

    [Eomma is probably thinking that my old physical body is already dead.]

    ¡°She¡¯s still alive, eomma.¡±

    Areum eomma turned to her with a shocked look on her face. ¡°What do you mean by that?¡±

    ¡°Nabi didn¡¯t die,¡± Neoma said carefully. ¡°Someone saved her soul and brought it somewhere safe. And now, Nabi is back.¡±

    Her eomma remained silent as if she was still processing everything.

    ¡°Eomma, your real daughter is back,¡± Neoma said, smiling at her eomma. ¡°Nabi knows everything. And she can¡¯t wait to meet you.¡±

    To be honest, there was a very TINY part in Neoma¡¯s heart that refused to share Areum eomma with Nabi.

    She didn¡¯t have a decent mother figure in her first life. Duchess Amber Quinzel may have adopted her back then and showered her with expensive stuff. But the duchess never really treated her like her own daughter.

    In fact, Duchess Amber made her live like her dead daughter Hanna (since Hanna died early in the first timeline).

    The first mother figure that gave her unconditional love was Areum eomma.

    [To think that eomma loved me even though she knew I wasn¡¯t her real daughter¡­]

    ¡°Neoma, baby, why are you crying?¡± Areum eomma asked worriedly, then her eomma brushed away her tears with her hands. ¡°Are you hurt? Is everything okay?¡±

    She didn¡¯t even notice that she was crying.

    [Dammit.]

    ¡°Eomma, I¡¯m being greedy,¡± Neoma confessed between sobs. ¡°In the life I¡¯m currently living, I already have a happy family. I get along well with my twin brother, and my parents are good to me. But I still want to be your daughter, eomma. I know that it¡¯s unfair to Nabi, but I still want to call you ¡®eomma.''¡±

    As expected of her fucking bloodline.

    [I¡¯m as greedy and selfish as any other de Moonasterio.]

    Although she already had Mama Boss and Papa Boss as her parents, she still couldn¡¯t let go of Areum eomma and Gavin/Won-shik appa.

    [They¡¯re my first loving parents, after all.]

    ¡®Neoma Version 2.0¡ä was born because of Areum eomma and Gavin/Won-shik appa. If her eomma and appa didn¡¯t love her, then she wouldn¡¯t learn how to love herself. And because she loved herself, she gained the confidence that made her the person that she was today.

    [I can¡¯t let go of my eomma and appa¡­]

    ¡°Neoma, why are you asking me that?¡± Areum eomma asked, and she sounded really concerned. ¡°Of course, you will still be my baby¨C OUR baby. You¡¯re the precious child that your appa and I raised for more than twenty years.¡±

    ¡°But Nabi¡­¡±

    ¡°Sweetheart, a mother doesn¡¯t divide her love among her children¨C a mother multiplies it,¡± Areum eomma said softly. ¡°You and Nabi are both my children. I haven¡¯t met Nabi yet, but I¡¯m sure I will love her as much as I love you.¡±

    Okay, that made her sob harder.

    She knew it¨C her Areum eomma really had a big heart.

    [I¡¯m sure eomma has a lot of questions, and yet here she is¨Cforting me.]

    ¡°Eomma, I missed you so much.¡±

    Areum eomma smiled, then she pulled Neoma for a warm and tight hug. ¡°I missed you, too, baby,¡± she said softly. ¡°Wee home, our precious Neoma.¡±

    Aww.

    Neoma hugged her eomma and closed her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m back, eomma.¡±

    ***

    [WE REALLY look alike¡­]

    Mona was in the room next to the room where Neoma and Go Areum were talking.

    She was with Niki and Nichole (and the twins were bickering).

    On the other hand, Dominic and Trevor were in the room where Gavin Quinzel was confined earlier. Dominic was healing Gavin Quinzel while Trevor was dealing with the hospital staff and other witnesses who saw Gavin Quinzel run after waking up from aa.

    Mona couldn¡¯t focus on thinking because of the twins¡¯ bickering.

    ¡°Can¡¯t you fix that nasty temper of yours?¡± Nichole scolded Niki. ¡°You¡¯re no longer a child, Niki. Why would you pick a fight as soon as you saw Gavin Quinzel?¡±

    ¡°You know what Gavin Quinzel did to my family, Nichole,¡± Niki growled at his twin sister. ¡°Why did you even take his side, huh?¡±

    ¡°Was I supposed to take your side then?¡± Nichole retorted. ¡°We¡¯re not in the kind of rtionship where I would WANT to take your side just because you¡¯re my younger brother.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not your ¡®younger¡¯ brother¨C we¡¯re the same age.¡±

    ¡°Then stop acting like you¡¯re ten.¡±

    Mona suddenly burst outughing, making Nichole and Niki turn to her at the same time. ¡°I¡¯m sorry to break it to you, but both of you are acting like a child right now,¡± she said while shaking her head. ¡°You¡¯re really twins.¡±

    Nichole and Niki both blushed as if they were embarrassed.

    She was suddenly reminded of how Neoma and Nero would often bicker.

    Her smile slowly faded away.

    [Nero¡­ my poor Baby Pumpkin¡­]

    Her chest tightened painfully after the bitter reminder that they abandoned Nero in the other world.

    [The crows better not hurt my son.]

    ¡°Mona, are you okay?¡± Niki, who definitely noticed the change in her mood, asked right away. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for acting like a child.¡±

    Nichole scoffed after hearing what Niki said.

    Thankfully, the twins finally stopped fighting.

    ¡°Niki, did you see Neoma¡¯s other mother? Go Areum, isn¡¯t it?¡± Mona asked curiously. ¡°I already know that we resemble each other. But I¡¯m still shocked to see how she looks like me. We can pass off as twins.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I didn¡¯t notice.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t really paying attention to her,¡± Niki said. ¡°I¡¯m thankful that Go Areum raised our Neoma well. But¡­ that¡¯s it.¡±

    ¡°Oh, god,¡± Nicholemented, scoffing. ¡°Mona, it¡¯s not toote to dump that boring man.¡±

    Niki red at Nichole.

    Mona nudged Niki¡¯s side to stop him from bickering with his twin sister again. ¡°Niki, didn¡¯t you hear Go Areum call you ¡®Yoon Jung¡¯ earlier? I think she has mistaken you as herte husband¡­¡±

    ¡°Are you worried about that?¡±

    ¡°I just don¡¯t want to make Go Areum feel like I¡¯ve stolen her family from her¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that, Mona,¡± Niki said, gathering her in his arms tofort her. ¡°Go Areum knows the truth, as far as I know.¡±

    Ah, that was right.

    It made her feel relieved a little.

    ¡°I¡¯m d that Go Areum will finally be reunited with Nabi,¡± Mona said, wrapping her arms around Niki¡¯s waist. ¡°And I¡¯m also d that Neoma is reunited with her other mother.¡±

    ***

    ¡°HE REALLY looks like Yoon Jung.¡±

    Neoma was surprised when Areum eomma said that. ¡°Ah, Papa Boss,¡± she said. ¡°He¡¯s my biological father, eomma.¡±

    ¡°I was surprised when I saw him,¡± Areum eomma said with a sad look on her face. ¡°I thought Yoon Jung came back to life. Honestly, I suddenly felt guilty.¡±

    ¡°Why would you feel guilty¡­ oh, appa.¡±

    Her eomma¡¯s face turned even sadder.

    ¡°You did nothing wrong, eomma,¡± Neoma said carefully. ¡°You loved Yoon Jung, but the two of you weren¡¯t meant to be together for a long time. It wasn¡¯t a crime to fall in love with another person. The person left behind also has the right to be happy¨C to be loved. Please don¡¯t feel guilty for loving appa.¡±

    .....

    She saw how Areum eomma and Won-shik appa loved each other. Hence, she didn¡¯t want her eomma to feel guilty for loving appa.

    For being happy with someone else.

    [I¡¯m sorry, Mr. Yoon Jung. But my appa treated eomma well. Please don¡¯t resent them.]

    ¡°When did my baby grow this much?¡± Areum eomma said, smiling. This time, her smile looked happy. ¡°My baby is so mature now even though you¡¯ve shrunk.¡±

    Neomaughed softly.

    [I did ¡°shrink¡± from eomma¡¯s POV since I was already in my twenties here.]

    ¡°Thank you, baby,¡± Areum said, squeezing her hands gently. ¡°Thank you for making eomma feel better.¡±

    ¡°Anything for you, eomma.¡±

    Their moment was interrupted when they heard a knock on the door, and it was followed by that annoying voice.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to interrupt, but I believe Kim Nabi needs me.¡±

    Areum eomma looked confused.

    ¡°That¡¯s Trevor, eomma,¡± Neoma said. ¡°He¡¯s my frenemy at the moment.¡±

    ***

    NEOMA was relieved when Nabi finally opened her eyes.

    A normtose patient who was unconscious for over a year would have difficulties moving and speaking.

    But thanks to Trevor, Nabi woke up as if she just took a nap.

    Moreover, the demon boy also made it so Nabi woke up fresh despite her physical body beingatose for over a year.

    [The doctors would faint in shock if Trevor didn¡¯t manipte their minds.]

    ¡°Neoma unnie, I feel weird,¡± Nabi said shyly. ¡°I suddenly became an adult¡­¡±

    ¡°What adult? You¡¯re still a baby,¡± Neoma said, then her gaze fell back and forth between Nabi and Areum eomma ¡°Nabi, this is Areum eomma.¡±

    Nabi suddenly looked scared and shy.

    Areum eomma then smiled at Nabi and held her hand gently. ¡°Wee home, Nabi-ya.¡±

    Neoma smiled, realizing that ¡®sharing¡¯ Areum eomma with Nabi wasn¡¯t as hard as she thought it would be.

    [Nabi deserves to be happy, too.]

    ***

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 Chapter 641 - 641 FIVE YEARS AGO (3)

    641 FIVE YEARS AGO (3)

    ¡°TREVOR, LORD Dominic, I will leave the rest to you,¡± Neoma said to the two. ¡°Take care of eomma, appa, and Nabi.¡±

    Dominic Zavaroni would take care of Nabi and Won-shik appa¡¯s health.

    On the other hand, Trevor was in charge of brainwashing the people in the hospital so that they wouldn¡¯t question Nabi and Won-shik appa¡¯s sudden recovery.

    [But, of course, I told them not to make Nabi and appa TOO healthy right away.]

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Princess Neoma,¡± Dominic Zavaroni assured her. ¡°I¡¯ll make sure Miss Nabi and Gavin Quinzel will recover well.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Lord Dominic.¡±

    ¡°And I¡¯ll deal with all the annoying humans here,¡± Trevor saidzily. ¡°See youter, my Moon Princess.¡±

    As usual, Neoma just ignored Trevor and faced Areum eomma.

    Right now, she was in the room where Nabi was confined.

    .....

    Won-shik appa was back in his own room with the doctors checking on his condition. Aunt Nichole was with her Mama Boss and Papa Boss in the other room.

    ¡°Eomma, you can trust Lord Dominic. He¡¯ll take care of Nabi and appa,¡± Neoma said to her eomma. ¡°And Trevor can pretty much do everything. So if you have an errand for him, don¡¯t hesitate to ask him, eomma.¡±

    ¡°Wow,¡± Trevorined lightly. ¡°I knew falling in love with you is the same as signing a ve contract, Princess Neoma. Not that I¡¯mining.¡±

    [This shameless bastard¡­]

    Neoma red at Trevor.

    [I¡¯m used to your cheesy line, but don¡¯t use them in front of my eomma, you shameless bastard demon!]

    Trevor, who pretended not to notice her re, just smiled at her.

    Areum eomma cleared her throat. ¡°Neoma, is he your¡­ boyfriend?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Neoma said without missing a heartbeat. ¡°Not him, eomma.¡±

    Trevor clutched his chest dramatically. ¡°Ouch. You didn¡¯t even pretend to think before you denied it, Princess Neoma.¡±

    [What is there to think about?]

    ¡°Neoma, baby, the way you phrased your answer makes me think you have a boyfriend.¡±

    Ah, right.

    [I said ¡°not him,¡± which implies my boyfriend is someone else. But is Ruto my boyfriend? A boyfriend sounds too temporary, so thatbel doesn¡¯t suit him. He¡¯s more like a life partner?]

    ¡°No, eomma,¡± Neoma said while shaking her head. ¡°I don¡¯t have a boyfriend.¡±

    [And Ruto is already seventeen while I¡¯m still thirteen. Not everyone knows that we¡¯re older inside, and I don¡¯t want those people to see him as a pervert who preys on children.]

    Areum eomma looked relieved by what she said. ¡°I¡¯m d that you don¡¯t have a boyfriend yet, baby. I don¡¯t know why you shrunk, but even though you¡¯re older inside, I still feel like I¡¯d faint if you introduce a boyfriend to me right now.¡±

    Neoma smiled at her mother. ¡°It won¡¯t happen yet, eomma.¡±

    [Ruto isn¡¯t in this world anyway.]

    ***

    [TREVOR is really a fucking genius.]

    Neoma was impressed that even though her family stood out because of their good-looks and ¡°strange¡± clothes, no one paid attention to them.

    [Trevor said that his ¡®Enchantment Spell¡¯ makes us sort of invisible.]

    Right now, she was headed to the parking lot of the hospital with Mama Boss, Papa Boss, and Aunt Nichole. They were using the stairs instead of the elevator to avoid people. Although Trevor¡¯s spell was working, it still didn¡¯t hurt to be extra careful.

    And while on their way, her aunt gave her a recap of how the Devil¡¯s side managed to prepare everything in this world in just two months. Everything from fixing the Door that Ruto apparently broke, up to the fact that Trevor worked with a Korean mafia.

    ¡°Auntie, you¡¯re amazing,¡± Neoma said, truly impressed. ¡°No wonder you were so adamant about kidnapping me.¡±

    Aunt Nichole chuckled. ¡°Well, this is the only world where the crows and the gods from our world can¡¯t reach you.¡±

    ¡°Why is that?¡±

    ¡°Because this world is a world abandoned by their gods.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not a bad thing,¡± Aunt Nichole said. ¡°They abandoned this world because they wanted the humans they love dearly to live the way they want. Hence, this is a world where gods don¡¯t and can¡¯t interfere with human business directly.¡±

    ¡°This world is lucky, huh?¡±

    Meanwhile, the gods in their world were so fucking meddlesome.

    [Lord Levi, I¡¯m looking at you.]

    ¡°But the gods here don¡¯t like it when people from other worldse here,¡± Aunt Nichole continued with her exnation. ¡°Hence, they put a Guardian in each Door that connects to this world. Fortunately, the Guardians are flexible. As long as you¡¯re not full of malice, they¡¯ll let you through the Door.¡±

    ¡°Ah,¡± she said. ¡°Is that why the crows can¡¯t reach me here, Auntie?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± her aunt said while nodding. ¡°Even the gods here are wary of Darkness.¡±

    ¡°Then how did Gavin Quinzel manage to enter this world before?¡± Papa Boss chimed in. His voice sounded bitter. ¡°Didn¡¯t the God of Whatever Darkness send Gavin Quinzel to this world? He should have been filled with malice and Darkness then.¡±

    Neoma winced. ¡°Papa Boss is right.¡±

    Aunt Nichole let out a sigh. ¡°It was true that Gavin Quinzel betrayed you and Mona, but that doesn¡¯t mean he trusted the God of Eternal Darkness. He just used Helstor as much as that insufferable god used him.¡±

    Papa Boss scoffed. ¡°He still killed our people.¡±

    ¡°Shut it, Niki. You don¡¯t know anything.¡±

    Neoma didn¡¯t know how to react when she felt like Aunt Nichole and Papa Boss were about to fight again.

    [I mean, although I¡¯m rude, I still know when to meddle or not¡­]

    And it was a situation where Neoma knew she should keep her mouth shut.

    ¡°Nichole, Niki, please don¡¯t fight again,¡± Mona said, scolding the twins. ¡°Not here, at least.¡±

    Neoma was amused.

    [Papa Boss and Aunt Nichole will definitely fight when Mama Boss isn¡¯t looking.]

    ¡°Anyway, the Guardians of this world ask for an ¡°entrance fee,¡±¡± Aunt Nichole continued with her story before Papa Boss interrupted earlier. ¡°We paid in gold for everyone to get here.¡±

    Neoma¡¯s ears perked up. ¡°How much do we owe you, Auntie?¡±

    ¡°We kidnapped you, so you don¡¯t have to pay us back.¡±

    ¡°Just name the price, Nichole,¡± Papa Boss said. ¡°I don¡¯t want my entire family to be indebted to you.¡±

    ¡°Niki could have said it nicer, but I agree with him,¡± Mama Boss said. ¡°I¡¯m sure the amount of gold you paid wasn¡¯t small.¡±

    ¡°It was five hundred gold bars for each person,¡± Aunt Nichole said. ¡°And that amount will only allow us to stay here for a year. So, if we want to extend our stay here, we have to pay again.¡±

    Neoma, who grew up in luxury all her life, was still shocked by the amount of the ¡°entrance fee¡± per person. ¡°Why do those Guardians need so much gold?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Neoma,¡± her Papa Boss assured her. ¡°That¡¯s pretty cheap. We can afford it.¡±

    [Wow. 1,500 gold bars¡­ cheap?]

    ¡°But we¡¯re not in the empire, Papa Boss. We don¡¯t have ess to our wealth.¡±

    ¡°Oh, you didn¡¯t know,¡± Papa Boss said. ¡°I have a Treasury Room located in my Soul Beasts¡¯ dimension that I have ess to anytime, anywhere. All the previous emperors had one. Once you ascend the throne, you must create a secret Treasury Room in your Soul Beast¡¯s dimension.¡±

    ¡°Like a secret slush fund, huh?¡±

    ¡°You can say that,¡± Papa Boss said. ¡°Hence, you don¡¯t have to worry about anything rted to money, Neoma. I will provide for our family.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a relief,¡± Neoma said. ¡°I thought I had to sell Tteokbokki to the zoo or something.¡±

    [¡°How dare you even think of that, thug princess? I¡¯m priceless! You cannot sell me!¡±]

    It was a joke, of course.

    But Neoma liked teasing Tteokbokki because of his funny reactions.

    ¡°I also have a small slush fund that I carry around,¡± Mama Boss said. ¡°Nichole, can we exchange my jewelry collection for the currency of this world?¡±

    Papa Boss frowned. ¡°Mona, you don¡¯t have to sell your jewelry pieces.¡±

    ¡°For once, I agree with Niki. Let him pay for everything, Mona,¡± Aunt Nichole said. ¡°I know how precious the Roseheart Jewelry Collection is. Just keep it and pass it down to Neoma as an inheritanceter.¡±

    Neoma nodded. ¡°I like pretty and sparkly things, Mama Boss.¡±

    Well, she wasn¡¯t obsessed with jewelry, since her face was the prettiest and the most sparkly thing she owned.

    [But I don¡¯t want Mama Boss to sell her family heirloom.]

    Mama Boss smiled at Neoma. ¡°I see. Then if you want my jewelry collection, I¡¯ll divide and give them to you and Neroter.¡±

    .....

    Neoma smiled and nodded, then she turned to Aunt Nichole. ¡°Auntie, how do we exchange gold for Korean won?¡±

    ¡°Trevor has a Korean mafia for a friend.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me?¡± Neoma asked, shocked. ¡°Korean mafia?¡±

    [Where the hell did Trevor find a Korean mafia?]

    ¡°Trevor will fill you inter, dear,¡± Aunt Nichole said, then she pulled out a car key from the pocket of her top and pressed the button. ¡°Let¡¯s go home first.¡±

    Neoma gasped when she saw the car that beeped after Aunt Nichole pressed the key. ¡°A P*rsche car.¡±

    It was a beautiful, metallic ck P*rsche.

    She wasn¡¯t impressed because of the luxury brand since her Areum eomma and Won-shik oppa had several luxury cars. And she also owned a few of them in the past.

    But she was impressed that Aunt Nichole could drive!

    ¡°Auntie, you said you were only here for two months,¡± Neoma said, beaming. ¡°But you already know how to drive? A luxury car, at that!¡±

    Aunt Nichole grinned. ¡°Well, your aunt is a genius.¡±

    ***

    [GOSH, MAMA Boss and Papa Boss are both so refined.]

    Neoma, who was sitting in the passenger seat while Aunt Nichole drove the luxury car, kept on looking at the rearview mirror to watch her parents.

    Mama Boss and Papa Boss were sitting together in the backseat, and each one of them was looking outside the window on their side. But even though Mama Boss and Papa Boss were seeing the modern world for the first time, they didn¡¯t react the way Neoma expected them to.

    Well, Mama Boss and Papa Boss looked impressed.

    [But that¡¯s it.]

    [¡°Wow, thug princess! There are little humans in those big boxes! Amazing!¡±]

    Tteokbokki, who was yelling in her head, was amazed by the CFs ying in gigantic digital billboards.

    [¡°Why are there plenty of tall buildings here? And moving vehicles, too! It¡¯s so interesting!]

    This.

    This was the kind of reaction Neoma was expecting from Mama Boss and Papa Boss.

    [¡°Thug princess, the clothes people wear in this world are strange yet fun! Can I turn into my human formter and dress up like those people?¡±]

    Neoma answered Tteokbokki through mind telepathy.

    [I¡¯ll think about it if you shut the fuck up, Tteokbokki.]

    Just like that, Tteokbokki finally stopped screaming in her head.

    [It¡¯s good that you¡¯re excited, but not at the expense of my brain cells and eardrums, okay?]

    ¡°Mama Boss, Papa Boss, aren¡¯t you impressed?¡± Neoma asked when she couldn¡¯t hold in her curiosity anymore. ¡°You don¡¯t look excited.¡±

    Her parents turned to her at the same time.

    ¡°Of course, we¡¯re impressed,¡± Mama Boss said, smiling. ¡°I¡¯ve studied about this world before with Lord Novak.¡±

    Oh, right.

    Mama Boss did her research before she chose this world as her destination after she ran away from Papa Boss in the past.

    ¡°Although I¡¯ve seen these things in the replica that Lord Novak made for me to get used to this world, seeing the real thing is still impressive.¡±

    Papa Boss nodded in agreement. ¡°I¡¯ve also seen this world when Mona shared her vision with me in the past. Although it doesn¡¯t show on my face, I¡¯m really impressed.¡± Her father¡¯s cold gaze found Aunt Nichole. ¡°I really like this vehicle that you can drive yourself.¡±

    Ohh.

    Neoma could see envy in Papa Boss¡¯s eyes.

    No wonder Aunt Nichole smirked haughtily at Papa Boss. ¡°Are you upset that I got a car first before you did?¡±

    Papa Boss only red harder at Aunt Nichole.

    Neoma and Mama Boss could only sigh while shaking their heads.

    [Aigoo, why do Papa Boss and Aunt Nichole always pick a fight with each other?]

    ***

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 Chapter 642 - 642 FIVE YEARS AGO (4)

    642 FIVE YEARS AGO (4)

    NEOMA was impressed that Papa Boss and Mama Boss were still not impressed by the elevator that they were using to get to the floor of their apartment.

    And when she asked her parents why they didn¡¯t look surprised¡­

    ¡°I mean, I can fly,¡± Mama Boss said whileughing softly. ¡°It¡¯s true that this elevator thing is convenient for humans to use. But isn¡¯t a portal more impressive?¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± Neoma said while nodding. ¡°You have a point, Mama Boss.¡±

    ¡°This building is beautiful, but it¡¯s simr to the chains of hotel Rufus owns,¡± Papa Boss added. ¡°So far, the thing that I want the most here is the vehicle we used earlier.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s called a ¡®car,''¡± Aunt Nichole said. ¡°If you kneel and beg, I¡¯ll teach you how to drive.¡±

    Thankfully, the elevator door opened before Papa Boss and Aunt Nichole fought again.

    Neoma linked her arm with her aunt¡¯s and gently dragged her out of the elevator. ¡°So, Auntie, does the Korean mafia also own this apartment building?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Aunt Nichole said. ¡°We bought two apartments where you and your parents will live from now on. Dominic, Trevor, and me will live next door.¡±

    .....

    ¡°Trevor will live with you?¡±

    ¡°Dominic and I adopted Trevor.¡±

    Her eyes widened in shock. ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Well, we have to make fake documents and fake identities,¡± her aunt exined. ¡°Trevor is a minor physically, so he ought to have guardians. That¡¯s how Dominic and I became young parents.¡±

    Neoma smiled at her aunt teasingly. ¡°So, are you and Lord Dominic married now?¡±

    Aunt Nichole chuckled. ¡°I am Nichole Zavaroni now, my dear niece.¡±

    [My aunt became a Macaroni¡­]

    ¡°Congrattions, Nichole,¡± Mama Boss said sincerely. ¡°I¡¯m happy for you and Lord Dominic.¡±

    Aunt Nichole smiled at Mama Boss. ¡°Thank you, Mona.¡±

    ¡°Did you really get married to Dominic Zavaroni?¡± Papa Boss asked carefully. ¡°Or was it just for the fake identities that you made?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s for the documents,¡± Aunt Nichole said stiffly, as if she didn¡¯t want to talk about it with Papa Boss. ¡°However, Dominic and I n to get married soon.¡±

    Papa Boss looked like he was about to protest, but Mama Boss elbowed him in the side¨C causing Papa Boss to shut his mouth.

    ¡°Does it mean Trevor is my cousin now?¡± Neoma said, smirking. ¡°I can¡¯t wait to tease the hell out of himter.¡±

    Aunt Nicholeughed. ¡°You¡¯re so evil, my dear niece.¡±

    Neoma just smiled.

    [Heh. Should I call Trevor ¡®oppa¡¯ to annoy him?]

    Her thoughts were interrupted when Aunt Nichole finally opened the apartment door by pressing the code in the keypad locks.

    Wow.

    It was a luxury three-bedroom apartment. Moreover, the floor-to-ceiling windows gave them a beautiful panorama of Seoul.

    [This definitely cost a fortune.]

    The luxury apartment was already fully furnished, too. It was as if there had been people living there for a long time already.

    ¡°We¡¯ve prepared clothes for you in your room,¡± Aunt Nichole said, then her aunt turned to her parents. ¡°Let¡¯s talkter, after you take a bath and change into morefortable clothes.¡± After that, her aunt turned to Neoma. ¡°Dear, what do you want to eat for dinner? Let¡¯s order some takeout.¡±

    Neoma giggled, amused to see Aunt Nichole acting as if she had been living in Korea all her life. ¡°Since we just moved into this new home, let¡¯s order jjajangmyeon.¡±

    ***

    ¡°DEAR, do we look strange?¡±

    Neoma smiled and shook her head before she responded to Mama Boss¡¯ question. ¡°Both of you look great, Mama Boss, Papa Boss.¡±

    Earlier, she taught her parents how to use the bathroom.

    There was a tub in the bathroom simr to what they used back in the empire. Hence, it wasn¡¯t that hard to teach them the other stuff, like where to find shampoo and soap. Everything that they would need was in the cupboard, anyway.

    ¡°I tried to copy how the women I saw in the streets dressed earlier,¡± Mama Boss said. ¡°I chose the simplest outfit I could find in the wardrobe.¡±

    Mama Boss now wore a turtleneck off-white sweater and a pleated pink skirt.

    ¡°And you did great, Mama Boss,¡± Neoma said, impressed by her mother¡¯s beauty. Gosh, this was why she was born beautiful¨C her mother¡¯s beauty genes were strong. ¡°You look so soft and feminine, Mama Boss. That style suits you well.¡±

    Mama Boss blushed and smiled shyly. ¡°Thank you, Baby Muffin.¡±

    ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio.¡±

    It was Papa Boss.

    Her father also changed his clothes. Papa Boss wore a simple white V-necked shirt under a cream cardigan, and a pair of brown trousers.

    ¡°Papa Boss, you look great,¡± Neoma said, giving her father a thumbs up. ¡°Let me take a look at the clothes that Aunt Nichole prepared for youter.¡±

    ¡°I should be the one checking your wardrobe,¡± Papa Boss said sternly. ¡°Why are you not wearing pants, Neoma? I know that we¡¯re at home, and it¡¯s only us in here. Even so, it¡¯s still inappropriate for a princess to not wear pants.¡±

    Huh?

    ¡°Niki, don¡¯t scold our daughter,¡± Mama Boss said. ¡°I understand where you¡¯reing from, but choose your words carefully.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m wearing shorts underneath, Papa Boss,¡± Neoma exined. ¡°My oversized sweater is just too big for me.¡±

    But it reached her mid-thigh, so it was pretty decent in her opinion.

    Plus, she was even wearing warm knee-length socks.

    [I understand why Papa Boss would think I¡¯m not wearing pants, though.]

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Neoma said, acting like an obedient daughter. Admittedly, she was wrong for shocking her parents with her choice of clothes. Of course, as a strong independent woman, she should wear whatever she wanted to wear. Even so, she should bend this time because she knew she couldn¡¯t always apply her modern values to her parents, who were born and raised in a different world and culture. ¡°I¡¯ll go and change my clothes, Papa Boss, Mama Boss.¡±

    ***

    ¡°IS NEOMA not yet done changing her clothes?¡±

    It was Nichole.

    Earlier, Mona¡¯s sister-inw went back to her own apartment to change clothes. And now, she was back.

    Nichole now wore almost the same clothes as Niki.

    [They¡¯re really twins, huh?]

    Mona let out a sigh. ¡°Niki scolded Neoma because he didn¡¯t like what she wore, so my poor daughter went back to her room to change her clothes.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯re shocked by the types of clothes women wear in this world, but don¡¯t be narrow-minded,¡± Nichole scolded Niki. ¡°You should be grateful that Neoma listened to your nagging instead of arguing with you.¡±

    Niki let out a frustrated sigh. ¡°I¡¯m already reflecting on it, Nichole.¡±

    ¡°You better,¡± Nichole said. ¡°I¡¯m sure Mona scolded you already, so I¡¯ll stop here.¡±

    ¡°Thanks,¡± Niki said sarcastically, then he fell silent for a moment. ¡°Nichole, I need your help.¡±

    Oh?

    Mona was surprised to hear that.

    And Nichole looked just as surprised as her.

    ¡°I need to talk to Gavin Quinzel,¡± Niki said in a serious tone. ¡°So please make an excuse for Neoma to leave the house tomorrow.¡±

    Nichole raised an eyebrow. ¡°And why would I help you?¡±

    ¡°The Eternity Rings.¡±

    Mona was surprised to hear that from Niki.

    [The Eternity Rings are a pair of rings made of pearls. Apparently, Lady Roxana made the rings herself for her and Lord Yule¡¯s wedding anniversary. It¡¯s the simplest and least expensive pair of rings in the Royal Heirloom Collection, but it¡¯s what Nichole liked the most.]

    And Niki knew that.

    [Unfortunately, the entire Royal Heirloom Collection was inherited by Niki.]

    ¡°I¡¯ll give the Eternity Rings to you. I have them in my secret Treasury Room, so I can hand them over to you right now,¡± Niki said in a serious tone. ¡°Consider it as my family¡¯s advance wedding gift for you and Dominic Zavaroni.¡±

    Mona couldn¡¯t help but smile when she realized Niki¡¯s intention.

    [He just wanted to give Nichole a wedding present, but he couldn¡¯t say it directly, so he¡¯s making an excuse.]

    ¡°Fine,¡± Nichole said, giving in. ¡°I ept your deal.¡±

    After that, Nichole extended her hand to Niki.

    ¡°Very well,¡± Niki said, epting Nichole¡¯s handshake. ¡°It¡¯s a deal.¡±

    Mona smiled while watching the twins.

    .....

    [They get along well weirdly.]

    ***

    NEOMA finally got the reaction that she wanted from her parents.

    Mama Boss and Papa Boss were impressed by two things: first, smartphones. Second, Korean food.

    Of course, her parents couldn¡¯t use chopsticks yet. Hence, they used fork and spoon when they ate jjajangmyeon (aka noodles in ck bean sauce). Aside from the noodles, Mama Boss and Papa Boss also loved bulgogi, Korean fried chicken, and the side dishes.

    [Even kimchi!]

    That reminded her¡­

    [I shoulde clean to Tteokbokki, Mochi, Soju, and Kimchi that I named them after my favorite snacks and alcoholic beverage. And I should apologize to them.]

    ¡°This smartphone is amazing,¡± Mama Boss said. ¡°I was already impressed with that thing called television. But I think this smartphone is the best so far, second only to cars.¡±

    Neoma smiled.

    [Mama Boss fell in love with cars.]

    ¡°Most people in this world can¡¯t live without their phones,¡± Aunt Nichole said. ¡°Once you exchanged your gold with money, you should buy phones. Speaking of which¡­¡± Her aunt turned to Neoma. ¡°My dear niece, why don¡¯t you go with Trevor and meet Mr. Kim tomorrow?¡±

    ¡°Okay, Auntie,¡± Neoma said. ¡°I¡¯ll take Mama Boss and Papa Boss to tour the city after that.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s do that the day after tomorrow,¡± her aunt said. ¡°Just go with Trevor tomorrow. The adults have something important to discuss.¡±

    Okay, that sounded suspicious.

    There was only one thing the adults needed to discuss where they wouldn¡¯t want her to be there.

    Neoma eyed Papa Boss suspiciously.

    As expected, her father avoided her gaze and quietly ate his Korean fried chicken.

    [Hah! I knew it. Papa Boss will definitely confront Won-shik appa!]

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to,¡± Neoma said stubbornly. ¡°I want toze around tomorrow and stick to Papa Boss like glue.¡±

    Mama Boss rubbed Neoma¡¯s back. ¡°Baby Muffin, can you do Mama Boss a favor? We really need you to exchange our gold for cash tomorrow.¡±

    Her mother¡¯s beauty was blinding Neoma¡¯s eyes, so she avoided Mama Boss¡¯ gaze.

    [It¡¯s hard to say ¡®no¡¯ to Mama Boss, so I must not look at her at all costs.]

    ¡°We¡¯re back~¡±

    Oh.

    Fortunately, a distraction came in the form of Trevor and Dominic Zavaroni. Obviously, the two used teleportation since they just came out of thin air.

    Trevor knitted his eyebrows. ¡°What¡¯s with the weird atmosphere?¡±

    Dominic Zavaroni stood behind Aunt Nichole and put his hands on her shoulders. ¡°Did something happen, dear?¡±

    ¡°I can handle this, dear,¡± Aunt Nichole said confidently. ¡°Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Auntie?¡±

    ¡°Mr. Kim, the Korean mafia, is handsome.¡±

    Oh?

    Dominic Zavaroni flinched.

    Trevor, who was about to put a chicken drumstick in his mouth, suddenly stopped mid-air.

    On the other hand, Mama Boss and Papa Boss turned to Aunt Nichole with a confused look on their faces.

    And Neoma was struggling.

    [A handsome Korean mafia¡­ it¡¯s like a W*ttpad dreame true¡­]

    ¡°Well, he¡¯s too old for you since he¡¯s already in histe thirties. I think,¡± Aunt Nichole continued. ¡°But you like looking at handsome faces, so I assure you that Mr. Kim is worth looking at. Unlike Niki who looks prim and boring, Mr. Kim has the charm of a wild beast.¡±

    A wild beast.

    Strangely, that made Neoma¡¯s heart thump against her chest.

    [I mean, my man is the neat and ¡®boy-next-door¡¯ type. A ¡®wild beast¡¯ would be Ruto¡¯s exact opposite. It will be an interesting sight¡­]

    And she had always wanted to meet a Korean mafia.

    [That, and because I have a job for him that I don¡¯t want my parents to hear.]

    ¡°Neoma, Mr. Kim has cool tattoos,¡± Aunt Nichole said, smirking. ¡°Mr. Kim¡¯s forearms are covered in tattoos. Ah, he¡¯s also a smoker. I don¡¯t advocate smoking, but Mr. Kim looks hot when he¡¯s smoking.¡±

    [A hot and charismatic smoker ahjussi with sleeve tattoos?!]

    Neoma mmed her hands on the table. ¡°I¡¯m sold!¡±

    ***

    ¡°DO YOU really find Mr. Kim ¡®hot?''¡±

    Nichole froze on the spot because of Dominic¡¯s question.

    [Oh, he¡¯s sulking.]

    After having dinner with Neoma and her family, Nichole went back to their home with Dominic. On the other hand, Trevor said he would stay with Neoma for a while.

    ¡°I only said that to convince Neoma to meet Mr. Kim,¡± Nichole said. ¡°Are you jealous?¡±

    Instead of answering, Dominic just held her hand and pulled her to him gently. Then, without warning, he kissed her on the lips.

    Oh?

    His kisses right now were very different from his usual light and gentle kisses.

    [Today, his kisses are needy.]

    As if he would die if he didn¡¯t kiss her fervently.

    ¡°Trevor,¡± Dominic whispered when they broke the kiss to gasp for air. ¡°I¡¯ll tell Trevor not to go home tonight.¡±

    Nicholeughed softly while wrapping her arms around Dominic¡¯s neck. ¡°Just for the night?¡±

    Poor Trevor was locked out of their apartment for the entire night, and the day after.

    Yes, Dominic had the stamina (and the skills1) to keep Nichole all night (until morning!).

    ***

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 Chapter 643 - 643 FIVE YEARS AGO (5)

    643 FIVE YEARS AGO (5)

    ¡°SO, WE¡¯RE going on a date tomorrow?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not a date, and it will turn into your funeral if you don¡¯t stop annoying me,¡± Neoma said to Trevor. Then she leaned against the balcony railing. ¡°The adults are trying to get rid of me tomorrow. I¡¯m sure they¡¯re up to no good.¡±

    From her spot on the balcony, she could see Mama Boss and Papa Boss in the living room while watching an old Korean movie.

    Yes, it was an action film where Won-shik appa was the main lead.

    [Mama Boss looks impressed, but Papa Boss is obviously annoyed. Aunt Nichole is pretty evil for downloading all Won-shik appa¡¯s Korean dramas and movies for my parents to watch.]

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m sure the one who¡¯s up to no good is Emperor Niki,¡± Trevor said as if he was amused. ¡°I bet he¡¯d pick a fight with Gavin Quinzel tomorrow.¡±

    She turned to the demon boy who was standing beside her. ¡°Will appa and Nabi be discharged from the hospital tomorrow?¡±

    ¡°They can¡¯t be discharged yet because the doctors wanted to observe their condition for a few more days,¡± Trevor exined. ¡°But it would be easy to sneak out of the hospital if Gavin Quinzel wanted to.¡±

    ¡°Have theypletely recovered?¡±

    .....

    ¡°Uh-huh,¡± he said. ¡°Nabi¡¯s soul fits perfectly in her vessel since she owns that body in the first ce. She just needs time for her soul to sync well with your memories.¡±

    ¡°Huh? MY memories? What does it mean?¡±

    ¡°Nabi will absorb the memories that you had while you were living in her body,¡± Trevor exined. ¡°She will also gain all the skills that you learned before. It¡¯s simr to muscle memory.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see.¡±

    ¡°Is there a particr memory that you don¡¯t want to share with Nabi? I can erase it for you,¡± he offered. ¡°We can just say that Nabi lost her memories as a side-effect of being in aa for a long time.¡±

    ¡°I really don¡¯t mind sharing my memories with Nabi because it can help her navigate her new life easily,¡± she said. ¡°But I¡¯ll understand if she wants to start in a clean te, so let¡¯s ask herter.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    ¡°So, we¡¯re going to meet this Mr. Kim tomorrow,¡± she said. ¡°Do I have an outfit that screams ¡°I¡¯m a mafia?¡±¡±

    ¡°Of course, we didn¡¯t prepare an outfit that will make our royal princess look like a mafia princess.¡±

    She clicked her tongue, annoyed. ¡°I hope there¡¯s a pink zer in my wardrobe.¡±

    ¡°Wearing something pink won¡¯t make you look like a mafia, you know?¡± he said. ¡°Uncle Min and his men always wore ck.¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡± she said, nodding. ¡°I¡¯ll still wear pink, though.¡±

    Trevor justughed. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯d look lovely in pink, my Moon Princess.¡±

    ¡°Naturally,¡± she agreed, then she turned to him. ¡°Trevor, how long will it take you to create amunication device that will allow us to contact my people in the other world?¡±

    ¡°The Guardian of the Door that we fixed is a little stingy,¡± he said. ¡°But I think I can convince him to allow us to create a link between this world and the other one. Even so, in order to not attract unwanted attention from other beings in this world, I guess we can only use onemunication device at the moment.¡±

    ¡°I see. That¡¯s already helpful.¡±

    ¡°Should I link themunication device to Lewis Crevan?¡±

    ¡°Connect it to Ruto.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me?¡±

    ¡°Why are you reacting that way?¡±

    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you contact Lewis instead of the damned chef?¡± Trevorined, sulking. ¡°Lewis is your ¡°son.¡± And now that you¡¯re temporarily gone, he¡¯s the one in charge of leading your other ¡°children.¡±¡±

    ¡°Lewis already knows what to do since I taught him what to do if I suddenly disappeared,¡± she exined. ¡°Plus, Paige is there. The kids will be fine even without my direct supervision.¡±

    ¡°Then the damned chef would be fine, too.¡±

    ¡°I know that, duh,¡± she said. ¡°Ruto is just SLIGHTLY stronger than me, so I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll be fine.¡±

    ¡°Then why¡­?¡±

    ¡°Because I need Ruto to move in my stead,¡± she exined, crossing her arms over her chest. ¡°Before we left, Ruto said that he¡¯ll protect my children¡¯s memories. But there are other people I need to remember me.¡±

    ¡°And those are¡­?¡±

    ¡°First, Jasper oppa.¡±

    It was a shame that Jasper Hawthorne didn¡¯t follow her children to the ce where she was ¡°abducted¡± even though her oppa just worked with some of her children before that incident.

    ¡°I need Jasper oppa to do some work for me,¡± she said. ¡°The crows have won this time since they were able to kick me out of the empire. It won¡¯t be easy for me to return to the empire as the royal princess.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re still thinking of going back?¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± she said, raising an eyebrow at Trevor. ¡°That much should be obvious. Did you think we¡¯d abandon Nero? And my children?¡±

    ¡°I was hoping you would.¡±

    ¡°Crazy bastard,¡± she said. ¡°I will return for Nero and my people once I could. For now, I have to use my people to control the thing that the current royal family wouldn¡¯t be able to touch.¡±

    ¡°And that would be¡­?¡±

    ¡°The economy,¡± she said. ¡°The direct members of the royal family aren¡¯t allowed to run private businesses. That¡¯s the thing that prevented me from bing a modern businesswoman in the empire. But I can do that now.¡±

    ¡°Ah, now I know why you need Jasper Hawthorne,¡± Trevor said, nodding. ¡°House Hawthorne is one of the wealthiest noble households in the empire.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Jasper oppa and Hanna need to be business partners. After all, the Quinzels are arguably the richest family in the empire.¡±

    The demon boy tilted his head to one side. ¡°My Moon Princess, it¡¯s not even a day since we left the other world. And yet your big brain is already working really hard.¡±

    ¡°Oh, you didn¡¯t know?¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°One of my fallback ns is to run away to this world with my loved ones,¡± she said in a serious tone. ¡°Hence, I made n B-Z if ever I decided to leave the empire. But I¡¯m aware that I can¡¯t bring everyone with me, so I thought of ways to help the ones who would be unfortunately left behind in the empire. That¡¯s why I came up with the n to help them control the economy of the empire in order to stop the royal family from acting up.¡±

    He whistled as if he was impressed. ¡°I love ady who has n B-Z.¡±

    ¡°I love myself, too.¡±

    Trevorughed, then he suddenly stopped and clutched his head tight. ¡°Argh.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Trevor?¡± she asked worriedly. ¡°A headache?¡±

    He shook his head. ¡°My new ¡°father¡± just sent me a message.¡±

    ¡°What did Uncle Dominic say?¡±

    Since Aunt Nichole became a macaroni now, that made Dominic Zavaroni her uncle.

    [And Uncle Dominic gave me permission to address him as such.]

    Trevor blushed for some reason. ¡°He told me not to go home for tonight.¡±

    Oh?

    Oh.

    [OHH.]

    She fanned her hands on her face when she remembered how Uncle Dominic looked at her Aunt Nichole before the two left the apartment.

    If her hunch was correct, Uncle Dominic was jealous of Mr. Kim Min.

    [My years of experience as a smut reader tells me they¡¯re gonna have a spicy night¨C no, brain, no! STAHP!]

    It was weird to think about her aunt and uncle.

    ¡°Anyway, do you think Emperor Niki will let me stay the night here?¡± Trevor asked. ¡°Should I act cute in front of the emperor?¡±

    ¡°Sure. Try it,¡± Neoma said, patting Trevor¡¯s shoulder. ¡°If you want Papa Boss to kick you out, that is.¡±

    ***

    TWIN PIGTAILS.

    id puff sleeve crop zer in pink, white turtleneck shirt, id pleated skirt in pink, whitece-up ankle boots.

    Neoma twirled in front of Trevor. ¡°Do I look like a mafia now?¡±

    ¡°Not at all,¡± Trevor said, smiling. ¡°You look like an elite student who goes to a private school for the rich, my Moon Princess.¡±

    She put on her oversized sunsses. ¡°Close enough.¡±

    The demon boy justughed.

    [To be honest, Trevor is the one who looks like he came out of a W*ttpad mafia story.]

    Trevor wore a ck turtleneck shirt under a ck trench coat, ck pants, and ck shoes. His outfit was pretty simple, but he carried it well because of his handsome face.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to say goodbye to Emperor Niki and Lady Roseheart?¡±

    Right now, the two of them were in her bedroom.

    Trevor was allowed inside because they had to use a portal to get to Mr. Kim Min¡¯s office. And the demon boy put the portal in her room so she could use it anytime she wanted.

    .....

    [His power as a Sorcerer is really convenient.]

    Thank goodness they could still use their power in this world.

    ¡°Princess Neoma?¡±

    That snapped her back to reality. ¡°Mama Boss already knew that we¡¯re leaving, and I avoided Papa Boss because he¡¯d get upset again if he saw my outfit.¡±

    Aunt Nichole and Uncle Dominic didn¡¯t join them for breakfast.

    Trevor tried to call the two, but none of them was answering.

    [Obviously, Aunt Nichole and Uncle Dominic are still¡­ busy.]

    Ahem, ahem.

    Anyway, after breakfast, she took a bath and chose an outfit for today¡¯s excursion.

    Trevor was allowed to use the guest roomst night, and he got ready by borrowing the clothes that were supposed to be for Nero.

    [The guest room was also reserved for my baby brother.]

    ¡°I see,¡± Trevor said, interrupting Neoma¡¯s thoughts. ¡°Then shall we go?¡±

    ¡°Lezzgo, couz.¡±

    He knitted his eyebrows. ¡°¡®Couz?''¡±

    ¡°Short for ¡®cousin.''¡±

    ¡°Excuse me?¡±

    ¡°Aunt Nichole and Uncle Dominic adopted you,¡± Neoma said with a straight face. She was teasing Trevor, but she wanted to look indifferent while doing so. ¡°Doesn¡¯t that make you my cousin, Trevor oppa?¡±

    Trevor covered his ears with his hands as if he didn¡¯t want to hear it. ¡°Nooo!¡±

    Hehe.

    ***

    ¡°FACE, pass. Sleeve tattoos, pass. Nice body, pass. Gosh, ahjussi. I like your style.¡±

    Trevor held back hisughter while watching Uncle Min get flustered while Princess Neoma, a thirteen-year-old girl in everyone¡¯s eyes, was openly checking him out.

    [Princess Neoma can¡¯t really control herself every time she sees good-looking people¡­]

    As soon as they appeared in Uncle Min¡¯s office (fortunately, he was alone there), Princess Neoma checked him out from head to toe.

    Well, it looked like the royal princess was simply checking the Korean mafia out.

    But Trevor could tell by Princess Neoma¡¯s sharp eyes that she was looking at the man¡¯s ¡°vibes.¡±

    [It¡¯s simr to Mana.]

    ¡°I¡¯m looking respectfully, ahjussi,¡± Princess Neoma said. ¡°Please don¡¯t mind me. I¡¯m just checking if we can trust you, and so far, you pass the vibe check.¡±

    ¡°Trevor.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Uncle Min?¡±

    Uncle Min pointed at Neoma with his thumb. ¡°This kid is pretty weird.¡±

    Princess Neoma looked offended.

    Trevor, once again,ughed.

    [This day is going to be so interesting.]

    But, oh.

    Trevor suddenly remembered what he did before leaving the house with Princess Neoma¡­

    [Emperor Niki won¡¯t kill Gavin Quinzel, right¡­?]

    ***

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 Chapter 644 - 644 FIVE YEARS AGO (6)

    644 FIVE YEARS AGO (6)

    [HE DOESN¡¯T look like he¡¯s a bad person. I mean, I can totally smell blood on him. But who am I to judge? I definitely killed more than he had.]

    Neoma had already checked out the Korean mafia called ¡®Uncle Min¡¯ earlier.

    She had to do that because the man was connected to the other world. That ce might be somewhere in their world, so she had to be extra careful.

    First, she checked Uncle Min¡¯s face. He was handsome, and he didn¡¯t look like a conman.

    Second, his tattoos. She checked and confirmed that they were just ordinary ink.

    Lastly, she checked Uncle Min¡¯s ¡°vibes.¡± Well, even ordinary humans had an aura around them. She could tell that the mafia was physically stronger than normal people. But other than that, nothing appeared out of the ordinary.

    [Oh, except for Uncle Min¡¯s ¡°scent.¡± It¡¯s noting from him, though.]

    ¡°Uncle Min, why do you smell like rotten flesh?¡± Neoma asked bluntly. ¡°I don¡¯t mean to insult you. I¡¯m merely curious.¡±

    Uncle Min didn¡¯t look surprised anymore. ¡°Trevor, you didn¡¯t tell her?¡±

    .....

    Trevor shrugged. ¡°My Moon Princess didn¡¯t ask.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± Uncle Min said. ¡°My nephew-inw from the other world is a ghoul. But instead of human flesh, he consumes the flesh of other ghouls.¡±

    She gasped. ¡°Cannibali¨C never mind. That¡¯s none of my business.¡±

    ¡°He wasn¡¯t born a ghoul¨C he was just cursed,¡± Uncle Min exined. ¡°My nieces and their family visited mest week. That¡¯s probably why Isaak¡¯s scent clung to me.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± she said. Then she turned to Trevor. ¡°That world?¡±

    ¡°Seems to be different from ours,¡± Trevor provided. ¡°It¡¯s interesting, isn¡¯t it? There are several other worlds in existence.¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± she agreed with the demon boy.

    But that was it.

    She wasn¡¯t interested in a world where her loved ones didn¡¯t exist.

    ¡°Stop talking about scary things in front of me,¡± Uncle Min said, as if he was stressed out. ¡°I don¡¯t want to learn about the secret of the universe. I¡¯m just a normal citizen who wants to live a peaceful life.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think a mafia leader is a ¡°normal citizen,¡± but I can rte to you, Uncle Min,¡± she said, then she put a hand over her chest. ¡°I¡¯d like to live a peaceful life, too.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think you¡¯d be able to live a peaceful life with a person like Trevor by your side, kid.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t jinx it, ahjussi.¡±

    ¡°Alright,¡± Uncle Min said, then he quickly changed the topic. ¡°You¡¯re here to exchange your gold for cash? And to make your fake documents, I assume.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, ahjussi,¡± she said while nodding. ¡°It would be easier to make us half-Caucasians because of how we look, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Uncle Min said. ¡°It¡¯s easier to create a past where your family stayed somewhere in Europe, and only migrated to Korea recently.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± she said. ¡°Then I¡¯d like to use thest name ¡®Ramsay¡¯ for me and my family.¡±

    She had already discussed it with her parents earlier.

    [Mama Boss and Papa Boss just told me to do whatever I think is best for our family.]

    ¡°That¡¯s easy,¡± he said. ¡°Would you also need fake documents once you transferred to a school here in Korea?¡±

    ¡°School?¡±

    ¡°You need to attend school, or at least enroll in a homeschooling program or something,¡± Uncle Min said. ¡°You stand out, and people will talk if they found out you¡¯re not in school. I also told Trevor the same thing.¡±

    Well, that made sense.

    [I¡¯m not thrilled to go back to school, but I have to do what I have to do to blend in.]

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll leave everything to you, ahjussi,¡± Neoma said, then she paused for a moment before speaking again. ¡°Can I ask you to do one more job for me?¡±

    ¡°If the price is right, then yes.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m a rich girl.¡±

    ¡°Then fire away.¡±

    ¡°Do you know Kim Neoma?¡± she asked directly. ¡°The famous vlogger-sh-mukbanger who got food poisoned more than a year ago?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Uncle Min said. ¡°That incident was so famous that even I had heard of it¡­¡± He trailed off, then he looked at her suspiciously. ¡°You have the same name. Were you using Kim Neoma¡¯s body before?¡±

    She pped her hands slowly, amazed. ¡°Ahjussi, you¡¯re sharp.¡±

    ¡°I have two nieces,¡± Uncle Min exined. ¡°Kim Sua is my real niece, but her body was possessed by a woman from another world called Zoe. Now I consider both of them as my nieces.¡±

    ¡°No wonder you¡¯re not fazed at all, ahjussi.¡±

    Uncle Min nodded in agreement. ¡°Anyway, what do you want me to do?¡±

    ¡°Can you investigate the incident for me?¡± she asked. ¡°I want to know who gave the poisoned coconut wine to me.¡±

    ¡°If I remember correctly, the address where the coconut wine was sent from doesn¡¯t exist.¡±

    ¡°A fake address?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Uncle Min said while nodding. ¡°Your fans cursed at the police nonstop because apparently, the police were ¡°useless.¡± It got to the point where the people in charge of your case had to release a public apology.¡±

    Really?

    She felt bad for the police, but she felt touched because of her loyal fans.

    ¡°Do you want me to investigate a case that not even the police could solve?¡±

    ¡°Correct, ahjussi,¡± Neoma said in a serious tone. ¡°I want you to take a different approach when investigating. After all, this case isn¡¯t a normal one.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I get it,¡± Uncle Min said while nodding. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll do my best to find who poisoned you, Miss Neoma Ramsay.¡±

    ***

    ¡°MY MOON PRINCESS, you already know who poisoned you, right?¡±

    Neoma, who was busy looking around while choosing clothes in her favorite luxury store, turned to Trevor. ¡°It was obviously Ruto.¡±

    ¡°Right? That¡¯s what I thought, too,¡± Trevor said. ¡°That damned chef was the one who brought you back as Neoma de Moonasterio. I guess he had to ¡°kill¡± you in order to separate your soul from Nabi¡¯s body and bring you back to the empire.¡±

    She nodded in agreement while browsing the cute dresses on the rack. ¡°Ruto and I were probably close in my second lifetime, too. But I think he erased my memories of him.¡±

    ¡°Ah. So you asked Uncle Min to investigate because you wanted to figure out what your rtionship with Ruto was when you were still in Korea?¡±

    ¡°Bingo.¡±

    ¡°Why not just ask that damned chef then?¡±

    ¡°Are you crazy?¡± she retorted. ¡°The more I remember, the more Ruto will suffer.¡±

    ¡°Then why still investigate?¡±

    ¡°Remembering the past and finding it out from another person are two different things,¡± she exined. ¡°Learning it from another person may not make Ruto suffer.¡±

    The demon boy rolled his eyes. ¡°Are you not even mad that the damned chef poisoned you?¡±

    That was a good question.

    If she suffered as Neoma de Moonasterio for the second time, she would have been mad at Ruto for ruining her life.

    [I mean, I was already happy as Kim Neoma.]

    But because Ruto brought her back, she got a happy and bigger family now.

    [Moreover, I know that Ruto brought me back because that was what I wanted to happen.]

    ¡°Ruto would never do something that I¡¯d hate,¡± Neoma said. ¡°I trust him.¡±

    ¡°You trust that damned chef way too much.¡±

    ¡°By the way, how long do we have to waste time here?¡± she asked impatiently. ¡°Papa Boss won¡¯t kill Won-shik appa, will he? Appa can¡¯t fight in that body.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re just going to talk,¡± Trevor said, shrugging. ¡°It¡¯s long overdue, anyway.¡±

    ¡°What do they need to talk about in the first ce?¡± she asked curiously. ¡°What do you know that I don¡¯t know, huh?¡±

    The demon boy was about to respond when a woman approached them.

    ¡°Excuse me, students.¡±

    [Oh, maybe we look like students because of our age.]

    ¡°Are you two, perhaps, signed in an agency?¡±

    [Ah, we¡¯re being scouted.]

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry but I¡¯m not interested, ma¡¯am,¡± Neoma said politely, then she pulled Trevor by the arm. ¡°But my dear cousin oppa is very interested in bing a celebrity.¡±

    Trevor looked at Neoma as if she had betrayed him.

    .....

    [Fighting, cousin oppa.]

    ***

    ¡°I DON¡¯T understand what Your Majesty wants with me.¡±

    Niki clenched his hands in an attempt to calm himself down.

    He had to remind himself that Gavin Quinzel couldn¡¯t fight back because the body that he was currently using was a shell of an ordinary person.

    Moreover, they were in a hospital.

    To be precise, the two of them were talking in the rooftop garden of the hospital. Even so, if he released his power or Soul Beasts in this ce, many innocent people would get hurt.

    That was why Nichole and Mona were also there.

    ¡°You can¡¯t escape your sins just because you abandoned your shell as Gavin Quinzel and returned to this world as Kim Won-shik,¡± Niki said coldly. ¡°You were themander of the White Lion Knights, Gavin Quinzel. Most of all, you were the leader of the Pdins. But you killed your own people.¡±

    ¡°Would apologizing bring the dead back?¡± Gavin Quinzel retorted indifferently. ¡°I don¡¯t regret what I¡¯ve done back then, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°You bastard¨C¡±

    ¡°Gavin Quinzel, why can¡¯t you just be honest?¡± Nichole interrupted in an exasperated voice. ¡°Just tell Niki the truth.¡±

    Niki and Mona both turned to Nichole, confused.

    ¡°Princess Nichole, please,¡± Gavin Quinzel begged the former Princess Royal. ¡°They don¡¯t have to know that.¡±

    ¡°They have to. I¡¯m sorry, but I can¡¯t keep quiet anymore,¡± Nichole said, then she addressed Niki and Mona with her gaze before she spilled the truth. ¡°It¡¯s true that Gavin killed his people¨C but those people were already dead. They were nothing but puppets that Helstor, the God of Eternal Darkness, created to spy on the Royal Family.¡±

    Mona covered her mouth with her hands when she gasped.

    Niki was still confused when he turned to Gavin with knitted eyebrows. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell us the truth then?¡±

    ¡°Because it doesn¡¯t change the fact that I killed them,¡± Gavin said, tired. It was obvious that he was just forced to speak about it. But since the beans had been spilled already, he had no choice but to reveal everything. ¡°I didn¡¯t want their loved ones to know that they had been swallowed by Darkness and used as puppets. I thought it would be easier for their families to ept the fact that I killed them. As a form of atonement, I decided to carry their resentment with me when I died as Gavin Quinzel.¡±

    ***

    [WHAT A monster.]

    Trevor, who hid in the men¡¯s bathroom to avoid the talent scouts who were following him, was surprised when themunication device that he just createdst night vibrated.

    He made amunication device that had the same appearance as a smartphone.

    Of course, it was connected to the other world.

    [And guess who¡¯s calling?]

    ¡°How the hell did you manage to contact me first, Ruston Solfrid Stroganoff?¡± Trevor asked when he answered the ¡°phone call.¡± ¡°Tell me the truth: are you a Sorcerer, too?¡±

    <¡°No. I¡¯m just a normal, strong person.¡±>

    ¡°Screw you.¡±

    He could only curse at the damned chef because he couldn¡¯t refute the fact that he was a strong person.

    <¡°Can I talk to Neoma?¡±>

    ¡°Not until you answer my question,¡± Trevor said in a serious tone. ¡°Hey, you were Princess Neoma¡¯s boyfriend back when she was living as Kim Neoma, weren¡¯t you?¡±

    It was all thanks to the residue of the damned chef¡¯s power.

    Thanks to that, they found out that Ruston Solfrid Stroganoff made a deal with the god of this world. He also found some blurred memories that the damned chef tried to erase in this dimension.

    Of course, all Trevor saw were faint images of the damned chef with ¡®Kim Neoma.¡¯

    But he didn¡¯t have to be a genius to guess the rtionship between the two based on the pictures that he had seen before theypletely faded.

    [I don¡¯t want to tell Princess Neoma about it, though.]

    ¡°You¡¯re a fucking monster, you damned chef,¡± Trevor said. He wasn¡¯t as good as Princess Neoma when it came to cursing, but he couldn¡¯t help but use vulgar words at the moment. ¡°How did you make THIS world forget about your existence?¡±

    <¡°It¡¯s quite easy for me since it¡¯s not like the entire world knows about my existence.¡±>

    Well, the damned chef had a point.

    [But his power is still terrifying.]

    <¡°Don¡¯t tell Neoma,¡±> Ruto said. He was neither pleading nor threatening Trevor and yet, Trevor felt like he had to follow Ruto¡¯s request. <¡°If Neoma remembers everything about our past, then she¡¯ll also remember how to kill gods and destroy worlds. If that happens, even the in other existing worlds would end up as her enemies.¡±>

    Trevor already knew that it was the reason why the damned chef was adamant about making Princess Neoma forget about their past.

    [Ruston Solfrid Stroganoff doesn¡¯t mind if Princess Neoma remembers their past, but he can¡¯t let Princess Neoma remember how she almost destroyed the other world.]

    ¡°Why are you saying this to me, you damned chef?¡±

    <¡°Because you¡¯re the strongest person who can protect Neoma after me.¡±>

    ¡°Am I your spare part? Screw you.¡±

    <¡°You¡¯re the only person I can entrust Neoma to if something bad happens me,¡±> Ruto continued, obviously ignoring hisint. <¡°Trevor Kesser, I¡¯ll teach you how to protect Neoma and the Forbidden Secret that she discovered in her first life.¡±>

    ¡°Stop talking like you¡¯re the main lead,¡± Trevorined, cursing under his breath. ¡°And stop treating me like I¡¯m the poor second male lead here!¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 645 - 645 FIVE YEARS AGO (7)

    645 FIVE YEARS AGO (7)

    [ARGH!]

    Niki clutched his head with his hands after Nichole forcefully made him watch snippets of Gavin Quinzel¡¯s past memories.

    His twin sister had just grabbed him by the head earlier and forced him to watch the fragments that she shared with him without his permission. But that was the strange thing between twins.

    [We can force a link to open between our minds.]

    The one that stood out the most was the moment when a White Lion Knight begged Gavin Quinzel to spare him because he had a pregnant wife. But Gavin Quinzel still killed the knight who was also one of his people.

    Niki thought it was cruel¡­

    ¡­ until the corpse of the fallen knight turned into a smoke shaped like a beast. Then it attacked Gavin Quinzel.

    Several simr instances happened to Gavin Quinzel.

    ¡°Skinwalkers,¡± Niki said after his headache was gone. ¡°Monsters who steal the form of the people they eat. That Helstor controls the Skinwalkers?¡±

    .....

    Skinwalkers were reduced to a myth in the empire now.

    After all, Skinwalkers were children of darkness, and humans were wired to scare the Darkness. Hence, the Skinwalkers had to hide their existence from the world.

    And since then, almost no one believed in the existence of the Skinwalkers anymore.

    ¡°I believe I already killed all the remaining Skinwalkers in the empire before I left the other world,¡± Gavin Quinzel said. ¡°I thought it was the only way I could avenge my people who were eaten by the Skinwalkers. Unfortunately, even though I knew Lord Helstor was the person behind the Skinwalkers, I easily gave up the idea of getting my revenge against him.¡±

    It was something Niki wouldn¡¯t hold against Gavin Quinzel.

    [Only a few people are brazen enough to wage war on a god.]

    Yes, their precious Neoma was an exception.

    [My daughter picks a fight with anyone who annoys her¨C god or not.]

    ¡°Hence, I ran away to this world pretending that I didn¡¯t know Lord Helstor was the one who ced the Skinwalkers in the Order of the White Lion Knights.¡±

    Niki didn¡¯t ask Gavin Quinzel why he didn¡¯t report the appearance of the Skinwalkers to him before leaving the other world.

    After all, he already knew the answer.

    [I wouldn¡¯t have believed Gavin Quinzel back then, and I would have killed him right away.]

    ¡°Is everything clear now?¡± Nichole asked while looking back and forth between Niki and Gavin Quinzel. ¡°Gavin Quinzel didn¡¯t kill his people. They were already dead. By killing the Skinwalkers who took their ce, he helped them rest in peace.¡±

    ¡°That and betraying me and Mona are two different things,¡± Niki said coldly while looking at Gavin Quinzel with sharp eyes. ¡°I can¡¯t forgive you for thetter.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not asking for Your Majesty¡¯s forgiveness,¡± Gavin Quinzel said awkwardly. ¡°I know I don¡¯t deserve it anyway.¡±

    ¡°But I think I can forgive you, Gavin Quinzel.¡±

    All eyes were on Mona now.

    Niki turned to his lover, feeling betrayed. ¡°Mona, you were trapped in the ice under the ck Ocean for thirteen years because of Gavin Quinzel.¡±

    Even Gavin Quinzel nodded in agreement, as if the formermander couldn¡¯t believe that Mona was willing to forgive him.

    ¡°I know that,¡± Mona said, looking at Gavin Quinzel. ¡°I¡¯m not saying that you did it for my sake. But if I wasn¡¯t trapped in the block of ice, then Helstor would have killed me. Hence, I¡¯m a little grateful for your selfishness.¡±

    Niki couldn¡¯t really argue against Mona¡¯s reasoning.

    ¡°Even if we resent you, we can¡¯t change the past,¡± Mona continued, then she paused for a moment. ¡°Moreover, Neoma loves you despite everything.¡±

    Niki unclenched his hands.

    [Ah, yes. Neoma loves Gavin Quinzel because Gavin Quinzel was a better father to her than I was to her.]

    ¡°I can¡¯t really hate the person who raised our Neoma with love and great care,¡± Mona said, smiling. ¡°For that, I am grateful to you and Go Areum.¡±

    Gavin Quinzel bowed towards Mona. ¡°I don¡¯t deserve your grace, Lady Mona.¡±

    ¡°Raise your head, Gavin.¡±

    The formermander did as he was told.

    ¡°Neoma is my and Niki¡¯s daughter,¡± Mona reminded Gavin Quinzel. ¡°Allow us to be her parents this time.¡±

    Niki felt a shiver down his spine.

    Even though Mona¡¯s voice was calm and gentle, he felt the heavy pressure behind her words.

    [She wasn¡¯t asking¨C it was amand.]

    No wonder Gavin Quinzel lowered his head. ¡°I understand, Lady Mona.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not telling you to disappear from Neoma¡¯s life. I don¡¯t have the right to ask you that,¡± Mona said, her voice lighter this time. ¡°However, I want to remind you that Go Areum¡¯s real daughter, Kim Nabi, is back.¡±

    Ah, that was right.

    The soul that they brought with them apparently belonged to the body that Neoma possessed when she was still living as Gavin Quinzel¡¯s daughter.

    ¡°Nabi is Go Areum¡¯s daughter, and she¡¯s not the daughter that you raised,¡± Mona said, her voice slightly cold now. ¡°Gavin Quinzel, can you love Nabi as if she¡¯s your own daughter even though she¡¯s not Neoma?¡±

    Niki didn¡¯t want to admit this, but he actually respected Gavin Quinzel who loved another man¡¯s daughter. He was aware that Nabi (Neoma¡¯s former vessel) was Go Areum¡¯s daughter with a man named Yoon Jung.

    Even so, Gavin Quinzel loved Neoma (in Nabi¡¯s body) as if he was his own daughter.

    [It must not have been easy to do that.]

    ¡°Lady Mona, Go Areum¡¯s daughter is my daughter,¡± Gavin Quinzel said, smiling. ¡°That won¡¯t change.¡±

    Mona, who obviously liked Gavin Quinzel¡¯s answer, smiled. ¡°And this is why I¡¯m willing to forgive you, Gavin Quinzel.¡±

    Niki could only sigh because if Mona wanted to forgive Gavin Quinzel, then he had no choice but to follow her will, too.

    [It¡¯s definitely not because Gavin Quinzel gained my respect again, okay?]

    ***

    ¡°NABI-YA, how are you?¡± Neoma asked while peeling apples for Nabi. ¡°Have you adjusted well to your new body?¡±

    She visited Nabi because she heard Papa Boss and Mama Boss were in the hospital.

    But her parents were with Aunt Nichole and Won-shik appa on the rooftop.

    She knew the adults needed to talk, so she didn¡¯t follow them there. Instead of doing that, she just visited Nabi in her private room in the hospital.

    Uncle Dominic was there earlier, but he stepped out to give them privacy.

    Trevor, on the other hand, excused himself and said he¡¯d apany Uncle Dominic.

    [That demon boy is acting weird, but I¡¯ll just confront himter.]

    She had a feeling that Trevor¡¯s strange behavior had something to do with her because he couldn¡¯t look her in the eye.

    ¡°Unnie, I¡¯m notining because I¡¯m really happy right now,¡± Nabi said, then she frowned a little. ¡°But I¡¯m bored! After receiving some fragments of your past memories, I feel the urge to explore this new world with my own eyes and body! I want to eat all the delicious food you¡¯ve had, visit the beautiful ces you¡¯ve been to, and socialize with other people!¡±

    ¡°Nabi-ya, don¡¯t you find my past memories burdensome?¡± Neoma asked carefully. ¡°If you want to start with a clean te, then Trevor would erase my memories from your head. He could retain the parts that you need in order to navigate this new world safely. Moreover, you can also keep the skills that I learned while I was possessing your body.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think Trevor oppa has to do that, unnie.¡±

    ¡°Huh? What do you mean by that?¡±

    ¡°Your memories are already a mess in my head,¡± Nabi said while tilting her head to one side. ¡°Most of your memories were already erased.¡±

    Ah, she should have expected it.

    [Ruto, what are you trying so hard to hide from me?]

    Of course, she knew that the ¡®secret¡¯ couldn¡¯t be harmful to her. Even so, she was starting to get really curious.

    But the crazy part?

    [I can¡¯t ask Ruto because the more I remember, the more he¡¯d suffer.]

    ¡°If that¡¯s your wish, then I¡¯ll respect it,¡± Neoma said, patting Nabi¡¯s hand affectionately. ¡°And don¡¯t be impatient, Nabi. After you¡¯re discharged, let¡¯s travel.¡±

    Nabi smiled and nodded. ¡°I want to see the Namsan Tower¨C argh!¡±

    She got worried when the child suddenly clutched her head tightly.

    ¡°Nabi-ya, what¡¯s wrong? Should I call the doctor? Or Trevor?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, unnie¡­ but¡­¡±

    ¡°But¡­?¡±

    ¡°I just remembered something, but I¡¯m sure these memories belong to you. Unfortunately, I don¡¯t get it,¡± Nabi said, then she looked up at her with confusion in her eyes. ¡°Namsan Tower. Promise. Jagiya. Those words kept ringing in my head.¡±

    Ah, it seemed like something triggered her ¡®sealed¡¯ memories.

    ¡°Namsan Tower,¡± Neoma whispered to herself while gently patting Nabi¡¯s head as a way to thank her for a very useful piece of information. ¡°I have to go to Namsan Tower, huh?¡±

    .....

    ***

    ¡°ARE YOU CRAZY?¡± Trevor confronted his ¡°father¡± while the two of them were having coffee in front of the vending machine. ¡°Are you sure you and Princess Nichole would give up everything just to get one thing?¡±

    His ¡®father,¡¯ Dominic Zavaroni, smiled at him. ¡°It¡¯s the ONLY thing that Nichole and I wanted, Trevor,¡± he exined. ¡°We¡¯ll drop everything in order to have aplete and happy family.¡±

    ¡°Crazy.¡±

    ¡°Are you going to help us or not?¡±

    ¡°My lord, you want me to give you and Princess Nichole a normal human body?¡± he asked, sighing. ¡°I¡¯m a Sorcerer, not a god.¡±

    Dominic Zavaroni tilted his head to one side. ¡°Then should I ask Lord Ruto instead¨C¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll do it,¡± Trevor said right away. ¡°I can definitely do it, okay?¡±

    ***

    Hi! Iunched a dream project recently, and that dream is to write a story with a male protagonist.

    I posted a new story titled ¡®FISHING FOR DISASTERS,¡¯ and the first three chapters are up. You can search it by typing the title on the app or website if it doesn¡¯t appear on my ount yet.

    Here¡¯s the summary:

    [FISHING FOR DISASTERS]

    <You better catch all the Disasters if you want to know ending of One P*ece!>

    That¡¯s the reward for saving this world from Sea Monsters and Dungeons that would emerge soon?!

    Then Zirkus, who died while stalking a famous Kpop idol and got transmigrated as a minor viin in a dungeon-themed novel, would do his best to catch all the Disasters-in-the-making!

    All for the sake of saving the world, of course.

    Ahem.

    It¡¯s time for a nerd to be a hero!

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 646 - 646 FIVE YEARS AGO (8)

    646 FIVE YEARS AGO (8)

    ¡°EOMMA,¡± Neoma greeted Areum eomma who returned to Nabi¡¯s room with some food from a famous restaurant. She hugged her mom and kissed her on the cheek, making her eommaugh. ¡°Are you done with your business in the bank?¡±

    Areum eomma smiled and nodded, then she gave her an apologetic smile. ¡°You gave me such a huge amount of money, sweetheart.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing, eomma,¡± she said while shaking her head. ¡°You provided everything Nabi and appa needed in the hospital on your own for more than a year. Plus, you had to quit your job in order to personally take care of them.¡±

    Won-shik appa earned a lot as the country¡¯s top actor before he fell into aa.

    Areum eomma was also the highest paid reporter during her prime. Hence, eomma had a lot of savings, too.

    Even so, the umted hospital bill was no joke even with health insurance.

    [After all, Nabi and Won-shik appa are both using VIP rooms.]

    ¡°Thank you, Neoma,¡± Areum eomma said, gently pinching her cheek. ¡°How¡¯s Nabi?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s sleeping, eomma,¡± Neoma said. ¡°Appa, Aunt Nichole, Mama Boss, and Papa Boss haven¡¯t returned yet. But Uncle Dominic already left to check on them. Seeing that the hospital is still standing, then we can safely assume that they aren¡¯t fighting physically.¡±

    .....

    Her eomma put the food on the table, then she paused for a moment as if she was hesitating. ¡°Neoma, can you help me set up a meeting with your mother and father? I want to talk to them. I¡­¡± Her eomma turned to her with a guilty look on her face. ¡°I owe your parents an apology because I stole you from them.¡±

    Ah, right.

    If Neoma remembered correctly from Won-shik appa¡¯s story, he told Areum eomma the truth about their identities.

    [That¡¯s why eomma knows my soul came from another world.]

    ¡°Eomma, you didn¡¯t steal me from Mama Boss and Papa Boss,¡± Neoma assured her eomma. ¡°If anything, you and appa saved me from the bastards¨C I mean, bad people who want me dead.¡±

    Her eomma looked at her as if she was amused, then she let out a softugh. ¡°It¡¯s alright to curse in front of me, sweetheart. I remember I used to hear you curse a lot every time you y an online game with your¡­ close friend.¡±

    Huh?

    Even her eomma looked hesitant, as if she wasn¡¯t sure about what she was saying.

    ¡°Eomma, it¡¯s been long for me since I lived a new life after I ¡°died¡± here,¡± Neoma said carefully. ¡°I don¡¯t remember having a ¡°close friend¡± whom I y online games with. Can you help me remember them?¡±

    Her eomma knitted her eyebrows as if she was trying hard to remember. ¡°I believe he was one of the top professional Esports yers in Korea, even though he¡¯s originally from Japan.¡±

    ¡°Japan?¡±

    [Not Korea?]

    ¡°Yes, Japan,¡± her eomma confirmed. ¡°But I heard he gave up his Japanese citizenship when his family migrated to Korea. That was how he managed to enter the top Esports team in our country.¡±

    ¡°Eomma, do you remember the name of this ¡°close friend¡± of mine?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t remember his full name, but I believe his first name is ¡®Haruto.''¡±

    Neoma¡¯s heart thumped fast and hard against her chest. ¡°Haruto¡­?¡±

    ¡°Yes, his name is Haruto,¡± her eomma said. ¡°But I think you used to call him ¡®Ruto.''¡±

    Ah, as expected.

    No wonder her heart was beating like crazy.

    [Gosh, even in this world, we were ¡°born¡± in different countries. I¡¯m from the Western Continent and he¡¯s from the Eastern Continent back in our world. But in this world, I¡¯m from Korea while he¡¯s from Japan. Is there a universal rule that says Ruto and I can¡¯t be born in the same country?]

    And both times, Ruto had to leave his hometown for Neoma.

    [He went and stayed with his father in the Western Continent for me. And now, I found out he renounced his Japanese citizenship to settle down here in Korea.]

    ¡°But howe I only remember these things now?¡± her eomma said while clutching her head as if she suddenly got a headache. ¡°I can¡¯t even remember his face clearly even though the two of you used to be¡­ close.¡±

    [It¡¯s probably because Ruto erased our memories, eomma.]

    Or tried to.

    But since she was starting to remember snippets of her past, the people around her were also starting to remember some things rted to Ruto.

    [Haaah.]

    ¡°Eomma, don¡¯t worry about it,¡± Neoma said, smiling at her eomma. ¡°It¡¯s all in the past anyway.¡±

    ***

    [WHY did I say I can do it?]

    Trevor pulled his hair while racking his brain for a solution.

    Thanks to his stupid pride, he arrogantly dered that he could turn Dominic Zavaroni and Princess Nichole into normal humans.

    [It would have been easier to turn a normal person into a superhuman than the opposite.]

    ¡°I suddenly feel dumb,¡± Trevor whispered to himself. ¡°So much for being called a genius Sorcerer.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s up, cousin oppa?¡±

    He turned around and faced Princess Neoma with an exasperated look on his face. ¡°My Moon Princess, I¡¯d give anything just for you to stop calling me ¡®cousin oppa.¡¯ Please. I don¡¯t want people to think I have incestuous feelings for you.¡±

    ¡°Connect me to Ruto then¨C¡±

    The royal princess stopped talking when he handed her amunication device simr to a smartphone.

    ¡°I apologize for cutting you off, but the damned chef is already connected to this device, my Moon Princess.¡±

    Princess Neoma smiled and snatched the smartphone from him. ¡°Thanks, chingu-ya.¡±

    He didn¡¯t like the term ¡®chingu,¡¯ but it was better than ¡®cousin oppa.¡¯

    ¡°Where are you going, Princess Neoma?¡± Trevor asked, changing the topic. ¡°Why are you leaving the hospital?¡±

    ¡°Nabi is already asleep, and the adults still need to talk,¡± Princess Neoma said while they were walking in the hallway, towards the elevator. ¡°What are you mumbling to yourself earlier? I heard you call yourself dumb.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m just doubting my own brain at the moment.¡±

    ¡°Then why don¡¯t you ask for help?¡±

    ¡°Because of my stupid pride,¡± he admitted. ¡°I was called a genius Sorcerer since I was born. My pride doesn¡¯t allow myself to ask other people for help.¡±

    ¡°Now that¡¯s dumb,¡± the royal princess said. ¡°A truly smart person doesn¡¯t always have the answer to the question, but they know where to find it.¡±

    Oh?

    Those were truly wise words from Princess Neoma.

    [I know, I know. The damned chef probably knows the answer to my problem, but my poor pride¡­ dammit.]

    Trevor decided to just change the topic. ¡°Are we heading home, Princess Neoma?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Neoma said while shaking her head. ¡°I¡¯m going to Namsan Seoul Tower first.¡±

    ***

    IT WAS already two in the morning when Neoma arrived at the Namsan Seoul Tower.

    She purposely went at that hour because she wanted to avoid the crowd. The lights in the tower were already turned off, but it didn¡¯t matter to her.

    After all, Trevor was there.

    The demon boy created little colorful lights that reminded her of fireflies.

    But Trevor had the sense to leave her alone while she was on the observation deck. To be precise, she was now walking on the part of the tower where the famous ¡®Locks of Love¡¯ was.

    There were millions of love locks in there.

    However, it only took Neoma a few minutes to find the love lock that she was looking for. How could she not spot it when it was glowing beautifully?

    The love lock itself was pink, and it was covered in purple light.

    [That¡¯s Ruto¡¯s power.]

    Neoma squatted down in front of it and touched the pink padlock, then she read the message written in it. ¡°¡®You don¡¯t have to remember a thing. I¡¯ll still love you the same, jagiya.''¡±

    Haaah.

    She could only let out a long sigh after reading the message.

    Of course, her heart was filled with love. But the longing was heavier.

    If only she could console Ruto right now...

    [Why do you always have to carry our memories, Ruto? It must have been hard on you to be the only one who remembers.]

    Once again, she felt bad for her man.

    ¡°What¡¯s with the long sigh, Princess Neoma? Did the damned chef dump you?¡±

    ¡°Do you want me to call you ¡®cousin oppa¡¯ again?¡±

    ¡°I apologize for my rudeness, my Moon Princess.¡±

    .....

    Neoma just rolled her eyes before standing up. ¡°I¡¯m done here.¡±

    ¡°Are you not going to take the padlock with you?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s meant to be left here,¡± she exined. ¡°It¡¯s proof that ¡®Haruto¡¯ and ¡®Kim Neoma¡¯ loved each other.¡±

    Commander Yoan Solfrid and Lady Neoma Quinzel¡ª the former saved the world from thetter who tried to set it on fire. Their love story ended tragically. Well, at least the world was saved, right?

    Haruto and Kim Neoma¡ª the former had to ¡°kill¡± thetter in order to bring her back to her rightful ce. They seemed to be happy together while itsted, but the timing wasn¡¯t right because the other world still needed them.

    The two pairs already had a ¡®fairy tale fail.¡¯

    She didn¡¯t want them to fail as Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio and Ruston ¡®Ruto¡¯ Solfrid Stroganoff now.

    [Maybe the third time¡¯s the charm for me and my man.]

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear it,¡± Trevor said, covering his ears with his hands. ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear your love story, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Then don¡¯t ask,¡± Neoma said, turning her back on Trevor. ¡°Let¡¯s go home.¡±

    ***

    ¡°TREVOR, Dominic said you finally agreed to ept our request.¡±

    Argh, right.

    Trevor flinched at what Princess Nichole said as soon as he returned home.

    The former Princess Royal was waiting for him on the balcony. Yes, he didn¡¯t use the door on purpose. And yet, he was still caught.

    [Princess Nichole¡¯s senses are scary.]

    ¡°Let me ask a question first, Princess Nichole.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°Why do you and Lord Dominic want to be normal humans?¡±

    Princess Nichole fell silent before she responded. ¡°Aruna de Moonasterio said that¡¯s the only way for Dominic and me to conceive our own child,¡± she said. ¡°Apparently, once our bodies be normal bodies, the modern technology of this world could help me get pregnant.¡±

    Ah, so that was the reason.

    Now he could understand Princess Nichole and Dominic Zavaroni¡¯s desperation.

    [Princess Nichole¡¯s reproductive system is so messed up that not even I could fix it. It¡¯s a method created by the crows in order to make sure that the royal princesses born in the de Moonasterio family wouldn¡¯t be able to conceive a child.]

    Those crow bastards¡­

    ¡°You¡¯re our only hope, Trevor,¡± Princess Nichole said in a serious tone. ¡°Please help us.¡±

    Trevor let out a sigh. ¡°I understand, Princess Nichole.]

    [I guess I have no choice but to contact a certain Transcendent being.]

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 647 - 647 FIVE YEARS AGO (9)

    647 FIVE YEARS AGO (9)

    ¡°JAGIYA,¡± Neoma greeted Ruto who showed up on the screen of the ¡°smartphone.¡± It was themunication device that Trevor made that looked like thetest phone in Korea. ¡°Annyeong~¡±

    Ruto fell silent while looking at the background behind her. ¡°You¡¯re at the Namsan Seoul Tower?¡±

    He could definitely see the love locks behind her because she was sitting in front of them.

    And yes, THEIR love lock was behind her.

    [There¡¯s no way he can¡¯t see it.]

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m here even though it¡¯s already past the visiting hours,¡± Neoma said, then she got straight to the point. ¡°I¡¯ve read your love letter.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°What kind of nd reaction is that?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m shy.¡±

    .....

    Sheughed because she could really see him blushing. ¡°Ruto, I have a question for you.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°What would have you done if I didn¡¯t really remember anything, and I ended up falling in love with someone else?¡±

    ¡°I would get heartbroken, of course.¡±

    ¡°And¡­?¡±

    ¡°And I would sincerely wish for you to be happy forever¨C even if it wasn¡¯t with me.¡±

    She wasn¡¯t disappointed with his answer.

    [That answer was so¡­ Ruto.]

    She had always known that he would sacrifice everything, even his own heart and happiness, just to keep her happy.

    ¡°Do you still feel guilty for killing me in the first timeline?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Ruto kept his silence, but Neoma could see the truth in his eyes.

    ¡°You should learn how to forgive yourself, Ruto,¡± she said, letting out a long sigh. ¡°Because I already did.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    [Gosh, he¡¯s really a man of few words.]

    ¡°I¡¯ll try,¡± Ruto promised her after falling silent for a few moments. ¡°I¡¯m good at listening to you, Neoma.¡±

    She burst outughing at what he said.

    [What a walking green g.]

    ¡°Ruto, you¡¯re genuinely a nice guy,¡± Neoma said, still feeling giddy. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s work.¡±

    ¡°What do you need me to do?¡±

    ¡°I know it¡¯s hard for you to do it, but can you also help Jasper oppa remember me?¡±

    ¡°Sure,¡± Ruto said easily. ¡°I¡¯m also thinking of saving some of the people who could help us.¡±

    ¡°Who are those people on your list?¡±

    ¡°Prince Skylus and Princess Monik, but maybeter since they¡¯re still both too young,¡± he said. ¡°Aside from the two kids, I¡¯m also thinking of saving Miss Dahlia, the Pdins, and Delwyn.¡±

    ¡°I get why you want to save Dahlia and Papa Boss¡¯s Pdins, but why Delwyn?¡±

    ¡°Prince Skylus is the new saint, and the crows know that,¡± he exined. ¡°But they¡¯ll probably leave the child alone because he lost his divine powers. Even so, we can¡¯t be toocent. Delwyn is the perfect guardian to protect the Hazelden Kingdom. As long as Delwyn is there, the crows wouldn¡¯t be able to attack Hazelden.¡±

    It made sense.

    After all, Delwyn was an Ice Spirit and Hazelden was a kingdom that always snowed.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll leave it to you,¡± she said, then she changed the topic. She didn¡¯t need to hear Ruto¡¯s detailed n. She knew her man would do well even without her supervision. ¡°Anyway, wasn¡¯t Dahlia caught by the crows?¡±

    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be too hard to free her,¡± he said nonchntly. ¡°I¡¯ll take the Pdins with me after I freed Miss Dahlia.¡±

    ¡°That sounds like a good n to me,¡± she said, then she paused for a moment. ¡°And Nero¡­¡±

    ¡°The crows need Prince Nero, hence they won¡¯t get rid of him as long as he¡¯s docile,¡± he said. ¡°That¡¯s why I believe we must leave Prince Nero alone. Calyx Dalton sticks to him like glue, so he would notice if Prince Nero suddenly remembered you again.¡±

    She already expected that, but she still felt sad for her twin brother.

    [We abandoned Nero¡­]

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I nted a mole in the Royal Pce,¡± Ruto assured her. ¡°I won¡¯t let the crows hurt Prince Nero.¡±

    Aww.

    She was touched by that.

    ¡°Thank you, Ruto,¡± Neoma said sincerely. And now that they were done talking about work, it was time to get personal again. ¡°How are you?¡±

    ¡°I miss you.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°I miss you, Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio.¡±

    Okay, she did not expect that.

    She would have teased Ruto for being ¡®cheesy,¡¯ but she couldn¡¯t since she also missed him like hell.

    ¡°Commander Yoan, professional Esport yer Haruto, Chef Ruto, Mr. ck Soybean, God yer, Lord Levi¡¯s divine son, Mr. Walking Green g,¡± Neoma said, calling Ruto by all the names that she had called him. Then she pointed a finger at him. She wasn¡¯t being rude to him by doing so. And based on his reaction, it didn¡¯t seem like he was offended. ¡°You¡¯re my man. And what Neoma wants, Neoma gets. So just you wait¨C once Ie of age, I¡¯ll make you mine right away.¡±

    Ruto burst outughing.

    [Ohh, my man looks good when he¡¯sughing.]

    ¡°Lady Neoma Quinzel, Kim Neoma, Princess Neoma, Miss White Radish, Premium Air Purifier, the one and only royal princess, Little Miss Arrogant,¡± Ruto said, smiling charmingly at her. ¡°It has to be you. If it wasn¡¯t you, then I¡¯d rather live alone forever.¡±

    ***

    ¡°TTEOKBOKKI, Soju, Mochi, Kimchi,¡± Neoma said, sitting on her knees in front of her Soul Beast and Spirits that she summoned in her bedroom. ¡°I have a confession to make.¡±

    Tteokbokki (in his human form) had a te of Tteokbokki in front of him.

    Soju had a bottle of soju, Mochi had a piece of mochi, and Kimchi had a Tupperware of kimchi.

    Yep, her Soul Beast and Spirits and their corresponding namesakes were in front of her.

    Neoma politely pointed at the food and beverage. ¡°I named you after these tasty snacks and beverage.¡± She bowed her head, causing her Spirits to gasp out of shock. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. It may look like I didn¡¯t give it a thought, but I honestly named you after the snacks and beverage that I love.¡±

    ¡°I knew it,¡± Tteokbokki said, scoffing. ¡°You probably named me after that foul-smelling snack because we have the same color!¡±

    She red at her Soul Beast. ¡°How dare you insult kimchi? Do you want to be Korea¡¯s number one public enemy, huh?¡±

    Tteokbokki just rolled his eyes at her. ¡°Whatever. I don¡¯t care. I already lost my dignity the moment you asked me to turn into a unicorn anyway.¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t turn into a magical unicorn,¡± she reminded him. ¡°You were just a puny ketchup-colored donkey, so don¡¯t be arrogant.¡±

    Tteokbokki covered his ears with his hands. ¡°Don¡¯t remind me of my shameful dark past, you cruel thug princess!¡±

    She smirked.

    [Heh. I won.]

    It was pretty childish of her to ¡°bully¡± Tteokbokki, but it was fun.

    Then she gasped when she realized she wasn¡¯t here to bicker with her Soul Beast. When she turned to her Spirits, only then did she realize that they were smiling warmly at her.

    [Oh?]

    ¡°Princess Neoma, you don¡¯t have to apologize to us,¡± Mochi, the Wind Spirit in the form of a white bunny, said while smiling at her. ¡°You named us after the food and beverage that you LOVE. That¡¯s enough for us.¡±

    Kimichi, the Fire Spirit in the form of a ming Leopard Gecko, nodded in agreement. She was non-verbal, but the smile in Kimchi¡¯s tantalizing eyes said it all.

    [My fire baby is so cute!]

    ¡°That¡¯s true, our pretty little princess,¡± Soju, the Water Spirit in the form of a green toad, said. Then he teased her. ¡°Now I understand why you said my name means ¡®a person that frees one from worries.''¡± His eyes lingered on the soju bottle in front of him. ¡°Indeed, you forget your troubles when you¡¯re drunk.¡±

    Neoma covered her flushed face with her hands. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry!¡±

    ***

    [OH.]

    Mona was a little surprised when she opened the door and saw Go Areum. Thedy was with Nichole, and the two were both holding something in their hands.

    [I think they are called grocery bags.]

    .....

    She remembered Gavin Quinzel¡¯s drama. There was a scene where his character bought things in a ¡®supermarket.¡¯ She liked that huge ce that sold different types of food, so she remembered.

    Anyway, it had been two weeks since Nabi and Gavin Quinzel¨C no, Kim Won-shik, were discharged from the hospital.

    And tonight, they decided to have dinner together.

    [Neoma and Nabi have been hanging out every day. The two children convinced us to have a big family dinner tonight.]

    ¡°I sent Dominic, Niki, and Won-shik on an errand. Neoma, Nabi, and Trevor went shopping,¡± Nichole said as she entered the apartment. ¡°Let¡¯s cook dinner before theye home.¡±

    Since the former Princess Royal already went straight to the kitchen, now Mona was left with Go Areum.

    [This is a little awkward.]

    It was like meeting her estranged twin sister.

    Even so, she broke the silence first.

    ¡°It must be heavy,¡± Mona said, swiftly ¡°snatching¡± one of the grocery bags from Go Areum. ¡°Let me help you, Miss Areum.¡±

    Go Areum smiled shyly at her. ¡°Thank you, Mona-ssi.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t probably the best ce to say this, but¡­

    ¡°Miss Areum, thank you,¡± Mona said sincerely, bowing her head. ¡°Thank you for raising Neoma well. And I¡¯m sorry for suddenly taking her back.¡±

    ¡°Please don¡¯t apologize, Mona-ssi. I¡¯ve heard you¡¯ve been through a lot because of Won-shik,¡± Go Areum said, bowing back to Mona. ¡°And you didn¡¯t take Neoma away from us. We¡¯re actually grateful that you still allow us to see Neoma despite everything.¡±

    Mona raised her head at the same time Go Areum did, then they smiled at each other at the same time.

    Now she finally understood why Neoma was so attached to her ¡®eomma.¡¯

    [Miss Areum is a good person.]

    ***

    ¡°WHY DON¡¯T you just invest your money in apany, Your Majesty?¡±

    Niki turned to Gavin Quinzel¨C no, Kim Won-shik. ¡°Dominic also suggested the same thing. I¡¯m still thinking about it, though.¡±

    He lived his whole life as a prince andter, as an emperor.

    The direct members of the Royal Family weren¡¯t allowed to run a private business. Hence, admittedly, he wasn¡¯t confident about bing a businessman. Of course, he studied Economy during his time as the Crown Prince.

    But this was an entirely different world. He didn¡¯t know if everything he had learned before would apply here.

    Even so, as the head of the family, he needed to provide for his family.

    [Nichole and Dominic said that the wealth we have right now is enough for us to livefortably in this world for many years. But it doesn¡¯t feel right to just sit and do nothing. I want to work in this world for my family.]

    Anyway¡­

    Niki and Won-shik were in a ce called coffee shop while having, well, coffee.

    They were waiting for Dominic who obviously left in order to let the two of them talk.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you invest in me, Your Majesty?¡± Won-shik asked bravely. ¡°I¡¯m thinking of having myeback as an actor through a movie. But since I was inactive for a year, I¡¯m not sure if investors would be interested in my return.¡±

    ¡°Haaah,¡± Niki let out a sigh. ¡°You¡¯ve be brazen, Kim Won-shik.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not a bad idea, is it?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll search about investing in moviepanies first.¡±

    Neoma recently introduced him to this wonderful thing called ¡®inte.¡¯

    He also learned how convenient smartphones were, and he had been using it every day to learn more about this world.

    And every night, Niki and Mona would watch Neoma¡¯s old videos.

    [We find it weird to watch our daughter eat in front of the camera, at first. I think it¡¯s called ¡®mukbang.¡¯ But now, Mona and I are looking forward to it every night.]

    ¡°I¡¯ll be waiting for your decision then, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m no longer the emperor.¡±

    ¡°Then should I call you¡­ Niki-ssi?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°It feels awkward,¡± Won-shik admitted, then he touched his neck. ¡°I feel like I¡¯d get beheaded for mentioning Your Majesty¡¯s name casually.¡±

    ¡°I agree,¡± he said, nodding. ¡°Let¡¯s¡­ try it some other time.¡±

    They were cousins, so it shouldn¡¯t be hard.

    But Niki lived his entire life as a royal, while Gavin Quinzel lived his life serving the Crown Prince/Emperor. Hence, it wouldn¡¯t be easy for them to change their rtionship right away.

    ¡°Won-shik, Your Majesty, are you two done talking?¡±

    It was Dominic who just returned to their table.

    ¡°Yes,¡± Niki said to the former saint. ¡°What exactly did Nichole ask you to do that you need to drag us out here? Aside from the fact that you want me and Won-shik to talk in private, of course.¡±

    Dominic smiled sheepishly. ¡°Your Majesty, Nichole told me to help you get a driving license. I stepped out earlier to make a phone call. Mr. Min will help you get the documents needed to get a license.¡±

    ¡°Driver¡¯s license?¡± Niki asked, knitting his eyebrows. ¡°What do I need it for?¡±

    ¡°For driving a car or other vehicles, Your Majesty,¡± Won-shik answered instead of the former saint. ¡°Princess Nichole mentioned how much you like cars.¡±

    Dominic nodded in agreement. ¡°You can finally have your own car then, Your Majesty. You have to past the test first and get a license, though.¡±

    Niki didn¡¯t want to admit this, but the thought of driving his own car made his heart thump fast and hard against his chest.

    [Should I get a career rted to cars?]

    ***

    [I CAN¡¯T believe I¡¯m going back to middle school at my age.]

    Neoma could only sigh and shake her head while looking at the school uniform on her bed.

    Because of her current age, she was forced to enroll as a middle school student. Fortunately, Trevor would apany her so it shouldn¡¯t be too boring.

    ¡°But I can¡¯t waste my time doing nothing,¡± Neoma whispered to herself. ¡°I need to help my people. Jasper oppa and Hanna have to be business partners and be the richest people in the empire. The new saint and Monik should get on our side the soonest. Lewis and my other children¡­¡± She looked at her hands. ¡°I need to be stronger, too.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m d you feel that way, my great descendant.¡±

    Huh?

    Neoma raised her head to see Aruna de Moonasterio, in her own body, appear before her. ¡°Grandma, you¡¯re here?¡±

    Aruna de Moonasterio smiled ¡®sweetly¡¯ at her. ¡°It¡¯s time for your training, dear.¡±

    And that was when Neoma truly understood what ¡®hell training¡¯ meant.

    [It¡¯s not fun, I¡¯ll give it 3 stars out of 5.]

    ***

    Hi! Iunched a dream project recently, and that dream is to write a story with a male protagonist.

    I posted a new story titled ¡®FISHING FOR DISASTERS,¡¯ and the first three chapters are up. You can search it by typing the title on the app or website if it doesn¡¯t appear on my ount yet.

    Here¡¯s the summary:

    [FISHING FOR DISASTERS]

    <You better catch all the Disasters if you want to know ending of One P*ece!>

    That¡¯s the reward for saving this world from Sea Monsters and Dungeons that would emerge soon?!

    Then Zirkus, who died while stalking a famous Kpop idol and got transmigrated as a minor viin in a dungeon-themed novel, would do his best to catch all the Disasters-in-the-making!

    All for the sake of saving the world, of course.

    Ahem.

    It¡¯s time for a nerd to be a hero!

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 648 - 648 FIVE YEARS AGO (10)

    648 FIVE YEARS AGO (10)

    <NEOMA, 13 years old¡­>

    A FULL month after Neoma settled in Korea with her family, she finally secured a stablemunication line with her people.

    First, she got in touch with Lewis.

    Ruto gave her peoplemunication devices connected to her world. Her man and Trevor worked together to create thosemunication devices.

    To be honest, even though Trevor often imed that he hated the ¡°damned chef,¡± the two of them actually had a rapport.

    [Their dynamics are so good that I get jealous sometimes.]

    How dare Trevor monopolize Ruto every time the two talked about magic and other stuff that Neoma couldn¡¯t understand?

    [Hmp.]

    ¡°Did you find the ind that Grandma Roxana gifted to me?¡± Neoma asked Lewis. She was ¡®face-timing¡¯ her ¡°son¡± using Trevor¡¯smunication device which looked like a smartphone. ¡°Is it a safe ce to live in?¡±

    .....

    <¡°¡­ Yes.¡±>

    She waited for her ¡°son¡± to talk more, but he just stared at her face with those pretty golden eyes of his.

    As expected, Lewis wasn¡¯t the best person to give her a report.

    ¡°Lewis, I¡¯d love to look at your pretty face all day. But for now, please pass themunication device to Paige.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Now.¡±

    <¡°Yes, Princess Neoma.¡±>

    A few secondster, Paige¡¯s beautiful face upied the screen.

    <¡°We¡¯ve arrived at the hidden ind, Princess Neoma,¡±> Paige reported right away. <¡°Thanks to the coordinates that Lady Roxana gave, I was able create a portal leading ind. Fortunately, it¡¯s inhabitable. We have vi here only needs some cleaning. The problem is our neighbors.¡±>

    She knitted her eyebrows. ¡°Neighbors? I thought it was an isted ind.¡±

    <¡°The mermaids live near us.¡±>

    ¡°Oh, I see. Are they pretty?¡±

    Paige chuckled while nodding. <¡°Not as pretty you are, Princess Neoma.¡±>

    See? That was the only correct answer.

    [And that is why Paige is the vicemander!]

    ¡°Gosh, you tter me,¡± Neoma said, her head getting bigger than it already was. ¡°If you can, try to be friendly with the mermaids. It won¡¯t hurt if we make them our allies. But if you can¡¯t be friendly with them, then dominate them with your strength. You need to be the kings and queens of the Southern Sea and protect the Evedane Duchy.¡±

    Evedane Duchy was the Quinzels¡¯ territory, and they ruled the empire¡¯s South Region for generations now.

    <¡°As you wish, Princess Neoma.¡±>

    ¡°My dear children, I want you to live quietly,¡± Neoma said in a serious tone. ¡°Stay put for now and gain more power.¡±

    ***

    <¡°A SHOPPING MALL?¡±>

    ¡°Yes, a shopping mall,¡± Neoma said while standing in front of a PPT presentation disyed on the projector. She was talking to Jasper and Hanna on the split screen on the wall in front of her. It was Trevor who improved themunication device that he made before. ¡°I want you to swallow up all the trendy shops that cater to the nobles, then build a shopping mall to put all those stores in.¡±

    <¡°That¡¯s a new concept that hasn¡¯t existed yet in this world,¡±> Jasper oppa said, nodding. <¡°I like it, Princess Neoma.¡±>

    <¡°And swallowing up trendy shops in the Grandiose Avenue won¡¯t be difficult for us,¡±> Hanna, arguably the richest nobledy in the empire, said confidently. <¡°Moreover, you told me about the future trends that would ur in empire soon.¡±>

    Neoma may not have lived as a royal princess during her first life. But she was still a part of the high society back then. Moreover, Duchess Amber had good fashion sense. Hence, they would always start the new trend among the nobledies before.

    <¡°We will also buy thend that you told us to buy, Neoma.¡±>

    Jasper oppa sped his hands together as if he was praying to her. <¡°Princess Neoma, thank you very much.¡±>

    The ces that she told Hanna and Jasper about were the locations where the biggest diamond and Mana Stone mines would be discovered in the future.

    During her first life, the diamond mine was discovered by Duke Arman Winchester.

    [Yep, the old man who leads the Noble Faction.]

    She had bad blood with the old duke, so she didn¡¯t feel bad about ¡®stealing¡¯ it from House Winchester this time.

    ¡°I¡¯m giving you the information about the diamond mine because I know you¡¯d use it well, Jasper oppa.¡±

    Jasper oppa put a hand over his chest. <¡°I won¡¯t let you down, Princess Neoma.¡±>

    On the other hand¡­

    ¡°It was Regina who discovered the Mana Stone mine in the past,¡± Neoma said bitterly. ¡°She shared the location of the mine with Duchess Amber. After that, discussions of Regina¡¯s adoption began. Apparently, Regina was Duchess Amber¡¯s ¡®lucky charm.''¡±

    It had been a long time since it happened, so she almost forgot.

    Fortunately, she remembered the location of the Mana Stone mine before it was discovered. The Mana Stones in that mine were the highest-grade on the entire continent. Hence, it would bring huge profitster.

    [And Hanna deserves to have that mine.]

    Hanna¡¯s gaze turned sharp. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Neoma. This time, I¡¯ll ¡®discover¡¯ the Mana Stone mine first.¡±

    Neoma smiled at Hanna and Jasper oppa. ¡°Fighting.¡±

    ***

    <NEOMA, 14 years old¡­>

    RAMSAY Flower Caf¨¦.

    Neoma smiled while looking around the business that Mama Boss and Areum eomma opened together.

    [I¡¯m d to see that my two mothers are now BFFs.]

    After Areum eomma officially retired as a reporter, she decided to open a coffee shop because it had always been her dream to have one.

    [And eomma is a coffee addict. Plus, she¡¯s into baking these days.]

    In fact, Areum eomma created a channel where she would often post her baking videos. Her eomma already had a million subscribers. Hence, her videos were now mized.

    [On the other hand, Mama Boss has a green thumb.]

    It was probably because Mama Boss was close to nature. All the flowers and nts that her mother touched grew healthy. That was why her Mama Boss decided to open a flower shop.

    [Surprisingly, after just a few months, our flower shop became famous because of the quality of our flowers. Plus, Mama Boss is really good at flower arrangements. Every time our clients post Mama Boss¡¯ flower arrangement on the inte, it would go viral. And since Areum eomma has some celebrity friends, even famous people order flowers in our shop.]

    But most of their clients were celebrity fans overseas that would often send flowers and coffee trucks to their favorite Korean artists.

    [Long live overseas fans! Thank you for supporting our small business. <3]< p>

    ¡°Thug princess, what do you think?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s disgusting to see you in a form older than me,¡± Neoma said, frowning at Tteokbokki. ¡°How dare you transform into an eighteen-year-old boy when I¡¯m only fourteen?¡±

    Tteokbokki smirked at her, then he gestured at the barista uniform that he was wearing at the moment. ¡°I need to be at least eighteen years old to work here as a part-timer. And I already got my certificate to be a barista. I¡¯ll make the best coffee in town.¡± Then he whispered the next thing he said: ¡°And I go by ¡®Tan¡¯ in this world, you dummy thug princess.¡±

    She was about to bully Tteokbokki more when her Mama Boss.

    ¡°Baby Muffin, you¡¯re here?¡±

    Her Mama Boss¡¯ bright smile almost made Neoma cry.

    ¡°Mama Boss, I¡¯m really, really tired today,¡± Neomained lightly. ¡°Grandma Aruna beat me to a pulp during our trainingst night. I almost died! Then I also had to practice with Trevor to change the color of my Hellgate. And it¡¯s not easy to use my Darkness attribute.¡±

    ¡°Aww, it must have been hard, baby,¡± Mama Boss said, cupping her face between her hands. ¡°So, I¡¯ll be lenient today and just let you train for three hours.¡±

    She gasped. ¡°We¡¯re still going to train?¡±

    Mama Boss smiled ¡®sweetly¡¯ at her. ¡°Of course, Baby Muffin.¡±

    Three hours.

    Her Mama Boss was going to tten her to the ground for three hours again. Gosh, she couldn¡¯t even scratch that huge goddess¡¯ hand that her mother would often summon.

    [It¡¯s because I¡¯m not allowed to summon Tteokbokki and Skewer.]

    She could only use her Spirits every time she would train with her Mama Boss.

    ¡°Neoma, you use your Soul Beast and Death Scythe too much,¡± Mama Boss scolded her lightly. ¡°You should also use your Roseheart Blood more.¡±

    She only groaned as aint.

    Tteokbokki, on the other hand, snickered. ¡°Hehe. Good luck, thug princess.¡±

    Neoma groaned again when Mama Boss held her hands.

    That entire year was the worst year of Neoma¡¯s third life yet because she realized how weak she waspared to her elders.

    .....

    [At least, I¡¯m still the prettiest. :>]

    ***

    ¡°WHAT A fucking bitch,¡± Neoma growled after hearing Hanna¡¯s report. ¡°Regina Crowell is back and imed that she¡¯s Gavin Quinzel¡¯s daughter?¡±

    <¡°It seems like the crows erased my parents¡¯ memories of Regina Crowell. Father and Mother don¡¯t remember that wench tried to kill me. Hence, I was forced pretend didn¡¯t incident, too.¡±>

    She let out a sigh.

    Fortunately, Hanna looked calm.

    <¡°Don¡¯t worry, Neoma. I can protect myself from Regina Crowell,¡±> Hanna assured her confidently. <¡°Moreover, I¡¯ll be having my formal society debut soon. By that time, I¡¯m sure I already dominate the high society¨C both as Crown Princess and Quinzel Heiress.¡±>

    ¡°That¡¯s right, Hanna. You should be very important to the point that the crows won¡¯t be able to touch you,¡± Neoma said, smiling. ¡°But if things get dangerous, just run to Lewis. I already asked my ¡°son¡± to keep an eye on you.¡±

    ***

    ¡°OMO, why are you here, Grandpa?¡± Neoma asked, shocked when Arche de Moonasterio appeared in her room instead of Aruna de Moonasterio. ¡°Where is Grandma?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Aruna¡¯s turn to keep the Door protected,¡± Arche de Moonasterio said. ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m here in her ce.¡±

    That was right.

    Aruna and Arche de Moonasterio had a Door that only the two of them could use.

    [It¡¯s the Door that only the dead could use, so I cannot use it to return to the other world.]

    But wait.

    Neoma knitted her eyebrows. ¡°Grandpa Arche, what do you mean you¡¯re here in ce of Grandma Aruna?¡±

    Arche de Moonasterio smiled ¡®sweetly¡¯ at her. ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio, it¡¯s my turn to train you.¡±

    [Nooo!!!]

    ***

    <NEOMA, 15 years old¡­>

    ¡°HELLO, babies!¡± Neoma greeted the baby prince and baby princess cheerfully. ¡°How are you?¡±

    She was talking to Monik who was carrying the two-year-old baby Skylus in her arms.

    The young prince could talk now, but he preferred talking using telepathy. After all, as a baby, he couldn¡¯t talk properly yet.

    On the other hand, Monik could talk properly now.

    In the first ce, it wasn¡¯t that hard to talk to the children.

    [All the saints and saintesses were born mature, just like how the de Moonasterions were also born with a developed mind.]

    <¡°Hello, Princess Neoma. It¡¯s an honor to meet you.¡±>

    It was Monik who greeted her politely.

    Baby Skylus waved her small hand to her, then he talked using his thoughts. <¡°Princess Neoma, can you connect me to your ¡°children?¡± They have know that the crows are nning dominate Southern Sea in an attempt im Quinzels¡¯ Evedane Duchy.¡±>

    She was grateful that Skylus gave them a warning.

    On the other hand, she was pissed.

    ¡°Those crow bastards¡­¡± Neoma cursed under her breath. ¡°I should ask Lewis to be a pirate in order to sabotage their ns.¡±

    ***

    NEOMA pped her hands after hearing Papa Boss and Won-shik appa¡¯s n to build their own entertainment agency.

    For years, Papa Boss found sess in investing in Won-shik appa¡¯s works.

    Hence, this time, Won-shik appa decided to part ways to his old entertainment agency to help Papa Boss build his ownpany.

    Mama Boss and Areum eomma both agreed to the n, too.

    ¡°I like it,¡± Neoma said, smiling at Papa Boss and Won-shik appa. ¡°I¡¯ll support you, Papa Boss and Won-shik appa.¡±

    Later, they named thepany ¡®Raon Entertainment.¡¯

    ***

    <NEOMA, 16 years old¡­>

    DURING this year, Neoma seeded in leveling up her current ¡°stats.¡±

    She inherited both Aruna and Arche de Moonasterio¡¯s techniques.

    She also finally learned how to defend herself from Mama Boss¡¯ ruthless attacks. Well, she couldn¡¯t beat her mother in a one-on-one fight yet using only their Spirits. But, at least, her Spirits grew stronger.

    But her greatest aplishment?

    [My Hellgate finally turned pink!]

    ¡°Kekeke,¡± Neomaughed like the viiness that she was aiming to be. She couldn¡¯t keep her eyes off the pink Hellgate in front of her. ¡°It¡¯s so pretty.¡±

    ¡°Are you that happy, Princess Neoma?¡±

    It was Trevor.

    Right now, the two of them were inside the demon boy¡¯s territory. That was the ce where they would often train.

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m happy,¡± Neoma said, then she turned to Trevor. ¡°You look sad, though. Is it because your experiment has failed again?¡±

    Trevor was busy these days because of three things.

    First, he was trying to open the Door that would bring them back to the empire.

    Second, he was doing experiments to turn Aunt Nichole and Uncle Dominic into normal people.

    And third¡­

    ¡°You¡¯re already busy as it is,¡± Neoma said while clicking her tongue. ¡°Did you really have to sign a modeling contract?¡±

    Trevor pointed at his face. ¡°The world deserves to see this face. And it¡¯s one way to put my uselessly long legs to good use.¡± His face beamed. ¡°Princess Neoma, this world is amazing. I earn a lot of money just because I¡¯m handsome and tall.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s called ¡®pretty privilege.''¡±

    ¡°Right,¡± he agreed while nodding. ¡°By the way, how¡¯s your love life? It seems like the damned chef barely calls you these days.¡±

    ¡°Good try to make me feel down,¡± she said, smirking. ¡°But I¡¯m sorry because Ruto and I already made a love contract.¡±

    Trevor knitted his eyebrows. ¡°Love contract?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just between me and Ruto,¡± Neoma said cheerfully. ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much because what Neoma wants, Neoma gets~¡±

    ***

    <NEOMA, 17 years old¡­>

    ¡°YOU HAVE a rival, Princess Neoma,¡± Trevor teased her. ¡°I have a co-model who¡¯s dubbed as the ¡®prettiest high school girl in Korea¡¯ in her area.¡±

    Neoma raised an eyebrow. ¡°Really? Do I know her?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve probably heard her name before. I¡¯m talking about Lee Minju.¡±

    Ah, Lee Minju.

    She nodded in approval.

    ¡°That child is really pretty. I actually buy all the things she endorses because I like her face,¡± Neoma said, happy that her rival was worth the title. ¡°I feel bad for Lee Minju, though. If I didn¡¯t exist in this world, she would have been the legitimate most beautiful high school girl in Korea.¡±

    Trevor justughed at what she said. ¡°I have good news, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°My hard work has finally paid off,¡± the demon boy said, grinning at her. ¡°I¡¯m almost done fixing the door.¡±

    She pped her hands together. ¡°Really?¡±

    He nodded. ¡°I believe we can return to our world before youring-of-age ceremony.¡±

    ¡°You must really be a genius, Trevor.¡±

    ¡°Did you only realize that now, my Moon Princess?¡±

    ¡°Nope. I just don¡¯t want to acknowledge it because you annoy me most of the time.¡±

    Trevorughed out loud. ¡°I will only use my genius mind for you, Princess Neoma,¡± he said, putting a hand over his chest. ¡°I¡¯m a simp for you and only for you, my Moon Princess.¡±

    Neomaughed at Trevor¡¯s choice of words. ¡°You¡¯re talking memes now, Trevor.¡±

    ***

    <NEOMA, 18 years old¡­>

    ¡°OF COURSE, it¡¯s a duck,¡± Neoma said, smirking while looking at the duck in Jasper oppa¡¯s arms. ¡°I¡¯m Neoma, I¡¯m always right.¡±

    <¡°Wow, you¡¯re the prettiest girl I¡¯ve seen in my life! And wow again, you smell like old money! This kid is rich RICH. Aside from money and expensive jewels, I also all types of riches her. hit jackpot!¡±>

    Jasper oppa frowned while listening to the duck. ¡°Princess Neoma, this duck is saying¨C¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m pretty and rich, but you¡¯d better think twice about scamming me, you funny duck. You can¡¯t scam a legendary scammer like me,¡± she said smugly, shocking Jasper oppa and the duck. ¡°What¡¯s with the reaction?¡±

    Jasper oppa asked in disbelief: ¡°Princess Neoma, you can understand the duck?¡±

    <¡°Impossible!¡± > the duckined. <¡°Only the people I allow could hear my speaking voice!¡±>

    ¡°I don¡¯t need your permission to hear your voice,¡± she said indifferently. ¡°I don¡¯t need any Spirit¡¯s permission since I was born with the right to hear your voices.¡±

    Well, that and she really worked hard to gain that ability.

    The duck gasped as if it btedly realized WHAT Neoma was. <¡°A Master Summoner!¡±>

    ¡°Yep,¡± Neoma said proudly. ¡°So, should we reintroduce ourselves to each other, Fourth Elemental Guardian?¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 649 - 649 HANNA AND DAHLIA

    649 HANNA AND DAHLIA

    [THIS IS a little awkward.]

    Hanna was waiting in Neoma¡¯s room while the royal princess was taking a bath when Dahlia arrived.

    Apparently, the ck Witch also wanted to talk to Neoma.

    ¡°If Princess Neoma is still in the bathroom, then I¡¯ll take my leave first,¡± Dahlia said awkwardly, avoiding her gaze. ¡°Lady Hanna.¡±

    Hanna gathered her courage before speaking. ¡°You don¡¯t have to leave, Miss Dahlia,¡± she said as calmly as she could even though she was nervous. Then she politely pointed at the sofa across from her. ¡°We can wait for Princess Neoma together.¡±

    ¡°Will that be alright, Lady Hanna?¡±

    She only nodded her head lightly.

    ¡°Then please excuse me.¡±

    Dahlia then sat on the sofa across from her in silence.

    .....

    Hanna felt awkward even though she didn¡¯t do anything bad, and it wasn¡¯t like Dahlia did her wrong either.

    [This is weird.]

    She didn¡¯t like feeling that way, so she finally broke the silence.

    [Let¡¯s face this head-on.]

    ¡°Miss Dahlia, I am currently Prince Nero¡¯s fianc¨¦e,¡± Hanna said as carefully as she could. ¡°It hasn¡¯t been announced officially yet, but people already consider me as the Crown Princess.¡±

    She would only be officially dered as the Crown Princess once she married Nero.

    [Nero and I nned to break up before, but the n changed when Nero forgot about Neoma. The crows would have tried to kill me if I broke up with him, so I stayed with him.]

    And honestly?

    [I wanted to stay with Nero.]

    ¡°I¡¯m aware of that, Lady Hanna,¡± Dahlia answered carefully. ¡°Everyone in the empire knows.¡±

    Hanna clenched her hands. ¡°Are you aware that Nero is looking for you then?¡±

    The ck Witch nodded her head slowly. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, though. I know my ce.¡±

    ¡°If you don¡¯t mind my asking, do you have the memory of your past life?¡±

    She already knew the answer, but she wanted to hear it directly from Dahlia.

    ¡°I¡¯ve seen snippets of my life with Prince Nero before as his wife,¡± Dahlia answered honestly. ¡°I don¡¯t want to live that kind of life again, Lady Hanna. So please believe me¨C I have no intention of getting in your way with Prince Nero.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not what I want to know, Miss Dahlia.¡±

    ¡°Then¡­?¡±

    ¡°I have feelings for Nero.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡±

    ¡°But I have no intention of forcing my feelings on Nero,¡± Hanna said in an honest and calm voice. ¡°Once he¡¯s back to his senses, I¡¯m going to confess my feelings for him and make him choose between us.¡±

    Dahlia obviously panicked. ¡°Lady Hanna, I already told you that I have no intention of getting back together with Prince Nero just because we were married in my past life.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t stay with a man who¡¯s in love with someone else,¡± she said calmly. ¡°If Nero says he¡¯d forget about you and start to sincerely try to like me back, then I will stay with him and give him a chance. But if he continues staying obsessed with you, then I have no choice but to let him go.¡±

    Dahlia fell silent for a moment before she spoke again. ¡°Why are you saying this to me, Lady Hanna?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m trying to say that if you also have feelings for Nero, then you don¡¯t have to conceal your feelings for my sake,¡± Hanna said bravely. Her chest was actually tightening painfully at the moment, but she hoped it didn¡¯t show on her face. ¡°Miss Dahlia, at this moment, I¡¯m only engaged with Nero because I¡¯m the best nobledy in the empire. Nero doesn¡¯t love me.¡±

    ¡°Lady Hanna¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll return to the empire soon, and Nero¡¯sing of age ceremony is near,¡± she said carefully. ¡°Once that happens, people will push for our wedding. I¡¯m giving you the chance to stop our union, Miss Dahlia.¡±

    Dahlia closed her eyes tight. ¡°Lady Hanna, to be honest with you, I don¡¯t know what I feel for Prince Nero at the moment. My past self loved him too much. Hence, every time I think about him, my past feelings for him flood my system.¡± The ck Witch opened her eyes as she clutched her chest tight. ¡°I don¡¯t know if the love I feel for Prince Nero is my current feelings or not.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± she said, nodding. ¡°Then I¡¯ll give you enough time to figure out your feelings, Miss Dahlia.¡±

    The ck Witch looked hesitant. ¡°Thank you, Lady Hanna.¡±

    ¡°One more thing.¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I don¡¯t think I can be friends with you, Miss Dahlia,¡± Hanna said, smiling apologetically at the ck Witch. ¡°I respect you as a person and as Neoma¡¯s friend, but I can¡¯t treat you like my friend. Not now, at least.¡±

    Dahlia looked hurt, but she quickly hid her feelings as she bowed towards her. ¡°I understand, Lady Hanna.¡±

    ***

    NEOMA didn¡¯t want to listen to Hanna and Dahlia¡¯s conversation.

    But the bathroom she was currently in was adjacent to her bedroom.

    She had sharp hearing, so she could hear the twodies talking while she was in the tub and enjoying a bubble bath.

    Of course, she could have used her shield to block the noises.

    [But Hanna and Dahlia would know, and I don¡¯t want to interrupt their serious convo.]

    ¡°Gosh, Nero. You¡¯re handsome, but you have a worse personality than me,¡± Neoma whispered to herself. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you have two amazingdies fighting over you.¡±

    <¡°You¡¯re one to talk, Princess Neoma.¡±>

    It was Mochi, the Wind Spirit in the form of a white bunny.

    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡±

    <¡°You have your own harem,¡±> Mochi teased her. <¡°You have Ruto, Lewis, Trevor, and even Jasper Hawthorne.¡±>

    ¡°I don¡¯t have that kind of rtionship with Lewis, Trevor, and Jasper oppa. Plus, I don¡¯t think they like me as a girl¨C except maybe for Trevor. And my conscience is clean because I never led Trevor on,¡± she said defensively. ¡°I only flirted with Ruto since we have mutual feelings. I¡¯m different from my indecisive twin brother who can¡¯t let go of either Hanna or Dahlia.¡±

    <¡°Whatever makes you sleep at night, our little princess.¡±>

    Neoma red at Mochi yfully. ¡°Gosh, fine. If being charming and seductive is a sin, then I plead guilty.¡±

    ***

    ¡°IS IT really the Fourth Elemental Guardian?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s cute and tiny.¡±

    Neoma smirked while watching Hanna and Dahlia gush over the duck that was sittingfortably on her bed.

    Right now, the three of them were in Neoma¡¯s room.

    Hanna and Dahlia were already waiting for her when she was done taking a bath. Fortunately, the two weren¡¯t acting awkward.

    [They¡¯re not acting friendly either, though.]

    Anyway¡­

    [Trevor is busy breaking Brigitte unnie and Uncle Glenn¡¯s curse in order for the two to remember me. I think my children are preparing a feast for me. ording to Paige, all of them learned how to cook delicious meals because they know I¡¯m a big foodie.]

    ¡°It¡¯s definitely the Fourth Elemental Guardian,¡± Neoma said confidently. ¡°It has the same vibes as Veton, Lord Kingston, and Lapiz.¡±

    [And it¡¯s strong¨C very strong.]

    She just didn¡¯t want to say it out loud because it seemed like the duck was trying to hide its own strength.

    [But it can¡¯t fool my eyes.]

    <¡°I like this ce. This pretty girl smells old money, too.¡±>

    The noisy duck was talking about Hanna.

    <¡°But this young ck Witch¡­ hmm¡­ she¡¯s dirt poor. What a shame that one of the Elemental Guardian Tamers ismoner¡­¡±>

    The judgmental duck was talking about Dahlia this time.

    ¡°Ya,¡± Neoma called out the duck while looking at it with sharp eyes. ¡°If you have nothing nice to say, then keep your damned mouth shut.¡±

    Hanna and Dahlia looked at Neoma with a surprised look on their faces.

    The duck, on the other hand, looked terrified all of a sudden.

    ¡°Everyone on this ind is my people,¡± Neoma warned the duck. ¡°And an insult to my people is an insult to me. Just so you know, I don¡¯t take insults lightly.¡±

    Hanna and Dahlia turned to the duck with a nk look on their faces this time.

    Her girls were both sharp, and it wasn¡¯t like Neoma was being discreet. Hence, it was easy for Hanna and Dahlia to figure out that the duck insulted one of them.

    <¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡±> the duck said between sobs. <¡°I didn¡¯t mean to insult thedy. I was just blinded by my greed for money¡­¡±>

    Neoma could tell that there was a deep story as to why the duck was obsessed with money, hence she decided to let it slide. ¡°Alright. As long as you reflect on your behavior, then all is good.¡± She turned to Hanna and Dahlia. ¡°The duck apologized for being rude.¡±

    .....

    Hanna and Dahlia¡¯s expressions both softened up.

    [See? My girls are nice.]

    ¡°Anyway, I feel disrespectful by calling you ¡®duck,''¡± Neoma said. ¡°May I know your name and gender?¡±

    <¡°I¡¯m a male, Princess Neoma,¡±> the duck said, speaking politely to her now. <¡°The humans who took care of me called ¡®Duckie.''¡±>

    [¡°Pfft. Thug princess, the humans who named the duck is trying topete with you for the ¡®most awful naming sense¡¯ title.¡±]

    Of course, Neoma just ignored Tteokbokki¡¯s taunting.

    ¡°Is that your real name?¡± Neoma asked carefully. ¡°Can we call you that?¡±

    <¡°You can call me that for now,¡±> the duck said. <¡°I¡¯ll ask my owner for a new nameter.¡±>

    ¡°Do you already have a new owner?¡±

    <¡°I have a candidate in mind.¡±>

    ¡°I see,¡± she said, nodding. ¡°Then we¡¯ll call you ¡®Duckie¡¯ for now.¡±

    <¡°Thank you, Princess Neoma.¡±>

    ¡°Anyway, I heard you wanted to gather the Elemental Guardian owners,¡± Neoma said, sitting beside the duck. ¡°I¡¯m going to meet Lord Kingstonter and make him my official Elemental Guardian. After that, let¡¯s meet up with Ruto in the Royal Capital. Then you can tell us why you need us to gather.¡±

    Duckie nodded his head politely. <¡°I understand, Princess Neoma.¡±>

    ¡°Very well.¡±

    ¡°Are we returning to the empire now, Neoma?¡± Hanna asked curiously. ¡°What are we going to do next?¡±

    Neoma put a hand on Hanna¡¯s shoulder. ¡°We¡¯re going to take back Duke Rufus and Duchess Amber first from Regina Crowell¡¯s clutch.¡±

    Hanna looked relieved with what she said. ¡°When are we leaving?¡±

    ¡°The sooner the better,¡± she said, then she turned to Dahlia. ¡°Of course, you¡¯reing with us, Dahlia. Is that okay with you?¡±

    Dahlia smiled and nodded. ¡°Of course, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Great,¡± Neoma said, pping her hands. ¡°I¡¯m thinking of moving in a small group for now, so give me time to choose who¡¯sing with us.¡±

    ***

    ¡°LADY HANNA, have you seen the fox basta¨C I mean, Lewis Crevan?¡±

    Hanna, who was walking by the beach, smiled apologetically at Jasper Hawthorne (who looked very upset) and shook her head. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen Lewis, Lord Jasper. Have you tried looking for Neoma? I¡¯m sure he¡¯d be with her.¡±

    ¡°Oh, right. That fox basta¨C I mean, Lewis Crevan is practically Princess Neoma¡¯s shadow,¡± Lord Jasper said, slightly bowing towards her. ¡°Thank you, Lady Hanna.¡±

    After that, the young duke already left.

    And when Jasper Hawthorne waspletely out of sight¡­

    ¡°You cane out now,¡± Hanna said, turning around. ¡°I feel bad for lying to Lord Jasper.¡±

    The shadow that Hanna used to hide Lewis ¡®melted,¡¯ revealing the handsome fox who looked mischievous at the moment.

    [Thank goodness we weren¡¯t caught by Lord Jasper.]

    It helped that it was a moonless night.

    Hence, her shadow and the darkness of the night dulled Jasper Hawthorne¡¯s usually sharp senses.

    [This is why you can¡¯t win against a Quinzel during the night.]

    Hanna crossed her arms over her chest. ¡°What did you do to make Lord Jasper upset?¡±

    ¡°I stole¨C borrowed some of his butterflies.¡±

    Her eyes widened in shock. ¡°You did what?¡±

    Instead of answering, Lewis just pulled out a magical pouch out of his pocket.

    [It¡¯s probably a device made by Lady Paige.]

    Lewis opened the pouch, then several glowing butterflies came out.

    [Beautiful¡­]

    The butterflies were shining with what seemed like golden dust, after all.

    ¡°They¡¯re beautiful, Lewis,¡± Hanna said, smiling while watching the butterflies. ¡°But howe I can sense your Mana in them?¡±

    And the butterflies¡¯ golden light was simr to Lewis¡¯ golden eyes.

    ¡°I crushed one of my Mana Beads and turned them into gold dust,¡± Lewis exined. ¡°Then I poured the golden dust in Jasper Hawthorne¡¯s butterflies. Rest assured, the golden dust won¡¯t harm the butterflies, and they¡¯ll return to normalter.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± Hanna said, nodding. Then she turned to Lewis with curious eyes. ¡°But why are you showing them to me?¡±

    ¡°I like butterflies.¡±

    ¡°I know.¡±

    ¡°When I¡¯m down and Princess Neoma isn¡¯t around, I look for butterflies to feel better,¡± Lewis exined softly. ¡°I thought I¡¯d share the joy of watching butterflies with you, Lady Hanna.¡±

    Sheughed softly. ¡°Do I look that sad to you?¡±

    He shrugged. ¡°You can also enjoy watching butterflies even if you¡¯re not sad.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I probably look miserable to you,¡± Hanna said,ughing while shaking her head. ¡°But thank you.¡± She looked up to watch the beautiful golden butterflies flying around them. This time, her smile was genuine. The tightness in her chest earlier also disappeared. ¡°You¡¯re right, Lewis. Watching butterflies can really make you feel better.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m d,¡± Lewis said in a whisper. ¡°Sadness doesn¡¯t suit you, Lady Hanna.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 650 - 650 PLEDGE OF LOYALTY

    650 PLEDGE OF LOYALTY

    ¡°I, KINGSTON of the Land, greet the First Star, Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio, my new master,¡± Kingston, the White Lion, lowered his head towards Neoma. ¡°I, your humble servant, swear my loyalty to you for the rest of your life.¡±

    Kingston looked for Neoma before dinner.

    She knew why the White Lion wanted to talk to her, so she brought him to the balcony of her bedroom.

    It was a shame that the dark clouds were hiding the moon at the moment.

    Even so, the night was still beautiful because Neoma existed in that world.

    [Heh~]

    ¡°Gosh, you¡¯re being too formal, Grandpa Kingston,¡± Neoma said, then she put her hands on her stomach before she bowed politely to the White Lion. And yes, she decided that Kingston was now her grandfather. ¡°Please take care of me from now on, Grandpa. Of course, I¡¯ll do the same to you.¡±

    ¡°Ah,¡± the White Lion muttered in disbelief as he raised his head. ¡°This is the first time I saw a de Moonasterio bow her head towards a mere servant. Not even my previous master, Nero Roseheart, bowed his head to me in the past.¡±

    She raised her and shook her head. ¡°You¡¯re not my servant, Grandpa. We will be working together from now on, so that makes us colleagues. Let¡¯s respect each other and live in harmony.¡± She put a hand over her chest. ¡°I¡¯m a pacifist, after all.¡±

    .....

    [¡°Peace lover, my ass.¡±]

    It was Tteokbokki, of course.

    She frowned after hearing the Soul Beast¡¯s crude remark.

    [Gosh, just where did Tteokbokki learn to use foul words? He must have been influenced by the Kdramas he binge-watched back in Korea.]

    ¡°That¡¯s what I wish for as well, Princess Neoma,¡± Kingston said. ¡°To live in peace with everyone.¡±

    She smiled and nodded in agreement. ¡°Grandpa, thank you for looking after Monik and the Griffiths family for the past five years.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing, Your Royal Highness,¡± Kingston said, smiling. ¡°I only returned the kindness that the Griffiths have shown me all these years.¡±

    Neomaughed softly. ¡°They¡¯re kind, aren¡¯t they?¡±

    ***

    ¡°SAINTESS MONIK, Saint Skylus, it¡¯s an honor to meet you again after five long years,¡± Neoma said, politely addressing the babies with their proper titles. Well, it would happen in the future. But she was already iming it for the children. ¡°I, Princess Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio, am reporting for duty.¡±

    Monik and Skylus looked up at her with sparkling eyes.

    She only summoned the two because ude, the two babies¡¯ younger brother, was sleeping.

    [And Paige, ude¡¯s previous nanny, was babysitting the second prince.]

    ¡°Neoma unnie, you¡¯re prettier in person!¡± Monik eximed. ¡°No wonder the Goddess of Beauty is picking a fight with you!¡±

    Skylus sped his hands together. ¡°Noona is so pretty!¡±

    Hehe.

    Of course, it was her who taught Skylus and Monik to call her ¡®noona¡¯ and ¡®unnie¡¯ respectively. She wanted to be a big sister to the future saint and saintess, and not as a royal princess. That was how much she treasured the royal babies.

    ¡°Thank you, babies,¡± Neoma said, sitting down on the sofa and patting her legs. Of course, she was only addressing the royal babies casually when they didn¡¯t have an audience. She was the royal princess of the empire. Hence, she must address the prince and princess of a foreign nation properly. ¡°Come here.¡±

    Skylus and Monik immediately understood what she meant by that.

    The saint and the saintess sat on herp, facing each other with their knees touching.

    Monik was big for an eight-year-old child, and Skylus was also bigger than average five-year-old boys.

    But it wasn¡¯t a problem for Neoma.

    ¡°Monik, thank you for looking after Grandpa Kingston,¡± Neoma said to the saintess. ¡°And thank you for letting him go in order to serve me.¡±

    ¡°Grandpa Kingston wishes to serve you, unnie,¡± Monik said cheerfully. ¡°I¡¯m grateful to Grandpa Kingston for protecting me and my family, but I know Grandpa Kingston isn¡¯t someone meant to serve the Light Goddess.¡±

    Oh, right.

    Monik was walking the path of a saintess in order to revive the temple of the Light Goddess.

    On the other hand, Kingston was an Elemental Guardian. As far as Neoma knew, the Elemental Guardians were beings who refused to serve gods.

    [That¡¯s why Elemental Guardians choose masters who don¡¯t serve any god.]

    Well, even though Neoma was a descendant of the Moon God, it didn¡¯t necessarily mean that she was serving him.

    [Lord Yule is my grandpa, not my god.]

    ¡°Thank you for being understanding, Monik,¡± Neoma said, then she turned to Skylus. ¡°Baby Skylus, I haven¡¯t forgotten my promise to you when you were born.¡±

    Skylus just looked at her innocently.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to make you the new Moon Saint.¡±

    Five years ago, they suffered a great loss which forced them to leave this world.

    However, they also bagged a win.

    [Mama Boss sessfully retrieved a piece of the new saint¡¯s divine power.]

    Neoma was going to use that to fulfill her duty as the REAL First Star of the empire.

    ¡°Baby Skylus, you and your noona mentioned the existence of an unnatural divine energy, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    The royal babies nodded at the same time.

    ¡°Yes, noona!¡±

    ¡°Yes, unnie!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s probably Calyx Dalton creating a fake saint to bring to the Astello Temple,¡± Neoma exined to the royal babies. ¡°I have topete with that crazy crow soon for the position of the empire¡¯s real First Star.¡± She looked at Skylus and Monik back and forth. ¡°Will you help me beat the fake basta¨C bad guy?¡±

    Skylus and Monik nodded again and spoke in unison¨C addressing her by her formal title this time.

    ¡°As youmand, Princess Neoma!¡±

    ***

    NEOMA frowned after seeing Trevor¡¯s condition.

    ¡°Is he dead?¡±

    It was Lewis, and her ¡°son¡± asked that question in a very indifferent tone.

    [Gosh, why is Lewis bullying Trevor when the demon boy is already looking like that?]

    By ¡°that,¡± Neoma meant Trevor lying down on the floor with dried blood around his mouth, neck, and chest.

    Obviously, the demon boy coughed up blood.

    ¡°Trevor, get up.¡±

    Trevor kept his eyes shut, but not his mouth. ¡°I¡¯ll wake up if you give me a kiss, my Moon Princess.¡±

    Lewis turned to Neoma with a nk look on his face. ¡°Princess Neoma, Trevor will dieter.¡±

    Pfft.

    Lewis was practically saying he¡¯d kill Trevor for the demon boy¡¯s remark.

    ¡°Thank you for the advance notice, but we need Trevor alive,¡± Neoma said, then she squatted down and extended her hand to Trevor. ¡°I can¡¯t and don¡¯t want to give you a kiss, but I¡¯ll let you hold my hand.¡±

    Trevor opened his eyes, then his trembling hand grabbed hers.

    [He¡¯s not faking it.]

    Trevor was really weak at the moment.

    That wasn¡¯t surprising since the demon boy worked hard to free Brigitte unnie and Uncle Glenn from the crows¡¯ spell.

    [This is why Trevor can¡¯t retrieve everyone¡¯s memories at the same time.]

    The demon boy would die if he did that.

    [Hence, we chose to approach our allies one by one.]

    ¡°Princess Neoma?¡±

    It was Lewis, and he was probably wondering how Neoma could HEAL Trevor¡¯s internal injury by simply holding the demon boy¡¯s hand.

    [Yep, I¡¯m healing Trevor. Why else would I hold his hand voluntarily?]

    ¡°It¡¯s one of the techniques I inherited from Grandma Aruna. I¡¯m using my Moonglow to fix Trevor¡¯s damaged organs,¡± Neoma exined briefly. ¡°I can¡¯t heal life-threatening injuries, though.¡±

    Lewis looked impressed. ¡°Wow.¡±

    Her thoughts were interrupted when Trevor suddenly entwined their fingers together.

    [This bastard¡­]

    Trevor grinned at her. ¡°I thought I¡¯d heal faster if I did this.¡±

    .....

    ¡°Trevor, I¡¯m already emotionally unavable so you¡¯ll only hurt yourself if you keep doing this,¡± Neoma said, clicking her tongue at him. Then she FROZE his hand. ¡°And this is for being cheeky.¡±

    Lewis gasped. ¡°Ice¡­¡±

    [Ah, right. Lewis doesn¡¯t know.]

    The demon boy justughed even though his entire arm was literally frozen in ice.

    She just rolled her eyes at Trevor before letting go of his hand.

    [He¡¯s a genius Sorcerer, so he can melt the ice.]

    Neoma stood up and faced Lewis who still looked shocked. Hence, she exined. ¡°Grandpa Arche was the former master of Nero¡¯s ice phoenix. And Grandpa Arche taught me the technique to control ice.¡±

    Lewis pped his hands, and he looked genuinely impressed. ¡°You can control ice even though your main attribute is fire?¡±

    She put a hand over her chest. ¡°You can call me ¡®T*doroki.''¡±

    Trevorughed at her reference. ¡°Shotooo!¡±

    It was her turn tough.

    [Right, I turned Trevor into an otaku.]

    Lewis looked confused. ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Nothing,¡± Neoma said, keeping her weeb-ness in check. ¡°I¡¯m going to meet Brigitte unnie and Uncle Glenn now.¡±

    ***

    NEOMA decided to call Brigitte unnie ¡®Aunt Brigitte¡¯ now because it was the queen¡¯s wish.

    [After all, I call her husband ¡®uncle.¡¯]

    And yes, Aunt Brigitte and Uncle Glenn had finally retrieved their memories now thanks to Trevor¡¯s hard work.

    After a tearful reunion, they immediately went straight to business.

    ¡°First things first,¡± Neoma said in a serious voice while having tea with the royal couple. ¡°Aunt Brigitte, Uncle Glenn, please allow me to bring Prince Skylus to the empire with me. I intend to introduce the prince as the new saint.¡±

    Aunt Brigitte and Uncle Glenn turned to each other and nodded subtly before facing her again.

    ¡°We leave Skylus in your hand, Princess Neoma,¡± Aunt Brigitte said in a serious tone. ¡°We¡¯d love toe with you, but we must hurry back to Hazelden as soon as possible. We can¡¯t just leave everything to Nowell and Delwyn.¡±

    Nowell Elwood was Aunt Brigitte¡¯s cousin who was in charge of the kingdom¡¯s administration while the royal couple was gone.

    Delwyn was the Ice Spirit in charge of protecting the Hazelden Kingdom from the crows.

    ¡°We will bring Monik and ude back home with us,¡± Aunt Brigitte added. ¡°Let¡¯s keep in touch, Princess Neoma.¡±

    She nodded. ¡°Of course, Auntie.¡±

    To be honest, she was d that Aunt Brigitte and Uncle Glenn decided to not go to the empire with them.

    [Aunt Brigitte is vulnerable since she¡¯s pregnant. I don¡¯t want her to get stressed out.]

    ¡°I¡¯m really d that you¡¯re back, Princess Neoma,¡± Aunt Brigitte said, her eyes brimming with tears again. ¡°And I¡¯m grateful that you and Trevor helped us break free from the damned crows¡¯ curse.¡±

    Sheughed softly. ¡°I¡¯m d to see that you¡¯re still as energetic as I remember, my queen.¡±

    Aunt Brigitteughed with her.

    ¡°Princess Neoma, how are Emperor Niki and Lady Roseheart?¡± Uncle Glenn asked worriedly after Neoma and Aunt Brigitte were done having a small yet meaningful talk. ¡°Are they going to return to the empireter?¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± Neoma said, smiling at Uncle Glenn. ¡°Papa Boss has to crown me and Nero himself, Uncle Glenn¨C and Mama Boss has to be there, too.¡±

    ***

    JASPER had always known Princess Neoma was beautiful.

    Her beauty wasn¡¯t really subjective¡ª it was like an absolute truth that nobody could deny. The royal princess had a face that would probably be considered attractive everywhere.

    But, of course, he didn¡¯t pay attention to it before since Princess Neoma was just a child.

    That was five years ago, though.

    Although he had seen Princess Neoma through themunication device for the past few years, this was the first time that he had seen her in person.

    The little royal princess had turned into a beautiful youngdy in just the blink of an eye.

    [Princess Neoma¡¯s face is¡­ distracting.]

    It was to the point where he couldn¡¯t appreciate the stunning pink sand of the shore they were walking on because Princess Neoma¡¯s face was the most beautiful thing in his sight.

    ¡°Thank you very much, Jasper oppa.¡±

    Jasper was confused because of what Princess Neoma said. ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°Your eyes are telling me I¡¯m pretty,¡± Princess Neoma said yfully. ¡°I¡¯d like to thank you for being tall, oppa.¡±

    [That came out of nowhere.]

    He was confused, but he still couldn¡¯t stop himself fromughing softly. ¡°You¡¯re grateful that I¡¯m tall?¡±

    The royal princess pouted. ¡°I¡¯m taller than most boys my age back in Korea. It¡¯sme, but I¡¯m kind of insecure about my height. But since you¡¯re taller than me, I feelfortable walking next to you.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t invalidate your feelings, but please remember that tall or not, you¡¯re still a beloved existence,¡± he said, yfully ruffling the royal princess¡¯ hair despite her lightint. ¡°Many people will be sad if they find out that you feel bad for being tall. After all, doesn¡¯t being tall only mean there¡¯s more of you to adore?¡±

    She blinked while fixing her messy hair as if she didn¡¯t expect to hear that from him, then sheughed.

    And dammit.

    [Princess Neoma looks prettier when she¡¯s smiling andughing.]

    He must be crazy for thinking that way towards his little sister!

    ¡°Thank you for making me feel better, oppa.¡±

    ¡°Uh, it¡¯s nothing,¡± he said, avoiding her gaze while touching his nape. ¡°Anyway, why did you want to talk to me in private?¡±

    Princess Neoma nodded, then she turned serious. ¡°Oppa, I have a favor to ask of you regarding the Fourth Elemental Guardian.¡±

    That caught his interest.

    And that was also a good distraction.

    Jasper faced Princess Neoma again. ¡°What about Duckie, Your Royal Highness?¡±

    ***

    Hi! Iunched a dream project recently, and that dream is to write a story with a male protagonist.

    I posted a new story titled ¡®FISHING FOR DISASTERS,¡¯ and the first three chapters are up. You can search it by typing the title on the app or website if it doesn¡¯t appear on my ount yet.

    Here¡¯s the summary:

    [FISHING FOR DISASTERS]

    <You better catch all the Disasters if you want to know ending of One P*ece!>

    That¡¯s the reward for saving this world from Sea Monsters and Dungeons that would emerge soon?!

    Then Zirkus, who died while stalking a famous Kpop idol and got transmigrated as a minor viin in a dungeon-themed novel, would do his best to catch all the Disasters-in-the-making!

    All for the sake of saving the world, of course.

    Ahem.

    It¡¯s time for a nerd to be a hero!

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 651 - 651 NO MERCY

    651 NO MERCY

    [Last night¡­]

    NEOMA smiled at Duckie, the Fourth Elemental Guardian, when their eyes identally met.

    But the duck avoided her gaze.

    [Oho?]

    It was time to leave the ind.

    While everyone was busy packing their things, Neoma spent her free time on the shore. She saw Hanna and Lewis ying with the golden butterflies, so she decided to change her ¡°itinerary¡± until she reached the rock formation by the beach.

    And that was when she saw Duckie alone.

    ¡°Why are you avoiding my gaze?¡± Neoma asked, sitting next to the duck even though he didn¡¯t invite her to join him. ¡°Is my beauty too blinding? Or are you scared of me?¡±

    <¡°Uhm, both?¡±>

    .....

    ¡°Did I scare you when I got upset earlier?¡±

    The duck hesitated before he responded. <¡°You¡¯re just in scary, Princess Neoma. Your eyes are warm towards your people. But they turn cold when you look at me. Even though you¡¯re nice to me, I can tell won¡¯t hesitate kill me if have to.¡±>

    ¡°I don¡¯t know how to treat you yet,¡± she admitted. ¡°Even though you¡¯re an Elemental Guardian, it doesn¡¯t necessarily mean you¡¯re an ally. Unfortunately, I¡¯m not in a position where I can easily ept anyone in our group. If I trusted the wrong person, my people would pay for my mistake. Hence, I have to be wary of everyone¨C especially towards a duck who hides his real strength.¡±

    <¡°My strength is useless¨C what I need diamond.¡±>

    ¡°Diamond?¡±

    <¡°A lot of diamonds, to be precise,¡±> Duckie said. <¡°The reason I wanted to gather the other Elemental Guardians and their owners is because strike a deal with you.¡±>

    ¡°Would it be okay to share it with me even though Dahlia and Ruto aren¡¯t here yet?¡±

    <¡°Wouldn¡¯t it fine since you¡¯re their leader anyway?¡±>

    ¡°There¡¯s no leader among us.¡±

    <¡°You totally look like the leader type, though,¡±> the duck said. <¡°The owner of the Blue Whale listens to you well, Princess Neoma. I have a feeling that Thunderbird also you.¡±>

    She just shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s up to you whether you want to share it with me first or not.¡±

    <¡°I have information that will benefit the Elemental Guardians and their owners,¡±> Duckie said in a serious voice. <¡°In exchange, I want you to pay me with diamonds¨C and the most expensive ones.¡±>

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    <¡°Huh?¡± >

    ¡°What do you mean ¡®huh?''¡± she asked, knitting her eyebrows. ¡°You said you wanted us to pay diamonds. I¡¯m saying I can give them to you.¡±

    Now she understood why the duck was disappointed when he realized that Dahlia, the owner of Lapiz, was amoner.

    He probably thought the ck Witch couldn¡¯t afford to give him diamonds.

    [Well, to be honest, I don¡¯t know Dahlia¡¯s financial situation. I remember she lived a humble life in the first timeline. I¡¯m not sure if that¡¯s the case even now.]

    <¡°Why are you already agreeing when don¡¯t even know if the information I have is real or not?¡±>

    ¡°You can¡¯t lie to me.¡±

    <¡°Huh?¡± >

    ¡°I¡¯m a good liar, so I know a liar when I see one,¡± she said. ¡°You don¡¯t smell like a liar to me. But even if you are, it doesn¡¯t matter to me. Losing a few diamonds in a useless deal won¡¯t affect me or my finances.¡±

    The duck let out a bitterugh. <¡°I fucking hate the rich.¡±>

    ¡°Yeah, you should hate the rich,¡± she agreed with the duck. ¡°Billionaires shouldn¡¯t exist in any world.¡±

    Unfortunately, Neoma was born a billionaire.

    [That¡¯s why I¡¯m working hard to be in a position where I can distribute my wealth to the poor and help more people livefortable lives.]

    ¡°I¡¯m filthy rich,¡± Neoma continued indifferently. ¡°The empire is rich because it stole from all the nations and kingdoms it invaded in the past. If we return all the things that we stole, every single museum in the entire empire will close down.¡± She turned to the duck. ¡°And that¡¯s why I¡¯m willing to share my wealth with you. I can tell you¡¯re going to put it to good use.¡±

    <¡°Would you still give me the diamonds even if I tell I¡¯d use them to kill an entire n?¡±>

    ¡°Yeah, sure.¡±

    <¡°Why?¡± >

    ¡°Because it¡¯s none of my business where you use the diamonds I¡¯d give you,¡± Neoma said casually. ¡°And I can tell by the fury in your eyes that the n you¡¯re nning to kill deserves it.¡±

    The duck fell silent for a moment, then he suddenlyughed as if he lost his mind. <¡°Are you sure a royal princess like should say that an entire n deserves to die?¡±>

    ¡°I¡¯m not a good person,¡± she said bluntly. ¡°I¡¯ve put thew in my hands several times already. Let¡¯s get real, Duckie. Humans are the worst race in the entire world. Most of us don¡¯t deserve to live.¡±

    <¡°Pfft. Your Royal Highness looks innocent, but you¡¯re vicious.¡±>

    ¡°Thank you,¡± she said. ¡°Do you want me toe with you?¡±

    The duck shook his head. <¡°I know that you have other urgent things need to take care of, Princess Neoma.¡±< p>

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±

    <¡°So, please lend me one of your people,¡±> Duckie pleaded while looking at her with puppy dog eyes. <¡°I want the handsome tanned boy that smells like old money.¡±>

    Neoma tilted her head to one side. ¡°Jasper oppa?¡±

    ***

    ¡°AND THAT was how my conversation with Duckie went, oppa,¡± Neoma reported to Jasper Hawthorne. ¡°He wants you to apany him to his hometown to carry out his revenge.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡±

    She blinked while looking at her Jasper oppa who agreed to her request easily.

    [Oh, wow. I¡¯ve always known Jasper oppa is handsome. But damn, he¡¯s really an eye candy. I can totally see Jasper oppa as a male lead in another story. Now I know why male characters with ck hair often get the main girl in romance fantasy novels.]

    ¡°Princess Neoma, did you hear what I said?¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh,¡± Neoma said while nodding. ¡°I was just wondering why you agreed easily, oppa.¡±

    ¡°For some reason, I already feel attached to Duckie,¡± Jasper oppa said,ughing softly while shaking his head as if he couldn¡¯t believe that he was attached to a duck. ¡°And you said he needs diamonds. We have a lot of it, Princess Neoma.¡±

    She smiled automatically after hearing that. ¡°Right? How¡¯s your diamond mine doing, oppa?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s OUR diamond mine, Princess Neoma,¡± he reminded her, grinning. ¡°And it¡¯s doing really, really, really well.¡±

    ¡°Pfft. No wonder Duckie says he likes your scent the best.¡±

    The young duke just smiled at herment.

    ¡°Oppa, since you¡¯re doing a favor for us, I promise to look after your estate,¡± she promised him. ¡°I will save Gin and Tate from the crow bastards who dared to invade your territory.¡±

    Tate was Jasper oppa¡¯s cousin-sh-aide.

    [And well, Gin is Gin.]

    ¡°Then I leave my estate to you, Princess Neoma.¡±

    Neoma smiled and gave Jasper oppa a double thumbs up. ¡°I will also send Xion with you, oppa. Duckie is still an Elemental Guardian. He said he doesn¡¯t need me to join him in his revenge. Even so, I want to look out for him.¡±

    ¡°Our Princess Neoma is really nice,¡± Jasper oppa said, ruffling her hair again. ¡°I¡¯ll return your ¡°son¡± and Duckie to you safely.¡±

    [Hmm¡­ is Jasper oppa suddenly obsessed with messing my hair???]

    ***

    [¡°IF THE crows dared to attack Hazelden, then crush them mercilessly.¡±]

    That was Neoma¡¯s instruction to Juri and Jeno.

    She sent the couple to apany the Griffiths family back to the Hazelden Kingdom. In order for the Griffiths to arrive safely, they would be using the floating ind.

    Paige was usually in charge of ¡°driving¡± the floating ind since she was a mage.

    [But I need Paige this time.]

    Hence, the mage set up the floating ind in ¡°automatic mode.¡± Just like the name suggested, the floating ind was set to move on its own. It was possible because Paige already put the coordinates of the Hazelden Kingdom as its destination.

    After the Griffiths left with Juri and Jeno, Jasper oppa and Xion also left the ind.

    [Jasper oppa and Xion used Paige¡¯s Teleportation Ticket to go to the port town near the ind.]

    And now¡­

    Neoma looked at Hanna, Dahlia, Paige, Greko, and Lewis.

    [This is the team I¡¯m bringing back to the empire.]

    Neoma looked at Skylus whom she was carrying in her arms. ¡°Baby Skylus, are you ready for your first mission?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m ready, Neoma noona,¡± Skylus said, then he sped his hands together. ¡°I¡¯ll make you and Uncle Manu proud as the new saint of the Moon God.¡±

    .....

    Ah, right.

    Manu, the Moon Priest.

    She asked Manu to look after Skylus before she disappeared with her family five years ago. But she hadn¡¯t seen Manu yet, and she hadn¡¯t heard from him yet.

    [Manu has been present during every conference meeting we had for the past five years.]

    Come to think of it, she hadn¡¯t seen the Moon Priest recently.

    [I have so many things that I had to take care of ever since I returned that I almost forgot about Lord Manu.]

    She knitted her eyebrows. ¡°Baby Skylus, where is Lord Manu?¡±

    ¡°Sleeping,¡± Skylus said cheerfully. ¡°Uncle Manu is sleeping for thirty-nine days now!¡±

    Okay, that made her worry. ¡°He¡¯s asleep for that long already? Do you know what happened?¡±

    The young prince-sh-new saint nodded before giving a response. ¡°Alcohol poisoning.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me?¡±

    Skylus¡¯ face beamed. ¡°Uncle Manu got alcohol poisoning from drinking too much! Aunt Sienna said Uncle Manu needs to sleep in order to detoxify the poison in his body!¡±

    Neoma closed her eyes tight and pinched the bridge of her nose.

    [That fucking alcoholic¡­!]

    ***

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 Chapter 652 - 652 NEW TEAM IN TOWN

    652 NEW TEAM IN TOWN

    ¡°THEN SEE you at the empireter, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Yep,¡± Neoma responded to Trevor. ¡°I¡¯ll leave the Hawthorne estate to you.¡±

    The original n was that she¡¯d go to the Hawthorne Estate herself.

    But Jasper oppa suggested that she sent Trevor instead ofing herself to save Tate and Gin.

    [¡°Princess Neoma, the crows already have an idea that I¡¯m working with you for the past few years. But if you suddenly showed up at my estate, then their suspicions would be confirmed. I don¡¯t know what kind of trap the enemies have prepared for me, but it doesn¡¯t hurt to be careful. So, if Your Royal Highness can, then please send someone else in your stead. Preferably, Trevor Kesser. Gin always brags about how much of a genius that boy is.]

    Hence, she decided to follow her oppa¡¯s suggestion.

    She had faith that Trevor could deal with the crows who invaded Jasper oppa¡¯s estate on his own. Plus, once the demon boy freed Gin and Tate, then the three of them could easily kick the crows without a problem.

    [Why isn¡¯t he leaving yet?]

    ¡°What?¡± she asked impatiently when she noticed that Trevor didn¡¯t want to leave yet. ¡°Paige already opened the portal leading to the royal capital. I need to go soon.¡±

    .....

    ¡°Are you sure the damned chef will undo the curse on the ducal couple?¡±

    The ducal couple would be Duke Rufus and Duchess Amber.

    She thought she should help the ducal couple recover their sealed memories first in order to protect them from Regina Crowell.

    [Aside from Trevor, Ruto is the only person who can undo their curse.]

    ¡°He doesn¡¯t love you anymore, so I don¡¯t think he¡¯d use his power just because you told him to.¡±

    Of course, she was aware of that.

    Ruto was no longer the Ruto who would sacrifice himself for her sake.

    [But did Trevor have to be so blunt? It hurts.]

    ¡°I prepared a threat¨C I mean, a deal to offer to Ruto,¡± she said, sighing. ¡°Stop annoying me, Trevor.¡±

    ¡°I just need to rest for a week¡­¡± He trailed off, then he shook his head. ¡°No, give me three days to recover. I¡¯ll undo the curse for the ducal couple.¡±

    ¡°Three days, my foot,¡± she said, scoffing. ¡°Do you want to die before me?¡±

    Undoing the curse was in no way easy.

    Even Paige, a powerful mage, couldn¡¯t do what Trevor could as a Sorcerer.

    The demon boy¡¯s ability to undo the curse was indeed impressive.

    But the problem was the recoil was too harsh.

    Trevor¡¯s internal organs suffered after he undid the curse on Aunt Brigitte and Uncle Glenn because the Mana that he had to use was greater than what his body could handle.

    ¡°The first aid that I administered to you was nothing but first aid. I¡¯m not a miracle doctor,¡± she reminded the demon boy. ¡°You should take the potions that Greko made for you religiously. I wanted to tell you to rest, but I know we don¡¯t have the luxury to take a break. That¡¯s why I¡¯m just asking you not to push yourself too hard.¡±

    ¡°I just want to be useful to my Moon Princess.¡±

    ¡°What the hell are you saying?¡± she asked, knitting her eyebrows in confusion. ¡°Trevor Kesser, me and my family owe you a lot. You¡¯re making our lives easier, too.¡±

    It was true.

    Trevor had done a lot of things for her already. He fixed the Door that helped her return to the empire, and he was even helping undo the curse for some of their people. If the demon boy wasn¡¯t by her side, she wouldn¡¯t have aplished many things over the past few years.

    [Plus, Trevor inventedmunication devices in this world that resemble smartphones. And he¡¯s good at teleportation, too.]

    Most of all, he helped her change the color of Skewer and her Hellgate from ck to pink.

    ¡°Aww, I¡¯m touched.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m serious,¡± she said in a clear and firm voice. ¡°Trevor, you¡¯re my best friend. I won¡¯t die for you, but I will kill for you.¡±

    Trevor smiled, then he extended his fist to her. ¡°`Got it, Princess Neoma. I¡¯ll take care of my body well.¡±

    ¡°Take care of your face, too,¡± Neoma said, smiling while bumping her fist into his. ¡°Fighting, chingu.¡±

    ***

    [SO FUCKING annoying.]

    Neoma was annoyed because Calyx Dalton¡¯s face was all over Auberon.

    [¡®Auberon¡¯ is the official name of the Royal Capital, just like how Seoul is the capital of Korea.]

    Anyway¡­

    There were merchandise sold that had Calyx¡¯s face in there.

    Statues, paintings, mini gs.

    [His face is even engraved inmemorative coins sold in banks and some select jewelry stores.]

    All because Calyx¡¯s twentieth birthday wasing.

    ¡°Calm down, Neoma,¡± Hanna said, holding her hand. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We¡¯ll fill the entire Western Continent with your faceter.¡±

    They were free to talk and call each other by their names because Neoma¡¯s thinyer of Dome acted like a soundproof barrier.

    [Anyway¡­]

    ¡®Later¡¯ would be during Neoma and Nero¡¯sing-of-age ceremony.

    There was a tradition in the Great Moonasterion Empire where all the youth who turned eighteen that year would attend aing-of-age ceremony on the 31st of December¨C thest day of that year.

    Last month, Neoma and Nero turned eighteen.

    Hence, they would hold theiring-of-age ceremony soon.

    [Hanna also turned eighteen this year, so she¡¯ll attend the ceremony as well.]

    ¡°Thank you, Hanna,¡± Neoma said, squeezing Hanna¡¯s hand gently. ¡°I¡¯m already looking forward to it.¡±

    Right now, Neoma and Hanna were in a caf¨¦ that Hanna owned.

    [It¡¯s called Hanna¡¯s Choice.]

    Anyway, they were upying a table on the corner of the second floor to avoid attention.

    [This is the only caf¨¦ in Grandiose Avenue that serves iced coffee and iced tea. Hence, it¡¯s popr.]

    In fact, the entire caf¨¦ was full.

    But the thing that impressed Neoma the most was that they weren¡¯t turned away by the servers even though they were wearing simple clothes. In short, they weren¡¯t dressed like the nobles that they were.

    Most shops in the area were snobbish, and would only amodate nobles.

    [We¡¯re also in disguise.]

    Neoma¡¯s hair and eye color were ck (just like how it was when she was in Korea).

    On the other hand, Hanna had blonde hair and blue eyes.

    ¡°I like your caf¨¦, Hanna,¡± Neoma said, smiling. ¡°They treat all customers equally.¡±

    ¡°Anyone is wee in my shops as long as they pay and behave well,¡± Hanna said, smiling like the businesswoman that she was. ¡°And, to be fair, it¡¯s obvious that we¡¯re nobles in disguise, Neoma. The clothes we¡¯re wearing look simple. But anyone who knows about fashion could tell that our clothes are made of the most expensive fabrics.¡± She put down her teacup on the saucer elegantly. ¡°And we can¡¯t hide our elegance.¡±

    Ah, her cousin had a good point.

    Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a grumble.

    When she turned to her side, she saw Skylus smiling sheepishly at her.

    ¡°Noona, I¡¯m hungry,¡± Skylus said while rubbing his stomach. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    ¡°Why would you apologize for being hungry, baby?¡± Neoma asked,ughing softly. Then she turned in front of them. ¡°Our food is here.¡±

    Dahlia and Greko were walking towards their table while each of them was holding a tray.

    [They¡¯re in disguise, too.]

    Dahlia had brown hair and dark chocte eyes, while Greko had dirty blond hair and green eyes.

    ¡°I ordered iced coffee for us, and apple juice for Baby Skylus,¡± Greko said cheerfully when he ced the tray of drinks on the table. ¡°We also got some pastries.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t decide between strawberry and chocte cake, so I got both,¡± Dahlia said shyly while cing the tray on the table. ¡°I hope it¡¯s okay.¡±

    Neoma and Hanna answered at the same time. ¡°No problem.¡±

    The highlight of Hanna¡¯s Choice, the caf¨¦, was the system where the customers would line up and wait for their order instead of having it delivered to their table.

    [Of course, I was the one who gave Hanna that idea.]

    The concept worked well for independent nobles who wanted to do things themselves instead of relying on their servants.

    Hence, despite the strange system, the caf¨¦ was a hit.

    .....

    [It¡¯s also the reason why most nobles here aren¡¯t apanied by their servants.]

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s good,¡± Neoma said after taking a bite of the chocte cake. ¡°Let¡¯s buy takeawayster for Paige and Lewis.¡±

    Paige and Lewis weren¡¯t with them at the moment.

    [I sent them to deliver a secret message for Duke Rufus and Duchess Amber.]

    She sent Lewis since the duke knew him as a pirate, and she asked Paige to apany Lewis in order for them to move quickly using her teleportation skills.

    Neoma turned to Skylus who was eating a slice of strawberry cake with gusto. ¡°Is it yummy, baby?¡±

    Skylus smiled and nodded. ¡°Super yummy, noona!¡±

    Hanna smiled as if she was relieved.

    ¡°I loved the coffee, too,¡± Dahlia said shyly. ¡°It¡¯s delicious, Lady Hanna.¡±

    Hanna smiled politely at the ck Witch. ¡°Thank you, Miss Dahlia.¡±

    [Gosh, they¡¯re so stiff around each other.]

    Neoma could only watch Hanna and Dahlia, though.

    [They¡¯re both adults who know what they¡¯re doing. And I don¡¯t have the right to meddle in their affairs.]

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    Neoma instantly turned to Greko who was now looking around as if he was looking for something. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, maknae-ah?¡±

    ¡°This scent¡­¡± Greko said while sniffing the air. ¡°It smells like me.¡±

    Greko was half human-half fairy.

    Of course, her youngest wouldn¡¯t say that if he only smelled the scent of a human simr to him. Hence, it could only mean one thing.

    [A fairy is here.]

    A couple of secondster, the caf¨¦ door opened and wee four strangers who entered the shop while wearing expensive-looking cloaks.

    Neoma smiled because she instantly recognized the person walking in the front.

    [My man.]

    Ruto came with three strange yet powerful individuals, but she didn¡¯t care.

    Her attention was only focused on one person.

    ¡°There you are,¡± Ruto said while removing the hood of his cloak to show off his nice-looking face¨C his dark purple eyes focused on her face as if he was trying his best to ¡®see¡¯ her. ¡°Babe.¡±

    Neoma suddenly felt shy. ¡°Babe, I¡¯m starting to regret it.¡±

    [God, why did I choose such a cheesy endearment?]

    ***

    UNBEKNOWNST to Neoma, the three hooded individuals behind Ruto were shaking in disbelief while listening to their conversation.

    Of course, the three hooded individuals were talking in their minds.

    Their scary leader would scold them if they spoke out loud.

    The half elf-half fairy was the one in a panic the most. [¡°D-Did our Captain Ruto just call thatdy ¡®babe?¡¯ I don¡¯t know what it means, but my intuition is telling me that it¡¯s an endearment.¡±]

    The drunken demigod wasn¡¯t shocked at all since he already knew about their captain¡¯s obsession with a certain beautiful royal princess. [¡°Thatdy is not ady but THE Princess Neoma¨C and she¡¯s so damn beautiful! The rumors about her beauty weren¡¯t an exaggeration!¡±]

    The woman hiding the scales on her face had only one thing to say to the drunken demigod. [¡°Shut up, Aspen.¡±]

    The drunken demigod shut his mouth for now, but the half elf-half fairy kept yelling in their heads. [¡°Captain Ruto IGNORED all thedies from different races¨C even the GODDESS OF BEAUTY herself¨C so I thought he likes men. What a shame. Straight couples are so overrated.¡±]

    [¡°Damn, even though Princess Neoma changed her hair and eye color, she¡¯s still so freaking beautiful!¡±]

    [¡°Shut up, Aspen.¡±]

    [¡°Why do you keep on telling me to shut my mouth, you damned Snakewoman? How can I shut my mouth when Princess Neoma, aka the MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRL ON THE ENTIRE CONTINENT, is right in front of me?! Those pictures don¡¯t justify her beauty at all!]

    This time, both the Snakewoman and the half elf-half fairy yelled at the drunken demigod at the same time.

    [¡°SHUT UP, ASPEN!¡±]

    ***

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 Chapter 653 - 653 GET TO KNOW YOU BETTER

    653 GET TO KNOW YOU BETTER

    RUFUS, who was busy looking at the map of the Southern Sea, stiffened when he felt the sudden change in the air.

    At the moment, he was alone in his study in the main building of the Quinzel Mansion.

    He was talking about their mansion in the Royal Capital, of course.

    Rufus immediately touched the scabbard of the sword attached to his hip. ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡±

    SWOOSH.

    There was a sudden gust of wind in front of him.

    Then a few momentster, two people appeared out of nowhere. Both wore dark hooded cloaks¨C a young man and a young woman.

    [Golden eyes?]

    Rufus immediately recognized the young man even though he wasn¡¯t covering his face with white bandages this time. ¡°The pirate who kidnapped my daughter¨C¡±

    .....

    ¡°I fed Lady Hanna steak and other delicious meals during her entire stay at our house, Your Grace,¡± the pirate cut him off in a polite voice. ¡°We also watched butterflies together.¡±

    Huh?

    He was confused.

    [Why is this kidnapper talking like he just hanged out with Hanna the entire time?]

    The hooded female cleared her throat as she stepped forward. ¡°Duke Quinzel, you want to see Lady Hanna again, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Why are you asking something obvious, young miss?¡±

    ¡°I just want to make sure that your mind is still clear, Your Grace.¡±

    He knitted his eyebrows, confused. ¡°And what do you mean by that?¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t return Lady Hanna to you if you¡¯ve already been brainwashed by the wench that you let in your home unsuspectingly.¡±

    He felt a shiver down his spine.

    The only person that his family took under their wing recently was Regina Crowell, his older brother¡¯s illegitimate daughter.

    [But why does this young miss talking like we did the wrong thing?]

    Of course, before they epted Regina Crowell, they did all the tests needed to verify the truth. And the result showed that Regina Crowell was indeed his brother Gavin¡¯s daughter.

    Admittedly, he was surprised to know that his brother had an ¡°ident¡± with ady they didn¡¯t even know. But he thought it wasn¡¯t important to know who gave birth to Regina Crowell. The only important thing was the youngdy was his brother¡¯s child.

    [I thought it was my duty to take care of Regina in Brother¡¯s ce, but why am I suddenly shaken by these people¡¯s words?]

    Worse, these people were his daughter¡¯s kidnappers.

    [I must be out of my mind.]

    ¡°I need proof,¡± Rufus said firmly. ¡°I need proof that my daughter is safe and sound.¡±

    ¡°Of course, Your Grace,¡± the young miss said, then she pointed her hands at the male pirate politely. ¡°Commander, please.¡±

    [¡®Commander?¡¯]

    The male pirate got down on one knee and carefully touched his own shadow. ¡°Pleasee out.¡±

    And just like that, a familiar silhouette emerged from the pirate¡¯s shadow.

    Rufus immediately recognized the shadow. ¡°Hanna¡­¡±

    Yes, it was his daughter¡¯s shadow.

    The Quinzels had the ability to separate their shadows from their physical body.

    Moreover¡­

    <¡°Father, it¡¯s me¨C Hanna. I asked them to bring my shadow with because wanted assure you I¡¯m well. My ¡°kidnappers¡± are kind me.¡±>

    Yes, that was indeed one of the Quinzels¡¯ Shadow Maniption Techniques.

    [We can use our own shadows as if it was amunication device.]

    <¡°Father, you know that I¡¯d rather die than let bad people use me to hurt our family, don¡¯t you? Please trust the I sent my shadow with. They will bring where am safe.¡±>

    And after his daughter ryed her message to him, her shadow melted.

    That was the problem with that technique.

    [It¡¯s like a one-waymunication device.]

    Rufus didn¡¯t respond because he knew that his daughter wouldn¡¯t be able to hear his message anyway.

    [It seems like Hanna knows these people.]

    Like what his daughter said, Hanna wasn¡¯t the type to be easily manipted.

    Moreover, for some weird reason, he could feel that the abductors were not actually bad people. But, of course, he didn¡¯t let his guard down easily.

    Rufus faced the two pirates. ¡°What do I need to do for you to bring me to my daughter?¡±

    He was looking at the male pirate since he thought the young man was the mander.¡¯ Wasn¡¯t it the leader¡¯s job to exin?

    However, it was the female pirate who did the talking.

    ¡°Your Grace, you can only tell Duchess Amber about this,¡± the young miss said sternly. ¡°You must absolutely keep this a secret¨C especially from Regina Crowell.¡±

    Rufus got the chills again.

    [I had a feeling they were talking about Regina Crowell when they talked about the ¡°wench¡± I let in my house unsuspectingly. But it feels weird to have it confirmed.]

    ¡°Why are you telling me to be careful around my own niece?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t treat her like family, Your Grace,¡± the male pirate said, frowning. ¡°Lady Hanna suffered a lot because of Regina Crowell.¡±

    He wanted to ask more, but the female pirate chimed in.

    ¡°You¡¯ll know everythingter, Your Grace,¡± the young miss said. ¡°I¡¯ll give you and Duchess Amber the Teleportation Tickets that will bring you directly to our location. However¡­¡± The female pirate¡¯s eyes glowed menacingly. ¡°If Regina Crowell or any other person finds out about this, then we¡¯ll take Lady Hanna somewhere far.¡±

    Rufus gulped because he knew that these pirates were serious.

    [Hanna, how did you get to know these vicious people?]

    ***

    ¡°BABE, I have good news for you,¡± Neoma said cheerfully. She did say that the endearment ¡®babe¡¯ was cringe-y as hell. But every time Ruto would call her ¡®babe,¡¯ she thought it was worth the goosebumps because his voice sounded¡­ well, sexy. [Kekeke.] ¡°We already found the fourth Elemental Guardian.¡±

    Ruto, who was sitting beside her, turned to her with a surprised look on his face. ¡°What is it?¡±

    Right now, Neoma moved to a different table with Ruto and Dahlia.

    Hanna and Greko said they would stay at their old table with Skylus while Neoma, Ruto, and Dahlia talked about the Elemental Guardians that they owned.

    But Neoma was a bit distracted.

    The three hodded individuals that Ruto came with were still standing behind him.

    ¡°Babe, wait,¡± Neoma said, then she pointed at the hooded individuals behind her man. ¡°Are they not going to sit with us?¡±

    To be honest, it wasn¡¯t a problem.

    After all, the three hooded individuals looked like servants waiting for their master to finish his coffee.

    It wasn¡¯t a strange sight.

    Hence, no one was batting an eye on the ¡°servants¡± standing behind Ruto.

    ¡°It¡¯s their choice to do that,¡± Ruto exined. ¡°They are people who really don¡¯t trust humans because they had experienced horrible things in the past. Hence, as a result, they cannot rx in crowded ces.¡±

    ¡°Then should we move to a secluded area?¡±

    ¡°We¡­ really don¡¯t have to do that.¡±

    ¡°But I want to get to know your friends,¡± she said. ¡°Are you not going to introduce me to them?¡±

    ¡°Hmm. Do I have to?¡±

    [Gosh, why did Ruto be rude just because he lost his positive feelings for me?]

    ¡°I¡¯m your ¡®babe,''¡± Neoma insisted. She had to persist because Ruto was worth it. ¡°I want to know your people.¡±

    Ruto fell silent while looking at her face as if he was thinking.

    She was aware that her man couldn¡¯t see her face. Heck, he probably didn¡¯t remember what she looked like anymore.

    Even so, Neoma still smiled charmingly at Ruto.

    ¡°Argh!¡±

    .....

    She flinched a bit when one of the hooded individuals, the one who strongly smelled like alcohol, suddenly clutched his chest tight.

    Ruto and the other two individuals didn¡¯t react, though.

    [It looks like something that usually happens, but I still need to be polite.]

    Neoma turned to the one who smelled like too much alcohol. ¡°Are you alright, sir?¡±

    Ruto turned to his friend and gave him a cold look.

    [Gosh, is my man this cold even to his own people?]

    ¡°I¡¯m not okay, Princess Neoma.¡±

    [Oh? He knows me? Well, I guess it makes sense since he¡¯s one of Ruto¡¯s people.]

    ¡°I was just a little surprised,¡± the drunken one said. ¡°I¡¯ve always known you were beautiful, but I didn¡¯t expect you to be THIS beautiful in person. I thought I died and went to heaven when I saw you smile¨C¡±

    ¡°Shut up, Aspen.¡±

    Neoma blinked, surprised.

    Ruto and the other two hooded individuals just told the drunken one to shut his mouth at the same time.

    [This group is fun.]

    Neoma¡¯s smile widened. ¡°Let¡¯s move to a different ce, babe. I want to get to know your friends better,¡± she said to Ruto before she turned to his friends. ¡°Hello, everyone. Don¡¯t worry, you can rx around me.¡± She put a hand over her chest while smiling at the group brightly. ¡°I¡¯ll protect you because you¡¯re all Ruto¡¯s friends.¡±

    ***

    THE PLACE where Neoma and her group moved to was the Saros Hotel.

    It was a hotel owned by the Quinzels located in the heart of the Royal Capital.

    They didn¡¯t want to get attention, so they booked the cheapest rooms avable.

    [I said ¡®cheap,¡¯ but even the ¡®cheapest¡¯ room in Saros Hotel still costs a fortune.]

    ¡°This is Faust,¡± Ruto pointed at the man with pale blond hair and sparkling blue eyes. ¡°He¡¯s half elf- half fairy.¡±

    Faust just bowed to them politely and didn¡¯t say anything.

    Neoma smiled when Greko¡¯s face beamed.

    [Oh, my youngest is happy to meet a fellow half fairy dude.]

    ¡°That¡¯s Aspen,¡± Ruto pointed at the young man with light gray hair and reddish brown eyes who was lying down on the bed, obviously sleepy. ¡°He¡¯s a demigod. His father is the God of Booze.¡±

    None of them batted an eye even though Aspen turned out to be a demigod.

    [I mean, it¡¯s amazing. But my people have ME. I¡¯m the descendant of Lord Yule, the Moon God, and Lady Roxana, the Light Goddess.]

    In short, her people were already immune to amazing people because of her.

    ¡°This one is Esther,¡± Ruto then pointed to thedy with semi-transparent gray scales all over her face and exposed skin. ¡°She¡¯s from the Snake Tribe.¡±

    Neoma noticed that Dahlia, Hanna, Greko, and even Baby Skylus flinched a little.

    She could tell that her group was trying their best to be indifferent, but they still failed to hide their shock after confirming that thedy with wavy ck omber hair and snake-like yellow eyes was indeed from the Snake Tribe.

    Ah, right.

    [The Snake Tribe is said to be a tribe that the gods cursed during the Ancient Period.]

    Esther, the Snakewoman, slowly put her hood back on. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± she said as if she was embarrassed. ¡°You must feel ufortable to be around someone who was cursed by the gods¡­¡±

    ¡°Unnie, don¡¯t apologize,¡± Neoma said, smiling. ¡°The gods who cursed an entire bloodline out of pettiness ain¡¯t shit.¡±

    She could talk like that since she was familiar with the story of the Snake Tribe.

    [Trust me, it¡¯s the gods¡¯ fault and not the Snake Tribe¡¯s.]

    Esther gasped as if she was shocked. ¡°Princess Neoma, that¡¯s sphemy.¡±

    Neoma shrugged casually. ¡°If the gods don¡¯t want to be offended, then they should have fixed their fucking mistake in the first ce.¡±

    Esther¡¯s eyes opened wide, then she turned to her. ¡°Captain, I like her.¡±

    Ruto gave Esther a cold look. ¡°She likes me, though.¡±

    Neoma almost choked on her saliva.

    [The red g Ruto is here again!]

    ***

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 Chapter 654 - 654 FROM LOVERS TO ENEMIES?

    654 FROM LOVERS TO ENEMIES?

    ¡°I¡¯M SURE my face already tells you who I am,¡± Neoma said, smiling at Ruto¡¯s colleagues. ¡°And you already know Dahlia whom you worked with for the past few years, so let me introduce you to my people.¡±

    Of course, she knew that Ruto¡¯s colleagues already knew who her people were. Even so, it didn¡¯t hurt to be polite.

    Neoma politely pointed to Hanna.

    ¡°This is my cousin¨C Lady Hanna Quinzel, the ¡°kidnapped¡± Quinzel Princess.¡±

    Hanna smiled and slightly¨C yes, just slightly¨C lowered her head as a greeting.

    [Well, we can¡¯t expect the highest-ranking nobledy in the empire to easily bow her head to just anyone, especially not to the people from the Eastern Continent. After all, Hanna is the perfect textbook example of a prim and proper nobledy. Plus, she¡¯s the future Crown Princess.]

    Anyway¡­

    She then pointed to Baby Skylus who was already asleep on the other bed (the other one was upied by the drunken Aspen).

    ¡°That baby is Prince Skylus Griffiths, the First Prince of the Hazelden Kingdom and the Moon God¡¯s new saint.¡±

    .....

    Since the baby couldn¡¯t greet them as he was already asleep, she moved on to the next person that she wanted to introduce.

    ¡°And finally, my youngest ¡°son,¡±¡± Neoma said proudly. ¡°Greko, the intelligent half human-half fairy Healer. He¡¯s also the disciple of Lord Marcus, the former emperor¡¯s Healing Sage.¡±

    Greko smiled brightly and bowed properly to their guests. ¡°Hello, noonim and hyung-nim. I am Greko, Princess Neoma¡¯s youngest child. It¡¯s an honor to meet all of you.¡±

    Aspen suddenly stood up.

    Then the drunk dude bowed politely towards them.

    Esther (the Snakewoman) and Faust (the half elf- half fairy one) bowed their heads towards them as well.

    ¡°Great. Now we know each other,¡± Neoma said while pping her hands. ¡°Don¡¯t you think this calls for a celebration?¡±

    Aspen, who looked sleepy as fuck earlier, suddenly opened his eyes wide. ¡°I know there¡¯s a reason why I like you, Princess Neoma,¡± he said cheerfully, his reddish-brown eyes sparkling while looking at Neoma with a hopeful look on his face. ¡°Should we drink?¡±

    Hmm.

    There were two minors with them, but why not?

    [Children need to sleep early anyway.]

    ¡°Sure,¡± Neoma said, then she turned to Ruto. ¡°I¡¯ll introduce you to soju and beer.¡±

    She had the magic pic basket in her Lynx ring aka her inventory.

    The magical pic basket was the device Trevor made to store the food and equipment they use for cooking. Of course, most of the food store in her magical pic basket was Korean food and side dishes.

    [But Trevor is addicted to soju and beer, so we also stored some.]

    Now she was also craving her favorite alcoholic beverage.

    ¡°Babe, can you cook fried chicken for us?¡± Neoma asked Ruto. ¡°Soju and beer taste better with chicken.¡±

    Ruto looked surprised as he pointed to himself. ¡°Me?¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t have fried chicken on the menu of our restaurant in this hotel,¡± Hanna said, smiling kindly at Ruto. ¡°But you¡¯re a famous chef even now, Lord Ruto. If you show yourself to the head chef of our restaurant, I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll allow you to make your own meal. He¡¯s your big fan, after all.¡±

    Neoma was proud of her cousin for doing a good job.

    [That¡¯s Hanna for you.]

    Now everyone was looking at Ruto with a hopeful look on their faces.

    [Heh.]

    Ruto turned to Neoma as if he was ming her for his current predicament.

    Neoma felt bad about putting Ruto in a tight spot, but she was happy with her pettiness.

    [That¡¯s a little payback for being rude to me, babe.]

    ***

    ¡°YOUR ROYAL Highness found the Fourth Elemental Guardian? And it¡¯s a mere duck?!¡±

    Neoma, who was busy pouring soju into her shot ss, turned to Faust with a sharp look in her eyes. ¡°What do you mean a ¡®mere¡¯ duck? Ducks are fucking bastards, especially the male ones. You can¡¯t underestimate them.¡±

    Ruto¡¯s friends suddenly fell silent as if they were surprised to hear her curse.

    Her friends, on the other hand, didn¡¯t even bat an eye.

    Anyway, they ended up drinking in one of the hotel rooms they booked.

    Greko and Skylus were already sleeping in the other room. Since the two were minors, they weren¡¯t included in the ¡°drinking session,¡± of course.

    Right now, only the adults were in the room.

    They put the two coffee tables side by side, then they sat on the carpeted floor while surrounding the tables.

    There were bottles of soju and beer on the table, and they each had a shot ss in front of them. And, of course, the two huge bowls of fried chicken were in the center of the tables. As expected of her man, his dish was a hit.

    [Yes, Ruto still ended up cooking fried chicken for us.]

    Neoma smiled at Ruto¡¯s friends who still looked shocked after hearing the one and only royal princess of the empire curse like a sailor. ¡°Yes¡­?¡±

    Faust snapped out of his trance first. ¡°I can¡¯t believe that the Fourth Elemental Guardian is a duck, Princess Neoma. We¡¯ve searched for all the mythical beasts on both the Western and Eastern Continent looking for it!¡±

    ¡°And that¡¯s why you failed,¡± Neoma said, shrugging. Then she finished her ss of soju in one gulp. AH, THIS WAS IT. The taste of soju in her system made her feel more alive than ever. ¡°He left a clue and said he could fly, swim, and walk. It¡¯s obviously a duck.¡±

    ¡°It cannot be a simple animal!¡± Faust insisted. The half elf-half fairy was already red even though he only had a few shots of soju. ¡°The Fourth Elemental Guardian should be a water serpent!¡±

    ¡°Why a water serpent?¡±

    ¡°Because water serpents have wings!¡± Faust said, his voice still raised. ¡°They can fly, swim, and they can crawl!¡±

    ¡°Gosh, the Fourth Elemental said he can WALK¨C not crawl.¡±

    ¡°No!¡± Faust yelled, mming his hands on the table. ¡°I can¡¯t be wrong!¡±

    ¡°Why the fuck are you yelling at me?¡±

    The atmosphere suddenly changed.

    Dahlia and Hanna turned to Faust with an indifferent look on their faces.

    It seemed like Aspen (who was busy mixing soju and beer) and Esther (who was in her third chicken wing already) noticed it because they suddenly stopped what they were doing.

    ¡°Apologize,¡± Ruto said in a calm yet firm voice. ¡°You were rude, Faust.¡±

    Faust immediately bowed his head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine as long as you calm the fuck down,¡± Neoma said while shaking her head. ¡°Dude, I know it sucks to be wrong. But you can¡¯t always be right. I know I¡¯m not the best person to talk about humility because I don¡¯t have it, but there¡¯s no shame in admitting that you thought wrong. Take it as a learning experience.¡±

    Faust clenched his hands. ¡°Thank you for the advice, Princess Neoma.¡±

    The half elf-half fairy didn¡¯t look grateful, but she just ignored him.

    [He must really be pissed that he¡¯s wrong.]

    And since Neoma was right, she acted generous.

    Heh.

    [I¡¯m Neoma, I¡¯m always right.]

    ¡°May I know how you found the Fourth Elemental Guardian, Princess Neoma?¡± Faust asked, carefully this time. ¡°And how did you know that it was really the Fourth Elemental Guardian?¡±

    Neoma raised an eyebrow.

    [Oh, is he questioning me now? Should I turn into a bitch or act benevolent?]

    ¡°I was there, too, Sir Fraust,¡± Dahlia said, and it looked like she was upset that Faust sounded like he didn¡¯t believe Neoma. ¡°The duck we met is really the Fourth Elemental Guardian.¡±

    ¡°Sir, I know you¡¯re from the Eastern Continent,¡± Hanna said, smiling coldly. Her tone was polite, but her eyes were vicious. ¡°But please don¡¯t forget that you¡¯re talking to the one and only royal princess of the Great Moonasterion Empire.¡±

    Neoma smiled, then she took a bite of the chicken wing in her hand.

    [I¡¯ll act benevolent since my people are getting angry in my ce.]

    ¡°I probably found the Fourth Elemental Guardian easily because I¡¯m lucky,¡± Neoma said in order to stop Hanna and Dahlia from grilling Faust. ¡°If I remember correctly, the former saint blessed me to have good luck when I was a toddler.¡±

    To be precise, Uncle Dominic asked her to choose among three gifts.

    She chose ¡®luck.¡¯

    Anyway, Faust didn¡¯t look convinced by her luck.

    ¡°Faust, Neoma also owns an Elemental Guardian,¡± Ruto said indifferently. ¡°Don¡¯t you think she would know it better than you do?¡±

    Neoma turned to Ruto. ¡°Right?¡±

    Ruto just stared at her face again, then his hand moved to carefully wipe the smidge of sauce from the corner of her mouth using his thumb. ¡°Right.¡±

    .....

    Oho?

    ¡°Gosh, you should have just told me,¡± Neoma said, then she pulled out her handkerchief and used it to clean Ruto¡¯s finger. ¡°There.¡±

    Ruto tilted his head as if he was confused. ¡°Thank you?¡±

    Neoma copied what Ruto did. ¡°You¡¯re wee?¡±

    An awkward silence ensued then.

    Until Aspen¡¯s loudugh broke the silence.

    ¡°Princess Neoma, as a token of gratitude for introducing soju to me, please allow me to pour a drink for you,¡± Aspen, whose face was very red at the moment, said. ¡°Thank you for introducing me to this amazing beverage.¡±

    [Look at this punk.]

    Aspen was acting like a typical loud drunk.

    However¡­

    [His eyes are clear as day.]

    Neoma picked up her ss and held it with both hands as a sign of respect. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll ept it.¡±

    [I like shrewd people as long as they don¡¯t use their shrewdness to trick me.]

    Aspen smiled and poured soju into her ss.

    Neoma thanked the demigod, then she turned away from Aspen. After that, she covered her mouth and the ss with her hands before she drank the soju in one shot.

    It seemed like the people around her were confused as to why she turned sideways.

    Except for one person, of course.

    ¡°It¡¯s a sign of respect,¡± Ruto exined to their confusedpanions. ¡°In Korea, a country in the other world, the younger person who received the drink from an elder would turn away when they drink as a sign of respect.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Neoma confirmed after drinking. Then she smiled at Aspen. ¡°I have to show my respect to someone who¡¯s way, way older than I am.¡±

    Yes, even with all her agesbined.

    Aspen looked too surprised toment.

    [Aside from the fact that there¡¯s NO young demigod in the world, his eyes showed wisdom that only a person who has lived long enough possessed.]

    Esther patted Aspen¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Aspen, you should be eternally grateful to Princess Neoma. She¡¯s the only ¡®junior¡¯ that will respect an elder like you.¡±

    [Pfft. I wonder why their group ¡°bullies¡± Aspen.]

    ¡°Princess Neoma!¡± Aspen said, then he stood up and bowed deeply towards her. ¡°I¡¯m in your care from now on!¡±

    Neoma couldn¡¯t help butugh at Aspen¡¯s antics. ¡°You¡¯re funny, good sir.¡±

    ¡°Babe.¡±

    She almost choked on her chicken when Ruto suddenly called her by their cheesy endearment. ¡°Huh?¡±

    Ruto extended his hand to her. ¡°You have a favor to ask of me, don¡¯t you?¡± he asked. ¡°Let¡¯s talk about it over a cup of coffee.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have a favor to ask from you,¡± Neoma said, smiling cheekily at her man. ¡°I¡¯m here to receive my reward for finding the Fourth Elemental Guardian that you failed to find after YEARS of searching.¡±

    ***

    ¡°YOU WANT me to remove the curse on Duke and Duchess Quinzel?¡±

    Neoma sipped her coffee before she responded. ¡°Yes. I want that as a reward for finding the Fourth Elemental Guardian.¡±

    Ruto knitted his eyebrows. ¡°Why do I have to be the one to give you the reward when finding thest Elemental Guardian would benefit us all?¡±

    That was a good point.

    [Anyway¡­]

    Right now, Neoma and Ruto were having coffee in the room where Greko and Skylus were sleeping.

    To make sure that their conversation wouldn¡¯t wake the children, she put a thinyer of Dome on the lounge area that she and Ruto upied. It was also some sort of precautionary measure to ensure that no one was eavesdropping on them.

    ¡°Because I made YOUR job easier,¡± Neoma said, cing the mug on the table quietly. ¡°I¡¯m sure you have your own agenda for looking for the Elemental Guardian.¡±

    ¡°Even so, the ¡°reward¡± you¡¯re asking for is too much,¡± he said indifferently. ¡°Removing the powerful curse on the ducal couple wouldn¡¯t be easy. I¡¯m sure you know it¡¯s a dangerous method. It¡¯s like you¡¯re asking me to die for you.¡±

    As expected, red g Ruto was no longer a simp for her.

    It hurt a little, but fortunately, she could separate her personal life from work.

    On the other hand, she suddenly appreciated Trevor even more now.

    [Trevor puts his life on the line to help my people to remember me.]

    She also felt bad that she was asking Ruto to put his life at risk. But she had to do what she had to for her people.

    [I have to be brazen, especially at times like this.]

    ¡°Ruto, I don¡¯t think you understand that you¡¯re not in the position where you can set the conditions for this deal,¡± Neoma said, smiling at Ruto. He was just Ruto now and not ¡®babe¡¯ because they were talking about serious business. ¡°The moment I found the Fourth Elemental Guardian, I already have the upper hand here.¡±

    Ruto sipped his coffee before he spoke. ¡°The upper hand?¡±

    ¡°I know you¡¯re looking for the duck because of the information that he has.¡±

    It was the information Duckie was asking them to pay for.

    The fact that Ruto didn¡¯t react only confirmed her thoughts.

    [My man needs that information, whatever it is.]

    ¡°If you don¡¯t want to make a deal with me, then forget about the information that you want,¡± she said in a serious tone. ¡°If I told the duck to not share the information with you, he¡¯d surely follow my order. In short, I can monopolize the information that the Fourth Elemental Guardian has.¡±

    After all, she knew the duck¡¯s weakness.

    [And he owes me a lot for the number of diamonds I gave him.]

    ¡°You¡¯re not making a deal with me,¡± Ruto said, scoffing. ¡°You¡¯re threatening me, Princess Neoma.¡±

    Yeah, that was exactly what she was doing.

    Even though she said that she would make a deal with Ruto, she ended up threatening him instead because he was being... well, rational.

    [I guess I¡¯ve been spoiled. I was so used to Ruto putting his life on the life for me. And now that he¡¯s not willing to do that for me, I¡¯m having a hard time.]

    But, just like what she said earlier, she had to be firm and brazen.

    [I¡¯m sorry, Ruto.]

    ¡°And what about it, Lord Ruto?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not the only one here who can make a threat.¡±

    As soon as Ruto said that, that howling Thunderbird¨C Veton¨C appeared behind him, the bird¡¯s entire body covered in frightening electricity.

    Neoma smirked. ¡°How cute.¡±

    After saying that, it was HER Elemental Guardian¡¯s turn to show up.

    Kingston materialized beside her and growled at Veton.

    The Thunderbird¡¯s howl and the White Lion¡¯s growl were enough to break the thin barrier that Neoma made.

    Aigoo.

    [What will these beasts do when the children awaken because of their noise?]

    Ruto¡¯s dark purple eyes glowed menacingly. ¡°Princess Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio, I need the information that the Fourth Elemental Guardian has.¡±

    ¡°Then do my bidding, Lord Ruston Solfrid Stroganoff,¡± Neoma said, her eyes turned glowing red. ¡°Undo the ducal couple¡¯s curse.¡±

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 655 - 655 ENTITLED LOVER

    655 ENTITLED LOVER

    [ARE THEY trying to destroy MY hotel?]

    Hanna got a bit upset when she felt Neoma and Lord Ruto¡¯s aggressive Mana shing against each other.

    [I thought Neoma is making a deal with Lord Ruto?]

    ¡°The Elemental Guardians,¡± Dahlia whispered to herself. ¡°They summoned their Elemental Guardians.¡±

    Hanna put the shot ss on the table. ¡°You can¡¯t leave this room, ma¡¯am and sir.¡±

    She was talking to Esther (the Snakewoman) and Faust (the half elf-half fairy) who both stood up when Neoma and Lord Ruto¡¯s Mana shed.

    Aspen, the alcoholic demigod who looked like he didn¡¯t care, was busy mixing soju and beer like how Neoma taught them earlier. It was called ¡®soju bomb.¡¯ Fortunately, thanks to that, it was clear that Aspen had no intention to meddle since he was already very drunk.

    ¡°Shadows¡­¡± Faust whispered to himself when he noticed that the door, the walls, the ceiling, and even the floor were already covered in Hanna¡¯s shadows. Hence, the entire room suddenly turned dim. ¡°Did you just lock us up, Lady Hanna?¡±

    Hanna smiled and nodded. ¡°That¡¯s correct, Sir Faust.¡±

    .....

    Faust looked like he was going to yell again.

    But Esther stepped forward and talked to Hanna in ce of the hotheaded half elf-half fairy. ¡°Lady Hanna, are you not worried about Princess Neoma?¡±

    Pfft.

    [Am I worried about Neoma in this situation?]

    ¡°Miss Esther, you should be more worried about Lord Ruto,¡± Hanna said, confident that Neoma wouldn¡¯t lose the fight. ¡°Our Princess Neoma can be a bit violent when she¡¯s upset.¡±

    Esther looked surprised by Hanna¡¯s im. ¡°Lady Hanna, Lord Ruto is stronger than Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°That was true five years ago,¡± Hanna said, her smile still perfect and confident. ¡°Perhaps this fight will settle who¡¯s stronger between Neoma and Lord Ruto now?¡±

    It was true that Lord Ruto had been doing amazing things for the past years.

    [But isn¡¯t it only because he remembers everything? If Neoma remembers everything in the first timeline, I¡¯m sure she could also do the things that Lord Ruto is capable of.]

    In short, Lord Ruto¡¯s only advantage against Neoma was hisplete memory.

    Hanna based her theory on the things that Neoma shared with her in the past regarding the royal princess¡¯ first life.

    [If the gods and the remaining life forms in the world didn¡¯t help Lord Ruto kill the viinous Princess Neoma of the first timeline, I don¡¯t think he could have killed Neoma on his own.]

    It was literally Neoma against Lord Ruto and the gods, and yet Neoma still managed to set the world on fire.

    [I¡¯d bet my entire fortune on Neoma being stronger than Lord Ruto.]

    Hanna¡¯s thoughts were interrupted when Dahlia suddenly raised her hand.

    The next thing she knew, Faust was already tied in a rope made of what seemed like water. But upon a closer look, the ¡®water¡¯ was actually Mana.

    Dahlia turned to Hanna shyly. ¡°Sir Faust tried to escape.¡±

    Hanna turned to Dahlia, then she noticed the small Blue Whale floating beside the ck Witch. ¡°Oh,¡± she said, smiling. ¡°Your Elemental Guardian is cute, Miss Dahlia.¡±

    Dahlia¡¯s face suddenly turned red. ¡°T-Thank you, Lady Hanna.¡±

    [Why is she stuttering?]

    Hanna wondered if Dahlia was scared of her because she said she didn¡¯t want them to be friends.

    [Did I act like a viiness back then?]

    ***

    ¡°GRANDPA Kingston, please calm down,¡± Neoma said while leisurelybing her fingers through the White Lion¡¯s mane. ¡°Hanna will be upset if we identally destroyed her hotel.¡± She turned to Ruto and smiled ¡®sweetly¡¯ at him. ¡°Plus, I don¡¯t think the divine son of Lord Levi would allow innocent people to get hurt just because he¡¯s being difficult.¡±

    Ruto scoffed at her remark. ¡°If I¡¯m being difficult, then you¡¯re being entitled. Do I have to put my life at risk just because you said so? This is probably why my divine father doesn¡¯t want us to end up together.¡±

    She couldn¡¯t get angry because she knew Ruto was right.

    [I¡¯m being entitled by expecting him to do my bidding.]

    She was hurt.

    But, to be honest, a part of her was happy that Ruto was no longer a simp for her.

    [I mean, he made my life easier before. But I don¡¯t want Ruto, or anyone for that matter, to risk their lives for me.]

    That was why she had conflicted feelings for Trevor and his sacrifices.

    And that bothered her quite a bit.

    [Why am I thinking of Trevor when Ruto is right in front of me?]

    ¡°Princess Neoma, you know we can¡¯t fight here.¡±

    ¡°And that¡¯s why I¡¯m making a deal with you,¡± she said as calmly as she could. ¡°Undo the ducal couple¡¯s curse and I¡¯ll bring the Fourth Elemental Guardian to you.¡±

    ¡°Are you confident that you can hide the Fourth Elemental Guardian from me?¡±

    It was her turn to scoff. ¡°You didn¡¯t find him for years even though you and your people are all amazing individuals.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a different story now that I know what the Fourth Elemental Guardian is.¡±

    ¡°Are you confident that you can steal the Fourth Elemental Guardian from me?¡± she said. And when Ruto didn¡¯t respond right away, she smirked haughtily. ¡°Lord Ruto, I know that I¡¯m asking for too much from you. That¡¯s why I¡¯m going to add more conditions.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    Neoma smiled and put a hand over her chest. ¡°I¡¯ll give you one ¡®Neoma Coupon.¡¯ You can use that coupon when you need my help in a dangerous situation. I¡¯ll risk my life to help you¨C whenever, wherever.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re the precious one and only royal princess of the Great Moonasterion Empire,¡± Ruto reminded her, frowning. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be saying that you¡¯d risk your life for other people.¡±

    ¡°But you¡¯re not just a random person to me.¡±

    He let out a frustrated sigh. ¡°How rude must I act towards you until you give up on me?¡±

    Oho?

    She was wondering why Ruto suddenly became rude to her.

    [So, he¡¯s acting like that on purpose to make me hate him.]

    ¡°Babe, it¡¯s time for you to give up on trying to make me hate you,¡± Neoma said, her voice sweet and gentle again. ¡°You saved the world from me in the first timeline, and you saved me from this world in the current timeline. Even if I want to, I don¡¯t think I¡¯d be capable of hating the person who has been my anchor all this time.¡±

    [Don¡¯t tease me for getting sentimental, okay?]

    ¡°Ah, there¡¯s one thing I won¡¯t forgive, though,¡± she said immediately. ¡°Cheating.¡±

    ¡°Would it be cheating when we¡¯re not officially together?¡±

    ¡°Oh, dear,¡± she said while shaking her head. ¡°The moment you called me ¡®babe,¡¯ you¡¯re alreadymitted to me. I didn¡¯t force you to call me ¡®babe.¡¯ It was just a suggestion, and you were the one who chose to ept it.¡±

    He looked at her in disbelief.

    Sheughed softly at his reaction. ¡°You can always break up with me, though.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°If you fall in love with another person, then just break up with me,¡± Neoma said in a serious tone. ¡°Do that instead of cheating of me.¡±

    ¡°Will you let me go if I break up with you?¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± she said. ¡°The only reason I¡¯m holding onto you right now is because I know you¡¯re finding it hard to resist me and my charm.¡±

    He let out a chuckle as if he was in disbelief. ¡°Alright, I get it. I¡¯ll just act normally around you instead of acting rudely to push you away. It¡¯s true that I can¡¯t resist you, but it¡¯s only because I¡¯m curious as to why I was obsessed with you in the past.¡±

    Oho?

    It was a little sad to hear Ruto use past tense when describing his feelings for her, but she endured.

    [It¡¯s alright, self. Ruto still loves you. He just doesn¡¯t remember it.]

    ¡°I¡¯ll do it.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll undo the curse of Duke and Duchess Quinzel,¡± Ruto said, then he stood up and extended his hand to her. ¡°But, in return, I¡¯ll ept the ¡®Neoma Coupon¡¯ that you offered earlier, babe.¡±

    ¡°Sure, it¡¯s a deal,¡± Neoma said, standing up and grabbing Ruto¡¯s hand for a firm shake. ¡°You made the right decision, babe.¡±

    ***

    ¡°EOMMA, what does ¡®babe¡¯ mean?¡±

    Neoma smiled awkwardly at Greko¡¯s question, but she still answered her youngest with the truth. ¡°Ah, it¡¯s an endearment short for ¡®baby.''¡±

    Greko looked confused, but he still nodded and epted it without saying anything.

    But the other child in the room voiced out his concern.

    ¡°But noona, you and Ruto hyung are not babies,¡± Skylus said, tilting his head innocently. ¡°Why do you call each other ¡®baby?''¡±

    .....

    Okay, she was usually brazen and thick-skinned.

    But Skylus¡¯ innocent question hit her hard, making her feel ashamed of herself and the endearment that she chose for her and Ruto.

    [Should I change it?]

    ¡°Pfft.¡±

    Neoma red at Ruto who was obviously stifling hisughter. ¡°You think it¡¯s funny?¡±

    Ruto just shrugged.

    ¡°Gosh, you¡¯re being annoying,¡± sheined. ¡°It¡¯s your fault why Greko and Skylus woke up, so you better help me put them to sleep again. They¡¯re babies, so they need to get enough sleep to grow healthier.¡±

    Skylus smiled brightly and nodded. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m a baby. Am I also noona¡¯s ¡®babe?''¡±

    Neoma opened her mouth to speak, but someone else beat it to it.

    ¡°No,¡± Ruto said lightly. ¡°I am your noona¡¯s one and only babe.¡±

    Skylus sulked, of course.

    Neoma nudged Ruto while ring at him.

    ¡°But you are your noona¡¯s precious baby saint,¡± Ruto said right away. ¡°That¡¯s a title that belongs solely to you, Prince Skylus.¡±

    Fortunately, Skylus¡¯ face beamed right away. ¡°I like it, Ruto hyung!¡±

    Neoma smiled, then she turned to Greko who was just watching them quietly. Okay, that made her nervous. ¡°Why are you looking at me like that, Greko?¡±

    ¡°Eomma, I¡¯m just wondering,¡± Greko said, his youngest smiling at her even though the look in his eyes was a bit vicious. ¡°I was wondering how to tell my noonas and hyungs that we already have a ¡°father.¡±¡±

    [Uh-oh.]

    ***

    ¡°THANK YOU for not damaging my hotel and the guests, Neoma.¡±

    Neoma smiled nervously at Hanna¡¯s lowkey sarcasm. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± she exined sheepishly. ¡°I lost it for a moment.¡±

    But she was careful, of course.

    [I covered both rooms with my Dome so the other guests in the hotel wouldn¡¯t notice our Mana.]

    Anyway, right now, Neoma and Hanna were on the empty rooftop of Saros Hotel.

    They were waiting for Lewis and Paige to arrive.

    ¡°But I won the ¡°fight,¡±¡± Neoma said cheerfully. ¡°So please don¡¯t be upset anymore.¡±

    Only then did Hanna¡¯s face beam. ¡°I¡¯m d to hear that you won the ¡°fight.¡± Is Lord Ruto going to undo the curse of my parents?¡±

    She gave her cousin a thumbs up. ¡°Yep.¡±

    Hanna let out a sigh of relief. ¡°Thank you, Neoma.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing,¡± she said, smiling. ¡°By the way, I noticed you used your shadow earlier. Even Dahlia summoned her Elemental Guardian. Did something serious happen?¡±

    When she returned to the room where Hanna and the rest were, everything was over.

    ¡°Sir Faust and Miss Esther tried to hurry to Lord Ruto¡¯s side earlier,¡± Hanna exined. ¡°Dahlia and I stopped them.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± she said, nodding. ¡°What did Aspen do?¡±

    ¡°He just continued drinking until he passed out.¡±

    Neoma smirked after hearing that. ¡°What a shrewd bastard.¡±

    Hanna looked confused by her statement. ¡°What do you mean by that?¡±

    She was about to answer her cousin¡¯s question when a portal suddenly opened behind Hanna.

    Both of them got distracted when Lewis and Paige stepped out of the portal.

    The two each had a big and full sack in their hand.

    [Oh, they finished the second task I gave them.]

    Paige smiled at Neoma and Hanna. ¡°We¡¯re back, Princess Neoma, Lady Hanna.¡±

    Lewis just bowed toward them politely.

    ¡°Wee back,¡± Neoma greeted Lewis and Paige. ¡°How did it go?¡±

    ¡°Good.¡±

    Neoma ignored Lewis¡¯ very short ¡°report¡± and turned to Paige.

    ¡°We delivered the message to Duke Quinzel well, and we left the Teleportation Tickets for him and Duchess Amber. Thanks to Lady Hanna¡¯s shadow, the duke cooperated with us,¡± Paige exined clearly. ¡°But, to be safe, I put a protective spell on the Teleportation Tickets that I gave to Duke Quinzel. If someone else other than His Grace and Duchess Amber touched the tickets, the tickets would get burned to ashes.¡±

    Neoma smiled proudly at Paige. ¡°Very well.¡± She turned between Lewis and Paige back and forth. ¡°The two of you did a good job.¡±

    Paige and Lewis bowed towards her in response.

    ¡°How¡¯s my Father?¡± Hanna asked worriedly. ¡°Does he look well?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Lewis said bluntly. ¡°Duke Quinzel has dark bags under his eyes, and he also looked like he lost weight.¡±

    Neoma and Hanna frowned at the same time.

    [Does Lewis have to be that honest?]

    But aside from that, Neoma also noticed something.

    [Lewis can suddenly talk a lot?]

    ¡°We also heard the servants talking when we infiltrated the Quinzel Mansion,¡± Lewis continued with his report. ¡°Apparently, Duchess Amber is sick and she hasn¡¯t gotten up from bed for the past few days.¡±

    Hanna closed her eyes with her hands sped together above her chest as if she was praying. ¡°Mother¡­ Father¡­¡±

    ¡°But their misery will finally end tomorrow night,¡± Lewis said, his face unchanged even though Hanna was already crying silently because of his blunt report. ¡°Lady Hanna, I will bring you back safely to your parents.¡±

    Oho?

    Hanna finally opened her eyes, then she looked at Lewis with gratefulness. ¡°Thank you, Lewis.¡±

    Lewis smiled faintly, but his smile was gone as soon as it appeared.

    Even so, there was one person there who caught Lewis¡¯ smile.

    It was Neoma, of course.

    Heh.

    [Hanna and Lewis really get along well.]

    ***

    NEOMA smirked while watching Lewis and Paige empty the bags that they brought with them.

    The items were now neatly piled in a mountain.

    Coins, gs, statues, paintings, etc.

    There were different items in there, but they all had something inmon: Calyx Dalton¡¯s face and name.

    [Yep, these are the merchandise sold tomemorate Calyx¡¯s birthday.]

    ¡°Pfft.¡±

    It was Hanna who stifled herughter.

    ¡°Neoma, this is so petty of you,¡± Hanna said, smiling. ¡°But I love it.¡±

    Neoma smirked in response. ¡°Heh.¡±

    ¡°We bought all the merchandise that we¡¯re allowed to buy,¡± Paige exined with a smile on her face. ¡°And we stole all the others that the merchants refused to sell us in bulk.¡±

    She almost choked after hearing what Paige said.

    [I gave them money, though?]

    Lewis seemed to have read Neoma¡¯s mind because he exined right away. ¡°We left a huge amount of gold and left it in the store after we looted them, Princess Neoma.¡±

    It didn¡¯t make it better, but okay.

    [Gosh, my childrenmit petty crimes as if it¡¯s nothing¡­]

    Oh, well.

    ¡°Tteokbokki,e out,¡± Neoma said, then she pointed at the pile of TRASH in front of her. ¡°Come out and burn all this stupid merchandise.¡±

    ***

    REGINA smiled after seeing Duke Quinzel in front of Duchess Amber¡¯s room. ¡°Uncle, you¡¯re here.¡±

    The duke had been busy these days while looking for Hanna.

    Hence, it was Regina who had been taking care of the sick duchess.

    ¡°Regina,¡± Duke Quinzel greeted her in a tired voice while looking at the tray in her hands. ¡°Are those medicines for Amber?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Uncle,¡± Regina said, then she smiled sadly at the duke. ¡°It¡¯s time for Aunt Amber to drink her medicines.¡±

    The duke smiled, then he gently snatched the tray from her hands. ¡°Let me do it.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s been a while since my wife and I had shared a room,¡± Duke Quinzel said as if he was shy. ¡°Regina, thank you for taking care of Amber all this time. But let me do it from now on.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± she said. It would be weird if she insisted to take the medicine to the duchess, so just smiled and nodded. Then she asked the duke. ¡°Uncle, how¡¯s the search team doing? Have they found a clue as to where Lady Hanna might have been taken to?¡±

    The duke smiled sadly while shaking his head. ¡°Unfortunately, we don¡¯t have a clue yet.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to hear that, Uncle.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright. I have faith that we¡¯ll find Hanna soon,¡± the duke assured her. ¡°I want to quickly find my daughter, but I can¡¯t neglect my wife while doing so.¡±

    ¡°Of course, Uncle.¡±

    Duke Quinzel smiled at her. ¡°Thank you for understanding, Regina.¡±

    After saying that, the duke excused himself and entered the duchess¡¯ bedroom.

    She only realized that she was left alone when the door closed in her face.

    ¡°It¡¯s weird,¡± Regina mumbled to herself with knitted eyebrows. ¡°That damned duke is acting weird.¡±

    ***

    Hi! Iunched a dream project recently, and that dream is to write a story with a male protagonist.

    I posted a new story titled ¡®FISHING FOR DISASTERS,¡¯ and the first three chapters are up. You can search it by typing the title on the app or website if it doesn¡¯t appear on my ount yet.

    Here¡¯s the summary:

    [FISHING FOR DISASTERS]

    <You better catch all the Disasters if you want to know ending of One P*ece!>

    That¡¯s the reward for saving this world from Sea Monsters and Dungeons that would emerge soon?!

    Then Zirkus, who died while stalking a famous Kpop idol and got transmigrated as a minor viin in a dungeon-themed novel, would do his best to catch all the Disasters-in-the-making!

    All for the sake of saving the world, of course.

    Ahem.

    It¡¯s time for a nerd to be a hero!

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 656 - 656 NEOMA, STEALING IS BAD...

    656 NEOMA, STEALING IS BAD...

    GLENN clenched his hands tight when he saw at least a thousand knights who were stealthily entering the Hazelden Kingdom¡¯s Royal Capital.

    [No¡­ those rats are just assassins pretending to be knights!]

    He could see everything from the wide screen inside the vi.

    Yes, the vi on the floating ind.

    Brigitte was already asleep in the bedroom with Monik and ude.

    The vi was safe, so he could leave his wife and children without worrying too much. Right, he had a job to do as the king.

    ¡°Your Majesty, we apologize for installing hidden cameras all over Hazelden without your permission,¡± Juri Wisteria said, bowing her head towards him. ¡°As soon as this is over, we will remove the cameras.¡±

    Glenn smiled and shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s alright, Lady Juri. I know that Princess Neoma ordered that in order to look out for us.¡±

    But he had to say that he was impressed by the fact that the children were able to install cameras all over his kingdom without anyone noticing.

    .....

    He knew it wasn¡¯t because their security wasx.

    After all, as a former knight and Pdin, it was in his nature to patrol the Royal Capital in secret even though he was already a king. That was how the Hazelden Kingdom became a safe ce despite being a small nation.

    [Princess Neoma¡¯s ¡°children¡± are really on a different level.]

    Moreover, they had advanced technology.

    [Like those secret cameras all connected to the main screen in this vi that allows us to see what the secret cameras have captured in real time.]

    ¡°Thank you for being generous and understanding, Your Majesty,¡± Juri Wisteria said, cutting off his thoughts. ¡°How does Your Majesty wish to proceed?¡±

    Glenn tore his gaze away from the screen to look at the youngdy. ¡°Did Princess Neoma leave you with some instructions?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty. Princess Neoma told us to smash the enemies to dust.¡±

    Pfft.

    He couldn¡¯t help butugh softly after hearing that.

    [That sounds like something Princess Neoma would really say.]

    ¡°Princess Neoma also told us to prevent Your Majesty from fighting with the enemies,¡± Juri Wisteria added. ¡°Princess Neoma wishes for Your Majesty to leave it to us, and to stay with Queen Brigitte and the children on this ind.¡±

    He clenched his hands tight. ¡°But I¡¯m the king, Lady Juri. I need to protect my family and my kingdom.¡±

    The youngdy smiled as if she already expected him to say that. Then she removed the brooch on her hairpin. ¡°May I y the voice recording that Princess Neoma sent for Your Majesty?¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡±

    Juri Wisteria pressed the sapphire gem in the middle of the brooch.

    Then Princess Neoma¡¯s echoed in the room.

    <¡°Uncle Glenn, leave the small fries to my ¡°children.¡± I know you wish protect your family and Hazelden Kingdom with own two hands. However, this might be a trap.¡±>

    He knitted his eyebrows and whispered to himself. ¡°A trap¡­?¡±

    <¡°If I were Calyx Dalton, would send people wearing the uniform of empire¡¯s royal knights. Once Uncle Glenn was caught ¡°attacking¡± knights sent by empire, that could give Dalton justification to attack Hazelden. I¡¯m sure they have already prepared fake evidence your kingdom is picking a fight with empire and not other way around.¡±>

    He was about to say that it wouldn¡¯t be easy even for the empire to invade Hazelden, but he remembered that the current royal family was led by the crows.

    [Unfortunately, Prince Nero isn¡¯t in his right mind at the moment.]

    <¡°Once I return, promise to give you and the Hazelden Kingdom chance get your revenge against Calyx Dalton crows. So, please trust me this once, Uncle Glenn.¡±>

    That was the end of Princess Neoma¡¯s message.

    And Glenn realized that the royal princess had a point.

    ¡°Lady Juri, what do you and Lord Jeno wish to do?¡±

    ¡°I prefer fighting on the front line, Your Majesty. Jeno, on the other hand, is supposed to stay here on the floating ind and shoot the enemies from here while the ind is in invisible mode,¡± Juri Wisteria exined. ¡°However, Princess Neoma told us to follow Your Majesty¡¯s order.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d like to respect your wishes, but I¡¯m worried, Lady Juri,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m not underestimating you, but I believe it¡¯s too much for you to fight a thousand assassins alone.¡±

    Now he was certain that the ¡°knights¡± he saw earlier weren¡¯t knights.

    [No self-respecting knight would agree to invade a kingdom stealthily.]

    Glenn was a royal knight for so long.

    He knew more than anyone else how prideful the royal knights were.

    [And if Calyx Dalton was pretending to be a kind prince, then he wouldn¡¯t be able to send the royal knights to attack Hazelden in secret.]

    ¡°It¡¯s true that it would be too much even for me to face a thousand assassins,¡± Juri Wisteria said, smiling. ¡°But if I¡¯m with four Pdins, I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll be fine, Your Majesty.¡±

    Glenn¡¯s eyes widened in shock. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me¡­!¡±

    And that was when he felt their presence.

    He didn¡¯t want to be rude to Juri Wisteria, but he couldn¡¯t stop himself from bolting out of the room until he was out of the vi.

    Jeno Dankworth, who was standing in the garden as if he was waiting for him, bowed his head towards him. ¡°Greetings, Your Majesty. The reinforcements have arrived.¡±

    Geoffrey Kinsley.

    Jeanne Audley.

    Wyatt and Warren Fletcher.

    [My oldrades!]

    Glenn couldn¡¯t help but smile back at his friends. ¡°It¡¯s nice to finally see everyone again.¡±

    ***

    ¡°ARE THE crows broke?¡± Trevor asked sarcastically, disgusted to find the crows that invaded the Hawthorne Estate in the armory-sh treasury room. ¡°Why the hell are you stealing from Jasper Hawthorne?¡±

    Tsk, tsk.

    But it wasn¡¯t like he didn¡¯t understand why the crows would salivate for the Hawthorne¡¯s wealth.

    The entire basement was the armory-sh treasury room.

    [Yes, it¡¯s THAT vast.]

    Obviously, it was filled with high-quality weapons and expensive items. In fact, it looked like the empire¡¯s national museum.

    [The items disyed here are worth stealing.]

    ¡°Who the fuck are you¨C arghhh!¡±

    The crow who cursed at him screamed when Trevor ripped his mouth with just a flick of his hand.

    ¡°You¡¯re not Princess Neoma,¡± Trevor said coldly, his purple eyes glowing menacingly while looking at the crows inside the treasury room. ¡°You do not have the right to curse at me.¡±

    He may act like a fool for Princess Neoma, but he hadn¡¯t forgotten who he was.

    [I¡¯m Trevor Kesser¨C the Devil¡¯s Grimoire, and the genius Sorcere1r.]

    ¡°Kill him!¡±

    ¡°Tsk.¡±

    It only took Trevor a snap of his fingers to make everyone explode.

    ¡°AHHHHH!¡±

    The entire room was filled with agonizing screams from the enemies before they died.

    Of course, something like that was only possible because it was him.

    When he closed the door earlier, he filled the entire armory-sh treasury room with his Mana. The crow bastards didn¡¯t realize that his Mana was slowly entering their bodies. It was simr to inhaling poison.

    Hence, he was able to make the crow bastards explode ording to his will.

    [And now it¡¯s messy.]

    Blood, severed human limbs, and crushed organs were everywhere.

    Everywhere except on the spot where Trevor stood. He created a barrier to protect himself from the disgusting aftermath, after all.

    [I¡¯m d my Moon Princess isn¡¯t here to see this side of me.]

    Ah, maybe he should have turned the crow bastards into dust instead of making them explode.

    [Yeah, I should do that next time.]

    His thoughts were interrupted when the iron door opened.

    ¡°Lord Jasper will be disappointed,¡± Gin, in his human form, said while shaking his head. ¡°He hates dirty things.¡±

    .....

    Trevor shrugged. ¡°Just clean it up then.¡±

    Of course, it would be easy for him to clean it up.

    [But I don¡¯t want to~ Princess Neoma only told me to make sure Gin and Tate are safe. She didn¡¯t say anything about cleaning up after my own mess~]

    ¡°Mr. Gin, I¡¯ll clean up here,¡± Tate, Jasper Hawthorne¡¯s cousin-sh-aide, said. Then he turned to Trevor and bowed. ¡°Thank you for your help, Lord Trevor. The crows used some powerful stealth magic. If you weren¡¯t here, we wouldn¡¯t even realize that the crows are aiming for the treasury room.¡±

    When he arrived at the Hawthorne Estate, he was wondering why Gin and Tate said that they had already taken care of the enemies when he could still feel the crow bastards¡¯ presence.

    Apparently, Gin and Tate didn¡¯t notice that the crows were in the treasury room.

    ¡°They¡¯ve stolen a lot of gold bars, high-quality weapons, and rare jewelry pieces already,¡± Trevor said while pointing at the empty aisle on his left side. ¡°Sorry for your loss.¡±

    He couldn¡¯t do anything about it because the group that looted the treasury room first was already gone by the time he arrived.

    [Since the treasury room is big, the thieves grouped themselves into several groups.]

    ¡°The Hawthorne Estate won¡¯t go bankrupt just because they stole some gold bars, weapons, and jewels.¡±

    Pfft.

    [The amount stolen from the Hawthornes just now isrge enough to make a viscount family poor overnight. But Tate, Jasper Hawthorne¡¯s representative, didn¡¯t even bat an eye.]

    They were rich RICH.

    [Heh. I sounded like Princess Neoma just now, didn¡¯t I?]

    ¡°The most important thing is we managed to protect the deed of ownership over the mines we own, especially the diamond mines,¡± Tate added, relieved. ¡°They tried to steal them. I should have realized sooner that they were also aiming for the treasury room.¡±

    ¡°Trevor, is Lord Jasper alright?¡± Gin asked worriedly. ¡°Why didn¡¯t hee with you?¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma sent Jasper Hawthorne on a mission.¡±

    ¡°But Lord Jasper is okay, isn¡¯t he?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. He looks okay.¡±

    [In fact, that suspicious Jasper Hawthorne looks TOO happy to be reunited with my Moon Princess.]

    Gin let out a sigh of relief.

    ¡°Anyway, you can clean up the mess here, can¡¯t you?¡± Trevor asked, already casting a teleportation spell to leave the estate even before Gin or Tate could respond. ¡°I have to report this matter to Princess Neoma.¡±

    There could only be one reason why the crows, who had umted wealth, would steal from a rich nobleman like Jasper Hawthorne.

    [Princess Neoma is so gonna be pissed.]

    ***

    NEOMA was fuming.

    She received two pieces of news that morning: one good, one bad.

    The good news was the Hazelden Kingdom was safe now.

    Her children and her Papa Boss¡¯ Pdins dealt with the people sent by the crows to infiltrate Hazelden easily. Fortunately, Uncle Glenn agreed to step back and just watch them do all the work.

    [Good job, Juri and Jeno. Let¡¯s arrange your marriage soon.]

    The bad news was Jasper Hawthorne was robbed by the crow bastards.

    ¡°How dare those bastards steal from Jasper oppa,¡± Neoma said, fuming. She clenched her hands tight until her already white knuckles turn paler. ¡°And the amount they stole is big enough to make a viscount family dirt poor overnight if it was stolen from them?¡±

    She touched the back of her neck when she felt her blood pressure increase.

    ¡°Tate said the amount stolen from the Hawthornes wouldn¡¯t put a dent in their wealth.¡±

    It was Trevor.

    Yep, the demon boy arrived at the hotel this morning to deliver the bad news to her personally.

    Now, she couldn¡¯t taste her breakfast because her mood was already ruined.

    She was having breakfast with Trevor on the balcony of her room as she listened to his report.

    The others were having breakfast inside the room.

    ¡°But the amount is not the issue,¡± Trevor said calmly, then he sipped his coffee before he looked at her knowingly. ¡°And you know that, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°If the crows are stealing from our allies, it only means they¡¯re preparing for a war,¡± Neoma said, still pissed as hell. ¡°The crows are already rich. But the fact that they need more funds could only mean they¡¯re preparing for something big.¡±

    And she had a feeling it had something to do with her return.

    [Since the crows know they can¡¯t kill me easily because I have strong allies unlike the previous royal princesses they killed, they¡¯re trying to use their brain this time.]

    Neoma clicked her tongue in annoyance. ¡°They will probably steal from the Royal Treasury next because they know I¡¯m about to kick them out of the Royal Pce now that I¡¯m back.¡±

    ¡°It won¡¯t be easy to rob the Royal Treasury since only the legitimate heir chosen by the throne has ess to it,¡± the demon boy said. ¡°But I guess it¡¯s possible since Calyx Dalton has Prince Nero wrapped around his finger at the moment.¡±

    ¡°Nero isn¡¯t the only ¡°legitimate¡± heir to the throne here, my friend.¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    Neoma smiled, her pretty ash-gray eyes sparkling in delight. ¡°Trevor, let¡¯s rob the Royal Treasury before the crows do.¡±

    Trevor looked shocked at first, then heughed out loud. ¡°Princess Neoma, stealing is bad!¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 657 - 657 FAKE NEWS

    657 FAKE NEWS

    ¡°NOTHING?¡± Nero asked Melvin Luchessi, his secretary, in disbelief. ¡°You¡¯ve confirmed that Queen Brigitte, King Glenn, and their children are back in the Hazelden Kingdom. And yet, they didn¡¯t release any kind of news rted to the empire?¡±

    He was talking about the Griffiths being attacked by Calyx, of course.

    For some reason unknown to him, the First Prince tried to abduct Prince Skylus. And when the Griffiths fought back, Calyx tried to massacre the entire family.

    But the Griffiths escaped with the help of two powerful individuals.

    He was actually expecting the Hazelden Kingdom to send a demand letter asking for Calyx¡¯s exnation for the attempted murder hemitted.

    The worst-case scenario in his head was Hazelden dering war against the empire.

    On the other hand, the least thing he was expecting from the Grifitths was exposing the fact that Calyx tried to kill them.

    ¡°Why are they keeping quiet?¡± Nero wondered out loud. ¡°The assassin who showed me the video of Calyx¡¯s crime helped the Griffiths escape along with the mage. I¡¯m sure they recorded the video, which means they have solid evidence against the First Prince.¡±

    But why were they being quiet?

    .....

    ¡°Hazelden Kingdom is a small country,¡± Melvin Luchessi, who was standing in front of him, said. ¡°They can¡¯t afford to dere war against the empire.¡±

    ¡°Even so, I at least expect them to threaten Calyx,¡± Nero said while leaning against his chair. ¡°But they¡¯re not even doing that.¡±

    He was waiting for the Griffiths to send a demand letter.

    After all, he would use that as an excuse to confront Calyx.

    [I can¡¯t let Calyx know that I know what he did to the Griffiths. He¡¯d just lie if I confront him about it.]

    He didn¡¯t know why he had a feeling that his own brother would lie to him, though.

    [Perhaps I don¡¯t trust Calyx as much as I thought I do.]

    ¡°If the Hazelden Kingdom is keeping quiet, then it¡¯s also possible that the Griffiths have wronged Prince Calyx, too,¡± Melvin said in a tired voice. ¡°Perhaps the assassin who visited you only showed you the part that they want you to see, Prince Nero.¡±

    That was also possible.

    But his gut feeling protested.

    Nero¡¯s thoughts were interrupted when he heard Sanford Devon¡¯s voice from the other side of the door.

    The fallen prince was guarding the door with Raku, the half human-half dragon.

    ¡°Your Royal Highness, Prince Calyx has arrived.¡±

    Nero wasn¡¯t expecting Calyx to visit him in his office today, but it wasn¡¯t like he could turn him away. ¡°Let the First Prince in.¡±

    The doors opened and Calyx entered the office with a bright smile on his face.

    Melvin quickly bowed his head and politely excused himself from the two princes before leaving the office quietly.

    The First Prince only spoke when the door behind him closed.

    ¡°I¡¯m back, Nero.¡±

    ¡°Wee back, Calyx,¡± Nero said indifferently. ¡°Did you have fun during your brief vacation?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I did. It was a fruitful trip,¡± Calyx said while standing in front of his desk, then he put a hand over his chest. ¡°I found the blessed person who would help me cement my status as the empire¡¯s true ¡®First Star.''¡±

    He raised an eyebrow at what his older brother said. ¡°You talk as if there was a ¡®fake¡¯ First Star out there.¡±

    The First Prince just shrugged.

    It seemed like Calyx had no intention to exin, so Nero just changed the topic.

    ¡°So, what brings you to my office?¡±

    Calyx smiled yfully. ¡°I heard you didn¡¯t get the present that you wanted to give me.¡±

    Ah, the White Lion.

    He wanted to give Calyx the White Lion because his brother didn¡¯t have a Soul Beast. Unfortunately, Princess Monik refused. And he didn¡¯t have the chance to negotiate because the young princess messed up with his mind.

    Now he suddenly remembered the conversation that he had with Princess Monik¡­

    [¡°She told me to tell you this if you started like a viin.¡±]

    [¡°What¨C¡±]

    [¡°¡±You sorry excuse for a little brother,¡±¡± Princess Monik said, cutting him off rudely. ¡°¡±I will beat the living daylights out of you once I returned.¡±¡±]

    [He was shocked to hear the young princess say those vicious words in a cheerful voice.]

    [¡°Prince Nero, you¡¯re lucky that my unnie doesn¡¯t want me to use harsher words,¡± Princess Monik said,ughing. ¡°What I told you was actually the watered down version. The original was harsher.¡±]

    [¡°Who said¨C¡±]

    [¡°Didn¡¯t I already tell Your Royal Highness that it was an unnie who looks like your female version?¡± Princess Monik continued taunting him. ¡°It¡¯s a pretty unnie with white hair, ash-gray eyes, and pale skin just like you, Prince Nero~¡±]

    The ¡°unnie¡± that Princess Monik mentioned was obviously the foul-mouthed girl who kept showing up in his dreams.

    But the young princess implied something unbelievable.

    [Princess Monik is saying that the foul-mouthed girl is my sister.]

    ¡°Nero?¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    Calyxughed at his reaction. ¡°Are you that pissed because you didn¡¯t get me the present you wanted to give me?¡±

    He just nodded because he didn¡¯t want to tell the truth.

    ¡°Aw, that¡¯s so sweet of you,¡± the First Prince said. ¡°But you can get me another gift, my dear brother.¡±

    ¡°I know. I already got you something else,¡± he said, then he raised an eyebrow at his older brother. ¡°But you sound like you have something in mind.¡±

    ¡°Can I say it?¡±

    ¡°Of course. I¡¯ll give it to you if it¡¯s something I could get within my powers.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s really simple, Nero,¡± Calyx said, then he sat on the armrest of Nero¡¯s chair and wrapped his arm around his shoulders while giving him a light hug. ¡°Can you give me a tour inside the Royal Treasury?¡±

    Only Nero had the Royal Treasury because he was the official Crown Prince. Moreover, the throne had already recognized him as the next emperor.

    Hence, the Royal Treasury¡¯s room wouldn¡¯t open up for anyone else except him.

    But bringing Calyx with him wouldn¡¯t be a problem.

    ¡°Why, though?¡± Nero asked curiously. ¡°Are you sure you only want a ¡°tour¡± inside the Royal Treasury?¡±

    Calyx grinned sheepishly. ¡°Will you let me get one item from the Royal Treasury as a birthday present, my beloved Nero?¡±

    ***

    ¡°HOUSE HAWTHORNE was robbed?!¡±

    ¡°Yes, and I heard that the amount stolen from them was equivalent to the entire fortune of a rich viscount in the capital!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a huge amount then!¡±

    Neoma smiled and hummed while listening to the gossipingdies around.

    Right now, she was with Lewis while shopping for pretty clothes.

    Paige prepared simple yet expensive clothes for her. That was why even the boutiques known for being snobbish didn¡¯t turn her away.

    [Well, my face already screams ¡°majestic.¡± The shopkeepers who have keen eyes when ites to discerning the rich from the rich RICH could tell that I¡¯m thetter despite my ¡°humble¡± clothes.]

    Plus, even though she had fewer essories than the other nobledies, the gems that adorned her from head to toe were all high-quality.

    [After all, there were gems from Paige herself.]

    ¡°Youngdy.¡±

    Hmm?

    [She called me a dy¡¯ even though I introduced myself as ¡®Miss Ramsay.¡¯]

    In short, she didn¡¯t introduce herself as a noble.

    Neoma, who was having tea while looking through the catalog of a famous dress shop, looked up at Viscountess rence¨C the shop owner and a well-known tailor among the nobledies.

    This shop wasn¡¯t owned by Hanna since her cousin focused on businesses that catered to higher nobles.

    Although Viscountess rence was a respected tailor, she catered more todies from the middle ss and nobles that didn¡¯t belong to the high society. Even so, the quality of the dresses that Viscountess rence¡¯s shop sold wasparable to the dresses worn by the socialites.

    [I asked Hanna to pull Viscountess rence to her side, but sadly, she failed.]

    Even in Neoma¡¯s first life, Viscountess rence didn¡¯t leave her small shop even though several higher nobles tried to convince her to cater to the nobles from the high society.

    [Viscountess rence was firm about keeping her clothes affordable to the middle ss.]

    .....

    The viscountess knew that if she moved to the Grandiose Avenue, the prices of her clothes would skyrocket. It meant more profits, but it also meant that only the same people could wear her clothes¨C only those who could afford it, of course.

    ¡°Youngdy, you should be careful.¡±

    Neoma smiled at the older woman. ¡°Whatever do you mean by that, Viscountess rence?¡±

    ¡°Apparently, the thieves who robbed House Hawthorne left a message,¡± Viscountess rence whispered to her. ¡°Haven¡¯t you heard about it? ording to the rumors, the thieves said they will rob the nobles in the Royal Capital starting tonight.¡±

    Heh.

    Of course, Neoma had already ¡°heard¡± about the news.

    [Well¡­ I was the one who started the rumor, after all.]

    ¡°I appreciate your warning, madam. But I don¡¯t understand why you have to go out of your way just to warn me,¡± Neoma said while smiling politely. ¡°I am not a noble.¡±

    Viscountess rence smiled. ¡°Mydy, you can¡¯t hide the majestic aura that you exude.¡±

    Oh.

    ¡°I suppose I should pretend I didn¡¯t notice you were a high-ranking nobledy,¡± Viscount rence said while smiling yfully at her. ¡°Then this nosy old woman will take her leave now. Enjoy shopping, ¡°Miss¡± Ramsay.¡±

    Neoma just smiled at Viscountess rence and watched the old nobledy disappear to the second floor of the shop. ¡°I like the viscountess.¡±

    Lewis, who was standing behind the chair that she was sitting on, let out a sigh. ¡°You can¡¯t adopt her, Miss Rara.¡±

    Her ¡°son¡± had to address her that way because they were outside while disguised as children from a middle-ss family.

    She turned to Lewis with a hurt look on her face. ¡°Lulu, do you think it¡¯s my hobby to adopt ¡°children?¡±¡±

    Lewis tilted his head ¡°innocently.¡± ¡°Is it not?¡±

    Aigoo.

    ¡°I¡¯m just thinking ofmissioning Viscountess rence to make the dress that I¡¯ll wear for Calyx¡¯s birthday party,¡± Neoma said, smiling. ¡°But I wonder if the viscountess would agree since she knew I¡¯m not an ordinary young miss.¡±

    ***

    ¡°WELCOME, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s been a while, Gin~¡± Neoma greeted Gin, in his human form, when she entered the private office in Sinkhole¨C the information guild that Jasper Hawthorne owned. She and Lewis went there discreetly after their shopping spree. ¡°It¡¯s good to see you again.¡±

    Gin bowed to her with a wide smile on her face. ¡°Same here, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°You and Tate did a good job spreading the fake news,¡± she said while patting Gin¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Now I¡¯m sure all the nobles in the Royal Capital will tighten the security in their estates. And I¡¯m also certain that even the nobles all around the continent would do the same.¡±

    And, if that happened, the crows would find it hard to steal from the nobles.

    That was her main reason for spreading the fake news.

    Neoma turned to the wall where a projector-like screen showed Jasper oppa¡¯s serious face. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, oppa. We were toote. Your treasury room was already robbed when Trevor arrived there.¡±

    <¡°It¡¯s alright, Princess Neoma,¡±> Jasper oppa assured her. <¡°I already talked to Tate earlier. He said none of the family heirlooms was stolen.¡±>

    ¡°That was a relief,¡± she said. ¡°Oppa, thank you for agreeing to spread the news that your house was stolen.¡±

    Of course, she wouldn¡¯t spread that news without Jasper oppa¡¯s permission.

    <¡°It¡¯s nothing to be ashamed of,¡±> Jasper oppa said. <¡°What¡¯s your next n now, Princess Neoma?¡±>

    ¡°I¡¯ll watch over Hanna¡¯s reunion with Duke and Duchess Quinzel tonight,¡± Neoma said casually. ¡°After that, I¡¯ll go and rob the Royal Treasury.¡±

    Jasper oppa and Gin looked shocked by her casual deration.

    Lewis broke the silence. ¡°And we¡¯re going to wear the same uniform that the thieves who robbed House Hawthorne wore.¡±

    Heh.

    Neoma smirked and nodded. ¡°An eye for an eye.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 658 - 658 PAYBACK TIME

    658 PAYBACK TIME

    TREVOR can¡¯t believe that someone as great as him was reduced to recreating the uniform of the thieves that he made explode justst night.

    He couldn¡¯t do anything about it because it was Princess Neoma¡¯s order¡­

    [¡°Trevor, do you still remember what the thieves wore?¡±]

    [¡°Of course, Princess Neoma. Not only do I remember what their uniform looks like. I also know the type of fabric they used, and the protective spell that they used on the uniforms. But since I¡¯m a great Sorcerer, that puny spell couldn¡¯t protect them from my sorcery.¡±]

    [¡°Is that so?¡±]

    [¡°Moreover, ordinary people wouldn¡¯t have noticed, but these great eyes of mine caught the almost unnoticeable crest on the left breast pocket. It was a brown bear.¡±]

    [¡°Great. So, can you recreate the uniform?¡±]

    [¡°Huh?¡±]

    [¡°Please recreate the uniforms for at least one hundred people.¡±]

    .....

    Since Princess Neoma smiled and said ¡®thank you,¡¯ Trevor didn¡¯t have the heart to turn her down.

    [I¡¯m such a simp.]

    ¡°Brown Bear Bandits?¡±

    Trevor, who was plopped down on the sofa while putting a mid protective spell on the uniforms that he just finished making, raised his head. ¡°You¡¯re back, hyung?¡±

    Ruto frowned before sitting on the sofa across from him. ¡°Why am I your ¡®hyung?''¡±

    He just grinned in response.

    Trevor was originally alone in the hotel room because everyone left.

    Princess Neoma went ¡°shopping¡± with Lewis.

    Paige, Hanna, and Prince Skylus went out early to spread the fake news about the message that the thieves had left after robbing House Hawthorne.

    Greko and Dahlia went out to buy ingredients to make medicines and potions, respectively.

    [It¡¯s for Duke Quinzel who lost weight due tock of sleep, and Duchess Quinzel who is currently sick in bed. They suspect that the duchess is being poisoned by Regina Crowell. Hence, Greko the Healer, and Dahlia the ck Witch, joined hands to cure the ducal couple.]

    The damned chef and his colleagues disappeared after breakfast.

    [Ruto hyung came back alone, but it looks like he won¡¯t answer me if I asked where his colleagues are.]

    Hence, he just asked the damned chef a different question.

    ¡°Hyung, how much do you know about the Brown Bear Bandits?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re a rich group of expert thieves.¡±

    Trevor smiled because Ruto¡¯s answer was precise. ¡°Right? Small-time thieves wouldn¡¯t be able to hide from Gin and Tate without a powerful stealth device to keep themselves hidden well. Moreover, they wouldn¡¯t be able to sweep up a huge amount of fortune in just one night without an expensive magic device.¡±

    All magic devices were expensive in general. But magic devices that keep you hidden and help you store many things in such small baggage definitely cost a lot.

    A LOT.

    [Here¡¯s the thing, though. Devices that could be used for stealing aren¡¯t avable in the market.]

    ¡°The crows are probably backing them up,¡± Ruto said as if he could read Trevor¡¯s mind. ¡°Even though the thieves have a lot of money, it still wouldn¡¯t be possible for them to find high-quality devices personally made by a good sorcerer.¡±

    Trevor sneered bitterly. ¡°Dn Crowell.¡±

    Yep, the bastard who imed to be Trevor¡¯s ¡°brother¡± definitely made those devices that allowed the ck Bear Bandits to steal right under Gin and Tate¡¯s nose.

    ¡°Your brother.¡±

    Trevor rolled his eyes at Ruto¡¯sment. ¡°What are you saying, hyung? You¡¯re the only brother I have.¡±

    ¡°Drop the act¨C you hate me.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t hate you¨C I just wish Princess Neoma falls out of love with you the soonest.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Hyung, you might be feelingcent right now because Princess Neoma is trying her best to maintain her rtionship with you,¡± Trevor said cheerfully. ¡°But, hyung, don¡¯t forget that Princess Neoma loves herself more than she loves you. She won¡¯t pursue your forever, especially not when she¡¯s about to get busy.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma isn¡¯t your ¡°babe¡± alone,¡± Trevor reminded his ¡°hyung¡± in a serious tone this time. ¡°She¡¯s the future empress of the Great Moonasterion Empire. Do you think she has time to chase you forever?¡±

    Ruto raised an eyebrow at him. ¡°Should I get provoked? Is that what you¡¯re expecting from me?¡±

    ¡°Not at all, hyung,¡± Trevor said, grinning at Ruto. ¡°I want you to be as passive as you are right now so Princess Neoma would get bored of you the soonest.¡±

    ***

    ¡°JASPER OPPA, how¡¯s your trip with Duckie?¡± Neoma asked curiously. ¡°Have you reached the vige where you¡¯re supposed to go?¡±

    Jasper Hawthorneughed awkwardly. <¡°I think we got lost, Princess Neoma.¡±>

    ¡°What?¡±

    <¡°Duckie seems to be¡­ confused.¡±>

    ¡°Will you be fine? Should I send Gin to your location?¡±

    Her oppa was about to answer when they heard angry duck noises.

    <¡°I remember it now! This time, I¡¯m sure where the vige is! Just trust me, old money bastard! After we¡¯re done here, we¡¯ll steal back everything that those thieves stole from you! How dare bastards my diamond mine?!¡±>

    Pfft.

    Did the duck just refer to Jasper oppa as his ¡°diamond mine?¡±

    [Well, Jasper oppa owns the biggest diamond mine on both the Eastern and Western Continents¡­]

    <¡°Princess Neoma, it¡¯s about time for us to board a ship. I¡¯m sorry, but I have hang up now.¡±>

    ¡°Take care, Jasper oppa,¡± Neoma said worriedly. ¡°You, too, Duckie.¡±

    After the call ended, Neoma the called Xion.

    Xion was with Jasper and Duckie, but she had a different way of contacting her ¡°son.¡±

    Instead of amunication device with a video call function, the one she was using right now was simr to the modern world¡¯s wireless earbuds.

    Hence, she could only talk to Xion and not see his face.

    <¡°Princess Neoma, my uncle sent me a message just now. The hundred men that you requested from our guild will arrive in an hour.¡±>

    ¡°Great,¡± Neoma said. Since she knew that Xion would board a ship with Jasper and Duckie soon, she kept the call short. ¡°Thank you, Xion. Don¡¯t forget to give me an update every hour so I¡¯d know you and Jasper oppa are both safe.¡±

    <¡°I will, Princess Neoma. Please take care, too.¡±>

    After that call, she finally faced Gin who was still in his human form.

    ¡°Princess Neoma, I¡¯m curious,¡± Gin said carefully. ¡°Lord Jasper¡¯s information guild has enough men to pose as thieves. Why did you have to hire men from another guild to pose as thieves?¡±

    Yep, that was the n.

    She hired men who would pretend to be thievester.

    [And I¡¯ll send them to every rich household in the Royal Capital.]

    ¡°Because the crows might already be keeping an eye on Jasper oppa¡¯s men¨C including the ones working in the guild,¡± Neoma said, shrugging. ¡°Moreover, men from Xion¡¯s guild are also assassins.¡±

    Gin nodded. ¡°I see. So, blood might spill tonight.¡±

    ¡°Anyways, I¡¯ll send Trevor hereter,¡± she said. ¡°He¡¯ll deliver the uniforms that I asked him to make earlier. Tell the assassins to wear those uniforms before they pretend to rob the noble households in the capital.¡±

    ¡°Pfft.¡±

    The ck cat in his human form stifled hisughter.

    ¡°What¡¯s funny?¡±

    ¡°I just find it funny that Trevor acts like he¡¯s some big shot when you¡¯re not around, Princess Neoma,¡± Gin said while smiling and shaking his head. ¡°But he doesn¡¯t mind doing errands for you.¡±

    Oh.

    Neoma suddenly felt guilty.

    [I realized it recently, but perhaps I¡¯m being too casual and mean to someone as great as Trevor?]

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, Princess Neoma.¡±

    Hmm?

    It was Lewis.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay because Trevor allows you to treat him that way,¡± Lewis said as if he knew what she was worried about at the moment. ¡°And it¡¯s Trevor¡¯s fault for being annoying.¡±

    .....

    Neoma couldn¡¯t help butugh at what her ¡°son¡± said. ¡°Thank you for making me feel better, Lewis.¡±

    ***

    ¡°YOUR ROYAL Highness, the nobles are requesting for us to send the royal knights to patrol the Royal Capital.¡±

    Nero smirked after hearing what Melvin Luchessi came to report to him. ¡°Are they crazy? Why would I send the royal knights to the capital? The royal knights exist to protect the Royal Family.¡±

    ¡°I knew you¡¯d say, Prince Nero,¡± Melvin said. ¡°That¡¯s why I already sent a request to Duke Quinzel to increase the number of the ck Hawk Knights around the capital since the duke is in charge of the Public Order.¡±

    The Quinzels were allowed to have a private army with more than a thousand troops¨C which wasn¡¯t allowed¨C because of the agreement that the Quinzels and the Royal Family had.

    It was the agreement that the Quinzels¡¯ private army would be in charge of the Public Order.

    ¡°Duke Quinzel said he can¡¯t lead the patrol tonight, but he¡¯d send Sir Jaxson Emmett along with the additional troop to patrol the area.¡±

    It was understandable since Duke Quinzel was busy looking for Hanna.

    [But I have a feeling Duke Quinzel is busy with something else.]

    Anyway, Nero was doing his best to look for his fianc¨¦e, too.

    Instead of asking Alucard Dionisio and Lucien Attewell to return to the pce, he asked the two to look for Hanna.

    ¡°What¡¯s happening to the nobles?¡± Nero asked curiously. ¡°Every rich household has their own private army anyway.¡±

    ¡°The nobles are probably scared of being robbed,¡± Melvin exined. ¡°The amount stolen from House Hawthorne isn¡¯t small. It¡¯s the same amount as a rich viscount¡¯s entire fortune. That¡¯s why the nobles are nervous.¡±

    He couldn¡¯t help butugh at what his secretary said. ¡°Those stupid nobles.¡±

    Melvin looked at him as if he was crazy. ¡°Prince Nero, I know that you don¡¯t care about the nobles who aren¡¯t useful to you. But as the Crown Prince, it is still your duty to protect them. Remember, the nobles protect the citizens, the crown protects the nobles, and the gods protect the crown¨C¡±

    ¡°House Hawthorne is the richest noble household after House Quinzel,¡± Nero said, cutting off Melvin¡¯s long speech. ¡°The thieves managed to loot the second richest noble household in the empire. Do you think they¡¯ll steal from nobles below the Hawthornes?¡±

    ¡°Oh. Then why did they leave a message that they will rob the remaining noble households in the capital¡­?¡±

    ¡°I believe it¡¯s only a distraction,¡± Nero said, smirking. ¡°The mastermind behind this pandemonium wanted to scare the nobles so in return, the nobles would pressure the Royal Family to protect their homes. If I sent the royal knights to the Royal Capital, do you realize what will happen then?¡±

    ¡°The security in the Royal Pce will weaken¡­¡± Melvin trailed off, then his sleepy eyes suddenly opened wide as if he was already wide awake now. ¡°Prince Nero, are you saying that the thieves¡¯ real next target is the pce?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s either the pce or House Quinzel,¡± Nero said, scoffing at his secretary. ¡°If I have the ability and the equipment to steal from the Hawthornes, then I would be bold enough to steal from either House Quinzel or the Royal Family next. I believe Duke Quinzel is smart enough to realize that, too.¡±

    Melvin gasped. ¡°Ah. Could that be the reason why Duke Quinzel refused to leave his estate tonight?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s safe to assume that it is, indeed, the case.¡±

    ¡°Prince Nero, should I deploy more royal knights to the Royal Treasury?¡±

    ¡°Where¡¯s Calyx?¡±

    Melvin looked confused by his question, but his secretary still answered his question. ¡°Prince Calyx went to visit Marquis Lennox. I heard the First Prince would be back tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°Great,¡± he said. ¡°Call Sanford and Raku inside.¡±

    ¡°Prince Nero, don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re going to personally guard the Royal Treasury?¡±

    ¡°I promised Calyx I¡¯d give him a tour of the Royal Treasury,¡± he said. ¡°I have to personally make sure that we won¡¯t get robbed until he returns.¡±

    His secretary let out a sigh as if he was frustrated. ¡°Prince Nero, you can just send Sanford and Raku there. What kind of Crown Prince does the job of a knight?¡±

    ¡°A curious Crown Prince.¡±

    Melvin knitted his eyebrows. ¡°What are you curious about, Your Royal Highness?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m curious about the little thief who dares to steal from ME,¡± Nero said, sneering. ¡°I wonder what kind of bastard they are.¡±

    ***

    NEOMA hissed at nothing.

    For some reason, she was suddenly pissed.

    [Did someone curse at me behind my back?]

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Princess Neoma?¡±

    ¡°Nothing,¡± Neoma said, then she twirled around in front of Lewis. ¡°How do I look?¡±

    Lewis tilted his head. ¡°Pretty.¡±

    Pfft.

    ¡°I know,¡± she said, then she looked at her reflection in the mirror. ¡°Gosh, I look pretty even though I¡¯m wearing a bandit uniform.¡±

    She was wearing ck from head to toe.

    There was a ck bear symbol on the breast pocket that was barely noticeable.

    ¡°Princess Neoma, are you not going to dye your hair and eye color?¡± Trevor asked. ¡°We¡¯re going to the Royal Pce.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s exactly why I don¡¯t need a disguise,¡± Neoma said in a serious tone. ¡°I don¡¯t need to disguise myself at my own HOME.¡±

    Plus, Nero was in the Royal Pce.

    Her twin brother NEEDED to see her.

    [I wonder if Nero will realize I would be there tonight, though.]

    ***

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 Chapter 659 - 659 FIGHT FOR THE THRONE

    659 FIGHT FOR THE THRONE

    ¡°HUH?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t make me repeat myself twice, Melvin,¡± Nero said, irritated. ¡°Is there something wrong with your ears?¡±

    ¡°Nothing is wrong with my ears, Prince Nero. But, with all due respect, Your Royal Highness is the one who¡¯s being inconsistent here,¡± Melvinined. Of course, this scaredy-cat wouldn¡¯t have be his secretary if he was really a coward. Who else in the empire had the courage and audacity to talk back to the Crown Prince disrespectfully? ¡°You said this morning that we shouldn¡¯t send the royal knights to patrol the capital because the security here will weaken, and that the thieves are aiming for that since their next target could be the Royal Treasury.¡±

    ¡°Exactly.¡±

    His secretary looked at him as if he was cursing the Crown Prince internally.

    ¡°Lower your gaze, you disrespectful brat.¡±

    ¡°How could I read your intention if I lower my gaze, Your Royal Highness?¡±

    [See?]

    A scaredy-cat would lower not just his gaze but also his head if Nero used that kind of tone.

    .....

    But his brazen secretary just looked at him as if he wasn¡¯t done cursing at the Crown Prince yet.

    [This is why I forced this two-faced brat to stick to my side.]

    ¡°Prince Nero.¡±

    ¡°Yeah?¡±

    Melvin pulled out a white envelope from the inner pocket of his jacket. ¡°I¡¯d like to submit my resignation¨C¡±

    ¡°Rejected,¡± Nero said, cutting Melvin off rudely before standing up. ¡°I sent more than half of the royal knights to patrol the capital and the vige where most nobles live as an invitation.¡± He smirked while looking at the sunset which was visible from his office. ¡°An invitation to the thief bastard to try and steal from the Royal Treasury this time.¡±

    ***

    NEOMA covered her mouth with her hands and sneezed cutely.

    Of course, even her sneeze was cute.

    [Someone is probably talking shit about me.]

    Her thoughts were interrupted when a warm jacket was suddenly draped over her shoulders.

    Neoma turned to the person who lent her the jacket and smiled while she was washing her hands using Soju¡¯s water with a spell that made it simr to rubbing alcohol. Then Kimchi immediately dried her hands. That happened in just a few moments. ¡°Thank you, Lewis.¡±

    She wasn¡¯t really cold even though the night was chilly. After all, she had fire attribute that kept her warm from the cold.

    But Lewis had such a proud look on his face after attending to her needs.

    ¡°My Moon Princess is naturally warm, so¨C argh!¡±

    Neoma nudged Trevor in the stomach to stop him from ruining Lewis¡¯ mood. ¡°Is it not yet time?¡±

    Right now, her group was on the first floor of the yet-to-open shopping mall.

    Yep, it was the big shopping mall that Hanna and Jasper Hawthorne had worked hard to build for the past few years.

    Unfortunately, she couldn¡¯t really appreciate the entire ce because it was dark.

    The light magic that Trevor made was only enough for them to see each other.

    They couldn¡¯t do anything more than that because of the ck Hawk Knights AND royal knights patrolling the area.

    [We¡¯re already using stealth magic, but it doesn¡¯t hurt to be more careful.]

    ¡°It¡¯s about time for Duke and Duchess Quinzel to arrive,¡± Greko, who was carrying the sleeping Skylus in his arms, answered Neoma¡¯s question politely. ¡°Paige noona said she told the ducal couple to use the Teleportation Tickets at exactly 10PM.¡±

    ¡°I see. Thanks for telling me, maknae-ah.¡±

    Greko¡¯s face beamed.

    [Heh. My youngest is so cute.]

    Neoma was in the lounge area of the shopping mall with Lewis, Trevor, Greko, and Baby Skylus.

    While the other group¡­

    She turned to her right side.

    Hanna, Ruto, and Paige were waiting on the spot where they expected Duke and Duchess Quinzel to appear.

    [Dahlia volunteered to be a lookout, so she¡¯s outside the shopping mall.]

    Ah.

    She wasn¡¯t the only one who felt it.

    Lewis, Trevor, and Greko also turned to the other group¡¯s direction this time.

    Neoma smiled when a portal opened. ¡°Duke and Duchess Quinzel are here.¡±

    ***

    HANNA almost cried after seeing her parents step out of the portal. ¡°Mother, Father¡­¡±

    Her mother and father turned to her after hearing her call them.

    At first, her parents froze in disbelief.

    [Ah, no. It¡¯s more like they¡¯re ready to fight.]

    Her father stood in front of her mother protectively while touching the scabbard attached to his hip.

    It was her mother who snapped out of her trance first.

    ¡°Hanna,¡± her mother said, running to her. ¡°My baby!¡±

    And her mother hugged her tight.

    Hanna smiled and hugged her mother back.

    Ohh¡­

    She realized that just like her father, her mother also lost a lot of weight even though she was also gone for a few days.

    It seemed like her mother was really sick¨C no, poisoned.

    [Regina Crowell¡­!]

    ¡°Are you alright, baby?¡± her mother asked, cupping Hanna¡¯s face between her hands. ¡°Are you hurt anywhere?¡±

    Hanna smiled and shook her head. ¡°Mother, I wasn¡¯t really kidnapped. It was my decision toe with Lewis to protect myself.¡±

    Her mother looked confused.

    ¡°To protect yourself?¡± her father, who just approached her, asked with furrowed brows. ¡°Were you in danger, Hanna?¡±

    Hanna nodded firmly before she responded. ¡°Regina Crowell and Rubin Drayton tried to kill me that night, Mother, Father. It was Lewis who saved me.¡±

    Of course, her mother and father both looked too shocked to react.

    ¡°Regina¡­?¡± her mother asked, obviously in disbelief. ¡°Regina tried to kill you?¡±

    ¡°And Rubin Drayton?¡± her father asked, also in disbelief. But aside from disbelief, her father also looked very angry. ¡°The Drayton Heir dared to kill the Quinzel Princess? Is House Drayton trying to dere war on us?¡±

    ¡°Mother, Father, you¡¯ll understand what I¡¯m saying once you retrieve your missing memories,¡± Hanna said, then she politely pointed at Lord Ruto who was standing behind her. ¡°Lord Ruto will help you recover your missing memories.¡±

    Now her parents looked more shocked.

    Her mother knitted her eyebrows. ¡°Lord Ruto... the famous young chef?¡±

    Lord Ruto bowed to her mother and father politely. ¡°Good evening, Your Graces. I¡¯m Chef Ruto Stroganoff.¡±

    It was so modest of Lord Levi¡¯s divine son to introduce himself as a chef instead of as the Solfrid Heir.

    ¡°Daughter, your mother and I don¡¯t understand,¡± her father said, clearly confused. ¡°What memories did we lose?¡±

    Hanna was supposed to answer, but she didn¡¯t have to.

    ¡°Good evening, Duke and Duchess Quinzel.¡±

    It was Neoma who finally approached them.

    Hanna¡¯s mother and father looked very shocked upon seeing the royal princess.

    Her mother whispered in disbelief. ¡°White hair and ash-gray eyes¡­¡±

    ¡°A de Moonasterio¡­?¡± her father asked, confused. ¡°But who¡¯s child¡­¡±

    ¡°My name is Neoma de Moonasterio, Your Graces,¡± Neoma introduced herself politely. ¡°I am Emperor Niki and Lady Mona Roseheart¡¯s daughter.¡± She put a hand over her chest. ¡°I¡¯m also Prince Nero¡¯s twin sister.¡±

    Hanna smiled and nodded at her parents who looked at her as if they were asking if everything was real. ¡°Please trust me, Mother, Father.¡±

    ***

    .....

    ¡°HANNA, are you sure you and Paige are enough?¡± Neoma asked worriedly. ¡°You¡¯re not going to wait for your parents to retrieve their memories?¡±

    Right now, Ruto was undoing the curse on the ducal couple in an empty room.

    Greko and Baby Skylus were sleeping on the sofa in the lounging area. Her youngest ¡°son¡± would heal the ducal coupleter. Since she couldn¡¯t bring Skylus with her, she had no choice but to leave the young prince under Greko¡¯s care.

    [Dahlia will stay here anyway, and I already asked her to take care of the children.]

    ¡°Regina is alone in the estate, so I must return first,¡± Hanna said firmly. ¡°I won¡¯t let that wench steal anything from me again.¡±

    Neoma smiled proudly. ¡°That¡¯s my girl.¡± She then turned to Paige who was standing next to Hanna. ¡°Please take care, you two.¡±

    Paige would apany Hanna because Paige could move them faster thanks to her teleportation skills.

    [Before we knew it, Paige has already be our personal ¡®taxi driver.¡¯]

    Paige smiled and bowed towards Neoma. ¡°I will protect Lady Hanna, Your Royal Highness.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Paige. I¡¯ll leave it to you then.

    The mage just smiled again.

    Neoma turned serious when she said the next words to Hanna, though. ¡°Hanna, please don¡¯t kill Regina Crowell yet.¡±

    [My old version told me I shouldn¡¯t kill Regina Crowell for now.]

    Not until she realized how she could use the wench, at least.

    ¡°I understand,¡± Hanna said, then she smiled at Neoma. ¡°As long as Regina Crowell doesn¡¯t die, it¡¯s fine, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    How vicious!

    Neoma smiled and gave her cousin a thumbs up. ¡°Go, girl.¡±

    ***

    AND NOW, it¡¯s time for Neoma¡¯s group to leave.

    She¡¯d be bringing Lewis and Trevor with her this time.

    ¡°Are you ready, Princess Neoma?¡± Trevor asked her. ¡°If we¡¯re going to rob the Royal Treasury, then I¡¯ll open a portal to the throne room.¡±

    After all, the door that led to the Royal Treasury was in the throne room.

    Of course, it meant it wouldn¡¯t be easy to infiltrate it.

    However¡­

    [I have a genius Sorcerer by my side.]

    Neoma put a hand on Trevor¡¯s shoulder after she covered her face with a hooded cloak and a face mask. She had to hide her hair color and beautiful face to give Nero a shockter. Kekeke. ¡°I trust you, Trevor.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Princess Neoma,¡± Trevor said, grinning. Then he turned to Lewis. ¡°You can also trust me, son.¡±

    Lewis didn¡¯t even turn to Trevor. ¡°I¡¯m not your son, Trevor Kesser.¡±

    ***

    FORTUNATELY, Neoma didn¡¯t feel like throwing up this time.

    Trevor¡¯s portals were customized to make her feelfortable, so it always felt like riding an elevator.

    But she soon became ufortable.

    ¡°Oh wow,¡± Neoma said when her feetnded on ICE. ¡°Are you ying Elsa or something?¡±

    She was talking on the arrogant bastard sitting on the THRONE while looking down at her.

    Of course, that person was Nero.

    [This brat froze the entire throne room!]

    It was a bit annoying, but looking at Nero¡¯s face melted her anger little by little.

    Neoma was relieved to see that her twin brother grew up handsome and tall.

    [I¡¯m so proud of you, Nero.]

    ¡°Wow~ Someone really had the balls to try and loot the Royal Treasury!¡±

    The young man with blond hair and green eyes must be Sanford Devon.

    And the fallen prince was standing on Nero¡¯s right side.

    [In my previous life, he¡¯s the person who stood beside Nero a lot aside from Lewis. I think Sanford Devon ended up as themander of the royal knights in the past.]

    ¡°Dragon¡­?¡±

    Hmm?

    Neoma turned to the old man on Nero¡¯s left side.

    Short ck hair, golden reptile eyes, ck dragon scales all over his body.

    [He must be the half human-half dragon named ¡®Raku.¡¯ In my past life, I remember Nero would often send the old man to invade small nations on his own.]

    [¡°That kid seems to know you have a dragon, thug princess.¡±]

    [Are you a dragon? I thought you were just a ketchup-colored donkey.]

    [¡°Ha-ha. So. Funny.]

    Neoma ignored Tteokbokki¡¯s sarcasm.

    ¡°Who are you?¡± Nero asked coldly. ¡°How dare you step foot on the sacred throne room?¡±

    ¡°When did the throne room be sacred?¡± Neoma asked, scoffing. ¡°This used to be my yroom, you know?¡±

    She would often judge nobles in the throne room with Papa Boss.

    Nero raised an eyebrow at her. ¡°You¡¯re good at bluffing, I¡¯ll give you that.¡±

    ¡°You think I¡¯m bluffing?¡± Neoma said while removing her mask and hood. ¡°Well, I guess I¡¯m a good liar. But I¡¯m not bluffing at the moment.¡±

    Gasp.

    Sanford Devon let out a loud gasp.

    Even the stoic Raku opened his eyes a bit wider from shock.

    ¡°So freaking beautiful!¡± Sanford Devon said, then he turned to Nero. ¡°My prince, that¡¯s exactly how you¡¯d look like if you were born a princess!¡±

    [Right?]

    Nero who was already pale went paler while staring intensely at Neoma. ¡°White hair¡­ ash-gray eyes¡­ pale skin¡­ a de Moonasterio,¡± he mumbled to himself. ¡°You¡¯re the foul-mouthed girl who keeps appearing in my dreams.¡±

    ¡°Foul-mouthed girl?¡± Neoma asked, smirking. ¡°You¡¯re not wrong, but aren¡¯t you being a little rude to your older sister?¡±

    Sanford Devon covered his mouth with his hands when he gasped loudly.

    Neoma was starting to get annoyed by the fallen prince¡¯s reactions.

    [Gosh, is he watching a drama or something?]

    Nero, on the other hand, scoffed at Neoma even though his pupils were obviously shaking from shock. ¡°You¡¯re my older sister?¡±

    ¡°To be precise, I¡¯m your twin sister who¡¯s older than you by a few minutes.¡±

    ¡°Do you expect me to believe that?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll make you believe it soon,¡± Neoma said, then she motioned Nero toe closer with her finger. ¡°But first,e down. Who told you to talk to me while you¡¯re sitting on a higher tform?¡±

    Since Nero was sitting on the throne, which was ced on a tform, Neoma was forced to look up at him.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to,¡± Nero said sternly. ¡°This is my seat.¡±

    ¡°Then I have no choice but to drag you down.¡±

    As soon as Neoma took a step forward, Sanford Devon and Raku both moved to attack her.

    Of course, he didn¡¯t have to worry about that.

    Lewis and Trevor appeared in front of her in just the blink of an eye.

    [Heh.]

    Lewis blocked Sanford Devon¡¯s sword with his own sword, while Trevor just flicked his fingers at Raku and sent the old man flying.

    [Very good, Lewis and Trevor.]

    Nero, on the other hand, remained calm as he waited for Neoma to reach thest step of the stair leading to the throne. ¡°Whether it¡¯s true or not that you¡¯re my twin sister, it doesn¡¯t change the fact that the throne is MINE.¡±

    ¡°Oh yeah?¡± Neoma asked, then she grabbed Nero by the cor. ¡°You can take the throne, but the treasure underneath is mine.¡±

    Nero¡¯s eyes widened in shock. ¡°You know what¡¯s underneath the throne?¡±

    Neoma just smirked at Nero, then she literally threw him away.

    She easily removed her twin brother from the throne, but she failed to send him flying since he immediatelynded on the ground with his own two feet.

    [Tsk.]

    ¡°Even if you know where the Royal Treasury is, it doesn¡¯t matter,¡± Nero said arrogantly. ¡°Only the heir recognized by the throne could open it¨C¡±

    Neoma sat on the throne, causing Nero to stop talking.

    It wasn¡¯t the fact that she sat on the throne that shocked her twin brother¨C it was the fact that the throne began shaking.

    [Heh.]

    Neoma smiled while touching the armrest. ¡°This seat isfortable¨C should I take it now?¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 660 - 660 QUEEN OF BLUFF

    660 QUEEN OF BLUFF

    NEOMA was actually bluffing.

    The throne wasn¡¯tfortable at all.

    In fact, the fucking piece of furniture was trying to freeze her with an ice power simr to Nero¡¯s ice. Yes, it was trying to reject her because the throne already recognized her twin brother as the rightful heir.

    The throne was shaking so much because it was trying to literally eject her from the seat.

    Of course, she didn¡¯t allow it to happen.

    And so¡­

    ¡°Are you crazy?!¡± Nero yelled in disbelief, his eyes wide from shock. ¡°Why are you setting the throne on fire?!¡±

    Yep, Neoma set the throne on fire.

    After all, the stupid fancy seat was trying to freeze her.

    .....

    [An eye for an eye.]

    Nero raised his hands. ¡°Stop it!¡±

    Zeru, the ice phoenix, came out of her twin brother¡¯s hands while howling¨C obviously with the intention to attack.

    ROOOAR!

    It was Kingston¡¯s growl.

    The White Lion emerged from the red me that swallowed the throne.

    And, yes. Kingston¡¯s luscious mane was now covered in red me. Of course, the me didn¡¯t burn the White Lion. In fact, the me boosted Kingston¡¯s power.

    ¡°Kingston, get him.¡±

    As Neoma cheered for her Elemental Guardian, Kingston lunged at Zeru.

    The ice phoenix was only the size of an adult eagle. Nero probably couldn¡¯t summon Zeru¡¯s full strength because he was afraid to identally destroy the throne room.

    [Lucky for me~]

    Kingston jumped and bit Zeru in the neck, forcing the ice phoenix toe down.

    [Heh, that¡¯s Grandpa Kingston for you.]

    There was a reason Neoma summoned her Elemental Guardian instead of her Soul Beast.

    [I might identally kill Nero¡¯s Soul Beast if I asked Tteokbokki to fight~]

    She wasn¡¯t being arrogant¨C she was merely stating a fact.

    ¡°How did you get the White Lion from Princess Monik?¡± Nero asked while ring at her. ¡°The White Lion is supposed to be Calyx¡¯s Elemental Guardian.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°My brother should have been the next owner of the White Lion!¡±

    ¡°Cry about it then,¡± Neoma said coldly. ¡°And what do you mean by ¡°brother?¡± You¡¯ll regret calling that crow bastard your ¡®brother,¡¯ you know?¡±

    ¡°Stop cursing at my brother.¡±

    After saying that, Nero came at her.

    Yep, it should be this way.

    [A de Moonasterio only needs their physical body to fight.]

    Neoma grabbed Nero by the wrist when her twin brother tried to punch her.

    [Gosh, did this punk just really try to punch me beautiful face?!]

    ¡°How dare you try to punch your noona in the face?¡± Neoma scolded Nero, then she pulled him closer to her without letting go of his wrist¨C forcing her twin brother to grab the armrest with his other hand so he wouldn¡¯t crash on her. Then she gave him a suckerpunch in the stomach. ¡°This is your punishment for being cheeky.¡±

    Nero let out a painful groan.

    She felt bad, but she was actually thinking about knocking Nero out.

    But her n changed when the tform where the throne was shook so hard she almost got ejected from her seat.

    And then it happened.

    The entire tform suddenly disappeared along with the throne¡­

    ¡­ causing Neoma and Nero to fall on the whirlpool waiting for them underneath.

    ¡°Goddammit!¡±

    It wasn¡¯t Neoma who cursed¨C it was Nero, shocking her. Of course, she taught her twin brother to curse before. But to hear the grown Nero swear like that made her frown. ¡°Hey, since when did you learn how to curse that way, huh?!¡±

    Nero looked at her in disbelief as if he was telling her it wasn¡¯t the right time for that. ¡°Why are you scolding me when we¡¯re freefalling to god knows where?!¡±

    ***

    ¡°DUKE AND Duchess Quinzel aren¡¯t in their room,¡± Regina said while putting her ck gloves on. ¡°I have a feeling Hanna Quinzel has already gotten in touch with them.¡±

    ¡°Is that why you called me here?¡±

    It was Calyx.

    The First Prince was plopped down on the sofa while having red wine.

    Right now, the two of them were in Hanna Quinzel¡¯s bedroom.

    It took a while, but after raiding the Quinzel Princess¡¯ room, they finally found the key to the Quinzels¡¯ treasury room.

    The golden key was smartly hidden in one of Hanna Quinzel¡¯s in-looking jewelry boxes.

    ¡°I lied to Nero and told him I¡¯d be spending the night in my grandfather¡¯s mansion,¡± Calyx saidzily. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you just call Dn toe and help you loot the Quinzels¡¯ treasury room?¡±

    ¡°Dn can¡¯te out as Rubin because Duke Drayton assigned him to guard their treasury room,¡± Regina exined, then she frowned. ¡°It¡¯s because of the stupid rumor that says the noble households in the Royal Capital would get robbed tonight. Hence, the security in the entire capital is so tight at the moment.¡±

    Fortunately, Jaxson Emmett¨C the vice-captain of the ck Hawk Knights¨C along with more than half of the Quinzels¡¯ private army, were sent to the capital under the crown¡¯s order.

    ¡°I¡¯ve heard about that rumor, too,¡± the First Prince said. ¡°The rumor was started by House Hawthorne.¡±

    ¡°It was probably Princess Neoma who spread that rumor.¡±

    They had already confirmed that Neoma de Moonasterio had already returned with Trevor Kesser.

    [They killed all the people we stationed at the cave.]

    Ah, no.

    It was only the royal princess who killed all those people ording to Taylor Taylor¨C the sole survivor.

    ¡°But why would Princess Neoma spread that kind of rumor?¡±

    Regina fell silent for a moment before she answered Calyx¡¯s question with another question. ¡°Calyx, if you were Princess Neoma, why do you think a rich cult like the crows would have the need to steal from a wealthy household?¡±

    Calyx shrugged and answered casually. ¡°If I were Princess Neoma, I would just think the crows stole from House Hawthorne because Jasper Hawthorne is one of her allies.¡±

    ¡°Wrong.¡±

    ¡°Then what would Princess Neoma think?¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma probably already realized that the crows are starting to gather more funds to prepare for a big war.¡±

    Calyx knitted his eyebrows as if he was in disbelief. ¡°You think Princess Neoma would already realize our n just because we stole from House Hawthorne? Isn¡¯t that too farfetched?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re talking about Princess Neoma here.¡±

    The First Prince looked like he was about to protest when his earring¨C amunication device¨C suddenly glowed.

    Then Calyx listened to whoever was talking on the device.

    Regina got nervous when she noticed that the First Prince suddenly turned pale.

    [Something bad probably happened.]

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Regina. But you have to loot the Quinzels on your own tonight,¡± Calyx said while standing up in a hurry. ¡°Uncle Kyle just called and said Princess Neoma attacked the throne room.¡±

    Regina closed her eyes tight, frustrated. ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio¡­!¡±

    ***

    ¡°YOU¡¯RE thest Silver Fox in the world, Sir Crevan! I¡¯m a fan!¡±

    Trevor almostughed when Lewis inly ignored Sanford Devon, then Lewis mercilessly kicked the poor boy.

    [That¡¯s what Princess Neoma calls ¡®One-kick Lewis.¡¯]

    Sanford Devon was sent flying and hit the post behind him¨C causing it to have long cracks all over. After that, Sanford Devon slid down to the ground while groaning and clutching his stomach.

    .....

    [He probably broke a rib or two.]

    ¡°Son, you¡¯re being too harsh,¡± Trevor scolded Lewis. ¡°Sanford Devon is Prince Nero¡¯s ¡°son,¡± so that makes him your cousin.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not your son,¡± Lewisined, as expected. Then he turned to Trevor with cold eyes. ¡°And I don¡¯t want to hear that from you when you¡¯re using the unconscious half-dragon as a chair.¡±

    Ah, right.

    Trevor had already knocked Raku, the half human-half dragon, unconscious.

    Since there were no chairs avable, and the floor covered with thin ice was too cold, he just used Raku¡¯s wide and strong back as a chair.

    [He¡¯s unconscious anyway.]

    Trevor smiled at Lewis ¡°innocently.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just keeping Raku warm since my heart is full of warmth.¡±

    ¡°Bullshit.¡±

    He gasped out loud. ¡°Lewis, go and wash your mouth! I didn¡¯t raise you as a foul-mouthed boy! Where did you learn how to cuss like that, huh?¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°No wonder you¡¯re so good at it,¡± Trevor said, grinning. ¡°Keep up the good work.¡±

    Of course, he was joking when he ¡°scolded¡± Lewis for cursing.

    [He¡¯s a twenty-one-year-old young man. It¡¯s not like cursing makes him a bad person. But I wonder why Lewis doesn¡¯t curse in front of Princess Neoma? Could it be¡­]

    ¡°You sly bastard.¡±

    Lewis just looked at him as if he was asking if Trevor had already gone crazy.

    ¡°You¡¯re acting innocent in front of Princess Neoma,¡± Trevor said, smirking. ¡°I heard you and the other children were in a war against the mermaids for over a year. The sailors actually learned how to curse from the mermaids, so there was no way you wouldn¡¯t learn how to swear after interacting with those vicious beings for a long time.¡±

    ¡°And your point?¡±

    ¡°If you continue acting like an innocent puppy around Princess Neoma, then she¡¯d never see you as a man.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be toocent, Lewis Crevan,¡± Trevor said in a serious tone. ¡°Do you think Princess Neoma will be with us forever?¡±

    His Moon Princess only had five years left in her lifespan.

    Of course, Trevor wouldn¡¯t let Princess Neoma die that early. Even so, it wasn¡¯t easy finding a way to extend her lifespan.

    [Especially not when the damned chef is still refusing to cooperate.]

    ¡°Is something going on with Princess Neoma?¡±

    [As expected of Lewis, he¡¯s really sensitive when ites to Princess Neoma. I should be more careful with my words.]

    ¡°Lewis, did you know?¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma and Ruto Stroganoff seem to be dating already,¡± Trevor said, then he stood up and patted Lewis¡¯ shoulder sympathetically. ¡°Misery lovespany, so I¡¯m breaking the bad news to you.¡±

    Lewis frowned at Trevor. ¡°You sly bastard.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m so gonna tattle on you to Princess Neoma, Lewis Crevan.¡±

    ***

    THE QUINZEL Estate was practically empty tonight, save for some knights and weak servants.

    Hence, Regina was able to infiltrate the treasury room easily.

    She was worried at first because Calyx had to leave early.

    But now that she was inside the treasury room, she thought it was doable to loot the Quinzels on her own. She had all the equipment anyway.

    [I should start with the most expensive items¨C argh!]

    Regina didn¡¯t know what happened.

    The next thing she knew, her body was already sent flying until her back hit the wall¨C causing long cracks all over it. Then she slid down on the floor while holding her left cheek, dazed.

    Only then did she realize that she was pped.

    ¡°What the¡­¡±

    ¡°For a rat, you¡¯re quite ambitious.¡±

    Regina raised her head when she heard the familiar voice, then she red at the elegantdy standing in front of her. ¡°Hanna Quinzel¡­!¡±

    The Quinzel Princess wasn¡¯t alone.

    [I believe the woman standing behind her is Paige Avery, the Light Mage.]

    ¡°You really don¡¯t know your ce, do you?¡±

    Regina once again turned to Hanna Quinzel who was obviously looking down ON her at the moment. ¡°Why is it so hard to kill a little bitch like you?¡±

    ¡°Why you ask?¡± Hanna Quinzel asked, smiling until her green eyes turned into little crescents. ¡°Isn¡¯t it because I deserve to live? in and simple.¡±

    ***

    ¡°WHY IS IT so hard to kill a little bitch like you?¡±

    Hanna didn¡¯t like Regina¡¯s question because it reminded her that during the first timeline, this wench and the crows actually seeded in killing her.

    Then they put Regina in her ce.

    [Not after making Neoma suffer first.]

    ¡°Why you ask?¡±

    Remembering Neoma also reminded Hanna that she was alive thanks to the royal princess.

    Hanna lived because Neoma believed she was worth saving.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it because I deserve to live? in and simple.¡±

    Yes, the reason why in and simple.

    ¡°But you wouldn¡¯t understand,¡± Hanna said while looking at Regina sympathetically. ¡°After all, for you and the crows don¡¯t value human lives.¡±

    Regina smirked at her. ¡°Are you here to lecture me?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t kill you.¡±

    ¡°What¡­?¡±

    ¡°Neoma said I can¡¯t kill you yet,¡± Hanna said, smiling while covering her hands in her shadows. She could have summoned her Shadow Beasts. But she had a feeling that beating up Regina Crowell with her bare hands would make her feel better. ¡°Neoma didn¡¯t say I couldn¡¯t beat you to a pulp, though.¡±

    The wench suddenlyughed the viiness that she was.

    ¡°You weren¡¯t the only one who grew stronger the past few years, Hanna Quinzel,¡± Regina said, smiling while standing up properly. ¡°Don¡¯t regret this, my precious ¡°cousin.¡±¡±

    ***

    Hi! Iunched a dream project recently, and that dream is to write a story with a male protagonist.

    I posted a new story titled ¡®FISHING FOR DISASTERS,¡¯ and the first three chapters are up. You can search it by typing the title on the app or website if it doesn¡¯t appear on my ount yet.

    Here¡¯s the summary:

    [FISHING FOR DISASTERS]

    <You better catch all the Disasters if you want to know ending of One P*ece!>

    That¡¯s the reward for saving this world from Sea Monsters and Dungeons that would emerge soon?!

    Then Zirkus, who died while stalking a famous Kpop idol and got transmigrated as a minor viin in a dungeon-themed novel, would do his best to catch all the Disasters-in-the-making!

    All for the sake of saving the world, of course.

    Ahem.

    It¡¯s time for a nerd to be a hero!

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 661 - 661 THE ROYAL TREASURY

    661 THE ROYAL TREASURY

    ¡°YOU DIDN¡¯T have toe out,¡± Neoma said, surprised. ¡°I thought you were already tired from preparing a room big enough for the Royal Treasury in your dimension.¡±

    She was talking to Tteokbokki, in his human form, who suddenly appeared and carried her in his arms while she was still freefalling. Of course, she appreciated it. She was just worried because she knew her Soul Beast used a lot of his power just to make space for the treasures that she was about to steal.

    [Apparently, only the emperors could have a dimension big enough to store a Treasury Room because the power of the throne would give them the space they needed for it. But since I¡¯m not yet the empress regnant, Tteokbokki and I had to work hard on our own.]

    ¡°I¡¯m not so weak that I can¡¯t fulfill my duty,¡± Tteokbokki said smugly. ¡°I¡¯m your Soul Beast, thug princess. It¡¯s my duty to protect you.¡±

    ¡°Aww,¡± Neoma said, pinching Tteokbokki¡¯s cheeks. ¡°When did my little ketchup-colored donkey grow up?¡±

    ¡°Shut it, thug princess.¡±

    She justughed at her Soul Beast¡¯s reaction.

    Then she saw Nero looking at her and Tteokbokki as if he couldn¡¯t believe their interaction.

    ¡°What?¡± Neoma asked. ¡°Why are you looking at us like that?¡±

    .....

    Nero waited until his feetnded on the floor before he spoke. ¡°Why are you letting your Soul Beast talk to you disrespectfully?¡±

    ¡°This is how we talk to each other normally,¡± Neoma said while Tteokbokki was putting her down. ¡°I don¡¯t find him rude since I¡¯m ruder.¡±

    Tteokbokki nodded immediately. ¡°You¡¯re only saying that because your head is messed up at the moment, Prince Nero. But I¡¯ll have you know that the thug princess is a lot ruder than I am. But it¡¯s okay since it¡¯s her.¡±

    Nero seemed to be too stunned to speak.

    Neoma, on the other hand, ignored her twin brother to look around.

    [So, this is the Royal Treasury.]

    Everything was sparkling.

    The entire ce was like the dream library of most bookworms.

    [But make it fancy.]

    The giant shelves were made of gold, and the items in each panel either looked expensive, ancient, or ominous. But everything in there obviously held an important piece of history.

    [In short, everything is worth stealing.]

    The problem was the Royal Treasury was bigger than she expected.

    It seemed endless.

    [We can¡¯t steal everything.]

    ¡°Nero, only the two of us have ess in here,¡± Neoma said, turning to her twin brother with a serious look on her face. ¡°I¡¯ll beat the shit out of you if you let the crow bastards in here.¡±

    Nero turned to her with knitted eyebrows. ¡°¡®Crow bastards?''¡±

    She just clicked her tongue in annoyance.

    Unfortunately, Trevor didn¡¯t have the power to undo the curse on Nero to make her twin brother remember her.

    [¡°The curse was centered on Prince Nero, so unfortunately, I can¡¯t undo it.¡±]

    That was what Trevor said to her.

    Even Ruto said almost the same thing.

    [¡°If I could undo the curse on the Crown Prince that easily, then I should have done it before I lost my positive feelings towards you.¡±]

    Her man had a point.

    [If even Ruto finds it hard, then it¡¯s almost next to impossible to undo the curse ASAP.]

    It actually made sense as to why the curse was ¡°thicker¡± on Nero more than the others.

    [For the crows to control the empire, they need Nero since he¡¯s the future emperor. So it makes sense that the curse has more effect on my brother than the others affected by it.]

    ¡°Nero, I¡¯ll get straight to the point,¡± Neoma said in a serious tone. ¡°Calyx isn¡¯t our brother. He may be a de Moonasterio, but he¡¯s not rted to us.¡±

    ¡°You talk as if YOU are rted to me.¡±

    ¡°Look at my pretty face and say that I¡¯m not rted to you.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Of course, Nero couldn¡¯t say that she wasn¡¯t rted to him since they practically had the same face.

    [I¡¯m prettier and looked kinder, though.]

    ¡°I¡¯m your older twin sister,¡± Neoma said, her voice still dead serious. ¡°My name is Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio.¡±

    ¡°Do you expect me to believe you easily?¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± she said confidently. ¡°I ¡°brainwashed¡± you since we were three years old so you¡¯d love me to death.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°You love me more than you love our parents,¡± she said nonchntly. ¡°But Calyx erased me from your memories. In fact, he put a very powerful curse that erased me from everyone¡¯s memories.¡±

    ¡°What¨C¡±

    ¡°Calyx belongs to a cult that kills all the royal princesses in the Royal Family in order to crown the next emperor that they chose,¡± she said, cutting him off again. ¡°They wanted you to be the next emperor, but I¡¯m the one destined to be the first empress regnant.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Because of that prophecy, the crows are trying to get rid of me,¡± she continued. ¡°The crows wanted you to take the throne. But you love me so much that you didn¡¯t mind handing the throne to me without a fight.¡±

    ¡°Impossible,¡± Nero said in disbelief. ¡°I am the Crown Prince¨C the rightful heir to the throne. Why would I give up the throne for someone else? Even if you turn out to be my real twin sister, I don¡¯t think I¡¯d be willing to give what¡¯s mine to you.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re only saying that because you forgot about me,¡± she said, shrugging. ¡°You¡¯ll be fine once you retrieved your memories.¡±

    Nero red at me. ¡°Stop messing with me.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not,¡± Neoma said, then she turned to Tteokbokki who looked like he was about to fall asleep already. ¡°Tteokbokki, take all the stuff that looks important and ominous. I don¡¯t need the expensive ones.¡±

    She had enough money, especially since Hanna and Jasper oppa were on her side.

    [I have the two riches nobles with me, so I would never have to worry about money.]

    ¡°I understand why you¡¯d want the items with history,¡± Tteokbokki said, knitting his eyebrows. ¡°But why would you want the items with ominous aura?¡±

    ¡°Just because.¡±

    She only said that because Nero was there.

    [I can¡¯t trust my dongsaeng yet because he¡¯s attached to Calyx at the moment.]

    But, to be honest, the items that had an ominous aura around them were actually responding to the Darkness attribute in her.

    [It¡¯s as if those items are calling out to me.]

    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you which items to get,¡± Neoma said, then she pointed at the golden shelf that had number ¡®4¡¯ signage. ¡°Sweep everything from that shelf.¡±

    Tteokbokki immediately disappeared beside her. ¡°Oki doki.¡±

    [Gosh, his manner of speaking is a little¡­]

    ¡°Do you think I¡¯ll just watch you steal from the Royal¨C¡±

    ¡°Nero, please shut up for a moment,¡± Neoma said, then she caressed his cheek. ¡°I miss you, baby brother, but your noona is busy.¡±

    ¡°What¡­¡± Nero said, then his eyes turned glossy as if he was sleepy. ¡°You¡­¡±

    In just the blink of an eye, her twin brother already fell asleep.

    Of course, she caught her precious brother and hugged him tightly.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Nero,¡± Neoma said while patting his back. ¡°We¡¯ll get our heartfelt reunionter.¡±

    ***

    ¡°YOU MUST be the genius Sorcerer Trevor Kesser.¡±

    Trevor raised an eyebrow at Sanford Devon. ¡°You know me, huh?¡±

    Right now, Sanford Devon and Raku were tied together using a rope made from Trevor¡¯s Mana.

    Hence, the two couldn¡¯t move at the moment.

    [And it doesn¡¯t seem like they have any intention to escape.]

    ¡°You may not know this, but even though I¡¯m from a different kingdom, my ancestors actually used to serve the Kessers,¡± Sanford Devon said, smiling bitterly. ¡°I guess you know why, sir.¡±

    Now the fallen prince was talking politely to him.

    ¡°If your ancestors served my family in the past, then your family must be crazy bastards, too,¡± Trevor said,ughing. ¡°Only lowlives would serve other lowlives.¡±

    .....

    The fact that Sanford Devonughed with him only meant Sanford Devon didn¡¯t respect his family.

    [Just like how I don¡¯t respect mine.]

    ¡°For someone who¡¯s been captured, you look pretty rxed,¡± Trevormented yfully. ¡°Aren¡¯t you worried about Prince Nero?¡±

    ¡°Of course, we¡¯re worried,¡± Sanford Devon said, then he grinned. ¡°But I have a feeling that our master is fine, and that his twin sister won¡¯t hurt him.¡±

    He raised an eyebrow at the fallen prince. ¡°You believe us easily?¡±

    ¡°The beautiful princess looks exactly the female version of Prince Nero, and I didn¡¯t sense any kind of magic that alters one¡¯s appearance,¡± Sanford Devon said. Although he still looked cheeky, his eyes were serious. ¡°And my gut feeling is telling me that I can trust the beautiful princess. At least, more than the First Prince.¡±

    Oh?

    [This boy doesn¡¯t trust Calyx Dalton.]

    It actually made sense.

    [Prince Nero¡¯s ¡°children¡± may know Princess Neoma as their master¡¯s twin sister. But they never met Princess Neoma in person, so the curse won¡¯t affect them that much since these children didn¡¯t have any memories with my Moon Princess.]

    What made the curse powerful was the fact people didn¡¯t only forget about Princess Neoma¨C but their memories werepletely altered.

    [Just like how Queen Brigitte and King Glenn ¡°remembered¡± that Princess Monik was born with Kingston, when in reality, it was Princess Neoma who brought the White Lion to Princess Monik.]

    But Prince Nero¡¯s children didn¡¯t have personal interactions with Princess Neoma.

    ¡°You,¡± Trevor said, grinning. ¡°I think I can use you to perfect the ¡°antidote¡± that I¡¯m trying to make for Prince Nero.¡±

    ¡°Are you going to experiment on Nero¡¯s most trusted knight?¡±

    Trevor heard Calyx Dalton¡¯s disgusting voice at the same time Lewis growled lowly.

    [Aigoo.]

    Calyx Dalton arrived with Melvin Luchessi, Prince Nero¡¯s secretary ording to the information that he gathered about the people around the Crown Prince.

    [Tsk. I thought the crow bastard isn¡¯t in the pce at the moment?]

    Calyx smiled at them. ¡°It¡¯s been a while, Trevor Kesser and Lewis Crevan.¡±

    Trevor pointed a finger at Calyx Dalton. ¡°Lewis, attack.¡±

    ***

    ¡°THUG PRINCESS, what should I do next?¡± Tteokbokki asked her. ¡°I¡¯ve already stored the items you told me to steal.¡±

    Neoma pondered for a moment. ¡°Let¡¯s set the Royal Treasury on fire.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Nero might bring Calyx Dalton or some other crow bastard here,¡± she said while looking at Nero whom she carefully put on the floor first. ¡°I can¡¯t let them touch the items here, so let¡¯s set the Royal Treasury on fire.¡±

    Judging by the way Nero acted protective of Calyx, she had a feeling that the crow bastard might take advantage of her baby brother.

    [And some of the items here are useful to the crows.]

    She wasn¡¯t surprised since the crows used to be the support system of the crown.

    Tteokbokki knitted his eyebrows. ¡°The Moon God and your ancestors might curse you for real if you burn the Royal Treasury, thug princess.¡±

    ¡°I said we¡¯d set the Royal Treasury on fire,¡± Neoma said, smirking haughtily. ¡°I didn¡¯t say we¡¯d burn the heirlooms, though?¡±

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 662 - 662 PINK FLAME

    662 PINK FLAME

    A STRAIGHT punch.

    Hanna couldn¡¯t help but smile after punching the puny Shadow Beast who dared to growl in her face. Of course, the cheeky creature was summoned by Regina.

    It was a Shadow Beast shaped like a bear that towered over her. But, despite the huge size, it disappeared after just one punch. The same thing happened when she punched the shadow shaped like a giant wolf.

    ¡°Do you think your measly Shadow Beasts will stand a chance against me?¡± Hanna asked calmly while approaching Regina Crowell now that her low-ss Shadow Beasts were gone. ¡°Have you forgotten I¡¯m the Shadow Queen?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re supposed to be weak already to the point that you the only shadow you can summon is your own shadow,¡± Regina said in disbelief. ¡°How did you remain strong¡­¡± She trailed off, the realization dawned upon her face. ¡°You knew you were being poisoned.¡±

    ¡°I thought you were keeping an eye on me,¡± Hanna said in a mocking voice. ¡°Howe you missed the fact that I belong to the academy¡¯s Gardening Club?¡±

    Regina Crowell didn¡¯t attend the academy, but Calyx Dalton and Rubin Drayton did.

    [She should know that the Gardening Club deals with poisonous nts.]

    Regina¡¯s eyes widened a bit when the realization probably hit her. ¡°Sandie Morrisley¡­!¡±

    .....

    Sandie Morrisley was the ¡®Poison Queen¡¯ and also the current president of the Gardening Club.

    [I¡¯m the vice president.]

    ¡°You knew from the start that I¡¯m trying to poison you, and yet you drank every poisoned tea I served to you,¡± Regina said coldly. ¡°You did that because you were confident Sandie Morrisley could save you.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± she said confidently. ¡°We easily figured out what kind of poison you were feeding me. Hence, we made an antidote that will nullify the effect of the poison in my body.¡±

    ¡°Then you were just acting when you were ¡°sick?¡±¡±

    Sheughed softly. ¡°Did I fool you? I can¡¯t help it if I¡¯m good at acting. After all, I learned from the best.¡±

    Of course, she was talking about Neoma.

    [If it¡¯s about scamming¨C I mean, acting, then nobody can¡¯t beat Neoma in her own game.]

    ¡°Lady Hanna!¡±

    Hanna¡¯s thoughts were interrupted when Lady Paige suddenly yelled her name. It was toote for her to move, too.

    In just the blink of an eye, Regina Crowell was already in front of her.

    The crow grabbed Hanna¡¯s shoulders.

    Unfortunately, Regina Crowell was shorter than Neoma. Even so, the crow still towered over Hanna.

    [Why is everyone around me so tall?]

    ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you that you weren¡¯t the only person who got stronger these past few years?¡± Regina asked, smirking. ¡°Now I¡¯ll let you experience what I did to Neoma de Moonasterio five years ago.¡±

    Five years ago?

    [Could it be¡­?]

    ¡°Argh!¡± Hanna clutched her chest tight when she suddenly felt as if her heart was being squeezed painfully. ¡°Are you turning me into a child?¡±

    Neoma said before that it seemed like Regina Crowell wasn¡¯t herself when she turned her into a child before.

    But right now, Regina looked confident.

    Hence, it could only mean one thing.

    [This crow wench already mastered that unique ability of hers.]

    Regina smiled haughtily. ¡°To be precise, I¡¯m turning back time for your physical body.¡±

    Ah, so that was why Neoma suddenly turned into a baby before.

    Hanna smiled despite the pain in her chest. ¡°Did you hear that, Lady Paige?¡±

    Regina, who seemed to have forgotten for a moment that the mage was also in the same room, flinched.

    [Got you, Regina Crowell.]

    ¡°I heard it loud and clear, Lady Hanna,¡± Paige, who was standing behind Regina, smiled. ¡°Everything is going ording to n.¡±

    ***

    ¡°A FIRE THAT protects and doesn¡¯t burn,¡± Neoma said while nodding. ¡°Of course, it has to be pink.¡±

    Every golden shelf in the Royal Treasury was now covered in pink me.

    It was still Tteokbokki¡¯s red me, of course.

    She just asked her Soul Beast to ¡°dye¡± the me pink. It was possible thanks to Trevor¡¯s teachings.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know that our fire could be used this way,¡± Tteokbokki said in full awe. ¡°Thug princess, getting beaten up by Princess Aruna was worth it.¡±

    ¡°Totally worth it, my boy.¡±

    Grandma Aruna had the fire attribute as well.

    But instead of using it to burn things to ashes (just like what Neoma had been doing all this time), Grandma Aruna¡¯s me was used as a shield.

    [Grandma taught me this technique~]

    Neoma¡¯s pink me would only burn people or things that would touch it from the outside. Everything from the inside was safe.

    But the trick was really simple.

    [I put a Dome to cover each shelf before I created a ¡®Dome of Fire¡¯ over the shield.]

    The hardest part would be the part where she had to maintain the fire burning even after leaving the ce.

    And that was the technique that Grandma Aruna taught her.

    [The ¡®Unquenchable me.¡¯]

    As long as Mana was flowing in Neoma¡¯s body, then the pink me wouldn¡¯t get extinguished easily.

    ¡°Thug princess, will you be alright, though?¡±

    ¡°And what do you mean by that?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, but I think you¡¯re getting¡­ weak?¡±

    Neoma turned to Tteokbokki with knitted eyebrows. At first, she thought her Soul Beast was just messing with her. But when she saw the concerned look on his face, she realized he was being serious. ¡°I don¡¯t understand what you¡¯re talking about, though?¡±

    She was ying dumb to hide her nervousness.

    ¡°It¡¯s really weird,¡± Tteokbokki said while observing her closely. ¡°This reminds me of the time you coughed up blood when you used your rose wings in the Astello Temple.¡±

    The Soul Beast was talking about the day Trevor discovered her shortened lifespan.

    ¡°You¡¯re still very strong, of course. But every time you use your power, it feels as though you¡¯re getting¡­ weak?¡±

    Uh-oh.

    To be honest, she was using her excess Moonglow and Mana to cover up the fact that her lifespan had shortened significantly.

    By doing so, she became more conscious when attacking now.

    [I used to go all-out because, well, I don¡¯t know what ¡°moderate¡± means. But now, I make sure there¡¯s enough extra Moonglow and Mana in me to hide my lifespan.]

    ¡°Thug princess, are you hiding something from me?¡±

    The thing was she was able to hide the truth from Tteokbokki, thanks to Trevor.

    [¡°Don¡¯t worry about your Soul Beast, my Moon Princess. Before I confronted you about your shortened life span, I blocked Tteokbokki¡¯s presence so he wouldn¡¯t hear our conversation. Hence, he didn¡¯t know what we talked about that day.¡±]

    Now she would do the same every time she and Trevor needed to talk about her lifespan.

    It was easy to do that since she could block Tteokbokki anytime she wanted anyway. Just like when she wanted to be alone or when she needed to use the bathroom.

    ¡°You¡¯re overthinking, Tteokbokki.¡±

    ¡°No, you¡¯re definitely hiding something from me,¡± Tteokbokki said firmly. ¡°I know you won¡¯t tell me what it is even if I asked, so I¡¯ll just investigate on my own.¡±

    ¡°Do whatever makes you happy, Tteokbokki,¡± Neoma said, acting tough and nonchnt even though she was nervous inside. To avoid Tteokbokki¡¯s ¡°interrogation,¡± she just pointed at Nero, who was on the floor, and changed the topic. ¡°Carry Nero, then let¡¯s get out of here.¡±

    ***

    ¡°LEWIS, attack.¡±

    Trevor said that half-heartedly thinking that Lewis would just curse at him.

    But, much to his shock, his ¡°son¡± actually attacked Calyx Dalton.

    [Woah, I¡¯m touched. Does Lewis finally recognize me as his ¡°father?¡±]

    .....

    ¡°Dream on,¡± Lewis said when he ran past Trevor as if he could read Trevor¡¯s mind. ¡°I just want him dead.¡±

    Trevor stifled hisughter. ¡°By all means.¡±

    ¡°Insolent punks,¡± Calyx Dalton said while shaking his head. ¡°You dare attack the Great Moonasterion Empire¡¯s First Star?¡±

    ¡°Not first,¡± Lewis said, then he gave Calyx Dalton a flying kick. ¡°Fake star.¡±

    Calyx blocked Lewis¡¯ kick with his arm, then he tried to grab Lewis¡¯ leg with his other hand.

    But Lewis¡¯ white fox tail suddenly appeared and pped Calyx in the face.

    The fake star was sent flying while cursing under his breath.

    Melvin Luchesshi, who was standing behind Calyx Dalton earlier, simply stepped aside instead of cushioning the First Prince¡¯s fall.

    That action made Trevor grin.

    [Prince Nero¡¯s ¡°children¡± doesn¡¯t like Calyx Dalton.]

    Calyx Dalton easily got on his feet though. This time, the fake star summoned his Moonglow as if he was ready to fight for real.

    Lewis, on the other hand, had his three white fox tails out now.

    Trevor was preparing to fight as well when, all of a sudden, the ground shook hard.

    It was followed by the incredible Mana and pure divine power that appeared on one spot, making everyone stop what they were doing and turn in that direction. It was the spot where the tform and the throne should be. But they disappeared along with Princess Neoma and Prince Nero earlier.

    And there, just like that, they reappeared.

    No¨C SHE emerged like the empress that she was meant to be.

    Princess Neoma came out of nowhere sitting on the throne covered in pink me.

    Everyone¨C yes, including the bastard Calyx Dalton¨C looked mesmerized. After all, everything was pretty: Princess Neoma, the throne, and the pink me.

    [The throne already chose Prince Nero, yet it can¡¯t still reject Princess Neoma.]

    Trevor¡¯sughter broke the silence in the throne room. ¡°Princess Neoma always has to have a grand entrance, huh?¡±

    ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio.¡±

    It was Calyx Dalton who dared to address Princess Neoma casually.

    Princess Neoma raised an eyebrow at the fake star. ¡°It¡¯s ¡®Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio,¡¯ Calyx Dalton.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Calyx de Moona¨C¡±

    ¡°Oh,e on. Have some originality, Calyx Dalton,¡± Princess Neoma said in a taunting voice. ¡°But then again, what can I expect from the FAKE ¡°First Star¡± other than to copy me¨C the original visual?¡±

    Were they talking about Princess Neoma¡¯s beauty?

    [I don¡¯t mind talking about it, but it was so random¡­]

    Lewis could only shake his head, but his gold eyes were sparkling while looking at his princess. ¡°Princess Neoma doesn¡¯t take Calyx Dalton seriously. I mean, who would? Definintely not me.¡±

    Calyx Dalton, who obviously heard Lewis¡¯ taunting, looked offended.

    Trevor couldn¡¯t help butugh at Lewis and Princess Neoma¡¯s savageness. ¡°Like mother, like son!¡±

    ***

    NEOMA, who was sitting on the throne covered in pink me, looked at Calyx Dalton carefully while ignoring Trevor¡¯s funnyments.

    She was relieved to see that Lewis and Trevor were both safe, so she was calm.

    [I don¡¯t see Grandpa Kingston and the ice phoenix, though?]

    Fortunately, she could feel that the White Lion was still alive and kicking. So she wasn¡¯t really worried.

    [Trevor will give me the full reportter anyway.]

    Calyx stared back at her with cold eyes. ¡°What are you looking at?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re lucky I can¡¯t kill you yet,¡± Neoma said. Unfortunately, unless the curse waspletely broken, she had to keep Calyx Dalton alive. ¡°But from this moment, I will make your life a living hell, you damned fake who doesn¡¯t have a personality other than being obsessed with MY twin brother.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 663 - 663 SHUT YOU DOWN

    663 SHUT YOU DOWN

    ¡°RUFUS felt like he woke from a long bad dream.

    He couldn¡¯t believe that he forgot about Princess Neoma for five years.

    Worse, he epted Regina Crowell¨C the wench who tried to kill his precious daughter¨C in his house as his niece.

    [I must have lost my mind¡­]

    ¡°Honey¡­¡±

    Rufus turned to Amber, who looked as miserable as him, and gathered his wife in his arms. ¡°I understand what you¡¯re feeling right now, honey,¡± he said while rubbing her back. ¡°It¡¯s frustrating that we let Hanna fight alone all these years. But we¡¯ll make it up to our daughter.¡±

    Amber nodded and hugged him back¡­

    ¡­ until his wife began coughing up blood.

    ¡°Amber!¡±

    .....

    ¡°Duke Quinzel, if it¡¯s alright with you and Her Grace, may I take a look on Duchess Amber¡¯s condition?¡±

    It was Dahlia, the ck Witch.

    ¡°Sir Lewis Crevan informed us of both Your Graces¡¯ poor condition when he infiltrated your estatest time, Your Grace.¡±

    Ah, that must be when Lewis informed Rufus about this meeting.

    ¡°Greko and I prepared some medicines and antidotes that will help you improve your conditions,¡± Dahlia continued with her exnation. ¡°We regret to inform you, but we suspect that Regina Crowell poisoned Duchess Amber.¡±

    Amber gasped in disbelief.

    Rufus, on the other hand, clenched his jaw tight. ¡°That little wench¡­¡±

    He couldn¡¯t forgive himself for treating Regina Crowell for the past five years while the little wench was killing his precious family!

    ¡°My wife¡­¡± Rufus said in a broken voice. ¡°Please help my wife.¡±

    Dahlia nodded politely, but she looked concerned. ¡°Your Grace, you¡¯re also in a poor condition.¡±

    Greko, Princess Neoma¡¯s Healer, nodded in agreement. ¡°Duke Quinzel, I made a potion for you. It will help you recover quickly from the fatigue that you umted recently.¡±

    Oh. That was true.

    Now that he was assured his daughter was safe, he could feel the fatigue catching up to him.

    ¡°I understand,¡± Rufus said, nodding. ¡°But please take care of my wife first.¡±

    ***

    ¡°RUTO HYUNG, please drink this.¡±

    Hmm?

    Ruto was surprised when Greko, the half fairy-half human Healer, handed him a capsule. ¡°Is that a medicine?¡±

    Greko nodded shyly. ¡°It¡¯s a type of medicine that I made myself, hyung. It will help you recover your Mana quickly. I know that you don¡¯t need help in that aspect, but¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll take it,¡± he said, then he put the capsule in his mouth.

    The child then handed him a vial of water.

    Ruto also epted the water and drank it. ¡°Thank you.¡±

    To be honest, he wasn¡¯t the type of person who would easily ept any kind of food and drink from someone else.

    He was that careful.

    Even so, he couldn¡¯t reject Greko¡¯s goodwill.

    [This child is one of the purest children I¡¯ve met in my life.]

    ¡°You¡¯re wee, hyung,¡± Greko said, his face beaming. ¡°Hyung, do you need to sleep? I¡¯m sure you¡¯re tired from undoing the curse for two people. If you need anything, please don¡¯t hesitate to let me know.¡±

    He couldn¡¯t help but smile at how well the child was treating him. ¡°Did Neoma tell you to take care of me?¡±

    ¡°Our family isn¡¯t shameless, hyung,¡± the young Healer said proudly. ¡°Princess Neoma, my eomma, is aware that you¡¯re doing us a huge favor. Hence, she asked me to take care of you in her ce.¡±

    ¡°This isn¡¯t a favor¨C I¡¯m not doing this for free,¡± he corrected the child. ¡°In exchange for my service, Neoma now owes me a huge favor. I won¡¯t hesitate to call for her help if I find myself in a life-and-death situation.¡±

    It was expected, but Ruto still felt awful about himself when Greko suddenly looked disappointed.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, hyung.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    Greko patted his shoulder sympathetically. ¡°Eomma is working hard, so I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll fall in love with her all over again soon.¡±

    Ruto knitted his eyebrows. ¡°Your ¡°eomma¡± is the one who¡¯s in a desperate situation here, so why are you looking at ME with pity?¡±

    ¡°Because I can¡¯t imagine hyung falling in love with someone else after falling for my eomma,¡± the child said, tilting his head innocently. ¡°I mean, my eomma is the best. If you fall for another girl, then wouldn¡¯t she just be a second best her entire life? Hyung, nody deserves to be her partner¡¯s second best only, so spare them the misery.¡±

    Huh?

    Ruto was in disbelief as Greko hit three critical points while looking innocent.

    First, Greko just dered that his ¡°eomma¡± was the best woman in the world.

    [I can understand why Greko would think Neoma is the best, since she raised him.]

    Second, Greko implied that the other girls were inferior to Neoma.

    [That was a bit mean, but I can tell Greko didn¡¯t say that to insult other girls. He just genuinely believes that no onees close to his ¡°eomma.¡± It¡¯s like he¡¯s looking through his mother figure through rose-colored sses.]

    And third, Greko managed to gaslight Ruto¨C the child was already making him feel bad for making a non-existent girl his ¡°second best.¡±

    [It feels like he¡¯s cursing me with that innocent look on his face¡­]

    Ruto sighed while shaking his head. ¡°Greko, you¡¯re really Neoma¡¯s ¡°son.¡±¡±

    Greko smiled, his face beaming even more. ¡°Thank you for saying that, hyung.¡±

    [Neoma, you set the bar too high for your children¡¯s standards¡­]

    ***

    HANNA was shocked when she coughed up a huge chunk of blood.

    [My body¡­]

    Before she knew it, her body already fell to the floor.

    [I can¡¯t move¡­]

    Even so, that didn¡¯t mean she waspletely defenseless.

    Her shadow emerged from the floor and kicked Regina Crowell away from her.

    The wench blocked Hanna¡¯s shadow¡¯s attack, but was soon forced to step away from Hanna when Lady Paige moved closer.

    But instead of attacking, Lady Paige only created a shield to protect Hanna.

    The shield scope was pretty wide because it also protected all the items in the treasury room.

    ¡°You¡¯re defending instead of attacking?¡± Regina Crowell taunted Lady Paige with a sneer. ¡°Did Neoma de Moonasterio raise you a coward?¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma raised me as a person who chooses her battle well,¡± Lady Paige answered calmly. ¡°And you¡¯re not worth fighting, Regina Crowell. We¡¯re only here to check on your new ability anyway.¡± The mage smiled when the crow lost her arrogant smile. ¡°Thank you for showing us your new ability, by the way. I¡¯ll analyze it well, then help Princess Neoma and Lady Hanna find a way to beat the hell out of you next time.¡±

    If Hanna¡¯s insides didn¡¯t feel like they were being burned, then she would haveughed.

    [Neoma, your ¡°children¡± learned from you well.]

    Regina Crowell looked like she was about to attack and break the shield.

    But the door to the treasury room suddenly burst open.

    Jaxson Emmett, the vice-captain of the ck Hawk Knights, entered the treasury room while the elite troop under hismand followed behind. ¡°Miss Regina Crowell, you¡¯re under arrest for attempting to steal from House Quinzel. Moreover¡­¡± The vice-captain turned to Hanna with a clenched jaw before ring at Regina Crowell. ¡°You¡¯ll pay forying a hand on our princess!¡±

    Hanna, despite her current condition, chuckled.

    Regina Crowell turned to Hanna as if she had gone crazy.

    ¡°This camera,¡± Hanna said while patting the brooch on the ribbon attached to her dress. ¡°Caught everything and the images are sent to Sir Emmett.¡±

    Lady Paige scoffed at Regina Crowell. ¡°Did you think I just stood there and watch while you were fighting Lady Hanna?¡±

    As a mage, it was easy for Lady Paige to send amunication device to where Jaxson Emmett and his troop were.

    Of course, the video they sent the knights didn¡¯t have an audio recording.

    .....

    [After all, we still need to protect our secret.]

    Fortunately, Jaxson Emmett still understood what was happening and hurried back to the mansion with the elite troop.

    ¡°This isn¡¯t the end, Hanna Quinzel.¡±

    After dropping her threat, Regina Crowell pulled out a scroll and ripped it.

    In just the blink of an eye, the wench disappeared.

    ¡°The back gate,¡± Lady Paige said while looking at Jaxson Emmett. ¡°Sir, I can feel a distorted energy from that area. A scroll is only used for short-distance teleportation, so Regina Crowell hasn¡¯t gotten away yet.¡±

    ¡°Go,¡± Hanna added because she could see that the vice-captain didn¡¯t want to leave her after seeing her poor condition. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine since Lady Paige is here. Please catch Regina Crowell, Sir Emmett.¡±

    Jaxson Emmett nodded his head politely. ¡°I understand, Lady Hanna,¡± he said, then he turned to Lady Paige. ¡°Please take care of our princess, ma¡¯am.¡±

    Lady Paige nodded. ¡°I will, sir.¡±

    Only then did Jaxson Emmett leave with his troop to look for Regina Crowell.

    As soon as the doors to the treasury room closed, Lady Paige immediately kneeled beside Hanna to check on her condition.

    The mage put a hand on Hanna¡¯s stomach.

    Lady Paige¡¯s warm hand was obviously healing Hanna¡¯s internal injuries.

    ¡°I think Regina Crowell really has the ability to turn back one¡¯s time,¡± Hanna reported right away. She didn¡¯t want to faint without giving a report first, so she was in a hurry. ¡°This was like how my body reacted the first time I drank the poison that Regina Crowell served me.¡±

    Lady Paige¡¯s face turned grim. ¡°That wench must have turned your body back to the time when you haven¡¯t built immunity to poison yet, Lady Hanna.¡±

    She could only nod weakly in agreement.

    It was a scary ability.

    Regina Crowell possessed a frightening ability because they knew she would use it to harm Neoma and their people.

    [We taunt Regina Crowell to provoke her, but we take her seriously.]

    Hanna¡¯s thoughts were interrupted when she coughed up blood again.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go back to the hotel first, Lady Hanna,¡± Lady Paige said in a hurry, then she carried Hanna in her arms¨C princess-style¨C without difficulties. ¡°Miss Dahlia is better than me when ites to poisons and antidotes.¡±

    Hanna didn¡¯t really want to rely on Dahlia, but she guessed it was inevitable. ¡°But please contact my friend Sandie as well if I faintter, Lady Paige.¡±

    ***

    JASPER was disgusted and furious.

    If it wasn¡¯t for Duckie, he would have already blown up the entire ce. He couldn¡¯t believe that such a ce existed.

    It was as bad as the Death Camp.

    [If not, worse.]

    ¡°We must report this to Princess Neoma,¡± Xion, who was standing behind him, whispered. ¡°She has to know.¡±

    Jasper nodded in agreement. ¡°Lord Ruto and Miss Dahlia need to know, too.¡±

    It was a matter that the Elemental Guardian owners should personally deal with, after all.

    ***

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 Chapter 664 - 664 PROPHECY NOT CLEAR

    664 PROPHECY NOT CLEAR

    ¡°YOU¡¯RE lucky I can¡¯t kill you yet,¡± Neoma said. Unfortunately, unless the curse waspletely broken, she had to keep Calyx Dalton alive. ¡°But from this moment, I will make your life a living hell, you damned fake who doesn¡¯t have a personality other than being obsessed with MY twin brother.¡±

    Calyx¡¯s face hardened at her taunting. ¡°Where¡¯s Nero?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll return Nero safe and sound,¡± she said coldly. ¡°I have no use for a brother who thinks of a bastard like you as family.¡±

    [I¡¯m sorry, Nero.]

    Her chest squeezed painfully while saying those hurtful things about her baby brother.

    Of course, she didn¡¯t mean any of it.

    [But I can¡¯t let Calyx get suspicious of Nero. We can¡¯t undo the curse on Nero yet, so I can¡¯t take him with me because it will only make thingsplicated. Moreover, he¡¯s still the Crown Prince. The crows will definitely seize the throne if Nero disappears.]

    Her thoughts were interrupted when the crow bastardughed.

    ¡°I was worried for nothing,¡± Calyx said, looking at Neoma very disrespectfully. ¡°Of course, just because you¡¯re here doesn¡¯t mean you can undo Nero¡¯s curse. It¡¯s possible to lift the curse on other people¨C but not on the person where the curse is nted.¡±

    .....

    Neoma grabbed the armrests of the throne with so much force that long cracks appeared all over it.

    She already expected that Nero was the center of the curse.

    But to have it confirmed by Calyx Dalton himself didn¡¯t make her any less angry.

    [They really nted the curse in Nero!]

    No wonder even the tandem of Ruto and Trevor couldn¡¯t cure her baby brother yet.

    ¡°What are you going to do now, Princess Neoma?¡± Calyx asked haughtily. ¡°You can¡¯t kill me, and you can¡¯t take Nero with you either.¡± He paused while looking at the pink me swallowing the throne before he spoke again. ¡°Even if you burn the throne to ashes, you can¡¯t steal it from Nero. Only a male de Moonasterio could be the emperor of the Great Moonasterion Empire.¡± His arrogant gaze shifted back to Neoma. ¡°The crows have chosen Nero to be this generation¡¯s emperor.¡±

    She let out a hollowugh. ¡°As if I give a fuck about the crows¡¯ ¡°choice.¡±¡±

    ¡°Are you being arrogant because of the prophecy that the former saint received about you being the first empress regnant?¡± Calyx asked, scoffing. ¡°Dominic Zavaroni was already emunicated. That means all the stupid prophecies he had seen don¡¯t have value in them anymore.¡±

    ¡°Come to think of it, Uncle Dominic only said he only saw me sitting on the throne as the new empress,¡± she wondered out loud. ¡°It was only the people who heard about the prophecy who assumed that the throne I was taking was this throne.¡± She emphasized ¡°this throne¡± by patting the armrests that she only broke earlier. ¡°Hence, we all assumed I was destined to be the first empress regnant of the Great Moonasterion Empire because I¡¯m the empire¡¯s only and only royal princess.¡±

    ¡°What are you¨C¡±

    ¡°Just shut up and listen when I¡¯m talking,¡± she growled at Calyx Dalton. ¡°How dare you interrupt me when I¡¯m busy connecting the dots?¡±

    Calyx Dalton knitted his eyebrows while looking at her as if she was crazy.

    [Well, I am. There¡¯s no sane de Moonasterio in history.]

    ¡°I can burn the Great Moonasterion Empire to ashes and build my own empire if I want to,¡± Neoma said, smirking. ¡°How does the ¡®Gorgeous Neoma Empire¡¯ sound?¡±

    ¡°Great,¡± Trevor and Lewis said at the same time.

    Neoma turned to her allies with a smile. ¡°Right?¡±

    Trevor smiled at her while nodding.

    Lewis, on the other hand, just gave her a double thumbs up.

    ¡°For someone who was kicked out of this world five years ago, you speak so arrogantly, Princess Neoma.¡±

    She turned to Calyx Dalton calmly, unbothered by his taunting. ¡°It¡¯s inevitable for the main character to lose a few times in order to have great character development. Plus, I needed a training arc. But you wouldn¡¯t understand because you¡¯re just a viin¨C and you will never be the main character.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re speaking bullshi¨C¡±

    ¡°Ah!¡± Neoma gasped, purposely talking over Calyx Dalton. ¡°Now I remember why the crows are so fucking afraid of female de Moonasterios. There¡¯s a prophecy that says a woman would lead the empire to ruins.¡±

    She suddenly remembered what Yule said to her before¡­

    [¡°The prophecy was passed down to male heirs of the throne. Thus, every single Crown Prince in the history of the empire was raised to be wary of their female siblings. When a royal princess is born into the royal family, it has been a tradition to raise them separately from the royal prince to avoid the siblings from building a strong bond. Since the past royal princes were detached from their female siblings, they didn¡¯t care if the royal princesses were murdered.¡±]

    She still remembered how she responded to Yule that time, and she repeated the young Neoma¡¯s words back then.

    ¡°I guess they were right to believe the prophecy,¡± Neoma said,zily yet elegantly standing up from the burning throne to look down ON Calyx Dalton. It was fun to see the crow bastard look up at her. ¡°Because the moment I was born, that prophecy has already been fulfilled.¡±

    Calyx Dalton¡¯s eyes opened wide as if he just got chills all over his body.

    Trevor and Lewis, on the other hand, pped enthusiastically.

    Nero¡¯s ¡°children¡± all had an unreadable expressions on their faces.

    ¡°You¡¯re really an arrogant princess,¡± Calyx said while shaking his head as if he had already given up trying to reason with her. ¡°To say that you¡¯d ruin the empire that your ancestors built with their blood, sweat, and tears¡­¡±

    ¡°Gosh, monarchy ain¡¯t shit. Why would I get attached to the empire that sacrificed its royal princesses for many generations?¡± Neoma scoffed while clicking her tongue. ¡°Moreover, I love the people here¨C not the empire itself. I¡¯ll give a new home to my people. They deserve a home that wasn¡¯t built from blood and sins.¡±

    ¡°You only say sphemous things whenever we talk, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°The truth isn¡¯t sphemy¨C you just feel offended because I¡¯m right.¡±

    Calyx Dalton just frowned in response.

    Neoma snapped her fingers. ¡°Tteokbokki,e out.¡±

    A flicker of red light appeared beside her, and then Tteokbokki¨C in his human form¨C emerged from it. Her Soul Beast was holding the unconscious Nero in his arms.

    ¡°Put him on the throne, Tteokbokki.¡±

    ¡°Aye, aye, thug princess.¡±

    As Tteokbokki walked towards the burning throne, Calyx Dalton yelled at the top of his lungs.

    ¡°Are you trying to burn Nero just because he doesn¡¯t remember you?!¡±

    Neoma just rolled her eyes.

    When Tteokbokki put Nero on the throne, the pink me disappeared and was reced by a thinyer of ice.

    Just right after that, the throne room¡¯s ceiling copsed.

    Kingston fell down from the roof while biting Zeru on the neck. Then the White Lion threw the rtively smaller-than-usual ice phoenix until itnded on Nero¡¯s feet.

    [Grandpa Kingston won.]

    Ah, so the Elemental Guardians were really a match for the Soul Beasts?

    [Well, it doesn¡¯t really matter.]

    ¡°Let¡¯s go home,¡± Neoma said to Tteokbokki, Lewis, and Trevor. ¡°The fun is over.¡±

    ¡°Are you leaving already?¡±

    Of course, it was the fake First Star who asked.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Calyx. I¡¯ll personally greet you at your birthday party.¡±

    Calyx raised an eyebrow at her. ¡°You¡¯re not invited to my birthday banquet, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re the guest in the Royal Pce and not me¨C and you should be thankful I¡¯m not kicking you out at your own birthday banquet,¡± Neoma said,ughing as her body turned translucent. It was the work of Trevor¡¯s teleportation spell. ¡°Calyx Dalton, let¡¯s settle who¡¯s the real First Star during the banquet.¡±

    ***

    ¡°LADY HANNA, please drink this potion I made.¡±

    Hanna, who was leaning against the headboard, received the ss that Dahlia handed to her. The liquid inside was green, and it looked¡­ unappetizing.

    [It reminds me of the potions that Sandie would brew every now and then.]

    ¡°Uhm, it looks gross and it may taste a little bitter, but it¡¯s good for your body,¡± Dahlia, who was sitting on the chair next to the bed, exined as if she was in a panic. ¡°It will clean all the toxins in your body, and if you continue drinking it, it will help you build up immunity to poisons.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± she said, nodding. ¡°Thank you, Miss Dahlia.¡±

    After saying that, Hanna drank the entire potion in one big gulp.

    Argh.

    It tasted awful¨C more awful than the potions Sandie would often feed her to fight the poison that Regina Crowell fed her.

    ¡°Here, Lady Hanna.¡±

    She was surprised, but her hand automatically reached for the candy that Dahlia handed to her.

    [Am I¡­ a kid?]

    Even so, Hanna quietly took the candy and put it in her mouth.

    Hanna was relieved when the sweetness of the candy lessened the bitterness in her mouth. ¡°It tastes refreshing. Thank you, Miss Dahlia.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wee, Lady Hanna,¡± Dahlia said, then she awkwardly gave Hanna a report. ¡°Duke and Duchess Quinzel are currently sleeping in the other room. Greko fed His Grace a capsule that will help him replenish his Mana, and I fed Her Grace the same potion I fed you, Lady Hanna. Both of them are safe and recovering now. Greko is monitoring their condition.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for taking care of my parents,¡± Hanna said in a serious tone. ¡°I mean it, Miss Dahlia.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing, Lady Dahlia. I just wanted to help.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    .....

    Hanna was at a loss for words because she didn¡¯t know how to react. She thought her resolve to detach herself from Dahlia was firm. But her feelings were already wavering.

    [I know in my heart that Miss Dahlia didn¡¯t do anything wrong¡­]

    Hanna didn¡¯t want to admit this, but her pride as a noblewoman was preventing her from opening up to Dahlia.

    [Between Neoma and I, people will probably think Neoma is the prideful one. After all, Neoma is arrogant and narcissistic. But people who knew the real Neoma would agree that the royal princess is actually unassuming. She treats everyone equally, and she doesn¡¯t look down on someone only based on their status.]

    But Hanna wasn¡¯t as self-effacing as Neoma.

    [I know I¡¯m above other people because I was born a noble¨C and I was raised that way. After all, the only people above the Quinzels are the de Moonasterios.]

    Hanna couldn¡¯t easily bow her head to other people the way Neoma could.

    [Neoma was born in a world ruled by a ss system as well, but she unlearned everything she was taught as a noblewoman when she lived as Kim Neoma. Unfortunately, I didn¡¯t get that chance.]

    Even though Hanna wanted to unlearn the toxic things she learned as a noblewoman and be more like Neoma, she found it hard to do so.

    That was why her pride was hurt when Nero¡¯s attention was caught by amoner.

    ¡°I was raised as someone with the highest rank among the nobledies,¡± Hanna said carefully. ¡°The onlydy who has a higher position than me is Neoma.¡±

    Well, technically, the Empress Dowager as well.

    [But the current Empress Juliet is a fake, so I don¡¯t consider her as someone above me.]

    ¡°Unfortunately, Neoma isn¡¯t officially recognized as a royal princess. Hence, right now, I¡¯m the nobledy with the highest position in the high society,¡± Hanna continued. ¡°I¡¯m the perfect person to be the Crown Princess. I have the best education, the best background, and the best etiquette.¡± She finally gathered the courage to turn to Dahlia. ¡°My entire existence as a nobledy is rejecting you, Miss Dahlia. My pride can¡¯t ept the fact that my rival is amoner. Hence, even though it¡¯s not your fault, I resented you for gaining Nero¡¯s affection.¡±

    Dahlia lowered her head as if she was embarrassed.

    ¡°It¡¯s unbing of a nobledy like, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°So, Miss Dahlia, please help me.¡±

    Dahlia looked surprised when she raised her head. ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Help me get my feet back on the ground,¡± Hanna said, smiling apologetically at Dahlia. ¡°Please teach me that people are not defined by their social status. Teach me that I¡¯m not better than you just because I¡¯m a noble.¡±

    ¡°Lady Hanna¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for looking down on you, Miss Dahlia.¡±

    And Hanna bowed her head towards Dahlia properly.

    Dahlia gasped out loud. ¡°Lady Hanna¡­¡±

    [I should have done this from the start.]

    Hanna raised her head and faced Dahlia. ¡°Will you give me a chance to be your friend, Miss Dahlia?¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t have to ask, Lady Hanna,¡± Dahlia said emotionally. ¡°I¡¯d love to be your friend!¡±

    ***

    [SHOULD I break the door?]

    Of course, Neoma shouldn¡¯t do that since that would be a crime.

    Hence, she could only stand in front of the hotel room where Ruto was currently resting.

    She heard from Greko that her man booked a room for himself because he wanted to rest after taking the medicine that made him drowsy. Hence, as soon as she returned to the hotel, she asked to be left alone because she wanted to check on her man.

    But now she realized that she shouldn¡¯t disturb Ruto when he needed to rest.

    [Yep, I shoulde backter.]

    Neoma was about to leave when the door suddenly burst open.

    ¡°Why aren¡¯t youing in?¡±

    Huh?

    Neoma didn¡¯t understand a word that Ruto said, and she couldn¡¯t respond as she found her throat suddenly dry.

    [This sinful man¡­!]

    Ruto was shirtless, d only in low-slung unbuttoned trousers that barely clung to his hips¨C exposing that sexy pelvis of his.

    [My man obviously just took a shower.]

    Neoma tried not to look at everything from the neck down, but it was hard because the little beads of water glistening over the parts of his lean and well-toned torso were seducing her.

    [You can¡¯t jump him, you can¡¯t jump him, you can¡¯t jump him,] she said to herself like a mantra while summoning the self-control that she suddenly couldn¡¯t find in her. [You¡¯re an intellectual woman, Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio. Only a beast would attack a defenseless person.]

    But¡­ Ruto¡¯s abs¡­ were glorious¡­

    ¡°Do you like what you see, Neoma?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Neoma said, then she raised her head to meet Ruto¡¯s teasing gaze. She knew that she was as red as a tomato, so she acted haughty by putting on a poker face. ¡°I mean, nice abs, dude.¡±

    Ruto chuckled while shaking his head. ¡°Sure.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 665 - 665 Iâ€™M LOOKING RESPECTFULLY

    665 I¡¯M LOOKING RESPECTFULLY

    ¡°AREN¡¯T youing in?¡±

    Neoma clenched her hands when Ruto opened the door a little wider while inviting her toe in. ¡°Are you sure?¡±

    Ruto knitted his eyebrows as if he was confused. ¡°Yes? You¡¯re here to talk about something important, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    [Not really, but¡­]

    ¡°Ruto, are you really sure you want me inside?¡±

    ¡°I mean, I¡¯m not forcing you. If you¡¯re notfortable, then let¡¯s just meet in the restaurant¨C¡±

    ¡°Gosh, I¡¯m already here, so why are you kicking me out?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re the one who doesn¡¯t want toe in, though?¡±

    She flipped her hair before she walked past Ruto when she entered the room. ¡°Ruto, I¡¯m saying this now. If I suddenly lose control, you¡¯re free to push me away,¡± she warned him before she turned around in time to see Ruto closing the door. Dayum, his back muscles looked delicious. ¡°Gosh. Why did you open the door when you¡¯re half-naked? Are you seducing me?¡±

    .....

    [Lord Yule, my dear grandpa, are you testing my patience? Or is this you giving me the sign that it¡¯s time for me to continue our bloodline with Ruto???]

    ¡°You were standing still in front of my room for a few minutes already. I thought something bad happened, so I hurried to open the door,¡± Ruto exined ¡°innocently,¡± then he turned around to face her. Gosh, look at this punk stand there as if he was a (very gorgeous) model. ¡°Moreover, I thought you were here to seduce me and not the other way around?¡±

    Gosh.

    Look at her man getting chatty when talking back to her.

    [But those abs are really distracting! Who wouldn¡¯t get seduced?!]

    ¡°I¡¯m just a girl, standing in front of a half-naked boy, looking respectfully.¡±

    ¡°Right,¡± Ruto said as if he was just going along with whatever she was up to at the moment. ¡°Give me a minute to get dressed.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± He knitted his eyebrows, confused. ¡°Would you like us to talk while I¡¯m half-naked?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Ruto cleared his throat when Neoma considered it for a moment. ¡°You¡¯re a princess, Neoma. To be precise, you¡¯re the one and only royal princess of the empire.¡±

    ¡°Gosh, what a roundabout way to tell me to maintain my dignity as a princess.¡±

    ¡°YOU said that, not me.¡±

    ¡°I know how to read between the lines.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°I know I¡¯m being shameless, but it¡¯s not like we¡¯re doing something inappropriate for our age,¡± she said defensively, putting a hand over her chest. ¡°If webine all my ages from my first life up to now, then I¡¯m already over sixty years old. And you¡¯d be older than me, of course. So, if we add our ages together, then we¡¯d already be over a hundred years old.¡±

    ¡°And¡­?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why it¡¯s totally okay for us to change the genre of our love story from fluff to smut.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Nothing,¡± Neoma said, gently pping her dirty mouth with her hand. ¡°Go and get dressed already.¡±

    Ruto shook his head while holding back hisughter. ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am.¡±

    ***

    NERO had never felt so humiliated until that moment.

    He lost to the girl who imed to be his older twin sister.

    Even Zeru, his main Soul Beast, lost to a mere Elemental Guardian.

    Worse, he was knocked out. When he woke up, he found himself on his bed¨C in his room. Instead of his people, he found Calyx sitting on the chair next to the bed.

    [Does he already know about what happened?]

    ¡°You¡¯re awake,¡± Calyx said, closing the book in his hand. ¡°Are you feeling better? Should I call the royal physician?¡±

    ¡°No. I¡¯m fine,¡± Nero said grumpily. ¡°How much do you know about what happened?¡±

    ¡°I met her.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°The girl iming to be your older twin sister.¡±

    He just frowned. [So, he knows everything already.]

    ¡°Nero, do you believe her?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care whether she¡¯s my real twin sister or not,¡± Nero said in almost a growl. He still felt humiliated that both he and Zeru lost. ¡°But if she¡¯s here topete for the throne now that women have the right to inherit titles, then she¡¯s nothing but an enemy.¡±

    Calyx looked satisfied by his reaction.

    [You¡¯re also apetition to the throne, Calyx.]

    Even though his older brother already publicly dered that he wouldn¡¯tpete for the throne, Nero couldn¡¯t trust him fully.

    [Perhaps my greed for the throne runs deeper than I thought.]

    Also¡­

    [¡°Calyx isn¡¯t our brother. He may be a de Moonasterio, but he¡¯s not rted to us.¡±]

    [¡°Calyx belongs to a cult that kills all the royal princesses in the Royal Family in order to crown the next emperor that they chose. They wanted you to be the next emperor, but I¡¯m the one destined to be the first empress regnant.¡±]

    [¡°Because of that prophecy, the crows are trying to get rid of me. The crows wanted you to take the throne. But you love me so much that you didn¡¯t mind handing the throne to me without a fight.¡±]

    Those were the usations that the girl who introduced herself as ¡®Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio¡¯ threw at Calyx.

    The usations were heavy, but Nero felt like he shouldn¡¯t confront his older brother.

    Not directly, at least.

    [I¡¯ll ask Melvin to investigate the cultter.]

    ¡°I was worried you¡¯d believe everything she said to you, Nero,¡± Calyx said while smiling warmly at her. ¡°After all, she looks like you.¡±

    That was true.

    Moreover¡­

    [¡°I ¡°brainwashed¡± you since we were three years old so you¡¯d love me to death.¡±]

    Hah!

    That brazen girl dered that Nero loved her to death. It sounded ridiculous. However¡­

    [Why can¡¯t I refute it?]

    There was something else that bothered him, though.

    [¡°You love me more than you love our parents. But Calyx erased me from your memories. In fact, he put a very powerful curse that erased me from everyone¡¯s memories.¡±]

    Calyx erased his memories?

    Was there such a powerful curse in existence?

    [And it worked on ME?]

    He couldn¡¯t believe that because William and the Queen of the Spirit World had been by his side all this time.

    [I¡¯m sure they would have protected me if I was cursed.]

    ¡°Nero?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to check the Royal Treasury,¡± Nero said as he got up. ¡°I need to see if anything was stolen.¡±

    ¡°Take me with you,¡± Calyx said, tilting his head to one side. ¡°Please?¡±

    ***

    CALYX smiled at Sanford Devon, Raku, and Melvin Luchessi who were all waiting outside Nero¡¯s room. ¡°Nero is already awake.¡±

    His brother¡¯s knights looked relieved.

    [It worked.]

    He had to borrow the power of the new saint to erase the memories of Sanford Devon, Raku, and Melvin Luchessi because the three heard his conversation with Neoma de Moonasterio.

    [These people shouldn¡¯t know that Neoma de Moonasterio is Nero¡¯s real twin sister.]

    .....

    ¡°Thank you foring to save us, Prince Calyx,¡± Sanford said while scratching his cheek. ¡°Sorry, we¡¯re not yet strong enough to protect Prince Nero from another¡­ uh, was thedy earlier a de Moonasterio?¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t know that yet,¡± Calyx said, smiling. ¡°As you know, it¡¯s easy to dye one¡¯s hair and eye color. And there¡¯s also a type of magic that could change your appearance.¡±

    Sanford said, nodding. ¡°I see. That makes sense. It¡¯s hard to believe that Prince Nero has a twin sister anyway.¡±

    Calyx smiled wider. ¡°Right? I¡¯m the only sibling Nero has.¡±

    ***

    [WE¡¯RE BACK as a wholesome couple.]

    Neoma was now having tea with a well-dressed Ruto, and they were still in his hotel room.

    ¡°Why did you want to talk to me?¡± Ruto asked while putting the teacup down on the table between them. ¡°You won¡¯t be here if it¡¯s not for something important.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m here because I was worried about you.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Ouch. Why do you look so surprised? I¡¯m offended.¡±

    ¡°I guess I didn¡¯t expect that you¡¯d personally visit me as soon as you got back just because you¡¯re worried about me?¡± he said, shrugging. ¡°I thought you¡¯d hear the report from your ¡°children¡± first.¡±

    ¡°Of course, I already did that,¡± she said. ¡°Paige is a good aide, you know? Her reports are short but informative.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    ¡°Paige and Hanna seeded in making Regina Crowell talk about her power,¡± she said. ¡°Apparently, Regina Crowell can turn back time in one¡¯s body. That¡¯s how she was able to turn me into a child before, and how she managed to turn Hanna¡¯s body to the time that she wasn¡¯t immune to poison yet.¡±

    Ruto drank his tea. ¡°I see.¡±

    ¡°As expected, you¡¯re no longer surprised,¡± Neoma said, then she sipped her tea before she asked. ¡°Did you use Regina Crowell¡¯s power to revive me during the first timeline?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Is that why you haven¡¯t killed Regina Crowell yet even though you could have killed her easily if you really wanted to?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Ruto didn¡¯t have to answer verbally because Neoma could tell that her hypothesis was correct.

    [It¡¯s probably why the old Neoma told me not to kill Regina yet.]

    However¡­

    ¡°It seems like both you and the old Neoma aren¡¯t allowed to talk about Regina Crowell¡¯s power,¡± Neoma said, observing Ruto who hadn¡¯t made ament yet regarding the issue. ¡°It¡¯s alright if you¡¯re not allowed to talk about it, Ruto. I¡¯ll just figure it out on my own.¡±

    ¡°Regina Crowell¡¯s power isn¡¯t something you should handle carelessly,¡± Ruto said in a serious tone. ¡°And even if I sacrifice my life to revive you using that power, it won¡¯t be enough.¡±

    She almost dropped the teacup in her hand.

    As she said earlier, she knew how to read between the lines.

    Hence, she easily understood what Ruto was trying to say.

    [To revive me during the first timeline, several people were sacrificed¡­]

    The teacup in Neoma¡¯s hand broke into tiny pieces.

    Although the tea was still hot, it didn¡¯t burn her.

    In fact, the tea didn¡¯t even touch her skin since Ruto moved his hand, causing the tea to suddenly disappear into thin air.

    On the other hand, the broken pieces didn¡¯t even scratch her.

    After all, the de Moonasterio had thick skins¨C literally. They had a sturdy body, remember? People often said that the Royal Family had bodies as sturdy as a dragon¡¯s.

    ¡°This is why the old me didn¡¯t want you to remember the past,¡± Ruto said while looking at her indifferently. ¡°And I can¡¯t say more than I already had. This cursed body of mine gets weaker each time you remember something important from the first timeline.¡±

    ¡°I know that, that¡¯s why I¡¯m not asking anything anymore,¡± Neoma said, then she stood up. ¡°Now that I see that you¡¯re fine, I¡¯ll take my leave then. Don¡¯t worry, I haven¡¯t forgotten about our deal. If you need my helpter, I¡¯lle running to you.¡±

    ¡°Wait.¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    Ruto stood up in front of her. ¡°Is that really all you need from me?¡±

    ¡°What are you going to ask in return if I say what I really want from you?¡±

    ¡°Nothing,¡± he said. ¡°You¡¯re in a bad mood, and I feel like you¡¯re going to destroy a building or two if I let you leave just like this.¡±

    She raised an eyebrow at him. ¡°So, you want to appease me?¡±

    He just shrugged.

    ¡°You SHOW me what you think I need from you,¡± she challenged him. ¡°I won¡¯t sue you if you do.¡±

    Ruto just looked at her¡­

    ¡­ then he gently grabbed her wrist and hugged her tight.

    ¡°Is this the correct answer?¡±

    Neoma closed her eyes and nodded as she wrapped her arms around Ruto¡¯s waist. ¡°The only correct answer.¡±

    [Gosh, my man smells so good.]

    Ruto¡¯s body was also warm and solid.

    [I can totally fall asleep in this position.]

    If she could get a hug from Ruto after working all day, then she¡¯d reconsider living azy life.

    [I¡¯d be a workaholic FOR THIS.]

    Neoma pouted and grumbled when she remembered something important.¡±You should have done this earlier.¡±

    ¡°When I was half-naked?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t let anyone know that the empire¡¯s one and only royal princess is a pervert,¡± Ruto said, sighing. ¡°And I¡¯m only hugging you to appease you, Neoma. Don¡¯t get your hopes up.¡±

    Neoma just smiled and hugged Ruto tighter. ¡°Sorry, but I do what I want, babe.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 666 - 666 THE NEW "SAINT"

    666 THE NEW ¡°SAINT¡±

    THE ROYAL Treasury was on fire.

    Nero clenched his hands tight while looking at the pink me embracing every single shelf in the treasury. Fortunately, the treasures weren¡¯t on fire.

    [Not yet, at least.]

    <¡°Your Royal Highness, I apologize but can¡¯t put the fire out.¡±>

    It was Mira, the Water Spirit he gained when he stayed at the Spirit World a few years back.

    Nero turned to Mira¨C a Water Spirit the size of his palm while riding a mini wave of water¨C who was floating in front of his face. ¡°Do you what kind of me it is? It¡¯s the first time I saw a pink me.¡±

    <¡°It¡¯s red me dyed in pink, Your Royal Highness. And if I¡¯m not mistaken, the is from an adult dragon.¡±>

    Mira was a high-level Water Spirit. Hence, her hunch should be correct.

    He frowned when he realized Neoma had a dragon for a Soul Beast.

    .....

    [And yet she didn¡¯t use her Soul Beast when she fought me? Was she looking down on me, hence the Elemental Guardian?]

    But he couldn¡¯t really say much.

    After all, Zeru still lost even though Neoma only used the White Lion to fight instead of her dragon Soul Beast.

    ¡°We should keep this a secret from everyone else.¡±

    Nero turned to Calyx.

    Because his older brother was only a guest of the chosen heir, Calyx¡¯s feet didn¡¯t even touch the ground. The First Prince was inside a semi-transparent sphere that was preventing him from touching any part of the Royal Treasury.

    No one could force the rightful heir to the throne to bring them inside the Royal Treasury. If the heir felt threatened, the Royal Treasury would never open.

    Hence, the fact that Nero brought Calyx inside of his free will made his brother a guest.

    ¡°Yeah, we should keep this a secret from everyone else.¡±

    Nero answered mindlessly since his brain was still busy thinking about another person.

    [Neoma didn¡¯t force me to bring her to the Royal Treasury, and she wasn¡¯t treated like a guest. Her feet touched the ground, and she even stole some items before she set the treasury on fire. So how did that happen?]

    Nero clenched his hands tight as an ominous feeling took over his system.

    If any de Moonasterio coulde inside the Royal Treasury normally, then Calyx should havended on his feet when they arrived there. But it didn¡¯t happen.

    [Why does the throne recognize that girl as an heir, too?]

    Come to think of it, even Neoma¡¯s Soul Beast that was in his human form was able to walk around the Royal Treasury normally.

    ¡°Calyx, I¡¯m going to send you out now.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll be staying here longer?¡±

    Nero nodded before avoiding his brother¡¯s gaze. ¡°I need to check which items were stolen.¡±

    He had already memorized the list of all the items stored in the Royal Treasury.

    Normal people would have a hard time memorizing the entire list because it was VAST, but he wasn¡¯t a normal person. His brain was built for things like that since he was meant to take the throne.

    [In short, I was born to be the next emperor.]

    ¡°Alright, you do that,¡± Calyx said, smiling at him. ¡°I need to personally take care of our precious guest anyway.¡±

    ¡°Ah, right,¡± Nero said, nodding. ¡°The new saint has finally arrived.¡±

    ***

    ¡°THAT DAMNED princess.¡±

    Calyx cursed under his breath while walking in the hallway leading to the room of their esteemed guest.

    Since the guest was very special, Nero lent the entire third floor to him.

    The entire floor was heavily secured by his people. He was talking about the crows, of course. Even the servants who were allowed to serve the esteemed guest were their people.

    ¡°Ah, someone is angry~¡±

    ¡°Did the royal princess empty the Royal Treasury?¡±

    The two people guarding the esteemed guest¡¯s room were his cousins Owen and Rowena.

    [Yeah, they¡¯re siblings and they¡¯re currently posing as royal knights assigned to protect me.]

    ¡°Princess Neoma didn¡¯t empty the Royal Treasury,¡± Calyx said, sighing. ¡°But she took all the items that originally belong to the crows.¡±

    It took him five years to find all the items that they needed in the Royal Treasury.

    Of course, he had to gain Nero¡¯s trust first.

    It wasn¡¯t easy to do, so he would always ask his brother to bring him to the Royal Treasury as a birthday present. During those times, he would look for the items in the list that His Excellency had given him. It wasn¡¯t easy to search for them since most items were ced in the ssified area.

    But he still seeded to memorize where the items he needed were stored.

    And he was supposed to harvest those items this year.

    ¡°All the important items are gone,¡± Calyx said, shaking his head. ¡°I wonder how Princess Neoma found out that those items belong to the crows.¡±

    ¡°The royal princess isn¡¯t a bone in our throat for nothing,¡± Rowena said while shaking her head. ¡°She has already lived quietly for the past five years with her parents. They should have just continued living quietly. Why did they have to return just when Prince Nero is about to seize the throne?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± Owen said, putting a hand on Rowena¡¯s shoulder. ¡°The curse hasn¡¯t been broken yet. Even if Princess Neoma has returned, she can¡¯t do anything since the Royal Pce and the majority of the nobles are already in our hands. Moreover¡­¡±

    Owen and Rowen both turned to the door of the esteemed guest¡¯s room and spoke at the same time. ¡°We have the new saint by our side.¡±

    Calyx smiled and nodded in agreement. ¡°Open the door, please.¡±

    His cousins nodded politely before opening the door for him.

    ¡°You¡¯re here?¡±

    Calyx smiled at the ten-year-old boy with rose-gold hair and clear blue eyes. ¡°Were you bored, Dustin?¡±

    Dustin was the new saint that the crows created.

    [And this child would help me cement my position as the empire¡¯s real First Star.]

    ¡°How long do I have to stay in here?¡± Dustin, who was plopped on the sofa while eating grapes, asked in a bored tone. ¡°I want to y outside, and I also want to spend time with the Crown Prince.¡±

    He raised an eyebrow at the child. ¡°Why would you spend time with Nero? He¡¯s mine.¡±

    Calyx almost sacrificed his lifepleting the curse that would make Nero forget about Neoma in order to monopolize his time and affection.

    [I won¡¯t let this child steal Nero from me.]

    ¡°Prince Nero¡¯s divine power is unbelievable. Whenever he¡¯s near, I feel like he¡¯s filling the missing void in my soul.¡±

    ¡°Child, stop being dramatic.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m being serious,¡± Dustin said, then he put a hand over his chest. ¡°I¡¯m an iplete saint. I need more divine power toplete me. Every time I see Prince Nero, I¡¯m tempted to eat his divine power since he already has too much of it.¡±

    Calyx scoffed. ¡°Nero will kill you once you try to ¡°eat¡± his divine power. He¡¯s not a generous person.¡±

    ¡°I know!¡± the child agreed while nodding eagerly. ¡°He doesn¡¯t even greet me properly even though I¡¯m the new saint! He looks at me as if he¡¯s above me¡­¡± He trailed off, then he shook his head. ¡°No, that¡¯s not right. Prince Nero doesn¡¯t even look at me as if I¡¯m not worth his time. He calls me an ¡°esteemed¡± guest and gives me all the special treatment possible, but the way he looks at me is disrespectful.¡±

    Calyx smiled, happy with what he heard from the saint. ¡°I¡¯m the only person Nero respects here.¡±

    ¡°Pfft!¡±

    His smile slowly faded.

    [Did this child justugh at me?]

    ¡°Prince Nero isn¡¯t disrespectful to you, but I see no warmth in the way he looks at you, Calyx.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not true.¡±

    ¡°Sure, I won¡¯t burst your bubble if it makes you happy.¡±

    Calyx let his bloodlust leak. ¡°Dustin, you may be the new saint. But the crows can rece you anytime we want.¡±

    ¡°Right,¡± Dustin said, shrugging. ¡°But do you have time to create a new saint when Princess Neoma is already back¨C and she¡¯s probably with the REAL saint at the moment?¡±

    ***

    [THEY ALL died at the same time.]

    And it was gruesome.

    Glenn clenched his jaw when he realized he was covered in blood from head to toe. Of course, it wasn¡¯t his blood.

    .....

    ¡°It¡¯s the Oath of Silence.¡±

    Glenn turned to Warren Fletcher and nodded his head. ¡°And it¡¯s a powerful one.¡±

    He didn¡¯t enjoy torturing people even though they were enemies, but he had to do it this time to protect his family and their kingdom since it was their home.

    The Fletcher Twins, among the Pdins, were the ones who were good at torture.

    They sessfully ¡°convinced¡± the prisoners to speak, but all of a sudden, the assassins caught EXPLODED one by one. Only their blood and some flesh were left.

    ¡°It seems that they made the Oath of Silence collectively. It¡¯s the type where if one opened their mouth, then the others would die with him at the same time,¡± Wyatt Fletcher agreed with him. ¡°I bet the remaining assassins died already.¡±

    Right now, Glenn was in the torture chambers of the pce with the Fletcher Twins.

    That was where they brought the twenty leaders of the thousand assassins that tried to infiltrate Hazelden¡¯s capital.

    [Yes, we caught them all.]

    Of course, the majority of the assassins already died during the fight.

    [Juri Wisteria is a little¡­ uhm, let¡¯s just say she deserves to be on the vanguard.]

    The remaining assassins were in a different prison with Jeanne Audley and Geoffrey Kinsley.

    ¡°Now that they¡¯re dead, we can¡¯t gather the evidence we need to prove that Calyx Dalton sent these assassins to create a conflict between the empire and the Hazelden Kingdom,¡± Glenn said, sighing. ¡°The crows are more meticulous than we thought.¡±

    The Fletcher Twins nodded in agreement.

    ¡°Your Majesty, leave the cleaning to us,¡± Warren said, addressing him by his title even though he told his friends it wasn¡¯t necessary. ¡°I can feel Princess Monik¡¯s presence outside.¡±

    Wyatt nodded in agreement. ¡°You can¡¯t greet the princess while you¡¯re covered in blood, though.¡±

    Glenn was about to ask the Fletcher Twins to bring him some new clothes when, all of a sudden, his chest tightened. Then, for some reason, Skylus¡¯ image entered his mind. ¡°Skylus,¡± he whispered to himself worriedly. ¡°Are you alright, my son?¡±

    ***

    ¡°EOMMA, Prince Skylus¡¯ fever isn¡¯ting down.¡±

    Neoma looked at Skylus, who was covered in sweat while sleeping on the bed, and rolled the sleeves of her blouse.

    When she returned to the hotel room that Greko and Skylus were using, she was surprised when her youngest pulled her inside in a hurry.

    That was when she realized the situation.

    ¡°I fed Skylus medicine suited for his age, but it¡¯s not working,¡± Greko said worriedly. ¡°Eomma, it¡¯s not a normal fever, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Yep, it¡¯s not a normal fever. But don¡¯t worry since it¡¯s not life-threatening,¡± Neoma assured her youngest, then she turned to him. ¡°Greko, dear, leave the room first.¡±

    ¡°Eomma, may I know what you¡¯re going to do with Prince Skylus?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to return what originally belongs to him.¡±

    Greko fell silent for a moment, then he gasped softly. ¡°His divine power?¡±

    ¡°A portion of his divine power, to be precise,¡± Neoma said, cing a hand on Skylus¡¯ chest. She frowned in worry when she noticed that the baby saint¡¯s heart was thumping hard and fast against his chest. ¡°Tsk. Why does a child have to be in pain just because he needs to be the representative of a god?¡±

    Neoma didn¡¯t care if the said god was her ancestor.

    Tsk.

    [Dear gods, if you¡¯re going to make children work, then at least make sure they¡¯re not going to be in pain!]

    ***

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 Chapter 667 - 667 THE REAL SAINT

    667 THE REAL SAINT

    [¡°NEOMA, baby, I will now put the new saint¡¯s divine power in your care. I¡¯ll also teach you how to return it to Prince Skylus once the right timees. You¡¯re a de Moonasterio, so it should be easy for you to learn the ropes.¡±]

    It was a lie.

    Mama Boss lied when she said it was ¡°easy.¡±

    Neoma could still remember the chilling days when her Mama Boss taught her how to store someone else¡¯s divine power in her own body.

    Taking out the divine power and handing it over to another person was worse.

    [And painful.]

    Right now, Neoma was going through the same pain that she went through while training under Mama Boss a few years back.

    ¡°It hurts! My chest burns! Noona, it¡¯s painful!¡±

    Neoma frowned while listening to Skylus¡¯ agonizing cry.

    .....

    [This is why I asked Greko to leave the room¨C I didn¡¯t want him to see Skylus suffer.]

    Skylus couldn¡¯t even open his eyes even though he was in too much pain.

    If she could take the pain away from the baby saint, then she would do it in a heartbeat. She hated seeing children in pain, after all.

    But this was something that Skylus had to go through to be the new saint.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Baby Skylus,¡± Neoma said while pressing her hands against Skylus¡¯ tiny chest. She was pushing the saint¡¯s divine power back into his body and soul. ¡°I know it hurts, but hang in there, baby. Once we¡¯re done here, I promise to protest on your behalf.¡±

    She wanted to curse so badly, but she didn¡¯t want a child who was already in pain to listen to swear words.

    ¡°Noona¡­¡± Skylus cried, his closed eyes still brimming with tears. ¡°Why does it hurt so much? Why is my divine power hurting me?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, baby,¡± Neoma said, her voice full of remorse. ¡°Because we took your divine power away when you were born, your physical body and divine power had an understanding that you already rejected the position of the new saint.¡±

    It was something that Manu, the Moon Priest, exined to her in the past.

    ¡°Hence, your divine power is rejecting you this time,¡± she continued with her exnation. ¡°But it doesn¡¯t mean that your divine power hates you, baby. It¡¯s just rejecting you because it¡¯s making sure that you¡¯re taking it back of your own free will.¡±

    ¡°Noona¡­ is my divine power¡­ alive?¡±

    ¡°You can say that,¡± she said, nodding. ¡°So, please help the divine power understand that this is your will, Skylus¨C that it¡¯s you who wanted to be the new saint.¡±

    Skylus fell silent for a moment.

    Then, much to Neoma¡¯s surprise, the baby saint opened his eyes and put his hands over her hands that were pressed against his chest.

    ¡°I like the look in your eyes, Saint Skylus.¡±

    It was too early to address the child with the saint title, but she couldn¡¯t help it.

    Neoma felt like she was staring at the holy man that Skylus would be in the future.

    [It¡¯s his eyes.]

    Skylus¡¯ eyes had sparkles in it¨C sparkles that only the representatives of gods possessed.

    ¡°You¡¯re doing well, Skylus,¡± Neoma said firmly. ¡°I¡¯m going to pour more divine power into you, so endure it.¡±

    Skylus looked her in the eye and nodded determinedly. ¡°I will persist, noona.¡±

    ***

    HANNA could hear it.

    She could clearly hear the painful cries of Prince Skylus.

    [And I¡¯m not the only one who can hear the child¡¯s cries.]

    The room was silent, even though it was full of people.

    Lewis, Dahlia, Greko, Lady Paige, and Hanna¡¯s parents were there.

    None of them could open their mouth as they listened to Prince Skylus cry out in pain.

    Greko looked the worst, though. The young Healer looked pale while listening to the new saint¡¯s cries. It was as if Greko wanted to run to the other room and help ease Prince Skylus¡¯ pain.

    But Lady Paige was holding Greko¡¯s hand tight, keeping him in ce.

    It was probably Neoma¡¯s order to not let the youngest enter the room.

    [I know Neoma well, so I know Neoma wouldn¡¯t want Greko to see Skylus in pain.]

    Now Hanna was annoyed because both children had to go through something that no child should go through.

    [Why does being a saint has to be that painful? Prince Skylus is still a baby¡­]

    Thankfully, after a few minutes, the next room finally fell silent.

    Of course, they could all feel the birth of the new saint since only his existence could exude such pure divine power.

    Everyone looked relieved.

    [Good job, Prince Skylus. You worked hard.]

    Neoma did a fine job, too, as usual.

    CRASH!

    The silence in the room was broken when Lord Ruto suddenly appeared out of nowhere while dragging a man by his neck.

    Unfortunately, the twonded on the center table¨C causing it to break in two.

    ¡°I apologize, everyone¨C I teleported in the wrong room,¡± Lord Ruto said, bowing ever slightly to everyone before heading towards the door. Then he stopped in front of Dahlia. ¡°Can youe with us, Miss Dahlia? We need your power to ease the new saint¡¯s pain.¡±

    Dahlia immediately stood up while nodding. ¡°Of course, Lord Ruto.¡±

    Ruto addressed everyone with an intense gaze before heading towards the door once again. ¡°Please excuse us.¡±

    And, just like that, Lord Ruto disappeared with Dahlia while grabbing another man¡¯s neck.

    The man in question was¡­

    ¡°It was Lord Manu, wasn¡¯t it?¡± Hanna asked, breaking the silence once again. ¡°Did we just see Lord Ruto drag the Moon Priest by the neck?¡±

    Everyone, except for Lewis, could only nod in disbelief.

    ¡°He¡¯s not a nice person,¡± Lewis said while frowning. ¡°He¡¯s deceiving Princess Neoma.¡±

    Hanna smiled awkwardly at Lewis.

    [My friend, Princess Neoma knows Lord Ruto isn¡¯t exactly a nice person. But she¡¯s willing to look past it because she likes him that much.]

    She didn¡¯t want to hurt Lewis, so she just kept those thoughts to herself.

    ¡°What did you say, Xion?¡±

    Everyone turned to Lady Paige this time.

    The mage was obviously talking to themunication device attached to her ear. It was different from other devices in this world because it was modeled after an item called ¡®earbuds¡¯ in the other world.

    ¡°What? Is Lord Hawthorne okay?¡±

    Lady Paige then stood up and excused herself as she headed towards the balcony.

    Lewis and Greko also stood up and politely excused themselves before following Lady Paige.

    Something terrible definitely happened.

    [But I hope they¡¯re fine.]

    Hanna couldn¡¯t help but sigh, though.

    [If something bad indeed happened, then Neoma would get busy again when she hasn¡¯t had a decent rest yet ever since she returned.]

    ¡°Hanna, sweetheart, I believe it¡¯s time for me and your mother to return home.¡±

    ¡°I agree, Father,¡± Hanna agreed with what her father said while nodding politely. ¡°Please return home first. I¡¯lle home once Neoma is done helping the new saint regain his divine powerpletely.¡±

    She was aware that Neoma didn¡¯t particrly need her help. But she still wanted to stay by her cousin-sh-best friend¡¯s side.

    [I¡¯ll make sure to give Neoma a break after all of this.]

    ¡°Hanna, sweetie, was it House Drayton?¡±

    It was her mother who asked that question, but she almost didn¡¯t recognize her own mother¡¯s voice.

    [This is the first time I heard Mother talk so coldly¡­]

    Hanna got the chills.

    .....

    From the corner of her eyes, she could see that her father also had the same reaction.

    [Ah, so Father is scared of Mother when she¡¯s angry.]

    ¡°Was it House Drayton that has been supporting Regina Crowell all this time?¡± her mother asked, her voice and expression still cold. ¡°And did you say Rubin Drayton himself tried to kill you?¡±

    At the reminder that Rubin Drayton tried to kill her, even her father¡¯s face turned grim.

    ¡°Duke Drayton isn¡¯t involved. I think,¡± Hanna said hesitantly. This was the first time in a while that she saw her parents get this angry, so she was a little spooked. But at the same time, she also felt touched because she knew that her mother and father were THIS angry because they loved her THAT much. ¡°But Rubin Drayton has been Regina Crowell¡¯s puppet all this time.¡±

    She was aware that Rubin Drayton was showing signs of having a split personality.

    [Neoma also suspected that Rubin Drayton doesn¡¯t know what he¡¯s doing most of the time.]

    Even so, Hanna couldn¡¯t find it in her heart to sympathize with Rubin Drayton.

    [I almost died twice at Regina Crowell¡¯s hands. Even if Rubin Drayton is only her puppet, I won¡¯t lower my guard.]

    ¡°It seems like Regina Crowell is sticking to Rubin Drayton like glue for money and power.¡±

    ¡°Then we¡¯ll take the money and power that House Drayton has,¡± her mother said firmly, then she turned to Hanna¡¯s father. ¡°Is that possible, darling?¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± Hanna¡¯s father said in a calm yet firm manner. ¡°House Quinzel is way above House Drayton in every aspect, darling.¡±

    Oho?

    Well, she knew that House Quinzel was arguably the richest noble household in the empire. But House Drayton was a noble household that was powerful and influential all over the entire continent even though their household wasn¡¯t a part of the Twelve Golden Families.

    And yet, despite that, her mother and father still talked like House Drayton was just a small noble family from the countryside.

    Hanna could only smile while listening to her parents talk.

    [Mother and Father are so cool.]

    ***

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 Chapter 668 - 668 NOT A NICE GUY

    668 NOT A NICE GUY

    [Earlier¡­]

    ¡°I KNOW you¡¯re listening, soe here already.¡±

    Trevor undid the stealth magic that he covered himself with earlier. ¡°So, you used Regina Crowell¡¯s power to save Princess Neoma in the first timeline?¡±

    To be honest, he put a listening device in Ruto¡¯s hotel room because he knew Princess Neoma woulde there as soon as they returned from the pce.

    Yes, he was shamelessly eavesdropping on Ruto and Princess Neoma¡¯s conversation.

    [In my defense, I heard about what Hanna Quinzel discovered about Regina Crowell¡¯s power. I know Princess Neoma and the damned chef would discuss it, but I also know that Princess Neoma might not share their conversation with me. Moreover, I need to hide the fact that Ruto has a slight idea about Princess Neoma¡¯s lifespan because of my big mouth.]

    Trevor got his karma for eavesdropping, though.

    [I didn¡¯t need to listen to Princess Neoma and that damned chef flirting with each other.]

    ¡°You listened to my conversation with Neoma, so I¡¯m pretty sure you know I can¡¯t talk about it.¡±

    .....

    Trevor plopped down on the sofa uninvited. ¡°Can you teach me how to use Regina Crowell¡¯s power, then?¡±

    Ruto, who was sitting on the ent chair next to the sofa, looked at Trevor with an unfathomable look on his face. ¡°How many years does she have left?¡±

    ¡°I asked first.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m your ¡°hyung,¡± so be a good little brother and answer mine first.¡±

    Trevor didn¡¯t want to admit this, but the pressure leaking out of Ruto¡¯s powerful body was pretty heavy.

    If he was an ordinary person, he would have been crushed by the pressure already. But since he was a great Sorcerer, he could sit there as if he was unaffected. He had cold sweats, though. Not that he¡¯d admit that.

    ¡°Not much,¡± Trevor said, then he cleared his throat when he realized that his voice sounded weak earlier. ¡°I can¡¯t tell you the exact number, but it¡¯s not much.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Why do you look like you¡¯re about to kill someone?¡± Trevor confronted Ruto. ¡°If you have no intention of loving Princess Neoma back, then stop caring about her.¡±

    Ruto looked confused. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.¡±

    ¡°Sure,¡± Trevor said,ughing bitterly. ¡°I¡¯ll pretend you didn¡¯t look like your world crumbled after you confirmed that Princess Neoma only has a few years to live.¡±

    Ruto just looked at him indifferently.

    [If looks could kill, I would have dropped dead already.]

    Trevor slowly avoided the damned chef¡¯s gaze.

    [Why is he so scary? The old Ruto wasn¡¯t this intimidating. Was he pretending to be nice and calm before because he wanted to look good in front of Princess Neoma?]

    Sly bastard.

    ¡°To use Regina Crowell¡¯s power to turn back a person¡¯s time during the time they were still alive, you either have to sacrifice at least ten thousand people with Mana,¡± Ruto exined. ¡°Or a few strong individuals with strength equal to ten thousand Mana-users.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Neoma is very strong, that¡¯s why you¡¯d need that amount of lives sacrificed,¡± Ruto continued with his exnation. ¡°And you also need to sacrifice people with strong divine power since Neoma has it. Hence, you might need to sacrifice saints or at least High Priests.¡±

    ¡°Or Prince Nero?¡±

    The damned chef looked surprised, but he still nodded. ¡°Yes, Prince Nero will be the perfect sacrifice since he also has Roseheart Blood in him.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a relief.¡±

    ¡°Are you going to sacrifice a few strong individuals then?¡±

    ¡°That will be hard because the strongest people in the world are by Princess Neoma¡¯s side,¡± Trevor said, leaning against the chair. ¡°On the other hand, it¡¯s easy to gather ten thousand Mana-users.¡±

    The crows should be at least a thousand people, right?

    ¡°What choice did you make back then?¡±

    Ruto fell silent for a few moments before he answered. ¡°I didn¡¯t have much time back then, so gathering a few strong individuals was easier.¡±

    Trevor smirked at the damned chef. ¡°Come to think of it, Princess Neoma doesn¡¯t remember what happened to Emperor Niki during the first timeline. Moreover, she doesn¡¯t also remember Saint Dominic back then.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Did the end justify the means?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m one to talk,¡± Trevor said, shrugging as Ruto continued to answer him in silence. ¡°Whether the end justifies the means or not, I will still use Regina Crowell¡¯s power if I have to.¡±

    ¡°Whatever choice you make, she¡¯ll still end up hating you.¡±

    ¡°Is that the reason why you and Princess Neoma had a fall-out in the first timeline?¡± Trevor asked, smiling while shaking his head. ¡°My Moon Princess probably btedly realized that you sacrificed people to bring her back to life.¡±

    ¡°Trevor Kesser, you¡¯re smart.¡±

    ¡°I know?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re smart, so you should know better than provoking me,¡± Ruto said in an eerily calm manner. ¡°I held back before because you¡¯re Neoma¡¯s precious friend. But I don¡¯t care about that anymore. If you annoy me more than you already had, I¡¯ll send you back to the hell you came from. This time, I¡¯ll make sure not even Neoma could set you free.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    That was scarier than death, hence Trevor was left speechless.

    [Princess Neoma, you¡¯ve been deceived. Ruto isn¡¯t the good and thoughtful person you thought he was. He was only nice to your people in the past because he didn¡¯t want you to hate him. But now that his feelings for you have changed, he¡¯s already showing his true colors.]

    In reality, Ruston ¡®Ruto¡¯ Solfrid Stroganoff was a vicious bastard.

    [Well, that¡¯s how he should be as the God yer.]

    ¡°Hyung, you shouldn¡¯t be bullying your adorable little brother.¡±

    ¡°Then act like an adorable little brother and stop cursing me with your gaze.¡±

    Trevor covered his eyes with his hands. ¡°I¡¯m not cursing you with my gaze.¡±

    Ruto just let out a sigh.

    And then the two of them both stood up and talked at the same time, saying the same words. ¡°The Darkness is moving.¡±

    [Here¡¯s the thing: we¡¯re both sensitive to Darkness.]

    Ruto, as the God yer, was keeping a close eye on the Darkness to avoid the repeat of the Absolute Darkness that almost swallowed up the world during the Ancient Period.

    On the other hand, it was Trevor¡¯s job to make sure that the Darkness wouldn¡¯t emerge from the Underworld as the unofficial heir of the Devil, Aruna de Moonasterio.

    [Ah, right. I¡¯m now the unofficial heir of the Devil now that Princess Nichole is no longer the Devil.]

    He had no intention of epting the position, but he was too scared of Aruna de Moonasterio to reject her offer. Hence, he said he would ¡°think about it.¡± But he didn¡¯t say how long he¡¯d consider it, though.

    ¡°It¡¯s Helstor.¡±

    Trevor turned to Ruto, and he realized the damned chef had a semi-transparent scroll floating in front of his face.

    [It¡¯s a type ofmunication device simr to an old phone that could only send and receive text messages.]

    ¡°I sent my subordinates to Helstor¡¯sir since I feel weird recently,¡± Ruto exined when he turned to Trevor. ¡°They said Helstor left hisir for the first time in years.¡±

    Trevor was wondering why Helstor suddenly went out of hisir when it happened.

    Prince Skylus¡¯ weak divine power spiked out of nowhere.

    ¡°Ouch,¡± Trevor said, wincing. ¡°The baby saint must be in so much pain right now. The remaining divine power in his body is trying to leave him.¡±

    There were only a few reasons why the baby saint was suffering, and all of them were bad.

    ¡°Neoma is probably with the new saint. Go and assist her,¡± Ruto ordered Trevor in a hurry while his body was disappearing quickly. ¡°I¡¯ll just grab a drunkard first.¡±

    And just like that, the scary hyung was gone.

    ¡°Ruto also knows how to use long-distance teleportation?¡± Trevor asked in disbelief, as teleportation¨C especially the long-distance ones¨C was one of the hardest skills to obtain. ¡°Tsk. The gods must really love that punk a lot.¡±

    ***

    [MY DIVINE power is getting absorbed¡­]

    Neoma had safely transferred Skylus¡¯ divine power back to him. Hence, the child had already fallen asleep.

    And that was when the new problem began.

    Skylus was now trying to absorb her Moonglow aka her divine power. It was as if the new saint¡¯s divine power was trying to fill the void in Skylus¡¯ soul because it was iplete.

    [Argh!]

    She was trying to pull her hands away from Skylus¡¯ chest, but she couldn¡¯t since the strong force inside the child¡¯s body was sucking in her divine power.

    ¡°Please excuse me for a moment, my Moon Princess.¡±

    .....

    It was Trevor.

    The demon boy appeared behind her and wrapped an arm around her waist. It was done in a respectful manner, of course.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to inject some Darkness in Prince Skylus¡¯ body.¡±

    Neoma wanted to re at Trevor but she couldn¡¯t move at the moment. ¡°Are you crazy? Both of you are going to get hurt.¡±

    ¡°We won¡¯t.¡±

    After saying that, Trevor ced really put a small amount of Darkness in Skylus¡¯ body. At the same time that he did, he pulled her away.

    Much to Neoma¡¯s surprise, she was able to remove her hands from the baby saint¡¯s chest.

    It was probably because Skylus¡¯ divine power moved and worked to purify the Darkness that tried to enter the new saint¡¯s body.

    ¡°Ah,¡± Neoma said when she realized Trevor¡¯s method worked. ¡°I didn¡¯t think about using that method.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s because you would never try to harm your people in any way,¡± Trevor said while removing his arm around her waist. ¡°Are you alright, Princess Neoma?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but I¡¯m worried about Skylus,¡± she said, then she looked at the baby saint. The boy was sleeping peacefully, but it wasn¡¯t over yet. ¡°I was only taught how to transfer his divine power back to him, but I don¡¯t know how to help him stabilize his divine power.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that,¡± the demon boy said casually. ¡°We have Lord Levi¡¯s divine son here. He knows more about divine power than we do.¡±

    ¡°Even the Bookworm doesn¡¯t know about divine power that much?¡±

    He nodded. ¡°The gods don¡¯t want any of their weaknesses leaked, so they have always been wary of the Bookworm.¡±

    She was about to ask something else, but the sudden shift in the air made her stop.

    ¡°I¡¯mte.¡±

    It was Ruto who entered the room with Dahlia¡­

    ¡­ while dragging Manu by the neck.

    The Moon Priest looked pale as if he was afraid.

    Neoma nodded in approval while giving Ruto a double thumbs up. ¡°As expected of my man.¡±

    ***

    ¡°HELPING PRINCE Skylus stabilize his newly retrieved divine power will take a while, so please take a rest while waiting.¡±

    Neoma stared at Manu who was sitting on the chair next to the bed while holding Skylus¡¯ hand. The Moon Priest was obviously avoiding her gaze. ¡°Lord Manu, I¡¯m disappointed in you.¡±

    Manu flinched, and he didn¡¯t say a thing.

    ¡°As the Moon Priest, it¡¯s your duty to stay by Skylus¡¯ side until he¡¯s big enough to stand on his own two feet,¡± she said in an indifferent voice. ¡°But alcohol poisoning? Really?¡±

    It wasn¡¯t her hobby to scold sick people.

    But she could tell that Manu was already fine, hence she couldn¡¯t stop herself from getting upset. Having said that, she was still aware that it wasn¡¯t the right time to do that.

    ¡°We¡¯ll talk againter, Lord Manu,¡± Neoma said sternly. ¡°And we¡¯ll have a long talk.¡±

    Manu flinched again, but he nodded politely this time. ¡°I understand, Princess Neoma.¡±

    She just let out a long sigh.

    Then Neoma turned to Dahlia. ¡°Will you be staying here, Miss Dahlia?¡±

    Dahlia nodded awkwardly. ¡°I¡¯m actually not sure how I can help, Princess Neoma. But Lord Ruto said I can be of help¡­¡±

    The ck Witch then turned to Ruto.

    ¡°Prince Skylus¡¯ divine power is ¡°alive,¡± so it should recognize a ck Witch when it sees one,¡± Ruto exined. ¡°Divine powers don¡¯t work on ck Witches, hence Prince Skylus¡¯ divine power should know better than acting up in the presence of a ck Witch.¡±

    Neoma tilted her head. ¡°So, Miss Dahlia is here to scare Skylus¡¯ divine power?¡±

    [Like a scarecrow?]

    ¡°That and because among us, Miss Dahlia has the highest chance of catching the divine power if ever it escaped.¡±

    Dahlia¡¯s face turned red as if she was shy. ¡°I-I¡¯ll do my best to keep an eye on Prince Skylus¡¯ divine power.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± Neoma said while nodding approvingly. ¡°Since I can¡¯t help with stabilizing Skylus¡¯ divine power, then I leave it to your capable hands.¡±

    Dahlia smiled and nodded. ¡°Thank you for the trust, Princess Neoma.¡±

    Manu cleared his throat before speaking. ¡°I¡¯ll also do a good job, so don¡¯t be too harsh on meter.¡±

    Neoma didn¡¯t respond to the Moon Priest.

    ¡°You should rest,¡± Ruto said while looking at her. ¡°I¡¯ll stay here and help Lord Manu stabilize Prince Skylus¡¯ divine power.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s talkter, too,¡± Neoma said while turning her back on her man. ¡°We also have a lot of things to talk about, Ruto.¡±

    She was headed towards the door while Trevor was walking quietly behind her.

    And then it happened.

    Neoma¡¯s world suddenly spun.

    Huh?

    [I can¡¯t faint¨C I have so many things to do!]

    ***

    NOTE: In Ruto¡¯s defense, he¡¯s not a bad person. Haha! It¡¯s not like what he has shown Neoma before was all fake. He¡¯s just a grown man, a jaded one at that, who has already learned the art of detaching himself from other people. After all, as a God yer, he doesn¡¯t have the luxury to get too close to someone else as his job requires him to be neutral.

    Of course, Neoma is the exception. And he knows Neoma cares about her people a lot, hence he treats Neoma¡¯s people well.

    But, yeah... Ruto is originally indifferent. But his indifference is a little different from Lewis.

    Lewis just has a poker face, and although his world revolves around Neoma, he¡¯s still caring about other people (like Hanna and his ¡°siblings¡±).

    Ruto is indifferent in a way that he can cut you off when he needs to. He¡¯s that jaded since he has a lot of responsibility as the God yer and Lord Levi¡¯s divine son. He¡¯s just tired most of the time. Hehe.

    Sorry for the long rant.

    I¡¯ve always wanted to talk about Ruto, but I¡¯m afraid to do so since I know Ruto isn¡¯t a fan favorite. But I feel like discussing his personality right now because it¡¯s fascinating to me. LOL.

    Thanks for reading my essay. :>

    ***

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 Chapter 669 - 669 A LINE CROSSED

    669 A LINE CROSSED

    ¡°YOU SHOULD rest,¡± Ruto said while looking at her. ¡°I¡¯ll stay here and help Lord Manu stabilize Prince Skylus¡¯ divine power.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s talkter, too,¡± Neoma said while turning her back on her man. ¡°We also have a lot of things to talk about, Ruto.¡±

    She was headed towards the door while Trevor was walking quietly behind her.

    And then it happened.

    Neoma¡¯s world suddenly spinned.

    Huh?

    [I can¡¯t faint¨C I have so many things to do!]

    WILLPOWER.

    Thanks to Neoma¡¯s willpower and awesomeness, she managed to catch herself before she fell to the floor.

    .....

    She did that by rejuvenating herself to get rid of her dizziness.

    Thanks to Grandma Aruna, she learned how to heal light injuries. Fortunately, she could apply the same technique to herself.

    [As a royal princess, Grandma Aruna couldn¡¯t trust anyone in the pce during her time. Not even the physician in charge of her health. Hence, she secretly learned how to heal herself using our Moonglow. That was the technique that she passed down to me.]

    Heh.

    The de Moonasterion women were really awesome people.

    [¡°Thug princess, they must be disappointed.¡±]

    Huh?

    Neoma suddenly became conscious of her surroundings because of what Tteokbokki said.

    That was when she realized that Ruto and Trevor were standing in front of her, and the two looked like they were about to catch her.

    [Ah, they must have thought I was about to fall.]

    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Neoma said, smiling proudly. ¡°I got dizzy for a moment, but I fixed myself so I¡¯m fine now.¡±

    Trevor withdrew his waiting hands as if he was embarrassed. ¡°I forgot that you¡¯re Princess Neoma for a moment.¡±

    Heh.

    Ruto also withdraw his hands from their awkward position, but soon ced a hand on Neoma¡¯s head. ¡°I¡¯m going to pour some divine power into you, so try not to reject it.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not needed, though?¡± Neoma said, confused as to why Ruto would share his divine power with her. ¡°My Moonglow is overflowing.¡±

    ¡°That used to be the case, but I wonder why your Moonglow is a little low these days.¡±

    Ah.

    Neoma felt a chill down her spine when she remembered that she was currently using her excess Moonglow to hide her short lifespan. She thought nobody noticed that her Moonglow was low, but she should have known Ruto would notice.

    [He¡¯s like a ghost¨C he knows everything.]

    ¡°Princess Neoma is just probably tired because she¡¯s been busy these days,¡± Trevor said as if he was making an excuse for her. ¡°Moreover, she¡¯s trying to hide her Moonglow so people wouldn¡¯t notice that she¡¯s a de Moonasterio. Her existence is supposed to be a secret for now.¡±

    Whether Ruto believed it or not, she couldn¡¯t tell.

    [Gosh, I didn¡¯t know my man is good at having a poker face.]

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    That was only Ruto¡¯s response to Trevor¡¯s exnation.

    [Ah, I¡¯m still not used to this side of Ruto.]

    ¡°It¡¯s done,¡± Ruto said while removing his hand from the top of her head. ¡°You should rest in the meantime, babe.¡±

    Okay, Ruto calling her by their cheesy endearment made her heart flutter.

    [I know that straight couple are so annoying, but forgive us this time. Even though ¡®babe¡¯ is cringe-y, I still like hearing Ruto call me that way.]

    ¡°I¡¯ll try to rest if I have some free time,¡± Neoma said, waving at Ruto. ¡°See youter, babe.¡±

    Ruto just nodded politely in response.

    She knew that her man needed to assist Manu and Dahlia to stabilize Skylus¡¯ divine power, so she didn¡¯t hold him back more than she already had.

    Neoma left the room quietly with Trevor.

    And, this was really a clich¨¦ thing to say, but only then did she release the breath that she didn¡¯t know she was holding back.

    ¡°That was nerve-wracking, Trevor.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± Trevor asked, confused. ¡°What was nerve-wracking?¡±

    ¡°The moment Ruto noticed that my Moonglow is unusually low right now,¡± Neoma said, then she put a hand over her chest. Gosh, her heart was beating loud and fast against her chest. ¡°I thought I¡¯d be caught.¡±

    She already cut-off her link with Tteokbokki¡¯s mind, so the Soul Beast wouldn¡¯t be able to hear her conversation with Trevor.

    Hence, she didn¡¯t hesitate to bring up the talk about her lifespan to her chingu.

    ¡°Ruto is thest person I¡¯d want to know about my shortened lifespan.¡±

    Suddenly, Trevor coughed as if something was stuck in his throat.

    ¡°Hey, what happened?¡± Neoma asked worriedly while patting Trevor¡¯s back. ¡°Are you alright? Should I summon Soju and ask for some drinking water?¡±

    The demon boy just shook his head and avoided her gaze.

    [Aha! This punk is hiding something from me.]

    ¡°What is it?¡± Neoma confronted Trevor while ring at him. ¡°Spit it out while I¡¯m still asking nicely.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing, my Moon Princess,¡± Trevor said, his body already already turning translucent. ¡°Go and take some rest, Princess Neoma. I¡¯ll find youter.¡±

    She wanted to grab the demon boy and shake him until he confessed to her.

    But Trevor was faster than her.

    Neoma clicked her tongue in annoyance. ¡°I wonder what that punk did this time.¡±

    ***

    ¡°HANNA was returned home?¡± Nero asked Duke Quinzel for confirmation after His Grace delivered the good news. ¡°Is she safe and sound?¡±

    Duke Quinzel smiled and nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right, Prince Nero. Hanna is unharmed.¡±

    He knew the duke wouldn¡¯te to his pce so early in the morning, unannounced, if it wasn¡¯t important.

    Moreover, he knew that the duke would onlye to him to talk about Hanna.

    Hence, as soon as Melvin informed him of Duke Quinzel¡¯s sudden visit, he immediately asked his secretary to bring the duke to his private tearoom. Of course, the duke¡¯s visit would remain a secret for now.

    ¡°I¡¯m relieved to know that, Your Grace,¡± Nero said. ¡°I¡¯m d that Hanna is safe.¡±

    To be honest, he was surprised to know that he cared about Hanna as much as he did.

    [I thought she was just a puppet fianc¨¦e to me.]

    When the Empress Dowager and the Twelve Golden Families chose Hanna as the future Crown Princess, he didn¡¯t protest.

    Hanna was the highest nobledy in the empire.

    Moreover, House Quinzel was the best noble households in terms of power, wealth, and influence.

    [They have it all.]

    ¡°Duke Quinzel, may I know how you found Hanna?¡± Nero asked carefully. ¡°Hanna is the future Crown Princess. We kept the fact that she was kidnapped from the people to avoid mass panic.¡±

    But, to be honest, Nero and the Empress Dowager agreed to keept it a secret because they didn¡¯t want to ruin the preparation for Calyx¡¯s birthday.

    [If we announced that Hanna was kidnapped, then we would be forced to stop preparing for Calyx¡¯s birthday banquet. After all, it wouldn¡¯t look good for the Royal Family to have a grand celebration while the future Crown Princess was missing.]

    ¡°Even so, that didn¡¯t mean I don¡¯t care about Hanna,¡± Nero added. ¡°And now, I¡¯m curious as to how my fianc¨¦e made it back home safely. Of course, I¡¯m d that she was unharmed. I¡¯m merely curious, since the pirates are known to be vicious.¡±

    ¡°Your Royal Highness, my daughter is the Quinzel Princess,¡± Duke Quinzel said, smiling proudly even though his remark sounded a little unrted to their topic. ¡°Hanna wouldn¡¯t die at the hands of mere pirates.¡±

    Ah.

    It was the duke¡¯s way of politely telling him not to meddle with their family affairs.

    ¡°I understand. I¡¯ll back off for now since I¡¯m not yet officially a part of your family since I¡¯m still not married to Hanna,¡± Nero said while nodding. Then he sipped his tea before he spoke again. ¡°Moreover, I believe that House Quinzel will punish the kidnappers ordingly.¡±

    If Hanna had already returned, then it only meant that Duke Quinzel had already caught the culprits.

    [Duke Quinzel loves his only daughter so much that he won¡¯t let this incident slide.]

    .....

    ¡°When can I visit Hanna, Your Grace?¡±

    ¡°We will send you a formal invite soon, Your Royal Highness.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± he said, nodding politely.

    He thought that was the end of their conversation.

    But Duke Quinzel simply sipped his tea leisurely, as if he was letting him know that there was something else that they needed to discuss.

    ¡°Is there something else, Your Grace?¡±

    ¡°I have a favor to ask, Your Royal Highness.¡±

    Oho?

    It was rare for the duke to ask anyone for a favor, hence he was curious.

    ¡°What is it, Your Grace?¡±

    ¡°Regina Crowell.¡±

    ¡°Thete Commander Gavin Quinzel¡¯s illegitimate daughter? Regina QUINZEL.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s not my older brother¡¯s daughter so she¡¯s not a Quinzel, Your Royal Highness.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s not?¡± he asked, his eyes opened wide a bit from shock. ¡°But I thought you did a test to verify that she¡¯s thetemander¡¯s daughter.¡±

    ¡°Your Royal Highness, please remove Regina Crowell from our family registry. Quietly and as quickly as possible.¡±

    Yes, it was something that Nero could do.

    To add a member in a noble household¡¯s family registry, the approval of the crown was needed.

    [And it falls on my responsibility.]

    It was Nero who approved Regina Crowell to be Regina Quinzel, and now the duke was asking him to remove Regina Quinzel from the Quinzel¡¯s family registry.

    ¡°Quietly and as quickly as possible, huh?¡± Nero asked, smirking. ¡°Are you ordering me around now, my future father-inw.¡±

    The duke smiled ¡°kindly.¡± ¡°I¡¯m striking a deal with you, Your Royal Highness.¡±

    ¡°What deal?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m dering war against House Drayton soon.¡±

    Nero gasped loudly. ¡°But why?¡±

    Duke Quinzel¡¯s smile turned sinister. ¡°Because the Draytons crossed the line they shouldn¡¯t have.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 670 - 670 CRAZY PROPHECY

    670 CRAZY PROPHECY

    [¡°GO AND report to Aunt Brigitte and Uncle Glenn about Skylus¡¯ current situation. I would love to do it, but my ¡°children¡± locked me up in the room. They won¡¯t even let me touch amunication device to send a message to Hazelden.¡±]

    That was the message that Trevor received from Princess Neoma after he ran away from her out of guilt.

    Of course, his Moon Princess was just exaggerating.

    Lewis and the others just wanted Princess Neoma to sleep.

    [My Moon Princess has always been a hard worker. But she has be a workaholic now. I wonder if she still remembers her dream to be ady of leisure.]

    ¡°Lord Trevor, we can talk here safely.¡±

    It was Queen Brigitte.

    Right, Trevor was currently in the queen¡¯s office.

    [Yeah, I went to Hazelden to deliver the news personally since if I didn¡¯t, I¡¯m sure Princess Neoma woulde here herself as soon as she woke up.]

    .....

    Hazelden Kingdom¡¯s security was tight at the moment.

    But Trevor was able toe directly inside the pce because he was a genius.

    [in and simple.]

    ¡°Princess Neoma sent you here to deliver news, didn¡¯t she?¡±

    Queen Brigitte was sitting behind the desk, while King Glenn was standing behind the queen with his trembling hands on her trembling shoulders.

    Aigoo.

    The queen and king also both looked pale and nervous.

    Trevor tilted her head to one side. ¡°Do you already know I¡¯m here to deliver bad news?¡±

    At his words, it looked like the queen and king were about to faint from too much anxiety.

    [Ah, I chose the wrong words.]

    ¡°What happened, Lord Trevor?¡± King Glenn asked ¡°calmly,¡± but the emotions in his eyes were chaotic. ¡°Is it rted to Skylus?¡±

    Trevor nodded, making the royal couple worry even more. ¡°The Darkness has began moving once again.¡±

    The royal couple looked confused by the sudden change in discussion.

    ¡°Whenever the Darkness moves in a direction that may harm the world, the holy representatives of the gods who fought the Absolute Darkness during the Ancient Period would receive a Revtion,¡± Trevor exined. This time, the queen and king looked like they finally understood what he was trying to say at the moment. ¡°Prince Skylus is the true saint chosen by Lord Yule, the Moon God. But as of right now, Prince Skylus is only a ¡°half-saint.¡± He couldn¡¯t receive the Revtion because he doesn¡¯t have hisplete divine power. Hence, the small amount of divine power he has tried to leave his body in order to find a more suitable host.¡±

    ¡°How is our son now?¡± Queen Brigitte asked worriedly. ¡°Please tell me the truth.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the good news, Your Majesty,¡± Trevor said, grinning. ¡°Princess Neoma deeply cares about the new saint. She gave back a portion of Prince Skylus¡¯ divine power. Before I left the empire, Lord Manu, Miss Dahlia, and the damned Chef Ruto were all working hard to stabilize Prince Skylus¡¯ divine power.¡±

    The royal couple looked relieved.

    It was as if the queen and king could only breathe properly now.

    ¡°Lord Trevor, was our son¡­ in too much pain?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, he was crying really loudly,¡± Trevor said casually. ¡°Princess Neoma had to put a soundproof barrier around the room.¡±

    Queen Brigitte abruptly stood up while holding her baby bump. ¡°My baby cried because he was in too much pain?¡±

    ¡°Prince Skylus was already fine before I left.¡±

    That didn¡¯t help at all.

    Queen Brigitte and King Glenn still looked like they wanted to leave Hazelden in order to be with Prince Skylus.

    [Should I have been¡­ less honest?]

    His thoughts were interrupted when they heard a knock on the door.

    He already knew who it was, though.

    ¡°Mother, Father, Lord Trevor, may Ie in?¡±

    It was Princess Monik, and her voice sounded urgent.

    When the door opened and the young princess entered the room, the adults were surprised to see Princess Monik¡¯s pink eyes glowing.

    [A vision, perhaps?]

    ¡°Lord Trevor, please tell Neoma unnie to be careful once she¡¯s headed to the hometown of the Fourth Elemental Guardian,¡± Princess Monik said in a serious tone. ¡°Unnie is going to meet another crazy bastard there.¡±

    Queen Brigitte and King Glenn flinched when they heard their daughter curse.

    But the young princess wasn¡¯t done talking yet.

    ¡°That crazy bastard loves Neoma unnie,¡± Princess Monik said, frowning. ¡°To death.¡±

    ¡°What the hell?¡± Trevorined. ¡°I¡¯m the one who loves Princess Neoma to death, though?¡±

    ***

    THREE HOURS?

    Neoma clicked her tongue when she realized she fell asleep for that long.

    [Gosh, look at the sun.]

    Hence, instead of taking a long shower as she would usually do, she just took a quick bath. To save time, she wore the simplest dress that she had.

    [I¡¯d look good in anything anyway.]

    ¡°Princess Neoma, you¡¯re already awake?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean by ¡°already,¡± Paige?¡± Neoma asked back, smiling and shaking her head. ¡°I¡¯m actually ashamed for sleeping for three hours. I can¡¯t believe I slept for that long when I said I¡¯d just take a nap.¡±

    Lewis looked at her as if he was displeased. ¡°Three hours isn¡¯t that long of a sleep, Princess Neoma. Nobody wouldin here even if you slept for thirty hours.¡±

    She thought her ¡°son¡± was just exaggerating.

    But Lewis, Paige, Greko, and Hanna all remained serious.

    [What the hell? How could I sleep for thirty hours when there are many things for me to do? These children worry too much about me when I¡¯m fine.]

    It was touching, but embarrassing to have people younger than her worry about her.

    [My soul is already over sixty years old.]

    ¡°I¡¯m not overexerting myself, so calm down, everyone,¡± Neoma assured her people, then she sat on the sofa. ¡°Report.¡±

    ¡°Mother and Father already returned to our estate to prepare a war against House Drayton,¡± Hanna said, smiling brightly. ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m nning to return as well to help them n our grand revenge.¡±

    ¡°Go ahead,¡± she said while nodding encouragingly. ¡°You should spend time with your parents, Hanna.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Neoma.¡±

    She just smiled, then she turned to Lewis since he was themander of her dream team.

    [Although Lewis is bad at reporting verbally, he¡¯s still themander so I should ask him first. I need to show him the respect that he deserves, so his ¡°siblings¡± would do the same.]

    ¡°Xion called,¡± Lewis said indifferently. ¡°He said Jasper Hawthorne cried.¡±

    Neoma waited, but Lewis didn¡¯t say anything more. ¡°Jasper oppa cried? Who¡¯s the fucker who made my oppa cry?¡±

    ¡°Duke Hawthorne didn¡¯t really cry, Princess Neoma,¡± Paige said. ¡°Xion said Duke Hawthorne LOOKED like he was about to cry because of the frustrating situation that they encountered in Duckie¡¯s hometown.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± she said, frowning.

    She was still upset that the situation made Jasper oppa almost cry. Moreover, she felt bad because she was the one who sent her oppa there. It was the duck¡¯s request, and Jasper oppa agreed, but she was still the person who had the final say.

    [Which means I¡¯m responsible for all of this.]

    ¡°Princess Neoma, Duke Hawthorne said your presence is required to deal with the current situation,¡± Paige added carefully. ¡°He also said it would be better if you bring Lord Ruto and Miss Dahlia with you.¡±

    ¡°Ah, so it¡¯s something that the Elemental Guardian ¡°owners¡± must do,¡± Neoma said, then she let out a sigh. ¡°But Ruto and Dahlia must already be tired from helping Lord Manu stabilize Skylus¡¯ divine power. Maybe it should be better if I go alone¨C¡±

    ¡°Neoma.

    ¡°Princess Neoma.¡±

    It was Hanna who called her by her name, and her ¡°children¡± who called her by her title.

    Although they called her in two different ways, they all used a scolding tone when calling her name.

    ¡°Gosh,¡± Neomained. ¡°Why am I being scolded for doing my job?¡±

    ¡°Eomma, you said you wanted to be ady of leisure,¡± Greko scolded her. ¡°But do you know what you¡¯ve be? A workaholic.¡±

    Neoma smiled broadly and gently pinched Greko¡¯s chubby cheeks. ¡°Aw, is my baby boy upset? And where did you learn the word ¡®workaholic?''¡±

    .....

    ¡°From Trevor hyung,¡± Greko answered, pouting. ¡°Eomma, stop treating me like a baby. I¡¯m a big boy now.¡±

    ¡°Pfft,¡± she said, rubbing Greko¡¯s face with her hands. ¡°You will always be a baby in my eyes, Greko.¡±

    After all, she may or may not live for more than five years.

    [Let¡¯s not think about negative things for now.]

    ¡°Neoma, the more you act like this, the more your ¡°children¡± can¡¯t leave you alone,¡± Hanna scolded her gently. ¡°We know that you¡¯re the strongest person here. But that doesn¡¯t mean you should do everything. You can share the burden with us.¡±

    Lewis nodded eagerly in agreement. ¡°We will make you a truedy of leisure, Princess Neoma.¡±

    Paige smiled and nodded. ¡°Princess Neoma, should we set a meeting with Lord Ruto and Miss Dahlia once they¡¯re done assisting the Moon Priest?¡±

    Neoma could only sigh and nod. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s work together.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 671 - 671 WHO LOVES NEOMA THE MOST?

    671 WHO LOVES NEOMA THE MOST?

    ¡°YOU¡¯RE BACK?¡± Neoma asked even though she appeared to be alone in the room. She was sitting on the sofa while waiting for Ruto and Dahlia, but she felt a different presence in the air. ¡°Did you deliver the message to Aunt Brigitte and Uncle Glenn properly?¡±

    Trevor materialized in front of her out of nowhere. ¡°Me, the damned chef, Lewis, and Jasper Hawthorne. Ah, I guess we can add Prince Nero, too.¡±

    ¡°What the hell are you talking about?¡±

    The demon boy got down on one knee and looked up at her. ¡°Your unofficial harem.¡±

    She gave Trevor a look full of pity. ¡°I know you¡¯ve always been crazy, but I think you got worse. Did the cold in Hazelden give you a brain freeze?¡±

    ¡°Among the men in your harem, who do you think loves you the most, Princess Neoma?¡±

    Wow.

    [This punk is serious.]

    To be honest, she was annoyed since Trevor wouldn¡¯t stop with the harem bullshit, but she held back her temper because she already made the resolve to treat him better. After all, the demon boy sacrificed a lot to support her for the past five years.

    .....

    [Let¡¯s humor him a bit.]

    ¡°Among the names you mentioned, it¡¯s probably Nero who loves me the most,¡± Neoma said, then her gaze turned sharp. ¡°Of course, I¡¯m not talking about romantic love. Nero might be crazy, but he¡¯s not crazy enough to have incestuous feelings for me.¡±

    ¡°Huh? I thought you¡¯d choose Ruto.¡±

    ¡°Ruto loves the world more than he loves me,¡± she said, shrugging. ¡°But it¡¯s okay since I love myself more than I love him, anyway.¡±

    She expected Trevor toin about her saying that she loved Ruto.

    But the demon boy remained serious.

    [Gosh, what¡¯s up with him?]

    ¡°It¡¯s actually hard to choose because I¡¯m pretty sure Ruto, Lewis, and I will destroy the world for you, Princess Neoma,¡± Trevor said, still serious. ¡°I¡¯m not so sure about Jasper since he¡¯s not strong enough to destroy the world even if he wants to, and his feelings for you aren¡¯t as strong as our feelings.¡±

    She scoffed at thest part of Trevor¡¯s remark. ¡°Why would Jasper oppa even have romantic feelings for me? Oppa and I actually have a more normal sibling rtionship than what Nero and I have.¡±

    [It¡¯s not normal to be so obsessed with your sibling, after all.]

    And to be honest, she was pretty sure that her dynamics with Tteokbokki where they would insult each other all the time was more rtable to most siblings.

    ¡°Lewis is a pretty strong candidate, too.¡±

    ¡°Gosh. Of course, Lewis loves me since I¡¯m his ¡°mother.¡±¡±

    ¡°How long are you going to ignore Lewis¡¯ feelings?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m respecting his feelings by treating him the way I did from the start,¡± Neoma said, matching Trevor¡¯s seriousness. ¡°I know that Lewis¡¯ feelings for me may not bepletely tonic, but he¡¯s not confessing so I¡¯m not assuming anything. He¡¯s also not going out of his way to express his feelings like you do, Trevor. I may be full of myself most of the time, but I don¡¯t have a hobby of assuming everyone is in love with me.¡±

    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t quite get it. It¡¯s a fact that Lewis has feelings for you, Princess Neoma. So, you¡¯re not really assuming anything.¡±

    ¡°Unless Lewis confessed his feelings for me, I¡¯ll continue treating him the way I¡¯ve been doing,¡± she insisted. ¡°I know Lewis more than anyone else in the world, so I know that he¡¯s afraid of change. He doesn¡¯t want anything to change between us yet, and I¡¯m respecting his decision by acting the way I normally do even though it makes me seem insensitive.¡±

    Neoma was aware that she may appear dense and annoying to some people every time she imed that Lewis was her ¡°son¡± despite knowing about his romantic(?) feelings for her.

    Lewis would also often express his displeasure every time she called him her ¡°son.¡±

    But, at the end of the day, she knew it was the best treatment she could give him. She didn¡¯t want to act awkward around him, after all.

    ¡°I¡¯ll wait until Lewis gathers the courage to confess,¡± Neoma continued firmly. ¡°Then I¡¯ll give him a proper rejection.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re going to reject Lewis as soon as he confessed?¡± Trevor asked as if he was surprised. ¡°I thought you¡¯d hesitate since he¡¯s been with you the longest.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not afraid of change.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°I know that our rtionship will change after his confession, but I¡¯m not afraid,¡± Neoma said softly. ¡°Because I know that even if a change urred between us, Lewis and I will never abandon each other. Not even a painful rejection can destroy our bond.¡±

    The rtionship she had with Lewis was hard to exin in words.

    Neoma would often say that she would not die for anyone, but she would probably die for Lewis. She didn¡¯t have romantic feelings for her ¡°son,¡± but the love she had for him wasn¡¯t shallow at all. Ever since they were kids, she had always had a soft spot for him.

    [I just hope that my tonic love for Lewis doesn¡¯t make me look like I¡¯m leading him on.]

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if I¡¯m relieved or jealous,¡± Trevor said, interrupting her thoughts. ¡°I¡¯m relieved because you¡¯ll reject Lewis as bluntly as you rejected me. But I¡¯m jealous because I can see that you love Lewis more than you love me or anyone else that isn¡¯t Ruto, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s because I¡¯m not a kind person,¡± Neoma said in a serious tone. ¡°Kind people love everyone equally, so I feel bad for people who have a kind person as a lover. After all, a kind person would never prioritize their lover because they treat everyone in the same way.¡± She smiled bitterly while shaking her head. ¡°But I¡¯m not kind, so the people I love will always be my priority.¡±

    The demon boy looked at her, then heughed as if he really found her funny. ¡°Princess Neoma, you¡¯re the most generous person I know. You¡¯re kind even to people you ¡°don¡¯t¡± love.¡±

    She frowned. ¡°No, I¡¯m not kind.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    Neoma clicked her tongue, annoyed. ¡°You better have a valid reason for making me talk about my feelings. I don¡¯t get vulnerable to just anyone, Trevor.¡±

    But because of her resolve to treat Trevor better, here she was now.

    ¡°I appreciate that, my Moon Princess.¡±

    [See? I don¡¯t throw a fit every time he calls me his ¡®Moon Princess¡¯ anymore.]

    ¡°Ruto and Dahlia will be here soon, so spit it out already.¡±

    ¡°Princess Monik received a new vision.¡±

    Neoma shut her eyes tight and clenched her hands to stop herself from grabbing Trevor by the cor. ¡°You should have said it earlier. Skylus and Monik¡¯s visions are what kept are safe for the past five years.¡± She opened her eyes to re at Trevor. ¡°What did Monik see?¡±

    ¡°The young princess told me to tell you to be careful once you reach the duck¡¯s hometown,¡± Trevor said, frowning. ¡°Apparently, you¡¯ll meet a crazy bastard there who loves you to death.¡±

    She let out a long sigh while shaking her head. ¡°Me and my sinful beauty. This is the curse of being born a Visual Goddess.¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma, you should be extra careful. Princess Monik won¡¯t warn us about the vision she saw if it was a random person who¡¯d get attracted to you.¡±

    ¡°I always have my guard up, though?¡± Neoma said, shrugging. ¡°I¡¯ll reject anyone who¡¯s not Ruto. And if they can¡¯t take ¡®no¡¯ as an answer, then I¡¯ll teach them how.¡±

    Trevor smiled ¡°sweetly.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Princess Neoma¨C your harem will take care of him.¡±

    ¡°Why are you assuming it¡¯s a ¡®him¡¯ already?¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°My face attracts any gender, so let¡¯s not automatically assume that the ¡®crazy bastard¡¯ is a ¡®him.''¡±

    Trevorughed and nodded. ¡°Alright, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°And stop with the harem bullshit,¡± Neoma said in a calm yet stern voice. ¡°I know polygamy is allowed for members of the Royal Family, but I have no intention of having my own harem. I already have a man.¡±

    ¡°Ouch.¡±

    She gently flicked Trevor¡¯s forehead. ¡°I know it¡¯s hard to get over a woman like me, and it will definitely be harder to find a better woman than me, but I¡¯m cheering you on.¡±

    Trevorughed while shaking his head. ¡°My Moon Princess, your words hurt like hell, but guess I¡¯m a masochist after all.¡±

    Neoma covered her ears with her hands. ¡°I don¡¯t need to know THAT, Trevor.¡±

    ***

    ¡°ALRIGHT, everyone,¡± Neoma said, putting her hands on her hips. ¡°I¡¯ll just go on a quick side quest.¡±

    The ¡°side quest¡± would be saving Duckie, of course.

    Only Neoma, Dahlia, and Ruto would go on that quest, though.

    She already sent Lewis, Greko, and Paige to escort Hanna, Manu, and Skylus to the Quinzel Estate. That group would stay with the Quinzels until she returned from her side quest.

    And Trevor¡­

    Neoma frowned while watching Trevor and Ruto talk in secret on the balcony. ¡°I wonder what they¡¯re talking about.¡±

    ¡°Lord Trevor is probably asking Lord Ruto to take care of you, Princess Neoma,¡± Dahlia said while smiling at her. ¡°They both care about Your Royal Highness, after all.¡±

    ¡°Aww. You¡¯re such a sweet girl, Dahlia,¡± Neoma said, then she gently patted Dahlia¡¯s head. It was easy to do since she was taller than the ck Witch. ¡°And you¡¯re the perfect size for headpats. But tell me if you don¡¯t like me doing this.¡±

    Dahlia¡¯s face turned red and shook her head. ¡°If it¡¯s Princess Neoma giving me headpats, then I don¡¯t mind it.¡±

    ¡°Hehe~¡±

    ¡°My Moon Princess, are you seducing Miss Dahlia now?¡±

    Neoma let out a sigh. ¡°Right? I¡¯m overflowing with charms.¡±

    ¡°You should wait for other people to say those things instead of saying them yourself.¡±

    It was Ruto.

    [Gosh, he¡¯s been so strict with me ever since he lost his positive feelings for me.]

    Neoma stood up in front of Ruto and looked up at him.

    .....

    Because her man was taller than her. <3< p>

    Ruto knitted her eyes while looking down at her. ¡°What are you doing?¡±

    ¡°You said I should wait for other people to praise my charms,¡± Neoma said, smiling. ¡°So I¡¯m waiting.¡±

    Ruto looked confused at first, then he chuckled while shaking his head. ¡°Don¡¯t seduce other people,¡± he said while patting her head. ¡°You should only work your charms on me, babe.¡±

    Trevor acted like he was going to throw up, while Dahlia covered her mouth as if she was trying to stop herself from squealing.

    On the other hand, Neoma grinned like the lovesick fool she was. ¡°Babe, you also need to give me a reason to stay in love with you.¡± She gently patted her shoulder. ¡°Although my feelings for you won¡¯t waver easily, I¡¯m afraid I love myself too much for me to chase you forever.¡±

    ***

    JASPER knew that it was his decision to request the help of the three Elemental Guardian owners.

    But he didn¡¯t know that seeing the three would be THIS intimidating.

    Lord Ruto was standing on the Thunderbird.

    Miss Dahlia was sitting sideways on a tuna-sized Blue Whale.

    And Princess Neoma was sitting on the White Lion as if she was riding on a horse.

    All three Elemental Guardians and their owners were floating in the sky.

    Hence, Jasper had to look up.

    It wasn¡¯t only him.

    Xion, Duckie, and everyone in that small vige was looking up at the sky with different reactions.

    Some were scared, but most were amused.

    Even those DISGUSTING THINGS.

    ¡°I heard there are fuckers here who wished to summon the ¡®Hell Knights¡¯ using innocent people,¡± Princess Neoma said, her eyes glowing red from anger. The royal princess must be using magic that amplified her voice. ¡°You¡¯re in fucking luck¨C I will drag you all to hell today to meet those sted Hell Knights you wanted to meet desperately.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 672 - 672 A SIDE QUEST (1)

    672 A SIDE QUEST (1)

    DUCKIE¡¯S ¡°hometown¡± was in the Northern Region of the empire.

    To be precise, it was a part of Viscount Austin Morrisley¡¯s small territory. It was a very poor vige that not even Jasper had ever heard of.

    ¡°We can¡¯t enter the capital,¡± Xion said. ¡°We can always force our way, though.¡±

    Jasper knew that Xion was right.

    The entire capital of the nameless vige was covered in a semi-transparent dome-like shield made of Darkness.

    Hence, Jasper and Xion were currently staying in an inn located in the neighborhood near the capital. It was a shabby inn, and both the staff and the other guests were obviously waiting for a chance to rob them.

    Jasper and Xion were too busy to care, though.

    From the rooftop of the inn, they could see the Darkness that covered the capital.

    As if that wasn¡¯t bad enough, the obviously tired and malnourished townspeople were guarding the only entrance. They wouldn¡¯t let anyone in unless it was to SELL people. Yes, people all over the town woulde to the capital only to sell their family members.

    .....

    Yes, that was the case.

    [I¡¯m disgusted by the situation, but I can¡¯t entirely me the poor who just wants to survive.]

    The one to me was the people behind the horrible situation.

    ¡°I¡¯m disgusted by the situation, so I want to interfere. But if we provoke the townspeople, we might aggravate the situation,¡± Jasper said while shaking his head. ¡°Moreover, Duckie doesn¡¯t wish for us to harm the townspeople in any way.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t really care about the duck¡¯s wishes,¡± Xion said indifferently. ¡°The mission Princess Neoma gave me is to keep you and the duck safe, Your Grace. If the situation calls for it, I¡¯d kill anyone who threatens your safety.¡±

    Jasper could only smile awkwardly.

    [Xion really doesn¡¯t care about anything else, huh?]

    The assassin was too calloused as well.

    Jasper was angered by the situation in that poor vige.

    But Xion remained indifferent all this time. The only time Xion would show emotion was when he was talking to his ¡°siblings.¡±

    [Princess Neoma, your ¡°children¡± love you too much.]

    ¡°I guess it¡¯s a good call that we asked for Princess Neoma¡¯s help along with the other Elemental Guardian owners,¡± Jasper said. ¡°I have a feeling that Duckie needs them.¡±

    It was because the duck kept on asking them about Princess Neoma and the others.

    ¡°The duck iste, Your Grace.¡±

    Jasper nodded in agreement. ¡°He said he wanted to ¡°buy¡± his family back on his own. Even so, we shouldn¡¯t have let him go alone.¡±

    Yes, the duck needed diamonds to buy his family back.

    ording to Duckie¡¯s story, one day, a group of people who seemed like demon worshippers arrived in their old, nameless vige.

    Those people overtook the capital quickly by feeding the hungry people.

    Then, one day, the leader of the ground announced that they needed people to help them with their experiment. They said it was a safe experiment where the subjects just needed to sleep. Apparently, it was a study about dreams.

    Since it sounded easy, and the people were desperate for delicious and warm meals, many people ¡°sold¡± their own families to have food on the table.

    [¡°I know it was weird from the start, so I went to the capital to investigate. But I didn¡¯t see or feel anything strange. The people who agreed to participate in the experiment were really just sleeping in the biggest inn in the capital. Hence, I ignored the bad feeling I have. And that was my mistake.¡±]

    That was what Duckie told Jasper and Xion.

    [¡°Since it appeared safe, the three children of the family who took care of me decided to join the experiment. Their parents were both sick, after all. Instead of delicious food, they asked for medicine in return. I tried to stop the children, but they couldn¡¯t hear me. Unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t use my power as well. All I could do was pray and hope that the experiment was really safe. But, of course, my fucking prayers weren¡¯t heard.¡±]

    The duck then told them what happened next.

    [¡°At first, people were allowed to visit their loved ones who joined the experiment. Butter, no one was allowed to approach the inn. Soon, the capital was covered in Darkness. And the next thing I knew, the townspeople were already under the suspicious group¡¯s control. I couldn¡¯t just stand still, so I used my power to transform into a human form¨C a child¡¯s form, to be precise.¡±]

    Yes, Jasper btedly realized that the duck had a human form.

    [¡°The leader of the group told me that if I wanted to take my family home, I have to buy them back by giving them precious gems. They said they prefer diamonds. That¡¯s why I sent a message to the other Elemental Guardian owners toe and find me.¡±]

    [¡°Why didn¡¯t you just go and find them yourself?¡±]

    That was Jasper¡¯s question for the duck.

    [¡°I actuallymitted a sin in the past. Hence, I¡¯m not supposed to meet the other Elemental Guardians until I¡¯m done paying for my sins. But I was desperate, so I made the decision to contact them while finding a person to help me with my financial problem.¡±]

    [¡°And that¡¯s how you found me?¡±]

    [¡°Yes, since you¡¯re the only person in the area who smelled of old money.¡±]

    ¡°You did the right thing by letting the duck go on his own, Your Grace,¡± Xion said indifferently, cutting Jasper¡¯s thoughts. ¡°The duck is older than us even if he looks like that. Moreover, Princess Neoma always says that we should respect other people¡¯s decisions.¡±

    Well, the assassin was correct.

    ¡°Moreover, you have another job to do as a duke of the empire, Your Grace.¡±

    ¡°Ah, yes,¡± Jasper said, then he pulled out the pocket watch from the inner pocket of his jacket. ¡°I already sent a letter to the lords of the North. It¡¯s about time they give a response.¡±

    The lords of the North consisted of members of the Neutral Faction.

    House Hawthorned used to be neutral as well, and Jasper hadn¡¯t changed his house¡¯s stance even now.

    [The one I support is Princess Neoma, not the entire Royal Family.]

    ¡°Are you going to meet the lords of the North?¡± Xion asked. ¡°Here?¡±

    Jasper shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m going to meet them, but not here¨C¡±

    He abruptly stopped talking when he felt a chilling presence.

    Xion was quicker to react. In just the blink of an eye, the assassin already disappeared and probably headed to where the chilling presence wasing from.

    Of course, Jasper followed right away.

    When he arrived at where the assassin stopped¨C a dark alleyway.

    Jasper saw Xion holding an unconscious and bleeding Duckie¨C still in his duck form¨C in his arms.

    There were already several dead men at the assassin¡¯s feet.

    [He¡¯s really quick¡­]

    The others who were probably chasing Duckie ran away as soon as they realized that they couldn¡¯t beat Xion.

    Of course, Jasper didn¡¯t let them escape.

    ¡°Mariposa,e out.¡±

    Several red butterflies came out of Jasper¡¯s hands, then the red butterflies chased the men who tried to run away.

    ¡°Burn them all alive,¡± Jasper ordered in a cold voice. ¡°Only let one person live.¡±

    ¡°The duck is still alive,¡± Xion reported indifferently. ¡°He needs medical attention, but I¡¯m not sure if the potions I brought with me would work.¡±

    ¡°If Greko made those potions, then it should work. After all, Greko is half human-half fairy,¡± Jasper said confidently. Then he turned to the duck who was breathing heavily. ¡°You¡¯ll be fine, Duckie.¡±

    Duckie, who probably heard Jasper¡¯s voice, opened his eyes. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­ your diamonds¡­ were wasted¡­¡±

    ¡°What do you mean¡­¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re gone¡­¡± Duckie said, his voice weak and broken. Then he slowly closed his eyes again. ¡°My family¡­ they all died...¡±

    Xion remained indifferent.

    Jasper, on the other hand, closed his eyes tight. ¡°Bastards.¡±

    ***

    ¡°I DID NOT cry,¡± Jasper, who was sitting on the chair, said as soon as Xion was done talking to his ¡°siblings.¡± ¡°Xion, the way you reported my condition to Lewis and Lady Paige made it sound like I cried from anger and frustration.¡±

    Xion avoided his gaze. ¡°You still almost cried¡­¡±

    He wanted to protest more, but he was distracted when Duckie¨C who was on the bed¨C suddenly stirred.

    ¡°Duckie¨C¡±

    ¡°Bastards!¡±

    That was what the duck said as soon as he got up from bed.

    Jasper was quite surprised. To be honest, he was already wondering how tofort the duck. But it seemed like it wasn¡¯t the right time to do so. ¡°What happened to you, Duckie? You were in your human form when you left earlier, but you came back in your duck form¨C and you were almost half-dead.¡±

    Fortunately, the potions that Greko made worked on the duck despite on the slightly deep cut in his stomach.

    [The bleeding stopped, and he quickly regained his strength.]

    ¡°It was because I needed to run away as quickly as possible,¡± Duckie said in an urgent voice. ¡°Is Princess Neoma and the other Elemental Guardian ownersing?¡±

    .....

    ¡°They are on their way already,¡± Xion said, his ears perking up when Princess Neoma¡¯s name was mentioned. ¡°Did something happen?¡±

    ¡°Those bastards that brought Darkness here!¡± Duckie said impatiently. ¡°They¡¯re trying to summon the Hell Knights from hell to make a fake Elemental Guardian!¡±

    ***

    JASPER was relieved when they finally arrived.

    By ¡°them,¡± he meant Princess Neoma, Lord Ruto, and Miss Dahlia.

    The three extremely important individuals had used a portal, and it opened directly into the inn that Jasper, Xion, and Duckie were currently using.

    [I¡¯m relieved that they¡¯re finally here.]

    ¡°Jasper oppa!¡± Princess Neoma said worriedly while approaching him. ¡°Who made you cry?¡±

    Huh?

    Did Princess Neoma really think he cried?

    Jasper closed his eyes tight from embarrassment.

    [I did NOT cry, Princess Neoma.]

    Jasper was seriously going to strangle Xionter¡­

 Chapter 673 - 673 A SIDE QUEST (2)

    673 A SIDE QUEST (2)

    THE ROOM was eerily quiet.

    Jasper didn¡¯t want to admit this, but he was the only person in the room who had a hard time withstanding the pressureing out of Princess Neoma.

    [It¡¯s¡­ getting harder for me to breathe¡­]

    Princess Neoma was sitting on the chair next to the bed while listening to Duckie¡¯s story.

    The royal princess was exuding authority and dignity¨C from the way she sat on the chair as if she was sitting on the throne, up to the way she looked while listening intently.

    [It¡¯s a grace that only a true royal could possess¡­]

    Jasper clutched his chest discreetly while trying to breathe.

    This time, he wasn¡¯t the only one affected by Princess Neoma¡¯s silent anger.

    Even Miss Dahlia took a deep breath.

    .....

    ¡°Babe,¡± Lord Ruto said, cing a hand on Princess Neoma¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Calm down.¡±

    Jasper winced at Lord Ruto¡¯s poor choice of words.

    [Lord Ruto, if you told ady to calm down, she¡¯ll only get angrier¡­]

    But, contrary to what he thought at first, Princess Neoma actually calmed down.

    [Huh? It worked¡­?]

    The heavy pressure that lingered in the air because of Princess Neoma¡¯s silent anger disappeared in an instant.

    Princess Neoma turned to them. ¡°Is everyone alright?¡±

    Jasper and Miss Dahlia both nodded politely and answered at the same time, with the same words. ¡°Yes, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Very well,¡± the royal princess said, then she turned to the duck again. ¡°Duckie, what made you say that the people who invaded this town are creating a fake Elemental Guardian? And how is summoning the Hell Knights rted to that?¡±

    ¡°Elemental Guardians are beings that are loved and blessed by Nature,¡± Duckie began his exnation. ¡°To be precise, the fairies, the elves, and the mermaids were chosen by Nature to look after the Elemental Guardians. Before me, the Thunderbird, the Blue Whale, and the White Lion were chosen as the Elemental Guardians, the fairies, the elves, and the mermaids gave us difficult trials before we received their approval.¡±

    Jasper was fascinated by the things that he had heard from the duck.

    He didn¡¯t know much about the Elemental Guardians despite being a duke who was supposed to be knowledgeable about creatures living on the continent.

    [Elemental Guardians aren¡¯t popr creatures on the Western Continent because we have the Royal Family¡¯s Soul Beasts. To the people of the empire, everything else pales inparison. That¡¯s how much Soul Beasts are loved by our people.]

    ¡°The people who imprisoned the people of this town have also kidnapped arge number of fairies, elves, and mermaids,¡± Duckie continued with his exnation. ¡°They are forcing the fairies, the elves, and the mermaids to pour their blessings into the poor creature that they are trying to turn into an Elemental Guardian.¡±

    ¡°What creature is that?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t get to see it clearly because I was caught right away, but I believe it was a horse, Princess Neoma,¡± the duck answered the royal princess¡¯ question. Then the duck hesitated before he continued. ¡°The people trapped inside the dark barrier were all asleep. But they¡¯re slowly dying, Your Royal Highness. I don¡¯t know what exactly is happening, but the victims are releasing Darkness in gas form as they sleep.¡±

    Jasper knitted his eyebrows.

    [Can humans produce Darkness?]

    That sounded worrying.

    [Helstor, the God of Eternal Darkness, is either feared or ignored by humans. But even so, the other gods haven¡¯t persecuted Helstor because he hasn¡¯t done anything to threaten the human race. He wasn¡¯t the one who started the Absolute Darkness during the Ancient Period, after all.]

    Moreover, Helstor was kept alive to protect humans who were born with the Darkness attribute¨C just like the Quinzels.

    [It was to show that having a Darkness attribute doesn¡¯t make a person evil.]

    But if Helstor was the one behind all of this, then humans would begin to fear Darkness again.

    [And Darkness attribute users might get ostracized yet again just like in the past.]

    ¡°Those horrible people are feeding the poor horse the Darkness released by the sleeping victims.¡±

    ¡°Wait,¡± Princess Neoma said. ¡°Are you saying that those fuckers are forcing the kidnapped fairies, elves, and mermaids to pour blessings into the artificial Elemental Guardian, and at the same time, they¡¯re also feeding it with Darkness?¡±

    The duck nodded. ¡°Exactly, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Darkness isn¡¯t really inherently evil,¡± Lord Ruto said. ¡°Hence, even if the blessing and the Darkness get mixed inside the fake Elemental Guardian, it wouldn¡¯t pose a problem. Just like how the former Emperor Niki, who also inherited the Darkness attribute of the Quinzels, lived fine despite having divine power and Darkness attribute inside him. The only drawback was Emperor Niki couldn¡¯t use the Shadow Maniption Technique because his divine power was stronger than his Darkness attribute.¡±

    ¡°But I can use my Darkness attribute since I can wield Skewer just fine~¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s because you¡¯re special.¡±

    Lord Ruto said it so indifferently, so Jasper couldn¡¯t understand why Princess Neoma while smiling broadly.

    ¡°It seems like they¡¯re trying to create a fake Elemental Guardian that can wield Darkness,¡± Miss Dahlia said carefully. ¡°But I still don¡¯t understand how summoning the Hell Knights is rted to this.¡±

    ¡°An Elemental Guardian needs an owner,¡± Duckie said. ¡°Apparently, summoning the Hell Knights was the easiest and quickest way to ¡°revive¡± the Commander of Darkness.¡±

    ¡°Argh!¡± Princess Neoma said while rubbing her arms as if she was disgusted. ¡°Gosh, what¡¯s with the cheesy names? ¡®Commander of Darkness?¡¯ Are we in a shounen manga or what?¡±

    ¡°Does it matter?¡± the duckined lightly. ¡°Princess Neoma, do you know who the Commander of Darkness is?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s the agent of whoever it was that created the Absolute Darkness during the Ancient Period.¡±

    Duckie looked surprised. ¡°You know¡­?¡±

    Princess Neoma scoffed. ¡°Duckie, did you forget I¡¯m the one and only royal princess of the empire? Plus, I received the education of a Crown Prince. Of course, my big brain would have memorized the history of our empire.¡±

    ¡°I do not doubt your intelligence, Princess Neoma,¡± the duck insisted in a frustrated voice. ¡°I¡¯m asking why the hell are you still calm even after you heard that those bastards are trying to summon the Commander of Darkness through the Hell Knights? Worse, those bastards are going to make the Commander the owner of the fake Elemental Guardian!¡±

    ¡°The Commander of Darkness failed to cover the world in Absolute Darkness,¡± Princess Neoma said nonchntly, then she put a hand over her chest proudly. ¡°But I am someone who once set the world on fire. I seeded, so I win. That means I¡¯m stronger than the Commander who failed his task.¡±

    Jasper and Dahlia were a little confused about Princess Neoma¡¯s logic.

    But Duckie just nodded as if he understood. ¡°I almost forgot that there was no sane de Moonasterio in history. Why did I even get my hopes up?¡±

    Princess Neoma just ignored the duck, then she turned to Jasper. ¡°Oppa, the Northern Region is governed by the nobles who belong to the Neutral Faction, right?¡±

    Jasper nodded. ¡°I already sent them a message, Princess Neoma. I¡¯m just waiting for their response.¡±

    ¡°Oppa.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Princess Neoma?¡±

    ¡°Tell those Northern lords toe and meet meter,¡± the royal princess said while standing up. ¡°I can¡¯t believe how poor this part of their territory is when those fucking lords are living well.¡±

    [Ah, Princess Neoma is pissed.]

    That gave everyone in the room, except for Lord Ruto, the goosebumps.

    Jasper bowed his head politely. ¡°I will deal with the Northern lords ordingly, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°What the fuck is Nero doing as the Crown Prince?¡± Princess Neoma murmured to herself, her bloodlust leaking out. ¡°I heard he destroyed the demon worshippers in the North before, but why are there still fuckers roaming around here?¡±

    Jasper knew what Princess Neoma was talking about.

    [A few years ago, Prince Nero went to the North to get rid of the demon worshippers. That¡¯s how he gained two of his subordinates. One was the demon pretending to be human, and the other was Count Luchessi¡¯s son who became Prince Nero¡¯s secretary.]

    Jasper wondered out loud. ¡°Could this group be the remnants of the demon worshippers that Prince Nero wiped out before?¡±

    ¡°It might be possible,¡± Princess Neoma said. ¡°That¡¯s what we¡¯re going to find out.¡±

    ¡°I understand, Princess Neoma,¡± Jasper said, nodding. ¡°I will ask the Northern lords for more informationter.¡±

    ¡°Very well, oppa,¡± Princess Neoma said, then she turned to the duck. ¡°Hey, Duckie.¡±

    ¡°What, Princess Neoma?¡±

    Instead of getting offended, it seemed like the royal princess was relieved to see that Duckie still had the energy to talk back rudely.

    [But, of course, we know Duckie is only acting tough in front of us.]

    ¡°There are kind people in the world who say that the best revenge is to be happy. And to be happy, you apparently have to forgive the people who wronged you,¡± Princess Neoma said. ¡°Perhaps forgiving and moving on might give you peace of mind. But unfortunately, I hold grudges. The only way I could sleep peacefully at night is after I fucked up the scumbags who wronged me. How about you?¡±

    Duckie¡¯s eyes turned sharp. ¡°Let¡¯s fuck them up, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ***

    TONI WAS the person chosen by Lord Helstor himself to create the new Elemental Guardian, and to summon the Commander of Darkness who would be the owner of the Elemental Guardian that she created.

    Everything became easy because Lord Helstor provided her with all the things she needed for the summoning.

    Right now was the moment of truth.

    The altar in front of her had a pile of corpses that almost touched the roof. Those bodies looked charred because of the Darkness that they produced. It was the perfect offering for the Commander of Darkness.

    But she must summon the Hell Knights first.

    [Because the Hell Knights will serve as food for the Commander.]

    ¡°Come, the brave Hell Knights!¡± Toni yelled whileughing in excitement. ¡°I, Tony Crowell, summon you to do my bidding!¡±

    ¡°Of course, you¡¯re a fucking Crowell.¡±

    Huh?

    .....

    She was confused.

    The empty altar where the Hell Knights should be appearing was now upied by someone else.

    White hair.

    Pale skin.

    Glowing red eyes.

    Toni gasped out loud. ¡°A de Moonasterio?¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 674 - 674 A SIDE QUEST (3)

    674 A SIDE QUEST (3)

    NO, IT wasn¡¯t just an ordinary de Moonasterio.

    It was Neoma de Moonasterio.

    [The rumors aren¡¯t exaggerated¨C Princess Neoma is indeed as beautiful as the Goddess of Beauty.]

    Toni Crowell didn¡¯t expect the sted royal princess to be there.

    Moreover, she didn¡¯t expect Princess Neoma to have a grand entrance.

    The roof copsed as if it was hit by a blunt force.

    Thanks to the huge hole, Toni could see the intruders clearly.

    She was told Princess Neoma was in the empire¡¯s Royal Capital with the Quinzels. Moreover, what business did the royal princess have in the North?

    Worse, the sted princess wasn¡¯t alone.

    .....

    A purple-haired young man was standing on the Thunderbird.

    [That must be Ruston Stroganoff.]

    A red-haired young miss was sitting sideways on a tuna-sized Blue Whale.

    [And that must be Dahlia, the ck Witch.]

    Lastly, the new Elemental Guardian owner.

    Princess Neoma was sitting on the White Lion as if she was riding on a horse.

    [The three Elemental Guardians¡­]

    ¡°I heard there are fuckers here who wished to summon the ¡®Hell Knights¡¯ using innocent people,¡± Princess Neoma said, her eyes glowing red from anger. The royal princess must be using magic that amplified her voice. ¡°You¡¯re in fucking luck¨C I will drag you all to hell today to meet those sted Hell Knights you wanted to meet desperately.¡±

    After saying that, the royal princess descended alone.

    [But it doesn¡¯t matter.]

    ¡°You¡¯re already toote, Princess Neoma,¡± Toni said confidently. ¡°Even if you kill me now, the Hell Knights have already been summoned. They will be here any moment.¡±

    And after the Hell Knights arrived, the Commander of Darkness would follow.

    Toni waited for Princess Neoma to respond, but the royal princess just dismounted the White Lion. Then the Elemental Guardian bowed his head before disappearing.

    Huh?

    [The White Lion left Princess Neoma?]

    Did the royal princess just use the Elemental Guardian as a mode of transportation?

    Toni was confused, even more so when she realized Princess Neoma was looking everywhere BUT HER.

    [Is that princess brat ignoring me?]

    ¡°For a royal princess, youck manners.¡±

    ¡°And for an insignificant minor viiness, you¡¯re fucking loud,¡± Princess Neoma said, finally looking at Toni. ¡°Are you even a real Crowell?¡±

    Toni flinched.

    To be honest, she wasn¡¯t a Crowell yet. But she was promised to be given the family name once she seeded in her mission.

    And she was almost there!

    Princess Neoma, who seemed to have realized that she guessed right, smirked haughtily. ¡°I¡¯m right, am I not?¡± she asked while walking leisurely towards her. ¡°You don¡¯t have the same scent as Regina, or the other Crowells that I¡¯ve met so far.¡±

    Toni¡¯s instincts were telling her to run because she knew she wouldn¡¯t be able to win, even if she fought the sted royal princess.

    [I¡¯m not thebat type. I was only chosen to lead this operation because I know how to summon the creatures of hell. But the higher-ups assured me that this mission isn¡¯t dangerous, but it must be done in secret. That¡¯s why I was only allowed to bring a few guards. Hence, I had to resort to brainwashing the peasants here to guard the entrance!]

    ¡°Hey, I can smell your fear,¡± Princess Neoma said,ughing. ¡°Tone it down. My sadistic sidese out when I see a trembling prey in front of me.¡±

    [If I could, then I would have already done that!]

    But Toni couldn¡¯t even breathe properly.

    Just when did the air suddenly get this¡­ thick?

    [No, it isn¡¯t the air¡­ it¡¯s Princess Neoma¡¯s bloodlust!]

    Before Toni knew it, she was already on her knees while holding her throat. She couldn¡¯t breathe. Worse, she couldn¡¯t even open her mouth to speak.

    ¡°I have no use for you.¡±

    Toni was shocked to hear that from Princess Neoma. She gathered her remaining strength to look up at the royal princess, but she instantly regretted it.

    Princess Neoma¡¯s glowing red eyes looked cold.

    [She¡¯s going to kill me¡­]

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t kill you yet,¡± Princess Neoma said, turning her back on Toni. ¡°I¡¯ll hand you over to people who know exactly how to deal with a scum like you.¡±

    Torture.

    Toni felt shivers down her spine when she realized that Princess Neoma was going to torture her for information.

    Just when she thought all hope was lost, a burst of strong negative energy filled the room.

    ¡°The Hell Knights!¡± Toni yelled, using thest bits of her energy to celebrate. ¡°They¡¯re here!¡±

    Three armored skeletons appeared on the altar that Princess Neoma left a moment ago.

    Each armored skeleton stood at least seven feet each, and they obviously weighed a lot since the tform below them was crushed.

    Of course, Toni wasn¡¯t hoping that the Hell Knights would beat Princess Neoma.

    But at least, she would have time to escape while the royal princess was busy.

    That was what she thought, though.

    [What the hell happened?]

    Princess Neoma took out her infamous pink Death Scythe, and she only swung it once.

    ONCE.

    The Hell Knights were beheaded in an instant, the severed skulls rolling down the floor while slowly disappearing along with their headless bodies.

    And, just like that, the Hell Knights that Toni summoned for weeks vanished.

    [I thought the Hell Knights would at leastst thirty minutes while fighting Princess Neoma.]

    ¡°Ah, this is making me angry,¡± Princess Neoma said, as if she was disgusted. ¡°If you¡¯re going to use innocent people and beings to summon those filthy things, at least make sure they¡¯re fucking strong. What the hell are those weakass skeletons?¡±

    [No, you¡¯re just too powerful, Princess Neoma¡­]

    The Hell Knights were supposed to be immortals since they were already dead.

    But perhaps, because the Death Scythe was covered in Princess Neoma¡¯s red me, it managed to purify the Hell Knights.

    [That or it¡¯s because Princess Neoma is simply¡­ very strong.]

    ¡°Fuck. I shouldn¡¯t have killed those weakass skeletons right away,¡± Princess Neomained. ¡°I wanted to meet the Commander of Darkness and give him advice about changing his cheesy title.¡±

    Princess Neoma wanted to meet the legendary Commander of Darkness? The Commander of Darkness existed during the Ancient Period, yet the royal princess spoke like she was only talking about wanting to meet a neighbor.

    [How arrogant.]

    That was thest thing that entered Toni¡¯s mind before she slowly lost consciousness.

    [Princess Neoma didn¡¯t even lift a finger and yet¡­ I¡­ dammit¡­]

    ***

    NEOMA WAS utterly disgusted while looking around for what seemed like a prayer room.

    She went straight to that ce where she felt the strongest dark energying from. And that was how she met Toni Crowell.

    Ah, she also met the Hell Knights and killed them. Since those things were already considered dead, her pink Hellgate didn¡¯t appear. After all, the pink Hellgate would only appear if she killed living beings.

    Anyway, she got annoyed as soon as she heard those weakass skeletons talk.

    <¡°Are you the offering?¡±>

    That was what the weakass skeletons said as soon as they saw her.

    [Offering, my foot.]

    There were tons of diamonds around the altar.

    .....

    [Those diamonds must be the real offerings.]

    Tsk.

    ¡°Tteokbokki,e out,¡± Neoma said, summoning her Soul Beast. ¡°Grab that wench and bring her to Jasper oppa.¡±

    Tteokbokki appeared in his human form, then he grabbed Toni Crowell by the leg. ¡°Do I just bring this filthy thing to Jasper Hawthorne?¡±

    She nodded. ¡°Jasper oppa would know how to deal with that wench.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± Tteokbokki said, his body disappearing along with Toni Crowell. ¡°See youter, thug princess.¡±

    ¡°Bye-bye.¡±

    [¡°Babe, are you done there?¡±]

    Obviously, it was Ruto.

    Her anger melted a bit upon hearing her man¡¯s voice.

    Since Neoma, Ruto, and Dahlia were working together at the moment, they decided to open a link to each other¡¯s minds as a means ofmunication.

    ¡°Yes, babe,¡± Neoma said. She was already done looking around. ¡°I already got rid of the Hell Knights. But there¡¯s nothing but diamonds and other expensive stuff in this prayer room. How about your location?¡±

    She was the only one who went to the prayer room because she was enough.

    [¡°I already destroyed the barrier here, and Miss Dahlia is currently evacuating the victims.¡±]

    ¡°How about the brainwashed townspeople? Are they putting up a fight?¡±

    [¡°Miss Dahlia is dealing with them ordingly.¡±]

    ¡°Okay,¡± she said. She trusted Dahlia, so she knew she didn¡¯t have to worry about the victims. Even if the townspeople were putting up a fight, the ck Witch would never kill them. ¡°Where are you?¡±

    [¡°I¡¯m in the room where the fake Elemental Guardian is locked up. Do you want to see it?¡±]

    ¡°Not really, but I want to see you.¡±

    [¡°¡­¡±]

    ¡°Heh,¡± she said teasingly. ¡°Did I make your heart flutter, babe?¡±

    [¡°You know that Miss Dahlia can also hear us, don¡¯t you?¡±]

    Neoma just pouted.

    [¡°I-It¡¯s fine with me!¡±] Dahlia said, obviously in a panic. [¡°Please don¡¯t mind me and just continue¡­ uhm, f-flirting with each other¡­¡±]

    Now Neoma was embarrassed to carry on.

    [Gosh. Dahlia is too nice for her own good.]

    [¡°Thank you for being considerate, Miss Dahlia,¡±] Ruto said indifferently. [¡°I¡¯ll send Veton to pick you up, Neoma.¡±]

    ¡°Okie-dokie~¡±

    Neoma only had to wait for a few seconds.

    Veton, the Thunderbird now the size of a small bird, appeared and sat on her shoulder.

    The next thing she knew, her body was already disappearing.

    Then POOF.

    Neoma felt like she was falling as her body was being transported into a different ce, but she didn¡¯t panic.

    After all, someone caught her right away.

    Neoma smiled while wrapping her arms around Ruto¡¯s neck. ¡°Nice catch, babe.¡±

    ¡°Are you alright?¡± Ruto asked with a hint of worry in his voice. ¡°Your bloodlust leaked out.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s nothing new. I¡¯m always mad when dealing with the crows¡­¡±

    Huh?

    Neoma trailed off when she saw the magnificent creature behind Ruto.

    [Duckie, you idiot! What do you mean by ¡®horse?!¡¯]

    Well, it was a horse.

    With wings.

    And a single horn on its forehead.

    Neoma covered her mouth with her hands when she gasped, her eyes brimming with tears. Of course, those were tears of joy. ¡°A unicorn!¡±

    The fake Elemental Guardian was a beautiful unicorn!

    ***

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 Chapter 675 - 675 CHILDHOOD DREAM COME TRUE

    675 CHILDHOOD DREAM COME TRUE

    JASPER was currently in a meeting with two of the Northern lords: Count Tyler Lhesi, Count Larry Dawkins, Count Benjamin Russo, and Viscount Austin Morrisey.

    He was the youngest person in the meeting room, but also the highest-ranking nobleman.

    Hence, the lords of the North couldn¡¯t ignore a duke like him.

    ¡°His Royal Highness the Crown Prince eliminated the demon worshippers that gathered in the North a few years ago,¡± Count Lhesi said. ¡°Is it possible that the group who took over this vige is the remnant of that cult?¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter whether they¡¯re the remnants of the demon worshippers that the Crown Prince eliminated in the past,¡± Jasper said in an indifferent yet firm voice. ¡°The point is it happened in the North AGAIN.¡±

    The lords of the North flinched.

    ¡°I know how hard it is to manage a territory.¡±

    He should know because as a duke, his territory was bigger than the territories of the counts and the viscount.

    ¡°This vige is the farthest from the lord¡¯s castle,¡± Jasper said while looking at Viscount Austin Morrisey¨C the owner of thatnd. ¡°Viscount Morrisey, this is practically a ve¡¯s vige. There¡¯s no chief that oversees the vige, and this ce is so poor it¡¯s no surprise a cult was able to take over the entire ce easily¨C without your knowledge.¡±

    .....

    Viscount Morrisey, who looked scared at the moment, bowed his head in apology. ¡°I deeply apologize for my carelessness, Duke Hawthorne.¡±

    The three counts didn¡¯t look good while Viscount Morrisey was bowing his head to a noble way younger than them, but none of them protested. After all, Count Lhesi, Count Dawkins, and Count Russo knew how serious the situation was.

    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t apologize to me since I¡¯m a stranger here,¡± Jasper said coldly. ¡°Viscount Morrisey, you should bow your head to the people that you failed to protect.¡±

    Viscount Morrisey could only bow his head lower.

    ¡°Duke Hawthorne, have you informed the crown about this?¡± Count Russo asked carefully. ¡°Since you said that your allies are already taking care of the cult, does it mean the crown has already sent a representative?¡±

    Was Princess Neoma a representative of the crown?

    [It feels wrong to say that since to me, Princess Neoma OWNS the crown already.]

    ¡°A direct member of the Royal Family is already here.¡±

    The lords of the North looked shocked and a bit frightened.

    ¡°Is it Prince Calyx?¡± Count Dawkins asked nervously. ¡°Or perhaps, it¡¯s His Royal Highness the Crown Prince himself?¡±

    ¡°Neither.¡±

    Now the lords of the North looked even more confused.

    ¡°It can¡¯t be the Empress Dowager¡­?¡±

    [She¡¯s not even the real Empress Juliet.]

    Jasper frowned at Count Lhesi¡¯s question. ¡°You¡¯ll meet HER ROYAL HIGHNESSter.¡±

    Now the lords of the North were looking at him as if he had gone crazy.

    Jasper didn¡¯t have time to waste with the confused lords as an important guest dropped by.

    ¡°Annyeong, Jasper hyung.¡±

    The lords of the North all stood up when Tteokbokki, Princess Neoma¡¯s Soul Beast in his human form, suddenly appeared out of thin air.

    But Jasper stood calmly and stopped the lords from attacking.

    ¡°Lord Tteokbokki, you talk like Princess Neoma now,¡± Jasper said, smiling at the Soul Beast who was dragging an unconscious woman by her leg. ¡°I trust everyone has been resolved already?¡±

    Princess Neoma.

    Lord Ruto.

    Miss Dahlia.

    There was no way the three monsters wouldn¡¯t be able to solve the problem easily.

    ¡°The thug princess already killed the Hell Knights, so the Commander of Darkness couldn¡¯t be summoned anymore,¡± Tteokbokki reported to him, throwing the woman away until the poordy hit the wall. ¡°That disgusting thing is the Crowell in charge of the operation. The thug princess said you¡¯ll know what to do with that filthy thing, hyung.¡±

    He was honored to know that Princess Neoma trusted him that much.

    [And, well, as the youngest duke of the empire, this is also a part of my duty.]

    ¡°Thank you for bringing the enemy to me, Lord Tteokbokki,¡± Jasper said, smiling. ¡°Please tell Princess Neoma that I¡¯ll take care of the rest.¡±

    ***

    ¡°RUTO, RUTO, put me down,¡± Neoma said excitedly while patting Ruto¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Hurry! Hurry~¡±

    Ruto raised an eyebrow at her while putting her down carefully. ¡°Now I¡¯m only ¡°Ruto?¡±¡±

    She just smiled sheepishly¡­

    ¡­ and ran towards the beautiful unicorn as soon as her feetnded on the floor.

    The sleeping creature was imprisoned inside a ss cage. Darkness, in the form of gas, was wrapped around the unicorn¡¯s legs like shackles.

    Tsk.

    Neoma punched the ss cage.

    The ss was thick and obviouslyced with a protective spell. But her bare hand was enough to break it. Her hand, now bleeding, was bruised and cut. Even so, she didn¡¯t have the time to worry about it.

    As soon as the ss cage broke, the Darkness immediately attacked her.

    She didn¡¯t have to lift a finger, though.

    The Darkness was purified before it even touched her.

    ¡°You could have covered your hand with Mana,¡± Ruto said, standing next to her. ¡°In the first ce, you didn¡¯t have to use your bare hand to break the ss cage.¡±

    Wow.

    Neoma was suddenly reminded that Ruto received the blessing of the Sun Goddess. The warmth of his body alone was enough to purify Darkness. And standing next close to him ¡°saved¡± her from being attacked earlier.

    [My man is strong, huh?]

    Ruto knitted his eyebrows. ¡°Why are you suddenly sizing me up?¡±

    ¡°My bad. I automatically size up anyone who seems to be as strong as me,¡± Neoma exined. ¡°And Ruto, I don¡¯t want to sound ungrateful. But if it¡¯s not life-threatening, you don¡¯t have to save me from Darkness. I enjoy eating it, so I feel like you stole my lunch from me just now.¡±

    Fortunately, he didn¡¯t seem to be offended as he nodded. ¡°I see. I apologize for stealing your ¡°lunch.¡± But I hope you don¡¯t get hurt on purpose next time.¡±

    ¡°Are you worried about me?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just annoying to see strong people get hurt on purpose when they can easily avoid it.¡±

    [Gosh, he became a tsundere.]

    ¡°My small injuries can heal on their own,¡± Neoma said, then she turned to the beautiful creature in front of them. A smile automatically spread on her face. ¡°Ruto, it¡¯s a unicorn. And it¡¯s so pretty!¡±

    It was a white unicorn the size of an average healthy adult horse, and the span of its wings was proportional to its body.

    Of course, a unicorn wouldn¡¯t be a unicorn without the horn on its forehead.

    ¡°Gosh,¡± Neoma gushed, sping her hands together as if she was praying. ¡°It¡¯s so beautiful and it looks so mythical, Ruto.¡±

    She wanted to hug the unicorn.

    No, a handshake(?) would be enough.

    But the unicorn was unconscious, so she didn¡¯t dare touch it. She was contented looking at the beautiful creature.

    [I hope the unicorn lets me hug themter.]

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe I finally saw a unicorn,¡± Neoma gushed. ¡°I can die happy now.¡±

    ¡°If you died just because you saw a unicorn, your ¡°children¡± would hunt down all the unicorns in the world and annihte them.¡±

    She pouted, but she couldn¡¯t deny what Ruto said.

    [I can totally see my ¡°children¡± doing that.]

    ¡°I¡¯m just saying that the unicorn is the most magical creature out there.¡±

    ¡°You have a dragon, Neoma,¡± Ruto reminded her in disbelief. ¡°Dragons are considered the most legendary creature in the world.¡±

    ¡°You can find a dragon in every fantasy book out there, Ruto.¡±

    ¡°Your Soul Beast would cry if he heard you.¡±

    ¡°My love for unicorns and my love for Tteokbokki are two iparable things.¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    Neoma nodded and smiled. ¡°I wish Papa Boss was here.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    .....

    ¡°Papa Boss loves unicorns, too.¡±

    She suddenly felt sad.

    Of course, there was never a day when she didn¡¯t miss her Papa Boss and Mama Boss.

    But seeing a unicorn made her miss her parents more¨C especially Papa Boss.

    [Don¡¯t worry, Papa Boss. I will admire this beautiful unicorn for the two of us.]

    ¡°I find it hard to believe,¡± Ruto said, surprise obvious in his voice. ¡°I can¡¯t imagine Emperor Niki loving anything else aside from Lady Roseheart. It¡¯s already a miracle that His Majesty learned to love you and Prince Nero.¡±

    ¡°I know, right?¡± she agreed. ¡°But who can resist the charm of a unicorn? Definitely not me.¡±

    ¡°Who do you like more?¡± Ruto asked abruptly. ¡°Me or that unicorn?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°?¡±

    ¡°You,¡± Neoma said, smiling when she turned to Ruto. ¡°Of course, I like you more, babe.¡±

    Ruto raised an eyebrow at her. ¡°Then what¡¯s with the pause?¡±

    ¡°That was just your imagination, babe.¡±

    ¡°Are you gaslighting me now?¡±

    ¡°Ruto-ya~¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m older than you.¡±

    ¡°Ruto oppa~¡± Neoma said, linking her arm with Ruto¡¯s arm. ¡°Your jealous side is cute, too.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not jealous, though?¡±

    ¡°Sure,¡± she said, then she turned to the beautiful unicorn again. ¡°Babe, is the unicorn alright? Is it just sleeping?¡±

    ¡°It is unconscious,¡± Ruto said. ¡°We may need to purify the Darkness that it absorbed for it to gain consciousness.¡±

    ¡°Then can I do it?¡±

    ¡°Let me do it,¡± he said. ¡°You have other things to take care of, Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°There are kidnapped fairies, elves, and mermaids in this building,¡± Ruto reminded her. ¡°I think you¡¯re the best person to rescue them. They¡¯re afraid of me, after all.¡±

    ¡°Why would they be afraid of you?¡±

    ¡°They naturally fear the person who has the license to kill them.¡±

    ¡°As the God yer, you also have the license to kill the children of Nature?¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± he said while nodding. ¡°I also have the license to kill the creatures from the Underworld. The only beings I cannot punish are humans.¡±

    ¡°But you killed me in the first timeline?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Was I no longer human back then?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°As expected of myself, I probably turned into a god back then,¡± she said while nodding. ¡°God Neoma has a nice ring to it.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll save the unicorn,¡± Ruto said. Then his hand moved to pat her head. ¡°Go and save the children of Nature.¡±

    ¡°Okie-dokie,¡± Neoma said cheerfully. ¡°Work hard for our future, babe.¡±

    ***

    DAHLIA looked at the ck orb in the center of the room where the victims were slowly dying in their sleep.

    The ck orb was releasing strange red little lights that were getting absorbed by the sleeping victims¡¯ bodies. And in return, the sleeping victims were releasing Darkness that the ck orb was absorbing.

    Hence, the ck orb was almost full.

    ¡°It¡¯s the device that¡¯s causing the victims to slowly die in their sleep,¡± Duckie, now in the form of a brte child with brown eyes, said while pointing at the ck orb. She followed the Fourth Elemental Guardian who led her to where the victims were while Princess Neoma and Lord Ruto were dealing with other stuff. ¡°I don¡¯t know what kind of device that thing is, though.¡±

    ¡°I know what it is,¡± Dahlia said while clenching her hands tight. ¡°It¡¯s a device that could give humans nightmares. Usually, the nightmare involves making the victims experience the worst moment of their lives again and again until they feel despair. Sometimes, it involves putting the victims in an endless loop of death.¡±

    No wonder the sleeping victims were producing Darkness.

    [When a person experiences too much despair, their life force turns into Darkness. Hence, they die slowly.]

    ¡°Is that so?¡± Duckie asked, tilting his head to one side. ¡°But how did you know that, child?¡±

    ¡°That device is called the ¡®Nightmare Catcher,''¡± Dahlia said, her nails digging deep into her palms, making her bleed. ¡°It belongs to the ck Witches.¡±

    How did it fall into the hands of the crows?

    ***

    [SHORT EXTRA: DAHLIA¡¯S OBSERVATION DIARY]

    When Dahlia worked with Lord Ruto for the past few years, she realized that he was a born leader.

    Commanding people came naturally to the young lord.

    Hence, she couldn¡¯t believe what she was seeing at the moment.

    ¡°I know this is clich¨¦, but is there something on my face?¡± Lord Ruto asked while the two of them were dismounting their Elemental Guardians. Princess Neoma already left the scene to deal with the summoner of the Hell Knights. ¡°Or do you have something to say to me, Miss Dahlia?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m just wondering why you¡¯re letting Princess Neoma lead us, Lord Ruto,¡± Dahlia said nervously. ¡°I¡¯m notining since I made the resolve to follow Princess Neoma no matter what. But I¡¯m just curious. I thought the two of you would sh against each other a lot, since both of you have strong personalities.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Y-You don¡¯t have to answer, Lord Ruto¡­¡±

    ¡°Neoma¡­ is a wild child.¡±

    ¡°???¡±

    ¡°I just have a feeling that I¡¯ll never know peace again if I get on her bad side,¡± Lord Ruto said while avoiding Dahlia¡¯s gaze. ¡°And looking at her back makes me feel¡­ safe?¡±

    She nodded in agreement.

    ¡°I know what you¡¯re talking about, Lord Ruto,¡± Dahlia said, smiling. ¡°Whenever Princess Neoma is right in front of me, I feel like everything will be alright.¡±

    ¡°And that might be a problem in the near future,¡± Lord Ruto said while walking away from her. ¡°We can¡¯t depend on a single person because if that person disappears one day, then everything will copse.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 676 - 676 SILENT ANGER

    676 SILENT ANGER

    ¡°DON¡¯T KILL them, Grandpa,¡± Neoma said to Kingston gently while walking in the vast basement of the inn. ¡°Just knock them out. You can beat the crows to a pulp, but please be gentle with the townspeople.¡±

    Kingston growled and nodded in response.

    Then the White Lion proceeded to attack the people trying to get near Neoma.

    The people d in ck were obviously crows, while the townspeople looked like they would drop to death anytime.

    [They¡¯re skin and bones. I should ask Ruto to cook for themter.]

    Soon, Kingston¡¯s growl echoed in the hallway along with the painful groans of the crows and the townspeople getting knocked out one by one.

    Neoma ignored them, for now, to focus on rescuing the kidnapped children of Nature.

    Hence, she went down to the basement prison alone.

    The prison cells on her left side were filled with fairies, while the right side was filled with the elves.

    .....

    [There are at least thirty fairies and thirty elves here¨C and they all look young.]

    She wasn¡¯t talking about the physical appearance of the ¡°children,¡± of course.

    Perhaps because of her Roseheart Blood, she could instinctively tell that the fairies and elves here were considered children in their respective races.

    ¡°A de Moonasterio¡­¡±

    ¡°Lady Mona¡¯s daughter with the evil emperor¡­¡±

    ¡°Elves are said to be the most beautiful beings in the world, but why do the elves suddenly look like squids nowpared to the princess?¡±

    ¡°Shut up, you puny fairies.¡±

    ¡°Did we lie?¡±

    ¡°No, but it hurts our pride¡­¡±

    ¡°The de Moonasterios are too much. They¡¯re already the strongest human bloodline in the world, and now they¡¯re stealing the elves¡¯ reputation for beauty¡­¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s sue them.¡±

    Neoma stifled herughter while listening to the fairies and elves bicker lightheartedly.

    Both fairies and elves had pointed ears that if it wasn¡¯t for the fairies¡¯ cute size, humans would have thought they came from the same race.

    [Yet they seem to bicker a lot.]

    ¡°The mermaids,¡± Neoma said, freezing on the spot when she noticed that there was not a single mermaid in sight. ¡°Did they move the mermaids to somewhere with a water tank?¡±

    SOB.

    Hmm?

    Neoma was surprised when the fairies and elves suddenly began sobbing. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± she asked gently while looking around. She wanted tofort both sides, but she only had one physical body. ¡°Are you hurt anywhere?¡±

    [I should ask Trevor to bring Greko here ASAP. We need to check on the townspeople, too.]

    ¡°Lady Mona¡¯s daughter¡­¡±

    Neoma smiled warmly at the beautiful male elf that called her. Out of all the elves there, this one seemed to have a high rank since the other elves were surrounding him protectively. ¡°I¡¯m Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio. And you are¡­?¡±

    The elf with gold hair and bright green eyes nodded politely before introducing himself properly. ¡°I¡¯m Auden, the fourth prince of the Elves.¡±

    Ah, as expected.

    [His aura really screams ¡®royalty.¡¯]

    Neoma walked in front of the prison cell and nodded politely at the elf prince. ¡°It¡¯s a shame that we met in a ce like this, but it¡¯s still a pleasure to meet you, Prince Auden.¡±

    ¡°The pleasure is mine, Princess Neoma.¡±

    [Even though you wanted to sue my family for being beautiful a moment ago¡­?]

    She wanted to joke with the elf prince, but she knew it wasn¡¯t right to do so. Hence, she kept quiet while waiting for him to speak again.

    ¡°Princess Neoma, there were three young mermaids that were brought here along with us,¡± Auden said, his voice cracking a bit. ¡°But just after a few days with us, the men d in ck killed the mermaids. They said that every part of a mermaid¡¯s body could be sold at a high price. Hence, they killed the mermaids and took the bodies with them¡­¡±

    The loud sobbing of the young elves and fairies echoed in the entire basement.

    Even Auden, who tried so hard to hold back his tears, finally broke down.

    Neoma took a deep breath while clenching her hands tight until her nails dug deep into the skin of her palms.

    Duckie¡¯s adoptive family¡­

    The young mermaids¡­

    And people from this poor town¡­

    Everyone died meaninglessly.

    Neoma took a deep breath, then her hand moved to touch the prison bars to free the elves.

    ¡°Don¡¯t touch it, Princess Neoma!¡± Auden warned her worriedly. ¡°It¡¯s covered with a powerful protective spell!¡±

    She just smiled to assure the elf prince that she would be alright.

    Then, without further ado, she grabbed the prison bars with her hands covered with Moonglow. She felt the protective spell that Auden mentioned get activated as soon as she touched the bars. It tried to electrocute her.

    Heh.

    Ruto would probablyugh if he was here.

    [Ah, no. Since my man is the master of electricity and lightning, he would have been offended that the crows used such weakass voltage as a protective spell.]

    Neoma, who felt like her palms were getting tickled by the electrical energy, effortlessly tear the door apart from the frame¨C freeing the shocked elves in the process. ¡°You¡¯re free now, kids,¡± she said, smiling at them. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, this ce is safe now.¡±

    The elves still looked shocked, so she excused herself to free the fairies next.

    ¡°The protective spell on the doors was strong enough to fry even the Elf King¡­¡±

    ¡°But Princess Neoma touched it like it was nothing¡­¡±

    ¡°Now I understand why the gods hated Lord Yule and Lady Roxana for creating the de Moonasterios¡­¡±

    Neoma could hear the elves talking behind her, but she wasn¡¯t in the right headspace toprehend it.

    She may look calm outside, but she was seething inside.

    Hence, she mindlessly removed the prison door that entrapped the fairies as effortlessly as she did earlier.

    ¡°You¡¯re free now, children.¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma, we may be children in fairies¡¯ years, but we¡¯re still older than you¡­¡±

    Neoma just smiled at the cute fairy.

    ¡°Shh! Shut your mouth.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t you see Princess Neoma¡¯s eyes?¡±

    ¡°She can¡¯t hear us.¡±

    ¡°The royal princess is trying her best to hold back her anger because if she exploded here, we will all die.¡±

    ¡°Everyone,¡± Neoma said, addressing everyone with a warm gaze. ¡°You may leave this ce now. You¡¯ll probably meet the divine son of Lord Levi once you¡¯re out. Trust and follow him¨C he¡¯ll bring you to safety.¡±

    There was an awkward silence that ensued first.

    ¡°As youmand, Princess Neoma.¡±

    It was Aude, the elf prince, who broke the silence.

    After that, the elves and the fairies left the basement as fast as they could. Thankfully, that meant the children still had enough strength to move.

    Once she was alone, she took a deep breath.

    ¡°Fuck.¡±

    Neoma was aware that she couldn¡¯t save everyone, especially those she couldn¡¯t reach.

    Even so, it still made her angry that she arrivedte.

    People and other beings already died.

    What was the point of being this powerful when she couldn¡¯t save those who needed her help the most?

    [I keep calling the gods useless, but I¡¯m just as useless as they are.]

    Neoma took a deep breath while pping her cheeks gently.

    .....

    [There¡¯s no point in staying angry. I shouldn¡¯t get mad¨C I should get even.]

    ¡°I¡¯m surprised you haven¡¯t blown up the entire ce yet.¡±

    Neoma turned around to face Ruto. ¡°Did you meet the children on your way here?¡±

    ¡°I sent them to Jasper Hawthorne,¡± Ruto said. ¡°I¡¯m from the Eastern Continent, so I¡¯m practically an outsider. The kidnapped children of Nature are also from the Western Continent, so it¡¯s your duty to deal with this problem.¡±

    She gasped when she just realized something important just now. ¡°Eotteoke?¡±

    He furrowed his brows, obviously confused. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Can an empress marry a foreigner?¡±

    ¡°Who are you going to marry?¡±

    ¡°You have dual citizenship, but the nobles might use that as an excuse to not ept you as the future emperor,¡± she said worriedly, ignoring Ruto¡¯s question. ¡°You might be forced to give up your dual citizenship and choose the Western Continent as your hometown. I already feel sorry for you, babe.¡±

    Of course, she was just messing with him since she needed to distract herself from her anger.

    She wouldn¡¯t force Ruto to give up anything against his will.

    [We canpromise, or I can just change thew once I be the empress.]

    Ruto, who seemed to have noticed that Neoma was trying to distract herself, raised an eyebrow before going along with her ¡°joke.¡± ¡°I¡¯m the sole heir of the Solfrid n,¡± he said lightheartedly. ¡°I don¡¯t think the Eastern Continent would let the future empress of the Great Moonasterion Empire steal the Solfrid Heir from them. They¡¯re already wary of how powerful the Western Continent is because of your bloodline, Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Gosh, that sounds like a ¡®them¡¯ problem,¡± Neoma said, shrugging. ¡°But we should at least have two children, babe. One would be the new Solfrid n, and the other would inherit the throne.¡±

    Well, if there would still be a throne to inherit.

    [I¡¯m still considering destroying the monarchy.]

    ¡°I know that we¡¯re just messing with each other to distract you from blowing up the entire ce, but you know, don¡¯t you?¡± Ruto asked carefully. ¡°As the God yer and the divine son of Lord Levi, I can¡¯t have a biological child even if I want to.¡±

    Neoma knitted her eyebrows. ¡°Who the fuck decided that?¡±

    And if what Ruto said was true, then what was the thing about Neoma allegedly being pregnant during the first timeline?

 Chapter 677 - 677 CHOOSE WISELY

    677 CHOOSE WISELY

    ¡°LITTLE ck Witch, are you going to break that device?¡±

    Dahlia ced a hand on the orb before she answered Duckie¡¯s question. ¡°I wasn¡¯t born yet when this device was created. Needless to say, this device is way older than I am. I know I should respect things that my ancestors made¡­¡±

    She gathered her Mana in her hand, then it let it w inside the orb.

    Soon, the orb absorbed her Mana.

    The device had the ability to suck out a person¡¯s Mana dry. That was why even the ck Witches of the past were careful not to touch the orb.

    Right now, she could feel the orb sucking out all the energy in her body.

    ¡°Little ck Witch, what are you doing?¡± Duckie asked worriedly. ¡°It¡¯s sucking out your Mana!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Lord Duckie,¡± Dahlia said, smiling at the Fourth Elemental Guardian that was in his human form. ¡°This orb can¡¯t suck out my Mana.¡±

    As expected, the duck looked confused.

    .....

    But Duckie¡¯s curiosity was soon answered when long cracks began to appear all over the orb. And when the orb was finally filled with Dahlia¡¯s Mana, it exploded.

    Of course, the Darkness that the orb umted was also released.

    Dahlia didn¡¯t let it attack anyone, of course. With just a wave of her hand, a semi-transparent round fish tank appeared and captured the broken pieces of the orb. The Darkness that was released was entrapped once again.

    [Whew.]

    ¡°Little ck Witch, you¡¯re also strong, huh?¡± the Fourth Elemental Guardian said. ¡°You made it look simple, but breaking the orb filled with Darkness was no easy feat.¡±

    Dahlia smiled shyly. ¡°Thank you, Lord Duckie.¡±

    She wasn¡¯t on the same level as Princess Neoma or Lord Ruto, of course.

    But she trained hard enough to not be a disgrace among the ck Witches.

    ¡°You broke the device that your ancestors made, Little ck Witch,¡± Duckie said in a serious tone. ¡°Is that alright?¡±

    ¡°I believe that the ¡®Nightmare Catcher¡¯ is a device that shouldn¡¯t exist in the first ce,¡± Dahlia said, looking at her hands wistfully. ¡°I know that Darkness isn¡¯t inherently evil. However, a device that creates artificial Darkness would only bring harm to the world. I don¡¯t know why my ancestors created it. But as the only ck Witch in the world, I have a feeling that I should break it with my own hands.¡±

    ¡°Well, if that¡¯s what you feel as a ck Witch, then I won¡¯t say anything anymore,¡± the duck said. ¡°You¡¯re already an adult, so I assume you know what you¡¯re doing.¡±

    To be honest, she didn¡¯t know what she was doing most of the time.

    [What does being an adult mean anyway?]

    ¡°What should we do now?¡± Duckie asked worriedly while looking around. ¡°Should we wake them?¡±

    Of course, the duck was talking about the sleeping victims.

    Some of the victims were already starting to stir.

    ¡°The nightmares stopped when the orb was broken, but it will be dangerous if they suddenly woke up. They might find it difficult to separate reality from the nightmare they just had,¡± Dahlia said worriedly. ¡°We must keep them asleep for now.¡±

    She pped her hands together to summon her Elemental Guardian.

    In just the blink of an eye, Lapiz appeared. Of course, the Blue Whale was in her small form since her current size would be toorge to fit in the room.

    <¡°You called, Dahlia?¡±>

    ¡°I need your help, Lapiz,¡± Dahlia said gently. ¡°Help me give everyone here a good night¡¯s sleep.¡±

    ***

    HMM?

    Neoma looked outside the window and noticed that it was ¡°raining.¡±

    Of course, it wasn¡¯t real rain.

    ¡°Dahlia is using her power, huh?¡± Neoma wondered out loud. ¡°Is this the power of her Elemental Guardian?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Ruto, who also stopped beside her to watch the ¡°rain,¡± said. ¡°Her Elemental Guardian wields the water element.¡±

    ¡°Cool,¡± she said, then she turned to him. ¡°I¡¯m also cool with adoption if ever we decide that we want to have children in the future.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°I was a bit surprised earlier when you said you can¡¯t have biological children.¡±

    She was surprised because that damned Calyx told her that she got pregnant in the first timeline.

    [But it¡¯s not like I should trust anything that bastard says.]

    Even so, she still couldn¡¯t discard that possibility.

    ¡°Having said that, I¡¯m still a little hesitant about having children in the future because I¡¯m not confident I¡¯d be a good mother,¡± Neoma continued brazenly. ¡°But that doesn¡¯t change the fact that I want a family with you.¡±

    Well, to be fair, she was aware that she only had five years to live.

    But it wasn¡¯t like she had already given up. She knew there must be a way for her to live longer.

    ¡°Are you sure about that, Neoma?¡± Ruto asked in a serious voice. ¡°Do you really want to settle with someone who doesn¡¯t love you the way you want to be loved?¡±

    ¡°Of course, I¡¯ll only think about marrying you for real once you fall in love with me again,¡± Neoma said, shrugging. Then she continued walking as Ruto kept up with her pace. ¡°I¡¯m just telling you in advance that I don¡¯t mind, even if you can¡¯t have biological children.¡±

    In fact, maybe it was for the better.

    The gods were traumatized when Yule and Roxana gave birth to the most powerful bloodline in the human world¨C the de Moonasterios.

    Ever since then, the union between two powerful gods had be forbidden.

    [Ruto and I are no gods, but most celestial beings are wary of us and our rtionship. If we get married in the future, I have a feeling they¡¯ll forbid us from having children to avoid creating another de Moonasterio bloodline.]

    ¡°I like it.¡±

    Neoma turned to Ruto with beaming eyes. ¡°Me?¡±

    ¡°I like that you don¡¯t have any bias against adoption,¡± Ruto said, patting her head. ¡°I can already tell you¡¯re going to be a good mother, despite your fears.¡±

    ¡°Then hurry up and fall in love with me again.¡±

    ¡°You should love yourself more, Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Gosh, I already love myself too much.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t,¡± he said bluntly. ¡°For someone who ims she loves herself the most, you¡¯re too sacrificing.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Live longer,¡± Ruto said, then he avoided her gaze as he walked ahead of her. ¡°That¡¯s one way to love yourself more.¡±

    Hmm?

    [Did Ruto just tell me to live longer?]

    ¡°Does he already know?¡± she whispered to herself, then she suddenly remembered that Trevor avoided her after they talked about her lifespan.

    Moreover, it happened when Ruto mentioned that her Moonglow was unusually weak.

    She got nervous back then because she thought her man already noticed that her lifespan was shortened¡­ wait.

    No way.

    [Could it be¡­?]

    ¡°Trevor Kesser,¡± Neoma whispered angrily while clenching her hands tight. ¡°I¡¯m going to kill you.¡±

    ***

    NEOMA was already in a bad mood when she faced Jasper oppa and the lords of the North: Count Tyler Lhesi, Count Larry Dawkins, Count Benjamin Russo, and Viscount Austin Morrisey.

    The gentlemen all looked shocked upon seeing her.

    [I met these people when I was posing as Nero, so it feels strange to finally meet them as me this way.]

    Right now, they were in Viscount Austin Morrisey¡¯s castle.

    Everyone in the vige was brought to the castle thanks to Ruto¡¯s teleportation skills. Duckie also helped moved the townspeople to the castle.

    Dahlia and Duckie were now in charge of checking on the people¡¯s conditions.

    The rescued elves and fairies were also resting in the guest rooms of the castle. But those who still had the power to heal volunteered to help Dahlia in treating anyone who needed medical attention.

    Fortunately, Viscount Austin Morrisey had the sense to feed his people.

    On the other hand, Toni Crowell and the other crow bastards were taken in the underground prison.

    Ruto volunteered to guard the crows.

    .....

    [Someone has to keep an eye on those bastards so they wouldn¡¯t kill themselves.]

    ¡°You¡¯re back, Your Royal Highness,¡± Jasper oppa greeted her with a polite bow. ¡°Thank you for working hard.¡±

    ¡°You did a good job, too, Duke Hawthorne,¡± Neoma said, addressing Jasper oppa by his formal title in front of the other lords. After praising her oppa, she faced the older nobles with a stoic face. ¡°Let me introduce myself first.¡±

    Right now, they were in the conference room of the lord¡¯s castle.

    Jasper oppa was supposed to sit on the center seat since he was the highest-ranking nobleman in the room, but he didn¡¯t.

    [It¡¯s because I¡¯m here.]

    ¡°I¡¯m Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio, Nero¡¯s older twin sister,¡± Neoma said while sitting in the center seat. ¡°And I don¡¯t enjoy talking while looking up, so you may all sit down now.¡±

    Jasper oppa, who chose the seat on her right side, was the only one who sat down.

    ¡°Don¡¯t make me repeat myself, gentlemen.¡±

    The old nobles flinched before sitting down as if they were bewitched.

    ¡°I know it must be hard for you to believe that I¡¯m the Crown Prince¡¯s twin sister, but I¡¯m not here to convince you,¡± Neoma said nonchntly. ¡°I¡¯m only here to talk about what happened. Seeing as how fast you responded when we arrived at the castle earlier, I guess it¡¯s safe to assume that Duke Hawthorne already exined what happened.¡± She turned to Viscount Austin Morrisey, the owner of that small territory. ¡°Is that right, Viscount?¡±

    Viscount Austin Morrisey trembled as if he was scared.

    To be honest, Neoma felt bad.

    [I heard from Hanna that her best friend in the academy, the one called ¡®Sandie,¡¯ is Viscount Morrisey¡¯s daughter.]

    ¡°That¡¯s right¡­ P-Princess Neoma.¡±

    The other lords looked at the viscount in disbelief, as if they couldn¡¯t believe that Viscount Austin Morrisey already addressed Neoma as a princess.

    ¡°Duke Hawthorne already informed us about the sacrifices¡­ the fake Elemental Guardian¡­ and the kidnapped children of Nature¡­¡±

    [The viscount is quite timid, huh?]

    ¡°The fairies and the elves informed me that they already contacted their n leaders, and the representatives of their respective ns will beter.¡±

    The lords of the North suddenly looked nervous.

    [And they should be.]

    ¡°I will face the representatives of the fairies and the elves,¡± Neoma said, shocking the noblemen. ¡°As the lords of the North, the only thing I expect of you is to help your people. Feed them delicious and warm meals. Provide clean clothes for them. Give them the best medical attention you could give. Restore their homes. Improve their living conditions from now on.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s easier said than done, ma¡¯am,¡± Count Tyler Lhesi, the leader of the Northern lords, said. The count didn¡¯t address her as a princess, but at least he spoke politely to her. ¡°Looking after everyone in our territories isn¡¯t an easy feat.

    ¡°Count Lhesi is correct,¡± Count Dawkins said. ¡°We¡¯re doing our best for our people, but it¡¯s near impossible to give equal attention to every town.¡±

    ¡°Then try harder,¡± Neoma said calmly. After all, she knew that the count was right when he said improving the living conditions of their subjects was easier said than done. ¡°The nobles protect the citizens, the crown protects the nobles, and the gods protect the crown.¡±

    She wasn¡¯t so sure about thest part, but whatever.

    ¡°If you give your all to protect the suffering people of the North, then I assure you that the crown will have your back,¡± Neoma said firmly. ¡°Right now, it seems like the bastards who threaten the safety of our people see the North as the empire¡¯s weakest link.¡±

    The Northern lords obviously were offended.

    [Truth hurts, huh?]

    ¡°This is going to be rude, but please pardon my insolence,¡± Count Russo said in a slightly hesitant voice. ¡°Ma¡¯am, you talk about how the crown will have our back. Do you have the right to speak like you represent the crown?¡±

    ¡°Count Russo,¡± Jasper oppa said sternly. ¡°Be careful with your words.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Duke Hawthorne,¡± Neoma said, her eyes going back and forth while addressing the Northern lords with her sharp gaze. ¡°Nero is the current Crown Prince, while Calyx is the self-proimed First Star of the empire. Even if I prove that I¡¯m really Nero¡¯s twin sister, it won¡¯t change anything, since the sessor to the throne has already been chosen. For the Northern lords, at least, their stance would remain the same.¡±

    The expressions of the Northern lords didn¡¯t look good anymore.

    [Ah, I hit a nerve.]

    It was predictable anyway.

    The Northern lords had maintained a neutral stance for how many generations now.

    [These are the people who stood idly while the empire suffered from horrible emperors in the past. They wouldn¡¯t budge even if a royal princess suddenly appears.]

    ¡°Unfortunately, I don¡¯t think you can remain standing on a neutral stance, dear Northern Lords. There¡¯s going to be a war of session soon,¡± Neoma dered boldly. ¡°Whether you like it or not, you¡¯ll soon be forced to pick one side.¡± She stood up because she was almost done talking to the Northern lords. ¡°Me, the current Crown Prince, and the self-proimed First Star¨C choose wisely.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 678 - 678 DUCKIEâ€™S SIN

    678 DUCKIE¡¯S SIN

    DUCKIE gulped hard while looking at the ground.

    He was back in his duck form since he couldn¡¯t maintain his human for long, considering that he was injured earlier.

    But even though he was a small duck, he was still an Elemental Guardian.

    And yet, he was reduced to an insignificant pebble in front of Ruston ¡°Ruto¡± Solfrid Stroganoff.

    [This boy has the license to kill me¡­]

    ¡°Wilton.¡±

    Duckie flinched when the child mentioned his real name.

    Veton, the Thunderbird.

    Kingston, the White Lion.

    .....

    Lapiz, the Blue Whale.

    And there was him.

    ¡°Wilton, the Winged Serpent.¡±

    That was true.

    Duckie was originally a Winged Serpent who ruled the sky, thend, and the water. He could fly, crawl, and swim. Hence, his fellow Elemental Guardians used to be so pissed at him every time he ¡°invaded¡± their territories.

    [Ah, those were the days¡­]

    ¡°Do you regret it now?¡±

    Duckie was pissed at Ruto¡¯s question, making him forget that he was facing the heartless God yer. ¡°No,¡± he said firmly as he raised his head to meet the God yer¡¯s glowing dark purple eyes. ¡°I will never regret killing my previous owner.¡±

    Yes, that was the sin that hemitted in the past.

    He killed his previous owner.

    Hence, as punishment, he was reincarnated into the body of a weak animal. It had been so long since it happened so he didn¡¯t remember what animal he first transformed into. But it didn¡¯t only happen once.

    Since he became a weak animal, he died pathetically.

    And after he died, he was reincarnated only to be a weak animal again. That cycle continued for many, many years until he became the duck that he was today.

    ¡°Yourst owner was a piece of work, indeed,¡± Ruto said indifferently. ¡°He sacrificed an entire town just to summon Helstor.¡±

    It was a shame, but the God yer was correct.

    Helstor, the God of Eternal Darkness, was already considered a forgotten god.

    But five hundred years ago, his previous owner sacrificed at least three thousand innocent people just to help Helstor regain his power and influence in the human world.

    ¡°Thanks to that horrible incident, the world once again heard of Helstor¡¯s name,¡± Ruto continued. ¡°That¡¯s how he gained new followers. They aren¡¯t that many, but the number is enough to give Helstor the power to control Darkness once again.¡±

    His previous mastermitted a grave sin, hence Duckie wasn¡¯t killed even though the Elemental Guardians were forbidden to kill their own master.

    [Hence, I still needed to be punished to ¡°set an example.¡±]

    Duckie fell silent for a moment before he responded. ¡°My previous master¡­ was a Solfrid, a young man that the Sun Goddess blessed herself.¡±

    The young lord¡¯s face remained indifferent. ¡°That¡¯s right. He was the disgrace of the Solfrid n. And Wilton¡­¡± His gaze suddenly turned sharp. ¡°You have information regarding that bastard, don¡¯t you?¡±

    Again, the young lord was correct.

    When he sent a message to the Elemental Guardian owners, except for Princess Neoma who wasn¡¯t an official owner yet during that time, he was actually only aiming for the Solfrid Heir.

    [The only person who¡¯ll benefit from the information I have is this boy.]

    But Duckie still lured the Elemental Guardian owners with the information that he had because he thought Ruto was the leader anyway.

    He was wrong, though.

    [I know that they don¡¯t have a formal leader¡­ but isn¡¯t Princess Neoma leading the Elemental Guardian owners well?]

    ¡°Did he finally reincarnate?¡± Ruto asked coldly, interrupting Duckie¡¯s thoughts. ¡°The disgrace of the Solfrid n.¡±

    Duckie would know because his soul was practically tied to his previous owner¡¯s soul.

    ¡°He was indeed reincarnated for the first time after five hundred years.¡±

    The Solfrid Heir knitted his eyebrows. ¡°¡®Was?''¡±

    ¡°His soul was kicked out of his own body, so he¡¯s technically dead now,¡± Duckie said firmly. ¡°A strong being stole his body, and is currently using it as a shell at the moment.¡±

    Ruto looked confused, as expected. ¡°Who stole the body of that bastard?¡±

    ***

    ¡°ME, THE CURRENT Crown Prince, and the self-proimed First Star¨C choose wisely,¡± Neoma said to the Northern Lords. ¡°But just so you know, I don¡¯t need your help to sit on the throne.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re crossing the line, ma¡¯am,¡± Count Lhesi said firmly. ¡°Even if you turn out to be telling the truth about your identity, it¡¯s still a crime to openly talk about stealing the throne from the legitimate Crown Prince.¡±

    ¡°Did I say I was going to steal the throne?¡± she asked calmly. ¡°I said I was going to sit on the throne.¡±

    The Northern Lords looked confused as if they didn¡¯t know the difference.

    ¡°I¡¯m not going to steal the position of the Crown Prince from Nero,¡± she said confidently. ¡°He¡¯s going to hand it to me willingly.¡±

    Now the Northern Lords were looking at her as if she had gone crazy.

    [Well, it¡¯s true that I¡¯m not sane so I¡¯m not really offended.]

    ¡°Anyway, don¡¯t fret about the details,¡± she said casually. Then she paused for a moment to address the nobles with her gaze. ¡°The Northern Lords are known as the Neutral Faction for many generations now. I can see why you chose to neither support nor oppose the crown. Just take my paternal grandfather for an example. He was a crazy bastard, wasn¡¯t he?¡±

    The Northern Lords just either faked a cough or avoided her gaze instead of responding properly.

    ¡°My paternal grandfather was a piece of shit, but you¡¯re no better than him,¡± Neoma said in a cold and firm manner. ¡°When the good men are silent, evil prospers.¡±

    She had a big brain, but those words didn¡¯te from her.

    [There are some pretty wise men back on Earth.]

    ¡°Do you know why bastards like my paternal grandfather seed with their evil doing?¡± she continued. ¡°It¡¯s because people who have the power to stop them do nothing.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s far-fetched to say that we could have stopped the previous emperor, ma¡¯am,¡± Count Dawkins said. ¡°We are a part of the Twelve Golden Families, but we are not as rich or as powerful as the other members.¡±

    ¡°And whose fault is that?¡±

    Now even Viscount Morrisey looked offended by her remark.

    ¡°The North has so much potential to be rich and more influential all over the continent, but you¡¯re not using your resources properly,¡± she said while shaking her head. ¡°You chose to stay the same even though the world is changing already. If you continue staying stagnant, then all of you shall be reced.¡±

    ¡°Is that a threat, ma¡¯am?¡± Count Russo asked coldly. ¡°Are you threatening us now?¡±

    Oho?

    Neoma found it cute when Count Lhesi, Count Dawkins, and Count Russo released their bloodlust as if they were trying to intimidate her.

    The timid Viscount Morrisey tried to stop the three counts, but none of them listened.

    ¡°What do you think you¡¯re doing in the presence of Her Royal Highness?¡± Jasper oppa asked in a cold voice, his own bloodlust dominating the counts¡¯ bloodlust in the instant. ¡°If you don¡¯t stop being rude to the royal princess, then you leave me no choice but to exercise my authority as a duke and arrest all of you here.¡±

    That might be difficult to do even for Jasper oppa.

    He might have a higher rank than the Northern Lords, but the Northern Lords were all part of the Twelve Golden Families.

    Fortunately, the three counts listened to the young duke¡¯s threat.

    [Oh~ Jasper oppa is cool~]

    ¡°Gentlemen, we should be embarrassed of ourselves for talking about dirty politics when there are people who are hungry and hurt in the castle,¡± Neoma said, smiling bitterly. ¡°Let¡¯s end this conversation here, and help the poor citizens first.¡±

    Fortunately, the Northern Lords seemed to agree with her.

    Jasper oppa, after she confirmed that the meeting was over, stood up and offered his arm to escort her.

    [What a gentleman~]

    After putting her hand on Jasper oppa¡¯s arm, she suddenly remembered something important.

    [I should throw a bait they couldn¡¯t resist first.]

    ¡°The resources I mentioned that would make the North rich and influential¨C I can share them with you,¡± Neoma said, smiling ¡°gently¡± at the Northern Lords who couldn¡¯t seem to hide their greed at the moment. ¡°But in return, you have to open the North to everyone.¡±

    ***

    ¡°WHAT ARE you thinking, Princess Neoma?¡±

    .....

    ¡°That I suck at politics,¡± Neoma said in response to Jasper oppa¡¯s question. Right now, the two of them were walking in the hallway that led to the main exit of the castle. Only the two of them were there, so she figured it was safe to talk. ¡°I was tempted to give the Northern Lords a detailed guide on how to use the resources they have to improve the living conditions of the citizens here.¡±

    Of course, she had no intention to keep it all to herself.

    She would eventually help the Northern Lords, but she needed them to realize first that they NEEDED help from the crown¨C whether they wanted it or not.

    [You can¡¯t help people who don¡¯t want to be helped, after all.]

    ¡°The Northern Lords want to detach themselves from the crown as much as possible, but the North still belongs to the crown,¡± she said. ¡°We have to put aside our personal feelings and work together in order to help the suffering citizens.¡±

    Jasper oppa let out a sigh while shaking his head. ¡°The Northern Lords have always been stubborn. Princess Neoma, do you think they will listen to you?¡±

    ¡°Of course, they won¡¯t. Not for now, at least,¡± she said. ¡°Even so, I can¡¯t ignore the Northern people. I¡¯ll use my personal funds to support them in the meantime.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to do that, Princess Neoma,¡± Jasper oppa said. ¡°Let me pressure the Northern Lords to do their jobs properly.¡±

    ¡°Oppa, they¡¯re still a part of the Twelve Golden Families¡­¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re the weakest among the Twelve Golden Families, though? The only reason they aren¡¯t removed from their position yet is because their families are founding members of the empire,¡± Jasper oppa said, shrugging. ¡°But the Northern Lords neither have money nor influence¨C while I have both.¡±

    ¡°Oppa, you sounded like a viin just now. And that¡¯s so cool!¡± Neoma gushed while patting Jasper oppa¡¯s arm. ¡°Oh?¡±

    Jasper oppa¡¯s arm was firm.

    [Muscles¡­]

    ¡°Oppa, you must be training hard,¡± Neoma said while forcing her bad hand to remove itself from Jasper oppa¡¯s arm. ¡°Nice biceps.¡±

    Jasper oppa¡¯s face turned red as if he was embarrassed.

    ¡°Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio.¡±

    Hmm?

    Neoma was surprised when Ruto suddenly appeared in front of them.

    Even Jasper oppa was shocked.

    [We didn¡¯t notice him¡­]

    ¡°The Queen of the Spirit World has just arrived,¡± Ruto said in a very cold voice. ¡°Her Majesty wishes to speak to you.¡±

    ¡°Uhm, sure,¡± Neoma said awkwardly. ¡°But why do you look mad, Ruto?¡±

    Jasper oppa groaned as if he was suffering. ¡°Did you really have to ask, Princess Neoma?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean by that, Jasper oppa?¡±

    ¡°¡®Oppa?''¡± Ruto asked, his dark purple eyes glowing menacingly. ¡°I¡¯m also older than you, so why do you only call Jasper Hawthorne ¡®oppa?''¡±

    Oho?

    Neoma finally realized what was happening. ¡°The jealous, red g Ruto hase out, huh?¡±

    ***

    [I¡¯M A SHRIMP, and I¡¯ll die when these two whales fight.]

    Jasper was aware that he wasn¡¯t on the same level as Princess Neoma and Lord Ruto when it came to strength.

    But he never realized how weak he truly was until that moment.

    Lord Ruto obviously saw Princess Neoma touch Jasper¡¯s arm earlier.

    [Hence, the jealousy.]

    On the other hand, Princess Neoma btedly realized that Lord Ruto was jealous because of their closeness.

    [They¡¯re not going to fight, are they?]

    ¡°The jealous, red g Ruto hase out, huh?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not jealous,¡± Lord Ruto said in response to Princess Neoma¡¯s teasing, then he bumped his fist against the post behind him. ¡°Why would I be jealous?¡±

    [Then why are you trying to destroy the post by your hand, Lord Ruto?]

    Jasper gulped while looking at the long cracks around the post that appeared after the young lord bumped his fist against it.

    [Not jealous, my foot.]

    Perhaps this was the real reason why two people with strong bloodlines weren¡¯t allowed to marry: they would probably destroy properties if they fought.

    ¡°Jasper oppa is my oppa,¡± Princess Neoma said. ¡°You¡¯re my jagiya.¡±

    ¡°Then don¡¯t call Jasper Hawthorne ¡®oppa,¡¯ too. We¡¯re not in Korea anymore.¡±

    ¡°Gosh, stop being UNCUTE.¡±

    Jasper found himself in the middle of a scary lovers¡¯ quarrel.

    Princess Neoma and Lord Ruto didn¡¯t look like they were going to fight physically, but both had strong personalities it was scary just to get caught in the middle.

    [Someone save me, please¡­]

    <¡°Hey, don¡¯t fight!¡±>

    Huh?

    It was Duckie, and the Elemental Guardian was already back in its duck form.

    <¡°What are you going to do if two monsters identally kill my new owner?!¡±>

    Princess Neoma and Lord Ruto turned to Jasper at the same time.

    And wow.

    Princess Neoma and Lord Ruto looked so intimidating.

    [What a power couple.]

    But hey, that wasn¡¯t what was important at the moment!

    ¡°Me?¡± Jasper asked Duckie in surprise while pointing a finger at his face. ¡°I¡¯m your new owner?¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 679 - 679 MEETING OF THE QUEENS

    679 MEETING OF THE QUEENS

    ¡°ARE YOU jealous of Jasper oppa?¡± Neoma teased Ruto while they were walking side by side. The two of them were headed to the drawing room where Tara, the Queen of the Spirit World, were waiting for her with the representative of the Elf King. ¡°Why? You already know I¡¯ll destroy the world for you.¡±

    ¡°Who said I¡¯m jealous?¡± Ruto asked indifferently. In fairness, he looked calmer this time. ¡°Why would I be jealous in the first ce?¡±

    ¡°Because you love me, duh.¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    ¡°Because you love me, duh.¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t have to tell me twice.¡±

    ¡°Were you jealous because of my physical contact with Jasper oppa earlier?¡± she teased him again. ¡°Then why don¡¯t you offer your arm to me?¡±

    Ruto paused as if he was considering it. But his hesitation onlysted for a few seconds. He eventually offered his arm to her. ¡°I¡¯m only doing this because you¡¯re the royal princess of the Great Moonasterion Empire.¡±

    ¡°Sure,¡± Neoma said,ughing. But instead of linking her arm with his, she grabbed his hand and held it firmly. ¡°Lovers hold hands.¡±

    .....

    He didn¡¯t say anything, but he didn¡¯t withdraw his hand.

    Then much to her shock, Ruto entwined their hands together while avoiding her gaze as if he was shy.

    ¡°Aigoo,¡± she teased him again while bumping his shoulder. ¡°You¡¯re smooth like butter, Ruto oppa.¡±

    ¡°I thought I was your jagiya?¡±

    Sheughed because she couldn¡¯t believe that Ruto was acting this way.

    This time, she found him cute.

    [He must be confused as to why he¡¯s acting this way when he¡¯s supposed to be indifferent to me.]

    ¡°Jasper oppa is just like a brother to me,¡± she said. ¡°Even if you asked me to stay away from him, I won¡¯t do it.¡±

    ¡°I have no reason to ask you to do that.¡±

    ¡°Then I¡¯m d,¡± she said. ¡°You really have nothing to be jealous about that. Jasper oppa doesn¡¯t see me as a woman.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure about that?¡±

    ¡°Well, he probably just thinks that I¡¯m seriously pretty, but that¡¯s it,¡± she said, shrugging.

    ¡°It¡¯s not like we¡¯re doing anything wrong.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not jealous anymore?¡±

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t jealous in the first ce.¡±

    She justughed, then squeezed his hand.

    ¡°You know, don¡¯t you?¡± Ruto asked in a teasing voice. ¡°If I were an ordinary person, my hand would have been broken already.¡±

    Neomaughed softly. ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m d you weren¡¯t an ordinary person.¡±

    ***

    NEOMA sipped her tea while staring at Tara, the Queen of Spirit World.

    Right now, she was in the drawing with Tara and rita¡ª the elf queen. The two were the representatives of the fairies and the elves, respectively.

    ¡°I¡¯m Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio, Your Majesties,¡± Neoma introduced herself after the queens did. ¡°I¡¯m the daughter of Mona Roseheart and Niki de Moonasterio.¡±

    Tara already met her before, but her memories were affected by the curse. It seemed like the Queen of the Spirit World looked confused while looking at her.

    [It¡¯s probably because Queen Tara feels like she has already met me.]

    On the other hand, this was the first time she met the elf queen.

    [Gosh, Queen rita is so pretty.]

    The elf queen looked so soft and gentle, and the flowy green dress that she wore suited her so well.

    ¡°Queen rita, the elves are unharmed. They¡¯re exhausted, though,¡± Neoma reported, and the elf queen looked relieved. Then she turned to the fairy queen. ¡°Queen Tara, the fairies are in the same condition. Some of them are also helping our group heal the injured humans that we rescued.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a relief to know,¡± Queen Tara said. ¡°Thank you for letting us know about the children¡¯s condition, Princess Neoma.¡±

    She was pretty surprised when the queen acknowledged her as a princess.

    The Queen of the Spirit World seemed to notice Neoma¡¯s surprise because she exined. ¡°As the Queen of the Spirit World, I can clearly see your Roseheart Blood and Moonglow.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a relief, Your Majesty,¡± Neoma said. ¡°Now I can just invite you to the Royal Pce and tell everyone that I¡¯m Nero¡¯s twin sister.¡±

    She only said that jokingly, but the Queen of the Spirit World suddenly looked stiff.

    [Ah, so Tara already chose Nero as her emperor.]

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t steal the throne from my baby brother.¡±

    [Because he will hand it to meter.]

    ¡°I cannot promise you anything, Princess Neoma,¡± Tara said apologetically. ¡°As the Queen of the Spirit World, I am not allowed to meddle with the affairs of the de Moonasterios.¡±

    [Bullshit.]

    Neoma smiled anyway. ¡°I understand, Your Majesty,¡± she said, then she turned to Queen rita who looked nervous for some reason. ¡°Your Majesty, I heard from the children that the elf king was hurt. Is he alright now?¡±

    She only asked because she wanted to know how the young elves were kidnapped.

    ¡°The elf king is already in a stable condition,¡± rita said in a gentle yet nervous tone. ¡°Thank you for asking, Princess Neoma.¡±

    [Oh, my tactic didn¡¯t work. Let¡¯s just ask her directly.]

    ¡°Queen rita, may I know how the elves were kidnapped?¡± Neoma asked carefully. ¡°There was even a prince among them.¡±

    The elf queen suddenly looked like she wanted to cry. ¡°One of the elf knights that we trusted turned out to be a traitot. He lured the children to a trap by kidnapping Yurian¡ª Prince Auden¡¯s pet unicorn.¡±

    Neoma covered her mouth when she gasped softly. ¡°Omg. The unicorn¡¯s name is Yurian? It¡¯s perfect. Does the unicorn have a gender, Your Majesty?¡±

    The elf queen looked confused, but she still gave a response. ¡°Yurian is a female unicorn.¡±

    ¡°Omg, a queen.¡±

    Neoma felt bittersweet at the moment.

    [So Yurian already has an owner. I would have traded Tteokbokki for her.]

    [¡°Thug princess, you know I can hear your thoughts at the moment, right?¡±]

    Of course, Neoma ignored Tteokbokki.

    She was just messing with her Soul Beast.

    ¡°Elias, my husband and the elf king, tried to rescue the children but the teleportation spell had already been activated by then,¡± rita continued with her story. ¡°He was almost burned to death when he touched the cage where the children were trapped.¡±

    Neoma nodded politely. ¡°I see. Thank you for telling me, Queen rita.¡±

    After talking to the elf queen, she turned to Tara.

    ¡°The same thing happened to the tribe where the fairies were kidnapped,¡± Tara exined. ¡°I was informed that the Fairy Chief was also harmed. Hence, I came here in her ce. After all, I¡¯m still the Fairy Queen.¡±

    Neoma fell silent for a moment before she spoke again. ¡°Queen rita, Queen Tara, you already know, don¡¯t you?¡± she asked while elegantly putting the teacup down on the table. ¡°You already know that the Darkness has begun moving again. This time, it seems like Lord Helstor himself has made a move.¡±

    ¡°Lord Helstor is still a god,¡± Tara said hesitantly. ¡°It¡¯s hard to use a god without evidence.¡±

    ¡°I guess that¡¯s true,¡± Neoma agreed while nodding. ¡°Everyone is innocent until proven guilty. So, all we have to do is gather pieces of evidence, right?¡±

    The two queens looked surprised.

    ¡°Princess Neoma, Lord Helstor may already be a forgotten god,¡± Queen rita said. ¡°But he¡¯s still a god and you¡¯re only human. Can you really fight a god?¡±

    ¡°Trust me¡ª I don¡¯t want to,¡± Neoma said dryly. ¡°But if I don¡¯t fuck him up, he¡¯ll fuck us up first.¡±

    The two queens looked shocked by her choice of colorful words.

    ¡°The other victims of this tragedy that Lord Helstor orchestrated are the precious citizens of the Great Moonasterion Empire. As the royal princess, personally, I won¡¯t let it slide,¡± Neoma said firmly. ¡°God or not, I won¡¯t leave them alone after they touched MY people.¡±

    Tara and rita suddenly looked like they were ashamed for hesitating earlier just because Helstor was a god.

    Of course, she didn¡¯t mean to humiliate the queens.

    She just spoke her mind.

    ¡°I won¡¯t ask you to fight with me, Your Majesties,¡± Neoma said, then she stood up because she was almost done here. ¡°Just please don¡¯t try to stop me with my revenge.¡±

    ***

    .....

    ¡°JASPER HAWTHORNE, I choose you as my new master.¡±

    Jasper just blinked while staring at Duckie who had transformed into his human form.

    Right now, the two of them were in the garden of the lord¡¯s castle in order to talk in private regarding the ¡°bomb¡± that the duck dropped earlier.

    ¡°But before you give me an answer, let me tell you something first,¡± Duckie said in a serious tone, his eyes clear. ¡°I killed my previous owner.¡±

    Jasper was a little surprised, but he wasn¡¯t scared.

    Duckie¡¯s eyes were clear and honest.

    [He doesn¡¯t regret it.]

    Killing was bad, but he could make exceptions since there were really horrible people out there who deserved to die.

    ¡°If it¡¯s alright with you, can you tell me more about it?¡± Jasper asked carefully. ¡°I want to know more about your past, Lord Duckie.¡±

    ***

    [WHO THE FUCK?]

    Neoma was enraged when she felt a chill-inducing burst of dark energy nearby.

    She was helping Dahlia and Ruto feed the people in the castle¡¯srge dining hall when they all felt that energy.

    ¡°Stay here and protect the castle,¡± Neoma said, already running towards the open window. ¡°I¡¯ll kill that bastard.¡±

    She jumped off the window.

    Of course, she didn¡¯t yeet herself.

    Mochi¡¯s wind carried her until she shot up in the sky.

    Then Neoma summoned her wings made of red roses and flew as fast as she could in the direction where the dark energy wasing from.

    It led her to the castle wall.

    ¡°Good evening, Neoma.¡±

    Huh???

    Neoma was suspended in the air, dumbfounded while looking down at the neat-looking man standing on top of the castle wall.

    The man was looking up at her with a warm smile on his face, his purple hair fluttering with the soft breeze.

    [A Solfrid...?]

    The man didn¡¯t look like Ruto, but the two had the same vibes.

    Ruto, as a Solfrid, had a unique Mana just like the de Moonasterios. And this man had the same Mana that Ruto¡¯s mother also possessed.

    ¡°It¡¯s been a while, Neoma,¡± the man said while looking at her affectionately. ¡°I¡¯ve missed you so much.¡±

    ¡°Gosh, I know that I¡¯m a sought-after bachelorette,¡± Neoma said when she finally snapped out of her trance. ¡°But who the hell are you?¡±

    ¡°Me?¡± the man asked, then he tilted his head and grinned mischievously. ¡°I¡¯m the man who loves you to death.¡±

    Crazy bastard.

    [Should I kill him?]

    ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that, Neoma,¡± the man said, putting a hand over his chest. ¡°The love that he has for you from the first timeline until the moment I stole it is now stored in here. Hence, I¡¯m the man that you should love back this time.¡±

    There was only one man whose love for Neoma was stolen away from.

    Ruto.

    And the bastard who stole her man¡¯s love for her was...

    ¡°The Ancient Devil,¡± Neoma said in disgust. ¡°How the hell did you get a physical body, you crazy bastard?¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 680 - 680 (ANCIENT) DEVILâ€™S TEMPTATION

    680 (ANCIENT) DEVIL¡¯S TEMPTATION

    THE PAYMENT that the Ancient Devil asked from Ruto was all the positive feelings that he had for her.

    Neoma thought the Ancient Devil simply ate all that love just like how Helstor would eat despair in order to keep himself strong.

    But the fucking bastard stole Ruto¡¯s feelings for her?

    Wait.

    [Don¡¯t tell me¡­]

    ¡°Do you think you¡¯re in love with me just because you have Ruto¡¯s feelings for me?¡± Neoma asked, disgusted. ¡°Gosh, do you know how young I ampared to you? Weren¡¯t you born during the Ancient Period or something?¡±

    ¡°Age is just a number.¡±

    ¡°And jail is just a fucking room.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not a minor, are you?¡±

    .....

    ¡°I haven¡¯t even had mying-of-age ceremony yet.¡±

    The Ancient Devil chuckled as if he was amused. ¡°Come on, Neoma. We both know this isn¡¯t your first life.¡±

    ¡°Come on, pervert. You¡¯re at least ten thousand years old,¡± she snapped. ¡°Gosh, why would you even be interested in a baby like me? You should be jailed.¡± She paused, then she shook her head. ¡°Actually, you should be nothing but a relic from the past. Why are people from the Ancient Period like you and Callisto de Luca still roaming the human world when you¡¯re supposed to be ashes already? Should I help you rest in peace, super grandpa?¡±

    ¡°He must be a saint.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°I told you¨C I have Ruto¡¯s love for you,¡± the Ancient Devil said. ¡°Hence, even though you¡¯re being very disrespectful to me, I can¡¯t get mad at you. In fact, I even find you cute.¡±

    [Yes, Officer. This one right here.]

    She was already used to getting praised because of her beauty, but it was still creepy to hear that kind ofpliment from an OLD MAN who was obviously hitting on her.

    [Kids, remember: older dudes who hit on you are creepy.]

    She would admit that she sounded like a hypocrite because Ruto was four years older than her. But in her defense, both she and Ruto already lived an entirely different life from this one. Hence, the two of them had the same wavelength already.

    Moreover, Neoma and Ruto were on the same footing when it came to power dynamics.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t even budge,¡± the Ancient Devil said, and he sounded really disappointed. ¡°I have Ruto¡¯s feelings for you, and let¡¯s be honest: I am more handsome than Ruto.¡±

    Objectively speaking, the shell that the Ancient Devil wore was arguably more handsome than Ruto.

    However, Neoma¡¯s heart wouldn¡¯t flutter just because of a pretty face.

    [If my heart would flutter each time I saw a beautiful face, then I would have already gotten a heart attack each time I look in the mirror.]

    ¡°Your face doesn¡¯t give me the piece that Ruto¡¯s face does,¡± Neoma said bluntly. ¡°Even if you have Ruto¡¯s feelings, I still don¡¯t want you.¡±

    ¡°And that¡¯s what I don¡¯t understand,¡± the Ancient Devil said in a slightly frustrated voice. ¡°Don¡¯t you want Ruto¡¯s love back? If you allow me to love you to death, then I¡¯ll make sure to make you feel loved every moment of your life.¡±

    She couldn¡¯t help butugh at that. ¡°Is this what they call ¡®devil¡¯s temptation?''¡±

    ¡°You can say that.¡±

    ¡°If you offered that to the Neoma of the first timeline, then she would have epted your offer in a heartbeat,¡± she said while smiling bitterly. ¡°She was that desperate to be loved.¡±

    The Neoma of the first timeline would never fail to make her feel sad and bitter. But most of her memories from that timeline were sealed, and she got hints that she was loved before she set the world on fire. Even so, she couldn¡¯t be certain.

    But she wasn¡¯t desperate to find out what happened back then.

    And since she was now Neoma version 2.0, she easily got over her little self-pity party before it got worse.

    ¡°I already learned to love myself a long time ago. In fact, I loved myself a little too much,¡± Neoma dered confidently. ¡°Plus, many people love me now despite my arrogance that pierces through the sky. I don¡¯t need your love, you super ancient grandpa.¡±

    ¡°¡®Noah.''¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°My name is Noah Solfrid,¡± the Ancient Devil said, putting a hand over his chest. ¡°This body belongs to a Solfrid who¡¯s quite distant from Ruto. But, hey, at least this man has the same hair color as Ruto.¡±

    ¡°Ruto¡¯s hair color is prettier,¡± she insisted, insulted by the fact that the Ancient Devil thought he had the same hair color as her man! ¡°And if you look closer, Ruto¡¯s hair is shinier. I bet Ruto¡¯s hair is also softer and smells better than yours.¡±

    The Ancient Devil grinned at her. ¡°Would you like to touch my hair to know if Ruto¡¯s hair is really softer and smells better than mine?¡±

    ¡°Do I look like a na?ve youngdy who¡¯d fall for such a petty trick?¡± she asked, scoffing. ¡°Stop hitting on me, will you? I don¡¯t like you, and I¡¯m sure I will never be interested in you in the future.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure about that?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, so let¡¯s drop this stupid conversation,¡± Neoma said, her eyes glowing red now. ¡°Why are you here? What do you want? You¡¯re not rted to the crows, are you?¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t associate myself with people you hate,¡± the Ancient Devil said, still smiling ¡°sweetly¡± at her. ¡°And I¡¯m here because you¡¯re here.¡±

    Aigoo.

    [It¡¯s me and my sinful beauty again.]

    ***

    ¡°THAT¡¯S NOAH Solfrid¡¯s body,¡± Duckie, in his duck form, informed Ruto nervously. ¡°He was the reincarnation of my previous owner.¡±

    As soon as he felt the weak presence of his previous owner, he ran to the castle walls.

    Ruto was already there when he got to that ce.

    The young lord was eerily calm while watching Princess Neoma interact with the being who stole Noah Solfrid¡¯s body.

    He couldn¡¯t take the silence anymore, and he broke it by telling Ruto what he needed.

    ¡°To make sure that I wouldn¡¯t meet the reincarnation of my previous owner, the heavens sent me details of his new identity,¡± Duckie continued with his exnation. ¡°Apparently, Noah Solfrid was reincarnated as the illegitimate son of one of your distant rtives¨C¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care about that,¡± Ruto said, rudely cutting him off. ¡°Even if that person was reincarnated as a Solfrid, there was no way he was born with purple hair. Only I could possess this hair color among the Solfrids because only I received both the blessings of Lord Levi and the Sun Goddess.¡±

    ¡°Then is that person¡¯s hair dyed¡­?¡±

    ¡°That could only be the exnation as to how he achieved to have a hair color slightly simr to mine.¡±

    ¡°But why would he do that?¡±

    ¡°Because he¡¯s trying to be me,¡± Ruto said in a calm yet scary manner. ¡°He already stole all my positive feelings for Neoma, and now he¡¯s trying to imitate how I look.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s probably trying to charm Princess Neoma¨C¡±

    He abruptly stopped mid-sentence, but it was already toote.

    Duckie realized his mistake as soon as Ruto released his bloodlust that came in what seemed to be sparks.

    Yes, literal sparks.

    He slowly avoided the young lord because he was afraid to get fried by the little yet deadly sparks that surrounded his body.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure Princess Neoma wouldn¡¯t be charmed.¡±

    ¡°Neoma likes pretty faces.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    Ruto turned to Duckie with a nk look on his face, but his dark purple eyes were glowing menacingly. ¡°Who¡¯s more handsome¨C me or that Noah Solfrid?¡±

    Duckie didn¡¯t want to die, so there was only one correct answer. ¡°You, of course.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t lie.¡±

    He couldn¡¯t believe it.

    [What do you want me to say, then?!]

    ¡°Young man, looks will fade¨C¡±

    ¡°The de Moonasterios age really, really slow.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s more important is the beauty inside¨C¡±

    ¡°How can a God yer, a being with a license to kill other life forms, possess a kind soul?¡±

    Duckie shut his eyes tight while trying to calm himself down. ¡°My new owner¡­¡± He opened his eyes and nodded at Ruto who was looking intently at him, obviously waiting for his love advice. ¡°Jasper Hawthorne has a face that suggests he might be adies¡¯ man, so why don¡¯t you go to my new master and ask him for some love advice? What does a duck know about love anyway? Male ducks are bastards towards female ducks, you know?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t need love advice,¡± Ruto, who seemed to be more agitated now, said grumpily. ¡°Wait here and protect the castle with your new master.¡±

    Tsk.

    [Humans of this world, let us all pray together that Ruto and Princess Neoma don¡¯t fight because if they do, they might identally end the world.]

    ***

    ¡°AH, I¡¯m afraid I must take my leave now.¡±

    .....

    Neoma was relieved to hear that, but she was also pissed because she felt like she should lock up the Ancient Devil for some reason. But she set her personal feelings aside in the meantime. ¡°Are you running away because Ruto is approaching us?¡±

    And her man was approaching them FAST.

    ¡°This isn¡¯t the right time for me and Ruto to meet,¡± the Ancient Devil, who now called himself ¡®Noah Solfrid,¡¯ said while his body was turning transparent. ¡°You, Ruto, and I will soon meet again on a bigger stage.¡± He bowed to Neoma like the gentleman he was trying hard to be. ¡°See youter, Neoma.¡±

    ¡°If you have a death wish, then feel free toe and find me again.¡±

    Noah Solfrid justughed softly before hepletely vanished.

    [Tsk.]

    ¡°That Ancient Devil has some good teleportation skills, too,¡± Neoma mumbled to herself. ¡°Why am I not allowed to learn something as convenient as teleportation, huh?¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t know why?¡± Ruto, whonded gracefully beside her, asked even though he looked pissed at the moment. But he was obviously not angry at her, so she didn¡¯t mind. ¡°You¡¯re not allowed to learn it anymore because when you gained your teleportation skills in the first timeline, you made the Upper World your personal vacation house.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 681 - 681 LATE NIGHT DATE

    681 LATE NIGHT DATE

    ¡°REALLY?¡± Neoma asked Ruto. ¡°I used my teleportation ability to visit the Upper World plenty of times in the past?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s what you did in the past,¡± Ruto said indifferently. ¡°You annoyed the gods since you kept blowing up their estates every time you were mad at them. Hence, they banned you froming to the Upper World again. And some of them even sealed your abilities to teleport.¡±

    ¡°Tsk,¡± sheined, clicking her tongue. ¡°How dare those petty gods dull my shine?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be upset¨C you didn¡¯t lose your ability to teleportpletely,¡± he said as if he was trying to pacify her. ¡°Don¡¯t you find it odd that gods and other celestial beings could summon you easily?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it, like, normal for them to do that?¡± she asked, confused. ¡°I¡¯ve always thought it was totally normal for them to summon humans via dreams because they could do so.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not normal,¡± he said while shaking his head. ¡°After the Absolute Darkness disappeared, all the major gods decided to ascend to the Upper World and never step foot on the human world again unless they have to. And since the gods have been quiet since the Ancient Period ended, the faith of the people in gods has weakened overtime. Well, still strong enough to keep them powerful, but not as powerful as they were at the beginning of the Ancient Period. As a result, it¡¯s difficult for gods tomunicate to humans who aren¡¯t devoted to them.¡±

    ¡°So, gods are not omnipotent?¡±

    ¡°Not anymore,¡± he said bluntly. ¡°As you already know, the gods in the Upper World are slowly dying because of the polluted air up there.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I see.¡±

    .....

    ¡°I see that you don¡¯t care,¡± Ruto said while shaking his head, smiling. ¡°Anyway, the gods and other celestial beings find it easy to summon you to your domain because of your ability to travel across different dimensions.¡±

    Neoma covered her mouth with her hands when she gasped. ¡°Really? I¡¯m that OP?¡±

    ¡°You already know that you¡¯re overpowered, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Of course, but you said I should wait for other people topliment me.¡±

    He sighed, then he raised his hand as if he was about to pat her head.

    Hence, he looked shocked.

    ¡°Don¡¯t misunderstand,¡± she exined right away. ¡°This time, I want to pat your head.¡±

    He looked horrified by what she said. ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Did you hear what the relic from the past said earlier?¡±

    ¡°Relic¡­ from the past?¡±

    ¡°The Ancient Devil. Ah, he calls himself ¡®Noah Solfrid¡¯ now,¡± she exined. ¡°He¡¯s from the Ancient Period which was at least ten thousand years ago. If he isn¡¯t a relic from the past, then what is he?¡±

    He nodded in agreement. And despite how ¡°serious¡± he tried to be, it was quite obvious that he was holding back hisughter. ¡°Right. He¡¯s nothing more than a relic from the past.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Neoma, I¡¯m always right.¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± Ruto said, then he bent his knees and lowered his head. ¡°And because you¡¯re Neoma who¡¯s always right, you may touch my hair.¡±

    [Aigoo¡­ he still lets me do whatever I want.]

    Neoma smiled, happy that her man had to bend his knees because he was taller than her. <3 ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll touch your hair now,¡± she said, then didn¡¯t hesitate tob her fingers through Ruto¡¯s purple hair. ¡°As expected, is so soft.¡± She slightly bent down and sniffed in his ¡°And it smells really nice.¡±< p>

    Come to think of it, out of all the unique and natural hair colors in this world, she found purple the prettiest.

    [Mama Boss¡¯ coral pink haires close.]

    Although she was pretty from head to toe, she had to admit that her white hair was nd.

    ¡°It¡¯s too bad that our children won¡¯t inherit your hair color since all de Moonasterios are born with white hair,¡± Neoma whispered to herself. She was just talking to herself, and she gasped when she realized that she talked out loud. ¡°Omo, omo. Why am I talking about children that we may or may not have in the future? Am I having a baby fever now?¡±

    ¡°Why are you worrying about that when I already told you that I can¡¯t have biological children?¡±

    ¡°We can always try, you know?¡± she said. ¡°Aunt Nichole and Uncle Dominic are doing their best to conceive a child. They didn¡¯t even hesitate to let go of their powers in order to achieve that.¡±

    Ruto held her hands before he stood up straight, then he raised his head¨C still holding her hands LIKE HE SHOULD. ¡°What triggered your baby fever, babe?¡±

    She scrunched up her nose. ¡°I wish I know.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t talk about wanting to have a baby WITH ME in front of other people, okay?¡±

    ¡°Why not?¡±

    ¡°Do you really not know what would happen TO ME if you do that?¡±

    She bit her bottom lip to stop herself fromughing.

    Of course, she knew that her family and ¡°children¡± would kill Ruto.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Ruto¨C I will protect you from them.¡±

    Heughed softly. ¡°That¡¯s reassuring.¡±

    ¡°Ruto.¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°Can we have a sparring one of these days?¡±

    ¡°One minute you want my child, then the next you want to kill me?¡±

    Sheughed because it was obvious that he was just kidding. ¡°I wanted to know how LITTLE the gap is between our strengths now,¡± she confessed. ¡°This hurts my pride to admit it, but I know that you could kill me if you wanted to five years ago.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe that the prideful Neoma admitted that she was weakpared to me.¡±

    ¡°Five years ago,¡± she said defensively. ¡°I¡¯m stronger now, so I want to know if I could beat you in a fight.¡±

    ¡°I thought you loved me.¡±

    Again, his tone was lighthearted, so she knew he was just teasing her again.

    ¡°Ruto, I know that in your current state, you wouldn¡¯t hesitate to kill me if you have to,¡± Neoma confessed in a light yet serious tone. ¡°I can¡¯t love you with my eyes closed.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s wise,¡± Ruto said while nodding approvingly. ¡°Don¡¯t trust me too much.¡±

    ¡°I know, that¡¯s why let¡¯s fightter,¡± she said. ¡°I need to find your weakness, so you wouldn¡¯t be able to kill me even if you wanted to.¡±

    He looked at her, then he smiled while shaking his head. ¡°Is this how lovers are supposed to talk?¡±

    She pouted at his teasing. ¡°We¡¯re a special case.¡±

    ¡°We sure are.¡±

    She just smiled and nodded, then she went back to business mode.

    Unfortunately, she couldn¡¯t flirt with her man all night because she was a busy woman.

    [It sure isn¡¯t easy to be the future empress.]

    ¡°Babe, I¡¯ll be leaving the North early tomorrow since I need to return to the empire for Calyx Dalton¡¯s birthday party,¡± Neoma said calmly. ¡°What are you going to do after this?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m also invited to the First Prince¡¯s birthday party.¡±

    ¡°You are?¡± she asked, surprised. ¡°I thought the crows would be wary of you since they know that you haven¡¯t forgotten about me.¡±

    ¡°It seems like the crows wanted to spread their influence in the Eastern Continent,¡± he exined. ¡°If they wanted to do that, they can¡¯t afford to ignore the Solfrid n. After all, our kingdom is the strongest kingdom on the Eastern Continent. Moreover, we are considered the home of the Sun Goddess. Hence, they cannot ignore me.¡±

    ¡°Gosh, politics is really amazing in this sense,¡± she said while shaking her head. Then she paused. ¡°Ruto, are you only tolerating me because I¡¯m the one and only royal princess of the Great Moonasterion Empire? Are we only dating because of politics?¡±

    ¡°What do you think?¡±

    ¡°Nope,¡± she said without missing a heartbeat. ¡°Of course, I know our rtionship is genuine. I just want to make sure that we¡¯re on the same page.¡± She red at him yfully. ¡°Who are you going to the party with?¡±

    ¡°My mother?¡±

    She let out a relieved sigh. ¡°Whew.¡±

    He raised an eyebrow at her. ¡°Were you worried that I was going to bring someone else to the party?¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯d be pissed off, but I wouldn¡¯t stop you if you were going to escort Phoebe Willows or the Sun Priestess,¡± she said, shrugging. ¡°I know that both Phoebe Willows and the Sun Priestess would also attend the party. As the Solfrid sole heir, it wouldn¡¯t strange for you to escort either of the twodies. It would annoy me to death, but I understand. Moreover, it¡¯s not like I could say anything about it because I also have a different partner.¡±

    Hmm?

    Did the breeze suddenly get colder?

    ¡°Who?¡± Ruto asked indifferently. ¡°Who¡¯s going to be your escort to the party? Lewis? Jasper Hawthorne? Your Soul Beast?¡±

    ¡°No matter who it is in your mind, you¡¯re probably wrong,¡± Neoma said yfully. ¡°I bet one hundred gold bars that you can¡¯t guess who my partner is going to be~¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    [Yep, the breeze indeed got colder.]

    ***

    NEOMA was actually waiting for Jasper oppa in the library of the castle.

    She had some things she needed the young duke to do for her before she felt the North. But instead of her oppa, an unexpected guest arrived.

    Although she said it was an unexpected guest, she wasn¡¯t really surprised.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting for you, Viscount Morrisey.¡±

    Viscount Austin Morrisey, the timid and the lowest-ranked noble among the representatives of the Twelve Golden Family, flinched before bowing his head towards her. ¡°I apologize foring unannounced, but please grant me permission to talk with you in private, Princess Neoma.¡±

    .....

    ¡°Of course, I¡¯d allow it, Viscount Morrisey,¡± Neoma said, smiling while crossing her arms over her chest. ¡°How could I turn down the request of the TRUE LORD of the North?¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 682 - 682 NEOMA WANTS THE NORTH

    682 NEOMA WANTS THE NORTH

    IT WAS hard for Neoma to remember the things that had happened in the first timeline because it had been so long for her.

    But when she met the lords of the North, she remembered something that had been the talk of the town in the high society when she was sixteen. If she remembered correctly, back then, the North became the richest region in the empire.

    [Yes, they surpassed the South that the Quinzels have ruled for generations.]

    And the most amazing thing?

    [It was Viscount Morrisey who made all the positive changes in the North.]

    Yep, this timid man right here.

    That made her think that the viscount was the true lord of the North.

    ¡°Princess Neoma, I am not the sole lord of the North,¡± Viscount Morrisey said whole lowering his gaze to the floor. ¡°The North is lured by Count Lhesi, Count Russo, and Count Dawkins as well.¡±

    ¡°I know that, Viscount,¡± Neoma said, smiling. ¡°But I also know that the prideful nobles wouldn¡¯t be able to co-exist without a firm leader.¡±

    .....

    ¡°Even if what Your Royal Highness said was correct, may I know what made you think that I am the ¡°true¡± lord of the North?¡±

    She couldn¡¯t tell the truth, but she coulde up with a new excuse.

    ¡°Because you¡¯re the only person among the lords of the North who recognized the future empress of the Great Moonasterion Empire,¡± Neoma said, and she was being genuine even though it wasn¡¯t the real reason why she thought the viscount was the true leader of the North. ¡°Plus, you¡¯re here because you believed what I said before, right? That I can help the North and its people flourish together.¡±

    ¡°That was Your Royal Highness¡¯ basis?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not afraid to make mistakes because I¡¯m confident that I can fix them,¡± she said. ¡°If I turned out to be wrong, then I could just make you the new lord of the North.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Are you not going to call me arrogant, Viscount?¡±

    ¡°My gut feeling is telling me that Your Royal Highness could pull it off.¡±

    ¡°See?¡± she said, pping her hands in genuine admiration. ¡°You have a good eye for talent, Viscount. You can see what I¡¯m capable of.¡±

    ¡°I simply follow my gut feeling, Your Royal Highness.¡±

    ¡°And that¡¯s a good thing. It will help you survive in the uing war of session.¡±

    The timid viscount flinched. ¡°Are you really going topete with the Crown Prince for the throne, Princess Neoma?¡±

    ¡°Of course not,¡± she said, making the viscount look confused. Hence, she exined. ¡°When I say war of session, I¡¯m only talking about the fake First Star.¡±

    ¡°Prince Calyx¡­ is a fake?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Nero¡¯s older twin sister, so how could that bastard be the First Star when I exist?¡±

    ¡°Your Royal Highness, cursing the Royal Family members is a little¡­¡±

    She just waved her hand dismissively. ¡°Are you a supporter of Nero?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re officially in a neutral stance, however¡­¡± Viscount Morrisey hesitated briefly before he continued talking. ¡°My daughter¡¯s closest friend in the academy is the Crown Princess. Hence, if Prince Nero¡¯s position got jeopardized, I¡¯m afraid my daughter¡¯s friend will also suffer. And I don¡¯t want my daughter to get sad because of her friend¡¯s misfortune.¡±

    ¡°Why would Hanna suffer if Nero¡¯s position was jeopardized?¡±

    The viscount looked confused by her question. ¡°Because if that happened, Lady Hanna¡¯s engagement with the Crown Prince would fall through. And as a result, Lady Hanna would have a hard time finding a new fianc¨¦.¡±

    It didn¡¯t sit well with her, but she wouldn¡¯t me the viscount for having such thoughts.

    [Nobledies whose previous engagement has fallen through arebeled as ¡°defective¡± as if they were mere products.]

    Of course, that would change soon.

    She would personally bring that change to the empire soon.

    ¡°Viscount Morrisey, Hanna will be fine,¡± Neoma said calmly. ¡°Even if her engagement with Nero falls through, she¡¯ll be fine. She doesn¡¯t need Nero or any other man for that matter to seed and be happy. In fact, she¡¯s already aplished as Hanna Quinzel.¡±

    The viscount looked confused by what she was saying.

    ¡°A woman can still seed and be happy even if she doesn¡¯t follow the path of a housewife and a mother,¡± she exined, her voice still calm. ¡°So, don¡¯t worry about Hanna, Viscount. She¡¯s one of the strongest women I know.¡±

    ¡°I-I see,¡± Viscount Morrisey said, then he cleared his throat. ¡°I guess I worried for nothing.¡±

    ¡°Did Nero do a good job as the Crown Prince for thest five years?¡±

    ¡°Emperor Niki, despite his personality, was a great emperor,¡± the viscount said carefully. ¡°Prince Nero did a good job as the Crown Prince. However, His Royal Highness needs to work harder if he wanted to fill in the shoes of the previous emperor.¡±

    Heh.

    She couldn¡¯t help but smirk.

    [Nero would be so pissed if he heard someone say that Papa Boss was still a lot better ruler than he is~]

    ¡°Princess Neoma, may I know what¡¯s your purpose for appearing now?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve always been here¨C from the start.¡±

    It looked like the viscount had something else to say, so she quickly changed the topic.

    [I shouldn¡¯t talk about my family with a person who isn¡¯t on my side yet.]

    ¡°Viscount Morrisey, I¡¯ll show you something amazing during Calyx Dalton¡¯s birthday banquet,¡± Neoma said firmly. ¡°Then decide whether you¡¯ll stay neutral, or let me lead the North to the right path.¡±

    The viscount looked like he was considering her offer.

    ¡°For now, Duke Hawthorne will help you provide for the victims,¡± she continued. ¡°He¡¯s younger than you, but Duke Hawthorne doesn¡¯tck anything. Trust him.¡±

    Now the viscount looked ufortable.

    [Viscount Morrisey has no problem following Duke Hawthorne, but he¡¯s probably worried about how the three counts would react.]

    ¡°You have more experience as a lord of a territory than Duke Hawthorne, so I hope you guide His Grace well, Viscount Morrisey.¡±

    Viscount Morrsiey flinched as if he was worried. ¡°Will a duke listen to a viscount, Princess Neoma?¡±

    ¡°Duke Hawthorne will listen to anyone regardless of their status,¡± she said, hyping up her Jasper oppa. ¡°His Grace is a good person and an excellent leader. Although he¡¯s prideful as a higher noble, he knows when to set aside his pride especially if it¡¯s for the greater good.¡±

    [Because I raised Jasper oppa well.]

    ¡°Then I will trust Your Royal Highness,¡± Viscount Morrsisey said, bowing his head towards her politely. ¡°Please give me the honor to talk to you again at Prince Calyx¡¯s birthday banquet, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Sure. I care about the North, after all,¡± Neoma said, smiling because the North really had the potential to be a really rich territory. ¡°See you at the banquet¨C and make sure to wear something that will cover your eyes because me and my escort¡¯s beauty would surely blind y¡¯all.¡±

    ***

    [AM I being punished or what?]

    Jasper was on his way to the library to meet Princess Neoma when, suddenly, he found himself alone with Lord Ruto.

    To be precise, the young lord blocked his way literally.

    [Why does he look scary these days?]

    The young lord usually had a calm aura around him.

    [I remember Lord Ruto used to look at me as if I was a pitiful child.]

    But, right now, the young lord was looking at him with cold eyes.

    ¡°Lord Ruto, did I say or do anything that offended you?¡± Jasper asked. Although he looked and sounded calm on the outside, he was actually nervous on the inside. ¡°If I did, I hope we only use words.¡±

    He used to be a child with an anger management issue.

    [I even picked a fight with Princess Neoma the first time we met. Back then, Her Royal Highness was pretending as the Crown Prince. I thought she was the best person to vent my anger to, but Princess Neoma humbled me.]

    And after spending time with the feisty (and slightly crazy) royal princess, he eventually learned how to calm down.

    [I mean, Princess Neoma has a very nasty temper. She¡¯s like a ticking bomb. If I stayed as the same angry Jasper that I was before meeting her, then it would be pure chaos. One of us has to be calm (and sane). Since I¡¯m older, at least in this lifetime, I decided to be a mature adult that she can depend on.]

    Moreover, he wanted to be a decent older brother to Princess Neoma who saw him as one.

    ¡°Don¡¯t think about her.¡±

    Jasper got the chills after hearing Lord Ruto¡¯s indifferent voice. ¡°What do you mean¨C¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re thinking about Neoma RIGHT NOW, aren¡¯t you?¡± Lord Ruto confronted him. ¡°Stop it.¡±

    To be honest, he wasn¡¯t surprised by the young lord¡¯s change in attitude. ¡°This is why Princess Neoma apologized to me in advance.¡±

    ¡°She apologized to you?¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma said that you were jealous of me, so you might act hostile towards me,¡± Jasper said awkwardly. He was still scared of Lord Ruto, but that wouldn¡¯t stop him from speaking his mind. ¡°Princess Neoma also asked me to be a little understanding and excuse your childishness since, apparently, you¡¯re not in your sane mind when you¡¯re in your ¡°red g form,¡± whatever that means.¡±

    To be honest, he didn¡¯t really understand what the royal princess meant by that.

    But it seemed like Lord Ruto did because his face turned red as if he was suddenly ashamed of himself.

    And Jasper found it amusing.

    .....

    [Princess Neoma, you managed tond a critical hit on Lord Ruto with mere words even if I just delivered your message to him.]

    As expected, no one could beat Princess Neoma in a battle of nerves.

    ¡°I apologize for my behavior, Duke Hawthorne,¡± Lord Ruto said calmly, his scary aura slowly diminishing. ¡°I lost my mind for a moment.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Lord Ruto.¡±

    ¡°Can I ask you one thing?¡±

    Jasper gulped because he thought he already knew what Lord Ruto would ask. ¡°I don¡¯t have any romantic or indecent feelings for Princess Neoma, Lord Ruto.¡±

    ¡°You have a slight crush on her, but it¡¯s normal because you only find her pretty because she is.¡±

    Now it was Jasper¡¯s turn to blush from embarrassment. ¡°Please don¡¯t decide my feelings in my stead, Lord Ruto.¡±

    ¡°Did you ask Neoma to be your date in Calyx Dalton¡¯s birthday banquet?¡±

    [Did Lord Ruto just ignore my words just now?]

    ¡°Duke Jasper Hawthorne, I asked you a question.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t,¡± Jasper said while shaking his head. ¡°But Princess Neoma said her escort would shock me?¡±

    Lord Ruto¡¯s face suddenly turned grim. ¡°Who might it be then?¡±

    [That¡¯s what I want to know, too¡­]

 Chapter 683 - 683 SEE YOU AT THE PARTY

    683 SEE YOU AT THE PARTY

    NEOMA COULD die happily now.

    But, of course, she didn¡¯t mean it literally.

    She was just really happy that Audey, the elf prince, allowed her to meet Yurian¨C the majestic unicorn.

    Right now, they were in front of a forest that looked simr to the Hazelden Kingdom¡¯s Frozen Woods. The fairies already left the North, and it was now the elves¡¯ turn to leave. Fortunately, Yurian agreed to meet Neoma before leaving.

    And the best part?

    Yurian allowed Neoma to hug her.

    ¡°This is such an honor, Yurian,¡± Neoma said emotionally. After hugging the beautiful unicorn, she gently ran her hand through Yurian¡¯s silky-smooth and soft mane. ¡°Thank you for letting me touch you.¡±

    <¡°The honor is mine, Princess Neoma. It¡¯s such a delight to meet Mona¡¯s daughter.¡±>

    Oho?

    .....

    The unicorn addressed her Mama Boss casually.

    ¡°Are you acquainted with my mother?¡±

    <¡°Mona and I are actually the same age. We used to be ymates when was still living under Cosmic Tree¡¯s care. Sadly, it over twenty years now since west saw each other. didn¡¯t get meet after elves took me their wing.¡±>

    She was pleasantly surprised by that piece of information. ¡°Then I can¡¯t address you casually since you¡¯re my mother¡¯s childhood friend. Can I call you ¡®Aunt Yurian?''¡±

    <¡°You really don¡¯t have to speak formally me since you¡¯re a princess, but if that makes youfortable, then go ahead.¡±>

    ¡°Please just treat me as your childhood friend¡¯s daughter, Aunt Yurian.¡±

    <¡°If that¡¯s what you wish, Princess Neoma,¡±> Yurian said in a kind voice. <¡°I¡¯m d you grew up well. I was actually worried when heard from the Cosmic Tree that Mona had children with Emperor Niki.¡±>

    Neoma smiled awkwardly. ¡°I inherited all of my father¡¯s bad genes, Aunt Yurian. But it¡¯s okay because, at least, I received Papa Boss¡¯ beauty genes. Plus, I¡¯m still amazing because I also inherited all of my mother¡¯s good genes.¡±

    She heard the unicornugh softly in her head.

    <¡°You¡¯re a pretty strange child, dear.¡±>

    ¡°I often hear that, Auntie.¡±

    <¡°Can we meet again, child?¡±>

    ¡°Of course, Auntie,¡± she said while nodding eagerly. ¡°To be honest, I¡¯ve always loved unicorns. It¡¯s my childhood dream to meet one, and I¡¯m d that it finally came true.¡±

    [I just had to wait for at least sixty years, but it was worth it.]

    <¡°Little princess, I actually have a runaway daughter,¡±> Yurian said. <¡°I don¡¯t know if it will reach her, but I¡¯ll send her a message for you to meet her.¡±>

    Neoma smiled and nodded. ¡°Thank you so much, Aunt Yurian!¡±

    ***

    ¡°OPPA, I feel bad that I¡¯m leaving all the work to you,¡± Neoma said to Jasper while he was walking her to the portal where Ruto and Dahlia were already waiting for her. ¡°Toni Crowell and her underlings are still keeping quiet, aren¡¯t they?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Princess Neoma,¡± Jasper oppa said. ¡°I can¡¯t fully exercise my authority here since the crows were caught in Viscount Morrisey¡¯s territory. But I can share how House Hawthorne makes our prisoners talk.¡±

    Oh, it was probably torture.

    Neoma would often forget that Jasper oppa was a ruthless person.

    [It¡¯s because oppa treats me well, and he¡¯s also nice to my people.]

    But the Duke Jasper Hawthorne that the empire knew was a cold and stern ruler. It made sense since he became a duke at such a young age. He had to fight his greedy rtives who wanted to steal his position from him.

    [Jasper oppa wouldn¡¯t be the youngest duke in the empire if he was kind-hearted.]

    ¡°Oppa, I respect you a lot.¡±

    Jasper oppa looked confused at first, then heughed softly while shaking his head. ¡°Thank you, Princess Neoma. I won¡¯t let you down.¡±

    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m serious.¡±

    ¡°I know,¡± he said, still chuckling. ¡°Princess Neoma, when should we report about this incident to Prince Nero? As the Crown Prince, he still has the right to know about the tragedy that urred here.¡±

    ¡°Nero already knows.¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°Thest time I saw Nero, we fought.¡±

    ¡°Your Royal Highness won, right?¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± she said proudly. ¡°I didn¡¯t even summon Tteokbokki. It was Grandpa Kingston who fought Zeru.¡±

    ¡°Prince Nero¡¯s ice phoenix?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± she said, nodding. ¡°The ice phoenix was there, but not Sev¨C the ice wolf.¡±

    The young duke paused for a moment before he spoke. ¡°Oh. Did Prince Nero leave his other Soul Beast here in the North?¡±

    ¡°Nero has snippets of his past life¡¯s memories,¡± she said. ¡°He also knows that the North is going to flourish soon. In the first timeline, the North even surpassed the South.¡±

    This time, her oppa looked shocked. ¡°But the Quinzels are arguably the richest noble household in the empire.¡±

    ¡°The territory was mismanaged in the first timeline,¡± she said, snippets of her memories as Neoma Quinzel flooding her mind at the moment. ¡°There was a time when Duke Rufus was sent to several wars continuously. Hence, Duchess Amber was left in charge of managing the territory on her own.¡±

    At the time, Neoma Quinzel was in charge of the finances of the Quinzel Estate in the Royal Capital.

    However, someone else was in charge of the Evedane Duchy.

    ¡°Duchess Amber was growing weak at the time, so she handed her authority to another person,¡± Neoma said bitterly. ¡°She handed it to Regina Crowell.¡±

    She didn¡¯t care that Duchess Amber handed her authority to Regina instead of her because it happened during the time she found out about Rubin and Regina¡¯s illicit affair.

    Instead of caring about the Evedane Duchy, Neoma Quinzel wasted her time finding the ck Witch. Shortly after that, she was killed by Nero. That was when the memories of her first life ended.

    [The rest was sealed.]

    ¡°No wonder the North surpassed the South,¡± Jasper oppa said while shaking her head. ¡°The crows probably stole from the Quinzels using Regina Crowell.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what I thought, too,¡± Neoma agreed with her oppa. ¡°I wasn¡¯t in my sane mind back then, while Duke Rufus was barely present during that time. Hence, it would have been easy for Regina Crowell to bring House Quinzel to ruins.¡±

    Of course, she wasn¡¯t so sure about that.

    [In the snippets of the past that I retrieved a few years ago, Ruto and my Four Pirs brought me back to life. Hence, Hanna could have been alive back then. I¡¯m sure Hanna wouldn¡¯t let her family fall from grace.]

    ¡°Princess Neoma, is Prince Nero¡¯s ice wolf hiding somewhere here?¡±

    ¡°I can feel its presence, but it¡¯s hiding really well while watching us from afar,¡± she confirmed while nodding her head. ¡°And aside from Sev, I¡¯m sure Count Lhesi already sent a secret message to his son.¡±

    Jasper oppa gasped as if he just remembered something important. ¡°Right. Count Lhesi¡¯s son is Prince Nero¡¯s secretary.¡±

    ¡°Yep,¡± Neoma confirmed, smiling. ¡°I bet Melvin Lhesi is already having a breakdown at the moment.¡±

    ***

    ¡°YOUR ROYAL Highness the Crown Prince, I respectfully resign¨C¡±

    ¡°Rejected,¡± Nero said without even looking up to look at Melvin, his secretary, who was trying to hand in his resignation letter for the nth time already. He was already annoyed by the report that he was reading. Hence, his secretary adding to his list of problems wasn¡¯t appreciated. ¡°Melvin, don¡¯t annoy me. I¡¯m already upset that the woman iming to be my twin sister has exercised her power on the North as if she was a recognized member of the Royal Family.¡±

    Yes, that was the content of the report that he was reading at the moment.

    The report was sent by Count Tyler Lhesi, Melvin¡¯s father.

    But even if the count didn¡¯t send an urgent letter, he would have still found out what happened to the North because Sev was there.

    [My ice wolf witnessed everything.]

    He was actually about to send Raku and Sanford to the North as reinforcement, but he changed his mind when Sev informed him of the appearance of his so-called twin sister.

    ¡°I wanted to know what she¡¯d do, so I let her act as she pleased.¡±

    But now, he was pissed at the result.

    ¡°She¡¯s trying to pull the lords of the North to her side,¡± Nero said bitterly, then he raised his head to frown at Melvin who looked depressed after his resignation letter was denied. ¡°It seems like she also knows the secret of the North.¡±

    When he said ¡®secret of the North,¡¯ he was talking about how the North would flourish into a rich territory soon.

    ¡°Are you talking about the weird dreams that you would often have, Prince Nero?¡± Melvin asked, and he still looked depressed. ¡°The dream where the North surpassed the South when ites to wealth and influence?¡±

    ¡°You sound like you don¡¯t believe it.¡±

    ¡°Well, House Quinzel rules the South, so¡­¡±

    He couldn¡¯t me Melvin for thinking that way.

    Even so, he also couldn¡¯t ignore his dreams.

    .....

    [Those dreams also led me to Dahlia¡­]

    Ah, he should stop thinking about another woman when his engagement with Hanna would be announced officially soon.

    ¡°Prince Nero, what are we going to do about the North?¡± Melvin asked worriedly. ¡°Duke Hawthorne is already there. I can¡¯t believe that the cold and vicious duke is working with the self-proimed princess.¡±

    ¡°Duke Hawthorne is working FOR my alleged twin sister,¡± he said, correcting his secretary. ¡°Do you think that woman is the type who would work WITH someone else? Not at all. She looks like the bossy type.¡±

    ¡°Why are you being defensive of her, Prince Nero? If she turns out to be your real twin sister, then she might challenge you for the throne.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not defensive of her?¡±

    ¡°You are, Prince Nero,¡± Melvin said in a tired voice. ¡°Please let me resign already.¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Nero said firmly, then he stood up. ¡°Let¡¯s talk about thister¨C I¡¯m going to visit Hanna first before she forgets what I look like.¡±

    ¡°Your Highness, are you sure we should just gloss over what happened to the North?¡±

    ¡°The Northern Lords haven¡¯t sent a formal report yet, so I¡¯ll just pretend I don¡¯t know anything.¡±

    ¡°We will just let the self-proimed princess act as if she¡¯s a real member of the Royal Family?¡± Melvin asked worriedly. ¡°I know I shouldn¡¯t question your decision, Prince Nero. But the self-proimed princess scares me¡­¡±

    Well, the ¡°self-proimed princess¡± was indeed scary.

    [She¡¯s scary because I can tell she doesn¡¯t give empty threats¨C she¡¯s the real deal.]

    Even so, every fiber of his being seemed to be looking forward to meeting the arrogant woman again.

    And he knew they would again sooner than expected.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll meet her again soon,¡± Nero said while headed towards the door. ¡°I have a feeling that she¡¯s going to crash Calyx¡¯s banquet.¡±

    [I would if I was her¨C and I have a feeling that we think alike.]

    ***

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 Chapter 684 - 684 PARTY CRASHERS (1)

    684 PARTY CRASHERS (1)

    ¡°PRINCESS Neoma, thank you for helping me.¡±

    Neoma clenched her hands, trying to stop her ¡®let¡¯s-adopt-this-child impulse.¡¯

    By this ¡®child,¡¯ she meant Duckie in his human form.

    [I know Duckie is way older than I am, but I can¡¯t help but see him as a pitiful child who just lost his precious family.]

    It was obvious that Duckie just cried because of his red and puffy eyes.

    Neoma was actually surprised when the Elemental Guardian approached her after she talked to Jasper oppa. Right now, the two of them were on the balcony where they could see a vastnd covered in white snow. It was also facing the frozen forest where she sent off the fairies and the elves earlier.

    [And Jasper oppa is waiting for us by the entrance of the balcony.]

    ¡°Why are you thanking me? I barely did anything,¡± Neoma said while shaking his head. ¡°The credit goes to you and Jasper oppa.¡±

    Duckieughed softly while shaking his head. ¡°Princess Neoma, I don¡¯t think Jasper Hawthorne would have agreed to help me if it wasn¡¯t for you.¡±

    .....

    She couldn¡¯t refute that.

    [As I said before, Jasper oppa is not a kind person. He¡¯s calctive and will only move if it benefits him. But he¡¯s nice to me and my people, so there¡¯s that.]

    ¡°Did Jasper oppa ept you as his Elemental Guardian?¡±

    Duckie looked offended by her question. ¡°Isn¡¯t it supposed to be the other way around? I CHOSE Jasper Hawthorne as my new master.¡±

    ¡°It goes both ways,¡± she said, shrugging. ¡°You chose oppa, and oppa has the right to decide whether to ept you or not. To be honest, I don¡¯t see why oppa would be desperate to have an Elemental Guardian.¡±

    Now the ¡°child¡± looked like he was about to cry. ¡°Does it mean Jasper Hawthorne doesn¡¯t need me?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that a good thing?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Jasper oppa doesn¡¯t need you, so you can be assured that oppa won¡¯t use you as a tool or a weapon,¡± she exined. ¡°If Jasper oppa epts you as his Elemental Guardian, then maybe it¡¯s because he likes you as a person?¡±

    Duckie gulped before asking in a hesitant voice. ¡°Princess Neoma, do you think Jasper Hawthorne won¡¯t force me to do¡­ evil things?¡±

    ¡°The Jasper oppa I know will never do that,¡± she said. ¡°But if ever your fear came true, then juste to me. I¡¯ll smack oppa at the back of his head for you.¡±

    She could say that confidently because she knew Jasper oppa wouldn¡¯t turn evil.

    ¡°That¡¯s a relief,¡± Duckie said, smiling at her. ¡°I guess I really chose a better master this time.¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh.¡±

    ¡°I killed my previous master, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Ah, he must have deserved it.¡±

    The duck looked genuinely surprised. ¡°Are you not going to ask me why Imitted such sin?¡±

    ¡°If you killed your master just for shit and giggles, then you wouldn¡¯t be here,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯ve only be Grandpa Kingston¡¯s caretaker recently, but I learned that he couldn¡¯t kill me. If he did, he would be punished by the god who created the Elemental Guardians. Then his soul would vanish and he would never get reincarnated again. So, the fact that you¡¯re still here means the god epted your reason for killing your previous master.¡±

    ¡°Even so, don¡¯t you think that we don¡¯t have the right to take away someone¡¯s life that easily?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re asking the wrong person here, Duckie. I¡¯ve already killed countless of living beings from the first timeline up to now,¡± she said. Although she still sounded confident, she wasn¡¯t proud of her killings. ¡°I live a life where I¡¯ll get killed if I don¡¯t kill. But honestly? I genuinely think that there are scumbags in the world who don¡¯t deserve to breathe, so don¡¯t ask me if we have the right to take away someone¡¯s life that easily.¡±

    ¡°You¡­ are really not a good person.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m pretty much fucked up in the head. I¡¯m a de Moonasterio, remember?¡±

    ¡°Right.¡±

    Sheughed at how Duckie easily epted the fact that she was fucked up in the head just because she was a de Moonasterio. ¡°Anyway, why are you speaking politely to me? I heard you curse before. I thought I already found my kindred spirit, but you suddenly became polite.¡±

    ¡°I received two warnings from two scary men,¡± Duckie said, gulping. ¡°The God yer and my new master told me to speak politely to you if I want to live longer.¡±

    Pfft.

    ¡°Then you can speak freely when it¡¯s only the two of us talking.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll think about it, Princess Neoma.¡±

    Sheughed again. ¡°Can I still call you ¡®Duckie?''¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s my new identity now, Your Royal Highness.¡±

    She nodded in understanding. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for your loss, Duckie. I already asked Jasper oppa to give your family a proper burial. You can help him with the preparations.¡±

    Duckie suddenly turned emotional. ¡°Thank you, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°And you can take Toni Crowell¡¯s head.¡±

    This time, the duck looked shocked. ¡°But isn¡¯t she the ringleader? We have to kill her if we need information¡­¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t need her since she¡¯s not really a real member of the Crowells,¡± she said. ¡°Your revenge is more important than whatever information she holds.¡±

    ¡°Can I really do it, Princess Neoma?¡± Duckie asked in a serious tone, his eyes glowing menacingly. ¡°I don¡¯t want my new master to get in trouble.¡±

    It was true that the authority to punish the crows caught in this territory belonged to the Northern Lords.

    Jasper oppa was a duke, but he was still an outsider.

    However¡­

    ¡°Do it. I¡¯ll make sure Jasper oppa won¡¯t get in trouble with the Northern Lords,¡± Neoma said, putting a hand over her chest. ¡°I¡¯ll take responsibility for everything.¡±

    ***

    ¡°NEOMA, make sure to sleep once you return to the Royal Capital.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± Neoma asked Ruto, frowning. ¡°Why is everyone acting like I don¡¯t sleep?¡±

    Right now, the two of them were standing in front of the portal.

    Dahlia was waiting a few feet away from them from Xion.

    Yes, her assassin son had just returned from the secret mission that she gave him.

    [Xion is an assassin, so it¡¯s only natural for him to disappear abruptly. He¡¯s good at it.]

    ¡°The point is you don¡¯t get enough sleep,¡± Ruto scolded her. ¡°Do you want your skin to suffer because you don¡¯t get enough sleep?¡±

    She touched her face. ¡°But I always use my skincare products.¡±

    ¡°Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll sleep,¡± she said, pouting. ¡°You make it sound like I don¡¯t take care of myself when I do.¡±

    ¡°If you want to be the prettiest at Calyx Dalton¡¯s birthday banquet, then you have to get ENOUGH sleep. A three-hour sleep a day isn¡¯t enough.¡±

    She just shrugged. ¡°I bet I would still be the prettiestdy in the empire, even if I look haggard.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you want to look perfect for your date?¡±

    Oho?

    The red g Ruto was showing his ugly head again.

    [It¡¯s alright, I can fix him.]

    ¡°Are you jealous of my date?¡±

    ¡°Who is he?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a surprise,¡± she said, patting Ruto¡¯s shoulder. ¡°But you know him. I guess you¡¯ve already met him since you¡¯re older than me.¡±

    Ruto knitted his eyebrows. ¡°Is he older than you?¡±

    [A lot older, actually.]

    ¡°Yeah,¡± she said, nodding. ¡°But don¡¯t worry, because he¡¯s not a pervert or a pedo. We have apletely tonic rtionship.¡±

    Her man fell silent while his face looked murderous at the moment.

    [Gosh, he¡¯s already down for me so badly even though he ims hE dOesN¡¯t lOve mE.]

    ¡°Is he handsome?¡±

    Neoma smiled at Ruto brightly. ¡°Your face is my most favorite face in the entire world, babe.¡±

    ¡°So, he¡¯s handsome.¡±

    ¡°Look at the time,¡± she said, then she looked at the non-existent watch on her wrist to avoid Ruto¡¯s sharp gaze. ¡°We need to go, babe. Hanna and my children are waiting for me.¡±

    ¡°Handsome men are dangerous, Neoma.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why you¡¯re dangerous, Ruto,¡± Neoma said, then she looked at him with sparkling eyes. ¡°Can I touch your face?¡±

    .....

    Ruto looked confused, but he still nodded in response.

    She didn¡¯t hesitate to cup his face between her hands. ¡°Babe, what color would you wear at the party?¡±

    ¡°Mother is the one in charge of my clothes for formal events,¡± he said. ¡°But since our kingdom¡¯s official colors are white and gold, Mother probably prepared an outfit with those two colors in mind.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡±

    ¡°Are you going to wear red at the party?¡±

    Her eyes opened wide a bit. ¡°How did you know?¡±

    He smiled as if he found her amusing. ¡°Only official members of the de Moonasterio Royal Family are allowed to wear red during formal events.¡±

    ¡°Right?¡± she agreed, grinning. ¡°And do you know what color did I choose for my children¡¯s outfits?¡±

    Ruto tilted her head to one side. ¡°No, you tell me.¡±

    Neoma smirked haughtily. ¡°ck.¡±

    ***

    BLACK was a color banned during a birthday banquet for a member of the Royal Family because it was considered bad luck.

    Hanna couldn¡¯t help but smile while shaking her head.

    ¡°Neoma would make her ¡°children¡± wear ck during Calyx Dalton¡¯s birthday banquet,¡± Hanna whispered to herself, amused. ¡°The old nobles and the Royal Faction might pass out from shock.¡±

    Before Neoma returned to this world, the outfits that the royal princess and her ¡°children¡± would be wearing for the fake First Prince¡¯s birthday banquet were already prepared.

    It was easy to prepare them in secret because Hanna owned all the luxury boutiques on Grandiose Avenue. She made sure that the tailors wouldn¡¯t speak about the clothes to a single soul.

    Of course, she didn¡¯t tell the dressmakers that the clothes they were making would be worn at Calyx Dalton¡¯s birthday banquet.

    [I feel bad for them, but we need to do this¡­]

    After all, Neoma MIGHT turn Calyx Dalton¡¯s birthday banquet into a funeral.

 Chapter 685 - 685 PARTY CRASHERS (2)

    685 PARTY CRASHERS (2)

    ¡°HOW DID it go, Xion?¡± Neoma asked her assassin son while she was walking with him and Dahlia inside the portal. ¡°Did you take care of it?¡±

    Ruto had to return to the Eastern Continent, hence her man had to take a different portal.

    Fortunately, the Northern Lords had a portal that was directly connected to the empire¡¯s Royal Capital. The walk was going to be long, but she wasn¡¯t worried because they had a very convenient ¡°vehicle.¡±

    By that, she was referring to Lapiz¨C Dahlia¡¯s Elemental Guardian.

    Neoma and Dahlia were lying down on the Blue Whale¡¯s wide back.

    Xion (who spread his jacket on the Blue Whale¡¯s back like a nket for Neoma) insisted to sit on top of Lapiz¡¯ head instead of lying down next to her.

    ¡°I took care of it quietly as youmanded, Princess Neoma,¡± Xion said politely. ¡°I got rid of the gang that took advantage of the dire situation in the vige.¡±

    Neoma found out from Duckie that there was a gang that forced the townspeople from selling their family members to the crowd. As if that wasn¡¯t horrible enough, the gang also went to the other poor viges just to abduct more people.

    And the worse part? Most of the victims were young children.

    .....

    The gang wasn¡¯t rted to the crows. Hence, she was supposed to hand them over to the Northern Lords. But instead of doing that, she simply asked Xion to get rid of them.

    [Yeah, I put thew in my hands once again.]

    ¡°I made you do dirty work again, Xion,¡± Neoma said, sighing. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, son.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to apologize, Princess Neoma,¡± Xion said while shaking his head. ¡°Your Royal Highness doesn¡¯t have to dirty your hands for trivial things like getting rid of a gang who sold children to the crows, and to the other territories to be sex ves.¡±

    Thest part that Xion said was the reason why she decided to get rid of the gang instead of simply handing them over to the Northern Lords.

    ¡°Did you get the names of the fucking nobles who bought children as sex ves?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Princess Neoma,¡± Xion said politely. ¡°I already contacted my guild to save the children. What should we do to the nobles on the list?¡±

    ¡°Keep the list for now,¡± Neoma said, annoyed. ¡°I¡¯ll smack Nero at the back of his head with that listter.¡±

    ¡°As youmand, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Pfft.¡±

    Neoma turned to Dahlia who was obviously holding back herughter. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Dahlia? Do you like the fact that I¡¯m going to smack Nero at the back of his head?¡±

    Dahlia smiled and nodded. ¡°To be honest with you Princess Neoma, the Prince Nero in my past memories was scary. So when I heard Your Royal Highness talk as if Prince Nero was just some brat in the neighborhood, I feel safe.¡±

    She couldn¡¯t me the ck Witch for feeling that way.

    ¡°I was an unhinged bitch back then, and Nero was a crazy bastard,¡± she said. ¡°We must have scared the hell out of you in the first timeline, Dahlia.¡±

    ¡°J-Just a little bit¡­¡±

    Sheughed at the ck Witch¡¯s honesty because she found it cute. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Dahlia. I¡¯m Neoma Version 2.0 now. I will never force you to do evil stuff for me.¡±

    Dahlia smiled and nodded. ¡°I know, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°And I will also protect you from Nero,¡± Neoma assured Dahlia while patting her head. She couldn¡¯t help it, okay? Dahlia is taller than Hanna, but the ck Wicth was still tinypared to Neoma. ¡°I won¡¯t let the indecisive brat scare you, Dahlia.¡±

    ***

    ¡°NEOMA WOULD make her ¡°children¡± wear ck during Calyx Dalton¡¯s birthday banquet,¡± Hanna whispered to herself, amused. ¡°The old nobles and the Royal Faction might pass out from shock.¡±

    Before Neoma returned to this world, the outfits that the royal princess and her ¡°children¡± would be wearing for the fake First Prince¡¯s birthday banquet were already prepared.

    It was easy to prepare them in secret because Hanna owned all the luxury boutiques in Grandiose Avenue. She made sure that the tailors wouldn¡¯t speak about the clothes to a single soul. Of course, she didn¡¯t tell the dressmakers that the clothes they were making would be worn at Calyx Dalton¡¯s birthday banquet.

    [I feel bad for them, but we need to do this¡­]

    After all, Neoma MIGHT turn Calyx Dalton¡¯s birthday banquet into a funeral.

    ¡°Lady Hanna.¡±

    Hmm?

    Hanna turned around and was a little bit disappointed to see that Lewis had already changed back to his casual clothes. ¡°You¡¯re already done trying on your formal outfit for the uing banquet?¡±

    Neoma¡¯s ¡°children¡± (except for Xion Redgrave who was with Neoma) were all in the Quinzel Estate at the moment.

    [Yes, even Lady Juri and Lord Jeno who were at the Hazelden Kingdom before.]

    While the ¡°children¡± were just waiting for their ¡°mother¡± to return, Hanna decided to bring out the clothes that they would wear at the banquet for the final fitting.

    [Of course, I¡¯m also taking good care of Prince Skylus.]

    ¡°I¡¯m done with the fitting,¡± Lewis said casually. ¡°Lady Hanna, a carriage with the Drayton¡¯s family crest is headed this way.¡±

    She was about to ask Lewis how he knew that when the knights guarding the main gate hadn¡¯t sent a message yet. Then she remembered that Lewis had a very sharp vision.

    ¡°Were you at the rooftop again, Lewis?¡±

    To be precise, Lewis was on the rooftop of the building where a secret portal was built. Neoma and the others woulde out of that portal.

    ¡°I was¡­ waiting for Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Of course, you were,¡± Hanna said, smiling. But she instantly turned serious. ¡°I wonder if it¡¯s Duke Drayton or Lord Rubin. I guess I need to go and greet them to find out.¡±

    ¡°Will you be alright, Lady Hanna?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine on my own, but I¡¯m sure Vice-captain Emmett will stick to my side like glue.¡±

    Lewis nodded in understanding. ¡°Then I¡¯ll guard you in secret.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to, but thank you, Lewis,¡± Hanna said, smiling. ¡°I¡¯lle back after checking what the Draytons want this time.¡±

    ***

    ¡°THE QUINZELS are getting greedy,¡± Nero said while reading the documents that Melvin handed to him a moment ago. ¡°They¡¯re already the richest noble household in the empire, thanks to their sessful businesses and therge mine that they discovered recently. And now they¡¯re getting involved with the production of weapons?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that supposed to be good news for you, Prince Nero?¡± Melvin asked in a tired voice. ¡°You¡¯ll be the son-inw of a very wealthy family. The Quinzels are richer than the Royal Family, aren¡¯t they?¡±

    He raised his head to re at Melvin.

    Instead of getting scared, his secretary beamed. ¡°Are you mad, Prince Nero? I crossed the line, didn¡¯t I? Then you should fire me from work for being insolent¨C¡±

    ¡°As punishment for ndering the Royal Family, I¡¯m extending your contract for three more years.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s unfair, Prince Nero!¡± Melvinined. For a scaredy-cat, he sure knew how to raise his voice, huh? ¡°I didn¡¯t nder the Royal Family. Saying that the Quinzels are richer than the de Moonasterios is simply stating a fact.¡±

    ¡°If you don¡¯t shut up, I¡¯m extending the contract for two more years.¡±

    His secretary immediately shut his mouth.

    Finally, it was quiet in the carriage again.

    Yes, Nero and Melvin were currently sitting across from each other inside the spacious royal carriage.

    They were headed to the Quinzel Estate.

    [It¡¯s rude to visit unannounced, that¡¯s why I brought a present for Hanna.]

    ¡°When Duke Quinzel said he¡¯d be waging war against the Draytons, I thought he meant it literally,¡± Nero said, then he looked at the documents in his hand again. ¡°But I didn¡¯t expect them to wage war against the Draytons by taking over their businesses.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s getting worse,¡± Melvin added. ¡°Just recently, Duke Quinzel beat Duke Drayton in a bid. And thend that Duke Quinzel won turned out to have arge iron mine in it. Apparently, the iron ores found in that mine also happen to be coated in Mana¨C making it more powerful than ordinary iron ores used to make weapons. That¡¯s why the Quinzels are suddenly getting involved in weapon production.¡±

    ¡°Heh. No wonder Duke Drayton wanted to meet me.¡±

    Of course, he refused to meet the duke.

    [The Crown Prince isn¡¯t someone you could easily meet even if you¡¯re a duke in the empire.]

    ¡°Duchess Quinzel has also shown up in the social circle again,¡± Melvin added, and this time, his secretary sounded like he was being suspicious of the Quinzels. ¡°Apparently, Duchess Quinzel is clearing up the ¡°misunderstanding¡± about Regina Quinzel¡¯s identity. It turns out that there was a mistake, and Lady Regina wasn¡¯t a Quinzel.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t Rubin Drayton going out with that Regina?¡± Nero said, intrigued. ¡°I guess the Quinzels are really trying to bring House Drayton to ruins.¡±

    ***

    HANNA smiled like the perfect noblewoman that she was. ¡°Greetings, Duke Drayton. Wee to House Quinzel.¡±

    She greeted the duke along with Vice-captain Emmett and the other servants in the mansion.

    Duke Drayton looked dissatisfied upon seeing her even though he was the rude one for showing up unannounced.

    [His Grace should be grateful that we weed him properly.]

    ¡°Thank you, Young Lady Quinzel,¡± Duke Drayton said firmly. ¡°I¡¯m in a hurry, so let me get straight to the point. Is Duke Quinzel home?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid not, Your Grace,¡± Hanna said politely. ¡°Father is currently at work.¡±

    Her parents weren¡¯t really at home at the moment.

    .....

    His father, as a duke, was busy with work.

    Her mother, on the other hand, attended an afternoon tea party.

    It had been a while since her mother attended a tea party that wasn¡¯t hosted by the Royal Family. But her mother had a reason for showing up in high society once again to im her spot as one of the stars of the social circle.

    [It¡¯s to bring down House Drayton, of course.]

    Her mother wasn¡¯t physically strong.

    But her mother was a very wealthy duchess with a wless background. Hence, no one would look down on her mother.

    [That means no one would also ignore my mother¡¯s words.]

    The nobles greatly cared about their image. Hence, for the members of high society, one nasty rumor could easily ¡°kill¡± a noble.

    ¡°I went to Duke Quinzel¡¯s office beforeing here, but he wasn¡¯t there.¡±

    ¡°Perhaps Father is in the field at the moment,¡± Hanna said, extending her patience. ¡°Your Grace, if you have something important to tell my father that you can¡¯t send through a letter or any form ofmunication, then please feel free to say it to me. I¡¯ll convey Your Grace¡¯s message to my fatherter.¡±

    Duke Drayton scoffed. ¡°But you¡¯re a woman.¡±

    ¡°I am, and I am also the sole heir of Houze Quinzel, Your Grace,¡± she said calmly in a clear voice. ¡°When my parents aren¡¯t home, I am the master of this house.¡±

    The old duke didn¡¯t hide his sneer while looking at her in a disrespectful manner. ¡°I know thew allows women to inherit noble titles now. But I still don¡¯t understand why Duke Quinzel allowed his daughter to be his official sessor. After all, to continue the legacy of a great noble household, a patriarch must pass down his title to a male sessor.¡±

    ¡°Just like how you made your ipetent son your sessor, Your Grace?¡±

    Duke Drayton¡¯s face turned grim, obviously offended for Rubin Drayton. ¡°Did you just insult my son, Young Lady Quinzel?¡±

    ¡°No, I merely stated a fact, my lord. Between me and Lord Rubin, it¡¯s your son who doesn¡¯t deserve to be a sessor of a great noble household,¡± Hanna said, smiling. ¡°When ites to achievements, Lord Rubin can¡¯t hold a candle to me, Your Grace.¡±

 Chapter 686 - 686 PARTY CRASHERS (3)

    686 PARTY CRASHERS (3)

    ¡°WHEN ITes to achievements, Lord Rubin can¡¯t hold a candle to me, Your Grace,¡± Hanna said confidently. ¡°I know I shouldn¡¯t judge a person by their educational background. But for someone who speaks so highly of his son, you¡¯d think Lord Rubin graduated at the top of his ss. But in reality, Your Grace bribed the academy to let him graduate on time.¡±

    Yes, there was corruption in the Royal Moon Academy.

    But Nero took a blind eye to it because he didn¡¯t care, and he thought it wasn¡¯t a big deal. Apparently, as the Crown Prince, it was his duty to ignore the ¡°small¡± misdeeds of his subjects.

    [I¡¯ll tattle to Neomater about Nero¡¯s corruption in the academy.]

    ¡°Young Lady Quinzel¨C¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not yet done talking, Your Grace,¡± Hanna said in a calm yet firm voice, cutting off Duke Drayton quite rudely. ¡°Ever since I entered the academy, I¡¯ve always been the top female student. Overall, I¡¯m only second to Prince Nero since our first year.¡±

    The old duke frowned, but she wasn¡¯t done talking yet.

    ¡°A person isn¡¯t defined by his educational background,¡± Hanna continued even though Duke Drayton was ring. ¡°There are so many people out there, especially among themoners, who are sessful despite not attending a prestigious academy. On the other hand, there are nobles like Lord Rubin who graduated from the Royal Moon Academy. And what does your sessor do to continue the legacy of your ¡°great¡± household, Your Grace?¡±

    Of course, Duke Drayton couldn¡¯t say anything.

    .....

    Even though Rubin Drayton was the duke¡¯s official sessor, the old duke hadn¡¯t handed any of his businesses to his only son yet. Duke Drayton was still in charge of everything rted to House Drayton and their territory.

    ¡°I understand, Your Grace. If I were you, I wouldn¡¯t entrust my business to my ipetent son as well,¡± Hanna said, smiling while insulting Rubin Drayton in front of the old duke¡¯s face. ¡°Too bad Lord Rubin isn¡¯t even half as capable as I am, right? You must be fuming in envy that my father, a duke like you, has a very sessfuldy as a daughter AND SUCCESSOR.¡±

    Duke Drayton scoffed. ¡°Have you forgotten that you¡¯re the future Crown Princess, Young Lady Quinzel? Once you marry the Crown Prince, you¡¯ll be an official member of the Royal Family. Since you are so smart, then you should also know that ourw dictates a member of the Royal Family cannot managerge businesses.¡±

    Of course, she was aware of that matter.

    However¡­

    ¡°I¡¯m not yet married to Prince Nero, and we¡¯ll never know if I will really end up marrying His Royal Highness until it happens. Hence, at this moment, you¡¯re talking to the Quinzel Princess and not the Crown Princess, Your Grace,¡± Hanna said confidently. If she was the old Hanna, she wouldn¡¯t dare speak arrogantly in front of an old and powerful duke. But thanks to Neoma¡¯s influence, here she was now. ¡°Your Grace, if you can¡¯t entrust your business to your only son, then should I hire Lord Rubin? I could always use an extra errand boy. As Your Grace probably already knows, my father recently bought and that happens to have arge iron mine in it. And my father is entrusting that mine to me.¡±

    The old duke¡¯s face turned ugly because his greed and envy were very clear now. ¡°Duke Quinzel is handing the mine to you? He must be out of his mind. What does ady know about weapon production?¡±

    ¡°I know enough to kick you out of business, Duke Drayton,¡± Hanna dered coldly. ¡°Aren¡¯t you here because you want to buy the iron mine from my father? After all, House Drayton is the biggest supplier of weapons in the empire. But that will change soon, Your Grace. The iron ores found in MY mine contain Mana. Hence, the weapons that we¡¯re going to produce using them will be much better in quality than the weapons you currently produce. I guess it¡¯s time for you to kiss your clients goodbye?¡±

    Now Duke Drayton¡¯s face turned red from anger, his bloodlust oozing. ¡°You¡¯re crossing the line, Young Lady Quinzel!¡±

    When the old duke stepped forward as if he was about to attack Hanna, Vice-captain Jaxson Emmett stepped forward and stood in front of her protectively.

    The other knights also surrounded her to keep her safe.

    Of course, Hanna could defend herself from Duke Drayton. But she let the vice-captain and the family knights do their job.

    [They take pride in protecting the Quinzels, after all.]

    ¡°Duke Drayton, please step back,¡± Vice-captain Emmett said in a polite yet firm voice. ¡°I¡¯m afraid I have to ask you to leave the estate.¡±

    ¡°You move aside, you lowly vice-captain¨C¡±

    Hanna was about to be really rude to Duke Drayton when¡­

    ¡°What is this shameful behavior towards my fianc¨¦e, Duke Drayton?¡±

    [What is he doing here¡­?]

    Hanna was surprised, and mildly annoyed, to see Nero stepping out of the royal carriage while being assisted by Melvin Lhesi.

    ***

    ¡°YOU SEEM to have some interesting guests, Hanna.¡±

    [Of course, he¡¯d notice them.]

    Hanna remained calm while sipping her tea.

    Lewis and the others were currently hiding their presence.

    But Nero, just like Neoma, had also grown strong the past five years. Hence, even the likes of Lewis couldn¡¯tpletely hide his presence from the Crown Prince.

    ¡°Are they the reason why you didn¡¯t invite me inside the mansion?¡±

    Hanna brought Nero to her favorite garden. To be precise, they were having tea in the beautiful pavilion.

    Thanks to the efficiency of the maids working for them, the tea and snacks that were served on the table looked pristine. Nothing wascking despite the limited time the servants had to prepare for the Crown Prince¡¯s sudden visit.

    ¡°You came unannounced, Nero,¡± Hanna reminded the Crown Prince, addressing him casually since the knights and the servants were out of hearing range. ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to apologize for that?¡±

    ¡°I see that you have no intention to talk about your guests.¡±

    She just sipped her tea.

    ¡°I¡¯m aware that visiting unannounced is rude, hence I prepared an apology gift,¡± the Crown Prince said, then his hand moved as if he was summoning someone.

    Melvin Lhesi, the Crown Prince¡¯s secretary, walked towards them while holding a medium-sized velvet box.

    Then the secretary bowed to Hanna politely before putting the box on the table.

    ¡°You may open it now, Hanna.¡±

    ¡°Alright,¡± she said, putting her teacup down on the table. ¡°But for the record, I appreciate a genuine apology over an expensive gift.¡±

    Nero just sipped his tea.

    [Will he die if he apologized verbally?]

    Her thoughts suddenly stopped when she opened the box and saw what Nero¡¯s present was.

    It was a tiara, and it wasn¡¯t just any tiara.

    Hanna looked at Nero in disbelief. ¡°This is the tiara that Empress Juliet wore when she was officially introduced as the Crown Princess.¡±

    Of course, she was talking about the real Empress Juliet.

    And she recognized the tiara immediately because she had been taking bridal lessons as the future Crown Princess for the past few years.

    ¡°You should wear that tiara to Calyx¡¯s birthday banquet.¡±

    ¡°If I do that, then I¡¯d steal the spotlight from Prince Calyx,¡± Hanna said. ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s okay for me to do that to your precious brother?¡±

    ¡°Calyx is my brother, but he¡¯s also apetition to the throne,¡± Nero said casually. ¡°There are still many nobles who aren¡¯t satisfied with me as the Crown Prince simply because I am Mona Roseheart¡¯s son. Those bastards who don¡¯t know their ce are trying to get chummy with Calyx.¡±

    ¡°So, you¡¯re going to use our engagement to keep them in check?¡± she asked, raising an eyebrow at the Crown Prince. ¡°After all, everyone wants to get close to the Quinzels since our businesses have been thriving even more so than usual. Hence, if our engagement bes official, you¡¯ll also gain a strong backing.¡±

    As expected, everything was politics for Nero.

    [And yet¡­]

    ¡°I¡¯ll do you a favor in return,¡± the Crown Prince offered without denying the things she said earlier. ¡°I¡¯ll get Duke Drayton off your back. I know that he¡¯s bugging you recently because the Quinzels have been messing with his businesses.¡±

    Duke Drayton immediately excused himself when Nero arrived, hence she knew that the Crown Prince could do something about the old duke.

    Even so¡­

    ¡°I can deal with Duke Drayton on my own.¡±

    ¡°Pfft,¡± Nero said,ughing softly. ¡°You keep getting cuter day by day, Hanna.¡±

    She didn¡¯t want to admit this, but her heart fluttered.

    ¡°Wear the tiara to Calyx¡¯s to birthday banquet, hmm?¡± Nero asked in a gentle tone. Then he removed the glove in his right hand before extending it to her. ¡°May I?¡±

    Hanna automatically gave her hand to Nero.

    [Ah, why am I so weak against him even though he annoys me half of the time?]

    ¡°Hanna, I¡¯m d that you¡¯ve returned safely,¡± Nero said, kissing the back of her hand without breaking eye contact. ¡°I know that there are things you wanted to keep from me, so I¡¯m not going to ask what happened. The fact that Duke and Duchess Quinzel were calm only means that you weren¡¯t really abducted.¡±

    She flinched a little.

    [He¡¯s really Neoma¡¯s twin brother.]

    ¡°But the fact that Duke Quinzel is doing his best to destroy House Drayton while Duchess Quinzel is denying Regina Quinzel as a blood rtive could only mean that the Draytons and that woman had hurt you.¡±

    ¡°What is it that you¡¯re trying to say, Nero?¡±

    He smiled charmingly at her. ¡°Nothing.¡±

    She just scoffed at his response.

    ¡°Duke Hawthorne is your business partner, isn¡¯t he?¡±

    ¡°And what about it?¡±

    ¡°Duke Hawthorne is working for a woman who looks like my female version.¡±

    She tried to hide her surprise, but she wasn¡¯t confident that she hid it well.

    [Nero already knows what happened in the North. Even so, I didn¡¯t expect him to confront me this directly.]

    ¡°Have you already met that woman?¡±

    .....

    ¡°What if I did?¡±

    Nero smiled widely. ¡°You already did, huh?¡±

    She let out a long sigh.

    There was no point hiding it anymore since Neoma wasn¡¯t hiding from Nero anyway.

    ¡°Then that means Calyx¡¯s birthday banquet is going to be interesting.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡±

    ¡°Your ¡°friends¡± will crash the banquet, won¡¯t they?¡± Nero asked, smirking. Then he kissed the back of her hand again. ¡°But I hope you pay attention to me the way you pay attention to them, my dear fianc¨¦e.¡±

    And the Crown Prince said that with that handsome face of his.

    [I¡¯m not that obsessed with looks, but Nero¡¯s face is really out of this world.]

    Hanna definitely blushed, but she still hoped it wasn¡¯t that obvious. ¡°Don¡¯t get cheeky with me, Nero.¡±

    ***

    ¡°WE DON¡¯T have to tighten the security during the banquet,¡± Calyx said while sitting on the empress¡¯ thronezily. Only he and his mother were in the throne room at the moment, so it didn¡¯t matter. ¡°Actually, we don¡¯t need it.¡±

    The Empress Dowager, his mother, looked confused as she stood in front of him. ¡°You don¡¯t need it when we¡¯re very certain that Princess Neoma woulde and crash the banquet?¡±

    ¡°Exactly, Mother,¡± he said, shrugging. ¡°We know that Princess Neoma and her people woulde to ruin my banquet. And we also know that we can¡¯t stop her, unless we wanted a full-on war.¡±

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s right. She already destroyed two of our units.¡±

    The Empress Dowager was talking about the unit that guarded the cave, and the unit that they sent to the North to gather Darkness.

    Both units were annihted by the royal princess.

    ¡°We can¡¯t sacrifice pawns more than we already had,¡± he said. ¡°Moreover, I don¡¯t want Princess Neoma to think that she¡¯s special if we put so much effort into stopping her from attending my banquet. I want to humiliate her by weing her to the celebration with open arms.¡±

    Because that would make Princess Neoma realize that he wasn¡¯t threatened by her presence.

    [She can¡¯t ruin my special day.]

    His mother nodded in agreement. ¡°You have a point. And you have nothing to be scared of, even if Princess Neoma arrived at the banquet.¡±

    ¡°Right, Mother?¡± Calyx agreed, smiling. ¡°After all, I have the new saint with me.¡±

    [I can¡¯t wait to humiliate the arrogant princess~]

 Chapter 687 - 687 PARTY CRASHERS (4)

    687 PARTY CRASHERS (4)

    HEH.

    Neoma couldn¡¯t help but smile while looking at her ¡°children.¡±

    Lewis.

    Paige.

    Juri.

    Jeno.

    Xion.

    Greko.

    At longst, she was finally reunited with her lovely kids. Even Baby Skylus was there to greet her when she arrived with Dahlia and Xion.

    .....

    [Hanna and the ducal couple aren¡¯t here, so they must be busy.]

    It was time for them to get busy, too.

    ¡°My lovely children, thank you for waiting for me,¡± Neoma said. She wanted to be as cheerful as she could, but she felt a little tired. Just a little, okay? ¡°Now let me hear your report about what happened while I¡¯m gone.¡±

    No one responded to her right away.

    Her ¡°children¡± and Baby Skylus just looked a Lewis who stepped forward.

    [Oh. Is Lewis the spokesperson for today?]

    ¡°Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Yep?¡±

    ¡°Before we give our report to you, please have coffee first,¡± Lewis said, his face full of innocence at the moment. ¡°We all worked hard together to make your favorite coffee.¡±

    Neoma knew that something was up, but she trusted Lewis. ¡°Okie-dokie.¡±

    ***

    HMM?

    Neoma was shocked when she realized she was alreadyfy on the bed.

    Juri and Paige moved so fast when the two gave her a bath.

    The next thing she knew, she was already wearing afortable pair of pajamas (from Korea!) while bundled up on the bed with a warm and soft nket. She was leaning against the headboard while holding a warm mug of coffee between her hands.

    All of her ¡°children¡± were standing in front of her, while Baby Skylus was already sleeping beside her.

    ¡°Okay, kids. Calyx Dalton¡¯s birthday party is in three days,¡± Neoma said, going straight to business. ¡°That psycho bastard will hold his party at Callisto Hall¨C the grandest ballroom in the Royal Pce.¡±

    Yes, it was the hall named after Callisto de Luca.

    ¡°Gosh, that hall needs a renovation. And a change of name, too,¡± sheined. ¡°Anyway, you already know about how my grand entrance will go. Should we go over a n and do a final dress rehearsal?¡±

    Her dress was made by a famous Korean designer.

    Of course, her dress wouldn¡¯t be appropriate to wear at a royal banquet. But it was a party to honor Calyx Dalton, and she had no intention to respect it. Hence, she chose a modern dress that would be considered scandalous by this society.

    Her children¡¯s clothes and other essories would also appear ¡°strange.¡±

    [I told them it¡¯s fine to wear more morous clothes than what they chose, but my kids insisted that they wanted to wear the uniform that Tteokbokki bragged to them¡­]

    ¡°Princess Neoma, your coffee is getting cold.¡±

    ¡°Oh, right,¡± Neoma said. ¡°Thanks for the reminder, Lewis.¡±

    She took a sip of her coffee, then smiled when she realized that her coffee had been spiked.

    [I knew these kids are up to no good.]

    ¡°I know you wouldn¡¯t poison me, and poison doesn¡¯t work on me anyway,¡± she said, smiling at her children. ¡°So, what did you put in my coffee? Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m not mad. I know you have a reason for doing this.¡±

    It was Lewis who stepped forward.

    [Yep, and rightfully so. After all, he¡¯s themander. He has the duty to take responsibility for his siblings¡¯ actions.]

    ¡°First of all, we¡¯d like to apologize for spiking your drink, Princess Neoma,¡± Lewis said apologetically, bowing deeply towards her. ¡°We will ept any punishment Your Royal Highness will bestow on uster.¡±

    The other children behind Lewis also bowed their heads in apology.

    [Aww¡­ they worked together. Nice. They¡¯ve gotten really close over the years.]

    Lewis raised his head to meet Neoma¡¯s gaze. Although he still looked indifferent, his golden eyes actually looked sad and guilty. ¡°Princess Neoma, we put a sleeping potion in your coffee.¡±

    Uh-huh.

    [I already guessed that much.]

    ¡°Gosh, why is everyone suddenly obsessed with my sleeping schedule?¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma, you barely slept a wink while we were in the North,¡± Xion said, frowning. ¡°Please get some rest before the banquet.¡±

    ¡°Well, now that you put a sleeping potion in my coffee, I have no choice but to rest,¡± she said, smiling while shaking her head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for making you so worried about my health that you had to resort to spiking my drink. I¡¯m not saying that what you did was right, but I understand where you¡¯reing from. I know I¡¯ve been neglecting my health recently.¡±

    She couldn¡¯t help but feel impatient though.

    [I only have five years left, so I need to work FAST before I be unalive.]

    ¡°Having said that, I still need to punish you all for spiking my drink,¡± Neoma said sternly. ¡°You won¡¯t receive your sry for three months.¡±

    Of course, she was paying her children all this time for serving her.

    [I¡¯m a rich momma.]

    ¡°Moreover, you¡¯ll have to do voluntary work every weekend for three months,¡± she added. ¡°I¡¯ll give you a list of orphanages and foundations that need help.¡±

    Lewis and her other ¡°children¡± looked relieved that they were being punished.

    [Although we have a close bond, I still must remind them that I¡¯m the boss. There¡¯s a line that they shouldn¡¯t cross while working for me. As long as we respect that boundary, then our family will continue living in harmony.]

    ¡°Anyway, the potion is working since I feel sleepy now,¡± Neoma said while rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. ¡°How long will the potion keep me asleep?¡±

    She looked at Greko and Paige because only the two could make the potion.

    It was Greko who raised his hand and hesitantly answered her question. ¡°You¡¯ll be asleep for at least three days, eomma.¡±

    THREE DAYS???

    [But Calyx¡¯s birthday party is three days from now!]

    ***

    ¡°LADY Hanna, are you sure you want to give me that gorgeous emerald dress?¡±

    Hanna smiled and nodded at Hanna¡¯s question. ¡°I¡¯ll be honest with you, Dahlia. That dress is actually what I wanted to dress at the banquet.¡±

    She didn¡¯t ask her personal tailor to make a beautiful dress for Calyx¡¯s banquet.

    [I don¡¯t care about the fake First Prince¡¯s birthday.]

    She just wanted to dress up for the asion because it was Neoma¡¯s grand debut in high society.

    But there was a reason why she was no longer allowed to wear the emerald dress.

    ¡°It was decided by the royal tailor that I would be wearing a matching dress with Nero,¡± Hannamented. ¡°The red dress was fabulous¡­¡±

    But it wouldn¡¯tplement her green eyes the way the emerald dress would.

    [And red isn¡¯t my color.]

    ¡°Red dress¡­ then¡­¡±

    Ah, she knew what Dahlia was thinking.

    After all, only members of the Royal Family were allowed to wear red during formal events. Especially if the event was hosted by the Royal Family.

    ¡°It¡¯s an unofficial announcement that I¡¯ll be the Crown Princess soon,¡± Hanna said in a serious voice. ¡°My engagement with Nero would be official on ouring-of-age ceremony.¡±

    Dahlia smiled softly. ¡°I see.¡±

    It seemed like the ck Witch didn¡¯t have anyints about her engagement with Nero, so she changed the topic right away.

    ¡°I think your red hair and the emerald dress would look good together,¡± Hanna said. ¡°But if you don¡¯t like the style, I have many new dresses that you can choose from. I only rmended the emerald dress because it¡¯s my favorite among them.¡±

    Dahlia looked at Hanna for quite some time before talking softly. ¡°Lady Hanna, I think the emerald dress would suit you better. I wish I could see you wear it at the banquet.¡±

    .....

    She could only smile because she couldn¡¯t simply wear what she wanted now.

    [This is what I have to put up with to be the Crown Princess.]

    But if Neoma was in my ce¡­

    [I guess Neoma would wear whatever she wanted.]

    ¡°Hence, I cannot wear the emerald dress,¡± Dahlia said, smiling apologetically at her. ¡°Would it be alright if I look at the other dresses, Lady Hanna?¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± Hanna said, smiling. ¡°Come this way, Miss Dahlia.¡±

    ***

    WHEN NEOMA opened her eyes, she felt refreshed.

    All the fatigue that her body umted recently had disappeared, hence her body felt light. Moreover, when she touched her face, she felt like her skin had be softer and smoother. In short, she probably got prettier again.

    [Gosh, me and my visual.]

    ¡°Neoma, are you ready?¡±

    Hmm?

    Neoma was surprised to see Hanna, Dahlia, Paige, and Juri all smiling at her while holding different tools like a hair brush, a towel, and even the bath bomb that she brought from Korea. ¡°Oh, is it time for me to get ready?¡±

    It was going to be a long morning, huh?

    ***

    ¡°YOU¡¯VE arrived?¡± Hanna asked politely while standing on the balcony and talking to an esteemed guest. ¡°Princess Neoma is still getting ready, but she¡¯ll be here soon.¡±

    She was talking to the ck Phoenix¨C Princess Nichole¡¯s Soul Beast.

    [His name is Vespera, if I remember correctly.]

    It was kind of intimidating to see the ck Phoenix, especially the warm ck me that engulfed it. But that feeling faded away when the Soul Beast slowly transformed into his human form.

    ¡°Then I shall wait for Princess Neoma.¡±

    Hanna blushed a little while staring at Vespera¡¯s handsome face. The Soul Beast in his human form looked more dashing in his maroon suit that emphasized his good build and long legs. But the most distracting part was his face. ¡°It¡¯s like I¡¯m looking at Lady Mona¡¯s male version.¡±

    Vespera, the ck Phoenix, smiled. ¡°A lot of people have said that I look like Mona¡¯s twin brother,¡± he said whilebing his hand through his silver-ish hair with pink strands. ¡°I guess my appearance as Princess Neoma¡¯s escort for tonight would shock the empire¨C especially since I¡¯m just one of her ¡°harem¡± for this asion.¡±

 Chapter 688 - 688 PARTY CRASHERS (5)

    688 PARTY CRASHERS (5)

    [MY VISUAL is really out of this world, huh?]

    Neoma knew she was very beautiful, but the moment she became an adult was her PEAK.

    No wonder she looked absolutely gorgeous tonight.

    [It¡¯s such a shame that Ruto can¡¯t see my pretty face, but it¡¯s alright. I¡¯ll just admire my own beauty for the two of us.]

    ¡°Princess Neoma, you¡¯re really extra beautiful tonight.¡±

    It was Paige who did her makeup, and yet the mage still looked starstruck by Neoma¡¯s appearance.

    She could have done her own makeup, but Paige wanted to do it for her.

    Hence, she let the mage use the cosmetics that she brought from Korea. She also taught Paige how to do the trending makeup among Korean movie and pop stars.

    As a result, Neoma looked like she was about to attend a prestigious acting award ceremony.

    .....

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t so sure about the dress because it looked weird at first,¡± Juri, her hairstylist for tonight, said. ¡°But now that Your Royal Highness is wearing it, the dress suddenly looks really stunning.¡±

    [I know, right?]

    Neoma¡¯s red dress for tonight was made from tulle fabric because she wanted to look like a fairy. The dress had an A-line shape with a corset style busier and embellished roses at bodice and on the sleeves. It had sheer off-the-shoulder puff sleeves, too.

    But the highlight was the fact that it was a high-low dress.

    Which meant the dress had a shorter hem at the front and longer at the back.

    [This also means that my long, creamy, and shapely legs are exposed.]

    She thought of pairing the dress with a pair of pretty heels with straps, but she wanted to be edgy. Hence, she ended up wearing ck ankle boots with kitten heels.

    ¡°But the skirt... are you sure you¡¯re not cold, Princess Neoma?¡±

    Neoma grinned while shaking her head. ¡°I¡¯m fine, Juri. I don¡¯t get cold since I have the fire attribute. My legs are fine.¡±

    Well, thedies in the empire often wore light dresses or skirts that were floor-length. But dresses or skirts that hit at the ankle were still okay. Anything that hit at midcalf was already considered short and ¡°too exposed,¡± though.

    [But here I am, wearing a mini-skirt.]

    Well, it was a high-low skirt. But the hem at the front fell mid-thigh. Hence, she was d Papa Boss wasn¡¯t there at the moment.

    [Papa Boss got used to me wearing modern clothes when we were in Korea, but he would probably be anxious if he learned I wore a dress considered ¡°racy¡± here. After all, it¡¯s true that as a royal princess, I still have an image to protect.]

    ¡°Thank you for making me prettier, Paige and Juri,¡± Neoma said sincerely, then she looked at her reflection in the mirror while touching the crown on her head. ¡°I can¡¯t wait to see Calyx¡¯s reaction.¡±

    She was wearing a crown, so Juri wanted to tie her hair in an elegant bun at first.

    But she wanted everyone to see the pink strands in her hair, hence Juri chose a half-braid for her hairstyle tonight. It still held the pretty silver crown on her head, so everything was fine.

    The crown on her head was simple, but everyone who took History lessons in the empire would recognize the silver crown and the ruby gem in the middle. After all, it was the long-lost crown of the empire¡¯s first emperor.

    [My ¡°children¡± found it in the vi on the ind that I inherited from Grandma Roxana.]

    Compared to the current crown at the moment, this one had a simple design. It was just in and it didn¡¯t even have any gems on it. But despite the nd appearance, every Mana-user in the world could tell that the crown was crafted from the moon.

    Yes, the moon itself.

    [This crown is that precious. I can¡¯t believe the long-lost crown of the first emperor was just lying somewhere in the vi. Why was it hidden there?]

    Anyway, aside from the crown, she was also decorated with expensive jewelry pieces from head to toe. Diamond ne, dangling diamond earrings, a diamond bracelet, and the Lynx Ring that Uncle Dominic gifted to her when she was young.

    Heh.

    [I look immacte.]

    Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a knock.

    When the door opened, Hanna and Dahlia entered the room.

    Neoma beamed while looking at the twodies. ¡°Wow,¡± she blurted out, amazed. ¡°Hanna and Dahlia, you both y tonight!¡±

    Dahlia looked really beautiful in hervender dress that matched hervender eyes well. The ruffled dress was made of delicate tulle fabric with an A-line silhouette on the waist, and a bustier-style bodice. It had a pleated and tiered floor-length skirt, and cold-shoulder sleeves.

    The ck Witch had a simple make-up look that she pulled off well because of her face. And her red hair was braided prettily.

    ¡°Thank you, Princess Neoma,¡± Dahlia said shyly. ¡°I wanted to wear ck in support of your deration of war against Calyx Dalton tonight, but I fell in love with thisvender dress.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Dahlia. You made the right choice since you really look good in that dress,¡± Neoma assured the ck Witch. ¡°And, to be honest, I¡¯d prefer it if you don¡¯t openly stand with us tonight. Not yet, at least. The ck Witches still have a bad reputation in the empire, so it won¡¯t do you well if you take my side openly. And I want to protect you, Dahlia. So, let¡¯sy low for now.¡±

    Dahlia smiled and nodded. ¡°I understand, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Very well,¡± Neoma said, then she turned to Hanna. ¡°Our future Crown Princess.¡±

    Hannaughed softly at her greeting.

    ¡°Damn,¡± Neoma cursed. ¡°You¡¯re really too good for Nero, girl.¡±

    Hanna looked so pretty in her ssic ruby red gown made with designed brocade fabric. It had a corset with long puffy sleeves, an A-line silhouette, and an inverted box pleated skirt that was floor-length with a court train. The dress also came with a red silk cape.

    The future Crown Princess¡¯ ck hair was tied in an elegant bun, and a pretty tiara sat on top of her head.

    [Hanna looks pretty, but why do I feel sad for her?]

    Neoma actually saw the emerald dress that Hanna wanted to wear before the royal tailor decided to make Nero and Hanna wear matching clothes.

    [I think the emerald dress would fit Hanna better, but I respect her choice.]

    ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking, Neoma,¡± Hanna said, smiling at her. ¡°I¡¯m really weak against Nero. I can¡¯t believe I¡¯ve been deluding myself that I am a strong woman all this time.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re strong, Hanna,¡± Neoma said firmly. ¡°People would usually think that a strong woman should be like me¨C someone who speaks her mind and takes reckless action right away. But, to be fair, being rude and foul-mouthed doesn¡¯t necessarily make me a strong woman.¡± She put her hands on Hanna¡¯s shoulders. ¡°Hanna, you don¡¯t have to be loud and assertive like me to be considered a strong woman. You carry yourself with grace all the time, you¡¯re kind, and you¡¯re very resilient. Moreover, you can give up on things you value to put up with the person you chose. Not everyone could do that¨C not even me.¡±

    Hanna became teary-eyed as if she was touched. ¡°You¡¯re making me cry, Neoma.¡±

    Neoma just smiled while looking at Hanna and Dahlia who looked like they were finally getting along well.

    [I love Nero, but I still think he doesn¡¯t deserve Hanna or Dahlia.]

    Did thinking that way made Neoma a bad sister?

    ***

    NEOMA didn¡¯t know if she wanted to cry orugh while looking at her ¡°children.¡±

    Hanna already left since she still needed to greet the Empress Dowager before heading to the banquet with Nero.

    [Duke and Duchess Quinzel have already left the estate, too.]

    Neoma didn¡¯t get a chance to meet the ducal couple yet because they were practically hiding their presence.

    [Anyway, it¡¯s our turn to leave now.]

    ¡°Are you sure you all want to dress up like that to the banquet?¡± Neoma asked for thest time. ¡°You¡¯re really going to dress up as my bodyguards?¡±

    Modern bodyguards, to be precise.

    Lewis, Paige, Jeno, Juri, Xion, and Greko were all wearing the same uniform: ck suit, white button-shirt underneath, ck pants, and ck shoes.

    Paige and Juri wore ck pumps while the boys wore ck loafers.

    But the cutest part?

    All of her ¡°children¡± wore oversized sunsses and a bluetooth earpiece in their ears.

    [They really look like the bodyguards of a chaebol.]

    It was Tteokbokki¡¯s fault.

    [That damned donkey made the kids watch a K-movie that revolves around an heiress and her cool bodyguards.]

    And that was the reason why her ¡°children¡± wanted to wear that uniform.

    ¡°We like this uniform, Princess Neoma,¡± Jeno, who rarely expressed himself with words, said with sparkling eyes. ¡°This is a lot better than a royal knight¡¯s uniform.¡±

    That wasn¡¯t true in Neoma¡¯s eyes.

    [I mean, the knights¡¯ formal uniform is cooler¡­ but, of course, my ¡°children¡± look ten times better than the royal knights.]

    However, she just kept quiet because the kids looked happy.

    [Well, it¡¯s fine since they¡¯re wearing ck anyway.]

    ¡°Okay,¡± Neoma said, smiling. ¡°You all look good, my babies.¡±

    Her ¡°children¡± didn¡¯t look too thrilled to be called ¡®babies.¡¯

    ¡°You¡¯re finally done, Princess Neoma.¡±

    Oho?

    .....

    Neoma was quite surprised when Vespera, Aunt Nichole¡¯s Soul Beast, appeared in front of her in his human form. ¡°This is not the first time that I¡¯ve seen your human form, but I¡¯m still shocked by how much you look like my Mama Boss, Lady Vespera.¡±

    Vespera was a male, but he preferred to be called a dy.¡¯

    Back when they were in Korea, Vespera had long hair that made him look like Mama Boss¡¯ twin sister. But after cutting his hair, Vespera looked like Mama Boss¡¯ twin brother now.

    ¡°You can drop the dy,¡¯ Princess Neoma,¡± Vespera said, extending his hand to her. ¡°At least for tonight, since I¡¯m posing as your escort. Feel free to simply call me by my name.¡±

    Neoma smiled and epted Vespera¡¯s hand. ¡°As you wish, Vespera.¡±

    ***

    ¡°YOU look extra beautiful tonight, Hanna.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Prince Nero,¡± Hanna said, smiling. ¡°You look dashing, my prince.¡±

    That wasn¡¯t lip service.

    Nero really looked good in his red and gold attire.

    [Anyway¡­]

    She addressed Nero formally because all eyes were on them.

    Of course, thest to enter the hall was the current Royal Family: Nero, Calyx Dalton, and the fake Empress Dowager.

    Now all the doors of the Callisto Hall were closed.

    [But Neoma doesn¡¯t need to use the doors.]

    Hanna couldn¡¯t greet the friends and allies that she saw in the hall because she was stuck to Nero. But she was at ease knowing that Lord Ruto, Jasper oppa, the Griffiths, and her parents were already there.

    [We¡¯re just waiting for you, Princess Neoma.]

    ¡°Why do you look restless, Hanna?¡± Nero whispered while holding her hand. ¡°Is it because everyone is looking at you?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Hanna whispered back, lying to Nero¡¯s face. ¡°Our engagement hasn¡¯t been made official yet, but you already made me wear a red dress. Moreover, I¡¯m also wearing the Empress Dowager¡¯s tiara when she was a Crown Princess.¡±

    He just smiled charmingly at her.

    ¡°My brother is right, Lady Hanna.¡±

    Her smile froze when she heard Calyx Dalton¡¯s voice.

    God, it was annoying to admit this, but the fake First Prince also looked dashing in his red and white attire.

    ¡°My sister-inw,¡± Calyx said, smiling cheekily at Hanna. ¡°Did you prepare a present for me?¡±

    Nero just scoffed at Calyx¡¯s teasing. ¡°You can ignore him, Hanna.¡±

    That was what Hanna wanted to do, as well.

    But she changed her mind when her earring vibrated softly. It was the signal that she was waiting ever since she arrived at the banquet.

    Now Hanna couldn¡¯t help but smile even at Calyx Dalton.

    [They¡¯re finally here.]

    ¡°How can I ignore the First Star, Prince Nero?¡± Hanna said, then subtly pointed at the ceiling. ¡°My present ising soon, Prince Calyx.¡±

    In three, two, one¡­

    ***

    CALYX WAS fuming.

    He thought it was the night that he could humiliate Princess Neoma.

    But just after he entered the Callisto Hall to celebrate his birthday banquet, the entire roof of the hall suddenly disappeared.

    Like magic.

    [No, it¡¯s definitely magic!]

    Now everyone, including him, was staring at the night sky. But none of them was actually admiring the stars or the full moon.

    The Azure Dragon.

    The ming Vermillion.

    The White Tiger.

    And the ck Tortoise with the ck snake on top of it.

    The Four Holy Beasts were floating above them while looking down at them as if every single person in the hall at the moment was insignificant.

    No wonder everyone fell silent.

    ¡°Why are they here?¡± Calyx whispered to himself while clenching his hands tight. ¡°Emperor Niki¡¯s Soul Beasts¡­?¡±

    He looked at Nero who was standing beside him.

    Even the Crown Prince looked confused.

    But Hanna Quinzel was smiling as if she already expected that to happen.

    [That wench!]

    ¡°Attention!¡±

    What now?

    Calyx turned in the direction where he heard the loud voice.

    [Lewis Crevan¡­?]

    The fox boy was wearing some strange clothes and essories, but hismanding presence while standing in front of the main entrance was undeniable.

    [When did he get there?!]

    ¡°Her Imperial Highness, Princess Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio has arrived!¡±

    Calyx clenched his hands tighter because when the doors opened, he saw the most beautiful girl that he had seen in his life.

    He was mesmerized, and so were the other guests.

    [Who told you to be that beautiful, you hateful princess?!]

    ***

 Chapter 689 - 689 PARTY CRASHERS (6)

    689 PARTY CRASHERS (6)

    [A few minutes earlier¡­]

    ¡°I DON¡¯T want to work~¡±

    Hmm.

    Neoma crossed her arms while looking up at Trevor who was floating in front of her while lying down.

    Their n wouldn¡¯t bepleted without the demon boy.

    [Only Trevor could lift the roof of the Callisto Hall with his sorcery. Unfortunately, Paige couldn¡¯t do it with her magic without breaking the roof.]

    Breaking the roof was an option that she discarded because she didn¡¯t want innocent people to get hurt. Of course, the nobles were capable of protecting themselves. Moreover, the royal knights were there to protect the Royal Family and the other guests.

    But what about the ordinary servants? Most of them were Non-Mana users. Hence, they might get hurt if the roof suddenly copsed.

    Hence, she needed Trevor to lift the roof for her grand entrance.

    .....

    However¡­

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s just drop the n,¡± Neoma said casually. ¡°I¡¯ll just use the door normally.¡±

    Trevor looked surprised by what she said. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°You said you don¡¯t want to work.¡±

    ¡°Are you not going to convince me or something¡­?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not on my payroll, so I can¡¯t really force you to do your job properly,¡± she said. ¡°Of course, I said you could ask me for a favorter in exchange for helping me with my grand entrance. But if you don¡¯t feel like doing it anymore, I won¡¯t force you to do so.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    Neoma put on her heart-shaped sunsses. ¡°Bye, chingu. See youter.¡±

    She turned her back on Trevor, but before she could even take one step forward, the demon boy was already standing in front of her with an anxious look on his face.

    ¡°I was just throwing a tantrum because you didn¡¯t choose me as your escort for tonight¡¯s banquet,¡± Trevorined lightly, pouting. ¡°Why did you choose Lady Vespera as your escort? I would have epted it if it was Tteokbokki.¡±

    ¡°Because he¡¯s Aunt Nichole¡¯s Soul Beast, and every old dude in the empire knows his face,¡± she said. ¡°Of course, I will show off Tteokbokki as well. But you gotta save the best forst, you know?¡±

    [¡°What¡¯s up with you thug princess? Why are you suddenly speaking kindly about me? Isn¡¯t that what you call raising the ¡®death g?¡¯ Are you going to die soon?¡±]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    [¡°Hey, thug princess. Why did you suddenly fall silent? You¡¯re making me nervous.¡±]

    ¡°You¡¯re being noisy, Tteokbokki. Talk to youter.¡±

    She cut off her link with her Soul Beast in the meantime.

    ¡°What did Tteokbokki say?¡±

    ¡°He joked about me dying soon because I talked kindly about him.¡±

    ¡°Pfft,¡± Trevor said, holding back hisughter. ¡°Your Soul Beast is dense and smart at the same time. Why don¡¯t you just tell him the truth? Tteokbokki is literally your soulmate. If you die, he dies.¡±

    ¡°I know that, but I¡¯m stalling because my heart isn¡¯t ready yet,¡± she said, sighing. ¡°I don¡¯t want to make Tteokbokki cry.¡±

    ¡°Is that all?¡±

    She fell silent for a moment before she confessed. ¡°To be honest, I¡¯m a little wary of how Tteokbokki would react. I¡¯ve been keeping an eye on him for the past few years. Fortunately, there have been no signs of Crimsoning out again to take over Tteokbokki¡¯s body.¡±

    Crimson was the God of Wrath, aka Tteokbokki¡¯s other personality.

    ¡°But if Tteokbokki finds out that we¡¯re dying soon, I¡¯m scared that it may trigger Crimson toe out again,¡± she confessed. ¡°I don¡¯t want my Tteokbokki to disappear.¡±

    Trevor let out a sigh. ¡°I wish you cared more about your lifespan the way you care about Tteokbokki¡¯s feelings.¡±

    ¡°You and Ruto are probably racking your brains already to extend my lifespan.¡±

    ¡°Of course. I¡¯m even stalking Regina Crowell¡­ oh.¡±

    The demon boy trailed off, not because he identally confessed that he was busy stalking Regina Crowell these days.

    ¡°I already figured out that Ruto is aware that I only have five years left to live,¡± Neoma said, scoffing at Trevor¡¯s reaction. ¡°And I also know that it was because of you. Knowing you, I could imagine you forcing Ruto for an answer since he was the one who revived me in the first timeline.¡±

    ¡°Your big brain scares me sometimes, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Same, dude, same,¡± she agreed while nodding.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Princess Neoma,¡± Trevor said, bowing his head towards her politely. ¡°I know the damned chef was thest person you wanted to know about your situation. But because of my big mouth, he found out about your secret.¡±

    ¡°To be honest, I wanted to strangle you.¡±

    The demon boy flinched, but he didn¡¯t say anything.

    ¡°But I know that you didn¡¯t inform Ruto of my situation on purpose,¡± she said. Even she was surprised at how calm she was. Wow, was it her maturity speaking at the moment? ¡°Just be careful from now on. I¡¯ll get angry for real if something like this happens again.¡±

    Trevor nodded eagerly. ¡°I¡¯ll be extra careful, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Yep.¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma, I have a question, though.¡±

    ¡°Fire away.¡±

    ¡°You also know that Ruto knows the method to revive you,¡± he said carefully. ¡°Why haven¡¯t you asked him yet about it?¡±

    ¡°Because I don¡¯t want to remember the past and put Ruto in pain again.¡±

    ¡°Alright,¡± Trevor said, sighing again. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, my Moon Princess. Just focus on your tasks, and I¡¯ll find a way to extend your lifespan using Regina Crowell¡¯s mysterious power.¡±

    ¡°Stalking Regina Crowell is risky since she¡¯s a key member of the crows¡¯ rotten family. If it gets too dangerous¨C¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll run away because no mission is worth dying for.¡±

    ¡°Very well.¡±

    ¡°Praise me more, my Moon Princess,¡± Trevor said, leaning down. ¡°I feel like I¡¯m going to do a better jobter if you praise me more~¡±

    ¡°Are you a dog?¡± Neoma asked jokingly, then she gently patted Trevor¡¯s head. ¡°Good luck, Trevor. I believe in you.¡±

    ***

    ¡°IT¡¯S A FULL moon,¡± Neoma, who was sitting on Tteokbokki¡¯s back, said. Of course, her Soul Beast was in its adult dragon form at the moment. Even so, none of the people below could see them because they were currently hidden by Jeno¡¯s mist. ¡°No wonder I feel more powerful than usual.¡±

    She was mildly annoyed, though.

    Right now, there was a festival happening in the za. Themoners were happily celebrating Calyx Dalton¡¯s birthday. Hence, the streets were still lively despite the time.

    It was disgusting.

    [The reason for celebration, not the people.]

    ¡°It¡¯s time to steal the spotlight from the crazy bastard,¡± Neoma said, then she looked up at the sky. ¡°Good evening, Cosmic Tree. I believe you owe me a debt.¡±

    Only silence answered her.

    ¡°Thug princess, are you sure you canmunicate with the Cosmic Tree by just talking?¡± Tteokbokki asked skeptically. ¡°Is the Cosmic Tree someone you can simply talk to just because you want to?¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± she said confidently. ¡°Because I am Neoma Roseheart.¡±

    She purposely didn¡¯t mention her de Moonasterio name because she believed the Cosmic Tree wasn¡¯t a fan of her Papa Boss.

    [¡°Neoma, your voice will always reach the Cosmic Tree even if she doesn¡¯t remember you anymore. After all, you are my child. The Cosmic Tree took an oath that no matter what happens, she¡¯ll always look after my children. Hence, wherever you are, your voice will reach her.]

    That was what Mama Boss said to her before.

    Hence, she was confident.

    ¡°Grandma, I¡¯m not sure if the crows¡¯ stupid curse affected you,¡± Neoma said, trying to reach out to the Cosmic Tree with her sincerity. ¡°But I¡¯m sure you can tell that I¡¯m Mona Roseheart¡¯s daughter. You may not remember it, but you owe me a favor because I saved Grandpa Kingston from the crows.¡±

    There was a sudden shift in the air.

    She gently patted Tteokbokki¡¯s back when she felt him flinch.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Tteokbokki,¡± she whispered while rubbing his back. His dragon scales were a little rough, but she didn¡¯t mind. She protected her entire body with her Coat anyway. ¡°It¡¯s just the spirit of the Cosmic Tree.¡±

    <¡°Child, I don¡¯t remember owing you.¡±>

    The majestic and kind voice carried by the wind could only belong to the Cosmic Tree.

    See?

    [Mama Boss only speaks facts.]

    Sadly, even the great Cosmic Tree was affected by the curse.

    <¡°However, I can tell you¡¯re speaking the truth. I¡¯ll ask for detailster. For now, me what do you, child.¡±>

    .....

    Kekeke.

    [Everything is going ording to n.]

    ¡°I want to have a strong and good impression on our people, Grandma,¡± Neoma said politely. ¡°Please help me be a symbol of miracle for them.¡± She smiled sweetly, hoping that the Cosmic Tree could see her at the moment. ¡°And can you lie for me, Grandma?¡±

    ***

    IT WAS a lively night.

    Themoners filled the streets as they celebrated Prince Calyx¡¯s birthday. It was a joyous asion because all the food stalls and restaurants in the streets were serving food and drinks (juice for the minors, and booze for the adults) for free. After all, the First Prince paid the merchants in advance.

    In short, everyone was having a good time.

    Who wouldn¡¯t love free food?

    ¡°The First Prince is really kind and generous!¡±

    ¡°I wish he was the Crown Prince instead.¡±

    ¡°Hey, how could you say that? Our First Prince treasures the Crown Prince! His Highness isn¡¯t interested in the throne.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right! The First Prince and the Crown Prince have such a good rtionship as siblings. Why would you say something that may ruin their bond?¡±

    ¡°Fine, I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s just drink the night away¨C¡±

    ¡°AHHHHHHHHHH!¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡±

    A young girl pointed at the night sky with trembling hands, her face pale. ¡°A red d-dragon!¡±

    ¡°A what?!¡±

    Everyone who heard the young girl looked up at the night sky¡­

    ¡­ and screamed in shock.

    It didn¡¯t take long for the lively chattering and loud waves ofughter to cease. Soon enough, all the people were screaming while pointing at the red dragon flying in the sky.

    <¡°Calm down, everyone.¡±>

    Hmm?

    A voice that seemed to be carried by the wind echoed.

    That was when everyone finally noticed the youngdy in a strange yet stunning dress sitting on the dragon¡¯s back.

    The red dragon wasn¡¯t flying that high, so they could see thedy¡¯s features.

    Everyone was stunned by thedy¡¯s beautiful appearance. They would have mistaken her for an elf or a fairy because of her fluttering dress, but everyone recognized thedy¡¯s three striking features.

    ¡°White hair, pale skin, ash-gray eyes¡­¡±

    ¡°A de Moonasterio?¡±

    ¡°But do we have a royal princess¡­?¡±

    <¡°Everyone, please take good care of the granddaughter that I¡¯ve raised all this time.¡±>

    The people who heard the kind and gentle voice shuddered, confused and scared. Why were they hearing such a strange voice?

    ¡°It¡¯s the voice of the Cosmic Tree!¡±

    An olddy imed.

    Everyone who heard the olddy¡¯s im finally calmed down.

    After all, the next thing that happened shocked them.

    Golden rose petals suddenly poured down like rain.

    Everyone was suddenly reminded of the old story about how it rained golden rose petals when the Absolute Darkness was finally defeated by Lord Yule and Lady Roxana.

    It was the Cosmic Tree¡¯s way of congratting humans for surviving.

    ¡°The olddy is telling the truth!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the Cosmic Tree.¡±

    ¡°The Cosmic Tree has blessed us with a miracle!¡±

    ¡°But who is thatdy that the Cosmic Tree ims as her granddaughter?¡±

    ¡°Look at the youngdy¡¯s hair!¡± the old woman who recognized the Cosmic Tree¡¯s voice said, then she pointed at the youngdy sitting on the back of the red dragon. ¡°The strands of her hair are pink. Did you forget that our very own Crown Prince has pink strands, too?¡±

    The Crown Prince would often cut his hair to get rid of the pink strands, but there was a time that he grew his hair out.

    Now everything was starting to make sense.

    ¡°Thatdy is Emperor Niki¡¯s daughter with Lady Mona Roseheart¡± the olddy yelled confidently. ¡°Have you all forgotten that the Cosmic Tree dered Lady Mona Roseheart as her daughter?!¡±

    It was the old people who spoke up eventually.

    ¡°I remember that!¡±

    ¡°Lady Roseheart is loved by the Cosmic Tree, so it only makes sense that the Cosmic Tree raised Lady Roseheart¡¯s daughter!¡±

    ¡°But why wasn¡¯t the royal princess raised with the Crown Prince¡­?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re mere peasants, brother. What do you know about how the royalty thinks?¡±

    ¡°Ah, you¡¯re right.¡±

    ¡°There must be a reason why the Cosmic Tree raised the royal princess,¡± the olddy who seemed to know a lot about the Cosmic Tree said. ¡°But what¡¯s important is the royal princess blessed us with a miracle tonight. The golden rose petals will surely bring us good luck for the rest of the year, so pay your respects!¡±

    The olddy then knelt on the ground and bowed her head.

    ¡°Long live, the royal princess!¡±

    Soon, the people celebrating Prince Calyx¡¯s birthday just a moment ago, were now all kneeling on the ground while paying their respects to the hidden royal princess who appeared out of nowhere and blessed them with a miracle.

    While the adults were overwhelmed by the blessing that they received thanks to the royal princess, a different rumor spread among the young ones.

    ¡°I only saw a glimpse of Her Royal Highness¡¯ face, but isn¡¯t her face crazy?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right! Her Royal Highness is the most beautiful girl I¡¯ve seen in my life!¡±

    ¡°Her Royal Highness also looks very kind!¡±

    The news about the appearance of the crazy beautiful royal princess, who brought a miracle to the empire because she was loved by the Cosmic Tree, spread like wildfire. Of course, everyone went crazy with the news to the point that most people had already forgotten about Prince Calyx¡¯s birthday celebration.

    Paige¨C the ¡°olddy¡±¨C and Greko, the instigator that spread the news about Princess Neoma¡¯s beautiful face among the young people, did a good job that night.

    ***

    ¡°THE SECURITY isx, Princess Neoma.¡±

    Heh.

    Xion¡¯s report made Neoma scoff.

    Neoma already expected that the security would bex, but she still felt offended that she was able to enter the Royal Pce easily. ¡°It¡¯s as if Calyx is inviting us, huh?¡±

    Juri let out a sigh. ¡°That seems to be the case, Princess Neoma.¡±

    Xion and Juri arrived at the Royal Pce first to get rid of the guards and knights.

    Juri took care of the guards roaming around Callisto Hall, while Xion dealt with the shadow knights hidden in the dark.

    Everything was over when Neoma arrived at the Royal Pce with Lewis and Tteokbokki.

    Her Soul Beast was now back in his human form.

    ¡°Don¡¯t get angry, Princess Neoma,¡± Lewis, who was standing beside her, said. ¡°Isn¡¯t it good that the security isx? We don¡¯t have to destroy anything, so the innocent people inside the hall won¡¯t get hurt identally.¡±

    Oh, right.

    The innocent people¡¯s safety was more important than her pride.

    ¡°You¡¯re right, Lewis,¡± Neoma said, nodding. ¡°Thank you for the reminder.¡±

    Lewis beamed, and he looked so proud of himself at the moment.

    [Adorable.]

    ¡°Princess Neoma, your other children are near.¡±

    It was Trevor, who was standing on top of the Callisto Hall, who said that.

    The demon boy was talking about Jeno, Paige, and Greko who were left behind in the za earlier.

    Getting reminded of the little show that she performed earlier with the Cosmic Tree made her feel good. She left Paige and Greko to be instigators that would set the mood in order for the citizens to ept her sudden appearance.

    Jeno, on the other hand, was there to hide his siblings¡¯ real appearance with the help of Paige¡¯s magic.

    [Teamwork really makes the dream work.]

    ¡°Now that they¡¯re back, let¡¯s begin,¡± Neoma dered confidently. ¡°Trevor, lift the roof at my signal.¡±

    Trevor bowed towards her. ¡°As youmand, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Tteokbokki, go and fetch Skylus and Lord Manu now,¡± she said, looking at her Soul Beast. ¡°Be careful.¡±

    Tteokbokki nodded, his body quickly turning transparent. ¡°See youter, thug princess.¡±

    Just like that, her Soul Beast disappeared in just the blink of an eye.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go ahead, Princess Neoma,¡± Lewis said calmly. ¡°Someone has to announce Your Royal Highness¡¯ arrival, after all.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re okay with that task, Lewis?¡± she asked worriedly. ¡°I know you don¡¯t like speaking in public, Lewis¡­¡±

    ¡°Being an adult means doing your job properly even though you hate it.¡±

    ¡°Oho?¡± she said,ughing softly. ¡°Who taught you those wise words, Lewis?¡±

    ¡°Lady Hanna.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you should listen to her well.¡±

    ¡°I do,¡± Lewis said, beaming. ¡°I will speak clearly, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Fighting,¡± Neoma said, wearing her heart-shaped sunsses again. ¡°Then let me summon Papa Boss¡¯ Soul Beasts now.¡±

 Chapter 690 - 690 PARTY CRASHERS (7)

    690 PARTY CRASHERS (7)

    NERO WAS aware that the woman who imed to be his twin sister would crash Calyx¡¯s birthday banquet.

    But he didn¡¯t expect the woman to enter in a very grandiose way.

    [Is she¡­ an attention-seeker?]

    The roof was lifted and his father¡¯s Soul Beasts appeared. And the appearance of the previous emperor¡¯s Four Holy Guardians only meant two things.

    First, his father was still alive.

    And second¡­

    [Neoma is really my twin sister.]

    Nero clenched his hands tight.

    [If she¡¯s really my twin sister, then does it mean every bad thing she said about Calyx was true? But more than that, howe she¡¯s with Father when Father only disappeared five years ago?]

    .....

    ¡°Her Imperial Highness, Princess Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio has arrived!¡±

    The door then ¡°opened.¡±

    He wasn¡¯t sure if we could say that the door ¡°opened¡± because it just disappeared.

    Then long and big roots that looked like they belonged to an old, massive tree appeared out of nowhere. For some reason, the cing of the roots made it look like it was a stair. And it was pretty high since the roof just disappeared like magic.

    ¡°Is that the ck Phoenix?!¡±

    One of the nobles who seemed to have forgotten his manners yelled.

    Nero clenched his hands tighter while watching the ck Phoenix descend on top of the ¡°staircase¡± made of tree roots.

    Of course, he recognized the ck Phoenix as the former Princess Royal¡¯s Soul Beast, but he didn¡¯t care about that. His eyes were focused on thedy in red riding on the back of the ck Phoenix.

    [Neoma¡­]

    As soon as Neoma¡¯s feetnded on the root, the ck Phoenix transformed into his human form. He heard the former Princess Nichole¡¯s Soul Beast looked like his mother. But he couldn¡¯t remember his mother¡¯s face clearly, so he couldn¡¯t tell.

    At least, the ck Phoenix in his human form was wearing a type of clothing he was familiar with.

    Unlike the people surrounding Neoma.

    There were six people dressed strangely walking behind the royal princess and the Soul Beast.

    [Even Neoma is wearing a pair of strange-shaped sses.]

    His twin sister¡¯s red was a little scandalous since she was showing too much skin. But, aside from the skimpy dress and the weird sses, there were three essories that stood out.

    First, the Lynx Ring.

    [ording to History books, that ring is supposed to be in the possession of the Astello Temple. Specifically, it belonged to the former saint Dominic Zavaroni.]

    Second, the rose-gold staff.

    [I don¡¯t know how I recognized it, but I¡¯m pretty sure it belongs to our mother.]

    And finally, the silver crown¡­

    ¡°The missing crown of the emperor,¡± Nero whispered in disbelief. ¡°The crown that was crafted from the moon itself¡­¡±

    The former saint.

    His mother.

    And the first emperor.

    Nero couldn¡¯t help but think Neoma was being supported by those three figures, and he could tell by the expression of the people around him that they were thinking the same.

    It shouldn¡¯t matter because the former saint was already exmunicated. Moreover, the missing crown may or may not be the real thing anyway. And most of all, his mother or his father wasn¡¯t there to support Neoma personally.

    That should be the case.

    However¡­

    ¡°The Cosmic Tree,¡± Nero said, his voice a little loud this time. ¡°Those roots belong to the Cosmic Tree.¡±

    He could instinctively tell because he was a Roseheart, and Rosehearts were close to Nature.

    [Where did Neoma get all her strong backing?]

    Nero¡¯s thoughts were distracted when his knights surrounded him and Hanna.

    Sanford, Raku, Alucard, and Lucien stood in front of him protectively.

    Only Melvin, his scaredy-cat secretary, hid behind Nero.

    [This punk¡­]

    ¡°Prince Nero, what should we do?¡± Melvin whispered to him. ¡°The guests are shocked and confused. Should we stop the party and evacuate the guests? Most of them are representatives of our allied countries and kingdoms. We also have guests from the Eastern Continent.¡±

    His secretary was right.

    There were far too many important guests in the banquet at the moment.

    [We shouldn¡¯t turn the Imperial Family¡¯s affair into a circus for everyone to see.]

    Nero turned to Calyx to see his reaction.

    His brother was currently surrounded by his own personal royal knights led by Owen and Rowena.

    He noticed one thing about the First Prince¡¯s calm eyes, though.

    [Calyx already knows who Neoma is.]

    Nero¡¯s jaw clenched.

    [I don¡¯t like the feeling of getting left out¡­]

    ¡°Nero,¡± Hanna whispered, addressing him casually since no one was within earshot. Then she held his gloved hand. ¡°Calm down.¡±

    Nero couldn¡¯t help but smirk bitterly when he turned to Hanna. ¡°As expected, you already know that woman as well.¡±

    ¡°Call Neoma by her name properly,¡± Hanna said sternly. ¡°She¡¯s older than you.¡±

    ¡°You¨C¡±

    ¡°Nero, focus,¡± Hanna said, cutting her off. Then she put a hand on his cheek gently. ¡°You¡¯re the Crown Prince. You should deal with Neoma¡¯s arrival. If you let Prince Calyx deal with this, then Prince Calyx will leave a good impression on the envoys from different countries and kingdoms.¡±

    Ah. Hearing that snap him back to reality, making him calm in an instant.

    ¡°Remember this, Nero: the Great Moonasterion Empire¡¯s standing has been unstable ever since Emperor Niki disappeared five years ago,¡± Hanna reminded him gently. ¡°You, as the Crown Prince, shouldn¡¯t give anyone a reason to doubt your capability to lead our empire back to its former glory. It should be you and not Prince Calyx. Don¡¯t let the First Prince use his birthday celebration as an excuse to hog all the attention tonight.¡±

    Right.

    Even though Nero was fond of Calyx as a brother, he shouldn¡¯t forget that Calyx was still apetition for the throne.

    [Just because I¡¯m the Crown Prince doesn¡¯t mean I should becent already.]

    ¡°Thank you, Hanna,¡± Nero said, gently pulling Hanna by his side. Then he leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. ¡°Wait here. I¡¯ll be back.¡±

    Hanna smiled and nodded. ¡°You can do it, Nero.¡±

    He chuckled before letting go of his fianc¨¦e¡¯s hand. Then he turned to his knights with a serious look on his face.

    ¡°Alucard, Lucien, Melvin, stay here and guard Hanna,¡± Nero ordered his knights while walking towards Neoma who was about to reach thest step/root of the ¡°tree staircase.¡± Naturally, Sanford and Raku followed him since the two were his strongest fighters. ¡°Don¡¯t draw your swords, and make sure Calyx¡¯s side won¡¯t draw theirs as well.¡±

    He whispered his order, so Sanford and Raku didn¡¯t respond verbally.

    [Well, Raku almost never talks anyway. It¡¯s a surprise that Sanford is quiet, though. I guess he knows when and where to shut his mouth.]

    ¡°Nero?¡±

    It was Calyx, and he looked surprised when Nero just passed him by.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Calyx. Just stay there,¡± Nero said to his brother, then he turned to the Empress Dowager who was sitting on the throne on the second balcony of the hall. ¡°As the Crown Prince, it¡¯s my duty to deal with this.¡±

    It seemed like the Empress Dowager read his lips because Her Majesty gave him an encouraging nod.

    Hah.

    [Even the Empress Dowager knows about Neoma, huh?]

    After getting the Empress Dowager¡¯s permission, he stood in front of thest step of the ¡°tree staircase¡± while waiting for Neoma who was being escorted by the ck Phoenix.

    Upon doing that, the guests began to calm down.

    [Since I¡¯m standing here quietly, they must have thought that Neoma was a guest and not an intruder.]

    Moreover, it seemed like the guests were mesmerized by Neoma¡¯s beauty.

    He was relieved to see that the crowd had epted this as a part of the celebration. Hence, he took his time observing the people behind Neoma since some of there were familiar to him.

    .....

    Juri Wisteria.

    Jeno Dankworth.

    [If I remember correctly, the Wisterias and the Dankworth have been in a cold war ever since Juri Wisteria and Jeno Dankworth eloped. Their families must be in shock right now.]

    He didn¡¯t have time to check on the Wisterias and the Dankworths, though.

    After all, a pair of golden eyes had been ring at him all this time.

    [Silver hair, golden eyes¡­ then a Silver Fox?]

    It was Lewis Crevan.

    [It¡¯s funny how I remember his name clearly, but not how we met.]

    Now he was certain.

    [My memories have been altered.]

    Ah, Nero suddenly felt like he was about to snap and go crazy. He hated it. Especially the fact about how his memories were messed up.

    ¡°Prince Nero,¡± Sanford whispered worriedly. ¡°Your bloodlust is leaking¡­¡±

    ¡°I know that,¡± Nero growled lowly. ¡°Shut it.¡±

    He should have brought Hanna by his side since she could make him feel calm in an instant.

    Fortunately, he got distracted when his father¡¯s Soul Beasts descended one by one. Of course, when they descended, they were already in their human form.

    East, the Azure Dragon.

    West, the White Tiger.

    South, the ming Vermillion.

    North, the ck Tortoise with Center, the ck snake.

    The Four Holy Guardians in their human forms looked somanding and immactely handsome. They looked perfect from the way they were dressed up to the way they stood around Neoma¨C who stopped walking after reaching the final step.

    Hah!

    [So, Neoma is escorted by our aunt and father¡¯s Soul Beasts? She even has our mother¡¯s main weapon. Does it mean all of them have been together all this time?]

    Was Nero abandoned?

    [It¡¯s obvious Neoma sees Calyx as an enemy, and yet I was left alone with Calyx all this time. Does it mean I¡¯m also an enemy to her and our parents?]

    Now he really felt like he was going to lose his mind.

    ¡°Nero?¡±

    Hmm?

    Neoma called his name while she was removing the strange sses she was wearing, then she let go of the ck Phoenix¡¯s hand and walked towards him. ¡°Are you alright? I felt a pain in my chest, so you must be in pain.¡±

    [Ah, we¡¯re really twins.]

    And Nero hated that fact because that confirmed his thoughts about being abandoned.

    ¡°Her eyes¡­ they¡¯re ash-gray.¡±

    Nero¡¯s thoughts were interrupted when he heard the nobles talking among themselves.

    ¡°She also has white hair¡­¡±

    ¡°The pink strands of her hair must mean she¡¯s a Roseheart¡­¡±

    ¡°Is she Prince Nero¡¯s hidden sister?¡±

    [Right, I have a job to do.]

    Nero shed his business smile at Neoma. ¡°I¡¯m d you made it to Calyx¡¯s birthday banquet, my precious twin sister.¡±

    [Neoma, Calyx, if you¡¯re a true de Moonasterio, you¡¯ll know what to do, don¡¯t you?]

    ***

    ¡°DID YOU hear that?¡±

    ¡°The Crown Prince addressed thedy as his twin sister, didn¡¯t he?¡±

    ¡°A hidden royal princess¡­¡±

    ¡°No wonder Emperor Niki¡¯s Soul Beasts apanied her to the banquet.¡±

    ¡°And her pink strands remind me of Lady Roseheart.¡±

    Neoma smiled when she realized what Nero was doing when he weed her as his twin sister in front of everyone. It was for the same exact reason why she asked the Cosmic Tree to lie and say that she was raised by the Cosmic Tree.

    [If you¡¯re a true member of the Royal Family, you wouldn¡¯t let other people¨C especially the power-hungry nobles¨C treat your affairs as if they were a form of entertainment. We will kill each other, but not in front of an audience.]

    Nero grew up well, huh?

    ¡°Thank you for the warm wee, Nero,¡± Neoma said, addressing Nero casually with a big smile. ¡°I apologize for beingte.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be.¡±

    It was Calyx.

    The fake First Prince approached them with a big smile on his face.

    ¡°I¡¯m d you made it alright, Princess Neoma,¡± Calyx said with a bright look on his face as if he was genuinely happy to see her. ¡°But then again, with all these escorts, there¡¯s no way you¡¯ll get hurt.¡±

    ¡°Mother, Father, and Aunt Nichole are sad that they can¡¯t make it to your birthday celebration, Prince Calyx,¡± Neoma said apologetically, speaking politely to Calyx since she was acting as a proper royal princess at the moment. ¡°Hence, they asked me to take a piece of them with me so that you would feel their presence even if they¡¯re not here physically.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± Calyx said, still smiling. ¡°I feel loved. Thank you for bringing a piece of them with you, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Nero agreed, also smiling. ¡°We can finally begin the celebration now that you¡¯re here, Neoma.¡±

    And the three of them exchanged their signature business smiles at each other.

    [Gosh, someone give us an Oscar already.]

    ¡°Happy birthday, Prince Calyx,¡± Neoma greeted the fake First Prince cheerfully. ¡°May I have the honor of being the first guest to give you a present?¡±

    The gift-giving was supposed to be thest part of the ceremony.

    But Neoma didn¡¯t want to follow the custom.

    ¡°Of course,¡± Calyx said, nodding. ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to your present, Princess Neoma.¡±

    She just smiled, then she handed her Mama Boss¡¯ rose-gold staff to Lewis who was standing behind her.

    After that, Neoma removed the crown on her head and put it on top of Calyx¡¯s head.

    The entire hall suddenly fell silent.

    Nero gave Neoma a look of disbelief, while Calyx looked very offended at the moment.

    [Ah, so he understood what the crown means.]

    ¡°It looks good on you, Prince Calyx,¡± Neoma said, smiling. Then she leaned down and whispered in a voice that only Calyx could hear. She made sure that only the fake would hear her, and she even used her Dome so no one could read her lips. ¡°It¡¯s the first emperor¡¯s missing crown¨C the crown that was rejected by the throne.¡±

    ***

 Chapter 691 - 691 A MEANINGFUL PRESENT

    691 A MEANINGFUL PRESENT

    BLERGH.

    Melvin almost threw up as soon as Princess(?) Neoma put the crown on top of Prince Calyx¡¯s head.

    [What a puke-inducing scene.]

    His stomach was in knots because he could tell Princess Neoma¡¯s intention by giving the silver crown to Prince Calyx. Of course, it was just his spection.

    However¡­

    ¡®Don¡¯t even dream about being the next emperor.¡¯

    That seemed to be Princess Neoma¡¯s message to Prince Calyx.

    [I knew I¡¯d regret bing Prince Nero¡¯s secretary.]

    Everyone who studied the History of the Great Moonasterion Empire would recognize the missing silver crown of the first emperor.

    .....

    But not everyone knew the story behind it.

    Only the Crown Prince was educated about the silver crown¡¯s origin.

    Well, supposed to be.

    [There¡¯s a book that only the future emperors are supposed to read. But Prince Nero made me read the entire book as punishment the first time I handed in my resignation letter.]

    Thanks to that, he discovered the secret of the missing crown that he didn¡¯t want to know.

    [ording to the History book I¡¯ve read before, the silver crown that was crafted from the moon. The reason wasn¡¯t stated in the book, but apparently, the throne rejected the crown. Hence, the silver crown had be nothing more than a pretty disy in the museum. It was stolen many generations ago, though.]

    ¡°How did the royal princess find it, though?¡±

    Melvin only realized he said it out loud when Lady Hanna Quinzel spoke.

    ¡°It¡¯s Neoma¨C she can create miracles,¡± Lady Hanna said, smiling at him. ¡°Finding a missing heirloom is easy for her since her existence as the one and only royal princess is special.¡±

    Ah, so the future Crown Princess was already aware of the royal princess¡¯ existence.

    [I do not have the right to question Lady Hanna, though. Although I¡¯m the Crown Prince¡¯s secretary, his private life is none of my business.]

    Moreover, the Royal Family was good at hiding their dirt anyway.

    ¡°Are you not going to ask me anything about Princess Neoma, Lord Melvin? I can tell you already figure out that I¡¯m friends with the royal princess.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not on my job description to worry about the private life of my boss¡¯ fianc¨¦e, Lady Hanna,¡± Melvin said politely. ¡°Whom mydy is friends with is none of my business. Of course, only as long as it doesn¡¯t hurt Prince Nero.¡±

    Fortunately, the Crown Princess didn¡¯t seem offended by what he said.

    ¡°Thank goodness you¡¯re different from a certain aide who doesn¡¯t know his ce,¡± Lady Hanna said, then she looked up at the balcony. ¡°I¡¯m d Prince Nero¡¯s secretary knows his ce.¡±

    Hmm?

    Was it just Melvin¡¯s imagination or was Lady Hanna really looking at Count Kyle Sprouse sharply?

    The count was standing behind the Empress Dowager.

    [And he¡¯s only aide standing near the Empress Dowager. Did Count Sprouse offend Lady Hanna by chance¡­?]

    Ah, forget it.

    [I shouldn¡¯t get too involved with royal affairs if I want to stay sane while working in the pce.]

    ¡°Lord Melvin.¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    Lady Hanna smiled sweetly at him. ¡°Please stay as Prince Nero¡¯s aide even after he bes the emperor. Ah, no. Once Prince Nero bes the emperor, then Lord Melvin will be promoted as the royal chancellor.¡±

    ¡°P-Please don¡¯t curse me, Lady Hanna,¡± Melvin said while shaking his head hard. ¡°If I offended you in any way, I¡¯ll apologize. Just please don¡¯t curse me. I¡¯m going to quit as Prince Nero¡¯s secretary before he ascends the throne¡­¡±

    ¡°Good luck with that, Lord Melvin,¡± Lady Hanna teased him. ¡°You need that.¡±

    Melvin learned at that moment that the kind-hearted Lady Hanna could also be a sadist if she wanted to.

    Scary.

    [No wonder Prince Nero chose Lady Hanna as the future Crown Princess¡­]

    ***

    ¡°CAPTAIN, is that really thedy you¡¯re trying to reject?¡±

    Ruto just frowned at Aspen¡¯s question.

    He attended Calyx Dalton¡¯s birthday banquet as their kingdom¡¯s official representative along with his mother, the Sun Priestess, and the Willows Siblings.

    Since it was an official visit, he was required to bring one guard/knight.

    He chose Aspen because the demigod was at his strongest when he was surrounded by booze. But he was starting to regret choosing Aspen as his guard for tonight.

    ¡°I feel bad for you because you can¡¯t see Princess Neoma¡¯s face at the moment,¡± Aspen continued with his animated ramblings. Their conversation was protected by a protective spell, hence they didn¡¯t have to worry about people eavesdropping on them. ¡°No wonder the Goddess of Beauty hates her. Princess Neoma¡¯s face is out of this world. And her outfit? It would have looked strange if anotherdy wore it. But Princess Neoma pulled it off.¡±

    Ruto clenched his hands tight.

    He couldn¡¯t see Neoma¡¯s face, but he could clearly see her outfit.

    [I know Neoma could wear anything she wants to wear, but I can¡¯t help but feel the urge to wrap her in a nket.]

    He knew Neoma would hate it, but what could he do?

    ¡°Captain, look at all the gentlemen in the hall,¡± Aspen continued yapping. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure all the bachelors will hit on Princess Neoma tonight.¡±

    ¡°Shut up, Aspen.¡±

    ¡°Right.¡±

    Fortunately, Aspen shut his mouth.

    ¡°It¡¯s THAT silver crown, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    It was Sienna, the Sun Priestess, who approached him while holding a ss of champagne in her hand.

    [This alcoholic¡­]

    Ruto frowned. ¡°Sienna, you can¡¯t get drunk.¡±

    [Sienna and Lord Manu shouldn¡¯t hang outter.]

    ¡°Champagne is just like water to me, Ruto.¡±

    ¡°Are you proud of it?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not going to get wasted,¡± Sienna assured him, then she turned to Neoma who put the silver crown on Calyx¡¯s head. Then the Sun Priestess chuckled as if she was amused. ¡°It was the crown that Callisto de Luca crafted in the past after he convinced the first emperor to abdicate the throne in secret. After that, he used a powerful spell to copy the first emperor¡¯s appearance.¡±

    Ruto nodded in agreement. ¡°But the throne recognized Callisto de Luca as a fake, hence the throne rejected him. He was too embarrassed by that dark past of his. Hence, the History book that only the future emperors could read only said the throne rejected the silver crown without a proper exnation.¡±

    But, of course, Ruto and Sienna both knew the truth.

    He was the divine son of Lord Levi, and the Sun Priestess was the favored child of the Sun Goddess.

    Hence, it wasn¡¯t only once or twice that they got an invitation to dine with the gods.

    The gods in the Upper World loved gossiping about Callisto de Luca¡¯s ¡°most embarrassing moment,¡± and that was how Ruto and Sienna found out the truth about the silver crown.

    ¡°Callisto de Luca was so embarrassed by the silver crown that he wanted to destroy it, but the first emperor put it in the museum after he reimed his rightful ce,¡± Sienna continued with the story. ¡°I heard the silver crown was stolen. So, I wonder how it ended up in Princess Neoma¡¯s hands.¡±

    ¡°Neoma attracts all kinds of things,¡± Ruto said while shaking his head. ¡°But I wonder how Neoma discovered the true story behind the silver crown?¡±

    Because clearly, Neoma put the silver crown on Calyx Dalton as an insult.

    And the best part?

    [The people who don¡¯t know the true story behind the silver crown will think Neoma is generous for giving the long-lost silver crown to the First Prince as a birthday present.]

    ***

    THE FIRST emperor had be an existence simr to a kind ahjussi-next-door for Neoma.

    [He¡¯s so bored that he would often summon me in my dreams just to talk.]

    And that was how Neoma found the true story behind the silver crown.

    But the First Emperor told her that he already forgot where the silver crown was. Hence, she was surprised when her ¡°children¡± found it in the vi.

    [All¡¯s well that ends well since the silver crown is the perfect present for Calyx.]

    ¡°It¡¯s the crown crafted by a certain fake,¡± Neoma said, smiling at Calyx sweetly. ¡°No wonder it suits you well, Prince Calyx.¡±

    .....

    After saying that, she quickly got rid of her Dome.

    [Insulting this crazy bastard is just the appetizer.]

    Calyx, who looked offended at first, quickly changed his expression when he realized that their conversation wasn¡¯t protected by the Dome anymore. ¡°Thank you for the meaningful present, Princess Neoma. This silver crown is the treasure of the Royal Family. I¡¯m grateful.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wee, Prince Calyx,¡± Neoma said, still smiling. ¡°I only brought the silver crown to its rightful ce.¡±

    Calyx just smiled even though his eyes were obviously cursing her.

    ¡°Now that you¡¯ve given your present to Calyx, should we start the celebration now?¡± Nero asked, also smiling as if the three of them had been getting along well from the start. ¡°I believe our Imperial Mother has something to say.¡±

    Neoma¡¯s smile froze and she unconsciously clenched her hands tight.

    [I don¡¯t like the fact that Nero called the fake Empress Juliet his ¡®mother.¡¯]

    ***

    [IT¡¯S ALRIGHT. We can still erase the memories of the guests in the hall at the moment. Calyx might suffer again, but we have no choice.]

    That was Juliet¡¯s thoughts while observing Princess Neoma from the balcony.

    ¡°I believe our Imperial Mother has something to say.¡±

    Juliet smiled and stood up from her throne when Prince Nero looked in her direction. She was about to secretly signal Calyx to erase everyone¡¯s memories when, suddenly, Princess Neoma suddenly spoke again.

    ¡°I apologize for the sudden interruption, but I still have one more present to give,¡± Princess Neoma said, then she looked up at Juliet with a smile on her face. ¡°This time, the present is for our Imperial Mother from my mother¨C Lady Mona Roseheart. Is it alright to present it now, Your Majesty?¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± Juliet said with a smile on her face. ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to see the gift that my dear friend prepared for me.¡±

    Princess Neoma just smiled, then she pped her hands once.

    The roots suddenly disappeared, and the door of the hall reappeared. On the other hand, the roof remained open.

    And Juliet realized that it was on purpose when golden roses began pouring like rain.

    That gave her goosebumps.

    [The Cosmic Tree¡­!]

    ¡°I also presented this gift to the people celebrating Prince Calyx¡¯s birthday in the streets,¡± Princess Neoma said, smiling. ¡°Everyone seems to be delighted by my gift.¡±

    Juliet couldn¡¯t believe what she heard. ¡°Princess Neoma, what do you mean by that?¡±

    ¡°Oh, I forgot to say,¡± the royal princess said ¡°apologetically¡± even though she didn¡¯t appear apologetic. ¡°Before I went here, I joined themon people¡¯s celebration. Fortunately, they quickly recognized me as Emperor Niki and Lady Mona Roseheart¡¯s daughter because of the Cosmic Tree.¡±

    She clenched her hands tight.

    [This little wench¡­!]

    Now that themon people had recognized Princess Neoma¡¯s existence, it wouldn¡¯t be easy to erase their memories.

    It worked before because only a handful of people knew about the royal princess¡¯ identity.

    But now that the entire empire was aware of Princess Neoma¡¯s existence¡­ and the Cosmic Tree even verified her identity¡­

    Hah!

    ¡°I introduced myself to the people of the Great Moonasterion Empire on my own ord,¡± Princess Neoma said, smiling sweetly at her. ¡°I hope that¡¯s alright with you, Imperial Mother.¡±

    Juliet could only smile coldly.

    [This rotten princess got us.]

 Chapter 692 - 692 [Bonus Chapter] A SOUL BEASTâ€™S PURPOSE

    692 [Bonus Chapter] A SOUL BEAST¡¯S PURPOSE

    ¡°YOU HAVE to make a decision soon, eomma.¡±

    Nichole clenched her hands after hearing what Trevor said.

    She was having dinner with Trevor and Dominic in a fancy restaurant to celebrate the release of Trevor¡¯s new CF mercial film). To be honest, she didn¡¯t expect that Trevor would suddenly drop a bomb on them like this.

    ¡°Does it mean you¡¯ve alreadypleted it?¡± Dominic asked carefully. ¡°The spell to remove all the power within our bodies and turn us into ordinary humans?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, appa.¡±

    Nichole knew that the situation was serious, but she couldn¡¯t help but find it cute how Trevor was so used to calling her ¡®eomma¡¯ and Dominic ¡®appa¡¯ so naturally.

    [Sometimes I feel like we¡¯re no longer ying as a fake family¨C we¡¯re really be one.]

    ¡°Appa, it will be easy to transfer all your Mana and divine power to Princess Neoma since the two of you are both the representatives of the Moon God,¡± Trevor continued with his exnation. ¡°Normally, that method wouldn¡¯t work since absorbing someone else¡¯s Mana and divine power has to put a toll on the receiver¡¯s body. But since the receiver is Princess Neoma, it will work. After all, Princess Neoma is like a mukbanger who can eat arge amount of food without getting a stomachache.¡±

    Dominic still looked worried. ¡°Are you sure doing so won¡¯t hurt Princess Neoma in any way?¡±

    .....

    ¡°The only negative side effect would be the fact that Princess Neoma is going to be a lot stronger.¡±

    Nichole and Dominic were both confused as to why it was a bad thing.

    ¡°The more powerful Princess Neoma is, the more she¡¯d attract the old geezers up there.¡±

    Ah, right.

    The gods would lose their minds if they remembered that Neoma could be the next Aether that could get rid of the pollution in the Upper World.

    ¡°Anyway, Princess Neoma can hide her power so let¡¯s not worry about that for now,¡± Trevor said, then he looked at Nichole again. ¡°Eomma, I can also transfer your Mana and divine power to Princess Neoma. But your Soul Beast¡­¡±

    Nichole gulped hard because that was what she was also worried about. ¡°What will happen to Lady Vespera if I lose all my power?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯ll die since a Soul Beast¡¯s sole purpose is to protect their master.¡±

    She had always known that Trevor was blunt, but it still felt different to experience it first-hand.

    [He¡¯s only mellow to Neoma.]

    ¡°Losing your divine power is equivalent to you dying as a de Moonasterio, eomma,¡± Trevor exined to her. ¡°Once you lose your identity as a de Moonasterio, then your Soul Beast will also lose its purpose. Hence, it will ¡°die.¡±¡±

    Vespera would ¡°die,¡± but just like the others, he would get reincarnated once a new de Moonasterio was bornter.

    By then, Vespera¡¯s memories of her would bepletely erased.

    [I know that I¡¯m just another de Moonasterio to protect for Vespera. Even so¡­]

    ¡°I don¡¯t want Lady Vespera to die just because of my selfishness,¡± Nichole said firmly. ¡°Is there a way to save my Soul Beast?¡±

    ¡°To be honest, I¡¯m not sure because this is the first time that a de Moonasterio will give up her divine power willingly,¡± the demon boy said, shrugging. ¡°Hence, even the Bookworm doesn¡¯t know if there¡¯s a way to save your Soul Beast, eomma. However, I believe Emperor Niki has the answer.¡±

    She knitted her eyebrows, confused. ¡°Why Niki? We were both educated as Soul Beast owners. I know everything he does about the Soul Beasts.¡±

    ¡°Well, Emperor Niki is the first de Moonasterio in history to be born with four Soul Beasts. Moreover, His Majesty¡¯s Soul Beasts also happen to be the rare Four Holy Guardians. And most of all¡­¡± Trevor hesitated for a moment. ¡°Emperor Niki and Lady Mona entered the dimension of the Soul Beasts before.¡±

    The two were with Juliet back then, but that incident took Juliet¡¯s life.

    [That¡¯s probably why Trevor hesitated to bring that up.]

    ¡°Trevor has a point, darling,¡± Dominic said gently, putting a hand over hers. ¡°Do you want me to apany you?¡±

    Nichole gently shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s alright, darling. I¡¯ll go and ask Niki myself.¡±

    ***

    ¡°SO, Trevor has alreadypleted the spell?¡±

    Nichole nodded at Niki¡¯s question. ¡°My son is a genius.¡±

    ¡°Pfft.¡± Niki held back hisughter, then he gulped down the remaining soju in his shot ss. ¡°You talk as if Trevor is really your son.¡±

    Nichole and Niki were currently having soju in a ¡®pojangmacha¡¯ (aka a small tent that sold street food). Aside from having a drink, the two of them were also sharing some snacks like tteokbokki.

    Yes, she also didn¡¯t imagine she¡¯d be eating some moners¡¯ food¡± with her twin brother who was raised as an emperor since he was born.

    [But here we are right now.]

    After five years in Korea, Niki could now blend in with the crowd well.

    He looked like an ordinary office worker now.

    CLICK.

    Ah, forget about the ¡°ordinary¡± part.

    The girls around them¨C who looked like they were in college based on the varsity jackets they wore¨C took a picture of Niki while giggling. They were also ¡°whispering¡± about themselves wondering if Niki was a celebrity.

    What did Neoma call Niki before again?

    [Ah, now I remember.]

    ¡°A very handsome CEO-sh-chaebol who looks like he came out of a webtoon series,¡± Nichole said. She was aware that she was being random, but she couldn¡¯t help it. ¡°You already have two adult children, and yet you still attract youngdies¡­¡±

    Niki¡¯s furrowed brows let Nichole know that he had no idea what she was talking about.

    [He doesn¡¯t even notice that the girls around us are ¡®fangirling¡¯ over him, as Neoma would often say.]

    Well, more like Niki didn¡¯t care since Mona was the only woman for him.

    ¡°Spill it now, Nichole,¡± Niki said while pouring soju into her shot ss. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t drag me out of the office and bring me here for nothing.¡±

    Nichole gulped down her drinks in one shot before speaking. ¡°Trevor said Lady Vespera would disappear once I lose my divine power. ording to him, it¡¯s the same as losing my identity as a de Moonasterio. And once that happens, Lady Vespera¡¯s purpose will also disappear.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± he said casually, obviously not interested in her worries. ¡°But you should already know that the moment you decided to let go of your divine power to be a normal human being.¡±

    She red at her twin brother, but she couldn¡¯t really get mad at him because he was right.

    [I know Lady Vespera will disappear, but I still selfishly chose to go through this process in order to have a chance to get pregnant¡­]

    ¡°What are you worried about, Nichole?¡±

    ¡°I thought you¡¯ve be kinder now, but I guess you¡¯re only kind towards your family,¡± she said to her twin brother bitterly. ¡°You know Lady Vespera and I are very close, Niki.¡±

    ¡°I know,¡± Niki said bluntly. ¡°That¡¯s why I don¡¯t understand why you¡¯re acting this way.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Vespera wouldn¡¯t lose her purpose even if you lose all your power,¡± he exined to her. ¡°Well, I guess you can no longer control her once you be a normal person. But that doesn¡¯t mean your Soul Beast will die.¡±

    ¡°Wait, I don¡¯t understand,¡± she said, genuinely confused. ¡°Isn¡¯t a Soul Beast¡¯s purpose to protect their master?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the purpose that they¡¯re born with,¡± Niki said, clicking his tongue at her. ¡°But that doesn¡¯t mean the Soul Beasts aren¡¯t capable of developing their own purpose.¡±

    ¡°But I haven¡¯t heard of something like that¡­¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no Soul Beast who has outlived their master since the moment a de Moonasterio die, they will die as well,¡± he exined again. ¡°But you and Vespera have always been close, Nichole. You, of all people, should know that aside from keeping you safe, your Soul Beast has another reason to continue living.¡±

    Her heart thumped hard and fast against her chest because she knew what Vespera wanted the most aside from keeping her safe.

    ¡°Let¡¯s say Lady Vespera has a purpose to continue existing even after I lose my power,¡± Nichole said carefully. ¡°But if he bes a stray Spirit, I¡¯m afraid a Grand Spirit like William might take him down. I don¡¯t want that to happen, Niki.¡±

    ¡°You can transfer your ownership to another person.¡±

    ¡°Is that possible?¡±

    ¡°Normally, it¡¯s not. A Soul Beast is born within our souls, after all,¡± Niki said, then he sipped his soju before speaking again. ¡°But aren¡¯t the Rosehearts the greatest Spirit Contractors in the entire world?¡±

    ¡°Ah,¡± Nichole said, smiling. ¡°If it¡¯s Neoma, then it¡¯s possible.¡±

    ***

    ¡°MY PURPOSE?¡±

    Nichole, who was currently sitting on top of a random building, turned to Vespera who was sitting beside her. ¡°Yes. Aside from protecting me, of course.¡±

    At the moment, Nichole and Vespera were watching the pretty lights of the skyscrapers around them.

    They were actually flying earlier, but they decided to take a break.

    ¡°I know you already know what my other purpose is,¡± Vespera said, then he turned to her with a serious look on his face. ¡°And it¡¯s to kill every single soul who tormented you in the past, Nichole. I can¡¯t rest in peace until I drag those bastards to hell.¡±

    It was a little awkward to hear Vespera curse because he looked like Mona, and Mona rarely used vulgar words.

    ¡°You¡¯ll get along well with Neoma, Lady Vespera.¡±

    Vespera smiled and nodded. ¡°I believe so, since that child curses like a sailor.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Nichole said, getting emotional. ¡°Because of my selfish decision, you and I have to part ways now¡­¡±

    .....

    ¡°Don¡¯t be sorry,¡± he said while putting an arm around her shoulders. ¡°I want you to be happy, Nichole. And I know Dominic can make you the happiest.¡±

    ¡°Still, to give you to my niece¡­¡±

    ¡°Is going to be fun, I bet,¡± Vespera said,ughing. ¡°I¡¯m d that your niece holds grudges, Nichole. The little princess will surely help me get our sweet, sweet revenge.¡±

    Nichole smiled,ying her head on Vespera¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Thank you, Lady Vespera.¡±

 Chapter 693 - 693 THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM?

    693 THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM?

    [¡°BABE, do you think the crows could use the same trick they used to make people forget about me if the entire empire already knows about my existence?¡±]

    [¡°I don¡¯t think so. They managed to erase your existence five years ago because only a few people know about your real identity. But if the entire empire knows about the existence of ¡®Princess Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio,¡¯ I suppose it will be hard for them to make everyone forget about you.¡±]

    [¡°Oh, I see. Thanks, babe.¡±]

    That was the conversation that Neoma had with Ruto before.

    She knew that the crows would do everything in their power to erase her existence. But since her man assured her the crows wouldn¡¯t be able to do shit once her identity was revealed to the public, she decided to reveal herself to the mass before showing up at the banquet.

    And with the Cosmic Tree as her backing¡­

    [They can¡¯t look down on me now.]

    ¡°Were you hiding under the Cosmic Tree¡¯s protection all this time?¡±

    It was Nero, and her twin brother whispered that while standing behind her.

    .....

    Ah?

    She didn¡¯t feel it when Nero snuck in behind her.

    [He¡¯s all grown up, huh?]

    Well, it was a good chance to talk anyway since no one was paying attention to them.

    After all, everyone in the hall was mesmerized by the pouring golden rose petals.

    [It¡¯s a miracle caused by the Cosmic Tree, after all.]

    ¡°I know you¡¯re curious about a lot of things, but I¡¯ll tell you about itter,¡± Neoma whispered back, then she turned to her twin brother. ¡°I won¡¯t leave you again, Nero.¡±

    That was cheesy and embarrassing to say, but she couldn¡¯t help it.

    Nero, on the other hand, scoffed at her words while smirking bitterly. ¡°Talk is cheap, princess.¡±

    Hmm?

    She knew Nero was a grumpy kid, but there was something in his tone that made her ufortable. Even the way he called her ¡®princess¡¯ sounded sarcastic.

    [He¡¯s angry for real¡­]

    Unfortunately, she didn¡¯t get the chance to talk to Nero more because the fake Empress Juliet started to climb down the stairs.

    Tsk.

    It took her all she got to stop herself from clicking her tongue when she saw a familiar face behind the fake Empress Dowager.

    [Count Kyle Sprouse¡­]

    Yes, that fucking traitor was reinstated as a noble when her family disappeared five years ago.

    Obviously, the crows were responsible for that.

    [I wonder if that traitor bastard remembers me.]

    GASP.

    ¡°Her Royal Highness¡¯ eyes¡­¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re glowing red¡­¡±

    ¡°A true de Moonasterio¡­¡±

    Ah.

    She failed to control her irritation towards Kyle Sprouse, so her eyes changed colors unconsciously.

    [Looking at that fuckface corrupted my eyes.]

    She needed healing, so she turned to her ¡°children¡± for a moment. To be precise, she looked at Greko¡¯s face. The youngest may already be a teenager now, but he was still a baby in her eyes.

    Greko looked clueless, but he smiled at her anyway.

    Neoma smiled back, her eyes cleansed and her heart calm now.

    [Greko¡¯s innocent face is really healing¨C it¡¯s good for the soul.]

    ¡°Thank you for the wonderful present, Princess Neoma.¡±

    It was the fake Empress Dowager who finally reached thest step of the grand staircase. All eyes were on Her Majesty now.

    Well, Neoma was busy looking at Kyle Sprouse coldly.

    [He¡¯s avoiding my gaze as if he¡¯s guilty.]

    Hah!

    [That fuckface remembers me.]

    ¡°I see that the Cosmic Tree is doing well, too,¡± the fake Empress Dowager said, then she turned to Neoma with a ¡°kind¡± smile. ¡°As expected, the Cosmic Tree really cares about Mona¡¯s children.¡±

    Neoma clenched her hands tightly after hearing the fake call her mother¡¯s name casually. She had to hold back, though. After all, it was public knowledge that her Mama Boss and the (real) Empress Juliet were good friends.

    ¡°Are Niki and Mona doing great, too?¡±

    ¡°They are, Your Majesty,¡± Neoma said politely. ¡°Mother and Father are both doing well.¡±

    She had to address Mama Boss and Papa Boss formally because she was in a formal event.

    ¡°I know that everyone here is wondering about Father¡¯s disappearance five years ago,¡± Neoma continued with a polite smile on her face. Her smile was usually haughty in front of her enemies. But she had to captivate everyone first. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,dies and gentlemen. Father and Mother will return soon, and they will personally exin what happened.¡±

    To be fair, the citizens deserved an exnation.

    Papa Boss was the emperor, and he was responsible for the lives of every single person in the empire. Although what happened five years ago was out of their control, the people still deserved to know the truth.

    Yes, the truth.

    ¡°I¡¯m relieved to know that,¡± Empress Dowager said, smiling at Neoma. Then she turned around as if addressing everyone in the hall with her gaze. ¡°Everyone, let¡¯s start Prince Calyx¡¯s birthday celebration now.¡± The fake turned to Neoma again. ¡°I shall retire for tonight. Let¡¯s have teater, Princess Neoma.¡±

    [And the Best Supporting Actress award goes to¡­]

    ¡°It will be an honor to have a private audience with youter, Your Majesty,¡± Neoma said, bowing her head slightly since the Empress Dowager outranked her. ¡°Have a pleasant evening.¡±

    ***

    [THEY¡¯RE runningte.]

    Neoma was starting to get worried because Tteokbokki hadn¡¯t returned yet even though it had already been more than half an hour. They shouldn¡¯t be taking this long since Trevor was with them, and Trevor could use teleportation.

    [Skylus¡­ Lord Manu¡­]

    Aside from the two, she was also waiting for someone else.

    [Dion and the Astello Temple¡¯s Holy Knights aren¡¯t here yet.]

    That was the reason why Neoma couldn¡¯t bring up the topic regarding the new saint. How could she do that when Skylus wasn¡¯t here yet? Dion and the Holy Knights, too.

    [I need Dion to prove Skylus¡¯ legitimacy as the new saint.]

    Fortunately, Calyx hadn¡¯t made a move yet to introduce the fake saint that he definitely brought here, too.

    [That psycho crow is calm.]

    She had been secretly observing Calyx the entire time, and she could tell that he wasn¡¯t faking his calmness.

    Moreover¡­

    [Gosh, why is Nero sticking to Calyx like glue?]

    She couldn¡¯t grab Nero because he was stuck in Calyx¡¯s side as if her twin brother was using the fake First Prince to avoid her.

    Thankfully, Hanna wasn¡¯t leaving Nero¡¯s side.

    [Please take care of my baby brother, Hanna.]

    ¡°Princess Neoma, it¡¯s an honor to meet you.¡±

    Her bodyguards aka her ¡°children¡± stepped aside and allowed Aunt Brigitte and Uncle Dominic to approach her.

    There were many other nobles and royalties who wanted to greet her.

    But her ¡°children¡± were being too protective that only their allies could really get near her, just like the Griffiths.

    ¡°The honor is mine, Queen Brigitte and King Glenn,¡± Neoma said, bowing politely to the royal couple. Of course, she couldn¡¯t call them intimately because there were eyes on them. ¡°I¡¯m d that you finally remember me.¡±

    The queen and the king both smiled and nodded politely.

    ¡°Monik and ude wanted toe with us, but we thought it would be dangerous for them. The Fletcher Twins are currently guarding the children,¡± Aunt Brigitte whispered to her. ¡°Princess Neoma, may I know where Skylus is?¡±

    .....

    ¡°I already asked Tteokbokki to fetch Prince Skylus and Lord Manu,¡± Neoma assured the queen. ¡°They¡¯ll be here any minute, Auntie.¡±

    They had to be.

    [Tteokbokki, Trevor, Lord Manu¡­ I trust you. Please keep Skylus safe no matter what.]

    Aunt Brigitte let out a sigh of relief. ¡°I¡¯m d to hear that, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°I was also d to hear that Emperor Niki and Lady Roseheart will be returning soon,¡± Uncle Glenn added, smiling. ¡°The true Royal Family should reim their rightful ce the soonest, Princess Neoma.¡±

    Her family wasn¡¯t greedy for power.

    However, they couldn¡¯t leave the Great Moonasterion Empire to the crows. They couldn¡¯t let innocent people suffer.

    [The crows that experiment on humans don¡¯t deserve to rule the empire.]

    Neoma was about to assure Uncle Glenn that Papa Boss and Mama Boss would return with a bang when, suddenly, they were interrupted.

    [What are these scumbags doing here¡­?]

    ¡°Greetings to the one and only royal princess of the Great Moonasterion Empire.¡±

    Neoma almost frowned when Duke Drayton greeted her with a huge smile on his face.

    [Gosh, I can clearly see the greed in his eyes.]

    Duke Drayton already knew about her existence as a royal princess, but the duke¡¯s memories of her existence were probably erased by the crows¡¯ curse.

    Even so, his attitude didn¡¯t change.

    ¡°Princess Neoma, let me introduce my son to you,¡± Duke Drayton said after introducing himself to Neoma. ¡°My son, Rubin, is only two years older than Your Royal Highness. I believe the two of you will get along well.¡±

    Fuck.

    [Rubin Drayton¡­ is so fucking handsome.]

    Only Rubin Drayton would look good in that moss-green outfit. In fact, he looked so stylish even though the color of his clothes was hard to pull off.

    [His face is so fucking amazing.]

    ¡°Good evening, Princess Neoma,¡± Rubin greeted her politely with a proper bow. ¡°My name is Rubin Drayton. I¡¯m at Your Royal Highness¡¯ service.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s an honor to meet you, Lord Rubin,¡± Neoma said monotonously. ¡°I ept your greeting.¡±

    And that was her polite way of telling the young lord to fuck off, but Rubin didn¡¯t go away.

    Tsk.

    [Should I be more blunt?]

    ¡°Princess Neoma.¡±

    Oho?

    Neoma beamed when she saw Rutoing her way.

    [Gosh, my man is so handsome!]

    ***

    NOTE: Sorry for disappearing for three days. I got super sick. Monthly period plus a slight fever/cold is such a terriblebination.

 Chapter 694 - 694 A ROMANTIC NIGHT

    694 A ROMANTIC NIGHT

    NEOMA almostughed while watching the father-and-son duo have different reactions when Ruto approached her.

    Duke Drayton looked displeased, but Rubin Drayton looked relieved.

    And the young lord¡¯s reaction pissed her off a bit.

    [I mean, I don¡¯t want Rubin to fake falling for me. But it¡¯s annoying to see him act as if he was doing me a favor by greeting me. I should be the one acting haughty and not the other way around.]

    ¡°I apologize for interrupting your conversation,¡± Ruto said politely after greeting Aunt Brigitte, Uncle Dominic, and the Draytons. Then he turned to Neoma. ¡°Princess Neoma, our Sun Priestess wishes to have an audience with you. Will you spare her a moment of your time?¡±

    Hmm?

    It ended peacefully.

    ¡°Of course, Lord Ruto. The Great Moonasterion Empire treasures the Eastern Continent¡¯s Kingdom of Suoh as an allied nation. Moreover, the Moon God and the Sun Goddess are good friends,¡± Neoma said, smiling at Ruto. ¡°It¡¯s only natural for the empire¡¯s one and only royal princess to treat the Sun Priestess as a dear friend, too.¡±

    After her long spiel, he turned to the Griffiths and the Draytons to excuse herself. The Griffiths and the Draytons bowed to her politely.

    .....

    Neoma then turned to Ruto. ¡°I¡¯ll receive the Sun Priestess¡¯ greeting on the Balcony.¡±

    Yes, capital ¡®B.¡¯

    The Balcony she was referring to was the balcony on the second floor that only members of the Royal Family could use. Of course, you have to be invited by a de Moonasterio to be allowed there.

    [I never got to step foot on the Balcony in the first timeline, but Nero would often bring Dahlia there.]

    Ruto then offered his arm to her. ¡°Shall we go, Princess Neoma?¡±

    It was only proper etiquette, but Neoma was still thrilled. She had to hold back, though. Instead of hugging Ruto¡¯s arm, she simply held onto it like the proper princess she was.

    [At least, for tonight.]

    ¡°Lewis, go and fetch the Sun Priestess,¡± Neoma ordered her ¡°son,¡± then she looked over her shoulder to look at Lewis. ¡°Tell her I¡¯ll be waiting on the Balcony with Lord Ruto.¡±

    Lewis¡¯ eyes were obviously cursing Ruto, but he bowed politely towards her. ¡°As youmand, Princess Neoma.¡±

    [Good boy.]

    Neoma then looked at Juri and Jeno. ¡°Juri, Jeno, go and greet your families. The Wisterias and the Dankworths have been boring a hole in the back of your heads ever since we made our grand entrance,¡± she said to the couple. ¡°Paige, Greko, and Xion will stay with me anyway.¡±

    ***

    ¡°I HAVE to say I¡¯m quite disappointed,¡± Neoma said while leaning against the railing and checking out Ruto shamelessly. ¡°It ended peacefully.¡±

    Right now, only Neoma and Ruto were on the balcony.

    Of course, the curtains were drawn to give the two of them some privacy.

    Paige, Greko, and Xion were guarding the door while Juri and Jeno were with their respective families. Lewis would join her security detail after bringing the Sun Priestesster.

    [I¡¯m sure Lewis will have a hard time bringing Lady Sienna here.]

    She saw the Sun Priestess gulping down sses of cocktails one after the other earlier.

    ¡°What ended peacefully?¡± Ruto asked, genuinely confused. ¡°And why aren¡¯t you satisfied? I thought you were a peace lover.¡±

    ¡°Pfft.¡± Neoma had to hold back herughter. ¡°I¡¯m only a peace lover when it¡¯s convenient for me, babe.¡±

    To be honest, she couldn¡¯t really concentrate on what they were talking about.

    [Ruto looks good in his white and gold outfit.]

    To be precise, her man wore a white trench jacket suit with gold trims. He wore a double-breasted suit jacket underneath the trench jacket, and a pair of white trousers.

    And the best part?

    Ruto wore a ck button-down shirt and a ck cravat necktie.

    [He probably got away with wearing ck since he¡¯s the representative of the Kingdom of Suoh.]

    Neoma was d that Ruto wore a piece of ck clothing.

    [It means he supports me, right?]

    ¡°You¡¯re getting distracted again,¡± Rutoined lightly. ¡°Do you like what you¡¯re seeing that much?¡±

    Neoma beamed. ¡°Very much so. You¡¯re extra handsome tonight, Ruto.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± he said indifferently. ¡°And I heard you¡¯re the prettiest girl on the entire continent, ording to Aspen and almost everyone in the hall tonight.¡±

    ¡°You heard?¡±

    ¡°You know I can¡¯t see your face, don¡¯t you?¡±

    She pouted. ¡°How much stronger do I have to be for you to see my face again?¡±

    Before, she just needed to be strong for Ruto to see her beautiful face.

    But after he lost all his positive feelings for her, his ¡®face blindness¡¯ suddenly returned. Worse, it only applied to her.

    ¡°I don¡¯t need to see your face to know you¡¯re beautiful,¡± Ruto said casually. ¡°I know beauty is subjective, but when ites to your face, it bes objective. You have the kind of face that¡¯s considered beautiful anywhere, any era.¡±

    That was an exaggeration because even though she knew that she was beautiful, she was also aware that there were people out there who wouldn¡¯t find her beautiful.

    And she was okay with it.

    [I mean, at the end of the day, I¡¯m MORE THAN a pretty face.]

    ¡°Babe, I thought you were going to physically fight Rubin earlier,¡± Neoma said jokingly. ¡°It¡¯s my dream to have two boys fist-fight over me, you know?¡±

    Ruto looked at her as if she was being ridiculous. ¡°You¡¯ve watched too many Korean dramas while you were in the other world, huh? Why would two nobles physically fight in front of the empire¡¯s one and only royal princess? Rubin Drayton may not be the brightest, but he was still raised as a proper noble. And as the representative of the Kingdom of Suouh, I can¡¯t harm a young lord of the empire unless I want the two continents to go to war.¡±

    She pouted at his dry response. ¡°A girl can dream, you know?¡±

    Her man fell silent for a moment, so she thought it was time to drop the subject and share her worry about Skylus and the the rest runningte.

    But he suddenly said the sweetest thing the current Ruto could say at that moment.

    ¡°If I find myself in a situation where I have the justification to fight Rubin Drayton, then I¡¯ll probably end up killing him.¡±

    Neoma couldn¡¯t help butugh softly at Ruto¡¯s violent yet sweet deration.

    Then, out of nowhere, she heard a T*ylor Swift song in her head.

    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you saying anything?¡± Rutoined lightly, his cheeks turning pink as if he was embarrassed. ¡°It¡¯s embarrassing because you suddenly fell silent.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m just thinking that there¡¯s a T*ylor Swift song that fits us every moment we have,¡± Neoma said, smiling. ¡°That makes me feel like we¡¯re in a romance movie every time we¡¯re talking like this.¡±

    ¡°Are you saying you¡¯re hearing a song in your head right now?¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh,¡± she said, feeling shy suddenly. ¡°Is it weird?¡±

    ¡°Can we dance to that song?¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    Ruto offered his hand to her, his cheeks burning red now. ¡°What T*ylor Swift song suits us at this very moment?¡±

    ¡°We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.¡±

    He flinched, then his hand slowly dropped to his side.

    Neomaughed at his reaction, then she gently grabbed Ruto¡¯s hand and pulled him close to her. Then she wrapped her arms around his waist a little tightly. Thank goodness her man wasn¡¯t a weakling. If she hugged an ordinary person that way, their ribs would have been crushed already. ¡°I finally got you, Ruto. You may not realize it yet, but you¡¯re already so down for me.¡±

    ¡°I guess I spoiled you too much in the past,¡± Ruto said, wrapping his arms around her. ¡°My body moves on its own whenever you are near. It seems like getting my love for you taken away was useless since every fiber of my being is already trapped under your spell.¡±

    ¡°I know, right? The Ancient Devil did something unnecessary.¡±

    What was the Ancient Devil¡¯s new name again?

    [I already forgot.]

    Her big brain never worked for useless stuff.

    ¡°Can you sing it for me?¡± Ruto asked while swaying their bodies to nothing but the sound of their heartbeats. And yes, they were swaying side-to-side while hugging. It was almost a slow dance. ¡°The T*ylor Swift song that suits us at the moment.¡±

    ¡°This is an old TS song, but still my favorite,¡± Neoma said, closing her eyes before she sang the song ying in her head since earlier. ¡°And I don¡¯t know how it gets better than this¡­ You take my hand and drag me head first¡­ Fearless¡­¡± Soon, she couldn¡¯t help but smile because she could just tell Ruto was also smiling as his arms around her tightened a bit. ¡°And I don¡¯t know why but with you I¡¯d dance¡­ In the storm¡­ In my best dress¡­ Fearless¡­¡±

    ***

    [THIS IS awkward.]

    Sienna was grateful that she was drunk while standing in front of the Balcony door and listening to Princess Neoma sing a foreign song. The curtains were drawn, but she could tell that the royal princess was dancing with Ruto.

    She didn¡¯t want to earn Ruto¡¯s wrath, so she didn¡¯t dare to knock and interrupt the moment.

    [Ruto is scary when he¡¯s angry. He snapped at me a few years ago when I talked badly about Princess Neoma, hence I stopped calling him ¡®Yoan¡¯ in an attempt to get on his good side again.]

    .....

    ¡°I guess this isn¡¯t the proper time to interrupt them,¡± Sienna said, looking at Princess Neoma¡¯s ¡°children.¡± ¡°Right?¡±

    Greko, Paige Avery, and Xion Redrage all looked in one direction.

    Sienna internally groaned because she didn¡¯t want to look at Lewis Crevan.

    After all, everyone could tell that the poor fox was getting his heart broken at that very moment.

    Lewis Crevan was in love with Princess Neoma who was alreadymitted to Ruto.

    [This is really awkward.]

    ***

    [IN THIS moment now, capture it, remember it¡­]

    Neoma was still listening to the song in her head even though she already stopped singing for Ruto. But even though they already stopped dancing, they remained hugging each other.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you cold, babe?¡±

    ¡°I have the fire attribute, babe,¡± Neoma reminded him. ¡°Even if I wear swimsuit in the middle of a snowstorm, I won¡¯t get cold.¡±

    ¡°No, you¡¯re cold.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not.¡±

    ¡°Yes, you are.¡±

    She sighed, knowing what Ruto was trying to do but ignoring it by ying dumb. ¡°You¡¯re already hugging me, though?¡±

    ¡°Stop ying dumb, Neoma.¡±

    ¡°I can wear what I want, Ruto.¡±

    ¡°Can you let my immaturity slide just this once?¡±

    ¡°Fine,¡± Neoma said, pulling away from Ruto¡¯s hug. ¡°Gimme.¡±

    Ruto looked triumphant while taking off his trench jacket, then he draped it over her shoulders. ¡°Now you look warm.¡±

    She couldn¡¯t get upset that he wanted to cover her up when she liked her outfit because he looked so cute at the moment.

    [But we¡¯ll talk about this againter.]

    Neoma turned to the balcony door. ¡°We should let Sienna in¡­¡±

    She trailed off when she heard a high-pitched whistle in her head.

    It was Lapiz, Dahlia¡¯s Elemental Guardian!

    Ruto, who was also an Elemental Guardian, also heard it.

    ¡°Shit,¡± Neoma said, preparing to jump off the balcony. ¡°I knew something was wrong since they were runningte even though Trevor is with them.¡±

    She told Dahlia to follow Trevor if their group rante.

    It seemed like the ck Witch had returned with some bad news.

    ¡°Babe, stay here,¡± Neoma said to Ruto. ¡°I¡¯ll go and check on Dahlia¡­¡±

    She was forced to stop talking.

    Hmm?

    [Nero?]

    She was pretty sure the fluctuating Mana she was feeling at the moment belonged to her twin brother.

    ¡°There,¡± Ruto said, pointing below them. ¡°He must have heard the signal, too.¡±

    Neoma¡¯s eyes opened wide when she saw Nero running out of the hall like a madman. ¡°No way,¡± she whispered in disbelief. ¡°Nero felt Dahlia¡¯s presence?¡±

    ***

    DAHLIA waited on top of the Luna Pce after asking Lapiz to send out the signal to Princess Neoma.

    Although the signal was only meant for the royal princess, she was pretty sure that Lord Ruro and Jasper Hawthorne heard it, too. After all, Lapiz¡¯ whistle could be heard by a fellow Elemental Guardian. Hence, even the other Elemental Guardian masters could hear the signal the Blue Whale made.

    [Princess Neoma, please get here faster.]

    The moment she realized that Lord Trevor was runningte, she immediately followed his traces. What she saw made her instantly return to the Royal Pce.

    [This is horrible...]

    Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt the familiar Mana and divine power.

    [Princess Neoma¡­ no!]

    She was about to feel relieved when she realized that the Mana and the divine power she felt were hostile and unstable.

    Only one person could have a simr energy to Princess Neoma.

    Dahlia was about to leave when heavy pressureing from behind literally bound her from taking a step.

    ¡°Are you trying to run away from me again, Dahlia?¡±

    It took her all the strength she had just to turn around and face her nightmare. She shuddered in fear as soon as she met Prince Nero¡¯s glowing red eyes.

    [His expression¡­]

    Dahlia knew that crazy look all too well. ¡°P-Prince Nero¡­¡±

    ¡°¡®Prince Nero?''¡± Prince Nero scoffed. ¡°It¡¯s been a while since I was crowned the emperor. Have you yet to get used to my new title?¡±

    Huh?

    [It¡¯s the Prince Nero from the first timeline¡­ no, it¡¯s the Emperor Nero from back then.]

    Her tyrant husband.

    [Has he been taken over by the memories of his first life?]

    ¡°P-Prince Nero, please snap out of it,¡± Dahlia said carefully. She still couldn¡¯t move because of the chilling pressure oozing out of Prince Nero. But, at least, she could open her mouth. ¡°Lady Hanna will be disappointed if she saw you acting like this¡­¡±

    ¡°¡®Lady Hanna?¡¯ Who¡¯s that?¡± Prince Nero asked while approaching her slowly but surely. ¡°The only ¡®Hanna¡¯ I know is my cousin who died many years ago¨C the dead cousin that my stupid twin sister reced.¡±

    Ah, Dahlia wasn¡¯t mistaken.

    [Prince Nero¡¯s memories from the first timeline probably flooded his system. Hence, he thinks this is the first timeline...]

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 695 - 695 EMPEROR NEROâ€™S MELTDOWN

    695 EMPEROR NERO¡¯S MELTDOWN

    HANNA clenched in hands in worry when Nero suddenly bolted out of the room in a hurry.

    To be honest, she was getting nervous now.

    [Both Prince Skylus¡¯ group and Lord Dion¡¯s group are runningte.]

    She felt like something bad would happen soon.

    Hanna shook her head to get rid of her negative thoughts, then she stepped forward to follow Nero because she was worried about him.

    But someone literally blocked her way.

    ¡°Prince Calyx,¡± Hanna said, smiling since they were surrounded by other nobles. ¡°It seems like you¡¯re having a great time.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I am,¡± Calyx said, smiling back at her. ¡°All thanks to my sister¡¯s surprise visit. I was expecting her toe, but I didn¡¯t expect her to arrive in such a grandiose manner.¡±

    Despite the fake First Prince¡¯s vicious remarks, his overall demeanor remained calm.

    .....

    [And that¡¯s making me anxious.]

    ¡°Are youining to me as a means to release your anger, Your Highness?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not angry, though?¡±

    She didn¡¯t want to admit this, but she could tell that Calyx didn¡¯t look as angry as she wished him to be.

    [It makes me think he has a trick up his sleeve.]

    ¡°Lady Hanna, are you nervous?¡±

    She maintained a calm expression to hide her anxiousness. ¡°Do I have a reason to be nervous, Your Highness?¡±

    ¡°Of course, you do,¡± Calyx said,ughing. ¡°The REAL party is just about to begin, my dear sister-inw.¡±

    Hanna may look calm outside, but she was honestly shaken inside.

    ¡°Sweetheart, you¡¯re there.¡±

    She felt relieved when her parents approached her.

    Her mother and father greeted Calyx politely, but her parents stood in front of her protectively to shield her from the fake First Prince.

    [I¡¯ve calmed down a bit.]

    Hanna undoubtedly felt safe with her parents, but she was still worried not only about what Calyx said.

    [Nero, why did you suddenly leave the hall in a hurry?]

    ***

    DAHLIA winced when Nero squeezed her arms a little tighter. ¡°I know this is hard to believe, but please listen to me first, Prince Nero¨C¡±

    Prince Nero grabbed her by the shoulders, his glowing red eyes still showing insanity. ¡°I¡¯ll listen to you once we get home.¡±

    Dahlia didn¡¯t want to fight Prince Nero, but she had no choice.

    She was forced to summon Lapiz and attack the Crown Prince.

    The Blue Whale appeared behind her and threw a water bomb at Prince Nero.

    But Prince Nero just smirked.

    Then Zeru, the ice phoenix, appeared and howled, freezing Lapiz¡¯ water bomb until it became ice that was suspended in the air like a statue.

    ¡°Do you want me to freeze your pet to death next?¡±

    She bit her bottom lip because Prince Nero was really capable of freezing Lapiz to death.

    Hence, she had no choice but to order Lapiz to return.

    The Blue Whale whimpered as if it didn¡¯t want to leave her alone with the unstable Prince Nero, but she ignored her Elemental Guardian¡¯s cries in order to keep it safe.

    [I¡¯ll be fine, Lapiz¡­]

    To be honest, she knew she could fight Prince Nero in a life-or-death situation.

    But she didn¡¯t want to answer the Crown Prince¡¯s violence with violence.

    [It will just be an ugly cycle if I did.]

    ¡°You¡¯re the one who should listen to me, my dear wife,¡± Prince Nero said coldly. ¡°The next time you run away from me, I¡¯ll kill all the servants who failed to keep an eye on you.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t the first time Dahlia heard that kind of threat from Nero, but she still shivered.

    Was she being too na?ve when she thought she could talk it out with the Crown Prince?

    ¡°Why are you giving me that look again?¡± Prince Nero asked, frustrated. ¡°I¡¯m not going to hurt you, Dahlia. So please don¡¯t look at me like I scare you.¡±

    ¡°But you do,¡± Dahlia said, her voice shaking a bit. ¡°You scare me, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡®Your Majesty.¡¯

    That was how Dahlia addressed Prince Nero ording to the memories of her first life.

    [Is it still me, or is it Dahlia from the past talking now?]

    To be honest, just like Prince Nero, Dahlia was confused at the moment.

    [The memories of my past life are pouring in nonstop¡­]

    ¡°I will never hurt you, Dahlia.¡±

    ¡°You have never hurt me physically, and I don¡¯t think it will happen in the future,¡± Dahlia said. She had never once thought that Prince Nero was capable of hurting her physically. But physical violence wasn¡¯t the only type of violence in the world. ¡°However, this is also violence.¡±

    She pointed at the hands gripping her shoulders.

    Prince Nero¡¯s hands suddenly loosened until his arms dropped to his sides. His expression looked awful, as if he couldn¡¯t believe that he had hurt her.

    ¡°Threatening to hurt the people around me is also violence,¡± Dahlia continued in a clearer voice. Her voice was still shaking a bit, but she sounded calmer now than she did earlier. ¡°But do you know what the most violent thing you have done to me so far was?¡±

    Of course, Prince Nero didn¡¯t respond. He just stood there while looking at her as if he was being gutted.

    And rightfully so.

    ¡°Keeping me by your side BY FORCE is the worst form of violence that you have ever done to me, Your Majesty,¡± Dahlia said in a soft voice this time. Soft and eerily calm, to be precise. ¡°I stopped being happy the moment you locked me up in the pce like a doll trapped in a dollhouse.¡±

    ¡°I just wanted to protect you, Dahlia.¡±

    ¡°If you wanted to protect me, then Your Majesty should have protected me from yourself because you were the biggest threat in my life,¡± she said while shaking her head. ¡°The fact that you can¡¯t see how unhappy I have be scares me, Your Majesty.¡±

    Prince Nero¡¯s jaw clenched hard, his glowing red eyes were still frenzied. ¡°Then tell me what will make you happy again, Dahlia.¡±

    ¡°Can Your Majesty set me free?¡±

    ¡°Dahlia¨C¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s get divorced, Your Majesty.¡±

    Oh¡­

    Dahlia was surprised when tears suddenly rolled down her cheeks. That was when she realized that the one speaking was the Dahlia of the first timeline.

    [I see¡­]

    What the Dahlia of the past wanted was to divorce Emperor Nero.

    But¡­

    [But why does it hurt so much?]

    Instead of wiping the tears off her face, she just clutched her chest tight.

    [It hurts¡­]

    She could feel her heart getting squeezed painfully, making it hard for her to breathe¨C especially when she started sobbing like a child.

    [I loved Prince Nero more than I thought¡­]

    ¡°Perhaps I really am a violent person,¡± Prince Nero said coldly, the floor they were stepping on quickly getting covered in a thinyer of ice. The breeze also got colder as the Crown Prince¡¯s Mana continued to rise, as if his power was about to explode at any moment. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I can¡¯t give you what you want, Dahlia.¡±

    [Ah, he¡¯s about to lose his mind.]

    If only she could erase Prince Nero¡¯s memories of her.

    [I tried it before in the first timeline, but it didn¡¯t work.]

    Dahlia had to flick her fingers and use a spell to levitate.

    The entire pce was quickly getting covered in ice, after all.

    .....

    ¡°You just have to stay by my side and figure out how to be happy without leaving me,¡± Prince Nero said threateningly, raising his hand. ¡°We¡¯re not getting divorced, Dahlia.¡±

    After saying that, ice that was shaped as chains emerged from the ice covering the floor as if they aimed to tie her up.

    Dahlia opened her hand and, soon enough, a wand that looked like a twig with pink flowers attached to it materialized. She grabbed it as soon as it appeared. ¡°I see my words don¡¯t work on you in your current state, Prince Nero,¡± she said, addressing the Crown Prince by his current title. She didn¡¯t want the memories of the first timeline¡¯s Dahlia to take over her emotions again. ¡°Forgive me, for I must use violence against you this time.¡±

    She waved her magic wand, creating a wave of dark blue me that immediately melted the ice chains aimed at her.

    [This isn¡¯t enough to stop Prince Nero¡­]

    Harming the Crown Prince was a grave crime, but she had no choice. She had to attack for real if she wanted to snap Prince Nero back to reality.

    [Princess Neoma will clean up after my mess¡­ I think.]

    Dahlia was preparing for a spell that could knock out Prince Nero for a moment when, suddenly, the Crown Prince¡¯s Mana exploded.

    She frantically created two, or threeyers of shield to protect herself from the explosion.

    [No¡­ Prince Nero got stronger!]

    When the smoke that appeared after the explosion began to quickly disappear, she saw it¨C the pair of vicious red eyes that didn¡¯t seem like they recognized her.

    [Ah, Prince Nero hadpletely lost it now¡­]

    Dahlia actually froze in fear as Prince Nero¡¯s chilling bloodlust suffocate her.

    She couldn¡¯t move an inch, and even her wand couldn¡¯t produce magic as if her power was suddenly nullified.

    [No¡­]

    The Crown Prince was just standing there, staring at her as if he was debating to kill her or not. And yet, his bloodlust was already killing her.

    [I¡­ can¡¯t¡­ breathe¡­]

    ¡°Nero Roseheart de Moonasterio!¡±

    Dahlia saw what happened next after hearing the voice that gave her strength.

    Before Prince Nero could even raise his head, the heel of Princess Neoma¡¯s straightened leg descended onto the top of the Crown Prince¡¯s head like the de of an axe.

    [Ah, I can properly breathe again.]

    ***

    NOTE: Sorry for disappearing for three days. I got super sick. Monthly period plus a slight fever/cold is such a terriblebination.

 Chapter 696 - 696 PURE HATE

    696 PURE HATE

    SANFORD coughed up a huge chunk of blood after getting kicked in the stomach by his idol, Lewis Crevan.

    [Yeah, I don¡¯t mind dying this way.]

    You may be wondering how he got into this situation, huh?

    To be honest, he didn¡¯t really know.

    He and Raku just followed the crazy¨C er, crazily amazing Crown Prince when he suddenly bolted out of the Callisto Hall.

    They arrived at the Luna Pce, but Prince Nero forbade them from following him further.

    [The Luna Pce has been empty ever since Lady Hanna left the pce a year ago.]

    He thought their boss was just going to have a rendezvous with the ck Witch that the Crown Prince had been searching for all this time.

    But shit started to get dangerous in an instant.

    .....

    Sanford could tell that Prince Nero and the ck Witch were fighting. Just when he and Raku were about to stop the Crown Prince from going crazy, Princess Neoma appeared in the sky¨C flying with her beautiful wings made of roses.

    [¡°Hello, my nephews! Leave Nero to me. Fighting!¡±]

    Those were the weird words that Princess Neoma said while flying past them.

    Sanford was almost enchanted, but he didn¡¯t forget that his job was to protect Prince Nero. But just when he was about to stop Princess Neoma, he just found himself flying after getting kicked in the stomach.

    Even Raku was stopped by the growling White Lion.

    [And here we are now.]

    ¡°Hah!¡± Sanford slowly stood up while wiping the blood off his mouth with the back of his hand. ¡°You¡¯re a knight, Sir Crevan. Why use your feet to attack when you have a perfectly nice sword¨C¡±

    Lewis Crevan¡¯s glowing golden eyes shut Sanford¡¯s mouth in an instant.

    [This isn¡¯t the appropriate time to think of this, but fuck. Lewis Crevan is so freaking handsome. Whoever said Rubin Drayton is the most handsome young man on the continent has clearly not seen Lewis Crevan yet.]

    ¡°You stand, you die.¡±

    What the fox said was a little iprehensible.

    Even so, Sanford¡¯s survival instinctmanded him to sit down and shut his mouth.

    [Scary bastard¡­]

    ¡°Raku,¡± Sanford called his friend while patting the space next to him. ¡°Come and sit next to me. This fox bastard is scaring me.¡±

    Raku, who was about to attack the White Lion, turned to him with a confused look on his face.

    ¡°Yes, we¡¯re not fighting them.¡±

    Raku knitted his eyebrows.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not because we¡¯re inferior to them,¡± Sanford said, answering the questions in Raku¡¯s face one by one. When the half-dragon frowned at him, he exined. ¡°My gut feel is telling me that Princess Neoma isn¡¯t a threat to Prince Nero. You trust my instinct, don¡¯t you?¡±

    Raku looked at him for a moment, then he sighed before dragging his feet towards him. Then the half-dragon sat next to him. ¡°Fifteen minutes.¡±

    ¡°I hear you, my friend,¡± he said while patting Raku¡¯s shoulder, then he turned to Lewis Crevan. ¡°You heard our dragon friend here, Sir Crevan. After fifteen minutes, we¡¯re going to follow Princess Neoma and stop her from approaching Prince Nero¨C by hook or by crook.¡±

    Lewis Crevan, whose golden eyes were still glowing dangerously, tilted his head to one side ¡®innocently¡¯ while gently patting the White Lion¡¯s head. ¡°Death wish?¡±

    Sanford could onlyugh awkwardly.

    [Sir Crevan probably thinks we¡¯re weaklings.]

    ***

    NEOMA gave Nero an axe kick before she descended.

    And her attack was strong enough to knock her twin brother unconscious. But she could tell that he wouldn¡¯t be down for so long.

    ¡°Run,¡± Neoma said as she turned to Dahlia. ¡°Nero will lose it again if he sees you.¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma, he¡¯s not Prince Nero at the moment,¡± Dahlia said worriedly as her feetnded on the ground. ¡°He acts like the Emperor Nero of the first timeline. I believe his memories of his past life flooded his system. Hence, he couldn¡¯t differentiate the past from the present in his current state.¡±

    Ah, so the situation was worse than she expected.

    [But ¡®Emperor Nero?¡¯ Of course, I expected Nero to be the emperor in the first timeline. I wonder what happened to Papa Boss, though? I can¡¯t remember anything about Papa Boss, aside from the fact that he was still alive before Nero killed me.]

    ¡°Princess Neoma?¡±

    ¡°Ah, sorry for spacing out,¡± she said. ¡°Thanks for telling me Nero¡¯s current state, Dahlia. You should leave before he wakes up.¡±

    ¡°But I have something urgent to report to you, Princess Neoma. It¡¯s about Prince Skylus¡­¡±

    ¡°I know, but only I can stop Nero from going insane so I must take care of him first,¡± Neoma said in a serious tone. ¡°Hence, I want you to go to Ruto and report the situation to him. Let him know that I will trust him to take charge until I return. Can you do that for me, Dahlia?¡±

    She wasn¡¯t neglecting Trevor and Skylus¡¯ situation.

    Unfortunately, she was the only person who could stop Nero at the moment. Hence, she had no choice but to depend on Ruto.

    [I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll make the same decisions that I would.]

    ¡°I understand, Your Royal Highness,¡± Dahlia said while nodding firmly. ¡°But if I¡¯m not satisfied with the decision that Lord Ruto makes, am I allowed to oppose him? Although I¡¯m grateful to Lord Ruto for protecting me for quite some time, my loyalty still lies with you, Princess Neoma.¡±

    Aww¡­ she was touched.

    [Dahlia is such a loyal friend.]

    ¡°Of course. You may do that, Dahlia,¡± Neoma said, nodding. She could separate her being a girlboss from her being Ruto¡¯s babe. ¡°I told Paige and the others to stay in the hall to protect our allies. If you disagree with Ruto¡¯s decision, feel free to consult with Paige. Tell her that as the vicemander of my Order, I give her full authority to deal with the matter regarding Skylus.¡±

    To be honest, she should leave the entire matter to Paige¡¯s hands.

    [But we need Ruto¡¯s help since the situation seems dire. He¡¯ll definitely help because as the representative of the Sun Goddess, he also has the duty to protect the Moon God¡¯s new saint. He may not do it for me, but he will definitely do it for the sake of his duty.]

    Dahlia seemed satisfied with Neoma¡¯s decision, as she smiled and nodded. ¡°As youmand, Princess Neoma.¡±

    After saying that, the ck Witch left quietly.

    And as soon as Dahlia disappeared, Nero stirred to life.

    [The question is¡­]

    Was this Nero the normal Nero of the ¡®Emperor Nero¡¯ of the first timeline?

    [Why did the memories of his first life suddenly flood his mind?]

    Neoma observed Nero quietly as her twin brother stood up while clutching his head tight as if he was having a splitting headache.

    The sight made her worry, of course.

    [Nero¡­]

    ¡°You¡¯re really a de Moonasterio,¡± Nero said, raising his head to re at her. ¡°Your brute strength proves it.¡±

    Oho?

    [It¡¯s the current Nero!]

    Fortunately, her twin brother¡¯s eye color had also returned to normal.

    [His eyes aren¡¯t glowing red anymore, and he looks a little calm now.]

    ¡°I held back a lot, hence your skull didn¡¯t split open,¡± Neoma said carefully. ¡°Nero, do you remember why you¡¯re here instead of the hall?¡±

    Nero fell silent for a moment before he stood properly, then hebed his fingers through his slightly disheveled hair. ¡°Ah. I remember sensing Dahlia¡¯s presence. Then I felt like my sanity snapped. I don¡¯t recall anything else¨C aside from the fact that you dropped a kick on me since it¡¯s thest thing I remember clearly.¡±

    Ah, so her twin brother didn¡¯t remember when he acted like the Emperor Nero of the first timeline.

    [I wonder if it¡¯s a good thing?]

    ¡°Where¡¯s Dahlia?¡± Nero asked impatiently. ¡°I need to speak to her.¡±

    Neoma let out a frustrated sigh. ¡°Leave Dahlia alone, Nero. Please stop obsessing over her. For fuck¡¯s sake, you¡¯re alreadymitted to Hanna. Don¡¯t be so indecisive.¡±

    ¡°Who gave you the right to nag me?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m your older sister.¡±

    Nero gave her a dire look before heughed bitterly. ¡°I won¡¯t deny that Hanna has been my source offort these past few years,¡± he said, his voice sounding hollow. ¡°Even so, I still felt empty. During the moments I thought I would lose my mind from boredom, snippets of the strange yet familiar memories I have with Dahlia would keep mepany. You¡¯re asking me why I can¡¯t choose between Hanna and Dahlia? THIS is the reason, my dear twin sister.¡±

    She felt a shiver down her spine at how angry Nero sounded when he called her ¡°dear twin sister.¡±

    ¡°There was a void in my heart that only Hanna¡¯s physical closeness and Dahlia¡¯s fleeting memories could fill,¡± Nero said, his voice full of hate. ¡°I¡¯ve always wondered what the cause of the void was¨C but now, I finally realized it.¡± He clutched his chest tight. ¡°You abandoned me, didn¡¯t you? You, Mother, and Father¡­ you all abandoned me.¡±

    Neoma let out a shaky gasp, her chest tightening as Nero looked at her with pure hatred. ¡°Nero, it¡¯s not like that. Once you regain your memories¨C¡±

    ¡°The fact that I don¡¯t remember anything makes me feel insane!¡± Nero yelled, his eyes turning glowing red again. ¡°I don¡¯t remember anything, and yet I feel the pain and the emptiness in my chest every time I think of you and our parents! If what you said about Calyx being an enemy was true, then why did you leave me behind with him?! Why did Mother and Father take only you with them?!¡±

    ¡°We didn¡¯t want to leave you behind, Nero,¡± she said in a cracked voice, clenching her hands tight until her nails dug deep into the skin of her palms. That was the only way to stop herself from hugging Nero. She knew it would only aggravate him more, so she kept her distance. ¡°But we were left with no other choice. Someone has to sit on the throne¨C¡±

    .....

    She realized that she chose the wrong words to say when pain crossed Nero¡¯s eyes.

    [No, he misunderstood¨C]

    ¡°And that ¡®someone¡¯ was me. I guess I wasn¡¯t loved enough by my own family¨C and that¡¯s probably why I crave the love and affection of two different women,¡± Nero said, obviously dismayed. Then he smirked at her sullenly, his red eyes gleaming viciously. ¡°Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio, I hate you¨C you, Mother, and Father¡­ you all disgust me.¡±

    Right then and there, her heart broke as much as Nero¡¯s heart did.

    For the first time in a while, Neoma¡¯s tears silently fell from her glowing red eyes¨C and her eyes changing color because of how much she hated herself at the moment.

    [I¡¯ve hurt Nero¡­]

    And it was an irreversible mistake.

    ***

 Chapter 697 - 697 UTTERLY BLINDSIDED

    697 UTTERLY BLINDSIDED

    NEOMA should have known it.

    Nero was alone all these years.

    He was lonely.

    He was angry.

    [Mama Boss, Papa Boss, and I abandoned Nero.]

    Even if she argued that they had no choice but to leave, it wouldn¡¯t change the fact that they still collectively decided to abandon Nero because someone had to sit on the throne.

    We thought Nero would be fine alone.

    [I forgot to care about Nero¡¯s emotional stability and mental health.]

    And the worst of all¡­

    .....

    [I overestimated Nero¡¯s love for me.]

    ¡°Nero, I¡¯m sorry¨C¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t need your apology,¡± Nero said bitterly, cutting her off rudely. ¡°I want you to suffer.¡±

    Neoma could only clench her hands tight.

    [He¡¯s really angry¡­]

    The hate-filled gleam in Nero¡¯s red eyes was only getting sharper as time passed by. ¡°Did you say Father and Mother would be returning soon?¡± He smirked condescendingly. ¡°Perfect. I¡¯ll punish Father for abandoning his duties, and I will make sure that the empire will never recognize his marriage with Mother.¡±

    ¡°Father and Mother aren¡¯t married yet,¡± Neoma said, calling Papa Boss and Mama Boss formally because Nero didn¡¯t remember her pet names for their parents. ¡°They didn¡¯t get married because they wanted you to be a part of the wedding ceremony. Hence, they held off the wedding indefinitely.¡±

    In Korea, Niki and Mona Ramsay were married.

    But the documents were fake.

    [Mama Boss and Papa Boss didn¡¯t want to hold a wedding ceremony without Nero in it.]

    ¡°Am I supposed to be touched?¡± Nero asked,ughing sarcastically. ¡°Do I need to feel grateful that they held off their wedding ceremony because they wanted me to be a part of it?¡±

    He suddenly stoppedughing.

    It was scary how all the emotions on Nero¡¯s face suddenly disappeared all at once.

    ¡°Listen to me carefully, Neoma,¡± Nero said, the anger on his face visible. ¡°I will seize the throne as soon as Ie of age officially. And once I be the emperor, I will punish our father for abandoning his duties just to elope with our mother. Killing them is no fun, so I will banish them to the poorest vige of the empire. Of course, I¡¯ll do it after I seal their power. What can they do after they lose the power that makes them great?¡± His mouth twisted in a very cruel smile. ¡°I can¡¯t wait to see the great Emperor Niki and Lady Roseheart starve to death.¡±

    ¡°Nero, I understand that you¡¯re mad at us. You have the right to feel that way,¡± Neoma said, her voice starting to get cold. Although she recognized the pain that she caused Nero, she couldn¡¯t just stand there and listen to him insult their parents. ¡°However, wishing our parents harm is crossing the line.¡±

    ¡°Hah!¡± he said, obviously unaffected. ¡°Our father killed his own father to seize the throne. Ever since time immemorial, it has always been normal for the de Moonasterios to kill each other. Father should have been prepared to be killed by his son after he killed his own father. After all, it¡¯s a vicious cycle that will never end.¡±

    ¡°No, that vicious cycle will end in our generation,¡± she said firmly. ¡°We will end it, Nero.¡±

    ¡°¡®We?''¡± Nero asked,ughing AT her. ¡°Neoma, what power do you have as a mere princess?¡±

    Ah, yes.

    [This is the Nero that I know from the first timeline.]

    ¡°Are you being arrogant because you have the Cosmic Tree as a backing?¡± Nero scoffed. ¡°The Cosmic Tree is dying. She¡¯s not as relevant as she used to be. Moreover, I have the entire Spirit World as my backing. Compared to the Cosmic Tree, the Queen of the Spirit World, who also happens to be the Fairy Queen, is more important and powerful.¡±

    As expected, that damned Queen Tara really had her eyes on Nero.

    [I should have taken care of Queen Tara and William as soon as I returned.]

    ¡°Ah, you also have Hanna by your side.¡±

    Her gaze towards Nero became sharp.

    ¡°Hanna is my fianc¨¦e,¡± Nero reminded her arrogantly. ¡°The Quinzels are mine to use.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t speak like Hanna is just a tool, Nero.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s ¡®Prince Nero,¡¯ to you,¡± he said indifferently. ¡°Stop talking to me as if we¡¯re on the same level. I¡¯m the Crown Prince, and you¡¯re nothing but a mere princess.¡±

    She clenched her hands tighter to stop herself from talking back because once she opened her mouth, she might hurl things at Nero that would definitely make him hate her more.

    [He¡¯s not in his proper mind, so I should just suck it up in the meantime.]

    ¡°As soon as I be the emperor, I will marry you off,¡± Nero continued spitting hateful and hurtful words at her. ¡°Since you have a pretty face, I can sell you off at a high value.¡±

    Neoma just remained quiet because Nero¡¯s threat didn¡¯t scare her.

    [As if I¡¯d sit back and allow him to sell me off.]

    ¡°But I guess you have to stay alive first before I get to sell you,¡± Nero said, looking at her without an ounce of affection on his face. ¡°I heard there¡¯s an organization that onlyes out every time a royal princess is born. Apparently, it¡¯s the same organization that supposedly killed our aunt, Princess Nichole, in the past. But clearly, they failed since you crashed the banquet with our aunt¡¯s Soul Beast.¡±

    This time, Neoma could feel her palms bleeding as her nails dug deeper into them. Of course, she was offended that Nero was talking so lightly about the cult that tormented Aunt Nichole and the countless royal princesses throughout history.

    [Nero isn¡¯t in his sound mind right now. Even so¡­]

    ¡°It¡¯s an evil cult and not a mere organization,¡± she said bitterly. ¡°And what would you do if I tell you Calyx is a key member of that fucking cult?¡±

    ¡°What does it have to do with me?¡± Nero asked,ughing as if he was truly enjoying mocking her. ¡°That ¡°evil cult¡± only goes after princesses like you. If Calyx gets rid of you for me, then I¡¯ll thank him from the bottom of my heart. I¡¯ll even give him a reward.¡±

    Haaah.

    Neomabed her fingers through her hair while heaving a long sigh. ¡°Nero, shut the fuck up for a moment,¡± she warned him, then she walked towards her twin brother. ¡°I know that an apology isn¡¯t enough to make it up to you. But, Nero, there¡¯s still a line that you shouldn¡¯t cross, even though you¡¯re angry at me and our parents.¡±

    Nero, who seemed like he wanted to prove that he wasn¡¯t afraid of her, didn¡¯t move an inch from his spot. ¡°I thought I already told you to watch how you speak to me?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll speak this way to you as long as you¡¯re acting like an asshole.¡±

    He frowned, but this time, he didn¡¯t retort.

    ¡°And, Nero, are you stupid? The evil cult is known for getting rid of royal princesses, but they¡¯re also known as extremists who put their chosen prince on the throne by all means. They threw away our grandfather when they no longer find him useful,¡± she said, stopping right in front of Nero. ¡°They also began treating our father like an enemy when Father didn¡¯t listen to them.¡±

    ¡°So what¨C¡±

    ¡°Shut the fuck up and listen to me first,¡± she said, cutting him off rudely. ¡°It¡¯s true that Calyx is fond of you. But how long do you think you¡¯d stay in the crows¡¯ favor? Once they no longer need you, they¡¯ll throw you away¨C¡±

    ¡°Just like how you and our parents threw me away?¡± Nero asked sarcastically, cutting her off rudely, just like how she cut him off earlier. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, my dear twin sister. I also won¡¯t let Calyx steal the throne from me. I¡¯m quite fond of him, but I¡¯m not stupid enough to let my guard down around him.¡±

    She hated how Nero was fond of Calyx, but at least, her twin brother was still greedy for the throne.

    [Haaah.]

    She wanted to focus on Nero¡¯s emotions and mental health as his twin sister, but as the royal princess, she also had the duty to ensure that Calyx wouldn¡¯t be able to steal the throne.

    ¡°Let¡¯s stop here for tonight, Nero,¡± Neoma said in a tired voice. ¡°We¡¯ve already hurt each other enough.¡±

    If they continued with their hurtful conversation, they might end up fighting physically.

    [I don¡¯t have the patience of a saint. Although I recognize I¡¯m in the wrong, I still can¡¯t let Nero talk shit about our friends and family.]

    ¡°You¡¯re not the one who gets to decide whether this conversation is over or not¨C¡±

    Neoma covered Nero¡¯s mouth with her hand. ¡°Enough,¡± she said sternly. ¡°This conversation is over.¡±

    Nero grabbed her wrist quite roughly to remove her hand from his mouth. ¡°You dare to touch the Crown Prince¡¯s face¨C¡±

    He was forced to stop talking because of what she did next.

    Neoma wrapped her free arm around Nero¡¯s waist and pulled him closer. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for making you feel alone and lonely for five long years, Nero,¡± she said softly, closing her eyes and pressing her forehead against his shoulder. Thanks to the heels of her boots, she stood taller than usual. ¡°You can hate me all you want. Just don¡¯t speak badly about Mama Boss and Papa Boss, okay?¡±

    ¡°¡®Mama Boss?¡¯ ¡®Papa Boss¡­?''¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what I call our mother and father,¡± she exined while gently patting Nero¡¯s back. ¡°Nero, I won¡¯t me you if you still resent us, even after you regained your memories. We will never abandon you again. Just promise me that you won¡¯t self-destruct, hmm?¡±

    Her twin brother flinched, and his grip around her wrist also loosened up.

    She took it as a chance to pull her other hand from his grasp. Then she wrapped her newly freed arm around his waist. Simply put, she was hugging Nero with both arms now.

    Fortunately, Nero didn¡¯t push her away.

    [Why did he suddenly fall silent when he was so angry a moment ago?]

    Oh, well.

    It was good for her, so she just hugged him tighter.

    ¡°My arrogance caused you pain, Nero. I will never stop apologizing, but you¡¯re not obliged to forgive me if you don¡¯t want to,¡± Neoma said, hugging Nero tighter. ¡°However, please remember that I will also never stop loving you. It¡¯s my turn to love you to death.¡±

    Nero grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her away from him. Surprisingly, he didn¡¯t look mad. His face was red, as if he was embarrassed, though. ¡°Aren¡¯t you embarrassed for being so sentimental?¡±

    ¡°I am,¡± Neoma admitted, shrugging. ¡°But expressing my love for you is more important than my embarrassment.¡±

    He scoffed, his face hardened once again. ¡°As I said earlier, talk is cheap. And whatever you do, I will never forgive you or our parents.¡±

    ¡°And as I said earlier, you¡¯re not obliged to forgive us¨C but know that we love you.¡±

    Nero just frowned, then he turned his back on her. ¡°I¡¯ll make you regret loving me then, Neoma,¡± he said bitterly. ¡°Let¡¯s head back to the banquet.¡±

    .....

    Of course, her twin brother wasn¡¯t talking to her.

    Sanford and Raku, her ¡°nephews,¡± appeared behind Nero. The two bowed towards her politely before following their master quietly.

    Then, just like that, Nero and his ¡°children¡± disappeared.

    [It was a painful encounter but, at least, Nero won¡¯t go berserk anymore.]

    ¡°Are you alright, Princess Neoma?¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m not alright. But I don¡¯t have time to cry, so I¡¯ll schedule thatter,¡± Neoma said, turning around to find Lewis and Kingston waiting for her. ¡°Let¡¯s head back to the banquet, too.¡±

    ***

    ¡°THERE¡¯S nothing we can do to change the oue,¡± Ruto said to Dahlia and Neoma¡¯s ¡°children¡± indifferently after hearing the ck Witch¡¯s report. ¡°Neoma already lost the game tonight.¡±

    As expected, no one was happy with his response.

    Dahlia and Greko looked like they were about to cry.

    Xion Redgrave, Juri Wisteria, and Jeno Dankworth red at him. Only Paige Avery remained calm.

    [As expected of Neoma¡¯s vicemander.]

    They were still in the hall.

    To be precise, they were on the first floor¡¯s balcony while talking.

    Of course, he and Paige Avery made sure that their conversation was protected.

    [Hanna Quinzel decided to stay inside and block Calyx Dalton for us.]

    Even Jasper Hawthorne, the Quinzel Couple, and the Griffiths remained inside in order to take the attention away from our group.

    ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that,¡± Ruto said, sighing. ¡°Dahlia said that Trevor¡¯s group is on its way back. They have an ¡°extra baggage¡± with them, but the important thing is everyone is safe.¡±

    ¡°Lord Ruto, do you mind telling us why you think the best course of action is to stay still?¡± Paige asked carefully. ¡°I can tell that we¡¯ve been utterly blindsided, but I don¡¯t agree that we should just ept defeat without putting up a fight first.¡±

    Dahlia and the ¡°children¡± nodded in agreement.

    ¡°Trevor is with Prince Skylus, and he¡¯s the petty kind who hates losing,¡± Ruto said. ¡°The fact that he didn¡¯t fight back even though he could only mean the situation required him to give up. If that¡¯s the case, then we can assume that Trevor is following Neoma¡¯s creed.¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma¡¯s creed¡­?¡± Paige asked, confused. It took her a moment before her eyes opened wide. ¡°There¡¯s no mission worth dying for.¡±

    Dahlia then covered her mouth when she gasped. ¡°That means Lord Trevor¡¯s group encountered a really dangerous situation.¡±

    Ruto nodded, then he looked up at the night sky. ¡°The crows used their brain this time, huh?¡±

    ***

    ¡°I ALMOST fell asleep while waiting for you to return, Princess Neoma~¡±

    Ah, fuck it.

    Neoma was so pissed to be greeted by Calyx when she returned to Callisto Hall.

    There was not a single guard there.

    ¡°Your eyes are red,¡± Calyx teased her yfully while walking towards her with little hops. Yes, he was walking like a child. ¡°Did you cry after fighting with Nero? Nero came back a little while. He looks pissed, so Lady Hanna is currentlyforting him~¡±

    Lewis stepped forward and used his scabbard to stop Calyx from approaching her further.

    ¡°Lewis Crevan, your bloodlust is oozing~¡±

    ¡°So?¡±

    ¡°I see¨C you inherited your master¡¯s rudeness~¡±

    Lewis just ignored Calyx¡¯s taunting.

    [Good boy.]

    Neoma patted Lewis¡¯ shoulder to let him know that she¡¯d take it from here. ¡°What do you want, Calyx Dalton?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re still calling me a ¡®Dalton?''¡±

    ¡°Should I call you ¡®de Luca¡¯ then?¡±

    Calyx shrugged casually. ¡°Nothing I can do if you can¡¯t still ept me as a de Moonasterio. I don¡¯t need your approval, anyway. As long as Nero recognizes me as his precious older brother, your opinion won¡¯t hurt me.¡±

    She didn¡¯t want to let Calyx show her emotions, so she maintained a poker face. ¡°Is it alright for the fake star of the night to be out here? Your birthday party isn¡¯t over yet, is it?¡±

    ¡°Of course, it¡¯s not. The night is still young,¡± Calyx said yfully, then he offered his hand to her. ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m here to pick up my date for the rest of the night.¡±

    Lewis immediately drew his sword, but¡­

    Calyx turned to Lewis with glowing red eyes. ¡°If you pull that sword out, Prince Skylus will never make it here alive.¡±

    Lewis froze in shock, his golden eyes opened a little wider than usual.

    Neoma then grabbed Calyx by the wrist, her own eyes turning glowing red like the fuckface. ¡°What did you do to them?¡±

    Calyxughed, and when he turned to her, his eyes returned to normal. ¡°It was just a joke, princess,¡± he said. ¡°Prince Skylus will have the grand entrance that you nned for him. However, I added a twist.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean¡­¡±

    She was forced to stop talking when a spark in the sky caught her eye.

    To be precise, it was a bright light that came from the portal that opened right above the Callisto Hall.

    Since the roof was still open, everyone inside the hall could probably see it.

    Tteokbokki, in his adult dragon form, flew out of the portal.

    Trevor and Lord Manu were both standing on Tteokbokki¡¯s back. The Moon Priest was holding Skylus in his arms¡­

    ¡­ and another little boy with rosegold hair.

    [Who is that gremlin?]

    But the extra baggage that caught her attention the most was¡­

    ¡°Regina Crowell,¡± Neoma growled lowly. ¡°What is she doing there?¡±

    ¡°Surprise!¡± Calyx said cheerfully whileughing at her reaction. ¡°Do you think you¡¯re the only one capable of nning a grand entrance?¡± He tilted his head to one side, his eyes turned glowing red again. ¡°Have a taste of your own medicine, Princess Neoma.¡±

    Goddammit!

    [I¡¯ve been had¡­]

    ***

 Chapter 698 - 698 NEOMAâ€™S LOSING STREAK

    698 NEOMA¡¯S LOSING STREAK

    [SOMEONE is calling me¡­?]

    Skylus looked up at Uncle Manu who was holding him in his arms.

    Right now, the Moon Priest was sitting on the back of Brother Tteokbokki, Neoma noona¡¯s Soul Beast, in his adult dragon form. Brother Trevor was also with them. They weren¡¯t falling from the flying dragon because of Brother Trevor¡¯s magic device.

    [Instead of putting a saddle on Brother Tteokbokki, Brother Trevor created a seat simr to a car¡¯s backseat. It also came with seatbelts. I don¡¯t know what a car and a seatbelt are, but they are what keep us safe at the moment.]

    <¡°Skylus, please save me¡­¡±>

    That voice again!

    ¡°Uncle Manu, can you hear that voice?¡± Skylus asked while looking around. ¡°Someone is calling me and asking for my help¡­¡±

    ¡°Ignore it, little guy,¡± Brother Trevor said even before Uncle Manu could even open his mouth. ¡°We¡¯re up here, and we¡¯re about to open the portal now. If someone is calling you, that only means the enemies have set up a trap for us.¡± He stood up and looked ahead as if he could see something that Skylus and Uncle Manu couldn¡¯t. ¡°Ah, dammit. I guess it¡¯s toote to ignore the trap now.¡±

    Skylus noticed that Uncle Manu¡¯s arms around him tightened protectively. ¡°Uncle, are we being attacked?¡±

    .....

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Prince Skylus,¡± Uncle Manu assured him. ¡°With Tteokbokki and Trevor here, no one can harm you.¡±

    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you including yourself?¡± Brother Trevorined to the Moon Priest. ¡°The new saint is your responsibility, not mine.¡±

    ¡°Of course, I¡¯ll protect the new saint. But my expertise is defense, notbat,¡± Uncle Manu said. ¡°I¡¯ll leave the fighting to you and Tteokbokki, Trevor. Thank you in advance.¡±

    ¡°Wow,¡± Brother Trevorined again. ¡°You¡¯re shameless, Moon Priest.¡±

    Uncle Manu ignored Brother Trevor, but he stood up in a hurry and raised his hand. A semi-transparent shield shaped like a half-moon appeared and blocked the huge ming boulder that fell from the sky. ¡°I¡¯m pulling my weight here, young sorcerer.¡±

    ¡°Just continue doing that, Moon Priest,¡± Brother Trevor said, standing up. ¡°More areing.¡±

    Brother Trevor was right.

    All of a sudden, hundreds of ming boulders suddenly lit up the sky.

    ¡°Should I continue flying?¡± Brother Tteokbokki asked. ¡°It¡¯s obvious the enemies want me to descend by threatening us this way.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, don¡¯t stop,¡± Brother Trevor said. ¡°The Moon Priest will protect us from those rocks while I create a portal. I can¡¯t be bothered dealing with those stupid meteors, so let¡¯s just run away.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re going to open a portal now, Brother Trevor?¡± Skylus asked worriedly. ¡°But we¡¯re still a bit far from the Activation Point¡­¡±

    The ¡®Activation Point¡¯ was the spot where Brother Trevor was supposed to open a portal connected to the Royal Pce. Even for a genius sorcerer like Brother Trevor, teleportation was a hard skill to perform, especially if it involved opening a portal.

    Hence, Brother Trevor had to cut short the distance as much as possible before opening a portal. That was what Activation Points were for.

    ¡°Are you going to be okay, Brother Trevor?¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯ll probably cough up a good chunk of blood,¡± Brother Trevor said bluntly. ¡°But it¡¯s okay, I won¡¯t die.¡±

    Skylus felt his heart squeeze painfully out of guilt. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Brother Trevor. Because of me¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not your fault, Prince Skylus,¡± Uncle Manu said, frowning at Trevor. ¡°Watch your mouth, sorcerer.¡±

    Brother Trevor shrugged. ¡°I only listen to my Moon Princess~¡±

    ¡°Hey, stop fighting,¡± Brother Tteokbokki scolded Brother Trevor and Uncle Manu while he was slowing down until he finally stopped moving. Hence, they were now suspended in the air. ¡°Don¡¯t you find it strange that the meteors aren¡¯t falling yet? Perhaps¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s a sorcerer,¡± Brother Trevor said, frustrated. ¡°My self-proimed brother is definitely behind this. What was that bastard¡¯s name again?¡±

    Skylus could hear Brother Trevor speak, but he couldn¡¯t understand what he was saying.

    [Argh!]

    He closed his eyes tight.

    After all, a static suddenly rang loudly in his head. Before he knew it, he was already clutching his head tight because of a splitting headache. Aside from that, blurred and unfamiliar visions also began flooding his mind.

    ¡°Prince Skylus?¡± Uncle Manu asked worriedly. ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡±

    Vision.

    He just received an urgent vision from Lord Yule himself.

    ¡°Brother Tteokbokki, we must descend.¡±

    Skylus said that before he opened his eyes and turned to Brother Trevor and Uncle Manu.

    Both Brother Trevor and Uncle Manu looked surprised, so his eyes were probably glowing at the moment. His divine power was activated when he received the vision.

    Ah, no.

    [It¡¯s more precise to say that it was an order from Lord Yule.]

    ¡°Brother Trevor, Uncle Manu, we have to give up on Neoma noona¡¯s n,¡± Skylus said sadly. ¡°Whatever the enemies demand, we mustply. It¡¯s the only way Neoma noona woulde out unscathed tonight.¡±

    ***

    TREVOR wasn¡¯t the type to listen to other people who weren¡¯t Princess Neoma.

    But since Skylus¨C the new saint¨C saidplying with the enemies¡¯ demand was the only way to protect his Moon Princess tonight, he decided to suck it up.

    [I can¡¯t ignore the warning of the Moon Saint.]

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you¡¯d descend without picking up a fight.¡±

    Trevor rolled his eyes at Regina Crowell, and the sorcerer who imed to be his brother five years ago. ¡°As expected, it¡¯s you.¡±

    When Tteokbokkinded on the vast field where the crows were waiting for them, Regina Crowell and the sorcerer greeted his group.

    It was obviously a trap since the entire field was surrounded by a powerful barrier.

    [This means we cannot escape since the barrier is also suppressing our power.]

    That was why Tteokbokki failed to turn into his human form. The red dragon only managed to shrink in size. Hence, right now, the Soul Beast was the size of an adult horse.

    [The fact that they were waiting for us here proves they know we were at the Quinzel Estate.]

    Anyway, Regina Crowell and the sorcerer weren¡¯t alone.

    ¡°Dion Skelton,¡± Manu, who was standing behind him while holding Skylus in his arms tightly, whispered. ¡°And that¡¯s Hendrik Benedict¨C the captain of the Holy Knights.¡±

    Dion Skelton and Hendrik Benedict were both cuffed and blindfolded.

    [Those cuffs are a magical device that is meant to suppress divine power.]

    Dion Skelton and Hendrik Benedict weren¡¯t gagged, but Trevor could tell the two were trapped under a spell that prevented them from speaking.

    Hah!

    [Princess Neoma and I made sure that the crows wouldn¡¯t realize that Dion Skelton and the Holy Knights have regained their memories before we left the Astello Temple. So, how did they realize this quickly that the Astello Temple was no longer on their side?]

    ¡°Why do you look surprised?¡± Regina Crowell asked, scoffing. ¡°Neoma de Moonasterio isn¡¯t the only person who can use her brain here.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a surprise,¡± Trevor said yfully. ¡°I thought you were going to stay depressed after your heist failed thanks to my Moon Princess¡¯ big brain.¡±

    Regina Crowell just rolled his eyes at him.

    ¡°How long are you going to ignore me, Brother?¡±

    Of course, it was the sorcerer who imed to be his brother five years ago.

    ¡°I would have greeted you, but I failed to remember your name,¡± Trevor said, shrugging. ¡°You see, my brain is already upied by Princess Neoma and anything rted to her. I don¡¯t have enough space in my head to remember insignificant people.¡±

    The sorcerer just scoffed at his taunting. ¡°You should remember the name of the person who will kill youter, Brother¨C and it¡¯s Dn Crowell.¡±

    ¡°Pfft.¡± Trevor held back hisughter when he remembered a certain anime series that he binged-watched with Tteokbokki when they were in Korea. ¡°Dn Crowell, if we were in another dimension, you would have already died after I wrote your name on a certain dangerous notebook.¡±

    Of course, Dn Crowell looked confused by what he said.

    Trevor didn¡¯t offer an exnation.

    He didn¡¯t have time to do since, out of nowhere, they heard loud cries around them.

    [Huh? Why are there children here?]

    A magical carriage appeared behind Dn Crowell.

    It was the type of carriage that looked ordinary, except for the fact that it could hold at least twenty adults inside.

    [Wow. A magical device that takes a vehicle¡¯s form is rare and difficult to make.]

    Perhaps Dn Crowell did inherit the Kessers¡¯ magical abilities.

    ¡°Those aren¡¯t ordinary children,¡± Manu whispered in disbelief while watching the crying boys step out of the carriage. The boys looked like they were around six or seven years old. And the button-down shirts they wore were obviously too big for them. ¡°Those are the Holy Knights of Astello Temple¡­¡±

    Dion Skelton and Hendrik Benedict both flinched.

    [At least, they can hear us.]

    Trevor looked at Regina Crowell with a little seriousness on his part. ¡°Is it your newfound hobby to turn people into children?¡±

    .....

    Regina Crowell¡¯s mouth stretched wide in a sneer.

    He didn¡¯t need to hear the wench¡¯s verbal response because he knew that only Regina Crowell could turn the Holy Knights into little children.

    That would be a problemter.

    [Regina Crowell now has a goodmand over her special power.]

    ¡°A baby saint like me¡­¡±

    Trevor snapped out of his thinking session when he heard Skylus speak.

    Then he saw a boy¨C who was obviously older than the new saint¨C step out of the magical carriage.

    [Did Skylus inherit Neoma¡¯s quirk of seeing everyone as little children?]

    ¡°We¡¯re not here to fight with you, gentlemen,¡± the boy with rosegold hair and sparkling eyes said in a gentle and calm voice. ¡°We just want you to give us a ride. Shall we go to Prince Calyx¡¯s birthday banquet together?¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 699 - 699 STABBED IN THE BACK

    699 STABBED IN THE BACK

    [SHOULD I just kill them all?]

    Trevor didn¡¯t forget that the baby saint told them toply with the enemies, but he didn¡¯t like the aura the boy with rose-gold hair was emitting.

    [He must be the fake saint the crows created. If I get rid of him now¨C]

    ¡°I¡¯ll give you a prophecy, Mr. Sorcerer,¡± the boy with rose-gold hair and clear blue eyes said. ¡°If you kill me tonight, the bad karma that Princess Neoma will receive will be too heavy for her to bear.¡±

    Trevor didn¡¯t have to look at the mirror to know that his eyes were glowing menacingly now. He didn¡¯t like what the boy said, after all. ¡°Why would my Moon Princess receive bad karma if I¡¯m the one killing you?¡±

    ¡°Because you intend to kill me for Her Royal Highness¡¯ sake,¡± the fake saint said, smiling. ¡°Whether you ept it or not, I¡¯m also a saint like Prince Skylus. A saint serving the Moon God, to be precise. Princess Neoma is the descendant of Lord Yule. Hence, killing a representative of the Moon God like me would give Princess Neoma bad karma. After all, it¡¯s forbidden for the de Moonasterios to kill a representative of the Moon God.¡±

    Ah, was that the reason why Emperor Niki didn¡¯t touch his appa¨C the former Saint Dominic Zavaroni¨C no matter how many times the former saint acted rudely towards the former emperor?

    ¡°The boy is telling the truth, young sorcerer,¡± Manu said hesitantly. ¡°The boy has the same amount of divine power as Prince Skylus has. It wouldn¡¯t be an exaggeration to say that both of them are ¡®half-saints¡¯ at the moment.¡±

    Trevor turned to Manu with a frown. ¡°Are you recognizing that fake as a real saint now?¡±

    .....

    He couldn¡¯t confirm the truth using the Bookworm¡¯s knowledge. After all, his ability to gather information never worked on powerful people.

    Regina and Dn Crowell weren¡¯t superior to Trevor, but the two were protected by a god.

    [It¡¯s probably Helstor¡¯s protection. The gods are wary of the Bookworm because they didn¡¯t want their weaknesses exposed. Hence, they managed to create a spell that prevents the Bookworm from absorbing information around them.]

    Helstor probably shared that protection with the crows.

    Anyway, Trevor got the answer he needed while observing the Moon Priest¡¯s expression.

    Manu didn¡¯t respond verbally, but his shaking pupils said everything.

    Tsk.

    No wonder Regina and Dn Crowell both looked confident.

    [It seems like the crows were more prepared than we thought.]

    How annoying.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, Brother Trevor,¡± Skylus said in a calming voice. ¡°Neoma noona said she¡¯s going to make me a real saint. I trust noona.¡±

    Hearing that from the baby saint calmed him down.

    [The baby is right. There¡¯s no point in getting mad since Princess Neoma will surely do something to make everything fine again.]

    Of course, there was another reason why he forced himself to calm down.

    Regina Crowell scoffed after looking at Trevor¡¯s now calm face. ¡°Boring. It would have been fun if you lost your cool and attacked us.¡±

    ¡°Too bad I¡¯m not dumb, huh?¡±

    The wench just raised an eyebrow at him.

    ¡°You managed to hide your presence from us, and you could have dealt us serious damage earlier using your meteors. But you didn¡¯t,¡± Trevor said, smirking. ¡°You¡¯re scared of identally harming Skylus Griffiths, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    The sudden sharp look on the crows¡¯ faces was enough for an answer.

    ¡°Of course, Skylus Griffith is also a half-saint like that boy over there,¡± Trevor said, scoffing. ¡°We don¡¯t know whose sperm or egg cell you stole from, but Calyx is also a de Moonasterio. Hence, if you kill the baby saint for the sake of your fake prince, then he will also receive bad karma.¡±

    Now he finally understood why the crows never attempted to kill Skylus.

    Calyx did try to abduct the baby saint, but he didn¡¯t harm the young princess even though he could.

    ¡°Heh.¡± Trevor said, smirking. ¡°Thanks for sharing vital information with us, crows.¡±

    ¡°Brother, just because you know that we can¡¯t kill each other¡¯s half-saint for the sake of the de Moonasterios we serve doesn¡¯t change anything,¡± Dn Crowell said arrogantly. ¡°We still have the upper hand.¡±

    ¡°For now, yes,¡± Trevor said, shrugging. ¡°So, enjoy it while itsts.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you to easily ept your defeat tonight,¡± Regina Crowell said mockingly. ¡°Your Princess Neoma might be disappointed in you if she found out how easily you surrendered.¡±

    ¡°This is why you shouldn¡¯t open your mouth when you know nothing,¡± Trevor said calmly. ¡°Princess Neoma¡¯s creed is¡­¡±

    ¡°No mission is worth dying for.¡±

    Trevor, Tteokbokki, Skylus, and Manu said at the same time.

    ¡°What a wonderful creed,¡± the fake saint with rose-gold hair and clear blue eyes said while pping his hands. ¡°Now I can¡¯t wait to meet Princess Neoma. Shall we go?¡±

    ¡°Uncle Dion and the rest of the Holy Knights who have turned into little children,¡± Skylus said in a calm yet firm manner. The baby saint would often talk in a voice that suited his age. However, this time, he sounded like a man trapped inside a child¡¯s body. ¡°I assume you kept them alive because you need them to confirm our position as half-saints.¡±

    [Yes, Skylus really sounds like a young man now.]

    Trevor wasn¡¯t fazed, though.

    [Saints like Skylus already lived an adult life back in the Moon God¡¯s home. But a saint has to be born human. Hence, a saint is sent to the human world as a baby. Moreover, they retain a good portion of their past life¡¯s memories.]

    ¡°I¡¯ll take them to the banquet safely,¡± Dn Crowell said. ¡°The current High Priest and the Holy Knights will go with me using a different portal.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re going to bring the Holy Knights, too?¡± Skylus asked while looking at the Holy Knights who had turned into little children. ¡°In that state?¡±

    Regina Crowell smiled. ¡°We can¡¯t greet Princess Neoma empty-handed, can we?¡±

    ¡°Ah, so you¡¯re going to ckmail Princess Neoma using the Holy Knights,¡± Trevor said, nodding. ¡°Fine, do your worst. My Moon Princess is good at paying back what she receives anyway.¡±

    ***

    [HE¡¯S a saint¡­ but also not¡­]

    Skylus couldn¡¯t help but stare at the other half-saint.

    The two of them were being carried by Uncle Manu in his arms. Hence, it was inevitable that they ended up facing each other.

    ¡°My name is Dustin, Prince Skylus.¡±

    Skylus smiled at the other saint. ¡°Hi, Brother Dustin. You don¡¯t have to address me by my title. You can just call me by my name.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t do that,¡± Brother Dustin said, smiling at him. ¡°¡®Prince¡¯ is the only title you¡¯ll ever receive in your life, so I must address Your Highness properly.¡±

    Of course, he didn¡¯t miss the other saint¡¯s sarcasm.

    [Brother Dustin is practically telling me that I will never be addressed as the new saint in this life.]

    Skylus just smiled in response.

    ¡°I see, you¡¯re kind like the former Saint Zavaroni,¡± Brother Dustin said, obviously disappointed. ¡°You were probably chosen as the new saint because of your patience.¡±

    ¡°Do you wish to provoke me, Brother Dustin?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you feel annoyed by my existence as the other saint?¡±

    ¡°You may not believe me, but I¡¯m not threatened by your existence,¡± Skylus said calmly. ¡°I was born the saint, and I will be the saint.¡±

    Dustin chuckled while shaking his head. ¡°Are you confident because you think lightly of a ¡®creation¡¯ like me?¡±

    ¡°No. Even a half-saint like you could lead the temple, Brother Dustin,¡± he said kindly. ¡°However, you made a mistake.¡±

    ¡°What mistake?¡±

    ¡°You chose the wrong de Moonasterio to be friends with,¡± Skylus said, smiling innocently. ¡°I am confident of my position as the new saint not just because I was born as one¨C but also because I chose Neoma noona as my empress.¡±

    Dustin looked surprised at first, but then heughed. ¡°Didn¡¯t Princess Neoma teach you not to count your chickens before they hatch?¡±

    That was a warning that he shouldn¡¯t depend on an assumption until he was certain it would happen.

    It was a piece of sound advice, however¡­

    Uncle Manu cleared his throat. ¡°Children, don¡¯t fight.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re not fighting, Uncle Manu,¡± Skylus said while shaking his head. ¡°Brother Dustin, Neoma noona is the one who decides which egg gets to hatch or not. If she said she¡¯d give me ten chickens, then I¡¯ll receive ten chickens.¡±

    ¡°Child, you also need to learn how to count yourself.¡±

    ¡°I am learning, Brother Dustin. And that¡¯s exactly why I decided to be friends with you.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m already doing my job as the new saint,¡± Skylus said, his eyes glowing with divine power. ¡°And I¡¯m going to start with you, Brother Dustin.¡±

    [Because I can hear your inner voice.]

    Dustin didn¡¯t say anything back, but his pupils shook a bit as if he was surprised.

    Skylus smiled warmly.

    [I¡¯ll save you.]

    ***

    .....

    TREVOR didn¡¯t want to, but he could hear Skylus¡¯ conversation with the half-saint who introduced himself as ¡®Dustin.¡¯

    Haaah.

    [Princess Neoma, it seems like Skylus shared your quirk for picking up charity cases.]

    ¡°You¡¯re the one who¡¯s been stalking me recently, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    Trevor turned to Regina Crowell with a bored look on his face. ¡°And what about it?¡±

    It wasn¡¯t like he was keeping it a secret.

    Of course, he would hide himself because he didn¡¯t like mingling with insignificant people. However, he didn¡¯t bother erasing his traces. After all, he wanted Regina Crowell to know that she was being watched.

    ¡°What do you need from me?¡± Regina Crowell asked, frowning. ¡°Why are you following me?¡±

    Trevor smirked at the wench. ¡°I¡¯m not telling you,¡± he said yfully. ¡°I want to live in your mind rent-free for some psychological damage1.¡±

    Regina Crowell red at him. ¡°Bastard.¡±

    ¡°Bitch,¡± Trevor cursed back, obviously shocking the female crow. ¡°What? You should expect to be cursed back after you cursed someone. Do I look like a gentleman to you?¡±

    ***

    [ARGH.]

    Neoma clutched her head after she saw and heard everything that Tteokbokki experienced earlier.

    Yes, her Soul Beast shared it with her.

    It was one of the techniques that she learned from Papa Boss.

    [My Papa Boss can use his Soul Beasts as his eyes and ears. Tteokbokki and I can do that, too. But not when we¡¯re far from each other. Even so, Tteokbokki can share the things that he had seen and heard.]

    And that was what Tteokbokki did as soon as their eyes met earlier.

    Thanks to that, she now had a gist of what happened.

    [Yep, I¡¯ve really been had.]

    ¡°Are you alright, Princess Neoma?¡± Calyx said, obviously faking his concern. ¡°Should you retire for tonight?¡±

    ¡°What do you want?¡± Neoma asked. First things first, after all. ¡°What do you want in exchange for returning the Holy Knights back to normal, and removing whatever spell you put on Dion Skelton and Hendrik Benedict?¡±

    She didn¡¯t have time to be annoyed since it was time for negotiations.

    Admittedly, she didn¡¯t feel that attached to the Holy Knights for her to ept defeat. The main reason she decided to negotiate with the crows was Dion Skelton.

    [I was the one who made Dion the High Priest¨C he¡¯s my person, and my responsibility.]

    Moreover, if something bad happened to Dion Skelton, Paige would be heartbroken.

    [I¡¯ll take the L for now.]

    FOR. NOW.

    ¡°You¡¯re going to use Skylus Griffiths to prove that you¡¯re the First Star, aren¡¯t you?¡± Calyx said. Although the psycho crow was smiling, the gleam in his eyes was serious. ¡°Because you want to prove that I¡¯m not Emperor Niki¡¯s son.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not my father¡¯s son.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what you think, and your opinion doesn¡¯t matter,¡± Calyx said, shrugging. ¡°You must give up your ambition of bing the First Star, Princess Neoma.¡±

    It seemed like she didn¡¯t have any other choice but toply for now.

    She was curious about one thing, though.

    ¡°Why did you let Skylus arrive here?¡± Neoma asked suspiciously. ¡°You could have easily threatened him not to show up.¡±

    Calyx offered his hand to her. ¡°Come and find out, Princess Neoma.¡±

    Lewis tried to get in between them, but she stopped her ¡°son.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Lewis,¡± Neoma said, grabbing Calyx¡¯s hand. It was disgusting, but she had no choice but to endure. ¡°We might have lost this battle, but we¡¯re still going to win the war in the end.¡±

    ***

    NEOMA already expected that everyone in the hall would be in a state of confusion.

    She didn¡¯t care about the other nobles.

    As soon as she got inside, while being escorted by Calyx, she immediately scanned the entire ce to look for her people.

    Nero and Hanna were with Duke and Duchess Quinzel.

    Ruto and Jasper oppa (and was that Aspen?) were together for some reason.

    Aunt Brigitte and Uncle Glenn were looking up at Tteokbokki because Skylus was there, in Manu¡¯s arms.

    Of course, Dahlia and her ¡°children¡± were also there.

    [I have to apologize to everyone for losing tonight¡¯s battle.]

    ¡°Everyone, please calm down,¡± Calyx said in a loud and friendly voice. Thanks to that, all eyes were on them now. ¡°I know you are all curious, but I¡¯m sure your questions will be answered after hearing the prophecy.¡± The psycho bastard turned to Neoma with an arrogant smirk on his face. ¡°A prophecy from Lord Yule himself about having two saint candidates for this generation.¡±

    Neoma, despite her will to stay calm, was caught off-guard.

    The Moon God was already awake?!

    [And Lord Yule gave a prophecy to the crows?]

    Neoma, needless to say, feltpletely betrayed.

    ***

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 Chapter 700 - 700 TWIN STARS

    700 TWIN STARS

    HANNA was surprised when Nero returned to the hall with a frown on his face.

    [He rarely shows his grumpiness to the public.]

    Fortunately, the Crown Prince went straight to her. And now that he was closer, she could see that his eyes were red and puffy.

    [Did he cry?]

    ¡°Hanna,¡± Nero said, holding her hand. ¡°Should we get some fresh air?¡±

    She didn¡¯t like how Nero ignored her parents who were standing behind her, but she just let it slide because she could see that the Crown Prince hadn¡¯tpletely calmed down yet.

    [Something definitely happened.]

    Hanna turned to her parents with an apologetic look on her face. ¡°Mother, Father, I¡¯ll step out for a moment with Nero.¡±

    Her mother looked worried, but the duchess nodded nheless. ¡°Alright, sweetheart. Take care.¡±

    .....

    ¡°Thank you, Mother.¡±

    ¡°Your mother and I will stay here,¡± her father said while eyeing Nero carefully. ¡°Call us if something happens.¡±

    ¡°I will, Father,¡± Hanna said, then she turned to Nero. ¡°Where are we going?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s head to the Balcony,¡± Nero said, then he finally turned to Hanna¡¯s parents. ¡°Excuse us, Your Graces.¡±

    After the Crown Prince said that, he escorted her to the Balcony in a hurry.

    Naturally, Nero¡¯s royal knights followed them.

    Sanford, Raku, Lucien, Alucard, and Melvin walked behind the two in silence.

    Hanna only focused on Nero¡¯s face. It looked like something terrible had happened because the Crown Prince looked very serious at the moment.

    And she wasn¡¯t the only one who noticed.

    There were nobles who tried to greet Nero. But upon seeing the dark look on the Crown Prince¡¯s face, the nobles quickly bowed their heads and lowered their gazes.

    Hanna smiled and greeted the nobles to salvage Nero¡¯s reputation.

    Although she wondered if she really had time to worry about their reputation when there was something she was more worried about.

    [Neoma hasn¡¯t returned yet¡­]

    She saw Neoma leave the hall with Lewis through the Balcony after Nero left.

    [I wonder what happened.]

    ¡°Are you wondering why I suddenly left earlier?¡± Nero asked when they reached the Balcony. Then he let go of her hand and leaned against the railing, his arms now crossed over his chest. ¡°I felt Dahlia¡¯s presence.¡±

    Ah.

    Was Nero speaking freely because only the two of them were on the Balcony? His knights were just outside, so they could still hear what they were talking about.

    [He trusts his guards that much.]

    Or perhaps Nero¡¯s guards were already aware of his obsession with Dahlia?

    ¡°You ran out of the hall in such an inelegant manner just because you felt Miss Dahlia¡¯s presence?¡± Hanna asked, putting her hands together on her stomach. She wished she could stand in a rxed manner, but she couldn¡¯t do that. The curtains were drawn to give them privacy, but she still had to carry herself properly as the Quinzel Princess. ¡°Have you changed your mind about marrying me?¡±

    It wasn¡¯t an easy thing to ask.

    However, she knew there was no point in dying it.

    Hence, despite the loud and hard beat of her heart against her chest, she still had the question that might devastate her.

    ¡°I will marry you, Hanna.¡±

    She didn¡¯t know why, but hearing that from Nero only made her feel more nervous.

    ¡°I need you, and you¡¯re the only one who deserves to be the empress.¡±

    She clenched her hands tight. ¡°Then what about Dahlia?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s a ck Witch¨C she¡¯ll never be epted even as a royal concubine,¡± Nero said in a serious tone. ¡°But I intend to keep Dahlia by my side, Hanna.¡±

    To be honest, it hurt hearing that.

    [But not as much as I thought it would.]

    In the past, Nero tried to hide his obsession with Dahlia and pretended that he didn¡¯t care about the ck Witch.

    But it seemed like he had already epted the fact that he couldn¡¯t let go of Dahlia.

    ¡°I will not treat Dahlia as my wife, and I don¡¯t n to have any children with her. You¡¯ll be the empress, so you¡¯re the only woman who has the right to give birth to my sessor,¡± Nero said in a clear and firm voice as if he had already made up his mind. ¡°I just need Dahlia beside me, so allow me to give her the other spot next to me, Hanna.¡±

    ¡°Do you realize that you¡¯re being incredibly rude and shameless right now, Nero?¡±

    ¡°I do.¡±

    And he looked unapologetic, at that.

    Hanna let out a sigh. ¡°It¡¯s your right as the future emperor to have your own harem.¡±

    That was why she couldn¡¯t really say that Nero was disrespecting her.

    [I know what I¡¯m getting into when I decided to stick to Nero even though I¡¯m aware of his obsession with Dahlia.]

    ¡°Don¡¯t call it a harem¨C I only want Dahlia.¡±

    Now Nero¡¯s words were starting to hurt.

    [He NEEDS me because I¡¯m the most qualifieddy to be the empress, and yet he WANTS Dahlia just because.]

    She felt the strong urge to throw a tantrum and break off their engagement.

    But she held back.

    [I can¡¯t leave Nero¡¯s side until he has returned to normal. Neoma can¡¯t approach him freely, so I have to stay by his side in his twin sister¡¯s ce.]

    ¡°Hanna, allow me to keep Dahlia by my side.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re asking the wrong person here, Nero,¡± Hanna said, letting out a frustrated sigh. ¡°None of us has the right to decide whether you get to keep Dahlia by your side or not. You should be asking her.¡±

    Nero just clenched his jaws while avoiding his gaze.

    Hmm?

    [That look¡­]

    ¡°I guess you already asked and Dahlia rejected you,¡± Hanna said, growing more annoyed by the minute. ¡°Nero, don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re going to force Dahlia to be with you?¡±

    ¡°You said it earlier,¡± Nero said, turning to Hanna with glowing red eyes as if he was suddenly annoyed. ¡°It¡¯s my right as the future emperor to have my own harem¨C and thates with the right to choose any woman I want.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s called being a tyrant, you piece of¨C¡±

    She stopped herself before she cursed Nero.

    In fact, she had to remind herself that the Crown Prince wasn¡¯t in his sound mind at the moment.

    Fortunately, a distraction appeared.

    A portal opened up above them, causing her to look up.

    [They¡¯re here.]

    She was relieved when she saw Tteokbokkie out of the portal, but she soon felt confused and nervous when she saw two faces that shouldn¡¯t be there.

    [A child with rose-gold hair, and¡­]

    ¡°Regina Crowell?¡± Hanna whispered in disbelief, then she immediately turned her back on Nero. ¡°Let¡¯s head back to the hall.¡±

    ***

    WHEN Neoma pulled herself together, she found herself the center of attention.

    Of course, Calyx Dalton was still beside her.

    Tteokbokki had already descended and was now in his human form. Manu had already put Skylus and the boy with rose-gold hair down. Trevor quickly stood behind Neoma (right beside Lewis) while Regina Crowell remained standing beside the Moon Priest.

    ¡°A red dragon¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a Soul Beast since it¡¯s oozing with divine power simr to the Royal Family¡­¡±

    ¡°He must be Princess Neoma¡¯s Soul Beast¡­¡±

    That was what the nobles were ¡°whispering¡± among themselves while Tteokbokki was walking towards Neoma.

    [Why does Tteokbokki look nervous?]

    .....

    It seemed like Tteokbokki didn¡¯t like the attention he was getting. Hence, he suddenly transformed into his baby dragon form while asking to be carried.

    Neoma mindlessly picked up Tteokbokki and hugged her close to her.

    Oh?

    She suddenly realized that hugging Tteokbokki was actually therapeutic because she calmed down instantly.

    Just like that, her head was suddenly cleared again.

    [I¡¯m Neoma, I¡¯m okay.]

    ¡°Everyone, I¡¯d like to introduce the saint candidate that I met a few months ago during one of my voluntary works,¡± Calyx said in a loud, clear, and cheerful voice. Of course, the entire hall once again became noisy after the psycho crow mentioned the ¡®saint candidate.¡¯ ¡°And he brought a divine message with him.¡±

    ¡°Good evening, everyone. My name is Dustin,¡± the boy with rose-gold hair introduced himself politely. ¡°This humble servant of Lord Yule received a divine message from him. Ites in the form of a letter.¡±

    Dustin then pulled out an old scroll from the inner pocket of his jacket, then he handed it to Calyx carefully.

    In all fairness, the old scroll looked legit.

    [I can feel the divine power of the Mooning out from it.]

    ¡°The saint candidate is generous enough to allow me to read Lord Yule¡¯s message to all of you,¡± Calyx said, then he looked at the scroll and read it out loud for everyone to hear. ¡°The First Star shall bring the new saint to the Astello Temple.¡±

    Neoma was a little surprised when Calyx mentioned the old prophecy.

    [Now I¡¯m looking forward to his little ploy.]

    ¡°In this generation, we are fortunate to have two First Stars,¡± Calyx continued, shocking Neoma. ¡°Both Empress Juliet and Lady Mona Roseheart gave birth to a First Star.¡±

    That wasn¡¯t exactly wrong.

    Calyx deceived everyone by pretending to be the son of the fake Empress Juliet.

    Hence, everyone thought Calyx was the eldest son of Papa Boss and the previous empress.

    [And as Papa Boss and Mama Boss¡¯ eldest daughter, I am the First Star between me and Nero.]

    ¡°Both the First Stars shall bring a saint candidate,¡± Calyx continued reading the divine message. ¡°Both children deserve to be the saint, but only one shall im the title.¡± The fake First Prince then turned to Nero. ¡°And that new saint shall be chosen by the next Moon of the Great Moonasterion Empire.¡±

    Ah, so this was why the crows brainwashed Nero to forget about me.

    [They will make Nero choose the new saint that they brought.]

    ¡°That¡¯s quite a task that Lord Yule has bestowed upon my shoulders,¡± Nero said indifferently. ¡°But, Brother, how do we know that the divine message really came from Lord Yule himself?¡±

    Tsk.

    [I hate how Nero calls Calyx ¡®brother¡¯ when he wouldn¡¯t call me ¡®noona.¡¯]

    ¡°Fortunately, the Sun Priestess is here to verify the authenticity of the divine message.¡±

    Hmm?

    Judging by the surprise on Sienna¡¯s face, it was obvious that she didn¡¯t expect Calyx to drag her into his ploy.

    Neoma was relieved to see that the representatives of Ruto¡¯s kingdom all looked confused.

    [Whew.]

    ¡°Of course, the Moon Priest is also here,¡± Calyx said, smiling while looking at the main door. ¡°The High Priest and the captain of the Holy Knights are also here to verify the divine message.¡±

    Neoma turned to the main door that slowly opened, revealing Dion Skelton and Hendrik Benedict.

    [Hmm~]

    ***

    ¡°THE DIVINE message is authentic.¡±

    It was Sienna, the Sun Priestess.

    ¡°I agree with Lady Sienna,¡± Manu, the Moon Priest, said in an anguished voice. ¡°The divine message has Lord Yule¡¯s unique Moonglow.¡±

    ¡°And the letter hasn¡¯t been tampered with in any way,¡± Dion Skelton, the High Priest, said in an indifferent voice. He looked guilty, though. ¡°The message is real.¡±

    Of course, it was.

    Calyx couldn¡¯t help but smile at hisplete victory after the Sun Priestess, the Moon Priest, and the current High Priest confirmed the authenticity of the divine message that Dustin shared with him. ¡°Now, let¡¯s talk about the First Stars,¡± he said, putting a hand over his chest. ¡°Of course, I am the First Star as Emperor Niki and Empress Juliet¡¯s son. And the second First Star is my father¡¯s oldest child with Lady Mona Roseheart¨C our Crown Prince Nero, the one who received the old prophecy in the past.¡±

    That was it.

    He finally crushed Neoma de Moonasterio with his own hands.

    Calyx slowly turned to Princess Neoma, excited to see the devastated look on her face.

    However¡­

    [Princess Neoma is¡­ smiling?]

    It was the royal princess¡¯ signature ARROGANT SMIRK.

    He was confused.

    [Princess Neoma has been quiet all this time that I thought she was already crying internally. But why is she smiling?]

    He could tell that the royal princess wasn¡¯t faking it.

    Princess Neoma was really smiling as if she found him amusing.

    That gave him the shivers.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, ¡°Prince Nero¡± received the first prophecy as the First Star,¡± Princess Neoma said, smiling while pointing at her face. ¡°And that ¡°Prince Nero¡± was ME disguised as my dying twin brother back then.¡±

    Calyx¡¯s eyes opened wide, shocked by the fact that Princess Neoma just revealed her royal secret.

    [Does Princess Neoma no longer care about what would happen to Prince Nero?!]

    It never crossed Calyx¡¯s mind that Princess Neoma would reveal the fact that she pretended as Prince Nero for many years in the past. After all, revealing the truth would affect Princess Neoma and Prince Nero NEGATIVELY for deceiving the people of the empire!

    The nobles wouldn¡¯t let it slide either.

    [So why reveal the royal secret now?]

    ¡°Prince Calyx, don¡¯t be shocked yet because I¡¯m not yet done with my surprise,¡± Princess Neoma whispered in Calyx¡¯s ear. ¡°Are you not wondering where my father¡¯s Soul Beasts have gone after their grand entrance?¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 701 - 701 ROYAL SECRET REVEALED

    701 ROYAL SECRET REVEALED

    [On Neoma¡¯s 18th birthday¡­]

    ¡°FATHER, Mother, what do you think about me revealing the royal secret?¡± Neoma asked while having dinner with her parents. ¡°If I find myself in a tight spot, I n on revealing my royal secret. Not the one about me being a princess, but the fact that I pretended as Nero for so long.¡±

    Her Papa Boss and Mama Boss looked shocked, naturally.

    She didn¡¯t want to ruin their nice family dinner that they were having at home.

    Since it was her 18th birthday, Mama Boss cooked and prepared all her favorite Korean dishes. Her mother also personally baked two birthday cakes for her and Nero, even though her twin brother wasn¡¯t there with them.

    And since Nero wasn¡¯t there with them, they never really celebrated any asionvishly.

    ¡°Neoma, did your mother and I do something wrong?¡±

    Huh?

    Neoma was confused by her father¡¯s question. She thought her n shocked her parents. But that didn¡¯t seem to be the case. ¡°What are you talking about, Father?¡±

    .....

    Even Mama Boss looked anxious.

    [Why, though?]

    ¡°There you go again,¡± Papa Boss said nervously. ¡°Why are you calling me ¡®Father¡¯ instead of ¡®Papa Boss?¡¯ Are you upset with me, Neoma? Let¡¯s talk it out.¡±

    Hmm?

    ¡°It¡¯s probably because you scolded Neoma for the dress that she wants to wear on Calyx Dalton¡¯s birthday,¡± Mama Boss scolded Papa Boss, then her mother turned to her with puppy dog eyes. ¡°You must have been so upset to hear your fatherin about your dress, Baby Muffin. I¡¯m sorry, I should have raised Niki better than this.¡±

    Papa Boss looked at Mama Boss as if he was offended. ¡°Excuse me, Lady Mona Roseheart? You already raised me well.¡±

    ¡°Oh, shut it, love.¡±

    Neoma couldn¡¯t help butugh while watching her parents flirt¨C er, bicker cutely. ¡°It¡¯s not like that, Mother, Father,¡± she said. And she thought she saw her parents¡¯ hearts break a little, hence she immediately exined. ¡°I just thought it was about time for me to address you properly since I¡¯m an adult now.¡±

    Well, she had always been an adult inside.

    But in this lifetime, she finally reached the legal age (in the empire, at least). In Korea, as of now, the age of consent was twenty years old.

    [We¡¯re not Koreans, so I¡¯m legally an adult now.]

    Hence, she was now free to drink alcoholic beverages.

    [Of course, not outside since my fake documents say I¡¯m Korean.]

    ¡°Why would that matter?¡± Papa Bossined lightly. ¡°It¡¯s fine if you continue addressing us the way you do.¡±

    ¡°I agree with your father, baby,¡± Mama Boss said. ¡°Of course, once we¡¯re back in the empire, you must address us formally in front of an audience since you¡¯re a princess. But in private, and in the presence of our friends, please feel free to call us ¡®Papa Boss¡¯ and ¡®Mama Boss.''¡±

    Neoma smiled, happy that her parents felt that way. She actually wanted to keep on calling them the way she did, but she worried that she might be too old to call her parents ¡®Papa Boss¡¯ and ¡®Mama Boss.¡¯ ¡°Alright, Mama Boss and Papa Boss.¡±

    Her parents smiled at her, satisfied.

    ¡°Mama Boss, Papa Boss, as I said earlier, I¡¯m thinking of revealing the truth to the public if pushes to shove,¡± Neoma said in a serious voice. ¡°I know it will put Nero in a difficult position. Moreover, our family will definitely get criticized heavily for deceiving the empire. I might be even summoned to the court.¡±

    ¡°We will get criticized, yes,¡± Papa Boss said confidently. ¡°But the Royal Family can¡¯t be arrested since we¡¯re exempt from thew.¡±

    Right, and it was thanks to sovereign immunity.

    However¡­

    ¡°That only applies to the emperor and the Crown Prince, Papa Boss,¡± she reminded her father. ¡°The other members of the Royal Family can be put to trial. Though it rarely happens.¡±

    There were only a few instances where a member of the Royal Family attended the court, though. If she remembered correctly, thest time a de Moonasterio was put to a trial happened one hundred years ago.

    Mama Boss covered her mouth with her hands when she gasped. ¡°Neoma, don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re nning to attend court voluntarily?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the n, Mama Boss.¡±

    ¡°Neoma,¡± Papa Boss said sternly, obviously displeased by her decision. ¡°You don¡¯t have to do that. I will take responsibility since I was the one who forced you to pretend as Nero when you were younger.¡±

    ¡°Papa Boss, I have to¡­¡±

    ¡°When a member of the Royal Family is put to trial, the representatives of the Twelve Golden Family be the judges,¡± Mama Boss said worriedly. ¡°And the most senior member of the Royal Family gives the final verdict. Neoma, you know that the fake Empress Juliet is currently the Empress Dowager, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Moreover, we can only depend of Rufus within the Twelve Golden Families,¡± Papa Boss said, frowning because he was worried. ¡°If you let those bastards judge you, they will definitely punish you severely. They will criticize Nero, but they will make you take responsibility in order to protect the Crown Prince. After all¡­¡±

    Her father hesitated, but Neoma knew what he was going to say.

    ¡°I know, Papa Boss,¡± Neoma said solemnly. ¡°For the empire, the Crown Prince is more important than a mere princess. That¡¯s why I¡¯m also aware that the court will try to put all the me on me.¡±

    After all, the court couldn¡¯t punish Papa Boss.

    [Even after he abandoned his duties, I don¡¯t think the Twelve Golden Families have the balls to punish Papa Boss. Plus, the crows will take this opportunity to get rid of me.]

    ¡°Mama Boss, Papa Boss, don¡¯t worry about me. I will definitely win the trial,¡± Neoma said. She was confident not because she was being arrogant again, but because she was already prepared for this moment. ¡°I¡¯m more worried about Nero. Once I reveal that I was the ¡°Prince Nero¡± who was crowned a few years ago, people will begin to doubt his capabilities as the Crown Prince. Even so, I have to do this.¡± She looked at her hands, then clenched them tight. ¡°After all, I¡¯m not only Nero¡¯s twin sister¨C I am also the one and only royal princess of the Great Moonasterion Empire.¡±

    ***

    WHEN NEOMA told Mama Boss and Papa Boss that she would reveal the truth when push came to shove, she wasn¡¯t worried about how the crows would react.

    She was prepared for that moment for a long time already.

    [I knew the crows would use that truth against me and Nero someday, so I decided to reveal the truth in my own narrative.]

    However, seeing the betrayed look on Nero¡¯s face hurt more than she thought it would.

    Nero may not remember the time that she pretended to be him when they were children, but Nero wasn¡¯t dumb. Her twin brother knew that if she was telling the truth, then his position as the Crown Prince would be jeopardized.

    And most of all, Nero¡¯s pride was probably hurt when he realized that all his previous aplishments actually belonged to Neoma.

    [I¡¯m sorry, Nero.]

    To be honest, the reason why Neoma decided to reveal the truth was to dy Nero¡¯s ascension to the throne.

    Yes, that was the biggest reason and not Calyx¡¯s unexpected move tonight.

    [If Nero bes the emperor in that state, he¡¯ll be the tyrant emperor that he was in the first timeline.]

    Hence, Neoma decided to treat Nero as an enemy in the meantime.

    [I¡¯m really sorry, Nero.]

    ¡°What the hell is going on here?¡± Duke Arman Winchester, the leader of the Noble Faction, demanded in an angry voice. As expected, the factions within the Twelve Golden Families had already grouped themselves. ¡°Did we hear it right? The royal princess who suddenly appeared out of nowhere imed that she pretended as Prince Nero in the past?¡±

    ¡°You and everyone in this hall had me correctly, Duke Winchester,¡± Neoma said in a calm and clear voice, avoiding Nero¡¯s cold gaze to turn to the old duke. ¡°When I was five years old, Nero was attacked by an assassin. He fell into aatose state while he was under treatment, hence Father asked me to pretend as my twin brother.¡±

    Her exnation sounded simple, huh?

    Even so, everyone still appeared to be in shock.

    ¡°Princess Neoma, what do you think you¡¯re doing?¡± Calyx asked sternly. ¡°iming that you pretended to be Nero in the past without evidence¨C¡±

    ¡°Lady Sienna, Lord Manu, High Priest Dion,¡± Neoma said, ignoring Calyx to face the Sun Priestess, Moon Priest, and the High Priest. ¡°We already met in the past while I was posing as Nero, didn¡¯t we?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Sienna said right away. ¡°Princess Neoma was posing as Prince Nero when I first met her.¡±

    ¡°It was Lord Yule¡¯s will,¡± Manu said in a calm voice that made him look extra trustworthy. ¡°The Moon God even sent me here to assist Princess Neoma while she was posing as Prince Nero.¡±

    ¡°When the first prophecy was given, Lord Yule was actually referring to Princess Neoma as the First Star,¡± Dion said confidently. ¡°Princess Neoma is the first daughter of Emperor Niki and Lady Mona Roseheart.¡±

    Look at how the tables had turned, huh?

    Neoma faced Calyxstly. ¡°Lady Sienna, Lord Manu, and High Priest Dion have already spoken. The same people who verified that Lord Yule¡¯s divine message was real also verified the truth that I imed, Prince Calyx.¡±

    That was the reason why she didn¡¯t ask Sienna, Manu, and Dion to lie.

    She let the three verify the divine message as real because she needed them also to confirm that she was telling the truth.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid this isn¡¯t a simple matter, Princess Neoma,¡± Calyx said, his annoying smile appearing on his face again as if he had found a way to attack her again. ¡°You still have a lot of things to exin. And if needed, you might get summoned to the court for deceiving the empire.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Neoma said, smiling and nodding. ¡°But first, I¡¯m going to exin to the people of the empire first.¡±

    Calyx was confused at first.

    But the fake First Prince¡¯s confusion didn¡¯tst long when Vespera, the ck Phoenix in his human form, appeared beside Neoma.

    [Perfect timing!]

    ¡°I have safely brought as many people as I could, Princess Neoma,¡± Vespera said politely. ¡°They¡¯re all waiting in front of the People¡¯s Pce.¡±

    Now everyone in the hall let out a collective gasp.

    ¡°The People¡¯s Pce¡­?¡±

    ¡°Who opened the pce¡¯s gates, though?¡±

    ¡°And themoners are here¡­ really?¡±

    Neoma smiled while listening to the shocked nobles around her, then she faced Calyx while putting her heart-shaped sunsses on again. ¡°Shall we begin Round 2 of our little feud, my dear older brother?¡±

    .....

    ***

 Chapter 702 - 702 THE GREAT SCAMMER

    702 THE GREAT SCAMMER

    ¡°DO YOU think I¡¯ll let you do whatever you want, Princess Neoma?¡±

    ¡°Too bad I¡¯m not asking for your permission,¡± Neoma said when Calyx confronted her. ¡°I¡¯ll leave the nobles to you. I have a press conference I need to attend.¡±

    She turned her back on Calyx, ready to leave the hall.

    Of course, her children blocked the fake First Prince from approaching her again. Paige, Jeno, and Xion stopped Calyx. The three children were enough to deal with Calyx¡¯s personal knights.

    Greko, Juri, and Lewis, on the other hand, followed her.

    Then she saw Nero approaching her with a angry strides while Hanna and his knights followed behind.

    [My baby brother is furious, naturally.]

    Lewis tried to stop Nero, but Sanford and Raku immediately got in the way. Then Juri, the Tanker of the team, immediately backed up Lewis.

    [Oh, they¡¯re gonna brawl, aren¡¯t they?]

    .....

    ¡°Children, it¡¯s alright,¡± Neoma said. ¡°Let my brother through.¡±

    Only then did Lewis and Juri step aside.

    Sanford and Raku also made way for Nero.

    ¡°What do you think you¡¯re doing, you pesky princess?¡± Nero growled at her lowly. ¡°You¡¯re dragging me to hell with you after you told me you love me?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m doing this because I love you, Nero,¡± Neoma said sincerely. ¡°I won¡¯t let you be the person you¡¯d hate once your memories returned.¡±

    Nero raised his hands as if he wanted to grab her. But it looked like it took all that he got to stop himself from doing that. Hence, he ended up clenching his hands tight. ¡°Do you really want to see me go crazy?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing new, my dear brother,¡± she said. ¡°Everyone already knows that the de Moonasterios are insane.¡±

    ¡°Neoma!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t yell at your noona,¡± she scolded Nero, then he patted his shoulders. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. None of this is your fault.¡±

    Nero frowned, obviously displeased by her nonchnce. ¡°You¨C¡±

    ¡°Yes, me. Catch youter, Nero,¡± Neoma said, walking past her twin brother. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    Vespera didn¡¯t waste time and used what he had to: teleport Neoma and her ¡°children¡± to the People¡¯s Pce.

    ***

    IT WAS a disastrous banquet.

    ¡°Prince Calyx, Prince Nero, what is going on here?¡±

    ¡°We deserve to know the truth!¡±

    ¡°How can you just stand there and not give an exnation?¡±

    [These arrogant nobles¡­]

    Calyx wasn¡¯t too worried because the fact that Princess Neoma revealed would only harm her and Nero.

    But Nero was the Crown Prince.

    Hence, the crows would do everything to protect their chosen emperor.

    [Moreover, my mother is the most senior member of the Royal Family. Her Majesty has the right to put all the me on Princess Neoma in order to protect Nero.]

    They had the upper hand.

    And yet, Calyx still felt nervous.

    [They¡¯re calm.]

    The Sun Priestess, the Moon Priest, the High Priest, and the new saint.

    The Quinzels.

    The Griffiths of the Hazelden Kingdom.

    The representatives of the Kingdom of Suoh.

    Jasper Hawthorne.

    Even the elusive Northern Lords were quiet.

    ¡°Lucien!¡±

    Hearing Nero¡¯s shout snapped Calyx out of his trance.

    ¡°That damned princess probably went to the People¡¯s Pce,¡± Nero said to Lucien, the demon mage, in a hurry. ¡°Take me there!¡±

    Lucien immediately bowed his head towards his raging master. ¡°As youmand, Prince Nero.¡±

    And, just like that, Nero and his personal knights disappeared.

    The nobles ganged up on Calyx now, but he just ignored them.

    After all, the raging nobles couldn¡¯t approach him thanks to Owen and Rowena.

    ¡°What should we do, Calyx?¡± Regina whispered to him when she approached him. ¡°Princess Neomapletely blindsided us just when we thought we finally trapped her.¡±

    And now, nobody was paying attention to the two half-saints.

    [Princess Neoma sure knows how to make a scene.]

    ¡°I¡¯ll follow Nero for now and see what Princess Neoma is up to,¡± Calyx whispered back to Regina. ¡°For now, go to Mother and inform her about what happened here after she left the hall.¡±

    ***

    THE PEOPLE¡¯S Pce.

    Neoma remembered standing on the balcony of the People¡¯s Pce when she was posing as Nero.

    [Papa Boss and I greeted the citizens here during the Moon Festival.]

    But now, she was standing on the balcony and greeting hundreds of citizens as Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio.

    [Vespera did a good job summoning themoners here.]

    Of course, Papa Boss¡¯ Soul Beasts were the one who opened the Royal Gates and took care of the guards (they did not kill anyone, promise).

    The Soul Beasts weren¡¯t around anymore.

    [They have another job to do.]

    Ah, Neoma suddenly missed her father.

    Papa Boss wasn¡¯t with her on the balcony of the People¡¯s Pce this time, but she wasn¡¯t alone.

    Lewis and her other ¡°children¡± were behind her.

    Tteokbokki and Vespera were standing on either of her side.

    [And I can feel Neroing.]

    ¡°Princess Neoma, I just received a word from Emperor Niki¡¯s Soul Beasts,¡± Paige whispered behind her. ¡°They have already installed all the cameras we prepared in the Royal Capital, and in all the major cities in the empire.¡±

    Yep, that was one of the errands that her Papa Boss¡¯ Soul Beasts had run for her.

    ¡°I can activate the cameras any time you wish, Your Royal Highness,¡± Paige added politely. ¡°If you give me a signal, I¡¯ll activate them right away.¡±

    Neoma looked over her shoulder and winked at Paige. ¡°Lezzgo.¡±

    Paige smiled and nodded.

    After that, she turned to the curious and whispering citizens with a solemn look on her face. She needed to appear sane for tonight, at least.

    [Anyway¡­]

    A few seconds after giving the signal to Paige, two semi-transparent screens appeared on either of her side.

    The screens were there so the people at the further back could see her clearly.

    Paige also used a spell to amplify Neoma¡¯s voice.

    [My ¡°daughter¡± is really great.]

    ¡°Good evening, people of the Great Moonasterion Empire,¡± Neoma greeted the citizens in a calm and polite voice befitting a princess like her. She was just actually copying Hanna¡¯s manner of speaking. After all, her normal way of talking was too arrogant¨C er, modern-ish. ¡°I¡¯m d and honored to finally greet you as Neoma Roseheart and not as the fake Prince Nero that you¡¯ve met several years ago.¡±

    Naturally, the people¡¯s confusion increased.

    She could hear and make sense of what most of the citizens were saying.

    .....

    ¡°What does it mean?¡±

    ¡°I really didn¡¯t understand¡­¡±

    ¡°Is the royal princess saying that we¡¯ve already met her as¡­ Prince Nero?¡±

    ¡°Then does it mean she pretended as the Crown Prince?¡±

    ¡°But how?¡±

    ¡°I am Nero¡¯s older twin sister,¡± Neoma exined politely. ¡°When Nero and I were kids, you wouldn¡¯t be able to tell us apart because we look so alike.¡±

    Again, the whispers among themoners grew louder.

    ¡°Now that I¡¯m looking closely at therge screen, Princess Neoma really looks like Prince Nero.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I can tell that they¡¯re really twins.¡±

    ¡°Why did they hide such a beautiful princess from us?¡±

    Neoma smiled shyly. But, of course, she was just acting. She was never shy every time her beauty was praised.

    ¡°Princess Neoma, I apologize for interrupting, but I¡¯ll get going now,¡± Xion whispered in a hurried voice. ¡°There are crows mixed in the crowd, and I can smell Mana bombs in them.¡±

    Ah, so the crows¡¯ strategy was to create chaos to interrupt her by hurting the citizens.

    [Disgusting bastards.]

    ¡°I¡¯ll go with Xion and take care of the crows quietly, Princess Neoma.¡±

    It was Jeno.

    Neoma nodded her subtly.

    Then Xion and Jeno left in silence. The two had Teleportation Tickets with them. Moreover, Jeno could use his mist to hide his and Xion¡¯s presence.

    [I have to end this quickly for the safety of these innocent people.]

    ¡°I can¡¯t tell you the full story yet, but Nero was attacked by assassins when we were kids. It caused my poor twin brother to fall into aatose state,¡± Neoma continued in a clear and firm voice. ¡°Hence, my father¨C the former Emperor Niki¨C asked me to pretend as Nero.¡±

    A collective gasp was heard from the huge crowd.

    Of course, the whispers grew louder once again.

    ¡°The real Crown Prince almost died when he was still a young kid?¡±

    ¡°We almost lost our Crown Prince then¡­¡±

    ¡°I understand the situation, but I still feel deceived.¡±

    ¡°Me, too. I can¡¯t believe the Royal Family deceived us for so long¡­¡±

    [Yep, I already expected these reactions.]

    ¡°I volunteer to attend a trial to exin my side.¡±

    The collective gasp this time was louder than the previous one.

    ¡°Oh, my. A princess attending a trial?¡±

    ¡°This will be a first time in a century that a direct member of the Royal Family would attend the court¡­¡±

    ¡°And Her Royal Highness is doing it voluntarily, at that.¡±

    Neoma smiled apologetically to the citizens. ¡°This is shameless of me, but I¡¯d like to invite everyone to witness the trial.¡±

    Again, the citizens were confused.

    After all, most of the trials that involved the nobles were never opened to the public. Hence, an open trial that involved a royalty might have sounded unbelievable to them.

    But she was serious.

    By hook or by crook, she¡¯d force the Twelve Golden Families to open the trial publicly.

    ¡°Even though the Royal Family has a reason for making me pretend as Nero, it doesn¡¯t change the fact that we deceived you,¡± Neoma said, then she paused and shook her head. ¡°I, Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio, deceived the people of the empire. For that, I¡¯m truly sorry.¡± She bowed her head in sincere apology. ¡°I hope you forgive me one day, our precious citizens.¡±

    The collective gasp that she heard this time was softer.

    She could tell that the people were in disbelief.

    ¡°The royal princess is bowing to us¡­¡±

    ¡°And Her Royal Highness apologized¡­¡±

    ¡°This is the first time a de Moonasterio bowed and apologized to their people!¡±

    ¡°But the royal princess doesn¡¯t have to do this¡­¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t deserve this kind of treatment since we¡¯re justmoners¡­¡±

    Neoma felt a shiver down her spine when Nero¡¯s bloodlust hit the back of her head.

    [Ah, he¡¯s already here, huh?]

    ¡°Commoner or not, you deserve an apology from anyone who wronged you,¡± Neoma said, raising her head. Then she smiled apologetically at the people. ¡°Thank you for taking time listening to me tonight, our precious people. Please get home safely. And I hope to see you all during the trial.¡± She waved her hand weakly. ¡°Good night, everyone.¡±

    After saying her goodbye, Neoma slightly bowed her head again before turning her back on the shocked citizens.

    Her ¡°children¡± followed her while the curtains behind them closed.

    ¡°Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio,¡± Nero growled lowly, his glowing red eyes shooting daggers at her. ¡°By the power given to me as the Crown Prince of the Great Moonasterion Empire, I shall ce you under arrest for tarnishing the reputation of the Royal Family!¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t have a reputation to protect since everyone already knows we¡¯re fucked up in the head, Nero,¡± Neoma said, offering both of her hands to Nero. ¡°I surrender, though.¡±

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 703 - 703 #NEOMAJAILPARTY

    703 #NEOMAJAILPARTY

    NEOMA was ready to go to jail, but apparently, Lewis wasn¡¯t.

    She was okay with being handcuffed by Sanford Devon because she thought it would be a fun experience. In fact, she would have asked Paige to take a picture of her ¡°mugshot.¡± But her ¡°son¡± seemed to have a different idea.

    ¡°No need to put Restrictors on Princess Neoma,¡± Lewis said to Sanford in a threatening voice. ¡°Her Royal Highness will cooperate with you.¡±

    ¡®Restrictors,¡¯ as its name suggested, was a device equivalent to the modern world¡¯s handcuffs. But instead of handcuffs, Restrictors were ropes. Of course, they wereced with magic. The ropes were meant to nullify the captive¡¯s Mana.

    [It won¡¯t work on me since I¡¯m OP, though. I just wanted to be handcuffed for the experience.]

    But perhaps she should set the idea aside.

    [Lewis doesn¡¯t want to see me handcuffed, after all.]

    Neoma slowly lowered the hands that she offered so easily earlier.

    [Yep, I should act like a dignified princess.]

    .....

    ¡°Lewis is right. You don¡¯t have to restrict me¨C you can¡¯t anyway,¡± Neoma said, smiling at Sanford apologetically. ¡°Sir Devon, you can just lead me to wherever I¡¯m supposed to be locked up, hmm?¡±

    Sanford avoided his gaze nervously, then he turned to Nero.

    ¡°Members of the Royal Family who have sinned are supposed to be locked up in the Moonless Tower. But you¡¯re not officially registered to the Royal Household, so you won¡¯t get to enjoy that privilege,¡± Nero said coldly while ring at her. ¡°Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio, you shall be locked up in the Dungeon.¡±

    The Dungeon with the capital ¡®D,¡¯ huh?

    It was the underground prison right below Yule Pce¨C the emperor¡¯s residence.

    Nero was being a little harsh.

    [The Dungeon below Yule Pce is known as a torture chamber, after all. It¡¯s the ce where hardcore criminals that directly offended the Royal Family are thrown into. I feel kind of offended.]

    ¡°Arrest me, too,¡± Lewis demanded in his usual monotonous voice. ¡°I want to be locked up next to Princess Neoma.¡±

    Neoma was surprised. ¡°Lewis, I¡¯ll be fine. Tteokbokki will be with me, anyway.¡±

    What kind of mother would let her son get locked up in a dangerous prison with her?!

    Tteokbokki would return to her soulter.

    [Well, I¡¯m sure Tteokbokki would sleep since he¡¯s tired. But at least I won¡¯t be alone.]

    ¡°I¡¯m not fine, Princess Neoma,¡± Lewis said when he turned to her, frowning. ¡°I¡¯ll get in prison with you.¡±

    Aww.

    Of course, no son would also want to see their mother behind bars.

    [I¡¯m touched that Lewis is willing to go to prison with me, since he knows it¡¯s my n to have a ¡°vacation¡± in prison.]

    Anyway...

    Her touching moment with Lewis was interrupted when Nero suddenly grabbed Neoma by the arm.

    ¡°I¡¯ll personally throw you in jail,¡± Nero growled, then he pushed Lewis away with his other hand. ¡°And you, fox. Leave the pce immediately¨C¡±

    ¡°Let go of Princess Neoma,¡± Lewis said coldly, his gold eyes glowing dangerously. ¡°How dare you grab my princess so roughly?¡±

    Did Neoma hear Lewis correctly?

    [But, fortunately, Lewis is speaking properly.]

    ¡°How dare a mere fox like you lecture me¨C the Crown Prince?¡± Nero growled, letting go of Neoma¡¯s arm to grab Lewis by the cor. ¡°Who do you think you are?¡±

    Neoma wanted to stop Nero, but she didn¡¯t when she saw the look in Lewis¡¯ eyes.

    [Yep, he got this.]

    Even Lewis¡¯ ¡°siblings¡± remained calm.

    ¡°I¡¯m Princess Neoma¡¯s knight,¡± Lewis said indifferently. He didn¡¯t even bother to use polite speech to Nero. ¡°Clench your teeth, prince.¡±

    [That¡¯s right, Nero! Listen to our boy Lewis and clench your¨C wait, what?!]

    Neoma, and everyone around them, gasped out loud when Lewis suddenly punched Nero in the face.

    For the first time in a while, she was too bbergasted to react.

    She could only watch Nero stumble while covering his bleeding nose with his hands. Her twin brother, needless to say, looked shocked after getting punched.

    [Oh, god¡­]

    ¡°I punched the Crown Prince,¡± Lewis said casually while wiping the blood on his knuckles with a white handkerchief. ¡°I can now go to prison with Princess Neoma, right?¡±

    Neoma suddenly felt like fainting after hearing what Lewis said.

    [Lewis, you dummy! Punching the Crown Prince is high treason! You¡¯ll go straight to the guillotine and not to prison!]

    ¡°You fox bastard!¡±

    It was Lucien, the so-called crazy mage who had a knack for explosives.

    Naturally, Nero¡¯s ¡°children¡± apprehended Lewis immediately.

    Neoma couldn¡¯t react right away because she knew her ¡°son¡± was in the wrong.

    Fortunately, Lewis didn¡¯t get violent when Raku put his hands behind his back while Sanford Devon put Restrictors around Lewis¡¯ wrists. As if that wasn¡¯t enough, Lucien even put bigger and stronger Restrictors around Lewis¡¯ body.

    Melvin, on the other hand, put a handkerchief on Nero¡¯s nose while Alucard was healing Nero¡¯s broken nose with Mana.

    ¡°You¡¯re not going to prison,¡± Nero said to Lewis in a very angry voice, his red eyes glowing, and his face had a murderous look on it. ¡°I¡¯ll kill you¨C right here, right now.¡±

    Neoma moved before any of her children could. ¡°Stop.¡±

    She said that one word with a huge amount of Mana.

    Unfortunately, she wasn¡¯t able to control her power. Hence, everyone except for Neoma, Lewis, and Nero remained standing. Everyone else was brought to their knees because they couldn¡¯t withstand the sudden burst of her Mana.

    Long cracks all over the walls and the floor also appeared.

    [Gosh, I need to pay for repairs before I go to jail.]

    Neoma turned to Paige, Juri, and Greko who were standing up now. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, kids,¡± she said apologetically to her ¡°children,¡± then she turned to Nero with a hardened expression on her face. ¡°Nero, let¡¯s not be petty and use that punch as an excuse to execute my knight. Frankly speaking, you deserved that punch.¡±

    But Lewis was wrong for punching Nero, too.

    [I¡¯m going to scold Lewis in privateter.]

    ¡°Are you crazy? That bastard just punched me in the face,¡± Neroined like a child. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t kill him. I will just break his arms and legs.¡±

    ¡°Nero, if youy a hand on Lewis, I will make sure you¡¯ll never see Hanna and Dahlia again,¡± Neoma warned her twin brother. ¡°Pettiness runs in our blood, so don¡¯t test my patience.¡±

    ***

    CALYX followed Nero and ended up listening to Princess Neoma¡¯s speech discreetly.

    But he didn¡¯t mingle in the crowd to simply listen. He actually nted several disposable pawns there to bomb the za in front of the People¡¯s Pce where themoners had gathered. It was a hasty n he came up with to interrupt the royal princess, and make the people hate her.

    Unfortunately, the disposable paws that he nted were immediately caught.

    He was debating whether to try another trick when his mother summoned him.

    On his way to the Empress Dowager¡¯s pce, he received a report that he needed to hear from the spy: Nero arrested Princess Neoma for the crime of tarnishing the Royal Family¡¯s reputation after the royal princess¡¯ speech.

    Hence, he went straight to the Empress Dowager¡¯s residence with Owen and Rowena. When he arrived at his mother¡¯s quarters, he already expected to hear some bad news based on the gloomy look on her face.

    ¡°I¡¯ve received reports that some people in the Royal Pce have gone missing,¡± his mother, Empress Juliet, said while sitting on the chair and drinking tea. Only the two of them were in the room at the moment. ¡°Marcus¨C Niki¡¯s former Healing Sage. Abigail Barlowe¨C the Royal Archmage. Stephanie¨C Prince Nero¡¯s former nanny. Alphen¨C Prince Nero¡¯s former butler. Those are the people who suddenly disappeared during the banquet.¡±

    Calyx knitted his eyebrows. ¡°We¡¯ve been keeping an eye on those people even after they have forgotten about Princess Neoma. Moreover, all the main forces that support Princess Neoma are in the banquet. Who has the power to kidnap the people under the surveince of our elite team?¡±

    He was pretty sure that the main forces of Princess Neoma¡¯s allies didn¡¯t move.

    ¡°Niki¡¯s Soul Beasts.¡±

    Ah.

    He suddenly remembered what Princess Neoma said to him earlier.

    [¡°Are you not wondering where my father¡¯s Soul Beasts have gone after their grand entrance?¡±]

    So, that was what the royal princess had meant by that.

    [I can¡¯t believe Princess Neoma only used the great Four Holy Guardians to run an errand for her...]

    ¡°I already sent people to look for the abducted people, but our biggest problem is Princess Neoma¡¯s announcement,¡± his mother said, sighing. ¡°The royal princess made a deration that she¡¯d voluntarily attend a trial, and she even invited the public to witness it. Worse, she used the same technique that she did before: she used severalmunication devices to let people outside the Royal Capital know what was happening.¡±

    ¡°Then we can¡¯t manipte the information now,¡± he said. ¡°A trial must be held.¡±

    ¡°A trial must really be held if we want to salvage Prince Nero¡¯s reputation,¡± her mother said, nodding. ¡°At the end of the trial, we should pin all the me on Princess Neoma and make it look like she stole Prince Nero¡¯s ce.¡±

    .....

    ¡°In short, we have to make it look like Nero was the victim in order to gain the public¡¯s sympathy.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± his mother said. ¡°I¡¯m the one who¡¯s going to give the verdict anyway. Even if Princess Neoma has somehow pulled the majority of the Twelve Golden Families by her side, I¡¯m still the one who has the final say.¡±

    He tilted his head to one side. ¡°I¡¯m sure Princess Neoma knows that. I wonder why she let Nero arrest her, though.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what we need to find out,¡± his mother said. ¡°Now that Princess Neoma is in prison, her movements are limited. Hence, it¡¯s inevitable for the royal princess to leave the rest of her n to her people. We have to keep close surveince on them.¡±

    ¡°I heard from the spy that Lewis Crevan is going with Princess Neoma to prison,¡± he said, tilting his head to one side while thinking. ¡°If Lewis is also locked up, then I suppose Paige Avery will lead Princess Neoma¡¯s people.¡±

    ¡°Paige Avery only has authority over Princess Neoma¡¯s Order of Knights, so it can¡¯t be the mage,¡± Empress Juliet, his mother, said. Then she paused for a moment as if she was in deep thoughts before she spoke again. ¡°It¡¯s Hanna Quinzel¨C the person that Princess Neoma¡¯s allies must follow while she¡¯s out ofmission is none other than Hanna Quinzel. That little hawk is as cunning as Princess Neoma, after all.¡±

    ¡°I guess you¡¯re right, Mother,¡± Calyx said, looking up at the ceiling while making his brain work. ¡°I wonder how I can monitor the sly vixen that is Hanna Quinzel?¡±

    ***

    THE BANQUET ended after Prince Calyx returned to the hall and announced that Neoma had been arrested for tarnishing the Royal Family¡¯s reputation.

    After that, the Twelve Golden Families held an emergency meeting in the pce.

    That was why Hanna was on her way home now.

    [Father will definitely get homete.]

    Her mother, on the other hand, was also on her way home. However, her mother used a different carriage.

    [After all, mine is already full.]

    Hanna and her allies also parted ways after the party.

    [I asked Dahlia to stay with Prince Skylus and the Griffiths. Lord Manu is also there, so I¡¯m sure nothing bad will happen to the saint. Lord Trevor disappeared without saying a word, but I¡¯m sure he just followed Neoma.]

    Lady Paige would take care of Neoma¡¯s ¡°children.¡±

    [I also left the matters rted to High Priest Dion and the Holy Knights to Lady Paige.]

    Hanna was merely acting like how she imagined Neoma would act if she was in her ce.

    [I hope I¡¯m doing the right thing, though.]

    ¡°ording to the report I heard from Lady Paige, Lewis punched Prince Nero in the face.¡±

    Hanna stifled herughter after hearing what Lord Jasper said. ¡°If Neoma wasn¡¯t there, Lewis would have been sentenced to death and not locked up.¡±

    Lord Jasper, who was sitting beside her, let out a sigh. ¡°Lewis could really be reckless sometimes. I bet he punched Prince Nero to give them a reason to arrest him with Princess Neoma.¡±

    She smiled and nodded in agreement. ¡°That¡¯s what I thought, too.¡±

    Hearing that Neoma and Lewis were arrested was surprising, but she wasn¡¯t that worried.

    [I¡¯m sure they got arrested on purpose. If they want to, they can break out of prison anytime they want to. There must be a reason why Neoma has to be jailed, though.]

    ¡°Lady Hanna, did you already know in advance that Princess Neoma would reveal the truth and get herself arrested?¡±

    Her smile turned into a sigh while shaking her head. ¡°I didn¡¯t know, Lord Jasper. But I believe I can see what Neoma is trying to do.¡±

    Lord Jasper looked at her long and hard before he spoke. ¡°Then I will trust and follow you, Lady Hanna. I¡¯m sure that¡¯s what Princess Neoma would want me to do, anyway.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Lord Jasper.¡±

    ¡°May I know what you think Princess Neoma¡¯s goal is?¡±

    Hanna smiled because she could see why Neoma suddenly volunteered to attend a trial even though she could avoid it as a member of the Royal Family. ¡°I think Neoma¡¯s goal is to depose the Empress Dowager from the high position Her Majesty doesn¡¯t deserve.¡±

    ¡°But why the Empress Dowager?¡±

    She was about to give Lord Jasper a short exnation, but she was interrupted when she felt a strong bloodlust directed at her.

    [Ah, right. Aside from Lord Jasper, there are two other gentlemen here.]

    The first one, sitting across from Lord Jasper, was the Azure Dragon in his human form. Lord East was sitting there like a statue.

    [His face is totally Neoma¡¯s type.]

    ¡°Should I kill him?¡± Lord East asked Hanna indifferently. ¡°Princess Neoma asked me to bring this guy to you, but the princess didn¡¯t specify whether she needs him alive or not.¡±

    She smiled and shook her head. ¡°Please don¡¯t kill him yet, Lord East,¡± she said politely to the Soul Beast, then she turned to the captive next to the Azure Dragon.

    The person had his mouth gagged with a piece of ck cloth, but he was ring at Hanna.

    ¡°Were you offended when I said our goal this time is to depose the Empress Dowager?¡± Hanna asked in a serene voice. ¡°Is that right, Count Kyle Sprouse?¡±

    ***

    IF NEOMA was in Korea, she would have already tweeted #NeomaJailParty.

    She was really in prison right now.

    A single bed, a window, a sink, and an old-looking toilet bowl.

    Yep, that was all that she had in her little prison cell.

    [It¡¯s hot, and it doesn¡¯t smell nice here, too.]

    ¡°The mattress is super tough, too,¡± Neoma said when she sat on the bed. ¡°Gosh, now I feel bad for Lewis.¡±

    Lewis was in the prison cell next to hers.

    Nero already left after he personally saw her (and Lewis) enter their respective prison cells.

    The entire underground prison was currently empty, but she could tell that Sanford Devon and Raku were guarding the main entrance.

    Not that it mattered.

    [My people and I can enter and leave this ce anytime we want.]

    Neoma knew that Nero was aware of that fact, too. Hence, thex security. She was only there for the drama she was building up.

    And Nero just wanted to see her behind bars to lessen his anger.

    [Probably.]

    ¡°Where¡¯s Trevor, though?¡± Neoma whispered. ¡°I need my skincare products.¡±

    Tteokbokki was already back inside her soul and was resting.

    She didn¡¯t want to wake up her poor Soul Beast, so she was hoping Trevor would visit her. After all, she wanted to ask the demon boy to pull out her skincare products from his magic pouch or something.

    ¡°Must you really stay in this shabby prison, Neoma?¡±

    Neoma turned to the owner of the disgruntled voice, then she smiled softly. ¡°Ruto.¡±

    [No wonder I heard Lewis growl from next door.]

    Ruto had already changed into casual clothes underneath a ck hooded robe, and her man was standing outside the prison cell while looking like he was debating whether to break the door or not.

    ¡°You¡¯re just the person I wanted to see, Ruto.¡±

    ¡°I suppose you don¡¯t need me to get you out of here,¡± Ruto said, sighing. ¡°What can I do for you, Princess Neoma?¡±

    Neoma chuckled because Ruto addressed her as a princess in a very tired voice, as if he was so done with her crazy antics already. ¡°Babe.¡±

    ¡°Yeah?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s break up.¡±

    ***

    NOTE: Sorry for disappearing for three days. I got super sick. Monthly period plus a slight fever/cold is such a terriblebination.

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 704 - 704 EX-LOVER

    704 EX-LOVER

    ¡°AFTER all the fuss about ¡°seducing¡± me, you¡¯re suddenly dumping me?¡±

    ¡°I know, right?¡± Neoma agreed with Ruto because she knew that her request to break up was too abrupt. ¡°I¡¯m serious, though.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°As you can see, I¡¯m currently imprisoned¨C I don¡¯t have time to date.¡±

    [Not that we¡¯ve gone on a proper date yet.]

    ¡°You practically put yourself there.¡±

    ¡°If you¡¯re going to y mind games, you must confuse your enemies first,¡± she said, shrugging. ¡°Obviously, the crows have the upper hand because the Empress Dowager has the authority to give the final verdict during the trial. Hence, they must be out of their wits at the moment. And that¡¯s what I¡¯m aiming for.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re aiming for the moment they make a mistake after you got them overthinking?¡±

    ¡°I knew you¡¯d get me,¡± she said, proud of Ruto for being on the same wavelength as hers. ¡°The crows will hide their dirt that they¡¯re afraid of getting revealed. We just have to keep an eye on them.¡±

    .....

    ¡°And who¡¯s going to do that while you¡¯re here?¡±

    ¡°Do you know that hawks have one of the sharpest eyesight among all animals?¡±

    ¡°Ah, so the Quinzels,¡± Ruto said, then he paused for a moment before thinking. ¡°Is Hanna Quinzel the one you chose to take your ce while you¡¯re here?¡±

    Sheughed because she suddenly found her situation funny. ¡°To be honest with you, I got myself arrested on a whim. I mean, revealing the fact that I deceived the empire was a part of my n¨C but only as ast resort. I didn¡¯t expect to use that card this early.¡±

    If Nero didn¡¯t show signs of turning into a tyrant, she wouldn¡¯t do this.

    [But here we are now.]

    ¡°I need to protect the empire not because I give a shit about it, but because I don¡¯t want the citizens to suffer under Nero¡¯s dictatorship,¡± she said, sighing. ¡°I know, I know. It¡¯s bad for me to think the worst of Nero, especially after he released all his pent-up resentments against me and our parents. Even so, it doesn¡¯t change the fact that he¡¯s not suitable for the throne at the moment.¡±

    She took action immediately because Nero¡¯sing-of-age would be a few weeks from now. It was also the moment the Crown Prince would be granted the right to seize the emperor¡¯s throne.

    ¡°Do you know what¡¯s scarier than a man with a loose screw?¡± Neoma asked, but she also answered her own question. ¡°A lunatic with ABSOLUTE power.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s Prince Nero, indeed.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not his fault that he¡¯s mentally ill, but he still should be held ountable for his actions,¡± she said,bing her hand through her hair since her bangs. She clicked her tongue when she realized that she didn¡¯t know what she looked like while talking to Ruto. He couldn¡¯t see her face, yes. Even so, she still wanted to look pretty. ¡°Aish. I should have surrendered after taking a bath. That damned twin brother of mine didn¡¯t even give me a change of clothes.¡±

    ¡°Do you want me to get you out of here?¡±

    ¡°Aigoo, the offer is tempting, but I have to turn you down. I can¡¯t let my ex-boyfriend do that for me.¡±

    Ruto let out a sigh. ¡°I am not your ex-boyfriend.¡±

    ¡°Ohh¡­ do you not want to break up with me?¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t have a rtionship to begin with, so why would we break up?¡±

    ¡°Huh? What do you mean we¡¯re not in a rtionship?¡± she said, knitting her eyebrows. ¡°We held hands! Hugged! And we even danced! I don¡¯t do those things with a friend.¡± She stood up and walked towards Ruto. Then she grabbed the prison bars while looking at him coldly. ¡°I know I¡¯m the one who pursued you, but this is too much.¡±

    To be honest, she was a bit distracted.

    [Wow, Ruto smells so good that I don¡¯t smell the bad odor here anymore.]

    ¡°If we¡¯re not in a rtionship, then we wouldn¡¯t need to break up.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Pfft.

    Okay, thatpletely melted her anger.

    ¡°The green g Ruto I know is mature, so I tend to act childish with him because I want him to baby me,¡± Neoma said, smiling while shaking her head. ¡°But your childish side is cute, Ruto. It makes me want to baby you. We should have used ¡®baby¡¯ as our endearment to each other instead of ¡®babe.''¡±

    ¡°Please don¡¯t call a grown-ass man ¡®baby,¡¯ Princess Neoma.¡±

    It was Lewis whoined from next door.

    [Is it just me or Lewis¡¯ vocabry is getting crass little by little? I should probably stop cursing in front of my children and only speak nice words around them.]

    ¡°The fox is right,¡± Ruto said, frowning. ¡°Calling me ¡®baby¡¯ is a little¡­¡±

    ¡°Fine, I won¡¯t call you ¡®baby,''¡± she said, pouting. The meaning of ¡®babe¡¯ and ¡®baby¡¯ wasn¡¯t different, so she didn¡¯t really get why it was such a big deal to the boys. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m serious, Ruto. You¡¯re not my babe anymore, so don¡¯t speak about our personal rtionship if you got summoned to the court to testify.¡±

    ¡°Ah, so you¡¯re breaking up with me because of the uing trial?¡±

    ¡°Ruto, you¡¯re an important figure in the Eastern Continent,¡± she said in a serious voice. ¡°Plus, you represent the Sun Goddess. You can¡¯t get dragged into a trial that¡¯s bound to be messy. Not yet, at least. So, if ever you got summoned to the court, don¡¯t say we¡¯re dating. I already broke up with you anyway.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Ruto, answer me.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not obligated to answer you, am I?¡±

    ¡°Aigoo. Red g Ruto is showing his ugly head again.¡±

    ¡°I already know I¡¯m ugly by your standards.¡±

    She gasped, her eyes opening wide. ¡°Hey, that¡¯s not true. You know I don¡¯t mean it literally! I¡¯m just saying that your red gs are not¡­ nice.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about your ex-lover¡¯s feelings.¡±

    Wow.

    Ruto was really sulking.

    [His immature side is really something¡­]

    ¡°Stop making me want to baby you, Ruto.¡±

    Ruto ignored what he said as he pulled a single-stemmed red rose from his sling bag. It was definitely a magic pouch since it was too small to store the long flower inside. ¡°Here.¡±

    Neoma was confused, but she epted the rose.

    And then she finally realized what the rose was for.

    ¡°The foul odor here disappeared,¡± Neoma said, amazed that it suddenly smelled like roses in the entire underground prison. ¡°Thank you, Ruto.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll bring you foodter.¡±

    ¡°Why not now?¡±

    ¡°This ce isn¡¯t suitable for you to eat your dinner,¡± Ruto said, then he turned to his side. ¡°What took you so long?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear crap from Princess Neoma¡¯s EX-LOVER,¡± Trevor, who suddenly appeared beside Ruto, said cheerfully. And yes, the demon boy¡¯s face was beaming with happiness. ¡°Princess Neoma, I agree with your decision to break up with the damned chef. You did well. Good job. I¡¯m so proud of you. Your big brain is really amazing!¡±

    ¡°I hate to say this, but I agree with Trevor.¡±

    It was Lewis, who was obviously listening to their conversation.

    Neoma rolled her eyes at Trevor and Lewis who were suddenly ganging up on Ruto. ¡°Why are youte, Trevor.¡±

    ¡°Sorry, my Moon Princess,¡± Trevor said then he snapped his fingers. ¡°I need you to step out of that little prison cell for a moment.¡± He turned to his other side. ¡°You, too, Lewis.¡±

    BANG.

    She flinched a little when the loud banging sound shook the entire underground prison.

    It was because Lewis kicked the door, sending it flying until it hit the wall. Of course, the wall almost copsed because of the impact.

    Lewis turned to Neoma after stepping out of his prison cell. ¡°Should I kick your door open, Princess Neoma?¡±

    ¡°No need,¡± Neoma said, letting go of the prison bars she was holding because the entire door was slowly vanishing¨C all thanks to Trevor¡¯s sorcery. ¡°Are you alright, Lewis?¡±

    Lewis just nodded politely.

    Neoma then stepped out of the prison cell. ¡°So, what are you going to do, Trevor?¡±

    ¡°A room make-over,¡± Trevor said, using modern words again. ¡°A princess deserves to stay in a princess-style room, no?¡±

    ***

    ¡°FORGET it, Raku,¡± Sanford said while stretching his arms. ¡°As long as Princess Neoma doesn¡¯t escape from prison, let them do whatever they want.¡±

    To be honest, he had no idea what was going on underground.

    [Prince Nero just asked as to guard the door leading to the basement. Working too hard doesn¡¯t suit me.]

    ¡°This power¡­¡±

    It was rare for Raku to speak, so he listened to his friend intently.

    ¡°They¡¯re all strong.¡±

    ¡°Right?¡± Sanford agreed with Raku. ¡°We¡¯ll probably die if we fought them.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not afraid to die if it¡¯s for Prince Nero.¡±

    .....

    He couldn¡¯t help but smack Raku¡¯s back a little too hard. ¡°I don¡¯t think Princess Neoma is the enemy here, so there¡¯s no need to fight her or her people. Value your life more, will you?¡±

    ¡°But Prince Nero saved my life¡­¡±

    ¡°So serve him well while you¡¯re alive. You¡¯re useless once you¡¯re dead.¡±

    Raku fell silent for a moment as if he was thinking, then he nodded. ¡°Alright.¡±

    ¡°Good,¡± Sanford said, patting Raku¡¯s back encouragingly. ¡°That¡¯s why let¡¯s just ignore Princess Neoma¡¯s crazy antics. Her Royal Highness scares me more than the monsters around her.¡±

    ***

    HANNA had many things to do, so she prepared herself to have a whole night of strategic meeting with Lord Jasper and Neoma¡¯s ¡°children.¡±

    [Yes, I asked Lady Paige and the others to stay with us while Neoma is in jail.]

    She asked the servants to bring Lord Jasper and Neoma¡¯s ¡°children¡± to the drawing room first. Of course, she also politely asked Lord East, the Azure Dragon, to bring Count Kyle Sprouse to the underground prison.

    Hanna was headed to her bedroom to change intofortable clothes when her mother¨C who arrived home first¨C greeted her with a pale look on her face, she immediately knew that her n for tonight was already foiled.

    [Ah, I¡¯m suddenly anxious.]

    ¡°Hanna, sweeties, we have guests,¡± her mother said nervously. ¡°Esteemed guests.¡±

    Her mother¡¯s expression made her nervous because they were not expecting any esteemed guests tonight.

    ¡°Alright, Mother,¡± Hanna said, hiding her nervousness. ¡°Please lead me to them.¡±

    ***

    ¡°AH, THIS is life,¡± Neoma said while having tea. ¡°Now I feel like I¡¯m on vacation.¡±

    Her dirty and shabby prison cell had turned into a majestic and clean room¨C thanks to Trevor¡¯s sorcery.

    Now, her room had its own bathroom as well.

    After taking a bath and changing into a decent white nightgown with a silk robe, she ate the dinner that Ruto cooked for her. Then she had tea in the lounge area of the room to help her digest her meal well.

    Of course, Lewis¡¯ room was also ¡°renovated¡± the same way.

    Her ¡°son¡± was also done taking a bath and changing into morefortable clothes, and was now standing behind her chair like the knight that he was.

    [And yes, Lewis ate with me earlier.]

    Trevor and Ruto had gone out to talk while Neoma and Lewis were talking, though.

    [I don¡¯t know what Trevor and Ruto talked about, though.]

    ¡°Don¡¯t forget to brush your teeth before you sleep.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± Neoma responded to Ruto who was already getting out of his seat. ¡°Are you already leaving?¡±

    Ruto nodded at her question. ¡°I¡¯ll return tomorrow morning to bring you breakfast.¡±

    ¡°Aww,¡± Trevor said sarcastically. ¡°You¡¯re too sweet for an EX-LOVER, my friend.¡±

    Gosh, this demon boy¡­

    ¡°Thank you for the dinner,¡± Lewis said to Ruto even though her ¡°son¡± didn¡¯t mention a name. ¡°Good night, Princess Neoma¡¯s ex-lover.¡±

    Ruto just let out a sigh.

    Neoma could only shake her head before drinking her tea.

    [So childish.]

    ***

    ¡°ALL OF US agree that a trial must be held,¡± Rufus, who was leading the meeting among the representatives of the Twelve Golden Families, said firmly. ¡°But not all of us agree that the trial must be open to the public.¡±

    That was the conclusion they arrived at during the emergency meeting.

    He didn¡¯t like the current situation, but he did his best to keep his calm.

    [Hanna told me I must convince to open the trial to the public for Princess Neoma¡¯s sake. Unfortunately, it¡¯s not easy to do¡­]

    ¡°Why should we open the trial to the public?¡± Marquis Vincent Lennox asked sternly. ¡°We¡¯re going to discuss the Royal Family¡¯s shameful act during the trial. The public doesn¡¯t need to see that.¡±

    ¡°For once, I agree with Marquis Lennox,¡± Duke Arman Winchester, the head of the Noble Faction, scoffed. ¡°What do the peasants know about thew anyway? They will just see the trial as a form of entertainment.¡±

    Naturally, members of the Noble Faction shared the same opinion.

    [Only Count Seant Dankworth and Marquis Lawford Gibson agreed with me to open the trial to the public.]

    ¡°We must quickly end the trial, too,¡± Marquis Frank Bsco said. ¡°Themoners will only get in the way.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m more interested in Mona¡¯s daughter,¡± Marquis Russell Spencer, Lady Mona Roseheart¡¯s obsessive admirer in the past, said while grinning. ¡°She¡¯s not going to receive death punishment, is she? If so, perhaps the Royal Family could marry her off to m¨C¡±

    ¡°If you finish that sentence, I¡¯ll kill you,¡± Rufus threatened the perverted marquis in a cold voice, his yellow eyes glowing menacingly. ¡°Princess Neoma is the one and only royal princess of the empire. Moreover, Princess Neoma IS my niece. If you disrespect Her Royal Highness once more, I will not let it slide.¡±

    Marquis Spencer smirked, but it was obvious that Rufus¡¯ threat scared him.

    ¡°Stop it,¡± Count Emerson Zachary, Marquis¡¯ Spencer¡¯s close friend, said. ¡°Duke Quinzel, the majority always wins. Only you, Count Dankworth, and Marquis Gibson agreed to open the trial to the public. Your side already lost in votes.¡±

    Rufus turned to the Northern Lords. ¡°But there are four more people here who haven¡¯t voted yet.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Marquis Gibson, who was gently trying to wake up the sleeping Count Dankworth, agreed with him. ¡°Let them vote.¡±

    Duke Winchester scoffed. ¡°Since when did the Northern Lords get involved in the state affairs? I¡¯m certain they¡¯ll just say they¡¯re on the neutral¨C¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s open the trial to the public.¡±

    It was Count Tyler Lhesi, the de facto leader of the Northern Lords, who said that.

    The entire conference hall fell silent.

    Of course, they were shocked since this was the first time in a while that the Northern Lords took a stand!

    [I heard Princess Neoma was in the North recently...]

    Could the royal princess have a hand in this?

    ¡°The Northern Lords wish to open the trial to the public,¡± Count Lhesi said in a firm voice. ¡°Our votes count, don¡¯t they?¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 705 - 705 LET THE TRIAL BEGIN

    705 LET THE TRIAL BEGIN

    ¡°PRINCE NERO, please stop drinking already.¡±

    Of course, Nero ignored Melvin¡¯s pleas. He just poured more vodka into his ss, then he chugged it down in one gulp. ¡°If you¡¯re just going to nag at me, then leave.¡±

    Melvin would often leave him alone as soon as office hour was over.

    But this time, when his secretary heard him ask his servants to bring bottles of liquor in his room, Melvin followed him.

    Half a bottle of vodkater, the damned secretary was still there.

    ¡°Prince Nero, I know you have a good tolerance for alcohol. You have poison immunity, so you don¡¯t get drunk easily,¡± Melvin continued nagging him again. ¡°Even so, you have a trial to attend tomorrow morning. Please stop drinking and take a rest already.¡±

    ¡°The trial is already happening tomorrow?¡±

    ¡°So, Your Royal Highness wasn¡¯t listening to Duke Quinzel earlier,¡± his secretary said while shaking his head. ¡°The Twelve Golden Families already decided to open a trial to judge Princess Neoma. They wanted to get it over and done with as soon as possible, so the trial begins tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°What kind of trial begins that easily?¡±

    .....

    ¡°It¡¯s because Princess Neoma is a de Moonasterio,¡± Melvin exined. ¡°If it¡¯s just an ordinary noble going to a trial, there are several procedures to follow first. But when a member of the Royal Family is involved in a case, the Twelve Golden Families and the most senior monarch¨C if there is one¨C gain the authority to judge.¡±

    He scoffed. ¡°Ridiculous. Neoma isn¡¯t even officially listed in the Royal Household.¡±

    ¡°Even so, we can¡¯t deny that Princess Neoma is a de Moonasterio. The citizens have also seen her, so this issue bes bigger than we¡¯d like it to be,¡± his secretary said, sighing while shaking his head. ¡°Since the Twelve Golden Families are the ones in charge of the case, they skipped several procedures to open the trial tomorrow morning.¡±

    ¡°Does my Imperial Mother already know?¡±

    ¡°Marquis Lennox was in the Empress Dowager¡¯s pce earlier. I believe the marquis already informed Her Majesty about the trial tomorrow,¡± his secretary said. ¡°Prince Nero, you¡¯re also involved in the trial since if what Princess Neoma said turned out to be true¡­¡±

    ¡°How could it be true when I don¡¯t remember any of it?!¡±

    All the bottles of alcoholic beverages on the table broke when he yelled.

    A broken piece even cut Melvin on the cheek, the red fresh blood dripping from the wound.

    [What a weakling. He couldn¡¯t even dodge that?]

    ¡°I really don¡¯t get paid enough to deal with your tantrums, Prince Nero. If you want to attend the trial with a hang-over and embarrass yourself in front of an audience, then be my guest.¡±

    [Ah, there he is¨C Melvin¡¯s other side.]

    Melvin Lhesi was truly a scaredy-cat, just like the Northern noble that he was. However, every time he was physically hurt, his brazen side woulde out.

    [Just like how the Northern lords pretend to be weak and scared.]

    ¡°I feel bad for the empire for having a violent Crown Prince like you, Prince Nero. As soon as Your Royal Highness ascends the throne, I¡¯ll quit and migrate to the Eastern Continent,¡± Melvin said while wiping the blood on his cheek with the back of his hand. ¡°This empire is doomed anyway.¡±

    ¡°Careful,¡± Nero warned his secretary who obviously lost it. ¡°I hate people who don¡¯t know their ce.¡±

    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t fight~¡±

    It was Calyx, and Calyx had his arm wrapped around Alucard¡¯s shoulders.

    ¡°I smelled blood, so I brought your Order¡¯s Healer here,¡± Calyx said before letting go of Alucard. ¡°Alucard, go and heal Melvin¡¯s wound. The pce will copse if our future chancellor is hurt.¡±

    Melvin let out a frustrated sigh. ¡°Please don¡¯t curse me, Prince Calyx.¡±

    Of course, Calyx justughed it off.

    ¡°We¡¯ll take our leave now, Prince Nero and Prince Calyx,¡± Alucard said, then he turned to Melvin. ¡°Can I lick your blood?¡±

    ¡°Of course not,¡± Melvin said, then he turned his back on Alucard. ¡°What a pervert.¡±

    And, just like that, Melvin and Alucard left in a chaotic manner.

    ¡°Your knights are funny,¡± Calyx said, then he sat on the chair across from him while lighting the cigar between his fingers. ¡°Why are you drinking, Nero?¡±

    ¡°Is it true that Neoma pretended to be when we were younger?¡± Nero asked Calyx bluntly. Since his brother was older than him, it was possible that Calyx knew the truth. ¡°Then does it also mean that all the big achievements under my name actually belong to Neoma?¡±

    Calyx took a puff of his cigar before responding. ¡°Yeah, everything Princess Neoma said was true. You almost died when you were young because of ck magic that ruined your internal organs. Hence, our father forced Princess Neoma to pretend as you. My mother and I were still in hiding during that time, so our father only had you as his sessor.¡±

    He clenched his hands tight. ¡°Was I really in aatose state for that long?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Calyx said, nodding. ¡°Our father hid you in the Spirit World with William while you were going under treatment.¡±

    That was the part that he wanted to verify, but he couldn¡¯t contact William ever since Neoma showed up.

    [Even Tara, the Queen of the Spirit World, isn¡¯t answering my call.]

    ¡°Why can¡¯t I remember any of it, Calyx?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not the question you should be asking me, Nero.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡±

    ¡°The one who almost killed you when you were a toddler was the Devil¨C and that Devil was Nichole de Moonasterio.¡±

    He knitted his eyebrows. ¡°Why would my aunt want me dead?¡±

    ¡°Because the Devil¡¯s side wanted Princess Neoma to take the throne.¡±

    He clenched his jaws tight. ¡°Was it nned?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, but Princess Neoma came with Princess Nichole¡¯s Soul Beast, didn¡¯t she?¡±

    He couldn¡¯t say anything because Calyx was right.

    ¡°There¡¯s one more thing, Nero.¡±

    ¡°What is it now?¡±

    ¡°It was Emperor Niki who forced the Twelve Golden Families to pass thew that allows women to inherit noble titles. It¡¯s also the samew that grants Princess Neoma the right to the throne,¡± Calyx said, puffing out the smoke out of his mouth. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to say this because I didn¡¯t want you to be hurt, but Princess Neoma has always been our father¡¯s favorite child.¡±

    Ah, Nero¡¯s splitting headache returned. Moreover, this time, he also felt a painful squeeze in his heart. He thought he didn¡¯t care about his family who abandoned him, so what was this feeling?

    [It hurts¡­]

    ¡°Did you also know that when Lady Mona was given a chance to escape this world, she only brought Princess Neoma with her? And she made that choice the second time, even bringing our father with them. Your own mother abandoned you from birth, my poor brother,¡± Calyx said, standing up. Then he sat on the armrest of Nero¡¯s chair and wrapped his arm around his head. ¡°I didn¡¯t want you to retrieve your memories because I knew you¡¯d only get hurt once you remembered that your own family abandoned you in favor of Princess Neoma.¡±

    Nero clutched his head and shut his eyes tight. ¡°They really abandoned me¡­¡±

    ¡°Only mother and I truly loved you, Nero,¡± Calyx whispered, hugging him tight. ¡°And we¡¯ll continue loving you, so help us win the uing trial, my dear brother.¡±

    ***

    IT WAS a fine morning for Neoma.

    After devouring the delicious breakfast that Ruto brought for her and Lewis earlier, she took a bath and dressed for the asion.

    By ¡®asion,¡¯ she meant the first day of her trial.

    Hence, she dressed down on purpose.

    She wore a flower-printed ck dress that fell below her knees over a pastel pink chiffon long-sleeve blouse, and a pair of ck chunky loafers (and ruffled-trimmed socks for cuteness!) for her footwear.1

    Then she just tied her hair in a high ponytail, and didn¡¯t put on makeup.

    Yes, she was going to attend the trial BARE-FACED. She had to look humble, after all. But despite her efforts¡­

    ¡°Even though I¡¯m trying to look low profile, my face still makes my overall look high ss,¡± Neoma said, sighing while looking at her beautiful face in the mirror. ¡°I don¡¯t look like I¡¯m about to attend a trial¨C I look like a rich high school girl attending an elite private academy.¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t do anything about it, Princess Neoma,¡± Lewis, who was standing behind her, said. ¡°You¡¯d look pretty even if you wear dirty rags.¡±

    ¡°I know, right?¡± she agreed with her ¡°son.¡± ¡°I have to act humble, at least.¡±

    ¡°But you don¡¯t have modesty bone in your body, Princess Neoma...¡±

    Aigoo.

    She didn¡¯t know if she would be offended by what Lewis said, or by how he sounded so genuine when he said that.

    [He¡¯s right, though.]

    ¡°Lewis, your mother is a good actress,¡± Neoma said, ignoring Lewis¡¯ remark earlier. Then she turned around to face him. ¡°I¡¯ll floor you with my acting skillster.¡±

    Lewis, who looked and smelled fresh after taking a shower and changing into casual clothes, just tilted his head to one side.

    [Cute.]

    But she didn¡¯t let herself get swayed by Lewis¡¯ cuteness.

    ¡°Lewis, I understand why you punched Nero,¡± Neoma said in a serious tone. ¡°However, it¡¯s still wrong of you to do that. Nero is the Crown Prince and, unfortunately, we have an absolute monarchy in the empire. If it weren¡¯t for me, you would have been sentenced to death already for harming the heir to the throne.¡±

    Lewis didn¡¯t look remorseful, but he lowered his gaze to the floor as if he was afraid to look at her at the moment.

    ¡°I¡¯m neither mad nor disappointed,¡± she consoled him. ¡°I¡¯m just saying this because I¡¯m worried about you, Lewis. I know that I¡¯m a bad influence on you because I¡¯ve always done what I wanted. Plus, I could also be violent towards our enemies. But you should remember that Ie from a ce of privilege. I can act this way because my position won¡¯t allow me to face heavy consequences for my actions. So please don¡¯t copy my bad habits.¡±

    Lewis finally raised his head to meet her gaze.

    ¡°As I said, Ie from a ce of privilege¨C and privileged kids like me are good at exploiting our advantages,¡± she said. She wasn¡¯t bragging about her position¨C she was merely acknowledging her privilege. ¡°So, if Nero or anyone else pissed you off, just tell me. I¡¯ll punish them for you.¡±

    .....

    ¡°I¡¯m supposed to be your knight, Princess Neoma¨C not the other way around.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re my ¡°son¡± first before my knight.¡±

    It looked like Lewis had something to say, but they were interrupted when the door to her bedroom¨C er, prison cell suddenly burst open.

    [Aigoo.]

    Nero, who looked dashing in his white and red knight¡¯s uniform, entered the room. ¡°Let¡¯s go, Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio.¡±

    Neoma raised an eyebrow. ¡°Are you going to escort me personally?¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately, you¡¯re still a de Moonasterio so we can¡¯t treat you like a criminal,¡± Nero said indifferently. ¡°You¡¯re going to ride the royal carriage with me, and we¡¯re going to use a portal since it¡¯s embarrassing for a member of the Royal Family to attend a trial.¡±

    Hmm?

    She noticed something strange in Nero.

    [He¡¯s calm. Too calm. It¡¯s as if he suddenly stopped caring about me.¡±

    Neoma didn¡¯t want to admit this, but Nero¡¯s indifference scared her.

    [Nero, what happened overnight?]

    ***

    ¡°WE HAVE a problem, Duke Quinzel.¡±

    Rufus leaned towards Jaxson Emmett, the vice-captain of his private army, who came to him in a hurry while he was on his way to the court. ¡°What happened?¡±

    ¡°The Northern Lords,¡± Jaxson Emmett whispered. ¡°They¡¯re missing. And there are signs that a fight urred in their residence.¡±

    Rufus clenched his hands tight.

    If the Northern Lords suddenly disappeared and couldn¡¯t attend the trial, Princess Neoma would be at a disadvantage because Marquis Vincent Lennox and the members of the Noble Faction were against her!

    The crows...

    [This is definitely the work of the crows!]

 Chapter 706 - 706 ROYAL SCANDAL (1)

    706 ROYAL SCANDAL (1)

    ¡°WHAT¡¯S the meaning of this?¡± Hanna asked in a calm yet cold voice, her green eyes glowing menacingly. ¡°How dare you block my path in my own house?¡±

    Lucien Attewell, the crazy mage who loved explosives and one of Nero¡¯s personal knights, flinched but didn¡¯t move out of the way.

    Hanna remained firm as well, the rest of the ck Hawk Knights standing behind her.

    [Their timing is perfect, huh?]

    Her mother and father went to the court early.

    Since she still had things to do and prepare, she was left in the mansion.

    But just when she was about to leave, Lucien Attewell and a troop of royal knights came barging in.

    [They¡¯re obviously here to stop me from attending the trial.]

    The trial was open to the public, but only high-ranking nobles were allowed inside the court to watch. As the Quinzel Princess, she had the right to enter the court.

    .....

    But clearly, Calyx Dalton and the fake Empress Dowager didn¡¯t want her there.

    ¡°Young Lady Quinzel, several people were kidnapped from the Royal Pcest night,¡± Lucien Attewell said. ¡°And we were informed that Count Kyle Sprouse wasst seen in your house.¡±

    Hanna almostughed at the poor excuse Lucien Attewell gave her, but she remained serious. ¡°I didn¡¯t even know Count Sprouse was missing, and yet you¡¯re saying the count wasst seen in my house?¡±

    Of course, that was a lie.

    [But if the enemies are lying straight to my face, what¡¯s wrong with doing the same? They must have a taste of their own medicine.]

    She knew that the crows were only suspecting her because after Neoma, she was the one with the highest position among the royal princess¡¯ allies. To be fair, Lord Jasper should be higher in position as a duke.

    [I only outranked Lord Jasper because I¡¯m the future Crown Princess.]

    Anyway, the crows knew that she had the power and resources to keep the likes of Count Kyle Sprouse from getting found again. Hence, they immediately suspected her of hiding the kidnapped count.

    [And since I don¡¯t have time to move Count Sprouse to another ce, they knew I had no choice but to hide the count in our estate.]

    That was pretty smart of the crows.

    ¡°Her Majesty the Empress Dowager doesn¡¯t want to suspect the future Crown Princess of the empire of treason,¡± Lucien said indifferently. ¡°Hence, Her Majesty the Empress Dowager wishes Young Lady Quinzel to ease her worries and let us search your house. If Young Lady Quinzel isn¡¯t hiding anything suspicious, then please allow us to do our job.¡±

    ¡°Your job?¡± Hanna asked, letting out a chuckle that sounded sarcastic. ¡°Lucien Attewell, who do you serve?¡±

    Lucien, who obviously got her point, flinched once again. ¡°Prince Calyx informed me that Prince Nero allowed me to do what Her Majesty¨C¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t even receive the order from Prince Nero directly,¡± she said, cutting him off. ¡°Lucien Attewell, I¡¯m quite disappointed. You are supposed to be Prince Nero¡¯s knights, but you¡¯re acting like apdog for Prince Calyx and the Empress Dowager.¡±

    This time, Lucien who was acting polite all this time changed his demeanor. His eyes turned sharp and cold. Obviously, he was offended by what Hanna said. ¡°Young Lady Quinzel, if we found Count Sprouse or any of the missing people from the pce, will you give me permission to blow up the Quinzel Mansion?¡±

    [Yes, this is the crazy mage that I know.]

    ¡°Are you crazy, you disrespectful brat?!¡±

    Oh.

    Hanna suddenly remembered they weren¡¯t alone when one of her family¡¯s knight yelled angrily.

    ¡°How dare you threaten our princess?!¡±

    Of course, the royal knights behind Lucien Attewell didn¡¯t keep quiet either.

    ¡°With all due respect, it was Young Lady Quinzel who started it!¡±

    ¡°Young Lady Quinzel may be the future Crown Princess, but that doesn¡¯t give her the right to ignore the Empress Dowager¡¯s order!¡±

    ¡°And when did our youngdy ignore the Empress Dowager¡¯s order?!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right! Our youngdy was being reasonable when she asked for proof before you search the estate!¡±

    ¡°Even if it¡¯s the Royal Family, they don¡¯t have the right to suddenly barge in and demand our youngdy to let you search the estate without showing proof of the crime you¡¯re using our household of!¡±

    Since the Quinzel Knights were right, the royal knights couldn¡¯t talk back anymore.

    But the royal knights quickly found a new way to pick up a fight with the ck Hawk Knights.

    ¡°The ck Hawk Knights are being arrogant now!¡±

    ¡°Even though you serve the Quinzels, you still have to answer to the Royal Family!¡±

    ¡°Enough,¡± Hanna said firmly, shutting up both side. Now that it was finally quiet again, she focused on Lucien. ¡°You¡¯re free to search my house. But if you don¡¯t find anyone there, I¡¯m going to blow up Prince Calyx¡¯s pce.¡± She then put a hand on Lucien Attewell¡¯s shoulder and whispered. ¡°And I¡¯m going to punish you for serving other members of the Royal Family WITHOUT Prince Nero¡¯s direct permission.¡±

    ***

    GLENN shouldn¡¯t have been surprised.

    He, his entire family, Miss Dahlia, and Lord Manu were about to leave the royal vi to attend the court when, suddenly, Alucard Dionisio and Dustin (the ¡°half-saint¡±) came barging in with a squad of royal knights.

    Clearly, they were here to stop them from attending the trial.

    ¡°I know that the Royal Family owns this vi,¡± Glenn said politely, standing in front of Lord Manu and his family in a protective stance. ¡°Even so, you don¡¯t have the right to suddenly barge in like this. I know I used to serve as the former emperor¡¯s Pdin. But you haven¡¯t forgotten that I¡¯m now the king of Hazelden Kingdom, have you?¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, we¡¯re here under the Empress Dowager¡¯s orders,¡± Alucard Dionisio said politely. ¡°I¡¯m here¡­ to escort Lord Dustin who wants to¡­ uh, y with Prince Skylus since they¡¯re both saint candidates?¡±

    ¡°Did Prince Nero send you here, Sir Dionisio?¡±

    The knight shook his head awkwardly. ¡°But Prince Calyx said Prince Nero lent us to him.¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t hear it from Prince Nero directly?¡±

    Alucard Dionisio shut his mouth as if he was embarrassed.

    It was ridiculous.

    As a former royal knight, he didn¡¯t like it.

    [During my time as a Pdin, I never let anyone order me aside from Emperor Niki, unless His Majesty PERSONALLY asked me to.]

    But this young knight was running an errand for the Empress Dowager.

    [Without getting permission from Prince Nero directly, at that.]

    And the worst of all?

    ¡°It seems like you don¡¯t even understand the order you were given, Sir Dionisio,¡± Glenn said. He wanted to remain polite, but he couldn¡¯t hide his disappointment. ¡°As a former White Lion Knight, I¡¯m saddened by your attitude.¡±

    Alucard Dionisio seemed to snap after hearing that.

    But Dustin, the half-saint, stepped forward. ¡°Your Majesty, please don¡¯t scold Alucard too much. I was the one who pleaded the Empress Dowager to allow me to y with Prince Skylus today.¡±

    Glenn was about to say something but Brigitte, his queen and lovely wife, stepped forward.

    ¡°Let¡¯s drop the act since we all know the real reason why you¡¯re here,¡± his wife said calmly while rubbing her baby bump. The smile on Brigitte¡¯s face was pretty but chilling. ¡°Skylus, darling,e and y with the young lord.¡±

    Hmm?

    Skylus appeared behind his mother while holding Monik¡¯s hand, and Monik was holding ude¡¯s hand.

    Glenn¡¯s heart instantly melted.

    [Aww¡­ my children are so adorable!]

    ¡°Is it okay if we y with Dustin, Mommy?¡± Skylus asked his mother with sparkling eyes. ¡°Is it okay if Monik noona and our maknae ude y with us, too?¡±

    ¡°Of course, darling,¡± Brigitte said, then she faced Alucard Dionisio and Dustin andughed at the poor boys. ¡°Even if we get locked up here because of some underhanded move, Princess Neoma will stille out victorious. After all, Princess Neoma didn¡¯t return to y.¡±

    ¡°The ck Witch¡­¡± Dustin whispered to himself, his eyes opening wide. ¡°Where¡¯s the ck Witch?¡±

    ¡°Why are you looking for Miss Dahlia when you¡¯re here to y with Prince Skylus?¡± Lord Manu asked. ¡°You¡¯re not leaving, are you?¡±

    Dustin frowned, especially when the children giggled.

    Monik and Skylus were whispering something in ude¡¯s ears.

    [Monik and Skylus¡¯ eyes are glowing¡­]

    Seeing his children¡¯s happy disposition, Glenn¡¯s heart was put at ease.

    [Everything will be fine.]

    ***

    EVERYTHING wasn¡¯t fine.

    Paige already expected that the crows would do dirty tricks to stop themoners from attending the trial, but she didn¡¯t expect them to be THIS violent.

    ¡°Help us!¡±

    ¡°There are heavily injured people here!¡±

    .....

    ¡°Please stop pushing!¡±

    Paige was floating in the air, watching the stampede below her.

    The people who gathered in the za to attend the trial were now in a stampede. It was all because of the masked men (obviously crows) throwing Mana bombs everywhere. Her ¡°siblings¡± were already done capturing the crows, but the damage had already been done.

    ¡°Paige, the crows found and destroyed all the video cameras that we nted around the royal capital,¡± Jeno, who was standing on the cloud next to her, reported. ¡°What should we do? Do we have time to nt new video cameras?¡±

    ¡°Forget about the cameras,¡± Paige said while shaking her head. ¡°Let¡¯s prioritize saving the people first because I¡¯m sure that¡¯s what Princess Neoma would want us to do.¡±

    ***

    [SHOULD I just start a rebellion?]

    That was the first thought that entered Neoma¡¯s mind when she saw the almost empty courtroom.

    [Gosh, the crows are ying dirty again.]

    Only the fake Empress Dowager, Calyx, and the Twelve Golden Families were there when Neoma arrived with Nero and Lewis.

    [Not even a single guard in sight.]

    The bleachers around the tform were naturally empty.

    [They didn¡¯t even let the other nobles attend the trial.]

    ¡°Am I supposed to just stand here?¡± Neoma asked, standing on the tform that was obviously designed for the sinner. It was against the protocol, but Lewis stood behind her. Nobody seemed to care, though. ¡°Gosh, it feels like I¡¯m already sentenced to death.¡±

    She was talking to Calyx and the fake Empress Dowager on the balcony of the second floor, sitting on their fancy seats.

    Soon, Nero joined the two.

    [Of course, the Crown Prince¡¯s chair was the fanciest.]

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Princess Neoma,¡± the fake Empress Dowager said with a smile on her face. ¡°We will judge you fairly.¡±

    Bullshit.

    She discreetly turned to the side where the Twelve Golden Families were.

    Duke Rufus Quinzel looked pale and worried.

    And the Northern Lords weren¡¯t there.

    [Ah, we¡¯re fucked.]

    ¡°Should I just plead guilty?¡± Neoma wondered out loud. ¡°It seems like the majority of you have already decided that I¡¯m guilty.¡±

    ¡°If you are guilty, we won¡¯t stop you from pleading guilty,¡± Nero said indifferently. ¡°Who knows? We might give you a lighter punishment.¡±

    ¡°Right?¡± Calyx agreed with Nero. ¡°But you must confess to your crimes first, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll do that,¡± Neoma said, shrugging. ¡°I plead guilty for being the most beautifuldy in the empire.¡±

    Everyone looked shocked and offended by what she said.

    Only Lewis smirked and found it funny.

    [My ¡°son¡± really gets my humor.]

    But she wasn¡¯t done yet.

    ¡°I also plead guilty to being morepetent than both the two princesbined,¡± Neoma said arrogantly. ¡°Moreover, I plead guilty to being too awesome and too good for all of you.¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma, what do you think you¡¯re doing?!¡± Marquis Vincent Lennox yelled angrily, mming his hands on the table as he stood up. ¡°The court is a sacred ce, and yet you dared to turn this into a joke? You mannerless wench¨C¡±

    The marquis suddenly stopped talking when the doors suddenly burst open.

    It looked like it wasn¡¯t supposed to be open because Nero, Calyx, the Empress Dowager, and Marquis Lennox looked shocked.

    Neoma, on the other hand, smiled widely.

    ¡°This trial is a joke, so what¡¯s wrong if my daughter turns it into a full circus?¡±

    That arrogant manner of speaking¡­

    ¡°Are wete, baby?¡±

    And that gentle voice¡­

    Neoma smiled, but her eyes were also brimming with tears. ¡°Mama Boss, Papa Boss!¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 707 - 707 ROYAL SCANDAL (2)

    707 ROYAL SCANDAL (2)

    [Last night¡­]

    TO SAY that Hanna was surprised when the esteemed guests her mother mentioned turned out to be Emperor Niki and Lady Mona Roseheart.

    She thought the guests were bad people because of how pale her mother was.

    [But I can understand why Mother is nervous. After all, it¡¯s not every day you¡¯d see Emperor Niki and Lady Mona having tea in our private drawing room.]

    Even Hanna was nervous.

    [Neoma didn¡¯t mention that her parents are returning today¡­]

    ¡°Good evening, Emperor Niki, Lady Mona,¡± Hanna said while bobbing a curtsy and greeting the royal couple politely. ¡°Wee back.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to be so formal, Hanna,¡± Emperor Niki said. ¡°I¡¯m no longer the emperor. You can just call me ¡®Uncle¡¯ since you¡¯re my niece anyway.¡±

    Hanna was flustered by the emperor¡¯s request, hence she wasn¡¯t able to respond immediately.

    .....

    [I know I¡¯m supposed to call His Majesty ¡®Father¡¯ soon, but my heart isn¡¯t ready yet¡­]

    ¡°Niki, don¡¯t pressure Hanna,¡± Lady Mona scolded the emperor, then she turned to Hanna with a gentle smile on her face. ¡°Dear, it¡¯s okay. Take your time until you¡¯refortable calling us more casually.¡±

    Hanna smiled, relieved by what her future mother-inw said. ¡°Thank you, Lady Mona.¡±

    ¡°Come and sit with us,¡± Lady Mona said. Although she was smiling, Hanna could see the seriousness in her light blue eyes. ¡°I¡¯m sure we have many things to discuss.¡±

    Hanna nodded politely, then she sat on the chair across from the sofa where Emperor Niki and Lady Mona were sitting side by side. ¡°Your Majesty, Lady Mona, may I know how you suddenly returned? I doubt even Neoma knew you wereing back tonight. I¡¯m pretty certain Neoma said Trevor needed to recover first before he could open the Door, hence I¡¯m wondering what happened¡­?¡±

    As soon as she asked that, Emperor Niki¡¯s face suddenly turned grim as if he wanted to murder someone.

    Even Lady Mona, who was usually good at controlling her expressions, frowned.

    Seeing those reactions made her nervous.

    [Something bad definitely happened.]

    ¡°It was neither Trevor nor anyone from Princess Aruna¡¯s side who opened the Door to help us return immediately,¡± Lady Mona exined calmly. ¡°We received help from an unexpected individual. That person brought us here because ording to them, the Quinzel Estate is the safest ce for us at the moment.¡±

    Ah, it sounded like something Hanna shouldn¡¯t concern herself with.

    Hence, she respected their privacy and didn¡¯t press further. She just changed the topic since there were other pressing issues that she needed to discuss with her future inws anyway.

    [It doesn¡¯t matter how they got here. Now that His Majesty and Lady Mona are here, we can change the direction of Neoma¡¯s trial tomorrow.]

    ¡°Your Majesty, Lady Mona, how much do you know about the current situation?¡±

    As far as she remembered, Emperor Niki¡¯s Soul Beasts could share what they had seen and heard with the emperor.

    ¡°My Soul Beasts have a temporary contract with Neoma because that¡¯s the only way she could bring them here without me,¡± Emperor Niki exined. ¡°Hence, their senses aren¡¯t connected to me at the moment. I¡¯m sure my Soul Beasts don¡¯t even know that I¡¯m already back since Mona and I are currently hiding our presence.¡±

    [Ah, so that¡¯s why I didn¡¯t recognize their presence when I got home.]

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll start with the most important issue at the moment, Your Majesty, Lady Mona,¡± Hanna said politely, taking a deep breath before dropping the bad news. ¡°Neoma was put in a tight spot where she was forced to reveal that she disguised as Nero for many years. And as a result, Nero put her behind bars for tarnishing the honor of the Royal Family.¡±

    Emperor Niki clenched his jaws, while Lady Mona took a deep breath.

    [Hmm?]

    ¡°Your Majesty, Lady Mona, do you already know that Neoma nned to reveal the truth?¡±

    ¡°Neoma told us that she nned to reveal the truth as ast resort. If she used herst card early, then that must mean the situation is worse than we thought,¡± Lady Mona said worriedly. ¡°I assume Nero hasn¡¯te to his senses yet.¡±

    ¡°Nero had a meltdown,¡± Hanna informed them sadly. ¡°ording to Dahlia, Nero¡¯s memories of his first life overtook his emotions for a brief moment. And then he had a huge fight with Neoma. Unfortunately, I don¡¯t know what the fight was about since I didn¡¯t get the chance to talk to Neoma before she was arrested.¡±

    Emperor Niki and Lady Mona looked devastated.

    Still, she wasn¡¯t done with her report yet.

    ¡°Father is currently in a meeting with the other members of the Twelve Golden Families,¡± Hanna continued. ¡°I may be wrong, but I have a feeling the trial will begin as soon as tomorrow morning.¡±

    After all, the trial waspletely under the authority of the fake Empress Dowager and the Twelve Golden Families.

    ¡°You¡¯re right, Hanna. The fake Juliet and the Twelve Golden Families on their side will definitely try to wrap up the trial before Neoma could present the evidence that will clear her name,¡± Emperor Niki said. ¡°They will probably destroy all the evidence that may put Calyx and the fake Juliet in a bad light.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a good thing Neoma already prioritized kidnapping¨C er, borrowing the people that we need to prove that she¡¯s not a threat to the Royal Family,¡± Hanna said. ¡°The Royal Archmage, Lord Marcus, Miss Stephanie, Mr. Alphen, and Count Kyle Sprouse.¡±

    Emperor Niki scoffed. ¡°That traitor is still a count?¡±

    ¡°The fake Empress Dowager returned Count Sprouse¡¯ title when she took over the pce, Your Majesty.¡±

    The emperor frowned, understandably. ¡°Is that traitor here?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty. Lord East is guarding Count Sprouse in the basement prison.¡±

    ¡°Is the traitor the only person you¡¯re hiding here?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty,¡± Hanna said politely. ¡°The others are under Lord Jasper¡¯s protection. I don¡¯t know where Lord Jasper hid them, but I¡¯m not sure it¡¯s not in his estate.¡±

    Lord Jasper and Lord Ruto were talking in the banquet earlier, so Lord Ruto would know where Lord Jasper would have hidden the others.

    [They didn¡¯t say anything to me.]

    It was probably because they knew that she had something else to do.

    ¡°We have to move Kyle Sprouse,¡± Emperor Niki said. ¡°It¡¯s obvious that you¡¯re the next leader after Neoma. The crows probably already know that the traitor is here.¡±

    Oh, right.

    The crows only had a few choices since there were only a few of them on Neoma¡¯s side.

    ¡°We¡¯ll take care of Kyle Sprouse,¡± Lady Mona said. ¡°We¡¯re going to move him somewhere safe. We can¡¯t give the crows a reason to drag the Quinzels to court.¡±

    She didn¡¯t really mind, but it looked like Lady Mona and His Majesty already made a decision.

    ¡°I understand that we have to move quickly,¡± Hanna said politely. ¡°But please rest here for a moment, Your Majesty, Lady Mona. I¡¯m sure you¡¯re exhausted from the journey.¡±

    And stress.

    Emperor Niki didn¡¯t say anything, but he nodded subtly.

    ¡°We¡¯ll do that, Hanna,¡± Lady Mona said, smiling gratefully at her. ¡°Thank you.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re always wee, Lady Mona,¡± Hanna said, smiling back at her future mother-inw before ncing at Emperor Niki. His Majesty already mellowed out a lot, but his semi-permanent frown and intimidating aura were still there. ¡°Your Majesty, can I say something about your current position in the empire?¡±

    Emperor Niki raised an eyebrow as if he was interested, then he nodded. ¡°Go ahead.¡±

    ¡°Please don¡¯t say that you¡¯re no longer the emperor¨C especially not in court,¡± Hanna said in a serious tone. ¡°There¡¯s a huge difference between abdicating the throne irresponsibly from getting pushed out because your life was threatened. If it¡¯s the former, Your Majesty will be heavily criticized for abandoning your duties and your people. But if it¡¯s thetter, we can use it against the people who were involved in what happened five years ago.¡±

    Emperor Niki smiled as if he was satisfied. ¡°So, you¡¯re telling me to challenge the fake Juliet¡¯s authority.¡±

    ¡°The fake Empress Dowager doesn¡¯t have the right to have authority over the Royal Family in the first ce, Your Majesty.¡±

    Emperor Niki didn¡¯t say anything else, but he seemed quite pleased.

    [It¡¯s nerve-wracking to be in His Majesty¡¯s presence.]

    ¡°I¡¯m d you think the same way as we do, Hanna,¡± Lady Mona said, then she turned to the door. ¡°Rufus and Amber are here.¡±

    Hanna stood up and bowed politely. ¡°I¡¯ll let Father and Mother in so Your Majesty and Lady Mona could talk to them in private.¡±

    ***

    [OOPSIE.]

    Neoma bit her lower lip when she realized she called Papa Boss and Mama Boss inappropriately.

    Since they were in the presence of an audience, she must address her parents properly.

    ¡°Mother, Father,¡± Neoma said, calmer than she was earlier. ¡°You¡¯ve made it in time.¡±

    To be honest, she was shocked.

    As far as she knew, only Trevor could open the Door.

    Aruna and Arche de Moonasterio were currently missing in action after they forced open the Door with Trevor when Neoma returned to the empire with the demon boy.

    [And I¡¯m pretty sure my ex-man Ruto has nothing to do with this.]

    ¡°Wee back, Your Majesty and Lady Roseheart,¡± Duke Rufus Quinzel, who looked better now than he did earlier, said as he stood up. Then he bowed his head politely towards Papa Boss and Mama Boss. ¡°We can¡¯t start the trial without you.¡±

    Neoma was already doing a victory dance in her head.

    [You tell them, Duke Rufus!]

    She also took notice of the outfit that her Papa Boss wore today¨C it was the regal knight¡¯s uniform and royal cape that only the emperor could wear.

    [Did Papa Boss rob the royal pce beforeing here?]

    On the other hand, Mama Boss looked lovely in her dress which matched Papa Boss¡¯ uniform. <3< p>

    .....

    ¡°Watch your mouth, Duke Quinzel,¡± Marquis Lennox scolded Duke Rufus. ¡°That man is no longer the emperor.¡±

    ¡°I find myself agreeing with you more often, Marquis Lennox,¡± Duke Winchester, the head of the Noble Faction, said. ¡°An emperor who abandons his duty and people is no longer an emperor.¡±

    ¡°Who said I abandoned my duty and my people willingly?¡± Papa Boss said in his usual arrogant¨C er, confident and stern voice. ¡°Call every single noble in the Royal Capital and tell them to get here this instant¨C tell them that Emperor Niki de Moonasterio has returned!¡±

    Much to Neoma¡¯s pleasant surprise, familiar faces behind her parents appeared and responded.

    ¡°As youmand, Your Majesty!¡±

    [When did our friends get here?]

    But it didn¡¯t matter anymore.

    ¡°Hell yeah!¡± Neoma said, doing a fist pump in the air. ¡°My Papa Boss IS the emperor of the Great Moonasterion Empire!¡±

    Lewis chuckled behind her. ¡°Calm down, Princess Neoma.¡±

    [I caaan¡¯t!]

 Chapter 708 - 708 ROYAL SCANDAL (3)

    708 ROYAL SCANDAL (3)

    [A few minutes ago¡­]

    ¡°BROTHER Dustin, you¡¯re not going anywhere~¡±

    Glenn smiled nervously while watching Skylus chase Dustin who was pacing the room back and forth.

    Unfortunately for the half-saint and the knight Alucard Dionisio, the two couldn¡¯t leave the room after Glenn covered the walls with his power to turn dirt into stone. Of course, he kicked out the normal-ranking royal knights first since he didn¡¯t want the room to get too crowded.

    He left one window open for venttion, of course.

    Glenn and his wife and queen Brigitte were having tea next to the window to make sure Dustin and Alucard wouldn¡¯t be able to use that to escape.

    ¡°y with us, sir,¡± Monik said while pulling the hem of Alucard Dionisio¡¯s long coat. ¡°Stop hitting the wall since you can¡¯t break our daddy¡¯s power anyway!¡±

    ude, who was clinging to Monik¡¯s dress, nodded whileughing. ¡°Noona is right! Our daddy is stronger than you! Hehehe~¡±

    Glenn blushed while listening to his children praise him.

    .....

    But his smile soon vanished when Brigitte suddenly grabbed the gun on the table, unlocked it, and point it at Alucard Dionisio. ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it, sir.¡±

    Glenn turned to Alucard Dionisio to see the knight¡¯s hands frozen in mid-air.

    It looked like Alucard Dionisio was about to grab Monik and ude by the head, but stopped when Brigitte pointed a gun at him.

    ¡°Sir Dionisio, you¡¯re currently serving as a White Lion Knight under Prince Nero¡¯smand,¡± Glenn said in a disappointed voice. ¡°Harming innocent children goes against the creed of the Order of the White Lion. As the former vicemander of the Order, I¡¯m disappointed. You¡¯re making me want to discipline you badly.¡±

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t about to harm the children¡­ Your Majesty,¡± Alucard Dionisio said, hesitantly calling Glenn by his title. ¡°I was just thinking of peeling them away from me since I have¡­ uh, some kind of dark energy in me. I didn¡¯t want them to get stained by it.¡±

    Oh?

    The young sounded sincere.

    Even Brigitte seemed convinced because she put the gun down on the table. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about it, sir. My daughter Monik can purify any dark energy approaching her and our family.¡± She then turned to the children. ¡°Monik, ude, didn¡¯t Mommy tell you that you shouldn¡¯t touch people and their things without their consent?¡±

    Monik immediately let go of Alucard Dionisio¡¯s clothes with a sad look on her face. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, sir.¡±

    ¡°I also apologize, sir,¡± ude said, tearing up. ¡°Please don¡¯t scold my noona.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not mad,¡± Alucard Dionisio said nervously. Clearly, the knight wasn¡¯t used to dealing with children. ¡°No need to apologize.¡±

    Monik and ude instantly beamed, then they spoke at the same time. ¡°Then let¡¯s y, sir!¡±

    Glenn chuckled while watching his children. ¡°They¡¯re so cute.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s because they¡¯re inherited your cuteness, Glenn,¡± Brigitte teased him while gently touching his leg with her foot. ¡°I¡¯m d you¡¯re the father of my babies.¡±

    Glenn blushed, trying hard not to react to Brigitte¡¯s teasing.

    ¡°I don¡¯t intend to interrupt your romantic moment, but can you please remove the stone wall, Your Majesty?¡± Dustin asked in a frustrated voice. ¡°I changed my mind about ying with Prince Skylus. Can I leave now?¡±

    ¡°No can do, Lord Dustin,¡± Glenn said, sipping his tea. ¡°If we can¡¯t go out to attend the trial, then you¡¯re also not going anywhere.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Brigitte agreed with him, smiling at the child. ¡°Should we y family, young lord?¡±

    ¡°You can be my Uncle Dustin!¡± Skylus said cheerfully, then the child suddenly fell silent¨C his eyes glowing like the night sky. ¡°Ah¡­¡±

    ¡°Monik noona!¡±

    It was ude who yelled his sister¡¯s name.

    Monik was also standing frozen on the spot, her eyes glowing like Skylus¡¯ eyes.

    Glenn and Brigitte immediately stood up and ran to their children. He went to Skylus while his wife went to Monik.

    ¡°He¡¯s here,¡± Skylus said, the glow in his eyes fading away. ¡°The strongest man in the empire is back.¡±

    Glenn had a goosebump after hearing that. ¡°Do you mean¡­¡±

    ¡°His Majesty,¡± Monik said, the glow in her eyes also fading away. ¡°The rightful OWNER of the throne has returned.¡±

    As if on cue, the most majestic man in the empire appeared in the middle of the room out of thin air.

    Of course, the emperor wasn¡¯t alone.

    Emperor Niki arrived with Lady Mona Roseheart.

    Glenn and Brigitte immediately stood up and bowed their heads, then they spoke at the same time. ¡°Wee back, Emperor Niki and Lady Roseheart.¡±

    ¡°Why are you stuck here, Glenn?¡± Emperor Niki asked, clicking his tongue. ¡°Can¡¯t you get rid of a single child just because you¡¯re a father now?¡±

    Ah.

    Glenn couldn¡¯t help but smile as he raised his head. ¡°It¡¯s really you, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± Emperor Niki said, scoffing. Then he turned to Dustin, who naturally flinched under the cold gaze of the emperor. ¡°That child is full of dark energy. Should I get rid of him before he bes a problem?¡±

    Glenn gulped because the emperor¡¯s aura was really murderous.

    [His Majesty is serious¡­]

    ¡°No, Your Majesty!¡± Skylus protested, standing in front of Dustin with his arms opened wide. ¡°Brother Dustin is not evil!¡±

    Emperor Niki was about to say something, but Lady Mona Roseheart smacked the back of His Majesty¡¯s head.

    [Only Lady Mona could do something like that.]

    ¡°Niki, leave the children alone,¡± Lady Mona said while turning to Alucard Dionisio. ¡°One of them is Nero¡¯s subordinate.¡±

    ¡°Right, we¡¯re not here to fight,¡± Emperor Niki said, turning to Glenn and Brigitte. ¡°You¡¯re going to attend the trial, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty,¡± Glenn said. ¡°We just encountered a small problem.¡±

    ¡°Come with us,¡± Emperor Niki said, ignoring Dustin and Alucard Dionisio who obviously froze in fear because of the emperor¡¯s aura. ¡°I¡¯ll just go and grab my garments first.¡±

    ***

    PAIGE TOOK a deep breath while looking at the crowd below her.

    Juri and Xion had already beaten up¨C uh, caught the crow bastards who threw bombs at the people earlier. Jeno created a tform made of clouds where Greko was currently treating the heavily injured people who were crushed in the stampede.

    Even so, there were still so many people who needed her help.

    [If only I could lift everyone up¡­]

    She couldn¡¯t use any more power than she was already using because she was saving up her energy.

    Even so¡­

    [I¡¯m sure Princess Neoma will understand.]

    Paige summoned her main weapon¨C the White Parasol¨C to gather enough power to lift most of the people below in order to stop the stampede.

    However, much to her shock, the people that she was meaning to save floated one by one.

    [Huh?]

    ¡°I went ahead and helped you, youngdy. I hope you don¡¯t mind.¡±

    Paige gasped when THE Lady Mona Roseheart suddenly appeared before her. ¡°Lady Mona¡­¡± She tilted her head to one side, confused. ¡°Wee back.¡±

    Lady Mona smiled gently at her. ¡°I know you have many questions. Let¡¯s talkter. For now¡­¡± She looked at the crowd below them. Fortunately, after many people were lifted into the air (safely, of course), people began to calm down and stopped pushing each other forward. ¡°We have to help the people before the trial begins.¡±

    ¡°I know it¡¯s hard, but I want everyone to calm down and listen.¡±

    Paige¡¯s eyes opened wide when the sea of people suddenly split (when there was enough space to do so) to give way to Emperor Niki.

    Of course, she wasn¡¯t the only who was shocked.

    ¡°Is that His Majesty?¡±

    ¡°I thought His Majesty was already dead¡­¡±

    ¡°But why did His Majesty only appear now?¡±

    Emperor Niki suddenly stopped walking, causing everyone to quickly shut their mouths. ¡°I know all of you have many questions, and I assure you that my family¨C my REAL family¨C will answer all of them one by one during the trial,¡± the emperor said in his usualmanding voice that had the power to make everyone listen to him. ¡°The injured people shall remain here and get treated. However, I encourage the abled ones to follow me¨C I swear on my name that I will all bring you to the court safely.¡±

    Paige didn¡¯t want to admit this, but even she was convinced that she would be safe with Emperor Niki despite his scary and intimidating aura.

    [Ah, so this is where Princess Neoma inherited her charisma from.]

    ***

    NOTE: Sorry for disappearing for three days. I got super sick. Monthly period plus a slight fever/cold is such a terriblebination. Sorry for the short chapter, consider this as an extra chapter exining how Niki and Mona went to court. Will pick up the pace next chapter.

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

    .....

 Chapter 709 - 709 ROYAL SCANDAL (4)

    709 ROYAL SCANDAL (4)

    HOW SHOULD Neoma exin this feeling?

    [I¡¯m a strong independent woman, you know?]

    That meant she was used to doing everything and anything on her own. She hated relying on others. Most of all, she hated it when people were inconvenienced because of her. Hence, even though she was working with other people, she developed the bad habit of taking the heaviest workload so that her allies wouldn¡¯t be too burdened.

    [Huh? I think that¡¯s the part about me that my ¡°children¡± hate.]

    Ah.

    [I get it now.]

    Fortunately, her ¡°children¡± didn¡¯t have to worry about that today.

    After all, Neoma felt so relieved to see her Papa Boss and Mama Boss in the court.

    For the first time in a long while, she didn¡¯t feel like doing everything on her own. Now that her parents were here, she could finally rx.

    .....

    Neoma immediately looked up at the balcony and saw Nero looking at their parents with a nk look on his face. It pained her to see her baby twin brother look that emotionless while staring at their mother and father, but she had a feeling that everything would be fine now that their whole family was here.

    She would make sure that Calyx and the fake Empress Dowager¡¯s reign would end now.

    [No¡ª our entire family will take down the fakes and win Nero over.]

    It seemed like Nero felt her burning gaze because her twin brother turned in her direction and met her gaze.

    Neoma made a heart with her hands to convey her feelings.

    [I love you, baby brother. Mama Boss and Papa Boss are now here. We will save you from your fake family.]

    Nero just made a disgusted face before turning away from her.

    Clearly, her feelings didn¡¯t reach her twin brother sessfully.

    [Gosh, so grumpy.]

    ***

    IT TOOK all Niki got in order to stop himself from going on a killing spree.

    He hated everything that he saw after he retrieved his clothes from the pce.

    The stampede where hundreds of innocent people were hurt¡­

    The almost-empty empty courtroom¡­

    Some of the Twelve Golden Families who were clearly only there to judge Neoma unfairly¡­

    Thenstly, Calyx Dalton and the fake Juliet¡­

    [How dare those fakes to stand next to my son¨C the legitimate Crown Prince of the empire?!]

    ¡°Calm down, Niki,¡± Mona, who was standing next to him, whispered. ¡°Protecting Neoma and Nero in this trial is our top priority and not eliminating the enemies.¡±

    Mona¡¯s calm voice soothed him.

    Niki nodded subtly in response.

    ¡°I don¡¯t even know how to address you right now,¡± Marquis Vincent Lennox said in a mocking tone while approaching Niki. ¡°An emperor who abandons his duty for a woman doesn¡¯t deserve to be respected¨C¡±

    ¡°Shut your mouth when you don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about, Marquis Lennox,¡± Niki said sternly, cutting off Marquis Lennox in the rudest tone he could muster. He was NOT about to get disrespected in front of his precious children. And he wouldn¡¯t let anyone disrespect his family, too. He might be a hypocrite since he was being rude to the marquis, but he never imed to be a good person so he didn¡¯t really care. ¡°I didn¡¯t abdicate the throne willingly, and I am here to prove that.¡±

    Marquis Lennox¡¯s face turned red from anger and perhaps embarrassment as well.

    ¡°You¡¯re here to prove your innocence?¡± Duke Winchester asked in a mocking tone, stepping up when Marquis Lennox was shut down. ¡°You¡¯re not as relevant as you thought you are. This trial is for the royal princess who deceived the empire¨C¡±

    ¡°And that has something to do with the reason I was forced to leave the empire,¡± Niki said, cutting off the duke in a very disrespectful manner. Then he smirked when Duke Winchester¡¯s face also turned red from anger and shame. ¡°Duke Winchester, even if you take away my title as the emperor, don¡¯t you think I still outrank you as a former monarch? You may im that I abandoned the throne, but the records didn¡¯t say so.¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty is correct,¡± Rufus said. ¡°The records only im you went missing five years ago, Your Majesty. It was never officially recorded that you abandoned the throne.¡±

    The crows did that in order to protect Nero¡¯s reputation as the Crown Prince.

    [At times like this, the crows are pretty useful.]

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t officially recorded, yes,¡± Marquis Russell Spencer, the bastard who had lusted after Mona in the past, scoffed. ¡°But everyone knows the truth¨C¡±

    ¡°None of you here have the right to confront me,¡± Niki said, tantly ignoring the perverted marquis. Then he looked up at the balcony where Nero, the fake Juliet, and Calyx Dalton were standing in silence. ¡°Only the Crown Prince has the right to do so.¡±

    Nero looked unfazed, and even his voice sounded indifferent when he responded to him. ¡°I¡¯m afraid you¡¯re wrong, Father. My Imperial Mother is the most senior member of the Royal Family, so it falls under Imperial Mother¡¯s authority to judge you and Neoma.¡±

    ¡®Imperial Mother?¡¯

    Niki clenched his hands tight, in disbelief that Nero called the fake Juliet his ¡®Imperial Mother.¡¯ It was a title that he couldn¡¯t give Mona because they weren¡¯t legally married yet. Hence, it pained him to hear his son address another woman with the title that should only belong to Mona.

    [I can¡¯t even look at Mona now.]

    Niki was sure Mona was also in pain.

    ¡°Niki, Mona, I¡¯m d that both of you are alive.¡±

    Ah, damn it.

    Niki tried to calm down for the sake of his family, but hearing the fake Juliet address him and Mona casually made his skin crawl. ¡°Your eyes¡­¡±

    He had to stop talking because he was afraid to snap and yell.

    The fake Juliet, hence, looked confused. ¡°What about my eyes?¡±

    ¡°Mona, I¡¯m sorry,¡± Niki said, pulling his sword¨C Calypso¨C out of the scabbard. And yes, he took the sword with him when he went to Korea. After all, he couldn¡¯t leave it in the Royal Pce. Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t get the chance to entrust Calypso to Nero during that time. ¡°I have to get a little wild.¡±1

    ¡°Alright,¡± Mona said, sighing while shaking her head. ¡°Just make sure Nero won¡¯t be hurt.¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± Niki said before he swung his sword.

    Marquis Lennox, Duke Winchester, Marquis Spencer, Count Emerson Zachary, and Marquis Frank Bsco all tried to block his attack.

    But Rufus, Marquis Lawford Gibson, and Count Sean Dankworth¨C who was awake for once¨C stopped the opposition.

    Rufus used his Shadow Veil to literally block Marquis Lennox and Duke Winchester (the strongest among the bunch) while Count Sean Dankworth used fog to blind Marquis Spencer and Count Zachary who both screamed while covering their eyes with their hands.

    On the other hand, Marquis Gibson knocked Marquis Bsco out with just a needle.

    It was chaotic, but Niki¡¯s attention was focused on the balcony where the Mana¨C in the form of a boomerang¨C that he threw by swinging his sword was headed.

    Calyx Dalton tried to use a shield, but of course, it easily crumbled.

    Niki scoffed.

    [You have to be on Neoma¡¯s Dome¡¯s level to stop my attack.]

    Nero clearly knew that because instead of blocking Niki¡¯s Mana, he simply jumped off the balcony.

    After all, Niki¡¯s target was the balcony.

    Since Calyx Dalton failed to block his attack, Niki¡¯s boomerang-shaped Mana hit the balcony in the middle¨C almost hitting the fake Juliet in the process.

    Tsk.

    [What a shame the fake dodged.]

    Anyway, the balcony copsed instantly.

    He didn¡¯t care about Calyx who carried the fake Juliet in his arms before jumping off the balcony.

    [Anyway¡­]

    Niki¡¯s gaze was focused on Nero. He was relieved to see the glowing ice wings on Nero¡¯s back. Thanks to those wings, his sonnded on the floor gracefully.

    [Those must be the wings of Zeru, his ice phoenix.]

    ¡°Father, you almost hurt my Imperial Mother,¡± Nero said while approaching Niki calmly. ¡°Whether you like it or not, my Imperial Mother is now the most senior member of the Royal Family. You do not have the right to act this way.¡±

    ¡°Nero, shouldn¡¯t you greet your real mother first?¡±

    Nero¡¯s cold eyes turned to Mona. ¡°Why? To me, she¡¯s just the woman who gave birth to me.¡±

    Niki clenched his hands tight until his nails dug deep into the skin of his palms.

    For the first time in his life, he felt the urge to strike Nero when he saw the pain in Mona¡¯s eyes. But he had to remind himself that Nero wasn¡¯t in his sane mind at the moment. And Neoma would hate him for having thoughts of physically punishing Nero.

    This was shameful to admit, but Niki would always lose his mind when it came to Mona.

    [I¡¯m sorry, children.]

    ¡°Niki, I¡¯m fine,¡± Mona, who definitely felt Niki¡¯s sudden aggression, said. Then she smiled at Nero, her eyes brimming with tears. ¡°I¡¯ve missed you, Nero. I don¡¯t have the right to ask how have you been these past few years, but I¡¯m d to see you again.¡±

    Nero just scoffed at Mona¡¯s heartfelt words.

    Niki, once again, had to stop his urge to scold Nero for treating Mona this way. ¡°Let¡¯s take a break for half an hour. Let your people clean up the courtroom first,¡± hemanded Nero not as his son but as the Crown Prince. Nero and not the fake Juliet had the right over the courtroom at the moment. ¡°The trial won¡¯t begin until the necessary people get here.¡±

    .....

    ***

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 Chapter 710 - 710 ROYAL SCANDAL (5)

    710 ROYAL SCANDAL (5)

    ¡°WOW. THE MAIN show hasn¡¯t begun yet, but the opening act is already deadly,¡± Neoma said while putting on her heart-shaped sunsses. Then she pped her hands while watching the Twelve Golden Families fight while the balcony copsed. ¡°Go, Duke Rufus! Go, Count Dankworth! And I kind of resent you, Marquis Gibson, but go! Fighting!¡±

    Gosh.

    Everything would have been perfect if she had a bucket of popcorn!

    [Just where is Trevor when I need him the most?]

    Lewis, who was still standing behind her, chuckled. ¡°You¡¯re enjoying this too much, Princess Neoma. Aren¡¯t you worried that our side used violence first?¡±

    ¡°I was trying to hold back because I wanted to appeal to the public by appearing calm and holy, but what can we do? Papa Boss is Papa Boss.¡± She looked at her father disapprovingly. ¡°He¡¯s even holding back from hitting Nero.¡±

    She was too far to hear what her parents and twin brother were talking about, and the fight of the Twelve Golden Families was blocking her line of sight so she couldn¡¯t read their lips either.

    But since Papa Boss was upset, Nero probably said something rude to Mama Boss. Unfortunately, her twin brother was capable of hurling hurtful words at their mother in his current state.

    [Nero, I¡¯m sorry to say this, but you should stop making our Mama Boss sad before Papa Boss forgets that you¡¯re his son. Our father loves us now more than he did when we were born, but Papa Boss still loves Mama Boss the most. It¡¯s a hard fact that we have to ept.]

    .....

    That was how bad a de Moonasterio¡¯s obsession was.

    Her thoughts were interrupted when Lewis suddenly stepped forward until he was already standing in front of her protectively.

    ¡°You look pretty rxed for someone who¡¯s about to stand in a trial, Princess Neoma.¡±

    Blergh.

    It was Calyx, of course¨C the only person in the courtroom that could make her puke out of disgust.

    As if that wasn¡¯t enough, Calyx had toe with the fake Empress Juliet, too.

    ¡°I¡¯m Neoma, I¡¯m always cool,¡± Neoma said. She was speaking like that on purpose to annoy Calyx and the fake Empress Juliet. But, of course, she would act and speak properly during the trialter. ¡°By the way, will the Empress Dowager be okay?¡±

    She gently patted Lewis¡¯ shoulder¨C carefully, too.

    Her ¡°son¡± got the message and stepped aside. But, of course, Lewis remained standing close to her.

    [Gosh, so overprotective. Anyway¡­]

    The fake Empress Juliet looked at Neoma with a calm look on her face. ¡°Is that a threat, Princess Neoma?¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m genuinely concerned,¡± Neoma said, her voice sincere because she was being real for once in front of the enemies. ¡°Even I can tell from this distance that Papa Boss¡¯ target was to make the balcony copse. But I clearly saw it.¡± As if to make a point, her eyes turned glowing red as she let out a sadisticugh. ¡°Gosh, Your Majesty. You almost got split in half. Had I known it was THAT easy to unalive you¡­¡±

    She didn¡¯t finish her sentence on purpose because she didn¡¯t want to be used of threatening the Empress Dowager.

    Anyway, Calyx and the fake Empress Juliet looked confused by her modern ng.

    She didn¡¯t offer an exnation because she wanted them to stay confused.

    [Today¡¯s motto is to never let your enemies know your next move.]

    ¡°The Empress Juliet that I heard from my parents¡¯ stories was pretty skilled,¡± Neoma said. She did say that she¡¯d be a good girl today, that was why she was using her words and not violence. ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m quite disappointed to see that Calyx had to go and carry Your Majesty to safety.¡±

    The Empress Dowager smiled at Neoma as if she wanted to show her that she was unfazed. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with a son protecting his mother? Wouldn¡¯t you have done the same for Mona, Princess Neoma?¡±

    ¡°You have a point, Your Majesty,¡± Neoma admitted, nodding. ¡°I hope Calyx protects you until the end.¡±

    ¡°Now that sounds like a threat.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Your Majesty. I n to behave like a good girl today,¡± Neoma said, putting her hands together as if she was praying. ¡°My parents are in charge of doing all the threats from now on.¡±

    Calyx scoffed at her. ¡°You¡¯re so obnoxious, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Coming from an insufferable bastard, huh?¡±

    Those vicious words didn¡¯te from Neoma, but that was how she was supposed to respond.

    However, Lewis beat her to it.

    Yes, her precious ¡°son¡± just called Calyx an ¡°insufferable bastard¡±¨C causing the fake Empress Juliet and Calyx to turn to Lewis with a re.

    Neoma fought the urge to bite her nails when she suddenly felt anxious.

    [Lewis is speaking bad words now because of me!]

    ***

    NERO wanted to defy his father, but he couldn¡¯t do it.

    His father, the FORMER emperor, was looking at him so coldly. And if his intuition was correct, it seemed like his father¡¯s bloodlust was directed at him.

    [It¡¯s as if Father is trying NOT to kill me.]

    At first, he thought his father might be angry at him because he was the one who ordered Neoma to get arrested. But when he saw how his father looked at his mother, that was when the realization hit him.

    [Father is mad at me because I¡¯m being rude to my real mother.]

    Hah!

    [Every de Moonasterio in history has an obsession that ended up ruining them. If I remember correctly, my grandfather was obsessed with immortality, causing him to murder the entire Silver Fox n where only one person survived.]

    Nero could instinctively tell that his father¡¯s obsession was his mother.

    [Am I like Father? Obsessing over a woman like a lunatic¡­]

    He was so sure he was either obsessed with Hanna or Dahlia¨C perhaps both. But, much to his chagrin, the face that came to his mind was Neoma¡¯s beautiful¨C er, annoying face.

    [What the¡­?]

    Nero turned to Neoma with furrowed brows.

    [Why are you suddenly entering my mind?]

    Neoma looked confused at first. But it was only for a moment. Soon, she was already smiling at him while making a weird sign with her hands AGAIN.

    It looked like a heart, but he refused to acknowledge it.

    So, Nero just red at Neoma.

    ¡°Stop ring at your sister and do as I said, Nero,¡± his father said sternly. ¡°Let¡¯s not waste any more time than we already had.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re really brazen, Father,¡± Nero said as he turned to his father again. ¡°As you said, I have power over the courtroom at the moment¨C the very courtroom that you destroyed. I can get you arrested for that, Father. After all, you¡¯re no longer the emperor. I outrank you now.¡±

    ¡°As I said, I didn¡¯t abdicate the throne willingly. We¡¯ll judge whether I still have the right to be the emperor or not during the trial,¡± his father said confidently, then he smirked. ¡°But you know what, son? Whether I¡¯m still the emperor or not, I don¡¯t think a brat like you can arrest me.¡±

    His father was obviously provoking him¡­

    ¡­ and it worked.

    Nero¡¯s eyes turned glowing room as he clenched his hands tight. ¡°Father, don¡¯t you think it¡¯s better to be known as the emperor who abdicated the throne for a woman instead of bing another emperor who was killed by his own son?¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t get me arrested, so what makes you think you can kill me?¡± his father asked,ughing mockingly. ¡°Get on my level first. That was how I killed my own father.¡±

    It looked like his father wanted to say more, but his mother elbowed his father in the ribs.

    ¡°Niki, was killing your own father something you should brag about in front of our son?¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not. I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    Nero rolled his eyes at how his father acted around his mother.

    [So easy.]

    He wanted to say that his father already lost his dignity as the emperor, but he¡¯d be lying if he said that. His father, even though he was just standing there while being scolded by his mother, looked very majestic.

    Nero didn¡¯t like it at all.

    He knew that he wouldn¡¯t win an argument against his father, so he came up with another way to hurt his parents because he was pissed.

    ¡°I suppose Neoma hasn¡¯t told you yet.¡±

    Both his father and mother turned to him with a concerned look on their faces.

    ¡°I hate you all,¡± Nero said, his voice full of resentment. ¡°I hate you all for abandoning me¨Cfor only choosing Neoma to bring with you.¡± He turned to his mother, the person that he resented most in his family. ¡°Twice.¡±

    His mother, who looked like she was about to cry, covered her mouth with her hands when she gasped. ¡°Nero¡­¡±

    ¡°Nero, don¡¯t me your mother¨C¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear it, Father,¡± Nero said, cutting off his father rudely. Then he turned to the Golden Twelve Families who were still fighting behind him. ¡°Stop already!¡±

    The floor and the walls of the courtroom were suddenly covered by a thinyer of ice after he shouted.

    That effectively stopped the Twelve Golden Families from fighting.

    ¡°Bring people to clean up the courtroom and ask every single higher noble in the Royal Capital to attend the trial!¡± Nero continued yelling because he was still pissed. For some reason, he didn¡¯t feel happy even after hurting his parents sessfully. ¡°The trial will begin in half an hour!¡±

    ***

    .....

    ¡°MAMA BOSS! PAPA BOSS!¡±

    Gosh.

    It was a little embarrassing, but Neoma couldn¡¯t help but act like a child when she saw her parents walking towards her after Nero left the scene with Calyx and the fake Empress Juliet.

    She ran to her parents and hugged Mama Boss first.

    It didn¡¯t matter since Papa Boss hugged both her and Mama Boss anyway.

    ¡°Mama Boss, Papa Boss, how?¡± Neoma asked curiously. Only they were left in the courthouse for now, but of course, she made sure that her voice would only be heard by her parents. ¡°Who opened the door?¡±

    Both her parents flinched, and that made her worry.

    [WHAT?! WHY?!]

    ¡°Neoma, be honest with us,¡± Mama Boss said, holding her by the shoulders. ¡°Do you have a boyfriend now?¡±

    Okay, Neoma almost choked on her saliva because she didn¡¯t expect that question. And it was so random??? ¡°I don¡¯t have a boyfriend.¡±

    Both her parents looked relieved.

    ¡°Not anymore since Ruto and I just broke up¡­¡±

    Her mother¡¯s eyes opened wide a bit.

    ¡°What?¡± Papa Boss growled, knitting his eyebrows. ¡°When did you start dating that young man, huh?¡±

    Oopsie, time to change the topic.

    ¡°Why are you suddenly asking me about my love life when I asked about the Door, Mama Boss? Papa Boss?¡±

    Her Mama Boss looked concerned as she answered her question. ¡°A young man who ims to be your lover opened the Door for us.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°He introduced himself as a Solfrid,¡± Papa Boss said, scoffing. ¡°Was it Noah Solfrid?¡±

    Mama Boss nodded. ¡°Yes, he said his name was Noah Solfrid.¡±

    ¡°That name sounds familiar¡­¡±

    [¡°I¡¯m the man who loves you to death.¡±]

    Neoma trailed off when she heard that voice in her head.

    And that was when she remembered who ¡®Noah Solfrid¡¯ was.

    ¡°The Ancient Devil,¡± Neoma said, clenching her hands tight. ¡°That delusional relic from the past is sprouting bullshit, huh?¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 711 - 711 ROYAL SCANDAL (6)

    711 ROYAL SCANDAL (6)

    ¡°ARE YOU alright, Nero?¡±

    ¡°Do I look alright to you?¡±

    Calyx, who was already used to Nero¡¯s bad temper, justughed it off. ¡°No, you don¡¯t,¡± he said, putting an arm around his shoulders as they sat on the sofa. ¡°Were you upset because of your parents¡¯ sudden appearance?¡±

    He didn¡¯t need to ask because it was obvious that his hunch was correct.

    After talking to the former emperor and Lady Roseheart, Nero walked out of the courtroom and went straight to the parlor.

    Calyx followed his brother while his mother went to the other parlor room to change her clothes. After all, his mother¡¯s gown was damaged after the former emperor¡¯s attack earlier. The Empress Dowager had to dress properly to assert dominance, right?

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you and the Empress Dowager greet Father earlier?¡± Nero asked with furrowed brows. ¡°You let me face Father alone.¡±

    ¡°Well, Father is scary,¡± Calyx said,ughing. ¡°Moreover, Father seems angry at me and my mother.¡±

    ¡°Father is always angry about something.¡±

    .....

    Hmm?

    Hearing that made him worry about something.

    ¡°Nero, I thought your memories of our father are hazy?¡± Calyx asked, trying to mask his nervousness. ¡°Did your memories get clearer when you met Father earlier?¡±

    ¡°I never really cared much about my parents,¡± Nero said, shrugging. ¡°But isn¡¯t itmon knowledge that Father is always in a bad mood?¡±

    ¡°Oh, you have a point.¡±

    ¡°Are you nervous about Father¡¯s sudden appearance?¡±

    ¡°Why would I be nervous? It¡¯s a joyous asion.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think you¡¯re being honest,¡± Nero said while observing Calyx closely. ¡°Calyx, I know that you¡¯re putting in an effort to sabotage this trial.¡±

    Oops.

    [Am I caught?]

    ¡°Are you afraid of Neoma?¡±

    He frowned, not liking what Nero just said. ¡°And why would I be scared of Princess Neoma?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know¨C you tell me.¡±

    [Why is Nero so unnecessarily sharp? Oh, well. It¡¯s just one of his charms.]

    ¡°Neoma is your twin sister,¡± Calyx said,ying his head down on Nero¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t people say twins have a special bond that no one else can break?¡±

    Nero scoffed. ¡°Ridiculous.¡±

    ¡°What if you end up liking Neoma more than you like me, Nero?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re speaking nonsense, Calyx. Do you think I¡¯d get Neoma arrested if I like her?¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± Calyx turned to Nero, cing his chin on his brother¡¯s shoulder. ¡°You don¡¯t like Princess Neoma?¡±

    ¡°Do I look like I do?¡±

    To be honest, Calyx could see that Nero hated Neoma and his parents.

    But he had to make sure because the crows¡¯ next move depended on Nero¡¯s state. And Calyx was the one in charge of judging Nero¡¯s worth to their n.

    ¡°No, you don¡¯t,¡± Calyx said, smiling at Nero because he was satisfied by his brother¡¯s current disposition. ¡°But putting Princess Neoma behind bars won¡¯t be easy because she has your parents¡¯ support. Moreover, her backing is pretty solid. That¡¯s exactly why I¡¯m doing the dirty work for you.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re sabotaging the trial for me?¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± Calyx said firmly. ¡°Nero, I have no intention topete with you for the throne. However, that¡¯s not the case for Princess Neoma. It¡¯s obvious that she wants the throne for herself.¡± He raised an eyebrow at his brother. ¡°And it seems like our father favors Princess Neoma over us.¡±

    Nero frowned, but he didn¡¯t say anything back.

    And Calyx found it amusing.

    [I don¡¯t even have to do anything to make Nero feel lonely. It¡¯s obvious that Emperor Niki favors Princess Neoma over Nero, after all.]

    ¡°Father no longer has the right to choose his heir,¡± Nero said firmly, his eyes turned glowing red. Obviously, his poor brother was upset because of his own parents. ¡°Moreover, I¡¯m already the Crown Prince. I won¡¯t let Neoma steal my rightful ce.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Calyx said, patting Nero¡¯s head gently. ¡°I¡¯m willing to be the bad guy to make sure that you¡¯ll ascend to the throne, Nero.¡±

    Nero scoffed, his eyes returning to normal. ¡°Don¡¯t you trust me?¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma is using underhanded tricks, but I can¡¯t let you do the same,¡± Calyx exined. ¡°You¡¯re the Crown Prince, so you have an image to protect. Hence, I can¡¯t let you dirty your hands just to fight your twin sister.¡±

    ¡°And that¡¯s what I don¡¯t understand, Calyx. Why are you going this far for me?¡±

    ¡°Because I like you.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°I like you, Nero,¡± Calyx said, smiling and being one hundred percent serious. ¡°I won¡¯t be surprised if you were the object of my obsession as a de Moonasterio.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s disgusting.¡±

    Heughed because he already expected that Nero wouldn¡¯t take his feelings seriously.

    [As long as he hates Princess Neoma, I¡¯m fine.]

    ¡°I am your Kingmaker, Nero,¡± Calyx said, caressing Nero¡¯s cheek with the back of his hand. ¡°Always have been, always will be.¡±

    Nero¡¯s eyes suddenly turned glowing red again. ¡°Get away from me, Calyx. I suddenly got the urge to kill you.¡±

    Calyxughed, but he removed his hand around Nero¡¯s shoulder as he stood up. ¡°You really hate sentimental things, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Emotions get in the way of thinking logically.¡±

    ¡°Right.¡±

    Calyx was about to say something, but a knock on the door interrupted him.

    ¡°Prince Nero, it¡¯s me¨C Melvin.¡±

    Nero stood up whilebing his fingers through his hair. ¡°Come in.¡±

    The door opened and Melvin entered the room while greeting both Nero and Calyx.

    ¡°Prince Nero, Lady Hanna has arrived,¡± Melvin reported to Nero. ¡°And we have a little problem. Herdy came with Lucien and¡­¡±

    ¡°Hanna must be pissed,¡± Nero said, then he turned to Calyx. ¡°I need to pacify Hanna, so I¡¯ll go ahead. Tell the Empress Dowager that we¡¯ll still be seated togetherter.¡±

    Calyx nodded and waved his hand. ¡°See youter, Nero.¡±

    Nero just nodded back before leaving with Melvin.

    [The curse is still in effect.]

    Calyx stood up and opened the door connected to the room next door.

    Yes, it was the parlor room that his mother was using.

    And, no, he didn¡¯t walk in on his mother changing clothes.

    The Empress Dowager was already having tea when he arrived in the room.

    ¡°What are we going to do, Mother?¡± Calyx asked as soon as he sat on the chair across from his mother. ¡°Emperor Niki and Lady Roseheart¡¯s sudden appearance ruined our n to wrap up the trial quickly. I don¡¯t think the result will be in our favor either. Moreover¡­¡±

    ¡°I know,¡± the Empress Dowager said. ¡°They¡¯ll probably bring me down, too.¡±

    ¡°Then should we proceed to our other n?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the only choice we have now,¡± his mother said, cing the teacup down on the table. ¡°We¡¯ll seize the throne by force and make Nero the emperor¡­¡±

    ¡°By eliminating Princess Neoma first.¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± the Empress Dowager said, smiling. ¡°We¡¯ll show Princess Neoma how the crows managed to eliminate the powerful royal princesses of the past.¡±

    ¡°So that¡¯s the n,¡± Calyx said, chuckling. ¡°Since Princess Neoma is going to expose the crows anyway, then let¡¯s introduce ourselves to the public properly.¡±

    ***

    ¡°IF YOU have something to say, spit it out now,¡± Nero said while walking ahead of Melvin who looked more anxious than usual. ¡°I¡¯m not a mind reader.¡±

    ¡°I received a report from the butler of my family, Prince Nero,¡± Melvin reported in a hushed voice. ¡°Apparently, there was a fight in the residence that my father and the other Northern Lords owned here in the Royal Capital. And now, they are missing.¡±

    The Northern Lords, huh?

    ording to Duke Rufus Quinzel¡¯s written report, it was the vote of the Northern Lords that made them open the trial to the public.

    [But Calyx tried to sabotage this trial. Could it be¡­?]

    ¡°There are also a group of masked people who threw Mana bombs to themoners who were trying to get here, Prince Nero. ording to my people, hundreds were hurt. I know Your Royal Highness knows who¡¯s behind this atrocity.¡±

    .....

    That made Nero stop walking, then he turned around to face Melvin. ¡°Be careful of your usations, Melvin. Even though you¡¯re my most useful aide, I can¡¯t save you once youmitted treason.¡±

    Melvin fell silent for a moment before he gathered the courage to speak up. ¡°Prince Nero, I just told you that hundreds of YOUR people were hurt because of the unfortunate incident. But you¡¯re trying to protect the person who caused it.¡±

    ¡°Shut up.¡±

    ¡°If you wanted a servant who would just blindly follow you, then you shouldn¡¯t have hired me, Prince Nero,¡± Melvin said. There was fear in his eyes, but his voice was clear and firm. ¡°If something bad happens to my father because of the person Your Royal Highness is protecting, I¡¯ll quit and never look back.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t the first time Melvin threatened to quit.

    But this was the first time Nero felt Melvin¡¯s determination.

    [He¡¯ll really quit at this rate.]

    ¡°And I¡¯m a petty person, Prince Nero,¡± Melvin added, avoiding his gaze. ¡°I might get back at you if you continue acting like that.¡±

    ¡°Acting like what?¡±

    ¡°Like a puppet,¡± Melvin said, sighing and shutting his eyes tight. Then he opened his eyes again and looked at Nero with a more determined look on his face. ¡°Prince Nero, you are the Crown Prince. Your job is to protect the empire and its people. Don¡¯t lose sight of your goal just because you¡¯re angry at your twin sister and parents¨C just like what that person wants you to do.¡±

    The person Melvin was talking about was Calyx, no doubt about it.

    ¡°I am not a puppet¨C let alone Calyx¡¯s puppet,¡± Nero said sternly. ¡°You¡¯re annoying today, Melvin.¡±

    ¡°Your Royal Highness is ALWAYS stressing me out.¡±

    Nero just scoffed, then he turned his back on Melvin.

    He ignored his secretary until he arrived at the main entrance where Hanna and some familiar faces were waiting.

    The doors had been shut while the servants were still cleaning the courtroom.

    [I didn¡¯t see where Neoma and our parents are, though.]

    Even the Twelve Golden Families were no longer in the courtroom.

    [They¡¯re probably in the other parlor rooms.]

    ¡°Nero, don¡¯t do something like this again,¡± Hanna said, pushing Lucien Attewell in his way. ¡°If you¡¯re going to ask your people to search MY house, at least give them your directmand instead of letting Prince Calyx boss your people around.¡±

    Ah, right.

    Calyx borrowed Lucien and Alucard from him this morning.

    Nero turned to Lucien who looked pale at the moment.

    [Lucien is an arrogant boy, but he looked scared right now.]

    Nero then turned to Hanna who looked immactely beautiful from head to toe.

    [Even her posture is perfect. No wonder she¡¯s the best person to be the Crown Princess.]

    Speaking of that¡­

    [Right, we have a duty to fulfill as the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess.]

    ¡°I know you¡¯re mad, but let¡¯s talk about itter,¡± Nero said, extending his hand to Hanna. ¡°I heard there aremoners who are hurt earlier. Will youe with me and check on our people together?¡±

    ¡°Who will apany you if not me?¡± Hanna said, epting his hand. ¡°At least, you have the sense to act as a proper Crown Prince today, Nero.¡±

    Hmm.

    [Is it just me or Hanna is being meaner to me day by day?]

    ***

    NERO WAS quite surprised after arriving in the ¡®Square.¡¯

    It was the wide space in front of the courthouse where themoners who wished to watch the trial gathered. Of course, there was still a low barricade that prevented the people from stepping out of the line.

    And it was the same barricade that separated Nero and Hanna from the people.

    Sanford, Raku, and Melvin were standing behind Nero and Hanna while the royal knights were around them to make sure they wouldn¡¯t get mobbed.

    Anyway, themoners looked thrilled upon seeing them.

    ¡°It¡¯s Prince Nero and our future Crown Princess!¡±

    ¡°They look good together!¡±

    ¡°Long live Prince Nero and Young Lady Quinzel!¡±

    Ridiculous.

    That was the first thing that entered Nero¡¯s mind.

    [Why are these people so obsessed with the Royal Family?]

    ¡°Nero, it¡¯s not the right time to think of something stupid,¡± Hanna whispered to him, smiling and waving at the people. ¡°We¡¯re here to check on our people, aren¡¯t we?¡±

    Nero nodded subtly, then he cleared his throat before addressing his people. ¡°I heard about the unfortunate incident that happened earlier,¡± he said, making the people silent in order to listen to him. ¡°As the Crown Prince of the empire, I assure you that we will do our best topensate everyone who was hurt in the tragedy.¡±

    The people pped because of his promise.

    ¡°And I¡¯d like to thank all of you foring here despite what happened earlier,¡± Nero said, faking a sad smile to gain sympathy from the people. ¡°The least thing I could do for you is to assure that you¡¯d get to witness it¨C the downfall of the royal princess who deceived the empire, that is.¡±

    Hanna turned to him with a shocked and betrayed look on her face.

    Nero pretended he didn¡¯t notice the hateful look his fianc¨¦ was giving him.

    [This trial is only a means to cement my position as the Crown Prince.]

    ***

 Chapter 712 - 712 ROYAL SCANDAL (7)

    712 ROYAL SCANDAL (7)

    [DONE.]

    Neoma didn¡¯t want to admit this, but she suddenly felt tired after relinquishing the temporary contracts that she had with her Papa Boss¡¯ Soul Beasts.

    [Gosh, why is my stamina so shittytely?]

    She was upset because she felt pretty weak at the moment, but she focused on the good things because she didn¡¯t want to ruin her day.

    North, East, West, South, and Center were now back in her father¡¯s arms.

    [Heh. That sounds pretty dramatic.]

    Anyway, right now, she was in a parlor room with her Mama Boss and Papa Boss.

    Of course, they only used the parlor room on the first floor just like what the representatives of the Twelve Golden Families had done.

    After all, the parlor rooms on the second floor were for the Royal Family.

    .....

    [Right now, Nero and the fakes are considered the rightful Royal Family members. Using the rooms reserved for the Royal Family is not a battle worth fighting. We have to conserve our energy for the real fight that¡¯s about to begin.]

    ¡°Are you okay, baby?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Neoma, I¡¯m okay, Mama Boss,¡± Neoma assured her mother. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me.¡±

    ¡°I heard Nero threw you in the Dungeon,¡± Papa Boss said, frowning. ¡°That¡¯s the worst underground prison in the Royal Pce.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be upset, Papa Boss,¡± Neoma said. ¡°We have to be more loving and more patient with Nero. He¡¯s going through a lot.¡±

    Maybe she shouldn¡¯t have reminded her parents about that.

    Mama Boss suddenly burst out crying, and Papa Boss consoled Mama Boss right away.

    Neoma could only sigh.

    She already told her parents about her big and ugly fight with Nero recently. It was about how her twin brother suffered because they abandoned him.

    [Even though we have a reason, we can¡¯t deny the fact that we abandoned Nero.]

    And even if Nero¨C the normal one and not the amnesiac one¨C would understand their decision, it didn¡¯t mean he wouldn¡¯t get hurt.

    [The current Nero¡¯s resentment right now might being from his subconscious.]

    ¡°Nero was right,¡± Mama Boss said between sobs. ¡°I don¡¯t have the right to call myself his mother after I abandoned him twice.¡±

    Aww.

    She wanted to console her Mama Boss, but she didn¡¯t know what to say.

    After all, it was true that her mother abandoned Nero twice.

    [We have to acknowledge that we took Nero for granted because he would ¡°understand.¡±]

    But it wasn¡¯t only her mother who did her twin brother wrong.

    [I¡¯m the one who hurt Nero the most.]

    ¡°Don¡¯t me yourself, Mona,¡± Papa Boss said while rubbing Mama Boss¡¯ back. ¡°My horrible actions caused you to leave the first time.¡±

    Mama Boss could only sob harder.

    ¡°Be strong, Mama Boss,¡± Neoma said, putting a gentle hand on her mother¡¯s shoulder. ¡°We don¡¯t have the luxury to cry right now.¡±

    She didn¡¯t mean to sound harsh, so she was hoping her mother wasn¡¯t offended.

    Thankfully, it wasn¡¯t the case.

    Mama Boss looked like a bucket of cold water was poured over her. She suddenly stopped crying, then wiped the tears on her face with her hands. ¡°You¡¯re right, Neoma. We don¡¯t have the luxury to cry,¡± her mother said. ¡°We will win the trial and win Nero over.¡±

    Papa Boss looked relieved now that Mama Boss finally stopped crying.

    [Gosh, what a simp.]

    ¡°That¡¯s the spirit, Mama Boss.¡±

    Their family moment was interrupted when they heard a knock on the door.

    ¡°It¡¯s me¨C Rufus.¡±

    Papa Boss carefully removed his hand from Mama Boss¡¯ shoulders. ¡°Come in.¡±

    The door opened and Duke Rufus Quinzel entered the room, greeting them with a bright smile on his face.

    ¡°We will celebrateter,¡± Duke Quinzel said. ¡°For now, let¡¯s begin the trial. The courtroom has been fixed by the royal mages, and the high-ranking nobles have arrived. Moreover, Prince Nero and my daughter Hanna made sure that themoners are safe and secured outside the courthouse.¡±

    She was surprised to hear that Nero was being considerate to themoners.

    [I mean, it¡¯s the bare minimum. But I¡¯m happy that as the Crown Prince, he hadn¡¯t been corrupted by the crows yet.]

    ¡°Glenn¨C I mean King Glenn and his entire family have also arrived with Lord Manu,¡± Duke Quinzel said, then he turned to Neoma. ¡°The trial will begin in five minutes, but I believe there are people who haven¡¯t arrived yet. Even the Northern Lords aren¡¯t here.¡±

    The Northern Lords¡­

    Dahlia¡­

    Jasper oppa¡­

    Trevor¡­

    And, of course, Ruto¡­

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure about the Northern Lords, but let¡¯s trust the others,¡± Neoma said firmly. ¡°They¡¯ll definitely arrive at the right time.¡±

    Duke Quinzel looked relieved by what she said. Then the duke turned to Mama Boss and Papa Boss. ¡°Your Majesty, Lady Roseheart, I apologize but our side lost the argument that I had with the other representatives of the Twelve Golden Families. Only Count Dankworth and Marquis Gibson agreed with me when I said Your Majesty and Lady Roseheart must be seated on the second floor.¡±

    It was where the Royal Family should be seated in the courtroom.

    [Well, to be precise, the balcony. But Papa Boss destroyed it. The royal mages don¡¯t have enough time to create another balcony, so they just fixed the walls and the floors.]

    Hence, Nero and the fakes would be seated on the second-floor bleachers.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± Papa Boss said and patted the duke¡¯s shoulder. ¡°I know you did your best, Rufus.¡±

    Duke Quinzel still looked disappointed in himself. ¡°Your Majesty and Lady Roseheart will be seated in the front row.¡±

    ¡°Then we can see Neoma clearly,¡± Mama Boss said encouragingly. ¡°Thank you for working hard for us, Rufus.¡±

    Duke Quinzel finally smiled, but it quickly faded when he turned to Lewis who was standing quietly behind Neoma. ¡°Lewis, I¡¯m sorry but you can¡¯t stand behind Princess Neoma anymore. We¡¯re doing this the proper way now since many eyes would be watching.¡±

    Neoma turned to Lewis who looked really disappointed. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine, Lewis,¡± she assured him, patting him very lightly on the shoulder. ¡°Sit with Mama Boss and Papa Boss, and watch me reim my rightful ce as the true First Star of the Great Moonasterion Empire.¡±

    ***

    [NOW this is what you call a proper trial.]

    Neoma subtly looked around the courtroom while two royal guards guided her to the tform where the used must stand.

    The bleachers were now full of nobles, and she was relieved to see familiar faces.

    Skylus, Monik, and ude smiled and waved at her when she walked past them. She exchanged polite and subtle nods with Uncle Glenn and Aunt Brigitte.

    Her ¡°children¡± (except for Lewis) weren¡¯t there, as well as her other allies.

    But she wasn¡¯t worried because she knew they¡¯d arrive in time.

    [They must.]

    Anyway, eight of the representatives of the Twelve Golden Families were sitting on the panel reserved for the judges.

    Of course, only Duke Rufus Quinzel, Count Sean Dankworth, and Marquis Lawford Gibson greeted her politely.

    Marquis Vincent Lennox and the Noble Faction just looked at her coldly.

    [So petty.]

    ¡°I, Rufus Quinzel, will be officiating the trial for Princess Neoma de Moonasterio¡¯s case,¡± Duke Quinzel said, standing. ¡°Princess Neoma, who ims to be Prince Nero¡¯s twin sister, will first prove that she¡¯s indeed rted to the Crown Prince before anything else.¡±

    ¡°I hate to interrupt you, Duke Quinzel, but you seem to have skipped a very important process.¡±

    Of course, it was Calyx.

    The crow bastard while climbing down the stairs while holding a pair of gold bangles with encryption all over it.

    Neoma knitted her eyebrows.

    Her eyesight was sharp, and she could read Ancient Language. Hence, she already knew what the golden bangles were for.

    [Those are the handcuffs to seal a de Moonasterio¡¯s power¡­]

    ¡°Since this is a proper trial, we must follow the right procedures, no?¡± Calyx said, smiling while approaching Duke Quinzel. ¡°Princess Neoma, whether she¡¯s a legitimate de Moonasterio or not, must still be physically restrained like a normal sinner who stands before the sacred court.¡±

    .....

    Neoma didn¡¯t mind, since Calyx had a point.

    However¡­

    [I have a bad feeling about this.]

    ¡°There¡¯s a few of them, but there were still some de Moonasterios in the past who were summoned to the court,¡± Calyx continued while shaking the golden bangles in his hands. ¡°And these shackles are specifically made for the de Moonasterios.¡±

    ¡°Those items are legitimate,¡± Nero, who was standing on the second floor next to Hanna, said in a loud and clear voice. ¡°I was the one who approved for those shackles to appear before the court. After all, this is the first time in a long while that a de Moonasterio has been put on a trial. We should do it properly, no?¡±

    Then Nero turned to Neoma with a mocking look on his face.

    Neoma only smiled kindly to Nero, then she made another heart with her hands again.

    [You¡¯re being insufferable, but I still love you, Nero.]

    Of course, Nero just gave her the same disgusted look that he had given her before.

    [Tsk.]

    Duke Quinzel looked like he was struggling to make a decision as he looked back and forth between Neoma and the golden bangles in Calyx¡¯s hands.

    [Aww¡­ he really doesn¡¯t want me to put those shackles on.]

    However, many eyes were watching them.

    ¡°I¡¯ll put them on,¡± Neoma dered calmly. ¡°I¡¯m standing in front of the court as an used, so I must follow the proper protocol.¡±

    ¡°As expected of a proud de Moonasterio,¡± Calyx said sarcastically, then he walked towards her. ¡°Let me do the honor of putting these lovely bangles on you, Princess Neoma.¡±

    She took all that she got to stop herself from rolling her eyes.

    ¡°I¡¯m so d these shackles weren¡¯t stored in the Royal Treasury,¡± Calyx whispered after standing so close to her. ¡°You would have stolen them if they were.¡±

    Neoma smiled ¡°kindly¡± because smirking would have made her look like a devil. ¡°So, these are cursed items. After all, I only stole items with ominous energy attached to them.¡±

    ¡°Even if you know, what can you do?¡± Calyx said, chuckling while shaking his head as he put a bangle on each of her wrists. ¡°You can¡¯t get away from here, Princess Neoma.¡±

    She was about to say something sarcastic, but the bangles suddenly tightened around her wrists¨C painfully.

    And then it happened.

    Neoma dropped to the floor, shutting her eyes tight and biting her lower lip so hard she tasted blood in her mouth just to stop herself from screaming. She knew there were people screaming and shouting her name, but she wasn¡¯t in the right mind to recognize the voices around her.

    It hurt.

    Everything hurt that she didn¡¯t even know where the pain wasing from.

    It was as if something strong was tearing her soul away from her body.

    No, it was forcefully separating Tteokbokki from her soul.

    [¡°Thug princess, it hurts! Are you okay? I¡¯m not...¡±]

    Neoma¡¯s heart was squeezed painfully by an invisible hand.

    More than the physical pain that she was going through, it hurt her more to hear Tteokbokki crying in her head.

    [I should have just started a rebellion instead of a trial¡­]

    ***

 Chapter 713 - 713 ROYAL SCANDAL (8)

    713 ROYAL SCANDAL (8)

    [WE MADE it in time.]

    Paige was d that the stampede was stopped before it caused more people to get hurt.

    Fortunately, no one died.

    [It¡¯s all thanks to Greko¡¯s healing ability.]

    Moreover, she also had tomend the royal guards who quickly moved and helped stop the stampede from getting worse. It was followed by the arrival of Healers and doctors.

    Half an hourter, the situation had been contained.

    [But the people who helped the most, aside from our group, were Emperor Niki and Lady Roseheart.]

    Lady Mona Roseheart lifted almost half of the crowd stuck in the stampede, then safely put those people on the huge tform made of clouds (courtesy of Jeno). Then Emperor Niki brought those who could still walk to the courthouse.

    Hence, when the pce people arrived, they easily contained the situation.

    .....

    Now there were several tents all over the za. Many Healers, doctors, and even Healing Sages hade. Even so, there were still so many victims that needed medical attention. Paige wanted to continue helping them, but¡­

    [I¡¯m sorry, we have a job to do.]

    Paige and her ¡°siblings¡± still had to perform their original task: to installrge screens that would serve as a projector. Of course, the screens would ¡®broadcast¡¯ (a word she learned from Princess Neoma) the ¡®live feed¡¯ from inside the courtroom.

    [The ¡®livefeed¡¯ wille from Lady Hanna who¡¯s secretly recording the happenings inside the courtroom.]

    ¡°Paige, the screens are installed properly,¡± Jeno reported to her. ¡°Xion and I will guard the screens properly so that the crow bastards won¡¯t be able to destroy them, just in case the crows are still lurking around. What should we do next?¡±

    ¡°Should we head to the courthouse?¡± Juri asked while pointing at herself and Greko. ¡°Princess Neoma and Lewis aren¡¯t alone, but we should still be there as support. Are you going to where Dion and the Holy Knights are, Paige?¡±

    Paige nodded in response to Juri¡¯s question. ¡°Dion is currently taking care of the Holy Knights who have been turned into children. He¡¯s with Hendrik Benedict, but Princess Neoma wants me to protect them in her stead.¡±

    But she knew that Princess Neoma was also doing that so she¡¯d be reunited with Dion.

    [Princess Neoma is really considerate of her people.]

    ¡°Then you should hurry,¡± Juri said, then she turned to Greko. ¡°Are you done with your job, our little doctor?¡±

    Greko smiled his famous refreshing smile that could heal even the most wounded heart. ¡°Yes, noona. The Healers sent by the pce are doing a good job.¡±

    Aww.

    They were all healed by Greko¡¯s smile and innocence.

    ¡°You should activate the screens and go ahead, Paige,¡± Xion urged her. ¡°Do it while the people around us are still busy.¡±

    Paige nodded, then she summoned her White Parasol.

    After grabbing her weapon, she hit the barely visible turquoise gem embedded in the pavement. Then the other turquoise gems began lighting up one by one until the two giant floating screens activated.

    [Princess Neoma would often call those screens a ¡®television¡¯ or ¡®projector.¡¯]

    The static sound caught the attention of everyone near the giant screens.

    Soon, almost everyone was already looking up at the flickering light on the screens before the image became clear.

    ¡°Eomma!¡±

    It was Greko who screamed, and the scene that greeted them as soon as the broadcast began was indeed shocking.

    Princess Neoma fell to the floor, and it didn¡¯t look like an act.

    It was real.

    The paleness of Princess Neoma¡¯s face, the pain in her eyes¡­ everything looked genuine.

    [Our Princess Neoma is in pain¡­!]

    ¡°Forget guarding the screens,¡± Paige said in an urgent voice. ¡°All of us are heading to the courthouse¨C now!¡±

    [I¡¯m sorry, Dion, but please wait for a bit more for me¡­]

    ***

    DAHLIA didn¡¯t want to, but she was forced to hug Trevor¡¯s arm to stop him from going berserk.

    [He¡¯s too strong¡­!]

    They had just returned to the Royal Capital when they were greeted by giant screens that showed Princess Neoma copsing to the floor¨C while in obvious pain.

    Of course, seeing that almost made Trevor go insane.

    But if the demon boy lost it now, the already injured people in the za below them¨C as the two of them were floating above; riding Lapiz to the courthouse in invisible mode¨C then the innocent citizens would get hurt.

    ¡°Lord Trevor, I know it¡¯s hard, but please hold back your anger!¡± Dahlia yelled. She didn¡¯t like raising her voice, but she had to because it looked like Trevor could neither see nor hear anything at the moment because he was angry. ¡°Princess Neoma will be fine! Emperor Niki and Lady Mona are there! They won¡¯t let something bad happen to Princess Neoma!¡±

    ¡°Miss Dahlia, let go,¡± Trevor warned her lightly. ¡°I¡¯m not myself at the moment, and I don¡¯t want to identally cut off your hand.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that, Lord Trevor¨C you can¡¯t even if you tried.¡±

    She wasn¡¯t being arrogant¨C she just merely stated a fact.

    Of course, Trevor was really powerful. But she was not that weak to allow the demon to cut off her hand ¡°identally.¡± She had a reputation to protect as thest ck Witch in the world.

    ¡°I thought you were meek, but it turns out you have a backbone,¡± Trevor said, looking down at her hand on his arm. ¡°I¡¯m calm now, Miss Dahlia. Thank you for snapping me back to reality by being savage.¡±

    Dahlia immediately let go of Trevor¡¯s arm, a little surprised to hear him talking the way Princess Neoma would. ¡°I¡¯m d you¡¯re back to normal, Lord Trevor.¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s thanks to you being calm.¡±

    She chuckled at his response. ¡°Then I¡¯m d that I look calm on the outside.¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma isn¡¯t the type of person who¡¯d fall to the ground easily¨C especially not in front of her loved ones. She¡¯s the type to hide her pain,¡± Dahlia said worriedly. ¡°The fact that she dropped like that only means she was caught off guard.¡±

    Trevor clenched his jaws, his eyes glowing menacingly. ¡°Let¡¯s hurry before I totally lose it.¡±

    ***

    <¡°YOU PIECE OF SHIT! How dare you hurt our Princess Neoma?! Just wait! Once I get my hands on you, I¡¯ll break your fucking kneecaps before end worthless life!¡±>

    Jasper had to literally hold back Duckie, in his duck form, from attacking Prince Calyx.

    As soon as they entered the courtroom, the first thing that they saw was Princess Neoma falling to the floor. And she looked like she was in pain.

    Of course, Jasper was flustered.

    He also wanted to kill Prince Calyx.

    But he couldn¡¯t let Duckie attack the fake First Prince in front of all those people. Moreover, he knew that the entire scene was being broadcasted live.

    [Ah, the words I learn from Princess Neoma¡­]

    ¡°You¡¯re lucky normal people can¡¯t understand your words in that form,¡± Gin, in his human form, said while covering Duckie¡¯s beak with his hand. ¡°Shut up, duck. Cursing the fake prince will only put Princess Neoma in jeopardy.¡±

    ¡°Gin is right, Duckie,¡± Jasper said while hugging Duckie tighter because even though the duck already shut his mouth, he was still trying to wriggle out of his grasp. ¡°I understand what you¡¯re feeling, trust me. But the best way to help Princess Neoma is to do our job well.¡±

    ¡°You calm down, too,¡± Gin said, flicking Jasper¡¯s forehead. ¡°Princess Neoma will be fine.¡±

    ¡°I know,¡± Jasper said, sighing. ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m holding back.¡±

    ***

    GLENN was torn between consoling his crying children and stopping Brigitte from pulling out a gun.

    Monik and Skylus suddenly cried when Princess Neoma copsed. Then ude, who saw his older sister and older cry, also burst out crying even though ude obviously didn¡¯t know why his older siblings were crying.

    [I¡¯m worried and confused, too. Of course, I know that they¡¯re worried about Princess Neoma. But Skylus and Monik don¡¯t cry easily¡­]

    He wanted to ask his children, but they were surrounded by other nobles.

    Glenn was justforted by the fact that Lord Manu remained calm.

    ¡°Daddy,¡± Skylus called him between sobs, clinging to his sleeve. ¡°Daddy, a grandfather doesn¡¯t abandon his granddaughter, right?¡±

    Uh, he didn¡¯t know how to answer that.

    [Skylus, my son, your own grandfather¡­ was disowned by his own son.]

    Skylus looked betrayed by hisck of reaction. ¡°It can¡¯t be, Daddy. Lord Yule can¡¯t abandon Neoma noona. I don¡¯t want to serve a god who abandons Neoma noona¡­¡±

    Glenn felt a chill down his spine.

    Even Brigitte and Lord Manu who were listening looked shocked by what Skylus said.

    .....

    [Lord Yule is abandoning Princess Neoma?!]

    ***

    SLAP.

    To say Nero was surprised when Hanna pped him across the cheek would be an understatement.

    He was wondering why his lovely fianc¨¦e suddenly covered the entire second floor with her Shadow Veil. And now he got the answer: to p him without anyone noticing. Everyone was focused on Neoma who fell to the floor anyway.

    ¡°Ah, is that it?¡± Nero asked indifferently, touching the cheek that Hanna pped. He didn¡¯t want to admit this, but it stung. ¡°Did you p me because of Neoma?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t condone violence, but your violence deserves to be answered with violence,¡± Hanna said coldly, her green eyes glowing menacingly. ¡°If something bad happens to Neoma, forget about marrying me. I¡¯ll make sure the Quinzels will never let you ascend to the throne.¡±

    ¡°Is that a threat?¡±

    ¡°A promise, if you may¨C so look forward to it.¡±

    Nero frowned after realizing that Hanna was serious.

    The threat worked, of course.

    [It was hard for the public to ept me as the Crown Prince when Calyx exists. After all, Calyx is the son of the empress, while I¡¯m the son of a Roseheart that most nobles in power hate. If the Quinzels didn¡¯t have my back, then I may have lost my position to Calyx.]

    ¡°Lady Hanna, don¡¯t you think you¡¯re being disrespectful to the Crown Prince right in front of your mother-inw?¡±

    It was the Empress Dowager.

    Nero¡¯s knights were pushed out when Hanna created the Shadow Veil, but not the Empress Dowager who had the power to block the shadows.

    Hanna turned to the Empress Dowager with a smile on her face, the Shadow Veil slowly vanishing into thin air. ¡°With all due respect, my mother-inw is sitting in the front row, Your Majesty. And I¡¯m sure Lady Mona would understand me.¡±

    After saying her piece, Hanna returned to her seat calmly as if she didn¡¯t p Nero and disrespected the Empress Dowager.

    [Hanna has changed, huh?]

    His meek and obedient fianc¨¦e was gone.

    ¡°It seems like Lady Hanna is upset,¡± the Empress Dowager said. ¡°Are you alright, Nero?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, Your Majesty,¡± Nero said, addressing the Empress Dowager formally now that they didn¡¯t have an audience. He only enjoyed calling the Empress Dowager ¡®Imperial Mother¡¯ in front of his parents because he liked seeing them in pain. ¡°I¡¯lle down and support Calyx.¡±

    ***

    MONA almost lost her mind when she saw Neoma copse while in pain.

    But she immediately got a hold of herself when Niki and Lewis both stood up, obviously with the intention to kill Calyx.

    [One of us has to stay sane.]

    She grabbed each of Niki and Lewis¡¯ arms with her hands.

    It wasn¡¯t easy to stop two men on the verge of losing their minds by simply grabbing them. Hence, she had to use force. If Niki and Lewis were both average Mana users, she would have already broken their arms.

    But Niki and Lewis were both fine.

    [At least, they stopped.]

    And Mona had a reason to stop Niki and Lewis.

    ¡°Father, Mother, you shouldn¡¯t be too obvious that you favor Neoma over me.¡±

    Yes, it was Nero.

    Her son appeared in front of them, blocking their way, as if he knew they would move to attack Calyx as soon as Neoma fell to the floor.

    ¡°Nero, what are you talking about?¡± Niki asked, frowning. ¡°Don¡¯t make it sound like we¡¯re being unfair to you by protecting your twin sister.¡±

    ¡°Neoma isn¡¯t in danger,¡± Nero said. ¡°We¡¯re just following proper procedures here, Father.¡±

    ¡°Nero is correct, Father,¡± Calyx, who was obviously listening to the conversation, exined then. ¡°The shackles are meant to separate Princess Neoma¡¯s Soul Beast from her soul. Unfortunately, it¡¯s a painful process. I understand why you¡¯re worried, but it¡¯s something Princess Neoma has to go through as the used. It won¡¯t kill her, so please calm down.¡±

    If the item didn¡¯te from the crows, then maybe she would be a bit at ease.

    But that wasn¡¯t the case.

    ¡°You look like you can¡¯t trust us, Mother,¡± Nero said in a mocking tone while giving Mona a look full of hurt. ¡°Do you think I¡¯ll kill your favorite daughter in front of all these people?¡±

    Mona¡¯s chest tightened from the pain.

    It was obvious that Nero resented her the most.

    [This Nero is so different from the Nero who cried for me in the past. It¡¯s clear that he hates me right now. I don¡¯t know how to deal with him without hurting him further¡­]

    ¡°Nero, watch how you speak to your mother,¡± Niki scolded their son. ¡°I don¡¯t have the patience of a saint.¡±

    ¡°I know, Father,¡± Nero said, looking at Niki coldly. ¡°I also know that you love Mother more than you love your children.¡±

    Mona could only bite her bottom lip.

    [This Nero is full of resentment¡­]

    She couldn¡¯t me her son, hence she didn¡¯t know how to handle the situation.

    ¡°You should be aware of one more thing, Prince Nero,¡± Lewis said in a low yet angry voice. ¡°It¡¯s not just your parents who favor Princess Neoma over you. I don¡¯t care if you¡¯re the Crown Prince, or if Princess Neoma treasures you as her twin brother. If something bad happens to my princess, you and that crow bastard are dead.¡±

    Nero¡¯s eyes turned glowing red while ring at Lewis.

    Mona was a little taken aback.

    [This is the first time I heard Lewis talk so much.]

    ¡°Please stop threatening each other,¡± Calyx said cheerfully. ¡°Look, Princess Neoma is already standing.¡±

    Mona turned to her daughter and, much to her relief, Neoma was indeed standing already.

    But her relief was short-lived.

    [Neoma looks so pale I won¡¯t be surprised if she faints again¡­]

    ***

    [IT FUCKING hurts.]

    Neoma was standing, but every inch of her body hurt like her.

    But that wasn¡¯t the worst part.

    [Tteokbokki and Grandpa Kingston are sealed.]

    She couldn¡¯t connect to her Soul Beast and Elemental Guardian anymore. Clearly, the two had been cut off from her.

    [All because of these damned shackles.]

    But that wasn¡¯t the strange part.

    She could feel a needle-like object flowing through her veins. Hence, her insides felt like they were being pricked by hundreds of needles. She couldn¡¯t do anything about it since Tteokbokki was usually in charge of getting rid of foreign objects in her body.

    [They got me good this time.]

    ¡°Are you alright, Princess Neoma?¡± Calyx asked in a fake concerned voice. ¡°Shall we continue?¡±

    SNAP.

    That was the sound of Neoma¡¯s sanity snapping.

    It was simr to her Lunacying back, forcing her to make ridiculous choices that she may or may not regretter.

    But fuck it all.

    [I¡¯m done ying the good girl that I¡¯m not.]

    ¡°Before we continue, let¡¯s change the person in charge,¡± Neoma said, confusing Calyx. But she ignored the crow bastard as she looked up at the second floor of the courtroom. ¡°Hanna, drag the old hag down.¡±

    She heard a collective gasp from the audience because there was only one ¡°old hag¡± in the second floor.

    Hanna stood up and smiled. ¡°As youmand, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Hanna!¡± Nero yelled angrily. ¡°What do you think you¡¯re doing?!¡±

    Neoma scoffed at her twin brother¡¯s outburst. ¡°Following me, duh.¡±

    Hanna jumped off the second floor, a huge shadow of a snake wrapping itself around the fake Empress Juliet.

    The Empress Dowager didn¡¯t fight back and just let Hanna bring her in front of Neoma.

    ¡°Are you sure about this, Princess Neoma?¡± the fake Empress Juliet asked while standing in front of her. ¡°You¡¯ll regret this.¡±

    ¡°Stop this absurdity!¡± Marquis Vincent Lennox yelled. ¡°Princess Neoma!¡±

    ¡°Oh, shut up,¡± Neoma said, annoyed. ¡°Lewis!¡±

    She didn¡¯t have to say anything else.

    Lewis immediately moved to stop Marquis Lennox and the other members of the Twelve Golden Families who were obviously on the fake Empress Dowager¡¯s side.

    [My ¡°son¡± is enough for them.]

    Duke Rufus Quinzel was there, too.

    Neoma ignored the chaos because she finally felt the presence of the people she was waiting for. ¡°Trevor, Dahlia!¡±

    The two that she called appeared out of thin air, standing on either side of the fake Empress Juliet.

    ¡°What are you trying to do now, Princess Neoma?¡± Calyx asked while approaching her. ¡°Have you truly lost your mind?¡±

    Neoma ignored the crow bastard.

    Hanna stopped Calyx in her ce anyway.

    ¡°Do it,¡± Neoma said to Trevor and Dahlia. ¡°Now.¡±

    ¡°As you wish, my Moon Princess.¡±

    Trevor then grabbed the fake Empress Juliet¡¯s face and forced her to open her mouth.

    Then Dahlia quickly put a pill inside the Empress Dowager¡¯s mouth while Trevor was using force to keep the fake Empress Juliet in ce.

    Of course, that didn¡¯t mean the Empress Dowager would simply swallow it.

    ¡°Swallow it,¡± Trevor growled lowly, putting a hand on the fake Empress Juliet¡¯s chest. ¡°You old hag.¡±

    A small amount of force came out of Trevor¡¯s hand.

    Then Dahlia put a hand on the fake Empress Juliet¡¯s back.

    And, just like that, the Empress Dowager was forced to swallow the pill.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s not poison,¡± Neoma said whilebing her fingers through her bangs that were messed up when she fell earlier. ¡°It¡¯s called ¡®Anwir Pill.''¡±

    Everyone in the courtroom at the moment was aware of what an Anwir Pill was.

    Hence, the loud collective gasp and murmuring.

    ¡°How dare you make my Imperial Mother take a pill meant for criminals to confess their crimes!¡± Calyx yelled angrily. ¡°There¡¯s no need for trial anymore! You¡¯re guilty of treason, Princess Neoma!¡±

    ¡°I told you¨C I¡¯m changing the person in charge of the trial,¡± Neoma said, approaching Trevor and extending her hand to him. ¡°Give it to me.¡±

    Trevor sighed before putting a piece of Anwir Pill on her palm.

    Neoma then took the pill.

    Dahlia gasped softly. ¡°Princess Neoma¡­¡±

    Even Calyx was dumbfounded.

    ¡°The Anwir Pills are the equivalent of a truth serum. If you take an Anwir Pill, you¡¯d die if you lie,¡± Neoma said casually. ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m going to use this opportunity to let everyone know that the Empress Juliet you see is nothing but a fake.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t just a collective gasp this time.

    Everyone was thrown into an uproar when Neoma remained standing after using the Empress Dowager of being a fake.

    ¡°Princess Neoma is still alive after her im¡­¡±

    ¡°Does it mean Her Royal Highness is telling the truth?¡±

    ¡°The Empress Dowager is a fake¡­?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be ridiculous, Princess Neoma,¡± Calyx growled at her. ¡°Do you think we¡¯ll believe you just because you im that the pill you took is an Anwir Pill?¡±

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll prove it to you.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll show everyone here that the pills the fake Empress Dowager and I took were authentic Anwir Pills,¡± she said, smirking while hiding the fact that she was dying inside from pain.

    The needle-like object roaming inside her body seemed to have found its target already.

    [Why is it in my stomach¡­?]

    ¡°How?¡± Calyx asked, distracting Neoma. ¡°How will you prove it?¡±

    Neomaughed like a viiness. ¡°Calyx, shall we drag the gods in our little political strife?¡±

    ***

    <¡°AS THE God yer, your duty this time is to eliminate Neoma de Moonasterio if she crossed the line.¡±>

    Ruto was wondering why he was summoned by Lord Levi, his divine father.

    Hence, instead of going to the courtroom as nned, he had to make a detour and go to the ¡®Nameless Temple¡¯ in the Royal Capital.

    It was a temple for every god in existence.

    Hence, he was able tomunicate with his divine father more effectively.

    ¡°Can I do that, my lord?¡± Ruto asked indifferently. ¡°Isn¡¯t Princess Neoma loved by Lord Yule, the Moon God himself?¡±

    Lord Levi took a moment before responding.

    <¡°Yule isn¡¯t in the position to worry about his descendants, my son.¡±>

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 714 - 714 ROYAL SCANDAL (9)

    714 ROYAL SCANDAL (9)

    [A few months back¡­]

    <¡°I NOTICED something strange recently, Neoma.¡±>

    ¡°What is it?¡± Neoma asked Hanna curiously. ¡°If it¡¯s something that caught your eye, then I¡¯m sure it¡¯s important.¡±

    It was already past midnight in both Korea and the Great Moonasterion Empire.

    But Neoma¡¯s meeting with Jasper and Hanna was not yet over since they had a lot of things to discuss regarding the shopping mall.

    [And the mines that I told them about.]

    Since it was alreadyte at night, Skylus and Monik didn¡¯t join their meeting. After all, it was past the children¡¯s bedtime.

    <¡°Do you remember the Temple of Alethea?¡±>

    ¡°The temple dedicated to Alethea, the Goddess of Truth?¡±

    .....

    <¡°That¡¯s right,¡±> Hanna said while nodding. <¡°When I was younger, sought the help of temple¡¯s High Priestess. asked for Anwir Pills and consumed one.¡±>

    <¡°You did, Lady Hanna?¡±> Jasper oppa asked, obviously shocked. <¡°But these days, Anwir Pills are only used to make sinners confess their crimes. For a nobledy consume it¡­¡±>

    It would have been a disgrace to the Quinzels if people found out Hanna consumed an Anwir Pill.

    <¡°I was scolded by my mother and father because of that,¡±> Hanna said shyly while scratching her cheek. <¡°Anyway, because of that incident, I grew close to High Priestess Alethea.¡±>

    If Neoma remembered correctly, every High Priestess was called ¡®Alethea.¡¯

    [But the Temple of Alethea is currently declining¡­]

    <¡°The current High Priestess Alethea was born in a poor baron family, hence the influence of Temple is practically non-existent now,¡±> Hanna continued in a sad voice. <¡°Moreover, she¡¯s a woman. The nobles of our empire want the Temple Althea gone way Light Goddess disappeared.¡±>

    ¡°Fucking chauvinistic pigs.¡±

    <¡°I¡¯m not saying you¡¯re wrong, Princess Neoma. But ording to the information that my people from guild have gathered, there¡¯s another reason why powerful nobles in Royal Capital want Alethea Temple gone,¡±> Jasper oppa said carefully. <¡°Apparently, they want a monopoly of the Arwin Pills.¡±>

    ¡°Huh?¡± Neoma asked, confused. ¡°Arwin Pills are just ordinary beans. They only be magical after getting blessed by the High Priestess who gets her power directly from Goddess Alethea¡­ wait.¡± She turned to Hanna with knitted eyebrows. ¡°Hanna, what did you find strange? You brought up the Alethea Temple, so I¡¯m sure it¡¯s rted to what we¡¯re talking about. Sorry, I got side-tracked.¡±

    <¡°I think I caused it, Princess Neoma,¡±> Jasper oppa said apologetically. <¡°Lady Hanna, I¡¯m sorry for interrupting you when were saying something important.¡±>

    Hanna smiled and shook her head. <¡°It¡¯s alright, Lord Jasper. What you said was very useful,¡±> she said, then she looked at Neoma with a serious look on her face. <¡°Ever since the day I met High Priestess Alethea, I¡¯ve been donating money to temple personally. To simply put, be quite close Priestess. Actually, working hard for past five years improve reputation of Alethea Temply by introducing it nobles that belong my clique.¡±>

    As expected of Hanna.

    [I¡¯m sure she has a reason for raising the Alethea Temple¡¯s High Priestess.]

    <¡°High Priestess Althea has never failed to greet me every time Ie the temple donate,¡±> Hanna said worriedly. <¡°That¡¯s until two months ago. I haven¡¯t seen the High Priestess since then.¡±>

    ¡°Did something happen during yourst visit?¡±

    Hanna nodded before she responded. <¡°I was with Regina Crowell thest time I met.¡±>

    That was all she needed to hear.

    Neoma turned to Jasper oppa. ¡°Please find the High Priestess using your guild, oppa. You may start with discreetly investigating Regina Crowell.¡±

    Jasper oppa bowed to her politely. <¡°As youmand, Princess Neoma.¡±>

    ***

    [The night of Neoma¡¯s jail party time¡­]

    ¡°BRING me the High Priestess of Alethea Temple,¡± Neoma said to Trevor after the demon boy renovated her shabby prison cell into a suite-like bedroom. ¡°The trial will probably begin tomorrow morning. You have all night to find the High Priestess.¡±

    ¡°Wow,¡± Trevor said whileughing and shaking his head. ¡°You talk like you¡¯re just ordering a food delivery at midnight, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Can you do it or not?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing I can¡¯t do for you, my Moon Princess.¡±

    ¡°Then die,¡± Lewis, who was standing behind Neoma, ¡°whispered.¡± ¡°Annoying demon.¡±

    Neoma just sipped her tea.

    [Gosh, Lewis really hates Trevor.]

    Fortunately, Trevor justughed at Lewis¡¯ unprovoked threat. ¡°I¡¯ll let it slide because you¡¯re my first ¡°son,¡± Lewis.¡±

    Of course, Lewis red at Trevor. ¡°I¡¯m not your son.¡±

    Trevor justughed again before he stood up. ¡°Princess Neoma, may I ask for the ck Witch¡¯s help?¡±

    ¡°You may, but don¡¯t force her.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    ¡°But why do you need Dahlia¡¯s help?¡±

    ¡°The ck Witch is the kindest person among your allies. Greko is also a good choice. But he¡¯s Your Royal Highness¡¯ Healer, so I¡¯d rather him stay by your side than bring him with me,¡± Trevor said, tilting his head to one side. ¡°Hence, I choose the ck Witch to use as bait to convince the High Priestess to trust us, since divine people like the High Priestess trusts kind-hearted people.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re horrible. Not that I have the right to criticize you since I¡¯m worse,¡± Neoma said while shaking her head. ¡°Take care, Trevor. And protect Dahlia as well if she agrees to help you find the High Priestess.¡±

    ***

    [Present¡­]

    NEOMA was aware of it.

    There was a high possibility that she wouldn¡¯t get the public¡¯s sympathy by acting like a tyrant.

    But her sanity had already snapped, hence the violence.

    She couldn¡¯t think straight because the insides of her body were in a total mess. If she was an average Mana-user, she would have died already. But since she was a Roseheart and a de Moonasterio, she could withstand the pain.

    That didn¡¯t mean it hurt less, though.

    [That fucking needle-like object is now in my abdomen.]

    She had a bad feeling about this.

    Neoma had a fucking ominous feeling. She knew she had to remove that needle-like thing in her abdomen, but she didn¡¯t know how. Moreover, she was too busy at the moment to focus on herself.

    [I guess I just have to get this over and done with the soonest.]

    ¡°Drag the gods in this royal scandal?¡± Calyx asked in a mocking tone. ¡°Now you¡¯re speaking sphemy, Princess Neoma. How dare you mention the gods in vain?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t mention them in vain,¡± Neoma said, all serious. She couldn¡¯t even crack a sarcastic remark because she was in pain. Her insides felt like they were being stabbed again and again. ¡°If you can¡¯t tell, I¡¯m he serious.¡±

    She subtly turned to Hanna and signaled her cousin to turn away for a moment.

    [I know Hanna is secretly taking a recording of what¡¯s happening here.]

    Fortunately, Hanna understood and slightly tilted her body away from Neoma.

    [It¡¯s really easy to work with people with the same mindset.]

    ¡°You¡¯re the first one to drag the gods in this battle anyway, Calyx,¡± Neoma whispered, her voice and the movements of her lips reaching only the crow bastard. It was not something that she could broadcast to the world, after all. ¡°You have Lord Yule on your side, don¡¯t you?¡±

    The prophecy that Calyx showed them during the banquet wasn¡¯t a fake one.

    Moreover, ording to Lord Manu, Yule had never once contacted him during the past five years. It was as if¡­

    [Lord Yule abandoned us.]

    ¡°If you already know that, then why are you still asking?¡± Calyx whispered back to her. ¡°Do you think you can win against me without the Moon God¡¯s help?¡±

    ¡°When did I ever seek Lord Yule¡¯s help?¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°From the very beginning, it was Lord Yule who needed my help and not the other way around,¡± Neoma deadpanned. ¡°Plus, I don¡¯t believe Lord Yule abandoned us on his own ord. I¡¯m sure you ckmailed him or something.¡±

    Calyx smirked at her. ¡°You¡¯re really obnoxious, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, and I¡¯m worse than that,¡± she admitted casually. ¡°You messed with the wrong princess, bastard.¡±

    ¡°You¨C¡±

    ¡°This conversation is over,¡± she said, cutting him off. ¡°Sit down.¡±

    Neoma ignored Calyx and turned around.

    She wasn¡¯t afraid to turn her back on the enemy because she was surrounded by her allies. And it wasn¡¯t like she couldn¡¯t fight just because Tteokbokki and Kingston were sealed.

    [I need to make an announcement, but the entire courtroom is a mess.]

    In fact, she just saw Lewis kick Count Zachary Emerson while smashing Marquis Russell Spencer¡¯s face on the floor.

    .....

    Count Emerson was sent flying, hitting the wall in the end.

    Marquis Spencer¡¯s face was probably broken. It was obvious because the impact of the marquis¡¯ face hitting the floor created a small crater and long cracks all over.

    Tsk, tsk, tsk.

    [Lewis is always so brutal with the enemies.]

    Neoma turned to Hanna.

    Fortunately, her cousin was facing Papa Boss, Mama Boss, and Nero. Hence, the people who were watching outside wouldn¡¯t see Nero almost killing some of the members of the Twelve Golden Families.

    [I¡¯m sure Hanna hid it on purpose since Hanna is a smart girl.]

    Neoma looked around at the nobles on the bleachers who looked confused and scared. ¡°Let¡¯s take care of them first.¡±

    ***

    ¡°MOTHER, FATHER, what do you think you¡¯re doing now?¡± Nero growled at his parents. ¡°How dare you block my way?¡±

    He was about to help Calyx and the Empress Dowager, but his mother and father literally blocked his way. His knights, on the other hand, were blocked by his father¡¯s Soul Beasts that once again showed up in their human forms.

    Clearly, the situation wasn¡¯t in his favor.

    ¡°Why are you trying to ruin me just to protect Neoma?¡± Nero asked, clenching his hands tight. ¡°You¡¯re humiliating me in front of our people!¡±

    ¡°I know it¡¯s hard to see right now, but we¡¯re doing this for your sake, son,¡± his father said in a patient voice. ¡°Just trust us.¡±

    ¡°Would you trust me if you were me, Father?¡±

    ¡°I would,¡± his father said without missing a beat. ¡°Because the bond of our family isn¡¯t as weak as Calyx and the fake Juliet make it out to be.¡±

    He couldn¡¯t refute what his father said.

    After all, he was still shocked when Neoma said that the Empress Dowager was a fake. He could instinctively tell that the Anwir Pill that his twin sister consumed was real.

    [You can¡¯t fake a god¡¯s blessing.]

    As a de Moonasterio, he was able to see the god¡¯s blessing inside the bean that Neoma and the Empress Dowager took.

    [Calyx should have seen it, too.]

    But, of course, Calyx was defending his mother.

    And that made him realize a horrible truth.

    [Calyx and the Empress Dowager have been lying to him all this time.]

    ¡°As expected,¡± Nero said indifferently. ¡°I can¡¯t trust anyone but myself.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t say that, Nero,¡± his mother said in a firm yet gentle. ¡°Even if you resent us, we will never abandon you again.¡±

    ¡°Neoma said the same thing,¡± Nero said, smirking bitterly. ¡°But like what I said to her, talk is cheap.¡±

    ¡°We know that,¡± his mother said. ¡°That¡¯s why we¡¯ll just show you that we¡¯re family whatever happens.¡±

    Nero wanted to respond sarcastically, but he couldn¡¯t.

    It was as if a huge part of himself suddenly wanted to trust his family. And he hated feeling that way.

    [It¡¯s making me weak.]

    Nero¡¯s thoughts were interrupted when he noticed a thick and powerfulyer of a semi-transparent barrier appearing around the bleachers.

    Huh?

    All of a sudden, the nobles in the bleachers¡¯ area were separated from everyone on the first floor and the tform.

    Duke Jasper Hawthorne (who was holding a weird duck in his arms) and a man who was definitely not human barely avoided getting locked inside the barrier. The two then stood with the Griffiths Royal Family.

    Ah.

    [Neoma kept her allies out of the barrier.]

    ¡°Let us out!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s this?!¡±

    ¡°Are you locking us up?!¡±

    Nero turned to the person who created the unbelievably powerful shield. ¡°Neoma?¡±

    ¡°Everyone in the bleachers, you¡¯re not locked up,¡± Neoma said in a clear and firm voice. ¡°You can¡¯t just approach us, but you¡¯re free to use the washroom or leave the courthouse if you want. I assure you that you can still watch what¡¯s happening from the outside.¡±

    Surprisingly, the nobles who were aggravated earlier calmed down just like that.

    [Neoma¡¯s voice ismanding, but instead of sounding like a tyrant, she sounds like¡­ she cares.]

    Nero clenched his hands tight.

    [Fine, I¡¯ll just shut up and watch your little show for now, Neoma.]

    ***

    ¡°LEWIS, DUKE Quinzel, Count Dankworth, Marquis Gibson,¡± Neoma said, calling her allies one by one. ¡°Please step away from them.¡±

    By ¡°them,¡± she obviously meant the old nobles from the Twelve Golden Families who weren¡¯t on her side.

    Lewis and the others understood what she meant, fortunately.

    Before the old nobles couldin, Neoma already raised her hand and created a barrier.

    Now Marquis Lennox, Duke Winchester, Marquis Bsco, Marquis Spencer, and Count Emerson were locked inside her Dome.

    Lewis instantly returned to her side.

    ¡°What do you think you¡¯re doing, Princess Neoma?!¡± Marquis Lennox yelled angrily while punching the barrier, but to no avail. ¡°Let us out!¡±

    ¡°Your Royal Highness will regret this!¡± Duke Winchester threatened her. The old duke was trying to break the Dome using his cane. But, of course, it didn¡¯t work. ¡°Even if you¡¯re a royal princess, you can¡¯t do this to us!¡±

    Hah!

    Neoma snorted.

    [I¡¯ve noticed it earlier, but they only recognize me as a princess in front of an audience. I¡¯m sure they talked shit behind my back while denying my birthright as a de Moonasterio.]

    She was d that only Marquis Lennox and Duke Winchester were noisy.

    Marquis Bsco had fainted, while Marquis Spencer and Count Emerson were both too heavily injured to even speak.

    [It¡¯s still a bit loud, but it¡¯s bearable now.]

    ¡°Fake Empress Dowager, you may keep your mouth shut for as long as you want,¡± Neoma said while looking at the fake Empress Juliet who obviously had no ns of opening her mouth. ¡°I¡¯ll still force the truth out of you.¡±

    The fake Empress Juliet just looked at her coldly.

    ¡°Dahlia,¡± Neoma said, turning to the ck Witch. ¡°Bring her out.¡±

    Dahlia bowed politely towards her. ¡°As youmand, Princess Neoma.¡±

    In just a few seconds, a semi-transparent tank emerged from the floor.

    Dahlia then moved her wand which looked like a twig as if she was conducting an orchestra.

    The tank then slowly disappeared, leaving a woman dressed in a white priestess robe.

    Yes, it was High Priestess Alethea.

    [Jasper oppa and his guild worked hard for months to trim down the ces where the High Priestess could be hiding by following Regina Crowell¡¯s whereabouts. Apparently, there are three ces that the wench has frequented ever since the High Priestess disappeared. Trevor and Dahlia then looked for her in the ces that Jasper oppa provided.]

    And fortunately, they found the right person.

    Just like any priestesses serving the Temple of Alethea, the High Priestess had a ck blindfold over her eyes.

    Hanna, at that time, faced Neoma to record her properly.

    ¡°Everyone, I¡¯d like to introduce High Priestess Alethea to all of you,¡± Neoma said in a loud and clear voice. She had to raise her voice so that everyone could hear her properly. ¡°She¡¯s going to help me prove that the Anwir Pills we took are authentic.¡± She then turned to the High Priestess. ¡°Can you do that for me, Your Eminence?¡±

    ¡°I have been informed of what is happening here,¡± High Priestess Alethea said, sping her hands together. ¡°As the agent of Truth, I will only speak nothing but the truth.¡±

    ¡°Very well¨C¡±

    ¡°How can we be sure that the person you brought here is the real High Priestess Alethea?¡± Calyx asked, cutting off Neoma rudely. ¡°And even if she is the real High Priestess, will it matter if you have bribed her already?¡±

    High Priestess Alethea looked offended by what Calyx said. ¡°Your Highness, as I said earlier, I¡¯m the Agent of Truth. I will literally die if I lie¨C¡±

    ¡°The Temple of Alethea has lost its power because the goddess you serve has already turned her back on you,¡± Calyx said, cutting off the High Priestess this time. ¡°Can you prove that you still have the power that your goddess bestowed upon you, Your Eminence?¡±

    High Priestess Alethea flinched, but she couldn¡¯t answer Calyx¡¯s question.

    Calyx smirked, then he turned to Neoma with a look that said: ¡°See?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I didn¡¯t bring High Priestess Alethea here to do all the work,¡± Neoma said, her entire body suddenly getting covered with a blue glow. ¡°High Priestess Alethea is only here so that I could summon Goddess Alethea.¡±

    Calyx¡¯s eyes opened wide. ¡°You¡¯re going to summon Goddess Alethea? That can¡¯t be. Goddess Alethea may not be a major god, but she isn¡¯t a minor god either!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m a Roseheart, and the Rosehearts could summon gods,¡± Neoma reminded Calyx. ¡°Why are you so shocked?¡±

    Calyx¡¯s eyes turned glowing red while ring at her.

    Neoma smirked, and was about to summon Goddess Alethea when she suddenly felt a very familiar presence.

    [Hmm?]

    ¡°You do not have the right to summon a god, Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio.¡±

    It was her ex-man.

    Ruto appeared in front of Neoma out of thin air¡­

    ¡­ while holding an ancient bow with its arrow pointed at her.

    ¡°Stop summoning Goddess Alethea,¡± Ruto said in an indifferent and stern voice. ¡°This will be my first andst warning, Princess Neoma.¡±

    Gosh, look at her ex-man addressing her by her title again.

    Of course, the fucking needle-like object was still in Neoma¡¯s abdomen. In short, she was still in unspeakable pain. Hence, she found it funny that despite that, the pain that affected her the most was the pain in her heart.

    Unfortunately, she didn¡¯t have the time to wallow in misery.

    [Ruto is here to do his job, and so am I.]

    Neoma grabbed Lewis by the shoulder who was about to step in front of her, then she gently pushed her ¡°son¡± aside. ¡°Do it, my lord,¡± she urged him haughtily. ¡°Let¡¯s see if you could release your arrow faster than I could summon Goddess Alethea.¡±

    ***

 Chapter 715 - 715 ROYAL SCANDAL (10)

    715 ROYAL SCANDAL (10)

    MONA WASN¡¯T really surprised when Ruto appeared and pointed a weapon at Neoma.

    She had always known that the boy was the divine son of Levi whom he raised to be a God yer.

    Hence, she kind of expected Ruto to appear and stop Neoma from summoning a god.

    After all, even Mona wasn¡¯t allowed to summon gods unless she made a deal with them to borrow their power.

    [But Neoma is going to summon a god because of the trial.]

    She could see why Ruto would get involved.

    [He¡¯s just doing his job.]

    However¡­

    [Neoma must feel brokenhearted right now.]

    .....

    ¡°How should we proceed, Mona?¡± Niki whispered to her. ¡°Can I kill Ruto?¡±

    ¡°Of course not, love. It won¡¯t be easy anyway,¡± Mona whispered back. ¡°We should just watch for now. Neoma got this¨C¡±

    ¡°Are you just going to watch that bastard threaten your daughter?¡± Nero asked in an aggravated voice, turning to Mona and Niki with furrowed brows. ¡°Mother, Father, that bastard is serious. He will really shoot at Neoma.¡±

    Oh?

    Mona blinked, confused yet happy with Nero¡¯s reaction. ¡°Are you worried about your sister, son?¡±

    Nero looked shocked, then confused as if he didn¡¯t know why he suddenly acted that way. ¡°No, of course not,¡± he said. But he sounded like he wasn¡¯t sure of himself. ¡°Why would I get worried about that obnoxious girl?¡±

    ¡°Because Neoma is your twin sister,¡± Niki deadpanned. ¡°Your brain may not remember, but I¡¯m sure every fiber of your being does. If I love Mona more than my own children, then you love Neoma more than your own parents.¡±

    Mona could only sigh, but she couldn¡¯t deny what Niki said.

    [The de Moonasterios and their obsessions¡­]

    ¡°It¡¯s not true,¡± Nero said in a grumpy tone, then he avoided their gaze to look at Neoma with a worried look on his face. ¡°I just don¡¯t want anyone else to kill Neoma when her life is mine to take.¡±

    Mona should be worried, but the fire in Nero¡¯s eyes put her heart at ease.

    [Those eyes assure me that Nero will step in to protect Neoma from Ruto if the situation calls for it.]

    ***

    NEOMA was actually bluffing.

    How could she summon a god faster than Ruto releasing his arrow? She was OP, but not omnipotent. Plus, even though she received intense Summoning training with Mama Boss, this was the first time she was going to summon a god.

    [A freaking goddess who¡¯s at least in the mid-level.]

    And the ¡®mid-level¡¯ in celestial standards wasn¡¯t the same as the ¡®mid-level¡¯ in human standards.

    Hence, she knew she couldn¡¯t summon a god in just a few seconds.

    [I guess I¡¯ll just die then.]

    It was a joke, of course.

    There was no way she¡¯d die when her parents and friends were there.

    [Plus, I still believe in Ruto.]

    ¡°Princess Neoma, gods are not allowed to intervene with human affairs directly,¡± Ruto said. It seemed like he chose to talk it out with her instead of fighting her head-on despite her provocation earlier. ¡°You can¡¯t summon a god for your personal benefit. Hence, I advise you to find another way to resolve your problem.¡±

    ¡°Pfft.¡±

    No, it wasn¡¯t Neoma whoughed.

    It was Calyx who was standing behind her. The fucking crow bastard snorted at her and her current predicament.

    ¡°I thought Lord Ruto ispletely on your side, Princess Neoma,¡± Calyx said in a mocking tone. ¡°I¡¯m d it wasn¡¯t the case. I guess this stupid trial will end in my favor even if I don¡¯t do anything.¡±

    [Gosh, what a talkative bastard. Let¡¯s just ignore him.]

    ¡°I wanted to be upset with you, Ruto. But I understand that you¡¯re just doing your job,¡± Neoma said calmly. She decided to rein in her snarky remarks. It was hard to do since her sanity had already snapped, but Ruto¡¯s face had the power to calm her down. ¡°Having said that, you also have to understand that I¡¯m also just fulfilling my duty as a royal princess.¡±

    ¡°I get that, but you still can¡¯t summon gods.¡±

    She let out a sigh. ¡°Then will I be safe if I don¡¯t summon them and theye here on their own ord?¡±

    Ruto looked confused. ¡°Gods on Lady Alethea¡¯s level aren¡¯t allowed to descend to the human world.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m aware,¡± she said. ¡°But do gods always follow the rules?¡±

    ¡°Princess Neoma¨C¡±

    ¡°High Priestess Alethea,¡± Neoma said, cutting off Ruto as she turned to the High Priestess. ¡°I heard you are cherished by Goddess Alethea dearly?¡±

    ¡°Goddess Alethea loves and protects the people who serve her, Princess Neoma.¡±

    [Oh, she already knows my name. Well, I¡¯m not surprised since Trevor and Dahlia had to brief the High Priestess of the current situation.]

    ¡°Moreover, there¡¯s only a few of us who believe in Goddess Alethea,¡± the High Priestess said, sping her hands together. ¡°As the person who leads the temple, I am fortunate to receive the goddess¡¯ love and blessing.¡±

    ¡°Nice,¡± she said, opening her hand to summon the divine item that she had received from Yule before.

    [And it¡¯s the divine item that reminds me Lord Yule didn¡¯t abandon me.]

    The Moon God had already given Neoma all the things she needed to fight.

    [I don¡¯t know how Calyx and the crow bastards got a hold of Lord Yule, but it doesn¡¯t matter. I already have all I need with me.]

    ¡°High Priestess Alethea, I apologize in advance,¡± Neoma said, grabbing the white scissors that materialized above her hand. ¡°These scissors could cut any form of ties¨C even a tie between a goddess and her closest servant.¡±

    High Priestess Alethea gasped while stepping away from her.

    But Trevor was quick to appear behind the High Priestess, then he held her by the shoulders to keep her in ce.

    ¡°Please say your quick goodbye to Goddess Alethea,¡± Neoma said indifferently. ¡°I¡¯ll apologize to you for the rest of my life, Your Eminence.¡±

    The High Priestess¡¯ eyes were covered with a blindfold, but the High Priestess¡¯ fear was obvious.

    ¡°Princess Neoma, I¡¯m sorry but I still have to stop you.¡±

    Neoma stopped approaching the High Priest when she felt Ruto¡¯s Mana spike up. When she faced him, she saw him release his arrow. Lewis tried to stand in front of her again, so she gently pushed him aside once more. ¡°Stay there,¡± she said firmly, causing Lewis to freeze on the spot. ¡°I can block it.¡±

    She raised her hand and created a Wall.

    [More like ¡®the¡¯ Dome.]

    Needless to say, she created the most powerful and thickest Dome that she could produce at the moment. She didn¡¯t want to die. Not yet, at least.

    [And I don¡¯t want to die by Ruto¡¯s hands again.]

    ¡°Don¡¯t get distracted, Neoma,¡± Hanna, who was standing behind the fake Empress Juliet, scolded her. ¡°Lord Ruto¡¯s arrows are multiplying. Don¡¯t lose to his attack. I¡¯ll make sure that no stray arrow would hit anyone else.¡±

    [Aye, aye, ma¡¯am.]

    Hanna was being scary, so Neoma focused on strengthening her Dome instead of verbally responding to her cousin.

    Plus, it wasn¡¯t like she had time to respond properly.

    The single arrow that Ruto released multiplied again and again until Neoma¡¯s Dome was getting hit by hundreds of arrows.

    Soon, the sound of metal hitting a ss echoed in the courtroom.

    CRACK.

    Neoma¡¯s eyes opened wide when one of the arrows sessfully put a crack on her Dome. Had the arrow gone through the barrier, it would have hit her on her chest. She got the chills, of course.

    For the first time in a while, she felt her life threatened.

    [Ruto is being so fucking annoying right now.]

    Neoma and her Dome were being pushed back.

    She couldn¡¯t believe she was being pushed back while long cracks continued to appear all over her Dome.

    [Goddammit!]

    It was already bad enough that the needle-like object in her abdomen was destroying her organs, and now she had to fight Ruto using more than half of her current power.

    [I really don¡¯t want to go all-out, but it¡¯s time to get serious now¡­]

    Neoma was about to drop the divine scissors in order to use her other hand to make a stronger Dome when, all of a sudden, her back hit an unfamiliar strong body.

    She was pretty sure that it didn¡¯t belong to any of her people.

    Not even Calyx.

    .....

    Her instinct kicked in right away, using her elbow to at least break a rib or two of the person who invaded her personal space.

    One must not sneak in behind a woman in the middle of a war with her ex-boyfriend.

    ¡°Ouch.¡±

    Huh?

    [This voice¡­]

    Neoma looked over her shoulder, shocked to see the familiar face with fake purple hair. ¡°The relic from the past¡­¡±

    ¡°I have a name, Princess Neoma,¡± the old dude said,ughing. ¡°It¡¯s ¡®Noah Solfrid.''¡±

    ¡°Alright, Mr. Noah Solfrid. I¡¯m a little busy right now, so step away from me before Lewis gets to you.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d love to stay and chat with you, but I know what I should do for you at the moment,¡± Noah Solfrid said while smiling charmingly at her. ¡°Let me take out the trash for you so you can focus on your trial, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Trash?¡±

    Noah Solfrid just smiled at her, then he vanished in the blink of an eye.

    [What the¡­]

    THUD!

    Neoma turned to the cause of the noise.

    Then, much to her shock, she saw Noah Solfrid stepping on Ruto¡¯s chest.

    Huh?

    [When did Noah Solfrid take down my ex-man?!]

    Ruto seemed to be struggling while holding onto Noah Solfrid¡¯s leg.

    The most worrying part?

    Ruto actually had his back on something simr to a ck hole¨C and it was swallowing him the more Noah Solfrid pushed Ruto into the ck hole using his foot.

    [It¡¯s the same ck hole that Trevor would use every time he goes to the Underworld.]

    Neoma got the chills again.

    [Noah Solfrid is indeed the Ancient Devil¡­]

    ¡°I was there when you were born, so I know all your weaknesses, child,¡± the Ancient Devil said, mocking Ruto as Ruto continued to sink into the ck hole until only his hands clinging to the Ancient Devil¡¯s leg were visible.

    After making sure that Ruto was properly swallowed by the ck hole, Noah Solfrid turned to Neoma.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will not kill this child,¡± Noah Solfrid said, smiling and waving at Neoma. ¡°I¡¯ll just y with him until you¡¯re done summoning whichever god it is, Princess Neoma.¡± Then he smiled apologetically at her. ¡°But Ruto is pretty strong. Princess Neoma, I can only promise you two hours at best.¡±

    She didn¡¯t really want to receive the Ancient Devil¡¯s help, but she wasn¡¯t in the position to reject it.

    Of course, she could fight Ruto.

    But that wasn¡¯t her priority at the moment.

    ¡°Two hours is plenty enough,¡± Neoma said to the Ancient Devil. ¡°I¡¯ll consider this as your apology for invading my personal space earlier.¡±

    Because she didn¡¯t want to be indebted to Noah Solfrid.

    And it seemed like the Ancient Devil knew it.

    ¡°What a daring youngdy,¡± Noah Solfrid said whileughing, his body quickly sinking into the ck hole. ¡°See youter, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ***

    WHAT a spectacle.

    ¡°I apologize for getting side-tracked,¡± Neoma said, facing High Priestess Alethea again after Ruto and Noah Solfrid disappeared. ¡°Your Eminence, I¡¯m sorry for scaring you.¡±

    Despite her apology, the High Priestess still looked scared of her.

    [Understandable.]

    ¡°A-Are you still going to do it, Princess Neoma?¡± High Priestess Alethea asked, her body trembling. ¡°Are you going to cut off my connection to Goddess Alethea?¡±

    Now she felt like shit.

    ¡°It was an option earlier, but since Ruto is gone, I don¡¯t have to resort to that trick anymore.¡±

    High Priestess Alethea looked relieved, but also worried at the same time. ¡°Then how is Your Royal Highness going to summon Goddess Alethea? I understand that you¡¯re a Roseheart. Even so, Goddess Alethea is currently¡­ unavable.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Your Eminence,¡± she assured the High Priestess. ¡°My grandpa is good at finding gods.¡±

    ¡°G-Grandpa?¡±

    ¡°The First Emperor,¡± Neoma said, smiling. ¡°He¡¯s my secret weapon.¡±

    ***

    HIGH PRIESTESS Alethea, despite being blindfolded, could ¡°see.¡±

    Her eyes, when covered that way, would be so sharp that she would be able to see divine items or energy not visible to the naked eye. And what she saw while ¡°looking¡± at Princess Neoma was something she had never seen before.

    [Is that the famed¡­ Moonglow?]

    But aside from the pure divine power that the royal princess possessed, she could also see the divine item that slowly materialized around Princess Neoma¡¯s body.

    High Priestess Alethea let out a soft gasp.

    It was an emperor¡¯s cape.

    To be precise, it was the First Emperor¡¯s cape that hugged Princess Neoma¡¯s body after itpletely materialized.

    The High Priestess was sure of it because she could read the ¡°story¡± behind every divine item that she encountered. And the cape was ¡°telling¡± her that it originally belonged to the First Emperor.

    However¡­

    [Why is the cape pink when it¡¯s supposed to be red¡­?]

    ***

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 Chapter 716 - 716 ROYAL SCANDAL (11)

    716 ROYAL SCANDAL (11)

    NEOMA DIDN¡¯T expect that she¡¯d be using her secret weapon this early, but she had no choice but to reveal it now.

    [Who knows when Ruto will be back?]

    The Ancient Devil said he could hold back Ruto for two hours at max, but she doubted it.

    [My ex-man will probably get back here in less than an hour.]

    Hence, she was in a hurry.

    ¡°Grandpa, I¡¯m gonna im my 18th birthday gift now,¡± Neoma said while her body was being engulfed in a blue light. ¡°Please lend me your power.¡±

    ***

    [The midnight Neoma turned eighteen¡­]

    .....

    A DREAM.

    Someone summoned Neoma in a dream again.

    ¡°Gosh,¡± Neomained, getting up from bed. She was still in her pajamas, and she was still in her bed. But she was definitely not in her own bedroom. She found herself in a white room with white cubes once again. ¡°Who is it this time?¡±

    ¡°Happy birthday, my dear granddaughter.¡±

    Oh, god.

    She almost got blinded by the handsome face that greeted her. ¡°Grandpa.¡±

    By ¡®grandpa,¡¯ she meant the First Emperor.

    His Majesty materialized in front of her, sitting regally on the white cube right across from her bed.

    ¡°It¡¯s hard to approach you these days, little Neoma,¡± the First Emperorined lightly. ¡°You know that I get bored easily. Talking to you is the only joy I find these days.¡±

    ¡°Grandpa, is there a reason why you can¡¯t still rest in peace?¡±

    The First Emperor gasped as if he was shocked by her question. ¡°Little Neoma, do you want me gone already?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like that, Grandpa,¡± she said while shaking her head. ¡°You¡¯ve been dead for hundreds of years already. It wouldn¡¯t be right to call you ¡®grandpa¡¯ because you¡¯re like an ancient artifact, you know? I¡¯m just wondering why you suddenly appeared. And if you could do that, why did you only appear in my generation?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re pretty sharp, huh?¡±

    She just shrugged.

    ¡°You¡¯re the only person who genuinely wished to destroy the de Moonasterio Monarchy, Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Are you saying that you appeared in my generation because I was the only descendant who genuinely wished for our bloodline¡¯s downfall?¡±

    ¡°Correct.¡±

    ¡°Then does it also mean it¡¯s your wish to see our family end, Grandpa?¡±

    The First Emperor smiled bitterly. ¡°This is no longer the de Moonasterio bloodline that I cherish. Up until your father, all the previous emperors who ascended the throne were swallowed by their greed and earthly desires. It¡¯s a miracle that the empire is still thriving despite having horrible emperors in the past.¡±

    ¡°Is that why you want to end the de Moonasterios, Grandpa?¡±

    The First Emperor fell silent before speaking again. ¡°We will do the human world a favor if the de Moonasterios cease ruling the most powerful empire in history.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t wish for our bloodline topletely vanish, Grandpa.¡±

    ¡°Really? I thought you hate our family as much as I do.¡±

    ¡°I just don¡¯t believe that the empire needs a monarchy. Plus, the de Moonasterios aren¡¯t really fit to be the absolute rulers of ournd,¡± she exined. ¡°That¡¯s why after taking the throne, I n on forming an elected parliament, then step down as a monarch once everything is settled. Of course, it won¡¯t be easy. But that¡¯s my goal.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good enough for me.¡±

    ¡°Then are you going to help me destroy the monarchy that YOU built, Grandpa?¡±

    The First Emperor grinned at her. ¡°Little Neoma, I didn¡¯te here just to greet you a happy birthday. I¡¯m also here to deliver your birthday present.¡±

    ¡°Is Nero also going to receive a present from you, Grandpa?¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not your only grandchild, and I¡¯m not the only one turning eighteen today,¡± she said. ¡°If you don¡¯t have a present for Nero, then I have to turn down your present. I¡¯m sorry, Grandpa. I¡¯ll just ept your birthday greeting.¡±

    ¡°Nero doesn¡¯t need anything else since he already has the throne,¡± the First Emperor said. ¡°He also has ess to the Royal Treasury, which means all the wealth that the Royal Family has umted for the past centuries is in his hands now.¡±

    Of course, she knew that.

    ¡°You, on the other hand, only have a small fortune under your name.¡±

    That ¡®small fortune¡¯ was enough for Neoma and her future grandchildren to livefortably without having to work a day.

    But,pared to what Nero inherited, hers was indeed considered a ¡®small fortune.¡¯

    ¡°Do you still wish for me to hand your twin brother a present?¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± Neoma said, nodding. ¡°It will still feel different to receive a present from our grandfather.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re too kind to be a de Moonasterio, little Neoma.¡±

    ¡°I am only kind to my people.¡±

    The First Emperor justughed it off. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll send a gift to Neroter. Will you ept my present now, my dear granddaughter?¡±

    Neoma smiled and nodded. ¡°Of course, Grandpa.¡±

    The First Emperor smiled back at her, then he snapped his fingers.

    Just like that, a red emperor cape materialized in thin air and fell onto Neoma¡¯s shoulders.

    ¡°Was this the cape you used during your rein, Grandpa?¡± Neoma asked, feeling warm andfortable while wrapped in the red cape. ¡°It feels luxurious. But it will be more perfect if it was pink.¡±

    The First Emperor blinked. ¡°Well, we can change the color if you want.¡±

    Her eyes opened wide. ¡°Really, Grandpa?¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± he assured her. ¡°The cape is yours now, after all.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Grandpa!¡± Neoma said, hugging the cape. ¡°For some reason, this cape kind of feels nostalgic? It¡¯s weird how it feels so familiar to me.¡±

    The First Emperor chuckled. ¡°Little Neoma, I am Lord Yule and Lady Roxana¡¯s son. My father is the Moon God, while my mother is the Light Goddess. Can you guess who my godparents are?¡±

    She gasped softly. ¡°The other gods?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± the First Emperor said, nodding. ¡°All the gods in the world gave me their blessings when I was born, and all of them promised to answer my call ONCE if I find myself in a tight spot. But I was a prideful de Moonasterio. Hence, even in my dying moments, I never asked for anyone¡¯s help. I didn¡¯t even pray to Mother or Father.¡±

    [The First Emperor¡¯s major w must be his pride.]

    Neoma, on the other hand, had vanity as her major w.

    [All de Moonasterios have a major w rted to their personalities.]

    The First Emperor pointed at the cape around her shoulders. ¡°That promise is embedded in that cape, little Neoma. You can summon any god you want using that.¡±

    ¡°Is it still in effect, Grandpa?¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± he said, nodding. ¡°A god¡¯s promise does not expire.¡±

    ¡°But even if I have this, it¡¯s not like I can just call any god I want, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. If it was me, the gods would answer my call easily. But you¡¯re not me, hence the gods might use it as an excuse to not fulfill their promise.¡±

    ¡°Then why are you still giving this to me as a gift, Grandpa?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m giving that cape to you because you¡¯re a Roseheart,¡± the First Emperor said. ¡°You can ask your mother to teach you how to summon gods.¡±

    Ah, right.

    Her Mama Boss even had a contract with a goddess.

    ¡°Summoning a god is actually Mama Boss¡¯st lesson for me as a Roseheart, so this timing is too perfect,¡± she said, giving the First Emperor a side-eye. ¡°Are you keeping tabs on me, Grandpa?¡±

    The First Emperor just shrugged.

    [Ah, he is.]

    ¡°Grandpa, have you remembered your name already?¡±

    To be honest, she didn¡¯t believe that the First Emperor have ¡°forgotten¡± his name. But there must be a reason as to why he didn¡¯t want to mention it.

    [But I should pretend that I buy his story.]

    ¡°Should I just get a new name?¡± the First Emperor said, tilting his head to one side.

    ¡°Can I give a suggestion?¡± Neoma asked, beaming. ¡°Consider it as my ¡®thank-you¡¯ gift for giving me a wonderful present, Grandpa.¡±

    ¡°That sounds like a brilliant idea,¡± the First Emperor said, smiling. ¡°What name do you suggest, my dear granddaughter?¡±

    .....

    ***

    ¡°PRIMO de Moonasterio,¡± Neoma whispered to herself while touching the gold trim of the cape. ¡°Grandpa Primo, let me summon Goddess Alethea now.¡±

    She opened her hand until her a rosegold staff covered with vines snaked around it materialized. The top of the staff had a fully bloomed pink rose on it encased inside a transparent ss sphere.

    It was Nydia¨C her Mama Boss¡¯ main weapon.

    The weapon her mother uses to summon gods and Spirits, to be precise.

    ¡°Answer my call, Goddess Alethea,¡± Neoma said, hitting the ground with the tip of the rose-gold staff. ¡°I, Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio, summon you to the human world in ordance with the promise you made with Primo de Moonasterio¡ª the First Emperor of the Great Moonasterion Empire!¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 717 ROYAL SCANDAL (12)

    Chapter 717 ROYAL SCANDAL (12)

    THE SKY SUDDENLY turned dark.

    Hence, it was inevitable for the citizens of the Great Moonasterion Empire to feel scared and take it as an ominous sign.

    The people outside the courthouse, the ones left in the za, and even the people at home.

    Almost everyone all over the empire could see what was happening inside the courtroom because of the mysterious giant screens that appeared out of nowhere. It wasmon for nobles to use advanced devices like those, but not for themoners.

    But the awe of the people quickly turned into shock and worry while watching what was happening inside the courtroom.

    Everyone was in disbelief after Princess Neoma ordered the future Crown Princess Hanna Quinzel to bring the "old hag" to her¨C and the "old hag" turned out to be the Empress Dowager. After that, the royal princess ordered her people to put something in the Empress Dowager''s mouth.

    And it turned out to be an Arwin Pill.

    Princess Neoma then consumed one, then imed the Empress Dowager was a fake.

    Despite the ridiculous im, the Empress Dowager remained silent as if she was afraid to speak while Prince Calyx argued that the Arwin Pills might not be genuine Arwin Pills.

    "The First Prince is right! How can we tell if those were real Arwin Pills?"

    "Moreover, can we really trust the royal princess who just appeared out of nowhere?"

    "But Emperor Niki and Lady Roseheart are there, and their presence practically confirmed that Princess Neoma is indeed a royal princess¡­"

    "Her Royal Highness'' identity doesn''t matter here."

    "Don''t forget the reason for this trial in the first ce! This is happening because Princess Neoma imed that she acted as Prince Nero before!"

    "That''s right. This could be Emperor Niki''s ploy to get back in power."

    "I agree! Perhaps His Majesty is also trying to overthrow the Empress Dowager to make Lady Roseheart the empress once he reims the throne!"

    "If that''s the case, then why doesn''t the Empress Dowager just refute Princess Neoma''s ims?"

    "Maybe the Empress Dowager is afraid¡­"

    "Fool! What if Princess Neoma gave the Empress Dowager a pill that prevents the Empress Dowager from talking?"

    "Ah, that''s possible."

    The opinion of the citizens was divided, but it was apparent that most people sided with the First Prince and the Empress Dowager.

    Then, suddenly, the High Priestess of the Alethea Temple appeared.

    After that, Princess Neoma imed she would summon the Goddess of Truth.

    "Is it possible to summon a god?!"

    "Don''t forget that Princess Neoma is also a Roseheart. The young generation doesn''t remember the Rosehearts anymore, but the old generation does. You should know that the Rosehearts are the greatest Summoners in the world."

    "The Rosehearts can summon both Spirits and gods!"

    But, out of nowhere, a young man iming to be the God yer appeared and threatened Princess Neoma.

    "What is happening now?"

    "Apparently, Princess Neoma doesn''t have the right to summon gods!"

    "I didn''t even know the existence of a God yer until now¡­"

    "The God yer isn''t known here on the Western Continent, but most people from the Eastern Continent do. I''m from the East, so I''ve heard about the God yer. Apparently, he''s the divine son of a powerful god."

    "I don''t trust Princess Neoma yet, but she''s still the empire''s one and only royal princess! How dare a foreigner point a weapon at Her Royal Highness?!"

    "That''s right! I don''t care if he''s the divine son of a god. The de Moonasterios are the direct descendant of Lord Yule¨C the Moon God! The Royal Family is the pride of the empire! They have protected us all this time!"

    "Don''t threaten our royal princess!"

    "Leave Princess Neoma alone!"

    The people cheered as Princess Neoma blocked the foreigner''s arrows.

    But everyone got nervous when Princess Neoma''s shield began to crack while Her Royal Highness was being pushed back.

    Fortunately, an unidentified man appeared and took the foreigner out.

    "That must be one of Princess Neoma''s people."

    "The royal princess has some reliable servants, huh?"

    "That''s not surprising since a lot of talented individuals would kill for a chance to serve the de Moonasterios directly."

    After the God yer or whatever he was disappeared, Princess Neoma continued with her n to summon the Goddess of Truth.

    A pink cape appeared and hugged Princess Neoma''s body.

    "That cape has a strange color, but isn''t that an emperor''s cape?"

    "It even has the symbol of the Royal Family."

    "It''s an old design, though."

    <"Answer my call, Goddess Alethea. I, Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio, summon you to the human world in ordance with the promise you made with Primo de Moonasterio--- the First Emperor of the Great Moonasterion Empire!">

    A collective gasp was heard everywhere after hearing what Princess Neoma said.

    Most people only knew the Alethea Temple for its Arwin Pills that were often used to make criminals confess their crimes. But most citizens of the empire only worshipped Lord Yule, the Moon God. And they were loyal to the god they chose to serve.

    Hence, the citizens of the empire weren''t really interested in other gods.

    Having said that, it didn''t mean they wouldn''t be flustered or indifferent upon the descent of a god¨C regardless of their beliefs.

    A god was still a god, after all.

    "T-There it is!"

    The people looked up at the sky.

    And there they saw it.

    A pair of glowing red orbs was floating in the sky, looking down at the courthouse.

    Everyone could instinctively tell that they were looking at a god''s eyes. Divine power was something that one couldn''t fake or imitate. Hence, even though it was their first time seeing a god in that form, they instantly knew what they were looking at.

    "Princess Neoma really did it¡­"

    "Our royal princess summoned a god¡­"

    "And it''s the Goddess of Truth¨C which means we''re about to find the truth now!"

    ***

    COUGH.

    Neoma clicked her tongue after coughing up blood.

    Goddammit.

    [When did I get so fucking weak? Does summoning a god really put a toll on my body? Me, who prides herself on being strong and powerful, coughing up blood just after summoning a god? Gosh. I''m so embarrassed.]

    "Princess Neoma."

    Neoma turned to Lewis and took the handkerchief that he handed to her. "Thank you, Lewis," she said while wiping off the blood in her mouth using Lewis'' handkerchief. "Don''t look at me like that. I''m not dying."

    [Well, not yet.]

    Lewis let out a sigh. "Princess Neoma, please don''t say something that will make me want to go on a killing spree."

    Gosh, so vicious.

    Neoma ignored Lewis'' scary remark, then she looked up at the pair of red orbs looking down at her.

    <"Young princess, you summoned me using the blessing that I gave the First Emperor.">

    "That, I did," Neoma said, speaking politely to the goddess. It was weird to hear Goddess Alethea''s voice when only her eyes were visible. Gods really had a strange way of appearing in the human world. "I guess even with Emperor Primo''s help, you still cannot descend to the human world in your full form, Goddess Alethea."

    <"Gods aren''t allowed to descend to the human world in their real form.">

    Neoma was about to get straight to the point when she heard a soft thud beside her.

    She turned to her side and was a little surprised to see High Priestess Alethea kneeling on the floor with her hands sped together as if she was praying.

    [Of course, she''s praying.]

    <"That child is a child I treasure, young princess. I''m still appalled that you threatened to cut my connection to the person leading my temple. You may be a de Moonasterio, and you may have the First Emperor''s blessing, but that doesn''t give you the right to touch my people.">

    "Desperate times call for desperate measures, Goddess Alethea," Neoma said defensively. "I already apologized to the High Priestess."

    <"Are you not going to apologize to me, young princess?">

    "I don''t think I did something that warrants an apology to you, Goddess Alethea."

    <"As expected, you''re as arrogant as your predecessors.">

    "Arrogance is something that runs through my veins, I''m afraid," Neoma said, then she quickly changed the topic. "Goddess Alethea, I''m here to offer you a deal."

    <"Offer me a deal? I was under the impression you summoned me here to ask for my help.">

    "If I simply asked for your help, a certain strict God yer would chew me out because, apparently, asking gods to be involved with human affairs directly is against the rules," she said. "But if I borrowed your power under a fair contract, then doesn''t it mean you''re not getting involved directly? After all, how I use the power I borrowed from you is up to my discretion. Rosehearts have the right to form contracts with gods and Spirits, and I am a Roseheart."

    She had to avoid giving Ruto a reason to treat her like a criminal at all costs.

    Even if that meant taking advantage of the loopholes she found in Levi''s rules.

    <"You''re not wrong, but I don''t think you can offer me something worthy for me to make a deal with you, young princess.">

    "Pollution."

    <"¡­">

    Neoma smirked when the goddess suddenly fell silent. "Should we talk somewhere private, Goddess Alethea?"

    <"Come here, young princess.">

    ***

    HANNA was surprised when Neoma suddenly copsed.

    Fortunately, Lewis caught her.

    [Thank goodness.]

    "Tsk," Trevor clicked his tongue, and the demon boy was probably annoyed that Lewis caught Neoma first. "It seems like the goddess took Princess Neoma''s soul to her domain."

    "I''m worried, though," Dahliamented. "The offer that Princess Neoma is going to make¡­"

    The ck Witch didn''t finish her sentence.

    And it was the right thing to do.

    After all, Calyx and the fake Empress Dowager could hear them talking.

    [Their silence is bothering me, so I should keep an eye on them.]

    "Princess Neoma will be fine," Hanna said, addressing Neoma formally in front of an audience. "I believe Goddess Alethea wouldn''t be able to turn her offer down."

    ***

    [IT''S A FUCKING wastnd here.]

    Neoma didn''t know what to expect when Goddess Alethea summoned her to her domain.

    But she sure didn''t expect the goddess'' domain to be covered with Darkness in gas form.

    It looked like the entire ce used to be a beautiful field. But the trees, nts, flowers, and even the grass were all dead. The soil was dry, and so was the river. There was no living thing in there.

    Well, except for thedy standing in front of her.

    It was Goddess Alethea.

    Brown hair, tan skin, white robe. The goddess'' eyes were covered with a whitecey blindfold. She was barefoot, and it seemed like her feet were bleeding.

    It was probably because Goddess Alethea was standing on Darkness.

    "You can''t purify it, mydy?" Neoma asked, confused. "I''m sure you at least have the power to avoid the Darkness."

    "It''s no use, young princess," Goddess Alethea said. "No matter how many times I purify the Darkness that invaded my domain, it justes back. I do not have enough divine power to purify them every time. As you know, the gods gain their divine power from their believers. Unfortunately, I don''t have many devotees like major gods do."

    The goddess was in mid-level, and yet she couldn''t purify the Darkness that invaded her domain.

    [Which means most minor gods have probably perished already.]

    "This is the pollution that you mentioned earlier, isn''t it?" Goddess Alethea asked carefully. "Young princess, are you implying that you can purify the Darkness that''s killing my domain?"

    Neoma clenched her hands tight.

    To be honest, she didn''t want to reveal her power as a "premium air purifier." But she had no choice. She had to borrow Goddess Alethea''s power ''legally'' to avoid having a dispute with Ruto.

    It was not like all hopes were lost, though.

    "I can purify your domain, Goddess Alethea," Neoma said, unclenching her hands. "But can you keep it a secret?"

    ***

 Chapter 718 ROYAL SCANDAL (13)

    Chapter 718 ROYAL SCANDAL (13)

    "I CAN KEEP it a secret, but that doesn''t ensure that the other gods won''t find out the truth," Goddess Alethea said. "If you really managed to get rid of the pollution here in my domain, the other gods who have the same problem as me would do everything in their power to find out how my domain was saved."

    Neoma was also aware of that.

    She knew that she couldn''t keep her secret for too long since she couldn''t hide her real power once she went on a full-on war with the crows.

    However, stalling wouldn''t be so bad.

    "It''s alright as long as you keep it a secret, Goddess Alethea," Neoma said. "The important thing is they don''t get the answer right away."

    "You''re buying time."

    "That, I am," she said, looking around. "I''m hungry."

    "I apologize, but I have nothing to offer to your soul, young princess."

    "That''s not true," she said, smiling at the goddess. "I find Darkness delectable."

    Goddess Alethea looked surprised by what she said. "That''s a strange thing to hear from a de Moonasterio."

    "It''s too early for you to get surprised," she said to the goddess. "I''m a person full of awesome surprises, Goddess Alethea."

    "I can tell that."

    "I have to warn you, though."

    "Warn me about what?"

    "Once you see my ability, I''m sure you''ll be greedy to get a hold of me," Neoma said in a warning voice. "I''m afraid I have to ask you to moderate your greed in advance, Goddess Alethea. I do not belong to the gods. Please remember that."

    Goddess Alethea just looked at her as if she was confused.

    She just smiled, then she opened her palm. "This is the first time that I''m going to use this ability properly, and you''re the first god to ever see this cooler side of me, Goddess Alethea."

    Before, she would just use her "air purifier" ability by following her instincts.

    But after training with Mama Boss for the past five years, she finally learned how to use her purifying ability in the proper way.

    "Namoo,e out," Neoma said, smiling. "It''s your debut stage."

    A small capybara made of wood appeared above her palm.

    It was her Wood Spirit that she created herself. She carved the capybara from the wood that she inherited from Mama Boss.

    [The ''wood'' was actually a thick branch from the Cosmic Tree.]

    Not just anyone could get a piece of the Cosmic Tree, not even a single leaf. The fact that her Mama Boss received a branch from the Cosmic Tree was a testament to how the Cosmic Tree treasured her mother.

    [And Mama Boss gave the Cosmic Tree''s branch to me as an inheritance.]

    Her mother said she needed a medium that would absorb the Darkness for her instead of "eating" it directly. Then her Mama Boss suggested a Wood Spirit would be the best medium since Wood Spirits had a tree''s properties.

    But there wasn''t a Wood Spirit in Korea, so Neoma created one.

    She literally breathed life into the wood statue for the capybara to be "alive."

    And now it was her Wood Spirit.

    [I named it ''Namoo'' because it means ''tree'' in the Koreannguage.]

    "I can''t tell what that thing is," Goddess Alethea said as if she was confused. "It seems like a Spirit, but the soul doesn''t seem to be natural¡­"

    "It is a Wood Spirit¨C an artificial Spirit, that is," Neoma exined, then she got down on one knee and carefully helped Namoo, the wooden capybara, to get off her hand until it was walking on the soil covered in Darkness. "I made her."

    Yes, Namoo was a girl¨C a kween.

    [Because I said so.]

    "You CREATED a Spirit?" Goddess Alethea asked in disbelief. "I have never heard of a human capable of creating a Spirit. After all, Spirits are still living things. How could you create an artificial life?"

    Neoma stood up before responding. "I''m sorry, but I can''t tell you that, Goddess Alethea. That''s trade secret."

    Of course, the goddess looked confused by what she said.

    However, Goddess Alethea soon got distracted when Namoo suddenly stopped walking.

    Then the Wood Spirit, despite its small size, opened its mouth wide. Slowly, the Darkness that covered the domain was sucked in by the small wood figurine.

    "Will it be alright?" Goddess Alethea asked worriedly. "Its size is too small for the amount of Darkness that it''s sucking in."

    "Namoo is just a medium¨C she''s not the one absorbing the Darkness," Neoma exined, her entire body slowly being covered in Darkness. The goddess looked shocked, causing her to chuckle. "Don''t worry, Goddess Alethea¨C my appetite is big enough to eat all the Darkness in your domain."

    ***

    NIKOLAI judged that Neoma was safe under the protection of Lewis Crevan, Trevor Kesser, Dahlia, and Hanna.

    He was worried when Neoma copsed, but was relieved when the fox caught his daughter.

    The fake Juliet and Calyx Dalton were being quiet, so he was a bit worried.

    [But seeing that Hanna is keeping an eye on them discreetly puts me at ease.]

    He had noticed it before, but now he was certain.

    [The person Neoma''s allies must follow when she''s out ofmission is Hanna, followed by Lewis Crevan or Paige Avery.]

    He didn''t want to admit this, but Neoma could stand on her own now.

    [She already has trust-worthy subordinates. Hence, she''ll do well even without me or Mona.]

    "The kids will be fine, Niki," Mona said gently, touching his arm. "There''s something else that we should do."

    "Ah, right," Niki said, nodding. "Please bring the trash out, Mona."

    "Trash?" Nero, who seemed calmer now, asked curiously. "I''m sure it''s no ordinary trash. What are you going to bring out this time, Father? Mother?"

    Niki just patted Nero''s shoulder.

    Mona, on the other hand, just smiled at their son before turning to him. "I''ll bring him out now."

    Niki nodded in response.

    Then Mona opened her hand.

    A pink rose materialized above her palm, then she dropped the flower on the floor. After the rose hit the floor, several vines emerged¨C creating an egg-shaped nest where a familiar face was trapped in.

    "Count Kyle Sprouse?" Nero asked with furrowed brows, then he looked at Niki and Mona with suspicious eyes. "You kidnapped the Empress Dowager''s chief aide?"

    "That traitor deserves the front seat to this shit show," Niki said. He rarely cursed, but he couldn''t think of nice words to say when it came to Kyle Sprouse. The traitor didn''t deserve to be treated with kindness. "Kyle Sprouse, watch this trial closely. I want you to see how Neoma, the person you looked down on ever since she was a child, will destroy the fake Juliet that you worship."

    "You can''t just ept the fact that Empress Juliet has returned alive, Your Majesty," Kyle Sprouse said bitterly. "How can she be a fake when she remembers everything? Moreover, I''m the person who knows Empress Juliet the most."

    Niki scoffed at what the traitor said. "You don''t even know that the real Juliet neither wished to be married nor be a mother. Despite iming that you know her so well, you have no idea what her true calling was."

    And the real Juliet''s dream was to be a priestess.

    To be precise, a priestess to Roxana¨C the Light Goddess.

    "It''s no use talking to someone who''s as close-minded as Kyle Sprouse, love," Mona said, sighing while shaking her head. "Just let him watch the truth get unfold."

    Niki nodded in agreement, then he turned to Neoma. "It seems like our daughter is back."

    ***

    THE DEAL was a sess.

    When Neoma opened her eyes, she found herself in Lewis'' arms¡­

    ¡­ and her vision was a little weird.

    Oh?

    That was when she realized that her eyes were covered in acey blindfold. And it wasn''t just any blindfold¨C it was a divine item.

    [It''s probably the same blindfold that the High Priestess wears.]

    "Lewis, I''m back," Neoma said. "You can put me down now."

    Lewis let out a sigh of relief. "Alright, Princess Neoma."

    As soon as her feet touched the floor, she had already gotten used to her weird vision at the moment.

    It was a little ufortable, but she could see just fine.

    [I wonder if I look weird, though?]

    <"I, Alethea¨C the Goddess of Truth¨C shall lend my divine power to Neoma de Moonasterio, the one and only royal princess of the Great Moonasterion Empire, until the trial is over. The royal princess received my ability to extract the truth from anyone who has consumed the Anwir Pill.">

    It was weird to hear the glowing red orbs ''talking.''

    But it was clear.

    Everyone in the courtroom, and the people watching the broadcast, could definitely hear Goddess Alethea talking.

    <"You must only speak the truth in the sacred courtroom. Those who utter lies shall receive divine punishment¨C and that rule also applies to Neoma de Moonasterio in the name of fairness,"> Goddess Alethea said firmly. <"Alethea, my precious child, guide the young princess until everything is over. I shall speak to you in privateter.">

    High Priestess Alethea cried while thanking Goddess Alethea for speaking to her.

    Why would someone cry¡­ oh, right.

    [I''m so used to talking to gods directly that I often forget it''s notmon to speak to them in the first ce.]

    Anyway, after leaving her message, Goddess Alethea slowly vanished.

    That meant the giant red orbs disappeared just like that.

    Of course, the whole spectacle left most people speechless. She could imagine the people outside the courthouse to be in a simr state. However, she couldn''t afford to give them a breather¨C not even a short break for them to process everything.

    The show must go on.

    [Now let''s test Goddess Alethea''s divine power.]

    "We''ve all heard Goddess Alethea''s message loud and clear," Neoma dered firmly. "Hence, from this moment, I will lead the trial."

    "This is ridiculous," Calyx said, scoffing. "Princess Neoma, you are the used here. I have never heard of an used leading a trial before."

    "Well, now you have," Neoma said casually. "With the power granted to me by the Goddess Alethea, we will find out whether I''m guilty or not. You heard her, too. The rule applies to me, so I will also be punished if I lied."

    "This is ridiculous," Calyx said, scoffing. "Princess Neoma, you are the used here. I have never heard of an used leading a trial before."

    Since she was stating a fact, Calyx couldn''t refute her words anymore.

    [I have the Goddess of Truth by my side, after all.]

    Neoma turned her back on Calyx and faced the fake Empress Juliet. "Answer me properly this time," she said indifferently. "Are you the real Empress Juliet?"

    The fake Empress Juliet bit her bottom lip hard until it bled, but that wasn''t enough because her lips still trembled before slighting parting. Of course, the fake Empress Dowager noticed that her mouth was moving on its own. Hence, she tried to cover her mouth with her hands.

    [She''s pretty good to be able to resist Goddess Alethea''s power this much.]

    However¡­

    "It''s no use resisting. Didn''t you hear what Goddess Alethea said earlier? I have power over anyone who consumed the Anwir Pill," Neoma said, her eyes glowing red as she crushed the fake Empress Juliet with her Alluring Aura. You know, the ability that she changed the name of because she wanted it to sound chic. Anyway, it was working because the fake Empress Juliet was literally brought to her knees. "I''ll ask you again¨C are you the real Empress Juliet?"

    It seemed like the Empress Dowager didn''t have enough strength to resist Goddess Alethea''s divine power anymore.

    "I¨C I am¡­" the fake Empress Juliet said, stuttering. "I am the real Juliet¨C argh!"

    The fake empress wasn''t able to finish her sentence as she was suddenly struck by lightning¨C a lightning made from divine power, to be precise.

    [Divine Punishment¡­]

    The fake Empress Juliet screamed in agony while getting burned by the lightning.

    "I see, you lied," Neoma said indifferently. "It''s game over."

    ***

 Chapter 719 ROYAL SCANDAL (14)

    Chapter 719 ROYAL SCANDAL (14)

    "THE EMPRESS Dowager received divine punishment¡­"

    "Then it means the Empress Dowager lied!"

    "A fake?!"

    Neoma could hear the nobles talking in loud voices.

    She should be satisfied to know that most of them had finally realized that the fake Empress Juliet was a fake, but she wasn''t.

    Although she said it was already ''game over,'' it wasn''t really.

    [Not everyone believes in gods, so I must back up the truth with some solid evidence that they can''t refute.]

    "I know you are all confused because five years ago, my father verified that the Empress Juliet who returned with Calyx was the real Empress Juliet," Neoma said. "But we were also tricked. Fortunately, we met the soul of the real Empress Juliet."

    A loud collective gasp was heard.

    But one voice stood out among the rest.

    "You met the soul of the real Empress Juliet?!"

    Neoma turned to the owner of the voice and found Kyle Sprouse trapped inside an egg-shaped nest made of vines. "I would have been more inclined to answer your question if you spoke respectfully to me, Count Sprouse."

    Who in their right mind would call a royal princess ''you?''

    Well, even if the count didn''t want to address her as a princess, he could have addressed her as ady.

    [Or, at the very least, use a polite tone.]

    "I''m not so arrogant to demand you to respect me as a princess," Neoma continued. "But at least speak properly to me as another human being."

    Even in Korean culture, it was important to be mindful of your speech.

    [I mean, I curse a lot. But as a proper princess and a decent human being, I still speak politely to people I don''t like in a formal setting.]

    Kyle Sprouse'' face turned red as if he was embarrassed. "I apologize for my rudeness, Princess Neoma. I was so overwhelmed by my curiosity that I lost my mind for a moment. But I''m really dying to know about the real soul of Empress Juliet that Your Royal Highness mentioned."

    Hmm?

    To be honest, she was kind of surprised that Kyle Sprouse believed her right away.

    [It''s probably because of Goddess Alethea.]

    Even so, she thought Kyle Sprouse was so close-minded that he wouldn''t believe anything that Neoma would say about the fake Empress Juliet.

    [I guess his faith in gods is pretty intense.]

    "I''m about to talk about it even if you didn''t ask, Count Sprouse," Neoma said indifferently. "Please wait. Thete Empress Juliet has a separate message for you."

    Kyle Sprouse'' face beamed.

    Neoma almost let out a viinousugh upon seeing the hope in the traitor''s face, but she held back.

    [Go ahead, Kyle Sprouse. Fill your heart with hope¨C so there''s more for me to crushter.]

    Neoma tore her gaze away from Kyle Sprouse to focus on the on-going trial. "Is the fake Empress Dowager still alive?"

    Hanna, who was the highest-ranked after Neoma within the current group, responded. "Yes, Princess Neoma," she said, addressing Neoma formally in front of an audience. "The fake Empress Dowager has sustained severe burns all over her body, but she survived the Divine Punishment."

    "Thank you, Lady Hanna," Neoma said. "Then we should proceed with the next step to prove that the Empress Dowager in front of us is really a fake." She turned to the audience and found the person she was looking for. "Duke Hawthorne, please bring the Royal Archmage out."

    Jasper oppa was with Uncle Glenn''s family, and he had Duckie with him.

    [Gin is here, too, in his human form.]

    Jasper oppa bowed towards her respectfully. "As youmand, Princess Neoma."

    After that, Jasper oppa patted Gin''s shoulder.

    Then Gin pulled out a dice from the pocket of his pants and threw it on the floor. After hitting the ground, the dice turned into a door.

    The door then opened on its own, revealing the person behind it.

    "It really is the Royal Archmage¡­"

    "Isn''t it rare for Royal Archmage Barlowe to show up in public? She was always in the Royal Tower¡­"

    "Well, the Royal Archmage has to be here since she was the one who verified the fake Empress Dowager''s identity five years ago."

    "Can we still trust the Royal Archmage?"

    "It''s not like she can lie since Princess Neoma is using Godess Alethea''s power¡­"

    "Right."

    The loud "whisperings" came to a halt when Abigal Barlowe left the door and entered the courtroom with her held high.

    [Yeah, you did nothing wrong, Lady Barlowe.]

    "Wee, Lady Barlowe," Neoma said politely. "I''m sure you were already briefed about why I summoned you here."

    [I was the one who asked her father''s Soul Beasts to kidnap the Royal Archmage, after all.]

    "Thank you for inviting me here, Princess Neoma," Abigail Barlowe said in a serious tone. It looked like the Royal Archmage was a bit annoyed. Perhaps it was because of the fact that she was tricked by the fake Empress Dowager. "I heard that the Empress Dowager that I verified five years ago, turned out to be a fake."

    [Ah, so the Royal Archmage was indeed pissed because of that.]

    And rightfully so.

    "You weren''t the only person who was tricked, Lady Barlowe. Even my own father was deceived and verified the fake Empress Dowager''s identity five years ago," Neoma said. "Hence, we''re also responsible for this mess."

    The Royal Archmage looked touched by what she said.

    "Fortunately, I was able to get some evidence after encountering the cult that supports the fake Empress Dowager," Neoma said, addressing the audience and looking at the hidden camera in Hanna''s brooch. She wanted the people watching the trial outside to feel included, after all. "It was also the ce where I found the real Empress Juliet''s soul."

    This time, even Calyx and the fake Empress Dowager looked shocked by what she said.

    Hmm?

    [They don''t know that Empress Juliet''s soul was stuck in their mansion?]

    Or maybe because they were shocked she found it?

    She didn''t have time to dwell on that, though.

    Neoma avoided looking at the Griffiths because her heart wasn''t ready to look at Monik while she was talking about her previous life. "I kept the shell of the barrier that protected Empress Juliet''s soul for years."

    To be honest, she was kind of nervous about suddenly getting Divine Punishment.

    After all, it was the reincarnation of Empress Juliet that she found in the egg-like barrier and not just her soul.

    But it didn''t happen.

    [Perhaps because it''s true that Empress Juliet''s soul was inside the egg.]

    "I believe the cult used that to deceive your senses," Neoma said, then she turned to Trevor. "Lord Kesser¡­?"

    Trevor nodded in understanding, then he pulled a storage box out of thin air. He opened the lid and pulled out a ss case where the "egg shells" were kept properly. "Here you go, Princess Neoma."

    "Thank you, Lord Kesser," Neoma said when she received the ss case from Trevor, then she faced the Royal Archmage. "Lady Barlowe, the egg shells are embedded with thete Empress Juliet''s unique Mana and a piece of her soul. I believe the cult used these to deceive our senses when the fake Empress Juliet''s identity was verified five years ago."

    "I will check the shells, Princess Neoma. Thank you," Abigail Barlowe said, then her sharp gaze fell on the fake Empress Dowager. "Then I shallpare it to that fake''s physical aura and Mana."

    Neoma nodded, then her gaze finallynded on her next target. "Now, shall we confirm whether Calyx Dalton is really my father''s son or not?"

    Calyx smirked at her haughtily. "I am a de Moonasterio."

    No Divine Punishment fell on the crow bastard.

    Hence, the nobles got noisy again.

    "Prince Calyx wasn''t punished¡­"

    "He''s a de Moonasterio, then¡­"

    "Does he not know that his "mother" was a fake all along?"

    Hmm.

    Calyx smirked, obviously delighted that the nobles still epted him as a prince.

    However¡­

    "I didn''t ask whether you''re a de Moonasterio or not, Calyx Dalton," Neoma said coldly. "Let me repeat my question: are you Emperor Niki de Moonasterio''s son or not?"

    And that was when Calyx lost his smile¡­

    ¡­ followed by releasing his bloodlust directed at Neoma.

    Oho?

    The next thing Neoma knew, her arm was already blocking the dagger that Calyx tried to stab her with¨C causing a huge ruckus, of course.

    Neomaughed at Calyx''s sneak attack. "So, you have chosen death?"

    ***

 Chapter 720 - 720 ROYAL SCANDAL (15)

    720 ROYAL SCANDAL (15)

    TO BE HONEST, Neoma didn¡¯t have to move her arm just to block Calyx¡¯s attack.

    After all, Lewis already kicked Calyx¡¯s hand¨C causing the crow bastard to drop the dagger. And it also looked like Calyx¡¯s arm was broken because of Lewis¡¯ kick.

    [Yep, that¡¯s ¡®One-kick Lewis¡¯ for you.]

    ¡°Princess Neoma,¡± Lewis said while standing in front of her. ¡°Permission to kill that thing.¡±

    ¡®That thing¡¯ was obviously Calyx.

    [Lewis and his temper¡­]

    ¡°Permission denied,¡± Neoma responded. ¡°I need him alive. However, there are more than two hundred bones in a human body. I don¡¯t mind how many you break as long as Calyx could still talk for the interrogation part.¡±

    Lewis smirked, which was a rare asion. ¡°Thank you, Princess Neoma.¡±

    Neoma just smiled and let Lewis handle Calyx.

    .....

    Then she turned to the fake Empress Juliet. It seemed like the fake tried to escape when Calyx attacked her. But Hanna and Dahlia obviously caught and stopped the fake Empress Juliet since the twodies were both grabbing each of the fake¡¯s arms.

    Trevor, on the other hand¡­

    ¡°My Moon Princess, I need to go,¡± Trevor said in a hurry. ¡°I sense the sorcerer bastard¡¯s hostility outside.¡±

    The ¡®sorcerer bastard¡¯ was clearly Dn Crowell.

    ¡°It seems like their reinforcement has arrived,¡± Neomamented. ¡°My other ¡°children¡± haven¡¯t arrived yet, Trevor. Will you check on them while you¡¯re at it?¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± Trevor said, his body quickly sinking into the ck hole below his feet. ¡°Any child of yours is also my child, Princess Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Eww.¡±

    Trevor justughed at her reaction beforepletely disappearing into the ck hole.

    [So, the crows have decided to openly attack us now.]

    ¡°Lady Barlowe, please continue,¡± Neoma assured the Royal Archmage. ¡°We will protect you.¡±

    Abigail Barlowe nodded. ¡°Thank you, Princess Neoma. I shall now verify the item that I received from Your Royal Highness.¡±

    ***

    ¡°FATHER, is Calyx not your son?¡±

    Niki was surprised by Nero¡¯s question.

    But above all, he was worried about his son because the poor boy looked confused and hurt. Nero probably also felt betrayed.

    [I feel bad for my son, but this is for the better.]

    ¡°As far as I am concerned, Calyx is NOT my son,¡± Niki dered bravely. ¡°And you saw it earlier, didn¡¯t you? Calyx attacked Neoma instead of answering her question. If he was confident he was my son, then why didn¡¯t he just say so?¡±

    Nero¡¯s jaw clenched. ¡°You didn¡¯t receive Divine Punishment, Father.¡±

    ¡°Of course. I¡¯m telling the truth, after all.¡±

    ¡°The Empress Dowager is a fake¡­ and Calyx isn¡¯t my brother¡­¡± Nero whispered to himself, his eyes turned glowing red from anger. ¡°Everything was just a lie¡­?¡±

    Niki could tell that Nero was about to explode from anger.

    And Mona could feel it, too. Hence, she looked worried while looking at their son. It was obvious Mona wanted tofort Nero, but didn¡¯t know how.

    [For some reason, Nero resents Mona more than anyone else.]

    ¡°Everything that Calyx and the fake Juliet told you may have been a lie, but not everything about the life you¡¯ve lived was,¡± Niki said, patting Nero¡¯s shoulder. ¡°After all, it¡¯s true that we were wrong for leaving you even though we didn¡¯t have a choice back then.¡±

    Nero red at him. ¡°Is that supposed to make me feel better, Father?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m giving you some important life advice here, so listen carefully, you little ruffian,¡± Niki said. He was trying to speak gently to Nero, but he couldn¡¯t since he was used to talking to his son this way. And he knew Nero would have ¡°cringed¡± if he acted differently. ¡°Nero, you¡¯re the Crown Prince and the future emperor. The fake Juliet and Calyx won¡¯t be the first andst people to betray you. The throne is the loneliest ce in the world for a de Moonasterio like us. As long as you¡¯re sitting on the throne, you can¡¯t trust anyonepletely¨C not even your direct family.¡±

    Mona looked at him disapprovingly.

    But Niki didn¡¯t take back what he said.

    Of course, they wouldn¡¯t betray Nero. But if his son really wanted to be the emperor, then he should learn by now that he couldn¡¯t trust anyone easily.

    [This is why not everyone is fit to be an emperor.]

    ¡°Father, you¡¯re annoying.¡±

    ¡°I know. You even threatened to kill me once so you could ascend to the throne early,¡± Niki said, scoffing. Why were his memories with Nero full of violence? ¡°So, what now? You don¡¯t feel like being an emperor anymore after getting betrayed?¡±

    Of course, he was just provoking his son.

    [Nero has to have a solid resolve if he really wanted to be the next emperor. If getting betrayed once was enough to discourage him, then he should step down now.]

    If neither Nero nor Neoma wanted the throne, then we could just abolish the monarchy.

    Of course, it wouldn¡¯t be easy.

    However¡­

    [My priority right now is the safety and happiness of my family. I could give up all the power and riches thate with being a monarch just to live with them peacefully forever.]

    ¡°Father, what do you do to the people who betray you?¡±

    ¡°Give them hell, of course,¡± Niki said, looking at Kyle Sprouse meaningfully¨C causing the count to flinch in fear. He smirked before turning to his son again. ¡°Nero, you should make the people who betrayed you beg for you to just kill them.¡±

    Nero¡¯s eyes finally returned to normal¨C an indication that he had calmed down. ¡°You¡¯re right, Father,¡± he said while nodding. ¡°I should get even instead of getting mad.¡±

    [Yes, that¡¯s my son.]

    Niki had to avoid Mona¡¯s eyes that were scolding him, though.

    ***

    ¡°YOU¡¯RE A monster.¡±

    Ruto just ignored the Ancient Devil, who was currently using the body that he stole from Noah Solfrid, and continued bombing the entire ce with his Mana.

    He was currently in the Ancient Devil¡¯s domain.

    It was a gloomy mansion with no windows and doors.

    Hence, Ruto was making the walls explode to make an exit.

    ¡°Even a minor god wouldn¡¯t be able to use their full strength here in my domain,¡± the Ancient Devil, who was sitting on thest step of the grand staircase,mented as if he was amused. ¡°No wonder Levi treasures you.¡±

    ¡°You have no reason to lock me up here anymore,¡± Ruto said, ignoring all the nonsense that the Ancient Devil said. ¡°Lord Levi already took back his order to eliminate Neoma.¡±

    ¡°Did he now?¡±

    ¡°Apparently, Neoma made a contract with Goddess Alethea,¡± Ruto said. He didn¡¯t know why he had to exin to the Ancient Devil, but he waspelled to do so. ¡°Neoma is a Roseheart, and the Rosehearts have the right to form contracts with Spirits and gods.¡±

    ¡°So, technically, Princess Neoma didn¡¯t break the rules?¡±

    ¡°Neoma also summoned Goddess Alethea using the First Emperor¡¯s name,¡± Ruto added. ¡°And by using Goddess Alethea¡¯s power on her own, that diminishes the argument that the goddess is directly meddling with human affairs. After all, Goddess Alethea only lent her power to Neoma via a fair contract. Hence, my divine father lost the right to punish Neoma.¡±

    The Ancient Devilughed as if he was amused. ¡°Princess Neoma sure knows how to take advantage of her name as a Roseheart. And her ancestors, too. She¡¯s really adorable, isn¡¯t she?¡±

    Ruto turned to the Ancient Devil with a frown. ¡°Neoma has the potential to burn the world to ashes. Is that what you see as ¡®cute?''¡±

    For some reason, he didn¡¯t want to hear the Ancient Devil praising Neoma.

    [Why am I so annoyed?]

    ¡°Princess Neoma will always be cute in my eyes whatever she does,¡± the Ancient Devil said, grinning. ¡°My love for her is overflowing, after all.¡±

    ¡°Those aren¡¯t your feelings.¡±

    ¡°They used to be yours, but they¡¯re mine now,¡± the Ancient Devil said, clutching his chest. ¡°Let me love Princess Neoma in your ce since you don¡¯t care about her anymore. Do you?¡±

    Ruto¡¯s jaw clenched hard, but he couldn¡¯t give a retort.

    [This bastard is right, but why couldn¡¯t I ept it?]

    ***

    [GOSH¡­ Lewis really broke Calyx¡¯s bones¡­]

    Neoma felt strange while looking at Calyx who was plopped to the floor, leaning weakly against the podium behind him.

    Calyx¡¯s ARMS AND LEGS were all broken.

    Judging by how the crow bastard was having difficulties, she could tell that Lewis also broke a rib or two.

    .....

    ¡°I kept him alive,¡± Lewis said, looking proud of himself. ¡°Did I do well, Princess Neoma?¡±

    Gosh.

    [He¡¯s really waiting for apliment.]

    ¡°You did well, Lewis,¡± Neoma praised Lewis while gently patting his shoulder, avoiding the messy sight behind him. Lewis almost destroyed the courtroom, after all. Her ¡°son¡± didn¡¯t hold back since the civilians were protected by her shield. ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Lewis¡¯ face beamed even without smiling.

    [What a good boy.]

    Neoma then turned to the Royal Archmage who was busy examining the egg shells.

    Abigail Barlowe was sitting on the chair while poking the eggshells with her wand. Every time she did that, the broken pieces of the eggshell would release a familiar unique Mana.

    [It¡¯s Empress Juliet¡¯s Mana.]

    Crazy how it was still simr to Monik¡¯s Mana.

    [I hope the child doesn¡¯t find it strange¡­]

    Neoma was about to ask the Royal Archmage how it was going when Hanna caught her attention.

    Hmm?

    [Why is Hanna staring at Calyx?]

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Hanna?¡± Neoma whispered to Hanna when she approached her cousin. ¡°Why are you staring at the crow bastard?¡±

    Lewis was keeping an eye on Calyx, so Neoma wasn¡¯t worried.

    But Hanna didn¡¯t look the same.

    ¡°I find it suspicious that Calyx and the fake Empress Dowager are THIS quiet,¡± Hanna whispered back to her. ¡°And I watched Lewis¡¯ fight with Calyx earlier. I can tell that Calyx didn¡¯t give his all during the fight.¡±

    To be fair, Neoma also noticed that.

    But it didn¡¯t make sense.

    [Why wouldn¡¯t Calyx take the fight seriously when he knows Lewis could ¡°identally¡± kill him if he let his guard down?]

    ¡°Princess Neoma, I¡¯m done examining the shells,¡± Abigail Barlowe said. ¡°I can confirm that the shells really contain thete Empress Juliet¡¯s Mana and piece of soul. However¡­¡± The Royal Archmage turned to the fake Empress Dowager. ¡°I can tell that the current Empress Dowager no longer possessed the same Mana and presence that I felt from her when she arrived at the pce five years ago.¡±

    Everyone waited for the Divine Punishment, but it didn¡¯t arrive.

    Hence, the shocked nobles created a buzz once again.

    ¡°The Royal Archmage didn¡¯t get Divine Punishment¡­¡±

    ¡°That means she¡¯s telling the truth¡­¡±

    ¡°So, that was how we were deceived. The fake Empress Dowager used the remnants of the real Empress Juliet¡¯s Mana and soul to deceive us¡­¡±

    ¡°How despicable¡­¡±

    ¡°It also seems like Prince Calyx isn¡¯t Emperor Niki¡¯s son¡­¡±

    Neoma was relieved to know that the nobles were finally enlightened.

    ¡°I have a question, Princess Neoma,¡± Abigail Barlowe said. ¡°We have seen a video five years ago where the fake Empress Dowager gave birth to Prince Calyx. I am quite certain that the video wasn¡¯t fabricated. How did the fake Empress Dowager give birth to a de Moonasterio if Prince Calyx wasn¡¯t Emperor Niki¡¯s son?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s possible to extract a Seed from a male and a Bead from a female, then put them together in a different woman¡¯s body to conceive a child. That woman could get pregnant even though the child isn¡¯t biologically hers,¡± Neoma said. Of course, she exined it as simply as she could. That wasn¡¯t the proper process, but it wasn¡¯t the right time to discuss it. ¡°I will release a paper regarding that processter. For now, I want to let everyone know that Calyx might be a de Moonasterio, but he¡¯s certainly not my father¡¯s son.¡±

    She didn¡¯t receive Divine Punishment, and that was a huge relief.

    [Now I¡¯m relieved to know that the crows didn¡¯t steal my Papa Boss¡¯ Seed and used it to conceive Calyx¡­]

    Her thoughts were interrupted when Calyx suddenlyughed out loud.

    Neoma wasn¡¯t the only person who was shocked to hear Calyxugh amid all of that.

    [Wasn¡¯t Calyx just struggling to breathe a moment ago?]

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to exin it with words, Princess Neoma,¡± Calyx said in a mocking tone. ¡°Why don¡¯t we demonstrate to the public how we steal Seeds and Beads from a de Moonasterio like you?¡±

    And that was when the sharp pain in Neoma¡¯s abdomen suddenly made her copse again.

    ¡°Princess Neoma!¡±

    ***

    CALYXughed like a maniac after seeing Princess Neoma drop to the floor.

    He was almost certain that they were able to steal the arrogant princess¡¯ beads, thanks to the shackles that he put around her wrists earlier.

    Lewis and the others left her alone to aid Princess Neoma.

    And that was when¡­

    ¡°Vespera!¡±

    Calyx lost his smirk when Princess Neoma suddenly yelled the name of THAT Soul Beast.

    [The ck Phoenix? But it was supposed to be sealed with Princess Neoma¡¯s dragon and Elemental Guardian!]

    How...?

    Then, in just the blink of an eye, the royal princess was suddenly engulfed in a ck me.

    [What is happening¡­?]

    Princess Neoma then slowly stood up, her entire body still engulfed in ck me.

    But the royal princess wasn¡¯t burned.

    [Princess Neoma rose like a newly-reborn phoenix emerging from the ashes...]

    ¡°Calyx, did you forget? My aunt is Princess Nichole de Moonasterio¨C the only royal princess in history that survived your cruel experiment,¡± Princess Neoma said, smirking like the evil woman that she was. ¡°What made you think my aunt wouldn¡¯t protect me from the same fate?¡±

    That was when Calyx realized the meaning behind Princess Neoma¡¯s words.

    [Nichole de Moonasterio found a way to counter our spell!]

    ***

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 Chapter 721 - 721 ROYAL SCANDAL (16)

    721 ROYAL SCANDAL (16)

    ¡°YOU GOT here faster than expected, Brother. You¡¯re really sharp, huh?¡±

    ¡°Ew. You¡¯re disgusting,¡± Trevormented after Dn Crowell called him ¡®brother¡¯ despite his earlier warning not to do that. ¡°Snap out of your delusion, dude. Even if you carry the same DNA as my biological father, I will never acknowledge you as my brother.¡±

    He found the sorcerer bastard on top of the Clock Tower in the za.

    The za for the nobles, to be precise.

    He could tell that Dn Crowell just finished a huge and powerful spell all over the Royal Capital.

    Trevor wasn¡¯t bothered, though.

    ¡°That¡¯s too bad,¡± Dn Crowell said in an obviously disinterested voice. ¡°I would have been a good brother to you.¡±

    ¡°Bullshit.¡±

    Dn Crowell just shrugged. ¡°You¡¯rete, Brother. Even if you kill me now, you can no longer stop the spell that I activated a moment ago.¡±

    .....

    ¡°What spell did you activate this time?¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t kill everyone here because we need people to rule,¡± the sorcerer bastard exined. ¡°Unfortunately, we can¡¯t repeat the spell that we used to make people forget about Princess Neoma¡¯s existence¨C especially not when almost everyone in the empire is already aware of her existence. However, we can always brainwash people to make them hate the royal princess.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡±

    Dn Crowell let out a frustrated sigh. ¡°Brother, are you looking down on me? As a fellow sorcerer, you should know that the hardest spells to create are spells that affect human emotions.¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh,¡± he agreed with the sorcerer bastard. ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m pretty sure Calyx almost died back when he activated the spell that made people forget about Princess Neoma¡¯s existence.¡±

    It was a spell that was almost impossible to execute, after all.

    ¡°If you know that already, then why do you still look calm?¡± Dn Crowell asked suspiciously. ¡°Are you that confident that you could stop my spell?¡±

    ¡°The spell that you activated only affects people in the Royal Capital.¡±

    The sorcerer bastard scoffed. ¡°Brother, the number of people living in the Royal Capital is enough to start a revolt against Princess Neoma.¡±

    Trevorughed after confirming the things he needed.

    First, he already knew what kind of spell Dn Crowell activated this time.

    Second, he also found out the range of the spell.

    [This bastard really let his guard down after thinking that the spell he made was unstoppable.]

    ¡°You¡¯reughing?¡± Dn Crowell asked, obviously insulted. ¡°Have you lost your mind?¡±

    ¡°Dude, I can¡¯t stop the spell you activated,¡± Trevor said. Ah, after spending five years in Korea with Princess Neoma, the way the royal princess spoke had rubbed off on him. He wasn¡¯tining, though. ¡°Moreover, I don¡¯t need to.¡±

    The sorcerer bastard¡¯s eyebrows knitted in confusion. ¡°You don¡¯t ¡°need¡± to?¡±

    ¡°It rained golden petals in the Royal Capital when Princess Neoma arrived, didn¡¯t it?¡± Trevor asked, smirking. ¡°Those golden petals were a gift from the Cosmic Tree. You didn¡¯t think that they were just some pretty petals, did you?¡±

    Dn Crowell suddenly looked pale.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, you should be worried,¡± Trevor said,ughing. ¡°After all, the Cosmic Tree¡¯s blessing was embedded in each golden petal that poured like rain in the Royal Capital. And you know what¡¯s more amazing? It was Princess Neoma who chose the blessing. You see, my Moon Princess Neoma really knows how to make the people who owed her pay the properpensation for her service.¡±

    Dn Crowell¡¯s jaw clenched hard. ¡°What blessing are you talking about?¡±

    Trevor tilted his head to one side, acting cute to annoy the heck out of the sorcerer bastard. ¡°A blessing to stop any kind of spell from activating, especially if the spell is meant to attack the people of the empire.¡±

    ¡°That spell is too specific!¡± Dn Crowellmented. ¡°There¡¯s no way something like that exists!¡±

    ¡°Hey, are you looking down on the Cosmic Tree? If you¡¯re really a sorcerer, then you must know that you sound so dumb right now,¡± Trevor said, clicking his tongue. ¡°As sorcerers, I¡¯m aware that our kind thinks we¡¯re better than mages, wizards, and witches. It¡¯s somehow true since we can create magic out of thin air, unlike the others that needed a medium. However, as sorcerers, we have high respect for Nature. After all, Nature provides the magic that we produce. So, how dare you look down on the Cosmic Tree who¡¯s a huge part of Nature?¡±

    Dn Crowell just red at him.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t believe me, then why don¡¯t you check on the spell that you activated?¡± Trevor asked, smirking. ¡°Because if you ask me, I believe your spell is already losing its effect.¡±

    That was exactly why Trevor was calm.

    He could tell that the offensive spell that he felt a moment ago was already disappearing.

    Dn Crowell, who seemed to have felt his spell vanishing, red at him harder. ¡°Princess Neoma is more meticulous than she looks.¡±

    ¡°I know, right? My Moon Princess ims she wants to be a truedy of leisure, but she works the hardest among all of us,¡± Trevor said, then he teleported in front of Dn Crowell. And before the sorcerer bastard could react, he already grabbed him by the neck. ¡°Why are you using a spell to disguise your appearance?¡±

    Dn Crowell¡¯s face turned red as he couldn¡¯t breathe after getting strangled like that. The sorcerer bastard tried to attack Trevor, but it didn¡¯t work since Trevor already covered his entire body with an invisible shield.

    [Princess Neoma taught me a thing or two about creating shields.]

    ¡°You¡¯re not using your own body right now, are you?¡± Trevor asked, then he grabbed Dn Crowell¡¯s face with his other hand. ¡°How dare you to use a cheap spell in front of the greatest Sorcerer of this generation? Did you think I wouldn¡¯t notice?¡±

    Dn Crowell screamed in agony as the ¡°mask¡± that he wore quickly melted as Trevor¡¯s hand turned scalding hot.

    Trevor then threw Dn Crowell away after he sessfully melted his ¡°mask.¡±

    Dn Crowell tried to cover his face with his hands, but it was already toote.

    [What the hell?]

    That annoyingly handsome and perfect face¡­

    ¡°Rubin Drayton?¡± Trevor asked in disbelief. ¡°Dn Crowell, you¡¯ve been using Rubin Drayton¡¯s body as a vessel all this time?¡±

    ***

    DARKNESS.

    Since Paige was a Light Mage, she was sensitive to Darkness.

    Hence, she was probably the only person outside the courthouse who could see that a huge amount of Darkness was slowly creeping its way to swallow the entire courthouse.

    She wasn¡¯t that worried since she knew Princess Neoma and the others would be safe inside.

    However, that wasn¡¯t the case for the innocent people outside the courthouse.

    ¡°Kids, we must move the people away from the courthouse!¡± Paige, who was flying above the people gathered around the courthouse, yelled at her ¡°siblings¡± who were riding Jeno¡¯s cloud. ¡°The crows are here, and they¡¯re using Darkness to swallow up the courthouse! Go and protect the people¨C I will purify the Darkness first!¡±

    ***

    WOW.

    This was the first time Neoma was hurt because of me.

    Since she had the fire attribute, she was practically immune to any kind of fire. If she was immune to the Red Dragon¡¯s fire, there was no way ordinary me could hurt her.

    But the ck Phoenix¡¯s ck me was hot as hell.

    [Is this the preview of what my afterlife would be like in hell?]

    To be fair, the ck me wasn¡¯t burning her to ashes.

    It just felt hotter than Tteokbokki¡¯s red me.

    Moreover, she could feel the ck me burning the needle-like thing flowing through her veins. And it was painful as hell.

    Fuck, she wanted to lose control and wreak havoc.

    [I know you warned me that it would hurt, Aunt Nichole. But I didn¡¯t expect it to be THIS painful¡­]

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Princess Neoma,¡± Vespera, in his human form, stood beside her and whispered. ¡°The thing inside your body has already secured a few of your Beads. I have to burn it thoroughly so that it would die inside without taking your Beads out of your body. Hence, my me is hotter than normal.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Vespera,¡± Neoma said. It wasn¡¯t really alright, but she was good at acting calm as if she wasn¡¯t being burned alive. ¡°As long as my future babies are safe, I can endure it. Plus, I look cool walking while I¡¯m literally burning.¡±

    Vesperaughed softly. ¡°I like that you¡¯re optimistic, Princess Neoma. No wonder Nichole is so fond of you.¡±

    [I know, right?]

    Neoma wanted to talk to Vespera more, but she had a job to do. ¡°Everyone, you¡¯ve heard it from Calyx¡¯s mouth¨C this is how they steal the Seeds and Beads of other people in order to conceive children mixed with their cult¡¯s disgusting blood.¡± She raised her arms to show the people the melting shackles around her wrists. ¡°Calyx used this as a way to discreetly inject my body with a device that has the purpose to steal my Beads. But don¡¯t worry because Vespera is already destroying the device inside my body. Hence, I¡¯m engulfed in me.¡±

    She refused to look at her Mama Boss and Papa Boss as she exined because she didn¡¯t want to see her parents worried.

    Plus, she was scared to see Nero¡¯s reaction.

    [I¡¯ll be heartbroken if I saw Nero indifferent while looking at me in this state.]

    ¡°The cult that Calyx and the fake Empress Juliet belong to has been performing cruel experiments on the royal princess of the Great Moonasterion Empire for centuries now,¡± Neoma continued with her revtion. ¡°One of their experiments is this¨C stealing Beads from the royal princesses to conceive children from different races.¡± She turned to Calyx who looked emotionless at the moment. ¡°And that was probably how Calyx was born a de Moonasterio. But, as you can already tell, that bastard isn¡¯t my father¡¯s son¨C Calyx is no prince.¡±

    Of course, the reaction of the nobles inside the courtroom was rage.

    The empire was deceived, after all.

    [Compared to this, the fact that I pretended as Nero seems trivial now. But our family still owes our people an apology¡­ what the fuck is that stench?]

    Neoma¡¯s thoughts were rudely interrupted by the rotten smell that reached her nose.

    And it seemed like she was the only one who caught the horrible stench.

    .....

    She looked around and found the source of it: the fake Empress Dowager. Her mouth was slightly parted, and Neoma could see ck smokeing out of it¡­

    ¡­ and it was headed to Hanna who was still keeping an eye on Calyx.

    ¡°Hanna!¡± Neoma yelled while running towards Hanna. ¡°Look out!¡±

    She couldn¡¯t close the gap between her and Hanna as quickly as she wanted, and not even Dahlia, Vespera, and Lewis were fast enough to save her cousin.

    The quiet fake Empress Dowager moved so fast none of them was able to stop her from hugging Hanna from behind. And as soon as the fake old hag got a hold of Hanna, a smoke of Darkness forced its way inside Hanna¡¯s mouth.

    Neoma let out an angry growl, but then Calyx suddenly blocked her way.

    [His arms and legs are already healed¡­?!]

    ¡°Fine, you win the trial,¡± Calyx said, smirking at her. ¡°But I¡¯m taking the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess with me.¡±

    Neoma gave Calyx the middle finger. ¡°I think the fuck not.¡±

    ***

    NERO was about to run towards Hanna, but he was literally stopped when pirs of Darkness suddenly emerged from the ground.

    Then hundreds of snake-like Darkness in liquid form wrapped themselves around his body.

    Nero growled angrily, and he was about to summon his Soul Beasts when he realized he didn¡¯t have to.

    [What¡­?]

    His mother and father both looked angry in his stead as they purified the Darkness that grabbed him.

    Nero felt touched for some reason.

    [Do they care about me genuinely?]

    ***

 Chapter 722 - 722 ROYAL SCANDAL (17)

    722 ROYAL SCANDAL (17)

    MONA was enraged.

    As if it wasn¡¯t enough to see Neoma burn herself just to destroy the device that tried to steal her daughter¡¯s egg cells aka Beads, now she had to witness Nero get abducted under her nose.

    Pirs of Darkness emerged from the floor¨C destroying the courtroom.

    If Neoma didn¡¯t ce barriers to protect the nobles inside the courtroom, then those people would have been hurt when the pirs of Darkness emerged out of nowhere.

    ¡°These damned pirs of Darkness¡­¡±

    Mona immediately calmed down when she heard Niki growl angrily while slicing the pirs of Darkness with his sword.

    [Golden rule: one of us has to stay sane in emergencies like this.]

    Since Calypso¨C Niki¡¯s weapon¨C was a Holy Sword, cutting the pirs of Darkness was the same as purifying them.

    Now that the pirs were taken care of, Mona moved to save her precious son.

    .....

    She couldn¡¯t use Nydia¨C her main weapon¨C because it was currently in Neoma¡¯s possession. However, she didn¡¯t really need her staff.

    After all, her entire body was full of purifying energy.

    Mona just grabbed the snake-like Darkness around Nero¡¯s body, then ripped them away from her son with her bare hands.

    The moment she touched those things, they sizzled because of her purifying ability.

    ¡°Nero, are you alright?¡± Mona asked worriedly after she freed her son from the Darkness that tried to take him away. ¡°Are you hurt anywhere?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m alright, Mother¡­.¡± Nero said, then he paused and looked around. ¡°For now, at least.¡±

    She understood what her son was talking about.

    A new batch of pirs of Darkness appeared after Niki got rid of the first ones that emerged from the floor earlier. And it seemed like the pirs were trying to crush them as those things moved closer to them.

    No¨C the pirs of Darkness were obviously targeting Nero.

    Those things had also pushed her son¡¯s knights away from them. Fortunately, Nero¡¯s knights seemed to be capable of protecting themselves from Darkness.

    [We just have to focus on protecting Nero, then.]

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, son,¡± Niki assured Nero. ¡°Your mother and I won¡¯t let these dumb things take you away from us.¡±

    Nero¡¯s face turned red as if he was embarrassed, then he turned his gaze away from them. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine even if I¡¯m alone,¡± he said grumpily. ¡°But I¡¯m more worried about Hanna and¡­¡±

    It was obvious that Nero was worried about Neoma, too.

    [But it seems like our Baby Pumpkin is too stubborn to admit that he cares about his twin sister.]

    Mona was suddenly reminded of the term that she learned back on Earth.

    [Nero is a ¡®tsundere,¡¯ it seems.]

    ¡°We¡¯re also worried about Neoma, but we can trust your sister, son,¡± Mona assured Nero. ¡°Neoma¡¯s people will protect her and Hanna.¡±

    ***

    ¡°WE ARE the Order under Princess Neoma¡¯smand,¡± Paige announced in a calm yet clear voice. ¡°I ask everyone to please cooperate with us for your own safety.¡±

    She didn¡¯t want people to panic, but it was toote to hide the truth from them.

    The giant screens outside the courthouse already showed that Princess Neoma and the rest were getting attacked by pirs of Darkness.

    And Darkness was also oozing out of the courthouse.

    Hence, the people were getting scared.

    ¡°This way, please!¡± Greko, who was riding on a cloud with Jeno, said in a loud and clear voice. ¡°We just need everyone to step away from the courthouse. We promise to protect you, so please trust and follow us!¡±

    Ohh.

    Paige didn¡¯t have to worry anymore when the people who saw and heard Greko began to move one by one.

    [Greko¡¯s innocent face is really convincing.]

    Right, their maknae/youngest managed to win the hotheaded mermaids over. Hence, dealing with humans should be easy for Greko.

    ¡°We can leave it to Greko and Jeno to lead the people to safety,¡± Juri, who was standing on a cloud next to Paige, said. ¡°Go and purify the leaking Darkness, Paige. I¡¯ll protect you while you do it. Xion is currently watching out for enemies.¡±

    Paige nodded in agreement. ¡°Yes, let¡¯s do that.¡±

    ***

    NEOMA didn¡¯t have time to deal with Calyx¡¯s bullshit, so she grabbed the crow bastard by the cor and threw him in Lewis¡¯ direction. ¡°Knock him out, Lewis.¡±

    She knew her ¡°son¡± would want to redeem himself after Calyx¡¯s injuries healed miraculously.

    And Vespera also blocked Calyx way so that the crow bastard couldn¡¯t go after her.

    She was grateful since her priority at the moment was Hanna.

    Dahlia had sessfully pried the fake Empress Dowager away from Hanna who dropped to the floor unconsciously. The ck Witch tried to catch Hanna, but the fake Empress Dowager attacked Dahlia.

    Then a ck hole opened up on the spot where Hanna copsed.

    Then several hand-shaped Darkness emerged from the floor, dragging Hanna down into the ck hole.

    [The audacity!]

    ¡°As if I¡¯d let you kidnap Hanna,¡± Neoma said, stepping into the ck hole. Some of the hand-shaped Darkness that she stomped on was purified right away. After all, she enveloped her entire body with Moonglow¨C her divine power that also served as a purifying aura. ¡°You do not have the right to touch the Quinzel Princess.¡±

    She stomped her other foot, causing the remaining hand-shaped Darkness topletely vanish after getting purified.

    ¡°Princess Neoma!¡±

    It was Duke Rufus Quinzel.

    When Neoma raised her head to look around, she realized that everyone in the courtroom was getting attacked by Darkness.

    Mama Boss and Papa Boss were protecting Nero.

    Uncle Glenn was protecting Aunt Brigitte and the children.

    Jasper oppa, Duckie, and Gin were also busy fighting the pirs of Darkness. And so were Count Sean Dankworth and Marquis Lawford Gibson.

    Fortunately, the nobles that she ¡°locked up¡± in her Domes were safe.

    [These damned pirs of Darkness probably leaked out. I hope Trevor and my other ¡°children¡± are taking care of it.]

    ¡°Hanna¡­¡±

    When Neoma turned to Duke Quinzel, she found him carrying the unconscious Hanna in his arms.

    Darkness in gas form was leaking out of Hanna¡¯s slightly parted lips.

    [Tsk! Those crow bastards¡­]

    Neoma was pissed off.

    She knew that her allies could take care of the Darkness attacking their forces. Even if she did nothing, they woulde out victorious. She knew all of that, and yet there was this nagging feeling in her chest that she missed something.

    [Hanna was staring at Calyx quite intently earlier¡­]

    The Quinzel Princess had Darkness attribute.

    Although Neoma also possessed Darkness attribute, she couldn¡¯t use it to its maximum potential since she was a de Moonasterio. Hence, she would admit Hanna was the better Darkness attribute user between them.

    Her cousin must have noticed something that she missed.

    But before that¡­

    ¡°Namoo,¡± Neoma said, opening her hand. Soon, the small wooden capybara materialized above her palm. ¡°Go and eat the Darkness that entered Hanna¡¯s body.¡±

    She then put Namoo on top of Hanna¡¯s stomach.

    ¡°Hanna will be fine, Duke Quinzel,¡± Neoma said in a hurry. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but please take care of Hanna for a moment, Your Grace.¡±

    ¡°I understand, Princess Neoma,¡± Duke Quinzel said, nodding. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll watch your back, too.¡±

    Neoma smiled in gratitude before turning her back on Duke Quinzel.

    She turned around to see Lewis and Vespera still dealing with Calyx. This time, it seemed like none of the two¡¯s attacks were hitting the crow bastard.

    [I knew it¨C Calyx intentionally let Lewis beat him to a pulp earlier.]

    She knew that Calyx was strong, but she was pretty sure Lewis was stronger.

    [So why can¡¯t Lewisnd a decent hit on Calyx now?]

    .....

    She could tell that Lewis was also getting frustrated.

    Hence, Neoma stared at Calyx quite deliberately.

    [Hanna definitely saw something strange in that bastard.]

    And that was when Neoma¡¯s eyes met Calyx¡¯s glowing red eyes.

    Oh.

    For some reason, her body suddenly moved on its own.

    Before Neoma knew it, she had always summoned Skewer and was swinging the Death Scythe towards Calyx.

    Lewis and Vespera automatically got out of her way when the two saw her attack the crow.

    But it wasn¡¯t Calyx that she was targeting¨C it was the shadow that came out of the crow bastard¡¯s brooch.

    [Is that the thing Hanna was keeping an eye on?]

    That seemed to be the case.

    Soon, the shadow that came out of the brooch took the form of a human. And, eventually, its form became clear.

    Neoma¡¯s eyes opened wide. ¡°Callisto de Luca?¡±

    Callisto de Luca, in a normal-looking human form instead of his usual wax-like form, smirked at her as he blocked the de of her Death Scythe with an ancient dagger.

    She recognized that dagger.

    The sharp de and short handle covered with ancient texts from the dead Snian Language glowed with divine powering from its user¨C Callisto de Luca himself.

    [It¡¯s the dagger that could kill a de Moonasterio¡­]

    ¡°It seems like you recognized the Moonblood right away,¡± Callisto de Luca said, amused. ¡°Did your little lover tell you about the Moonblood?¡±

    The damned half-god was correct.

    It was Ruto who ¡°introduced¡± the Moonblood to her a few years ago.

    [But the Moonblood in Ruto¡¯s possession is just a replica that he modified to kill de Lucas, too. This Moonblood, however, is the real deal.]

    ¡°Really? Ruston Stroganoff showed the Moonblood to you?¡± Callisto de Luca asked,ughing. ¡°Are you not offended that your lover possesses a weapon that could kill YOU? I didn¡¯t know you were a pushover.¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t bother me because Ruto can¡¯t kill me even if he has the weapon capable of killing my bloodline.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s funnier,¡± Callisto de Luca said in an amused tone. ¡°It doesn¡¯t bother you because you¡¯re confident of your strength and NOT because you¡¯re confident that Ruston Stroganoff wouldn¡¯t use the Moonblood on you. Then does it mean you expect your lover to betray you?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not betraying me when he¡¯s just doing his job. But let¡¯s stop talking about my ex-man when he¡¯s not here,¡± Neoma said, annoyed because Callisto de Luca was making valid points. She was just being stubborn about it. ¡°Tteokbokki!¡±

    Since the shackles around her wrist were finally melted, Tteokbokki was also freed from his seal.

    As soon as she called her Soul Beast¡¯s name, Skewer¡¯s de was engulfed with red me.

    Callisto de Luca, much to her shock, just stabbed Skewer¡¯s de with the Moonblood.

    Three things happened all at once.

    Skewer¡¯s de CRACKED, and the Death Scythe suddenly became so heavy that she was forced to drop it to the floor¨C and the spot where Skewer dropped was shattered.

    Then Tteokbokki¡¯s me was extinguished just like that.

    Finally, Neoma coughed up blood as if she was the one who got stabbed. And before she could even recover, she found herself getting strangled by Callisto de Luca.

    [This fucker¡­!]

    ¡°You smell like Aruna,¡± Callisto de Luca said, his eyes turned glowing red. ¡°Why do you have Aruna¡¯s scent? Where is she? She¡¯s still lingering around, isn¡¯t she?¡±

    Neoma smirked, then she grabbed Callisto de Luca¡¯s throat. As if she¡¯d let the bastard know about Aruna de Moonasterio¡¯s whereabouts. ¡°Stop breathing, you fuckface.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t just a threat.

    She was literally yet discreetly stealing Callisto de Luca¡¯s breath away. To be honest, she didn¡¯t want to use that technique. But, for some reason, she couldn¡¯t use her other abilities.

    [It seems like it has something to do with the Moonblood¡¯s effect.]

    Fortunately, she could still use her abilities as a premium ¡°air purifier.¡±

    That technique had worked on a minor god before, but she wasn¡¯t sure if it would work on Callisto de Luca since he had lived that long for a reason. Fortunately, it seemed to have worked because the old bastard¡¯s face contorted in pain, then he began to grasp for air.

    But Callisto de Luca¡¯s grip around her neck didn¡¯t loosen up.

    It looked like the old bastard was trying to snap her neck before shepletely stole his breath away.

    [Goddammit¡­]

    Neoma was about to use brute force when she saw a familiar figure behind Callisto de Luca.

    Oh!

    ¡°How dare you?¡± Papa Boss growled angrily, grabbing Callisto de Luca by the nape. ¡°Let go of my daughter!¡±

    The de of her Papa Boss¡¯ sword¨C Calypso¨C pierced through the old bastard¡¯s chest.

    [Serves you right, fuckface.]

    Blood trickled down the corner of Callisto de Luca as he smirked,pletely letting go of Neoma¡¯s neck in the process. ¡°Niki de Moonasterio, our biggest disappointment.¡± The old bastard turned to Papa Boss. ¡°The crows truly loved you as the emperor, so why did you have to choose your family over absolute power?¡±

    ¡°Because I hate you to the point that I abandoned the throne out of spite,¡± Papa Boss said bluntly. ¡°I could be that petty.¡±

    Neoma almost rolled her eyes.

    [Papa Boss and his ridiculousebacks¡­]

    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m here to pick you up.¡±

    Huh?

    Neoma looked up and was surprised to see another crow who just arrived in the courtroom, floating in the air while surrounded by shadows. ¡°Regina Crowell.¡±

    ***

 Chapter 723 - 723 ROYAL SCANDAL (18)

    723 ROYAL SCANDAL (18)

    [THAT¡¯S not Darkness.]

    Aside from the shadows, Neoma noticed that the thing whirled around Regina Crowell¡¯s body wasn¡¯t Darkness. It felt more like Mana but, like, dead.

    Huh?

    Dead Mana?

    Neoma¡¯s eyes opened wide. ¡°Impure Mana¡­¡±

    ¡°I knew you¡¯d recognize it right away, Princess Neoma,¡± Regina Crowell said haughtily. ¡°It¡¯s a present that we prepared for you.¡±

    The swirling Impure Mana¨C in liquid form¨C around Regina Crowell soon took the form of little blobs that looked like jellies.

    [Tsk.]

    Neoma could instantly tell what the wench was about to do. ¡°If you drop those things, you¡¯re dead.¡±

    .....

    She could focus on Regina Crowell because her Papa Boss already took Callisto de Luca away from him.

    Lewis and Vespera were still dealing with Calyx.

    Nero was safe with Mama Boss, and so was Hanna with Dahlia and Duke Quinzel.

    The others were also capable of protecting themselves.

    [I¡¯ll deal with the Impure Mana then.]

    ¡°Come on, Princess Neoma. We all know these things are no match for you,¡± Regina Crowell said sarcastically. ¡°Since Your Royal Highness is too powerful, so I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be able to save everyone in time.¡±

    [This crazy wench..!]

    Darkness was different from Impure Mana.

    Since Darkness wasn¡¯t inherently evil, it would only be dangerous if the user had intention to hurt people with it.

    Impure Mana, on the other hand, had no master.

    [It will kill anyone or anything that it touches.]

    Hence, Impure Mana was more dangerous than Darkness.

    ¡°Here you go, Princess Neoma,¡± Regina Crowell said, moving her hands as if she was leading an orchestra. ¡°Catch them if you can.¡±

    Neoma let out a ferocious growl before kicking her foot on the floor, her rose wings growing on her back quickly. In just the blink of an eye, she was already flying not towards Regina Crowell, but towards the blobs of Impure Mana.

    Worse?

    The blobs of Impure Mana didn¡¯t drop to the courtroom¨C those horrible things actually hit and created holes in the roof.

    Clearly, the target was the innocent civilians.

    ¡°I¡¯m cheering for you, Princess Neoma,¡± Regina Crowell said,ughing, when Neoma flew above the wench. ¡°Good luck¨C you need that!¡±

    Neoma smirked, then she stopped flying and raised her leg before dropping a surprise axe kick on top of Regina¡¯s head.

    The wench let out a painful groan while falling down quickly.

    ¡°Curse you, you sted royal princess!¡±

    Of course, she just ignored Regina Crowell¡¯s cursing.

    ¡°Grandpa Kingston, tear that wench apart,¡± Neoma said while flying through one of the holes in the roof¨C the Spirit of the White Lion separating from her body. ¡°But make sure not to let Regina Crowell touch you.¡±

    [¡°As youmand, Princess Neoma.¡±]

    Neoma was aware that she couldn¡¯t kill Regina Crowell yet, but to be honest, she was wondering whether it was the right thing to do or not.

    [Is Regina Crowell the only key to extend my lifespan?]

    Her thoughts were cut-off when she finally saw what was happening outside.

    The blobs of Impure Mana had already descended.

    But, fortunately, a semi-transparent parasol that was huge enough to cover the entire area around the courthouse protected everyone. Hence, the people below were still safe.

    [This parasol¡­]

    Neoma looked down and found Paige.

    The Light Mage had her arms extended upwards. Clearly, it was Paige who cast the huge barrier to protect the civilians from the Impure Mana. Paige couldn¡¯t purify Impure Mana, so it was a good call on her part to protect the people by casting a shield.

    It wasn¡¯t only the Light Mage who was working hard at the moment.

    Juri was beside Paige, protecting the Light Mage from the Darkness creeping out of the courthouse.

    She could also see Greko and Jeno guiding the people to safety.

    Although she couldn¡¯t see Xion, she was pretty sure that he was somewhere hidden while protecting his ¡°siblings¡± from afar.

    [My ¡°children¡± really work well together.]

    SIZZLE.

    Neoma¡¯s thoughts were interrupted when she heard the sizzling sound all around her.

    It was the sound of Paige¡¯s shield melting because of the Impure Mana.

    Neoma immediately extended her hands in the direction of Paige¡¯s shield. Then she created severalyers of stronger barriers to support the Light Mage.

    That was the only thing she could do at the moment.

    [Can I purify Impure Mana when I can¡¯t even touch it? The first time I saw Impure Mana, I thought it was delicious. But William warned me not to even think about it. Apparently, Impure Mana is poison to the de Moonasterios. It¡¯s our ¡°kryptonite.¡±]

    Plus, Neoma remembered that she died in the first timeline while drowning in an ocean of Impure Mana¨C to be precise, Impure Mana from the gods and living creatures that she had killed back then.

    [Oh, god. This is giving me PTSD.]

    ¡°What can I do to help, my Moon Princess?¡±

    Neoma raised her head and was delighted to see Trevor floating in front of her. He looked bothered, though. Hence, she got worried. ¡°Did something happen?¡±

    Trevor let out a sigh. ¡°I¡¯m afraid you might have to get involved with Rubin Drayton, Princess Neoma. But let¡¯s talk about itter.¡± He turned to the blobs of Impure Mana that Paige¡¯s shield was barely stopping those things from pouring into the citizens. ¡°You can¡¯t purify Impure Mana, can you?¡±

    ¡°I haven¡¯t tried it yet, so I wouldn¡¯t know. Should I try purifying it?¡±

    To be honest, she was curious about why Trevor suddenly mentioned Rubin Drayton. But she knew it wasn¡¯t the right moment to ask about it.

    ¡°Impure Mana is poison to the de Moonasterios, so let¡¯s not take the risk,¡± Trevor said, lifting a finger. ¡°I can¡¯t purify Impure Mana, too. But I can move it somewhere else. Should I send it to the bastards in the courtroom?¡±

    ¡°Store it,¡± Neoma said. ¡°I¡¯ll do an experiment on itter.¡±

    The demon boy looked curious, and it also looked like he was about to ask about her n. But he was interrupted when they heard a loud explosion from the inside.

    ¡°That¡¯s my cue,¡± Neoma said, turning to the courthouse. ¡°I need to return now.¡±

    BLERGH.

    Hmm?

    She turned to Trevor and was surprised to see him covering his mouth with one hand, while the other hand was clutching his stomach tight. It was as if he wanted to throw up.

    Worse, Trevor looked so pale.

    [But he was fine a moment ago¡­]

    ¡°Trevor, are you okay?¡± Neoma asked worriedly. ¡°What happened?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, Princess Neoma,¡± Trevor said, obviously struggling to speak. However, there was a glint of determination in his eyes that told her she had nothing to worry about. ¡°Go. They need you there, my Moon Princess.¡±

    ***

    CALLISTO may have a physical body now that he could call his own.

    However, his new vessel wasn¡¯t strong enough yet to withstand Niki de Moonasterio¡¯s continuous attacks.

    The emperor was still the strongest man in the empire, after all.

    Callisto went through hell just to get a bodypatible with his soul, so it would be a shame if Niki de Moonasterio destroyed it.

    Hence, he decided to give up this battle for now.

    [Niki de Moonasterio hasn¡¯t summoned his Soul Beasts yet, but he¡¯s already pushing me back with just using Calypso.]

    Callisto was sessful in blocking Calypso¡¯s de with the de of his Moonblood.

    An ancient dagger blocking a Holy Sword wasmendable.

    However, Niki de Moonasterio¡¯s movements were getting faster and more urate. The emperor swung Calypso casually, but there were no unnecessary movements in each swing. In short, Niki de Moonasterio was swinging his sword with only one intention: to kill.

    .....

    ¡°I¡¯m hurt, Niki de Moonasterio,¡± Callisto said, trying to distract the emperor by talking as he continued to block Calypso¡¯s de with the Moonblood. He was actually trying to stab Calypso¡¯s de the way he stabbed Princess Neoma¡¯s Death Scythe earlier, but he couldn¡¯t do so because Niki de Moonasterio was too quick. ¡°Are you seriously fighting me without using your Soul Beasts? Are you looking down on me?¡±

    ¡°Yes and yes,¡± Niki de Moonasterio said bluntly. ¡°I will get more satisfaction in stabbing a bastard like you to death than watching my Soul Beasts kill you.¡±

    ¡°You still spout hurtful words like they¡¯re nothing¨C no wonder your children both have sharp tongues.¡±

    The emperor just smirked proudly.

    ¡°That wasn¡¯t apliment, Your Majesty,¡± he said sarcastically. ¡°Why do you look so smug? I¡¯m practically calling out your children for being rude little brats.¡±

    ¡°Have you ever met a polite de Moonasterio in your long life?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not something you should be proud of.¡±

    ¡°You only have your disgusting n to me,¡± Niki de Moonasterio said coldly, his eyes turning glowing red. ¡°When you put someone on the pedestal, you force them to look down on you. And that¡¯s what you and your cult did, Callisto de Luca. You put the de Moonasterios on the pedestal for centuries, so don¡¯t act surprised when we treat you with contempt.¡±

    Callisto didn¡¯t want to admit this, but Niki de Moonasterio¡¯s words hit him hard.

    [¡°When you put someone on the pedestal, you force them to look down on you.¡±]

    The emperor was right.

    Callisto and the crows had treated the de Moonasterion emperors as their gods¨C gods that they could control like puppets. That was the reason why he became a kingmaker that put only the most qualified male de Moonasterios on the throne.

    But Niki and Nero de Moonasterio never acted the way the cult wanted them to.

    That was when the realization hit him.

    [Ah, they know.]

    Callisto realized that both Niki and Nero de Moonasterio had known long ago that they were gods among men, hence they had no need for a kingmaker.

    He shuddered at the thought.

    ¡°Who allowed you to get distracted while fighting ME?¡±

    Callisto paid a heavy price for getting distracted while fighting THE emperor.

    Tsk!

    His hand was almost cut-off by Niki de Moonasterio. If he didn¡¯t move his hand in time, Calypso¡¯s sharp de would have sliced his wrist clean. But as a result, his grip around the Moonblood¡¯s handle loosened up¨C causing him to drop the ancient dagger.

    Niki de Moonasterio was quick enough to grab the Moonblood right under his nose.

    Then the emperor mercilessly stabbed Callisto in the chest¨C the Moonblood¡¯s de hitting him straight in the heart.

    Niki de Moonasterio didn¡¯t hit his heart when Calypso pierced through his chest earlier because Callisto put a shield around all his vital organs. However, the Moonblood was an extremely vicious weapon.

    Hence, the Moonblood pierced through the shield that Callisto put around his heart.

    If he was an ordinary person, he would have died already.

    But since Callisto was still a half-god, he managed to fix his own heart. Slower than usual, though. After all, the Moonblood was poison to him since he also carried the blood of the Moon God.

    [Niki de Moonasterio!]

    ¡°This is what I¡¯m talking about when I said I enjoy stabbing bastards like you to death,¡± Niki said, pulling out the Moonblood to make Callisto suffer more. Then the emperor stabbed Callisto in the heart again, in the same spot. But, this time, the Moonblood¡¯s de didn¡¯t plunge into his heart deeper than the emperor would like to. The emperor didn¡¯t look discouraged, though. ¡°Let¡¯s see how many stabs I could make before the shield around your heart breaks.¡±

    And then the emperor began stabbing Callisto in the heart in a very quick manner that his eyes barely followed His Majesty¡¯s movements.

    Not only that¨C Niki de Moonasterio¡¯s Mana was also preventing Callisto from moving.

    The emperor¡¯s bloodlust was too thick and too heavy that the pressure oozing out from His Majesty was enough to crush Callisto.

    As expected, his new body was still no match for the strongest man in the empire.

    [This sadistic bastard¡­!]

    But, to be honest, Callisto couldn¡¯t hate Niki de Moonasterio.

    [He¡¯s still the perfect emperor for us. If only¡­]

    ¡°We should have just made a potion that would make you and Juliet Sloane crazy for each other. If the two of you had conceived a child together, then the de Moonasterio that could surpass you would have been born,¡± Callisto said, making Niki de Moonasterio stop from moving. ¡°But don¡¯t worry. We¡¯re still fond of Nero de Moonasterio even if his mother is Mona Roseheart. We¡¯ll make him the best emperor in history.¡±

    ¡°The de Moonasterio who could surpass was already born a long time ago.¡±

    ¡°I told you to stop being so proud of your children.¡±

    ¡°Of course, both Nero and Neoma are amazing,¡± Niki de Moonasterio said. ¡°But the de Moonasterio I¡¯m talking about is Nichole. My twin sister has always been better than I am.¡±

    Callisto thought Niki de Moonasterio had gone crazy. ¡°You¡¯re the emperor, Niki de Moonasterio. Have some pride and stop praising a female de Moonasterio.¡±

    Niki de Moonasterio scoffed. ¡°That¡¯s riching from an old bastard who¡¯s been obsessing over Aruna de Moonasterio for centuries.¡±

    That made Callisto snap. ¡°Enough.¡±

    As expected, the emperor was sharp.

    Niki de Moonasterio dropped the Moonblood and immediately jumped away from him.

    If the emperor didn¡¯t drop the weapon, the Impure Mana that bled out of the de would have poisoned him already.

    ¡°I had fun, Niki de Moonasterio,¡± Callisto said, picking up the Moonblood. And yes, the Impure Mana dripping from the de and trickling down his hand didn¡¯t harm him in any way. That was the advantage of his new body. ¡°I¡¯lle back for Nero de Moonasterio and Hanna Quinzelter.¡±

    Niki de Moonasterio just scoffed at him. ¡°As if I¡¯d let you take the children away.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 724 - 724 THE VERDICT

    724 THE VERDICT

    WHEN Hanna opened her eyes, she was surprised to find a cute wooden capybara hovering above her face.

    [Ah, I know this little one¡­]

    It was the Wood Spirit that Neoma created. The royal princess introduced the Wood Spirit to her a few years ago. If she remembered it correctly, the Wood Spirit¡¯s name was¡­

    ¡°Namoo,¡± Hanna greeted the Wooden Spirit softly. ¡°Did you save me?¡±

    The wooden capybara nodded her head slowly.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± Hanna said, gently patting the wooden capybara¡¯s head with a finger. ¡°I¡¯ll give you a treatter.¡±

    ording to Neoma, the Wood Spirit enjoyed eating Darkness.

    As a Darkness attribute user, she could feed it with shadows.

    Namoo seemed to understand what she said because it made a cute noise while nodding its head eagerly.

    .....

    [No, it should be ¡®her.¡¯ Neoma said Namoo is a ¡®she.¡¯ I¡¯m sorry for my mistake, Namoo.]

    ¡°Hanna, dear, are you alright?¡±

    Hanna only realized that she was lying down on what seemed to be a bed made of water when she heard her father¡¯s voice.

    She got up and checked her surroundings.

    That was when she realized what was happening around her.

    Hanna was safely inside what seemed like a semi-transparent fish tank with a mattress made of water.

    [This is Dahlia¡¯s ability¡­]

    And Dahlia was currently fighting Regina Crowell.

    [When did that wench get here?]

    It was a little weird to see Dahlia, who was a ck Witch, fighting on a closebat with Regina Crowell.

    [I¡¯m used to seeing Dahlia use her power as a witch, after all.]

    But during this fight, Dahlia was physically avoiding Regina Crowell¡¯s punches. It seemed like the crow wench was trying to grab the ck Witch.

    [I¡¯m d we found out about Regina Crowell¡¯s ability early.]

    Hanna also noticed that the fake Empress Dowager was already unconscious on the floor, her skin already dried up and ck from Darkness.

    [Her Majesty looks like an empty vessel now¡­]

    ¡°Hanna?¡±

    It was her father again.

    Hanna turned to her side and saw her father slicing pirs of Darkness with his Shadow Sword.

    Oh?

    It was rare for his father to bring out the Shadow Sword because people were still afraid of their Darkness attribute.

    But if her father brought it out now¡­

    [Those pirs of Darkness must be dangerous.]

    ¡°I¡¯m alright now, Father,¡± Hanna said while standing up, Namoo choosing to ¡°sit¡± on her shoulder. ¡°I can fight.¡±

    ¡°No, you¡¯re not fighting,¡± her father said firmly. ¡°The crows are trying to abduct you and Prince Nero, sweetie. Please, just stay there and let us protect you. I¡¯m begging you, daughter.¡±

    She flinched after hearing her father beg her to stay safe.

    [How can I be stubborn about it after hearing my father beg?]

    Hanna didn¡¯t want to be protected when she was capable of fighting, but she also had to consider what was best for everyone.

    [If the crows are trying to abduct me, then it¡¯s better to stay here.]

    Keeping herself safe was also one way of fighting.

    ¡°I understand, Father,¡± Hanna said, nodding. ¡°I¡¯ll stay here. Please be safe.¡±

    She then turned to Dahlia who had sessfully created a wall of water between her and Regina Crowell when the witch tried to grab Dahlia by the face.

    After that, Dahlia sshed Regina Crowell with water in the face.

    And it seemed like it wasn¡¯t ordinary water because Regina Crowell covered her face and was groaning in pain.

    [It doesn¡¯t seem like acid, so I wonder why the wench was hurt.]

    ¡°You reek of Impure Mana,¡± Dahlia said in a disappointed voice while shaking her head at the wench. ¡°I can¡¯t purify Impure Mana, but I can hurt you.¡±

    Regina Crowell removed her hands from her face to re at Dahlia.

    The ck Witch pulled out a dagger, then she sliced the palm of her hand quite deeply because it bled right away.

    After that, Dahlia sshed her blood on Regina Crowell.

    Of course, the crow wench created a barrier to block Dahlia¡¯s blood. However, the barrier easily melted and the blood sshed across Regina Crowell¡¯s face and upper body.

    ¡°AAAHHHHHH!¡±

    Hanna was shocked when Regina Crowell screamed in agony, smokeing out of her body along with a sizzling sound as if she was being burned.

    [Dahlia¡¯s blood can do that?]

    No wonder the ck Witches were powerful enough to kill the de Moonasterios.

    ***

    [OUR SIDE is losing.]

    Calyx didn¡¯t expect their side to lose even though Lord Callisto was with them.

    But, perhaps, he should have expected it the moment Emperor Niki and Lady Roseheart arrived.

    [Moreover, Princess Neoma really dragged the gods into this mess.]

    His thoughts were interrupted when Lewis Crevan tried to kick him in the face.

    Calyx used his arm to block the kick, but as soon as he did, the ck Phoenix set him on fire.

    [Argh!]

    If he didn¡¯t have the strength of a de Moonasterio and the resistance of a de Luca, he would have died already.

    Fortunately, his blessing allowed him to be immune from the ck Phoenix¡¯ me.

    [And the Moon¡¯s blessing gives me quick healing abilities.]

    However, he could only defend at the moment. He couldn¡¯t fight back because half of his power was reserved to maintaining the curse on Nero.

    He didn¡¯t care if everyone else remembered Princess Neoma.

    [As long as Nero doesn¡¯t remember his love for his twin sister, I can endure.]

    <¡°Children, we¡¯re leaving.¡±>

    Hmm?

    It was Lord Callisto¡¯s voice, and he was speaking directly to Calyx¡¯s mind. He was pretty sure that their lord was also speaking to Regina at the moment.

    Fortunately, Lord Callisto put a barrier made of semi-transparent Darkness around him.

    The barrier was sturdy enough to withstand both Lewis and Vespera¡¯s attacks.

    Hence, he could properly talk to Lord Callisto now.

    He already expected that they would be forced to retreat, however¡­

    <¡°How about Nero, my lord?¡±> Calyx asked anxiously in his head. <¡°Are we really going to leave him behind?¡±>

    <¡°Niki de Moonasterio already damaged my physical body, so we have no choice but to retreat. Regina can¡¯t get near Hanna Quinzel, and Juliet Sloane¡¯s body is useless us. We¡¯re only going suffer more loss if stayed here longer. We can juste back take Nero Quinzel awayter.¡±>

    Calyx frowned, not liking the idea.

    [I can¡¯t even say goodbye to Nero¡­]

    It was impossible because Vespera and Lewis Crevan were in the way.

    Moreover, Mona Roseheart was protecting Nero so closely.

    <¡°But before we leave, must destroy Juliet Sloane¡¯s body so that the haughty Neoma de Moonasterio wouldn¡¯t realize what exactly did to former empress¡¯ vessel.¡±>

    .....

    ***

    ¡°DADDY!¡±

    Glenn sliced the snake-like Darkness that tried to attack his children with Ebony¨C his sword. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Monik. Daddy is busy,¡± he said to his daughter apologetically. He couldn¡¯t even turn to Monik because he didn¡¯t want to lose focus. ¡°Stay close to your mother and children. I will end this quickly.¡±

    Ever since Brigitte got pregnant the first time, he always made sure that his wife carried a Mana Stone with her all the time¨C a Mana Stone that could create a powerful shield, to be precise.

    It was put to use today.

    Brigitte and their children were currently inside the shield that was simr to Princess Neoma¡¯s Dome.

    Of course, Princess Neoma¡¯s Dome was one hundred times stronger.

    Even so, the shield was sturdy enough to protect his family.

    Moreover, he wasn¡¯t letting a single ray of Darkness touch the barrier.

    ¡°Dad, please save Empress Juliet¡¯s body!¡± Monik begged him, crying. ¡°They¡¯re going to destroy it!¡±

    Glenn flinched, hating the fact that his child was crying. ¡°But it¡¯s a fake¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Empress Juliet¡¯s real body!¡± Monik argued between sobs. ¡°The bad soul that controlled the empress¡¯ body is already gone! Please don¡¯t let them destroy Her Majesty¡¯s body! Please!¡±

    ¡°Daddy, you¡¯re making my sister cry!¡± Skylus scolded him, crying. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you doing what my sister wants after she already begged you?¡±

    ude¡¯s loud cry followed Skylus¡¯ resentment. ¡°Daddy is making my older siblings cry! I hate you, Daddy!¡±

    It was actually Glenn who wanted to cry because his heart broke when his children resented him.

    [I want to do what Monik said, but I can¡¯t leave them alone¡­]

    ¡°Glenn, go.¡±

    Glenn kicked a pir of Darkness that blocked his way, then sliced the other that appeared beside him before turning to his wife. ¡°But my queen¡­¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll be fine,¡± Brigitte said firmly. ¡°Duke Hawthorne and Gin are here.¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, we will protect the queen and the children,¡± Duke Hawthorne, who was busy saving the duck from getting attacked by Darkness, said without looking at him. ¡°We won¡¯t let the Darkness touch the barrier.¡±

    ¡°Leave it to us, Your Majesty,¡± Gin, who mauled the snake-like Darkness that tried to attack the barrier, said. ¡°Princess Neoma would want you to follow what the little princess said.¡±

    Glenn looked at his crying children, then at his wife.

    ¡°We will wait for you here,¡± Brigitte said, smiling at him while holding their children close to her. ¡°Take care, honey.¡±

    Glenn took a deep breath, then he nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll be back, honey.¡±

    ***

    MONA was surprised when she saw Nero cover his ears with his hands and his eyes shut tight.

    Her son¡¯s Mana suddenly fluctuated, too.

    Fortunately, she had already purified the pirs of Darkness around them. It seemed like Darkness was avoiding them now.

    ¡°Nero, baby, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Mona asked worriedly. She wanted to touch Nero¡¯s shoulders, but she held back because she knew that it might aggravate her son even more. ¡°Are you hurt anywhere?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s so loud it¡¯s driving me crazy,¡± Nero said. Then he opened his now glowing red eyes. ¡°Something¡¯s whispering in my head.¡±

    Of course, that made her anxious.

    [It looks like Nero¡¯s Lunacy is acting up again.]

    Only Niki could stop their son¡¯s Lunacy, but she sent Niki to Neoma earlier when they saw Callisto de Luca strangling their daughter.

    [I have to do something. Should I knock him out?]

    Mona was seriously considering knocking Nero out when she felt a strange shift in the air. She was ready to fight when a voice reached her ears.

    <¡°It¡¯s an honor to meet you, Mona Roseheart.¡±>

    The voice wasn¡¯t familiar to her, but the presence felt familiar.

    [A de Moonasterio.]

    <¡°I am your daughter¡¯s grandfather.¡±>

    ¡°My daughter has a lot of grandfathers from the Afterlife,¡± Mona said, sighing while smiling faintly. ¡°But if I may guess who my lord is, then I¡¯d say you must be the First Emperor.¡±

    She heard Neoma call the First Emperor ¡®Primo de Moonasterio.¡¯

    But she was pretty sure it wasn¡¯t the First Emperor¡¯s real name.

    <¡°That¡¯s correct. Thanks to Neoma using my cape imbued with a piece of soul, I was given chance enter this realm temporarily.¡±>

    ¡°I see,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯re not here just to greet me, my lord.¡±

    The First Emperorughed. <¡°Nero is also my grandson. Hence, I¡¯m here to give the little prince a present.¡±>

    Mona knew that the First Emperor wouldn¡¯t choose that timing to give his present for nothing. ¡°Will it help contain Nero¡¯s Lunacy, my lord?¡±

    <¡°Now I know why Little Neoma is sharp¨C she inherited her mother¡¯s wit,¡±> the First Emperor said. <¡°I am here to give Nero my mark.¡±>

    ¡°Mark?¡± she asked, a bit surprised. ¡°You mean a tattoo, my lord?¡±

    Marking skin with ink was a sacred thing in most cultures.

    However, Mona hadn¡¯t heard of a de Moonasterio who had a tattoo on their body. After all, the de Moonasterios had always valued having a wless body. And, unfortunately, the previous generations thought lowly of tattoos.

    [I believe the older generations thought tattoos are ¡°dirty.¡±]

    <¡°I am the First Emperor, which also means I¡¯m first de Moonasterio to experience Lunacy. After all, direct fruit of love between Moon God and Goddess Light,¡±> the First Emperor exined. <¡°The Lunacy I experienced back caused me to destroy half of the continent. Haha! The gods in Upper World almost descended just scold me. Can you believe it? But all¡¯s well that ends because was how Great Moonasterion Empire expanded on Western Continent.¡±>

    That¡­ wasn¡¯t written in History books.

    <¡°Ah, forgive me for getting distracted,¡±> the First Emperor said. <¡°My Lunacy back then was so bad my father, Lord Yule, had to mark body with a seal. Out of all the de Moonasterios born after me, I can tell that Nero has it as mine.¡±>

    Mona bit her bottom lip.

    She had known it all this time.

    [Nero¡¯s Lunacy is worse than Neoma¡¯s. My daughter can control it because of her moralpass. But Nero¡¯s moralpass is in the gray field¡­]

    <¡°The mark that I¡¯m gifting Nero will help him control his Lunacy. Don¡¯t worry, the only appear if it¡¯s hit by moonlight.¡±>

    ¡°If it will help my son control his Lunacy better, then I won¡¯tin. I don¡¯t think tattoos are bad anyway.¡±

    <¡°I¡¯m d you think that way, Mona Roseheart,¡±> the First Emperor said. <¡°Can you help me put the mark on Nero¡¯s body then? I need your ability as a Roseheart since have right to summon anything in this world.¡±>

    Mona nodded politely. ¡°Of course, I¡¯ll help you, my lord.¡±

    ***

    <¡°WE¡¯RE LEAVING in half a minute¨C destroy Juliet Sloane¡¯s body now.¡±>

    Regina, who felt like she was being burned alive because of the ck Witch¡¯s blood, red at Juliet Sloane¡¯s empty vessel.

    After sshing her blood, Dahlia had maintained her distance from her.

    On the other hand, Hanna Quinzel seemed like she wouldn¡¯t move from the safe space that the ck Witch made for her. And Duke Rufus Quinzel was still busy fighting the pirs of Darkness.

    [This is my chance.]

    Regina quickly pulled out a small ball of Impure Mana from the magic pouch attached to her hip, then she immediately threw it into Juliet Sloane¡¯s body.

    If the ball of Impure Mana touched the empty vessel, it would melt.

    However, her n didn¡¯t go well.

    A thick wall of stones and dirt emerged from the floor to protect Juliet Sloane from the Impure Mana.

    [What the¡­]

    It was Glenn, the former vicemander of the White Lion Knights and currently the king of the Hazelden Kingdom.

    [How did he know that I was nning to destroy Juliet Sloane¡¯s body?!]

    Regina didn¡¯t have the time to figure it out because her physical body already began to vanish, leaving the fight with Dahlia as if she was a dog running away with its tail tuck between its legs.

    She absolutely hated that feeling.

    ¡°I¡¯ll make you pay for thister, ck Witch,¡± Regina warned Dahlia, then she turned to Hanna Quinzel and red at her. She hated how the Quinzel Princess looked calm, after all. ¡°The next time we meet, I¡¯ll make your life a living hell, Hanna Quinzel.¡±

    ¡°I wanted to be eloquent because my father is here, but I thought me talking like Neoma would annoy you. So let me borrow one of her favorite phrases,¡± Hanna Quinzel said, then she smiled ¡°sweetly¡± at Regina. ¡°Fuck off, you cowardly wench.¡±

    ***

    BAAANG.

    Niki let out a sigh when Callisto de Luca, Calyx, and Regina Crowell literally disappeared with a loud explosion after their physical bodiespletely vanished.

    The entire ce shook hard, but thankfully, none were hurt by the explosion.

    [It¡¯s a mess here.]

    Hence, it was time to wrap up the trial.

    ¡°Hanna Quinzel,¡± Niki said, looking at his niece who wasing out of a semi-transparent shield. ¡°Are the cameras still working?¡±

    ¡°They are, Your Majesty,¡± Hanna said politely, then she removed her brooch from her ribbon and made it float near Niki. ¡°The cameras are still connected to the screens outside.¡±

    Niki just nodded in response, then he looked at the floating brooch before making his speech. ¡°People of the Great Moonasterion Empire, you must be confused and worried about the royal mess that you just witnessed. I know you have many questions, and we still have a lot of exining to do.¡±

    Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Neoma descend slowly.

    He was relieved to see that his daughter was safe, but he couldn¡¯t ask her if she wasn¡¯t hurt anywhere because he was still in the middle of addressing the public.

    ¡°However, let me say this first: the Empress Dowager that ruled the Great Moonasterion Empire for thest five years was a fake. The real Juliet Sloane had long been dead,¡± Niki announced, clenching his jaws. ¡°Second, Calyx is no prince. He is not my son. I only have two children¨C Nero, the Crown Prince. And¡­¡± He turned to Neoma. ¡°People of the Great Moonasterion Empire, let me formally introduce Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio to all of you¨C she¡¯s my daughter, and the one and only Imperial Princess.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 725 - 725 EMOTIONAL PEP TALK

    725 EMOTIONAL PEP TALK

    HMM?

    [Nero got a pretty tattoo?]

    Neoma couldn¡¯t help but stare at Nero while descending.

    [He¡¯s literally glowing.]

    Ah, no.

    It would be more appropriate to say that the marks on Nero¡¯s face were glowing.

    Ancient texts were inked around Nero¡¯s glowing red eyes like an infinity symbol.

    It actually looked really cool, especially since the ancient texts were silver in color. They weren¡¯t actually that visible because of Nero¡¯s pale skin.

    The only reason the silver ancient texts were noticeable was because they were glowing.

    .....

    ¡°So cool,¡± Neoma said when shended on her feet, standing in front of Nero while observing his cool tattoo closer. ¡°Where did you get that tattoo?¡±

    She had to ask in a whisper because Papa Boss was giving a heartfelt speech.

    [Calyx and the other bastards have already fled, huh?]

    Anyway, Nero just red at Neoma.

    [Gosh, so grumpy.]

    ¡°It was a gift from the First Emperor,¡± Mama Boss whispered to her. ¡°But let¡¯s talk about itter. Your father is looking at you, Baby Muffin.¡±

    Oh?

    Neoma turned to Papa Boss at the same time her father looked at her.

    ¡°People of the Great Moonasterion Empire, let me formally introduce Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio to all of you¨C she¡¯s my daughter, and the one and only Imperial Princess.¡±

    Ohh~

    ¡°Princess Neoma,¡± Papa Boss said, addressing her by her title. ¡°Come here.¡±

    Neoma politely nodded, then she walked towards her Papa Boss and epted his extended hand.

    It actually felt surreal.

    This was already her third life, but this was only the first time she was officially granted her birthright as an Imperial Princess.

    [Wow, did I finally hit the jackpot in this lifetime?]

    ¡°Greet our people,¡± Papa Boss said encouragingly, squeezing her hand gently. ¡°We still have a lot of things to exin, but a proper greeting must still take ce first.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d like to do that personally, Papa¨C Father,¡± Neoma said, catching herself before she identally called her father ¡®Papa Boss¡¯ in front of everyone. Then she turned to her Papa Bosss with a serious look on her face. ¡°Can we go outside and greet the people properly?¡±

    Since the crow bastards were already gone, it was safe to do that now.

    ¡°That¡¯s a brilliant idea, daughter,¡± Papa Boss said, then he turned to Mama Boss and Nero. ¡°Mona, Nero,e and join us.¡±

    ***

    ¡°OH? The infinity symbol around your eyes has disappeared,¡± Neomamented when Nero and Mama Boss joined her and Papa Boss. ¡°It was so cool.¡±

    Hanna already turned off the camera for now.

    Hence, she was free to talk to her family casually while the others were cleaning up the mess in the courtroom.

    Fortunately, the pirs of Darkness had already been purified.

    [It¡¯s safe now.]

    ¡°You¡¯re not supposed to see it,¡± Nero said, frowning at her. ¡°I wasn¡¯t in my sound mind earlier, but I heard Mother¡¯s conversation with the First Emperor who gave me the tattoo. He said the mark would only be visible when hit by the moonlight. It¡¯s still broad daylight, so how did you see it?¡±

    ¡°Nero is right, Neoma,¡± Mama Boss said, obviously amazed and curious. ¡°The First Emperor put the mark on my hand and asked me to cover Nero¡¯s eyes with it. I felt the power of the Moon in my hand, but I didn¡¯t see it.¡±

    Oh, that was interesting.

    [It makes me feel like I¡¯m really the main character of this lifetime.]

    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s because I¡¯m also considered the lesser Moon?¡± Neoma joked just to annoy Nero who was the Crown Prince, and the Crown Prince of the empire was usually referred to as the ¡®lesser Moon.¡¯ It was her little revenge against her twin brother who kept on ring at her. ¡°Perhaps my existence allows me to see the tattoo given by Grandpa Primo?¡±

    ¡°As expected, you¡¯re aiming for the throne and you¡¯re not even hiding your greed,¡± Nero said, ring at her. ¡°I won¡¯t let my guard down.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not going to steal the throne from you,¡± Neoma assured her twin brother. ¡°You¡¯re going to give it to meter.¡±

    ¡®Later¡¯ would be when Nero finally retrieved his memories.

    ¡°You¡¯re saying something strange again,¡± Nero said, scoffing. ¡°The throne is mine.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s yours is mine, and what¡¯s mine is mine.¡±

    Nero knitted his eyebrows. ¡°Excuse me?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not excused.¡±

    As expected, Nero red at her again.

    Neoma was fully aware she was being immature by teasing her baby brother with her nonsense, but she couldn¡¯t help it.

    [Nero¡¯s reactions are so cute and funny.]

    ¡°Stop fighting, children,¡± Papa Boss scolded them lightly. ¡°We¡¯re going to face the citizenster. I expect you to be on your best behavior.¡±

    Neoma acted innocent. ¡°I¡¯m always on my best behavior during public appearances, Papa Boss. You should only be saying that to Nero. I¡¯m the sunshine¨C he¡¯s the raging storm.¡±

    She couldn¡¯t help it, okay?

    [Maybe older sisters are born to ¡°bully¡± their baby siblings?]

    ¡°I¡¯m very d to see you getting along well again, my babies,¡± Mama Boss said, emotional. There were even tears in her eyes. ¡°Please never fight again, hmm?¡±

    Nero looked at their mother in disbelief. ¡°This is us¡­ ¡°getting along well?¡±¡±

    ¡°As long as you don¡¯t stab each other in the throat, you¡¯re fine. The bar for the de Moonasterios¡¯ sibling rtionships is low anyway,¡± Papa Boss said indifferently. ¡°Stay here. Your mother and I will just talk to Glenn and Rufus first before we face the public.¡±

    Just like that, Papa Boss and Mama Boss walked away from them.

    Neoma and Nero then continued their argument before their parents interrupted them earlier.

    ¡°Are you looking down on me?¡± Nero scoffed when he turned to her. ¡°I¡¯m the Crown Prince of the empire¨C I can lie in front of the people with a smile on my face. So, even if I don¡¯t like you and our parents, I can still act like I do.¡±

    Neoma clicked her tongue while shaking her head. ¡°Gosh, it¡¯s not something to be proud of. This noona is disappointed in you, Nero.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have the right to say that to me,¡± Nero retorted. ¡°It was you who deceived the entire empire by pretending to be me for years.¡±

    ¡°Right, I¡¯m d you mentioned that,¡± Neoma said, finally remembering something really important. ¡°Nero, Calyx was telling the truth when he said it was the Devil who cursed you because their side wanted me to be the empress. But I have to let you know that I never agreed with their vision¨C I never worked with them just to get rid of you. If we weren¡¯t forced to ept Aunt Nichole¡¯s help five years ago, I would never go to their side willingly. That was the same case for Mama Boss and Papa Boss.¡±

    Nero suddenly looked awkward. ¡°You didn¡¯t get the Divine Punishment.¡±

    ¡°Because I¡¯m telling the truth,¡± Neoma said, getting serious now. ¡°In fact, I put the Devil and their cronies as enemies. I resented them for trying to kill you. Because of them, you were in aatose state for eight long years.¡±

    Nero avoided her gaze as if he wanted to run away from that conversation.

    Of course, she didn¡¯t let her twin brother run away.

    ¡°Nero, our Aunt Nichole was the Devil who cursed you.¡±

    Nero turned to her with furrowed brows. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Before you lost a good portion of your memories, you already know that it was Aunt Nichole who cursed you.¡±

    ¡°Did I forgive her?¡±

    ¡°Well, you didn¡¯t care about it,¡± she said while fixing her bangs with her hands. ¡°You neither hated nor forgave her. To be honest, you were actually d that Aunt Nichole¡¯s target was you and not me.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°I told you already¨C you love me to death,¡± she said. ¡°The only people you hate are the people who try to hurt me. So, you didn¡¯t really resent Aunt Nichole.¡±

    ¡°Ridiculous,¡± Nero said, his entire face red from embarrassment. ¡°Is Goddess Althea¡¯s power still in effect? Why aren¡¯t you getting struck by Divine Punishment yet?¡±

    ¡°Clearly, I¡¯m telling the truth. I¡¯m going to hold your hands, so freeze me to death or whatever if you hate it,¡± she said confidently, then she carefully took Nero¡¯s hands in his. Her twin brother flinched, but he didn¡¯t pull his hands away. She took it as consent and continued holding his hands. ¡°Nero, I¡¯m going to be cheesy so let¡¯s hope we don¡¯t die from the cringe.¡±

    ¡°What¨C¡±

    ¡°I love you,¡± Neoma said, stunning Nero. She wasn¡¯t really vocal about her feelings. Plus, it was cringe-y. But this whole ordeal reminded her that she only had five years left. She shouldn¡¯t be wasting her time not expressing her feelings just because it was embarrassing. ¡°Nero, I love you. Mama Boss and Papa Boss love you, too. It was never our choice to abandon you. I know I said you¡¯re not obligated to forgive us. However¡­¡± She smiled sadly at her twin brother, then she ced a gentle hand on Nero¡¯s face. ¡°I still hope you find it in your heart to believe our love for you, my baby brother.¡±

    Nero suddenly looked like he was about to cry, but he quickly gathered himself together to re at her. ¡°Why am I the ¡°baby¡± brother? We¡¯re twins!¡±

    Uhm¡­ that was Nero¡¯s issue after Neoma¡¯s long and heartfelt speech???

    .....

    ***

    NIKOLAI didn¡¯t want to admit this, but he thought Marquis Vincent Lennox looked pitiful.

    The Dome that Neoma created to imprison the marquis and the members of the Noble Faction had already disappeared.

    But Marquis Lennox didn¡¯t move an inch.

    [He¡¯s still probably shocked after learning that the fake Empress Dowager wasn¡¯t the real Juliet.]

    ¡°I already told you five years ago that the Juliet who returned to the empire wasn¡¯t the real Juliet. But, clearly, you didn¡¯t do the test that I asked you to do in order to confirm her identity,¡± Niki said. He didn¡¯t want to use the ¡®I-told-you-so¡¯ tone, but he couldn¡¯t help it. ¡°I even told you where Juliet¡¯s diary was hidden. It could only be opened by writing Juliet¡¯s real dream on the cover of the diary.¡±

    Of course, it was Monik who shared that detail with him.

    ¡°There was no way that the fake Empress Dowager would know Juliet¡¯s dream to be a priestess.¡±

    If only Niki wasn¡¯t forced to leave the empire five years ago, the fake Empress Dowager and Calyx would have been exposed earlier.

    But everything was over now.

    ¡°You said you met the real Juliet before,¡± Marquis Lennox said weakly. ¡°Did she leave a message for me, Your Majesty?¡±

    [And now he¡¯s addressing me as the emperor again?]

    ¡°Juliet is happy now,¡± Niki said, turning his back on Marquis Lennox. ¡°That¡¯s all you need to know, Marquis Lennox.¡±

    ***

    ¡°YOU¡¯RE dying, Trevor Kesser.¡±

    Trevorughed after hearing Paige¡¯s diagnosis. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll die then.¡±

    Naturally, the Light Mage looked so frustrated at his nonchnce.

    To be fair, as soon as he coughed up blood earlier, he had already realized that he was poisoned by the Impure Mana that he stored in his domain.

    He didn¡¯t expect that.

    Although he couldn¡¯t purify Impure Mana, it shouldn¡¯t poison him just because he used his Mana to ¡°touch¡± it in order to bring it to his domain.

    [I guess the crows have created a deadlier Impure Mana.]

    ¡°How can you ept that so easily, Trevor hyung?¡± Greko asked between sobs. ¡°The Impure Mana that you touched with your Mana is killing you! We¡¯re being serious here!¡±

    Even Paige Avery was speechless from anger. It was as if the Light Mage would rather keep her mouth shut than curse at him.

    [Aww... my ¡°children¡± are worried about me.]

    After the crowd had calmed down and the pirs of Darkness disappeared, Trevor was surprised when Paige Avery suddenly grabbed him by the hand and brought him to Greko.

    So, right now, the three of them were on the floating cloud while Paige and Greko were checking on Trevor¡¯s current (horrible) state.

    ¡°I¡¯m not taking this lightly, Paige, Greko,¡± Trevor said, still smiling. ¡°I just thought that if I¡¯m going to die soon, then might as well find a way to transfer my Mana to another person.¡± At that moment, Princess Neoma¡¯s beautiful face entered his mind. ¡°After all, a dying Sorcerer¡¯s Mana could extend a person¡¯s lifespan.¡±

    ***

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 Chapter 726 NEW VISION

    ?

    NIKOLAI observed as Abigail Barlowe, the Royal Archmage, heal the severely injured members of the Twelve Golden Families.

    [Yes, they''ll be fine.]

    Count Sean Dankworth wasn''t hurt, but he was already asleep again¨C on the dirty floor. Hence, Marquis Lawford Gibson was busy waking the count.

    [Those two haven''t changed at all.]

    "Your Majesty, the ck Hawk Knights are already stationed both outside of the courthouse and around the za," Rufus Quinzel reported to him. "I will personally escort Your Majesty and the entire Royal Family."

    Right.

    His Pdins were still scattered because of the tasks that Neoma gave them.

    [I lent Neoma my power over my Pdins, after all.]

    Anyway, he let the people know earlier that he woulde out and personally greet them with his family. But they couldn''te out of the courtroom right away because there were still some things that they needed to do first.

    "Alright," Niki said, nodding. "We''lle out in a while."

    Mona was still busy talking with Glenn''s family, while Nero and Neoma were still fighting¨C uh, discussing something important.

    "Duke Hawthorne, I will the courtroom to you then," Niki said, turning to the young duke. "Keep an eye on Marquis Lennox and the members of the Noble Faction. Make sure that they won''t do anything stupid."

    Duke Jasper Hawthorne, who was holding a duck in his arms and standing beside Gin, nodded politely. "As youmand, Your Majesty."

    He was aware that Duke Hawthorne didn''t like him as an emperor.

    But there was only one reason why the young duke was being obedient to him.

    [It''s definitely because of Neoma.]

    Niki could already picture how the political feud between Nero and Neoma would unfold if the two decided to fight for the throne.

    [Nero has the support of the old nobles because he''s a male heir, while Neoma has the support of the youngest generation. I also have a feeling that Neoma will be more popr with the public.]

    His thought process was interrupted when, all of a sudden, he felt Mona''s Mana drop.

    Niki immediately turned to see Mona almost copsing.

    [Mona!]

    ***

    "LADY ROSEHEART, we shall retire for today. Can we bring Empress Juliet''s body with us?"

    Mona smiled and nodded at Queen Brigitte''s request. "Of course, Your Majesty."

    ording to the queen, it was Monik''s request for the Griffiths to take care of Juliet''s body.

    [Dahlia used her ability earlier and put Juliet inside a semi-transparent tank to keep the body safe.]

    Monik no longer had memories of her past life, but the priestess must have felt her connection to the former empress'' vessel.

    "Thank you, Lady Roseheart," Queen Brigitte said. "And thank you for letting Miss Dahlia escort us."

    "We''re only doing the right thing, Your Majesty," Mona said, smiling. Then she turned to Dahlia. "To be honest, we are also grateful to Miss Dahlia. She doesn''t have to do this, but she''s gracious enough to ept our request."

    Queen Brigitte nodded in agreement. "You''ve been taking good care of us from the beginning, Miss Dahlia. Thank you very much."

    Dahlia''s face turned red as if she was embarrassed. "It''s nothing, Queen Brigitte, Lady Mona. I actually feel attached to Princess Monik, Prince Skylus, and Prince ude. Hence, I never felt that protecting them is a job."

    Even so, Mona was still grateful.

    Niki''s Pdins weren''t at the Royal Capital yet.

    On the other hand, it wouldn''t be right to borrow Neoma and Nero''s knights.

    They couldn''t trust the remaining royal knights yet after serving Calyx and the fake Juliet for so long.

    Hence, she thought Dahlia was the best person to escort the Griffiths.

    [The Griffiths don''t really need an escort since Glenn is more than capable of protecting his family, but it won''t hurt to add someone to their security detail.]

    Glenn and Queen Brigitte actually brought their own security detail.

    But the royal knights from the Hazelden Kingdom were stuck in the Imperial Pce when the fake saint tried to stop Glenn and the queen from leaving their room earlier.

    [I would reward Miss Dahlia handsomelyter.]

    Mona remembered that she was supposed to go to Dahlia''s territory before to investigate the ''Blood Ocean.'' But she failed to fulfill her end of the deal because she was forced to leave the empire five years ago.

    [I should honor my promise to Miss Dahlia, even if I''m five yearste.]

    "Lady Mona, may I introduce my children to you formally?" Glenn asked excitedly. "Actually, the kids want to introduce themselves to you, mydy."

    Monik, Skylus, and ude were actually looking up at Mona with sparkling eyes.

    [Aww¡­ they''re so cute!]

    Mona couldn''t help but chuckle at how cute the babies were. "Of course, Your Majesty," she said, addressing Glenn formally. "That would be lovely."

    Glenn smiled widely, then he turned to his children and nodded at them encouragingly.

    "Greetings, Lady Roseheart!" Monik greeted her cheerfully. "I''m Monik Griffiths¨C the First Princess of the Hazelden Kingdom!"

    Mona became emotional after hearing Monik''s cheerful introduction.

    [She''s safe and happy in her new life. I''m d for you, Juliet.]

    "I''m Skylus Griffiths¨C the First Prince of the Hazelden Kingdom," Skylus said in a calm voice, smiling warmly at her. "And I''m the new saint of the Astello Temple, Lady Roseheart."

    [That''s right, baby. im it. You are the one and only new saint of the Moon God.]

    "M-My name is ude Griffiths. I''m the Second Prince of the Hazelden Kingdom," ude said shyly. "I-I love my older sister, older brother, and baby sibling, Lady Roseheart."

    Mona smiled and nodded. "I''m sure your siblings love you, too, Prince ude."

    "Of course!" Monik and Skylus said energetically at the same time, both hugging ude. "We love you, ude!"

    Glenn''s eyes were suddenly brimming with tears.

    [Ah, Niki''s former ''Mad Dog'' has now be a crybaby after being a father.]

    "Lady Roseheart, this is our baby sibling," Monik said, gently and carefully touching Queen Brigitte''s baby bump. "We can''t wait for our baby sibling to be born!"

    Mona smiled¡­

    ¡­ but that smile quickly disappeared.

    Even without looking at the mirror, she could already tell that her icy blue eyes were glowing.

    After all, unfamiliar images suddenly flooded her mind.

    [A vision?]

    She was surprised because this was the first time she had seen a vision after a long while. In fact, she honestly thought she already lost her ability to see a glimpse of the future.

    "Lady Mona!"

    She only realized that she was falling when Glenn tried to catch her.

    But it wasn''t needed.

    Mona''s back hit a familiar strong and warm chest. Even without looking over her shoulder, she could already tell who caught her from behind. "I''m fine, Niki."

    "What happened?" Niki asked worriedly while helping her stand properly. "Are you hurt, Mona?"

    "No, I''m not hurt," Mona said while shaking her head. Then her gaze fell on Queen Brigitte''s baby bump. "I just saw a vision."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    A silence ensued.

    Since Mona was looking at the queen''s baby bump, everyone could probably tell that the vision she saw was rted to the unborn child.

    "Lady Roseheart, may I know what you saw?" Queen Brigitte asked worriedly while wrapping her arms around her baby bump. "Is it rted to my baby?"

    Skylus and Monik, who could also see visions, looked confused.

    [The two probably never saw anything rted to their unborn sibling.]

    Only the innocent ude looked clueless.

    [I shouldn''t talk about the vision in front of the children.]

    Mona then turned to Dahlia.

    Fortunately, the ck Witch was quick to catch on.

    "Princess Monik, Prince Skylus, Prince ude, let''s y," Dahlia said cheerfully. "I''ll show you Lapiz'' new trick." The ck Witch then turned to the king and queen. "Will that be alright, Your Majesties?"

    With Glenn and Queen Brigitte''s permission, Dahlia took the children with her.

    "The baby is safe, and will be safely born," Mona said carefully, looking at Queen Brigitte intently. "However, I''m afraid you can''t give birth to the child in Hazelden, Your Majesty."

    Of course, Queen Brigitte looked confused. "Why can''t I give birth to my child in our kingdom, Your Majesty?"

    "The blood of Extons that run in the child''s veins is too thick," Mona said, turning to Glenn this time. "Glenn¨C I mean, Your Majesty. The child must be delivered in your family''s estate."

    Glenn, who realized what it meant, clenched his jaw and shut his eyes tightly.

    Niki could only give his friend a sympathizing pat on the shoulder.

    ***

    "HEY, do I look pretty?" Neoma asked while tugging the sleeve of Nero''s suit. "No, I asked the wrong question since I''m always pretty. What I mean to ask is whether I look haggard or not. So, do I?"

    Nero frowned. "Why are you asking me? I''m not the only person here."

    Mama Boss and Papa Boss were walking in front of them (with Duke Rufus Quinzel and a few ck Hawk Knights serving as their escort knights).

    Their parents could hear them talking, of course.

    But Mama Boss and Papa Boss didn''t turn to them as if their parents didn''t want to interrupt their sibling bonding time.

    [At least, Nero isn''t hostile to us now.]

    Sadly, it wasn''t because her twin brother was warming up to them.

    It was more of Nero acting like a Crown Prince who refused to let go of his power. Since Calyx and the fake Empress Dowager were already kicked out, Nero had to solidify his position as the sessor by sticking to Papa Boss.

    [Now that the fake Empress Dowager was gone, Papa Boss will get reinstated as the emperor.]

    Marquis Lennox and the Noble Faction wouldn''t be able to reject it after getting deceived by Calyx and the fake Empress Dowager. In fact, even Duke Quinzel and the others on their side were in the same boat.

    [This royal scandal is a disgrace to the empire, for real.]

    "Why don''t you ask our parents?"

    "I''m always pretty and fresh in our parents'' eyes even when I''m not, so I can''t trust their judgment," she argued. "I need your honest opinion."

    The usual Nero would say that she was perfect.

    But the current Nero, who was trying his damned best to hate her, would probably give her some honest-to-good feedback.

    "Come on, Nero."

    "You look pretty¡­ arrogant," Nero said, avoiding her gaze as if he was shy. "There''s no way a person with a haughty look like you would look haggard."

    Neoma grinned, satisfied by Nero''s answer. "Thanks."

    Nero looked at her with an irritated look on his face. "Be honest with me. You only heard the "pretty" part, didn''t you?"

    She just shrugged.

    "Manage your expressions, children," Papa Boss said when they were near the exit. "We owe the public an apology."

    "Are we seriously going to apologize publicly?" Nero asked hesitantly. "We can just put all the me on the fake Empress Dowager and the cult behind her."

    "You''re quick to change gears, huh?" Neomamented. She didn''t mean it in a bad way, of course. Well, maybe just a little. "I thought you were super attached to Calyx and the fake Empress Dowager."

    "That was until I found out Calyx wasn''t my brother, and the Empress Dowager was a fake," Nero said indifferently. "Calyx has strong political backing as Empress Juliet''s son, so I needed to stick to them. But since they turned out to be fakes, I have no use for them anymore."

    Pretty cold, but befitting for someone like Nero to say.

    [He''s a de Moonasterio, alright.]

    Neoma didn''t want to talk about politics with Nero anymore, so she simply ignored her twin brother and turned to her "children."

    Of course, both she and Nero had their own security details.

    Sanford Devon, Raku, Lucien Attewell, Alucard Dionisio, and Melvin Lhesi were walking behind the Crown Prince.

    On the other hand, only Lewis, Jeno, Xion, and Juri were walking behind Neoma.

    "Where are Paige and Greko?" Neoma asked curiously. "Did they check on Trevor?"

    To be honest, she was worried about the demon boy.

    Trevor was coughing up blood earlier.

    There was no way Greko and Paige wouldn''t check on the demon boy after seeing him cough up blood.

    Hence, she thought it was the reason why Greko and Paige weren''t there at the moment.

    "That''s right, Princess Neoma," Juri answered politely. "Paige and Greko are with Trevor right now."

    "Did you see Trevor''s condition?"

    "It looks bad, Princess Neoma," Juri said, and there was a hint of worry in her voice. "That''s the first time I saw someone cough up so much blood."

    "The color of his blood didn''t look normal either, Princess Neoma," Jeno added. "It was almost ck."

    "Yeah, I saw it, too," Xion agreed. "Trevor almost looks like a corpse¡­ ah, I shouldn''t have said that. I apologize, Princess Neoma."

    Her heart almost dropped to the floor after hearing that.

    Lewis sighed when he probably saw how worried she was at the moment. "Princess Neoma, don''t worry too much. Evil people like Trevor don''t die easily."

    She knew that her "son" was just trying tofort her.

    However, Neoma could neither smile nor agree with Lewis because she was too worried about the demon boy.

    [Trevor, I''ll kill you if you die on me.]

    ***

    NOTE: Hi! I joined a challenge in ko-fi. If I achieve my target amount, I''ll get a chance to win a prize. I just posted a 4-PANEL COMIC featuring Neoma and Papa Boss on my ko-fi ount (ko-fi/s_c or simply g00gle ko-fi s_c). Check it out~

    Please donate if you can. You can consider this as your birthday present for my 30th birthday soon. I hope toplete the challenge by May 11th. If I achieve my target amount (hopefully on my target date), I''ll release five chapters of RS.

    Thank you. <3

    ***

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 Chapter 727 THE TRUTH (1)

    ?

    NEOMA smiled when Hanna greeted them when they came out of the courthouse.

    Her cousin went out earlier to personally check on the people outside the courthouse as the Crown Princess of the empire.

    And, of course, to buy them some time.

    [I think we took almost an hour before we came out? Our family had to talk about the things we''d confess to the public, after all.]

    But Hanna did a wonderful job in an hour.

    The people waiting in front of the courthouse was organized. They were seated on the ground with a nket under them. There were also food and drinks for everyone.

    Each one had a tasty-looking clubhouse sandwich, a bag of different pastries, and a cup of tea for the adults and a cup of milk for the children. The food and the drinks came from ''Hanna''s Choice.''

    [Ah, Hanna''s caf¨¦. So, she provided food and drinks for the people. Gosh, she''s really kind and considerate.]

    Neoma also noticed that there were ck Hawk Knights¨C the Quinzels'' private army¨C around, as well as doctors on stand-by.

    Even the nobles who were at the courtroom earlier had a separate space allotted to them.

    And the most interesting part?

    The reporters. Yes, there were reporters in the front line.

    Someone really worked hard in such a short period of time, huh? Well, it was easy to mobilize people if you have the resources. And the Quinzel Princess sure had it all.

    Even so, that didn''t mean Hanna''s hard work wouldn''t be acknowledged.

    [Yep, Hanna deserves to be the Crown Princess.]

    "Your Majesty, Lady Roseheart, Princess Neoma, and Prince Nero," Hanna greeted them formally. "The video recording devices are already set-up. You may begin your speech any moment now."

    Neoma smiled at Hanna proudly when their eyes met.

    [Good job, Hanna~]

    Hanna smiled back at Neoma as if she was saying, "I did well, didn''t I?"

    "Thank you, Young Lady Quinzel," Papa Boss said, addressing Hanna formally in front of a crowd. "We''ve made the citizens wait for too long already, so let''s begin right away."

    [It''s showtime, huh?]

    The entire Imperial Family, including Hanna (presumed as the Crown Princess), stood before the waiting crowd.

    It was already noon, but it was still cold outside since it was the end of autumn already.

    [Winter ising~]

    "Everyone, you don''t have to stand up to greet us," Papa Boss said when the citizens tried to stand up in order to greet them properly. "You may listenfortably in your seats. We won''t take it as a discourtesy to the Imperial Family, so do not worry about it."

    As expected, everyone was shocked after hearing what Papa Boss said.

    [They''re probably shocked that the cold-blooded emperor they know is actually being considerate for once.]

    Fortunately, the citizens listened to Papa Boss.

    Well, it was probably hard for them to move anyway.

    The people were sitting close to each other in order to share warmth, perhaps. After all, even though they were dressed properly, the temperature was still pretty cold.

    [And it will only get colder from here on.]

    It was touching that the citizens even went out of their house and stood in the cold just to watch the royal mess that happened earlier.

    [But I''m worried about them.]

    Neoma couldn''t feel it since she was naturally warm, but that wasn''t the case for the citizens.

    ["Tteokbokki,e out and keep the area warm for the people."]

    She already checked on Tteokbokki earlier, and the Soul Beast was fine.

    [We haven''t figured out yet how Callisto de Luca managed to harm Tteokbokki when it was Skewer that he stabbed with the Moonblood, but we''ll think about itter.]

    Neoma''s thoughts were cut off when she heard a collective gasp from the crowd.

    She realized it was because Tteokbokki materialized in his baby dragon form. But ever since Tteokbokki became an adult, his "baby" dragon form was him as a 1-meter red dragon. Hence, everyone could see him clearly.

    "Everyone, this is my Soul Beast¨C Tteokbokki," Neoma said, smiling at the people. Of course, it was a genuine smile and not an arrogant one. "He''s a Red Dragon, and he''s here to keep us warm."

    Tteokbokki''s entire body glowed for a moment as he released his aura. It was enough to make the area warm.

    [His fire is too hot, so we only need the burst of his Mana.]

    "It''s a pretty dragon!"

    "Mother, I''m not cold anymore!"

    "Thank you, Mr. Dragon!"

    Of course, it was the children who snapped out of their trance first.

    The adults soon expressed their gratitude.

    Neoma realized that the children in the crowd looked like children from underprivileged families. They only probably came out because of the free food and drinks that Hanna distributed to the people there.

    [We should end this soon.]

    Neoma turned to Papa Boss and subtly nodded at him.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Everyone, let me properly introduce my children once again," Papa Boss said. Although Papa Boss was calm, his voice and overall aura were still intimidating. Perhaps it was something that he couldn''t change even after he mellowed out. "You already know the Crown Prince¨C Nero Roseheart de Moonasterio. And for the first time, Princess Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio greets you as the Imperial Princess¨C not as her twin brother''s substitute."

    Her Papa Boss turned to her, giving her a subtle sign that it was her turn to speak.

    "I am Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio, the First Star of the Great Moonasterion Empire," Neoma introduced herself calmly. "And I am the only First Star the empire has."

    Of course, she wasn''t struck by the Divine Punishment since she was only spitting facts.

    "Prince Calyx is really not His Majesty''s son¡­"

    "Don''t call him a ''prince.'' He''s a fraud¨C a fraud!"

    "But the Imperial Family also lied to us¡­"

    Neoma heard thest part, and fortunately, she didn''t flinch.

    [Well, the people have the right to get upset.]

    "That''s right," Papa Boss said. "I only have children with Lady Mona Roseheart. My short marriage with thete Empress Juliet was nothing more than a business contract. I know that thete empress was dearly loved by the people. But I wish to let everyone here know that thete Empress Juliet neither wished to be a wife nor a mother. Hence, despite being married, thete Empress Juliet and I only stayed as friends who never crossed the line."

    When Papa Boss didn''t receive Divine Punishment, the people "whispered" among each other.

    "His Majesty is telling the truth¡­"

    "So, His Majesty didn''t betray thete Empress Juliet¡­"

    "It''s normal for nobles and monarchs to marry out of convenience anyway¡­"

    "After thete Empress Juliet''s death, I was reunited with Lady Mona," Papa Boss continued with his speech. "Princess Neoma and Prince Nero were born soon after. However, during that time, my rtionship with Lady Mona was at its worst due to aplicated situation where she almost lost her life. I thought I already lost Lady Mona forever, hence I lost my mind and neglected my children. It was the reason why I kept Princess Neoma and Prince Nero hidden. Only a few of my people knew about their existence."

    Wow.

    Papa Boss was good at telling the truth without going into too much detail.

    [Right. We should be honest with the people as much as we could, but that doesn''t mean we should share every single detail with them.]

    "Princess Neoma showed more potential than Prince Nero when they were toddlers as she was the first one to awaken her Soul Beast," Papa Boss said. "But I needed a male heir, I chose Prince Nero and showed him to the world while keeping Princess Neoma hidden."

    The people in the crowd, mostly women, frowned.

    But, of course, the women couldn''t voice out their disgust.

    However, Neoma still felt touched that there were people who recognized that Papa Boss was such a scumbag before for favoring Nero over her just because Nero was a male heir.

    [Thank you,dies.]

    "However, an unfortunate incident took ce when the children were five years old," Papa Boss said. "An assassin almost took the life of Prince Nero. They used ck magic to put my son under a powerful curse¨C a curse that slowly rots his internal organs."

    A loud and shocked collective gasp from the crowd erupted.

    "What a horrible curse¡­"

    "And to do that to a young prince¡­"

    "Unforgivable!"

    Okay, Neoma was starting to get nervous.

    [I''m d that people are showing concern towards Nero, but the future is looking bleak for the Devil who cursed my twin brother¡­ and I have demonic power in me.]

    Uh-oh.

    "As I said earlier, I needed an heir. But Prince Nero, unfortunately, fell into aatose state," Papa Boss continued with his story. "Hence, I ordered Neoma to pretend as her twin brother. The children had almost the same face and build when they were toddlers. Hence, it was easy for Princess Neoma to act as Prince Nero. We also used a device that gradually changed her voice as she got older to hide the fact that she was a girl all along. Hence, aside from the few people who knew the truth, no one noticed that the "Crown Prince" was actually the Imperial Princess in disguise."

    Aww, Neoma suddenly felt nostalgic.

    [I suddenly miss the choker I used to wear to change my voice.]

    "The treatment took eight long years," Papa Boss said. "Hence, the Prince Nero that you met as a toddler up to five years ago was actually Princess Neoma in disguise."

    "Your Majesty, does it mean the Prince Nero during the Crown Prince''s ceremony was actually Princess Neoma?"

    The question came from a reported.

    [Oh, it finally begins.]

    "Yes, that''s right," Papa Boss confirmed with a nod. "It was Princess Neoma who was officially hailed the Crown Prince during the ceremony."

    "If it was five years ago, then the one who passed the Royal Moon Academy''s entrance exam was Princess Neoma and not Prince Nero? Or was Prince Nero already fully recovered during that time? I remember the Crown Prince showing proof that he was a male back then, but..."

    As expected, that question came from a student of the Royal Moon Academy¨C based on the uniform that the boy was wearing.

    "Yes, it was me who took the entrance exam," Neoma confirmed while nodding. "Nero and I switched after the exam when a student suspected that the Crown Prince was actually a princess..."

    She wasn''t done talking yet, but Nero suddenly dropped a bomb.

    "I''ll quit," Nero announced in a voice full of remorse. Even his handsome face was working hard to look pitiful, and it was damn effective. "I will drop out of the Royal Moon Academy as soon as this ordeal is over."

    Neoma controlled her expressions or else she would have frowned already.

    [Gosh, Nero is good at acting.]

    Just like his noona, of course.

    ***

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 Chapter 728 THE TRUTH (2)

    ?

    NERO was actually quite surprised when he first realized that most of his achievements as a Crown Prince belonged to Neoma¨C his twin sister who took his ce for many years.

    Fortunately, he realized it before facing the people.

    Hence, he was able to formte a n that could salvage his reputation.

    "I''ll quit," Nero announced remorsefully. Of course, even his facial expression was calcted. He had to appear regretful, after all. "I will drop out of the Royal Moon Academy as soon as this ordeal is over."

    That was the best solution he could offer to the issue regarding the entrance exam.

    [I don''t need to finish my education in the academy anyway. As the Crown Prince, I can just summon the best professors on the continent to the pce. The only reason I opted in attending the academy in the first ce is to form connections with the future leaders of the empire.]

    And he had already achieved that.

    Hence, he didn''t mind cutting off the Royal Moon Academy from hiswork.

    "Thepetition to pass Royal Moon Academy''s entrance exam is known to be cut-throat," Nero continued with his speech. "Although I''m already five yearste, I would still like to repent by dropping out of school."

    Of course, he knew that it wouldn''t be enough to appease the public.

    But he had to say something at the moment, hence he chose to announce that he would leave the academy.

    [Is this the part where I should apologize verbally?]

    He didn''t really want to do it, but he also didn''t want to lose his position as the Crown Prince.

    "Nero was already awake when the entrance exam began, but he was in a poor condition to take the exam himself."

    Nero turned to Neoma, confused.

    [Why is she suddenly butting in?]

    ***

    NEOMA knew what Nero was thinking.

    [He''s doing damage control.]

    But her twin brother was being too obvious about it!

    [He''s just apologizing because we got caught!]

    While leaving as Kim Neoma, she had seen plenty of her fellow vloggers try to avoid getting canceled by giving out half-assed apologies.

    [And Nero sounds like them!]

    Hence, she decided to help her twin brother.

    "Nero was already awake when the entrance exam began, but he was in a poor condition to take the exam himself," Neoma said in a solemn voice. "That''s why I took the entrance exam in his ce. I know that what we did was very wrong, but allow me to exin from the beginning. We need you to understand why the Imperial Family had to deceive you."

    Fortunately, no oneined.

    Hence, she began with her exnation.

    [I have to exin everything while Goddess Alethea''s power is still in effect.]

    The power of the Goddess of Truth was stronger inside the courtroom, but the courtroom was almost destroyed by the recent fight. Hence, they needed toe out of the building.

    Fortunately, she didn''t lose Goddess Alethea''s power.

    Not yet, at least.

    [It weakened a bit, though. So, I figured we couldn''t get too far from the courtroom.]

    That was why she decided to greet the crowd in front of the courthouse.

    "I''m sure most of you have seen and heard what Calyx Dalton said in the courtroom earlier," Neoma continued, her voice and facial expression both calm. "Calyx belongs to the cult whose goal has always been to eliminate the royal princesses born in the de Moonasterion n. We call them ''crows.'' They''re delusional and they think they have the right to choose who gets to sit on the throne. Hence, they kill all the royal princesses before they could even give birth to a child. They do that horrible thing just to get rid of the male heirs''petition."

    "This is shameful to admit, but the previous emperors had benefitted from the crows¨C including my own father," Papa Boss added. "However, it ended in my generation. Although I''m aware of their existence, I never epted the hand they offered me. In fact, I tried to eliminate the entire cult before I even ascended the throne. Unfortunately, I failed."

    A collective gasp erupted from the crowd once again.

    "The emperor lost?"

    "Howe? His Majesty is the strongest man in the empire¡­"

    "That only means this cult is also strong¨C strong enough to rival our emperor."

    [Unfortunately, being strong doesn''t guarantee you''d win a fight against the enemies that use dirty tricks.]

    "The crows are actually led by Callisto de Luca¨C the Moon God''s half-brother. They want a puppet emperor to rule the Great Moonasterion Empire," Papa Boss announced, shocking the people. "Hence, from this day onwards, Callisto de Luca and the cult that he leads are the empire''s public enemy. Anyone rted to Callisto de Luca and the crows is also considered an enemy, whether they''re humans or not. We will actively hunt them down for the crime of harming the Imperial Family."

    [Way to go, Papa Boss! Go and dere war on those crow bastards.]

    "Aside from killing the royal princesses of the past after performing inhuman experiments on them¨C with the former Princess Royal Nichole de Moonasterio as thest victim¨C the crows are also guilty of many recent crimes," Papa Boss said. "One of them is attempting to kill Lady Hanna Quinzel, the future Crown Princess, on several asions."

    Of course, they already discussed it with the Quinzels earlier.

    [Hanna agreed to reveal it to the public.]

    "Do you remember the bombing incident in the za before?" Hanna asked the public softly. "I almost died because of that incident, and I was also forced to leave the empire and move to another country for my recovery."

    Fortunately, it was a well-known story in the empire.

    [Even if Hanna wasn''t the Crown Princess, she''d still be popr as the Quinzel Princess.]

    But there was someone who had forgotten about that incident.

    Neoma turned to Nero, and she got a little sad for her twin brother who looked confused at the moment.

    [Even his memories about the crows have been wiped clean, huh?]

    "That was only the first attempt on my life," Hanna continued with her story. "I didn''t want to reveal this at first because I don''t want you to worry about me. However, you have the right to know about the atrocities the crows havemitted. To be honest with you, the crows have been mixing poison in my drinks for more than a year now."

    This time, it wasn''t only a collective gasp that was heard from the crowd.

    Angry voices erupted from it, too.

    "How dare those lowlives poison our future Crown Princess!"

    "I''m d those crows have been sent away!"

    "They''d be dead if they return here!"

    Neoma was pleased with the crowd''s reaction.

    [But my girl isn''t done yet.]

    "You saw the culprit who put poison in my drinks," Hanna continued. This time, she looked and sounded pitiful. No wonder the crowd hadn''t calmed down yet. "It was Regina Crowell."

    Again, loud gasps were heard everywhere.

    "I knew I wasn''t seeing it wrong earlier¨C it was really Lady Regina Quinzel."

    "Quinzel? Oh, right. She was supposed to be Lady Hanna''s cousin¡­?"

    "That''s what I thought, too. Wasn''t the youngdy supposed to be thete Commander Gavin Quinzel''s daughter?"

    Neoma almost frowned, but luckily, she caught herself.

    [Argh, that gave me goosebumps.]

    "Regina Crowell imed that she was my Uncle Gavin''s daughter," Hanna said calmly. "It was true that she has Quinzel blood flowing in her veins. But, to be honest, we have no way of knowing if Uncle Gavin was truly her father."

    Hanna didn''t receive the Divine Punishment.

    After all, they really had no way of confirming whether Hanna was truly Gavin Quinzel''s daughter.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "I mentioned it before, and you''ve heard Calyx confirm it earlier," Neoma said, taking the floor this time. "The crows have been stealing Beads and Seeds from important families all this time in order to conceive children that they would raise as their little army. That''s how Regina Crowell got her Quinzel blood, and how Calyx was born a de Moonasterio."

    As expected, the people were confused and curious.

    "I can''t wrap my head around that concept."

    "Me neither. But all I understand is there were children "created" from the stolen Beads and Seeds of members of prominent families¡­"

    "Those crows sound crazy!"

    Neoma made a mental note to clear up the misunderstandingter.

    [That method will help women who are having problems getting pregnant have children. It''s not necessarily an evil thing. But the problem was the crows have been stealing egg and sperm cells. They even steal from the dead.]

    But for now, the Imperial Family had to establish the fact that the crows were evil.

    "Your Majesty, a question, if I may."

    Ohh.

    It was Sera Wisteria¨C Juri''s cool aunt and Gavin appa''s almost fianc¨¦e.

    The nobles were standing near the Imperial Family. Plus, Lady Wisteria''s voice was loud and clear enough for them to hear.

    [It''s thanks to the Mana Stone that amplifies our voices.]

    It was prepared by Hanna, of course.

    [Anyway¡­]

    Papa Boss nodded at Sera Wisteria. "Go ahead, Lady Wisteria."

    "I understand that Callisto de Luca and the crows are the scum of the world."

    Neoma HAD to hide herughter by faking a cough.

    [Gosh, I almost forgot that Lady Sera Wisteria was just as foul-mouthed as me. No wonder Juri is afraid of her aunt.]

    "But I haven''t forgotten about the supposed prophecy from Lord Yule about the two saints," Sera Wisteria said sternly. "The first prophecy says that the First Star would bring the new saint. But during that fraud prince''s birthday banquet, the prophecy suddenly changed. Hence, we have two saints now."

    The crowd agreed with Sera Wisteria.

    Since the majority of the citizens of the Great Moonasterion Empire worshipped Yule, the Moon God, everyone was invested in the issue regarding the new saint.

    "What''s the truth?" Sera Wisteria demanded. "That''s the thing that confuses me most."

    "The first prophecy was the true prophecy that Lord Yule sent to this world on his own ord," Papa Boss said. "The second prophecy was a prophecy manipted by the crows because they wanted someone from their side to be the next saint."

    "While Calyx and I were fighting earlier, I asked how he managed to squeeze out a fake prophecy from Lord Yule. He practically confirmed that they got the second prophecy by threatening the Moon God," Neoma said. It was true that she and Calyx had that conversation before. "It''s possible since Callisto de Luca and the crows are being backed up by other gods."

    [Yep, let''s drag the gods into this mess.]

    There was one downside, though.

    "The Moon God¡­ is His Lordship in danger?"

    "That can''t be. The Moon God is a major god¡­"

    "But the crows managed to force Lord Yule to create a new prophecy for their selfish goals¡­"

    [The people''s belief is shaken.]

    "Everyone, you have nothing to worry about," Papa Boss said in a clear, loud, and confident voice. "The de Moonasterios are here. Even if it''s the other gods, we won''t forgive them if they touched Lord Yule."

    "We will save the Moon God," Neoma added. Gosh, Papa Boss was really cool. "So please trust us, and keep your faith in Lord Yule. We''re all in this together, everyone."

    She almost sang thest line, but she was being serious.

    Fortunately, their feelings reached the people.

    "His Majesty and Her Imperial Highness are correct. The de Moonasterios are the strongest bloodline in the human story."

    "The de Moonasterios are the gods among men, so I''m not worried."

    "Lord Yule will be fine. This won''t shake my faith in our god."

    "Now I''m starting to hate the crows even more."

    "Not only did they bring so much harm to the Imperial Family, but they also had the nerve toy a hand on our Lord Yule!"

    "Lady Wisteria is right¨C those crows are scums!"

    Neoma was relieved to hear that the faith of the people hadn''t been shaken while their hatred for the crows grew bigger.

    However, not everyone was pleased, of course.

    "Prince Nero, why are you being silent now?"

    The loud voice came from an old man in the crowd.

    "You were with the fake prince and the fake Empress Dowager all this time! Were you really not aware that they were fakes?"

    More and more people voiced out their suspicions soon.

    "The crows help male heirs ascend the throne, don''t they?"

    "Do you suppose the Crown Prince epted the crows'' help to seize the throne? After all, he has a twin sister and women are allowed to inherit titles now¡­"

    "I also remember the Crown Prince saying that Princess Neoma would meet her downfall soon¡­"

    Nero''s Mana suddenly fluctuated.

    When Neoma turned to Nero, she got worried after seeing his eyes turned glowing red.

    [Fuck, he''s pissed.]

    Fortunately, Mama Boss held Nero''s hand firmly.

    Nero suddenly looked distracted as he turned to their mother.

    "We''re here, Nero," Mama Boss whispered to Nero. "Don''t be afraid."

    Nero just frowned, but at least, he was calm now and his eyes had returned to their normal color.

    "Nero actually loves me to death, so please don''t criticize my twin brother too much."

    Neoma''s deration shut the people up.

    She understood where the citizens wereing from, so she had to clear the misunderstanding quickly.

    "Nero doesn''t remember me and the awful things that the crows havemitted against our family," Neoma said in a calm yet firm manner. "Five years ago, Calyx and the crows created a powerful curse that made people forget about my existence while manipting their memories."

    ***

    NOTE: Hi! I joined a challenge in ko-fi. If I achieve my target amount, I''ll get a chance to win a prize. I just posted a 4-PANEL COMIC featuring Neoma and Papa Boss on my ko-fi ount (ko-fi/s_c or simply g00gle ko-fi s_c). Check it out~

    Please donate if you can. You can consider this as your birthday present for my 30th birthday soon. I hope toplete the challenge by May 11th. If I achieve my target amount (hopefully on my target date), I''ll release five chapters of RS.

    Thank you. <3

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 729 SHOCKING TRUTH

    ?

    THAT WAS the second most important thing that Neoma wanted to reveal, so she was relieved to finally tell the world that Calyx and the crows erased her existence in some people''s memories.

    [Cleaning Goddess Alethea''s domain was a pain in the ass, but it''s worth it since her power is really useful.]

    "In the first ce, only a few people knew about my existence anyway," Neoma continued with her speech. "Hence, it was easy for the crows to erase my existence from everyone''s memories. But the main target of the curse was Nero, of course. Hence, Nero even forgot about his happy memories with our parents. The crows made him hate our mother and father."

    Nero may have loved Neoma more than anyone else in the world, but that didn''t mean he didn''t love Mama Boss and Papa Boss¡­

    ¡­ right?

    [I''m sure Nero loves our Mama Boss and Papa Boss in his own way¡­?]

    "The crows did that in order to control Nero," Neoma continued, avoiding Nero''s gaze because she knew her brother was hating everything she was saying at the moment. "After all, the crows wanted to put Nero on the throne. To be honest, they also wanted Hanna to give birth to Nero''s sessor because of Hanna''s excellent background. But when they realized they couldn''t treat Hanna like a puppet, they decided to kill her. And after killing her, they were nning on stealing her Beads in order to conceive the perfect heir for Nero. That''s how obsessed the crows are over creating the perfect Imperial Family with their own hands."

    She didn''t want to share all these details, but she had to.

    [Nero may not care about me that much because of his current state, but I''m sure he''d hate the crows for the horrible things they nned to do to Hanna.]

    Her goal was to make Nero hate the crows, at least.

    [Hanna gave me the go signal to say this much anyway.]

    "The crows'' way of ensuring that the sessor they chose ascends the throne is extreme," Neoma continued. "They believe they own the empire, thus giving them the audacity to treat our people like their disposable pawns."

    It wasn''t enough to simply announce the grave sins that the crowsmitted to the Imperial Family. The fanatics of Lord Yule and the de Moonasterios might get angry on their behalf, but those who didn''t like the Imperial Family wouldn''t care much about the crows.

    [Of course, there are also people who do not care about women in the Imperial Family.]

    Hence, she''d give those kinds of people a reason to care so much that they''d end up hating the crows.

    "The crows are involved in the Death Camp that Duke Jasper Hawthorne and I destroyed a few years ago. And yes, it was me who went undercover with Duke Hawthorne during that time and not Nero," Neoma dered. She felt bad for getting the credit for her hard work because even if she deserved it, she felt like she was stealing it from Nero. Even so, she had to reveal the truth now. "It wasn''t written in the report that we released back then. But we have the evidence that the crows were heavily involved with the Death Camp."

    As expected, a collective gasp erupted once more.

    It had already been years since the Death Camp was destroyed, but the horrific story was still buried in everyone''s memories.

    After all, Neoma and her Jasper oppa made sure the cruel experiments performed in the Death Camp were revealed in great detail. But, of course, the identities of the victims were strictly protected.

    Even now, the survivors were well-hidden in a good environment where they were currently living in peace.

    "The crows also touched the nobility," Neoma said. She knew that most nobles wouldn''t care about the ves, so she had to give them another reason to get hostile against the crows. "The crows were actually the ones who stole from Duke Hawthorne''s estate. They also tried to steal from the Quinzels. There was a rumor about how there''s a group of thieves nning to raid the noble households in the Royal Capital recently, right?"

    She was being very careful of her words at the moment.

    After all, she didn''t want to get struck by the Divine Punishment.

    "If the crows could rob the Hawthornes and the Quinzels, who''s to say they wouldn''t do that to other noble households?"

    She didn''t exactly confirm that the crows were going to rob every noble household in the Royal Capital because it was only a rumor that she spread before.

    So, technically, she didn''t lie.

    She needed to say that in order to rile the nobles.

    "The Imperial Family won''t let the crows who toy with human lives steal the throne from the de Moonasterios," Neoma said firmly. "I know it''s riching from someone who disappeared five years ago, but please allow me to exin."

    Neoma, Mama Boss, and Papa Boss disappeared together five years ago.

    She knew that there were people who might call her a hypocrite for the things that she said. Hence, she brought it up first and roasted herself before anyone could.

    "It wasn''t our decision to disappear and leave Nero behind five years ago," Neoma began with her exnation. "When Calyx created the curse that would make people forget about my existence, people who have already seen that thing happening in a vision came to help me escape. They also saw in their premonition that Mother and Imperial Father would be in danger. These people helped us escape. Unfortunately, we were forced to leave Nero behind."

    She could feel her twin brother bore a hole into her face.

    [Is he angry again?]

    Neoma turned to Nero but she couldn''t read his expression. "I begged them to bring you with us, but those people refused. All we could do was hope and pray that the crows wouldn''t harm the sessor they chose as the next emperor."

    "Who are those people you''re talking about?" Nero asked, not hiding his irritation anymore. He was probably pissed because he couldn''t remember any of the things Neoma was spewing. "Those who tore our family apart."

    Ouch.

    [It''s not like that, but if Nero put it that way¡­ well, he''s not necessarily wrong¡­]

    Fortunately, she was already prepared for that.

    She already decided to reveal the truth before she returned to this world from Korea. Hence, her Aunt Nichole and her parents helped her prepare anything she would need for this moment. But, of course, the most important thing was she received her aunt''s consent.

    "They were the same people who tried to kill you when we were kids, Nero."

    Her deration didn''t only shock her twin brother¨C the collective gasp that she heard from the crowd this time was the loudest so far.

    [Y''all, I''m not yet done with my shocking bombs.]

    Neoma faced the crowd. "The one who put a curse on Nero using ck magic was the Devil."

    Okay, that definitely scared the people.

    "Oh, Lord Yule. Please protect us from the Devil¡­"

    "If the Devil has returned to the human world, does it mean the demon race has also been revived?"

    "Don''t say something so scary!"

    "But Princess Neoma is saying that the Devil helped her escape five years ago¡­"

    Neoma cleared her throat, making everyone silent in an instant. "The Devil is my aunt¨C the former Princess Royal Nichole de Moonasterio."

    If she thought the collective gasp earlier was the loudest, then she was damned wrong.

    The crowd went crazy.

    "Princess Nichole is still alive?!"

    "I thought the former Princess Royal is long gone!"

    "What the hell is happening? Even by the Imperial Family''s standards, this is still crazy!"

    [Right?]

    "My aunt didn''t be the Devil by choice," Neoma said. Well, technically, it wasn''t her aunt''s will at first. "She was revived by the former Devil who needed a recement."

    After all, Aruna de Moonasterio was only a Spirit who couldn''tst long without a vessel. Hence, she revived Aunt Nichole to be her sessor.

    [Now, Aunt Nichole has chosen Trevor as her sessor.]

    And there was a reason why the Devil needed an heir.

    [Of course, I know the reason now.]

    "Aunt Nichole took the role of the Devil because she hated the Imperial Family," Neoma continued, her voice clear and firm. "Aunt Nichole was the only royal princess in history who survived the crows'' cruel experiments. My trashy grandparents knew all about what happened to my aunt, but they turned a blind eye to it because my scumbag of a grandfather needed the crows¡­"

    Oh, fuck.

    She btedly realized that she cursed in front of the now visibly shocked crowd.

    [And there are children here!]

    Her family was unfazed, though.

    Mama Boss just shook her head while sighing.

    Hanna was obviously holding back herughter.

    Nero arched his eyebrows, though.

    On the other hand, Papa Boss looked smug.

    [Gosh. Why does Papa Boss look proud after I cursed in front of the crowd? Does he not care about the Imperial Family''s reputation anymore???]

    Well, whatever.

    [I need to do some damage control.]

    "Kids, cursing is bad. I''m allowed to do it because I''m already an adult, but children should only use pretty and kind words," Neoma said, smiling brightly while giving a double thumbs up to the very confused audience. "But it''s totally okay to talk ill of evil people even if they''re already dead. It doesn''t even matter if they''re family. If they wanted to be praised after they died, then they should have lived honestly. Right?"

    She gave the brightest smile she could give at the moment.

    [This is the time I should be using my pretty face to charm the people.]

    And it worked!

    It started when an old womanughed.

    After that, more and more people didn''t hold back theirughter anymore.

    "Princess Neoma is right. Why should we praise a tyrant who oppressed us during his reign just because he''d dead?"

    "I never really liked the previous emperor¡­"

    "Who does?"

    "It''s amusing to hear our princess curse her own grandparents, though. And rightfully so."

    "What kind of parents would turn a blind eye to the people who tormented their daughter?"

    "I can''t me Princess Nichole for turning into the Devil¡­"

    "But Prince Nero is innocent. Harming a child is a little¡­"

    [Of course.]

    "You''re right. I also hated Aunt Nichole at first for hurting Nero," Neoma said in a serious tone. "To be honest with you, up until five years ago, I never epted Aunt Nichole''s hand. She wanted to get rid of Nero for me to be the first empress regnant. But I''m not greedy for the throne, and I love Nero as my one and only baby brother."

    She didn''t mention the prophecy that Uncle Dominic had before.

    [The one where he saw me bing the first empress regnant.]

    After all, she didn''t want to threaten Nero''s position as the Crown Prince. Not when his memories hadn''t returned yet.

    [If I mention the prophecy, Nero would only be wary of me again.]

    "However, we were forced to ept Aunt Nichole''s help five years ago because our lives were threatened," Neoma continued with her story. "During the five years that I spent with Aunt Nichole, we came to understand each other better. I have already forgiven her for harming Nero, and Aunt Nichole has already given up on her desire to put me in the throne."

    It was true.

    Aunt Nichole said that whether Neoma became the first empress regnant or not, she knew that Neoma would still do well in life.

    Moreover, Aunt Nichole was already happy with her new life with Uncle Dominic.

    [But the people here don''t need to know about my aunt''s private life.]<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "My Aunt Nichole isn''t shameless, though," Neoma said. "She sent apensation to Nero. It''s something that will benefit the Imperial Family and the entire empire. However, it might scare you¨C no, I might scare you."

    Once again, the crowd was confused.

    "Neoma, are you sure about this?"

    It was Mama Boss, asking her in a voice that reached only her ears.

    Neoma turned to her mother and smiled. "I''ll be fine, Mama Boss."

    To be honest, she was a little scared.

    [But the truth shall set me free.]

    She wouldn''t let the crows use her secret against herter, so might as well be honest now while Goddess Alethea''s power was still in effect.

    [Here goes nothing.]

    "Everyone, I have a confession to make," Neoma said, opening her hand as she summoned Skewer. "I was actually born with a demon power inside me."

    As soon as Skewer materialized, she grabbed it firmly with her hand.

    "This is the Death Scythe," Neoma said, shocking the people further. "This is the Devil''s weapon that I''m able to wield because of my demon power."

    As expected, the people suddenly looked scared.

    She had built up a good atmosphere earlier, but it was all gone now.

    [It''s okay. I already expected this to happen.]

    "Darkness isn''t inherently evil, but I understand that my demon power is different from the Darkness attribute. So, it''s okay if you''re scared," Neoma said calmly. "As a de Moonasterio, I shouldn''t have an affinity to Darkness or anything rted to the demons. I don''t even know the exact reason why I have this. But what can I do? I was born with this power."

    Of course, she had heard theories as to why she was born with demon power.

    But she didn''t know if that was the truth.

    [So, I didn''t lie when I said I don''t know the ''exact'' reason for my demon power.]

    "Just because I was born with demon power doesn''t mean I''m a demon. I''m a Roseheart and a de Moonasterio. Hence, I don''t need to be a demon since I''m already too powerful for this world," Neoma said, shrugging. She couldn''t help letting her arrogance out. "But I understand where your fear ising from. Aside from the Absolute Darkness that almost swallowed the entire world whole during the Ancient Period, there was also a period of time where the Demon Race terrorized the human world."

    That was why humans were naturally afraid of the Demon Race, even though the Demon Race had long been wiped out from this world.

    "The old gods of the past have already sealed the Underworld to ensure that the Demon Race wouldn''t be able to step foot in the human world again," Neoma said cheerfully. "So, don''t worry about the Demon Race."

    She wasn''t really disheartened by the fear she saw in the people in front of her. Since she was a powerful individual, it was natural for people to be scared of her.

    [I mean, even gods fear my existence.]

    If anything, it was a good stroke on her overinted ego.

    Neoma smiled at the people charmingly. "Guess who has the key that keeps the Underworld shut all this time?"

    It wasn''t something that she would reveal if she had a choice.

    But she needed to give the people the assurance that Aunt Nichole wasn''t an enemy, and that her demon power existed for a reason.

    [Thanks to this, I''m sure I''ll get targeted by people who worship demons.]

    Whatever, she was used to getting hunted down anyway.

    "Yes, it''s me," Neoma dered cheerfully, touching Skewer''s de carefully. "This is the key to the Underworld that I received from Aunt Nichole."

    The key was inside Skewer, and not Skewer itself.

    However, that was something she didn''t need to announce.

    "Perhaps my demon power exists so that I could hold that key that maintains the peace in this world," Neoma said. And yes, that was the reason why she decided to announce that she had the key even though that meant putting her life in more danger. "Aunt Nichole, as the Devil, gave the key to me aspensation for trying to kill Nero in the past. As long as I have this key, the Demon Race would never step foot in the human world again."

    It was a heavy promise, but she was serious about it.

    The gods and the crows were already a royal pain in the ass. She didn''t need the Demon Race adding to her long list of enemies.

    [Those demons have been silent for centuries, so they should just keep quiet forever.]

    "I, Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio, swear on my precious name that I will protect the human race from the Demon Race. As long as I have this key, no demons shall terrorize the peace in this world," Neoma said, putting a hand on her chest to show her sincerity. "You don''t have to believe me, though. Talk is cheap, after all."

    She was saying that she could walk the talk.

    Fortunately, it seemed like many people had realized it.

    [The majority is still afraid of me, though.]

    Understandable.

    "Anyway, that''s my royal secret," Neoma said, still in high spirits. But anyone could tell by the look in her eyes that she wasn''t taking this lightly. She might sound annoyingly cheerful, but she was serious as hell. "I believe my father would add me to the Royal Household as an official de Moonasterion princess."

    Obviously, Papa Boss would get reinstated as the emperor.

    [I don''t think Marquis Lennox and the members of the Noble Faction could go against Papa Boss now.]

    "I will reim the throne as the emperor of the Great Moonasterion Empire," Papa Boss announced. "Until Prince Nero ascends the throne, that is. The first thing I will do is entrust the majority of the work to the Crown Prince. We will discuss itter before we release an official statement."

    That was Papa Boss telling the people that this "press conference" was over.

    [Thank goodness.]

    Neoma could feel Goddess Alethea''s power leaving her body. No wonder she felt like she was going to faint soon.

    [I need to wrap this up cleanly.]

    Unfortunately, the crowd wasn''t satisfied.

    And the buzz was too loud to ignore.

    "Unfortunately, the Great Moonasterion Empire is an absolute monarchy," Neoma said, making the crowd go silent once again. She smiled genuinely at them. "But you''re free to reject me as a royal princess."

    Once again, the crowd was shocked and confused.

    Mama Boss and Papa Boss didn''t look happy with what she said, but they didn''t say anything since they had already discussed that before.

    "The Imperial Family will face you once again after I get added to the Royal Household officially," Neoma said calmly. "If you still hate the idea of having a royal princess with demon power within her, feel free to speak out."

    And there were people who voiced their dissatisfaction.

    "Is it because you''re not greedy for the throne, Princess Neoma?"

    "But it feels like you don''t care about the empire at all¡­"

    "It''s good not to be too greedy, but youe across as someone who doesn''t care about your people ¡­"

    "That''s right. That''s scarier than Your Royal Highness having demon power."

    "It''s because I don''t need the title of a royal princess to protect and love you all," Neoma said, smiling as the blindfold that covered her eyes all this time slowly vanished. She just hoped that her smile didn''t look weak, even if that was how she felt at the moment. "Whether I''m a royal princess or not, I will still protect the empire and its people with all that I have."

    And those were Neoma''sst heartfelt words before she fainted.

    ***

    [SO FUGLY¡­]

    Neoma scolded herself after those thoughts entered her mind.

    [Don''t judge anyone or anything by their appearance!]

    In her defense, it was shocking to see the Bookworm as soon as she opened her eyes. She could tell that she was in a room in the Royal Pce, but she didn''t understand why she woke up with the Bookworm beside her.

    "Why are you here, Bookworm?" Neoma asked curiously as she got up. She had so many questions about what happened after she fainted, but she forgot about all of it as soon as she saw the Bookworm. "Where''s your boss?"

    She was talking about Trevor, of course.

    "I''m here, Princess Neoma."

    Huh?

    She turned to her side, and was shocked when she ONLY realized that Trevor was actually sitting on the chair beside the bed.

    [I didn''t notice Trevor''s presence¡­]

    And it wasn''t because she was weaker than the demon boy.

    It was solely because Trevor didn''t have any presence at all. Moreover, he looked so pale and so weak at the moment. It was as if he was barely breathing¡­

    Wait, what?

    Trevor smiled weakly at her. "Princess Neoma, please take care of the Bookworm from now on. I''m sorry to burden you, but I can''t entrust that child to anyone else but you."

    She felt like her brain was about to explode from overthinking.

    [No, I''m not overthinking.]

    She understood what Trevor said clearly.

    And she could SEE it.

    [Trevor is dying.]

    Neoma grabbed Trevor''s cor. It wasn''t something that she should do to a person who was barely alive, but her temper got the better of her. "I''m not giving you permission to die, Trevor Kesser."

    Trevor justughed it off. "A dying Sorcerer''s Mana could extend a person''s lifespan¨C"

    "I don''t need it."

    "Princess Neoma, don''t be stubborn. This is thest thing I could do for you."

    He was serious.

    Trevor was so serious that it scared Neoma.

    Even so¡­

    "I won''t let you die, Trevor Kesser," Neoma said, letting go of Trevor''s cor as she stood up. "Especially if it''s BECAUSE of me."

    Trevor smiled sadly at her. "I love you, my Moon Princess."

    ***

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 Chapter 730 THIS FOOLISH LOVE

    ?

    [A day after Neoma fainted¡­]

    "HOW DID the meeting with the Twelve Golden Families and the Council of Noblemen go, love?" Mona asked Niki while serving tea for him. "Is the majority of them still against adding Neoma to the Royal Household?"

    She could have asked a servant to brew and serve the tea, but she got used to doing that for herself and Niki while living in Korea.

    But she would only do that for Niki when they were alone in a room because she didn''t want bad rumors to spread. People might think that Niki was treating her badly if they saw her doing "menial" tasks such as brewing and serving tea.

    It was unthinkable for the emperor''s partner to do that, after all.

    [I don''t mind changing that perception, but now is not a good time. The Imperial Family''s reputation is still in shambles. We must avoid anything that might add fuel to the fire.]

    "Duke Winchester tried to appeal and have Neoma''s registration to the Royal Household revoked," Niki said, sighing. Then he held her by the hand and gently pulled her until she was sitting on hisp. After that, he wrapped his arms around her waist. "That old bastard argued that a royal princess who has demon power in her must not be allowed to enter the Imperial Family officially. Of course, the Noble Faction supported him."

    "It''s hardly surprising that Duke Winchester and the Noble Faction would do something like that despite what has transpired recently," Mona said, shaking her head. "What did you say?"

    "I argued that there''s now that states a de Moonasterio who was born with demon power shouldn''t be denied of their birthright as a monarch," he said. "They couldn''t refute it since it was the truth anyway. Being born with demon power is out of Neoma''s control. In the end, I insisted that it''s just the same as being born with the Darkness attribute. And Darkness isn''t inherently evil, so that shut them up. Rufus, Count Dankworth, and Marquis Gibson supported my im."

    "How about Marquis Lennox?"

    "He didn''t attend the conference, but I don''t think he''d be siding with the Noble Faction again."

    She really felt bad for Marquis Vincent Lennox.

    It was true that the old marquis had been greedy for power. But she also knew that it wasn''t the sole reason as to why Marquis Lennox had been desperate to put "Juliet" in power.

    "Marquis Lennox has always felt bad for Juliet," Mona said in a sad voice. "He thought we betrayed Juliet, and that we were the cause of her untimely death. That''s probably the reason why he became desperate to put the fake Juliet in power, as well as Calyx whom he thought was his great-grandson."

    "I heard Marquis Lennox was sick in bed," Niki said indifferently. "It was probably due to shock. Even so, I don''t feel bad for him."

    "Niki¡­"

    "Mona, you already know that my heart is small. And it''s already upied by you and our children."

    Pfft.

    It was horrible to hear that from the emperor of a great empire.

    [I guess everyone knows that Niki is an excellent leader not because he loves his people, but because he has a strong sense of duty.]

    "It seems like Kyle Sprouse is also in a state of shock," Niki said, changing the topic. "I wanted to torture that traitor mentally, but I''m holding back because I know Neoma has a n."

    Mona sighed, leaning against Niki''s chest. "I hope our Baby Muffin wakes up soon."

    "Neoma just needs some rest¨C she''ll be fine," he assured her, kissing her temple. "How is Nero coping?"

    "He''s just like you," sheined lightly. "He drowns himself with work when stressed."

    "As the Crown Prince, it''s only natural that he''s busy."

    "Don''t sound so smug about our son being overworked at such a young age."

    "I''m just proud of Nero and his hard work. He really quit the academy as soon as morning came," Niki said. "But it seems like the schoolmaster refuses to ept Nero''s dropout form."

    Hence, Nero was given a leave of absence for a week while the academy sorted out how to deal with the current situation.

    [I think Nero would still leave the academy, though.]

    Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a knock on the door.

    They were in Niki''s pce, and only a few were allowed there at the moment. But she could tell who the person was behind the door since they didn''t hide their presence.

    "It''s Paige," Mona said, gently peeling Niki''s arms around her waist. "It must be important."

    Neoma''s "children" would never seek their help for nothing, after all.

    She stood up and walked towards the door while fixing her hair and dress. When she was certain she already looked presentable, only then did she open the door.

    Mona smiled, but that smile disappeared as soon as she saw how pale Paige Avery was.

    [Ah, it must be bad news.]

    "I apologize for interrupting your private moment with His Majesty, Lady Roseheart. Uhm, I just have a quick question," Paige said weakly. "How do we save a dying Sorcerer?"

    Mona gasped out loud. "What happened to Trevor?"

    ***

    "PAIGE NOONA, Dahlia noona, please drink these energy potions I brewed."

    Paige smiled weakly at Greko who handed her a ss full of some green liquid. It didn''t look appetizing. But since Greko made that for her and Dahlia, she wouldn''tin. "Thank you, maknae."

    "Thank you, Greko," Dahlia said sweetly. "I feel bad that you''re taking care of us when you''re the youngest here. I''m sorry."

    Greko shook his head. "It''s alright, Dahlia noona. I''m really fine."

    Right now, the three of them were sitting on the floor¨C waiting right in front of the door where Lady Mona Roseheart was currently checking on Trevor''s condition.

    "Dahlia noona, it was you and Paige noona who worked all night."

    What Greko said was true.

    Paige and Dahlia didn''t sleep a wink while trying their best to DELAY Trevor''s inevitable death.

    [But that stubborn Sorcerer¡­]

    Trevor was slowly dying because of the Impure Mana that was corrupting his body and soul.

    Guess what the Sorcerer did as soon as Paige took her eyes off of him for a moment?

    [He used his Mana to bring back the memories of Princess Neoma''s former nanny, butler, and teacher. Apparently, Lady Hanna needs the statements of those people.]

    As a result, Trevor coughed up blood all night.

    If Paige and Dahlia weren''t there, who knew what would have be of the Sorcerer?

    [He''s already dying, yet his priority hasn''t changed. His more concerned about what he could do for Princess Neoma during his remaining time than worrying about his impending death.]

    Paige''s thoughts were interrupted when the door opened and Lady Mona Roseheart came out of the room.

    [Ah, Lady Roseheart looks pale¡­]<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Paige, Dahlia, and Greko stood up and greeted Lady Mona Roseheart.

    "It''s worse than I thought," Lady Roseheart said while shaking her head. "I hate to say this, but I don''t think even I could save Trevor at this point."

    To be honest, Paige wasn''t surprised.

    "The amount of Impure Mana that''s corrupting Trevor''s Mana and Soul is enough to kill hundreds of men in a heartbeat," Lady Roseheart said. "If Trevor wasn''t a powerful Sorcerer, he would have already died as soon as he made contact with the Impure Mana."

    Paige nodded in agreement. "At this rate, I believe Trevor only has three days to live."

    Greko covered his mouth with his hands as he began to sob. "Trevor hyung¡­"

    "Those crows found a way to make Impure Mana more dangerous than it already is," Lady Roseheart said, her eyes already brimming with tears. "Trevor is suffering too much."

    Paige clenched her hands tight as guilt weighed heavy in her heart.

    She knew that Trevor was dying, but she was more concerned about how Princess Neoma would ept it.

    [Once Princess Neoma realized Trevor is dying, she''d lose it¡­]

    "Lady Roseheart, I have a crazy idea."

    Hmm?

    Everyone turned to Dahlia.

    At first, Dahlia looked flustered by the attention that she received. But she soon gathered the courage to speak her mind. "Lady Roseheart, do you remember the time I asked for your help to check on the Blood Ocean with me?"

    "I was actually thinking about that the other day," Lady Roseheart confessed. "Miss Dahlia, is your home rted to the crazy idea you mentioned?"

    ***

    "I LOVE YOU, my Moon Princess."

    Neoma clenched her hands tight after hearing Trevor''s confession.

    It wasn''t the first time Trevor confessed to her, but why did she have a feeling that it would be his LAST?

    [No, I won''t let that happen.]

    "Don''t let those words be yourst words, Trevor," Neoma warned him coldly. "If you die, you''ll never get to see my face again. And I assure you, you''ll regret it¨C you''ll regret not seeing my face every day."

    Trevorughed softly. "I can''t believe I''m saying this, but I''ll miss your arrogance, Princess Neoma. I don''t think even the king of hell is as arrogant as you are."

    "Don''t add the king of hell to my long list of enemies, you bastard," sheined, her voice serious. "If you die, I''ll open the hell gates with my bare hands and fetch your soul. I don''t care if I make an enemy out of the bastards who rule that goddamn ce."

    "Don''t say romantic stuff like that, my Moon Princess¨C you''re giving me false hopes."

    "Stay here and rest," Neoma said, turning her back on Trevor. "If you leave this room, I''ll wreak havoc and pick a fight with the bastards in hell."

    "That''s emotional ckmail, Princess Neoma," Trevorined. "But okay, I guess I need some rest since I need to conserve my energy for your lifespan."

    "Shut it."

    [Gosh, when did he be so weak?]

    Neoma closed the door behind her as soon as she got out of the room.

    [Ah, there was a noise barrier.]

    She wasn''t surprised to find Lewis standing there, guarding the door. Her "son" definitely stayed by her side all this time. But because of the barrier (that Trevor definitely set up there), she was pretty sure Lewis didn''t hear anything despite his sharp hearing.

    "Lewis, do you know that Trevor is dying?"

    Lewis nodded, his face void of emotions. "Paige told me, Princess Neoma."

    Fuck.

    She needed to find Paige and find out the exact reason Trevor was suddenly in that horrible state.

    [I shouldn''t have left Trevor that day¡­]

    Neoma was in the middle of self-loathing when a familiar figure blocked her way.

    "Greetings, Princess Neoma."

    She stopped walking and stared at the man standing in front of her at the moment.

    "I''m surprised Papa Boss allowed you to be here after the stunt you pulled during the trial," Neoma said snarkily. "Did you get a good sleep after pointing an arrow at me, Lord Ruto?"

    She didn''t mean to act like that, but she was in a really, really bad mood.

    "I''m here for official business, so His Majesty couldn''t really turn me away," Ruto said formally. "I brought back the Lords of the North safely, Princess Neoma."

    Ah, Ruto was really only here for business.

    Not to see her, not to check up on her.

    Neoma thought she was mature.

    She thought she understood that Ruto was only doing his job when he tried to kill her during the trial.

    She thought she understood that Ruto wasn''t in his usual self because all his positive feelings for her were taken away.

    She thought she understood that none of it was Ruto''s fault.

    So, why?

    Why did she suddenly wake up and realize that she didn''t want to be understanding anymore?

    And why only now?

    "Ruto, why am I starting to regret it?" Neoma said, smiling bitterly at Ruto. "Why did I fall in love with you of all people?"

    ***

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 Chapter 731 THROW DOWN THE GAUNTLET

    ?

    HALF of Neoma''s heart felt bad for the things that she said.

    But her chest tightened when Ruto didn''t even flinch. She was starting to get tired of that emotionless face of his.

    For the first time, Ruto''s face didn''t bring her peace like it usually would.

    Hence, half of her got pissed instead.

    "Ruto, I kind of don''t want to see you right now," Neoma said bluntly. "Do you have any other business with me?"

    "The Willows Siblings would like to know if they''ll be allowed to tour the pce," Ruto said indifferently. "Preston Willows is a fan of Prince Nero. The elders wouldn''t let Preston go to the pce alone, so they asked Phoebe Willows to apany her brother."

    [Preston Willows sounds familiar¡­ ah, right.]

    She remembered Preston Willows, the child who almost became one of Nero''s knights.

    [But my cruel twin brother discarded the poor kid in the end.]

    "Come to think of it, I kinda made a promise to Lord Preston before that I''d bring him to the pce to meet Nero," Neoma said after remembering the past. "I''ll ask Nero first. I don''t think I have the right to decide who gets to enter the pce or not at the moment."

    "Alright. I''ll send a formal request to Prince Nero then."

    "Okay," she agreed. It was convenient for her since she wasn''t sure if she was in the right mental state to meet Nero at the moment. "Is there something else you need from me?"

    Ruto just shook his head.

    "Then please excuse me, Lord Ruto," Neoma said, addressing him politely. "I''ll be busy from now on. Isn''t it a relief that we broke up already?"

    GAAAHHH.

    She wanted to punch her mouth for the unnecessary sarcasm.

    Why was she so bitter?

    Her heart understood that Ruto wasn''t at fault, but her brain wanted to punish him for hurting her.

    [God, I''m so petty.]

    "We were never in a rtionship, so we never broke up either."

    [This stubborn rascal¡­]

    "Don''t speak casually to the Imperial Princess," Lewis said in a very rude tone. It was a little hypocritical on his side to lecture Ruto about respect when he was speaking rudely to the Solfrid Heir. "You no longer have a rtionship with our princess."

    [Aigoo.]

    "If we''re talking about rank now, then you do not have the right to speak to me in that tone, Sir Crevan," Ruto said indifferently. "I am no longer a mere royal chef in the pce. I hope you haven''t forgotten who I am."

    "I haven''t¨C I just don''t care," Lewis said rudely. "Everyone who threatens Princess Neoma''s life doesn''t deserve my respect."

    MIC DROP.

    Gosh, her "son" rarely talked a lot but when he did, it was to roast people he didn''t like.

    [But let''s hold back, Lewis. This is the God yer we''re speaking to.]

    "Ruto, let''s talkter," Neoma said to change the topic. Then she paused and shook her head. "No. We''re not just going to talk. Let''s have a sparringter."

    Ruto knitted his eyebrows. "A sparring?"

    "I know it may sound like an excuse, but I wasn''t in the right condition when we fought during the trial," she said in a serious tone. "I was shackled, and those shackles weakened me because of the device they injected inside me to steal my egg cells."

    It was frustrating how Ruto''s face didn''t change even after hearing what she had gone through during the trial.

    [This red g Ruto doesn''t really care about me, huh?]

    "But my body is in perfect condition now."

    "I can tell," Ruto said, nodding. "Have you noticed that you''ve grown taller, Princess Neoma?"

    "No!" Neoma said, covering her ears with her hands. "Why would you say that? I didn''t grow taller!"

    Ruto looked at her as if he was amused. "It''s a good thing that Goddess Alethea''s power is no longer in effect, huh?"

    Tsk.

    Neoma lied.

    Her joints hurt like hell¨C and yes, they were growing pains. She just wouldn''t stop growing taller even though she was already eighteen years old. And as if that wasn''t bad enough, her growing pains usually meant a growth spurt.

    [The de Moonasterion genes are really crazy.]

    Neoma wouldn''t admit this, but she was definitely over 183 centimeters now¨C and she had a feeling that she wasn''t done growing yet.

    And she was taller than T*ylor Swift now.

    [Please stop making me taller!]

    "It''s okay, Princess Neoma."

    Neoma turned to Lewis. "Hmm?"

    "You''re not tall when you''re beside me," Lewis said, his face beaming. "I''m two meter tall."

    "Right?" Neoma agreed, removing her hands from her ears as her mood improved greatly. "As long as I stick to you, I won''t feel like a giant. I should avoid standing next to Hanna, though. She''s tiny."

    Lewis chuckled. "Please don''t say that in front of Lady Hanna, Princess Neoma. She''ll definitely get upset if you call her ''tiny.''"

    Oops.

    She almost forgot that Ruto was still with them.

    Neoma cleared her throat before facing her ex-man. "As I was saying earlier, I''m in perfect condition now," she said. "So you don''t have to hold back this time."

    Ruto was surprised by what she said. "What do you mean by that?"

    "I know that you were serious during the trial, but I also know that you really didn''t give your one hundred percent back then," she said. "You matched your strength with my condition at that time. And that was very embarrassing for me."

    "Embarrassing¡­?"

    "You gave me a handicap just because you knew I was in a poor condition," Neoma said, frowning. "As a Roseheart and a de Moonasterio, I was offended. Are you looking down on me because you think I''m inferior to you?"

    Ruto just kept quiet while staring at her face.

    [Gosh, I don''t like the current Ruto that much.]

    "Are you not going to apologize to me, Ruto?"

    "Apologize for what?"

    Neoma smiled sadly at Ruto''s arrogant response.

    She was disappointed, but not surprised.

    [This isn''t my Ruto.]

    "Right¨C you''re the kind of man who''d sacrifice me for the greater good," Neoma said, smiling sadly once again. She was starting to feel pathetic, but she couldn''t help but feel bitter because of their current situation. "But I can''t die by your hands again¨C not when there''s someone who''s literally dying FOR me at the moment."

    It would be a huge discourtesy to Trevor if she let Ruto continue act as if her life was in his hands.

    "That''s why I''m challenging you to a duel tonight, Ruto Solfrid."

    It was she who brought up the sparring first, but her initial n was to dy it as much as she could.

    But after seeing how unapologetic Ruto was, she changed her mind.

    [I must crush Ruto tonight or else, I won''t be able to sleep properly.]

    "Very well," Ruto said, epting her challenge. "I will be here tonight then."

    "Good," Neoma said, nodding. "Make sure your divine father will be watching¨C I have a bone to pick with him, after all."

    ***<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    TSK.

    Neoma couldn''t help but pout as soon as she saw Papa Boss and Mama Boss.

    [Right. I''m tall because both my parents are tall.]

    Anyway, she visited her mother and father after taking a quick shower.

    She didn''t really have to since Soju, her Water Spirit, kept her clean during the two days and one night that she was unconscious. Plus, she knew her Mama Boss took care of her well.

    [But taking a bath is therapeutic for me.]

    "Why are you pouting like that?" Papa Boss asked while sitting on the chair next to the bed. "Did you not get your revenge against Ruston Stroganoff? I only allowed him to enter the pce in hopes that you''d beat him up after what he did during the trial."

    Mama Boss, who was on the bed while leaning against the headboard, sighed. "Love, you''re being insensitive."

    Papa Boss just shrugged.

    "I challenged Ruto to a duel tonight."

    Her parents both looked shocked by what she said.

    "I''ll talk about itter," Neoma said, sitting beside her mother. "How are you, Mama Boss?"

    She went straight to her mother after hearing from Lewis that Paige, Dahlia, and Greko were still sleeping after treating Trevor all night.

    [Juri, Jeno, and Xion returned to their respective families in the meantime.]

    On the other hand, Hanna had temporarily returned to the Quinzel Mansion.

    "I''m fine, baby," Mama Boss assured her, holding her hand and squeezing it gently. "The energy potion that Greko brewed helped me recover faster than normal."

    She smiled proudly. "Greko is an amazing Healer, isn''t he?"

    Her mother smiled at her. "You raised him well, daughter."

    Neoma nodded politely, then she fell silent before asking the question that she came there for. "Mama Boss, please be honest with me," she said in a soft voice. "How much time left does Trevor have?"

    "Originally, he only has three days left to live," Mama Boss said after a short pause. "But I used my healing and purifying power to slow down the Impure Mana corrupting his body and soul. Hence, he''d be able to live for at least one more week. But he might fall into aatose state very soon."

    She wouldn''t say that she was surprised.

    After all, she personally saw Trevor earlier. She could tell that he only had a few days to live. It was a miracle that Mama Boss was able to extend it to a week.

    But just because she already knew didn''t mean it hurt any less.

    "Is it my fault?"

    Both Mama Boss and Papa Boss looked at her with concern.

    "I asked Trevor to store the Impure Mana for me," Neoma said, clenching her hands tight. "If I didn''t ask him to do that, he wouldn''t have to touch that horrible thing. Then his body and soul wouldn''t have been corrupted."

    "Neoma, don''t say that. None of it was your fault," Papa Boss said firmly. "It was the crows who used Impure Mana as a weapon. How was that your fault?"

    She knew that her father was right.

    Even so, in her heart, the guilt remained heavy.

    Mama Boss gently squeezed her hand. "Neoma, baby, Miss Dahlia and I will go to the Blood Sea tomorrow morning."

    Papa Boss frowned, obviously not pleased with Mama Boss'' decision but was probably convinced to go along with it.

    "Why the Blood Sea, Mama Boss?" she asked curiously. "It''s where Dahlia''s home is located, isn''t it?"

    Her mother nodded carefully. "The blood of an Ancient Spirit killed by a god turned the sea red. And that Ancient Spirit was Lord Novak¨C my old mentor."

    Ah.

    She could sense the sadness in her mother''s voice.

    [They must have been close¡­]

    "Lord Novak was a Darkness attribute user, Neoma," Mama Boss exined. "When he died, his Mana turned into Impure Mana. However, even if his Mana became like that, it didn''t kill the living creatures in the sea when his blood and Impure Mana were spilled."

    Her eyes opened wide a bit. "Mama Boss, are you saying that there might be a way to purify the Impure Mana that''s killing Trevor?"

    "We can''t tell for sure, Neoma," Mama Boss said while shaking her head. "That''s why Miss Dahlia and I will go to the Blood Sea to investigate."

    It was better than having absolutely zero clue about how to deal with Impure Mana.

    "I''m going with you and Dahlia, Mama Boss," Neoma said firmly. "Please let me go with you."

    ***

    NEOMA was all set for her duel with Ruto.

    She wore a pastel pink long coat over a ck turtleneck shirt, ck leather pants, and ckbat shoes.

    Yes, those were clothes she brought from Korea.

    She then tied her hair in a messy bun, and wore sunsses even though it was alreadyte at night. It didn''t bother her since she had a sharp eyesight. She just wore it for aesthetics.

    [I forgot to tell Ruto where to meet me¡­]

    Even so, Neoma opted to wait in the pavilion by the pond¨C her favorite ce in the pce.

    Lewis clicked his tongue after a shift in the air. "He''s here."

    Right?

    Ruto stepped out of the darkness, wearing clothes that were almost simr to what Neoma wore at the moment.

    ck trench coat, ck turtleneck shirt, ck pants, and ck boots.

    [Gosh, we look like a couple.]

    That wasn''t the right time to think about that.

    Neoma opened her hand, a single-stemmed pink rose materializing above her hand. "I don''t wear gloves, so I can''t challenge you to a duel the traditional way," she said. Then she threw the single-stemmed pink rose at Ruto as if she was throwing a dart. "That will do."

    Ruto caught the long stem of the pink rose between his two fingers¨C the thorns grazing his skin. "We''ll destroy the pce if we fight here," he said. "Shall we move somewhere else?"

    "I''m d you asked," Neoma said, pointing a finger at the night sky. "Let''s fight in Lord Levi''s domain."

    ***

    NOTE: Sorry for the long break. I took a short vacation for my mental health. I was actually not doing well recently. To be honest, I didn''t want to address this and ruin the atmosphere here, but I guess bottling it up wasn''t good for my mental health.

    I was upset when I received messages telling me that they read Royal Secret: I''m a Princess on illegal sites, and there were also readers who told me they read the illegal trantion of my novel.

    Guys, I understand that not everyone could afford unlocking the chapters with coins/real money. But I hope you take advantage of the free pass that WN offers instead of resorting to illegal sites.

    I''m not a top author, I don''t earn a lot from here. Doing this thing hurts my livelihood. Of course, I love writing. But I have real-life bills that I have to pay. So please don''t do this to me.

    To those who trante/post my stories elsewhere, please stop. Please encourage the readers to read my stories here. :(

    What really upsets me is the possibility that there might be readers who enjoy this story AND POST COMMENTS on those illegal sites when readers here on WN barely leavements every time I update. It hurts.

    I wonder if those readers even know that it''s me, s_c, who created Neoma and this world. I wonder if those readers thank the illegal trantors/uploaders instead of me. Thinking about it really makes me sad.

    Please don''t make me lose my passion.

    On the other hand, I''d like to thank everyone for sticking with Neoma even after 700+ chapters. I appreciate the silent readers, but I still hope you post morements. And support me if you can. :'')

    Sorry for the long rant.

    Thank you for waiting.

    ***

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 Chapter 732 NEOMA VS. RUTO

    ?

    NEOMA was at her peak.

    She had fully recovered, her body was in its top condition, and of course, her face was working hard as always.

    In short, she was pretty sure she would win even against Ruto.

    [I''m in my golden days.]

    "Alright, we can go to Lord Levi''s domain. I also think it''s best to fight in a space where we won''t identally hurt other people or destroy properties," Ruto said, then his gaze went past Neoma. "Are you bringing that kid with you?"

    The "kid" would be Lewis who was standing behind Neoma in silence.

    "I''m not a kid," Lewis said, scoffing. "I''m taller than you."

    Despite the serious ambiance, Neoma almost burst outughing.

    [Gosh, Lewis inherited my pettiness.]

    In her eyes, Ruto and Lewis were just the same height. She couldn''t tell if her "son" was really taller than her ex-man.

    [Is it just the hair? Since Lewis'' hair is a little puffypared to Ruto''s hair?]

    "I haven''t stopped growing yet."

    What?

    Neoma was surprised by Ruto''s response to Lewis'' taunting.

    [Wow. When did Ruto be petty, too???]

    "No, you''re already twenty-two years old, Ruto," Neoma blurted out before she could even stop herself. "You won''t get taller than you already are."

    "Our physical bodies are different from that of ordinary humans, Princess Neoma," Ruto said. "You know that."

    Of course, she knew that.

    That was why she was frustrated by the fact that she would continue growing taller against her wishes.

    "Whatever. Let''s stop talking about height since it''s a sensitive topic for me," Neoma said, gently grabbing Lewis by his sleeve. "I''m not going anywhere without Lewis. Not anymore."

    Lewis didn''t say anything, but his face beamed.

    [Someone is happy.]

    To be honest, all of her "children" wanted toe with her.

    But she knew that it would be hard for both of her and Lewis to bring everyone to a divine domain. Hence, she chose Lewis to bring with her.

    [Lewis is themander anyway, so the other kids are satisfied with that.]

    "Very well," Ruto said, snapping his fingers. "Let''s go to my house."

    House?

    Where?

    In the Upper World?

    Neoma didn''t have time to ask questions because she was fascinated by the pretty magic circle that appeared below her feet.

    The magic circle was purple, and there was the image of Ruto''s ancient bow inside. Little arrows were circling around inside the big ring, and there were also glowing golden ancient texts circling around outside the big ring.

    Ah, no.

    They weren''t ancient words but ancient numbers.

    "Is this your house password or something?" Neoma asked curiously, then she looked at Ruto''s face with a raised brow. "Interesting how I recognize my birthday there."

    Ruto looked surprised as if he just remembered that Neoma could read ancientnguage, then he avoided her gaze as if he was embarrassed. "The old me set that up¨C I''ll change itter if it makes you ufortable."

    ***

    "I NEVER really liked Ruston Stroganoff for Neoma."

    Monaughed softly at what Niki said. "Love, you think NO ONE is good enough for your daughter. I''m sure you''ll find ws in every person who shows interest in Neoma in a romantic sense."

    If Ruto Solfrid, no doubt the most sought-after bachelor of his generation, were no good for Neoma¨C then no one would ever be.

    [I don''t like the fact that Ruto threatened Neoma''s life, but I can''t deny that he''s a "catch."]

    Ruto was good-looking, wealthy, and capable.

    Moreover, there was no imbnced power dynamic between Ruto and Neoma because both had high social status.

    Ruto was the Solfrid Heir¨C a huge and influential n from the Eastern Continent. He also had royal blood in him because he was closely rted to the king of the Kingdom of Suoh. Most of all, he was the divine son of Lord Levi¨C the God Among Gods.

    Neoma was the one and only royal princess of the Great Moonasterion Empire, the future empress regnant, and the descendant of Lord Yule¨C the Moon God.

    [The two are also both capable of destroying the world if they wanted to.]

    "You''re not wrong," Niki agreed with her. "But Ruston Stroganoff is the worst. He dared to point a weapon at Neoma."

    Niki was upset because they both knew that Ruto was capable of killing Neoma.

    "It''s a shame," Mona said while putting some clothes inside the glowing cube on the table. It was an enchanted storage. She was putting some food, clothes, hygiene kit, and some other things they might need in there. "Neoma really likes Ruto."

    Of course, Mona didn''t like that Ruto tried to kill Neoma.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    But on the other hand, she understood where the young God yer wasing from. Hence, she would also understand if Neoma still chose to be Ruto despite everything.

    "How can Neoma continue liking that rascal after he tried to kill her?"

    "Niki, we''re in no position to judge their rtionship," Mona scolded Niki. "You tried to kill our twins when they were still in my womb, hunted me down because you thought I ran away with Gavin, then neglected our children for years. Yet, despite all of that, I forgave and epted you again. And here were are now, still together."

    When she was living in Korea, she learned a lot of things about rtionships.

    Mona recognized Niki as a ''red g,'' and she was aware that their rtionship was ''toxic'' in the eyes of most people.

    Even so, it was her decision to stay with him.

    [Fortunately, I haven''t regretted my decision yet.]

    "I know our rtionship isn''t really healthy," Niki admitted. After all, he also learned the things that Mona had learned in Korea. "And that''s exactly why I don''t want Neoma to follow our bad example."

    Aww.

    Mona smiled because THIS was the reason why she epted Niki in her life again¨C he was a good father to their children. Well, sometimes he would let his love for her take the better of him. But she knew he was working on it. "You''re getting better each and every day, Niki. If you were still the old you, I''m sure you wouldn''t have allowed me to investigate the Blood Sea with Miss Dahlia without throwing a tantrum."

    Not that she would listen to Niki.

    She would have still left even if he didn''t give her "permission."

    "I''m still worried, though," Niki admitted. "If the crows'' Impure Mana could kill a powerful Sorcerer like Trevor Kesser, who''s to say that it wouldn''t harm you or Neoma? Both you and our daughter are favored by Nature, and one of Nature''s natural enemies is Impure Mana. After all, you can''t purify it."

    "Neoma has a theory that she wants to test," she said hesitantly. "To be honest, I''m quite worried about the thing that our daughter wants to try. It''s too dangerous even for her."

    "I know you''ll stop our daughter if it''s too dangerous, Mona."

    "If I could, I would. But you know it, don''t you?"

    Niki flinched at first, then he nodded. "I know, love."

    "Neoma has already surpassed me," Mona said, smiling proudly. "Neoma is now stronger than me."

    ***

    A WHITE ROOM.

    As expected.

    Neoma thought the white empty room with a high ceiling was as boring as the current Ruto''s personality and expressions.

    [But I should just keep my mouth shut when I have nothing nice to say.]

    See?

    [Contrary to popr belief, I have manners.]

    "This is my training room," Ruto exined. "This domain is connected to Lord Levi''s domain, but this is isted from the Upper World. Hence, even if we go all-out, the gods won''t notice it¡­ I guess."

    Neoma raised an eyebrow at Ruto. "You don''t sound convinced by your own exnation, Ruto."

    "I haven''t fought anyone yet in this space, so I wouldn''t know what would happen if two people who have the power to destroy the world fought here."

    "Then let''s set a limit. I don''t want the gods to notice me. Not yet, at least," she said, the gamey that she envisioned already gettingpleted in her head. "We will still go all-out, but let''s just use one technique or weapon. I won''t use Tteokbokki, Grandpa Kingston, and my baby Spirits. I won''t borrow Vespera''s strength, too. Not even Skewer. And especially not my premium air purifier mode."

    Ruto knitted his eyebrows, confused. "Then what are you going to use to fight me?"

    "My Dome," Neoma said confidently. "That''s enough to win against you."

    He didn''t say anything back, but he turned more serious as if he couldn''t ept her statement. "Then I''ll only use my ancient bow and arrows."

    "Perfect," she said, genuinely relieved by Ruto''s choice of weapon. "I was actually hoping you''d choose that weapon. After all, my pride was bruised when your arrows cracked and pushed back my Dome."

    "I will only use a single arrow," Ruto announced in a serious tone. "Not because I''m looking down on you¨C but because I''m putting everything in that single shot."

    Oh.

    Good thing he exined because she almost got pissed.

    "Very well," Neoma said, nodding. Then she turned to Lewis and smiled at him. "Stand behind me, Lewis. I will protect you."

    Lewis nodded, his eyes full of trust. "I got your back, Princess Neoma."

    ***

    LEVI was having a conference with the major gods currently active in the Upper World when IT happened.

    For the first time in centuries, a huge part of the Upper World exploded.

    No¨C the explosion came from somewhere else, and it just so happened to reach the Upper World because of how powerful the impact was.

    And he instantly recognized the cause of that explosion.

    Levi shut his eyes tight.

    [Neoma de Moonasterio, Yoan Solfrid¡­ have you gone mad and decided to destroy the Upper World together?]

    ***

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 Chapter 733 THE ARROW AND THE DOME

    ?

    "PRINCESS NEOMAAAAAAAAA~~~"

    Huh?

    [That annoying voice¡­]

    "Your Royal Highness is still as beautiful as ever!"

    Neoma was surprised when Aspen, Ruto''s demigod friend, appeared out of nowhere.

    But she didn''t mind. In fact, she liked how Aspen was in love with her face since it stroked her ego.

    And yeah, that was her narcissism speaking.

    "Hello, Lord Aspen," Neoma greeted the demigod in a friendly manner. "Fancy meeting you here."

    "My father is having a conference with Lord Levi and the other gods in the Upper World," Aspen said in an equally friendly voice. "And Captain Ruto informed mest night that he''ll have a slightly serious sparring with you here. I can''t miss it for the world."

    Neoma just smiled at the demigod''s enthusiasm.

    [I know Lord Aspen is way older than me, but he acts like a golden retriever. Will he get insulted if I asked to pet his head?]

    "Don''t."

    Neoma turned to Lewis who was giving her a disapproving look. "What?" she asked defensively. "Can you read my mind?"

    "I don''t have to read your mind to know what you''re thinking, Princess Neoma," Lewis said, sighing while shaking his head as if he was so done with her already. "We don''t need a family pet. We already have a grumpy old cat at home."

    Okay, that was a surprise. "We have?"

    "Xion."

    She almost choked on her saliva.

    And she couldn''t decide what was funnier: the fact that Lewis knew exactly what she was thinking, hence suggesting that Lewis also thought Aspen looked like an adorable dog. Or the fact that he called Xion a grumpy old cat.

    Neoma nudged Lewis yfully. "Don''t talk behind your hyung''s back like that."

    Lewis sulked a little after getting scolded. "We call Xion a grumpy old cat to his face all the time."

    Aww.

    [My "children" have grown closer these past five years, huh? They already dropped the honorifics when talking to each other, except for Greko.]

    But it wasn''t the right time to get touched.

    Neoma cleared her throat before facing Ruto and Aspen who were just quietly listening to her silly conversation with Lewis. "We''re sorry, we got distracted for a moment," she said. "Anyway, will you be fine, Lord Aspen? Ruto and I will fight for real. I''ll protect Lewis, but would you need my protection as well?"

    "Oh, that wouldn''t be necessary, Princess Neoma," Aspen said cheerfully. "I may look like this, but I''m actually the shield of our group. And I''m also here to make sure that this domain will withstand your fight."

    "That''s a relief then."

    "Princess Neoma, I don''t want to sound rude, but are you really sure about fighting our Captain Ruto? I know you''re calling it ''sparring,'' but a fight between a de Moonasterio and the God yer would at least destroy a small kingdom in the human world." The demigod tilted his head to one side, looking innocent. Keyword: innocent. His eyes had a devilish glint in them, though. "I''m sorry to say this, but our Captain Ruto is clearly stronger."

    "Aspen," Ruto said in a scolding voice. "Shut up."

    "It''s alright, Ruto," Neoma said, gently patting Lewis'' shoulder to stop her "son" from talking back to Aspen. Then she faced the demigod with a smile on her face. "Lord Aspen, let me give you a "spoiler" of this fight: Ruto will lose because he''s stronger than me."

    Not that she was admitting Ruto was stronger than her.

    [But I NEED Ruto to be stronger than me to win this match swiftly.]

    Of course, Aspen justughed it off. "I see¨C Princess Neoma is still as arrogant as ever."

    "Princess Neoma is arrogant because she has the skills to back it up," Ruto said, grabbing Aspen by the shoulder. "You better create a sturdy shield if you want to survive, Aspen. Our princess here holds grudges."

    Aspen seemed to have taken Ruto''s warning seriously because the demigod suddenly turned serious.

    [Gosh, he takes Ruto''s words seriously but not mine?]

    "Lord Aspen, good luck," Neoma said, cheering the demigod with both of her fists clenched. "You need that."

    ***

    [HI. MY NAME is Aspen. And I have to say, this is the most boring yet also exciting match that I''ve seen in my entire life.]

    Aspen was watching Captain Ruto and Princess Neoma''s fight closely.

    The two were just standing opposite each other with at least thirty meters between them before the God yer made his first move.

    [I heard they''re only going to use one attack.]

    He supposed rules were needed to be made so Captain Ruto and Princess Neoma wouldn''t kill each other in a "sparring."

    Hence, Aspen expected the fight to end quickly.

    Without further ado, Captain Ruto summoned his ancient bow. Soon enough, a dark purple arrow quickly materialized.

    And it looked ominous.

    The single arrow pointing at Princess Neoma could destroy half of the Great Moonasterion Empire, and that wasn''t an exaggeration.

    [That''s how powerful the single arrow is!]

    Aspen raised his arms, creatingyers of shield to protect himself from the impending attack.

    Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw the royal princess do the same.

    Princess Neoma raised a hand while creating severalyers of her famous dome-shaped shield.

    Hmm?

    [I heard Princess Neoma only creates oneyer of shield. Did she panic and create moreyers since she knows she''d die if Captain Ruto''s arrow hit her?]

    He couldn''t tell because Princess Neoma was wearing a stoic face at the moment.

    And that gave him goosebumps.

    Princess Neoma wore an eyewear simr to a pair of eyesses, but with a darker ss. Even so, Aspen could clearly see the royal princess'' glowing red eyes.

    Again, he felt a shiver down his spine.

    [Those barriers are sturdy enough to protect the entire empire!]

    If the single arrow was enough to destroy half of the empire collided against the shield sturdy enough to protect the entire empire, what would happen?

    He got his answer soon after.

    Captain Ruto released the single arrow with a nk look on his face.

    The single arrow shot into the air as quickly as lightning would, hitting the firstyer of Princess Neoma''s shield.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    CRACK.

    Then the single arrow pierced through the firstyer of the shield, hitting the second one.

    CRAACK.

    Then the thirdyer.

    CRAAACK.

    And the cycle continued until four moreyers of Princess Neoma''s shield broke into tiny pieces.

    CRAAAAAAACK.

    Aspen smiled, already seeing Captain Ruto''s victory. "Only one moreyer¡­"

    There were two things that made him stop talking.

    First, Aspen realized that the pointy edge of the single arrow had already touched the finalyer of the shield. However, the single arrow couldn''t pierce through it. Heck, the single arrow wouldn''t even scratch the barrier.

    [It''s as if the finalyer of the shield is the REAL Dome and the others were just bait.]

    He was in deep thought when Princess Neoma suddenly turned to him, smiling.

    Aspen suddenly trembled.

    [Wait, is this fear?]

    "Lord Aspen, you''re right ¨C Ruto is stronger than me," Princess Neoma said, removing her eyewear to look at him¨C her glowing red eyes turning into little crescent moons. The beautiful royal princess was still beautiful, but the coldness in her eyes scared the hell out of Alphen. "That''s why this is my win."

    ***

    NEOMA turned away from Aspen after giving him a piece of her mind, then she turned to Ruto¨C her smile fading away. She was only using one hand to control her Dome. But, for her second attack, she had to raise her other hand. "Ruto, I forgot to tell you the name of this attack."

    Ruto didn''t say anything, but she could tell that he was gathering the rest of his remaining power to defend against her second attack.

    Clearly, he knew that she wasn''t done yet.

    [But I bet he doesn''t know what''sing for him.]

    Neoma smiled. She wasn''t counting her chicks before the eggs hatched. But she was going to win¨C all because Ruto was stronger than her. "This is called ''Twin Domes.''"

    As soon as she mentioned the name of her technique, the pieces of the shields that the single broke earlier suddenly floated¨C and then they flew at Ruto''s direction as if they were little darts headed to the board.

    But while in the air, the broken pieces gathered together until their real form was revealed.

    It was a new Dome¨C and it was as powerful and sturdy as the Dome that was currently protecting Neoma and Lewis from the single arrow.

    "Ruto," Neoma said, smiling apologetically at him. "You remember the rule, don''t you? We''re only allowed to use ONE attack."

    Ruto just red at her, then he tried to avoid the Dome.

    But it was already toote.

    The Dome was quicker than Ruto, swallowing the God yer who now looked like a fish trapped in a round aquarium.

    That was just the beginning, though.

    Neoma pped her hands together. "Crush him."

    And then the Dome began to "fold" itself with the intention of squeezing the victim inside.

    ***

    RUTO realized that she fell into Neoma''s trap as soon as he found himself inside the Dome.

    The royal princess'' famous shield was now slowly folding itself with the intention of crushing him.

    Now he understood why Princess Neoma reminded him of the rule.

    [But even if she didn''t remind me of the rule, I have no choice but to still do what she EXPECTS me to do.]

    After all, he didn''t have enough power to recreate the single arrow that he created with all that he got.

    [Tsk.]

    Ruto, who would get crushed inside the Dome if he didn''t do anything, had no choice but to summon the single arrow that he released earlier.

    After all, it was the only thing that could break Neoma''s Dome.

    [This Dome is slightly weaker than the Dome protecting Neoma at the moment.]

    And he knew why the Dome that trapped him was weaker than the royal princess''.

    [She really wants to kill me, huh?]

    Ruto curled a finger, summoning the single arrow. "Come back."

    With hismand, the single arrow suddenly spun around and flew towards his direction in lightning speed¨C hitting the Dome right away.

    And then it happened.

    "Sorry, Ruto."

    As soon as the single arrow touched the Dome that was trying to crush him to death, the Dome suddenly COLLAPSED. It caused an explosion since the collision still created an intense impact. But it wasn''t the only problem.

    The real dilemma came after that.

    Ruto didn''t have time to avoid the single arrow.

    In short, he was hit by his own powerful attack.

    Ah, Ruto finally understood why Neoma said that she would win because he was stronger than her.

    This was why.

    For the first time in a long while, he felt seriously pissed.

    [Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio!]

    ***

    NOTE: Hi! I posted a drawing/fanart of Neoma and Trevor (with their matching ear cuffs!) on my k/ofi page (k/o-fi /s_c)~ Please check it out~ And you may buy me coffee if you can to help me win the May challenge. Thank youuu~ T_T

    ***

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 Chapter 734 IVE WON, BUT AT WHAT COST?

    ?

    ASPEN''S SHIELD broke.

    A demi-god''s shield broke¨C and it was a big deal.

    The reason he was an indispensable member of the team despite his "problematic" personality was his ability to protect everyone with his shield.

    But he felt useless now.

    Captain Ruto''s training room VANISHED along with its surroundings.

    The captain''s training room was in the middle of long-range mountains. But after the explosion, the mountains were ttened to the ground and only huge craters were left everywhere. Fortunately, aside from the trees and the nts, there were no living things there¨C no animals, beasts, or humans.

    [I''m supposed to prevent that from happening, but my shield broke¡­]

    Worse, half of Captain Ruto''s domain was destroyed.

    As if that wasn''t bad enough, Aspen could also see that the explosion had hit a portion of the Upper World.

    [Captain Ruto''s domain is separated from the Upper World, but it''s not that too far from it. Even so, the fact that the explosion reached the Upper World says so much about how intense the impact was. It was powerful enough to cause a skyquake that shook even the Upper World.]

    There was no way the gods wouldn''t know the cause of the explosion.

    After all, both Captain Ruto and Princess Neoma had unique Mana that no one would mistake for anyone else.

    These two children were monsters among humans, indeed.

    [No wonder Lord Levi is against Captain Ruto and Princess Neoma''s rtionship. If the two of them ended up together, a bloodline worse than the de Moonasterios would be born.]

    Wait, this wasn''t the right to worry about something that may not happen in the future.

    Aspen hurriedly ran towards Captain Ruto to check on his condition. The thick dust hadn''t settled yet, but he didn''t care about that. "Captain Rutooooooooo!"

    "Shut up, Aspen."

    He was relieved to hear that from his captain.

    [He''s alive. He''s fine. He lost, though¡­]

    Aspen observed Captain Ruto, his mouth shut.

    This was the first time he saw his captain sitting on the ground, rugged and heavily injured.

    Captain Ruto was bleeding from head to toe and his clothes were tattered. Even his hair was messy and dirty from the dust around them. But, most of all, it was obvious that he couldn''t stand.

    "Captain Ruto, you lost," Aspen said, stating the obvious. "It''s a surprise that you survived the explosion."

    "Princess Neoma protected me," Captain Ruto said, his eyes fixed in Princess Neoma''s direction. "She used the broken pieces of her Dome to weaken the arrow."

    ***

    RUTO saw it clearly.

    Before the single arrow hit him after the Dome copsed, the tiny broken pieces of the shield floated and gathered together until it took the form of a square-shaped barrier. If he remembered it correctly, Neoma called that shield the ''Wall.''

    It was a very small Wall that blocked the single arrow for a moment. But even though it was only for a moment, the effect was huge as the Wall weakened the arrow.

    [After all, the Wall was still as sturdy as any of Neoma''s shields.]

    Thanks to that, Ruto had enough time to gather his strength and create a quick yet sturdy barrier to block the arrow. If he didn''t do that, he may have been seriously injured. In the worst-case scenario, he could have died.

    [I thought she wanted me to lose badly. But why did she protect me?]

    Ruto couldn''t understand that part.

    [I tried to eliminate her just like what my divine father ordered me to do so. If she took this chance to kill me for real, I wouldn''t hold it against her.]

    He knew that Neoma wasn''t a kind person.

    [She holds grudges... so why?]

    His thoughts were interrupted when his eyes met Princess Neoma''s glowing red eyes. The dust and other dirt around them had started to settle down. Hence, he could see the royal princess more clearly now.

    Neoma was inside her Dome, still standing. But she wasn''tpletely fine. Blood was trickling down the corner of her mouth, after all.

    He wasn''t surprised to see that.

    [Of course, using such power to create an unbreakable shield would have a recoil on her body.]

    He lost, but he didn''t mind it.

    Ruto clenched his chest tight, wondering why his heartbeat was erratic. Moreover, he couldn''t tear his gaze away from Neoma.

    [The air of dignity around her doesn''t vanish despite the blood in her mouth.]

    Neoma still looked strong and very beautiful¡­

    [Huh?]

    Ruto''s eyes opened wide, letting out a soft gasp. "I can see Neoma''s face now¡­"

    And it was the most beautiful thing he had seen in all his lives.

    ***

    THE LITTLE Prince''s ss dome.

    Neoma''s Dome was narrower than normal, hence she was reminded by the Little Prince''s ss dome. Of course, she was the precious rose inside.

    [And Lewis is the thorn.]

    "Are you alright, Princess Neoma?"

    "I''m alright," Neoma said after coughing up a huge chunk of blood. "I won, and that''s what matters most."

    Of course, that was bullshit.

    Every fiber of her being hurt like a bitch.

    The only reason she remained standing still was her pride. But, to be honest, she wanted to lie down on the ground.

    Her muscles were aching.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Her insides were burning.

    Worse, she was running out of Mana and Moonglow.

    Her fight with Ruto may have looked easy because she didn''t move an inch from her spot. But it only looked easy because she was a fucking genius. She didn''t have to leave her ce because all she had to do was control her Mana and Moonglow to maintain her shield.

    And she just needed to concentrate in order to split the Dome into several pieces. The tricky part was making sure that each piece was sturdy and strong enough to make an attack.

    [Because my shields aren''t just used for defense¨C they''re also good for offense.]

    "You shouldn''t have protected Ruto Solfrid, Princess Neoma."

    "Right?" Neoma agreed with Lewis even though the tone that he used was disapproving. "I must like Ruto more than I''d like to admit."

    That, and because she had another reason for doing something so stupid.

    [It''s not me being a pushover, okay?]

    Neoma touched the Dome, and with just one touch, it slowly vanished.

    Then she didn''t waste any more time and walked towards Ruto, Lewis following behind her in silence.

    [Let''s get this done and over with.]

    Neoma stood in front of Ruto, looking down at him while Ruto looked up at her since he was sitting on the ground.

    Ruto''s different-colored eyes looked beautiful.

    His glowing red eye reminded her that he was the divine son of her least favorite god, while his normal dark purple eye reminded her of the green g Ruto that she knew and loved.

    [But this person is almost a stranger to me now.]

    Having said that, Neoma''s heart still ached as she saw how injured Ruto was because of her attack.

    [That must have hurt.]

    The explosion was like a meteor falling straight into Ruto. If he wasn''t as powerful as he was, then he would have already been ttened to the ground just like their surroundings.

    "I''m sorry, Ruto," Neoma said, removing her pastel-pink long coat. Then she draped it over Ruto''s shoulders. After that, she squatted down and hugged her knees while looking at Ruto''s dirty and bloody face. She wanted to clean it with her own hands, but she refrained from doing so. "Did I overdo it?"

    "Now you''re just trying to hurt my pride," Rutoined lightly. "You don''t have to apologize. If anything, I should thank you for protecting me. If you didn''t weaken the arrow with the small Wall you created, I would have been half-dead by now."

    "Well, I like you."

    He looked surprised by what she said. "That came out of nowhere."

    "I know, right?" she agreed while nodding. "I like you, Ruto. But I''m going to stop now."

    Once again, he looked surprised. But he didn''t say anything else this time.

    "I know that I let you kill me in the first timeline, and I have a feeling that I allowed you to poison me when I was living as Kim Neoma. After all, I needed to "die" in order for my soul to return to this world," Neoma said in a serious tone. "I''m afraid that if I continue liking you this way, I might end up offering my life to you again. It seems like I like you more than I hate the fact that you keep choosing the greater good for me."

    She knew that the green g Ruto, the one that she fell in love with, had already made a resolve to choose her this time.

    It was the reason why she didn''t give up on him.

    She was confident that she could make Ruto fall in love with her all over again.

    However, it seemed like she was just being arrogant this time.

    "Ruto, Trevor is currently dying. But you know what? Instead of finding a way to live, he''s prepared to use his remaining Mana to extend my lifespan."

    Ah, fuck.

    Neoma forgot that Lewis was standing behind her, but it was toote to stop now.

    [Can I fool Lewis?]

    Maybe she could tell her "son" that she just needed to extend her lifespan for¡­ uh, fun? To be more OP? To make sure that she''d live a long life with everyone?

    Ah, whatever.

    [I''ll just cross the bridge when I get there.]

    "Trevor is my best friend. I won''t let him die, of course. But this situation pped me back to reality," Neoma said, smiling sadly. "Ruto, I can''t let you kill me in this lifetime. That would be a great insult to Trevor''s genuine feelings for me. Of course, that also applies to every single person who loves me. I can''t hurt them for you."

    And it wasn''t like she wanted to die.

    [I only have five years to live, so I must live carefully and selfishly and do whatever I want so I won''t die with regrets.]

    "Neoma¡­ I don''t want to kill you."

    She recognized the pain in Ruto''s voice, but he also looked confused as to why he was feeling that way at the moment.

    "I know, Ruto," Neoma said, nodding. "I know that you''re only doing your job as the God yer. But just because I understand you''re only doing your job doesn''t mean I''m not hurt by your actions. I''m sorry, but this is my limit. I still like you, but we should end this toxic rtionship before we get hurt even more."

    She opened her hand, the Love Contract that she made with the green g Ruto materializing above her palm.

    "Tteokbokki, burn this contract."

    And, just like that, the Love Contract was burned to ashes.

    "Ruto, I will always be grateful to you for all the good things that you''ve done for me," Neoma said, her eyes brimming with tears now. "And I will always be sorry to you for failing to fulfill my promise to love you until you learn to love me again. I forgave you for choosing the greater good for me before, so please forgive me for choosing myself this time." She slightly touched Ruto''s cheek with the back of her hand. It was the part where his burn mark used to be. "Please take care of yourself, babe."

    She thought her feelings wouldn''t reach Ruto because he had changed.

    Hence, she was surprised by his reaction.

    Ruto didn''t say anything, but tears rolled down his cheeks like waterfalls. And it looked like he didn''t even realize that he was crying.

    [He''s crying for me.]

    "Don''t make saying goodbye to you harder than it already is," Neoma said, her own tears rolling down her cheeks silently. "If you''re going to fall in love with me again, why didn''t you fall sooner?"

    ***

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 Chapter 735 GET YOUR SON AWAY FROM ME

    ?

    NEOMA wasn''t surprised by Ruto''s feelings, though.

    She had always known that he loved her, after all. And that wasn''t the issue anyway.

    [I never doubted that Ruto loves me. The question has always been "how much?"]

    "Before you lost all your positive feelings for me, you said you''d choose me over the world or the greater good. If you have any n to fall for me again, then you better make the same resolve. That''s the only way to win me back," Neoma said, her heart aching while watching Ruto cry. Hence, her own tears already stopped falling. Now she was more concerned about Ruto than her own heart. "I''ll touch your face, okay? Push me if you hate it."

    Ruto just looked at her, his tears still rolling down his cheeks nonstop.

    "It''s okay to cry, but let''s clean your handsome face first," Neoma said, wiping Ruto''s tears, blood, and sweat off his face as carefully as possible. "Soju, a little help, please. Thank you."

    As a response to her call, her hands were soon covered in a bluish light.

    It was the Water Spirit''s power.

    Hence, right now, her hands served like a washcloth as she cleaned Ruto''s face.

    "Do you have a healing potion with you?" she asked. "You should drink one before you get a doctor or a Healer to treat your injuries."

    Ruto suddenly grabbed her wrists, but he did it so gently that it didn''t hurt.

    [I was just a bit startled.]

    "I''m fine now, Neoma," Ruto said weakly. "Thank you."

    "Okay," she said, nodding. "Then you can let go of my wrists now."

    Ruto looked surprised, but he still didn''t let go of her wrists. "You''re also¡­ hurt. Let me give you some of my Mana so you''d recover faster."

    "I appreciate the thought, but no thanks," she said. "I can''t ept Mana from you when you need it more than I do."

    "My injuries are external, but yours are internal."

    She was about to argue that Ruto also received internal injuries, but she was interrupted when Aspen cleared his throat.

    "With all due respect, both of you are severely injured externally and internally, Captain Ruto and Princess Neoma."

    Neoma and Ruto turned to Aspen and talked at the same time. "Shut up, Aspen."

    She said it lightheartedly, and she was just actually teasing the demigod because she knew what Ruto would say.

    "Fine," Aspen said, acting like he was zipping out his mouth. "I''m the demigod here, but what am Ipared to divine monsters like you two?"

    ''Divine monsters,'' huh?

    Neoma was impressed. "That''s a newpliment."

    Aspen flinched and avoided her gaze. "That wasn''t exactly apliment, Princess Neoma¡­"

    "I get to decide that," she said stubbornly. "Divine monsters sound cool as heck, so it''s apliment."

    "Uh, if you say so, Princess Neoma¡­"

    "Hands."

    Hmm???

    Neoma was surprised when Lewis suddenly unsheathed his sword, then pointed the de at Ruto''s wrist.

    "Princess Neoma asked you to let go."

    "What a rude child," Aspen said, his eyes glowing menacingly while ring at Lewis. "Who gave you the right to threaten our Captain Ruto?"

    Neoma was about to stop Aspen and Lewis from fighting, but she realized she didn''t have to.

    Ruto already let go of her wrists and gave Aspen a warning look, causing the demigod to calm down and acted as if he wasn''t just about to fight Lewis earlier.

    [Aigoo.]

    Neoma turned to Lewis, then Lewis silently put the sword back into the sheathe.

    [He''s also acting like he just didn''t threaten to cut off Ruto''s wrists.]

    Aigoo.

    "I''m sorry for touching you without permission, Neoma," Ruto said apologetically. "And thank you for helping me clean my face."

    Neoma just nodded because she suddenly felt a shift in the air, then she stood up and turned around to greet the guest. "It''s been a while, Lord Levi. Do you remember me?"

    "As if the puny crows'' curse would work on me."

    [Yep, it''s Lord Levi, alright.]

    "That''s Lord Levi for you," Neoma said, pping her hands slowly in appreciation. "You''re so OP. And is it just me or does my lord look more handsome than you did five years ago? Gosh, you''ll pass as Ruto''s older brother, my lord." She gave the God Among Gods a double thumbs up. "That''s how young you look, Lord Levi."

    At this point, everyone was looking at her weirdly.

    Even Lewis'' gaze was telling her that she was up to no good again.

    Of course, even Lord Levi looked suspicious. "Are you sucking up to me or are you being sarcastic, young de Moonasterio? I know you''re obsessed with attractive faces, but I also know you''re not fond of me."

    Neoma stopped pping and turned serious. "I already broke up with Ruto, my lord."

    "Do you want me to congratte you for doing the right thing?"

    "Gosh, look at that sass," she said, slightly annoyed. But she instantly calmed down after reminding herself that she wasn''t here to fight the gods. "Lord Levi, since I did you a great favor by breaking up with your divine son, don''t be shameless and give me a reward."

    Lord Levi looked genuinely confused by her demand. "Why would I give you a reward for breaking up with my son?"

    "You''re not a man of culture, my lord," she teased the god slightly, then she crossed her arms over her chest. "Lord Levi, in Kdramas, rich moms offer their son''s partner with a huge amount of money to break up with their child."

    Now the god looked even more serious. "You''re being serious?"

    "I''m arrogant and sarcastic, but I never take dealing with gods lightly," Neoma said, then she turned to Ruto with an apologetic look on his face. "I''m sorry for using our break up this way, Ruto. I hope you know that I''m genuinely heartbroken. That''s why I need to getpensation, at least."

    "I''m not offended," Ruto said, and he looked quite amused. "I''m actually amazed since you''re the first person to treat my divine father this way, Neoma."

    "It''s just one of my charms, Ruto," she said smugly, then she turned to Lord Levi again. "My lord, I''m serious. I want a reward."

    Lord Levi looked at her with dubious eyes. "And if I agreed, what would you want as a reward?"

    "Make me an exception to your strict rules."

    "What do you mean by that?"

    "You didn''t lose your memories of me, so you know that I''m the most sought-after premium air purifier in the world," Neoma said, going straight to business. "After helping Goddess Alethea and fighting Ruto here, I can tell that most gods have noticed me again. It''s only a matter of time before gods get involved in my business."

    "Are you trying to tell me to turn a blind eye every time you summon a god for your own benefit?"

    "Oh, as expected of the God Among Gods¨C my lord is quick to catch on," she said, pping her hands again. "That''s exactly what I want you to do."

    "Do you know why rules are made in the first ce?" Lord Levi scoffed, shaking his head. "It''s to maintain the peace and order in both worlds."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Lord Levi, please stop ying dumb," she said firmly. "You know that the peace you''re talking about is ending soon."

    The God Among Gods just looked as if he was threatening her.

    "You can''t shut me up, my lord," she said. "Both you and I know that I''m right. You let Lord Helstor, the God of Eternal Darkness, let loose for the past five years."

    "I''ve already banned that sinner from the Upper World."

    "But the damage has already been done, right?"

    Of course, Levi couldn''t refute her words.

    "Lord Levi, I''m cleaning up after the mess that the supposedly all-powerful gods couldn''t," Neoma said in a serious and slightly annoyed tone. "The least thing you could do for me is turn a blind eye whenever I drag the gods into my affairs. It''s not like I''m only doing this for myself. You and Ruto are both obsessed with the "greater good," aren''t you? Then consider what I do for the greater good."

    "You''re crossing the line, Neoma de Moonasterio."

    She opened her arms to show the god the result of her fight with Ruto. "My lord, can''t you see this mess? This is the result of my little sparring with Ruto. If we didn''t stick to one rule, then the damage would have been worse."

    "What are you trying to say this time?"

    "If you send Ruto after me again for supposedly breaking your rules, I''ll make sure our next fight would destroy the Upper World."

    "You''re too young to be threatening an old god like me, child."

    "Don''t call me a ''child'' in an attempt to patronize me, my lord," Neoma said, her eyes now glowing red. "Do you think I enjoy helping gods? I''m in my golden years¨C I should be enjoying my youth and dating your divine son like a normal maiden in love. But I had to give that up for the sake of this fucking world. Ah, dammit. My lord is making me curse when I already made a resolve not to curse in front of Lewis!" She took a deep breath while fixing her bangs. "Sorry for raising my voice. I just kinda¡­ snapped."

    She wasn''t a good person, but she wanted to avoid yelling at people as much as she could.

    [Yelling doesn''t solve anything, after all.]

    "If my initial request is too much, then how about this, my lord?" Neoma said in a calmer voice this time. Then she raised three fingers. "Three times. Turn a blind eye to me for three times. After that, you may send Ruto after me."

    The God Among Gods remained silent.

    "Lord Levi, you know that the de Moonasterios are crazy, don''t you? And I think I''m the craziest de Moonasterio born in history. Not crazy-bad like my grandfather and other ancestors that fucked up in the past, but crazy in a way that once Ipletely lost my mind, I''d end up burning the entire world to ashes," she said,ughing like she had lost it already. Then she stoppedughing. "So let''s not make this more stressful than it already is."

    She must really be insane for threatening the God Among Gods like this.

    But she already snapped.

    [I should seriously work on my temper¡­]

    "Lord Levi, I don''t think it''s a bad deal," Ruto said, convincing his divine father. "You''ve seen the result of my fight with Neoma. If we fight like this every time she breaks the rules, then we might end up destroying both the human and the Upper World."

    "Right? It''s not like Ruto and I have infinite energies to continue fighting on this scale," Neoma added. "If we fight like this all the time, then both of us are bound to break down soon, no matter how OP we are. And admit it, Lord Levi. Ruto and I are your strongest "soldiers." We''re probably the only ones who could protect this world FOR FREE. You can''t afford to lose either of us, not when Lord Helstor is lurking around."

    Yep, that was it.

    That was the argument that softened up Levi''s expression.

    "Three times."

    Oh?

    "You can only break the rules three times, Neoma de Moonasterio," Levi said, giving in. "I expect you to stay away from my son from now on."

    "Yep, I can do that, my lord. I''ll stay away from Ruto from now on. However¡­" Neoma paused, then she turned to Ruto and looked at him straight in the eye. "It''s not my responsibility if Ruto falls for me again and starts chasing me."

    She honestly thought Ruto would deny it strongly.

    However, Ruto just avoided her gaze.

    [Are his ears red or is it just dried blood?]

    And why was Ruto hugging the pastel-pink long coat that she draped over his shoulders earlier???

    [Why is he acting like a shy maiden all of a sudden?]

    Weirdly cute.

    "I know that my son has never stopped loving you, but I also know that his duty is more important to him than what his heart says," Levi said confidently. "So you don''t have to worry about that, Neoma de Moonasterio."

    Neoma rolled her eyes before putting on her sunsses again. "Lord Levi, don''t make that your famousst words."

    ***

    [AND WE''RE back.]

    Neoma didn''t give a fuck about her dignity as a royal princess anymore.

    As soon as her feet touched the floor of the pavilion by the pond (her favorite ce in the Royal Pce), she plopped to the ground.

    It wasn''t like she''d get a concussion since her head was sturdier than the concrete floor.

    But before the back of her head could even touch the floor, Lewis (who got down on one knee) already used his hand as a cushion. Hence, she ended up lying her head on the back of Lewis'' hand since he put it between her head and the floor.

    "Careful," Neoma scolded Lewis. "Do you want my head to crush your hand?"

    "My body is just as sturdy as yours, Princess Neoma."

    "Even so¨C"

    "Are you dying?"

    Okay, she almost choked on her saliva. But she was a good actress. Hence, she quickly put on an innocent face. She also didn''t avoid Lewis'' piercing gaze. "If you''re talking about what I said earlier, then you misunderstood. Trevor just wanted to put his remaining Mana to good use so he offered to extend my lifespan. He just wants me to live a longer life¨C"

    "Princess Neoma, how long are you going to treat me like a child?" Lewis asked, his voice full of resentment. Then his golden eyes glowed, a sign that he was emotionally unstable at the moment. He must be because Lewis wasn''t a bad kid who would cut her off rudely while she was still talking. "Am I that unreliable to you that you won''t tell me the important things?"

    "Lewis, you know that''s not true¡­"

    She trailed off.

    To be honest, she still wanted to continue ying dumb because she didn''t want her "son" to worry about her.

    However, her brain stopped working when Lewis cried.

    Yes, her "son" cried.

    Big, fat tears rolled down Lewis'' cheeks nonstop.

    There was no good mother in the world who would want to see their child cry, especially if they were the cause of it.

    [I''m a bad "mother" for making Lewis cry.]

    "Five years," Neoma said, sighing. "I only have five years to live, Lewis."

    ***

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 Chapter 736 THE CONTRACTOR

    ?

    "OF ALL the body you could possess, why does it have to be a Solfrid?" Trevor asked, scoffing when the Ancient Devil appeared before him. "Your existence is already annoying. But you''re making me want to kill you now."

    The Ancient Devil justughed at him. "You can''t even lift a finger, Trevor. How could you kill me?"

    "Don''t tempt me. I don''t mind dying earlier if it means dragging you back to hell," he said threateningly. For someone who was lying down on his "deathbed," he sure sounded vindictive. "I can do that out of spite."

    Again, the Ancient Devilughed. "You''re pathetic. Dying from simply touching Impure Mana is embarrassing. I wonder why Nichole de Moonasterio chose you as her sessor."

    He couldn''t refute what the Ancient Devil said.

    Although he could argue that the Impure Mana that the crows used was different and deadlier than normal, it was still embarrassing to die from it.

    [I''m part demon now. I should have been immune to Darkness and Impure Mana.]

    "If you''re only here to annoy me, then leave," Trevor said. "You know that the strongest man in the empire lives here, don''t you? I don''t think the emperor will be kind to an intruder like you."

    "The emperor owes me a debt, so I don''t think he''d be so unkind to kick me out especially when I came here in peace."

    He scoffed at what the Ancient Devil said. "Hey, the emperor isn''t a kind person. He''ll beat you to a pulp before he kicks you out."

    "I also consider that option, so I got rid of the door and the windows."

    "So, you''re also scared of the emperor?"

    "No ancient being in the world is arrogant or foolish enough to ignore the de Moonasterios. They''re called the strongest bloodline in history for a reason," the Ancient Devil said, sitting on the chair next to the bed. "Trevor, do you know that only humans could create ''miracles?'' Gods don''t like things or events that they can''t control. Hence, they create predetermined incidents in advance. Humans like to call it ''fate,'' and it''s supposed to be unchangeable. Unfortunately for the gods, humans are the most sentient beings in existence¨C their intense emotions are enough to change their so-called fate. That''s why gods love making their people suffer. Because the more humans struggle, the more their emotions weaken. To simply put, gods tend to break humans to make them more obedient. And the more these poor people follow their fates, the more gods love them."

    "Are you done?" Trevor asked, bored. "You know I don''t care about things like that, don''t you?"

    "Most gods tend to hate humans who refuse to bend to their will," the Ancient Devil continued, ignoring Trevor''s words. "This is why the gods hate the unpredictable de Moonasterios¨C the gods among men. They were born crazy, so not even gods could predict how they''d change the world."

    "So what''s the moral of the story?"

    "The gods hate Princess Neoma, especially her guts."

    "I already know that," Trevor said, smiling smugly. "And I''m so proud of my Moon Princess for enraging the gods with her mere existence."

    "The gods hate Princess Neoma as much as they NEED her."

    He frowned at the awful reminder. "Yeah, I''m aware of that."

    "Princess Neoma made a mistake recently."

    "What do you mean by that?" Trevorined. "My Moon Princess is perfect¨C she can''t do anything wrong."

    "Princess Neoma made a deal with Goddess Alethea, didn''t she?"

    Okay, that made him nervous.

    Although Trevor was being rude to the Ancient Devil, he couldn''t simply dismiss his words, especially if it concerned his Moon Princess.

    [What could have gone wrong?]

    "Princess Neoma only made a verbal agreement with Goddess Alethea," the Ancient Devil said. "Our na?ve little princess didn''t make a contract with the Goddess of Truth. Do you now see what the problem is?"

    "I do. Even if Goddess Alethea doesn''t fulfill her promise with my Moon Princess, there will be no consequences on the goddess'' part," Trevor said anxiously. "But even if Princess Neoma demands a written contract, she doesn''t have the power to bind gods with a contract. She couldn''t even do that to a minor god, even if she''s more powerful than them."

    Because the power to bind gods through a contract was moreplex than an ancient spell, and Princess Neoma was no mage.

    "Trevor Kesser, what do you think your role in Princess Neoma''s life is?"

    "To be her future husband?"

    The Ancient Devil stood up abruptly. "Then I wish you a painful death, child."

    "That was a joke."

    "It wasn''t funny."

    "I wasn''t trying to impress you, dude," Trevor said. In a normal circumstances, he would have let the Ancient Devil scram. But after the bastard brought up the thing about the contract, he couldn''t turn him away anymore. "I understand what you''re trying to say. I''m part demon, and demons have the power to create contracts. However, I only have a few days to live."

    "Pfft."

    Trevor knitted his eyebrows. "What''s funny?"

    "I just find it amusing that you''re just worried about your remaining lifespan," the Ancient Devil said. "But you never questioned if you COULD make a binding contract with gods."

    "Well, I''m a genius Sorcerer¨C the best in both my generation and this one," Trevor said confidently, shrugging. "You don''t even have to teach me everything. All you have to do is teach me the concept, and I could learn the rest on my own."

    "My, aren''t you the perfect student?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "I am," he said shamelessly. "But as I said, I only have a few days left to live."

    He didn''t want to admit this, but he couldn''t purify the Impure Mana that was killing him inside.

    All he could do was dy the inevitable.

    [Lady Roseheart also helped me slow down the Impure Mana.]

    "Princess Neoma won''t let you die, you stupid child."

    Trevor red at the Ancient Devil. "I know that my Moon Princess will do everything to keep me alive, but I don''t want to cling to that hope only to be disappointed in the end."

    It wasn''t like he didn''t trust Princess Neoma.

    [I just want to prepare for the worst.]

    "Come to me after you fully recovered," the Ancient Devil said. "Don''t ept Nichole de Moonasterio''s offer to be her sessor."

    "And why would I choose you over my eomma?"

    "Because you will have no use for Necromancy," the Ancient Devil responded. "It won''t work on Princess Neoma because the gods will benefit a lot once she dies. Hence, they''ll do everything in their power to prevent Princess Neoma from getting revived."

    "What¨C"

    "Aruna de Moonasterio mastered the Arts of Necromancy, and she passed down that technique to Nichole de Moonasterio when the Princess Royal became the new Devil," the Ancient Devil exined. "If you be the new Devil through Nichole de Moonasterio, then you will gain the Arts of Necromancy¨C which is a great ability, but you wouldn''t want an ability that is useless to Princess Neoma, would you? Moreover, if you were interested in Necromancy, you could learn it on your own."

    "You''re not wrong, but I don''t want your help."

    "Would you really choose your pride over Princess Neoma?"

    Okay, that shut him up.

    "You''ll need my ability to bind gods through a contract once the gods begin seeking Princess Neoma''s help."

    Trevor raised an eyebrow. "And how would I know that you really have that ability?"

    "Pfft." The Ancient Devilughed AT him. "Trevor Kesser, don''t you know that I''m also a god?"

    "What?"

    "A fallen god, to be precise," the Ancient Devil said, putting a hand on his chest. "Why do you think I still roam free even after the Demon Race was sealed?" He didn''t even wait for Trevor''s answer as he responded to his own question. "Yes, the gods are still tied to the contract that I made with them many centuries ago. Anything you heard about the Devil getting sealed or killed was just a lie created by the gods to protect their pride."

    "Sure, whatever you say."

    The Ancient Devil justughed softly. "See youter, Trevor Kesser. A crazy de Moonasterio has just arrived."

    And, just like that, the Ancient Devil disappeared.

    Then BOOM.

    The door to his room exploded.

    [My least favorite person is here.]

    "Ah," Prince Nero said while looking around the room. "The intruder is gone."

    "I''m not trying to make an excuse for the Ancient Devil, but he didn''te here to cause any trouble. He just dropped by to give me some advice," Trevor exined. Like he said earlier, he wasn''t defending the Ancient Devil¨C but he needed to appease the crazy Crown Prince. "I''m sorry about that, Your Royal Highness."

    The Crown Prince stood in front of the bed while looking at him with frenzied red eyes. "You''re really dying, huh?"

    "You sound excited, Prince Nero."

    "Well, I recently learned a new technique from my Soul Beast that I''m eager to try," Prince Nero said, opening his hand until an ice dagger appeared above his palm. The Crown Prince grabbed the hilt of the weapon, then he smiled "sweetly" at him. "Trevor Kesser, can I stab you in the chest?"

    Trevor gulped after seeing how serious the Crown Prince was. He''d be dead if Prince Nero really stabbed him because he didn''t have enough strength to stop the crazy Crown Prince. "Uhm, I politely decline, Your Royal Highness."

    ***

    NOTE: Hi! I joined a challenge in ko-fi. If I achieve my target amount, I''ll get a chance to win a prize. I just posted a 4-PANEL COMIC featuring Neoma and Papa Boss on my ko-fi ount (ko-fi/s_c or simply g00gle ko-fi s_c). Check it out~

    Please donate if you can. You can consider this as your birthday present for my 30th birthday soon. I hope toplete the challenge by May 11th. If I achieve my target amount (hopefully on my target date), I''ll release five chapters of RS.

    Thank you. <3

    ***

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 Chapter 737 UNREQUITED LOVE

    ?

    "LEWIS, wait!" Neoma said. Even though she was always careful about touching Lewis, she couldn''t help but grab her "son" by the arm. "Where are you going?"

    "They have to know," Lewis said in an urgent voice, his golden eyes still glowing as his emotions became more unstable. "The emperor¡­ Lady Roseheart¡­"

    "Hell no," she said while shaking her head firmly. "Mama Boss and Papa Boss will lose it if they find out."

    "Why did you keep it a secret from us, Princess Neoma?"

    "I just don''t want you to worry about me."

    "What do you think we''d feel if we found out about your condition when it''s already toote?"

    Lewis was angry.

    This was the first time that she saw her "son" react this way.

    Lewis wasn''t raising his voice, but his glowing golden eyes and stern voice said it all¨C he was upset, sad, and disappointed.

    Of course, there were also tears in Lewis'' eyes.

    "I''m sorry for keeping it a secret from you, Lewis," Neoma said, caving in since she couldn''t stand seeing Lewis devastated. "It''s not like I''m going to keep this a secret from everyone. Just give me more time before I tell my family and your siblings about my condition."

    "Aside from me, Ruto, and Trevor, who else knows about your shortened lifespan?"

    "Grandpa Primo."

    "I bet you didn''t tell Ruto and Trevor about your condition, Princess Neoma," Lewis said bitterly. "They found out about it on their own, didn''t they?"

    "Well, Trevor has the Bookworm¡­ and he also has a loose mouth¡­"

    Lewis smirked bitterly.

    [And I''m telling you¨C Lewis looks scary when he''s acting like this!]

    "My Fox Bead¡­"

    Her eyes sharpened. "What about your Fox Bead?"

    "If you consume my Fox Bead, we can extend your lifespan, Princess Neoma," Lewis said desperately. "Our n''s Fox Beads are the reason why the previous emperor, your grandfather, hunted us down in hopes of gaining immortality. I''ll give you my Fox Bead."

    "I don''t need it," Neoma said while shaking her head firmly. "If I take your Fox Bead, you''ll die. Do you think I can live with myself after you die for my sake, Lewis?"

    "You''re making me feel lonely even when I''m just next to you¡­ Neoma."

    To say that she was shocked to hear Lewis call her by her first name without honorifics would be an understatement.

    "Lewis, you made a promise when we were kids," Neoma reminded him. "You''re supposed to call me ''princess.''"

    "Everyone already recognizes you as the royal princess. You''re no longer Prince Nero''s proxy."

    "Even so, you are my knight," she said calmly. "You''re going to be my Guardian Knight once my position as the royal princess bes official."

    "Once Prince Nero ascends to the throne, you''ll no longer be a princess."

    "That''s right. Once my twin brother bes the emperor, I will no longer be an Imperial Princess. I''ll probably be a grand duchess at best," she said, nodding. "But right now, I''m still a princess."

    "Why can''t I call you by your first name?"

    "Why do you want to call me by my first name?"

    "Because I want you to stop treating me like a "son,"" Lewis said in a firm voice. "I want you to see me as a man because, maybe by then, you''ll finally depend on me."

    "Lewis, you know that I can never see you as a man."

    As expected, Lewis looked heartbroken as soon as he was rejected.

    Neoma hated hurting Lewis. But she also didn''t want to lead him on. He gave her an honest confession, so he deserved an earnest response.

    "That doesn''t mean I don''t depend on you, Lewis," Neoma said softly. "I''m sorry for making you feel lonely because I tend to act like a tough cookie. But I need you, Lewis. I know it''s selfish to say this now, but I want you to continue staying by my side."

    "As your Guardian Knight?"

    "As my family."

    "That''s really selfish."

    She smiled sadly at him. "I''m sorry."

    "Then let me do something selfish, too," Lewis said softly. "I won''t ask you to like me back, but I will continue liking you the way I''ve always had, Princess Neoma."

    That didn''t sound like Lewis was asking for permission.

    And it also looked like he wouldn''t change his mind.

    "I will allow you that much. However¡­" Neoma poked Lewis'' chest¨C the part where his heart was¨C lightly. "Your pain is your responsibility."

    Lewis suddenly burst out crying again.

    His tears rolled down quietly earlier.

    But this time, he was crying like the child that she thought he was.

    [He never cried like this when we were kids¡­]

    Now Neoma wanted to beat up herself for making Lewis cry.

    "Princess Neoma, I don''t care if my love remains unrequited as long as I can stay beside you," Lewis said between sobs. "If you die, then I''ll kill myself."

    That scared her because she knew that Lewis was serious.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "You are, you were, and you will always be my reason for living, Princess Neoma," Lewis continued, his voice filled with pain and loneliness. "I can''t live without you, so please don''t leave me alone. This world means nothing to me if you''re no longer here."

    Neoma choked up in tears while listening to Lewis.

    She knew she should scold him for idealizing his death just like he did when he was a kid. But she also knew that she was partly responsible for Lewis having that kind of mindset.

    "Don''t say that, Lewis," Neoma said, her tears rolling down her cheeks. "You''re no longer alone in this world. You already have friends in Hanna and your siblings. Even if I''m gone, you still have our family."

    Lewis shook his head firmly. "You''re the only one I need, Princess Neoma."

    "Lewis¡­"

    "You are my world¨C my everything," he said, suddenly wrapping his arms around her.

    To say that she was surprised would be an understatement.

    Lewis didn''t like skinship, so she was always careful about touching him.

    Neoma would always ask permission from Lewis first, or she''d only touch his clothes.

    Hence, she was surprised when she suddenly pulled him for a hug.

    Although he didn''t ask first before hugging her and invading her personal space, she actually didn''t mind because she knew that it took him all the courage he had to touch her.

    [And there are times verbal consent isn''t needed between close friends¨C just like now.]

    "Princess Neoma, you asked me to live for you when I wanted to die¨C and I DID," Lewis said in a cracked voice. Then he buried his face against her neck, his warm tears touching her skin. "So, can I ask you to live for me this time?"

    Neoma shut her eyes tight, her tears falling down her cheeks silently as she hugged Lewis back. "I won''t die, Lewis," she promised him softly. "In return, don''t ever say that you''ll kill yourself again, okay?"

    ***

    WOAH.

    Trevor thought it was already his end when Prince Nero stabbed him in the chest with the ice dagger. He seriously thought he was about to die since the bastard¨C er, the Crown Prince made sure that his ice dagger would pierce through his heart.

    But he actually felt better after that.

    It was just a little ufortable because his chest felt cold¡­ literally.

    [I feel like there''s a huge block of ice stuck in my chest.]

    "It seems to be working," Prince Nero said, sounding proud of himself. "Zeru said that his ice could slow down the killing effect of the Impure Mana."

    "Prince Nero, I understand that you wanted to try freezing the Impure Mana inside me, but did you really have to stab me?"

    The Crown Prince shrugged. "We need to protect your heart the most."

    "Should I, uh, thank you for stabbing me?"

    "I don''t need to hear that from you. I didn''t save you anyway. You''re still going to die¨C I just slowed down the process just like what my mother did."

    "Why did you help me, Your Royal Highness?"

    "I didn''t help you¨C I just wanted to try the technique that I''ve learned from Zeru."

    [Really now?]

    "I thought you helped me because you didn''t want Princess Neoma to get sad if I died, Prince Nero."

    The "tsundere" Crown Prince flinched, then he changed the subject. "I''m here to ask you what you did to Rubin Drayton?"

    Ah, right.

    [That handsome bastard¡­]

    "Duke Drayton sent me a letter this morning, demanding that I bring you to him since there were witnesses that you tried to kill his son. I figured it was you based on the description. And the duke saw you with Neoma during the trial, so he knows you''re working for my twin sister."

    Oh, right.

    [The Drayton knights saw me beating Rubin Drayton to a pulp, but I didn''t know that it was him initially.]

    "Rubin Drayton also sent me a letter, but his tone is different from his father''s."

    "Huh?"

    "Rubin Drayton actually sounded smart and mature in the letter he sent, which is strange because he''s supposed to be dumb," Prince Nero said, frowning. "Anyway, he''s also requesting to have a private audience with Neoma."

    [Ah, Rubin Drayton is probably back in his usual self after I locked out Dn Crowell''s soul from his body.]

    "Do you know why that bastard wants to see my twin sister?"

    [Look at Prince Nero unconsciously iming Princess Neoma as "his" twin sister after putting her through hell.]

    Prince Nero knitted his eyebrows while looking at him. "Don''t make me repeat myself, Trevor Kesser."

    [So impatient.]

    "Don''t let Rubin Drayton see Princess Neoma," Trevor said, sighing. "He''ll probably fall in love with my Moon Princess now that his sanity is back."

    [Now I really can''t die or else, all those pests will steal my Moon Princess from me!]

    ***

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 Chapter 738 OUT OF SON-ZONE?

    ?

    "GOSH, look at how puffy your eyes are," Neoma said worriedly while looking at Lewis'' face. His eyes were puffy and his nose was red¨C it was very obvious that he cried. "Your siblings will tease you if they saw you now."

    "Your eyes are as puffy as mine," Lewis said in a hoarse voice. "They won''t tease you, but I''m sure they''ll me me for making you cry, Princess Neoma."

    "You''re calling me ''princess'' again."

    She already noticed it earlier, but only now did she get the chance to bring it up.

    "I''m sorry for acting childish and rude earlier, Princess Neoma," Lewis said, bowing his head in apology. "I''m your knight, and will soon be your Guardian Knight. My priority should only be keeping you safe. I shouldn''t have been swayed by my petty feelings and demanded to be given permission to call you by your first name. After all, you''ve already allowed me to speak casually to you when there''s only the two of us. I shouldn''t have been greedy."

    [It''s rare to see and hear Lewis talk this much. He really looks regretful when he shouldn''t be.]

    "Your feelings aren''t petty, Lewis," Neoma said softly. "I should be the one to me. You know that I don''t care about social hierarchy, don''t you? That''s why I''m fine if my friends call me by my first name despite our different social ranks."

    Of course, in a formal setting, her friends and allies would address her by her title like how she would do.

    "But you''re special, Lewis," she said, her voice almost a whisper. "You were the first person to acknowledge and treat me as a royal princess. At first, I only asked you to keep calling me ''Princess Neoma'' so I wouldn''t forget my identity while posing as Nero. But even if everyone has finally recognized me as the Imperial Princess now, I''d still like to be reminded of the hardships that I went through just to be where I am today through you, Lewis. After all, you''ve been with me since day one."

    Lewis had always been by her side since the moment they met.

    She didn''t have to win him over because he stood by her as if it was the most natural thing to do in the world.

    "I know it''s unfair for me to say this after your confession, but you''re still my most favorite person in the world, Lewis," Neoma said, pouring her heart and soul into every word she said. "It doesn''t change even if I don''t allow you to call me by my first name."

    This time, Lewis took it well. He nodded subtly, his face brighter than it was earlier.

    [He''s really a good "son."]

    Wait, that wouldn''t be right anymore.

    "Lewis, as you said earlier, I will no longer be an Imperial Princess once Nero ascends the throne."

    She was a princess now because she was the emperor''s daughter.

    But once Nero ascended the throne, she would receive a new title as the new emperor''s twin sister.

    [I will always be a princess because I was born one, but my official title will change. The empire''sw dictates that only the current emperor''s children have the right to use the ''His/Her Royal Highness'' royal title.]

    "By that time, you''ll probably need to address me as ady or a duchess," Neoma said,ughing softly because she was reminded by the time she demanded Papa Boss to give her a new title back when their rtionship was still shitty. "Anyway, when that timees, you''ll no longer be obligated to keep your promise to me. You still can''t call me by my first name without a title, but I will no longer call you my "son.""

    Lewis looked shocked by what she said. "Really? I''ve been telling you that I hate it for more than a decade now, Princess Neoma. Why did you suddenly change your mind?"

    [Gosh, talkative Lewis is really savage, huh?]

    "Well, you confessed your feelings," Neoma said awkwardly. "I know I was a jerk for ignoring your wishes all this time because of my selfishness, but I''ll be a total garbage if I still continue treating you like a "son" after your confession. Having said that, I need time to prepare mentally to let you go as my "son." So, give me until Nero''s coronation."

    "I would have confessed sooner if I knew that what would make you stop calling me your son, Princess Neoma."

    Wow.

    Lewis really dropped a joke with a straight face, huh? If it wasn''t for his joking tone, Neoma wouldn''t realize that he was teasing her.

    [Well, at least he''s in a good mood now.]

    "I''m sorry for making you cry, Lewis," Neoma said softly. "And thank you for confessing your feelings for me."

    "Princess Neoma, I really don''t care that you rejected me. In the first ce, I never expected you to reciprocate my feelings. The fact that I''m important to you is enough," Lewis said sincerely as his golden eyes glowed beautifully. "So, from now on, I''ll act spoiled with you."

    "I always spoil you, though?"

    "Princess Neoma, you don''t depend on me when it matters," heined lightly, sulking. "That''s why I''m going to depend on you this time. I''m going to bother you so you''d realize that I can''t live without you."

    Huh?

    [What''s this? Did Lewis just use the uno-reverse card on me???]

    "You don''t have to do that, you silly boy," Neoma said while clicking her tongue. "I will live long enough to see the crows burn to death."

    Lewis didn''t say anything this time, but there was a mysterious glint in his golden eyes.

    [Okay, why am I suddenly nervous? He''s not going to use his Fox Bead anymore, is he?]

    "Anyway, make sure you keep this a secret," she reminded him. "I''ll tell my parents and your siblings about my lifespanter."

    "Is Tteokbokki not listening to our conversation?"

    She shook her head. "Trevor could be a loudmouth sometimes, so I made sure Tteokbokki and my other Spirits are sealed properly within my soul. They will only hear my voice when I summon them. Tteokbokki kicked up a fuss, but whatever."

    Lewis let out a sigh. "Tteokbokki will lose it if he finds out."

    Yeah.

    Lewis took the news calmly (he cried, though), but Tteokbokki would definitely make a big deal out of it.

    "Let''s head back," Neoma said, already tired of thinking about how Tteokbokki would react to the fact that she only had five years to live. Well, her Soul Beast had the right to know because he would also die if she died. But not yet. "Mama Boss is waiting for us."

    ***

    "DID YOU two¡­ fight?"

    Neoma smiled awkwardly at Mama Boss.

    To be honest, she took a quick shower before facing her mother. She also put some ice on her puffy eyes. But it didn''t do shit.

    Lewis also looked the same.

    [Anyway¡­]

    The portal that they were going to use was in Papa Boss'' room, so the members of the "away mission" was already gathered there: Neoma, Lewis, Dahlia, and Mama Boss.

    "We already made up, Mama Boss," Neoma said. "And it was my fault. I made Lewis cry."

    Lewis nodded in agreement. "Princess Neoma made me cry, Lady Roseheart."

    Neoma was shookt.

    [Lewis¡­ is in his rebellious phase.]

    "Is that so?" Mama Boss asked Lewis worriedly. "Did Neoma apologize to you, dear?"

    Lewis nodded politely. "Yes, Lady Roseheart. Princess Neoma also promised that she''ll dote on me a lot from now on."

    [¡­]<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Oh, that''s nice to hear," Mama Boss said, turning to her. "Neoma, I won''t ask what happened between you and Lewis. But is everything settled now?"

    Neoma smiled and nodded. "Yes, Mama Boss."

    "Very well," her mother said. "How about your fight with Ruto?"

    "I won, Mama Boss," she said, giving her mother a thumbs up. "And we already broke up for real this time."

    Mama Boss looked shocked.

    Even Dahlia, who had been quiet all this time, gasped softly.

    "Neoma, I won''t ask how you feel because I know you must be hurting right now," Mama Boss said, holding her hands gently. "But if you need someone to talk to, I''m here for you."

    "Thank you, Mama Boss," Neoma said, smiling. Then she changed the topic. It was still hard for her to be reminded of her break-up with Ruto, after all. "Are Papa Boss and Nero not going to send us off?"

    She would understand why Nero wasn''t there.

    But for Papa Boss to miss sending them off¡­

    [Well, it''s good for me.]

    After all, Neoma was wearing a crop top. Her Papa Boss would surely sulk again. After all, her father never got used to her wearing modern, slightly revealing clothes.

    "Your father is busy catching some¡­ rats."

    Aha.

    She was hardly surprised.

    "If the crows sent rats, that means what they''re looking for is information," Neoma said, sighing while shaking her head. "They probably want to know what we''re up to."

    "We can''t hide the fact that we''re leaving the pce," Mama Boss said. "But we should at least hide where we are headed to."

    That was exactly why Neoma''s "children" and friends weren''t there.

    [We''re being lowkey.]

    "I''ll cover our tracks well," Dahlia said shyly, her cute face red as if she was embarrassed. "I promise the crows won''t be able to trace us. Please trust me, Lady Roseheart, Princess Neoma."

    Neoma and Mama Boss both smiled at Dahlia.

    "We trust you, Dahlia."

    "We trust you, Miss Dahlia."

    ***

    IT HAD been a while since Niki had gone on a killing spree.

    He didn''t expect he''d be doing it in his son''s pce, though. Sadly, most of the rats turned out to be people serving Nero.

    [Calyx must have nted those rats here.]

    "Father, I''m not a child," Nero, who was walking behind him,ined. "I can protect myself."

    Niki turned around to face his son.

    Like him, Nero was also covered in blood.

    [Of course, it''s not our blood.]

    To be fair, they could have killed the assants without getting sttered by the enemies'' filthy blood.

    [But where''s the fun in that?]

    Niki was sad that he couldn''t send off Mona and Neoma because of those darned rats.

    On the other hand, he was also grateful that Mona and Neoma wouldn''t see him in this state.

    [Otherwise, they would have scolded me.]

    "The crows will never stop until they get a hold of you, so I''m not letting you out of sight," Niki said firmly. "I''ll assign two of my Soul Beasts with you just like I did when you were a toddler."

    "I have two Soul Beasts¨C I don''t need yours, Father."

    "The more, the merrier."

    His son gave him a disgusted look.

    He ignored the disrespectful gaze that his son gave him. "My Pdins will return tomorrow morning. I''ll ask them to stick to you."

    "Father, are you keeping an eye on me because you''re afraid that I''ll betray you ande to Calyx''s side?"

    "Of course not," he said without hesitation. "You wouldn''t do that."

    Nero knitted his eyebrows. "And what made you say so, Father?"

    "Because Neoma is already here," Niki said, turning his back on Nero to sh the attacker that sneaked up on him. Blood sttered on him, but he didn''t mind. Bathing in the enemies'' blood had never failed to keep his fighting spirit alive. "Nero, you will betray anyone in this world but your twin sister."

    ***

    "FATHER, this is too much!"

    Nero hated raising his voice, but he couldn''t help it.

    After taking a shower, he went back to his bedroom only to find his father using the lounging area of his room as his office. His father, just like him, was also wearing his sleepwear. But it was clear his father had no intention to sleep tonight because of work.

    "Why are you yelling?" his father, who was sitting on the sofa while reading some documents, asked without even turning to him. "That''s unbing of a Crown Prince like you."

    "Are you going to keep an eye on me all night?" Neroined. "I''m not a child. And I have my own knights."

    "You should be grateful, you little rascal," his father said, raising his head just to smirk at him. "Nero, you have the strongest man in the empire as your personal guard."

    ***

    TOMORROW IS MY BIRTHDAY~~~ Please go to my k/o-fi page (ko-fi./s_c) and donate/buy a coffee if you can. If I reach my target amount of donations, I get to win the May Challenge. I''m still so far away from the target since only one person has donated so far. Please help~ T_T Only if you can, of course. Hehe~

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 Chapter 739 DAUGHTER-IN-LAW

    ?

    "IT''S LIKE we''re in an aquarium," Neomamented, amazed. "Your portal is cool, Dahlia."

    They were walking on a long aisle which made them feel like they were walking underwater. After all, it was designed like an underwater tunnel. Hence, it was as if they were just taking a stroll while enjoying the sight of marine creatures.

    "It reminds me of the ocean theme park that we visited in Korea, Neoma," Mama Boss said, obviously delighted while looking around. "Miss Dahlia, if you''re interested, would you like to build an ocean theme park? An attraction like that doesn''t exist in the empire yet, so I''m sure it''s going to be a huge hit."

    Hehe.

    [Look at Mama Boss talking like a modern woman now.]

    Anyway, the ck Witch''s face turned red as if she was suddenly shy.

    "It sounds like a brilliant idea, Lady Roseheart," Dahlia said shyly. "However, I neither have the territory nor the funds to build my own business. Moreover, ck Witches are still not weed in the empire."

    "Don''t worry about that, Miss Dahlia," Mama Boss said. "Niki will soon resolve the issue regarding the bias that the empire has against ck Witches."

    Dahlia''s face lit up.

    Mama Boss, who seemed to have been amused by the ck Witch''s reaction,ughed softly. "We will help you get your own territory, Miss Dahlia. And we''ll also help you with the funds. If you want to start a business, just tell us."

    Neoma nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we''ll help you. I''m sure Hanna will also help, since she''s good at running a business."

    It was okay to mention Hanna, right?

    [If I remember correctly, Hanna and Dahlia are friends now.]

    "Uhm, may I know why you''re being this generous to me?" Dahlia asked, flustered. "I haven''t done anything to warrant this kind of kindness from you¡­"

    "What are you talking about, Miss Dahlia?" Mama Boss asked. "We received so much help from you that giving you a noble title wouldn''t be enough to show you our gratitude. Even Glenn and Queen Brigitte are grateful to you, so please expect to bepensated by the Hazelden Kingdom as well."

    Dahlia''s face turned even redder now.

    "You deserve it, Dahlia," Neoma said before Dahlia could even turn it down. "Plus, we owe you for all the shit Nero had put you through¨C now and then."

    She now understood the reason behind Nero''s obsession with Dahlia.

    However, that didn''t mean Nero shouldn''t be held ountable for hurting the ck Witch.

    "Thank you, Lady Roseheart, Princess Neoma," Dahlia said. Although she still looked shy, it was obvious that it looked like she wanted to cry. The ck Witch was probably touched. "I''m only doing what I think it''s right. You really don''t have to reward for anything. I''m already grateful that you recognize my efforts."

    Mama Boss smiled warmly at Dahlia. "You''re really a nice girl, Miss Dahlia."

    Neoma got nervous while looking at her mother''s expression.

    [Mama Boss, Hanna is your future daughter-inw and not Dahlia¡­]

    ***

    "HANNA, why don''t you move back to the pce?"

    To say that Hanna was surprised by what Emperor Niki said would be an understatement.

    She only went to the emperor''s office, in the Royal Pce, to ask His Majesty''s permission to borrow the people from the pce that she needed for her meeting with the reporterster.

    "Rufus sent me a report this morning," Emperor Niki, who was sitting behind the desk, said indifferently. "Apparently, he was also busy purging the rats in your estate."

    Ah, that was right.

    Hanna and her mother slept in the same roomst night because her father was busy hunting down the spies that Regina Crowell nted in their estate.

    "I''m sure you''re aware that the crows wanted you to be the next empress, Hanna," the emperor said. "But they also know that they wouldn''t be able to control you. Hence, they''re probably aiming to abduct you and steal your egg cells."

    ''Egg cells.''

    She first heard that term from Neoma.

    [It seems like His Majesty has adjusted well while living in the other world.]

    "The Quinzels are arguably the noblest out of all the noble households in the empire. Moreover, you have the Darkness attribute," the emperor continued. "Although I have Quinzel blood in me, I wasn''t born with Darkness attribute because my divine power is stronger. The same goes for Nero. However, it seems like Neoma inherited the ability to wield the Darkness attribute from my mother."

    That could be the case.

    But Neoma mentioned in passing before that her demon power was simr to the Darkness attribute, but she probably didn''t get it from her Quinzel blood.

    [Neoma didn''t share theplete details with me, though.]

    Hanna wasn''t offended.

    After all, she knew that Neoma wasn''t the type to share things she hadn''t verified yet. Hence, she knew that the royal princess would share what she knew with her once her suspicions had turned into the truth.

    "The crows probably want to create Nero''s sessor with their own hands," Emperor Niki said. "Since the crows have been involved with Darkness and Impure Mana all this time, I have a feeling that they wanted a new sessor that could wield the Darkness attribute since after seeing Neoma wield the Death Scythe, they probably thought it was possible."

    And that was why Hanna was the perfect empress for the crows.

    "I know that you''re capable of protecting yourself, and I also know that Rufus wouldn''t let the crows get a hold of you," the emperor continued. "Having said that, I believe you''ll be safer here in the Royal Pce. I''m keeping an eye on Nero through my Soul Beasts since I''m worried Calyx might show up and grab my son under my nose. But you don''t have to worry that I''ll do the same thing to you, Hanna. I''ll respect your privacy. I just need you to be in the pce so I coulde to you right away if the crows ambushed you."

    The emperor''s request wasn''t irrational.

    [I''m sure I can convince my parents to allow me to move back to the pce.]

    "I understand, Your Majesty," Hanna said politely. "To be honest, I also wanted to move back to the pce."

    "To keep an eye on Nero?"

    She shook her head politely. "Your Majesty is here, so I''m not really that worried about Nero. Even if Callisto de Luca showed up, I''m sure Your Majesty could protect Nero just fine."

    The emperor chuckled, as if he found her answer amusing. "Then is there something you need to do here? I can help you."

    "Your Majesty, we only have a few weeks left to prepare for theing-of-age ceremony of my generation. It''s also supposed to be the day Nero ascends the throne," Hanna exined. "However, it was Calyx and the fake Empress Dowager who nned the entire celebration. They nned it for six months, and the preparations were pretty luxurious, even by the Royal Family''s standards."

    To be honest, the preparations were almost done. It was only halted because of Calyx''s birthday banquet.

    "Having said that, I wish to restart the preparations from scratch, Your Majesty. I know it''s selfish and impractical, but I do not want to see any trace of the crows during theing-of-age ceremony that I am a part of," Hanna said firmly. "I will rece the funds that have already been used by the crows."

    Those filthy crows touched the funds reserved for the Royal Family and the people.

    Since she was making a ridiculous request by practically wasting the money already spent, it was only right that she offered that much.

    "I know that the Quinzels are wealthier than the Royal Family, but I wouldn''t be able to face Rufus if I let my future daughter-inw shoulder the expenses for the uinging-of-age ceremony."

    Oh.

    Hanna''s face turned red, then she bowed her head in apology. "I apologize for being rude, Your Majesty."

    "You don''t have to apologize, Hanna. I know you meant well."

    "Thank you for your generosity, Your Majesty."

    "Hanna, do you want to organize theing-of-age ceremony?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    She nodded a little too eagerly. "If Your Majesty allows it, then I''d like to organize theing-of-age ceremony. After all, I''m the one who suggested discarding the original n."

    The emperor suddenly fell silent, making her anxious.

    [Did I overstep my boundaries?]

    "Hanna, how about we hold your engagement ceremony first once Mona and Neoma returned?"

    "Engagement ceremony¡­?"

    "You''re already considered the Crown Princess, but we still need to make it official," the emperor said. "Moreover, you''ll have more rights to organize affairs rted to the Royal Family once you be the official Crown Princess. When that happens, you''ll have your own power over the pce. Hence, you won''t need my permission for the things under your authority."

    Ah, that made sense.

    If she organized theing-of-age ceremony as the Quinzel Princess, there would be restrictions on her decision-making power. But if she became the official Crown Princess, then she''d be a part of the Royal Family.

    "Nero will ascend the throne during theing-of-age ceremony," the emperor continued. "It won''t be strange if you and Nero get married during his coronation. But I assume you wouldn''t want to rush the preparations for your wedding."

    The emperor was right¨C she wouldn''t want to rush her wedding preparations.

    As the Quinzel Princess, she had pride.

    [I want my wedding to be the wedding of the century. A few weeks of preparations won''t cut it. I need at least half a year to n it.]

    "Hence, let''s at least have an engagement party for you and Nero first," the emperor continued. "Once you''re officially dered as the Crown Prince''s fianc¨¦e, no one would question your authority anymore. Your engagement with my son will make you the official Crown Princess."

    She clenched her hands.

    All these years, she worked hard to be the perfect Crown Princess.

    And now her position would finally be official.

    "What do you think, Hanna?" Emperor Niki asked. "Would you like to organize your engagement ceremony?"

    "I''d like to hear Nero''s opinion first, Your Majesty," Hanna said, unclenching her hands and smiling brightly at the emperor. "Once he agrees with the engagement, then I''ll start organizing it as soon as possible."

    ***

    "ALRIGHT¨C let''s get engaged once my mother and twin sister returned."

    Hanna wasn''t surprised that Nero easily agreed.

    In fact, she was relieved.

    [He met Dahlia recently, so I half-expected him to break off our engagement. Moreover, I pped him during the trial¡­]

    She still couldn''t believe that she resorted to violence just because she was upset with him.

    [Let''s not think about that for now.]

    Anyway, right now, she was in Nero''s private tea room.

    Emperor Niki didn''t join them because His Majesty had a priormitment. The emperor just told them to inform him of their decisionter.

    "Alright," Hanna said, trying to tone down the excitement in her voice. "The Royal Family messed up recently, so we can''t have a big celebration to avoid getting criticized by the public. I''ll organize a simple engagement party for us."

    She said "simple," but she would make sure that no one would look down on the Quinzel Princess and the Crown Prince during the engagement ceremony.

    Nero sipped his tea before he asked. "Are you done getting upset with me?"

    "You should be grateful that Neoma survived," Hanna said, putting down the teacup on the saucer quietly. "How are you adjusting after getting reunited with your real family?"

    "I don''t know," the Crown Prince said. "Neoma left before I could even spend time with her in hopes to retrieve my memories of her."

    "It can''t be helped¨C Neoma is always busy saving other people."

    "You sound really fond of my twin sister."

    "Are you jealous?"

    She only meant it as a joke.

    But, to her surprise, Nero pouted. The funny part was he obviously didn''t realize that he was sulking. It was unbing of the cold and grumpy Crown Prince that he was supposed to be.

    "You''re really jealous?" Hanna asked,ughing softly. "That''s adorable of you, Nero."

    Nero just scoffed, then he stood up and sat on the armrest of her chair. "I''m your fianc¨¦, Hanna," he said, cupping her face between his hands gently. "Don''t forget that."

    "I should be the one saying that," Hanna said, closing her eyes as Nero''s lips pressed gently against the top of her head. "Don''t forget that I am your ONE AND ONLY fianc¨¦e, Nero."

    ***

    "FANCY MEETING you here, my dear husband!"

    Neoma raised her head when a drop-dead gorgeousdy suddenly approached Lewis, iming him as her "dear husband." They just stepped foot on the ind that was supposed to be Dahlia''s home when the pretty stranger emerged from the water.

    She knew she said she would stop iming Lewis as her "son."

    But only after Nero ascended the throne.

    [So, Lewis is still my son right now!]

    Hence, Neoma literally blocked the beautiful stranger from approaching Lewis. "Excuse me, who are you trying to im as your husband?"

    The woman with blue ombre hair and pale blue eyes looked at her from head to toe before smirking. Not only was the stranger beautiful. She was also dressed in a little white dress that showed off her curves in all the right ces.

    And she was barefoot.

    [Gosh, she''s hot.]

    "White hair, ash-gray eyes, pale skin. A de Moonasterio, no doubt," the pretty woman said, smirking. "Then you must be Princess Neoma."

    "Yes, that''s me."

    The woman smiled at her, then she bowed politely at her. "It''s an honor to meet you, mother-inw."

    Neoma''s eyes opened wide, then she turned to Lewis who looked calm as usual. "What the fuck is happening, Lewis? When did you get yourself a wife?"

    "She''s not my wife, Princess Neoma," Lewis said while shaking his head. "She''s the Mermaid Princess."

    ***

    TODAY is my birthday. Yey. Please go to my k/o-fi page (ko-fi./s_c) and donate/buy a coffee if you can. I have already reached 60% of the target amount. Just a little more push before Iplete the challenge. :''>

    ***

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 Chapter 740 THE QUEENMAKER

    ?

    "YOUR WIFE is strong¨C don''t worry too much," Niki said while patting Glenn''s shoulder. "But I know how you feel, so I already asked the Fletcher Twins to dy their return. They''ll guard Queen Brigitte discreetly."

    Glenn turned to him with tears in his eyes. "Thank you, Your Majesty. It''s not like I don''t trust our kingdom''s army to keep Brigitte and our children safe. But our people are Non-Mana users, so if the crows attack our kingdom with Darkness and Impure Mana¡­"

    His old friend didn''t have to finish his sentence for Niki to understand what Glenn was worried about the most.

    Glenn had to send his pregnant wife and three-year-old son back to the Hazelden Kingdom while he and his other two kids were left in the empire.

    [The queen has to return to her kingdom since she has duties to fulfill. On the other hand¡­]

    Glenn had to stay in the empire to talk to his father, while Skylus and Monik were busy fulfilling their duties as the saint and future saintess.

    "I''m grateful that you asked the Fletcher Twins to guard my family until I return, Your Majesty."

    "That''s why you should hurry and meet up with your family," Niki said, shaking his head. "Talk to your father. I know you hate returning to your estate, but you have to do it for your wife and child."

    Glenn nodded politely. "You''re right, Your Majesty," he said, then he smiled shyly at him. "Please look after Monik and Skylus while I''m away."

    ***

    "IT''S Neoma noona''s daddy! What should we call him, Monik noona?"

    "Since he''s the emperor, we should call His Majesty ''Uncle Emperor!''"

    Niki felt awkward.

    He was bad at dealing with kids, especially when one of the children was the reincarnation of his ex-wife.

    [Juliet¡­ you''ve be childish.]

    This was the first time he saw Juliet act like a proper child. After all, his ex-wife was raised a mature (and slightly emotionless) nobledy since childhood.

    [Well, I should stop thinking that Monik and Juliet are the same people.]

    Niki went to the secret prayer room in his pce to check on Manu and Glenn''s children.

    The three were in charge of cleansing Juliet''s body.

    [Whatever it is that controlled Juliet''s body is already gone. But traces of Darkness are found in her body. We wanted to give Juliet a proper burial, so I asked Lord Manu to purify her body first.]

    Skylus and Monik offered to help.

    Niki hesitated to ept the children''s help at first because he thought Lord Manu was enough. But, for some reason, Skylus and Monik insisted.

    [I have no choice but to allow it when Glenn and his wife said it was fine with them.]

    "Uncle Emperor, you''re tall and handsome!" Skylus, the Hazelden Kingdom''s First Prince, said excitedly. The two children greeted him as soon as he entered the secret prayer room. "I want to be tall and handsome, too, when I grow up!"

    Niki crossed his arms over his chest. "Glenn is tall and decent-looking, so I''m sure your dream wille trueter. Just don''t expect to grow as handsome as I am because only the de Moonasterios are born with this kind of face."

    "Aha!" Monik said, covering her mouth with her hands when she gasped. "Neoma unnie inherited her arrogance from Uncle Emperor!"

    Well, that was true.

    [It runs in the blood. Even the "nicest" emperors in history are also known to be arrogant. That what happens when you call a certain bloodline "gods among men."]

    No wonder the gods in the Upper World hated the de Moonasterios.

    "Your Majesty, you''re here."

    Niki was grateful when Manu approached him since he couldn''t deal with overly energetic children. He felt his own energy draining fast. "How is it going?"

    Manu turned to the marble altar where Juliet''s body was resting as if she was just asleep.

    The former empress'' body was wrapped in a fine white silk robe with the de Moonasterio''s family crest.

    After all, Juliet still died as a de Moonasterio since she was the former empress.

    [Juliet died as my wife, even though it was just a contract marriage, so she has the right to be buried as a de Moonasterio.]

    "I''ve already healed the burn marks that thete Empress Juliet''s body received during the trial. Then the children and I removed more than half of the Darkness imbued in her body. We''ll work on removing the remaining stainster. The children have to take a break, after all," Manu exined while Skylus and Monik clung to the Moon Priest''s legs. "Those darn crows¡­"

    "Darn crows!" Skylus and Monik said in unison, obviously copying what Manu said.

    Manu, who probably felt guilty for cursing in front of the children, turned pale. "Children, cursing is bad¡­"<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Niki almostughed. "Glenn will probably cry if he heard his children curse."

    "But Neoma noona curses all the time!" Skylus said with sparkling eyes. "And Neoma noona looks cool whenever she does that!"

    Niki almost choked after hearing what the young prince said.

    [Neoma, you''re a bad influence to these children¡­]

    "I heard Neoma unnie has been cursing since she was three years old," Monik said, then she looked up at Niki with shining eyes. "Uncle Emperor, is it true that Neoma unnie used to call you a scu¨C"

    Fortunately, Manu immediately covered Monik''s mouth with his hand. "Princess Monik, you can''t say that. It''s a very bad word. Your mother will kill me if she heard you curse."

    Niki cleared his throat, feeling guilty that the children learned how to curse early because of Neoma''s bad influence. "Manu, why don''t you and the children take a break first? I asked the servants to bring some snacks and refreshments to the tearoom."

    "Good idea, Your Majesty," Manu said, carrying Skylus and Monik in each of his arms as if he was carrying a sack of potatoes. "We''ll be backter."

    He just nodded, then the Moon Priest bolted out of the prayer room with the giggling children in his arms.

    [Glenn, I''m sorry. My daughter taught your children that cursing is cool¡­]

    Niki put that at the back of his mind first as he approached the marble altar where Juliet''s body was resting.

    He felt his chest tighten at the sight of the pale and lifeless former empress.

    "I''m sorry it took me this long to find your body, Juliet," Niki whispered, holding Juliet''s cold hand. "This time, I promise to give you a proper resting ce."

    ***

    "YOU PREPARED a lot, Lady Hanna."

    Hanna smiled and nodded at what Duke Jasper Hawthorne said. "I need to do this much if I want Neoma to win the public over."

    Right now, she was in the private lounge of the caf¨¦ she owned in the Grandiose Avenue¨C the richest area in the Royal Capital. Only the elite would go there. Hence, all the shops that she owned in that ce were a huge source of ie for her.

    [This is where our soon-to-open shopping mall is located, too.]

    Anyway, she was with Duke Jasper Hawthorne right now because they had a meeting with the reporterster.

    "These are all the documents that would prove Neoma was the one who built the Sword Lily Foundation," Hanna said, pointing at the papers on the table. "Neoma founded it while she was pretending as Prince Nero."

    "Sword Lily Foundation is the biggest and the most famous foundation in the empire at the moment," Duke Hawthorne said, obviously surprised and amazed. "The foundation has produced the brightest schrs at the moment. Moreover, the Sword Lily Foundation paved way formoners to get a chance to get into an academy. I didn''t know that it was founded by Princess Neoma. And she did when she was only a child."

    "Neoma asked her former teacher, Lady Belmont, to act as the foundation''s benefactor," she exined to the duke. "Lady Belmont forgot about Neoma''s existence when the crows'' curse took effect. Fortunately, Trevor managed to bring back Lady Belmont''s memories. Hence, I was able to get Lady Belmont''s testimony."

    "That''s impressive, Lady Hanna."

    "It''s because Neoma has a lot of achievements to brag about," she said, smiling. "I will also credit Neoma as one of the forces behind the building of Eranthis Academy. It was Emperor Niki who actually invested in building the school that allowsmoners to enroll. But it was Noema''s idea. In fact, most of the schrs produced by the Sword Lily Foundation are currently studying in Eranthis Academy."

    "You''re right, Lady Hanna. Princess Neoma really has an impressive achievements under her belt," Duke Hawthorne said while nodding approvingly. "Princess Neoma also destroyed the Death Camp and freed the ves there. After that, she took good care of the survivors."

    "Once the people find out about all the good things that Neoma has done for the people¨C especially themoners and peasants¨C I''m sure they''ll forgive her for deceiving the empire before."

    Aside from the aplishments that they already mentioned, Neoma also saved the Astello Temple and the Holy Knights before.

    [The Holy Knights haven''t returned to normal yet, but the captain is capable of giving a statement.]

    "Neoma gave the people the option to reject her as the royal princess since she''s too kind, but I''m not as softhearted as Neoma," Hanna said firmly. "I''ll give Neoma her rightful ce and make the people of the empire PROPERLY acknowledge her as the royal princess. I won''t resort to violence, but I can be pushy when I have to."

    Duke Hawthorne looked at her as if he was observing her, then he suddenly burst outughing.

    "What''s funny, Your Grace?"

    "You''re scary, Lady Hanna," Duke Hawthorne said when he finally calmed down fromughing. "You''re scary because you''re the Quinzel Princess. That means you have all the power and resources to move the politics in the empire. If you decide to discard Prince Nero and choose Princess Neoma to sit on the throne, I''m sure we''ll finally get the first empress regnant in history." He pointed a finger at her, but it wasn''t in a rude way, so she didn''t mind. "Lady Hanna, you''re the new queenmaker of the empire."

    Hanna smiled unconsciously. "I like the sound of it, Your Grace."

    ***

    TOMORROW IS MY BIRTHDAY~~~ Please go to my k/o-fi page (ko-fi./s_c) and donate/buy a coffee if you can. If I reach my target amount of donations, I get to win the May Challenge. I''m still so far away from the target since only one person has donated so far. Please help~ T_T Only if you can, of course. Hehe~

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 Chapter 741 MAAN, THE MERMAID PRINCESS

    ?

    "ALLOW me to introduce myself, Princess Neoma."

    Neoma gulped after hearing what the Mermaid Princess said. "Okay, go ahead."

    "My name is Maan Hali, the First Princess of the Hali Sea," the Mermaid Princess said, introducing herself politely. "Our kingdom is located in the border of the Evedane Duchy, near the hidden ind where my husband Lewis and his siblings lived."

    Ah.

    Neoma remembered that when Lewis and his siblings first arrived in the ind, they had a dispute with the mermaids living nearby. "Oh, right. You fought with my "children" before."

    Maan smiled and nodded eagerly. "But we''re all friends now, thanks to Greko."

    Neoma tilted her head to one side. "My baby Greko?"

    "The mermaids kidnapped Greko before, then we saved him," Lewis exined. "We kind of lost it, so we ended up destroying a pce in their kingdom."

    "My dear husband, it''s not good to lie to your mother," Maan scolded Lewis,ughing. "Princess Neoma, your cute "children" destroyed a pce, a library, and a small garden. It took us years and a huge amount of money to renovate the ces they destroyed."

    Neoma was too stunned to react.

    [My children¡­ are menace to society¡­]

    "It was your fault," Lewis said brazenly. "Who told you to kidnap our youngest?"

    "My dear husband, let bygones be bygones," Maan said, smiling charmingly at Lewis. "We recognized our mistake. That''s why we didn''t ask you to pay for the damages."

    Whew.

    Neoma was d to hear that since she was about to offer to pay for the damages even if she was already yearste.

    "Uhm, Princess Maan, may I ask a question?"

    It was Dahlia.

    With the appearance of a stranger, the ck Witch had regressed to her usually timid self.

    [Dahlia is really shy with strangers, huh?]

    "This ind is the home of the ck Witches," Dahlia said awkwardly. "Even a Mermaid Princess like Your Highness shouldn''t possibly be able to cross the barrier that my predecessors had set up in order to protect the ind. In fact, this ind should be invisible in the first ce."

    "Oh, I have some bad news for you, dear," Maan said in a sympathetic voice. "This ind is no longer as hidden as you thought it was. The barrier is still pretty strong to ward off mid to top tier Mana users. But I''m above that level."

    Hmm, really?

    Neoma''spetitive spirit suddenly awakened¡­

    ¡­ and she failed to be discreet about it.

    "Are you sizing me up, Princess Neoma?" Maan asked yfully. "Would you like to test my level?"

    "Did you fight Lewis?"

    The Mermaid Princess was taken aback by her question, but she slowly nodded her head. "I did fight Lewis, and I lost. That''s how he became my husband."

    Lewis scoffed. "Princess Neoma, I didn''t agree to that."

    "I''m the strongest princess in our kingdom, so when it was time for me to find a husband, I told my father I''d only marry the first person to beat me in a fight."

    Oh, ssic.

    "Lewis may be a fox, but it''s alright," Maan said, shrugging. "My family is open-minded. Moreover, Father approved of Lewis after seeing him beat me to a pulp."

    That was Lewis for you.

    [He doesn''t care if the opponent is a woman. And he was probably pissed since the mermaids kidnapped Greko.]

    "If that''s the case, then I''m done sizing you up, Princess Maan," Neoma said, smiling as kindly as she could. She probably just looked arrogant, though. "You can''t be on my level if you can''t beat Lewis."

    Dahlia covered her mouth with her hands when she gasped.

    "Neoma," Mama Boss, who spoke for the first time since they met the Mermaid Princess, scolded her. "Please don''t pick a fight with someone you just met."

    Neoma just shrugged.

    "It was five years ago, Princess Neoma. I never stopped training since the day I lost to my dear husband," Princess Maan, who seemed to be unbothered by Neoma''s arrogant words, said. "Moreover, Lewis only defeated me because we fought onnd. I''m the strongest when I''m fighting underwater."

    "Princess Maan, I fought the God yer in the Upper World and won," Neoma said calmly. "But even if I lost to him, I wouldn''t me it on the air in the Upper World."

    Maan''s face turned red, obviously embarrassed by Neoma''s ''shade.''

    [Okay, let''s stop being a bitch here.]

    "I was humbled quickly, huh?" Maan said,ughing at herself. "You''re right, Princess Neoma. It was cheap of me to me my defeat on the location of the fight."

    Hmm.

    [I like this woman.]

    Not everyone couldugh at themselves.

    The fact that Maan did only meant she wasn''t full of herself.

    "I like people who could admit their mistake andugh at themselves," Neoma said approvingly, extending her hand to Maan. "I''m Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio, the one and only Imperial Princess of the Great Moonasterion Empire. It''s an honor to meet you, Princess Maan."

    "The honor is mine, Princess Neoma," Maan said, epting her hand and shaking it firmly. "I''m d to be acknowledged by arguably the most famous princess in the world at the moment."

    ***

    "WE RECEIVED Greko''s message."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Neoma, who was sitting on the bolder next to Maan, put a chocte candy in her mouth. "Is it about the mermaids that the crows abducted?"

    When Neoma and her "children" saved the elves and the fairies from captivity, they failed to save the mermaids because they were already toote when they arrived.

    ording to the elves and the fairies, the captured mermaids were already killed by then.

    [Anyway¡­]

    Right now, Neoma and Maan were sitting on a huge rock while watching the Blood Sea.

    Mama Boss and Dahlia had already begun their investigation. Her mother and the ck Witch rode Lapiz, the Blue Whale, and were currently underwater.

    On the other hand, Lewis stood quietly behind them.

    "Five years ago, Greko tried to convince the mermaid n to join your religion, Princess Neoma."

    Okay, she almost choked on her saliva. "I don''t have a religion, Princess Maan. Admittedly, I''m arrogant as hell. But not to the point that I consider myself a god or something. It''s not fun to be a god anyway."

    Neoma then looked over her shoulder to give Lewis a questioning look.

    Lewis just avoided his gaze as if he was guilty.

    [This brat¡­]

    Maanughed at her as if she found her cute. "That was just a joke. Me and my n just thought Greko looked like he was recruiting us to join his religion while he was talking about you. That''s how much he loves and respects you, Princess Neoma."

    Whew.

    She was relieved to hear that.

    [To be fair, building a religion devoted to me sounds like something my "children" will really do.]

    "Back then, Greko warned us about how dangerous the crows are," Maan continued with her story. "But we ignored his warning. We thought it has nothing to do with us since the cult is only after your life, Princess Neoma. Moreover, we thought it wouldn''t affect us since we live underwater."

    Well, that was natural.

    [Most people don''t care about things that don''t directly affect them.]

    "But for the past five years, we noticed that there are unknown group of humans who tried to invade our territory," Maan said, getting more serious as her story grew more intense. "Thanks to Lewis and the other kids who sunk several ships, our kingdom remained rtively safe. But, then again, the younger ones began disappearing one by one."

    "The ones who disappeared must be children with the Darkness attribute."

    After all, those crow bastards tried to create an Elemental Guardian using the Darkness gathered from the fairies, elves, and mermaids with the Darkness attribute.

    [I''m getting angry now that I remember it again.]

    "Of course, I''m beyond angry that children from our n were abducted and killed for some cruel experiments," Maan continued, her voice full of resentment. "However, it''s not the only reason why I came here."

    Neoma turned to the Mermaid Princess. "Oh? There''s something worse than getting children from your n abducted and killed?"

    "We''re not certain if those people are the crows that are after you, but there''s a group of bastards who threw bombs at our kingdom," the Mermaid Princess said through gritted teeth. "The bombs were made of Impure Mana."

    She gasped out loud. "Those crazy crow bastards!"

    "Many have already died after the Impure Mana bombs exploded," Maan said, her eyes now brimming with tears. "Right now, the king and the queen are using their power to contain the Impure Mana in a Bubble. But we don''t know how long the Bubble willst. Hence, I ventured here on my own."

    "But why here?"

    "The Blood Sea has always been famous among meramaids and other marine life," Maan exined. "After all, the Blood Sea was submerged in Novak''s blood."

    Oh, right.

    [Novak was the Ancient Spirit who was also Mama Boss'' mentor.]

    "Moreover, Novak was a Darkness attribute user," Maan continued. "When he died, his Mana turned into Impure Mana. It was mixed with his blood that flooded the sea. Even so, the marine life in the Blood Sea didn''t die. The Impure Mana didn''t affect them in any way, and that''s why I came here to investigate."

    "Right," Neoma agreed, nodding her head. "That''s also the reason why we''re here."

    "Then should we work together, Princess Neoma?"

    She was about to make a DEAL with the Mermaid Princess instead of merely working together when she felt something dangerousing their way.

    It was a tsunami¨C a tsunami created by a giant sea monster riding the waves.

    A kraken.

    It was fucking kraken¡­

    ¡­ and the giant octopus was releasing a huge amount of "ink" at them.

    [No, that''s not ink¨C that''s Impure Mana!]

    "Get behind me," Neoma said to Maan and Lewis as she stood up and raise her hands to create a Dome. "We''ll have a giant octopus for dinnerter."

    ***

    NOTE: Hi! I joined a challenge in ko-fi. If I achieve my target amount, I''ll get a chance to win a prize. I just posted a 4-PANEL COMIC featuring Neoma and Papa Boss on my ko-fi ount (ko-fi/s_c or simply g00gle ko-fi s_c). Check it out~

    Please donate if you can. You can consider this as your birthday present for my 30th birthday soon. I hope toplete the challenge by May 11th. If I achieve my target amount (hopefully on my target date), I''ll release five chapters of RS.

    Thank you. <3

    ***

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 Chapter 742 WHEN INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS WIN

    ?

    SIZZLE.

    Oh, wow.

    Neoma was half-amused and half-pissed when the Impure Mana that hit her Dome made a sizzling sound upon contact.

    [Gosh, this horrible thing is trying to melt my Dome, huh? The audacity!]

    Of course, her Dome didn''t melt.

    [If my Dome could withstand Ruto''s arrow, there''s no way it would crumble because of Impure Mana.]

    "Princess Neoma, may I get out of the Dome?" Lewis asked politely. "I''d like to fight the Kraken if I may."

    "I can help, too," Maan offered. "Most Krakens feed on mermaids, so I''m used to fighting them. I can show you how to defeat one."

    Neoma was about to tell Maan and Lewis to stay put, but then she noticed something strange.

    [What is that?]

    The Kraken''s head, that was as twice as big as a hot air balloon, was bulging¨C and throbbing. At first, it seemed like the sea monster''s huge heart was thumping hard against the top of its head.

    But that didn''t seem to be the case as the Kraken continued to advance, riding the big waves at an rmingly quick rate while releasing Impure Mana everywhere.

    [I''m worried about Mama Boss and Dahlia. Are they still underwater?]

    "Stay there," Neoma said to Maan and Lewis. "That Kraken is strange."

    Soon, the Krakenpletely stopped moving¨C the waves carrying it copsing in an instant. Of course, the impact of the tsunami suddenly

    However, the bulge in the head didn''t stop throbbing. Then it burst.

    Yes, the bulge burst¨C and it was a disgusting sight.

    Green blood exploded everywhere, and it looked like slime.

    [I haaate sliiime.]

    Her disgust soon turned into curiosity when she remembered that that Kraken''s head burst because something came out of it.

    And that something was a¡­

    Neoma gasped out loud. "A unicorn!"

    Did that damned Kraken just try to eat a cutie patootie unicorn? The unicorn in question looked smaller than the one she had met recently, suggesting that it might just be a baby unicorn!

    And that damned sea monster tried to kill the poor baby?!

    [Unforgivable!]

    Neoma sped her hands together, the Dome quickly turning into a semi-transparent sphere that "captured" the Impure Mana. Then she turned around to face Maan and Lewis. "Sorry, I need to touch you."

    Before either Maan or Lewis could react, she already tapped the two on the shoulder gently. Then a thinyer of barrier covered Maan and Lewis, molding into their bodies perfectly.

    "It''s Coat¨C the first form of my barrier," Neoma exined while her own body was getting covered with Coat. Lewis already knew what it was, hence only Maan looked bewildered. "The Kraken released Impure Mana everywhere, so you need protection. But the Coat is the weakest among my barriers, so avoid contact with the Impure Mana as much as you can."

    After saying that, she took off.

    She kicked the sand and released her rose wings, shooting up the sky like a rocket.

    Yes, she was in a hurry.

    After all, she saw the baby unicorn falling quickly as if it lost consciousness.

    [Can I carry it in my arms?!]

    Of course, she couldn''t. She might be tall, but her frame wasn''t big enough to carry a baby unicorn in her arms. Moreover, it was dangerous since the baby unicorn might be covered in Impure Mana.

    Hence, she did the next thing she thought of.

    "Mochi!" Neoma said, summoning her Wind Spirit. "Catch the baby unicorn!"

    Mochi didn''t appear in her white rabbit form. This time, the Wind Spirit took the form of a cold breeze. Since it was an old and powerful Spirit, it didn''t appear invisible in that form. Anyone could see the glittering silver lights around.

    <"As you wish, Princess Neoma,"> Mochi said, giggling. <"But that unicorn isn''t a baby¨C it''s at least fifty years old in human years.">

    Huh???

    She couldn''t ask for an exnation since Mochi already took off to catch the falling baby unicorn.

    The Wind Spirit was faster than Neoma, so she was left alone suspended in the air.

    She looked down, trying to decide whether to kill the Kraken if it hadn''t died yet. But she quickly realized that she didn''t have to do anything.

    The dead Kraken was already sinking into the bottom of the sea.

    [Argh.]

    She was forced to create a Dome when the water sshed on her. Since the Kraken was a giant sea monster, the water that sshed when it sank would have drowned her to death. But since her Dome was sturdy, it wasn''t pushed down.

    [Well, my Dome is more like a sphere.]

    It took a while for the water to calm down before the Kraken sunk deeper.

    She was relieved, but also worried.

    After all, she could spot the Impure Mana that fell on the water earlier. It was noticeable since blobs of Impure Mana were floating on the surface, like oil that couldn''t be mixed with water. She was worried that it might kill the marine life like how Maan''s n members were killed when the fucking crows threw Impure Mana bombs at their underwater kingdom.

    But, much to her relief, she could see that the sea creatures swimming below weren''t affected by the blobs of Impure Mana.

    [How¡­?]

    Trevor didn''t directly touch the Impure Mana with his body. He only made contact with it when he used his Mana to move the Impure Mana to his domain. And yet, he was quickly poisoned by the Impure Mana.

    [This is strange¡­ should I touch it?]

    She had always been curious about the Impure Mana. Of course, she was aware that she couldn''t purify it. But that was what made her more curious.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    After all, she had this crazy idea that she could "fix" the Impure Mana.

    Unfortunately, because of her arrogance, Trevor''s life was put at risk.

    Even so¡­

    [I really want to touch it to see if my theory is right.]

    And her curiosity won the better of her.

    Neoma slowly descended, her arm extended to grab the blob of Impure Mana just below her. But just when she was about to reach it¡­

    "Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio!"

    She flinched when she heard her Mama Boss'' loud and slightly angry voice.

    Oops.

    [Most people probably know that if your mother called you by your full name, you''re dead.]

    Hence, Neoma was scared.

    Why didn''t she notice that Mama Boss (and Dahlia) already emerged from the water while inside a semi-transparent round fish tank?

    [Mama Boss looks really upset¡­]

    "Mama Boss, I''m sorry for making you worry. My intrusive thoughts won for a moment," Neoma said in a hurry, withdrawing her hand and flying away from the surface of the water. "But I can exin."

    ***

    NEOMA had to dy her exnation to Mama Boss.

    When they arrived back to the ind where Maan and Lewis were waiting, the first thing they did was to make sure that the baby unicorn was alive.

    Fortunately, it seemed like the baby unicorn just fainted.

    "The unicorn doesn''t have external injuries, but it seemed like its energy was drained from fighting the Kraken," Mama Boss said while examining the baby unicorn lying on the sand. They put a clean nket underneath. "We just have to replenish its Mana."

    "I brewed some potions before we left the empire. It works on Spirits," Dahlia said while pulling out a vial with a blue liquid in it. "This might help the unicorn recover its strength quickly."

    Then the ck Witch carefully fed the potion to the baby unicorn.

    Dahlia must really be a genius because it only took a few seconds before the baby unicorn stirred to life.

    [No wonder I asked Dahlia to tie my soul with Nero in the first timeline.]

    "Oh, an angel¡­"

    Hmm?

    The unicorn what the one who said that cringe-y line while looking at Neoma''s face. Obviously, the unicorn was smitten by her beauty.

    "Did I already die and reach the heavens?"

    "You don''t need to die and go to heaven just to see a face as beautiful as mine," Neoma said bluntly as if she was merely stating a fact. "I''m prettier than the angels anyway."

    Not that she had personally seen one.

    [But even the Goddess of Beauty herself was jealous of my face¡­]

    The baby unicorn blinked while staring at her face in disbelief. "White hair, ash-gray eyes, pale skin¡­ and, oh. Your hair strands are pink. You must be Lady Roseheart''s daughter with the cold-blooded emperor."

    "Yep," she said while Mama Boss "coughed" beside her. "That''s me."

    "Thank goodness! I was actually looking for you for the past five years, Princess Neoma. I''m relieved¨C really!"

    It seemed like the baby unicorn had gotten too excited because its body suddenly glowed.

    Dahlia, Lewis, and Maan were forced to shut their eyes because of the blinding light.

    Only Neoma and Mama Boss kept their eyes open and watched the baby unicorn''s transformation.

    It only took a second.

    [So cuuute!]

    The baby unicorn had turned into its human form: a girl who looked like she was around ten years old, wearing an apron dress thatmoners in the empire would usually wear. She had lovely tinum blonde hair, round blue eyes, and a mini PINK ss-like horn on her forehead.

    "It''s an honor to meet you, Princess Neoma," the baby unicorn said in a warm voice, bowing her head towards her. "My name is Charlotte, and I am Master Novak''s disciple."

    "Lord Novak''s disciple?" Mama Boss asked, surprised. "I didn''t know Lord Novak had a disciple¡­"

    "I met Master Novak while you were stuck under the ck Ocean, Lady Roseheart," Charlotte said. As expected, the baby unicorn already knew Neoma''s famous mother. "And we''re both unicorns. Hence, it was easy for us to work together."

    Neoma was shocked.

    [Lord Novak was a unicorn?!]

    Oh, god.

    What kind of bastard would kill a unicorn?!

    An ancient unicorn, at that!

    [It''s definitely the crows.]

    "Lord Novak asked me to wait until Princess Neoma bes an adult," Charlotte said, turning to Neoma. "The sessor of the Goddess of Life."

    Neoma almost choked on her saliva. "When did I be the Goddess of Life''s sessor?"

    ***

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 Chapter 743 NEW GRANDMA ACQUIRED

    ?

    "WHY ARE you surprised, Princess Neoma?" Charlotte asked, obviously confused by her reaction. "Don''t you know that the Goddess of Life gave birth to the major gods in the Upper World like Lord Yule? She''s practically Lord Levi''s sister."

    Wow, that was mind-blowing.

    [Why didn''t I think of that before? I memorized the history of the empire, of the continent. It''s impossible that I wouldn''t know something as important as the Goddess of Life being Lord Yule''s mother.]

    While she was racking up her brain thinking about how she could have missed such vital information, Ruto''s face suddenly entered her mind.

    Ah, it was probably her ex-man''s doing.

    [The Goddess of Life must have been a huge part of the reason I''ve gone crazy in the first timeline, so Ruto probably sealed off my memories rted to her.]

    "Neoma, didn''t Niki teach you about Lord Yule''s family tree?" Mama Boss asked, horrified. "The fact that the Goddess of Life is Lord Yule''s mother should bemon knowledge¡­"

    Dahlia nodded in agreement. "Even amoner like me learned about it at an early age¡­"

    [So, so it''s like basic knowledge for everyone living on the continent?]

    "I didn''t," Lewis said bluntly, probably in an attempt to make her feel better by saying that Neoma wasn''t the only one who didn''t know. "It''s not important, Princess Neoma."

    [Uhm, that''s a little¡­]

    "What do you mean it''s not important?" Maan asked Lewis in disbelief. "If the empire finds out that their Imperial Princess didn''t know who Lord Yule''s mother is, they might question Princess Neoma''s legitimacy as a princess."

    Lewis red at Maan.

    "Don''t fight," Neoma scolded Lewis and Maan, then she turned to Mama Boss. "Papa Boss may have assumed that I already knew about it, Mama Boss."

    And, well, Papa Boss wasn''t invested in her education when she was a child.

    [But let''s not say that to Mama Boss for Papa Boss'' safety.]

    "Anyway, I have a feeling that it''s something that I shouldn''t remember," Neoma said, shrugging. Then she turned to Charlotte. "But I''m curious about how I be the Goddess of Life''s sessor. We haven''t even met yet."

    "That''s not true, Princess Neoma," Charlotte said while shaking her head. "ording to our data, you were thest person that the Goddess of Light met before she hid herself from all the existing worlds."

    She knitted her eyebrows. "Huh? I don''t remember meeting the Goddess of Light."

    Unless it happened in the first timeline, which clearly wasn''t the case.

    "You did," Charlotte said, extending her hand to her. "I can show you the data we have."

    Neoma hesitated for a moment, but she got curious so she grabbed the baby unicorn''s hand¡­

    ¡­ then moving images shed in her mind as if she was watching a short film.

    She had to shut her eyes tight.

    ["Child, do you want me to read your fortune?"]

    ["Nah, I''m good. I already know that my life is filled with love and luck, thank you very much."]

    ["Your future looks dark, child. The God of Misfortune seems to be plucking your friends and allies one by one as if they were petals from a dying rose."]

    [The fortune teller didn''t need to borate.]

    ["Then, tell that god to sleep with one eye open. Because if I lose even one friend and ally in the future, I will make the heavens regret allowing a child like me to be born here."]

    ["Be careful, child. Gods don''t like humans who try to surpass them."]

    ["I''ve read enough Greek mythology in the past to know that. But guess what? I''m also a god¨C god of beauty, luck, charisma, big brains, and profanities. So tell your bosses up there to beware of God Ramsay."]

    ["You''re very arrogant, child. But I wouldn''t say that I don''t like it."]

    "Ah. The fortune-tellingdy I met who smelled like roses. I think it was when I was eight or nine years old," Neoma said when she finally remembered the incident that Charlotte showed her, then she opened her eyes. "If I remember correctly, I met her when I bought some erotic novels with Papa Boss¡­"

    Oh, fuck.

    "What did you say, Neoma?" Mama Boss asked sternly. "You bought what with your father?"

    Neoma wasn''t the only one who got scared of Mama Boss.

    Lewis, Dahlia, Maan, and even Charlotte subconsciously took a step backward.

    Though Lewis quickly snapped out of it and stood closer to Neoma again.

    "Papa Boss burned the indecent books right away, Mama Boss," Neoma exined and let go of Charlotte''s hand, then she quickly changed the topic. "Anyway, I remember Papa Boss saying that the fortune-tellingdy that I met was a Spirit. Howe Papa Boss didn''t recognize her as the Goddess of Life?"

    "Gods, especially major gods like the Goddess of Life, couldn''t descend to the human world."

    "Ah, right," Neoma said, nodding. "Then did the Goddess of Life borrow the vessel of a Spirit back then?"

    "That''s right. A deity on the Goddess of Life''s level could easily hide her presence even for someone like Niki de Moonasterio," Charlotte confirmed. "And that was thest time the Goddess of Life had been seen by anyone."

    "How the hell did you spot the Goddess of Life in the first ce?"

    "Master Novak had a lot of connections while he was still alive."

    Ah, that was a subtle way of saying it was a confidential matter.

    [Okay, I won''t push it anymore.]

    For now, at least.

    "I see," Neoma said after gathering her thoughts, nodding her head subtly. "The Goddess of Life is my great-great-grandmother then."

    "No?" Charlotte answered in disbelief while looking at Neoma as if she had gone crazy. "I don''t want to sound rude, but how could Your Royal Highness be so casual and call THE Goddess of Life your great-great-grandmother? That sounds ridiculous. The Goddess of Life is THE existence that gave birth to the major gods. It wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that the Goddess of Life is THE existence that created the entire world. Please have some conscience, Princess Neoma."

    "But isn''t she Lord Yule''s mother?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Yes?"

    "Lord Yule is my great-grandfather, so that makes the Goddess of Life my great-great-grandmother."

    If they were filming a variety show, question marks would have popped up on top of the confused Charlotte''s head already.

    "Miss Charlotte, please give it up," Mama Boss said apologetically. "My daughter feels close to her ancestors. She also calls Lady Roxana her grandmother."

    Charlotte looked shocked. "They let you address them that casually, Princess Neoma? But why? Compared to their existence, the existence of a mere Imperial Princess is so trivial¡­"

    The atmosphere suddenly turned cold.

    It was because Mama Boss, Dahlia, and Lewis looked at Charlotte coldly.

    Maan then pointed at Lewis. "THAT''S the look my husband gave me before he broke my jaw with a kick¨C just because I said the mermaids wouldn''t care even if the cult killed Princess Neoma."

    [You deserve that kick then~]

    Not really, but Neoma understood why Lewis acted that violently because of that remark.

    "I''m sorry, Princess Neoma," Charlotte, who was fortunately good at reading the room, said. "I was rude."

    Neoma shrugged. "It''s alright. My ego is as big as the Upper World, so your mere opinion won''t hurt my feelings, Charlotte."

    She wanted to look friendly since Charlotte was a unicorn, but for some reason, the "child" flinched as if she was afraid of her smile.

    Hence, she just changed the topic.

    "You also need me, don''t you?" Neoma asked. She wasn''t being hostile, but she couldn''t help if she appeared intimidating. "Charlotte, shall we talk in private?"

    ***

    NEOMA asked the unicorn to talk in private because she wanted to talk about the Impure Mana.

    To be precise, she wanted to touch it.

    But she couldn''t do it in front of Mama Boss or Lewis because she knew the two would overreact. Hence, she asked for privacy.

    Fortunately, Dahlia lent them her house.

    Then Mama Boss, Maan, and Dahlia said they would look around the ind first, while Lewis said he''d be standing guard at the front door.

    [Anyway¡­]

    The ck Witch''s house was actually a cabin. It was cute and cozy. Despite being "abandoned" for years, the house remained clean because of the spell that maintained the cabin in Dahlia''s absence.

    "I noticed that you came out unscathed after getting swallowed by the Kraken that released Impure Mana," Neoma said, getting straight to the point while having herbal tea with Charlotte in the small kitchen. "Plus, the Impure Mana that the Kraken released didn''t harm the marine life living underwater. In fact, I noticed that the Impure Mana didn''t mix with the water."

    "It wasn''t really "water,"" Charlotte said, putting the teacup down on the table. "It was Novak''s blood."

    She nodded eagerly. "That''s what I''m curious about. What''s in Lord Novak''s blood? Does it have the ability to neutralize Impure Mana?"

    "You can say that, Princess Neoma," Charlotte said, nodding. "Out of all the mythical creatures in the world, unicorns are the creatures that the Goddess of Life created by her own hands."

    She covered her mouth with her hands, gasping softly.

    [Since the Goddess of Life is my great-great-grandmother, then is it the reason why me and Papa Boss are obsessed with unicorns? Maybe Nero secretly likes unicorns, too. It''s probably in our blood!]

    "The Darkness attribute that the Goddess of Life gifted us has the element that could defend us from Impure Mana," Charlotte continued with her exnation. "That''s why unicorns are rare. The Goddess of Life didn''t have enough power to bless every single thing with the ability to protect themselves from the Impure Mana."

    "That''s a little contradictory," she said. "Impure Mana is created when a Darkness attribute user dies because Nature rejects their dead Mana, isn''t it?" She paused for a moment before she spoke again. "Did the Goddess of Life create unicorns for that exact reason? To cleanse Impure Mana with your blood?"

    Charlotte nodded. "But the power in our blood that could cleanse Impure Mana is too great to carry. Hence, many unicorns die early."

    Her shoulders slumped. "That''s sad¡­"

    "That''s when the Goddess of Life realized that she needed a stronger vessel to carry her power to cleanse the Impure Mana. But she couldn''t entrust the job to her fellow gods because gods were forbidden to descend the human world," Charlotte continued, looking at Neoma with a poignant look in her pale blue eyes. "Fortunately, her divine son created the strongest bloodline in the human world. The de Moonasterios¨C the gods among men."

    Neoma wouldn''t lie¨C that gave her goosebumps.

    [I''ve always known the de Moonasterios are OP. But to hear the confirmation that we are truly the strongest bloodline in the entire world¡­ wow. GOOSEBUMPS.]

    No wonder her ancestors got drunk in power.

    "But the Goddess of Life also knows that the de Moonasterios are¡­ uhm¡­"

    "Crazy. We''re crazy and I know it, so no need to use euphemism," Neoma said, helping Charlotte who was obviously walking on eggshells around her now. "I won''t get offended."

    "Yes, crazy. The de Moonasterios are crazy," Charlotte said, nodding. "The Goddess of Life knew that if her power fell into the hands of the wrong de Moonasterio, it would be the end of humanity. Hence, she carefully chose her sessor among the de Moonasterios."

    "And she chose me."

    The baby unicorn nodded. "That''s right, Princess Neoma. The Goddess of Life gave you a gift when you were born."

    "My breath that could give life even to dying gods," Neoma said, getting straight to the point because she was in a hurry. "Charlotte, can I breathe life into the Impure Mana in order to cleanse them? They''re poisonous because they''re dead. But if I "unalive" them, then everything will be okay, right?"

    Charlotte blinked, confused. "Can you do that, Princess Neoma?"

    "You did not just ask me that, did you?"

    ***

    I''ve reached 70% of my goal in ko-fi. Just a little bit more toplete the challenge. Please go to my k/o-fi page (ko-fi./s_c) and donate/buy a coffee if you can. Thank you.

    ***

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 Chapter 744 NEOMAS THEORY

    ?

    "TO BE honest, it has been on my mind for a long time now," Neoma confessed. "I try not to use my premium air purifier ability if I could help it to keep a low profile, so I put it at the back of my mind. But when the citizens were almost hurt by the Impure Mana that Regina Crowell released, I felt helpless."

    That was why she asked Trevor to store the Impure Mana for her.

    She was once again struck by guilt.

    [I shouldn''t have asked Trevor to do that for me. But it''s okay. I won''t let my chingu die.]

    "Princess Neoma, to be honest with you, I''m not sure if that will work," Charlotte said worriedly. "Master Novak indeed asked me to look for you as you are the Goddess of Life''s sessor. I figured the blessing Your Royal Highness received had something to do with cleansing Impure Mana. But I don''t know what kind of blessing you have, Princess Neoma."

    "Do you know what an Aether is?"

    "The Aether is the tree that provides clean air in the Upper World¡­" Charlotte trailed off, then her eyes widened. "Huh? The previous Aether was a female de Moonasterio¡­"

    "That means I wasn''t the first de Moonasterio that the Goddess of Life chose as her sessor," Neoma deducted. "The Goddess of Life has probably chosen several de Moonasterios to be her sessor. But, ultimately, the gods who was greedy for clean and pure air probably caught them."

    Now the baby unicorn looked even more nervous. "Princess Neoma, it''s sphemous to use gods of something like that."

    She just shrugged and changed the topic. "Anyway, I noticed that having contact with your blood makes Impure Mana less poisonous. I''m sorry this ask this hical question, but can we turn your blood into antidote?"

    Charlotte shook her head, obviously disappointed. "We already tried making antidotes with our blood, but it doesn''t work. Our blood only minimizes the poison through physical contact. In fact, when I was swallowed by the Kraken, I had to cut myself all over so that I''d bleed from head to toe. If hadn''t done that, I would have died."

    She was shocked to hear that. "That was an extreme method."

    "Fortunately, I heal fast if it was only shallow wounds. That''s why you didn''t see the cuts all over my body earlier," the baby unicorn exined, then she paused for a moment. "There was a de Moonasterio in the past who discovered that the blood of unicorns could be used as a shield against Impure Mana. Hence, he hunted them down for their blood. And that''s the reason why unicorns are extremely rare now."

    "Fucking bastards. I hope they''re suffering in hell."

    Charlotte looked surprised. "P-Princess Neoma, is it okay to curse your ancestors¡­?"

    "Why not? They lost their rights as a human being the moment they killed innocent lives for their greed," she said, huffing. "Not all dead deserves respect."

    "What if your future descendants talk bad about you in the future?"

    "Well, if they did that, then that must mean I have a failed as a human being," she said casually. "I''ll write a will that says my descendants are allowed to talk shit about me if I died a horrible person."

    Charlotte was rendered speechless.

    "Anyway, I want to test my hypothesis," Neoma said, snapping her fingers. The Dome¨C now a Sphere¨C that she used to contain the Impure Mana released by the Kraken earlier. Fortunately, unlike what happened to Trevor, she didn''t get poisoned even though her Mana and divine power touched it. "Let''s see if I could unalive this dead Mana with my breath."

    ***

    "YOU don''t need my permission," Niki said after hearing Nero''s request. "You''re the Crown Prince, Nero. The Moonlight Rings belong to you."

    Nero came to his office after breakfast.

    ording to his son, he didn''t have to attend the academy now that he dropped out.

    [It''s not yet official, but Nero refuses to go to school.]

    "The ''Moonlight Rings'' are the official engagement rings used by the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess," Niki added. "Those were also the rings that Juliet and I used when we got engaged in the past."

    Of course, he proposed to Mona using a different ring.

    [Mona doesn''t want to be the empress, after all.]

    "Now that you and Hanna will be engaged officially, you have the right to bring out the rings from the Royal Treasury."

    Fortunately, Neoma already extinguished the fire she started in the Royal Treasury.

    "You''re still the emperor, Father," Nero said formally. "Hence, you still have the authority over the Royal Treasury."

    It was easy for Niki to reim the throne because aside from what happened during the trial, Nero also supported him.

    Of course, it wasn''t because they were family.

    Nero was just being smart by sticking to him after he shut down the nobles who tried to oust him despite what happened during the trial.

    "Alright," Niki said, nodding. "Then I give you the authority to take the Moonlight Rings from the Royal Treasury."

    "Thank you, Father."

    "As soon as Mona and Neoma return, we''ll have an official talk with the Quinzels regarding your engagement with Hanna."

    Of course, Hanna already informed her parents about the engagement.

    But Niki didn''t want to discuss it with the Quinzels without Mona and Neoma.

    [I can''t give Mona the empress'' seat that she didn''t want in the first ce, but she''s still Nero''s mother. Nobody wouldin if she was involved in the discussion. And Neoma has to attend official gatherings now that she''s recognized as the Imperial Princess.]

    "Nero, are you sure about marrying Hanna?"

    "Hanna is the best candidate to be the future empress. I''m sure you know that, Father."

    "That''s not the answer I was hoping to hear."

    "Do you want me to marry out of love, Father?"

    "Of course," he said to his son. "I don''t want you to make the same mistake I''ve done in the past."

    Although the contract marriage was Juliet''s idea, he knew that it still ruined her life.

    "I don''t want you to ruin Hanna''s life, Nero," Niki said in a serious tone. "To be honest, I didn''t expect the two of you to push through the engagement."

    If Niki remembered correctly, Neoma mentioned in passing that Hanna and Nero agreed to break up before.

    His daughter didn''t mention the reason, though.

    [But that was five years ago. Nero''s memories right now are a mess, and Hanna might have had a change of heart.]

    Niki could clearly see that Hanna had feelings for Nero, after all.

    "Father, I will cut off my ties with Dahliapletely, so don''t worry about it," Nero assured him. "Even though emperors are allowed to have concubines, I wouldn''t do it. Hanna is the only perfect spouse for me. I''m sure she''ll be a great empress. I wouldn''t want to lose the partner who could help me run the empire in prosperity."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Niki flinched because Nero reminded him of his old self.

    [That was also the excuse I made when I married Juliet before.]

    "Nero, I''m not sure if you remember. But we''ve had this kind of conversation several times already," Niki said, sighing. "I hope this would be thest time I''d ask if you were really sure about marrying Hanna. You don''t want the Quinzels as your enemies, son."

    "I know that, Father," Nero said, frowning. "Duke Quinzel is kind, but he bes ruthless when ites to his one and only daughter."

    "You should fear Hanna more than Rufus," he said, giving his son a bit of sound advice. "The Quinzels have everything¨C power, wealth, influence. What separates them from other noble households is the fact that they aren''t greedy. They maintained a good rtionship with the Royal Family all this time because they were already contented with their current status. That''s the same with Rufus. He doesn''t wish for House Quinzel to grow more power and influence. But Hanna seems to think otherwise."

    "Hanna is ambitious," his son said proudly. "That''s what I like about her."

    "She''ll kill you if you hurt her in any way."

    Nero just shrugged, obviously taking the matter too lightly.

    [We also had this kind of conversation before.]

    Niki was about to scold Nero when a sudden shift in the air made him and his son stand up at the same time.

    Geoffrey Kinsley and Jeanne Audley¨C two of his Pdins who had already returned¨C entered the room in a hurry. The two Pdins were followed by Nero''s secretary and four knights.

    Everyone looked nervous aside from Niki and Nero who both kept a straight face.

    But he understood why the Pdins and his son''s knights looked scared at the moment.

    There were four sets of red orbs floating in the room, staring directly at Niki and Nero. But the four sets of red eyes seemed to be disappointed.

    [Minor gods, huh?]

    <"Not the de Moonasterio we''re looking for.">

    <"We need the female de Moonasterio.">

    <"That boy looks like the one we''re looking for, though.">

    <"Stupid. The de Moonasterio we need is Neoma de Moonaste¨C argh!">

    Niki and Nero both stabbed the pair of red eyes that mentioned Neoma''s name.

    He stabbed the left eye with his Holy Sword that he quickly unsheathed before anyone in the room could react, while his son stabbed the right eye with an ice dagger.

    The Pdins and the young knights looked scared and confused.

    [Right, they don''t understand thenguage that only gods speak. But the de Moonasterios are all born with the natural ability to understand the divinenguage.]

    To simply put, only Niki and Nero understood what the minor gods said.

    <"What have you done, you arrogant de Moonasterios?!">

    <"How dare you attack a god!">

    <"This is sphemy!">

    "Shut up," Niki and Nero said at the same time in a very cold voice.

    And that was enough to shut down the gods.

    "Why are you looking for my daughter?" Niki asked sternly. "You better choose your words carefully."

    The minor gods were inferior to him.

    But he was worried that if the minor gods came in a group like this and attacked Neoma at the same time, his daughter might be put in a dangerous situation.

    [What do these bastards want from Neoma this time?]

    <"Pollution¡­ we heard the de Moonasterion Imperial Princess could clean the pollution in our domain¡­">

    Niki clenched his jaw tight.

    [They found out already.]

    "I don''t understand, but how dare you?" Nero said coldly, his eyes turned glowing red. "How dare you make my twin sister do a trivial task for you?"

    Niki was pleasantly surprised.

    [Why is Nero suddenly concerned with Neoma''s business?]

    ***

    TSK.

    Trevor clicked his tongue while watching the semi-transparent red orbs passing through the walls.

    [Those minor gods have the guts to roam around while Emperor Niki is here, huh?]

    Those puny gods must be desperate.

    But he also knew that this was only the beginning.

    "They will bother my Moon Princess from now on," Trevor whispered to himself, sighing. "Should I make a deal with the Ancient Devil?"

    ***

    Hi! I posted a new 4-panelic featuring SAINT DOMINIC and PRINCESS NICHOLE. And they just received some good news. Go to my k/o-fi page (ko-fi./s_c) to find out what it is.

    Lastly, the May Challenge would end tomorrow and I haven''t reached my target yet. I really want to win it. Please donate/buy a coffee if you can. Thank you. TT

    ***

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 Chapter 745 MY NECROMANCER ERA?

    ?

    NEOMA''S eyes widened, gasping as she held Impure Mana in her hands.

    It felt disgusting, and it reminded her of the slime that used to be a trend in Korea before. She hated it because she hated the slime''s texture.

    But since she was a professional, she endured it well.

    "P-Princess Neoma, are you alright?" Charlotte asked nervously. "Your hands¡­ are they not melting or getting burned?"

    Neoma smiled and shook her head. "Nah, I''m totally fine."

    Now the baby unicorn looked more confused and a bit scared. "How could you be fine when you''re directly touching Impure Mana with your hands?"

    "Oh, I''m not touching it with my bare hands," she denied. "I am not that reckless, so I covered my hands with Coat first."

    ''Coat'' was the kind of barrier that covered her body like a well-fittedtex.

    "Even so, Impure Mana could melt even the sturdiest barriers¡­"

    "Well, my barriers are built different," she said smugly. "I learned from the best people."

    It was the former saint Dominic Zavaroni who taught her how to create Holy Barriers, and it was her Aunt Nichole who taught her how to improve her technique while they were in Korea.

    Plus, Aruna and Arche de Moonasterio also helped her.

    "This is the Impure Mana that I caught and stored in my Dome earlier," Neoma exined to the baby unicorn. "When this thing hit my Dome at first, it created a sizzle as if it was trying to melt my barrier. But it''s calm now, isn''t it?"

    Charlotte''s eyes widened as if she just realized it now. "You''re right, Princess Neoma. And now that I''m looking closer, the color is lighter. It was pure ck earlier, but it''s more like charcoal at the moment."

    "I know, right?"

    "What did Your Royal Highness do?"

    "This Dome is actually not a Dome right now after the shape changed," Neoma exined carefully. "I''d like to call this one a ''Balloon.''"

    "A Balloon¡­?"

    "I used my breath to inte it," she exined. "This Balloon is filled with air that came from my own breath."

    "Your Royal Highness'' breath¡­ then¡­?"

    "My breath once revived a dying minor god," Neoma said indifferently. It wasn''t something that she did ording to her own will, so she was neither proud nor embarrassed. She simply didn''t care. "And I also identally turned the Queen of Spirit world a few years younger."

    Thetter was a piece of information that she got from Trevor before.

    "How is this possible?" Charlotte murmured in disbelief while watching the blobs of Impure Mana change into a lighter color while inside the Balloon. "It''s as if the Impure Mana inside is¡­ getting revived."

    "Right?" she agreed with the baby unicorn. "The Mana of dead Darkness attribute users don''t return to Nature. Then they turn into poisonous Impure Mana that kills humans instantly. But it seems like my premium air purifier ability has the properties necessary to cleanse the poison in Impure Mana. Once it happens, then doesn''t it mean the now "Pure Mana" could finally return to Nature?"

    Gosh.

    [Look at me¨C I''m even helping Nature now.]

    No wonder Neoma was sooo in-demand.

    "Princess Neoma, your ability is scary," Charlotte said, gulping hard. "The blessing that the Goddess of Life gave you is too great, isn''t it? Because of that gift, you became an exceptional individual, Your Royal Highness."

    "You may be right, but you can''t simply credit all my awesomeness to the Goddess of Life''s blessing," Neoma said in a serious tone. "I worked hard to be where I am today."

    Charlotte suddenly looked embarrassed. "I''m sorry, Princess Neoma. I didn''t mean to be rude."

    "It''s okay. I get what you''re trying to say anyway."

    The baby unicorn looked relieved that Neoma epted her apology.

    [Unless a unicornmits a heinous crime, there''s no way I''d hate one.]

    "Anyway, now that I know my theory is correct, then all I have to figure out is how to extract the Impure Mana inside Trevor''s body," Neoma said, sighing. "The Impure Mana has unfortunately tainted Trevor''s body and Mana already. Even if I could unalive it, how could I do it when it''s inside his body?"

    "Doesn''t it mean Princess Neoma just has to fill Trevor''s body with your breath?" Charlotte asked, tilting her head to one side innocently. "Then isn''t kissing the easiest way to do that?"

    Huh?

    Neoma was too stunned to speak.

    [Do I need to kiss Trevor to save his life¡­?]

    ***

    "I THINK I need to blow up the entire ind and sink it, Lady Roseheart."

    To say that Mona was shocked to hear that would be an understatement. "But why would you do that?"

    "Is it because of what I said?" Princess Maan asked awkwardly. "About your territory''s barrier being weak?"

    Dahlia fell silent for a moment before she nodded her head gently. "There are people who are after the potions and the devices that the ck Witches created. Now that the barrier that keeps this ind hidden has weakened, it''s only a matter of time before people who hunted down the ck Witches find my home."

    The young ck Witch had a point.

    Even the Mermaid Princess agreed with Dahlia.

    "It''s a good thing that I''ve already packed and hidden all the important heirlooms of our n," Dahlia said, obviously relieved. But, of course, the ck Witch looked sad. "It''s sad to lose the home where I was raised by the n. But it''s more important to protect the treasures of the ck Witches. Moreover, the marine life here will be safer if the ind disappears before we get terrorized by people who want to harm me."

    Mona felt sad for Dahlia because she could rte to the young ck Witch.

    [The Rosehearts were also hunted down by the greedy nobles in the past. We were forced to surrender everything we have in order to survive.]

    That was why Mona could see herself in Dahlia.

    [This child shouldn''t go through what I have been through in the past.]<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Dahlia, can you reconsider blowing up this ind?" Mona asked carefully. "I have a suggestion."

    Of course, the ck Witch was surprised. But, after a few seconds of considering it, she immediately nodded. And quite eagerly, at that. "Please let me hear your suggestion, Lady Roseheart. After all, if there was a way to keep the ind safe without destroying it, I''d grab it with my hands tightly."

    [A child like you shouldn''t be shouldering everything on your own.]

    "If the problem is the security, then we should just strengthen it," Mona said, smiling at Dahlia. "Let''s bring Nathaira of the ck Ocean here."

    Princess Maan''s eyes widened, shocked. "Nathaira, the Imoogi? The Legendary Sea Monsters of the ck Ocean?"

    "Can we do that, Lady Roseheart?" Dahlia asked, her eyes sparkling. "Can we ask Nathaira to guard the ind?"

    ***

    "NEOMA, what happened?"

    "I made something amazing, Mama Boss," Neoma said, smiling at her mother. "I seeded in "unaliving" the blobs of Impure Mana that I caught earlier."

    The Balloon floated in front of Mama Boss and the others.

    Of course, the blobs of Impure Mana inside the Balloon were still there. But the blobs had turned into a silver-ish color now. Moreover, anyone on the level of an advance Mana user could tell that the poison in those blobs was already gone.

    In short, Mama Boss, Dahlia, Lewis, and Maan could tell that the blobs of Impure Mana were no longer corrupted.

    Those blobs were no different from ordinary Mana now.

    [I seeded. Hurray for me! You can call me Neoma the Necromancer now~]

    "No, I''m not talking about that," Mama Boss said, cupping Neoma''s face between her hands. "Baby, you look paler than normal. Moreover, your Mana feels weak. I can barely feel your Moonglow, too."

    "Princess Neoma really worked hard, Lady Roseheart," Charlotte said, her eyes sparkling in delight. "At first, I thought the Imperial Princess was crazy when talking about her ridiculous theories. She talked about breathing life into Impure Mana as if she was just talking about raising a nt! But the craziest part? Princess Neoma pulled it off easily!"

    "It''s not "easily" when my daughter looks like this, Miss Charlotte," Mama Boss said in a cold voice. "Neoma only makes it look easy because she''s a genius, but that doesn''t mean she didn''t suffer."

    Charlotte, who suddenly looked scared of Mama Boss, closed her mouth.

    Neoma was also surprised.

    [Mama Boss rarely gets upset¡­]

    "I''m fine, Mama Boss¡­"

    "You''re not fine," Mama Boss said sternly. "You need to rest, Neoma."

    "Okay, Mama Boss," Neoma said, afraid of getting scolded by her mother. "I will rest¡­ter."

    It seemed like she chose the wrong words since Mama Boss looked more upset now.

    "I knew I shouldn''t have left you alone the moment I caught you trying to touch the Impure Mana earlier," Mama Boss said, frustrated. "Neoma, I know you''re desperate to save Trevor. But please don''t forget to take care of yourself."

    "I''m taking care of myself well, Mama Boss."

    Of course, her mother didn''t sound convinced.

    "I apologize for interrupting your conversation, but I''m also desperate here," Maan said, her eyes focused on the blobs of (no longer) Impure Mana before turning to Neoma. "Princess Neoma, please help my n. We need your ability to cleanse the Impure Mana that''s slowly killing our people."

    Oh.

    To be honest, she was conflicted. Her priority was Trevor, of course. However, it wasn''t like she could ignore the mermaids¡­

    Neoma eyed Mama Boss nervously.

    As expected, her mother looked displeased.

    [Mama Boss probably wants me to reject the request, but she''s not saying anything since she wants to respect my decision as an adult.]

    "Please, Princess Neoma," Maan begged her. "I''ll do anything and everything in return."

    Okay, Neoma almost caved in.

    However¡­

    "Hey, talk is cheap¨C why don''t we make a contract first?"

    Huh?

    A ck hole suddenly appeared on the spot near Neoma.

    No wonder Lewis stood in front of her protectively.

    However, everyone immediately rxed when they saw Trevor emerge from the ck hole.

    [Gosh, what''s with the monocle and weird book in his hand?]

    Moreover¡­

    "Hey, what happened to you, Trevor?" Neoma asked with knitted eyebrows. "Why do you have the same smell as that relic from the past?"

    Trevorughed at what Neoma said. "My Moon Princess, I chose to be the Devil for you."

    Huh?

    ***

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 Chapter 746 KISS, KISS FALL IN LOVE?

    ?

    TREVOR HATED the method of summoning the Ancient Devil because it was so archaic, but it was the only way to do it.

    Hence, he pulled out a dagger and sliced the palm of his hand.

    [I hope my barrier is strong enough to block Prince Nero and Emperor Niki''s senses for a moment.]

    He put a barrier around the guest room that he was using in the pce.

    After all, he didn''t want the emperor and the Crown Prince to berate him for summoning the Ancient Devil. The first time it happened, it was the Ancient Devil who showed up unannounced. Hence, he wasn''t scolded.

    However, this time, it was him who summoned the Ancient Devil.

    [But honestly, what am I doing? I''m barely breathing and yet, I''m wasting my energy just to summon this Ancient Devil bastard. I wish smartphones exist in this world.]

    Anyway, his negative thoughts were soon forgotten.

    Fresh blood then trickled down and touched the now sizzling floor. The spot where his blood dropped melted, creating a ck hole.

    Then, as expected, the Ancient Devil emerged from it.

    "You made up your mind quickly," the Ancient Devil teased him as his feetnded on the floor quietly. "Is my offer too sweet to resist?"

    "Hey, we do not have the kind of rtionship where we could joke around each other."

    "You''re boring."

    "And you''re old."

    "That''s crossing the line, you little bastard. The body I currently own is only in his early twenties. I''m pretty young right now."

    "Please have some conscience. You already existed during the Ancient Period."

    "Consider it as my past life¨C I was only a boy during that period anyway."

    Trevor just rolled his eyes, then he changed the subject. "You knew it," he used the Ancient Devil in a serious tone. "You knew the gods were already on a hunt to find Princess Neoma."

    The Ancient Devil sat on the bed as if he owned it. "The Goddess of Truth cannot lie."

    "So, she just name-dropped my Moon Princess when her fellow gods asked her who cleaned her domain?"

    "Your manner of speaking has changed."

    "Well, try living in the modern world for five years."

    The Ancient Devil ignored his sarcasm. "If Princess Neoma signed a contract with the Goddess of Truth to hide her secret, then we could have avoided this situation. After all, the contract would have restrained Alethea from exposing Princess Neoma''s secret."

    Trevor didn''t want to admit it, but the ancient bastard was correct.

    [A contract would have stopped something like this from happening.]

    But it wasn''t like Princess Neoma was being careless.

    [My Moon Princess probably just lowered her guard because the Goddess of Truth cooperated with her during the trial.]

    That was the problem with kind-hearted people.

    "I''ll be your sessor then," Trevor dered firmly. "What do you want in return?"

    "Nothing."

    "Bullshit," he said, scoffing at the ancient bastard. "I wasn''t born yesterday. Moreover, it''s onlymon knowledge that Devils don''t give favors for free."

    "I''m serious," the Ancient Devil imed. "Once you inherited my title, I''ll be free from my duties. Moreover¡­" He clutched his chest tight. "This body will finally be mine."

    Ah, so that was it.

    "What will happen once youpletely take over that body? Will you lose your power as the Ancient Devil?"

    "I wasn''t named THE Devil just because of the demonic power I possess¨C I was named THE Devil because of my mere existence that allows such power to exist in the first ce. I already told you, didn''t I? I''m also a god, no matter how much the old bastards up there deny it."

    "Wow, congrattions. Your existence is sooo special, huh?" Trevor said sarcastically, even pping as slowly as he could. "For someone as ~special~ as you, you''d think the problem with Darkness and Impure Mana would have been solved already, huh? But, no. You old rotten bastards just have to put everything on the shoulders of a young princess."

    "What''s the problem with Darkness and Impure Mana?"

    He couldn''t answer the Ancient Devil because he sounded genuine.

    That confused the hell out of him.

    [Does he not realize the danger of Darkness and Impure Mana?]

    "Darkness is a part of Nature, and so is Impure Mana," the Ancient Devil exined casually. "What should we do about it? Darkness and Impure Mana only get harmful if you use them for that purpose."

    "Impure Mana is an existence rejected by Nature."

    "That''s how humans see it. But Nature doesn''t really "reject" Impure Mana, per se," the ancient bastard exined. "It''s just that Nature is an agent of the Goddess of Life, and Impure Mana belongs to another god."

    "Huh?" Trevor asked, confused. "The Bookworm didn''t inform me about that."

    "It''s because your little pet can''t ess information rted to major gods," the Ancient Devil said. "I''m only saying this to you because you''re now my sessor. But Impure Mana falls under the jurisdiction of another god."

    "Another god?"

    "Impure Manaes from the dead Mana of Darkness attribute users. Who do you think is in charge of it?"

    Dead Mana¡­

    Dead¡­?

    Ah.

    Trevor tilted his head to one side. "The elusive God of Death."

    Aha, that made sense.

    The God of Death disappeared after the Ancient Period ended. Of course, the God of Death didn''tpletely vanish. After all, an uncountable number of people and other living creatures would still die every single day.

    [Just like how new lives are born every single day even though no one knows where the Goddess of Life is.]

    "It seems like the God of Death isn''t doing a good job managing Impure Mana," Trevor said, scoffing. "The Goddess of Life has the Nature as an agent to deal with things rted to life. What is the God of Death doing?"

    "I guess the God of Death hasn''t convinced him to be his agent yet. Even though no one knows where the God of Death is, it''s pretty known among the gods that he''s looking for an agent to manage all things rted to death on his behalf. He invited this certain individual a few years ago, but he was rejected," the Ancient Devil said, shrugging. "I wasn''t surprised since I knew it wouldn''t be easy even for the God of Death to boss HIM around."

    "Who?"

    "Lord Levi''s divine son¨C the God yer."

    Ah?

    Ruto was the agent that the God of Death was trying to recruit?

    Trevor couldn''t help but feel bitter. "That damned chef is acting like he''s the main character again."

    The Ancient Devilughed. "Isn''t he? He has everything. Of course, anyone would think the world revolves around Ruto Solfrid."

    "Wrong¨C the world revolves around my Moon Princess."

    "It revolves around the two of them, then?"

    "No!" Trevor protested. "If you say that the world revolves around Princess Neoma and that damned chef, then it will look like they''re the female and male lead in a romance fantasy novel!"

    "What are you talking about?"

    "Nothing."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The Ancient Devil just looked at him weirdly before he changed the topic. "I don''t want to give you false hopes, so I''ll be honest with you, Trevor Kesser. Even if you inherit my ability now, it won''t save your life¨C you''re still dying. In fact, it might even have the opposite effect since gaining a new powerful ability might put a strain on your already weak body."

    "I know that."

    "And yet, you still want to inherit my power RIGHT NOW?"

    "The gods won''t leave the de Moonasterios alone if I don''t chase them away properly," Trevor said, sighing. "Of course, I''m sure it would be easy for Emperor Niki and Prince Nero to kill those puny minor gods. But if they do that¡­"

    "Ah, right," the Ancient Devil said while nodding. "The God yer would appear."

    "Yeah, that damned chef would get involved with the Imperial Family again," he said, frowning. "He exists to eliminate gods who break the rules, but he''s also tasked to protect them as long as they don''tmit any crime. In this situation, it''s clear that the de Moonasterios would be the viin if they kill gods just to protect my Moon Princess."

    "So, you''re willing to destroy your body further just to save Princess Neoma''s Imperial Family from getting hunted down by the God yer?"

    "It''s just one of the things I do for love~"

    "That''s stupid."

    "You''re grinning, though?"

    "Because I like the way you love Princess Neoma," the Ancient Devil said, standing up and extending his hand to him. "The more there are people willing to die for Princess Neoma, the better."

    "Don''t say that in front of Princess Neoma¨C she''ll hate it," Trevor said, clicking his tongue. "Anyway, let''s begin the session ceremony."

    ***

    [SHOULD I just kill them all?]

    Niki was confident that he could kill the minor gods that trespassed in his pce, but he was worried about the consequences.

    [Ruston Stroganoff, the God yer, would not turn a blind eye if I killed these gods.]

    "Father, let''s just kill them," Nero said impatiently. "These puny gods are nothing but trespassers anyway."

    The minor gods were obviously offended.

    To be honest, Nero raised a valid point.

    However¡­

    "Gods are allowed to enter the Imperial Pce as long as they''re not hostile towards the de Moonasterios," Niki said, sighing. "It was a deal that the First Emperor made with the gods who blessed his existence when he was born into this world."

    Nero scoffed. "Then let''s get rid of that stupid deal. You''re the emperor now, Father. Who cares about the First Emperor''s outdated rules?"

    Ah.

    [My son has a point¡­]

    Niki was tempted, but he got distracted soon.

    "Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness, please don''t be hasty."

    It was Trevor Kesser.

    The demon boy, who was supposed to be on the verge of dying, materialized out of thin air.

    [Hmm?]

    Trevor looked better now than he did thest time Niki saw him.

    However, it didn''t change the fact that the demon still looked like he was on his deathbed.

    [This stupid boy gained an ability that his crumbling body couldn''t handle.]

    "Why did you gain a new ability when you know your body is about to break down any moment?" Niki asked, shaking his head. "Are you stupid?"

    "Or do you have a death wish?" Nero added. "If you wanted to die that badly, you should have just told me¨C I would have helped."

    "Your Majesty and Your Royal Highness are still as cruel as ever," Trevor said in a "polite" voice. "Your Majesty and Your Royal Highness be unhinged whenever Lady Roseheart and Princess Neoma aren''t here~"

    Niki and Nero red at the demon boy at the same time.

    Of course, the rascal justughed it off.

    "I''m here to solve the current issue, Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness," Trevor said, smiling. Then he turned to the floating pairs of red orbs around them. "Dear gods, if you want to meet Princess Neoma, you have to go through me first." The demon boy patted his chest as if he was proud of himself. "I am Princess Neoma''s one and only Contractor."

    ***

    "AND THAT''S what happened."

    Neoma raised an eyebrow after hearing Trevor''s story. "So, you made a deal with the Ancient Devil to be his sessor? Then you faced the minor gods in the Imperial Pce and announced that you are now my Contractor. You also told them that I don''t work for free, so they better offer me a handsome payment?"

    Right now, she was having a private talk with Trevor inside the cabin.

    Only the two of them were there.

    [Because Mama Boss will get mad again if I talk about Impure Mana¡­]

    "That''s pretty much it," Trevor said casually. "Princess Neoma, the fact that you cleaned up Goddess Alethea''s domain has already spread. It''s inevitable that the gods who experienced the same thing woulde to you. Hence, instead of rejecting them bluntly, we must take advantage of the situation and make a deal with them."

    "Okay, but let''s talk about thatter."

    "But this is an important issue, my Moon Princess¡­"

    "No, your life is more important," she said while looking at Trevor straight in the eye. "You received the Ancient Devil''s ability, but your condition didn''t improve. Is this really the right time to ept that relic''s offer?"

    As usual, he just shrugged casually. "It''s not that bad, Princess Neoma. My condition didn''t improve, but the Ancient Devil gave me some of his life force. That was why I was able to get out of my deathbed. Moreover, he was decent enough to send me here."

    She let out a sigh. "You''re really crazy."

    Trevorughed as if he was delighted. "Crazy about you, my Moon Princess~"

    So cringe.

    But she didn''t say it out loud this time.

    "Trevor Kesser," Neoma said in a serious tone, then she cupped Trevor''s thin and pale face between her hands. "Punch me if I make you ufortable."

    ***

    [MY MOON Princess is going to kiss me, isn''t she?]

    Trevor''s eyes widened in shock, but he didn''t dare to move an inch as Princess Neoma closed her eyes.

    And then his Moon Princess'' beautiful face slowly got closer.

    He epted his fate right then and there.

    Trevor closed his eyes.

    [I can die a happy man now.]

    ***

    NOTE: Sorry for the sudden break. I took a short vacation for my mental health. But I''m back, and so are the updates. Thank you for waiting.

    ***

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 Chapter 747 THE FIRST OFFICIAL PILLAR

    ?

    NERO, who was about to hand some documents to his father, suddenly felt annoyed.

    He didn''t know what happened to him, but he identally used some force when he ced the documents on the table. As a result, his father''s office table broke into two. But as expected of the strongest man on the continent, the emperor didn''t even flinch.

    "Are you dissatisfied to be working with me on a weekend where you could have gone out with Hanna on a date?" his father asked calmly. "Let''s use words, Nero. The pce might copse if you act violently every time you throw a tantrum."

    "It''s not like that, Father. I''m not throwing a tantrum," Nero denied, frowning because he felt offended that his father treated him like a child who couldn''t control his temper. "I just suddenly felt annoyed."

    His father leaned against the back of the chair and crossed his arms over his chest. "Come to think of it, I feel the same. I should check on Mona and Neoma."

    "Father hasn''t heard from them yet?"

    "We purposely avoided contact to make sure they won''t be followed."

    "Then¡­ Father doesn''t know how Dahlia is doing¨C"

    "Stop," his father stopped him sternly. "Nero, you just told me a few days ago that you have nothing to do with the ck Witch anymore."

    He couldn''t refute what his father said.

    Moreover, he also hated himself for acting that way.

    Even though his brain knew that he should let go of Dahlia now, he couldn''t understand why he was still worried about her.

    [Am I really crazy?]

    "I''ll contact Monater to check on them," his father said, his voice calmer now than it did earlier. Then his father changed the topic. "Trevor Kesser already left the pce, didn''t he?"

    Nero nodded his head slowly. "Yes, Father. Should I ask my people to track him down?"

    "You don''t have to," his father said. "I bet it wouldn''t be easy even for my Pdins to track him down. He may be weaker now, but he''s still a genius Sorcerer."

    He just frowned at his father''s words.

    "Moreover, I have a feeling that he''s headed to Neoma," his father added. "You heard what Trevor Kesser said earlier: he''s now Neoma''s Contractor."

    He scoffed at what his father said. "And do you believe that demon bastard, Father?"

    "Nero, I''ll be honest with you¨C I trust Trevor Kesser more than I trust the current you."

    That kind of offended him.

    But it wasn''t like his father was wrong.

    Nero would admit that he didn''t trust his immediate family, too. He was only sticking to his father because his father reimed his power as the emperor quite effectively. In short, he was treating his father like a colleague.

    But, he would also admit that he felt safe with his immediate family even though he didn''t show it.

    [It''s also true that I''ve been acting like a jerk towards them.]

    Hence, he wasn''t surprised when his father said he didn''t trust him fully at the moment.

    "Nero, get back to work," his father said in a scolding tone. "And give the academy a proper response soon. You don''t have to drop out if they''re the ones clinging to you as if their lives depended on it."

    Ah, right.

    The schoolmaster of the Royal Moon Academy wouldn''t leave him alone despite his announcement that he would drop out.

    "Yes, Father," Nero said, sighing. "I''ll give Lord Salvatore a firm response soon."

    ***

    OH.

    AS EXPECTED, IT WASN''T A KISS.

    To be honest, Trevor wasn''t disappointed because, in the first ce, he knew that Princess Neoma wouldn''t kiss him.

    [It was just my wishful thinking.]

    Princess Neoma wouldn''t kiss anyone without their consent, after all. Hence, if it was her intention, she would have said so from the beginning.

    [My Moon Princess is cleansing the Impure Mana inside me.]

    Trevor could feel Princess Neoma''s warm breath entering his body through his mouth. Their lips weren''t touching, but his lips were slightly parted as his Moon Princess squeeze his cheeks gently.

    [This is the same technique that Princess Neoma would often call the "breathing technique" as a "premium air purifier." Yeah, my Moon Princess has seen so many anime series in her life.]

    To be honest, he thought it wouldn''t work.

    After all, he knew that not even Princess Neoma could purify Impure Mana. But he was soon proved wrong.

    [Hmm¡­ I''m getting better?]

    Ever since he was poisoned by Impure Mana, his body felt heavy.

    But, right now, he could feel his body getting lighter by each passing moment.

    Wow.

    [Princess Neoma is really a genius.]

    Trevor''s mini celebration in his head was cut off when Princess Neoma suddenly stopped what she was doing, then coughed.

    It didn''t sound like an ordinary cough, though.

    He opened his eyes and realized that he was correct.

    Princess Neoma was covering her mouth with a hand as she coughed, blood trickling down the corner of her mouth.

    [It''s because of me¡­]

    "It''s not your fault," Princess Neoma said as if she could read the guilt on his face. "And I''m fine."

    Trevor let out a sigh. "Princess Neoma, it''s not fine. You''ve always been healthy since we were kids. But, recently, you''ve been coughing up blood often."

    "It''s just a little side-effect of using my breathing technique."

    He was about to say that having a side effect after using a technique shouldn''t make you cough up blood, but he stopped when he felt a huge change in his body.

    [Oh?]<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    He said that he felt lighter earlier, but it was actually better than that.

    The heavy Impure Mana that seemed to weigh his body down before suddenly moved inside his body like how blood flowed through his veins.

    [It''s¡­ alive.]

    The heavy Impure Mana that corrupted his body and soul was alive.

    [And it''s moving inside my body like ordinary Mana would.]

    "How did this happen?" Trevor asked in disbelief, turning to Princess Neoma with a question in his eyes. "What did you learn this time, Princess Neoma?"

    Of course, Princess Neoma looked smug while wiping the blood off of her mouth. "Apparently, I''m the sessor of the Goddess of Life."

    He almost shut his eyes tight, but he forced himself to calm down.

    [Princess Neoma is the sessor of the Goddess of Life, and the damned chef is the agent the God of Death is trying to recruit¡­ why do the two of them always stand opposite of each other''s side?]

    Admittedly, Trevor hated Ruston "Ruto" Solfrid Stroganoff.

    But he would also admit that it would be better to have the damned chef as an ally instead of an enemy.

    Having said that, his resentment onlysted for a few seconds.

    [It''s okay. I''m here and I''m not going anywhere. Princess Neoma only needs me by her side anyway~]

    In short, the damned chef could go to hell.

    "I tried a little experiment earlier, and as expected of me, I managed to unalive the Impure Mana that I caught earlier," Princess Neoma said proudly. "But I''m not satisfied with the result. Because of my weakass body, I couldn''t cleanse all the Impure Mana inside you in one go, Trevor. We have to do this againter."

    "I don''t mind, Princess Neoma."

    "You sure look like you really don''t mind."

    Heughed because he was caught. "It wasn''t like I was thinking of dirty thoughts, Princess Neoma. I wouldn''t dare do that to you of all people."

    "I know¨C that''s why you''re still alive."

    He justughed again, but he slowly turned serious. "I was just a little hopeful, Princess Neoma," he admitted shyly. "For a moment there, only for a few seconds, I thought you were going to kiss me."

    "Would you like a kiss from me?"

    Ah, he didn''t like where this conversation was headed.

    "Of course, that''s my dream and my goal," Trevor admitted shamelessly. "But I would never want to get a pity kiss from you, Princess Neoma. I have pride, too."

    "What do you mean by a "pity kiss?""

    "It''s obvious, my Moon Princess," he said, smiling while shaking his head. "You look like you''re going to give me anything and everything I want at the moment, Princess Neoma. Is it because you feel indebted to me?"

    Princess Neoma only kept her mouth shut, but the guilt in her beautiful ash-gray eyes was clear.

    [See?]

    "That''s what I''m talking about, Princess Neoma," Trevor said, chuckling. "Please don''t do this to me, my Moon Princess. I''m not your strongest soldier. If you continue acting like you''re going to give me anything I asked, I might take advantage of you."

    "I know you wouldn''t do that."

    "Then you''re overestimating my patience, my Moon Princess," he said, brazenly grabbing Princess Neoma''s hand.

    To be honest, he was expecting a punch from his Moon Princess.

    Fortunately, Princess Neoma allowed him to touch her hand even though he waste to ask permission.

    [Princess Neoma already broke up with the damned chef, right?]

    Then this much would be fine.

    "My Moon Princess, from now on, I''ll seduce you for real," Trevor dered bravely, cing Princess Neoma''s hand on his cheek. "After almost dying, I realized life is too short for me to stay idle. Hence, I won''t hold back anymore."

    Princess Neoma rolled her eyes as she pulled her hand away from his face. "When did you ever hold back, you sly demon?"

    Trevor''sugh echoed in the small cabin.

    [Yep, I love this girl so much.]

    ***

    "SO, LET''S hear it now," Neoma said after Trevor was done flirting with her. "You made a contract with the Ancient Devil bastard."

    She was relieved that her breathing technique worked.

    Trevor wasn''tpletely fine yet, but his life was now out of danger.

    [We can proceed with the treatment slowly. I have to gain more stamina to quickly finish the treatment. Gosh, why is this body so frail recently?]

    She wished she would stop coughing up blood every time she reached her limit.

    "That, I did," Trevor said, opening his hand until the book that he was holding earlier materialized. At the same time, the monocle he wore before also appeared. "This is the book made from the skin of the Ancient Devil''s father."

    Neoma scrunched up her nose in disgust. "Don''t touch things like that, Trevor."

    "I have to," he said,ughing it off as usual. Even so, his remained serious. "Princess Neoma, let''s make it official."

    "Huh?"

    "You as my master, me as your Contractor," Trevor said, the carefree smile on his face gone. "The Goddess of Truth broke her promise with you, and she was able to do that because you didn''t make a contract with her. Verbal promises don''t work on gods, after all. Hence, right now, the gods are looking for you."

    "To make me clean their polluted domain?"

    "Exactly. We can''t stop the rumor from spreading anymore. Hence, this is the only option we have."

    Neoma sighed, already expecting something like that to happen. "How do I make you my official Contractor, Trevor?"

    "It''s easy," Trevor said, grinning. "Let''s make a blood pact, my Moon Princess."

    ***

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 Chapter 748 DIVINE BLOOD

    ?

    A BLOOD pact, huh?

    "How ssic," Neoma said,ughing softly. Then she raised her hand and pointed at her palm. "Do I need to cut the palm of my hand for the blood pact?"

    "Unfortunately, yes," Trevor said,ughing along with her. "How I wish signing normally with a stamp or a signature also works here."

    "I know, right?" she agreed with him, then she moved on to a more serious topic. "Trevor."

    "Yes, my Moon Princess?"

    "I remember that I have a Contractor in the first timeline," she said in a serious tone. "And I believe it was you."

    "Unfortunately, I don''t have the memories of the first timeline," he said. "Having said that, I have reasons to believe that I was, indeed, Your Royal Highness'' Contractor back then."

    "What reasons?"

    Trevor put a hand over his chest dramatically. "I just knew I would have fallen in love with you in any timeline, my Moon Princess."

    "Gosh, that''s so cringe-y."

    "I''m serious, though?"

    "I know¨C that''s why I said it''s cringe-y," she said, frowning. "Plus, the situation might be different back then. You only fell in love with me because I freed you from the literal hellhole you were in before, didn''t you? But what if it wasn''t me who saved you in the first timeline?"

    The demon boy considered it, but only for a moment.

    "Nah, I have a feeling that it would still be you, Princess Neoma¨C it has to be you."

    "Why me?"

    "People fall in love and get their hearts broken again and again," he said in a solemn voice. "Princess Neoma should know since it already happened to you."

    She just nodded subtly.

    Trevor wasn''t wrong, after all.

    Rubin Drayton was her first love, and she did crazy things in the first timeline just to win him over. But in the end, she moved on and fell in love with another person again. And that person was ''Commander Yoan.''

    [Is my heart¡­ fickle?]

    No, that couldn''t be.

    It was just hard to resist Rubin Drayton''s face, while ''Commander Yoan'' was¡­ well, she didn''t know why Neoma of the first timeline fell in love with that man.

    [But I know that Ruto got me in this timeline because of his excellent cooking.]

    Tsk.

    [Why am I thinking of him again?]

    "Princess Neoma, you''re getting distracted."

    "I''m sorry."

    Trevor just chuckled, then he turned to her with a soft look on his face. "My Moon Princess, I don''t think I''m capable of falling in love twice. You''re my first love, and I''m sure as hell that you''d also be thest."

    Okay, that would have sounded cringe-y had Trevor said it in his usual yful voice.

    But this dude sounded so sincere it made her feel embarrassed.

    "The contract," Neoma said, changing the topic quickly. "Let''s make it. As my Contractor, you''ll deal with

    Trevor tilted his head to one side, smiling cheekily at her. "My Moon Princess'' heart?"

    "So, you want me to die?"

    He justughed, obviously aware that she was trying to avoid the topic. "I just have one condition, Princess Neoma."

    "Alright. What is it?"

    "If you die, I die."

    She felt a shiver down her spine. "Are you crazy?"

    "Yes."

    Right.

    [Why did I even ask?]

    "This life is only fun because you''re around, Princess Neoma," Trevor said, shrugging. "If you die before me, I''ll definitely go insane. I might go on a killing spree after that."

    Gosh.

    [Why am I surrounded by psychos?]

    "I won''t change my mind whatever you say, Princess Neoma."

    "You know I only have five years left, don''t you?"

    "As long as I die next to you, I won''t regret it even if we die tomorrow."

    Shit, this dude was serious.

    "Trevor, during the first timeline, I tried to tie my lifespan with Nero so that he would die if I died," she said carefully. "Nero killed me to prevent that from happening. I know it happened a long time ago, but I''m still sensitive about that thing."

    "Don''t be, Princess Neoma. Your situation is different from mine. You did it to survive, while I want to do it for love."

    Argh.

    She couldn''t help but stand up and ruffle Trevor''s hair yfully. "Stop! You''re being so cringe-y now! Are you trying to kill me with your cheesiness?!"

    Trevorughed out loud, then he gently grabbed her wrists to stop her from messing with his hair. "Princess Neoma, I''m sorry but you can''t stop me now."

    In the end, Neoma could only sigh and shake her head in defeat.

    [Trevor is more stubborn than me, huh? Fine. Let''s just give up this once.]

    After the contract was made, Neoma and Trevor went out of the cabin with a golden ear cuff on each of their ears¨C and it was the symbol of their rtionship as the ''client'' and the Contractor respectively.

    ***

    [HMM¡­ not bad.]

    Neoma stared at the golden ear cuff on her right ear. The design was a string of heart-shaped leaves that carefully covered the curve of her ear prettily. It was a forever kind of essory that she had to wear, as long as her contract with Trevor was valid.

    Hence, she was d that they chose a pretty design.

    "It''s a wise decision to get a Contractor, Neoma."

    She turned around and properly faced Mama Boss who was looking at her with a worried look on her face.

    Right now, Neoma and her mother were in the room next to where Trevor was resting.

    [He fainted again.]

    "We knew that it was only a matter of time before the gods remember that you have the same ability as the current Aether," Mama Boss said worriedly. "But now that you have Trevor as your Contractor, we can negotiate with people who want to borrow your power. It was better than getting forced to work for them for free¨C just like what happened with Goddess Aleteha."

    Ah.

    She detected the resentment in her mother''s voice.

    "It was my fault for being careless, Mama Boss," Neoma said. "I shouldn''t have trusted a god''s words."

    In her defense, it was hectic during the trial.

    [But I won''t make the same mistake again.]

    "Don''t worry, Mama Boss. I''ll be more vignt now."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Her mother let out a sigh, then she changed the topic to probably avoid getting upset. "How''s Trevor?"

    "His life is out of danger, but his body is still as fragile as ss," she said while shaking her head. "He fainted after making the contract. It seemed like he pushed himself too much just because the Ancient Devil lent him a bit of his power."

    Now Mama Boss looked even more worried. "It seemed like the Impure Mana is still eating at his life force slowly."

    "The problem is, I can''t get it out of his system, Mama Boss," she confided to her mother. "I breathed clean air into Trevor''s mouth, but it only cleansed the part that it could reach. And even though I said his life was now out of danger, his body is still slowly deteriorating. I either need to get the remaining Impure Mana out of his system, or find a way to breathe more air into his body."

    Kissing wouldn''t even work.

    And there was a limit to how much air she could breathe into Trevor''s body since her body wasn''t in its peak condition at the moment.

    [Is it because of my recent fight with Ruto?]

    "I need something simr to an oxygen tank," Neoma continued sharing her worries with her mother. "But the problem is my lungs. I can''t release that much air all at once."

    Her mother frowned. "And you shouldn''t, baby. I know you care about Trevor, but please take care of yourself, too."

    Oh.

    Right.

    [If only we could use the unicorns'' blood¡­]

    Wait.

    Blood?

    She suddenly had a ''eureka!'' moment.

    [Blood carries oxygen!]

    Cells with oxygen would travel in the blood vessels from the lungs to the left side of the heart, then the blood would be pumped around the body.

    "Neoma, is everything alright?"

    "I''m a de Moonasterio, so I don''t only have Imperial blood¨C I also have the blood of the gods," Neoma said, smiling as ideas suddenly began forming in her big brain. "I just have to feed Trevor my blood."

    Mama Boss'' eyes widened in shock. "You''re going to feed Trevor what?"

    ***

    "TREVOR, do you trust me?"

    Of course, Trevor trusted Princess Neoma with all his heart.

    But the timing was a little¡­ well, suspicious?

    As soon as he opened his eyes, Princess Neoma''s beautiful face greeted him. He loved looking at his Moon Princess, but it was a little scary to see her looking at him as if he wanted to dissect him.

    "I trust you, Princess Neoma," Trevor said, grinning. Even though he was a little nervous, there was no way he would doubt his Moon Princess. "So, what''s up?"

    "You need to take my blood."

    "Okay. How?"

    The royal princess blinked, obviously surprised. "That easy?"

    "You''re not the type to say nonsense, Princess Neoma," he said, shrugging. "If you want me to take your blood, then it must mean you''ve finally found a way to heal mepletely."

    "Trevor, the faith you have in me is scary."

    "It is what it is."

    "Pfft."

    Trevor smiled when he finally made Princess Neomaugh.

    Yep, sounding stupid was his n. He noticed that his Moon Princess was too serious as if she was troubled. Hence, he wanted to make her smile.

    [And I seeded~]

    "We''ll perform a blood transfusion. Of course, I need your power as a genius Sorcerer to pull it off," Princess Neoma said, pulling out a dagger from out of nowhere. Then she sliced her arm in a quick manner. Fresh blood immediately poured out from the slightly deep wound. "Let''s do it the old way."

    "I understand, my Moon Princess," Trevor said, sitting up. Then he borrowed Princess Neoma''s dagger and used it to slice his own arm. Blood trickled down his arm, but he just ignored it since he knew what he had to do next. "I''m ready."

    The royal princess just nodded, then she sat down next to him.

    After that, Princess Neoma and Trevor glued their wounded and bleeding arms together.

    And then he noticed it.

    Princess Neoma''s fresh red blood slowly turned blue.

    [Wow~]

    Even if Princess Neoma didn''t exin, he could tell that her blood was infused with her very pure divine power.

    "The de Moonasterios are also known to have "blue bood," but I didn''t know your blood could literally turn blue," Trevormented, amused. "I thought it was just a metaphor because you''re the Royal Family."

    "I know, right?" Princess Neoma agreed with him. "It probably turned blue because I turned the "air purifying oxygen" in my body into little cells carried by my blood. Once it enters your body, the cells would break down and release the breath I stored in them."

    Of course, scientifically, it was impossible.

    But Princess Neoma executed her n with the use of her Mana.

    And Trevor was also sorcery, of course. After all, it was nearly impossible to transfer blood to another person using this way.

    "We work so well together, my Moon Princess~"

    "Well, it can''t be helped since we''re both geniuses."

    "Right?"

    Princess Neoma chuckled while shaking her head. "Is it working, Trevor?"

    "It is, and it is going too well, Princess Neoma," Trevor said in a serious voice. He could feel the "cells" inside his body breaking down¨C releasing the "air purifier" that was Princess Neoma''s breath. And it was cleansing the Impure Mana inside his body quickly. "It''s terrifying that you have the ability to "revive" Impure Mana, my Moon Princess."

    "I know, right? It''s like discovering a cure to a terminal disease."

    "It''s greater than that," he said while shaking his head. "Princess Neoma, you''ve been to the ck Ocean, haven''t you?"

    The royal princess nodded her head. "Yeah. What about it¡­"

    Her Royal Highness trailed off, obviously realizing what he meant by his question.

    "What you''re thinking is correct, Princess Neoma," Trevor said, sighing. "The ck Ocean is made of Impure Mana. If you seed in "unaliving" the Impure Mana in the ck Ocean and turn it into normal Mana in order to consume it, you''ll be the most powerful human in the entire world, my Moon Princess."

    "But the problem is it doesn''t have to be me," Princess Neoma, who obviously saw the problem right away, said. "If someone forced me to purify the ck Ocean and consume it themselves, then that person would be god-like."

    His Moon Princess was correct.

    The gods in the Upper World might want her for her ability to clean "pollution," but greedy humans in this world might want her for her ability to turn Impure Mana into ordinary Mana that humans could use properly.

    In short, Princess Neoma''s ability was too tempting to resist.

    Trevor made a strong resolve then.

    [Whoever or whatever it is, I won''t let them take advantage of my Moon Princess.]

    ***

    TOMORROW IS MY BIRTHDAY~~~ Please go to my k/o-fi page (ko-fi./s_c) and donate/buy a coffee if you can. If I reach my target amount of donations, I get to win the May Challenge. I''m still so far away from the target since only one person has donated so far. Please help~ T_T Only if you can, of course. Hehe~

    ***

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 Chapter 749 THE MOST SOUGHT-AFTER BACHELORETTE

    ?

    [IS IT LESS effective?]

    Neoma observed Trevor''splexion while the demon boy was busy pouring a vial of healing potion into her wound.

    Since it was a healing potion made by her baby Greko, it was very effective.

    The wound closed up right away.

    "Enough. I''ll do that," Neoma said when Trevor tried to wipe the blood off of her arm with a wet washcloth. "Go and treat your wound now."

    She offered to do that for Trevor, but he refused.

    Apparently, a princess shouldn''t be "serving" her subordinates.

    Honestly, she didn''t care about things like that because Trevor was her best friend and not a subordinate. But Trevor was serious about being her Contractor, so she just gave in. After all, she didn''t want to get in the way of his work.

    "It''s working, Princess Neoma," Trevor assured her after he noticed that she was looking at him worriedly. "The effect is slower than the time you directly breathe into my mouth. But nevertheless, giving me your blood was a wise choice. It reaches the corrupted part of my heart that you couldn''t reach earlier."

    A person''s Mana Core was located in their heart.

    Hence, when Trevor''s Mana was corrupted by Impure Mana, it meant his heart was directly affected by it

    "The blood that you donated to me is now flowing through my veins with my own blood, and it''s being pumped all over my body," he exined. "That''s why I feel better now. I''m slowly yet surely recovering well, so you don''t have to look at me like I''m a fragile ss, Princess Neoma."

    "But you are," she argued weakly. "You fainted just after making our contract."

    "My ability to make contracts with gods and other stronger beings won''t go anywhere just because my stamina is shit, Princess Neoma," he said,ughing and cursing casually. "Don''t worry, I won''t let it affect my job. The ability that I inherited from the Ancient Devil is the real deal."

    "Do you think I''m only worried about how you''ll perform your job as my Contractor and not about your well-being?"

    "¡­"

    "Trevor, don''t undermine yourself," Neoma said in a serious tone. "Do you think I wasn''t serious every time I said you were my best friend?"

    "Ah, I know that you were serious, Princess Neoma. I just refuse to be friendzoned."

    Pfft.

    ''Friendzoned.''

    [Trevor really learned a lot of ng in the modern world~]

    "Whether you want to ept it or not doesn''t change the fact that you''re my best friend¨C my chingu," Neoma said, gently flicking Trevor''s forehead. She did it as lightly as possible because she was afraid she''d put a hole in his head if she wasn''t careful. That was how frail he looked in her eyes at the moment. "I care about you more than you thought, Trevor."

    "Aww, you''re so sweet, Princess Neoma."

    She rolled her eyes at him. "And you sound fake."

    Trevorughed out loud. "What can I do, my Moon Princess? I''m greedy, and I want to be more than friends with you."

    "Control your greed, Trevor Kesser," Neoma scolded him. "Anyway, if you feel better now, let''s go and make a deal with the Mermaid Princess."

    ***

    "WHAT CAN the mermaid n offer to me?" Neoma asked seriously while walking on the shore with Maan, the Mermaid Princess. "If you want me to purify the Impure Mana in your turf, then you must offer me something with the equivalent value."

    Maan fell silent, obviously in deep thought.

    She let the Mermaid Princess ponder as she appreciated the beautiful sunset in front of them.

    Lewis and Trevor were behind, following them in silence.

    Hence, Neoma also had time to ponder.

    [To be honest, I don''t mind helping the mermaids for free because they''re on friendly terms with my "children." But if I do that, Trevor said the people around me would take me as a pushover. Plus, I can''t afford to offer my services for free when there are gods hunting me down for my wonderful ability.]

    "Princess Neoma, I suppose offering our help and joining you in your fight against the crows won''t suffice."

    "Well, I''m not fond of asking people to put their lives in danger for me," Neoma said, shrugging. "Moreover, I''m sure the mermaids are already nning to get back at the crows for the horrible things that they did to your n members."

    In short, the Mermaid Princess'' offer was weak.

    [And she knows that.]

    "Then how about we give the empire a safe route in the sea that we rule?" Maan asked carefully. "A route that only the de Moonasterios and the people working for them could use. Moreover, we will also formally announce that we''ve formed an alliance with you, Princess Neoma."

    Oho?

    She didn''t really care about the route that the Mermaid Princess offered.

    [After all, it falls under Papa Boss and Nero''s authority.]

    On the other hand¡­

    "You''re going to pledge your alliance with ME and not the Imperial Family?"

    "The emperor and the Crown Prince already have enough power, as expected of male monarchs," Maan said, shrugging. "I thought about it a lot, and I believe that what Your Royal Highness needs the most is strong backing in order to stand firm as the Imperial Princess."

    Well¡­ the Mermaid Princess wasn''t wrong.

    "Lastly, I''ll give you my Tears, Princess Neoma."

    "Huh?"

    "Mermaid Tears. Have you heard about them?"

    "You mean those premium pearls that not even my greedy ancestors could collect?"

    Aside from the fact that Mermaid Tears/pearls were very rare, they were also very expensive. Most of all, they weren''t avable to just anyone.

    [Think of THAT luxury handbag that''s only avable to a select few.]

    Maan nodded subtly. "The tears of the members of the Royal Family are different, though. Aside from being the finest quality of pearls, our tears also contain Mana. But I know you don''t need more Mana, Princess Neoma. However¡­"

    "The prestige," Neoma said, smirking. "The prestige of owning the tears of a Mermaid Princess will surely boost my standing as the Imperial Princess."

    [Just like how some people would only buy a luxury handbag because of its brand name and not quality. In short, they''re buying a status symbol.]

    It was funny how Neoma, a princess with Imperial and divine blood flowing through her veins, had to y that kind of game. But what could she do? Most greedy nobles of the empire didn''t have the intelligence to realize her awesomeness~

    Anyway, Maan''s offer wasn''t bad.

    The safe route could be her contribution to the Imperial Family.

    The alliance with the mermaids would be good for her public image.

    And the Mermaid Tears would help her dominate the high society.

    [Yep, it''s a good deal.]

    Now that she figured out how to purify Impure Mana, everything else would be easy from now on.

    "Trevor."

    "Yes, my Moon Princess~"

    Neoma looked over her shoulder, smirking at Trevor. "Prepare the contract."

    ***

    NIKOLAI was half-worried and half-relieved after receiving Mona''s message.

    ["We''re going to have a detour and visit the Mermaid Kingdom. Don''t worry, Neoma and I are both safe. We miss you and Nero."]

    That was the short message that he received earlier.

    Of course, he was worried that Mona and Neoma were about to step foot on an unknown territory.

    [No matter how strong they are, I will always be worried about them.]

    If he could, he would stay with Mona and Neoma.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    But he had duties as the emperor.

    [Moreover, we promised that we won''t leave Nero alone again.]

    "Your Majesty, another formal letter that asks for Princess Neoma''s hand in marriage has arrived."

    Tsk.

    Niki almost broke the pen in his hand after hearing Geoffrey Kinsley''s report. "From which house did ite from this time?"

    Yes, it wasn''t the first marriage proposal that the pce received.

    [Those greedy nobles sure know how to cling to the Imperial Family.]

    "It''s from¡­ House Spencer."

    Niki raised an eyebrow after hearing Geoffrey''s answer. "House Spencer? Do they have a young master around Neoma''s age?"

    Geoffrey gulped before responding to his question. "It was Marquis Russell Spencer who sent the marriage proposal, Your Majesty."

    "What?"

    "M-Marquis Spencer expressed his desire to marry Princess Neoma¨C"

    "Is that bastard out of his mind?!" Niki yelled angrily, breaking the fountain pen in his hand. "He is older than me and yet he asked for my daughter''s hand in marriage?!"

    Marquis Russell Spencer used to be obsessed with Mona.

    [And now, that bastard is aiming for my daughter?]

    He should have destroyed House Spencer when he had the chance before!

    "Does he think I''d let him marry Neoma?"

    "Your Majesty, I believe Marquis Spencer is aware that you won''t allow him to eveny a finger on Princess Neoma," Geoffrey said carefully. "That''s probably why the marquis is aiming for Prince Nero''s approval. After all, Prince Nero will seed the threr. I believe the marquis is nning to coax the Crown Prince."

    "Did that bastard already approach Nero?"

    "Not yet, Your Majesty. However, I heard Marquis Spencer sent expensive gifts to Prince Nero''s pce along with the letter earlier."

    Niki had to take a deep breath to calm himself down.

    The old Nero would definitely slice Marquis Russell Spencer''s throat before the marquis could even dare to ask for Neoma''s hand in marriage.

    However, the current Nero was unpredictable.

    "Keep an eye on that bastard," Niki said, clenching his hands tight. "Report to me right away once Russell Spencer approached Nero."

    Geoffrey bowed his head politely. "As youmand, Your Majesty."

    ***

    "AS EXPECTED, the youngdies of the high society secretly look down on Princess Neoma."

    Hanna sipped her tea while listening to Sandie talk.

    Right now, the two of them were alone in the private tearoom of the shop that she owned.

    There was an afternoon tea party happening next door.

    Of course, she didn''t attend it even though it was a party hosted by one of her female ssmates in the academy.

    Sandie did, and that was why her friend was giving her a report.

    "They think poorly of Princess Neoma simply because she wasn''t raised a "proper" princess," Sandie continued with her report while putting sugar cubes in her tea. "They don''t care about Princess Neoma''s achievements because none of those benefits the rich."

    That was true.

    Most of Neoma''s achievements were centered on the poor. Hence, it made sense why the greedy and selfish nobles wouldn''t care.

    "Hence, they don''t care about Princess Neoma''s plight against the crows."

    "The future of the high society looks dim if the youngdies of our generation fail to realize that if the empire falls, the nobles would also fall with the Imperial Family," Hanna said, sighing while cing the teacup on the saucer silently. "Changing the public''s opinion of Neoma was easy. But it seems like manipting the haughty members of the high society into epting Neoma would be difficult."

    Neoma might say that she didn''t need the approval of the high society.

    But Hanna begged to differ.

    Why would Emperor Niki be forced to marry thete Empress Juliet in the past if it was easy to dominate the nobles?

    [It''s because His Majesty needed them.]

    To be precise, the emperor needed the nobles'' approval back then since His Majesty seized the throne by force.

    [The high society is run by the high-ranking youngdies of the empire. Neoma might hate it, but in order to be the empress regnant in the future, she needs the support of the high society. Hence, she must start by coaxing the youngdies of our generation first.]

    Whether Neoma liked it or not, the empire wouldn''t thrive without the nobles.

    "There''s a quick solution to this problem, Hanna."

    "What is it?"

    Sandie sipped her tea before responding. "Princess Neoma just has to marry into a prestigious family. Prating the high society would naturally follow then."

    Ah, of course.

    There was that option.

    [But Neoma would reject it in a heartbeat.]

    "Is Princess Neoma the type to marry out of love?"

    Hanna was about to say that Neoma already had a lover, but she stopped when she sensed a presence outside the door.

    She didn''t bring her knights because she was only meeting Sandie.

    [Father will scold meter¡­]

    "Who''s there?" Hanna asked calmly. "I already sensed your presence, so don''t even think about running away."

    Sandie tilted her head to one side. "Should I throw a poisoned dart as soon as the door opens?"

    She just shook her head in response.

    The door then burst open¡­

    ¡­ and an unexpected guest entered the tearoom.

    Hanna knitted her eyebrows, confused. "Lord Rubin Drayton?"

    Yes, it was the allegedly most handsome young man in the empire¨C Rubin Drayton. As his reputation suggested, the young lord really had the face that even Sandie¨C a youngdy known for only caring about her poisonous nts while rejecting marriage proposals left and right¨C appreciated.

    "I apologize for being rude, Lady Hanna," Rubin Drayton said in a polite tone. Although his voice sounded firm, his face actually looked hesitant. "I just can''t wait to confirm that¡­ that you''re really alive¡­"

    Excuse me?

    Sandie scoffed, obviously offended in Hanna''s stead. "Did you want Hanna dead, Young Master?"

    "Ah, no. It''s not like that," Rubin Drayton said, then his face turned red as if he was embarrassed. Then he turned to Hanna with a nervous look on his face. But there was also relief in his eyes. "You''re alive¡­ this time¡­ you didn''t die young¡­"

    The young lord actually just murmured thest bits of what he said, as if he was just talking to himself.

    But Hanna heard Rubin Drayton loud and clear, and now she had goosebumps.

    [There was a time I died young, but how did Lord Rubin know that?]

    ***

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 Chapter 750 HERE COMES THE SAVIOR~

    ?

    IF ATLANTIS was real, then it would have looked like THIS.

    By ''this,'' Neoma was talking about Maan''s house. In other words, the Mermaid Kingdom under the sea. They were able to reach the kingdom easily because the Mermaid Princess let them use a portal directed to her home.

    It was a whole civilization right there.

    [So many mermaid tails!]

    Neoma, who was inside a bubble that Dahlia created for their group, observed the kingdom before her with awe.

    Mama Boss, Lewis, Trevor, and Dahlia were also inside the same bubble.

    Those bubbles allowed them to breathe underwater. Also, those bubbles served as their transportation.

    Maan, in her full mermaid form, was now guiding their group.

    [Princess Maan looks like a D*sney mermaid¡­]

    Maan''s beautiful mermaid tail shimmered, and her tail had the same color as her hair. Plus, the Mermaid Princess was also wearing those coral shells as brassiere.

    [Wow, just like in animations and movies¡­]

    The entire vibes in the Mermaid Kingdom were the same.

    Fascinating marine life, beautiful merfolks, and mesmerizing architecture.

    And it was colorful.

    Vibrant colors everywhere you looked definitely made the entire kingdom more beautiful.

    Neoma whistled in appreciation. "Had I known the Mermaid Kingdom is THIS pretty, I would have asked a pce as payment for my service~"

    She was only joking, but Maan turned to her with a nervous look on her face.

    "We can add a use if that''s what you wish, Princess Neoma~" Trevor said yfully even though it was obvious he knew she was only joking. "After all, our side has the upper hand in this deal~"

    Maan gulped down before speaking. "If Princess Neoma seedster, I''m sure my father will consider it positively¡­"

    Neoma was about to say that she was only joking, but she stopped when she finally saw what they came there for.

    [Holy shit.]

    In the middle of what seemed like a za, a huge "bubble" that contained Impure Mana was ced in the middle.

    The bubble became ck because of the Impure Mana inside.

    Argh, the bubble already had long cracks over it. To simply say, it was about to burst any moment now.

    Neoma gulped unconsciously. "Everyone, we need to hurry."

    ***

    NEVER IN Hanna''s wildest dreams did she ever imagine that she would be having tea with Rubin Drayton alone.

    Yes, Sandie left to give the two of them some privacy.

    [As requested by the young lord, of course.]

    Hanna noticed that there was something different about Rubin Drayton today. He was calm, unlike his usual self who would often act and sound dumb. In fact, the young lord actually looked intelligent at the moment.

    [Is it because of his handsome face?]

    Even so, she didn''t let her guard down.

    [After all, this is the person who tried to kill me before.]

    "As far as I know, my father gave you and your entire family a warning already," Hanna said, sipping her tea before speaking again. "You''re not supposed to approach me, Lord Rubin. If my father hears about this, House Drayton will be in trouble."

    "I''m aware of that, Lady Hanna."

    See?

    [His calm voice suits his calm appearance.]

    That was probably why the young lord looked mature and intelligent at the moment.

    "And yet you dare and approach me when I''m not on official duty," Hanna said calmly. "You even muttered nonsense earlier."

    Of course, it was the only reason why she granted the young lord an audience.

    [I don''t care if it''s a trap¨C I need to know what he meant by what he said earlier.]

    ""Nonsense?"" Rubin Drayton asked,ughing softly. No, bitterly. "Lady Hanna, you and I both know that it wasn''t nonsense."

    She was shaken by his brazen deration, but she didn''t let it show. "I need you to borate on what exactly you mean by that, my lord."

    "Oh, that I will," he said, then he paused before he continued speaking. "I will tell you what you want to hear at your engagement ceremony, mydy."

    Ah, so despite House Drayton''s current predicament, they still had eyes and ears in the pce.

    The preparations for her engagement ceremony with Nero should have been a secret.

    Invitations hadn''t been sent yet.

    The fact that Rubin Drayton already knew about the ceremony only meant that his family''s spies were working very hard.

    [I must inform Nero and His Majestyter.]

    "I''m not sure if you only brought it up for confirmation, but I will pretend I fell for your trap," she said carefully. "It''s true that Nero and I will have our engagement ceremony soon. But, I assure you, Lord Rubin. You and anyone rted to House Drayton won''t be invited."

    It was well known within the high society that House Quinzel and House Drayton were currently in a cold and silent war.

    [Of course, we''re winning.]

    Her father, the one and only Duke Rufus Quinzel, had seeded in swallowing almost half of House Drayton''s source of ie already.

    [One must be crazy to go in a war against THE House Quinzel.]

    "You have to invite me to the ceremony, Lady Hanna."

    "Is that a threat, Lord Rubin?"

    The young lord smiled as if he was amused.

    [Ah, that smile. No wonder this person is hailed as the most handsome young man in the empire. He has the face that won''t lose to Nero even if you put the two of them side-by-side.]

    Strangely enough, Lewis'' handsome face suddenly entered my mind.

    Oh, right.

    [I think Lewis is more handsome than Rubin Drayton, though?]<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "You''re curious about whether or not I remember the past, don''t you?"

    She didn''t want to admit it, but the young lord''s deration made her freeze in her seat.

    But she quickly caught herself and acted indifferent. She was afraid she was already toote, though.

    It looked like Rubin Drayton already noticed her expression.

    [When did the dumb heir be so quick-witted?]

    "I need you to give me the golden opportunity to meet Neoma, Lady Hanna."

    "That''s ''Princess Neoma'' to you."

    This time, she didn''t bother to speak politely to Rubin Drayton.

    Even though the young lord was on the list of people that she wanted dead, she still kept things civil between them. However, that changed when Rubin Drayton disrespected Neoma by calling her without honorifics.

    [They don''t have the kind of rtionship where he''s allowed to call the Imperial Princess by her first name casually.]

    Hence, Hanna was offended in Neoma''s stead.

    "Right, she''s finally recognized as the one and only Imperial Princess this time."

    He said ''this time'' again.

    Hanna felt a chill down her spine once more.

    [Why do I have a feeling that Rubin Drayton is being genuine at the moment?]

    "Stop speaking nonsense, Lord Rubin," Hanna said sternly. "Princess Neoma is and has always been a princess."

    Of course, she had to address Neoma formally in front of a stranger.

    [I only call Neoma by her first name privately.]

    Rubin chuckled while shaking his head, then he changed the topic¨C practically ignoring her light warning. "Lady Hanna, you don''t have to invite my father and anyone else connected to House Drayton." He put the teacup on the saucer as elegantly as any high-ranking noble like them would. "You just have to send ME an invite."

    "If you have the guts to approach me this way, then I''m sure you also have the guts to crash the ceremony."

    "Don''t overestimate me, Lady Hanna," he said lightly. "I only have my handsome face going for me."

    Okay, that surprised her.

    [Why is he suddenly putting himself down?]

    "I don''t have the power I should have as House Drayton''s one and only heir," Rubin Drayton said as if he could read her expression at the moment. "Even my level as an archer is average. I''m sure I''ll die if I tried to intrude on your ceremony, and I don''t have any intention of dying until I meet Princess Neoma."

    [He''s¡­ serious.]

    "I swear on my remaining dignity that I won''t hurt Princess Neoma."

    "You can''t hurt Her Royal Highness even if you tried."

    The young lord looked shocked at first, then he smiled bitterly while nodding in agreement. "You''re right, Lady Hanna. I''m as insignificant as a pebble to Princess Neoma now."

    "It''s good to have self-awareness, Lord Rubin."

    He chuckled again, but honestly, he looked defeated at the moment. "You''re so different from the sickly Lady Hanna I remember. Even so, I''m d that a bright child like you has grown up well."

    She scoffed.

    [Why is he speaking as if he''s older¡­ ah, right. He is.]

    She would often forget that Rubin Drayton was older than her because of how he behaved poorly in the past.

    "Lady Hanna, all I''m asking for is an invite."

    "You tried to kill me before."

    Rubin Drayton had the nerve to look guilty. "I will apologize to you properly at the ceremony."

    She scoffed at his words. "Why don''t you apologize now?"

    "Because I don''t have it yet."

    "And what''s that supposed to mean?"

    "If you give me an invitation to your engagement ceremony, I will help you awaken as Princess Neoma''s official Shadow."

    Hanna''s eyes widened in shock. "What¨C"

    "Lady Hanna Quinzel died young, but the Pirate Princess awakened as one of Princess Neoma''s Pirs," Rubin said, standing up and smiling at her apologetically. "I''ll tell you all about it at the ceremony, mydy."

    ***

    IT WAS beautiful and scary at the same time.

    Mona couldn''t help but worry while watching Neoma purify the Impure Mana contained inside a bubble that was about to burst.

    Fortunately, they arrived at the perfect time.

    Neoma immediately put her inside the small hole, stopping the Impure Mana inside the bubble from leaking.

    Mona almost fainted when she saw her daughter touch the poisonous substance.

    But fortunately, nothing happened.

    Then she noticed it.

    Neoma''s palm was bleeding, and the Impure Mana was moving inside the bubble as if it was trying to avoid her daughter''s blood.

    Soon, Neoma''s blood turned glowing blue.

    And the blobs of ck Impure Mana that Neoma''s blood touched quickly changed into a lighter color until itpletely turned white.

    It was a strange yet fascinating sight.

    "Princess Neoma''s blood has the oxygen that has the power to cleanse Impure Mana," Trevor whispered to her. "Don''t worry, Lady Mona. I cast a spell around us so the mermaids won''t see how Princess Neoma purifies Impure Mana. Not even Lady Maan could see it. Only Lady Roseheart, Lewis, Dahlia, and I could see Princess Neoma at the moment."

    She was d that Trevor was a quick-witted child.

    "Thank you, Trevor," Mona said, relieved. But she got worried when she saw the upset look on the mermaids around them. "I guess we have to deal with the mermaids while Neoma is busy purifying the Impure Mana inside the bubble."

    ***

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 Chapter 751 A HEROS WELCOME

    ?

    "GREETINGS, Your Majesties," Mona greeted the Merfolk King and Queen politely. "I am Mona Roseheart, Neoma''s mother."

    The rumors about the merfolks being one of the most beautiful races in the human world were true.

    [No wonder there are reports of humans losing their minds at the sight of a merfolk.]

    The king, a merman, introduced himself as Lagun Hali. He was a man who looked like he was in his early fifties, and yet he still looked good and fit for his age.

    Mona couldn''t help but notice the king''s body since all mermen around were topless.

    [I''m d Niki wasn''t here with us.]

    Anyway, the queen, a mermaid, introduced herself as Cordelia Hali. The queen looked like she was the same age as the king. And god, the mermaid queen aged like fine wine.

    [I want to age gracefully like the mermaid queen.]

    "You''re a person who doesn''t need to introduce herself, Lady Roseheart," Queen Cordelia said politely. Her beautiful face remained stern, but her voice and manner of speaking were both polite and calm, befitting of someone of her status. "Every child of Nature knows who you are."

    Ah, right.

    The merfolks were also children of Nature.

    "We wish to give you a warmer wee, but we''re quite flustered about what is happening," King Lagun said carefully while stealing nces from Neoma''s direction. "Is there a reason why Princess Neoma has to keep herself hidden along with the bubble of Impure Mana?"

    As expected, the king and queen were offended.

    Even Maan couldn''t defend Neoma.

    [It''s understandable, though.]

    But the other merfolks around them looked more nervous than offended. They were probably wondering what Neoma was doing to the bubble of Impure Mana that was about to explode.

    It couldn''t be helped since the merfolks were in the middle of evacuating when their group arrived. In fact, the king and queen were outside the pce because they were about to cast anotheryer of shield in order to contain the Impure Mana on the verge of bursting.

    "I''m afraid it''s a necessary step to hide my daughter while she''s purifying the Impure Mana inside the bubble," Mona exined in a calm yet firm voice. "My daughter''s ability is something that greedy beings covet."

    It was enough exnation, and she didn''t borate.

    The royal family seemed to understand the situation right away.

    Mona didn''t offer an apology.

    She was aware that Neoma''s action caused uneasiness to the merfolks. However, her daughter wasn''t obligated to show everyone how she worked. It wasn''t even written in the contract.

    [Neoma, despite being a princess, easily hands out apologies because of her upbringing as ''Kim Neoma.'' Although I believe humility is a good virtue, the situation has already changed the moment she was recognized as the Imperial Princess.]

    Mona wasn''t saying that Neoma shouldn''t apologize anymore.

    [An apology must be given if it has to be. However, this isn''t the case where we need to apologize for our actions that would benefit the merfolks in the end. Neoma has to exercise her privilege as the Imperial Princess from time to time.]

    "If that''s the case, then we understand," the king said, looking once again in Neoma''s direction with a profound look on his face. "For centuries, no one has seeded in purifying Impure Mana. The fact that the Great Moonasterion Empire''s Imperial Princess was born with the ability to do so will surely shock the world."

    Mona clenched her hands in silence.

    [And the world will even get more shocked if they find out that the key to Neoma''s ability is her breath. My daughter did a good job using her blood for now. But it''s only a matter of time before everyone finds out that the air in her lungs is special.]

    Once that fact spread, then the gods would realize that Neoma could be the next Aether.

    [We should dy it as long as we can.]

    "The Great Moonsterion Empire is truly blessed by the Moon Good."

    Mona smiled bitterly at what the merman said.

    She was about to leave a sarcastic remark, but someone else beat her to it.

    "It''s a blessing for the empire, but a curse for the young princess," Queen Cordelia said, frowning. But there was a look of pity in the queen''s eyes as she turned to Mona. "It must be hard to protect a daughter as special as yours, Lady Roseheart. You did a good job hiding her existence all this time."

    Ah, it was the sympathy of a mother to another mother.

    "My daughter survived mostly on her own. I haven''t done much for her as a mother," Mona admitted with a bitter smile on her face. "But I intend to make it up to Neoma for the rest of my life."

    ***

    FOR REFERENCE, the weight of the bubble that contained the Impure Mana that Neoma needed to purify was probably around three thousand pounds.

    The size looked smaller than its weight, but it didn''t make it less dangerous.

    [If this amount of Impure Mana contaminates the sea, many merfolks will die along with more than half of the marine life in this kingdom.]

    Obviously, a small cut on her palm wouldn''t be enough to purify it.

    Hence, when a portion of the Impure Mana was finally cleansed, she stepped up her game.

    [Soju, once again, I trust you.]

    Before Neoma pushed her hand into the hole created by a crack on the barrier, she had to get out of the bubble that Dahlia created for her. But she didn''t drown or get crushed by the water pressure because of Soju''s protection.

    Her Water Spirit covered her entire body with his power. It allowed her to breathe underwater.

    No, scratch that.

    It actually gave her a body simr to a mermaid''s.

    [Except for the tail and scales, of course.]

    <"Don''t worry, Princess Neoma. I got your back. As long as we''re underwater, I''m your strongest Spirit~">

    And she believed that with all her heart.

    <"Princess Neoma, don''t worry about a thing. No one except our group could see you at the moment.">

    It was Trevor''s voice ringing in her head.

    [Thank you.]

    Neoma then punched the barrier.

    Of course, the long crackspletely copsed after she punched it. But she didn''t let the Impure Mana leak out. As soon as the barrier was broken, she created a Dome big enough to contain the Impure Mana before it could contaminate the water.

    This time, she was inside the Dome filled with the air from her lungs.

    And, as expected, she slowly yet surely ran out of breath.

    [Haaah.]

    "I think I have at least thirty minutes to clean up this shit before my lungs copsed," Neoma joked to herself. "Let''s just hope I don''t faint this time."

    That, of course, ended up as wishful thinking.

    ***

    "I''M seriously craving sushi."

    That was Neoma''s first thought as soon as she opened her eyes and saw little colorful fish swimming around her.

    She was lying on afortable bed in a room that seemed to be pulled out from The L*ttle Mermaid movie. Of course, she knew why she was there. She definitely fainted after sessfully purifying Impure Mana with her breath.

    Ah, she also noticed that she was alone in the room.

    But she didn''t have the energy to think about anything serious at the moment. That was how drained she felt right now.

    [The mighty Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio is lowbatt.]

    "Wow, salmon," Neoma said, almost grabbing the salmon that hovered above her. "Will it still be considered sashimi if I put it in my mouth and eat it raw???"

    "Hey, have mercy on the poor fish."

    Huh?

    She turned to her side and was surprised to see Tteokbokki, in his human form, sitting on the chair next to the bed.

    Fuck.

    Were her senses numbed that she didn''t notice her Soul Beast next to her?

    "Why did youe out?" Neoma asked, getting up. Thankfully, she didn''t feel any pain after her abrupt movement. "I didn''t summon you."

    She practically sealed Tteokbokki in order to prevent him from hearing about her condition.

    "I summoned myself out!"

    Okay, that was ridiculous.

    [I''m not surprised, though. Tteokbokki is a silly boy, after all.]

    "You fainted, so the barrier that you made to seal me weakened," Tteokbokki said, ring at her. "Hey, thug princess. Locking me up against my will is violence! Are you living up to your name as the ''thug princess,'' huh? Why are you bullying me this way?!"<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Argh.

    "You''re probably the only Soul Beast who yells at their master," Neomained lightly. "If Nero was your master, he would have killed you already for raising your voice at him."

    "If Prince Nero was my master, I would have unalive myself already."

    Pfft.

    It was funny because Tteokbokki also learned how to speak meme like Trevor.

    "Seriously, you''re acting suspicious, thug princess," Tteokbokki said, crossing his arms over his chest. "You only summon my me, not me. Worse, you even block my senses. It''s as if you don''t want me around. You''re hiding something from me, aren''t you?"

    Gosh, this quick-witted bastard.

    "I just don''t need you these days," she said, ying dumb. "You hate working anyway."

    Tteokbokki scoffed at her. "You can''t fool me, thug princess. I have a big brain, too."

    "Tsk."

    "Ah, look at her clicking her tongue. Someone is guilty."

    She snapped her fingers, irritated. "Shut up and go home."

    And, just like that, Tteokbokki''s body began to turn translucent. "Even if you send me back, don''t think that you''ve gotten rid of me already, thug princess," he warned her while ring at him. "I''lle back and find out your secret!"

    Neoma just rolled her eyes, pretending that she didn''t care. "Whatever~"

    Tteokbokki just red at her until he disappeared and returned to her soul.

    Whew.

    That was nerve-wracking.

    [I almost got caught.]

    To be fair, Neoma knew that Tteokbokki deserved to know the truth about her lifespan. After all, her Soul Beast would die with her. Even so¡­

    [I need more time for my mental preparation.]

    "Neoma, baby, are you awake?"

    Oh, it was Mama Boss.

    Neoma smiled when her mother entered the room.

    When the door opened, she noticed that Lewis was outside guarding the door. Her "son" looked worried about her, but let out a sigh of relief when he saw that she was already awake.

    Neoma mouthed the words ''I''m fine'' to Lewis who nodded politely in response.

    Now she wondered where Trevor and Dahlia had gone to, especially the demon boy.

    [Trevor should still be resting.]

    "I''m fine now, Mama Boss," Neoma said energetically. "Mama Boss, I see that you and Lewis can breathe just fine even without the bubble that Dahlia made for us."

    "Queen Cordelia gave us a pill that temporarily gave us the abilities of a merfolk," her mother exined, then she sat down on the chair that Tteokboki vacated earlier. "Your Soul Beast appeared when you fainted after cleaning the Impure Mana inside the bubble. He brought you back to us. Where did he go?"

    "Tteokbokki seems tired, so I sent him back, Mama Boss," she lied with a straight face, then she quickly changed the subject. "Where are Trevor and Dahlia?"

    "Trevor looked tired, so I told him to rest. He''s in the room next door," her mother said. "Dahlia and Maan are having a video conference with Hanna in the conference room. Thedies are waiting for you, Neoma."

    She knitted her eyebrows curiously. "Hanna? Did Hanna contact us, Mama Boss?"

    "It seems like Hanna has something important to tell you, so she reached out to Dahlia. The two have a privatemunication device connected to each other," Mama Boss exined, then she touched Neoma''s cheek with the back of her hand. "Are you really fine now, baby?"

    "I''m really fine, Mama Boss. I got enough rest already," Neoma said, smiling as she assured her mother that she was totally fine and healthy. "Shall we join thedies'' conference meeting?"

    ***

    <"I''LL TELL you about itter, Neoma.">

    Huh?

    Neoma raised an eyebrow after Hanna changed her mind.

    Right now, she could see her cousin''s face in the hand mirror. It was themunication device that Hanna and Dahlia used to talk.

    [I''m d my past sister-inw and my future sister-inw are getting along well.]

    "I asked everyone to leave the conference room for a moment because I thought you have something important to tell me," Neoma said carefully. "Isn''t that the main reason why you reached out to Dahlia?"

    <"That''s true, but I realized that THIS is more important,"> Hanna said in an excited voice. It was obvious that the Quinzel Princess'' big brain was working very hard at the moment. <"Dahlia introduced me to Princess Maan earlier, and Princess Maan told me about the contract you two made.">

    "Okay. What about it?"

    <"You seeded in cleansing Impure Mana, didn''t you?">

    "Hanna, we can''t reveal that to the world yet," she warned Hanna whose eyes were sparkling at the moment. "I know it''s only a matter of time before my god-like abilities get exposed. But I''d like to buy as much time as possible."

    <"We don''t have to announce how exactly you saved the merfolks. Let''s just highlight that you SAVED them, and so the merfolks'' royal family pledged their allegiance with you.">

    "You''re making me nervous, girl. What are you nning?"

    <"A hero''s wee!"> Hanna said, her face beaming. <"Neoma, let''s dominate them all with your victorious return¨C the Imperial Family, themon people, and the high society.">

    Neomaughed awkwardly. "Hanna, your enthusiasm scares me a bit¡­"

    ***

    PFFT.

    Nero thought he had seen all the dirty things he could while observing the nobles under his reign.

    He was aware of how filthy most of the nobles were.

    In fact, decent nobles like Duke Rufus Quinzel were rarer than the dirty ones.

    He thought he could stomach it since he was bound to rule the nobility once he ascended the throne.

    But he might be wrong.

    "You''re older than my father, Marquis Spencer," Nero said to the marquis who dared to block his way as soon as he entered the Royal Moon Academy premise. "And yet you''re asking me for my twin sister''s hand in marriage."

    "Prince Nero, I''m not asking for Princess Neoma''s hand in marriage for free," Marquis Russell said calmly. "I have an offer Your Royal Highness won''t be able to resist."

    That sounded interesting.

    He already had it all, so what else could a mere marquis offer him?

    Nero smiled at Marquis Spencer. "Let''s hear it then."

    ***

    [MY EMPLOYER¡­ has that crazy look in his eyes again.]

    Melvin almost felt bad for Marquis Spencer when he saw the frenzied look in Prince Nero''s eyes. But the dumb marquis was too dense to notice it. His lordship probably thought he was coaxing the Crown Prince sessfully.

    [Should I feel bad for the marquis?]

    But he quickly reminded himself that the marquis was a predator aiming for the young Imperial Princess. Granted that Princess Neoma was already of legal age, it was still disgusting that Marquis Spencer¨C who was older than the emperor¨C proposed to Her Royal Highness.

    Melvin could only shake his head.

    [The marquis deserves whatever Prince Nero will do to him soon.]

    He was the type to condone violence as long as it only applied to evil people, especially those perverts who would prey on children.

    "Hey, you."

    Melvin, who was behind the knights that followed Prince Nero closely, stopped walking and turned around. "Sandie?"

    Right, he almost forgot that his childhood friend was attending the academy at the moment.

    Sandie, as domineering as ever, pointed a thumb behind her. "Let''s talk, crybaby."

    ***

    NOTE: Yey, just 3 more days before my birthday~ I posted a new 4-panelic on my ko-fi page featuring Neoma, Nero, Trevor, and Ruto. Check it out (k/o-fi/s_c) and pretty please help me win the May Challenge by donating/buying coffee if you can. Thank you~

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 752 THE MASS PRINCESS

    "YOU CAN have my youngest son, Princess Neoma."

    Pfft.

    Neomaughed mentally, but she maintained a polite expression on the surface.

    No matter how ridiculous the merfolk king''s offer was, she was still dealing with a foreign king who just became her ally. Hence, she was being careful.

    "My son is only three years older than you, Princess Neoma," King Lagun said cheerfully. "Moreover, when ites to looks, my son won''t lose to you."

    Neoma hadn''t seen the king''s youngest son yet, but she believed the king.

    [Merfolks are known to be very beautiful, after all.]

    But, of course, she wasn''t tempted.

    "The safe route, the allegiance, and the Mermaid Tears," Neoma said calmly, pointing out the payment that she received from the merfolks in return for saving them. "I understand that the things I received aren''t enoughpensation for saving your people and the kingdom. Even if you offer me all your children around my age, it won''t still suffice."

    She acted haughty on purpose.

    No wonder the king looked offended.

    The queen and Maan, on the other hand, remained poker-faced as if the two were just waiting for her to continue.

    It was a good thing that it was a private meeting in the conference room.

    On Maan''s side, she had King Lagun and Queen Cordelia.

    Of course, on Neoma''s side, she had Mama Boss, Lewis, Dahlia, and Trevor.

    "My youngest son may not inherit the throne, but that doesn''t mean he has no value," King Lagun insisted. "The only reason he didn''t be my sessor was because he was bornte. But he''s actually more intelligent and talented than the Crown Prince. You won''t regret it, Princess Neoma."

    "If Your Majesty''s youngest son is more intelligent and talented than the Crown Prince, then you should have chosen him as the sessor for the sake of the kingdom," Neoma said politely. "But as a foreign princess, I guess it''s none of my business."

    After all, different cultures had different values and rules.

    "I don''t understand why you look upset, Princess Neoma," the king said carefully. "Marriage talks like this should be normal between monarchs, no?"

    "Your Majesty, I understand treating marriage as another business contract is the norm for us," Neoma said, addressing King Lagun in a calm yet firm manner. The royal merman might look intimidating, but not enough for her to back down. "However, just because it''s the norm doesn''t mean we should continue normalizing it. I hope Your Majesty stops treating your children asmodities that you can marry off for your convenience. Let''s get with the times, please."

    "You''re being incredibly rude, young princess," the king said, scoffing as he turned to Mama Boss. "Lady Roseheart, are you just going to watch your daughter speak like this to me?"

    "Trust me, Your Majesty. That is Neoma being polite already," Mama Boss said, smiling in resignation. "Moreover, my daughter neither said anything wrong nor crossed the line. If that was the case, I would have intervened already."

    Her Mama Boss was right.

    Neoma could be a rude little piece of shit most of the time. But her contract with Maan was official business. The merfolk n had just be the empire''s ally, so she couldn''t afford to mess this up.

    But there were things that must be said, so she opened her mouth.

    [I was polite, though.]

    Right?

    King Lagun raised an eyebrow at Mama Boss. "Lady Roseheart, are you saying you agree with the things your daughter said?"

    "I do, Your Majesty," Mama Boss said, smiling. "After all, our children aren''t our properties."

    That statement rendered the king speechless.

    "That''s enough chitchat," Queen Corelia said sternly, then she turned to Neoma. "Princess Neoma, once again, the merfolk n is indebted to you."

    "There''s no debt between us, Your Majesty," Neoma said while shaking her head. "You alreadypensated me for my service. That''s why we have a contract."

    "Even so, we will always be grateful to you."

    Hmm.

    Perhaps saving the merfolk n was more of a big deal than she initially thought.

    [Then it''s okay to be greedy, I guess.]

    "I hope to see the merfolk n''s sincerity during the war against the crows," Neoma said, smiling. "After all, the crows are also after your n. Let''s look out for each other, Your Majesties."

    ***

    "YOUR MAJESTY, I received a report saying Marquis Spencer approached Prince Nero while His Royal Highness was his on way to the academy."

    Niki scoffed after hearing Geoffrey Kinsley''s report. "Nero''s schedule should have been confidential. Find the rat who leaked my son''s schedule to that filthy marquis."

    Geoffrey bowed his head politely. "As Your Majestymands."

    After dismissing Geoffrey, another Pdin came by.

    It was Jeanne Audley who brought Hanna Quinzel to his office.

    Ah, right.

    [Hanna took a leave from school to prepare for her own engagement ceremony.]

    Was Nero even helping his fianc¨¦ with the preparations?

    [After my son got my permission to have the Moonlight Rings, he never mentioned anything about the engagement again.]

    Were the de Moonasterion men really this useless without their partner?

    "I apologize foring unannounced, Your Majesty," Hanna said, bowing in apology. "I have a report to deliver, and a request to make."

    "No need for apology," Niki said. "Raise your head, Hanna."

    Hanna did as she was told. "May I use the Shadow Veil here, Your Majesty?"

    Ah.

    The Shadow Veil was a technique used by the Quinzels to make an area soundproof and invisible from the outside. It was a barrier with the intention to keep things hidden inside.

    [It only means Hanna''s report is strictly confidential.]

    Which also meant it was connected to Neoma.

    "Alright. You may do that," Niki said, then he turned to Geoffrey and Jeanne. "You two may leave now."

    Geoffrey and Jeanne bowed before leaving the office quietly.

    Hanna then covered the entire office with her Shadow Veil in only a few seconds.

    [Her ability has improved drastically.]

    The Shadow Veil was arguably the easiest technique to master for the Quinzels. However, just because it was a basic technique didn''t make it less important. After all, you couldn''t call yourself a master if you couldn''t do the basics perfectly.

    [And that''s why Hanna is talented¨C she has mastered the basics well.]

    "Your Majesty, Lady Mona and Neoma are scheduled to return to the empire tomorrow morning."

    That was news to him.

    [Mona hasn''t sent me a message yet.]

    "I got in touch with Dahlia because I had something important to report to Neoma, but I learned something huge while talking to them," Hanna said, and that exined why Hanna found out about Mona and Neoma''s return first. "Neoma gave me the permission to report the details to Your Majesty, so I''m sharing them to Your Majesty now: Neoma seeded in saving the merfolk n. In return, Neoma received three precious gifts from her deal with Princess Maan¨C one of the Mermaid Princesses."

    Ah, he heard that part from Mona''sst message.

    But he didn''t get to ask what thepensation was.

    "First, the merfolks promised a safe route in the sea exclusive for the Imperial Family and their people."

    That was an impressive feat.

    [After all, the merfolks are known for being territorial. But they willingly opened a route for the Imperial Family? Neoma must have done an excellent job then.]

    "Then Princess Maan also gave Neoma a string of Mermaid Tears¨C a pearl ne, to be precise."

    Oh.

    Niki wasn''t interested in jewelry, but even he knew that a pearl ne made from a Mermaid Princess'' tears couldn''t be bought with money.

    [The materialistic members of the high society would surely die from envy.]

    That thought made him smirk.

    "Finally, Princess Maan pledge her alliance with Neoma," Hanna said in an excited voice. "And the Mermaid Princess is willing to make it public."

    Aha.

    Now he understood why Hanna looked excited.

    "Your Majesty, let''s give Neoma a hero''s wee," Hanna said, her green eyes sparkling. "I already discussed it with Neoma, but I still need Your Majesty''s permission."

    Niki chuckled, suddenly reminded of Rufus.

    [Hanna has her mother''s eye color, but she definitely got the sparkle from Rufus''.]

    "Alright, let''s do that," Niki said, nodding. "I''ll tell Geoffrey to help you with the preparations since Nero is quite¡­ busy."

    Hanna smiled and nodded. "Thank you, Your Majesty."

    [I''m d that my future daughter-inw is bright andpetent.]

    He thought Hanna would bid him goodbye after stating her business, but his future daughter-inw remained standing.

    The joy on her face earlier was reced by a serious look now.

    "Your Majesty, I decided to invite Lord Rubin to my engagement ceremony."

    "Rubin Drayton?" Niki asked, frowning. "I thought the Draytons and their vassal families are excluded from the guest list?"

    Hanna was in charge of the preparations, but Niki''s approval was still needed for the guest list.

    After all, the engagement ceremony would be held in his pce.

    Hence, it was only right that Hanna informed him of the additional guest in the list.

    [I''m surprised that she invited Rubin Drayton, though.]

    He was aware of the ongoing "cold war" between House Quinzel and House Drayton.

    [Duke Draytonined to me several times about how Rufus was "crossing the line," but I just ignored him. Naturally.]

    "I only invited Lord Rubin, Your Majesty."

    "Is there a reason for that?"

    Hanna was cold and vicious to people whonded on her bad side.

    [This is the youngdy who bravely ignored House Drayton, after all. Nobles don''t fight openly to protect their image. But Hanna didn''t care about that. She mercilessly attacked House Drayton''s businesses.]

    "Your Majesty, it seems like Lord Rubin remembers his first life," Hanna said nervously. "The one where he was engaged to Neoma."

    Niki pressed his temples, stressed. "Ah, so that''s why House Drayton keeps on sending marriage proposals to Neoma."

    ***

    "PRINCE NERO, you don''t have to drop out. The controversy has died down already, so please don''t worry about the bacsh. Your Royal Highness is the future emperor, hence, you must have your degree here in the Royal Moon Academy!"

    Ah, so that was why Headmaster Salvatore¨C the director of Royal Moon Academy¨C refused to ept Nero''s drop-out form.

    [They just want the bragging rights.]

    Nero sipped his tea leisurely, ignoring the fact that Headmaster Salvatore was already breaking out in a cold sweat while waiting for his response.

    Right now, the two of them were having tea in the schoolmaster''s office.

    [Now I understand why this old man is being stubborn.]

    After all, ever since the Royal Moon Academy was established, every single emperor who sat on the throne was an alumnus.

    Even his father was a graduate of the Royal Moon Academy.

    [Since I''ll be ascending the throne soon, they''retching onto me for the academy''s prestige.]

    "I understand where you''reing from, but it wouldn''t look good for the future emperor to take his words back mindlessly," Nero said, putting the teacup down on the saucer quietly. And yes, he was speaking to the schoolmaster informally. He came there as the Crown Prince and not as a student anyway. "Hence, let''spromise."

    Headmaster Salvatore wiped the beads of sweat on his forehead with a handkerchief. "H-How do wepromise, Your Royal Highness?"

    "I will no longer attend my sses for the rest of the semester," Nero said firmly, standing up while looking down at the schoolmaster. "I want you and the entire faculty toe up with the hardest exam of the century. If I pass that exam, then give me my diploma."

    That was not a request.

    It was an order.

    And Headmaster Salvatore, who gulped hard, knew that.

    Nero just smirked before turning his back to the schoolmaster, then he went out of the office.

    It wasn''t like the headmaster had the power to stop him from leaving.

    "Prince Nero, you''re cool even though you''re rude to your elders~ Even though it was you and Princess Neoma who deceived the school, you still managed to punish the schoolmaster by giving him a very difficult task~"

    Nero just rolled his eyes at Sanford Devon''s yful teasing. "It was Melvin''s idea."

    Yes, the order that he gave the schoolmaster was Melvin Lhesi''s idea.

    It was his secretary who came up with the solution for him to get his diploma without taking back his words that he would stop going to school. Since he was going to take a fair exam this time, there wouldn''t be too much bacsh from the public.

    [As expected, hiring Melvin as my secretary was the best decision I made as the Crown Prince so far. There''s no way I''d let him resign now.]

    Speaking of which¡­

    Nero knitted his eyebrows. "Where is Melvin?"

    Raku, who was silently opening the door of the royal carriage for him, stopped and turned to Sanford.

    "Melvin is on a date~" Sanford said yfully. "Lady Sandie called him out earlier~"

    Sandie Morrisley.

    [Hanna''s closest friend in the academy, and also Viscount Morrisley''s daughter.]

    Hmm.

    [Come to think of it, the Northern Lords haven''t appeared to the public yet after they failed to show up at the trial. Father confirmed that the Northern Lords are safe, but why do I have a feeling that I have to get rid of that faction?]

    Melvin''s father was also a Northern Lord, though.

    [Even so, I need to get rid of anyone or anything that might be a headache in the future¡­]

    "Prince Nero, you''ll make Melvin mad if you touch the Northern Lords~"

    Tsk.

    Sanford was a quick-witted bastard, indeed.

    "How dare you give me a warning?" Nero scolded Sanford. "Don''t forget your ce, Sanford Devon."

    Sanford suddenly turned serious, then he bowed his head. "I apologize for my discourtesy, Your Royal Highness."

    "As long as you understand."

    After saying that, Nero finally entered the royal carriage and sat opposite the guest who had been waiting for him all this time.

    "It seems like I made you wait, Marquis Spencer."

    Yes, it was the filthy marquis.

    "I didn''t wait that long, Your Royal Highness," Marquis Spencer said politely. "I''m just grateful that you spared me some of your precious time." He even bowed towards him. "My utmost gratitude, Your Royal Highness."

    Hah!

    [This disgusting noble is coaxing me.]

    "Let''s hear it now," Nero said, getting straight to the point. "What are you going to offer me in exchange for Neoma''s hand in marriage?"

    "I heard there''s a ck Witch that Your Royal Highness fancies," Marquis Russell Spencer said. "House Spencer has the device to control the ck Witches¨C a device that could make them your servant, Prince Nero."

    What¡­?

    ***

    OH, WOW.

    [I''m famous.]

    That was Neoma''s first thought while looking down at the crowd that gathered in the za to wee her return.

    Hanna already informed her in advance, but it was still a surprise.

    Fortunately, Neoma and her group arrived in a cool manner. After all, they were riding on Tteokbokki''s back. Yes, her Soul Beast was in his full adult form.

    [I probably look cool as heck right now.]

    After all, she was standing while her beautiful long hair fluttered with the wind.

    Heh.

    "Princess Neoma!"

    "Her Royal Highness is here!"

    "So pretty!"

    [Yes, I''m pretty. Thank you.]

    "It''s OUR one and only Imperial Princess!"

    Neoma wondered why the people were suddenly giving her a warm wee, and it made her a little nervous.

    [Hanna, did you brainwash these people to love me¡­?]

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 753 ROYAL SECRET NO MORE

    ?

    NEOMAnded on her feet gracefully.

    As soon as she did, the people once again cheered as if she was the only person they could see.

    Mama Boss, Dahlia, Lewis, Trevor, and Princess Maan were practically ignored.

    [Even Tteokbokki. They were amazed the first time they saw a red dragon. But now, only a few seem to be interested.]

    "Princess Neoma, wee back."

    Oho.

    It was Hanna¨C and she wasn''t alone.

    A loud collective gasp from the sea of people emerged when they noticed the arrival of the emperor and the Crown Prince.

    [Yep, Papa Boss and Nero are in the hauz~~~]

    The fact that the people only noticed Hanna, Papa Boss, and Nero now only meant that Hanna used her Shadow Veil to conceal their presence earlier.

    [Geoffrey, Jeanne, and Nero''s "children" are also with them.]

    It was a big group, so it was impossible not to be noticed. Hence, her theory about Hanna using her Shadow Veil must be correct.

    Anyway¡­

    [I wonder where my "children" are.]

    "His Majesty and His Royal Highness¡­"

    "Also our future Crown Princess¡­"

    "This is the first time I saw the Imperial Family step foot in the za for themoners¡­"

    "Everyone looks so majestic!"

    "Of course, they are, fool. They''re called ''Your Majesties'' for a reason!"

    "I want to stare at them all day¡­"

    "Bow your head, silly!"

    The sea of people parted and gave way for the emperor and the Crown Prince, everyone bowing their heads deeply as Papa Boss, Nero, and Hanna walked past them.

    It was indeed a sight.

    After all, it was rare for the ENTIRE member of the Imperial Family to gather in once ce. Especially if the said ce was for themoners.

    [We''re breaking rules.]

    Hehe.

    "Wee back, Neoma," Papa Boss said. He wasn''t smiling, but his face was bright. And his eyes sparkled when he turned to Mama Boss. "I''m d you returned safe, Mona."

    Aigoo.

    [Love is in the air.]

    "Wee back, Neoma, Mother," Nero said, smiling. Of course, that smile was fake. Even so, the Crown Prince was a good actor. Hence, they probably looked like a harmonious family to everyone who didn''t know the "tea." "The pce felt empty without the two of you."

    Pfft.

    [Look at this little rascal act in front of someone who has a prestigious ''Best Child Actress'' award under her belt.]

    Neoma knew that Nero was just sprouting bullshit, but she didn''t care. "I missed you, too. Mother and I terribly missed you and Father," she said, then she ran to Nero and hugged him. "I hope you didn''t miss me too much, Brother~"

    Nero froze, but he eventually rxed. And to probably continue his act as a loving twin brother, he gently wrapped his arms around her. "I missed you, too, Neoma."

    Pfft.

    She had to stop herself fromughing.

    Plus, the things she heard from the crowd were pretty interesting.

    "The Imperial Princess and the Crown Princess seem to have a good rtionship."

    "His Royal Highness and Her Royal Highness are twins, so their bond is more special than normal siblings."

    "But His Majesty and thete Princess Royal were also twins and yet, their rtionship was pretty horrible¨C"

    "Shh! The new generation is different!"

    "Moreover, His Majesty has changed."

    Neoma had to agree with that one.

    Surprisingly, Papa Boss approached her and Nero while the two of them were hugging. Then their father wrapped his arms around them.

    Soon, Mama Boss also joined the big family hug.

    [Aww.]

    It was a rare sight, so it wasn''t a surprise that the citizens were shocked.

    "Oh, my¡­"

    "What a warm-hearted scene¡­"

    "This is the first time my chest feels warm while watching the Imperial Family¡­"

    "In my eighty years of living in this empire, this is the ONLY time I saw the Imperial Family act affectionately in front of a crowd¡­"

    "I thought the Imperial Family is cold-hearted, but it seems like I was wrong¡­"

    [Heh.]

    Neoma was satisfied by the image their family painted to the public.

    [Hanna must have worked hard to make the people like me even though I lied to them when I acted as Nero before.]

    Anyway, they soon broke their family hug to address the public.

    Of course, Papa Boss led the talk since he was the emperor.

    "First of all, I''d like to thank everyone who has gathered in this za to give my daughter a warm wee."

    WOAH.

    PAPA BOSS THANKED THE PUBLIC.

    A loud gasp was heard from the crowd.

    Wow.

    [People are shocked and delighted that Papa Boss is doing bare minimum as a decent human being.]

    LOL.

    Neoma mentally patted her shoulder for a job well done.

    [Raising Papa Boss was worth it.]

    "I believe most of you have already heard about Princess Neoma''s aplishments in the past," Papa Boss said, addressing her by her formal title in front of their people. "And, just recently, Princess Neoma saved the merfolk n."

    Papa Boss was being vague on purpose.

    She informed Dahlia in advance to not give the specifics of how she saved the merfolk n, after all.

    [I know that the crows will realize right away that I saved the merfolks by cleansing the Impure Mana that they used to harm the n. But even if it''s only for a day, I''d like to dy it if possible.]

    Nothing good woulde out of revealing her awesomeness to the enemies anyway.

    "Princess Maan of the Hali n is here as my daughter''s ally."

    After saying that line, Papa Boss turned to Maan.

    The Mermaid Princess got the message right away and opened her mouth.

    "It wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that Princess Neoma saved not only the merfolks, but the entire marine life in the sea our n rules," Maan said in a sincere voice that probably touched the people since the public suddenly looked emotional. "Pledging our loyalty to Princess Neoma would never be enoughpensation. Hence, the merfolks will never forget that we are indebted to the Imperial Princess for the rest of our lives."

    Uhm, that was a little¡­

    [It''s not like I saved them for free. No need to pledge their loyalty to me forever. I got paid anyway.]

    Of course, Neoma couldn''t say that out loud since this was good for her public image.

    [I have to y politics.]

    Plus, Mama Boss and Papa Boss looked proud of her.

    Nero, on the other hand, was smiling.

    But she could practically hear what her amnesiac twin brother was thinking at the moment.

    [Nero is definitely being wary of me since he still sees me as apetition for the throne even though he''s already the Crown Prince.]

    "Neoma."

    Hmm?

    Neoma was pretty surprised when Papa Boss addressed her casually this time while looking at her warmly.

    [Oh, I feel weird¡­]

    "I''m proud of you, my precious daughter," Papa Boss said, smiling. Yes, Papa Boss smiled. It was his rare genuine smile that was only reserved for their family. "Hence, I''m d that this day has finallye."

    Hmm?

    That wasn''t in the script.

    Neoma felt nervous when Papa Boss suddenly held her hand. "Father¡­?"

    Of course, she had to address her Papa Boss properly in public.

    [The nobles will probably have a stroke if they heard me address Papa Boss the way I do.]

    "Princess Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio, the First Star of the Great Moonasterion Empire," Papa Boss said proudly. "It took a long time, but your name is finally added to the Royal Household, my precious daughter."

    Oh.

    OH.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    [That means I''m officially a member of the de Moonasterion Imperial Family.]

    Of course, Neoma already expected that. However, she didn''t know her Papa Boss would announce it this way. Moreover, she didn''t know she''d feel this way.

    [Why do I suddenly feel like crying¡­?]

    Before Neoma couldpose herself, Lewis suddenly appeared in front of her.

    Then Hanna, Dahlia, and Trevor did the same.

    [Hmm?]

    And, much to her pleasant surprise, her "children" appeared one by one in front of her.

    Juri.

    Jeno.

    Xion.

    Paige.

    Greko.

    "Congrattions, Princess Neoma," Hanna said, smiling with her eyes brimming with tears. "I, the Quinzel Princess, officially deres my loyalty to Your Royal Highness."

    Much to Neoma''s pleasant surprise, Hanna got down on one knee.

    [WOAH!]

    Hanna was the highest ranking nobledy in the entire empire¨C she should only be kneeling in front of emperor.

    [But Hanna bent her knees for me¨C in front of all these people.]

    "On behalf of the Moonrose Knights, I¨C Lewis Crevan, the Commander¨C swear to live and die ONLY for Princess Neoma," Lewis said in a calm yet firm voice. "Forever."

    Ah, right.

    Now that Neoma was officially epted as a legit member of the Imperial Family, the Moonrose Knights had also be an official Order.

    It seemed like a dream.

    But then, Lewis got down on one knee and bowed his head towards her.

    Juri, Jeno, Xion, Paige, and Greko followed theirmander. The now-official Moonrose Knights all knelt and bowed. "We pledge our lives to Princess Neoma."

    Woah, woah.

    "I, Dahlia¨C thest surviving ck Witch in the world¨C also pledge my loyalty to Princess Neoma," Dahlia said while getting down on one knee. Then she bowed her head towards Neoma. "Please ept me as your humble servant, Your Royal Highness."

    [Uhm, can''t we just continue being friends¡­?]

    This was getting awkward.

    [My friends and my children are treating me like I''m their master or something¡­]

    "I, Maan of the Hali Merfolk n, also pledge my loyalty to Princess Neoma," Maan said, kneeling and bowing her head as well. "On behalf of the merfolks of the Hali n, I''m honored to say that we will always be at your service."

    [But you alreadypensated me¡­]

    "Ahem, ahem."

    Argh.

    It was Trevor''s turn, and the mischievous look in his eyes already told Neoma that he was enjoying seeing her flustered.

    [And he''s definitely going to make me flustered even more!]

    "My Moon Princess, it''s a golden rule that a Sorcerer must only dedicate himself to magic. But I don''t give a damn about that stupid rule. I''m already the best Sorcerer in the world anyway," Trevor said, grinning as he dramatically put a hand over his chest. "My heart, my soul, my mind, my body¨C they''re all yours."

    Just like the others, the demon boy also got down on one knee while bowing his head.

    "I will forever serve you, Princess Neoma," Trevor said sincerely. "As your Contractor, friend, or whatever you want me to be."

    It wasn''t only her friends and allies.

    Even Papa Boss and Nero''s knights bowed their head towards her¨C an acknowledgement that they recognized her as the Imperial Princess.

    Before Neoma knew it, she was already choking up.

    She was overwhelmed.

    Each person who knelt and bowed to her was an individual with either high position, high skills, or both.

    [These amazing people recognize me as someone they wish to serve¡­]

    That meant they trusted her with their lives.

    Who wouldn''t feel overwhelmed by that?

    "We greet Princess Neoma¨C the one and only Imperial Princess of the Great Moonasterion Empire!"

    "Long live, Princess Neoma!"

    "It''s an honor to be Your Royal Highness'' subject!"

    Those words came from the people of the empire.

    Soon, the citizens knelt one by one until the only people standing in the entire za were Papa Boss, Mama Boss, and Nero.

    Everyone else bent their knees for her.

    "Neoma¡­"

    It was Mama Boss who whispered her name so softly.

    Ah, her mother was already crying. Of course, those were tears of joy.

    Even so, Papa Boss still wrapped his arm around Mama Boss'' shoulders to console her.

    Nero, on the other hand, just gave her a polite nod as if telling her she had to give a response to the people who pledged their loyalty to her.

    [Right, I need to answer them properly.]

    Neoma faced her people, ready to give a speech¡­

    ¡­ or so she thought.

    As soon as she opened her mouth, a sob came out.

    Oh, fuck.

    Neoma was crying¡­ hard.

    She was sobbing like a child.

    Her dignity as the Imperial Princess was already forgotten.

    But who could me her?

    Three lifetimes.

    She had to live as Neoma Quinzel, Kim Neoma, and Neoma ''Ramsay'' before she was finally acknowledged as Princess Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio.

    It wasn''t about getting added to the Royal Household officially. To be honest, it was more about reiming her birthright and rightful ce as her mother and father''s daughter. Now she could proudly say that she was indeed Papa Boss and Mama Boss'' ''Baby Pumpkin.''

    Neoma Quinzel grew up with Duke Rufus and Duchess Amber Quinzel as her adoptive parents.

    Kim Neoma grew up with Go Areum and Kim Won-shik as her parents.

    During her childhood in this lifetime, back when Papa Boss was still a scumbag, she gave herself the family name ''Ramsay'' because there was no official record of her existence.

    But it was over now.

    She was Princess Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio¨C daughter of Emperor Niki de Moonasterio and Lady Mona Roseheart.

    Also, she was the twin sister of Prince Nero Roseheart de Moonasterio.

    And the best part?

    [Everyone knows who I am now.]

    "It''s no longer a royal secret," Neoma said,ughing softly as tears continued to roll down her cheeks. She probably looked like a lunatic whileughing and crying at the same time, but she didn''t care. "I''m a princess!"[1]

    No, scratch that.

    Neoma was THE one and only IMPERIAL PRINCESS of the Great Moonasterion Empire¨C and it was official now!

    ***

    "HOW CUTE~"

    Helstor, who was standing on top of a tower in the za where he could clearly see the harmonious Imperial Family, chuckled.

    Princess Neoma seemed to be happy to be finally acknowledged as the Imperial Princess.

    "I''m sorry, little princess," Helstor said, and he genuinely felt bad for Princess Neoma. "I hate to rain on your parade, but I have to do my job."[2]

    He snapped his fingers.

    And, just like that, dark clouds slowly yet surely began to cover the sun.

    Soon, the entire empire¨C no, the entire continent¨C would be engulfed with darkness.

    Helstor smiled, then he looked up at the sky that was slowly turning dark. "It''s time for me to eat."

    ***

    TOMORROW IS MY BIRTHDAY~~~ Please go to my k/o-fi page (ko-fi./s_c) and donate/buy a coffee if you can. If I reach my target amount of donations, I get to win the May Challenge. I''m still so far away from the target since only one person has donated so far. Please help~ T_T Only if you can, of course. Hehe~

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

    [1] Neoma finally said the book title. The end is really near. LOL

    [2] Give Neoma a break. Y_Y

 Chapter 754 HELLO DARKNESS, MY OLD FRIEND

    ?

    "THOSE AREN''T clouds, Princess Neoma."

    "I know, right?" Neoma, who was standing on the balcony of her bedroom, agreed with what Jeno said. "That is Darkness."

    There were dark "clouds" moving to the sun. It wasn''t obvious to the naked eye yet, but people on her level could see it clearly¨C Darkness was spread in the sky with the intention of blocking the sun.

    And if that happened¡­

    Neoma let out a sigh. "Are they trying to cover the world in Darkness once again?"

    "I don''t know about the world yet, Princess Neoma," Xion said. "However, ording to the reports I received from my family, there has been sighting of this strange phenomena all over the empire."

    Aha.

    "What''s his name again?" Neoma wondered out loud. "That god of Darkness."

    "It''s Helstor, Princess Neoma," Paige answered. "He''s the God of Eternal Darkness. He was also the one who tricked the former Commander Gavin Quinzel into betraying Lady Roseheart."

    "That bastard also joined hands with the crows before," Juri added. "It''s like he''s repeating the horror that the Absolute Darkness that almost swallowed the world during the Ancient Period had caused in the past."

    "At this rate, people will once again fear Darkness," Lewis said quietly. "I''m worried that Darkness attribute users like Lady Hanna might get ostracized once again."

    Right?

    That might really happen.

    "Fearmongering," Neoma said while looking at the weakass Darkness spread in the sky. "That amount of Darkness isn''t enough to swallow the world. But it''s more than enough to scare the people. Moreover, if it''s only happening in the empire, then it''s safe to assume that the target is the people of the Great Moonasterion Empire."

    After all, if you say ''Western Continent,'' the first thing people would think was the empire.

    [We practically invaded the entire continent.]

    Everyone knew, even the countries and kingdoms from the other continents, that the Great Moonasterion Empire was the strongest because of the crazy de Moonasterios. Thanks to this reputation, no nation was stupid enough to attack the empire during the huge chaos that was the recent trial.

    [But if it was me, I would have attacked the empire while the royals and the nobles were busy fighting each other~]

    "Anyway, this is probably Lord Helstor''s warning," Neoma said casually. "Perhaps I''m just being too arrogant, but I have a feeling the warning is directed at me. After all, I''m pretty sure they already know by now that I have the power to fuck them up."

    Gosh, why was she born so powerful?

    "I can''t forgive those bastards for doing this the day I was officially added to the Royal Household," Neoma said through gritted teeth. "When is Helstor''s birthday? I''ll make sure to ruin his day the way he ruined mine."

    "Gods don''t have birthdays," Trevor said. "They only celebrate the day a temple or church was built in their name."

    "Gosh, that''s so sad," Neoma said, genuinely feeling bad for the gods. "Then the day I punch Lord Helstor in the face would be his new birthday."

    Trevorughed while her "children" snickered.

    [Thank goodness Greko isn''t here.]

    She didn''t want to corrupt her innocent sweet summer child.

    Anyway, right now, Neoma and the others were on the balcony of bedroom because she was "confined" to her room.

    Her parents wanted her to rest and sleep.

    But she couldn''t do that after seeing the strange things in the sky earlier. Hence, she secretly summoned her "children" to her room.

    [Princess Maan is busy with her courtesy call to Papa Boss.]

    On the other hand, Nero and Hanna had some official duties they had to attend.

    [I think it has something to do with their uing engagement party.]

    To be honest, although Neoma was aware that Nero and Hanna suited each other, she still felt skeptical about the two''s rtionship.

    [But they''re both consenting adults, so I don''t have a say about their decisions.]

    Anyway, she was just d that Mama Boss took Dahlia with her so Nero wouldn''t get the chance to approach Dahlia.

    [I think Mama Boss and Dahlia are discussing the "guardian" that they left in the ind.]

    And as far as Neoma knew, Mama Boss and Dahlia were also in contact with Charlotte who was left to guard the ind with Nathaira, the Imoogi that Mama Boss summoned from the ck Ocean.

    "Eomma, I''m back!"

    Oh.

    It was Greko who returned with a vial of bear-shaped jelly-like pills inside.

    "Eomma, I heard you lost a lot of blood during your trip," Greko said, handing her the vial. "These pills will help you replenish what you''ve lost."

    "Aww, thank you, baby."

    Greko pouted. "Eomma, I''m not a baby anymore. I''m a teenager now."

    Neoma just smiled because whatever Greko said, he would always be a baby in her eyes.

    "Anyway, let''s focus on the current problem," Neoma said, turning to Jeno. "Can you cover the Darkness with your clouds and mist in the meantime, Jeno?"

    Jeno nodded firmly. "I will do my best, Princess Neoma."

    "Thank you," Neoma said, addressing her people with a firm gaze. "For now, let''s focus on preventing the news from spreading. We can''t let the enemies use fearmongering on the citizens, especially since our future Crown Princess is a Darkness attribute user."

    [We need to buy time until we find a way to get rid of that stupid Darkness in the sky.]

    ***

    "EOMMA, you need to rest. Where are you going now?"

    "I''m going to distress, my son~"

    "But we''re headed to the prison¡­"

    "Exactly~"

    Neoma was in high spirits because she could finally bully the person on the top of her hate list. It was long overdue, but what could she do?

    [I''m a busy woman~]

    Only Greko and Lewis apanied her because she gave tasks to her other "children."

    [I''ll join my "children"ter, but first...]

    "Annyeong, Kyle Sprouse," Neoma greeted the person behind bars, right in front of her. "Did you miss me?"

    As expected, Kyle Sprouse just look at her coldly.

    The traitor looked shabby at the moment, unlike his neat appearance in the past.

    It was obvious that Kyle Sprouse was having a hard time in that small and dirty prison cell. If she remembered correctly, it had only been a few days since the traitor was locked up. And yet, he already looked like he suffered for months.

    [Well, he deserves it.]

    "Are you here to finally ry Empress Juliet''sst message to me, Princess Neoma?" Kyle Sprouse asked weakly. "I will ept any punishment as long As Your Royal Highness tells me where to find Empress Juliet''s reincarnation."

    Ah, look at this bastard.

    Shivers~<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "This is why I fucking hate yanderes," Neoma said, clicking her tongue. "Real life tsunderes are so fucking creepy."

    Kyle Sprouse just looked at her as if he didn''t understand what she just said.

    Of course, she didn''t bother exining.

    [Empress Juliet''s memorial service will take ce tomorrow. I''ll make sure this bastard wouldn''t even hear about it.]

    The former empress must have suffered a lot from the traitor''s obsession.

    "It''s true that Empress Juliet has a message for you," Neoma said, opening her hand until a small crystal ball materialized above her palm. "I''ll let you hear the preview."

    She inserted a small amount of Moonglow in the crystal ball because it was the only way to activate it.

    As soon as she did, a voice was heard from the crystal ball.

    <"Kyle Sprouse¡­">

    She stopped the recording by releasing the Moonglow inside the crystal ball.

    [I said it was only a preview, didn''t I?]

    "Empress Juliet!"

    It was funny how Kyle Sprouse believed that it was really thete Empress Juliet''s voice.

    The recording had Monik''s voice, but she modified it with the help of Trevor''s magic. After all, they had to hide the fact that Monik was thete empress'' reincarnation.

    "It was Empress Juliet''s voice," Kyle Sprouse said desperately, running towards her and grabbing the prison bars. There was a frenzied look in his eyes. "Princess Neoma, please let me hear the rest!"

    Lewis clicked his tongue, his hand already touching the scabbard as if he was itching to slice Kyle Sprouse for raising his voice at her.

    "Don''t worry, I''ll let you hear the rest," Neoma said, smiling at the traitor. "Once I ascend the throne, that is."

    Kyle Sprouse looked horrified. "Then you don''t have any intention to let me hear the rest of Empress Juliet''s message!"

    [This bastard¡­]

    Lewis kicked the prison door¨C the impact sent Kyle Sprouse flying until the traitor hit the wall.

    The poor prison bars were bent, but at least, they didn''tpletely break.

    [Well, there''s a barrier supporting the prison door/bars. The fact that they bent was a testament to Lewis'' physical power.]

    In short, ''One-kick Lewis'' was really something.

    "Don''t yell at Princess Neoma," Lewis warned the traitor, his golden eyes glowing menacingly. "Raise your voice one more time if you want to die early."

    Woah.

    Lewis was riled up, huh?

    Kyle Sprouse, on the other hand, could only cough up blood.

    [Let''s finish this before Lewis ends up killing that bastard.]

    "Kyle Sprouse, even after all this time, you still don''t have faith in me," Neoma said calmly. She wasn''t disappointed or sad. After all, she didn''t care about the traitor. "You better pray that I be the empress regnant soon, though. That''s the only way for you to hear Empress Juliet''sst message."

    This was the trap that she prepared for the traitor.

    [Kyle Sprouse is still pretty useful, after all.]

    "I will not kill you yet, Kyle Sprouse. After all, I want you to witness the era of the empire''s first empress regnant," Neoma dered firmly. She closed her hand, the crystal ball vanishing into thin air. "If the crows, the people you chose over Papa Boss because you are so fucking dumb, get in my way, then I''ll have no choice but to delete the recording I have."

    It wasn''t like she needed Kyle Sprouse''s help.

    But she had a n.

    [A n to break him further.]

    "I know you understand what I''m trying to say, Kyle Sprouse," Neoma said, turning her back on the traitor. "You better make a wise choice this time."

    ***

    "I WANT Mother and Father to get married before my coronation."

    Neoma gave Nero a look of disbelief. "Yeah, no. It''s up to them when they want to get married, dude."

    She was wondering why her twin brother fetched her.

    [We have a family dinnerter, but Nero came to my room to escort me. I didn''t know he''d propose this kind of thing.]

    "I don''t want to ascend the throne while being a child out of wedlock," Nero said, frowning. "Mother won''t be the empress even if she married Father since I''d be taking the throne soon, so I believe this is the perfect time for them to get married."

    "Then what are you suggesting? That we give them a surprise wedding or something?"

    "Yes, exactly that."

    "Huh?"

    "After my engagement ceremony with Hanna, let''s prepare a wedding ceremony for Mother and Father," Nero said in a serious voice. "I already discussed it with Hanna, and she said she''ll base her decision on yours."

    Ah, so that was why Nero was discussing it with her now.

    [Did losing a part of his memories made him dumb?]

    No, scratch that.

    [Nero has always been a cold-hearted person, with or without hisplete memories.]

    Neoma pinched the bridge of her nose while sighing. "Nero, your engagement ceremony is supposed to be Hanna''s time to shine," she said, giving her twin brother a look of disappointment. "I don''t think Mother would appreciate it if she suddenly stole the thunder from Hanna, you know?"

    ***

    "WE RECEIVED a warning from Lord Helstor, Ruto."

    Ruto turned to Sienna, the Sun Priestess, with knitted eyebrows. "A warning?"

    "If the Eastern Continent aids the Western Continent, then Lord Helstor would also spread Darkness in our Continent," Sienna said worriedly. "The Sun Goddess oversees the Eastern Continent. Hence, Lord Helstor''s warning applies to us directly."

    He clenched his hands when he finally realized the meaning behind Lord Levi''s recent message.

    <"Stay where you are whatever happens.">

    "Lord Levi chose to cut off the Moon God," Ruto whispered in disbelief. "The Great Moonasterion Empire is in its own now¡­"

    That only meant one thing.

    Neoma and the de Moonasterions wouldn''t receive any help from the currently active major gods in the Upper World.

    ***

    TODAY is my birthday. Yey. Please go to my k/o-fi page (ko-fi./s_c) and donate/buy a coffee if you can. I have already reached 60% of the target amount. Just a little more push before Iplete the challenge. :''>

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 Chapter 755 FRIENDSHIP OVER?

    ?

    "NEOMA, aren''t you drinking a little too much?"

    "Of course not," Neoma responded to Hanna, then she gulped down the remaining red wine in her ss. "I have high alcohol tolerance, so I''ll be fine."

    She was still Kim Neoma, after all.

    When she was attending S*oul National University, she spent her university days partying hard. But no matter how much she drank soju and beer, she never got drank. She would only get tipsy.

    To be honest, she was actually curious about what it was like to ck out from too much drinking.

    "You really enjoy drinking, don''t you?" Hanna asked, smiling while shaking her head. "I didn''t think you''d enjoy red wine since you like beer more."

    "I used to hate red wine, but for some reason, it tastes better as you get older."

    It was probably because of stress.

    Anyway, right now, Neoma and Hanna were having a drink in the private lounge of her bedroom.

    Well, it was just the biggest guest room in Nero''s pce.

    [I don''t have my official pce yet, but Papa Boss is already working on it.]

    After their family dinner (of course, Hanna was included since she was practically the Crown Princess now), Neoma invited her future sister-inw to have a drink with her.

    Of course, only after she sent Maan off since the Mermaid Princess needed to return home.

    She then sent Dahlia to Jasper oppa''s mansion after the ck Witch said she wasn''tfortable staying in the pce where Nero lived. Jasper oppa said that he''d treat Dahlia like a VIP, so she wasn''t that worried.

    [I don''t want Dahlia to feel unsafe with us.]

    "Did you want to talk about Nero''s n, Neoma?"

    "Uh-huh," Neoma said in response to Hanna''s question. "You should have rejected him when he said he wanted to give our parents a surprise wedding after your engagement party, Hanna. It''s supposed to be your day."

    "I know, but I''m really not worried," Hanna said confidently. "Moreover, I share the same vision as Nero. I also believe that His Majesty and Lady Roseheart should get married before his coronation."

    "Even if you say that, I still think it''s up to Papa Boss and Mama Boss."

    "His Majesty and Lady Roseheart have been wanting to get married for a long time now," Hanna said. "Moreover, they dote on you and Nero a lot. I don''t think they''ll mind a wedding prepared by the two of you."

    Well, it made sense.

    Knowing Papa Boss and Mama Boss, they would surely be happy if we surprised them with a wedding ceremony.

    Plus, her mother didn''t care about "aesthetics."

    Mama Boss even said she was okay with wearing a rental wedding dress when Neoma asked her mother about her dream wedding dress.

    Needless to say, Papa Boss was horrified to hear that.

    [Well, Papa Boss was raised a royal all his life, so the thought of

    "His Majesty and Lady Roseheart could always have a grand weddingter," Hanna said, sipping her wine. "The important thing is they get married before Nero''s coronation. You know I''m right, Neoma."

    Ah, her future sister-inw made a valid point.

    "Fine, you win," Neoma said, raising her ss to Hanna who was smiling triumphantly now. "Gosh. I can''t believe my soon-to-be sister-inw could easily win an argument with me."

    "I should at least be this cunning if I want to be your sister-inw."

    Sheughed out loud because that was right.

    Then she instantly turned serious.

    "Hanna, what was the urgent news that you wanted to tell me before?"

    "Ah, I shouldn''t have let you drink too much."

    "Gosh, you''re making me nervous. But don''t worry, I don''t get violent just because I had a little drink."

    Emptying a bottle of red wine wasn''t a "little drink."

    That was what Hanna''s expression at the moment said.

    [Let''s just ignore her~]

    "Neoma, Lord Rubin offered me a deal," Hanna said in a serious tone. "It seems like Lord Rubin has the memories of his past life¨C the one where you almost married him."

    CRUSH.

    Neoma "identally" crushed the wine ss in her hand. "Rubin remembers his past life?"

    ***

    [I CAN''T cleanse it.]

    Neoma clicked her tongue when her hand only passed through the cloud of Darkness that she tried to touch.

    Yes, she was back at work after getting a full day of rest.

    [They only let me leave the pce after sleeping for ten hours.]

    She felt like she wasted too much time resting.

    So, as soon as she was allowed to work, she summoned Paige, Jeno, and Lewis.

    She could fly just fine with her rose wings, and Paige could use flight magic.

    Paige could have used flight magic on Lewis as well, but Lewis chose to ride on Jeno''s cloud because he enjoyed it more than flying.

    [Lewis is still a baby at heart.]

    "I can''t touch it and my breath doesn''t work either," Neoma said, frustrated. "What the hell is this thing?"

    "My purification spell doesn''t work either," Paigemented. "It''s too weak for us to touch it, Princess Neoma."

    "It''s weak, but it''s multiplying really fast," Jeno added worriedly. "I could barely cover the Darkness with my mist. Fortunately, since the Darkness is weak, it won''t be visible to ordinary people. Only Mana users on at least the level of a Swordsman could see it at the moment."

    Hmm.

    Even so, that sounded bad.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "We must find a solution soon," she said, sighing. "I hate to say this, but we might need Ruto''s help."

    Lewis, as expected, protested. "I don''t mean to question your decision, Princess Neoma. But why that man?"

    Pfft.

    [He really hates Ruto.]

    "Ruto is the representative of the Sun Goddess, and the Sun Goddess is an ally to the Moon God," Neoma exined. "We need as much help as we could. More heads are better than one, after all. Speaking of which, we should also gather our allies now¨C especially those who have purifying abilities."

    [I''m sorry, Baby Skylus and Baby Monik¨C but we''ll need your strength.]

    As much as possible, Neoma didn''t want to involve children in the uing war, but she had no choice since the future saint and saintess would definitely be a huge help.

    [This is why a war shouldn''t happen.]

    ***

    IT WAS a solemn ceremony.

    Aside from the Imperial Family, only a select few were allowed inside the Holy Shrine where members of the Imperial Family wereid to rest: the Quinzels, the emperor''s Pdins, the royal twins'' knights.

    Dion, who just returned to the pce, led the memorial service with the help of Skylus.

    Thete Empress Juliet died as a de Moonasterio, hence the Holy Shrine was her rightful ce.

    [I will protect your resting ce this time, Your Majesty.]

    Neoma felt a bittersweet feeling while watching Monik pray for thete Empress Juliet''s soul.

    [Monik doesn''t know that she''s the reincarnation of Empress Juliet, but she probably felt a connection to his previous body.]

    Marquis Vincent Lennox was there.

    It was actually Neoma who convinced Papa Boss to allow Marquis Lennox to witness thete Empress Juliet''s memorial service.

    Of course, she didn''t do it for the marquis.

    [I just have a feeling that thete Empress Juliet would want her grandfather to be here.]

    "Neoma unnie?"

    "Yes, baby?" Neoma whispered back to Monik, then she squatted down because she wanted to talk to the child properly. "What is it?"

    "Do you think Empress Juliet is happy wherever she is now?"

    Mama Boss and Papa Boss slightly turned in their direction.

    Clearly, her parents were listening.

    It couldn''t be helped since they were standing behind Mama Boss and Papa Boss.

    "I''m sure Empress Juliet is happy now, Monik," Neoma assured Monik, smiling at the child. "She deserves to be happy, after all."

    Only then did Monik smile. "I''m d to hear that, Neoma unnie."

    ***

    "I SEE, YOU''VE lost your mind," Manu said, nodding while responding to what Sienna said. "So, the Sun Goddess is cutting off her rtionship with the Moon God just because Lord Levi said. I get it¨C your rtionship with Lord Levi is more important now that the whereabouts of Lord Yule is unknown."

    "Do you have to be sarcastic about it?" Siennained, obviously offended. "Manu, I''m just the Sun Priestess. Ruto has a higher rank than me."

    "So, that child decided to follow his divine father''s order?"

    His old friend fell silent.

    [Ah, I should have gotten drunk first.]

    Princess Neoma asked him to reach out to the representatives of the Sun Goddess in order to work together.

    Hence, Manu contacted Sienna.

    Then they met in the usual pub that they would frequent when they wanted a drink.

    He should have known something was wrong when the Sun Priestess said they should talk first before drinking.

    "Lord Helstor is threatening the Eastern Continent," Sienna confessed. "He said he''ll spread Darkness over our territory if we lend you a hand. Hence, Ruto has to make a decision. He has people to protect, too. Moreover, Lord Levi¨C"

    "Stop it."

    "What?"

    "I don''t want to hear your excuses."

    Sienna''s face turned red from anger and, perhaps, embarrassment. "Manu, we have duties to fulfill. I serve the Sun Goddess, so I have to follow her orders."

    "I know, that''s why I''m telling you that you don''t have to make excuses," he said. He didn''t want to get angry at Sienna, but he couldn''t help it. His feelings were hurt, after all. "You did nothing wrong."

    The Sun Priestess smirked sarcastically. "Really? Your face says otherwise."

    "It was my fault."

    "What?"

    "It was my fault to believe that our friendship is more important than your duties."

    "Don''t be ridiculous, Manu," Siennained, obviously offended. "Would you betray Lord Yule if you were in my shoes?"

    "I serve and worship Lord Yule, but I''m not a blind follower," Manu said, standing up while covering his face with the hood of his robe. "I would question Lord Yule''s intention first because I know that the god I serve wouldn''t turn his back on his old friend."

    ***

    I''ve reached 70% of my goal in ko-fi. Just a little bit more toplete the challenge. Please go to my k/o-fi page (ko-fi./s_c) and donate/buy a coffee if you can. Thank you.

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 Chapter 756 THE JOB OF THE SHADOW

    ?

    NEOMA LAUGHED out loud.

    But it wasn''t a happyugh.

    It was the royal princess'' ''you-dare-mess-with-me-you-insignificant-little-piece-of-shitugh.''

    In short, Neoma was pissed.

    Hanna sipped her tea, noticing that she wasn''t the only person in the conference room who realized Neoma was angry.

    After all, every single person in the room knew the royal princess well: Lewis, Trevor, Lord Manu, Duke Jasper Hawthorne, and Dahlia.

    Everyone looked nervous.

    After all, it was rare for Neoma to get angry.

    [Of course, Neoma is often annoyed because she has a bad temper. But it''s rare for her to be FUMING. Worse, her thick bloodlust is leaking.]

    Even a Swordsman would faint in this situation.

    Fortunately, everyone in the room was strong enough to withstand it.

    [It was wise not to bring Prince Skylus and Princess Monik here.]

    The two children were currently having a videocall with the king and queen of Hazelden Kingdom, in thepany of Lady Roseheart herself.

    [But I don''t think we should send Prince Skylus back to his kingdom yet.]

    Hanna''s thoughts were interrupted when Neoma finally stoppedughing.

    "Lord Manu, something is wrong," Neoma said, a little calm this time. "The Sun Goddess and Lord Yule have a solid friendship. I don''t think the Sun Goddess would simply follow Lord Levi''s wish to cut off their ties with us, especially if it''s only because of Lord Helstor''s threat." She mmed her hands on the table. "The math ain''t mathing!"

    Ah.

    The long table copsed.

    Every single piece of furniture in the royal pce was supposed to be made of the sturdiest tree. But it broke into half easily.

    [The de Moonasterios'' brute strength is really scary¡­]

    "Are your hands okay, Princess Neoma?" Lewis asked worriedly. "Should I summon Greko?"

    Hanna looked at Lewis in disbelief.

    [You should worry about the table more, Lewis¡­]

    "I''m fine, Lewis," Neoma said, then she turned to Lord Manu again. "So is that the Eastern Continent''s final stance?"

    Trevor quietly raised his hand and fixed the table just like that.

    [Sorcerers are really useful, huh? No wonder Neoma keeps Lord Trevor by her side.]

    "I believe so," Lord Manu said. "It seems like it wasn''t Sienna who decided to cut us off. She seemed reluctant when we were talking."

    Neoma rolled her eyes. "It must be Ruto''s decision then."

    "Is it filial piety?" Trevor asked,ughing. "Kyaaah~ The damned chef couldn''t disobey his divine father, huh? What a weakling~"

    "Well, the Eastern Continent doesn''t have an obligation to help us," Neoma said. She looked calm, but her eyes were turning slightly red. "But I should probably ask Papa Boss to revoke Ruto''s dual citizenship."

    Hanna smiled.

    [Neoma really holds grudges.]

    "That would be a good start, Princess Neoma," Duke Jasper Hawthorne said. "If the Eastern Continent wouldn''t help us, then it''s only right that we also close our borders."

    As expected, Neoma immediately backtracked. "No, we don''t have to go that far. Closing our borders is a bit¡­"

    Only Dahlia nodded in agreement with Neoma.

    And maybe Lord Manu.

    Lewis and Trevor agreed with what Duke Hawthorne said.

    [And so do I.]

    "Innocent people shouldn''t suffer because of the fight among people in power," Neoma said. "Closing the Western Continent''s borders to the Eastern Continent is like dering war against them. The Eastern Continent isn''t as rich as our continent, so¡­"

    "Then is it okay for our citizens to die helplessly, Neoma?"

    Only one person in that room could address Neoma by her first name.

    Of course, it was none other than Hanna.

    [It''s time to break my silence.]

    "Neoma, Lord Ruto and the Sun Goddess already abandoned the Western Continent to save their own people," Hanna said solemnly, tapping her fingers on the table. "They left us and our people to fend for ourselves, and yet you care about the people of the Eastern Continent?"

    "But it''s the people in power who decided that," Neoma argued. "Innocent people shouldn''t suffer."

    "Exactly," Hanna said coldly. "So, why must you put the lives of the innocent people of our empire on the line?"

    "Who says I''ll put them at risk?"

    "Neoma, are you saying you''re going to protect the entire world?"

    Of course, Neoma avoided her gaze. "I mean, if I could¡­"

    And this was probably why Nero was the better ruler between the twins.

    [It''s good to have empathy, but too muchpassion would be harmful. It would be great if Nero could grow more conscience. On the other hand, Neoma needs to learn how to put up a clear boundary.]

    But if Neoma couldn''t do that, then¡­

    "You don''t have any obligation to protect everyone even if you have the power to do so, Neoma," Hanna said firmly. "And I wouldn''t let you do that anyway."

    Neoma raised an eyebrow, but Hanna didn''t take back her words.

    Once she became the official Crown Princess, she would have a higher rank than Neoma. And once she became the empress, Neoma wouldn''t be addressed as an Imperial Princess anymore.

    Hence, technically speaking, Hanna would gain more political power than Neoma.

    [That''s the sad fate of the royal princesses born in the de Moonasterion Imperial Family.]

    But Hanna had no intention of disregarding Neoma''s authority, of course. She just wanted to protect Neoma using the authority that she would gain soon as the Crown Princess.

    Neoma was too soft-hearted for this world, after all.

    [The brighter the me, the darker the shadow. But Neoma refuses to deal with the shadows behind her. Hence, I''ll do it in her stead.]<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    After all, the Quinzels thrived in the shadows.

    "Hanna, you know I''m stubborn, don''t you?" Neoma asked after a moment of silence. "I''m afraid that even if you be the empress, I don''t think I''d listen to you."

    "I know that," Hanna said,ughing softly. "But I could be just as stubborn, Neoma."

    ***

    "SO, YOU had a fight with Hanna."

    "It wasn''t a fight," Neoma denied while checking the documents that Nero handed to her. "We just had an intense discussion."

    Now that she was officially dered a princess, she ought to do her part and work.

    Since her pce hadn''t been prepared yet, she was currently sharing an office with Nero.

    It was convenient to share an office since they were in the middle of dividing tasks between the two of them anyway.

    [I''m not just sure if putting our desks next to each other was necessary¡­]

    "And you lost," Nero said without even looking up at her. "You were in a bad mood, after all."

    "I didn''t lose," Neoma said firmly. "I''m just being generous to my future sister-inw."

    "Hanna was right, though," he said bluntly. "The Eastern Continent turned their backs on us first. Why would you care whatever happens to them? You''re the Imperial Princess of the Western Continent. Just worry about our people."

    She let out a frustrated sigh.

    Nero wasn''t in the meeting, but he received a detailed report of what transpired earlier.

    Of course, it was Neoma who wrote the detailed report.

    [It''s Nero''s duty as the Crown Prince to know about the impending danger that threatens the empire. And as the Imperial Princess, it''s my duty to be transparent with him.]

    "Why can''t people understand that this issue is beyond the Western and Eastern Continent?" Neomained lightly. "If Lord Helstor had the power to cover the entire Western Continent with Darkness, what makes you think he wouldn''t do it to the remaining continents? Once the entire world is covered in Darkness, there wouldn''t be any continent left."

    "So what?"

    "Excuse me?"

    "Why must we care about a future that hasn''t and might not happen yet?" Nero asked casually. "The current issue is the Darkness that Helstor spread in the Western Continent. We just need to focus on that and save our people. Stop caring about people outside our territory, PRINCESS Neoma."

    "I''m starting to think I''m not fit to be a princess."

    "You became a princess because you''re the daughter of the emperor," he said as if the problem was just that simple. "Do you think you need to work hard to deserve the title you get as soon as you were born?"

    "Isn''t that how it''s supposed to be?"

    "Don''t be na?ve, Neoma," Nero said,ughing sarcastically. "My position as the Crown Prince and your title as the Imperial Princess¨C we didn''t work hard to get them. It''s our birthright, and that''s what privilege means."

    "I''m aware of that, but even privilegese with responsibilities."

    "Exactly¨C that''s why you should repay OUR people by putting them at the top of your priorities."

    Ouch.

    [So, this is why Nero brought up our privilege.]

    "And stop being so arrogant."

    Neoma rolled her eyes. "You''re asking for the impossible."

    "The Eastern Continent isn''t weak," Nero said, shaking his head. "They can protect themselves since they have the Sun Goddess to guide them. You should worry more about our continent since the Moon God is missing. Worse, he might be suffering in the hands of the crows that you hate so much."

    "I fucking hate it when you make sense, Nero."

    "And I hate your saviorplex where you feel the need to save everyone."

    "How dare you talk back to your noona?"

    "What does it even mean?"

    "Older sister."

    Nero scoffed. "The world would end first before I call you ''noona.''"

    "Gosh, be careful what you wish for¨C this noona of yours has the power to destroy the world."

    "Whatever," he said, rolling his eyes before changing the topic. "Anyway, you need a ve¨C I mean, a secretary. Both of us will be busy soon. I have Melvin to take care of my administrative work. How about you?"

    "Gosh. No wonder Lord Melvin wishes to resign as your secretary. Why would you work the poor guy to death?"

    "Well, why do we need to work hard if we could just hire smart andpetent people to do our jobs?"

    [Nero is the personification of the ''work smart, not hard'' meme.]

    She let out a sigh. "I''ll treat Lord Melvin to a good mealter."

    Nero just ignored her goodwill towards his secretary. "I''ll take care of the issue regarding the High Priest and the new saint," he said. "I''ll leave the matters of the Darkness to you. Does it sound fair to you?"

    "Yep, I''ll leave Dion and Baby Skylus to you," Neoma said, nodding. "Oh, let''s talk about Mama Boss and Papa Boss'' surprise wedding first."

    ***

    [WHAT IS THAT?]

    A little boy, one born in poverty, looked up at the sky.

    He could see strange dark clouds moving towards the sun, but no one else could. When he pointed it out to the adults around him, he only got a beating.

    Hence, hey on the cold asphalt while staring at the strange dark clouds.

    "Little boy, do you need help?"

    The boy got up, surprised by the appearance of a man who looked like a priest judging by the cloak he wore. "W-Who are you?"

    "Don''t be afraid¨C I''m not a strange person," the priest said, smiling warmly at him. "I am an agent of the Church of Eternal Darkness¨C the only church that would survive the impending end of the world."

    ***

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 Chapter 757 PERSISTENT FIRST LOVE

    ?

    NERO raised an eyebrow at the shaking little prince standing before him. "What? Are you disappointed that you''d be working under me instead of Neoma?" He smirked at the child. "Too bad for you. I''m the one in charge of the Astello Temple and anything rted to it."

    Prince Skylus just lowered his head to avoid his gaze.

    Nero summoned the new saint to his office because he was now in charge of the Astello Temple.

    [We can''t send this child back to the Hazelden Kingdom yet.]

    "Why are you scaring Prince Skylus?" Melvin scolded Nero with clenched hands. "Prince Nero, must I remind you that you''re a lot older than Prince Skylus? You shouldn''t be acting this way. Moreover, Prince Skylus is the next saint. I know that you''re very disrespectful to people you don''t like, but at least spare the child."

    Melvin was the only person in the world who could nag and insult Nero with his head still attached to his neck.

    [He should be grateful that he''s useful.]

    Nero crossed his arms over his chest. "That child likes Neoma a little too much."

    Melvin let out a sigh. "Prince Nero, can you me Prince Skylus? Princess Neoma is a pleasant person. Even I would prefer Her Royal Highness over a grumpy employer."

    Prince Skylus raised his head and nodded eagerly in agreement with what Melvin said.

    Nero red at his secretary. "Melvin Lhesi, you''re crossing the line."

    As expected, Melvin''s eyes sparkled. "Then are you firing me, Prince Nero¨C"

    "As your punishment, I''m putting you in charge of the Holy Knights," Nero said, smirking. "Keep an eye on them until they return to their right conditions."

    Melvin let out another sigh. "As Your Royal Highnessmands."

    His secretary said that, but it was obvious Melvin was cursing Nero with his eyes.

    [This guy is really funny. And he wonders why I won''t let him resign.]

    Anyway, keeping an eye on the Holy Knights who had turned into children wouldn''t be a heavy duty anyway.

    After all, the Holy Knights were already taken care of in the pce.

    Nero turned to Prince Skylus. "Let''s go. The High Priest is already waiting for us."

    "C-Can my sister join us?" Prince Skylus asked nervously. "I w-want to go with Monik noona¡­"

    He clicked his tongue.

    ''Noona.''

    He heard that word from Neoma first.

    [What is that girl doing, teaching a foreign prince the strangenguage from another world?]

    "Prince Skylus, are you so ipetent that you need your sister by your side for a simple task?"

    Of course, the new saint''s face turned red as if he was embarrassed.

    "Being young isn''t an excuse," Nero said coldly. "You''re going to be dered the new saint soon. Are you going to bring your sister on your official duties?"

    This time, Prince Skylus looked like he was about to cry.

    But Nero wasn''t done yet.

    "Hey, little prince," Nero said, looking at the child coldly. "You''re not a child, right? All saints had lived an adult life in Paradise before they got reborn in this world. And you have the memories of your life while you were there, so it means you''re already an adult mentally."

    That was why all the previous saints acted like an adult from the beginning.

    Even the former Saint Dominic Zavaroni was known for being calm and mature since his childhood.

    [But this one¡­]

    "Why are you acting like a child when you''re mentally an adult?" Nero continued interrogating the young prince. "It seems like your family spoiled you too much. That''s not good. Since you''re going to be dered the new saint soon, you better act your mental age."

    This time, Prince Skylus sobbed until his sobs turned into full-blown crying.

    [Argh, so noisy.]

    "Prince Nero, you''re being too much," Melvin scolded him. "Even though the saints are born with the mental age of an adult, it doesn''t mean they can''t act their HUMAN age. Prince Skylus is still a child physically, so it''s not like we could overwork him either."

    Nero scoffed after hearing Melvin''s nagging. "I heard Neoma was already working as a Crown Prince since she was around Prince Skylus'' age."

    "Prince Nero, the de Moonasterios are born monsters¨C and I mean that in the most respectable way possible," Melvin said in a frustrated voice. "Your brain develops faster than average humans, and you''re physically strong even as a child. How could youpare that to a saint born with an adult mind? Just because a person is older doesn''t mean they''repetent."

    It seemed like the secretary immediately noticed his mistake.

    "I''m not saying that you''re notpetent, Prince Skylus. I apologize," Melvin said, reflecting right away. "I''m just trying to say that it''s okay for Prince Skylus to act the way that he does now. I''m sorry for sounding rude."

    Prince Skylus sniffled. "I-It''s alright, Lord Melvin. I know you have my best interest in mind."

    Melvin just smiled and bowed politely toward the young prince.

    Nero rolled his eyes at the two''s exchange. "Prince Skylus."

    "Y-Yes, Prince Nero?"

    "Do you want to protect your sister and your family?"

    Prince Skylus nodded eagerly. "O-Of course!"

    "Then stop crying," he said to the child bluntly. "If you want to protect your loved ones, you have to work hard. A crybaby wouldn''t be able to save anyone."

    Fortunately, the young prince put on a tough face.

    "Are you done crying?" Nero asked, raising an eyebrow at the young prince. "Can we get to work now?"

    Prince Skylus wiped the tears off his face with his hands. "Yes, Prince Nero."

    ***

    "PAIGE, I heard Dion has already arrived in the pce," Neoma said while reading an old history book. "Nero is having a meeting with Dion and Skylus. But you can go and see Dion after that."

    "But I need to help you, Princess Neoma¡­"

    She raised her head and saw Paige standing on thedder while browsing books in the shelf.

    Paige could have used flight magic, but using magic in the Royal Library was forbidden.

    Yep, they were currently in the Royal Library. To be precise, they were on the top floor were only members of the Imperial Family had ess to.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    [A de Moonasterio could only bring one guest with them, so I chose to bring Paige.]

    Lewis was currently guarding the door, of course.

    [And my other "children" are working elsewhere.]

    "I''ll be fine on my own," Neoma said. "I don''t have time to read more books anyway."

    She was in the Royal Library because she was reading things rted to the Absolute Darkness that almost swallowed the world during the Ancient Period.

    But, as expected, she was yet to read something new.

    [Even the books kept by Trevor''s Bookworm are all the same.]

    "We can continue our research tomorrow," Neoma said, closing the book in her hands. "It''s time for me to get ready anyway."

    "Ah, right," Paige said, nodding. "Lady Hanna and Prince Nero''s engagement ceremony will happenter."

    ***

    "I DON''T think this dress is your style, baby."

    Neoma smiled, loving how Mama Boss sounded like a modern Korean woman sometimes. "Yes, Mama Boss. That dress isn''t my style."

    Right now, Neoma and her mother were in the "dressing room" to check the clothes they would wear at Hanna and Nero''s engagement ceremonyter.

    Everything was prepared by Hanna and the Royal Tailor.

    Since the Imperial Family was supposed to wear red on formal asions, the dress prepared for her was in that color.

    "Although I look good in red, I prefer dresses that show a little skin¨C especially my shoulders since they look nice. Plus, I also form-fitting clothes," Neoma said while looking at the modest and formal red dress in front of her. That was what she was supposed to wearter. "I would have liked it more if it was an off-shoulder dress instead of it having puff sleeves."

    "You could have told the Royal Tailor to alter your dress," Mama Boss said, confused. "It would have been easy to change the sleeves to make it an off-shoulder dress."

    Of course, she knew that.

    But she purposely didn''t say anything.

    "It''s Hanna''s engagement ceremony," Neoma said, shrugging. "Hanna likes traditional stuff. She likes following some traditions. If she wanted me to wear whatever I wanted, then she should have told me."

    Hanna would often choose to wear what the Royal Tailor prepared instead of wearing what she thought would look better on her.

    That was how dedicated Hanna was to her role as the Crown Princess.

    [I don''t want to tarnish Hanna''s efforts.]

    "You have a point. We should do as Hanna wants since this is her moment," Mama Boss said, but her face looked worried while looking at her own red dress. "Although I''m not sure if I have the right to wear the color of the Imperial Family."

    It was an unwritten yet strict rule that only the members of the Imperial Family could wear read on formal asions, especially events hosted by the de Moonasterios.

    Mama Boss was neither the empress nor the emperor''s wife.

    Hence, she could understand her mother''s worry.

    [Mama Boss doesn''t know that we prepared a surprise wedding for her and Papa Boss.]

    Hanna prepared a red dress for Mama Boss knowing that.

    "Don''t worry, Mama Boss," Neoma assured her mother, hugging her arm. "You''re the only person who deserves to wear red next to Papa Boss'' side¨C and everyone knows that."

    [If someone dares to open their filthy mouth¡­ then I''ll let Nero handle them.]

    "Moreover, you are the mother of the Crown Prince and the one and only Imperial Princess of the Great Moonasterion Empire," Neoma said, holding her mother''s hand tight. "That alone is more than enough for you to deserve the Imperial red dress, Mama Boss."

    Mama Boss, who obviously looked touched by her words, smiled warmly at her. "Thank you, Neoma."

    ***

    NEOMA almostughed while watching her Papa Boss'' face lit up as he watched Mama Boss descend the grand staircase.

    It was like watching a movie where the male lead would give the female lead THE look.

    [The look of a person in love, to be precise. I bet Papa Boss is currently experiencing the cheesy "slow motion" thing while watching Mama Boss.]

    Gosh.

    Papa Boss was such a simp.

    [He loved Mama Boss since he was a teen, and he still does now¡­]

    Her thoughts trailed off when she remembered something.

    [I only have five years to lives¡­ and so does Papa Boss¡­]

    She felt a shiver down her spine.

    [No,] Neoma thought to herself firmly while clenching her hands tight. [I won''t let Papa Boss die early and make Mama Boss a young widow!]

    ***

    "YOU WERE invited to Prince Nero''s engagement ceremony?!"

    Rubin stood in front of his father, his hands behind his back. "Father, I can''t bete for the ceremony. I barely managed to get an invitation from Young Lady Quinzel," he said politely. "Hence, I have to leave soon if I don''t want to bete."

    His fatherughed as if he was overjoyed.

    Duke Drayton, the head of the family, mmed his hands on his office desk as he stood uo whileughing. Of course, his father didn''t care about the engagement ceremony because of his hatred for the Quinzels.

    But he could tell why his father was delighted.

    "You finally have your use, Rubin!" his father said while approaching him. Then he grabbed his shoulders and squeezed them gently. As expected, there was a frenzied look in his father''s eyes. "Don''t waste this opportunity, my son. Use that handsome face of yours to seduce the Imperial Princess. She was originally your fianc¨¦e anyway!"

    "You''re right, Father. Neoma¡­" Rubin paused when he realized his mistake, then he shook his head and corrected himself. "Princess Neoma has always been my fianc¨¦e."

    ***

    I''ve reached 70% of my goal in ko-fi. Just a little bit more toplete the challenge. Please go to my k/o-fi page (ko-fi./s_c) and donate/buy a coffee if you can. Thank you.

    ***

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 Chapter 758 THE ROYAL ENGAGEMENT

    ?

    [WHY IS my life so fucking hard?]

    Neoma, because she was too fucking self-absorbed, barely remembered that her Papa Boss had the same lifespan as her.

    [We only have five years to live...]

    Watching her Papa Boss and Mama Boss exchange warm nces as if they were the only ones in the room made her feel guilty.

    Her father''s lifespan was shortened because he had to pass down his Moonglow to TWO heirs. The throne couldn''t choose between Neoma and Nero, hence the throne recognized both of them as its rightful heirs.

    Although Nero would end up taking the throne first, she was still an heir since she was destined to be the empress regnant after Nero''s turn.

    Hence, Papa Boss was forced to give his Moonglow to both Neoma and Nero.

    [My poor Papa Boss¡­]

    "Neoma, what''s wrong?"

    Ah.

    It seemed like Neoma had been too distracted for her to only realize that her parents'' attention was now focused on her. "Yes, Papa Boss?"

    "What''s wrong?" Papa Boss asked worriedly. "You look paler than normal, Neoma."

    Oh.

    Neoma quickly smiled to assure her parents that she was fine. "I''m fine, Papa Boss. I was just thinking about what to do if Calyx and the crows showed up tonight to ruin Nero''s engagement. That psycho crow is obsessed with Nero, so I wouldn''t put it past him to gatecrash the partyter."

    Where.

    She was sooo good at lying that it was actually scary.

    "I understand what you''re worried about, but rx, baby," Mama Boss said, assuring her that everything would be fine. "Trust our people."

    Neoma smiled and nodded. "Okay, Mama Boss."

    "Are you sure that''s the only thing you''re worried about?" Papa Boss asked worriedly. "It looks like something else is on your mind, Neoma."

    Oh.

    Of course, it wouldn''t be easy to fool Papa Boss.

    [Papa Boss knows me longer than Mama Boss does, so it''s not surprising that Papa Boss can see right through me.]

    "I''m really alright, Papa Boss," Neoma said. "I''m just getting a little emotional since Nero is getting engaged already, while my love life is in shambles."

    Well, that wasn''t entirely a lie.

    Although having a boyfriend wasn''t her priority at the moment, she wouldn''t say that she was happy breaking up with Ruto on such a bad term.

    She just didn''t have the time to mourn it.

    "You did well breaking up with Ruston Stroganoff," Papa Boss said, scoffing. Fortunately, her father believed her this time. "He''s no longer the Ruston Stroganoff who would do everything and anything for you, Neoma. Right now, he''ll do you more harm than good as Levi''s divine son. Just forget about that boy."

    "Niki," Mama Boss scolded Papa Boss right away. "Your daughter is already heartbroken. Don''t say mean things to make her feel bad."

    Papa Boss just scoffed, then he changed the topic. "We should leave soon. It''s time for the engagement ceremony to begin. But first¡­" He turned to Geoffrey Kinsley¨C who was standing near the door while holding a velvet box¨C and motioned the Pdin toe closer with his finger. "You forgot to wear something important, Neoma."

    Hmm?

    Geoffrey handed Papa Boss a velvet box, then the Pdin bowed and quietly returned to his post.

    Papa Boss opened the box then.

    OHH.

    "A tiara," Neoma said, mesmerized by the beautiful tiara. "So pretty."

    It was a silver tiara with red gemstones in it.

    [Are those rubies?]

    "This crown was made from literal moonstones, while the red gemstones were made from Yule''s blood."

    Neoma almost choked on her saliva.

    [Okay, so that tiara wasn''t made of silver and rubies¨C it was made from literal moonstones and Lord Yule''s blood, huh?]

    "Thest owner of this tiara was Nichole."

    Neoma''s eyes sparkled. "Ah! So, this is the tiara that the royal princesses of the Imperial Family wear."

    "That''s right. You should have received this the moment you awakened your Soul Beast, but I was such a scumbag back then."

    Pfft.

    "It''s good that you have self-awareness, Papa Boss."

    Her father just chuckled.

    Even Mama Boss smiled and shook her head, then she volunteered to hold the box while Papa Boss picked up the tiara.

    "It''s betterte than never," Papa Boss said, then he carefully put the tiara on top of Neoma''s head. After that, her father looked at her with a proud look on his face. "As expected, it suits you, Neoma."

    "Of course, Papa Boss," Neoma agreed, grinning. Then she knitted her eyebrows when she realized something. "Aren''t you going to wear your crown, Papa Boss? You wear it on formal asions and banquets hosted by the Imperial Family."

    "I don''t need to wear it from now on," Papa Boss said. "Everyone knows I only reimed the throne to pass it on to Neroter. It''s fine even if I don''t wear the crown anymore."

    Ah.

    Neoma btedly realized why Papa Boss didn''t wear his crown today.

    [Mama Boss can''t wear a crown because she''s not the empress. That means all of us would be wearing a crown except Mama Boss if Papa Boss had worn his. I shouldn''t have asked.]

    "Let''s take a family pictureter," Neoma said to change the topic. "With Nero and Hanna."

    Mama Boss smiled and nodded. "That''s a lovely idea, baby."

    "We should go," Papa Boss said, offering his arms to Neoma and Mama Boss. "Shall we,dies?"

    ***

    THE EMPEROR should be thest to enter the Callisto Hall.

    [Fuck, I forgot to change the damned hall''s name.]

    Anyway, Neoma entered the grand hall with Papa Boss and Mama Boss.

    [The entire grand hall looks so dreamy.]

    She couldn''t believe that Hanna only had at least seven days to decorate the hall that way.

    [Well, I guess nothing is impossible when you have money.]

    Even the guests were dressed appropriately despite the short notice.

    [Speaking of the guests¡­]

    Naturally, every single person in the grand hall bowed their heads as the Imperial Family descended the grand staircase.

    [Ah, it''sfortable since most of the guests are on our side.]

    Yep, none from the Noble Faction was invited.

    Not even the Northern Lords.

    Well, Melvin Lhesi was there as Nero''s secretary. Sandie Morrisley was also there as Hanna''s academy friend. But no one else from the Neutral Faction was invited.

    [Hanna is such a cold-hearted woman, huh?]

    Who would have thought that the frail and meekdy who wouldn''t dare join a men''s conversation in the past would grow up as a poisonous flower?

    [Hanna is scary.]

    The guest list for the royal engagement was clearly a warning to the nobles.

    ["If you don''t take my side, then say goodbye to your social status."]

    Neoma wasn''t sure if it was wise to make enemies out of the nobles right now, but she just decided to trust Hanna.

    [She knows what she''s doing anyway.]

    Neoma scanned the room, remembering the faces of the nobles that Hanna chose¡­

    ¡­ and that was when she saw a familiar face with a crowd that she had never seen before.

    Not even in her first life.

    [They''re with Uncle Glenn, though?]

    Moreover, the four big men all had the same hair and eye color as Uncle Glenn. And they all actually looked like each other.

    [Ah, could it be¡­?]

    "Those are the Extons," Papa Boss whispered, confirming Neoma''s thoughts. "This is the first time that they stepped foot in the Royal Capital after I ascended the throne."

    Wow.

    It had been a long time, then.

    That probably exined why the nobles seemed to be avoiding the Extons.

    But, to be fair, there was something else that made it hard for anyone to approach that family.

    [They reek of blood¨C monster blood, to be precise.]

    And it smelled really bad.

    [Fortunately, only people on my level could smell it.]<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Aunt Brigitte was standing near the Extons with Skylus, Monik, and ude.

    [Ah, there''s also Nowell Elwood¨C Aunt Brigitte''s cousin-sh-chancellor.]

    Wow.

    There were a lot of familiar faces than Neoma initially thought.

    Jasper oppa and his vassal families were also present.

    The Wisterias, the Dankworths, and even Marquis Vincent Lennox were there.

    [Most nobles here came from Hanna''s academy friends.]

    As expected, Hanna inherited Duchess Amber Quinzel''s title as the ''star'' of the social circle.

    [I may be the Imperial Princess, but Hanna has more influence over the nobles than I do.]

    Now Neoma could understand why Papa Boss preferred Hanna to be the Crown Princess over Dahlia.

    [Not that Dahlia wants to be the Crown Princess.]

    Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt an intense gaze directed at her face.

    [Gosh. I know I''m pretty, but who would stare at me so openly¡­]

    Ah, so fucking handsome.

    Neoma''s brain buffered for a moment when her gazended on Rubin Drayton''s face.

    Yep, it was her ex-fianc¨¦ who was looking at her so intently.

    [No wonder Lewis'' bloodlust is leaking a bit.]

    Neoma wanted to avoid Rubin''s gaze, but herpetitive spirit wouldn''t let her. If she avoided her gaze, it was like admitting that she had lost their little staring contest.

    [Fuck, this pride of mine¡­]

    "His Imperial Highness Prince Nero and Lady Hanna Quinzel have arrived!"

    Whew.

    Thanks to the announcement of Nero and Hanna''s arrival, Neoma could avert her gaze without losing her dignity.

    [Oh, wow.]

    Hanna was so freaking pretty.

    [Her dress is a little boring for me since it''s in and conservative, but it looks he elegant on Hanna. Of course, it''s thanks to Hanna''s gentle face and gracefulness.]

    On the other hand, Nero looked extra handsome tonight.

    Naturally.

    [We have the same face, duh.]

    Anyway, Nero''s crown was almost simr to Neoma''s tiara.

    [Gosh, even our crowns are twinning tonight.]

    ***

    THE ENGAGEMENT ceremony was simple and quick since the de Moonasterios had always been known to be very impatient.

    Even so, Hanna was satisfied.

    The moment Nero held her hand and put the Moonlight Ring on her finger, she felt relieved. All the hard work that she had done the past few years finally paid off.

    [I''m the Crown Princess now.]

    "It suits you, Hanna," Nero said while looking at the hand that he was holding. Then he raised his head to look at her face. "As expected, you''re the onlydy who deserves to be the Crown Princess."

    Hanna wasn''t a fool.

    She knew all along that Nero only loved herpetence and her immacte background as the Quinzel Princess.

    But she was satisfied with that for now.

    [Nero and I are both young. We can improve our rtionship from here on.]

    "Ah. I should address you properly," Nero said, caressing her cheek with his hand. "Princess Hanna."

    ''Princess.''

    Right.

    Now that she was the official Crown Princess, her title had already changed from dy'' to ''princess.''

    [And soon, I''ll be the empress.]

    "My princess."

    Hanna smiled. "Yes, my prince?"

    Nero smiled, and it was one of his rare genuine smiles. "I know that our parents are watching, but we need to end the ceremony with a kiss." This time, his smile became teasing. "My princess is smart, so you know that already. Don''t you?"

    She definitely blushed.

    Of course, she was aware that a kiss on the lips would end the ceremony. Hence, she was already prepared mentally.

    Even so, doing it in front of their parents and other nobles made her feel shy.

    [This is our first kiss on the lips, after all.]

    "Are you shy?" Nero teased her while cupping her face between his hands. "Just close your eyes and pretend that we''re the only ones in the room, my princess."

    Hanna smiled, liking how Nero addressed her now. "Alright, my prince." She smiled and closed her eyes. "I''ll leave it to you."

    And the royal engagement ended with Hanna and Nero''s first kiss.

    ***

    [EW.]

    Neoma loved Nero and Hanna as her twin brother and best friend, respectively. But it was still disgusting to see the two kissing right in front of her.

    [I mean¡­ I don''t need to see my twin brother and my best friend making out¡­]

    But she was probably the only one who felt that way.

    Papa Boss looked indifferent as if he was just watching two businessmen close a deal. On the other hand, Mama Boss was smiling while pping lightly.

    [Fine. Let''s just p, too.]

    Neoma was about to put her hands together when her eyes caught a pair of familiar light blue eyes.

    [Gosh, why is he looking at me again?]

    Yep, it was still Rubin Drayton.

    "Lewis."

    She only whispered it, but a soft whisper came back.

    "Yes, Princess Neoma?"

    "Bring Rubin Drayton to the second-floor Balcony."

    "¡­"

    "Lewis?"

    "I¡­ don''t want to."

    Neoma looked over her shoulder and gave Lewis a scolding look. "Don''t make me repeat myself, Sir Crevan."

    Lewis obviously looked shocked when she addressed him by his title, then he quickly bowed his head as if he was afraid. "As youmand, Princess Neoma."

    ***

    "IS IT alright for me to be here, Princess Neoma?"

    "Yep," Neoma said casually, leaning against the railing while crossing her arms over her chest. "It''s fine since I invited you here, Lord Rubin."

    Right now, the two of them were in the Balcony.

    Yes, it was the one that was reserved for the members of the Imperial Family.

    "But I don''t have much time, Lord Rubin.

    [After all, Mama Boss and Papa Boss'' surprise wedding will begin soon.]

    "If you have anything to say, say it now," Neoma said impatiently. "I''m a busy woman. So, if possible, please be quick and precise."

    Rubin fell silent for a moment, then he looked at her with a determined look on his face. "I love you, Princess Neoma."

    ???

    ***

    I''ve reached 70% of my goal in ko-fi. Just a little bit more toplete the challenge. Please go to my k/o-fi page (ko-fi./s_c) and donate/buy a coffee if you can. Thank you.

    ***

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 Chapter 759 NEOMA AND RUBIN

    ?

    [IT SOUNDS like a lie.]

    Neoma didn''t know whether tough or curse after hearing Rubin say that he loved her.

    Fortunately, she had a resting bitch face at the moment.

    And that seemed to scare the young lord.

    "What I mean to say is I loved you, Princess Neoma," Rubin said, obviously flustered because of her indifference. "What I felt for you in my first life was genuine. I really did fall in love with you and not with Regina Crowell. Although I treasured Regina as a friend, she was never the love of my life."

    Neoma already had a hunch that it was the case after Trevor told her about Dn Crowell possessing Rubin Drayton''s body.

    Moreover, she remembered that Rubin used to have a "split personality."

    "When we met as kids in this lifetime, I thought you had a split personality, Lord Rubin."

    "That''s what I thought, too," Rubin said, smiling bitterly. "But, most of the time, I don''t remember what I''m doing. It''s as if someone else takes over. And, apparently, that''s exactly the case."

    "When did you realize that someone else was possessing your body?"

    "The moment the soul got locked out of my body," Rubin exined, clutching his chest tight. "All this time, my body has always felt heavy as if it wasn''t mine."

    [It''s probably because Dn Crowell used his body as a vessel.]

    "But recently, my body feels light. I finally feel like my body belongs to me," Rubin said, and his expression brightened up. "ording to my father, our family knights saw Your Royal Highness'' aide, the Sorcerer, attack me. Then I remember what the Sorcerer told me about the knight before I fell unconscious."

    "What did Trevor say to you?"

    Trevor was toozy to give Neoma a detailed report. He would only say what he felt like saying to her.

    [And that''s why Trevor isn''t qualified to be my secretary.]

    "The Sorcerer told me that he put a spell simr to a barrier to help me prevent getting possessed again," Rubin said, then he scratched his cheek as if he was embarrassed. "He also told me that he''d kill me if I let myself get possessed again."

    [Yep, that totally sounds like Trevor.]

    "I''m not as powerful as the Sorcerer, but I''m still on a Sword Master''s level," Rubin said, his cheeks turning pink as if he was embarrassed. "Now that I''m aware I had been possessed all this time, I wouldn''t fall for the same trick again."

    The level of a Sword Master would be impressive for normal people.

    But for people on the same level as Neoma, a Sword Master was considered pretty average. The standards were pretty different since Neoma was already on the same levels as the gods.

    That was probably why she saw Rubin as someone frail.

    Goddammit.

    [My saviorplex is acting up again.]

    "I don''t think the crows have any use to House Drayton anymore, so I guess you could rx in the meantime," Neoma said bluntly. "As far as I know, Hanna has already screwed with the Drayton''s main source of ie. The only reason the crows targeted you was for your money. And, well, your body since Dn Crowell used you as his vessel. But since the Draytons are on their way to bankruptcy, and Dn Crowell already lost hisplete control over you, I don''t think the crows would still be interested in you."

    Rubin chuckled while shaking his head. "You''re very blunt, Princess Neoma."

    "I told you¨C I don''t have much time on my hands," she reminded him coldly. "We''re getting a little sidetracked, don''t you think so?"

    He flinched as if he didn''t expect her to be THAT cold.

    "Lord Rubin, I''m no longer the Neoma that you loved in your first life," Neoma said calmly. "And you''re no longer the Rubin that I loved in my first life. What do you want me to do after telling me that you remember your first life, along with the fact that you genuinely loved me?"

    Rubin''s gaze fell to the floor as if he was afraid to meet her eyes.

    [Is he feeling guilty?]

    "To be honest, it''s been too long for me already, Lord Rubin," Neoma said, sighing. "I no longer remember the Rubin that I loved in the past. Every time I reminisce about my previous life, all I remember is the you that hurt me¨C emotionally and physically."

    Rubin raised his head as if he was shocked by her revtion.

    "You heard it right," Neoma said, nodding. "The Rubin in my memories dared to hurt me physically."

    He felt guilty even though it was probably Dn Crowell who tormented her in the past.

    "Don''t apologize," Neoma said when she noticed Rubin was about to open his mouth. "Whether it was you or Dn Crowell, I would never forgive you. So, don''t bother apologizing."

    Rubin''s jaw clenched as he avoided her gaze.

    "You probably think it''s unfair to be med for something you did out of your will," Neoma said, watching Rubin''s expression at the moment. "But, to be honest, I just simply don''t give a fuck, Lord Rubin."

    "Do you not feel anything for me anymore, Princess Neoma?"

    "I do have some remaining feelings for you."

    Rubin quickly turned to her with hopeful eyes.

    "I like your face," Neoma said bluntly. "But that''s it. My feelings for you are just as shallow as that. To me, you''re nothing more than a mere eye candy."

    Saying that much would definitely hurt Rubin''s feelings, right?

    She wasn''t being petty.

    Hurting him on purpose was just her trying to snap the young lord back to reality.

    [I don''t want Rubin to have feelings for me in this lifetime just because he loved in the previous life that he remembers.]

    "That''s enough for me. At least for now."

    What the fuck?

    Neoma raised an eyebrow at Rubin whose expression suddenly lightened up. "I shouldn''t have said that," she said, instantly regretting praising Rubin''s face. "Hey, Rubin Drayton. Don''t get your hopes up."

    "I won''t."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Your face says otherwise."

    "Can we at least be friends, Princess Neoma?"

    "Of course not."

    Rubin justughed softly.

    Goddammit!

    [He''s so fucking handsome, especially when he smiles andughs like that!!!]

    "Get out of here, Lord Rubin," Neoma said, sighing while shooing Rubin away with her hand. "I have a very important guest waiting outside."

    Rubin, who definitely noticed the presence outside, nodded. Then he bowed politely toward her. "See youter, Princess Neoma."

    "Whatever~"

    Again, Rubin chuckled before leaving the Balcony.

    And that was when Neoma''s fake nonchnce finally slipped away.

    ***

    "YOU DID well holding it in, Neoma."

    Haaah.

    Neomaughed softly at what Hanna said, then her smile quickly vanished as tears rolled down her face. "He said he loved me in the past, Hanna. The Rubin that I loved so much back then actually loved me, too."

    Of course, it didn''t matter anymore.

    However, after hearing Rubin''s confession earlier, it was as if the Neoma of the first timeline suddenly stirred to life.

    This might already be her third life, but the other Neomas still dwelled in her heart.

    "I know it''s foolish, but a small part of me felt so fucking happy after hearing Rubin say that he loved me," Neoma said between sobs, clutching her chest tight. "And I was so fucking happy for the Neoma of the first timeline. She was loved. I was loved. But I wished Rubin said that to the previous me."

    Because it was Neoma of the first timeline who craved to be loved.

    It was Neoma of the first timeline who was desperate to be loved back by Rubin.

    Worst of all, it was Neoma of the first timeline who thought she died alone and unloved.

    "It''s probably the Neoma of the first timeline talking right now, but I really loved Rubin," Neoma said, now sobbing like a child. She couldn''t help it. The part of her heart that Neoma of the first timeline upied currently hurt like hell. "I couldn''t help but think of the what ifs that could have happened if the crows didn''t get in the way. I couldn''t help but wonder if Rubin and I would have been happy if Regina and Dn Crowell didn''t screw us over. Now I feel bad for Neoma of the first timeline. She was loved, but she lived like she was unwanted."

    That was probably the reason for her tears.

    Neoma of the first timeline didn''t deserve all the shit that she had gone through in the past.

    Neoma of the first timeline deserved the world.

    And the fact that the current Neoma had all the good things that her previous self deserved fucking hurt.

    "Why do I have to live several lives just to finally be happy?" Neomained, her tears and sobs uncontroble. "I feel bad for Neoma of the first timeline¨C I feel bad for her because I can no longer love the man that she cherished in the past."

    ***

    [NEOMA is happy, right?]

    Ah.

    [It should be ''Princess Neoma'' now.]

    Rubin, who found himself in the dark part of the garden in front of the Callisto Hall, stopped walking and stared at the full moon above.

    The memories of his first life with Neoma were short but clear.

    Rubin loved Neoma, and Neoma loved him back.

    [We were happy.]

    But that was all in the past now.

    The present Princess Neoma didn''t and couldn''t love Rubin anymore.

    [I should be satisfied that Her Royal Highness didn''t kill me as soon as she returned to the past.]

    He should be satisfied that Princess Neoma was finally happy in her rightful ce now.

    "Don''t be greedy, Rubin Drayton," Rubin whispered to himself, his tears rolling down his cheeks silently. "You don''t deserve Princess Neoma."

    Rubin made a resolve to only admire Princess Neoma from afar¡­

    ¡­ just like how one would admire the moon.

    [Let''s be useful to Princess Neoma by helping Princess Hanna be the Shadow Pir.]

    ***

    Hi! I posted a new 4-panelic featuring SAINT DOMINIC and PRINCESS NICHOLE. And they just received some good news. Go to my k/o-fi page (ko-fi./s_c) to find out what it is.

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 Chapter 760 THE ROYAL WEDDING

    ?

    HANNA blinked while looking at her father whose eyes were very swollen. "Father, did you cry while watching my engagement ceremony?"

    Her father avoided her gaze as if he was embarrassed.

    "Oh, dear. You have no idea," her mother said while shaking her head. "I can''t imagine how much your father would cry during your wedding."

    Her father suddenly began to choke up. "Darling, don''t say that. I know Hanna''s wedding will happen very soon, but I need more time to prepare mentally."

    Her mother huffed and scolded her father for being a crybaby.

    Even so, Hanna could tell that her mother also cried since her eyes were just as red as her father''s eyes.

    It was a good thing that she didn''t look at her parents during the ceremony.

    [It''s not like I don''t want to see them. But I know I would have bawled my eyes out if I saw them crying.]

    "Father, Mother, please don''t cry anymore," Hanna said, holding her parents gently. "I may have be the Crown Princess now, but it doesn''t mean that I''m no longer your daughter. I will always be the Quinzel Princess."

    Hanna learned recently that she was a very greedy person.

    [I can''t let go of the Quinzels. I''m the only daughter of my parents, so I intend to inherit everything that belongs to me as the Quinzel Princess.]

    "Of course, sweetheart," her mother said, her eyes bringing with tears already. "You''ll always be our daughter."

    "And sessor," her father added in an emotional yet firm manner. "We will never name another sessor other than you, Hanna."

    That was a relief.

    Hanna knew that there were people from their vassal families pestering her parents to name a new sessor since she was going to be the new empress soon.

    Fortunately, her parents refused.

    [It''s not against thew for the Crown Princess or the empress to inherit her family''s fortune.]

    To be precise, there was now regarding that since only now were women allowed to inherit their family''s title and fortune. It wasn''t like she was abusing the loophole in thew. She was merely making good use of it.

    "Sweetheart, why did you bring us here in the royal parlor?" her mother asked nervously after changing the topic. "This actually looks more of a dressing room than a parlor."

    It was definitely because of the clothes around them.

    Hanna brought her parents in one of the royal parlors, reserved only for the members of the Imperial Family, for only one reason. "Mother, Father, I''ve brought clothes that I think would suit you best. Please feel free to change into of those."

    Naturally, her parents looked confused.

    "You want us to change clothes?" her mother asked curiously. "Now?"

    There was nothing wrong with what her parents were wearing at the moment.

    But Neoma set a color theme for the wedding for the members of the Imperial Family.

    [Since the Quinzels have always been a part of the Imperial Family, we''re also obliged to follow the theme that Neoma set.]

    Hence, Hanna prepared clothes for her parents.

    "What''s the asion, sweetheart?" her father added. "Is the Imperial Family going to hold a surprise event?"

    As expected of her quick-witted father.

    Hanna smiled and nodded to answer her parents'' questions. "Mother, Father, Emperor Niki and Lady Mona are going to have a surprise wedding ceremonyter."

    ***

    "NEOMA, why did you bring me here?"

    Hehe.

    Neoma smiled while watching her Mama Boss look around the royal parlor reserved for the direct members of the Imperial Family.

    Nero and Papa Boss were next door, of course.

    "I thought you were going to change your clothes, but¡­" Mama Boss tried to look around the grand parlor room, but her eyes were fixated on a certain dress. "This one looks like a wedding dress¡­"

    [That''s your wedding dress, Mama Boss.]

    Neoma smiled while watching her mother''s eyes sparkle while staring at the wedding dress.

    To be honest, she didn''t want to choose the wedding dress for her mother because she thought Mama Boss would want to choose it herself. However, since it was a surprise wedding for her parents, she had no choice but to do so.

    Fortunately, Paige shared some interesting information with her.

    "My "children" found that wedding dress in the hidden vi¨C the one owned by Grandma Roxana," Neoma exined. "ording to the catalog I found in the room where the dress was carefully disyed in, it was the wedding dress that Empress Gwen, the First Emperor''s wife, wore on their wedding day."

    The long-sleeved dress was a ssic wedding dress with a boat neck, brocade, and beadedce. Surprisingly, it also had a V-back.

    It was only surprising since women during the old times were very conservative.

    [As expected of the Demon Queen, my Grandma Gwen was probably a woman of guts.]

    "What do you think about the dress, Mama Boss?"

    "It''s beautiful," Mama Boss gushed, then she turned to her with shining eyes. "But why is this wedding dress here, Neoma?"

    Neoma giggled, delighted by her mother''s enthusiasm. "That dress is for you to wear, Mama Boss."

    Her mother looked confused, at first.

    But the confusion onlysted for a few seconds.

    Her quick-witted Mama Boss grasped the situation almost immediately. "A surprise wedding ceremony¡­?"

    "For you and Papa Boss, of course," Neoma added,ughing softly. "Hanna, Nero, and I prepared this surprise wedding for you."

    Mama Boss covered her mouth with her hands when she gasped softly. "A wedding ceremony¡­"

    She could see the excitement in her mother''s eyes.

    But, much to Neoma''s confusion, the excitement easily disappeared and reced by worry.

    "This night is supposed to be Hanna''s moment," Mama Boss said worriedly, moving her hands away from her face. "I can''t steal it from her¡­"

    "Don''t worry about it, Mama Boss," Neoma said, giving her mother a thumbs up. "Hanna is a scary little businesswoman who can turn a "crisis" into an opportunity. Sometimes it makes me wonder if Hanna was born in the wrong era because she definitely belongs to a capitalist society¡­ wait, I''m getting side-tracked again."

    She shook her head while her motherughed softly.

    "I bet your father is as delightfully surprised as I am," Mama Boss said, then her warm gaze fell on the beautiful wedding dress. "We''re getting married¡­ finally."

    Neoma smiled warmly while looking at Mama Boss'' emotional face.

    [Yes, finally.]

    ***

    "THE EMPEROR only wears a white suit on his wedding day."

    "I know, Father," Nero said to his frowning father. "And that''s exactly why I want you to wear that suit."

    Of course, his father just looked at him nkly.

    When Neoma brought their mother to the room next door, Nero brought their father in the royal parlor reserved for the Crown Prince.

    It was where their clothes were waiting for them.

    "A surprise wedding ceremony?" his quick-witted father asked, his eyes opening a bit wide. "Did you and Neoma prepare a wedding ceremony for me and Mona?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Me, Neoma, and Hanna," Nero rified. "Everything is already set, Father."

    His father fell silent, so Nero got nervous for a moment.

    [Father wants to marry Mother, right?]

    He needed his parents to be legally married before his coronation.

    It wasn''t like his mother was amoner. The Rosehearts were only demoted to a barony after his grandfather and the greedy nobles of the past tear House Roseheart apart.

    [But Mother has an excellent reputation.]

    It would be easy to restore the Rosehearts'' glory now that Nero would ascend the throne soon. He had power over the nobles. On the other hand, Hanna was the queen of the social circle. Hence, the two of them could pressure the Twelve Golden Families to give back the Rosehearts'' original social ranking.

    "House Roseheart is originally a ducal household," Nero said. He might not remember much about his family, but the fact that House Roseheart was originally a ducal household was consideredmon knowledge in the empire. "We have to change the status of Mother''s household as soon as possible. Once I be the emperor, Neoma couldn''t be called the Imperial Princess anymore since she''s just my sister and not my daughter."

    It was thew of the empire.

    Only the daughter of the emperor could be officially called the ''Imperial Princess.''

    [That''s why my aunt, Princess Nichole, was referred to as ''Princess Royal'' and not as ''Imperial Princess.'']

    "I n to give Neoma the grand duchess title after I ascend the throne. But wouldn''t it be nice if Neoma could inherit House Roseheart after we restore it back to its former glory?"

    "It sounds like you''re eager to give your sister a new title to make sure she wouldn''t steal the throne from you," his father said, turning to him with a raised eyebrow. "However, I''d like to think that you''re saying all of that with your sister''s best interest in mind."

    He couldn''t say that it was entirely for Neoma.

    After all, Nero just wanted to make sure that he would have an eptable background once he became the emperor. Of course, he also couldn''t wait to give Neoma a title of her own to prevent her from staking a im on the throne.

    But he knew his father wouldn''t want to hear that, so he just kept his mouth shut.

    "Let''s talk about thatter," his father said when he probably realized that Nero was done talking. Then his father put a hand on his shoulder. "Thank you, Nero. Your mother and I didn''t want to get married without you. I didn''t expect that you and thedies would prepare a surprise wedding ceremony for us, but I appreciate it."

    Nero was surprised to see the gratitude in his father''s face, so he avoided his gaze. "I''m only doing this for my sake, Father."

    ***

    THE SURPRISE wedding was held in the ss House.

    It was the biggest and the most beautiful greenhouse in the Royal Pce. And it had be more dreamy after getting decorated for the event.

    Neoma was the one responsible for the decorations.

    [Of course, I gave it a modern touch.]

    She chose pink tulle fabric as a backdrop for the wedding arch, and she had it decorated with pink flowers and other greenery. As a result, it created a romantic and dreamy atmosphere for the memorable day.

    There was also a blush pink fabric tent drop to the reception space. They hanged the fabric from the ss ceiling and also draped it over the tables and other surfaces.

    The wedding favors for the guests were ced on each table as a centerpiece.

    Every guest would receive a Hisa Flower¨C yes, the JEWELED flower created by Paige herself (in a safe way this time, of course).

    [Just for reference, a single-stemmed Hisa Flower costs an entire mansion.]

    Each Hisa Flower was also ced in a flower vase that was obviously an art piece by a famous potter.

    [And that famous potter is known for his beautiful pieces.]

    Aside from the Hisa Flower (and the expensive vase), each guest would also receive a bottle of vintage wine that not just anyone could get their hands on it¨C and the brand was owned by the Quinzels. The bottle of wine also came with two delicate wine sses engraved with Papa Boss and Mama Boss'' initials.

    [Yes, those are personalized wine sses.]

    But the engraved initials didn''t look tacky at all. Moreover, it was an honor for the guests to have the de Moonasterios'' initials on their things.

    Andst, but definitely not the least, each guest would receive a box of luxury chocte. It was made by the sought-after Royal Pastry Chef that only served the Imperial Family. Many had tried to bribe the Royal Pastry Chef, but none of them seeded.

    [I can''t believe we only had at least a week to prepare all of these.]

    Despite the short time they had to prepare, it was still a sess.

    After all, the guests who were ushered to the ss House looked very much pleased.

    [Even though they are rich nobles themselves, they still can''t hide their excitement. After all, who could resist the luxuries handed out by the Imperial Family and the Quinzels?]

    "You worked hard, Princess Hanna," Neoma whispered, then she turned to Hanna with a subtle smile on her face. She had to control her expression since many eyes were watching them. Hence, she also addressed Hanna formally. "This wedding is so beautiful."

    Hanna smiled back at her. "No, you did half of the work, Princess Neoma. The entire motif was your idea."

    That was exactly why Neoma and Hanna were both wearing dresses in blush pink shade.

    The two of them were sitting on the fancy seats on the tform behind the altar, facing the guests.

    Of course, Nero (in a floral gray suit) was seated between them.

    "I also helped," Neromented in a low voice, his face nk. "I financed the entire thing."

    Yep, that was right.

    The budget came from Nero''s pce.

    [Gosh, why is he so proud for doing the bare minimum? Hanna and I have money, too. We just didn''t use it because he insisted to pay for everything.]

    Neoma didn''t have the time to call out Nero.

    After all, the doors of the ss House had been opened.

    Dion Skelton, the current High Priest, entered the ss House first and greeted them before taking his ce behind the altar.

    "His Imperial Majesty and Lady Roseheart are now entering the ss House!"

    Wow.

    [So fucking beautiful.]

    Neoma meant it.

    Papa Boss and Mama Boss entered the ss House arm-in-arm.

    [Ah, Mama Boss is glowing.]

    Papa Boss, on the other hand, had a small smile on his face, shocking the guests.

    [Finally, my lovely parents are getting married¡­]

    Neoma''s smile slowly vanished as her thoughts were interrupted when she saw a familiar face.

    Thanks to her big brain and sharp memory, she recognized the person she had seenst when she was a child. Moreover, she had only seen that person ONCE. But how could she forget her favorite erotic novel writer?

    [Miss S?]

    Neoma wondered how S, her favorite erotic novel writer, entered the ss House undetected when she wasn''t invited to the wedding ceremony.

    [I have a bad feeling about this¡­]

    ***

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 Chapter 761 VOWS

    ?

    IT FELT SURREAL.

    Mona couldn''t believe that she was walking down the aisle, on a red carpet, with Niki as they headed towards the altar.

    Dion Skelton was already standing behind the altar.

    And, standing behind the High Priest, were Neoma, Nero, and Hanna.

    Now that made her realize she wasn''t dreaming.

    [Niki and I are really getting married¡­]

    Mona unconsciously held onto the bouquet of pink roses in her hand a little tighter. It was umon for the women in the empire to carry a clutch of flowers during their wedding ceremony. But in Korea and most parts of the other world, it wasmon for brides to do so.

    She could see the curiosity and the envy in the eyes of the female guests who were staring at the bouquet in her hands.

    [I guess carrying a flower is going to be a trend now after my wedding.]

    Mona didn''t expect to have that kind of influence since she never expected to be married.

    Her daughter once asked her about her dream wedding.

    She wasn''t able to give Neoma a precise answer because she had long given up on her dream of bing Niki''s legal wife. Aside from that, she never really wanted to be the empress. She knew it was selfish on her part.

    [I want to be with Niki, but I didn''t want the empress seat.]

    In her defense, she knew that that she could help Niki and the empire more if she had the freedom that the empress couldn''t possibly have. That was her main reason for refusing the responsibility that came with being Niki''s legal wife.

    And, to be honest, she didn''t really think marriage was important. It was enough for her to be with the person that she loved.

    But because of her selfishness, her children were born out of wedlock.

    And, ironically, those poor children were the ones who made this wedding possible.

    [I know Neoma and Nero have different goals, though.]

    Her daughter definitely just wanted her and Niki to finally be married. On the other hand, her son probably only wanted this wedding to happen for his coronation to be perfect.

    Even so, Mona was grateful.

    "As the child of Lord Yule, the Moon God himself, I stand before Your Imperial Majesty and Lady Roseheart as a witness to this holy matrimony," Dion Skelton said in a calm and clear voice. "With the power bestowed upon me as the Astello Temple''s High Priest, I now pronounce Your Imperial Majesties as husband and wife."

    Mona and Niki didn''t prepare their vows, so the ceremony ended after Dion Skelton''s pronouncement.

    But they didn''t need to exchange vows.

    [We already whisper our love to each other every day.]

    Hence, Mona was surprised when Niki opened his mouth.

    "My lovely bride, I know heaven exists but I also know I wouldn''t end up there after I died. However, the moment I saw you in that lovely wedding dress, I thought I had died and went straight to heaven."

    Pfft.

    Mona could already hear Neoma say ''cringey!'' in her head.

    Although she found Niki''s words a little cheesy, she couldn''t stop smiling. Moreover, her vision started to get blurry¨C her eyes brimming with tears.

    "But I realized it was a foolish thought," Niki continued, his voice soft and so was his expression. "I can''t die yet¨C not when I have you as a wife."

    Okay, she had to take deep breaths to stop herself from sobbing.

    [Neoma worked hard when doing my makeup. Although she said the products she used were all water-proof, I don''t want to be a sobbing mess on this very special day.]

    "Mona Roseheart de Moonasterio, I love you."

    Ah, it was no use.

    ''Mona Roseheart de Moonasterio.''

    She became a sobbing mess after Niki called her by her new name.

    "Mona, you''re the first and thest woman I will love in this lifetime, and the next," Niki said softly while putting the wedding ring on her left finger. "I will love you and our children forever."

    Ah, she was d to hear that.

    [It must have not been easy for Niki to love our children this much, but look how far he hase.]

    "Niki, you''re the only one for me. You and our children make my lifeplete," Mona said between sobs while putting a ring on Niki''s finger. "Let''s love each other and live a happy life together¨C always and forever."

    Mona and Niki sealed their love and promised with their first kiss as a married couple.

    ***

    NEOMA pped her hands after Mama Boss and Papa Boss sealed their heartfelt (and cringey) wedding vows with a kiss.

    Of course, it was embarrassing to see your parents kiss in front of you.

    But it wasn''t the reason why she was distracted.

    She tried to not make it obvious, but she was pretty sure her people had already realized that she was distracted.

    Lewis was even boring a hole in her (beautiful) face.

    Haaah.

    "Lewis."

    "Yes, Princess Neoma?"

    "Bring that person to the pavilion by the pond," Neoma whispered, then she looked over her shoulder to turn to Lewis who was already standing behind her. "You know who I''m talking about, don''t you?"

    Lewis nced at Miss S quickly before turning to her. "Yes, Princess Neoma."

    ***

    "IF YOU''RE going to kill that person, make sure there will be no witness."

    Neoma just rolled her eyes at Nero''s "advice." "I''ll be quick," she said, gently patting her twin brother''s shoulder. "Guard the fort for me."

    She wanted to congratte her parents, but that could wait forter.

    Nero scoffed at her words. "That goes without saying."

    Aigoo.

    Thanks to Nero and Hanna (who subtly nodded at her when she looked at her), who acted as her shield, she was able to slip away from the crowd unnoticed.

    Well, except for her "children," of course.

    They, including Trevor, followed her when she went out of the ss House. Hence, she felt the need to exin.

    "Miss S isn''t an enemy, but she''s also someone who''s not supposed to be here," Neoma exined while walking ahead of everyone. "I don''t even know how she sneaked in undetected when the pce is brimming with strong people."

    "That only means she''s stronger than most people here~" Trevor said. "But if she was supposed to be an ordinary person, then it could only mean one thing. Children, what do you think is happening here?"

    Gosh.

    [Why is he giving my "children" a surprise quiz?]

    Surprisingly, her "children" gave an answer at the same time.

    "She''s being possessed."

    That was the unanimous response of her "children."

    Thenints directed at Trevor followed.

    "Don''t call us ''children.''"

    It was Paige''s strict voice.

    "Only Princess Neoma could call us that."

    It was Jeno.

    "And stop acting as if we''re close if you don''t want to get stabbed in the back in a dark alley."

    Yep, that was Xion.

    "Moreover, you should be standing five feet away from our princess or else I''ll introduce you to my sledgehammer."

    Only Juri could threaten a demon with her reliable weapon.

    "Trevor hyung, we don''t need a ''father.''"

    Of course, innocent Greko could never say or do anything wrong.

    Pfft.

    "Why are you bullying me?" Trevorined lightheartedly. "And your "mother" is single. You can''t stop me from pursuing her~"

    Neoma just shook her head.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    She didn''t have time to join "bullying" Trevor because she soon arrived in the pavilion where Lewis and her guest were already waiting.

    "Children, stay here and make sure no one will see or hear anything."

    Neoma headed straight to the pavilion after that, with only Trevor following her now.

    She didn''t need to tell the demon boy to follow her since as her Contractor, he was legally obliged to follow her especially when she was meeting new people/potential clients.

    [Because we''re pretty sure Miss S is being possessed by someone¡­ or something.]

    Lewis bowed towards Neoma when she arrived in the pavilion.

    "Good job, Lewis," Neoma said, then she faced Miss S who was standing in front of her with a smile on her face. "We met again, Miss S."

    She met her favorite erotic novel writer while she was living as Neoma ''Ramsay.''

    Of course, it was possible that the writer recognized her despite her disguise back then. Even so, it was unlikely for Miss S toe to the royal engagement/wedding ceremony uninvited.

    "It''s been a while, Miss Ramsay."

    As expected.

    [This isn''t the Miss S I know even though she called me by the name I used back then. The vibe is just different, you know?]

    But she decided to y along for now.

    "We had a brief yet interesting conversation before," Neoma said lightly. "Do you happen to remember what it is?"

    Miss S smiled. "I brought my new unpublished novel for you."

    As expected, this wasn''t really the Miss S that she knew.

    [We talked about Miss S''s ability that allowed her to see that this wasn''t my first life, but this Miss S right here quickly changed the subject.]

    "Are you still writing erotic novels, Miss S?" Neoma asked, smiling. "I haven''t heard from you in a while."

    "I still write erotic novels," Miss S said, pulling out a book from her handbag. "But the main genre this time is different."

    Neoma epted the book handed to her, then her jaw dropped.

    In the empire, illustrations as book covers weren''t popr yet.

    However, the book in her hands had an illustration¡­

    ¡­ of two men hugging each other in a ''sus'' way.

    [No way¡­]

    Neoma gasped softly. "BL?"

    Miss S just smiled in response. "Read it tonight, Miss Ramsay. I''m sure you''ll like it."

    Neoma raised an eyebrow. "Are you already leaving?"

    "I only came here to deliver my new book to my number one fan before it hits the bookstores."

    [It seems like their time is up.]

    "Miss S is my favorite erotic novel writer¨C no, my favorite writer ever," Neoma said in a light yet threatening voice. "If something bad happens to her, I might lose my mind. I''m sure you know that the scariest thing in this world after Absolute Darkness is a powerful de Moonasterio losing their mind, don''t you?"

    Miss S, or whoever it was possessing her,ughed softly. "I''ll keep that in mind, Princess Neoma."

    Ah, her aura changed.

    Neoma didn''t want to admit this, but she was rendered speechless and MOTIONLESS.

    She didn''t even know how long she stayed in that pathetic state until she heard Trevor speak.

    "She''s gone, my Moon Princess," Trevor said in a serious tone. "Is it alright to let her go?"

    "They don''t seem hostile," Neoma said, using a gender-neutral pronoun since she was talking about the being who possessed her favorite writer. "Plus, I lost the battle of nerves just now."

    "Huh?"

    "I was humbled real quick," Neoma admitted even though her pride was wounded. "The divine being who possessed Miss S could kill me if they wanted to."

    That was why she unconsciously kept her arrogance in check.

    "If that divine being is strong enough to make you say that, then it only means one thing," Trevor said, frowning. "It was a major god."

    "There''s only a few major gods currently active in the Upper World at the moment."

    "Trevor, do you know what the name ''S'' means in the ancientnguage?"

    "Sun¡­" Trevor trailed off, then he got a serious look on his face. "Sun."

    "That must be the reason why Miss S was possessed," Neoma said, smiling. "The Sun Goddess has finally reached out to me."

    ***

    NEOMA had a feeling that the book that the ~allegedly~ Sun Goddess had left in her care was meant only for her eyes.

    Hence, she asked Lewis and Trevor to wait for her at the pavilion''s entrance.

    She, on the other hand, sat on the railing.

    [Lezzgo.]

    Neoma then opened the book¡­

    ¡­ only to be surprised at the characters that greeted her.

    "Hangul?" Neoma whispered to herself in disbelief. "This book is written in Korean?"

    And it was definitely not a BL novel.

    She immediately turned to Lewis and Trevor.

    Just one look and the two immediately headed towards her without her needing to say anything.

    Neoma then showed a page of the book. "Can you read this? Whatnguage is used here?"

    "I see the standardnguage used in the empire~" Trevor, who could understand Hangul, said that thenguage used in the book was the one used in the empire. "Oh~ It''s BL~ And it''s pretty spicy, huh?"

    Ah, Trevor and his ng.

    "I see the same, Princess Neoma," Lewis said, then he tilted his head to one side. "Do you see something else?"

    "That''s right," Neoma said, frowning. "Gosh, how could the Sun Goddess do this to me when I want to read BL?!"

    ***

    "LORD RUBIN, you haven''t forgotten about our deal," Hanna whispered while leaning against the railing of the terrace. "Have you?"

    After Emperor Niki and Empress Mona''s wedding ceremony, the guests were ushered back to the grand hall for the banquet.

    She slipped away from the crowd to corner Rubin Drayton.

    Hence, the two of them ended up talking on the terrace away from people''s scrutinizing eyes. Of course, she was also using her Shadow Veil at the moment.

    [Nero must be looking for me, so I should be quick.]

    "I haven''t forgotten about our deal, Princess Hanna," Rubin Drayton said. "The role of the Shadow Pir, the one that I remember from my past life, is to stop Princess Neoma from going crazy. To be precise, you''re the one in charge of stopping Princess Neoma''s Lunacy."

    Hanna knitted her eyebrows. "Is there a cure to the de Moonasterios'' Lunacy?"

    "Only the Shadow Pir could "absorb" the light that turns Princess Neoma insane," the young lord exined hesitantly. "There was a time that Princess Neoma''s Lunacy went out of control. It was the Pirate Princess, the one who could use Shadows, who stopped her frompletely turning crazy."

    The exnation was too vague.

    All she understood was the fact that her Shadow could stop Neoma from going insane.

    "How?" Hanna asked, a little confused. "In what way could I use my Shadow to stop Neoma from getting swallowed by her Lunacy?"

    "A ck Hole," the young lord said in a whisper. "The ''Pirate Princess'' in my past life absorbed all the light that Princess Neoma possessed by locking her up in a ck Hole. However¡­"

    That made her nervous, but she didn''t show it.

    [I was the Pirate Princess in Lord Rubin''s story, right?]

    "The ck Hole stopped Princess Neoma''s Lunacy," Rubin said, gulping. "But it took away the Pirate Princess'' life."

    Ah.

    Hanna was a little stunned.

    [So, I have to sacrifice my life in order to stop Neoma from gettingpletely insane?]

    ***

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 Chapter 762 NOISE POLLUTION PROJECT (1)

    ?

    FAKE DISCORD.

    Western Continent = Scene Stealer.

    Eastern Continent = Phantom of the Night.

    Sun = Prince Charming.

    Moon = Princess in the Tower.

    Crows = Evil Dragon.

    "Fuck," Neoma said after finally deciphering the codes she found after reading the 500-page "BL" novel all night. "Goddammit, Sun Goddess. You could have just sent Ruto here to discuss the n with me."

    After an entire night of socializing with the nobles who attended the royal engagement and the surprise royal wedding, she had to stay up all night reading the Korean history book.

    Yes, it was a fucking Korean history book.

    Worse, the letters in the ancientnguage that looked slightly simr to Hangul were thrown in the mix. Even with her big brain, it still took her hours to form words from the clues that she found within the book.

    Before she knew it, the sun was already smiling down at her.

    [Fuck it. I lost my beauty sleep because of this when we could have just had a secret conversation.]

    She was just pissed, but she knew there was a reason why the Sun Goddess resorted to this method just to reach out to her. Plus, she appreciated the fact that she was able to give her big brain a good exercise.

    [If the Sun Goddess gave me this kind of test, then I''m sure she knows I''m really smart.]

    Hence, her anger melted away quickly.

    [Fine, I''ll let it slide this once~]

    "Fake discord, huh?" Neoma said, lying on her back while staring at the fancy ceiling of her bedroom. "So, my job is to grab attention until everyone only pays attention to the Western Continent?"

    And while doing that, the Sun Goddess and her people would work silently to save Yule.

    That was how she understood the message.

    Psh.

    It was an easy job.

    [I''m a walking drama, after all.]

    "Let''s sleep and meet up with everyer," Neoma said, closing her eyes. She''d take a nap before starting her day. "I bet Papa Boss and Mama Boss'' surprising wedding ceremony has already made noise all over the empire."

    ***

    THAT morning was indeed noisy.

    The citizens of the Great Moonasterion Empire were pleasantly surprised to wake up and find out that they had a new empress now.

    "We now have a Crown Princess AND a new empress!"

    "I''m d that His Majesty finally got to marry the love of his life!"

    "Although Her Majesty, Empress Mona will only serve as the empress briefly, I''m not worried. After all, we have Princess Hanna to take over the empress seat soon!"

    "Wow. Our empire is lucky to have kind ANDpetent female rulers!"

    "Don''t forget Princess Neoma, too."

    "Pfft! These women are delusional! Do you think the empress and the young princesses could really run the empire without His Majesty and the Crown Prince?"

    "Yes, yes, they could. How dare a hopeless man like you look down on the empress and the princesses when you can''t even run your failure of a business properly?"

    "Let''s not fight on this joyous asion!"

    "Right! The pce has sent food and drinks for every family here. Let''s have a feast!"

    While themon people in every part of the empire celebrated, the nobles who weren''t invited to the royal engagement and the surprise wedding ceremony were enraged¡­

    ¡­ and filled with envy after hearing what the nobles there got as wedding favors.

    "A Hisa Flower thates in a vase crafted by a world-famous potter¡­ a vintage and very rare bottle of wine that only nobles like the Quinzels could get their hands on¡­ and a box of luxury chocte made by the most sought-after Royal Pastry Chef in the empire¡­"

    "How arrogant of them to unt their wealth as if we don''t already know that the Quinzels are the richest noble household in the empire!"

    "I heard it was the Crown Princess who was responsible for the guest list."

    "It doesn''t matter even if Lady Roseheart has be the empress since Her Majesty will only stay in power for a short while. It''s the Crown Princess we should be wary of since she''ll take over the empress seat very soon."

    "Hah! So, Princess Hanna is already drunk with power?"

    "The Crown Princess is the Quinzel Princess, and the Prince Nero is also fond of her. That''s probably where Her Highness'' arrogance ising from."

    "We should teach the Crown Princess a lesson before she gets more arrogant than this."

    "But Princess Hanna single-handedly destroyed House Drayton¡­"

    "We should watch for now."

    It wasn''t only the nobles of the Great Moonasterion Empire who got offended for not getting invited to the royal engagement and wedding.

    Monarchs and nobles all over the world were upset.

    "The Great Moonasterion Empire is one of the most powerful empires in the entire world since they have the de Moonasterios. But it seems like they''ve been too arroganttely since no one is keeping them in check."

    "They didn''t invite anyone from outside the Western Continent. Isn''t it basic courtesy to invite the leaders all over the world for the emperor''s wedding?"

    "Don''t tell me they''re not going to invite us for Prince Nero''s uing coronation?"

    "Is this the Great Moonasterion Empire''s way of letting the world know they''re closing off their doors now?"

    "This is upsetting. Are they ignoring us?"

    Yep¨C the noise had already spread all over the world.

    But there was a very specific noise at the emperor''s pce that was giving Neoma a very bad headache at the moment.

    [This damned family¡­]

    "Do you think you could ask me anything just because you became the king of a small kingdom?!"

    "No¨C and that''s exactly why I''m proposing a deal with you, Father!"

    "Don''t call me ''Father!'' I don''t have a disobedient son like you!"

    "Very well then, Duke Exton!"

    "Listen to this ungrateful punk!"

    Neoma shut her eyes tight and pinched the bridge of her nose.

    [The Extons are so fucking loud.]

    But it was also amusing.

    [This is the first time I saw the kind-hearted Uncle Glenn lose his shit.]

    ***

    NEOMA wanted to have a peaceful breakfast with the Griffiths since she wasn''t able to interact with them much during the engagement and wedding ceremony.

    But surprise, surprise.

    Duke Gilbert Exton, Uncle Glenn''s father, arrived unannounced and invited himself to their breakfast.

    But the old duke was big and intimidating because of his loud angry voice.

    Hence, the Griffiths babies got scared.

    Aunt Brigitte excused herself to calm her children down.

    That seemed to be what set off Uncle Glenn from snapping.

    While the father-and-son duo yelled angrily at each other, Neoma continued savoring her favorite breakfastbination: fried chicken and pancake.

    Papa Boss, on the other hand, just sipped his tea while reading the newspaper.

    [Argh, Papa Boss looks disgustingly refreshed¡­]

    Hanna was also there, and the new Crown Princess ignored the Extons as she was busy reading some documents that was probably rted to her businesses.

    Andstly, Nero was busy ripping Melvin''s resignation letter to shreds.

    Yep, Mama Boss couldn''t join them for breakfast because her mother was¡­ too tired.

    [I don''t even want to know why Mama Boss was so tired she couldn''t even walk.]<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Papa Boss brought Mama Boss breakfast to their bedroom and was supposed to join her there, but Mama Boss kicked out Papa Boss.

    [Argh, Nero would lose it if we suddenly get a new sibling¡­]

    "Do you think you could ask me anything just because you became the king of a small kingdom?!"

    "No¨C and that''s exactly why I''m proposing a deal with you, Father!"

    "Don''t call me ''Father!'' I don''t have a disobedient son like you!"

    "Very well then, Duke Exton!"

    "Listen to this ungrateful punk!"

    Neoma shut her eyes tight and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Can you please shut the fuck up for a moment?"

    Oops.

    She didn''t mean to curse.

    When she opened her eyes, she was greeted by Uncle Glenn''s embarrassed face and Duke Gilbert Exton''s shocked face.

    Papa Boss simply put the newspapers down on the table.

    Hanna raised her head to look at Neoma, while Nero smirked before sipping his tea as if he was amused that she cursed in front of a king and a duke.

    Neoma would admit that she was rude.

    [But the Extons are also rude for yelling and fighting in front of the Imperial Family, no?]

    "I''m sorry, Your Majesty, Princess Neoma, Princess Hanna, Prince Nero," Uncle Glenn said, obviously ashamed. "I didn''t mean to be rude in front of the Imperial Family."

    Duke Exton only bowed his head in apology.

    [Woah, we have a prideful old man here.]

    "Father," Neoma said, addressing Papa Boss formally because Duke Exton was a stranger to her. "Can I deal with the Extons?"

    Papa Boss sipped his tea before responding. "Of course, my daughter."

    Pfft.

    [Someone is in a good mood.]

    "Duke Exton."

    "Yes, Princess Neoma?"

    "Your Grace owes my mother an apology."

    Of course, the old duke looked confused by what she said.

    "Your Grace forcefully took Gale, my mother''s Wind Spirit, from her resting ce."

    Gale would be Mochi.

    When Neoma was a child, Uncle Glenn rescued Mochi from House Exton and gave the Wind Spirit to her as a birthday gift.

    "Princess Neoma, you make it sound like I stole Gale from Lady Rose¨C"

    The old duke was forced to stop talking when Papa Boss red at him.

    "I mean, Her Majesty Empress Mona," Duke Exton said, correcting himself right away. "We found Gale during the time everyone thought Her Majesty was gone."

    Uncle Glenn scoffed. "You didn''t "find" Mochi by ident, Duke Exton. Please don''t lie to Princess Neoma. You and your sons actively searched for Her Majesty''s Spirits. Fortunately, Mochi gave her fellow Spirits a warning after she was caught."

    Duke Exton red at Uncle Glenn.

    "Regardless Mother was still alive or not back then, it doesn''t change the fact that you went after my mother''s Spirits that already expressed their desire to rest in peace," Neoma said, leaning against the chair with her arms crossed over her chest. "How dare a mere duke like you covet the Spirits that belong to Mona Roseheart, the Daughter of Nature?"

    She didn''t like looking down on people, especially for something as trivial as a background.

    But this was the most effective way to deal with prideful nobles.

    [You have to put them in ce or else they''ll look down on you as well. Isn''t that the reason why Duke Exton didn''t hesitate to raise his voice in our presence?]

    "I¡­ will apologize to Her Majesty."

    Papa Boss scoffed at Duke Exton''s remark, but didn''t say anything else.

    "You don''t have to apologize to Mother since I''m sure Mother isn''t inclined to forgive you," Neoma said. "Moreover, I am now Mochi''s master. I get to decide how to punish you, Duke Exton."

    "Does Your Royal Highness have the power to punish a duke for something that couldn''t be even considered a crime legally?"

    The atmosphere suddenly turned chilly as Papa Boss, Hanna, and even Nero looked at Duke Exton coldly.

    Uncle Glenn looked at his father in disbelief. "Have you gone mad, Duke Exton?"

    "I''m only stating a fact," Duke Exton said firmly even though he was clearly nervous under Papa Boss, Hanna, and Nero''s scrutinizing gazes. "Does an Imperial Princess who''s about to lose her title have more powerful than a duke?"

    [Ah, so this is why Uncle Glenn disowned his family.]

    Neoma raised her hand to stop Papa Boss from reacting.

    [I got this, Papa Boss.]

    "Princess Hanna, can you cover the entire dining hall with your Shadow Veil?"

    She could create a sound-proof barrier, but she wasn''t as meticulous as Hanna when it came to hiding her shield.

    Hence, the Shadow Veil was the better choice.

    "As you wish, Princess Neoma."

    After Hanna said that, the entire dining hall became engulfed in Hanna''s Shadow Veil.

    "Duke Exton, you''re not even aware that Lord Helstor, the God of Eternal Darkness, is trying to drown the world in Absolute Darkness once again, and yet you''re bragging your mere position as a duke?"

    Of course, the old duke looked shocked by her revtion. "Absolute Darkness? But that''s impossible¨C"

    "What would I get from lying to you, Your Grace?" Neoma said, interrupting the old duke. "Duke Exton, once the Absolute Darkness arrives to cover the entire world with Darkness, guess who among the Imperial Family has the power to purify it. It''s not the emperor, the empress, the Crown Princess, or the Crown Prince."

    She smiled at Duke Exton ''sweetly.''

    The old duke gulped in response.

    "If that time arrives, I wonder if a mere duke would be more important than an Imperial Princess who''s about to lose her title soon?" Neoma said, smirking at the now pale Duke Exton. She was done saying her piece, so she stood up while wiping her mouth with the napkin. "Trevor."

    Just like that, Trevor appeared beside her.

    "Yes, my Moon Princess~"

    "Make a contract that will prevent Duke Exton from speaking about the Absolute Darkness to other people," Neoma said, then she turned to Nero. "Prince Nero, can we talk after you''re done with your breakfast? I have something important to discuss with you."

    "Alright," Nero said, nodding. "Let''s meet at the officeter."

    "Very well," Neoma said, then she turned to Duke Exton again. "I''ll forget about all the bullshit Your Grace sprouted here on one condition: cooperate with Uncle Glenn. If Aunt Brigitte and her baby were ever put in danger because of Your Grace''s stubbornness, then there will be hell to pay."

    ***

    "SO, WHAT is the business you wish to discuss with me?"

    Neoma hadn''t even setted herself in the sofa when Nero immediately brought up business. "Well, you''re the Crown Prince so I thought I should ask for your permission first."

    She could have gone straight to Papa Boss, of course.

    But she figured her father would go ballistic after hearing her request.

    Hence, her twin brother who didn''t have any affection for her seemed to be the best choice.

    "Permission for what?" Nero asked, raising an eyebrow at her. "I didn''t expect you to ask for my permission since you look like the type to do whatever you wanted, Neoma."

    "Well, that''s usually the case. But my request falls under your authority."

    "Alright. Let''s hear it then."

    "Give me the list of the Imperial Princess'' potential husbands."

    Nero looked shocked by her request. "What?"

    "I know you''re going to marry me off as soon as you ascend the throne," Neoma said. Of course, she only came to that conclusion because Nero hadn''t retrieved his memories of her yet. "So, I want you to announce that I¨C Princess Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio¨C am looking for a potential husband."

    ***

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 Chapter 763 NOISE POLLUTION PROJECT (2)

    ?

    "I''M SURE you don''t wish to be married this early, Neoma."

    Neoma smiled and nodded. "Of course, marriage isn''t my top priority at the moment."

    "What are you nning then?" Nero asked, sighing while shaking his head. "Father and Mother are very protective of you. I''m sure it won''t be easy to convince them to let you announce that you''re looking for a husband."

    "Don''t you think it''s unfair?"

    "What is?"

    "The fact that our parents allowed you to get engaged early, but they wouldn''t do the same to me."

    She wasn''t trying to provoke Nero.

    All she wanted to check was the current state of his mental health.

    [I don''t want him to feel that Mother and Father favor me over him.]

    "I was the one who pushed my engagement with Hanna," Nero said, scoffing at her worries. "Mother and Father both told me I didn''t have to get married. I know what you''re worried about, so stop with the useless thoughts."

    She raised an eyebrow at her twin brother. "You know what I''m worried about?"

    "You''re worried about that I''d get jealous of you because of how Mother and Father treat us differently, don''t you?"

    She just shrugged as a weak confirmation.

    "I am capable of changing my opinion once new pieces of verified information are presented to me," Nero said, huffing. "The trial proved that you and our parents didn''t choose to abandon me. It was my fault for being weak enough to get brainwashed by the enemies."

    Ah, so it was probably the reason why Nero mellowed out recently.

    [I guess his wits areing back after getting separated from Calyx.]

    "That''s good to know," Neoma said, nodding her head approvingly. "I''m happy for you, Nero."

    He just rolled his eyes at her. "Anyway, I know my duties as the Crown Prince and the future emperor. You don''t have the same obligation as me, so I understand if you and our parents would want you to marry for love and not for politics."

    "I also know my duty as the Imperial Princess," she said, pouting. She hated the fact that Nero sounded more mature than she was. "As you said before, our privilegees with responsibilities."

    Nero chuckled as if he was amused. "So, what? Are you going to marry a powerful noble or monarch to strengthen the empire''s influence over the entire continent?"

    "I''ll gather all the strongest people on the continent to our empire."

    He raised an eyebrow at her. "Ah, so you''re not really looking for a potential husband."

    "Yep," she said, nodding. "I actually want to include women, too. But it will be obvious that I''m not really looking for a husband. By any chance, is it possible to announce that my harem will be open to women as well¨C"

    "Not a chance," Nero said firmly, cutting her off quiet eagerly. "I don''t care if you brand me as narrow-minded. The Imperial Family excluded most of the world leaders during my engagement and our parents'' wedding. That must have made a lot of them upset with us."

    Well, that was true.

    She was also worried about excluding most of the world leaders during the royal engagement and wedding. But it worked well since the n right now was to "iste" the Western Continent from the rest of the world.

    "If the Imperial Princess suddenly expressed that she''s interested in women, our reputation will hit rock bottom," Nero said sternly. "I don''t care if same-sex rtionships are epted in the world you came from. It''s frowned upon in the empire, so you better not express your support to the minority. Not until our power over the continent stabilizes again, at least."

    Oh.

    She didn''t like Nero''s stance, but at least, he wasn''t beingpletely homophobic.

    [He could do anything he wants during his reign, and I''ll do mine once I be the empress regnant.]

    "Okay," Neoma said, deciding to be obedient to the Crown Prince in the meantime. "So, will you support my n?"

    "Raise your value first," Nero said, leaning against the chair with his arms crossed over his chest. "Most people look down on the Imperial Princesses of the empire. If your goal is to gather the strongest men all over the world, then you must show them you''re worth it."

    Psh.

    "You na?ve child."

    Her twin brother knitted his eyebrows, obviously offended by her remark. "What?"

    "This ethereal beauty," Neoma said, pointing at her pretty face. "Is enough tounch a thousand ships."

    "I hate your arrogance, but I have to agree with that statement," Nero said, chuckling while shaking his head. "After all, we have the same face."

    Pfft.

    ***

    WOAH.

    Neoma almost didn''t recognize Luna Pce.

    It was the residence that Neoma and Nero grew up with back when Papa Boss was still a scumbag father.

    The Luna Pce used to be a rundown ce¨C old and obviously neglected.

    But the Luna Pce that she was touring right now was just as posh as the nco Pce¨C the Crown Prince''s official residence.

    The pieces of furniture and decorations were all new and obviously expensive.

    Even the pirs were sparkling.

    Plus, there was a very lush garden with a water fountain in front of the pce now.

    "Hanna, you worked hard," Neoma said, turning to Hanna who was walking beside her. "You turned this shabby ce into a magnificent pce. If my eyes aren''t deceiving me, Luna Pce looks fancier than Nero''s pce now."

    Hanna chuckled while watching her reaction. "I knew one day you''d return to the pce as the Imperial Princess. That''s why I worked hard to turn Luna Pce in a residence that you won''t be ashamed of."

    "Is that the reason why you chose to stay in Luna Pce instead of Nero''s pce before?"

    "Yes, that''s correct."

    Aww.

    She was touched by Hanna''s thoughtfulness.

    Anyway, after touring the now-fancy Luna Pce, Neoma and Hanna had tea in the garden.

    "I thought you were going to nt poisonous flowers here," Neoma teased Hanna. "But all I see are pretty flowers."

    Hannaughed softly. "Are you sure those are just pretty flowers?"

    Yep, that totally gave her the chills.

    [My sweet and innocent Hanna is long gone¡­]

    "Is that poison?" Neoma asked, pointing at Hanna''s purple tea. "The scent is faint, but it''s simr to the poison that Papa Boss made me drink when I was a toddler."

    For poison resistance, of course.

    Hanna nodded, sighing. "Regina Crowell turned back my body''s condition to the time when I wasn''t immune to poison yet. I have to quickly rebuild my resistance to poison if I want to tend to my poisonous nts and flowers."

    "Don''t push yourself too hard, Hanna."

    "I''ll keep that in mind."

    "Anyway, have you talked to Rubin Drayton?"

    To be honest, it was awkward for her to even bring up Rubin Drayton since it was embarrassing.

    [Why did I cry for him again???]

    Even so, she had to ask Hanna about it.

    "I did," Hanna said, nodding. "Lord Rubin told me what the role of the Shadow Pir was in his memories."

    "Am I allowed to know?"

    "Of course," the Crown Princess said,ughing as if she found her question ridiculous. "Apparently, I''m in charge of your mental health."

    "Huh? I have strong mental fortitude, though?"

    "You can''t say that when you were born with Lunacy, Neoma."

    "Oh, right," she said, nodding. "I overcame my Lunacy already, but it seems like it wouldn''t disappear just because I learned how to suppress it. Did Rubin tell you how to stop me from going insane?"

    "Lord Rubin told me a technique that could suppress your Lunacy. Since Lord Rubin only described the technique, I''m still in the middle of studying the concept behind it."

    She waited for Hanna to describe the technique in detail, but the Crown Princess didn''t.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Oh, well.

    [Maybe Hanna hasn''t figured it out yet. But I trust her, so I know she can do it.]

    "Neoma, I think Nero has a point about you raising your value as a bride," Hanna said, changing the topic. "Of course, I know it sounds terrible when put that way. However, we have to acknowledge that in this world, in this empire, most people still see women as meremodities."

    "Well, you have a point," Neoma agreed while nodding her head. "I''m not looking for a real husband, anyway. But how should I raise my value as a bride?"

    "You should collect your inheritance now."

    "From both sides?"

    Hanna nodded before exining. "Nero told me His Majesty ns to restore House Roseheart''s status as a ducal household. Since Nero is already the Crown Prince, you''d automatically be the sessor of House Roseheart."

    "Will that be enough to raise my value?"

    The Crown Princess blinked as if she couldn''t believe what she just asked. "Neoma, don''t you know how rich House Roseheart was before the previous emperor, your grandfather, confiscated theirnds and other properties?"

    She tilted her head to one side. "Well, I know House Roseheart used to be rich. But is there a noble household richer than the Quinzels? It''s hard for me to get impressed with what others have since I grew up with you and your wealth."

    Hannaughed softly. "Well, the Quinzels definitely have more money than the Rosehearts. But the Rosehearts have valuable resources that our family couldn''tpare to. You should ask Her Majesty about your inheritance, Neoma."

    "Oh, will surely do."

    "Your inheritance from His Majesty would definitely be an independent state that you could rule as a grand duchess," Hanna said, sipping her poisoned tea again. "I guess that alone would be enough to tempt royals and nobles who want to have a territory separate from the empire."

    Right?

    [That settles it¨C I gonna lure my potential suitors with my face and wealth. Then I''m going to work them to the bone once they get here~]

    "By the way, have you found a secretary?"

    "Ah, not yet," Neoma said, sighing. "Paige can''t do it since she likes traveling to learn more about magic, and I can''t ask Juri to do an administrative job when she''s the team''s Tank."

    Plus, Juri didn''t have the patience to be a secretary like Melvin Lhesi did.

    "Neoma, you have someone in mind other than Lady Paige and Lady Juri, don''t you?"

    She flinched, then she just sipped her tea.

    "It''s Dahlia, isn''t it?"

    Okay, Neoma almost choked on her tea.

    It was true that she thought Dahlia would be the perfect secretary for her. But appointing the ck Witch as her secretary would mean she had to work in the pce.

    [Nero and Hanna would be in the pce most of the time¡­]

    Dahlia was keeping her distance from Nero and Hanna, and that was exactly why she didn''t attend the royal engagement.

    [Although I''m sure Dahlia is busy with a task that Mama Boss asked her to do.]

    "It''s alright if you appoint Dahlia as your secretary, Neoma," Hanna said calmly. "Nero promised me he wouldn''t bother Dahlia anymore, and I trust him."

    To be honest, Neoma couldn''t trust Nero.

    [But if Hanna does, then who am I to meddle in their affairs?]

    "Okay. Thank you for telling me, Hanna," Neoma said. "I''ll ask Dahlia then."

    ***

    "WHAT DID you say, Nero?"

    "I said the Country of Steria would be the perfect territory to give to Neoma once she bes the new grand duchess," Nero said, even though he knew his father wasn''t asking him to repeat that. "Steria is rich in¨C"

    "You''re going to marry off your twin sister?"

    That wasn''t what he said, but it seemed like his father had already lost it.

    "I said it''s time for Neoma to find a suitable husband, Father," Nero said bluntly. "I already asked Melvin to let all the bachelors in the empire know¨C"

    He was forced to stop talking when his father''s bloodlust hit him.

    If he was weaker than a Sword Master, he would have fainted already. And if he was just an average Mana user, he would have dropped dead that instant.

    That was how deadly his father''s bloodlust was.

    "You sent an invitation to the bachelors of the empire toe and ask for your twin sister''s marriage without my permission?" his father asked coldly while standing up. "Nero, are you trying to make me angry?"

    Ah, his father was really angry at the moment.

    [This is why Neoma couldn''t tell Father about her n.]

    In short, his annoying twin sister threw him under the bus.

    "Father, calm down and listen to me first," Nero said, sighing. "This is Neoma''s idea."

    ***

    "PRINCESS NEOMA, is it true?!"

    It was only a few moments since Neoma sat on her new seat in her new office when Jasper oppa arrived in a hurry. Trevor and her "children" were the only people there, so it was okay for the young duke to act that way.

    "What is it, Jasper oppa?" Neoma asked curiously. "Did something happen?"

    "The Crown Prince''s pce released an announcement directed to all the young bachelors of the empire," Jasper oppa said in a hurry. "Apparently, the Imperial Princess is looking for a husband. Are you?"

    Interestingly, Trevor and her "children" didn''t react.

    [They probably think it''s just Nero''s scheme since the announcement came from the Crown Prince''s pce.]

    Heh~

    [Can''t wait to see their reaction.]

    "It''s true, oppa," Neoma said, shocking Trevor and her "children." "I''m indeed looking for a husband."

    An awkward silence ensued¡­

    ¡­ until a certain demon boy broke it.

    "Me, me!" Trevor yelled while raising both of his hands. "I volunteer as tribute!"

    ***

    "THIS is tant discrimination!"

    Ruto just raised his head to look at Aspen who mmed his hands on his table. "What?"

    "Prince Nero just announced that he''s looking for a suitable husband for Princess Neoma," Aspen said, pouting like a child that he wasn''t. "The requirements are ridiculous, though!"

    Ruto didn''t expect to hear that, but he wouldn''t put it past Prince Nero.

    [He probably wants to marry off Neoma to ensure that the throne is his.]

    But why didn''t the emperor and the new empress stop the Crown Prince?

    [And it''s not like Neoma would agree with something like that.]

    He found it suspicious, but he decided to observe for now.

    "I didn''t receive an official notice about that," Ruto said. "Usually, when a member of the Imperial Family is looking for a spouse, the world leaders are informed first."

    "And that''s what I''m saying, Captain!" Aspen said, thumping his chest with his fist as if he was dying of frustration. "One of the requirements is the potential suitor MUST NOT be from the Eastern Continent. If that isn''t discrimination, then I don''t know what it is!"

    Ah.

    So the Eastern Continent was excluded.

    "Why are you upset, Aspen?" Ruto asked, sighing while shaking his head. "It''s the Eastern Continent who turned their back on the Western Continent first."

    ***

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 Chapter 764 NEOMAS HAREM-IN-THE-MAKING

    ?

    "FATHER, I''m leaving."

    "What?" Niki asked, confused as to why Neoma was saying goodbye while holding a huge suitcase. "Where are you going? And why are you addressing me as ''Father?''"

    To be fair, Neoma should have addressed him as ''Father'' when she became an adult.

    However, he had grown ustomed to ''Papa Boss.'' It was okay for his daughter to address him formally in front of an audience since they had a reputation to keep. But in private, he wanted his precious daughter to call him ''Papa Boss.''

    [Because that''s what she used to call me ever since she was a baby¡­]

    "Father, I''m no longer a baby."

    Niki was startled by what Neoma said. It was as if she read his mind, after all. "What do you mean you''re no longer a ''baby?'' You''re only eighteen, Neoma."

    "I''m ALREADY eighteen, Father," Neoma corrected him. "That''s why I''m sooo ready to get married now."

    Needless to say, he was dumbfounded. "What did you say?"

    Out of nowhere, the shadow of a tall man with a nk face yet dressed fancily appeared beside Neoma.

    Then his precious daughter hugged that man''s arm.

    "Father, meet my fianc¨¦!" Neoma said cheerfully, her face bright and flushed with excitement. "I''m getting married!"

    Niki could only yell in agony. "No, I won''t allow this marriage!"

    "Open your eyes, Niki."

    Huh?

    Niki automatically opened his eyes after hearing Mona''s voice. "Love?"

    [Did I just have a nightmare¡­?]

    "Yes, it''s me," Mona said while wiping the beads of sweat on his forehead. "Are you fully awake now?"

    He blinked and looked around, then he realized he was lying down on the sofa in his office. "How¡­?"

    "I went to your office as soon as I felt your bloodlust oozing out," Mona exined. "It looks like you were about to attack Nero, so I knocked you out for a moment."

    Only Mona would be brazen enough to knock out the emperor so openly.

    "I asked Nero to return to his office, but I already heard the gist of the problem from our son," his wife exined. "You went ballistic after hearing that Nero sent invitations all over the continent in search of Neoma''s future husband?"

    Argh.

    That was definitely the reason he had a nightmare earlier.

    "Nero bypassed my authority as the emperor," Niki said, frowning. "I know that I''ve already turned over most of my duties to him since he''ll be ascending the throne soon. But he doesn''t have the power to marry off his sister, especially when I''m still active as the emperor."

    "You didn''t listen to Nero properly, did you?" Mona said, sighing while shaking his head. "Nero told me it was Neoma''s idea."

    Hmm.

    He vaguely remembered Nero saying that.

    [But I already lost it at that point¡­]

    "Niki, our daughter isn''t the type to take marriage lightly," Mona said in a scolding tone. "You know she wouldn''t marry a random stranger for politics. There must be a reason why Neoma asked Nero to announce her search for a husband instead of asking you. To be frank, our daughter probably knows you''d react this way."

    Well, his wife had a very valid point.

    "I don''t know what our children are thinking," Niki said, shaking his head. "I didn''t involved them in politics while raising them, but they turn out to be the politicians I didn''t want them to be."

    "It''s in their blood, love. The de Moonasterios were born to rule the human world. Isn''t that exactly the reason why most gods hate your bloodline?"

    He smirked. "Love, our children deserve the world."

    "I want to agree with you, but I know you mean it literally so I''m a little scared."

    Nikiughed softly, then he touched Mona''s cheek with the back of his hand. "Let''s talk to Neoma, love."

    Mona smiled and nodded. "Only if you promise to be calm and rational, love."

    ***

    "YEP, I''m looking for a husband-to-be," Neoma announced to her Papa Boss and Mama Boss. "And I asked Nero to help me because I know Papa Boss wouldn''t allow it easily. I don''t have the time to exin and convince Papa Boss, so I went straight to Nero."

    Of course, she knew her Papa Boss would listen to her request after some time.

    But she needed to move fast, and that was exactly what Nero did.

    Now the entire world knew that the one and only Imperial Princess of the Great Moonasterion Empire was looking for a husband, thanks to the Imperial Crown Prince''s official (albeit rushed) announcement.

    [Nero''s indifference is quite useful right now.]

    "But I know Papa Boss and Mama Boss already know that I''m not really looking for a husband," Neoma said. "I just need to gather strong individuals on the Western Continent. Hence, I offered my hand in marriage."

    "Why do you need to gather strong individuals to our continent?" Papa Boss asked, setting down the teacup on the saucer. "Do you need help in getting rid of the "pollution" that threatens our continent?"

    "That''s one reason, Papa Boss."

    "There''s something else?" Mama Boss asked curiously. "Did something happen recently, baby?"

    "The Sun Goddess approached me during your wedding ceremony, Mama Boss, Papa Boss."

    Naturally, her parents looked shocked.

    Neoma was spilling some piping hot tea. She knew it would end up this way. Hence, she covered the tearoom with her barrier in advance.

    Aside from her parents, only Lewis was there (standing behind her).<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    But you couldn''t be too safe even in the pce.

    "The Sun Goddess was there?" Papa Boss asked in disbelief. "Were we too basked in happiness for us to notice?"

    "Nah, Papa Boss. The Sun Goddess possessed an ordinary human."

    "Even so, for us not to notice it¡­" Mama Boss said worriedly. "Niki, we need to be more vignt from now on."

    Her Papa Boss nodded in agreement.

    [Gosh, so hard on themselves~]

    "The Sun Goddess left a message for us," Neoma continued with her exnation. "She wants the entire world to focus on the Western Continent in order for the people of the Eastern Continent to move freely."

    Papa Boss sighed. "Ah, so that''s why you announced that you''re looking for a husband."

    "But why does the Sun Goddess need to move stealthily?" Mama Boss asked. "What does she n on doing while the entire world is focused on us?"

    "The Sun Goddess ns to save Lord Yule, Mama Boss."

    Mama Boss let out a sigh of relief. "Finally, the major gods are doing their job properly instead of making you do things for them."

    Pfft.

    "I know, right?" Neoma agreed with her mother. "Fortunately, this time, my job is easy. I just need to gather attention. But Nero and Hanna said I need to raise my value as a bride to attract more men, so please give me my inheritance, Mama Boss, Papa Boss."

    "Are you ready to let go of your title as the Imperial Princess?" Mama Boss asked seriously. "Neoma, once you receive your inheritance from us, you''ll get a different title. You''d either be a duchess or a grand duchess. Of course, you were born a princess so you''ll always be one. However, you''d be using your new title more once you receive your inheritance."

    "It''s okay, Mama Boss," she assured her mother. "I''ll get a new title anyway once Nero ascends the throne. Moreover, even if I be a duchess or a grand duchess, I''ll still be working in the pce anyway." She turned to her father. "Isn''t that right, Papa Boss?"

    "No, I can''t ept this."

    "¡­"

    "You don''t have to use your marriage as a means to get attention, Neoma," Papa Boss said sternly. "The entire world is already looking at us since we excluded most of the world leaders from Nero''s engagement and my surprise wedding."

    "You have a point, Papa Boss. But the attention we received from that was negative attention," Neoma argued with her father. "We''re no doubt the strongest empire in the entire world. But it wouldn''t do us good if we make enemies out of the other empires out there."

    "Your daughter is right, Niki," Mama Boss said calmly. "We have to pacify the offended world leaders first. Neoma''s wedding announcement is a good way to distract them from their anger. I bet right now, those world leaders are choosing the spouse candidate to send to our empire."

    [Right? I knew Mama Boss would get me~]

    But, to be honest, Neoma thought Papa Boss would agree easily after she exined that she wasn''t really looking for a husband.

    [I don''t understand why Papa Boss is being difficult now.]

    "Neoma is only eighteen years old," Papa Boss insisted. "I don''t want to hear any marriage talks from our daughter until she''s thirty years old!"

    Mama Boss was too dumbfounded to speak.

    Neoma, on the other hand, closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose.

    [Papa Boss went from a scumbag father, to a doting Papa Boss, and now he finally reached his final form: the OVERPROTECTIVE FATHER.]

    ***

    TREVOR raised an eyebrow when he met Jasper Hawthorne in front of Prince Nero''s office.

    In order to apply as Princess Neoma''s husband-to-be, they must first submit the application form to the Crown Prince''s office. Only the most qualified candidates would be shortlisted. Of course, he was confident that he would pass the qualifying round.

    "Why are you here?" Trevor confronted Jasper Hawthorne. "I thought you only see Princess Neoma as a little sister?"

    Jasper Hawthorne shrugged. "I don''t need to exin myself to you, Lord Kesser."

    [This punk¡­ should I just kill him?]

    "If you''re going to fight, can you step aside first? You''re blocking the way."

    What the¡­

    Trevor and Jasper were both surprised when someone managed to sneak up on them when the two of them weren''t your average Mana-users. However, the identity of the person who approached thempletely unnoticed exined it.

    [Dammit, did he get taller and stronger again???]

    "Hey, didn''t you read the qualifications listed in the announcement?" Trevor asked, scoffing. "People from the Eastern Continent are disqualified."

    "I''m a citizen of the empire, too."

    "You have dual citizenship," Jasper Hawthorne said coldly. "I don''t think you could im to be a citizen of the empire if that''s the case."

    "Don''t worry about it," Ruto said dismissively. "I already renounced my other citizenship."

    Trevor and Jasper Hawthorne were shocked.

    [But isn''t Ruto technically a prince from the Eastern Continent, and yet he renounced his citizenship from his own mothend?!]

    "Gentlemen, please move out of the way."

    This time, Trevor, Jasper Hawthorne, and Ruto Solfrid red at the unwee guest.

    [Here''s another bastard who couldpletely hide his presence from even a monster like the damned chef.]

    "Why are you looking at me like that?" Noah Solfrid, aka the Ancient Devil,ined. "I''m also a citizen of the empire now, so I''m qualified to apply as Princess Neoma''s spouse~"

    Trevor, Jasper Hawthorne, and Ruto Solfridined at the same time. "You''re disqualified because of your old age, you predator."

    ***

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 Chapter 765 THE MARRIAGE CANDIDATES

    ?

    <Must not be from any part of the Eastern Continent>

    "I THINK I heard it wrong, my dear cousin. What did you say again?"

    "I''m giving up my dual citizenship," Ruto said bluntly. "Please revoke my citizenship as a citizen of the Kingdom of Suoh."

    Elias Solfrid, the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Suoh, and also his older cousin on the mother''s side, looked at him in disbelief. The shock may have been bigger than expected since the Crown Prince even dropped the piece of grape he was about to put in his mouth.

    "Your Royal Highness, don''t waste food," Ruto scolded his older cousin. "Eat your food properly."

    He couldn''t believe he was scolding Elias about eating his food properly when his cousin was seven-year older than him.

    [He''s about to turn thirty and yet he''s still careless¡­]

    Fortunately, only the two of them were in the Crown Prince''s room.

    "Ruto, have you lost your mind?" Elias asked when he finally found his voice again. "You''re the nephew of the king, a prince of this kingdom, and the future Grand Duke of House Solfrid! What do you mean by giving up your citizenship?!"

    "I need to be a full citizen of the Great Moonasterion Empire¨C"

    "Ruto, it''s not cool to chase your lover who already dumped you."

    "¡­"

    "I get that Princess Neoma is a beauty, but you can''t just give up on your life and position in this kingdom just to chase her," Elias scolded him. "Ruto, if you be a full citizen of the empire, your status as a Stroganoff won''t mean much since your father is just a mere marquis who doesn''t have any political power."

    "Yes, I know that."

    "And you still want to give up your citizenship?"

    "Yes."

    Elias let out a sigh. "Let me just ask one question then: Will the Kingdom of Suoh and, ultimately, the Eastern Continent benefit from this foolishness of yours?"

    Ruto tilted his head to one side. "Maybe."

    "When did you be such a ruffian, my dear cousin?"

    "Wasn''t I raised to do whatever I wanted?"

    "Pfft. We spoiled you too much."

    "I need to go," Ruto said in a serious tone. "If the world gets destroyed, the boundary between the Eastern and the Western Continent wouldn''t matter anymore."

    "So, you''re saying you''re going against your divine''s father''s will?" His older cousin raised an eyebrow at him. "For Princess Neoma? I thought you don''t love her anymore."

    "I just don''t think it''s right to abandon the Western Continent right now."

    "Do you know what you sound like at the moment, Ruto?"

    "I don''t want to know, Your Royal Highness."

    "You sound exactly like me when I threw away my position as the Crown Prince after the old geezers in the Noble Council opposed my marriage¨C just because my wife was amoner," Elias said,ughing. "But because of my stubbornness, I got to keep my position as the Crown Prince and marry the love of my life. Were you inspired by my perseverance, my dear cousin?"

    "Not at all, Your Royal Highness."

    "Stop addressing me formally when it''s only the two of us here. It''s annoying to hear you speak like that when you used to be cute as a child."

    "How can I speak casually to the kingdom''s Crown Prince?"

    "I''ll revoke your dual citizenship if you call me ''brother'' again."

    "If you insist, Brother."

    Eliasughed out loud. "Go," he said, picking up another piece of grape. "I''ll deal with House Solfrid after your departure."

    Of course, he already expected this ending.

    He knew very well that the Crown Prince adored him as a younger brother, hence he went straight to him instead of his uncle¨C the strict king.

    Ruto bowed his head to his older cousin. "Thank you, Brother."

    ***

    <Must be 18-25 years old (in human years)>

    "LORD Jasper, why don''t you apply as Princess Neoma''s husband?"

    What a dangerous thing to ask.

    "Tate, do you want me to die?" Jasper asked, sighing while shaking his head at his cousin-sh-attendant. He couldn''t even raise his head to re at Tate because he was drowning with paperwork. It was his fault for bolting out of his office as soon as he received the announcement from the Crown Prince''s pce. He returned home after confirming Princess Neoma''s n. "You know how protective Princess Neoma''s family is, don''t you?"

    "Your biggest obstacle is Prince Nero, but fortunately, Prince Nero hasn''t remembered his love for Princess Neoma yet," Gin, who was helping Tate with the administrative works for House Hawthorne, said. "Hence, you only have to avoid getting killed by His Majesty."

    "Easier said than done," Jasper said, clicking his tongue. "Moreover, it''s weird if I suddenly applied as a marriage candidate for Princess Neoma when I''m treating her like my little sister all this time."

    "I''m not telling you to be a marriage candidate so you could marry Princess Neoma," Tate denied. "Lord Jasper, I''m telling you to use this as an excuse to stop the vassal families from pressuring you to get married."

    Oh.

    OH.

    Jasper raised his head, greeted by Gin (in his human form) pouring tea into Tate''s teacup while his cousin-sh-attendant was sittingfortably on the sofa. "You have a point, Tate," he said. "If I tell the noisy representatives of the vassal families that I''m going to apply to be Princess Neoma''s marriage candidate, then they''ll finally shut their mouths. Won''t they?"

    "Of course," Tate said, nodding his head. "You''re one of the most sought-after bachelors in the empire, Lord Jasper. It would be weird if you don''t be one of Princess Neoma''s marriage candidates."

    "Fortunately, Princess Neoma is looking for men between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five," Gin added. "I guess the age is set that way to weed out perverts and predators like Marquis Spencer."

    Ah, right.

    Jasper had also heard about the fact that Marquis Spencer dared to ask for Princess Neoma''s hand in marriage. "It''s a shame that Marquis Spencer couldn''t be a candidate, though."

    Tate and Gin looked at him as if he had gone mad.

    Hence, he felt the need to exin.

    "I''m sure Princess Neoma would put her marriage candidates to different tests," Jasper began his exnation. "Had Marquis Spencer be one of the marriage candidates, I would have killed him "identally" during one of the missions."

    Tate and Gin immediately nodded their heads in agreement.

    "You''re right, Lord Jasper," Tate agreed with him. "But I''m sure House Spencer would still send out a representative. House Spencer doesn''t have a young master from the main family, so I bet they''d choose one from the vassal families."

    "I''ll take care of the useless bastards during the selection," Jasper said determinedly. "I won''t let just anyone stand beside Princess Neoma."

    Ginughed yfully, then he walked towards Jasper and sat on the armrest of his seat. "My lord, why are you talking like that''s your only goal?" he asked teasingly while wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "If you''re going to be one of Princess Neoma''s marriage candidates, why don''t you do your best and try to win her over for real?"

    "I agree with Gin," Tate said, nodding enthusiastically. "You''re more than qualified to ask for Princess Neoma''s hand in marriage, Lord Jasper."

    Argh.

    Of course, he knew that.

    He was the youngest duke in the empire, and his wealth wouldn''t pale inparison with the Quinzels. And he may not be as handsome as Rubin Drayton, but his face was approved by Princess Neoma before.

    Even so¡­

    "Princess Neoma calls me ''oppa'' because she thinks of me as her older brother," Jasper said softly. "I won''t betray Princess Neoma''s trust."

    ***

    <Commoners and non-humans are free to apply>

    "THIS is such a dangerous condition, Princess Neoma. Fortunately, I qualify even though I already lost my noble title and a part of my humanity," Trevor said, adjusting his eyesses. Of course, he was only using those eyesses for aesthetics. His vision was perfect. "Hence, I volunteer to be the team''s representative and be one of your marriage candidates."

    He was appealing to Princess Neoma who was just looking at him indifferently.

    Of course, he was also ignoring the cold res from his Moon Princess'' "children."

    "Since you allowed anyone to be your marriage candidate, it''s highly possible that the crow bastards and Helstor might send out their own people in the mix," Trevor said, thumping his chest. "Hence, someone like me should get rid of the garbage."

    Princess Neoma raised an eyebrow. "Is that the only reason why you want to join the selection?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "No, that was just an excuse," Trevor said bluntly. "I simply want to marry you, my Moon Princess."

    He heard a growl from somewhere.

    But he''d pretend he didn''t hear and see Lewis, who was standing beside Princess Neoma, growl at him.

    [It''s not my fault Princess Neoma''s Guardian Knight isn''t allowed to join the selection~]

    That had always been the rule of the empire.

    "Alright, go and join the selection."

    Trevor was shocked after receiving Princess Neoma''s permission. "Really, my Moon Princess?"

    "I need an eye on the candidates anyway," Princess Neoma said. "Plus, it''s not like I can stop you. Can I?"

    He smiled and nodded. "My feelings for you are unstoppable, Princess Neoma."

    "Shut up," Lewis growled at him. "You''re making me want to maul your annoying face."

    "Hey, don''t take your anger out on me just because you''re not allowed to join the selection, my son~" Trevor said yfully. "I don''t make the rules~"

    As expected, Lewis red at him¨C his golden eyes glowing menacingly.

    "Stop teasing Lewis," Princess Neoma scolded him, then she got up from her seat. "I was summoned by my parents, so I need to leave now. Can you submit your application form on your own, Trevor? You know it must be submitted to Nero''s office, don''t you?"

    "Yes, my Moon Princess~" Trevor said cheerfully, giving Princess Neoma a salute. "I''ll drop by Prince Nero''s officeter~"

    After securing his Moon Princess'' permission, Trevor immediately got the application form from Prince Nero''s secretary.

    Then he went straight to the Crown Prince''s office¡­

    ¡­ only to meet his soon-to-be rivals.

    Jasper Hawthorn.

    The damned chef Ruto Solfrid.

    And even the Ancient Devil joined in.

    [I can "identally" kill them during the selection, right?]

    Trevor almost got in a good mood because he wasforted by the thought¡­

    ¡­ until another marriage candidate arrived.

    "Excuse me. Can you move out of the way."

    Argh.

    Rubin Drayton.

    It wasn''t only Trevor who felt threatened by the pretty boy''s arrival. After all, it wasn''t only him who almost got blinded by Rubin Drayton''s shining face.

    [Why is this child so freaking handsome?!]

    It wasn''t a problem that Rubin Drayton was handsome because every single person here was also good-looking.

    The problem was Rubin Drayton''s face was number one on Princess Neoma''s list.

    [My Moon Princess is obsessed with Rubin Drayton''s face as much as she''s obsessed with her own face.]

    Worse, Rubin Drayton was Princess Neoma''s FIRST LOVE.

    Rubin Drayton let out a sigh while running his fingers through his hair ¨C a gesture that made him more attractive than he already was. "I know I''m handsome, but I don''t appreciate getting ogled by men."

    [This crazy fucker¡­!]

    Trevor clenched his hands, then he exchanged cold gazes with Ruto Solfrid, Jasper Hawthorne, and the Ancient Devil.

    The four of them made a silent agreement right then and there.

    [We''ll take Rubin Drayton out of the selection first!]

    ***

    "PRINCE NERO, I''m too scared to open the door."

    Nero clicked his tongue at Melvin''s cowardice. "They won''t kill you. They''re only here to submit their application form."

    But Melvin wasn''t wrong.

    The young men behind the door were oozing bloodlust.

    [Are they going to fight? Well, as long as they don''t damage my pce, I don''t care.]

    "It''s easy for you to say that because only His Majesty''s bloodlust could make you weak in the knees, Your Royal Highness," Melvinined lightly. "If I open that door and got identally hit by those boys'' bloodlust, I would faint."

    Nero was about to scold Melvin when, all of a sudden, blood dripped from his nose.

    [What the¡­]

    Melvin''s eyes opened wide. "Prince Nero!"

    Nero raised his head to tell Melvin to stop yelling, but his vision suddenly turned ck.

    [Did I faint?]

    Argh.

    Nero was annoyed, so he opened his eyes hoping that it would wake him up. He did wake up, but he found himself in a strange ce.

    [A forest¡­?]

    He found himself in a forest, but it was obviously a dream.

    [I was summoned.]

    "You''re finally here, you idiot."

    Who the hell dared to call the future emperor an idiot?

    Nero turned around to confront the culprit, but he was surprised when his cor was grabbed¡­

    ¡­ by the person who looked exactly like him.

    Huh?

    [It''s me¡­ and the other me''s eyes are glowing red as if he''s angry¡­]

    "How dare you, bastard?!" the other him yelled angrily. "How dare you to offer Neoma''s hand for marriage to random strangers?"

    "Who the hell¨C"

    "Neoma is mine!" the other him yelled again, his voice full of anguish. Then the ''copy'' punched him in the face. "Wake up and stop the selection this instant!"

    Nero fell to the ground, bbergasted after getting punched by the ''copy.''

    However, instead of getting angry, he simply touched his bleeding nose as the realization finally hit him.

    Ah.

    That was when Nero realized who the other ''Nero'' was.

    [It''s the Nero who remembers Neoma and loves her to death¡­]

    ***

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 Chapter 766 NERO VS. NERO

    ?

    "I''M SORRY, but you can''t enter the Crown Prince''s office," Sanford said cheerfully whole facing the five intimidating men in front of him. "We will ept your application form at ater time."

    Whew.

    Sanford was in charge of asking the applicants to leave the Crown Prince''s pce, while Lucien sneaked out to inform the other members of the Imperial Family about what happened. Raku, Alucard, and Melvin were in the office while attending to Prince Nero.

    [I thought I got the easiest job, but no.]

    Sanford had always thought he was cool for being a Sword Master.

    But these men in front of him (except Rubin Drayton) were all out of his league.

    [I may be stronger than Lord Rubin, but his face outshines mine. He''s easily the most handsome man in the room at the moment.]

    He couldn''t help it, okay?

    [I like beautiful people¨C regardless of gender.]

    "If that''s the case, then I''ll leave first," Rubin Drayton said, turning his back on them. "I''ll be back."

    "I''ll take my leave as well, children," the one who had the same stench as Alucard said, a ck hole appearing below his feet. "I''m sure Prince Nero will be fine."

    Sanford flinched.

    [Ah, they know.]

    "It doesn''t seem like an attack from the crows or the Darkness," Ruto, the former Royal Chef, said. "I believe Prince Nero was summoned by a Spirit. Hence, calling Her Imperial Majesty would suffice."

    "I''ll release my butterflies to patrol the area," Duke Jasper Hawthorne said. "I''ll be back."

    "I don''t care about Prince Nero, so I''m gonna peace out now," Trevor, Princess Neoma''s Sorcerer, said. "See youter, my dear rivals."

    And, just like that, Princess Neoma''s strong marriage candidates left one by one.

    Only then was Sanford able to breathe properly. "Is Princess Neoma really looking for a husband? Those gentlemen look like a hazard more than a marriage candidate¡­"

    ***

    [IT''S NOT poison.]

    As soon as Prince Nero copsed, Melvin immediately checked the tea for poison.

    Then he asked Raku to put the unconscious Crown Prince on the sofa.

    "It''s not poison, and there are no signs of being attacked externally," Alucard Dionisio, the Healer of Prince Nero''s Order, said while scanning the Crown Prince with his glowing eyes. "But Prince Nero''s soul is currently out of his body."

    Melvin''s eyes widened a bit. "Was His Royal Highness summoned?"

    "That seems to be the case."

    Melvin gasped softly when, out of nowhere, Her Imperial Majesty the Empress Mona appeared. He immediately bowed his head. "Greetings, Your Majesty."

    Alucard and Raku also bowed their heads to greet the empress.

    "Let''s save the greetings forter, children," Empress Mona said, then she immediately got down on one knee and touched Prince Nero''s forehead with her hand. "His soul isn''t here."

    Alucard nodded in agreement. "That was also my assessment, Your Majesty."

    "You did well, Alucard. All of you did well handling the situation," the empress praised them in her gentle voice. Hence, even if the empress wasn''t looking at them, they still felt the sincerity in her tone. "Don''t worry. Nero is in a safe ce."

    Melvin was relieved to hear that. "May we know where Prince Nero''s soul is at the moment, Your Majesty?"

    ***

    "HOW DID this happen?" Nero asked, confused. He stood up while wiping the blood off the corner of his mouth. "My consciousness¡­"

    "Yes, I''m the SANE part of you," his other self said, huffing while crossing his arms over his chest. "I know that I''m not exactly a sane person. But I''m not crazy to marry off Neoma!"

    He knitted his eyebrows. "You must be the INSANE part of me. Neoma has a duty to the empire. She needs to get married sooner orter¨C"

    "Shut up before I kill you."

    "If I die, then you''ll die, moron."

    "I''d rather die than see Neoma getting married!"

    Nero let out a frustrated sigh while massaging his temples. "How is something as outrageous as this possible?"

    "This is all thanks to me, Prince Nero."

    Hmm?

    To say that he was surprised to see William would be an understatement.

    "What are you doing here?" Nero confronted the Grand Spirit. "I''ve been summoning you all this time, but you never once responded to my call."

    "I was¡­ scolded by Mona."

    "By Mother?"

    "Mona entrusted you to me when they were forced to leave this world five years ago, but I couldn''tpletely protect you from Calyx," William exined, shaking his head. "I had to pretend that I also lost my memories, hence I couldn''t openly separate you from Calyx. Moreover, I was busy protecting the Spirit Queen and the Spirit World as well."

    He didn''t know that William didn''t lose his memories.

    Was the Grand Spirit that good of an actor?

    [On second thought, it was only probably because he has a stoic face in the first ce. Moreover, it''s not like he interacts with Calyx and the fake Empress Dowager a lot.]

    "Anyway, to appease Mona, I had toplete the counterspell that I''ve been making these past few years."

    Nero knitted his eyebrows. "Counterspell? But you''re not a Mage."

    "I was a Mage back when I was still a human," William exined. "I call it counterspell, but I''m not sure if it will really work since it''s been a while." The Grand Spirit turned to his ''replica.'' "I created this Nero."

    "You created that insane thing?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The other him just red at him coldly.

    [God, do I look that grumpy???]

    "I''ve observed both you and Neoma since the two of you were toddlers. Moreover, you spent years in the Spirit World," the Grand Spirit continued with his exnation. "I gathered all the memories that you had in the Spirit World, then I secretly took a piece of your soul. That''s how I was able to create a replica of the Nero who''s obsessed with his twin sister."

    Nero crossed his arms over his chest. "And what''s the purpose of creating that replica?"

    "You just have to absorb this replica that contains the memories and feelings you have for Neoma," William said, putting a hand on the replica''s shoulder. "I''m hoping that this little ripple would create a wave inside you and trigger the memories and feelings that you lost."

    Nero wasn''t sure about his memories, but he could tell that his feelings might get affected.

    [Even without the counterspell, I already have conflicting feelings towards Neoma. I want to hate her since she''s still apetition to me. However, I can''t get her out of my mind.]

    "Do I really love Neoma that much?"

    Both William and the replica scoffed at his question.

    "Nero, do you want to make a bet with me?" William asked, smirking bitterly. "I bet you''d grovel before Neoma as soon as you retrieved all your memories."

    The replica nodded firmly. "Seconded."

    "Ridiculous," Nero said confidently. "Why would I grovel before my twin sister?"

    The replica let out a sigh while shaking his head, then he turned to William. "Forget grovelling in front of Neoma. I bet that fool would strangle himself first as soon as he remembers all the horrible things he did to her. Most of all, he''ll definitely kill himself for allowing the selection to happen."

    William nodded without so much as a second thought. "Ah, you''re right. The Nero I know would rather kill himself than marry Neoma off to someone else."

    That sounded ridiculous.

    "I don''t want to think what kind of image I have on you," Nero said, clicking his tongue. "If I''m going to turn into a weirdo like that replica, then I refuse to retrieve my memories."

    "I''m sorry, but it''s not up to you," William said sternly. "I don''t want Mona to hate me."

    "And I must stop the selection for Neoma''s marriage," the replica said while approaching him. Then, much to Nero''s shock, the replica grabbed him by the cor and gave him a strong headbutt. "Let''s merge now, you idiot."

    Nero clutched his aching head, ring at the replica. "I said I don''t want to!"

    The replica just gave Nero another headbutt.

    [Argh¡­]

    ***

    NEOMA was considering turning into her Spirit form to look for Nero in a different dimension.

    But, fortunately, her twin brother stirred to life.

    It was a shame that it happened a few moments after Mama Boss and Papa Boss left Nero''s bedroom.

    The Crown Prince''s current condition was confidential.

    To avoid suspicions, Mama Boss and Papa Boss returned to their respective jobs. Her parents entrusted her twin brother to her, of course.

    "Nero, are you awake?"

    She was worried as hell, of course.

    Nero was still her beloved twin brother even though he was acting like a bitch these days.

    [Oops¡­ I shouldn''t curse him.]

    Her thoughts were distracted when Nero slowly opened his eyes.

    "Finally," Neoma said, relieved when her gaze met Nero''s ash-gray eyes that were looking deep into her eyes. "How are you feeling, Nero?"

    "I think I love you."

    "Huh?"

    Nero''s hand slowly reached for her face until he was already caressing her cheek, carefully as if he wasn''t used to that gesture yet.

    "Argh," Neomained. "Nero, you should have washed your hands before you touched my face. You know how much I take care of my skin, don''t you? My face is my greatest weapon, so you shouldn''t touch it carelessly¨C"

    "You''re not getting married, Neoma."

    "What?"

    "Over my dead body will you get married."

    That sent a shiver down her spine.

    Nero''s sharp gaze at the moment was very familiar to her.

    [It''s NERO¨C the one who''s crazy about me.]

    But, even so, she still felt like her twin brother wasn''tpletely back yet.

    [Let''s calm him first.]

    "I''m not getting married for real," Neoma said because it was the truth anyway. "The selection is only for show."

    Nero just smiled "innocently" at her.

    Uh-oh.

    [Crazy Nero is back.]

    ***

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 Chapter 767 LET THE PUNISHMENT GAME BEGIN

    ?

    "ALRIGHT, I''m going back to work."

    Hmm?

    Neoma was almost certain that the old crazy Nero who was obsessed with her was already back. But when her twin brother stood up and fixed his clothes as if nothing happened, she doubted her own guts.

    [Why does it feel like he quickly returned to the same, amnesiac Nero?]

    "Are you sure you''re going back to work already?" Neoma asked worriedly. "You fainted, Nero."

    "I''m fine," Nero said whilebing his fingers through his hair. "If I take a break longer than I already have, Melvin would cry."

    Pfft.

    "Who summoned you, Nero?"

    "It was William."

    She waited for Nero to say more, but he didn''t.

    [Ah, so he doesn''t want to tell me why William summoned him. Well, it''s okay. I''m a cool noona anyway.]

    "Neoma, forget what I said earlier," Nero said in a serious tone. "You need the selection to happen, don''t you?"

    Argh, she didn''t like the look on Nero''s face.

    Even so, she tried to ignore it.

    "That''s right," Neoma said, nodding. "My goal isn''t to find a husband, but to find strong individuals to fight with us."

    "Then don''t forget your goal."

    "Huh?"

    Nero stood up in front of her, then he cupped her face between his hands. "Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio, you must remember that your goal is NOT to find a husband even if your ex-lover joins the selection."

    Woah, woah.

    Now Nero was back as the crazy Nero she knew.

    [Did he develop a split personality or something?]

    "I only remember the important stuff," Neoma said. And yes, she was provoking Nero on purpose because she wanted to test her theory about him developing a sudden split personality. "I sometimes forget my goals when Ruto is involved in the issue."

    That may or may not be the truth.

    "Don''t worry, I have a good memory," Nero said, letting go of her face. "I''ll make you remember what you should and shouldn''t forget."

    Oh, gaaahd.

    Something was seriously up with Nero, and she wasn''t liking it.

    [Let''s test him again.]

    "Dude, let''s stop talking about the selection," Neoma said, changing the subject. "You asked me to get a secretary before."

    "Have you finally chosen a secretary for yourself?"

    "I''m thinking of appointing Dahlia."

    She carefully watched Nero''s reaction, but she didn''t get much.

    It was either her twin brother really didn''t care about the ck Witch anymore, or he was just really good at acting.

    [Even better than me?]

    "Is Dahlia''s education background suited for her to work in the pce?"

    "Hmm?"

    "You''re the Imperial Princess, Neoma," Nero reminded her in a scolding tone. "There are plenty of people who would kill to be your secretary. Hence, if you appoint Dahlia in a position that high, many envious people would definitely question your decision. And if Dahlia failed to prove why she deserved to be your secretary, then she''d get eaten alive by people working in the pce."

    Oh.

    Nero was raising valid points???

    "Melvin graduated from the Royal Moon Academy second in his ss," Nero added. "Graduating with the second-highest excellency award from THE empire''s best academy is already a huge feat, but people working in the pce who graduated at the top of their sses still looked down on Melvin. Fortunately, my secretary has a family background to protect him since his household is one of the Twelve Golden Families."

    Oh, she didn''t know that there was such a story.

    "Dahlia neither has an educational background nor a great family name to protect her," Nero said bluntly. "Do you think she could survive in the pce as your secretary? Moreover, as far as I remember, that woman is a crybaby. With that kind of attitude, I don''t think she''d survive a week in the pce."

    Hmm.

    Of course, she knew that Nero''s concern was valid.

    Neoma also knew that Dahlia didn''t attend any prestigious academy, but she also knew that Dahlia was smart and organized.

    Her clear memories of her first life ended when Nero killed her.

    However, for the past few years, some of her hazy memories began to get a bit clearer. Most of them were rted to Ruto, of course. But there were also some fragments rted to her family.

    And one of those was the memory she had of the "poor empress."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    [I''m pretty sure that Dahlia, when she became the empress after Nero ascended the throne, did an excellent job as the empress¨C shocking the royal attendants.]

    "Just because Dahlia didn''t go to school doesn''t mean she''s inferior to people working in the pce. After all, she was educated by the ck Witches before they vanished. I''m also pretty sure that the mini library I saw in her little cabin was filled with the same educational books that we have ess to, Nero," Neoma said to her twin brother. "But you''re right about Dahlia being a crybaby, so I''ll ask her to think about it carefully once I offer her the job."

    "You didn''t have to inform me about your choice of secretary," Nero said out of the blue, clearly changing the topic. "Did you bring it up because you''re worried I might lose my mind when I see Dahlia working in the pce?"

    She just shrugged in response.

    "Your concern is valid, but you don''t have to worry for now," her twin brother said, cupping her face between his hands once again. "After all, your selection for a future spouse is the only thing that could make me go ballistic right now."

    Argh, shivers.

    [Mama Boss, Papa Boss, I''m confused. I can''t figure out if Nero has retrieved his memories yet.]

    All she knew was her twin brother was acting really strange.

    Neroughed while watching her reaction, setting her face free again. "You''re looking at me like I''ve just lost my mind."

    "Have you?"

    "Let''s talk againter," Nero said in a hurry, then he quickly headed for the doors. "I just remembered that I have a lot of things to do."

    Neoma let out a sigh. "Don''t go on a killing spree, okay?"

    ***

    "YOU''RE NOT sure whether Nero has retrieved his missing memories or not?" Mona asked worriedly, leaning against her seat. "But I thought you were confident about the counterspell that you came up with."

    She was talking to William who was on his knees in front of her, his head hanging low.

    The Grand Spirit went to her office to report.

    She left Nero with Neoma earlier, so she knew that her son would be fine. Even so, she needed to know what happened to the person responsible for Nero''s copse earlier.

    "Prince Nero refused to tell me whether he has regained his missing memories or not, and I can''t really figure it out based on his behavior," William said politely, addressing Nero formally. Then he finally raised his head when she allowed him to do so. "One minute he''s acting like the same Prince Nero who currently doesn''t care about his family the next he''s acting like the Prince Nero who''s obsessed with Princess Neoma."

    Mona tilted her head to one side. "Why do I have a feeling that Nero is doing it on purpose?"

    It sounded like Nero was deliberately confusing them.

    [Does he not want anyone to know whether his curse has been lifted or not? But why?]

    "I also have the same feeling, Your Majesty," William said, surprisingly addressing Mona correctly even though he clearly hated the fact that she had be the empress. "But I will continue keeping an eye on Prince Nero."

    Ah, the Grand Spirit was obviously trying hard to get on her good side again.

    [At this rate, he''ll do anything and everything I ask him of no matter how dangerous or foolish it is.]

    She was tempted to test it out.

    "Alright, that''s good enough for now," Mona said, nodding. "Have you heard of any news regarding the Spirit World? I tried to summon Tara several times but didn''t hear back from her. It''s as if the Spirit World has closed its door on me."

    She knew that Tara may have been affected by the curse, hence there was a possibility that the Queen of the Spirit World had forgotten about Neoma.

    Even so, she found it strange that the entirety of the Spirit World wouldn''t respond to her.

    "I''ve lost contact with Tara as well, Your Majesty," William said, knitting his eyebrows. "I will drop by the Spirit Worldter."

    "Thank you," Mona said, then she paused before speaking again. "Make sure to tell Tara to control her greed, and to not even think aboutying a hand on either of my precious babies."

    ***

    THE SMELL of blood.

    Ah, it had been a while since Nero used his sword to sh and stab people he wanted dead. But, for the first time in a long while, he had finally bathed himself in his enemies'' blood again.

    "Prince Nero, how could you do this¡­"

    Nero looked over his shoulder to see Melvin, whose face was pale, looking at the pool of blood that Nero created in someone else''s house. "What?"

    Melvin looked him straight in the eye, his secretary''s body shaking in fear. Or perhaps disgust since Melvin could be a clean freak sometimes. "Marquis Spencer is still a member of the Twelve Golden Families. Even though you''re the Crown Prince, the nobility still has the power to criticize you¨C"

    "That bastardmitted a grave sin."

    "But we don''t have any evidence¨C"

    "Fabricate it then," Nero said, brushing his bloody hands through his hair. "It''s your job as my secretary to clean up after my mess anyway."

    Of course, Melvin cried in despair. "No, it''s not a part of my job description, Prince Nero! This is too much even for me! I resign!"

    "Cry about it then."

    "I''m already crying!"

    "Then cry more," Nero said, sighing while shaking his head. "We still have to find the device that the damned marquis mentioned, so stopining and move your feet."

    ***

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 Chapter 768 OUT OF CONTROL

    Chapter 768 OUT OF CONTROL

    [SOMETHING has changed in Prince Nero¡­]

    Melvin observed the Crown Prince who was currently having another meeting with Marquis Russell Spencer.

    This time, the Crown Prince visited the marquis in his manor.

    Thest time Prince Nero talked to Marquis Spencer, the conversation ended peacefully. But the conversation taking ce at the moment was pretty intense.

    "I thought we already have a deal, Prince Nero?" Marquis Spencer yelled angrily. "What''s with the selection now? I can''t even join that stupid selection because of the age requirement! Did you just stab me in the back?"

    Melvin, who was standing behind Prince Nero, frowned.

    [Why is this mere marquis yelling at the Imperial Crown Prince?]

    Marquis Spencer should be grateful that Sanford and Raku were guarding outside the mansion. Prince Nero didn''t bring the two because he didn''t want to attract attention from the servants of House Spencer.

    But if Sanford and Raku were there, they would have threatened the marquis already.

    [Unfortunately, I''m weak so I''m just going to re at him until he shuts up.]

    The more annoying part was the fact that Prince Nero was taking the marquis'' insolence in silence.

    [Come on, Prince Nero? Are you going to allow that person to disrespect you?]

    "Are you backing out of our deal?" Marquis Spencer yelled, mming his hands against the table between him and the Crown Prince. "If that''s the case, then I''ll never hand over the device to you!"

    Ah, that device.

    [Prince Nero was initially tempted by the device to make the ck Witches submit to him. But it looks like His Royal Highness already changed his mind?"

    "You''re mistaken, Marquis Spencer," Prince Nero said, cing the teacup down on the saucer. "I said I was going to check the device first¨C I never said I''m epting the deal you offered."

    Oh, right.

    Melvin remembered that Prince Nero never explicitly said that he epted the marquis'' deal. After all, the Crown Prince was only shaken when the marquis mentioned the device that could control ck Witches.

    [Prince Nero is indeed cunning.]

    "Hah! Do you think I''m a fool, Prince Nero?" Marquis Spencer asked, smirking. "You''re going to steal the device once I showed it to you, aren''t you?"

    Melvin clenched his hands tight.

    [How dare you use the Imperial Crown Prince of¨C]

    "That''s right. I''m here to steal it," Prince Nero confessed casually. "There''s no other reason for me to see your face on a weekend if it wasn''t for the device, Marquis Spencer."

    Melvin unclenched his hands.

    [Well¡­ the Imperial Crown Prince could take anything they want from the nobles¡­ right?]

    Argh.

    It was getting harder and harder to defend Prince Nero these days.

    [I must resign before he goespletely ballistic.]

    "Please leave, Prince Nero," Marquis Spencer said, turning his back on the Crown Prince. "I will pretend I didn''t hear the Crown Prince say he''d steal from me¨C argh¡­"

    SLASH.

    Melvin''s eyes widened when he saw Prince Nero pull out his infamous Ice Sword out of nowhere, then the Crown Prince mercilessly shed Marquis Spencer''s back.

    It didn''t end there.

    As soon as Prince Nero''s Ice Sword touched the marquis'' skin, the marquis quickly froze¨C literally.

    The door suddenly burst open.

    Then the knights of Marquis Spencer who definitely felt Prince Nero''s bloodlust came running in.

    "Marquis!"

    "My lord!"

    "Prince Nero, what did you¨C argh!"

    The Crown Prince shed the knights in a series of quick and clean movements.

    Of course, Melvin was frozen in shock.

    When he came to be, he realized that Prince Nero already left the tearoom. But he could hear the painful cries and screams of people getting sliced by the Crown Prince''s Ice Sword.

    He quickly got on his feet to follow Prince Nero.

    And what greeted him was a hallway drowning in a giant pool of blood.

    Of course, Prince Nero was unharmed. The blood belonged to the poor people that the Crown Prince had killed.

    Melvin was bbergasted. "Prince Nero, how could you do this¡­"

    Prince Nero looked over his shoulder and stared at him with a nk look on his face. "What?"

    Melvin trembled at the strange coldness in Prince Nero''s eyes, but he still dared to open his mouth. "Marquis Spencer is still a member of the Twelve Golden Families. Even though you''re the Crown Prince, the nobility still has the power to criticize you¨C"

    "That bastardmitted a grave sin."

    [WHAT GRAVE SIN?]

    And even if that was the case, a noble of Marquis Spencer''s status still deserved a proper noble trial.

    Hence, Melvin tried to reason with the Crown Prince. "But we don''t have any evidence¨C"

    "Fabricate it then," Prince Nero said, cutting him off. Then he brushed his bloody hands through his hair. "It''s your job as my secretary to clean up after my mess anyway."

    Melvin cried in despair, finding everything unfair. "No, it''s not a part of my job description, Prince Nero! This is too much even for me!"

    "Cry about it then."

    "I''m already crying!"

    "Then cry more," Prince Nero said, sighing while shaking his head. "We still have to find the device that the damned marquis mentioned, so stopining and move your feet."

    So, this crazy¨C er, unstable Crown Prince was after the device.

    [Is it because he wants to control Miss Dahlia?]

    Melvin only worried for the young ck Witch for a moment before he realized that he was in a more pitiful state than Dahlia.

    He wanted to cry for real, but decided to do his job first.

    "Prince Nero, the marquis is still alive."

    "Of course, he is," Prince Nero said, scoffing. "I purposely kept him alive since I wanted to torture him further. How dare that bastard ask for Neoma''s hand in marriage? And he even dared to strike a deal with me." The Crown Prince smirked bitterly. "People who don''t know their ce only deserve death."

    [No, they don''t, but let''s not argue with this crazy¨C er, unstable Crown Prince.]

    "Prince Nero, the marquis lost it when you informed him that he couldn''t join the selection for Princess Neoma''s future spouse," Melvin said, his brain working overtime once again. "Then the marquis, who showed strange obsession with the Imperial Princess, tried to put his hands on you with the intention of harming you. Then your Soul Beast came out to protect you¨C almost killing the marquis in the process."

    That was how Melvin wanted to frame the incident to save Prince Nero from getting criticized.

    [Prince Nero is going to ascend the throne soon, so we must wrap this up in his favor.]

    "That sounds usible, but I shed that bastard marquis on the back," Prince Nero said, raising an eyebrow at him. "His wound would suggest that I attacked him when he had his back on me. Don''t you think I''d be criticized if people find out I literally stabbed him in the back?"

    [If you know that, then why did you still do it?]

    Melvin let out a sigh. "Let''s just say Marquis Spencer tried to run away after he realized his mistake, but it was already toote since the Soul Beast already appeared."

    "How do we prove it?"

    "I recorded your heated conversation with Marquis Spencer earlier."

    "You did?"

    "The first thing you asked me to do when you appointed me as your secretary was to find the nobles'' weaknesses that we could use against them, Prince Nero," Melvin reminded the Crown Prince. "Ever since then, it became my bad habit to record your meetings and private conversations with them."

    Prince Neroughed as if he was delighted. "Delete the part where the device rted to the ck Witches was mentioned, and make it look like he was about to attack me when he mmed his hands against the table."

    "That''s the n, Prince Nero."

    "I''m d you''repetent, Melvin."

    "I haven''t given up on my dream of resigning, Your Royal Highness."

    "Yeah, just keep on dreaming," Prince Nero said arrogantly, then he turned to his side. "Did you find it?"

    Melvin thought the Crown Prince was talking to himself.

    But, much to his surprise, Alucard and Lucien appeared out of thin air.

    [Prince Nero''s senses are really scary.]

    "We found the device, Prince Nero," Alucard reported to the Crown Prince politely. "It was quite hidden well, and the security was tight. Hence, Lucien had to blow up the entire vault."

    "I apologize, Prince Nero," Lucien said, bowing his head. "Because I made things noisy, there are witnesses. Should we kill them?"

    Melvin really wanted to cry now.

    [Why am I surrounded by a bunch of lunatics who enjoy killing people?]

    "Ah, I remember something," Prince Nero said. "I killed that perverted bastard in my previous life because I found him guilty of selling children as sex ves. If I remember correctly, that bastard ran a huge sex ring for perverts who are attracted to children."

    Alucard and Lucien both frowned, obviously disgusted after hearing Marquis Spencer''s dirty secret.

    Melvin was left wondering, though.

    [Prince Nero''s "previous life¡­?"]

    ***

    But the damned throne suddenly talked to her in her mind.

    "Neoma, what''s happening?" Papa Boss asked worriedly, getting up from his throne to walk towards [ARGH!]

    Neoma clutched her head when she heard a loud and annoying voice in her head, forcefully summoning her to the throne room.

    Well, she was already in the throne room since she was trying to convince Papa Boss to acknowledge the selection. It wouldn''t be officially recognized unless the emperor approved. Hence, she was in the middle of doing aegyo (acting cute) in front of her father.

    But the damned throne suddenly talked to her in her mind.

    "Neoma, what''s happening?" Papa Boss asked worriedly, getting up from his throne to walk towards her. "Are you in pain?"

    "The throne¡­" Neoma said, barely opening her eyes to re at the throne. "It''s rejecting Nero, Papa Boss."

    "What?"

    "It''s forcing me to take Nero''s ce."

    Papa Boss was obviously shocked and confused.

    That was when the door to the throne room burst open, then Geoffrey Kinsley entered in a hurry.

    "Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness, I received a report from Melvin just now," Geoffrey Kinsley said, gulping hard before proceeding with his report. "Apparently, Prince Nero injured Marquis Spencer and killed most of the marquis'' family knights¡­"

    Neoma and Papa Boss both pinched the bridge of their noses at the same time.

    "Nero¡­"

    ***

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 Chapter 769 TRIGGER

    Chapter 769 TRIGGER

    "IF YOU DON''T stop speaking bullshit, I''ll burn you to ashes," Neoma threatened the throne. "Don''t test my patience."

    She was now alone in the throne room after Papa Boss left with his Pdins.

    Normally, the throne room would have been locked if the emperor wasn''t there. But Papa Boss allowed her to stay there.

    "You already chose Nero, so why are you clinging to me again?" Neomained. She was really close to hitting the throne with her fist, but she reminded herself that it wasn''t her property to destroy. "Gosh, why are you so indecisive?"

    <¡­>

    And now the throne was quiet.

    Huh?

    [Is this thing broken???]

    Her anger died out after the throne finally shut its mouth.

    She was about to leave the room and head back to her office when she heard a voiceing from the throne.

    <"The de Moonasterios'' Lunacy resonates with Darkness¡­ be careful, Nene.">

    Neoma''s eyes widened, then she turned around only to see a faint glow of bluish lights quickly disappearing into nothingness. The presence immediately disappeared as soon as she saw it, but she couldn''t mistake it for someone else. "Lord Yule¡­?"

    "YOUR MAJESTY, this is not an issue that we could turn a blind eye to."

    Niki let out a frustrated sigh while listening to Rufus'' nagging.

    The two of them were in sitting face-to-face inside the royal carriage while headed to the Spencer Estate.

    He had toe in person because only the emperor had power over the Crown Prince.

    Of course, he had to bring Rufus¨C his most trusted aide.

    [But he''s been nagging me since we left the pce¡­]

    "Although Marquis Spencermitted a grave crime, the Crown Prince still doesn''t have the power to punish him directly. As if that wasn''t bad enough, the Crown Prince even severely injured the knights of the Spencer family," Rufus continued with his nagging. "We made sure that this incident wouldn''t leak out for now, but we can''t keep this a secret forever, Your Majesty."

    Of course, Niki knew that.

    He was aware of how serious the situation was. Hence, he came out personally to deal with the issue. But that didn''t mean he enjoyed getting scolded by his cousin.

    "The nobles wouldn''t stay put if we don''t deal with this ordingly, Your Majesty."

    "Yes, Your Majesty," Rufus said in a serious tone. "We must discipline Prince Nero if we have to."

    Niki let out a sigh. "Let''s check the situation first."

    [In short, I must punish the Crown Prince properly.]

    Niki raised an eyebrow. "Is that the Royal Faction''s stance?"

    "Yes, Your Majesty," Rufus said in a serious tone. "We must discipline Prince Nero if we have to."

    Niki let out a sigh. "Let''s check the situation first."

    When they arrived at the Spencer Estate, they realized how bad the situation was.

    Nero, the culprit, was having tea while he was soaked in blood from head to toe. The Crown Prince''s white hair was even dyed red. The garden was immacte, but Nero''s appearance ruined the beautiful scenery.

    Niki hated to admit this, but he knew why Nero looked that way.

    [It''s easy for Nero to kill someone like Russell Spencer without spilling too much blood, but it''s always more fun to see your enemy bleed to death. I hate to admit this, but my son obviously inherited my twisted thinking.]

    "Wee, Father," Nero greeted him while standing up. "You''re here, too, Duke Quinzel."

    "Yes, Your Royal Highness," Rufus said politely, then he looked around. "Marquis Spencer¡­"

    "He''s still alive, Your Grace," Nero said. "Marquis Spencer is being treated by Alucard. The family knights are revived by Lucien, too. Hence, no one died."

    [Nero sounds so unapologetic.]

    Niki raised his hands, asking the royal knights to leave.

    Only Rufus, the Pdins (Geoffrey Kinsley and Jeanne Audley), and Nero''s Order of Knights (Sanford Devon, Raku, and Melvin) were left in the garden.

    "What are you doing here, Nero?" Niki asked coldly. "Why did you meet Marquis Spencer?"

    "Marquis Spencer tried to bribe me for Neoma''s hand in marriage, Father."

    "And you''re here because you got bribed?"

    "I only came to check it out, Father."

    "What did the marquis offer you?"

    His son just sipped his tea, obviously not inclined to answer his question.

    "Nero, you know it doesn''t matter whether you open your mouth or not, don''t you?" Niki asked, letting out a frustrated sigh. "I have many ways of finding out the truth. I could either ask my Pdins to torture your knights for information, or make my Soul Beasts torture yours to share their memories with them."

    "Why are both options violent, Father? And you''re scaring Melvin," Neroined lightly. "Mother and Neoma would be so disappointed in you."

    It was a threat that his son would tattle on him.

    "Nero Roseheart de Moonasterio."

    "The marquis tried to bribe me using a device that could make ck Witches submit to me."

    Hearing his son''s answer shocked him.

    Rufus, on the other hand, let out a scoff.

    [That reaction is understandable since Rufus is aware that Nero, his one and only daughter''s fianc¨¦, fancies a certain ck Witch.]

    "Prince Nero, my daughter will hear of this," Rufus said firmly. "And allow me to speak as Hanna''s father and not as a duke: I am disappointed, Your Royal Highness."

    Nero just sipped his tea.

    [This unapologetic punk needs to be punished, indeed.]

    "Nero, you''ll be put on probation indefinitely," Niki said firmly. "I don''t care if your coronation gets dyed¨C you won''t step out of your room until you reflect on yourself."

    Melvin gasped softly. "That means Prince Nero will be locked up forever¡­"

    "¡­"

    That was a statement that would have made Neomaugh out loud while (probably) rolling on the floor.

    [Melvin just practically said Nero doesn''t know how to admit his mistakes, after all.]

    And it was funnier because it was obvious Melvin didn''t mean to say it out loud. The poor secretary actually looked so shocked and embarrassed that he could only bow his head in apology.

    But aside from Sanford Devon (who had to cover his mouth with his hands) nobody else reacted to Melvin''s rtively funny remark.

    "Your knights will be put on probation as well, and all their belongings would be inspected," Niki dered, making Nero''s knights flinch. "Any item we find suspicious would be confiscated."

    "Why don''t you just ask me to hand over the device to you, Father?"

    "Because I know you wouldn''t give up on that device, no matter what," Niki said sternly. "You''re my son, Nero. Unfortunately, you inherited my twisted personality. Hence, I know how you think."

    Nero scoffed. "If Neomamitted the same deed, would you punish her the same way you''re punishing me, Father?"

    "Of course. I don''t discriminate between my children."

    "But Neoma is your favorite child, Father."

    Niki knitted his eyebrows. "Why would you say that? You know that I raised you better than Neoma. Moreover, you even enjoy privileges that your twin sister doesn''t ever since childhood."

    "That''s it, Father¨C you RAISED me as your SUCCESSOR, but you CHERISHED Neoma as your DAUGHTER."

    It was definitely not the appropriate time and ce to talk about their family affairs.

    "Nero, didn''t I just say I know how your twisted mind works?" Niki asked, clicking his tongue. "You can''t avoid punishment by making me feel guilty for the favoritism you baselessly use me of."

    ***

    Nero looked shocked at first, then heughed as if he was amused. "Father, what will I do if my acting doesn''t work on you?"

    Niki just sighed and shook his head, then he raised his hand as a signal to his Pdins. "What are you waiting for? Arrest the Crown Prince and his knights." After giving his order, he looked at Melvin sternly. "Except you, Melvin Lhesi. You''re going to tell me every single thing that urred here¨C inplete detail."

    Melvin bowed his head. "As youmand, Your Majesty."

    ***

    NEOMA wasn''t the type to ignore a god''s warning.

    She was also pretty sure Yule risked his life just to send her a single message¨C hence, she wouldn''t waste it. That was the reason why she secretly headed to the Temple of Alethea with Lewis and Trevor.

    High Priestess Alethea, the one who appeared at the recent trial, bowed her head towards Neoma. "Wee, Princess Neoma."

    The High Priestess brought them to a secret prayer room after they arrived.

    "It seems like you already know I''ming, High Priestess Alethea," Neoma said in a serious tone. She wanted to sound friendlier, but the urgency she felt prevented her from doing so. "Then I''m sure you already know why I''m here."

    The High Priestess flinched, but she nodded politely before responding. "Princess Neoma, my goddess wishes to inform you that she''s too upied to grant you an audience."

    "I''m not asking for an audience," Neoma said because she already knew the Goddess of Truth would be avoiding her. "It''s the other way around."

    "Princess Neoma, I don''t understand what you''re saying¡­"

    "Goddess Alethea, I know you can hear me," Neoma said out loud, her voice echoing in the room. "I''m giving you the privilege to talk to me right here, right now. If you waste this precious opportunity, I''m going toe to your house uninvited. How''s the air there, by the way? You should savor it while itsts. I can always take back what I''ve given you, after all."

    Of course, she was just bluffing.

    She wasn''t sure if she could take back the clean air that she had given. But who knows? She was a genius, so something like that was possible.

    Her thoughts were interrupted when High Priestess Alethea suddenly dropped to the floor.

    None of them moved to help.

    After all, it wasn''t needed.

    "I don''t understand why you''re doing this to me, Princess Neoma," Alethea said while standing up. "It wasn''t my fault that the other gods found out about your secret. As the Goddess of Truth, I couldn''t help but speak the truth. I do remember that you asked me to keep your ability a secret, but I did say I would only keep mum as long as I can."

    "Ohh. You can tell Trevor has be my Contractor?"

    "I will not make another deal with a human, Princess Neoma."

    Yep, this was the Goddess Alethea talking now.

    [Good, my threat worked.]

    "You don''t have to make excuses, Goddess Alethea," Neoma said while waving her hand. "It was my fault for not making a contract when we made a deal."

    "Is that why you brought a Contractor this time?"

    "Ohh. You can tell Trevor has be my Contractor?"

    "I will not make another deal with a human, Princess Neoma."

    "Don''t worry about it, my goddess, since I''m not a human anyway," Neoma said, then she pointed at her face. "I''m the Visual Goddess."

    "¡­"

    Lewis then pointed both of his hands at Neoma in a very respectful manner. "Princess Neoma is the Visual Goddess."

    "Right?" Trevor agreed. "The Visual Goddess who''s prettier than the Goddess of Beauty~"

    [Uhm, let''s not pick a fight with that goddess¡­]

    "Goddess Alethea, do you want to be a few years younger?" Neoma said, approaching the goddess in the High Priestess'' body. Then she gently held the goddess'' chin and raised it to look at her properly. "I can make you a few decades younger, my goddess. That means you''ll get back a portion of the power that you lost due to your old age."

    "Is something like that possible?"

    "You can ask the Queen of the Spirit World for proof," Neoma said, caressing the goddess'' face with the back of her hand. "I can also take an Anwir Pill if you want."

    [This is how you lie effectively¨C you must mix some truth in your lies.]

    She bluffed earlier about taking back the air that she used to clean the goddess'' domain, but now she was telling the truth about her ability to make anyone a few years youngers using her breathing technique.

    "Let''s say you really have the ability to do that," Goddess Alethea said carefully, then she gulped. "What would you want in return, Princess Neoma?"

    "Oh, it''s nothing big," Neoma said, smiling sweetly at the goddess. "I just need to borrow your eyes for at least a week, Goddess Alethea."

    ALETHEA thought Princess Neoma wouldn''t be able to handle her eyes.

    Even though the young princess had Lord Yule''s blood in her, to "borrow" a goddess'' eyes was still too much.

    Not even Mona Roseheart could use a god''s body part directly.

    But Princess Neoma was fine. The young princess'' eyes turned red after receiving her eyes. It didn''t look strange, though. After all, the de Moonasterios'' eyes would turn red when experiencing intense emotions.

    [Neoma de Moonasterio, you''re indeed a monster.]

    "Is this it?" Princess Neoma asked, confused. "I don''t feel that much different. You warned me that I might lose my mind or something, but I feel fine, my goddess."

    "Is it because you were never sane in the first ce?"

    Alethea didn''t mean to say that out loud, but it was already toote.

    The fox frowned at her, while the Contractorughed.

    But Princess Neoma suddenly flinched.

    Just like that, the fox and the Contractor immediately flocked to the young princess'' side.

    "Are you alright, Princess Neoma?"

    "What are you seeing, my Moon Princess?"

    Ah, right.

    Alethea btedly realized that Princess Neoma was indeed staring at something else that only she could see.

    [But Princess Neoma looks terrified for some reason¡­]

    "Goddess Alethea, we need to return to the pce now," Princess Neoma said urgently, cupping Alethea''s face between her hands. "So, lemme de-age you quick and easy."

    ***

    "NEOMA, where have you gone to without telling your mother?" Niki asked when Neoma returned to the pce. He was about to scold his daughter for making Mona worry, but he froze when he realized Neoma''s eyes are strange. "Where did you get those eyes, Neoma?"

    ***

    "Papa Boss, let''s talk about thatter," Neoma said in a hurry. "I need to find Nero first."

    "Your brother is currently locked in his bedroom."

    "Locked up?"

    "He''s on probation, so you can''t see him right now."

    "That won''t do, Papa Boss. I need you to give me permission to see Nero now."

    "Tell me what''s happening first," Niki said in a serious tone. "My decision depends on your answer, Neoma."

    "The Darkness we see up there," Neoma said, her red eyes glowing. "It''s a trigger."

    ***

    NEOMA expected Nero to be in a bad condition.

    But he didn''t expect it to be THIS bad. Her twin brother was almost covered in Darkness, and none of them noticed.

    [If Lord Yule didn''t warn me¡­ and if I didn''t borrow Goddess Alethea''s eyes¡­]

    Neoma shook her head.

    [Let''s not think about that.]

    "What are you doing here, Neoma?" Nero asked curiously. "I''m on probation. Did you get permission from Father?"

    Neoma put her hands on Nero''s shoulders, ignoring his question. "Let''s get you purified first, Nero."

    ***

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 Chapter 770 DISGUSTING SHIT

    Chapter 770 DISGUSTING SHIT

    NEOMA couldn''t understand how she and the others could see the Darkness scattered in the sky.

    1

    And yet, no one saw that the damned thing was gathering around Nero.

    [I must purify that thing quickly.

    Only Neoma was allowed to visit Nero who was on probation, and not even Lewis was allowed toe with her to the Crown Prince''s room.

    It was fine with her since she didn''t want to attract attention.

    She must do this quietly.

    [Nero is attracting the blobs of Darkness around us.]

    Neoma also noticed that there were blobs of Darkness trying to attach themselves to her. But her Moonglow was blocking them.

    [Nero''s Moonglow couldn''t protect him, though.]

    And it was probably because of that red thing mixing with the Darkness.

    Neoma, probably thanks to the eyes she borrowed from a goddess, could instinctively tell that the light thing was the manifestation of Nero''s Lunacy.

    [Nero''s Lunacy and the Darkness are mixing together like DNA strands.]

    "What are you talking about, Neoma?" Nero asked, knitting his eyebrows. "Purify me? Why do you talk as if I''m an evil spirit you need to purify?"

    1

    "How are you feeling, Nero?" Neoma asked instead of answering her twin brother''s questions. Then she cupped his face between her hands. "I heard you went on a killing spree earlier. Do you still feel the need to get violent?"

    "It wasn''t a ''killing spree'' because nobody died," her twin brother said, scoffing. "Can you please stop touching my face?"

    The red strand of light glowed when Nero expressed his irritation.

    [Yep, that''s totally his Lunacy empowered by the damned Darkness.]

    Nero had a nasty temper, and he had a violent nature. But her twin brother was usually good at controlling his bloodlust.

    Plus, as the Crown Prince, he was careful of protecting his image.

    [Attacking Marquis Spencer at his own estate wasn''t something Nero would do¨C especially not when his coronation is just around the corner.]

    "I should have noticed it earlier," Neoma said, her voice full of guilt. "I should have noticed that you''re acting stranger than usual. You''re good at keeping your image clean, so I should have known something is wrong with you these days¡­"

    What the hell was she doing these days?

    She received the Sun Goddess'' message, so she got busy with the announcement of her search for a husband.

    That was why she failed to look after her twin brother.

    "I''m sorry, Nero," Neoma said softly. "I''m so sorry for neglecting you these days¡­"

    "You''re being dramatic, Neoma," Nero said, holding her by the wrists. "You''re talking as if I''m dying¡­" He trailed off, then he knitted his eyebrows. "Am I dying without my knowing?"

    "¡­"

    "Looking closely, those aren''t your eyes," hemented, then he scoffed. "Are you stealing from gods now?"

    "I only borrowed these eyes," she said. "Let go of my wrists."

    Her twin brother did so without making a fuss.

    "Nero, do you remember the gift that Emperor Primo gave you?" Neoma asked carefully. "The mask that''s shaped like an infinity symbol."

    ording to Mama Boss, the gift was meant to control Nero''s Lunacy.

    "What about that stupid gift?"

    "That''s not a ''stupid'' gift, you punk," she scolded her twin brother. "Try to activate it."

    "I don''t know how. It simply activated when I was about to lose my mind during the trial."

    Right, and Emperor Primo didn''t leave a manual.

    [It may be a stupid gift indeed¡­]

    "But I can try," Nero said, tilting his head to one side. "I just have to give in to my Lunacy a bit."

    What?

    Neoma''s eyes widened in shock after she realized what Nero meant by that. "No, that sounds dangerous!"

    It was already toote, though.

    Nero''s eyes turned red and hazy, a clear sign that he was out of it.

    Moreover, it was a little scary to see her twin brother all froze up like that.

    She didn''t have time to worry about that, though.

    As soon as Nero lost it, the intertwined strands of Nero''s Lunacy and the Darkness around him suddenly became "alive."

    Eyes.

    Several small orbs filled the strands, and those little eyes red in Neoma''s direction.

    [The audacity of these little bastards to re at me¡­!]

    Neoma was a bit distracted when the mask shaped as an infinity symbol appeared on Nero''s nk face¡­

    ¡­ then she gasped.

    [It''s covered in Darkness now.]

    No wonder the mask couldn''t control Nero''s Lunacy!

    Neoma immediately grabbed the mask and pulled it away from Nero''s face. But, much to her shock, the strands of Lunacy and Darkness came along with the mask¨C surging towards her like a tsunami as a result.

    She pushed Nero away from her, then she put him inside her Dome in order to separate him from the blob of Lunacy and Darkness.

    But she didn''t really need to protect her twin brother from it.

    After all, she was now the target of that creepy thing with several little eyes.

    [Argh.]

    Soon, the shape of the mixture of Lunacy and Darkness turned into a snake filled with eyes all over it.

    [Disgusting shit.]

    Neoma grabbed the ''snake'' with both of her hands because it was big and thick. She intended to melt it with her purifying power. But, much to her shock, it was her hands that got burned when she touched the damned thing.

    But she didn''t let go of the disgusting shit.

    "Tteokbokki," Neoma said, summoning her Soul Beast. "Burn this damned thing!"

    And Tteokbokki responded by burning the ''snake'' with his bright, red me.

    She mixed some of her breath to make the red me grow bigger. The bigger the me, the quicker the disgusting shit would get purified.

    Or so she thought.

    Neoma was spooked when the disgusting shit shaped like a snake with little eyes suddenly disappeared from her grasp¡­

    ¡­ then a pair of hands grabbed her by the wrists.

    [What the fuck???]

    "How did you realize my real n, Princess Neoma?"

    Huh?

    The voice and the presence were both familiar, but not the form in front of her.

    It was a seven-foot man dressed in all ck¡­

    ¡­ a man with four eyes.

    There was an extra eye in each of his cheeks, giving him four eyes¨C red eyes, to be exact.

    [He looks like an anime character¡­ no, brain. Stop.]

    "Who tipped you off, Princess Neoma?"

    "Huh?" Neoma asked, blinking. "Lord Helstor?"

    [Is this his real appearance?]

    "Princess Neoma, do you want Prince Nero dead?" Helstor asked,ughing. "You trapped your dear brother inside your Dome filled with purifying air from your breath. What do you think would happen to him when his body is covered in Darkness?"

    Neoma''s gaze went past the bastard god, then clicked her tongue when she saw Nero holding his throat while trying to breathe desperately through his mouth.

    [No! He''s suffocating!]

    She was forced to copse the Dome she used to protect Nero. And, at that very moment, the snake with eyes all over its body moment.

    [Nero!]

    suddenly appeared again¨C the disgusting shit wrapping its body around Nero who was obviously not in his right mind at the moment.

    [Nero!]

    Neoma tried to ran past Helstor, but the bastard god blocked her way and attacked her with a long sword made from Darkness. She immediately summoned Skewer and blocked the Darkness sword with her own Death Scythe engulfed with Tteokbokki''s red me.

    The collision created an impact so powerful it made the ground shake.

    [Can I kill a god on this bastard''s level?]

    ***

    "DADDY, we must go to the pce."

    Glenn, who was on his way to meet Duke Exton with Skylus in his arms, looked at his son and got nervous when he saw his eyes glowing. "Is it going to be dangerous, son?"

    "Lord Yule is calling for me, Dad," Skylus said. "Princess Neoma needs me."

    ***

    [NERO IS gone.]

    The moment Neoma blocked Helstor''s attack was the moment Nero was swallowed by the disgusting snake.

    [Nero''s Soul Beasts didn''t appear, which means they''re currently locked up inside him.]

    Tsk.

    "Don''t worry too much, Princess Neoma," Helstor said,ughing. "We will take care of Prince Nero well."

    Ah, so their target was indeed Nero.

    [What''s with their obsession with my twin brother?]

    Neoma jumped away from Helstor, creating a decent distance between them since she was aware she couldn''t beat the bastard god in a sword match.

    [Kids, a scythe is not a good weapon of choice for a sword fight.]

    "You look pretty calm, Princess Neoma," Helstormented, and it looked like he wanted to talk now. "Do you not care about Prince Nero anymore?"

    "Do you know what the power of friendship is?"

    "Hmm?"

    "You probably don''t know because your boring ass doesn''t have friends," Neoma said,ughing mockingly. "Let me show you what the power of friendship is."

    BANG.

    A ck hole appeared on the floor with a loud bang.

    "My Moon Princess, this is the power of love¨C not friendship!"

    Of course, it was Trevor¡­

    ¡­ and the demon boy had the unconscious Nero draped over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes.

    [Only Trevor would treat the Imperial Crown Prince that way¡­]

    "Duke Hawthorne will demonstrate the power of friendship, though."

    Yep, Trevor didn''te alone.

    Jasper oppa arrived with the demon boy.

    Pfft.

    Neomaughed when she saw Duckie, Jasper oppa''s Elemental Guardian, had the disgusting snake between its beak.

    The disgusting snake shrank, and now only the size of a slightly big worm.

    "Duckie, don''t eat that. It might upset your stomach," Neoma said yfully. "I''ll treat you to a feastter."

    "Haaah."

    Right, Helstor was still here.

    "Hey, insufferable god," Neoma said. "You''re not here to fight, aren''t you? Spill the tea now before my children arrive."

    She could feel Lewis and the others trying to break the barrier.

    Yep, she btedly realized that Helstor locked them up inside the room.

    "I''m just here to test my newly acquired power," Helstor said, then he snapped his fingers. "You and Prince Nero happen to be the perfect test subjects for my little experiment."

    BLEURGH.

    That was the sound of Nero coughing up blood.

    Neoma quickly ran past Helstor and checked on her twin brother.

    Trevor immediately put Nero down on the floor while her twin brother continued to cough up huge amount of blood.

    "It''s a different kind of Darkness, Princess Neoma," Trevor said nervously, his purple eyes glowing as he scanned Nero''s body with his gaze. "I believe its eating at Prince Nero''s life force as we speak."

    Life force?

    There was a kind of Darkness that could eat at a person''s life force?

    [Is that the newly acquired ability that Lord Helstor mentioned earlier?]

    "This is a trap," Neoma pondered out loud. "Lord Helstor knows I can save Nero, and that''s probably what he''s aiming for."

    "Then won''t it be better and safer to wait for Empress Mona, Princess Neoma?" Jasper oppa asked worriedly. "If this is a trap, then something bad will definitely happen to you once you saved Prince Nero."

    Trevor nodded in agreement with what the young duke said. "I agree with Jasper Hawthorne, my Moon Princess."

    "But it might be toote if we wait for Mama Boss to arrive," Neoma said, cupping Nero''s face between her hands. "I don''t care about the risks¨C I must save Nero first."

    Trevor and Jasper oppa tried to convince her to change her mind, but she didn''t listen to them.

    Neoma inhaled the Darkness out of Nero''s lungs¡­

    ¡­ and soon realized the trap that Helstor had set up for her.

    [My life force¡­ is decreasing?]

    ***

    HONESTLY, Hanna couldn''t see anything strange to her naked eyes.

    But she could feel Neoma''s violent bloodlust and Mana shing with a powerful being, hence she could tell that the Imperial Princess was currently fighting an intruder.

    And so, she asked every single person in Nero''s pce to evacuate.

    Fortunately, the ground shook hard while the people were evacuating. She used that as an excuse and said the earthquake was the reason for the evacuation.

    She then covered the entire nco Pce with her Shadow Veil.

    [We can''t let people know that the pce''s security has beenpromised. It would only hurt the Imperial Family''s reputation.]

    "Excellent job, Hanna."

    "Thank you, dear."

    Those praises came from Emperor Niki and Empress Mona, respectively.

    Hanna blushed, then she smiled shyly and nodded her head. "Thank you, Your Majesties."

    The three of them then headed to the source of the negative energy that spread all over nco Pce.

    Of course, it came from Nero''s bedroom.

    Lewis and the rest of Neoma''s "children" were already door, trying to break the door and the wall that was covered by Darkness.

    But their efforts were futile.

    Hanna could clearly see the frustration in each knight''s expression.

    Lewis had his nine tails out, and each of his punches and kick could break down a boulder into pieces. But he could only leave dents in the door and not destroy itpletely.

    [Not yet, at least.]

    That was the same thing with Juri Wisteria who was trying her hardest to break the door with her sledgehammer, but to no avail.

    Xion Redgrave''s poisoned dagger that should have melted the door already wasn''t working.

    Jeno Dankworth was shooting the door at the same spot using his double guns, but the bullets were only swallowed by the wall of Darkness.

    Paige Avery was purifying the Darkness trying to attack them.

    Greko, on the other hand, was providing support behind by replenishing the energy of his older brothers and sisters. The green auraing out of the youngest''s hands was acting like an energy potion in gas form.

    [Theirbined attacks are enough to bring down an entire pce in a few minutes, and yet the wall of Darkness remains unscathed¡­]

    "A god is there," Empress Mona said, her pale blue eyes glowing. "Lord Helstor¡­!"

    Hanna knitted her eyebrows. "The God of Eternal Darkness?"

    "Children, move," Emperor Niki said while unsheathing Calypso, His Majesty''s Holy Sword. "I''m going to break that thing."

    However, there was no need for the emperor to intervene.

    When Lewis kicked the wall of Darkness with the amount of power enough to destroy a hill, the wall finally copsed.

    Hanna was impressed.

    [Lewis, you''ve be stronger again.]

    Of course, it was thanks to thebined effort from all of Neoma''s children that the wall of Darkness finally copsed.

    3

    But Hanna knew in her heart that Lewis contributed the most.

    All for Neoma, of course.]

    [Ah, to be loved by someone like Lewis Crevan¡­]

    ***

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 Chapter 771 KISS OF DEATH

    Chapter 771 KISS OF DEATH

    NEOMA quickly realized what Trevor meant when he said the Darkness inside Nero was eating at his life force.

    1

    As soon as she absorbed that Darkness in order to take it out of Nero''s system, it began to attack her. It turned into little blobs of Darkness that forced its way inside her mouth¨C attacking her internal organs.

    But that was fine since she could easily purify it.

    The problem was the strange blob of Darkness that attached itself to her soul. She could feel that those little damned things were sucking the life force out of her.

    [What the fuck¡­?]

    This Darkness wasn''t Darkness.

    It was something more sinister since it made her feel like death was breathing at the back of her neck.

    Yes, the Darkness seemed alive¡­

    ¡­ and it was sucking the life out of her.

    [Wait¡­ death is breathing at the back of my neck¡­?]

    She had a bad feeling about this.

    Nevertheless, Neoma focused on using the oxygen in her body to purify the Darkness that forced its way inside her.

    Surprisingly, the strange blobs of Darkness that stuck to her soul was easy to dissolve.

    [I still feel strange, though.]

    "Trevor, Jasper oppa."

    "Yes, my Moon Princess?"

    "Yes, Princess Neoma?"

    "How does Lord Helstor look to you at the moment?"

    "The usual?" Trevor answered curiously. "He''s using the form of a child that looks like a noble boy, isn''t he?"

    "That''s also how I see him, Princess Neoma," Jasper oppa said. "Perhaps, is it not the same way to you?"

    Neoma nodded. "I see Lord Helstor as an adult with four eyes."

    "Four eyes?!" Trevor asked in disbelief. "Gods created humans to be physically simr to them, so gods should only possess a pair of two eyes just like us. However, since gods are gods, they can gain more organs and limbs¡­ depending on what they consume."

    Jasper oppa gasped.

    Even Neoma was shocked, then she turned to Helstor. "You fucking ate the God of Death?"

    "The God of Death?" Helstor asked, raising an eyebrow at her. "Out of all the gods in the world, how did you end up thinking that the god I consumed¨C not that I''m admitting it¨C was the God of Death?"

    "Gosh, shouldn''t you know by now that I''m a genius?" Neoma said. She was still feeling weak after her life force was suck out of her earlier. But she could still run her mouth, of course. "That sinister feeling I got earlier¡­ you bastard!" She growled as she stood up and attacked Helstor. "You almost killed my baby brother with the ability you stole from another god!"

    She didn''t summon Skewer this time.

    After all, she wanted to destroy Helstor with her hands. Hence, she just summoned Tteokbokki and had him cover her fists with his red me.

    Helstorughed at her outburst as he avoided her punch. "Don''t get mad, Princess Neoma. It''s not easy for me to use someone else''s ability, so the amount of force I used on Prince Nero wasn''t enough to kill him."

    The bastard god blocked Neoma''s ming fist with his hand.

    But, of course, Helstor didn''t get to touch her directly since her entire body was covered with Coat at the moment.

    However, Neoma had to admit that Helstor was skilled.

    While fighting her, the damned god was able to fend off Trevor and Jasper oppa''s attack by sending those disgusting snakes with little red eyes all over.

    [Wait¡­]

    "If you could gain a body part or organ of a god that you consumed, does it mean the little eyes on the snakes you possess used to belong to¡­"

    "To minor deities lingering in the human world," Helstor said, ending the sentence for her whileughing. "It''s easy to kill minor deities. They make good food for my little pets, too. Som I figured why not use their eyes as proof of my conquest?"

    "Fuck you, you psychopath god."

    Helstorughed louder as if he was amused. "And here I am under the impression that you hate gods, Princess Neoma."

    "I only hate gods who want to screw me over," she growled at the bastard god. "Like you."

    Neoma didn''t know what too over her, but she suddenly had this urge to gouge out Helstor''s extra eyes.

    Something inside her was telling her to do so.

    "Tteokbokki,e out!"

    Since Tteokbokki could feel her intense emotions at the moment, she didn''t have to say anything.

    Her Soul Beast came out in his human form and grabbed Helstor by the shoulders from behind. It was a move meant to paralyze the bastard god. After that, Tteokbokki burned Helstor alive.

    Or tried to, at least.

    Hesltor immediately covered himself in Darkness to protect himself from Tteokbokki''s me.

    But Neoma was quicker.

    She punched Helstor in the stomach as hard as she could, breaking his ribs and forcing him to bend as he coughed up blood.

    When the bastard god bent because of the impact of her punch, her other hand moved.

    Neoma gouged out Helstor''s extra eye¨C the one below his right eye¨C with her bare hand.

    It looked simple because she was OP, but the process actually hurt. She thought her hand would disintegrate when she punched through some poisonous gas that Helstor''s extra eye emitted. But, fortunately, the me and Coat covering her hand was enough protection.

    Helstor let out an agonizing scream after getting his extra eye taken away forcefully.

    [Argh, the texture is kinda disgusting.]

    Neoma had to force herself to hold onto the red orb in her hand. To be fair, it felt like she was holding a steel ball.

    [Why the fuck is this thing heavy?]

    "Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio!"

    "Present," Neoma said mockingly, raising the hand holding the literally bloody red orb. "Come here and let me get the other extra eye."

    Of course, going after the remaining extra eye of the damned god wasn''t easy.

    Helstor managed to extinguished Tteokbokki''s me¨C the Darkness around him growing bigger, and it wasced with the poisonous gas that she encountered earlier.

    Tsk.

    [That poisonous gas is like condensed Impure Mana!]

    "Tteokbokki,e here!" Neoma yelled, then she looked over her shoulder. "Trevor, Jasper oppa, stick together!"

    without having her repeat herself twice. The two gentlemen stuck together¨C no questions asked.

    Trevor¨C who was still carrying Nero like a sack of potatoes¨C and Jasper oppa¨C who was holding Duckie in his arms¨C did as she said without having her repeat herself twice. The two gentlemen stuck together¨C no questions asked.

    She then protected the boys with her Dome.

    "Argh!"

    Neoma immediately turned around to find Tteokbokki wing Helstor''s arm.

    From the looks of it, the damned god seemed like he tried to gouge out one of Tteokbokki''s eyes. Fortunately, her Soul Beast had sturdy skin. Moreover, Tteokbokki was quick enough to grab Helstor''s arm before the bastard god could touch her Soul Beast''s eyes.

    But Helstor''s arm was covered with Darkness mixed with poisonous gas, hence Tteokbokki was in pain. The dragon scales on Tteokbokki''s were starting to melt.

    [To think that damned Darkness could even melt a might dragon''s scales¡­]

    "Tteokbokki, return," Neoma ordered her Soul Beast. "Let your noona handle that psycho."

    Of course, Tteokbokki had no choice after she forced him to return to her soul.

    When her Soul Beast vanished, Helstor immediately attacked her. The bastard god tried to stab her eye with his filthy hand.

    If she wasn''t a de Moonasterio, her wrist would have broken already.

    [This god really has a sturdy body, too.]

    Neoma grabbed Helstor''s wrist. "An eye for an eye, huh? But better luck next time. These eyes aren''t mine, so I can''t let you steal them."

    Helstor, who looked calmer now than he did earlier,ughed. "Do you know how you immediately realized that the god I consumed was the God of Death?"

    "Because I''m a genius?"

    "Because deep in your memories, you''ve already met all the existing gods in the world," Helstor said, smirking. "You already know all their strengths and weaknesses¨C and the ways to kill them. It was your instinct that urged you to gouge my extra eyes, wasn''t it?"

    The damned god was correct, but she didn''t want to admit that.

    "You know how to kill the gods in this world because you already killed them in your first life, Princess Neoma¨C you just don''t remember it," Helstor said,ughing. "And that''s exactly why they don''t want you to retrieve your memories. They are so afraid of your hidden memories that they even used your beloved ''Ruto'' to make sure you won''t be inclined to remember them."

    And it fucking worked.

    "Joke''s on you," Neoma said haughtily. "Ruto and I already broke up, so I have nothing to lose now even if I gain the memories of my first life."

    "That would be a problem then."

    "Yeah, I n to stress the fuck out of y''all¨C"

    Every fiber of her being suddenly hurt like hell.

    Her body suddenly lost its strength. If it wasn''t for her sheer stubbornness, her knees would have copsed already. But her pride didn''t allow her to sumb, so she stood there¨C enduring the pain.

    "Is it finally working?" Helstor asked, pulling his hand away when Neoma''s grip loosened up. "Princess Neoma, your resistance to Death and Darkness is terrifying. Fortunately, you don''t have much lifespan to spare, huh?"

    Neoma''s eyes widened, a shivering down her spine.

    [No, he wouldn''t...]

    "Why do you look so shocked?" Helstor asked,ughing again. "I consumed the God of Death''s abilities. Which means I can now see the lifespan of other people. But I have to pay a price each time I use that ability, so I''m only looking at yours for today."

    "Shut it," Neoma warned Helstor in a cold voice. "Shut your mouth¨C"

    She was forced to stop talking when the wall of Darkness that trapped them inside suddenly copsed with a huge explosion.

    And then the thing she didn''t want to happen suddenly happened in the blink of an eye.

    Papa Boss pointed Calypso¨C his Holy Sword¨C at Helstor''s neck, and Mama Boss pointed Nydia¨C her rosegold staff ¨C at Helstor''s heart.

    Lewis and Hanna stood in front of Neoma protectively.

    While Paige, Juri, Jeno, Xion, and Greko surrounded her¨C all their weapons pointed at Helstor.

    [That psycho god better keep his mouth shut¡­!]

    "You really have a death wish, don''t you?" Papa Boss asked Helstor coldly. "Then allow me to grant your wish¨C"

    Neoma ran past Lewis and Hanna, causing Papa Boss to stop talking.

    Her father and Papa Boss immediately withdrew their weapons that were pointed at Helstor in fear of identally hurting her.

    After all, Neoma lunged at Helstor with the intention of punching him to death.

    [I just need to rip that mouth off!]

    However, her fist only met a semi-transparent wall of Darkness. It got cracked all over when she punched it, but it didn''t copse.

    Helstorughed at her futile attempt to shut him up. "Don''t waste your energy, Princess Neoma."

    "Shut up¨C"

    "You only have less than five years to live, so spend it wisely."

    Oh, fuck.

    Neoma felt it¨C she felt it the moment everyone around her looked at her as if their worlds suddenly crumbled after hearing what Helstor said.

    She closed her eyes because she didn''t want to see her loved ones'' reaction to the revtion.

    Why did her loved ones have to hear that now?

    Of course, she wanted to tell them about her condition...

    ... but only after she found a way to extend her lifespan.

    After all, she didn''t want them to worry about her.

    [But did that psycho god say I only have ''LESS THAN'' five years to live?]

    "To be precise, you only have three years and nine months to live, Princess Neoma," Helstor said cheerfully. "And the Kiss of Death will continue decreasing your lifespan from hereon."

    Neoma opened her red eyes to re at Helstor. "Let me sew your mouth up, you fucking psycho god."

    ***

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 Chapter 772 NO MORE SECRETS

    Chapter 772 NO MORE SECRETS

    [PLEASE don''t give me that look.]

    1

    Neoma could ept the cold look she would receive from enemies.

    Heck, she even wouldn''t mind being looked at as if she was an interesting test subject.

    But she couldn''t stand the look she was receiving from her loved ones at the moment.

    Lewis and Trevor already knew about her secret, but they still gave her a look that revealed their broken hearts.

    Hanna and Jasper oppa looked devastated by the crushing revtion.

    Of course, her children looked the same. Juri, Paige, and Greko became emotional. Even the usually stoic Jeno and Xion looked like they were about to cry any moment.

    But the hardest to look at was her parents'' reactions.

    [I''m d Nero is unconscious.]

    "Ah, they didn''t know?" Helstor asked,ughing. "I''m sorry. It seems like I revealed your secret, Princess Neoma."

    [This fucking bastard!]

    Neoma clenched her fist, ready to punch Helstor to oblivion. But she made the mistake of looking at her Papa Boss and Mama Boss. She couldn''t help but do so since her parents practically blocked Ah, Papa Boss was fuming.

    This was the first time her father yelled at her.

    her view. "Papa Boss, Mama Boss, let''s talkter," she said in a hurry, trying to walk past her parents. "We need to catch Helstor first¨C"

    "Is it true, Neoma?" Papa Boss asked, grabbing her by the shoulders. "Is it true that you only have a little over three years left to live?!"

    Ah, Papa Boss was fuming.

    This was the first time her father yelled at her.

    Papa Boss'' loud voice echoed in the room, causing all the fragile things there to break. It was because her father''s bloodlust was oozing.

    If there were ordinary people in the room, they would have died already.

    After all, even Neoma herself felt the crushing pressureing from her Papa Boss.

    [Argh¡­ it''s making my knees weak¡­]

    "Neoma, answer me!"

    Argh.

    Neoma flinched because Papa Boss'' grip was starting to hurt.

    [My shoulders would have been broken already if I wasn''t a de Moonasterio¡­]

    "Niki, you''re hurting our daughter!" Mama Boss yelled worriedly, pping Papa Boss in the back. "Calm down!"

    Papa Boss immediately let go of Neoma''s shoulders with a bewildered look on his face. It was as if he just realized what he had done. "I''m sorry, Neoma¡­"

    "Let''s talkter, Papa Boss," Neoma said in a hurry, her gaze only fixed on one person. "Lord Helstor is getting away!"

    She tried to run after Helstor who was quickly turning semi-transparent.

    But her damned knees suddenly gave out.

    Mama Boss and Papa Boss caught her before she hit the floor, but the damned psycho god was getting away easily.

    "Get that bastard, kids!"

    Lewis and the others immediately ran after Helstor.

    Unfortunately, Neoma didn''t get to see what happened next because everything turned ck soon.

    ***

    SNIFFLE.

    Argh.

    Neoma, who automatically got down on her knees to match the height of the little ones in front of her, frowned.

    Considering that she was face-to-face with her Spirits right now only meant she passed out.

    [That damned psycho god¡­]

    Anyway, that white room decorated like a cozy cottage was definitely the home of her Spirits.

    Since Helstor revealed her secret when her guard was down, everyone heard it.

    [I should have sealed Tteokbokki and the rest first¡­]

    "Don''t cry, everyone," Neoma said softly. "I''m not dying."

    Her Spirits only cried louder.

    Mochi, her Wind Spirit in the form of a white bunny.

    Soju, her Water Spirit in the form of a green toad.

    Kimchi, her Fire Spirit in the form of a gecko lizard.

    Namoo, her Wood Spirit in the form of a wooden capybara.

    Kingston, the mighty White Lion that¨C for some reason¨C turned into a cub.

    [Why did Grandpa Kingston be a baby lion?]

    "It''s because of your current state, Princess Neoma," Kingston exined in a cracked voice. "We have a safe home in your soul because of your abundant Mana. But if we take too much space, your lifespan might decrease a bit because of the amount of life force that you''re using for us. So I turned into this size to help you conserve your life force."

    Lifespan and life force were often used as a recement for one another.

    But there was a difference between the two.

    Life force referred to the things that could either increase or decrease your lifespan like the amount of your Mana, condition of your physical and mental health, and for the de Moonasterios, it would include their divine power or Moonglow.

    [When Trevor said the Darkness that hit Nero earlier was eating at his life force, it meant the Darkness was sucking out all the energy that could decrease his lifespan.]

    Life force could also be transferred. But it didn''t guarantee to extend one''s lifespan.

    [Transferring life force to another person only means improving one''s overall health. Like a health buff in video games.]

    The lifespan, on the other hand, was the exact number of days one had left to live.

    "Don''t worry about useless stuff, Grandpa," Neoma said after calming down a little. "I''m healthy enough to provide a home for all of you."

    Despite what she said, her Spirits still looked worried about her.

    "Little Neoma, why did you hide it from us?" Mochi asked in a sad voice. "You do know that keeping us in the dark would only make us worry even more, don''t you?"

    Neoma flinched, but she couldn''t refute what Mochi said. "I didn''t have the face to tell you I only have a few years to live. After all, if I die, then all of you would die with me. I''m afraid to see your reaction¡­"

    "Princess Neoma, you didn''t think we''d me you for our death, did you?" Soju asked between sobs. "We will dly die with you because we know you''ll give us an honorable death."

    Mochi, Kingston, Kimchi, and Namoo nodded with tears in their eyes.

    "Whether your death is honorable or not doesn''t matter to me," Neoma said, a lump forming in her throat. "I don''t want you to die with me."

    "Why are you so selfish, thug princess?!"

    [This voice¡­]

    Of course, it was Tteokbokki¨C in his human CHILD form.

    Neoma stood up and approached Tteokbokki¨C the person she felt most sorry about in that space. "I''m sorry, Tteokbokki. Because of me, you''ll die early¡­"

    "Do you think I care about that?!" Tteokbokki asked, his cracked voice full of contempt. "Now I know why you sealed us here and would only summon us if needed¨C you didn''t want us to know that you''re dying!"

    "I don''t have any ns of dying so soon," she argued. "I wanted to find a way to extend my lifespan first before I tell you¨C"

    "That doesn''t change the fact that you made a selfish decision!"

    "I''m sorry¡­"

    "You''re only sorry because your secret was exposed!" Tteokbokki said between sobs while wiping his tears with his hands. "Why would you keep that a secret from me, you insensitive thug princess?! We were born together, and we would die together! You shouldn''t have kept it from me. Why didn''t you give me a chance to console you? I''m your Soul Beast! We''re supposed to stick to each other no matter what!"

    Ah, so that was why Tteokbokki was mad.

    And that was probably why her Spirits and Elemental Guardian felt betrayed.

    [They wanted to console me during a difficult time¡­]

    She felt strangely touched.

    "I''m sorry, Tteokbokki. I didn''t think that far ahead," Neoma said in a cracked voice, getting down on one knee and hugging Tteokbokki who was currently in his child form. "I won''t push you away again¨C I promise."

    "You better keep your promise, thug princess!" Tteokbokki demanded, hugging her back. "No more secrets from now on!"

    Neoma smiled and nodded. "Okay."

    Kingston, Mochi, Soju, Kimchi, and Namoo soon joined their big family hug.

    ***

    TREVOR COULDN''T see the angry emperor''s face.

    Heck, he couldn''t even lift his head because His Majesty''s thick bloodlust was crushing him slowly. Thest thing he saw before he was forced to kneel and bow was the emperor''s glowing red eyes.

    "Argh¡­"

    Trevor slightly turned to his side and saw Lewis having the same difficulties as him.

    Yep, the fox was also kneeling and bowing in front of the emperor.

    The two of them were summoned to the throne room because the two of them already knew about Princess Neoma''s condition.

    His Moon Princess and Prince Nero were taken to the bedroom since the royal twins were both unconscious. Empress Mona, Hanna, Princess Neoma''s knights, and Prince Nero''s knights were there to protect the twins.

    On the other hand, the emperor''s Pdins were working hard to make sure the news about the pce attack wouldn''t leak.

    [It''s such a shame that Helstor escaped.]

    It was obvious that the damned god revealed Princess Neoma''s secret in order to distract them.

    [And it worked.]

    "When did you find out about Neoma''s lifespan?"

    "Just recently, Your Majesty," Lewis said, obviously having difficulties speaking while being crushed by the emperor''s bloodlust. "After Princess Neoma fought Ruto."

    "I found out a little earlier than Lewis, Your Majesty," Trevor said politely. He was usually cheeky, but he knew he would die if he treated this situation lightly. "I found out when Princess Neoma and I went to the Astello Temple."

    "And none of you bothered to inform me about my daughter''s condition?!"

    CRACK.

    Trevor couldn''t lift his head, so he wasn''t sure what broke.

    But something in the throne room definitely copsed. He wouldn''t be surprised if he''d find long cracks all over the walls and the floorter.

    [It''s scary, but I still need to open my mouth¡­]

    "With all due respect, we swore our loyalty to Princess Neoma, Your Majesty," Trevor said. He didn''t want to admit this, but he was nervous. He also prepared himself to be attacked by the emperor. "It was Princess Neoma''s wish to keep this a secret from everyone else. I believe Princess Neoma was nning of revealing her condition only after she found a way to extend her lifespan."

    Unfortunately, the condition hadn''t been met yet before Helstor revealed the secret.

    "Was it my fault?"

    Trevor dared to lift his head because he was surprised when he heard how devastated the emperor sounded.

    And His Majesty''s voice sure matched his expression at the moment.

    It was chilling to see the prideful Emperor Niki reduced to a father who looked so afraid to lose his precious daughter.

    [The emperor¡­ has really be a decent human being¨C no, a proper father.]

    "Neoma gave me her Moonglow when I was about to die," Emperor Niki said in a lifeless voice. "Was it the reason why Neoma''s lifespan decreased?"

    "I wouldn''t say that it has no connection, Your Majesty," Trevor said in an honest voice. He didn''t say that to make the emperor suffer more. All he did was simply state the truth. "But even if Princess Neoma didn''t share her Moonglow with Your Majesty, it seems like Her Royal Highness was really born with a short lifespan."

    He didn''t say that tofort the emperor, and it didn''t seem like his words were any help at all.

    Emperor Niki still looked like he hated himself for stealing his daughter''s lifespan.

    [This is why Princess Neoma didn''t want to tell you the truth, Your Majesty. She knew you''d me yourself¡­]

    He didn''t voice his opinion because he didn''t want to meddle in their family affair.

    [I''ll do that once I be Princess Neoma''s husband.]

    "I remembered Neoma saying that she was apparently revived in her first life after Nero killed her," Emperor Niki said, a glimmer of hope shing in his glowing red eyes. "Is there a chance that Neoma remembers how she was revived back then?"

    "The damned chef¨C I mean Ruto Solfrid said he used Regina Crowell''s power back then," Trevor answered politely. "But the damned chef¨C er, Ruto Solfrid didn''t tell us the details, Your Majesty."

    Emperor Niki frowned. "Bring Ruston Stroganoff to me¨C as soon as possible."

    ***

    "RUTO, THEY''REing here for you¡­" Sienna trailed off, then she knitted her eyebrows. "What is that THING?"

    The ''thing'' that shocked her was a pot in Ruto''s arms¡­

    ¡­ a pot big enough for a one-year-old baby boy to fit in.

    Sienna ran to Ruto''s residence in the Solfrid Estate to deliver the urgent news, but she didn''t expect to find him in that situation.

    "It''s a baby," Ruto said bluntly. "Can''t you tell?"

    The baby in question had short ck hair, pale skin, and eyes that he couldn''t open.

    Sienna could tell that the baby was awake, but his eyes weren''t open¨C and it was definitely not the baby''s choice.

    [It''s a baby god¡­]

    1

    Sienna unconsciously took a step backwards because the baby god''s divine aura, albeit weak, still sent a shiver down her spine.

    It was as if the baby''s entire existence was something that shouldn''t exist in the world.

    "Don''t be afraid, Sienna," Ruto said lightly. "This is MY baby."

    Sienna''s eyes widened in shock. "Just when did you give birth to a catastrophe¨C I mean, a baby?!"

    ***

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 Chapter 773 3.7 YEARS

    ?

    "IT''S the Kiss of Death," Skylus said after inspecting Neoma noona''s horrible condition, his eyes glowing brightly. "It''s the technique that the God of Death would use to slowly im the life of the people who are about to die."

    When Skylus arrived in the pce with his father and Lord Manu, everything was a mess.

    Both Neoma noona and Prince Nero were in serious condition.

    [But noona''s condition is worse¡­]

    Skylus couldn''t help butpare the royal twins'' conditions to each other because Neoma noona and Prince Nero were lying on the bed side by side.

    "Is there a way to stop that damned thing from eating at my daughter''s lifespan?"

    Skylus flinched after hearing the emperor''s voice.

    He was aware that His Majesty wasn''t mad at him, but the emperor''s angry voice scared him a little.

    "Niki, calm down," the empress, Neoma noona''s kind mother, said. "You''re scaring His Royal Highness."

    The emperor just let out a sigh.

    "It''s okay, Prince Skylus," Lord Manu, who came with him and his father, encouraged him. "You can tell His Majesty what you know. He''s not mad at you."

    Skylus nodded before he spoke. "Either the God of Death or his agent could stop the Kiss of Death frompletely taking Neoma noona''s life."

    "The God of Death has been missing for a long time now," the emperor said, then he looked at the red orb enclosed in a ss box on the bedside table. Then he turned to the Moon Priest. "That eye that Neoma stole from Helstor¡­ it belongs to the God of Death, doesn''t it?"

    "That''s likely the case, Your Majesty," Lord Manu said politely. "I can sense the God of Death''s divine power from the eye."

    The emperor frowned. "Then does it mean the God of Death is already gone?"

    "We cannot be certain yet," Skylus said when the Moon Priest remained silent because he was unsure about how to respond to the emperor. But unlike Lord Manu, Skylus was certain of his gut feeling. "I cannot confirm whether the God of Death is still alive or not, but I can confirm that he has left an agent in this world."

    The emperor and the empress looked relieved by what he said.

    [I''m d to have given them hope.]

    "Prince Skylus, do you know where we can find the God of Death''s agent?" the empress asked kindly. "We need them to help my daughter live, don''t we?"

    Skylus smiled and nodded. "The agent is already headed this way, Your Majesty."

    ***

    "ARGH. You totally knew we wereing for you, don''t you?" Trevorined as soon as he and Lewis received a ''warm'' wee. "You''re so boring. You could have at least pretended to be surprised by our arrival."

    "You used a terrifying power and forced a warp hole to appear in my backyard," Ruto said indifferently. "Did you not expect us to notice your arrival?"

    One of the perks of inheriting the Ancient Devil''s power was having the ability to force a teleportation port anywhere the Ancient Devil had stepped foot on.

    Fortunately, that old bastard had already been to the Solfrid Estate.

    "We don''t have time," Lewis said impatiently. "Come with us."

    Ruto was about to open his mouth to speak when¡­

    "Daddy."

    Huh???

    A toddler, who seemed to be at least a year old, suddenly appeared behind the damned chef.

    [The baby''s eyes are closed even though he''s awake¡­]

    Then the baby crawled up Ruto''s leg until he reached his torso. In the end, the baby boy clung to the damned chef''s neck while thetter carried him in his arms.

    [That baby¡­ is a newborn god.]

    Wow.

    A powerful god was reborn at this time?

    "Daddy, are we going to where Mommy is?"

    That snapped Trevor out of his trance.

    [I have a bad feeling about this.]

    Only a newborn god would be able to speak coherently like that, so that confirmed his initial thought.

    "Hey, kid," Trevor said nervously. "Who''s your ''mommy?''"

    "Princess Neoma," the baby said in a monotone voice as if he was already fed up with everything even though he was just "newly" born. "Princess Neoma is my mommy."

    [I knew it!]

    "Hey, kid. If Princess Neoma is your mommy, then you''re calling the wrong guy ''daddy,''" Trevorined, then he pointed at his face. "I''m going to marry Princess Neoma in the end, so I should be your father."

    "You can''t be my father," the kid said while shaking his head. "My daddy is stronger than you."

    Ouch.

    Trevor''s pride was hurt, especially when Ruto smiled smugly.

    [This punk¡­]

    "It''s already closed¡­"

    It was Lewis.

    The fox''s words were too vague, so they could only look at him while waiting to finish what he was supposed to say.

    Lewis red at the baby. "Princess Neoma''s adoption center is already closed, so you can''t be her baby. Greko is and will always be our youngest."

    The baby just looked at Lewis as if he was bored. "You''re weaker than me, so your opinion doesn''t matter, fox. I only listen to people stronger than me."

    Lewis looked shocked by the baby''s attitude.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Trevor could only frown.

    [It''s the kind of attitude that Princess Neoma would love¡­]

    "Aegiya, that''s enough."

    It was Ruto, and the term ''aegiya'' meant ''baby'' in the Koreannguage.

    Trevor raised an eyebrow at the damned chef. "The baby doesn''t have a name yet?"

    "I''m not confident in my naming sense," Ruto admitted, and he looked quite embarrassed. "So, I''m thinking of letting Neoma name the child."

    "A horrible decision, I must say," Trevor said while shaking his head. "I love Princess Neoma with all my heart, mind, body, and soul, but her naming sense is¡­ not it."

    Lewis nodded in agreement while looking at the baby with a look of pity. "Poor child."

    ***

    NIKOLAI regretted allowing Rufus and Glenn to apany him in the tearoom as he tried to calm himself down.

    [These crybabies¡­]

    They were still waiting for the agent that the God of Death had apparently chosen.

    He left the room where Neoma and Nero were at because his bloodlust was leaking.

    But he was just next room.

    Moreover, Mona was there to guard their children. Neoma and Nero''s knights were also guarding the entire pce.

    Skylus, on the other hand, was sleeping in the guest room.

    The young saint had exhausted his divine power, so Manu let the child rest while they were still waiting for the agent to arrive.

    [I asked Mona to rest, but how could we do that when both our children are in danger?]

    "I can''t believe this," Glenn whispered in a cracked voice. "Princess Neoma has only less than four years to live?"

    Rufus sniffled, and it was obvious that he was trying his best to hold back his tears. "That damned God of Eternal Darkness. If I could turn back time, I would stop my ancestors from worshipping that bastard."

    It was surprising to hear Rufus, who was usually calm and eloquent, curse that much.

    [Well, that''s a testament to how much Rufus cares about Neoma. If I remember correctly, Rufus was also a good father to Neoma in her first life. And I can see that.]

    "If only there''s something else we can do to help¡­"

    "The fact that your son gave us hope is more than enough help, Glenn," Niki said, trying to console Glenn whose eyes were already red and puffy from crying. "If it wasn''t for Skylus'' assurance that not all hope was lost, Mona and I would have already lost it. Your son''s vision is helping us get by."

    And it was the truth.

    Fortunately, Glenn looked relieved by that. "I wonder who the agent of the God of Death is."

    "Me, too," Rufus said. "But whoever they are, I hope theye quickly."

    Niki nodded in agreement. "They have to or else, I''llpletely lose my mind."

    ***

    RUTO bowed his head to Emperor Niki and Empress Mona.

    None of the leaders from the Eastern Continent was invited to the royal wedding, but the news of Emperor Niki''s marriage to Empress Neoma had reached their continent. He was pretty sure that it reached the entire world since the Great Moonasterion Empire was currently the strongest empire in the human world.

    To be honest, his uncle and cousin (the Crown Prince of their kingdom) were pissed that they weren''t invited to the royal wedding. His cousin also tried to stop him froming with Trevor and Lewis to the empire.

    But, of course, he had to go.

    [My divine father wanted me to turn my back on the empire, but doing so will only help Helstor seed in diving the continents apart.]

    "Ruto hyung!" Skylus greeted him cheerfully. "The new agent of the God of Death."

    To be fair, Ruto hadn''t formally epted the position yet. But he didn''t get the chance to correct the young saint because the emperor opened his mouth.

    Emperor Niki looked at Ruto with knitted eyebrows. "What is that thing, Ruston Stroganoff?"

    "A baby, Your Majesty," Ruto said proudly. "He grows quickly every day."

    "It''s a baby god," Empress Mona said in disbelief. "A god was reborn out of nowhere?"

    Not "out of nowhere," but Ruto didn''t have time to exin.

    Lord Manu, the Moon Priest, looked shocked. "That divine aura¡­"

    "Daddy, let''s hurry," Aegiya said while tugging at the cor of his jacket. "Let''s kiss Mommy Neoma before it''s toote."

    Ruto almost choked on his saliva because of what Aegiya said.

    Worse, he was almost crushed by Emperor Niki and Empress Mona''s bloodlust as the royal couple red at him¨C demanding him to exin.

    Ruto cleared his throat. "Your Majesties¨C"

    "Three years and seven months," Aegiya said, cutting off what Ruto was about to say. "That''s Mommy Neoma''s new lifespan."

    The room instantly grew cold.

    Even Ruto was shocked.

    [Thest time I heard, Neoma has still five years left.]

    "My eye," Aegiya said, pointing at the red orb enclosed in a ss case on top of the bedside table. "Daddy, that''s mine!"

    ***

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 Chapter 774 LIFE AND DEATH

    ?

    [A few days ago¡­]

    "RUTO, I''ll send you to the Garden."

    Before Ruto could even respond to the Sun Goddess'' voice that he heard in his head, his consciousness was forcefully taken away from him.

    He definitely fainted.

    Fortunately, he was in his bedroom when it happened. He had just returned from his trip to the empire after he submitted his application to be Neoma''s spouse. The Crown Prince''s secretary told the candidates that the screening would take at least two weeks, and they would be contacted if they had passed the first round of screening.

    Hence, he returned to the Solfrid Estate in the meantime.

    He was nning to reach out to his divine father when the Sun Goddess spirited him away.

    [Since when did I be their errand boy¡­]

    However, all of Ruto''sints were washed away when he opened his eyes.

    [A garden¡­?]

    He found himself in the middle of a lush garden where countless colorful flowers bloomed. Moreover, the orange sky made everything more beautiful.

    [Ah, this is THE Garden.]

    "This is the Garden where the souls of the departed are gathered," Ruto whispered to himself. "And this is where they are supposed to wait until they get reincarnated."

    The God of Death would bring the seeds (aka the souls of the dead) to the Garden and nt them. Once the flowers bloomed, the Goddess of Life would arive to harvest them. Then the souls inside the flowers that sessfully bloomed would be sent back to the human world.

    In short, the Garden was the ce where life and death would often meet.

    "But this Garden is only supposed to be for humans," Ruto said, knitting his eyebrows while looking at the strange "flower" in the middle of the garden. "What is that thing doing here?"

    The ''thing'' he was talking about was a long-stemmed BLACK rose.

    It was nted in the middle of the Garden, and it stood out because the stem was probably around two-meter tall.

    Fortunately, he was around that height so he didn''t really need to look up.

    "It''s a god," Ruto said in disbelief. "A god was reborn at this time? The world is trulying to an end."

    "We risked our lives for him to be reborn."

    Red eyes.

    The semi-transparent apparition of a woman with wavy silver-gray hair and red eyes, draped in a gold silk robe, appeared beside the ck rose.

    [A god¡­]

    Ruto bowed his head slightly when he recognized the divine being in front of him. "Greetings to the Goddess of Life."

    "It''s been a while, God yer."

    He raised his head and went straight to the point. After all, he knew the apparition of the Goddess of Life wouldn''tst long. "Who killed you and the God of Death?"

    The fact that the Goddess of Life appeared like this could only mean she was already gone.

    "You already know the answer to that question, child."

    "How did Helstor be so powerful that he was able to take down two major gods?"

    "Of course, if it was just Helstor, he wouldn''t have been able to take us down as easily as he did," the Goddess of Life said. "But he was armed with some of Neoma''s memories¨C the memories where she killed all the gods in her first life."

    His eyes widened a little. "How did Helstor get a hold of Neoma''s memories?"

    "A Dark Elf had dwelled in Neoma''s soul for a long time before it was banished," the Goddess of Life said. "I suspect the Dark Elf had the ability to look into one''s memories."

    That was usible.

    "God yer, you''ve already lost what you''ve been trying to protect all this time. Why don''t you help Neoma retrieve the memories of her first life now?"

    He didn''t know why, but he felt a pang in his chest.

    "It would be better if Neoma retrieved her memories now in order to stop Helstor from killing gods," the Goddess of Life said. "Moreover, you''re the God yer, child. You have the authority to kill gods who break thew. Don''t you find it strange that you were kept in the dark while gods are dying behind your back?"

    He flinched because the Goddess of Life had a point.

    [Am I losing my authority as the God yer¡­?]

    "Ruto, you and Neoma should work together to defeat the Darkness."

    Somehow, he wasn''t surprised to hear that.

    "Niki de Moonasterio is no longer the strongest human in the world," the Goddess of Life said. "That title belongs to you and Neoma now. And once both of you retrieved what you have lost, you''ll be invincible."

    He already knew that in his heart.

    [Neoma and I could end this world if we wanted to.]

    "Go and take the God of Death to the human world¨C you need him to save Neoma."

    "But gods cannot descend to the human world."

    "The God of Death is currently in an iplete form. As long as he doesn''t have his full power as a major god, it will be fine."

    That was a relief to hear.

    "Alright. I understand," Ruto said, nodding. "I''ll take the God of Death to the human world and bring him to Neoma."

    The Goddess of Life nodded. "Don''t worry about the Moon God¨C we will save him."

    ***

    A BABY.

    After Ruto pulled out the long-stemmed ck rose from the ground, it turned into a baby that looked like an ordinary human.

    [But it seems like he can''t open his eyes.]

    He was kicked out of the Garden as soon as he got the "baby."

    Before he knew it, he was already back in his room¡­

    ¡­ with the baby inside the pot.

    "It''s nice to meet you," the baby said. "Daddy."

    Ruto almost choked on his saliva. "What did you just call me?"

    "I was reborn thanks to you and Mommy Neoma."

    Once again, he almost choked. "W-Why are you calling Neoma your ''mommy?''"

    "Because I was reborn thanks to the power that you and Mommy Neoma left before the world in the first timeline crumbled. But don''t ask how because I wouldn''t be able to exin it properly," the baby exined. "A part of me is human, so my brain would sometimes switch to the brain of a normal toddler."

    Ah, so that was the reason why an old god would call him ''daddy.''

    [I almost died of cringe.]

    "This form is only temporary, though," the baby continued. "Once I retrieve my eyes, I''ll get my original body back."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Your original body back? But I thought you already died."

    "The Goddess of Life and I cannot really die since we''re in charge of life and death, respectively," the baby exined. "Helstor knows that, but he''s probably banking on the possibility that I would get reincarnatedter. He also definitely wouldn''t expect that I''d be able to descend to the human world."

    "Was all of this possible because of the past that Neoma and I shared in the first timeline?"

    He wasn''t surprised that the Goddess of Life was able to use the ''Abandoned World'' to help the God of Death get reincarnated.

    [It''s the same technique Lord Manu used to help Tteokbokki grow faster.]

    "That''s right," the baby answered. "It''s like you and Mommy Neoma are the main characters of this world, Daddy."

    Ruto chuckled while shaking his head. "Neoma would love hearing that."

    "Yeah, I heard Mommy Neoma is a little self-absorbed."

    "It wasn''t just "a little" since she''s so full of herself¨C and she''s proud of it," he said. "Anyway, do you have a name?"

    The baby shook his head. "Give me a name, Dad."

    "I''m not good at giving names," Ruto admitted. "Let me just call you ''Aegiya'' for now."

    Later that day, Trevor and Lewis came.

    ***

    "DADDY, that''s mine!"

    Ruto knew that the red orb he noticed earlier was an eye of a god, but it was a surprise to know that it belonged to the God of Death. "How did you get that eye?"

    "Helstor attacked my children," Emperor Niki exined. "Apparently, Neoma stole one of his extra eyes during their fight."

    "Princess Neoma gouged it with her bare hand," Trevor added proudly. "My Moon Princess is awesome."

    It was indeed a huge feat.

    No ordinary person could gouge an eye out of a god.

    "The eye belongs to the God of Death, Ruto," Empress Mona said. "Does it mean the baby is¡­"

    "Yes, Your Majesty," Ruto said politely. "This baby is the reincarnation of the God of Death. I currently call him ''Aegiya.'' I''m sure you already know what it means after living in Korea for five years."

    The emperor and the empress both nodded.

    "Daddy, save the talk forter," Aegiya said in a hurry. "Every second that we waste, a day in Mommy Neoma''s life is taken away. Her lifespan is now only three years and six months."

    Ruto then turned to the emperor and the empress in a hurry. "Your Majesties, I apologize but I have to ask everyone to leave the room," he said politely. "Aegiya and I will have to use our divine powers. Please make sure the entire pce is protected."

    "Alright," Empress Mona said. "Should we bring Nero out?"

    "That boy needs to stay here," Aegiya said, responding to the empress. "Mommy Neoma has been kissed by Death because she saved the Crown Prince." The baby clicked his tongue, sounding like a disappointed adult even though he had the body of a baby at the moment. "Why does the more deserving heir to the throne has to sacrifice herself for the spare?"

    ''Spare.''

    The baby god just called the Crown Prince a ''spare.''

    No wonder the emperor and the empress suddenly looked annoyed.

    "There'' no ''heir'' or ''spare'' here," Emperor Niki said, his eyes turned glowing red. "Neoma and Nero are both our precious children."

    "We will let it slide for now because we''re running out of time," Empress Mona said, her pale blue eyes also glowing menacingly. "But please watch your words next time, Aegiya."

    Fortunately, the baby god remained silent.

    Ruto slowly took a deep breath.

    [Only Emperor Niki and Empress Mona wouldn''t hesitate to threaten a major god.]

    ***

    "DADDY, should I kiss Mommy Neoma now?"

    Ruto was amazed while staring at Aegiya''s red eye.

    The baby god put his eye back like it was nothing. Since it would be awkward to leave his other eye closed, Aegiya created an eyepatch to cover his left eye that he couldn''t open yet.

    [Gods are truly amazing in this sense.]

    "We can''t touch a sleeping person without their consent," Ruto said firmly. "We have to wake up Neoma first."

    Aegiya tilted his head to one side. "I can do that, but Mommy will be in pain."

    ***

    "FUCKING HELL," Neoma blurted out as soon as she opened her eyes. "Why the fuck am I in pain?"

    "That would be my fault, Mommy."

    She got up abruptly, then she came face-to-face with a baby with a one-eyed baby boy.

    [Red eye¡­ and a very old soul.]

    "A god," Neoma said unconsciously. "A reborn god."

    And that baby god was sitting on Ruto''sp.

    "You''re here?" Neoma asked, knitting her eyebrows. "Gosh, what are you doing here when the Eastern Continent had already turned their backs on us?"

    Ruto smiled bitterly. "You really hold grudges, don''t you?"

    "I do," she said, nodding. Then she turned to the baby god and smiled at him. "Aegiya, why did you call me your ''mommy?'' I don''t remember adopting an ancient god for a son, and I''m not sure if I wanted one."

    "I''m not an adopted son, Mommy."

    "Huh?"

    "I was born from your and Daddy Ruto''s power, Mommy."

    That was a little confusing.

    But her big brain decided to drop a joke instead of processing what she had just learned.

    [It''s my coping mechanism since I''m a little shocked, okay?]

    Neoma gasped, then she turned to Ruto with a shocked look on her face. "Ruto, did you give birth to that baby? Is this an omegaverse world now?"

    "Stop joking around, Neoma," Ruto said, sighing while shaking his head. Then he changed the topic. "Now that you''re awake, can I ask you something?"

    "Sure. What is it?"

    Ruto looked her straight in the eye, blushing a bit. "Can I kiss you?"

    Neoma tilted her head to one side. "Where?"

    ***

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 Chapter 775 THE HEIR AND THE SPARE

    ?

    NEOMA wasn''t dumb.

    Well, she would admit she would do dumb things sometimes because of her impulsive thoughts.

    [Anyway¡­]

    Neoma knew that Ruto wouldn''t ask to kiss her for personal feelings.

    [Plus, it''s not the time to flirt.]

    "It would be quicker if Daddy just kissed you on the mouth," the baby god answered when Ruto became a blushing mess. "But Daddy said you would hate the idea even if your life literally depended on that kiss. So, we''ll just kiss you on the cheek until wepletely erase the Kiss of Death branded on your soul. I am iplete at the moment, so I need Daddy''s help."

    "But would giving me tiny kisses for a certain period of time help?" Neoma asked, weighing the options in her mind. "I understand that my lifespan is decreasing as we speak, so I''m wondering how long I''d survive with your little kisses."

    "You''re in pain because I forcefully stopped the Kiss of Death from eating at your lifespan, Mommy," the baby god exined. "But it will onlyst for a while. So can we get your permission to kiss you?"

    "Wait," she said, raising a hand. "Why does it have to be a kiss in the first ce?"

    "It''s because my kiss as the God of Death is literally deadly."

    As expected, the baby god was indeed the reborn God of Death.

    She already noticed it the moment she saw the baby''s red eye.

    [It was the eye that I stole from Helstor.]

    Did the baby god say that he was reborn thanks to Neoma and Ruto?

    [I feel like my head is going to explode from too much information if I asked about it, so let''s digest the lighter ones first.]

    "Daddy is my chosen agent, so I could share my power with him. In fact, I have to because I also need Daddy''s power," the baby god exined. "My iplete form is unstable, so I need someone like Daddy who has the same energy as me."

    "Oh, you have the same energy as Ruto?"

    "We both take lives as our ''noble'' job," the baby god said indifferently. "Me as the God of Death, and Daddy as the God yer. That''s why we have a great synergy."

    [Ah, so the baby chose Ruto because both of them have the license to kill.]

    "Aegiya."

    "Yes, Mommy Neoma?"

    "Why does it have to be a kiss?"

    "I have to suck the souls of the departed through their mouths," the baby god exined. "But I only use that to the special souls I need to fetch. The souls of ordinary beings are fetched by my servants."

    "The Death Reapers?"

    "Correct."

    "But how did I get the Kiss of Death?" Neoma asked, confused. "I''m sure as hell I didn''t give Helstor the chance to get his fugly face near mine."

    The baby god turned to Nero who was lying down beside her. "He used the Crown Prince."

    "Nero? How?"

    "The Darkness that Helstor scattered in the sky isn''t reall Darkness. It''s the deadly air I use to gather the remaining lifespan of the people who are about to die," the baby god exined. "Hence, when you suck out the "Darkness" that was killing your brother, it attacked you and entered your mouth forcefully¨C just like how Kiss of Death works."

    Neoma gasped softly. "Gosh. Is Helstor that skilled to be able to give me the Kiss of Death withoutying a finger on me?"

    "Helstor only pulled it off because the target was you, Mommy Neoma," the baby god said. "Only you have the power to purify Darkness or Impure Mana with your breath."

    Neomaughed haughtily. "Gosh, my own awesomeness backfired on me big time."

    "That''s true, Mommy."

    Pfft.

    It was so awkward to hear an ancient god call her ''mommy.'' The only people she wanted to call her that way were her "children."

    [I''m not too keen on adopting a reborn major god even though he looks cute as a baby.]

    Anyway, it wasn''t the right time to think about that.

    Neoma turned to Ruto who suddenly flinched for some reason. "Ruto."

    "Yes?"

    "Would you rather be killed by Papa Boss and Mama Boss once, or have them torture you every single day you kiss me?"

    Ruto wasn''t dumb, so he easily understood what she meant by that. "I''m fine with whatever you choose. I''m going to die either way."

    Pfft.

    "Let''s just kiss once and get this done and over with," Neoma said, standing up. Of course, her body still hurt like hell. But it wouldn''t stop her from her current ''mission.'' "Lemme brush my teeth first."

    ***

    "MOMMY Neoma has terrifying divine power."

    "I already know that," Ruto said while observing Aegiya who couldn''t tear his gaze away from the unconscious Crown Prince. "Are you checking on Prince Nero''s condition?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The baby god nodded. "You said the Crown Prince was cursed to forget Mommy Neoma, didn''t you?"

    He nodded in response. "That''s right. What do you see?"

    "It seems like Mommy Neoma took away half of the curse embedded in the Crown Prince''s soul," the baby god exined. "Since the Crown Prince was touched by the Kiss of Death that Helstor nted in his soul, the Kiss of Death ate at the curse inside his body. When Mommy Neoma sucked it out, the part of the curse that the Kiss of Death had eaten disappeared along with it."

    "Wow," he said, indifferent. "Isn''t Prince Nero lucky then? William, the Grand Spirit. Trevor, the genius Sorcerer. Those two have been working separately to lift Prince Nero''s curse. But, in the end, Neoma identally lifted his curse."

    "It''s not pure luck."

    "Oh, it''s not?"

    "The male de Moonasterios are loved by the world," the baby god exined. "It''s the reason why the empire hasn''t crumbled yet despite having horrible emperors for many years. That''s how strong Yule''s blessing is."

    He couldn''t deny that.

    One of the worst emperors in history was Emperor Niki''s father. The previous emperor caused important bloodlines in the world, like the Silver Fox n and the ck Witches, to disappear.

    And yet, the empire remained thriving.

    [Of course, it''s also because Emperor Niki is apetent emperor. Even so, it wouldn''t be hard to believe that luck also yed a huge part. After all, Yule and almost all the most powerful gods in the Upper World gave their blessings to the de Moonasterios.]

    "Even if we don''t do anything, the curse would weaken from hereon," The baby god said. "It all depends on the Crown Prince''s will. If he really wants to remember his twin sister, then it wouldn''t be too difficult to break free from the curse now that it has weakened." The baby god looked up at him, his red eye glowing. "Is the spare determined to remember the heir?"

    "We cannot underestimate Prince Nero''s love and obsession for Neoma," Ruto said, then he knitted his eyebrows. "Aegiya, be careful. The emperor and the empress already warned you to stop calling Prince Nero a ''spare.'' Why would you even do that when it was Prince Nero who was crowned the official sessor to the throne?"

    "There cannot be two sessors at the same time, but we have Mommy Neoma and the Crown Prince in his generation," Aegiya said in a serious tone that didn''t suit his cute appearance as a baby. "And between the royal twins, I''d rather see the birth of the first empress regnant in this empire than witness another tyrant in the making."

    ***

    ONE HOUR.

    Neoma lied when she said she was going to brush her teeth.

    She didn''t JUST brush her teeth¨C she actually took a nice bath. Her Spirits brought her a new set of clothes, her makeup kit, and everything she needed to doll up.

    [I know we''re in a hurry, but I can''t kiss someone when I just fought Lord Helstor.]

    She felt filthy, hence she took a bath first.

    [Now I''m fresh and clean.]

    But she was being considerate already since she only took an hour. It would usually take her two hours and a half. She didn''t even proceed to do her skincare routine because she didn''t want to make Ruto and the baby god wait longer.

    And, yet, the two looked upset when she returned to the room.

    It was actually cute to see Ruto standing up while holding Aegiya in his hands.

    "Neoma, you''re supposed to be in pain," Ruto said while shaking her head. "I can''t believe you managed to take a bath in your condition."

    "Well, my body feels heavy," Neoma said, shrugging. "But my desire to take a bath is heavier."

    "Mommy Neoma, we''re running out of time," Aegiya, the baby god, scolded her. "You really chose to take a bath when every second counts in this situation?"

    "I''d rather die clean than die filthy," Neoma said stubbornly. "Anyway, let''s stop arguing and proceed to our business." She focused her gaze on Ruto. "Did you brush your teeth?"

    Ruto blushed, then he nodded. "I did while waiting for you."

    "Good, so let''s kiss now."

    "Let me just be clear with one thing," Aegiya said, raising his cute and chubby index finger. "Touching each other''s lip in the process is going to be inevitable¨C but you don''t have to use your tongue."

    Ruto''s face turned a deeper shade of red.

    "Then you shouldn''t have called it a ''kiss,''" Neomained. She didn''t want to sound demanding, and she didn''t even know why she sounded disappointed. But her nasty temper took the better of her. "You should have just called it a ''peck.''"

    "Why are you disappointed, Mommy Neoma?" Aegiya asked indifferently. "You and Dad could kisster. Just let me know in advance so I could leave the room."

    "Why would they kiss?"

    "Right? Why would we¡­"

    ¡¤?¦Èm Neoma trailed off when she realized that the voice neither belonged to her, Ruto, nor Aegiya.

    "Neoma, are you going to kiss that bastard?"

    It was Nero¡­

    ¡­ and his glowing red eyes told Neoma something.

    [His memories are back.]

    "Ruto," Neoma said, grabbing Ruto''s hand. "Let''s run."

    ***

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 Chapter 776 WELCOME BACK, SISCON

    ?

    WILLIAM was blindsided.

    He was inside Nero''s soul while working to weaken the curse when, suddenly, he was attacked by the Kiss of Death that came out of nowhere.

    It was hiding deep within the Crown Prince''s soul.

    [No wonder Nero was acting crazier than usual.]

    Fortunately, the Kiss of Death was sucked out right away.

    William didn''t have to be outside to know that it was Neoma who saved Nero. After all, only the Imperial Princess had the power to purify the most corrupt things in the world.

    [That little princess has already surpassed Mona''s purifying abilities.]

    His thoughts were distracted when he finally reached the ce where the two Neros would meet. It was his way of treating Nero, so every time the Crown Prince would lose consciousness, he would bring him to the Nero with memories of Neoma.

    [I should warn Nero first about what happened¡­]

    William trailed off, then his eyes widened at what he witnessed next.

    The real Nero stabbed the ''fake'' Nero in the heart with an ice dagger.

    And, just like that, the fake one disintegrated and turned into dust¨C disappearing as quickly as it crumbled.

    "Nero, are you okay?" William asked worriedly. "Why did you do that?"

    "I don''t need that thing anymore," Nero said as he brushed his fingers through his hair, his eyes glowing red. "Stop asking stupid questions, William. I need to go."

    "Do you want me to help you wake up?" he offered. "You''re currently unconscious, and it''s because your energy was drained. I can share mine with you."

    "I don''t need it," the Crown Prince said, scoffing. "I can wake up on my own."

    "How?"

    "I''m determined enough to see Neoma again," Nero said, growling as if he was mad at himself. "And kill all the suitors who dared to ask for her hand in marriage."

    The Crown Prince then disappeared.

    [Ah, his memories are back.]

    William clicked his tongue while shaking his head. "I should warn Mona that his sister-obsessed son is back."

    ***

    NERO''S memories flooded his mind nonstop.

    His first memory was with Neoma, of course.

    [Neoma''s chubby cheeks when we were babies were legendary.]

    One by one, all of the memories that he shared with his precious twin sister. Unfortunately, he also remembered all the horrible things that he said and did towards Neoma. That included agreeing to her stupid n of finding a husband.

    [I want to kill my old self for being so careless!]

    "You and Dad could kisster. Just let me know in advance so I could leave the room."

    And that was the first thing Nero heard when he regained consciousness.

    Everyone in the bedroom was too busy to notice that he was already awake. No one even turned to him when he got up even though he wasn''t particrly careful about it.

    Neoma and Ruto were the only adults in the room aside from him.

    Well, the baby in Ruto''s arms was obviously a baby god, but he didn''t care about that.

    Nero was already too pissed to care about something as trivial as a reborn major god. "Why would they kiss?"

    "Right? Why would we¡­"

    Neoma trailed off, then she turned around and met his gaze.

    His twin sister''s eyes were as red as his, but he could tell those weren''t Neoma''s eyes. However, he didn''t care about that either.

    "Neoma, are you going to kiss that bastard?"

    His twin sister avoided his gaze to turn to Ruto.

    "Ruto," Neoma said, grabbing Ruto''s hand. "Let''s run."

    As if.

    Nero immediately ran after Neoma and Ruto who bolted out of the room at lightning speed.

    However, as soon as his foot stepped outside the room, he was met by silence in the hallway.

    Neoma and Ruto disappeared without a trace.

    "Dang it!"

    "It''s rare for you to lose your cool, Nero."

    Hmm?

    A silhouette appeared in the middle of the hallway, then it quickly took the form of a human.

    "What happened?" Hanna asked worriedly as she stepped out of the dark, approaching him with the utmost grace that gave her the title of the most refineddy in the empire. "Are you chasing Neoma and Lord Ruto?"

    Nero, for some reason, calmed down when Hanna touched his arm as if she was checking if he was fine. "I heard Neoma and Ruto talking about kissing as soon as I woke up, so I immediately lost it. There was also a baby god, but I don''t care about that one."

    "Neoma and Lord Ruto already broke up, so they couldn''t be talking about kissing for personal reasons," Hanna said calmly. "That''s probably the only way they found to save Neoma''s life."

    He knitted his eyebrows, confused. "Is Neoma''s life in danger¡­"

    Ah.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    He trailed off when he remembered cking out because he was attacked by a Darkness that ate away at his lifespan.

    If there was someone in the empire who could save him, it would be Neoma.

    "No," Nero said weakly. "Is Neoma dying because of me?"

    "Of course not. It''s not your fault, Nero," Hanna said, cupping his face between her hands. "Neoma won''t die anytime soon. But I need to let you know that she only has a few years left to live."

    "What do you mean by that?"

    "ording to what the reborn God of Death said, Neoma only has at least three years to live."

    Only three years left¡­?

    To say that he was devastated to hear that would be an understatement.

    He had just retrieved his precious memories of Neoma, and then he had to find out that his beloved twin sister only had three years left to live?

    [As if I''d let that happen.]

    "Nero, I know it''s hard, but please calm down," Hanna said gently while caressing his cheeks in the most caring way possible. "We won''t let Neoma die¨C not that early, at least."

    He sighed and leaned into Hanna''s touch.

    His fianc¨¦e''s words and kindness helped him to calm down.

    [ming myself wouldn''t help Neoma. I need to pull myself together and think of a way to extend Neoma''s lifespan.]

    Hanna was right¨C they wouldn''t Neoma die that easily.

    "Neoma and I were born the same day," Nero said, cing his hands on top of Hanna''s hands. "We will die the same day, too."

    Hanna looked displeased by what he said, but she understood where he wasing from. Hence, she didn''t say anything.

    And he appreciated that.

    [Hanna really gets me.]

    "I''m sorry for making you upset," Nero said softly. "I didn''t mean I''d give up on living easily. I''m simply saying that I won''t let Neoma die alone."

    "The best option is for you and Neoma to live a long and happy life," Hanna said, smiling. "Shall we go and put our brains into use now for the sake of our dear Neoma?"

    ***

    "PRINCE NERO, wee back. I know that you just woke up from a life-threatening ordeal, but we''re running out of time. If you could kindly sign this, then I shall inform the candidates who passed the screening¨C"

    "Shut up for a minute, Melvin," Nero said, grabbing the documents from his secretary. He nced at the list of the sessful candidates aka Neoma''s suitors, then he frowned. "Ruto Solfrid and Jasper Hawthorne got the highest scores?"

    Now he regretted going to his office.

    Nero and Hanna were summoned by his parents as soon as they found out that he was already awake.

    But because he was addicted to work, he decided to drop by his office first.

    [If I knew Melvin would bring this trash to me, I would have gone straight to Mother and Father.]

    "Lord Ruto Solfrid aka Lord Ruston Stroganoff is a royal from the Eastern Continent, and Duke Jasper Hawthorne is the most sought-after bachelor in the empire at the moment, Your Royal Highness," Melvin exined. "The two of them are the most qualified candidates to be Princess Neoma''s¨C"

    "I''ll kill you if you finish that sentence."

    Melvin acted like he was zipping up his mouth.

    "You don''t have to be mean to Sir Melvin who''s only doing his job, Nero," Hanna scolded her lightly while patting his back. "And let''s not focus on the list in the meantime." She grabbed the documents from him, then she handed it back to Melvin with a gentle smile on her face. "Sir Melvin, I apologize but we''re quite busy at the moment. We''ll get back to youter."

    "You don''t have to apologize, Princess Hanna," Melvin said politely, bowing his head. "I should be the one apologizing for bringing work to Prince Nero as soon as he woke up. Clearly, I should have known better than bring up Princess Neoma''s marriage when our dear Crown Prince is currently unstable¨C"

    "Get out, Melvin."

    Melvin bowed towards Nero. "dly, Your Royal Highness."

    And, just like that, Melvin bolted out of the office HAPPILY.

    "That punk is getting ruder and ruder as days pass by," Neroined while shaking his head. "He''s probably hoping I''d fire him once he crossed the line."

    "You should lessen Sir Melvin''s workload if you don''t want him to quit as your secretary," Hanna said gently. "Sir Melvin is the only fit candidate to be your chancellor once you ascend the throne. You can''t lose him."

    "I know."

    "So, why are you stalling?"

    "Huh?"

    Hannaughed softly while shaking her head. "It''s obvious that you''re not yet ready to face your parents now that you''re in your right mind, Nero."

    Ah, he couldn''t really hide anything from his dear fianc¨¦.

    "I''m just embarrassed. Mother and Father didn''t abandon me, but I resented them when I lost my memories," Nero said, then he sighed. "But most of all, I don''t know how to beg for Neoma''s forgiveness."

    ***

    IT WAS DEFINITELY not Neoma''s first kiss with Ruto, but it was definitely the first one in this lifetime.

    She didn''t expect that a mere brush of Ruto''s lips against hers would make her feel things.

    [I should stop reading erotic novels¡­]

    If Neoma could turn back time a little, she would pull the baby god''s ear for putting her into this awkward situation with Ruto.

    ***

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 Chapter 777 FIRST KISS

    ?

    RUNNING AWAY from Nero made Neoma feel like she was the female lead in a thriller movie where she had to escape from her stalker or something.

    Of course, even thriller movies had a romance subplot sometimes.

    And, in this case, Ruto was clearly her male lead.

    Heh.

    [I could already hear Trevor crying if he heard my silly thoughts just now.]

    "Neoma, I don''t think Prince Nero is still chasing after us."

    "Ah, is that so?" Neoma asked, slowing down. But she still didn''t let go of Ruto''s hand (and Ruto was carrying the baby god in his other arm). "Then let''s choose a romantic ce for our first kiss."

    She already had a ce in mind, and they were headed that way.

    Of course, it was none other than her favorite ce in the Royal Pce¨C the pavilion by the pond. Hence, Papa Boss made it so only Neoma and her people could enter the ce.

    "We''re not going to kiss, Neoma."

    "idents happen, Ruto."

    "Even so, it wouldn''t be our first kiss."

    "I know, duh," she said, rolling her eyes. "But it would be our first kiss in this lifetime." She turned to him with a re. "Unless you kissed me while I was unconscious or something."

    He scoffed. "I would never do that."

    "Good boy," she said, then she tugged at his hand as she ushered him to the pavilion by the pond. "No one would disturb us here."

    "Okay¡­"

    When Neoma and Ruto reached the pavilion, the baby god asked Ruto to put him down.

    But the baby god''s bum didn''t even touch the floor because he just floated in the air.

    "Now you may begin the operation," Aegiya said, crossing her chubby hands over his chest. "I''m channeling my divine power to Daddy to turn his breath into a nullifying agent to get rid of the Kiss of Death."

    "Okay," Neoma said, then she gently pushed Ruto against the pir and mmed her hands on either side of his head. Yes, it was the famous ''kabedon'' aka ''wall m.'' Something wasn''t right, though. "I don''t like that you''re looking down at me, Ruto."

    "I''m not doing it on purpose, Neoma," Ruto said, sighing. "It can''t be helped that I''m taller than you."

    It was something that she would normally like to hear.

    But not now.

    "Namoo, make some box for me," Neoma said, talking to her Wood Spirit. "Make it so I could tower this gentleman here."

    Ruto just looked at her as if he was already done with her antics.

    But, at least, he didn''tin.

    Anyway, it only took Namoo to create a wooden box under her feet.

    Soon enough, she felt herself getting lifted up until she was towering over Ruto.

    "Are you satisfied now?"

    Neoma smirked in response to Ruto''s question. "Very. Can I touch your face?"

    "I''m supposed to be the one leading this, you know?"

    "Nah, the more dominant one should be leading."

    "And you are more dominant than I am?"

    "You can''t tell with our positions?"

    "I''ll let you touch my face, but let me touch your waist. I need to pull you closer to me."

    "Fine," she said, shrugging. Then she cupped Ruto''s face between her hands. "You can grab me now."

    Ruto''s face turned red, but he moved his hands to grab her waist. "Tiny¡­"

    "What?"

    He immediately shook his head as if he was embarrassed. "No, nothing."

    "Daddy, Mommy, you''re not here to kiss," the baby god scolded them. "Let''s focus, shall we?"

    Neoma and Ruto, who were both embarrassed after getting scolded, nodded.

    The baby god then touched Ruto''s shoulder, then Ruto''s entire body quickly got enveloped in a mix of ck and bluish lights.

    [Ah¡­ this is the power of a god that controls death.]

    It was a little suffocating.

    [If the God of Death was in his full form, I don''t think I could be standing on my feet in his presence.]

    That hurt her pride.

    [I need to get stronger to be able to stand proud against a major god soon.]

    "Neoma," Ruto said, gently squeezing her waist¨C his eyes glowing brightly. "Focus on me."

    Okay¡­ that was so hot that she could only mutter one word.

    "Yessir."

    "Close your eyes."

    "You first."

    Ruto sighed, then he closed his eyes.

    Neoma then lowered her head and she closed her eyes. Of course, it was only right to lead this moment because she wasn''t used to getting led by the red g Ruto. "I guess my face is close enough for us to exchange our breath."

    That sounded weird, but whatever.

    "I''ll touch your lips, Ruto."

    "Okay."

    [Gosh, he sounds sooo domesticated.]

    Neoma touched Ruto''s lower lip, then she gently pulled it down so that his lips were slightly apart. Of course, she also parted her lips to allow Ruto''s ~healing~ breath to enter her mouth.

    Soon, she smelled and tasted Ruto''s cool and minty breath.

    The energy entering her body through her mouth was refreshing. She could feel the impurity inside her body getting cleansed. It was a strange yet interesting experience to be the one getting purified instead of purifying someone or something.

    [This energy¡­ tastes delicious.]

    Neoma wanted more.

    She felt the same hunger that she would feel every time she saw Darkness.

    Her greed took the better of her and, before she knew, her lips were already pressed against Ruto''s lips.

    [Ah, fuck.]

    Neoma opened her eyes and met Ruto''s glowing dark purple eyes¡­

    ¡­ then she pped her face pretty hard.

    Even without looking at the mirror, she knew that the cheek that she pped turned red. She wouldn''t even be surprised if her hand print was left on her skin.

    In fact, she tasted blood in her mouth.

    Yes, she didn''t hold back.

    "I''m sorry for kissing you without your consent, Ruto," Neoma said apologetically. Getting carried away wasn''t an excuse for what she had done. "You can punch me, too."

    "Okay," Ruto agreed, nodding. "But instead of my fist, can I use my lips to "punch" your lips?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    That was fucking cringe-y, but Neoma blushed whileughing. "That sounds like a fair punishment."

    "Then please excuse me."

    Much to her shock, Ruto gently grabbed her by the nape and pulled her face closer to his.

    At that point, Neoma already had her eyes closed.

    Then her lips crashed against Ruto''s.

    [Ah, his lips are soft, warm, and familiar.]

    Neoma wanted to savor the moment of her lips being pressed nicely against Ruto''s, but her ex-man was impatient.

    Ruto nibbled her lower lip, gently asking her to slightly open her mouth.

    Of course, she closed her lips tightly and pulled her face away from him.

    She almostughed when she opened her and saw Ruto''s frustrated expression. He just opened his glowing dark purple eyes. And even without saying anything, she could tell that he was dying to kiss her.

    [Gosh, me and my deadly charm.]

    "Aegiya," Neoma said to the baby god. "The scene is about to be R18."

    The baby god let out a sigh. "The Kiss of Death branded on your soul is almost gone. Keep up the good work."

    And, just like that, the baby god disappeared.

    Neoma turned back to Ruto to tease him, but she was surprised when he suddenly pressed his lips against hers.

    [Aww¡­ look at him being impatient and all.]

    Neoma licked Ruto''s lips, her tongue probing him to open his mouth.

    Ruto did open his mouth¡­

    ¡­ as he let out a low groan.

    [Wow¡­ that sounds hot.]

    Neoma wrapped her arms around Ruto''s neck, pulling his hair gently to raise his head. Then she closed her eyes as she leaned down¨C capturing his mouth for a searing kiss.

    Ruto kissed her back with as much fervor, his arms wrapped around her waist¨C pulling her closer to his body.

    The kisses they shared were deep, long, and intoxicating.

    But Neoma wasn''t satisfied.

    It was because the deeper the kiss was, the more refreshing she felt. The energying from Ruto was rejuvenating her in the best way possible.

    And she liked that feeling.

    [More¡­]

    Neoma''s handsnded on Ruto''s shoulders, grabbing them tightly until her nails dug deep into his skin.

    On the other hand, Ruto squeezed her waist as if he was trying to keep his hands from wandering around her body.

    Gosh, her ex-man was so strict even to himself.

    [Is this the part where we use our tongues¡­?]

    At this point, a normal couple should already be breaking the kiss for air.

    But not Neoma and Ruto.

    Both of them had good stamina and a very good lung capacity.

    [Yep, this is the part where we use our tongues.]

    It seemed like she wasn''t the only one who thought of that.

    But as soon as Neoma''s tongue ~shyly~ touched Ruto''s, both of them felt a feeling so ominous that they had to break the kiss.

    Then they looked at each other as if asking, "Did you feel that, too?"

    "I think you need to go home now, Ruto."

    Memories that were unfamiliar to her began flooding her head.

    [I¡­ need to sleep.]

    Or else she felt like she''d lose her mind.

    Ruto, fortunately, seemed like he had an urgent matter to attend to as well. "Good night, Neoma."

    "Good night, Ruto," Neoma said, sighing. "I don''t think we''d both get a decent sleep tonight, though."

    ***

    "THE KISS OF DEATH has been erased already from Neoma''s soul."

    Niki was relieved to hear that. Then he turned to Mona who was sitting beside him. Just like him, his wife also looked relieved by the good news.

    But, of course, they couldn''t becent yet.

    "How about Neoma''s lifespan?" Niki asked worriedly. "How much of it is left?"

    "Three years and three months," the reincarnation of the God of Death said. "That''s only how little lifespan Neoma has to live."

    Niki clenched his hands tight.

    [Neoma would only be twenty-one in three years'' time.]

    He wouldn''t let his daughter die that early.

    "Is there a way to extend Neoma''s lifespan?" Mona asked, her voice shaking a bit. "Why does our daughter have such as short lifespan?"

    Niki and Mona weren''t prepared by what they heard from the god.

    ***

    <"PRINCESS NEOMA, we have returned to offer you a deal¡­">

    Neoma stopped walking when three pairs of red eyes blocked her way.

    [Gods.]

    Minor gods, to be precise.

    Ah, fuck.

    What bad timing.

    She really felt like she was going to lose her mind.

    Even without looking at a mirror, she could tell that her eyes that were already red were currently glowing menacingly.

    [I have to control myself.]

    But how¡­?

    "I know I''m already stronger than minor gods," Neoma said,ughing as if she had just lost her mind. "But why are you so weak?"

    There must be something wrong with her.

    Because howe Neoma could see the weaknesses of the gods in front of her?

    [And what''s this strong urge to kill them¡­?]

    ***

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 Chapter 778 NEOMAS MELTDOWN

    ?

    KILL.

    That was Neoma''s strongest urge at the moment.

    She would admit that she never shied away from violence, especially if the people who received violence from her deserved it.

    However, she wasn''t some sort of psychopath who enjoyed killing.

    But at that moment¨C she felt so drunk with power.

    [I need to snap out of this strangeness!]

    And, so, Neoma tried to p herself on both cheeks.

    Keyword: ''tried.''

    Before her hands could even touch her cheeks, two people already stopped her from hurting herself¨C gently grabbing each of her wrists.

    "Princess Neoma."

    "My Moon Princess."

    The people who stopped her were Lewis and Trevor.

    Neoma, who took a good look at the fox and the demon boy, suddenly burst out crying.

    And the reason for her tears?

    "Why are the two of you so easy to kill?" Neoma cried out loud. Admittedly, she was acting like a drunk. No, she was acting worse than the time she got so wasted as Kim Neoma during her freshman orientation drinking party. "Lewis, why are the Silver Foxes have that kind of weakness? Trevor, I thought you were supposed to be a genius Sorcerer. Why can I, someone who can''t use magic, have the ability to kill you?"

    She thought her cursed memories only made her remember how to kill gods.

    But why could she also remember how to kill the other races?

    [Is this how I ended up killing almost all the races in the world before I set it on fire?]

    "I''m such an evil person," Neoma continued crying her eyes and heart out. "I deserve to die¡­"

    "Please don''t say that."

    She immediately shut her mouth when she heard how serious Lewis and Trevor were.

    Moreover, the two also looked hurt by her careless words.

    [Ah, I made a mistake.]

    Neoma only had a few years to live, and that was already heartbreaking enough for the people who loved her.

    Hearing her say that she deserved to die probably hurt them more.

    [Okay, now I''m wide awake.]

    "I''m sorry, I misspoke," Neoma said. She was sober now, but her tears wouldn''t stop falling. Why the heck did she suddenly turn into a crybaby? "Lewis, Trevor, promise that you wouldn''t let me kill you. If I start acting strange, knock me out. I don''t know what to do with all these stupid memories¡­"

    "Memories?" Lewis asked, surprised. "Princess Neoma, did you remember¨C"

    "Shh," Trevor said, hushing Lewis while side-eyeing the gods in front of them. "Later."

    Lewis, who realized that he almost made a mistake, shut his mouth right away.

    "My Moon Princess, these gods came to offer you a deal, but you''re obviously not in the right state to deal with them," Trevor said carefully. "As your Contractor, would it be right for me to talk to them in your stead?"

    Neoma nodded weakly, her tears still falling nonstop. "Okay."

    "Then shall I escort you back to your room, Princess Neoma?" Lewis asked worriedly. "You need to rest."

    "Okay," Neoma said while nodding. "I want to cry in my room."

    ***

    NEOMA was starting to calm down when her "children" arrived in her room to check on her.

    As soon as she saw Greko, memories of how to kill fairies began to flood her mind.

    Right.

    [Our youngest is a half-fairy. And it seems like I killed the fairy n during the first timeline.]

    Hence, she burst out crying once again.

    "I''m sorry, Greko," Neoma said, hugging Greko tight. "I''m really sorry."

    "E-Eomma, why are you apologizing to me?" Greko asked in a panic, but he gently rubbed her back tofort her. "Please don''t cry, eomma. It breaks my heart to see you in this state."

    "I don''t deserve to be your eomma¨C I''m a bad person."

    "You''re not a bad person, eomma," Greko said gently. "You just have a nasty temper, an arrogant personality, and a foul mouth."

    "¡­"

    Hmm.

    [Is my youngest dissing me?]

    "But all of those things are just a part of your charm, eomma," Greko said, hugging her back. "Before you became my eomma, you''re my savior. A bad person wouldn''t save children like me, eomma."

    Neoma sniffled, but she still couldn''t get rid of the guilt in her heart.

    [I killed so many people in the past¡­]

    "What''s happening here?"

    "Baby, are you crying?"

    "Who hurt you, Neoma?"

    It was Papa Boss, Mama Boss, and Nero respectively.

    When Neoma raised her head and saw her family, her waterworks were put on once again.

    Tears continued to roll down her face as memories of how to kill a de Moonasterio and a Roseheart filled her mind.

    [Why do I have to learn how to kill my family¡­?]

    And if she had those memories, it only meant one thing.

    [Did I kill them in the first timeline?]

    Come to think of it, she couldn''t remember what happened to Papa Boss when Nero became the tyrant. Granted that it happened after her revival, it was still suspicious that she didn''t have any memories of her father.

    [I''m sure Mama Boss died in the first timeline, so the only Roseheart left back then was Nero. If I know how to kill a Roseheart, then does it mean I killed Nero by my own hands?]

    Was that the reason why Neoma died alone?<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Neoma, are you hurt anywhere?"

    It was Hanna who just arrived in her bedroom.

    This time, Neoma didn''t only remember how to kill a Quinzel¨C a brief yet vivid memory flooded her mind.

    In the memory that she retrieved out of nowhere, she saw Hanna stopping her from getting swallowed by her Lunacy. She couldn''t tell what kind of technique it was, but it seemed like Hanna created a thing simr to a ck hole that absorbed all the red lights in her body.

    She recognized those red lights as the manifestation of her Lunacy.

    The ck hole sessfully swallowed all the red lights, and that stopped Neoma from going insane¡­

    ¡­ but Hanna lost all her Shadows.

    [And that''s a death penalty for a Quinzel.]

    To simply say, Hanna died because of Neoma.

    "Why did you do that, Hanna?" Neoma said, standing properly only to hang her head low¨C her hands clutching her head tight. "Why do I have to remember all these stupid memories? I don''t want to see these¡­"

    [Should I just gouge my eyes out?]

    She didn''t know what had taken over her, but her mind was yelling for her to gouge her eyes out.

    [Maybe it''s the only way for me to stop seeing all the things I don''t want to see.]

    ¡¤?¦Èm Neoma raised her head, only to move her hands with the intention of gouging her eyes out.

    Yes, with her bare hands.

    "Neoma!"

    She knew that her family and friends would stop her from doing what she was about to do.

    Hence, she put herself inside the Dome.

    Of course, her Dome was sturdy enough to keep even Papa Boss, Mama Boss, and Nero from approaching her.

    Her family immediately tried to break her Dome, but she knew they wouldn''t seed.

    Moreover, she also sealed Tteokbokki and her other Spirits when they felt them trying to get out without her permission.

    [This is my chance to do what I intend to do.]

    Neoma really thought it was her chance to gouge her eyes out with her own hands, but she was surprised when Skewer suddenly appeared out of thin air.

    Then the Death Scythe''s rod quickly changed its form into a rope.

    And that rope was already tied around her hands¨C stopping her from gouging her eyes out.

    [What the fuck?]

    How did Skewere out when Tteokbokki and the other Spirits couldn''t?

    <"Child, don''t let the demon in you take over your sanity.">

    Huh???

    A woman with long, ck hair and dark pink eyes appeared in front of Neoma.

    The stranger''s all-ck dress was a little too sexy for that era since it showed too much skin, based on the empire''s standards anyway.

    [But why does this woman have the same vibes as Skewer?]

    Now that Neoma''s focus was on something else, her thoughts about gouging her eyes out slowly slipped away.

    <"Now that you have calmed down, shall we talk?">

    "Who are you¡­" Neoma trailed off, then she remembered that Emperor Primo once mentioned whom the Death Scythe belonged to. She gasped out loud when the realization finally hit her. "Are you, perhaps, Empress Gwen¨C the First Emperor''s wife?"

    Empress Gwen smiled and nodded. "That, I am."

    It was the Demon Queen herself!

    ***

    RUTO clutched his chest tight, his heart still thumping hard and fast against his chest.

    He was relieved that he was able to go home safely to his father''s mansion in the Royal Capital despite him feeling feverish.

    [My face still feels hot.]

    He didn''t know why, but as soon as the kiss he had shared with Neoma deepened, something in him changed.

    No, it felt like he retrieved something that he had lost.

    That was definitely strange.

    "Is my heart beating this way because of Neoma?" Ruto whispered to himself while his back was pressed against the door of his bedroom. "But I''m not supposed to feel anything for her anymore."

    But here he was now.

    [Why do I feel the strong urge to suddenly grovel before Neoma?]

    ***

    "ARGH!"

    The Ancient Devil, now living as Noah Solfrid, almost fell to the floor when he felt a sudden pang in his chest.

    He was getting ready to visit the pce when he lost his strength out of nowhere.

    Before he knew it, he was already sitting on the bed while clutching his chest tight.

    [Why do I feel like something has been taken away from me?]

    Could it be¡­ Ruto?

    "Impossible," Noah whispered to himself in disbelief. "He wouldn''t be able to retrieve his feelings unless someone on Lord Levi''s level helped him."

    There was no way Lord Levi would help his son remember his feelings for Princess Neoma.

    So the question was ''who.''

    [Who would help Ruto retrieve his feelings for Princess Neoma?]

    "These feelings are mine," Noah growled to himself. "I won''t let you steal what already belongs to me, child."

    ***

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 Chapter 779 THE DEMON QUEEN

    ?

    "MY HUSBAND tried to rip his heart out his chest once when I told him I want to own his heart forever."

    Pfft.

    Neomaughed after hearing what Empress Gwen said. "Really, Grandma? Grandpa Primo did that?"

    "That, my husband did," Gwen said, smiling while shaking her head. "I said I wanted his heart before we got married. But during one of his bad episodes where his Lunacy acted up, he suddenly remembered me saying that. Hence, he tried to rip his heart out of his chest."

    She smiled, but she actually felt a bit terrified.

    [That''s how strong our Lunacy is.]

    Anyway, it was a good thing that Neoma lost consciousness.

    Empress Gwen brought her to a pretty ce.

    Well, for some reason, watching theva inside the mouth of a volcano while sitting on a fluffy cloud was pretty rxing.

    She didn''t know why the empress brought her there, but it was fine with her.

    [Since this ce is close to a dream, I don''t feel hot.]

    Hence, she calmed down pretty quickly.

    "I guess our Lunacy doesn''t really have a cure," Neoma pondered out loud. "We can tame it at most. But the moment our mental health crumbles, it''s ''bye-bye sanity'' already."

    "The stronger a de Moonasterio is, the more unstable they are," Empress Gwen said. "You and your twin brother are, by far, the strongest de Moonasterios born in history. It used to be Aruna and Arche. But the two of them have already surpassed them."

    "I''ve always prided myself on being OP, Grandma," Neoma said solemnly. "But now that I''ve retrieved some of my memories, I regret being too strong." She looked at her hands and realized that they were shaking a bit. "I''ve taken so many lives with these hands, and some of them might have been my loved ones."

    She only remembered how to kill, but she didn''t remember whom she had killed.

    Hence, she was suffering.

    Her heart was heavy with guilt.

    "Then you have to atone this time, Neoma."

    "¡­"

    "Save as many as you have killed," Empress Gwen said gently. "If you have the power to kill, then you also have the power to save. This world might reject you because your existence is a threat, but that shouldn''t stop you from atoning for your sins."

    Ah, she didn''t expect those words to lighten the heaviness in her heart.

    Her grandma was right.

    [I have to atone for my sins, so I shouldn''t be sulking.]

    "Moreover, don''t you think it''s a blessing in disguise that you know how to kill your loved ones?" Empress Gwen asked. "You can avoid hurting them."

    Ah, her grandma had a point.

    But she was still worried about something.

    "I will never hurt them when I''m on my right mind," Neoma said firmly, then she sighed. "But what would happen if I suddenly lose to my Lunacy? I''m afraid that I might end up killing them." She hugged herself when she suddenly felt a shiver down her spine. "When I saw the minor gods who tried to make a contract with me earlier, I saw how to kill them. And I had the urgency to do so just because I know I can. I never thought my arrogance was a serious problem until the moment I looked at my loved ones and realized how easy it is for me to end their lives."

    For the first time in her life, she got scared of her own power.

    Because she knew that her unstable mind could break at any moment because of her Lunacy.

    [I don''t want to be strong anymore¡­]

    "Neoma, did my husband tell you that I was the Demon Queen when I was still alive?"

    She was confused by the random question, but she still nodded her head politely. "Yes, Grandma."

    "My husband was just exaggerating."

    Well, she wasn''t surprised.

    [Grandpa Primo seemed like the type to exaggerate things for his own entertainment.]

    "It''s true that I have demon blood," Empress Gwen said. "But I was never their queen. In fact, I was the one who helped the gods seal the Demon Race in the Underworld."

    "Oh¡­"

    "Most of the demons of that time were horrible creatures who only saw humans as food," her ancient grandma exined. "To be fair, there was a time when humans and the demons co-existed. But after the Absolute Darkness almost swallowed the entire world, the demons who got affected by the Absolute Darkness had lost their minds. Hence, the higher demons¨C the ones considered as the gods among the Demon Race¨C decided to kick the demons back to the Underworld. And they asked me to help them."

    Ohh.

    So, it was the leaders of the Demon Race who decided to leave the human world.

    "You did the world a huge favor, Grandma. And yet that fully Callisto de Luca killed you the moment he found out you had demon blood in you," Neoma said, clicking her tongue. "That fucking bastard should have been thrown to the Underworld with the demons."

    Empress Gwen looked shocked by her "colorful" choice of words, then sheughed softly. "I thought I needed to use my power to help you stabilize, but it seems like you''ve totally calmed down now."

    "Ah, yes," she said, scratching her cheek. "Honestly, now that I''m sober, I feel embarrassed for crying like a baby."

    As expected, her big brain worked best when her mind was clear.

    "Do you remember trying to gouge your eyes out?"

    Neoma nodded, her cheeks burning from embarrassment. "Yes, Grandma. Thank goodness you stopped me in time."

    "Is that what you think?"

    "Huh?"

    "I was a littlete, Neoma," Empress Gwen said, and she looked a bit embarrassed. "The seal you put in your soul to stop your Soul Beast and the other Spirits inside you was pretty strong. Hence, it took me a while to break free."

    Okay, another chill was sent down her spine. "But I didn''t feel any pain earlier¡­"

    "It''s because you weren''t in your proper mind."

    She gulped hard. "Did I¡­ gouge my eyes out?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "You didn''t seed, but you hurt your eyes pretty badly," her ancient grandma exined. "Your eyes were bleeding. Don''t worry, though. After all, you have a good Healer by your side."

    Neoma let out a groan while ''washing'' her face with her hands. "God, I probably traumatized my people. Worse, I had to make my youngest heal the eyes that I tried to gouge out. I need to return to them now, Grandma."

    "Alright," Empress Gwen said. "But, first, let me teach you how to use the Death Scythe every time you feel like your Lunacy is taking over your sanity."

    She removed her hands from her face. "Is that simr to the technique that Grandpa Primo taught me? He taught me how to draw out your demonic power from Skewer."

    "It''s pretty simr, but also different."

    She just knitted her eyebrows at what her ancient grandma said.

    "You can turn your own breath into a poisonous gas that could ''kill'' the Lunacy if it starts acting up," Empress Gwen exined, smiling. "You just have to mix a bit of your demonic power into it."

    Neoma clutched her head pretty tightly. "No, I''m going to get more powerful again."

    [It''s so hard to be the main character of my own life¡­]

    ***

    MONA''S hands wouldn''t stop shaking.

    They saw how Neoma almost gouged her eyes out with her bare hands.

    Fortunately, a Spirit appeared and stopped her daughter from doing that horrible thing to herself.

    When Neoma fainted, the Dome around her also copsed.

    Everyone rushed to her daughter''s side.

    But everyone also knew that the most qualified person to check on Neoma would be Greko¨C the young yet brilliant Healer.

    "I-It''s alright. E-Eomma didn''t seed," Greko, whose glowing hands were pressed carefully against Neoma''s closed eyes, assured them in a shaking voice. The golden lights that covered the young Healer''s hands were actually fairy dust. It was the most effective healing powder in the world. "Eomma''s eyes are f-fine."

    The young Healer looked pale not because he was getting tired from healing Neoma, but because he was in shock.

    It must have been traumatizing for Greko to see her "eomma" gouge her eyes out.

    Neoma cried blood as a result of her recklessness.

    And it wasn''t only Greko who was traumatized.

    Niki, Nero, Hanna, Lewis, and the rest of Neoma''s "children" were also stiff.

    But she was more worried about her husband and son.

    Niki and Nero, just like Mona, were kneeling beside Neoma to keep a close watch on her.

    [But my husband and son look like they''re about to lose their minds.]

    That was when Mona finally stopped shaking.

    She had to pull herself together for her family.

    [At least one of us has to stay sane.]

    Mona held Neoma''s slightly cold hand, then she transferred some of her energy to her daughter to keep her warm. And she seeded. Soon, Neoma''s cold hand finally turned warm. "Neoma, baby, you''re fine," she whispered gently. "We''re all here for you."

    Niki and Nero then ced their hands on top of her hands.

    Mona expected silence to answer her back.

    But she was wrong.

    "Mama Boss¡­"

    Mona''s eyes widened in shock when Neoma called her.

    She also heard a collective gasp around her, but she only focused on her daughter.

    "Neoma, how are you feeling?" Niki asked right away. "Are you hurt anywhere else?"

    "No," Neoma answered weakly, shaking her head. "But I''m hungry¡­"

    Nobody reacted right away.

    Well, except for one.

    Nero immediately stood up and headed for the door. "I''ll summon your favorite chef."

    ''Favorite chef?''

    Mona briefly wondered if Nero would summon Ruto, but she got distracted when Neoma gently squeezed her hand. "Yes, baby?"

    "Mama Boss, Papa Boss, I have a request."

    Mona and Niki answered at the same time. "What is it, daughter?"

    "Let''s proceed with the Selection of my husband," Neoma said in a hurry. "I have a lot of jobs to do, you see. I''m sorry for making you worry, everyone. But I''m fine and ready to work now, so¡­"

    Mona felt a pang in her chest.

    [Why is my daughter so workaholic?]

    Niki let out a sigh while pinching the bridge of his nose. "No," he said firmly. "You''re grounded until you fully recovered, Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio."

    "No," Neomained lightly. "I can''t afford to rest!"

    ***

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 Chapter 780 REST IS FOR THE WEAK

    ?

    "TSK." Nero couldn''t help but click his tongue at Ruto. "It''s annoying to see the face of the thief who dared toy his hand on my precious twin sister."

    "Yes, I''m the thief who dared toy his hand on the precious Imperial Princess," Ruto said calmly. "To what do I owe the honor of getting a visit from the His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince in our humble abode?"

    Tsk.

    The Stroganoff Mansion wasn''t, by any means, ''humble.'' It was almost as big and as elegant as the Quinzel Mansion.

    And, yes, he personally visited the annoying chef at his mansion.

    The servants of House Stroganoff were very surprised when they saw him¨C especially since he was alone.

    Technically, he wasn''t alone.

    William opened a portal for him so he could reach House Stroganoff fast. But the Grand Spirit didn''t like dealing with humans, so William disappeared as soon as they arrived there.

    "Did you know that Neoma lost her mind and almost gouged her eyes out?"

    Ruto, who was about to sip his tea, visibly froze on the spot. "Excuse me?"

    "I hate repeating myself."

    "Is Princess Neoma okay?"

    "Do you think I''d waste my time here if my precious twin sister is in grave danger?"

    To be honest, he didn''t want to be here either.

    But he needed a reason to leave.

    [I can''t stand seeing Neoma bleeding. If I lost my mind to Lunacy, then I''ll only bring more trouble to the family.]

    Hence, he decided to step out in order to calm himself down.

    "That child Greko or whatever his name is healed Neoma''s eyes."

    Ruto looked relieved by what he said.

    "I thought you know everything that happens in the empire despite being a foreigner?" Nero mocked the guy, raising an eyebrow. "I also remember that you know almost everything about my precious Neoma."

    "Princess Neoma is ''precious'' to you now?"

    "Always has been, and always will be," Nero said, then he sipped the tea that was served to him earlier. "I don''t need to spell it out for you, do I?"

    "Your Imperial Highness has retrieved your memories of Princess Neoma."

    "Correct," he confirmed. "Anyway, Neoma woke up hungry. She likes the food you make the best, so drag your feet to the pce and cook for my precious twin sister."

    "Your Imperial Highness could have just sent someone over to summon me," Ruto said, obviously suspicious. "I don''t believe Your Imperial Highness personally came dropped by just to ask me to cook for Princess Neoma."

    He scoffed. "You''re the person who''s going to make food for Neoma. Do you think I''d take it lightly? Of course not. If you mess up her food in any way, you''re dead."

    "I have my pride as a chef, Prince Nero¨C I would never mess with Princess Neoma''s food or anyone else''s for that matter."

    "Ah, I thought you have already forgotten your roots as Chef Stroganoff," Nero said, smirking. "After all, you applied for the Selection as Ruto Solfrid¨C the sessor of House Solfrid and the nephew of the most powerful kingdom on the Eastern Continent."

    "Did Your Imperial Highness personally check the backgrounds of the candidates for the Selection?"

    He scoffed, offended. "Do you think the Imperial Crown Prince have time to do a background check on pests like you? It''s Melvin''s job to screen the candidates. I just so happen to see that you and Duke Hawthorne are the top two candidates to win the Selection."

    Ruto squinted his eyes. "Duke Hawthorne topped the list with me¡­?"

    Wow, the arrogance.

    "Did you think you were going to top the list ALONE?"

    Ruto shrugged casually. "It''s not down I''m looking down on Duke Hawthorne. I just thought my royal blood would help raise my value higher than the other candidates. That''s why I registered myself as a Solfrid instead of a Stroganoff."

    Oho?

    [This is the perfect opportunity to crush this punk who dared to have a rtionship with Neoma.]

    "Have you forgotten that the Selection is to look for Neoma''s future husband?" Nero said, chuckling. "The number one criteria would be the FACE, of course. It just so happens that Duke Hawthorne''s face is more attractive than yours, Ruto Solfrid."

    "¡­"

    Ruto couldn''t say anything back.

    [It seems like I''ve hit a nerve.]

    Nero was satisfied with his job well done. He was about to leave when Ruto opened his mouth to speak.

    "If face is the number one criteria, then I''m d."

    "Wow. Are you confident despite having an average face?"

    To be fair, Ruto''s face wasn''t average by normal standards.

    But if Rubin Drayton was in the mix, then Ruto''s face would automatically get demoted to average.

    [I don''t want to say this, but Rubin Drayton''s face is really out of this world.]

    "I''m confident not because I think my face is great, but because Neoma said my face is her favorite as it gives her the tranquility that she needs," Ruto said, addressing Neoma casually with an annoying "gentle" smile on his face. "At the end of the day, it''s still Neoma who''s going to choose her husband and not you or your secretary, Prince Nero."

    [This bastard¡­!]

    Nero was seriously contemting throwing his gloves at Ruto''s face when the door to the tearoom suddenly burst open.

    Then a familiar nagging followed.

    "I apologize for interrupting your conversation, Prince Nero and Lord Ruto," Melvin said in a voice that was almost crying. Then he knelt and hugged Nero''s leg. "Prince Nero, do you know how much His Imperial Majesty scolded me for letting you leave the pce alone when I didn''t even know you went out?! How hard is it for you to tell me in advance if you''re out to spread menace to the world?! I''m the one who''s going to clean up after your mess anyway, so please, please, please don''t keep me in the dark!"

    Ah, this bastard secretary of his was really good at "subtly" insulting him.

    "Stop overreacting," Nero said, patting Melvin''s head. He actually wanted to smack his secretary''s head, but he didn''t want to give him a reason to resign. "How did you even know I''m here? Did you put a tracking device on me?"

    "I don''t need to do that, my prince," Melvin said, raising his head to look at him with a smug look on his face. "You have a one-track mind, Prince Nero. When Empress Mona said you went out saying you''ll bring Princess Neoma''s favorite chef to the pce, I knew you''d look for Lord Ruto. Fortunately, the candidates for the Selection were required to note where they would be staying in the capital, so I knew Lord Ruto would be at home."

    [And he''s wondering why I wouldn''t let him resign¡­]

    Melvin could be dumb sometimes.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Let''s go home, Prince Nero," Melvin said while wiping the tears off his face with his hands. "I brought the royal carriage for you, but we could take the shortcut to avoid the eyes of the citizens since I also brought Lucien with me."

    "Alright, let''s go home," Nero said, then he turned to Ruto with cold eyes. "See you at the Selection, Lord Ruto." He addressed the pest properly to put a distance between them. "The list of the sessful candidates for the Selection would be released three days from now, but I guess you already know you passed even if I didn''te here to inform you."

    ***

    "PRINCESS NEOMA, here''s the list of the sessful candidates for the Selection."

    "Thank you, Dahlia," Neoma said, smiling at her secretary. "Good work."

    She had been stuck in her room for two days already because she was ''grounded.''

    For the first day of her ''confinement,'' she couldn''t really do anything because her eyes were blindfolded.

    Of course, it was a special blindfold that helped her eyes recover quickly.

    During that time, she asked Lewis to bring Dahlia to her.

    She then asked if the ck Witch wanted to be her secretary, and so here they were now.

    "The list would be released tomorrow morning, Princess Neoma," Dahlia, who sat on the chair next to her bed, said. "Then the Selection would begin the day after."

    Oh, good.

    Fortunately, Neoma''s blindfold was already removed by Greko this morning. Hence, she could now clearly read the list of sessful candidates for the Selection. And then she burst outughing after seeing familiar names on the list.

    Ruto Solfrid.

    Jasper Hawthorne.

    Trevor Kesser.

    But there were also two names that made her frown instantly.

    Rubin Drayton.

    Noah Solfrid.

    "What is a relic from the past doing here?" Neoma asked, clicking his tongue. "I thought we put an age requirement to the criteria, so how did Noah Solfrid pass the screening? That fugly bastard is as old as the ancient gods. Even if youbined all my previous lives together, I would still be a babypared to that pervert."

    "ording to Sir Melvin, Candidate Noah Solfrid''s physical age is twenty-five years old. His good looks and background as a Solfrid were also good enough for him to pass the initial screening," Dahlia exined, then she gave her a look full of worry. "Should I ask Sir Melvin to remove Candidate Noah Solfrid from the list?"

    She considered it for a moment, then she shook her head. "Tell them to proceed with this."

    [Trevor and Jasper oppa would be there. They could just get rid of the Ancient Devil is that fugly old bastard starts to act funny.]

    The thing that bothered her more was Ruto.

    [Did he apply as a candidate for the sake of his duty? Or is it because he fell in love with me all over again?]

    Her big brain knew it was probably the former.

    But her ''delulu'' heart wanted to believe thetter.

    And, for some reason, Neoma suddenly remembered the hot kiss that she shared with Ruto.

    [Dammit, that was sooo good.]

    Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a knock on the door before it burst open.

    Then Nero entered the room, followed by Lewis who was pushing a food cart.

    [Ah, it''s time for lunch.]

    Neoma was aware that the food she had been eating for the past two days were all cooked by Ruto.

    But Ruto hadn''t visited her yet.

    [It''s okay, I feel his concern in the warm and delicious meals he makes for me anyway.]

    Dahlia stood up and bowed her head politely towards Nero. "Greetings to the Lesser Moon of the Great Moonasterion Empire."

    "You may do away with the formalities, Miss Dahlia," Nero said indifferently, and he didn''t even look at the ck Witch. "Can you leave the room for a moment? I need to speak to my sister in private."

    Neoma waved her hand to Dahlia. "See youter, Dahlia."

    Dahlia just smiled and bowed politely before leaving the room quietly.

    [Whew.]

    Neoma was d that Nero was treating Dahlia like how he would treat the other servants.

    [I mean, it''s pretty rude and he acts snobbish around Dahlia. But it''s better than acting obsessed with her when he already has THE Hanna Quinzel for a fianc¨¦e.]

    Speaking of Hanna¡­

    [It seems like Hanna is avoiding metely. Shees to visit me with Mama Boss, but she neveres to my room alone as if she doesn''t want to talk to me in private.]

    "Neoma, let me feed you."

    "Why?" Neoma asked, surprised. "I can use my hands, you know?"

    Lewis, who was silently putting out the ''breakfast tray,'' looked at Nero with a disgusted look on his face.

    [Uhm, Lewis, Nero is still the Crown Prince so let''s control our expressions, okay?]

    "It''s your punishment for still working even after being grounded," Nero said, smiling ''sweetly'' at her. "So, let your big brother feed you, okay?"

    Argh, goosebumps.

    Neoma almost died from cringe.

    [The siscon is truly back¡­]

    ***

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 Chapter 781 THE SELECTION

    ?

    "AREN''T you supposed to be on probation?" Neoma asked, confronting Nero. "Why are you here in my room again?"

    "I just missed you," Nero said while cutting the steak into bite-sized pieces for her. "Moreover, it''s not like I went out of the pce. My room is just next to yours."

    Ah, right.

    Nero was on probation.

    On the other hand, Neoma was grounded.

    Hence, to make sure that it would be easier for their knights to keep an eye on the two of them, Papa Boss ordered her to be ''confined'' in the room next to her twin brother.

    [Gosh, Papa Boss and Mama Boss are treating us like we''re some troublemaker kids¡­]

    "Here," Nero said, offering a piece of steak near her mouth. "Open your mouth, Neoma."

    "Argh, this is so cringe-y," Neoma said, but she still opened her mouth and ate the piece of steak. "Oh, wow."

    The meat was so tender and juicy that it almost melted in her mouth.

    "Gosh," she gushed. "Ruto is really a good chef. Imagine having a guy like him cook for you every day. That''s the dream, dude. Then imagine having an excellent chef for a husband¡­ wow. I''m smitten."

    Nero frowned at what she said. "Just hire that punk to be your personal chef again. Why do you need to marry him just because he''s good at cooking?"

    Lewis nodded passionately in agreement with Nero.

    Neoma rolled her eyes at the two, then she just changed the topic. "So, how is Papa Boss dealing with the damage you caused House Spencer?"

    She received a report as to why Nero was on probation.

    Her dear twin brother almost killed Marquis Russell Spencer and his army of private knights.

    ''Almost.''

    [ording to Sir Melvin, if their group''s Healer didn''t treat the marquis and the knights right away, everyone would have died that day.]

    "I don''t regret it," Nero said firmly. "I will not apologize to that pervert."

    "Nero, I understand why you wanted to kill that pedophile," she said, sighing. "But don''t kill people who have nothing to do with the problem."

    "It''s a problem that they allowed a pervert who preys on children as the head of their family."

    Ah, Nero had a point.

    Tsk.

    [I hate how smart he could be at times like this.]

    "Next time, just take out the trash quietly," Neoma said, shaking her head. "I heard that despite what happened, House Spencer still sent a candidate. Aspensation for the damage you caused to their household, the vassal families of House Spencer asked for their candidate to get added to the Selection."

    Instead of getting pissed, Nero just smiled as if he was looking forward to it.

    "Don''t touch any of my marriage candidates," she warned her twin brother. "I''ll deal with the Selection on my own."

    The brat just shrugged, obviously not listening to her.

    "You should listen to your noona or you''ll regret it once I die."

    It was supposed to be a joke.

    A tacky one, yes.

    But she was just d that she could finally joke about it now that her secret was out in the open.

    However, Lewis and Nero didn''t appreciate her joke.

    "Princess Neoma, it wasn''t funny so please don''t say something like that," Lewis scolded her lightly. "I''d rather hear you call me ''son'' again."

    She wanted to say that she''d take him up on that offer.

    But Nero, who was obviously displeased, suddenly stood up.

    "I''m going back to my room, Neoma," Nero said, avoiding her gaze. "Rest well."

    [He looks like he''s about to cry.]

    Neoma sighed, then she nodded. "I will never joke about that again¨C promise."

    ***

    [AH, the taste of freedom.]

    Neoma was finally ''released'' after a week of confinement.

    [Nero''s probation is still on since he keeps on sneaking out of his room to visit me.]

    It was good news for her since she didn''t want her twin brother meddling with the Selection.

    "The three hundred sessful candidates would arrive here tomorrow morning."

    Neoma''s thoughts were interrupted when she heard Hanna exin.

    The two of them were currently walking around the courtyard of the People''s Pce.

    [It''s the pce that the Imperial Pce would often for themoners during festivals.]

    But it would be used for the Selection now.

    It was the Crown Princess who worked the hardest, along with Melvin and Dahlia, so that the preparations for the Selection proceed smoothly.

    Right now, Neoma was walking with Hanna in front of the People''s Pce.

    The vast courtyard was empty at the moment, but there was already the pce staff who were busy setting up tents for their guests.

    "Will the guests be staying in the People''s Pce?"

    Hanna nodded. "The People''s Pce is the smallest pce that we have, but it can still amodate up to five hundred people. However, not all candidates would be given the guest room. We already informed them that everyone would be using the staff room."

    After all, the People''s Pce had more staff rooms than guest rooms for royals and nobles.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Of course, the staff rooms were prepared in a way that would still make them feel they''re staying in a luxurious hotel room," Hanna continued with her exnation. "There are royals, nobles, andmoners among the three hundred candidates, and we informed them that they will all be treated equally. Hence, their servants aren''t allowed to apany them. We have already warned the candidates that anyone whoins about the arrangement would be kicked out of the Selection immediately."

    Neoma chuckled since Hanna was still as consistent as ever. "Since this Selection is only for show, I''ll try to cut down the number of candidates to at least half as much as I could. I feel bad for you and the other staff who have been working hard these past few days."

    "Don''t worry about it, Neoma," the Crown Princess assured her with a smile. "We want to make this Selection as believable as possible, so we shouldn''t spare our resources into making this Selection as grand as possible."

    That was exactly why her heart felt heavy.

    [This was a huge waste of money.]

    But,e to think of it, it was better to waste money this way than waste it on a war.

    [Yeah, at least the citizens are safe.]

    "Neoma, don''t overwork yourself, okay?"

    Aww, that was touching.

    "Hanna."

    "Hmm?"

    "You were avoiding me before, weren''t you?"

    Hanna smiled and avoided her gaze. "I was just thinking about what you said before you almost gouged your eyes out."

    ["Why did you do that, Hanna?"]

    That was what Neoma asked Hanna after she remembered that Hanna sacrificed her life to stop her Lunacy in the first timeline.

    If Hanna avoided her because of that, then it could only mean one thing.

    "You understood what I mean by that right away," Neoma said, smiling sadly. "Does it mean you already know how you died in the first timeline?"

    "Lord Rubin told me the technique that I used as the Shadow Pir, and how it took my life away."

    [Damn that pretty boy¡­]

    "Neoma, don''t worry," Hanna assured her, holding her hand tightly. "I won''t die that way. We''ve already changed my fate once¨C I''m sure we could do it again. I''m sorry for avoiding it when I shouldn''t have. I just didn''t want to see you me yourself for something that you shouldn''t feel guilty about."

    Once again, she was touched.

    People like Hanna were really good for Neoma''s mental health.

    "Thank you for saying that, Hanna," Neoma said, smiling while squeezing Hanna''s hand. "You''re right¨C we won''t let history repeat itself."

    ***

    THREE HUNDRED handsome young men from all over the world.

    Neoma''s beautiful and sparkling ash-gray eyes were having a feast as she stood on the pce''s balcony.

    The red curtains blocking the balcony were still drawn.

    But she could see just fine, even after returning Goddess Alethea''s eyes, because of her amazing eyesight as a de Moonasterio.

    [All these children want to marry me, huh?]

    She heard from Melvin that over a thousand men had applied for the Selection, but the Crown Prince''s secretary only chose the strongest and the most unique individuals that also had an attractive face.

    Of course, that would definitely make her appear shallow.

    She didn''t care, though.

    [The Selection isn''t meant to look for my husband anyway.]

    "Neoma, control your expressions and maintain your dignity as the Imperial Princess," Papa Boss scolded her lightly. "Why are you fawning over thosecking young men anyway?"

    ''Lacking young men.''

    Trust Papa Boss to ruin the moment if it had something to do with her love life.

    [Gosh, is this the same man who wants me dead when I was a baby?]

    "Ignore your father, baby. He just can''t believe that his little princess is now looking for a spouse," Mama Boss said. Obviously, her mother didn''t mean that since her mother knew the real reason behind the Selection. "Neoma, you''re extra beautiful today. I can already hear the hearts of those young men getting broken."

    Pfft.

    Trust Mama Boss to always lift her up.

    But it wasn''t like her mother was lying.

    Neoma, in her red and gold off-shoulder dress, looked really worthunching a thousand ships just to see her beauty.

    Heh.

    [Just call me ''Neoma of Moonasterion.'']

    "Thank you, Mama Boss," Neoma said, hugging her mother. "Thank you for the genes."

    ***

    AFTER PAPA Boss gave his quick yet thorough opening speech as the emperor, it was finally Neoma''s turn to greet the candidates.

    [Lezzgo.]

    Aww, she loved the feeling of being admired while all those young men from all over the world looked up at her with sparkling eyes.

    Of course, she knew that not everyone had pure intentions.

    But business was business, so she was fine with it.

    "Gentlemen, shall we begin?" Neoma asked with a smile after her short speech. "For the First Round of the Selection, how about¡­" She paused, acting demure. Then she smiled ''shyly'' and pointed a finger at the sky. "How about each one of you draw me a picture of the sky like how you see it at this very moment?"

    ***

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 Chapter 782 FIRST ROUND

    ?

    PRESTON Willows was sent by his family to assist Lord Ruto, an official candidate of the Selection.

    Each candidate was allowed to bring one assistant.

    Right now, he had just finished setting up a tent that Lord Ruto would be using. Of course, a room in the pce was reserved for them. But ording to the instructions that he received beforehand, the candidates would only be allowed in the pce during nighttime.

    [The search for Princess Neoma''s husband was announced on such short notice, and yet there are still this many candidates who showed up?]

    Amazing, huh?

    It seemed like no kingdom or nation would miss the opportunity to be a part of the Great Moonasterion Empire.

    [I thought we wouldn''t get a chance to participate, but here we are.]

    If Lord Ruto''s citizenship wasn''t revoked, he wouldn''t be able to join the Selection.

    Because of that, Phoebe¨C his older sister¨C was very upset.

    [It just goes to show how far Lord Ruto would go for Princess Neoma.]

    Oh, well.

    Preston felt bad for his older sister. But honestly? He was d to be there.

    He didn''t care about Princess Neoma, though.

    [I''m only here to see (my beloved) Prince Nero.]

    And his dream finally came true when the red curtains that blocked the view of the balcony was finally removed.

    The Imperial Family greeted them.

    Oh, wow.

    Emperor Niki.

    Empress Mona.

    (Preston''s beloved) Crown Prince Nero.

    Crown Princess Hanna.

    All members of the Imperial Family looked very good and very majestic in red¨C the official color worn by members of the Imperial Family on official asions such as today.

    Preston thought his eyes would be automatically glued to (his beloved) Prince Nero.

    But before he knew it, he was already staring at Princess Neoma.

    [So beautiful¡­]

    Of course, he had heard rumors about how Princess Neoma''s beauty couldpete with the Goddess of Beauty herself.

    But he didn''t expect the Imperial Princess to be THIS beautiful.

    [Lord Ruto said I met Princess Neoma when I was young, but I can''t remember it.]

    How could he forget someone as beautiful as the Imperial Princess?!

    But had he gone insane?

    [(My beloved) Prince Nero and Princess Neoma are twins, so I shouldn''t be this shocked. But why am I still stunned to see Princess Neoma''s ridiculously beautiful face?!]

    And Preston wasn''t the only one who was shocked by the Imperial Princess'' beauty.

    "Her Imperial Highness'' beauty is unbelievable¡­"

    "Traveling across the world just to see that face is worth it¡­"

    "Even if I get sent home early, I''m already satisfied after seeing Her Imperial Highness¡­"

    "I''ve been arrogant. How could I desire to covet someone as beautiful as the Imperial Princess? I''m not worthy¡­"

    "Me either¡­"

    Preston couldn''t understand what the others were saying because they weren''t speaking the standardnguage used in the empire. He only studied the standardnguage so he wouldn''t get kidnapped or something while he was there.

    But he could tell that almost everyone was already smitten by Princess Neoma''s beauty.

    He gulped hard, clenching his hands tight.

    Now he had two problems.

    First, Preston was worried about Lord Ruto because he saw how most men suddenly became morepetitive after seeing Princess Neoma''s beauty.

    But, to be honest, he was more worried about his second problem.

    Preston only had one heart, so he thought he should only give it to one person.

    However¡­

    [Who do I like now? Is it still (my beloved) Prince Nero? Or is it Princess Neoma now?]

    Preston thought he liked men all this time, but he didn''t realize he could like two different genders until that moment.

    [I''m so confused.]

    ***

    [AH, I''m starting to get bored.]

    Neoma wanted to cover her mouth to yawn, but just one look from Papa Boss and she behaved like the proper princess that she should be.

    [Gosh, Papa Boss is so strict.]

    Was it a sin to yawn?

    Anyway, right now, Neoma and her family were watching the candidates draw from the balcony.

    Each candidate was given a piece of paper and a pencil.

    Most of the candidates were sitting on the grass, some were standing, and there were a few who were already sleeping.

    [Trevor is one of those who are already sleeping after submitting their work.]

    Melvin, Dahlia, and Geoffrey Kinsley had set up a long table in front of the People''s Pce. The three were in charge of collecting the candidates'' artworks. Of course, the three were also in charge of eliminating the candidates caught cheating.

    Thanks to Neoma''s sharp eyesight, she could see that many candidates had drawn the blobs of Darkness in the sky.

    [Those people are the real deal.]

    "I can already tell that half of those pests would be going home after the First Round of the Selection," Nero said while observing the candidates from the balcony. "I''m surprised Melvin found that many talented individuals in such a short time."

    Hanna nodded in agreement. "You should be good to Melvin so he wouldn''t leave your side, Nero. He has the eye for talent."

    Right?<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "I didn''t expect that at least half of these young men could see the Darkness spread in the sky," Mama Boss said worriedly. "That means most of the kingdoms and nations all over the continent are already aware of what is happening."

    "That could be the reason why even kingdoms who bear a grudge against the empire still sent a representative," Papa Boss said. "They''re probably here to check whether we know something that they don''t."

    "Then that''s a little disappointing," Neoma saidzily. "I thought they were here to see my beautiful face."

    None of her family reacted.

    [Ah, they''re already used to my vanity.]

    "Neoma, you should be grateful that so far, no one has looked at you the wrong way," Nero said, smiling "sweetly" while patting her hand. "If that was the case, then blood would have spilled already. I don''t care if it would start a war against other kingdoms."

    Gosh, so morbid.

    Papa Boss, who silently scolded her earlier for almost yawning, nodded in agreement with Nero''s violent thoughts.

    Wow.

    That was offending.

    "Nero, watch what you say," Mama Boss scolded him. "Although we put up a barrier to keep our conversation private, you must still be careful."

    Neoma smirked, delighted that Nero was scolded by their mother.

    "Yes, Mother," Nero said, acting like the obedient son that he wasn''t. "I apologize."

    Mama Boss just smiled and patted Nero''s shoulder.

    Neoma rolled her eyes when Nero gave her a triumphant smile, then she got distracted when one candidate caught her attention.

    [He''s pretty.]

    The candidate with auburn red hair and sparkling yellow eyes looked androgynous. His height was average, but for some reason, he looked small. Moreover, his movements were awkward.

    But the thing that caught Neoma''s attention the most was the choker around the candidate''s neck.

    That looked very familiar.

    "That''s Young Master Shane from House Carter¨C a barony that serves House Spencer," Hanna said when she noticed that Neoma was looking at that particr candidate. "He''s the candidate sent by Marquis Russell Spencer. Surprisingly, we don''t need to get rid of him in a foul way."

    She was aware that Trevor and Jasper oppa said they would take care of the representative of House Spencer.

    [Aka they would get rid of the poor candidate no matter what.]

    ¡¤?¦Èm But if that candidate failed the first round, then blood wouldn''t spill.

    [And that seems to be the case.]

    Neoma could see that the Young Master Shane was in a state of chaos¨C and his paper was still nk. But, to be honest, that wasn''t her main concern. "That''s not a ''young master,''" she said, smiling. "Gosh, I''m suddenly reminded of my gender-bender era."

    ***

    [HI. MY name is Sharon Carter, and this is the day I will die. Probably.]

    Sharon Carter took the ce of her twin brother Shane Carter who was supposed to be sent there as a representative of House Spencer.

    But his twin brother disappearedst night.

    [That punk said he''d rather die than marry the Imperial Princess as if the Imperial Princess would even throw his ugly face a nce.]

    Still, she was worried about her twin brother.

    They were only a baron house in name, but they were poor. Their formerfortable life was taken away from them when House Spencer, the main family they served, forced her parents to take the me for a crime Marquis Russell Spencer hadmitted in the past.

    Now her parents were in jail for a crime they didn''tmit.

    [A representative of the marquis suddenly reached out to us two weeks ago because, apparently, Shane is the only "young master" around the Imperial Princess'' age that''s affiliated with House Spencer.]

    Actually, those bastards wanted Shane to do something bad during the Selection.

    But Sharon couldn''t say anything since they needed the money offered to them.

    [Although I''m having second thoughts now.]

    Still, she needed the money.

    Even though they were nobles in name, it had already been two years since Sharon and Shane had been living in the slums.

    Her brother had yet to get used to their new life, too.

    But Shane was acting stranger these days.

    "Are you going to submit a nk paper, Young Master Carter?"

    Sharon was shocked when Duke Jasper Hawthorne approached her, but she was even more shocked when he spoke politely to her. "Y-Your Grace, you can speakfortably with me¡­"

    Fortunately, the voice-changing device around her neck made her sound like her brother.

    "How can I do that when this is our first meeting?" Duke Hawthorne said, then he looked at the nk paper in her hands before he looked at her face quite intensely. "Sir Kinsley said they''d be collecting the papers in three minutes."

    Ah, right.

    The unbelievably and absolutely beautiful Princess Neoma asked them to draw the sky as if the Imperial Princess was expecting them to draw something that the naked eyes couldn''t see.

    And that was Sharon''s biggest problem.

    [The sky looks pretty normal to me.]

    Maybe Sharon should just draw what Shane said about the sky before her stupid twin brother ran away from home.

    [Yeah, that''s better than submitting a nk paper.]

    Sharon bowed her head politely towards the young (and ridiculously handsome) Duke Jasper Hawthorne. "Thank you for the reminder, Your Grace."

    At that moment, Sharon also decided to snitch on Marquis Spencer.

    [I can''t let someone as handsome and kind as Duke Hawthorne get hurt.]

    Thus, Sharon began writing an essay, too.

    ***

    NEOMA immediately grabbed the paper that ''Young Master Shane Carter'' submitted.

    Surprisingly, the ''young master'' drew the right thing despite having a nk paper earlier. But what caught her attention was the long essay written in it.

    That gave her goosebumps.

    "Xion," Neoma said out loud. "Send someone to the slums now!"

    ***

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 Chapter 783 ONE STEP BEHIND

    ?

    AFTER the First Round ended, the candidates for the Selection were invited inside the People''s Pce.

    To be precise, the candidates were ushered to the dining hall with the capacity to entertain four hundred to five hundred guests. The People''s Pce was named like that because it was supposed to be open to the public.

    Anyway, while the candidates were having a feast for lunch, Neoma and her "children" were busy checking the ''artworks'' that the candidates submitted.

    Papa Boss and Mama Boss already returned to their offices, and so did Nero and Hanna. After all, her parents still had work to do as the emperor and the empress. That applied to the Crown Prince and Crown Princess as well.

    But it was okay.

    Lewis, Juri, Jeno, Xion, Paige, Greko, and Dahlia were enough to check the artwork with her. The eight of them were currently inside the royal bedroom that Neoma would use until the Selection was over.

    "Wow," Neoma said while staring at thest artwork in her pile. "The Mermaid Prince is a talented artist."

    Yep, the Merfolk n sent their youngest prince.

    ''Prince Reevo Hali.''

    She took a peek at the Mermaid Prince earlier, and she must say that his ombre shoulder-length hairbined with his pretty green eyes stood out. Plus, his face was really pretty.

    [He''s the ''flower boy'' type.]

    "Prince Reevo looks a little faint-hearted, though," Jurimented. "I think he''ll struggle in the next round."

    "That''s his charm, though," Neoma said cheerfully. "His face makes anyone feel the urge to protect him."

    But she also had a feeling that Reevo would struggle in the next round.

    [Merfolks are known to have a soft spot for animals, even if they are considered beasts by normal standards.]

    Oh, well.

    "Princess Neoma, you have to see this," Paige said in an urgent voice. "This is the artwork that Young Master Shane Carter submitted."

    [Ah, the gender-bender ''young master.'']

    Neoma turned to the paper that Paige was handing over to her, then she immediately grabbed it.

    The drawing had blobs of Darkness in the sky.

    But what caught her attention was the drawing under the sky.

    It looked like a church. But instead of Yule''s symbol, the door and the windows of the church were covered in blobs of Darkness.

    There was even a line written below.

    ["The God of Eternal Darkness has returned to save his devotees from getting swallowed by the Second Absolute Darkness."]

    ''Second Absolute Darkness?''

    That line gave her shivers.

    [Helstor, that bastard¡­]

    However, the next lines that she read didn''t stop giving her goosebumps. It almost looked like an essay.

    ["Your Imperial Highness, most of the children of the slums who could see the ''blobs of Darkness'' in the sky have gone missing. My brother could see the same thing that I don''t see, and he kept telling me that it would be the end of the world soon. A strange priest had visited our house once, and he was trying to recruit my brother toe to him. It sounded like a cult to me, so I chased the priest away. However, justst night, my brother ran away from home. If you help me find my brother, I will tell Your Imperial Highness everything that Marquis Spencer asked me to do in order to ruin the Selection."]

    She wasn''t surprised that Marquis Spencer sent his household''s representative to ruin the Selection because they had already expected that to happen.

    However, the thing that concerned her was the missing children of the slums.

    Of course, she had already anticipated that the first people who would suffer if a war broke out were the poor.

    Hence, she already sent Skylus and Manu to check on the slums.

    Yep, the future Saint and the Moon Priest were currently in the slums¨C but they probably didn''t know about the existence of the so-called Church of the Eternal Darkness.

    [Skylus can''t see everything, especially if Helstor covers his traces with Darkness.]

    "Xion," Neoma said out loud, her heart beating fast against her chest because of how worried she was about Skylus and Manu. "Send someone to the slums now!"

    "It will be faster if I went there myself, Princess Neoma. Moreover, I can track Prince Skylus and Lord Manu," Xion said calmly. "Please give me your orders."

    Ah, right.

    Xion was the quickest among them, and he could hide himself well.

    Her son''s calm response almost made her feel better.

    [I shouldn''t be hasty.]

    "Go to the slums and escort Skylus and Lord Manu back to the pce, Xion," Neoma said in a calm voice. "If you meet the weird priest that Young Master Shane mentioned in her letter, do not engage in a fight. Your priority is toe back home safely."

    Lord Manu could purify Darkness and create portals, so sending Xion alone should be fine.

    Xion stood up and bowed his head towards her. "I''ll go ahead then, Princess Neoma."

    And, in just the blink of an eye, Xion disappeared in the dark quietly.

    Neoma then turned to Dahlia. "Go to the emperor''s pce and the Crown Prince''s pce. Inform them about what happened."

    Mama Boss had set up her office next to Papa Boss.

    Hanna also did the same in Nero''s office.

    Hence, Dahlia only needed to go to two pces in order to inform the emperor, the empress, the Crown Prince, and the Crown Princess about the urgent issue.

    "Tell Hanna to summon Duke Quinzel in secret, too," Neoma added. "Duke Quinzel is in charge of the Public Order. Hence he has to know the horrible thing happening to the slums while we''re busy here."

    Dahlia stood up and nodded politely. "As youmand, Princess Neoma."

    "Thank you."

    After Dahlia left, Neoma then faced Juri.

    "Bring Young Master Shane here," Neoma ordered Juri. "Make it as natural as possible when you pulled ''him'' out of the dining hall, Juri."

    Juri nodded politely. "Consider it done, Princess Neoma."

    And, just like that, Juri also left the room.

    "Eomma, please drink this," Greko said, handing a teacup to her. "I personally brewed this tea for you."

    Neoma smiled and nodded. "Thank you, baby."

    "Eomma, I''m no longer a baby."

    "You are~"

    "Princess Neoma, should we take a break since we''re already done checking the artwork?" Lewis asked politely. "You can''t miss your lunch with the excuse of being busy."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    She wanted to say that she wasn''t hungry.

    But she was pretty sure that her "children" wouldn''t eat if she didn''t.

    "Okay," Neoma said, nodding. "Let''s have lunch first."

    Jeno stood up right away. "I''ll bring the food, Princess Neoma."

    "Thank you, Jeno."

    Now that the urgent matters had been taken care of for now, Neoma finally felt like she could breathe again.

    But there was still a pang in her heart.

    [The children of the slums have gone missing¡­]

    Neoma waste, and she hated herself for that.

    ***

    SKYLUS had been visiting the slums for the past few days in order to spread Lord Yule''s words.

    It was Neoma noona who suggested that he should visit the slums first.

    ["When danger lurks around the empire, the first ones to be affected negatively would be the poor. Even if a war breaks out at this very moment, most of the nobles would be safe and warm in thefort of their own homes. However, the poor don''t have that privilege. Hence, we must protect them first."]

    Skylus agreed with what Neoma noona said.

    But he also knew that bringing food and water to the ces that he visited wouldn''t be enough. However, he thought it was better than doing nothing.

    "We''re toote."

    Skylus heard what Lord Manu said, and his heart broke as he looked around the empty ce.

    It seemed like it used to be a vige.

    A poor one, but it was definitely a vige where people used to live.

    "There are traces of Darkness everywhere," Skylus said, his eyes glowing. The naked eyes couldn''t see the mark of Darkness left in every corner of that ce¨C but he could. "The people here¡­"

    He couldn''t finish his sentence because he already burst out crying.

    Lord Manu carried him in his arms and gently rubbed his back.

    "They were s-sacrificed, Lord Manu," Skylus said, crying as he buried his face against Lord Manu''s neck. "I f-failed to save those people¡­"

    "It''s not your fault, Prince Skylus," Lord Manuforted him. "And you can''t expect to save everyone, every time."

    He knew that the Moon Priest was correct.

    However, it was something that was difficult for him to ept.

    [I''m the new saint¨C I''m supposed to protect everyone.]

    If only he was born with his divine powerplete¡­

    "Everything is your fault, Skylus."

    Huh?

    Skylus immediately raised his head¨C then he saw a familiar child that he had been looking for all this time. "Brother Dustin?"

    It was the ''other'' saint¡­

    ¡­ and Dustin came with an army of "priests" d in ck.

    "Prince Skylus, just stick to me," Lord Manu said in a serious tone. "Whatever happens, don''t let go."

    ***

    SHARON, who was acting like she was her twin brother, gasped softly when the staff identally bumped into her¨C pouring wine on her clothes as a result.

    "I apologize, Young Master," the staff said, bowing his head towards her.

    "I-It''s alright," Sharon said, flustered because it had been a while since a staff talked politely to her. "I''ll just go to the restroom and clean the stain."

    It was a bummer since the food was great, but it was embarrassing to stay there with a stain on her clothes when everyone around her looked exceptional.

    "Then allow me to escort you to the parlor room, Young Master," the staff said, pointing his hands to the exit. "This way, please."

    Sharon meekly followed the staff, too scared to meet anyone''s gaze.

    But, to be honest, no one was actually paying attention to her. After all, everyone was busy talking about how great the food and the wine were.

    [It''s just me being self-conscious.]

    Sharon thought she could finally breathe when she stepped out of the grand dining hall.

    However, she spoke too soon.

    A beautifuldy dressed in a knight''s uniform greeted her.

    Sharon, who was once a noble who had attended a few social gatherings in the past, immediately recognized thedy.

    [This is Lady Juri Wisteria¡­]

    "Young Master Shane, follow me," Lady Juri Wisteria said. She was smiling, but her pretty eyes looked called. "Her Imperial Highness is waiting for you."

    Sharon gulped hard.

    [Finally, it''s time to meet Princess Neoma up close.]

    ***

    NEOMA, who was sitting on the chair with her (creamy and shapely) legs crossed, was a bit startled when ''Young Master Shane'' suddenly kneeled before her.

    [I didn''t ask them to kneel¡­]

    "Princess Neoma, I can''t tell you anything unless you help me," ''Young Master Shane'' pleaded, their forehead touched the floor as they bowed desperately. "If I speak a word about the truth, the bomb inside me will explode!"

    [What¡­?]

    Lewis, who was obviously annoyed, immediately drew his sword and pointed it at the young master''s nape. "How dare you grovel before the Imperial Princess with a bomb inside your body?"

    "Calm down, Lewis," Neoma said, sighing. "Marquis Spencer¡­ I should have let Nero kill that bastard."

    ***

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 Chapter 784 THE HEART PILLAR

    ?

    IT WASN''T a bomb.

    Neoma could see the marks of a curse ced all over the body of Young Master Shane. It was actually threatening to explode because they mentioned about the bomb.

    "Princess Neoma, my name is¨C"

    "Shut up," Neoma said, cutting off the child¨C her eyes glowing red. "Not another word."

    Lewis immediately grabbed ''Young Master Shane'' by the arm and pulled them up, then he covered the child''s mouth with his hand.

    It was pretty rough, but it was an urgent situation.

    [I don''t have the luxury to be gentle, too.]

    If that bomb exploded, many innocent and normal people would be hurt. After all, most of the pce staff were Non-Mana users.

    "Paige," Neoma said, calling the Light Mage. "Can you undo the curse?"

    Paige, who was standing beside her, nodded politely. "My ability is higher than the caster of the curse, Princess Neoma. However, the process will be very painful for the child," the Light Mage exined, her turquoise eyes glowing while observing the ''young master.'' "The curse is etched on the child''s skin. Hence, the process of undoing the curse would be like getting skinned alive."

    "Can''t we numb her senses so the child wouldn''t feel pain?"

    "I''m sorry, but we can''t do that, Princess Neoma," Paige said while shaking her head. "If any potion or spell entered the child''s body, then it would get in the way of undoing the curse. We can''t even let the child sleep. The child has to be conscious because if the child falls asleep, then it would be harder to find the exact location of the bomb."

    That was brutal, and Neoma felt bad for the child.

    However, she was currently acting as the Imperial Princess. That meant she must hide her emotions and think logically.

    [There are many people I need to protect here.]

    But that didn''t mean she would sacrifice the life of a young child in front of her, of course.

    "You heard my daughter, child," Neoma said solemnly. "We can undo the curse, but it will be as painful as getting skinned alive. The choice is yours to make. If you don''t want to suffer, shake your head. I promise you won''t be punished for following Marquis Spencer''s orders."

    The child trembled in fear. However, the life and the determination in the child''s eyes remained clear.

    [This one is fearless.]

    "If you want us to undo the curse, nod your head," Neoma said, leaning against the seat while crossing her arms over her chest. "If you allow us to help you, then I swear to protect you and your brother from the marquis."

    The child didn''t even hesitate as they nodded firmly.

    "Very well," Neoma said, relieved by the child''s choice. "Lewis, let the child go."

    Lewis nodded politely before removing his hand away from the child''s mouth, then he stepped backwards.

    The ''young master'' knelt and bowed to her once again. "I''m in your care, Your Imperial Highness."

    "Don''t worry, my child," Neoma said, standing up. "Once you get through this, I will let you join us in destroying House Spencer as one of your rewards."

    ***

    TSK.

    Manu couldn''t open a portal to let Prince Skylus escape first.

    It was because of the ck-clothed priests that created a Domain made of Darkness.

    Being in those bastards'' Domain meant Manu and Prince Skylus were trapped inside. Anyone could enter the Domain, but no one could get out of it on their own.

    And there were only two ways to get out of there.

    First, kill all the ck-clothed priests so that Domain would naturally disappear.

    [Aside from the fact that it''s pretty difficult, I can''tmit mass murder in front of a child. Unless absolutely necessary, of course.]

    Second, have an outside force break the Domain from the other side.

    [But no one knows we would get ambushed like this.]

    "Let''s not spill any more blood here, Skylus," Dustin, the ''other'' saint, said while extending his hand to the real Moon Saint. "Come with us peacefully. This big brother of yours will take good care of you."

    Manu hugged Prince Skylus tighter. "Don''t listen to him, Prince Skylus. I''ll get you out of here, no matter what."

    His divine power was weaker than usual because the body he was using in the human world was nothing but a shell.

    As the Moon Priest, his real body was and had always been in the Upper World.

    But he wouldn''t use that as an excuse.

    [Even if this shell breaks, I''ll get Prince Skylus out of here.]

    "Lord Manu, please put me down."

    Manu''s eyes widened in shock. "But, my prince¨C"

    "Please," Prince Skylus begged, looking up at him with sparkling eyes. "Please allow me to resolve this in peace."

    There was no way to resolve the problem peacefully.

    The ''other'' saint and the ck-clothed priests were obviously there to kidnap Prince Skylus.

    "Lord Manu, put me down," Prince Skylus said sternly. "This is an order."

    The Moon Saint was higher in position than the Moon Priest.

    Moreover, Moon Priests were usually sent to the human world in order to raise the Moon Saint.

    To simply put, it was his duty to obey Prince Skylus.

    "I understand, Prince Skylus," Manu said, putting the Moon Saint down safely. "I''m just behind you."

    Prince Skylus smiled and nodded. "I know, Lord Manu."

    Ah, the Moon Saint had really matured now.

    [He used to call me ''Uncle Manu.'']

    Manu snapped out of his nostalgia when Skylus walked towards the ''other'' saint.

    He was about to follow the Moon Saint but, all of a sudden, the ck-clothed priests surrounded him¨C obviously separating him from Prince Skylus.

    [I knew this was a bad idea!]

    Manu immediately pulled out his Holy Dagger, ready to fight.

    But the ck-clothed priests around him suddenly dropped to the ground one by one¨C a dart pierced through their necks.

    [This weapon¡­]

    "Lord Manu."

    Even if Manu didn''t turn around, he knew that the person who suddenly appeared behind him was Xion¨C the assassin among Princess Neoma''s "children."

    "I''ll take care of the priests," Xion said in a hurry. "Please grab the saint. Princess Neoma asked me to bring you two back to the pce safely."

    "But we''re trapped inside this Domain."

    "I brought a one-use portal connected to Princess Neoma''s pce," Xion exined while throwing darts left and right. "The portal was made by Trevor and Paige. It will work even if we''re under someone else''s Domain."

    The trust in Xion''s voice was unmistakable.

    That also gave Manu a boost of confidence.

    [If it''s Trevor and Princess Neoma''s "children," then I can trust them.]<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "Alright. I''ll leave those priests to you, Xion," Manu said, running towards Prince Skylus who was now holding both the hands of the ''other'' saint. "Tsk."

    ***

    SKYLUS held Dustin''s hands because he wanted to know if his big brother had something to do with the killings.

    He almost burst out crying when he saw nothing but darkness.

    "Big brother, I''m sorry," Skylus said between sobs. "I should have held onto you tighter."

    "If you really feel bad about me, thene with me and stay by my side," Dustin said, grinning¨C his eyes turning into little crescent moons, making him look creepy. "You want to save me, don''t you?"

    Skylus gulped hard.

    He knew he shouldn''t be swayed by Dustin''s words.

    However, a huge part of his heart felt responsible for his big brother''s misery.

    "Big brother, what do you want from me?"

    "You know what I want from you, Prince Skylus," Dustin said, letting go of his hand to poke a finger into his chest. To be precise, on the part where his heart was beating loud and fast. "Give me your divine power so I could awaken as a full saint."

    "I can''t do that," Skylus said, shaking his head firmly. "Big brother, I have a responsibility as the Moon Saint."

    "Did I ask for your permission?"

    "What¨C mmf!"

    Skylus was shocked when Dustin suddenly grabbed him by the face.

    [Big brother¡­?]

    "Open your mouth and give me your divine power," Dustin said aggressively. "If you''re going to act like a pushover, then act as one until the end!"

    Skylus did his best to close his mouth, and was about to use force when, all of a sudden, Dustin let out an agonizing scream.

    [What''s happening¡­?]

    Dustin''s arm, the one connected to the hand that grabbed Skylus'' face, twisted in a painful way until it broke.

    "For a fake saint, you''re too confident, huh?"

    Skylus'' eyes widened in shock when he recognized the person who appeared out of nowhere and grabbed Dustin by the neck. "P-Prince Nero¡­?"

    The Crown Prince''s glowing red eyes fell on Skylus¨C sending him shivers.

    [Prince Nero is s-scary¡­]

    "Prince Nero, I thought you were on probation."

    "Well, I''m still the Crown Prince who has royal duties to fulfill so Father couldn''t lock me up for so long," Prince Nero said in a response to what Lord Manu said. "Hey, Moon Priest. Grab that baby saint and scram. Neoma''s order is to bring the two of you back to the pce safely."

    Skylus was startled when Dustin had a fit of cough.

    His big brother looked like he was choking because Prince Nero was strangling him by the neck.

    And it didn''t end there.

    Skylus could see Moonglow wrapped around Dustin''s body¨C and that was definitely the reason Dustin couldn''t fight back.

    [Dustin is going to die at this rate¡­!]

    Skylus was startled when Lord Manu suddenly carried him. "Wait, Lord Manu," he said, his eyes fixed on Prince Nero. "Y-Your Imperial Highness, what are you going to do to Dustin?"

    "If he could withstand what I''m about to do, then he''ll live. But if not, then he''d die."

    "No!" Skylus pleaded. "Please don''t kill him!"

    "And why should I listen to you?" Prince Nero asked, his red eyes glowing. "You''re not Neoma."

    "Princess Neoma wouldn''t like it if you kill a child!"

    Prince Neroughed like the lunatic that he was. "Neoma only cares about innocent children. I don''t think she''d care about children who have killed many people," he said. Then the Crown Prince suddenly pierced his hand through Dustin''s chest. "Ah. How do I purify Darkness again? I forgot since I don''t use my Roseheart Blood that much."

    William, the Grand Spirit who suddenly appeared behind the Crown Prince, responded. "You have the natural talent to purify Darkness, Nero," he said. "Just think about how you want the Darkness to disappear, and it shall disappear."

    "Great," Prince Nero said. "Let''s start by purifying this little bastard''s heart."

    Skylus gasped out loud. "No, Prince Nero! Please stop!"

    Of course, the Crown Prince didn''t listen to him.

    Dustin let out an agonizing scream as Prince Nero''s white hair quickly turned all pink¨C a clear sign that the Crown Prince was using his power as a Roseheart at maximum.

    [No¡­ Prince Nero is serious about killing Dustin¡­]

    "Lord Manu, please stop Prince Nero!" Skylus begged the Moon Priest while clutching at his shoulders. "At least let me help Dustin first!"

    "Prince Skylus, I''m sorry but Prince Nero is doing the right thing," Lord Manu said in a struggling voice. "That child tried to kill you, and he didn''t wish to be saved anymore. You don''t hear the voice asking you to save him, do you?"

    His grip loosened up when he realized the Moon Priest was correct.

    The first time he saw Dustin, he heard a voice asking him to save him.

    But Skylus no longer heard that voice.

    [No¡­ it can''t be¡­]

    That awful realization hit Skylus hard, breaking his heart into pieces until all he could do was cry like the child that he was.

    ***

    THE HEART PILLAR.

    Manu had a feeling that Prince Nero was supposed to be Princess Neoma''s Heart Pir.

    The name was ironic because the actual role of the Heart Pir was to carry out heartless missions that the Imperial Princess couldn''t. It was probably named that way because one had to have a heart of steel to be the Heart Pir.

    And that role fit Prince Nero perfectly.

    "Let''s go, Prince Skylus," Manu said to the crying child. "You don''t have to witness this anymore."

    "Take this child with you."

    Manu''s eyes widened in shock when Prince Nero suddenly dropped the ''other'' saint to the ground.

    [The child¡­ is still alive even after getting purified in the heart?]

    Dustin was unconscious and was obviously in pain, but he was still breathing.

    Even Skylus was shocked as he raised his head and confronted the Crown Prince. "Prince Nero, you didn''t kill Dustin¡­?"

    "I said it''s up to him whether he''d live or not after I''m done with him," Prince Nero said,bing his hand through his pink hair that was quickly turning white again. "Neoma would know what to do next."

    What to do next¡­?

    Ah.

    "Extracting the divine power," Manu said, the realization that hit him made him feel at ease. "Prince Skylus, you''ll finally get back what is yours from the beginning."

    ***

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 Chapter 785 THE TWINS SWEET SMILE

    ?

    NIKOLAI was wondering if he did the right thing by lifting Nero''s probation and allowing his son to leave the pce.

    But what could he do?

    Nero was still the Crown Prince who had royal duties to fulfill.

    [I just hope he doesn''t go on another killing spree unnecessarily.]

    "Nero won''t do anything stupid since he knows he could be put on probation again if he acted harshly," Mona, who set up her own working station in his office after he begged her to work next to him, assured him gently. "Moreover, Nero is the perfect person for the job. Don''t forget that our son is the first male Roseheart born after a long time. His Roseheart Blood must be thicker than Neoma''s¨C just like how Neoma''s Moonglow is stronger than Nero''s."

    That was something that he could agree with.

    Nero was born with everything.

    The was only one problem, though.

    "Nero relies too much on his natural talent," Niki said, letting out a frustrated sigh. "That kind of arrogance is more dangerous than Neoma''s arrogance."

    "Let''s trust Nero, love," Mona said. "He wouldn''t let his guard down, especially when he''s on official duty."

    He could only nod and agree with his wife.

    After all, a soft knock on the door interrupted their conversation.

    "Your Majesties, I apologize for interrupting," Geoffrey Kinsley, who was on the other side of the door, said. "Miss Dahlia is here."

    That was surprising.

    Dahlia already came to their office to report the issue rted to the slums.

    [Did something happen again?]

    "Let her in."

    The door opened, and Dahlia entered the office. Then the ck Witch greeted Niki and Mona politely before giving her report.

    "Princess Neoma wishes to inform Your Majesties that the candidate sent by House Spencer came with a "bomb" inside their body."

    Mona gasped softly.

    Niki, on the other hand, clenched his hands tight. "That vermin, really¡­"

    "Princess Neoma also wishes to inform Your Majesties that they''ll be extracting the "bomb,"" Dahlia continued with her report. "Princess Neoma said they''ll make sure the "bomb" wouldn''t explode, but Her Imperial Highness still wants to ask Your Majesties to strengthen the barrier around the pce to be extra safe."

    Niki nodded. "Tell Neoma that we will do as she instructed."

    "Please tell Neoma to let us know right away if there''s something else we could do to help," Mona added worriedly. "Shouldn''t we check if the other candidates pose danger as well?"

    Dahlia smiled brightly. "Princess Neoma wishes to inform Your Majesties that she''ll deal with that issueter."

    Ah, so their precious daughter already had a n.

    Niki smirked, already looking forward to Neoma''s n being executed. "As expected of my little rogue."

    ***

    "PRINCE NERO, why did you let this child live?" Manu asked, the ''other'' saint called Dustin unconscious and in pain while in his arms. "I thought you were going to kill him."

    He took that chance to ask Prince Nero while Prince Skylus was away.

    The saint was currently with Xion while Xion was setting up the portal that would bring them back to the pce.

    "Hey, Moon Priest. Do I look like I care whether that fake saint lives or not?"

    "No, not at all."

    "Exactly," Prince Nero said, scoffing. "I only purified the raging Darkness in him because I didn''t want it to explode once you brought him to Neoma. But since purification is deadly to someone who has consumed too much Darkness, then it''s inevitable for the fake saint to dieter. Which is fortunate for us since it would be easier to extract divine power from a living person than from a dead body."

    Ah, so calloused.

    Only Prince Nero could say something so heartless towards a dying child without an ounce of emotion.

    [He inherited all the bad genes of his ancestors.]

    "If you''re done interrogating me, then scram," Prince Nero said grumpily. "I still have some work left to do here."

    "Ah, I thought you wereing back with us, Prince Nero."

    "It was Neoma''s knight''s job to bring you back safely to the pce," Prince Nero said, still frowning as if Manu was an eyesore to him. "I''m here to track down whoever it is that dared toy their filthy hands on the people of MY empire."

    [Yes, this is the next emperor speaking.]

    "Then we''ll go ahead, Your Imperial Highness," Manu said, bowing to Prince Nero. "Please take care of yourself."

    Prince Nero smirked haughtily. "As if there''s something in here that could hurt me."

    ***

    NERO frowned when Melvin, Sanford, Raku, Lucien, and Alucard finally arrived. "You''rete."

    His knights bowed to him in apology.

    As expected, only Melvin talked back to him.

    "Ah, we apologize for our tardiness, Your Imperial Highness," Melvin said. His tone sounded polite, but his words were clearly vicious. "It wasn''t like we knew exactly where you have gone to after leaving the pce with Lord William without informing us in advance. Hence, we had to bother Princess Neoma''s secretary just so we could get a clue about your whereabouts. We could have avoided beingte had you left a clear message telling us where to find you instead of simply telling us to e." How did Your Imperial Highness expect us to¨C"

    "Shut up, Melvin."

    "Yes, Your Imperial Highness."

    Nero just rolled his eyes at his impudent secretary, then he got straight to business. "Alucard, get a sample of the traces of Darkness left in this filthy ce. Since we already know that Helstor is behind this, I want you to find some concrete evidence that would link this tragedy to that stupid god."

    Alucard bowed his head politely. "As youmand, Your Imperial Highness."

    Nero nodded, then he turned to Lucien. "Blow up this entire ce after Alucard is done collecting the samples he needs. This ce is the reminder of my failure as the Crown Prince, so I want it gone."

    "As youmand, Prince Nero," Lucien said excitedly. "Thank you for allowing me to test out my new babies."

    The "new babies" the crazy mage mentioned must be his new explosives.

    [What a lunatic.]

    "Melvin."

    "Yes, I''m already on it, Your Imperial Highness," Melvin said even though Nero hadn''t given him an order yet. "I already sent people to investigate the recent kidnappings of the children living in the slums. All I need is your official approval to send the royal knights to the slums and arrest anyone who introduces themselves as a priest of Lord Helstor''s church."

    "As expected of the empire''s future royal chancellor."

    "Please don''t curse me, Prince Nero."

    Nero, of course, ignored Melvin''s desperate plea. "I''ll be moving to the next area with William. He hates mingling with other humans, so let''s just meet there."

    He turned his back on his knights as they bid him a polite goodbye.

    "You''re surprisingly diligent today, Nero," Williammented while opening a portal for them to use. "Just what are you scheming this time?"

    Nero smirked. "You can tell?"

    "You don''t care about the people of the slums as much as you should as the next emperor, so it''s strange to see you working hard for their sake."

    "It''s not that I don''t care about them. They''re still my people, after all," he said, clearing up the misunderstanding. "But the reason I''m working this hard is because I want to lessen Neoma''s burden. She''s the type to shoulder everything just so no one would suffer under her watch."

    Neoma, for now, only had a few years to live.

    [I won''t let Neoma work hard for other people in her remaining years. She should just spend her time with me.]

    "I''m still not convinced," William said, scoffing. "You have a n, Nero."

    Heughed at the Grand Spirit''s insistence, so he finally gave him an honest answer. "I''m going to dere war against Helstor and his stupid religion once I gather enough evidence."

    "A war? All of a sudden?"<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "Polluting the sky of my empire is already a grave sin."

    William raised an eyebrow. "War is costly, Nero. Why do you suddenly want to dere war when the empire has been enjoying peace for almost two decades now?"

    Thest civil war happened when his father seized the throne from his grandfather.

    [Father stopped invading other kingdoms and just focused on protecting our territories during our reign. But, of course, Father destroyed all the kingdoms that tried to attack us.]

    "Only a war could stop the Selection."

    William suddenly looked confused. "Excuse me?"

    "I know why Neoma has to do the Selection, but I still don''t like seeing those pests look at my precious twin as if they could win her heart. Unfortunately, I can''t stop Neoma once she has already made up her mind," Nero said, then he smiled ''sweetly.'' "However, if I suddenly dered war against Helstor and his church, then wouldn''t Neoma be forced to stop the Selection to participate in the war?"

    ***

    [TSK.]

    Neoma couldn''t help but click her tongue after seeing the poor estate of the ''young master.''

    The child was bleeding from head to toe¨C their skin was red and swollen. Paige had to take off the child''s clothes so that they wouldn''t irritate their skin.

    [It''s confirmed that the child is a female.]

    The child fell asleep after Paige undid the curse, but it was obvious that she was still in pain.

    Neoma pulled up the nket to cover the child''s body as carefully as possible. "Greko, take care of the child."

    Greko, who looked like he was about to cry while looking at the child, nodded. "I will take care of noona well, eomma."

    Neoma just ruffled Greko''s hair, then she turned to Paige. "I''ll leave the child to you and Greko."

    Paige bowed her head towards her politely. "As youmand, Princess Neoma."

    She just nodded, then she headed towards the door.

    But she stopped when she caught her reflection in the full-length mirror to her side. She took a quick look at her current outfit.

    Yep, she changed her clothes.

    Neoma now wore a ck turtleneck shirt, tight leather pants, and a pair of ankle boots with killer heels.

    She would usually tie her long hair, but not this time.

    Hence, she just let her long hair flow freely on her back.

    It was a statement.

    [A statement that my long hair won''t bother me in the middle of a murder¨C uh, fight.]

    "Let''s go," Neoma said to Juri, Jeno, and Lewis who were walking behind her. "We have some candidates to chase away."

    ***

    [AH, MY MOON Princess is pissed~]

    Trevor could tell by Princess Neoma''s sexy¨C er gorgeous all-ck outfit and angry gait that she was about to go batshit crazy at any moment.

    [She looks the hottest when she''s angry~]

    But what could possibly make his Moon Princess angry this time?

    After having a sumptuous lunch, the candidates were ushered to the courtyard.

    Trevor thought Princess Neoma would announce the winners of the First Round, but that didn''t seem to be the case.

    "I apologize in advance, but I''m in a foul mood right now."

    Pfft.

    Trevor almost burst outughing at what Princess Neoma said as soon as she stood on the makeshift stage in front of the candidates.

    [That''s my overly blunt Moon Princess.]

    "One of the candidates was caught carrying a bomb with the intention of harming me."

    Trevor lost his smile right away.

    And he wasn''t the only one who reacted the same way.

    He immediately recognized the bloodlusting from his strongest rivals, namely the damned chef, the damned young duke, the damned Ancient Devil, and even the damned pretty boy.

    [It must be the candidate sent by House Spencer.]

    Trevor and the others who were quick-witted noticed it when the staff "identally" poured wine on Young Master Shane earlier.

    The candidate was ushered to the parlor, but that candidate didn''t make it back.

    "My Imperial Father and Mother actually wanted to do a thorough search among you to see if there are other fools who are nning to mess with me."

    Pfft.

    Trevor found it amusing that Princess Neoma''s words were bing harsher the angrier she became.

    [And she looks unapologetic even though it''s unbing of the Imperial Princess~]

    "But I thought it would be a bother, so I decided to deal with this issue the easy way," Princess Neoma said while putting on a pair of ck fingerless gloves. "Those who came here to abduct or kill me, step forward. If you manage to even scratch me, you won''t be charged with treason. I also promise that your country or kingdom wouldn''t suffer any consequences."

    Now Trevor wasn''t amused.

    [Princess Neoma, as your Contractor, you should discuss this matter with me in advance¡­]

    "In return, you have to sign a waiver that you and your damned homnd wouldn''t retaliate even if I "identally" killed you."

    Trevor immediately smiled after hearing that.

    [That''s my princess.]

    "Ah, don''t be afraid. I do have a conscience, after all," Princess Neoma said, smirking haughtily¨C her glowing red eyes obviously looking down ON them. "I won''t use my Elemental Guardian, my Spirits, and my Death Scythe. I''ll only be using my strength as a de Moonasterio, which includes my Soul Beast."

    Trevor frowned.

    [Princess Neoma is being too arrogant again¡­]

    "Well, that''s only if you''re strong enough to force me to summon my Soul Beast during the fight." Princess Neoma smiled "sweetly" at them, but that smile was obviously a condescending one. "You can also group yourselves and attack me at the same time¨C it makes little difference to me, anyway."

    This time, Trevor burst outughing while pping his hands like the simp that he was.

    [Ah, my Moon Princess really knows how to rile up men¨C both in a good and a bad way.]

    ***

    "YOUR MAJESTY, the Crown Prince sent an urgent message."

    Glenn immediately stood up even though he was in the middle of fighting¨C er, talking to his father. "Give it to me."

    The butler immediately handed the letter to him.

    Glenn opened the letter and read the content right away, his hands trembling. The message was short, but it was enough to give him a heart attack. "Duke Exton, let''s talk about my wife''s amodations hereter. I need to go the pce."

    Duke Exton, his cold-hearted father, put his teacup down on the saucer before asking. "What happened?"

    "My son was almost ambushed by the priests of Lord Helstor''s church," Glenn said, his voice shaking. "I need to contact my wife and check on my son."

    ***

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 Chapter 786 THIS IMPERIAL PRINCESS IS LOVED

    ?

    NEOMA wasn''t surprised when a few of the candidates stepped forward.

    [Good thinking.]

    The guilty candidates probably thought it would be better toe forward after she promised that they wouldn''t be charged with treason. It was better than getting caughtter. Moreover, the guilty candidates were probably banking on the possibility that they could overpower her.

    [That''s where their ns go wrong.]

    Admittedly, Neoma and her people didn''t have enough time to investigate or do a thorough check on the candidates and their belongings.

    But they had a reason for that.

    Neomaughed softly while looking at the seventeen men who stepped forward. "You might think the security here isx. But did it not ur to you the reason you weren''t thoroughly searched before you entered the pce is because there''s no reason for us to do so?"

    Most of the men who stepped forward flinched.

    She shrugged as she already knew what most of the candidates were thinking about her anyway. "You''re probably looking down on me because I''m "just" the Imperial Princess, and most of you know that the de Moonasterion princesses are treated like shit by the Imperial Family."

    Fucking hell.

    Just how many had she cursed by now?

    [There goes my ''pure image'' as the Imperial Princess.]

    "Unfortunately for you, that''s a thing of the past now," Neoma said casually. "But I''m not here to flex about how loved I am. I''m just trying to say that if you came here thinking you''d bag a trophy wife in order to form an easy connection with the de Moonasterios, then you''re wrong. Don''t expect my Imperial Father and the Crown Prince to wee you to the family with open arms."

    She heard augh in the crowd.

    [That''s definitely Trevor. Gosh, that punk almost got me distracted.]

    "That also means my father and my brother would be happy if I identally killed some of you," Neoma said, then she smiled at the candidates that she was about to fight. "So, let''s sign a waiver first before we start the fight." She looked in the direction of the person she needed at the moment. "Trevor, prepare the contract."

    ***

    [IT''S ALREADY toote to save this child¡­]

    Mona''s heart broke for the dying child on the bed.

    She was well aware that this was the fake saint that the crows used to steal Prince Skylus'' position as the new Moon Saint. However, to see a child dying¡­

    [This is heartbreaking.]

    "Your Majesty, Dahlia noona, please save Dustin," Prince Skylus begged them. "Please¡­ he can''t die like this."

    Mona felt a pang in her chest.

    "Prince Skylus, we will do our best to help Dustin as much as we could," Mona said to the baby saint. Although she knew it was toote to save the dying child, she could at least lessen his pain and extend his life with Dahlia''s help. "Please leave it to us."

    She turned to Manu.

    The Moon Priest then quickly picked up the baby saint. "Prince Skylus, our divine power didn''t work on the child. Perhaps it''s because Prince Nero used his Roseheart Blood to purify the Darkness in the child, so let''s leave it to Her Majesty."

    Prince Skylus still looked hesitant.

    "Your Royal Highness, I heard from Prince Nero''s secretary that the Crown Prince has sent summoned King Glenn to the pce. Hence, your father will be here soon," Dahlia said gently. "Moreover, we''ve already prepared the room where you can contact Her Majesty, Queen Brigitte."

    Hearing about his parents instantly helped the little prince to calm down.

    "Mommy¡­ Daddy¡­" Skylus said, burying his face against Lord Manu''s neck. "I want to see them¡­"

    Lord Manu excused themselves as the two left the room quietly.

    Now only Mona and Dahlia were there.

    "Your Majesty, what should we do?" Dahlia asked worriedly. "It seemed like Prince Nero''s purification ability is too effective."

    "It has this kind of effect because the insides of this child are full of Darkness already¨C his heart, his Core, and even his soul," Mona said, her eyes glowing as she checked on the child''s condition. "All we could do now is to slow down the purification to lessen the pain, and extend the child''s life for at least a few days."

    The ck Witch fell silent for a moment before she hesitantly spoke. "Your Majesty, are we¡­ going to extract the divine power from the child? This is the perfect opportunity to do it. After all, it would be hard for us to extract the saint''s divine power from a dead body."

    Dahlia was right to be concerned about that.

    The saint''s divine power was alive.

    Once Dustin died, the divine power would immediately escape the dead "shell." It would be hard to locate it after that.

    [In fact, we haven''t found thest piece of the saint''s divine power yet.]

    "That would be the wise thing to do," Mona said in response to what Dahlia said, then she let out a sigh. "But I''m afraid Prince Skylus wouldn''t be in the right state to receive what''s rightfully his."

    ***

    SWORD MASTERS were celebrated heroes everywhere in the world.

    But Neoma thought the Sword Masters were pretty easy to beat.

    The Sword Master''s life was their Aura. Apparently, Aura could cut and sh everything¨C even a mountain.

    Aura couldn''t cut Neoma''s Dome, though?

    [I''ll give these Sword Masters an A for effort.]

    After Neoma blocked the five Sword Masters'' Aura, she then proceeded to break their swords into two with her bare hands.

    The swords'' des were supposed to be covered with Aura, but she didn''t feel anything.

    [It''s probably because I was born with natural monstrous strength as a de Moonasterio.]

    Neoma threw away the broken des in her hands. "Next."

    This time, four Beastmen attacked her.

    As their name suggested, Beastmen were people who could shape-shift into animal forms.

    The four handsome boys suddenly transformed into their wolf forms.

    [Wow, their coat is pretty.]<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    But Beastmen were easier to fight because both of them relied on their physical strength.

    A de Moonasterio would be stronger than the Beastmen, duh.

    Neoma knocked the four Beastmen with just a single punch, just like her idol S*itama.

    [I just feel bad because I feel like this is animal abuse¡­]

    "I''m sorry, I''ll ask my youngest to treat your woundster," Neoma said to the unconscious Beastmen apologetically, then she turned to the remaining candidates who challenged her. "Next."

    This time, three mages stepped forward.

    [Gosh, so handsome. They all look deprived of sleep, but they''re the type to be popr among thedies for their aloof aura.]

    It was just annoying that they had to be mages.

    Neoma hated dealing with magic, especially people who could wield it. After all, she couldn''t use magic the way Trevor, Paige, and Dahlia could.

    Hence, she knew the three mages would be a pain in the ass.

    Fortunately for her, the three mages had to utter some ancient spell or whatever.

    Hence, Neoma had the time to trap the three mages inside her Dome¡­

    ¡­ and then the magic that the men activated exploded.

    [Oops¡­]

    She didn''t mean for the mages to be knocked down by their own attack, but they should have avoided getting trapped inside the Dome in the first ce. Did they think they could break the Dome with their little bombs?

    [Wait, that sounds like I''m gaslighting. I''m sorry.]

    "Take them to the infirmary if they''re still alive," Neoma said to the royal knights around as she copsed the Dome. But seeing that her pink Hellgate didn''t appear, it only meant she didn''t identally kill the mages. "Next."

    Only five men were left.

    [Ah, this is pretty heartbreaking.]

    It was because thest five men were allmoners, and they were clearly in the poorer side. To be honest, it was a shame since these five men actually passed the First Round.

    [They could see the blobs of Darkness in the sky.]

    That, or perhaps they were sent by Helstor''s puppets to mess with the Selection.

    [It''s such a shame because they look like the cinnamon roll type¨C you know, those kind-hearted characters with a tragic past. They all look weak¨C I mean, soft. The gentle look on their faces is making me hesitate to harm them.]

    But these gentlemen couldn''t be in innocent.

    Just like how Neoma didn''t notice the blobs of Darkness in the sky right away, she also didn''t notice that these men had Darkness installed in their Cores.

    And one''s Core was located deep into their heart.

    [That''s why Mana users like me would often hit the enemies in the heart rather than the brain. You could always protect your head with a barrier, but it would be more difficult to protect the heart the Core could explode if you pressed it with too many barriers.]

    "Y-Your Imperial Highness, w-we were told that if¨C"

    "Shut up," Neoma said, cutting off the candidate, whilebing her bloody fingers through her hair. Don''t worry, that wasn''t her blood. It was the blood of the Beastmen that she punched earlier. Ah, fuck. She forgot that her hair was white, so the blood probably painted her hair red. Gosh, her hair color was really inconvenient and very high-maintenance. "I know what''s happening, so you don''t have to exin anything."

    She was afraid the Darkness installed in those men''s hearts would explode if they said the wrong word.

    Just like how House Spencer put a curse on Young Master Shane to shut them up.

    "If you want to live, then trust me," Neoma said, smirking haughtily. She knew she should pretend to be nice and shit, but she couldn''t do that. Her mask had already slipped off the moment she cursed, so why not just show her real beautiful face? "I''m Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio, and I''m the one who''s going to fuck up¨C I mean, save the world¨C not that shit called Helstor and his damned cult."

    [Yep, the rumor about the Imperial Princess having a foul mouth would definitely spread in the empire now. There goes my reputation.]

    Neoma thought that her foul mouth would turn off the candidates who expected the one and only Imperial Princess to be soft and feminine, but what she didn''t know was she just made more than half of those men fall in love with her¡­

    ¡­ much to the chagrin of a certain group of young men dubbed as members of ''Princess Neoma''s OG Harem.''

    ***

    "DO YOU know what a war means, Nero Roseheart de Moonasterio?" Niki confronted his son, his eyebrows furrowed deeply. "And a Holy War, at that. Helstor might be a psychotic god. But a god is still a god."

    Nero, who was removing the bloodied gloves that he had, smiled at him. "Father, just look at the bigger picture."

    "What bigger picture? All I could see is our people suffering if a war suddenly breaks out."

    "If a war breaks out, then Neoma would be forced to stop the Selection."

    "¡­"

    He waited for Nero to take back his words, but his son didn''t.

    To be honest, Niki was conflicted.

    As a father, he wanted to agree with Nero because he also hated the fact that Neoma had to do a Selection at such a young age. If it was up to him, he wouldn''t allow that Selection to happen in the first ce.

    But he changed his mind when he found out how little time Neoma had left.

    [I can''t say ''no'' to my precious daughter after that.]

    However, as the emperor, he couldn''t let his son''s whim endanger the entire empire.

    Fortunately, he hadn''t gone insane yet.

    "Nero, you''re on probation again until you realize how heavy the word ''war'' is for you to carelessly toss it around," Niki said coldly. "Sanford Devon, Raku, escort your Crown Prince back to his room."

    Nero looked at him as if he had just betrayed him. "Father!"

    ***

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 Chapter 787 THE OPPOSITE OF DARKNESS IS...

    ?

    [THIS type of Darkness is not that hard to purify.]

    But wow.

    It was probably because Neoma''s purifying ability reached its peak after her enlightenment as the agent of the Goddess of Light.

    [My OP-ness is starting to scare me¡­]

    "Princess Neoma¨C eek!"

    Themoner who tried to approach Neoma suddenly shrieked when Lewis stopped him by pushing his scabbard against the poor man''s throat.

    Lewis didn''t even draw his sword and yet, it was enough to intimidate themoner.

    "You, deaf?" Lewis asked, his golden eyes glowing menacingly. "Imperial Princess. Ordered shut up."

    The poor man immediately covered his mouth with his hands in fear.

    [Gosh, Lewis and his bad habit of speaking incoherently to people he doesn''t like.]

    Fortunately, despite Lewis'' confusing words, the poor man understood that he needed to shut his mouth.

    "As I said earlier, I know what''s going on," Neoma said calmly, gently patting Lewis on the shoulder. It was okay since it wasn''t skin-to-skin contact. "Guys, you probably think the world is alreadying to an end. But I assure you, you''re wrong."

    Lewis pulled his scabbard away from themoner''s throat, then he stepped back to allow Neoma to face the candidates properly.

    [Good boy.]

    "The world cannot end without my permission," Neoma said confidently. "Anyone who says otherwise can fuck off."

    Trevorughed again.

    But, this time, the demon boy wasn''t the only person whoughed. It seemed like more and more candidates were getting used to her foul mouth.

    [Papa Boss, I''m sorry I failed to keep up appearances as the Imperial Princess¡­]

    Neoma set those thoughts aside first, then she faced her next victims¨C er, targets. "I''ll save you. But whether you''d trust me or the person who put that awful thing in your hearts, you be the judge of that. Let me appeal, though."

    To be honest, she knew she didn''t have to ''appeal.''

    But she wanted to help the poor dudes rx a bit because they looked so stressed out at the moment.

    [Let''s calm them down first.]

    "You shouldn''t trust anyone in this world, not even your family or friends. Keep in my mind that even I, the Imperial Princess, could end up stabbing you in the back," Neoma said, then she crossed her arms over her chest. "But wouldn''t getting betrayed by a crazy beautiful woman like me sound better than getting betrayed by a bunch of crazy dudes that follow a shady god?"

    Themoner looked dumbfounded at first.

    Until a certain someone yelled his simp-ness.

    "You could betray me all you want, my Moon Princess! I''d rather die at your beautiful hands than die at the hands of some random filthy things!"

    [Oh, Trevor¡­ you simp.]

    Lewis clicked his tongue. "Princess Neoma, we should seriously consider disqualifying that noisy candidate. He''s very loud and distracting and obnoxious."

    [And you sound like a whining puppy, my son.]

    "My boy, Lewis, jealousy doesn''t look good on you~"

    Lewis red at Trevor.

    Pfft.

    [These boys are funny.]

    Neoma pped her hands together and, in an instant, Trevor and Lewis both shut their mouths and returned to their poker-face expressions.

    [Good.]

    "Okay, let''s get back to business," Neoma said, then she turned to the men in front of her. "So, have you made a decision? Don''t say anything. If you want my help, just nod. If not, then you may leave the pce now. As promised, you won''t face any consequences."

    One of them immediately ran away.

    Neoma just had to tilt her head a bit¨C a signal for Jeno to follow the one who escaped.

    [If he failed his mission, the bastards who sent him here would definitely kill him.]

    Hence, she sent one of her "children" to save that person.

    As for the remaining ones¡­

    They kneeled in front of Neoma.

    [I hate it when people do this.]

    Hence, Neoma also got down on one knee to meet their eye level. Then she smiled at the men who looked flustered as to why the Imperial Princess was kneeling with them. "Don''t worry¨C I''m full of myself, but I get shit done. You can''t be arrogant and ipetent, after all."

    ***

    "FATHER, please don''t be too hard on yourself," Hanna consoled her father. "Just because you''re themander of the Public Order doesn''t mean you''re capable of saving every single person in the Royal Capital. Even the Royal Family can''t save everyone every time."

    In fact, at that very moment, there must be people out there who were begging for help.

    Hanna had long epted the fact that she couldn''t save everyone in order to be kinder to herself.

    However, her father had a bigger heart than she did.

    After her father''s emergency meeting with the emperor, her father looked like he was about to punch himself at any time.

    "It''s not Father''s fault that the kids from the slums have gone missing," Hanna said, holding her father''s hands. "We only have Helstor and the cult to me. So, let''s catch them and make them pay for their crimes, Father."

    "Hanna, when did you be this mature?" Father asked, squeezing her hands. "I can''t believe you''re now consoling your father and not the other way around. Please stop growing so fast, sweetheart."

    "Father, I''m already a growndy. I''m engaged to be married, remember?"

    "No," her father whined cutely. "You''re still my baby."

    Hannaughed and hugged her father. "Let''s work hard today, too, Father."

    "Yes, sweetheart," her father said while patting her back gently. "Once you have free time, let''s have dinner¨C you, me, and your mother."

    ***

    AFTER HANNA was done consoling her father, she immediately headed to Nero''s bedroom.

    As expected, Sanford Devon and Raku were guarding by the door.

    Hanna smiled at Nero''s knights. "Am I allowed to visit the Crown Prince?"

    Raku nodded politely.

    "Of course, Princess Hanna," Sanford Devon answered cheerfully. "His Majesty just wants to let Your Highness know not to let Prince Nero out even if the Crown Prince throws a tantrum."

    She smiled and nodded. "Alright, I understand."

    Sanford smiled back before he cleared his throat. "Your Imperial Highness, Princess Hanna is here."

    "Let my fianc¨¦e in."

    Only then did Sanford Devon and Raku open the doors for her.

    Hanna expected to find Nero on the bed.

    But, much to her pleasant surprise, the Crown Prince was busy reading the documents in his hands while sittingfortably on the sofa.

    Melvin, who was sitting on the ent chair, stood up and bowed towards her. "Princess Hanna."

    "Hello, Sir Melvin," Hanna greeted the (poor and overworked) aide while reaching for the hand that Nero extended to her. "May I know what you''re working on?"

    "War," Nero said as he ced a kiss on the back of her hand. "Father told me he''d only lift my probation once I know what ''war'' means. Hence, I''m writing a report about the cons and pros of the war I mentioned."

    Hanna had to hold back herughter as she sat next to Nero.

    [He''s always getting into trouble for the funniest reasons.]

    "Prince Nero, how many times do I have to tell you that is not what His Majesty wants you to use your big brain on?" Melvin asked, obviously frustrated as he sat down on the chair. "His Majesty is just trying to teach Your Imperial Highness a lesson."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Nero raised an eyebrow at Melvin as if the aide had said something ridiculous. "What lesson? I''m already well-educated."

    Melvin looked like he was about to cry, but he pounded his chest with a fist as he talked back to Nero. "His Majesty is trying to teach Your Imperial Highness that you couldn''t simply dere war just because you wanted to stop Her Imperial Highness'' search for a husband!"

    Nero scoffed. "I just have to convince Father that this war is needed. Or wait until my coronation. By then, I wouldn''t need Father''s approval anymore."

    Melvin took a deep breath, then he looked at Hanna with begging eyes.

    [Ah, I get it.]

    "Sir Melvin, please take a break first," Hanna said, smiling. "I''ll talk to Nero."

    Melvin immediately stood up and bowed his head towards her. "Thank you, Princess Hanna! Goodbye, Prince Nero!"

    And, just like that, the secretary bolted out of the room in a hurry.

    "You''re spoiling Melvin," Nero said, snaking an arm around her waist. "Do you also think I''m crazy for wanting a war during this peaceful time?"

    Hannaughed softly. "The peace that we enjoy ended when Helstor decided to spread Darkness in the skies of the empire, Nero."

    The blobs of Darkness didn''t disappear even after Nero and Neoma survived the Kiss of Death trap that Helstor had set up for the royal twins.

    Clearly, those blobs of Darkness weren''t harmless.

    [The problem is we don''t know exactly how those blobs of Darkness affect the empire.]

    "I agree with you, Nero¨C we need to dere war against Helstor."

    Nero looked at her with sparkling eyes. "I knew you''d get me, Hanna."

    "We need Neoma to dere it in order to get the emperor''s approval, Nero."

    "Neoma hates war."

    "Then we just need to give her a little push," Hanna said, smiling slyly as she caressed Nero''s face with the back of her hand. "Neoma hates MEANINGLESS wars, but she wouldn''t say ''no'' to a war with a purpose."

    Nero raised an eyebrow while rubbing the sides of her waist up and down. "Let''s hear your n, Hanna."

    ***

    IT WAS a beautiful sight.

    The candidates who witnessed Princess Neoma purify the Darkness that suddenly came out of the three gentlemen was beautiful.

    Her Imperial Princess trapped herself and the three gentlemen inside the dome-shaped barrier that she created earlier. The three gentlemen insisted on kneeling while Princess Neoma was forced to stand up because her knights looked like they were about to pull her up.

    Most of the candidates agreed with the Imperial Princess'' sentiments: Princess Neoma didn''t have to kneel with those gentlemen.

    The Imperial Princess imed she was arrogant.

    Well, the way she spoke was rude and vulgar.

    However, everyone could see that Princess Neoma was actually a nice person.

    The nicest de Moonasterio in recent history, to be precise.

    [Is she¡­ an angel?]

    That was what most of the candidates thought.

    Princess Neoma was just standing there, her palms emitting pretty bluish lights that were probably purifying the gentlemen.

    Most were confused about what the Imperial Princess was purifying.

    They heard Princess Neoma mention ''Helstor and the cult,'' but only a few got the right meaning.

    Most were just mesmerized.

    But there was one thing that all candidates agreed to.

    [Princess Neoma is so damned beautiful and cool.]

    ***

    "REMEMBER this, my people: the opposite of Darkness is not Light," Neoma said as she was done with the purification. The light emitting from her hands was just bluff, of course. She purified the men using the air from her lungs circting around the Dome. But the others didn''t need to know that. "The opposite of Darkness is me¨C Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio."

    The three men looked relieved by what she said¡­

    ¡­ and then they copsed.

    The royal knights stationed around to assist Neoma and her personal knights arrived. Then the royal knights took away the three gentlemen.

    Neoma subtly signaled Juri to follow them.

    [We have to make sure those men wouldn''t be killed, too.]

    "I''m sure most of you are confused by all the talks about Darkness and Lord Helstor," Neoma said while removing her gloves. "And I''m sure most of you are only here to confirm whether what you see up there is truly Darkness or not."

    The looks of most men in front of her confirmed her thoughts.

    "Before I announce the result of the First Round, I believe it''s only right that I address the issue first," Neoma said, pausing for a moment to hand the dirty gloves to Lewis. "The little ck blobs that most of you could see are actually blobs of Darkness created by Lord Helstor, the God of Eternal Darkness, himself."

    "Princess Neoma sounds like you''re stating a fact."

    It was a logical remark from one of the candidates.

    "Yeah, I would know since Lord Helstor personall paid us a visit," Neoma said confidently. "Those blobs of Darkness almost killed the Crown Prince. However, even after we saved my twin brother''s life, the Darkness didn''t disappear."

    She pped her hands.

    Geoffrey Kinsley, followed by several pce staff, arrived with piles of documents in their arms.

    "We prepared a detailed report for everyone present here since each one of you represents a country or a kingdom here on the Western Continent. The report is written in different mainnguages used in the empire, and we also attached all the evidence we have of Lord Helstor''s recent attack," Neoma exined solemnly. "An official report is also being sent to your kingdoms and nations right at this very moment. We also sent the same report to the tribes and races that didn''t participate in the Selection."

    Soon, the candidates became busy reading the documents given to them.

    Except for Neoma''s allies¡­

    ¡­ and a new candidate who stepped forward.

    Neoma wasn''t surprised when Lewis immediately stood in front of her protectively.

    "I can''t see the shit that I''m supposed to see in the sky."

    Pfft.

    Neoma seemed to have found her kindred-spirit, huh?

    The man who cursed unapologetically in front of her was a man with dark brown hair tied in a manbun, amber eyes, and tanned skin. He wore a simple white shirt that emphasized his wide expanse of chest, a pair of pants that looked a little loose on him, and dirty ck boots.

    [He looks rough.]

    It wasn''t just because of the man''s scars on his face and neck.

    [He just really has that rough dude vibes.]

    Not to mention, the man was probably 6''6."

    [He''s taller than Ruto¡­ wait, let''s not think about Ruto.]

    "I know I''ll be sent hometer, but I don''t want to go home without testing if you''re really physically strong, princess."

    Lewis growled at the man. "Manners."

    "I left them in my mother''s belly," the man said, grinning. Then he tilted his head to one side to look at Neoma. "Princess, I pride myself in having a very sturdy body. People from my tribe call me a mountain. Hence, I have a request."

    "What is it?"

    "Punch me with all you''ve got, Princess," the man said excitedly, his eyes gleaming as if he couldn''t wait to fight her. "If I withstand your punch without fainting or dying, would you give me a chance to move to the next round?"

    "Yeah, no," Neoma said, grinning back at the man. "Dude, you''re gonna die if I punched you with all my might."

    ***

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 Chapter 788 SECOND ROUND

    ?

    "YOU''RE HURTING my pride, princess."

    Neoma grinned, her eyes glowing red. "I like your guts, son."

    Lewis turned to Neoma with a scolding gaze.

    Neoma wisely avoided Lewis'' gaze, pretending that she didn''t just call another man her ''son'' again.

    [What can I do? I see men younger than me as babies.]

    "I''m not sure if I want to be addressed as your ''son,'' princess," the gutsy dude said,ughing. "My name is Manuel. I hope you remember my name."

    "Well, I''m good at remembering people who impress me, Manuel," Neoma said, cing a hand on her hip. "How old are you? You look too young to die at my hands just because you wanted to test the limits of your physical strength."

    Manuelughed as if he was amused. "I''m twenty-four years old, princess. Am I not older than you?"

    "A certain lunatic would kill you if I call you ''Big Brother,'' so excuse me for addressing you by your first name."

    "As if I wanted to be addressed that way," Manuel said,ughing as if they were enjoying their conversation. "Princess, do you want me to kneel and beg before you give me a chance? My pride doesn''t mean much to me as long as I get to test my physical strength."

    "But I took quite the liking to you, so I don''t want you to die at my hands. Treasure your life, you young one."

    Manuelughed, hisughter roaring loudly. "Why are you suddenly speaking like an old woman, princess?"

    Lewis touched his scabbard, obviously annoyed that the dude called her an old woman.

    "I have a proposition for you, Manuel," Neoma said, standing next to Lewis and patting his shoulder. "This is Commander Lewis Crevan, my Guardian Knight and the strongest among the knights in my Order. He''s also thest member of the famed Silver Fox n."

    "Oh!" Manuel eximed, beaming. "The Silver Fox n is known for their n members'' physical strength."

    "I know, right? Commander Crevan here is really strong physically," Neoma said smugly. "I even call him ''One-kick Lewis'' because he can destroy you with just one kick."

    A certain noisy candidate yelled again.

    "That''s my son!"

    [Shut up, Trevor.]

    Lewis red at Trevor again.

    Neoma cleared her throat, then went back to business. "Manuel, if you could still stand after getting kicked by Lewis, then I''ll let you proceed to the next round."

    A loud buzz from the crowd erupted.

    "Yes, yes, I''ll give the same chance to anyone who epts the challenge," Neoma said, already expecting to receiveints from the other candidates who knew they didn''t pass the First Round. "As long as you don''t die or faint after getting kicked by Lewis, you''ll pass the next round. Do you ept the challenge?"

    "Yes, princess."

    It wasn''t only Manuel who responded¨C all the other candidates who wanted to be given a chance also responded.

    [Yep, this is fair this way.]

    "Lewis, don''t kill him," Neoma said, patting Lewis'' shoulder as lightly as possible. "Good luck."

    Lewis'' golden eyes sparkled. "As you wish, Princess Neoma."

    ***

    "YOU SHOULD beg for His Majesty''s forgivenesster, Nero."

    Nero let out a sigh after hearing what his fianc¨¦e said. "I will."

    They had just finisheding up with a good n to push a deration of war against Helstor.

    Hence, Hanna was about to return to her office and resume working.

    "Nero, remember, your coronation is already set for next month," Hanna reminded him as she stood up from the sofa. "You can''t get in trouble again. You''re lucky because Neoma''s Selection is taking all the public''s attention away from the other members of the Imperial Family."

    He also knew that.

    If it wasn''t for the Selection, then the fact that he was put on probation again would have caused him to get criticized by the nobles and the public.

    [At least, that stupid Selection has its own use.]

    "Don''t worry¨C my father would definitely lift my probation," Nero said, standing up. Then he cupped her face between his hands. "Thank you for writing the "script" for me."

    Hanna smiled and gently patted his cheek. "Put your acting skills to good use today, Nero."

    He kissed the palm of Hanna''s hand. "I will."

    "Is there anything else I should know about before I leave?" she asked, looking at him suspiciously. "You better not be hiding anything from me, Nero."

    "I brought back the fake saint here."

    "Ah, I heard about it from the report that Sir Melvin sent," she said. "What about it?"

    "I was just wondering if it was another trap since I caught him pretty easily."

    "You have a point," Hanna said solemnly while nodding. "I''ll personally keep an eye on the fake saint then."

    Nero smiled and hugged Hanna. "Thank you, my Crown Princess."

    ***

    NEOMA wasn''t even surprised when Manuel almost died after getting kicked by Lewis in the stomach.

    [As expected, my son didn''t hold back.]

    She heard Manuel''s ribs break, and he coughed up a lot of blood before fainting.

    [Ah, I feel bad for the doctors for bringing them another patient.]

    Paige and Greko were her personal doctors, but the two were currently busy.

    Hence, she had no other choice but to rely on the pce doctors.

    "Good job, Lewis," Neoma said calmly. She was proud of Lewis, but she wasn''t too happy about it because someone was seriously hurt. "If there''s anyone else who wants to challenge Commander Crevan, then step forward."

    No one else had the courage to step forward after seeing Manuel, who said he prided himself in being physically strong, almost died just from a single kick from Nero.

    [That''s right, youngsters¨C you should treasure your lives.]

    The Second Round would be about physical strength.

    Hence, it would be better for people who weren''t confident in their strength to go home.

    "Then let''s proceed with the announcement of the candidates who sessfully passed the First Round," Neoma said, then she paused for a moment before addressing the candidates with her gaze. "Hey, if your kingdom, country, family, friends, or anyone close to you is being threatened by Darkness or people who im to serve that fucking nightmare of a god, then don''t hesitate toe to me. It''s the empire''s responsibility to keep you safe."

    "Princess Neoma, is Darkness an enemy to the empire now?"

    It was a question from one of the candidates.

    "Darkness isn''t inherently evil, but there are people who wield Darkness with ill intentions," Neoma said in a serious tone. "Hence, if you encounter people who use Darkness to harm others, don''t hesitate to fight them. And if you can''t fight them,e to me." She put her hands behind her back and stood properly. "This is the official stance of the Imperial Family regarding the Darkness that threatens the skies of the Great Moonasterion Empire."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    And, tomorrow morning, it would be the headlines in all major newspaper outlets all over the empire.

    ***

    "ALRIGHT, these articles are good enough to be released tomorrow morning," Hanna said after reading the articles that the major newspaper outlets in the empire would release tomorrow. "Make sure that the tabloids who n to scare the public with unverified news rted to the Darkness would be shut down."

    The Imperial Family knew that they couldn''t hide the matter regarding the blobs of Darkness in the sky a secret for so long.

    Hence, Empress Mona''s office sent a press release to the major newspaper outlets regarding the issue. The news that would be released tomorrow morning also assured the people that the Imperial Family would personally address the issue soon.

    [We''re going to be very busy starting tomorrow.]

    Sandie, her ssmate and now personal secretary, nodded. "As youmand, Princess Hanna."

    "You don''t have to address me formally when it''s only the two of us here in the office."

    She shared the office with Nero.

    But since her fianc¨¦ was on probation again, it looked like she owned the office alone.

    "I will address you casually again if your engagement falls through, Princess Hanna."

    Pfft.

    If it was someone else who said that, Hanna would have been offended.

    But since it was Sandie, she was fine with it.

    "Nero and I will be getting married on his coronation day, Sandie," Hanna reminded her friend, smiling. "It will happen in a little over a month, so you better learn to ept the fact that Nero is going to be my husband, my dear friend."

    "No," Sandie said, covering her ears with her hands. "You''re too good for the Crown Prince, Princess Hanna."

    ***

    "YOU''RE AWAKE?" Niki asked the baby god who had just woken up. "Finally."

    The baby god, the reincarnation of the God of Death, fell into a deep sleep after using his power to save Neoma and Nero.

    Hence, he gave a room to the baby god where he could restfortably.

    [He saved my children, after all.]

    ording to Manu, the baby god may have exhausted its power.

    [But this baby god continued growing quickly even while he was asleep. He looks like he''s at least three years old now.]

    Gods were really strange.

    "Since you''re the God of Death, do you know a way to extend a person''s lifespan to avoid dying early?" Niki asked straight to the point. "If it''s too difficult to answer for you, then tell me a way to share my lifespan with my daughter."

    The baby god looked at him in confusion, then he suddenly cried like the baby he was supposed to be.

    [A god¡­ acting like a baby?]

    "I don''t like your mean face!" the baby god whined between sobs. "Where''s my Daddy Ruto? My Mommy Neoma? I want to see my parents!"

    Ah, right.

    Manu also told him that the baby god was iplete, hence his consciousness would switch back between his usual old self and his consciousness as a newly born child.

    He knew that, but he was still annoyed.

    Niki clenched his hands, annoyed. "Why is my daughter your ''mommy,'' you little rascal? And how did Ruston Stroganoff be your father, huh? How dare you rope my precious Neoma into your little family game."

    ***

    "CONGRATULATIONS to the one hundred and fifty-three candidates who passed the First Round," Neoma said while pping her hands. "All of you will move to the Second Round."

    The candidates were already escorted inside the People''s Pce.

    Yes, those who wished to stay and watch the entire Selection to the end were allowed to stay in the pce. While the others chose to leave.

    [They''re either bitter or eager to report back to their countries.]

    "The Second Round of the Selection will begin tomorrow morning," Neoma said, smiling at the candidates. "And we will all be hunting monsters by then~"

    "Ohh!"

    "I''m good at hunting!"

    "Finally, a challenge for me to shine!"

    Neoma smiled, happy by the candidates'' reaction.

    [I guess hunting is fun for most boys.]

    She was pretty excited, too.

    But if Neoma only knew the Second Round would trigger war, then she would have most definitely canceled that stupid Selection.

    ***

    NOTE: PLEASE CHECK MY KOFI PAGE (just g0ogle kofi s_c). I''ve posted a Q&A portion.

    Here are the questions that I answered:

    1. WHAT INSPIRED s_c TO WRITE ROYAL SECRET: I''M A PRINCESS? (hehe i''m not a hater, oki?)

    2. WHY ISN''T LEWIS THE MALE LEAD? (i''m so sorry)

    3. WHY IS RUTO THE ML? (defending Ruto with my life, lol)

    4. WILL WE GET TO SEE MORE OF NEOMA''S FIRST LIFE? (chuckles nervously)

    5. WHO WILL NERO END UP WITH? DAHLIA OR HANNA? (wiggles eyebrows)

    6. WHO IS s_c''s MOST FAVORITE CHARACTER ASIDE FROM NEOMA? (wink, wink)

    7. WHO IS s_c''s VISUAL INSPIRATION FOR NEOMA? (please don''t judge my type haha)

    8. WHAT TO EXPECT DURING THE LAST ARC? (smiles innocently)

    9. MESSAGE FOR OUR DEAR READERS <3 (:''>)

    10. SERIOUS QUESTION FOR THE READERS (please answer honestly~)

    Hope you visit my page, and donate coffee if you can. Hehe. Thank you. <3

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 789 NO TIME TO REST

    ?

    NEOMA felt bad while looking at the four busiest people in the pce at the moment.

    And those poor employees were Melvin (Nero''s secretary), Dahlia (Neoma''s secretary), Sandie Morrisley (Hanna''s secretary), Geoffrey Kinsley (Papa Boss'' temporary secretary), and Jeanne Audley (Mama Boss'' temporary secretary).

    The four were in her office to report to her.

    Since Neoma was busy all day with the Selection, she only had time to listen to the other affairs happening around her while having her dinner.

    Yes, she was eating dinner at her office desk.

    It would have been considered rude, so she asked the understanding of the secretaries first.

    She didn''t have time to have a proper meal, so she was only eating kimbap/gimbap that a certain chef candidate made for her.

    Fortunately, these people were understanding of her situation.

    [I would have skipped my meal, but Lewis would get upset if I did that.]

    "Okay, so let''s start with your report, Geoffrey," Neoma said, sipping water before she continued talking. "I bet Papa Boss'' office is swamped with inquiries from all over the world."

    "We''ve been receiving plenty of calls from different nations and kingdoms all over the continent, Princess Neoma," Geoffrey answered politely. "They wanted to have an urgent conference with His Majesty."

    That was expected.

    "I''m sure Papa Boss can deal with that," Neoma said. "Next. Jeanne, how''s Mama Boss'' day?"

    "Her Majesty spent the entire day treating Dustin¨C the other saint, Princess Neoma," Jeanne answered politely. "Unfortunately, Her Majesty and Miss Dahlia could only lessen the child''s pain and extend his life for a few days."

    "Her Majesty would also like you to make a decision soon, Princess Neoma," Dahlia added. "Her Majesty said we need to extract the divine power from the child before it was toote."

    Haaah.

    Once they extracted the divine power from Dustin, then Dustin would die right away.

    To be honest, Neoma had already epted that horrible end. She couldn''t save a person who had already been corrupted by deadly Darkness. It was already toote for the child.

    [But Skylus would definitely have a hard time epting that¡­]

    "Jeanne, Geoffrey, please let Mama Boss and Papa Boss know that we''d extract the divine power from the saint tomorrow night," Neoma said firmly. "I just need to talk to Skylus first."

    Geoffrey and Jeanne bowed their heads politely before leaving her office quietly.

    "Next," Neoma said. "Sandie."

    "Princess Hanna has already checked the articles that would be released tomorrow by all the major newspaper outlets all over the empire, Your Imperial Highness," Sandie reported to her in azy yet polite voice. "His Majesty also assigned Princess Hanna as the official representative of the Imperial Family during the conference happening tomorrow."

    That conference would be a press conference.

    The Imperial Family would have to release an official statement so that the public wouldn''t panic over the fact that there were blobs of Darkness scattered in the empire''s sky.

    "Hanna has Darkness attribute, so she''s the perfect representative to remind people that Darkness isn''t inherently evil," Neoma said, nodding. Then she turned to Melvin. "So, did Nero behave today? I heard he was the one who brought Dustin here. But I haven''t heard anything else after that."

    Melvinughed nervously. "Prince Nero¡­ is on probation, Princess Neoma."

    "Again?" Neoma asked in disbelief. "What did Nero do this time?"

    Sandie tried to hide it, but it was obvious that she was displeased by what she heard.

    [Ah, Nero. Your fianc¨¦e''s close friend doesn''t like you.]

    "Prince Nero wanted to dere war against Lord Helstor, but Prince Nero failed to give His Majesty a proper reason for starting war," Melvin exined. "Hence, His Majesty put Prince Nero on probation again until Prince Nero realized the gravity of war."

    She felt like Melvin omitted an important detail from his report, but it wasn''t like she could force him to spill everything.

    [Melvin is working for Nero and not for me, after all.]

    "Tell Nero to get his shit together," Neoma said while shaking her head. "His haters would have a field day if they found out he''s on probation again."

    [Why would you even think of starting a war, Nero Roseheart de Moonasterio?]

    "Prince Nero is already working on it, Princess Neoma," Melvin said hesitantly. "Prince Nero is currently begging for His Majesty''s forgiveness."

    Pfft.

    Nero?

    Begging Papa Boss for forgiveness when he wasn''t sorry at all?

    [That''s funny~]

    "I can see right through you, Nero," Neoma said,ughing. "That brat definitely needs something from Papa Boss."

    ***

    NIKOLAI put Nero on probation again, but that didn''t mean he didn''t care about his son''s feelings.

    Hence, he went to Nero''s room to have dinner with him after confronting the baby god.

    [It was no use, though. I can''t talk to the God of Death whose mind regressed to a child''s.]

    Niki left the baby god in Manu''s scare since the Moon Priest was already babysitting the baby saint anyway.

    [Glenn is already here, so the two will take care of the children.]

    That was when he decided to have dinner with Nero.

    He also invited Mona, but his wife was resting after spending the entire day treating the fake saint. So, he just let Mona catch up on some sleep first.

    [I''ll bring a warm meal to herter.]

    "Father."

    Nero kneeled in front of him.

    [This prideful boy kneeled?]

    "I was wrong," Nero said, his face and voice both remorseful. "Father, I won''t bring up starting a war for a petty reason again. Please forgive my ignorance."

    Hmm.

    Niki heard from Nero''s guards that only Hanna visited his son.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    [Nero wouldn''t beg for my forgiveness. He''s the type to wait for my anger to subside before he approached me. But if he''s kneeling like this, then it must be because of Hanna''s influence.]

    His daughter-inw was quite cunning, huh?

    [Aside from Neoma, Hanna is the only person who could manipte Nero like this.]

    "You and I both know that your apology isn''t sincere, so just drop it."

    "Are you saying you forgive me now, Father?"

    "That depends on your answer," Niki said, crossing his arms over his chest. "What do you want from me, son?"

    Nero''s eyes sparkled. "The Holy Knights, Father."

    As expected, this clever son of his had something in mind.

    "Stop kneeling¨C you''ll just bruise your knees and your mother wouldn''t like that," Niki said, then he sat on the chair. "The Holy Knights are just starting to return to their normal selves. What do you want to do with them?"

    Nero sat on the sofa across from him before responding. "Helstor revived his religion to spread among people. We need the Astello Temple and the Holy Knights to be more visible in the empire to oppose Helstor''s church, Father. And since I''m the Crown Prince, aren''t I technically themander of the Holy Knights?"

    His son wasn''t wrong.

    The Crown Prince had always wielded authority over the Astello Temple.

    [It was a power that I once wielded during my reign as the Crown Prince.]

    "The Holy Knights have divine energy, so they have the ability to purify Darkness," Nero said confidently,bing his fingers through his hair. And then his hair changed from white to pink. "I thought I should train the Holy Knights to be at least on the level I approve of. Dion Skelton already quit as the High Priest, but I thought I could use him as my aide if you let me borrow him, Father."

    Oho?

    If Nero could change his hair color ording to his wishes, then he might already have a good grasp of his power as a Roseheart.

    [I guess William didn''t stay by his side all this time for nothing.]

    "Alright, let''s hear your n," Niki said, sighing. "I will only lift your probation if your n sounds usible."

    ***

    "ACCORDING to our investigation, the ''Young Master Shane Carter'' we met is actually ''Young Miss Sharon'' from the fallen baron House of Carter."

    Neoma listened to Dahlia''s report while they were headed to the underground prison cell.

    Of course, Lewis was following behind them silently.

    "Xion has already begun his search for the real Young Master Shane," Dahlia continued with her report. "Xion said that he saw Prince Nero''s knights investigating the slums, too. And ording to him, Duke Quinzel also strengthened the security around the Royal Capital."

    "Very well," Neoma said. "How''s Miss Sharon?"

    "Paige and Greko are taking turns looking after Miss Sharon and Dustin," Dahlia answered politely. "Her Majesty is taking a nap to replenish her energy, so Paige volunteered to look after Dustin."

    [Aww¡­ Mama Boss is probably exhausted.]

    "How are the candidates?" Neoma asked. "I hope none of them is creating a problem."

    "The candidates just finished having dinner in the hall," Dahlia answered. "The pce staff are now guiding them to their rooms. I''m sure they won''t be causing any trouble after you disy your strength, Princess Neoma."

    She smirked. "Heh~"

    To be honest, she wasn''t worried since Trevor was there anyway.

    [He''ll deal with the unruly candidates, if there''s any.]

    "You''re here, Princess Neoma."

    Oh.

    Neoma was pretty startled when she saw Juri and Jeno both covered in blood. "Please tell me that''s not your blood, Juri, Jeno."

    "This isn''t our blood, Princess Neoma," Juri assured her, then she let out a sigh. "As Your Imperial Highness suspected, there were assassins who tried to go after themoner who ran away earlier. We caught them and brought them here for interrogation. And we made sure they couldn''tmit suicide. But, all of a sudden, they exploded."

    "Oh, fuck," Neoma said, clicking her tongue. "What about themoner who tried to run away?"

    "He exploded, too, Princess Neoma," Jeno said, then he sighed. "I tried to bring him to the infirmary where the other injured candidates were taking a rest. But as soon as we got there, he exploded. Fortunately, the Royal Archmage was there to protect the doctors and the other staff. Hence, there were no casualties other than that one who exploded."

    Neoma clenched her hands, and she wanted to scream just to let it out.

    However, she knew that getting angry wouldn''t get her anywhere.

    "I should have purified him first."

    "It wasn''t your fault, Princess Neoma," Dahlia said firmly. "Please don''t me yourself for what happened."

    Juri and Jeno nodded firmly in agreement with Dahlia.

    [Ah, they''ll be upset if I don''t drop it.]

    "Alright. Thank you," Neoma said, smiling at the three. "Anyway, Jeno, Juri, wash up and rest." She turned to Dahlia and Lewis. "I''m going to visit Skylus."

    Dahlia looked surprised by what she said. "Princess Neoma, you have an early schedule tomorrow morning. If you don''t rest now, you won''t be able to have enough sleep¡­"

    "Nah, I''ll be fine."

    Neoma was about to leave the basement prison when Lewis blocked her way literally.

    [Aigoo.]

    "Please rest first, Princess Neoma," Lewis pleaded. "You can talk to Prince Skylus during breakfast."

    [Gosh, why does it look like he''ll cry if I don''t sleep?]

    "Fine," Neoma said, covering her mouth when she yawned. "I''m gonna head back to my bedroom."

    [I''ll just sneak outter~]

    Hehe.

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 790 A DIFFERENT WAY OF SAVING

    ?

    "PRINCESS NEOMA, please wear this."

    [So much for "sneaking out."]

    Neoma tried to sneak out of her bedroom via her balcony. But as soon as her feetnded on the ground, Lewis stepped out of the darkness and handed a thick cloak to her. "Gosh. Do you not sleep, Lewis?"

    "I do, Princess Neoma," Lewis said while draping the cloak over her shoulders. "My siblings and I take turns in guarding your room. But I know that you''re not going to sleep tonight, so I told them I''ll be with you all night."

    That sounded wrong without context, but Lewis was Lewis.

    [He''s not good at expressing himself in words.]

    At least, it was nice to hear Lewis call his fellow knights his ''siblings.''

    [That''s what I call progress.]

    "How did you know I was nning on sneaking out tonight?"

    "You have a mischievous look on your face earlier when you "obliged" to sleep, Princess Neoma."

    Tsk.

    [Lewis isn''t good at speaking, but he sure has sharp eyes.]

    "I guess your siblings aren''t sleeping either."

    "How can we sleep when you''re up, Princess Neoma?" Lewis responded while following her behind. "Paige and Greko are with Dustin and Young Miss Sharon. Juri and Jeno are interrogating themoners who attacked you earlier. And Xion is still in the slums. Even Prince Nero and Princess Hanna''s people are busy working."

    And Neoma could tell that her Mama Boss and Papa Boss wouldn''t be able to sleep either while taking care of international affairs.

    [This is Helstor''s fault.]

    "Are you going to let the child die, Princess Neoma?"

    Neoma turned to Lewis with a surprised look on her face. "Oho? It''s rare for you to care about other people, Lewis."

    "I don''t care about the child," Lewis said bluntly. "But I care about how you''d react if the child died under your watch, Princess Neoma."

    Ah.

    Lewis knew about her "saviorplex," so he knew where she wasing from.

    "To be honest, my OP-ness is scaring me these days, Lewis," Neoma confessed. There was something about the silence of the night that made her feel a little vulnerable. She didn''t hesitate to show that side of her to Lewis because he was one of the people that she trusted most in the world. "I can see the weakness of the people around me." She turned to him and smiled bitterly. "I can even see how to kill you, Lewis."

    "I figured that was the case the day you cried your eyes out, Princess Neoma."

    "Aren''t you scared of me? I can kill you anytime. I don''t mean to offend you, and I''m definitely not looking down on you. But you know that I''m stronger than you, don''t you, Lewis?"

    "If Your Imperial Highness ends up killing me, then it probably means I did something worth to be killed over."

    She let out a sigh. "Lewis."

    "I live for you, Princess Neoma," Lewis said in a casual yet sincere manner. "You''re the person who gave me reasons to live. Hence, I wouldn''t mind even if you take it all back. I''d dly die by your hands."

    "Don''t say something scary, Lewis. You can''t make a single person your entire world."

    "I can," he said confidently. "Do you want to make a bet, Princess Neoma?"

    "Tsk," sheined, clicking her tongue. "You know I don''t make bets I can''t win."

    Lewisughed softly. "At least, you''re aware that you''re my world."

    "Wow. And you''re even talking casually to me."

    Lewis just shrugged.

    "You can''t kill yourself even after I died, Lewis."

    "¡­"

    "Of course, I''ll do my best to extend my lifespan," Neoma said when Lewis remained silent. "But if all else fails, you have to promise me that you''ll keep on living, Lewis."

    "Princess Neoma, you know I''m a rule breaker. Even if you force me to make a promise, I''ll just break it if I want to."

    "Gosh, you shouldn''t sound proud of it."

    "I want to respect your wishes, but I feel like I''m going to lose my mind if I lost you," Lewis said in a serious voice. "So please don''t die for my sake."

    "Can I ruffle your hair?"

    Instead of giving a verbal response, Lewis just bent his knees and lowered his head.

    "Gosh, I''m d that you''re taller than me," Neoma said while ruffling Lewis'' hair. "It''s not that I want the child to die. But it''s toote to save him. Or do you think I''m giving up way too easily just because the child isn''t innocent?"

    She had heard the full report from Melvin.

    Apparently, ording to Nero, Dustin smelled of blood.

    [That means the child killed many people. And it looks like most people killed were innocent people living in the slums.]

    That was something that she couldn''t gloss over.

    "You don''t have to save everyone every single time, Princess Neoma," Lewis said, then he raised his head to look at her straight in the eye. "We won''t hate you for it, so please don''t be too hard on yourself."

    Aww.

    That was actually pretty touching.

    Neoma smiled and nodded. "Thank you, Lewis."

    ***

    "MOMMY, are you here for me?"

    Neoma froze when the baby god suddenly floated towards her, then climbed her torso until she was forced to carry him in her arms.

    [He feels different right now¡­]

    The baby god felt like a normal baby, except that he could actually use Mana.

    [And he got bigger.]

    "He''s still the God of Death, but his consciousness has rpsed back to the consciousness of a child," Manu exined. "Hence, you have to wait if you need to talk to him as the God of Death. Right now, he''s no different from a crybaby his age."

    "Uhm, okay," Neoma said while awkwardly holding the baby in her arms. She didn''t know why, but she had always felt awkward with this baby. Which was weird since she was usually good with kids. "Aegiya, why are you still awake?"

    "Because you''re not here, Mommy," Aegiya said. "The scary emperor was here earlier. He''s so scary."

    "Papa Boss? What did my father say to you?"

    Aegiya shook his head. "I don''t remember, Mommy."

    "He cried himself to sleep after getting a visit from His Majesty," Manu exined. "If I have to guess, then I believe His Majesty tried to ask the God of Death about your lifespan. Specifically, how to extend it."

    Ah, that sounded usible.

    [But we can''t talk to the God of Death if his mind is that of a child''s at the moment.]

    "Neoma noona?"

    Oh.

    Skylus, who was already sleeping on the bed when she arrived, got up while rubbing his eyes with the back of his hands. "You''re here, noona?"

    Neoma''s heart already broke while looking at the poor child, but she had to strengthen her resolve. "Prince Skylus¨C no, Your Holiness."

    Skylus looked surprised when she addressed him formally. "N-Noona?"

    "Prince Skylus, the Imperial Princess addressed you by your proper title," Manu reminded the baby saint. "At times like this, you must do the same."

    Skylus looked hesitant for a moment before speaking again. "P-Princess Neoma¡­"<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "Yes, Your Holiness," Neoma said, smiling apologetically at the child. "We must go."

    Skylus flinched, but he didn''t say anything.

    "We must retract your divine power before it''s toote."

    Skylus lowered his head. "Is Brother Dustin going to die, Princess Neoma?"

    "ording to Nero, that child has already consumed too much Darkness that his insides are already rotting," she exined to the baby saint. "Nero purified the Darkness, but he didn''t have the ability to fix a rotting body. Even my mother couldn''t do anything about it anymore."

    "I¡­ I know it all along, Princess Neoma."

    "Hmm? Know what?"

    Skylus raised his head, his tears rolling down his face. "That Brother Dustin''s body is already long dead."

    Okay, that surprised Neoma.

    Even Manu looked shocked.

    [Skylus didn''t be the new saint for nothing.]

    "The moment I saw Brother Dustin, I already know that the only thing keeping him alive is the Darkness inside him," Skylus said between sobs. "And the short time I spent with him made me realize that it was me who killed him."

    "What do you mean by that, Prince Skylus?"

    "My divine power isn''t suitable for Brother Dustin''s body, so it slowly killed him inside," Skylus said, sobbing. "I don''t know how my divine power and Darkness managed to co-exist inside him, but I''m sure my divine power is also responsible for destroying his body¡­"

    "How was that your fault, Your Holiness?" Neoma asked. "You didn''t put your divine power in Dustin''s body."

    "But Princess Neoma¡­"

    "Don''t me yourself for something you didn''t do," she scolded him lightly. "I know I shouldn''t teach you to hold grudges, but if you''re going to me someone for this shit, then me the crows. But instead of getting mad, you should get ready for getting your revenge."

    "Princess Neoma, you must teach the saint about forgiveness and not revenge," Manu scolded her. "The saint shouldn''t learn how to hold grudges."

    "It''s not my style to teach people to forgive those who wronged them. In the first ce, I never believed we find peace in forgiveness anyway," Neoma said in a serious tone. "I''m the type of person who only gets to sleep peacefully after getting even."

    The Moon Priest could only sigh while shaking his head.

    "But you''re too young to hold grudges, so let me get angry in your ce, Your Holiness," Neoma said when she turned to the baby saint. "So, I''ll do the killing. You do the saving."

    Skylus looked up at her with a confused look on his face. "Can I still save Brother Dustin, Princess Neoma?"

    "Let him die a human being," Neoma said softly. "That''s one way of saving him, Your Holiness."

    ***

    SKYLUS slowly approached Dustin''s bed.

    Lord Manu offered to apany him, but he decided toe alone.

    [I know Brother Dustin won''t hurt me anymore.]

    Moreover, Neoma noona and Lewis hyung said they would guard the door.

    If something happened, Skylus knew everyone woulde to his rescue.

    "You''re here?"

    It was Dustin''s weak voice, echoing in the silent room.

    "Yes, Brother," Skylus said, standing next to the bed. "I''m here."

    Dustin still had his eyes closed.

    His big brother looked so pale, and even his lips didn''t have color in them.

    Moreover, the smell of death lingered around.

    It was something that Skylus could tell as the saint.

    "Are you here to extract the divine power from me?"

    Skylus clenched his hands tight. "Not yet."

    "Not yet?"

    Dustin slowly opened his eyes.

    Ah.

    [His eyes don''t have light anymore¡­]

    That meant Dustin could no longer see anything.

    Skylus held back his tears. "Brother, I''ll let you see it."

    "See what?"

    "Your most precious memories."

    Dustin fell silent for a moment, then he smiled and closed his eyes again. "Before I was picked up by the crows, I was living happily with my siblings in the orphanage. But those bastards took my siblings one by one, forcing them to swallow the piece of divine power¨C hoping to find the right host for it."

    Ah.

    It was something that he didn''t expect to hear from his big brother.

    [My poor Brother Dustin¡­]

    "Only I survived in the orphanage," Dustin continued in a weak voice. "I barely survived. But, apparently, I have the potential to be a saint. That was how I was chosen to take your ce, Skylus." Tears silently rolled down his cheeks as he continued with his story. "I lived at the expense of my siblings¡­"

    Skylus unclenched his hands, tears rolling down his cheeks silently. "Brother Dustin, don''t me yourself for surviving. We should only me the crows for all of the pain they caused. My noona is good at getting even¨C she''ll avenge us, so you can leave it to her."

    "Are you talking about Princess Neoma?"

    He nodded while wiping his tears. "I can''t hold grudges because I''m the saint. But Neoma noona said she''ll get angry in my ce."

    "Then can you tell Princess Neoma to be mad for me, too?"

    "Consider it done, Brother Dustin."

    Dustinughed softly. "Skylus, I want to see my siblings onest time."

    "Mm," Skylus said. He couldn''t open his mouth any more because he knew only sobs woulde out, so he just ced a hand on Dustin''s eyes. His hand soon emitted bluish lights, a sign that he was using his divine power. He was using it to let Dustin watch his most precious memories for thest time. "Good night, Dustin hyung."

    ***

    FUCKING HELL.

    Neoma couldn''t physically cry.

    She wouldn''t mind showing her vulnerable side if it was only Lewis there.

    But Uncle Glenn (who just returned from his meeting with Papa Boss) and Lord Manu were there, too. Plus, the Moon Priest even brought the baby god with him.

    Hence, she had to control her tears.

    [There''s nothing I hate in the world more than children getting hurt because of the cruel adults around them.]

    "Lord Manu."

    "Yes, Princess Neoma?"

    "Get ready," Neoma said, sighing. "We might need to extract Dustin''s divine power before the night ends."

    ***

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 Chapter 791 THE YOUNG SUCCESSORS

    ?

    "NEOMA, baby, you should head back to your bedroom."

    "You only have a few hours left before your day starts, Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio."

    Why???

    Neoma was surprised when her Mama Boss and Papa Boss arrived, telling her to return to her room when she had a job to do.

    Uncle Glenn and Manu (with the baby god) were already inside the room.

    [I should have followed them quicker.

    "I need to help extract the divine power from the other saint, then help Skylus absorb it," Neoma reasoned. "Hence, my presence is needed here, Mama Boss, Papa Boss."

    "Your mother and I will do it," Papa Boss said sternly. "The two of us are enough to assist the Moon Priest."

    Well, her father was right.

    In the first ce, it was Manu who would lead the extraction and absorption of the divine power.

    However¡­

    "I want to be here, Papa Boss, Mama Boss," Neoma insisted as politely as she could. "Please allow me to stay with the children."

    She thought her mother would take pity on her.

    So she was pretty surprised when her Mama Boss shook her head first.

    "Neoma, baby, you don''t see it, do you?" Mama Boss asked carefully, touching her shoulders. "Some of the blobs of Darkness scattered in the sky have descended and stuck to you. They''re feeding on your sadness."

    She wanted to ask how her Mama Boss knew that.

    But then she saw that her mother''s pale blue eyes had turned a deep shade of pink. They were almost red now.

    "Mama Boss, did you borrow a god''s eyes?"

    Her mother nodded. "I borrowed Genevieve''s eyes."

    Genevieve was the name of the goddess that her Mama Boss would summon during a fight.

    "Why did you borrow her eyes, Mama Boss?"

    "I needed to make sure that the other saint didn''t bring a trap with him," Mama Boss exined. "But I can''t borrow her eyes for too long. Hence, I''m pretty sure the effect is already fading."

    Ah, so that exined why her mother''s eyes were a deep shade of pink and notpletely red.

    It came as a shock to her.

    [Does it mean I could borrow a god''s eyes better than Mama Boss could?]

    She couldn''t believe it because she thought her mother was the best Summoner in the entire world.

    [Am I¡­ am I stronger than Mama Boss now?]

    "Neoma, go and rest before I asked my Pdins to drag you to your room," Papa Boss said sternly. "Or would you like it better if I put you on probation as well? Not taking care of yourself and worrying your parents to death is a sin, too."

    Gosh.

    Papa Boss and his ridiculous logic.

    But the fact that Lewis didn''t react to her father''s light threats must mean Lewis agreed with Papa Boss.

    [Lewis will probably drag me back to my room happily.]

    "Baby, Helstor feeds on Darkness¨C and that includes negative emotions," Mama Boss reminded her gently. "Perhaps they sent the other saint here knowing that the child would die just to hurt you on purpose. Since we''ve already proved that Prince Skylus is the real saint, the crows probably threw the child away. And they made sure that you''d know in order to make you feel miserable."

    Her mother brushed her hands gently on her shoulders as if she was dusting the blobs of Darkness off her.

    [Those blobs of Darkness are feeding off my sadness, huh?]

    Hesltor was worse than a capitalist pig then.

    "But I can allow you to stay here if you really want to help, Neoma," Papa Boss said in a light voice. "We just have to cancel the Selection then."

    Gosh.

    [Papa Boss is an opportunist, indeed.]

    Neoma rolled her eyes at her Papa Boss, then she bowed her head towards her imperial parents. "Good night, Mama Boss, Papa Boss."

    ***

    OF COURSE, Neoma didn''t really get enough sleep.

    However, she still woke up as beautiful as ever.

    Since today''s activities included hunting monsters, she wore an appropriate attire: a fancy red jacket with gold epaulettes and chains draped over her shoulders, a little ck dress underneath, and a pair of knee-length ck boots.

    She tied her hair in a high ponytail, and she made sure her makeup for today was fierce.

    Neoma twirled around in front of Lewis. "How do I look?"

    "Great," Lewis said in a sincere voice, without missing a heartbeat. "It wasn''t obvious that you cried yourself to sleepst night, Princess Neoma."

    Argh.

    Neoma stopped twirling around and cleared her throat. "How did you know?"

    Lewis tilted his head to one side. "I have a sharp hearing?"

    Tsk.

    She should have created a soundproof barrier.

    [But if I did that, Lewis would panic.]

    "I didn''t cry," Neoma lied with a straight face, then she turned her back on Lewis. "Let''s go."

    She was informed earlier that the candidates had finished their breakfast.

    Moreover, the candidates had already finished their preparations for the next round.

    "Good morning, Princess Neoma."

    Dahlia, Juri, and Jeno greeted her in front of the balcony door.

    [Paige and Greko are still treating Sharon Carter, and Xion hasn''t returned from his away mission yet.]<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Neoma felt bad because it was clear that her people hadn''t gotten a proper sleep yet.

    "Good morning," Neoma greeted back her people. "After the Second Round, we will all rest properly."

    Her people''s face lightened up.

    But Neoma had a feeling that it wasn''t because they would finally get the rest that they deserved.

    [They''re just probably happy that I''ll take a break after this.]

    Her people loved her too much, and that was quite troubling sometimes.

    [They should love themselves more than they love me.]

    Neoma''s thoughts were interrupted when Jeno and Lewis opened the double doors of the balcony for her.

    [Okay, let''s get this shit over and done with.]

    Neoma came out of the balcony and faced the one hundred plus candidates who passed the First Round.

    Everyone, just like her, was dressed to kill.

    [Literally, since we''re about to go on a hunt.]

    Anyway, this time, only Neoma greeted the candidates.

    The emperor, the empress, the Crown Prince, and the Crown Princess were all busy of international affairs.

    [After all, the news about the Darkness scattered in the sky have already spread.]

    "As you already know, the Second Round of the Selection is hunting," Neoma said after her short (but impactful) opening speech. "The rule is simple: the top fifty candidates who get to hunt the most monsters would enter the final round. And the rarer the monster you hunt is, the more points you get. Once we reached the hunting ground, we will release the types of monsters you need to hunt and their equivalent points. Am I clear?"

    "Yes, Princess Neoma."

    Ohh.

    The candidates all sounded energetic.

    [Good.]

    Neoma politely pointed her hands to Abigail Barlowe and the other royal mages waiting at the sideline. "Lady Barlowe, the Royal Archmage, and the mages from the Royal Tower would open a portal for us."

    So far, everything was going well.

    Too well for Neoma''s liking.

    [Why do I have a feeling that things would go downhillter?]

    ***

    "THE USELESS SAINT is dead."

    Regina wasn''t surprised to hear what Dn Crowell had said.

    It was them who pushed Dustin to confront the real saint anyway, despite knowing that the other saint wouldn''t seed.

    They needed to get rid of the trash, after all.

    "We have no use of the child since Skylus Griffiths is already recognized as the one and only saint," Regina Crowell said. "I just don''t understand why we didn''t extract the divine power from that fake."

    "It''s because we don''t have another disposable pawn to absorb the divine power," Dn exined. "The saint''s divine power is "alive," after all."

    That was still ame excuse.

    "We should have at least just buried the child so the arrogant princess would have a hard time finding a piece of the saint''s scattered divine power. It''s such a waste that we gave the saint an opportunity to getplete faster."

    Unfortunately, she was the only one who thought of that.

    "We''re the ones who are going to benefit once the saint isplete anyway."

    This time, it wasn''t Dn who spoke.

    It was Calyx who was sitting in his fancy seat.

    Regina hated that Calyx took the center seat at the long dining table.

    After all, the center seat was the symbol of power among the sessors of the Crowells and the de Lucas.

    That also meant Calyx stood on top of them all.

    On the other hand, Dn took the seat on Calyx''s right side¨C which meant Dn had the second-highest seat among them.

    Regina took the seat on Calyx''s left side.

    [Which makes me the third.]

    The third.

    Only the third.

    That hurt Regina''s pride because she knew she was better than Calyx and Dn.

    "Let Neoma de Moonasterio bask in her "winning streak,"" Calyx said,ughing bitterly. "We''ll drag her down to hell once she''s at the highest point of her life."

    That was riching from someone who had never won against Princess Neoma once.

    [Oh, he did "win" once when Prince Nero forgot about Princess Neoma. But was it really considered a "win" when Princess Neoma and her parents ran away and hid safely for five years?]

    To be honest, Regina wasn''t happy with Lord Callisto''s decision to work with Lord Helstor.

    She also thought Calyx was too stupid while Dn was toozy to go against someone great like Princess Neoma.

    [But no one listens to me just because I''m a woman.]

    "I apologize for interrupting your conversation, Young Sessors."

    The butler entered the dining hall politely, then he bowed his head towards them before giving the report they had been waiting for.

    "Princess Neoma and the candidates have entered the mountains."

    "Alright," Calyx said, standing up. "It''s time to go hunting."

    ***

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 Chapter 792 LET THE HUNT BEGIN

    ?

    MOUNT THERON.

    It was the location that Neoma chose for the Second Round, and she chose it for three reasons.

    First, it was the nearest hunting ground to the Royal Pce. Moreover, it was and privately owned by her Papa Boss. Hence, even if the mountain got destroyed in case shit happened, they wouldn''t get indebted to anyone.

    Second, it was a mountain swarming with monsters that eat human flesh. It was almost winter, and it was the time monsters woulde out of theirir to actively eat humans before their hibernation.

    Hence, around this time, royal knights should have already been dispatched to hunt down the monsters and prevent them from attacking human viges.

    But Neoma used that opportunity to turn the annual hunt into apetition.

    [When will I get the chance to use these young masters and princes for freebor again?]

    Third and definitely not the least, Neoma received a report that there was an unknown group giving alms to the poor viges near Mount Theron.

    [Hence, here we are now.]

    "Be careful not to hurt other living things while hunting. You''re free to use any weapon or technique you want¨C just make sure the innocent living beings around remain unharmed," Neoma said after she exined the point system for killing each monster. "Moreover, you can''t hurt or kill each other. If you do, you''ll be disqualified. But you''re free to try to assassinate me. That''s fun."

    Just because nobody else stepped forward yesterday didn''t mean she could trust the remaining candidates.

    [I''m sure there are still people there who want me gone for whatever reason.]

    "Ah. Before I forget, I prepared something for all of you," Neoma said, then she turned to Lewis, Juri, and Jeno who came with her as her personal guards. "Kids, distribute them to the candidates, please. Thank you."

    Lewis, Juri, and Jeno bowed politely towards her as they began to hand each candidate a small box from the magic pouches her kids were carrying.

    Each small contained a ck braided leather bracelet.

    "Please wear the bracelet you received," Neoma said. "If you find yourself in a dangerous situation, just break the bracelet and we wille to your rescue. And if you encounter an enemy that isn''t a monster, remember to always aim for the throat first."

    Most of the candidates looked confused.

    But those who got what she meant by thatughed.

    [Gosh. Why are theyughing? I''m serious.]

    "Anyway, the time limit is until sunset," Neoma said. "We''ll have dinner while counting the monsters you caught." She pped her hands together. "Go and have fun, guys."

    ***

    THE MOST dangerous monster in Mount Theron was the three-headed panther.

    It was huge, violent, and consumed both human and monster meat.

    And it was also the highest-graded monster on Princess Neoma''s list.

    [Hence, whoever catches it will automatically win the Second Round.]

    Of course, Princess Neoma clearly said that the top 50 candidates with the highest points would qualify for the final round.

    [But if you''re a man, you''d want to get the first ce, right?]

    That was why Trevor only hunted down the monsters with the highest scores.

    Then he purposely made them bleed to lure out the three-headed panther. After that, he dragged the bloody carcasses to the deep part of the mountain where the three-headed panther was supposed to be found.

    But he wasn''t the only one who thought of doing that.

    Tsk.

    Trevor clicked his tongue at Ruto, Jasper Hawthorne, and the Ancient Devil.

    Like him, the three punks also used the blood of high-graded monsters to lure out the three-headed panther.

    "Are you stalking me or something?" Trevor scoffed. "Why is it always the three of you?"

    "I know, right?" Jasper Hawthorne agreed with him. "But I have to say that I already expected this to happen."

    The Ancient Devil shrugged. "I don''t want to admit this, but I''m pretty sure we''re the ones who are going to fight each other in the final round."

    "We''re missing one person, though," Rutomented. "The one with the most dangerous face."

    "Ah, Rubin Drayton," Trevor said casually. "Fortunately for us, he''s not the brightest or the strongest. He''ll probably just barely pass this round if he''s lucky."

    His rivals nodded in agreement with him.

    It wasn''t like they were bullying Rubin Drayton behind his back, okay?

    They were merely stating a fact.

    [It''s not because we''re jealous of Rubin Drayton''s immacte face. Okay? OKAY???]

    Trevor''s thoughts were interrupted when a huge shadow suddenly cast over them.

    He and his rivals looked up at the sky at the same time.

    Ah, dammit.

    The blobs of Darkness that were only visible to a select few were now as clear as day.

    Trevor clenched his hands tight. "Helstor is on the move."

    ***

    "FUCKING HELL," Neoma whispered to herself while looking up at the Darkness slowly covering the entire sky. Because of that damned thing, it suddenly turned dark even though it wasn''t even noon yet. It was as if a sr eclipse had urred. "Are they trying to scare the citizens to death?"

    That was probably the crows'' n.

    [Now that we''ve revealed the existence of the Darkness to the public, Helstor finally made those stupid blobs of Darkness visible to themon people.]

    She could already imagine the chaos it caused to the empire.

    [Especially the ones living in the Royal Capital.]

    BEEP.

    Hmm?

    Neoma''s thoughts were interrupted when she heard the loud ringing.

    "Two of the candidates have broken the bracelets, Princess Neoma," Abigail Barlowe, the Royal Archmage who created the magic bracelets, reported to her in a hurry. "They''re in the same location."

    Neoma clenched her hands tight. "Can you tell who the candidates are?"

    "Prince Reevo Hali and Young Master Rubin Drayton."

    ***

    IT HAPPENED so fast.

    Rubin was hunting down a mid-grade monster when he encountered Prince Reevo Hali, a merman.

    It wasn''t hard to remember the prince because his face stood out.

    [He''s probably only second to me when ites to the face.]

    "Young Master, this ce feels ominous," Prince Reevo said while looking around nervously. "We should head back."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Hmm?

    It didn''t look like the prince was lying.

    [He really looks scared.]

    Rubin didn''t know what was happening since he couldn''t see or feel anything wrong¡­

    ¡­ until the moment a dagger struck Prince Reevo in the chest.

    "Prince Reevo!" Rubin yelled worriedly, then he immediately caught the mermaid prince before he hit the ground. "Oh, no¡­"

    He immediately noticed that Prince Reevo''s blood had turned ck.

    It only meant one thing.

    "Poison," Rubin whispered to himself. "The dagger was poisoned."

    "Run," Prince Reevo whispered weakly, closing his eyes. "Run, Young Master¡­"

    "I can''t do that," Rubin said, then he grabbed Prince Reevo''s leather bracelet and pulled it until it snapped. "I didn''t carry an antidote with me, so let''s just wait for them to rescue us, Prince Reevo."

    The mermaid prince didn''t respond.

    [Ah, he lost consciousness¡­]

    "When did you start caring about other people, Rubin?"

    This voice¡­

    Rubin raised his head, then he confirmed it. "Regina Crowell."

    For the first time since he regained the faint memories of his previous life, he felt an ungodly amount of rage for someone other than himself.

    Regina Crowell.

    It was the person who ruined his life in the previous timeline.

    [The one who made me hurt Neoma again and again.]

    "Why are you looking at me like that, Rubin?" Regina asked,ughing. "Aren''t you d to see the woman you love again?"

    Hah!

    Love?

    Rubin slowly and carefully put Prince Reevo to the ground, then he stood up while snapping his own bracelet.

    If asking to be rescued meant he''d be disqualified from the game, so be it.

    He''d rather lose the chance to be close to Princess Neoma than lose his mind dealing with Regina Crowell.

    [I don''t know how she does it, but she has the ability to make me do her bidding.]

    "Regina, I also thought I loved you," Rubin said indifferently. "But why do I only feel rage and hatred now that I''ve finally seen you again?"

    At first, Regina looked confused by what he said.

    Then sheughed like the mad woman that she was.

    "You finally snapped out of Dn''s spell. That guy is really useless until the end," Regina said while shaking her head, her eyes glowing as if she was having the time of her life. "Or have you also remembered your past life, Rubin Drayton?"

    ["Also?"]

    Rubin Drayton. "Regina, do you remember your past life, too?"

    Regina smiled and she was about to answer when, all of a sudden, a fireball flew towards in her direction. If she didn''t dodge when she did, she would have been burnt to ashes already just like how the tree behind her was burned easily. "You almost fried me, bitch."

    "That was the n, bitch."

    It was Princess Neoma.

    The Imperial Princess, along with Lewis, appeared in front of Rubin.

    [I didn''t expect Princess Neoma to personallye to my rescue.]

    Nevertheless, Rubin was touched.

    Lewis suddenly looked over his shoulder to re at Rubin with his glowing golden eyes. "Don''t get funny ideas. Princess Neoma woulde to anyone''s rescue."

    That was the fox'' way of saying he wasn''t special.

    Rubin just put a hand on his chest. "I''m still grateful."

    "Can you really afford to waste time here, you bitch princess?" Regina asked Princess Neoma mockingly. "Aren''t you worried about what''s happening to the empire as we speak?"

    "Why would I be worried?" Princess Neoma retorted. "Aside from my family, Hanna is there. Hanna is practically me when I''m not there."

    Reginaughed again. "That''s why you should be worried¨C Hanna Quinzel may be dethroned as the Crown Princess at any moment now."

    ***

    ROTTEN MILK.

    Hanna was pretty sure that the thing that themoner children threw at her was rotten milk.

    Needless to say, she was shocked by what happened.

    The royal knights immediately surrounded her and pushed back the crowd.

    "How dare you harm the Crown Princess!"

    "Arrest everyone!"

    "Such insolence towards the Imperial Family shall not be forgiven!"

    But the people fought back.

    "Princess Hanna is a Darkness attribute user!"

    "The Darkness has arrived to swallow the entire world!"

    "A person who wields Darkness doesn''t deserve to be the Crown Princess!"

    Ah.

    She could clearly see the ugly picture that the crows had painted.

    No wonder the blobs of Darkness in the sky had suddenly be visible.

    [Helstor, you worked hard, huh?]

    Hanna smiled whilebing her fingers through her wet and sticky hair, then she addressed themoners with a cold gaze that shut them up instantly. "Do I scare you, my beloved citizens?"

    ***

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 Chapter 793 FEARMONGERING

    ?

    "THAT''S WHY you should be worried¨C Hanna Quinzel may be dethroned as the Crown Princess at any moment now."

    Ah, so that was what the crows were aiming for?

    The dethronement of the Crown Princess simply because Hanna was a Darkness attribute user?

    Neoma burst outughing. "That''s funny. I would have believed had you said I would be removed from my position as the Imperial Princess. But Hanna? To be dethroned? That''s not gonna happen, dear."

    She had always known that she was no match for Nero or Hanna when it came to politics.

    Her twin brother was calloused while the Crown Princess knew how to set boundaries.

    And those were two qualities that shecked.

    That was why Nero and Hanna were good "business partners."

    [Plus, Hanna is the only person who could manipte Nero better than I do.]

    Hence, Neoma wasn''t really worried.

    Regina raised an eyebrow. "Do you trust Hanna Quinzel that much, Princess Neoma?"

    "Hanna isn''t simply a member of the Imperial Family¨C she''s a bonafide politician," Neoma said, smirking. "A heartless one, if I must say."

    ***

    HANNA wondered why the royal carriage suddenly halted.

    She could also hear loud voices outside.

    Even the royal knights that served as her escort were shouting.

    [I''m going to bete at this rate.]

    She had an appointment with the journalists as she was chosen as the Imperial Family''s representative.

    But she couldn''t leave the pce since there was amotion at the main entrance.

    Sandie, who was with her in the royal carriage, opened the window and asked one of the knights outside. "Sir, can you tell me what''s happening?"

    "Of course, Lady Morrisley. There are people gathered at the main gate. Most of them aremoners. They''re demanding an audience with the Imperial Family, insisting that it was Princess Neoma who told them that they are allowed to hold a protest in front of the pce."

    Oh, right.

    Hanna remembered that Neoma did tell everyone they were allowed to protest.

    [Did the peoplee here to demand the truth about the Darkness that threatens the empire''s sky?]

    "Should we use the secret passage instead of going through the main gate?"

    "No," Hanna said, opening the door of the carriage. "Open the gates and let the people in."

    The royal knights who were assigned to escort her all bowed their heads and didn''t question her decision.

    "As youmand, Your Highness."

    "Are you sure you want to face the people alone, Your Highness?" Sandie asked worriedly. "They sound angry."

    "It''s my duty as the Crown Princess to care for our people, especially when Neoma isn''t here," Hanna said, then she stepped out of the carriage. "I need to know what''s the issue, too."

    "I understand, Your Highness," Sandie said politely, opening her hand until vines emerged from her skin and hugged her arm like snakes. "Then I shall send an urgent message to the crybaby to let the Crown Prince know what''s happening."

    The crybaby would be Sir Melvin, Nero''s (overworked) secretary.

    Hanna nodded. "Send a message to Dahlia as well."

    "As youmand, Your Highness."

    When the gates opened, the angry people immediately swarmed in. The royal knights were pushed back, unexpectedly. It was probably because the royal knights were instructed not to harm the citizens.

    [I didn''t expect this number of people to show up¡­]

    The ones in the "frontline" were children who were running towards Hanna.

    "Don''t you dare use violence on the children," Hanna warned the royal knights sternly, making them freeze on the spot. "Just defend and don''t attack the people¨C"

    She was forced to stop talking when the children suddenly threw a few bottles at her.

    Hanna''s shadow automatically blocked the bottles, but the liquid poured on her head.

    Sandie gasped. "Princess Hanna¡­"

    Rotten milk.

    Hanna was pretty sure that the thing that the children threw at her was rotten milk.

    Needless to say, she was shocked by what happened.

    The royal knights immediately surrounded her and pushed back the crowd harder than they did earlier.

    "How dare you harm the Crown Princess!"

    "Arrest everyone!"

    "Such insolence towards the Imperial Family shall not be forgiven!"

    But the people fought back.

    "Princess Hanna is a Darkness attribute user!"

    "The Darkness has arrived to swallow the entire world!"

    "A person who wields Darkness doesn''t deserve to be the Crown Princess!"

    Ah.

    Hanna smiled whilebing her fingers through her wet and sticky hair, then she addressed themoners with a cold gaze that shut them up instantly. "Do I scare you, my beloved citizens?"

    Propaganda.

    She instantly realized that the "protest" was actually propaganda against Darkness attribute users like her.

    Hanna was a Darkness attribute user with the highest social ranking in the empire, making her a perfect target if the crows wanted to make an example of her. If the crows seeded in removing her from her position as the Crown Princess, then it would be easier for them to ostracize the rest of the Darkness attribute users.

    But that wasn''t the crows'' goal, since most of those bastards were also Darkness attribute users.

    Mass panic.

    That was the crows'' real goal.

    [Those cowards are good at spreading fear¨C I''ll give them that.]

    "T-The Darkness is here to swallow the world like during the Ancient Period!"

    "But unlike then, we don''t have the Light Goddess anymore!"

    "Hence, it''s normal for us to get scared of Darkness attribute users like Your Highness! After all, we heard that the Darkness attribute users could contribute to the Darkness that''s slowly swallowing the world as we speak at this very moment!"

    Hmm.

    That was vague.

    It was obvious someone just fed these people lies to scare them.

    [And to force them to have bad feelings against Darkness attribute users.]

    "I hear you," Hanna said calmly. She quickly pulled herself together. Hence, she was pretty sure the cold look on her face earlier had already disappeared. "I understand that as humans, we were born with the natural fear of Darkness. However, I want to remind everyone that Darkness isn''t inherently evil¨C it is still a part of Nature."

    "Exactly! We should fear Darkness attribute users like Your Highness because we don''t know when you''ll turn against us!"

    Hanna smiled "sweetly." "So, is the solution to get rid of the Darkness attribute users before we turn against humanity?"<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    No one dared to answer her loudly.

    But the people talked among themselves.

    Fearmongering.

    It was an act of deliberately arousing public fear.

    This was definitely the work of the crows.

    However¡­

    "I wouldn''t suggest getting rid of the Darkness attribute users, though. After all, that would mean you have to get rid of the Quinzels," Hanna said yfully. "If we disappear, the empire''s entire economy would copse. And I''d rather ruin our own businesses than have them stolen by someone else. If we fall, we''re bringing the economy down with us. Imagine how many people would lose their jobs and livelihoods if that happened. Scary, isn''t it?"

    "Are you threatening us, Princess Hanna?!"

    "That was just a mere warning," Hanna said, keeping her smile "sweet." "But I don''t really get what you''re afraid of. Even if Darkness starts to act up, and even if some Darkness attribute users turn against humanity, you''ll still be safe."

    Now the noise among the crowd had turned to confusion.

    And that was the moment she was waiting for.

    "Someone said the Light Goddess was already gone, but it didn''t mean no one else is capable of purifying Darkness," Hanna said confidently. "Isn''t the Imperial Family the descendants of the Moon God AND the Light Goddess? Don''t forget your history, people."

    "B-But the de Moonasterios couldn''t stop something as powerful as the Absolute Darkness!"

    "That''s right! The gods had toe together back then!"

    "But the gods aren''t allowed to descend to the human world anymore because of the de Moonasterios. We know our history, Your Highness!"

    "You''re still forgetting something vital¨C the de Moonasterios are the gods among humans," Hanna said firmly. "And one of them was born the direct agent of the Light Goddess. That person received the power to stop the seconding of the Absolute Darkness."

    "Who are you referring to, Your Highness?"

    "Is it the Crown Prince? But I heard the Crown Prince was mentally unstable at the moment¡­"

    "And I also heard that the emperor is sick¡­"

    Ah, those damned crows.

    [They alsounched a smear campaign against Nero and His Majesty, huh?]

    "Moreover, the Imperial Princess is also dying¡­"

    Hanna knitted her eyebrows.

    [The crows even spread the fact that Neoma is dying?]

    Perhaps she shouldn''t be surprised.

    [The day Helstor discovered Neoma''s secret, we should have already expected him to share it with the crows.]

    "I heard that''s the reason why the Imperial Princess is rushing to find a groom¡­"

    "Then does it mean the Imperial Family''s downfall is near¡­?"

    "The downfall of the Imperial Family won''t happen," Hanna said loudly. "Because Princess Neoma, our one and only Imperial Family, was born as the Light Goddess'' direct agent. Moreover, Princess Neoma also received all the blessings that the First Emperor had received from the gods in the Upper World."

    A loud gasp erupted from the crowd.

    The fear about the approaching "end" of the Imperial Family had turned into curiosity about the Imperial Princess.

    Propaganda.

    Hanna was going to use propaganda against the crows'' fearmongering.

    "That means Princess Neoma is The One chosen by the gods to save the entire world from getting swallowed by the seconding of the Absolute Darkness," Hanna lied with a convincing smile on her face. "Princess Neoma is the Light Goddess'' sessor, which makes her the Light Princess. If we want to be saved, we should devote ourselves to Princess Neoma from now on."

    [I''m sorry, Neoma, but I''m starting a religion dedicated to you.]

    She had to lie and exaggerate things to sound convincing.

    What were the gods going to do about it? Punish her? Haaah.

    [I''m not afraid of them.]

    "Princess Neoma has the power to get rid of a powerful Darkness attribute user like me, and so you don''t have to worry about the Darkness attribute users acting up. We are no match for Princess Neoma''s divine power," Hanna said, smiling. She even sped her hands together as if she was praying. "Let''s put our faith in Princess Neoma, our Light, our savior."

    ***

    FOR SOME REASON, Neoma felt a chill down her spine.

    [Is it just my imagination or someone is saying something creepy behind my back?]

    "Are you trying to make me envious of your friendship with Hanna Quinzel?" Regina Crowell asked bitterly. "But then again, it''s not like friendship could save you and the empire."

    Neoma burst outughing. "This is why you''re a viiness, Regina¨C you don''t believe in the power of friendship."

    "Excuse me?"

    She just scoffed, then she crossed her arms over her chest. "You didn''t seem like you came here to fight. Do you have something to tell me?"

    "I do."

    "I''ll give you three minutes to speak before I attack."

    "Are you really going to attack me?" Regina asked,ughing. "Princess Neoma, you can''t kill me, can you?"

    Neoma raised an eyebrow. "What makes you confident I "can''t" kill you?"

    "Because only I can extend your lifespan."

    Ohh.

    [Now we''re talking.]

    ***

    NOTE: PLEASE CHECK MY KOFI PAGE (just g0ogle kofi s_c). I''ve posted a Q&A portion.

    Here are the questions that I answered:

    1. WHAT INSPIRED s_c TO WRITE ROYAL SECRET: I''M A PRINCESS? (hehe i''m not a hater, oki?)

    2. WHY ISN''T LEWIS THE MALE LEAD? (i''m so sorry)

    3. WHY IS RUTO THE ML? (defending Ruto with my life, lol)

    4. WILL WE GET TO SEE MORE OF NEOMA''S FIRST LIFE? (chuckles nervously)

    5. WHO WILL NERO END UP WITH? DAHLIA OR HANNA? (wiggles eyebrows)

    6. WHO IS s_c''s MOST FAVORITE CHARACTER ASIDE FROM NEOMA? (wink, wink)

    7. WHO IS s_c''s VISUAL INSPIRATION FOR NEOMA? (please don''t judge my type haha)

    8. WHAT TO EXPECT DURING THE LAST ARC? (smiles innocently)

    9. MESSAGE FOR OUR DEAR READERS <3 (:''>)

    10. SERIOUS QUESTION FOR THE READERS (please answer honestly~)

    Hope you visit my page, and donate coffee if you can. Hehe. Thank you. <3

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 794 [BONUS CHAPTER] CONCEPTION DREAM

    ?

    [WARNING: Seggs/smut scene! If you want Glenn and Brigitte to remain a wholesome couple in your eyes, skip this chapter. LOL. Although they couldn''t be considered an ''innocent'' couple considering they have four children already. The other adult couples (ahem, NikixMona, DominicxNichole, ahem) should catch up. Haha!]

    ***

    BRIGITTE had been sleeping in her own bedroom for the past week because she was sick.

    She didn''t want her husband to catch her flu, after all.

    However, she had already fully recovered.

    Hence, she decided to surprise Glenn and join him back in their bedroom starting tonight.

    She entered their chamber as quietly as possible and closed the door behind her in the same manner.

    Brigitte smiled when she saw Glenn on the bed¡­

    ¡­ then froze on the spot when she realized that her husband was fully-naked, and his hand was busy¡­

    She gasped softly and covered her mouth with her hands.

    [Is he touching himself¡­?]

    She squinted her eyes and focused on her husband''s, er, ''member.''

    Glenn was gripping the base of his erect huge and hard cock.

    "I want to touch you, too, honey!" Brigitteined as she marched towards her husband. "Why are you touching yourself when I''m here?"

    Glenn looked surprised upon seeing her, but his hand didn''t stop moving. "Ah, honey¡­"

    Brigitte frowned.

    She heard from the older marrieddies that she would often talk to that there were times men preferred touching themselves to having sex with their wives.

    But she felt jealous after catching her husband pleasuring himself.

    [I want to touch him, too¡­]

    Glenn seemed too into it as he didn''t stop pumping his cock even after getting caught.

    She, admittedly, felt aroused while watching her husband¨C forcing her to close her legs as her center began to get moist.

    [This is¡­ hot.]

    She couldn''t help but moan softly when his hand reached the head of his cock, then he twisted his wrist expertly before making a slow downward stroke.

    Glenn looked satisfied, and his aroused face was really turning her on.

    Actually, her husband looked like he was in pain. But maybe he was just concentrating really hard on pleasuring himself. And it was really hot watching him in that state.

    "It''s not that I don''t want to do it with you, my queen," Glenn said, almost breathless. His intense gaze told her that he wanted her naked¨C right there and then. "I just didn''t want to exhaust you when you recovered from your flu¡­"

    "I''ll be fine, my king," Brigitte said. It was embarrassing, but she sounded desperate to getid. But what could she do? Her husband was too hot to resist. "In fact, I drank a potion to strengthen my stamina for tonight. I came here prepared and ready to be imed by my sexy husband."

    Glennughed softly, then his face scrunched up as he let out a groan when pre-cum starteding out of the head of his cock. "Ah, I''m close¡­"

    [And I''m already wet.]

    Brigitte, her arousal already taking over her sanity, swatted Glenn''s hand away from his beautiful cock.

    Then she straddled her husband''s hips while pulling down her sexy and soaked panties.

    "My queen¡­"

    She just smiled yfully and then lowered herself on him, trapping his hard erection between her crotch and his abdomen.

    Glenn''s eyes widened in shock, then his entire face turned red.

    [That''s the face he makes when he''s embarrassed yet too arouse to care.]

    To tease her husband even more, Brigitte started to gently grind herself against his hard cock.

    Glenn let out a low groan, making her lick her lower lip.

    Humping her husband made her really, really aroused.

    And the best part?

    The view¨C definitely the view.

    She could stare at her husband''s gorgeous body all she wanted.

    His thick neck, sexy corbones, wide expanse of chest, his six-pack abs¡­

    [Everything about my husband is sexy.]

    She was grinding herself harder now against his erection.

    That was when Glenn suddenly grabbed her waist, his nails identally digging deep into her skin.

    It stung a bit.

    But the pain actually added to her pleasure, making her moan.

    "I''m sorry," Glenn said in a panic when he realized that he had been a little rough on her. "Did I hurt you, honey?"

    "Honey, if you''re really sorry¡­" Brigitte leaned down and whispered in Glenn''s ear, making sure that her hot breath would hit the sensitive side of his neck. "Then fuck me hard."

    It was unbing of a queen like her to speak such vulgar words.

    But Brigitte knew that Glenn liked it when she talked dirty to him.

    ***

    BRIGITTE moaned softly against Glenn''s mouth.

    [Ah, we haven''t kissed this passionately for a week¡­]

    Needless to say, he was devouring her mouth.

    Then her moan turned into a softugh when her husband lifted her nightgown. Now, her breasts were exposed to his lustful gaze as she helped him take off herst piece of clothing.

    The next thing Brigitte knew, her back was already on the bed¡­

    ¡­ while Glenn rested his rock-hard body lightly on top of her.

    Her husband immediately went back to business. He made his way down her body. His trailposed of hot, open-mouthed kisses.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Glenn''s wet tongue began to swirl around the orb in circles until he got to the center of her nipple. She almost came when he flicked his tongue several times before he wrapped his lips around the hardened peak. Then he sucked on it.

    Brigitte arched her back, feeding him her other breast. "Honey, be fair."

    Glenn chuckled, then he took her other nipple in his mouth, repeating the process that once again created a shock of pleasure that shot straight to her center. And, look, her other breast fit perfectly in his warm and big hand.

    All the humor in her head vanished when he took her nipple between his thumb and index finger, rolling it around and giving it light pinches.

    She moaned loudly this time.

    "I like it when you make noises only I have the privilege of hearing, my queen," Glenn teased her. "Thank you."

    Brigitteughed at her husband''s teasing. "If you''re grateful, then don''t stop making me feel good."

    "As you wish, my queen."

    This time, Glenn trailed hot kisses on her belly, on her navel, then on both her hips.

    Brigitte had to press her legs together because if she didn''t, she was afraid her love juices would flow out.

    Glenn smiled mischievously. "Open your legs, honey. I want to taste you."

    Shyly, Brigitte opened her legs for her husband.

    Glenn hooked her leg on his shoulder as he ced himself between her legs.

    She felt embarrassed again when she realized that she was very exposed to his waiting mouth. But then his long tongue started to thrust in and out of her most and hot center, pressing hard against her clit, making her forget about her embarrassment.

    He flicked his tongue up and down, and she squirmed.

    Soon, she felt her orgasm building up fast as she moved her hips to match his pace. She was practically grinding herself against his mouth, hard.

    No wonder she climaxed right away.

    Glenn''s tongue thenpped up her juices until she was dry.

    Brigitte let out a satisfied moan. "That felt so good, honey."

    "My queen, I''m sorry, but I can''t hold back anymore."

    Much to Brigitte''s shock, Glenn gently flipped her on her stomach. He then lifted her hips and pulled her back until she was on her knees with her face and chest on the bed. Before she could evenin, he gently teased her by rubbing the head of his cock against her clit and sliding his considerable length along her slit.

    "Can we do it in this position, my queen?"

    Brigitte let out a moan before responding. "You took a liking to this position, huh?"

    "I can enter you deeper this way," he said shyly. "So, can we do it in this position?"

    "Alright," she said. It wasn''t like she could say no to him when she was already this aroused. "Hurry up and put it in, honey."

    They groaned at the same time when he finally entered her in that position.

    "You feel so good, my queen."

    Then he pulled out his hard cock, only to pound in deeper. Then he started to thrust in and out of her, slowly.

    "Faster, honey."

    Glennughed sexily. But like the gentleman that he was, he did what his queen asked. This time, he thrust faster and harder and deeper. He pummeled in and out of her like it was thesty of his life.

    Her husband was so good and he felt really, really delicious inside her. He was so huge that she could feel him in every right spot inside her.

    Glenn heightened her pleasure when he reached under her to massage her breast and used his fingers to y with her nipple. That was when Brigitte felt her orgasm building up.

    "My king, I''m close¡­"

    Glenn pounded in and out of her with enough force to push her forward on the bed with each thrust of his pelvis. Then he ced hot kisses down her back and tightly held on her hips, his nails digging deep into her skin once again.

    "Brigitte, my queen..." Glenn moaned. Then, much to her pleasant surprise, he uttered the words she loved hearing from him. "I love you so much."

    Brigitte came, fast. She probably released all the pent-up desire she had for the past week because of the amount of juice flowing out of her.

    But her husband wasn''t done yet.

    With one final thrust, Glenn deeply plunged into her. Then he came with a loud groan before he copsed on top of her.

    Brigitteughed softly.

    Glenn''s weight was wonderful for her taste anyway, so she didn''tin.

    "Glenn, my king," Brigitte whispered, closing her eyes as she suddenly felt sleepy. "I love you, too."

    ***

    [After three weeks¡­]

    BRIGITTE opened her eyes, then she immediately got up.

    "Honey?" Glenn, who seemed surprised by her abrupt movement, called her worriedly. "What''s wrong?"

    "I had a weird dream," Brigitte confessed. "I saw baby monsters in my dream."

    Her husband suddenly looked more worried than she was. "Then is it a nightmare?"

    She shook her head. "Weirdly, I find those baby monsters really cute."

    He fell silent for a moment before speaking again. "Right, there are monsters that look cute during their younger years."

    "You speak like you''ve seen baby monsters before."

    "Ah, my family raises monsters and Spirits," Glenn said, then he shook his head and changed the topic because he didn''t like talking about his family. "Do you feel better now, honey? You said you feel nauseous recently."

    Oh.

    OH.

    She felt sick recently, and she suddenly had a weird yet warm dream.

    [Could it be¡­?]

    "Honey, can you call the royal doctor for me?" Brigitte asked, smiling as she ced her hands on her belly carefully. "I think I just had a conception dream."

    Glenn, who realized what she meant by that, suddenly burst out crying while smiling like a fool. Then he hugged her as carefully as he could. "Thank you, honey¨C thank you for another wonderful gift."

 Chapter 795 OLD FLAMES

    ?

    "WE HAVE sessfully extracted the divine power from the other saint."

    Nero wasn''t surprised by what his mother said.

    He was aware that the fake saint had already passed awayst night after getting his divine power removed.

    "How''s the baby saint?" his father asked. "Did he absorb the divine power already?"

    "Prince Skylus has sessfully absorbed back his divine power," his mother answered in a sad voice. "Lord Manu and Glenn are currently with him. It seems like Prince Skylus is still sad about what happened to Dustin. He feels guilty even though he just received what was rightfully his from the start."

    Nero scoffed at that. "That baby is too soft-hearted. He''s not just a saint¨C he''s also a prince. If he doesn''t pull himself together, then he might end up bing a pushover. Should I take the saint under my wing? I''ll teach him how to be a proper prince."

    "Son, you have to know that it''s rare for a human to be born as heartless as you and I," his father said. "People are usually born normal and kind like Neoma and your mother. Hence, Prince Skylus isn''t being a "pushover"¨C he''s just being the child that he is."

    Once again, Nero scoffed. "Father, I already had my first kill when I was around that baby saint''s age¡­"

    Ah.

    He realized his mistake when his mother''s bloodlust suddenly oozed.

    "Your first what?" his mother asked coldly. "You did what at Prince Skylus'' age, Nero Roseheart de Moonasterio?"

    Nero turned to his father for help.

    But his traitorous father only avoided his gaze while sipping his tea.

    [I will never forget this betrayal, Father.]

    "Nero, did I not ask you a question?"

    "Mother, that person deserved it," Nero said unapologetically. "I did it to protect Neoma when we were toddlers because Father wouldn''t."

    Yes, he said that on purpose to get back at his father.

    And it worked.

    His mother red at his father. "Niki, we''re going to talkter."

    "Yes, love," his father said dejectedly, then he red at Nero. "We''re also having a conversation after this, Nero."

    Tsk.

    Nero just sipped his tea again.

    He was having a meeting with his parents to deal with the current internal affairs in the pce.

    But it looked like that in the end, Nero and his father would just get scolded by his mother.

    Nero''s thoughts were interrupted when they heard amotion outside.

    Then the door of the conference room burst open, revealing Melvin who entered the room in a hurry.

    Even his secretary''s greetings were sloppy.

    Nero frowned at Melvin''s lousy manners. "This is unbing of the Crown Prince''s closest aide, Melvin. What happened?"

    "I apologize, Prince Nero, Your Majesties. But I have an urgent news to deliver," Melvin said in an urgent voice while catching his breath. "A huge group ofmoners havee to the pce to protest¨C and the people are demanding for Princess Hanna to step down as the Crown Princess. T-They even threw rotten milk at Her Highness¡­"

    "What?" Nero mmed his hands on the conference table, breaking it in the process. "How dare those impudent little things to harm Hanna?"

    "Calm down, Nero," his father said sternly, then he turned to Melvin. "Why are the people suddenly asking Hanna to step down as the Crown Princess?"

    Melvin gasped before responding to the emperor. "ording to Lady Morrisley''s report, the people are suddenly afraid of Princess Hanna for being a Darkness attribute user."

    The conference suddenly turned cold.

    It was because Nero and his parents instantly realized what was happening.

    "Fearmongering," his mother said. "The crows are trying to scare the public and make them turn against the Darkness attribute users¨C just like what happened during the Ancient Period."

    Nero clicked his tongue, annoyed. "Mother, Father, I''m going to my fianc¨¦e."

    ***

    "PRINCESS NEOMA has the power to get rid of a powerful Darkness attribute user like me, so you don''t have to worry about the Darkness attribute users acting up. We are no match for Princess Neoma''s divine power. Let''s put our faith in Princess Neoma, our Light, our savior."

    Pfft.

    When Nero hurried to where Hanna was, he thought he would find his fianc¨¦e in a predicament.

    He was even ready tomit violence against his people if he had to.

    But, to his pleasant surprise, the problem was almost over when he arrived.

    The people were calm while listening to Hanna speak.

    It seemed like Sandie Morrisley, Hanna''s personal secretary, was using an enchantment to amplify Hanna''s voice.

    [This is why it''s important to have apetent secretary by your side.]

    Anyway, it was time for him to do his job.

    "The Crown Princess is correct," Nero said loudly as he walked towards Hanna, Melvin and his knights following him. "Neoma, my twin sister, has the power to purify Darkness."

    Hanna turned to him, her face beaming instantly. "My prince."

    He held Hanna''s hand and kissed the back of his hand as a greeting, then he faced the crowd while holding his fianc¨¦e''s hand tightly. "Just yesterday, Neoma was attacked by people possessed by Darkness. One of them died because he refused Neoma''s help, while the other two survived after my precious twin sister purified the Darkness that possessed them."

    Just by listening to Hanna''s speech earlier, Nero could already tell what his fianc¨¦e wanted.

    [If the crows are going to use Helstor and the Darkness to scare people, then the Imperial Family will use Neoma to counter it.]

    "The opposite of Darkness is not Light but Neoma itself," Nero said confidently. "That was what the Imperial Princess said when she purified the people who were possessed by Darkness. Fortunately, we have a recording of my twin sister''s fight. We will y it for you to keep your hearts at ease."

    It was a good thing that Neoma liked taking records of her official duties.

    Hanna gently squeezed Nero''s hand as if she was telling him he did a good job.

    [But I''m not yet done.]

    "As the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess of the empire, we are here to listen to you," Nero said, a "business smile" stered on his face. "The Crown Princess and I invite you to the pce, everyone. Please follow the knights. My fianc¨¦e and I would just need to change our clothes quickly."

    He gave Melvin a signal, and his secretary quickly took care of the situation.

    Nero and Hanna were about to retreat when a few kids ran towards them.

    Raku and Sanford quickly blocked the crying children.

    "We''re sorry for throwing the milk at you, Princess Hanna!"

    "Please forgive us!"

    Ah, so these little bastards were the ones who threw rotten milk at his fianc¨¦e, huh?

    It took all that Nero got to stop himself fromshing out on the children.

    Hanna, on the other hand, smiled and approached the children. She even let go of Nero''s hand and squatted down to match the kids'' eye level. "It''s alright, children. I''m not hurt," she said kindly, her smile warm and genuine. "But can you tell me who told you to throw milk at me?"

    Pfft.

    Nero watched as Hanna used her wicked charm at work proudly.

    [That''s my fianc¨¦e.]

    ***

    "ARE YOU REALLY going to attack me?" Regina asked,ughing. "Princess Neoma, you can''t kill me, can you?"<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Neoma raised an eyebrow. "What makes you confident I "can''t" kill you?"

    "Because only I can extend your lifespan."

    Ohh.

    [Now we''re talking.]

    The moment Helstor exposed Neoma''s secret, she had already expected that bastard god to share her secret with the crows.

    So, she wasn''t really surprised to know that Regina was already aware of her short lifespan.

    However¡­

    "You can extend my lifespan?" Neoma asked in a mocking tone. "Where did you get the audacity to assume that I need your help, Regina Crowell?"

    ording to Ruto, Regina Crowell might be her only hope to extend her lifespan.

    Even so, she would rather die early than act desperate in front of her nemesis.

    [Yes, I could die out of pettiness.]

    Regina frowned at Neoma''s nonchnce. "Are you really going to act arrogant until the end, Princess Neoma?"

    "I''m not "acting" arrogant¨C I was born arrogant, and I would die arrogant," Neoma corrected the crow, then she turned to Lewis. "Bring the Mermaid Prince to the Royal Archmage, Lewis. We can''t let the Mermaid Prince die."

    "As your Guardian Knight, I cannot leave you alone, Princess Neoma."

    "You have five minutes, Lewis. Juste back as quickly as you can."

    Lewis let out a frustrated sigh. "As youmand, Princess Neoma. Please don''t get hurt."

    "Don''t worry," Neoma assured her "son." "There''s no one here that can hurt me."

    Lewis bowed towards her, then he carried Reevo Hali in his arms before he ran as quickly as he could.

    [That''s my boy.]

    "Rubin, stay behind me," Neoma said, then she stood in front of Rubin protectively before she faced Regina Crowell again. "Are you done talking shit? Gosh, you shouldn''t have hurt an innocent person if you just wanted to talk."

    "Don''t worry, the dosage of the poison I used wouldn''t be enough to kill that merman," Regina said casually. "I just needed to knock him down since I needed to talk to Rubin in private."

    "What do you want from me, Regina?" Rubin asked indifferently. "If you think you can use me again like a puppet, then you''re wrong."

    Oho?

    Reginaughed. "You''ve grown, Rubin."

    Tsk.

    Neoma moved when Regina did, then she covered her hand with Coat before she grabbed the crow by the wrist. "Hey, Rubin Drayton''s face is a national treasure. If you''re going to attack him, make sure not to touch his face."

    Regina looked at her in disbelief, then sheughed. "You foolish girl. Are you still in love with Rubin Drayton even after what he has done to you in the past? He cheated on you with me, and he even tried to kill you FOR ME."

    Haaah.

    [So, Regina Crowell remembers her first life, too? But how?]

    "That wasn''t me!" Rubin argued desperately. "I was possessed by a different person back then! I never wanted to hurt Princess Neoma!"

    "You''re hurting my feelings, Rubin," Regina said. But despite what she imed, she didn''t actually look or sound heartbroken. "You loved me first before your feelings for Princess Neoma became genuine."

    And Rubin wasn''t able to deny that.

    "Oh, shut the fuck up. I don''t care about the past anymore," Neoma said, scoffing. Then she gripped Regina''s wrist tighter. "What the hell are you even talking about, you little bitch?"

    "Stop ying dumb, Princess Neoma," Regina said coldly. "I already know that you turned back time."

    That wasn''t really the case, but she had no intention of correcting Regina.

    [It doesn''t look like she hasplete memories of the first timeline, after all.]

    "I''ve always wondered why you seem to be always one step ahead of us, especially during the time Hanna Quinzel was supposed to die," Regina said in a serious tone. "I only realized it when I started to have bizarre dreams five years ago."

    Ah, so that was when Regina began remembering the past?

    "I didn''t think much of it, until Helstor revealed that you only have a few years to live," Regina Crowell said,ughing. "Then I finally realized why Ruto Stroganoff didn''t kill me when he had a chance to do so in the past. After all, the Ruto Stroganoff I saw in my dreams used me to revive you, Princess Neoma."

    Neoma did her best to maintain a poker face.

    [Damn, this bitch really knows what she''s talking about.]

    "Your expression tells me I''m right," Regina Crowell said, pulling her hand away from her. "Let''s talk againter, Princess Neoma. For now, you need to return to the Royal Capital and stop wasting your time on this stupid Selection."

    And, just like that, Regina Crowell began to retreat.

    Neoma didn''t stop her.

    She just had a feeling that she shouldn''t.

    [What are you nning, Regina Crowell?]

    "Princess Neoma, are you alright?"

    Neoma turned around to face Rubin who was walking towards her in a hurry¡­

    ¡­ then the handsome young master suddenly tripped.

    Her body moved automatically to catch Rubin, but she underestimated his weight. Hence, she lost her bnce and fell to the ground with him.

    "Princess Neoma!"

    Ah, so fucking clich¨¦.

    Rubin tried to catch her when she fell, and as a result, they rolled to the ground.

    Before Neoma knew it, her back was already on the ground while Rubin was on top of her.

    He had the wits to use catch the back of Neoma''s head with his hands.

    But that meant they suddenly found themselves in a verypromising position.

    "P-Princess Neoma¡­?"

    Fucking hell.

    When Neoma looked up, it wasn''t only Lewis who had witnessed her in thatpromising position with Rubin.

    Ruto.

    Trevor.

    Jasper oppa.

    The Ancient Devil.

    [Why the hell are these monsters together?]

    "Okay, boys," Trevor said while wearing his ck gloves. "Today is the day the empire will lose its most handsome young master."

    Neoma rolled her eyes, then she grabbed Rubin by the shoulders. "Run as fast as you can if you want to live, Rubin Drayton."

    ***

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 Chapter 796 COPYCAT

    ?

    "MY MOON Princess, since when did you be the female lead in a romance novel? I thought you were the main character in a fantasy novel focused on child care and buttering up a scumbag emperor?"

    Gosh.

    Trevor only lived in Korea for five years, yet he had already learned how to talk like Neoma.

    [Is this¡­ my bad influence again?]

    "Trevor, if you haven''t noticed yet, I''m already a grown woman," Neoma said to the annoying demon boy. "The genre is bound to change as the main character grows up."

    "But a romance subplot isn''t necessary!" Trevor argued. "Take One P*ece for an example. Even after more than a thousand chapters, L*ffy doesn''t have a canon love interest yet!"

    "Isn''t L*ffy an asexual or something?"

    Trevor let out an exaggerated gasp. "Did you just assume his sexuality, my Moon Princess?"

    "Right, my bad," she said, waving her hand. "Let''s just drop this subject, okay?"

    It wasn''t only directed to Trevor this time.

    She was speaking to Lewis, Ruto, Jasper oppa, and the Ancient Devil.

    These dudes didn''t leave even after Rubin Drayton ran away (after she ''ordered'' the young lord to do so).

    [Rubin Drayton, you owe me your life.]

    "Let''s go," Neoma said. "I have a shitty feeling about this entire trip."

    "What happened?" Ruto asked cautiously. "I sensed Regina Crowell''s presence earlier."

    Ah, as expected of her ex-man.

    To be honest, Neoma didn''t know how to feel while looking at Ruto. Of course, it wasn''t the first time she had seen her ex-man after her "eyes" were opened.

    But she was still bothered by her conflicting emotions.

    Neoma was relieved that she couldn''t see Ruto''s weakness because she was tired of learning how to kill the people around her.

    However, she was also slightly annoyed that she didn''t know how to kill Ruto.

    [I''ve always thought I "allowed" Ruto to kill me. But I''m second-guessing it now. What if I don''t actually know how to kill him?]

    Hmm.

    That was pretty annoying.

    "Neoma?"

    "You''re right, Ruto. Regina was here earlier," Neoma said, avoiding Ruto''s gaze. "Let''s talk about thatter. I''m worried about the other candidates." She turned to Lewis. "How was Prince Reevo when you left him to the Royal Archmage?"

    "Not good, Princess Neoma," Lewis said. "He looks like he''s about to croak."

    Ouch.

    As expected, Lewis really didn''t care about other people.

    Hmm.

    Neoma looked up at the dark sky, the shitty feeling she had only got worse.

    Then Regina Crowell''s voice echoed in her mind.

    <"Let''s talk againter, Princess Neoma. For now, you need to return to the Royal Capital and stop wasting your time on this stupid Selection.">

    That was Regina Crowell''sst words before she left.

    Of course, it wasn''t like Neoma was a pushover who''d believe an enemy easily.

    However, she wasn''t the type to ignore her gut feeling.

    "I need to stop the Selection and return to the Royal Capital," Neoma said firmly, then she looked at the young men in front of her. "But I need you to do something from me. This is an order from me¨C the one and only Imperial Princess of the empire. Is that okay?"

    "Of course, Princess Neoma," Jasper oppa, still the youngest duke of the empire, answered right away. "What can I do for Your Imperial Highness?"

    "Can you stay back and get rid of the remaining monsters here?"

    Jasper oppa nodded. "As youmand, Princess Neoma."

    "If that''s what you want, then I''ll dly do it for you, Princess Neoma," the Ancient Devil said, smiling. "But I''ll be expecting a reward after this."

    "Of course, I''ll give you a reward," she said. "This is work, after all. But I get to decide what to give you."

    The Ancient Devil just smiled and shrugged.

    "I''ll hunt down the most dangerous monster here and return to the Royal Capital," Ruto said. "I have a feeling I''ll be needed there."

    Neoma didn''t respond to what Ruto said and just turned to Trevor. "You and Lewis areing back with me to the Royal Capital."

    ***

    "PRINCESS Neoma!"

    Hmm?

    Neoma had just finished asking Trevor, Juri, and Jeno to call back the candidates when Dahlia arrived.

    Her secretary arrived with the group earlier.

    But she asked Dahlia to check on the poor viges around.

    "What happened, Dahlia?" Neoma asked right away. "Did you find something suspicious in the viges you visited?"

    Dahlia shook her head. "The viges are normal so far, Princess Neoma. But I received a report from Lady Morrisley."

    ''Lady Morrisley'' would be Sandie¨C Hanna''s secretary.

    "What did Sandie say?"

    "People are protesting at the pce, and they''re asking Princess Hanna to step down as the Crown Princess," Dahlia reported in urgency. "Apparently, it''s because Princess Hanna is a Darkness attribute user. Lady Morrisley said the people even threw rotten milk at Princess Hanna. It looks like the crows are using fearmongering to create chaos in the Royal Capital."

    "Those bastards¡­"

    It wasn''t Neoma who cursed.

    She was actually surprised to hear Lewis curse, hence she turned to her "son" with a look of disbelief on his face.

    [Oh, he''s angry¡­]

    Neoma patted Lewis on the back, then she turned to Dahlia. "Inform them that we''re returning to the pce now, Dahlia."

    Dahlia immediately nodded. "As youmand, Princess Neoma."

    After that, Dahlia excused herself and went to the tent to send a message to Sandie and Melvin.

    [The three have a goodmunication link.]

    Neoma then headed to the Royal Archmage''s tent.

    As if on cue, Abigail Barlowe just stepped out of the tent when she got there.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "How''s Prince Reevo?" Neoma asked after exchanging a short greeting with the Royal Archmage. "Is he alright?"

    "Prince Reevo is now out of danger, Princess Neoma," Abigail Barlowe, the Royal Archmage, said. "He already gained consciousness earlier, but he fell asleep after drinking the antidote I brewed. Rest assured, Prince Reevo will survive."

    That was a relief to hear.

    "Lady Barlowe, please prepare the portal again," Neoma said in a serious tone. "We''re going back to the Royal Pce."

    The Royal Archmage nced at the sky before asking. "Is it because of the Darkness, Princess Neoma?"

    She nodded in response. "That''s right, Lady Barlowe. ording to the report I received from the pce, the citizens are going crazy out of fear of Darkness."

    Abigail Barlowe clenched her jaw, then she nodded. "I understand, Princess Neoma. We''ll prepare the portal right away."

    "Thank you," Neoma said, looking up at the dark sky again. "Those damned blobs of Darkness are almost swallowing the sun now."

    ***

    HMM?

    Rufus stopped in his tracks when he felt a sudden shift in the air.

    He and the squad under hismand were currently at the za for themoners. After all, he received a report that themoners are currently gathering in that ce.

    Hence, he brought his knights there to make sure nothing suspicious was happening.

    [I also received a report saying that people are protesting at the pce while demanding for Hanna to step down as the Crown Princess.]

    To be honest, he wanted to run to his daughter''s side to protect her.

    [But I know my little girl is already a grown woman who''s capable of protecting herself.]

    "Your Grace¡­!"

    It was Jaxson Emmett, the vice-captain of the ck Hawk Knights, who warned him.

    "I know," Rufus said, raising his hands to create a barrier to protect the entire za. "Tell the mages who came with us to create a shield and prioritize protecting the citizens!"

    "Yes, Your Grace!"

    Fortunately, Rufus and the other mages in his squad managed to create a barrier in time.

    His barrier was actually a solid form of the Shadow Veil. It wasn''t as sturdy as Princess Neoma''s Dome, so he was grateful for the support of the mages with him. Hence, the barriers that protected the citizens withstood the things that fell from the sky.

    Soon, the curious and worried voices of the citizens reached Rufus'' ears.

    "What are those things?"

    "I don''t know, but they look familiar."

    "Ah! Aren''t those things simr to the "tab" that Princess Neoma used before to show us what was happening inside the courthouse?"

    Rufus had to agree with the citizens.

    The stone tabs that were currently suspended in the air looked simr to the ''tabs'' that Princess Neoma and her "children" invented.

    [But I''m pretty sure those things don''t belong to Princess Neoma.]

    Rufus was about to order his knights to destroy the stone tabs, but he was distracted when the stone tabs suddenly lit up all at the same time¡­

    ¡­ then Calyx''s face upied the entire ''monitor.''

    Calyx, the dethroned prince, smiled widely.

    <"Greetings to the people of the Great Moonasterion Empire.">

    ***

    NERO CLENCHED his hands when several gigantic ''stone tabs'' fell from the sky.

    Of course, the tabs didn''t touch the barrier protecting the entire Royal Pce.

    However, the tabs were too big to ignore.

    Because of the sudden appearance of those things, the people who came to the pce to protest stopped entering the People''s Pce. Everyone, who was already calm a moment ago, looked anxious again while looking up at the tabs.

    "Nero, it seems like the crows have prepared well," Hanna whispered to him. "Control your expressions and don''t get mad at the people. It''s only natural for them to get scared."

    Haaah.

    Hanna was right.

    Hence, Nero took a deep breath to calm himself down. "I understand," he whispered back to his fianc¨¦. "I''ll keep my Lunacy in check."

    But his patience was immediately tested when the stone tabs suddenly lit up.

    Then, a few momentster, Calyx''s face showed up.

    [Argh.]

    Nero almost puked on the spot.

    <"Greetings to the people of the Great Moonasterion Empire.">

    "That bastard doesn''t have originality," Nero whispered bitterly. "Is he copying Neoma now?"

    "He learns well, I have to give that to him," Hanna said, nodding. "But that background... Doesn''t it look like he''s in the mountains?"

    Ah.

    He suddenly felt a shiver down his spine.

    "Neoma is in Mount Theron," Nero whispered. "Could it be¡­?"

    <"Fucking fancy meeting you here, Calyx Dalton.">

    Nero and Hanna gasped at the same time after hearing the familiar voice.

    [Neoma¡­!]

    <"Hey, adjust the camera here,"> Neoma''s arrogant voice said in a loud and confident voice. <"You''re scaring my people with your fugly face, so let them see my face to cleanse their eyes.">

    <"I look like Prince Nero, so we technically look alike, too, Princess Neoma. How can you call me ugly?">

    <"No, you''re fucking ugly and you can''t change my mind with logic.">

    Hannaughed softly.

    Even Nero felt at ease while hearing Neoma''s voice and ridiculous remarks.

    [Everything will be fine now.]

    ***

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 Chapter 797 ARTIFICIAL ECLIPSE

    ?

    [That morning¡­]

    "NEOMA, you''re leaving early."

    "Yeah," Neoma said in response to Hanna''s remark, then she covered her mouth with her hands when she yawned. "Why are you already awake, Hanna? Are you here to send me off?"

    She had just finished taking a bath and was in the middle of choosing an outfit when Hanna arrived. Judging by the fact that the Crown Princess was already dressed up, she could tell that Hanna got up earlier than she did.

    [Gosh, she''s so dedicated as the Crown Princess.]

    "Do you know why Nero was put on probation?" Hanna asked, standing in front of Neoma''s walk-in closet while checking the dresses on the rack. "I''m sure you already know it was because he said he wanted to dere war against Helstor and the crows. But have you heard the real reason why he wanted to start a war?"

    "I knew Melvin omitted the most important thing when he gave me the report about Nero''s probation," Neoma said while clicking her tongue. "So, why did my precious twin brother suddenly want to start a war?"

    "Nero wanted to use the war as an excuse just to stop the Selection."

    "Huh?"

    "Yes, and Nero said that in front of His Majesty."

    Neoma let out a frustrated sigh. "No wonder Papa Boss put him on probation again. Only a tyrannical, blood-thirsty psychopath would start a war for that reason."

    "Nero''s reasoning may be uneptable, but I agree with his thoughts."

    "You¡­ want to dere war?"

    "I don''t "want" a war, Neoma," Hanna said, then she turned to her with a serious look on her face. "But our fight with Helstor and the crows is headed that way. Whether we want war or not, it''s going to happen. I''d rather we start it than let the enemies dere war on us."

    Neoma clenched her hands tight. "It doesn''t have to end up in war."

    "I know what you''re thinking, Neoma. It''s the poor who always gets affected the most when a war breaks out. But if it''s you, I''m sure you''re going to find a way to protect them."

    "Hanna¡­"

    "Nero and I will be married soon, then we''ll be crowned as the new emperor and empress respectively," Hanna said in a serious tone. "Whether you like it or not, we will soon have the power to dere war on the entities that threaten the safety of the empire. However, we want you to fight with us."

    Oh.

    "The peace that the empire enjoys at this moment is temporary, Neoma," Hanna said, holding Neoma''s hands. "Sometimes, in order to achieve longsting peace, we have to make sacrifices. You don''t have to give us an answer now. But please think about it."

    "Okay," Neoma said, nodding. "I''ll try¡­"

    ***

    BEEP.

    BEEEP.

    BEEEEP.

    Neoma stopped reminiscing about her conversation with Hanna this morning when the rms around began sending signals.

    [What the fuck¡­?]

    "The candidates," Abigail Barlowe, the Royal Archmage, said worriedly. "They''re asking to be rescued one by one."

    Neoma heard the Royal Archmage, but she was more focused on the familiar presence that took over the forest. "It smells like shit in here."

    "Yeah," Trevor agreed with her. "The crows reek."

    "Lady Barlowe, my "children" already went out to fetch the candidates, but please send out the remaining mages to make the rescue operation faster," Neoma said to the Royal Archmage, then she turned to Trevor and Lewis. "We''re going to give the crows a warm wee."

    ***

    "THE stone tabs were sessfully installed in the main areas in the Royal Capital, and a few in front of the Royal Pce. But we already expect the Imperial Family and their knights to destroy the stone tabs as soon as they appear, so why don''t you already start your little show?"

    Pfft.

    Calyx was amused by Dn''s grumpiness. "You rarely talk, Dn. But you always give a long speech when you''re upset."

    "¡­"

    Calyxughed at his cousin''s silence. "Are you upset because we asked you to copy the stone tabs that Trevor Kesser and Paige Avery created? Does it make you feel inferior that your brother invented something that you didn''t think of first?"

    Dn red at him. "If you already know, then shut your mouth."

    "You''re funny when you''re upset," Calyx said,ughing. "Anyway, where''s Regina?"

    Regina suddenly disappeared when they arrived at Mount Theron.

    It was okay since they had to install the main camera-sh-video recording device that was connected to the stone tabs that they sent to the Royal Capital.

    [Trevor Kesser may be the best Sorcerer in the world, but Dn is also a genius on his own.]

    Moreover, the crows were good at copying things anyway.

    [We don''t care about originality. As long as we can have the same thing what does it matter whether we''re only a copycat or not?]

    That was why Calyx didn''t understand why Dn was upset.

    "Regina spotted Rubin Drayton earlier," Dn said, frowning. "She said she''d check if she could still use Rubin Drayton as a puppet."

    "But Rubin Drayton already snapped out of your spell after Trevor Kesser made it so you couldn''t control the young lord again," Calyx said. "Why is she still interested in a broken toy?"

    "Regina is more emotional than you thought, Calyx."

    That made himugh.

    "Really?" Calyx asked in disbelief. "Regina has always been the coldest among us since we were children."

    "Something changed in Regina five years ago."

    "Hmm?"

    "Remember the time that she kept having nightmares?"

    Ah, right.

    Calyx remembered the time Regina almost lost her mind for having vivid nightmares.

    It was so bad that Regina almost lost her position to their other cousins.

    But, of course, it onlysted for a short while.

    "I thought Regina had already recovered from that phase?" Calyx asked, tilting his head to one side. "Is she still having bad dreams? Do we need to lock her up again so she''d pull herself together?"

    "I''m fine, thank you very much."

    It was Regina who stepped out of the dark forest.

    [Still as sassy as ever.]

    "Wee back, Regina," Calyx said cheerfully. "So, how was Rubin Drayton?"

    "As expected, a broken toy must be thrown away," Regina said curtly. "Now that I''m here, why don''t you start already?"

    "That''s what I''m saying," Dn said. "That kid keeps on wasting time."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "I just want to be as dramatic as Princess Neoma," Calyx said,ughing. "The Imperial Princess is good atmanding the audience, after all."

    ***

    [FOUND YOU.]

    Neoma would never not be amazed at how Trevor was so good at using magic.

    It only took the demon boy a few seconds to locate the crows, then he opened a portal for them to use.

    And when they stepped out of the portal, the first thing they saw was Calyx.

    [Is he having a broadcast?]

    Calyx only came with a small group, but his group shouldn''t be underestimated.

    The fifteen to twenty ck-d priests around them could be ignored.

    [But Regina and Dn Crowell are there, so we can''t be toocent.]

    Anyway, Neoma noticed that some of the "priests" were actually mages.

    She could tell that the five people in the group were controlling the stone tab in front of Calyx.

    [That''s definitely a video camera device.]

    Since Calyx was talking to it, it was clear that the main stone tab was connected to other stone tabs that were probably scattered in the empire.

    "Greetings to the people of the Great Moonasterion Empire."

    That was what Neoma, Trevor, and Lewis heard from Calyx when they arrived at the scene.

    [As expected, the stone tabs are connected to the stone tabs installed in the empire.]

    It looked like the crows learned how to take advantage of camera and video-recording devices from Neoma, huh?

    Gosh, no wonder she was a famous influencer in her past life.

    [They say imitation is the sincerest form of ttery, don''t they?]

    Neoma smirked smugly. "Fucking fancy meeting you here, Calyx Dalton."

    Calyx, Dn, and Regina all turned in her direction calmly.

    [Ah, of course, they already expect me to find them quickly.]

    After all, Neoma could tell that the crows didn''t bother to hide their presence as if they were luring her out.

    "Hey, adjust the camera here," Neoma said arrogantly. "You''re scaring my people with your fugly face, so let them see my face to cleanse their eyes."

    Calyxughed softly, but his ash-gray eyes glowered as if he was annoyed. "I look like Prince Nero, so we technically look alike, too, Princess Neoma. How can you call me ugly?"

    "No, you''re fucking ugly and you can''t change my mind with logic."

    Calyx only frowned in response.

    Neoma was the queen of shit-talking.

    Did Calyx think he would win against her in a battle of vulgar words?

    [Heh. In your dreams.]

    "Princess Neoma, I see that your attitude doesn''t change whether there''s a camera in front of you or not," Calyx said, smiling as if he was a good guy. "Should Ipliment you for staying true to yourself whatever the situation is?"

    "Having a foul mouth isn''t something to be proud of, but it''s not something I should deliberately hide either," Neoma said, shrugging. "As long as I''m sincere with my duty to protect the empire and the people, I''m sure the thoughtful citizens would understand."

    Calyx burst outughing. "For someone who uses vulgar words a lot, you sure have a way with words, Princess Neoma."

    "Didn''t I already tell you I''m more than a pretty face?" Neoma said, shrugging. "So, how do you n to scare our people this time? I''m sure there''s a reason why you want this conversation streamed live." She let out an exaggerated gasp. "Omo, omo! Did you get jobless after getting kicked out of the pce so you''re trying to be an influencer now?"

    Of course, Calyx looked confused by her words.

    "I''m saying there must be a reason why you''re recording us in real-time," Neoma exined in words that Calyx and the others would understand. "Spill the beans. I''m only giving you five minutes to talk before I turn this scene into a battlefield."

    She couldn''t be hasty and violent.

    Not when the entire empire was watching her.

    [The people are already scared enough. If they saw me act like a lunatic, they''ll only get scared even more. This isn''t the time to lose the people''s faith in the Imperial Family.]

    Hence, she must still carry herself appropriately as the Imperial Princess.

    Calyx smiled as if he was already expecting that Neoma wouldn''t be able to attack him carelessly. "I came here as the disciple of Helstor¨C the God of Eternal Darkness."

    Neoma scrunched up her nose. "Eww."

    "I don''t think you can still mock me after you hear what I''m about to dere, Princess Neoma."

    "Try me, Calyx."

    Calyx justughed softly, but his ash-gray eyes suddenly turned glowing red. "In thirteen days, my master will finish swallowing up the moon and the sun with Darkness," he announced smugly. "To simply say, the seconding of the Absolute Darkness will happen in thirteen days."

    In thirteen days?

    That was when theiring-of-age banquet was scheduled to take ce.

    Moreover¡­

    [It''s Nero''s coronation day.]

    "But if you give us what we want, my master promised to stop the Darkness from swallowing the moon and the sun."

    Neoma raised an eyebrow. "What do you want? The throne?"

    It was obvious since they chose the date of Nero''s coronation day to "swallow the moon and the sun."

    [Bullshit.]

    "Yes, you must give me the throne in thirteen days if you don''t want my master to drown the world in Darkness," Calyx said,ughing. "I have the right to the throne as Emperor Niki''s brother, anyway."

    "What?"

    "I recently found out that my father was actually the previous emperor--- which was also Emperor Niki''s father," Calyx dered as if he was proud to be the son of a tyrannical pig. "The crows used the previous emperor''s Seed to conceive me."

    Neoma covered her mouth when she almost threw up on the spot. She was more disgusted than shocked, honestly "That''s the most disgusting shit I''ve heard in a while." She knitted her eyebrows. "So, are you saying all of this because you want me to call you ''Uncle'' or something?"

    Gosh.

    [My family tree is so fucked up.]

    ***

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 Chapter 798 INDIGESTION

    ?

    <"I RECENTLY found out that my father was actually the previous emperor¨C who was also Emperor Niki''s father. The crows used the previous emperor''s Seed to conceive me.">

    Niki felt disgusted after hearing Calyx''s revtion.

    [That spawn of evil is my brother?]

    When the stone tabs appeared above the Royal Pce, Niki and Mona stepped out on the balcony of their office to check what those things were.

    That was when Calyx''s face appeared on the ''screen.''

    They were about to destroy the stone tabs when they heard Neoma''s voice, so they stopped and watched the broadcast.

    "It didn''t sound like a lie," Mona said worriedly. "Calyx has no reason to lie anymore since it was already revealed that he wasn''t your son. He also openly said that he was conceived using the previous emperor''s Seed." His wife turned to her with a disgusted look on her face. Of course, the disgust wasn''t directed at Niki. "Why do I have a feeling that your father voluntarily offered his Seeds to the crows?"

    "I wouldn''t put it past my father," Niki said, sighing while shaking his head. "Although I do not like the fact that Calyx turned out to be my brother, I''m relieved that he isn''t Nichole''s son as we feared at first."

    His wife nodded in agreement. "Yes, that''s a relief. But I bet Nichole wouldn''t be happy to hear that the two of you have a younger brother."

    He frowned at that. "Calyx is no brother of us."

    "Right," Mona agreed with him strongly. "Just because you share the same father doesn''t make you siblings."

    "I won''t let that kind of person be a part of our family," Niki said firmly. "Never."

    ***

    "YOU DON''T have to call me ''Uncle.''"

    "Like hell I would," Neoma said in response to what Calyx said. "Are you done talking?"

    "You can''t kill me, Princess Neoma," Calyx said confidently. "If you kill me or any of the people with me right now, then Lord Helstor will hasten the process of swallowing the moon and the sun. I''m sure you can kill me, but can you handle how the citizens would react if you did?"

    Ah, fuck it.

    The crows used their brain this time.

    [And they learned the benefits of broadcasting live pretty well.]

    Neoma could kill Calyx now, but the bacsh from the people would be too much.

    The citizens were already in a panic state.

    If Helstor "hastened" the process of "swallowing the moon and the sun," then the people would curse the Imperial Family.

    And that was her greatest fear.

    [I don''t want a revolt to happen.]

    Neoma was confident that the Imperial Family could subdue the rebellion, but she didn''t want to hurt or kill their very own people that they were obliged to protect.

    "Is that all you have to say, you fuckface?"

    Calyx justughed at Neoma''s "colorful" choice of words. "Yes, Princess Neoma. I''m only here to give you an ultimatum. You have thirteen days to decide whether to give up the throne, or let the world get swallowed by Darkness."

    "You said Lord Helstor will swallow the moon and the sun in thirteen days?"

    "That''s correct, Princess Neoma."

    Neomaughed like the madwoman that she was. "Eating too much will only give you indigestion," she said, her ash-gray eyes turning glowing red. "Tell Helstor that he might be biting off more than he can chew."

    Calyxughed softly as if he was amused. "Is that all, Princess Neoma?"

    "No," she said. "Tell that fuckface that the first Absolute Darkness didn''t seed during the Ancient Period because of the Light Goddess and the other gods who literally lit up the world back then. He must have thought he''d seed this time because the Light Goddess isn''t here anymore. But guess what?" She pointed at her beautiful face. "Lord Helstor already lost the moment I was born in this era."

    Lewis and Trevor pped passionately in support of Neoma''s bold deration.

    [Thank you for the moral support, boys.]

    Calyx, on the other hand, lost his arrogant smile. "Princess Neoma, your arrogance never fails to amaze me. Do you think your existence alone can save the world?"

    "No, but who says I''m gonna screw you over on my own? Even if I want to, my family and friends won''t let me fight this battle alone," Neoma said, scoffing. "Tell Helstor and the other damned gods helping him that their old generation is over. It''s time for MY generation to light up the world until he cries blood."

    She thenughed in a way that would make people think she was the bad guy.

    [But what can I do? I have a resting bitch face when I''m not faking a smile.]

    "For someone who''s dying, you sound too confident, Princess Neoma."

    That didn''t sit well with Lewis and Trevor.

    Especially when Dn and Reginaughed with Calyx.

    Neoma had to grab Lewis and Trevor by their arms to stop them from lunging at the devil trio (Calyx, Dn, and Regina, of course). "Gosh, why are you getting provoked? Have you forgotten that if it was just shit-talking, no one can beat me to it?"

    Lewis bowed his head in apology. "I''m sorry, Princess Neoma."

    "I apologize for getting carried away by my emotions, Princess Neoma," Trevor said, sighing. "In my defense, Calyx has a punchable face. He''s the ugliest de Moonasterio I''ve seen in my long life."

    Pfft.

    "That''s eptable," Neoma said, then she stepped forward to face Calyx and his minions again. "Hey, you seem to think I''m dying just because Helstor saw my shortened lifespan. But that was, like, more than a week ago?"

    Calyx scoffed. "Can you extend your lifespan in just a week, Princess Neoma?"

    "I can''t¨C but a major god can."

    Of course, Neoma was just bluffing.

    But Calyx, and even Dn and Regina, looked surprised by what she said.

    [See? I told you. No one can beat me in shit-talking¨C and that includes bluffing. I''m not called a ''scammer'' for nothing.]

    "If you''re talking about Lord Yule, then you must be lying, Princess Neoma," Calyx said confidently. "We already know that the Moon God has abandoned the de Moonasterios."

    [Look at this little piece of shit open his dirty mouth just to sprout garbage.]

    It was obvious Calyx said that on purpose for the citizens to hear.

    [The crows are trying to make the people lose their faith in the Imperial Family.]

    "Lord Yule didn''t abandon us¨C he was forced to cut us off because you and that damned Callisto de Luca threatened him. Lord Yule, my super grandpa, sacrificed himself because he knows the Imperial Family isn''t so weak that we''d crumble just because we lost his support," Neoma lied with a straight face. "Moreover, do you think only the Moon God supports me?"

    She slowly approached Calyx who seemed surprised.

    But the bastard probably wanted to look tough, hence he didn''t budge from his spot.

    And it was a wrong move.

    Neoma punched Calyx, and that punch broke his nose¨C sending him tumbling to the ground.

    Dn and Regina tried to attack her, but Trevor and Lewis blocked the two.

    Trevor faced Dn, while Lewis faced Regina.

    "I didn''t use my Mana, and yet you already went down with just one punch? What a fucking weakling," Neoma said while looking down at Calyx. "I probably would have killed you had I used Mana."

    Calyx, who was holding his bleeding nose, looked up and red at her with his glowing red eyes. "I didn''t expect the one and only Imperial Princess to be this violent."

    "That''s for spreading bullshit that scared the people of the Great Moonasterion Empire," Neoma said, then she faced the camera to address the citizens watching her. "To the brave citizens of the empire, I know you''re scared. But the Imperial Family has no intention to cower before the God of Eternal Darkness. We will protect you, even if it means starting a war."

    There, she said it.

    She didn''t really want to start a war.

    But she was reminded of what Hanna said to her that morning.

    ["The peace that the empire enjoys at this moment is temporary, Neoma. Sometimes, in order to achieve longsting peace, we have to make sacrifices.]

    "A war?" Calyx asked in disbelief. "Are you dering war, Princess Neoma?"

    "As the Imperial Princess, I do not have the power to dere war," Neoma said while shaking her head. Then she walked towards the main stone tab. "And if the Imperial Family did end up dering war, it will do you good if you remember that you started this shit, Helstor and Callisto de Luca."

    After saying herst piece, Neoma punched the stone tab with her fist covered in Tteokbokki''s red me.

    ***

    NERO smiled after watching Neoma destroy Calyx with a punch and a string of vicious words.

    The ''live show'' ended after his twin sister tore down the stone tab.

    "Neoma finally made up her mind," Hanna said, smiling. "A war it is."

    Since it was Neoma who brought it up, Hanna and Nero were sure the emperor and the empress wouldn''t oppose.

    [Because Neoma wouldn''t resort to war if there were other options left.]

    "My precious twin sister made a very wise decision," Nero said,ughing softly. "Let''s begin preparing for war then."

    ***

    WHILE THE Imperial Family was already preparing for war, the opinions of the people were divided.

    There were those who already lost their faith in the Imperial Family.

    It was only noon, but the sky was already dark because of the Darkness that covered the sun. Hence, the fear of the people remained.

    "The Imperial Family should just give up the throne for peace¡­"

    "If they truly care for us, they won''t dere war officially¡­"

    "War is scary¡­"

    Of course, there were also people who didn''t lose their faith in the Imperial Family.

    "Do you think the dethroned prince who joined hands with the God of Eternal Darkness to threaten the empire care for us? Are you an idiot?"

    "That dethroned prince is willing to drown the world in Darkness. That says a lot about his character."

    "It''s obvious that the dethroned prince only wants power."

    "I hope the Imperial Family punishes the dethroned prince soon."

    There were people who didn''t care, though.

    "Whether a war breaks out or not, the poor will remain poor."

    "No, idiot. During war, the poor be poorer."

    "Only the Imperial Family and the nobles get richer and more powerful at a time like this."

    "I just hope the Imperial Family isn''t evil enough to conscriptmoners this time."

    But the people weren''t only divided by their opinions about the possible war.

    The citizens were also talking about Princess Neoma''s attitude.

    "I thought my ears were deceiving me earlier while listening to Princess Neoma''s profanities."

    "That''s unbing of the Imperial Princess¡­"

    "And Her Imperial Highness is a bit violent, isn''t she?"

    "She punched the dethroned prince unprovoked¡­"

    "But is no one going to talk about what the dethroned prince said about the Imperial Princess'' lifespan expiring soon?"

    "There''s also a rumor going around that His Imperial Majesty is dying¡­"

    "Then can the Imperial Family really protect us?"

    Despite the people doubting the Imperial Family, there were still those who believed in them¨C especially Princess Neoma.

    "The emperor and the Crown Prince are both boring, while the empress and the Crown Princess are both too kind and polite. It''s fun to have someone like Princess Neoma in the Imperial Family!"

    "I personally like how the Imperial Princess curses like there''s no tomorrow!"

    "Even though I don''t condone violence, it felt so satisfying to see Princess Neoma punch the dethroned prince in the face."

    "The dethroned prince deserved that. If it wasn''t for his cowardly threat, Princess Neoma would have already killed him on the spot."

    "Right? The Imperial Princess held back for us."

    "Princess Neoma was the child who was forced to pretend as the Crown Prince before. Even so, she still protected us, despite knowing that all the credits would go to Prince Neroter. Her Imperial Highness is the only Imperial Family member that I trust."

    "Moreover, Princess Neoma is the most beautifuldy in the world!"

    "That''s irrelevant, but I agree with you."

    "I don''t care whether the Moon God truly abandoned us¨C I''m cing my faith in Princess Neoma from now on."

    ***

    THERE were 193 countries/kingdoms/nations in the world.

    [Human countries, to be precise.]

    The other races weren''t counted in that number.

    Out of the 193 countries led by humans, sixty-three of them were under the Great Moonasterion Empire.

    And, at that very moment, all the (human) countries in the world were calling the empire.

    "We''re going to ignore all the calls from the other countries and kingdoms from this moment," Niki announced to his aides. "Summon the Twelve Golden Families¨C except for House Spencer."

    ***

    "AHHHHH!"

    Manu immediately ran to Prince Skylus'' room after hearing the child let out a scream full of agony.

    He knew the saint was still sad about what happened to Dustin.

    But Prince Skylus wouldn''t let out that kind of cry because of mourning.

    [It was as if he was in pain¡­]

    "Prince Skylus, what happened¡­" Manu trailed off when he saw the young prince''s current state. "Ah¡­"

    "Lord Manu, what''s happening to my son?" King Glenn, who had Prince Skylus in his arms, asked worriedly. "Why is my son crying blood?"

    Manu kneeled and bowed in front of the saint. "Lord Yule."

    ***

    NOTE: PLEASE CHECK MY KOFI PAGE (just g0ogle kofi s_c). I''ve posted a Q&A portion.

    Here are the questions that I answered:

    1. WHAT INSPIRED s_c TO WRITE ROYAL SECRET: I''M A PRINCESS? (hehe i''m not a hater, oki?)

    2. WHY ISN''T LEWIS THE MALE LEAD? (i''m so sorry)

    3. WHY IS RUTO THE ML? (defending Ruto with my life, lol)

    4. WILL WE GET TO SEE MORE OF NEOMA''S FIRST LIFE? (chuckles nervously)

    5. WHO WILL NERO END UP WITH? DAHLIA OR HANNA? (wiggles eyebrows)

    6. WHO IS s_c''s MOST FAVORITE CHARACTER ASIDE FROM NEOMA? (wink, wink)

    7. WHO IS s_c''s VISUAL INSPIRATION FOR NEOMA? (please don''t judge my type haha)

    8. WHAT TO EXPECT DURING THE LAST ARC? (smiles innocently)

    9. MESSAGE FOR OUR DEAR READERS <3 (:''>)

    10. SERIOUS QUESTION FOR THE READERS (please answer honestly~)

    Hope you visit my page, and donate coffee if you can. Hehe. Thank you. <3

    ***

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 Chapter 799 THE EMPIREâ€™S DECISION

    ?

    POISONED by Darkness.

    Most of the candidates who returned to the starting point were poisoned by Darkness.

    Fortunately, Neoma''s "children" and the other royal mages rescued everyone in time before something worse happened.

    Abigail Barlowe looked worried, though.

    [This might be too much for the Royal Archmage.]

    "Everyone, please stand close to each other," Neoma said in a serious voice. "I will purify you all at the same time."

    Abigail Barlowe turned to her. "Princess Neoma, we can also purify Darkness. Your Imperial Highness doesn''t have to do this alone."

    "I know, and I''m not trying to undermine you, Lady Barlowe," Neoma said calmly. "It''s just that we''re in a hurry. So I''d like it if you focus on creating the portal instead of healing the candidates."

    Trevor could open a portal faster.

    But as a candidate, he shouldn''t be doing that.

    [And I know Trevor hates doing others a favor for free, so I wouldn''t ask him to open a portal unless it''s a life-and-death situation.]

    Which wasn''t the case.

    [The crow bastards already left, and it isn''t like I''m urgently needed in the pce.]

    "I understand, Princess Neoma," Abigail Barlowe said, bowing to her. "We will resume opening the portal."

    Neoma smiled and nodded. "Thank you."

    After the Royal Archmage left, Neoma''s "children" quickly moved and organized the candidates so they would be standing as close to each other as possible.

    The others who weren''t injured were separated, too.

    [Hmm?]

    "Ruto isn''t here," Neomamented. "And the Ancient Devil, too."

    She gave her allies a different task earlier.

    But Jasper oppa was already here, which meant Ruto and the Ancient Devil should be finished getting rid of the monsters already.

    "Are you worried, Princess Neoma?" Lewis asked, frowning. "They''ll be fine."

    Neoma clicked her tongue. "They''re definitely trying to kill each other."

    That was the reason she could think of for Ruto and the Ancient Devil to disappear at the same time.

    Gosh.

    [I hope Ruto wins, though.]

    To be honest, Neoma couldn''t savor the memories of her first kiss with Ruto.

    After all, it was followed by her meltdown.

    [I''m pretty sure it was Ruto''s kiss that triggered the memories of my first life. If we did more, I wonder what else I would remember¡­ omo, omo!]

    Neoma pped her cheeks.

    [What the hell am I thinking?!]

    "Princess Neoma, please don''t hurt yourself," Lewis said worriedly. "Should I look for those two punks?"

    The ''two punks'' would be Ruto and the Ancient Devil, of course.

    "Nah, Ruto can take care of the Ancient Devil."

    Plus, she was too busy to care about the two.

    "Princess Neoma, we already gathered the injured candidates," Juri reported when she approached her. "And everyone is anxious about the crows'' announcement earlier."

    Ah, right.

    [I need to address the issueter.]

    "Princess Neoma, I''ve received a message from His Majesty''s secretary."

    It was Dahlia.

    The ck Witch disappeared earlier because Neoma asked her to send a message to the pce.

    It seemed like they received a quick response.

    "What did my father say, Dahlia?"

    "His Majesty ordered Princess Neoma to halt the Selection and return to the pce immediately," Dahlia reported in a serious voice. "His Majesty has summoned the Twelve Golden Families, excluding House Spencer."

    Ah, Papa Boss would probably convince the Twelve Golden Families to dere war against Helstor.

    There was no way in hell Papa Boss would give up the throne, after all.

    [The throne belongs to me and Nero.]

    "Okay, we''ll return to the pce quickly," Neoma said, cracking her knuckles. "I just need to purify the injured candidates first."

    [It''s a good opportunity to show them that I can fight Darkness.]

    ***

    "YOU''VE grown weaker," Rutomented while looking down on the Ancient Devil bleeding on the ground. "Is it because you already passed down half of your power to Trevor?"

    The Ancient Blood coughed up blood before smiling weakly. "I should have killed you before I made Trevor the new Devil."

    He frowned. "As if you would have killed me easily even if you still had your full strength."

    As the God yer, of course, he was offended by what the Ancient Devil implied.

    However, it was also true that Ruto easily subdued the Ancient Devil because he wasn''t as strong as he used to be.

    [That means Trevor has be more powerful now.]

    "Why did you suddenly attack me?" Ruto confronted the Ancient Devil. "What will you gain for killing me?"

    "Do you really not now?"

    Ah.

    Ruto''s face definitely flushed after getting reminded of the hot kiss that he had shared with Neoma recently.

    But he didn''t expect Neoma''s reaction to be lukewarm after their intimate moment.

    [Neoma barely looks at me these days.]

    It was as if the Imperial Princess wasn''t interested in him anymore.

    And it hurt¡­ wait, what?

    Ruto clutched his chest tight.

    [Why does it hurt?]

    "You''re starting to feel different emotions for Princess Neoma again, aren''t you?" the Ancient Devil asked while standing up. "I should really kill you now."

    Hmm?

    Ruto felt a shift in the air, hence he didn''t move from the spot.

    The Ancient Devil, who noticed the change in the atmosphere a little toote, didn''t have time to stop his attack.

    [They''re here.]

    The Ancient Devil was forced to face Faust and Aspen who suddenly appeared out of thin air.

    Faust, the half elf-half fairy, used his vines to suppress the Ancient Devil''s movements.

    Aspen, the demigod, used a barrier so that the Ancient Devil''s dark energy wouldn''t evene close to Ruto.

    "Captain."

    It was Esther.

    The Snakewoman, d in ck from the veil to her shoes, greeted Ruto politely before giving a report.

    [She looks serious.]

    "Please withdraw from the Selection and return to the Eastern Continent," Esther said solemnly. "That was a message from the king and the Sun Goddess."

    Ruto knitted his eyebrows. "The Sun Goddess and not the Sun Priestess? Then¡­" He clenched his hands when he realized what it meant. "The Sun Goddess possessed the Sun Priestess."

    And it could only mean one thing.

    [The situation is more dangerous than I expected.]

    ***

    [IT HAS BEEN a while since I saw the Twelve Golden Families.]

    Of course, excluding Marquis Russell Spencer.

    [I''ll deal with that bastardter.]

    Niki was also quite surprised when the Northern Lords, aka the Neutral Faction, finally came out of their hiding.

    [They''ve gone missing before the trial began.]

    He knew that the Northern Lords were attacked by the crows and saved by Neoma''s allies.

    [They must have been traumatized, though.]

    The Northern Lords, known to prioritize their safety, disappeared after that.

    [But, I guess they knew they couldn''t hide anymore when a war is about to break out.]

    "You already know why you''re summoned here," Niki said sternly. "Since we''re short of time, I''ll get straight to the point: I wish to dere war on Helstor and the crows. I have no intention of giving up the throne."

    "I agree with Your Majesty''s decision," Rufus, his cousin and confidant, said. "Whether the Imperial Family gives up the throne or not, Helstor and the crows will still terrorize the empire."

    "But what are we going to do with the Darkness that would swallow the moon and the sun in thirteen days?" Count Tyler Lhesi, the de facto leader of the Neutral Faction, asked worriedly. "Can the Imperial Family stop that from happening?"

    "The Imperial Family will take care of the Darkness," Niki said confidently. "My children will stop the Darkness from swallowing the moon and the sun."

    Of course, he wasn''t just saying that.

    Neoma wouldn''t dere war if she wasn''t confident she could get rid of Darkness.

    On the other hand, Nero had William and the Spirit World wrapped around his fingers. The Queen of the Spirit World would surely help his son get rid of the Darkness.

    [Of course, Mona and I will support our children.]

    "What we need to discuss right now is how to prepare for the uing war," Niki said as if it was already decided that they would dere war on Helstor and the crows. Only the Neutral Faction looked hesitant anyway, and their argument was weak. "The empire has enjoyed peace for quite some time. But since a war will break out soon, we need to gather as many troops as we can."

    Count Sean Dankworth, who was awake for once, raised his hand. "House Dankworth will voluntarily send our private army to support the royal knights, Your Majesty."

    "House Gibson as well, Your Majesty," Marquis Lawford Gibson said. "We will offer all the support that we could give."

    "The ck Hawk Knights, my private army, will join the war as well, Your Majesty," Rufus said. "We''re willing to be on the frontline as well."

    Marquis Vincent Lennox, who looked better than he did before, nodded in agreement. "I as well. I can''t forgive the bastards who disturbed my granddaughter''s rest," he said, then he paused. "But I don''t think our private armies alone will be enough, Your Majesty."

    All eyes fell on the Noble and Neutral Faction, of course.

    Duke Arman Winchester, the leader of the Noble Faction, cleared his throat before speaking. "How about we conscript themoners for this uing war, Your Majesty?"

    What?

    Ask themoners to fight for them?

    That was the Noble Faction''s n instead of offering their private armies to the throne?

    Niki couldn''t help butugh, then his glowing red eyes red at Duke Arman Winchester. "Have you lost your mind, Duke Winchester?"

    ***

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 Chapter 800 MOON FAMILY

    ?

    CONSCRIPTION of themoners.

    Niki''s father, the previous emperor, was a war freak who loved starting wars for all the dumb reasons.

    As a result, the Imperial Family''s military power suffered a lot.

    When the Royal Knight Order was reduced to more than half of its original size, the previous emperor created aw that forced ordinary men as young as fifteen to enlist to the military and get dispatched to wars.

    Without proper training, at that.

    As a result, those inexperienced men only died on the battlefield.

    [After all, mostmoners are non-Mana users.]

    Hence, when Niki seized the throne, he immediately got rid of thew that forcedmoners to get drafted in the military out of their will.

    Duke Arman Winchester, who realized his mistake, cleared his throat. "I misspoke, Your Majesty. For that, I deeply apologize."

    "Just don''t say anything if you will only suggest stupid things," Niki said, scoffing. Then he addressed everyone in the conference room. "All the noble households with two or more children will be obliged to send one of theirs join the war. I don''t care if it''s a son or a daughter as long as they can fight."

    He was d that Neoma wasn''t there.

    Because if his daughter was present in that meeting, then Neoma would have definitely opposed forcing the nobles to send one of their children to war.

    [However, this is the duty of the nobles whenever a war breaks out.]

    "I will make an official announcement soon¨C"

    Niki was forced to stop talking when he felt a strange presence summoning him.

    [Yule?]

    "Your Majesty?" Rufus asked worriedly. "Is everything alright? Your eyes have turned red again."

    Ah.

    Niki didn''t even notice that his eye color changed.

    The fact that Rufus looked clueless meant only Niki felt the god''s presence. Even the other representatives of the Twelve Golden Families looked oblivious.

    "Let''s wrap this up," Niki said in a hurry. "I have an important guest to attend to."

    ***

    "WHY IS he here?" Nero, who was in the middle of ignoring Melvin''s nagging, whispered to himsend and raised his hand to make his secretary stop talking. Then he stood up from his seat. "I''m being summoned."

    "Is everything alright, Nero?" Hanna, who shared the office with him, asked worriedly. "Your eyes turned red."

    Oh?

    He didn''t know that.

    Nero looked at Hanna, Melvin, and Sandie Morrisley who were in the same room as him. "Do you not feel any strange presence?"

    Melvin and Sandie Morrisley shook their heads politely. "None at all, Your Imperial Highness."

    "I don''t feel anything strange either," Hanna said. "But you do, don''t you?"

    Nero nodded while looking at the door. "The Moon God is here."

    ***

    [THE FUCK is Grandpa doing here?]

    That was Neoma''s first thought as soon as she stepped out of the portal that the Royal Mages created.

    They were back at the Royal Pce, and a strong divine presence lingered in the air.

    But it seemed like only Neoma could feel it.

    [Not even Paige who''s also familiar with divine power could feel it.]

    "Princess Neoma," Lewis called her name worriedly. "Your eyes have turned red. Is everything okay?"

    Omo, omo.

    She didn''t even notice that her eyes had turned red.

    No wonder her other "children" were looking at her worriedly.

    Paige and Greko, who greeted them when their group had returned, looked more anxious because the two weren''t with them when they headed to Mount Theron.

    [It can''t be helped since they needed to take care of the patients here.]

    "I''m fine, everyone."

    Her "children" still looked nervous, and she couldn''t me them for that.

    [After all, I be a menace to society every time my eyes turn red.]

    "Paige."

    "Yes, Princess Neoma."

    "Take care of the candidates and make sure they''ll befortable in the pce," Neoma said, her body already levitating¨C thanks to Mochi''s wind power. "I''m being summoned by my grandpa."

    ***

    NIKOLAI met his son in the hallway that led to Skylus'' room.

    Glenn and Manu (who was holding the baby god in his arms), were standing in front of the room as if they were kicked out.

    "Your Majesty, Your Imperial Highness."

    Glenn and Manu greeted Niki and his son politely.

    Niki was about to ask what the two were doing outside, but Nero suddenly walked past the king and the Moon Priest.

    [This rude punk¡­]

    "Neoma," Nero said excitedly as he opened the door. "She''s back, Father."

    Niki sighed, then he addressed Glenn and Manu with a slightly apologetic voice. "Let''s talkter," he said, then he patted Glenn''s shoulder. He could feel Skylus'' presence in the room, so he knew why Glenn looked like he was about to cry. "I''ll make sure your son is safe, Glenn."

    ***

    "GRANDPA, have you gone mad?" Neoma asked as soon as she entered the room via balcony. She didn''t have the patience to go through the door, after all. And she was right to move in urgency. She didn''t like how there were bloody tear streaks on Skylus'' face. "Why are you possessing Skylus'' body when he''s still a baby?"

    "Skylus only has a physical vessel of a child, but he has the memories of his past life," Yule, who was possessing Skylus'' body, said while sitting on the ent chair. "And it''s duty as the saint to amodate me every time I need to personally deliver a message to my precious descendats."

    She just clicked her tongue, still annoyed.

    Yule chuckled. "It''s been a while, Nene. Your temper is still as nasty as ever."

    She didn''t get the chance toment because the door burst opened, then Nero and Papa Boss entered the room.

    As soon as they did, the door behind them mmed close on its own.

    And then the room suddenly changed.

    Ah, it was the same boring white room that Neoma had seen so many times.

    [Most of the divine beings who summoned me have the same white room and white cubes for furniture.]

    But the room wasn''t the only thing that changed.

    Yule finally returned to his original form while holding the sleeping Skylus in his arms.

    Neoma was relieved to see that the baby saint looked fine.

    "It''s been a while, my precious descendants," Yule greeted them with a smile. "How have you been?"

    It would have been a heartwarming reunion¡­

    ¡­ had Nero and Papa Boss paid attention.

    However, that wasn''t the case.

    "Neoma, are you okay?" Nero asked, hugging her tight as soon as he got a hold of her. "What happened to that bastard Calyx? They didn''t hurt you, did they?"

    "Of course, they couldn''t hurt me even if they tried," Neoma said, patting Nero''s back. "I''m not hurt anywhere, Nero. I let Calyx and the other crows leave unscathed since we can''t afford the public''s bacsh at a time like this."

    "You did well, Neoma," Papa Boss said proudly while patting her head gently. "It must have been hard holding back with that temper of yours."

    Gosh.

    Why was everyone talking about her temper?

    [Was it that shocking that I left Calyx alone after just a mere punch in the face?]

    "Thank you, Papa Boss," Neoma said. "How is Mama Boss?"

    "Mona is fine, but you should greet your mother as soon as we''re done here," Papa Boss said. "She''s worried about you. So, let''s get this done and over with."

    At that moment, three pair of glowing red eyes finally turned to Yule.

    The Moon God chuckled.

    "I thought you''ve forgotten about my existence already," Yule said, smiling while shaking his head. "It''s good to see that you get along, but please don''t ignore me. The Sun Goddess is currently putting her life at risk just to give me time to talk to you."

    Right.

    Neoma broke free from Nero''s hug, then she faced Yule properly. "Lord Yule, where are you? Did the Sun Goddess manage to save you?"

    "Yes, and it''s all thanks to the distraction that you created, Nene," the Moon God said. "When you gathered the strongest and the most talented young people from all over the world in the empire, all eyes naturally fell on you. You kept them wondering if you were already preparing for war. And you were."

    "I wasn''t thinking of war when I began the Selection," Neoma said. "But who are you talking about, Lord Yule? Who are those people who are keeping an eye on the Imperial Family? Of course, Helstor and the bastard crows are already a given. But who else should we be wary of?"

    "Unfortunately, I can''t give you names," Lord Yule said. "As you already know, I lost my eyes a long time ago. Hence, even gods weaker than I am could hide their presence from me."

    Ouch.

    Neoma was reminded of her failure to find Yule''s eyes.

    It had already been more than a decade since the Moon God asked her to find his real eyes for him, and yet she didn''t even know where to begin.

    [And many things already happened since then.]

    Neoma felt a prick in her conscience.

    "Ah, I''m not trying to make you feel bad, Nene," Yule said when he probably noticed Neoma''s expression. "I know that it was illogical of me to ask a child like you to find my eyes when I don''t even know who really stole them."

    "I''m d you know that, Lord Yule," Nero said, scoffing. "Why do you and the other gods feel entitled to ask Neoma for favors? Stop depending on a child, for goodness'' sake."

    Neoma wasn''t a child, but she didn''t correct Nero.

    [Compared to the gods who kept asking me for favors, it''s correct to say that I''m a baby.]

    "I know, and that''s why I feel apologetic, Roro."

    Nero scrunched up his nose. "Please don''t call me by that stupid pet name, Lord Yule."

    The Moon God justughed at Nero''sint.

    "Yule, I know you didn''te here just to have a chat with us," Papa Boss said in a serious tone. "Why did you reach out to us despite the risks?"

    "As you already know, most major gods can''t move right now," Yule said solemnly. "Aside from the fact that we cannot descend on the human world in our real form, Helstor is also blocking all the possible ways to reach out to you with his Darkness."

    Neoma frowned. "Gosh, that bastard¡­"

    "Helstor has also polluted the Upper World in the worst way possible, and it actually made most gods sick and weak."

    Papa Boss let out a sigh. "Is this your way of telling us that you cannot lend us a hand then?"

    "I cannot directly interfere because of my current situation," Yule confessed in a disappointed voice. "However, I came here to tell you whom you need to reach out to in order to stop what Helstor and the crows are nning to do."

    "Oh, that''s nice," Neomamented. "So, who should we ask for help?"

    "First, this isn''t a battle for humans," the Moon God said. "Hence, you must reach out the other races this time."

    Okay, that was a little vague.

    "Second, you''ll need to work with the Sun Goddess from now on," the Moon God continued. "Hence, you must keep Ruto by your side."

    Neoma''s heart fluttered.

    [I knew it. Ruto needs me¡­ er, we need each other?]

    Nero and Papa Boss, on the other hand, snorted at the idea.

    "Third, threedies will y a huge part in the uing war."

    Neoma raised an eyebrow. "Aside from me?"

    "Yes, aside from you, Nene. And I know you are surrounded by amazing women like Mona and Hanna Quinzel. But, this time, these threedies will really be vital to you," Yule said, then his face contorting as if he was in pain. "Monik. Dahlia. Brigitte Griffiths¨C"

    The Moon God suddenly coughed up blood.

    ck.

    The blood that Yule coughed up was ck¨C and it only meant one thing.

    Neoma clenched her hands tight. "Who''s the fucker who had the audacity to poison you, Grandpa?"

    ***

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 Chapter 801 THREE CALAMITIES

    ?

    "GRANDPA, give Skylus to me," Neoma said while removing the baby saint from the Moon God''s arms. "Then let me check on you."

    After saying that, she handed Skylus to Papa Boss.

    Surprisingly, her father looked awkward as if it was his first time holding a child in his arms. Well, Papa Boss used to carry her around in the past.

    [Ah, those were the days¡­]

    But her father probably wasn''t used to carrying other people''s children, though.

    "Papa Boss, please hold Skylus properly," Neoma said. "Uncle Glenn would cry if you identally dropped his baby to the floor."

    Her father automatically tightened his hold around Skylu''s small body.

    [Good.]

    After making sure that the baby saint was safe in Papa Boss'' arms, she turned to Yule again.

    "Grandpa, please give me your hands," Neoma said, extending her hands to the Moon God. "Let me detoxify the poison in your body. It''s Darkness, isn''t it?"

    Instead of giving his hands, Yule only put a vial in her hands.

    It was a small bottle full of Darkness in liquid form.

    "This isn''t my real body, so it''s no use treating me, Nene," Yule exined. "This is the poison that they used on me and the other gods who suffered the same doomed fate as I did. Please be careful on handling it."

    Ah.

    So the Moon God wanted Neoma to create an antidote for that poison¡­

    ¡­ to cure Yule and the other gods?

    "Noted, Grandpa," Neoma said, nodding. "I shall make an antidote as soon as possible and sell it to the gods who need it."

    Yule looked at her in surprise. "You''re going to sell it¡­?"

    "Of course, Grandpa. This granddaughter of yours had lived in a capitalist society for more than twenty years in the past. There''s no way I''m going to risk my life creating an antidote only to distribute it for free. At least, not for them," she said. "If the antidote is for the people, then I''ll give it for free. But we''re talking about gods here, Grandpa. They have enough wealth and power to pay for my service."

    "And what would you ask as payment?"

    "You said it yourself earlier, Grandpa. This isn''t a battle for humans," Neoma said, smirking. "I''m going to use my ability to gather gods who would fight alongside us in order to bring down Helstor and the crows."

    Yule looked surprised at first, then heughed. "Do you think the gods would do your bidding just because you saved their lives, Nene?"

    "Well, they will be obliged if they signed a contract," she said confidently. "Trevor is a powerful Contractor. He''ll take care of it for me."

    The Moon Godughed as if he was amused. "My granddaughter is reliable, huh?"

    "Grandpa, this isn''t the right time to beughing," Neoma scolded the Moon God lightly. "Gosh. We can''t even save you because we don''t know where you are. Did the Sun Goddess really seed in rescuing you, Grandpa?"

    "Don''t worry about me, Nene. I also have friends I can depend on," Yule assured her. "I feel sorry that you''re worrying about me when I can''t fully support you in the uing war."

    "Why are you feeling sorry, Grandpa?" she asked, shaking her head. "Monik. Dahlia. Aunt Brigitte. You said those threedies will help us win the war, and that''s already a useful piece of information."

    "We are de Moonasterios, Yule," Papa Boss reminded the Moon God. "We don''t need to be spoon-fed."

    "But I want to spoil you," the Moon God said, smiling. "Niki, your divine power will work well with Monik''s ability. You will end the Second Cmity with the Light Priestess."

    Papa Boss didn''t seem to oppose the idea, but he didn''t say anything.

    [Gosh, so taciturn as ever.]

    "Second Cmity?" Neoma asked curiously. "How many Cmities are we talking about here, Grandpa?"

    "Three major Cmities," Yule confirmed. "The first Cmity has to be dealt with by Brigitte Griffiths. To be exact, the baby in her womb. But since a baby can''t fight yet, Brigitte Griffiths has to borrow her child''s power."

    "Gosh, Grandpa," Neomained lightly. "That''s childbor. Aunt Brigitte''s baby hasn''t been born yet, and you''re making them work already?"

    "We don''t have a choice since it''s time for war, Nene," Yule said apologetically. "You have to bring Brigitte Griffiths to the empire, along with the "treasure" the Hazelden Kingdom has been keeping all this time."

    Ah, that "treasure."

    [It''s the reason why Lord Delwyn, Mama Boss'' former Ice Spirit, can''t leave Hazelden.]

    "Okay, got it," Neoma said, nodding. "If Lord Delwyn ising along, then I''ll make him protect Aunt Brigitte and the baby."

    "Thank you, Nene," the Moon God said, then he turned to Nero with a serious look on his face. "Roro."

    Nero frowned. "Don''t call me that if you''re going to make me work, Lord Yule."

    Of course, the Moon God justughed it off.

    Then Yule turned serious again. "Keep Dahlia by your side starting from this moment."

    Neoma let out a really loud gasp.

    Gosh, no!

    [I can already imagine THE DRAMA!!!!]

    Nero, on the other hand, flinched. "Why Dahlia?"

    "Only you and Dahlia could stop the Third Cmity, Roro," Yule said, still addressing Nero by that stupid pet name. "It''s the most dangerous Cmity out of the three, so you must work with the ck Witch closely. There''s a reason why Dahlia was your wife in the first timeline."

    Once again, Neoma let out a gasp.

    Oh, god.

    [THE DRAMA IS DRAMA-ING!]

    "Can you send Hanna a short message then?" Nero asked hesitantly. "I don''t want Hanna to misunderstand, so I want you to inform her that I need to work with Dahlia, Lord Yule."

    "Gosh. Why would you ask our weak grandpa to waste his energy on something like that?" Neomained. "I''ll tell Hanna about this. She trusts me more than she trusts you, so everything will be fine if I exined."

    Nero just let out a sigh. "Alright."

    "I can''t give you a detailed exnation about the Three Cmities that will hit the empire soon, but you''ll know what to do as soon as theye," Yule said confidently as if he was letting them know that he was putting his entire faith in his descendants. "Also, tell Mona it''s time for her to return as the ''Daughter of Nature.'' She can own the Spirit World and the Cosmic Tree if she wanted to."

    Papa Boss nodded. "I will ry your message to my wife."

    Yule smiled at Papa Boss, and it looked like a mischievous smile. "I''m sorry I wasn''t there to bless your marriage with Mona. However, once I recover more of my divine power, I will send you two a gift that you will definitely like."

    "I don''t like your smile, Yule," Papa Boss said, his voice full of suspicions. "Don''t send it."

    The Moon God justughed.

    Neoma, on the other hand, got impatient. "Grandpa, why aren''t you telling me what I need to do? You didn''t summon me here just to ask me to make an antidote, don''t you?"

    "That''s actually the most difficult task, Nene."

    "Really? But I want to fight¡­"

    "You are the shield of the entire world, Nene."

    "Gosh, so heavy."

    Yule smiled sadly at her, then he snapped his fingers.

    And, just like that, Papa Boss and Nero both disappeared.

    [Okay, I''m sure things are going to get serious now.]

    "Nene."

    "Yes, Lord Yule?"

    She addressed her grandpa in a formal way this time because she noticed the shift in the air. In short, the ambiance became heavy.

    "Go to the God of Death¨C he knows what you need to do."

    The baby god?

    Neoma suddenly felt a chill down her spine.

    To be honest, she already got a vague idea of what Yule might ask her to do. However, she didn''t ask any questions.

    She just decided to trust her grandpa.

    "Okay, Lord Yule," Neoma said, nodding. "I will talk to the baby god."

    Yule smiled, then he pulled her for a hug.

    After that, the Moon God blessed her with a kiss on the forehead¡­

    ¡­ while spewing words that sounded like curses.

    Neoma could only sigh and shut her eyes tight.

    [I''d like to officially say goodbye to my dream of bing ady of leisure¡­]

    ***

    WHEN NEOMA opened her eyes, she found herself in a normal bedroom.

    Well, it wasn''t really a normal bedroom since it was a luxurious guest room in the pce.

    "You''re back?"

    And the baby god was there, sitting in the middle of the bed.

    "It looks like you already know that I was summoned by Lord Yule," Neoma said, sitting on the chair beside the bed. "Tell me what I need to do, Aegiya."

    "But it looks like you already know what to do, Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio."

    Ah.

    For the first time since she met the baby god, he addressed her by her full name instead of calling her ''Mommy Neoma.''

    "Well, there''s only one reason why Lord Yule would want me to meet the God of Death."

    "I''m d that you''re quick-witted, little princess," the God of Death said, then he tilted his head to one side. "How do you want to die then? Alone or in front of your loved ones?"

    How cruel.

    Neoma died in the first timeline alone and lonely.

    However, the current Neoma didn''t want to die in front of her loved ones.

    [This is so fucked up.]

    Neoma couldn''t help but smirk bitterly. "Do I really have to die in the first ce?"

    ***

    NOTE: HAPPY 800 CHAPTERS TO US! Thank you for following Neoma''s journey until now. I''ll be posting a special chapterter. <3

    Thanks to Senlias for reminding me. I didn''t notice we already hit 800 chapters until they mentioned it since the webnovel and my files have different chapter numbers. I don''t count the Bonus Chapters in the original document, so I''m only at chapter 790+. Hence, I didn''t notice the 800th mark. Hehe. Thank you for the reminder. <3

    ***

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 Chapter 802 BABY MONSTERS

    ?

    "DON''T CRY," Niki warned Glenn while handing Skylus to the king. "Your son just fell asleep after Yule borrowed his body."

    Glenn looked relieved by what he said, then he hugged his sleeping son tight. "Thank you for looking after my son, Your Majesty."

    "Did Lord Yule already leave?" Manu asked worriedly. "What did he say?"

    "Let''s have a meeting first," Niki said, putting a hand on Glenn''s shoulder. "Glenn, I need you to bring your wife and your other children to the empire. Lord Yule has a message for them."

    Glenn looked worried at first, but understanding soon crossed his face as he nodded. "I understand, Your Majesty."

    Niki turned to Nero who looked anxious at the moment. "Don''t worry too much, Nero. Yule will surely return Neoma safely."

    "I know that, Father," Nero said, sighing. "I''m just worried as to why Lord Yule has to kick us out if he just wanted to talk to Neoma. He just made it obvious that he has something to say to Neoma that he can''t say in our presence."

    Ah, his son made a point.

    Niki also had a vague idea that Yule might give Neoma a dangerous task.

    And he was pretty sure that if that was the case, then his daughter would never share that information with them.

    Hence, he made a decision.

    "Let''s keep an eye on Neoma," Niki said firmly. "I don''t want to put my own daughter under surveince, but that seems to be the only way for us to know what Yule asked her to do."

    Nero nodded in agreement. "I''ll do it, Father."

    ***

    "MOMMY, MOMMY, give me a name."

    Argh.

    Neoma felt awkward now that the God of Death''s consciousness had regressed back to that of a child''s.

    [Just when I was asking him a super serious question¡­]

    Did the God of Death do it on purpose to avoid answering me?

    "Mommy, I don''t want to be called ''Aegiya,''" the baby god said, pouting. "Please give me a name."

    "I''ll think about it if you do ''aegyo,''" Neoma teased the baby god. ''Aegyo'' was a Korean term that meant ''acting cute.'' It was cringe-y, but whatever. "Come on, Aegiya. Act cute for me."

    "Act cute for Mommy?" the baby god asked, confused. Then he tilted his head to one side. "How do I do that?"

    Argh!

    The baby god tilting his head to one side was so fucking cute.

    [Why are babies so damned cute as long as they''re not crying or throwing a tantrum?]

    The baby god''s big and round eye was sparkling, making him look soft and innocent.

    [How can someone be so adorable???]

    "You almost gave me a heart attack because of your cuteness," Neomained light-heartedly. "Fine, you win. I''ll give you a name, but I have to warn you that people say I suck at giving names. Hence, you can''tin."

    The baby god nodded, smiling brightly at her. "Okay, Mommy. I''ll love any name you''ll give me."

    Gosh.

    [This adorable baby is so bad for my heart.]

    To be honest, she wanted to call the baby god ''Beanie'' because he looked like a tiny bean.

    [It''s apliment, okay?]

    However, there was a name that entered her mind for some reason.

    "Vitu," Neoma said softly. "It means ''life'' in the ancientnguage spoken by the de Moonasterios in the past."

    Aegiya looked at her solemnly that Neoma thought the God of Death had returned.

    However, the baby god giggled like the baby that he was supposed to be.

    "I like it, Mommy," Vitu said, smiling at Neoma brightly. "Thank you for giving me a wonderful name, Mommy. Vitu is happy!"

    Argh!

    Neoma''s heart swelled when the baby god spoke in the third person.

    Usually, it was cringe-y.

    She knew because she actually used to speak in the third person back when she was trying to make Nero love her to death. But Papa Boss was so mean to her during that time, so she stopped her cutesy act and started to talk normally again.

    But hearing Vitu talk in the third person didn''t sound bad.

    "I wonder why you look lovely in my eyes," Neoma whispered while pinching Vitu''s cheeks gently. "I don''t usually like gods, but you seem to be an exception."

    Vitu just giggled innocently.

    "Neoma!"

    She flinched a little when the door suddenly burst open, then Nero entered the room.

    "Hi, Nero."

    Her twin brother just clicked his tongue, then he ran towards her and hugged her tight.

    "Are you okay?" Nero asked worriedly. "Lord Yule didn''t ask you something strange, did he? Why did he kick us out?"

    Ah, as expected, Nero was sharp.

    [But I''m more cunning than you, my precious twin brother.]

    Nero broke the hug, then he gently grabbed her shoulders and looked at her suspiciously. "Neoma, tell me the truth. What did Lord Yule ask you to do for him?"

    "Lord Yule asked me to work with Ruto very closely," Neoma lied with a straight face. "He knew you and Papa Boss wouldn''t like it, so he kicked you out."

    Her twin brother knitted her eyebrows. "Yes, it''s true that I hate Ruto with a passion. But I would understand if you needed to work with him "closely." I''m sure Father would understand, too. It''s not logical for Lord Yule to kick us out just because of that."

    Tsk.

    [Why is this boy so sharp?]

    "Ruto and I have to do some ~dangerous~ things that you and Papa Boss wouldn''t like," Neoma lied again. "Stop asking, okay? I''m an adult capable of deciding for myself."

    "Okay, so what is it?" Nero asked, still not letting go of the topic. "What "dangerous" thing are you and Ruto required to do?"

    Aigoo, this brat.

    She was considering running away when the baby god spoke.

    "Mommy Neoma and Daddy Ruto need to kiss a lot!"

    Neoma almost choked on her saliva. "V-Vitu¡­?"

    [Are you trying to save me or have me killed?!]

    Nero red at the baby god. "What did you say, you tiny brat?"

    "Mommy Neoma and Daddy Ruto already kissed once, but they need to kiss again!" Vitu said cheerfully, putting his fingers together as if they were kissing. "Mommy and Daddy need to kiss a lot to save the world!"

    Okay, Neoma was bbergasted.

    [Really? Ruto and I have to kiss???]

    "I''m telling Father," Nero said, then he quickly bolted out of the room¨C fuming. "I''ll ask Father to ban Ruto from entering the empire!"

    Neoma could only facepalm.

    [Gosh, that siscon¡­]

    ***

    NEOMA ONLY had three hours of rest.

    She used that to take a short nap, have a long bath and doll up after, then have a quick meal.

    After that, she gathered the candidates in the People Pce''s wide hall. Fortunately, the injured candidates didn''t suffer serious wounds. Hence, most of them were able to attend the gathering.

    "As you already know, the safety of the entire world is currently being threatened by Helstor, the God of Eternal Darkness," Neoma said while standing on the balcony. Her "children" were behind her. She was the only member of the Imperial Family there at the moment because her parents and her twin brother were all busy. "In particr, those puny bastards are targeting the throne."

    She didn''t bother speaking nicely anymore.

    After all, her "secret" of having a foul mouth was already out anyway.

    "Hence, the Imperial Family decided to focus on eliminating those shitheads to keep the empire¨C no, the entire world safe," Neoma continued with her speech. "As a resul, I''ve alsoe to a very difficult decision of canceling the Selection. How could I, the Imperial Princess, think about getting married when the safety of our people is being threatened by some third-rate viins¡­ ah, fuck." She grabbed the back of her neck, frustrated. "My blood pressure is rising again just thinking about those bastards."

    Okay, she was being unprofessional.

    But who could me her?

    [I "have" to fucking die soon, so I don''t have the liberty to be nice and patient.]

    Well, that was an excuse.

    She had always had a shitty temper and a rotten personality, after all.

    "Now that the Selection is officially canceled, I''d like to thank everyone for participating in this event," Neoma said, calmer this time. "And I would also like to apologize for the incident that happened during the Second Round. Each one of you will receive a package that conveys my heart."

    Of course, the "package" was filled with expensive and useful gifts.

    "Princess Neoma, what should we do if we want to fight with you?"

    One of the candidates asked that question.

    Then the others also followed suit.

    "That''s right, Your Imperial Highness. This issue doesn''t only involve the empire¨C the entire world is in danger. We also wish to fight with you."

    Surprisingly, many candidates shared the same thought.

    And she was grateful for that.

    [After all, most of the candidates here are either higher nobles or royalties all over the world. Their decision to fight with the empire could also be seen as their homnd''s decision. I can''t miss this opportunity.]

    "If you wish to fight with the empire, then I won''t stop you. After all, like I said earlier, the entire world is in danger," Neoma said, then she smiled at the candidates. "So, to anyone who really wants to screw over Helstor and the other bastards,e and follow me."

    ***

    "M-MOMMY¡­?"

    Brigitte took a deep breath, then she hugged Monik and ude tightly.

    Ever since Glenn left for the empire with Skylus, she had always slept in the same room as Monik and ude to make sure her children were safe.

    And it was a good choice.

    That night was the night assassins tried to harm Brigitte and her babies.

    But an unthinkable happened.

    "M-Mommy, what are those t-things?" ude asked in a shaking voice. "They s-saved us, but they look s-scary¡­"

    "They''re monsters," Monik said calmly. "The baby monsters saved us."

    The "baby monsters" that Monik was talking about were monsters that took the form of baby wolves. And those baby wolves were currently eating the limbs of the assassins that tried to attack them in their sleep.

    And those baby monsters appeared out of nowhere.

    Brigitte was just about to grab the gun under her pillow after she saw two assassins about to stab her with a sword.

    She thought that her guards would arrive, too.

    But instead of the knights stationed outside the bedroom, two unusuallyrge wolves actually appeared and attacked the assassins out of thin air.

    However, Brigitte knew that someone summoned those baby monsters to protect them.

    "It''s your sibling," Brigitte said, touching her baby bump lightly. "Your sibling summoned the baby monsters for our protection."

    ***

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 Chapter 803 THE FIRST CALAMITY

    ?

    BRIGITTE gulped hard when the "baby monsters" finally finished devouring the assassins.

    The "baby monsters" were indeed smaller than an average wolf, but their appearance looked scarier because they looked like they were born from darkness. The monsters'' fur looked like little spikes. Moreover, their drool was actually simr to acid.

    And the "baby monsters" were growling at them now.

    "M-Mommy," ude cried, clinging to Brigitte more. "They''reing at us¡­"

    "Don''t worry, ude," Brigitte assured her son, pointing the gun at the "baby monsters." The gun was loaded with Mana bullets that their kingdom had developed with the help of the empire. "Children, cover your ears and close your eyes."

    However, just before she could pull the trigger, her stomach suddenly hurt badly.

    It was as if the baby in her womb kicked her.

    As a result, Brigitte identally dropped the gun and clutched her stomach tight.

    "Mommy!" Monik cried worriedly. But despite her daughter''s worry, she still stood in front of them and raised her hands. Then a semi-transparent barrier appeared in front of them. "Don''t worry, Mommy! I will protect you, ude, and our baby sibling!"

    Brigitte raised her head just in time to see the "baby monsters" lunging at them.

    Monik''s barrier looked pretty sturdy, but she was still worried. It wasn''t like she didn''t trust her daughter. But any proper mother would always choose to protect their child and not the other way around.

    [And why do I have a feeling that I can these monsters?]

    "Stop!" Brigitte yelled at the baby monsters. "Go away!"

    Huh?

    Did she just ask the baby monsters as if they would just leave like that?

    However, for some reason, her voice sounded moremanding than usual.

    EEERRRKKK.

    That was the weird sound the baby monsters produced when they suddenly froze mid-air as if they were caught and strangled by an invisible force.

    The acid-like drool of the baby monsters didn''t touch them, thanks to Monik''s barrier.

    But that barrier was slowly melting away.

    [Monik''s Mana isn''t that strong yet¡­]

    Brigitte immediately carried ude in her arm, then she grabbed Monik using her other hand.

    She was about to run away with her children when the doors suddenly burst open.

    "Your Majesty, we apologize for the intrusion."

    "And for beingte."

    Brigitte was relieved when she saw the Fletcher Twins arrive and y the baby monsters right away. She immediately used her hands to cover Monik and ude''s eyes.

    But her relief soon disappeared when she noticed the twins'' state.

    Wyatt and Warren Fletcher were both covered in blood, and they had injuried all over.

    [They werete because they must be fighting other assassins outside¡­]

    That made Brigitte worry.

    Ever since the Fletcher Twins became their unofficial guards, she had never seen them this hurt. And it wasn''t the first time that there had been an attempt on her life.

    [This only means the assassins this time were pretty strong.]

    "Your Majesty, are you and the Royal Highnesses hurt anywhere?"

    Brigitte shook her head at Warren''s polite question. "No, we''re fine. How about you? Both of you look hurt."

    "We''re fine, Your Majesty," Warren said. "It just looks worse than it is because of the blood."

    "Even so, you need to be treated," Brigitte insisted. "I''ll call the doctor."

    "Your Majesty, we do not have time for that," Wyatt said in an urgent voice. "We received a direct message from His Imperial Majesty¨C and His Imperial Majesty summons Your Majesty and Your Highness to the empire."

    "Glenn¨C I mean, His Majesty King Glenn also sent a message," Warren added. "His Majesty said he''ll be here to personally pick you up."

    Something serious definitely happened.

    [And it''s obviously rted to my family.]

    "I understand that it''s urgent, but I''m still the queen responsible for my kingdom and my people. Hence, I cannot leave Hazelden just because His Imperial Majesty summoned me and my children," Brigitte said firmly. Of course, she was aware that this whole thing must be connected to the Darkness swallowing the sky at the moment. Even so, as the queen of Hazelden, she couldn''t abandon her people. "Please inform His Imperial Majesty and my husband that my children and I won''t be leaving Hazelden until I properly handed all the important tasks to the Council."

    ***

    [REANIMATED CORPSES?]

    Xion went to a vige near the mountain where the ''Death Camp'' was built in the past while following the strange traces of Darkness that he found.

    [This is near the mountain where Princess Neoma rescued Greko.]

    Unfortunately, he was already toote when he arrived there.

    The residents were already dead.

    Based on the signs that he saw, the people there were definitely poisoned by Darkness. However, they should all be dead by now.

    [So, why are they still moving?]

    At first, the reanimated corpses were moving mindlessly.

    However, as soon as those things ''smelled'' him, they began toe at him. Obviously, with the intention of harming him.

    No, to bite him, perhaps.

    After all, the reanimated corpses were trying to bite him.

    [Why are they acting like they''ve be beasts?!]

    Xion tried to kill the reanimated corpses with his poisoned daggers, but it didn''t work.

    He also tried to cut off the heads of those things.

    But, much to his shock, Darkness in gas form oozed out of the severed limbs. Then, like a thread, the Darkness moved to re-attach the disengaged limbs to the main body.

    [Tsk.]

    Xion got distracted while watching the entire thing unfold.

    It was because he was recording it with the device that Paige invented.

    But his distraction caused him a lot.

    A reanimated corpse bit him in the neck.

    If Xion wasn''t quick enough to behead the corpse, then his neck might have already been broken.

    [Argh!]

    He was bleeding too much, and the blood that came out of his wound was ck.

    [Poison¡­]

    Now, all the reanimated corpses around him seemed to have lost their minds as they lunged at him as if they finally found food after starving for a long time.

    [They have allpletely lost their humanity.]

    Xion actually wanted to fight more and find a way to kill the reanimated corpses.

    However, he heard Princess Neoma''s voice in his head.

    ["There''s no mission worth dying for."]

    Right.

    Xion then pulled out the ''Emergency Portal Ticket'' that Paige gave him, then he tore it immediately.

    ***

    NEOMA looked at Dahlia carefully before opening her mouth. "Dahlia, I received a direct message from Lord Yule."

    That was the first thing she told her secretary after breakfast.

    She didn''t want Dahlia to get indigestion, so she decided to talk about Yule''s message while they were having tea in her office.

    [I need to talk to Hanna after this.]

    "Did Lord Yule say something about me, Princess Neoma?" Dahlia asked nervously. "Is it rted to the Cmities that will soon hit the world?"

    Neoma tilted her head to one side. "How did you know?"

    "The Stars warned me about the Cmities," the ck Witch said, her face turning red. "And they also said I n-need to be with P-Prince Nero."

    Ah, right.

    [I almost forgot that Dahlia can hear the Stars.]

    "Lord Yule told me that only you and Nero can destroy the Third Cmity, so the two of you must stick together from now on," Neoma said, then she watched Dahlia flinch. She let out a sigh. "But you don''t have to do it if you don''t want to."

    Dahlia''s eyes widened in shock. "B-But it was Lord Yule''s order, Princess Neoma."

    "I only listen to my ancestors when I want to," she said. "Don''t worry, Dahlia. I''ll take responsibility."

    She knew that the entire world was at stake here.

    Even so, Neoma would never force Dahlia to do something that she didn''t want to.

    [I only enjoy drama if the ones sufferings are people I don''t like.]

    "Thank you for saying that, Princess Neoma. But I''m fine. I''ll do it," Dahlia said determinedly. "I want to help Your Imperial Highness save the world¨C even if it means I have to stick to Prince Nero."

    Pfft.

    [Dahlia absolutely hates the idea.]

    "If that''s your decision, then I''ll respect it," Neoma said, nodding. "Let''s talk to Hannater."

    Dahlia nodded, but she looked pretty nervous when Hanna''s name was brought up.

    "Hanna isn''t narrow-minded," Neoma assured Dahlia. "I''m sure she''ll understand."

    The ck Witch was about to say something, but stopped when Neoma suddenly stood up.

    [This sensation¡­ a portal?]

    Paige created ''Emergency Portal Tickets'' for all of them.

    As its name suggested, it was a one-time use portal that would bring the user directly to Neoma''s pce. If she wasn''t at the pce, then the user would be brought to her bedroom or office, where a huge trace of her Mana was scattered on purpose.

    But if she was in the pce, then the user would be brought in front of her.

    After all, the portal ticket was created to follow her Mana.

    Dahlia gasped when a portal¨C a space filled with blue lights¨C opened up out of thin air. "A portal¡­?"

    Neoma immediately rushed to the portal when she saw a body falling out of it.

    Then she caught Xion in her arms just in time before the assassin hit the floor.

    [Gosh, why is this child so light?!]

    Of course, there was no way in hell a well-built grown man like Xion was "light."

    Neoma just forgot that her strength as a de Moonasterio was monstrous.

    "P-Princess Neoma," Xion called her name weakly, his eyes barely opened, and his neck bleeding badly. Worse, the blood gushing out of the wound was ck. "Reanimated corpses¡­ Darkness¡­"

    "Shh. You can give your reportter, Xion," Neoma said gently. "It''s okay to take a rest. You''re safe now¨C you''re safe with me."

    Only then did Xion close his eyes.

    Neoma, on the other hand, clenched her jaw as her big brain worked double time.

    [Reanimated corpses? Darkness? As in zombies created by Darkness?]

    ***

    "SO, LORD YULE asked you and Dahlia to work together to destroy the Third Cmity?"

    Nero didn''t want to admit this, but he actually felt nervous while watching Hanna''s reaction.

    ["Tell Hanna after breakfast. Don''t give her indigestion. Plus, whatever Hanna''s reaction would be, just ept it."]

    That was Neoma''s advice to him, so Nero brought up the topic while having tea with Hanna.

    "Alright, I understand," Hanna said, putting down the teacup on the saucer. "Dahlia is Neoma''s secretary. There won''t be strange rumors even if people see the two of you together."

    "I have no intention of getting alone with Dahlia," Nero said. "Hence, can I ask you to stick to me until we destroy the Third Cmity?"

    To be honest, he was nervous.

    He would understand it if Hanna rejected his request.

    Fortunately, his fianc¨¦e looked calm.

    "Nero, I¨C"

    Hanna was forced to stop talking when the door suddenly burst open, and Melvin entered the office in an urgent manner.

    "Prince Nero, Princess Hanna, I apologize for interrupting your conversation," Melvin said in a hurry while bowing his head in apology. "Prince Nero, Lucien and Alucard have returned from their away mission. Both are in critical condition."

    Nero knitted his eyebrows. "What?"

    "They are poisoned by Darkness, Prince Nero," his secretary said worriedly. "Please purify them. And¡­"

    "And what?"

    Melvin gulped hard. "Lucien and Alucard brought a reincarnated corpse with them¡­ and it''s acting like a savage beast."

    Nero and Hanna immediately stood up.

    "Lead the way, Melvin."

    ***

    [FUCKING ZOMBIES.]

    Neoma confirmed that the ''reanimated corpses'' that Xion mentioned before fainting were indeed simr to zombies.

    [Zombies controlled by Darkness, to be precise.]

    She confirmed it with Trevor and her "children" while watching the video that they recovered from Xion''s device.

    "It''s impossible to kill them even if you behead them, huh?" Trevormented while watching the video. "My Moon Princess, these zombies are very different from the zombies in the movies we''ve seen back in the other world."

    "I know, right?" Neoma agreed. Then she turned to Xion who was currently sleeping on the bed. She gently patted the sleeping man''s hand. "You did well, son."

    After she purified the Darkness that poisoned Xion, she left Xion''s the treatment in Greko''s capable hands.

    And now, Xion was out of danger.

    [He''s still sleeping because he needs to recover his strength.]

    "I''ve heard low-level necromancers could reanimate corpses, but this is the first time I''ve seen reanimated corpses without their puppeteer," Jurimented. "Usually, you can "kill" reanimated corpses if you killed the necromancer. But how do we do that if there''s no puppeteer?"

    Everyone fell silent because of Juri''s question.

    Then their thinking time was interrupted by a knock on the door.

    "Princess Neoma, it''s me¨C Melvin Lhesi."

    Neoma turned to Lewis.

    Her "son" then nodded politely before opening the door for Nero''s secretary.

    "Princess Neoma, please help Prince Nero," Melvin, who looked as pale as a ghost, said. "His Imperial Highness'' divine power was depleted."

    Neoma knitted her eyebrows. "What could possibly eat up Nero''s divine power?"

    ***

    IT WAS a fucking zombie.

    Neoma followed Melvin to the underground prison in Nero''s pce.

    Since she wanted to be low-key to avoid attention from the people working in the pce, she only brought Lewis with her.

    "Neoma, you''re here."

    It was Hanna, and she looked very concerned while holding Nero''s shoulders while Nero was slumped in a chair in front of a prison cell.

    And inside a prison cell was a zombie that looked like a middle-aged man.

    As expected of a zombie, it was loud and making gibberish noises while walking around the prison cell mindlessly.

    [It looks calmer than the ones who attacked Xion.]

    Neoma looked back and forth between Nero and the zombie. "Did Nero try to purify the zombie?"

    Hanna nodded, her face still filled with worry. "Nero was able to purify the poison that harmed Lucien and Alucard. But when Nero tried to purify the reanimated corpse that Lucien and Alucard brought here, his divine power was depleted."

    "It''s like pouring water in a broken jar," Nero said weakly, then he looked up at her. "Don''t try it. Let''s consult Mother and Father first."

    "Mama Boss and Papa Boss are busy talking to the world leaders since they''re about to dere war on Helstor and the crows officially," Neoma said, then she walked towards the prison cell where the zombie was. "Instead of purifying it, I''ll try to burn it to ashes. In most zombie movies, zombies are weak to fire."

    Of course, no one understood her reference.

    Neoma didn''t have time to exin, so she just raised her hand with her hand facing the zombie. "Tteokbokki, burn the zombie to ashes."

    <"I know what a zombie is, so let''s go!!!">

    Gosh.

    Tteokbokki now talked like Trevor!!!!

    Neoma wanted to scold Tteokbokki, but he did a good job creating a huge fire ball that instantly burned the zombie to ashes¡­

    ¡­ or not.

    Hmm?

    Tteokbokki''s me was hot enough to burn anything in just a few seconds, but why was the zombie still fine?

    The reanimated corpse wasn''t even reacting despite being engulfed in fire!

    Moreover¡­

    "Argh!" Neoma yelped, clutching her raised arm tight while trying to stop her body from releasing more mes. "Stop, Tteokbokki!"

    <"I can''t, thug princess!"> Tteokbokki cried. <"That thing is absorbing my mes!">

    ***

    NOTE: PLEASE CHECK MY KOFI PAGE (just g0ogle kofi s_c). I''ve posted a Q&A portion.

    Here are the questions that I answered:

    1. WHAT INSPIRED s_c TO WRITE ROYAL SECRET: I''M A PRINCESS? (hehe i''m not a hater, oki?)

    2. WHY ISN''T LEWIS THE MALE LEAD? (i''m so sorry)

    3. WHY IS RUTO THE ML? (defending Ruto with my life, lol)

    4. WILL WE GET TO SEE MORE OF NEOMA''S FIRST LIFE? (chuckles nervously)

    5. WHO WILL NERO END UP WITH? DAHLIA OR HANNA? (wiggles eyebrows)

    6. WHO IS s_c''s MOST FAVORITE CHARACTER ASIDE FROM NEOMA? (wink, wink)

    7. WHO IS s_c''s VISUAL INSPIRATION FOR NEOMA? (please don''t judge my type haha)

    8. WHAT TO EXPECT DURING THE LAST ARC? (smiles innocently)

    9. MESSAGE FOR OUR DEAR READERS <3 (:''>)

    10. SERIOUS QUESTION FOR THE READERS (please answer honestly~)

    Hope you visit my page, and donate coffee if you can. Hehe. Thank you. <3

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 804 MONSTER TAMERS

    ?

    "MY QUEEN, I have returned," Glenn said as soon as he finally reached his wife''s bedroom. "Are you and the children ready to leave?"

    ording to the report that he had received from the Fletcher Twins, there was an assassination attempt at his family.

    It hurt him to know that his family was ambushed while he was away.

    Even so, he was relieved to see Brigitte safe and sound.

    Monik and ude, who were ying at the bed, also looked alright.

    [I hope they aren''t traumatized by what happened.]

    Glenn, although he didn''t want to leave Hazelden with his family, still thought it was better for them to stay together in the empire.

    [But that doesn''t mean we don''t care about Hazelden.]

    He had received Brigitte''s response to the emperor''s summon.

    Of course, he had already expected that his wife wouldn''t leave Hazelden without entrusting it to Nowell Elwood¨C Brigitte''s cousin and the acting Prime Minister.

    [Hazelden used to be an absolute monarch. However, since it''s inevitable for the kingdom''s Royal Family to respond to the Imperial Family¨C especially since my wife has pledge her loyalty to Princess Neoma before. Hence, Brigitte decided to slowly build a Parliament led by Nowell.]

    "I''ve already handed all the necessary tasks to Nowell," Brigitte said as she wrapped her arms around his waist. "Fortunately, we''ve been entrusting things to Nowell as preparation for my maternity leave before this. Hence, the delegation went smoother than expected."

    "I see. That''s a relief then," Glenn said while rubbing his wife''s back. "But why do you sound sad, my queen?"

    Brigitte looked up at him with a sad look on her face. "ude wishes to stay here in the kingdom."

    His eyes widened in shock. "What?"

    "Please talk to your son, honey."

    He nodded, then he broke the hug with his wife and approached their children on the bed.

    "Daddy!"

    Both Monik and ude greeted him with a hug.

    Glenn smiled and carried his children in his arms. They were getting bigger and heavier by the day. Fortunately, he was still strong enough to carry his children in his arms without a problem. "ude, my son, is it true that you wish to stay in the kingdom?"

    ude smiled and nodded. "Yes, Daddy! I want to stay here and take care of the kingdom with Uncle Nowell!"

    That made his chest feel heavy.

    [My children shouldn''t be thinking about their royal duties yet¡­]

    "Darling, are you sure you want to stay here?" Brigitte asked worriedly, standing in front of Glenn and cupping ude''s small face between her hands. "Mommy, Daddy, your big brother Skylus, and your big sister Monik will be at the empire."

    "It''s okay, Mommy," ude said cheerfully. "Grandma Light said she''ll y with me!"

    Glenn and Brigitte exchanged looks, then they turned to their son and asked the same question at the same time. "Who is this ''Grandma Light?''"

    ude turned to Monik. "Noona''s mentor!"

    "Mommy, Daddy, ude is talking about the Light Goddess," Monik exined with a smile on her face, her pink eyes glowing. "The Light Goddess said a direct descendant of the Hazelden Kingdom''s Royal Family, who inherited the thickest Griffiths blood, must stay in the kingdom."

    [Does it mean ude inherited the thickest Griffiths blood among our children?]

    "But why?" Brigitte asked curiously. "I still don''t understand why ude has to stay here."

    "Because the Light Goddess is going to protect Hazelden Kingdom during the war with the help of ude''s blood," Monik said cheerfully. "The Light Goddess said it''s our reward for helping the Imperial Family!"

    "That''s a relief, but your brother won''t be in danger, right?" Brigitte asked nervously. "How will ude''s blood help the Light Goddess protect the kingdom? The Light Goddess won''t extract my baby''s blood, will she?"

    "Don''t worry, Mommy," Monik assured her mother. "The Light Goddess only needs ude''s authority as the future king of Hazelden."

    Brigitte gasped softly. "Future king?"

    "I''m going to be the future king of Hazelden, Mommy, Daddy! Grandma Light showed us the future," ude dered happily. "Monik noona is going to be the Light Priestess! Skylus hyung the Moon Saint! And our Baby Angel sibling is going to be Duchess Exton!"

    Brigitte gasped softly, then she touched her baby bump carefully. "Our baby angel is a girl?"

    Glenn was also delighted to know that they were having a second daughter, but he couldn''t help but worry. "''Duchess Exton?''" he asked nervously. "But my brother is already dered as my father''s sessor. Moreover, I''m no longer an Exton¡­"

    [Is my daughter going topete with her uncle for my father''s noble title even though I already disowned House Exton as my family?]

    ***

    "GEOFFREY, connect themunication devices to all the countries and kingdoms¡­" Niki stopped talking when he felt Mona''s Mana fluctuate out of nowhere. When he turned to his wife, he immediately stood up when he saw her pale blue eyes glow while she seemed to be frozen in her seat. "Mona?"

    Vision.

    He was pretty sure that Mona was currently seeing a vision, hence her current state.

    [Thest time she saw a vision was when she touched Queen Brigitte''s baby bump.]

    But this time, his wife''s vision came out of nowhere.

    [What could possibly trigger her ability to see the future?]

    Niki''s thoughts were interrupted when Mona suddenly had a nosebleed. "Mona, love," he said worriedly, hesitant to touch his wife. [I don''t want to interrupt her vision, but I''m worried¡­]

    A few momentster, Mona suddenly gasped as if she just got out of the water after almost drowning. "Niki, the First Cmity is here."

    "Alright, calm down first," Niki said, touching Mona''s shoulders. "What did you see?"

    "We need the Extons," Mona said, getting up from her seat. "Please summon Duke Exton to the pce now, Niki."

    ***

    NEOMA couldn''t believe that her strength was getting absorbed like this.

    However, her Mana wasn''t getting absorbed by the zombie. Hence, she didn''t know where her power was going.

    If the zombie absorbed it, then it would have exploded already.

    [This amount of Mana would be too much for a zombie, after all.]

    Aside from the frustration that she felt at the moment, she could also feel her stomach growling.

    After all, Darkness had always looked tasty to her.

    [Ah? Is it possible to do that?]

    A brilliant thought suddenly entered her mind.

    "Should I eat the zombie?" Neoma wondered out loud. "Is it cannibalism if the zombie is already made of Darkness and not human flesh¨C"

    "Neoma!" Nero scolded her sternly. "Have you gone mad?"

    "Are you hungry, Neoma?" Hanna asked sarcastically, obviously displeased by Neoma''s "brilliant idea." "Should I summon Chef Ruto?"

    "Princess Neoma, even if you''re hungry, you shouldn''t eat a person," Lewis scolded her while shaking his head as if he was already so done with her. "You can eat leaves and insects in the wilderness, but not people, okay?"

    Argh.

    Thanks to Nero, Hanna, and Lewis'' remarks, Neoma finally realized how ridiculous her "brilliant idea" was.

    [Yeah, let''s not resort to cannibalism.]

    In her defense, she was talking about "eating" the Darkness surrounding the zombie and not the zombie itself.

    "Get out of my way!"

    Argh.

    Neoma was in the middle of struggling with Tteokbokki as they tried to desperately stop her Mana from getting absorbed by the zombie when, suddenly, they heard Duke Exton''s loud voice echoing in the underground prison.

    [For someone his age, Duke Exton sure is still lively.]

    Lewis, who was obviously displeased by Duke Exton''s loudness, clicked his tongue. "Should I knock him out?"

    "No," Neoma said weakly. "The duke brought an interesting thing with him."

    "It''s a monster," Nero said, equally weak as Neoma. "A tamed one, at that."

    "Let the duke in," Hanna said in a loud and firm voice. The entrance of the underground prison was guarded by Nero''s knights, after all. "Come in, Duke Exton."

    There was a brief silence before the duke''s heavy footsteps echoed in the entire ce.

    It was followed by the light footsteps of the monster walking beside the old duke.

    [A wild dog?]

    The "monster" definitely looked like a wild dog twice the size of a normal wolf. Its ck fur actually looked like little spikes. The monster''s eyes were glowing ck, and the drool dripping out of its mouth seemed like acid because the spot on the floor where it touched melted.

    [Yep, a monster, indeed.]

    "Greetings, Your Imperial Highnesses," Duke Exton greeted them curtly, then he turned to the burning zombie inside the cell. "May I feed that thing to my pet?"

    Oh?

    That piqued Neoma''s interest. "Do monsters eat zombies, Your Grace?"

    "Monsters usually eat human flesh, while the monsters that the Extons tamed eat animals," Duke Exton answered firmly. "However, this pet of mine suddenly dragged me here to the royal pce. Then Her Imperial Majesty asked me to bring my pet monster here. Even I don''t know what''s happening, but the empress seemed like she does."

    Mama Boss?

    If that was the case, then her mother probably knew something that Neoma didn''t.

    [Did Mama Boss see another vision? It was Mama Boss who saw Aunt Brigitte''s baby''s future, too. Did the vision have something to do with the Extons again?"

    Ah, she suddenly remembered something.

    [Aunt Brigitte''s baby is destined to end the First Cmity, and that baby has Exton blood.]

    "Your Grace, please feed the zombie to your pet," Neoma said solemnly. "Then exin to me how your pet dragged you here. Can you talk to monsters, Your Grace?"

    ***

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 Chapter 805 OFFICIAL DECLARATION

    ?

    "NIKOLAI, do you trust me?"

    "Of course," Niki answered Mona''s question without missing a beat while holding his wife''s hand. After Mona''s nose bled badly, he begged her to take a break. Hence, right now, Mona was on the bed while taking a much-needed rest. "What do you want me to do, Mona?"

    Even though Mona had be the empress the moment they got married, his wife didn''t gain that much powerpared to his authority as the emperor.

    Moreover, both Niki and Mona had already started the delegation of work to Nero and Hanna who would soon seed as the new emperor and the empress, respectively. Hence, it wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess had more power than the empress.

    [That''s why Mona needs to borrow my power as the emperor if she needs to mobilize people under my authority.]

    "My love, hoards of reanimated corpses would soon attack the Imperial Capital."

    Niki''s eyes widened in shock after hearing Mona''s prediction. "Hoards of reanimated corpses? Aren''t those the things that average necromancers create?"

    Average necromancers could "revive" dead people, but they were nothing but reanimated corpses controlled like puppets.

    However, there were exceptional necromancers like the Devil.

    [Only a few could revive dead people like how the Devil revived Nichole and Gavin Quinzel.]

    "Necromancers, no matter the level, are rare," Nikimented. "Is it possible that Helstor and the crows found necromancers that could control hoards of reanimated corpses all at the same time?"

    "The reanimated corpses I''m talking about do not need a necromancer to control them," Mona said, shocking Niki. "Based on what I saw from my vision, the reanimated corpses could move on their own. But they only have one instinct: to eat humans."

    To say that he was disgusted would be an understatement. "This is the first time I''ve heard reanimated corpses eating human flesh. Wouldn''t they be closer to savage beasts than humans then?"

    "That seems to be the case," his wife agreed with him. "But these reanimated corpses cannot be killed easily. We need the Extons for that."

    "Duke Exton is already here in the pce."

    "Let''s talk to himter," his wife said. "For now, I need you to mobilize the royal knights, love."

    "In what way should I mobilize them?"

    "Tell the royal knights to NOT engage with the reanimated corpses in a fight should they meet them," Mona said firmly. "Just catch the reanimated corpses."

    Just catch those things?

    [If the Extons are needed, then¡­]

    "Ah, I see," Niki said while nodding. He finally understood what his wife was trying to say. "The Imperial Family will use the Extons as our executioners."

    ***

    IT WASN''T a pretty sight.

    Neoma''s heart hurt while watching the monster wild dog that Duke Exton brought eat the zombie inside the prison cell.

    [That zombie was a human¡­]

    A human forced to be a zombie, at that.

    To be honest, she at least wanted to let the zombie die as a human being. Hence, she was adamant about purifying it. But she realized quickly that it was impossible to do because their purifying ability didn''t work.

    Hence, she had no choice but to let Duke Exton show her if his monster pet really had the ability to kill the zombie.

    [The living people are more important than the dead.]

    It was a horrible thought, but she had to be realistic in the face of war.

    [I can''t save everyone.]

    Moreover, when the wild dog began attacking the zombie, the invisible force that kept on absorbing Neoma''s divine power finally stopped.

    "The Extons canmunicate with monsters and low-level Spirits, but not in the way that Her Imperial Majesty the Empress and Your Imperial Highnesses can talk to Spirits clearly," Duke Exton exined. "It''s more appropriate to say that we can read the monsters'' emotions¨C which aren''t a lot since the monsters are just usually hungry, sleepy, and angry."

    "That sounds like me," Neoma deadpanned. When no one reacted to her me~ joke, she cleared her throat and went into serious mode again. "So, Duke Exton. Did your monster "say" that its hungry and that the found is here?"

    "I was actually summoned by Her Imperial Majesty the Empress here," the old duke exined. "For some reason, my monster pet insisted oning along. After getting permission from the empress, we finally arrived in the pce. As soon as we did, that child dragged me here as if he could smell the food."

    The "child" would be the monster wild dog, of course.

    [So, it''s a ''he.'']

    "Duke Exton, do monsters usually eat zombies?" Neoma asked. When the old duke looked confused by her question, she changed the word which probably made Duke Exton confuse. "I''m talking about the reanimated corpse."

    "Ordinary monsters only eat human flesh, Princess Neoma," Duke Exton said. "But that child of mine is no ordinary monster¨C it''s an ancient one. I suspect that my child got attracted by the reanimated corpse because of the Darkness it contained."

    "An Ancient Monster?" Nero asked curiously. "Ancient Monsters lived during the Ancient Period¨C no wonder that the monster you brought detected the Darkness in the reanimated corpse. But Ancient Monsters are supposed to be extinct by now. The current monsters co-existing with us are very weakpared to their ancestors."

    "I learned from my history ss before that Ancient Monsters had fallen into a deep slumber after the world was saved from the Absolute Darkness," Hanna added, giving Duke Exton a suspicious look. "Your Grace, did the Extons hunt and wake the Ancient Monsters you found just to make them your "pet?""

    Duke Exton avoided Hanna''s gaze.

    "Did you get permission from the emperor?" Nero asked sternly. "Even the Ancient Monsters belong to the Imperial Family."

    Duke Exton was forced to face Nero. "The Extons have rights over the monsters found in the empire, Your Imperial Highness."

    Nero raised an eyebrow at the old duke. "Not over the Ancient Monsters, though."

    With that, Duke Exton nervously avoided Nero''s scrutinizing gaze.

    Neoma, who was about to strike a deal with Duke Exton, was interrupted when she heard the monster burp loudly.

    [Ah, he''s done eating.]

    She felt a pang in her heart when she realized that no one was left of the zombie except for the tattered clothes on the floor.

    [This is so fucking cruel.]

    "Good job," Duke Exton said to the monster wild dog. "Go and sleep now."

    The monster wild dog let out a howl before melting like a candle.

    Then the "melted" monster turned into a small marble.

    When Duke Exton opened his hand, the ck marble automatically flew towards His Grace''s direction like a baseball thrown at the pitcher.

    It was cool when Duke Exton caught the ck marble in his hand.

    [This isn''t the time to be entertained by silly stuff.]

    "Nero, Hanna, please escort Duke Exton to the pce," Neoma said in a serious voice. "I have something left to do here."

    "What are you going to do¡­ argh."

    It was Nero, but he stopped talking when Hanna gently nudged the Crown Prince.

    "We understand, Princess Neoma," Hanna said, addressing her properly in front of the old duke. "The Crown Prince and I will escort Duke Exton to the pce."

    After saying that, Hanna, Nero, and Duke Exton finally left.

    Now it was only Neoma and Lewis there.

    "Princess Neoma?" Lewis asked worriedly when Neoma opened the prison cell where the zombie was locked up a moment ago. "You''re not going to do something crazy, are you?"

    "Of course not," Neoma said, then she knelt on the floor and picked up the torn clothes. "I''m so sorry," she whispered. "I didn''t even get your name. But I remember your face. I promise to find out who you are no matter how long it takes. Every single victim of this tragedy deserves a proper burial. But, for now¡­"

    She pulled out a handful of her white hair with a tinge of pink at the strands.

    Then she concentrated hard until the hair turned into a white and pink rose.

    Yes, it was a two-toned flower.

    The upper part of the rose was white, but the lower part was pink¨C just like Neoma''s hair.

    It was a flower made of Mana.

    "This will do for now," Neoma said softly as she put the white-pink rose next to the tattered clothes, then she closed her eyes. "I swear on my beautiful face that I will fuck up whoever did this to you¨C so you may rest in peace."

    ***

    IT WAS indeed the First Cmity.

    That was Neoma''s conclusion after hearing her mother''s vision.

    Right now, she was in the conference room with Nero, Hanna, Manu, Skylus, Duke Exton, Mama Boss, and Papa Boss.

    They were just waiting for Uncle Glenn, Aunt Brigitte, and Monik to arrive.

    [I wonder why the letter didn''t mention anything about ude¡­]

    "The Ancient Monsters under the Extonsmand are only around fifty, Your Imperial Majesties," Duke Exton said to Mama Boss and Papa Boss. "I''m not confident if they are enough to stop hoards of reanimated corpses that will attack the Imperial Capital soon. Moreover, my sessor and I can''t control all the Ancient Monsters all at the same time. We can only control five at maximum."

    "Don''t worry about that, Duke Exton," Mama Boss said, smiling. "Queen Brigitte will control the Ancient Monsters."

    Obviously, the duke was confused.

    But, before Duke Exton could even ask, a loud and urgent knock on the door was heard.

    Papa Boss, who was obviously annoyed, knitted his eyebrows. "Come in."

    The door opened and Geoffrey Kinsley, who was holding a portable stone tab the size of aputer tablet, entered the room while bowing in apology.

    "I apologize for interrupting the meeting, but I have urgent news," Geoffrey said, addressing everyone politely, before he ced the portable stone tab in front of Papa Boss. "Lord Helstor suddenly interrupted ourmunication devices and forced a connection."

    Papa Boss let out a sigh. "Connect it."

    "As youmand, Your Majesty," Geoffrey said, then he activated themunication device with a simple press of the button. "It''s done, Your Majesty."

    Papa Boss was just about to say something when Helstor''s fugly face upied the screen.

    [Argh, so fugly.]

    <"I, the God of Eternal Darkness, formally dere my intention to support Prince Calyx de Moonasterio in seizing the de Moonasterion throne that rightfully belongs to him.">

    Wasn''t that "deration" the same as waging war on the Imperial Family?

    Neoma mmed her hand on the table, effectively breaking it in half. "How dare that fugly fuckface dere war on us when we''re supposed to do it first?!"

    ***

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 Chapter 806 NEOMAS OFFICIAL RESPONSE

    ?

    "NEOMA,nguage."

    Papa Boss'' lecture only made Neoma want to curse even more.

    But Mama Boss suddenly pointed her hands at Skylus.

    "We have a child here with us," Mama Boss reminded Neoma. "Please be careful with your words, Neoma."

    "Okay, Mama Boss," Neoma said like the obedient child that she wasn''t, then she turned to Skylus. "I''m sorry for sullying your ears, Skylus."

    Skylus, whose eyes were red and puffy, smiled brightly at her. "It''s okay, Neoma noona. I''m used to hearing you curse since I''ve been hearing it since I was a baby."

    Ouch.

    All the adults in the room gave Neoma a look full of judgment.

    Neoma slowly avoided everyone''s gazes.

    [Gosh. Me and my dirty mouth.]

    Fortunately, everyone''s focus went back to themunication device.

    After all, Helstor wasn''t done speaking bullshit yet.

    <"Like what Prince Calyx announced earlier, I''m giving the de Moonasterios a little less than two weeks to give up the throne. If not, then the Darkness will continue to swallow the sun and the moon. To simply put, the fate of the world depends on the Imperial Family''s response.">

    "That ugly dude is forcing the entire world to turn against us," Neoma said, annoyed. "It''s clear as day that they want the countries all over the world to pressure us to give up the throne. So fucking annoying."

    <"Princess Neoma, are you watching?">

    "Look at this old punk," Neoma said, clicking her tongue. "He''s directly picking a fight with me, isn''t he?"

    <"I have an offer to everyone watching this. If anyone of you seeds in capturing and presenting Princess Neoma to me, then I''ll extend the ultimatum that I gave to the Imperial Family. I will slow down the Darkness that''s currently eating the sun and the moon.">

    CRACK.

    This time, it was Nero who destroyed the armrests of his fancy seat.

    [Gosh, so hotheaded.]

    "Father, why are we still watching this nonsense?" Nero asked coldly. "We must give out a response right away."

    "I don''t want to admit this, but Helstor''s n is brilliant," Neoma said, leaning against the chair while crossing her arms over her chest. "Although the countries and kingdoms that belonged to the empire agreed to wage war on Helstor, I''m sure some of them aren''t loyal to us. Heck, I''m also pretty certain that there would be Imperial Nobles here that would sell me out in a heartbeat. Most of them see Imperial Princesses as meremodities, after all."

    "Keep an eye on every single member of the Noble Faction," Papa Boss said to Geoffrey Kinsley. "Report their movements to me, no matter how trivial it seems from the outside."

    Geoffrey bowed his head. "As youmand, Your Majesty."

    "Papa Boss, aside from the nobles that might betray us at any given moment, I''m more afraid of how themoners would react," Neoma said solemnly. "They''re the most scared at the moment. After all, they know that if a war breaks out, they''ll be the most affected. And I can''t me them even if they protest and demand that I offer myself to Helstor. In fact, I''m already expecting them to do it."

    Gosh.

    Helstor really used his brain this time.

    [That fugly fuckface knows I''m weak to my people.]

    "The empire is an absolute monarchy, Neoma," Nero said, scoffing. "I''m not looking down on our people and their ability to start a revolt. However, the Imperial Family could easily subdue the people if we really want to¨C especially those who follow the Church of Eternal Darkness. They practically betrayed the Imperial Family already."

    "Nero, everyone has the freedom to choose their religion. You can''t say they betrayed the Imperial Family just because they chose to follow the Church of Eternal Darkness," Neoma said sternly. "But you know what? Sometimes, people don''t follow a certain religion because they believe in them¨C sometimes they do it because it puts food on their table."

    Her twin brother wasn''t able to refute her words.

    "Neoma is right," Hanna said, agreeing with her. "ording to the reports that we received, the "priests" of the Church of Eternal Darkness have been roaming around and giving alms to the poorest viges in the empire. That''s how they recruited the people of the slums to follow Helstor''s religion."

    "A religion that buys its devotees with basic needs is sad," Manu, the Moon Priest, said. "However, considering that the empire is a rich territory, I have to say that the Imperial Family have failed those poor people who had to resort to joining a fraud religion just to meet their daily necessities."

    Ouch.

    That was a direct hit at the Imperial Family.

    However, none of them could refute Manu''s criticism.

    Neoma could argue that they had left the empire in Calyx''s hands for five years. Hence, that bastard''s reign may have caused the poor to be poorer during that time.

    Even so, it wouldn''t change the fact that the Imperial Family had failed its people.

    "That''s why we need to take responsibility," Neoma said, standing up. Then she faced her Papa Boss and bowed politely. "Imperial Father," she said, addressing her Papa Boss appropriately this time. "Please allow me to give the Imperial Family''s official response to Lord Helstor''s threat."

    ***

    NEOMA had to dress down for the asion.

    She barely even touched her face with make-up.

    In fact, she looked like she was going to attend a funeral because she was dressed in ck from head to toe. Even her vibes were gloomy.

    But she thought the mood was just appropriate.

    [After all, dering war is like sentencing your people to death. Whether a war has a meaning or not, it won''t change the fact that people will die.]

    Haaah.

    [I fucking hate this shit.]

    "Princess Neoma, I''ll count one to three before I activate themunication device," Paige, who was standing in front of her, whispered. "One, two, three¨C you may speak now, Your Imperial Highness."

    The wall in front of Neoma flickered until she saw her own reflection on the ''projector'' attached to the wall.

    [It''s like talking to a literal wall, huh?]

    "Greetings to the people of the Great Moonasterions Empire, as well as to everyone watching this live broadcast," Neoma said politely. "I am Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio, the one and only Imperial Princess of the Great Moonasterion Empire."

    She was using the standardnguage of the Great Moonasterion Empire, but her speech was getting tranted into differentnguages in real-time. There was a subtitle below her image, just like her normal videos back in her days as an online celebrity.

    The automatic and urate subtitle function of themunication device was thanks to Paige and Trevor''sbined efforts.

    "I''m sure you already know why I started this broadcast, so I won''t beat around the bush," Neoma said solemnly, her voice firm but her face void of emotions. "With the power bestowed upon me by my Imperial Father Emperor Niki and Imperial Mother Empress Mona, and with the support given to me by the Imperial Crown Prince Nero and the Imperial Crown Princess Hanna, I officially dere the Imperial Family''s stance to Lord Helstor''s ultimatum: we will not cower. The de Moonasterios will not give up the throne. Only Prince Nero and I, the Imperial Princess, are qualified to inherit the throne and no one else."

    Gosh.

    The urge to spew out strings of profanities was strong, but she held it in.

    [Speaking formally isn''t really my strong suit.]

    "I swear on Lord Yule''s name that the Imperial Family won''t let Darkness swallow the world," Neoma said firmly and confidently. "However, I know that most of you are scared and nervous. I''m also aware that many of you have been tempted by Lord Helstor''s sweet temptation. That''s why I''m here to give my personal stance on that matter."

    She leaned against her fancy seatfortably and pointed at her face.

    Yep, she was aware that she looked like an arrogant little bitch at the moment.

    She couldn''t help it, okay?

    It was easier for her to speak politely than act humbly.

    "I will wee anyone and everyone who has the guts and the audacity to abduct me and offer me to Lord Helstor," Neoma said. She tried to sound indifferent. However, even in her own ears, she sounded so fucking arrogant. "However, I''d like to remind you all that whether you offer me to Lord Helstor or not, that fuckface¨C I mean, that obnoxious old god wouldn''t stop Darkness from swallowing the world. He said he would dy it, but he didn''t stay he would stop it, did he?"

    Now it was her words versus Helstor''s words.

    [I''m good at fighting with words, so you better watch your back, you fugly fuckface.]

    "But as the Imperial Princess, let me tell you this: I will stop the Darkness from swallowing the sun and the moon," Neoma said firmly. "I will not let you live in darkness, so please have faith in me. I''d rather die than let Lord Hesltor seed. Gosh, I''m notpetitive, but I hate losing to bastards like Lord Helstor¡­"

    "Princess Neoma," Paige hushed her. "Yournguage, please."

    Neoma cleared her throat, then she smiled brightly at the video recording device. "I''ll brighten up the world with my triumphant smile soon. Please trust me, everyone. Your Imperial Princess right here will protect you."

    <"And we shall protect the Imperial Princess.">

    Huh?

    Neoma turned to Paige, and the Light Mage also looked confused as someone else interrupted her live broadcast.

    She didn''t panic, though.

    After all, the voice was very familiar to her.

    [Ruto¡­]

    Soon, the screen in front of Neoma was split into two.

    The other half of the screen featured Ruto''s neat and calm face.

    [Ah, his face really has the power to soothe me.]

    <"Greetings to everyone watching this broadcast,"> Ruto said in a polite tone. <"I, Ruston Solfrid Stroganoff, the representative of the Sun Goddess, wish to express the stance of the Kingdom of Suoh--- the house that follows the Sun Goddess--- to support the de Moonasterion Imperial Family in the uing war.">

    ***

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 Chapter 807 THE EASTERN CONTINENTS STANCE

    ?

    "WHY IS it so hard to see your face these days, Yoan?"

    "I go by the name of ''Ruto'' now, Lady Elina," Ruto said, bowing to the Sun Goddess who was currently possessing Sienna''s body. "Are you still alive?"

    As soon as he returned to the Eastern Continent, he went straight to House Solfrid.

    To be precise, he visited the Sun Priestess in her temple located within the Solfrid Estate.

    After all, if the Sun Goddess was possessing the Sun Priestess'' body, then they wouldn''t be able to leave the prayer room.

    Yule could possess any of his representatives at anytime and anywhere because the Moon God had the de Moonasterios to draw his strength from. The Sun Goddess only had Ruto and the Sun Priestess.

    [Sienna and I aren''t always together, so the Sun Goddess has to draw strength from the temple in order to have the power to temporarily use the Sun Priestess as her vessel.]

    "Of course, I am, you rude punk," Goddess Elina said, then she lit up a cigar and smoked it before speaking¨C leaning against the backrest of the sofa while crossing her legs. "We''re done pretending that we abandoned the empire. But, well, you already went out of your way to help Neoma de Moonasterio by renouncing your other citizenship just to join her Selection. I guess we didn''t fool anyone."

    "But it worked even though the show onlysted for a short while," Ruto reasoned, then he sipped his tea before continuing. "Moreover, Neoma seeded in distracting Helstor and the crows when she gathered the strongest young men in the empire."

    The Sun Goddess nodded in agreement. "Thanks to that, I was able to save that stupid Yule from his fancy cage."

    "Where are you now?"

    "I can''t tell you our location. It''s not that I don''t trust you, Ruto. But it will be safer if we keep our location a secret for now."

    "I see. So, what can I do for you, Lady Elina?"

    The Sun Goddess wouldn''t summon him just to see his face.

    "Yule had a vision," Lady Elina said solemnly. "Three Cmities will hit the world soon. Fortunately, those are the same Cmities that hit the world in the first timeline. Hence, we know how to deal with them now."

    Ah, right.

    How could he forget about those Cmities?

    "We lost to those Cmities in the past because we didn''t have the right people back then," Ruto said, reminiscing about the first timeline. "And Neoma awakened her potential as the Aether a little toote back then. But, right now, she''s at her peak. Most of all, Trevor Kesser has also unlocked his full potential as the Contractor. He''ll be the biggest key yer in the war alongside little Neoma."

    Ruto frowned.

    He didn''t want to admit this, but the Sun Goddess was right.

    The empire was lucky to have Trevor as a loyal ally this time.

    [Well, Trevor also joined the war during the first timeline. But he only did it because he had fun teasing Neoma. When things got serious and boring for him, he disappeared.]

    The Trevor right now wouldn''t abandon Neoma even if it killed him.

    [Moreover, Trevor is three times stronger now after he received the Ancient Devil''s power.]

    Trevor Kesser was someone who gained all the right to stand equally with Neoma.

    [I¡­ hate that.]

    "Aren''t you d that you didn''t sacrifice Niki de Moonasterio this time?"

    Ruto flinched at the Sun Goddess'' question.

    "Niki de Moonasterio is the only person who can destroy the Second Cmity, but he was already gone when the Cmities hit the world in the first timeline," Lady Elina continued. "Moreover, this time, a Light Priestess was actually born. It wasn''t only the big change that little Neoma has brought to this lifetime. The Moon Saint and the baby Monster Tamer were both the children of the queen that little Neoma befriended. If it wasn''t for her, the current Griffiths wouldn''t be the amazing Royal Family that they are today."

    "It wasn''t just the Griffiths that Neoma changed in this timeline," Ruto added. "If Neoma didn''t bring the Ice Spirit to Hazelden, then they would have never discovered the treasure that was hidden there."

    "You must go to the empire and teach them how to properly use the treasure and the baby Monster Tamer, Ruto. Since you know how the First Cmity would hit the empire, you should help them ovee it," the Sun Goddess said. "The Eastern Continent will be fine since Helstor cannot bring his reanimated corpses here. He''ll focus on the Imperial Capital to terrorize the citizens."

    "That''s the n, mydy."

    "But you must return here for the Second Cmity," the Sun Goddess said firmly. "Niki de Moonasterio has the Light Priestess, so the empire will be fine. But the Eastern Continent only has you and Sienna. As long as the empire and the Eastern Continent ovee the First and the Second Cmity, then the other parts of the world will be safe."

    He nodded in agreement. "I''m worried about the Third Cmity, though. It was the Cmity that ruined Prince Nero and Miss Dahlia in the past. I can already see history repeating itself."

    "Little Nero and little Dahlia''s fates are entangled, and there''s nothing I can do about it."

    He had no choice but to agree with the Sun Goddess.

    [Prince Nero looks calmer now than he did in the first timeline. If he could tone down his Lunacy with Miss Dahlia by his side, then everything should be fine.]

    "I need to talk to the king and prepare the continent for the impending Cmities."

    Lady Elina nodded. "I already sent the king a vision so he''d support the empire without a question. The Kingdom of Suoh is the strongest kingdom on the Eastern Continent, so the other countries and kingdoms that follow the Sun Goddess would obey yourmand."

    "Does it mean I have to reveal the fact that I''m your representative?"

    "It wasn''t a secret among the devotees of the Sun Goddess anyway."

    "Then can I dere openly that I support Princess Neoma?"

    Lady Elinaughed softly. "Yoan¨C no, Ruto. You must express your stance to support the empire and not just your little princess."

    Oh.

    He misspoke.

    Ruto would never admit it, but his cheeks definitely turned red. "I''ll make my preparations now, Lady Elina."

    ***

    [GOSH, Ruto might still be into me, huh?]

    Neoma couldn''t help but smile haughtily after hearing Ruto''s deration of support towards the de Moonasterios.

    Never mind the fact that he intercepted her speech.

    Never mind the fact that he somehow stole the spotlight from her.

    [It''s fine as long as Ruto makes a stance that favors the empire.]

    <"As the sessor of House Solfrid and the representative chosen by the Sun Goddess herself, I officially condemn Lord Helstor¨C the God of Eternal Darkness¨C for threatening the human race with Darkness,"> Ruto said in a calm yet firm manner. <"Fret not, everyone¨C the de Moonasterios and the Solfrids¨C the families that represent the Moon and the Sun respectively¨C won''t let Darkness swallow the moon and the sun. The sky looks dark at the moment, but I swear on the Sun Goddess'' name that it won''tst long.">

    "That''s what he said," Neoma said proudly. "Lord Ruto, have you said everything you wanted to say?"

    She wasn''t being rude.

    It was just that she had to start advertising herself to her potential clients. It wasn''t easy to connect amunication device to most parts of the world. Hence, she wouldn''t miss the opportunity to promote.

    [Advertisements rule the capitalist society of my past life, after all.]

    <"Yes, Princess Neoma,"> Ruto said politely. <"You may continue with your speech. I apologize for interrupting you, and I''d like to express my gratitude for allowing me to speak on behalf of the Eastern Continent.">

    "It''s nothing. I should be the one thanking you for making a wise decision, my lord," Neoma said, then she faced the camera once again. "Now that you know that the empire won''t be alone in this fight, I''d like to take this opportunity to invite everyone¨C humans or not¨C toe and fight with me."

    Yep, this was her goal in the first ce¨C to recruit allies.

    "I know that most of you allied with Lord Helstor because you were being threatened," Neoma said, smiling "sweetly." "If your territory, domain, or property is polluted by Darkness,e to me and I''ll clean that shit up for you." She put a hand on her chest. "I already did that for Goddess Alethea and the other minor gods who sought my help. Of course, it won''t be free. You need to offer something with an equivalent value. Trevor Kesser, my trusted Contractor, will be open for negotiations in my ce."

    She stood up and slightly leaned against the table, her arms still crossed over her chest.

    Usually, she was insecure about her height.

    But she wanted to look big and intimidating this time, so she stood up.

    "Ah, I would also like to take this opportunity toment on the current rumor that the nasty crows had spread," Neoma said. Yes, she wasn''t done yet. "It''s true that I only have a few years left to live."

    It was better to be honest now that the truth had been exposed anyway.

    She just had to assure her people that her short lifespan wouldn''t affect herpetency as the Imperial Princess.

    However, she knew that was she was about to say would hurt her family and friends.

    [But I still need to say it.]

    "I have no intention of dying alone," Neoma said, smiling coldly this time. "If I''m going to die in this war, then I''ll make sure I''ll drag the enemies to hell with me." She waved at the camera as she ended her speech. "Lord Helstor, Calyx, Callisto de Luca¨C I''ll see you in hell, bitches."

    ***

    OH.

    Brigitte was surprised when the scary wild dog that was with her father-inw suddenly lunged at her as soon as she entered the conference room.

    Glenn immediately stood in front of her protectively.

    But her husband didn''t have to act so protectively of her.

    [I think I can handle it¡­]

    "Stop," Brigitte said in a firm andmanding voice. "Stop and sit."

    Much to Brigitte and everyone''s surprise, the wild dog really did stop running towards her.

    Then the monster sat in front of her, its expression different than it was earlier.

    Now the wild dog looked like an ordinary dog.

    [It really worked¡­]

    Glenn looked at her in disbelief. "My queen, it took me years before Bastian listened to me. You''re amazing."

    ''Bastian'' must be the name of the wild dog.

    "It wasn''t me," Brigitte said while shaking her head, then she gently touched her baby bump. "It''s our baby, Glenn."

    ***

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 Chapter 808 COMMANDER YOANS SIN

    ?

    "LASTLY, on behalf of the Imperial Family, I''d like to apologize to everyone who will be greatly affected by the war," Neoma said solemnly. "The Imperial Family will take responsibility by finishing this war as quickly as possible to lessen the damage. In order to do that, we need your cooperation. The Imperial Family needs your help. Please lend us your strength, everyone."

    After saying that, she bowed her head properly.

    It was unusual for a member of the Imperial Family to apologize and plead with their people, but to hell with that.

    [Without our people, this empire wouldn''t exist in the first ce.]

    "Thank you for listening to my speech, everyone," Neoma said when she raised her head. "Now, I hope you find a littlefort in my words. An arrogant person like me with skills to back it up doesn''t drop empty promises. But actions speak louder than words in a time like this, so please wait a little bit. I''ll show you great results soon."

    She smiled her best smile at the camera while waving her hands, hoping that she appeared friendly and reliable.

    [Thank goodness my eyes didn''t turn red.]

    "This has been Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio, your one and only Imperial Princess, the Visual Goddess, the hope of the empire, and the executioner who will fuck up the viins," Neoma said cheerfully. "See youter for my next broadcast. Stay safe, everyone!"

    Oops.

    The vlogger in her slipped out, but whatever.

    [My dignity as the Imperial Princess has officially left a long time ago anyway.]

    "You did well, Princess Neoma," Paigeplimented her after themunication device was disconnected. Then the Light Mage turned to the portable stone tab in her hand. It was shaped like a modern smartphone. After all, it was Trevor''s design. "ording to the data that we collected, your broadcast was seen by 90% of all the countries and kingdoms officially recognized by the world. But as Your Imperial Highness instructed, I recorded the entire broadcast. It will take a bit of time before we get to distribute it to the public and other races."

    Although the broadcast was watched by the world leaders, they weren''t sure if those world leaders would share the video with their constituents.

    Hence, Neoma decided to distribute the recorded version of her broadcast.

    [Everyone deserves to know the truth.]

    "Good job, Paige," Neoma said while stretching her long arms. "Is Trevor still locked up in hisb?"

    Paige nodded politely. "Yes, Princess Neoma. Trevor hasn''t left his room yet ever since you handed him the vial that you received from Lord Yule."

    Neoma entrusted the examination of the vial to Trevor.

    Well, she wanted to do it herself. But Paige and the demon boy strongly opposed it.

    ["My Moon Princess, you''re just going to take a bite of the poison, aren''t you?"]

    That was what Trevor said.

    ["No can do, Princess Neoma. Please leave it to me and Trevor. We promise to be careful and stop the examination if it gets too dangerous."]

    And that was Paige''s promise.

    Hence, Neoma had no choice but to leave the vial to Trevor and Paige.

    [Though I feel bad because I feel like I''m dumping my responsibility on them.]

    Neoma''s thoughts were interrupted when she heard a knock on the door.

    "Eomma, may Ie in?"

    "Of course, baby," Neoma said to Greko. "Come in."

    The door opened and Greko entered the conference room with a pout.

    "Eomma, I''m not a baby," Grekoined lightly. "I''m already fifteen years old."

    Neomaughed softly. "That''s a baby."

    Paige nodded in agreement. "Yes, a baby, indeed."

    Greko juist pouted again.

    Neoma burst outughing at her baby''s cute reaction. But she didn''t want her youngest to cry, so she immediately changed the topic. "How''s Xion?"

    "Xion hyung''s condition is stable now, eomma. Jeno hyung and Juri noona dropped by, so I asked them to guard hyung in the meantime," Greko exined while pulling out a vial from his sling bag. "Eomma, I made some Mana potion for you. It''s more special than a normal Mana potion."

    Neoma smiled because of how excited and proud Greko looked. "Oh, really? How is it different from ordinary Mana potions?"

    "Aurora taught me how to use the Moonflower," Greko gushed excitedly. Aurora was the Spirit that had been taking care of Greko all this time. "I just had to mix the Moonflower with my fairy dust."

    The ''Moonflower'' was a flower exclusive to the Imperial Family.

    But Neoma gave Greko permission to use it for his experiments.

    "As a result, the Mana potion I made has properties that could boost your divine power as well," Greko said excitedly. "It''s perfect for you, eomma."

    "Thank you, baby," Neoma said. "Can we send Nero and Papa Boss some of your new Mana potions, too?"

    "Of course, eomma."

    As expected, her youngest was really the best.

    [I''m sure Greko will be at the top of the medicine field soon. Plus, his expertise will be needed soon.]

    "Greko."

    "Yes, eomma?"

    "Many people will get hurt during the war," Neoma said in a serious voice. "Since you''re half human-half fairy, you know how to treat humans and non-humans. You also have Aurora by your side. Can I rely on you to be everyone''s Support when the war finally happens?"

    It was a heavy thing to ask from a child.

    Neoma didn''t want to Greko to be involved in the war. But in every fight, a healer would always be the most important member of the party. Moreover, she knew that their youngest wasn''t the type of person to do nothing when there were injured people everywhere.

    "Of course, eomma. I''ll save as many people as I could," Greko said determinedly. "However, eomma and our family will always be my top priority."

    Aww.

    "Very well, Greko," Neoma said, ruffling Greko''s hair affectionately. "Just do your job and our whole family will protect you."

    ***

    NIKOLAI didn''t like Neoma''s speech.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Well, his daughter did a good job of assuring their people that they would win the war.

    However, he didn''t like how it sounded like Neoma was already willing to sacrifice her own life just to win.

    [I need to talk to my little rogue.]

    "Love?"

    Niki''s thoughts were interrupted when Mona put a hand on top of his. "Yes, love?"

    The two of them were back in their office.

    Queen Brigitte of Hazelden and her child had already arrived.

    But after the queen controlled the monster that Duke Exton brought, the queen fainted from exhaustion.

    Niki asked the Griffiths to take a rest first.

    [Because if I didn''t, I''m sure Glenn would have cried. Ever since that punk got married and had his own family, he has be a crybaby like Rufus.]

    Niki realized that he was surrounded by men who cried easily.

    "Are you thinking about what Neoma said during her broadcast?" Mona asked worriedly. "To be honest with you, I didn''t like how Neoma doesn''t seem to care that she only has three years left to live."

    He was relieved to know that his wife also had the same worry.

    "It seems to me that Neoma is thinking of sacrificing her life if she has to since she "only" has three years left anyway," Niki said. "It''s inevitable for our children to be on the frontline once the war begins, and that''s what makes me worry even more."

    The Imperial Family had already officially demanded each noble household to send one of their children to join the war.

    It would be hypocritical of the Imperial Family if they hid their children.

    Hence, Nero and Neoma would be fighting on the front line.

    [Usually, the sessor to the throne isn''t sent to the battlefield. However, this time, it''s inevitable since Nero is destined to destroy one of the Cmities.]

    For a father like Niki, it was heartbreaking to send his young children to war.

    "We should keep an eye on Neoma," Mona suggested. "If it looks like she''s about to sacrifice herself, we have to remove her from the battlefield right away."

    Niki nodded in agreement. "I''ll talk to Lewister. That boy doesn''t listen to me even though I''m the emperor. But if it''s about saving Neoma, I''m sure he''ll listen this time."

    "Wise decision, my love," his wife said. "Lewis is glued to Neoma''s side, and I''m sure that will be the case on the battlefield. Lewis is the perfect person for the job if we want to remove Neoma from the front line."

    Right?

    However, aside from that, something else was bothering him.

    "The God of Death keeps avoiding me," Nikiined, then he sighed. "I wanted to grill him for information on how to expand Neoma''s lifespan. But he keeps disappearing. And every time I get a hold of him, he regresses back to a child."

    Mona was about to say something, but she stopped when she felt a sudden shift in the air. "Oh. We have a visitor."

    It was Ruto.

    The young man stepped out of the portal that opened in the middle of the room.

    [This punk keeps on breaking the barrier in the Imperial Pce toe in every time he wants to.]

    How arrogant.

    Usually, Niki would have been displeased to see Ruto¨C the thief who stole his daughter''s heart.

    However, not this time.

    "You''re just the person I wanted to see, Ruston Solfrid Stroganoff," Niki said, still seated. Even Mona didn''t move from her seat. They didn''t have to since they were the emperor and the empress. "You revived Neoma in the first timeline, didn''t you? Tell me how you did it."

    The fact that Mona didn''t say anything only meant his wife was curious as well.

    "You might want to kill me after you hear the truth, Your Majesty," Ruto said calmly. "Your Majesty can''t kill me right now."

    "Don''t worry about it, you punk," Niki said, scoffing. "Whether I hear the truth or not about the other timeline, my desire to kill you will remain unchanged. However, I won''t act on it since we''re in the middle of a war. Not yet, at least."

    "That''s a relief then," Ruto said, then he paused for a moment before he opened his mouth. "Your Majesty. Saint Dominic Zavaroni. Lord Manu. The Sun Priestess. And even Prince Nero."

    Niki knitted his eyebrows. "Why did you bring them up?"

    "I sacrificed all of you to revive Princess Neoma, Your Majesty," Ruto said indifferently. "You, Saint Zavaroni, Lord Manu, and Sienna. I extracted all of your divine power¨C and I drained every single drop until you all died. I didn''t extract Prince Nero''s divine power because I already had enough of it, but I did extract something else from the Crown Prince."

    "His Roseheart Blood?" Mona asked, the anger in her voice was evident. But it was also clear that she was holding back. "Did you extract Nero''s Roseheart Blood back then?"

    "That''s right, Your Majesty," Ruto confirmed while nodding. "Losing his Roseheart Blood didn''t immediately kill Prince Nero. However, he failed to stop the Third Cmity even with Dahlia''s help because he lost his Roseheart Blood. I didn''t know he would need it at the time. But I guess even if I did, I would still extract his Roseheart Blood to revive Neoma."

    Haaah.

    Niki already had a feeling that the first timeline was filled with cruel deaths, but he still wasn''t ready to hear all of that.

    Ruto, that punk¡­

    [He killed the Moon God''s representatives for Neoma, and even the Sun Priestess who was supposed to be his close friend.]

    "Did the Niki of the first timeline know that you were killing him for Neoma?" Niki asked carefully. He may appear calm outside, but he was actually nervous. "Did he resent you for it?"

    He knew that the Niki of the first timeline didn''t love Neoma.

    Hence, he was surprised by Ruto''s response.

    "You knew, Your Majesty," Ruto said in a careful voice. "The emperor of the first timeline voluntarily gave up his life in order to revive Neoma."

    Niki, needless to say, was surprised to hear that. "Did I¡­ did I love Neoma back then?"

    ***

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 Chapter 809 RAISE YOUR OWN DEATH FLAG

    ?

    "YOU''RE still in bed, you weakling?" Neoma teased Nero, who was still bedridden after getting his divine power sucked out of his body, whileughing at his face. "This is my I''m the noona and you''re the dongsaeng."

    She was justughing to hide her worry.

    But deep inside, she was seething.

    Nero may be a violent psychopath with a small heart who could only love his family and two otherdies (*cough*Hanna*cough*Dahlia*cough), but he was still her baby brother.

    [Nobody touches my baby brother and gets away with it alive.]

    "What does our birth order have to do with this?" Neroined, frowning. "And for the nth time, being born a few minutes earlier than me doesn''t make you my big sister. Moreover, do you know that in some other cultures, they actually consider the second twin to be older? They believe that the older one is deeper in the womb and, therefore, has been there longer. Hence, I could be the older one between us, Neoma."

    "Unfortunately for you, in OUR culture, the firstborn is the older one," Neoma said, smirking. "Plus, the stronger one should be the older. After all, one of my favorite anime dudes once said that older siblings are born first to protect their younger siblings."

    "Are you picking a fight with me, Neoma?" Nero asked, growling lowly as if he was offended. "When did you be stronger than I am?"

    Pfft.

    It was really fun to tease Nero.

    If she was the same Neoma as before, she wouldn''t even dare to joke about things like this. After all, she used to feel inferior towards Nero.

    "My youngest made a potion that helps replenish our Mana and divine power," Neoma said while handing the vial of Mana potion that Greko made for her. "Here. Take it. We''ll be fighting on the front line soon, so you need to be on your best condition."

    Nero hesitated at first, then he thanked her as he took the vial.

    Then he drank it without even checking if it was really safe to consume or not.

    She was touched.

    [Nero trusts me with his life. It''s a far cry from our horrible rtionship in the first timeline.]

    Which reminded her¡­

    "Nero, I used to think you were a boy who was born with everything," Neoma said in a serious voice. "I used to envy you because you didn''t have to put your life at risk to get the same things that I almost died for. Plus, Papa Boss treated you better when we were babies just because of the thing between your legs. I''m not saying you didn''t work hard enough to be where you are today. But you have to admit that your male privilege gave you an advantage."

    "I won''t deny it, but why are you suddenly bringing that up?" Nero asked, confused, after drinking up all the Mana potion. "Are you really picking a fight with me?"

    Sheughed at Nero''s temper.

    [Gosh, we really are Papa Boss'' children.]

    "I know, right? I also wonder why I suddenly opened my Pandora''s box."

    "Pandora''s box?"

    "There''s a whole mythology behind that, but in modernnguages, it just means a source of endlessplications or troubles."

    "So, you''re really picking a fight with me?"

    Neomaughed again. "Maybe it''s because I just realized that I no longer feel inferior towards you, Nero."

    "Huh?" Nero seemed surprised, and he even raised an eyebrow at her. "You? Feeling inferior towards me? Really?"

    "Gosh, I may be the Visual Goddess, but I''m still human, Nero," she said,ughing. "I may never feel ugly, but I feel inferior and weak sometimes. But I finally got over my inferiorityplex."

    Her twin brother scoffed. "Because you believe you''re stronger than me now?"

    "Because I realized I love you even though you''re a little psycho."

    Nero blushed, then he avoided her gaze. "Why are you suddenly acting sentimental?"

    [I know, right? I''m practically raising my own death g. Well, since I know I''m dying soon, might as well go all out so I could die without regrets.]

    "Nero."

    "What?"

    "Can you call me ''noona?'' Once will be enough. That''s the only wish I want to ask from you."

    "I don''t want to," Nero said, then he faced her again with a yful smile on his face. "But I can tell you I love you no matter how many times you want me to say it, Neoma. I love you to death, my precious twin sister."

    "Eww. Stop being gross, Nero," Neoma joked,ughing. Then she stopped when she felt a familiar feeling. "Oh, Ruto trespassed on Papa Boss'' pce again."

    ***

    "I CAN''T say for sure, Your Majesty."

    Niki let out the breath he didn''t know he was holding after hearing Ruto''s response. "I see."

    He was disappointed, but he couldn''t me Ruto.

    [It''s not easy to judge another person''s feelings, after all.]

    "I don''t know if it was love, but before the emperor of the first timeline willingly gave up his life, he recognized the fact that it was his fault Neoma died alone and lonely," Ruto continued. "He said he''d take responsibility by giving Neoma another chance at life. Moreover, if I remember correctly, the emperor of the first timeline also gave half of his wealth and properties to Neoma as her inheritance. Most of all, he also named her the Imperial Princess before his death."

    Niki smiled bitterly after hearing that.

    Since he knew himself well, he could tell that the him in the other timeline only did that to make himself feel better before his death.

    He gave "nice" things to Neoma not out of love, but out of obligation.

    [I don''t think it was enough to make the Neoma of the other timeline loved. The me of the other timeline was really a useless father until the end.]

    He was angry at himself.

    After all, if Neoma of this timeline didn''t change, then he wouldn''t learn how to be a decent father.

    [It was Neoma who worked hard the most to fix our family.]

    Niki suddenly missed his precious daughter.

    "Love?" Mona called him worriedly, then she ced a hand on top of his. "Don''t be too hard on yourself. You''ve already changed your rtionship with Neoma in this timeline. I''m sure Neoma doesn''t hate you anymore."

    Ah, as expected of his wife.

    Even so¡­

    [I still need to see my little rogue.]

    "Thank you, love," Niki said, squeezing his wife''s hand. "I''m sure Ruto didn''te here just to talk about the past. Can I leave it to you? I just suddenly feel the urge to see Neoma right now."

    Mona smiled and nodded. "Go, love. Hug Neoma for me, too."

    ***

    NEOMA wasn''t headed to her Papa Boss'' pce just to see Ruto, okay?

    [I''m sure Ruto is here to help us ovee the Cmities. So, I need to hear his n as well. I''m not just here to see his face¨C definitely not.]

    "Neoma, you''re here?"

    Oh?

    Neoma was surprised when she bumped into Papa Boss in the hallway.

    Her father was alone, but she couldn''t say anything about it since she was also alone.

    She sent Lewis to Hanna because Hanna needed Lewis'' help, while her other "children" were all busy with their respective tasks.

    [The pce is rtively safe, so my "children" allow me to be alone from time to time.]<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    After all, her "children" knew that the more she felt stuffy, the more she tended to sneak out of their sight. So they just let her have some alone time as long as it was within the pce.

    "Is Ruto here, Papa Boss?" Neoma asked a little too excitedly. "I felt his presence¨C"

    Hmm?

    She was forced to stop talking when Papa Boss suddenly hugged her.

    [Gosh, why am I being showered with love today?]

    First, she almost died of cringe when Nero said he loved her to death.

    [Well, I started it so I can''t reallyin.]

    Anyway, Papa Boss wasn''t showy with his feelings.

    Hence, it was a surprise when her father suddenly hugged her.

    It could only mean one thing.

    [Yep, you''re looking at my death g right there.]

    "Papa Boss, what''s wrong?" Neoma asked, patting her father''s back gently. "You''re scaring me."

    "I just missed you, is all," Papa Boss said softly. "And your mother told me to hug you for her."

    [???]

    "I didn''t go anywhere far, though? Why would you and Mama Boss act like I''ve just returned from a long vacation, Papa Boss?" she asked, confused. "And we had a meeting before I went live?"

    "We''ve been talking about nothing but business recently."

    [???]

    "Isn''t it natural to talk about business when there''s a waring, Papa Boss?"

    "I don''t care," Papa Boss said, hugging her tighter. "How are you these days, Neoma? Are you tired? Do you want to take a break? I heard you were in Nero''s room earlier. Tell me if that brat is bothering you. I''ll scold him."

    [Yeah, I''m definitely dying soon.]

    But it didn''t feel bad, to be honest.

    Since they had been so busytely, she barely spent quality time with her family since all they talked about recently was things rted to war.

    [Let''s act spoiled for once.]

    "Nero refused to call me ''noona,'' Papa Boss," Neoma tattled on Nero, hugging her Papa Boss tight. "Please scold him for me."

    Papa Bossughed softly. "Alright. I''ll definitely scold your brother for you. Anything else?"

    "Please raise my pce'' budget. I want to build a swimming pool in my front yard for the summer next year."

    "Alright. What else?"

    "Don''t be mad when I wear clothes that show skin. I spent a lot of money to have wless skin, Papa Boss. The world has to see it so that my hard work pays off."

    "Fine," her father said begrudgingly. "What else, Baby Muffin?"

    ''Baby Muffin.''

    That shit was so cringe no matter how many times she heard it.

    She was pretty sure her Papa Boss was also dying from cringe, but he seemed to be adamant about spoiling her today."

    "I want to see Ruto for research purposes, Papa Boss. Definitely NOT for a personal reason."

    "¡­"

    "Pretty please, Papa Boss?" Neoma said, acting and talking cutely. Perhaps she would die from cringe first before the crows got a hold of her? Well, whatever. "Ruto''s face has the power to soothe me, Papa Boss. I''ll just take a peek, promise!"

    Papa Boss let out a frustrated sigh, but his voice sounded defeated when he spoke. "Alright. I''ll allow you to have a private moment with that punk."

    Wow.

    Papa Boss really allowed her to have a "date" with Ruto?

    That put the final nail in the coffin.

    [My death g is strong in this one.]

    "Thank you, Papa Boss," Neoma said, resigning herself to her doomed fate. "I love you."

    "¡­"

    "Are you shy, Papa Boss?"

    "¡­"

    "Gosh, don''t make me wait too long for your response, Papa Boss."

    "I love you, too, Neoma," Papa Boss whispered softly. "You, Mona, and Nero."

    Neoma smiled and hugged her father tightly.

    [Okay, I can die in peace now.]

    ***

    REGINA rolled her eyes when she heard the loud and agonizing scream of Marquis Russell Spencer.

    They were currently at the estate of the marquis who was currently under house arrest.

    There were royal knights all over the estate, but they already took them down.

    "I knew it was a good idea to raid Marquis Spencer''s armory," Regina said, smirking while looking at the precious items in front of her. "That bastard has all the kinds of devices to control and make other races submit to him."

    "Marquis Spencer''s household used to be the top ve traders in the empire before Emperor Niki made it illegal to own ves¨C humans or non-humans," Dn Crowell, who was standing beside her, said. "It isn''t surprising that the marquis owns devices that could subdue control other races. That was how they caught and made ves out of their victims." He pointed at the devices in front of them. "Should we take them all?"

    "Of course," she said. "But I need you to find me the device for subduing fairies first."

    "Alright. That''s easy," he said, then he turned to her with a curious look on his face. "But why do you need that? I thought we wouldn''t pick up a fight with the fairies yet."

    "I just need one fairy," she said, smirking. "A half human-half fairy, to be precise."

    Dn paused for a minute, then he tilted his head to one side. "Princess Neoma''s youngest "child" is a half human-half fairy kid. Why are you targeting the poor child when he''s not relevant to the First Cmity?"

    Haaah.

    How did a person this dumb beat her in the ranks?

    [Do I really have to spoon-feed these morons?]

    She had no choice since she was in charge of the First Cmity.

    "Princess Neoma has a weak spot for children," Regina said, smiling as the picture in her mind became clearer. "We''ll use Greko to bring Princess Neoma down."

    ***

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 Chapter 810 A WORTHY VILLAINESS

    ?

    "THIS IS the thing that I mentioned earlier, Lewis," Hanna said as she handed Lewis a small pot. "Do you recognize what that nt is?"

    Lewis looked at the pot, then he shook his head.

    [As quiet as ever, huh?]

    Hanna borrowed Lewis from Neoma when Neoma visited Nero in his chambers because she wanted to talk to Lewis in private.

    Fortunately, Lewis followed her withoutining.

    [Lewis is famous for not leaving Neoma''s side even if it was the emperor''s order, so I''m d that he followed me without hesitation.]

    Hanna brought the fox to her garden.

    To be precise, it was the garden where she grew her poisonous nts and flowers.

    "That nt is called ''Luby,''" Hanna said, then she paused for a moment before she spoke again. "That''s the nt that the previous emperor, Emperor Niki''s father, used to subdue the Silver Fox n."

    Lewis'' face remained unchanged, as if it had nothing to do with him.

    "Hey, Lewis," sheined lightly. "Have you forgotten that you''re a Silver Fox? Why is your reaction so nd?"

    Lewis tilted his head to one side. "How should I react then, Princess Hanna?"

    ''Princess Hanna.''

    Almost everyone around Hanna had addressed her that way ever since she became the Crown Princess.

    However, it felt strange to hear it from Lewis.

    "Are you not upset that I''ve brought you the thing that helped the previous emperor end your n?" Hanna asked worriedly. "Are you not suspicious of me? What if I used that nt to harm you?"

    "First of all, I don''t have any lingering attachment to my n since I don''t remember them anymore," Lewis said indifferently. "Second, I know you won''t hurt me, Princess Hana."

    Aww.

    She was touched to hear that.

    "Do you trust me that much, Lewis?"

    "¡­"

    Hmm?

    Why was the fox not answering?

    "It''s just that¡­ you can''t hurt me even if you tried, Princess Hanna."

    Pfft.

    If Lewis had said it in a serious tone, she would have been insulted. But his voice was yful, and there was even a mischievous glint in his eyes.

    Clearly, Lewis was just teasing her.

    Hanna yfully clicked her tongue at Lewis.

    Oops, that was a "bad manner" that she learned from Neoma.

    [A nobledy and a princess like me shouldn''t be clicking my tongue, after all. But it''s fine since Neoma often does it, too.]

    "I should have brought you to the training hall instead, Sir Lewis Crevan."

    Lewis just gave her a small smile. "Why are you giving me this pot, Princess Hanna?"

    "I recently found out that a group of smugglers pretending to be merchants are selling Luby," Hanna exined. "I brought all the avable Luby in the market, then I asked my people to track down the smugglers. I want to know who grew that dangerous nt."

    "Ah, yes. You''ve been interested in poisonous nts and flowers recently."

    "That''s true, but that''s not the reason why."

    "Then why did you do all of that?"

    "To make sure that no one could harm you using that nt, silly," Hanna said, smiling. "I already asked Sandie to help me create an antidote just in case the crows are the ones who grew that nt. I''m sorry to say this, but I want to ask you to be our test subject. After all, you''re the only Silver Fox alive." She smiled nervously at him. "Being a test subject sounds awful, doesn''t it? You don''t have to agree if you don''t want to do it, Lewis."

    "I''ll do it."

    "Huh? Really?"

    "You''re making the antidote for my sake, so it''s only natural that you test it on me," Lewis said. "Why did you think I wouldn''t agree to it, Princess Hanna?"

    "Because using humans as test subjects is horrible¡­"

    "That''s true, but as I said, you''re creating an antidote for me and not for something else," he said, shrugging. "Moreover, it''s you, Princess Hanna. I know you wouldn''t hurt me even though you can."

    Aww.

    Hanna was touched when Lewis recognized her strength when he said he knew she was capable of harming him.

    Even so¡­

    "You''re overestimating me, Lewis," Hanna said,ughing softly. But herugh sounded hollow since it didn''te from the heart. "I want to be the kind and understanding Hanna in your head, but in reality, I''m a narrow-minded little girl pretending to be nice."

    "When did you ever "pretend" to be nice, Princess Hanna?"

    To be honest, she wasn''t sure if she should be saying these things to Lewis.

    However, she just found herself sharing the thing that was weighing her down recently.

    "Nero and Dahlia have to stick together to fight the Third Cmity," Hanna said in a low voice, afraid for other people to hear her words even though only she and Lewis were in the garden at the moment. "Nero asked for my permission to keep Dahlia by her side. Since it was Lord Yule''s instruction, and the mission is for the sake of the world, I had to agree even though my heart feels troubled."

    She knew it was selfish.

    But she couldn''t help but feel that way.

    "It''s not that I don''t trust Nero and Dahlia. I know that they won''t betray me," Hanna said, and she was being sincere. She really trusted the two. "However, when I heard that Lord Yule personally said that Nero and Dahlia had to stay together, it made me question myself if I was still the right woman to stand beside Nero." She tried to smile to not make the atmosphere heavy, but her smile probably looked sad. "Perhaps, it is me that I don''t trust anymore. I''m no longer sure if this is my ce."

    She wasn''t really expecting a response from Lewis.

    Hence, she was surprised when he asked a question.

    "Princess Hanna, are you happy in your current ce?"

    Hmm?

    That question seemed a little¡­ random?

    "Princess Neoma wasn''t happy in her ce as a neglected princess when we were children, so she got out of that ce by challenging Emperor Niki head-on until His Majesty was forced to acknowledge her existence," Lewis said indifferently. "I also had a simr experience. To be honest, I wasn''t happy being treated like a "son" by the person I love, so I got out of that ce by confessing my feelings to Princess Neoma."

    Ah.

    It may have sounded random, but Hanna understood what Lewis meant by his examples.

    [If I''m not happy in my ce anymore, then all I have to do is walk away from it.]

    Unfortunately, it wouldn''t be easy to do that.

    "I''m scared to move from my spot," Hanna confessed softly. "Not when we''re in the middle of preparing for war. I can''t prioritize my happiness in this situation, can I?"

    "Princess Hanna, I was raised by Princess Neoma so I don''t really understand what you''re worried about."

    "Huh?"

    "Princess Neoma taught me to prioritize myself and my happiness even if that means the world would end as a result," Lewis said bluntly. "I don''t care if we''re in the middle of war. I don''t care if many people would die if you walked away from your spot, Princess Hanna. If you want to leave your ce but can''t move your feet, then tell me. I''ll give you the push you need."

    "Are you not afraid of the consequences of such selfishness, Lewis?"

    "I''m not. Because whether we live kindly or not, the world will still find a way to hurt us. So, why not just live however you want?"

    Pfft.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "You were really raised by Neoma, Lewis."

    "I''m serious, Princess Hanna," Lewis said, his gaze and voice warmer than usual. "I genuinely want you to be happy."

    Ah, hearing that made her feel better.

    Hanna smiled in relief. "Thank you, Lewis¨C I mean it."

    ***

    REGINA scrunched up her nose when Calyx brought the now reanimated corpse of Marquis Russell Spencer.

    Yes, Calyx killed the marquis and turned it into a reanimated corpse.

    Now, the marquis was nothing more than a dead puppet walking mindlessly around the room.

    It wouldn''t attack people like them who were already infected with Darkness.

    "I would never get over the fact that you have to bite corpses to bring them back to life," Regina said in disgust. "Couldn''t Lord Helstore up with a less disgusting method?"

    "What does it matter when it works?" Calyx, who was wiping his mouth with a white handkerchief, asked whileughing. "I know it looks disgusting, but I actually enjoy the new power that Lord Helstor bestowed upon me."

    [As expected, a dumb person like you would consume poisoned tea happily without even realizing that it''sced with poison.]

    "Don''t you find it cool that I can transform dead people into reanimated corpses even though I''m not a necromancer?"

    Ah, Calyx really looked delighted by his new ability.

    [But does he not realize that the Darkness that Lord Helstor put in his body wouldter kill him because as a de Moonasterio, his body is also filled with divine power? Darkness and divine power don''t mix well together¨C not unless you''re Neoma de Moonasterio.]

    The Imperial Princess'' body was different from the other de Moonasterios because Princess Neoma had an affinity with Darkness.

    "What''s wrong, Regina?" Calyx asked, smiling like the fool that he was. "Are you jealous because you didn''t receive anything from Lord Helstor?"

    Psh.

    [As if I need something from that two-faced bastard god.]

    "Yes, I''m jealous of you, Calyx," Regina said, patting Calyx''s cheek. "I''m jealous because an idiot like you has no worries since your head is always empty."

    As usual, Calyx justughed it off. "Hey, my head isn''t empty. I''m always thinking about how to take Nero back. But I guess you''re right when you said I have nothing to worry about." He put his hands on her shoulders. "After all, Lord Helstor and Lord Callisto put you in charge of the First Cmity to pave the way for me, didn''t they?"

    Calyx was a stupid bastard, but he knew how to use his "subordinates" well.

    Regina knew all along that Calyx, who always called her "cousin" affectionately, only thought of her as nothing but a smart pawn.

    And that was exactly why she nned the First Cmity to fail.

    [I mean, even if I use up all my brain power, I don''t think I could beat Neoma de Moonasterio. I''m not a fool to give my 100% to a fight I know I couldn''t win.]

    Even so, she still needed to pretend that she was serious about her task.

    "I know what I need to do," Regina said, then she grabbed Marquis Spencer, now a reanimated corpse, by the cor. "And I''m starting now."

    ***

    AMBER knew that it wasn''t the appropriate time to hold a tea party at her estate.

    But she needed to gather all the high-rankingdies of the empire.

    [My husband and daughter said that a Cmity will soon hit the Imperial Capital, but most of the nobles aren''t taking it seriously. Even the households that support the Imperial Family are upset that they had to send one of their children to war.]

    Hence, Amber decided to hold a tea party in order to soothe the nobledies.

    [I need them to convince their husbands to cooperate with the Imperial Family.]

    That was Amber''s way of helping Hanna¨C her precious daughter and the Crown Princess of the empire.

    [Hanna, I promise to be useful to you.]

    "Duchess Quinzel is lucky because you only have one child, and she happens to be the Crown Princess. Hence, you won''t have to send your child to war."

    It was obviously a bitter remark.

    And thatment came from Marchioness Keys.

    [I have a higher rank than her, but Marchioness Keys was a royal princess from a neighboring kingdom. Hence, she doesn''t care that I''m the mother of the Crown Princess¨C unlike the otherdies who were always careful around me.]

    "How could I not worry, Marchioness Keys?" Amber said, smiling. "My daughter is the Crown Princess as mydy said. Hence, it''s only natural for Princess Hanna to fight in the front line."

    Her daughter was now the Crown Princess.

    Hence, Amber had to address her formally in front of an audience.

    "Is that so, Duchess Quinzel?"

    "The Crown Princess will join the war?"

    "That''s very admirable of Her Highness."

    Amber smiled. She wanted to look proud that Hanna was going to join the war. But she was worried about her one and only daughter. Even so, she had to hide her feelings. "It''s the nobles'' duty to protect the people, and it''s the Crown''s duty to protect the nobles. Hence, all the children of the Imperial Family will join the war IN THE FRONT LINE."

    Everyone noticed that Amber emphasized that the Imperial Family would fight in the vanguard and not hide in a safe ce.

    Hence, Marchioness Keys looked very embarrassed about her earlier remarks.

    After all, the marchionessined that one of her children had to be sent to war when Amber''s one and only child would be one of the people leading their forces.

    [How can youin when the children of the Imperial Family would lead the war?]

    Amber sipped his tea to hide her smile.

    She hadn''t yet enjoyed her tea when, suddenly, Lady Sera Wisteria mmed her hands on the table as she stood up abruptly.

    Amber was confused¡­

    ¡­ until she heard a familiar voice.

    "Mother, it''s been a while."

    Amber stood up and turned around, only to be greeted by Regina Crowell who was dragging a reanimated corpse by the cor.

    It wasn''t her first time to see one, so she recognized it right away.

    Violet skin, unfocused ck eyes, constant drooling, incoherent noises¨C those were the signs that a corpse had been revived in a way that go against Nature.

    The reanimated corpse looked familiar, but she was distracted by Regina Crowell.

    [How did she get past the barrier and the knights of my family¡­!]

    "Mother, thank you for gathering all the importantdies here today," Regina said, smiling at her brightly. "My hungry pet will enjoy them well."

    Then Regina Crowell released the reanimated corpse that ran so fast like an arrow.

    Everything happened so fast that before Amber knew it, the reanimated corpse had already grabbed her by the shoulders ¨C its mouth wide opened as if it was ready to bite off her face.

    And that was when she recognized the reanimated corpse.

    [Marquis Spencer¡­!]

    A cry full of agony soon filled the Quinzel Garden.

    ***

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 Chapter 811 FIRST HIT

    ?

    [OF COURSE, he''s here for work.]

    Neoma wasn''t surprised when Ruto gathered them in the conference room.

    But she was a little disappointed.

    [Anyway, by ''us,'' I mean me, Papa Boss, Mama Boss, Nero, Hanna, Duke Exton, and the Griffiths.]

    Manu was supposed to join them, but the God of Death had gone back to his "child mode." Hence, the Moon Priest was forced to y babysitter to the baby god.

    "As you already know, the First Cmity that will hit the Imperial Capital are the reanimated corpses made with Darkness," Ruto said in a serious voice while standing in front of them like a teacher during a lecture. "These zombies can''t be purified and killed even if you burn or tear them apart."

    "Why is that the case, Ruston Solfrid?" Papa Boss, who was seated in the center, asked. "Why can''t they be killed?"

    "The Darkness that Helstor used to turn corpses into zombies was the same Darkness that created the Absolute Darkness from the Ancient Period, Your Majesty."

    Audible gasps filled the room.

    Only Neoma and her Papa Boss didn''t give a big reaction.

    Well, her father looked stoic most of the time anyway.

    Neoma, on the other hand, realized something.

    [Ruto has already dealt with the Cmities in the first timeline.]

    "The Ancient Monsters lived during the Ancient Period," Duke Exton said. "Is that the reason why only the Ancient Monsters could kill the reanimated corpses?"

    Ohh.

    [Duke Exton is on to something.]

    "Your Grace is correct," Ruto confirmed while nodding. "During the Ancient Period, right when the world was getting swallowed by the Absolute Darkness, the monsters were forced to evolve since food became scarce during that time. In order to not starve, the monsters had no choice but to eat nts, flowers, and other animals infected with Darkness. That was how they evolved and developed an appetite for Darkness."

    Ohh.

    Neoma licked her lips, realizing that she was right about her urge to eat the zombiest time.

    [If I eat zombies, perhaps I''ll also develop a stomach capable of digesting that kind of Darkness?]

    "It won''t work, Princess Neoma."

    Huh?

    Neoma was surprised when Ruto called her out¨C even addressing her formally in front of all these people¨C as if he had read her mind. "What won''t work?"

    "Any kind of divine power only serves as fuel for the Absolute Darkness. That''s exactly why the gods were rendered useless during the Ancient Period," Ruto exined. "Hence, even if you eat the zombies infected by Darkness, you won''t be able to digest it. Your divine power will only make it grow bigger inside your body until you get poisoned."

    Ah, that made sense.

    "Neoma, baby," Mama Boss called her in disbelief. "Did you really try to eat the zombie that Nero''s knights brought here?"

    Oops, busted.

    "We really can''t take our eyes off of you even for a second," Papa Boss said while shaking his head. "Neoma, please stop letting your intrusive thoughts win."

    "I didn''t act on my intrusive thoughts, Papa Boss," Neoma said defensively. "That''s why I didn''t eat the zombie."

    "It was only because we stopped you," Nero said, scoffing. "If we weren''t there, you would have eaten the reanimated corpse without a second thought."

    Hanna didn''t say anything, but she nodded in agreement with Nero.

    Ouch.

    [Hanna betrayed me¨C she abandoned me for her fianc¨¦.]

    Neoma cleared her throat and changed the subject. "So, Ruto. How do we use the Ancient Monsters? ording to Duke Exton, their family only has fifty Ancient Monsters under their care. Are they enough to get rid of all the reanimated corpses?"

    "We''ll make it work," Ruto said, nodding. "I have a n."

    [As expected of my ex-man.]

    "Uhm, Lord Ruto, will your n revolve around my wife?" Uncle Glenn asked nervously. "I am aware that my wife is going to be the key yer this time. However, I''m worried because my wife is pregnant."

    Aunt Brigitte put a hand on top of Uncle Glenn''s hand. "Honey, I''ll be fine."

    It wasn''t only Uncle Glenn who looked nervous.

    Skylus and Monik, who were usually energetic, were both quiet as if they were trying to read the room.

    [They''re worried about their mommy.]

    "Don''t worry, King Glenn, Queen Brigitte," Ruto said politely, then he turned to Neoma. "Princess Neoma and I will do most of the work. The two of us willy the foundation for our counterattack."

    "Gosh," Neoma said, smirking. "What a unique way to ask me out on a date~"

    It was obviously a harmless ~joke.~

    But Ruto''s face suddenly turned red, obviously affected by Neoma''s flirting.

    "Stop flirting," Nero growled, his eyes turned glowing red as he red at Ruto. "Focus on the meeting, will you?"

    Neoma rolled her eyes. "We''re not flirting. If I used my rizz[1] on Ruto, then Ruto would have run away already."

    Nero red at Neoma. "Shut it."

    Neoma just rolled her eyes at her twin brother.

    [Nero is not cute today.]

    "Nero, Neoma, stop fighting," Papa Boss scolded them. "Ruston Solfrid, continue."

    Hmm?

    [Papa Boss is being lenient on Ruto?]

    Ruto cleared his throat, probably to hide his embarrassment, before he resumed his report. "Prince Nero, I apologize in advance, but I have to make you fight on the front line. To ovee the Cmity, we need your ice phoenix."

    "I''ll be fighting on the front line even if you don''t ask me to," Nero said, scoffing as he crossed his arms over his chest. Then he furrowed his eyebrows as if he just remembered something that irritated the hell out of him. "Wait. How dare you lead the strategy meeting when you''re a foreigner? You and your people even turned your back on us once."

    Oops.

    Everyone just realized that Ruto did take the lead NATURALLY as if it was his rightful ce to do so.

    And nobody questioned it until Nero did.

    [Wow. Commander Yoan slipped out.]

    "I know how to ovee the Cmities," Ruto said, using a more polite tone this time. "Please allow me to help."

    Nero scoffed, but he didn''t say anything because he wasn''t in the position to do so.

    "As long as your n sounds usible, I don''t mind if you take the lead, Ruston Solfrid," Papa Boss, the emperor and the person with the highest authority in that room, said firmly. "The Imperial Family is still the one who''s going to decide whether we follow your n or not anyway."

    Neoma thought her Papa Boss was really acting sus.

    Papa Boss was really being nice to Ruto.

    [Of course, by Papa Boss'' standards.]

    "Ahh!"

    "Nooo!"

    Everyone turned to Skylus and Monik who suddenly cried.

    The children''s eyes were glowing.

    [Ah, they''re probably getting a vision.]

    "The crows are here," Skylus said in a voice that sounded like he was possessed by someone else. "They brought the Necromancer with them¡­"

    Neoma knitted her eyebrows.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    [Necromancers? The ones who made the zombies?]

    "Amber Quinzel¡­" Monik said, catching everyone''s attention. "She''ll be the next victim¡­"

    Neoma gasped out loud.

    But before anyone could ask Skylus and Monik questions regarding their visions, the two children already fainted.

    Aunt Brigitte immediately caught Skylus while Uncle Glenn caught Monik in time.

    "Hanna, Nero," Papa Boss said firmly. "Go and save the duchess."

    Without saying a word, Hanna and Nero immediately stood up and bolted out of the room.

    In that situation, nobody would think that the Crown Prince and Crown Princess were rude for leaving the room without a word.

    Papa Boss then turned to Duke Exton. "Your Grace."

    Duke Exton stood up and bowed his head as if he already knew what the emperor would say. "I shall follow the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess, and assist them."

    After Papa Boss nodded, the old duke bowed and left the room.

    Neoma stood up and cracked her knuckles. "Papa Boss, Mama Boss, I''m just going to check if the crows have already brought the zombies¨C"

    "No," Papa Boss said, cutting her off. "If the crows have already brought hoards of reanimated corpses, I would know. The Pdins and my Soul Beasts are keeping an eye on the Imperial Capital."

    "His Majesty is right, Princess Neoma," Ruto said, still addressing her formally. "I also have eyes around the Imperial Capital. However, I failed to consider the nobles'' vige among the ces to keep an eye on."

    "It was our mistake to focus solely on the Imperial Capital and the surrounding viges," Mama Boss said, her voice full of regret. "Who would have thought that they would attack the nobles first?"

    "Well, it''s probably because we collectively thought the nobles can protect themselves since they are Mana users and they have their own armies," Neoma said, then she knitted her eyebrows. "But the Quinzel Estate is like a fortress since they''re known for their tight security. If the crows were able to waltz their way inside, it can only mean one thing: a high-ranking member of the cult appeared."

    Calyx.

    That sorcerer iming to be Trevor''s brother.

    Regina Crowell.

    Those were the three people that Neoma thought of first.

    "As expected, I should go and follow them," Neoma said. "My hands are itching tomit violence against the crows today."

    Her parents frowned, but they didn''t oppose this time.

    "Neoma, please stay," Ruto said, addressing her casually this time. "I need you here."

    "Okay, fine, if you insist," Neoma said, sitting down because her knees buckled when she heard Ruto say he needed her. "Gosh, I''m so in demand."

    ***

    [I WONDER if Nero and Hanna managed to save Duchess Amber.]

    Neoma''s head was aching from the long and detailed "assignment" that Ruto had given her while they were having a meeting in her office, but she still managed to space out.

    [If something bad happens to Duchess Amber, Hanna and Duke Rufus will lose it¡­]

    "Neoma, are you listening?"

    "No," Neoma said in response to Ruto''s question. "Anyway, I''m curious about something."

    "What is it?"

    "You''ve already experienced the Cmities in the first timeline, didn''t you?"

    "That''s right," Ruto said while nodding. "What about it?"

    "I recently gained the ability to see other people''s weaknesses," she confessed to him. "But when I saw the zombie, I didn''t see its weakness. So, I''vee to the conclusion that I haven''t fought zombies in the first timeline since I don''t know how to kill them."

    When she calmed down, she finally epted the fact that she knew how to kill the people that she had killed in the first timeline.

    It was a hard pill to swallow, but she had to.

    "If we had already experienced the Cmities, why don''t I remember it?" Neoma asked curiously. "Did I not fight them before?"

    "The First Cmity hit the world while you were still ''dead.''"

    "Before you revived me?"

    Ruto nodded his head. "You were revived when the Second Cmity happened."

    Hmm.

    Neoma was curious, but she killed that curiosity right away.

    [I have a feeling I shouldn''t ask anything else if I don''t want to lose my mind yet.]

    Moreover, she was still worried about something else.

    "I see. Cool then," Neoma said, then she quickly changed the topic. "Ruto, we''ve already covered most of the things we need to do. Can I go now?"

    "You don''t have to leave if you just want to follow Prince Nero and Princess Hanna," Ruto said, then he looked up at her. "They''re already back."

    Tsk.

    Herpetitiveness was once again challenged when Ruto had beat her to it again.

    [Why does he always notice things first before I do?]

    "It''s not because I''m stronger than you," Ruto said as if he could read her mind. "It''s just because you let the little things distract you. If you focus on your surroundings, you''ll notice even the sound of the falling leaves."

    "That sounds stressful."

    "Well, it won''t bother you once you get used to it."

    "I don''t want to get used to ufortable things," Neoma said, then she raised an eyebrow at Ruto. "You just have to stick to me then and tell me the things I don''t notice right away."

    Yes, she was using her rizz on Ruto.

    And it was effective.

    Ruto''s face turned red as he avoided her gaze.

    "Gosh, why is it working?" Neomained lightly. "I thought you no longer have positive feelings for me, Ruto? What''s this then? You''re obviously crushing on me so hard right now."

    "Calm down, Neoma¨C"

    Ruto wasn''t able to finish what he was saying when the door suddenly burst open.

    Then Hanna, who was crying silently, entered the room with her shoulders slouched.

    Obviously, something bad happened to Duchess Amber Quinzel.

    Neoma immediately stood up and walked towards the Crown Princess. "Hanna, what exactly happened to your mother?" She held Hanna''s shaking shoulders. "Tell me and we''ll figure it out together."

    "Please help me, Neoma," Hanna begged her in a cracked voice, her expression helpless and desperate. Then Hanna pressed her forehead on Neoma''s shoulder as she sobbed harder. "Please¡­"

    [Hanna¡­ is begging me to help her while crying?]

    Ah.

    Neoma''s heart broke for Hanna as the realization hit her.

    [The war has already begun, and we''ve taken the first hit pretty hard.]

    ***

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    [1] G00gle meaning of ''rizz'': a ng term often used to describe someone''s ability to flirt and be charming, especially for their verbalmunication while pursuing a romantic interest.

 Chapter 812 APPETIZER SERVED BY REGINA

    ?

    AMBER wasn''t thebat type.

    Even though she was a Mana user, she was only trained to see traces of other people''s Mana. After all, ording to her father, a noblewoman like her didn''t have to learn how to fight. She just had to marry a strong person that would protect her all

    Hence, her father chose Rufus to be her husband.

    But, at that very moment when her life was threatened by Marquis Spencer''s reanimated corpse, she regretted following her father''s every single order.

    [I should have at least learned how to increase my physical strength or speed with Mana¡­]

    As a result, Amber could only shut her eyes tight while waiting for Marquis Spencer to bite her face off.

    "AHHHHH!"

    That loud cry didn''te from Amber.

    "Duchess Quinzel, move!"

    Amber opened her eyes and saw Lady Sera Wisteria standing in front of her protectively.

    Judging by Lady Wisteria''s pose, and the fact that Marquis Spencer''s reanimated corpse was sprawled on the ground while writhing in pain, it was clear that it was Lady Wisteria who saved Amber.

    [Right. Lady Wisteria is known for her brute strength that could apparently rival the de Moonasterio''s¡­]

    On the downside, the rumors said that Lady Wisteria''s strength was the reason why men thought Lady Wisteria wasn''t an ideal wife. Hence, Lady Wisteria remained unmarried even though she was older than Amber.

    [Lady Wisteria didn''t get involved with another man after Lord Gavin broke off their engagement in the past¡­]

    "Duchess Amber, I know people could freeze when terrified, but please pull yourself together!" Lady Wisteria yelled frustratedly. "It''s clear that the youngdy who pretended to be Commander Gavin''s daughter is here for you."

    Ah, right.

    It wasn''t the right time to think about anything else other than staying alert.

    "You''re too harsh, Lady Sera Wisteria," Regina Crowellined in an exaggerated hurt voice. "I''m not pretending to be Commander Gavin''s daughter¨C I really am his flesh and blood."

    "Then I''m d my marriage with Commander Gavin didn''t push through," Lady Wisteria said, scoffing while kicking the living daylights out of Marquis Spencer''s reanimated corpse. "Who would want a monster like you as a stepdaughter?"

    Amber, who was still confused by what was happening, flinched when someone grabbed her by the arm.

    "Stop being absent-minded, Duchess Quinzel," Marchioness Keys scolded her while dragging her to safety. "Countess Cortez made a barrier. Come!"

    To say that Amber was touched when Marchioness Keys saved her despite her argument earlier. But she didn''t have the time to savor the warm feeling because her eyes caught something strange in the air.

    [Traces of Mana...?]

    And yet, no one was there.

    [But I''m sure someone is here¡­]

    Amber listened to her gut feeling, so she pulled her arm away from Marchioness Keys grasp. Then she pushed the marchioness away from her.

    "Duchess Quinzel!"

    Marchioness Keys didn''t scream her name because she pushed her.

    The marchioness screamed in fear when she saw a man materialize right after Amber pushed her¨C and then the man stabbed a syringe into Amber''s neck.

    [Ah¡­]

    Amber immediately fell to her knees, her consciousness quickly fading away.

    She was scared.

    Scared that she might never see her husband and daughter again.

    [Hanna, Rufus, I wish to see you onest time¡­]

    ***

    "DUCHESS QUINZEL!"

    Pfft.

    Regina thought the scene in front of her was funny, but she didn''tugh since she wasn''t satisfied yet.

    The nobledies who witnessed everything looked terrified to get near Amber Quinzel.

    Only Sera Wisteria and Marchioness Inez Keys were brave enough to kneel beside Amber Quinzel and hold her while the duchess was having a seizure.

    Sera Wisteria was using herp as a cushion for Amber Quinzel''s head.

    Marchioness Inez Keys, on the other hand, was busy loosening the cor around Amber Quinzel''s neck.

    [It''s no use, though.]

    "Prince Nero and Hanna Quinzel areing," Dn, who was standing beside her, said. "I''ll cast the teleportation spell now."

    Regina nodded. "Alright."

    "Are we leaving Marquis Spencer''s corpse here?"

    Earlier, Sera Wisteria tied the marquis'' reanimated corpse to a pir using her Mana.

    [Lady Wisteria is smart and strong. It''s a shame that the men of this empire is scared of women with such qualities.]

    "Marquis Spencer already served his purpose, so let''s just leave him here," Regina said, crossing her arms over her chest. "I''m sure Princess Neoma is itching to exact her revenge on Marquis Spencer after what the marquis did during the Selection."

    Yes, they were keeping an eye on Neoma de Moonasterion during the Selection in secret.

    "So, I want our high and mighty Imperial Princess to feel frustrated that we killed the marquis before she could even get her hands on him. After all, there''s nothing more frustrating than getting your prey stolen right under your nose."

    Dnughed. "Is that your n? To demoralize Princess Neoma before the war?"

    "It''s not only Princess Neoma who needs to be humbled," Regina said, smirking as a new portal suddenly appeared out of thin air. "We also need to demoralize the next person that Princess Neoma''s people follow when the Imperial Princess is out ofmission."

    That person was Hanna Quinzel, of course.

    Regina smiled when Hanna and Prince Nero came out of the portal.

    There were other people with the young royals, but Regina only focused on the Crown Princess.

    [Show me something interesting, Hanna Quinzel.]

    Regina wasn''t disappointed, though.

    As soon as Hanna saw Amber Quinzel''s skin turn violet while the duchess'' eyes turn all-ck, the Crown Princess'' face distorted in shock, disbelief, pain, and desperation.

    Yes, the Crown Princess showed all those emotions in just the span of a few seconds.

    Needless to say, Hanna Quinzel looked devastated upon realizing that her mother had turned into a reanimated corpse.

    Reginaughed in delight while pping her hands.

    [Yes, that''s the expression I wanted to see from you, Hanna Quinzel!]

    ***

    [SHE''Sughing¡­?]

    Hanna was still in a state of shock after seeing what happened to her mother when she heard Regina Crowellugh out loud while pping her hands.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    The next sound she heard was the sound of her sanity snapping.

    Before anyone could stop her, she had already closed the distance between her and Regina Crowell.

    She tried to grab the crow by the cor, but she just passed through Regina''s body.

    Ah.

    Hanna was toote.

    Regina and the man beside her had already cast a teleportation spell, so their physical bodies were already being transported to another ce.

    Hence, she couldn''t touch them anymore.

    Hanna turned around to re at Regina Crowell. This was the first time she felt so helpless and frustrated in front of the crow. All she wanted to do was scream in anger.

    Her dignity as the Crown Princess be damned.

    "Don''t worry, Hanna Quinzel. Your mother hasn''tpletely turned into a reanimated corpse yet since the duchess is still alive," Regina Crowell said, stillughing at Hanna¨C obviously enjoying her misery. "If you want the antidote to turn your mother back to normal, then tell Princess Neoma toe to me before the war. Also, do tell Her Imperial Highness to bring a Healer with her if she wanted to check the authenticity of the antidote I have. Knowing the Imperial Princess, I''m pretty sure she won''t trust anything I''ll give her."

    It was obviously a ploy to catch Neoma before the war even began.

    Hanna smirked bitterly. "Are you that afraid of Neoma that you''re already resorting to foul y when the war hasn''t officially started yet?"

    "All is fair in war, my dear Crown Princess. What foul y are you talking about? You sound na?ve¨C so different from the wise Hanna Quinzel I know," Regina said disapprovingly, then sheughed again. "Oh, is that it? Are you shaken because of what happened to your mother? That''s funny. I hope Princess Neoma suffers the same fate soon."

    "You wench¨C"

    "Yes, I''m the wench who turned your mother into a reanimated corpse¨C and you better remember that only I could return Duchess Amber Quinzel back to normal," Regina said, cutting Hanna off as her body quickly vanished. "See youter, Princess Hanna."

    And, just like that, Regina Crowell had vanished along with the man beside her.

    For the first time in a long while, Hanna felt so helpless that all she could do was scream and cry in anger¨C her entire body burning up.

    She felt like all the power inside her was threatening to explode.

    But, to be honest?

    She didn''t care anymore.

    "Hanna! Are you trying to kill yourself?!" Nero scolded her, hugging her tight from behind. "I''m sorry, but I need to knock you out."

    Hanna only screamed and cried louder in response.

    But, soon, she felt her burning body get enveloped in coldness¨C quickly making her consciousness fade away.

    [Mother¡­]

    ***

    NERO caught Hanna who fainted after he used his ice to literally cool her down, then he carried her in his arms as carefully as possible.

    After all, his fianc¨¦e''s body almost exploded when she gathered her Mana in her Core.

    It was amon urrence among Mana-users experiencing a devastating emotion that would subconsciously force them to take their own lives in order to end their misery.

    For the first time, Nero felt scared to lose someone other than Neoma and his parents.

    [I almost lost you, Hanna¡­]

    "Prince Nero, what should we do about Duchess Quinzel?" Melvin asked nervously. "It seems like the duchess has been turned into a reanimated corpse¡­"

    That was a heavy blow.

    [No wonder Hanna almost lost her mind.]

    "Let''s bring Duchess Quinzel to the pce first," Nero said, then he turned to the nobledies present there. Everyone looked shaken. "Melvin, what do you think we must do to the witnesses? They are wives of high-ranking noblemen so we can''t kill them, can we?"

    "Of course, we can''t, Prince Nero," Melvin said firmly. "Let''s just erase their memories about what happened to Duchess Quinzel."

    "You heard that, Alucard," Nero said to the demon mage. And, yes, Alucard and Lucien had both fully recovered now. "Erase thedies'' memories, save for Lady Sera Wisteria. We need someone who could tell us what happened in detail."

    And Sera Wisteria seemed to be the best person for the job.

    Alucard bowed his head politely. "As youmand, Prince Nero."

    The demon mage then knocked out all thedies except for Lady Sera Wisteria.

    As expected of the formidable nobledy, Lady Sera Wisteria calmly took everything in while still taking care of Duchess Amber Quinzel.

    "Prince Nero, Marquis Russell Spencer has also been turned into a reanimated corpse," Sanford reported to him while pointing at the marquis tied around a pir. Instead of an ordinary rope, the dead marquis was tied with a Mana rope. "What should we do with that pervert?"

    Nero clenched his jaw, annoyed that Marquis Spencer died before he could punish that bastard properly. "Let''s bring him back to the pce as well."

    "Alright, Prince Nero," Sanford said, then he patted Raku''s shoulder. "I''ll leave it to you, Raku."

    Raku just nodded before he walked towards the tied Marquis Spencer.

    Nero didn''t have the energy to scold Sanford because he was worried about Hanna.

    [We need to return to the pce, but before that¡­]

    Nero turned to Lucien. "Go and check on the Spencer Estate. Marquis Spencer is already dead, then it only means House Spencer was attacked," he said. "Catch all the reanimated corpses that you may find there and secretly bring them to the pce."

    Lucien bowed his head politely. "As youmand, Prince Nero."

    [Now it''s time to return to the pce.]

    Nero looked at the unconscious Hanna in his arms. "Let''s go home, Hanna."

    ***

    REGINA frowned when Dn burst outughing as soon as they arrived in their location: the underground church located in the border of the Imperial Capital.

    "What''s funny?" Regina asked with knitted eyebrows. "What did I do?"

    "Everything is funny, you little liar," Dn said while clutching his stomach. "The virus that you asked me to inject into Duchess Amber Quinzel''s body was the failed version of the virus that we''re trying to make. Hence, her state as a reanimated corpse is only temporary. The duchess will return back to normal in a week even if they don''t do anything to treat her. And yet, you made Hanna Quinzel believe that you have the antidote that doesn''t exist in the first ce."

    The antidote didn''t exist because, just like what Dn said, Duchess Amber Quinzel''s state as a reincarnated corpse was only temporary.

    But why did Regina act like only she could "fix" the duchess?

    Simple.

    "Princess Neoma and Hanna Quinzel are the brains of the empire," Regina said, smirking. "I can''t kill them because they''re stronger than me. However, it''s easy to hurt and demoralize them since they have many people they love and cherish. If they''re too depressed to focus on the war, then wouldn''t that benefit us?"

    She learned that from Neoma de Moonasterio.

    [Princess Neoma is a good actress who enjoys bluffing and scamming people with her lies, so let''s give her the taste of her own medicine.]

    Dnughed again while ruffling her hair. "This is why Lord Helstor and Lord Callisto put you in charge of the First Cmity¨C you''re the perfect opponent for Princess Neoma and Hanna Quinzel."

    "It''s fun," Regina said, smiling while walking away from Dn. "I hate seeing girls my age happy and loved¨C it makes me want to destroy them."

    [Misery lovespany, after all.]

    ***

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 Chapter 813 LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT

    Chapter 813 LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT

    MONA gasped softly when she saw Amber Quinzel''s state.

    Her son, Nero, was serious when he asked her and Niki toe with him earlier. Hence, she already expected that something bad happened.

    Even so, she didn''t expect to see Amber as a reanimated corpse.

    The duchess was currently tied to the bed with a rope made of Nero''s ice.

    Amber''s skin had turned violet, her eyes all-ck, and she kept growling lowly while moving her body uncontrobly. If the duchess wasn''t tied, there was no doubt she would attack everyone in the room.

    "Amber¡­" Mona whispered, her voice shaking. "Is she¡­?"

    "No, Duchess Quinzel isn''t dead yet," Nero exined right away. "ording to Lady Wisteria''s statement, Regina Crowell''spanion injected something into Duchess Quinzel''s body. After that, the duchess turned into something simr to a reanimated corpse."

    Mona was relieved to hear that.

    Only dead people could be turned into a reanimated corpse, so she was worried that it might be toote to save the duchess now.

    However, it made her wonder how a living person could be turned into a reanimated corpse.

    [The crows created something that goes against Nature once again.]

    Mona turned to Niki. "Have you informed Rufus about this?"

    Niki nodded, then he turned to the door. "He''ll be here any minute now."

    "Amber!"

    Mona''s thoughts were interrupted when the door suddenly burst open.

    Rufus then entered the room running. He didn''t greet anyone in the room, and he went straight to his wife. And then he froze on the spot.

    The devastated look on Rufus'' wife upon seeing his wife''s state was heartbreaking.

    "No," Rufus whispered to himself weakly, then he fell onto his knees and held Amber''s hand while crying. "Amber¡­"

    "Amber Quinzel is still alive," Niki said. "Don''t cry, Rufus."

    Mona smiled sadly.

    [Niki hates seeing his friends cry.]

    Rufus once again froze for a moment before he looked up at Niki with a hopeful look on his face. "Is that true, Your Majesty? But if Amber is still alive, then why did she be like this¡­?"

    "The crows injected something in Duchess Quinzel''s body that turned her into that state, Your Grace," Nero exined. "However, Regina Crowell imed that she has the antidote that could return Duchess Quinzel back to normal."

    Rufus frowned, obviously displeased by the news. "I can''t trust Regina Crowell."

    "That''s the same case for us," Mona said. "Hence, please allow me to check on Amber''s condition, Rufus. I promise to be careful."

    Amber was still alive, so there must be something that Mona could do for the duchess.

    [I should at least lessen Amber''s pain.]

    Mona could tell that Amber was in pain despite the incoherent noises the duchess was making.

    [Amber is a friend, so it breaks my heart to see her suffer like this.]

    Rufus immediately wiped the tears off of his face as he stood up. "Of course, Your Majesty. I entrust my wife to you." The duke then bowed his head deeply. "Please help my wife, Empress Mona."

    "I''ll do my best, Rufus," Mona promised the duke. "So please don''t cry. Hanna needs you to be strong for your family."

    Hanna was unconscious when Nero brought his fianc¨¦e back to the pce.

    [If I remember correctly, Nero put Hanna to bed before he fetched us.]

    But Mona heard Nero talking to his Soul Beasts earlier.

    "Right. Hanna," Rufus said. Now that he had calmed down, he seemed to have finally remembered that he had a daughter. "May I know where my daughter is?"

    Mona and Niki both turned to Nero.

    "ording to my Soul Beasts that I left to protect Hanna, Hanna has already woken up," Nero said to Rufus. "Hanna is in Neoma''s office, Your Grace."

    ***

    NEOMA had to take a deep breath to calm herself.

    To say that she was angry after hearing what happened to Duchess Amber Quinzel would be an understatement.

    first timeline, only one person could create zombies. And I''m pretty sure the method is biting the corpse."

    "That''s strange," Ruto said calmly after hearing the story. "In the first timeline, only one person could create zombies. And I''m pretty sure the method is biting the corpse."

    Neoma turned to Ruto with a disgusted look on her face. "Seriously? The "Necromancer" has to bite a corpse to turn it into a zombie?"

    Ruto nodded. "That''s why I know the crows couldn''t create that many zombies enough to terrorize the world. They could only create enough zombies to attack the Imperial Capital, hence I''m confident that they wouldn''t send that many reanimated corpses to other ces."

    "But it seems like the crows have done something different again," Neoma said, turning to Hanna again. "Regina said she has the antidote to return Duchess Amber back to normal?"

    It was a bit distracting, but Hanna didn''te to her office alone.

    Sev, the ice wolf, was sleeping at her feet.

    On the other hand, Zeru¨C the Ice Phoenix in the form of a small bird¨C was sittingfortably on Hanna''s shoulder.

    [Nero made his Soul Beasts escort Hanna, huh?]

    If Nero couldn''t do it himself, then it was safe to assume that her twin brother was busy with his other duties.

    [He''s probably with Mama Boss and Papa Boss.]

    Hanna, whose eyes were still red and puffy, nodded. She was having tea to help herself calm down, but it didn''t seem to be working. "But Regina Crowell said she''ll only give it if you meet her before the war, Neoma."

    "I''ll go, then."

    Ruto sighed, but he didn''t say anything to oppose her decision.

    [Good boy.]

    "It''s obviously a trap, Neoma," Hanna said in a frustrated voice. But it was clear that she was frustrated with herself. "Regina Crowell also said you have to bring a Healer with you. It sounds suspicious."

    Hmm.

    Greko was the official Healer in her group.

    [I''m sure Greko will agree toe with me if I asked. Although I''m hesitant to bring a child with me when it''s obvious I''ll be walking into a trap, I cannot not help Hanna and Duchess Amber.]

    Neoma just had to make sure that Greko wouldn''t be harmed.

    "I''m sorry, Neoma."

    Neoma knitted her eyebrows. "Hey, what are you saying?"

    "I knew you would put your life at risk for my family, and yet I still asked you to help me," Hanna said in a cracked voice, then she covered her face with her hands. "I''m sorry, Neoma¨C I really am. I shouldn''t have asked for your help."

    "Hanna, we''re family," Neoma said firmly. "Moreover, Duchess Amber is family to me, too. She used to be my mother, remember?"

    Duchess Amber wasn''t a good mother to Neoma in the first timeline.

    However, the duchess was still someone who took care of her when she had nothing.

    [And even though Duchess Amber wasn''t a good mother to me in the past, she is a loving mother to Hanna.]

    Plus, Neoma didn''t want Duke Rufus to be heartbroken.

    [Duke Rufus was a good father to me in the first timeline. If I could repay his kindness this way, then I''d do it in a heartbeat.]

    But most of all¡­

    "Hanna, you''re my sister and best friend," Neoma said softly. "I will never forgive Regina Crowell for making you cry."

    Seeing Hanna break down was hell.

    [It hits differently when a strong person you know suddenly breaks into tears.]

    Hanna removed her hands from her face, her tears still rolling down her cheeks silently. "I don''t deserve you, Neoma."

    Neoma justughed it off. "Don''t say that, Hanna," she said, handing a handkerchief to her best friend. "You know I''ll never hesitate to kill for you."

    ***

    [OKAY, MY afternoon nap is over.]

    It was ridiculous, but Neoma was forced by her "children" to agree to have an hour-long nap every afternoon.

    Even though they were in the middle of the war, Lewis and the others still forced her to sleep.

    [Well, I guess I should sleep as much as I can. Because I''m pretty sure I cannot sleep anymore once the war starts officially.]

    "You''re awake, Princess Neoma."

    "Yeah. Good afternoon, Dahlia," Neoma said in response to Dahlia''s response while stretching her arms. "Update?"

    Dahlia sat on the chair next to the bed before she responded. "Prince Nero is busy dealing with the reanimated corpses that they found in House Spencer."

    Ah, right.

    ording to the report that Nero gave her before she went to have her afternoon nap, Marquis Russell was already dead and had been turned into a zombie.

    [Those fucking crows¡­ they stole my prey from me.]

    "Lord Ruto is currently in the conference room with His Imperial Majesty and the Griffiths Royal Family," Dahlia continued with her report. "They said you''re free to join them anytime, Princess Neoma."

    Argh.

    To be honest, she wasn''t that inclined to join the meeting.

    [Ruto is so strict when he''s giving orders. I don''t like it. The more he tells me to do stuff, the more I want to rebel against him.]

    There must be really wrong with her personality.

    "Dahlia."

    "Yes, Princess Neoma?"

    "I''m going to write myst will and testament."

    Dahlia''s eyes opened wide. "Excuse me?"

    "As my official secretary, you have the power to notarize myst will and testament," Neoma said, pretending she didn''t see the shocked look on Dahlia''s face. "I''ll donate my money to the foundation and school I support. Then divide the rest of my wealth and properties to Lewis, Juri, Jeno, Paige, Xion, and Greko. I don''t know how I''ll die, but I don''t want to be buried in the Imperial Shrine." She tilted her head to one side. "Ah, I should also write a will that says my family and my "children" can''t destroy the world if I die."

    "Princes Neoma¡­"

    Hmm?

    She was surprised when Dahlia suddenly burst out crying.

    "Why are you talking like that, Princess Neoma?" Dahlia asked between sobs. "You''re not dying¡­ we won''t let you die¡­"

    Aww, Dahlia was being cute.

    "Don''t worry, Dahlia. I have no intention of dying without putting up a fight," Neoma assured her crying secretary. "But I need thatst will and testament soon."

    [I''m Neoma¨C I always have a n.]

    ***

    NEOMA was on her way to the conference room with Lewis and Dahlia tailing behind her when THEY came.

    By ''they,'' she meant the gods that she lured out on purpose during her broadcast.

    "Argh!"

    "Grrr¡­"

    Ah.

    Dahlia and Lewis both fell to the floor while catching their breaths.

    The ck Witch covered her mouth with her hands as if she wanted to throw up, while her fox "son" growled angrily.

    Even so, both Dahlia and Lewis couldn''t withstand the presence of the gods around them.

    Yes, gods.

    If there were only a few gods there, then Dahlia and Lewis wouldn''t be brought down to their knees like that.

    However, Neoma didn''t expect to be visited by these many celestial guests.

    There were at least fifty pairs of red eyes floating around them¨C and all of those eyes were focused on Neoma.

    [Gosh, I''m so popr.]

    And the best part?

    There weren''t only minor gods there.

    A few mid-level gods were also present.

    But the thing that surprised Neoma was the appearance of a major god.

    [Trevor, we''re gonna die from overworking at this rate.]

    "Wee, my dear clients," Neoma said, smiling at her important guests. "Before we negotiate, let me ask you a question first: are you good at catching zombies?"

    ***

    "LORD RUTO, Delwyn has arrived with the treasures of the Hazelden Kingdom."

    Ruto nodded politely at what King Glenn said.

    He had been expecting Delwyn and the treasures of Hazelden to arrive, but his troubles didn''t end there.

    "Thank you for bringing them here, Your Majesty," Ruto said to King Glenn, then he turned to the emperor. "Your Imperial Majesty, are there knights among the Order of the Royal Knights who can ride a flying animal?"

    "Why are you asking when you already know the answer?" Emperor Niki scoffed, then he threw something at Ruto. "There. Use that."

    Ruto immediately caught the thing that the emperor threw at him.

    It was a golden que.

    To be precise, it was the golden que that belonged to the Commander of the White Lion Knights.

    The engraved white lion on the golden que was blinding.

    [Argh.]

    Ruto frowned at the golden que that he used to own in the first timeline. "Your Majesty, I do not wish to carry something as heavy as this que."

    [His Majesty hasn''t given up on his desire to make the Commander of the White Lions.]

    He still hated the idea of bing themander again, but he would admit that having that position would make it easier for him to give orders.

    [And His Imperial Majesty knows that.]

    "You''re already bossing us around, so why don''t you make it official already? If you ept the position, then you don''t have to ask my permission for trivial things. You can alsomand the different Orders of the Royal Knights as you wish," Emperor Niki said, smirking. "''Commander Ruto'' has a nice ring to it, don''t you think so?"

    Opportunist.

    Ruto was terrified at the realization of how big of an opportunist Emperor Niki was.

    [His Imperial Majesty is really Princess Neoma''s father...]

    ***

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 Chapter 814 THE NEW COMMANDER

    Chapter 814 THE NEW COMMANDER

    HANNA was pleasantly surprised when she returned to her mother''s room.

    She was expecting to find her mother in the same frenzied state that she was in ever since she was turned into a reanimated corpse.

    However, it was the opposite.

    Her mother was calm and almost asleep.

    "What happened, Your Majesty?" Hanna asked the empress carefully. "Is my mother doing well?"

    Empress Mona smiled and nodded. "Luckily, purifying has a calming effect on Amber."

    "I see," she said, nodding. Then she knitted her eyebrows. "But why did Your Majesty''s purifying ability work on Mother? Is it because Your Majesty''s purifying ability is different from divine power?"

    The empress shook her head. "I don''t think that''s the case since Ruto said that any kind of purifying power won''t work on the reanimated corpses made from Absolute Darkness. However, I have a theory."

    "May I know what it is, Your Majesty?"

    "I believe the Darkness that was injected into Amber''s body wasn''t Absolute Darkness," the empress said in a serious tone. "But it may also have something to do with the fact that Amber is alive and not a corpse. Unfortunately, my purifying ability can''tpletely return Amber back to normal. All I can do for now is help Amber calm down. Hopefully, little by little, she regains her consciousness even in that state."

    That was enough for her.

    Hence, she didn''t understand when the empress turned to her with an apologetic smile.

    "I''m sorry, Hanna," Empress Mona said. "This is the only thing I can do for your mother at the moment."

    "It''s more than enough, Your Majesty," Hanna said while smiling genuinely at the empress. "I''m sure Father will also be relieved to see Mother in a calm state. The thing that hurt us the most, aside from the fact that Mother has been turned into a reanimated corpse, was the thought that Mother might be in unbearable pain. Hence, seeing Mother in this state puts me at ease. Father will definitely feel relieved, too."

    It was true.

    Knowing that her mother''s pain was lessened because of Empress Mona''s purification was more than enough for Hanna and her father.

    Moreover¡­

    "I feel bad towards Your Majesty and Neoma," Hanna said, smiling sadly. "You''re already helping my mother this much. But because of my family, Neoma will walk straight into Regina Crowell''s trap. I''m sorry."

    "Why are you apologizing, dear? None of us thinks that this is your fault," the empress consoled her. "And don''t worry too much about Neoma. Even if she walks straight into a trap, I''m sure she''lle out unscathed."

    Of course, she thought the same.

    Even so, she was still worried about Neoma.

    "Thank you, Your Majesty," Hanna said, smiling in relief. "To be honest, I was afraid you''ll be upset with my family because of this. I know Your Majesty isn''t the type of person to do that. However, my guilt makes me think of negative things."

    "Don''t," Empress Mona said, holding her hand. "Hanna, your family has always been a family to us."

    She was touched by what the empress said.

    [I really got lucky with my inws.]

    "Thank you for saying that, Your Majesty," Hanna said, then she changed the topic. "Your Majesty, can I ask for a favor."

    "Of course. What is it?"

    "I''m actually making an antidote for Luby."

    "Oh," the empress said, obviously surprised by what she said. "You got a hold of Luby? Isn''t it the poisonous nt that can harm the Silver Foxes? The previous emperor used that nt to subdue the Silver Fox n."

    She nodded to confirm it. "I''ve made quite the connection to famous merchants selling rare nts. They''re the ones who gave me the tip regarding the recent cirction of Luby in the market. I''m afraid the crows have already gotten their hands on the Luby in order to harm Lewis."

    It wouldn''t be an exaggeration to worry about that.

    After all, everyone knew that Lewis was Neoma''s Guardian Knight.

    [Hence, it won''t be a surprise if the crows target Lewis.]

    "I want to make an antidote in case the crows use Luby to subdue Lewis," Hanna said. "Can Your Majesty help me with making the antidote?"

    "Antidotes for Luby have already existed in the past."

    "Then can we recreate it, Your Majesty?"

    "We can¨C but there''s a crucial ingredient that we need to make the antidote," Empress Moan said worriedly. "We need the tail of a female Silver Fox. But Lewis is the sole survivor of his n, isn''t he?"

    "I think Lord Jasper Hawthorne mentioned before that they fought a female Silver Fox," Hanna said, her eyes widening a bit. "The crows have a female Silver Fox."

    ***

    THE HEAVY presence of several gods gathered in the pce forced Trevor toe out of hisir.

    He didn''t care if the entire pce blew up.

    But he had to grab Princess Neoma first and bring her to safety.

    "Trevor, nice timing."

    Hmm?

    Trevor was delighted to see Princess Neoma greet him.

    But he was more pleased to see Lewis on his knees while being crushed by the gods'' presence. Even the ck Witch was in the same predicament.

    Hah.

    [Weak children~]

    But, to be honest¡­

    Trevor would probably be kneeling like Lewis and Dahlia if he didn''t inherit the Ancient Devil''s power, but he would rather die than admit it out loud.

    [What''s important is I''m now strong enough to deal with gods for my Moon Princess~]

    "I missed you, Princess Neoma~" Trevor said, then he looked around the gods around them. "I was just gone for a few days and you''ve already attracted this many clients." He turned to Princess Neoma and smiled. "You''re too capable, my Moon Princess~"

    "Of course. Who do you think I am?" Princess Neoma scoffed, then she pped her hands together while addressing the gods around them. "My precious clients, let''s move to a different ce." The Imperial Princess then turned to Lewis and Dahlia. "Can you stand up and follow us?"

    Without a second thought, both Lewis and Dahlia stood up.

    It was clear that the two used everything they got just to move.

    [Impressive~]

    No wonder Princess Neoma looked proud of the two.

    And Trevor was proud of his Moon Princess for raising capable people by her side.

    Hmm.

    [I''ll tell Princess Neoma about the problem with the vial from Lord Yuleter.]

    ***

    NIKOLAI smirked after seeing Ruto Solfrid finally wearing his uniform as the Commander of the White Lion Knights.

    It had always wanted this young man to be themander of his Order.

    But, this time, he had another reason for making Ruto Solfrid take that position.

    [Knights that belong to any of the Imperial Orders cannot be a part of the Imperial Family through marriage.]

    In short, thew wouldn''t permit Ruto to marry Neoma.

    Niki nodded approvingly, congratting himself for a job well done. "That uniform looks good on you, Commander Ruto."

    Ruto let out a frustrated sigh. "Your Majesty, please don''t forget that I''m only holding this position until the war is over."

    Of course, he was aware that Ruto only epted the position of the Commander of the White Lion Knights in order to have power over the royal knights.

    Even so, Niki could always extend the contract, couldn''t he?

    [You shall be forever ''Commander Ruto'' now, punk. Don''t even think about marrying my precious daughter.]

    "Just focus on your current task," Niki said. "What will be your first order as the new Commander of the White Lion Knights? Since the White Lions are under my direct order, I''m still your boss. You don''t need my permission for the trivial things, but I need you to report to me for the important matters."

    "Of course, Your Majesty."

    "Do you have something else to tell me?"

    Right now, only Niki and Ruto were in his office.

    The young man kept looking at him as if he had something to say, so he asked.

    "Your Majesty, do you not resent me?"

    "For what?"

    "For killing you in the first timeline."

    Ah, so that was what the punk was worried about.

    "I don''t know about the Niki of the first timeline, but I definitely do not resent you for the choice you made back then to revive Neoma. In fact, I''m grateful that you did what you had to. At least, the Niki of the first timeline had some use to his daughter before his worthless life ended," Niki said bluntly. And, yes, he hated his past self for neglecting Neoma. Sacrificing his life to revive Neoma of the first timeline would never be enough to make up for all the shitty decisions he made back then. "Even if you ask me now to give up my life to extend Neoma''s lifespan, I''ll do it in a heartbeat."

    "You can''t say that as a newly married man, Your Majesty."

    "I know," Niki admitted. "But didn''t you say you needed Roseheart Blood back then, too? Do you think Mona would let you extract Nero''s Roseheart Blood from him again?"

    Ruto''s eyes widened a bit. "Your Majesty, are you saying that both you and Empress Mona won''t hesitate to sacrifice your lives for Neoma?"

    [This punk really has the guts to call my daughter by her name in front of my face¡­]

    But he didn''t call Ruto out for it since Ruto would address Neoma formally in front of other people anyway.

    "Mona and I haven''t talked about it yet, but I know we''re both ready to sacrifice our lives for our children," Niki said in response to Ruto''s question earlier. "I know it will be tragic for Neoma and Nero. But I''m pretty sure that Mona and I would want to die together. We won''t regret it if it''s for our children."

    "Then will it be okay to use your lives if I have to in order to extend Neoma''s lifespan?"

    Wow.

    Look at this punk.

    The way Ruto''s dark purple eyes glowered could only mean he was serious.

    Nikiughed, amused by Ruto''s guts to disrespect him. He¨C the emperor of the Great Moonasterion Empire. "Gavin was rude to me as well when he was the Commander of the White Lion Knights. You really suit your position, Commander Ruto." He leaned against his seat and crossed his arms over his chest. "I''m giving you permission to take my life if you need it to extend Neoma''s lifespan. However, don''t even think about doing the same to Mona unless she gives you her consent."

    Ruto''s eyes returned to normal as if he was pleased by his response. "I''ll keep that in mind, Your Majesty."

    Niki didn''t want to admit this, but he wasn''t blind.

    [This punk has fallen in love with Neoma all over again¨C and he''s not even aware of it.]

    And Niki wished it would stay that way.

    ***

    [TSK.]

    Nero clicked his tongue as soon as he saw Ruto wearing the uniform of themander of the White Lion Knights.

    He was d that the bastard became themander.

    [Because it means he cannot marry Neoma.]

    He was still annoyed, though.

    [I just hate Ruto because he managed to seduce Neoma.]

    "Prince Nero, they''re here," Ruto said to him indifferently. "The treasures of the Hazelden Kingdom."

    Ah, right.

    He remembered why he was in the middle of a cold and snow-covered mountain with Ruto and the Griffiths Family.

    They were there to wee Delwyn and the treasures of Hazelden.

    Ruto raised his head and saw at least thirty wyverns in the dark sky.

    Frost Wyverns, to be precise.

    [Yes, they''re made of ice.]

    Nero didn''t want to say this out loud, but the blue crystal-like wyverns flying in the sky looked beautiful.

    [But my ice phoenix is still more beautiful.]

    "We need your ice power for our counterattack, Prince Nero," Ruto said formally. "Please lead the Frost Wyverns and follow my n."

    Nero red at Ruto. "Don''t boss me around. I''ll do what I want."

    "Neoma will have to ride with you on the back of your ice phoenix, Prince Nero."

    "¡­"

    Suddenly, Ruto''s n didn''t sound so bad.

    Ruto smiled at him, which was a creepy sight to see because this bastard had never smiled at him before. "Don''t you think it would be exciting to fly with Neoma, Prince Nero? Imagine her hugging you from behind while you control the ice phoenix."

    "¡­"

    [This punk¡­ knows my weakness.]

    Nero avoided Ruto''s gaze. "Fine, I''ll cooperate with you."

    ***

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 Chapter 815 IN THREE DAYS

    ?

    [IT''S BEEN a while since I used my personal training ground.]

    Neoma brought the gods there.

    It was an open space where no other people were allowed to enter except her "children."

    To make sure that no one would identally end up there, Lewis and Dahlia were left at the entrance to guard it.

    Hence, only Neoma and Trevor were there to face the gods.

    [Plus, I already told Mama Boss, Papa Boss, and Nero that the gods will visit me because of my previous announcement. So, they won''te running here.]

    "I know why you''re here," Neoma said, putting her hands on her hips. "First of all, let me tell you this in advance: I will prioritize those who will agree to catch the zombies that happen to show up in their domains."

    Ruto said that Helstor couldn''t have made enough zombies to terrorize the entire world.

    Hence, apparently, the God of Eternal Darkness would release the zombies to the Western Continent since the entire Altalune Continent was under the Moon God''s authority.

    But Ruto predicted that the crows would focus their attack on the Imperial Capital.

    [I can''t trust my heart to Ruto as easily as I did before, but I can trust him when ites to leading this war. Plus, I know that they didn''t abandon the Western Continent before. All''s well that ends well.]

    <"Young de Moonasterio, gods can''t directly meddle with human affairs¡­">

    <"We can''t carelessly take your side either¡­">

    <"There are rules we need to follow¡­">

    "Then you may leave," Trevor said, scoffing. "You have the audacity to show up here and ask for my Moon Princess'' help, but you don''t have no intention of paying the right price?" He turned to Neoma while holding the back of his neck. "I knew it, my Moon Princess. Working with these selfish gods will really raise our blood pressure until we die."

    Neoma nodded in agreement. "I know, right? They always want to get the better end of the deal just because they think they''re superior to us."

    <"We''re doing this for the sake of humanity¡­">

    <"If we directly help you, Helstor will take it as a challenge¡­">

    <"It would do you no good if a war among gods suddenly break out¡­">

    Well, the gods had a point.

    But Neoma could tell that they were just afraid of Helstor who suddenly got a hold of the Absolute Darkness.

    [It was the type of Darkness that only gods like the Light Goddess could purify, after all.]

    Ah, that reminded her¡­

    "Before we proceed, I''d like you to bring me a vial of the Darkness that polluted your domain first," Neoma said. "I need to check first if it''s the type of Darkness I can purify. If it''s something simr to Absolute Darkness, then I cannot help you."

    <"Don''t worry about that. We would have died already if it was the Absolute Darkness¡­">

    <"We already checked beforeing here, and the Darkness that polluted the air in our domains is simr to the Darkness in Alethea''s domain before¡­">

    "I see," Neoma said, then she smiled. "I still need the sample, folks. It''s not that I don''t trust your words. But it''s better to be safe than sorry. I don''t want to get in trouble once I start purifying your domains only to realize that I can''t actually do the job."

    That would mean breaking the contract on her part.

    And since her agreement with the gods would be bound by a contract made by Trevor, then it was inevitable for her to be punished.

    "And you better not trick my Moon Princess," Trevor added, then he pointed at the monocle in his eye. "You can''t get past my sharp eyes. Trust me¨C I would know if the sample you''ll bring is authentic or not. I would also know if you borrowed each other''s vials, so don''t even think about doing anything stupid like that."

    Oops.

    Trevor''s harsh words and bluntness offended some of the gods.

    <"Haaah! I can''t believe these children doubt the words of a god!">

    <"No wonder the human race is about to end!">

    <"I only wasted my time here!">

    At least seven mid-level gods and four minor gods walked away.

    [Good riddance. I don''t have the time to handle these many clients before the war anyway. Even so, I need to exploit these gods as much as I could.]

    Hence, she decided to deal with the remaining gods more calmly.

    "Welp, they left before I even began exining properly. Oh, well," Neoma said, shrugging. "Anyway, I''m not asking you to provoke Helstor by directly helping me. All I need is for you to catch the zombies who happen to trespass on your territory. Each one of you has a territory in the human world that you oversee, right?"

    Yule was the god that rule the entire Altalune Continent.

    But the continent was too big for a single god to rule it.

    Hence, just like how the empire had nobles to look after the different territories that the Imperial Family ruled, Yule also had gods helping him oversee the continent.

    Yes, these gods would just literally watch the humans suffer since they couldn''t "interfere."

    [However, let''s exploit the loophole.]

    "There''s now that says you cannot protect yournd, is there?" Neoma asked, smiling. "You can just think of it as taking out the trash. And guess what?" She pointed at her pretty face. "I just happen to own a very big trash can that you can use."

    She heard some gods snicker as if they were amused.

    [Ah, it works. But I wonder why most people who listen to me always end upughing. I''m not joking, though?]

    <"The young de Moonasterio has a point¡­">

    <"We already endured enough when remained silent after Helstor released his Darkness to our domains¡­">

    <"That''s right. We''re just cleaning our domains anyway¡­">

    Neoma smiled, satisfied to know that the remaining gods were willing to ept her conditions.

    [We will focus our forces in the Imperial Capital since the crows will hit us first there. But that doesn''t mean we can neglect the other parts of the empire, especially the poor viges. Unfortunately, there are only a few people on our side who has the ability to kill the zombies.]

    Moreover, they couldn''t strain Aunt Brigitte who was pregnant.

    "You know what? I''ll even throw you another good deal," Neoma said, smiling. "Anyone of you who saves and protects the poor viges in the empire will receive a special gift from me¨C I can make you a few decades younger."

    Trevor turned to her with a surprised look on his face. "Princess Neoma, don''t push yourself too hard."

    "I''m not," Neoma said while shaking her head. "Of course, this time, I''m not only talking about the First Cmity. If you sessfully protect the poor viges under your authority until all Cmities are over, then I''ll reward you by making you younger. I''m sure you already know that I''m capable of doing that."

    <"Alethea said that it was the young de Moonasterio who helped her get younger¡­">

    <"I thought she just found the Fountain of Youth and didn''t want to share it with us¡­">

    Heh.

    [I am that Fountain of Youth~]

    To be honest, Neoma said that she was just asking to be noticed and desired by the major gods at this point.

    But whether she showed off all her abilities or not, she was bound to be found out anyway.

    [At least, this time, I have a Contractor.]

    Trevor would never let anyone exploit her.

    "Now, if you agree with my terms, then please return with the sample I asked earlier," Neoma said, smiling. "It''s firste, first serve."

    And, just like that, the gods left one by one hurriedly.

    Until only one god was left.

    The pair of red orbs floating in front of her was obviously ring at her.

    "It''s been a while," Neoma said, slightly bowing her head to the major god disguised as a mid-level god in front of her. "Lady Astrid, the Goddess of Beauty."

    ***

    HMM.

    Ruto already expected it, but he was still disappointed when only around ten royal knights were capable of riding the Frost Wyverns.

    [Only people with an affinity with ice can withstand riding the Frost Wyverns, after all. Even average Mana-users would freeze to death if they stay close to those ice beasts. We should find more people who can ride the Frost Wyverns.]

    "Melvin Lhesi, tell your father and the other Northern Lords toe here," Prince Nero said, crossing his arms over his chest while looking at the Frost Wyverns. The ice beasts were sleeping, as well as Delwyn. "Most people of the North have an affinity with ice. Moreover, your father is also an ice user."

    "They''re not as powerful as Your Imperial Highness, of course," Melvin said, sighing. "And, yes, I''ve already summoned my father and the other Northern Lords ever since Lord Ruto mentioned that we can stop the reanimated corpses with ice."

    Oho?

    The Crown Prince had a verypetent secretary, huh?

    [Melvin Lhesi is so quick-witted. Good luck resigning as Prince Nero''s secretary, young man. I''m sure you''ll be the Imperial Chancellor the next time I see you.]

    "You should try and ride a Frost Wyvern, too," Prince Nero said while looking at Melvin with a sadistic smile on his face. "If you can withstand my ice, then you can withstand the coldness of a mere ice beast."

    Melvin frowned, obviously upset. "You can''t make me fight, Prince Nero. I''m a schr, not a fighter! And it''s also included in our contract that you can''t send me to the battlefield as a soldier. I''m only here as your secretary!"

    "Riding a Frost Wyvern doesn''t mean you''ll fight," Prince Nero said, grabbing Melvin by the cor. Then the Crown Prince dragged his poor secretary to the ice beasts. "We need more riders."

    Ruto smiled bitterly while watching Nero and Melvin Lhesi.

    [Be kind to Melvin Lhesi, Prince Nero. He literally died for you in the first timeline. Even though he imed he hated fighting, he didn''t hesitate to run to the battlefield for your sake.]

    "Commander Ruto, I''ve brought him."

    It was Sanford, Prince Nero''s knight.

    He asked him to bring someone earlier.

    "Huh? Are those Frost Wyverns?!"

    It was Manuel¨C the foolish man who challenged Neoma during the Selection.

    Fortunately, Manuel hadn''t left the pce yet because he was still waiting for Neoma to ept his duel challenge.

    [He''s still the foolish bloodthirsty moron that he was in the first timeline.]

    "Yes, they are Frost Wyverns," Ruto said, nodding. "You and your tribe will learn how to ride on them in three days, Lord Manuel."

    ***

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 Chapter 816 EVEN IF ITS IN HELL

    ?

    [PHOEBE Willows?]

    Neoma raised an eyebrow when, all of a sudden, the pair of floating red eyes in front of her had turned into Phoebe Willows.

    It was neither a hologram nor an apparition¨C it was a real person.

    [Did Goddess Astrid teleport Phoebe Willows from the Eastern Continent? Or was the child already in the Imperial Capital?]

    Either way, Neoma was sure of one thing.

    [The Goddess of Beauty is currently possessing the child''s body.]

    "I''m not here to seek your help," Phoebe Willows said in an arrogant voice. But, clearly, it was the Goddess of Beauty speaking. "I haven''t stooped so low to ask for a mere human child''s help."

    "I''m not a mere human child, though," Neoma said bluntly. "I''m the Visual Goddess."

    Of course, she said that on purpose to annoy the hell out of the Goddess of Beauty.

    [It''s not like I hate Goddess Astrid. But it''s fun to tease her. After all, she''s the only woman in the world who can rival my beauty~]

    "I''m the Goddess of Beauty."

    Hmm.

    If it was an ordinary situation, Neoma would have replied ''I know.''

    But she noticed that the Goddess of Beauty wasn''t done speaking yet.

    [No, it sounds like she''s going to give me a warning.]

    "All the children in the human world born with pretty faces should be careful," Astrid said in a serious tone. "I know beauty is subjective. However, this time, I''m talking about beauty as shy as yours. Races that are known for their beauty must be particrly careful as well."

    There were only two races known for their beauty.

    [The elves and the mermaids.]

    Oh, the fairies, too.

    [But the fairies are elusive, so humans rarely see them.]

    "Although I hate it when people say someone is more beautiful than I am, I still think it''s a shame if all the beautiful children in this world disappeared," Astrid said, crossing her arms over her chest. "As you already know, the major gods locked up in the Upper World cannot move at the moment. Hence, I leave it to you, Neoma de Moonasterio."

    Gosh.

    [I knew it. Gods don''t pay me a visit just to see my face.]

    "What do I get in return if I get rid of the fucker who has a bad intention towards beautiful people?" Neoma asked bluntly. "If I encounter that person, of course, I''ll deal with them. But if you want me to get out of my way to hunt them down, then it''s a different matter. Although I wish to save all the beautiful people in the world, my priority is to keep the empire safe."

    In short, she was done working for free.

    [Thankfully, I''ve already epted the fact that I cannot save everyone¨C]

    "Lewis Crevan is beautiful, isn''t he?"

    "The fuck?" Neoma said, reacting violently because she was really protective of her first "son." "Are you saying that person would target my "son" for his face?"

    "Don''t bring Lewis Crevan when you go and clean up the domains of the gods who were here earlier," Astrid warned her. "And make sure he''ll stick to someone with a strong Darkness attribute. I''m fond of that child because he''s the most handsome Silver Fox born in this world, so take care of him well."

    "I''m taking care of Lewis really well, thank you very much."

    "Very well," Astrid said. "Take care of this child as well, and I''ll give you a rewardter."

    Huh?

    The Goddess of Beauty didn''t say anything else.

    And, at that moment, Phoebe Willows suddenly copsed.

    Trevor, who was stretching his arms while yawning, obviously had no intention of catching the poor girl.

    Hence, Neoma quickly caught Phoebe Willows in her arms.

    [Whew.]

    "Trevor, you really don''t care even if someone dies in front of you?"

    "Not unless it''s you or the people you care about, my Moon Princess~" Trevor confirmed shamelessly, then he looked at Phoebe Willows with cold eyes. "But you don''t like that child who tried to seduce the damned chef, do you?"

    Aigoo.

    [I should teach this brat to havepassion towards other people. If I die, I''m sure he''d stop caring about my loved ones, too.]

    She should have done that earlier, though.

    [Let''s try it.]

    "I heard Preston Willows is still in the pce since he''s acting as Ruto''s aide," Neoma said, sighing while shaking her head at Trevor''s apathy towards strangers. "Bring Lady Phoebe to her brother for me, will you?"

    Trevor smiled and snapped his fingers, causing Phoebe Willows'' body to float in the air. "If it''s what my Moon Princess wants, then I shall obey you~"

    The shift in Trevor''s mood was quite worrisome.

    [Scary bastard.]

    ***

    NEOMA was on her way to report to her Papa Boss and Mama Boss'' pce when she remembered something that might help Nero and the others.

    [If I remember correctly, Nero''s fanboy is also an ice user.]

    That fanboy would be Preston Willows, of course.

    [Ruto said they need as many ice users as they can find. I should rmend Preston Willows. But, then again, Ruto may have already included the child in the list.]

    "Neoma."

    Tsk.

    Neoma turned around and frowned when she faced Ruto. "I hate it when I don''t feel your presence, Ruto¡­"

    She trailed off when she finally got the full view of her ex-man.

    Then she gasped softly.

    [Is he wearing a knight''s uniform?]

    It wasn''t just a simple knight''s uniform.

    The golden eupalettes on his shoulders and the gold decorations all over his top were all symbols of his high rank.

    Especially that shining White Lion Crest on his chest.

    "Omo, omo," Neoma said, surprised. "When did you be the Commander of the White Lion Knights? Why is there no ceremony?"

    Ruto looked neat and nice.

    But now that Ruto was wearing his knight''s uniform...

    [My ex-man is hot, isn''t he?]

    Well, most men in uniforms were hot.

    [Ruto in this fit hits different.]

    Neoma could clearly see why Neoma of the first timeline fell for Commander Yoan.

    "Since we''re in an emergency, His Imperial Majesty decided that there''s no need for a ceremony," Ruto exined indifferently. "The emperor just signed all the necessary documents for my appointment, then he sent a memo to all Orders of the Royal Knights."

    Ah, so Papa Boss had finally tricked Ruto into bing the Commander of the White Lion Knights.

    [Thank you, Papa Boss, for showing me Ruto in this fit.]

    "It''s a shame that your appointment was rushed. Papa Boss has always wanted you to be the Commander of the White Lion Knights."

    "I won''t be themander for long."

    "Huh?"

    "This is only a temporary position," he cleared. "I''ll step down as soon as the war is over."

    Hmm?

    Neoma tilted her head to one side. "Do you think Papa Boss will let you quit when he finally got you to ept themander position?"

    "Well, what can the emperor do if I suddenly disappeared?"

    Ouch.

    She knew that Ruto could do that if he wanted.

    And that made her sad.

    "Then you''re going to disappear on us after the war?" Neoma asked, not bothering to hide the sadness and disappointment in her voice. "Are you going to abandon me again?"

    "Huh?"

    "Never mind," she said, shaking her head before she changed the topic. "Trevor and I have finished negotiating with the gods who went here to seek for my help. We''re going to have a "tour," but we estimated that we''ll be back in two days."

    Actually, Trevor initially estimated that they would need three days.

    But Neoma insisted that they must deal with the minor gods'' problems in just a day. Then deal with the mid-level gods the next.

    [We can''t afford to be gone from the pce for so long.]

    Of course, that meant Neoma had to push herself again in order to finish the job quickly. But she knew she''d be fine.

    [Using my ability as a premium air purifier has never exhausted me in the past.]

    "Neoma, I think you''ve misunderstood something."

    "What did I misunderstand?"

    "I''m not going to abandon you."

    Okay, that melted her heart.

    After all, she still had a soft spot for Ruto.

    "Even if you died and got dragged to hell, I''ll follow you there."

    Neoma avoided Ruto''s scrutinizing gaze. "I don''t know what you''re talking about, though? I know that you all know that I still have three years left in my lifespan."

    "The speech you gave before probably gave your people a heart attack," Ruto said disapprovingly. "You practically said that you were willing to die in this war as long as you bring the enemies down with you."

    Damn.

    Did it sound like that?

    "Neoma, I have a favor to ask."

    "What is it?"

    Ruto''s gaze as he looked into her eyes became warm, warmer than usual. "If you''re going to die, then kill me first. I want to die with you this time."

    Pfft.

    It was touching, but also funny.

    "I don''t think I can kill you even if I tried," Neoma said, shrugging. "I can''t even see your weakness."

    "Then I''ll tell you."

    "Huh?"

    "I''ll tell you how to kill me," Ruto said, extending his hand to her. "Come here, Neoma."

    As if her body was conditioned to follow Ruto''s words, her hand automatically reached for his.

    [Wait, no¡­]

    It was toote, though.

    When Ruto grabbed Neoma''s hand, he gently pulled her closer to his. Then he leaned down and whispered in her ears.

    That would have been a romantic scene had he whispered sweet nothings to her.

    But no.

    Ruto really told Neoma how to kill him.

    In. Complete. Details.

    [Is he crazy?!]

    "And that''s how you kill me," Ruto said, then he stepped backwards and looked at her with a satisfied look on his face. "Easy, isn''t it?"

    "Are you crazy?!" Neoma yelled at him. She really hated raising her voice. But she was really, really upset. She already almost lost her mind when she discovered the weaknesses of her loved ones. Hence, she didn''t need Ruto to be added to the list. "Why would you tell me how to kill you?! What if I suddenly woke up one day and decided tomit genocide?!"

    She smacked Ruto in the chest with her free hand because he was still holding her other hand.

    Damn.

    Ruto''s chest felt solid under her touch.

    That was kind of distracting.

    "I already told you, Neoma," Ruto said in a serious tone while looking at her warmly. "I''m going to die with you this time."

    Ah.

    That was when the realization finally hit Neoma.

    [Ruto knows I''m dying soon¡­]

    ***

    NOTE: I posted the previous chapter ipletely. I just realized when I checked now. This is supposed to be the other half of the previous chapter. I''m so embarrassed. The previous chapter ended awkwardly.

    Expect two chapterster. ^^

    ***

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 Chapter 817 WHAT A MORBID PROPOSAL

    ?

    "ARE YOU a ghost?" Neoma said, frowning. The realization that Ruto knew she was about to die soon sober her up instantly. After all, she didn''t want to panic in front of him. That would only make her look more guilty. "You know everything."

    "Not everything," Ruto said while shaking his head. "Just things rted to you, Neoma."

    Aww¡­

    [Wait, this isn''t the time to be touched.]

    "Hey, be honest with me," Neoma demanded, squeezing Ruto''s hand. "Have you taken back your feelings from the Ancient Devil?"

    Ruto frowned, obviously displeased. "Why would you mention that old man?"

    "You disappeared with him during thest round of the Selection," she said, smiling teasingly at Ruto. "Did the two of you fight over me?"

    Ruto raised an eyebrow at her. "And why do you look pleased?"

    "Well, I think every straight girl like me has dreamt of two boys fighting over her at least once? Especially girls raised by W*ttpad and a*3?"

    "Do you think only two boys would fight over you? Being modest doesn''t suit you¨C ouch."

    She yfully "punched" Ruto in the ribs.

    Of course, she did it as slightly as possible. Well, it could have broken the ribs of an ordinary person.

    Thankfully, Ruto was physically strong.

    "I''m not being modest," she said defensively. "I just thought it would be too troublesome if more than two boys fight over me seriously."

    "It will be troublesome for me, too."

    "Gosh, you talk as if you already retrieved your feelings for me."

    "Not everything," Ruto confessed. "But I believe a portion of it has returned to me."

    "Really? When?"

    Ruto didn''t say anything but his face turned red. "After our first kiss¡­"

    Oh.

    Neoma didn''t want to admit this, but she probably blushed as well. "It seems like our kiss is quite special. I also gained an ability I didn''t want after that."

    "The ability to see the weaknesses of others?"

    "I wonder if our kisses are special?" she asked, tilting her head to one side. "Should we try again¡­?"

    Ruto let go of her hand, then he stepped away from her while covering his blushing face with his hands. "Stop tempting me, Neoma."

    "I''m not tempting you," Neoma said defensively. Well, she was kind of teasing Ruto. But he didn''t need to know that. "It''s for research purposes."

    "For you," Ruto said, growling lowly. "But for me, it would mean differently."

    Pfft.

    "Alright. I''ll stop teasing you," Neoma said, then she ced her hands on the hips. "And Ruto. I''m being yful right now because your reactions are cute. But I haven''t fully forgiven you for acting like a jerk before. You know I hold grudges, don''t you?"

    "I know," Ruto said, then he removed his hands that covered his face. He looked calmer now, and the color of his face returned to normal. "That''s why I''m working hard preparing for war. I''ll protect you and the empire that you cherish."

    "It''s the people that I cherish and not the empire," she said, shrugging. "Anyway, can you handle Nero? As I said before, Trevor and I will be gone for two days."

    "Ah, I have something to apologize for, Neoma," he said. "I needed to coax Prince Nero to follow my n, so I promised him you''d be riding with him on his ice phoenix. I''m sorry for making that promise without your consent."

    "That''s fine. It''s not hard to do that anyway."

    "Please hug Prince Nero from behind once you ride with him on his ice phoenix."

    "Wow," she said sarcastically while pping her hands. "You sold me out."

    "I''m sorry."

    Well, she wasn''t that upset.

    She knew how hard it was to make Nero cooperate.

    [Desperate times call for desperate measures.]

    "I''ll add this to the list of my grudge against you, Ruto."

    "Okay, I understand," Ruto said, nodding. "I''ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you, Neoma."

    "You''ll make out with me for the rest of your life?"

    Ruto''s face turned red again, then he sighed as if he was so done with her. "Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio."

    Pfft.

    "Just kidding~" Neoma teased, then she turned serious. "Ah, right. Goddess Astrid brought Phoebe Willows here. She warned me about someone who was out there to destroy all the beauties in the world. Have we encountered someone like that in the first timeline?"

    Ruto fell silent for a moment as if he was thinking hard. "I think there was someone like that when the First Cmity hit the empire. If I remember correctly, Hanna Quinzel dealt with that person. You haven''t been revived back then, so you don''t remember."

    "It seems like you don''t remember much about this person, too."

    "I was busy gathering the things I needed to revive you back then."

    "Ah, gotcha."

    "Do you need me to tell you everything I remember about that person?"

    "You can tell me about it once I returned," she said. "Pass the information to Hanna first. She''ll be in charge of my people while I''m away."

    "Alright."

    "And I''ll try not to die," Neoma said in a serious tone. "So don''t be reckless with your life, Ruto. Although I''m not that fond of you these days, you still hold a special ce in my heart. So, let''s not romanticize dying together. I hate Romeo and Juliet for that very reason."

    "Ah." Ruto said as if he just realized his mistake. "I''m sorry. I didn''t mean to hurt you, Neoma."

    He looked apologetic, but he didn''t take back what he said.

    [Well, I guess it''s hard to have a healthy rtionship when one of you can die at any moment.]

    "Can I pack you some food before you leave?"

    [He''s bribing me with food¡­ and it''s working.]

    "That would be lovely, Ruto."

    "I''ll make your favorite snacks," Ruto said, then he avoided her gaze. "I don''t think Trevor would want to eat my food, so you don''t have to share it with him."

    Pfft.

    Neoma smiled while shaking her head. "Gosh. You''re so petty, Ruto."

    ***

    "ARE YOU done with your little "date" with Commander Ruto?"

    "My eyes had a feast, Papa Boss," Neoma said, smiling while standing in front of her father''s desk. "Ruto looks so good in his knight''s uniform."

    Papa Boss just rolled his eyes at her remark. "Have you negotiated with the gods?"

    She nodded. "Trevor and I will be gone for two days, Papa Boss."

    "Will the two of you be alright on your own?"

    "Yes, Papa Boss. We''ll be surrounded by gods. Even though most of them are minor gods, I''m sure they''re powerful enough to repel the crows if ever those bastards decide to ambush me," she answered. Of course, she wouldn''t put it past the crows to find and attack her, but she was confident she''d be safe. For now. "I''m sorry I have to leave when things are hectic here."

    "Don''t be. It''s not like you''re going on a pic," her father said. "We''ll take care of the things here. Just be careful and return to us safely."

    "Okay, Papa Boss," she said. Then she turned to the door when she felt her mother''s presence. "Mama Boss is here."

    The door opened and her mother entered the room.

    Of course, Papa Boss immediately stood up and greeted Mama Boss.

    Hmm?

    Neoma knitted her eyebrows when she realized that her mother was dressed like she was about to go on a secret away mission. "Are you leaving the pce, too, Mama Boss?"

    Mama Boss smiled and nodded. "I''m paying a visit to the Cosmic Tree and the Spirit World."

    Ohhh.

    Neoma giggled, then she hugged her mother. "Are you going to stir up a storm, Mama Boss?"

    Mama Bossughed softly while rubbing Neoma''s back, but there was a glint of mischief in her pale blue eyes. "That depends on their behavior."

    "Do you really have to bring William with you?" Papa Boss asked, frowning. Then Papa Boss also hugged Mama Boss. "Can''t you just bring my Soul Beasts with you, love?"

    Pfft.

    Neoma smirked while watching her Papa Boss'' jealous side.

    [Gosh. So petty.]

    "Neoma, Nero, and I are all leaving the pce," Mama Boss said while gently patting Papa Boss'' cheek. "You and your Soul Beasts must keep our home safe until we all return. And stop being jealous of William. Aren''t you ashamed of acting like a child in front of our daughter?"

    Papa Boss "whispered" in Mama Boss'' ear. "Neoma acts worse when she''s jealous. Love, our daughter picked a fight with Commander Ruto''s ex-fianc¨¦e before."

    Argh!

    It was one of Neoma''s most embarrassing drunken moment with Papa Boss.

    When she turned eighteen in Korea, she had a drink with her father. Of course, only in their house because she wouldn''t be allowed to drink legally in Korea at that age.

    Anyway, she told her father how she got jealous of Phoebe Willows before.

    [And Papa Boss would tease me about it every chance he got.]

    "Neoma is young, so it''s cute when she gets jealous of girls trying to covet her man," Mama Boss teased Papa Boss, gently pinching his side of the stomach. "But you''re too old to be acting this way, Niki."

    "But, Mona¨C mff!"

    Papa Boss wasn''t able to finish his sentence when Mama Boss sudenly cupped Papa Boss'' face between her hands and kissed him on the lips¡­

    ¡­ and it was NOT just a simple peck.

    ARGH!!!

    Neoma squealed while covering her eyes with her hands, her Mama Boss and Papa Bossughing in the background. "My eyes!"

    [No child would enjoy watching their parents make-out in front of them, okay?]

    ***

    "DID MAMA Boss already say her goodbye to you?" Neoma asked Nero. "Mama Boss already left with William."

    "Yes, Mother already bid me farewell before she left," Nero, who was also preparing to leave, said. "You''ll be back in two days?"

    "Yep, but I''ll return earlier if we finish quickly," Neoma said, patting her twin brother''s cheek. "Be a good boy and listen to your Ruto hyung."

    Nero knitted his eyebrows. "''Hyung?''"

    "It means older brother."

    "Why is that punk my older brother?" Neroined, scoffing. "That punk will never be my brother-inw either."

    "Gosh. As if there''s someone good enough to be your brother-inw in your eyes."

    "I''m d you know that."

    Neoma just rolled her eyes at Nero. "Take care of Aunt Brigitte and Uncle Glenn. Don''t be a douchebag to them."

    Nero was headed to House Exton with Aunt Brigitte and Uncle Glenn.

    Of course, her twin brother would be bringing his knights with him as well as the Holy Knights of Astello Temple¡­

    ¡­ and, oh, there was one more person in the list.

    "Protect Dahlia," Neoma said sternly. "Don''t let my precious secretary and friend get hurt in any way. I repeat: In. Any. Way."

    Nero rolled his eyes at her. "I know how to protect my people, Neoma."

    "Call me ''noona.''"

    "I refuse."

    Sheughed at his firm refusal, then she opened her arms. "Come here, dongsaeng."

    "What does it mean?"

    "Baby brother, in this context."

    Nero rolled his eyes at her, but he caved and hugged her. "You''re not usually affectionate like this, Neoma. Why are you being touchy suddenly? Not that I''mining."

    "I know, right?" Neoma said, patting Nero''s back. "I just have a feeling that I''ll miss you like hell, my psycho yet beloved baby brother."

    ***

    NEOMA sighed while looking at Lewis who was obviously sulking.

    It was because she already informed him that she wouldn''t be bringing him with her.

    "There''s a psycho out there who''s aiming at you, so I can''t help but leave you here, Lewis," Neoma exined again. "Goddess Astrid told me that you have to stick to someone with a Darkness attribute for you to be safe. If the goddess said that, then that must mean that psycho is weak against Darkness attribute users."

    Lewis frowned, still sulking. "But Princess Neoma has Darkness attribute, too."

    "It''s more like an affinity with Darkness, but I''m not a Darkness attribute user."

    "Lewis, you''re hurting my feelings," Hanna said yfully. "Do you think I can''t protect you?"

    "It''s not like that, Princess Hanna," Lewis said while shaking his head. "It''s just that¡­"

    Lewis trailed off, then he just sighed and kept his mouth shut.

    "I''m just kidding, Lewis. I know how you feel," Hanna said softly, then she patted Lewis'' head gently. "Don''t worry. Neoma will be back in two days. I''ll take care of you until then."

    Hmm?

    Neoma was always careful when it came to touching Lewis.

    But Hanna looked like she was used to having physical contact with Lewis, and Lewis didn''t even budge.

    Hmm???

    "Okay," Lewis said like an obedient puppy, then he even slightly bowed to Hanna. "I''ll be in your care then, Princess Hanna."

    HMM?!!

    [Since when did Lewis listen to someone else other than me???]

    "Very well," Hanna said, then she withdrew her hand before facing Neoma. "Don''t worry, Neoma. I''ll take care of Lord Manu, Prince Skylus, Princess Monik, and your "children.""

    Right.

    Because Hanna would also stay in the pce.

    [And she can''t leave since she''s looking after Duchess Amber who''s been confined in the pce for her safety.]

    "Thank you, Hanna," Neoma said, then she turned to Lewis. "Commander Crevan."

    She addressed her "son" by his formal title.

    "I''ll leave the Order of the Moonrose Knights to you, Commander," Neoma said, extending her hand to Lewis. "Let''s see each other after two days."

    Lewis nodded, then he gently shook her hand. "See youter, Princess Neoma."

    ''Later.''

    But howte?

    ***

    HI! ROYAL SECRET ALTERNATE UNIVERSE: LET''S NOT DIVORCE is now posted on my P/atreon ount.

    Just copy-paste this link: (patreon/s_c) or G0ogle P/atreon s_c to find my page. My profile picture is the same as the one I have here on WN. And the background picture says ''SOLAVERSE.''

    I have TWO TIERS.

    ROYAL FAMILY TIER (2USD) grants you ess to thepleted main story + book cover reveal. Total of 24 chapters.

    IMPERIAL FAMILY TIER (3USD) grants you ess to thepleted main story + book cover reveal + exclusive SIDE STORIES + power to vote on polls.

    See you there!

    And I hope you enjoy the AU!

    You''ll get a strong independent Mama Boss, a CRYBABY Papa Boss who calls Rufus ''Hyung'', a Nero who "hates" Neoma, and a delinquent Neoma who gets bullied by her schoolmates!

    ***

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 Chapter 818 EVERY SINGLE PIECE

    ?

    BRIGITTE was the type of person who didn''t get scared easily.

    However, the eerie atmosphere in House Exton made her nervous.

    [I can''t believe my husband grew up in this ce.]

    The mansion was as big and as luxurious as any other mansion in the Imperial Capital.

    However, the furniture inside felt too dull and nd despite being too expensive. Moreover, there were only dark colors there.

    [I''m d Glenn left this ce a long time ago.]

    Just when she thought the insides of the mansion were already bad enough, the ufortable she had only worsened when they arrived at the backyard.

    [It feels like I''m in a graveyard.]

    Everything felt gloomy.

    "Wee, Queen Brigitte."

    It was Grey Exton¨C Glenn''s younger brother and the current sessor of House Exton.

    [He could pass off as Glenn''s twin brother.]

    But Grey was taller than Glenn.

    [My husband is in no way short, but Lord Exton is like a tree.]

    "Thank you for the warm wee, Lord Grey," Brigitte said, extending her hand to Grey Exton. "I''m Brigitte Griffiths, Glenn''s wife."

    Grey looked surprised that she introduced herself as Glenn''s wife and not as a queen.

    [I just want to greet my husband''s family even though Glenn had already disowned them a long time ago¡­]

    "Ah," Grey said when he got over his surprise. "I''m Grey Exton, Glenn''s younger brother."

    Grey was about to reach for Brigitte''s hand, but Glenn swatted his younger brother''s hand away.

    Brigitte blinked in surprise.

    [What just happened?]

    "Honey, you don''t have to shake that guy''s hand," Glenn said while smiling warmly at her as if he hadn''t just coldly swatted his younger brother''s hand. "You don''t have to show courtesy to any member of House Exton."

    How could Glenn be so sweet to her and yet so rude to his (disowned) family?

    Fortunately, only Prince Nero and Lord Ruto were there with them.

    [And the two don''t look interested in what''s happening.]

    Duke Exton was still attending to his duties as a duke and would join themter.

    Miss Dahlia, on the other hand, decided to stay inside the mansion because, apparently, monsters would go crazy with the scent of a ck Witch.

    The Holy Knights were also busy unpacking their luggage in the annex building.

    "Glenn, don''t be like that," Brigitte scolded her husband. "I just want to greet your brother."

    Glenn smiled "innocently" at her. "You don''t have to be polite to that brat. He doesn''t deserve your kindness, honey."

    "Brother, stop being petty," Greyined. "You haven''t changed at all."

    Pfft.

    That was the first time Brigitte heard someone call Glenn ''petty.''

    [It''s true, though. Glenn is being petty. However, I still find this side of my husband cute.]

    "Are you done with your little reunion?"

    Ah.

    The atmosphere suddenly turned cold and heavy when Prince Nero spoke in a bored and slightly annoyed voice.

    Brigitte felt a little nervous.

    [After all, neither Princess Neoma nor Princess Hanna is here to calm Prince Nero down if he suddenly snapped¡­]

    "I''m sorry we got distracted for a bit, Prince Nero," Glenn said apologetically. Although he was now the king of Hazelden, he was still a citizen of the empire. And he was pretty fond of the Imperial Family. Hence, Glenn couldn''t help but treat Prince Nero like the emperor. "We''ll begin now."

    Glenn then turned to Grey (and red at his brother "discreetly").

    "I''ll summon the Ancient Monsters now," Grey said cautiously. "But please be alert. The Ancient Monsters are always starved no matter how much we feed them. And since this is the first time I''m summoning them all at once, I may not be able to control them perfectly."

    It was something that they had already known from the start.

    But Lord Ruto said he needed to see all the Ancient Monsters.

    Brigitte, who was being very cautious because of the baby in her womb, hid behind Glenn.

    [My husband is also a monster tamer. We''ll be fine with the Exton Brothers here.]

    "Don''t worry, honey," Glenn, who was standing in front of her protectively, whispered. "I''ll protect you and our baby."

    Brigitte smiled and nodded, then she held onto her husband''s clothes like a child.

    Then she got distracted when Grey suddenly used a loud whistle.

    Argh!

    The ground then shook a little, followed by the sound of heavy footstepsing from around them.

    And the nearer the monsters got, the gloomier the atmosphere became.

    [I can feel it¡­ the Ancient Monsters are here¡­]

    Angry growl around them soon echoed.

    It was a terrifying sound, but it seemed like only Brigitte was affected.

    "Ah, watch out!" Grey yelled in a slightly panicked voice. "Four of them have broke out of my control!"

    [Oh, no¡­]

    Glenn clicked his tongue and stepped forward when four huge Ancient Monsters lunged at their group.

    But someone else had beat her husband to it.

    Lord Ruto stepped forward and looked up at the Ancient Monsters suspended in the air. "Get down."

    Brigitte felt a shiver down her spine when the Ancient Monsters suddenly fell to the ground.

    [Even my knees buckled a bit when I heard Commander Ruto''smanding voice.]

    Hence, she wasn''t surprised when the four Ancient Monsters dropped to the ground¨C trembling while slowly backing away from Lord Ruto.

    [Oh? The Ancient Monsters are suddenly behaving properly?]

    "Honey, is Lord Ruto also a monster tamer?" Brigitte whispered to her husband. "The Ancient Monsters are listening to the youngmander."

    "It''s because of sheer fear, honey."

    "Huh?"

    "Lord Ruto is no monster tamer," Glenn exined in a half-amused and half-nervous voice. "The Ancient Monsters listened to Lord Ruto because they''re afraid of him."

    Ah.

    That was indeed both amazing and scary.

    Brigitte gulped hard while looking at Lord Ruto''s calm face.

    [Princess Neoma, you picked a good man for yourself.]

    ***

    "WHAT DID you say again?" Neoma asked Trevor,ughing in disbelief. "Did I hear it right?"

    Today was the second (and hopefully thest) day of Neoma and Trevor''s "tour."

    They had cleaned up more than fifty domains now.

    It was easy for Neoma to do because the Darkness that polluted the gods'' domains was the same as the one that polluted Goddess Alethea''s domain.

    There were only a few left on the list.

    Hence, Neoma and Trevor decided to take a break in Trevor''sir.

    It looked like a private tearoom in a posh mansion, but it was in Trevor''s territory in the Underworld.

    [Yep, Trevor is indeed a demon boy.]

    "The sample of Darkness that Lord Yule gave to you is simr to the Absolute Darkness," Trevor exined, then he sipped his coffee before he continued. "But it was mixed with the blood and corrupted divine power of dead gods."

    Neoma frowned in disgust. "Gosh. Just where did Helstor get those filthy things?"

    "I haven''t figured out how Helstor turned the blood and corrupted divine power of dead gods into a poison that could kill the living gods," the demon boy said. "However, the solution is easy."

    "What?"

    "You."

    "Me?"

    Trevor sighed, obviously displeased by what he was about to tell her. "My Moon Princess. Your blood, your breath, your soul, your divine power, and even every part of your body. If we scatter them in the Upper World, then the pollution in the Upper World would disappear in an instant as if it didn''t happen. After all, only you possess the breath that could perform miracles on gods."

    That sounded so familiar.

    Eerily familiar, at that.

    "Scatter¡­ just like how the Light Goddess scattered every piece of her being to save the world in the past?" Neoma asked, then she smirked bitterly. "Is it my turn now?"

    ***

    NIKOLAI was having a quiet afternoon tea by himself when it happened.

    The sound of rm all over the pce suddenly rang as loud as it could.

    Then the door of his office burst open, and Geoffrey entered his office in a hurry.

    "They''re here, Your Majesty," Geoffrey said in an urgent voice. "The royal knights stationed near the border of the Imperial Capital have reported the sighting of hoards of reanimated corpses headed this way."

    Niki immediately stood up and grabbed his jacket. "Open the gates now¨C I''ming out to greet those bastards."

    ***

    NEOMAughed as soon as a stupid crow greeted her when she and Trevor stepped out of the portal.

    They had been traveling from dimension to dimension for the past two days.

    So how did these bastards know where she woulde out here?

    [Trevor chose a border near the Imperial Capital so we could return to the pce fast.]

    "Someone is paying attention to you, my Moon Princess," Trevor said in a teasing voice, but his purple eyes looked annoyed. "How did they even know we''re here when I''ve covered our traces pretty well?"

    "We didn''t ask the gods to keep our movements a secret," Neoma said, shaking her head. Then she crossed her arms over her chest while looking at the crow floating in the air right in front of her face. "What do you want, crow?"

    <"It''s me, Regina Crowell.">

    The sounding out of the crow was metallic.

    But the tone definitely sounded like Regina Crowell.

    [The crow sounds condescending, after all.]

    <"Let''s meet, Princess Neoma. Or else it will be the end for Duchess Amber Quinzel. Don''t you feel bad for your former adoptive mother?">

    Neoma rolled her eyes. "No need to guilt trip me, Regina Crowell¨C I''ming to get you."

    ***

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 Chapter 819 NEOMA NOONA

    ?

    "YOU''RE not here to pick a fight with me, are you?" Neoma asked when she saw Phoebe Willows in her chambers after she stepped out of the bath. "I''m not in the mood to fight with you, child."

    The security in her bedroom wasx, since she was hiding her presence.

    Hence, not even Lewis realized that she was already back in the Imperial Pce.

    [But the fact that Pheobe Willows is here only means Goddess Astrid brought her here.]

    Gosh.

    [I thought I should take a quick nap before I let my presence known, but there''s a guest.]

    "Why would I pick a fight with Your Imperial Highness when I''m in your territory?" Phoebe Willows said, frowning. "I''m only here to run an errand for Goddess Astrid."

    Neoma looked at the box in Phoebe Willows'' hands. "A Divine Item, isn''t it?"

    "Goddess Astrid said this is Your Imperial Highness'' payment for listening to her request."

    Wasn''t it more appropriate to call it a ''bribe?''

    The Goddess of Beauty hated Neoma''s guts.

    But the fact that Astrid brought her a "gift" could only mean that the goddess knew her life would be in danger soon.

    [And she needs me alive to fulfill her request, so she''s trying to protect me.]

    "Well, if the goddess puts it that way, then I cannot not ept her present," Neoma said. Like she said, she had no intention of dying on purpose. Hence, she would ept even the help of her beauty rival. "Please let her know I''ll express my gratitude once I find the Divine Item useful."

    "Will it kill Your Imperial Highness to say ''thank you'' to Goddess Astrid?"

    "Child, gods don''t give gifts for free," she said, shrugging. "It''s not that I''m being ungrateful¨C I''m just being cautious. Plus, what Goddess Astrid and I have is a mere business transaction. I don''t need to worship her just because she gave me a Divine Item, do I?"

    Phoebe Willows frowned as if she didn''t understand what Neoma was trying to say. "Why are you talking to me like I''m a child, Princess Neoma? I''m older than you."

    Oops.

    [That''s what she''s upset about?]

    "Well, let''s just say that I''m a sunbae¨C I mean, a senior who gives her junior an unsolicited advice when ites to dealing with gods," Neoma said as an excuse. "Lady Phoebe, don''t ever get attached to a god. They''re not your family or your ally. They can always fuck you up when you least expected it. It''s not that they have a bad personality. They just do whatever the fuck they want simply because they were born that way."

    Phoebe Willows looked horrified by what she said. "How could Your Imperial Princess speak sphemy against the gods when you have Lord Yule''s blood flowing in your veins?"

    "I''m just spitting facts. It''s not sphemy if it''s true," she said, looking at the box that the child was holding. "May I open Goddess Astrid''s present now?"

    The child automatically handed the box to her.

    [I hope it''s something rted to beauty since if I was going to die, I wanted to die beautiful.]

    "Goddess Astrid said you''ll be in the frontline," Phoebe Willows said. "So, the goddess sent you the armor that she used the first time she participated in a war."

    Wow~

    An armor used by the Goddess of Beauty?

    [Jackpot!]

    Neoma opened the box, then sheughed out loud when she saw the "armor."

    [Yep, I''m gonna die as a legendary beauty with this~]

    ***

    [OF COURSE, even if the world was about to end, Princess Neoma would still take a bath and dress up before going to war.]

    Trevor was back in the Imperial Pce with Princess Neoma.

    [But in secret, since we don''t want to rm the others.]

    He took that as an opportunity to take a quick nap. After that, he took a bath and change clothes as well.

    Despite all of that, he still felt tired.

    After all, Trevor and Princess Neoma only slept for an hour each day for the past two days that they were "touring" the gods'' domains. They couldn''t trust the gods despite the contracts they made with them, so naturally, they didn''t lower their guard.

    "It reeks of blood," Trevor said while standing on the balcony and stretching his arms. "Those damned crows sure are filthy."

    But the smell of blood wasn''t what bothered him.

    It was the sky.

    [It''s only noon, and yet it looks like nighttime already.]

    Fortunately, the "night" was calm.

    He could hear the movements of the people in the Imperial Capital. They sounded scared, but they were moving calmly as if someone was leading them properly.

    [It looks like His Imperial Majesty is doing a good job protecting the people.]

    "Trevor, are you ready?"

    [My Moon Princess is here~]

    Trevor turned around to face Princess Neoma, then he knitted his eyebrows. "My Moon Princess, you''re pretty whatever you wear. But shouldn''t you wear an armor? Or a breastte, at least. Our Core is located in our hearts, so we must protect it at all costs."

    Princess Neoma chose to wear a dress today.

    [Yes, a dress.]

    His Moon Princess wore a fancy red hooded dress and a corset little ck dress underneath. She also wore ck tights and a pair of red-heeled boots.

    Wow.

    Trevor whistled in appreciation. "But I must say that you''re dressed to kill today, my Moon Princess~"

    "That, I am," Princess Neoma said, then she touched the hood covering her head. "This enchanted hooded dress is already my armor. The hood is to protect my head and my face, and the dress itself is to protect my heart and my body."

    "That''s nice," he said, then he tilted his head to one side. "Where did you get that, though?"

    "It''s a present from Goddess Astrid," the Imperial Princess said. "It fits me, doesn''t it?"

    "No doubt at all, my Moon Princess~" Trevor said. "But let me check if it has some hidden spells or curses."

    His Moon Princess opened her arms carelessly. "Okay. Go ahead."

    God.

    Trevor was tempted to run into Princess Neoma''s embrace.

    But he didn''t want to be hated by his Moon Princess, and he wasn''t a pervert, so he held it in as always.

    "Can I touch your armor, Princess Neoma?"

    "Sure, no problem."

    Only then did Trevor touch the hood and the hem of Princess Neoma''s armor.

    Then he released his demonic aura.

    If the armor wasced with even the weakest harmful spell, then it would repel his aura since a demon''s aura was a bad match against spells and curses.

    Thankfully, nothing happened.

    "The armor is clear," Trevor said, letting go of the piece of clothing in his hand. "And it''s a good armor, Princess Neoma."

    "I know, right?" Princess Neoma agreed. "Gods can be useful when they want to be."

    ***

    "EOMMA, I''m ready!"

    Neoma felt a pang in her chest when she saw Greko''s bright and excited face.

    The reason she returned to the Imperial Pce was to pick up her youngest.

    After all, one of Regina''s conditions was to bring a Healer with her.

    [I could have chosen Paige, but Paige has to look after Duchess Amber now that Mama Boss is busy.]

    Her mother hadn''t returned from her visit to the Cosmic Tree and the Spirit World yet.

    "I''m sorry, Greko," Neoma said, her heart heavy with guilt. "I''m bringing you with me to the most dangerous person out there."

    She considered Regina Crowell more dangerous than Calyx.

    Calyx was being supported by Helstor and Callisto de Luca, so he was a threat.

    But Regina Crowell was dangerous because of her brain and slyness.

    [That''s more frightening than a little boy using his resources to throw a tantrum.]

    "Don''t apologize, eomma," Greko said, smiling while shaking his head. "I want to do this. Moreover, I really want to be beside you when you face the most dangerous person in the war because I want to protect you. I''m no longer a child, eomma."

    Aww.

    That was so sweet of her youngest.

    "Trevor is waiting outside. Go to him and he''ll give you some protective device," Neoma said. "I''ll just talk to Paige first."

    Greko smiled and nodded. "Okay, eomma!"

    Then her youngest left the room.

    Now only Neoma and Paige were left in the chamber where Duchess Amber Quinzel was currently confined in secret.

    Then she didn''t beat around the bush.

    "Paige, do I just have to snap this?" Neoma asked while pointing at the bracelet around her wrist. "Will Greko be sent to safety once this bracelet snaps?"

    All of her children had an Emergency Portal Ticket given by Paige.

    But Neoma had a feeling that Greko wouldn''t use that ticket and leave her even if she asked him to once things got dangerous. Hence, she asked Paige to make a device that could send Greko back to the empire in an instant.

    "That''s right, Princess Neoma," Paige said, nodding. "You just have to snap the bracelet and Greko would be sent to where I am immediately."

    "That''s a relief. Thank you," Neoma said, then she changed the topic since she was running out of time already. "How''s the duchess, Paige?"

    "Duchess Quinzel remains calm as long as I use my purification spell on her every three hours," Paige exined. "It''s a technique that Empress Mona taught to me before she left the pce."

    It seemed like her Mama Boss'' technique was working.

    Neoma tuned to Duchess Amber who was on the bed.

    It pained her heart to see the duchess'' violet skin and all-ck eyes which was very different from the duchess'' normal appearance.

    However, she was relieved to see the duchess calm.

    [Unlike the other zombie that was in a hysterical state.]

    "Princess Neoma, actually, I think¡­"

    "Where are Hanna and Lewis?"

    Oh.

    Neoma and Paige spoke at the same time.

    The Light Mage turned red as if she was embarrassed.

    "Oh. It''s okay, go ahead," Neoma said. "What is it that you want to ask?"

    Paige paused for a second, as if she hesitated. And, in the end, she just shook her head. "It''s nothing, Princess Neoma," she said hesitantly before she changed the topic. "Princess Hanna and Lewis went to the People''s Pce we''re going to use an evacuation center. When the rm rang, the royal knights began evacuating the people in areas that would be affected by the hoards of reanimated corpses. Juri, Jeno, and Xion went with them."

    It was a relief that their n was sailing smoothly.

    [It''s safer for the people to be at the pce while the Imperial Capital is being attacked.]

    "I assume my Papa Boss led the troop to "wee" the crow bastards?"

    Paige nodded in confirmation. "Prince Nero and Lord Ruto are also getting ready. Are you going to meet Regina Crowell now, Princess Neoma?"

    "Uh-huh," Neoma said, patting Paige''s shoulder when she saw how the Light Mage looked really worried about her. "Don''t worry, Paige. I''ll join the war soon. Please protect your siblings until I returned."

    ***

    PAIGE was wondering if she should have told Princess Neoma about her observation.

    [Duchess Quinzel is getting better even though we''re not doing anything to cure her¡­]

    It may not be obvious to most people.

    But Paige could see that Duchess Quinzel''s skin was slowly returning to normal. Moreover, she could see the faint glimmer of green in the duchess'' ck eyes.

    At this rate, Her Grace wouldn''t need an antidote or any kind of medicine to recover.

    And yet, Paige kept her mouth shut.

    [I''m not afraid to take responsibility if my observation turned out to be wrong. However, if I stopped Princess Neoma from walking into Regina Crowell''s trap and Duchess Quinzel''s condition suddenly turned for the worse, then I''m afraid Princess Neoma would me herself.]

    Hence, she was confused whether she did the right thing or not by keeping quiet.

    For the first time in her life, she felt lost.

    "I don''t know anymore," Paige whispered to herself, closing her eyes and sping her hands together. "Just please don''t let anything bad happen to Princess Neoma and Greko¡­"

    ***

    "HOW DARE you covet what''s not yours, Tara?" Mona asked, smiling at her "friend." "I didn''t summon my old Spirits when I returned because I didn''t want to disturb their slumber. Hence, I was surprised when I found out that you were keeping my Spirits here."

    And she wouldn''t have found out about it had she not paid a visit to the Cosmic Tree first.

    Even William didn''t know that the Queen of the Spirit World had snatched away Mona''s sleeping Spirits and hid them in her pce.

    [If the Extons didn''t find Gale first, then Tara would have stolen her as well.]

    Mona was d that Gale was freed and was now living as Mochi¨C Neoma''s Wind Spirit.

    As for the others¡­

    "If you don''t give me a proper answer, I''ll destroy the Spirit World," Mona said. She was still smiling, but her pale blue eyes were glowing menacingly. "Do you want that to happen to your beloved territory?"

    Tara, who was already covered in blood, could only re at her while barely standing. "You already destroyed half of the Spirit World, Mona!"

    "And I can destroy the other half if I want to."

    The Spirit World wasn''t as big as the human world.

    It was only the size of the empire.

    Hence, destroying half of the Spirit World during the past two days that she was there was feasible.

    [Anyone can do it, right?]

    Mona was careful not to hurt the living things there, of course.

    She only destroyed the buildings.

    "I''ll return them," Tara said in a cracked voice. "Just¡­ leave."

    "Do you still envy me for gaining the title ''Daughter of Nature'' when I''m just a mere human?"

    Tara didn''t say anything, but the re she gave Mona was enough answer.

    "Maybe you should ask yourself why the Cosmic Tree and the Nature itself chose a "mere" human over the Spirit Queen to be their daughter," Mona said coldly. "This will be myst warning to you as an old friend, Tara: don''t covet anything that''s MINE¨C and that includes my children."

    Haaah.

    Mona didn''te here to pick a fight with the Spirit World. She actually wanted to ask her old friend''s help to protect the human world. But she got angry when she found out Tara stole her resting Spirits.

    Before she knew it, she had already destroyed half of the Spirit World.

    "Mona, we should leave now."

    It was William.

    They moved separately until now because she asked William to evacuate the people that may get hurt by her rampage.

    "The crows have arrived," William said in a serious tone. "The war is about to begin."

    "Very well," Mona said, then she turned to Tara with cold eyes. "If you''re not going to help us, then don''t get in my way, Tara."

    ***

    "WOOOOOHHH! THIS IS SO FREAKING FUN!"

    [Should I knock them out?]

    Ruto was annoyed by Manuel and his tribe''s loud voices.

    It was nice that those punks learned how to fly the Frost Wyverns in just two days, but he couldn''t stand the noise.

    [What are they so loud for anyway?]

    Fortunately, the Northern Lords were quiet.

    "CAPTAIN RUTO!!!"

    "So damned loud."

    It wasn''t Ruto.

    This time, it was Prince Nero whoined about the noise.

    [But when did Prince Nero start cursing? Is it Neoma''s bad influence?]

    "Captain Ruto, the crows and the reanimated corpses are near the Imperial Capital now!" Aspen reported in a loud voice. "His Imperial Majesty has already left the pce to activate the traps we set up in the capital. We should head out, too."

    "Yes, we should¡­"

    Ruto trailed off when he heard a painful groan from his side, then he caught Prince Nero before he fell to the ground.

    In an instant, all of Prince Nero''s knights surrounded them.

    "Prince Nero?" Ruto called the Crown Prince who had his eyes shut tight while clutching his chest. "What''s happening?"

    "Neoma¡­" Nero said in a weak voice, then he opened his now glowing red eyes. "My connection to Neoma is disappearing¡­"

    ***

    NEOMA''S arrogance had really caused her downfall this time, huh?

    The Kiss of Death.

    She felt it as the dagger pierced through her heart¨C mercilessly shattering her Core.

    It was not supposed to happen, at all.

    [But here we are now.]

    "Ah, it worked," Regina Crowell said whileughing and pping her hands in joy. "I knew you''d sacrifice yourself for your "son," Princess Neoma!"

    Neoma smirked, blood trailing down the side of her mouth. "Do your worst, babe. I''ll be back sooner than you think."

    Regina justughed louder. "I won''t let your people use me to revive you again."

    "Well, that''s not up to you."

    Neoma wanted to say more, but her consciousness was quickly fading away.

    Before she knew it, her back already touched the snow-covered ground. And then she was left staring at the falling snow.

    [Am I going to die alone like this again?]

    "Neoma!"

    Huh?

    Before Neoma''s vision turned blurry, she saw Neroe out of thin air while riding his ice phoenix.

    [Am I hallucinating or what?]

    Well, at least she got to see Nero''s worried and crying face this time.

    [Thest time I died in front of Nero, he just watched andughed at my face.]

    It was good to see Nero crying for her this time around.

    Neoma smiled, her trembling hand trying to reach for her baby twin brother. "Dongsaeng, can you call me ''noona'' for the first andst time?"

    Nero''s face scrunched up as if he was mad, mad that she was already saying herst wishes. "You can''t die, Neoma. How dare you die without me?!" he yelled, his voice filled with anguish as he reached his hand out to her desperately. "Don''t leave me, noona!"

    Ah, finally.

    Neoma finally got to hear Nero call her ''noona.''

    "That''s right¨C I''m your ''noona,''" Neoma said weakly, closing her eyes as her smile slowly faded away. "Goodnight, Nero¡­"

    And that was the third time Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio died.

    Even if she could turn back time before shit went down just almost an hour ago, she still wouldn''t change a thing.

    Neoma would still die for Greko.

    [And I have no regrets.]

    ***

    HI! ROYAL SECRET ALTERNATE UNIVERSE: LET''S NOT DIVORCE is now posted on my P/atreon ount.

    Just copy-paste this link: (patreon/s_c) or G0ogle P/atreon s_c to find my page. My profile picture is the same as the one I have here on WN. And the background picture says ''SOLAVERSE.''

    I have TWO TIERS.

    ROYAL FAMILY TIER (2USD) grants you ess to thepleted main story + book cover reveal. Total of 24 chapters.

    IMPERIAL FAMILY TIER (3USD) grants you ess to thepleted main story + book cover reveal + exclusive SIDE STORIES + power to vote on polls.

    See you there!

    And I hope you enjoy the AU!

    You''ll get a strong independent Mama Boss, a CRYBABY Papa Boss who calls Rufus ''Hyung'', a Nero who "hates" Neoma, and a delinquent Neoma who gets bullied by her schoolmates!

    ***

    NOTE: And we finally entered the LAST ACT of the Final Arc. Yes, the end is really near. Brace yourselves for thest act and I hope you stay with Neoma until the end. T_T

    ***

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 Chapter 820 A GOOD DAY TO DIE (1)

    ?

    "EVERYONE, don''t panic," Hanna said in a loud and firm voice while standing in front of the Imperial Pce''s open gate. "All of you will be amodated in the pce."

    She was addressing the huge and chaotic crowd in front of her.

    There were three lines facing her, and each line had a long queue of people in a hurry to enter the pce for safety. But those people were yelling at each other and pushing forward. As an unfortunate result, the lines were starting to get messy.

    The Imperial Knights guiding the citizens had already snapped and were now yelling at the people to keep them in line.

    Hence, Hanna was also forced to raise her voice.

    "Please don''t push or else a stampede might ur!" Hanna yelled, feeling awkward since she didn''t like yelling. She was already using a voice-amplifying device. But that didn''t seem to work, so she raised her voice as well. "Let the elders, the women, and the children enter first!"

    Her voice fell on deaf ears.

    [Should I show a little bit of force¡­]

    Hanna''s thoughts were cut short when she heard Lewis let out a frustrated sigh¡­

    ¡­ then Lewis stomped his foot on the ground.

    It was a simple yet powerful move that caused a quake¨C causing long cracks all over the solid concrete.

    The citizens screamed for a different reason this time.

    At least, they finally stopped pushing each other.

    The earthquake wasn''t that bad to harm anyone either.

    [Lewis inherited Neoma''s temper¡­]

    "The Crown Princess is talking," Lewis said in an irritated tone, his voice amplified by the same device Neoma would use when talking to a crowd. "Shut up or I''ll close the gate myself."

    It was a mild threat.

    But it seemed to be effective.

    [Lewis was right, though. We can close the gates if the citizens don''t behave properly. But he could have said it in a nicer way. As amander, he shouldn''t threaten our people¡­]

    Hanna made a mental note to slightly scold Lewister.

    Luckily, it seemed like the citizens got the message loud and clear.

    The citizens finally stopped pushing each other and tried to fix the lines that they messed up themselves.

    Then they started begging.

    "Please let us in, Princess Hanna!"

    "We''re scared!"

    "Don''t abandon us, please!"

    "We will not abandon you. But please cooperate with us," Hanna said calmly this time. "As I said earlier, all of you will be amodated in the pce. I just need you to calm down and listen to our instructions. I know you''re scared of the reanimated corpses that you saw. But I assure you that they can''t reach the pce. And even if they did, you will all still be safe."

    She pointed both of her hands to Lewis.

    "We have Commander Lewis Crevan here and the rest of Princess Neoma''s Moonrose Knights," Hanna said proudly. "They will keep us safe."

    Fortunately, that was enough to put the citizens at ease.

    [They''re calm now.]

    "Let''s proceed," Hanna said firmly, more confident this time. "The elders, the women, and the children will be let in first."

    ***

    THE IMPERIAL Capital had been turned into an abandoned town.

    Most of the citizens (themoners and the people from the slums) had already been evacuated to the pce.

    The Imperial Knights and the Imperial Mages worked together for a quick evacuation. While the mages opened a portal, the knights guided the people to safety. Geoffrey Kinsley, his Pdin, led the operation.

    But not everyone wanted to leave their homes.

    And the pce couldn''t amodate all the citizens residing in the Imperial Capital. That was exactly why they only evacuated the people whose towns and viges would be affected by the reanimated corpses.

    The towns and viges far from the border were heavily guarded by the Imperial Knights. Especially the slums.

    [We also deployed troops and the private armies of the nobles to different areas.]

    Niki instructed the citizens who chose to remain home to lock their doors and windows properly. Then he put two Imperial Knights in each household to protect them.

    Of course, he was only talking about themoners.

    [The nobles can protect themselves.]

    And the center of the attack wouldn''t reach the nobles anyway since they lived in a safe vige.

    [Nero and his knights caught all the reanimated corpses in House Spencer, so they''re safe.]

    Hence, Niki summoned East¨C the Azure Dragon¨C and rode on the Soul Beast''s back as they watched over the town.

    Fortunately, he didn''t see any person outside.

    Even the slums were empty.

    [Good.]

    After making sure that there were no citizens roaming around the capital, Niki ordered East to finallynd on top of the Moon Tower¨C the tower located at the entrance of the Imperial Capital.

    The Azure Dragonnded on the roof, then Niki quickly hopped off andnded on his feet.

    Jeanne Audley, who was currently working as a Pdin right now because Mona hadn''t returned yet, immediately approached him for a report.

    "Your Majesty, we''ve confirmed the arrival of the reanimated corpses," Jeanne Audley said. "We haven''t seen anyone leading the reanimated corpses. It was as if someone just dropped them out of thin air. However, seeing that the reanimated corpses seem to know where they''re supposed to go, we''re assuming the one controlling them is just hiding. The Fletcher Twins are already looking for them."

    Yes, the Fletcher Twins had already returned to the empire when Glenn and his family (except for the third child) were summoned there.

    "Alright," Niki said. "Nero and Commander Ruto must be on their way."

    As if on cue, the piercing in Niki''s left ear which was amunication device in disguise vibrated. When he pressed the silver stud, his device was automatically connected to the other line.

    <"Your Majesty, this is Commander Ruto speaking.">

    "The reanimated corpses will reach the entrance of the Imperial Capital in fifteen minutes, judging by their speed," Niki said while observing the hoards of reanimated corpses running at full speed. "How long will it take for you and Nero to get here?"

    <"Prince Nero has copsed, Your Majesty.">

    "What did you say?!"

    <"Before Prince Nero copsed, His Imperial Highness mentioned that his connection to Princess Neoma has disappeared.">

    Niki felt a shiver down his spine.

    The first time he felt his connection to Nichole disappear was the moment his twin sister died.

    It was physically painful.

    He had felt it in his core back then¨C it was as if the other half of his heart was torn apart.

    If Nero was currently experiencing the same pain that Niki had gone through when he lost Nichole, then it could only mean one thing¡­

    "Where is Neoma?"

    <"Calm down and stay where you are, Your Majesty,"> Ruto said firmly. <"I''ll bring the Frost Wyverns and the Holy Knights there in ce of Prince Nero. Please take over once we get there. I''ll then head out to look for Neoma.">

    Niki didn''t want to admit this, but Ruto''s calmness put him at ease.

    [Even though I don''t want to say this, I can''t deny the fact that Commander Ruto is reliable¨C especially when it concerns Neoma.]

    Hence, even though he was terribly worried about Neoma, he didn''t lose his mind.

    [I''m not just a father¨C I''m the emperor responsible for the lives of my people.]

    In other words, even though he wanted to abandon his task in order to look for Neoma, he couldn''t do it.

    [I know Neoma would hate me if I abandoned our people that way.]

    "How''s Nero''s condition?"

    <"Prince Nero is still unconscious, Your Majesty. The Healer in his group and Dahlia are currently looking after him,"> Ruto reported. <"If Your Imperial Majesty can contact Empress Mona, then please tell Her Imperial Majesty to head towards Prince Nero. His Imperial Highness'' hair is turning pink, and I don''t know much about how the Roseheart Blood works so I can only do so much for the Crown Prince while he''s in that state.">

    [You''ve already done plenty enough for my family.]

    Niki almost blurted that out.

    Fortunately, he was able to stop himself from saying that.

    [I don''t want Commander Ruto to think I''m acknowledging him as a potential son-inw.]

    "Alright. I''ll contact Mona right away," Niki said. "And get here fast, Commander Ruto. I''m barely holding in while knowing that both of my children are in danger."

    <"I understand, Your Majesty,"> Ruto said. <"We''ll be there in ten minutes.">

    After that conversation, Niki ended the call.

    Then he called Mona using themunication device that was only connected to his wife''s.

    "Love, where are you now?""

    <"William and I have just returned to the human realm. We''re near the empire. Did something happen?">

    Niki took a deep breath before he shared the bad news with his wife. "Please go straight to Nero. Apparently, our son fell unconscious after saying that his connection to Neoma has disappeared."

    <"¡­">

    The heavy silence on the other line broke his heart.

    [I can tell that Mona is shocked and worried.]

    After all, that was exactly how he felt earlier.

    "Ruto will guide the Frost Wyverns and the Holy Knights here first, then he''ll go and look for Neoma," he said calmly because he wanted to put his wife at ease. "We can trust that punk, love. That''s the only reason why I''m still sane."

    <"Thank you, love,"> Mona said. She was probably thanking him for putting her at ease despite the situation. <"I''ll go and check on Nero now. If you can, please go and follow Ruto as soon as you can.">

    "I will, love," Niki said, nodding even though Mona can''t see him at the moment. "Our family will get through this together."

    ***

    "EMPRESS Mona will be here soon," Ruto said to Melvin, who was currently guarding Prince Nero''s tent with Sanford and Raku, while putting a new stud in his ear. It was amunication device directly connected to Trevor. "The reanimated corpses that attacked the Imperial Capital seemingly arrived without a guide. Hence, it won''t be a stretch to say that those things are nothing but a decoy."

    "You''re saying that the reanimated corpses are just a huge distraction," Melvin said in a serious tone. "And that the crows may end up attacking Prince Nero here."

    "Calyx might use this opportunity to abduct Prince Nero," Ruto said. "Don''t underestimate his obsession with the Crown Prince."

    "I understand, Lord Ruto," the secretary said while nodding. "Lucien is already patrolling the area to make sure that we won''t get ambushed."

    "Alright. I''ll leave Prince Nero to you then."

    [Even if Prince Nero snaps, Dahlia is there to calm him down.]

    Fortunately, even if Prince Nero wouldn''t be able to join them, the Frost Wyverns could still supply the amount of ice that they needed.

    [And the Holy Knights will take care of the rest.]

    His thoughts were interrupted when his call finally got connected to Trevor.

    <"Damned chef, I''m sending you the coordinates of Princess Neoma''s exact location¡­">

    It was Trevor''s voice, but it was clear that the demon was in pain.

    He didn''t bother asking what happened because he already had a gist of it.

    [Regina Crowell outsmarted Neoma this time.]

    "Hurry up and give the coordinates to me," Ruto said in a hurry. "I''ll be there right away."

    ***

    [THIS BITCH is really testing my patience.]

    Neoma wasn''t happy to know that the meeting ce Regina Crowell set up for them was the cabin in the woods where Dahlia lived in the first timeline.

    It was the ce where Nero stabbed her to death.

    [I almost forgot that Dahlia lived in the mountain near the empire back then.]

    The fact that Regina summoned Neoma there was proof that the crow really remembered her first life.

    [But how¡­?]

    "Wee, Princess Neoma," Regina Crowell greeted her cheerfully. "This ce is nostalgic, isn''t it?"

    Regina appeared to be alone.

    [So far, I don''t sense the presence of other people here.]

    But Neoma didn''t let her guard down.

    How could she do that when Greko and Trevor were with her?

    [I need to protect them.]

    "This is the ce where I swore on my life that I''de back to life to drag you and Rubin Drayton to hell," Neoma said indifferently. "Unfortunately, my second life has turned me into a softie. Hence, when I came back as Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio, I almost forgot about you and Rubin Drayton until you decided to mess with Hanna."

    She was spilling some piping hot tea, but she didn''t care.

    Regina looked confused, and that was exactly what Neoma wanted to see.

    [You''re not the only one good at mind games, Regina Crowell.]

    "You lived a second life?" Regina asked, obviously curious. "Then is this already your third life, Princess Neoma?"

    "I''ll tell you if you tell me how you remember your first life."

    Regina frowned at her. "You really know how to annoy people, Princess Neoma."

    "Why, thank you," Neoma said sarcastically. "Are you done with your nostalgia bullshit now? Unlike you, I''m a very much-needed person."

    "Pfft."

    It was Trevor.

    Of course, only the demon boy would be able tough at that situation.

    "I don''t think you''re in the position tough, Trevor Kesser," Regina said, her green eyes glowing as she red at Trevor. "You''re bound to be busy in three, two, one¡­"

    "Argh!"

    Trevor suddenly cried in pain as he fell to the ground as if he was crushed by an invisible force.

    [What the¡­]

    "Trevor!"

    "Hyung!"

    Neoma and Greko both knelt on either side of Trevor.

    The two of them tried to reach for the demon boy, but they couldn''t. It was as if there was an unseen barrier around Trevor.

    But that wasn''t the scary part.

    Trevor''s body quickly turned translucent as if he was getting teleported to a different ce.

    "That Dn Crowell bastard seems to be messing with the contract that we made with the gods, Princess Neoma," Trevor reported in an urgent voice, and it was obvious that he was trying not to show his pain. "A piece of my soul is embedded in each contract we signed. So, if the gods break the contracts all at the same time¡­"

    It was not supposed to be possible.

    But Dn Crowell was allegedly Trevor''s brother.

    [If Dn is really a Kesser, then that crow bastard might be strong enough to break the contracts that Trevor made.]

    Fucking hell.

    "I''ll fix the contracts right away, my Moon Princess," Trevor promised, already out of breath. "I''m sorry I''m forced to leave your side like this¡­"

    "It''s alright," Neoma said. "Juste back to me soon, Trevor."

    Trevor could only nod and close his eyes before hepletely disappeared.

    Wow.

    [I can''t believe this¡­]

    "No wonder there were so many gods who wanted to make a contract with us all at the same time," Neoma said as she stood up, her ash-gray eyes turned glowing red in an instant. "Did Helstor force those gods to seek my help only for them to break the contract in order to pluck Trevor from my side?"

    "Princess Neoma, if you ask me, I wouldn''t say that your arrogance is your biggest w," Regina said, her glowing green eyes as dead as her personality. "I''d say it''s your saviorplex¨C you think you''re great enough to be needed by the gods." The crow then smirked at her. "You''re making it easy for me to crush you, our dear Imperial Princess."

    [Not gonna lie¨C Regina is right.]

    "Alright, I ept you," Neoma said, removing her hood tob her fingers through her hair. "From now on, I acknowledge you as my worthy nemesis, Regina Crowell."

    "Why, thank you," Regina said sarcastically, mimicking what Neoma said earlier. The damned crow even had the audacity to give a mock curtsy. "It''s an honor to be your archenemy in this lifetime, Princess Neoma."

    [This is why girls are scary when they fight¡­]

    ***

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 Chapter 821 A GOOD DAY TO DIE (2)

    Chapter 821 A GOOD DAY TO DIE (2)

    NEOMA WAS equally pissed and thrilled.

    She was pissed because Trevor and Greko were put in danger because of her.

    But, at the same time, she was d to finally see Regina''s full potential as her archenemy.

    [This is the real Regina Crowell¨C not the one controlled by the crows.]

    "Regina, all your ns have been shitty until now," Neoma said, cing her hands on her hips. "Be honest with me. Those stupid ns you executed in the past weren''t your ideas, were they?"

    Reginaughed, but it sounded hollow. "Do you think they would have listened to the opinion of a little girl who couldn''t even use her shadows properly?"

    Ah.

    [There''s a lot to unpack from that statement alone.]

    So Regina was looked down on by the other crows simply because she couldn''t manifest her power as a Quinzel the way the crows expected her to.

    And yeah.

    [Those crows are misogynists.]

    "They only saw my worth after I turned you into a baby," Regina said, smirking. "When that ability awakened in me, the memories of my first life slowly came back to me."

    "I take it as you didn''t tell the crows about your memories?"

    "Why would I reveal the fact that I have the ability to bring someone as great as you back to life?" Regina retorted, scoffing. "If they did, then they would just use me to extend Calyx''s life if that stupid brat died."

    "Right? This world doesn''t need more stupid people," Neoma said, then she pointed at herself. "But this world needs more people like like me. So, why don''t you be a good girl and extend my lifespan, Regina?"

    "You can''t fool me, Princess Neoma. You''re not the type of person who would put yourself first," Regina said, then she pulled out a vial from the pouch she was carrying. "First things first, Your Imperial Highness. You came here for this, didn''t you?"

    "Uh-huh."

    "Thene and get it."

    "Riiight~"

    Of course, Neoma remained where she stood.

    She didn''t have to move because she already ordered Mochi to get the vial from Regina.

    The crow was surprised when a strong gust of wind almost knocked her down.

    Regina dropped the vial as a result of literally getting hit by the strong wind.

    But before the vial hit the ground, Mochi¨C in the form of a white bunny¨C used her mouth to catch it.

    Then the Wind Spirit hopped in the air until she reached Neoma quickly.

    "Thank you, Mochi," Neoma said when she received the vial from Mochi. "You did well."

    <"You''re wee, Little Neoma.">

    After saying that, Mochi disappeared into thin air.

    "Eomma, should I check it?" Greko asked eagerly. It was clear that the youngest was excited to examine the new medicine. "It''s my job as a Healer."

    "Wait, baby. Let your eomma check first if this is safe," Neoma said, opening the vial as far away from Greko''s face as possible. Then she smelled it, and she didn''t smell anything wrong with it. She didn''t also feel any bad vibesing from the vial. "Hmm. Should I have a taste?"

    "Eomma!" Greko protested, scolding her sternly. "You can''t have a taste just because the liquid smells sweet."

    Hmm?

    Neoma turned to Greko with knitted eyebrows. "It smells sweet? I don''t smell anything."

    "It smells sweet to me, eomma," Greko said. "It smells like tea, actually. The sweet kind."

    Was the smell something that only a Healer could smell?

    "I didn''t ask you to bring a Healer for nothing," Regina said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Why don''t you let that child examine the vial?"

    Pfft.

    Neoma smirked while covering the lid of the vial. "You''re making it too obvious that this is a trap, Regina."

    Regina smirked back at her. "It is, and you''re already caught in the trap."

    She knitted her eyebrows.

    And then¡­

    "E-Eomma¡­"

    Neoma immediately turned to Greko.

    Then, much to her shock, the youngest coughed up blood while clutching his chest tight.

    "Greko!"

    "My Core¡­" Greko said weakly, his body staggering. "It''s getting shattered."

    What the hell¡­?

    Neoma immediately caught Greko before he hit the ground. "Your Core is getting shattered?"

    Greko nodded, then he pointed at the vial that Neoma dropped to catch him. "The smell of that liquid¡­ it''s messing with my Core¡­"

    [Aish!]

    Neoma hated herself for opening that damned in front of Greko.

    [When did I be so stupid and careless?!]

    "That child''s Core will getpletely crushed in seven minutes, Princess Neoma," Regina said in a serious tone, then she threw an ancient dagger thatnded at the tip of Neoma''s boots. "If you crush your own Core with that dagger, then your Core will get crushed instead of that child''s."

    Neoma didn''t get the chance to reply because Greko suddenly hugged her.

    "Eomma, no," Greko said weakly. "You can''t trust her! She''s a bad person!"

    Neoma only hugged Greko.

    [No, Regina is being real.]

    "I knew you wouldn''t trust me after I tricked you, so I prepared this," Regina said, pulling out a pill from her pouch. "This is an Anwyr Pill, and you can''t tamper with any Divine Items personally made by gods."

    Regina was speaking facts.

    [That''s why I gained the trust of the people when I consumed Anwir Pills during the trial.]

    "Here," Regina said, then she ate the pill. "The liquid that Greko sniffed in is meant to subdue fairies like him. But since the child is only half-fairy, Dn modified it in order to make it more effective. Usually, fairies who got a whiff of that harmful scent would have their wings fall off. But after Dn altered the properties of the liquid, the effect has been changed to crushing the child''s Core instead."

    "Eomma, don''t listen to her," Greko begged Neoma, then he covered her ears with his cold and shaking hands. "Even if she''s telling the truth, please don''t do it¡­ I''ll be fine¡­"

    No.

    There was no Mana-user who came out "fine" after getting their Core shattered.

    Hence, Neoma didn''t respond to Greko. She didn''t even turn to him. Her eyes and ears remained focused on Regina.

    "That dagger was created by Lord Callisto. I was inspired by William''s ability to switch the conditions of two different people, so I asked my lord to create a weapon with the same ability," Regina said proudly. "However, it wasn''t easy creating that weapon. Hence, Lord Callisto could only make one. Worse, it''s only a one-time use."

    Then the crow pointed at the daggers with both of her hands.

    [She''s clearly enjoying this.]

    "I''ll give you the honor of using the dagger, Princess Neoma," Regina said sarcastically. "All you need is a drop of that child''s blood on the de before you stab your heart with it. Then that child of yours will be healed in an instant."

    "Eomma, no!" Greko begged her between sobs. Yes, the youngest was already crying. "Don''t do it even if it''s true¡­"

    Neoma didn''t want to ignore Greko''s plea, but she had to. "As expected, you have no intention of handing the antidote."

    "Antidote?" Regina asked, then sheughed out loud while pping her hands. "Princess Neoma, there''s no need for an antidote. In the first ce, Duchess Quinzel''s transformation is only temporary."

    [What¡­?]

    ***

    [NO¡­ how can this happen?]

    Paige felt her entire body lose its strength when, all of a sudden, Duchess Amber Quinzel quickly returned back to normal.

    The duchess'' skin turned from violet to milky white.

    And her eyes¡­

    [They''re glowing green again.]

    "L-Lady Avery¡­?"

    Paige snapped out of her trance, then she quickly handed a ss of water to Duchess Quinzel because it looked like Her Grace was thirsty. "How are you feeling, Duchess Quinzel?"

    "I feel better," Duchess Quinzel said in a weak voice. "But I can''t really remember what happened after I was attacked from behind¡­" The duchess then touched the side of her neck. "But I do remember getting stabbed by a sharp object here."

    [Her Grace is fine.]

    Duchess Amber Quinzel was perfectly fine even though they didn''t do anything.

    Paige felt like the wind got knocked out of her.

    [Princess Neoma, Greko¡­!]

    ***

    "YOU CAN''T criticize me for lying, Princess Neoma. After all, you''re the one who often bluffs and scams people."

    If Greko''s life wasn''t at risk, Neoma would have found the situation interesting.

    Regina was right.

    She couldn''t condemn the witch for lying since it was her forte, too.

    Plus, it was her fault for letting Regina deceive her.

    [I got the taste of my own medicine, and it''s bitter.]

    However, she didn''t feel that bad.

    "So, are you saying that Duchess Amber didn''t turn into a zombie?" Neoma asked calmly. "That she''ll return to normal even if we don''t do anything?"

    Regina nodded. "That''s correct. Hence, you put yourself at risk for nothing, Princess Neoma."

    "Yeah, no," Neoma said, then she smiled. And she wasn''t putting up a strong front. She was genuinely relieved to confirm that Duchess Amber would be fine. After talking to Regina, she turned to Greko. "You heard Regina, baby. Duchess Amber will be fine, so let Paige know that all we have to do is wait."

    Greko immediately shook his head, then he put his arms around her neck. "Eomma, let''s escape from here."

    "I''m sorry, baby," Neoma said, then she picked up the dagger that Regina threw at her. "I''m sorry for this, Greko."

    After saying that, she gently sliced Greko''s thigh with the de.

    "Argh!"

    "I''m sorry, baby," Neoma said, her heart heavy with guilt. Then she kissed the top of Greko''s head. "But I can''t let you die here."

    Greko pulled away from the hug to look at her, his face full of tears. "Eomma, no¡­"

    Neoma just smiled sadly, then she snapped the bracelet around her wrist.

    And, just like that, Greko''s entire body quickly turned translucent.

    Greko, after realizing what she had done, cried. "Eomma, no!"

    The youngest couldn''t do anything, though.

    Greko disappeared right away.

    "You only have one minute left, Princess Neoma," Regina reminded her. "That child''s Core would shatter if yours doesn''t."

    Neoma just smirked as she stood up.

    It was funny how things that Yule told her before had yed out.

    ["Nene, you have to die. But you''re not going to die by anyone''s hands this time. Don''t be afraid. As soon as you closed your eyes, we''ll be there for you."]

    So, this was what Yule meant when he told her she wouldn''t die by anyone''s hands.

    [I''m d I was able to send Greko away. A child like him doesn''t have to see his mother taking her own life.]

    And, fortunately, she managed to seal Tteokbokki.

    [I''m sorry, Tteokbokki. But we''ll see each other in the Afterlifeter.]

    "It seems like only me can kill me," Neoma said while removing the red-hooded dress. She had to remove the armor that Goddess Astrid had given her in order for the dagger to work. "Well, I guess it''s time to meet my ancestors."

    And she meant that quite literally.

    Hence, Neoma didn''t hesitate to stab her own heart with the dagger.

    Surprisingly, it didn''t hurt as much as she expected.

    It was probably because of the cold yetfortable breeze hugging her at the moment.

    Regina, the clueless fool,ughed while pping her hands without knowing a thing.

    [Thank you for giving me the opportunity to take a break, my dear nemesis.]

    ***

    "GREKO!"

    [Paige noona¡­]

    Greko couldn''t call out to his Paige noona because his heart was in literal pain.

    Hence, he couldn''t say anything when his older sister caught him from the portal that brought him back to the pce.

    It hadn''t even been a minute since he was sent away.

    [What kind of portal could bring me back to the pce instantly¡­?]

    "What happened?" Paige noona, who was carrying him in her arms, asked with a grim look on her face. "Are you okay, Greko?"

    He thought he wasn''t well enough to respond.

    However, in an instant, the pain in his heart was gone.

    Worse, he felt it the moment when his Core got fixed in an instant as if it wasn''t shattered just a few seconds ago.

    [No¡­]

    Greko burst out crying, his heart in pain for a different reason this time. "Paige noona, please fix eomma''s Core."

    ***

    DAHLIA remembered that her predecessors often said that a pair of de Moonasterion twins were born from one Core.

    They said it was the reason behind the Imperial Twins'' strange yet The fact that Prince Nero felt Princess Neoma ''disappear'' could only mean one thing.

    powerful connection.

    The fact that Prince Nero felt Princess Neoma ''disappear'' could only mean one thing.

    [Princess Neoma''s might have been shattered¡­]

    Frankly speaking, Dahlia was more worried about Princess Neoma than Prince Nero.

    "There''s nothing wrong with Prince Nero, so I don''t know what to do. I can''t even tell why His Imperial Highness'' hair is turning pink," Alucard, the demon mage in charge of Prince Nero''s well-being, said worriedly. "What about you, Miss Dahlia?"

    Prince Nero was currently lying on the bed inside the tent.

    And, just like what Alucard said, the Crown Prince''s life wasn''t in danger.

    [But Prince Nero looks like he''s having a nightmare in his sleep.]

    "Prince Nero''s physical condition is fine, but he''s in pain because the other half of his Core is¡­" Dahlia trailed off, then she shook her head because she didn''t want to say it. "Sir Alucard, let me awaken Prince Nero."

    She then put her hand on top of Prince Nero''s chest.

    As expected, the Crown Prince''s Core was shaking inside his heart.

    [Please calm down.]

    She sent her Mana to Prince Nero''s Core in order to make it calm down.

    The ck Witches had the power to subdue a de Moonasterio by simply injecting their Mana straight into their Core. But, of course, the challenge would be getting close enough to the de Moonasterio in order to get a chance to subdue them.

    But it was never a problem for Dahlia since Prince Nero didn''t keep his distance from her in the past.

    [This is how I deal with his Lunacy even in the first timeline¡­]

    Dahlia''s thoughts were interrupted when Prince Nero suddenly opened his eyes. "Prince Nero, how are you feeling¨C"

    "Get down, you two."

    Prince Nero''smanding voice forced both Dahlia and Alucard to get down as instructed.

    Then¡­ boom.

    The Crown Prince blew up the tent with his ice power.

    [What''s happening¡­?]

    "What a lively greeting, Nero~"

    Dahlia was shocked to see Calyx, the dethroned prince,e out of the smoke that came from the ice around them.

    It seemed like Prince Nero tried to freeze the enemy with his ice.

    However, only the surroundings had been covered by the ice that the Crown Prince made. Calyx remained unscathed.

    "I thought I hid myself well," Calyx said, smiling. "But you still found me, Prince Nero."

    "Your obsession with me reeks," Prince Nero said, scoffing. "How can I not notice your presence?"

    Calyxughed out loud as if what the Crown Prince said was funny.

    "Prince Nero!"

    It was Melvin¡­

    ¡­ who quickly hid behind Prince Nero.

    On the other hand, Sanford, Raku, and Lucien immediately surrounded Calyx.

    "I''m not here to fight," Calyx said, then he extended his hand to Prince Nero. "I''m here to escort you to Princess Neoma, Nero. You must have felt it already, didn''t you?" Then the dethroned prince smirked. "Princess Neoma''s death."

    Dahlia covered her mouth with her hands when she gasped.

    Of course, at the back of her mind, she already knew the possibility that Princess Neoma died was high. However, she didn''t entertain the idea.

    But Calyx''s deration confirmed her fear.

    Dahlia wasn''t the only person fazed by the terrible news.

    Even Prince Nero''s knights looked really shocked and worried.

    And everyone there was expecting the Crown Prince to explode.

    But that didn''t happen.

    "Neoma is still alive," Prince Nero said firmly, his voice full of confidence. Then he grabbed Calyx by the cor. "Now bring me to my twin sister!"

    Calyx smiled gleefully.

    "I''ll go with you," Dahlia said, ring at Calyx. "Prince Nero isn''t going anywhere without me, sir."

    ***

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 Chapter 822 [BONUS CHAPTER] DRUNK PAPA BOSS

    822 [BONUS CHAPTER] DRUNK PAPA BOSS

    NOTE: Hi! Take this fluff chapter before the angst. I''ll try to post the next chapter as soon as I can. I hope you enjoy this fun chapter.

    This happened during the Korea Arc~

    ***

    [PAPA BOSS and Mama Boss are in the middle of a lovers'' quarrel.]

    "Of course, it''s Papa Boss'' fault," Neoma said while pouring soju into her father''s shot ss. "Why did you even get jealous of a customer who asked for Mama Boss'' number? You know Mama Boss wouldn''t leave you for a baby, Papa Boss."

    The ''baby'' in question was a college student, probably in his early twenties, who asked for Mama Boss'' number while Mama Boss was working as a cashier in the caf¨¦. Every once in a while, when the flower shop didn''t have that many customers, her mother would help at the caf¨¦ as a cashier.

    That was what happened earlier.

    Mama Boss was helping out at Areum eomma''s caf¨¦ when a college student tried to hit on her¨C and Papa Boss, who was there to fetch Mama Boss, witnessed everything and threw a tantrum.

    [Well, not really. But Papa Boss was sulking the entire time, so Mama Boss got upset and decided to hang out with her friends instead of having dinner with us.]

    "I also don''t know why I got upset just because a child asked for Mona''s number," Papa Boss said, then he finished the soju in his ss in just one big gulp. "I''m just probably worried because I''m nearing my forties. And I''m not sure if I still look as good as I did when I was younger."

    "Papa Boss, Mama Boss is the same age as you. She''s nearing her forties as well."

    "But your mother still looks young and beautiful."

    "And so do you, Papa Boss," she said, rolling her eyes at her father. "Have you forgotten that I was even mistaken as your young mistress before?"

    Her father frowned at the unpleasant memory.

    When Papa Boss was pictured with Gavin appa before, her Papa Boss suddenly became an instant celebrity because of his good looks.

    During the short time that Neoma did modeling with Trevor, a nasty rumor broke out that she was being sponsored by the CEO of Raon Entertainment. People bullied her online, saying that she only bagged her endorsements because of Papa Boss not knowing that Papa Boss was her father.

    Hence, Papa Boss had to release a statement announcing that she was his daughter.

    Then Papa Boss sued all the reporters andizens who posted nastyments about her.

    [Papa Boss ruined so many lives¡­ and rightfully so.]

    "I guess I haven''tpletely gotten over my possessiveness," Papa Boss said, sighing while shaking his head. "I don''t want Mona to hate me."

    "Then apologize to Mama Boss and grovel, Papa Boss."

    Since Mama Boss was upset, she went out with Areum eomma and Aunt Nichole so the three of them could have a girls'' night out.

    [I can''t go with them because eighteen is still a minor in Korea.]

    And that was exactly why she was drinking soju with Papa Boss at home.

    "Should I bring flowers?"

    "Mama Boss is a florist but her shop is already closed. She''ll hate you even more if you bought flowers from another shop, Papa Boss."

    "Oh," Papa Boss said, obviously dejected. "You''re right, Neoma."

    Aigoo.

    "I inherited your pettiness, Papa Boss," Neoma said, then she took a sip of her soju. "I picked a fight with Ruto''s ex-fianc¨¦e before just because I got a little jealous. Gosh, I can''t believe I got jealous of a child."

    "Why would you even get jealous of a child?" Papa Boss scolded her lightly. "You''re the prettiest girl in the entire world, Neoma."

    She giggled at her father''s suddenpliment.

    [Papa Boss is being vocal about his feelings now.]

    "Papa Boss, be honest with me," Neoma said, grinning. "Am I your favorite child?"

    It was something that she could only ask because Mama Boss wasn''t there.

    [Mama Boss would be upset if she heard my question.]

    "Yes, I''m more fond of you than Nero."

    Oops.

    [Mama Boss would be upset as well if she heard Papa Boss'' reply.]

    "But that doesn''t mean I love Nero any less," Papa Boss said. "I just find you more lovely because you look like your mother, Neoma. Of course, I''m not talking about your face alone."

    After all, Neoma and Nero were like carbon copies of Papa Boss.

    "On the other hand, Nero looks and acts exactly like me most of the time," Papa Boss said, frowning. "Hence, I know that your brother will just hate it if I shower him with love and affection as I do to you."

    Pfft.

    To be honest, she didn''t expect that Papa Boss would answer honestly.

    After all, it wasmon for people to think that having a favorite child was a bad thing for parents.

    And Neoma experienced it firsthand.

    [It hurt me when Papa Boss showed his favoritism towards Nero when we were younger. But Papa Boss has changed now. He''s trying to love us equally.]

    But, of course, her father wasn''t perfect.

    [Although Papa Boss says I''m his favorite, I still get jealous when he gives Nero more freedom. Especially when ites to marriage. He let Nero get engaged early, but he gets really upset with just the thought of me dating Ruto.]

    "I love both you and Nero," Papa Boss said softly, then he gave Neoma a warm smile. "But maybe I love you a little more than your twin brother?" Her father even showed his index finger and thumb, barely touching each other. "Just this much. You''re lovelier than Nero because Nero inherited my grouchiness, while you inherited your mother''s sunny disposition. Mona is lovely, so naturally, our daughter is lovely, too. Nero is lovely as well, but not as much as Neoma. Hehe."

    Pfft.

    Neoma burst outughing because Papa Boss was starting to talk in a childish way.

    And her father was grinning way too much!

    [Yep, Papa Boss is sooo drunk.]

    No wonder her father''s face is already red.

    [It''s weird because back in the empire, Papa Boss is a hard drinker. But he bes a lightweight when ites to soju!]

    "Papa Boss, do you love Mama Boss?"

    Papa Boss grinned, and he wouldn''t grin like that if he was sober. "Of course. I love your mother the most in the world!"

    [Ah, wait. Let''s keep a receipt~]

    Neoma took out her phone and started recording her father. "Papa Boss, how much do you love Mama Boss?"

    Once again, Papa Boss grinned while making a huge sphere in the air. Yep, the cold and stiff Emperor Niki wouldn''t do such a thing. But her father was clearly drunk, so he was acting cute. "I love Mona this much! Mona, my love, I''m so sorry for being so narrow-minded." He sped his hands as if he was praying, then he pouted while looking at the camera with puppy dog eyes. "Please forgive me, love. I''ll never be jealous again." He bowed his head in apology. "I promise to be more mature as a partner!"

    Neomaughed out loud while recording Papa Boss'' ''aegyo.'' "Papa Boss, you''re so gonna regret this once you sobered up!"

    ***

    HI! ROYAL SECRET ALTERNATE UNIVERSE: LET''S NOT DIVORCE is now posted on my P/atreon ount.

    Just copy-paste this link: (patreon/s_c) or G0ogle P/atreon s_c to find my page. My profile picture is the same as the one I have here on WN. And the background picture says ''SOLAVERSE.''

    I have TWO TIERS.

    ROYAL FAMILY TIER (2USD) grants you ess to thepleted main story + book cover reveal. Total of 24 chapters.

    IMPERIAL FAMILY TIER (3USD) grants you ess to thepleted main story + book cover reveal + exclusive SIDE STORIES + power to vote on polls.

    See you there!

    And I hope you enjoy the AU!

    You''ll get a strong independent Mama Boss, a CRYBABY Papa Boss who calls Rufus ''Hyung'', a Nero who "hates" Neoma, and a delinquent Neoma who gets bullied by her schoolmates!

 Chapter 823 A GOOD DAY TO DIE (3)

    ?

    NERO didn''t hesitate to enter the portal that Calyx opened up for him.

    It wasn''t like he had lowered his guard.

    That was why he summoned Zeru¨C the ice phoenix. He rode on his Soul Beast with Dahlia on the back.

    Calyx only allowed one person toe with him.

    "Stay here," Nero said to Melvin and his other knights. "Inform Father about what happened here."

    Melvin looked worried, but he still nodded and obeyed hismand without questions. "I understand, Prince Nero. Please be safe." He then turned to Dahlia. "Miss Dahlia, I leave His Imperial Highness in your capable hands."

    "Don''t worry, Sir Melvin," Dahlia, who was barely holding onto Nero''s shirt while sitting behind him, assured Melvin. "I will protect Prince Nero."

    Nero just scoffed.

    [I don''t need anyone''s protection.]

    "We''re wasting time here," Calyx, who was riding on a giant crow as big as the ice phoenix, said impatiently. "Let''s go."

    And then they entered the portal.

    Nero and Dahlia on the ice phoenix, and Calyx on his unusuallyrge crow.

    Fortunately, he didn''t feel anything strange in the portal that seemed like a dark tunnel, with a tiny light at the end of it.

    And Nero could feel Neoma''s presence nearby.

    [You can''t die, Neoma¨C you just can''t.]

    "Aren''t you doing a good job holding back, Prince Nero?" Calyx asked in an annoyingly cheerful voice. "I thought you were going to snap as soon as you received the bad news."

    "Neoma is still alive," Nero said sternly without even turning to Calyx. "But shut your mouth if you don''t want to die here. I''m barely holding back from murdering the hell out of you, you crazy obsessive filthy thing."

    Of course, he wasn''t calm at all.

    It wasn''t the first time that he felt Neoma''s pain through their connection as twins. But he could tell that the pain he felt earlier was different.

    [My Core felt like it was getting shattered.]

    Even the de Moonasterios could get killed if their Cores got shattered, only it was more difficult for people to do that since the de Moonasterios were blessed with bodies as hard as steel.

    [It''s supposed to be that way, Neoma. So, what happened?]

    "We''re here, Prince Nero," Calyx announced when they got near the end of the "tunnel." "Prepare your heart."

    Instead of giving a verbal response, Nero only threw a few ice daggers at Calyx (who justughed like the lunatic that he was.

    Then Nero patted the ice phoenix, asking it to fly faster.

    As a result, Dahlia suddenly yelped out of surprise before she wrapped her arms around his waist as a reflex.

    [Ah.]

    Nero knew it wasn''t the right time to think about it, but he couldn''t help but feel the softness of Dahlia''s body¨C especially the chest area¨C pressed nicely against his back.

    [And why do I like Dahlia''s scent a lot?]

    "I''m sorry, Prince Nero," Dahlia said, embarrassed, while loosening her arms around Nero''s waist. "I didn''t mean to¡­"

    Nero scoffed at Dahlia''s apology. "I know you hate getting any form of contact with me, Dahlia. You don''t have to apologize every time."

    Dahlia gasped as if she was panicking. "You know I didn''t mean it that way, Prince Nero."

    "Dahlia, do you not notice it?"

    "Notice what, Prince Nero?"

    "That you''re too conscious of me."

    Dahlia fell silent this time.

    Nero didn''t say that with the intention of embarrassing Dahlia, but he didn''t have the time to exin when they finally got out of the portal¡­

    ¡­ and the first thing that he saw was Neoma bleeding on the ground.

    Once again, he felt like his chest was forced open and someone ripped his heart out.

    "Neoma!"

    He wanted to deny the reality.

    But how could he when Neoma''s face lit up as soon as she saw him as the shine in her eyes slowly dimmed?

    [No¡­ this can''t be happening¡­]

    Neoma smiled, her trembling hand moved and reached out to him. "Dongsaeng, can you call me ''noona'' for the first andst time?"

    He hated it.

    Not the fact that Neoma was asking him to call her ''older sister,'' but the fact that Neoma was saying it as if it was her dying wish.

    Even so, how could he refuse Neoma this time?

    Nero''s face scrunched up as he was trying his best not to cry at the moment. "You can''t die, Neoma. How dare you die without me?!" he yelled, angry at himself for failing to protect Neoma as he reached his hand out to her desperately. "Don''t leave me, noona!"

    No matter how quick Zeru was, it still wasn''t quick enough to reach Neoma.

    "That''s right¨C I''m your ''noona,''" Neoma said weakly, closing her eyes as her smile slowly faded away. "Goodnight, Nero¡­"

    [No!]

    Nero quickly stood up and jumped from the ice phoenix,nding gracefully next to Neoma.

    He immediately cradled his twin sister in his arms, checking for her pulse only to realize that her heart had indeed stopped beating.

    And he could tell the cause.

    [Neoma''s Core was crushed¡­]

    And, as a Roseheart, Nero could instinctively tell that Neoma''s soul was also gone.

    "Neoma, I''ll call you ''noona'' as many times as you want me to. Just please, please open your eyes," Nero whispered in a cracked voice, his tears streaming down his face uncontrobly as he hugged Neoma''s body. His twin sister was still warm, but he could tell that she was gone. "Neoma!"

    Soon, Nero wasn''t the only one crying and mourning.

    The White Lion and Neoma''s Spirits were forced out of his twin sister''s body.

    <"Little Neoma¡­">

    <"Princess Neoma¡­">

    <"Please wake up¡­">

    But no matter how much the White Lion and the Spirits begged, Neoma didn''t stir back to life.

    She was gone.

    The most important person in Nero''s life was gone, and she wasn''ting back.

    [What''s the point of living if Neoma isn''t here with me anymore?]

    Nero, even without seeing his face in the mirror, could tell that his eyes had turned red. After all, he was using all his power to crush his own Core.

    [I''ll follow you even to hell, Neoma.]

    ***

    [NO!]

    Dahlia panicked as soon as she realized Prince Nero was trying to kill himself.

    She stood frozen when she realized that Princess Neoma was really gone.

    And she only snapped out of it when Prince Nero began to self-destruct.

    She immediately ran towards the Crown Prince to stop him from taking his own life. However, she got distracted when she realized what Regina Crowell was doing.

    A camera.

    Regina Crowell was holding a hand mirror that was obviously a recorder.

    Dahlia summoned her wand, then she grabbed the twig as soon as it materialized in the air. Then she used it like a gun to hit Regina Crowell''s recording device.

    But Calyx blocked her attack with the spear in his hand.

    "It''s toote, Dahlia," Regina Crowell said with an annoying smile on her face. "The video has already been sent to Lord Callisto. The entire world has probably heard the tragic news of Princess Neoma''s death by now."

    [They announced Princess Neoma''s death?]

    Dahlia broke out into a cold sweat after hearing that horrible news.

    [Many people will lose their minds¡­]

    ***

    MONA frowned after hearing Melvin''s report.

    When she arrived at the snowy mountain where Nero was supposed to be, she was surprised when she didn''t find her son there.

    Only Nero''s knights were left.

    That was when Melvin told her what happened in detail.

    Mona didn''t like the fact that Nero agreed toe with Calyx, but she was relieved to know that Dahlia came with her son.

    [The kids said Nero imed that Neoma is still alive, so that''s probably the case.]

    No¨C that had to be the case or else¡­

    "William, trace Nero''s whereabouts and open a portal," Mona said. "We''ll follow¨C"

    She stopped talking when an ominous feeling took over her, and then she looked up at the dark sky.

    And she wasn''t the only person who did that.

    William and the kids also looked up at the sky.

    That was when a huge projector appeared, and Helstor''s entire face filled the screen.

    [Disgusting.]

    An ancient god wearing the skin of a human child was seriously an eyesore.

    <"I¨C Helstor, the God of Eternal Darkness¨C would like to express my condolences to the citizens of the Great Moonasterion Empire for the untimely death of Princess Neoma, the one and only Imperial Princess.">

    Mona''s eyes widened in shock, her entire body turning cold in an instant. "That can''t be true¡­"

    As if Helstor heard her denial, the god''s face disappeared from the screen.

    Then it was reced by a short yet clear video.

    <"Neoma!">

    It was a video of Nero crying hard while hugging Neoma¡­

    ¡­ the lifeless Neoma.

    As a Roseheart, she could easily tell with just one look that her daughter''s soul had already left her body.

    That meant Neoma was really gone.

    "No!" Mona cried, falling to her knees. "My baby¡­!"

    ***

    [THEY LOOK like ants from here.]

    At first, everything sailed smoothly.

    Niki watched as the reanimated corpses filled the Imperial Capital.

    [For corpses moved by Darkness, those things are quick and agile.]

    At this rate, the reanimated corpses would reach the Imperial Pce soon.

    Fortunately, there was no way it would happen.

    [They''re here.]

    It started with a small sparkling dot in the sky.

    Then the dots multiplied until the dark sky was filled with twinkling little dots that resembled the stars.

    The nearer the dots got, the bigger they became.

    Soon enough, the Frost Wyverns dominated the sky with their gigantic and crystal-like bodies. Unfamiliar faces rode the ice beasts that was led by Commander Ruto who was riding on the back of his Thunderbird.

    But there were also familiar faces from the people that themander was leading in the sky.

    [The Northern Lords.]

    "Dion Skelton is already here, Your Majesty," Jeanne Audley informed Niki. "He''s leading the Holy Knights in ce of Prince Nero."

    Niki looked down this time.

    Just like what Jeanne Audley said, Dion Skelton and the Holy Knights had arrived as well.

    That was when the counterattack began.

    At Commander Ruto''s signal, the riders began blowing the ice whistles that could control the Frost Wyverns.

    And then the Frost Wyverns began breathing ice at the reanimated corpses.

    [ording to Commander Ruto, only ice could slow down the reanimated corpses. And once they slowed down¡­]

    The Holy Knights began capturing the reanimated corpses using a made of divine power.

    Aside from the Holy Knights, the nobles'' private armies were also dispatched in the capital.

    Jasper Hawthorne, still the youngest duke of the empire, had volunteered to be on the first line of defense.

    On the other hand, Rufus was in charge of the slums.

    House Drayton, led by the despicable Rubin Drayton who daredid his eyes on Neoma, was in charge of the nobles'' vige.

    The members of the other Twelve Golden Families were dispatched to the regions they ruled. Although the attack was focused on the Imperial Capital, there was no assurance that the other parts of the empire wouldn''t be attacked.

    [As long as they have an ice user with them, everything will be fine.]

    Niki was confident that the Imperial Pce would be safe because Hanna, Lewis, and Neoma''s "children" were there to protect it.

    Hence, he thought everything was fine.

    That was until a screen appeared out of thin air and Helstor made a ridiculous deration.

    But that deration was backed up by a video of Nero crying while hugging Neoma''s lifeless body.

    That was when the painful reality hit Niki.

    "Neoma¡­ my baby¡­" Niki whispered in shock and disbelief, tears rolling down his cheeks. Then he shut his eyes tight while clutching his chest, his Mana and divine power threatening to explode because he couldn''t control his emotions. "How dare you take my precious daughter away from me¡­!"

    At that point, he didn''t care about the fate of the entire world anymore.

    After all, Niki''s world already crumbled with the death of his precious daughter.

    ***

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 Chapter 824 A GOOD DAY TO DIE (4)

    ?

    JASPER dropped the whip in his hand after watching the ridiculous video ying on the screen that appeared out of thin air.

    Helstor, that damned ancient god, just announced that Princess Neoma was gone.

    Then a short and clear video of Prince crying while hugging Princess Neoma''s lifeless body came up.

    If the Crown Prince was crying like that¡­

    "No," Jasper whispered in disbelief. "Princess Neoma¡­ my precious little sister¡­"

    <"Jasper Hawthorne!">

    It was Duckie¨C his Elemental Guardian¨C who called out his name.

    <"I know you''re damned shocked! I am, too! But the fucking reanimated corpses are already here! We need to catch them! If these little shits get past our life of defense, then they''ll head straight to the pce! Most of the citizens of the capital are in the pce, so we must catch all the bastards here!">

    Right.

    Jasper volunteered himself and his private army to be sent as the first life of defense along with the Fletcher Twins.

    He was confident that he could stop the reanimated corpses¡­

    ¡­ until he was shaken by the tragic news of Princess Neoma''s death.

    [I¡­ can''t pick up my weapon.]

    <"Princess Neoma would never forgive you if you fail to protect the people of this empire, you foolish child!">

    Ah.

    That snapped him out of his trance.

    [Yes, Princess Neoma hates it when innocent people get hurt.]

    Jasper picked up his weapon¡­

    ¡­ but he couldn''t pick up the broken pieces of his heart.

    ***

    [PRINCESS Neoma¡­ is gone?]

    Rufus couldn''t believe it.

    He was in the middle of bringing the reanimated corpses that his private had caught to the Exton Estate when he received the tragic news.

    Princess Neoma was like a daughter to him.

    Needless to say, the news of the Imperial Princess'' passing killed a part of him.

    [If I feel this way, then His and Her Imperial Majesties definitely feel worse¡­]

    ***

    "E-EAT them¡­" Brigitte said, her voice shaking, as shemanded the Ancient Monsters to eat the reanimated corpses that Duke Rufus Quinzel''s army had brought to the Exton Mansion. "All of them¡­"

    Her voice wasn''t shaking because of the gruesome sight of Ancient Monsters eating the reanimated corpses tied together and ced in the middle of the ground.

    She was shaken because of the tragic news of Princess Neoma''s death.

    Glenn, who was behind her while rubbing her shoulders, was also crying.

    Brigitte tried to focus on her task, but her heart was elsewhere.

    [This¡­ this is uneptable¡­ Princess Neoma¡­]

    ***

    HANNA covered her mouth with her hands after watching Helstor''s tragic news.

    That despicable ancient god even yed a video of Nero crying while hugging Neoma''s lifeless body.

    Lifeless.

    It was easy to tell that Neoma was really gone.

    [How could this happen when Trevor Kesser left with Neoma?!]

    "Princess Neoma is gone¡­?"

    Ah.

    Hanna turned to Lewis, then she felt a shiver down her spine.

    Lewis'' golden eyes were glowing and unfocused while his Mana fluctuated. Aside from that, his white tails also appeared one by one until all nine were out. He let out a feral growl, his fangs and sharp nails grew longer and sharper.

    The fox was unstable.

    It wouldn''t be a surprise if Lewis suddenly went berserk.

    And Lewis wasn''t the only one who was on the verge of breaking down.

    Juri Wisteria.

    Jeno Dankworth.

    Xion Redgrave.

    Even Greko and Paige Avery who just arrived.

    Hanna was worried as to why Greko was suddenly there, and why Paige Avery left when the Light Mage was supposed to look after her mother.

    But she figured it wasn''t the right time to ask.

    Aside from Neoma''s "children" who were all about to go on a rampage with the tragic news of Princess Neoma''s death, the citizens who also watched the broadcast were thrown into chaos and panic.

    "The Imperial Princess is dead!"

    "We''re already losing the war!"

    "Shouldn''t the Imperial Family just give up the throne and bow to Lord Helstor?!"

    "Are we being punished for going against a god?!"

    "Who will save us now?!"

    Hanna held back her tears, then she pped both of her cheeks with her hands pretty hard.

    It stung, but that was exactly what she needed to do.

    The sound of her palms hitting her cheeks was loud enough to startle Lewis, who suddenly turned to her with a worried look on his face.

    [Oh?]

    Lewis calmed down when he saw Hanna hitting(?) herself.

    "Calm down," Hanna told Lewis, but it sounded like she was actually telling it to herself. She was Neoma''s best friend so the tragic news devastated her. However, she couldn''t forget that she was still the Crown Princess of the empire. "If Neoma was here, what do you think she''d do?"

    "Princess Neoma is cruel," Lewis said in a cracked voice, his golden eyes brimming with tears. "He cares more about the safety of other people than her own."

    And that was exactly why Hanna couldn''t afford to mourn Neoma yet.

    [I''m sorry, Neoma. I''ll cry for youter. But, for now, allow me to fulfill my duty as the Crown Princess.]

    ***

    "IF YOU try to break your contract once again, I''ll show you hell," Trevor warned the fifteen gods who tried to mess with their contracts¨C forcing him to leave Princess Neoma''s side. "You celestial puppets."

    The floating red orbs around him red at him.

    It was eerie to see the red orbs attached to the white walls of the space where he was summoned to.

    But Trevor didn''t care.

    [The only god I respect are those gods who are good to my Moon Princess.]

    "Brother, did I do well?"

    Trevor almost threw up on the spot when Dn Crowell called him ''brother.'' "I don''t have a cockroach for a brother."

    "This cockroach you''re looking down on has the power to mess with the contracts that you made with gods, Brother," Dn Crowell said smugly. "Don''t you think that feat proves that I''m also a Kesser?"

    "Listen, kid," he said, cing a hand on his hip. "I do not care about the Kessers. Heck, I don''t even remember the faces of my parents. And the man you im to be our father? I only consider that old dude a sperm donor, so you have him."

    Dn Crowell frowned. "Why do you talk like Princess Neoma now? Using unfamiliar words¡­"

    He shrugged. "That''s just a soulmate thing that you wouldn''t understand."

    The crow suddenly fell silent.

    [Is that amunication device?]

    Trevor wondered while looking at the stud in Dn Crowell''s ear.

    [Yep, that''s definitely amunication device.]

    Dn Crowell suddenly smiled at Trevor. "Brother, Princess Neoma is dead."

    Not gonna lie¨C that tragic news had shaken him up for a moment.

    But it didn''tst long.

    [I already expected this to happen.]

    "What''s with theme reaction, Brother?" Dn Crowell asked, looking at him with distrust in his eyes. "Do you not care about Princess Neoma anymore?"

    "Princess Neoma is someone who''ll probably end up in hell."

    His Moon Princess was kind, but it wouldn''t change the fact that she had killed many people in both her first and current lifetime.

    "Is that supposed to be a good thing?"

    "Of course not," Trevor said, scoffing at Dn Crowell''s stupid question. "But I''m still part demon. Hence, it''s easy for me to follow my Moon Princess to hell."

    Dn Crowell knitted his eyebrows. "Are you going to die with Princess Neoma?"

    "If I have to, why not?" Trevor said, shrugging. "But don''t you know that there''s someone aside from me who''s willing to give up everything for Princess Neoma?"

    ***

    DAHLIA was torn between apprehending the crows and calming Prince Nero.

    "Go," Calyx encouraged Dahlia with a triumphant look on his face. "We can''t have Nero killing himself, can we?"

    Ah.

    So, this was why Calyx was calm despite Nero''s silent rampage.

    [Calyx knows I won''t let Prince Nero kill himself.]

    After realizing that they had already lost this battle to Regina Crowell and Calyx, Dahlia quickly ran towards Prince Nero before it was toote.

    And then she heard that familiar voice boom in the sky.

    "Nero Roseheart de Moonasterio, use your ice to freeze Neoma''s body¨C now!"

    Dahlia looked up at the sky, then she let out a sigh of relief.

    It was Lord Ruto, riding on the back of his gigantic Thunderbird.

    [Lord Ruto asked Prince Nero to freeze Princess Neoma''s body, so it must mean Lord Ruto knows how to revive the Imperial Princess.]

    "Argh. The viin is here," Regina Crowell said while ring at Ruto. "Let''s go."

    "Alright," Calyx agreed easily. "I''ve already done what I need to do here."

    Hmm?

    That made Dahlia frown.

    [What did Calyx exactly do? I''ve kept an eye on him since he showed up at the tent earlier. And he didn''t do anything special in particr. He didn''t even get toy a finger on Prince Nero.]

    That made Dahlia anxious.

    She was about to follow Regina Crowell and Calyx, but stopped when she heard Lord Ruto yell.

    "Prince Nero, wake up!"

    Ah, right.

    Not even Lord Ruto could stop Prince Nero at this rate.

    The young lord had alreadynded on the ground, and the giant Thunderbird had turned into a small bird sitting on his shoulder.

    Lord Ruto knelt down beside Prince Nero, shaking the Crown Prince''s shoulders.

    [It looks like Lord Ruto is so close to punching Prince Nero in the face¡­]

    But Prince Nero remained still while gathering his Mana in his heart¨C with the obvious intention of crushing his own Core.

    [Why do you always do that when you lose your loved one, Prince Nero?]

    With a heavy heart, Dahlia forced herself to approach Prince Nero who reminded her of the Emperor Nero in her distant memories.

    [My husband¡­ no, he''s not and will not be my husband in this lifetime.]

    "Prince Nero," Dahlia said, kneeling on the other side of Prince Nero. Then she gently put a hand on his chest. "Please calm down."

    The Crown Prince didn''t stop with his self-destruction yet.

    [His Imperial Highness is still out of it¡­]

    Dahlia was then forced to wrap her arms around Prince Nero''s body as she whispered in his ear. "Prince Nero, Lord Ruto asked you to freeze Princess Neoma''s body. There must be a way to bring her back to life. But we need your ice, so please don''t leave us."

    Fortunately, the Mana gathered in Prince Nero''s heart slowly scattered away.

    [Good¡­]

    "Princess Neoma can still be revived," Dahlia said. "We just need to work together."

    "Neoma¡­ can still be saved?"

    "Yes," Dahlia said, pulling away from the hug. "So please help us, Prince Nero."

    Prince Nero''s red eyes soon returned to their normal color, the Crown Prince calmer now as he carefully put Princess Neoma''s lifeless body on the ground. Then he put his hands on her chest. "I just have to freeze Neoma''s body, right?"

    "Yes, Prince Nero," Lord Ruto replied. "We can''t let the gods steal Princess Neoma''s body."

    Hmm?

    Dahlia was surprised to hear that.

    She thought freezing Princess Neoma''s body was a way to preserve it, but she didn''t know it was also to keep her safe from the gods.

    That realization made Dahlia upset.

    [So, the gods wouldn''t even leave Princess Neoma alone even in her death?]

    ***

    [HOW MANY times must you let me see you die until you''re satisfied, Neoma?]

    Ruto clenched his hands tight while watching Prince Nero put Neoma inside the ice coffin that he made with his ability.

    Although he knew there was a way to bring her back to life, that didn''t make it less painful to see Neoma''s lifeless body. A huge part of him died with the Imperial Princess. It still as devastating as the first time she died right in front of him.

    [You should have killed me before you killed yourself, Neoma.]

    He could tell that the wound in the Imperial Princess'' chest was self-inflicted.

    "It''s done," Prince Nero said after putting Neoma inside the ice coffin, his voice cracked and his eyes swollen from crying. "What should we do next?"

    Using an ice coffin to preserve Neoma''s body wouldn''t suffice.

    They needed to hide her somewhere safer.

    [I need to forcefully awaken Hanna Quinzel''s ability for that matter.]

    "The gods will soone and try to steal Neoma''s body," Ruto said. He may look and sound calm. But he was seething inside. "Let''s go back to the pce for now."

    ***

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 Chapter 825 HI, ITS ME

    ?

    HANNA had somehow seeded in calming the citizens of the empire who took shelter in the Imperial Capital.

    Warm and delicious food was the answer.

    When the servants with food carts came out one by one and the delectable smell filled the air, the crowd began to calm down.

    She took that as an opportunity to announce that the operation to catch the reanimated corpses that filled the Imperial Capital was going well. Thanks to the good news, the people seemed to have forgotten about Neoma''s death for now.

    But there were people who couldn''t and wouldn''t forget about the tragic news.

    [I barely stopped them from leaving the pce to get to where Neoma is.]

    If they didn''t receive a message from Dahlia saying that she would be returning to the pce with Lord Ruto, Nero, and Neoma, then Lewis and the others would have left already.

    [Fortunately, Dahlia was quick to send a message.]

    "What happened?" Hanna asked solemnly, using the conference room of the Crown Prince''s Pce where she brought Lewis and Neoma''s other "children." "Greko? Lady Paige?"

    "Princess Hanna, we have good news for you," Paige said. Although she said it was good news, the mage''s face remained gloomy. "Duchess Quinzel is already awake, and she haspletely returned to normal. I asked the Imperial Archmage to look after the duchess before I left Her Grace."

    Hanna''s eyes opened wide. "Mother has returned to normal?" She turned to Greko. "Did Neoma get the antidote from Regina Crowell?"

    Greko suddenly burst into tears. "There''s no antidote because there wasn''t a need for that in the first ce, Princess Hanna," the child said between sobs. "Regina Crowell has tricked us. Duchess Quinzel''s zombie state was just temporary, and she was meant to get better even without help."

    Hanna felt like she was pped in the face.

    [We¡­ we were tricked¡­]

    "I should have noticed it earlier," Paige said, her voice full of regrets. "I should have told Princess Neoma that I have a feeling Duchess Quinzel doesn''t need any antidote. Had I done that, then Princess Neoma wouldn''t have to walk straight into Regina Crowell''s trap."

    "No, Paige noona. It wasn''t your fault," Greko said, crying while shaking his head. "It''s mine. Eomma sacrificed herself just to save me¡­"

    Hanna was actually torn at the moment.

    Of course, she was happy and relieved that her mother had finally returned to normal.

    However, she felt guilty because of what happened to Neoma.

    Most of all, she felt bad that Greko and Paige were ming themselves for what had happened even though none of it was their fault.

    "Let''s not me ourselves for what happened," Hanna said in a calm yet firm manner. "We lost the battle, but that doesn''t mean the war is over. I know it''s hard to pull ourselves together after the devastating news of Neoma''s death, but I believe that we can still bring Neoma back to life. Lord Ruto''s presence makes it clear that we still have hope."

    Dahlia also sounded calm and relieved when she called and said her group was on their way back to the pce.

    [Lord Ruto won''t let Neoma die.]

    "I refuse to believe that this is the end for Neoma," Hanna said. Although the situation seemed grim, she was still hopeful. "And we will do everything to bring her back. Hence, I need us to have a clear mind in this sensitive time."

    Fortunately, her words worked on Lewis, Juri, Jeno, and Xion.

    Only Greko and Paige looked out of it.

    [And it''s understandable.]

    "Greko, Lady Paige, please be kind to yourselves," Hanna said gently. "We all know that Neoma wouldn''t want you to feel guilty for what happened. But if you want to make it up to her, then let''s all do our best to bring her back."

    Greko and Paige still looked down.

    "Princess is right," Lewis said in a surprisingly calm voice when he almost exploded from anger earlier. "Greko, Paige, none of us here is ming you for what happened. Instead of beating yourself up for the mistake you think you did, you should repent by working harder than any of us."

    Lewis said the same things as Hanna, but the fox''s words were harsher.

    Even so, Lewis'' words seemed to have a greater effect on Greko and Paige.

    [I guess it''s only natural that theirmander''s words weigh heavier than mine.]

    "Lewis is right, Greko, Paige," Juri said. "None of us here mes you. And we already know that Princess Neoma would dly sacrifice herself for any of us."

    The quiet Jeno and Xion only nodded their heads in agreement.

    "Thank you," Paige said, emotional. "Thank you for saying that, kids."

    Greko wiped the tears off of his face using the handkerchief that Jeno silently handed to the child. "We will work hard to bring back eomma to life."

    Hanna was relieved when the atmosphere among the "siblings" became warm again.

    It was all thanks to Lewis.

    [He really knows his siblings well.]

    "Hanna Quinzel."

    Everyone almost jumped from their seats out of surprise when Trevor suddenly appeared out of thin air.

    No one, not even Hanna, felt the demon''s presence until he spoke.

    "Ah, I''m d all of you are here," Trevor said while looking at everyone in the room. "Come. I''ll take you to where Princess Neoma is resting."

    ''Resting.''

    [And Trevor didn''t use past tense.]

    Hanna knew it.

    [None of us is ready to ept Neoma''s death.]

    ***

    "WHY DID you bring Neoma here in the Imperial Shrine?!" Nero asked, growling lowly as he grabbed Ruto by the cor. "I thought you said you''ll bring her back to life?"

    The Imperial Shrine was where members of the Imperial Family were buried.

    Hence, the outburst of anger.

    "Prince Nero, calm down," Ruto said, sighing as if he was already fed up with Nero''s temper. "We''re not here to bury Princess Neoma."

    "Then why did you bring us here?"

    "Because the Imperial Shrine is simr to Lord Yule''s temple," Ruto exined calmly. "This ce is protected by the Moon God''s divine power. Hence, the other gods wouldn''t be able to intrude here easily."

    Nero scoffed, letting go of themander''s cor. "Then you should have brought us to Astello Temple. Isn''t that ce considered as Lord Yule''s home?"

    "The Astello Temple has been invaded by the crows once. It''s not as safe as the Imperial Shrine."

    Once again, he scoffed. "Is the shrine really safe? Isn''t this the ce where thete Empress Juliet''s body was stolen?"

    "I wasn''t there when thete Empress Juliet''s body was stolen," Ruto snapped at him. "But I''m here now, and I won''t let anyone steal Neoma''s body."

    To say that he was surprised by themander''s temper would be an understatement. "How dare you use that tone on the Crown Prince?"

    "If Your Imperial Highness wants to be treated as a Crown Prince, then please act like one," Ruto said in an annoyed tone. Themander was usually calm, but he didn''t bother to hide his irritation this time. "You''re not the only one who''s sad and angry about all of this, Prince Nero. After all, you''re not the only one who loves Neoma."

    Nero clenched his hands tight, his jaw clenched. "Are you one of those people, Ruto? I thought you already lost all your feelings for Neoma."

    Ruto smirked bitterly. "If I already lost all my feelings for Neoma, then why do I feel like I''m about to go crazy?"

    Themander''s dark purple eyes glowed menacingly.

    Ah, Nero recognized that look.

    [It''s the look of someone who has gone crazy a long time ago.]

    Nero should have known.

    [This is the man who turned back time for Neoma, after all.]

    Moreover, there was this disturbing piece of memory that he had tried to ignore before.

    "Ruto, did you sacrifice me in the first timeline in order to revive Neoma?" Nero confronted Ruto about it for the first time. "Answer me honestly."

    "I did," Ruto said indifferently. "Do you resent me for it?"

    "The Nero of the first timeline may have resented you," he said casually. "But I don''t. If you need me to revive Neoma, then do it."

    Ruto just looked at him as if saying he''d do that even without his consent.

    [What a disrespectful gaze this punk is giving me¡­]

    "Uhm, please stop fighting, Prince Nero and Lord Ruto," Dahlia said anxiously. "I''ve received a message from Sir Melvin. Empress Mona was with them, so I asked Sir Melvin to tell the empress to head back here. But I can''t contact Sir Kinsley, hence I haven''t informed His Imperial Majesty about what happened yet."

    Geoffrey Kinsley was his father''s current secretary, but the Pdin was fighting on the front line.

    [It''s probably why Dahlia can''t contact Geoffrey.]

    "I''ll do it," Nero said. "I''ll inform Father to get here using my Soul Beast."

    ***

    TREVOR frowned as soon as he arrived at the Imperial Shrine and saw Princess Neoma inside the ss coffin.

    It was a painful reminder that his Moon Princess was in a state of death at the moment.

    Although he was hopeful that they could bring Princess Neoma back to life, it wasn''t like he enjoyed seeing his Moon Princess in that state.

    [Those damned crows¡­]

    "Princess Neoma¡­"

    The Imperial Shrine was soon filled with silent sobs.

    He already expected Hanna Quinzel and Princess Neoma''s "children" to cry.

    But Trevor didn''t expect Lewis to cry, too.

    "What?" Lewisined while ring at Trevor. "Is this the first time you saw someone cry?"

    "No, but I didn''t expect you to cry in front of other people," Trevor said, shrugging. "I thought you''d be too embarrassed to do that."

    "Princess Neoma never taught me to be embarrassed about crying," Lewis said, his tears continued to fall in silence as he stared at Princess Neoma inside the ss coffin. "Princess Neoma said bottling up my feelings would make me insane."

    Pfft.

    [Moon Princess, you really have a unique way of raising your "children."]

    "Alright," Trevor said, shrugging. "I won''t stop you from crying anymore."

    Lewis just ignored him this time.

    Well, it was fine since he saw the person he had been looking for anyway.

    [As expected, he''s calm.]

    "Hey," Trevor greeted Ruto. "I already brought them here. What should we do next?"

    Ruto stared at him for a moment before he opened his mouth. "Kill me, Trevor."

    ***

    "THUG PRINCESS!"

    Neoma groaned as soon as she saw Tteokbokki¨C in his human form¨C when she opened her eyes. "Why are you being so fucking loud in the morning?"

    "You''re dead!"

    "Literally or what?"

    "Thug princess, don''t make me smack you in the head in front of your ancestors."

    Huh?

    Ah, right.

    Neoma finally remembered that she unalived herself to meet her ancestors.

    "Nene, you''re here."

    Omo, omo.

    Neoma''s eyes widened in shock when she saw the power cast in front of her.

    Yule.

    Emperor Primo and Empress Gwen.

    Arche and Aruna de Moonasterio.

    And the Goddess of Life.

    Wow.

    "Hi. It''s me," Neoma greeted her ancestors cheerfully. "The troublemaker is here."

    Yule smiled brightly at her. "Wee to hell, Nene."

    Hell¡­?

    ***

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 Chapter 826 THE SPIRIT GUARDIANS

    ?

    NIKOLAI returned to the pce as soon as he received Dahlia''s message.

    He left the battlefield and let Rufus lead. The reanimated corpses hadpletely fallen into their trap anyway. Hence, all his cousin had to do was wrap it up.

    Rufus was capable of doing that.

    Hence, Niki was able to return home.

    To be precise, he arrived at the Imperial Shrine where the ck Witch told him to go.

    [But¡­ why here?]

    His heart thumped hard and loud against his chest while he was frozen in front of the Imperial Shrine.

    It was where members of the Imperial Family were buried.

    [They''re not going to bury Neoma there, are they?]

    Whether Neoma was really dead or not wasn''t the real issue. The real issue was whether they could revive his daughter or not.

    "Love?"

    Niki turned to the owner of the cracked voice who called him in a soft and obviously sad tone. "Mona¡­"

    It was Mona who stepped out of the portal.

    William was standing behind his wife, but he ignored the Grand Spirit.

    "It seems like the kids are already gathered inside," Niki said, trying to be strong for their family. Then he extended his hand to his wife. "Let''s go."

    Mona nodded, then she grabbed his hand.

    It was rare for his wife to show his vulnerable side to other people, but he couldn''t me Mona for feeling that way.

    [After all, we just lost our daughter.]

    Niki opened the door of the Imperial Shrine.

    And, just like what he expected, Nero and the other kids were already there.

    Hanna Quinzel.

    Trevor Kesser.

    Commander Ruto.

    And Neoma''s "children."

    [Ah, even the White Lion and my daughter''s Spirits are here.]

    Only Nero, Trevor, and Commander Ruto weren''t crying.

    But anyone could tell that the young men were just as devastated as everyone else.

    Who wouldn''t be devastated seeing Neoma inside a ice coffin?

    The ice coffin was made of ice full of pure Mana and divine power.

    Only one person in the room could have done that.

    "A ss coffin?" Mona whispered, confused. "Nero, did you make that for Neoma?"

    Nero walked towards them and greeted them politely before he answered his mother''s question. "Yes, Mother. I was the one who put Neoma in the ice coffin."

    "I asked Prince Nero to do that, Your Majesty," Ruto said indifferently. "We need to preserve Neoma''s body and keep her safe here."

    Niki knitted his eyebrows. "I understand the part where we need to preserve Neoma''s body since we need to do that if we''re going to revive here. But what do you mean by we need to keep her safe in this ce, Commander Ruto?"

    "There are gods who would try and covet Neoma''s body for their greed," Ruto said, turning the atmosphere in the room heavy. "The gods believe that if they buried Neoma''s body in the fertilend of the Upper World, then Neoma would grow into an Aether that could give them clean air to breathe."

    Niki let out a growl. "How dare them try to covet my daughter for the despicable goal?"

    He wasn''t the only one who felt mad after hearing what Commander Ruto said.

    Mona''s Mana fuctuated, but it was clear that his wife was trying to calm down.

    The children who were crying earlier finally stopped, wiping the tears off of their faces while a fire of determination ignited in their glowing eyes.

    No one was talking, but Niki could hear everyone''s thoughts: "We won''t let anyone¨C not even gods¨Cy a hand on Neoma."

    That was what everyone was thinking at the moment.

    Hence, despite the dire situation, Niki felt hopeful.

    [Everything will be okay.]

    "What should we do next?" Niki asked Commander Ruto directly. "You know how to revive Neoma, don''t you? After all, this wouldn''t be the first time you''re bringing my daughter back to life."

    "For now, we have to hide Neoma. This Imperial Shrine wouldn''tst long once the gods began attacking one by one," Ruto said, then he turned to the Crown Princess. "Only Princess Hanna is capable of hiding Neoma from the gods."

    Hanna looked surprised, but itsted for a moment. "Tell me what to do, Commander Ruto."

    ***

    "NEOMA, we promise to bring you back."

    Mona burst out crying again while watching Niki silently cry while touching the ice coffin where Neoma was.

    [Neoma, you made your father cry¡­]

    Only Mona and Niki were left in the Imperial Shrine after Commander Ruto took the children with him.

    Hence, the two of them didn''t hold back their feelings anymore.

    Just because they knew that Neoma could be revived didn''t mean it would hurt less.

    There was no loving parent in the world would want to bury their children.

    "Nero, your mother, and I will do anything and everything to revive you," Niki promised their "sleeping" daughter. "Your friends and "children" will also do the same. So, just rest there for a moment, Neoma."

    Mona nodded while rubbing Niki''s back. "Baby, we will protect you until you return."

    Niki turned to her with an apologetic look on his face. "I''m sorry I have to leave you here alone, Mona."

    "No, it''s alright," Mona said while shaking her head. "You have a responsibility to keep the people safe, Niki. This is the empire that you''re going to hand over to Nero soon. You wouldn''t give our son a ruined empire, would you?"

    "Of course not," he said with a determined look on his face. Even so, it was clear that her husband was still worried about her. "Mona, will you really be alright? I know that you''re strong and capable of protecting both yourself and our daughter. But we can''t underestimate the gods, especially not when they''re desperate."

    She understood why her husband was worried.

    It wasn''t because he didn''t trust her skills¨C it was simply because the gods were really tricky.

    [You can''t really trust those gods.]

    Moreover, Niki probably knew that her strength decreased significantly when she lost her Spirit Guardians.

    And there was something that her husband didn''t know yet.

    "Niki, don''t worry," Mona said, smiling as she opened her arms. "My Spirit Guardians are back."

    And then Spirits came out one by one.

    [With the exception of William since William hates the sight of Niki.]

    <"We''re back, you stupid emperor! Idiot! Moron! You don''t deserve our master!">

    It was ze, the Fire Spirit.

    <"S-Stop it, ze! Emperor Niki is now Master''s h-husband!">

    It was Marina, the Water Spirit.

    <"I still don''t like the emperor¡­ handsome men are really scary¡­">

    It was Olive, the Wood Spirit.

    <"I''m not interested in Master''s husband, but I want to see Master''s children!">

    It was Rockwell, the Earth Spirit.

    <"You can Princess Neoma in front of you. Don''t worry. The little princess is just sleeping.">

    It was Mochi, the Wind Spirit.

    Mochi used to be called ''Gale,'' and the Wind Spirit used to serve Mona.

    But now, Mochi belonged to Neoma.

    And Mona didn''t want to change that.

    [But I''ll take Mochi under my wing while Neoma is still "asleep."]

    That was how Mona got reunited with her Spirit Guardians.

    "I''m d that you''ve finally been reunited with your Spirit Guardians, and I see that they still hate me," Niki said, ring at Mona''s Spirit Guardians who were "whispering" about Niki so openly. "But as long as they protect you and Neoma, I''ll let it slide."

    Of course, the Spirit Guardiansined and even cursed under their breath.

    [They still hate Niki even now, huh?]

    Mona was about to scold her Spirit Guardians when, suddenly, the rose mark on her wrist appeared and literally lightened up like a glowing tattoo.

    That was the symbol of her strongest guardian¨C the Light Spirit.

    <"Mona, everyone, get ready to fight,"> Roseanne, the Light Spirit, said in a warning voice. <"Two mid-level gods are headed this way, and they''reced with Darkness.">

    Ah, it had begun.

    Mona and Niki exchanged knowing looks.

    "I''ll leave them to you and your capable hands, love," Niki said determinedly. "I''ll protect Nero and our home."

    Mona smiled and nodded. "And I''ll protect Neoma, love."

    ***

    HANNA was d to see her mother safe and sound with her very own eyes.

    It wasn''t that she didn''t trust Paige and Greko.

    But, of course, it was still more fulfilling to see her mother who had nowpletely returned to normal.

    [Thank goodness¡­]

    "I''m sorry for making you worry, daughter," her mother said while holding her hands. "I must have given you and your father a fright."

    "Father cried and had to be dragged out to the battlefield, Mother," Hanna said, smiling while holding back her tears. "Father is still on the battlefield, but I''ve already sent someone to inform him that you''ve returned to normal, Mother."

    Her father had definitely heard about the news of Neoma''s passing, so her father must have been so sad about it.

    So, Hanan decided to inform her father about her mother''s recovery to give him strength.

    "Is everything alright, Hanna? Your eyes are red and swollen¡­"

    Ah, right.

    Her mother didn''t know about Neoma''s passing yet.

    [And I don''t want Mother to know because she''ll just me herself for it.]

    Hence, Hanna just changed the subject. "Mother, I''m sorry but I need to leave your side. I think I''ll be gone for a while."

    Her mother looked worried, as expected. "Where are you going, Hanna?"

    Can Hanna tell her mother she''d be in hell for a while?

    ***

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 Chapter 827 BINGO CARD

    ?

    HELL.

    Wow.

    Neoma had really seen it all by now.

    "I''m Drystan¨C the King of Hell," the old man with long gray hair, jet-ck eyes, and almost green-ish skin greeted Neoma uninterestedly. "Wee to my humble abode."

    [Nooo!]

    CLANK.

    That was the sound of handcuffs that the King put around Neoma''s wrists.

    Yes, she just got¡­ arrested?

    Now that she was looking closely, the building that she was taken to look simr to the modern world''s police station.

    And yes, Drystan was also wearing a uniform simr to a police officer in Korea.

    [What the fuck?]

    "Getting arrested by the King of Hell wasn''t on my bingo card, but here we are now," Neoma said, sighing while crying inside. "But this definitely ruined my childhood. W*ttpad brainwashed me into thinking that the kings and princes of Hell are all young-looking and hot."

    Tteokbokki made a disgusted face. "Ew. Just what kind of disgusting fics were you reading when you were young, thug princess?"

    "Well, there was this smut BL that involved a water alien with two penises¨C"

    "STAAAHP!" Tteokbokkiined while covering his ears with his hands. "I don''t want to hear it! Forget I asked!"

    Neoma justughed at her Soul Beast''s reaction.

    "I see that you''re not taking this seriously, Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio."

    She stoppedughing, then she turned to the "police officer" in front of her. "Well, I don''t like people who use mind control and illusion. They''re a pain in the ass to deal with."

    Drystan scoffed at her words. "You don''t seem to have a problem with it since your mental fortitude is made of steel, little princess."

    "What''s your purpose for showing me this illusion?" Neoma asked curiously. "And where are my grandfathers and grandmothers? They were just with me a moment ago."

    "As the King of Hell, it is my duty to wee a de Moonasterio."

    Pfft.

    The King looked like he was already fed up with his job.

    "Let me guess¡­ I''m not the first de Moonasterio to arrive in Hell after dying."

    "Not the first, and definitely not thest," Drystan said, sitting behind the desk. "Let''s talk."

    As soon as Neoma sat on the chair opposite the King of Hell, the surroundings suddenly changed.

    Now she found herself sitting in the middle of what seemed like a coliseum.

    The wooden table between her and Drystan had turned into a marble table.

    Even the King of Hell''s outfit had changed from a Korean police officer''s uniform into a fancy ck silk robe with gold ents.

    [This is different from the usual white space that I''m used to¡­]

    It was actually hard to believe that she was in Hell.

    After all, above the coliseum was the sun shining so brightly. Even the blue sky looked pretty. Even the trees and the birds.

    [They''re all artificial, but they still make a beautiful view.]

    It was as if the entire ce was modeled after The Colosseum in Rome.

    "Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio, is it that hard to focus on me?"

    "Ah, I apologize on behalf of the thug princess," Tteokbokki, who was sitting beside Neoma, said. He ''apologized,'' but it was clear that he wasn''t sincere about it. It was more of a sarcastic remark than an apology. "Our thug princess only focuses on handsome men."

    "Hey, that makes me sound shallow. I don''t only like handsome men," Neomained lightly. "I also like beautiful women and pretty non-binary folks. As long as they have an attractive face, I like them all."

    Tteokbokki gave her a dire stare. "That makes you sound more shallow, you know?"

    "Oh, is that so?"

    "Is my appearance the problem?"

    Neoma turned to Drystan and shook her head. "No, of course not, Your Majesty. I just really have a hard time focusing since my brain is always on overdrive."

    "But it will help you focus if my face suits your taste."

    "M-Maybe¡­?"

    "Alright."

    "Huh?"

    Instead of responding, Drystan only snapped his fingers.

    And then¡­

    LE GASP.

    Drystan''s appearance changed in an instant.

    The old man was suddenly gone.

    Now sitting across from Neoma was a young man with long wavy hair, red eyes, and pale skin.

    And yes, young Drystan was so freaking handsome.

    [Thank you for the meal. My eyes are now full.]

    Neoma was totally digging the (young-looking) King of Hell''szy vibes. She aspired to be as chill as the king.

    There was only one thing that kind of bothered her.

    Neoma tilted her head to one side. "Red eyes? Your Majesty is a god? I didn''t know since your eyes were ck earlier."

    "I was born a god¨C a major god, to be precise," Drystan said, uninterestedly. "But after the Ancient Period, the gods who survived almost getting swallowed by the Absolute Darkness decided that a god with Darkness attribute like me didn''t belong in the Upper World. They kicked me out of the Upper World and stripped me of my status as a god. Then they demoted me as the King of Hell after they sealed the Demon Race here. They gave me the task of making sure the demons wouldn''t be able to crawl out of the human world again."

    Wow.

    That was the first time someone shared his life story with Neoma with little to no emotion.

    "Do you not resent the gods who kicked you out of the Upper World?" Neoma asked carefully. "Or have you already moved on since it happened a long time ago?"

    "I can''t be bothered to get angry¨C then and now," Drystan deadpanned. "Whether I''m a god or not, it doesn''t change the fact that I still need to work just because I have the ability to do so." The King of Hell clicked his tongue. "The old bastards up there should have just killed me instead of demoting me. Who wants to work for eternity? If I could, I would have entered an eternal slumber already."

    Would you look at that?

    The King of Hell had expressed more emotionsining about working for eternity than when he did while sharing how the gods had betrayed me.

    [But I totally get it.]

    After all, it was her dream to be ady of leisure¡­ wait!

    [King Drystan and I have the same goal!]

    Neoma covered her mouth when she let out a soft gasp. "I found my kindred spirit!"

    "Hmm?"

    "I also want to live azy life, Your Majesty!"

    "Is that so?" Drystan asked, obviously not interested. "Well, unfortunately for you, sinners like you don''t have the right to enjoy a peaceful rest after death."

    Neoma''s energy decreased immediately. "Way to ruin the mood, Your Majesty."

    "You don''t seem surprised," the King of Hellmented. "The previous de Moonasterios who sat on the very same spot all lost their minds and threatened me."

    "I''m aware of all the sins I''vemitted¨C in all my previous lives and now," she said in a serious tone. "The moment I sullied my hands with blood, I''ve already prepared myself to go to hell after I died."

    The King of Hell looked at her in silence, then a small smile on his face appeared.

    [So freaking handsome.]

    "Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio, you are guilty of eradicating half of the human poption and at least ten other races during your first life. You also blew up the Upper World and killed the gods residing there."

    She didn''t show it, but hearing her past crimes put a heavy burden on her heart.

    Neoma felt like she was about to cower in guilt when, suddenly, Tteokbokki grabbed her hand and squeezed it without saying a word.

    But the Soul Beast didn''t have to say anything.

    She got the boost of courage that she needed.

    [Thank you, Tteokbokki.]

    "But you killed all of them for a noble reason."

    Neoma''s eyes opened wide, shocked by what the King of Hell said. "Excuse me?"

    "You killed half of the living beings in the world to save the remaining half, Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio," Drystan announced in a slightly energetic voice than normal. "I recognize your noble sacrifice, hence I''m here to offer you a deal."

    ***

    "NEOMA''S LAST will and testament?"

    Dahlia gulped hard, slightly intimidated by the people who gathered upon her summon.

    As Princess Neoma''s secretary, it was her duty to announce the Imperial Princess''st will and testament to the people involved.

    And those people were the following:

    Emperor Niki.

    Empress Mona.

    Prince Nero.

    Princess Hanna.

    Lewis Crevan.

    Trevor Kesser.

    Ruto Solfrid Stroganoff.

    Although they were working hard to bring Princess Neoma back to life, it didn''t change the fact that Princess Neoma was already dead. The moment the Imperial Princess'' heart stopped beating, thest will and testament activated on its own.

    [That''s how it works here.]

    "Princess Neoma prepared herst will and testament before the First Cmity hits the empire," Dahlia said politely when she found the courage to speak. "Princess Neoma asked me to read herst will and testament as soon as it gets activated."

    Of course, no one in that room was happy to hear that.

    Everyone was currently in the Imperial Shrine since it became their ''base'' for now.

    Now, everyone looked at Princess Neoma¨C who was inside the ice coffin¨C with a devastated look on their faces.

    "So, Neoma knew?" Emperor Niki whispered. "She knew she was dying."

    "That seems to be the case, Your Majesty," Dahlia confirmed in a soft and careful voice. "After all, Princess Neoma''s first will says that we must NOT revive her at the expense of anyone''s life."

    ***

    HI! ROYAL SECRET ALTERNATE UNIVERSE: LET''S NOT DIVORCE is now posted on my P/atreon ount.

    Just copy-paste this link: (patreon/s_c) or G0ogle P/atreon s_c to find my page. My profile picture is the same as the one I have here on WN. And the background picture says ''SOLAVERSE.''

    I have TWO TIERS.

    ROYAL FAMILY TIER (2USD) grants you ess to thepleted main story + book cover reveal. Total of 24 chapters.

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 Chapter 828 GOOD KARMA

    ?

    DAHLIA could feel the tension in the air after she said that Princess Neoma''s first will dictated that the Imperial Princess must not be revived at anyone''s expense.

    All these people were willing to die for Princess Neoma.

    So, how could they ept the fact that the precious person they wished to revive refuse it?

    [I''m sure they''ll have a hard time refusing Princess Neoma''s will since they respect the Imperial Princess and her decisions.]

    "Princess Neoma wishes to divide all her money in the bank between the children of the Sword Lily Foundation and the schrs of the Eranthis Academy," Dahlia continued reading Princess Neoma''sst will and testament. "On the other hand, Princess Neoma wishes to hand all her cold cash and treasures to Sir Lewis Crevan, Lady Juri Wisteria, Lord Jeno Dankworth, Lady Paige Avery, Sir Xion Redgrave, and Greko."

    The amount of Princess Neoma''s wealth was more than enough to give Lewis Crevan and the others afortable life for the rest of their lives even without working a day.

    However, Lewis Crevan didn''t look happy about it.

    If Princess Neoma''s "children" were present there, they''d probably have the same reaction.

    [I''m sure they would give up all the riches in the world just to bring back Princess Neoma if they could.]

    "Princess Neoma wishes to hand all her collections of jewelry and her entire wardrobe to Princess Hanna."

    As expected, Princess Hanna didn''t look thrilled about it.

    "Princess Neoma wishes to hand the Lynx Ring to Prince Nero," Dahlia continued, making Prince Nero frown. "Princess Neoma wishes to free Lord Kingston, the White Lion, once she''s gone. However, if Lord Kingston agrees, then Princess Neoma wishes for Prince Nero to take in the White Lion under his wing."

    Prince Nero scoffed, but it was clear that he was just trying to hold back his tears.

    [Ah, Prince Nero only gets vulnerable when ites to Princess Neoma.]

    "Princess Neoma wishes for Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Mona to take care of her Spirits unless the Spirits choose to leave and live on their own."

    Empress Mona closed her eyes tight in an attempt to stop her tears from falling.

    Her Imperial Majesty didn''t seed, though.

    "Princess Neoma wishes to return all her properties and territories to the Imperial Family should the Imperial Family promise to build more organizations to aid the poor¨C especially the less fortunate children," Dahlia continued reading Princess Neoma''sst will and testament. "Princess Neoma also appeals to His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Niki to personally spearhead projects that will support the soon-to-be survivors of this war."

    Emperor Niki''s indifferent face didn''t change, but the emperor''s eyes were full of defiance.

    It wasn''t like the emperor didn''t have to help the citizens.

    His Imperial Majesty just probably felt betrayed after knowing that Princess Neoma was already prepared to die.

    [I felt the same way when Princess Neoma asked me to prepare her will.]

    "Princess Neoma wishes to leave Skewer, the Death Scythe, to Lord Trevor Kesser."

    Trevor Kesser just shrugged.

    "Princess Neoma left a letter for Lord Ruto Solfrid Stroganoff," Dahlia continued. "I''ll hand the letter to youter, Lord Ruto."

    Lord Ruto nodded politely. "Thank you, Miss Dahlia."

    She just nodded in response, then she proceeded to read thest part of the will.

    "Sir Lewis Crevan, Princess Neoma forbids you from taking your own life," Dahlia said, taking a peak at the fox nervously. "Princess Neoma wishes for Sir Lewis Crevan to stay with the Imperial Family and take care of his siblings. Again, Princess Neoma forbids Lewis Crevan from following her to hell with any means possible."

    [Why would Princess Neoma assume that she''d be in hell? She''s the kindest person I know, and probably the only de Moonasterio in history to have a golden heart¡­]

    That was why Dahlia could understand why Lewis Crevan looked so broken at the moment.

    [Sir Crevan probably wants to follow Princess Neoma to death, but couldn''t do it now because of Princess Neoma''s will.]

    "Lastly, Princess Neoma once again insists that no life should be used to bring her back," Dahlia said, folding the paper as she was done reading the Imperial Princess'' will. "Princess Neoma said in her will that she would never forgive anyone who refuses to follow herst wishes."

    As expected, none of the people present there looked good.

    Everyone looked devastated.

    "I''ll pretend I didn''t hear any of that," Emperor Niki said firmly. "The Imperial Family will never announce Neoma''s death. As far as we are concerned, the one and only Imperial Princess is still alive."

    "Father, should I announce that Neoma has fallen into aatose state?" Prince Nero asked. "We need to release a refute to put the people at least. If we don''t, there''s a high chance that they might start a protest out of fear."

    "I agree with Prince Nero''s decision, Your Imperial Majesty," Princess Hanna said, addressing the Crown Prince formally in front of the emperor and the empress. "Please allow us to deal with this issue."

    "Are you sure, Hanna?" Prince Nero asked the Crown Princess worriedly. "I thought you need to leave after this."

    "I don''t have to be directly involved," Princess Hanna said. "I''ll tell you my nter, Nero."

    The Crown Prince then nodded.

    "Alright," Emperor Niki said, looking at Prince Nero and Princess Hanna. "I''ll leave it in your capable hands, Nero. Hanna."

    The Crown Prince and the Crown Princess both bowed to the emperor politely.

    Then the empress joined the Imperial Family as Empress Mona gave suggestions to Prince Nero and Princess Hanna about dealing with the people."

    "Miss Dahlia."

    It was Lord Ruto.

    And the powerfulmander didn''t approach Dahlia alone.

    [It''s rare to see Commander Ruto and Lord Trevor Kesser together without fighting¡­]

    "Can I get the letter that Neoma left for me?" Lord Ruto asked politely. "I need to be somewhere else after this."

    "Hurry up," Lord Trevor said to Lord Ruto while stretching his arms. "I need to kill you real quick before I go."

    Huh?

    Dahlia and everyone in the room turned to Lord Trevor and Lord Ruto in disbelief.

    Did she hear it right?

    [Lord Trevor is going to kill Commander Ruto?]

    ***

    "I DID THE world a favor bymitting genocide?" Neoma asked Drystan, the King of Hell, in disbelief. "What kind of sick joke is this, Your Majesty? It''s not funny."

    "It''s the truth," Drystan said, still indifferent. "The world was saved when you set it on fire, Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio. Even though you ended up killing half of the poption, it was still the best oue that we could hope for."

    Hah.

    Was she supposed to be happy with that?

    She waited for the King of Hell to tell her how EXACTLY did she save the world bymitting mass murder.

    But Drystan kept his mouth shut¨C a sign that he had no intention of telling her more.

    "This is crazy," Neoma said, smirking bitterly. "Do you know how much guilt I have in my heart for what I did in the first timeline even though I don''t exactly remember it? And here you are, telling me that I did it for the sake of the world."

    "It''s a shame, really," the King of Hell said, obviously unable to rte to Neoma''s suffering. He was looking at her as if he couldn''t understand why she was acting that way, after all. "Even though you did that for the world, it wouldn''t change the fact that you still killed many living beings. Hence, I have no choice but to drag you here."

    Neoma''s mouth was itching to curse so she just kept quiet.

    To be honest, she wasn''t mad.

    She was just hurt and sad that she had to be a mass murderer for the world that hadn''t been kind to her in the first timeline.

    [I feel so bad for the Neoma of the first timeline¡­ she suffered a lot.]

    "We don''t want to hear about that crap anymore," Tteokbokki said coldly while ring at Drystan. "Don''t bully my thug princess."

    Aww.

    Neoma was touched by Tteokbokki''s protectiveness.

    "Then I''ll stop talking about it," Drystan said. "Like I said earlier, I have an offer to make. Shall we talk about that now?"

    Neoma let out a sigh, feeling a bit more calm now. "Alright. Go ahead."

    "If you agree to save the world this time again, then we will turn a blind eye to your previous crime, Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio," Drystan said, covering his mouth when he yawned. "To be honest, I don''t care if the human race perished. But I don''t like the Absolute Darkness. Unfortunately, I don''t have the power to stop it. Hence, I have no choice but to ask you to lend us your strength, little princess."

    "Then are you saying you can bring me back to life if I agreed with your terms?"

    "Not right away."

    "What do you mean by that?"

    "There are so many powerful gods preventing me from bringing you back to life, so I need more time."

    "Gosh," Neomained, mming her hands on the table. "What if my gorgeous body rots?!"

    "That won''t happen since your vessel is currently preserved in the ice coffin that Nero Roseheart de Moonasterio made for you," Drystan exined. "Your twin brother''s ice is made of divine power. It''s enough to keep your body in pristine condition."

    She let out a sigh of relief. "Alright. Carry on."

    "Ah, you have to know that this chance was only made possible because of your ancestors."

    "My super great grandparents?"

    "The ancestors you saw earlier were the ones who umted the most good karma points when they were still alive."

    "Good karma points?"

    "They could have been reincarnated, but they decided to give up their chance for a new life," Drystand said, then he pointed azy finger at Neoma. "All for your sake, you lucky little moon."

    Neoma didn''t see thating. "My super grandparents are truly the best..."

    ***

    Hi! Sorry for being inactive. I just had some personal stuff that I went through. I''ll make it up to you starting tomorrow.

    For now, let me give you a little gift.

    Did you see the image attached in thement section? ;>

    We have modern Mona and Niki in da hauz~

    I really used my savings to hire an artist to make the book cover because I want you to visualize Mona and Niki in a modern setting.

    LOL.

    ANYWAY, YES, I''M ALMOST DONE WITH THE ALTERNATE UNIVERSE (AU) STORY FOR ROYAL SECRET: I''M A PRINCESS~

    Since the setting is in the modern world, I had to say goodbye to Mona''s pink eyes and pale blue eyes. Modern Mona is a full South Korean working mama, so I gave her light brown hair and light brown eyes.

    Niki is half Korean-half British here, so I gave him tinum blond hair (almost close to white) and blue-gray eyes. AND PAPA BOSS IS A CHAEBOL.

    Feel the Kdrama vibes soon.

    Anyway, I''m almost finished with this AU.

    And the main story will be told in Niki''s POV.

    Here''s the teaser:

    ***

    I WAS a horrible husband, and a scumbag father.

    Having amnesia wasn''t an excuse.

    Even so, because of that, I lost my family at age forty.

    In order to save Nero¨C my son and heir¨C I killed my daughter Neoma. And then I had to witness Mona, my neglected wife, die in front of me.

    Why did I have to regain all my memories at that exact moment?

    I wanted to die with Mona and Neoma.

    And, just when I thought I could finally be reunited with them, I opened my eyes and realized I turned back time.

    I returned at the time Mona and I were in the middle of a divorce.

    Divorce?

    No way in hell would Niki divorce Mona this time!

    ***

    TADAAAH.

    This time, it''s Niki who turned back time to fix his mistakes.

    Kekeke.

    Are you excited?

    Please wait a bit.

    I''ll be posting the AU on my Patreon ount once the story ispleted. Yeah, I''ll be dropping the entire story/all the chapters all at once so you could read it in one sitting. :>

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 829 JUST A NAME

    ?

    NOW NEOMA finally understood why her ancestors remained as "ghosts" all this time.

    [They couldn''t rest in peace because they knew this day woulde¨C the day when the world would end unless their beautiful and awesome descendant stepped forward.]

    The ''beautiful and awesome'' descendant would be Neoma, of course.

    "Gosh, I''m really the Chosen One," Neoma said, half amazed-half annoyed by the clich¨¦. "I was born for this trope!"

    Drystan looked at Neoma weirdly, then he turned to Tteokbokki. "Is your princess okay?"

    Tteokbokki gave Drystan a dire look. "Dude, have you met a normal de Moonasterio in your long life?"

    "Touch¨¦," the King of Hell said, nodding. "The most "normal" de Moonasterio I have met was the first Emperor."

    Neoma looked at Drystan in horror. "Emperor Primo is normal by your standards, Your Majesty? Wasn''t he the dude who blew up half of the empire because of his Lunacy?"

    "That was pretty normal for a de Moonasterio."

    Right?

    "And you''re the most peculiar among your bloodline, Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio," Drystan said while looking at Neoma with judgemental eyes. "You''re not evil, but you''re not good either."

    "Hey, morally gray characters are famous these days," Neoma said defensively. "What''s wrong with me?"

    "Everything is wrong with you, thug princess."

    "Shut up, Tteokbokki."

    "Little princess, I used my young appearance to make you focus on me. Keeping up this appearance isn''t easy since it consumes too much energy," Drystan reminded her. "Please don''t make me waste my energy¨C I need it to perform my duties well."

    "I''m acting this way because I don''t like this conversation," Neoma said, leaning against the chair while crossing her arms over her chest. "Of course, I''m touched and delighted to know that my ancestors gave up their chance to be reincarnated in order to use their good karma points for my sake."

    Well, she had a feeling that it wasn''t exactly for her sake.

    After all, her ancestors were born way before her Papa Boss and Mama Boss were even born. Hence, she could only think of one reason as to why her ancestors reserved their good karma points.

    The prophecy.

    There was a prophecy about a female de Moonasterio who would be the first empress regnant of the empire.

    [The crows lost their shit because of that prophecy.]

    Hence, those crows started killing off all the princesses born from the Imperial Family.

    [My ancestors probably knew that the empress regnant from the prophecy would save the world. So, they save up their good karma points for this moment.]

    "It doesn''t sit well with me," Neoma said, frowning. "Why is it my n''s SOLE responsibility to save the freaking world? Are we the only ones living here? No, right?"

    "The people who are trying to destroy the world came from the bloodline of the Moon God," Drystan said casually. "Of course, it''s YOUR n''s problem."

    "Gosh, what a nder," sheined. "It''s true that Callisto de Luca is Lord Yule''s brother. But why is it only our n''s responsibility to stop that lunatic from running amok, huh?" She pointed a finger up even though the sky there was fake. "There are gods supporting that crazy bastard. Shouldn''t the divine race take responsibility, too? Gosh. You''re supposed to be superior to humans, and yet you expect humans to save the freaking world."

    "I don''t understand why you''re upset, little princess," Drystan said in a tired voice. "I know saving the world is no easy task. But the reward is great. You''ll be freed from being punished in the Afterlife if you seeded."

    "But I don''t want to be saved at the expense of my ancestors'' sacrifice."

    Tteokbokki rolled his eyes. "Here she goes again."

    "Your ancestors made their decisions a long time ago¨C they''re already dead, and they don''t seem to regret their choice," Drystan said, sighing as if he was already exhausted dealing with her. "And I''ve already collected their good karma points. I can''t return it to them even if you asked me to."

    "I want my ancestors to be reincarnated," Neoma dered, making up her mind. "They all lived a shitty life because they had the bad luck of being born a de Moonasterio. So, they deserve to be reincarnated and live a life where only a flower road awaits them."

    "Do you understand what you''re saying, little princess?" the King of Hell asked. "If you refuse the deal I''m offering you, then you''d suffer in the Afterlife. The punishment for people whomit mass murder is harsh."

    "Gosh, I don''t want to be punished either."

    "Does my thug princess look like a person you can punish?" Tteokbokki asked, scoffing. "My thug princess gives the punishment and not the other way around."

    Right?

    "What is it that you want, little princess?" Drystan asked, sighing once again. "You refuse my deal, yet you also don''t want to be punished. If you don''t ept what I''m currently offering you, then I won''t bring you back to life."

    "Then think of something else, Your Majesty. It''s not like my request is hard. I just want to be brought back to life without using my ancestors'' good karma points."

    The King of Hell sighed. "Little princess, you''re being obnoxious."

    "You need me more than I need you," Neoma reminded the king. "Even if you don''t bring me back to life, I''ll still get revived. I''m quite loved, you know? The people I left behind will surely do everything they can just to bring me back."

    The fact that Nero already froze her body was proof that her people were trying to bring her back.

    [I left a will that says I don''t want to be revived at the expense of someone else''s life.]

    But Neoma had a feeling that a mere piece of paper wouldn''t stop her people from bringing her back to life at all costs.

    [This is the curse of being too loved.]

    "And, Your Majesty, you need to know I''m not good at keeping still," Neoma said, smiling. "I get bored easily. And if I get too bored here, I might do things that will make you regret keeping me here in the first ce."

    "For the first time in my long life, I am tempted to smack a child."

    Tteokbokki growled at what Drystan said. "How dare you threaten my thug princess? I''m the only one allowed to do that!"

    "Aigoo. Calm down, dude," Neoma said, patting Tteokbokki''s shoulder. "Your Majesty, let''s have a sparring."

    "What?"

    "Let''s fight," she said. "I''m bored."

    "Alright," Drystan said, standing up. "If I win, then you''ll take my offer seriously, little princess."

    "If I win, you''lle up with a new deal," Neoma said, standing up with Tteokbokki. "And you''ll stop calling me ''little princess,'' Your Majesty."

    ***

    <DON''T make me wait too long, Ruto.>

    It was just one line.

    And yet, Ruto couldn''t help but smile while reading the letter that Princess Neoma left for him.

    [She''s waiting for me.]

    "You can really be a hypocrite sometimes, Neoma," Ruto whispered to himself. "You said you don''t want anyone to die at your expense, but you knew I''m following you."

    [Am I the exception?]

    It made Ruto happy.

    "Daddy Ruto."

    He folded the paper and quickly put it in his pocket before he turned around.

    "You''re back," Ruto said to the God of Death who was still in his baby form while floating in front of him. "Did you send off Neoma?"

    "I did, but I don''t think Mommy Neoma saw me," the baby god said. "And Mommy Neoma was dragged to hell as soon as her soul left her body."

    He let out a sigh while shaking his head. "Drystan is still as impatient as ever."

    "The King of Hell is probably offering a deal to Mommy Neoma by now. Do you think she''ll ept the offer?"

    "Neoma makes the offer and not the other way around," Ruto said. "But the King of Hell wouldn''t let this opportunity slip. He''ll do everything to make Neoma ept his deal, so I know that we still have time to bring her back to life."

    "What makes you so confident, Daddy Ruto?"

    "Drystan iszy."

    "Huh?"

    "The King of Hell iszy and he can''t be bothered to crawl out of his little kingdom just to get involved in this war," Ruto said determinedly. "He was kicked out of the Upper World because he can''t be bothered by anything."

    That was the kind of person Drystan was.

    [He learned how to manipte people to do his bidding because he doesn''t want to work.]

    "I see," the baby god said, sounding like an adult all of a sudden. "Mommy Neoma gave me a name, Daddy."

    "What name did she give you?" Ruto asked nervously. "It''s not weird, is it?"

    "''Vitu.''"

    "What¡­?"

    The baby god smiled sadly. "Mommy Neoma called me ''Vitu,'' Daddy Ruto."

    It was just a name.

    Granted that it was just a name that anyone who could speak the ancientnguage coulde up with, he was still taken aback.

    [Out of all the names there, why choose that one, Neoma?]

    "Don''t cry, Daddy Ruto," Vitu said while wiping the tears off his face with his tiny and chubby hands. "It''s just a name now."

    Ruto, who didn''t even realize he was crying until that moment, nodded. "Yes, it''s just a name now."

    ***

    TEASER FOR THE ROYAL SECRET AU:

    ***

    "Are you sure you''re not going to regret this, Niki?"

    That was Mona''s question the day she was kicked out of the house.

    During that time, all I wanted was to make my parents proud.

    Hence, my response to Mona was cold and cruel.

    "I don''t think I would. Thank you for being my wife for the past decade, Mona-ssi. And I''m sorry for forgetting everything. I wish you all the best in life."

    Mona only smiled bitterly in response.

    "I hate you, Appa."

    That was what Neoma, between sobs, said to me.

    I just turned my back on them without looking back.

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 830 GET OUT OF HERE

    ?

    A FERAL CHILD.

    That was Drystan''s thought while watching Neoma Roseheart de Moonasteriough like a viin while standing on the back of her red dragon.

    And the said dragon was breathing fire, burning things down in the capital.

    [I thought we were going to fight¡­]

    But instead of preparing for a fight, the little princess suddenly changed her mind when she saw the capital near the coliseum where he brought her to talk.

    The capital where a ce where the demons under his control lived.

    [I''m not fond of those bastards, but this is still my territory.]

    For some reason, Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio looked pissed when she rode on her dragon earlier and asked the Soul Beast to burn everything to ashes.

    "Little princess, what do you think you''re doing?" Drystan asked. He didn''t need to raise his voice because he knew Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio could hear him with her sharp senses. "I thought we were going to fight."

    "Well, I can feel the hostility of these puny little demons directed at me," Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio said. She also didn''t need to raise her voice since Drystan could hear just fine despite the distance. "I can''t have them looking down on me, can I? I''m no tyrant, but I''m no pushover either. If you get on my bad side, then you''re as good as dead."

    Ah, so the little princess heard.

    Not all demons were evil, of course.

    But most of the demons living in the Hell''s capital were a little rough.

    After all, the demons stationed there were mostly soldiers and mercenaries hired to protect their kingdom.

    [I heard themment rude and lewd remarks towards the little princess.]

    He didn''t know that Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio''s hearing was that sharp.

    [Is it the reason why the little princess couldn''t concentrate on our conversation earlier?]

    It was a pretty huge feat.

    The demons were watching them from afar.

    Drystan created a soundproof barrier so that his conversation with the little princess would remain private. However, that didn''t mean the demons couldn''t see Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio anymore.

    The little princess'' appearance was the kind of appearance that would be dered beautiful even among different races.

    Hence, the demons lusted after Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio.

    [I guess the child is too sensitive to ignore the lewd remarks that she heard.]

    "Hey, you slimy bastards," Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio yelled at the demons cursing at her from below. "I''m going to show you today why you shouldn''t keep me here for so long. Kekeke!" The little princess raised her arms. "Tteokbokki, burn all these bastards who said all the de Moonasterion princesses should die and end up here to "lighten up" this goddamn ce!"

    Ah.

    So that was thement that pissed off the little princess.

    [I did hear some demons say that the de Moonasterion princesses were better off dead because they would be good "decorations" in Hell.]

    Since he didn''t also like that, he didn''t stop the little princess from running amok.

    But Drystan honestly thought Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio was offended by the lewd remarks directed at her.

    His thoughts were interrupted when the ground suddenly shook hard.

    No, not the ground.

    It was actually a skyquake.

    The rumbling started in the air, and the vibrations soon hit the ground as a pink Hellgate suddenly appeared behind Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio.

    [Ah, the infamous pink Hellgate.]

    No human had ever achieved owning a Hellgate before.

    [This is why most beings believe that the de Moonasterios shouldn''t exist.]

    The pink Hellgate soon opened its gigantic doors, sucking in the souls of the demons that Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio had just killed.

    That was another huge feat.

    [So, the pink Hellgate works as long as Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio''s soul is ''alive.'']

    It was a dangerousbination.

    The little princess was dangerous even after death.

    Tsk.

    [And I tried to scam this person?]

    "Kekeke!" Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio continued tough like the absolute lunatic that she was, her eyes glowing red now. "Burn everything to ashes, Tteokbokki! Let''s light up this gloomy ce more with your brilliant me!"

    The little princess said that and yet, she was actually protecting most of the citizens.

    Although the houses and the buildings in the capital were already burning, Drystan could see that Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio was using her barrier to protect the demons that she probably deemed innocent.

    [Most of them are women and children.]

    It was amazing how Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio could identify the rotten demons among the bunch.

    But this was no time to get amazed.

    "Stop it, little princess," Drystan said sternly. "Come down and we''ll restart our conversation."

    "Pfft!" Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio said, holding back herughter while looking down at Drystan. "Your Majesty, you cannot scam the greatest scammer of the empire." Then the little princess suddenly stoppedughing, her eyes and voice void of emotions as she spoke again. "You better offer me a proper deal this time if you don''t want me to burn your little kingdom to ashes."

    What a rude little piece of¡­

    He couldn''t finish cursing the Imperial Princess in his head because Princess Neoma''s cold and sharp gaze sent a shiver down his spine.

    [Yes, this unhinged child is really a de Moonasterio.]

    "Hey, I can tell that you''re cursing my thug princess with that disrespectful gaze of yours," the red dragon said, looking at Drystan as if he was cursing him with his eyes, too. "I need to let you know that my thug princess is actually being respectful to you. But once she starts swearing at you, then that means you''re dead. No matter how good your offer is, the thug princess would still reject it. She can die out of spite, you know? She''s that petty."

    Hmm?

    He couldn''t understand if the Soul Beast wasplimenting or insulting his owner.

    And he also couldn''t believe that that was already Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio being ''respectful'' to him.

    [After she burned down my kingdom''s capital¡­?]

    And there goes his will to fight.

    [I can''t bother to win against a lunatic.]

    "You''re too dangerous to be kept here, little princess," Drystan said, sighing while shaking her head. "I need to return you back to the human world as soon as possible."

    ***

    NEOMA was secretly relieved to see that the surviving demons had the means to rebuild their houses in a very quick and efficient manner.

    Although she acted like a barbarian, she was still pricked by her conscience.

    [I needed to show Drystan and the demons here that I''m bad news so they''d kick me out, but I was also pissed off by the bullshit I heard earlier.]

    Hence, she let her intrusive thoughts win.

    She couldn''t believe that even after death, the Imperial Princesses of the de Moonasterion Family were still being sexualized.

    That was unforgivable in her book.

    "As I said earlier, it won''t be easy to bring you back to the human world¨C especially if I''m not going to use the good karma points that your ancestors have umted for you, little princess," Drystan, who was obviously cursing her through his gaze, said in a tired and annoyed voice. "This time, I''ll need the help of your people to bring you back to life. Since you refuse to use the good karma points of your ancestors, you won''tin if I asked for your people''s help, will you?"

    "As long as they don''t have to sacrifice their lives for me, I''m good," Neoma said, shrugging. "I just don''t like other people to give up their future just to bring me back."

    "Do you understand that those people you treasure will still die if you don''t return and save the world?"

    "Well, that logic won''t still change my mind."

    "What?"

    "Forget it, king," Tteokbokki, now back in his human form, said to Drystan while shaking his head. "Have you ever had a proper argument with a de Moonasterio?"

    "Right, they were all insane and illogical," Drystan confirmed, nodding. "There''s a way to revive you, little princess. But we''ll need that crow."

    "Regina Crowell," Neoma said. She instinctively knew that the King of Hell was talking about Regina Crowell. "Yeah, I don''t mind if we sacrifice that wench for my revival. She killed me in the first timeline. Hence, she owed me a huge debt."

    Of course, Regina Crowell didn''t directly kill her in the first timeline.

    But that wench still had to pay for ruining her life back then.

    "Ah, I won''t sign a contract with Your Majesty until my Contractor gets here."

    Drystan knitted his eyebrows, confused. "Little princess, do you think my kingdom is a yground that your people can easily go in and out? This is Hell. I know that your Contractor is a demon. Even so, that doesn''t mean he can easily trespass my territory."

    "Nah, Trevor can do it since he was powered by his love for me," Neoma said casually, waving her hand. "Plus, I''m sure Ruto will be with him."

    Trevor and Ruto were abination made in hell, after all.

    ***

    IT HURT LIKE HELL.

    Ruto was forced to teach Trevor Kesser how to break his Core.

    But the demon boy didn''t only break his Core easily¨C that punk did it in the most painful way possible.

    [I''m starting to regret my decision¡­]

    "Oops, sorry," Trevor said unapologetically, "smiling" while wiping the blood off of the de of his dagger with a white handkerchief. "Did it hurt, damned chef?"

    "You better sleep with one eye open, Trevor Kesser," Ruto growled lowly, clutching his bleeding chest. "See you in hell, punk."

    ***

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 Chapter 831 NEOMAS FOUR PILLARS

    ?

    A few hours before Trevor "killed" Ruto¡­

    [THIS reminds me of the past, back when I led Neoma''s Four Pirs in her ce.]

    Only Ruto, Lewis, Hanna, Trevor and Prince Nero were in the Imperial Shrine right now.

    Empress Mona still had to rest or else Emperor Niki wouldn''t be able to focus on his work while worrying about his wife.

    Hence, Ruto volunteered to guard it with the kids.

    [Neoma''s children are guarding the Imperial Shrine from the outside.]

    Ruto crossed his arms over his chest, watching Nero create an ice sculpture in a precise yet slow manner.

    [Why is he moving so slowly when this is supposed to be an easy job for him?]

    "Prince Nero, please finish it quickly," Ruto said impatiently. "We don''t have all the time in the world."

    "Shut up, Commander Ruto," Prince Nero snapped back at him, the Crown Prince''s gaze still focused on his task. "You can''t ask me to make Neoma''s ice sculpture and expect me to do it half-heartedly. Even if it''s just a replica, I still need to capture Neoma''s immacte beauty."

    Yeah.

    That was the job Ruto asked Prince Nero to do: to make an ice sculpture that looked exactly like the ice coffin where Neoma was currently trapped for her own protection.

    It was supposed to be an easy job for an ice maniptor on Prince Nero''s level.

    But the Crown Prince was making a MASTERPIECE even though he didn''t have to.

    [For an ice sculpture, Prince Nero''s work really looks alive. It looks like the Crown Prince''s talent hasn''t gone anywhere¨C he''s still good at everything he does.]

    Unnecessarily, though.

    "Damn, that looks pretty good," Trevor said, whistling in appreciation. "Art really takes time, huh?"

    Prince Nero scoffed. "If you give me more hours, I can make it more perfect. Neoma''s beauty is not something you can capture in a rush."

    Snap.

    That was the sound of Ruto''s patience running thin.

    [I can only be patient with Neoma and not with another brat¡­]

    "Nero, that''s enough," Hanna Quinzel, who probably noticed Ruto''s mood, stopped the Crown Prince. "Commander Ruto only asked you to make an ice sculpture of Neoma and her ice coffin. He didn''t ask you to make a masterpiece."

    Nero frowned and tried to protest. "But Neoma''s replica has to be at least half as beautiful as she is¡­"

    Hmm.

    [Nobody really uses past tense when talking about Neoma.]

    Everyone collectively agreed that Neoma was just in aatose and not dead.

    "You already did a good job, Prince Nero," Ruto said, stepping forward and cing a hand on the ice sculpture that the Crown Prince made. "This is more than enough to serve as a decoy."

    He then released his Life Energy and transferred it to the ice sculpture.

    And, just like that, Neoma''s ice sculpture quickly turned into a life-like sculpture. Now it looked like a real person trapped inside the ice coffin.

    Of course, it was nothing but a fancy illusion.

    [I just needed a sculpture that looks like Neoma in order to make it more realistic.]

    Hanna Quinzel gasped softly after Ruto was done with his job. "Now even the enemies will confuse it for the real Neoma."

    Prince Nero just scoffed.

    Lewis remained silent, but he looked as impressed as Hanna Quinzel.

    "Seeing my Moon Princess in an ice coffin already breaks my poor heart," Trevorined. "But seeing TWO Princess Neoma in that state is pure torture even though one is just an illusion made to be a decoy." The Sorcerer turned to Ruto. "Even so, this is so cruel of you, Commander Ruto. Are you a sadist?"

    "Stop being dramatic and proceed with the next step," Ruto said in a scolding tone. "Open your territory, Trevor Kesser."

    "Aigoo, someone is being bossy," Trevorined. "Who died and made you a king¡­ wait, that was a tactless joke. I take it back."

    Ruto could only sigh and shake his head.

    And while doing so, he identally caught Lewis'' sharp gaze.

    [I know why you''re looking at me like that, but¡­]

    "I can''t bring you with me, Lewis Crevan," Ruto said firmly. "Trespassing the King of Hell''s territory is tricky enough. Moreover, Neoma clearly said you cannot kill yourself. Are you going to disobey her order?"

    "Princess Neoma said she must not be revived at the expense of someone else''s life," Lewis argued. "But you''re going to kill yourself to follow her to Hell."

    Because only dead people and demons like Trevor could step foot there.

    Hence, Ruto must "die."

    "I''m not really going to die because I made a deal with the God of Death," Ruto exined. "Unfortunately, the God of Death isn''t a generous god. He can''t extend the same offer he gave me to another person." He pointed a thumb at Trevor. "I can only bring this guy with me because he''s part demon. Hell is practically his home."

    "My home is where my Moon Princess is~"

    Everyone just ignored Trevor''s cringe-yment.

    "Moreover, you''re more needed here," Ruto said, pointing at Hanna Quinzel with both hands this time as a sign of his respect for the Crown Princess. "Princess Hanna needs to be protected while she''s using her ability to cover up Neoma''s traces from this world. She needs someone to stay with her and guard her while doing so."

    "I''m sorry, Lewis," Hanna Quinzel said. "I know you want to go to Neoma, but can I ask to stay with me?"

    Lewis looked conflicted at first, but he gave in at the end and nodded. "Okay, Princess Hanna."

    The Crown Princess smiled at the fox.

    Prince Nero, who looked back and forth between Lewis and Hanna Quinzel, frowned. "When did the two of you get close?"

    "Lewis and I have been friends for a long time," Hanna Quinzel responded casually. "It will be weirder if we didn''t get close."

    No, it was weird.

    Lewis wasn''t the type to be kind to anyone who wasn''t Neoma or his "siblings."

    But that was none of Ruto''s business, so he just kept his mouth shut.

    [We have some pressing matters to attend to, anyway.]

    "Trevor Kesser, do it," Ruto said to the demon. "Open your territory now."

    "Aigoo, what a tyrant," Trevorined again. "I''m so gonna tattle on Princess Neomater."

    ***

    [IT LOOKS like an ordinary mansion.]

    If the atmosphere outside wasn''t unnaturally dark and gloomy, Hanna would have thought she was just in the countryside.

    But the dry soil, the humidity, and the moonless night made it clear that she was in Hell.

    "No, we''re not in Hell yet," Trevor said as if he could read her mind. "My territory is located in the Underworld. You can think of it as a neighborhood for powerful demons like me. Hell is literally in a deeper pit. Not even I could easily cross the boundary that separates Underworld from Hell."

    Ah, so Neoma was in a deeper pit.

    "Is that the reason why Lewis and I are able to enter your territory in our physical bodies?" Hanna asked curiously. "I thought we need to at least be in our Spirit form to step foot in here."

    "That''s the usual case," Trevor said. "But the damnedmander said you need your physical bodies to perform your duties, so I had to make a barrier around my estate that would allow living people to breathe properly here."

    Oh, so that was what the thinyer of barrier around the estate was for.

    "Hence, you absolutely must not step outside my estate," Trevor said firmly. "I set a device here that would send you back to the human world as soon as you step out of the range. You''ll die if you breathe in the air in the Underworld. Only monsters like Princess Neoma could withstand the air here in her physical body."

    Hanna nodded, taking notes of everything that Trevor said. "I understand, Lord Trevor."

    It was awkward to address the demon by his first name.

    [But he clearly hates being addressed as ''Lord Kesser.'']

    "My territory is technically safe since no demon with a functioning brain would dare to step foot in here," Trevor said, looking back and forth between Hanna and Lewis. "But you two are living people, so some might lose their minds because of your scent. You can fight and drive them away as long as you stay within the barrier."

    Hanna nodded again. "Noted, Lord Trevor."

    "You really don''t have to worry since I already summoned "people" who''ll guard you while you''re here," Trevor said, throwing a knowing nce at Lewis. "I bet you''ll be thrilled to see them, my son."

    Lewis'' face remained unbothered. "I''m not your "son.""

    The demon justughed it off.

    "It''s done."

    It was Commander Ruto.

    Themander had just finished cing Neoma and her ice coffin in the middle of the vast and empty room.

    Hanna noticed the purple miasma around the bottom of the ice coffin.

    Just looking at those things sent a shiver down her spine.

    She had a feeling that she would die if she touched Neoma''s ice coffin because of those things.

    [And they kind of look disgusting¡­]

    "It won''t attack you and Lewis," Ruto said when he probably saw the fear (and disgust) on her face. "But it will attack anyone and anything else that will get in the range that I set up."

    Ah, that was a relief.

    "Thank you for the extra protection, Commander Ruto," Hanna said politely. "I will do my best to create the ck Hole as soon as possible."

    It was the same technique that Rubin Drayton told her about before.

    However, Hanna had no intention of dying this time.

    ***

    "HANNA QUINZEL, you died in the first timeline when you used the ck Hole to keep Neoma safe while she was being controlled by her Lunacy."

    That was what Ruto said to the Crown Princess after seeing the look on her face.

    Trevor gasped in an exaggerated manner. "Why would you say that to a child?"

    Lewis also red at Ruto.

    Of course, none of that mattered to him and he just continued with what he was saying.

    "You died because no one was there to protect you back then," Ruto said indifferently. "But you''re no longer alone, Hanna Quinzel. Lewis will be here to guard your back, and Neoma''s "children" are guarding the Imperial Shrine to buy you some time."

    Neoma''s "children" had to be there to make the crows believe that Neoma was still in the Imperial Shrine.

    [That''s why we made a decoy earlier.]

    But since Lewis wouldn''t be there, the enemies wouldn''t be deceived for so long.

    The crows would soon realize that the Neoma in the Imperial Shrine was a fake since her Guardian Knight was missing.

    [But I trust Hanna Quinzel''s skills¨C she only needs a little time to master her technique.]

    "I''ll do my best, Commander Ruto," Hanna Quinzel said politely. "Thank you for the guidance."

    "You don''t have to thank me, Hanna Quinzel," Ruto said, looking at Neoma who was still "sleeping" inside the ice coffin. "It''s my job to guide the Four Pirs¨C then and now."

    ***

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 Chapter 832 THE SECOND WAVE

    ?

    NIKOLAI knew it was nothing but a replica.

    But looking at Neoma''s fake "corpse" inside the ice coffin was still enough to break his heart into tiny little pieces.

    [My little princess¡­]

    "It''s not as pretty as Neoma because Commander Ruto was rushing me earlier," Nero, who was standing behind Niki,ined while looking at his twin sister''s life-like ice sculpture. "If only I had more time, I would have created a prettier ice sculpture. Although, of course, it couldn''t be as beautiful as Neoma."

    "Nero, stop obsessing over your twin sister."

    "You''re asking too much from me, Father."

    Niki rolled his eyes, then he turned to his son. "Did you send off Hanna and the others?"

    The ''others'' would be Commander Ruto, Lewis Crevan, and Trevor Kesser, of course.

    "Yes, Father," Nero said, nodding. "Trevor used his portal to send their group to his territory. Hanna and Lewis Crevan will stay at Trevor''s mansion in the Underworld while Commander Ruto and Trevor will go straight to Hell to bring back Neoma''s soul."

    It was unnerving to know that his precious daughter was dragged to Hell.

    [My little princess is an angel, after all.]

    "Where are you headed next?" Niki asked. "I''m going outside to show my ce to the public. Like what Hanna said before she left, it''s important for the Imperial Family to be present. Hopefully, it gives them some sort of relief."

    To be honest, he knew that the Imperial Family''s presence alone wouldn''t be able to console the panic-stricken citizens.

    Not when they couldn''t differentiate the night from day anymore.

    [The sky is starting to get darker and darker.]

    "I''m headed to the Exton Estate, Father," Nero said. "The Frost Wyverns are starting to get out of control because it isn''t snowing here as much as it does in Hazelden. Even Delwyn is getting weak because, apparently, the snow here is polluted."

    "It''s probably because of the Darkness spread in the empire."

    Even Mona''s Spirits hadined about the pollution in the Imperial Capital.

    "I''ll go there and see what I can do for the Frost Wyverns," his son said. "Will you and Mother be alright while I''m gone, Father? I''ll be taking my Order with me."

    "Of course. Neoma''s "children" are here, so the pce is safe."

    Nero nodded, a testament to how much he trusted his twin sister''s people. "Don''t let your guard down, Father."

    "You, too, son," Niki said, patting Nero''s shoulder. "We have to protect the empire so that Neoma will have a safe home toe back to."

    ***

    THE HAZELDEN Queen was sick.

    That was the news that greeted Nero when he arrived at the Exton Estate.

    Hence, while he was walking in the hallway that led to the queen''s room, his people began giving him a report.

    He was supposed to head to where the Frost Wyverns were.

    But Brigitte Griffiths'' condition muste first.

    [Neoma will be sad if she finds out that her "Aunt Brigitte" got sick after saving the empire from the reanimated corpses.]

    "The severed bodies of the reanimated corpses had nothing to do with the queen''s sickness. After all, the Ancient Monsters had left nothing, not even a crumb, from the reanimated corpses that they''ve feasted on," Alucard, the demon serving as Nero''s Healing Sage, reported to him after checking the ce where the Ancient Monsters were staying. "Moreover, the Exton servants did a good job cleaning up the feeding ground. Hence, the entire ce is safe and clean."

    "I''m not interested in the cause of the queen''s sickness" Nero said indifferently. He didn''t really care about the queen. He just didn''t want the queen to die under her watch. "I just need you to cure her as soon as possible."

    Alucard could only gulp nervously at his (ridiculous) demand.

    "Prince Nero, please don''t be absurd," Melvin quickly scolded him. "How can Alucard possibly treat the queen if he doesn''t know the cause of her sickness? We can''t take this lightly, Your Imperial Highness. The queen saved the empire, after all."

    Nero just rolled his eyes, already fed up with Melvin''s nagging.

    "I believe the queen''s sickness has something to do with Her Majesty''s pregnancy," Alucard said hesitantly. "I can hear the baby in her womb, and the baby is¡­ unstable."

    "Ah, it''s a shame that Empress Mona can''t leave the Imperial Shrine at the moment," Melvin said, sighing worriedly. "But now that the problem with the reanimated corpses have been solved, perhaps we can just bring Queen Brigitte to the pce so that Her Imperial Majesty can check on the queen''s condition?"

    "Why would you ask Mother to check on the queen when I''m already here?"

    Melvin gave Nero a dire stare. "That''s not a funny joke, Prince Nero. I know that you''re a capable person. But what do you know about pregnancy?"

    "Neoma used to call me the "boy who has everything,"" Nero said confidently. He may not be as arrogant as Neoma. But he was far from humble. "And it''s because I can do anything perfectly on the first try."

    "Even so, the queen''s life is at stake here," Melvin said, shaking his head. "Please don''t do anything that may endanger the queen and the baby, Prince Nero. We can just leave the queen''s safety to the expert."

    Nero scoffed. "I am the expert."

    "Prince Nero, please¡­"

    "Shut up," Nero growled at Melvin. "I do what I want¨C and that''s what it means to be the Imperial Crown Prince."

    Now that his patience had run out, his secretary finally shut his mouth.

    [Some peace and quiet, atst.]

    Soon, they arrived at the fancy guest room where the queen was staying.

    Brigitte Griffiths was currently sleeping on the bed, obviously pale and weak.

    Glenn, the former Pdin and now the king of Hazelden, was sitting on the chair while holding his wife''s hand.

    Only the royal couple was in the room.

    [It''s probably to keep Her Majesty''s condition a secret.]

    As a royal himself, Nero knew that a member of the royal family must keep their health condition a secret most of the time.

    "Greetings, Prince Nero," Glenn said weakly without standing up. But, at least, the king turned to him and bowed his head towards him politely. "I apologize for greeting you like this for I cannot move from my spot at the moment. I''m currently sharing my Mana with my wife."

    Nero knitted his eyebrows in confusion. "But the queen is a Non-Mana user, isn''t she?"

    That was exactly the reason why Brigitte Griffiths was chosen to be the new saint''s mother.

    [Only women who do not possess Mana could give birth to a saint.]

    "That''s what exactly I don''t understand, Prince Nero," Glenn said in a frustrated voice. "Even the doctors and the Healing Sages who checked on my wife couldn''t exin what''s happening."

    [Alucard said the baby must be the cause, didn''t he?]

    Hmm.

    He decided to trust the demon''s diagnosis.

    Hence, Nero approached the bed without a word¡­

    ¡­ then he removed the thick nket ced over the Hazelden Queen''s body.

    "Prince Nero!"

    Both Melvin and Glenn scolded him, but he didn''t care.

    Nero''s eyes focused on the Hazelden Queen''s baby bump.

    His mother had the power to see through a baby in their mother''s womb.

    [If I remember correctly, Mother also warned Duchess Amber Quinzel that Hanna was going to be born sickly.]

    And his mother was correct.

    [If that ability of Mother came from her Roseheart Blood, then there''s a chance that I can use that ability, too.]

    All he had to do was try, right?

    "P-Prince Nero, what are you doing? Your eyes have turned red," Melvin asked nervously. "And your hair has turned pink."

    "Shut up," Nero said, his eyes already caught some images while staring at the Hazelden Queen''s stomach. "It''s a girl, huh?"

    "Ah, yes, Your Imperial Highness. Our fourth child is a princess," Glenn said, his voice a little more lively now. "How did you know, Prince Nero? Have the news about the gender of our baby reached the pce?"

    "It''s talking to me, Your Majesty."

    "What is talking to Your Imperial Highness?"

    "Your baby," Nero said, turning to Glenn with indifferent eyes. "It''s hungry and craving for ice."

    "Huh?"

    He opened his hand, creating a small snowball on top of his palm.

    And then everyone was shocked by what happened next.

    Queen Brigitte, who was just sleeping a moment ago, got up abruptly and grabbed Nero''s hand¨C and then the Hazelden Queen took the small snowball in her mouth like a hungry beast.

    Glenn looked stupefied. "H-Honey, you might get a stomachache¡­"

    Queen Brigitte ignored the king, then she looked up at Nero with glowing eyes. "More."

    Hmm.

    This was quite interesting.

    "Is it because the queen has lived in Hazelden¨C the kingdom where it never stops snowing¨C all her life?" Nero wondered out loud, smirking as his red eyes glowed menacingly. "Your Majesties, your child isn''t only a monster tamer¨C the baby is also an ice maniptor."

    [I see a future servant in the making.]

    After all, Nero was also an ice maniptor.

    He was thrilled, but that wasn''t the time to celebrate.

    "Anyway, it seems like Queen Brigitte''s sudden craving for Mana isn''t only because of her baby," Nero said, looking outside the window. His instincts had been yelling at him since earlier, saying only one thing. "The Second Cmity is here."

    ***

    "IT''S HERE, Your Imperial Majesty."

    Niki, who was in the middle of wearing his jacket, stopped when Monik suddenly appeared out of thin air¨C floating in front of him, the child''s pink eyes glowing. "Are you talking about the Second Cmity?"

    "We''re running out of time, Emperor Niki," Monik said, panic-stricken. "The Darkness will soon swallow up the sun and the moon!"

    ***

    "WELCOME TO HELL, BOYS!"

    Hmm.

    Trevor didn''t know how to feel.

    [I bet the damned chef-turnedmander also feels the same.]

    Of course, Trevor was extremely happy to see his beautiful Moon Princess "alive" and moving.

    It was one million times better than the Princess Neoma trapped in the ice coffin.

    But he didn''t know how to react to the chaotic background.

    He could see Princess Neoma''s pink Hellgate.

    [That means my Moon Princess went on a killing spree again.]

    He also recognized the red me burning the buildings around them.

    [That''s definitely Tteokbokki''s me.]

    But his confusion onlysted for a minute.

    Trevor grinned at Princess Neoma. "Yep, there''s no way my Moon Princess would change her behavior just because she was dragged to Hell."

    Meaning, it was just another normal day for Princess Neoma.

    "You''rete," Princess Neomained lightly while looking back and forth between Ruto and Trevor. "By the way, the King of Hell said I need a heart."

    [Yep, that''s totally a normal request on a totally normal day for someone totally normal like Princess Neoma.]

    Right?

    ***

    HI! ROYAL SECRET ALTERNATE UNIVERSE: LET''S NOT DIVORCE is now posted on my P/atreon ount.

    Just copy-paste this link: (patreon/s_c) or G0ogle P/atreon s_c to find my page. My profile picture is the same as the one I have here on WN. And the background picture says ''SOLAVERSE.''

    I have TWO TIERS.

    ROYAL FAMILY TIER (2USD) grants you ess to thepleted main story + book cover reveal. Total of 24 chapters.

    IMPERIAL FAMILY TIER (3USD) grants you ess to thepleted main story + book cover reveal + exclusive SIDE STORIES + power to vote on polls.

    See you there!

    And I hope you enjoy the AU!

    You''ll get a sessful working mother Mama Boss, a CRYBABY Papa Boss who calls Rufus ''Hyung'', a Nero who "hates" Neoma, and a delinquent Neoma who gets bullied by her schoolmates!

    You''ll also witness the best friendship in the series: Niki & Glenn~

    And a spicy chapter for MonaxNiki!

    I''ll also offer Kyle to you. Haha!

    Oh, we also have Juliet!

    And *whispers* you''ll see Neoma call Papa Boss ''Ahjussi.'' LOLOLOL.

    Have fun spotting the other familiar names/characters in the story living a normal life in Korea~

    ***

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 Chapter 833 BLOODY ROMANCE (1)

    ?

    "DO YOU have iced coffee here, Your Majesty?" Neoma asked while wearing her sunsses. Tteokbokki''s red me that was burning down the city was too bright, and it was starting to hurt her eyes. Hence, the need for protection. "I''m thirsty."

    "Me, too," Tteokbokki, still in his human form, said while putting on his sunsses as well. "Orange juice for me, please. Thank you."

    Heh~

    Tteokbokki learned how to say ''please'' and ''thank you'' since he worked in the service industry for a few years. He learned how difficult it was to deal with rude customers. Hence, the Soul Beast learned how to be polite.

    [I''m a proud noona.]

    Anyways¡­

    Fortunately, even though they were just in their Spirit form, they still could use the items in her inventory.

    Apparently, it was because the King of Hell gave them a vessel simr to a human body.

    "I gave you a vessel so that the system of this world wouldn''t count you as lost souls and drag you to prison," Drystan said in a tired voice. "Not for you to act like you''re still in the human world."

    "Okay," Neoma said. "So, do you have an iced coffee or what? When I was in Lord Yule''s space, he turned the tea he served into my favorite drink. Since you''re the King of Hell, I thought doing something like that should be within your capabilities."

    The King of Hell sighed while shaking his head. "Can you really drink at a time like this? You''re burning down my city."

    Neoma shrugged. "With all due respect, it''s Your Majesty''s fault for trying to scam me."

    "Gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss," Tteokbokki said sarcastically. "The thug princess can''t do anything wrong."

    "Right?"

    The King of Hell just shook his head again, then he snapped his fingers.

    Neoma and Tteokbokki automatically caught the teacups that appeared right in front of them.

    "Just think of your favorite drinks," Drystan instructed them. "Those teacups shall be transformed into whatever drink you want them to be as long as you have a clear image of what you want."

    Easy peasy.

    In just a few seconds, Neoma was already holding a cup of St*rbucks while Tteokbokki had a carton of his favorite orange drink.

    "Praise the gods," Neoma said with a grateful heart. "Thank you, Your Majesty."

    Drystan gave her a dire look. "You only remember to "praise" the gods when it''s convenient for you, little princess."

    Neoma sipped her coffee loudly before she responded. "You can''t gaslight me, Your Majesty. I''ve met more bad gods than the good ones. And I''m fair. I disrespect other races that piss me off, too."

    "Pfft." Tteokbokki almost choked on his orange juice. "You''re really a rude little piece of sh¡­"

    The Soul Beast stopped when she red at him.

    "Watch yournguage, Tteokbokki," she warned him. "Don''t curse in front of the king."

    Tteokbokki just looked at her in disbelief, then he sighed. "Whatever. I don''t have the energy to argue with you."

    "If you''re trying to reserve your energy, why don''t you at least help my people extinguish the fire you made?" Drystan asked the Soul Beast in a slightly annoyed voice. "Although the fire is already under control, your help will still be appreciated."

    "I only take orders from the thug princess," Tteokbokki said, then he turned to Neoma. "Do you want me to take out the fire we made?"

    "Nah," Neoma said casually. "Let `em burn."

    "Little princess, you''re lucky I can''t be bothered by most things," the King of Hell said. "The previous king wouldn''t take your attitude in silence."

    Neoma grinned at the king. "I''m behaving this way because I know you''re toozy to fight back, Your Majesty. But I respect you. That''s why I''m watching my mouth."

    "Should I feel grateful?"

    Neoma just shrugged.

    Her Soul Beast answered for her.

    "The thug princess cursed Levi, the Gods Among Gods or something, from head to toe," Tteokbokki said smugly. "My thug princess'' ego is bigger than the universe. This "attitude" is her behaving herself. Except for the part where she burned down the city."

    "Gosh," Neoma said, bumping into Tteokbokki''s shoulder. "Don''t praise me too much, Tteokbokki. I''m getting shy."

    The Soul Beast gave her a dire stare. "That was a dig and not apliment, thug princess."

    "Same difference."

    "Stop ying around," Drystan scolded the two of them in order to stop them from bickering. "Little princess, did you say that you''re friends will being over? How many do you expect?"

    Hmm.

    There were actually many people who probably wanted to follow her to Hell.

    But she left a will preventing her loved ones from dying for her, so she narrowed down her choices until there were only two names in her head.

    "Two," Neoma said. "Trevor is part-demon, so it''s easy for him to get here."

    "Easy?" Drystan asked, obviously offended. "Now you''re just looking down on me, little princess."

    "Trevor will probably be with Ruto."

    "Ah, the divine son of Lord Levi," the King of Hell said, nodding. "If Ruto Solfrid was with Trevor Kesser, then breaking into my territory would be a piece of cake for him."

    "I get that Ruto is amazing, but don''t ignore Trevor, Your Majesty," Neoma said in a serious tone. "Trevor can break into your territory even without Ruto''s help."

    "You sound confident, little princess."

    "I''m Trevor''s muse, and he''s fueled by the power of love that he has for me," Neoma said proudly. "Everyone I inspire bes OP."

    "I have no idea of what you''re talking about, but let me ask you another question," Drystan said, ignoring the things that Neoma said earlier. "Little princess, between the two young men who would arrive hereter, who do you think would be willing to give their heart for you?"

    "Huh?"

    "You need a heart to be revived since you refuse the easy way of doing it."

    "Why a heart?"

    "Because your heart was damaged when your Core broke, little princess.

    Right.

    "I''m not sure about Ruto, but I bet Trevor would give me his heart without any questions asked," Neoma said, frowning. "But I''d prefer it if no one would need to sacrifice themselves for me."

    "Stop being a hypocrite, little princess," Drystan scolded her. "If you were willing to die for your people, then you should ept the fact that those people were also willing to die for you."

    Ouch.

    ***

    RUFUS, no matter how much he wanted toe home and stay by his wife''s side afte rshe recovered, couldn''t leave his post.

    He didn''t even have time to send off his daughter.

    [Hanna, you''re away on a dangerous mission again. I''m sorry I wasn''t able to send you off. But I''ll always be praying for your safety, sweetheart.]

    "Your Grace!"

    Rufus'' train of thought was interrupted when Vice-captain Jaxson Emmett came running to his tent that was serving as his temporary tent.

    His private army was stationed near the border where the reanimated corpses had crossed earlier. He decided to keep his army at bay because the vige near that border was actually the vige with the biggest slum area there.

    And most peasants refused to leave the ce.

    "What happened, Jaxson?" Rufus asked worriedly when he got up from his seat. "Are we getting attacked again?"

    Jaxson Emmett shook his head, but his face remained pale. "There are no intruders, but a strange miasma has emerged from the ground."

    He knitted his eyebrows. "Miasma?"

    Instead of waiting for the vice-captain''s response, he immediately ran out of the tent.

    [Oh, god¡­]

    He thought the Darkness covering the sky had dropped to the ground.

    The miasma was dark in color, but not as much as the Darkness that was swallowing up the moon and the sun.

    It was more like dark purple.

    [That looks ominous.]

    Rufus raised his hand and was about to use his Shadow to drive away the miasma.

    But, much to his shock, Jaxson Emmett suddenly grabbed his arm in an attempt to stop him from attacking the dangerous vapor.

    "Please don''t, Your Grace," Jaxson Emmett pleaded while shaking his head. "You might lose your Mana, too."

    "''Too?''" Rufus asked, confused. Then he realized that Jaxson Emmett''s presence felt significantly weak at the moment. Which was weird since he asked the vice-captain to always be on guard. "Jaxson Emmett, did you lose your Mana to the miasma?"

    ***

    NIKOLAI frowned as soon as he stepped out of the balcony and saw the strange miasma emerging from the ground.

    The vapor was dark purple in color.

    But to the naked eye of the civilians, the miasma would probably appear like Darkness since both possessed dark colors.

    [The citizens are probably panic-stricken again.]

    "Investigate the miasma," Niki said to the White Tiger and the Blue Dragon that were both in their human forms at the moment. "Let me know in what way that thing is harmful."

    "As youmand, Your Majesty."

    And, just like that, the two Soul Beasts disappeared.

    "Your Majesty, it''s not Darkness."

    Niki turned to Monik who suddenly appeared beside him, sitting on the handrail of the balcony. His father instinct suddenly kicked in. "Don''t sit there, child. It''s dangerous."

    Monik looked confused.

    He just cleared his throat before he changed the topic because he was too embarrassed to admit that he got worried about Monik as if he was his daughter. "I can tell that the miasma is different from Darkness. But does it matter?"

    "Of course, Your Majesty," Monik said bluntly. "We can purify it."

    "Ah," Niki said. "Is that why the Second Cmity is for us to deal with? But if it was the case, then wouldn''t Mona do a better job than me? My wife has a powerful purifying ability, after all."

    "Our purifying ability is different from Empress Mona''s. Her Imperial Majesty''s purification ability is a gift from Nature. However, ours came from the Light Goddess."

    "I didn''t know that. I''ve always thought my purifying ability is the extension of my divine power."

    Moreover, he rarely used his divine power for purification.

    Aside from the fact that he didn''t feel that need to do so, he was more used to using his power to, uh¡­ what was that thing Neoma often said?

    Ah, right.

    ["Committing violence."]

    "It''s not like Your Majesty had a reason to activate your full potential as a ''Cleanser'' before," Monik said, then she stared at the awful view of the miasma in front of her. "Don''t worry, Your Majesty. I will help you awaken the Light power in you."

    Hmm.

    Niki wasn''t sure if he wanted to be taught by a child who sounded like she would scold him if he made a simple mistake.

    [Monik is really Juliet''s reincarnation, huh?]

    ***

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 Chapter 834 BLOODY ROMANCE (2)

    ?

    "AH, YOU''RE friends are here."

    Neoma removed her sunsses after hearing what Drystan had said. She felt bad for the King of Hell because the dude looked really offended that his territory had been infiltrated. "It''s not because the security here isx or something, Your Majesty," she said, trying to console the king. "Trevor and Ruto are just too passionate about me. They won''t even let Death himself take me away from them."

    Drystan looked at Neoma as if he couldn''t believe her "bullshit."

    "Thug princess, is that supposed to make the king feel better?" Tteokbokki said while shaking his head. "You''re just giving him more trauma from being overpowered and disrespected by a bunch of kids."

    The King of Hell red at the Soul Beast. "You''re actually making it worse, dragon."

    "He''s not a dragon," Neoma said, correcting the king. "He''s just a silly ketchup-colored donkey, Your Majesty."

    Tteokbokki red at her. "That''s so old, thug princess."

    Neoma just shrugged. "You still react so cutely, so I guess it''s still worth it."

    They were bickering and were only brought to a halt when they heard a loud crack above.

    It was as if someone had literally kicked and broken the fake sky.

    And, soon, a portal appeared.

    No one was really surprised when Trevor and Ruto fell from the sky.

    But instead ofnding right away, the two young (and handsome) men were forced to hand in mid-air literally.

    After all, demons suddenly began attacking Trevor and Ruto while shouting "intruders!"

    "Your Majesty, shouldn''t you stop your demons from attacking Trevor and Ruto?" Neoma asked worriedly. "They''ll die."

    "Let them do their jobs," Drystan said, scoffing. "Those gentlemen aren''t my official guests anyway."

    [Poor demons. Their boss is toozy to manage them properly.]

    "Anyway, you should ask them for their hearts immediately, little princess," Drystan said. "I''ll fix your Core from here."

    "Huh? Is it possible?" she asked, surprised. "But my physical body isn''t here."

    "The Core isn''t really a physical thing," the King of Hell exined. "You can think of it as a ball of life force stored in your heart. Normal people die as soon as their Cores get shattered because the broken pieces of the Core tend to "melt" whenever the heart that was supposed to protect them stopped functioning."

    "Ah," Neoma said, nodding. "So, it was a good call to have my body frozen with his ice."

    "It wouldn''t have worked if it wasn''t Nero Roseheart de Moonasterio''s ice," Drystan said firmly. "You have to know that even if the greatest Ice Spirit froze your body, it wouldn''t have stopped your Core from melting."

    "Is Nero''s ice special then?"

    "Of course it is," the king said. "The Crown Prince''s ice is made of divine power that he inherited from the Moon God. Moreover, his Roseheart Blood has healing properties. Hence, he didn''t only freeze your body to stop it from rotting¨C he also froze the broken pieces of your Core. That''s why it''s still possible for you to be revived."

    Hmm.

    Hmm???

    Hmm?!

    "Ah, I get it now," Neoma said, nodding. "Lord Yule knew I was dying, so y''all were already preparing for me to be revived even before I peace out."

    "When a very important person like you who can''t die yet is suddenly scheduled to die, of course, we can''t just stay still and do nothing," Drystan said. "We have to interfere."

    That automatically brought a smile to her (beautiful) face.

    Heh.

    [I''m a very important person, as expected.]

    Neoma''s mini-celebration was only interrupted when Trevor and Ruto finallynded after getting rid of the demons that tried to kill them.

    The two young men didn''t even break a sweat.

    "Stop," Drystan said to the remaining demons that still tried to attack Trevor and Ruto. "They''re my guests."

    Only the demons listened to their king.

    Ruto was busy checking up on Neoma from head to toe as if he was looking if she was injured anywhere despite not having a physical body.

    [Aww¡­ my ex-man is worried about me.]

    Trevor, on the other hand, was taking in the sight around him. The demon particrly looked pleased when he probably realized that the me burning the city down was Tteokbokki''s red me.

    [Only Trevor will find arson pleasing.]

    Trevor grinned while approaching Neoma. "Yep, there''s no way my Moon Princess would change her behavior just because she was dragged to Hell."

    [Yep, even if I burn the world to ashes again, Trevor will still find it cute.]

    "You''rete," Neomained while looking back and forth between Ruto and Trevor. "By the way, the King of Hell said I need a heart."

    "Why do you need someone else''s heart when you already have mine, my Moon Princess?"

    Neoma, who was already used to Trevor''s cheesiness, didn''t bat an eye.

    But the people around her had a mildly "violent" reaction.

    "Oh, for goodness'' sake!" Tteokbokkiined while rubbing his arms as if he had goosebumps. "I''m getting second-hand embarrassment here. You should pay for my therapy, Trevor Kesser."

    "Children these days say the most embarrassing thing with their whole chest, huh?" Drystan mumbled while shaking his head. "I''m d I don''t have children. I would have punched my son in the face if I heard him say something like that to thedy he fancied."

    Even the demons around them began "whispering" among themselves.

    "Are humans that over-romantic these days?"

    "No, I think that child is just particrly strange."

    "Right? He didn''t even look ashamed after saying something so embarrassing."

    Pfft.

    It was true.

    There wasn''t an ounce of shame in Trevor''s face despite the pouringints he was receiving at the moment.

    The demon even looked proud.

    Neoma then turned to Ruto, the only person there who didn''t react "violently" to Trevor''s cheesiness. "Hey, this is your opportunity to tease Trevor."

    "Why would I tease him for that?" Ruto asked, genuinely confused and curious. "I can''t make fun of Trevor when I would have said the same things to you, Neoma. After all, you didn''t have to ask for something that you already own."

    Tteokbokki, Drystan, and the other demons all let out a groan as if they were physically hurt by the second-hand embarrassment that they felt from Ruto''s words.

    Pfft.

    [I wonder what happened to the Ancient Devil when Ruto''s feelings for me are already this strong again?]

    Neoma wondered if the Ancient Devil already dropped dead somewhere.

    "Right?" Trevor agreed with Ruto, ignoring theints of everyone around them. "But why do you need a heart, Princess Neoma?"

    "King Drystan said he''ll fix my Core," Neoma said, then she turned to the King of Hell. "Though I haven''t heard the full details yet."

    "Follow me," Drystan said in a tired voice. "Let''s have a proper conversation this time."

    "Ah, Trevor. King Drystan tried to scam me with his half-assed offer earlier," Neoma said. Was that snitching? Well, whatever. She needed to let her Contractor know everything so he could help her properly. "He wants me to save the world, but the conditions are shitty. That''s why I burned the city as a warning."

    "Good job, my Moon Princess," Trevor said proudly, then his sharp eyes turned to Drystan. "Don''t worry, Princess Neoma. Now that I''m here, I''ll make sure you won''t be trapped into an unfair contract."

    Right?

    That was why she needed Trevor there.

    Neoma then turned to Ruto. "Hey, you''re not in your physical body. Did you die?"

    "I''m neither alive nor dead," Ruto exined. "But don''t worry, Neoma. I left my physical body with my divine father. He won''t let me die."

    Of course.

    She was relieved to hear that.

    "But how did you "die?"" Neoma asked, knitting her eyebrows. "It wouldn''t have been easy to "kill" you. And I don''t think you would have killed yourself."

    Ruto pointed at Trevor. "He did the job, and he did it as painfully as possible."

    Trevor let out a gasp as if he was betrayed. "You snitch!"

    "Gosh, why would you do it when you could have "killed" Ruto painlessly? You''re so petty, Trevor," Neoma scolded the demon, then she turned to Ruto with a worried look on her face. "Did it hurt so much?"

    "It did, but it was worthy," Ruto said while looking at Neoma warmly. "After all, I get to see you worry about me, Neoma."

    Aww.

    Neoma thought it was cheesy, but it was Ruto who said it so it was fine with her.

    "Aigoo," Tteokbokkiined again. "Are you trying to kill me with second-hand embarrassment, huh?"

    ***

    <"YOUR MAJESTY, half of my men have lost their Mana after getting in contact with the strange miasma that emerged from the ground.">

    Niki clenched his jaws after hearing Rufus'' report.

    He was talking to his cousin using amunication device in the form of a small crystal ball. It didn''t have a camera function, though.

    "You must retreat now, Rufus."

    <"But my men, along with Duke Hawthorne''s troop, are in charge of the first life of defense, Your Majesty. How could we retreat?">

    "That''s exactly why you need to return," Niki said sternly, getting up from his seat. "Half of your men have already lost their abilities to fight. That means you''re vulnerable to an ambush right now."

    After all, why would the miasma attack the troops in the vanguard?

    <"I understand, Your Majesty¨C">

    <"Your Grace, run!">

    And the call was suddenly cut off.

    Niki felt a shiver down his spine when he remembered the blood-curdling screams that he heard earlier before the call was disconnected. "Rufus¡­"

    ***

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 Chapter 835 BLOODY ROMANCE (3)

    ?

    HANNA suddenly got goosebumps out of nowhere.

    Then an ominous feeling suddenly overwhelmed her.

    [It''s as if something bad is about to happen¡­]

    "Demons¡­"

    Hanna turned to Lewis who was standing on the balcony. "The demons are attacking us?"

    The fox just nodded.

    She immediately ran to the balcony.

    Then, much to her shock, she saw a hoard of demons approaching the mansion.

    [I thought we could go unnoticed for a few more hours¡­]

    "Don''t worry, I''ll protect you," Lewis assured her, his hand already touching his scabbard. "Just stay here, Princess Hanna¨C"

    "How many times do we have to tell you that a fox fights with his ws and not with a sword?!"

    Huh?

    Hanna was surprised when two people suddenly fell from the sky, causing the ground to shake when theynded on their feet.

    "Ah."

    Hanna turned to Lewis who looked like he recognized the "guests." "Who are they, Lewis?"

    "Lisica, Rustin," Lewis said casually. "Dead foxes."

    Dead¡­ foxes?

    Hanna blinked, tilting her head to one side. "You mean your ancestors?"

    Lewis just frowned, obviously displeased to call their "guests" his ancestors.

    "Would you look at that?" the female Silver Fox, who looked too seductive for Hanna''s conservative taste, said while shaking her head. "He''s still as rude as ever. But what do I expect from a child raised by the rude Imperial Princess?"

    Lewis growled lowly at the female fox. "Don''t insult Princess Neoma."

    The female fox justughed.

    "Hey, kid. We hate to be here as much as you hate seeing us," the male fox said,ughing. "But what can we do? Lord Levi''s son threatened us."

    "Lord Ruto?" Hanna asked, surprised. But perhaps she shouldn''t have been surprised. "Lord Ruto is really as dependable as Princess Neoma."

    "Me, too."

    She turned to Lewis, confused. "Huh?"

    "Me, too," Lewis said, tilting his head to one side. "Dependable."

    Hanna couldn''t help butugh at Lewis''petitiveness, then she gently patted his shoulder. "Of course, Lewis is also dependable."

    ***

    IT WASN''T a pretty sight.

    When Rufus came out of the tent, the first thing he saw was the severed limbs of his men.

    Jaxson Emmett, the vice-captain of his army, was still leading the troop despite losing his Mana just a moment ago.

    [This stubborn fool¡­!]

    "Jaxson, get out of here and take those who can''t fight with you!" Rufus said, yelling at his vice-captain. He usually avoided raising his voice, but it wasn''t the right time to be polite. "I''ll take care of them!"

    The enemies that ambushed their troops were gigantic monsters¨C the type that feasted on human flesh.

    It would have been an easy fight if the Extons were there.

    But, unfortunately, the Extons were at their estate under the emperor''smand.

    "I can''t leave you alone to fight, Your Grace!" Jaxson Emmett said stubbornly. "I promise not to get in your way¨C just let me stay here and fight with you!"

    For the first time, Rufus wanted to smack his vice-captain at the back of his head.

    More and more of their men were losing their power because of the strange vapor. Hence, those who suddenly lost their Mana became an easy prey for the flesh-eating monsters. He thought he was going to lose his mind while watching his men fall one by one.

    [We should get rid of the vapor first¡­!]

    "Duke Quinzel isn''t alone."

    Huh?

    Rufus looked up when a huge shadow was cast over them.

    And then he saw Duke Jasper Hawthorne, riding on the back of a huge serpent.

    Ah, right.

    [Duke Hawthorne and his knights are also here.]

    Rufus knitted his eyebrows. "Where did you get that serpent, Duke Hawthorne?"

    Jasper Hawthorne patted the head of the serpent. "This is my Elemental Guardian, Your Grace."

    "The duck?!"

    "He''s actually a water serpent," Jasper Hawthorne said. "His curse was lifted after I officially became his new master. But let''s talk about thatter, Your Grace."

    Rufus nodded in agreement, his hand already touching the scabbard tied around his waist. "I agree."

    "Let me deal with the vapor first," Jasper Hawthorne said, surprising Rufus. "Duckie, do it."

    <"Let''s fucking go!">

    That was what the water serpent yelled, and then Rufus felt a chill in his bones.

    Uhm.

    Rufus had heard that strange phrase before.

    [Did the Elemental Guardian learn that phrase from Princess Neoma?]

    Hearing that made Rufus miss the Imperial Princess who was like a daughter to him.

    [I should finish my job here and return to the pce and visit Princess Neoma.]

    Emperor Niki hadn''t released an official statement yet about Princess Neoma''s "death," hence Rufus wanted to believe that the Imperial Princess was still alive.

    "Rain¡­?"

    Rufus'' train of thought was interrupted when he heard what Jaxson Emmett said.

    Only then did he notice that it was, in fact, "raining."

    "The vapor is disappearing," Rufusmented when the vapor that served like a smokescreen quickly vanished. That was when the realization hit him. "Did the water serpent turn the vapor into rain?"

    He also remembered that he felt a chill earlier.

    And then he btedly realized that the chill he felt was actually due to the sudden drop in the temperature¨C not because of an ominous feeling.

    "Duckie has control over the water element as a water serpent," Jasper Hawthorne said, and he sounded proud of his Elemental Guardian. Rightfully, of course. "He lowered the temperature of the water installed in his body, then he released it to make the air cold. And that was how he turned the vapor into liquid."

    <"After that the vapor has turned into liquid, I can control it now!"> Duckie said energetically. <"I''ll purify it so that it won''t be harmful anymore. But I don''t want to deal with the monsters! They''re not worth a penny!">

    Jasper Hawthorne just sighed and shook his head.

    Rufus, on the other hand,ughed in relief. "Don''t worry, Sir Elemental Guardian." He then pulled out his sword. "We''ll deal with the monsters."

    "As expected of my brother."

    Hmm?

    Who in the world had the audacity to call Rufus his "brother?"

    [I only have one older brother, and he''s already living a different life in a different world.]

    "Uhm, Your Grace¡­" Jasper Hawthorne called him hesitantly, then the young duke gulped before asking. "Does the former Commander Gavin have a twin?"

    Rufus felt a chill once again when he realized why the young duke asked such a question.

    The chill he felt this time wasn''t due to the cold weather, but due to the fact that the "person" in front of him sent a shiver down his spine.

    "Gavin¡­?"

    The person leading a new batch of monsters looked like a replica of Gavin.

    To be precise, that person looked like the younger version of Rufus'' older brother.

    [I can''t clearly see the monsters behind him since they''re covered by a strange smoke¡­]

    "Are you surprised that I look like your brother?" the "replica" asked, wearing the same stoic face that Gavin used to wear when he was around that age. "You shouldn''t be surprised yet, Rufus Quinzel¨C I need to shock you with my ability first."

    And then the smoke that hid the monsters behind the "replica" finally vanished.

    That was when Rufus saw that the monsters were actually Shadow Beasts.

    "How dare you?" Rufus asked, clenching his jaw. "How dare you bring out a replica of my brother and steal our Shadow Maniption Technique?"

    ***

    NERO SCOFFED after freezing the strange vapor that emerged from the ground.

    He was on his way to "feed" the Frost Wyverns with his ice when that stupid thing tried to touch him.

    Now the crows had resorted to using harmful vapor, huh?

    "How dare you try to touch the body of a member of the Imperial Family?" Nero asked, clenching his fist. "Know your ce."

    And as soon as he closed his hand, the frozen vapor broke into tiny pieces.

    "Wow," Melvinmented while pping his hands. "I''m impressed, Prince Nero. This is why I still serve you even though you''re worse than a demon¨C you''re good at everything you do."

    "Of course," Nero said, scoffing once again. "I''m Neoma''s twin brother, after all."

    "Shouldn''t Your Imperial Highness say that you are the Imperial Majesties'' son at a time like this? You were born perfect because of your parents and not because of Princess Neoma¡­"

    "Neoma was the one who raised me and not my parents."

    "That doesn''t make sense since raising you have nothing to do with the abilities you inherited, but I know Your Imperial Highness'' logic doesn''t work when ites to Princess Neoma."

    "Melvin, you''re getting good at your retorts these days," Nero said, smirking at his secretary. "Do you want me to officially dere you as the future Chancellor as a reward?"

    "I made a mistake, Prince Nero," Melvin said immediately, bowing his head. "I''ll keep my mouth shut now."

    Nero stopped walking, and it wasn''t because of his secretary.

    It was because he saw Dahlia.

    Since Yule asked him to always bring the ck Witch with him, he asked Dahlia to tag along when he visited the Exton Estate.

    However, they didn''t share a carriage.

    Hence, this was the first time that he saw the ck Witch.

    [What is she doing?]

    Dahlia was staring at the dark sky, and it looked like she was listening to someone or something that only she could hear.

    Oh, right.

    [Dahlia can hear the Stars.]

    "Prince Nero."

    Nero flinched when Dahlia suddenly called his name, then the ck Witch turned to him.

    [Ah, her eyes are glowing.]

    "We must return to the pce at once," Dahlia said in a strange voice. "Empress Mona''s blood won''t be enough."

    Nero knitted his eyebrows. "My mother''s blood?"

    ***

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 Chapter 836 BLOODY ROMANCE (4)

    ?

    "SO, you''re going to revive my Moon Princess the harder way since my Moon Princess refuses to use the good karma points that her ancestors has reserved for her?"

    "Will it kill you to talk to me formally, Trevor Kesser? You may be the new Devil now, but you still rank below me. The Devil only rules over the Underworld¨C but Hell is mine."

    "Whatever. The only person above me is my Moon Princess~"

    Hmm.

    [They''re getting along well.]

    Neoma sipped her iced coffee while watching Trevor and Kesser bicker.

    This time, instead of the coliseum, Drystan brought her group to a castle. To be precise, they were currently having an afternoon "tea" on the balcony¨C overseeing the burning city.

    [Gosh, they haven''t put out Tteokbokki''s me yet?]

    "What drink did you get?" Neoma whispered to Ruto while Trevor and Drystan were bickering. "I asked the king to give you the same teacup that he gave us. You know, the one that changes your tea to your preferred drink. But your cup didn''t change."

    "The cup remained the same, but the liquid isn''t tea anymore," Ruto said. "It''s hot chocte now."

    Wow.

    That sounded delicious.

    [I should have chosen hot chocte, too.]

    "Here," Ruto said, offering the cup of hot chocte to her. "You can have it. I haven''t had a sip yet."

    "Are you sure?"

    "Yes."

    Neoma beamed, then she put down her iced coffee on the table. "You can my iced coffee then."

    "Are you sure?"

    She nodded as she received the cup of hot chocte from Ruto. "Yes. But it''s okay if you don''t like iced coffee. I can finish both."

    "No, I like iced coffee," Ruto said, then he grabbed the drink before he leaned down and whispered in her ear. "But is it okay? If I used the same straw as you did, wouldn''t that be considered an indirect kiss?"

    Ah.

    Someone was flirting with her, huh?

    Neoma grabbed Ruto''s cor and pulled him closer to him as she whispered in his ear. Since what she was about to say was "Rated +18," she used her Dome to create a soundproof space for their intimate conversation. "What''s an indirect kiss when we''ve already French kissed once, babe? No need to be shy or overly hygienic. We''ve already exchanged saliva¨C mff!"

    Ruto covered her mouth with his hand. And yes, he was blushing. "Alright. I get it."

    Pfft.

    She removed the Dome around them when Ruto pulled his hand away from her mouth.

    [Cute.]

    "Aigoo," Tteokbokki, still in his human form,ined. "I didn''t hear a thing, but I''m sure you talked about something disgusting."

    Neoma sipped her hot chocte before she spoke. "A boy like you who hasn''t been in a single romantic rtionship wouldn''t understand, Tteokbokki."

    The Soul Beast only red at her.

    "My Moon Princess, you''re being cruel," Trevor said, frowning. "Why are you flirting with your ex right in front of my caramel frappino with one pump of caramel sauce, one pump of caramel syrup, one pump of mocha, one pump of white mocha, one pump of hazelnut, and an affogato shot?"

    Neoma almost choked on her hot chocte. "That was your choice of drink?"

    Tteokbokki clicked his tongue. "As a former barista, I hate customers like you with a passion, Trevor Kesser."

    Trevor just sipped his "poisonous" drink loudly, unbothered. "Anyway, first of all, let''s make one thing clear." He turned to Drystan. "You''re going to revive my Moon Princess for free because it''s the least thing you can do for the person you''re asking to save the human world. The good karma points that Princess Neoma''s ancestors umted will be returned to their rightful owners."

    Drystan obviously hesitated. "The good karma points that they umted are too good to let go¡­"

    "Hey, king," Neoma said, speaking informally this time because she didn''t like what Drystan had said. "Don''t be greedy. The good karma points that my ancestors umted don''t belong to your or this ce."

    "I''m not saying it for my personal gain," the King of Hell said. "The umte good karma points of your ancestors cannot be used by someone or something else. I''m just saying it''s a waste that you''re not using it, little princess."

    "Why do I need to use those points when it''s your responsibility to bring me back to life?" Neoma retorted. "And who said I''m not going to use those good karma points?"

    Drystan looked confused. "You''re using the points?"

    "Later," she said. "I''m going to use themter."

    The King of Hell looked at her suspiciously. "I don''t know what you''re going to use it forter, little princess. But I''m telling you now¨C only you have been granted the right to be revived using those good karma points. It won''t work on someone else."

    "But those good karma points are enough to restore at least half of the world if ever, right?"

    Drystan, Ruto, Trevor, and Tteokbokki all looked at her as if she had just given them goosebumps.

    "If those good karma points are powerful enough to bring someone like me back to life, then they should be powerful enough to restore the world," Neoma said, calmly sipping her hot chocte before she spoke again. "I won''t exin myself. Let''s proceed to the next topic. Go."

    "The Goddess of Life, the God of Death, and I will use our own power to bring you back to life."

    "You should have said that from the start," Neomained lightly. "I can''t believe you didn''t just. Did you want to use my ancestors'' good karma points for yourself?"

    "Unfortunately, I can''t use them for myself," Drystan said, scoffing. "Your ancestors were smart enough to make me sign a contract that the good karma points they willingly gave up could only be used by the person they chose."

    "Then why didn''t you offer me the other option?"

    "I didn''t offer it to you right away because using your ancestors'' good karma points would have brought you back to life the easier and faster way," Drystan said in a serious tone. "But you''re too stubborn."

    "It''s not just me being stubborn," Neoma said calmly. She didn''t have to sound defensive because she knew she was in the right in this matter. "My intuition is telling me that I shouldn''t use my ancestors'' good karma points yet."

    "If that was the case, then why didn''t you say so?"

    "Well, it''s true that I don''t want to waste my ancestors'' good karma points on me because I want them to be reincarnated and be happy in their next lives," she said in a serious tone. "But the reason why I didn''t tell you about my intuition is because I don''t trust you. I knew you were trying to scam me earlier. You didn''t want to use your power as the King of Hell to revive me, hence you tried to make me use my ancestors'' good karma points."

    Drystan smirked bitterly. "Is that why you didn''t take our conversation seriously at first?"

    "I know it''s rude, but I don''t need to y nice to you, do I?" Neoma asked, shrugging. "Anyway, in exchange for reviving me, I promise to save the world. If I seed, my soul won''t be dragged to Hell. But if I failed¡­"

    "Then your soul shall be punished for eternity," Drystan said in a serious voice. "Simple, isn''t it?"

    "Simple, my foot," Trevorined. "How dare you threaten my Moon Princess to eternal damnation?"

    The King of Hell just remained silent.

    "It is what it is," Neoma said casually. "Let''s make and sign the contract now."

    ***

    "TREVOR Kesser, you should leave now."

    "And why would I listen to you?"

    [There they go again.]

    Neoma literally put herself between Trevor and Drystan. "Your Majesty, why are you asking Trevor to leave?"

    "He needs to collect the "ingredients" I need to fix your Core, little princess," Drystan said. "I only mentioned the heart first because it''s the most urgent one. But there are other things we need to gather."

    "Like Regina Crowell, huh?" Neoma said, then she paused for a moment. "Wait. Your Majesty, are you going to revive me the way Ruto revived me in the past?"

    She didn''t know the details, but she was pretty sure Ruto sacrificed many people back then.

    [The details are embedded deep into my memories, but I refuse to let them resurface.]

    "You died back then because of losing your divine power," Drystan said. "We won''t be needing too much divine power for you this time since you''re already overflowing with it. Your Core is the problem, but it''s doable since the "ingredients" I need to put it back are avable."

    She narrowed her eyes at the king. "Those "ingredients" won''t die, will they? I''m telling you¨C I don''t want other people sacrificing their lives for me."

    "They won''t die, but they might be forced to stop participating in the war since they''ll need time to recover," the King of Hell said. This time, it sounded like he was telling the truth. "Fortunately, unlike in the past timeline, we do notck people with the abilities that we need."

    That was still unsettling.

    [What if we lost the war because of me¡­?]

    "It will be alright, Neoma," Ruto assured her. "The war will end in our favor as soon as you returned anyway. But, without you, our side will lose."

    Right?

    [I''m a VIP for a reason.]

    "Trevor."

    "Nooo, I don''t want tooo," Trevorined, drawing out his words in an annoying way, as if he already knew what Neoma was about to say. "I don''t want to leave you alone with that damnedmander, Princess Neoma."

    "Kill that sorcerer bastard who ims to be your half-brother."

    The atmosphere in the room suddenly turned serious.

    Drystan was probably the only one who didn''t care.

    But Trevor, Ruto, and Tteokbokki were all shocked to hear Neoma give a CLEAR order to kill for the first time.

    [I have to be clear since Trevor won''t move unless I tell him to.]

    That was why Trevor was scary and dangerous.

    [He has the power to help, but he doesn''t care if it''s not rted to me.]

    "Dn Crowell, huh?" Trevor said, nodding. "Okay. That''s easy."

    "I also want you to grab Regina Crowell and bring her to Papa Boss," Neoma said. "Then injure Calyx as much as possible without killing him."

    "Why do I need to keep him alive?"

    "Because I want to kill him myself."

    "Oh, okay," Trevor said. "Anything else?"

    "Run amok," Neoma said in a serious tone. "Papa Boss wanted to focus on defense, but it doesn''t sit well with me. We shouldn''t let the crows have the upper hand in this war."

    "Alright~"

    "But don''t try to fight Helstor or Callisto de Luca," she said sternly. "If you see any of them, just run away."

    Trevor frowned. "But running away doesn''t sit well with me either, my Moon Princess."

    "If you die, you won''t be able to see my pretty face again," Neoma said. "That will be your personal hell, don''t you think so?"

    "A world without seeing my Moon Princess sounds boring, huh?" Trevor wondered out loud. "Alright. I won''t confront them."

    "Good. No mission is worth dying for," Neoma reminded Trevor, then she patted the demon''s shoulder. "Go and fuck them up, Trevor."

    ***

    "NEOMA, are you okay?"

    "Why wouldn''t I be okay?" Neoma asked back, confused by Ruto''s question. "Do I look ugly?"

    "You asked Trevor to kill Dn Crowell," Ruto said. "And, no. You don''t look ugly. In fact, I don''t remember you being ugly in all my livesbined."

    Pfft.

    [Ruto is getting cheesier and cheesier day by day, but I''m notining.]

    "Well, we''re in the middle of a war," Neoma said, crossing her arms over her chest while watching Tteokbokki, now in his dragon form, fly above the burning city. She asked her Soul Beast to eat his own me. It was the only way to put out Tteokbokki''s me the quickest way, after all. "I can''t afford to be na?ve anymore. If I lead my people the wrong way, they''ll die. And it''s not like they can be revived like me. So, I need to be cold and cruel."

    "I see," Ruto said, nodding. "You''re doing a good job, Neoma."

    Pfft.

    "Imitted mass murder, arson, fraud, and other petty crimes. And yet you''re saying I''m doing a good job?"

    "Yes."

    Haaah.

    [What am I going to do with you, Ruto?]

    That reminded her¡­

    "King Drystan said I died in the first timeline because I lost too much divine power."

    Of course, she was talking about the moment Nero killed her and not the moment that she died for good.

    "You neither awakened your power as a Roseheart nor a de Moonasterio before I revived you in the first timeline," Ruto exined. "That''s why one of the conditions I needed to fulfill back then was to gather enough divine power to force your awakening. If I had topare it using the amount of divine power an average de Moonasterio possessed, then I have to say I had to gather divine power that''s equivalent to at least thirty de Moonasterios."

    That was a lot of divine power.

    There were only a few people who had divine power strong enough to force her awakening back then.

    [The former Saint Dominic Zavaroni didn''t lose his position as a saint back then.]

    And there was the fact that there was one person she couldn''t remember clearly from the first timeline.

    Neoma smirked bitterly, grabbing Ruto by the cor. "Did you kill my Papa Boss in the first timeline, you punk?"

    "The Emperor Niki of the first timeline volunteered to sacrifice his life to revive you back then," Ruto revealed without hesitation. "And the current Emperor Niki already knew."

    That broke her heart a little.

    Hence, she immediately calmed down.

    "How did Papa Boss react?"

    "His Imperial Majesty said I made the right choice," Ruto said. "Whether the Emperor Niki of the first timeline did it out of duty as an emperor and not as a father, His Imperial Majesty said he was d that his former self had any use to you back then."

    Ah, that was too much for her heart.

    Neoma let go of Ruto''s cor, feeling a bit emotional now. "I miss Papa Boss."

    Of course, she also missed Nero and Mama Boss.

    [But I have to admit that my bond with Papa Boss is more special than anyone else in our family.]

    "If you want to reunite with your family, then you should get ready to meet your ancestors."

    Neoma and Ruto both turned to Drystan.

    The King of Hell looked a bit rxed now that Tteokbokki was helping his people put out the fire that was burning down the city.

    "Let''s go, little princess," Drystan said in a tired voice. "It''s time for yourst test."

    "Test?" Neoma asked, surprised. "I need to take a test?"

    [Give me a break, dammit.]

    ***

    JASPER''s jaw almost hit the floor.

    He knew that Duke Rufus Quinzel was a war hero, but this was the first time that he saw the gentle duke in action.

    In fact, Jasper could barely follow Duke Quinzel''s movements.

    The next thing he knew, Duke Quinzel had already stabbed the fake Commander Gavin in the throat with his sword.

    Oh.

    [Duke Quinzel isn''t gentle at all¡­]

    <"Jasper Hawthorne, move!"> Duckie yelled at him. <"Those filthy monsters are headed this way!">

    Ah, right.

    Jasper opened his hands, summoning his red butterflies led by Mariposa. "Feel free to feast on those beasts, children."

    ***

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 Chapter 837 BLOODY ROMANCE (5)

    ?

    "HOW CAN you call it stealing when I have legitimate Quinzel Blood flowing in my veins?"

    Rufus took a deep breath, and it was effective to keep himself calm.

    [It''s alright. That''s not my brother. I can beat him.]

    "You''re not reacting the way I hoped you would, Duke Quinzel," the replica said in a disappointed voice. "I thought you''d lose your mind by now."

    Rufus scoffed. "You''re trying too hard to appear cocky, but it''s not working. You only make yourself look pathetic. But if you really want to learn how to taunt your enemies properly, I suggest you take a lesson from our Princess Neoma. She''s fluent in sarcasm and mockery."

    "I would, but Princess Neoma is already dead," the replica said, still trying to act haughty. "It''s a shame the Imperial Princess died before I could even see for myself if she was really the most beautiful girl in the world."

    Pfft.

    "As if we''d let youy your filthy gaze on our Princess Neoma."

    The replica tried to open his mouth, but Rufus was quicker¨C he threw his sword at the enemy, sessfully stabbing him in the throat.

    "ARGH!"

    The replica couldn''t move even if he wanted to.

    After all, while the noisy punk was running his mouth, Rufus had already controlled the Shadows around him to immobilize the enemy.

    "You look like my brother, but your simrity ends there," Rufus said while approaching the replica. "And so what if you also have Quinzel Blood in you?"

    The replica red at him while pulling out the sword in his throat.

    [So, he still has the power to move his arms, huh?]

    Rufus noticed that the wound in the enemy''s throat immediately closed up.

    [Ah, so he has fast regeneration?]

    "Kill him!" the replica yelled angrily while waving his hand. "Kill that bastard first!"

    Rufus just scoffed, summoning his own Shadow Beasts to deal with the Shadow Monsters that the replica had brought there.

    His Shadow Beasts were Ancient Beasts that his ancestors had in in the past, keeping their shadows as a prize. As a result of getting their shadows stolen, those Shadow Beasts had been serving the Quinzels since time immemorial.

    [The elite Shadow Beasts are already owned by Hanna, though.]

    Hence, Rufus could only summon the less stronger ones.

    Even so, his Shadow Beasts were still stronger than the Shadow Monsters that the replica had brought there.

    "You''re embarrassing," Rufus said, slicing the Shadow Monsters who tried to get in his way. "Don''t ever tell everyone again that you have Quinzel Blood in you. People would think our family is weak because of a disgrace like you, Mr. Replica."

    "Hah! People praised you for being kind and gentle," the replica said, finally breaking free from the Shadows that Rufus used to suppress him earlier. "But I see that all of those rumors are nothing but lies."

    "Not only you''re weak despite stealing our blood, but you''re also not that bright, huh?" Rufus asked, disappointed once again to see someone with his brother''s face acting so weak and na?ve. "Do you think I''ll show kindness and mercy to bastards who have hurt my family again and again?"

    The crows tried to kill Hanna many times.

    The crows used Gavin''s body for their cruel experiments.

    The crows almost turned Amber into a reanimated corpse.

    And, just recently, those crows put Princess Neoma into aatose state.

    Rufus'' gold eyes glowed menacingly. "I''m not wasting my time on a weakling like you."

    Fortunately, he could focus on the replica.

    Jasper Hawthorne was leading his men to fight the monsters and the Shadow Monsters.

    "Hah! Just so you know, I was created after the crows have perfected the exact replica of Gavin Quinzel during his prime!" the replica said smugly, pulling out a sword of Darkness from his own shadow. "I am Gavin Quinzel during his prime!"

    "So what?" Rufus asked indifferently, slicing off the replica''s head with the Mana-covered de of his sword before the replica could even lift his sword of Darkness. "I''ve long surpassed my brother."

    He didn''t stop there, though.

    To kill an enemy with a fast regeneration, Rufus had to slice the replica''s body into tiny pieces as if he was just chopping wood.

    It wasn''t like the replica didn''t fight back.

    The replica simply couldn''t move because Rufus was faster.

    Moreover, his own shadow was literally holding back the replica from moving.

    "This is impossible," the replica said, his head still "alive" despite being severed from his body. "Your shadow is supposed to be weak since the light in the world has already dimmed after the Darkness took over the sky¡­"

    The replica wasn''t wrong.

    After all, the strongest the light was the stronger the Quinzels''s shadows be.

    However, Rufus'' Shadow Maniption Technique was weakened due to theck of light.

    That didn''t matter to him, though.

    "Have you forgotten my other title?" Rufus asked, raising his sword before stabbing the replica''s head with it¨C causing the noisy punk to scream in agony. "I''m the empire''s greatest Swords Master at the moment."

    It was a title that his Brother Gavin had in the past.

    That title belonged to Rufus now.

    [Let''s finish this now.]

    "I''m sorry, Brother," Rufus said while looking at the replica. "I''m going to borrow the technique you created before."

    He covered his entire sword with his Mana.

    Since their Mana was a form of Darkness attribute, his entire sword was soon swallowed by what seemed like Darkness.

    Then that Darkness spread and created a ring on the ground.

    To be precise, a ck Hole.

    Rufus smiled at the replica who looked confused at what was happening. "If you have fast regeneration, then I just have to kill you before you heal yourself."

    And then the ck Hole swallowed all the severed body parts of the replica.

    "No!"

    The agonizing scream of the replica was soon swallowed by the ck Hole.

    And, just like that, not even a piece of the replica''s hair was left.

    [I did it,] Rufus whispered to himself, clenching his hands. [I wonder if Hanna has seeded in making the ck Hole her own technique¡­]

    ***

    [UNCLE Gavin, why did you invent such aplicated technique?]

    Hannained lightly.

    But it was okay since she was almost there¨C she was close to finishing her own ck Hole.

    "It''s a little different that the ck Hole I learned from Father, though."

    Yes, she asked her father if he knew anything about the ck Hole since she didn''t have her memories of the first timeline.

    Her father was shocked when she mentioned the ck Hole.

    She still remembered her conversation with her father after her engagement ceremony¡­

    <"Father, does our family have a technique called ''ck Hole?''">

    <"The ck Hole was the iplete technique that your Uncle Gavin invented when we were young, sweetie. But my brother didn''t get the chance to finish the technique since he got busy when he became a Sword Master. People are naturally afraid of Darkness attribute users, so your uncle opted to use his sword to protect the empire in order to not scare the citizens.">

    Hanna was surprised when she found out that the ck Hole was an invention of her Uncle Gavin.

    She thought Hanna of the first timeline invented it herself.

    But that didn''t mean she couldn''t own her Uncle Gavin''s technique.

    <"Father, please teach me the theory behind the ck Hole. Since it was iplete, then do you think Uncle Gavin would mind if I try toplete it on my own?">

    <"I''m sure my brother wouldn''t mind. After all, your Uncle Gavin taught me how to use the ck Hole because he created the technique for our family. But I didn''t get the chance to develop it since I also chose to focus on being a Sword Master. However, if it''s you, I believe you''ll be able to finish what I couldn''t.">

    <"Thank you, Father.">

    <"The technique that your Uncle Gavin came up with is actually simple. The ck Hole isn''t meant to be an attack, after all. It serves as a barrier¨C a barrier that allows us to hide even from the eyes of the gods around us. But I can''t do it.">

    <"You can''t do it, Father?">

    <"I''m not good at creating barriers since my Shadows are too aggressive. Hence, when I tried toplete my brother''s ck Hole, I ended up using it to swallow up and banish anything or anyone caught up in it.">

    Hanna stopped reminiscing when she felt blood drip from her nose.

    [Ah, a nosebleed.]

    She couldn''t stop, though.

    [Just a little more¡­]

    She focused until Neoma, who was trapped inside the ice coffin, was inside the ring of Shadows that she made.

    And then the ck Hole slowly yet surely swallowed up the ice coffin.

    Hanna coughed up a chunk of blood while closing her hands tightly until Neoma and the ice coffin werepletely swallowed up by the ck Hole.

    [I did it.]

    She was ready to drop to the floor because her body went numb from pain.

    However, she didn''t.

    Her back hit someone''s solid chest.

    "You should rest," Lewis said, carrying Hanna in his arms. "You did well, Princess Hanna."

    Huh?

    Hanna was shocked when she realized that she was in Lewis'' arms. "Hey, you don''t like physical contact. You can put me down now."

    Lewis didn''t listen to her.

    He just walked towards the bed, then he put her down. After that, he tucked her in as if he was tucking a child in bed. He even gave her a handkerchief for her nosebleed.

    [Yes, our Lewis is dependable.]

    Hanna smiled after thanking him for the handkerchief. "I didn''t peg you for someone who brings hankie with him, Lewis."

    "Princess Neoma taught me to carry a handkerchief with me all the time," Lewis said while opening the lid of a vial. Then he handed that vial to her. "Drink this, Princess Hanna. It''s a rejuvenating potion Greko made for us."

    "Thank you," she said, then she drank the potion in one gulp. "You can train with Queen Lisica and Lord Rustin, Lewis. I''ll be fine here."

    "Don''t want."

    "Lewis, I''m sure Commander Ruto has a reason for summoning the two Silver Foxes here," she said gently in order to convince Lewis to listen to her. "You need to be stronger for Neoma. Once she returns, I''m sure she''ll put an end to this war. You need to have the power to stand with her during that time as her Guardian Knight."

    "Ah," Lewis said as if he had just realized that she was right. "Okay, I''ll train with them."

    Hanna smiled and nodded. "Good boy."

    "No?"

    "Hmm?"

    "I''m not a boy," Lewis said, sulking. "I''m a man."

    [A fine man at that¡­ wait, no. I''m engaged to Nero. How could I find another man attractive?]

    Hanna pped her cheeks when that indecent thought crossed her mind.

    No, she wasn''t cheating on Nero.

    She was just simply appreciating Lewis'' good looks.

    [Did Neoma''s penchant for handsome men rubbed off on me?]

    ***

    "IT''S GONE," Helstor said in disbelief, leaning against the back of his seat when his tired body copsed. Keeping up his human form was hard, after all. "Princess Neoma''s presence disappeared along with Hanna Quinzel and Lewis Crevans''. My eyes can''t find them."

    "It must be Hanna Quinzel," Callisto de Luca said, growling as he continued to inject potions in his body. It was to keep his new physical body from melting like the wax that it used to be. "Only the Quinzels have the power to hide from gods. Rufus Quinzel isn''t as talented as Gavin Quinzel, so it can''t be him. However, the Crown Princess was born gifted."

    "That''s why you should have listened to Regina and killed Hanna Quinzel when you had the chance to do so," Helstor said. "But no, you insisted that Hanna Quinzel is the only woman fit to be Prince Nero''s empress."

    "The blood of the de Moonasterio and the Quinzel go well together," Callisto argued. "Emperor Niki was born from a female Quinzel, and he was the strongest de Moonasterio in history before his children were born. I was hoping Nero and Hanna Quinzel''s future son would be more powerful and talented than the current emperor."

    "Too bad Hanna Quinzel turned out to be as annoying as Princess Neoma, huh?"

    "Oh, shut up."

    "We need to get rid of Emperor Niki before Princess Neoma gets revived," Helstor said, getting up from his seat. "It''s hard to swallow up the sun since the Eastern Continent is being protected by Lord Levi and the Sun Goddess at the moment, so let''s start with the moon."

    It was easy to destroy the Western Continent right now since Lord Yule wasn''t there to protect his territory.

    [But the fact that Lord Yule disappeared is making me nervous for some reason.]

    "Alright," Callisto said, finally calm. "Give me Emperor Niki''s divine power before you kill him."

    ***

    "YOU WANT me to eat that?" Neoma asked, pointing at the so-called Eternal me at the mouth of the "dead mountain" where Drystan brought her and Ruto. "Well, it does look appetizing."

    The ''Eternal me'' was a huge rainbow-colored me.

    Yep, it had all the colors in your typical rainbow.

    "Don''t take this lightly, little princess," Drystan scolded her quite sternly. "That me has been here way before I was crowned the King of Hell. It wouldn''t be a test if swallowing that up was an easy feat."

    Neoma licked her lips. "I''m not taking this lightly, but that Eternal me really looks like cotton candy. I can''t help but find it tasty-looking."

    Yeah, her brain and appetite were probably broken or something.

    [I even find Darkness appetizing.]

    Could it be Neoma was actually a glutton?

    Her appetite must be a bigger problem than her vanity.

    Tteokbokki, now in his baby dragon form whilezily draped over her shoulder, sighed. "Thug princess, don''t just eat anything that looks delicious."

    "It''s safe to eat," Neoma said. "After all, Ruto isn''t stopping me."

    Ruto turned to Neoma with a hesitant look on his face. "That''s the me that you used to burn the world in the first timeline, Neoma."

    Oh.

    [Now it doesn''t look appetizing anymore¡­]

    ***

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 Chapter 838 BLOODY ROMANCE (6)

    ?

    <"THE lord says the Imperial Princess isn''t here anymore¡­">

    <"Then there''s no reason for us to fight here¡­">

    <"Let''s leave at once!">

    Mona could hear the gods, in the form of red orbs floating around her, talk.

    But she didn''t move to stop them from leaving. She didn''t particrly enjoy fighting, and it wasn''t her goal to kill the gods.

    [The only thing I want to do is to protect my family.]

    <"Are we not going to follow them, Master?">

    Mona shook her head at the question of Olive, her Wood Spirit. "It''s not our priority to eliminate gods. All we have to do is to protect Neoma''s hiding space."

    <"What a shame! I still want to fight! And kill! And just go ballistic!">

    It was ze, the ever hyper Fire Spirit.

    The Fire Spirit wasn''t doneining yet when the sudden change in the air stopped ze from talking.

    Then Mona''s other Spirits came out and surrounded her protectively.

    "It''s alright. I know him," Mona said, half-relieved and half-worried to see the person who emerged from the swirl of darkness that emerged from the ground. "Wee back, Trevor."

    "Greetings, Empress Mona," Trevor said politely. "Can I have 50% of your blood?"

    [Is this kid asking me to die?]

    ***

    <"I APOLOGIZE for making you worry, Your Majesty. But, rest assured, everything is under control now. Duke Hawthorne is such a great help.">

    Niki was relieved to hear that.

    He knew that Rufus would be safe since he was the strongest nobleman in the empire.

    Even so, he couldn''t help but worry for his friend and cousin.

    "I''m d that you''re safe, Rufus," Niki said, talking to Rufus using themunication device that didn''t have a camera function. That kind of device was safer than the ones with cameras. "How about your men?"

    <"Most of those who suddenly lost their Mana are injured. I''m sending them back to the Imperial Capital using a portal.">

    "Are you staying there?"

    <"I''ll join Duke Hawthorne''s knights along with my men who can still fight, Your Majesty. I have a feeling that I shouldn''t leave my post.">

    "Alright. I trust your judgment," he said. "By the way, how are you dealing with the strange vapor?"

    <"Duke Hawthorne''s Elemental Guardian dealt with the vapor for us. Does the vapor pose a threat to Your Majesty? I can ask Duke Hawthorne to return to the Imperial Capital.">

    "No need for that," he said. "My Soul Beasts are getting rid of the vapor as we speak."

    Niki and Monik didn''t even have to lift a finger this time since the Soul Beasts were enough to purify the vapor.

    It seemed like the vapor was only meant to be a distraction.

    [I have a feeling that the Second Cmity is something else.]

    <"One more thing, Your Majesty. The crows have done something horrendous to my family again.">

    Niki knitted his eyebrows. "What did those bastards do this time?"

    <"They made a replica of Brother Gavin.">

    "What¡­?"

    <"Worse, it was the replica of my brother in his prime. They created a replica of the young Commander Gavin. They probably thought I am no match against my brother during his prime. Well, it was true if I was still the same Rufus from twenty years ago. But I''ve long surpassed my brother now.">

    "Did you pay back that bastard for looking down on you?"

    <"By tenfolds, Your Majesty.">

    "Great."

    <"Be careful, Your Majesty. If those crows created a replica of my brother, it won''t be too far-fetched to believe that they have also created replicas of other people we know.">

    A replica of people they knew, huh?

    "I wonder if they made replicas of the previous emperors, too," Niki wondered out loud. "It will be fun to reunite with my father or grandfather that way."

    Rufusughed nervously. <"Be careful what you wish for, Your Majesty¡­">

    ***

    NERO HEARD it.

    He heard it when Trevor Kesser, that bastard, asked for his mother''s blood.

    [Dahlia''s intuition is really insane.]

    After all, it was the ck Witch who told him to go straight to the Imperial Shrine as soon as they returned to the pce.

    That was when he saw Trevor appear and say something so disrespectful to his mother.

    "How dare you ask for my mother''s blood, you demon bastard," Nero asked while walking towards Trevor and his mother with Dahlia following behind him. "Humans die when they lose 40% of their blood."

    "I''m not talking about your normal blood," Trevor said casually, still floating in the air. "I''m asking for your Roseheart Blood."

    <"Empress Mona''s blood won''t be enough.">

    Ah.

    Nero unconsciously turned his head to Dahlia after remembering what she said earlier.

    The ck Witch answered his question even though he didn''t say anything.

    "Yes, Your Imperial Highness," Dahlia said, nodding. "Lord Trevor needs your Roseheart Blood."

    Nero turned to Trevor. "Then it must be for Neoma. You only move if it concerns my twin sister, after all."

    "That''s right," Trevor said, finallynding on the ground. "The King of Hell is going to fix Princess Neoma''s Core, but I need to gather the "ingredients" that he needs first."

    Neoma''s Core was going to be fixed.

    Then¡­

    "She''sing back?" Nero asked, his heart thumping loud and fast against his chest. "Neoma is going to be revived."

    "Hush, my son," his mother scolded him lightly. "This isn''t the right ce to talk about this."

    Right.

    Nero bowed his head towards his mother slightly. "I apologize, Mother."

    "As long as you know, son," his mother said, then she turned to Trevor with glowing eyes. "You''re going to exin everything to us, Trevor."

    ***

    NIKOLAI heard from Geoffrey''s report that Mona and Nero were headed to the Crown Prince''s pce with Trevor.

    He wanted to join them in order to hear news about Neoma.

    But he stopped on his tracks when he noticed the strange movements of the blobs of Darkness in the sky.

    [This is the real one.]

    No wonder Monik suddenly appeared in front of him, floating in the air while her pink eyes were glowing.

    "The moon is getting swallowed by the Darkness, Your Majesty!"

    "I know," Niki said, clenching his jaw. "The Second Cmity is here."

    ***

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 Chapter 839 BLOODY ROMANCE (7)

    ?

    THE ETERNAL FLAME.

    Apparently, it had been there in Hell longer than Drystan.

    Neoma, for some reason, felt the urge to eat the me.

    [Yeah, my appetite is definitely broken.]

    "Little princess, you''re more powerful, wiser, and calmer than the little princess of the first timeline," Drystan said. "However, the other little princess has something that you do not possess yet."

    Neoma raised an eyebrow. "The power to set the world on fire?"

    "It''s necessary for you to retrieve the power that you owned in the first timeline."

    "Gosh, haven''t you learned your lesson yet? What if I use the Eternal me to burn the world once again?"

    "As I said before, you set the world on fire for a noble reason."

    "Mass murder is still mass murder. No amount of "noble reason" can justify it," Neoma said. "However, we made a contract. Plus, I''ve already resigned myself to saving the world since that''s what my loved ones call ''home.''"

    She didn''t have a grand reason for saving the world.

    Although some people said she had a ''saviorplex,'' she didn''t really think it was the case. The only people she wanted to save were the ones closest to her heart, after all.

    "What do I have to do?" Neoma asked. "I suppose I''m not going to eat the Eternal me literally."

    "You just need to touch the Eternal me," Drystan said, then he paused for a moment before he borated. "For reference, not even I could withstand the heat of the Eternal me. I tried to touch it lightly once, but I almost got burned to ashes."

    A me strong enough to almost kill an almighty god, huh?

    Neoma nodded approvingly. "It''s worthy to be my power. Okay, I ept the challenge."

    "It''s going to be painful for you, Neoma," Ruto warned her. "The Neoma of the first timeline seeded in owning the Eternal me, but not without suffering from pain. She barely came out alive back then."

    "But you''re not stopping me, Ruto."

    "I¡­ just have a feeling that''d be in less pain this time."

    "What makes you say so?"

    "The Neoma of the first timeline only learned how to use her Mana and divine power after I revived her and taught her the things she needed to know," Ruto exined. "Moreover, you didn''t seed in taming your Soul Beast back then. Hence, you didn''t have an affinity with the fire element."

    If that was the case, then the Neoma of the first timeline must have suffered a lot.

    "Did I awaken my Roseheart Blood after you revived me, Ruto?"

    "You did, but you didn''t unlock your full potential as a Roseheart back then. And you also never took any Spirit with you," Ruto said. "You fought using your raw power as a de Moonasterio and your gift as a potential Aether. Then,ter, you fought using the Eternal me."

    Hmm?

    "Then the Neoma of the first timeline is one hundred times cooler and more powerful than me," Neoma said sincerely. "She grew up as an ordinarydy, but she had to take the role of a savior right after you revived her. She had to learn about using her Mana and divine power at an age where she should have mastered them already."

    Unfortunately, ''Neoma Quinzel'' was raised as a normaldy.

    Hence, teaching Neoma of the first timeline about the basics must have been like teaching a child how to control their power.

    "A Roseheart-de Moonasterio who failed to tame her Soul Beast and unlock her Roseheart Blood yet managed to set the world on fire," Neoma said. "That''s fucking savage. Neoma of the first timeline was a freaking monster."

    "That''s right," Ruto agreed. "Neoma of the first timeline''s raw power was crazy. The only downside was her Lunacy getting out of control because she didn''t learn how to suppress it."

    Raw power, huh?

    Neoma looked at her hands. "I have never fought using my raw power yet in this timeline. I''ve always been in control of my power since I''m awesome like that. I wonder what it feels like to have my power control me."

    [That sounds fun.]

    "That''s a dangerous thought, little princess," Drystan protested. "You''re far more dangerous than the little princess of the first timeline since you''re stronger than her. If you let your raw power control you, your Lunacy might urge you to destroy the world for your own entertainment."

    Pfft.

    So it was okay to destroy the world if it was for a "noble" cause but not for Neoma''s sole entertainment?

    [In short, I be the hero or the viin depending on how the world benefits from me.]

    What a load of crap.

    "Fine. I''ll behave," Neoma said, then she turned to Ruto. "Babe, should we kiss before I go and take this dangerous test?"

    The way Ruto''s face turned red was cute~

    ***

    [TSK.]

    Trevor suddenly felt annoyed for some reason.

    [That damned Commander Ruto is probably making a move on my Moon Princess!]

    "Stop getting distracted Trevor Kesser," Prince Nero scolded him. "You need to exin what''s going on."

    Right.

    Trevor followed Empress Mona and Prince Nero to the Crown Prince''s office to exin why he needed their Roseheart Blood.

    [I better get this done and over with.]

    "The King of Hell is going to fix Princess Neoma''s Core," Trevor said. "I need a lot of Roseheart Blood. To be precise, I need an amount that an adult Roseheart has. But if I take that much blood from Empress Mona¡­"

    Empress Mona nodded as if she understood already what Trevor hadn''t finished saying. "I''ll die if I lose that much Roseheart Blood."

    Right.

    [It''s not like blood transfusion would work since Roseheart Blood is different from ordinary blood.]

    "Although I don''t mind dying if it''s for Neoma''s sake."

    "Mother, please don''t say that," Prince Nero scolded the empress lightly. "I''m here, so you don''t need to give all of your Roseheart Blood. Neoma won''t be happy if one of us dies in order to revive her. And I also wouldn''t let you die, Mother."

    Mona smiled warmly at her son. "Thank you for saying that, Nero."

    The Crown Prince just blushed at his mother''s praise.

    Heh~

    [It''s disgusting to see the cold-hearted Crown Prince act like a good son to his mother.]

    "Anyway, I''m in a hurry since there are other "ingredients" that I need to gather," Trevor said. "So, decide how we''re going to do this."

    Prince Nero knitted his eyebrows. "Why do I hear quotation marks in the air when you said ''ingredients?''"

    "Well, you wouldn''t exactly call living people as ''ingredients.''"

    "Why not? If that''s their purpose to revive Neoma, then just call them as ingredients. Who cares if they are living people?"

    Ah, right.

    Prince Nero was a ruthless bastard.

    "Nero, don''t say such cruel things," Empress Mona scolded her son. "We should be grateful to people who''ll help us revive your twin sister."

    "Why should we be grateful to the people who are only doing the bare minimum for us?" Nero talked back to his mother. "Neoma is the Imperial Princess chosen by the gods to save the world. The least thing the people of this world can do for my twin sister is to give up whatever they need to give in order to revive their savior."

    Pfft.

    Trevor couldn''t help but smirk at the Crown Prince''s logic. "Your Imperial Highness reeks of entitlement."

    "Of course I do," Prince Nero said bluntly. "I was born the Crown Prince of the strongest empire in the world. My existence alone is already a privilege."

    [Right, he''s really Princess Neoma''s twin brother.]

    "Let''s talk about this againter," Empress Mona said, sighing while shaking her head. Then she turned to Trevor. "Dear, can you increase the amount of Roseheart Blood that you need from me and decrease the amount that you need from Nero?"

    "Mother," Nero protested. "Why would you ask that?"

    "Nero, we can''t be inactive at the same time," Empress Mona said. "If Trevor took away 50% of our Roseheart Blood, then we will be forced to recuperate. It''s not like we can do blood transfusion since aside from Neoma, only the two of us have Roseheart Blood in the world."

    "I agree with Her Imperial Majesty," Trevor said to the Crown Prince. "Prince Nero, you''re supposed to handle the Third Cmity. You can''t be down for a long time."

    "But if you take too much blood from Mother¡­"

    "I''m not crazy, Prince Nero," Trevor said, sighing. "Why would I put my future mother-inw in danger?"

    "You''re crazy," Prince Nero growled. "You delusional bastard."

    "Nero, hush."

    Surprisingly, the Crown Prince shut his mouth.

    "Trevor, dear, how much blood can you take away from me?"

    "Taking away 50% of Your Imperial Majesty''s blood would leave you bedridden for weeks," Trevor said. "I can probably take up to 80%, but that will be too risky. So, if Your Imperial Majesty allows it, I can take 70% of your blood to decrease the amount that I''ll be needing from Prince Nero."

    "That''s still too much," Prince Nero protested. "How would that affect my mother if taking 50% of her blood would already render her bedridden?"

    "Well, Her Imperial Majesty will probably fall into aatose state?"

    The Crown Prince grabbed Trevor by the cor, his ash-gray eyes turned glowing red. "Have you truly lost your mind? You''d put my mother into aatose state?"

    Oho?

    Trevor didn''t expect that kind of reaction from Prince Nero.

    [I thought the Crown Prince would be willing to sacrifice even his own mother just to get Princess Neoma back.]

    When did Prince Nero grow a heart?

    "Her Imperial Majesty is the strongest Roseheart born in history," Trevor reminded the Crown Prince. "Even if Her Imperial Majesty falls into aatose state, she''ll be fine in her Spirit form while her physical body recovers. Prince Nero, don''t forget that you''ve survived being in aatose state for almost a decade because your Roseheart Blood allowed you to ''live'' in your Spirit form."

    He wasn''t crazy to suggest something that would put Empress Mona in grave danger.

    After all, Princess Neoma and Emperor Niki would kill him if he did.

    He figured letting Empress Mona fall into aatose state wouldn''t be too dangerous since she was a Roseheart who could survive even without a physical body for a long time.

    "Nero, calm down," Empress Mona said. "Trevor is right."

    Prince Nero finally let go of Trevor, then he faced his mother. "But Mother, who will protect you if you fall into aatose state? Father will be facing the Second Cmity, and I''ll be facing the third one soon. I can''t entrust you with anyone else."

    "I have my Spirits with me, son."

    The Crown Prince scoffed. "They''re weak, Mother."

    As expected, Empress Mona''s Spirits reacted violently by releasing their bloodlust towards Prince Nero.

    Of course, the Crown Prince just ignored them.

    "Don''t worry, Prince Nero. I have a n," Trevor assured the Crown Prince, then he turned to the empress. "Your Imperial Majesty, once I''m done collecting 30% of Prince Nero''s blood, would you like toe with me to the Cosmic Tree? I''ll collect your blood from there so once Your Imperial Majesty falls into aatose state, the Cosmic Tree will be responsible for your safety until you fully recover."

    Empress Mona looked half-convinced and half-worried. "But will it be okay for me to leave the Imperial Shrine?"

    "It''s alright, Your Imperial Majesty," he assured the empress. "The enemies probably already know that Princess Neoma''s body isn''t here after Her Imperial Highness'' presence disappeared."

    "Neoma''s presence disappeared?" Prince Nero asked, his face lighting up. "Does it mean Hanna seeded in using her power to hide from the gods?"

    "Yes, Prince Nero. Hanna Quinzel seeded¨C"

    Trevor was forced to stop talking when the air suddenly turned chilly.

    Prince Nero and Empress Mona also noticed the change in the atmosphere.

    "The Second Cmity is here," Trevor announced even though he didn''t have to. "Prince Nero, Empress Mona, let''s hurry up."

    ***

    RUTO''S heart skipped a beat.

    Even though he knew that Neoma didn''t ask for a kiss for a romantic reason, he still felt excited and giddy.

    He had to control his feelings though.

    "Are you sure, Neoma?" Ruto asked carefully. "You already know what will happen if we kiss again."

    Thest time they did, Neoma''s unwanted memories resurfaced and drove her mad.

    "I need some of my past memories to handle the Eternal me," Neoma said, then she looked at him with clear eyes. "But, of course, you don''t have to force yourself to kiss me if you don''t want to."

    Ruto immediately shook his head. "I didn''t say I didn''t want to."

    "Is that a ''yes'' then?"

    Instead of giving a verbal response, he just moved closer to her.

    Then Ruto cupped Neoma''s face between his hands.

    [Ah, this is crazy. Why is Neoma''s face so small? And now that I can see her face clearly, I feel like I''m going mad about how beautiful she is.]

    "Ruto, calm down," Neoma teased him, covering his eyes with her dainty hand. "Your eyes are going crazy. Gosh, is my legendary beauty finally getting to you?"

    He didn''t really care about people''s appearances.

    Heck, he didn''t even care about his own looks.

    But Neoma''s face was really crazy.

    [No wonder even the Goddess of Beauty herself is jealous of Neoma.]

    Ruto''s needless train of thought was interrupted when Neoma suddenly pressed her lips against his¡­

    ¡­ and then he leaned down and deepened the kiss.

    ***

    "YOUR IMPERIAL MAJESTY, please give up the throne!"

    "Please save us!"

    "The Darkness is swallowing up the moon!"

    Niki could see and hear the people protesting in front of the pce.

    Most of themoners were crying while begging him to give up the throne. It was clearly out of fear because the blobs of Darkness had be visible to everyone now.

    [The crows'' fear-mongering is working.]

    "Geoffrey Kinsley, make sure the citizens won''t do anything dangerous," Niki said while riding on the back of the Azure Dragon, carrying Monik in his arms. "Tell Mona and Nero that I''ll be back soon."

    "As youmand, Your Majesty," Geoffrey Kinsley said, bowing his head politely. "Please be careful."

    He just nodded beforemanding his Soul Beast to fly up.

    It was a shame that he didn''t have the time to say goodbye to Mona and Nero, but the situation was urgent.

    "The vapor ising up again," Monik warned him. "It feels different now."

    Niki looked below them.

    The baby was right.

    [It seems like the vapor that was leaked earlier was just a distraction.]

    "It''s a trap," Niki btedly realized. "We''re on our own now, Monik."

    ***

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 Chapter 840 ETERNAL FLAME

    Chapter 840 ETERNAL FLAME

    [IT''S SO fucking hot in here.]

    Neoma was usually immune to heat, but not this time.

    As soon as she touched the Eternal me, her soul was sucked in.

    And then, just like that, she found herself in a different reality after she opened her eyes.

    "Wow. What a view," Neoma said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Did I travel back in time? Is this what the Eternal me wants to show me?"

    It was strange to see the world burn with her very own eyes.

    Yep, that was the sight that greeted her.

    It seemed like she was standing on a very high cliff that was surrounded by a sea of fire. Seriously, everywhere she looked, all she saw were red mes swallowing up everything. The sky had even turned dark because of the thick ck smokeing from the fire.

    If she wasn''t in her Spirit form, and if that world was her reality, then she wouldn''tst a second there.

    The thick ck smoke would suffocate her.

    Ah, scratch that.

    The heat would probably melt her before she lost air.

    "Is this how I killed everyone in the first timeline?" Neoma whispered to herself, smirking bitterly. "I deserve eternal damnation then."

    "Don''t worry¨C he''ll soon put out the Eternal me."

    The fuck?!

    To say that Neoma was surprised when she realized she wasn''t alone would be an understatement.

    But the thing that shocked her the most was the identity of her panion."

    "Oh, damn," Neoma gushed in disbelief. "I look that sexy in my early twenties?"

    Yes, the beautiful creature standing right in front of her was no doubt the Neoma of the first timeline.

    Gosh.

    [Is it possible to fall in love with your own self?]

    Neoma of the first timeline had her white hair tied up in a high ponytail.

    Hmm?

    [The tips of her hair aren''t pink¡­]

    Neoma of the first timeline was wearing the same outfit-sh-armor that the Goddess of Beauty lent Neoma in the current timeline.

    [Did the Goddess of Beauty also lend the same armor to Neoma of the first timeline?]

    Uhm, why did she have a feeling that the older Neoma stole it from Astrid?

    [Her vibes are so different from mine. She still looks pretty and charismatic. But her eyes are dead, and her aura screams ''dangerous.'']

    Ah, Neoma recognized that look.

    [It''s the look of someone who has already lost everything.]

    Neoma didn''t like that look, but there was something about her older version that she hated more.

    "Ma''am, if you don''t mind my asking, how tall are you?"

    Neoma of the first timeline looked confused, but she still answered the question. "210 centimeters."

    210 centimeters¡­

    [That''s roughly around six feet and nine inches¡­]

    "Nooo!" Neoma cried, covering her ears with her hands while denying reality. "Our growth spurt should have been over a long time ago!"

    "Your second growth spurt has already begun, child."

    "Excuse me?"

    "It''s a sign that you''re on the verge of bing a god."

    "Huh?"

    "The human world can''t handle people like you who have the same power as the gods," Neoma of the first timeline exined. "Soon, the human world will reject you until you have no choice but to ascend."

    "You know that I am you from a different timeline," Neoma said in a serious tone. 00:07

    "Ascend¡­ to the Upper World?"

    Neoma of the first timeline nodded. "Commander Yoan, the divine son of Lord Levi, was also born with the power of a god. Eventually, the world rejected his existence when he reached his peak. That''s the reason why he couldn''t stay in the human world for long."

    Why didn''t Ruto tell her something as important as that?

    "It seems like your Commander Yoan didn''t tell you anything."

    [Ah, she knows.]

    "You know that I am you from a different timeline," Neoma said in a serious tone. "How much do you know?"

    "Everything I need to know about you," Neoma of the first timeline said casually. "The moment you touched the Eternal me, I got to see the majority of your memory. Commander Yoan turned back time for you, so you got to live again after I died a lonely death."

    [She sounds bitter, and rightfully so.]

    Neoma understood because despite being the same person, she still felt very different from Neoma of the first timeline.

    [I''d be jealous of my version who got to live a better life, too.]

    "What are you?" Neoma asked carefully. "Am I talking to a piece of your soul stuck in the Eternal me? Or am I inside a dream?"

    "The former," Neoma of the first timeline said. "Even though Commander Yoan turned back time for us, it didn''t erase the "memories" that the Eternal me had absorbed from everyone who had seeded in wielding its me in the past. I was thest person to do so, hence a piece of my soul was left behind for a sole purpose."

    "To wee the potential new owner of the Eternal me?"

    "I see that you''re more quick-witted than I am."

    "Nah, I''ve just consumed too much anime in my past life, so I already know where this is going," Neoma said, shrugging. "You''re here to give me a test to see if I''m worthy of the Eternal me, aren''t you?"

    "That''s what I''m supposed to do, I guess."

    [Why did I hear quotation marks in the air when she referred to Tteokbokki as a Soul Beast?]

    Neoma fell silent for a moment before she decided to bring up a sensitive topic. "I heard from my Commander Ruto that you suffered a lot to own the Eternal me. You didn''t have an affinity to the fire element because you didn''t tame your Soul Beast."

    "I was born with a dead Soul Beast," Neoma of the first timeline said casually. "The red dragon with you right now was the "Soul Beast" that Commander Yoan got for me when we tried to free the Soul Beasts in the past."

    [Why did I hear quotation marks in the air when she referred to Tteokbokki as a Soul Beast?]

    She was curious about that, but something else caught her attention.

    "You tried to free the Soul Beasts? Just like what Mama Boss, Papa Boss, William, and Empress Juliet have done in the past?"

    "The Soul Beasts must be released to prevent the most dangerous Cmity," Neoma of the first timeline said. "But I guess that won''t be your problem this time since you''re stuck here."

    Oh.

    If it was the most dangerous Cmity, then it must be the Third Cmity that Yule had mentioned to her.

    [Then Nero and Dahlia are supposed to free the Soul Beasts?]

    Did the task of freeing the Soul Beasts get handed down to Nero and Dahlia because Yule knew she would be stuck with the Eternal me?

    "Do you desire the Eternal me, child?"

    "Personally? Nah," Neoma said honestly, shaking her head. "I''m only here because of my deal with King Drystan. I need the Eternal me to save the world or something."

    "Do you think you''ll get the Eternal me with that attitude?"

    "Yeah."

    Neoma of the first timeline smiled.

    Then, much to Neoma''s shock, her older version approached her quickly, and she only realized she was standing in front of her when the Neoma of the first timeline put her hand on her shoulder.

    [Dammit!]

    "You''re not worthy of the Eternal me, you arrogant child," Neoma of the first timeline said in a serious tone. "And I hate you for having a better life than I did after forgetting all the painful memories of your first life."

    Neoma was about toin that it wasn''t her fault, but all that came out of her mouth was an agonizing scream because Neoma of the first timeline had set her on fire.

    [YOU GODDAMN BITCH¨C IT FUCKING BURNS!]

    ***

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 Chapter 841 DIVINIZATION

    Chapter 841 DIVINIZATION

    [NEOMA?]

    Ruto suddenly felt anxious while looking at the Eternal me that absorbed Neoma''s soul a few moments ago.

    [I feel two Neomas inside.]

    "Divine lord, let''s begin," Drystan said, sighing while shaking his head. "But before we begin, let me give you a warning."

    "Warning?"

    "Please don''t make out with the little princess in front of me again," the King of Hell pleaded in a tired voice. "It''s so traumatizing to see the children I raised exchange saliva."

    He frowned at that.

    Well, technically, Drsytan did raise Ruto and Neoma when the two of them went through ''Divinization.''

    Just like its name suggested, it was a process a human had to go through to be a god.

    Ruto and Neoma refused to ascend to the Upper World during their Divinization, so they opted to stay in Hell and learn from Drystan. After all, the King of Hell was still a god.

    [And Drystan was and is still not interested in Neoma''s power.]

    "Why are youining when I saw you avert your eyes anyway?" Ruto argued. "And it was only for a brief moment."

    "It still feels weird to see you two in that kind of rtionship again after you said you''d only watch the little princess from afar this time."

    Yeah, that was the n.

    But¡­

    "Never mind. I never believed you could stay away from the little princess in the first ce," Drystan said, sighing again. "It was always you who would fall first and fall harder for the little princess."

    "¡­"

    "Hence, it''s only befitting that you give your heart to the little princess¨C literally, this time," Drystand said in an amused voice. "Anyway, it won''t matter since you''re already on the second phase of your Divinization. That means your organs will grow back even if I cut a portion of it."

    Right.

    Gods'' limbs and organs would grow back quickly no matter how many times you cut them.

    [It''s just one of the things that make them seem immortal.]

    "I''m ready," Ruto said firmly. "Please take my heart out in order to fix Neoma''s heart."]

    ***

    "MY QUEEN, do you feel better now?"

    Brigitte nodded at Glenn''s question while munching on the shaved ice that Prince Nero made for her before he left the estate. "Yes, honey. Prince Nero''s ice is really delicious." She put a hand on her baby bump. "Our little angel loves it, too."

    Before the Crown Prince, he left several huge blocks of ice for Brigitte.

    ''Shaved ice'' was a popr dessert in Hazelden, and it was easy to make.

    She just asked her husband to crush to ice finely, then pour syrup over it. Glenn also sliced some fresh fruits and used them as toppings.

    [Glenn is really a man of Hazelden now.]

    "How about the Frost Wyverns, honey?" Brigitte asked worriedly. "Did Prince Nero manage to calm them down?"

    Delwyn, the Ice Spirit, couldn''t tame the hungry Frost Wyverns.

    [It just goes to show that Prince Nero''s ice is really special.]

    "The Frost Wyverns have calmed down, so Delwyn put them to sleep now," Glenn exined. "You should rest once you''re full, honey. Don''t worry because Father and my brother are making sure that the estate is safe."

    Brigitte nodded, and she was about to say something when themunication device that she had suddenly vibrated.

    Her face lit up because only one person was connected to that device.

    [Skylus!]

    Glenn immediately opened the portable stone tab.

    <"Mommy, Daddy, Monik noona has already left the pce with His Majesty to fight the Second Cmity.">

    Brigitte and Glenn were both surprised and worried by the sudden news.

    But that wasn''t the only thing that made them anxious.

    "Skylus, what are you wearing?" Brigitte asked nervously. "I-Is that the uniform that the saints of Astello Temple?"

    She knew that her son was the new saint.

    Even so¡­

    "Why are you wearing that, son?" Glenn asked worriedly. "What''s happening?"

    <"Mommy, Daddy, I''m going to fulfill my job as the new saint of the Moon God,"> Skylus said in a serious tone. <"Don''t worry. Lord Manu, Uncle Dion, and the Holy Knights are here to guide and protect me.">

    ***

    PRAY.

    Manu knew that at a time like this, the best thing that the people who worshipped Lord Yule could do was to pray.

    [Praying will also help them calm down.]

    "My lord, the video stone tabs have been set up already," Dion Skelton whispered to Manu. "We can start the broadcast anytime."

    Manu nodded, then he turned to Prince Skylus. "Your Holiness, everything is ready."

    Since Prince Nero was busy, the Crown Prince put Manu in charge of the Holy Knights in the meantime.

    "I understand," Prince Skylus said, then he raised his hand. "Open the gates."

    The captain of the Holy Knights bowed to him politely, then he turned to the Holy Knights under hismand.

    And then the Holy Knights moved to open the pce gates.

    As expected, the people who were waiting outside immediately reacted.

    "It''s the new saint!"

    "But the new saint is still a child¡­ can he do anything for us?"

    "Isn''t the new saint only a symbol now?"

    "And where will the new saint get his power if the Moon God is missing?"

    "This doesn''t change a thing¡­"

    Of course, Manu already expected that kind of reaction.

    [Humans always cower before the Darkness because it is instilled in every fiber of their being to fear the Darkness.]

    "Everyone, let''s pray."

    Hmm?

    Prince Skylus only said three words, but it was enough to suddenly keep the crowd quiet.

    It was because the baby saint had used his divine power to amplify his voice, not only for the people to hear him, but for them to fullyprehend what he was saying.

    [The saint has the power to soothe the anxious hearts of people, after all.]

    That was exactly how the saint could influence the Moon God''s devotees.

    "The entire world is currently being threatened by Darkness. But please don''t worry, everyone. The Imperial Family is doing their best to protect us. They won''t allow the Darkness to swallow up the moon," Prince Skylus said calmly, sping his hands together. Then he smiled angelically, putting everyone''s anxious heart at ease. "Please lend me your strength and pray with me, everyone."

    ***

    [IT''S DONE.]

    Trevor was relieved when he finally finished extracting 30% of Prince Nero''s Roseheart Blood.

    And now the Crown Prince was sleeping deeply.

    Hmm.

    That wasn''t normal.

    [He''s going to wake up soon, right?]

    "Is my son going to be alright?" Empress Mona asked worriedly. "Doesn''t he look like he''s sleeping a little too deeply?"

    Right???

    But he kept a poker-face because he didn''t want the empress to get worried.

    "Prince Nero will wake up soon since I only took 30% of his blood," Trevor said, sounding confident even though he wasn''t. "Dahlia is here to check on the Crown Prince''s condition, Your Imperial Majesty."

    Dahlia, who was standing behind the empress, looked startled. But she quickly collected herself. "Yes, I''ll make sure Prince Nero will wake up."

    Great.

    [I don''t really care about the Crown Prince, so I''m d the ck Witch is here to take care of him.]

    Trevor turned to the empress. "Your Imperial Majesty, we should hurry. The portal to the Cosmic Tree might shut down soon because of the Second Cmity."

    "I understand," Empress Mona said, then she leaned down and kissed Prince Nero on the forehead. "Baby Pumpkin, please wake up soon. I''ll be gone for a moment, but I promise toe back soon. Let''s wee your twin sister together, hmm?"

    ***

    [IT FUCKING HURTS.]

    Neoma couldn''t even move.

    She could only hug herself while sitting on the ground like the fucking loser that she was.

    GOD SHE HATED LOSING.

    "I don''t think it hurts as much as it did when I took the Eternal me''s test before," Neoma of the first timeline said, squatting down to meet Neoma''s eye level. "It''s probably because you have a red dragon for a Soul Beast."

    Tteokbokki''s physical form disappeared when Neoma touched the Eternal me.

    [But I can feel Tteokbokki''s presence in my soul, and I can feel him protecting me from the Eternal me.]

    "Ma''am, are you jealous of me?"

    "I am," Neoma of the first timeline admitted bluntly. "You lived a good life after themander turned back time for you."

    "But I am you," Neoma argued. "I lived the harsh life that you lived, too. We''re the same people, so you also get to live the life that I''m living right now."

    "That''s not true."

    "What?"

    "I came from the Dead World," Neoma of the first timeline exined. "The world that I lived in disappeared when themander turned back time to give you a better life. That''s why you can''t remember everything. It wouldn''t be strange to say that we''re two different people now."

    "Even if what you said was true, I still don''t get how any of that was my fault. Why are you upset with me when I am also a victim like you?"

    "Because I am petty," Neoma of the first timeline said shamelessly. "And I hold grudges."

    Neoma nodded approvingly. "Yeah, we really have the same rotten personality."

    "Do you hate the fact that I am tall?"

    "Yeah! I want to be cute and portable!"

    Neoma of the first timeline smiled sweetly, then she put a hand on the top of her head. "Then I curse you to be taller than yourmander in this timeline."

    "You fucking bitch!" Neoma yelled at her older version angrily. "I won''t forgive you if I hit the seven feet mark¨C aaahhh!"

    She once again screamed in agony when the me that swallowed her up grew bigger and hotter.

    Even though she didn''t have a physical body, she still felt like she was melting to the bones.

    [It''s hot. It burns. It hurts¡­]

    Neoma fell to the ground, unmoving.

    "Now that I''ve sessfully passed the Eternal me to you, I''m going to collect my good karma points now," Neoma of the first timeline stood up while stretching her arms. "I''ll use it to meet his version in this timeline."

    Neoma, despite her consciousness fading away, still managed to raise her middle finger at the Neoma of the first timeline. "Ruto is mine, bitch."

    ***

    "THANK YOU for giving me your heart, Divine Lord."

    Ruto watched as Drystan put his heart inside a clear jar, freezing his heart in the process.

    Then he clutched his chest.

    [I''m still alive.]

    The hole in his chest was quickly closing up. Hence, even though his chest area was covered in blood, he remained standing.

    He just felt a little tired.

    "Divine Lord, only a few of us remember the first timeline," Drystan said out of the blue. "I believe you should help the little princess remember her pastpletely. We need her to win this war, after all."

    Ruto just avoided the King of Hell''s gaze.

    "You''re still as overprotective as ever, Commander."

    What the¡­

    To say that Ruto was shocked when the Eternal me spit out Neoma would be an understatement.

    But that wasn''t his Neoma.

    "Ah, the big princess is here," Drystan said indifferently. "Did you seriously use your good karma points just to get out?"

    Neoma of the first timeline ignored Drystan, then she walked towards Ruto with a serene look on her face. "I''m taller than you now, Commander Yoan," she said in a yful manner. "And you''re weaker than I am at the moment. I can kill you with my bare hands if I want to."

    "Well, I''m still in the second phase of Divinization at the moment," Ruto said, awkwardly looking up at Neoma. "Why did youe out, Princess Neoma?"

    Neoma of the first timeline tilted her head to one side. "Are you not happy to see me, Commander?"

    ***

    [THIS IS harder than I thought¡­]

    Niki''s nose was already bleeding from using too much of his divine power.

    It wasn''t easy to control both his Soul Beasts and divine power at the same time.

    [My Moonglow is almost non-existent now, so my divine power isn''t as strong as it was before my children were born.]

    It was proof that he was slowly losing his right to the throne.

    COUGH.

    Niki turned to Monik and he got anxious when he saw the child cough up a chunk of blood. "Stop using your divine power, child."

    Monik, who was floating in the air while surrounded by some pinkish lights, shook her head while wiping the blood off her nose using the back of her hand. "I''m okay, Your Imperial Majesty."

    "Our divine power isn''t working."

    Niki had already summoned his Soul Beasts.

    It was difficult for him to handle the five Soul Beasts in their beast forms, but he had to maintain that form for them in order for him to use his divine power effectively.

    The burning Vermilion Bird was breathing fire at the blobs of Darkness.

    The White Tiger was trying to pop the blobs with his sharp ws.

    The Azure Dragon was breathing water at the blobs.

    The ck Tortoise and the snake were trying to freeze the blobs with ice.

    But none of those attacks worked.

    The blobs of Darkness that popped would just appear and multiply again and again.

    [Worse, we can''t descend.]

    The strange vapor was acting like a shield that was preventing them from descending back tond. Hence, they were trapped there. The only reason they could breathe properly at that height was thanks to the barrier that he created.

    [But even this barrier is hard to maintain.]

    When did Niki be this weak?

    "Don''t worry, Your Imperial Majesty," Monik assured him. "We just need to gather the Light Goddess'' scattered fragments in the sky to win."

    "The Light Goddess'' scattered fragments?" Niki asked, confused. "I know that the reason why Darkness couldn''t swallow the world again was because of the Light Goddess'' scattered fragments. However, I don''t think it''s true since the blobs of Darkness have sessfully infiltrated the sky."

    "That can''t be true."

    "Huh?"

    "Neoma unnie is THE sky," Monik insisted, her pink eyes glowing. "Neoma unnie can''t be infiltrated by something as corrupt as Darkness!"

    "Are you my fan, little girl?"

    [Who¡­]

    Niki looked up in the direction where he heard the strange yet familiar voice, only to be surprised when he recognized the face that greeted him. "Neoma?"

    [But when did my daughter grow taller than me?]

    ***

    [PRINCESS Neoma didn''te out to see me.]

    Ruto clenched his hands tight while looking at the embers that were left on the spot where Princess Neoma was standing a few moments ago.

    "I can''t believe that the big princess used her good karma points to see the emperor," Drystan said, his voice slightly more lively than usual. "Is she going to get her revenge on the father who neglected her? That child holds grudges."

    "If that''s what you think, then you really don''t know Princess Neoma," Ruto said, scoffing at the King of Hell. "Whatever world she is, she will always have a soft spot for her father."

    ***

    [THIS IS not the Neoma I know.]

    Niki knew that, but he knew another thing.

    [She''s still my daughter.]

    His heart thumped hard and fast against his chest when he recognized the Neoma in front of him.

    And how did he recognize her, you ask?

    Her eyes.

    [This Neoma''s eyes are dull and empty.]

    "Father, don''t look at me like you''re about to cry," Neoma, the one from the first timeline, said with a hollow smile on her face. "I used my good karma points to curse at you in person, but how can I do that when you''re looking at me like I''m your precious daughter?"

    "Because you are."

    "I''m not the Neoma of this timeline."

    "I know, and you can curse at me all you want, daughter," Niki said in a cracked voice, opening his arms to the older Neoma. "But will you allow me to give you a hug first?"

    ***

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    Hi!

 Chapter 842 NEOMA X NEOMA

    ?

    "YOU''LL die if I hug you, Father. Not that I want to."

    Niki already expected that rejection, but it still hurt.

    Even so, he didn''t resent his daughter. He had no right to do so. In fact, he was already grateful that Neoma didn''t stab him in the heart.

    [I deserve that for all the pain I''ve put her through in the first timeline.]

    "It seems like you''re aware of how horrible you were in the past, Father," the older Neoma said, smiling bitterly. "I almost didn''t recognize you. The father in my memories had never looked at me with affection, after all."

    Niki''s arms fell to his sides, then he clenched his hands tight. "I know I''m already toote. But I''m sorry, Neoma. I really am."

    "You are really different from the cold-hearted emperor I remember," Neoma said, slowly descending until she was standing in front of him. "I almost feel guilty for hearing your apology, Father."

    "I really don''t know what to say to you, Neoma," he said, his voice almost a whisper. That was all he could do to stop himself from crying in front of his daughter. "I don''t even have the right to stand in front of you like this. You suffered a lot, and the cause of your suffering was me. I failed you as a father¡­"

    Neoma remained looking at him with those empty eyes of hers.

    It was clear that she was no longer expecting anything from him¨C anything from anyone for that matter.

    "The Neoma of this timeline is lucky," the older Neoma said. "You love her, Father."

    "Neoma isn''t lucky¨C she''s a hard worker," Niki said, shaking his head. "Of course, luck may have yed out in her favor. But she worked hard to gain the love that she has received and has been receiving in this lifetime. If Neoma didn''t stand up against me, I wouldn''t have changed. I would have remained the scumbag father that you know."

    "I only said a few words, but you''re already taking her side."

    Niki was flustered. "I don''t mean it that way, Neoma¨C"

    "It''s alright, Father. I was just teasing you," Neoma said, cutting him off. "Anyway, there''s another reason why I came out." She looked around them, thenughed. "The Second Cmity, huh? This is just child''s y to me now. Unfortunately, if I helped you directly, my good karma points will turn negative."

    Good karma points?

    To be honest, Niki was at loss. Even so, he didn''t have the courage to ask Neoma. He felt like he didn''t even deserve to talk to his daughter.

    "I endured and persisted for a chance to see this world, so I won''t let it go to waste," the older Neoma said, then she turned to Niki again. "I still have many people I want to meet in this timeline. Having said that, I can''t let Helstor win."

    "You don''t have to help us if it''s going to put you in trouble, daughter," Niki said worriedly. "Just go to the people you want to meet here and leave the problem to us."

    "Father, why do I have to choose when I can do both at the same time?"

    "What do you mean¡­"

    He trailed off when, all of a sudden, his daughter multiplied.

    Before he knew it, he was already looking at five Neomas.

    "I can be at several ces at once, Father," the older Neoma imed confidently. "It''s something a god like me can do easily."

    Niki was shocked to hear that casual revtion from his daughter.

    [Neoma of the first timeline had be a god?]

    ***

    MONA was about to open a portal directly connected to the Cosmic Tree''s house when, all of a sudden, the sudden shift in the air made her stop.

    Even Trevor and Dahlia froze on their spot.

    "This is Nero of this timeline? Hmm."

    A woman who looked like Neoma''s older and taller version stood beside Nero while looking down at him.

    "If I poke his forehead lightly, I can smash this poor boy''s skull."

    [She''s serious.]

    Mona felt protective even though the woman didn''t move to touch Nero. "Please don''t."

    "You must be Mona Roseheart."

    Mona''s heart thumped hard and fast against her chest because of nervousness.

    Of course, there was no way she didn''t recognize her own daughter. Even so, she didn''t know what to make out of that situation.

    "Are you¡­ my daughter from the first timeline?"

    "That''s right," Neoma said. "This is the first time that I saw you in person, Mother. I failed to save you because I didn''t know you were stuck under the ck Ocean. I''m sorry."

    Mona shook her head. "It''s not your fault, baby. You don''t have to apologize to me."

    "It''s the first time someone called me ''baby.''"

    Mona''s heart broke right at that moment. "Neoma, my baby¡­"

    "I''m not here to make you cry, Mother," the older Neoma said. "I''m just here to see you because I never got the chance to do so."

    Mona covered her mouth with her hands when she gasped. "Neoma, can I hug you?"

    "I''m sorry, but you''ll die if you hug me, Mother," the older Neoma said. "Not in this body."

    She didn''t know what her daughter meant by that.

    "That''s the body of a god," Trevor exined indifferently. "You''re a god."

    The older Neoma turned to Trevor with a slight frown on her face. "You disappeared even before the Cmities arrived in the empire during the first timeline. So, you''ve decided to stay around this time."

    Trevor shrugged. "What can I do? I fell in love with my Moon Princess this time."

    "I''m sure the Neoma of this timeline has rejected you, too."

    Trevor gulped hard. "As expected, I also fell for you in the first timeline."

    "I guess you''re good at handling rejections this time," the older Neoma teased Trevor. "You abandoned us in the first timeline just because I turned you down. That, and probably because you couldn''t ept the fact that Commander Yoan was stronger than you."

    Trevor avoided the older Neoma''s gaze. "I''m more mature than the Trevor of the first timeline."

    The older Neoma just let out a hollow chuckle, then she turned to Dahlia. "Ah, Empress Dahlia. I still feel sorry for you and the life that you had to live as the empress in the first timeline."

    Mona wasn''t surprised to hear that.

    [I''ve heard from Neoma before that Nero made Dahlia his wife and empress by force.]

    "T-Thank you for worrying about me, Princess Neoma," Dahlia said shyly. "But I have no intention of living as the empress again."

    The older Neoma fell silent for a moment. "Dahlia, you cannot survive the Third Cmity without undoing your seal."

    Seal?

    Mona didn''t know that Dahlia had sealed her power.

    Dahlia looked shocked that the older Neoma knew her secret, making her pale. "Princess Neoma, if I undo the seal, my power will harm the de Moonasterios."

    "That''s exactly what you need to destroy the Third Cmity."

    "But Prince Nero¨C"

    "Nero is only half-de Moonasterio. His Roseheart Blood will protect him," the older Neoma said, cutting off the ck Witch. "But if he doesn''t survive, then it''s his fault for being weak."

    Mona found the older Neoma cold.

    Dahlia seemed to feel the same way.

    Only Trevor snickered, obviously enjoying the older Neoma''s coldness towards her own twin brother.

    "I can''t help you directly, so I can''t tell you how to destroy the Third Cmity," the older Neoma said. "All I can say is you have everything you''ll need to win¨C you just have to find out how to use them properly."

    Oh.

    Mona felt a pang in her chest when she realized why the older Neoma was there. "Neoma, my baby, are you here to help us win the war?"

    The older Neoma remained silent.

    "You already saved the world once, daughter," Mona said, a lump forming in her throat. "You don''t have to do it again."

    "I only saved the world back then because I loved the feeling of being needed," the older Neoma said, smiling sadly. "As someone who grew up craving the love and attention of people who didn''t care about me, it made me feel good when someone depended on me. I got addicted to that feeling. And that''s the only reason why I took the role of a savior. Is it disappointing to hear that the reason I saved the world back then isn''t for a noble cause?"

    Mona shook her head. "Why would I feel disappointed? However, I feel sad for you. I wish I was there to share the burden with you back then, Neoma."

    "It''s alright, Mother."

    "Don''t say it''s alright if it isn''t," Trevor said sternly. "You have no reason to help us this time, Princess Neoma."

    "But I do," the older Neoma said. "In this world, Neoma has family. Her parents love her and she gets along well with her twin brother. She also has loyal friends and allies, and themander is still crazy about her. And the most important thing is Neoma is finally happy¨C and I want to protect that happiness."

    Dahlia gasped softly and covered her mouth with her hands as tears fell from her eyes silently.

    Trevor, on the other hand, clicked his tongue and avoided the older Neoma''s gaze to hide the pain in his eyes.

    The ck Witch and the demon probably felt the same thing.

    [We all feel sorry to Neoma of the first timeline.]

    Mona wasn''t able to stop herself from crying this time.

    The older Neoma looked cold and indifferent at first. But that fa?ade slipped away when she talked about Neoma of the current timeline.

    Everyone knew that the Neoma of the first timeline had suffered all her life.

    And yet, that person wished to protect the happiness of the Neoma who was blessed in this timeline.

    [That''s so selfless of her¡­]

    "I wish I could hug you right now, daughter," Mona whispered between sobs. "I want to hug you so desperately."

    Neomaughed softly. "There''s someone I wish to hug so badly, too, Mother."

    ***

    RUFUS could finally take a break after sending his injured men back to the empire.

    After dealing with the monsters and the replica of his older brother, he had to patrol the area to make sure that there wouldn''t be a second ambush.

    Then Duke Jasper Hawthorne took over so that Rufus could return to his tent and rest.

    He was just about to close his eyes when he heard a familiar voice.

    "Father¡­"

    Rufus immediately got up and opened his eyes.

    Then, much to his surprise, he was greeted by an older and taller Princess Neoma.

    The appearance of the Imperial Princess looked strange, but also familiar.

    He had a feeling that he wasn''t really facing the Princess Neoma that he knew. Even so, he knew that this person wasn''t an enemy.

    "Why are you calling me ''Father,'' Princess Neoma?"

    The older Princess Neoma smiled, her eyes brimming with tears. "I''m d to see you again, Father," she said, not answering his previous question. "I''ve always wanted to see you onest time to thank you for raising me with love."

    Rufus had so many questions, but he chose to listen to the Imperial Princess first.

    "And I''m sorry for failing to save you."

    Rufus didn''t know why, but he suddenly felt like crying.

    The older Princess Neoma suddenly bowed her head towards him. "Father, thank you for giving me the only unconditional love that I received in my life."

    Rufus was confused, but he felt the urge to console the Imperial Princess.

    He tried to take a step closer, but an invisible force stopped him from approaching the older Princess Neoma.

    And then a splitting headache suddenly hit him out of nowhere, followed by strange images that flooded his mind.

    [What are these things I''m seeing...?]

    At first, he didn''t really understand what those images meant. He honestly thought he was having delusions in broad daylight. But, soon, his mind reached enlightenment.

    The realization had finally hit him.

    Those were his memories of his first life.

    Before Rufus knew it, he was already crying. "Neoma, my daughter¡­"

    ***

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 Chapter 843 IMPORTANT LESSONS

    <h4>Chapter 843 IMPORTANT LESSONS</h4>

    NIKOLAI was startled when tears suddenly fell from the older Neoma''s eyes. "Daughter, are you in pain?"

    "These are tears of joy, Father," the older Neoma said, then she smiled. "I finally met my other father."

    It only took him a minute to realize who his daughter was talking about.

    There was only one father who treated the older Neoma in her timeline.

    "Did you go to Rufus?" Niki asked carefully. "Is he the person you wanted to meet all this time?"

    The older Neoma nodded. "Father was the only person who loved me unconditionally before I was revived. He loved me during the time I couldn''t even like myself."

    Of course, it hurt to hear the older Neoma talk about Rufus with such affection.

    Niki would also admit that he was jealous even though he didn''t have the right to feel that way.

    [Rufus will always be a better father than I am.]

    "What''s that look on your face, Father?"

    "I''m jealous of your love and respect for Rufus. Even the Neoma of this timeline has a soft spot for my cousin," Niki admitted. It was shameless of him to admit it in front of his daughter, but she wanted to be honest with her. "Having said that, I''m still grateful to Rufus for being a good father to you when I couldn''t."

    The older Neoma let out a softugh. "Rufus Quinzel is enough reason for me to help you save this world, so let me teach you how to defeat the Second Cmity."

    "Are you sure you won''t get in trouble?"

    "I''ll only get in trouble if I use my power directly. But they didn''t say anything about giving clues and tools to help you."

    Niki chuckled while shaking his head. "Are you scamming the system now?"

    "I''m just taking advantage of the loophole, Father," the older Neoma said. Then she turned to Monik. "You look like you have a good head on your shoulders, child. Do you know what to do?"

    "I don''t¨C I''m just following my gut feeling, unnie!" Monik said enthusiastically. "I''m trying to gather the Light Goddess'' scattered fragments in the sky!"

    The older Neoma smiled a little. "That''s a good start. Unfortunately, that won''t be enough."

    "What should I do, unnie? I''m good at listening!"

    "Just continue what you''re doing, child," the older Neoma said, then she turned to Niki. "Why are you not using your main weapon, Father?"

    Niki frowned. "A de Moonasterio doesn''t need a weapon to fight. We fight using our Soul Beasts and our brute strength."

    "Father, what do you think Calypso is made of?"

    Huh?

    He actually didn''t think deeply about it before.

    Even the history books and his father didn''t tell him anything else about Calypso except for the fact that it was a Holy Sword.

    [And that it''s an heirloom.]

    "Since it''s a Holy Sword, isn''t it made of Yule''s divine power then?" Niki asked awkwardly. He was ashamed that he didn''t study enough about the Holy Sword since he didn''t care about it. "Am I wrong?"

    "So, this is why not even Nero knew how to use the Calypso properly," the older Neoma said in an indifferent voice, then she sighed. "Father, summon Calypso now."

    ***

    [N-NEOMA?]

    Hanna could tell that the woman was Neoma even though she looked older and taller than the Neoma that she knew.

    But who else could have such a strong aura?

    The older Neoma was just standing in front of the ice coffin that was now covered in Hanna''s ck Hole.

    [Can she see what''s inside the ck Hole?]

    The miasma that Commander Ruto left to protect the ice coffin didn''t attack the older Neoma.

    [That means she isn''t an enemy.]

    "This ck Hole is weak, Pirate Princess."

    Hanna flinched when the older Neoma turned around to face her.

    She almost didn''t recognize the Imperial Princess, and it wasn''t because of her age or height.

    It was the older Neoma''s eyes.

    [Those sad, empty eyes of hers are haunting¡­]

    "It''s enough to hide my body for now," the older Neoma said. "But soon, the ck Hole that you made would eventually vanish. It''s not as strong as the ck Hole that you made in the first timeline."

    Ah, as expected.

    [This is the Neoma of the first timeline.]

    "Father taught me the fundamentals of creating a ck Hole," Hanna said when she found her voice. The Neoma in front of her was intimidating, hence it took her time before she gathered the courage to speak. "I gathered as many shadows as I could and turned them into a tight and tiny space to create a ck Hole."

    "Ah, so that''s why your ck Hole looks pathetic."

    Ouch.

    "Hanna Quinzel, are shadows the only dark matter you can gather to create THE ck Hole?"

    Hmm?

    Since the Quinzels had always used shadows, Hanna didn''t think about using other things to create a ck Hole.

    But the older Neoma was right.

    Shadows weren''t the only dark matter she could use.

    "The next time you try to recreate the ck Hole that the Pirate Princess did in the first timeline, use something else other than shadows," the older Neoma said. "You have to create a ck Hole with a gravitational pull so strong that not even light could escape from it."

    "Then¡­ wouldn''t that kill us all?"

    "Yes, and that''s exactly why you died in the first timeline."

    "¡­"

    "I actually envy your death," the older Neoma said. "You died with your parents. They tried to protect you. But not even Duke Quinzel could protect you from the ck Hole."

    Hanna frowned at that. "That means I failed to protect my mother and father."

    "No¨C it was me who failed to save you all."

    Ah.

    The emptiness in the older Neoma''s eyes was reced by guilt and bitterness.

    "You created the ck Hole to stop my Lunacy," the older Neoma said. "When I came to my senses, you were already gone. I did stop the ck Hole from devouring what remained of the empire, but I was still toote."

    It sounded like the tragedy that it was.

    But something else caught Hanna''s attention.

    "You stopped the ck Hole that I created?"

    The older Neoma smiled slyly. "Do you want me to tell you how to release the ck Hole safely?"

    "No," Hanna said stubbornly. "I don''t care if the world is at stake. I still don''t want to be spoon-fed by you, Neoma. I''m going to figure it out on my own, so don''t say anything."

    "Why? Do you hate me?"

    "It''s actually the opposite¨C I love you, Neoma."

    "What?"

    "You suffered a lot in the first timeline because you had to save the world," Hanna said, clenching her hands tight. "You should be resting now, Neoma. Don''t worry about us. We may be weaker than you, but we''re not the type to give up easily."

    The older Neoma looked confused at first, then she smiled a little. "We were bound by duty in the first timeline. But, this time, it seems like you are all drawn to Neoma because you love her."

    Right.

    Even Neoma of the current timeline thought she wasn''t loved during her first life.

    But¡­

    "I don''t know about the others, but I wouldn''t sacrifice my life for a person I don''t love," Hanna said with conviction. "I may have not expressed it properly in the first timeline, but I believe I followed you back then because I loved you as a family and as a friend, Neoma."

    The older Neoma looked as if she couldn''tprehend what Hanna had just said.

    [It seems like she couldn''t believe that she was loved¡­]

    Hanna''s heart broke for Neoma of the first timeline.

    "Princess Neoma¡­?"

    Hanna turned around and saw Lewis entering the room through the balcony.

    The fox looked ragged¨C his hair was messy, clothes tattered, skin bruised and he was full of small cuts all over his face and body.

    [Is that a bite mark on his neck and cheek???]

    It seemed like the old foxes had been too rough on Lewis!

    "Lu?" the older Neoma asked, surprised. "I was wondering why you weren''t by Nero''s side. Well, I already saw the current Neoma''s memories so I know you''re serving her at the moment. But I only believed it now that I''ve seen you here."

    Lewis frowned. "I don''t like Prince Nero."

    "Interesting," the older Neoma said. "Lu, you died for him in the first timeline."

    Hanna gasped. "Really?"

    "What a horrible decision," Lewis said, still frowning. "I won''t make the same mistake again, Princess Neoma."

    Hanna sighed and shook her head.

    The older Neoma, on the other hand, let out a hollowugh. "Lu, have you reached your Berserk state yet?"

    Lewis tilted his head to one side. "Berserk state?"

    "Your n is just as crazy as the de Moonasterios," the older Neoma said, quite amused. "Lu, let go of your inhibitions and just go crazy."

    ***

    [AT LEAST my wless skin isn''t getting burned.]

    Neoma was dying, but she was still relieved that her skin wasn''t affected by the me.

    She was getting used to the pain and the burning sensation that was making her suffer, but she couldn''t move yet.

    [Once I get out of here, I''m gonna give that giant Neoma a bitch p.]

    "Are you having violent thoughts again?"

    Who the fuck¡­

    Oh.

    Neoma trailed off when she raised her head and saw the man sitting on the boulder right in front of her. "Ruto?"

    "I''m called ''Yoan'' in the timeline I came from."

    Right.

    No wonder this Ruto looked taller and more muscr than her ex-man.

    "Does it hurt?"

    Neoma extended her hand to Commander Yoan. "Let me share this "warmth" with you and tell me if it hurts."

    Commander Yoan remained serious, but his eyes twinkled with amusement. "You''re still snarky, so I guess you''ll survive."

    She put down her arm because, frankly, just moving her hand already drained her strength. But she still had the strength to run her mouth. "Wow. How cold. Is it because I''m not your Neoma?"

    "You''re not dying."

    "Of course, I am not dying, but I like being dramatic. Will it kill you if you show me that you care?"

    "Then do you want me to tell you how to put out the Eternal me?"

    "No, thanks."

    "That was a quick response, Princess Neoma," themander said. "Are you sure you don''t need my help?"

    "Do you think I''m just lying here helplessly?"

    "Are you not?"

    "If I was, I wouldn''t have the energy to even talk back to you," she said, smirking. "But I''m Neoma, and my big brain hasn''t been fried yet. Thank goodness."

    Commander Yoan raised an eyebrow. "So, how are you putting out the Eternal me?"

    "I''m a premium air purifier, duh," Neoma said smugly. "It''s true that air provides more oxygen to re up the fire, but if the wind is strong enough, it will take the heat away from the me." Sheughed like the viin that she was trying to be. "I''m gonna put out this damned Eternal me and get my revenge on that giant Neoma!"

    Yes, pettiness was a good motivation, indeed.

    ***

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 Chapter 844 CALYPSO

    <h4>Chapter 844 CALYPSO</h4>

    AN HEIRLOOM.

    That was what Calypso, the Holy Sword, was worth to the de Moonasterios.

    It was the sword that was passed down to every emperor who ascended to the throne.

    To simply put, it was a symbol of power.

    [And this is the sword that I used to kill my father when I seized the throne by force.]

    Perhaps, it was the reason why he didn''t like summoning Calypso.

    But since it was the older Neoma''s request, Niki did as he was told.

    "That''s the sword that Nero used to kill me in the first timeline."

    Niki flinched. "As expected, this weapon should disappear from the world."

    "It''s amusing how your feelings for Calypso don''t change, Father," the older Neomamented. "In the first timeline, you gave Nero the Holy Sword even though thew dictates that only the emperor could wield it. And as soon as my brother received Calypso, he used it to kill me."

    Niki held the sword tighter.

    [I will not give Calypso to Nero until he officially takes the throne.]

    It wasn''t like he didn''t trust his son.

    [But it''s better to be safe than sorry.]

    "Father, how do you use Calypso?"

    "To slice and stab the enemies."

    "Oh, Father," the older Neoma said while shaking her head in disappointment. "That was how Nero used Calypso, too." She put a hand over her chest. "He stabbed me here. Fortunately, he missed my Core."

    He had a feeling that the older Neoma was purposely reminding him of the fact that Nero killed her in the first timeline AGAIN AND AGAIN.

    But, of course, he just sucked it up.

    [I deserve to be reminded of how ipetent I was as a father.]

    "But that''s not how you utilize Calypso, Father," the older Neoma said. "Calypso doesn''t like blood. The more you stain the de with filthy blood, the more elusive he bes."

    [My daughter is talking like Calypso is a real person¡­]

    "Father, Calypso is a weapon made for the de Moonasterios," the older Neoma said in a voice that reminded Niki of his teacher when he was a young boy. "The de Moonasterio is a bloodline produced by the union of the Moon God and the Light Goddess. Aside from the fact that they are both major gods, do you know what else they have inmon?"

    "Me, unnie!" Monik said excitedly while raising her hand. "I know the answer!"

    Niki pointed his hand to Monik politely, allowing the child to answer instead of him even though he had an answer of his own.

    "Alright, child," the older Neoma said. "You may answer the question."

    "The Moon God and the Light Goddess both have the power to purify Darkness more than the other gods could!" Monik answered enthusiastically. "That''s why the God of Eternal Darkness, the one who created the Absolute Darkness, hated the Moon God and the Light Goddess. His hatred was then extended to the de Moonasterios who inherited the Moon God and the Light Goddess'' power!"

    "Very well," the older Neoma said, nodding. Then she turned to Niki. "Father, the Moon God and the Moon Goddess created Calypso to help the de Moonasterios fight against the God of Eternal Darkness. They knew they wouldn''t be around to help our n directly, so they created a weapon that contained theirbined powers. It wasn''t strong enough to defeat something as strong as the Absolute Darkness. Even so, that power is enough to get rid of something as puny as the Second Cmity."

    Niki looked at Calypso with suspicious eyes. "Really? I thought the Holy Sword is sharp and good for stabbing and slicing the enemies. I didn''t know it was powerful."

    "Well, the de Lucas have raised the Crown Princes and the emperors all this time," the older Neoma said. "They adore the de Moonasterios, but they also fear our power. Hence, they kept the secret of Calypso from the rightful heirs until they themselves have forgotten how powerful the Holy Sword truly is."

    "If Nero and I failed to use Calypso in the first timeline, then¡­"

    "That''s right, Father," the older Neoma confirmed. "It was me who awakened the true power of Calypso. And, yes, I stole Calypso after Nero died."

    That was hard to hear.

    [My son died early, too. That means Neoma suffered alone for a long time.]

    "You didn''t steal it," Niki corrected his daughter carefully. "You''re a de Moonasterio, too. If Nero passed away without an heir, then it was only natural that you became the next sessor to the throne."

    It was why a ''Spare'' existed between two royal children.

    "Since the world was ending back then, I assume no one cared about thews of the empire during that time," Niki said. "Hence, you didn''t steal Calypso. It''s a family heirloom, so you have the right to wield it."

    "Thanks for saying that, Father," the older Neoma said indifferently. "Anyway, please try to awaken Calypso now. The Second Cmity is dangerous because it kills Non-Mana users. It won''t affect people like you, but the innocent citizens will be affected the most. That was how the empire started to crumble in the first timeline."

    Ah.

    That sounded horrible.

    [But it also sounds like I was no longer around when the Cmities began.]

    So, Niki wasn''t only a worthless father back then¨C he was also a useless emperor.

    [I won''t let history repeat itself.]

    "Yes, that''s what you need, Father," the older Neoma said, then she chuckled. "I was so pissed when I grabbed Calypso for the first time. I guess my unadulterated anger awakened the Holy Sword."

    If it was just anger, then Niki had plenty of it in his heart.

    After all, his wrath towards the crows was immeasurable.

    "Calypso, wake up," Niki said. He could see his eyes turn glowing red from his reflection in the Holy Sword''s de. Then he stabbed the blob of Darkness that floated his way using the sword. "Wake up and devour these stupid, filthy things."

    And what do you know?

    Calypso, the Holy Sword, suddenly glowed brightly.

    ***

    "NOONAS, hyungs, I finally made it!" Greko announced happily. "Please sprinkle my fairy dust to ward off the weird vapor!"

    Paige noona.

    Juri noona.

    Jeno hyung.

    Xion hyung.

    His siblings, who were all wearing the face masks that Trevor hyung made for them before, turned to him at the same time.

    "It''s here!" Greko said, raising a big jar full of glimmering golden dust. "Aurora said that my fairy dust that I mixed with Moonflowers and her magic will fight the bad vapor. And Aurora said we should hurry because the vapor is out to get the civilians!"

    "Good job, Greko," Paige noona said, patting his head affectionately. "We will protect the people of the empire until our Princess Neomaes back."

    ***

    [FUCK THIS shit.]

    Neoma''s n wasn''t ''nning.''

    Although her entire body/soul was engulfed in me, she could feel that the Eternal me was trying to burn her ''heart.''

    Well, it wasn''t really her physical heart per se.

    She just didn''t know what to call the center of her soul.

    [It''s as if the Eternal me is trying to erase my existence, and it also wants to make sure that I won''t get reincarnated again.]

    What a fucking nuisance.

    "Is your n not working?"

    Tsk.

    Commander Yoan was still there, watching Neoma with soulless eyes.

    "I''m getting there," Neoma lied with a straight face, standing up while still being burned alive. At least, she could move now. "Gosh, this is a humbling experience. I thought I was OP until this fucking Eternal me humbled me quickly."

    "It took the first Neoma two weeks before she was able to move while being burned alive by the Eternal me," Commander Yoan said indifferently. "During that time, the gods who were watching were all shocked that Neoma managed to move after "only" two weeks. She was called a rare genius that was only born once in a thousand years."

    Oho?

    "But you managed to slightly tame the Eternal me and move your body while being burned alive after only two hours," Commander Yoan said, his face lighting up. "What should we call you, young princess?"

    "I don''t really mind if you call me a rare genius," Neoma said, shrugging. "There''s only one title that I desire."

    "And that is¡­?"

    "To be called the true ''Lady of Leisure.''"

    "Ah, my condolences then," themander deadpanned. "A person like you could only rest after they died. Most of the time, you can''t even rest peacefully."

    "Wow, thank you so much for the support, Commander."

    Commander Yoan stood up.

    And woah.

    Since Neoma had a heightplex, she got good at calcting other people''s height with her naked eyes.

    [Thismander is around nine feet tall.]

    Of course, that wasn''t really tall considering that the giant race existed in their world.

    However, thismander was still very tall.

    "I''m not that tall yet," Commander Yoan said as if he could read her mind. "Since only a piece of my soul was left here, I couldn''te in my full form. That was the case for the Neoma that you''ve met earlier."

    Neoma gasped in disbelief. "You mean the giant Neoma is taller than seven feet?"

    "Humans who go through Divinization usually grow at least thirteen feet before they ascend to the Upper World."

    [AT LEAST thirteen feet tall?!]

    "No!" Neoma said sternly, stomping her feet on the ground. She knew that she was acting childish. But she should be allowed to act that way since it was one way to divert her attention from the pain she was suffering from. "I will never be a god if it means growing more than six feet tall! That''s my limit! I''ll break my kneecaps if I grew taller than that!"

    "Neoma, you need to be a god if you want to protect the people you love in the world."

    Gosh, why was themander ruining the mood by acting so serious?

    It wasn''t like Neoma wasn''t taking the test seriously.

    She simply refused to act like it was the end of the world by acting the way she usually did. But that didn''t mean she didn''t care.

    How could she forget that many people were waiting for her return?

    "You don''t have to remind me what I need to do, Commander Yoan," Neoma said in a serious tone, matching themander''s mood. "Plus, I''m a rule breaker. You can''t expect me to follow the rules, duh."

    "Then you leave me no choice."

    "And what do you mean by that?"

    "Let''s fight," Commander Yoan said casually. "Let''s see how strong you are for you to act haughtily in front of me."

    Seriously?

    Thismander was going to fight her while she was being burned alive literally?

    Heh.

    "Hey, don''t misunderstand, Commander," Neoma said while cracking her knuckles. "Whether it''s in front of you or not, I''m still arrogant as hell."

    ***

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 Chapter 845 POWER OF PRAYERS

    ?

    [IT''S absorbing the blobs of Darkness?]

    Niki was surprised when a tiny ck hole appeared at the sharp tip of Calypso''s de.

    And then the tiny ck hole began absorbing all the blobs of Darkness in the sky.

    He half-expected the tiny ck hole to get bigger the more blobs of Darkness it devoured, but it didn''t happen. It remained small and yet, it didn''t stop absorbing the Darkness around.

    That little thing reminded him of something.

    "When we were young boys, Gavin created a technique he called ''ck Hole,'' and he taught that technique to me and Rufus," Niki said, reminiscing some of the few good memories he had of Gavin. "I couldn''t do it because I never got to use my power as a Quinzel."

    The older Neoma chuckled. "Father, you were able to create the Dark Hole because you have Quinzel blood in you. In fact, it helped that I also have Quinzel blood in me when I awakened Calypso during my time."

    "Really?" he asked, pleasantly surprised. "I didn''t know I have dormant Quinzel power inside me."

    "Your Quinzel blood is the variable that allowed you to create the Dark Hole."

    "Dark Hole? I thought I sessfully created the ck Hole that Gavin invented."

    "Ah, it''s not something that we can create, Father," his daughter exined. "We don''t have enough Darkness attribute to create a ck Hole. The only reason we''re able to create the Dark Hole is because you also need your Moonglow to maintain it."

    "My Moonglow¨C"

    COUGH.

    He wasn''t able to finish what he wanted to say when he coughed up blood.

    The more Calypso absorbed the blobs of Darkness around them, the quicker the Holy Sword absorbed his Moonglow.

    Unfortunately, Niki didn''t have much Moonglow left.

    [How inconvenient.]

    "Calypso is a Holy Sword, Father. Of course, it has to "eat" our Moonglow as its fuel," the older Neoma exined. "The reason only the emperors and their sessors could wield Calypso is because he needs Moonglow to unleash his power. Ordinary divine power won''t work¨C it has to be Moonglow."

    Ah, he really knew so little about the Holy Sword.

    [Is it because I''m just using it to stab and slice enemies?]

    Moreover, he was a firm believer that a de Moonasterio only needed their Soul Beasts and brute strength to fight.

    [It was a wrong move to look down on weapons.]

    "Father, will you be alright?" the older Neoma asked, but her eyes and voice both sounded indifferent. "Judging by the Moonglow I see in you, it''s enough to fuel Calypso until he absorbed all the blobs of Darkness in the sky. But if you lose all your Moonglow, you''re going to die."

    "Then that''s a small price to pay for saving the empire."

    "I didn''t take you as the sacrificial type, Father."

    He chuckled. "I didn''t know that too until I had a family of my own. Moreover, if I don''t do this, Neoma will sacrifice herself again. I''d rather do it than lose my daughter again. It''s the worst thing a parent could experience in their life."

    "I know, Father," the older Neoma said, smiling sadly as if she was reminded of a heart-breaking moment in her life. "No parent should ever experience burying their own child."

    Hmm?

    He knew that this Neoma was older than his Baby Muffin.

    However, it made him very ufortable that his daughter could already rte to the woes of a parent.

    [How could Neoma rte to being a parent¡­ wait, I don''t want to know the answer.]

    Unfortunately, he already had a vague idea about how Neoma could rte to him as a parent.

    [I''m going to kill Commander Rutoter.]

    "Neoma unnie, I can see them now!"

    Niki turned to Monik and found the child jumping in the air excitedly.

    "I can see a glimpse of the Light Goddess'' fragments now!" Monik announced happily, her pink eyes glowing. "I''ll gather them now!"

    Ah, so the fragments of the Light Goddess were really scattered in the sky.

    "Helstor scattered those blobs of Darkness in the sky not only to spread fear among the people, but to also cover the fragments of the Light Goddess," the older Neoma exined to Monik. "That old man talks and acts like he''s a big shot, but he''s actually just a puny coward who''s afraid of the Light."

    "As he should!" Monik said, huffing. "The Light Goddess is stronger than the bad Darkness!"

    "Very well," the older Neoma said, then she turned to Niki again. "Father, will you help the child gather the Light Goddess'' fragments by clearing up the sky for her? Even if it means draining what little Moonglow you have left?"

    "I owe that child a huge debt, so of course, I will," Niki said, tightening his grip around Calypso''s holder. "But I will try not to die because even though I''m willing to die for my family, I''d still prefer to live with and for them."

    ***

    [THE SKY is clearing up?]

    Manu was surprised when he noticed that the sky was clearing up slowly yet surely.

    A few moments ago, the entire world seemed to be drowning in Darkness.

    But, at that moment, the bright rays of the sun setting down pierced through the blobs of Darkness that were slowly moving towards one direction.

    [Someone is gathering the blobs of Darkness.]

    It was definitely Emperor Niki.

    [His Imperial Majesty brought the future Light Saintess with him, so this must be the result of them working together.]

    "The s-sky is clearing up!"

    Ah, the citizens who were praying with Prince Skylus also noticed the change in the sky.

    Almost right away, the people opened their eyes and looked up.

    "I can see a glimpse of the sun now!"

    "The blobs of Darkness are disappearing!"

    "Our prayers have been answered!"

    "Lord Yule is still listening to us!"

    Manu clenched his hands tight.

    It was Emperor Niki and the Light Saintess who were risking their lives to protect the empire and its people.

    [But these people think their prayers have saved them.]

    It was true that prayers were powerful.

    Moreover, praying helped the gods regain their strength.

    Even so, at that moment, he felt bad for the emperor and the child.

    [Especially since Lord Yule hasn''t been that much help recently. And since Lord Yule hasn''t given me any orders or messages recently, I have also be useless.]

    All he could do was guide the saint.

    "It''s alright, Lord Manu. You''re doing a good job," Prince Skylus said as if he could read his mind. "And don''t feel bad for His Imperial Majesty and my Monik noona. They''re not doing this to be thanked by the people."

    "I know that, Prince Skylus," Manu said, sighing. "I just thought the people should know that it wasn''t only their prayers that saved them."

    "Not yet, Lord Manu. We should take advantage of this moment first."

    Hmm?

    "Let''s pray harder!"

    "That''s right! The Moon God is fighting the Darkness, so the least thing we could do is to send our prayers to our lord and savior!"

    "Everyone, close your eyes and pray again!"

    "Thank you, Your Holiness! Your words came true!"

    "Our prayers really worked!"

    "Your Holiness is really the Moon God''s faithful servant!"

    After showering Prince Skylus with praises and grateful remarks, the citizens eventually fell silent as they closed their eyes and prayed again.

    Ah, so this was what the young saint wanted to take advantage of.

    "Since Lord Yule isn''t in the position to receive the powerful prayers of his faithful followers, then the one who shall receive the Power of Prayer is the Moon Saint," Manumented, smiling while watching Prince Skylus quickly get engulfed in a bluish light that could only be pure divine power. "When did you be an opportunist, Prince Skylus? A prince and a saint like you shouldn''t be acting so undignified."

    Prince Skylus just chuckled and shrugged. "Neoma noona is my role model, and she said it''s okay to be cunning as long as it''s for the greater good."

    Of course, it was Princess Neoma''s influence.

    [Our Imperial Princess seems to be raising a generation of undignified scammers¡­]

    ***

    [I''M REACHING my limit¡­]

    Niki could see that the sky was already clearing up.

    It had only been an hour since Calypso began absorbing the blobs of Darkness around them, but he was already running out of Moonglow.

    [But I can''t stop yet.]

    Monik was gathering the Light Goddess'' fragments, after all.

    The child had her eyes closed and her hands sped together as if she was praying. While she was in that state, semi-transparent "bubbles" appeared one by one and surrounded the child.

    Each semi-transparent bubble that touched Monik popped.

    [That''s an amusing way to absorb the fragments.]

    "Father, can you fight a god in that state?"

    "I can, but I probably should prepare myself to lose an arm or two," Niki said bluntly. "Who''s headed this way?"

    "Helstor," the old Neoma said, looking past Niki. "That insufferable old man has finally showed up."

    ***

    [DID THAT useless Callisto de Luca lie to me?]

    Helstor was pissed because Callisto assured him that Niki de Moonasterio didn''t know how to use Calypso properly. Apparently, the crows raised the emperors to use the Holy Sword as nothing but a blunt weapon.

    He didn''t doubt that because he once saw Niki de Moonasterio use Calypso just to stab his enemies.

    So, what was happening now?

    The blobs of Darkness that he had spread in the sky were disappearing!

    "You''re here?"

    Helstor was shocked when Princess Neoma greeted him.

    But he realized right away that the Imperial Princess in front of him was older.

    "Are you the Princess Neoma from the Dead World?" Helstor asked, clenching his hands tight. "Are you here to help your father?"

    "Don''t worry, I''m not allowed to interfere," the Imperial Princess said indifferently. "So, do whatever you want and I''ll mind my own business."

    That made Helstor grin. "Thank you for allowing me to kill Niki de Moonasterio then."

    ***

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 Chapter 846 BACKSTABBER

    ?

    NIKOLAI wasn''t as vain as Neoma, but he still needed to maintain his dignity as the emperor.

    [I can''t let that puny god look down on me.]

    Hence, when he heard that Helstor wasing, he had to let go of Calypso. The Holy Sword remained floating in the sky anyway while absorbing the blobs of Darkness.

    He left his Soul Beasts, now in their human forms, to protect Calypso.

    And then Niki cleaned the blood off of him with the use of the Azure Dragon''s water ability.

    "It''s been a while, Your Imperial Majesty."

    Niki scoffed while looking up at Helstor who had finally arrived.

    For some reason, the older Neoma had to greet that puny god earlier.

    [Helstor doesn''t deserve even the basic courtesy from my daughter.]

    "I''ve always had a feeling that someone as powerful as the gods has been helping your side behind the scenes," Helstor said in an amused voice. "Who would have thought that you have summoned people from the Dead World?"

    It was gross.

    Niki wasn''t really listening to the nonsense Helstor was spouting because he was disgusted by his adult and probably real appearance.

    The god had four eyes.

    Well, three.

    The line under his eye looked like it used to have an eye socket in it.

    [Ah, it was probably the spot where the eye that Neoma stole from Helstor before was ced.]

    "I can''t believe I don''t remember the time before everything was reset for Princess Neoma," Helstor continued with his nonsense. "Gods shouldn''t lose their memories even if time was rewounded in the human world. But the fact that most of us had forgotten the past could only mean someone in a higher position meddled. I wonder if Lord Levi has something to do with this?"

    [Does he not get tired of talking?]

    "If I didn''t have the God of Death''s eye, I wouldn''t have realized that the Princess Neoma in front of me was someone from the Dead World," Helstor said,ughing. "Your Imperial Majesty, I thought you were too dignified to use such petty tricks. Summoning people from the Dead World to fight for you is foul."

    "What foul is your undignified appearance. How dare you steal someone else''s eye and show it off as if it was yours?" Niki said, raising his hand. "And who do you think you are to look down at me?"

    The Moonglow that shot out of his hand took the shape of a crescent moon that fell on top of Helstor''s head.

    Well, it actually looked like the angled de of a guillotine aiming for the god''s neck.

    Unfortunately, Helstor''s head remained intact.

    However, the pressureing from his Moonglow was powerful enough to push down the god until he was standing a little below him.

    So, now, it was Niki who was looking down at Helstor while the good looked up at him.

    [Good.]

    "That''s your ce," Niki said, satisfied to see Helstor breaking his neck just to look up at him. "You should be looking up at me and not the other way around."

    "Hah!" Helstor scoffed. "The de Moonasterios have been called the ''gods among men'' since time immemorial, so you probably deluded yourself into thinking that you''re on the same level as a real god like me."

    "What are you talking about? I know we''re not on the same level," Niki said, scoffing. "I''m above you, you peasant."

    Helstor sneered, then his red eyes glowed dangerously.

    Then, in just the blink of an eye, the god was already in Niki''s face.

    [Tsk.]

    Niki used his arms to block Helstor''s punch.

    [Argh.]

    If he didn''t have the body of a de Moonasterio and his Moonglow that served as his protective barrier behind him (preventing him from getting pushed back), then he would have broken his arms already.

    The fact that the collision of his arms and Helstor''s fist caused a quake in the sky was a testament to how powerful the god''s punch was.

    [This is one of the few times I''m grateful to be a de Moonasterio.]

    "I didn''t expect a god to use his fists in a fight," Niki said, sneering. "How undignified of you, Helstor."

    "I''m aware that the de Moonasterios take pride in their physical strength," Helstor said in a serious tone. "I just want to beat you in your own game. Hence, in this way, you wouldn''t me your pathetk of Moonglow once you lost to me."

    Niki just scoffed, then he stepped back only to give Helstor a good punch in the face.

    Once again, the sky shook hard when the god caught his fist in his hand.

    CRACK.

    That was the sound of Niki''s fingers breaking when Helstor squeezed his fist a little too tightly.

    [This damned god¡­]

    "Ah, Niki de Moonasterio," Helstor said in a disappointed voice. "You''ve grown weak. It breaks my heart to see the greatest emperor in history in this pathetic state. Even Callisto de Luca would have been enough to deal with you right now."

    Niki justughed at Helstor''s provocation. "Do you think you can hurt me? My daughter called me a ''scumbag'' and a ''subhuman'' in the past. No "hurtful" words from you can possibly beat that."

    "What a shame. I was hoping your Lunacy would return if you lost your mind from getting your pride wounded."

    "My pride? Wounded? What are you talking about when you just boost my ego, Helstor?"

    "I boost your ego?"

    Niki sneered until his now glowing red eyes had turned into little crescent moons. "Helstor, you only showed up now to confront me because you know I''m already running out of Moonglow. You wouldn''t dare stand in my way if I was in my best condition."

    The arrogance in Helstor''s face quickly disappeared and was reced by silent anger.

    [Ah, I struck a nerve.]

    "Helstor, I know you only decided to fight me right now because of my weakened state," Niki said, smirking arrogantly. "Otherwise, your coward ass wouldn''t be here."

    Helstor looked shocked not only because of his arrogant words.

    The god was probably more shocked that the emperor of the Great Moonasterion Empire had used a vulgar word.

    Niki also didn''t expect that he''d say such a thing.

    [Neoma, are you proud of me?]

    "Your disrespect ends here, Niki de Moonasterio," Helstor said in a serious tone while letting go of Niki''s fist. "I was nning on toying with you for a moment. But you just made me angry."

    Niki would have retorted had he not noticed the sudden shift in Helstor''s mood.

    [He''s going for the kill!]

    An attack wasing, and it was a huge attack.

    Niki immediately turned to Monik.

    Two of his Soul Beasts¨C the burning Vermillion Bird and the White Tiger¨C were already on their way to protect the Light Saintess while the ck Tortoise, the ck snake, and the Azure Dragon remained on their spot to protect Calypso.

    The older Neoma, on the other hand, just stood there with a bored look on her face.

    [My daughter will be fine, but Monik¡­]

    Niki had a feeling that his two Soul Beasts wouldn''t be enough to protect the child.

    "Your Imperial Majesty, who said you can turn your back on me?"

    Ah.

    When Niki turned to Helstor again, he was greeted by a tiny yet powerful ball of dark energy that the god threw in his direction.

    And soon, the sky that had just cleared up was once again covered by darkness¡­

    ¡­ and the emperor''s mighty Soul Beasts fell down¨C unmoving.

    ***

    TOY ARROWS.

    Neoma had to avoid the toy arrows that Commander Yoan was controlling to "attack" her.

    Those arrows were made of rubber so they would just bounce off her skin. But there was a weak zap every time an arrow hit her. It didn''t sting, but it was a little ufortable.

    [Tsk.]

    Plus, it wasn''t easy to run while she was literally getting burned alive.

    [My goodness gracious. Why is my life so hard?]

    "When you said we were going to fight, I thought we were having a brawl," Neomained while avoiding the three toy arrows that he threw in her direction. That damnedmander was so urate with his throws. "But I didn''t expect you to use weapons, Commander!"

    "I''m not a de Moonasterio, Princess Neoma," Commander Yoan said indifferently. "Unlike you, I don''t enjoy physical fights."

    "I bet you''re weak as hell so you rely on your toys."

    Themander just smirkedzily. "Is that your best attempt at provoking me? Try harder, princess."

    "You''re getting annoying, Commander."

    "Let''s make the game a little more exciting," Commander Yoan said, moving his hand as if he weremanding an orchestra. "I need to make this game a bit dangerous for you to take it seriously, Princess Neoma."

    Okay, that made her secretly gulp.

    [Was Commander Yoan originally a sadist? But my Ruto is so nice, caring, and protective to me. Gosh, did my man change for the better in this timeline for me?]

    "Don''t get distracted, princess."

    Whatever.

    Neoma wanted to ignore Commander Yoan''s words, but it was hard to do when she saw all the toy arrows float back in themander''s direction.

    Then the toy arrows melted.

    The melted parts gathered in one ce and moved like how a child would y with slime.

    It wasn''t a pretty sight, to say the least.

    Commander Yoan then snapped his fingers, the "slime" finally taking its final ford.

    It was a golden arrow.

    [Of course, it''s an arrow since it''s Ruto''s main weapon.]

    But the arrow this time was a real one.

    "Princess Neoma, are you good at running?" Commander Yoan asked. "This arrow will follow you everywhere and will only stop once you''re dead."

    Neoma was about to curse at themander when, all of a sudden, she felt a fang in her chest.

    She didn''t have a physical body, so it couldn''t be her heart.

    Her soul was aching.

    And, for some reason, she felt Papa Boss'' Moonglow fading away.

    "Did you feel it, too?" Commander Yoan asked. "It seems like the Great Moonasterion Empire will soon lose its emperor."

    "Don''t say that," Neoma said, acting tough. "How would Papa Boss die if the giant Neoma went out to check on her family?"

    "Do you think Neoma would save the emperor?"

    "Would she not?"

    Commander Yoan shook his head. "Neoma will lose her good karma points if she does, and I don''t think she would waste it just to save the emperor."

    Neoma just scoffed at themander''s remark. "That''s not funny, Commander Smart-ass."

    ***

    HELSTORughed while watching Niki de Moonasterio bleed from head to toe while hugging the child.

    Yes, the emperor used his own body to protect that unknown little girl.

    The two were floating in the air in a very bad state.

    [Now, it''s time for me to kill the great emperor¡­]

    His thoughts were interrupted when, all of a sudden, the older Princess Neoma blocked his way¡­

    ¡­ and then the Imperial Princess gouged out his eye in one quick movement.

    Helstor screamed in agony. He didn''t expect the older Princess Neoma to attack him, and he didn''t even catch her movement because she was THAT fast. Hence, he was left seething while his eye bled. "You said you wouldn''t interfere, Princess Neoma!"

    The older Princess Neoma, who was holding the red orb in her hand,ughed at his face. "And you believed that, you gullible old fool?"

    ***

    "THE GIANT Neoma and I are one whether we want to admit it or not," Neoma said, shrugging. "And guess what? We both have a soft spot for our father dearest. So, I know that the giant Neoma wouldn''t let our Papa Boss die."

    Commander Yoan looked shocked by what she said, and then he smiled faintly. "You''re right."

    She was confused by what themander said.

    And then she got even more confused when Commander Yoan''s feet suddenly became semi-transparent.

    It was as if he was going to vanish soon.

    "Dude, what''s happening to you?" Neoma asked nervously. "Are you okay?"

    "Neoma already made a choice," Commander Yoan said, his smile growing wide. "She threw away her good karma points and now, we''re getting punished."

    ***

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 Chapter 847 GOD NEOMA

    <h4>Chapter 847 GOD NEOMA</h4>

    "THIS EYE does not belong to you, old man."

    Helstor, who was still catching his breath from losing the eye he stole from the God of Death, red at the Imperial Princess. "Whether it''s the Princess Neoma of this time or the one from the Dead World, both of you are insufferable wenches."

    "Whether it''s you of this time or the one from the Dead World, you''re still a weak little old parasite who sticks to other weaklings because you can''t do anything on your own," the older Princess Neoma said in a mocking tone. "You''re only good at stealing things that don''t belong to you. If I were your father, I would kill myself again from embarrassment for having a useless sessor like you."

    "You know that the God of Eternal Darkness who created the Absolute Darkness during the Ancient Period was my father?"

    The Imperial Princess smiled slyly at him. "I know more than that, old man."

    That made him freeze on the spot.

    "Don''t be scared and piss yourself for nothing," the older Princess Neoma continued mocking him. "I won''t say anything to the people of this world."

    "Hah! So, even the arrogant Imperial Princess is afraid of the consequences of revealing the truth to the world."

    "I''m not a coward you," the Imperial Princess said while obviously looking down on him. "The only reason I''m keeping my mouth shut is because I trust the Neoma of this world. She''ll remember everything soon anyway."

    "Ah, so Princess Neoma doesn''t know anything yet," Helstor said, relieved by that piece of information. "Then all I have to do is prevent the Imperial Princess from getting revived."

    "Trying to stop the young Neoma from getting revived is like stopping the moon from lighting up the night sky," the Imperial Princess said in a mocking voice. "You can''t do either."

    "You''re looking down on me too much, Princess Neoma," Helstor said, deciding to take the fight more seriously now. "Let me show you how I survived for this long."

    And then he summoned the same Impure Mana bombs that he used on the emperor earlier.

    [I mixed it with toxic Darkness, too.]

    He only used one bomb to take down Emperor Niki because he didn''t want to destroy the empire. Not yet, at least.

    But the Imperial Princess crossed the line.

    Hence, he was forced to summon hundreds of those bombs.

    [These will damage the empire physically, and Callisto de Luca would nag at meter. But I can''t let a mere de Moonasterion princess look down on me again.]

    Helstor raised his hand. "Die, you arrogant princess."

    ***

    IMPURE MANA bomb.

    Niki btedly realized that the tiny ball of dark energy that Helstor threw at him was made of Impure Mana with a mix of Darkness.

    [That bastard god aimed at Monik.]

    He grabbed Monik and hugged the child while using his remaining Moonglow to serve as a barrier. His Soul Beasts also left Calypso and prioritized shielding him.

    As a result, his Soul Beasts took most of the hit.

    [I have to get up and fight.]

    Niki knew he lost consciousness for a moment, but since he was surrounded by his Moonglow, he didn''t fall from the sky.

    But that didn''t mean he didn''t get hit badly.

    Even so, he still forced himself to open his eyes.

    And the first thing Niki saw was Helstor aiming his HUNDREDS of wicked Impure Mana bombs at the older Neoma.

    [That bastard¡­!]

    Helstor raised his hand as if he was about tomand the Impure Mana bombs to aim at Neoma. "Die, you arrogant princess."

    Niki cursed under his breath while trying to send his Moonglow in Neoma''s direction to protect his daughter. "Neoma, be careful¨C huh?"

    He was forced to stop talking when the Impure Mana bombs suddenly disappeared.

    All. At. Once.

    The fact that Helstor looked shocked and terrified was proof that even the god didn''t know what happened.

    [Then¡­ was it Neoma?]

    After all, Niki saw little balls of lights in the same spot where the bombs were supposed to be.

    [Those balls of lights are filled with Neoma''s Moonglow.]

    Niki was surprised because even at his prime, his Moonglow wasn''t as powerful as that.

    [My daughter¡­ is a monster.]

    And he meant that in the best way possible.

    "Next," the older Neoma said coldly, her red eyes glowing menacingly. "Make sure your next attack is stronger than those stupid bombs or else you''ll die."

    That threat wasn''t directed at Niki, but he still felt a shiver down his spine.

    [This Neoma is terrifying¡­ and terrifyingly strong, at that.]

    ***

    AH.

    [I''m going to die¡­]

    That was Helstor''s first thought after Princess Neoma got rid of the hundreds of Impure Mana bombs that he summoned just like that.

    [Just how fast is Princess Neoma?!]

    The Imperial Princess didn''t even move from her spot.

    But the lights of balls that reced his bombs definitely belonged to Princess Neoma.

    "You''re terrifying, Princess Neoma."

    "I''m no princess," the older Princess Neoma denied. "It will do you good to remember that I am also a god like you, Helstor." Then the Imperial Princess smirked haughtily. "A more powerful god than you are if I say so myself."

    [Ah, she''sing at me.]

    Helstor knew it, but he was still a little toote.

    He tried to run away because his instincts told him he''d die if he faced the older Princess Neoma alone. Even so, his body couldn''t react faster than the Imperial Princess'' movements.

    Again¡­

    [JUST HOW FAST IS SHE?!]

    "You''re trying to run away," the older Princess Neoma said while choking Helstor. "Is that your best move, Helstor?"

    Helstor tried to summon his Darkness to protect himself.

    But it was no use.

    The Moonglow that engulfed the older Princess Neoma would just purify Helstor''s Darkness as quickly as it appeared.

    And, no, it wasn''t just the Imperial Princess'' Moonglow.

    "The Light," Helstor growled lowly. He tried to cut off the older Princess Neoma''s arm, but the Imperial Princess'' body was harder than steel. "You have the Light."

    Princess Neoma looked at him as if he was stupid. "Have you forgotten that I''m the descendant of the Light Goddess?"

    "That''s exactly the reason why the de Moonasterions should be controlled."

    "Enough of your nonsense," the older Princess Neoma said, then she CASUALLY stabbed Helstor in the center of his chest with her bare hand. "I won''t kill you because the Neoma of this timeline would be upset if I stole her prey from her, but you ought to be punished for pissing me off."

    COUGH.

    Blood poured out of his mouth.

    Helstor tried to grab the older Princess Neoma''s arm, but as soon as he touched her, his hand was cut off.

    He didn''t see how the Imperial Princess did it, but it happened.

    But Helstor once again screamed in agony¨C not only for losing his hand but for also what the older Princess Neoma did next.

    The damned Imperial Princess pulled out the SOULS of the gods he had devoured.

    Those souls were trapped deep inside the center of his own soul.

    It was a ce that not even the gods in the Upper World could reach.

    "How?" Helstor asked weakly. "How can you reach the ce that not even the gods of the Upper World could?"

    "I''m above you all," the older Princess Neoma said while closing her hand¨C crushing the strings of souls that she had just pulled out from Helstor''s body. "in and simple."

    Ah.

    [I''m really going to die.]

    Helstor thought it was the end of it, until the older Princess Neoma''s hands and arms slowly turned semi-transparent as if she was about to vanish at any moment.

    [What''s happening?]

    "You got lucky, Helstor," the older Princess Neoma said. "My time here is up."

    And then the Imperial Princess turned her back on him.

    Helstor was humiliated.

    The older Princess Neoma nonchntly showed her back on him even though they were in the middle of a fight.

    It was as if the Imperial Princess was saying he was no threat to her.

    As if she was telling him that he wasn''t worthy of her time.

    Helstor wanted to make the older Princess Neoma pay for that humiliation, but he also knew how to pick his battles right.

    [I shall get my revenge on the Princess Neoma of this timeline.]

    ***

    "NEOMA unnie is so amazing!"

    Niki nodded in agreement with what Monik said.

    Yes, the child had finally regained consciousness. And fortunately, she wasn''t hurt anywhere.

    [It seems like the fragments of the Light Goddess helped protect Monik earlier.]

    The child was even floating using her own power now.

    [Monik became a little more powerful than she was earlier.]

    "Father."

    Niki was a bit startled when the older Neoma appeared right in front of him after leaving the utterly defeated Helstor alone.

    He was pleased to see his daughter put the God of Eternal Darkness in his ce.

    However, he didn''t like how Neoma was slowly vanishing now.

    Needless to say, his heart was now filled with guilt.

    [Because I was weak and useless, my daughter had to fight in my ce even though she wasn''t allowed to directly help the people of this world¡­]

    "Don''t me yourself, Father," the older Neoma said. "I interfered because of my personal grudge against Helstor."

    Niki let out a sigh. "I know you''re only saying that to make me feel better."

    "Father, I don''t have much time left."

    He felt a pang in his chest.

    "I''ve lost my power as a god now after breaking the rules," the older Neoma said, then she opened her arms. "Father, can you give me a hug before I leave?"

    Niki broke into tears while gathering the older Neoma in his arms.

    ***

    NEOMA was running at full speed because even though Commander Yoan was about to disappear at any moment, he stillunched the single arrow that would apparently chase her even at the end of the world.

    [That damnedmander is so ruthless!]

    The only reason she hadn''t gone batshit crazy on him yet was because she could feel that her body was getting lighter and lighter.

    [Am I getting faster?]

    Her thoughts were only interrupted when, all of a sudden, a young boy appeared in front of her.

    Neoma gasped, shocked. "Get out of the way, kid!"

    It wasn''t like she could stop at her current speed.

    But the kid didn''t show any sign of moving.

    [No, I have to stop or else I''d crush the child if we collided.]

    Neoma was about to slow down when her body suddenly went immobile.

    It wasn''t her will.

    Someone else made her stop moving.

    [The fuck???]

    The young boy, who was suddenly RIGHT in front of Neoma, looked up at her and smiled sweetly. "Mommy, did you shrink?"

    Neoma was bbergasted.

    She could tell right away that this child wasn''t one of those children that she "adopted."

    [This one is mine¡­]

    "Yes, I am yours, Mommy," the child said as if he could read her mind. "It''s me¨C Vitu."

    ''Vitu.''

    That name again.

    Hearing that name squeezed her heart painfully.

    Neoma''s tears fall down her cheeks silently. "You''re beautiful, Vitu."

    ***

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 Chapter 848 SEPARATIONS, REUNION

    <h4>Chapter 848 SEPARATIONS, REUNION</h4>

    HANNA flinched when Lewis fell to the ground again.

    The Imperial Princess was in the middle of beating Lewis to a pulp (it was a sparring and not "child" abuse) when it happened.

    Well, it was really hard to call it a ''sparring.''

    After all, the older Neoma was just standing there with her arms crossed over her chest while controlling two little energy balls that looked like little moons. Those little "moons" were the ones beating up Lewis.

    The little "moons" were moving so quick that not even the fox could defend properly even though all his NINE tails were out.

    As as result, Lewis could only growl while getting beaten up.

    [I can''t me Lewis, though. After all, even I can''t follow the little moons'' movements.]

    And it wasn''t only her.

    Queen Lisica and Rustin, the old Silver Foxes that Lewis was training with earlier, couldn''t even raise their heads to watch the sparring properly.

    Hmm?

    "What''s wrong, Your Majesty, Lord Rustin?" Hanna asked worriedly. "Why do you look stiff? You''re acting strange."

    "You''re the one who''s acting strange, Quinzel," Queen Lisica said, her eyes glued to the ground. "How can you stay calm in the presence of a god? A powerful god, at that. She''s so different from the young princess I know. It feels like we don''t even have the right to nce in her direction."

    Really?

    She could tell the older Neoma was intimidating, but not to the point that she couldn''t look at her in the eye.

    "It''s probably because Princess Neoma the God favors you, Quinzel," Lord Rustin added. The huge and intimidating male old fox was reduced to a timid man in front of Neoma. "But she''s hostile to everyone and anyone else. That''s exactly the reason why the demons that were here earlier have run away."

    "Her presence is really suffocating," Queen Lisicained in a low yet frustrated voice. "I feel like I''d disappear into nothingness even with just an eye contact."

    Ah, Hanna didn''t know that.

    [I guess Neoma is protecting me and Lewis from her dangerous aura.]

    Hanna turned to the older Neoma, and then she was shocked when she saw her turning semi-transparent. "N-Neoma! What''s happening to you?!"

    Not only did Neoma begin to turn transparent¨C but the Imperial Princess also shrunk!

    [Now she''s just a little taller than the current Neoma.]

    "My time is up," Neoma answered casually. "It''s a shame I can''t teach all the things I wanted you to learn, but I guess this works, too." She opened her arms. "Hanna Quinzel, Lewis Crevan,e here and give me a hug."

    Hanna''s body moved on her own and hugged Neoma.

    Even Lewis, who wasn''tfortable with physical contact, hugged the Imperial Princess shyly.

    "Hanna Quinzel, remember that the shadows you control and the Darkness that Helstor creates have the same properties," Neoma said calmly, her eyes closed. "There''s a reason why the Quinzels used to worship Helstor. If you dig deep into the history of your family''s former religion, you might find something you can use to create the real ck Hole."

    "I understand, Princess Neoma," Hanna said, addressing Neoma as a princess this time because she thought it was appropriate to do so. "I will surpass the Pirate Princess."

    "Yes, I believe you can do that," Neoma said, then the Imperial Princess patted Lewis'' back. "Boy, you''ve lived a thousand years as a fox. You wouldn''t have survived that long until you became a human if you were weak. To unlock your full potential as thest Silver Fox alive, all you have to do is to go back to your roots."

    "I''m afraid to do that, Princess Neoma," Lewis said in a defeated voice. "What if Ipletely lose myself and forget that I''m a human and not a beast?"

    "You just have to have faith in yourself and in the people around you, Lewis Crevan," Neoma said. "You''re no longer alone in this world."

    Lewis looked touched by what the older Neoma said.

    Hanna then gently rubbed Lewis'' back. And when he turned to her, she gave him a warm smile. "I won''t let you lose yourself, Lewis. So don''t hesitate to let go of your inhibitions if you have to."

    "Okay, Princess Hanna," Lewis said, giving her a small smile. "I''m under your care from now on."

    Hanna just smiled and nodded at Lewis, then she turned to Neoma again. "Princess Neoma, I love you."

    Lewis'' face turned red. "I do, too."

    [Aww¡­ what a shy confession.]

    Neoma opened her eyes, and this time, her red eyes had turned back to their normal ash-gray color. "I''m not good at expressing my feelings with words, so let me just leave a present for you."

    ***

    MONA was worried about Niki and Monik when all of them felt Helstor''s presence dominating the dark sky for a moment.

    Then it was followed by a sky quake.

    They also saw Niki''s Soul Beasts fall from the sky one by one.

    [Ordinary people couldn''t have seen it, but we did.]

    Hence, Mona asked Trevor to dy opening the portal leading to the Cosmic Tree.

    "It''s gone," Dahliamented. "Lord Helstor''s hostile energy is gone."

    "But we all felt it, didn''t we?" Trevor asked, eyeing the older Neoma cautiously. "The burst of unbelievably strong Moonglow¡­"

    The demon trailed off.

    And it was understandable.

    Mona covered her mouth with her hands when she gasped softly. "N-Neoma¡­"

    Her daughter''s body had turned semi-transparent, and she also shrunk.

    [Neoma''s red eyes have also returned to their natural color¡­]

    It was as if Mona''s daughter was about to disappear at any moment.

    "It''s time for me to leave," the older Neoma said indifferently, then she sat beside the sleeping Nero and held his hand. After that, she extended her other hand to Mona. "Mother, please give me a hug."

    Of course, Mona didn''t waste time and hugged her daughter tightly.

    "Mother, please teach Nero everything he needs to know about being a male Roseheart," Neoma whispered to her. "He''s the key to free the Soul Beasts. But Nero''s mental state is weak. To control his Lunacy, his Roseheart Blood must be stronger than his Moonglow."

    Mona nodded. "I understand, daughter. I''ll properly teach Nero how to use his Roseheart Blood."

    "And take care of our family, Mother."

    "Neoma¡­"

    "I''m d that the Neoma of this timeline has a mother," the older Neoma said softly. "Please love her a lot for me, Mother."

    "Of course, I''m already doing that," Mona said between sobs, hugging the Neoma who had lived a miserable life without a family. "Neoma, even though we didn''t get the chance to meet in the first timeline, please know that the Mona of that time loved you¨C she definitely did."

    "I know, Mother," Neoma said softly. "That''s why I''m leaving without regrets."

    And Neoma even left them with a precious gift that they didn''t deserve.

    ***

    TO SAY that Jasper was surprised would be an understatement.

    He went to check on Duke Rufus Quinzel''s tent after he felt a strangely familiar divine power inside. That was when he saw Princess Neoma.

    The Imperial Princess looked different, though.

    Since he was aware of Princess Neoma''s secret, he realized right away that the Princess Neoma in front of him was the one from the past timeline.

    But how?

    [And, more importantly, why do I feel like crying?]

    "Duke Jasper Hawthorne, you fool," the older Princess Neoma scolded him with a frown. "Don''t do that again. Not in this timeline."

    Jasper was confused. "Whatever do you mean by that, Princess Neoma?"

    "Don''t die for me."

    Oh.

    So, he died for Princess Neoma in the first timeline.

    Jasper grinned. "That''s not a bad way to go, Princess Neoma."

    "Don''t make me smack you to knock some sense into your thick skull, Duke Hawthorne."

    He justughed it off.

    [I treasure my life, but if it''s for Princess Neoma, then I don''t mind dying. After all, I know that giving up my life for her would save the world.]

    "You''re having foolish thoughts again, you cheeky duke. You''ve never listened to me."

    Jasper smiled and shrugged¡­

    ¡­ but that smile disappeared right away.

    Princess Neoma suddenly turned transparent as she quickly shrunk in size.

    "Princess Neoma, what''s happening?" Jasper asked nervously. "Are you¡­?"

    "Yes, what you''re thinking is correct, Duke Hawthorne," Princess Neoma said indifferently. "It''s time for me to leave."

    ***

    RUFUS'' heart broke a little when he saw Princess Neoma''s body shrink and turn transparent.

    Even her red eyes had gone back to their normal color.

    "It''s time for me to leave."

    "Already?" Rufus asked sadly. "Did something happen?"

    The older Princess Neoma gave him a small smile, then she opened her arms. "Father, can you give me a hug?"

    Rufus had always maintained a boundary between himself and the Imperial Family.

    Although the Quinzels were the Imperial Family''s extended family, he had always made sure to not cross the line to maintain the power bnce in the empire.

    But, this time, he did.

    Rufus closed the gap between him and Princess Neoma to hug her. "I''m sorry for failing to protect you in the first timeline, Princess Neoma. I''m sorry for not noticing that you''ve suffered while being my daughter. I''m sorry I couldn''t make it up to you."

    "None of what happened was your fault, Father," Princess Neoma said while wrapping her arms around him. "So please don''t apologize. You were the best father I could ever ask for."

    [Ah, I see.]

    Princess Neoma wasn''t hoping to hear an apology from him.

    "Thank you for being our daughter andpleting our family, Neoma Quinzel," Rufus said in a cracked voice. "I love you."

    "That''s what I want to hear from you, Father," Neoma said softly. "Thank you."

    ***

    [MOONGLOW¡­?]

    Niki was savoring the moment that he finally got to hug his precious daughter from the first timeline.

    [But what''s this?]

    He soon felt ufortable when he realized that Moonglow which wasn''t his began entering and filling up his body.

    "Neoma, stop!" Niki pleaded when he realized what was happening. Then he put his hands on Neoma''s shoulders and gently broke the hug to look at his daughter''s face. "Why are you giving me your Moonglow?"

    "The world is simply paying what they owe me, Father," Neoma exined. "I asked the World to use my Moonglow to extend your lifespan."

    His eyes widened in shock. "No, I don''t need it, daughter. If you can give your Moonglow as an extension of one''s lifespan, then give it to the Neoma of this timeline. Please."

    "No can do, Father," his older daughter said. "I already threw away my remaining good karma points. Fortunately, my other wishes have been granted already. Hence, I cannot change the recipient of my Moonglow. There''s no way to stop the process, too."

    "Neoma¡­"

    "Don''t be too burdened, Father. I do not know how many years have been added to your lifespan," the older Neoma said. "After all, I asked the World to match your lifespan with Mother''s lifespan. And nobody knows how many years Mother has left to live."

    "You matched my lifespan with Mona?"

    "I figured you and Mother would want to die together, Father."

    That was true.

    Even so¡­

    "Mona would feel bad if both of us left you and Nero at the same time."

    "Father, what makes you so sure that you and Mother would die before Nero and I?"

    He frowned at his daughter. "Don''t say that, Neoma. That wasn''t funny."

    "I''m sorry, Father."

    "As long as you know," Niki said, then his vision turned blurry as tears brimmed his eyes. "Neoma, I haven''t done anything for you to deserve this kind of present."

    "I''m not doing this for you, Father," the older Neoma said, shrugging. "I''m doing this for the sake of this timeline''s Neoma. Unlike me, she needs her family. As long as her family is safe and sound, then she wouldn''t have a reason to burn the world to ashes."

    Even if she said that, the fact that his lifespan got extended AND his Moonglow refilled wouldn''t change.

    Niki owed his life to the older Neoma.

    "Thank you, Neoma."

    His older daughter just gave him a faint smile.

    "And I love you," Niki said softly. "I''m sorry I was such a scumbag father to you in the first timeline. I''ll make it up to you by giving the current Neoma all the love in the world. And, in the next life, I would like it if you be my daughter again."

    The older Neoma looked shocked by what he said, then much to Niki''s surprise, tears suddenly rolled down her face. "Thank you for saying that, Father. Goodbye. And¡­" Then she smiled brightly for the first time while waving her hands at him. "I love you, Papa Boss."

    ''Papa Boss.''

    The Neoma of the first timeline called him like how the current Neoma did.

    Niki almost choked in his tears, and then he moved quickly to hug the older Neoma once again.

    But he was already toote.

    The Neoma of the first timeline had already vanished, leaving only traces of her Moonglow.

    [No¡­]

    "Neoma¡­" Niki whispered in a cracked voice, his tears falling down silently. "Let''s meet again someday, hmm?"

    ***

    IT WAS a picture of a perfect family.

    Neoma of the first timeline.

    Commander Yoan.

    And the boy named ''Vitu.''

    Neoma couldn''t believe that THIS was her family in the first timeline.

    [My family¡­]

    ***

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 Chapter 849 VITU

    ?

    [THIS CHILD is a de Moonasterio and a Solfrid, but he doesn''t have a drop of Roseheart Blood in him.]

    Neoma didn''t know how she knew that, but she could just tell.

    Vitu, a young boy probably aged seven or eight, had two-toned hair. The upper part of his hair was white, of course. But instead of pink like Neoma''s strands, the lower part of his hair was purple.

    [Just like Ruto''s hair.]

    Vitu got his ash-gray eyes and pale skin from Neoma, though.

    [The child, as expected, looks more of a de Moonasterio than a Solfrid.]

    Which means¡­

    "You''re beautiful, Vitu," Neoma said, bending her knees to meet the child''s eye level. "Am I really your mommy? Did Ruto take responsibility for both of us?"

    Vitu giggled at her questions, then his gaze went past him. "Mommy, should I take care of that for you?"

    "Ah, no need, baby."

    She raised her hand and grabbed the single arrow that Commander Yoanunched at her earlier without even looking at it.

    To be honest, it was all instinct.

    She only ran away from the arrow earlier because she had no reason to stop it. But now that the super duper cute baby was here, she didn''t hesitate to break the weapon. She didn''t want the beautiful child to get hurt, after all.

    [Aw.]

    As expected, she got electrocuted as soon as she touched the arrow.

    It hurt as hell, of course.

    But her entire body was already in a he lot of pain, so there was nothing new.

    "Gosh, your father is a sadist," Neoma said while breaking the arrow into two with her bare hands. "How could heunch a serious attack on the poor, fragile me?"

    "Fragile?" Vitu asked, giggling. "Mommy, did you know that the arrow that you just snapped into two was something not even my grandfather could break in his prime?"

    "Your grandfather¡­?"

    "Emperor Niki de Moonasterio."

    Pfft.

    [Papa Boss would definitely react "violently" once he finds out he has a grandson.]

    "Baby, this maye as a surprise to you, but¡­" Neoma said, throwing the broken arrow away. "I''m actually OP. Plus, I think I''ve surpassed Mama Boss and Papa Boss by now."

    Vituughed out loud this time. "Mommy, who in the world doesn''t know that?"

    Oh.

    [I like this child. He''s so pretty and smart! I wonder who his mom is for him to be this beautiful and quick-witted.]

    Oh, wait.

    [It''s actually me¨C I''m the mother of this perfect child.]

    Hehe.

    Vitu tilted his head to one side as if he was amused. "Mommy, why are you grinning like that?"

    "How can I not when there''s someone so lovely in front of me?"

    "Mommy, you''ve be more expressive."

    "Do you hate it?"

    Vitu shook his head adorably. "I love all your different versions, Mommy."

    ''Versions.''

    To this child, Neoma was just another version of the mommy that he knew.

    [The Neoma of the first timeline is lucky to have this child.]

    For some reason, that hurt Neoma''s feelings a bit.

    "Mommy, why haven''t you put out the Eternal me yet?" Vitu wondered, tilting his to one side. "Isn''t the Eternal me just your pet?"

    [My what?]

    "You used the Eternal me as my ymate," Vitu said excitedly. "The Eternal me is our family, Mommy. You don''t have to fight it."

    Hmm???

    Neoma suddenly felt like this cute, adorable, smart, pretty, beautiful baby had just given her a major clue about how to ''tame'' the Eternal me.

    [I don''t have to fight it, huh?]

    "Vitu, I told you not to wander around."

    It was Commander Yoan, of course.

    Oho?

    Neoma noticed that themander had shrunk.

    [He''s around the same height as Ruto now.]

    "Daddy!" Vitu excitedly called themander, then the baby ran to his father. "Small Mommy broke your arrow like it was nothing! Small Mommy is still stronger than you!"

    Pfft.

    It was cute how Vitu was bragging about Neoma as if her achievement was also his.

    [That child can do or say nothing wrong, so it''s okay even if he called me ''small.'']

    Commander Yoan picked up Vitu and carried the baby in his arms. "Really? I only used 30% of my current strength, though."

    "Is that a challenge? I think it''s a challenge," Neoma said, herpetitive spirit getting riled up. "Why are you being so smug, Commander? I put ZERO effort when breaking your stupid arrow. Thirty percent, my foot."

    Commander Yoan and Vitu exchanged knowing looks, then the twoughed.

    [Well, at least I can tell they aren''tughing at me.]

    Plus, it looked nice to see themander and the most adorable baby in the world smiling.

    [Gosh, I want to take a picture of their pretty smiles.]

    "Small Mommy also hates losing to you as much as my Big Mommy does," Vitu said, giggling. "Daddy, why do my mommies hate you?"

    Commander Yoan cleared his throat. "They don''t hate me, son. They''re justpetitive, and I just happen to be the only person in the world who can give them a properpetition."

    "Gosh, why are being arrogant in front of the child, Commander?" Neomained lightly. "What will you do if that super adorable and very smart baby grows up arrogant? You have to raise him preciously."

    "What''s wrong with being arrogant?" Commander Yoan said nonchntly. "Our Vitu has all the right to grow up entitled."

    "I''m the greatest baby in the world!" Vitu said, raising his hands. "I''m Vitu de Moonasterio Solfrid! I have the blessing of the Moon, the Sun, the Life, the Death, and the Light!"

    Heh.

    [My spawn is a genius.]

    But¡­

    [Uhm, is my baby more awesome than me???]

    "Look, Vitu," Commander Yoan "whispered" to the cutest baby in the whole wide world. "Your ''Small Mommy'' is gettingpetitive towards you."

    Neoma''s face turned red, embarrassed by her stupidpetitiveness.

    "You haven''t tamed the Eternal me yet?"

    Hmm?

    It was neither Vitu nor Commander Yoan.

    [She''s finally back.]

    Neoma crossed her arms over her chest. "I''ve been waiting for you, Giant Neoma."

    The ''giant'' Neoma that she met earlier wasn''t as big as she remembered, though.

    [I think she''s only a bit taller than me?]

    "Mommy!" Vitu imed happily while reaching for Giant Neoma. "Wee back! Did you have fun?"

    "I did," the Giant Neoma said, carrying the prettiest baby in the universe in her arms. "It was fun toying with a puny god who doesn''t know his ce."

    Hmm?

    "Did you shoo Helstor away?" Neoma asked bluntly. "Good job, me."

    The Giant Neoma looked at Neoma indifferently. "Hurry up and get out of here, child."

    Okay, that made Neoma nervous. "I-Is it that bad out there?"

    "Not yet, but it''s about to go down the hill," the Giant Neoma said indifferently. "I''ve already done my part, so do yours."

    "I will, duh."

    "Aren''t you going to p me or something when I return?" the Giant Neoma asked, obviously provoking her. "I can tell you wanted to do that before I left earlier."

    "I would, but I do not want to be violent in front of the loveliest child in the entire world," Neoma said. "Our baby should only see and hear nice things."

    "This is MY baby," the Giant Neoma said, ring at Neoma with her glowing red eyes. "He''s not ''ours.''"

    Okay, that gave Neoma the chills.

    For the first time, she felt truly terrified of the Giant Neoma.

    [Why did she suddenly be so scary?]

    "Mommy, Mommy, look at me," Vitu said, cupping the Giant Neoma''s face between his hands. Then he gently forced her to face him. "I wanna go home now. Can we?"

    The Giant Neoma''s face instantly softened up, and her eyes returned to normal. "Alright, son. We''re going home."

    "I told you not to push yourself too much," Commander Yoan "scolded" the Giant Neoma in a gentle and loving tone while rubbing her back. "You must be tired now. We should head back and rest."

    Aww.

    [They''re a picture-perfect family.]

    But Neoma was quite confused.

    [They''re going home? Where? I thought they wouldpletely vanish since the Giant Neoma broke the rules or something.]

    Neoma''s thoughts were interrupted when she saw what happened next.

    Commander Yoan effortlessly carried the Giant Neoma in his arms¨C bridal style¨C while the Giant Neoma was carrying Vitu in her arms.

    No wonder the Giant Neoma and Vituughed at what themander did.

    Neoma felt a pang in her heart while watching the family.

    [They look happy.]

    "See youter, Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio," the Giant Neoma said, calmly this time. "I left a present for you that you will only get to unlock once you tamed the Eternal me."

    "Okay," Neoma said, waving her hands to the family. "See youter."

    "Work on your speed, young princess," Commander Yoan said bluntly. "Your Light is supposed to be the fastest thing in the world."

    Hmm?

    [My Light?]

    Was that the reason why themander made Neoma run for her life earlier?

    "The mommy I know doesn''t move from her spot when she fights. It''s really cool to see Mommy fight while sitting on her throne," Vitu said enthusiastically. "I hope to see you fight that coolly someday, Small Mommy!"

    Okay, that was a little pressuring.

    Nevertheless¡­

    "I''ll do my best, baby," Neoma said, clenching her hands. "I''ll make you proud someday."

    The Giant Neoma and Commander Yoan nodded at Neoma. "Goodbye, young princess."

    "Goodbye, Small Mommy," Vitu said, smiling. "See youter."

    Hmm?

    Neoma was confused while waving goodbye to the happy family.

    [''Later?'']

    ***

    RUTO flinched when the color of the Eternal me suddenly changed.

    The rainbow-colored me had turned CRIMSON red.

    It was the color of flesh blood and¡­

    "The little princess'' real test will finally begin," Drystan said while looking at the Eternal me. "She has probably met Vitu by now."

    Vitu.

    Ruto would always feel sorry towards the child they had failed to protect in the first timeline.

    And yet, he couldn''t help but wish that Neoma wouldn''t have to meet Vitu.

    "Neoma will lose her mind," Ruto said in a sad and bitter voice. "This time, her Lunacy might take over her sanity for real."

    "Well, every de Moonasterio in the world has Lunacy as their problem," Drystan said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Unfortunately, there''s no cure for it. They just have to ovee it every time an ''episode'' urs."

    No, there was a way topletely get rid of the Lunacy.

    But the answer was in the hands of "the boy who had everything."

    Ruto clicked his tongue. "It''s so annoying."

    ***

    NEOMA FELT like she was wasting time there.

    [I need to tame this damned Eternal me.]

    On the other hand, she couldn''t help but feel that her meeting with the Giant Neoma and her family was a bit anti-climactic.

    [I feel like that''s not the end yet.]

    "Mother, I''m back."

    Hmm?

    Neoma turned around and was greeted by a familiar yet unfamiliar young man.

    [Vitu?]

    The young man in front of her was probably six feet tall.

    His shoulder-length hair was two-tone: white on the upper part, and purple on the lower part. He also had ash-gray eyes and pale skin.

    Most of all, he had the face that could only belong to a de Moonasterio.

    [Yes, this is really Vitu.]

    "You''ve grown up quite quickly, baby."

    "This is my appearance when I was the same age as you, Mother."

    [Ah, he''s a big boy now. No wonder he calls me ''Mother'' instead of ''Mommy'' now.]

    "But what are you doing here?" Neoma asked awkwardly. For some reason, Vitu''s teenage version made her ufortable. "And why did youe alone?"

    "I forgot to say something to you, Mother. Did you know?" Vitu asked, smiling creepily until his RED eyes had turned into little crescent moons. "''Vitu'' doesn''t really exist¨C he''s nothing but a mirage created by the World to keep Neoma de Moonasterio sane."

    [A mirage...?]

    ***

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 Chapter 850 A BEAUTIFUL NIGHTMARE (1)

    <h4>Chapter 850 A BEAUTIFUL NIGHTMARE (1)</h4>

    HELSTOR ran away while Princess Neoma was saying goodbye to Emperor Niki.

    That was the best move he could do because he was severely injured. The eye that he stole was stolen from him, and he even lost a hand.

    But that was thest of his concerns since his limbs and organs woulde backter.

    [The first timeline is the problem!]

    It wasn''t like Helstor wasn''t aware that there was a first timeline before the current one.

    He had a chance to eat some of Ruto Solfrid''s memories before. ording to the images he had seen, it seemed like themander and Princess Neoma had a baby in the past.

    But those were just images with no context.

    Hence, he just made a story to mess with Princess Neoma.

    ["Lord Helstor ate some of Ruston Stroganoff''s memories, and there he saw a snippet of your tragic love story. You had a baby with Commander Yoan, but you killed that baby while the poor thing was still in your womb."]

    That was what he told Calyx to tell Princess Neoma before.

    [The de Moonasterios are easy to mess with since they have weak minds.]

    Although he was a little aware of the past timeline, he didn''t care about it before because he thought it wouldn''t be a big deal.

    [After all, it seems like Ruto Solfrid has no intention of telling Princess Neoma the truth.]

    Since he thought Princess Neoma wouldn''t be a threat without her memories, he brushed it off as something that he should worry about the least. He only remembered about the first timeline when he encountered the Princess Neoma who imed to be a god earlier.

    [Gods aren''t supposed to get their memories erased, but we did.]

    It seemed only a few had their memories intact when the time was reset.

    But that wasn''t the only problem.

    [If the Imperial Family can summon people from the Dead World!]

    None of the people from his side had their memories of the past.

    [Tsk.]

    "Ruto Solfrid," Helstor whispered to himself. "I need to find that boy and feed on his memories again."

    ***

    [AH, IT HAS been refilled.]

    Niki''s Moonglow had been refilled inside his body.

    Thest time he felt this powerful was during his prime¨C the time when he seized the throne from his tyrannical father.

    It was inevitable for the emperor to lose his Moonglow slowly once their heir was born. And it was worse for Niki since he had two children that the throne considered to be BOTH deserving to be his sessor.

    But, right now, he actually felt stronger than he did during his prime.

    "Uncle Emperor, you''re literally glowing!" Monik said while pping her tiny hands. "And you''re so powerful now!"

    "Thank you," Niki said, grabbing Calypso by the handle. "Let''s do this again."

    His Soul Beasts that fell from the sky earlier had returned¨C now in their Soul Beast form.

    After Niki''s Moonglow was replenished, his Soul Beasts also recovered right away.

    [I can''t believe Neoma left us this precious gift.]

    "Calypso, you better devour all the Darkness in this sky," Niki said, infusing the Holy Sword with his newly-replenished Moonglow. "Don''t stop until every single blob of Darkness has disappeared."

    ***

    [I GOT stronger?]

    That was Hanna''s thoughts as soon as the older Neoma disappeared.

    The traces of her Moonglow lingered.

    For some reason, it felt like her body had absorbed the bluish lights around them. And that was what made her feel powerful.

    But that wasn''t the only thing that Hanna received from the older Neoma.

    "I remember it now," Hanna whispered, clenching her hands. "I remember my first life."

    Not everything, though.

    She only remembered the part where the Pirate Princess hadpleted the ck Hole¡­

    ¡­ and some information that made her feel shy.

    "Princess Hanna?"

    Hanna flinched when Lewis called him. "Y-Yes?"

    "Are you alright?"

    She felt her cheeks burn a little, but she still hoped that she didn''t blush.

    [Or, at least, I hope Lewis didn''t notice it.]

    Hanna was aware that she was the Pirate Princess of the first timeline.

    Even so, she still thought that the Pirate Princess was a different person from her. After all, she lived a very different life from her.

    [But why did the older Neoma have to show me THAT?]

    "I''m just a bit surprised by the memories that I retrieved," Hanna said. It wasn''tpletely a lie anyway. "Did you¡­ retrieve some of your memories, too?"

    Lewis nodded, his face still nk. "I did. I think I can go on Berserk mode if I follow what ''Lu'' had done in the first timeline."

    Okay, the fact that the fox also retrieved his memories made her nervous.

    "Uhm, did you remember anything else?"

    Lewis paused for a moment before he asked: "Is there something else that I need to remember, Princess Hanna?"

    Hanna immediately shook her head, then she avoided Lewis'' gaze. "No, none at all."

    [Lewis doesn''t need to know that ''Lu'' SEEMS to have a crush on the Pirate Princess during the first timeline.]

    ***

    "JASPER HAWTHORNE, look at me!"

    "I am looking," Jasper said while pping his hands. He was looking up at Duckie who, for some reason, had finally returned to his old form. "Wow. You''re really a Winged Serpent, huh?"

    When Duckie¨C old name Wilton¨C epted him as his new master, he regained some of his power that allowed him to turn into a medium-sized water serpent.

    But, this time, the Elemental Guardian had reached his full potential.

    Duckie grew into a giant, beautiful serpent with wings.

    [And now he''s flying as if he wants to dominate the sky.]

    "It must be the older Neoma''s influence."

    Jasper nodded in agreement with what Duke Rufus Quinzelmented. "I think so, too, Your Grace," he said, then he looked at his hands. "I felt a boost in my power after the older Princess Neoma left."

    "That''s the same for me," Duke Quinzel said with a regretful look on his face. "Despite all the hardships that the older Princess Neoma had experienced in the first timeline, she remained generous and merciful. She didn''t have to help us, but she still did."

    He could only nod in agreement with the old duke.

    [Princess Neoma, why are you so selfless?]

    "Duke Hawthorne, don''t die if you can help it," Duke Quinzel said, lightly patting his shoulder. "My daughter asked you not to die. Hence, I will make sure that you won''t die during this war. You have to live longer this time."

    Jasper chuckled while shaking his head. "Well, it''s assuring to know that you have my back, Your Grace."

    ***

    MONA felt something strange in her body, but she couldn''t pinpoint what it could be.

    All she could tell was she felt refreshed and energized.

    [But there''s something inside me that has changed a bit. I guess it has something to do with the gift that Neoma has left for me.]

    And she wasn''t the only person who felt the same way.

    "Wow," Trevor said while looking at his hands in amazement. "Did the older Princess Neoma boost our Mana? I feel a lot more powerful now."

    Dahlia nodded in agreement. "I feel the same. And it seems like the older Princess Neoma has also weakened the seal tied around my Core¡­"

    [It was probably because my daughter wanted to free the ck Witch.]

    "Ah, Empress Mona, we should seriously leave now," Trevor said in an urgent voice. "I can feel the Cosmic Tree moving to shut down all the Doors leading to her Garden."

    She could feel that, too.

    "I understand. We should leave for real this time," Mona said, then she faced Dahlia and put her hands on her shoulders. "Please take care of Nero for me, sweetheart."

    Dahlia blushed, then she nodded eagerly. "I will protect Prince Nero, Your Imperial Majesty."

    ***

    ARGH.

    Nero couldn''t move even though he was in his Spirit form. Moreover, the ''space'' where he had been brought to was a dark room instead of a white one.

    [Where am I?]

    "Nero de Moonasterio, we finally met in this timeline."

    He turned around and found a strange version of his lovely twin sister.

    [That Neoma is taller and bigger and more powerful.]

    Nero raised an eyebrow when the realization hit him. "Are you the Neoma of the first timeline?"

    "That, I am," the older Neoma said, sneering at him as her eyes turned glowing red. "Finally, a chance to get my revenge on you."

    Oh, right.

    [I killed Neoma in the first timeline¡­]

    Damn.

    ***

    "''VITU'' doesn''t really exist¨C he''s nothing but a mirage created by the World to keep Neoma de Moonasterio sane."

    Neoma heard what the big baby said, but she couldn''tprehend it.

    [A mirage, he said?]

    Hmm.

    Come to think of it, Calyx said something simr before.

    ["You had a baby with Commander Yoan, but you killed that baby while the poor thing was still in your womb."]

    She was startled when she first heard that bullshit from Calyx.

    [I lost my mind for a moment and almost killed that crow psycho.]

    She tried to ask Ruto about the baby they had, but he never gave her a proper response because it happened during the time his feelings for her got erased.

    "I decided to forget about that bullshit because I didn''t have any reason to believe Helstor and Calyx''s bullshit," Neoma said, then she crossed her arms over her chest. "It''s bullshit. If I killed you back then, how did you grow up then?"

    "I lived in your imagination, so how could I die, Mother?"

    She didn''t want to admit this, but she was starting to get antsy.

    [This is bad. My mental state isn''t as strong when I''m in pain. I should avoid this confrontation.]

    "I don''t want to hear it from you," Neoma said. "I will just ask Ruto about youter."

    "No can do, Mother," Vitu said,ughing while approaching her. "You should face the music now."

    "I don''t want to¨C"

    She was forced to stop talking when, all of a sudden, the bastard giant baby cupped her face between her hands.

    [If this wasn''t my baby, I would have punched him already¡­]

    "Mother," Vitu said in a serious tone, then he closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against hers. "It''s time for you to remember the past."

    [What? No! I said I don''t want to!]

    Neoma wanted toin, but she was soon overwhelmed by unfamiliar families that flooded her mind¡­

    ***

    "YOU''RE PREGNANT¡­?"

    Neoma smirked at Commander Yoan''s question. "Don''t worry¨C you''re not the father."

    "I know that," Commander Yoan said, his entire face turning red from embarrassment. "We haven''t done anything that would result in us conceiving a child, after all."

    "How can we do that when your divine father is always watching your every move?"

    Once again, themander blushed. Then he changed the topic. "Neoma, did you create the child using your power as a god?"

    "Gods can procreate using their Mana and divine power. That''s how the other gods gave birth to children after Lord Levi forbade the major gods from getting together," Neoma said, touching her belly. "To be honest with you, my child isn''tplete yet. I only said I''m pregnant because I''m almost there."

    "Why?"

    "What do you mean ''why?''" she asked, scoffing. "You know I''ve always wanted a child. But Lord Levi and the other gods wouldn''t allow us to conceive our own baby. Apparently, they didn''t want another de Moonasterios in the human world."

    Commander Yoan looked at her with a sad look on his face. "Why are you so adamant about having a child, Neoma?"

    Of course, he would ask that.

    [Yoan never understood my loneliness because he grew up with love and attention.]

    But she didn''t resent themander for that.

    [Hence, I didn''t force him to have a child with me and I just took the matters into my own hands.]

    "Because I''m lonely," Neoma said, her voice almost a whisper. "I never had a normal, happy family¨C not as a de Moonasterio or a Quinzel. That''s why I want to build my own family¨C I want to raise a child with the kind of love and attention I craved my entire life."

    ***

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 Chapter 851 A BEAUTIFUL NIGHTMARE (2)

    <h4>Chapter 851 A BEAUTIFUL NIGHTMARE (2)</h4>

    IT HAD been two years already since Helstor and Callisto de Luca disappeared after the long and grim war that almost destroyed the human world.

    But, to be honest, Neoma couldn''t confidently say that everything was truly over.

    [I can still feel Darkness lurking around.]

    Moreover, the air pollution in the Upper World was slowly yet constantly getting worse.

    [Should I investigate it further? But I don''t really have a motivation to do so. I don''t care if the gods dropped dead one by one.]

    Well, except for one.

    "Neoma, you suddenly zoned out."

    Ah, right.

    She was in the middle of a conversation with Commander Yoan in the garden of her mansion in the Upper World.

    That had been her residence ever since the war ended in the human world.

    Well, to be honest, her ce was far from the vige where the major gods lived. If the major gods lived in the city, then she lived in the province. But it was her choice.

    She liked the beach right in front of her house.

    [It''s not actually a ''beach.'' The water in it is actually Divine Water that the gods use to replenish their divine power. But it has been abandoned ever since Darkness corrupted the water in there.]

    "You''re zoning out again, Neoma," Commander Yoanined lightly. "Is the beach more interesting than me?"

    Pfft.

    How immature.

    "Commander Yoan."

    "Yes?"

    "Would you run away with me if I asked you to?"

    He tilted his head to one side as if he was confused. "Where would we go? The human world is still in the process of recovering after thest war that we led. And the Upper World isn''t stable yet because of the air pollution. But, if you ask me, I believe you have to return to the human world first and help the people rebuild the Great Moonasterion Empire."

    "How is that MY problem?"

    "What do you mean by that?" he asked, knitting his eyebrows. "Neoma, you''re thest surviving de Moonasterio in the world. It''s your duty to help your people recover their daily lives. You can''t lead the empire anymore since your Divinization has beenpleted, hence the Upper World is your new home now. But you can choose the next bloodline that will lead the Great Moonasterion Empire."

    "Isn''t it enough that I saved those people from Helstor and Callisto de Luca''s tyranny?"

    "But your duty doesn''t end with the conclusion of the war, Neoma."

    "Commander Yoan, I have no one else left to protect in the human world," she reminded themander in a tired voice. "You sacrificed my family to revive me, and our allies sacrificed their lives to help me win the war."

    "But Neoma¨C"

    "Commander Yoan, I''m not a good person," she said, cutting him off. "I only saved the empire because I didn''t want the sacrifice of the people who revived me to go to waste. So, don''t get the wrong idea. I don''t love the human race and I don''t care about the human world."

    Even without looking at herself in the mirror, she could tell that her red eyes had glowed menacingly.

    "Commander Yoan, do you want me to lose my mind out of jealousy if I see those people in the human world happy with their family?" Neoma asked coldly. "Their lives were saved because of the sacrifice of my people. I''m not happy for them¨C I''m bitter and jealous. Being a god in return of saving the human world was a useless reward to me. The only reason I''m here is because I want to be with you."

    Out of all the many things she had said and emphasized, it seemed like themander only focused on thest part because he blushed.

    Haaah.

    That cute reaction helped her calm down.

    [We''ve been together for years already, but he still blushes for every little thing.]

    Hmm.

    It was still weird to say that because they never had put abel on their rtionship.

    [Sometimes I think I''m the only one who thinks we''re lovers.]

    "Alright, I''m sorry for making you upset," Commander Yoan said, holding her hand shyly. "Then will it be alright with you if I choose the bloodline that will rebuild the Great Moonasterion Empire?"

    "Who do you have in mind? All the nobles left in the empire are shitty lords."

    He cleared his throat. "Ahem. Language please."

    She just ignored themander''s nagging.

    "I''m thinking of making Saint Dominic Zavaroni''s sessor as the new emperor of the Great Moonasterion Empire," Commander Yoan said in a serious tone. "The former saint''s sessor has lost his divine power after the war. But that didn''t change his character and he remained a good man. I think he''d make a great emperor. He was chosen by the Moon God as the saint before, so I believe the citizens of the empire would ept him easily. What do you think about making him the next emperor?"

    To be honest, anyone could be the emperor now that the throne had been destroyed.

    In the past, only the de Moonasterio chosen by the throne could lead the empire.

    [But not anymore.]

    "I don''t care," Neoma said casually. "Do what you want."

    "Then I''ll proceed with that n," Commander Yoan said. "And to do that, I need to return to the human world."

    It was easy for themander to return to the human world despitepleting his Divinization.

    After all, it was one of his privileges as Lord Levi''s divine son.

    [He''s allowed to return to the human world because he was granted a human body that he could use once he descended.]

    Neoma wasn''t granted the same right, so she was stuck in the Upper World.

    [But, well, I can escape from here if I really want to.]

    "Do you really have to return to the human world?" Neoma asked, frowning. "How long will you be gone this time?"

    "I''m not sure."

    "Commander Yoan."

    "I''ll try to return in half a year."

    She let out a sigh.

    Since she became a god, time flowed differently for her.

    Even so, six months were too long.

    "Commander Yoan, how long are you going to concern yourself with the human world?" Neoma asked while shaking her head. "If those humans don''t stop stealing you away from me, then I might lose my mind and erase them from the world that you love so much."

    "Don''t say that, Neoma," Commander Yoan scolded her lightly, then he put an arm around her and pulled her closer to him. "I''lle home to you as soon as I can¨C I promise."

    She let out a sigh.

    Just one hug from themander and her anger already melted away.

    [Does he realize how much power he has over me?]

    "And don''t rush your pregnancy," Commander Yoan said in a shy voice. "I want to be there when you give birth to our child."

    Neoma turned to themander with sparkling eyes. "OUR child?"

    As expected, themander blushed again. "It''s up to you, Neoma. But I''d like to be given the honor and joy of bing your child''s father."

    She couldn''t help butugh at what he said.

    To be fair, she wasn''t making fun of him¨C she just found the whole thing ironic.

    "It''s funny how you never asked me to be your wife, and yet you wanted to take responsibility for my child."

    "Neoma, you know we''re not allowed to marry each other," Commander Yoan said in a sad voice. "I would marry you in a heartbeat if I could."

    "It''s too bad the gods are too afraid that we''d create another de Moonasterios, huh?"

    "We don''t need a wedding ceremony to validate the fact that we''re already a family, Neoma."

    Oh.

    Just hearing the word ''family'' was enough to make her heart jump in joy.

    After all, Neoma wanted nothing more in the world than to have a happy family of her own.

    "And once we have a child, then our family will grow bigger," Commander Yoan said, then he smiled at her. "I can''t wait to meet our baby, Neoma."

    Aww.

    Neoma smiled and nodded, then she touched her belly. "I''ll create the most adorable baby in the world to be a part of our family, Commander Yoan."

    ***

    HMM.

    The Darkness that was causing air pollution in the Upper World got worse rapidly.

    Neoma''s residence, which was far from the Divine City, had been affected by the dirty air already.

    Not only that¨C the beach in front of her house had already beenpletely corrupted by Darkness now. The blue water had turned into ck. It was like another ck Ocean had been created.

    "Pollution is bad for the baby, isn''t it?" Neoma wondered out loud while gently rubbing her belly. "I can''t let my baby live in a polluted area."

    She didn''t really want to move or use her powers again, but she couldn''t be selfish anymore.

    [After all, I''m going to be a mother soon.]

    Neoma smiled, happy with the thought of bing a mother. "Alright. Let''s clean this ce for my baby," she said to herself, then she raised her hands. "Begone, Darkness."

    ***

    "WHAT? The new god has sessfully cleansed the air pollution in her residence?"

    "That might be temporary, though. After all, even our Aether could clean the air pollution for a while. But Darkness wille again and corrupt our air."

    "It has been three months already since she cleansed her residence, and it has been that way since then!"

    "Three months?! The dirty air in our cees back just mere two weeks after the Aether cleansed it!"

    "Then does it mean that it''s permanent?"

    "The young god has the power to get rid of the air pollution PERMANENTLY?"

    "Come to think of it, isn''t the new god a de Moonasterio?"

    Ah.

    At that moment, the gods that had heard of Neoma''s power to cleanse the air pollution collectively had a greedy thought.

    A NEW AETHER HAD ARRIVED TO SAVE THEM ALL.

    ***

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 Chapter 852 A BEAUTIFUL NIGHTMARE (3)

    <h4>Chapter 852 A BEAUTIFUL NIGHTMARE (3)</h4>

    AN UNWANTED guest.

    That was how Neoma would describe Astrid, the Goddess of Beauty, who visited her residence unannounced.

    It wasn''t the first time that the goddess did something like that.

    However, this was the first time Astrid came alone.

    [She usually brings an entourage of her attractive lovers.]

    "To what do I owe this visit, Lady Astrid?" Neoma asked sarcastically. "We don''t have the kind of rtionship where we can visit each other without a valid reason, do we?"

    It wasn''t like she hated Astrid.

    Hatred was a luxury for jaded people like Neoma.

    [I simply do not give a damn anymore.]

    But she would admit that she wasn''t fond of the goddess who tried to seduce Commander Yoan before.

    [Themander didn''t even turn to look at the Goddess of Beauty, though.]

    It was actually funny remembering how Astrid was humiliated by Commander Yoan on several asions.

    "Are you not even going to invite me inside your house?"

    "You''re not a guest, so why would I?"

    "Cheeky brat."

    "Why, thank you."

    "Here," Astrid said, handing her a box. "Take it."

    Neoma just moved her finger to make the box float, then she did the same thing to lift the lid of the box. She raised an eyebrow when she saw the gift that Astrid brought for her. "Are you telling me to go to another war?"

    After all, the goddess'' gift was a set of armor.

    And it wasn''t just any armor¨C it was the armor that Astrid used the first time she participated in a war.

    Astrid smiled arrogantly. "You recognized my armor right away."

    "Who wouldn''t?" she asked back. "Even back in the human world, several replicas of your armor were disyed in different museums."

    "Good," the goddess said, still looking smug. "Then you know how valuable that armor is."

    "I don''t want it."

    "Excuse me?"

    "I don''t want it," Neoma repeatedzily. "You can take it back."

    "You¨C"

    "I know what you want, and I''m not giving it to you."

    Astrid''s face turned red from anger. "What do you mean by that?"

    "You want me to clean the pollution in your residence, don''t you?"

    The fact that the goddess kept her mouth shut as if she was guilty was enough answer.

    Although Neoma was shut in her manor, she still had eyes and ears in the Divine City. Hence, she already knew that the gods were already aiming at her.

    She didn''t regret getting rid of the pollution in her residence, though.

    [After all, it''s for my baby.]

    "I won''t do it," Neoma said coldly. "Go home."

    "If you don''t want the armor, then tell me what you want," Astrid said firmly. "I''ll give you anything and everything you want as long as it''s within my power."

    "No can do."

    The goddess closed her eyes for a moment before she opened them just to re at her. "Fine. You can have my title as the most beautiful goddess in the world."

    "I don''t need that stupid title."

    "Excuse me? Do you know how many girls and goddesses would kill just to have my title?!"

    "I''m already the most beautiful woman in Yoan''s eyes, so I don''t need other people''s validation."

    She liked addressing Yoan as mander'' because it reminded her of their time in their human world.

    But, when talking to other people, she would address Yoan by his first name.

    [Because I need to let them know that Yoan is mine.]

    "You insolent brat," Astrid said in a growl, her red eyes glowing menacingly. "How dare you turn me down when I''m asking nicely!"

    Neoma sighed, then she snapped her fingers.

    That mere act was enough to send the Goddess of Beauty flying.

    But Astrid was still a god, so she managed to stop herself from getting thrown into the polluted beach. The goddess was now suspended in the air, throwing curses at Neoma.

    [Her high-pitched voice is so damn annoying.]

    "Get out," Neoma said in a tired voice. "Stop bothering me."

    And then she created a powerful Dome around her entire estate.

    ***

    BLERGH.

    Darkness.

    Neoma threw up Darkness.

    [I ate too much of it¡­]

    Cleaning up the polluted air in her entire residence took a toll on her body. It was too much for her. Perhaps it was because she hadn''t used her power for thest two years since the war ended.

    [Yoan did everything for me back then, so I didn''t have to move on my own.]

    "But I need to get back in shape if I want to protect my baby," Neoma whispered to herself. "Astrid won''t be thest person to bother me now that the entire Upper World knows I can permanently get rid of the air pollution here."

    To be honest, she knew that the other gods would leave her alone if she just agreed to clean up the air in the Upper World.

    But she couldn''t because that would be bad for her baby.

    "My baby is more important than anyone or anything else in this world," Neoma whispered, clenching her hands tight as her red eyes glowered in the dark. "I''ll ask Yoan to leave this ce with me as soon as he returns."

    ***

    "COME OUT, NEOMA de Moonasterio!"

    Neoma stood on the balcony of her room with knitted eyebrows.

    She didn''t really need toe out of her manor.

    Her eyesight was good enough to see Arien, the God of War, standing in front of her estate even though there was a huge distance between them.

    [He came out of his training room?]

    After the war ended two years ago, Arien locked himself up in his training room to train his body again. Apparently, he had to be prepared in case another war came up.

    "I can see you, brat!"

    [Well, I can see you, too.]

    And it was unsightly because the God of War only wore a pair of trousers and nothing else.

    Arien was a nine-foot-tall man with a huge build. His tanned skin was full of scars that he considered badges of honor. The god had ming red hair that seemed to signify his hot temper.

    Apparently, Arien was very handsome.

    Neoma couldn''t tell because she liked her man neat and simple.

    [Like my Yoan.]

    Moreover, even in the Upper World, no one could match Rubin Drayton''s handsome face. Hence, her standards for a man''s attractiveness were really high.

    "Get rid of this barrier before I break it, Neoma de Moonasterio!"

    Neoma let out a sigh while shaking her head. "I won''t purify your residence, Lord Arien."

    She knew that the God of War could hear her despite the distance between them.

    [His sharp senses are unrivaled, after all.]

    "Why not?!" Arien growled angrily. "How can I meditate in my training room if the air inside is polluted?!"

    "That''s not my problem."

    "Then I''ll make it YOUR problem!"

    Arien''s red eyes glowed dangerously, and then he yelled angrily before punching Neoma''s Dome.

    [Argh.]

    Neoma felt the recoil of her barrier getting punched by the (physically) strongest god in the Upper World.

    She had no choice but to get rid of her barrier.

    It wasn''t like she had weakened. Her strongest suit was her barriers, after all. But she had put 50% of her power to protect the child in her womb.

    [This fight won''t be easy.]

    Her thoughts were interrupted when the ground started shaking because Arien was running at full speed to reach her manor.

    [Scary bastard.]

    Neoma didn''t move her from her spot because she had no intention of fighting Arien with her own strength alone.

    Not when she had a baby to protect.

    "Veton," Neoma said, summoning the new "pet" that Yoan caught a few years ago. The Thunderbird, now in the form of a small bird, materialized andnded on her arm. "Yoan left a significant amount of his Mana for you to add to your power, didn''t he?"

    The Elemental Guardian chirped while bobbing its head in response.

    She was d that the Thunderbird seemed to like her. After all, it was willing to follow her order even though she wasn''t its master.

    [Yoan trained his bird well.]

    "Very well," Neoma said, then she pointed at Arien who was already in front of her manor. "Strike that bastard."

    A few secondster, the sky turned dark.

    And then the single strike of a very powerful and purple-colored lightning lit up half of the Upper World.

    Neomater heard that Arien barely survived the attack.

    ***

    "LORD LEVI, this is too much!"

    "The fate of the entire Upper World is in Neoma de Moonasterio''s hands, but she refuses to help us!"

    "That brat is being selfish!"

    "She even attacked the gods who came to her residence to negotiate with her!"

    "And now she created a powerful barrier around her estate!"

    "Perhaps she thinks she''s already on the same level as the old gods just because we''re being lenient to her! We should put her in her ce!"

    Levi let out a silent sigh.

    It had been months since Neoma de Moonasterio purified the air pollution in her residence. And since then, the young princess'' residence had been free of corruption.

    [It''s proof that her purification abilities can get rid of the pollution permanently.]

    No wonder the other gods were greedy to have Neoma de Moonasterio act as their personal Aether.

    "Perhaps Yoan could help us convince Neoma de Moonasterio to cooperate with us?"

    Levi''s face hardened when his divine son''s name was brought up. "What does Yoan have to do with this?"

    The entire room suddenly fell silent when his cold voice echoed inside.

    Levi reminded his colleagues that he was still the God Among Gods by almost crushing them with his mere presence.

    That forced everyone in the room to bow their heads and lower their gazes to the floor.

    "I will talk to Neoma de Moonasterio, so don''t bother my son who''s busy helping the humans rebuild their world," Levi said in a tired voice. "You may all leave now."

    The gods who barged into his office toin left one by one with heavy feet.

    All except for one.

    "Larissa," Levi said, calling the only goddess who didn''t leave her seat. "What does the Goddess of Fertility need from me?"

    Larissa, the Goddess of Fertility¨C and the one who allowed the birth of the de Moonasterio n in the human world.

    It was almost possible for two major gods to give birth to a child naturally.

    But it was Larissa who helped Yule and Roxana do that.

    "My lord, congrattions," Larissa said, smiling cheekily at Levi. "You''re going to be a grandfather soon."

    Levi, who was shocked by the news, broke the arms of his chair. "Are you saying that Neoma de Moonasterio is pregnant with my son''s child?! How dare those children conceive a child without my permission!"

    It was a disaster.

    Yule and Roxana''s union gave birth to the de Moonasterios¨C the god among men.

    History shouldn''t repeat itself.

    "Calm down, my lord," Larissa said calmly. "Neoma de Moonasterio created the child herself."

    "What?"

    "It''s entirely possible for a god to create their own child, just like how my lord made Yoan your divine son," Larissa said, then she casually sipped her tea before she continued. "But it seems like Yoan will take responsibility for Neoma de Moonasterio''s child."

    Levi fell silent when the big picture started to make sense.

    Neoma de Moonasterio had stopped using her powers since the war ended, but she was never uncooperative.

    Now he finally understood why the young god refused to clean up the Upper World.

    "Neoma de Moonasterio is pregnant," Levi whispered to himself, tapping his fingers on the broken arms of his chair. "She refuses to cooperate in order to protect her child."

    ***

    IT WAS a guest that Neoma couldn''t push away.

    How could she do that when the visitor just appeared out of thin air in front of her?

    Tsk.

    [So, my Dome is useless against this man.]

    "I''m here to confirm one thing, Neoma de Moonasterio," Lord Levi asked bluntly. "Are you pregnant?"

    Ah.

    As expected, she couldn''t hide her pregnancy for so long.

    Neoma unconsciously hugged her belly. "What if I''m pregnant, Lord Levi?"

    "Get rid of the child," Lord Levi ordered in a cold voice. "You cannot purify the polluted air in the Upper World if you''re pregnant."

    ***

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 Chapter 853 A BEAUTIFUL NIGHTMARE (4)

    <h4>Chapter 853 A BEAUTIFUL NIGHTMARE (4)</h4>

    [GET RID of my baby?]

    Neoma thought she could respect Lord Levi as her father-inw.

    However, after hearing those cruel words from the god, she realized that not even her love for Commander Yoan could make her forgive Lord Levi.

    [Let''s kill him.]

    As soon as that thought crossed Neoma''s mind, her body moved on its own.

    She had mastered the art of fighting without moving her body. But not this time. She wanted to destroy Lord Levi with her own hands.

    CRACK.

    That was the sound of Neoma''s fingers breaking as she punched the barrier around Lord Levi.

    She didn''t care, though.

    Despite the pain, she pushed through until the barrier waspletely destroyed and she almost hit Lord Levin in the face.

    Almost.

    "Calm down, Neoma de Moonasterio," Lord Levi said sternly. "I''m not yet done talking."

    "I have no intention of listening to your nonsense, my lord," Neoma said, gathering all the Mana and the divine power in her body and then concentrating them in her fist. Her desire to punch Lord Levi in the face hadn''t died yet. "You already lost the right to speak to me the moment you asked me to get rid of my baby."

    The God Among God had the audacity to sigh as if he was tired of talking to her already when it was supposed to be the other way around.

    "Lord Levi, you should have worded it properly."

    Hmm?

    Another god broke through her barrier.

    ck curly hair, the famous beauty mark on her chin¨C the goddess who appeared behind Lord Levi was Larissa.

    [The Goddess of Fertility.]

    "Please calm down, Neoma de Moonasterio," Larissa said in a gentle voice. "We''re here to help you with your pregnancy."

    What?

    Neoma put her hand down. "Exin."

    ***

    NEOMA didn''t want to, but she had no choice but to serve tea to Lord Levi and the goddess Larissa.

    Because what they said caught her attention, she decided to treat them as her guests.

    "Now that I''ve done my part as a host, I''d like it if you go straight to the point," Neoma said firmly. "Lord Levi, you suddenly asked me to get rid of my child. But Lady Larissa suddenly arrived and said you were going to help me with my pregnancy. Why are you being so inconsistent?"

    "What part of what I said was confusing?" Lord Levi asked, and he sounded really confused. "I want you to get rid of the child in your womb at the moment, but don''t worry because we''ll help you with your pregnancy."

    Neoma didn''t say anything, but she was pretty sure she had a very disrespectful gaze while ring at Lord Levi.

    [Yoan is such a good speaker, so why is Lord Levi like this?]

    "Allow me to exin on Lord Levi''s behalf," Larissa said, smiling apologetically at Neoma. "Young princess, do you know who I am?"

    "You''re the Goddess of Fertility."

    "And what else?"

    "Yoan told me that you were also the one who helped the Moon God and the Light Goddess conceive a child," Neoma said hesitantly. "ording to him, it wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that the de Moonasterios wouldn''t be born in the world without your help."

    It wasn''t written in the history books.

    But Neoma, while she was living as a Quinzel in the human world, had always wondered why the empress'' pce was called ''Larissa Pce'' and was not named after the Light Goddess.

    After all, the emperor''s pce was named after the Moon God.

    [And that was when Yoan told me about Larissa, the Goddess of Fertility.]

    "It was almost impossible for two major gods to conceive a child naturally," Larissa said. "But Lady Roxana has given up her immortal body for the chance to have a child. Lord Yule did the same, but unlike the Light Goddess, the Moon God had a time limit. He could only use his temporary human body for a certain period of time. In short, Lord Levi gave the Moon God an ultimatum."

    "Roxana had already lost her divinity during that time after she got rid of the Absolute Darkness, so I had no choice but to allow her to live as a human," Lord Levi said defensively. "But I can''t give up on Yule. He''s the Moon God, after all. I can''t lose both the Light Goddess and the Mon God at the same time."

    Haaah.

    It took Neoma all she got to stop herself from rolling her eyes at Lord Levi''s pathetic excuse.

    [Why can''t he just admit that he was just being selfish?]

    "While Lady Roxana and Lord Yule were in the human world with their human bodies, I lent them my power so that they could conceive a child sessfully," Larissa said, then she smiled shyly. "I don''t want to sound arrogant, but if it wasn''t for my blessing and guidance, Lady Roxana wouldn''t get pregnant. After all, the body that Lord Yule used at the time was nothing but a fake vessel. Moreover, his soul was still the soul of a powerful god¡­"

    The Goddess of Fertility trailed off, then sheughed softly.

    "Young princess, you''re not listening, are you?"

    "I''m really not interested in my ancestors'' history," Neoma saidzily. "I''m sorry, but please get to the point now. I already get what you mean anyway¨C that you can help anyone get pregnant. I''m convinced, so stop beating around the bush."

    Larissa looked surprised at first, then she smiled while shaking her head.

    Lord Levi sighed while shaking his head. "You''re as arrogant as your ancestors, Neoma de Moonasterio."

    Neoma just sipped her tea.

    "Young princess, when Lord Levi said that he wanted you to "get rid" of your child, he didn''t mean for you to abort it," Larissa said carefully. "We just need you to remove the Sapling that you nted in your womb."

    The children that gods procreate on their own were called ''Saplings.''

    After all, children ''created'' by gods wouldn''t be born the normal way.

    "Since you asked me to remove the baby in my womb, then I''m assuming there''s a way to keep my baby alive after leaving my body," Neoma said carefully, touching her belly. "Am I right?"

    Larissa nodded, smiling kindly at her. "I''m the Goddess of Fertility. I can take care of the Saplings and keep them alive even after they were extracted from their mother''s belly."

    Neoma was still skeptical. "You''re doing this because you want me to get rid of the Darkness in the Upper World, don''t you?"

    "I''d lie if I said it wasn''t a part of the reason why we came up with this n," Lord Levi said. "But you have to admit that you can''t hide in your estate forever, Neoma de Moonasterio. Once the gods decided to attack you all at the same time, it would be difficult for you to protect yourself and the baby in your womb. No matter how strong you are, you can''t still win if the major gods in the Upper World ganged up on you. Especially not when Yoan isn''t here."

    Neoma didn''t want to admit this, but Lord Levi was correct.

    She couldn''t hide in her estate forever, and she wouldn''tst long fighting every god picking up a fight with her.

    That was why she wanted to run away with Yoan.

    [The problem is I don''t know when exactly Yoan will return. He has stopped responding to my messages for a few weeks now.]

    "Aside from what Lord Levi has said, there''s another reason why I want to help you personally, Neoma de Moonasterio."

    "Then what''s your reason for helping me, Lady Larissa?"

    "As the Goddess of Fertility, I couldn''t stand watching a Sapling slowly die inside their mother''s womb."

    Neoma''s eyes widened in shock, then she hugged her belly unconsciously. "My baby is dying? But why? I''m protecting it well with my Mana and divine power."

    "Young princess, you ate a lot of Darkness when you cleaned up your residence, didn''t you?"

    Ah.

    Neoma suddenly felt a chill all over her body.

    To say that she was scared would be an understatement.

    [I knew it. After I ate too much Darkness that day, my body has never been in its best condition. No matter how many potions I drank, nothing has changed.]

    It wouldn''t be a problem if it was only her health that was affected negatively.

    "Am I killing my baby because of the Darkness that I absorbed in my body?" Neoma asked nervously. "Is that it?"

    Larissa smiled sadly and nodded her head. "The Darkness in your body is poisoning your Sapling, young princess."

    "I don''t know about the Sapling''s condition, but I can see that the Darkness inside your body is eating at your divine power, Neoma de Moonasterio," Lord Levi said, his red eyes glowing while inspecting Neoma from head to toe. "Child, your body is unstable. You should have seized the throne before you ascended. If you did that, then your Moonglow would have stabilized."

    "Lord Levi, I don''t need to be more powerful than I already am," Neoma said, ignoring the god''s nagging. Then she turned to Larissa. "What will happen after I removed my baby from my womb, Lady Larissa?"

    "I will care for the Sapling while you recover, young princess," Larissa said, then she turned to Lord Levi. "And after that¡­"

    Lord Levi sighed. "Neoma de Moonasterio, if you agree to get rid of the air pollution in the Upper World, I will give you permission to marry Yoan. And then I will allow you to conceive a child naturally."

    "With my help, I will make sure that the Sapling you created will be absorbed by the child that you''d conceive with Yoan," Larissa added with a smile on her face. "We will help you with your pregnancy, Neoma de Moonasterio."

    Haaah.

    It seemed like Neoma couldn''t avoid using her powers for the Upper World.

    [But the reward is too tempting.]

    "I''ll add one more condition," Neoma said, sighing. "Help me detoxify the Darkness in my body first, Lord Levi."

    Lord Levi nodded as if he already knew she''d say that. "Consider it done, Neoma de Moonasterio."

    And then they finally made a deal.

    But Neoma should have known that those damned gods couldn''t be trusted.

    ***

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 Chapter 854 A BEAUTIFUL NIGHTMARE (5)

    <h4>Chapter 854 A BEAUTIFUL NIGHTMARE (5)</h4>

    [MY BODY feels lighter now.]

    Neoma was a bit impressed when Lord Levi purified her body.

    [As expected of the God Among Gods.]

    "I''ve purified the Darkness in your body," Lord Levi said in a tired voice. "I didn''t expect that the Darkness you absorbed was that powerful. It''s a miracle that you''re still alive after consuming such poison in your body."

    She didn''t want to admit this, but what the god said scared her a little.

    After all, it was like a confirmation that the Darkness that she consumed was really poisonous.

    She almost killed her baby.

    [I should be more careful next time.]

    "Consuming Darkness isn''t safe for my baby," Neoma whispered to herself, touching her belly protectively. "I guess it''s the right choice to extract my baby from my womb and let Lady Larissa take care of him."

    "Him?" Lord Levi asked as if he was surprised. "Your child is a boy?"

    "The gender of the baby isn''t something that I chose."

    "It''s surprising," Lord Levi said. "After all, you''re a Roseheart and the Rosehearts only give birth to females."

    Hmm.

    [I think I''ve heard something like that before.]

    Neoma tried to look for her mother in the past, but not even her father¨C Duke Rufus Quinzel¨C told her about her mother when she asked.

    Yoan asked her before if she wanted to know why her mother disappeared.

    But she opted not to know.

    [After all, during that time, I didn''t have the luxury to stop moving and listen to stories about my family.]

    Moreover¡­

    "I think the fact that the Rosehearts can only give birth to females has been proven false already by the birth of my twin brother."

    "Ah, right. Nero de Moonasterio," Lord Levi said, nodding. "I almost forgot about your twin brother because he didn''t do anything remarkable despite being a powerful de Moonasterio."

    "How can Nero do more remarkable things when Yoan killed him early?"

    The God Among Gods wasn''t able to say anything.

    To be fair, Yoan didn''t directly kill Nero. Themander just extracted the young emperor''s Roseheart¨C causing him to lose to the Third Cmity that hit the empire.

    It was a shame that Nero died just when they were starting to get close to each other.

    [I did forgive him when he killed me because I didn''t have the energy to hate anyone after I got revived.]

    Neoma''s thoughts were interrupted when Lord Levi suddenly stumbled.

    She moved her hand out of reflex, and the two little moons that she named ''Lunar'' and ''Eclipse'' appeared.

    The two little moons then supported Lord Levi.

    "Was it exhausting purifying the Darkness inside me, Lord Levi?" Neoma asked indifferently. "If something as small as this can already make you tired, then does it mean you''ve grown weak?"

    "Don''t be cheeky," Lord Levi said sternly. "I''m still powerful enough to kill you and Yoan at the same time if I want to."

    "But you won''t because you love your divine son so much."

    "I can kill you."

    "But you won''t because Yoan loves me so much," Neoma said cheekily. "I know that you believe Yoan won''t disobey you, but let''s see if he will still remain the little goody two-shoes you think he is if something happened to me and our baby."

    Lord Levi scoffed. "Is that a warning?"

    "It''s just a friendly reminder that you have to treat me and my baby well," Neoma said, smiling cheekily at the god. "Father."

    The god looked startled when she called him ''Father,'' but she pretended not to notice.

    "By the way, I have a question," Neoma said, changing the topic. "If you can purify the Darkness in me, why couldn''t you purify the Darkness that''s causing air pollution in this world?"

    "My divine power isn''t enough to purify the air pollution here," Lord Levi said. "But I was able to clean the Darkness that you consumed because it has already been weakened by your divine power."

    "I see. My divine power is stronger than yours, Father."

    "Again, don''t be cheeky."

    Pfft.

    It was funny how Lord Levi looked so offended when she said her divine power was stronger than his, but he didn''t care that Neoma called him ''Father'' again.

    [Is he finally warming up to me?]

    "Father, thank you for purifying me," Neoma said politely, slightly bowing her head towards the god. "Let''s get along well from now on."

    Lord Levi just frowned, but he didn''t turn her down.

    [Maybe we can really get along well this time.]

    ***

    LORD LEVI talked big, but he had to enter a temporary deep slumber in order to recover.

    Neoma felt a bit guilty after hearing the unfortunate news.

    "Don''t worry, young princess," Larissa assured her when the goddess noticed that she fell silent after hearing the news about Lord Levi''s health condition. "Lord Levi just needs to take a nap for a year or two."

    A year or two of sleeping definitely sounded too long for a "nap."

    But Neoma had to remind herself that gods had a different perception of time from humans. She still found it strange, though. After all, she lived longer than a human as a new god.

    "I''m not really worried about Lord Levi," Neoma said while staring at the portable stone tab in her hands. "I''m more worried about Yoan."

    Yoan would usually send her a message of survival every day.

    But it had been a while since hest sent her a message.

    [I told him about the deal that I made with Lord Levi and Lady Larissa, but he hasn''t even seen my message yet.]

    "Then do you want my son to help you?"

    "Your son?"

    Lady Larissa looked surprised that she didn''t know who her son was.

    [If Yoan was here, he would have scolded me already. He told me many times to memorize the names and the faces of the gods in the Upper World. But I''m toozy to remember every single god here. And I''m not really interested in knowing the gods'' affairs, too.]

    "Hayden, my son, is the ''Messenger of Gods,''" Larissa exined with a proud smile on her face. "My son is also the patron who helped the first human who invented themunication devices used by humans."

    Ah, so that was why the Goddess of Fertility sounded so proud.

    [Hayden''s aplishment is indeed very vital to the advancement of the human race.]

    "If you want, I can summon my son here and ask him to deliver a message to Yoan."

    "Ah, you don''t have to do that, Lady Larissa," she said while shaking her head. "I couldn''t possibly make the Messenger of Gods deliver a personal message for me."

    Well, that was just an excuse.

    In reality, she didn''t want anyone to hear the message that she sent to Yoan.

    "Are you sure, young princess?"

    Neoma nodded, then she turned to the portal that finally opened in front of them. "We need to head to the Spirit World, don''t we?"

    Larissa smiled and nodded. "Tara, the Queen of the Spirit World, is a good friend of mine," she said. "She will help us extract your Sapling safely."

    ***

    "WELCOME to the Spirit World, Larissa and Neoma de Moonasterio."

    Hmm?

    Neoma couldn''t believe that the fairy in front of her was the Queen of the Spirit World.

    [Even for a fairy, she still looks tiny. Moreover, there''s a strange gloominess around her. She looks like she''d drop dead any minute now.]

    "I apologize for my current appearance," Tara, the Queen of the Spirit World, said in a weak voice. "I just got back from healing the fairies in the human world."

    "Is it that bad?" Larissa asked worriedly. "I hope the fairies living in the human world are safe."

    Ah, right.

    Neoma remembered Yoan saying that the same air pollution in the Upper World seemed to have spread to the human world, too.

    But, ording to themander, the Darkness in the human world was manageable.

    [It''s none of my business, though.]

    "Fortunately, I managed to save them," Tara said, smiling despite the tiredness on her face. "Thank you for asking about my children, Larissa."

    The Goddess of Fertility just smiled as if she was relieved.

    [They seem to be good friends.]

    To be honest, Neoma felt a little bitter while watching Larissa and Tara''s interaction.

    The closest thing to a female friend that she had when she was still in the human world was the Pirate Princess.

    And that Pirate Princess was Hanna Quinzel, the child that she reced.

    [Hanna Quinzel is a foolish one who died because she saved me from my Lunacy.]

    "Is it alright for us to be here, Queen Tara?" Neoma asked bluntly. "It looks like you need to rest. I hate to impose on you when you look like you''re about to croak at any moment."

    Tara looked shocked by her bluntness.

    Larissa "coughed" to conceal herughter. "Tara, please don''t be upset. The young princess is just worried about your health."

    Not really, but Neoma just kept her mouth shut.

    "Ah, I see. Thank you for worrying about me, Princess Neoma," Tara said, her face lighting up a bit. "But don''t be. I''m really fine, young princess. Moreover¡­" The queen paused, then she pointed at the giant tree behind her. "Only I can wake up the Sentinel Tree."

    ***

    IT WAS weird to sit on the root of the Sentinel Tree.

    Not that it wasn''tfortable.

    Despite how big and wide the root was, it still felt as soft as a mattress. In fact, she was getting drowsy already even though she was just sitting there.

    "Here, young princess."

    Neoma automatically extended her hands when Larissa handed her a pair of white gloves. "A Divine Item?"

    "They are," Larissa said, smiling while nodding her head. "Those are the gloves I use to help women have a safe childbirth."

    "And you''re giving them to me because¡­?"

    "Because I figured you wouldn''t let me touch the Sapling in your womb," the goddess said. "So, please extract the Sapling using your own hands. Once you wear the gloves, you can literally pull the Sapling out of your womb. It''s a safe method for you and the Sapling."

    Neoma checked the Divine Item first.

    After confirming that it was authentic, only then did she wear the pair of white gloves. Then instructions on how to use them flooded her mind.

    [Ah, it''s simple.]

    Neoma touched her belly with her gloved hands, and her gloved hands passed through her body as if a portal suddenly opened up in her stomach. It didn''t hurt, so she didn''t react.

    It felt a little weird, like her hands were suddenly submerged in cold water.

    Fortunately, it only took her a few seconds to finally pull out her baby from her womb.

    It was a small pure-white bean.

    [This is why children created by gods are called ''Saplings''¨C they look like small seeds.]

    "Please hand me the Sapling, young princess," Larissa said gently while holding a white towel in her hands. The white towel was a Divine Item, too. "The Sapling needs a new home while it''s waiting for you."

    Neoma hesitated at first, but she didn''t want her baby to die after getting extracted from her womb.

    Hence, she put her baby on the towel that Larissa was holding.

    "Take care of my baby well," Neoma said, her voice sounding like a threat instead of a request. "What should I do next?"

    "Sleep," Larissa said, smiling so wide that her red eyes turned into little crescent moons. "It''s time for you to enter your ETERNAL slumber, Neoma de Moonasterio."

    Ah, dammit!

    Neoma tried to stand up and snatch her baby from Larissa, but several roots suddenly attacked her and wrapped themselves around her body.

    And then the roots sucked out all her life force very quickly.

    She quickly lost the strength to fight back.

    Eventually, Neoma closed her eyes without knowing that she was getting buried alive by the gods who betrayed her.

    ***

    NEOMA, the one in the current timeline, clutched her head and shut her eyes tight after seeing the tragic memory that Vitu showed her.

    So, she extracted her precious baby from her womb using her own hands.

    All because she was na?ve and stupid enough to trust those fucking gods.

    And that damned Queen of the Spirit World.

    "I''ll kill them," Neoma said, growling. When she opened her eyes again, she could feel that they had turned glowing red already. "I''ll fucking kill them all even if they haven''t done anything yet in this timeline!"

    ***

    RUTO FELT a shiver down his spine when the red me of the Eternal me suddenly grew bigger.

    And he wasn''t the only one who felt that way.

    "Ah, the little princess has lost it," Drystan said nervously while stepping back from the Eternal me. "It reminds me of the first time I met the little princess in the past timeline."

    Ruto let out a sigh while clenching his hands tight. "We have to brace ourselves once Neomaes out."

    Because Neoma might end the world once again.

    ***

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 Chapter 855 A BEAUTIFUL NIGHTMARE (6)

    ?

    LARISSA was relieved when Neoma de Moonasterio failed to get out of the cage made from the roots of the Sentinel Tree.

    There was no way the young princess could get out when her body was in a bad condition.

    It was true that Lord Levi had already purified the Darkness that Neoma de Moonasterio absorbed. But extracting the Sapling from her womb weakened the young princess because she put more than half of her power into protecting her child.

    "If she didn''t put more than half of her power into creating a barrier for her Sapling, her movements and senses wouldn''t have dulled," Larissa said while looking at the Sapling covered in the towel. It was a Divine Item meant to protect newborn children of the divinity. "We need Arien to break the barrier around this little thing."

    It seemed like Neoma de Moonasterio didn''tpletely trust Larissa.

    If she did, then the young princess wouldn''t put a protective barrier around the Sapling.

    Even so, it didn''t matter.

    [We just have to break the barrier to nt the Sapling somewhere else.]

    "Larissa, are we really doing this?" Tara asked nervously. "We''re burying Neoma de Moonasterio ALIVE. What if she suddenly wakes up?"

    "She won''t," Larissa said confidently. "The Sentinel Tree will keep her from waking up."

    "I''m not talking about physically," the fairy queen said sternly. "The young princess is a Roseheart, and the Rosehearts can function normally in their Spirit form. In fact, when their physical bodies are down, the Rosehearts are actually stronger as Spirits."

    She chuckled at her friend''s worries. "Tara, calm down. Neoma de Moonasterio is NOT Mona Roseheart. She didn''t even awaken as a Roseheart, did she?"

    Only then did the fairy queen finally calm down.

    "Tara, don''t tell me you''re still afraid of Mona Roseheart?" Larissa asked,ughing softly while shaking her head. "She''s already dead, and you''ve sessfully taken her ce. Are you afraid that Mona would suddenly return and take everything away from you again?"

    "They never called me their daughter."

    "Hmm?"

    "Mona was called the Daughter of Nature and the Cosmic Tree," Tara said bitterly. "But even after Mona died, the Nature and the Cosmic Tree had never called me their daughter."

    Ah, so that was the root of Tara''s inferiorityplex towards Mona Roseheart.

    "Then you finally took your revenge against Mona Roseheart," Larissa said, consoling her friend. "Her daughter didn''t awaken, and now you''re burying that child alive. Which also means that the bloodline of the Roseheart finally ends here."

    Tara looked relieved, but the look of worry on her face hadn''t disappeared yet. "Larissa, I agreed with your n because the fairies need clean air to live. But I was wondering if we really need to bury Neoma de Moonasterio and nt her as an Aether. Didn''t she already agree to purify the polluted air in the Upper World? Once the Darkness in your world disappeared, the pollution below will also disappear since it''s the cause of the mess in the first ce."

    "That''s true. I didn''t expect that Lord Levi would give his blessing to Yoan and Neoma de Moonasterio just to get the young princess to agree to clean up the air pollution in the Upper World," Larissa said. "But cleaning up the air pollution isn''t enough for gods like me."

    "What do you mean by that?"

    Larissa licked her lips. "After Neoma de Moonasterio got rid of the air pollution in her residence, the air there didn''t just get cleaned¨C it actually became¡­ delicious."

    "Delicious? Do gods eat air now?"

    "The air that Neoma de Moonasterio produced has rejuvenating effects," Larissa exined. "She''s so much better than the current Aether that we have."

    And that was when Larissa decided to make Neoma de Moonasterio the new Aether.

    But she knew that the young princess wouldn''t die for the gods in the Upper World¨C especially not when Neoma de Moonasterio wanted a child.

    "I have grown weak ever since we fought the Absolute Darkness during the Ancient Period. Unfortunately, my recovery has been so slow that the current air pollution in the Upper World actually affected my health negatively," Larissa exined. "And it wasn''t only me. The other gods are also growing weaker. We''re all dissatisfied with that."

    "Ah. That''s why you need Neoma de Moonasterio to be the new Aether," Tara said, nodding. "You need to regain your former strength."

    Well, that was the main reason.

    But there was another one that pushed the gods to make that choice.

    "It''s ridiculous for a new god to grow stronger than the old ones," Larissa said, her voice sounding a little bitter. "We must cut the sprout before it fully grows."

    ***

    "LARISSA, we''re here!"

    Finally.

    Larissa smiled when she looked up and saw the gods who joined her faction.

    It was led by Arien, the God of War.

    "What should we do?" Arien asked impatiently. It seemed like the God of War couldn''t wait to bury Neoma de Moonasterio alive so he could return to his peaceful training session. "How do we bury the arrogant new god?"

    Larissa pointed at the Sentinel Tree. "We need to push the Sentinel Tree down to Hell," she exined. "It''s possible if webine all our powers together."

    "Alright!"

    Haaah.

    [Why does the God of War always shout?]

    Larissa just shook her head, then she turned to Astrid.

    Yes, the Goddess of Beauty also joined her faction.

    [It''s not surprising since I know that Astrid has always felt jealous of Neoma de Moonasterio''s beauty.]

    Astrid, despite her vanity, was a strong goddess.

    However¡­

    "Are you just here to y?" Larissa asked since Astrid was busy looking at her face in thepact mirror in her hand. It was amunication device, and she was probably talking to one of her many lovers. "Astrid, you have to contribute in this project if you want to harvest the benefits with uster."

    "I already did my part, though," Astrid said stubbornly, then she pointed at an entourage of young and attractive minor gods behind her. "I brought my ves. They may be minor gods, but they have the strength and divine power that you need."

    Well, that was right.

    Even so¡­

    Larissa sighed and shook her head. "I don''t know why you''re even here."

    "I''m the Goddess of Beauty. Why do I need to dirty my dainty hands?" Astrid snapped at Larissa. "Isn''t it obvious that I''m only here because I want to see Neoma de Moonasterio buried alive?"

    Haaah.

    Despite being alive since the Ancient Period, Astrid remained childish all this time.

    [It''s probably because she''s being pampered by the other gods because of her beauty.]

    "Forget it," Larissa said while shaking her head. "Let''s just get this done and over with."

    ***

    "WELCOME to Hell."

    Larissa burst outughing at Drystan''s dry greeting. "You don''t look happy to see me after a long time, Drystan."

    "Well, would you be happy to see one of the gods who kicked you out of paradise?" Drystan said in a cold, indifferent voice. "Thanks to you, I''ve been suffering from overworking."

    "You still look great, though. After all, the air pollution doesn''t reach Hell."

    "Then why don''t you go and live here?"

    Once again, she justughed it off. "Drystan, you''re the King of Hell and you gave me permission to enter your ce. I''m sure you already know why I''m here."

    Drystan turned to the trunk of the Sentinel Tree.

    The roots were already buried deep within the dry soil of Hell.

    "I see that you brought another de Moonasterio to be the new Aether," Drystan said indifferently, then he turned to her with dead eyes. "That one is still alive and breathing, though."

    Larissa smiled and shrugged. "Not for long."

    "That one is Lord Yule''s favored descendant."

    "The Moon God has already entered his Eternal Sleep."

    "That one is Yoan''s lover."

    "Yoan is busy in the human world, and he doesn''t know what''s happening," Larissa said confidently. "And don''t worry about Lord Levi either. Our god has taken a nap, and he won''t be waking up for a year or two."

    That was enough time for Neoma de Moonasterio to grow into a beautiful Aether.

    "I''m not really worried about Lord Levi since I know he would side with the majority to maintain the harmony in the Upper World," Drystan said bluntly. "After all, that was exactly what he did when he agreed to kick me out just to pacify the majority."

    Larissa only smiled because what Drystan said was correct.

    [Even so, Lord Levi might take Yoan''s side. That''s why I convinced him to purify Neoma de Moonasterio and make him take a nap. Everything would be over once he woke up anyway.]

    "Larissa, if I were you, I would be scared of Yoan¨C the GOD SLAYER."

    "Why would I be scared when I haven''t broken any rules?" Larissa said, shrugging. "Callisto de Luca made a pact with the gods. He said all the female de Moonasterios are for the gods to use as their Aether. Hence, Yoan doesn''t have the right to punish us for turning Neoma de Moonasterio into our new Aether even if he wants to."

    "How much do you know about that pact?"

    Drystan''s question made her nervous, but she didn''t show it.

    [He''s just messing with me because I was one of the gods who agreed to kick him out of the Upper World.]

    "I know everything I need to know about the pact, Drystan."

    "Alright then," Drystan said, walking away as if he was already done talking to her. "What consequence you get for messing with Yoan has nothing to do with me, Larissa."

    "I have done nothing wrong," Larissa said firmly. "I only did what I had to in order to save myself and the other gods."

    ***

    IT TOOK two full days topletely bury Neoma de Moonasterio.

    Thanks to the gods who helped Larissa nt the young princess on the dead soil of Hell, the job was done quickly.

    [I just need to nurture the new Aether now.]

    The Aether had to be nted in Hell because it would only grow taller and bigger from now on. Hence, it had to be nted in the deepest part of the world. Eventually, the Aether would pierce through the ''sky'' of Hell, then the human world, next the Spirit World, and finally, the Upper World.

    Yes, the Aether was that big and tall.

    [Thest Aether took five years before it reached the Upper World, but it''s because the de Moonasterio we nted that time was already dead. Neoma de Moonasterio is a special one. Her divine power is overflowing since she''s still alive.]

    Moreover, she already asked the other gods for their excess divine power.

    [All I have to do is sprinkle the new Aether with divine power for it to grow quickly.]

    Larissa''s thoughts were interrupted when, suddenly, the ground shook hard.

    She raised her head to see Arien stomping on Neoma de Moonasterio''s Sapling.

    The God of War was the physically strongest god in the Upper World.

    And yet¡­

    "The Sapling didn''t even get a scratch," Larissained lightly. "Are you sure you''re using your full strength?"

    Arien yelled in frustration, then he kicked the Sapling away from him.

    The Sapling was sent flying, hitting the pavilion in the garden. The pavilion was destroyed because of the impact, but the Sapling remained intact. When the Sapling fell to the ground, it created a small crater.

    Argh.

    [The barrier the Neoma de Moonasterio created for the Sapling is frustratingly sturdy.]

    "How can a new god create a barrier stronger than the barrier we have here?" Arienined angrily. "Do we really need that Sapling when we already have Neoma de Moonasterio as an Aether? Let''s just throw that annoying little thing away!"

    "Don''t be stupid, Arien," Larissa scolded the God of War. "If Neoma de Moonasterio is special, then her Sapling would be one, too. I need to dissect the Sapling and figure out how to make multiple clones of it so that we won''t run out of Aether."

    Not all the de Moonasterios that they had turned into an Aether were of good quality. Some were slow to grow, some were weak, and others died quickly.

    [Neoma de Moonasterio is the perfect one with the highest quality.]

    "I''ll be back!" Arien yelled before leaving, his footsteps heavy. "I''ll bring my ax when I return!"

    Oh.

    Arien''s ax was the strongest Divine Item (that was a blunt weapon) in the Upper World.

    [Well, if it''s that ax, then the barrier will probably break.]

    Larissa was relieved by that thought. "Everything is sailing smoothly."

    Or so she thought.

    ***

    "LARISSA~"

    Hmm?

    Larissa was delighted to see Astrid''s beautiful face because who wouldn''t enjoy looking at a beauty like the Goddess of Beauty herself?

    However, it was rare for Astrid to visit her residence.

    [She almost never leaves her residence since her lovers live with her.]

    "Do you need something from me, Astrid?" Larissa asked carefully. "I need to leave for Hell to water the new Aether, so make it quick."

    "I''m here to say goodbye¡­ temporarily."

    "What do you mean by that? It''s rare for you to leave your residence. And where are you headed anyway? We''re not allowed to descend."

    "But we''re allowed to ascend higher," the Goddess of Beauty said cheerfully. "I''m going to stay there for a while."

    Ascend higher?

    Only Yoan''s ind was up there. It was a gift that Lord Levi gave to his divine son when he finally ascended to the Upper World.

    [But as far as I know, Neoma de Moonasterio is the only person Yoan allows to go there. Why would Astrid¡­?]

    Larissa noticed the familiar jacket that Astrid was wearing.

    [That belongs to Yoan...]

    And that was when the realization hit her.

    "You called Yoan and told him the truth, didn''t you?" Larissa confronted Astrid, her voice trembling from panic. "Astrid, you traitor!"

    "I''m sorry, but I''m not for thedies," Astrid said cheekily. "I will always side with a handsome man like Yoan over an old hag like you, Larissa."

    [I knew I shouldn''t have trusted this woman!]

    Larissa didn''t have time to confront Astrid because her instincts told her to run¨C run NOW.

    But it was already toote.

    The air suddenly turned cold, and the sky darkened. Thunder soon rumbled, and several lightning struck at different ces at once.

    Larissa, for the first time in her long life, was frozen in fear.

    [He''s here¡­]

    "LARISSA!"

    She didn''t have to look up to know it was Yoan.

    No, she COULDN''T look up. She couldn''t even lift her head. The strong force that suddenly fell down on her was so heavy she felt like she was being crushed.

    Yoan''s thick bloodlust pushed Larissa down to her knees.

    She couldn''t believe it.

    [A young god made me kneel¡­?]

    "What did you do?!" Yoan yelled, his angry voice causing both the sky and the ground to shake. "What did you do to Neoma and our child?!"

    [I refuse to bow down to a child.]

    Larissa gathered all the strength in her body, then she looked up to see Yoan suspended in the air¨C his glowing red eyes giving her the chills.

    [Both of his eyes are red¡­]

    It was a known fact that only one of Yoan''s eyes was red.

    But both of his eyes were red now.

    Larissa once again felt a shiver down her spine when she finally realized that the person in front of her right now wasn''t the little goody two-shoes Yoan that she knew. "The God yer," she whispered to herself, both her voice and body trembling. "The God yer has fully awakened now."

    ***

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 Chapter 856 A BEAUTIFUL NIGHTMARE (7)

    ?

    YOAN knew something was wrong when he suddenly couldn''t contact Neoma.

    Even so, he couldn''t leave the human world because of the strange air pollution that was killing all life forms.

    But he regretted staying in the human world instead of checking on Neoma.

    [I overestimated Neoma''s capability to protect herself and our baby.]

    If it wasn''t for Astrid''s urgent message, he wouldn''t know what was happening in the Upper World.

    But Yoan should have dropped everything the moment he stopped receiving Neoma''s messages. He should have returned to her side to protect her and their child. No, scratch that. He shouldn''t have left in the first ce.

    [This is all my fault.]

    "I''ll kill you all," Yoan growled angrily. "You''ll pay for touching my family!"

    That day, Yoan destroyed half of the Upper World by striking it with thousands of his Divine Lightning¨C each single lightning bolt containing one billion volts of electricity¨C all at once.

    ***

    AH, DAMMIT.

    Drystan almost spit his tea when the ground suddenly shook.

    He could tell right away WHO the cause of that was.

    "This is why I told Larissa to not anger the God yer," Drystan whispered to himself while shaking his head. "y stupid games, win stupid prizes."

    He was about to return to his residence and sleep when another trouble came up.

    His jaw dropped at the same time he dropped his teacup, his gaze focused on one thing.

    The ETERNAL FLAME suddenly appeared and BURNED DOWN the Sentinel Tree where Neoma de Moonasterio, the new Aether, was nted.

    "What''s happening?" Drystan asked, confused. "Why is the Eternal me here?!"

    [No, not another stupid job when I barely get to sleep already!]

    ***

    "YOAN, I have bad news for you. But before I share it with you, promise me that you''ll give me ess to your floating ind in order to protect myself from your wrath."

    The fact that Astrid immediately asked for protection only meant that what she was about to say was bad enough to give Yoan a reason to destroy the Upper World.

    "What happened to Neoma and our child?"

    "My condolences, Yoan. You better return to the Upper World if you want to save Neoma de Moonasterio and your baby."

    Yoan didn''t waste his time after that call and immediately returned to the Upper World.

    On his way there, Astrid filled him in on what happened when he left for the human world a few months ago.

    Neoma cleansed the air pollution in her residence.

    Then the gods tried to force Neoma to clean up their ces, too. But since Neoma was pregnant and had to be careful, she turned them down.

    And that was when the gods in the Upper World decided to work together.

    Then the faction that Larissa led seded in nting Neoma as the new Aether.

    Worse, Larissa managed to trick Neoma into extracting her baby from her womb before those damned gods nted Neoma in the dry soils of Hell.

    [I''ll never forgive them for what they did to Neoma and our child!]

    That was why Yoan didn''t hold back this time.

    He tried to destroy the entire Upper World because he knew he could, but someone protected it.

    Hence, he only managed to destroy half of it.

    "Yoan, stop."

    It was Lord Levi.

    If it wasn''t for his divine father putting up a barrier to protect the Divine City where most major gods resided, then he would have destroyed everything already.

    Astrid told Yoan earlier that Lord Levi took a nap after purifying Neoma''s body.

    [Lord Levi probably woke up because he felt my rampage.]

    "Lord Levi, step aside," Yoan said, his hair raising as he gathered the same amount of volts he released earlier. Yes, he was nning to summon the same number of lightning bolts again. "I''m not myself at the moment."

    "Neoma is still alive."

    That was enough to calm him down instantly.

    "If you want to save her, then don''t waste your time here."

    He knew that.

    However, he couldn''t satiate his anger yet. And he couldn''t face Neoma if he only stopped at destroying half of the Upper World.

    [Well, I probably killed a few gods. But not the gods I want to kill, so I''m not satisfied.]

    "Let me just do one more thing, Divine Father," Yoan said, addressing the God Among Gods in order to gain his approval. When his divine father didn''t say anything, he descended and walked towards his target. "I just need to punish the Goddess of Fertility."

    Larissa, who was kneeling behind Lord Levi, flinched.

    The Goddess of Fertility was burned from head to toe because Yoan made sure that she would be hit by his lightning bolts. If she wasn''t an old god, she would have been dead by now.

    But Larissa''s healing ability was slow, hence she was in a terrible state.

    "I have done nothing wrong," Larissa insisted, her pupils shaking in fear, as she covered her burned body with a huge piece of clothing that materialized out of thin air. "Callisto de Luca and Lord Levi made a pact. We have the right to turn the female de Moonasterios into our Aether!"

    THAT pact?

    Yoanughed bitterly, his red eyes glowing menacingly. "Do you think that pact would save your life from my wrath?"

    Larissa looked confused. "Even though you''re a God yer, you cannot kill me without a proper reason! I did notmit any crime!"

    "You did," Lord Levi said calmly. "The pact that Callisto de Luca and I have is not as simple as you think it is. The female de Moonasterios that we''re allowed to turn into an Aether is the female de Moonasterios that Callisto de Luca has killed himself."

    Larissa looked like she was in disbelief. "That can''t be¡­"

    "Of course, you wouldn''t know," Lord Levi said indifferently. "That pact happened during the Ancient Period, and you were just a young girl back then, Larissa. And that''s the same case for the gods of your generation. Hence, such vital information wouldn''t have reached your ears."

    Larissa suddenly went pale as if she had just realized the mistake she hadmitted. "No, that''s not possible¡­"

    "Where is my child, Larissa?"

    The Goddess of Fertility only red at him.

    [Should I just kill her now?]

    "Yoan, your baby is here~"

    It was Astrid.

    Yoan made sure that the Goddess of Beauty wouldn''t be hit by his lightning bolts because he promised to protect her in exchange of the information she shared with him.

    That was why Astrid was wearing his jacket.

    [As long as she has my jacket, my lightning bolts won''t hit her.]

    "The Sapling was stored in Larissa''s room along with the other nts that she''s growing," Astrid said, handing Yoan a ss jar where the Sapling was. "Here."

    Yoan carefully took the jar from the Goddess of Beauty.

    He could tell right away that the Sapling belonged to Neoma because of the divine power that protected it.

    [Neoma, you did well protecting our baby.]

    "Neoma de Moonasterio is still alive, and so is your child," Larissa said, obviously panicking. "You can still save your lover, Yoan. So, can we just forget that this happened? I will apologize to you and Neoma properly. I''ll evenpensate you¨C"

    "Shut up," Yoan said, ring at Larissa. "You still must be punished for trying to kill another god. Don''t worry because after I''m done with you, I''ll kill the others who joined your faction."

    "I know I''vemitted a sin," Larissa said, obviously in fear. "But that doesn''t mean you can kill me! I''m still the Goddess of Fertility! I don''t only take care of pregnant women. I''m also responsible for harvesting and¨C mff!"

    The Goddess of Fertility was forced to stop talking when Yoan grabbed her face harshly.

    Larissa, who didn''t have the strength to fight back, could only re at him again.

    "Yoan, you can''t kill Larissa since Neoma de Moonasterio is still alive," Lord Levi said sternly. "I''ll look over the fact that you destroyed half of the Upper World. In return, calm down and give the gods their punishmentter¨C no, Yoan!"

    His divine father yelled in urgency when Yoan struck Larissa with his lightning bolt.

    The Goddess of Fertility screamed in agony while getting burned alive.

    "As the God yer, I forfeit your right to exist as a god," Yoan said coldly, his eyes glowing bright red as he slowly released Larissa who was finally burned to death. "You''ll descend back to the human world and die as a pathetic human there."

    To simply put, Yoan didn''t kill the Goddess of Fertility directly.

    However, Larissa was kicked out of the Upper World for losing her divinity.

    The Goddess of Fertility disappeared in an instant because only gods had the right to step foot on the Upper World.

    [Larissa would die as soon as she descended to the human world.]

    "Yoan, do you want me to punish you?" Lord Levi asked, growling at him. "You''ve already injured ALL the gods here to the point that they might need at least half a century to recover¨C"

    Yoan turned his back on Lord Levi, then he faced Astrid and touched her face.

    Astrid''s face turned red and her eyes sparkled, acting like a young maiden that she was not. "Yoan, was I useful to you?"

    Yoan smiled "sweetly" at the Goddess of Beauty. "No, not at all."

    The Goddess of Beauty''s smile quickly disappeared, and then she screamed as the palm on her face suddenly turned boiling hot.

    Yes, it was Yoan''s hand.

    "You bastard!" Astrid screamed, pushing Yoan. Then she fell to the ground, still screaming while covering her smoking face with her hands. "Why did you burn my face?! I helped you!"

    "But you still joined Larissa''s faction because you wanted Neoma to suffer," Yoan said calmly. "If you really wanted to help me, you would have warned Neoma about Larissa''s n, but you didn''t. Be honest with me, Astrid. You only "helped" me because you were afraid to receive my wrath, didn''t you?"

    Astrid stopped screaming, then she fell silent for a moment before she raised her head¨C her red eyes glowing menacingly. "You know I can''t fight you physically, but I can curse you," she said threateningly while standing up, her body turning opaque as she had already started to run away. "I curse you, Yoan¨C I curse you to never see your beloved face''s again!"

    That was what Astrid said before disappearing to probably get her face treated.

    "Are you satisfied now?" Lord Levi asked in a threatening voice. "I''ve never raised my hand on you, Yoan. But you''re making me want to smack you right now."

    Yoan smiled apologetically at his divine father. "I''m sorry, but I''m still angry."

    Once again, Yoan released his deadly lightning bolts. This time, he aimed the bolts in every single god in the Upper World¨C innocent or not.

    That was the moment Yoan was cursed by the other gods.

    ***

    "WAKE UP, little princess."

    Neoma immediately opened her eyes when she heard someone call her, and then she abruptly got up¨C ready to fight and kill.

    But she sobered up as soon as she realized that she was alone in that dark cave¡­

    ¡­ and her soul was separated from her physical body.

    [What the¡­?]

    Neoma touched the tips of her long hair and was surprised by the sudden change she noticed. "Why is my hair pink?"

    Ah.

    Did she awaken as a Roseheart?

    She would have celebrated if it happened during thest war. But she couldn''t feel anything right now.

    Not when she finally remembered what happened to her.

    Larissa and Lord Levi betrayed her.

    [The Queen of the Spirit World, too.]

    That damned Goddess of Fertility forced her to extract her baby from her own womb.

    "My baby," Neoma whispered in a cracked voice while hugging her belly. "I killed my baby with my own hands¡­"

    To say that she was angry would be an understatement.

    She didn''t scream or cry, but her red eyes were enough testament to the boiling anger inside her.

    [I''m going to kill them all.]

    <"Do you want us to help you burn the world, little princess?">

    Neoma looked up to see ady¨C who definitely looked like a female de Moonasterio¨C and a ball of red me in front of her. "Burn the world?" She paused, then sheughed like she had lost her mind. "Yes, that doesn''t sound bad at all."

    ***

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 Chapter 857 A BEAUTIFUL NIGHTMARE (8)

    ?

    [I RAISED THOSE kids as the supreme gods that they are.]

    Drystan was, of course, talking about Neoma and Yoan.

    When the two began their Divinization, the two refused to ascend to the Upper World.

    During that time, Neoma was hunting down Trevor¨C her Contractor who ran away in the middle of the war. The young princess descended lower when she didn''t find the demon in the Underworld. And that was how she ended up in Hell.

    Of course, Yoan shortly followed Neoma.

    [Like a faithful dog.]

    For some reason, Neoma found Hell fun because she felt a "strange affinity" to the dark energy there. Hence, the young princess decided to stay there and dy her ascension as long as possible¨Cpletely forgetting about the fact that was supposed to hunt down Trevor.

    Yoan, a few monthster, followed Neoma and decided to stay in Hell with her.

    But Drystan was a responsible adult, so he made sure that Yoan and Neoma would never be alone in a room together¨C especially not at NIGHT.

    Anyway, that was how he ended up raising the two kids for a few years.

    [The rest, as they said, is history.]

    But despite Drystan''s history with Neoma and Yoan, the three of them decided to hide it from the other gods. After all, as the King of Hell, he had to appear detached from the gods in the Upper World. So, when the two kids finally ascended, he cut off all his ties to them.

    That was why he pretended that he didn''t care when Larissa brought Neoma in Hell to nt the young princess as the new Aether.

    He pretended like he wouldn''t meddle.

    But as soon as Larissa went back to the Upper World, Drystan ran back to where Neoma was nted.

    "You''re still alive," Drystan said, kneeling on the ground while his hands were firmly pressed on the dry soil. He let out a relieved sigh. "Thank goodness. It was hard keeping a straight face in front of Larissa. If I didn''t hear your heartbeat, I would have lost my cool."

    He would never admit it out loud, but Neoma would always be his child.[1]

    "Your Majesty, what should we do?"

    Drystan stood up and faced Iris¨C his right-hand man. "We can''t dig up Neoma yet. Larissa and the other gods would get suspicious of me and when that happens, they might relocate Neoma to somewhere else. Hence, we must y along with their scheme for now."

    After all, it would be safer for Neoma to be where Drystan could look after her in secret.

    "Will the young princess be alright?" Iris asked worriedly while looking at the Sentinel Tree. "The Sentinel Tree is sucking out her life force slowly yet constantly. It''s the reason why Princess Neoma couldn''t wake up."

    "Neoma is a Roseheart, so she''ll be fine even if her physical body is held up by the Sentinel Tree."

    "But Princess Neoma didn''t awaken as a Roseheart, my king."

    "She would have to be awakened by now¨C I can feel it. That''s the only reason I could manage to stay calm."

    Only then did Iris look relieved.

    [After all, Iris also cares about Neoma.]

    "My king, are we waiting for the Divine Lord?"

    "Neoma won''t be herself once she wakes up, and only Yoan can handle her wrath," Drystan said, cing a hand on the trunk of the Sentinel Tree. "For now, I will slow down the Sentinel Tree from sucking out Neoma''s life force. I just hope Yoan arrives soon before the gods do something drastic to hasten Neoma''s growth as an Aether."

    ***

    DRYSTAN was nning to take a short nap in order to regain his strength.

    After all, he still needed to continuously weaken the Sentinel Tree. It wasn''t easy to do so since he had to do it in a way the gods wouldn''t notice.

    However, his n was ruined by the sudden appearance of the Eternal me.

    "Why is this happening?" Drystan whispered in disbelief while staring at the Eternal me that was currently burning down the Sentinel Tree. "I know that the Eternal me is somewhere in Hell. But for it to show up like this¡­"

    The Eternal me was actuallyposed of seven vibrant colored mes.

    [They are the colors of a rainbow.]

    "My king, what should we do?" Iris asked worriedly. "How do we put out that fire?"

    "We cannot put it out."

    "Huh?"

    "That''s the Eternal me."

    Iris covered her mouth with her hands when she gasped. "The Eternal me? Then how do we save Princess Neoma?"

    "The Eternal me is here for Neoma."

    Iris knitted her eyebrows, obviously confused. "But why?"

    "I don''t know either," Drystan said, clenching his hands. "But Yoan needs to know about this right away."

    ***

    "YOU OBVIOUSLY already know who I am," Neoma said in a tired voice. "But who are you?"

    "Ah, where did our manners go?" the female de Moonasterio said, smiling apologetically at Neoma. "I am Seraphine de Moonasterio, the current Aether in the Upper World."

    Clearly, Seraphine was nothing but a spirit now.

    Neoma noticed that Seraphine was young. It didn''t even look like she had reached hering-of-age. The young de Moonasterio was probably twelve to fourteen years old. She couldn''t pinpoint Seraphine''s age because the de Moonasterios were all born youthful and tall.

    [It''s crazy how every de Moonasterio is exceptionally beautiful.]

    Neoma wasn''t too interested in a person''s physical appearance, but she couldn''t help but notice that all de Moonasterios were born attractive¨C even the evil ones.

    She was told that she was beautiful, but she wasn''t so sure about that.

    After all, Rubin Drayton looked prettier in her eyes.

    "And I am the Eternal me."

    "Ah, I''ve truly seen it all now," Neoma said, nodding. "A talking ball of fire."

    "Please have some respect, young princess," the Eternal me scolded Neoma. "I am THE fire that keeps everyone and everything in this world alive."

    "Do you want me to give you a cookie?"

    "¡­"

    Serpahineughed awkwardly. "Princess Neoma, Mr. Eternal me, let''s get along well."

    "I don''t have time to y with you," Neoma said, then she turned to her unconscious body on the ground. "I need to return to my body and get out of here."

    Her physical body was wrapped in roots that looked like a cage now.

    She could also tell that the sted Sentinel Tree was sucking out her life force.

    Was it Tara?

    The Queen of the Spirit World.

    [That wench will die a painful death at my own hands.]

    "It won''t be easy to break free from the Sentinel Tree even if you return to your body now, Princess Neoma," Seraphine said in an apologetic voice. "You have already be the new Aether."

    "What?"

    Seraphine put a hand over her chest. "My soul was finally freed because you have taken my ce already, Princess Neoma. Even though you haven''tpletely turned into a tree yet, the World has already acknowledged you as the new Aether. Hence, they let me go."

    Neoma couldn''t help butugh bitterly at what she heard. "Are you being serious right now?"

    "It took me five years before I turned into a full tree that reached the Upper World," Seraphine said, still serious. "But you''re special, Princess Neoma. The gods believe that you''ll grow into a full Aether in just a year. And for the gods, a year is just like a few weeks."

    Ah, yes.

    [She''s serious.]

    "I can''t be an Aether," Neoma said, touching her belly. "I need to return for my baby."

    "Then help me."

    This time, Neoma turned to the Eternal me. "If I help you, are you going to help me break free?"

    "Of course," the Eternal me said. "There''s nothing I can NOT burn to ashes in this world."

    Haaah.

    "I was betrayed by Larissa and the others because I have no Contractor," Neoma said bitterly. "If only Trevor didn''t disappear just because he got bored, I wouldn''t have been fooled like this."[2]

    The deal she made with Larissa and Lord Levi was a deal she couldn''t turn down because she thought it was the best choice she could make for her baby''s safety.

    After all, she couldn''t fight all the gods at once.

    But Neoma was betrayed because there was no contract binding Larissa and Lord Levi to fulfill their end of the bargain.

    [I was the foolish one to trust them in the first ce.]

    "Since it looks like you already know everything about me, then I''m sure you already know that I was betrayed recently because I do not have a Contractor," Neoma said while staring at the Eternal me coldly. "It''s hard for me to make a deal with you right now, Eternal me."

    "If you don''t ept the hand I''m extending to you, then how do you n to get out of here?"

    "I just awakened as a Roseheart¨C I''ll see what I can do with my new power."

    "Can''t you listen to what I need to say first?" the Eternal me asked. "There''s a reason why I looked for you, Neoma de Moonasterio."

    To be honest, she didn''t have time for it.

    But Seraphine looked at Neoma with pleading eyes, and she didn''t have the heart to disappoint the child.

    [It seems like I have a soft spot for children now after I''ve be a mother.]

    "Fine," Neoma said. "Make it short, though. My attention span isparable to a fish''s."

    "The entire world has been contaminated by Darkness so evil that the World awakened me from my slumber in order to purify it."

    Neoma almost rolled her eyes.

    [Why do these people alwayse to ME when the world is in danger? What are the gods in the Upper World for? Decorations?]

    "The only way to stop the Darkness from spreading is to burn it using my me," the Eternal me said. "However, the Darkness has contaminated living things."

    Neoma was surprised to hear that. "What did you say?"

    "Humans and all the other races in the human world have been contaminated by this malicious Darkness. Half of the world poption has already been affected," the Eternal me said. "And the only way to stop the Darkness from spreading is to burn the living things that have already been tainted. After all, they are all beyond saving now."

    Neoma felt a chill down her spine at how CASUALLY the Eternal me said it. "Are you asking me tomit mass murder in order to stop the Darkness from spreading? We''re talking about LIVING people here!"

    "As I said, they can no longer be saved once their souls and bodies have been tainted by Darkness," the Eternal me said indifferently. "The only way to "save" them was to burn them using my me. I promise to give them a painless death."

    "As if that would make things better," Neoma said bitterly. Then she looked at her trembling hands. "You''re asking me to kill half of the world poption, you cruel ball of fire."

    "If you can''t do it, then I''ll just ask Yoan."

    Neoma immediately raised her head. "What?"

    "You''re not the only one who can do it," the Eternal me said. "Yoan can do it, too."

    What a crazy bastard.

    [Yoan is too soft-hearted to kill the humans he loves so much.]

    Moreover, that foolish man also loved the world more than he loved Neoma.

    It was a fact that she had alreadye to ept the moment she chose to be with Yoan.

    [It''s the curse of loving a man who''s kind to EVERYONE. I''ll never be Yoan''s top priority. But, hopefully, he chooses to prioritize our child above me.]

    "Don''t ask Yoan to do something as cruel asmitting mass murder even if it''s for the sake of the world."

    The Eternal me shined brightly as if it was delighted. "Then are you going to do it, Neoma de Moonasterio?"

    "I will," Neoma said firmly, clenching her hands. "And keep this a secret from Yoan."[3]

    ***

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    [1] Every man is a better father to Neoma than Niki of the first timeline. LOL

    [2] In conclusion, everything is Trevor''s fault. Haha jk.

    [3] The fall of every tragic past of a tragic couple--- the LACK OF COMMUNICATION.

 Chapter 858 A BEAUTIFUL NIGHTMARE (9)

    ?

    "IF YOU leave now, I''ll disown you."

    "Can you afford it, Father?" Yoan asked his divine father casually. "Can you afford to make an enemy out of me right now?"

    Half of the Upper World was destroyed, and the major gods were all heavily injured.

    Even if Lord Levi was the God Among Gods, he would still have a difficult time fighting Yoan in a life or death match.

    Not if his divine father wanted to keep the Upper World intact.

    "You''ve be cocky ever since you got close to Neoma de Moonasterio, Yoan."

    "Father, Neoma has never been a bad influence on me in any way. Please don''t assume that my rudeness and arrogance are because of her," Yoan said. "I''ve always been this way. I was only obedient to you in the past because I have no reason to disobey you."

    "But you have a reason to get rebellious with me now?"

    "Father, do you really not know that Larissa and the others were nning on turning Neoma into the new Aether?"

    "I didn''t know Larissa would go that far," Lord Levi imed. "I made a deal with Neoma de Moonasterio because I genuinely believed the other gods would be satisfied just to get your princess clean up the air pollution here in the Upper World."

    [What utter nonsense.]

    "You''re lying, Father."

    "What do you mean by that?"

    "You''re the type of person who''s always conscious of what the majority WANTS, so I''m sure you already know that Larissa and her faction wanted Neoma to be the next Aether," Yoan said bitterly. "You just pretended not to know because you didn''t want to take responsibility¨C you didn''t want me to hate you."

    Lord Levi fell silent for a moment. "Do you know what''s currently happening in the entire world, Yoan?"

    "I know, Father," Yoan said, clenching his jaw. "The entire world is being contaminated by Darkness so corrupted that once you got tainted with it, you''re already a goner."

    That was the reason why he couldn''t leave the human world easily.

    He was helping the people of the fallen Great Moonasterion Empire rebuild their lives when he noticed the malicious Darkness that was slowly killing people.

    Worse, it also affected even the stronges races co-existing with the humans.

    It honestly looked like it was already the end of the world.

    Even so, being busy with the human world''s affair wasn''t a good excuse to neglect Neoma and their baby.

    It may sound like an excuse, but Yoan''s perception has changed.

    The few weeks that he couldn''t contact Neoma felt only a few days to him. Hence, even though he was worried, he didn''t feel the urge to return immediately because of his duties.

    Of course, now he was full of regrets.

    [I should have been a better partner to Neoma¡­]

    "Yoan, I know you''ll hate me for saying this," Lord Levi said in a serious tone, snapping Yoan out of his thoughts. "But the world needs Neoma as an Aether."

    "Father!"

    "The Aether is the only tree in the world that grows from Hell to the Upper World," Lord Levi said firmly. "Hence, if Neoma de Moonasterio bes the next Aether, she would be able to purify the Darkness in all the worlds that she would pass through in order to reach the Upper World."

    "Stop it, Father," Yoan said, clenching his hands tight. "If you say more, I might really forget that you''re my divine father."

    "Yoan, you love the world and the humans much more than you want to acknowledge."

    "Father¨C"

    "It''s wired in your system to love the world and the human race," Lord Levi said firmly, cutting him off. "After all, it''s your duty as the God yer to protect all worlds."

    "¡­"

    He didn''t want to admit this, but hearing that from his divine father made him realize why he was obsessed with protecting the world and the humans.

    [Even so¡­]

    "CAPTAIIIN!"

    Yoan immediately turned his head and red at Aspen who was running in his direction while holding the bar where his precious baby was stored. "Shut up, Aspen. And be careful. If you drop that jar, you''re dead."

    "But it''s an emergency, Captain!" Aspen yelled in a cracked voice, his eyes brimming with tears for some reason. "The Sapling¨C it''s turning ck!"

    ***

    [IT''S hot.]

    To be honest, Neoma wanted to scream but she held it in.

    She was good at hiding her pain, after all.

    [I''m not sure, but aside from pain, I don''t feel anything else?]

    The Eternal me asked Neoma to touch it earlier.

    When she did, she felt the scorching heat of the me enter her body¨C it flowed through her veins until it reached her heart.

    To be precise, the heat of the Eternal mebined itself with her Core.

    [I''m supposed to be all-powerful now. Is there something wrong with me? Or did the Eternal me just overestimated himself?]

    "Do you know why I chose you, Neoma de Moonasterio?"

    "I would like to know, too," Neoma said indifferently. "Every time something goes wrong, the world seems to find a way to make me work."

    "You''re the perfect vessel to carry my me."

    "Am I?"

    "You have strong affinity with fire," the Eternal me said. "Moreover, you have that god within you."

    Neoma knitted her eyebrows. "What god?"

    "Your "Soul Beast.""

    "What?" She got even more confused, but she remembered that she didn''t want to be more powerful than she already was. "Forget it. I don''t want to know."

    "Are you sure? If you can tame that god¨C"

    "No, thank you," she said, then she turned to Seraphine. "Child, what''s your request again? You''re here because you need something from you, don''t you?"

    "This is tant discrimination," the Eternal meined. "You''re cold and rude to me, but you''re speaking to the child softly."

    Of course, Neoma just ignored the Eternal me and urged the young de Moonasterio to speak.

    Seraphine looked hesitant at first, but in the end, she took a deep breath before speaking. "My body is now an old and dying Aether. I want to take a rest now, but I can''t do that until I draw myst breath. The gods believe I still have at least three years left, but I don''t want to wait longer." She sped her hands together as if she was praying. "Please burn my body, Princess Neoma."

    Hmm.

    That sounded easy.

    "Alright. I''ll do it for you, Seraphine," Neoma said, then she opened her hand and concentrated until a ball of fire appeared above her hand. "This should be enough, right?"

    "Impossible," the Eternal me said in disbelief. "I haven''t taught you how to use my me yet, so how did you summon it already?"

    "I guess I''m a genius then."

    ***

    IT WAS actually fun.

    Neoma used too much of the Eternal me that not only did she burn Serpahine''s old body¨C allowing the poor young princess to finally pass on¨C but she also burned down the Sentinel Tree.

    Then, the Eternal me helped her return to her physical body.

    That was how she was able toe out of her "grave."

    "Neoma¡­"

    [I knew he''d be here already.]

    Neoma smiled when she saw Yoan waiting for her while holding the jar where their baby was stored.

    She immediately checked on their child¡­

    ¡­ and that was how she quickly lost her smile.

    "What happened, Yoan?" Neoma asked nervously, then she raised her head and gave Yoan a threatening look. "Why does our baby like that?"

    She already knew the answer, but her brain refused to acknowledge it.

    [No, it can''t be¡­]

    But Yoan didn''t say the words Neoma wanted to hear from him.

    "I''m so sorry, Neoma," Yoan said in a cracked voice, tears rolling down his cheeks in silence. "Our baby is gone."

    No.

    She did not hear that right, did she?

    [I didn''t ask for a lot when I said I wanted a child, did I?]

    What was so difficult about her wish?

    She just wanted a child.

    A family that she could call her own.

    She wasn''t hurting anyone, was she?

    So why?

    "Why?!" Neoma yelled angrily, a burst of brilliant red meing out of her body. "Why can''t you let me be happy this time after I have already suffered all my life?! Why can''t you just leave me alone? Why do I always have to sacrifice myself for the damned world that only knows how to take precious things away from me? Why me? Why is it always me?!"

    That was how Neoma''s sanity finally snapped for real...

    ¡­ and how she awakened Crimson, the God of Wrath, while spewing hurtful things at Yoan for the first time in her life.

    The Eternal me, ignorant of Neoma''s pain, shined brighter than the sun.

    ***

    NOTE: I posted the Royal Secret Alternate Universe novel here on Webnovel. Just search for Let''s Not Divorce by s_c, or look for the story in my profile.

    I''m grateful that there are two readers who subscribed to read theplete story on my Patreon page. Even so, my heart feels a little heavy that only two people got to read the story that I poured my heart and soul into writing. LOL. So, I decided to share it here on WN for the people who don''t have ess to Patreon. But, of course, there are parts that will only be avable on my Patreon page.

    It''s alreadypleted there, you may head to p atreon/s_c if you want to read the entire story in one sitting. Thank you. <3

    ***

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 Chapter 859 A BEAUTIFUL NIGHTMARE (10)

    ?

    "I''VE ALWAYS known that I love you more than you love me, Yoan. But I was hoping you''d at least put our baby above me. All you have to do is make sure our child is alive until I returned. Is that so hard to do, huh?"

    Yoan couldn''t say anything to Neoma''s outburst, so he just remained silent while epting all the harsh words she was throwing at him.

    [I deserve this.]

    Fortunately, the red me that burst out of her body had quickly disappeared so it didn''t hurt anyone.

    However, Yoan could tell that the dangerous me was still there.

    "You saved so many people who aren''t even rted to you countless times, Yoan," Neoma said in an angry, bitter voice. "So, why can''t you save our baby?!"

    The pain and guilt in Yoan''s heart tripled. "I''m so sorry, Neoma."

    "That''s not what I want to hear from you, Yoan!" Neoma yelled, angry and crying this time. "No matter how many times you say ''sorry'' to me, your useless apologies wouldn''t bring our baby back to life!"

    Yoan could only bite his lower lip.

    He was at a loss, too.

    Of course, he was heartbroken about losing their baby. But he knew that his pain couldn''t bepared to what Neoma was feeling at the moment.

    Neoma yelled while clutching her head. "Yoan, why do you never say the things I want to hear from you? Are your feelings for me that shallow?

    "You know that''s not true, Neoma."

    "Your actions say otherwise, Yoan¨C you love this damned world more than you love me and our child."

    "Neoma¨C"

    "Shut up."

    Yoan was forced to shut his mouth when Neoma suddenly approached him.

    Then Neoma snatched away the ss jar from Yoan in a quick and careful way.

    "I don''t need you anymore, Yoan," Neoma said coldly while looking at Yoan with empty red eyes. "The only person I need in the world is my baby¨C you and the others could drop dead for all I care."

    After saying those painful words, Neoma vanished instantly.

    Yoan tried to follow Neoma, but much to his shock, her traces disappeared as if she were telling him not to look for her. "Neoma¡­"

    ***

    NEOMA sobbed like a child while hugging the ss jar where her baby was stored.

    She wanted to run away from the world, so she let the Eternal me take her away.

    The me brought her to his ce. It was a beautiful garden at the foot of a volcano, but she couldn''t enjoy the view.

    She just sat under a huge tree and stayed there while mourning.

    "I''m sorry, baby," Neoma said, shutting her eyes tight. "I''m sorry your mother was stupid enough to trust those damned gods."

    She hated herself for letting those damned gods deceive her.

    Worse, she even took her baby from her womb with her very own hands.

    It wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that Neoma killed her child.

    "I''m sorry," Neoma whispered in a broken voice. "I don''t deserve you, baby."

    "How long are you going to cry, huh?"

    It was her "Soul Beast."

    Neoma didn''t understand before why Lord Yule smiled sadly when she gained a "Soul Beast." But she finally understood now.

    Her Soul Beast was a god.

    "Do you know who I am, you little princess?"

    Neoma raised her head and red at the man standing in front of her. "Do you want to die?"

    "I am Crimson, the God of Wrath," Crimson said, squatting down to meet her eye level. Then he grinned at her. "Hey, little princess. Your wrath is making me stronger because for some weird reason, our souls are connected to each other. I hate it, but it doesn''t feel that bad anymore now that you''ve received the Eternal me''s power. We can now set the world on fire with your anger and your new me! Let''s burn everything to ashes!"

    "For someone who''s supposed to be the God of Wrath, you look quite happy."

    The god''s grin disappeared. "Are you trying to insult me?"

    "Your face is annoying and your voice is too loud," Neoma said bluntly. "I curse you to be reborn as a donkey next time."

    "Why a donkey?"

    "You look like one."

    "Cheeky brat¨C"

    "But you''re right," Neoma said, standing up while hugging the jar in her arms as careful as possible. "Crying won''t solve anything. We should just burn everything to ashes."

    Crimsonughed hysterically while standing up. "Just keep your anger burning and I''ll do the rest, little princess!"

    ***

    "PLEASE STOP, Princess Neoma!"

    Pfft.

    Neomaughed at Tara''s pleas.

    The Queen of the Spirit World was begging on her knees while her entire kingdom was on fire.

    Of course, the queen''s pce and the viges weren''t the only things getting burned.

    Neoma, whose wrath was amplified by Crimson''s influence, also set the fairies and other living things there¨C including the trees, nts, and flowers¨C on fire.

    She burned those who were corrupted by the malicious Darkness.

    [But Tara didn''t know that, and I have no intention of telling her. I want her to think that her people died because of what she did to me and my baby.]

    "I''m sorry!" Tara begged her, sping her hands together. The queen tried to fight Neoma in order to protect her kingdom, but Her Majesty was inferior to her in every single aspect. "If you want to punish someone, then please just punish ME! Leave my people alone¨C I''m begging you! They are innocent! I was the only one who worked with Larissa!"

    If Neoma wasn''t under Crimson''s influence, then she would have listened to Tara.

    But the God of Wrath was currently in charge of her emotions, and that meant her conscience wasn''t functioning properly.

    That was how she could withstand the cries of the people around her.

    Moreover, Crimson would remind Neoma of her dead child every time she would waver a bit. Hence, she would always end up losing to her Lunacy.

    "Your apology won''t bring my baby back to life," Neoma said coldly, the anger in her heart only burning fiercer. "You took away my world, so I''m taking yours."

    Tara looked shocked by her deration, then anger distorted her pretty little face. "Mona Roseheart was my friend! Your mother would be disappointed if she found out that she had a murderer for a daughter!"

    Pfft.

    Neomaughed at Tara''s attempt to prick at her conscience. "It won''t work on me because I have never met my mother in my life," she said indifferently, then she put her hand on top of Tara''s head¨C causing the tiny queen to get paralyzed on the spot. "And if my mother chose to take your side just because you were her friend, then I''d kill my mother for being a bad grandmother."

    She could say those calloused words because she didn''t meet her mother.

    Moreover, it wasn''t like she said anything wrong.

    "I curse you, Neoma de Moonasterio," Tara said, tears rolling down her cheeks in silence. "I curse you to receive eternal damnation after your death."

    "I''ve already been to Hell, and I loved it there," Neoma said, gathering her me in her hand. "Goodbye, Tara. May you never rest in peace."

    That was how Neoma killed Tara and burned the Spirit World to ashes.

    ***

    THE WORLD was unusually quiet.

    Yoan refused to leave his mansion after Neoma left him to set the entire world on fire.

    He ignored the cries and pleas of the people begging for his help.

    After all, Yoan didn''t have the heart to stop Neoma.

    Moreover¡­

    "If the World is letting Neoma burn it down to ashes, then it must mean Neoma is doing the World a favor," Yoan said while sipping his tea. "And I also noticed that the people Neoma had burned to ashes were those contaminated by Darkness. She left the others alone."

    Hence, it wasn''t hard for Yoan to realize why Neoma had set the world on fire.

    [But I know that she also did that to relieve her anger.]

    That was why he couldn''t bring himself to stop her even though it had already been a few years since she started her mass ''cleansing.''

    Not until that moment, at least.

    "Neoma de Moonasterio has already fulfilled her job," Lord Levi said while drinking tea in front of him. "Neoma de Moonasterio needs to be stopped now."

    Yoan smirked bitterly. "You know I can''t do that, Father."

    "You have to."

    "Father¨C"

    "Yoan," Lord Levi said sternly, cutting him off. "Neoma de Moonasterio has been contaminated by the malicious Darkness¨C hence she must be stopped at all costs."

    Yoan dropped the teacup in his hand. "Neoma was contaminated¡­?"

    ***

    EVEN THOUGH Neoma had already given in to her Lunacy and Crimson''s influence, there was one thing that would bring back her sanity without fail.

    Children.

    No matter what the race, Neoma couldn''t bring herself to burn children¨C especially newborn babies¨C even though they were contaminated by Darkness.

    That was when she found a new way to save them.

    Neoma ate the Darkness that contaminated the babies and children and let the Eternal me burn the Darkness that she consumed inside her body.

    She had been doing that from the beginning.

    But now she had reached her limit.

    Her body was breaking down not only because of the Darkness¨C but also because of the Eternal me that had been burning down her insides again and again.

    Shested long because of her natural ability to heal herself.

    But her body was now beyond repair.

    "Foolish little princess," Crimson said bitterly while walking away from her until he disappeared. "You could have burned those children to ashes and purified them the easy way, but you chose to be a hero instead and take the difficult path."

    "I''m no hero," Neoma said, smiling bitterly. "I''m a mother."

    And she would never regret her decision.

    As a mother, she knew how painful it was to lose a baby.

    Hence, she wouldn''t want other mothers to experience the same hell that she had gone through.

    She had already done her part.

    The World was already healing and the malicious Darkness had weakened because of the Eternal me.

    Thanks to that, ordinary divine power could now purify Darkness.

    To simply say, the World was safe now.

    "There''s only one thing left for me to do," Neoma said, looking up at the sky while smiling sadly. "I''ll kill the gods up there before I go."

    Yoan, who was suspended in the air while looking down at her, bit his lip before he spoke. "Princess Neoma de Moonasterio, I am here as the God yer."

    "So what?"

    ***

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 Chapter 860 THE END OF A NIGHTMARE

    <h4>Chapter 860 THE END OF A NIGHTMARE</h4>

    "IT''S BEEN a while, Yoan."

    Two and a half years.

    That was how long it was since Neoma burned the world and Yoan just watched it happen.

    But now, his time as a bystander had finallye to an end.

    Yoan descended in front of Neoma. "If you were going to act like a viin, you should have done so until the end. Why did you have to sacrifice yourself to save those children?"

    "You wouldn''t understand because you aren''t a mother," Neoma said bitterly. "You didn''t even want to be my baby''s father."

    "Neoma, you know that''s not true," Yoan said in a pained voice. "Please don''t say that."

    "Are you hurt?"

    "I am, but I know you''re the one who''s in more pain between the two of us."

    That was why he knew he didn''t have the right toin about his pain.

    Neoma avoided his gaze. "Are you here to kill me?"

    "Your body has been so contaminated that Lord Levi and the others are afraid that you might spread the Darkness again," Yoan exined. "Thanks to you setting the world on fire while burning the tainted ones, the Darkness has finally weakened to the point that even the saints could purify them now."

    "But Lord Levi is afraid that the malicious and evil Darkness stored in my body would contaminate the world again once my bodypletely breaks down," Neoma said,ughing bitterly. "Why are they getting worried about it? I was the only one who purified the Darkness. You all just stayed safe and sound in the Upper World."

    "Neoma¡­"

    "Tell them they don''t have the right to speak about the Darkness that only I could purify," Neoma said, scoffing. "Is that the reason why you''ve been ordered to kill me?"

    "They asked me to stop you from further burning down the World since the Darkness is manageable now," Yoan said. He didn''t want to lie to Neoma, and he didn''t want her to misunderstand his intentions. "But I''m not here because of their order. I''m here because I''m worried about you, Neoma."

    "You don''t have to worry about me because I''m done setting the world on fire," she said in a tired voice. "There''s only one thing left for me to do."

    "I''ve already punished Larissa and the others who joined her faction."

    "Do you think I''ll be satisfied with that?" she snarled at him. "You didn''t kill them."

    "Neoma¨C"

    "I know," she said, cutting him off bitterly. "You''re not allowed because you''re the God yer bound to the divine rules of the Upper World."

    "Neoma, I''m not afraid of breaking the rules because I''m afraid to be punished," Yoan said calmly. "I''m sticking to the rules because I can''t afford to lose my power as the God yer. I need this power to protect you."

    "I don''t need your protection."

    "But I want to protect you."

    "Are you doing this to gain my forgiveness?"

    "That goes without saying, Neoma."

    "Then don''t stop me," Neoma said in a cold and indifferent tone. "Let me kill those gods, Yoan. If you do, then I''ll forgive you for abandoning me and our baby when we needed you the most."

    Ah.

    To be honest, he wasn''t surprised to hear that from Neoma. In fact, he was already expecting her to say that.

    That was why he came prepared.

    "I knew you''d say that," Yoan said, then he put a hand over his chest. "Then please make sure you''d injure me to the point that I wouldn''t be able to leave my room for at least a year."

    "What if I killed you?"

    "I know you wouldn''t."

    "Where''s your confidenceing from, Commander?"

    "Because you love me, Neoma," Yoan reminded her, giving her a small smile. "And I love you, too. That''s why I''m entrusting my heart and my life to you."

    Neoma looked shocked by his confession at first, then sheughed.

    It wasn''t sarcastic or bitter.

    For the first time in a long while, Yoan finally saw Neoma smile genuinely again. It was only for a moment, but that beautiful smile was already etched on his mind and heart forever.

    [Ah, Neoma finally smiled at me again.]

    "Yoan, you only say the things I want to hear from you when it''s already toote," Neoma said, approaching him. Then she put her hand on his hand that was ced over his chest. "But I''ll forgive you this once because you''re handsome."

    He was confused.

    Neoma, despite being literally the most beautiful woman in the entire world, was never interested in one''s physical appearance.

    [The only person I heard Neoma praise for being handsome was Rubin Drayton.]

    Yoan had always been jealous of Rubin Drayton because Neoma seemed to really like the young lord''s face.

    But not anymore since Rubin Drayton was already long dead.

    "That''s a surprise," Yoanmented curiously. "You were never interested in someone else''s appearance."

    "Now I am," Neoma said. "I actually realized recently that my face is really beautiful."

    It was cute to hear that from Neoma who never cared for her appearance before, so he just smiled and listened to her.

    "I need something to keep me sane while Crimson was messing with my head," she continued telling her cute story in a light voice. "For some reason, looking at attractive people makes me calm. But most good-looking people I''ve encountered ended up dying from my me. So, I ended up just staring at the mirror. After all, if I wanted to see a pretty face, all I needed was to grab a mirror and stare at my reflection."

    He couldn''t help it this time.

    Yoan chuckled lightly while shaking his head. "Vanity suits you, Neoma. You''re more beautiful than the moon, so you have the right to get obsessed with your pretty face."

    "I don''t know if I''d still be the most beautiful woman in your eyes after I''m done with you, Yoan," Neoma said, smiling lightly while shaking her head. "Do you know how I set the entire world on fire in just two years, Yoan?"

    He couldn''t answer this time.

    After all, his face got distorted in pain when Neoma''s heart started to get hot. Worse, the heating from her hand went straight to his heart.

    To be precise, in his Core.

    [I feel like she''s burning my heart¡­]

    "The Eternal me can burn any trees, nts, flowers, grass, or even twigs anywhere in the world," Neoma said, then she whispered in his ear. "And do you know what the gods'' Cores are made of?"

    Tree.

    Yoan found out that their Cores were made of the ''World Tree'' when Neoma almost killed him that day by simply setting his Core on fire with the Eternal me.

    ***

    [AH, it''s finally over.]

    It took Neoma half a year to kill all the gods that she wanted to kill. She could have killed them easier if she was in her best condition. But her body was already breaking apart. Hence, it took her that long.

    But, at least, she had already killed the ones she wanted dead.

    [Well, except for Lord Levi.]

    It wasn''t like she couldn''t kill the God Among the Gods¨C she just didn''t want to because she didn''t want Yoan to be alone in the world.

    [I can''t remember if I was the one who killed his birth parents.]

    After all, Neoma let Crimson take over her consciousness when she burned the Eastern Continent. Her consciousness would only return every time there was a child involved. Otherwise, she remained "unconscious" and the God of Wrath did the work for her.

    "Are you done now, Neoma?"

    [Ah, he''s here.]

    Neoma smiled weakly at Yoan. "Greetings to the God yer."

    After she almost killed Yoan a few months ago when she set his Core on fire.

    [That''s how I killed the other gods.]

    She expected Yoan to stay bedridden for at least a year.

    But she could tell how he recovered easily.

    "I was wondering where the Eternal me had gone to when he left my broken body," Neoma said, her voice slightly bitter. "So, he went to you now that he doesn''t need me anymore."

    [The Eternal me probably healed Yoan.]

    After all, only the Eternal me could put out his own me.

    "The Eternal me cares about you, Neoma," Yoan said while approaching her carefully. "Your body is now too contaminated by Darkness. If we don''t purify it, you''ll die painfully."

    Ah, right.

    Apparently, those who were burned to ashes by the Eternal me died painlessly.

    "Alright," Neoma said, sitting on a boulder. "Kill me now, Yoan. It''s the only way to purify me, isn''t it?"

    "Neoma, I will fulfill my duty as the God yer and end your life here to save your soul," Yoan said, then he got down on one knee and held her hands gently. When he looked up at her, tears rolled down his cheeks in silence. "But once everything is over, I promise to follow you."

    "Don''t kill yourself, silly."

    "I will turn back time and give you a better life, Neoma."

    To say that she was shocked to hear that would be an understatement.

    "Yoan, what are you saying?"

    "The Ancient Devil can do it."

    "Are you crazy?" she asked, worried and still shocked. "Even I failed to save Trevor from the Ancient Devil when that bastard possessed Trevor''s body! Don''t make a deal with that kind of monster!"

    Yoan only smiled at her as if he was happy.

    "Why are you smiling?" she asked, annoyed, while shaking his shoulders. "I''m serious."

    "I''m just happy that you''re worried about me, Neoma," Yoan said, then he touched her face. "But don''t worry. I''ll make sure you''ll be happy in your next life."

    "Yoan¨C argh."

    Neoma pushed Yoan away from her, sending him flying, when she felt her Lunacy taking over her consciousness.

    Worse, the Darkness stored in her body was threatening to explode.

    [I''m at my limit now.]

    "Do it now, Commander Yoan," Neoma urged themander in an urgent voice, her red eyes glowing dangerously. "Kill me now before Crimson takes over my full consciousness!"

    Yoan, who just stood up after hitting a boulder, had a pained look on his face as he summoned his ancient bow. "I''m sorry, Neoma," he whispered in a cracked voice while pointing an arrow at her. The single arrow was engulfed in the Eternal me''s me. "I''ll make you happy the next time we meet again¨C I promise."

    ***

    NEOMA REMEMBERED dying in the "ck ocean" made of the Impure Mana and Darkness from the people that she had killed.

    It was a cold, painful, and very lonely death.

    Hence, she didn''t expect to open her eyes and find herself in a garden¨C let alone meet a tiny old woman who was sitting under a tree while knitting what seemed like a baby''s clothes.

    A baby''s clothes.

    Neoma felt a pang in her chest when she remembered her baby.

    "This is for your baby, Neoma de Moonasterio."

    Neoma''s eyes widened in shock. "Excuse me?"

    "I''m Serafina¨C the World itself," the old woman said, then she looked up at her with a gentle smile on her face. "And I am here to give you a reward for saving the world."

    Neoma didn''t know what shocked her more.

    Was it the fact that the old woman who introduced herself as ''Serafina'' was the world itself?

    Was it the fact that the "World" wanted to give her a reward for saving the world?

    Or¡­

    "You said you''re knitting clothes for MY baby," Neoma said, swallowing the gulp that formed in her throat. "What do you mean by that, Grandma?"

    Serafina looked shocked by what she said. "This is the first time someone called me ''Grandma.''"

    "I''ll apologize if I offended you, ma''am."

    "No, I''m not offended. I actually like it," Serafina said, then she smiled kindly at Neoma. "I can hear what your heart desires, child. You want to be with your baby, don''t you?"

    Neoma''s tears already rolled down her cheeks before she knew it. "I want my baby, Grandma," she said between sobs. "But I also want to be with Yoan. Can I have both of them? That''s all I ask¡­"

    ***

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 Chapter 861 AN ENDLESS DREAM

    <h4>Chapter 861 AN ENDLESS DREAM</h4>

    "HAVE YOU calmed down, child?"

    Neoma nodded after drinking the tea that Serafina made for her.

    Right now, the two of them were having an afternoon tea under the huge tree in that ce. Wherever it was.

    "I''m calm now, Grandma," Neoma said politely. "Thank you for the tea."

    After she had calmed down, her head cleared up a bit.

    She thought the name ''Serafina'' sounded familiar. That was when she remembered the young princess that she met when the Eternal me "rescued" her.

    "Seraphine," Neoma said the name out loud. "Your name reminded me of that child''s name, Grandma."

    Serafina, who was still knitting, smiled. "All the Aethers are named Seraphine."

    "Ah. Is that so? The child introduced herself as ''Seraphine de Moonasterio,'' so I had no idea."

    "Callisto de Luca killed that child even before she got her first period. She had lived longer as an Aether than a human. Hence, it wasn''t a surprise that she had forgotten her own name."

    To forget your own name¡­

    [That''s pretty sad.]

    "Why do you let scumbags like Callisto de Luca live, Grandma?"

    Neoma was born a princess and raised to be a perfect nobledy like Hanna Quinzel. Hence, she was strictly taught to only speak "pretty" words.

    But during and after the war, she realized that swearing was quite refreshing.

    "I summon people like you to end people like Callisto de Luca, child," Serafina exined. "However, there are also forces who want people like Callisto de Luca alive."

    "But you govern the world."

    "Only the human world, child," Serafina said, smiling sadly. "The gods that I helped bring to the world have already grown stronger than I am."

    "You gave birth to the gods?"

    "The World Tree, my physical body, was the one who gave gods their hearts."

    Neoma nodded in understanding. "That''s why the gods'' Cores can be burned by the Eternal me."

    "That''s correct. After all, there''s no tree in the world that the Eternal me can''t burn down," Serafina agreed, nodding her head. "However, gods are called gods because of their divine power that makes them almost impossible to kill. If the gods in the Upper World didn''t get heavily injured during the Ancient Period while trying to stop the Absolute Darkness, then you and Yoan wouldn''t be able to hurt or kill them even with the help of the Eternal me."

    That was something that she had heard from the gods that she had killed.

    They all med it on their injuries and diseases that they got during the Ancient Period. Apparently, the gods had never healed properly from that time.

    "I don''t care if we only got lucky," Neoma said. "The gods I want dead are all dead now, and that''s what all that matters."

    "You received bad karma points for killing half the human world poption and half of the gods from the Upper World."

    "Bad karma points?"

    "Those points determine whether you''ll get punished in Hell or not."

    "Ah. So, are you here to determine whether I''ll be sent to Hell or not now that I''m dead?"

    "Despite saving the world, killing gods has its consequences," Serafina said in a calm yet serious tone. "Your bad karma points are higher than your good karma points. Hence, you should have been punished to eternal damnation with no chances of getting reincarnated again."

    Neoma sipped her tea again before speaking. "You mentioned earlier that you''re here to reward me, Grandma. Why are you suddenly talking about my punishment?"

    The old womanughed softly. "I''m sorry, child. I got distracted for a moment. But,e to think of it, we need to talk about it anyway. After all, you''ll get your reward because your bad karma points will be erased soon. Not all of them, but most."

    "Why would my bad karma points get void?"

    "Because you''re about to be reborn unnaturally, Neoma de Moonasterio," Serafina said, smiling. "Yoan will turn back time for you."

    Was she supposed to be happy after hearing that?

    No.

    She couldn''t.

    "That foolish, stubborn man," Neoma growled, clenching her hands tightly. "I told him not to make a deal with the cunning Ancient Devil!"

    ***

    "THE DEAL is now sealed¨C I will turn back time for you and make it so the gods, save for the few, would lose their memories about the current timeline."

    Yoan didn''t doubt that the Ancient Devil had the power to turn back time.

    But he didn''t expect that the Ancient Devil had the power to erase the memories of the gods in the Upper World.

    Perhaps he shouldn''t have been surprised.

    [After all, this is the person that not Neoma could kill easily.]

    "Were you surprised by my powers? Well, I am, too," the Ancient Devil said,ughing. "I didn''t expect that absorbing Trevor Kesser''s body would make me more powerful and dangerous than I already am." He clutched his chest. "That child has an infinite power in him that could rival the gods''. It was a shame that he didn''t have the will to reach his maximum potential."

    Yoan wasn''t surprised to hear that because he had always known Trevor Kesser had a power simr to the gods.

    But Trevor Kesser had no passion or motivation.

    The only time Trevor Kesser showed something simr to passion was when he confessed to Neoma. But Trevor Kesser threw a tantrum and disappeared after Neoma rejected him.

    Trevor Kesser said he got bored, but he was probably just too hurt to stay with the group.

    [I can imagine Trevor Kesser letting the Ancient Devil kill him just because he couldn''t be bothered to fight back.]

    "Ah, was I too harsh?" the Ancient Devil asked, grinning. "Neoma de Moonasterio tried to save that boy Trevor Kesser. You did, too, albeit it was clear you didn''t care about the Sorcerer. I''m worried I''ve offended my precious client by speaking about what happened to Trevor Kesser."

    "The only death I mourn is the death of Neoma and our child¨C I don''t care about the rest."

    The Ancient Devilughed. "Yoan Solfrid, your feelings for Neoma de Moonasterio is really interesting. I''ve lived long enough to witness the birth of the first de Moonasterio in the world. But this is the first time I encountered a man who loved a female de Moonasterio as hard as you do."

    "Haven''t you met thete Saint Zavaroni?"

    "Ah, yes. Dominic Zavaroni did love Nichole de Moonasterio, but he wasn''t crazy enough to ask me to turn back time when his beloved died."

    "Why would the SAINT ask for the devil''s help?"

    "Why would the DIVINE SON of Lord Levi ask for my help then?"

    Touche.

    "You''re crazy, Yoan Solfrid¨C you and your feelings for Neoma de Moonasterio," the Ancient Devil said,ughing. "I can''t wait to make them mine."

    Yoan just scoffed. "It won''t happen¨C only I am allowed to love Neoma the way I do."

    ***

    "IT''S TOOte for you to stop Yoan since the deal has already been made."

    Neoma frowned, unclenching her hands slowly. "Yoan never says the things I want to hear from him. And now he doesn''t listen to me anymore."

    "He loves you, child."

    "I know, Grandma. But that doesn''t mean I''m not allowed to be upset with him. In the end, we''re just a normal couple."

    "I''m not sure about you and Yoan being a ''normal'' couple since normal couples don''t destroy the world when they have a lovers'' spat."

    Neoma just drank her tea and avoided the old woman''s teasing gaze.

    "Child, you and Yoan have both used the Eternal me," Serafina said, changing the subject in a serious tone. "You know that using the Eternal me has a consequence?"

    "Anyone who uses the power of the Eternal me has to seal a piece of their soul with it and act as a guardian until the new wielderes to seek the power of the Eternal me," Neoma said, reciting the ''consequence'' that the Eternal me had mentioned to her before. And now she was a bit confused. "Yoan will turn back time. So, do we still need to leave a piece of our souls with the Eternal me?"

    "The Eternal me is one of the selected few who won''t get their memories of this timeline erased," the old woman exined. "Hence, you and Yoan are still obliged to leave a piece of your soul with the Eternal me."

    "But my soul will still regress?"

    "That''s right," Serafina confirmed while nodding. "But you will only remember half of your memories. Most parts rted to you being a god and ending the world would be erased. It is to prevent the gods from realizing that time was reset for you."

    Oh.

    She couldn''t wrap her head around it yet.

    "Your piece of soul that will be left with the Eternal me will have your full consciousness, Neoma de Moonasterio," Serafina exined. "You will live with the Eternal me as if you wereplete. But the Eternal me''s domain isn''t as big as the outer world. You might get bored, and you might get lonely. Will you be alright with that?"

    "Grandma, I can live anywhere as long as I have my baby. And Yoan, too."

    She didn''t mean to make it sound like Yoan was just an afterthought.

    It was just her baby was more important to her.

    [I''m sorry, Yoan. I love you. But I''m yearning for my child.]

    "Then I won''t keep you here longer than I already had," Serafina said, then she held her hands and smiled sadly at her. "Neoma de Moonasterio, the world you''ll live in with your child and Yoan may not bepletely real. However, I still wish you all the happiness in the world."

    "I''ll take it, Grandma," Neoma said, smiling back at the old woman. "I''ll take a piece of happiness no matter how small it is."

    ***

    A BABY''S cry.

    Neoma was woken up by a baby''s loud cries.

    When she opened her eyes, she was surprised when she found herself sitting on a rocking chair while holding a baby boy in her arms.

    It only took her one gaze to fall in love with the baby.

    [This baby is mine.]

    Neoma gently and carefully hugged her child while holding back her tears. "Hush, baby," she whispered to the child. "Mommy is already here."

    "Why is our little prince crying?"

    Hmm?

    She raised her head in surprise, then she smiled when she saw her man walking into the room with a dazzling smile on his face.

    [What a beautiful dream.]

    "Yoan, I''m a princess and ady. I can''t live with a man unrted to me," Neoma said, teasing him. "Shall we get married first before living together?"

    "Why do you always beat me to it?" Yoanined, then he got down on one knee and held her hands tight. Then he kissed her knuckles before putting a beautiful ring on her finger. "Let''s get married, Neoma."

    ***

    NOTE: I posted the Royal Secret Alternate Universe novel here on Webnovel. Just search for Let''s Not Divorce by s_c, or look for the story in my profile.

    I''m grateful that there are two readers who subscribed to read theplete story on my Patreon page. Even so, my heart feels a little heavy that only two people got to read the story that I poured my heart and soul into writing. LOL. So, I decided to share it here on WN for the people who don''t have ess to Patreon. But, of course, there are parts that will only be avable on my Patreon page.

    It''s alreadypleted there, you may head to p atreon/s_c if you want to read the entire story in one sitting. Thank you. <3

    ***

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 Chapter 862 HAPPY FOR NOW

    ?

    "I''VE already sealed a piece of Neoma de Moonasterio''s soul with the Eternal me."

    Yoan bowed politely as a greeting to Serafina¨C the World itself.

    [Sometimes she''s called the World Tree, too. But the Cosmic Tree is more famous than her, so people would just often refer to Lady Serafina as the ''World.'']

    "Thank you, Lady Serafina."

    Serafina stopped knitting and looked at him with a disapproving look. "You''re expressing your gratitude and yet why do I feel like your disdain? I gave Neoma what both of you had wished for."

    "Please don''t pretend that you did us for our sake, Lady Serafina," he said indifferently. "After I retrieved Neoma''s body from the dark ocean, we realized that the residues of her Lunacy remained a threat even when she was already gone."

    It was hard for him to talk about Neoma using the past tense, but he had to continue and act tough in front of everyone.

    "Crimson, the God of Wrath, isn''t exactly a Soul Beast. Hence, we can assume that he''s still living inside Neoma''s soul," Yoan continued. "Neoma''s anger and hatred for the world didn''t subside even after she was gone. Crimson seemed like he was nning to use Neoma''s Lunacy to revive her."

    Yoan didn''t want Neoma to die, but he also knew she didn''t want to be revived.

    Not in a world without her baby.

    Moreover¡­

    "If Neoma got revived while her Lunacy was at its strongest due to Crimson''s influence, then she might really end the world this time," Yoan continued. "And that''s exactly why you "rewarded" Neoma. You just want her to calm down for the sake of the world."

    Yoan had always known Neoma was a monster.

    [And I mean that in the best way possible.]

    Neoma lived a "normal" life without using her Mana or divine power for eighteen years. She only got to learn to do so after she was revived.

    [Her Soul Beast wasn''t even normal.]

    And yet, Neoma learned everything she needed to be a savior in a short amount of time.

    She won the war against Helstor and Callisto de Luca.

    [Hence, it''s no surprise that Neoma remains a threat to the world even after she is gone.]

    "You''re too jaded to see the good in people, aren''t you?" Serafina asked in a sad voice. "Will you not believe me that I gave Neoma a reward simply because she deserves it?"

    "If that''s truly the case, then I''m grateful."

    The Worldughed while shaking his head. "How''s the deal?"

    "You know I already sealed the deal with the Ancient Devil."

    "I''m talking about the deal you made with the Goddess of Life and the God of Death to revive your child with Neoma de Moonasterio."

    "It''s done," Yoan said. "Neoma''s child, the same one that she created in this timeline, would be reborn if ever she decided to have a baby in the next timeline."

    "You asked the Goddess of Life and the God of Death to revive Neoma''s child in the next timeline even if she ended up with another man by then. Why did you do that?"

    "I n to only watch and guide Neoma from afar in the next timeline. Moreover, there''s no guarantee that Neoma will fall in love with me once again since her memories of me would be sealed."

    After all, his deal with the Ancient Devil was tricky.

    [I can''t have Neoma remember our history before I aplish my goals for the next timeline.]

    "Now I understand why Neoma said you never say the things she wanted to hear from you, and you do things she doesn''t need you to do for her."

    He flinched.

    To be honest, he knew that he loved Neoma.

    [And I really do.]

    But Yoan wasn''t good at expressing his feelings.

    [Moreover, if I let my feelings take over, then I might end up wanting to lock up Neoma so she wouldn''t leave my side. Hence, in order to suppress my obsessive and possessive feelings towards her, I find myself trying to stay away from her as much as possible.]

    Of course, now all of that sounded nothing more than a pathetic excuse.

    "In the next timeline, I will make sure Neoma will grow up loved and protected," Yoan promised to himself. "But that doesn''t mean I won''t make it up to the Neoma of this timeline. So please send a piece of my soul to where Neoma and our baby is."

    "Of course, I will do that," Serafina said, smiling sadly at him. "After all, from this moment on, you will shoulder half of the bad karma points that Neoma de Moonasterio has umted, Yoan Solfrid."

    ***

    NEOMA was supposed to be upset with Yoan.

    But looking at her man while their baby was in his arms, she realized that she didn''t care anymore.

    She was aware that she was already dead.

    That this was nothing more than an "endless" dream.

    "Neoma, look," Yoan said in a hushed yet excited voice. "I finally managed to make our baby sleep."

    ''Our baby.''

    Those words were music to her ears.

    Yoan was a careful person so he would often refer to their child as Neoma''s baby.

    It wasn''t because he didn''t want to be responsible of them, but because he knew how possessive Neoma was with her baby. Hence, he didn''t want to overstep his boundaries.

    "Yoan."

    "Hmm?"

    "I chose you as my baby''s father," Neoma said firmly. "You don''t have to walk on eggshells around me."

    Yoan blushed when he probably realized that she saw right through him.

    "I just feel like I still don''t deserve to be this child''s father."

    "Well, we have all the time in this world," she said. "In this world, all we have to worry about is our small family."

    Yoan fell silent for a moment, then he smiled and nodded. "You''re right, Neoma. Thank you for the reminder."

    "I actually have a lot of things I wanted to ask," Neoma confessed. "I want to know what the Ancient Devil asked you in return of turning back time. I want to know how our baby was revived. I want to know how long this "endless" dream wouldst. But I decided to forget about everything rted to the outside world. This may sound selfish, but since we''re only a piece of our previous selves'' souls, I believe we''re no longer responsible for what would happen to the ''us'' outside."

    She''d like to think that the Neoma and the Yoan of the outside world were different people from them.

    "I agree with you, Neoma," Yoan said, nodding in agreement. "I promised myself that this piece of my soul would belong to you and our baby. No one and nothing mattered more than our family."

    Neoma knew that this world wasn''t really a real world.

    However, she''d take it.

    [This is my life now.]

    ''Life.''

    That sounded nice.

    Neoma smiled and Yoan, then she looked at their baby boy. "Vitu."

    "Vitu?" Yoan asked curiously. "That means ''life'' in the ancientnguage. It has a nice ring to it."

    "Right? Our child gives me life," she said, her face probably lighting up. "What do you think of naming our baby ''Vitu?''"

    "I like it."

    Neoma''s smile grew wide, then she turned to their baby and lightly poked his chubby cheek with her finger. "Vitu, do you like your name?"

    As if as a response, their baby smiled.

    And then Vitu finally opened his bright red eyes.

    A god.

    Their baby was born a god.

    Even so, Neoma and Yoan just looked at each other and smiled.

    [It''s okay. It doesn''t matter. Vitu is our child and that''s all that matters.]

    In this world, they could raise their child as normal as they could.

    "Greetings, Vitu," Neoma said when she turned to their child again. "I''m Neoma and I''m your mother."

    "I''m Yoan and I''m your father," Yoan said, smiling at their baby. "It''s nice to meet you, Vitu. Your mother and I are very happy to have you as our son."

    Vitu, their little bundle of joy, giggled as if they were greeting them.

    That was when it hit Neoma and Yoan.

    [This is our own happy ending.]

    ***

    NEOMA fell to the floor, her body exhausted, after seeing how Neoma of the first timeline''s life ended.

    It felt like watching a tragic movie.

    The ending was bittersweet.

    [So, they lived inside this world as a family.]

    The current Neoma wouldn''t have been satisfied with that kind of life.

    But for Neoma of the first timeline, that was the best ending that she could get.

    "Do you finally remember everything now, Mother?"

    ''Mother'' and not ''Mommy.''

    Neoma raised her head to see Vitu, her teenage son, squatting down in front of her to meet her eye level.

    "I''m not real," Vitu said yfully while smiling at her. "I only exist in this world. I''m nothing but a beautiful dream created¨C aw!"

    The boy yelled when Neoma pinched his cheek a little too hard.

    Pfft.

    "You were hurt, so that means you''re real," Neoma said before letting go of her son''s cheek. "So what if you only exist in this world? Don''t invalidate the life that Giant Neoma and Commander Yoan created for you. You are their son, and you''ll be my sonter."

    Vitu looked confused, then he blinked. "How are you still sane, Mother? The Eternal me was so sure that you''d lose your mind once your memories returned."

    "Well, I almost lost it when I saw how you died and how Neoma dealt with your death," she admitted. "However, Giant Neoma still got her happy ending in the end. How can I be mad when I saw her smile that bright while looking at you and Yoan."

    "I didn''t expect you''d be calm and rational in this situation, Mother."

    "Son, I know I have a bad reputation for being a crazy bitch," she said. She wanted to avoid cursing in front of her son. But what could she do? Swearinges naturally to her. "But I also know that I don''t have the luxury to lose my mind at the moment. If I want to meet you again, then I have to get out of here with my mind intact."

    "You¡­ want me to be your son in this lifetime as well, Mother?"

    Aww.

    Vitu looked like he was about to burst out crying.

    The child was probably touched.

    "Of course, I want you to be my son again," Neoma said, then she cupped Vitu''s face between her hands. "Ruto and I will definitely conceive you in this timeline, son."

    Vitu''s face turned red. "Mother, that''s too much information."

    She justughed it off. "Anyways, I''ll deal with the Eternal me now."

    "Have you figured out how to control it now, Mother?"

    "Yeah," Neoma said, nodding. "I''ll scream for help."

    Vitu looked visibly confused. "Help from who?"

    ***

    Hi! Do the italics and bold fonts show up/work now when you''re reading this in the app? Thank you in advance for your answers.

    ***

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 Chapter 863 THE CORRECT ANSWER

    ?

    NEOMA didn''t have the time to answer Vitu''s question when she felt the Eternal me approaching.

    The real deal this time.

    Hence, she quickly stood in front of her son protectively.

    "You don''t have to protect me, Mother," Vitu said as he stood behind her. "The Eternal me won''t hurt me."

    "Even so, as your mother, it''s my duty to protect you."

    "Mother, I''m stronger than you right now."

    "Hah! You''re really my child since you inherited my arrogance," Neoma said proudly. "Congrattions on being the one and only son of THE Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio, Vitu. You should be eternally grateful to your father for winning the heart of an awesome woman like me."

    Vitu justughed as if he was amused.

    <"The Neoma I know isn''t as arrogant as you, little princess.">

    He finally arrived.

    The Eternal me was here atst.

    And wow.

    [It really is a talking fireball.]

    "I''m Neoma version 2.0," Neoma said to the Eternal me. "Anyways, I''m d you''re already here. I thought you were going to burn me to death."

    She didn''t notice it at first, but the me around her disappeared when Vitu reappeared.

    [The teenage Vitu, I mean.]

    <"I can tell that you''re different from the princess I know,"> the Eternal me said. <"Your eyes are full of anger, and yet you haven''t lost your mind yet.">

    The Eternal me was correct.

    Of course, Neoma was seething.

    But if she lost her mind, the world would treat her like a fucking viiness. Worse, Ruto might be forced to eliminate her again as the God yer. In short, there was no benefit in getting angry.

    Hence, she decided to hold back for now.

    "Don''t get me wrong, Mr. Eternal me. After all, I hold grudges," Neoma said, smiling while her red eyes glowered. "The punishment for those bastards who ruined my life in the first timeline is only dyed¨C not forgotten."

    <"Then what''s the first thing you''d do if I lent you my me once again?">

    Neoma''s body suddenly felt hot, as if she was standing on top of an active volcano that was about to erupt at any moment.

    Ah, it was her final test.

    [The Eternal me''s decision will be based on my answer.]

    "If I gained the Eternal me once again, then the first thing I''d do is share it with my people."

    <"Huh?">

    "Mother?"

    Neoma blinked, confused. "Why do you look shocked? Am I the only one allowed to use the Eternal me? I think you once mentioned that only Yoan and I can use your me, but I have faith in my people."

    <"Why would you share my me with your people? What if they use my power to harm you?">

    "Nah, my people wouldn''t betray me. I''m sorry to say this, but I''m not as na?ve as the Giant Neoma who was deceived by Larissa and Lord Levi. That won''t happen to me."

    <"Let''s assume that your people could handle my me. But enlighten me. Tell me why you want to share my me with them. If you do that, then the Eternal me that you''d receive would be lesser and inferior to the me that the other Neoma had wielded in the first timeline.">

    Of course, she knew that.

    However¡­

    "Neoma of the first timeline is the strongest, but she''s lonely. After all, it''s sad when you''re the only person on the top of the world," Neoma said in a serious voice. "I don''t want to be lonely in this lifetime. And so, I decided to bring my people with me to the top. I may not be the strongest human-god in this timeline, but it''s okay as long as I''m happy and surrounded by the people I love, by the people who love me."

    Perhaps Neoma of the first timeline had lost her mind because she was lonely.

    It was the reason why Giant Neoma was obsessed with having a baby, too.

    "I am not alone anymore," Neoma said, smiling because the heaviness in her heart was already gone. "I will protect this world with my people. I will not suffer alone. I will share my burden with my people and we will all figure this out together."

    "Small Mother is wise."

    Pfft.

    Neoma smiled and turned to Vitu, then she ruffled his hair. "What did I tell you? Your mom is awesome."

    Vitu smiled shyly, then he nodded his head in agreement.

    <"Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio, if you had lost your mind after retrieving your memories, then you would have failed my test.">

    [I thought so.]

    <"If you had forced your way out to get your revenge onT the people who wronged you in the past, then I would have kicked you out of here without lending my power to you.">

    Oops.

    She almost did that.

    [I''m d I have the patience of a saint today.]

    <"If the first thing you said was about revenge, then I wouldn''t have lent you my strength for the second time.">

    Neoma flinched because she felt a tad guilty. "I didn''t say I wouldn''t use your power to get my revengeter¡­"

    <"Exactly. You would do it LATER. Neoma of the first timeline burned Queen Tara and the Spirit World as soon as she received my me.">

    "They deserve it, though."

    <"I''m not saying that Neoma of the first timeline was wrong. But I didn''t want you to self-destruct the way that she did. When Neoma of the first timeline died, I couldn''t help but feel guilty. After all, it was my me that ended her life. I do not wish for the Eternal me to dull your shine again, child.">

    Hmm.

    It seemed like the Eternal me really cared about Neoma of the first timeline, huh?

    <"That''s why I''m d to see that you have changed, Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio,"> the Eternal me said, and he actually sounded like he was smiling. <"I ept your resolve, so let me grant your wish.">

    Hmm?

    In just the blink of an eye, familiar faces appeared in front of Neoma one by one.[1]

    <"I will share my me with you, children!">

    Neomaughed when she finally saw the faces that she had missed a lot. "I miss y''all!"

    ***

    NOTE: Sorry for the short chapter. I was at a book fair all day. Will make it up to you tomorrow.

    ***

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    [1] guess who

 Chapter 864 ASSEMBLE!

    ?

    MELVIN went to check on Prince Nero and Miss Dahlia.

    After Empress Mona left with Trevor Kesser, the Crown Prince''s Order of the Knights hadn''t left their master''s room.

    Only Melvin had toe in and out of the chamber because of his job.

    [Since the Crown Prince is out ofmission, I have to do his administrative tasks to keep the pce afloat.]

    Moreover, he also had to take care of Miss Dahlia''s well-being.

    "Miss Dahlia, you maye out and take a stroll in the garden," Melvin said, worried that Miss Dahlia might be feeling stuffy already for getting stuck in Prince Nero''s room. "I''ll stay with Prince Nero in the meantime¡­"

    Melvin trailed off when he noticed that Miss Dahlia was pale and she was sweating profusely even though the room was cold.

    Prince Nero had ice powers, so the space around him would always be naturally cold.

    "Miss Dahlia, are you alright?"

    "No," Miss Dahlia answered while hugging herself. "I feel like I''m being burned alive¡­"

    And then Miss Dahlia suddenly copsed, unconscious.

    Melvin''s eyes widened in shock. "Miss Dahlia!"

    He wasn''t as fast as he would like to be because he wasn''t a fighter.

    Fortunately, Raku was quick to his feet. The half human-half dragon caught Miss Dahlia before she hit the floor.

    [Thank goodness¡­ what?]

    Melvin was shocked when Raku suddenly dropped Miss Dahlia on the floor.

    "Sorry!" Raku said, obviously panicking. Then he showed his BURNED arms that were still emitting smoke. "Miss Dahlia is burning hot¡­"

    Hmm?

    Raku had the body of a dragon, so it was shocking to see him get burned by mere body heat.

    [Then¡­ it must not be a mere body heat that caused Miss Dahlia to burn up.]

    "Melvin,e here and take a look," Sanford, kneeling beside the Crown Prince''s bed, said in an urgent voice. "Prince Nero is sweating profusely and when I tried to wipe his forehead, the handkerchief was burned to ashes. I almost died!"

    Sanford wasn''t being overdramatic this time.

    [Miss Dahlia and Prince Nero are definitely engulfed in some strange me¡­]

    The room was starting to get really hot, too.

    [We must get out of here, but we can''t leave Prince Nero and Miss Dahlia.]

    Melvin was racking his brain toe out with a n to protect the Crown Prince and the ck Witch without dying when, suddenly, a burst of cold breeze filled the room.

    <"Leave the room.">

    Oh.

    It was Prince Nero''s beautiful ice phoenix.

    The Soul Beast reduced its size to fit in the room. Even so, the ice phoenix remained as beautiful and as elegant as ever.

    "We can''t leave Prince Nero and Miss Dahlia here," Melvin insisted. "That would be treason."

    <"Your loyalty will only kill you, foolish child.">

    "I''m sorry for being loyal then?"

    <"None of you here could handle the Eternal me''s heat.">

    Melvin let out an audible gasp. "The Eternal me?"

    <"Nero and the ck Witch will be fine. The only way to help them in this situation is to keep yourself and everyone else safe.">

    Right.

    There were servants working in the pce that might get hurt.

    "Lord Zeru, do you swear on your name as the Crown Prince''s Soul Beast that you''ll protect Prince Nero and Miss Dahlia?"

    <"I swear. As Nero''s Soul Beast, it''s my duty to protect him with my life.">

    That was all Melvin needed to hear.

    "Then I''ll leave Prince Nero and Miss Dahlia in your capable hands, Lord Zeru," Melvin said, then he turned to his fellow knights. "Let''s get out of here and evacuate everyone to a safe ce."

    ***

    "DUKE HAWTHORNE!"

    Rufus was surprised when Duke Jasper Hawthorne suddenly copsed. He tried to catch the young duke, but he was surprised when he almost got burned. Hence, he failed and had to watch Duke Hawthorne hit the ground.

    As a father and a fellow duke, he immediately moved to check on Duke Hawthorne.

    However¡­

    <"Don''t touch him!">

    It was Duckie, Duke Hawthorne''s Elemental Guardian who was in his winged serpent form earlier. But now, the Elemental Guardian had returned to its other form.

    The form of a duck.

    "Duke Hawthorne is burning up," Rufus said worriedly. "Is he alright?"

    <"That child is fine, but you and the others wouldn''t be fine if you don''t leave the parameter soon. You have to get out of here, Duke.">

    "May I know why?"

    <"It''s the Eternal me,"> Duckie said proudly. <"It seems like that child is taking the Eternal me''s trial. Hah! I expect no less from my new master.">

    Rufus was confused, but it seemed like a good thing.

    [But I hope the Eternal me isn''t hurting Duke Hawthorne since the young duke is still a child¡­]

    Well, Duke Jasper Hawthorne was already in his early twenties.

    But in Rufus'' eyes, the young duke was still a child¨C just like Hanna and Princess Neoma.

    [I hope powerful beings like the Eternal me would just stop making children fight their battles.]

    ***

    MONA didn''t attempt to catch Trevor who suddenly copsed while they were resting in the garden they were ushered to while waiting for the Cosmic Tree.

    It wasn''t like she didn''t care about Trevor.

    She just knew that the demon boy''s life wasn''t in danger and she would get burned if she touched him now.

    "It''s the Eternal me," Mona whispered to herself. Then she frowned. "Why did the Eternal me suddenly appear?"

    "The World must have awakened the Eternal me from its slumber."

    Ah.

    It was Irina, the Cosmic Tree, in her human form.

    A littleter, Mona just found herself having tea with the Cosmic Tree.

    "It''s been a while, Mother," Mona greeted the Cosmic Tree politely. "I apologize foring back here unannounced."

    "You know you''re always wee here, dear," the Cosmic Tree said, smiling at her kindly. "I''m curious why you suddenly returned, though. After all, I know you wouldn''t leave your daughter at this critical moment."

    It wasn''t a secret that Neoma was "gone."

    Hence, she wasn''t surprised that the Cosmic Tree had already heard about the tragic news.

    "We''re trying to revive my daughter," Mona said carefully. "Trevor actually brought me here because he said I might fall into aatose state after he extracts blood from me. I''m hoping to gain your protection when I reached that state, Mother."

    "I see," the Cosmic Tree said, nodding. "Of course, you''ll be safe as long as you''re here, daughter." Then the Cosmic Tree turned to Trevor who was still on the ground. "But I wonder if the child would survive and be able to return here to extract your blood?"

    It was shocking that the Eternal me had appeared suddenly.

    But she knew that the phenomenon could only be linked to one person.

    "I have a feeling that it was Neoma who brought back the Eternal me to this world," Mona said confidently. "If the Eternal me''s sudden appearance is rted to my daughter, then I''m sure that Trevor would return. That boy''s motivation to live is Neoma, after all."

    "Is that so?" Irina asked, then she sighed as if she felt bad for the demon boy. "It''s a shame that someone as passionate as that young demon wasn''t the father of Neoma''s child. I feel like he''d do a better job than the passive Divine Lord."

    "Excuse me?"

    "I''m not saying that the Divine Lord isn''t good enough for Neoma. But I''m just not a fan of careful men like him."

    "That''s not it, Mother," Mona said, clenching her hands tight as her pale blue eyes glowered. "You said something about the father of my daughter''s "child." My Baby Pumpkin is still a baby. Hence, I don''t understand what you''re saying, Mother."

    She was aware that it was hinted that Neoma and the Commander Yoan of the first timeline MAY have had a child together.

    It was fine with her since the Neoma of the first timeline was old enough back then.

    [Not that I have the right to speak about it since I had Neoma and Nero when I was very young. But I still can''t wrap my head around the idea that my baby is having a baby.]

    "Calm down, Mona," Irina said,ughing softly. "Neoma isn''t pregnant. Not yet, at least."

    Mona frowned, not liking the direction of the conversation. "Then what do you mean by what you said earlier, Mother? You''re making me nervous."

    "The gods in the Upper World are currently making a fuss about the Sapling that suddenly appeared in the Garden."

    There was only one ''Garden'' in the world despite its nd name.

    "Are you talking about the Goddess of Life''s Garden where all life forms are born, Mother?" Mona asked. She was getting more and more anxious now. "A Sapling is a child created by a god on their own, isn''t it? Hence, I wonder why it''s in the Garden."

    "Was," the Cosmic Tree corrected her. "It appeared in the Garden, but it suddenly disappeared. However, the traces didn''tpletely vanish. Hence, the gods who sneaked into the Garden to investigate had the chance to figure out whom the Sapling belonged to."

    "Don''t tell me¡­"

    "Yes, my daughter," Irina said, smiling at her as if she was sympathizing with her. "The Sapling''s Mana and divine power are a mix of Neoma''s and the Divine Lord''s."

    Mona closed her eyes tight. "Ruto, what have you done this time?"

    ***

    [TSK.]

    Lisica was worried when Hanna Quinzel and Lewis suddenly copsed while burning up.

    But she didn''t have time to worry about the two because of the enemies that were trying to enter the mansion.

    Those weren''t demons.

    It was a group of strong reincarnated corpses that was being led by a FEMALE Silver Fox.

    [I think that child is also a "crow."]

    "I thought Lewis Crevan was thest Silver Fox in the world," Lisica said, growling while ring at the female fox. There was something unnatural about the youngdy. Just looking at the "fox" was making her skin crawl. "Where did that wenche from?"

    "My queen, we shouldn''t be worried about that child," Rustin said nervously. "Am I the only one who feels the negative energy of the Ancient Devil here?"

    Ah, yes.

    They were in Trevor Kesser''s territory. Hence, it should be impossible for the crows to find this ce easily. But those bastards did.

    Hence, they must have received some help.

    "But I thought the Ancient Devil was on Princess Neoma''s side?" Lisica wondered. "What''s happening?"

    "Betrayal is normal during a war, my queen," Rustin reminded her bitterly. "That was how we perished, didn''t we?"

    "Ahem."

    It was the female Silver Fox, interrupting Lisica and Rustin''s conversation.

    "I don''t care if Princess Neoma or Hanna Quinzel is there," the female Silver Fox said. "Hand over Lewis Crevan to me, old foxes. He''s the only one I need!"

    ***

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 Chapter 865 SIBLING RIVALRY?

    <h4>Chapter 865 SIBLING RIVALRY?</h4>

    [HMM?]

    Ruto was surprised when the Eternal me summoned him.

    He got a bit nervous because thest the Eternal me summoned him was when it asked him to stop Neoma in the first timeline from being corrupted by Darkness.

    [But I don''t think Neoma would go rampant this time.]

    Ruto was aware that the current Neoma had a very nasty temper. But the current Neoma was better at controlling her emotions than her past self.

    [Moreover, she grew up a bit shrewd, so¡­]

    <"We met again, Commander Yoan.">

    "I go by ''Ruto'' now, Mr. Eternal me," Ruto said. "Is Neoma alright?"

    <"Of course, she is.">

    "Then why did you summon me?"

    <"The little princess decided to share her right to wield the Eternal me with her people.">

    To say that Ruto was shocked would be an understatement.

    If pride would be a person, then it would definitely be Neoma. She would rather die than let other people die for her.

    "Did Neoma say why she wanted to share her power with her people?"

    <"The little princess said she didn''t want to be the strongest if that meant being alone and lonely all over again. Hence, this time, she chose to be strong with everyone else.">

    Strange.

    Ruto had always thought the only thing that the current Neoma had inmon with Neoma of the first timeline was their pride.

    The old Neoma chose her pride even if it meant losing everything else.

    [That was how she became the strongest.]

    "I see," Ruto whispered to himself, nodding. "Neoma chose happiness this time."

    <"But you know that it wouldn''t be easy to share my me with the other children,"> the Eternal me said. <"After all, only you and Neoma are the chosen ones¨C then and now.">

    The ''chosen ones,'' huh?

    It was a title that young and passionate warriors would definitely kill for.

    But for old souls like Ruto and Neoma, being the chosen ones was nothing but a burden.

    [I understand why Neoma chose to share that burden with the people she trusts.]

    Moreover, Ruto was pretty sure that Neoma wouldn''t share the burden equally.

    [Knowing Neoma, I''m certain she''ll still take the heaviest load on her shoulders and let the others take care of the light ones.]

    "What are you going to do about Neoma''s will then?"

    <"I found a way to let the other children use my me,"> the Eternal me answered. <"But the children have to have the same resolve.">

    "Did you put them in a trial?"

    <"Of course.">

    "What kind of did you give them?"

    <"I just asked them a question. But the children have to have a uniform answer. Even if just one of them answered differently, then they''ll fail the test and my me would burn them to ashes.">

    "Are you not afraid of Neoma''s wrath?"

    <"I am. But the little princess has faith in those children. Hence, I decided to risk it. I want to see if the little princess trusted the right people this time.">

    "Don''t worry. Everyone around Neoma is loyal and faithful to her."

    <"Let''s look at how the children answered my simple question.">

    "Alright."

    The nk wall in front of Ruto suddenly turned into a split screen.

    It was split into six screens that showed each person inside an all-red room.

    Prince Nero.

    Dahlia.

    Hanna Quinzel.

    Lewis Crevan.

    Jasper Hawthorne.

    Trevor Kesser.

    [Ah, so Neoma chose her Four Pirs and her fellow Elemental Guardian owners.]

    Ruto agreed with Neoma''s choice.

    Hence, he watched in silence as the Eternal me put the children to the test.

    <"You''re here because Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio chose to share her right to wield the Eternal me with you. Should you ept it, you''ll have the power to burn anything and everything in the world. Hence, let me ask you. Would you like to be the new wielder of the Eternal me?">

    "I politely decline. Please use your power to protect Princess Neoma. I''m worried that she might push herself too much for the sake of other people again."

    It was Hanna Quinzel''s response.

    "Don''t wanna. Just protect Princess Neoma you."

    It was Lewis, talking incoherently in front of something he clearly didn''t like.

    "Thank you for the offer, but I don''t think I need the Eternal me. Please stay with Princess Neoma, though. A selfless person like Her Imperial Highness needs your protection."

    It was Dahlia''s nervous response.

    "I''m honored by the offer, but I have to decline. I don''t want to take away even a little part of what belongs to Princess Neoma. Just please stay with her and protect my little sister."

    It was Jasper Hawthorne''s polite request.

    "Oh. Your offer is tempting. But between being the new wielder of the Eternal me and being my Princess Neoma''s biggest simp, I choose thetter~ So, just go back and protect my Moon Princess, okay?"

    Ruto frowned at Trevor''s annoying response.

    "Did you seriously interrupt me while I was in the middle of a serious conversation with an important person just to ask me that stupid question? How dare you? As the next emperor of the Great Moonasterion Empire, I don''t need your help. Ice is more interesting than fire anyway."

    Of course, it was none other than Prince Nero.

    The Crown Prince even had the power to leave the Eternal me''s space and return to where he hade from.

    Yes, Prince Nero WALKED OUT on THE Eternal me.

    [That''s a male Roseheart for you¨C he can open doors to different dimensions effortlessly.]

    <"Get out of here, cheeky brats. You all passed the test. Whether you like it or not, you''ll receive a portion of the Eternal me¨C but you''ll only be allowed to use it for Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio''s sake. Heed my warning, little ones. If you use my me for something else or something sinister, then you''ll be burned to ashes in an instant.">

    After the Eternal me''s warning, the split screen disappeared.

    "The test was easy," Rutomented. "The consequence seems heavy, though."

    <"It has to be. After all, not everyone could wield my me. Hence, I have to treat the children as the little princess'' weapons. Hence, it''s only possible for them to wield me if they''re doing it for Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio''s sake.">

    "Sounds fair," he said, nodding. "However, I don''t think that''s the reason why Neoma wanted to share her power with those kids. It''s supposed to be used for saving the world."

    <"To those children, saving the little princess is the same as saving the world.">

    It wasn''t surprising.

    <"The little princess also wished to share my me with you, Divine Lord.">

    Ruto wasn''t surprised to hear that.

    However¡­

    <"You''re not allowed to decline,"> the Eternal me said before Ruto could even say anything. <"Even if you do, I will still give you the portion of my me that you deserve.">

    "Alright. But I have a condition."

    <"What is it?">

    "I will never use the Eternal me to hurt or kill Neoma. Never again," Ruto said firmly. "If I was forced to do that, then I want you to burn me to ashes instantly."

    ***

    NEOMA was really happy to see her friends again.

    She could tell that they were in their Spirit forms, but that didn''t mean they were dead. Only Spirits could enter the Eternal me''s realm.

    [I''m sure they just copsed when their souls were summoned here.]

    "Hi, everyone!" Neoma greeted her friends. "Where''s Nero?"

    <"The little prince already went back to his "serious conversation" with a "very important person."">

    A very important person?

    "Then he must be talking to Neoma of the first timeline," Neoma said. She could just feel it. After all, she was the most important person in Nero''s life. "Anyway, I''m d everyone is here."

    That included Ruto, of course.

    Neoma noticed that although Hanna, Lewis, Dahlia, Jasper oppa, and Trevor looked happy to see her, they couldn''t take their eyes off the person hiding behind her.

    [Oh, right.]

    "Everyone, this is Vitu," Neoma introduced Vitu, then she linked her arm with her teenage son''s arm so that he would stand beside her and not behind her. "He''s my son."

    "Did you adopt another child?"

    That was EVERYONE''S tired question.

    Wow.

    [Do I have a reputation that I adopt every child I see???]

    "I didn''t adopt this boy," Neoma said proudly. "This one is mine. Biologically."

    As expected, everyone looked too shocked to respond.

    "My name is Vitu," Vitu introduced himself shyly. "My mother is Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio, and my father is Yoan Solfrid who goes by Ruston Stroganoff Solfrid now¡­"

    Her baby boy was forced to stop talking when, suddenly, Lewis and Trevor attacked Ruto.

    [Omo, omo.]

    Ruto blocked Lewis'' kick with one arm, and he used his other hand to create a barrier when Trevor threw a ball of dark energy at him.

    Wow.

    [My ex-man is really good at blocking~]

    "Neoma, that son of yours came from the past, didn''t he?" Hanna asked nervously. "Right?"

    Dahlia looked like she wanted to ask the same thing.

    Jasper oppa, too.

    "Of course," Neoma said. "How can I give birth to a teenage boy? Even I can''t do that. I''m sure Lewis and Trevor know that, too. They just let their bodies move first before thinking."

    [Tsk, tsk.]

    "I''m relieved to hear that, Princess Neoma," Jasper oppa said. "I barely held myself back from attacking the White Knights''mander."

    Gosh.

    [I''m surrounded by overprotective people.]

    And it felt nice~

    "Mother, why did they attack Father?" Vitu asked worriedly. "Is Father hated by your friends?"

    "It''s because this mother of yours is loved dearly, my precious son," Neoma said while rubbing Vitu''s back to console her poor son. "Lewis, Trevor, don''t traumatize my Vitu. If you don''t stop attacking Ruto, I''ll get mad."

    Lewis and Trevor instantly stopped attacking Ruto and went to her.

    "My Moon Princess, it''s okay for you to be a single mother," Trevor said right away. "Just ask that damnedmander for child support. You don''t have to marry him, okay?"

    "Gosh. I''m d Nero isn''t here," Neoma said, shaking her head. Then she turned to Lewis. "Oh, Lewis. You can finally graduate as my son¨C"

    "I''m Princess Neoma''s first son," Lewis dered firmly while ring at Vitu with his glowing golden eyes. "I was first."

    Neoma was confused.

    [Why is Lewis suddenlypeting with my other son when he used to hate being called my son?!]

    "But I''m the real one," Vitu said coyly, his red eyes glowering. "I''m Mother''s real son, so she doesn''t need you anymore to y as her son, Lewis Crevan."

    Oh.

    Neoma didn''t like what Vitu said, especially when hurt crossed Lewis'' eyes.

    [But do I have the heart to scold Vitu¡­?]

    ***

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 Chapter 866 BROKEN HEARTS

    <h4>Chapter 866 BROKEN HEARTS</h4>

    [IT''S HARD to be a mother, huh?]

    Neoma had adopted many children in this lifetime.

    Among them, Lewis was the most precious to her.

    But now that Vitu was here¡­

    [I''m such a bad mother. How did Mama Boss treat me and Nero equally that I never thought she was being unfair?]

    She was new to this, but she had to do what she thought was right.

    "Vitu, don''t be rude to Lewis," Neoma said in a slightly scolding tone. "And Lewis is someone I will never NOT need."

    Lewis'' face lit up.

    But Vitu suddenly teared up. Not only that. Her baby boy also shrunk until he became the child that Neoma met before.

    Oh my god.

    [My baby became a real baby again!]

    Now Neoma felt like the worst mother in the world.

    "I''m sorry, Mommy," Vitu said between sobs. "Are you mad at me?"

    Neoma was about to kneel and hug Vitu, but Ruto suddenly stood beside her.

    "Why are you crying?" Ruto scolded Vitu in a cold and firm voice. "And why are you saying sorry only to your mother? Use your words and not your tears when apologizing, Vitu."

    Neoma was upset with Ruto, but she couldn''t call him out in front of their baby.

    [I mean, he''s still Vitu''s father. He has the right to discipline our child. But I''ll have a stern talk with himter. He didn''t need to be so cold to our baby!]

    However, it seemed like Ruto''s strictness worked.

    Vitu stopped crying and wiped the tears off his face with the sleeves of his clothes.

    Gosh.

    [Our baby listens well to his father, huh?]

    "I''m sorry, Brother Lewis," Vitu said while looking up at Lewis with big, teary eyes. "I was rude and mean."

    Lewis looked taken aback, then his gaze fell to the floor. "Okay. Sorry, too."

    Hmm?

    Lewis'' sentences weren''t exactly incoherent, but they were poorly constructed. His tone was polite, but his words weren''t. It was as if the fox held back from acting rudely.

    Neoma was shocked because it only meant one thing.

    [Lewis doesn''t like my baby!]

    It was shocking.

    "Mommy, Mommy."

    Neoma was distracted when Vitu tugged at the hem of her clothes. When she looked down at her baby, her heart melted when she saw him raising his tiny arms as if he was asking her to carry him in her arms.

    Gosh.

    [It''s official: Vitu is the cutest baby in the world.]

    "Mommy, I apologized to Brother Lewis," Vitu said, his face looking so angelic at the moment. "Did I do a good job?"

    Omo.

    Look at those round, bright eyes of her baby boy.

    "You did well, baby," Neoma praised her child. "Thank you for admitting you were wrong. Next is self-reflection, okay?"

    Vitu smiled and nodded. "Okay, Mommy!"

    Then the baby boy turned to his father.

    "Daddy, I stopped crying immediately," Vitu said proudly. "Are you proud of me?"

    Neoma red at Ruto, warning him not to say or do anything that might hurt Vitu''s feelings again.

    Ruto slowly avoided Neoma''s gaze, then he faced Vitu and gently patted the child''s head. "Good job, kid."

    [Gosh. Would it kill him to call Vitu ''baby?'' He makes it sound like Vitu is a random child.]

    But then again, Papa Boss used to call Neoma a ''little rogue'' and Nero a ''ruffian'' affectionately.

    "You look like a picture of a happy family¡­"

    It was Dahlia.

    And it seemed like the ck Witch said those words out loud identally.

    After all, Dahlia covered her mouth with her hands when she gasped.

    [The mood suddenly turned¡­ sour.]

    Trevor, whose dark purple eyes were glowing menacingly, scoffed.

    Oh.

    Neoma felt a chill down her spine.

    This was the first time she saw Trevor that angry¡­

    ¡­ and hurt.

    [Trevor is hurt.]

    It kind of shocked Neoma because Trevor would usually act goofy even after she rejected him tly.

    But, this time, the demon seriously looked mad.

    "I''m happy to see you again, Princess Neoma," Trevor said indifferently, addressing Neoma politely this time instead of calling her his ''Moon Princess.'' "But I must go now in order to gather the ingredients needed to revive you. See youter, Your Imperial Highness."

    And, just like that, Trevor disappeared on his own volition.

    Oh.

    Dahlia, who was obviously ming herself for Trevor''s mood swings, looked like she was about to cry. "I''m s-sorry, Princess Neoma¡­"

    "You have nothing to apologize for, Dahlia," Neoma said, shaking her head. "Trevor is responsible for his own feelings. You didn''t say anything wrong anyway."

    Even after she said that, the ck Witch still didn''t look convinced.

    [She''s such a soft-hearted kid.]

    <"I hate to interrupt, but I must send the other children back to their vessels. You also don''t have much time left in this world, little princess.">

    Ah.

    "I guess it''s time for us to part ways here," Neoma said, addressing her people. "Everyone, I know I put a burden on you when I shared the Eternal me with you. I also know that I always tell you not to do things you don''t want to do. Despite that, I went ahead and gave the Eternal me the permission to reject your refusals if the reason you gave was rted to me."

    She just knew that her people would reject the Eternal me.

    After all, her people were all smart and quick-witted.

    [I know that they''ll realize right away that sharing the Eternal me with them would mean my control of the me would weaken.]

    And yes, Neoma knew her people that well.

    "Forgive me this once for forcing my decision on you," Neoma said, smiling apologetically at them. "And please help me."

    "Neoma, that''s something you shouldn''t have to ask from us," Hanna said, smiling at her. "We''re always at your service."

    Lewis, who looked awkward for some reason, nodded in agreement with what Hanna said.

    "The Stars have told me before that once I found the path that I believe would lead me to a better world, then I must follow it without hesitation," Dahlia said shyly. "Princess Neoma, please continue guiding me to the right path."

    "I can''t be your sword nor your shield because you already have both," Jasper oppa said, grinning at Neoma. "But I will always be your big brother, Princess Neoma. You''re wee to whine and act like a child around me."

    Aww.

    To say that she was touched would be an understatement.

    These people never really failed to make Neoma feel loved and appreciated.

    "I''ll return with a bang, everyone," Neoma promised her people with a smile. "See you in the living worldter¨C I''ll show you my love and gratitude in the most epic way possible."

    ***

    "WELCOME BACK, Trevor."

    Ah, right.

    Trevor only remembered that he copsed while he was in the Cosmic Tree''s garden when he woke up and found himself lying down on a bed made of leaves.

    [This makes me feel like I''m a fairy.]

    "Are you alright?"

    Trevor got up before he answered Empress Mona''s question. "Not really, Your Majesty. But I can still function."

    Empress Mona, who was sitting on the chair next to the leaf bed, looked visibly worried. "Did something bad happen with the Eternal me?"

    Trevor fell silent for a moment, then he clutched his heart tight. "Princess Neoma is fine, Your Imperial Majesty," he assured the empress because he knew the empress was worried about her precious daughter. "But why does Princess Neoma''s happiness hurt me this much?"

    ***

    SNIFFLE.

    Hanna didn''t dare to look in Lewis'' direction when her soul returned to her body.

    She didn''t have to look to know that the fox was crying.

    [Neoma looked so happy with Ruto and Vitu. It''s clear that Neoma wouldn''t change her mind about Ruto anymore.]

    To simply say, Neoma had rejected all her suitors today.

    "Take your time, Lewis," Hanna said softly while patting Lewis'' back. "Come out when you''re ready. I''ll take care of the "guests" outside first."

    Lewis only sobbed quietly.

    She left the room and went straight to the balcony to see what was going on outside.

    Much to her surprise, she saw Queen Lisica and Lord Rustin barely holding back a group of Silver Foxes.

    To be precise, those were reanimated corpses of dead Silver Foxes.

    [How cruel.]

    "Hanna Quinzel?"

    [That one is alive.]

    Hanna was surprised when she saw a living female Silver Fox among the bunch.

    "If you''re here, then Lewis Crevan must be there, too," the female Silver Fox said, obviously delighted. Then she opened her arms as if asking for a present. "Hand him over to me!"

    [That woman isn''t worth my attention.]

    Hanna didn''t have time to entertain the female Silver Fox as she was busy assessing the situation.

    Queen Lisica and Lord Rustin looked exhausted. They were already Spirits, so they wouldn''t die.

    However, the two old Silver Foxes were fighting reanimated corpses of their kin.

    [I can''t imagine their pain.]

    "Who do you think you are to ignore me?!"

    It was the female Silver Fox.

    In just the blink of an eye, the female Silver Fox was already standing on the rail of the balcony while looking down at Hanna with glowing golden eyes.

    "Who do you think I am?" Hanna snapped, her green eyes glowing menacingly. "I''m your future empress, so know your ce and bow down to me."

    Then Hanna used her Shadow to force the female Silver Fox on her knees.

    ***

    DAHLIA gasped because as soon as she opened her eyes, the first thing that greeted her was Emperor Niki''s stoic face.

    She immediately got up and got down on her knees.

    "You shouldn''t be moving abruptly yet, Dahlia," Emperor Niki said. "But I''m d that you''re up."

    Dahlia nervously looked around.

    That was when she noticed the strange blue lights around her.

    "Your Imperial Majesty, aren''t these¡­"

    "Yes, the lights you see areing from the Moonglow," Emperor Niki said grimly. "To be precise, those lights are from Nero''s Moonglow."

    Dahlia could tell that she was still in Prince Nero''s bedroom, but the Crown Prince was no longer there.

    That only made her feel more nervous.

    "Nero is in the throne room," the emperor said as if he could read her mind. "The throne has summoned him."

    Dahlia gulped, clenching her hands tight. "I-Is it time for Prince Nero to ascend the throne, Your Imperial Majesty?"

    The emperor fell silent for a moment before he opened his mouth again. "Dahlia, do you know what all the emperors of the past had inmon when they ascended the throne?"

    She didn''t answer because she knew the emperor wasn''t waiting for her response.

    And she couldn''t think straight anyway.

    "All of them¨C no, all of us were already married when we sat on the throne," Emperor Niki said, his face darkened. "It''s a requirement for the next emperor to be married before ascending to the throne."

    But Princess Hanna wasn''t there to marry Prince Nero.

    So, it could mean one thing.

    Dahlia felt cold suddenly. "Your Imperial Majesty, I will not marry the Crown Prince."

    ***

    NOTE: I posted the Royal Secret Alternate Universe novel here on Webnovel. Just search for Let''s Not Divorce by s_c, or look for the story in my profile.

    I''m grateful that there are two readers who subscribed to read theplete story on my Patreon page. Even so, my heart feels a little heavy that only two people got to read the story that I poured my heart and soul into writing. LOL. So, I decided to share it here on WN for the people who don''t have ess to Patreon. But, of course, there are parts that will only be avable on my Patreon page.

    It''s alreadypleted there, you may head to p atreon/s_c if you want to read the entire story in one sitting. Thank you. <3

    ***

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 Chapter 867 MARRIAGE PROPOSAL

    <h4>Chapter 867 MARRIAGE PROPOSAL</h4>

    "WHY DID Vitu suddenly be a baby again?" Neoma asked Ruto while watching Vitu sleep under the tree. "Did he turn back to his baby form to win me over earlier because I scolded him?"

    After her friends left, Vitu fell asleep in her arms.

    She wanted her baby to befortable, so she ced him down under the tree.

    Ruto took off his jacket and ced it on the grass as a makeshift "bed" for their baby.

    Hence, right now, Neoma and Ruto were sitting in front of Vitu while watching their child sleep peacefully.

    "I believe it''s both," Ruto said after contemting for a moment. "Vitu can''t maintain his adult form for long because the older Neoma and Commander Yoan aren''t here. But I think he timed it well so you would stop scolding him."

    "And what made you say that?"

    "Because Vitu is the son of the greatest scammer on the continent."

    Pfft.

    "Hey, did you forget that I used to be a child actress?" Neomained lightly. "You could have just said that Vitu was good at acting because his mother was a former star. Are you teasing me?"

    Ruto just smiled in response.

    [Ah, so he''s really teasing me.]

    Gosh.

    "Ruto, I think I''ve already retrieved the memories of my first life."

    "All of it?"

    "I think so," she said. "But I''m blocking most of the memories I''ve regained since they''re unpleasant."

    "Are the memories that we shared in the first timeline included in that?"

    "Yes. I don''t like how Giant Neoma and Commander Yoan''s tragic romance ended. If their love story was a movie, then it would be the type of movie that you''d only watch once. Not because it''s trash, but because it''s beautiful yet heartbreaking."

    "Beautiful yet heartbreaking," Ruto repeated her words in a whisper. "That indeed perfectly describes our past."

    "That''s why you should also forget about that tragic "movie," Ruto."

    "How can I forget the fact that I killed you, Neoma?"

    Right?

    However¡­

    "You didn''t kill me," Neoma said while shaking her head. "You purified me, Ruto."

    "Even so¨C"

    "My body was already breaking down during that time because I consumed too much poisonous Darkness. That was the price I had to pay for choosing to save children instead of letting them die," she said, cutting him off. "If you didn''t purify me, then I would have died a painful and gruesome death."

    "But I still let you die alone in that cold and dark ce," Ruto said in a cracked voice. "I tried to recover your body as soon as I could, even so¡­"

    "Ruto, if my life was a novel, then I''d be an unreliable narrator."

    "Huh?"

    "I''ve seen some of Giant Neoma''s memories in the past without context," she exined. "That was how I concluded that you killed me. That you didn''t love me enough. That I wasn''t loved by my people in the first timeline. But I was wrong."

    Neoma of the first timeline was loved.

    There was only one problem.

    "Neoma of the first timeline didn''t recognize love because she grew up without it," Neoma said in a sad voice. "She knew when she loved someone, but she could barely recognize it when she was loved. That was why she thought you didn''t love her enough."

    The only love that Neoma of the first timeline acknowledged and never doubted was Duke Rufus Quinzel''s fatherly love that she received as a child.

    Anything else was suspicious to her.

    "Giant Neoma thought that the people around her only followed her out of duty and not because they loved her," Neoma said,ughing bitterly. "But we can''t me her, can we? She lived a miserable life before you revived her. Plus, she was betrayed by Rubin Drayton."

    "As much as I want to hate Rubin Drayton, I was actually quite grateful for him," Ruto said, frowning. "I''m d he was born stupid then and now."

    She couldn''t help butugh. "Wow. I''ll never get used to you shit-talking to other people behind their backs."

    "Right. It''s wrong. I''ll remember to call Rubin Drayton ''stupid'' straight to his face the next time we see each other."

    Sheughed again. "Hey, don''t be too harsh on Rubin Drayton in this timeline."

    Ruto turned to her with a betrayed look on his face. "I know you''re a fan of viin characters getting a redemption arc."

    "I am?"

    "You fangirled hard over Zuko''s redemption arc."

    Zuko?

    [From Av*tar?]

    Neomaughed while pping her hands. "Hey, that''s justifiable. Zuko''s redemption arc was written so well."

    "Yeah, and Ruto Drayton isn''t as good as Zuko, so don''t forgive him easily."

    Aigoo.

    [Ruto is sulking, huh?]

    How cute~

    "Rubin and I already had ''the'' talk," Neoma confessed. "All this time, he was being controlled by Dn Crowell who possessed his body. Perhaps it was the same case in the first timeline. Maybe it was Dn Crowell who hurt me and not Rubin Drayton."

    "Neoma¨C"

    "Even so, it doesn''t matter anymore," she said, cutting Ruto off before he exploded with jealousy. "Rubin Drayton and I were never meant to be together."

    Only then did Ruto calm down.

    "Ruto, have you noticed it?"

    "Hmm?"

    Neoma grinned at Ruto cheekily. "Your feelings for me have returned."

    Ruto looked surprised at first, then his face turned red. "Oh."

    "You can be a little dense sometimes, my dude."

    "Well, this is quite worrying," Ruto said while scratching his cheek. "Now that my feelings for you have returned, then it only means the Ancient Devil lost them. I have a bad feeling about this."

    "Maybe the curse was lifted when you fell in love with me again?"

    "I hope that''s the case," he said. "But even if it wasn''t, don''t worry. I''ll protect you from the Ancient Devil."

    "Okay, I''ll protect you, too."

    He just smiled and nodded.

    "Hey, I''m serious. You can''t die," Neoma said firmly. "I have no intention of bing a god in this timeline, so I can''t procreate on my own. That''s why I need you to conceive Vitu naturally."

    Ruto suddenly coughed as if he got choked on his saliva.

    "Why are you so surprised?" sheined while patting Ruto''s back to help him calm down. "You should have seen thising since you''re the only one for me. Gosh. Or are you afraid that the gods won''t let us conceive a child because they don''t want to have another monster n in the human world just like the de Moonasterios?"

    "It''s not that," Rutoined lightly, then he turned to her with a sulky face. "Why do you always beat me to it?"

    "To what?"

    "Marriage proposal!"

    Huh?

    Ah, right.

    [Neoma of the first timeline proposed to Commander Yoan first.]

    "I am speed," Neoma teased Ruto, mimicking a meme whileughing. "Anyways, it''s not my fault that you''re a slowpoke¨C mmf!"

    She was surprised when Ruto suddenly covered her mouth with his hand.

    As gently as possible, of course.

    "Just you wait," Ruto said determinedly, his face and ears red. "I''m going to make the first move this time, Neoma de Moonasterio Solfrid."

    "Solfrid?" Neoma asked, surprised. Then she removed Ruto''s hand from her mouth. She knew that it was supposed to be a romantic moment, but her curiosity got the better of her. "Why not ''Stroganoff?''"

    "Ah, I didn''t tell you before because I was afraid of triggering your memories," he said. "Actually, it was my father who married into my mother''s family. Hence, ''Solfrid'' has always been my legal name. I only used my father''sst name when I entered the pce to be a royal chef."

    "Because you didn''t want me to remember you?"

    He nodded. "I already changed my name in this timeline, so I decided to change myst name as well to protect your memories."

    Ah, so that was how Ruto became Ruston Stroganoff.

    And it actually worked.

    [The name ''Yoan'' triggered my memories the first time I heard it. If I remembered him earlier, then Ruto would have lost his feelings for me without aplishing anything.]

    Neoma had to admit that Ruto''s n was meticulous.

    She tilted her head to one side. "Wait."

    "Yes?"

    "Why haven''t I met Chef Stroganoff yet?" Neoma asked, knitting her eyebrows. "I''m sure Papa Boss has already met your father since Chef Stroganoff is the emperor''s Royal Chef. But I haven''t met my future father-inw yet. Does he even know about us?"

    "Uhm, I''m pretty sure not even His Imperial Majesty has had many opportunities to meet my father in person yet."

    "Why not?"

    "Father is "scared" of good-looking people, so he tends to avoid the Imperial Family."

    What?!

    "Then how did your father manage to bag your mother?" Neoma asked, surprised. "Your mother is a beauty, Ruto."

    "Father often faints when he''s with my mother, so Mother decided to move back to the Eastern Continent to give Father''s heart a break."

    Huh?

    Neoma couldn''t help butugh again. "Oh, my. What will your father do now that he''ll have the most beautiful woman in the world as his future daughter-inw?"

    Rutoughed while shaking his head. "I''ll pray for Father''s heart."

    "Mommy, Daddy¡­?"

    It was Vitu.

    Their baby was now awake while rubbing his eyes with his tiny hand.

    Vitu then smiled brightly. "Mommy! Daddy!"

    The baby wasn''t talking about Neoma and Ruto this time.

    Giant Neoma and Commander Yoan were back.

    [Okay, it''s time to work again.]

    ***

    NOTE: A little breather before the Third Cmity aka Nero, Dahlia, Hanna''s arc.

    ***

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 Chapter 868 THE THRONES CHOICE

    ?

    AFTER NIKOLAI fully recovered his Moonglow, purifying the blobs of Darkness that covered the entire sky had never been easier.

    He let Calypso, the Holy Sword, eat as much as it could.

    If the older Neoma hadn''t replenished his Moonglow, it would have been impossible for Niki to keep up with Calypso.

    "I feel more powerful now."

    "Right?"

    "I thought I was going to die earlier."

    "This is all thanks to the older Princess Neoma''s gift."

    "Yes, that''s right. The older Imperial Princess saved our Master''s life."

    Niki''s Soul Beasts were talking among themselves, and he pretended that he wasn''t listening.

    Well, he wasn''t really listening since he was focused on the Holy Sword.

    He had to concentrate and hold Calypso tight so that it wouldn''t get out of control.

    However, how could he not listen when people were talking about his precious daughter?

    [I hope you arrived safely to wherever you were headed, Neoma.]

    Niki''s thoughts were only interrupted when he saw Monik slowly falling down.

    He didn''t have to move or ask his Soul Beasts to catch the child.

    The Azure Dragon, now in his human form, had caught Monik who fell asleep in the Soul Beast''s arms.

    "She must be tired from gathering the Light Goddess'' fragments," Nikimented while looking at Monik''s tired face. The child was still engulfed in pinkish lights as if those lights were protecting her. "Bring the child to the pce and stay by her side until I return."

    "Are you not going to return with us, Master?" the Azure Dragon asked curiously. "I can tell that Calypso is almost done devouring the blobs of Darkness."

    It was true.

    Although it took a few hours, they still seeded in clearing up the sky.

    [The people must be at ease now.]

    Even so¡­

    "My duty as the emperor doesn''t end in purifying the Darkness that threatened the skies of the empire I rule," Niki said determinedly. "I must personally be there to assure my people that the Moon hasn''t been swallowed by the Darkness."

    ***

    [GOOD THINGS are happening one after the other.]

    Skylus smiled at the positive development that was taking ce while he was in the middle of leading the citizens to pray.

    The praying rally was almost stopped when miasma that came out of nowhere began attacking the citizens. But, fortunately, Neoma noona''s "children" arrived and protected them all by pouring what seemed like fairy dust into the air.

    Then the Holy Knights, led by Captain Henrik Benedict and Dion Skelton, helped get rid of the miasma that was weakened by the fairy dust.

    And now¡­

    "The sky is clearing up," Skylus said calmly. Although he spoke normally, his voice was amplified by the magic devices around him. Hence, he was pretty sure that even those who were watching the live broadcast had heard him clearly. "My precious citizens, the Imperial Family has won and protected us from evil. Open your eyes and see for yourselves."

    Everyone closed their eyes and prayed harder when the miasma appeared earlier.

    But, at Skylus''mand, the people opened their eyes and looked up at the sky.

    A loud, collective gasp was heard.

    "It''s true¨C the sky has cleared up!"

    "The Imperial Family kept their promise and protected us!"

    "Praise Lord Yule!"

    Skylus smiled sadly while watching the people celebrate the Imperial Family''s win while praising Lord Yule.

    It wasn''t like he was doubting the Moon God''s blessing.

    However, at a time like this, he wished people would see the members of the Imperial Family''s sacrifice and not simply assume that they were saved because of the Moon God.

    "I understand what you''re feeling at the moment, Your Holiness," Manu, who was standing beside him, whispered. "But, at a dark time like this, it''s better for the people to keep their faith. Prayers work, and their prayers would definitely help Lord Yule recover his strength. The Moon God would no doubt help the Imperial Family once he regained the power to do so."

    "I''m not doubting the Moon God, Lord Manu," Skylus whispered back. "I just feel bad for the Imperial Family¨C not as the Moon Saint, but as Neoma noona''s fan."

    He knew.

    Skylus knew that although his Neoma noona was "gone," it was her who brought their victory today.

    "Look! Something is falling down from the sky!"

    "Ah! It''s a person!"

    "It''s the emperor!"

    The people were correct.

    It was the emperor who descended from the sky.

    Emperor Niki didn''tpletely descend, though. The emperor remained suspended in the air, holding his shining Holy Sword in his hand. And then His Imperial Majesty looked down and addressed everyone with his cold yet trustworthy gaze.

    But the emperor may have forgotten that he was intimidating, especially when he wasn''t saying anything.

    Soon, the celebratory atmosphere disappeared.

    Those who dared to look at the emperor with a bright greeting earlier quickly bowed their heads and lowered their gaze to the floor.

    Despite the LARGE crowd gathered there, the entire ce suddenly fell SILENT.

    [That''s the emperor for you.]

    His Imperial Majesty didn''t have to say or do anything to make his people pay attention to him. After all, his entire presence wasmanding (and scary) enough.

    [Thank goodness my Neoma noona is a friendly person.]

    "The Darkness didn''t seed in swallowing up the moon."

    It was Emperor Niki''s calm and confident voice that echoed everywhere.

    "As long as the de Moonasterios are here, the Darkness will never win," Emperor Niki said, raising Calypso with confidence. "The Imperial Family will never fall before the enemies."

    It was only but a short message.

    But the emperor didn''t have to say much.

    After all, the clear sky had already spoken enough in His Imperial Majesty''s ce.

    "Long live His Imperial Majesty!"

    Soon, the people who were intimidated by Emperor Niki''s presence earlier had quickly recovered. They raised their heads and praised the emperor who kept his promise to protect them.

    It didn''t take long for the celebratory atmosphere to return.

    "Congrattions, Your Imperial Majesty," Skylus said, smiling. "The Second Cmity is over."

    ***

    NIKOLAI returned to the pce as soon as his speech was over.

    Skylus and Manu remained in front of the pce to continue the prayer rally.

    It was safer for the people to gather there in the meantime anyway.

    "The miasma has reached the Imperial Capital already, but Princess Neoma''s "children"¨C er, knights, are scattered in the area to fight the miasma with the fairy dust that Greko made," Geoffrey Kinsley reported while walking behind Niki. "I''m keeping in touch with Lady Paige Avery. So far, she said everything is under control."

    Niki stopped walking when he noticed that the people from the Crown Prince''s pce were being evacuated.

    The evacuation was being led by Melvin Lhesi, Nero''s closest aide.

    "Your Imperial Majesty, Prince Nero and Miss Dahlia copsed. Apparently, they were summoned by the Eternal me," Geoffrey whispered his report this time. "However, Prince Nero''s Soul Beast assured that both Prince Nero and Miss Dahlia are safe."

    Niki was about to say something but, suddenly, he felt a strange yet familiar aura.

    No.

    It wasn''t aura.

    [Tsk.]

    "Geoffrey, I am going to the throne room," Niki said, changing his direction when he was supposed to check on Nero. His son wouldn''t be in his bedroom anyway. "Make sure no one woulde near the throne room until I say so."

    ***

    AS EXPECTED.

    Niki wasn''t surprised when he found Nero sitting on the throne when he arrived in the throne room.

    Only the emperor had the right to sit there.

    But he wasn''t offended.

    Unlike his father, Niki had never been greedy for the throne.

    "Nero, did the throne summon you?"

    Nero raised his head, his eyes glowing red in the dark.

    That was when Niki became worried for his son.

    [Nero looks like he''s out of it.]

    "Father, where am I?" Nero asked in a confused voice. His face showed that he was in pain. It was also probably the reason why the Crown Prince''s Mana and divine power were both fluctuating. "Is this the first timeline or the present?"

    Niki didn''t know why his son was confused, but he answered his question first. "We''re in the present timeline, son."

    Nero looked relieved, then he shut his eyes tight and leaned his head against the backseat of the throne. "It''s confusing, Father. I was just talking to Neoma a moment ago. The Neoma that I killed in the first timeline, that is."

    He wasn''t surprised to hear that from his son.

    After all, Neoma of the first timeline paid Niki a visit even though he didn''t deserve it.

    Hence, it wasn''t surprising to hear that his daughter visited her twin brother, too.

    "Father, this damned throne is being noisy."

    It was rare for Nero to show his irritation openly, and it was rarer for him to curse.

    Niki could feel the gravity of the situation that he couldn''t even joke about Neoma''s "bad influence" to Nero. "Is the throne asking you to take it?"

    That wouldn''t be surprising since Nero was supposed to ascend the throne in a few days anyway.

    Fortunately, it seemed like Niki wouldn''t die.

    After all, even though the throne had already summoned Nero as the new emperor, his Moonglow hadn''t left Niki''s body yet.

    [It''s probably because the Moonglow that''s keeping me alive now is from the older Neoma.]

    "The throne said I can''t take the throne since I''m stillcking."

    Niki knitted his eyebrows. "What are youcking?"

    "A wife," Nero said, opening his still glowing red eyes. "The throne says I have to be married before I ascend the throne."

    Right.

    Nero and Hanna were supposed to have their wedding ceremony before Nero''s coronation.

    "I''ll send a message and summon Hanna¨C"

    "The throne says Hanna doesn''t have the qualifications to be the next empress," Nero said, clenching his jaw tight. "The throne chose another woman."

    Why did Niki suddenly think of the ck Witch.

    "Nero, you can''t break your promise with Hanna Quinzel," Niki growled lowly. "And Dahlia doesn''t want to marry you."

    Nero smiled bitterly. "The throne said I''ll die if it wasn''t Dahlia."

    ***

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 Chapter 869 NEROâ€™S OATH

    <h4>Chapter 869 NERO''S OATH</h4>

    NERO WAS back.

    Earlier, he was summoned by the stupid Eternal me while he had only started talking to Neoma of the first timeline.

    Fortunately, he found his way back easily.

    "I apologize for suddenly disappearing," Nero said when he faced Neoma of the first timeline again. "The stupid Eternal me summoned me without my permission."

    Neoma of the first timelineughed softly. "The Eternal me can burn everything and anything in the world, Prince Nero¨C even gods."

    It was weird to hear Neoma call him ''Prince Nero.''

    [But I suppose that''s how distant we were to each other in the first timeline.]

    "I don''t need the Eternal me," Nero said firmly. "Moreover, it belongs to Neoma. I won''t take something that belongs to her, even if she''s willing to share it with me."

    "It''s still a shame, though. The Eternal me is a useful tool."

    "I am the boy who has everything."

    "Hmm?"

    "Neoma always says I''m the boy who has everything," Nero exined. "Unlike Neoma who has to work hard ever since we were toddlers just to get the basic rights that the empire denied from her, I was treated with respect the moment I was born. I was lucky to be born a male because it automatically made me the emperor''s heir. Even the crows were lenient of me because I was the heir to the throne. On top of that, my existence as a male Roseheart is also special. Ever since we were young, I''m superior to Neoma in every aspect."

    "Superior to her in every aspect? You''re arrogant, huh?"

    "I''m merely stating a fact," he said. "Neoma calls it ''male privilege,'' though. Since it''s true that I was treated well because of the thing between my legs, I wasn''t able to refute it."

    The other Neoma fell silent for a moment, then she smiled while shaking her head. "It sounds like you have a good rtionship with your twin sister."

    "Neoma worked hard to win me over when we were kids."

    "I resented the Nero from my timeline," the other Neoma said. "I was jealous of his luck for being born a male sessor. It was probably the reason why I kept quiet even though I knew our old nanny was poisoning him." She then smiled bitterly. "And when we got older, I threatened the love of his life and forced her to make a spell that would tie my life force with Nero. No wonder he resented me."

    "It was Nero''s fault for being weak," Nero said, scoffing at his past self. "If he were stronger, he would have noticed that he was being poisoned. Moreover, he didn''t use his privilege to protect his twin sister. Even if he died from that, I still wouldn''t me you for that."

    In conclusion, Neoma didn''t do anything wrong.

    [Neoma could never do or say anything wrong, especially towards me.]

    "You really love the Neoma of this timeline, huh?"

    "I can''t say that Nero of the first timeline loved you," Nero said awkwardly, avoiding the other Neoma''s gaze. "When I retrieved some of my memories and found out that I killed Neoma in the first timeline, I swore on myself that I would never let it happen again."

    "Oh, I can see you''re doing a great job keeping that promise to yourself."

    "I won''t apologize to you."

    "Well, I didn''te here to receive an apology from you, so I really don''t care."

    "Good," Nero said, then he faced the other Neoma again. "It wasn''t me who killed you, so I don''t want to apologize for something that my stupid past self did. Instead of an apology, I will give you an oath."

    "An oath?"

    "I will give Neoma all the love that the Nero of the first timeline failed to give her," Nero promised. "I already love the current Neoma with all my heart, but there will always be more space in my heart to love her harder."

    "You''re being creepy," the other Neoma said bluntly. "I don''t think the current Neoma would like it if her twin brother loved her that much."

    Nero smirked confidently. "Neoma enjoys the way I love her, so don''t worry about it."

    "I''m not worried¨C but I''m a little jealous."

    Nero flinched.

    [st that Nero of the first timeline. How could he not love his Neoma? I guess he wasn''t only stupid¨C he was also blind for him not to see how lovable his twin sister was.]

    "Emperor Nero and I had a terrible rtionship before he killed me," the other Neoma said. "After Commander Yoan revived me, Emperor Nero and I were forced to work together because he was my Heart Pir."

    ''Heart Pir?''

    Nero vaguely remembered that Neoma mentioned something about having her Four Pirs. And now that the other Neoma had mentioned it, he kind of remembered that his past stupid self had a duty aside from being the emperor.

    [So, what does a Heart Pir exactly do?]

    "It was only for a short moment, but Emperor Nero and I got a bit closer," the other Neoma reminisced with a soft look on her face. "You can say that we''ve forgiven each other before he died. It''s just a shame that our time together was cut short by his untimely death."

    "Dying early must have been karma for mistreating his twin sister."

    The other Neoma looked surprised by what he said, then sheughed while shaking her head. "Emperor Niki was a male Roseheart, hence his soul was special. There were a few times that we got to talk to each other even after he was gone. He also visited me once before Commander Yoan turned back time. And he asked me for one thing. Would you like to guess what it was, Prince Nero?"

    "Since you''re here to meet me, the past me probably left a message for me."

    "That''s correct," the other Neoma said, nodding. Then she turned serious. "Emperor Nero asked me to tell you to "figure it out yourself.""

    "¡­"

    "Emperor Nero didn''t want me to help you. He even warned me about giving you a clue. Since it was my twin brother''sst request, I don''t have the heart to disobey him."

    "You don''t have to," Nero said, scoffing. "I don''t need the past Nero''s memories to figure out what to do. And I also do not have any intention to ask you for help."

    "Don''t be too arrogant, Nero de Moonasterio."

    "It''s Nero Roseheart de Moonasterio now."

    The other Neoma just looked at him, then she sighed and shook her head. "Come here, you cheeky brat."

    Nero didn''t know what happened to him, but he found himself walking towards the other Neoma obediently.

    [What the¡­?]

    His body moved on its own!

    "Good," the other Neoma said when Nero stopped in front of her. Then she gently patted his head. "Emperor Nero asked me to not help you, but he didn''t say I wasn''t allowed to give you a gift."

    "So, you''re giving me a gift?"

    "I already did," the other Neoma said, pulling her hand away from his head. "Once."

    "Hmm?"

    "You may summon the Spirit of Emperor Nero once," the other Neoma said. "Once you do, you may spend a considerable amount of time with him. I saved a few of my good karma points so that you and Emperor Nero could meet. Of course, you''re free to send him away as soon as you don''t find him useful anymore even before the allotted time ends."

    "That''s too extravagant for a gift."

    "Well, you may be a rude brat, but you''re still my little brother."

    He knitted his eyebrows. "Just because you were born first doesn''t make you my older sister."

    "You''re really Emperor Nero, huh?"

    He couldn''t say anything back.

    Not when Neoma of the first timeline smiled warmly at him for the first time.

    Nero clenched his hands tight when the guilt in his heart suffocated him.

    [I can''t believe I killed Neoma in the first timeline.]

    "Be good to Neoma, Prince Nero," the other Neoma said softly. Then her face darkened. "And once you be the emperor, if you get the chance to do it, then destroy the throne."

    "I can''t do that since Neoma needs to be the empress regnant first."

    "The throne is influenced by La¨C argh!" the other Neoma grabbed her throat, her beautiful face distorted in pain. "Don''t let your Lunacy take over¡­ she will¡­ don''t listen¡­ her power¡­!"

    Nero knitted his eyebrows, confused. "I can barely hear you, Neoma."

    The other Neoma''s words were being blocked by a static noise.

    It was as if she was saying things she wasn''t supposed to say, and it seemed like she was being punished for it.

    [Tsk.]

    "It''s okay! Don''t tell me anything!" Nero said worriedly, then he pulled Neoma for a hug to stop his twin sister from speaking. "This is why the past me didn''t want you to help me, silly. It wasn''t because he hated me, but because he knew you''d get punished if you told me things you aren''t allowed to say."

    "But¨C"

    "I''ll figure it out myself," he promised her. "So, don''t worry about me. I will be the emperor that Neoma will be proud of. Hence, you can leave me now. You deserve to rest in peace this time, Neoma."

    "When did you grow up?" the other Neoma asked,ughing softly. Then she carefully wrapped her arms around him. "Be careful of your heart, Nero. Don''t love anyone too much."

    "It''s toote for that, Neoma," Nero said, smiling bitterly. "I already love Neoma to death."

    ***

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 Chapter 870 SPIRIT GODâ€™S WHISPERS

    <h4>Chapter 870 SPIRIT GOD''S WHISPERS</h4>

    <"IT''S TIME, Nero de Moonasterio.">

    Tsk.

    Nero couldn''t believe that right after the older Neoma left, he was summoned to another dimension again.

    This time, he found himself in the throne room.

    But the strange thing was he was already in his physical body when he opened his eyes. And that meant he suddenly disappeared from his bedroom.

    [Melvin would panic again once he realized I disappeared suddenly.]

    <"You should listen when an elder is talking, Crown Prince!">

    Nero looked at the throne coldly.

    There were several voices talking at once, saying the same stupid things, and all those voices wereing from the throne.

    [They all sound like those annoying old men from the Noble Council.]

    Ah, so then¡­

    "You must be the shame of the de Moonasterios," Nero said, scoffing. "The pathetic, crazy, and evil former emperors who gave our n a bad name."

    The throne fell silent as if it was shocked.

    It took a moment before it exploded.

    <"How rude!">

    <"To speak so brashly to your ancestors¡­!">

    Oh.

    This time, the voices weren''t saying the same things. It was as if their anger had forced their souls to split up just to curse at Nero individually.

    "You find me rude?" Nero asked,ughing. "You should meet my twin sister. I bet your ears would fall off as soon as she opened her mouth."

    It wasn''t an insult to Neoma.

    [I''m merelyplimenting my twin sister for her vast vocabry. After all, Neoma knows all the curse words in everynguage in the world.]

    <"Let''s not waste time with idle talks!">

    Oh, the voices had merged once again.

    <"It''s time for you to take the throne, Nero de Moonasterio!">

    "I know," Nero said bluntly. "I''ve been ready since forever."

    <"We must make haste!">

    He knitted his eyebrows.

    [What''s with the rush when I''ll be taking the throne in a few days anyway?]

    <"Usually, an emperor must have already had hising-of-age ceremony. But in your case, it''s fine if you skip that as long as you go through the other ceremony needed before taking the throne.">

    "Are you talking about the wedding ceremony?"

    <"It is an absolute must that the Crown Prince is already married before he takes the throne to be the new emperor!">

    All the previous emperors, even his own father, were already married before taking the throne. It was already a tradition, and he wasn''t one to question traditions that didn''t affect him or Neoma.

    But now, he was curious.

    "Why must I be married before I take the throne?"

    <"It''s to receive the blessing of the Goddess of Fertility!">

    "The Goddess of Fertility?"

    <"Our bloodline is precious, so we must ensure that the emperor would be able to produce an heir without a problem for us to stay in power! But the Goddess of Fertility would only bless married couples! Hence, you must be married before ascending the throne!">

    Pfft.

    "That was so stupid that it sounded funny to me," Nero said, holding back hisughter. "I can''t believe that the emperors were required to get married just because of a silly reason."

    <"How dare youugh at our longsting tradition that ensured the birth of the Crown Princes before you! The blessing that the married Imperial Couples have received from the Goddess of Fertility is the reason why our bloodline has produced high-quality sessors all throughout history!">

    Nero, when facing nobles and royalties, liked talking eloquently as it befitted an Imperial Crown Prince like him.

    However, at a time like this, he just wanted to talk like his twin sister.

    [Neoma taught me how to curse, so might as well put it to good use.]

    "The tradition you speak of is aplete bullshit."

    <"¡­!">

    "My father, Emperor Niki de Moonasterio, married thete Empress Juliet before ascending the throne. They didn''t have a child together despite the blessing that they may have received during their wedding ceremony," Nero said, smirking. "And you know what? My father and my mother, the-now Empress Mona, didn''t need your Goddess of Fertility''s blessing to give birth to the best pair of twins in history."

    Hence, it was proof that the tradition those old men speak of was nothing but nonsense.

    "Neoma and I are proof that the tradition you''re talking about doesn''t work. That we don''t need the blessing of the Goddess of Fertility to produce an excellent heir," Nero said, smiling "sweetly" at a throne. "As soon as I ascend the throne, I''ll get rid of that useless requirement. It''s one way to discourage Neoma from getting married, so you have my gratitude for telling me the story behind that stupid tradition."

    His heart was now at ease.

    [Now Neoma doesn''t have to get married once she bes the empress regnant.]

    All''s well that ends well.

    "This conversation is over," Nero said, now in a good mood. "Goodbye¨C"

    <"Hanna Quinzel isn''t fit to be your empress, Nero de Moonasterio.">

    "How dare you insult Hanna in front of me?" he growled, gathering his Mana in his hands while preparing to hit the throne. "Hanna is the ONLY qualifieddy to be the empress¨C"

    <"Hanna Quinzel doesn''t have the qualifications to be the next empress!">

    Nero scoffed. "Since when did the throne have the right to choose who''ll be the empress, huh?"

    <"You''ll die if you don''t marry Dahlia, the ck Witch.">

    Huh?

    Nero wasn''t only surprised by what was said.

    There was something else that shocked him.

    [Was that a woman''s voice?]

    But who¡­?

    <"Drill this into your head, Nero de Moonasterio: Hanna Quinzel isn''t qualified to be the empress, hence you must marry the ck Witch instead of the Crown Princess.">

    "What the¨C argh!"

    Nero was forced to stop talking when a splitting headache brought him to his knees.

    He clutched his head and shut his eyes tight when unfamiliar yet vivid memories began flooding his mind forcefully.

    And in every single piece of memory, SHE was there.

    [Dahlia¡­?]

    Nero soon realized that those were memories that he shared with Dahlia in the first timeline¡­

    ¡­ then everything went ck.

    ***

    WHEN NERO came to be, he was already sitting on the throne.

    He had just begun gathering his thoughts when his father arrived in the throne room.

    [Father must have felt my fluctuating Moonglow and Mana.]

    Nero was confused at first because the throne forcefully returned some of his memories from the first timeline to him.

    Moreover, there was also the memory of him talking to Neoma of the first timeline.

    Hence, he was disoriented after he woke up.

    But after his father answered his question, that was when his mind cleared up.

    Then he told his father about what the throne had said to him.

    "Nero, you can''t break your promise with Hanna Quinzel," his father scolded him sternly. "And Dahlia doesn''t want to marry you."

    Nero smiled bitterly. "The throne said I''ll die if it wasn''t Dahlia."

    "Son, do you trust the throne?"

    "Huh?"

    "I don''t trust the throne," his father said firmly. "Don''t forget that the throne''s desires lie with the crows''. Even though the throne has acknowledged Neoma as a rightful heir recently, I still don''t trust it. We don''t have to follow what the throne said, son."

    His father was right.

    All this time, the throne chose the rightful heir with the crows.

    It was a miracle that it also acknowledged Neoma as a sessor. But that didn''t mean they could trust it right away.

    "Don''t get me wrong, son," his father said. "I''m not saying this because I don''t care about what happens to you if we don''t follow what the throne said. It''s actually the opposite. I don''t want you to hurt other people by blindly following something that we can''t fully trust."

    Pfft.

    "Father, you don''t have to say sentimental things. I know you care about me even if you don''t say it."

    "But I want to," his father insisted. "Mona taught me that even though actions speak louder than words, it wouldn''t hurt to express my feelings with words, too. Moreover, I often wonder if I''m making you feel lonely."

    That gave him goosebumps.

    "Why are you being sappy today, Father?"

    His father paused as if he hesitated. But it was only for a moment. "I won''t lie, Nero. I''m aware that I treat Neoma better than I do to you. Even though I try to be fair to both of you, I can''t help but pay more attention to your twin sister. I often wonder if you find it unfair."

    "No, I don''t," Nero said bluntly, without missing a heartbeat. "Father, why would I find it unfair when I love Neoma more than I love you and Mother?"

    His father looked stupefied by what he said.

    "In fact, I prefer it that you and mother dote on Neoma, Father," Nero said. "Neoma deserves all the love in the world, so don''t mind me. I know that both you and Mother love me, and that''s enough. You don''t have to shower me with affection since the only affection I want is from Neoma."

    His father looked at him long and hard before sighing. "I know I don''t have the right to say this, but your obsession with your twin sister is frightening."

    Nero just smiled because it sounded like apliment to him. "As expected, talking about Neoma cleared my head."

    "Do you feel better now?"

    "Yes, Father."

    "Then let''s go," his father said. "You just got your blood taken from you, hence you need to rest more."

    "Alright, Father."

    Nero stood up.

    But, suddenly, a strong force pushed him down until he was sitting on the throne again.

    [Who dares¡­!]

    Nero tried to fight back, but he IMMEDIATELY lost his strength before he could even use his power. It was as if someone sealed his Mana, Moonglow, and divine power all at once. He couldn''t even use what was left of his Roseheart Blood.

    <"You should have received the Eternal me''s power instead of walking away from it, you foolish child.">

    He raised his head when he heard the woman''s voice again.

    There was a silhouette of a woman blocking Nero''s view of his father who was calling out his name worriedly while running to him.

    [This woman¡­]

    Nero gasped when he finally remembered the owner of the female voice. "Larissa?"

    It was the Spirit God that he received before.

    [Why did I forget about her¡­?]

    <"You finally remembered me again, my Crown Prince,"> Larissa said, then she leaned down and whispered in his ear. <"Now, sleep.">

    Nero, despite his will to stay awake and fight back, eventually closed his eyes.

    ***

    "NERO!" Niki yelled worriedly while using all his might to break the invisible barrier that separated him from his son. Calypso was hitting the wall bluntly, but the barrier appeared to be as sturdy as Neoma''s Dome. "What the hell is happening?"

    When Nero stood up from his seat earlier, an ominous aura suddenly struck the throne.

    Before he knew it, Nero had already fallen back to his seat¨C unconscious.

    Then an invisible barrier suddenly appeared between him and his son.

    [The throne has trapped Nero inside!]

    <"Stop it, Niki de Moonasterio.">

    Huh?

    [A woman''s voice?]

    Niki knitted his eyebrows when a silhouette of a woman suddenly appeared before him. "Who¡­?"

    [Tsk!]

    He immediately jumped backwards when the ghost tried to lean down in his ear.

    "How impudent," Niki growled at the Spirit. "Only my wife and my children are allowed to invade my personal space, you uncultured female ghost."

    <"I''m a god.">

    He raised his Holy Sword. "You won''t be the first god I''ll slice with my sword."

    <"I have no use of an emperor who has already lost his Moonglow,"> the female ghost said, raising her hand. <"Listen to me, Niki de Moonasterio. Bring Dahlia here. Nero de Moonasterio will only seed in ascending the throne once he marries the ck Witch.">

    "Who died and made you emperor?"

    The female ghostughed. <"Bring Dahlia here if you don''t want your son to die. Remember this, Niki de Moonasterio. Calyx de Luca also has the qualifications to sit on the throne¨C I won''t hesitate to kill your son.">

    Niki just tightened his grip on Calypso as he prepared to attack.

    But, all of a sudden, a strong force pushed him out of the throne room.

    [What¡­]

    Niki wasn''t only shocked that he found himself outside the throne room. Something else had shocked him. "The door isn''t here," he whispered to himself in disbelief. "The throne room disappeared¡­"

    ***

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 Chapter 871 CONFLICT WITH THE IN-LAWS

    <h4>Chapter 871 CONFLICT WITH THE IN-LAWS</h4>

    "YOUR IMPERIAL MAJESTY, it''s an emergency! His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince has disappeared from his room!"

    "I know," Niki said in response to Geoffrey Kinsley''s frantic report while walking towards him in a hurry. "Nero is in the throne room."

    "The throne room¡­" Geoffrey turned to where the throne room was supposed to be. "The throne room is gone!"

    Yes, that exactly what happened.

    The door to the throne room had disappeared, hence only the boring wall with its boring color remained.

    Geoffrey gasped out loud. "The Crown Prince had been swallowed by the throne room¡­"

    "Nero is fine. I can feel that he''s still alive and well," Niki said. He was worried about Nero, but he couldn''t let it show in front of other people so they would remain calm, too. "But I better hurry up."

    He looked at the trails of the Moonglow scattered in front of him.

    It was as if it was asking him to follow it.

    [It''s pointing to the Crown Prince''s pce, but Nero isn''t there. Who else is there then¡­]

    Ah.

    Niki clenched his jaws when the realization hit him.

    [Could it be¡­?]

    ***

    NIKOLAI sighed while looking at Nero''s knights who knelt in front of him and bowed their heads while begging for his forgiveness.

    The group was, of course, led by (the teary-eyed) Melvin Lhesi.

    [Why is my son''s secretary such a crybaby?]

    "It wasn''t your fault that Nero disappeared," Niki said, sighing. "Nero was summoned by the throne, so he''ll be staying in the throne room in the meantime."

    He couldn''t carelessly say the exact situation because they were in the hallway in front of the Crown Prince''s bedroom.

    Hence, he only said things that would put Nero''s knights at ease.

    "I-Is it time for the His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince to ascend to the throne, Your Imperial Majesty?" Melvin Lhesi asked nervously, his head still hanging low. "Should we start preparing for the Crown Prince''s coronation ceremony?"

    Ah, so this was why Nero chose the crybaby as his secretary.

    [Melvin Lhesi is indeed reliable.]

    "Geoffrey Kinsley will exin everything to you," Niki said, walking past the children as he entered the Crown Prince''s bedroom. "Go and follow him."

    The door behind him closed.

    It was rude of him to enter a room that an unmarried woman was using, but he didn''t have the luxury of paying attention to his etiquette.

    [As expected¡­]

    Niki let out a frustrated sigh when he found Dahlia asleep on Nero''s bed while being surrounded by Moonglow.

    That damned throne.

    His murderous thoughts were interrupted when Dahlia opened her eyes and got up suddenly.

    "You shouldn''t be moving abruptly yet, Dahlia," Emperor Niki said. "But I''m d that you''re up."

    Dahlia looked nervous while looking at the bluish balls of light surrounding her. "Your Imperial Majesty, aren''t these¡­"

    "Yes, the lights you see areing from the Moonglow," Niki confirmed the ck Witch''s thoughts. "To be precise, those lights are from Nero''s Moonglow."

    Dahlia looked more anxious now.

    "Nero is in the throne room," he said. "The throne has summoned him."

    Dahlia gulped, clenching her hands tight. "I-Is it time for Prince Nero to ascend the throne, Your Imperial Majesty?"

    "Dahlia, do you know what all the emperors of the past had inmon when they ascended the throne?"

    The ck Witch kept her mouth shut while waiting for him to continue, and so he did.

    "All of them¨C no, all of us were already married when we sat on the throne. It''s a requirement for the next emperor to be married."

    Dahlia suddenly turned pale. "Your Imperial Majesty, I will not marry the Crown Prince."

    "I can see why you thought I was asking you to marry Nero, but I''m not here to do that," Niki said calmly. "I''m only saying this because I want you to understand the current situation and help mee up with a solution."

    Dahlia''s face turned red as if she was embarrassed. "I-I apologize for getting ahead of myself, Your Imperial Majesty¡­"

    "You don''t have to apologize," he said. "Like I said, I can see why you misunderstood me."

    The ck Witch nodded shyly. "Your Imperial Majesty, did I hear you right earlier? Your Imperial Majesty needs my help¡­?"

    It must have been a surprise for the ck Witch to hear the emperor say he needed her help.

    "I want to protect my family with my own power, but I won''t risk their safety just because of my pride," Niki said. "Hence, I''m afraid I need to ask your help to solve this matter, Dahlia. Both my wife and my daughter hate it when children like you are dispatched to dangerous situations. However, this time, it''s inevitable. The throne wants you, Dahlia."

    The ck Witch looked conflicted.

    [Of course, it''s not easy for her to decide things rted to Nero.]

    "The throne room has disappeared."

    Dahlia covered her mouth with her hands when she gasped. "Then what happened to Prince Nero?"

    "I''m not sure."

    "Your Imperial Majesty isn''t sure¡­?"

    "I can feel that my son is still alive, and I know the throne won''t kill him," Niki said. "Of course, that doesn''t mean everything is fine. I''m anxious, and I want to save my son as soon as possible. However, I can''t do that at your expense, Dahlia."

    If he was the old Niki that Neoma used to call a ''scumbag,'' then he would have already dragged Dahlia to the throne in order to save his son.

    But he had already changed.

    [I must not do things to other people''s children that I don''t want to happen to my children.]

    "Dahlia, I won''t force you to marry Nero," Niki said calmly. "But judging by the fact that the throne is asking for you, then I suppose you''ll be the key to the throne room."

    "Does Your Imperial Majesty believe that the throne room will appear if I went there?"

    He nodded. "But I won''t force you to do something that you don''t want to do, Dahlia. Since the throne is going out of its way to get you, we can assume that it doesn''t mean well. Hence, your life might be put in danger if I bring you to the throne room. So, don''t force yourself."

    "If I don''t do it, then how does Your Imperial Majesty n to rescue the Crown Prince?"

    "I can always just destroy the Imperial Pce."

    "Excuse me?"

    "Mona, Juliet, and I destroyed the Imperial Pce before to force open the door that leads to where the Soul Beasts are imprisoned," he exined. "That door is under the throne."

    The ck Witch gulped. "Your Imperial Majesty, please calm down. Prince Nero might get hurt if you suddenly destroyed the Imperial Pce¡­"

    Oh.

    [She''s still worried about Nero despite being put in a tight spot.]

    Come to think of it, wasn''t Dahlia his daughter-inw in the first timeline?

    [I should treat this child better.]

    "I''ll give you time to think, Dahlia," Niki said in the gentlest way possible. "I''ll be back after taking care of another urgent matter."

    Dahlia nodded and bowed her head politely. "Thank you, Your Imperial Majesty."

    ***

    "YOUR GRACE was summoned by His Imperial Majesty?"

    Rufus nodded at Duke Jasper Hawthorne''s question. "It sounded urgent, so I''m using the portal to go straight to the pce."

    The young duke visibly looked worried. "I hope it''s not rted to Princess Neoma¡­"

    Oho?

    Rufus couldn''t help but smile at the young duke. "It looks like you really care about Princess Neoma, young man."

    Yes, he was teasing the young duke.

    As a result, Duke Hawthorne''s face turned red. "It''s not like that, Your Grace. This may be impudent of me to say, but Princess Neoma is like a little sister to me."

    "Uh-huh."

    "It''s true, Your Grace," the young duke insisted, his ears turning redder the more Rufus teased him. "M-Moreover, Princess Neoma is alreadymitted to Commander Ruto."

    Right.

    Rufus remembered that Princess Neoma was already in a rtionship with the youngmander.

    [But I think Hanna mentioned that the two broke up recently?]

    "If I were His Imperial Majesty, I''d like it better if my future son-inw would be you rather than Commander Yoan," Rufus said to the young duke. "It''s not like I have anything against the youngmander. But unlike him, you''re a full citizen of the empire, Duke Hawthorne. Moreover, I feel like Princess Neoma wouldn''t achieve her dream leisure life if she ended up with the divine son of a powerful god."

    It was just his opinion, of course.

    And he knew that his opinion wouldn''t matter to the Imperial Princess.

    [Even so, I''m worried about her future.]

    "Having said that, I know I do not have the right to meddle with Princess Neoma''s life," Rufus said, smiling sadly. "I am not his father in this timeline."

    "Please don''t say that, Your Grace," Duke Hawthorne said while shaking his head. "Princess Neoma wouldn''t think that you were meddling with her life for simply expressing your opinion. Knowing her, I''m sure she''d appreciate it."

    "Thank you for saying that, Duke Hawthorne," Rufus said, his smile turning bright this time. "I guess I''m just suddenly worried about Princess Neoma''s personal life because my precious Hanna is getting married soon. I hope Princess Neoma finds happiness with someone special the way my daughter did."

    ***

    [HAAAH.]

    It took Niki all that he had to stop himself from letting out a frustrated sigh in front of Rufus and Amber Quinzel.

    Yes, he summoned the Quinzels to his private tea room.

    He didn''t really want to do it because Amber Quinzel hadn''t fully recovered yet, but he had to.

    [They deserve to know the truth.]

    "Your Imperial Majesty, I''m assuming you did not summon us here to hear a report regarding my mission," Rufus said in a polite yet nervous voice. "Please don''t mind us and just get straight to the point."

    Amber Quinzel nodded politely in agreement with what her husband had just said.

    "Then allow me to speak frankly," Niki said, putting down the teacup on the saucer quietly. "Rufus, Amber, the throne has rejected Hanna to be the new empress."

    Rufus and Amber Quinzel looked shocked by his revtion.

    [Ah, was I too blunt?]

    "Your Imperial Majesty, this is the first time I heard the throne choosing the new empress," Amber Quinzel said, the shock evident in her slightly trembling voice. "Moreover, just what does my precious Hannack for the throne to reject her?"

    Oh.

    [I may have used the wrong words¡­ I wish Mona was here.]

    "Your Imperial Majesty, if the throne rejected my daughter, then does it mean the throne has chosen someone else to be the new empress?" Rufus asked, his voice full of controlled anger as his golden eyes glowed dangerously. "Is it her?"

    Of course, he knew who Rufus was talking about.

    "It''s not her fault, Rufus," Niki said as calmly as he could. "Let us not pit the youngdies against each other."

    ***

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 Chapter 872 DUKE QUINZELâ€™S WARNING

    <h4>Chapter 872 DUKE QUINZEL¡¯S WARNING</h4>

    "YOUR IMPERIAL Majesty, have you sent word to my daughter about this matter?"

    Niki nodded in response to Rufus question. "I asked Alucard Dionisio, one of Nero''s knights, to personally deliver a message to Hanna. Communication devices don''t work in the Underworld, so I sent Alucard Dionisio there personally. That young man has the ability to open a portal in that ce. Hence, he''ll bring Hanna here as soon as possible."

    Only a few people knew that Alucard Dionisio was actually a demon.

    And Rufus was one of those selected few.

    It was safe to talk about things like that.

    After all, Niki and the duke were the only ones in the tea room now.

    [We had to send Amber Quinzel back in her room when she suddenly felt dizzy. It''s expected since the Healing Sages all said Amber Quinzel still needs plenty of rest.]

    Moreover, Niki could tell that Rufus wanted to talk to him without Amber Quinzel.

    [He probably doesn''t want to show his angry side to his wife.]

    "Bring Hanna here?" Rufus asked, knitting his eyebrows. "Your Imperial Majesty, are you bringing back my daughter here to hasten her wedding with Prince Nero?"

    "We have no choice but to hasten the wedding," Niki insisted. "The throne is determined to make Nero the new emperor. It probably needs my son''s Moonglow now that my Moonglow has been depleted."

    The Moonglow giving life to his body right now belonged to the Neoma of the first timeline, hence the throne probably couldn''t use it.

    "But Nero has to be married first."

    "I thought the throne rejected Hanna, though?"

    Niki scoffed. "That''s the throne''s opinion. It doesn''t change the fact that Hanna is the Crown Princess. Moreover, Dahlia doesn''t wish to marry Nero, and so does my son. Hence, I assume Nero and Hanna would want to proceed with their wedding even without a proper ceremony."

    Rufus fell silent as if he was deep in thought.

    [Everyone in the empire knows Rufus is a fool for his daughter. I''m lucky Rufus hasn''t grabbed my cor yet.]

    "My dear Hanna prepared so much for her dream wedding."

    Niki flinched at Rufus'' calm yet hostile words.

    "I know the situation is dire and that we must prioritize saving Prince Nero''s life. As a duke of the empire, I agree that we must make haste for the sake of the Crown Prince," Rufus said, his eyes glowing again. "However, as a father, I can''t help but feel bad for my daughter. Hanna has prepared so much for her dream wedding. And yet, we''re going to hasten the ceremony as if its only purpose is to free Prince Nero. That doesn''t seem fair, does it? Your Imperial Majesty?"

    "No, you''re right," Niki said. "This whole thing is unfair to Hanna. Hence, I won''t me her if she changes her mind about marrying my son."

    "I know my daughter, so I know she would still marry Prince Nero no matter what. She spent most of her life preparing to be the empress."

    "Rufus, the opinion of the throne doesn''t reflect the opinion of the Imperial Family," Niki said, just in case Rufus was offended by what he said earlier. "Hanna was nevercking, and I''m sure everyone would agree with that. She''s the perfect Crown Princess, and she''s the onlydy we can see bing the new empress."

    It was true.

    Even though Niki knew that Dahlia was his daughter-inw in the first timeline, he couldn''t see the ck Witch bing the new empress.

    He wasn''t saying Dahlia wasn''t qualified to be one¨C the ck Witch wasn''tcking either.

    [It''s just that I''ve seen Hanna work hard for herself and Nero all this time that I can''t imagine someone else in her ce.]

    "Ultimately, it doesn''t matter whether the throne or the Imperial Family wants Hanna as the empress or not," Rufus said. Clearly, the duke wasn''t happy in this situation and it waspletely understandable. "Your Imperial Majesty, at this very moment, I choose to be a father and not a duke. Hence, if Hanna doesn''t wish to marry Prince Nero anymore, I will stand by my daughter''s decision."

    That meant the Quinzels would withdraw their support from the Imperial Family depending on Hanna''s decision.

    And that was a big deal.

    Niki didn''t show it, but Rufus'' warning frightened him a bit.

    [If the Quinzels turn their back on the Imperial Family, we''re done.]

    Now Niki''s hand itched to punch the throne for creating this mess.

    "When I became the duke, I pledged my household''s allegiance to Your Imperial Majesty as a way to atone for my brother''s sin after hemitted high treason," Rufus said in a serious voice. "However, I don''t think I can continue staying loyal to the Imperial Family if my daughter ends up getting hurt because of Prince Nero. I know this isn''t something the most powerful duke in the empire should be saying, but Your Imperial Majesty also knows that Hanna is my everything. And my wife feels the same."

    If Niki was still the same scumbag that he used to be, then he would have had Rufus arrested for threatening the Imperial Family.

    But, as he said to himself earlier, he was already a changed man.

    [And, as a father, Ipletely understand Rufus.]

    "If Prince Nero really ended up hurting my precious daughter, I wouldn''t be able to bring myself to support His Imperial Highness'' reign as the new emperor," Rufus said, then he paused for a moment. "And in case that really happened, then House Quinzel would only support the Imperial Family again once Princess Neoma bes the empress regnant."

    "I thought you''dpletely turn your back on the Imperial Family in case the worst scenario happened."

    "Princess Neoma is also my daughter, so I won''t turn my back on her."

    "Excuse me?"

    "Princess Neoma is also my daughter," Rufus repeated in a firm voice. "Your Imperial Majesty, I met the older Princess Neoma and she returned some of my memories from the first timeline."

    Niki clenched his hands tight, annoyed that Rufus was threatening his position as Neoma''s father so openly as if his cousin had forgotten that he was still the emperor.

    [Rufus is really frightening when he''s angry.]

    ***

    "HOW ARE you feeling, Your Imperial Majesty?"

    "Drugged," Mona answered weakly. "This reminds me of the time a filthy bastard spiked my drink in an attempt to assassinate me. Of course, he died painfully by my hands."

    "Please don''t kill me, Your Imperial Majesty," Trevor pleaded indifferently. "I took the amount of Roseheart Blood I needed for Princess Neoma. It''s a miracle that Your Imperial Majesty didn''t fall into aatose state. However, it seems like you''ll need to stay in bed for quite some time."

    The demon boy was correct.

    She couldn''t even move her body the way she wanted to. However, she was still d that she didn''t fall into aatose state.

    [I can''t afford to fall "asleep" in this situation.]

    "It''s a relief that I only received this much damage," Mona said, her voice still weak. In fact, she was already running out of breath just from talking. "I''m sure I''ll recover soon since the Cosmic Tree is here to nurse me back to health. Hence, you may leave now, Trevor. I know you have many things left to do."

    "Thank you, Your Imperial Majesty. I''ll go ahead now."

    "Wait, Trevor."

    "Yes, Your Imperial Majesty?"

    "I don''t know what exactly happened, but I can tell you were hurt because of my daughter," Mona said carefully. "Are you still going to stay by my daughter''s side? Faithfully, at that?"

    "Your Imperial Majesty, I do not resent Princess Neoma for my feelings are my own responsibility. The Imperial Princess never led me on anyway," Trevor said calmly. Unlike when he woke up earlier, he looked sober now. "Plus, the person I hate is Commander Ruto. If I was going to me anyone for my pain, I''d me that damnedmander."

    Oh.

    The demon boy''s yful demeanor was back.

    "Trevor, you just said your own feelings are your responsibility. So why are you ming poor Ruto now?"

    "I just hate the damnedmander so much that I will me all my pains and misfortunes on him even though he hasn''t had anything to do with them."

    Monaughed softly. "Trevor, it won''t be easy to get over someone as amazing as Neoma. Hence, I don''t know how to console you. I''m sorry. You''ve been and you are a great help to us, but I can''t even make you feel better."

    "Your Imperial Majesty doesn''t have to apologize," Trevor said while shaking his head. "As long as my Moon Princess is safe and happy, there will be no need to console me."

    It seemed like Trevor was telling the truth.

    [I shouldn''t meddle in his personal life more than I already had.]

    So, Mona just smiled and nodded at Trevor. "Take care, Trevor. See youter."

    Trevor just bowed politely to her before leaving.

    Mona didn''t have the time to rest after that.

    "Empress Mona."

    Hmm?

    Mona wasn''t just surprised that William appeared, but she was also surprised by the fact that he addressed her formally. "What happened, William?"

    "Nero was swallowed up by the throne room."

    "What?!"

    "I tried to follow Nero in secret when he was summoned by the throne, but I was pushed away," William reported in a frustrated voice. "It seems like Nero was brought to the ''Cage.''"

    Mona gasped.

    The ''Cage'' was the dimension under the throne room where the Soul Beasts were imprisoned!

    [And it''s where Juliet lost her life¡­]

    "Why did the throne bring Nero there?" Mona asked, frustrated that she couldn''t move her body. "It''s a dangerous ce¨C especially for Nero who''s mentally unstable¡­"

    "There''s something strange with the throne this time," William said in a serious voice. "A female Spirit God was guarding it, Mona."

    "A female Spirit God¡­?"

    ***

    HANNAughed while avoiding the female Silver Fox''s sharp ws.

    [This is fun.]

    She could focus on the female Silver Fox because she used her Shadow Beasts to keep the other small-fry crows away from them.

    [This female Silver Fox is mine.]

    Eloise, the female Silver Fox who introduced herself earlier, growled in frustration. "You were supposed to have a weak constitution!"

    Pfft.

    Hanna moved closer to Eloise in a swift manner, then she gave the female Silver Fox a solid punch in the face.

    The female Silver Fox was sent flying while screaming in pain.

    Hanna chuckled when Eloise hit the already ruined pavilion. "Was that a punch someone with a weak constitution could wield?"

    To be fair, her hand hurt like hell.

    The Silver Foxes, just like the de Moonasterios, were blessed with solid physical strength.

    It felt like she punched a wall of steel when she punched Eloise. If she hadn''t covered her hand with her Mana, she would have broken all her fingers. In fact, the impact of her knuckles colliding with the female Silver Fox''s nose still stung.

    "They said the Crown Princess fights elegantly with her Shadow Beasts!" Eloiseined like a child. "Why are you using your fists and acting like a barbarian?! With your face and graceful movements, you should be using a thin sword! That would suit you better than using your fists! Have you no dignity as the Crown Princess?!"

    "The de Moonasterios don''t often use weapons, don''t you know that? They''re known for their brute strength," Hanna said while massaging her wrist. "Since I''m going to be a de Moonasterio soon, I figured I should try to fight like them in order to fit in."

    Eloise just growled, then she quickly stood up and charged towards Hanna.

    Oh.

    [She''s faster than before.]

    That meant the female Silver Fox was finally using her full strength this time.

    Hanna braced herself to block Eloise''s attack, but she was forced to freeze on the spot when someone ran past her.

    [Lewis?]

    Yes, it was Lewis. The fox boy came out of nowhere and charged at the female Silver Fox.

    "Lewis Crevan!" Eloise squealed excitedly. "Finally¨C argh!"

    The next thing that happened made Hanna flinch and feel a little bit, just a tiny bit, empathy for the poor female Silver Fox.

    After all, Lewis "greeted" Eloise with a kick in the face.

    Once again, the female Silver Fox was sent flying.

    [Lewis is so savage.]

    As expected of Neoma''s "first son."

    "Princess Hanna," Lewis said, looking back at Hanna¨C his golden eyes glowing. "Please return to the mansion. One of Prince Nero''s knights hase for you."

    Hanna didn''t want to admit this, but it actually made her nervous.

    [Something bad definitely happened, but I hope it''s not about my parents...]

    ***

    PFFT.

    Hanna wanted tough.

    Not because she was delighted, but because she was feeling bitter.

    Alucard, one of Nero''s knights, delivered a long and detailed message to her from the emperor.

    "Nero was swallowed up by the throne room, and the throne demanded Dahlia to be the next empress because I don''t have the "qualifications" to be one?" Hanna confirmed,ughing bitterly. "Who died and gave the throne the right to choose the next empress?"

    Alucard, who flinched at Hanna''s hostility even though it wasn''t directed at him, lowered his gaze to the floor before speaking. "There''s one more thing His Imperial Majesty wanted to let you know, Princess Hanna."

    "What is it?"

    "A strange female Spirit God was guarding the throne and, apparently, the throne wasn''t supposed to have a female guardian."

    Now that really sounded strange.

    First of all, the throne was supposed to be guarded by the previous emperors.

    [And the previous emperors hated women in power, so there''s no way they''d let a woman make decisions for them. That begets the question of who the female Spirit God might be.]

    "Since the entire thing is strange, His Imperial Majesty wanted you to return to the Imperial Pce, Princess Hanna," Alucard said politely. "His Imperial Majesty wanted to let Your Highness know that the opinion of the throne doesn''t reflect the Imperial Family. Hence, His Imperial Majesty also wanted to inform Your Highness that your wedding with Prince Nero will push through should you decide to go through it."

    So, the emperor was giving Hanna the right to decide whether to marry Nero or not.

    [His Imperial Majesty has really changed. If it was the old emperor, he would have forced me to marry Nero on the spot just to save his son.]

    The emperor''s positive change could only be credited to Neoma.

    "I''m returning to the pce," Hanna said firmly, her green eyes glowing menacingly. "I''ll reim my ce as the rightful empress of the Great Moonasterion Empire."

    ***

    NOTE: I posted the Royal Secret Alternate Universe novel here on Webnovel. Just search for Let''s Not Divorce by s_c, or look for the story in my profile.

    I''m grateful that there are two readers who subscribed to read theplete story on my Patreon page. My heart feels a little heavy that only two people got to read the story that I poured my heart and soul into writing. LOL. So, I decided to share it here on WN for the people who don''t have ess to Patreon. But, of course, there are parts that will only be avable on my Patreon page.

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    ***

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 Chapter 873 NEOMAxYOAN/NEOMAxRUTO

    <h4>Chapter 873 NEOMAxYOAN/NEOMAxRUTO</h4>

    "I''M FUCKING annoyed for some reason," Neomained out loud while clenching her hands tight. "I don''t know why, but I want to punch something."

    "Are you hungry?" Ruto asked worriedly. "You''re not supposed to get hungry while you''re in your Spirit form, though."

    She clicked her tongue before she gave Ruto a dire stare. "Babe, do you think my random anger is caused by hunger?"

    "Yes," Ruto said bluntly, then he gently held her hands to unclench them. "I''ll cook all your favorite food when we get out of here."

    And then he did something thatpletely melted Neoma''s random anger away.

    Ruto gently ced a kiss on her knuckles.

    [Gosh, my man got rizz.]

    "I''m craving Japanese food," Neoma said, now calm. "I want ramen, katsu curry rice, and beef yakiniku."

    "Alright."

    Neoma smiled, satisfied with Ruto''s promise.

    "Are you done flirting?"

    Oh, right.

    Neoma slowly faced Giant Neoma who was now carrying Vitu in her arms.

    Of course, she was slightly jealous that her other self was holding THEIR baby. But she had a feeling Giant Neoma would lose it if she said she wanted to hold Vitu, too.

    "Sorry, we got distracted," Neoma said, clearing her throat. "So, why did you return?"

    "I''m here to give you my final message," Giant Neoma said, then she handed Vitu to Commander Yoan. "Let''s talk, Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio."

    "Gosh. Why are you calling me by my full name?"

    Giant Neoma just ignored herint, then she turned to Ruto. "I need to talk to this child in private, Commander Ruto."

    "I understand, Princess Neoma," Ruto said politely. "It just so happens that I also need to talk to Commander Yoan in private."

    Hmm?

    [Something is sus.]

    "Neoma, enjoy your conversation with the princess," Ruto said, slightly touching the back of her hand with his fingers. "I''ll be waiting for you."

    "Okay," Neoma said, grabbing Ruto''s hand. "I''ll scream if Giant Neoma threatens me."

    "Pfft."

    Both Ruto and Commander Yoan pretended to "cough" to hold back theirughter.

    [Gosh, they''re really the same person.]

    "Mommy, Small Mommy, don''t fight!" Baby Vitu said, pouting. "I''ll scold you if you fight, okay?"

    "We''re not going to fight, dear," Giant Neoma said to their baby. "If we do, your Small Mommy will die because she''s so pitifully weak at the moment."

    Wow.

    [I''m offended.]

    Neoma wanted to curse but held back because of Vitu, so she only cursed Giant Neoma with her gaze.

    [So fucking annoying.]

    "Honey, don''t pick on the young princess," Commander Yoan said while rubbing Giant Neoma''s back. "She''s you, so she''ll definitely react the same way as you if she snaps. Have mercy on the Eternal me''s domain."

    Giant Neoma just scoffed.

    "Babe, you should also calm down," Ruto whispered in her ear. "You don''t want the title of being the strongest anyway, do you? You''re the Visual Goddess, and that title is more important to you, isn''t it?"

    Neoma beamed, then she turned to Ruto. "Right? I already gave up the title of being the strongest because I don''t want my life genre to turn into wuxia. I''m just going to be a very beautiful main character who''s slightly strong in a romance fantasy novel. There''s no need to conquer the world."

    Ruto smiled and nodded while gently patting her head. "Cute."

    ***

    "DADDY, SMALL Daddy, it''s okay if the two of you fight¨C I''ll judge the match fairly."

    Pfft.

    Ruto still felt awkward with children, especially his own child, but he couldn''t help but think that Vitu was adorable.

    [He got his (over)confidence from his mother.]

    "Why is it okay for me and the othermander to fight, but you stopped your two mommies from fighting?" Commander Yoanined lightly. "Is this tant discrimination, you little rascal?"

    Vitu grinned. "Daddy, you know my two mommies would destroy this world if they fought since they have no self-control. But both Daddy and Small Daddy are very careful, so I''m sure you will fight without harming anyone or destroying things here."

    Oh.

    "You''re smart," Rutomented approvingly. "You got your mother''s brains."

    "I did! I''m smart because I got Mommy''s brains," Vitu said cheerfully, then he turned his back on them and ran to the fields. "And since I''m smart, I''ll y alone so that Daddy and Small Daddy can talk privately~"

    And the child really yed alone.

    Well, not really alone since Ruto could see the Spirits running with Vitu.

    "Have you told your Princess Neoma about the deal we made with the God of Death and the Goddess of Life?"

    "Not yet."

    Commander Yoan let out a sigh. "The young princess has already retrieved the memories of her first life. You shoulde clean already."

    Ruto gulped before he asked. "What did your Princess Neoma do when you told her about the deal?"

    "I almost died even though I''m nothing but a piece of your soul."

    "That sounds¡­ scary."

    "My wife is really protective of our child, so it''s understandable that she got mad."

    ''Wife.''

    Ruto blushed when Commander Yoan referred to Neoma as his wife.

    After all, a pleasant image suddenly shed in his mind.

    Ruto saw Neoma in a white wedding dress, smiling brightly at him.

    [Am I getting ahead of myself?]

    But Neoma already expressed her desire to have a child with him NATURALLY.

    [That means she''s open to the idea of marrying me, right? The hook-up culture is a thing, but I don''t think Neoma only wants me for my body¡­ er, let''s stop with these embarrassing thoughts.]

    "Hey, are you still listening to me?"

    "Neoma just got her memories back," Ruto said when he tried to focus again. "She may look calm, but I know she''s still seething inside. If I told her about the deal now, she might snap. I have to find the perfect timing first."

    "I understand what you''re saying, but don''t keep it a secret for long," Commander Yoan said firmly. "It will be bad if your Princess Neoma finds out about it from other people."

    He let out a frustrated sigh. "I know that. But you should also know that Neoma''s temper has gotten worse in this timeline."

    "Then I wish you good luck."

    "Thanks. I need that."

    Commander Yoan chuckled while shaking his head. "I thought you were going to be a chef in this timeline. Why are you wearing that stedmander brooch again?"

    Ruto let out a sigh, shaking his head. "I AM a chef. But I made a deal with His Imperial Majesty. I''m going to be the temporarymander of the White Lion Knights until the war is over."

    "I see¨C His Imperial Majesty doesn''t want you to marry your princess."

    "It doesn''t matter," he said confidently. "I will still marry Neoma."

    "A Solfrid and a de Moonasterio," Commander Yoan said, smiling. "The gods in the Upper World would lose their minds once again."

    "We already obliterated them once, it''s easy to do it the second time."

    "Let''s say you and your princess got married in this timeline¡­"

    "Just get straight to the point."

    Commander Yoan''s entire face turned red. "Are you nning to conceive a child naturally this time?"

    Ruto almost choked on his saliva, but he still tried to act as calmly as possible. "That''s what Neoma wants. And I want it, too."

    "Is she still obsessed with having a child? I thought she wouldn''t feel that way anymore since she''s no longer alone in this lifetime."

    "Why is it strange? Neoma and I are dating. Isn''t it only natural for us to get married in the end and decide whether we want a child or not?"

    Of course, Ruto dated Neoma with marriage in mind.

    "I seem to recall that we decided you''d only watch your princess from afar this time."

    "It''s hard to watch Neoma and not fall for her," he said firmly. "Even after I lost my feelings to the Ancient Devil, I still fell for her all over again."

    "I just hope that you''re a better lover to your Princess Neoma this time, Commander Ruto," Commander Yoan said, smiling while patting Ruto''s shoulder. "You''ll once again earn Lord Levi''s wrath for choosing Neoma this time, too."

    "I''m not afraid of Lord Levi," Ruto said, sighing. "It''s the entire Imperial Family that I should fear the most."

    [And Neoma''s "children," too.]

    ***

    "ARE YOU going to marry Commander Ruto?"

    "Of course," Neoma said without missing a heartbeat. "I''m dating him with the intention of marrying him in the end."

    "Then are you nning to conceive a child with him naturally?"

    "Yep," she said bluntly. "But Vitu has to wait for a little while. I''m thinking of bing a mom once I''m in myte twenties or early thirties."

    Giant Neoma''s eyes widened in shock. "Thatte?"

    Right.

    In the world that Giant Neoma grew up in, it was normal for girls to get married early and be teenage mothers.

    [Even Mama Boss gave birth to Nero and me when she was in herte teens¡­]

    But Neoma had lived as Neoma Kim for more than two decades. In Korea, the average age for women to get married was thirty.

    [And I want to get married at that age, too.]

    "I want to live as ady of leisure after this freaking war," Neoma said. "Then, after marrying Ruto, I want to enjoy our honeymoon stage for a few years. Once Ized around enough, only then would I feel ready to be a mother."

    "You''re going to put yourself first before your child?"

    "Hey, don''t be judgemental," Neoma argued with her other self. "It''s far more selfish to bring a child into this world when you''re not yet ready to be a parent. Of course, I can''t wait to meet Vitu again. But I can only be a proper mother to me once I''m mentally stable, and unfortunately, I''m not mentally stable at the moment."

    She was still seething inside after recovering her past memories.

    The only reason she hadn''t lost it yet was because she met Vitu here.

    Heh.

    [The world should thank my baby boy for keeping me sane.]

    "Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio, I have a question."

    "Gosh. I told you not to call me by my full name¨C"

    "You''re going to conceive a child with Commander Ruto the natural way," Giant Neoma said bluntly, her red eyes glowing. "What makes you think the child you''d conceive would be Vitu when Vitu was a Sapling I created myself?"

    What?

    Neoma knitted her eyebrows. "I can''t meet Vitu that way¡­?"

    ***

    HANNA stepped onto the balcony and saw Lewis dominating his fight with Eloise.

    Queen Lisica and Lord Rustin were doing a good job stopping the reanimated corpses of the Silver Foxes from interrupting Lewis'' fight.

    [It seems like everything is under their control.]

    "Lewis."

    She didn''t have to raise her voice.

    Lewis, with his sharp hearing, heard her. He kicked Eloise again before he turned around to face her. "Go, Princess Hanna. I''ll take care of things here."

    [As expected, he already knows I need to leave.]

    Hanna smiled and nodded even though Lewis quickly turned his back on her to block Eloise''s attack.

    She then returned to the room.

    "Sir Alucard, let''s leave¡­" Hanna trailed off when she saw Alucard Dionisio lying on the floor while bleeding. She then froze on the spot when she noticed a man standing in front of Neoma''s ice coffin engulfed in Hanna''s ck Hole. "Who are you?"

    The man with purple hair and glowing dark purple eyes was staring intently at Neoma''s ice coffin before he slowly turned to her.

    That was when she recognized the stranger.

    "The Ancient Devil?"

    "I go by the name ''Noah Solfrid'' now," the Ancient Devil said, then he smiled eerily at Hanna. "Princess Hanna Quinzel, I''m sorry but I cannot allow you to leave this ce."

    Hanna immediately gathered her Mana in her hands. "I''d like to see you stop me, good sir."

    ***

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 Chapter 874 MATURE ERA???

    <h4>Chapter 874 MATURE ERA???</h4>

    "ARE YOU saying that it won''t be possible for me and Ruto to conceive Vitu naturally just because you conceived Vitu alone in the first timeline?" Neoma asked Giant Neoma, slightly annoyed. "But why? Wasn''t Vitu born from yours and Ruto''s Mana?"

    "It seems like yourmander hasn''t told you about how Vitu was revived," Giant Neoma said. "I don''t have the time to exin everything to you, so go and talk about it with yourmanderter."

    She frowned. "Is Ruto hiding something from me again? He doesn''t need to do that anymore since I''ve already regained my memories."

    "He''s not hiding it from you on purpose," Giant Neoma said. "Knowing yourmander, he''s just probably waiting for you to calm down first before he tells you the deal that he made with the God of Death and the Goddess of Life."

    [Ruto made a deal with them to bring back Vitu?]

    "Is it something that will break my heart again?" Neoma asked carefully. "Is it going to make me hate Ruto?"

    "No, of course not. But you''ll probably get upset since you''re the type to get angry first before seeing the bigger picture."

    Ouch.

    "I''m not saying that the chance of meeting Vitu if you try to conceive him with yourmander naturally is zero," Giant Neoma said indifferently. "I asked you what made you think the child you''d conceive would be Vitu when Vitu was a Sapling out of genuine curiosity. In case you misunderstood, I wasn''t mocking you."

    She actually misunderstood and thought Giant Neoma was picking on her again.

    [It can''t be helped since Giant Neoma has a resting bitch face scarier than mine.]

    "I''ll be honest with you, Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio," Giant Neoma said in a serious tone. "I was too happy living in my little world with Yoan and Vitu that I didn''t bother toe up with a solution as to how you''d be able to meet Vitu in your timeline. Hence, I cannot offer any help regarding that matter. I''m sorry."

    Oh.

    She was relieved that Giant Neoma''s concern was failing to provide a solution for her problem rted to Vitu.

    "You don''t have to apologize for that," Neoma said. "And don''t worry about it. Ruto and I will figure it out together. Using my big brain is my expertise, so I''m sure I can find a loophole in the deal that Ruto made with the God of Death and the Goddess of Life."

    "Huh? Loophole?"

    "Yes, loophole," she said, nodding. "There''s bound to be a loophole in all sorts of contracts. Once I find the loophole in Ruto''s deal with those two gods, I''ll exploit it and use it to our advantage."

    "You sound like a crook."

    "Unnie, you won''t survive in this world if you''re too nice. You gotta have an asshole side that you unleash once in a while so that people wouldn''t think you''re a doormat."

    "What does ''unnie'' mean?"

    "It means older sister," Neoma exined. "I now acknowledge you as my older, prettier, and stronger version, so I''m calling you ''unnie'' from now on."

    Neoma unnie smiled. "That''s an honor, little empress."

    "Empress?" she asked, surprised. "Unnie, did you also receive the prophecy of bing the first empress regnant?"

    "I thought you already retrieved your memories?"

    "Oh. My big brain deletes memories and information that I don''t need," Neoma exined. "I can always force myself to remember. But I want to hear it from you, unnie."

    Neoma unnie fell silent for a moment before she opened her mouth. "When Emperor Nero died, the throne tried to force me to be the empress."

    "Then what did you do, unnie?"

    "I destroyed the throne with my bare hands."

    Pfft.

    "But it''s not something that you can do now, little sister."

    Neoma wasn''t only surprised that Neoma unnie called her ''little sister''¨C she was also surprised by what her unnie revealed. "Why? What happened, unnie? The throne is just a piece of junk, isn''t it?"

    "It''s not something I''m allowed to tell you, but I''ve already given Emperor Nero a warning."

    "I don''t like it when I''m being kept in the dark."

    "I''m sorry, but I can''t lose the little time that I have left in this world since I still have something I need to do for you," Neoma unnie exined, her voice and face apologetic. "Moreover, the matters rted to the throne are something that your twin brother has to ovee himself if he wants to be the next emperor. You can''t do his task for him."

    Neoma pouted. "I know that. Nero is just as capable as me. But I''m just a little worried as his older sister."

    "Huh? You''re older than Emperor Nero?"

    "You didn''t know, unnie?"

    "Our father told me before that Emperor Nero was the First Star."

    Pfft.

    "That''s a lie, unnie. We''re older than Nero."

    "Thank you for that vital piece of information," Neoma unnie said, and she really looked grateful. "Now I have something to annoy Emperor Nero with when we meet again."

    Aww.

    Since it was an important information, Neoma didn''t forget the fact that she made up with Nero in the first timeline.

    [I mean, Neoma unnie and Emperor Nero weren''t as close as Nero and I in this timeline. But, at least, they forgave each other before it was toote. It''s just a shame that Emperor Nero died before the two could get closer.]

    "I''m happy that you have the opportunity to meet Nero again, unnie," Neoma said, smiling. "Did you also meet Nero of this timeline? The Eternal me said Nero was in the middle of an important conversation earlier with an important person. I had a feeling that it was you."

    "That''s right. I visited the current Prince Nero in his dreams to give him a warning."

    "Unnie, howe you know the current state of affairs here when you''ve been stuck in this world ever since the first timeline?"

    "Well, I still have eyes and ears outside," Neoma unnie said, smiling haughtily. "We''re not the only ones who remember the first timeline."

    "Oh, I see."

    "Are you not going to ask who my people are? You can ask them to help you, too."

    Neoma paused for a moment before she shook her head. "Nah. Those are your people, unnie. Just because I''m you doesn''t mean they''re obliged to help me. Plus, I don''t need that much help yet."

    "Are you sure?"

    "Yes, unnie."

    Neoma unnie chuckled. "You''re fun to talk to, little sister. It''s a shame that I have to send you off now."

    "Am I getting revived now?"

    "Not yet. Trevor hasn''t finished gathering the ingredients needed for your revival yet."

    "Then where are you sending me off to?"

    "Have you forgotten the people that you saw first after you "died?" Neoma unnie asked,ughing as if she was amused. "They''ve been waiting for you all this time."

    Neoma gasped when she finally remembered those people. "My ancestors!"

    ***

    "RUTO, I didn''t snap," Neoma said when Ruto returned to her side. "I actually had fun talking to Neoma unnie."

    "I see you''ve finally gotten along well with the other Princess Neoma," Ruto said, cupping her face between his hands. "You did well, Neoma."

    She just grinned, then she wrapped her arms around Ruto''s waist. "Did you fight with Commander Yoan?"

    "I have no reason to fight him, and I wouldn''t show violence in front of our child."

    Aww.

    Neoma looked around.

    Her Neoma unnie, Commander Yoan, and Vitu weren''t there because the three had to prepare the portal for Neoma and Ruto to safely get out of the Eternal me''s domain.

    [I think their Mana or something is needed to create the portal?]

    "Are you looking for Princess Neoma and her family?"

    "I just realized something, Ruto," Neoma said, then she looked up at Ruto with sparkling eyes. Yes, she loved the fact that she had to look up at her man because he was taller than her. She liked making herself believe that she was a tiny babygirl and not a giant princess. "I told Neoma unnie that we''re going to conceive Vitu naturally this time."

    "Ah, I told Commander Yoan the same."

    "Then didn''t we just practically announce that we''re going to have sex?"

    As expected, Ruto''s entire face turned red quickly.

    Neoma giggled at her man''s cute reaction. "Why are you blushing so hard when you''re no longer a teenager? Come on, Ruto. You''re too old to be embarrassed by a mere sex talk."

    Ruto cleared his throat, his face still red from embarrassment. "Neoma¡­"

    "Don''t you feel bad for me? You let me die a virgin!"

    This time, Ruto choked on his own saliva.

    "Gosh," Neomained while lightly hitting Ruto in the chest with her hands. "Now that I''m thinking about it, you must have not liked me enough because you neverid your hands on me in the first timeline."

    "I was just trying to respect you then¡­"

    "But I don''t want to be respected that much¨C I want you to ruin me¨C mmf!"

    Ruto, who looked like a human tomato now, covered Neoma''s mouth with his hand. "Neoma, you''ve just turned eighteen. I''m already in my early twenties. It just doesn''t feel right to be talking about this already¡­"

    Neoma removed Ruto''s hand from her mouth. "Are you crazy? If youbined all my ages from the lives I''ve lived, then I''d be over sixty years old by now. You''re older than me, so you''re probably over seventy years old mentally. So, if youbined our ages together, then we''d be over a hundred years old. We''re allowed to have sex at this age!"

    Once again, Ruto choked on his saliva. He was also sweating profusely by now. "Alright. Calm down. I won''t let you die a v-virgin this time. But marriage¨C"

    "I''m open to pre-marital sex, so don''t make me wait for too long."

    "Do you want your family to kill me?"

    "How would they know if we did it or not?"

    Ruto looked stupefied by what Neoma said, then heughed softly.

    "Hey, I''m serious¨C mmf."

    This time, Neoma was shut up by Ruto''s deep kiss.

    [Okay, this way of shutting me up is kinda sexy.]

    ***

    "ARE YOU not going to tell the current Princess Neoma?"

    Neoma turned to Drystan who met her at the gate of the Eternal me''s domain. "Tell her what?"

    Of course,she knew what the King of Hell was trying to say.

    [But I don''t want to think about it too much.]

    "That once Princess Neoma and the Divine Lord leave this ce, you and Commander Yoan willpletely disappear," Drystan said in a serious tone. "That the piece of your souls that were left here for many years would vanish into oblivion?"

    ***

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 Chapter 875 AND THEY LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER

    <h4>Chapter 875 AND THEY LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER</h4>

    "SMALL MOMMY, I''m going to miss you."

    Neoma had to swallow the lump that formed in her throat to stop herself from crying. "I''ll miss you, too, baby," she said in a cracked voice, hugging Vitu tight. "Be a good boy, okay? y well, sleep well, eat well. Don''t do anything dangerous like saving the world. All you need to do is to protect yourself. Don''t worry too much about your mommy and daddy since they''re OP. It''s okay if you grow up arrogant and entitled as long as you don''t hurt other people. And always remember this: I love you. Ruto loves you, too. You are dearly loved."

    "Thank you for saying that, Small Mommy," Vitu said gently, wrapping his arms around Neoma''s neck. "I''ll wait for the day when we can finally meet again."

    At least ten years.

    Neoma wanted to have a child once she was in herte twenties or early thirties, so Vitu had to wait for at least ten years.

    [But time flies quickly, so we''ll meet again before we know it.]

    "Vitu,e here," Neoma unnie said. "My little sister and hermander need to go now."

    Aww.

    Neoma didn''t want to let go of Vitu, but she also didn''t want to make her unnie upset. Hence, she reluctantly handed her baby to her real mother.

    Of course, she instantly felt lonely.

    Fortunately, Ruto stood by her side and put a hand on her waist in an attempt to console her.

    "Neoma unnie, I''ll fuck them up for us," Neoma said in an emotional voice. "I swear it on my self-proimed title as the Visual Goddess."

    "I''m looking forward to it," Neoma unnie said, smiling. "My little sister."

    "I''ll make sure that your eyes and ears in the outside world will only deliver good and exciting news to you, unnie," Neoma said confidently, then she turned to Commander Yoan with sharp eyes. "Commander Yoan, you don''t need to be overprotective of my unnie because she''s stronger than you."

    Ruto had to fake a cough to hide hisugh, while Commander Yoan only flinched as if she was intimidated by Neoma''s threat.

    [But I''m not yet done.]

    "All you have to do is to continue making my unnie happy," Neoma said, still ring at Commander Yoan. "Don''t ever think about saving the world or any simr shit. Just focus on my unnie and Baby Vitu, Commander Yoan. Don''t worry about the outside world. My Ruto and I will do all the dirty work from now on."

    "Neoma, saving the world isn''t "dirty work,"" Ruto scolded her lightly. "It''s a noble job that will earn you good karma pointster in life."

    "Ruto, at this point, I should be the one handing out those good karma points. I''m worth all the gods in the Upper Worldbined when ites topetence and efficacy, am I not?"

    "Yes, you''re right," Ruto said, taking her side right away. "I''m sorry. I misspoke."

    "It''s okay, babe. You''re forgiven."

    Ruto just gently squeezed her waist in response.

    Commander Yoan, on the other hand, cleared his throat before speaking. "I''ve already learned my lesson the hard way, Princess Neoma," he said gently, then he wrapped an arm around Neoma unnie''s shoulder. "My priority is my family."

    "Very well," Neoma said, nodding. She was satisfied by Commander Yoan''s response. "I trust that the three of you will continue living happily in this world."

    Neoma unnie and Commander Yoan both smiled and nodded.

    [Yep, they''re going to live happily ever after.]

    "Don''t worry, Small Mommy," Vitu assured her in a cheerful voice. "I''ll make sure we are always happy!"

    That was all Neoma needed to hear.

    ***

    [THIS IS IT.]

    Neoma knew this was herst chance to be with Neoma unnie alone.

    Vitu, Commander Yoan, and Ruto were waiting for them at the portal.

    But even though Neoma was given another chance to spend time with her unnie alone, she knew there wouldn''t be much to say between the two of them.

    They were already past that point.

    [Unnie already told me everything I needed to win the war, and I''ve already told her the things I knew she wanted to hear.]

    Oh, there was one thing that Neoma wanted to make sure, though¡­

    "Little Neoma."

    "Yes, unnie?"

    Neoma unnie smiled brightly. "I know it now," she said as if she could read Neoma''s mind. "I was loved. I AM loved. Moreover, I''m no longer alone or lonely."

    "Are you happy here, unnie?"

    "The years I spent in this little world with Yoan and Vitu were the happiest years of my life," Neoma unnie said, her smile getting brighter. "And I know I''ll continue being happy with them in this little world."

    "I will protect this world for you and for your happiness, unnie," Neoma promised firmly. "I promise."

    Her unnie smiled again, then she opened her arms. "Can you give me a hug, my little sister?"

    Instead of answering verbally, Neoma just pulled her unnie for a tight hug.

    "Neoma, my little sister, thank you for everything. And I''m sorry I have to leave everything in your capable hands from now on," Neoma unnie whispered. "Let me tell you something that you might like as a parting gift."

    Of course, Neoma listened to what her unnie said carefully¡­

    ¡­ and then blushed so hard that Rutoter said she looked like red chili paste.

    ***

    IT WAS a meaningful goodbye.

    Neoma of the first timeline sent the young Neoma and the young Commander Ruto off with a smile.

    Her heart was finally at ease.

    "Now it''s just the three of us here again," Yoan said, putting an arm around her waist. "What do you want to do now, honey?"

    Hmm.

    Neoma turned to her husband, and then to their teenage son who was standing in front of her with an expectant look on his face.

    Look at this big baby.

    [He went back to his original form now that his "Small Mommy" and "Small Daddy" aren''t here to pamper him.]

    "We''ve been in this world for a little over forty years," Neoma said. "Since we are gods, forty years were short. Moreover, since we were living happily here, time flew faster than it usually does."

    Their little family was sent there after Yoan reset the time.

    However, the first time he did, Neoma was taken to a different world and lived as a different person.

    [That exins "my" change in attitude.]

    Ruto had to bring back Neoma into this world.

    And that was how they met the fierce little Neoma with a foul mouth.

    [She''s young, but she''s dependable.]

    Neoma smiled and held each of Yoan and Vitu''s hands. "Forty years passed by shortly, but I''m already tired," she said in a tired voice. "I feel like I could finally take a peaceful rest now."

    She could see that Yoan and Vitu both understood what she truly meant by that.

    No wonder her husband suddenly carried her the way he did the day they got married in this little world.

    Neoma could onlyugh while wrapping her arms around Yoan''s neck.

    "You deserve a long and peaceful rest, honey," Yoan said, smiling warmly at her. "Of course, I''ll join you."

    And then her husband brought her to their room.

    Yoan tucked Neoma in bed before heid down next to her, letting her use his arm as a pillow.

    [Like he always does.]

    Vitu, who was sitting on the chair next to the bed, smiled despite the tears in his eyes. "Mother, Father, I''ll sing you a luby."

    "That would be lovely, our precious baby," Neoma said. "Thank you."

    "Don''t be a crybaby, you little ruffian," Yoan "scolded" their son affectionately. "You will have better parents once you get born in the real world."

    "That may be true, Father," Vitu said in a cracked voice. "But you and Mother will always be irreceable in my heart. I may not remember you once I get reborn, but please know that I am and will always be grateful to be your son in our little yet happy world."

    Neoma had never cried once, not even tears of happiness, ever since she was sent to that world.

    Not until that moment.

    "I will never regret tainting my hands with blood for you, Vitu," Neoma said, her tears rolling down her cheeks despite her efforts to smile. "Thank you for being our son. And I''m sorry that your father and I will have to sleep first."

    "Take care of yourself, Vitu," Yoan said in a cracked voice. "We will always be proud of you."

    "And we will always love you," Neoma added gently. "We love you, son."

    Vituughed while crying.

    Then, their son sang them the luby that Neoma used to sing to her baby.

    [Ah, this is really the end.]

    Neoma knew that she was just a piece of the real Neoma''s soul¨C a piece only meant to guard the Eternal me until the new rightful wielder appeared.

    Hence, she had always known that this day woulde.

    Although she was sad that her peaceful life in this little world with her small family had finallye to an end, she was still grateful and happy that it happened.

    [I''m getting sleepy now¡­]

    Neoma cuddled with Yoan, then she closed her eyes¨C her heart light and swelling with contentment. "I love you, Yoan," she whispered. "Thank you for making me happy all this time, and thank you for creating this small family with me."

    "No, none of this would have been possible without your sacrifice, honey. So, thank YOU," Yoan whispered back, then he kissed the top of her head. "You''ve done more than enough, my princess. Please take a rest now. I''ll stay with you until the end of time. I love you."

    No matter how many times she had heard it, she would never get tired of listening to Yoan say that he loved her.

    [I love the life that I built with Yoan and Vitu.]

    Hence, Neoma would leave the world without regrets.

    [We''ve done enough, and we did well.]

    "Mommy, Daddy," Vitu whispered in a broken voice, calling them affectionately the way he did when he was a toddler. "I love you."

    Neoma and Yoan both smiled, both happy and finally at peace.

    "Good night, Mommy and Daddy."

    ***

    RUTO noticed that Neoma had fallen silent ever since they left the Eternal me''s domain.

    [Is she thinking about what Princess Neoma said earlier?]

    To be honest, he was curious as to what could possibly make Neoma blush that hard.

    "Neoma, you don''t have to answer this if you don''t want to, but may I know what Princess Neoma said¡­"

    He trailed off.

    Ruto stopped talking when he realized that Neoma was crying silently. "Neoma¡­?"

    "They''re gone, aren''t they?" Neoma asked in a cracked voice. "No, don''t answer that. I don''t want to know the truth."

    Ah.

    [She knows.]

    Ruto had always known that Princess Neoma and Commander Yoan would disappear as soon as the Eternal me found its own master.

    He didn''t tell Neoma because Princess Neoma asked him not to say anything.

    [But, of course, Neoma would know. After all, we would feel it if a piece of our soul suddenly disappeared.]

    "They will live happily ever after in the little world that they created," Neoma said between sobs. "That could be the only eptable ending for Neoma unnie and Commander Yoan. I will not ept anything other than a happy ending for them. They have to be happy."

    "Neoma, they ARE happy," Ruto said in a cracked voice, then he gathered Neoma in his arms. "Princess Neoma and Commander Yoan will finally enter their eternal rest in peace. Together. That''s a happy ending."

    Princess Neoma had done so much good in the world.

    It was time for the princess who saved the world to finally rest in peace.

    Hence, even though it wasn''t the happy ending that Neoma had in mind, Ruto knew it was the ending that Princess Neoma and Commander Yoan deserved.

    "They are together until the end," Ruto said. Just like Neoma, he was also crying this time. "And that''s what matters most."

    Neoma only hugged Ruto tighter and cried hard in his chest. "They''re happy, right?"

    "They are, Neoma¨C they are."

    And soon enough, Ruto was already crying with Neoma.

    ***

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 Chapter 876 THE CROWN PRINCESSâ€™ SMILE

    <h4>Chapter 876 THE CROWN PRINCESS'' SMILE</h4>

    [I''LL DIE if I fight the Ancient Devil on my own.]

    Hanna knew that she was no match against the Ancient Devil right now.

    Well, she could always try and fight him to death, but it was not worth it.

    [I won''t die fighting an insignificant person like the Ancient Devil.]

    Moreover¡­

    [Neoma always says that there''s no mission worth dying for.]

    Hanna, as discreetly as she could, calcted the distance between her and Alucard (who was still unconscious on the floor). If she wanted to get out of there, she needed the vampire''s help.

    "Are you thinking of running away?" the Ancient Devil asked,ughing. "You can''t."

    Ah.

    Hanna only nced at Alucard for a moment, and yet the Ancient Devil noticed it and realized her n right away.

    She was just bluffing when she said she''d fight, but she was caught easily.

    [I guess the Ancient Devil didn''t live long for nothing.]

    "Well, you leave me no choice but to kill your only way out, Crown Princess."

    "Nathaira!"

    Hanna summoned Nathaira, one of her Shadow Beasts, which was a giant serpent.

    Nathaira immediately wrapped herself around the Ancient Devil while hissing, then she used her massive body and muscles to suffocate and crush the enemy.

    As a result, the Ancient Devil was rendered immobilize.

    Hanna used that moment to run to Alucard.

    She immediately grabbed the vampire''s hand when she saw the red bracelet around his wrist. It was the teleportation device that Alucard carried around.

    All she had to do was break the bracelet for the device to be activated, and so she did.

    Hanna quickly turned translucent like what happened to Alucard.

    But as soon as she was engulfed in light, a rope made of dark matter wrapped itself around her waist and pulled her away from Alucard who was quickly vanishing.

    Hanna, much to her shock, realized that her body had returned to normal.

    To simply say, the teleportation device stopped working on her.

    [No¡­!]

    Alucard hadpletely vanished on the spot while Hanna was left behind in that ce.

    "Did you seriously think that a mere Shadow Beast can stop me, Crown Princess?"

    Hanna raised her head and saw the Ancient Devil holding Nathaira''s severed head.

    [Ah. I didn''t even hear Nathaira¡­]

    Which meant the Ancient Devil killed Hanna''s Shadow Beast quickly.

    The body of the giant serpent that fell to the floor had already begun turning into dust.

    [Nathaira is my strongest Shadow Beast and yet¡­]

    Hanna didn''t have time to mourn the death of her Shadow Beast.

    She covered her hands with Mana and removed the rope around her waist. Of course, she had to put more force and more Mana when breaking the rope. But, fortunately, it snapped.

    [It seems like it was only made to deactivate the teleportation device on me.]

    "You''re not easily shaken, huh?" the Ancient Devil asked, throwing away Nathaira''s severed head to the floor like it was nothing. "I was told you were weak and soft-hearted. But you didn''t even shed a tear after I killed your Shadow Beast."

    Nathaira''s severed head quickly turned into dust before it even hit the floor.

    Hanna''s face remained stoic despite her heart breaking into tiny pieces. "The female Silver Fox who came to ambush us also said the same thing. That she was told I had a weak constitution. I''m sure she heard it from the crows."

    The fact that the Ancient Devil said the same thing could only mean one thing.

    "Have you joined hands with the crows, good sir?"

    "And what if I did, Crown Princess?"

    "I''ve already treated you as an enemy the moment you appeared here and dered I cannot leave this ce," she said. "I just needed to confirm it before I make an attack."

    The Ancient Devilughed. "You tried to run away earlier, so you clearly know you''ll die if you fight me. And yet, here you are. Calm and collected."

    "I was raised a proper nobledy in my childhood. Then I received education as the Crown Princess of the empire during my adolescence. Do you know what''s the first thing they teach women of my status?"

    "I can tell you''re stalling time while gathering your Mana all over the ce, but go on. I have plenty of time to waste here."

    [So, his n is really to keep me here.]

    Hanna smiled at the Ancient Devil even though what she wanted was to sneer at his arrogance.

    Despite her personal feelings, her smile still appeared perfect.

    The Ancient Devil raised an eyebrow at her. "What a kind smile you got there, Crown Princess. Are you sure I deserve that?"

    "Of course, you don''t, good sir," Hanna said politely, still smiling. "However, I was taught all my life to smile and remain calm even if I''m faced with a person I want to kill. I wasn''t allowed to show negative emotions, especially not in front of an audience. Moreover¡­"

    "Yes?"

    "You do not have the right to see even a drop of my tears," Hanna said, stomping her feet on the ground. "Die, you lowlife."

    Hundreds of swords made of shadows emerged from the ceiling, the walls, and the floor.

    Of course, all of those swords only had one target: the Ancient Devil.

    "What an adorable attack, Crown Princess!" the Ancient Devil said loudly,ughing while covering himself with a thick, ck smog that was very simr to Darkness. "Are you so afraid to summon your Shadow Beasts after I killed your strongest one that you''re relying on petty tricks now?"

    Hanna ignored the Ancient Devil''s taunting as she summoned Eve¨C her crossbow that was made of shadows.

    "Are you not worried about hitting Princess Neoma identally?"

    "Nero''s ice and Commander Ruto''s miasma won''t easily break," Hanna said confidently. "And if Neoma was here, I''m sure she''d tell me to go all out without worrying about her."

    So she did.

    While the shadow swords that she sent at the Ancient Devil were busy breaking the barrier around the enemy, she fired the POISONED arrows continuously¨C in one spot. Her target was the Ancient Devil''s heart, of course.

    [Anyone, even the Ancient Devil himself, has his Core as his weakness, after all.]

    But targeting the Ancient Devil''s heart wasn''t easy when his barrier hadn''t been broken yet. Even so, she didn''t stop.

    [I just need one poisoned arrow to go through¡­]

    CRACK.

    Oh.

    That was the sound of the Ancient Devil''s barrier breaking.

    Hanna ran towards the enemy, still firing her crossbow nonstop.

    She was aware that a crossbow was meant to be a long-distance weapon. However, she trained hard enough to hit the target no matter what the distance. Her Mana was guiding the arrows that she was firing.

    [Just a little more¡­]

    There.

    Hanna skidded her knees to the floor because she needed to shoot lower and hit the hole in the barrier that appeared around the Ancient Devil''s leg.

    WHOOSH.

    The poisoned arrow swiftly and precisely hit the small hole in the barrier, effectively breaking through it and hitting the Ancient Devil in the leg.

    As expected, the poison quickly took effect.

    The Ancient Devil looked surprised when he was suddenly brought down to his knees.

    [Now!]

    Hanna quickly threw her crossbow while charging at the Ancient Devil, her hand open as she was waiting for her new "weapon" to materialize.

    And as soon as it did, she grabbed it tight.

    A long-stemmed rose.

    To be precise, Hanna was now holding the poisonous long-stemmed BLUE rose that Empress Mona had gifted to her in the past.

    [It''s a deadly flower that only the Rosehearts can produce.]

    Hence, she had to cover her hand with a thickyer of Mana and shadows so that she wouldn''t get stabbed by the thorns identally.

    [I just need to stab the Ancient Devil''s heart with this.]

    Hanna quickly closed the distance between her and the Ancient Devil who couldn''t move at the moment.

    Then she raised her arm to stab the Ancient Devil in the heart.

    But, all of a sudden, the bastard disappeared.

    [Where¡­]

    Oh.

    Hanna froze on the spot when not only did she feel the Ancient Devil''s presence behind her, but she also realized that the long-stemmed blue rose was no longer in her hand.

    She raised her chin instinctively when she a sharp object slightly grazed her throat.

    It was the pointed end of the rose that she had just been holding a moment ago.

    "This is the poisonous Blue Rose that only the Rosehearts can produce, isn''t it?" the Ancient Devil asked in a yful tone. "Then I suppose you know what will happen if I stabbed you with this, Crown Princess."

    Hanna swallowed hard, not daring to move an inch.

    [Ah, I lost¡­]

    ***

    ELOISEughed at Lewis Crevan''s futile effort to break the barrier that the Ancient Devil used to cover the entire mansion with.

    [How can a mere fox break the Ancient Devil''s barrier?]

    In short, her future male partner couldn''t enter the mansion to save either Hanna Quinzel or Princess Neoma.

    [But it''s fun to see him struggle.]

    "Do you want me to help you enter the mansion?" Eloise asked, but Lewis only ignored her. "I will help you if you give me your Seed, Lewis Crevan."

    Lewis stopped punching the barrier, then he slowly turned around to face her.

    [Oh, he''s tempted!]

    Eloise smiled seductively at the male fox. "I''ll tell you the Ancient Devil''s weakness if you put a child in my womb~"

    "Shut up, you disgusting pervert," Lewis said in a voice full of disgust while looking at Eloise as if she was an insignificant, lowly thing. "What you''re saying and doing to me is sexual harassment, and I''ll have you know that I''m going to tattle on Princess Neoma about this."

    To say that Eloise was surprised would be an understatement.

    [They told me Lewis Crevan rarely speaks, and even if he does, he often speaks in broken sentences!]

    But Lewis just insulted Eloise fluently!

    [Why does it feel more offending that he insulted me in perfect grammar than what I would have felt had he talked to me in broken sentences¡­?]

    ***

    NIKOLAI stiffened when he saw Alucard Dionisio''s condition when he returned to the pce using the emergency portal connected to his office.

    He was expecting the vampire to appear.

    But he didn''t expect Alucard Dionisio toe back ALONE.

    [He failed to bring back Hanna¡­]

    "I-I''m sorry, Your Imperial Majesty," Alucard, who had just regained consciousness, said weakly. The vampire was bleeding from head to toe, and it was a miracle that he didn''t die on the spot. "The Ancient Devil attacked me saying he can''t let Princess Hanna return to the pce¡­"

    The Ancient Devil?

    [Hanna is no match against the Ancient Devil!]

    He wasn''t underestimating the Crown Princess¨C he was merely stating a fact.

    "The Ancient Devil seems to have joined hands with the crows, Your Imperial Majesty," Alucard continued with his report despite his terrible state. "His goal is to stop Princess Hanna from returning to the pce. I tried to return to the Underworld earlier, but all the routes I know have already been blocked¡­"

    All the routes were blocked?

    [So, they won''t let us save Hanna.]

    As if he''d let those bastards do as they pleased.

    "We will rescue Hanna," Niki said in an urgent voice. "Summon Trevor Kesser and tell him to return to the pce immediately!"

    He was aware that Trevor was busy gathering the ingredients needed for Neoma''s revival.

    However, Niki knew that his daughter wouldn''t forgive him if he didn''t do everything in his power to rescue Hanna.

    But most of all¡­

    [I personally want to save my daughter-inw, too.]

    ***

    HANNA knew that the Ancient Devil wouldn''t hesitate to kill her.

    She would lie if she said she wasn''t afraid.

    Even so, she knew that panicking wouldn''t help. Hence, she tried to stay as calm as she could while thinking of ways to save herself.

    [I can''t die here.]

    "You''re really calm, huh?" the Ancient Devilmented in an amused voice. "You''re making me want to destroy you, child. I want to see you cry."

    Hanna knew that she couldn''t be reckless, but she couldn''t stop herself from scoffing. "I''d rather die than cry in front of you. As I said earlier, you don''t deserve to see my tears¨C not even a drop."

    "You say that, but I''m pretty sure the pain from getting poisoned by the Blue Rose will make you cry," the Ancient Devil said, quickly moving his hand to stab Hanna in the throat. "Let''s see¨C argh!"

    Hmm?

    Hanna, who was in the middle of covering her entire body with her Shadow Veil as a means to protect herself, was shocked when she found herself separated from the Ancient Devil.

    Someone moved her to another spot magically.

    And that ''someone'' was the person standing in front of her protectively.

    [But who¡­?]

    "Why don''t you pick on someone your own size, you pathetic old bastard?"

    "Drystan?" the Ancient Devil, who seemed to have been frozen on the spot against his will, scoffed when he recognized the person who saved Hanna. "What is the King of Hell doing here?"

    Hanna''s eyes widened in surprise upon learning who her savior was.

    [But why did the King of Hell save me?]

    ***

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 Chapter 877 DONâ€™T TOUCH MY SPAWNS

    <h4>Chapter 877 DON''T TOUCH MY SPAWNS</h4>

    DRYSTAN''S heart broke while watching Vitu kiss Princess Neoma and Commander Yoan goodnight.

    He didn''t mean to spy on the family''s intimate final moment.

    It was just his job to collect Vitu''s soul after the Imperial Princess and the Divine Lord entered their Eternal Slumber, hence he needed to see what was happening inside the Eternal me''s domain.

    [But this isn''t something I should be watching.]

    Seeing Vitu kiss his "sleeping" parents'' foreheads almost made Drystan burst into tears, so he immediately turned off the screening device.

    [My spawns have left the world before me for good¡­]

    Princess Neoma and Commander Yoan were both his precious children.

    Drystan guided the two in the first timeline.

    Then, when Princess Neoma and Commander Yoan were "exiled" to the Eternal me''s domain, he watched the two build their small but happy family with Vitu. He never took his eyes off his spawns.

    After all, Drystan wanted his children to be happy.

    [At least, I know that Princess Neoma and Commander Yoan left the world together.]

    Ah, he felt like crying again.

    "My king, we have a problem."

    Drystan, who just had barely stopped himself from crying, turned to Iris. "What happened?"

    "The Ancient Devil has entered the Underworld."

    "What?"

    "ording to the spies that we nted in the Underworld, the Ancient Devil arrived with the female Silver Fox that brought an army of undead Silver Foxes."

    Those were the crows.

    [Then¡­?]

    "That damned old pathetic bastard joined hands with Helstor this time."

    "With Helstor?" Iris asked, surprised. "Not Callisto de Luca?"

    "A conservative like Callisto de Luca has nothing to offer to the peculiar Ancient Devil who wants nothing else in the world but to relieve his boredom. He''ll find Callisto de Luca''s narrow-mindedness boring," Drystan said, huffing. "You see, the Ancient Devil has the attention span of a child. He can''t die even if he wants to, so he tries to find a new purpose in life every day. But he gets bored easily. Thest time he found something that caught interest was when Yoan asked him to turn back time."

    "Is that why the Ancient Devil is so invested in Princess Neoma and the Divine Lord?"

    "Who knows? Even though I''ve known that old pathetic bastard for centuries now, I still can''t figure out how he thinks," Drystan said, sighing. "Anyway, I''m going up."

    Iris'' eyes widened in surprise. "You''ll die if you fight the Ancient Devil, my king."

    "I appreciate your unwavering faith in me, Iris," he said sarcastically, then he clicked his tongue. "Just how weak do you think I am? I''m still a god, you know?"

    "But I haven''t seen you pick up your weapon in centuries, my king."

    Uhm, yeah.

    There was nothing or no one to fight in Hell. Moreover, he had been buried with paperworks ever since he was crowned the king in that ce.

    Even so¡­

    "I can''t let the Ancient Devil get in the way of my spawns," Drystan said determinedly. "I won''t let the little princess and the divine lord suffer in this timeline."

    "Will you be fine, my king?" Iris asked worriedly. "You''ve only held a pen for the past centuries. Moreover, you don''t even work out. The closest thing to exercise that you''ve done in the past years was taking a walk with Lord Vitu. I''m worried that you might crack your bones as soon as you arrive in the Underworld¡­"

    [This woman is really testing my patience¡­]

    "Stop nagging me and open ourmunication devices," he said. "We need to inform Trevor Kesser of what''s happening."

    "Trevor Kesser?" Iris asked curiously. "Is it because it''s his house?"

    "He shouldn''t get distracted," Drystan said, looking up at the "sky" above them. "Trevor Kesser must only focus on gathering the ingredients needed for the little princess'' revival."

    ***

    <"I''M SORRY, but I''m not returning to the pce, Your Imperial Majesty.">

    To say that Niki was shocked by Trevor''s response would be an understatement.

    Even Melvin Lhesi and Geoffrey Kinsley, who was in his office with him, were obviously shocked.

    It took them a while to contact Trevor through an audiomunication device.

    And as soon as they got a hold of him¡­

    "Have you gone mad, Trevor Kesser?" Niki growled at the demon. "I know that you only follow Neoma''s orders. However, you should also know that if something bad happens to Hanna, then Neoma will get mad at us."

    <"Don''t worry, Your Imperial Majesty. The Crown Princess will be fine. I just received a message from the King of Hell.">

    "The King of Hell?"

    <"Yes, Your Imperial Majesty. The King of Hell informed me that he''ll personally rescue the Crown Princess. He wants me to focus on my task since reviving Princess Neomaes first.">

    He was relieved to hear that.

    Even so, he was still worried.

    <"But I know it''s hard to entrust Princess Hanna''s safety to a stranger. Hence, I already sent the demon cat there. He''s an expert in trespassing my territory using sly tricks.">

    The ''demon cat?''

    "Ah," Niki said when he realized who Trevor was talking about. "You must be talking about Gin, the humanoid cat."

    ***

    DRYSTAN clicked his tongue when he arrived at Trevor Kesser''s mansion and realized how grave the situation was.

    The Ancient Devil almost seeded in stabbing Hanna Quinzel with a poisonous rose.

    He stomped his foot on the floor, then snapped his fingers to pull Hanna Quinzel away from the Ancient Devil.

    Then he stood protectively in front of the Crown Princess.

    [I''m d I decided toe here in person.]

    Drystan clicked his tongue again while giving the Ancient Devil a look of pure disapproval. "Why don''t you pick on someone your own size, you pathetic old bastard?"

    "Drystan?" the Ancient Devil looked surprised when he recognized him. "What is the King of Hell doing here?"

    "What do you think?"

    The Ancient Devilughed while crushing the blue rose in his hand. "Are you so bored that you decided toe up here and y with me?"

    "Who would want to y with an old bastard like you?"

    "Hey, we''re the same age."

    "You''re a century older than me, old man."

    "It''s just a century¨C don''t overreact."

    Drystan clicked his tongue again, annoyed that he was having a stupid small talk with the bastard. "Are you here to stop the little princess from getting revived?"

    "Are you stupid? I want nothing else in the world but to see Princess Neoma alive and kicking again."

    "Then you''re here to kill the Crown Princess?"

    "Well, I suppose killing her is one way to stop her from returning to the outside world."

    Ah.

    So, the Ancient Devil''s goal was to keep Hanna Quinzel in the Underworld.

    [I want to quickly send the Crown Princess to the outside world, but it won''t be easy since the Ancient Devil has blocked all the portals here.]

    Hence, for now¡­

    "Hanna Quinzel, I''m sorry but I can''t send you back to the pce yet," Drystan said, stomping his feet on the ground again. "For now, we have to survive while waiting for reinforcements."

    He then snapped his fingers before the Crown Princess could even respond.

    And, just like that, Hanna Quinzel disappeared.

    The Ancient Devilughed at Drystan''s futile attempt to send Hanna Quinzel somewhere else. "Is that it? You only sent the Crown Princess to the front yard."

    "Well, as long as Hanna Quinzel is away from you, she''ll be safe," Drystan said, pulling out his two white riffles that appeared out of thin air. He immediately grabbed his big guns and didn''t hesitate to fire rapidly at the Ancient Devil. "Now, let my bullets speak for me."

    ***

    "LEWIS, don''t bother!"

    Huh?

    Lewis was surprised when two "children" appeared in front of him.

    Although it had been years since hest saw the two, he would never forget them because the two used to bully him.

    [And Princess Neoma saved me from these kids.]

    "It''s me, Byron Thompson!"

    "It''s me, Harry Alberts!"

    Yes, those were the fake identities of the noble children who used to bully him when he was a kid.

    Byron Thompson and Harry Alberts were actually¡­

    "H1 and H2?" Lewis asked, confused. "Aren''t you the Helldog with two heads that Princess Neoma raised before?"

    The two children answered at the same time.

    "Yes, that''s us!"

    Lewis felt weird looking at the two children in disguise. "I see. Princess Neoma will be d that you''re still alive. But why are you here?"

    "We''re here to let you know that the King of Hell saved Princess Hanna!"

    "So, don''t worry about the Crown Princess."

    "It''s impossible," Lewis said, his voice almost a whisper. "I can never not worry about Princess Hanna."

    The two children only tilted their heads in confusion.

    "Lewis!"

    Hmm?

    Lewis looked up and was surprised when he saw Hanna falling from the sky. He automatically opened his arms in an attempt to catch her.

    [Why is there an angel in the Underworld?]

    ***

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 Chapter 878 THE ANCIENT DEVILâ€™S MESSAGE

    <h4>Chapter 878 THE ANCIENT DEVIL''S MESSAGE</h4>

    ["HANNA Quinzel, I''m sorry but I can''t send you back to the pce yet. For now, we have to survive while waiting for reinforcements."]

    That was thest thing that Hanna heard from Drystan, the King of Hell.

    The next thing she knew, she was already in a free fall.

    It was as if the King of Hell had thrown her from the top floor of the mansion, and now she was falling.

    Hanna''s eyes widened in surprise when she saw a familiar face below. "Lewis!"

    [And why are there kids here?]

    Lewis opened his eyes as if he was trying to catch her.

    [But I don''t need him to catch me¡­]

    Hanna only called Lewis because she saw the female Silver Fox sneaking up on him. But it seemed like the fox boy was too distracted to notice.

    Hence, she put the matters into her own hands.

    "Hebi," Hanna said firmly, summoning her Shadow Beast. "Get that woman."

    The seven-headed serpent appeared behind Eloise, then Hebi wrapped her tail around the female Silver Fox''s waist in an attempt to suffocate her.

    "Crush her," Hanna ordered, realizing that she was about to hit the ground. "Man."

    This time, she summoned her other Shadow Beast.

    Man was a griffin¨C a beast with the body, tail, and back legs of a lion; the head and wings of an eagle; and talons of an eagle as its front feet.

    Hanna rode on Man''s back and asked the Soul Beast to fly lower.

    That was when she noticed that Lewis was frozen on the spot.

    [What happened to him?]

    Hanna didn''t have time to worry about Lewis when she saw Eloise trying to rip Hebi''s tail apart with her bare hands.

    Right.

    [Silver Foxes are ridiculously strong like the de Moonasterios.]

    Hanna suddenly remembered how the Ancient Devil tear Nathaira apart so easily. It still broke her heart to lose her Shadow Beast like that.

    "Hebi, retreat."

    Her Shadow Beast let out a loud hiss and threw Eloise away before disappearing as quickly as it appeared earlier.

    Hanna didn''t want to admit this, but she was traumatized by what happened to Nathaira.

    [I must protect my Shadow Beasts¡­]

    Hanna touched Man''s head gently. "I want to go down, Man."

    The griffin let out a screech beforending on the ground.

    Hanna gently patted Man''s head after shended on the ground gracefully. "You may return to the Shadow Realm now, Man."

    The griffin let out a soft purr(?) before disappearing without a trace.

    [Now my Shadow Beasts are safe.]

    "Lewis, are you okay?" Hanna asked worriedly when she approached the fox boy. "It''s rare for you to get distracted in the middle of a fight."

    "I had a weird thought earlier," Lewis said, tilting his head to one side. "I think there''s something wrong with my brain. I don''t even believe in angels¡­"

    "Huh?"

    "Nothing."

    "Hanna Quinzel, how dare you?!"

    "I came back because I see that you haven''t learned your lesson yet," Hanna said coldly. "I don''t really condone violence, but I guess Neoma is right when she said people like you will only learn their ce after getting beaten to a pulp."

    Eloiseughed while getting up as if she wasn''t almost crushed to death by a giant serpent earlier. "Do you think you''ll scare me when you just lost to the Ancient Devil?"

    "Is that your best attempt to put me down?" Hanna said, chuckling. "Get real, Eloise. No matter how amazing I am at my age, I know I''m no match against the Ancient Devil who''s been here for centuries. The only person in our age group who can beat the Ancient Devil is Neoma."

    The female Silver Fox sneered. "You talk big for a loser."

    "I''m a survivor," Hanna said, shrugging. "I did well surviving after having an intense fight with the Ancient Devil. If you were in my ce, you''d be dead in a minute."

    Eloise growled at Hanna, her eyes glowing menacingly.

    "You can''t win a verbal fight against me," Hanna said, scoffing. "Sweetie, I grew up with Neoma and her foul mouth. I learned sarcasm and "trash-talking" from the best."

    "Shut up," Eloise said coldly. "I really don''t want to get serious in a fight because I don''t like my appearance when I transform. But you leave me no choice. I need to fight you seriously if I want to get Lewis Crevan."

    Hanna was about to say something, but she paused when she noticed that Lewis stood behind her as if he was trying to hide.

    Which was cute¨C uhm, ridiculous since the fox boy was much taller than her.

    [And Lewis isn''t the type to invade someone else''s personal space.]

    Hanna turned to Lewis worriedly. "What''s wrong, Lewis?"

    "Pervert," Lewis said while pointing at Eloise. "That disgusting pervert said she wants my Seed."

    "What?"

    "That disgusting pervert also asked me to put a baby in her womb."

    Asking Lewis for his Seed was already bad and disgusting enough.

    But Eloise also said something so vulgar to Lewis?

    [Unforgivable.]

    "I''m going to take that wench down. Don''t interrupt, Lewis. I''ll fight for your honor."

    Lewis'' face beamed, then he nodded.

    "Good boy," Hanna said, gently patting Lewis'' shoulder before she turned around to face Eloise. Her green eyes glowed menacingly. "I''ll make you pay for sullying an innocent boy''s ears, you dirty fox."

    ***

    "SO FUCKING loud," Neoma said while covering her ears with her hands. "Why the fuck is the throne bothering me when I''m supposed to be "dead" at the moment?"

    "The throne is talking to you?" Ruto asked worriedly. "What did it say?"

    "It''s time to start a new regime."

    "Ah. It must be time for Prince Nero to ascend the throne then."

    "Something is weird, though," Neoma said while pulling her hands away from her ears. "Why the hell is it looking for an empress?"

    Even Ruto, who seemed to know everything, looked surprised and confused. "That''s suspicious. The throne has only cared about the emperor all this time."

    "I know, right¡­"

    She trailed off, then flinched when the throne''s voice rang louder in her ears.

    This time, the words that the throne yelled were clear and firm.

    <"THE NEW EMPEROR MUST MARRY THE LAST BLACK WITCH!">

    "What the fuck?" Neoma said, shocked. "The throne wants Dahlia to be the next empress?"

    "Now that''s really shocking," Rutomented. "The de Moonasterios have hunted down the ck Witches because the ck Witches have the means to kill your n. Hence, I can''t think of a reason why the throne would want Dahlia to be the next empress. After all, the throne is being guarded by the previous emperors who are conservative in every aspect."

    "How dare the throne choose the empress for Nero," she said, and she barely controlled the anger in her voice. "Dahlia doesn''t want to be involved with Nero in this timeline. Moreover, Hanna has given up a normal and rxing life just to prepare to be the next empress."

    Most of all, Nero had already made his choice.

    [I can''t imagine how this fiasco would affect the friendship that Hanna and Dahlia barely made.]

    "It''s giving me a headache," Neomained while massaging her temples. "We also have our own issues to discuss first before we worry about other people. Ruto, what kind of deal did you make with the God of Death and the Goddess of Life?"

    Ruto looked shocked. "How did you know?"

    "Neoma unnie told me about it, but she didn''t tell me the details."

    "Oh."

    "Don''t worry, I''m not mad at you," she said calmly. "Let''s talk about thatter. I want the God of Death and the Goddess of Life to be present when we discuss this issue anyway."

    "Alright. I''ll tell you everything by then."

    "Good."

    "Neoma, is it okay if I return to the outside world to check on what''s happening? I can''t enter the next dimension anyway since I''m not a de Moonasterio.

    Of course, it was totally okay with her.

    She wasn''t the clingy type anyway.

    [Plus, just like what Ruto said, the Eternal me did inform us earlier that only I could meet my ancestors in the next stage.]

    But she decided to act like a ~babygirl~ first to tease her man.

    "You''re going to leave me here?" Neoma said, pouting. "I thought you were going to wait for me outside."

    Panic immediately crossed Ruto''s eyes. "Oh. I promise to be back before you''re done talking with your ancestors."

    She remained pouting while holding back herughter.

    "I''ll return with the Japanese food you crave," he promised, then he cupped Neoma''s face between his hands gently. "And after that, I''ll stick to you like glue until you get tired of me."

    Pfft.

    Neoma couldn''t hold back herughter this time. "Alright. You may go."

    Ruto finally smiled as if he was relieved, then he leaned down and whispered in her ear. "I''ll miss you, babe."

    Then he kissed Neoma on the cheek before he whispered sweet nothings in her ear again.

    Pfft.

    [Why is he whispering cheesy stuff¡­?]

    Wait.

    Ruto''s whispering suddenly reminded Neoma of something important that she had forgotten for a moment.

    <"Apparently, Nero went around whispering in other people''s ears.">

    Right.

    Nero gained a new ability when he supposedly overcame his Lunacy.

    And, with that new ability, he also gained a god as a "weapon"¡­

    "Larissa," Neoma said, gasping. She immediately grabbed Ruto by the shoulders and gently shook him. "Babe, Nero gained a new ability that was given by the god that he also gained back when he overcame his Lunacy. And that god is Larissa!"

    Ruto''s face hardened immediately. "I''ll go straight to the pce, Neoma."

    ***

    NOAHughed at Drystan''s futile attempt to stop him.

    The bullets from the King of Hell''s double guns weren''t bullets meant for killing.

    "These are cute," Noah said while looking at the cuffs tied around his wrists. "But is this the best that you can do, Drystan?"

    He managed to dodge most of the bullets that Drystan fired at him.

    The ones that hit his body had turned into cuffs.

    Hence, it wasn''t only his wrists.

    He had cuffs around his arms, waist, legs, and ankles.

    "I have no intention of fighting you to death. I''ll only fight until the reinforcementse," Drystan said, catching his breath. After all, the bullets that he fired at Noah were infused with his divine power. In short, the King of Hell''s divine power had depleted. "And I don''t think you''d go all out either. After all, I''m sure you wouldn''t want to identally blow up the ice coffin where Princess Neoma''s body is preserved."

    "You''re right," Noah admitted because he had no reason to hide it anyway. "But, Drystan, you know that I can get out of this eventually, don''t you?"

    "It will take you some time to get out of my cuffs."

    "Ah, so you''re buying time?"

    "I won''t let you kill Hanna Quinzel."

    Noahughed. "Want to make a bet?"

    "No."

    Of course, he ignored the King of Hell''s refusal. "I bet I can "kill" Hanna Quinzel with just a few words."

    Drystan just red at him.

    Noahughed again.

    Then, in the blink of an eye, he disappeared from his spot.

    But the cuffs tied around his entire body were heavy, hence he didn''t manage to get far. He only got onto the balcony.

    That was enough, though.

    From where Noah stood, he could see the two Silver Foxes (that were nothing but Spirits now) fighting the reanimated corpses of the Silver Foxes who died a long time ago. On the other hand, Lewis Crevan and the two young Helldogs were fighting the Crown Princess'' match.

    "Hey, Crown Princess," Noah said, calling the attention of Hanna Quinzel who was busy fighting Eloise. "Do you know why you''re not qualified to be the next empress?"

    And the words that came out of Noah''s mouth really "killed" Hanna Quinzel on the spot.

    [Ah, is she finally going to cry for me?]

    ***

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 Chapter 879 WHAT HANNA QUINZEL LACKED

    <h4>Chapter 879 WHAT HANNA QUINZEL LACKED</h4>

    NERO clicked his tongue when he realized that he was, in fact, in another dimension.

    But this time, it wasn''t only his consciousness that was summoned to the throne room¨C even his physical body was there.

    He was sitting on the throne that resembled the throne room in the real world.

    [Why am I here?]

    "Are you finally awake, Prince Nero?"

    "Who gave you the right to call me by name? It''s ''Your Imperial Highness'' to you," Nero said, scoffing at the woman who appeared before him. "Are you Larissa?"

    The silhouette of the woman that he saw earlier was standing in front of him now as if it were a real person.

    It was a middle-aged woman who looked elegant despite wearing a simple white dress.

    "Please ept myte greetings, Your Imperial Highness the Crown Prince," Larissa said, bowing politely towards Nero. "I am Larissa, the Goddess of Fertility."

    He scoffed after learning the identity of the goddess. "Ah. So you''re that person. The one who gives blessing to the married couples in the family."

    The goddess just smiled and nodded. "Your Imperial Highness, I heard you do not wish to marry the ck Witch."

    "Hanna Quinzel is the Crown Princess, and I intend to make her my empress."

    "You can''t do that, my Crown Prince."

    "Do I look like I care about your opinion?"

    Larissa smiled, but that smile looked cold. "Your Imperial Highness, Princess Hanna Quinzel cannot be the empress for she is infertile."

    To say that Nero was shocked would be an understatement. "Hanna is infertile? And how did you know that?"

    "I''m the Goddess of Fertility, my prince," the goddess reminded her. "Of course, I''d know."

    "Do you think I''ll trust your words easily?"

    "Whether you believe me or not won''t change the truth, Your Imperial Highness," the goddess said sternly. "Princess Hanna Quinzel cannot be the empress because she cannot give birth to a sessor that will continue the de Moonasterion bloodline."

    "Shut up," Nero said angrily, his red eyes glowing menacingly. "Whether it''s the truth or not, don''t you dare mention it to Hanna."

    Larissaughed softly. "It''s toote for that, my prince."

    ***

    [SHE FINALLY transformed.]

    If Hanna was a jerk, she would have attacked Eloise already while the female Silver Fox was in the middle of her transformation.

    [I''m sure Neoma would have done that, though¡­]

    Unfortunately, as a Quinzel, she couldn''t find it in herself to attack an unprepared enemy.

    [I know my pride will kill me someday, but I''m sure it''s not today.]

    Eloise soonpleted her transformation.

    The female Silver Fox had grown bigger in size.

    [She also became muscr.]

    Eloise also grew long and sharp fangs, as well as nails that almost looked like the ws of a wild beast now.

    But the most obvious change was her white tails.

    [She has five fox tails.]

    "Oh," Lewis muttered, and he sounded impressed. "Five tails. Be careful, Princess Hanna."

    "Of course," Hanna said. "But don''t worry too much, Lewis. She doesn''t have nine tails like you, so I think I''ll be fine."

    Eloise, who obviously heard what Hanna said, growled as if she was offended. "Let''s see if you can still act arrogant after I''m done with you, you undeserving Crown Princess!"

    [Ah, she''s pissing me off.]

    Eloise charged at Hanna, and Hanna noticed that the female Silver Fox was faster now.

    But that didn''t mean she would lose when it came to speed.

    [Neoma is still faster than Eloise, and I''ve sparred with Neoma many times in the past.]

    Hence, Hanna didn''t hesitate to lunge at Eloise.

    Since the female Silver Fox didn''t use a weapon, Hanna didn''t use one either.

    She just covered her fists and her entire body with her Mana and shadows. After all, she wouldn''t be able to match a Silver Fox''s strength if she didn''t cover herself with enough Mana.

    Fortunately, there were many shadows around her.

    [Argh!]

    Hanna''s thoughts were interrupted when she blocked Eloise''s punch with her arms.

    She was almost pushed back.

    If her shadow didn''t stand behind her and held her by the shoulders, the impact of Eloise'' fist connecting with her arms would have sent her flying.

    And, although her arms were covered with Mana, her arms still almost broke.

    [Eloise'' brute force is no joke.]

    "Did it hurt, Hanna Quinzel?" Eloise asked in a mocking tone while preparing for another punch. "Brace yourself because the next one will hurt more!"

    Hanna secretly hated her short height.

    After all, she was surrounded by tall people.

    However, right at that moment, she suddenly became thankful for her petite size.

    She just ducked, but she immediately disappeared from Eloise'' line of view. After all, the female Silver Fox had towered over Hanna after her transformation.

    Her sudden "disappearance" confused Eloise who punched the air after Hanna ducked.

    Of course, Hanna used that opportunity for her counterattack and punched Eloise in the stomach.

    And, yes, she infused her punch with enough Mana.

    As a result, Hanna heard Eloise'' ribs break when her knuckles connected with the side of her stomach.

    The female Silver Fox immediately coughed up blood and bent her body a bit.

    Hanna then jumped and gave Eloise a good kick in the face¨C sending the female Silver Fox flying.

    But Eloise didn''t get thrown that far away.

    Moreover, the female Silver Fox had quickly gotten up.

    Tsk.

    [She''s literally tough, and she also recovers fast.]

    Hanna, on the other hand, was trembling a bit from the impact of her attacks.

    Her arms were still swollen from blocking Eloise'' punch earlier. Moreover, she sprained her ankle when she kicked the female Silver Fox.

    [Moreover, why does my body feel heavier and heavier as moments pass by?]

    Hanna suddenly had a bad feeling about this.

    Eloise, who probably noticed that Hanna had already realized that something was strange,ughed as her golden eyes glowed menacingly. "Does your body feel heavy after hitting me again and again, Hanna Quinzel?"

    Ah.

    Hanna suddenly felt a chill down her spine.

    Eloiseughed while watching her reaction. "Does it make sense for a skeleton like you to dominate a fight with a Silver Fox?"

    The female Silver Fox was saying that she let Hanna hit her.

    And Hanna btedly realized why Eloise just let her beat her to a pulp.

    [The more I hit Eloise, the heavier my body gets!]

    "Come," Eloise said haughtily, opening her arms. "Beat me all you want, wench."

    Hanna''s green eyes glowed menacingly, irritated by the fact that the female Silver Fox was looking down on her just because she fell into her trap once. "Now that I know how your trick works, don''t even think for a second that it will work on me again¨C"

    "Hey, Crown Princess!"

    It was the annoying Ancient Devil.

    Of course, Hanna ignored the Ancient Devil. She wasn''t a fool to let herself get distracted while she was in the middle of a fight.

    Hence, she didn''t take her eyes off Eloise despite the Ancient Devil''s distraction.

    "Do you know why you''re not qualified to be the next empress?"

    Hanna flinched.

    Whether she wanted to admit it or not, she was now listening to the Ancient Devil. As a result, she found it hard to concentrate on watching Eloise'' next move.

    "Hanna Quinzel, you are infertile, that''s why."

    Huh?

    Hanna''s concentration broke instantly against her better judgment.

    She was so shocked by the Ancient Devil''s revtion that she couldn''t stop herself from looking up at the balcony to re at the Ancient Devil.

    "What nonsense are you saying?" Hanna growled at the Ancient Devil, her body trembling from anger. "And who said I''m infertile? As the Crown Princess, I''ve taken all the medical tests I needed to prove that I''m healthy enough to be in this position."

    The Ancient Devil smirked.

    Hanna waited for the Ancient Devil''s response, but she got distracted by Eloise''ugh.

    "Who told you to get distracted in the middle of a fight, Hanna Quinzel?!"

    Hanna heard Eloise'' taunting, but she didn''t bother to turn to the female Silver Fox.

    She also didn''t need to move from her spot to avoid the attack.

    After all, Lewis ran past Hanna to stop Eloise from attacking her.

    "I''m sorry I meddled in your fight, Princess Hanna," Lewis said in a calm yet obviously worried voice. "Let me fight in your stead this time."

    Hanna couldn''t give a response to Lewis.

    She couldn''t even turn to the fox boy because the Ancient Devil began talking again.

    "I don''t know the details. I''m just a messenger, after all," the Ancient Devil said cheerfully as if he found the entire thing funny. "But the diagnosis that you''re infertile came from the Goddess of Fertility herself."

    The Goddess of Fertility?

    Hanna knew that she shouldn''t trust a word that wasing from the mouth of an enemy.

    But she was shaken when the Ancient Devil mentioned the Goddess of Fertility.

    After all, even the children of the empire knew that if you wanted to have a child, you had to pray to the Goddess of Fertility. Aside from being the patron of childbirth, the Goddess of Fertility was also known to bless married couples to have a harmonious rtionship.

    "The Goddess of Fertility said you do not have the ability to carry a child in your womb," the Ancient Devil said in a taunting voice. "Hence, if you marry Prince Nero and you be the next empress, the de Moonasterion bloodline will end in the new emperor''s generation."

    Hanna''s entire body turned cold.

    She knew that she shouldn''t listen to what the Ancient Devil said. Moreover, he didn''t even bring proof that she was infertile.

    None of the medical tests that she had taken before said that she couldn''t conceive.

    Even so¡­

    The Ancient Devilughed while looking at Hanna. "Are you going to cry, Crown Princess? Oh, I can''t wait to see your tears."

    Hanna knew that she shouldn''t cry.

    Not in front of this bastard who didn''t deserve to see her tears.

    However¡­

    [I want to have a child of my own someday¡­]

    The possibility that Hanna may not be able to conceive broke her heart into pieces.

    Before she knew it, tears began to gather in the corner of her eyes.

    But before her tears rolled down her cheeks¡­

    "Lewis Crevan!" the Ancient Devil yelled angrily. "What do you think you''re doing?!"

    Hmm?

    Hanna was surprised when her vision suddenly turned dark at the exact moment her tears rolled down her cheeks.

    She btedly realized that Lewis'' covered her head with his jacket.

    "Princess Neoma taught me that there''s nothing wrong with crying," Lewis said in a cold, angry voice. "But it''s a different matter when my friends are crying because a bastard like you hurt them¨C I''ll make you pay for this, you ugly old devil."

    Hmm?

    Hanna wasn''t used to hearing Lewis curse, but it made her feel better hearing him get angry in her stead.

    Hence, her tears finally stopped falling.

    [This isn''t the time to be crying.]

    ***

    "DO YOU understand now, Prince Nero? You cannot marry Hanna Quinzel if you don''t want the de Moonasterion bloodline to end."

    "So what?" Nero snapped at Larissa. "My sessor doesn''t have to have my blood."

    "My prince!"

    "I''m not your prince, you wench," he said, scoffing. "And I can always make Neoma''s child my sessor if the de Moonasterion blood is still a requirement to take the throne."

    Larissa looked stupefied by his response. "I thought you were so overprotective of your twin sister that you wouldn''t even entertain the idea of Princess Neoma getting married¡­"

    "That was before I recovered some of my past memories rted to Neoma."

    In the memories that he had recovered, he realized that Neoma only wanted one thing back then.

    A child.

    [How can I deny that from Neoma now?]

    "I''ll probably never acknowledge Neoma''s future husband, but I can ept her child," Nero said, smirking at Larissa''s pale face. "If Neoma''s future child is as lovely as her, then I don''t mind making them my sessor¨C and I''m sure Hanna would love the idea, too. Problem solved, isn''t it?

    ***

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 Chapter 880 RESCUE TEAM

    ?

    "I SHOULD have ripped that foul mouth of yours apart, you pathetic old bastard," Drystan said angrily as he followed the Ancient Devil to the balcony. "I was curious as to what you wanted to say so I let you talk. Had I known you''d be spouting nonsense, then I would have beaten you to a pulp."

    "We both know you can''t beat me to a pulp," the Ancient Devil said, obviously in a sour mood. "This is getting boring now."

    [Ah, there it is.]

    Drystan recognized the Ancient Devil''s empty eyes even though the old bastard was using a different shell now.

    [That''s the look of someone who has already lost his purpose in life.]

    Tsk.

    "Hey, if you''re so bored out of your mind, then why don''t you just tell me how to kill you?" Drystan asked. He was dead serious. "I''ll happily put you to eternal rest. Since you''re a bastard whomitted heinous crimes, I''m sure your soul will end up under my custody."

    The Ancient Devil let out a tired sigh. "Has it never urred to you that the reason I don''t want to die is because I don''t want to spend eternity with you? I know that you''ll be the one to judge my soul once I die, and that already sounds like a chore to me."

    "Hey, I think my personality is better than Helstor."

    "And why are you suddenly bringing up the God of Eternal Darkness in this conversation?"

    "Because I know that only that horrible bastard could offer something that will pique your interest," Drystan said bluntly. "You never took sides during the war that happened in the first timeline. But, this time, you joined hands with Helstor. And we all know that the God of Eternal Darkness is supporting Callisto de Luca."

    Callisto de Luca and the crows were Princess Neoma''s enemies.

    "You''ve been quiet all this time, so why are you acting like a menace now?"

    "Well, I didn''t know before that Helstor was such a fun person to hang out with," the Ancient Devil said, grinning. "Moreover, he can help me retrieve the ability that I lost in the past timeline."

    An ability that he lost in the past?

    [This old pathetic bastard has so many outstanding abilities that even gods in the Upper World envy, so I can''t tell which one of them he''s talking about.]

    CRACK.

    Drystan''s thoughts were interrupted when he heard the sound of the cuffs around the Ancient Devil''s body breaking.

    [Ah, he got out of them faster than expected.]

    Drystan braced himself to suppress the Ancient Devil again, but he froze on the spot when the Ancient Devil snapped his fingers.

    And, just like that, the "sky" suddenly turned dark.

    Then it rained.

    The "raindrops" were Darkness made of Darkness. It wasn''t harmful, though. However¡­

    "Bastard," Drystan cursed when he saw the raindrops turning into a jelly-like substance. "You''re really dead set on trapping us here, huh?"

    ***

    HMM?

    Ruto was a bit surprised when he came out of the Eternal me''s domain and realized that Drystan had left his territory.

    "His Majesty left for the Underworld, Divine Lord."

    It was Iris, Drystan''s right-hand man.

    "Why did Drystan go to the Underworld?" Ruto asked with knitted brows. "What happened?"

    He was nervous because Neoma''s preserved body was in the Underworld.

    [Lewis and Hanna Quinzel are there, but the two are still children¡­]

    "The Ancient Devil appeared in the Underworld, Divine Lord."

    "What?"

    "But he''s not there for Princess Neoma. Apparently, the Ancient Devil''s goal is to prevent Princess Hanna from returning to the pce."

    It took him a moment to get the gist of what was happening.

    [Neoma said the throne has chosen Dahlia to be the next empress instead of Hanna Quinzel, and then the Ancient Devil showed up in the Underworld just to prevent the Crown Princess from returning to the pce?]

    Ah.

    "So, the Ancient Devil has joined hands with the crows."

    "My king suspects that the Ancient Devil joined hands with Helstor and not necessarily with the crows," Iris exined. "What are you going to do now, Divine Lord? Will you head to the Underworld to help them?"

    "I''d love to, but I only have one body. Hanna Quinzel and Lewis won''t be harmed as long as Drystan is there."

    Of course, he was also worried about Neoma''s preserved body.

    But if the Ancient Devil was only there to prevent Hanna Quinzel from returning to the pce, then he wouldn''t touch Neoma.

    [I just hope Drystan is enough to stop the Ancient Devil if thetter starts to act funny.]

    "Where are you headed, Divine Lord?" Iris asked curiously. "I thought you were going to head straight because Princess Neoma is there."

    "I have to put my faith in Drystan for now," Ruto said firmly. "I need to follow Neoma''s direct order first."

    [And that is to save Prince Nero.]

    ***

    "IT WILL take a while, Your Imperial Majesty. In the meantime, please decide who among you would go to the Underworld with me. We''ll leave as soon as I open a portal."

    Niki nodded at what Gin said.

    [Gin is the demon cat that belonged to Nichole''s group in the past.]

    Fortunately, the humanoid cat was under Duke Jasper Hawthorne''s custody at the moment. Hence, they were able to bring Gin to the pce quickly.

    "Your Imperial Majesty, please allow me to rescue my daughter."

    It was Rufus.

    Niki summoned his cousin to his office and informed him of what was going on in the Underworld.

    [Of course, he deserves to know the truth.]

    Niki, instead of replying to Rufus right away, turned to Gin who had his hands firmly pressed on the floor. "How many can you take with you?"

    "I can only crack a small opening since the Ancient Devil has sealed all the entries to the Underworld, Your Imperial Majesty," Gin said, not even looking at Niki. But it was okay since the demon cat was concentrating hard. "Hence, please make the group as small as possible. Two people is ideal, but I think I can amodate up to four people."

    "Alright. Let''s stick with a small group," Niki said, then he turned to Rufus. "Rufus and I will go."

    The demon cat didn''t respond.

    Rufus, on the other hand, gasped out loud. "Your Imperial Majesty, I appreciate the fact that you are willing to save my daughter. But as a duke of the empire, I cannot let you leave the pce when Your Imperial Majesty is the only member of the Imperial Family left in here at the moment."

    His cousin''s concern was valid.

    At least one member of the Imperial Family had to stay in the pce at all times. Even so, it wasn''t the right moment to worry about that.

    "We can''t underestimate the Ancient Devil," Niki said. "I want to personally make sure that the Ancient Devil won''t be able to harm our daughters, Rufus. Don''t forget that Neoma is also there."

    Rufus was about to say something, but they both paused because of the sudden change in the air.

    And then Commander Ruto suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

    "Your Imperial Majesty," Ruto greeted him with a bow. "Is it true that Prince Nero gained a Spirit God named ''Larissa?''"

    Niki was confused by Ruto''s random question, but he responded right away. "Yes. What about it?"

    "Then Prince Nero is in danger," Commander Ruto said bluntly. "Larissa is the Goddess of Fertility."

    "Is the goddess an enemy?"

    Commander Ruto''s face turned dark. "It''s the goddess who killed mine and Neoma''s child in the past, Your Imperial Majesty."

    [What¡­?]

    ***

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 Chapter 881 THE DEATH PENALTY

    <h4>Chapter 881 THE DEATH PENALTY</h4>

    RUTO ALREADY expected Emperor Niki to grab his cor after he revealed that he had a child with Neoma in the first timeline.

    But he didn''t expect that Duke Rufus Quinzel would also grab his cor.

    Of course, he was aware that the duke treated Neoma like she was his own daughter. However, Ruto was surprised because Duke Quinzel was never the violent type.

    "I already retrieved the memories of my past life," Duke Quinzel said in a cold tone that was unusual for him. The kind and amicable duke was gone and reced by a father who was willing tomit murder for his beloved daughter. "Did you take responsibility for Princess Neoma?"

    Ruto''s face turned red, flustered by the duke''s question. But he answered as carefully as he could because he didn''t want his head to get cut off if he said the wrong thing. "I took responsibility for Princess Neoma and our baby."

    He unconsciously called Neoma by her title.

    It was probably because he thought the emperor and the duke would punch him if he called Neoma intimately again.

    "So, did you marry my daughter?" Emperor Niki asked coldly. "You did, didn''t you?"

    "¡­"

    Ruto couldn''t answer because Commander Yoan and Princess Neoma got married in the Afterlife.

    His silence sent Emperor Niki and Duke Quinzel fuming.

    [They''re going to kill me, aren''t they?]

    Ruto had no choice but to share some of his bitter memories with Duke Quinzel and Emperor Niki.

    But, instead of using words, he touched the emperor and the duke on the forehead.

    It was a very dangerous and rude move that could have gotten him arrested under a normal situation.

    However, Emperor Niki and Duke Quinzel remained motionless¨C their eyes hazy.

    Ruto wasn''t worried, though.

    [They''re probably looking at the memories I purposely shared with them.]

    ***

    NIKOLAI was at a loss.

    He saw it.

    The bitter and painful memories that Commander Ruto shared with them.

    [What kind of nonsense was that¡­?]

    The gods ganging up on Neoma just to make her purify the Upper World¡­

    The gods tricking Neoma into extracting her baby from her womb¡­

    The gods burying Neoma in the drynd of Hell to turn her into an Aether¡­

    "Those god bastards," Niki whispered through gritted teeth. "How dare they do that to my daughter?"

    "Larissa¡­" Rufus whispered in an equally angry voice. "Commander Ruto, was that the same goddess who''s with Prince Nero at the moment?"

    Commander Ruto nodded. "Yes, Your Grace. Prince Nero doesn''t know what Larissa did to Princess Neoma in the past. Hence, I''m worried."

    Niki knew that Commander Ruto had done his best for Neoma and her child in the past.

    He knew that.

    However, he couldn''t help but feel disappointed in the youngmander.

    "You should have made sure that you''ve killed Larissa properly back then, Commander Ruto," Niki said bitterly. "I''m disappointed in how you took care of Neoma and her child in the past. You should spend this lifetime groveling to my daughter."

    Commander Ruto nodded firmly. "That''s already what I''m doing, Your Imperial Majesty."

    "You don''t deserve my daughter," Niki said while looking at Ruto disapprovingly. "I won''t ept you as my son-inw until I''ve seen you grovel enough."

    Commander Ruto only bowed his head as if he was ashamed.

    [Good.]

    "Your Imperial Majesty, now that we know the gravity of the situation, I believe we must move separately," Rufus said in a serious tone. "I''ll head to the Underworld with Gin. Your Imperial Majesty should either stay in the pce or directly go to where Prince Nero is."

    It was a tough choice.

    Niki wanted to rescue Neoma and Hanna.

    But, at the same time, he also couldn''t bear to stay away from Nero now that he knew his son was with a despicable wench pretending to be a goddess.

    [If only Mona was here¡­]

    "Your Imperial Majesty, I promise to protect both Princess Neoma and my daughter Hanna,"? Rufus promised him. "Please go and rescue the Crown Prince."

    Niki contemted for a moment.

    But, honestly, Rufus gave a valid point.

    [And I can trust Rufus with my daughter''s life.]

    "Alright," Niki said, agreeing with Rufus'' n. Then he turned to Commander Ruto. "How can we enter the throne room without Dahlia? I don''t want to force her to get involved with Nero in this lifetime, so we must find a way to enter the throne room without involving the child."

    "It''s impossible to enter the throne room if the throne has already decided to make Dahlia the key, Your Imperial Majesty," Ruto said bluntly. "Let me talk to Dahlia first."

    ***

    DAHLIA was conflicted.

    She wanted to save Prince Nero, but at the same time, she didn''t want to be involved with the Crown Prince on a personal level.

    Hence, she felt bad because she felt like she was dying things from moving forward.

    His Imperial Majesty was being patient with her. The emperor could force her to go to the throne and marry Prince Nero, but he didn''t. Moreover, His Imperial Majesty also said that he''d respect her decision.

    [I should give His Imperial Majesty an answer now.]

    "Dahlia, you''re here."

    Hmm?

    Dahlia was walking towards the door when Commander Ruto suddenly appeared, blocking her way in the process. "C-Commander Ruto."

    "Those lights¡­" Commander Rutomented while looking at the bluish lights around Dahlia. He then looked at her with a firm gaze. "It seems like the throne has really turned you into the only key that can open the throne room."

    Ah, so themander already knew what was happening.

    [He''s probably here to ask me about my decision. If it''s Commander Ruto, then I can share my thoughts with him.]

    "Commander Ruto, I do not wish to marry Prince Nero."

    "That, I''m aware."

    "However, I wish to rescue him," Dahlia said, clenching her hands tight while gathering all the courage she had. "Setting my personal feelings aside, I know for a fact that our side would lose if something bad happened to Prince Nero. I also don''t want Princess Neoma to get hurt if her twin brother suddenly¡­ disappeared."

    Commander Ruto nodded in agreement with her. "Neoma wouldn''t just get sad if something bad happened to Prince Nero¨C she''d lose it."

    That was a scary thought.

    [I know how bad it gets when Princess Neoma loses her control¡­]

    Dahlia gulped before she spoke again. "Hence, I''d like to ask you, Commander Ruto. Is there a way to save Prince Nero without marrying him?"

    "To be frank, I''m not sure."

    She was surprised to hear that from themander.

    [He has been so reliable all this time that I thought he knew everything¡­]

    But Dahlia quickly realized that it was wrong of her to expect Commander Ruto to know everything.

    Moreover, the youngmander was only human.

    [He may have the memories of the first timeline, but he''s also navigating this timeline that''s very different from the first one.]

    "All I know is you''re the key that will lead us to the throne room," Commander Ruto said. "And that the enemies have surely nted a trap for you. The throne wouldn''t demand for you to marry Prince Nero without a proper reason."

    Dahlia could only gulp again.

    [It sounds dangerous.]

    "If you choose to fulfill your role as the key, then I promise to protect you," Commander Ruto said. His voice was calm and it sounded really reliable. "I will not let the throne force you to marry Prince Nero."

    That was all she needed to hear.

    "I''ve made up my mind," Dahlia said bravely, although both her voice and body trembled a bit. "Please take care of me, Commander Ruto."

    ***

    "GRANDMA ARUNA! Grandpa Arche!" Neoma squealed happily when she saw the ancient twins as soon as she opened the oak door. "I''m here~ You must be happy to see your favorite and most beautiful descendant again~"

    Aruna de Moonasterio looked at Neoma as if she had gone crazy.

    On the other hand, Arche de Moonasterio weed Neoma with a warm smile.

    Gosh.

    [Grandma Aruna is a ck cat while Grandpa Arche is a golden retriever.]

    "It''s been a while, Neoma," Arche said with a kind smile. "Congrattions on passing the Eternal me''s final test."

    Neoma shrugged. "It was a piece of cake."

    "We all expected you to lose your mind, but you must be more mentally stable than we give you credit for," Aruna said, ruining the warm atmosphere effectively. "Even so, you''re stillte. We don''t have much time left, so we better hurry."

    Tsk.

    Aruna and Arche de Moonasterio kind of ghosted Neoma and her family after they were safely sent to Korea.

    To be honest, she had so many questions about the twins'' sudden disappearance back then.

    But there was something more urgent than that.

    "Where are the others?" Neoma curiously. "I remember Lord Yule, Emperor Nero, Empress Gwen, and even the Goddess of Life weed me when I first stepped foot in Hell."

    Of course, she was talking about this timeline.

    "They are preparing," Arche answered gently, and then he gave her a look full of pity. "You''re about to take another difficult test, my dear descendant."

    Fucking shit.

    Another bullshit test, huh?

    [Haven''t I already proved that I''m the main character of this world?]

    "You just cursed, didn''t you?" Aruna asked, clicking her tongue. "Your eyes are cursing us, kiddo."

    "No, having a resting bitch face is just my default setting, Grandma Aruna," Neoma lied with a straight face. "May I know what the test is about?"

    It was the gentle Arche who answered her question.

    "Neoma, you''re about to carry all the sins of the de Moonasterios."

    The fuck?

    [Isn''t that the death penalty then?]

    ***

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 Chapter 882 STAIRWAY TO HELL (1)

    ?

    "ARE YOU ready, dear?"

    It was Arche de Moonasterio''s question, his face and voice both expressed his concern.

    "All you have to do is climb the stairs."

    Easy peasy, right?

    [Of course not. We''re talking about a de Moonasterion test here.]

    Neoma was looking at a staircase with thirteen steps.

    At the top, a throne simr to the throne in the pce was waiting for her.

    Yule, the Moon God, was sitting on the throne.

    Emperor Primo and Empress Gwen were standing on the Moon God''s right side while the Goddess of Life stood on his left side.

    [They''re waiting for me.]

    "I have to climb and ascend the throne, huh?" Neoma asked, smirking. "So, what''s the catch? Am I going to be ambushed with each step I take?"

    Arche de Moonasterio smiled at her. "You''ll find out soon, dear."

    [I guess I''m right~]

    "As a de Moonasterio, our greatest weakness is our feeble sanity," Aruna de Moonasterio said. She was still acting like a tsundere, but Neoma could tell that her ancient grandmother was just worried about her. "Be careful, Neoma."

    [So, mind game it is.]

    "I like the number thirteen," Neoma said while counting and making sure that the steps were indeed thirteen. "It''s Taylor''s lucky number."

    But she could tell that she wouldn''t be lucky this time.

    Well, whatever.

    [Here goes nothing.]

    "Thank you for guiding me here, Grandma Aruna and Grandpa Arche. Let''s have a long conversation after I passed the test," Neoma said confidently, then she looked up and made eye contact with Yule. "Lord Yule, wait for me. You have a lot of things to exin."

    The Moon God had to exin why he wasn''t there for Neoma of the first timeline, and the Moon God also had to make Neoma understand what he had been doing all this time.

    [I won''t let the Moon God''s neglect slide this time.]

    Yule, who seemed to have received Neoma''s hostility, smiled sadly at her. "I''ll be waiting here, Nene."

    [You better.]

    Neoma walked towards the staircase to hell, then took the first step unceremoniously.

    Perhaps she had been too hasty.

    After all, she wasn''t prepared for the splitting headache that hit her as soon as she stepped foot on the first step. Then her body grew heavy. It was as if an invisible force was trying to crush her.

    [FUCKING HELL¨C IT HURTS.]

    Her knees buckled, but she quickly caught herself.

    She refused to kneel down, and her sheer stubbornness kept her standing.

    For now.

    Soon, Neoma''s head was flooded by vivid and horrific images.

    She immediately recognized the "main character" in the "movie" that was currently ying in her head.

    [Nichs de Moonasterio?]

    It was the previous emperor.

    [Aka Papa Boss'' father.]

    Also, Neoma''s biological grandfather she refused to acknowledge.

    <"Bring me all those useless Silver Foxes!">

    Neoma covered her ears with her hands when Nichs de Moonasterio''s voice rang loud in her ears.

    It was no use, of course.

    The previous emperor''s voice continued to ring loudly in her head as vivid images yed inside her mind nonstop.

    Neoma saw it.

    She saw the poor Silver Foxes being brought down to their knees in front of the emperor¨C and everyone was in a terrible state.

    The male Silver Foxes had their limbs cut off.

    The female Silver Foxes were obviously beaten up.

    The elderly and the children were barely breathing.

    Neoma''s eyes burned with tears.

    Those silver hair and golden eyes reminded her of Lewis, and she could easily picture Lewis being one of the victims even though her "son" wasn''t in the picture.

    [Ah, I feel like I''m going crazy¡­]

    To be honest, Neoma had always wondered how the Silver Foxes had been wiped out by Nichs de Moonasterio.

    Of course, she wasn''t underestimating her evil grandfather.

    [He was still a de Moonasterio, and the de Moonasterios are the strongest bloodline in the human world.]

    Even so, the Silver Fox n was also a n known for its strength.

    She didn''t have to wonder long, though.

    Soon, she noticed that the entire room was filled with strange nts that were emitting suspicious smoke.

    The more the Silver Foxes inhaled that smoke, the weaker they had be.

    [Ah, that must be the nt that is said to be the Silver Foxes'' weakness.]

    Neoma''s thoughts were interrupted when she saw Nichs de Moonasterio draw his sword and sever the head of a young Silver Fox.

    It was a little boy.

    "He''s just a child, you fucking lunatic!" Neoma screamed while clutching her head tight. She knew everything was just in her head. That every single thing that she was seeing at the moment was nothing but a painful memory. Even so, she still couldn''t stop herself from reacting violently. "You better pray we don''t meet in Hell, you fucking bastard! I''ll use all my karma points to fuck you up even more!"

    She couldn''t help it.

    Neoma saw the young Lewis in the boy that Nichs de Moonasterio had killed mercilessly, hence her violent reaction.

    Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

    She knew that the trial would test her mental health, but¡­

    [I thought I was prepared, but I guess I was just being arrogant.]

    And the craziest part?

    It was just the first step.

    [There are still twelve steps that I need to pass in order to reach the throne.]

    Ah.

    Wasn''t Nichs de Moonasterio among the worst emperors in history?

    That was when the realization hit Neoma.

    [The thirteen steps that I must climb will show me the most horrifying sins that the previous emperors hadmitted in the past¡­]

    Good fucking luck to Neoma''s sanity.

    ***

    [RAINDROPS?]

    Hanna looked up and was surprised when she realized that it was "raining."

    But the raindrops were actually made of Darkness.

    [Oh, I see. The Ancient Devil has a Darkness attribute, too. It must be the reason why Helstor managed to entice him.]

    While looking at the ck raindrops, she was reminded of what the other Neoma had said.

    <"Hanna Quinzel, are shadows the only dark matter you can gather to create THE ck Hole?">

    That was what the older Neoma had given her as a piece of advice.

    [There''s a limited supply of shadows in the Underworld, but you know what''s abundant now that the Ancient Devil is here?]

    Yes, the answer was Darkness.

    Hanna''s train of thought was cut off when she felt Lewis take a step.

    [Is he seriously going to attack the Ancient Devil?]

    Lewis took another quick step.

    [Ah, he''s serious.]

    Hanna grabbed Lewis'' arm. She was apologetic because she knew he hated physical contact, but it was an emergency. "Lewis, don''t," she said as she slowly removed the jacket that he used to cover her face earlier. "Let the adults fight."

    Lewis looked dissatisfied at first, but he nodded in the end as if he understood. "Princess Neoma will be fine, right?"

    "The Ancient Devil isn''t here for Neoma, and the King of Hell won''t let the Ancient Devily a hand on Neoma," she assured the fox boy, then she dropped his arm. "I''m sorry, but can you deal with Eloise in the meantime? There''s something I wish to try."

    "Alright," Lewis said without even pausing for a moment to think about it. "I''m assuming I can''t kill her?"

    "Yes, don''t kill her," Hanna said, nodding. "Her life is mine to take."

    Eloise, who was listening to their conversation, scoffed. "You should be grateful that I allowed you to take a breather because of the Ancient Devil''s interruption."

    Of course, Hanna just scoffed at Eloise'' "generosity."

    [That female Silver Fox didn''t stop attacking us to allow us to have a short conversation with the Ancient Devil. She just used that as an opportunity to take a break since her current form is taking a toll on her body.]

    Hanna wasn''t blind or dense.

    She could tell that Eloise was getting tired now, and the female Silver Fox had slowed down.

    [I can also see that she''s shrinking a bit.]

    But in that case, Eloise had only one choice left.

    [That wench will go all-out now before she depletes her energy.]

    "Go, Lewis," Hanna said encouragingly. "I''ll be quick with my little experiment."

    Lewis nodded politely. "As youmand, Princess Hanna."

    And then Lewis was gone from her side.

    Hanna didn''t hesitate to look up and ignore Lewis'' fight with Eloise because she knew that Lewis wouldn''t let Eloise get near her. Moreover, she noticed that the two children Lewis was talking to earlier stood in front of her.

    [These kids look familiar¡­]

    "We''ll protect you, Crown Princess!"

    "Just praise uster, okay?"

    Hannaughed softly at the children''s adorable request. "I''ll do that, of course. Thank you, little gentlemen."

    The children just grinned and gave each other a high-five.

    Hanna would love to converse with the children who felt familiar to her but, unfortunately, she was busy.

    She noticed that the ck raindrops that were made of Darkness had started to change.

    [They became jelly-like?]

    Soon, the ck jelly-like "raindrops" started to stick to each other. The more they did, the bigger they got. Then the big jellies got stacked on one another.

    It was weird to watch at first.

    But Hanna soon realized what was happening.

    The "rain" finally stopped when there were enough stacked giant jellies surrounding Trevor Kesser''s mansion.

    [Ah, it''s simr to Neoma''s Dome.]

    In short, they were trapped inside.

    [Is this a means to stop the people from the outside to get in and rescue us?]

    Hanna wouldn''t let that happen, of course.

    Those jellies¡­

    [Should I "eat" them like how Neoma consumes Darkness?]

    Hanna smiled at her own "silly" thought. "Neoma, you''re really a bad influence sometimes."

    ***

    NIKOLAI was surprised when Commander Ruto returned to his office.

    This time, the youngmander didn''te alone.

    "Dahlia," Niki greeted the ck Witch, a bit surprised. "Have you made up your mind?"

    That seemed to be the case, but he needed to confirm it first, of course.

    "That''s right, Your Imperial Majesty," Dahlia said politely, then she nervously let out a sigh before she continued talking. "I will help rescue Prince Nero from the throne room."

    Niki turned to Commander Ruto.

    He was d to hear Dahlia''s decision. But he also knew that the ck Witch wouldn''t agree to help Nero that easily.

    Hence, he questioned the youngmander with his eyes.

    [What did you promise her in return?]

    Commander Ruto, who seemed to have the question in Niki''s eyes, answered politely. "I''lle with Dahlia as her bodyguard, Your Imperial Majesty. But before that¡­"

    Niki knitted his eyebrows when he noticed that Commnader Ruto turned to Gin who was already sweating and crying blood while still trying to open a portal to the Underworld. "What will you do?"

    "I''ll punch a portal to the Underworld," Ruto said casually, raising his hand covered with sparkling electricity. "It looks like Gin needs help, after all."

    ***

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 Chapter 883 STAIRWAY TO HELL (2)

    ?

    RUTO recognized the look that Emperor Niki gave him.

    [Trantion: If you could do something like that, why didn''t you do it earlier? This is a race against time, you know?]

    "Ah. Let me exin properly first, Your Imperial Majesty," Ruto said politely, trying not to get on the emperor''s bad side again. "I''m not saying that I can open a portal out of nowhere. I''m not an omnipotent god."

    [Not anymore, at least.]

    Ruto then turned to Gin who looked like he was about to pass out at any given moment. "Gin, tell me once you find a door. It doesn''t matter if it''s blocked from the outside. I can destroy it from here."

    "Alright," Gin said, and it was clear that it was difficult for him to talk. Still, he exined the situation properly. "It seems like the Ancient Devil knew that we would try to rescue the Crown Princess from the outside. Hence, he did the doors with his Darkness. But please trust me. I''ll find a door no matter what. I just need a little more time¡­"

    They were pressed for time, but there was no need to remind the poor guy who was already doing his best to help.

    [Gin can do it since he was trained by the Ancient Devil before.]

    "Ah, so that''s what you meant," Emperor Niki said. "You cannot forcefully open a portal unless the cat finds a proper door first."

    Ruto nodded politely. "That''s correct, Your Imperial Majesty."

    The emperor fell silent for a moment before he opened his mouth. "I hate to ask, but where do you think I''m more needed, Commander Ruto? If I could be at three different ces at the same time, then I would be with Mona, Neoma, and Nero. However, I only have one body. Hence, I want to hear your opinion. I want to know where I would be most useful."

    Hmm.

    He observed the emperor at the moment.

    [It looks like His Imperial Majesty already knows where he needs to be, but he probably wanted to hear that he made the right decision.]

    "I believe the best choice would be to have Your Imperial Majesty stay in the Imperial Pce," Ruto said firmly. "Duke Quinzel and Gin are enough as reinforcements to help the King of Hell fight the Ancient Devil. The Ancient Devil''s goal is only to dy Princess Hanna''s return to the pce as much as he can. He won''t risk his life for that."

    Because the Ancient Devil would want to be in his best condition once Neoma woke up.

    He didn''t say that because he didn''t want the emperor to get distracted.

    "And, to be honest, Your Imperial Majesty won''t be able to help Prince Nero and Dahlia fight the Third Cmity. Hence, I don''t rmend going to the throne room with us."

    Emperor Niki, who was clearly offended, raised an eyebrow at him. "You sound like you know what the Third Cmity is."

    "Neoma and I fought the Third Cmity in the first timeline," he said bluntly. "Only people with Roseheart Blood have the chance to defeat it."

    By then, it was obvious that the emperor had already conceded.

    Still, His Imperial Majesty red at Ruto as if the emperor was calling him a "know-it-all" with his sharp gaze.

    [But His Imperial Majesty was the one who asked for my opinion¡­]

    Ruto felt wronged.

    Emperor Niki scoffed. "Fine. I''ll stay in the pce. But make sure to bring my son back safe and sound."

    Ruto nodded politely. "I''ll do my best, Your Imperial Majesty."

    "Commander Ruto, I found one!" Gin, who was at the other end of the emperor''s office, yelled. "But as expected, it''s locked from the inside!"

    "It''s alright," Ruto said, raising his fist covered with literal sparks while walking towards Gin. "All you have to do is punch a hole in it."

    Ginughed nervously. "My lord, you''re probably the only person beside Princess Neoma who can do something like that¡­"

    That was pretty urate.

    "Move and make a barrier," Ruto said in a hurry, causing Gin to immediately stand up and make way for him. "And Your Imperial Majesty, I apologize in advance for what will happen to your office. I''ll pay for the renovation."

    ***

    [TSK.]

    Niki clicked his tongue after Commander Ruto destroyed his office with just a single punch.

    If Gin hadn''t made a barrier, they would have been hurt by the flying sparks that exploded in the office when the youngmander''s fist hit the door. That was how huge the impact was. And it probably had the same effect on the other side.

    [He''s not the divine son of Levi for no reason, huh?]

    "It''s open," Ruto said, retrieving his hand that passed through the ck hole on the floor. "Please hurry. The door won''t be open for too long since the Ancient Devil would close it as soon as he realized that it was open."

    "Oh, I got this!" Gin said, his hands pressed against the floor once again. "I''ll keep the open door hidden so that the Ancient Devil won''t notice it for now. But please hurry. I can''t deceive the Ancient Devil''s eyes for so long."

    Niki nodded, then he turned to Rufus who had been patiently waiting behind him. "Rufus, are you sure you''ll be okay? Gin will be with you, but I don''t think we can send more reinforcements easily."

    "I''ll be fine, Your Imperial Majesty," Rufus said determinedly. "I swear on my life that I''ll protect Hanna and Princess Neoma."

    "I know you would, and I never doubted you. I''m just worried that you''ll sacrifice yourself for the children," he said, frowning. "Don''t do that. If it gets too dangerous, use the King of Hell as a shield."

    His cousinughed, probably thinking that he was just kidding.

    [I''m serious, though.]

    "Thank you for worrying about me, Your Imperial Majesty," Rufus said, smiling at Niki. "But don''t worry. I have no intention of dying."

    Hmm.

    [I can''t see the crybaby in Rufus right now.]

    That was a relief.

    "Alright," Niki said, patting Rufus'' shoulder. "You and the children must return alive¨C and that''s an order, Duke Rufus Quinzel."

    Rufus smiled, then he put a hand over his chest while bowing towards him. "As youmand, Your Imperial Majesty."

    ***

    THE THIRTEEN Madmen.

    That was what Primo liked calling the horrible emperors who ruined the de Moonasterios throughout the history.

    As the first emperor, didn''t get to rest in the Afterlife after he died.

    After all, he wasn''t human.

    He was the only son of the Moon God and the Goddess of Light.

    Yes, he was conceived while Yule and Roxana were in their human forms. But that didn''t mean the two major gods gave birth to a human.

    Primo was a full-fledged god with a shackle called a ''human body.''

    But when he died, his soul was sealed inside the throne in order to guide the future emperors.

    However, his influence had gotten weak because of Callisto de Luca''s influence.

    Hence, he was forced to watch his descendants deteriorate as time passed by.

    Of course, there were exceptional emperors who had the same vision as Primo. But the crows, who wanted to control the de Moonasterios, killed all the good men in history. Yes, including the poor Imperial Princesses.

    The good emperors were forgotten in history.

    But the Thirteen Madmen gave the de Moonasterios a bad name.

    And, at that very moment, Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio was forced to see the crimes and the sins that her ancestors had umted all this time.

    [My poor granddaughter¡­]

    "Are you worried about Nene, son?"

    "Of course, Father," Primo answered Yule politely. But he couldn''t help that his voice sounded like he was whining. After all, no matter how many centuries had passed already, he still felt like a child next to his father. "Neoma is my precious descendant. She''s the only one who can fulfill the vision that I see."

    Yuleughed at what he said. "Your vision of ending the de Moonasterion bloodline?"

    "Our bloodline has already been tainted by Callisto de Luca for a long time, Father," he said. This time, his voice sounded bitter. "They raised all the emperors born after my son''s reign. It''s better to end our bloodline before we be the next viins in human history. Does it make you sad to hear that I want to end our bloodline when you and Mother sacrificed your lives just to have me?"

    "Of course not," Yule said while shaking his head. "I understand why you want to end our bloodline, son. However, now that Nene is here to change the world, I don''t think it will be necessary to end our bloodline."

    "I don''t know about that, Father."

    "You think Nene would still let go of her name as a de Moonasterio?"

    "Neoma never liked that name in the first ce," Primo said,ughing softly. "I think she''s more attached to the ''Ramsay''st name that she invented when she was young. But don''t get me wrong, Father. Neoma may hate herst name. That doesn''t mean she hates us, though. Her hatred only extends to the bad people in the family."

    Yule, his father, smiled bitterly. "It looks like I just got on Nene''s bad side, son."

    ***

    [ARE THEY fucking crazy?]

    Neoma realized that the sins of her ancestors were too much for her poor shoulders to carry.

    In the first ce, her ancestors'' sins had nothing to do with her.

    [I''m Neoma¨C I''m innocent.]

    But that didn''t mean she wouldn''t take responsibility.

    "I know they''re already dead, but I can kill them again," Neoma said, her red eyes glowing dangerously. "Pinkie,e out."

    ''Pinkie'' would be her Pink Hellgate, of course.

    ***

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 Chapter 884 STAIRWAY TO HELL (3)

    ?

    [A HELLGATE?]

    Arunaughed when a PINK Hellgate suddenly appeared behind Neoma de Moonasterio. "That child is crazy!"

    Arche, who looked surprised by her choice of words, cleared his throat. "Please be mindful of yournguage, Princess Aruna."

    She rolled her eyes at her twin brother''s nagging. "I''m no longer a princess, Brother. Moreover, we''re nothing but mere Spirits now."

    Spirits that couldn''t rest in peace until Callisto de Luca and the crows were punished.

    "Your temper hasn''t changed, not even a bit," Arche said, sighing while shaking his head. "I''m afraid our precious descendant inherited your impatience and recklessness, my dear sister."

    "Why is it my fault that child turned out like that? Her father is Niki de Moonasterio¨C the strongest man born in our bloodline, and also the rudest. Do you remember how Niki de Moonasterio looked down on us when we asked him to take the trial when he was still a Crown Prince?"

    Every Crown Prince in history was summoned in this ce to take the trial before their ascension to the throne.

    Since Niki de Moonasterio was the sole heir, he was automatically chosen to take the test.

    But that man-child refused them in the rudest way possible.

    "Well, we can''t force anyone to take the trial if they don''t want to," Arche said, avoiding Aruna''s re. "And it''s rare to meet a de Moonasterio who isn''t arrogant or rude."

    "Right," Aruna said, nodding. "It''s rare to find a pushover like you than to find an ill-mannered princess like me."

    "Don''t talk like that about yourself, my dear sister."

    "You''re scolding me for insulting myself, but you''re not upset that I called you a pushover?"

    Archeughed softly. "My dear sister, I was called the ''most ipetent emperor in history'' for more than a century after my death. Hearing you call me a ''pushover'' is nothingpared to that. In fact, I find it cute."

    Hah.

    [He even knows how to use a strange word like ''cute'' now.]

    "You''re not a pushover. I take that back. I''m sorry," Aruna said, avoiding Arche''s smiling eyes because she was embarrassed. "Because of me, you had to endure being called the most ipetent emperor in history when it was actually me who was ipetent between the two of us. All I had was my stupid temper and physical strength."

    Arche wasn''t blessed with outstanding fighting skills. His physical strength, Mana, and divine power were all average for a de Moonasterio. But there was something that her twin brother had that stood above the rest.

    And that was his brain.

    "You''re the brightest emperor in history," Aruna said, taking the courage to look at her twin brother again. "And also the shrewdest. In fact, you''re the most ruthless scheming bastard I know."

    "Ahem. Language, please."

    Look at him pretend to be a nice person.

    [Well, Arche is kind. But not towards his enemies.]

    "It''s apliment, Brother," Aruna argued. "You were the only de Moonasterio in history that seeded in killing Callisto de Luca. It was you who destroyed that bastard''s divine body. Hence, thanks to that, Callisto de Luca has yet to find a new perfect vessel."

    Arche smiled, and it wasn''t a smile that was nice to look at.

    It was chilling.

    [There it is¨C his cold and frenzied smile that drove Callisto de Luca to insanity in the past.]

    "It was me who ruined your perfect and brilliant n," Aruna said. Even after a century had passed, she still couldn''t forgive herself for her stupidity. "It was because I was dumb and couldn''t do anything right without your guidance."

    "Aruna de Moonasterio."

    She flinched. "Yes, Brother?"

    "It wasn''t your fault."

    "A-alright."

    [Arche bes scary when he''s using that tone on me¨C the tone of an older brother scolding his stupid little sister.]

    Her twin brother was usually calm andposed.

    [He can even be a pushover sometimes.]

    But Arche''s aura would change once his twisted mind began working.

    "Come to think of it, didn''t Nero de Moonasterio receive Zeru, the ice phoenix, as his Soul Beast?"

    "That''s right, Brother. It seems like the right royal twins are born this time."

    Aruna and Arche tried to coax Niki and Nichole de Moonasterio into following their footsteps in the past.

    However, Niki and Nichole de Moonasterio had a very terrible rtionship.

    "Neoma and Nero de Moonasterio cherish each other," Arche said, smiling. And, yes, that smile was cunning. "We can use them."

    Aruna could almost hear her twin brother''s mind working overtime. "Be careful, Brother. If Neoma de Moonasterio inherited my nasty temper, then she also inherited your twisted brain. We might end up being used by the little princess and not the other way around."

    "That sounds fun."

    "Brother."

    Arche''s cunning smile only became more twisted, then he turned to Aruna and raised his hand. "Should we teach Neoma and Nero de Moonasterio our secret technique that sent Callisto de Luca insane?"

    Pfft.

    Arunaughed at the funny memory, then she ced her hand on Arche''s bigger hand. "The Soul Switching Technique?"

    ***

    A GHOST?

    Ah, no.

    [Since Nichs de Moonasterio was a monster in human skin, then his soul would have turned into an evil spirit.]

    That was Neoma''s conclusion after the spirit of Nichs de Moonasterio blocked her way.

    <"Are you ready to carry my sins with you?">

    That was what the evil spirit of Nichs de Moonasterio said to Neoma.

    Then it only meant that she was also supposed to carry the sins of the remaining twelve bastard emperors waiting for her as she continued climbing the stairway to hell.

    [Are they fucking crazy?]

    Neoma realized that the sins of her ancestors were too much for her poor shoulders to carry.

    In the first ce, her ancestors'' sins had nothing to do with her.

    [I''m Neoma¨C I''m innocent.]

    But that didn''t mean she wouldn''t take responsibility.

    "I know they''re already dead, but I can kill them again," Neoma said, her red eyes glowing dangerously. "Pinkie,e out."

    ''Pinkie'' would be her pink Hellgate, of course.

    And, with a loud thud and cold breeze that came along with it, the pink Hellgate appeared right behind her¨C causing a soft vibration in the air.

    [Oh, it really appeared even though I haven''t killed anyone yet?]

    It was probably because she was in Hell, literally.

    [Perhaps my demonic power is stronger here.]

    Then¡­

    Neoma opened her hand. "Skewer,e out."

    She then grabbed the hilt of the Death Scythe as soon as it materialized.

    "Alright, it''s judgment time," Neoma said, her eyes still glowing red. "Nichs de Moonasterio, this is the first time that we''ve seen each other, isn''t it? I never paid my respects to you, and I never will."

    To her, Nichs de Moonasterio was nothing but a monster who terrorized the people of the empire for many years.

    [And he was the one who wiped out the Silver Fox n out of greediness!]

    "I will never forgive you for your sins," Neoma said sternly, raising the Death Scythe. "And you don''t deserve a peaceful eternal sleep either."

    She shed the ghost of Nichs de Moonasterio cleanly.

    The evil spirit''s loud cry echoed in the entire ce.

    [So fucking loud.]

    Fortunately, Nichs de Moonasterio''s cries were soon swallowed by the loud creak of the pink Hellgate opening its doors.

    After that, the pink Hellgate absorbed Nichs de Moonasterio''s soul.

    [One down, twelve more to go.]

    Neoma bravely took the next step without looking back. "Let''s fucking go."

    ***

    DAHLIA was confused when Emperor Niki and Commander Ruto brought her to the throne room.

    To be precise, to the ce where the throne room was supposed to be.

    [But the door is gone¡­]

    "Don''t worry. The door to the throne room will appear now that you are here," Commander Ruto said. "Try cing your hands on the wall, Dahlia. Don''t be afraid¨C I''ll be right behind you."

    Hearing that from the dependablemander was assuring.

    "Dahlia, Commander Ruto, be careful," Emperor Niki said. His voice was formal as usual, but there was a hint of worry in it. "Again, if it gets too dangerous, then just grab Nero and leave that ce. It''s okay if you don''t beat the Third Cmity right away."

    Dahlia and the youngmander answered the emperor at the same time.

    "We understand, Your Imperial Majesty."

    Emperor Niki nodded. "I wish you a safe trip."

    That was Dahlia''s clue.

    She slowly yet carefully ced her hands on the wall. To be precise, on the part where the door should be.

    At first, nothing happened.

    But soon, the wall quickly turned into a warp¨C making her gasp in surprise.

    A strong force then pulled Dahlia until she passed through the warp, finding herself in a strange dimension.

    ***

    NERO, bored out of his mind, decided to ignore all the nonsenseing out of Larissa''s mouth.

    [I can''t believe I used this madwoman''s power.]

    He got up from the throne and looked around.

    [Since I''m in my physical body, I guess it would be difficult to get out of here.]

    If he was in his Spirit form, then it would have been easier for him to travel to another dimension.

    After all, it was his strength as a Roseheart.

    "There''s no way out, my prince," Larissa, who noticed that Nero was looking around to find an escape, warned him. "The door will only appear once the ck Witch is here."

    Nero just rolled his eyes at Larissa. "Neoma often says this certain phrase that it got stuck in my head."

    ["I''m Neoma¨C I find ways."]

    That was what his precious twin sister would often say when cornered.

    Nero smirked, deciding to mimic not only Neoma''s favorite phrase, but also her mindset. "If I can''t find my way out, then I''ll make one."

    He was ready to blow up the entire ce.

    However, he paused when he heard a scream.

    [From above me?]

    Nero looked up, then his eyes widened a bit when he saw Dahlia falling from the sky. He automatically opened his arms to catch the ck Witch, and he seeded.

    [Ah.]

    Dahlia looked relieved at first, then her face turned red as if she was suddenly put in a tight spot. "P-Prince Nero¡­"

    Nero knitted his eyebrows, confused. "Why did youe here?"

    ***

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 Chapter 885 THE RIGHTFUL EMPRESS (1)

    ?

    "WHO TOLD you toe here?" Nero growled. He wasn''t angry at Dahlia¨C he was just upset with the current situation. "I don''t need you here, Dahlia."

    Dahlia looked quite terrified of his slight outburst, but she still gathered her courage to speak up. "I-I didn''t want to be here either, Prince Nero," she said. Her voice trembled a bit, but her eyes were clear. She really didn''t want to be there. "But I''m the only one who can rescue you from this ce."

    "I don''t need your help."

    "T-then Your Imperial Highness should havee out instead of making everyone worry."

    He flinched and almost said "I would if I could," but he just shut his mouth. Because saying that would only prove that Dahlia made a valid point.

    [She got me there¡­]

    "T-They barely stopped His Imperial Majesty froming here personally to rescue Your Imperial Highness," Dahlia said, avoiding his gaze. "And don''t forget that you''re not just the emperor''s son, Prince Nero¨C you''re also the Crown Prince of the empire. The situation outside hasn''t stabilized yet. Your absence is giving our side a disadvantage."

    He couldn''t say anything because everything the ck Witch said was true.

    [Dahlia always looks scared stiff, but she has no problem speaking her mind¡­]

    "S-So let''s set aside our personal feelings. I know that the throne summoned me here to make me your empress, but that''s not going to happen," Dahlia said, then she looked at him with an annoyed look on her face. "Prince Nero, I''m not going to marry you."

    That was what Nero wanted to hear from Dahlia.

    But what was that strange throbbing in his chest?

    [Why does it hurt¡­?]

    Even so, he didn''t let his feelings get the better of him.

    "Very well. I do not wish to marry you either," Nero said, putting Dahlia down carefully. "But we''re now in the throne room, so be careful. We don''t know what kind of trap is waiting for us here."

    Dahlia''s face lit up. "Don''t worry, Prince Nero. The strongest man of our generation is here to protect us."

    Excuse me?

    [Am I not the strongest man of our generation???]

    As if on cue, the "strongest man" of their generation arrived with a grand entrance.

    Commander Ruto, for some reason, suddenly grabbed Larissa by the neck.

    Nero was quite surprised.

    [How can he touch a Spirit God so easily?]

    "Why are you still alive?" Commander Ruto growled lowly. "I already forfeited your right as a god and left you to die in the human world."

    Now Nero was confused, but hearing what the youngmander said cleared up one thing.

    [Larissa is, indeed, an enemy.]

    It wasn''t like he trusted the youngmander.

    [I just know that his enemies are Neoma''s enemies, too.]

    "That was your mistake, Yoan," Larissa said,ughing. She wasn''t even trying to remove Commander Ruto''s from her neck. "You looked down on me too much, and you underestimated the throne''s greed."

    It seemed like the goddess had hit a nerve because Commander Ruto''s eyes glowed menacingly.

    "Hey," Nero said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Why are you so mad at that woman? What did she do to you in the first timeline?"

    Since Larissa called Commander Ruto by his old name, it was easy to deduce that the two had a history in the first timeline.

    [And they clearly hate each other.]

    "Larissa, the Goddess of Fertility, led the other gods in the Upper World to bury Neoma and turn her into an Aether," Commander Ruto said in a cold voice. "And then she killed mine and Neoma''s baby."

    Nero knew it wasn''t the right time and ce.

    However, he couldn''t control his anger.

    Before he knew it, he already attacked Commander Ruto with his ice daggers.

    "Prince Nero!" Dahlia gasped in disbelief. "What do you think you''re doing to Commander Ruto?"

    "I don''t know," Nero said, scoffing. "He''s just annoying."

    ***

    [THIS LUNATIC¡­]

    There were two reasons why Ruto was forced to let go of Larissa.

    First, he felt the strange energying out of the former goddess. He didn''t know what it was, but his instinct was telling him to move away from her.

    Hence, he did.

    As soon as he stepped away from Larissa, he created a barrier to protect himself from the hundreds of ice daggers that Prince Nero threw at him.

    He knew why the Crown Prince attacked him, but it still pissed him off.

    [All of them reacted violently¡­]

    Even Lewis and Trevor Kesser attacked him after finding out that he had a child with Neoma.

    [Neoma, you are loved dearly by these dangerous men.]

    Ruto turned to Prince Nero and gave him a look of disapproval. "This isn''t really the time and ce, Prince Nero. Please put a rein on your sisterplex for now."

    Prince Nero scoffed. "You''re not funny, Commander."

    "I''m not trying to be funny, Your Imperial Highness."

    The Crown Prince''s eyes turned glowing red. "Did you take responsibility for Neoma and your child with her?"<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "I did."

    Even so, the Crown Prince didn''t really look satisfied with his response.

    [I guess he''ll never acknowledge me as Neoma''s partner¡­]

    His thoughts were interrupted when he noticed the semi-transparent long hands that were sneaking up on Dahlia.

    And he wasn''t the only one who noticed that.

    Nero quickly turned to Dahlia and grabbed her by the hand.

    But, to be honest, it didn''t look like they didn''t have to move and protect the ck Witch.

    After all, Dahlia''s Elemental Guardian appeared.

    Lapiz, a Blue Whale, appeared and whistled¨C causing a wave of "water" to swallow the semi-transparent hands that were trying to pull Dahlia away.

    As a result, the throne shook.

    After all, the hands that tried to grab Dahlia actually came from the throne.

    [Tsk.]

    Ruto clicked his tongue because he saw Larissa standing next to the throne. "The throne has never been given the right to choose the empress," he said, talking to the former goddess. "Why do you need Dahlia to be the new empress when the crows have hunted down the ck Witches in the past?"

    ***

    DAHLIA was grateful that Commander Ruto asked the question that had been weighing down on her all this time.

    [I am not fit to be the next empress.]

    Moreover, in the first timeline, no one epted him as the real empress.

    The only reason she was able to reach that position back then was because Nero was a tyrant. No one had the guts to oppose him when he chose to marry her because everyone knew how scary the emperor could be when mad.

    "The perfect de Moonasterio can only be born with the union of a de Moonasterio and a ck Witch."

    Huh?

    Dahlia wondered if she heard Larissa correctly.

    [Is that the only reason the throne chose her to be the new empress?]

    Dahlia clenched her hands tight.

    Of course, she wasn''t expecting anything because she had no interest in bing the empress again in this timeline.

    However, she was still deeply offended.

    "How dare you put a value on my ability to conceive a "perfect" de Moonasterio," Dahlia said, her chest tightening from anger. "I am not your babymaker. I will not marry Prince Nero, or anyone for that matter, with the sole purpose of giving birth to the next ruler of the empire."

    It was clear that these people didn''t see her as a person.

    [They just see me as a tool to give birth to a baby that they can control!]

    Larissa looked at Dahlia in disbelief at first, then sheughed. In a mocking tone, at that. "Of course, we''ll put a value on your ability to give us the perfect heir, Dahlia. After all, that will be your only use once you be the new empress."

    She knew she didn''t have to listen to Larissa''s harsh words, but she couldn''t help but feel hurt by them.

    "To be honest with you, Hanna Quinzel was the perfect empress. Her bloodline, background, upbringing, and talent are all outstanding," Larissa said,ughing at Dahlia. "If Hanna Quinzel isn''t infertile, there''s no way we''d choose amoner like you to be the next empress."

    Dahlia ignored the insult thrown at her because something else caught her attention. "Princess Hanna is infertile¡­?"

    But how could that happen when Hanna received all the medical tests she had to go through before she became the Crown Princess?

    [The medical tests she took never said that she was infertile¡­]

    "I would know because I''m the Goddess of Fertility."

    "Was," Commander Ruto corrected the goddess. "You no longer have the right to call yourself a god, Larissa."

    "My ability didn''t go anywhere just because I lost my divinity," Larissa argued. "I''ve been observing Hanna Quinzel ever since she became the official Crown Princess. And I''m certain that she doesn''t have the ability to conceive¨C mff!"

    It happened so fast.

    Nero, who was just standing next to Dahlia, suddenly disappeared by her side.

    The next thing she knew, the Crown Prince had already grabbed Larissa by the face.

    "Are you done speaking nonsense now?" Nero asked in a low and angry tone. "Did I not tell you that it doesn''t matter to me whether Hanna is infertile or not? I''m still going to marry her and make her my empress."

    Oh.

    That was what Dahlia wanted to happen.

    Hence, she didn''t understand the sudden pang in her chest.

    [No, I shouldn''t be hurt when this is what I wanted in the first ce¡­]

    "Too bad, my prince," Larissa said,ughing. "If you have no intention of making Dahlia your empress, then you shouldn''t have brought her here."

    Huh?

    Dahlia btedly realized that the floor that she was standing on had disappeared, and she was now falling to god knows where.

    [Nooo¡­!!!]

    ***

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 Chapter 886 THE RIGHTFUL EMPRESS (2)

    ?

    HANNA, after growing up with Neoma and Nero, realized that sometimes geniuses make the worst teachers.

    She remembered a conversation that she had with the Imperial Princess recently¡­

    <"Neoma, how do you "swallow" Darkness?">

    <"I just eat it?">

    <"Well, I know that. But how EXACTLY do you do that?">

    <"Just like how I eat normal food? I open my mouth and gulp it down?">

    <"Neoma, unfortunately, not all people are born a genius like you. We ordinary mortals don''t just open our mouths when we want to eat things other than normal food.">

    <"Hehe~">

    <"Don''t justugh there, dear sister-inw.">

    <"When I crave Darkness, I simply imagine putting them on a huge te, then I''ll make that te shrink until it''s bite-sized. Then it''s perfect to eat~">

    <"I still don''t get it, but I can see your thought process.">

    <"Are you asking because of the new technique that you''re trying to perfect?">

    <"Yes. I already asked my father and got the gist of it. But I feel like something else is missing. Hence, I''m asking you for advice.">

    <"I don''t know how to exin it because our styles are so different from each other. Let''s say we''re building furniture we bought from IK*A. I''m the type to start building the furniture as soon as I get my hands on the parts, while you''re the type to read the entire manual first before you begin.">

    <"I''m sorry, but I have no idea about what you''re saying, Neoma.">

    <"You''re too careful, Hanna. And you care so much about the rules. I know that it''s important for you to follow the steps that appa¨C I mean, Gavin Quinzel made when he created the ck Hole. But you know what? Just make your own rules and rebrand the technique to your style~">

    At that time, Hanna didn''t understand what Neoma was trying to say.

    But, at that moment, she knew exactly what to do.

    She opened her hand and created a small ball of dark energy.

    Neoma said she would imagine a te every time she wanted to eat something, but it wasn''t Hanna''s "style."

    [I just need to gather the Ancient Devil''s Darkness here.]

    It sounded easier than it actually was, of course.

    She could easily control shadows because she was a Quinzel.

    However, controlling Darkness¨C especially one summoned by another Darkness attribute user¨C was like stealing someone else''s belongings.

    Argh.

    [This is harder than I thought.]

    The Darkness surrounding the entire mansion like a semi-transparent fence was resisting hard.

    COUGH.

    Yes, Hanna just coughed up a huge chunk of blood.

    She may just be standing there, but she was using almost all the Mana just to absorb the Darkness around her. Even so, it still didn''t feel like she was doing enough.

    Ah.

    She suddenly remembered what Neoma said about putting the Darkness she wanted to eat onto a te.

    <"When I crave Darkness, I simply imagine putting them on a huge te, then I''ll make that te shrink until it''s bite-sized. Then it''s perfect to eat~">

    ''te?''

    Hanna gasped when she realized what Neoma actually meant by that.

    [Neoma, you idiot!]

    Of course, she called the Imperial Princess an ''idiot'' affectionately.

    [By ''te,'' you actually meant your Core, didn''t you? You could have just said so!]

    Or perhaps Neoma didn''t realize she was talking about her Core because she was too natural at using her power?

    That was most likely it.

    Hanna made a mental note to ~yfully~ hit Neoma on the backter, then she focused her strength on expanding her Core.

    It was a dangerous move since her heart was weak, but she had to do it.

    Instead of gathering the Darkness into the ball of shadows above her palm, she began to absorb it using her Core as the "te."

    And it worked.

    Slowly, the Darkness that surrounded them like a fence began to get absorbed by her Core.

    [I can feel my Core expanding.]

    Fortunately, her heart didn''t feel strained.

    Moreover, the ball of shadows in her also expanded the more Darkness she consumed.

    Hannaughed softly in delight. "I did it!"

    [Neoma, I owe you one.]

    ***

    HMM?

    Noah didn''t really have the motivation to kill Hanna Quinzel. He was already contented stopping her from leaving the Underworld.

    However, he was caught off guard when the Crown Princess began absorbing his Darkness.

    [What a terrifying power.]

    He wouldn''t have felt threatened if the Darkness that Hanna Quinzel absorbed was ordinary Darkness.

    [As they say, Darkness isn''t inherently evil.]

    But the Ancient Devil''s Darkness WAS.

    Hence, Hanna Quinzel absorbed Darkness that was full of malice.

    And the scariest part?

    [Hanna Quinzel unconsciously purified the malice out of my Darkness before she absorbed it in order to protect herself from getting tainted.]

    Not even Gavin Quinzel, the genius of the family, could do that.

    [If Hanna Quinzel learned how scary her true ability is, then she''ll be a problem for me.]<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    A bone in his throat, so to speak.

    "As expected," Noah said to himself, sneering. "Hanna Quinzel must die."

    He failed to hide his bloodlust this time.

    No wonder Drystan literally blocked Noah''s way.

    "Have you no shame, you pathetic old bastard?" Drystan growled at him. "You''re the Ancient Devil and yet, you''re bloodlust is directed at a child?"

    "A child who''s born as my natural enemy is no child."

    The King of Hell sneered. "What nonsense are you talking about? Even if Hanna Quinzel isn''t a minor anymore, she''s still A LOT younger than you. I can''t believe you''re threatened by a child."

    ''Threatened.''

    Yes, that was the right term.

    [Ever since I turned back time as per my contract with Yoan, my power significantly weakened. And it weakened even more when I passed my title to Trevor Kesser.]

    That was probably the cause of his concerns at the moment.

    "Are you afraid of a child, you pathetic old COWARD?"

    "Call it what you want," Noah said coldly. "It''s better to cut off a sprout before it blooms."

    He then moved and tried to jump off the balcony.

    Drystan cursed under his breath before running after him.

    But the two of them froze on the spot when a portal suddenly opened up right above Noah.

    Ah?

    [They already found a door when I made sure I''ve blocked all entries here?]

    "Rufus Quinzel," Drystan yelled when he recognized one of the men who fell from the portal. Then he pointed at the Ancient Devil. "That old bastard is the Ancient Devil, and he''s serious about killing Hanna Quinzel!"

    Noah gave Drystan a dire look. "Have you no shame? You''re the King of Hell. Why are you pushing your responsibility to a young man?"

    "I''m a team yer," Drystan said shamelessly. "I find no shame in ying with a team with younger members."

    He had a lot to say about that, but he kept his mouth shut.

    After all, Noah was attacked by Rufus Quinzel''s shadow sword right away. He grabbed the de of the sword with his hand, smirking at the duke. "Oh, you''re weaker than Hanna Quinzel. How do you n to defeat me when your daughter didn''t even leave a scratch on me?"

    "I was informed by Commander Ruto that the gentleman over there is the King of Hell, and that he''s here to protect Hanna and Princess Neoma," Rufus Quinzel answered calmly while pushing Noah with his strength and shadows. "I admit that I can''t take you down alone. However, fortunately, I''m also a good team yer."

    He sneered at the duke. "Have you no pride? Teaming up with a stranger that you just met¡­"

    "When you''re a father, your child''s safety is always more important than your pride."

    Noah lost his smile at that moment.

    It was ridiculous, but he always had aplex about hisck of affection towards other people.

    "He wouldn''t know that, Rufus Quinzel," Drystan said. "That old bastard is heartless."

    Rufus Quinzel chuckled. "I figured."

    Noah was truly annoyed at that point, but he didn''t move recklessly.

    After all, he realized that Drystan and Rufus Quinzel wouldn''t be his biggest problem.

    His eyes met a pair of a cat''s eyes.

    Noah sneered once again. "Gin, my lovely pet."

    ***

    HUH?

    Hanna, after tasting the sweet vor of victory, was distracted when the sky shook a bit.

    When she looked up, she was surprised to see a portal open up in the sky.

    Oh!

    [Our reinforcement has arrived!]

    She was already happy with that.

    Hence, she was pleasantly surprised when she saw who their support was.

    Hanna gasped, her eyes twinkling in delight. "Father!"

    She also saw her father quickly attack the Ancient Devil as soon as his feetnded on the ground.

    [Oh, no. It''s dangerous¡­]

    If she wanted to help his father fight, then she better finish her fight here first.

    Hanna looked at the current situation.

    As expected, Lewis was dominating the fight against Eloise.

    Moreover, it looked like the fox boy was trying to fight as far away as possible from her.

    [Lewis doesn''t have to worry that much about me since I have these two boys as my little guardians.]

    Hanna cleared her throat before she raised her voice. "Lewis, let''s finish this already!"

    Lewis, who just sent Eloise flying with a high kick, turned to her.

    "I''m going to deal the killing blow now!" Hanna yelled. She actually wasn''t used to raising her voice, but her adrenaline at the moment was pretty high. "But first, I want you to cut off Eloise''s tails!"

    ***

    HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our favorite psycho royal twins!

    Neoma and Nero were born on the 24th of October, Year XXX. LOLOLOL. I''ll post the coge I made for them in thement section.

    Anyway, Neoma and Nero are epting kofi donations as a birthday present because their creator is too broke to buy them cake. Haha. JK... unless... *wiggling eyebrows*

    ***

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    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 887 HANNA QUINZELâ€™S CHOICE

    <h4>Chapter 887 HANNA QUINZEL''S CHOICE</h4>

    [DAHLIA¡­!]

    Nero was distracted when he heard a loud creak as if someone was opening a heavy door, and that sound was followed by Dahlia''s loud gasp.

    He immediately turned to her, letting go of Larissa in the process.

    Much to his shock, he saw the ck Witch falling into a warp hole that appeared below her feet. And, just like that, Dahlia disappeared.

    [No!]

    "Go."

    Huh?

    Nero was surprised when Commander Ruto suddenly grabbed him by the cor. To say that he was shocked would be an understatement. "How dare you grab¨C argh!"

    He wasn''t able to finish his sentence because the damnedmander suddenly threw him.

    Yes, he was tossed as if he was just an object.

    [That impudentmander¡­!]

    Nero swallowed hisints when he fell into the warp hole where Dahlia had disappeared.

    Even so, he wouldn''t forget this disrespect.

    [I will NEVER ept you as my brother-inw, Ruto Solfrid!]

    ***

    "ARE YOU not going to follow Prince Nero and the ck Witch?"

    "I''m not a babysitter," Ruto said while watching the warp hole close. "Moreover, it''s a trial that Prince Nero has to ovee with Dahlia."

    In the first timeline, Ruto and Neoma barely overcame the Third Cmity.

    The Imperial Princess might have Roseblood in her, but she wasn''t a male Roseheart. Hence, she barelypleted the task needed to close the Cage for good.

    [Neoma and I hypothesized in the first timeline that the test was designed for a male Roseheart to take. But since Prince Nero was already gone by that time, we didn''t have the chance to test our hypothesis. But now that Prince Nero is here¡­]

    "Then are you here to kill me?"

    Ruto faced Larissa and scoffed at her question. "I''d love to, but fortunately for you, Neoma asked me to keep you alive until she returns."

    Larissa flinched.

    [That''s right, you should be very afraid since Neoma is scarier than me.]

    Neoma, before Ruto left the Eternal me''s domain, gave him an order.

    ["Don''t kill Larissa. Just make sure she won''ty a hand on Nero and the others. Keep her alive until I return from the dead."]

    That order only meant one thing.

    "Your life is for Neoma to take," Ruto said. "So be patient, Larissa. Your death wille soon¨C and it will be gruesome."

    Neoma wasn''t the type of person to be violent and cruel.

    However, Larissa was an exception.

    "Then what did youe here for, Yoan?"

    "Isn''t it obvious?" he asked back. "I''m here to destroy the throne in case Prince Nero and Dahlia fail to stop the Third Cmity."

    Larissaughed in a mocking tone. "Then my little ones should keep youpany, Divine Lord."

    He was ready to fight.

    But he must admit that he wasn''t ready to be faced with young de Moonasterios.

    To be precise, de Moonasterion princesses were probably aged five to twelve.

    "The de Moonasterion princesses who died an untimely death because of Callisto de Luca and the crows," Larissa said proudly. "Can you handle these poor souls, Yoan?"

    Pfft.

    "What a ridiculous question," Ruto said,ughing while shaking his head. "I''m not Neoma¨C I don''t have a soft spot for children who are supposed to be resting in peace by now."

    ***

    HANNA noticed that Lewis'' movements had slowed down a bit.

    [It''s probably because he kept hitting Eloise.]

    But it didn''t matter because she was the one who was going to end the female Silver Fox''s life.

    Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard Eloise'' scream.

    The next thing she knew, she was already watching Lewis pull the female Silver Fox''s tails one by one while Eloise was t-faced in the ground.

    And, yes, Lewis was stepping on Eloise''s back.

    Hence, the female Silver Fox couldn''t get up.

    [Very good, Lewis.]

    "Stop it!" Eloise screamed, obviously in pain. "How can you still move after beating me to a pulp?!"

    Hanna thought it was a good question.

    After all, she was barely able to move after she hit Eloise a few times.

    "I''m also a Silver Fox," Lewis said casually while pulling out Eloise''st tail. "And I''ve been trained by the strongest person of our generation."

    Of course, that would be Neoma.

    "It''s true that my body feels heavy now," Lewis continued. "But this is nothingpared to how my body feels after getting beaten up by Princess Neoma during a sparring."

    Right.

    Even an average Mana user would die from exhaustion after sparring with Neoma.

    [Nothing can beat the de Moonasterios when ites to physical strength, after all.]

    "Your ability won''t work on me," Lewis said, stepping away from Eloise after collecting all her tails. "Goodbye."

    Hanna took it as a sign to attack. Hence, she threw the new and improved ck Hole that she gathered at Eloise unceremoniously. Since the target was down already, the female Silver Fox didn''t get the chance to move from her spot.

    To be honest, she didn''t know how the new ck Hole worked.

    So, she was also surprised by what happened next.

    Hanna''s eyes widened in shock when the small ck Hole suddenly absorbed Eloise while the female Silver Fox tried to run away.

    And, just like that, Eloise disappeared without a trace.

    [This effect¡­!]

    After that, the little ck Hole began absorbing the reanimated corpses of the dead Silver Foxes that Eloise brought with her.

    Hmm?

    Hanna was surprised when she noticed that the ck Hole was only absorbing all the enemies.

    But now?

    [Can the ck Hole understand my feelings?]

    ***

    "GIN, my lovely pet."

    Eww.

    Gin rolled his eyes at what the Ancient Devil called him. "That was ages ago, my lord. I''m a stray cat now."

    It was true.

    He served Nichole de Moonasterio after leaving Aruna de Moonasterio''s side.

    [And I left the Ancient Devil''s nest before I served Princess Aruna.]

    But now, he was a free man.

    [Though I hang out with Duke Hawthorne a lot these days.]

    "You''re supposed to serve the new Devil," the Ancient Devil reminded him. "Do you even know that Trevor Kesser has that title now?"

    "I know," Gin said, shrugging. "But Trevor Kesser is acting like Princess Neoma''sp dog instead of the Devil. I don''t have to serve a person who doesn''t fulfill his duties properly, do I?"

    To be fair, he didn''t care if Trevor Kesser wasn''t doing his job in maintaining the Underworld.

    After all, he wanted to live in the human world now.

    [It''s more fun up there~]

    Watching Duke Hawthorne and Duckie bicker every day was particrly fun.

    "If you don''t have ns to serve Trevor Kesser, thene and serve me again," the Ancient Devil said, reaching his hand out to him. "Your ability is interesting, after all."

    The Ancient Devil was talking about Gin''s ability to bring out one''s worst fear.

    Heh.

    That ability was already proven to be useless to someone like Princess Neoma.

    "Thank you for your interest in me, but I must decline," Gin said, staying away from the Ancient Devil. "I''m not here to fight either, so goodbye."

    The Ancient Devil tried to grab Gin.

    But Rufus Quinzel and the King of Hell both stopped the Ancient Devil.

    [Thank you, gentlemen.]

    Gin was able to walk away unscathed.

    [Now it''s time to fulfill my job as per Commander Ruto''s order.]

    ***

    "YOU DID it, Princess Hanna."

    To be honest, Hanna was still in disbelief.

    Eloise and the reanimated corpses were absorbed by the ck Hole that she created.

    Once the ck Hole''s job was done, it disappeared.

    [But I can feel it in my Core.]

    "I did," Hanna said, smiling. "I can''t believe I did it."

    Lewis didn''t say anything, but the smile in his eyes was enough to let Hanna know that he was happy for her.

    "We hate to interrupt this moment, but it''s time for us to say goodbye."

    Hanna and Lewis turned to Queen Lisica and Lord Rustin at the same time.

    [Oh.]

    Queen Lisica and Lord Rustin had both turned translucent already.

    "The energy that we borrowed to get here was already depleted, so it''s time for us to go back," Lord Rustin exined. "Please keep safe, children."

    "Say ''hi'' to Princess Neoma for us," Queen Lisica said, then she red at Lewis yfully. "Lewis Crevan, don''t forget to honor the Silver Fox n once you made a name for yourself, alright?"

    Lewis just sighed.

    Hanna, on the other hand, nodded politely towards Queen Lisica and Lord Rustin. "Thank you for your help, Queen Lisica and Lord Rustin."

    The two just waved at them until they disappeared.

    But before that, they heard the ~vulgar~ words that Queen Lisica said to Lord Rustin.

    <"Hey, let''s fuck as soon as we get home!>

    Hanna''s face turned red after hearing what the queen said.

    [Her Majesty is really¡­ never mind.]

    Hanna nced at Lewis and, judging by his red ears, it seemed like he also thought Queen Lisica''s vulgar words were too much.

    [And he''s probably ashamed of his ancestors.]

    "Greetings, Princess Hanna~"

    Hmm?

    Hanna was quite surprised to see Gin, in his human form, approach her. "Shouldn''t you be fighting with the Ancient Devil? I''m not underestimating my father and the King of Hell. But I can''t confidently say that all of us here are enough to take down the Ancient Devil."

    "Ah, it''s not my job to stop the Ancient Devil," Gin said casually. "I received a different order from Commander Ruto. He''s not my boss, but he scares me to death so I have no choice but to follow his order."

    That made Hanna nervous. "What did Commander Ruto ask you to do?"

    "Commander Ruto gave you two options, Princess Hanna," Gin said in a serious tone. "It''s either I''ll bring you back to the pce or to the throne room."

    Her heart suddenly beat fast and hard against her chest.

    The throne room that Gin mentioned wasn''t the throne room in the pce.

    [He''s talking about the throne room where Nero is.]

    "Commander Ruto brought Miss Dahlia to the throne room that swallowed Prince Nero," Gin exined further. "Commander Ruto is giving you the choice to follow them or not, Princess Hanna."

    Oh.

    She felt a pang in her chest after hearing that Dahlia went to the throne room.

    [So, in the end, Dahlia chose to¡­]

    "It''s not like that, Princess Hanna," Gin said as if he could read her mind. "Commander Ruto doesn''t want you to misunderstand, so he told me to exin to you that Miss Dahlia didn''t follow Prince Nero to marry him. Miss Dahlia is the only key that can open the throne room. Hence, Commander Ruto volunteered to be Miss Dahlia''s personal bodyguard while they rescue Prince Nero."

    Haaah.

    She was relieved to know that Dahlia didn''t betray her.

    To be honest, she really wanted to go.

    But the situation here¡­

    "Go," Lewis encouraged Hanna when their eyes met. "I''ll fight with Duke Quinzel and make sure your father wille out of here alive."

    "I want you toe out alive, too, Lewis."

    "That goes without saying, Princess Hanna," Lewis said calmly. "I can''t die before Princess Neoma."

    That response made her smile.

    "Alright. I understand. See youter, Lewis," Hanna said. When she only received a polite nod from Lewis, she faced Gin again. "Please bring me to the throne room, Gin."

    ***

    [ARGH.]

    Nero didn''t fall to the ground and break his bones because Zeru appeared and caught him.

    Even so, the atmosphere in that ce was crushing him down.

    [Just what kind of ce is this¡­?]

    It was a vast "empty" field.

    However, he could tell that there were many eyes watching him at the moment.

    "P-Prince Nero?"

    [Ah, she''s there.]

    Nero was relieved to see Dahlia safe and unscathed.

    The ck Witch was sitting on the back of the Blue Whale that served as her Elemental Guardian.

    [It''s good to know that we can use our power here without a problem.]

    "Are you alright, Miss Dahlia?"

    Dahlia''s face turned white while looking past Nero''s shoulder. "P-Prince Nero¡­?"

    What?

    Nero looked over his shoulder and, much to his surprise, he saw a person who slightly looked like him.

    Only the other person had pink hair.

    For some reason, he could tell right away who that was.

    Nero knitted his eyebrows. "Nero Roseheart?"

    ***

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 Chapter 888 THE ONLY MALE ROSEHEART ALIVE

    888 THE ONLY MALE ROSEHEART ALIVE

    <nulli>[MY ANGER MANAGEMENT issue is acting up.]

    Neoma was already in the sixth step of the Stairway to Hell.

    And, by now, she could say that she had seen the real hell on earth.

    It seemed like the most heinous crimes in the world had beenmitted by her ancestors. She was able to stomach everything that she had seen so far.

    But the sixth step almost made her snap.

    It was because children were involved.

    The fucking emperor that owned that step was a fucking pedophile who enjoyed torturing and making children bleed before he sexually abused them.

    FUCK THIS SHIT.

    Neoma clutched her head tight, trying to stop her Lunacy froming out.

    If she lost her mind here, she might destroy the world again.

    <nulli>[I can''t die a virgin again in this lifetime, so calm the fuck down, Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio.]

    Herme joke to distract herself almost worked.

    Almost.

    <nulli><"Thug princess, I can''t take it anymore.">

    It was Tteokbokki.

    She knew this would happen, so she actually tried to make her Soul Beast sleep.

    But, perhaps, her uncontroble anger woke Tteokbokki up.

    "Go back to sleep, Tteokbokki."

    Neoma was sober now.

    If she failed to control her anger, she was afraid that it might trigger Crimson toe out.

    The God of Wrath, who was Tteokbokki''s alter ego, was not someone she could deal with at the moment when she was on the verge of snapping.

    <nulli>[In the first timeline, Crimson yed a huge part in worsening my Lunacy.]

    "I''ll deal with this," Neoma said, calm this time. "I''m sober now, so go back to sleep."

    She may always bicker with Tteokbokki and call him a ketchup-colored donkey from time to time, but she earnestly thought of her Soul Beast as her younger brother.

    Hence, she wanted to protect him even though it should be the other way around.

    <nulli><"How do you expect me to sleep in this situation?! I''m so angry that I feel like I''m going to die if I don''t break something! Let me out, thug princess!">

    Right.

    She knew Tteokbokki would react this way, so she sealed him inside her soul.

    "No can do," Neoma said firmly. "Let your big sister handle this."

    <nulli><"Thug princess!">

    She was about to scold Tteokbokki when, all of a sudden, she felt something strange in her heart.

    Well, she currently didn''t have her physical body.

    <nulli>[But it is what it is.]

    "My Roseheart Blood," Neoma said, clutching her chest. "Why is it acting like it''s gonna make my heart burst? So freaking annoying."

    But she remembered that her Roseheart Blood came from her Mama Boss.

    "Ah, I take it back. I''m sorry. My Roseheart Blood is awesome."

    <nulli><"What are you saying, thug princess?"> Tteokbokkiined again. <nulli><"Are you ignoring me?">

    "The strong protect the weak, my child," Neoma said, taking another step. "If you hate being protected by me that much, then be stronger than me."

    <nullb>***

    MONA clutched her chest tight.

    The Roseheart Blood in her was giving her bad palpitations. She felt like her heart would burst at any moment.

    And she wasn''t the only person who felt that way.

    "Did you feel it, too?" Mona asked William who clutched his chest at the same time that she did. "Our Roseheart Blood¡­"

    "It''s the same feeling I got when we were in the Cage."

    The ''Cage'' was the ce where the Soul Beasts were imprisoned. It was hidden under the throne.

    But, of course, it wasn''t physically there.

    The Royal Treasury was also under the throne, and you wouldn''t find the Cage there since it didn''t have a physical form.

    One could only ess the Cage in two different ways.

    The easiest way was to bring someone with a Roseheart Blood and use them as a key.

    And the second way was to¡­ well, force it open.

    It wasn''t easy, though.

    <nulli>[You have to be on Niki''s level to be able to force the door open with your bare hands, and there are only a few people who are on par with Niki when ites to physical strength.]

    "Nero is probably in the Cage now," William said. "Finally. A male Roseheart."

    "We failed to free the Soul Beasts in the past because I didn''t meet the requirements to finish the task," Mona said, her voice sounding bitter. After all, their failed mission cost them Juliet''s life. "But perhaps, Nero is the answer."

    "Of course," the Grand Spirit said proudly. "Nero is the first male Roseheart born after almost two centuries. He''s bound to be special."

    "You sound proud of Nero. Where is that energy when ites to Neoma?"

    "You''re talking strange, Mona."

    Ah, it must be because she lived in Korea for five years.

    <nulli>[I picked up the way Neoma and Trevor talk since those two children both talk a lot¡­]

    "Neoma is more of a de Moonasterio than a Roseheart, and she reminds me so much of Niki de Moonasterio," William said, scoffing. "You don''t expect me to get fond of your daughter when she takes after her father, do you?"

    So, William didn''t hate Neoma.

    <nulli>[He just sees Niki in my daughter.]

    That made Mona smile. "Right? Neoma and Niki look more and more simr each passing day."

    "Is that supposed to be a good thing? Niki de Moonasterio was the nightmare of his generation."

    "He''s the strongest of his generation, not the nightmare. And Neoma is following in her father''s footsteps. It''s supposed to be a good thing."

    "Neoma is now the strongest of her generation, I admit that," William said, nodding. "But I will always be on Nero''s side."

    "Because my son is a rare male Roseheart?"

    "Yes. He''s the savior that we''re all waiting for."

    Mona smiled and nodded in agreement. "I really hope Nero seeds in freeing the Soul Beasts."

    "Nero can do it for sure," William said, smiling. "As I said before, Nero is the Roseheart that will bring back our family''s former glory¨C and he shall start by saving the Soul Beasts stuck imprisoned in the Cage."

    <nullb>***

    "WHY DO I need to save the Soul Beasts here?" Nero asked indifferently. "They have nothing to do with me."

    That was his response to Nero Roseheart''s question earlier.

    <nulli><"Are you here to free the Soul Beasts?">

    When Nero Roseheart asked that, only then did Nero realize that he was in the ''Cage'' that her father and mother mentioned before.

    <nulli>[This is the ce where the Soul Beasts are imprisoned.]

    Then the eyes that he could feel on him probably belonged to the Soul Beasts hiding themselves.

    <nulli>[Hmm¡­ interesting.]

    <nulli><"This can''t be right. The Rosehearts are programmed to feel the urge to save the Soul Beasts. If you don''t have any intention of doing that, then why did youe here?">

    "Do you think I came here on my own volition?" Nero asked, scoffing. "And stop talking to me using that mask. Do you expect me to feel empathetic to you just because you''re wearing that face, huh?"

    "Huh?" Dahlia reacted, obviously surprised by what his revtion was. "He''s not Nero Roseheart, the first Holy Knight?"

    "That thing is a Soul Beast¨C a Soul Beast that can wear human skin."

    "Oh, I can''t tell¡­"

    "It''s alright," he said. He didn''t know why he felt the need to console Dahlia, but he couldn''t stand seeing her disappointed in herself. "You''re not familiar with Soul Beasts. Moreover, it''s something that only someone with either Roseheart Blood or a de Moonasterion soul could notice anyway."

    After all, the Soul Beasts were created using the male Rosehearts killed in the past.

    Ever since then, every de Moonasterion born in history was given a Soul Beast or two.

    There were instances where a de Moonasterio was born with more than two Soul Beasts¨C just like his father.

    [And there are also instances where a de Moonasterion was born with a dead Soul Beast.]

    That was the case with Neoma of the first timeline.

    <nulli>[Calyx was also born without a Soul Beast.]

    "You know that I''m a Soul Beast, and yet you have the audacity to say that you''re not here to save us?"

    Oh, would you look at that?

    "Nero Roseheart" was talking like a normal person now.

    <nulli>[He talks like he''s being possessed earlier.]

    Nero couldn''t help butugh¨C in a mocking tone, of course. "Why would I save someone who has every intention to kill me? Do you think I wouldn''t notice your bloodlust?"

    The Soul Beast flinched, and didn''t deny it.

    "I know why you hate me," Nero said, his smile disappearing as quickly as it appeared since he was already starting to get bored. "It''s because I''m a de Moonasterio, isn''t it? The de Moonasterios of the past were the ones responsible of killing the male Rosehearts and turning them into Soul Beasts."

    "How can you speak so lightly of our history?! You may be a de Moonasterio, but you also have Roseheart Blood in you! Don''t you feel anything for us?!"

    "Yes, I don''t," Nero said bluntly. "I don''t feel attached to strangers."

    "Strangers?! We are your ancestors."

    "Dead ancestors, yes," Nero said indifferently. "But if you want, I can free you and pretend that I care. It will look good on my records as the next emperor."

    The Soul Beast was rendered speechless.

    <nulli>[And he looks very angry.]

    "Prince Nero, how can you be so cruel?" Dahlia asked in disbelief. "You should feel remorseful towards the Soul Beasts. The de Moonasterios have killed so many male Rosehearts just to satisfy their greed¨C"

    "I did not kill them, did I?" Nero asked coldly, cutting off Dahlia''s nagging. "I won''t take responsibility for a crime I did notmit¨C and that''s my stance as the only male Roseheart alive in the world."

 Chapter 889 HEARTLESS PROPOSITION

    889 HEARTLESS PROPOSITION

    LARISSA had always known that Yoan was ruthless.

    But she was still shocked at how cold-hearted he could be when Princess Neoma wasn''t looking.

    Yoan killed the spirits of the de Moonasterion princesses easily, without an ounce of emotion on his face.

    It particrly looked more brutal because he was using his ancient bow.

    Hence, it looked like Yoan was only hunting birds judging by the nk look on his face. Heck, he even looked bored "hunting."

    <nulli>[I thought he would hesitate a bit because Princess Neoma has a soft spot for children. Moreover, he knows the history of the young de Moonasterion princesses born in history. How can he kill them so easily?]

    Granted that those de Moonasterion princesses were nothing but Spirits now, Larissa was still in belief that Yoan didn''t hesitate to get rid of the children for good.

    "Does Princess Neoma know how heartless you can be, Yoan?"

    "Of course, she knows. I can''t hide things from her even if I want to," Yoan said indifferently, hitting more young princesses with his lightning arrows. "And stop calling me by my dead name. I go by ''Ruto'' now."

    "I''ll call you by any name I want," Larissa said stubbornly. "Are you not going to ask me how I ended up stuck in this ce?"

    "I''m not really interested," he said nonchntly. "But Neoma might be interested, so I''ll make sure you''ll talk once she gets here."

    Haaah.

    <nulli>[This child hasn''t changed a bit.]

    People often thought Yoan was a good son.

    That he sacrificed Princess Neoma for the sake of the world in the first timeline.

    But Larissa knew the truth.

    <nulli>[It''s not like Yoan loved the world more than he loved Princess Neoma. He just followed Princess Neoma''s will to die by his hands.]

    "I''m curious about one thing, though."

    Larissa raised an eyebrow when Ruto initiated a conversation after he was done getting rid of the Spirits of the young de Moonasterion princesses that she summoned. "Since we''re both buying time here, I''ll humor you. What is it that you want to know?"

    "I don''t believe that Hanna Quinzel is infertile," Yoan said bluntly. "The pce people had conducted several medical check-ups on Hanna Quinzel to make sure that she''s healthy enough to give birth to the Crown Prince''s sessor. That test is led by the Royal Archmage herself. If Hanna Quinzel was really infertile, then why didn''t the Royal Archmage find out?"

    "Do you think the Royal Archmage faked the result?"

    "No, I don''t think so," he said, shaking his head. "The Royal Archmage has no intention to do that. Moreover, she made a vow when His Imperial Majesty made her the leader of the Royal Tower. She''d die if she harmed the members of the Imperial Family in any way."

    Larissaughed and nodded. "You''re right. The Royal Archmage didn''t fake the result. The fact that Hanna Quinzel was infertile simply couldn''t be diagnosed with ordinary medical ways."

    "And why exactly is that the case?"

    She pondered for a bit if she should tell Yoan the truth.

    After all, she knew that the child would tell Princess Neoma about their conversation. Hence, Hanna Quinzel would find out the truth about her situation.

    <nulli>[But even if Hanna Quinzel knows the truth, it won''t change a thing.]

    Hence, Larissa decided to open her mouth. "When I said Hanna Quinzel was infertile, I meant she couldn''t conceive a child with Prince Nero¨C only with Prince Nero, though. If she marries another man, then it wouldn''t have a problem in getting pregnant."

    Yoan knitted his eyebrows, confused. "Emperor Niki''s mother was a Quinzel, so I reckon there''s nothing wrong with thepatibility rate of a Quinzel and a de Moonasterio. Then¡­ is Prince Nero''s Roseheart Blood the problem?"

    As expected of the Divine Lord, he was smart and quick-witted.

    "That''s right¨C the problem lies with Prince Nero''s Roseheart Blood," Larissa exined. "Mona Roseheart and Niki de Moonasterio were able to conceive children because a de Moonasterio has the purest divine power out of all the ns in the world. Hence, Mona Roseheart''s blood didn''t reject the current emperor''s divine power. But the Quinzels have Darkness attribute. Am I wrong?"

    She could hear Yoan''s brain working overtime.

    "So, are you saying that Hanna Quinzel''s Darkness attribute would collide with Prince Nero''s Roseheart Blood? Is that the reason why they wouldn''t be able to conceive a child?"

    "You''re not wrong, but there''s a moreplicated matter behind that," Larissa said, smiling while stepping back. "Unfortunately for you, the new host to entertain you has arrived."

    Yoan, who felt the hostility of the new "host," suddenly jumped backwards¨C creating a huge distance between them.

    And it was a smart move.

    After all, if Yoan didn''t move from his spot, the guest would have reached for his heart already.

    "You''re as elusive as ever, you Levi''s damned son."

    Yoan scowled after recognizing the enemy in front of him. "Callisto de Luca."

    Larissa smiled when her "savior" finally appeared. "Now let''s get along with each other, shall we?"

    <nullb>***

    NERO WAS d that it was he who got summoned there and not Neoma.

    <nulli>[If Neoma was here, she wouldn''t hesitate to take responsibility for the sins that our ancestors havemitted.]

    It wasn''t like he didn''t feel bad for the Rosehearts.

    <nulli>[But why do I have to die to pay for my ancestors'' sins?]

    "As expected of someone who also carries the blood of a de Moonasterio in him," Nero Roseheart said, his voice full of resentment. "You''re a cold-blooded beast just like your ancestors."

    "Sure, I''m heartless," Nero said indifferently. "But let me ask you one thing, you fake. What kind of freedom do you want to achieve?"

    "What kind of question is that?" the Soul Beast growled at him. "Of course, we want to get out of here and stop getting reborn again and again just to be your bloodline''s weapons!"

    Hmm.

    Wasn''t that exactly what his parents tried to do in the past?

    <nulli>[But why did they fail?]

    Something was off here.

    "Is it truly freedom that you seek and not revenge? If you kill me, my twin sister, and my father, then our bloodline will truly end."

    Nero Roseheart''s fake looked confused by his question.

    Even Dahlia turned to Nero with a confused look on her face. "Prince Nero, what are you trying to achieve by provoking him?"

    "I''m not provoking him¨C I''m giving him a hint," Nero said, giving the fake Nero Roseheart a bored look. "Hey, do you want to get out of here by bing my new Soul Beast? You and all the Soul Beasts here."

    <nullb>***

 Chapter 890 [BONUS CHAPTER]: TTEOKBOKKIS FIRST BIRTHDAY PARTY

    Chapter 890 [BONUS CHAPTER]: TTEOKBOKKI''S FIRST BIRTHDAY PARTY

    "WHAT''S the big deal with birthday parties?"

    Neoma opened her tired eyes.

    When she saw Tteokbokki, in his baby dragon form, floating above her, she just closed her eyes again.

    "Not now, Tteokbokki," Neoma said, then she closed her eyes. "I''m tired."

    She partied all night, after all.

    Lewis came home yesterday. He took a break from training as a White Lion Knight candidate to celebrate their 7th birthday together. As usual, she organized a private banquet with her closest friends.

    Her Papa Boss wasn''t invited again. After all, she didn''t want her friends to be awkward around her father.

    "A birthday is just the day you were born," Tteokbokki continued with his tirades. "Why do you need to celebrate it every year?"

    [Why is he sulking?]

    She was getting annoyed when, all of a sudden, a thought crossed her mind.

    [Wait¡­ I haven''t celebrated Tteokbokki''s birthday yet! But when is his birthday?]

    She was taught that a Soul Beast was born the same day as their master. So, they had the same birthday?

    [And I''ve been celebrating my birthday on my own all these years¡­]

    Now she felt guilty.

    [I''m actually nning another party since I want to teach the people here about the concept of Halloween. But maybe I should just make October 31st as Tteokbokki''s birthday?]

    "Tteokbokki," she said, then she opened her eyes. "Did I make you feel lonely?"

    "Huh?!"

    It was scary how an adorable baby dragon could make a face that would scare a thug.

    [Gosh, where did he learn to make that kind of face?]

    "Don''t worry, Tteokbokki," Neoma said, then she gave him a thumbs up. "I''ll give you the best party ever."

    Now Tteokbokki looked confused. "A party?"

    ***

    "I ASKED, but they refused."

    Neoma was shocked when he heard what her father said. "Your Soul Beasts refused to celebrate my Soul Beast''s birthday with us, Papa Boss?"

    She was nning a surprise birthday party for Tteokbokki.

    And since he was a Soul Beast, she thought it would be good for him to celebrate with his fellow Soul Beasts.

    [But my request was denied¡­]

    "Is this discrimination?" she asked, gasping. "Papa Boss, is this your Soul Beasts'' way of bullying my Soul Beast to assert dominance?"

    Her father gave her a dire look. "You''re the only one who bullies your Soul Beast here."

    "I''m not bullying Tteokbokki," she said defensively. "We just have a normal sibling rtionship."

    Yes, her sibling rtionship with Nero was the strange one.

    [I me it on Nero. I mean, it''s not normal to be obsessed with your twin, right? The rtionship I have with Tteokbokki looks more natural than the one I have with my brother.]

    "My Soul Beasts simply refuse to leave my side for trivial reasons," her Papa Boss said, then he sipped his tea. "They don''t care about your Soul Beast enough for them to "bully" him."

    She clicked her tongue. "Fine, then Papa Boss, I formally invite you to Tteokbokki''s party."

    "Excuse me?"

    She sipped her tea before she responded. "If Papa Boss attends the party, then your Soul Beasts wille, right? Problem solved."

    Her Papa Boss looked shocked. "What kind of solution is that?

    Neoma smirked smugly. "It''s called ''Neoma-gets-what-she-wants'' solution, Papa Boss."

    ***

    NEOMA stared at the pumpkin in her hands.

    "Why are you staring at that pumpkin like that?" her Papa Boss asked. "Are you picking up fights with inanimate objects now?"

    "I want to carve this pumpkin for Tteokbokki, but I just realized that I don''t know how to make one, Papa Boss," Neoma said, still looking at the pumpkin quite intensely. "I thought I could do it because I''m good at using a knife. But I already murdered a few pumpkins¡­"

    Her Papa Boss eyed the "murdered" pumpkins under the table. "Yes, I can tell," he said, then he gave her a suspicious look. "But what are you trying to carve?"

    "A donkey that looks like a monster."

    "A what?"

    "A donkey that looks like a monster," she repeated. "Gosh, Papa Boss. Are you hard of hearing now? Should I schedule you a check-up with the Healing Sage?"

    Her father red at her, as expected. "There''s no need for that. I heard you just fine. I''m just wondering why you need to carve a donkey on these perfectly fine pumpkins. What are you trying to do this time, Neoma?"

    "I''m going to host a Halloween party, Papa Boss," Neoma said cheerfully. "And we''re going to celebrate Tteokbokki''s first birthday party!"

    "You look excited."

    "Of course, I am~" she said, then she gasped when she remembered something. "Oh. Papa Boss, you have a meeting with Duke Quinzelter, don''t you?"

    "What about it?"

    She smiled shyly. "Maybe I can ask Duke Quinzel to help me make donkey pumpkins¨C"

    "Give me that," Papa Boss said, snatching the pumpkin from her. "Why would you disturb a busy duke for your silly parties, huh?"

    Gosh.

    "Tteokbokki''s birthday party isn''t a silly party, Papa Boss," Neomained, pouting. "And isn''t an emperor busier than a duke?"

    "I''m better than Rufus, so I can finish this quicker," Papa Boss said, scowling while busy with the knife as he began to carve the pumpkin the way Neoma wanted it to be. "Stop talking to me¨C I''m busy."

    Heh.

    [I think Papa Boss is starting to warm up to me~~~]

    ***

    "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Tteokbokki!" Neoma said while holding a pumpkin with a carved "monster donkey" on it. There was also a candle on top of it. "Are you surprised? Are you touched? Are you going to cry?"

    "Why would I cry?" Tteokbokki snarled, but he actually looked quite touched. "And it isn''t my birthday. Why did you prepare this?"

    She shrugged. "Well, I feel bad that we don''t celebrate your birthday."

    This time, the Soul Beast in his baby dragon form became redder than he already was. "I don''t need it."

    Aigoo.

    He said he didn''t need it, but he sure looked happy.

    Neoma couldn''t help but smile at Tteokbokki''s tsundere-like reaction. "I''ll take care of you forever, Tteokbokki. Just don''t annoy me, okay? Fuck around and find out."

    "Shut it, thug princess!" Tteokbokki growled. "I should be the one saying that!"

    ***

    NOTE: Sorry for the sudden Bonus Chapter. I need to recharge since the next chapters are quite hard to write. And I want to present to you a warm rtionship between a de Moonasterio and a male Roseheart/Soul Beast (although Tteokbokki is neither, lol) before showing you the tragedy of the Male Rosehearts.

    We won''t get to see such a warm rtionship in Nero''s POV because he''s a heartless b*stard. Haha!

    Anyway, the part 2 of this Halloween party will be posted as a Halloween Specialter. :'')

 Chapter 891 AS COLD AS ICE

    Chapter 891 AS COLD AS ICE

    [HE''S GONE MAD.]

    That was Dahlia''s first thought after hearing Prince Nero ask all the Soul Beasts there to be his new Soul Beasts.

    The only person in history to gain more than two Soul Beasts was His Imperial Majesty Emperor Niki. It was the very reason the current emperor was hailed as the strongest man in the empire.

    [Is Prince Nero trying to surpass his Imperial Father¡­?]

    "Do you know how many Soul Beasts are here, you arrogant Crown Prince?" the supposedly fake Nero Roseheart asked. "Are you saying that you can free us by making us your Soul Beasts¨C all at once? Is your soul as huge as your ego?"

    The fake Nero Roseheart made a valid point.

    As far as Dahlia knew, the Soul Beasts were called that way because they lived in the soul of the de Moonasterio they served.

    The emperor had the highest recorded number of Soul Beasts born within a single person.

    "Well, why don''t we both try to find out?" Prince Nero asked, smirking while crossing his arms over his chest. "Let''s see if absorbing your poor souls all at once would kill me or not."

    [How can he wager his life like that when he''s the Crown Prince?]

    "P-Prince Nero, there''s no record of a de Moonasterio possessing more than five Soul Beasts," Dahlia said nervously when she couldn''t keep her mouth shut anymore. "It''s ridiculous that you''re even suggesting to absorb all the Soul Beasts here. Moreover, I''m sure you can feel their hostility. You''ll never know what they might do to you once they enter your soul. Can''t you see how dangerous your proposition is?"

    "It''s only dangerous if they have any intention of epting it," Prince Nero said casually. "But those poor souls don''t really want to leave this Cage."

    Huh?

    The fake Nero Roseheart flinched as if he was surprised that Prince Nero had seen through him.

    And that made her wonder.

    "The male Rosehearts were turned into Soul Beasts against their wishes. After bing one, a Soul Beast has to stay in the Cage and wait for a de Moonasterio with the same "soul wave" as them to be born," Dahlia wondered out loud. "That sounds like a sad cycle, so why don''t they wish to be saved?"

    "I couldn''t care less, honestly," Prince Nero said in a tired voice. "But how do you save people who do not wish to be saved?"

    ***

    NERO didn''t get the chance to ask his parents about the Cage and the Soul Beasts because it was a sensitive topic for them.

    [After all, it was the incident that took thete Empress Juliet''s life.]

    But he had always wondered about one thing.

    "My father, my mother, thete Empress Juliet, and William," Nero said, his sharp gaze focused on the fake Nero Roseheart. "The four of them were strong enough to break this Cage and free all of you. But they failed, and thete Empress Juliet even lost her life here."

    It was ridiculous, to be honest.

    The strongest man in the empire.

    The Grand Spirit.

    The Daughter of Nature.

    Those three failed to save thete Empress Juliet?

    [That has always sounded fishy to me.]

    "As far as I know, even Neoma of the first timeline had barely survived the Cage with Commander Yoan," Nero said, approaching the fake Nero Roseheart with slow strides. "That''s unbelievable. Those two destroyed the Upper World together. How could they not destroy the Cage?"

    "We don''t wish to be saved by people with even a drop of de Moonasterion blood in them," the fake Nero Roseheart said, growling. Then he grabbed Nero by the throat. "And let me show you why, arrogant Crown Prince."

    The fake wasn''t strangling Nero for real.

    It was just a futile attempt to intimidate him.

    But it looked like the fake Nero Roseheart had to touch him in order to show him some memories of the past.

    Neroughed at the fake''s face. "Fine, be my guest¨C show me your deep resentment."

    ***

    BLERGH.

    Neoma finally reached thest step of the Stairway to Hell.

    She thought she had already seen the darkest side of humanity. But she still wasn''t prepared to witness the atrocities that thest emperor hadmitted.

    Watching the horrible memory almost made her throw up.

    That was probably because she felt attached to the victims this time.

    The male Rosehearts.

    [My poor ancestors.]

    Neoma had to watch the emperor whose name she couldn''t remember literally hunt down the captive male Rosehearts as if he were hunting animals.

    The worst part?

    That damned emperor wasn''t alone.

    He brought the high-ranking nobles of the time to hunt down the captive male Rosehearts.

    And they hunted their victims in the most ruthless way.

    [THOSE FUCKING LOWLIFES!]

    But that wasn''t the end.

    After the unnamed emperor and the high-ranking nobles sessfully hunted down the captive male Rosehearts, they chopped up the victims¡­

    ¡­ and ate their flesh.

    BLERGH.

    Neoma covered her mouth when she almost threw up again.

    Those goddamned monsters¡­!

    <"Thug princess, I can''t take this anymore!">

    Since Neoma''s emotions were very unstable at the moment, she failed to stop Tteokbokki from breaking the seal.

    Her Soul Beast came out¡­

    ¡­ and he came out as Crimson¨C the God of Wrath¨C in his human form.

    [Fuck.]

    "All de Moonasterios in the world should die!" Crimson, who was obviously out of his mind and was on a rampage, grabbed Neoma by the throat and lifted her. "You must die to pay for your ancestors'' atrocities!"

    Neoma grabbed Crimson by the arms weakly. "I''m sorry, but I''m already dead so you can''t kill me again."

    ***

    DAHLIA gasped when the Soul Beasts in hiding earlier suddenly appeared one by one.

    Wolves.

    Giant serpents.

    Wyverns.

    Foxes.

    Goris.

    Those were just some of the beasts that came out of their hiding ces.

    The Soul Beasts approached them slowly, just like how a predator would approach their prey.

    Worse, Dahlia could tell that the Soul Beasts were there to kill Prince Nero.

    The Crown Prince just stood there, frozen on the spot while his eyes were hazy. It was clear that His Imperial Highness'' consciousness was somewhere else. Hence, he wasn''t in the right condition to fight or even defend himself.

    [I have to protect Prince Nero!]

    "The ck Witches were also victims of the de Moonasterios, so we won''t hurt you, child," the fake Nero Roseheart said. "I''ll send you back to where you came from."

    "N-No, I can''t leave the Crown Prince here," Dahlia said while shaking her head firmly. "I have the duty to protect Prince Nero."

    "It''s toote for that, child. As you can see, the Crown Prince is in a trance. He''ll definitely lose his mind after seeing the atrocities that his ancestors hadmitted in the past. Hence, we''ll stop him¨C"

    "Who''s going to lose his mind?"

    Dahlia gasped when Prince Nero, who was obviously back to his usual arrogant self, spoke as if he wasn''t in a trance just a moment ago.

    "What did you do? How could you snap out of it easily?" the fake Nero Roseheart asked, shocked. "Did I fail to show you how¨C"

    "Oh, I saw it clearly," Prince Nero said indifferently. "I saw how one stupid emperor and his nobles feasted on the flesh of the male Rosehearts that they hunted down like animals."

    What?

    Dahlia almost threw up just after hearing what the Crown Prince said.

    [But why does he look fine after witnessing such a cruel incident? And it happened to his ancestors¡­]

    Prince Nero''s stoic face gave Dahlia the chills.

    "You saw it and you''re fine after that?" the fake Nero Roseheart asked in disbelief. "How? Even Niki de Moonasterio reached his breaking point after seeing that¡­"

    Pfft.

    Yes, the Crown Princeughed.

    "Why would I lose my mind while watching strangers die?" Prince Nero asked in a bored manner, tilting his head to one side as if he was genuinely curious as to why the fake Nero Roseheart couldn''t believe his reaction. "As long as it''s not Neoma, I don''t care who dies and how they die."

    Oh.

    Dahlia felt a chill down her spine, a curse leaking out of her mind even though she wasn''t used to swearing.

    [Prince Nero¡­ is a cold-hearted bastard¡­]

    ***

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 Chapter 892 NEROS VILLAIN ERA (1)

    Chapter 892 NERO''S VILLAIN ERA (1)

    IT WAS a distant memory¨C a dark one, at that.

    Nero scoffed while watching his ancestor, a stupid and cruel emperor, feast on the dead bodies of the male Rosehearts that he hunted down with some of his trusted high-ranking nobles. It was funny how those filthy bastards acted fancy while devouring human flesh with their elegant table etiquette.

    [How pretentious.]

    There wasn''t an ounce of elegance in the way the stupid emperor and the noblesughed while eating human flesh.

    [Why would they even eat the flesh of male Rosehearts?]

    Of course, he also got to watch how the stupid emperor and his cohorts hunted down their victims before that.

    He didn''t really feel anything aside from curiosity.

    But it was pretty surreal to see the difference between his two ancestors.

    The de Moonasterion emperor as the predator, and the male Rosehearts as the prey.

    [Both of their blood are running through my veins.]

    "P-Please help me¡­"

    Hmm?

    Nero was quite surprised when he saw a male Roseheart, probably around 15-16 years old, hiding under the table while looking up at him.

    [Can he see me?]

    "I d-don''t want to die¡­ not that way, at least¡­ I want to die as decently as possible!"

    Nero tilted his head to one side. "Unfortunately for you, I''m just a spectator here. I can''t change the past, since this is just a distant memory of someone else."

    The young boy, whose pink hair and blue eyes reminded Nero of his mother, cried helplessly.

    That was when Nero realized that there was really something wrong with his brain.

    [I guess Neoma and the others weren''t kidding when they said I was crazy, cold-hearted bastard.]

    He couldn''t feel anything while watching the young Roseheart cry.

    Not even when he was watching his ancestors get hunted down, or when the stupid emperor and the nobles began feasting on the male Rosehearts'' flesh.

    But he wasn''t like he wasn''t capable of loving and feeling loved.

    "The problem is I have a small heart," Nero said, squatting down in front of the young Roseheart who was crying helplessly in front of him. "Neoma upied more than half of my heart already. To be fair, I only recently made space for my mother and father. For Hanna, too."

    Dahlia had always been in the corner of his heart, but he didn''t dare say it out loud.

    "It''s not like I''m not capable of loving others," Nero continued. "I just have low empathy, so don''t expect me to sympathize with strangers I just met¨C even though they''re supposed to be my ancestors. I''m the kind of person who only cares about my loved ones, and there are only a few of them."

    The young Roseheart, who could obviously hear him, trembled while giving him a look that said he was crazy.

    "Don''t get me wrong. Even though I''m not capable of loving people right away, I''m still a responsible person," Nero said. "I''m capable of caring about the citizens living in the empire. Hence, I will do my best to protect them and give them afortable life once I be the emperor. After all, Neoma loves people."

    The young Roseheart seemed like to question him who in the world Neoma was.

    "Ah, Neoma is my twin sister. She''s the loveliest person in my world," Nero said, happy to talk about Neoma. He didn''t like talking to strangers. But he didn''t mind doing it if the topic was his precious twin sister. "You see, I want to be the person that Neoma allows to stay beside her. She knows I have a few loose screws in my head, but she still loves me. Hence, I try to pretend as normal as I can be in front of her."

    This time, the young Roseheart was looking at him as if he had gone crazy for talking about someone who wasn''t even there.

    "If Neoma was here, she would have probably lost her mind already," Nero said, turning serious this time. "I can''t feel anything right now, but I can guess how Neoma would feel if she was here. And I''ll base my actions on how I think Neoma would react."

    And if his twin sister was here, Nero was sure that she would cry for justice and revenge.

    "Neoma holds grudges, so I''m sure she''d yell strings of profanities while swearing to avenge your poor souls if she was in my ce. I don''t know why my twin sister would waste emotions on people she doesn''t even personally know, but who am I to question her feelings? Her ridiculous amount of empathy for strangers is one of the things I love about her anyway."

    He opened his hand, silently summoning Zeru¨C his ice phoenix.

    "I rarely get mad¨C but I always get even with the people who wronged me and Neoma," Nero said, grabbing the ice dagger that materialized out of thin air. "Hence, in the name of my kindhearted twin sister, I will avenge the male Rosehearts."

    And then he stabbed the young Roseheart in the eye with his ice dagger.

    As expected, the boy didn''t scream.

    After all, this young Roseheart was just a toy meant to invoke Nero''s feelings of sympathy in a futile attempt to make him lose his mind.

    He may have an unstable mind, but his heart wasn''t weak.

    "If you wanted to make me lose my mind, you should have used Neoma to rile me up," Nero said,ughing while pulling out the ice dagger. Blood sprayed on him, but he didn''t mind because he knew everything was just an illusion anyway. "I will dly lose my mind and unleash hell on the human world for my twin sister."

    ***

    "AS LONG as it''s not Neoma, I don''t care who dies and how they die."

    Dahlia felt a chill down her spine, a curse leaking out of her mind even though she wasn''t used to swearing.

    [Prince Nero¡­ is a cold-hearted bastard¡­]

    She thought it was the end of the Crown Prince''s cruelty. Hence, she was surprised when hundreds¨C no, thousands of ice daggers suddenly appeared out of thin air.

    Zeru, the ice phoenix, was suspended in the air right above them.

    Dahlia got even more nervous when she saw Prince Nero holding a long ice dagger in each of his hands. "Prince Nero, what are you trying to do?"

    It was rare to see the Crown Prince use a weapon in a fight.

    [The de Moonasterios often fight with either their fists or their Soul Beasts.]

    "I don''t really enjoy fighting with weapons, but Father taught me that the most enjoyable way to obliterate your enemies is to stab them in the heart," Prince Nero said casually, without even blinking his now glowing red eyes. "You may want to use a barrier to protect yourself from the blood stter that''s happening in three seconds."

    "What¡­?"

    Before Dahlia could even finish her question, it really started to rain blood.

    It was followed by the cries of the beasts surrounding them.

    Although Prince Nero warned her that she might get bloodstains on her, it didn''t happen because the Crown Prince created a barrier made of thin ice for her.

    Even so, the barrier was transparent.

    Hence, she saw how Prince Nero''s ice daggers mercilessly killed the beasts around them.

    "P-Prince Nero, we''re here to save them!" Dahlia yelled when she snapped out of her trance, then she mmed her hands on the ice barrier separating him from Prince Nero. "Why are you killing the Soul Beasts we were suppose to free?!"

    "That''s exactly what I''m doing."

    Dahlia didn''t understand what the Crown Prince just said, and she didn''t get the chance to demand an exnation from him.

    After all, Prince Nero already charged at the fake Nero Roseheart.

    And then she gasped at what she saw next.

    Prince Nero ruthlessly stabbed the fake Nero Roseheart again and again.

    Of course, the fake tried to dodge and defend himself from the Crown Prince''s merciless attacks, but to no avail because His Imperial Highness was stronger and quicker.

    And Prince Nero wasughing as blood sprayed all over him.

    Dahlia trembled at the tant disy of Prince Nero''s cruelty.

    [Is Prince Nero and his madness the real Third Cmity that we must stop¡­?]

    ***

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 Chapter 893 NEROS VILLAIN ERA (2)

    893 NERO''S VILLAIN ERA (2)

    NEOMA was ready to beat Crimson to a pulp and knock some sense into him.

    After all, it was the only way to bring back her Tteokbokki.

    However, Neoma soon forgot about her violent n when Crimson, still in his human form, suddenly let go of her throat just like that. Then he fell to his knees while clutching his chest tight. It looked like he was in pain.

    "Hey, what''s happening?" Neoma asked worriedly. It didn''t matter if Crimson just tried to choke her to death a few moments ago. There was no way Crimson could kill her, even if he tried anyway. "Are you hurt? But I haven''t beaten you to a pulp yet."

    "It hurts¡­" Crimson said, huffing. Then he hugged himself and shut his eyes tight¨C his body sprawled on the ground weakly. "The crazy Crown Prince is killing us¡­"

    There could only be one crazy Crown Prince in the empire.

    "Nero?" Neoma asked, shocked. She got down on her knees to match Crimson''s eye level. "What is he doing? How can he hurt you?"

    "I don''t know," Crimson snapped, obviously not in a good mood because he was in pain. "But I can tell that your crazy twin brother is stabbing me all over my body¨C and he''s enjoying it! What''s with you and your knack for doing the craziest and most ruthless things?!"

    Well, Nero had always been a cray-cray.

    <nulli>[But I thought he was less violent now than he was in the first timeline.]

    She was worried about Crimson, of course.

    But she couldn''t deny that she was more worried about Nero at the moment.

    <nulli>[I''m here and I won''t let Crimson die, so I''m less worried about him. On the other hand, I don''t know where Nero is and if Dahlia can control him.]

    Tsk.

    "We really need to get out of here," Neoma said, then she turned to Crimson. Without much thought, she carried her in his arms. The Soul Beast was flustered, of course, and tried to get down. "Hey, don''t move too much. I thought you were in pain?"

    "But this is embarrassing!" Crimsonined, his entire face red from embarrassment. "How could you pick up a 185-centimeter grown man like I weighed nothing?"

    "Well, I''m a de Moonasterio so I''m damn strong."

    "That''s not the point!" Crimsonined, covering his face with his hands. "How dare you humiliate the great God of Wrath?"

    "I''m greater than you~"

    "Shut it, thug princess."

    Hmm?

    "Is that you, Tteokbokki?"

    "No," Crimson said, removing his hands from his face. "But the pain disappeared when you touched me. What did you do, Imperial Princess?"

    "I didn''t do anything."

    "Is it because your soul has some healing effect? It seems like your special divine power spared me from your twin brother''s murderous and merciless long-distant attacks."

    That sounded usible.

    "I''m tired," Crimsonined, closing his eyes while leaning his head against Neoma''s shoulder. "I''ll just kill you after I wake up, Imperial Princess."

    Pfft.

    "Goodnight, Crimson," Neoma said, smiling while shaking her head. "I''m sure you''ll be back as Tteokbokki once you wake up."

    <nullb>***

    MONA was startled when William suddenly fell to his knees while clutching his chest tight.

    It was clear that the Grand Spirit was in pain.

    She was confused because William was just sitting on the chair next to her bed while reading a book when it happened.

    "William, what''s happening to you?" Mona asked worriedly. "Where does it hurt?"

    "Everywhere," William said, groaning in pain. "It feels like I''m being stabbed everywhere."

    "There are only a few people in this world who can hurt a Grand Spirit like you, William," she said worriedly. "But even for those people, it''s impossible for them to attack you when they''re not within the right range."

    "It''s Nero."

    "What did you say?"

    "Nero seems to be on a rampage," William said, his jaw clenched hard. "It seems like he''s killing all the Soul Beasts in the Cage."

    Mona covered her mouth with her hands when she gasped. "Why would my baby do that?"

    <nullb>***

    "ARGH," Niki took a deep breath while clutching his chest tight. "What¡­"

    He wasn''t able to finish his sentence when he felt another pang in his chest, forcing him to let out another painful groan.

    "Your Imperial Majesty!"

    It was Geoffrey Kinsley who tried to run towards him.

    But the Pdin was forced to stop when, out of nowhere, Niki''s Soul Beasts appeared and fell to the ground.

    All the Soul Beasts were in their human form, and everyone was obviously in pain.

    Niki was shocked when he realized that his soul threw out the Soul Beasts, causing the Soul Beasts toe out without being summoned.

    The pain in his chest was gone, but he didn''t feel good about it.

    "What''s happening?" Niki asked worriedly. "Why are you all in pain?"

    "It''s Prince Nero, Master," the Azure Dragon, the de facto leader of the Soul Beasts, said in a weak voice. "The Crown Prince is killing all the Soul Beasts in the Cage."

    Niki''s eyes widened in disbelief. "What?"

    "Prince Nero''s ruthless attacks are destroying the Cage, too, Master," the ming Vermilion Bird added while taking deep breaths. "Our souls are connected to the Cage, hence we receive the same attacks that the Cage is receiving from Prince Nero¡­"

    To say that Niki was shocked would be an understatement.

    Nero was supposed to save the Soul Beasts, so why was his son going on a killing spree in the Cage?

    <nulli>[Did he snap and lose to his Lunacy again?]

    "Your Imperial Majesty, does the task that Prince Nero is supposed to do in the Cage have an element that might trigger Prince Nero''s Lunacy?" Geoffrey Kinsley asked carefully. Obviously, the smart Pdin also thought that the Crown Prince had snapped during the test. "I don''t see why Prince Nero would suddenly lose it, unless his Lunacy was triggered."

    "I don''t remember."

    "Hmm?"

    "Actually, none of us remembers what exactly happened to us in the Cage when we tried to free the Soul Beasts," Niki confessed weakly. "We just know that it was dangerous, but the details were blurry. If I remember what exactly the test was about, then I would have given Nero some advice before he left."

    But he remembered that there was an incident that almost made them go crazy.

    Ah.

    Was that incident the reason Nero snapped?

    Niki clenched his hands tight. "I shouldn''t have told Nero to free the Soul Beasts¡­"

    <nullb>***

    "AH, FATHER is right~" Nero said cheerfully while stabbing the hell out of the fake Nero Roseheart. Blood sttered all over him. In a normal situation, it would have bothered him. But right now, he was having too much fun to care about his appearance. "It feels good to stab your enemies with your hands."

    It wasn''t his Lunacy talking.

    He was genuinely enjoying it.

    It also helped that the fake Nero Roseheart was weak and slow. The fake tried to block his attacks with his weak barriers, but just one hit from his ice daggers and the barriers already copsed.

    To be honest, it wasn''t that exciting to kill a weakling.

    Even the other Soul Beasts could barely block the ice daggers that he was controlling.

    What made it fun for Nero was the feeling of his ice daggers piercing through the fake Nero Roseheart''s flesh.

    <nulli>[This is why Father enjoyed using his Holy Sword like a butcher''s knife.]

    Ever since he was a child, he already knew that he had a cruel and sadistic side in him. He only suppressed it because Neoma didn''t like it.

    But his twin sister wasn''t here right now, so he thought it was okay for him to let loose.

    "You''re crazy!" the fake Nero Roseheart yelled when he fell to the ground while bleeding all over. "How could you do this to me and the other Soul Beasts?"

    Pfft.

    Neroughed, taking a short break while wiping the blood off his face with the back of his hand. "You''re not a Soul Beast, you fake bastard," he said while looking down at the fake Nero Roseheart. "You''re a de Moonasterio."

    The fake Nero Roseheart looked shocked and opened his mouth to probably deny Nero''s usation.

    But it was toote for that.

    The fake Nero Roseheart''s pink hair had already turned white, while his blue eyes had turned ash-gray.

    "See?" Nero asked,ughing. "I know a de Moonasterion bastard when I see one."

    <nullb>***

 Chapter 894 NEROS VILLAIN ERA (3)

    894 NERO''S VILLAIN ERA (3)

    <nulli>[PRINCE Nero is so cruel¡­]

    Dahlia would admit that the ice daggers falling from the sky like meteors was a sight to behold.

    In fact, it began snowing as well as if the Crown Prince had also changed the weather.

    It didn''t take long before the entire ce got quickly covered in snow.

    <nulli>[The vast green field has turned white¡­]

    But the white snow was also quickly turning red because of the blood of the Soul Beasts getting pierced by the ice daggers. No matter how fast the Soul Beasts were, and no matter where they ran, the ice daggers would find and impale them mercilessly.

    Dahlia couldn''t hear the anguished cries of the dying Soul Beasts because of the barrier, but she could feel their pain.

    The worst part?

    Even Zeru, the ice phoenix, had fallen to the ground as if it was in pain. The ice phoenix wasn''t getting impaled by the ice daggers, but it seemed like it was getting hurt from something else.

    Sev, the ice wolf, had alsoe out andid down next to Zeru who was protecting it from the ice daggers. It was clear that the ice wolf was also in pain.

    <nulli>[But Prince Nero doesn''t care that his Soul Beasts are in that state¡­]

    Feeling helpless, she could shut her eyes tight.

    She trembled¨C not from the cold but from Prince Nero''s cruelty.

    <nulli>[He said this is his way of "saving" the Soul Beasts. But isn''t he just going on a killing spree? Did he just use it as an excuse to unleash his cruel side?]

    Dahlia slowly opened her eyes and searched for Prince Nero.

    She saw him right away.

    It was clear that the fake Nero Roseheart couldn''t keep up with Prince Nero in either strength or speed. Since the fake couldn''t outrun the Crown Prince, the fake would use barriers to block the Crown Prince''s attack.

    However, those barriers were easily shattered by Prince Nero''s ice daggers.

    Then the Crown Prince would proceed to stab the fake Nero Roseheart in ces that would hurt the most.

    All the while, Prince Nero wasughing like the madman that he was.

    <nulli>[That''s not the face of someone who''s trying to save anyone.]

    Prince Nero was just murdering the Soul Beasts because he found it enjoyable¨C in and simple.

    <nulli>[This isn''t right.]

    Dahlia raised her hand and covered it with her Mana, then she punched the barrier around her¨C causing it to break right away.

    <nulli>[I have to stop Prince Nero frompletely losing it.]

    Hence, she marched towards the Crown Prince.

    The ice daggers flying towards her would melt before they even touched her. It was thanks to Lapiz'' invisible barrier.

    Dahlia stopped when she was just a few steps behind the Crown Prince. "Prince Nero¨C"

    "You''re a de Moonasterio."

    Huh?

    Dahlia was forced to shut her mouth when Prince Nero spoke to the fake Nero Roseheart who was already on the ground and bleeding from head to toe.

    <nulli>[The fake Nero Roseheart is a de Moonasterio?]

    The Crown Prince turned out to be right because, a momentter, the fake Nero Roseheart''s hair and eye color suddenly changed.

    White hair and ash-gray eyes.

    Dahlia covered her mouth when she gasped.

    <nulli>[A de Moonasterio!]

    Prince Neroughed. "See? I know a de Moonasterion bastard when I see one."

    The fake Nero Roseheart, who didn''t deny the truth, could only re at the Crown Prince.

    <nulli>[This is getting moreplicated and more dangerous.]

    And she was getting more nervous and scared now.

    Dahlia gulped hard before speaking. "P-Prince Nero."

    Prince Nero nced at her over his shoulder, his glowing red eyes piercing through her. Bloodstains were also sttered all over his face. "What?"

    The Crown Prince didn''t look or sound annoyed.

    It was just his usual indifferent and demanding tone that would require anyone to give the Crown Prince the answer he wanted to hear.

    Dahlia suddenly felt apologetic for seemingly wasting Prince Nero''s time.

    <nulli>[That''s how he looked and sounded to me¨C like I should be grateful that he''s paying attention to me.]

    Both the current royal twins possessed amanding aura like no other.

    But Princess Neoma''s warm aura would make people follow her willingly.

    On the other hand, Prince Nero''s cold aura would force people to follow him out of fear.

    "Dahlia, I''m sure you didn''t call me just to admire my face."

    <nulli>[Oh, I stared at the Crown Prince for too long¡­]

    Dahlia took a deep breath before speaking up. "Prince Nero, please stop. You''re not saving anyone here¨C you''re just going on a killing spree."

    "Dahlia, for the Soul Beasts here, death is the only kind of freedom they want."

    "That''s just your opinion," she said sternly, then she turned to the fake Nero Roseheart who was still sprawled on the ground. "Mr. Fake, I won''t hurt and kill you. But I want to let you know that you won''t win against me if we fight."

    "Pfft."

    Yes, the Crown Princeughed a little, but she just ignored that.

    "If you don''t want to get hurt more than you already are, then give us the key that would set the Soul Beasts free," Dahlia said firmly. "You''ve already lost, after all."

    The fake Nero Roseheart red at him.

    "Hey, lower your eyes," Prince Nero growled at the fake. "Or do you want me to gouge your eyes, too?"

    The fake Nero Roseheart immediately lowered his eyes as he stood up. "Fine. I admit my defeat," he said, then he turned his back on them and walked (to be precise, limped) towards theke that Dahlia only noticed now. "I''ll teach you how to open the Cage."

    Dahlia was relieved to see that the fake Nero Roseheart had already given up.

    [His hostility is gone, and it doesn''t look like he has the will or the strength to fight again.]

    To simply say, it was over.

    <nulli>[I wonder if Lapiz can heal all the Soul Beasts here¡­]

    "Dahlia, I didn''t know you were this na?ve."

    What?

    Dahlia turned to Prince Nero with a frown. "I''m na?ve?"

    She was so offended by the Crown Prince''s remark that she started to speak informally.

    Fortunately, His Imperial Highness didn''t look insulted by her rude tone.

    "Neoma used to tell me that I''m not a good teacher, and I just realized that she was right," Prince Nero said while pouring a vial of potion over his head. It was a cleaning potion. After the bottle was emptied, all the bloodstains on the Crown Prince had disappeared. "So, I''ll just keep my mouth shut and let you learn your lesson the hard way."

    Dahlia didn''t want to admit this, but the knowing smirk that Prince Nero gave her before turning his back on her was quite chilling.

    <nulli>[D-Did I make a mistake?]

    <nullb>***

    NERO looked at Zeru and Sev¨C his ice phoenix and ice wolf, respectively¨C with a disappointed look on his face. "You''re weak," he said, then he snapped his fingers. "Return to my soul before you get swept away by the Cage."

    Zeru and Sev looked like they wanted to curse at him, but the two were too much in pain to have the energy to get mad at him.

    Hence, his ice phoenix and ice wolf returned to his soul quietly.

    <nulli>[Good.]

    Nero looked over his shoulder, furrowing his brows. "Why are you standing behind me? You''re not my servant."

    Dahlia''s face turned red, but she stepped closer until she was standing next to him.

    But, of course, she didn''t forget to leave a decent distance between them.

    <nulli>[So cautious.]

    Well, at least, the two of them were standing near theke now¨C just behind the fake Nero Roseheart who was chanting some stupid spell.

    <nulli>[His act is so pathetic.]

    "Look carefully and don''t miss a thing, Dahlia," Nero said, crossing his arms over his chest. "You have to learn why you shouldn''t trust a de Moonasterio¨C not even me or Neoma."

    Dahlia knitted her eyebrows. "What¨C"

    The ck Witch wasn''t able to finish her sentence when the "door" finally opened¡­

    ¡­ and the Third Cmity was unlocked.

    "Did you not see it, Dahlia?" Nero asked while looking at the Cmity in front of them,ughing because his theory was proven correct by Dahlia''s naivety. "That de Moonasterion bastard smiled earlier¨C and it was a triumphant smile."

    <nullb>***

    <nullb>NOTE: Nero is so unhinged. He''s the shame of all the green gs in this novel. Who lets the enemy release the Cmity that can potentially destroy the world just to make a point and teach someone a lesson? Only Nero. Not even Neoma would do something like that. T_T

    <nullb>***

 Chapter 895 STRAIGHT PUNCH

    Chapter 895 STRAIGHT PUNCH

    "ARE YOU feeling better now?" Niki asked his Soul Beasts. "Can you tell what''s currently happening in the Cage?"

    His Soul Beasts were still in their human forms.

    Fortunately, they stopped squirming in pain. When the Soul Beasts came to be, they immediately stood up properly in front of Niki.

    "The attacks have stopped, Master," the Azure Dragon said. "We just feel a little cold now."

    "It seems like Prince Nero froze the Cage with his ice," the White Tiger added. "But we can assure you that Prince Nero is safe, Master."

    "We should be worried about the other Soul Beasts," the ck Tortoise said in a trembling voice. "I can''t feel their presence now¡­"

    The other Soul Beasts fell silent, obviously worried about what the ck Tortoise said.

    Niki, on the other hand, massaged his temples.

    [Nero, what have you done?]

    ***

    NERO SAW it.

    He saw the de Moonasterion bastard smile¨C and it was a smile that said he had seeded.

    Of course, he had always known that the entire thing was a trap.

    He could see how his parents, William, and thete Empress Juliet were put in a dangerous situation while they were in the Cage.

    [They probably freed the Soul Beasts the way Dahlia wants to free them right now.]

    Nero instinctively knew it wasn''t the correct way.

    He just knew.

    And he was right.

    "Look carefully and don''t miss a thing, Dahlia," Nero said, crossing his arms over his chest while watching the de Moonasterion bastard chant some stupid spell. "You have to learn why you shouldn''t trust a de Moonasterio¨C not even me or Neoma."

    Dahlia knitted her eyebrows. "What¨C"

    The ck Witch wasn''t able to finish her sentence when the "door" finally opened.

    All of a sudden, the water in theke disappeared¨C not even a drop was left as a trace.

    Then a warp hole that looked like a ck hole upied the space that the water in theke had vacated.

    Dahlia looked pleased.

    [She probably thinks it''s the way out of here. Well, it''s indeed an exit. But she shouldn''t get her hopes up too much.]

    But, seriously, how could someone be so na?ve?

    "Did you not see it, Dahlia?" Nero asked while looking at the Cmity in front of them,ughing because his theory was proven correct by Dahlia''s naivety. "That de Moonasterion smiled earlier¨C and it was a triumphant smile."

    Dahlia looked confused as if she didn''t really know what he was talking about.

    [Seriously. How did Dahlia survive this long? The world is a cold, cruel ce. She should learn to toughen up.]

    "It''s a trap, Dahlia," Nero said bluntly. "Opening the Cage isn''t the right answer to free the Soul Beasts. If my hunch is correct, then I believe opening the Cage would actually unleash the Third Cmity to the world."

    "What?" Dahlia asked, even more confused now. "If you have deducted that much, then why didn''t you tell me that opening the Cage is actually freeing the Third Cmity? Why didn''t you tell me instead of letting me make a mistake?"

    "As I said, I don''t know what the Third Cmity is," he said, shrugging. "I want to see it what it is, so I let the de Moonasterion do what he wants."

    Now the ck Witch looked mad. "Prince Nero, haven''t you heard the phrase ''prevention is better than cure?''"

    "Oh, I have. So what? I can deal with the consequences."

    "You¡­"

    "You''re speaking informally again, Dahlia."

    "How do you expect me to respect you at a time like this?!"

    Huh?

    Nero was stunned when Dahlia, the meek and crybaby ck Witch, suddenly raised her voice at her while speaking informally.

    It was so out of her character to do that.

    Dahlia''s trembling voice and teary eyes weren''t caused by fear¨C it was caused by anger this time.

    [And she''s angry¡­ with me?]

    "Why are you getting mad at me?" Nero asked curiously. In fact, he was quite fascinated to see a scary look on Dahlia''s face instead of her usual timid look. "What did I do wrong? There''s no other way to find out what the Third Cmity is except to ask that bastard to unleash it."

    Dahlia shut her eyes tight while clenching her hands. Then she opened her now glowing eyes and red at Nero. "I apologize in advance, Prince Nero. You may punish me as you deem fitter."

    "What¨C argh!"

    Nero wasn''t able to finish what he was saying because Dahlia punched him in the face.

    He was supposed to have a sturdy body because he was a de Moonasterio.

    But when Dahlia''s fist connected with the bridge of his nose, it broke.

    CRACK.

    That was the sound of bones breaking.

    Yes, his nose was broken by the ck Witch''s punch, but it came with a price.

    Dahlia''s fingers broke as well, and the pain was clear in her eyes.

    "Are you crazy?!" Nero yelled worriedly. It didn''t matter that his nose was broken. He had fast healing abilities anyway. De Moonasterios could heal minor injuries such as a broken nose. "Why would you punch me without covering your fist with Mana? Now your fingers are broken!"

    "Don''t pretend that you care about me, Prince Nero," Dahlia said, scoffing, as she poured a vial of healing potion on her injured hand. "And will you pull yourself together and start acting like an adult? Is it that difficult to tell me WHY I was wrong? If you exined it to me better, then I wouldn''t have insisted on trusting that de Moonasterion bastard."

    Huh?

    Dahlia cursed, and she sounded natural doing so.

    Hmm.

    The ck Witch was clearly pissed off.

    [Her tone when cursing sounds a bit adorable.]

    "Why are you smiling like that, Prince Nero?" Dahliained, her eyebrows furrowed deeply. "I''m serious."

    Hmm?

    Nero automatically covered his mouth with his hand.

    [I''m smiling¡­?]

    "Do I need to punch you again for you to take my words seriously, huh?" Dahlia continued with her rant. "Now I know why Princess Neoma often uses violence instead of words¨C some people really have iting."

    Pfft.

    [I take it back¨C Dahlia is definitely not a pushover.]

    Nero removed his hand from his face, then he raised it with his palm facing Dahlia. But the target was actually the person behind the ck Witch. "Zeru, Sev,e out."

    The ice phoenix and the ice wolf came out, immediately charging towards the de Moonasterion bastard''s direction.

    But only Sev attacked the enemy directly.

    Zeru flew over the de Moonasterion bastard''s head and went straight to theke.

    "Freeze it," Nero ordered the ice phoenix. "Freeze the gate."

    ***

    RUTO ignored Callisto de Luca when a ck hole suddenly appeared in the space between him and the demigod.

    He had already seen it once, so he immediately recognized it.

    [It''s the gate needed to "free" the Soul Beasts, but it''s actually a trap.]

    Tsk.

    [Did Prince Nero fail?]

    To be honest, Ruto had let Prince Nero go to the Cage with Dahlia because he was confident that the Crown Prince would easily see through the lies created by the fake Nero Roseheart.

    [After all, Prince Nero doesn''t have a heart for other people.]

    "It seems like our dear Crown Prince has failed, huh?" Callisto de Luca said,ughing while watching the ck hole slowly open its "mouth." "Or did he let his guard down because the ck Witch is with him?"

    Ruto didn''t have the luxury to worry about that since the Third Cmity wasing.

    He was about to force the gate to close when, suddenly, ice began to quickly freeze the ck hole¨C forcing the gate''s "mouth" to shut again.

    Ah, so Prince Nero didn''t fall into the trap.

    [As expected of the heartless Heart Pir.]

    Callisto de Luca clicked his tongue when he also realized that Prince Nero was doing well on the test. "Is it because he''s a male Roseheart?"

    "No, it''s simply because Prince Nero is a cold-hearted bastard," Ruto said bluntly. "A trial that tests one''s heart won''t move the Crown Prince."

    Callisto de Lucaughed while nodding his head in agreement.

    Ruto was about to attack while the demigod was distracted, but stopped when he heard a static in his head.

    It was then followed by Gin''s loud voice ringing in his ears.

    <"Commander Ruto, please open up a portal for us¨C I have Princess Hanna with me now!">

    Ah, the Crown Princess wasing.

    ***

    NOTE: Hi. Sorry for the inconsistent updates this week. I was just stressed out these days. I don''t really want to say this, but I''m kinda down because I haven''t been earning from Webnovel for a few months already. Hahahuhu. But I''m still here because I like writing and I don''t want to leave you hanging.

    Anyway, right now, I''m using more of my free time to focus on work since Christmas ising, and Christmas is kind of a big deal here. As the breadwinner of the fam, I have to prepare for it. So, I''m sorry for the inconsistent updates. But I''ll try harder to update daily again (hopefully).

    AND I HAVE A REQUEST. If you can, please consider subscribing to my privileged chapters and unlock them with coins. Please consider this as an early Christmas gift to this broke writer of yours. Hehehuhuhu. Plus, Royal Secret is already ending. The advanced chapters are exciting, so you won''t regret it. Please, please, please. Subscribe if you can. *sobs harder in broke*

    But what actually makes me sadder is the fact that only one or two readers leavements. Most of the time, one of them is only asking for updates. I appreciate it, but it would be nice if you could leave some encouragingments, too. T_T

    I''m sorry for the long rant. Here''s a mass release as an apology. :''>

    And I''m feeling better now.

    Thank you for waiting. :)

    ---s_c

    ***

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 Chapter 896 INTRODUCTIONS

    Chapter 896 INTRODUCTIONS

    HANNA looked at Gin suspiciously.

    The demon cat was kneeling on the ground, his hands deep into a ck hole that emerged on the ground. It was as if Gin was looking for something in there.

    [Can I really trust him?]

    "Mr. Gin, can I help you with anything?" Hanna asked in a slightly impatient voice. "I don''t mean to rush you or anything, but I think we should get out of here as soon as possible."

    BOOM.

    That was the sound of Mana colliding and creating an explosion in the air.

    Lewis had already gone back to the mansion to help her father and the King of Hell fight the Ancient Devil. And now, an intense fight had broken out.

    [They''re risking their lives to buy time for me, so we better hurry up.]

    "Ah, I apologize, Princess Hanna," Gin said apologetically. "Commander Ruto is taking his sweet time picking up my call."

    "Commander Ruto is probably in a tight spot like we are," Hanna said. "He followed Prince Nero to the throne room, so it could only mean that he was also caught into whatever trap was waiting for them there."

    "Well, I''m not really worried about themander. He''s the strongest guy I know besides Princess Neoma."

    The demon cat had a point.

    [I''m also not that worried about Commander Ruto¡­]

    "Ah, I finally got to connect my mental link to themander," Gin said in an excited voice. He fell silent for a moment before opening his mouth again. Clearly, the demon cat was talking to themander this time. "Commander Ruto, please open up a portal for us¨C I have Princess Hanna with me now!"

    Oh?

    Hanna knew that not only Commander Ruto was strong, but he also had many skills that would make anyone envy him.

    But it was still impressive to know that themander could open portals.

    People who could teleport and move from dimension to dimension through portals were a different type of amazing.

    [Neoma, you chose a capable man as your life partner. Well done.]

    "I got it, Commander Ruto," Gin said, standing up and stepping away from the wrap hole that looked like a ck hole. "Three minutes it is."

    Hmm?

    Hanna was about to ask Gin what he meant by what he just said, but she got distracted by the ball of dark energy flying towards them.

    It was clear that the Ancient Devil threw it at them because he couldn''t attack closer.

    She was ready to summon her ck Hole, but realized that she didn''t have to.

    To be honest, she almost forgot about the two little boys who swore to protect her.

    [Now I remember¨C these children are the Helldogs that Neoma used to call H1 and H2, ording to the stories that she told me about in the past.]

    "We''re going to protect you, Princess Hanna!"

    The two boys yelled that promise at the same time, then they jumped high.

    While suspended in the air, the two children transformed into their original form.

    Oh.

    [Is that how they originally looked?]

    H1 and H2 turned out to be a huge ck dog with two heads.

    Neoma talked about H1 and H2 as if they were cute dogs. But now that she was looking at them¡­

    [I''m sorry, but they don''t look cute to me¡­]

    Hanna''s unpleasant thoughts were cut off when she saw H1 and H2 catch the ball of dark energy with their mouths, then they disappeared.

    [Where did they go?]

    Hanna may have not found H1 and H2 cute, but she was still worried about the children.

    "They probably went to a remote ce to drop the ball of dark energy there," Gin said dismissively. "Don''t worry about them, Princess Hanna. They only look like a child, but they are Helldogs who have already lived long."

    Ah, that was right.

    [It seems like Neoma''s soft spot for children has rubbed off on me¡­]

    "Ah, Princess Hanna, Commander Ruto is done preparing on the other side," Gin said, pointing both of his hands to the warp hole politely. "Please step in the middle of the warp hole."

    Hanna nodded and walked towards the warp hole¡­

    ¡­ and then let out a muffled scream when the ground below her suddenly copsed, swallowing her in the process.

    [You should have warned me, you silly demon cat!]

    ***

    RUTO LITERALLY punched a hole in the wall.

    He wasn''t doing that for nothing, of course.

    Since he didn''t have time to be picky or meticulous, he just punched a hole in the small portal that Gin found. The "throne room" was a difficult ce to find because, supposedly, only the descendants of the de Moonasterios and the Rosehearts could ess it.

    [It''s a testament to how powerful Gin is¨C as expected of a demon who served the Ancient Devil for a long time.]

    "Is that how you destroyed the Upper World in the past?"

    Ruto turned to Callisto de Luca. "Have you regained your past memories, or have you heard it from Helstor?"

    Callisto de Luca grinned. "Take a guess."

    "It doesn''t really matter to me whether you remember the past or not," Ruto said indifferently. "Things may have changed drastically from how it went in the first timeline, but I assure you that you''ll end up the same way."

    The half-god justughed, and then he sat on the throne as if he owned it. "Aren''t you going to attack me? Isn''t this the perfect opportunity for you to kill me?"

    "Unfortunately for you, I know when I''m being provoked or not," Ruto said, looking back and forth between Callisto de Luca and Larissa who was standing next to the half-god. "I can tell that you''re up to no good."

    He couldn''t carelessly attack anyway.

    If he went all-out, he might identally harm Prince Nero and Dahlia who were still below the throne room.

    Moreover, Princess Hanna and Gin would arrive at any moment now.

    [Callisto de Luca knows that I can''t kill him now even if I want to, so he''s provoking me.]

    "It''s a shame that you''re not as short-tempered as Princess Neoma," Callisto de Luca said. "I wonder what I can do to make you lose your mind."

    Larissa scoffed. "That man has already lost his mind, my lord. How crazy does you want him to be?"

    Ruto couldn''t refute that, but he still felt annoyed hearing that from Larissa.

    He wanted to say something about that, but he held back when he felt Hanna Quinzel''s presence.

    [Ah, she''s finally here.]

    Ruto looked over his shoulder and found the Crown Princess falling to her knees as if she had been pushed down by the portal.

    Gin, now in his ck cat form, followed.

    "Are you alright, Princess Hanna?" Ruto asked, lending a hand to the Crown Princess. "I apologize. The portal was done poorly."

    Hanna epted his hand and let him pull her up. "It''s alright, Commander Ruto. I''m not hurt," she said, letting go of his hand. Then her sharp gaze went past him. "Ah. I see we have unwanted guests here."

    [Hmm? Should I tattle? Neoma said tattling on someone can be fun.]

    "That''s Larissa, the FORMER Goddess of Fertility," Ruto said, pointing at Larissa quite rudely. The gentleman side of him didn''t apply to the enemies¨C especially not to the woman who killed his child in the past. "That''s the wench who ims you are infertile, Princess Hanna."

    "Pfft." Princess Hannaughed bitterly, her green eyes glowing menacingly. "Thank you for introducing her to me, Commander Ruto."

    ***

    DAHLIA knew Prince Nero''s n was ridiculous, but she couldn''t stop him.

    [Only Princess Neoma could stop the Crown Prince when he''s being stubborn anyway.]

    Hence, she felt hopeless while watching Prince Nero kneel to the ground while screaming and clutching his chest tight.

    She wanted toe near him and check on his condition.

    Unfortunately, the wall of ice around him prevented her from doing so.

    [His Imperial Highness'' Soul Beasts are also going out of control.]

    Her thoughts were interrupted when the fake Nero Roseheart, who turned out to be a "de Moonasterion bastard,"ughed in delight.

    [Right, he''s still here.]

    "I knew his arrogance would kill him!" the fake rejoiced. "Thank goodness the de Moonasterions are born arrogant."

    She couldn''t deny that, but that wasn''t the time to agree with an enemy.

    "Do not rejoice yet, de Moonasterio," Dahlia said, opening her hand to summon her wand as her eyes glowed menacingly. "I''m still here¨C and I''m more than enough to stop you."

    But if Dahlia could turn back time, she''d do it to stop Prince Nero from his crazy n.

    [Just why did you do that, Prince Nero?]

    ***

    NOTE: Sorry for the short updates recently. My brain isn''t braining these days. I''m nning to release a mini mass release soon to make up for it.

    ***

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 Chapter 897 THE PRICE OF ARROGANCE

    Chapter 897 THE PRICE OF ARROGANCE

    DAHLIA was pretty surprised when Prince Nero froze the entire ke."

    It was no longer ake, actually. It had turned into a huge warp hole that looked like a ck hole because of its color.

    To be honest, a portal that size shouldn''t be easily forced shut.

    But Zeru, Prince Nero''s ice phoenix, froze it effortlessly.

    [Prince Nero is really on a different level¡­]

    "Argh!"

    While Zeru was freezing theke, Sev was freezing the fake Nero Roseheart.

    The ice wolf bit the de Moonasterion bastard all over. Each limb that Sev bit had quickly been covered by ice.

    Hence, it only took a few moments before the fake waspletely frozen.

    [The fake Nero Roseheart is really weak¡­]

    Even so, Dahlia felt like the fake "lost" on purpose.

    [We shouldn''t let our guard down.]

    "Good job, Zeru, Sev," Prince Nero said, his Soul Beasts turning translucent. "You may rest for now."

    Whew.

    Dahlia was relieved that Prince Nero asked his Soul Beasts to return because both Zeru and Sev were still injured from the Crown Prince''s rampage earlier.

    "As I thought, freeing the Soul Beasts by opening the Cage is the wrong answer."

    "That seems to be the case, Prince Nero," Dahlia said, agreeing with the Crown Prince. But she was still worried. "Even so, I feel like something is off. Moreover, we haven''t figured out what would happen if the Soul Beasts were freed once the Cage was open."

    They only figured out that opening the Cage was the wrong answer because the fake Nero Roseheart smiled, suggesting that the fake was waiting for them to "force" him to open the Cage.

    Ah, she also picked up something from that gesture.

    "I noticed the condition that must be met because the fake Nero Roseheart could open the Cage."

    Nero smirked as if he was proud of Dahlia. "I''m d you''re notpletely na?ve, Dahlia."

    Judging by Prince Nero''s personality, that should have been apliment.

    [But why do I feel slightly offended?]

    "It looks like the Cage could only be opened if a Roseheart wishes for the Cage to be opened," Prince Nero said. "That was how Mother and Neoma of the first timeline were able to open the Cage during their time."

    Dahlia nodded in agreement. "That goes to show that the fake Nero Roseheart is really a fake. He probably posed as a Roseheart to make the Roseheart descendants lower their guard."

    But it didn''t work on Prince Nero whose heart was as small as a grain.

    "I wonder about the real identity of the fake Nero Roseheart, though," Dahlia said, wondering out loud. "I know that he''s a de Moonasterio, but¨C"

    "That must be Sergius de Moonasterio."

    "Sergius de Moonasterio¡­?"

    "The emperor who created the first Soul Beast."

    Dahlia covered her mouth with her hands when she gasped. "Then he was the mastermind behind killing the male Rosehearts to turn them into Soul Beasts?"

    "The mastermind was probably Callisto de Luca and the crows," Prince Nero said indifferently even though they were talking about his ancestors. "Even so, he was the first de Moonasterio in history to execute that n."

    It seemed like the Crown Prince knew what he was talking about.

    "Prince Nero, how are you so sure that the fake is Sergius de Moonasterio?"

    "Because he reeked of flesh."

    "H-Huh?"

    "There was only one emperor in history who was frowned upon even by the most vile emperors in our bloodline," Prince Nero said indifferently. "And it was Sergius de Moonasterio¨C the cannibal."

    Dahlia gulped hard, her stomach acting funny because the image of a person eating the flesh of other human beings made her want to throw up.

    "I learned about Sergius de Moonasterio from William because the two were from the same era."

    The ''William'' that Prince Nero mentioned was the Grand Spirit¨C a male Roseheart who had sessfully escaped the misery of being a Soul Beast.

    [I remember how William hates His Imperial Majesty and Princess Neoma¡­]

    "ording to William, Sergius de Moonasterio revered the Rosehearts," Prince Nero said, his face darkened. "The problem was Sergius de Moonasterio had fallen for Callisto de Luca''s words because that stupid emperor was a devout follower of the crows'' cult. Sergius de Moonasterio believed it when Callisto de Luca said that he''d gain the power of the gods if he ate the flesh of the male Rosehearts. Unfortunately, even the highest-ranking nobles of the time followed suit."

    Dahlia frowned after hearing Prince Nero''s story. "I think Sergius de Moonasterio simply justified his hunger for human flesh. He must just be a cannibal, in and simple."

    The Crown Prince looked at her as if he was surprised, then heughed. "That''s usible."

    Oh.

    She didn''t feel bad that the Crown Princeughed. It was because she could tell that he wasughing at what she said and not at her.

    [But why does Prince Nero look so good whenughing¡­ no, stop this useless thought.]

    Dahlia avoided Prince Nero''s gaze and looked around.

    Her heart broke for the dead bodies of the Soul Beasts around. The cruel snowstorm and the pouring of ice daggers had already stopped, leaving only the bleeding corpses of the poor beasts.

    "Don''t be sad, Dahlia¨C they''re finally free."

    "Huh?"

    Prince Nero raised his hands, his red eyes glowing. "Come out, Rosehearts."

    Dahlia''s eyes widened in shock when Prince Nero''s hair suddenly turned pinkpletely.

    Not a strand of white hair was left on the Crown Prince''s head. Now he really looked more like a Roseheart than a de Moonasterio.

    But her shock didn''t end there.

    Dahlia was once again shocked when the souls of the male Rosehearts trapped inside the corpses of the beasts came out of their vessels one by one.

    It was just a little creepy because the souls still had their human forms.

    [They all have pink hair¡­]

    You could only tell the male Rosehearts around them were souls based on the fact that their "bodies" were semi-transparent.

    [But those souls have such an empty look in their eyes¡­]

    She felt a chill down her spine.

    But she shouldn''t be surprised.

    [Prince Nero is a Roseheart, so something like this is possible for him.]

    However¡­

    "What are you going to do with their souls, Prince Nero?" Dahlia asked worriedly. "T-They don''t look friendly¡­"

    "Ah. They probably hate me because I have de Moonasterion blood in me," Prince Nero said casually, smirking. "But it won''t matter once I devoured their souls."

    Wait, what?!

    Dahlia was shocked when Prince Nero''s body was suddenly engulfed in some pinkish lights.

    Then a warp hole appeared on the Crown Prince''s stomach, and it began to absorb all the souls around them.

    Dahlia was too stunned to speak.

    [What''s wrong with Prince Nero and Princess Neoma? Why do they keep "eating" things they''re not supposed to eat!]

    ***

    IT WAS one of those rare moments that Nero listened to his instincts without thinking much about it.

    Hence, when his instincts told him to devour the souls, he did as he pleased.

    And that was when the problem began.

    [Huh?]

    Nero was supposed to be in control.

    But, all of a sudden, he was sucked into a different dimension while he was conscious. It was as if his soul was forcibly snatched away from his body and brought there.

    And now he was standing in the middle of a dark room¡­

    ¡­ surrounded by thousands of souls with pink hair.

    lights¦­¦Ïvel "Thank you, young arrogant Crown Prince," one of the souls said, grinning. "Thank you for giving us your body so we could avenge our n."

    What¡­?

    Nero, who was about to protest, stopped when his heart started to beat fast and hard as if it was about to burst.

    And it hurt like hell.

    [No¡­!]

    The Third Cmity had begun.

    ***

    RUTO was just nning on watching Princess Hanna deal with Larissa.

    Of course, he wouldn''t let the Crown Princess kill the former goddess because he promised Neoma that he''d let her kill the wench.

    Even so, he thought Princess Hanna should also get her chance to beat up Larissa.

    However, all his ns were tossed aside when the ground suddenly shook hard.

    Then it was followed by the explosion of dark energy that shouldn''t have been released if Prince Nero managed to avoid the Cage''s trap.

    [Did the Crown Prince fail after all¡­?]

    "Is it Nero''s Mana?" Princess Hanna asked, knitting her eyebrows. "But why does it feel¡­ colder and darker than usual?"

    "It''s not Prince Nero''s Mana," Ruto said, clenching his hands tight. "It''s the wrath of the Rosehearts."

    ***

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 Chapter 898 THE LAST BLACK WITCH

    Chapter 898 THE LAST BLACK WITCH

    DAHLIA wanted toe near Prince Nero and check on his condition.

    Unfortunately, the wall of ice around him prevented her from doing so.

    [His Imperial Highness'' Soul Beasts are also going out of control.]

    But that wasn''t her biggest concern at the moment.

    Dahlia could see the hundreds of souls that Prince Nero had taken in.

    [They''re all angry!]

    It wasn''t like she didn''t understand.

    Prince Nero should have been more careful.

    [Even though he''s a Roseheart, he''s still a de Moonasterio!]

    Dahlia''s thoughts were interrupted when the fake Nero Roseheart, who turned out to be a "de Minister bastard,"ughed in delight.

    [Right, he''s still here.]

    The ice that froze the fake melted when Prince Nero suddenly lost it.

    In fact, the snow on the ground that piled up after the Crown Prince created a snowstorm had already melted, too.

    [How can I help Prince Nero¡­?]

    "I knew his arrogance would kill him!" Sergius de Moonasterio, the fake Nero Roseheart, rejoiced. "Thank goodness the de Moonasterions are born arrogant."

    She couldn''t deny that, but that wasn''t the time to agree with an enemy.

    "Do not rejoice yet, de Moonasterio," Dahlia said, opening her hand to summon her wand as her eyes glowed menacingly. "I''m still here¨C and I''m more than enough to stop you."

    "You''re a ck Witch. You must have been harboring grudge against the de Moo¨C mff!"

    Sergius de Moonasterio wasn''t able to finish his sentence because Dahlia shut him up¨C literally.

    Just one flick of her wand and the fake''s mouth was forcefully zipped up.

    "Not another word, Sergius de Moonasterio."

    The ex-emperor looked shocked when she called him by his real name.

    "I don''t need you to talk to me to obtain the information I need from you anyway," Dahlia said coldly. Then she pointed the end of her wand at the water below Sergius de Moonasterio''s feet. "I can just take a peek at your recent memories."

    She specified that she would be only looking at his ''recent'' memories.

    After all, she didn''t want to see the cruel emperor''s past.

    Dahlia''s concentration was a bit interrupted when, suddenly, Sergius de Moonasterio charged at her¨C his sharp red eyes glowing menacingly.

    She didn''t get intimidated, though.

    [He doesn''t have the same scary aura that Emperor Niki, Princess Neoma, and Prince Nero possess.]

    Moreover, she had her Elemental Guardian.

    "Lapiz."

    Her Elemental Guardian, in the form of arge Blue Whale, appeared above Sergius de Moonasterio after a huge shadow cast over him.

    But it was toote.

    "Crush him."

    Lapiz unceremoniously and unapologetically crushed Sergius de Moonasterio with its weight¨C a quake followed hard when the blue whale hit the ground. After all, it weighed a lot. Even a sturdy barrier would break under its weight.

    If the de Moonasterion could scream, he probably would have.

    But since Dahlia literally shut Sergius de Moonasterio''s mouth with her spell, only the sound of his body breaking was heard.

    Blood spilled immediately, but she tried to ignore it.

    [I''m not sure if there''s any left of his body.]

    She said ''body,'' but it was more probably like a shell simr to a human body. After all, Sergius de Moonasterio was just a Spirit. He probably just used a vessel to do things that he needed to do with a physical body.

    And Dahlia was correct.

    "How dare you!"

    It was Sergius de Moonasterio in his Spirit form, floating above Lapiz.

    The former emperor could now speak because the spell that Dahlia used only applied restrictions on his physical body.

    [But I already expected this¨C and it''s actually easier to handle him now.]

    Sergius de Moonasterio raised his hand, gathering his energy in the palm of his hand. "I''ll make you regret making an enemy out of¨C argh!"

    Dahlia didn''t let the former emperor finish talking.

    With just one wave of her hand, semi-transparent ck thorny vines materialized and wrapped themselves around the former emperor. The thorns all over the vines pierced through Sergius de Moonasterio''s soul¨C making him scream.

    Blood didn''t gush out, but the former emperor''s soul was obviously damaged by her attack.

    "How?" Sergius de Moonasterio asked in disbelief, heaving his breath as if he were trying to manage his pain. "How can you harm me when I''m in my Spirit form?"

    "Simple¨C it''s because I''m a ck Witch," Dahlia said confidently, hervender eyes glowing. "And I am thest weapon left by my ancestors to annihte an evil de Moonasterio like you."

    Sergius de Moonasterioughed as if he didn''t believe her. "A mere child like you¨C mff!"

    Once again, she didn''t let the former emperor finish his sentence.

    "You do not have the right to insult me when your life is in the palm of my hands," Dahlia said, waving her hand in a refined yet slightly aggressive way. "I, thest ck Witch, shall banish your soul and send you to your Eternal Damnation, Sergius de Moonasterio."

    ''Exile'' and ''Eternal Damnation.''

    Those were the two attack CURSES that the ck Witches could use to kill the de Moonasterios.

    It would be hard for a ck Witch to fight a de Moonasterio physically.

    Hence, in order to kill a de Moonasterio, they must find a way to separate the de Moonasterio''s soul from their body. And then the ck Witches would curse the de Moonasterion souls to be banished.

    Finally, the ck Witches would curse the de Moonasterios to Eternal Damnation.

    And as a result¡­

    "AAAHHH!!!"

    That was Sergius de Moonasterio''s loud and anguished scream as his entire soul began to burn.

    Yes, the former emperor''s soul was now burning.

    The two-toned me¨C red andvender¨C started to burn Sergius de Moonasterio''s feet. Then the two-toned me quickly swallowed the former emperor''s lower part, then the torso, and soon¡­

    "I curse you, wench!" Sergius de Moonasterio screamed at the top of his lungs while his neck was getting burned by the two-toned me. "I curse you to die the most gruesome death, you sted ck Witch!"

    Dahlia justughed softly as Sergius de Moonasterio''s headpletely burned. "You can''t curse the Master of Curses, Sergius de Moonasterio."

    Just like that, the horrible former emperor was finally burned to ashes.

    Dahlia made a sincere curse while watching the ashes quickly disappear into the air.

    [I hope you never find peace, Sergius de Moonasterio.]

    ***

    THE PLAN was simple.

    ording to the memories that Dahlia saw from the piece of soul that she stole from Sergius de Moonasterio, the Third Cmity would begin once the Soul Beasts were sent out to the outside world.

    [It must mean the human world.]

    Once the Soul Beasts reached the "surface," every single human being in the world would receive the memory of how Sergius de Moonasterio ate the flesh of the male Rosehearts after tormenting their victims.

    That horrible memory would then nt a seed of hatred into the hearts of every person in the world. Moreover, most people might even lose their minds.

    The purpose was to probably create a mass hysteria.

    [And make people hate and condemn de Moonasterios.]

    "Freeing the Soul Beasts by sending them out to the human world is, in fact, the wrong answer to this test," Dahlia said while looking at Prince Nero who was still in a state of losing his mind. She let out a sigh. "Should I unseal my power...?"

    ***

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 Chapter 899 HIS & HER IMPERIAL MAJESTY

    Chapter 899 HIS & HER IMPERIAL MAJESTY

    [NERO is calling me¡­]

    Neoma finally reached the throne where Yule and her other ancestors were waiting for her.

    Fortunately, Crimson had fallen asleep while in her arms earlier. Hence, she was able to bring him back to his dragon form. She wasn''t just sure if her Soul Beast would wake up as Tteokbokki or Crimsonter.

    But that was the least of her concerns at the moment.

    [The fuck is happening to my baby brother?]

    Neoma was pretty sure she heard Nero call her for help earlier.

    Everyone knew that Nero''s pride could pierce the heavens. Plus, that brat still liked acting like a big brother to her. Hence, there was no way in hell Nero would ask for her help unless he was in grave danger.

    And that made Neoma nervous.

    [Fuck it. Just why did I have to die when Nero needed me the most?!]

    "Nene, why are you ring at me?" Yule asked nervously. "Did I do something wrong?"

    "There''s a long list of bad things you''ve done whether identally or not, Grandpa Yule. But that''s not what''s pissing me off the moment," Neoma said, tilting her head to one side while ring at the throne. "I can feel that Nero is in danger. Since he''s facing the Third Cmity, I''m sure the throne is giving me a hard time."

    The throne and the Soul Beasts'' Cage, to be precise.

    [After all, the throne and the Cage are in the same ce.]

    "You can''t coddle Roro forever, Nene," Yule reminded her gently. "This is a test that he and Dahlia must ovee on their own."

    Neoma fell silent while remembering the Third Cmity of the first timeline.

    [Ruto and I fell for the trapid by the Cage. We released the Soul Beasts without knowing we were actually releasing the Third Cmity back then. But, of course, we resolved the problem easily because we were OP.]

    "I don''t think Nero and Dahlia are on the same level as me and Ruto when we dealt with the Third Cmity, so they must be having a hard time now," Neoma said, sighing. "When am I going to get revived? I can''t rx knowing my baby brother is in danger."

    "Neoma, you should be worrying about yourself right now," Primo, the first emperor, said worriedly. "Are you okay, dear? You''ve just seen the Thirteen Madmen''s heinous crimes."

    "Of course, I''m not okay, Grandpa Primo," Neoma said bluntly. "That''s why I need to move and get violent on something or someone evil. If I stay still, I''ll go crazy. And once I snapped, I may end up destroying the world again."

    Her ancestors suddenly fell silent.

    "You did well, sweetheart," Gwen, Primo''s wife who was also the Demon Queen, said while smiling proudly at her. "We were waiting here because we thought we might have to stop you once you reached thest step."

    Neoma tilted her head to one side. "Well, to be fair, I''ve always known that most of our ancestors were the most scumbags out of all the scumbags in the world. Hence, I was kind of prepared mentally. Of course, seeing their atrocities with my very own eyes was still different. But it only strengthened my resolve."

    "I can tell you''ve made a powerful resolve, Nene," Yule said, getting up from his fancy seat. "May we know what kind of resolve you made this time, my dear granddaughter?"

    Instead of answering the Moon God right away, she just walked towards the throne.

    It felt surreal when her ancestors¨C her GREAT ancestors, at that¨C made way for her as if they were making way for a queen.

    [Heh.]

    "I won''t break the throne this time, unlike what I did in the first timeline when I crushed it with my very own hands," Neoma said, her red eyes glowing. Then she raised her leg in a straight line and gave the seat of the throne a dropkick. She didn''t put that much force into it, so the throne just broke a little and didn''t get destroyedpletely. "Nero Roseheart de Moonasterio will be the LAST emperor of the Great Moonasterion Empire."

    ***

    EXILE AND Eternal Damnation.

    Those curses didn''t only work on the de Moonasterios.

    Hence, Dahlia could also use those techniques to exorcise the hundreds of vengeful Spirits possessing Prince Nero''s body at the moment.

    But there was one problem.

    "The Rosehearts'' wrath is too strong and heavy," Dahlia said worriedly. "I¡­ I have to release my seal."

    If she had a choice, she didn''t want to do it.

    Unfortunately, that was the only way for her to save the Crown Prince.

    <"Then, are you going to use it?"> Lapiz asked curiously. <"The gift that Princess Neoma of the first timeline gave you before she left.">

    Dahlia didn''t only receive a piece of the Eternal me as a gift.

    Princess Neoma of the first timeline also gave her something more personal.

    "Yes, I will use it now," Dahlia said, closing her eyes. "It''s time to meet Empress Dahlia of the first timeline."

    And when Dahlia opened her eyes again, she was surprised to see her other self.

    The Empress Dahlia in front of her was beautiful, mature, and mncholic.

    "So, we finally met, little Dahlia," Empress Dahlia greeted her with a sad smile on her face. "Is it time for you to make a vow with Nero again?"

    Dahlia was shocked to hear that. "Uhm, what vow?"

    ***

    "PATHETIC."

    What?

    Nero raised his head, his eyebrows furrowed, when someone called him ''pathetic'' in the most taunting way possible.

    [Who dares to¡­]

    His thoughts trailed off when he realized he was looking at himself.

    No, he wasn''t facing a mirror.

    The Nero in front of him at the moment was older, bigger, and looked more miserable than he was at the moment.

    [Where did the male Rosehearts go...?]

    Nero thought he was going to die while the male Rosehearts ganged up on him. But, suddenly, someone pulled him away from all those vengeful Spirits.

    The next thing he knew, he was already in that empty room with an unwantedpanion.

    "Emperor Nero," Nero said, addressing his other self with a scoff. "I didn''t ask for your help, did I?"

    Emperor Nero scoffed back at him. "You may not know it because you''re so stupidly weak at the moment, but you actually cried for Neoma when you were on the verge of dying earlier." Once again, the emperor scoffed. "God. You''re supposed to be older than your twin sister. Why the hell would you cry for her help?"

    Nero''s face turned red from embarrassment. "I did not cry for Neoma''s help."

    The emperorughed. "Oh, you sure did."

    "I did not."

    "You did."

    Nero let out a frustrated sigh, then he smirked. "Fine. You may be right about that. But you''re wrong about one thing."

    The emperor raised an eyebrow at him. "And what is that?"

    It was his turn to smirk and destroy the arrogant emperor.

    "We''re not the older brother here," Nero said, smiling triumphantly. "Neoma is actually the First Star."

    The look of disbelief on Emperor Nero''s face brought Nero so much joy.

    Hah!

    [I win.]

    ***

    NOTE: Have you read LET''S NOT DIVORCE yet? It''s the Alternate/Parallel Universe of Royal Secret: I''m a Princess! where our beloved de Moonasterion Imperial Family is now a chaebol family. Kekeke. And, recently, Lewis is finally introduced in the story. Go read it if you haven''t already. ;)

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 900 THAT VOW

    Chapter 900 THAT VOW

    "HAVE YOU still not figured out why Nero is obsessed with you?"

    Dahlia felt it was surreal to see herself call the Crown Prince intimately.

    The other version of herself only looked a few years older than her current age, but the aura that Empress Dahlia gave off was very different from hers.

    [I look like a child next to her.]

    But that wasn''t the right time to worry about that.

    "Is there supposed to be a logical reason as to why Prince Nero is obsessed with me?" Dahlia asked the empress nervously. "Isn''t it because you were His Imperialwife in the first timeline?"

    "Ah, so your memories were suppressed."

    "I''ve only seen some pieces of my past memories through random dreams."

    "And what did you interpret those dreams as?"

    "That Prince Nero and I shouldn''t end up together?"

    Empress Dahlia fell silent for a moment before she spoke again. "Young Dahlia, we can''t live without Nero."

    "H-Huh?"

    "Do you know why the ck Witches who took care of you just vanished one day?"

    Dahlia was raised by five ck Witches on the ind that was home to her. They taught her everything she needed to know as a ck Witch. And they also taught her how to survive alone by teaching her how to read the Stars.

    Then, one day¨C a few weeks after she turned seven¨C the ck Witches just disappeared.

    She remembered her guardians saying goodnight to her.

    But when Dahlia woke up the next day, the ck Witches were already gone.

    "The ck Witches who raised me often said that they would disappear someday and return to Nature," Dahlia said carefully. "They told me not to be sad about their passing because returning back to Nature is a dreame true for them."

    That didn''t mean she didn''t mourn her guardians, of course.

    "I never found out how they passed away, though," Dahlia added. "If my investigation was correct, then there was no foul y that took ce. I believe they died in their sleep."

    Peacefully, at that.

    "The ck Witches who raised you died because they didn''t devour a de Moonasterio''s Lunacy."

    "W-What?"

    "Do you know the true reason why the de Moonasterios have hunted us down since time immemorial?"

    "Isn''t it because we can kill the de Moonasterios?" Dahlia answered, quite unsure. "And, during the early times, the de Moonasterios spread a lie that the ck Witches possessed malice-infused Darkness attribute. Hence, the humans shunned our n."

    "It''s true that our power resemble the Darkness attribute, but we really don''t possess Darkness attribute," Empress Dahlia said. "What we have is Pure Darkness. What separates it from an ordinary Darkness attribute is that we actually have divine power, too. But it''s overshadowed by the fact that it''s simr to Darkness attribute."

    It was surreal to discover more about her lineage from the empress.

    "I wonder why my guardians didn''t tell me about the source of our power in a clearer way?" Dahlia wondered out loud. "I am not judging them, and I will always be grateful to them for raising me. But I just find it odd that they kept many secrets about our true origin."

    "They probably hid things from you to avoid rousing your interest towards the de Moonasterios," the empress said. "Perhaps, they hid the real history from you because they did not want you to avenge our n."

    That was quite true.

    The ck Witches who raised her used to tell her to be careful of the de Moonasterios, but they had never once told her to hate the Imperial Family.

    She was grateful that she grew up without hate in her heart, and she never craved revenge.

    However¡­

    "They said the road to hell is paved with good intentions," Dahlia said, smiling cynically. "And now I believe them. It doesn''t feel good to know that I''ve been kept in the dark for so long, even if it was for my own sake."

    "I felt the same back then."

    She clenched her hands tight, then changed the subject because there was no use sulking over spilled milk. "Empress, please tell me more about what you said earlier. Are we supposed to devour the Lunacy of the de Moonasterios in order to survive?"

    "As I said earlier, what we have is Pure Darkness," Empress Dahlia began her exnation. "But thew of this world dictates that a vessel couldn''t contain both divine power and Darkness."

    "Yes, I remember that," Dahlia said, nodding. "That''s why Princess Neoma''s existence is an enigma to the world. After all, Her Imperial Highness has the purest divine power of all, and yet, she also has demonic power in her. That never happened before."

    Emperor Niki''s mother was a Quinzel and yet the emperor didn''t inherit the Darkness attribute of his Quinzel side. It was because the emperor''s divine power was too great that it overpowered and automatically purified the Darkness attribute in him.

    The same thing happened to Prince Nero.

    That didn''t happen to Princess Neoma who got to keep her demonic power despite possessing overflowing divine power, though.

    [So, in conclusion, Princess Neoma is the best de Moonasterio ever.]

    "Unfortunately, the ck Witches aren''t as special as Princess Neoma," Empress Dahlia said. "Our Pure Darkness attribute is the reason why we have short lives. Other witches could live up to three hundred to five hundred years. But our coven, the ck Witches, could only live up to one hundred to two hundred years. And since the de Moonasterios of the past had put a bounty on our heads during the early times, our ancestors died even before they reached a century."

    "Why?" she asked curiously. "Why do we have short lives, Empress?"

    "It''s a curse."

    "A curse? But we''re the master of curses¡­"

    "I suppose it would be better to call it a punishment."

    "Who punished us then?"

    "The one who benefits if the de Moonasterios remain shackled by their Lunacy."

    Dahlia could only think of one person at the moment. "Callisto de Luca?"

    "When Callisto de Luca discovered that the ck Witches could devour the de Moonasterio''s Lunacy, that was when he began spreading the lie that we exist to kill the de Moonasterios."

    She clenched her hands when she realized why Callisto de Luca did that. "Callisto de Luca didn''t want the de Moonasterios to be cured of their Lunacy."

    "Curing a de Moonasterio from their Lunacy isplicated as there are requirements that need to be met first," Empress Dahlia exined. "First, the only de Moonasterio we can cure is the one taking the throne. Once the emperor is officially crowned, only then can we begin devouring their Lunacy little by little. However, not all ck Witches could do so. Only one can have a matching rate with the emperor. That ck Witch will then be hailed as the ''Giver.'' The Giver''s job is to share the Lunacy she devours to her coven."

    "Since we''re thest ck Witch, you automatically became the ''Giver'' when Prince Nero ascended the throne in the first timeline. Is that correct?"

    "It wasn''t only because I was thest ck Witch," the empress said. "It was because I had a high matching rate with Nero."

    "Am I going to die early if I don''t devour Prince Nero''s Lunacy? Can''t I just wait for Princess Neoma since she''s destined to be the empress regnant anyway?"

    "If you won''t unseal your power yet, then you can wait for Princess Neoma to ascend the throne. But if you''re going to unseal your power now, then I''m afraid you cannot wait for the Imperial Princess to be the first empress regnant."

    Oh.

    She needed to unseal her power to save Prince Nero¡­

    "Child, our Pure Darkness is iplete," Empress Dahlia said, then she smiled sadly at her. "You need to make a vow with Nero to save him and extend your lifespan."

    Dahlia could only sigh and close her eyes.

    [A vow, huh?]

    ***

    "WHY does it matter whether Neoma is the real First Star? We''re twins. There shouldn''t bean older sibling between twins because it''s stupid."

    Nero couldn''t believe what Emperor Nero said just because thetter lost their argument. "Why are you trying to downy it when you were obviously shocked to find out that Neoma is the real First Star?"

    "If you have time to worry about stupid things, then why don''t you start worrying about yourself?" Emperor Nero, that sore loser, said. "Do you know that your Lunacy has just taken over your physical body, huh? Nowbine it with the centuries-old grudge that the Rosehearts who possessed you carry with them. What do you think will happen once our ancestors take full control of your body?"

    "I''ll probably go on another killing spree?"

    Because his instinct to kill was pretty much... strong.

    "Correct," the emperor said. "In the first timeline, I knew it was wrong to free the Soul Beasts. But I didn''t have enough power to even fight a small fry like Sergius de Moonasterio. And I even failed to warn Neoma to not let the Soul Beasts out to the human world. After all, people who fail the Cage''s trial are meant to forget what happened there."

    "You were weak, huh?"

    "And so are you."

    He couldn''t refute that, so he just red at the emperor. "Are you only hear to nag at me? Since you''re already here, why don''t you make yourself useful? Tell me how to overpower the male Rosehearts that are trying to control my physical body."

    "It''s toote for you to do anything. I brought you here in order to dy your Lunacy from getting controlled by the male Rosehearts. But I can''t protect you here for long."

    He scoffed. "So, you''re useless."

    "Hey, you better start praying that the Dahlia of this timeline is still as nice as my Empress Dahlia."

    "Why are you suddenly bringing up Dahlia into this?"

    "Only Dahlia can stop your Lunacy, you foolish child," Emperor Nero said, scoffing at him. "The only way for the two of you to survive is to make the same vow that my empress and I made in the past."

    Oh.

    He remembered that vow from the dreams that he had seen before.

    But¡­

    Nero''s body suddenly went cold. "Isn''t that vow simr to a marriage vow?"

    ***

    "PRINCESS HANNA, change of ns."

    Huh?

    Hanna was just starting to process what Captain Ruto had said.

    But, the next thing she knew, she was already falling into the huge warp hole¨C the one that was covered in ice.

    [Did Captain Ruto just push me¡­?]

    "I''m sorry, Princess Hanna," Captain Ruto said, but he didn''t look apologetic at all. "You might get hurt a little. Please use your shadows to cushion your fall."

    The captain didn''t have to say that.

    Hanna already used her shadow to protect her back when she crashed into the ice. Since it was Nero''s ice, she had to summon her Hebi¨C the seven-headed serpent. Fortunately, her Shadow Beast was able to destroy the ice.

    She got a few scratches, though.

    [I won''t forget this, Captain Ruto.]

    Hanna set aside her personal feelings first as Hebi carefully wrapped her tail around her body.

    The serpent did it in a way that she wouldn''t be crushed.

    "Thank you, Hebi," Hanna said softly while patting Hebi''s tail. "You did well."

    Hebi let out a hiss, but it was a happy hiss and not an angry one.

    When Hanna''s feetnded on the snow-covered ground, she sent Hebi back to the Shadow Realm to conserve as much energy as she could.

    [This is like a huge graveyard for animals¡­]

    Hanna felt sad while looking around, seeing corpses of dead animals who died from getting pierced by ice daggers.

    [It''s Nero''s ice¡­]

    "P-Princess Hanna?"

    Hmm?

    Hanna finally found Dahlia who seemed like she had just woken up from a long nap.

    The ck Witch while sitting on Lapiz, the Blue Whale Elemental Guardian that shrunk in size, while watching Nero who was acting like the lunatic that he was.

    Uhm, by that, Hanna meant Nero was trying to break the barrier he was trapped in.

    And the Crown Prince didn''t look himself.

    Nero was usually grumpy, but the anger he was emitting at the moment clearly wasn''t his.

    "Did you trap Nero in there, Dahlia?"

    "I-I did, Princess Hanna," Dahlia said nervously while getting down from Lapiz. "Y-You''re here¡­"

    "Captain Ruto pushed me down."

    The ck Witch''s eyes widened in surprise. "C-Captain Ruto did what?"

    "I''ll exinter," Hanna said, then she looked at Nero worriedly. "Is there a way to snap him out, Dahlia? You''re looking at him like you know what to do, but you just don''t have the courage to go through it."

    To be fair, that was just her assumption.

    Hanna based it on the fact that Lord Yule specified that it had to be Nero and Dahlia to stop the Third Cmity.

    "That''s right, Princess Hanna."

    [Oh, I''m right.]

    Hanna turned to Dahlia. "What''s stopping you then, Dahlia?"

    "I have to make a v-vow with Prince Nero¡­"

    The way the ck Witch stuttered and avoided her gaze made her nervous.

    "What kind of vow is it, Dahlia?"

    Dahlia lowered her head this time. "A vow that binds my soul with Prince Nero''s soul¨C a vow that will make us unable to live without each other."

    Like a marriage vow, then.

    Hanna, right at that moment, saw her future with Nero slowly crumbling away.

    [I don''t have a ce here.]

    ***

    [WHAT the heck happened?]

    Nero was surprised when he finally opened his eyes and found himself back in the Cage when he was just talking to Emperor Nero a moment ago.

    He didn''t expect to wake up in his body with his consciousness intact.

    [And the male Rosehearts inside my soul seem to have disappeared¡­]

    "Are you awake, Nero?"

    Ah.

    Nero was both happy and nervous to see Hanna and Dahlia standing side-by-side.

    Obviously, the twodies saved him from getting devoured by the male Rosehearts. But the twodies also looked like they were attending his funeral when he survived.

    Hanna spoke up first and broke the awkward silence. "Nero, let''s break up."

    Nero''s eyes widened in shock. "What?"

    [Seriously, what happened before I gotout¡­?]

    ***

    HAPPY 900 CHAPTERS TO US! Thank you for staying for this long. The end is really near, for real. T_T

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 901 [SPECIAL CHAPTER] BIRTHDAY WISH

    Chapter 901 [SPECIAL CHAPTER] BIRTHDAY WISH

    "WHAT a fool," Neoma said while looking at Emperor Nero''s cold body, lying on the foot of the throne in the Cage. It was the dimension below the throne room, one that could only be essed by the Rosehearts and the people they brought with them. "Didn''t I tell you to wait for me?"

    Of course, her twin brother didn''t respond.

    He couldn''t, for he was already long gone.

    "You did this on purpose, didn''t you?" she asked bitterly, biting her lower lip to stop herself from crying. They were still in the middle of a war, so she couldn''t afford to mourn for her twin brother. "You lived recklessly after Empress Dahlia died, hoping to die as soon as possible in order to follow her."

    But Nero couldn''t kill himself because Empress Dahlia, on her deathbed, told him to live on and protect the people of the empire.

    Hence, her foolish twin brother lived like he didn''t have anything else to live for.

    "I wasn''t enough for you to live on, huh?" Neoma said, smiling bitterly. "I thought we were already getting close. I thought you were finally acting like the big brother you were supposed to be. But you abandoned me. Again."

    To be honest, she didn''t expect a response.

    Hence, she was surprised when she heard the familiar voice that echoed in the room.

    <"I''m sorry, Neoma.">

    It was Nero.

    To be precise, it was her twin brother''s Spirit.

    Since Neoma had Roseheart Blood in her, she was able to see Nero''s soul standing in front of her. "Are you sorry that you''re leaving the throne to me when I already said I didn''t want it?"

    Now that Nero was gone, the throne had finally acknowledged Neoma.

    Thew dictated that a woman couldn''t inherit the throne. However, now that the empire was in ruins,ws didn''t matter anymore.

    And the Moonglow that engulfed Neoma was proof.

    <"I''m sorry for leaving you again, Neoma,"> Nero said softly. It was a tone that he rarely used because of his awful personality. <"You''re right. As your older brother, it should have been my duty to protect you. But living in a world without Dahlia was too hard for me.">

    Well, she couldn''t me her twin brother for that.

    [After all, Nero and Dahlia made a binding vow.]

    <"Happy birthday, Neoma.">

    Right.

    It was already past midnight.

    The 24th of October, that was when they were born.

    "Happy birthday, Nero. I wish for you and Dahlia to find each other in the Afterlife. Treat her better this time."

    Nero just nodded, then he fell silent for a moment. <"I wish for us to be reborn as twins again, Neoma.">

    "Are you trying to curse me?"

    <"I promise to be a better brother to you the next time we meet again,"> Nero said, smiling genuinely at her. <"I will love you to death, dote on you until you get tired of me, and kill anyone and everyone in the world for you.">

    Neoma rolled her eyes. "That sounds scary."

    But she didn''t hate the idea.

    <"Are you crying, Neoma?">

    "Shut up," Neoma growled at Nero while quickly wiping the tears off of her face. "I don''t need you to love me the next time we meet¨C just don''t die before me again, okay? You have to outlive me and you have to be happier than me."

    <"Well, you have a point. We were born together, so we should also leave this world together,"> Nero said, his soul starting to vanish now. And he knew that. Hence, he smiled at Neoma for thest time. <"See youter, my baby sister.">

    "I''m not a "baby,"" Neomained lightly, then she smiled at Nero''s vanishing soul. "Let''s meet again in the next lifetime, Big Brother."

    As a birthday present for Nero, Neoma destroyed the throne with her own hands that night.

    ***

    THE FOUR-year-old Nero woke up with tears in his eyes.

    He had that dream again.

    A dream where Nero and Neoma were both grown-ups already.

    To be honest, it was a bad dream to him.

    After all, the adult Nero and Neoma in his dreams didn''t seem to get along with each other. Moreover, the adult Nero was mean to Neoma.

    "I hate him," Nero whispered to himself. "How can he treat his twin sister harshly?"

    [Older brothers should protect their younger sisters!]

    "Brother, you can''t sleep?"

    Nero smiled automatically while watching Neoma rub her eyes with the back of her hand. "I''m sorry. Did I wake you up?"

    It was a good thing that he still shared the same room and the same bed with Neoma.

    He would hate to wake up from a bad dream and not see his precious twin sister right away.

    "It''s not brother''s fault that Neoma woke up, so please don''t apologize," Neoma said sleepily. It was really cute how she still talked in third person. "Did you have a bad dream, Brother?"

    He nodded. "I did, but I''m okay now since you''re here."

    Neoma grinned at him. "Neoma helps Brother forget his bad dream?"

    "Yes, that''s correct," he said, pinching Neoma''s chubby cheeks lightly. "That''s why you can''t leave me alone, okay?"

    "Gosh, this siscon¡­"

    Hmm?

    Nero tilted his head to one side. "What does it mean, Neoma?"

    Sometimes, he would catch his twin sister muttering strange words to herself, thinking that he couldn''t hear them. But since his senses were sharp, he could hear her just fine.

    And every time he would catch her¡­

    "Neoma is sleepy now, Brother," Neoma said, smiling brightly at him. "Let''s go back to sleep, hmm?"

    Look at his smart twin sister using her cuteness against him.

    And it worked every single time.

    "Alright," Nero said, tucking Neoma in bed. "Good night, my baby sister."

    ***

    "BELATED happy eighteenth birthday, Neoma," Nero greeted his twin sister. "I still love you to death."

    Neoma made a disgusted face. "Well, bted happy birthday to you, too. Thank you for loving me, but you should love me less from now on. You already have a fianc¨¦e."

    He just smiled, and then he gathered Neoma in his arms.

    His twin sisterined, but she didn''t try to wiggle her way out of his embrace.

    "I promised you that I won''t die before you again, but you should promise the same, Neoma," Nero said, kissing her on the forehead. "That''s my birthday wish."

    "Gosh. Consider it granted then," Neoma said confidently. "I''m Neoma¨C I won''t die early."

    But the very next day, Nero witnessed Neoma die right in front of his eyes.

    Haaah.

    Nero''s life as Neoma''s twin brother wasn''t easy, but he wouldn''t have it the other way.

    ***

    HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our favorite psycho royal twins!

    Neoma and Nero were born on the 24th of October, Year XXX. LOLOLOL. I''ll post the coge I made for them in thement section.

    Anyway, Neoma and Nero are epting kofi donations as a birthday present because their creator is too broke to buy them cake. Haha. JK... unless... *wiggling eyebrows*

    I hope you enjoyed this special chapter.

    And prepare your heart for Hanna''s POV next.

    ***

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 Chapter 902 CROWN PRINCESS NO MORE

    Chapter 902 CROWN PRINCESS NO MORE

    "I HAVE to make a v-vow with Prince Nero¡­"

    Hanna noticed Dahlia''s apprehension, and that made her nervous. "What kind of vow is it, Dahlia?"

    Dahlia lowered her head this time. "A vow that binds my soul with Prince Nero''s soul¨C a vow that will make us unable to live without each other."

    Like a marriage vow, then.

    Hanna, right at that moment, saw her future with Nero slowly crumbling away.

    [I don''t have a ce here.]

    "I-I have to unseal my power to save Prince Nero," Dahlia continued, her eyes still glued to the ground. "But once I do it, my lifespan is going to decrease every hour unless I devour Prince Nero''s Lunacy."

    Hanna knitted her eyebrows. "You have to devour Nero''s Lunacy?"

    "I still don''t understand the reason because my time with Empress Dahlia was interrupted, but devouring Prince Nero''s Lunacy seems to be a way to prevent my lifespan from decreasing," Dahlia further exined. "To stop Prince Nero''s rampage and prevent my early death, we need to enter that vow."

    "Is that the only way to save Nero?"

    "R-Right now, the hostile Spirits of the male Rosehearts who have been trapped in the Cage for centuries have possessed Prince Nero''s body. The grudge they carry resonated with Prince Nero''s Lunacy, triggering it," the ck Witch exined. "To save Prince Nero, we must exorcise the male Rosehearts possessing him, then stop his Lunacy for good."

    Hanna could neither exorcise souls nor stop Nero''s Lunacy permanently.

    For the first time in her life, she felt useless.

    [I can''t do anything for Nero¡­]

    "Princess Neoma and Empress Mona could probably exorcise the male Rosehearts, and Emperor Niki could help suppress Prince Nero''s Lunacy," Dahlia added. "But they aren''t here, and we''re running out of time."

    "Is Nero in imminent danger?"

    The ck Witch nodded. "The male Rosehearts'' grudge is poisoning Prince Nero''s body and corrupting his divine power. Since the male Rosehearts hate the de Moonasterios, they''re nning to slowly kill Prince Nero. They''re just keeping him alive for now because they want toe out to the outside world and reveal the truth to the people."

    "What truth?"

    "The truth of how the de Moonasterios killed the Rosehearts and turned them into Soul Beasts by force," Dahlia said, finally raising her head. "Sergius de Moonasterio, the emperor who was guarding the Cage, even ate the flesh of the Rosehearts that he hunted down. The victims wanted to reveal that horrible crime to the world."

    Hanna closed her eyes while sighing.

    [I feel for the victims, but if the truth reached the public, then it will be the end of the Imperial Family.]

    Once the people lost their trust in the de Moonasterios, then the crows would take advantage of that. But it wouldn''t just end there. If word got out that the Imperial Family of the strongest empire in the world were in ruins, then outside force would try to invade their continent.

    [The only reason that the empire hasn''t been attacked outside yet is because of the Darkness that loomed over the skies of the Western Continent. But I believe the emperor has already dealt with the Second Cmity. Hence, it''s only a matter of time before we get attacked by an outside force.]

    That would be the worst-case scenario.

    "Dahlia."

    "Y-Yes?"

    Hanna opened her eyes, her hands clenched tightly. "Do it," she said firmly. "Do whatever you need to save Nero."

    Dahlia''s eyes widened in surprise. "B-But if I do that¡­ the vow¡­"

    "We have no choice, Dahlia. Emperor Niki is the only member of the Imperial Family who can fight right now. We have to return to the pce as soon as possible, but we can''t return without the new emperor."

    The throne had summoned Nero there, so it must be time for the Crown Prince to rise as the new moon.

    And there must be a reason why it had to be now.

    "This isn''t the time to worry about my feelings," Hanna said sternly. "As the Crown Princess of the empire, I order you to save Nero and yourself, Dahlia."

    She couldn''t be selfish.

    If she stopped Dahlia from making a vow with Nero, then not only Nero''s life would be in danger¨C Dahlia''s lifespan would also decrease after she unsealed her power and failed to absorb the Crown Prince''s Lunacy.

    "P-Princess Hanna¡­"

    Hanna couldn''t help but smile sadly.

    [This might be thest time I get to be called a ''princess.'']

    It hurt.

    It was sad.

    It felt like all her hard work was suddenly put in vain.

    However, between being an empress and saving the lives of the people she cherished, she would always choose thetter.

    "W-Why do I feel like you''re going to quit as the Crown Princess once I make the vow¡­"

    Hanna fell silent for a moment, then she decided to be honest. "Even if I do, it won''t be your fault, Dahlia."

    Obviously, Dahlia couldn''t ept that. "How could it not be my fault, Princess Hanna? If I didn''t show up, if I only stayed on the ind and didn''t meet Prince Nero, then none of this would happen¡­"

    "You''re not stealing Nero from me, Dahlia."

    "I-I''m not¡­"

    "Yes, you''re not," Hanna said, nodding. "I''m letting Nero go not because of you¨C but because I refuse to settle for less."

    Dahlia fell silent this time.

    "I know Nero loves me, but I turned a blind eye to the fact that I''m not the only woman he loves," Hanna said softly. "But my eyes are open now, Dahlia. I won''t settle for less, and that''s the reason I''m letting go of Nero. Don''t me yourself because you didn''t steal anyone from me."

    Dahlia suddenly burst out crying. "But you''re the only woman who deserves to be the new empress, Princess Hanna. You worked so hard to be the perfect Crown Princess that the empire needs¡­"

    Ah, she was d that Dahlia recognized her hard work.

    She was also sad about letting go of the position that she had always wanted. After all, she thought she deserved the space next to Nero.

    However, like what she said to Dahlia earlier, her eyes were nowpletely open.

    "The only power I want in the world is the power to save the people I love. I can do that whether I''m the Crown Princess or not. So please don''t take pity on me, Dahlia," Hanna said, smiling at the ck Witch. "My life won''t end just because I gave up the crown."

    ***

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 Chapter 903 BROKEN TRIANGLE

    Chapter 903 BROKEN TRIANGLE

    "IS THERE anything I can do to help?" Hanna asked. "I know exorcising hundreds of evil Spirits inside Nero won''t be easy, so please let me know if there''s something I can do to help you, Dahlia."

    "Once Prince Nero gets out of the barrier, he will definitely try to escape to the outside world since the gate is still open," Dahlia said worriedly. "Can you help me restrain the Crown Prince then, Princess Hanna?"

    "I understand," she said, nodding. "But oh, you should address me by my noble title again. Since I already quit as the Crown Princess, it doesn''t feel right to be called a ''princess'' anymore."

    "But it''s not official yet¡­"

    "It doesn''t matter¨C I will never change my mind."

    Hanna was aware that it might be a bit unfair to Nero that she decided to quit as the Crown Princess without asking for his opinion.

    But she was doing this for the Crown Prince.

    [I don''t want him to feel guilty. And it''s to avoid people of using Nero of cheating on me with Dahlia. If that happens, his reputation would hit rock bottom.]

    "I-If that''s what you want, Lady Hanna."

    Hmm?

    Hanna thought it would feel weird to be addressed as a dy'' again instead of a ''princess.''

    But, surprisingly, it felt as if a huge load was taken off of her shoulders.

    [I''m fine¨C I''ll be fine.]

    "Let''s do this, Dahlia," Hanna said, trying to sound as cheerful as she could. "How should we proceed?"

    "I''ll unseal my power first," Dahlia said. "Uhm, please be careful, Lady Hanna. It took five adult ck Witches to seal my power¨C and they all still got injured. I''ll have Lapiz to make a barrier for mydy, but please don''t lower your guard."

    She nodded. "Alright. I''ll make a barrier of my own, too."

    The ck Witch nodded politely, then she took several steps away from Hanna.

    When Dahlia deemed that it was a safe distance, only then did she close her eyes¡­

    ¡­ and she cut her long and wavy red hair with a dagger.

    [Wait, what?]

    Dahlia''s now short hair only fell on her shoulders.

    But not for long.

    Soon, the ck Witch''s hair grew back to its original length in just a span of a few seconds.

    However, this time, the color of the lower part of Dahlia''s hair was ck and not red.

    [She has two-toned hair now, just like Neoma¡­]

    Not only did Dahlia''s hair color change¨C it also became prettier because of the twinkling "decorations" attached to it. Little star-shaped lights were attached to her ck hair. Hence, it looked like a starry night sky if you looked at it.

    But it wasn''t only the ck Witch''s hair that changed drastically.

    Moreover, Dahlia''s current Mana right now was¡­ astounding, to say the least.

    <"Lady Hanna, please brace yourself,"> Lapiz, the Blue Whale that was currently the size of a salmon, said while creating several powerfulyers of barriers for Hanna. <"Dahlia''s way of exorcising Spirits is a bit violent.">

    Hanna was surprised to hear that. "I can''t imagine Dahlia acting violently."

    The Elemental Guardianughed softly. <"Then please enjoy the show, mydy.">

    Hanna was still doubtful.

    Until she saw Dahlia punch the barrier where she trapped Nero.

    Hanna was ready to help, but honestly?

    [I don''t think Dahlia needs my help to restrain Nero¡­]

    Because Hanna saw when Dahlia grabbed Nero by the neck, the ck Witch''svender eyes glowing dangerously.

    Ah, what a sight.

    "I now believe that our sweet and innocent Dahlia is capable of violence," Hanna said. "I should help in another way."

    Hanna noticed that "Nero" tried to run towards the open gate as soon as he was freed.

    Hence, she used her shadows to cover the gate.

    [You''re not going anywhere under my watch, Nero.]

    ***

    PHYSICAL CONTACT.

    Dahlia needed to establish firm physical contact with the host of the evil Spirits that she needed to exorcise.

    Hence, she grabbed Prince Nero by the neck when he tried to run past her.

    To be honest, she didn''t mean to do that.

    Dahlia tried to grab the Crown Prince by the arm, but his hostility triggered her "fight response," so she grabbed him by the neck to make sure he couldn''t attack her.

    But since she had just unsealed her power, she couldn''t control her strength yet.

    "Argh!" Prince Nero let out a painful groan. "Unhand me, you wench!"

    [Ah, this isn''t Prince Nero talking.]

    The Crown Prince''s eyes were glowing red, which was normal for a de Moonasterio. However, there was a strange craziness in his eyes at the moment.

    [I mean, Prince Nero is crazy. But not like this¡­]

    "I''m sorry, Prince Nero, but I have to use violence on you," Dahlia said nervously. "I can''t control my strength yet, so I apologize in advance if it hurts."

    And then she punched Prince Nero on the chest.

    To be precise, Dahlia punched the Crown Prince on the part of his chest where his heart was located.

    The evil Spirits that Prince Nero devoured were absorbed in his soul.

    lights¦­¦Ïvel But the best way to summon the evil Spirits was to literally shake Prince Nero''s Core in order to create a disturbance in his soul¨C forcing the evil Spirits to get kicked out.

    And it worked.

    Prince Nero, who fell to his knees after getting punched, threw up.

    Small "marbles" came out of the Crown Prince''s mouth, and each "marble" was actually the essence of an evil Spirit.

    After Prince Nero got everything out of his system, he copsed to the ground.

    [Now, it''s time to catch them.]

    Dahlia opened her hands and grabbed her wand as soon as she materialized, then she waved it while writing a spell in the air. "Stop."

    ***

    [AMAZING.]

    Hanna looked up at the "marbles" that were suspended in the air.

    She suspected that the "marbles" were actually the souls of the evil Spirits that Nero had devoured.

    Those Spirits tried to scatter and escape.

    But as soon as Dahlia uttered a spell, the "marbles" floated up in the air and each "marble" ended up trapped inside a pink crystal flower.

    [Beautiful¡­]

    Hanna couldn''t help but smile in admiration. "Dahlia, you did well."

    She did not hear a response from Dahlia.

    [Hmm?]

    When Hanna turned to Dahlia, her eyes widened in surprise when she saw the ck Witch sprawled to the ground while clutching her chest.

    Of course, she immediately ran to her friend''s side.

    "Dahlia!"

    <"It must be because Dahlia isn''t used to using her power yet¡­">

    It wasn''t only Dahlia who was sprawled on the ground.

    The ck Witch was next to Nero, and the two looked like they were in pain.

    That was when the reality hit Hanna harder.

    [Ah, Dahlia and Nero can''t really live without each other¡­]

    "I''m alright, Lady Hanna. Please don''t worry about me," Dahlia said, trying to get up slowly. "My body just needs to adjust to my new strength¡­"

    That didn''t look that simple.

    Dahlia was pale, and she was breathing quite heavily.

    It was clear that the ck Witch was struggling.

    [Dahlia needs to make a vow with Nero in order for her to recover¡­]

    Hanna offered her hand to Dahlia. "Let''s wait for Nero to wake up, then ask him to make a vow with you."

    Dahlia epted Hanna''s hand as she stood up, but she hanged her head low. "I''m sorry, Lady Hanna."

    "I ept your apology, Dahlia."

    The ck Witch didn''t respond, but her shoulders shook when she cried.

    "None of this is your fault, Dahlia," Hanna said, hugging Dahlia while gently patting her back. "I''ll be fine, you''ll be fine."

    Dahlia just nodded while hugging Hanna back.

    [And maybe Nero will be fine with this, too.]

    ***

    A VOW simr to marriage.

    Nero didn''t have all the memories of his first life.

    All that he had seen so far in his dreams were fragments that often times didn''t make sense.

    The only thing that was clear to him was the fact that he had loved Dahlia in the past to the point of obsession.

    However, in this timeline¡­

    "I can''t make that kind of vow with Dahlia," Nero said firmly. "I''m engaged to Hanna."

    "Hanna?"

    "Hanna Quinzel."

    "Ah, the Pirate Princess," the emperor said. "Our cousin."

    "That''s just the simple way to describe our rtionship with her. She''s the daughter of our father''s cousin."

    "I don''t care¨C I didn''t care about her in the past."

    "Well, I do now."

    "If you want to be stubborn, then go ahead and die," Emperor Nero said, scoffing. "Unless you can control your Lunacy and take back your control of your own body, I don''t think you can survive this. Good luck¨C you need that."

    Nero was about to use Neoma''s teachings (aka swear words) to good use when, all of a sudden, a strong force grabbed him.

    [What the heck happened?]

    Nero was surprised when he finally opened his eyes and found himself back in the Cage when he was just talking to Emperor Nero a moment ago.

    He didn''t expect to wake up in his body with his consciousness intact.

    [And the male Rosehearts inside my soul seem to have disappeared¡­]

    "Are you awake, Nero?"

    Ah.

    Nero was both happy and nervous to see Hanna and Dahlia standing side-by-side.

    Obviously, the twodies saved him from getting devoured by the male Rosehearts. But the twodies also looked like they were attending his funeral when he survived.

    Hanna spoke up first and broke the awkward silence. "Nero, let''s break up."

    Nero''s eyes widened in shock. "What?"

    [Seriously, what happened before I got out¡­?]

    "I''ve already heard about the vow that you need to make with Dahlia in order for the two of you to live," Hanna said quite coldly. "I''m sorry, but I can''t marry you knowing that you can''t literally live without Dahlia. A marriage should only be between two people. I don''t want to feel like an outsider in my own marriage."

    "I don''t need the vow¨C"

    "Dahlia will die if you don''t make the vow with you," Hanna said, sternly cutting him off. "And you need to get rid of your Lunacy for good."

    "But I can''t lose you, Hanna!"

    Nero didn''t mean to raise his voice, but his emotions were starting to get out of control.

    To simply put, he was agitated.

    "I''m sorry, but I won''t change my mind, Nero," Hanna said firmly. "Be a man and ept my decision, Nero."

    "No!" Nero said, grabbing Hanna by the shoulders. "You can''t leave me, Hanna Quinzel!"

    "I can," Hanna said, her green eyes glowing menacingly. "Unhand me before I cut off your hands, Prince Nero."

    ***

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 Chapter 904 SOULMATES

    Chapter 904 SOULMATES

    AT THE back of Nero''s head, he knew that letting go of Hanna was the right decision.

    Even though he was saying he didn''t need to make a vow with Dahlia, he knew he still wouldn''t be able to let the ck Witch die. But even so¡­

    [How can I let go of Hanna? She''s the only woman fit to be the future empress.]

    Hanna was the perfect Crown Princess, and her politics often times aligned with Nero''s.

    He could already picture the two of them leading the empire to reach new heights.

    "Unhand me before I cut off your hands, Prince Nero."

    ''Prince Nero.''

    Hanna had addressed Nero by his first name casually ever since they were children.

    Hearing her call him by his title now hurt a bit.

    It was as if Hanna was building a wall between them.

    "No," Nero said, letting go of Hanna''s shoulders to clutch his head tight. A splitting headache hit him all of a sudden, causing him to lose his temper quicker than normal. "Hanna, can''t you reconsider?"

    "I''m sorry, but I''ve already made up my mind," Hanna said firmly. "Prince Nero, I''m quitting as your fianc¨¦e and as the Crown Princess of the empire."

    Ah.

    Hanna''s clear green eyes showed that she wouldn''t change her mind.

    That her decision was final.

    Nero then realized that he had already lost Hanna.

    [Dammit.]

    "Calm down, Nero," Hanna said, a hint of worry evident in her voice. "Are you alright?"

    No, he wasn''t.

    But Nero couldn''t say anything, so he just shut his mouth tight and shut his eyes.

    He could feel another person''s divine power trying to overwhelm his.

    Nero was pretty much certain that it was the gift that he had received from the First Emperor before appeared around his head again.

    It was supposed to rein his Lunacy in, but it wasn''t working this time.

    There was a loud noise in his head that was driving him crazy.

    [Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!]

    "Dahlia!"

    Nero quickly opened his eyes when he heard Hanna yell Dahlia''s name worriedly.

    And then he felt his heart drop to the floor when he saw the ck Witch coughing up blood nonstop.

    Dahlia''svender eyes were glowing while her Mana was fluctuating.

    <"Dahlia''s curse is reacting to your Lunacy, Prince Nero!"> Lapiz, the Blue Whale the size of a salmon, exined in a hurry. <"Prince Nero, Dahlia unsealed her power to exorcise the malevolent Spirits that possessed you! And now, her body couldn''t keep up with the burst of her new power. She needs to devour Your Imperial Highness'' Lunacy in order to help her stabilize the curse!">

    Ah.

    Emperor Nero did mention that the ck Witches were cursed.

    Hence, Dahlia needed to make a vow with him because they needed each other.

    But Nero didn''t actually listen to the emperor that well because the emperor was beyoned annoying.

    "Nero, why don''t you go and make a vow with Dahlia now?"

    Haaah.

    Nero gave Hanna a look of disbelief.

    Thanks to the absurdity of the situation, he calmed down a bit.

    "Is it not enough that you dumped me?" Nero asked Hanna bitterly. "And now you''re pushing me to another woman right after calling off our engagement?"

    "Nero, do you think we have the luxury to worry about our personal feelings?" Hanna snapped at him. "If you die, then the empire and the Imperial Family would copse. And if Dahlia died as well, then Neoma wouldn''t forgive us."

    Hearing Neoma''s name brought him back to his senses.

    [I can bear Hanna and Dahlia''s anger, but not Neoma''s.]

    "Are you sure about this, Hanna?" Nero asked. "I don''t want to hurt you more than I already had."

    "It will hurt me more if you and Dahlia lost your lives because you were too worried about my personal feelings," Hanna said firmly. "Nero, I will survive this heartache."

    Of course.

    Hanna was one of the strongest women that Nero acknowledged in his life.

    "Alright," Nero said, turning to Dahlia awkwardly. "Are you okay with making that vow with me, Dahlia?"

    "I don''t want to die early, Prince Nero. Especially not when the world I care about is being threatened by Darkness," Dahlia said quite firmly despite her poor condition at the moment. "I''ll do anything to survive and increase my lifespan."

    Nero suddenly felt ashamed of himself after listening to Hanna and Dahlia''s resolve.

    [They''re focused on our goal instead of their personal feelings even though the two of them must be hurt a lot because of my indecisiveness.]

    Ah, Neoma wouldn''t be proud of him at this rate.

    If he couldn''t be a proper lover to either Hanna or Dahlia, he should at least fulfill his duty as the next emperor.

    "Let''s make the vow then, Dahlia," Nero said calmly. "How should we do it?"

    Dahlia extended her hand to Nero. "Please hold my hand, Prince Nero," she said shyly. "And please don''t reject it once I enter your soul with mine."

    ***

    [INTERESTING.]

    Dahlia thought the space in Prince Nero''s soul was interesting because of the things that she saw there.

    To be fair, it was almost empty.

    But the two things that caught her attention were what mattered most anyway.

    The midnight blue rose in the middle of the almost empty white room was surrounded by some reddish bulbs of light that felt ominous.

    If she was right, then the midnight blue rose would be the Crown Prince''s Roseheart Blood.

    And the reddish lights would be¡­

    [That must be Prince Nero''s Lunacy.]

    "What''s wrong?" Prince Nero asked. "Did you find something strange with my Roseheart Blood and Lunacy?"

    Dahlia nodded slowly. "Your Lunacy is working like a poison on you, Prince Nero. It''s not supposed to work that way."

    She then pointed at the midnight blue rose in the middle of the white room.

    The single-stemmed midnight blue rose, that was the symbol of the Roseheart Blood, was enclosed in a crystal-like tube ced on top of a white cube.

    Although not obvious, the edges of the rose''s petals were starting to turn ck.

    It was as if the edges were burned, and there was only one culprit.

    "The energy that Your Imperial Highness'' Lunacy gives off is detrimental to your Roseheart Blood¨C which shouldn''t be the case," Dahlia exined. "A de Moonasterio''s Lunacy is activated by their unstable emotions. As a result, you go crazier each time you experience an ''episode.'' However, despite that, your Lunacy should never attack you from within."

    These were all the things that Empress Dahlia had taught her in the short amount of time that they spent together earlier.

    It was like the empress unlocked some of her memories.

    Hence, all the fresh pieces of information regarding the de Moonasterios and their Lunacy were flowing in her mind smoothly.

    "This is probably why your Lunacy is worse than Princess Neoma, Prince Nero."

    Prince Nero tilted his head to one side. "That makes sense. Neoma''s episode only urs when she''s really mad. But I get triggered by the smallest things. I thought it was only because I have a worse personality than Neoma."

    Pfft.

    Dahlia couldn''t help butugh when Prince Nero casually admitted that he had a bad personality.

    [At least, His Imperial Highness is self-aware.]

    "You''reughing."

    Dahlia immediately put on a poker face. "I did notugh at you, Prince Nero."

    "I know," the Crown Prince said bluntly. "I''m just d that you can stillugh even after all the horrible things you''ve gone through because of me."

    She avoided his gaze. "I''m not the type to hold grudges, Prince Nero."

    "That''s probably why you''re like a breath of fresh air to me."

    Prince Nero whispered those words as if he was afraid he''d hear her.

    But she did.

    Hence, Dahlia pretended not to hear it. "Prince Nero, is it okay if we start the vow now?"

    "Alright," Prince Nero said. "What do I need to do?"

    Dahlia held Prince Nero''s hands, then she closed her eyes because the words shing in her mind at the moment were kind of embarrassing. "Prince Nero Roseheart de Moonasterio, do you ept me as your soulpanion?"

    The spell that she had uttered sounded like a marriage vow, hence her cheeks burned from embarrassment.

    She closed her eyes because she didn''t want to see Nero''s reaction.

    "Yes, Dahlia," Prince Nero said softly. "I''ll take you as my soulpanion."

    Then the Blue String that served as proof of the vow between Dahlia and Prince Nero appeared around their ring fingers.

    ***

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 Chapter 905 [BONUS CHAPTER]: HALLOWEEN BIRTHDAY PARTY

    Chapter 905 [BONUS CHAPTER]: HALLOWEEN BIRTHDAY PARTY

    TTEOKBOKKI smiled while looking at the pumpkin carved with an ugly "monster donkey" in it.

    He preserved the pumpkin that he received from Princess Neoma for his "first" birthday with his Mana. Hence, even though it had been hidden in his inventory for more than ten years, the pumpkin didn''t rot.

    [It''s that time of the year again.]

    "That smile of yours is disgusting¨C take that off."

    Tteokbokki red at Trevor. "I wasn''t smiling."

    "Yeah, whatever," Trevor said nonchntly, then he put the paperbags he was holding on the bed. "I brought everything you need for your Halloween-sh-birthday-party costume."

    Right, that day was today.

    It had been a few years since Tteokbokki, Princess Neoma and her parents, and the others came to Korea to "hide."

    Ever since then, the thug princess would throw him a Halloween Party for his birthday.

    [Princess Neoma said that we should have the same birthday since I was born the moment she was born, but I refused since I didn''t want to share the same birthday with Prince Nero. So, we ended up choosing thest day of October because even back in the empire, that thug princess of mine liked throwing Halloween parties.]

    "But let me make this clear for you, Tteokbokki," Trevor warned him, crossing his arms over his chest. "I only agreed to help you find the things you need for your costume because I thought it was funny. But you''ll have to take responsibility for everything. I will not fall down with you."

    Pfft.

    "Whatever. I''m not afraid of the thug princess," Tteokbokki said,ughing while looking at the props and costume that Trevor brought for him. "I''m going to win the best costume award and beat Princess Neoma this year."

    ***

    [MY DAUGHTER''s dignity as the Imperial Princess of the Great Moonasterion Empire¡­ is nowhere to be found.]

    Niki, as the emperor of his empire, was worried about Neoma''s future.

    But, as a father, he was happy to see his daughter having fun with her Halloween costume.

    "Mama Boss, Papa Boss, how do I look?" Neoma asked while twirling around. "Do I look like a red unicorn?"

    Yes, that was his precious daughter''s costume for this year''s Halloween party.

    [And her Soul Beast''s birthday.]

    Every year, Neoma and her Soul Beast wouldpete for the best costume award.

    It was just a small party since only him, Mona, Trevor Kesser, Gavin Quinzel, Go Areum, Nichole, and Dominic Zavaroni would vote for the winner.

    [Oh, Neoma''s Spirits, too.]

    Neoma had always won the best costume award not because they were being biased, but because Neoma would really put effort in her costumes. His daughter dressed up as a fairy princess, a pirate queen, a character named ''Elsa'' who had ice power.

    Her Soul Beast, not so much.

    His daughter dressed up as a fairy princess, a pirate queen, a character named ''Elsa'' who had ice power.

    Last year, Neoma even dressed up as Nero and cut her hair short.

    His daughter''s costumes for the past years were fun.

    [But I''m not sure Neoma would win this year¡­]

    "You look cute, Baby Muffin," Mona said, pping her hands. "I''m d your intable uniform costume arrived on time."

    Yes, that was Neoma''s costume.

    The Imperial Princess was wearing an intable red unicorn costume that made Neoma look like she was riding on a red horse.

    Neoma even dyed her hair red for the asion.

    "And your unicorn headband is also cute!" Mona gushed, gently squeezing Neoma''s cheeks. "Can I take your pictures, baby?"

    "Of course, Mama Boss," Neoma said brightly, then she turned to Niki with a pout. "Are you not pleased with my costume, Papa Boss?"

    "No, I like the fact that you seem to be having fun," Niki said. "I''m just worrying about some stupid things."

    "Then don''t worry, Papa Boss," Neoma said, giving him a thumbs up. "I know you just thought I lost my dignity as the Imperial Princess of our empire, but just let it slide for today. After all, once we returned to the empire, I can''t act goofy like this anymore."

    Now he suddenly felt bad for caring too much about his daughter''s reputation when she was just being silly and not harming anyone.

    Although Niki had lived in Korea for the past few years, he was still the emperor that was raised to be perfect and to act dignified all the time. It was a hard habit to break. But, thanks to what Neoma had just said, he reminded himself to let go of his tension.

    [My daughter is right. Once we return to the empire, we won''t have time to have fun like this anymore. Not until we finish the crows for good, at least.]

    "Rx, love," Mona said, touching his shoulder. "Let our daughter have a good time."

    Niki nodded. "I''m sorry for almost spoiling the mood," he said to Mona and Neoma, then he smiled at his daughter. "I hope you win the best costume award again this year, Neoma."

    "Hehe." Neoma gave him a smug smile. "I got this in the bag, Papa Boss."

    ***

    NO, NEOMA did not "get this in the bag."

    She was so shocked when she saw Tteokbokki''s costume for that year.

    "Hey, you''re dressed up as me!" Neoma yelled while Tteokbokki was walking down the stairs wearing a white wig and a red dress simr to what she used to wear when dressing up as ''Neoma Ramsay'' back in the empire. "OH MY GOD! This is unfair! Now you have to win because I hate losing!"

    Well, to be fair, Tteokbokki looked so pretty as a woman.

    Even if he wasn''t cosying Neoma, he would still look good.

    Tteokbokkiughed while watching Neoma''s reaction. "Haha! Got you! Now everyone here will vote for me because everyone here is a simp for you, thug princess!"

    It was an evil scheme, but it wasn''t really unfair.

    After all, Neoma was also cosying as Tteokbokki.

    [Gosh, great minds think alike, indeed.]

    ***

    "CONGRATULATIONS for winning the best costume award this year, Tteokbokki," Neoma said cheerfully. "And happy birthday!"

    She went to the balcony with Tteokbokki after the awarding ceremony.

    After all, she wanted to have a private conversation with her Soul Beast.

    "Are you being sincere, thug princess?"

    "Of course I am," she said, then she turned serious. "Tteokbokki, we''re going to return to Korea soon."

    "I know."

    "Do you want to stay here?"

    "Are you drunk? I''m your Soul Beast. I can''t leave your side even if I want to."

    "You can since Trevor can make a temporary vessel for you," Neoma said. "I noticed that you''re happy living as Kim Tan here. So, if you want, I can let you stay here as your birthday present."

    "What the heck are you talking about, thug princess?"

    "Tteokbokki, I might die soon."

    "What?"

    "I''m gonna fuck up the crows even if it costs me my life. It''s not because I want to save the world. I simply just hate them."

    "So what?"

    "You''re going to die with me if I died, you know?"

    "Ah, that''s it?" Tteokbokki said, then he fell silent for a moment. "Thug princess, I was born because of you¨C hence, I will die for you."

    "Gosh, why are you being sappy?"

    "Well, in the first ce, I won''t let you die."

    "Really?"

    "You''re annoying as hell, but fun things always happen when I''m with you," Tteokbokki said, frowning as if he couldn''t believe that he was being mushy. "So, you have to live. In return, I promise to keep Crimson, the God of Wrath, froming out."

    "That sounds like a good deal," Neoma said, smiling while patting Tteokbokki''s back. "And when the fuck are you going to change your clothes, huh? It''s starting to feel annoying looking at you while you''re dressed up as me."

    Tteokbokki justughed it off¡­

    ¡­ until Papa Boss scolded him for "impersonating a member of the Imperial Family."

    [Gosh, Papa Boss doesn''t know what cosy is¡­]

    ***

    HAPPY HALLOWEEN, everyone.

    Thank you for waiting and being patient.

    I was busy this past week because it was my grandparents'' death anniversary service. Sorry about that. You can expect longer and more consistent updates from today.

    And Neoma will finallye back from the dead.

    Yeah, we''ll have a new emperor soon. :>

    ***

    Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

 Chapter 906 RISE OF THE NEW MOON

    Chapter 906 RISE OF THE NEW MOON

    WHAT WAS that¡­?

    Hanna was forced to close her eyes when a blinding light that came out from Dahlia and Nero hit her.

    To be precise, the blinding light came from the two''s intertwined hands.

    [Is it because of the vow?]

    Hanna slowly opened her eyes and waited until they adjusted to the light.

    And then she saw it.

    She saw the glowing blue strings tied on both Dahlia and Nero''s ring fingers.

    Those blue rings looked like wedding rings.

    Hanna unconsciously touched the engagement ring on her finger that she had yet to remove.

    [I should return this to Nero since I can''t throw away an heirloom from the Imperial Family.]

    She was about to remove the engagement ring when she heard Neoma''s voice in her head.

    To be precise, she suddenly remembered a conversation she had with the Imperial Princess before.

    ["Hanna, do you know the saying "all good deeds go unpunished?""]

    ["No, I haven''t. Is that a saying from the other world you used to live in?"]

    ["Uh-huh. It reminds me of you when I saw you treating the protestors in the rally well. I mean, you did a good thing. But it also makes me worry about you."]

    ["Why are you worried when I''m simply taking care of our people, Neoma?"]

    ["You know, sometimes, showing kindness to other people coulde back to bite you in the ass."]

    ["Okay, now you just made me more confused, Neoma. Isn''t helping others supposed to be a good thing? If anything, shouldn''t I get a reward for it?"]

    ["Nah, don''t be na?ve. Not every recipient of your kindness would appreciate it properly, so be careful. It will be nice if your kindness will only go unappreciated, but in the worst-case scenario, your beneficial actions might just be met with hostility."]

    ["You mean I could get hurt even though I did something kind to other people?"]

    ["Hanna, my precious best friend, shitty things can happen even to the kindest soul out there."]

    To be honest, Hanna didn''t understand what Neoma meant back then.

    But now, she did.

    She realized it the moment her teardrops fell on her engagement ring as she fell on her knees. Her shoulders shook hard from crying. She had to hug herself in an attempt to console her broken heart on her own.

    [Nero is no longer mine¡­]

    Hanna always said that she was prepared to be the Crown Princess and the future empress, but she never said that she was prepared to be Nero''s wife.

    And she had a simple reason for that.

    She wasn''t confident.

    Hanna was confident that she could be a good Crown Princess and a great empress, but she was never confident about being loved as Nero''s wife. Maybe deep down in her heart, she had always known that was all she was to the Crown Prince.

    That Nero couldn''t really love her as a woman.

    She was just the perfect Crown Princess that the nobles would approve of to him.

    She was just the excellent future empress who could lead the empire with him¨C nothing more, nothing less.

    But maybe Nero did love her romantically.

    Even so, it wasn''t enough for him to choose Hannapletely.

    [Nero''s heart is always swayed by Dahlia, even though Dahlia has done her best to avoid him.]

    To be fair, Hanna knew that Nero also did his best to stay away from Dahlia.

    [But fate seems to have another n for the two, and here we are now.]

    "What the hell, Hanna Quinzel?"

    Hanna raised her head and, through the blur of her teary eyes, saw Nero standing in front of her while carrying the unconscious Dahlia in her arms. "Is Dahlia okay?" she asked worriedly while standing up and quickly wiping the tears off of her face with her hands. "Did you seed in making the vow with her?"

    "I thought you said you''ll be fine, Hanna Quinzel," Nero said sternly, ignoring all her questions. It must mean Dahlia was okay since the Crown Prince didn''t lose his mind. "But why are you crying now?"

    Hanna smiled sadly at Nero. "I didn''t say I''ll be fine right away, Nero."

    "Had I known you''d cry¨C"

    "Stop it," she said in a cracked voice, holding back her tears once again. "We both knew you had to make the vow with Dahlia. Let''s not cry over spilled milk."

    "You''re the only one crying here!"

    "Don''t raise your voice at me, Prince Nero."

    "¡­"

    As expected, calling Nero by his title was enough to make hime back to his senses.

    But Hanna didn''t expect the next thing that happened.

    Nero cried.

    The Crown Prince''s precious tears rolled down his cheeks silently.

    [I didn''t expect to see Nero cry for me¡­]

    "I''m sorry, Hanna," Nero said sincerely, his tears still falling nonstop. "I''m sorry for breaking my promise to you. For not loving you better, for failing to make you the empress. And most of all, I''m sorry for breaking your heart."

    Ah, why did Nero have to apologize so sincerely that it reached her heart in the most devastating way possible?

    Hanna once again burst out crying. "Please stop apologizing, Nero. You''re only making me feel worse," she said between sobs. "It''s my decision to break up with you and throw away the crown. I know I might regret itter. But, at least at this very moment, I know I did the right thing¡­"

    [Even though my selflessness came back to bite me in the end.]

    "Hanna¨C"

    "Please not another apology, Nero. I made a choice I''m ready to take responsibility for. I ept your apology, so please stop saying ''sorry.''"

    "Then allow me to thank you."

    That effectively caused her to pause for a moment. "What?"

    "Hanna, thank you for standing by my side all this time," Nero said softly. "Thank you for loving me, even when I don''t deserve you. For choosing me, even though Neoma warned you that I was a bad choice. You were a great friend, an excellent Crown Princess, and a gentle lover. Thank you for being patient and kind to a cold-hearted bastard like me."

    Pfft.

    Hanna couldn''t believe that she could stillugh in the middle of crying hard. "Hearing that from you makes it sound like I''m an amazing person."

    "Because you are."

    "Then I bet you''ll regret losing me," she joked. But she half-meant it, actually. "But if you do, you should still wish for my happiness."

    "I won''t do anything that would hurt you again, Hanna," Nero promised in a soft voice that he rarely used on other people. "This is thest time."

    Thest time, huh?

    "Then can I confess my feelings for you for onest time?"

    The Crown Prince nodded, obviously trying to hold back his tears.

    "I love you, Nero," Hanna said, smiling through her tears. "Thank you for being my first love, my Crown Prince."

    Nero burst into tears again. "It''s an honor to be loved by you, my Crown Princess."

    ***

    [AH, Prince Nero''s Mana has stabilized.]

    Ruto was relieved to know that the kids had taken care of the problem on their own.

    If Prince Nero had already calmed down, then it only meant that Dahlia and Hanna Quinzel worked together to keep the Crown Prince sane.

    "Will you please stop attacking me already?"

    It was Callisto de Luca who spoke.

    Ruto didn''t listen, of course.

    He continued hitting the barrier that the half-god made with his lightning arrows.

    Unfortunately, he couldn''t use his full strength because he didn''t want the entire ce to copse on the children below.

    He couldn''t tell if those kids were injured or not, so he was being careful.

    [Once Prince Nero and thediese up here, I''ll attack properly¡­]

    Ruto''s thoughts were interrupted when a blob of something pink suddenly jumped out from the ck hole between him and the throne area where Callisto de Luca and Larissa were¨C and then "it" charged at the demigod, breaking the barrier nonchntly with hundreds of ice daggers around "it."

    He only saw a blob of pink because the movement was so quick his eyes barely followed it.

    But it wasn''t a "blob of something."

    "Who gave you the right to sit on my throne, you peasant?"

    It was, of course, Prince Nero.

    [He looks calm, but I bet the Crown Prince is seething inside.]

    Prince Nero grabbed Callisto de Luca by the neck, then he casually threw the demigod away without even giving Callisto de Luca the chance to speak.

    Before anyone in the room could react, the Crown Prince then grabbed Larissa by the neck.

    "Don''t kill her, Prince Nero," Ruto said in a hurry because he could tell that the Crown Prince was about to exorcise the Spirit God. "Neoma wants to kill that thing with her own hands."

    Prince Nero clicked his tongue, then he threw Larissa towards Ruto. "Then make sure that pathetic thing wouldn''t escape."

    Ruto was too disgusted to touch Larissa with his hands, so he just snapped his fingers.

    And then Veton, his Elemental Guardian, appeared in his original form.

    Veton was a giant Thunderbird, so all he had to do was open his beak and swallow Larissa.

    It happened so fast that the Spirit God couldn''t even scream.

    But Ruto was no longer paying attention to Larissa because history was happening right in front of him.

    Prince Nero sat on the throne and imed it.

    The Crown Prince was the first to ever do it while unmarried.

    [And the throne epted Prince Nero.]

    Ruto clenched his hands tight when the Moonglow around Prince Nero suddenly grew bigger and brighter.

    [He has absorbed Neoma and Emperor Niki''s Moonglow already¡­]

    Then the Moonglow scattered around Prince Nero''s body quickly gathered around his head.

    And, in just the blink of an eye, the majestic emperor''s throne appeared on top of the Crown Prince''s head.

    No, His Imperial Highness was no longer a mere prince.

    But, for someone who had just be the new emperor of the greatest empire the world, Prince Nero looked miserable.

    [Not that I care.]

    "Congrattions, Emperor Nero," Ruto said, slightly bowing his head towards the new emperor. "Congrattions on bing the new Moon of the Great Moonasterion Empire."

    ***

    [IT''S GONE¡­]

    Niki smiled sadly while looking at his hands.

    The Moonglow that he used to possess as the emperor had already vanished from his body. Fortunately, the Moonglow that the older Neoma gave to him to extend his lifespan remained.

    Losing his own Moonglow made him feel bittersweet.

    It wasn''t because he wanted to cling to the throne.

    [I just feel bad that I handed the throne to Nero when the empire was in such a dire state.]

    "Congrattions, Emperor Nero," Niki whispered to himself, clenching his hands tight. "I''ll do my best to support you, my precious son."

    ***

    NEOMA fell to her knees when all the Moonglow in her body disappeared just like that.

    Gosh.

    [My Moonglow has no loyalty whatsoever.]

    Well, it wasn''t like she didn''t expect it.

    The Moonglow was the kind of divine power that should only manifest in the emperor and the rightful heir to the throne. But since the throne couldn''t choose between Neoma and Nero, both of them received the blessing of the Moonglow.

    [And that cut Papa Boss'' lifespan shorter.]

    "We have a new Moon."

    Neoma raised her head and saw Yule extending a hand to her. "My baby brother has finally be the new emperor," she said, smiling. She epted the Moon God''s hand and let him pull her up. "The Great Moonasterion Empire should enjoy the reign of itsst emperor."

    "You also said that earlier," Yule said while letting go of her hand. "What exactly do you mean by that, Nene?"

    "The next ruler of the empire wouldn''t be an emperor but an empress regnant," Neoma said confidently. "And the empire that the future empress regnant would rule might not be called The Great Moonasterion Empire anymore."

    [I think Baby Pink Empire sounds good, BP for short.]

    Right?

    ***

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 Chapter 907 THE FINAL INGREDIENT

    Chapter 907 THE FINAL INGREDIENT

    "WE HAVE a new emperor."

    Glenn was surprised to hear that from Skylus.

    After the prayer rally that his son led with Lord Manu and Dion Skelton, Emperor Niki sent the Royal Archmage to the Exton Estate to pick up Glenn, Brigitte, and Monik.

    Hence, his family was now back in the safety of the Imperial Pce.

    [Brigitte has already used her new ability to take care of the Second Cmity, so my wife can leave the Exton Estate for now. But she may have to return thereter for the remaining time of her pregnancy. However, right now, the safest ce for my family is the Imperial Pce under the protection of His Imperial Majesty.]

    "But we have to evacuate the people in the pce, Daddy."

    "Huh?" Glenn asked, surprised. "Evacuate them? Why?"

    Skylus'' eyes glowed. "Prince Nero¨C no, Emperor Nero''splete Moonglow would cause an explosion once he''s out of the throne room. We''ll be fine because Monik Noona can use her barrier to protect us, but the regr servants in the pce might get hurt."

    Glenn immediately got up from his seat. "Then I''ll inform His Imperial Majesty about this right away¨C"

    "No!"

    Everyone in the room was surprised when Monik, who was sitting on Brigitte''sp, suddenly screamed.

    Glenn got nervous when he saw Monik''s eyes glowing.

    [She''s looking at a vision¡­ and it doesn''t look like good news.]

    "Sweetheart, what''s wrong?" Brigitte asked their daughter nervously. "What did you see? You can tell us and we''ll stop it from happening."

    As expected, even his wife knew their daughter''s premonition this time was bad.

    "ude is in danger!" Monik cried, her eyes still glowing brightly. "Daddy, you must return to our kingdom and save our brother!"

    Glenn and Brigitte both stiffened.

    He was sure that both he and his wife''s hearts just dropped to the floor after hearing Monik''s vision.

    This was all his fault.

    [I shouldn''t have let ude stay in the kingdom alone¡­]

    "The crows are there," Skylus added, his eyes glowing again. "But don''t worry, Daddy, Mommy, Noona¨C we have a strong ally who just arrived there."

    Monik stopped crying at the same time her eyes also stopped glowing. "My vision already ended¡­"

    It was probably because Monik''s foundation as a saintess wasn''t as solid as Skylus'' who had received the Moon God''s blessing.

    "It''s alright, sweetheart," Brigitte consoled their daughter, kissing the top of Monik''s head. "You did well."

    Monik gave her mother a small smile as if she was shy.

    "Good job, sweetie," Glenn said to Monik, smiling to hide his worries. When his daughter only smiled and nodded, he turned to Skylus with a little more seriousness on his face. The fact that Skylus looked calm also put him at ease. "Son, did you say we have a strong ally who just arrived there? Are they going to save your brother and protect the kingdom?"

    "Uhm, the ally in question doesn''t really care about ude and our kingdom, unfortunately¡­"

    Now Glenn, Brigitte, and even Monik looked confused.

    "We can''t really trust him, but we can trust his love for Neoma noona''s loyalp dog¨C I mean, friend," Skylus said, clearing his throat. "He won''t let ude die because he knows it would upset Neoma noona."

    Ah.

    Glenn, Brigitte, and Monik immediately realized who Skylus was talking about because Princess Neoma only had one faithful dog by her side (Lewis excluded because Lewis was under the "son" category).

    Which got him thinking¡­

    [Why is Princess Neoma surrounded by crazy bastards?]

    ***

    TREVOR acted like he was throwing up after seeing Regina Crowell and that annoying sorcerer obsessed with being his brother. "When you only took a stroll to a neighboring kingdom to pick up some ingredients, but then you suddenly realized you ended up in a wastnd full of trash¡­" He clicked his tongue while shaking his head. "My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined."

    He just spoke the "memenguage" that he learned from the modern world.

    No wonder Regina Crowell and the crazy sorcerer were looking up at him as if he had lost his mind.

    Well, at least he felt better to see those damned crows looking up at him and not the other way around. It couldn''t be helped because he was standing on top of the Hazelden Kingdom''s royal pce''s giant gate. But, to be fair, hended then on purpose.

    "I thought you would follow Princess Neoma to hell," Regina Crowell said indifferently. "I''m surprised you can function even without your beloved princess, Trevor Kesser."

    Trevor scoffed. "Of course, this is what you call the power of love."

    Regina Crowellughed. "I didn''t know the power of UNREQUITED love is that strong. Should I pin for Rubin Drayton to gain more power?"

    Wow.

    That hit a nerve.

    [Should I kill this bitch?]

    "Oh,e on, Brother," the crazy sorcerer whose name Trevor didn''t want to remember said,ughing at Trevor. "Just give up on Princess Neoma. Even our side knows that Princess Neoma is in a rtionship with the newmander of the White Lion Knights¨C argh!"

    Dn Crowell.

    Right, that was the crazy sorcerer''s name.

    Trevor remembered after he ripped Dn Crowell''s heart out of his chest, causing the crazy sorcerer to cough up a huge chunk of blood.

    Ah, yes.

    Trevor just did that.

    And he only needed three seconds to jump off the gate, approach Dn Crowell like an apex predator, and stab his hand through the crazy sorcerer''s chest.

    It only looked easy because he was Trevor Kesser.

    But not anyone could simply walk towards a powerful sorcerer like Dn Crowell and break all the sturdyyers of barrier he covered himself with as protection.

    Unfortunately for Dn Crowell, Trevor was one hundred times stronger than him.

    Hence, breaking the barriers and spells that Dn Crowell created to protect his heart and Core was just like breaking a fragile ss for Trevor.

    [I should have done this earlier.]

    "Dn!" Regina Crowell, who snapped out of her shock, screamed. "Trevor Kesser, you crazy bastard."

    "Don''t move," Trevor warned Regina Crowell coldly. "I''ll kill you if you move an inch."

    Fortunately for Regina Crowell, Trevor needed her alive.

    It seemed like Regina Crowell also noticed that, but it didn''t matter because Regina Crowell also knew that Trevor could change his mind at any given moment. Hence, the wench remained frozen where she stood.

    "You''re a strong sorcerer, so you''re going to live for a while even without your heart," Trevor said while he was using his Mana to create a cube made of ice to store Dn Crowell''s heart. "You should sleep in the meantime, "Brother.""

    Dn Crowell could only re at Trevor as his body fell to the floor, his consciousness fading away.

    But the crazy sorcerer''s body didn''t stay long on the ground.

    Bookworm, the monster "worm" always wrapped around Trevor, crawled down until it reached Dn Crowell.

    Regina Crowell, who was strong enough to see the Bookworm, watched the next thing that happened in horror: the Bookworm opened its big and disgusting mouth with a set of tiny yet sharp teeth, and then the Bookworm swallowed Dn Crowell like how a snake would gobble up a small animal.

    "Did you do that to Dn just because he made fun of you for having an unrequited love for Princess Neoma?"

    "Do you think I''m that petty?"

    "Yes."

    Ouch.

    Trevor just shrugged it off.

    It was true anyway.

    But, fortunately, he calmed down after seeing Dn Crowell get gobbled up by the Bookworm.

    [God, I really am petty.]

    "Princess Neoma ordered me to kill Dn Crowell, but it''s a shame to kill him right away so I''ll keep him alive for now."

    "Dn is still alive?"

    "Yeah, but he''ll be in pain as soon as he wakes up," Trevor said, shrugging. "The Bookworm''s stomach is full of acid, after all. Since Dn Crowell''s body is covered with protective spells, he wouldn''t melt right away. But how long do you think his barriers wouldst against the Bookworm''s acid when he''s sleeping peacefully there?"

    Regina Crowell''s face darkened, her green eyes glowing menacingly. "You acted like Dn Crowell is on the same level as you before, but all this time, you''re capable of killing him in just a span of a few seconds?"

    "Well, I''m not that motivated to kill Dn Crowell before. After all, as a sorcerer, it''s kind of fun to watch another promising sorcerer," he exined casually. "But things already changed because my Moon Princess asked me to kill that crazy sorcerer."

    "Has the princess been revived already?"

    "No," Trevor said, looking at Regina Crowell meaningfully. "Not yet."

    Regina Crowell, whose intelligence was praised by both Princess Neoma and Princess Hanna, fell silent for a moment before pulling herself together. "You need my ability to bring the Imperial Princess back."

    Bingo.

    "Don''t get me wrong, though," he warned her. "I''m not here to negotiate with you¨C I''m here to get what I need from you and I don''t care whether you agree or not."

    Regina Crowell suddenly burst outughing.

    "Yep, that''s it," Trevor said, nodding. "You should at least be that level of crazy to be worthy of being called Princess Neoma''s archnemesis."

    "The older Princess Neoma from the first timeline was right."

    Okay, that was pretty shocking to hear.

    [And it doesn''t look like this bitch is lying.]

    Trevor knitted his eyebrows. "You met Princess Neoma of the first timeline? When?"

    "Just recently," Regina Crowell said, smiling haughtily. "Should we work together this time?"

    ***

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 Chapter 908 TEMPORARY CEASEFIRE

    Chapter 908 TEMPORARY CEASEFIRE

    [Earlier¡­]

    THE HAZELDEN Kingdom again?

    To be honest, Regina wasn''t happy to be dispatched to Hazelden.

    This time, her mission was to kidnap the only monarch staying at the pce at the moment¨C the young Prince ude Griffiths.

    In her opinion, it was a stupid move.

    [Can''t they see that Hazelden is being protected by the empire?]

    They should have been focusing their force on the Imperial Capital while Princess Neoma and Prince Nero were both out ofmission instead of wasting their time on other people.

    "I''m always pleased to see your dissatisfaction in your life as a crow, Regina Crowell."

    Regina''s eyes widened in shock when she saw the person who greeted her as soon as she entered her bedroom. "Princess Neoma?"

    It was indeed the Imperial Princess.

    However, the Princess Neoma in front of her right now was older, taller, and more mature.

    [And this Princess Neoma looks depressed, as opposed to the Princess Neoma I know.]

    Ah, it must be it.

    "Are you the Princess Neoma from the first timeline?"

    "Have you retrieved the memories of your past life?"

    "Not everything," Regina said, leaning against the door while crossing her arms over her chest. "What do you need from me?"

    "The Neoma of this timeline is dead."

    "I''m sure her people are working hard to bring her back."

    Prince Nero froze Princess Neoma using his ice to protect her physical body from dyingpletely.

    Moreover, the Imperial Princess had Ruto Solfrid.

    "It seems like you know how they''re nning to bring back the Imperial Princess of this timeline."

    Regina scoffed. "I vaguely remember how a certain ''Commander Yoan'' killed me in the past just to revive Princess Neoma."

    That man had a different name, but she knew who he was.

    [It''s Ruston ''Ruto'' Solfrid, isn''t it?]

    "I won''t let themander, or anyone for that matter, kill me just to revive Princess Neoma."

    "You don''t need to die this time."

    "What?"

    "Yoan had to kill you in the first timeline because he didn''t know how your power worked back then," the older Princess Neoma exined. "But it''s different now. We just need a piece of your soul as thest ingredient needed to bring back the Neoma of this timeline. She hasn''t been dead for long, so a tiny piece of your soul would be enough to turn back time for her."

    "So, you need me to bring Princess Neoma back to the time that she was still alive," Regina said. To be honest, she wasn''t surprised to hear that. In fact, the moment Princess Neoma died, she had already expected Commander Ruto to chase her. But it didn''t happen. "What makes you think I''ll help you revive the Imperial Princess? It does me more good if Princess Neoma remained dead than it does when shees back to life."

    "If you cooperate with the children well, I''ll give you what you want."

    "I''m not going to listen¨C"

    "I''ll tell you how to kill the ''Crow Elders.''"

    Crow Elders.

    Just hearing that term already made Regina shiver.

    The Crow Elders, or simply the ''Elders,'' were the ones who brought back Callisto de Luca again and again. They were also the ones who raised Callisto de Luca and the other elite young crows like Regina herself.

    But the Elders rarelye outside.

    [They disappeared after the young crows were old enough to take care of themselves.]

    And Elders knew how to hide well, so Regina hadn''t seen them in years.

    "Did I kill the Elders in the first timeline?"

    Just like what she told the older Princess Neoma earlier, not all of her memories had returned already.

    She just had seen a few fragments here and there.

    "You failed to kill them, and that was how Yoan caught you."

    Regina clicked her tongue. "So, the final trump card I''ve been nurturing all this time didn''t work."

    "It''s not because you''re weak, but because you didn''t use your resources well."

    "Resources?"

    The older Princess Neoma smiled coldly and pointed at herself. "Me."

    Regina scoffed, but she didn''t say anything.

    To be fair, ever since she got a gist of how Princess Neoma used her powers, she realized that they could actually work together well if they were on the same side.

    [Unfortunately, we aren''t.]

    "A temporary ceasefire," the older Princess Neoma said. "Regina Crowell, if you give a piece of your soul to the Neoma of this timeline, then I''ll give you the information that you need."

    It was a tempting offer.

    However, Regina didn''t give a definite answer to the older Princess Neoma at that time.

    ***

    "WHAT MAKES you think I''ll trust you?" Trevor scoffed at Regina Crowell''s suggestion. "I don''t need you to work with me¨C I can get what I want from you even without your cooperation."

    "Are you sure about that?" Regina Crowell said calmly, smiling at him as if she wasn''t afraid. "Trevor Kesser, why do you think the older Princess Neoma asked the current Princess Neoma not to kill me?"

    He didn''t want to admit this, but the bitch made a point.

    [Even my Moon Princess didn''t tell me to kill Regina Crowell.]

    "You need a piece of my soul as the final ingredient to bring back Princess Neoma," Regina Crowell said, putting a hand over her chest. "I''ll give it to you. But if you kill me, then my soul would quickly vanish before you could even touch it."

    "What?"

    "You made Dn look weak, but he isn''t," the wench said confidently. "I knew your side would be after my soul to bring back your beloved Imperial Princess. And that''s why I asked Dn to make sure my soul would disappear as soon as I breathed myst."

    Ah, this bitch was smart.

    But if Regina Crowell already knew that we needed her soul as the final ingredient, then it must mean that she had really met the older Princess Neoma.

    Hmm.

    [I guess Regina Crowell is more useful alive than dead. Once I get a hold of this wench, I''ll turn her into an unlimited supply of life force for my Moon Princess. Oh, damn. I''m really a genius, huh?]

    "Alright. Let''s do that," Trevor said, grinning. Then he opened his arms and looked around. "But what are you going to do with the crows that you brought here? If the higher-ups in your stupid little cult realized that you betrayed them, you''re dead."

    Regina Crowell justughed, then several vines made of shadows and Darkness emerged from the ground¡­

    ¡­ killing the hidden crows all around them in an instant.

    Yes, Regina Crowell just killed her own allies mercilessly.

    Trevorughed out loud. "You''re one crazy bitch, Regina Crowell."

    ***

    NOWELL Elwood''s feelings wereplicated at that moment.

    Seeing ude, his baby nephew, wearing full armor trickled his heart because ude looked so adorable in his full gear.

    Of course, the armor was light, since they installed it with magic.

    [It was a gift from the Imperial Family.]

    Nowell, despite gushing about how cute ude was in his full armor, couldn''t help but feel bad for his nephew.

    [A baby shouldn''t be wearing an armor¡­]

    But what could they do?

    The pce was suddenly attacked by Regina and Dn Crowell.

    "Don''t worry, Uncle," ude assured him. "Grandma Roxana is protecting me, so I''ll be fine!"

    Nowell smiled and nodded. "I can see that, Your Royal Highness."

    ude was surrounded by hundreds of little pink lights.

    Nowell, like most people born in Hazelden, wasn''t gifted with Mana. However, he could tell that his nephew was surrounded by a strong Mana that acted like a barrier.

    That put him at ease.

    [Even if we all die here, Hazelden will be fine as long as Prince ude survives.]

    ***

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 Chapter 909 COMEBACK TEASER

    Chapter 909 COMEBACK TEASER

    NERO didn''t mind when he felt his father''s Moonglow entering his soul.

    But he got annoyed when he felt Neoma''s Moonglow, too.

    [Tsk. This Moonglow has no loyalty. How dare you leave my twin sister unprotected, huh? I swear most things the de Moonasterios possess are useless things.]

    "Congrattions, Emperor Nero," Commander Ruto said indifferently, slightly bowing his heads towards Nero. "Congrattions on bing the new Moon of the Great Moonasterion Empire."

    Nero smirked. "Now I have the power to kick you back to your own homnd, Commander Ruto."

    "Well, if Your Imperial Majesty don''t mind not seeing Neoma again, then I don''t mind."

    "What the heck are you saying?"

    "I''m not leaving without Neoma¨C never again."

    Nero caught his father breaking the armrests of the throne several times since he was a child.

    But only now did he understand why such things happened.

    When Nero grabbed the armrests of the throne, those flimsy things broke into pieces right away.

    [It wasn''t Father''s fault that the throne was flimsy, so it''s not my fault either.]

    "Just so you wait, Commander Ruto," Nero said, clenching his jaw. "You''ll soon realize that it''s easier to save the world than marry Neoma."

    [I should scheme with Fatherter.]

    "Do your worst, Your Imperial Majesty," Commander Ruto said calmly. "Your Imperial Majesty will also soon realize that it''s easier to burn the world to ashes than stop me from marrying Neoma."

    [This thief is thick-skinned, huh?]

    Nero was finally about to curse when, suddenly, someone pped.

    It was Callisto de Luca.

    [Ah, I almost forgot that he was here.]

    "Congrattions, Emperor Nero," Callisto de Luca said, looking so smug for some reason. "It''s an honor to witness your ascencion to the throne."

    Nero scoffed, raising his hand. "Well, your greeting doesn''t make me happy."

    He snapped his fingers, instantly summoning hundreds of ice daggers ready to aim at Callisto de Luca at any moment.

    "Emperor Nero, don''t!"

    It was Commander Ruto who stopped him.

    At first, Nero didn''t understand why themander was suddenly stopping him.

    But he soon found out the answer when the throne room began to crumble.

    And it was all because of Nero summoning his power.

    To be fair, he only meant to summon hundreds of ice daggers. He wasn''t that reckless to attack without abandon when he knew that both Hanna and Dahlia were still under the throne room.

    However, it seemed like he had underestimated his own strength.

    The hundreds of ice daggers quickly turned into thousands, and what was supposed to be ice daggers turned into ice greatswords. Not only did the number and the appearance of his attack change¨C the amount of Mana also did.

    What was supposed to be a light attack had turned into an attack that was enough to bring down a small nation like the Hazelden Kingdom.

    Nero, despite the dangerous situation he created identally, was actually amazed.

    [Am I more powerful than Neoma now?]

    "Yes, that''s it," Callisto de Luca said, watching in awe even though all those ice greatswords were pointed at him. "You should at least be half as powerful as Niki de Moonasterio when he ascended the throne during his prime."

    What?

    Nero was insulted.

    [I''m only half as powerful as my Father during his prime?]

    That annoyed him, almost pushing him tounch his attack.

    "I got them out, Commander!"

    Nero got distracted when he heard Gin''s voice.

    When he turned to his side, he saw the demon cating out of the warp gate with Hanna and Dahlia.

    The ck Witch was still unconscious, so Gin¨C in his human form¨C carried Dahlia in his arms.

    Hanna, on the other hand, rode on her shadow griffin.

    [I''m d they''re both safe.]

    "Thank you for giving me a wonderful show, Emperor Nero," Callisto de Luca said, even giving him an exaggerated bow¨C his entire body had already turned translucent. "See youter."

    What?

    Nero stood up, ready to run after Callisto de Luca.

    "Your Imperial Majesty, just let it go. It''s just a shell anyway," Commander Ruto said in a hurry. Themander had his arms raised, his unbelievable amount of purple Mana shooting out of his palms like it was nothing. It wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that themander was the only person preventing the throne room from copsing. "Please control your Mana or else the throne room in the outside world would explode!"

    He didn''t like it.

    [I absolutely hate to be ordered around if the order didn''te from Neoma.]

    But Nero knew that Commander Ruto was right this time. "I''ll do it because it''s what I''m supposed to do and not because you ordered me, Ruston Solfrid."

    ***

    NIKOLAI was half-relieved and half-worried when he saw the door to the throne room return to where it was supposed to be.

    It only meant that Nero had sessfully and safely ascended the throne.

    However, his son''s huge amount of Mana and newly gained Moonglow were threatening to blow up the entire pce.

    He had already ordered his knights to evacuate everyone.

    However¡­

    [This amount of power would surely cause a huge explosion, and it''s inevitable for the weak to get hurt.]

    But, of course, he would do anything to stop that from happening.

    "Your Imperial Majesty!"

    Niki wanted to correct Geoffrey Kinsley and say that he was no longer the emperor, but the urgency in the Pdin''s face stopped him. "What happened?"

    "It''s Princess Neoma''s "children!"" Geoffrey said in an urgent voice. "They just came back from the Imperial Shrine. The children said the real body of Princess Neoma has appeared there, and the ice protecting it has started to melt!"

    "What?!"

    Why did Neoma''s body appear there?

    And the ice that Nero made started to melt?

    That wasn''t supposed to happen because Neoma''s real body was hidden in Trevor''s pce in the Underworld.

    lights¦­¦Ïvel [Oh, right.]

    The Ancient Devil did appear with ill-intentions.

    However, there was a reliable person that Niki sent there to stop the Ancient Devil from hurting their children.

    [Rufus Quinzel, you better be safe.]

    ***

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 Chapter 910 LET TREVOR COOK (1)

    Chapter 910 LET TREVOR COOK (1)

    OH.

    Rufus noticed that the Ancient Devil''s aura turned murderous after Hanna managed to escape with Gin.

    It was a relief that his daughter was out of there now.

    But he couldn''t rx yet because Princess Neoma''s frozen body was still there.

    [I need to safely get Princess Neoma out of here even if it kills me.]

    "You''re the King of Hell, aren''t you?" Rufus asked, then he added this to be polite: "Sir."

    The King of Hell scoffed. "You can just call me ''Drystan.'' I don''t need a child to be overly polite to me."

    [I''m not a child, though¡­]

    He just kept it to himself because, for someone like the King of Hell, he knew he was nothing but a mere child. Moreover, it wasn''t the right time to argue about that.

    The Ancient Devil suddenly fell silent in the corner as if he was in deep thought.

    Of course, none of them was foolish enough to attack the Ancient Devil because they wouldn''t know if it was a trap or what.

    [We just need to continue putting up our guard.]

    Ah, there was more.

    "Lord Drystan, I''m sorry, but I won''t be fighting the Ancient Devil to death."

    "Huh?"

    Rufus smiled "innocently" at Drystan. "I''m saying I won''t sacrifice my life to stop the Ancient Devil here. You see, I''m a father of two daughters."

    "You only have one daughter, child."

    "It may be impudent of me, but I consider Princess Neoma as my daughter," Rufus said. His meeting with the older Princess Neoma from the first timeline was still fresh in his mind, so he almost broke down crying. Fortunately, he was able to get a hold of his emotions. "Hence, my priority right now is to get Princess Neoma out of here. I hope you understand what I''m saying, sir."

    Drystan sighed while shaking his head. "That''s fine with me. I won''t force a child to die with me here anyway. But I''m sorry. I can''t help you get out from here since my power only allows me to create a portal to Hell, and not open a portal leading to the human world. After all, someone like me isn''t allowed toe out of the surface."

    "It''s alright, sir," Rufus said. "I can use my power to send Princess Neoma out of here. While I''m trying to open a path for Princess Neoma, can I ask you to protect me? I need to be alive to send the Imperial Princess to the other side, after all."

    "Well, of course, I''ll try my best to do that," Drystan said, looking at the Ancient Devil. "Just pray to your god to give me strength to fight that monster alone."

    "Not alone."

    Hmm?

    Rufus smiled widely when he saw the person who just be their sliver of hope at that very moment. "Lewis."

    He almost forgot that Lewis Crevan was still there!

    lights¦­¦Ïvel "Sir, I think my god just answered our prayer," Rufus said, smiling. Then he used his hands to politely point at Lewis. "We have Lewis here."

    Drystan turned to Lewis with a dire look on his face. "What can a baby do?"

    Lewis frowned. "Me not baby."

    "Well, you''re speaking like one."

    Oops.

    "Sir, Lewis is not speaking like a baby," Rufus said,ughing awkwardly. "He just tends to talk incoherently to people he doesn''t like."

    Drystan gave Rufus a look of disbelief. "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

    Uhm, no.

    The awkward silence was interrupted when the Ancient Devil suddenly threw a ball of dark energy at them.

    It was Lewis who moved first.

    The fox boy jumped and kicked the ball of dark energy back at the Ancient Devil.

    Then the Ancient Devil swatted the ball of dark energy with his hand casually.

    The ball of dark energy was then sent flying, hitting the roof of the mansion. It then exploded, causing the roof to copse on them.

    It was Rufus'' turn to move.

    He created a Shadow Veil to protect himself and Princess Neoma''s frozen body.

    [Lewis and Drystan can take care of themselves.]

    There was a strange miasma around the Imperial Princess'' ice coffin, and Rufus had a feeling it was meant to protect her.

    Even so, he didn''t risk it and created a barrier for Princess Neoma.

    He tried to extend the barrier to Lewis and Drystan, but the two immediately left his side to attack the Ancient Devil at the same time.

    [Good luck, you two.]

    Rufus didn''t have the time or luxury to watch Lewis and Drystan fight since he had a more important thing to do.

    He looked at the miasma surrounding the Imperial Princess'' ice coffin.

    Fortunately, it wasn''t attacking him.

    [I can feel Commander Ruto''s Mana in this, so it won''t attack me, right? Themander is strong enough to create a weapon that can differentiate the allies from the enemies.]

    Rufus decided to test his luck and stepped forward.

    Much to his relief, the miasma actually avoided him instead of attacking him as he feared.

    [Commander Ruto really doesn''t disappoint. I''ll give him a chance to make it up to Princess Neoma. He earned it.]

    Rufus, now relieved that the miasma wasn''t going to attack him, approached the ice coffin more confidently now. Then he ced his hands on the huge block of ice, enduring the cold that was making his hands numb.

    Then he closed his eyes to concentrate.

    [I can''t open a portal leading to the outside world, but I can send Princess Neoma to the Shadow Realm.]

    The Shadow Realm was the dimension where the Quinzels'' Shadow Beasts lived.

    To be honest, only the chosen Quinzel Heirs could enter the Shadow Realm.

    Of course, his Brother Gavin had already gone to that ce before.

    Rufus got his chance when he was named the new sessor after his older brother disappeared.

    And, recently, Hanna had gone to the Shadow Realm as well when she chose her main Shadow Beasts.

    Unfortunately, his daughter was yet to get used toing in and out of the Shadow Realm freely. That was probably why Hanna didn''t think about sending Princess Neoma to the Shadow Realm. After all, if done wrong, the Imperial Princess could be sent to the wrong dimension.

    Fortunately, Rufus had already mastered the Shadow Realm, and he could even bring other people there with him.

    Hence, only one problem remained now.

    [The Shadow Beasts are hostile to strangers entering the Shadow Realm. But Princess Neoma isn''t a stranger since she also has Quinzel Blood in her.]

    Moreover¡­

    Rufus grinned to himself. "If our precious Princess Neoma seeded in taming the cold-hearted Emperor Niki, I''m sure she can tame a few Shadow Beasts."

    ***

    [SKEWER?]

    "What''s wrong, Nene?"

    Neoma, who was following her ancestors to wherever they needed them to be, stopped walking and clutched her chest tight. "Skewer is trying to separate herself from my soul."

    It was a weird feeling.

    Skewer wasn''t exactly hurting her, but she could tell that her weapon wanted to get out of her soul as if it were being summoned by another person.

    [Who the hell dares to take my Skewer away from me, huh?]

    "''Skewer'' would be the Death Scythe," Primo exined to Gwen, his wife who was also the Demon Queen and whose power was used to create the Death Scythe. "Our dearest Neoma renamed her ''Skewer.''"

    Gwen gasped as if she was shocked. "S-Skewer¡­?"

    Neoma almost choked on her saliva, avoiding Gwen''s gaze.

    [Now I''m embarrassed because of my naming sense.]

    "Our dear Nene also changed the Death Scythe''s color," Yule added cheerfully. "You should see the new Death Scythe, my dear daughter-inw."

    [OH PLEASE STAHP.]

    Neoma faced Gwen and was about to apologize when Skewer suddenly spoke in her mind.

    Well, the Death Scythe didn''t really "talk."

    But Neoma still understood what Skewer wanted to do at that moment.

    "Huh? You''re going there?" Neoma asked, knitting her eyebrows. "What the fuck is Trevor doing right now?"

    ***

    NOTE: Hiii! I''m sorry for the inconsistent updates. I''m sad and busy these days, but I''m feeling (a bit) better now. Here''s a mass release as an apology. Aaand daily updates restart today (hopefully my "sad episode" goes away quickly so I can function as a normal adult again, lol).

    ***

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 Chapter 911 LET TREVOR COOK (2)

    Chapter 911 LET TREVOR COOK (2)

    "I NEED to borrow one of your prayer rooms here since I know it''s empty anyway."

    Nowell Elwood flinched at Trevor Kesser''s harsh words, but he couldn''t refute that.

    [The Hazelden Kingdom doesn''t have a particr god we worship, but His and Her Majesties are nning to rebuild a religion centered on Goddess Roxana once Princess Monik is old enough to be a saintess.]

    But it wasn''t the right time to be offended by a foreigner''sment.

    Moreover, personally, Nowell liked the fact that the Hazelden Kingdom embraced people from different religions. It was good for a kingdom like theirs to be diverse, after all.

    "Lord Kesser, Regina Crowell is an enemy," Nowell said firmly, clenching his hands. "We cannot allow her to enter the Royal Pce."

    "You know, I can just take over this small pce if I want to," Trevor said indifferently. "But I''m being polite because I don''t want Princess Neoma to get mad at me."

    [You''re not being polite at all, sir.]

    "I swear on Princess Neoma''s name that I''ll protect your little kingdom. You should know that I don''t use my Moon Princess'' name lightly, so you better take me seriously," Trevor said threateningly. "And if pushes to shove, I will at least make sure that your little prince survives."

    "Even so¨C"

    "Just open the damn gates while I''m still asking nicely."

    Regina Crowell, who was standing behind Trevor Kesser, snickered.

    Nowell didn''t find the situation funny, of course. In fact, his knees almost buckled.

    Trevor Kesser didn''t raise his voice, but his heavy bloodlust mixed in the air knocked the knights behind Nowell unconscious.

    [We''ll die if we don''t give him what he wants, but¡­]

    "Let them in, Uncle."

    Nowell looked over his shoulder, then he gasped when he saw Prince ude floating in the air.

    The second prince was born without Mana.

    Hence, he concluded that the pinkish lights around their little prince were the ones responsible for bringing Prince ude outside when His Highness was supposed to be hidden in the pce.

    "Prince ude¡­"

    Nowell knew that he should follow Prince ude as His Highness was the highest ranking person in the kingdom at the moment.

    But, as Prince ude''s uncle, he couldn''t simply bring himself to let an enemy in.

    "It''s alright, Uncle," Prince ude assured him, smiling. "Grandma Roxana said Trevor Hyung won''t let us get hurt because he''s afraid of Neoma Noona. We don''t have to trust that hyung over there¨C we just have to have faith in him as one of Neoma Noona''s people."

    Ah.

    That look.

    Nowell recognized the determined look on Prince ude''s face.

    [His Highness is still a baby, but he already exudes the aura of a ruler.]

    "Aigoo," Trevor Kessermented in anguage that Nowell didn''t understand, but at least the sorcerer''s mood was better now than it was earlier. "I can''t believe that a baby is smarter than all the adultsbined here."

    Nowell cleared his throat before facing Trevor Kesser. "I will follow Prince ude''s order and will let you in, Lord Kesser."

    "Good~"

    "But I''ll have you know that Princess Neoma would hear about how rude Lord Kesser is when asking for Hazelden''s cooperation."

    Trevor Kesser looked shocked while Regina Crowell burst outughing.

    Fortunately, Prince ude didn''t scold Nowell for threatening the sorcerer.

    [I will really tattle on Princess Neoma as a little payback since Lord Kesser made our knights faint.]

    ***

    TREVOR was still annoyed (and worried) that Nowell Elwoord threatened to tattle on Princess Neoma.

    But he couldn''t me anyone but himself for being a prick earlier.

    [Well, in my defense, I''m not really a good person. I only be a decent human being when my Moon Princess is around. But I regress to my usual self when my Moon Princess isn''t there to supervise me.]

    "Stop getting distracted or I''ll stab you in the eye."

    "Don''t threaten me~" Trevor said, smirking. "I might "identally" send your soul to Hell if I get too scared~"

    Regina Crowell just scoffed at his threat. "As if you''d be reckless when Princess Neoma''s life is at stake."

    "God, you''re so obnoxious."

    "Not as much as you are, though."

    Trevor shut his eyes tight, trying to calm himself down in order to prevent a closed-door murder mystery from happening there.

    He had to be calm because he was the only one who could revive Princess Neoma.

    [Do it for your Moon Princess, Trevor Kesser.]

    Seeing Princess Neoma''s beautiful face in his mind soothed his heart.

    Trevor was just starting to rx when, suddenly, he was force to open his eyes.

    Fortunately, his reflex was quick enough to grab Regina Crowell by the wrist and stop the crazy bitch from stabbing his eye with a small knife.

    "You bitch¨C"

    "Didn''t I warn you I''d stab your eye if you get distracted again?" Regina Crowell smirked at him. "Focus, Trevor Kesser."

    "If you pull a trick like this again, the deal is off," Trevor warned the wench while roughly letting go of her hand. "Whether I''m distracted or not doesn''t matter. I can still get the job done even if I''m daydreaming of Princess Neoma''s beautiful face."

    He didn''t want to admit this, but he was almost caught off-guard.

    Regina Crowell didn''t release any bloodlust when she attacked.

    Hence, Trevor only realized that he was about to be stabbed when the de of the small knife was only a breath away from his face.

    To hide one''s bloodlust from someone like Trevor was impressive.

    "Did you learn how to hide your bloodlust while ying errand girl to Rubin Drayton?" Trevor asked curiously. "That''s a nice skill. You can be an assassin as a fallback once Princess Neoma ends your stupid little cult."

    Regina Crowell just rolled her eyes, then she began to unbutton her blouse. "You should kill yourself once Princess Neoma and your stupid little empire meet their downfall. After all, I''ll tear all your limbs one by one and sew that dirty mouth of yours as soon as this war ends in our victory."

    "Wow~ So scary~"

    "I thought Commander Ruto would be the number one target on my hit list, but you just reced him as the first person I''d kill as soon as I could," Regina Crowell said, removing her blouse and letting it fall to the floor. "But congrattions, Trevor Kesser. You just won my undivided attention."

    Pfft.

    Regina Crowell was standing in the middle of that empty room with her torso exposed, except for her breasts which were covered by her brassiere.

    Yet, despite being half-naked, she still stood proud and tall.

    [Her green eyes are burning.]

    "What are you looking at?" Regina Crowell asked, raising an eyebrow. "Do you want to see my bare chest?"

    "No, thanks~" Trevor said, pulling out the Devil''s Grimoire from the Bookworm''s mouth. Then he opened the book and picked up the Cursed Dagger between the pages. He had already summoned the item in advance, so it was already there when he opened the Devil''s Grimoire. "Your body does not excite me, Regina Crowell."

    Most men would probably find Regina Crowell attractive, though.

    [But I''m not like other men¨C I''m worse~]

    "As ady trained by the best courtesans all over the world before I even got my first menstrual cycle, you touched a nerve," Regina Crowell said, smirking bitterly while strutting towards Trevor seductively. Then she stopped in front of him and poked a finger at his chest. "Your taunting sounds like a challenge to me."

    "Nah, don''t waste your time. You can''t seduce me," Trevor said indifferently, then he stabbed Regina Crowell''s chest with the Cursed Dagger. "If I''m capable of finding other women attractive, then I wouldn''t be suffering from unrequited love."

    Regina Crowell, whose face didn''t even flinch after getting stabbed, smiled. "Maybe that''s your karma for being born a menace to the world."

    Trevor just pushed the dagger deeper into the wench''s heart.

    No blood was spilled because the Cursed Dagger was a weapon meant to attack the soul and not the physical body. Moreover, the Cursed Dagger must be used on naked skin. Clothes would hinder the effectiveness of the item.

    Hence, Regina Crowell removed her blouse.

    Trevor just had to stab the wench in the area that her brassiere didn''t cover.

    Getting stabbed by the Cursed Dagger directly in the soul must hurt like hell, but Regina Crowell was doing a good job keeping a poker face.

    [She''s breaking out in a cold sweat, though.]

    "I''m pulling out the Cursed Dagger now," Trevor said. "It will hurt more, so endure it."

    He pulled out the dagger before the wench could even respond.

    That was when the crow finally let out a painful groan.

    Regina Crowell clutched his chest tight while falling to her knees, crying in silence. She bit her lip to stop herself from crying out loud, then she hugged herself to probably stop her body from trembling because of pain.

    Trevor ignored Regina Crowell as he carefully removed the glowing thin strands of "white thread" wrapped around the Cursed Dagger.

    Those strands of "white thread" were actually a piece of Regina Crowell''s soul.

    [This is more than enough to revive my Moon Princess.]

    As expected, Regina Crowell was indeed useful.

    [No wonder both the older and the present Princess Neoma wanted her alive.]

    "Hey, do you want to make another deal with me?" Trevor asked, his inner sorcerer who was curious about everythinging out. "If I returned Dn Crowell to you alive, would you give me a sample of your blood and Mana?"

    Regina Crowell, whose beautiful face was now covered in sweat, looked up at him anughed. "If you were in my shoes, would you save your older half-sibling who''s been touching you inappropriately ever since you were a child?"

    Ah, so that was why Regina Crowell didn''t look that desperate after he half-killed Dn Crowell right in front of her face.

    As expected, the crows were a bunch of scumbags.

    "Alright, I get it," Trevor said, nodding. "I''ll give Dn Crowell a gruesome death."

    ***

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 Chapter 912 LET TREVOR COOK (3)

    Chapter 912 LET TREVOR COOK (3)

    NOAH didn''t want to admit this since his pride as the Ancient Devil would be hurt, but he failed on his simple mission.

    All he had to do was to stop Hanna Quinzel from leaving the Underworld.

    [And yet I still failed.]

    To be honest, he let Rufus and Drystan talk without attacking them because he was debating whether to leave or not since he had no reason to stay there anymore.

    However, he immediately made a decision when a new variable arrived.

    Lewis Crevan.

    [He''s one of those young men who desire Princess Neoma.]

    Noah would have to fight Yoan "Ruto" Solfrid to death if he wanted to get rid of his strongest rival. But he couldn''t afford to take the risk because he knew Callisto de Luca would swallow him alive if he showed even the slightest sign of getting weak.

    Hence, he left Yoan alone for now.

    But Lewis Crevan¡­

    [I can kill this child without going all out.]

    lights¦­¦Ïvel After Noah made up his mind, he unceremoniously threw a ball of dark energy at Lewis who was in the middle of a conversation with Drystan and the Quinzel bastard.

    [Who told you to talk while I''m still here?]

    Unfortunately, Lewis was quick.

    The child "greeted" Noah''s ball of dark energy with a kick, sending it flying to the roof.

    Naturally, the roof copsed.

    But Lewis and Drystan didn''t care about the debris as the two surrounded themselves with their Mana¨C causing the debris to break into pieces without even touching them.

    Tsk.

    [Children these days are darn strong.]

    Noah wanted to be more cautious, so he decided not to fight the two at the same time.

    [Let''s get the more troublesome out of the way first.]

    Noah caught Lewis'' leg with his hand when the impudent child tried to kick him in the face, then he threw the fox to the ice coffin where Princess Neoma''s body was frozen.

    He knew that something like that wouldn''t kill the Imperial Princess, so he didn''t hesitate.

    Lewis cursed under his breath, then he dug his long and sharp nails deep into the walls in a painful attempt to stop himself from hitting the ice coffin.

    Pfft.

    The sound of Lewis'' ws scratching the walls made his skin crawl, but he liked the way the fox boy''s face distorted in pain when his supposedly sturdy nails began to crack and bleed.

    [It''s because he''s using too much force to break his fall.]

    Noah was amused, but he didn''t have time to enjoy Lewis'' suffering because Drystan was already right in front of his face.

    He scoffed, then he pressed the de of Drystan''s sword with his two fingers.

    As soon as his skin made contact with Drystan''s sword, the de produced a powerful amount of Hellfire. It wasn''t as deadly as the Eternal me, but it should have been enough to burn the shell that he was using.

    But it didn''t work.

    "Why?" Drystan asked through gritted teeth, pushing his sword with all his strength in order to stab Noah. But Noah didn''t even budge, and so did his fingers holding back the de. Hence, the King of Hell looked more frustrated than normal. "Why didn''t you get burned? I''m the King of Hell, so my Hellfire should have been enough to burn the stupid vessel you''re using!"

    "Unfortunately for you, my soul is still recognized by this world as the Ancient Devil¨C and I am the original King of Hell," Noah said, his red eyes glowing as he summoned his me. "Drystan, THIS is what you call Hellfire."

    It started as a simple spark at the tip of Noah''s fingertip.

    And then, without warning, the spark had turned into a huge leaf of ck me.

    Drystan cursed, then he tried to drop the sword in order to run away.

    But Noah was faster than the King of Hell; he grabbed the ming de of the sword and snatched it away from Drystan. Then he covered Drystan''s pathetic Hellfire with his stronger version of Hellfire before he threw the weapon at the King of Hell.

    Drystan, knowing that he didn''t have time to run away, just raised his hands and createdyers ofyers of sturdy barriers.

    It was on par with Princess Neoma''s Dome, but still useless against the real Hellfire.

    When the tip of the sword engulfed in Noah''s Hellfire touched the firstyer of Drystan''s barrier, the barrier immediately melted¨C allowing the sword to break through the otheryers of shields that the King of Hell created.

    Just like that, because that was how powerful the Ancient Devil''s Hellfire was.

    Drystan''sst line of defense would be his celestial body.

    The King of Hell was still a god, after all.

    However, Noah knew Drystan''s body wouldn''t be able to withstand his Hellfire because Drystan was born a god and not a devil. "Goodbye, my old friend."

    "Goodbye, your ass."

    Those crude remarks didn''te from Drystan.

    Noah clicked his tongue.

    [Trevor, that little bastard, has unfortunately arrived.]

    ***

    DRYSTAN really thought he was going to die without seeing Neoma get revived.

    But, to be honest, he was prepared to die when he decided to face the Ancient Devil.

    [And that''s exactly why I taught Iris how to use the ingredients to give Princess Neoma a new lifespan.]

    Fortunately, he didn''t have to leave the world yet.

    "Goodbye, your ass."

    Trevor Kesser, the demon who had recently inherited the Ancient Devil''s power, stood in front of Drystan and protected him.

    He was impressed when he saw the weapon that the child used to counter the Hellfire.

    Trevor Kesser swung the Death Scythe to block the Hellfire, effectively extinguishing it in the process.

    It looked like an easy move, but it was only because Trevor Kesser made it look easy.

    Drystan''s red eyes glowed as he carefully observed the Death Scythe in Trevor Kesser''s hand.

    Unlike when Princess Neoma was using the weapon, the Death Scythe had returned to its original color and appearance. Hence, the Death Scythe finally regained its cold and deadly image that the Imperial Princess ruined¨C ahem.

    "I thought you wanted Princess Neoma to get revived," Trevor Kesserined to the Ancient Devil. "Then why are you trying to kill the only person capable of helping me bring back my Moon Princess to life?"

    The Ancient Devil scoffed. "I wasn''t about to kill Drystan¨C I was just about to send him back to Hell."

    "Yeah, right," Trevor Kesser said nonchntly, swinging the Death Scythe. "Should we continue then?"

    The Ancient Devil fell silent, then he looked at Drystan, Lewis Crevan, and Trevor Kesser one by one as if he were contemting whether to fight or not. "This isn''t a battle worth fighting anymore."

    Drystan was secretly relieved to hear that.

    [Our objectives are to send Princess Hanna back to the human world and revive Princess Neoma¨C not to kill the Ancient Devil. Hence, this result is eptable¨C]

    "Do you think I''ll let you escape unscathed, huh?"

    Drystan almost choked when Trevor Kesser pointed the curved de of the Death Scythe at the Ancient Devil, obviously picking a fight.

    WHY?!

    [Just let the old bastard leave on his own, you cheeky brat!]

    ***

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 Chapter 913 LET TREVOR COOK (4)

    Chapter 913 LET TREVOR COOK (4)

    TREVOR "borrowed" Skewer (aka the Death Scythe) from Princess Neoma without getting Her Imperial Highness'' full consent.

    Hence, he was determined to make the most of it.

    [I''m sure Princess Neoma will kill meter, so why not use Skewer to my heart''s content?]

    Moreover, he had something that he wanted to try.

    "You''re being too arrogant, Trevor Kesser," the Ancient Devil said,ughing while shaking his head bitterly. "Just because I let you have my power as the Devil doesn''t mean we''re on the same level. I''m being lenient to you because I don''t want to identally hurt Princess Neoma if I unleashed¨C"

    "Oh, shut up," Trevor said, cutting off the Ancient Devil while swinging the Death Scythe. Unfortunately for the Ancient Devil, he wasn''t the type to listen to an enemy''s nonsensical monologue in the middle of a serious fight. "Let me try my new attack on you!"

    The new attack that he mentioned would be the Hellfire, of course.

    As soon as he swung the Death Scythe, a boomerang-shaped ck me shot out of the curved de.

    Trevor didn''t hold back because he had no reason to do so.

    The Hellfire was the Ancient Devil''s strongest weapon.

    Hence, Trevor also inherited the Hellfire when he became the new Devil.

    But, like the old bastard said, they weren''t on the same level yet. And so, he wanted to see how vast the difference was between their power so he could quickly close the gap.

    The Ancient Devil frowned. "This is why kids these days die early."

    Trevor just scoffed and watched the enemy''s attack closely.

    The Ancient Devil raised both his arms, and then ck me shot out of his palms.

    Oh, wow.

    The two Hellfires collided mid-air, causing a huge explosion and even making the sky shake.

    Even so, Trevor didn''t care because he had a barrier around himself.

    He was focused on the Hellfires that were still fighting each other above them.

    The Ancient Devil''s Hellfire was indeed bigger and more powerful than the Hellfire that Trevor created.

    But he could tell that the difference wasn''t that great.

    [Heh.]

    Trevor''s theory was now confirmed¨C the more he got stronger by mastering the skills and power that he received as the new Devil, the weaker the Ancient Devil got. So, in order to kill that old bastard, he only needed to do one thing.

    [I need to quickly master all the techniques that I inherited from him.]

    Trevor''s thinking process was interrupted when he noticed that the Ancient Devil''s Hellfire was getting smaller and smaller until it slowly vanished by itself.

    Then Trevor''s Hellfire exploded in the sky.

    He just swung the Death Scythe again in order to absorb his Hellfire that scattered in the sky so that it wouldn''t hurt others.

    [Why is the Ancient Devil''s Hellfire¡­ oh.]

    When he turned to the old bastard, he realized why the Ancient Devil''s Hellfire had disappeared instantly.

    [He''s trying to escape!]

    The Ancient Devil''s body had already turned translucent, which was proof that he had finished creating a teleportation spell. And then the old bastard even had the nerve to smirk at him when their eyes met.

    "Not today, Trevor Kesser," the Ancient Devil said. "I know you just want to see me fight because you want to learn how to use my power correctly, but I won''t ¨C I won''t let you get stronger by stealing my techniques."

    Tsk.

    Trevor''s n was busted, huh?

    [I can''t let him get away!]

    Trevor was about to swing the Death Scythe again when, all of a sudden, somebody grabbed his shoulder and forced him to turn around. "Who¨C"

    "Are you crazy?!" Lewis yelled at Trevor''s face, the fox''s golden eyes glowing menacingly. "Why did you go all-out when Princess Neoma is here?!"

    Oh.

    Trevor was amused by the fact that this was the loudest he heard Trevor "talk."

    So, even though the fox was screaming in his face, he couldn''t get angry.

    "I''d rather kill myself than put my Moon Princess in danger, you fool."

    "Then why¡­!"

    Trevor grabbed Lewis by his (annoyingly handsome) face, then he forced the fox to turn to Rufus Quinzel''s direction. "The duke has already sent Princess Neoma to another dimension safely a little after I arrived."

    That was why he had no reason to hold back.

    Lewis, Drystan, and even Rufus Quinzel were all capable of protecting themselves while he was going batshit crazy on the Ancient Devil.

    "My son, I''m hurt that you thought I''d act reckless when my Moon Princess is in¨C"

    "Duke Quinzel, may I know where you sent Princess Neoma to?" Lewis asked the duke, rudely turning his back on Trevor and walking away from him to approach the duke. "Can you send me there, too?"

    "I''m worried about leaving Princess Neoma to the Shadow Realm unattended, so I''m nning to follow her there now that the Ancient Devil is gone. I can bring you there, but¡­" Rufus Quinzel said to Lewis, then the duke turned to Trevor and Drystan. "Is it okay if we leave now?"

    "Of course. The Ancient Devil is gone, so Trevor Kesser can open a portal for you now," Drystan said, nodding. "Now that Trevor Kesser is here with the ingredients I need to revive Princess Neoma, then you should hurry and bring her back to the Imperial Pce. Make sure to bring her body to the throne room. It''s a sacred ce that could amplify a de Moonasterio''s divine power."

    Lewis and Rufus Quinzel looked relieved.

    "We''ll do that," Rufus Quinzel said, nodding politely. Then the duke slightly bowed. "Thank you for helping us, King Drystan."

    The King of Hell just shrugged casually.

    Lewis, on the other hand, just red at Trevor.

    [This brat¡­]

    Trevor just sighed and shook his head. "I''ll give you a teleportation scroll that''s directly connected to the Imperial Pce."

    ***

    YOAN¨C no, Commander Ruto''s heart.

    Roseheart Blood.

    A piece of soul of a person who could manipte time.

    Divine power.

    Karma points from powerful, divine beings.

    Those were the ingredients that Drystan needed to revive Princess Neoma.

    He checked them as soon as he and Trevor returned to Hell.

    The Moonglow was taken off the list because Emperor Nero had already ascended the throne, which meant Princess Neoma no longer possessed Moonglow.

    Hence, it wouldn''t affect her revival.

    "Thank you for helping me gather the ingredients needed to revive the little princess," Drystan said to Trevor Kesser. "I''ll now enter my Workshop and stay there until my job is done. Can I rely on you to protect me while I''m inside the Workshop?"

    He had to lower his guard while working on bringing back Princess Neoma to life. After all, he wouldn''t have the time or the liberty to worry about himself when reviving a person was a race against time.

    [The crows and the other gods won''t miss the chance to attack once they hear that I''m inside the Workshop.]

    That was why he needed someone as strong as Trevor Kesser to be his temporary guard.

    "There''s no way I''ll let the person who can revive my Moon Princess die," Trevor Kesser said, crossing his arms over his chest while leaning against the wall of Drystan''s Workshop. "Just make sure you''ll bring my Moon Princess back to me."

    "Back to everyone," Drystan corrected Trevor Kesser, scoffing. "You don''t own the little princess, you cheeky brat."

    ***

    PFFT.

    Trevorughed like the madman that he was when a bunch of misfits arrived.

    With ill intentions, of course.

    Minor gods.

    Evil Spirits.

    And even lowly deities.

    [How dare these bastards stop Princess Neoma''seback?]

    "Come," Trevor said, swinging the Death Scythe and engulfing the curved-de with his Hellfire. "I need some practice anyway."

    ***

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 Chapter 914 AT THE SAME PLACE

    Chapter 914 AT THE SAME PLACE

    HMM?

    Rufus was worried that the Shadow Beasts in the Shadow Realm might attack Princess Neoma who was unattended and "asleep."

    After all, the beasts left in the Shadow Realm were all untamed beasts.

    Hence, he was surprised when he saw Princess Neoma safe and sound while the Shadow Beasts were cowering around her.

    [Our Shadow Beasts look too scared to even approach the ice coffin.]

    The Shadow Real looked like a huge yet abandoned graveyard. Usually, the beasts would gather around strangers who stepped foot in that dimension for the first time.

    But every beast in the vicinity was actively avoiding Princess Neoma.

    Rufus couldn''t help but let out a relievedugh.

    [Thank goodness!]

    "A monster is still a monster even when asleep," Lewis said, a small smile forming in his lips after confirming that Princess Neoma arrived at the Shadow Realm safely. "Moreover, Prince Nero''s ice and Commander Ruto''s miasma seem to be scaring them away, too."

    Rufus nodded in agreement. "Our Princess Neoma is loved, indeed."

    ***

    [IT''S BEEN a while.]

    Paige had finally returned to the Imperial Pce with her siblings.

    Ever since the Cmities had begun to appear one by one, Paige and her siblings never stopped fighting wherever and whenever they were needed. Of course, it was to keep the people of the empire safe.

    But it was also mostly because they wanted Princess Neoma to have a safe home to return to.

    [After the Second Cmity was over, His Imperial Majesty summoned us back.]

    But they weren''t able to return right away because Greko wished to help as many injured people as he could.

    After all, even at times like this, only the rich were safe andfortable.

    It took a while, but they were finally back.

    Paige and her siblings decided to visit the Imperial Shrine first.

    They knew Princess Neoma''s frozen body wasn''t there anymore. But since it was thest ce where their princess had been to, they thought they should give their greetings there.

    Hmm?

    Paige was surprised when water suddenly leaked out of the Imperial Shrine as soon as she opened the door.

    [Where did this watere from¡­]

    Paige gasped when she saw the cause.

    "Eomma!" Greko yelled while running towards the ice coffin, almost slipping several times before he finally reached the huge block of ice. "It''s Eomma! The real Eomma!"

    Of course, Paige was happy to see that Princess Neoma was back in the Shrine.

    However¡­

    [The ice coffin is melting!]

    "X-Xion," Paige said, calling the fastest one in their family. "Go and inform His Imperial Majesty about this."

    Xion nodded, then he immediately left the Imperial Shrine.

    Since Xion was the fastest among them, it was toote to stop him when Paige realized that they had given the emperor an iplete report.

    "Paige Noona, Juri Noona, Jeno Hyung, they''re also here!" Greko said worriedly while kneeling on the floor. "Lewis Hyung and Duke Quinzel are here¨C and they''re both unconscious!"

    "Thank god," Juri whispered while walking inside the Imperial Shrine. "Are they okay?"

    "We''re not unconscious, kids," Duke Quinzel said in a tired voice while getting up slowly while Jeno was helping the duke, then His Grace smiled gently at them. "It''s just that the teleportation ticket that Trevor gave us sucked out our energy."

    Oh.

    "It must be the new teleportation tickets that Trevor and I made together," Paige exined to the duke. "The more Mana you put into the ticket, the quicker you''d get to your destination. But, as you can see, it''s a bit dangerous."

    "It''s alright since we got here quickly," Lewis said while standing up, then he turned to the melting block of ice. After that, he looked at them one by one. "Don''t worry. The ice is melting because Trevor and the King of Hell are already bringing Princess Neoma back to life."

    That was the best thing Paige had heard in days.

    And she wasn''t the only one who felt that way.

    Jeno, the most reserved one among them, let out a suppressed "yes!" in delight while Juri and Greko hugged each other.

    Paige could finally breathe again while looking at Princess Neoma inside the ice coffin.

    [Princess Neoma, we can''t wait to see you and your sassy energy again.]

    ***

    NIKOLAI was relieved when he not only saw Neoma safely back in the Imperial Shrine¨C Lewis Crevan and Rufus also made it back in one piece.

    The report he received only mentioned Neoma and the melting ice.

    But he could see why the children sent an iplete report.

    [They must be shocked when Neoma suddenly returned while her ice melted.]

    "Rufus, I''m d you fulfilled your promise and duty," Niki said while patting Rufus'' shoulder. "Thank you for bringing back Neoma and Lewis Crevan safely, and thank you foring back alive."

    He was being sincere, so his feelings were a bit hurt when he saw the disbelief on Rufus'' face.

    But it wasn''t like he could me his cousin for acting that way.

    [I rarely express my gratitude, after all.]

    "Uhm, I''m also d that we all survived, Your Imperial Majesty," Rufus said, then he immediately turned serious while giving his report. "Please don''t worry, Your Imperial Majesty. The ice coffin is melting because Trevor Kesser and the King of Hell have already started the process of reviving Princess Neoma."

    Niki let out a sigh of relief.

    [Mona, our little princess ising back.]

    "Throne room," Lewis said, speaking in iplete sentences again urgently. "Princess Neoma. Go there."

    "The King of Hell said we must bring Princess Neoma to the throne room while they revive the Imperial Princess," Rufus said, exining the meaning behind Lewis'' broken sentences. "Apparently, the throne room will amplify Princess Neoma''s divine power which will help the process of bringing her back faster."

    The throne room?

    Why that of all ces?

    [Do the twins really have to be in the same ce, even at a time like this?]

    Rufus, who noticed Niki''s apprehension, obviously became worried. "What''s wrong, Your Imperial Majesty?"

    "We have a new emperor now, Rufus," Niki said, sighing. "And my son''s new power is about to blow up the entire pce."

    ***

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 Chapter 915 GENERATIONAL TRAUMA

    Chapter 915 GENERATIONAL TRAUMA

    NEOMA raised an eyebrow at Yule who avoided her gaze as if he was guilty.

    [Well, he should be.]

    "I remember my past life now, Lord Yule," Neoma said, crossing her arms over her chest. She addressed the Moon God formally this time because she was a bit upset with him. "My back hurts from carrying our entire cursed bloodline on my back twice¨C both in the first timeline and the current one. Gosh. Instead of generational wealth, you reward me with generational trauma."

    Yule pretended to "cough" to probably cover up his embarrassment.

    Since it looked like the Moon God was still gathering his thoughts, she gave him time to think.

    Hence, Neoma began looking around her.

    She was in a ce that looked simr to the garden in his Papa Boss'' pce.

    [Ah, so this must be a replica of the Imperial Pce.]

    It was just slightly different.

    Hence, she ended up with the conclusion that this might be the replica of the old Imperial Pce. Probably the one that the First Emperor had built.

    [Gosh, look at those lovebirds¡­]

    Primo and Gwen were strolling the garden, arm-in-arm.

    [And then we have those two¡­]

    Aruna and Arche de Moonasterio were having a sparring in the other side of the garden.

    It was actually fun to watch.

    Aruna was using a real sword while Arche was only using a twig to block his twin sister''s attack. And yet Aruna couldn''t break the twig his twin brother was using as a sword.

    Hmm?

    [Is Grandpa Arche really better than Grandma Aruna?]

    Well, that was none of Neoma''s business.

    The one that she actually wanted to see was not there.

    [Where did the Goddess of Life go? I have so many questions for her about my Baby Vitu. She didn''t run away, did she?]

    "Nene."

    Neoma turned to the Moon God again. "Yes?"

    "I have no excuse," Yule said in a serious voice. "I left the world in the first timeline after I believed that I had already done my part. And then I chose to enter the Eternal Slumber when I thought the world is in good hands because of your existence."

    The ''Eternal Slumber'' was just a nice way of saying ending one''s life.

    Gods had long lives, so some of them would choose to "sleep" when they were already tired of living.

    "I wanted to be with Roxana¨C and that was the reason I disappeared both now and then."

    Aha.

    "As you already know, Roxana sacrificed her own soul and scattered them in the world to prevent the Absolute Darkness from emerging again," Yule continued with his exnation in a serious tone. "That''s why you can only see her and talk to her in ces where a part of her soul was left."

    "Were you trying to gather Grandma Roxana''s fragments, Lord Yule?"

    The Moon God fell silent for a moment. "To be fair, I was in hiding because Callisto de Luca and the crows had managed to find a way to get inside my domain using Helstor. But while I was in hiding, I found out that Roxana''s fragments were starting to show up more frequently than they did in the first timeline. And there was a reason behind that, something that didn''t happen in the past."

    Hmm?

    Something that didn''t happen in the past, but happened in this first timeline that caused Roxana''s fragments to emerge on their own?

    [Ah!]

    "Monik''s existence," Neoma said when the realization hit her. "Monik pledged her loyalty to Grandma Roxana. Were Grandma Roxana''s fragments attracted to Monik''s divine power since she vowed to be the Goddess of Light''s saintess?"

    Yule nodded, delighted by the fact that Neoma was quick-witted. "I cannot use my divine power because the crows did a number on me when I was ambushed. Hence, I thought I could use this chance to look for Roxana''s fragments while I''m in the middle of recovery. But, as a result, mymunication with you weakened."

    Haaah.

    She wanted to get angry at Yule, but her anger melted by the fact that Yule was trying to gather Roxana''s fragments.

    "My Grandma Roxana''s fragments¡­ what will happen if you seded in gathering it?"

    "I can put her pieces back together in order to restore her soul."

    Hmm?

    "I hear a "but," Lord Yule."

    "But it will require a huge amount of my divine power," Yule confessed hesitantly. "I cannot be selfish. This war began in the first ce because I failed to punish Callisto de Luca."

    "It''s good that you''re self-aware, my lord."

    "You''re supposed to console me, Nene."

    Neoma was about to say something snarky when, all of a sudden, she felt her heart beating erratically.

    Her vessel didn''t have a heart.

    And her original heart was already destroyed along with her Core.

    But, right at that very moment, she could tell that her heart was slowly getting fix at that very moment.

    [It stings a bit, but I can endure it.]

    "Ah, let''s continue this talkter. We have something more important to do before you return to your body, Nene."

    Yule then stood up.

    Then, much to Neoma''s surprise, she realized that her other ancestors were already standing behind the Moon God.

    Hmm?

    [When did they get there?]

    "Nene, it''s time for your reward," Yule said, smiling brightly at him. "You shall receive all our powers and techniquebined, my dear granddaughter."

    Neoma was shocked to hear that. "But I don''t wanna be more OP than I already am¡­"

    [After all, more power equals more responsibilities!]

    ***

    [THE ROSEHEARTS'' Spirits¡­]

    Nero, while in the middle of the crumbling throne room that was still there thanks to Commander Ruto, had to make a quick choice.

    [Do I bring them back with me or not?]

    The Spirits were locked up in the "bubbles" that Dahlia had made.

    But they didn''t know how the Spirits would react once outside.

    Nero clicked his tongue, annoyed that now he had to think about the empire''s sake as the emperor instead of following his instinct to get on a rampage as usual. "Come," he said, opening his hands to absorb the Spirits of the male Rosehearts once more. "Let''s try it again."

    ***

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 Chapter 916 WELCOME HOME, TWINS

    Chapter 916 WELCOME HOME, TWINS

    NERO expected to lose his mind the moment he absorbed the hostile Spirits of the male Rosehearts trapped in the Cage.

    He felt his sanity snapping for a moment.

    But only for a moment.

    "It''s alright, Your Imperial Majesty¨C because I''m here."

    It was Dahlia.

    The ck Witch had finally regained consciousness and was now standing beside him.

    It was a funny situation.

    The throne room was copsing and if not for Commander Ruto, then they would have been buried by the falling debris already.

    Hanna was doing her best to avoid Nero''s gaze while helping themander.

    Gin, the demon cat, was trying to create a portal.

    Overall, it was a chaotic situation.

    And that kind of stressful environment would have triggered Nero''s Lunacy in a normal circumstances.

    However, his mind remained clear.

    And it was because of the person standing next to her.

    "Are you absorbing my Lunacy?" Nero asked carefully, turning his head to look at Dahlia. "My head is clear."

    Dahlia nodded. "I am, Your Imperial Majesty. So please feel free to absorb the souls of the male Rosehearts. I''ll make sure they won''t be able to control you like they tried to do earlier."

    "Is taking them to the outside world with me the right choice?"

    The ck Witch fell silent for a moment as if she was in deep thought. "Do you trust me, Your Imperial Majesty?"

    "If I can''t trust the person who can control my Lunacy, then who else am I supposed to trust?"

    Although Nero knew Dahlia had all the right to harm or kill him, he also knew that she wouldn''t.

    [Because she''s too kind.]

    "Then please make sure to absorb every single Spirit here," Dahlia said, looking at Nero with a determined look on her face. "We will release them once we get to the outside world together, Emperor Nero. But to do that¡­"

    He wondered why she suddenly trailed off.

    But he got the answer right away.

    Dahlia, whose entire face suddenly turned red, extended her hand to Nero. "P-Please hold my hand, Your Imperial Majesty," she said awkwardly (and shyly). "We need to form a physical touch so that it will be easier for us to connect our emotions to one another."

    Ah.

    At that moment, he finally understood why Hanna broke up with him.

    [Holding another woman''s hand in front of Hanna¡­]

    He was hesitant to do it because it had only been a few minutes since his ex-fianc¨¦e had broken up with him.

    But, at the end of the day, he knew what he had to do.

    Nero gently grabbed Dahlia''s hand, hoping that it wouldn''t cause Hanna too much pain.

    ***

    NIKOLAI caught Neoma when his precious daughter almost fell to the ground because of how the ice around her quickly melted.

    He felt a pang in his heart when he realized how cold and stiff Neoma''s body was.

    It was like holding a block of ice in his arms.

    [It''s alright. Neoma will return. She''s not a corpse.]

    Niki quickly removed his jacket and put it around Neoma''s body, then he carried his unconscious daughter in his arms. "I''ll bring Neoma to the throne room," he announced. "Everyone, help the people of the pce evacuate and protect them. The throne room is about to explode anytime, so it''s better if only a small group of people stays there." He turned to Rufus. "Lead them."

    Rufus nodded his head politely. "As Your Imperial Majestymands."

    He wanted to correct his cousin and say that he was no longer the emperor.

    But he didn''t have any time for that.

    After saying his piece, he quickly bolted out of the Imperial Shrine with his daughter.

    Everyone listened to his words¨C except for one.

    "Lewis Crevan, did you not hear me?"

    Yes, the fox followed him out.

    "I heard Your Imperial Majesty, but I only listen to Princess Neoma," Lewis said bluntly. "And Princess Neoma says I don''t have to follow the emperor''s orders if I don''t feel like it."

    Niki just clicked his tongue while shaking his head. "Impudent child."

    He let Lewis follow him, though.

    Since both Niki and Lewis were quick on their feet, they reached the throne room in an instant.

    He was relieved to see that the pce had finally stopped shaking.

    Everything looked and sounded calm, but he didn''t lower his guard.

    "I''ll open the door, Your Imperial Majesty."

    Niki just nodded his head. "Be careful. Neoma won''t like it if you get hurt."

    Lewis just slightly bowed his head before he slowly opened the door.

    And then they were greeted by a weed sight.

    It was Nero, and the new emperor was sitting on the throne with his eyes closed as the huge crown slowly manifested above his head.

    [Ah, the crown has appeared.]

    It was the symbol of the emperor, which solidified Nero''s position as the new emperor.

    "Argh¡­"

    Niki immediately turned to Neoma who made an incoherent sound.

    And then his eyes widened a bit when the realization hit him.

    Neoma''s stiff and cold body had started to return back to normal.

    His daughter was starting to stir back to life.

    His daughter was starting to turn warm.

    His precious daughter wasing back!

    Niki hugged Neoma. "Please don''t make us wait any longer, Baby Muffin"

    ***

    RUTO quietly observed the throne room.

    He had safely brought Emperor Nero, Dahlia, Hanna Quinzel, and even Gin back to the outside world.

    And, in the middle of the materialization of the crown, the former emperor had arrived.

    Ruto''s heart thumped hard and fast against his chest when he saw that the former Emperor Niki didn''te alone.

    Neoma, still unconscious, was in her father''s arms.

    But he didn''t get disheartened because he saw the faint lights around his lover.

    [It''s the Goddess of Life''s blessing.]

    Neoma wasing back to life.

    "Huh? Commander Ruto, where are you going?" Gin asked when the demon cat caught him slipping away. "Why are you leaving when Princess Neoma is here?"

    "Exactly," Ruto said, his body turning transparent since he was already leaving the throne room. "I need to prepare a warm meal for Neoma."

    After all, Ruto knew that his Neoma would be hungry once she was back.

    ***

    "MONA¡­"

    Hmm?

    Mona opened her eyes.

    In fact, she didn''t realize that she had fallen asleep until the Cosmic Tree, in her human form, shook her shoulder lightly.

    [I guess I still feel sluggish.]

    She noticed that William wasn''t by her side.

    [It''s probably to give us some private time.]

    Mona got up and bowed to the Cosmic Tree. "You''re here, Mother¡­"

    She rarely called the Cosmic Tree her ''Mother'' after she left her side in the past. But staying in the Cosmic Tree''s space made her feel nostalgic.

    Hence, she called the Cosmic Tree like how she used to address her in the past.

    "Your son needs you," the Cosmic Tree said, smiling. "His Imperial Majesty has brought out the Soul Beasts from the Cage."

    She didn''t know what surprised her more.

    The fact that Nero brought the souls of the male Rosehearts out or¡­

    Mona covered her mouth with her hands when she gasped. "My Baby Pumpkin is officially the new emperor now?"

    ***

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 Chapter 917 MUFFIN AND PUMPKIN

    Chapter 917 MUFFIN AND PUMPKIN

    "WHY DO I feel like I''m getting baptized?" Neoma asked nervously while soaked deep into theke. "Is this really a process I need to go through?"

    Yep, she stood neck-deep in the "water."

    The "water" in the question looked like ake, but she could tell that it was actually made of divine power.

    Pure divine power, at that.

    "We poured all of our divine power into thatke, Nene," Yule, who was squatting down in front of her, said. "You don''t see the Goddess of Life here because she''s already working with Drystan to bring you back to life. But rest assured, her divine power is there with ours."

    Hmm.

    "Are you all trying to rece my lost Moonglow with your divine power?"

    "Our Nene sure is smart."

    "This is scaring me," Neoma said nervously. "Am I going through Divinization again?"

    Yuleughed awkwardly. "Our Nene is too smart."

    "Gosh, were you nning to trick me into going through Divinization without my knowledge?"

    "How can we do that when you''re smarter than the rest of us here?" Primo teased her,ughing. "But we''re sorry to say this, Neoma. We can''t stop your Divinization. It''s something that no one in the world could control, not even gods themselves."

    "We figured helping you quicken your Divinization would help you since we''re in the middle of a war," Gwen added. "Your partner has already gone through the first phase of Divinization. You wouldn''t want to get left behind, would you?"

    Neoma''s eyes widened a bit. "Really? Ruto has already started his Divinization phase?"

    "Nene, he could now reproduce his organs," Yule exined to her. "In fact, Ruto gave his heart to you since it''s one of the ingredients needed to bring you back to life."

    "Gosh, that sounds so gross yet romantic for some reason."

    Her ancestorsughed at what she said.

    And that was when she noticed that aside from the Goddess of Life, some other people were also missing.

    "Where are Grandma Aruna and Grandpa Arche?"

    "You''ll meet themter, Nene," Yule said, putting his hand in the water. "Now that I''ve regained half of my strength after resting for quite some time, I can finally help. However, there''s a downside."

    "What would it be, Lord Yule?"

    "I had to give up my vision to send Aruna and Arche to where they should be at this moment," Yule exined. "Hence, in the meantime, I won''t be able to send visions to the new Moon Saint."

    "Oh, that''s fine," Neoma assured the Moon God. "Once I''m back from the dead, I''ll create my own reality."

    ***

    "YOU WOULD either die a gruesome death early or live a long and boring life¨C there''s no in between."

    Trevor scoffed after hearing the evil baby''s ominous prediction.

    The "evil baby" would be the God of Death who was currently using the vessel of a baby that Princess Neoma named ''Vitu.''

    Hence, he couldn''t curse at the evil baby.

    "I''m giving it my all to protect the Goddess of Life and the King of Hell while they work together to bring my Moon Princess back to life," Trevorined lightly, catching his breath for a bit. "And yet you''re cursing me?"

    It wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that he was risking his life to guard the door of Drystan''s Workshop.

    He had already in several mid-tier gods and Spirits.

    It was all thanks to the Death Scythe and his Hellfire that he was still alive.

    [I look rugged, though. I need to take a bath and change into new clothes before I meet my Moon Princess. I can''t appear before her looking like this.]

    "I''m doing you a favor," the God of Death said. "You''ll need a lot of time to think about your options, child."

    It was weird for a baby (in appearance) to call him a child.

    But thanks to Princess Neoma calling everyone her "son" or "daughter," he quickly got rid of the weird feeling.

    "Are you for real, kiddo?"

    "Yes, I am "for real.""

    "I don''t need time to think about that, you know?" Trevor answered, shrugging. "I''d rather die a gruesome death early than live a long and boring life. Do you know how long I''ve been stuck in the Underworld before my Moon Princess rescued me? I don''t need a repeat of that."

    "You can give me your final answerter since we''ll be meeting again once you''re in the brink of death anyway."

    [This cheeky brat is really cursing me¡­]

    "Why are you here?" Trevor asked, trying to keep his temper in check. "Are you not needed inside?"

    "I wouldn''t be here if I was needed there," the evil baby said indifferently, then he pointed at the gods and Spirits that Trevor had just killed. "I''m here to collect the souls of the lives you have just taken."

    "Oh, I thought you were pretty useless now after you were half-killed by Helstor."

    "I got my one eye back, and the other is in Princess Neoma''s possession," the evil baby exined. "The older Princess Neoma had retrieved my other eye. In my knowledge, she left it in the current Princess Neoma''s care. I''ll get it backter."

    "Okay~"

    "Think about what I said," the God of Death said in a serious tone. "Trevor Kesser, you''ll be forced to make a heavy decision soon."

    [Ah, he''s dead serious.]

    To be fair, Trevor had already epted the fact that he wouldn''t die painlessly.

    Or live a happy life.

    After all, he wasn''t a good person.

    Sure, he may not be as scummy as Princess Neoma''s enemies.

    Even so, he still had blood on his hands.

    [Everyone and anyone who has taken the lives of others should be prepared to die horribly. There''s good karma AND bad karma, after all.]

    Even Princes Neoma knew that.

    [We are all sinners, after all.]

    "Stop cursing me," Trevorined. "The "heavy" decisions I should be making in the future will depend on my Moon Princess'' situation."

    ***

    "IT''S FINALLY done," Drystan whispered proudly while looking at the Core that he seeded in recreating. "Princess Neoma''s Core has been put back together sessfully."

    A Core was something almost impossible to put back together.

    Moreover, a Core was special as Princess Neoma would be 100x harder to fix.

    Fortunately, the ingredients were avable.

    [Princess Neoma was cursed with bad luck in the first timeline. But her bad luck turned into good fortune when time turned back for her.]

    Anyway, the little princess'' Core was the most beautiful Core he had seen.

    It was like a huge diamond.

    [Pink diamond, to be precise.]

    "Are you going to put the Core in the heart now?"

    Drystan nodded at the Goddess of Life''s question, then he looked at the ss jar sitting next to Princess Neoma''s Core.

    Commander Ruto''s heart was frozen safely in the ss jar.

    "Yes," Drystan answered the Goddess of Life politely. "After I put the Core in Princess Neoma''s new heart, I''ll send it back to her physical body. Since Princess Neoma''s a Roseheart, we can send her heart through the dimension that souls used to travel to the human world."

    "We can use the River of Life," the Goddess of Life said. "I will guide the Core back to Neoma''s heart using my power."

    ***

    TSK.

    White hair, red eyes, pale skin.

    Nero was sure that the man standing in front of him was another de Moonasterio, but he couldn''t tell if the ghost in front of him was an important figure. The ghost''s clothes were simple, and his face was covered by a mask.

    [I''m so sick of meeting my ancestors I do not care about.]

    The dead should remain dead except for Neoma.

    "Out of all the emperors I''ve crowned before, you''re the only one who ascended the throne without a wife."

    "So what?"

    "And you''re the grumpiest, too."

    Nero just rolled his eyes.

    He was pretty sure that he had safely gone out of the Cage with Commander Ruto, Hanna, Dahlia, and the demon cat.

    However, when he opened his eyes, he realized that he was physically unconscious.

    Right now, he was in his Spirit form while facing a literal ghost.

    "I believe this is thest time I''m doing this, so let''s get this done and over with."

    Hmm?

    The ghost suddenly turned serious as he opened his hands.

    Then, the de Moonasterion crown materialized.

    [There it is.]

    "This is proof that the throne has acknowledged you as the new emperor, Nero de Moonasterio," the ghost said while putting the crown on top of his head. "Now, for you to return to your physical vessel, say the name that appeared in your mind. It should be the name of the first emperor¨C"

    "Neoma."

    The ghost looked bbergasted by what he said.

    "What?" Nero asked defensively. "You told me to say the first name that entered my mind."

    "But the first name that should have entered your mind after getting crowned was the name of the first emperor," the ghost argued. "It''s the tradition for the new emperor to say the name of the first emperor. After all, it''s the rule that willplete the internal coronation. Only the newly crowned emperor must know the name of the first¨C"

    The ghost suddenly stopped talking.

    It was because Nero''s Moonglow leaked out of his body and engulfed him.

    "But how?" the ghost whispered in disbelief. "Saying the name of the first emperor should be the only way to return to your physical body."

    Wasn''t the answer obvious?

    "The de Moonasterion rules have changed when Neoma and I were born," Nero said confidently. "Since Neoma is going to be the first empress regnant, then I''ll begin the tradition of saying the name of the first empress regnant instead of the first emperor''s."

    Yes, he should do that.

    The ghost looked stunned at first, then heughed.

    And then the ghost''s appearance suddenly changed.

    The casual clothes the ghost was wearing changed into fancy clothes¨C clothes that came with the royal robe.

    When the ghost''s mask disappeared, only then did Nero recognize him.

    "The first emperor¡­?"

    "Can you say my name now?" the First Emperor asked, smiling at Nero. "I want to hear my name for thest time."

    Well, it wasn''t hard to do.

    The name of the first emperor shed through his mind.

    "Kronus," Nero said indifferently. "Goodbye, Emperor Kronus."[1]

    ***

    "AH."

    "What''s wrong, my dear?"

    The First Emperor smiled at his dear wife''s worried question. "I finally remember my name."

    Gwen looked very surprised. "But how? You left a piece of your soul in the crown. In order to protect it, you had to sacrifice your name." Expectedly, fear crossed his wife''s eyes. "The fact that you remember your name¡­"

    "It means the end of the empire is near," Kronus said, smiling. "The Great Moonasterion Empire is destined to disappear at the hands of the perfect Imperial Twins."

    ***

    JUST LIKE how Neoma and Nero''s birth changed the de Moonasterionws without anyone''s knowing, Neoma and Nero had their final awakening at the same time¨C altering the entire world this time.

    The Imperial Twins weren''t aware of it yet.

    But there was a reason twins born in the Imperial Family had always made history.

    It started with Aruna and Arche de Moonasterio¨C the first Imperial Twins who dealt serious damage in Callisto de Luca. The two had a good sibling rtionship, but their abilities weren''t equal. One was inferior and couldn''t keep up with the other. Hence, both failed.

    A few more twins were born in history, but the female royal always died before they could even walk.

    And then Nichole and Niki de Moonasterio were born, both possessed equal intelligence and strength. The two were supposed to continue that legacy. However, unlike Aruna and Arche, Nichole and Niki de Moonasterio had a terrible rtionship as siblings. Hence, they failed. They failed without even knowing their purpose.

    But, finally, the perfect set of Imperial Twins was born.

    Neoma and Nero de Moonasterio.

    Both intelligent and cunning, just like Nichole and Niki de Moonasterio.

    Both were too self-confident to feel inferior to the other, unlike Aruna and Arche de Moonasterio.

    Most of all, Neoma and Nero loved each other genuinely.

    The only thing the new Imperial Twins needed was to pass the test of their final awakening.

    When Emperor Nero opened his eyes, the first person he saw was Neoma.

    When Princess Neoma came back from the dead, the first person she saw was Nero.

    The Imperial Twin''s glowing red eyes met, and the two instinctively knew: they had to get rid of the other.

    "Fuck this shit."

    "What in the world?"

    Anyone could guess who between Neoma and Nero de Moonasterio had cursed.

    The newly crowned emperor stood up, his red eyes still glowing.

    The Imperial Princess then asked her father, now known as the Emperor-Father, to put her down.

    Everyone in the throne room was anxious while watching the Imperial Twins approach each other.

    They reacted that way because neither Neoma nor Nero looked happy to see each other.

    And then the unexpected happened.

    "Zeru," Nero called his Soul Beast, the spot he was stepping on getting covered in a thinyer of ice. "Come out and show my beloved twin sister who owns the throne now."

    "Tteokbokki," Neoma called her Soul Beast, her hands now engulfed in me. "Come out and show my not-so beloved twin brother that you don''t need a stupid throne to y."

    ***

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    [1] ngl, this is a rare ocassion where neoma''s naming sense works. ''primo'' is definitely better than ''kronus'' in my opinion haha

 Chapter 918 FINAL AWAKENING

    Chapter 918 FINAL AWAKENING

    TO SAY THAT Niki was confused would be an understatement.

    He couldn''t even celebrate the fact that both of his children had returned safely.

    As soon as Neoma came back to life, she red at Nero with her glowing red eyes while asking Niki to put her down.

    And as soon as Nero stood up from the throne, he red back at Neoma with his glowing red eyes.

    Then the twins met each other halfway.

    Niki could tell that no one in the throne room dared to speak or even move an inch.

    "Zeru," Nero called his Soul Beast, the spot he was stepping on getting covered in a thinyer of ice as the ice phoenix manifested behind him. "Come out and show my beloved twin sister who owns the throne now."

    "Tteokbokki," Neoma called her Soul Beast, her hands now engulfed in me. "Come out and show my not-so beloved twin brother that you don''t need a stupid throne to y."

    Niki pinched the bridge of his nose.

    [Why did they pick a fight with each other as soon as they woke up?]

    Niki was about to stop his children from fighting, but stopped when the twins suddenly moved.

    He was shocked to realize that Neoma and Nero were both too fast for him to see now.

    [Did I grow weak or my children have simply surpassed me way more than I expected?]

    The next thing Niki knew, something was burning behind Nero while a human-like figure was frozen behind Neoma.

    Ah.

    [My children didn''t attack each other?]

    ***

    [IT''S A PRANK!]

    When Neoma opened her eyes, the first thing that she saw was the annoying creature behind Nero whispering in her twin brother''s ear. Judging by the weight on her shoulders and the weird urge she had to attack Nero, she realized that the same creature was whispering in her ear, too.

    To simply say, someone was trying to make them fight to the death.

    But Neoma wasn''t worried.

    And it was because she saw the way Nero looked at her.

    [He''s still the siscon I know.]

    But Nero was ring at the figure behind her.

    Hence, she realized that the two of them were seeing the creatures trying to make them fight.

    "Zeru,e out and show my beloved twin sister who owns the throne now."

    Pfft.

    It was funny because Neoma could tell that Nero was just ying around.

    "Tteokbokki,e out and show my not-so beloved twin brother that you don''t need a stupid throne to y."

    Of course, she yed along.

    Then Neoma and Nero "attacked" each other.

    She threw a fireball at the figure behind her twin brother while her twin brother''s ice phoenix flew over her head (literally!) to freeze the figure behind her.

    Yes, their Soul Beasts took care of the creatures.

    Neoma and Nero, on the other hand, ran to each other and hugged.

    "Nero, congrattions on being the new emperor," Neoma said while patting Nero''s back. "I''m so proud of you."

    "Thank you, Neoma," Nero said, hugging her tighter. "I couldn''t have reached this position without you."

    To be honest, she had so many questions for her twin brother.

    But Hanna and Dahlia were both there, so she decided to keep her mouth shut for now.

    Neoma pulled away from the hug to cup Nero''s face between her hands. "Oh. Should I call you ''Your Imperial Majesty'' from now on?"

    "You don''t have to be so formal with me, Neoma," Nero said, cupping her face between his hands. Then he smiled, obviously happy that she was alive. "You''re warm. Thank you foring back."

    She just smiled and nodded.

    There were so many things she wanted to say to her twin brother.

    But both Neoma and Nero stopped when they felt a portal opening inside the throne room, which shouldn''t be possible.

    Then the twins turned to their father while saying the same thing at the exact same time.

    "Mother is here."

    "Mama Boss is here."

    ***

    NIKOLAI was a bit surprised when the twins suddenly turned to him.

    But he soon realized why.

    He felt a familiar presence above him and when he looked up, someone fell from the portal that appeared out of nowhere.

    Of course, he recognized the angel right away.

    Niki caught Mona in his arms. "Mona, are you alright?"

    Mona looked surprised at first, then she nodded and wrapped her arms around Niki''s neck. "I''m okay, Niki. But I don''t think I can move on my own right away. I''m sorry to ask this, but please don''t put me down yet."

    "Of course, I won''t," he assured his wife. "And you have nothing to apologize for."

    "Mother."

    "Mama Boss!"

    Mona immediately turned to their children, then burst out crying to see that the twins had made it home safe and sound. "Neoma, Nero, wee back," she said in a cracked voice, then she opened her arms. "Come here, my babies."

    Nero and Neoma obliged and hugged their mother.

    Niki knew that as the Imperial Family, they had so many things left to do and talk about.

    However, he chose to savor that moment first.

    [My family isplete again.]

    Niki was happy.

    ***

    SWISH.

    Hmm?

    Neoma noticed that the creatures that she and her brother burned and froze, respectively, disappeared.

    But their existence didn''tpletely disappear.

    [They ran away.]

    "They''ll be back for sure," Nero said. "I don''t think they''re hostile, though."

    Neoma nodded in agreement. "They just tested our sibling bond. Unfortunately for them, you''re a siscon."

    "I''ll take that as apliment."

    "Eww."

    "Are you fighting again?" Papa Boss asked while shaking his head, Mama Boss still secured in his arms. "What were those things you attacked earlier? They just disappeared."

    "We don''t know yet, Papa Boss," Neoma said. "But we don''t think they''re harmful."

    "We''ll take care of them once they return, so please don''t worry about it," Nero added, then he nced at their Mama Boss worriedly. "I think it''s best for all of us to take a quick break, then regroupter to talk about what to do next."

    Right?

    [I''m kind of hungry¡­]

    "You need to rest, Neoma," Nero said firmly while looking at her. "Don''t worry about anything for now. We just got you back, and we''re not losing you again."

    "Is that the new emperor''s order?" Neoma teased her twin brother. "If it''s His Imperial Majesty''s order, then I have no choice but to follow it~"

    "I''m saying this as your twin brother and not as the emperor."

    Aigoo.

    [Why is he being so serious suddenly?]

    "Your brother is right, Baby Muffin," Mama Boss said. "Please go and take a rest first."

    Even Dahlia and Hanna were looking at Neoma worriedly.

    [They can''t approach me because they don''t want to interrupt our family time, but I can tell they''re worried about me.]

    Neoma didn''t want to make her people worry about her again.

    [I''m sure I already gave them a heart attack when I "died."]

    "Neoma, your "children" are also waiting for you," Papa Boss said. "Go."

    [Oh, right. I''m a mother. I should check on my "children" first.]

    "Okay. I''ll take a rest for now," Neoma said, conceding. "Thank you for worrying about me, Mama Boss, Papa Boss, Nero."

    ***

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 Chapter 919 CONSEQUENCES OF LOVE

    919 CONSEQUENCES OF LOVE

    "PRINCESS Neoma, wee back."

    "We''re so happy that Your Imperial Highness is here with us again."

    "You''re not allowed to die on us again, Princess Neoma."

    [Haha~]

    Neoma held back herughter, though.

    She didn''t find the situation funny because she hated seeing her "children" cry, especially if it was because of her.

    But she felt touched seeing Paige, Juri, Xion, Jeno, and even Lewis cry.

    There was one who couldn''t look at her in the eye, though.

    "Greko, what''s wrong?" Neoma asked, squatting down to meet Greko''s eyes level. "You don''t want to see your beautiful eomma?"

    Greko hung his head lower while sobbing. "I''m sorry, eomma. Because of me¨C"

    "It wasn''t your fault, Greko," Neoma said, cupping Greko''s face and gently urging him to look at her. "Don''t me yourself for my "death.""

    "But eomma¡­"

    "No ''buts,''¨C it wasn''t your fault," Neoma said, then she turned to Paige. "It wasn''t your fault either, Paige. None of you was to me for what happened."

    Paige just bowed her head, her tears rolling down her cheeks.

    Well, everyone in the room was crying.

    [I made my kids cry¡­]

    "Eomma, thank you foring back," Greko said, hugging her. "We missed you."

    "And I missed you all, too," Neoma said, hugging back Greko. "Thank you for waiting for me."

    Neoma took her time to hug her "children" one by one.

    She kind of hesitated when it was Lewis'' turn because she knew he didn''t like physical contact. Hence, she was surprised when her "oldest son" made the first move.

    Lewis gently grabbed Neoma by the hand and pulled her in for a hug.

    [Aww¡­]

    "Please don''t die again, Princess Neoma," Lewis whispered between sobs. "I''ll kill myself and follow you to hell if it happens again."

    Neomaughed and patted Lewis'' back. "Then I have to find a way to be immortal."

    ***

    TWO HOURS of bath.

    Neoma almost fell asleep while rxing in her bath, but her brain was too busy deciding what she''d like to eat after she was done there.

    She couldn''t decide what to eat, but she easily chose a light dress for her outfit.

    [I need a loose dress because I''m nning to pig out.]

    When she returned to her bedroom with Juri and Paige who helped her take a bath, she was surprised to see Lewis, Xion, Jeno, and Greko standing outside.

    And she immediately realized why.

    [Ruto is inside.]

    Neoma could also smell the delicious mealing from the room.

    [And my man brought food for his babygirl.]

    "I''m going to have early dinner with Commander Ruto," Neoma said, walking past her "children" as she opened the door. "You''re all dismissed for today."

    She entered the room without waiting for anyone''s response.

    Fortunately, her "children" all listened and left quietly.

    It wasn''t like Neoma was making it for her knights to do her job.

    [I just need them far from here since they all have good senses.]

    "I prepared all the Japanese food that you like, Neoma," Ruto, who looked so fresh and neat in his simple white long-sleeved shirt and well-fitted pants, said gently while putting the dishes he made on the table. "Come and eat while the rice is still hot, babe."

    ''Babe.''

    Neoma smiled when Ruto called her ''babe.''

    Admittedly, it was a cheesy and cringe-y endearment.

    But she didn''t care.

    "Why are you just standing there?" Ruto asked worriedly while walking towards her. Then he teased her. "Do you want a princess carry?"

    Neoma just smiled and nodded.

    Ruto chuckled, then he put his arms around her waist and lifted her. "Wee back, babe. I''ve missed you."

    "I know," Neoma said, wrapping her arms around Ruto''s neck. "Hey, you gave me your heart."

    "It''s been yours from the start."

    So fucking cringe (affectionately).

    "Lord Yule told me your Divinization has already started, Ruto."

    He nodded, sighing. "It started earlier this time."

    "Gosh."

    "You''ve already started yours too, right?"

    "How did you know?"

    "You grew taller."

    "No!"

    "You did," Ruto insisted yfully. "I noticed it as soon as I saw you."

    "I don''t want to be taller¡­"

    He chuckled, then he kissed her on the cheek. "Don''t worry, babe. I''m still taller than you."

    Neoma just frowned, then she buried her face against Ruto''s neck. "I don''t need some additional centimeters. Double it and give it to the next person."

    Gods should bless short people instead of making tall people taller!

    [Someone like Hanna would appreciate it more, you know?]

    "If you get taller, then it just means there''s more of you to love, Neoma."

    Pfft.

    Neoma couldn''t help but feel giddy.

    Ruto was being cheesy, but she was loving every moment of it.

    [It''s okay for us to act like this from time to time¨C we deserve this level of normalcy.]

    Neoma smiled against Ruto''s skin. "Yeah, you should love every inch of me."

    "Of course," Ruto said, walking towards the table while still carrying her in his arms. "Come. I''ll feed you."

    Pfft.

    Neomaughed again when Ruto sat on the chair and ced her on hisp, securing her by wrapping his arms around her waist. "You''re gonna feed me like this?"

    Ruto just smiled and nodded, then he gave her a peck on the lips.

    "Nice," she said teasingly. "What was that for?"

    "Your appetizer?"

    Neomaughed at Ruto''s answer. "It tastes good," she said, inching her face closer to his. "Give me more."

    Ruto smiled and cupped Neoma''s face between his hands. "Much obliged, my princess."

    ***

    "ARE YOU not going to leave yet?"

    Trevor, who was busy sharpening the curved de of the Death Scythe, didn''t even turn to Drystan when he responded. "Why? Are you kicking me out already?"

    "I just thought you''d hurry back to the little princess'' side as soon as you can."

    He stopped working for a moment. "I would if the damnedmander wasn''t there. Although I want to see my Moon Princess in the flesh again, I''d hate to see Commander Ruto happy with her."

    "You''re so petty," Drystan said while patting his shoulder. "By the way, why is the God of Death stuck to you?"

    "I know, right?" Trevor agreed, sighing while looking at the sleeping evil baby on the table. "That brat keeps on cursing me."

    ***

    "SO, HANNA broke off your engagement?"

    Nero knew he wasn''t being scolded by his father, but he still couldn''t help but flinch.

    Right now, he was in his parents'' bedroom.

    His mother, who was still weak after getting her Roseheart Blood taken, was lying down on the bed.

    His father was sitting on the chair next to the bed, of course.

    And Nero, although he was the new emperor now, stood in front of his parents respectfully while giving a report.

    [I may be the emperor, but as Neoma would often say, our parents are still the "bosses."]

    "Are you saying that the throne allowed you to ascend without a wife?" his father asked curiously. "I was actually worried that you may have been forced to marry either Hanna or Dahlia when I realized that you became the emperor."

    09:49

    "The reason behind the tradition where the emperor must be married first before ascending the throne is a sham, Father, Mother," Nero said. "It was just invented by the Goddess of Fertility in order to stay relevant."

    As expected, his parents looked confused.

    [Right. Father has an idea. But both Father and Mother don''t know what exactly the Goddess of Fertility did for her to be our enemy.]

    "What do you mean by that, Nero?" his mother asked. "How did it be a fraud invented by the Goddess of Fertility?"

    "Apparently, an emperor must be married before taking the throne in order to get blessing from the Goddess of Fertility to produce healthy heirs," Nero exined. "It''s a sham because Neoma and I were still born the best in history even though Father and Mother weren''t married then. And about the Goddess of Fertility¡­"

    He looked at his father, his eyes asking if it was okay to tell his mother the truth.

    [I don''t want to stress out my mother when she''s still in a poor state¡­]

    "I''ll tell your mother," his father said, then did as he said. "Mona, ording to Commander Ruto, it was the Goddess of Fertility who killed Neoma''s child in the first timeline."

    His mother covered her mouth when she gasped. "And that wench is still alive?"

    "We don''t know how the Goddess of Fertility survived with her memories intact, but yes, she''s still around."

    "Commander Ruto caught the goddess'' Spirit," Nero informed his parents. "Themander said he''d let Neoma kill the Goddess of Fertility."

    His parents looked relieved to hear that.

    "Neoma and Commander Ruto will ask for our help if they need it. Until then, let''s leave it to them," his mother said, then she turned to Nero with a worried look on his face. "Do you have any intention of marrying Dahlia, son?"

    Nero fell silent for a moment.

    Hanna left earlier to look for Duke Rufus Quinzel.

    On the other hand, Nero sent Dahlia to the best guest room in his pce in order to rest.

    He only took a short break before he went to his parents to report.

    [I knew they''d ask about my ns for marriage.]

    Nero knew that there was a more pressing matter that he needed to address with his parents.

    [After all, the Spirits of the male Rosehearts are still with me. But it''s something that I need to discuss with Dahlia, too.]

    And since the ck Witch was still resting, he had to postpone it.

    [Hence, I''ll take care of something else in the meantime.]

    "Neither Dahlia nor I wish to be married to each other, Mother, Father," Nero said, clenching his hands. "And I don''t think I want to be married in the near future. Can''t I just lead the empire without an empress?"

    He didn''t ask that because he was worried that his parents would object.

    [They''re not the type to impose what they want on their children.]

    Asking that question was his way of asking his parents for help.

    Fortunately, his mother and father were both quick-witted.

    "Of course, you don''t need to have an empress by your side, Baby Pumpkin," his mother said, then she turned to his father. "Isn''t that right, my love?"

    "That''s right, my love," his father said, turning to Nero. "Don''t worry, son. I''ll deal with the nosy nobles and make sure they won''t pest you to get married. And as long as you do a good job as the new emperor, I don''t think our people would mind that you remain a bachelor."

    "Thank you, Mother and Father. I still have one more favor to ask, though," Nero said hesitantly. This time, he had to ask directly. "Can you help me apologize to the Quinzels formally?"

    ***

 Chapter 920 SINGLE-BLESSEDNESS

    920 SINGLE-BLESSEDNESS

    RUFUS tried hard not to show it, but he was surprised to hear from Hanna that she broke off her engagement with the Crown Prince.

    [No, it''s His Imperial Majesty now.]

    On the other hand, Amber failed to hide her shock.

    Yes, this was a family meeting.

    They were still in the Imperial Pce, though. To be precise, they were in the guest room that Amber had been using all this time.

    "I''m sorry, Mother, Father."

    Rufus'' heart broke when Hanna apologized. "You don''t have to apologize, Hanna."

    Why should his daughter apologize for something that she had no control over?

    [Besides, my poor baby looks broken. Even her eyes are still red and puffy. It''s obvious that she cried her heart out.]

    Thinking about how Hanna was so heartbroken at the moment made Rufus angry.

    [I don''t care if he''s the emperor now. That boy still hurt my daughter¡­]

    "Father, Mother, please don''t hate Emperor Nero too much," Hanna pleaded as if she could read Rufus'' mind. "Emperor Nero didn''t want to break off our engagement. It was my decision to end things between us for my own sake."

    For her own sake.

    Right.

    Hearing that appeased Rufus a bit.

    [I''d rather Hanna get her heart broken now than let my poor baby get stuck in a hellish marriage.]

    "You did well, sweetie," Rufus said, proud of his daughter. "You made the right decision."

    Hanna smiled as if she was relieved. "Thank you, Father."

    "Sweetie, you went through a lot," Amber said with a sad smile on her face, then she gently caressed Hanna''s face. "You should go and rest in your room. We''ll continue this talkter."

    Hmm?

    [Something feels off with Amber''s reaction¡­]

    Hanna nodded politely. "Thank you, Mother."

    After that, their daughter bid them good night before leaving the room.

    "Honey, do you think our Hanna made the right decision?"

    "Amber, don''t worry too much," Rufus said to his wife. "Hanna is a strongdy. She''ll get over her heartbreak soon. We should be d that our daughter made a choice for her happiness."

    "I know that, but I''m still worried about our daughter''s future," Amber said in a frustrated voice. "It doesn''t matter even if it was Hanna who broke off her engagement with the new emperor. People will still think that the wedding was called off because our daughter wascking."

    "Let ignorant people talk. We shouldn''t get affected by the likes of them."

    "Honey, you don''t understand. Our daughter might not be able to find a good husband now that she''s known as the woman abandoned by the emperor."

    09:50

    Rufus knew that his Amber could be narrow-minded sometimes because of her upbringing.

    And he was fine with it because he could help his wife broaden her mind.

    However, this time, he couldn''t help but feel disappointed in Amber.

    "Honey, to me, it doesn''t matter whether Hanna chooses to get married or not in the future. She can stay unmarried if she wants," Rufus said sternly. "I just want our daughter to be happy and healthy. That should be enough. And I hope you feel the same, too."

    Amber face''s turned red as if she was embarrassed. "I''m just worried about our daughter''s future," she said in a cracked voice. "Are you mad at me, honey?"

    Seeing his wife''s tears made him feel like the most horrible husband in the world.

    [As expected, I''m weak to Amber''s tears.]

    "I''m not mad, honey," Rufus said softly, gathering Amber in his arms. "But please try to understand that a woman''s happiness doesn''t depend on her marriage. Let''s unlearn the wrong things engraved into our minds by the older generation, hmm?"

    Amber only nodded and buried her face in his chest.

    ***

    HANNA knew that her mother was disappointed in her decision to break up with Nero.

    Fortunately, her father supported her decision.

    [At least, one of my parents believes that I made the right choice.]

    Moreover, she knew that her mother only wanted her to be happy.

    [The problem is Mother thinks a woman''s happiness only revolves around her marriage and family.]

    Still, Hanna couldn''t me her mother for that mindset.

    [Mother was raised by my strict grandmother, after all.]

    Hanna sighed, then she looked up at the starry night sky while strolling around the garden.

    She couldn''t rest properly because the silence in her room was making her insane, so she decided to take a walk to clear her mind.

    "I think Mother would cry if I told her I just want to stay unmarried forever."

    "Princess Hanna?"

    Hmm?

    Hanna was a bit surprised to see Lewis on the pavilion by the pond.

    Her feet brought her there because it was Neoma''s favorite spot in the pce. Hence, that ce was off-limits to most people. She thought she could have the entire ce to herself for a short while.

    But she didn''t expect to find Lewis there.

    "I''m no longer a princess," Hanna said, smiling. "I''ve broken up with His Imperial Majesty."

    Lewis nodded approvingly. "Good job, Lady Hanna."

    Sheughed softly while shaking her head.

    [Here''s another person who believes I made the right choice.]

    She was grateful, of course.

    "Why are you here?" Hanna asked as she approached Lewis. "I thought you''d stick to Neoma like glue."

    She didn''t visit Neoma yet because she didn''t want to interrupt her time with her family.

    [And I know she needs to rest.]

    "Commander Ruto is there."

    "Ah," Hanna said, nodding. Then she stood next to Lewis, leaving a decent space between them. "Lewis, do you have any ns to get married and build your own family in the future?"

    "No."

    She smiled at how fast Lewis answered. "Should I just stay single for the rest of my life, too?"

    "No."

    "Hmm?"

    "I know it''s your dream to get married and have your own family in the future, Lady Hanna," Lewis said in a soft voice. "And I believe you can achieve that dream even if it isn''t with the emperor."

    "Do you think I''ll be able to find a good husband even after I''mbeled as the woman "abandoned" by the emperor for beingcking?"

    "A good man wouldn''t think of you that way, Lady Hanna."

    She just smiled at Lewis'' naivety.

    [He has no idea how cruel high society is to women who have their engagements broken off¡­]

    To be honest, she could already see herself being theughingstock of high society.

    The empire may be at war right now, but since the enemies weren''t attacking anymore, she was pretty sure that the nobles who were safe at home had time to gossip again.

    It was only a matter of time before the news about her failed engagement spread.

    [I need to prepare myself for the criticism my family and I will faceter.]

    "Can I say something really bad, Lady Hanna?"

    "Go ahead."

    "I''m not invalidating your feelings for the new emperor by saying this, but I genuinely believe that you won''t have a hard time finding a better man than His Imperial Majesty, Lady Hanna," Lewis said in a low voice. "His Imperial Majesty only has his face going for him, and Princess Neoma often says an attractive face isn''t all that."

    Hanna burst outughing.

    It was funny because Lewis looked so dead serious while giving his advice, and it was funnier to see him looking all confused after sheughed.

    "I''m being sincere, Lady Hanna."

    "I know, Lewis. I''m notughing at you or your advice. I guess I''m just relieved that you don''t think I''mcking."

    "I''ll never think you''recking in any way, Lady Hanna," Lewis said sincerely. "I know I don''t have a right to say this as someone who''s also suffering from an unrequited love, but I''ll say it anyway: there are plenty of fish in the sea."

    Aww.

    [Lewis rarely talks this much but when he does, he always makes sense.]

    Hanna didn''t expect it, but now she felt better.

    [Plenty of fish in the sea, huh?]

    The sea.

    [I''m supposed to be a Pirate Princess in the first timeline, right?]

    "I suddenly want to go fishing¡­"

    She just said that randomly, so she didn''t expect that Lewis would respond.

    "Should we go?" Lewis asked, his golden eyes sparkling like a child excited for their birthday. "I have a collection of fishing rods, Lady Hanna."

    Hmm?

    That surprised Hanna.

    [Lewis is really unpredictable.]

    Hanna couldn''t help butugh softly. "Alright, let''s do it."

    ***

 Chapter 921 ZOMBIE TWINS???

    Chapter 921 ZOMBIE TWINS???

    "I ALREADY brushed my teeth, Ruto," Neoma announced as soon as she returned to her bedroom. "We may proceed."

    Ruto, who was sitting on the sofa after clearing the table, looked confused. "Proceed with what?"

    Instead of giving a verbal response, she just walked towards him.

    Then Neoma sat on Ruto''sp, wrapping her arms around his neck. Then she gently pushed his head down to capture his lips for a searing kiss. She closed her eyes and pressed her body closer to his, waiting for him to respond while nibbling at his lips yfully.

    Ruto froze for a moment, but only for a moment.

    Her man soon kissed her back as fervently as she did¨C his hands wandering her body carefully as if he was still hesitating.

    [Gosh, this isn''t your full potential, babe.]

    Neoma broke the kiss for air, then she teased Ruto while running her fingers through his hair. "Babe, did you know what Big Neoma told me before she left?"

    Ruto, who looked dazed while looking at Neoma''s lips, slowly looked up until his heated gaze met hers.

    [Ohh¡­ someone is still thirsty, huh?]

    "Yes?" Ruto, who reactedte because he was too busy dreaming of Neoma''s lips, asked in a disoriented manner. "What did Princess Neoma tell you? Are you talking about the time you turned red while she was whispering in your ear?"

    Neoma smiled and nodded. "She actually said something naughty to me."

    Now Ruto looked like he suddenly got nervous. "I''m not sure if I''m prepared to hear what she told you then¡­"

    She justughed at his cowardly response.

    But, of course, she didn''t let the opportunity to tease her man go to waste.

    Neoma hugged Ruto''s neck again, her breasts pressed nicely against his solid chest, as she whispered in his ear. "The older Neoma told me that her Commander Yoan was a beast in the sheets."

    Ruto "coughed" as if he choked on his saliva.

    She pulled away from the hug to see his reaction clearly.

    And it was fun to see Ruto getting flustered!

    Her man''s entire face, ears, and neck were red. He was clearly embarrassed. So embarrassed that he couldn''t look Neoma in the eye.

    [Let''s tease my man even more.]

    "Big Neoma even said that if they had their real bodies, she would have been pregnant every year judging by how many times they did it every single day," Neoma said, whispering in Ruto''s ear while kissing the sensitive side of his neck from time to time. "She said she practically doesn''t leave the bed, so their poor son was raised by the Eternal me."

    Ruto groaned as if he was in pain. "Neoma¡­ please."

    "Please what?"

    "Stop teasing me¨C I''m barely holding back as it is."

    "Who told you to hold back¨C eek!"

    Neoma made an embarrassing sound when Ruto manhandled her (in the most gentle way possible, of course). Plus, she wouldn''t get hurt anyway because her body was sturdy.

    [Anyway¡­]

    The next thing Neoma knew, she was already lying down on the sofa while Ruto was straddling her hips¨C with him pinning her arms on either side of her head.

    Oh, god.

    This was so hot.

    [I''ve "seen" this position from the erotic novels I read before!]

    Neoma gulped hard, feeling her throat dry while looking at Ruto''s intense gaze.

    He was looking at her lips.

    Then his gaze trailed down from her neck to her corbones.

    And then her chest area.

    Ruto didn''t have to say anything.

    [My man wants to devour me.]

    And Neoma wasn''t sure if she had the will to stop Ruto¡­

    "I''m sorry for interrupting this moment, but I need to speak with you, dear."

    Huh?

    Neoma pushed Ruto away when she abruptly got up, then she turned to the intruder with wide eyes. "Grandpa Arche?!"

    ***

    [TSK.]

    Nero was already buried in paperwork, but he still had to deal with Melvin who was crying while nagging him.

    [If you want to cry, then cry. If you want to nag, then nag. Why do both at the same time?]

    "I really thought you were a goner, Emperor Nero," Melvin said between sobs. "When I heard that the throne was forcing you to marry Miss Dahlia, I thought you would die defying the throne."

    Nero clicked his tongue again. "So, you''re saying you don''t trust me, huh?"

    "I trust you as a Crown Prince and as an emperor, but I don''t trust you as a man, Your Imperial Majesty," Melvin said, his brutally honest personalitying out again. "Your heart easily wavers for Miss Dahlia¨C"

    "Shut up."

    "Yes, Your Imperial Majesty," Melvin said while quickly wiping off the tears on his face with his handkerchief. Then he sneakily changed the topic right away. "Should I help Your Imperial Majesty write a formal apology letter to the Quinzels?"

    That was what Nero was doing before Melvin came and cried as if someone dear to him had died.

    He had so many things to do as the new emperor.

    [The nobles are waiting for a formal announcement from the Imperial Family.]

    But Nero''s priority was apologizing to Hanna and House Quinzel properly.

    "I don''t want those petty nobles to find fault in Hanna," Nero said firmly. "It''s my fault our engagement got called off. I''ll have them know that there''s no one to me but me. Hanna shouldn''t be too harmed because of this."

    "It will be hard for Lady Quinzel not to be affected by the rumors, but I''m sure Lady Quinzel can stand up for herself," Melvin said, getting serious as they were talking about work right now. "But if ignoring the issue doesn''t work, then I''ve alreadye up with a way to dispel the rumors and divert the noble''s attention away from Lady Quinzel''s failed marriage."

    "And what would it be?"

    "Duke Quinzel should name Lady Quinzel as her heiress, and let her inherit the duchy early," Melvin said bluntly. "If Lady Quinzel bes Duchess Quinzel, she''ll be untouchable."

    Oh.

    That was a good n¨C

    "A woman inheriting her father''s title? Times have changed, indeed."

    Nero knitted his eyebrows when an invited guest, now surrounded by his knights, suddenly appeared out of nowhere. He recognized that face from the history books and the ''Portrait Room.'' "Aren''t you Aruna de Moonasterio?"

    "That would be me, indeed," Aruna de Moonasterio said, smiling at her. "Hey, little emperor. Do you want to know how to make Callisto de Luca madly in love with you?"

    "Excuse me?"

    ***

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 Chapter 922 HONEY TRAP

    Chapter 922 HONEY TRAP

    "PREGNANCY before marriage¨C"

    "Won''t happen, Lord Arche."

    Neoma clicked her tongue at Ruto''s response to Arche''s light warning. "I believe there''s nothing wrong with pregnancy without marriage as long as two consenting adults nned it. What''s more important is for the couple to be emotionally, mentally, and financially capable of taking care of their babies." She then turned to Ruto with a scowl. "Why were you for firm when you said it won''t happen, huh?"

    "I''m just being careful, Neoma," Ruto said in a tone as if he were an adult pacifying a child. "Emperor Nero has just ascended the throne. His Imperial Majesty became the emperor without a wife, and that''s already enough to cause a controversy. If the Imperial Princess gets pregnant, then the nobles would think you''re challenging the new emperor''s authority."

    Arche nodded in agreement with what Ruto said. "That''s also what I''m worried about. In my time, no Imperial Princess had ever reached adulthood because they were actively hunted down by Callisto de Luca. But the case is different this time, especially since thews have changed and women are allowed to inherit the throne now."

    "You don''t have to worry about that," Neoma said confidently. "Nero and I will never fight for the throne. And let the nobles talk. At a time like this, the Imperial Family should haveplete power over them."

    But she wasn''t saying that the Imperial Family should act like a tyrant from now on.

    Neoma simply believed that they should stop the nobles from putting politics above the well-being of their people.

    After all, she knew that during a time of confusion, there were nobles out there who would use this opportunity to weaken the Imperial Family. That was what happened in the first timeline. Hence, she let another person rebuild the empire and left it for good after she ascended.

    "The empire remains an impregnable fortress despite the Cmities that passed because the de Moonasterios exist. Knowing that the Imperial Family is as strong as ever prevents other nations and kingdoms from attacking us from the outside," Neoma said. "But an impregnable fortress is weak on the inside, so we must be wary of anyone who might use this opportunity to create internal conflicts. And so, I believe that the Imperial Family must haveplete power over the empire until the war is over."

    Ruto nodded in agreement. "That''s right. In the past, the empire crumbled because the Imperial Family of the time was weak. But that''s not the case this time."

    Right?

    But enough with politics.

    [It always makes my head hurt.]

    "Babe, are you alright?" Ruto asked worriedly when Neoma pinched the bridge of her nose. "Is your head hurting?"

    Neoma shook her head, then she leaned against Ruto.

    Her man immediately put an arm around her body and gently rubbed her waist up and down as ifforting her.

    Hmm.

    [My man smells good, as usual.]

    "Babe, I want to eat opera cake," Neoma said. "Can you make one for me?"

    "Ah, I''ve already made one for you," Ruto said, gently squeezing her waist. "I''ve made your top three most favorite desserts because I knew you''d be craving for all of them."

    "And what are my top three most favorite desserts?"

    "Tiramisu, opera cake, and bingsu."

    "Nice. But I actually have two more desserts I love."

    "Dulce de Leche n and sticky toffee pudding, right?"

    Neoma gasped, delighted that Ruto knew her so well. "Babe, please cook for me for the rest of your life."

    "I will."

    She just smiled and wrapped her arms around Ruto''s waist.

    [Yes, I''m aware I''m acting clingy and cringe but who cares? I deserve this after literallying back from the dead.]

    "Ahem."

    Ah, right.

    [We have an audience.]

    Neoma slowly pried herself away from Ruto before sitting properly, then she faced her ancestor. "Grandpa Arche, Lord Yule informed me that he used his power to help you and Grandma Aruna. But why did you and Grandma Aruna try to make me and Nero fight each other?"

    Arche''s face lit up. "Oh. Have you realized that it was us?"

    Yes, the "creatures" that tried to make Neoma and Nero fight as soon as the two of them returned to the throne room were Arche and Aruna de Moonasterio.

    [Of course, I just realized it now.]

    "We just wanted to test your love for each other," Arche exined, smiling. "It''s necessary to use the technique that Aruna and I would like to teach you."

    Argh.

    Neoma wanted toin that she didn''t want to be more OP than she already was, but she kept that thought to herself when the door to her bedroom suddenly burst open.

    "Neoma!"

    "Yes?" Neoma responded to Nero''s call, a bit startled because her twin brother rarely yelled. "What?"

    "What''s wrong with your ancestors?"

    "My ancestors are also your ancestors, dude."

    Nero marched towards her with a huff.

    Ruto, on the other hand, stood up and bowed his head politely towards Nero. "Greetings to the Moon of the Great¨C"

    "Drop it," Nero said, scoffing. "I don''t want to ept any greetings from a thief."

    "Hey, why is my man a thief?"

    "That man stole the heart of the empire''s Imperial Princess."

    Pfft.

    "Even so, don''t be rude to Ruto," Neoma scolded Nero, then she grabbed her twin brother''s arm and pulled him next to her. "Would you like it if I was rude to Hanna or Dahlia?"

    Nero just frowned. "It''s different. I hate themander."

    "You hate everyone except me."

    "Fair point."

    "That boy is worse than you, Arche."

    Hmm?

    Neoma wouldn''t say that she was surprised to see Aruna who suddenly appeared next to Arche, but she was a bit concerned. "Now you''re making me nervous, Grandpa and Grandma."

    She then turned to Ruto and motioned for him to sit down.

    Ruto nodded and quietly went back to his seat.

    "Do you know what Aruna de Moonasterio said to me, Neoma?" Neroined. "She said she''ll teach me how to make Callisto de Luca fall in love with me! That''s so ridiculous and crazy!"

    Pfft.

    To be honest, Neoma found it a bit funny.

    But only because she had an idea as to why Aruna suggested something like that to Nero.

    [Even so, I can''t let my baby brother know that I find this entire thing funny.]

    "Wow, that''s horrible," Neoma said, faking her "upset mode." And it worked because Nero looked satisfied by her reaction. "Grandma Aruna, why would you teach Nero a weird technique like that? It''s already bad enough that Calyx is in love with him. Now you also want Callisto de Luca to fall for him?"

    "Hey," Neroined. "Why are you dragging Calyx into this?"

    "That crazy bastard is in love with you, dude."

    "That''s gross."

    "It is," Neoma agreed, nodding. "That''s why Calyx is a pervert. He''s supposed to be our uncle, and he''s older than us. Yet, his obsession with you isn''t normal. I mean, I don''t care if he''s into men. But incest is a big no-no. And let''s not forget the fact that he''s been obsessing over you since you were a child. Tsk, tsk."

    Nero scowled, and then he shook his head. "Let''s not talk about him."

    Pfft.

    Neoma just shrugged, and then she turned to their grandparents again. "So, what''s this about seducing Callisto de Luca? Isn''t that old dude obsessed with Grandma Aruna or something?"

    "I was just messing with Nero," Aruna said,ughing. "But we''re here to pass down the technique that Arche and I invented."

    "It was the technique we used to honey trap Callisto de Luca in the past," Arche added. "But I was the one who actually did all the seducing using Aruna''s body. And Callisto de Luca had no idea he was flirting with a man back then."

    Aruna and Arche looked at each other, then the ancient twinsughed as if they remembered something funny.

    [Yep, these ancient twins are evil.]

    Neoma, on the other hand, picked up something from what Arche had just said. "Grandpa Arche, you seduced Callisto de Luca using Grandma Aruna''s body. Then does it mean¡­?"

    "You''ve switched souls?" Nero, who was quick-witted like Neoma, asked. "Is that the technique you wanted to teach us?"

    Aruna and Arche nodded.

    "Grandma Aruna, why didn''t you teach me that technique when we were in Korea?" Neomained lightly. "You only stayed with us for two years before you ghosted us back then."

    "Ah, I''m sorry about that," Aruna said,ughing as if it wasn''t a big deal. "Arche had to return to this world back then because his soul had to be near the throne. On the other hand, my soul can''tst long without Arche. Hence, I had to return and stick to him to "recharge.""

    Wow.

    [Grandma Aruna and Grandpa Arche only stayed with me for a few years, but they''ve already learned how to speak like me. Gosh. My influence on these people is scary. No wonder I was such a famous influencer in the past.]

    "The technique we''re going to teach you requires for you and Nero to be next to each other," Aruna said. "But not today."

    Neoma and Nero asked at the same time. "Why not?"

    "Because you two need to rest first," Arche said, waving his hand. "Sleep and rest for now, children."

    ***

    RUTO caught Neoma when she suddenly fell asleep.

    Normally, a sleeping spell wouldn''t work on the most powerful de Moonasterios born in history.

    However, both Neoma and Nero were physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted.

    Hence, the current royal twins fell asleep right away.

    "Lord Arche, Lady Aruna, I''ve heard about an interesting story from my divine father before," Ruto said while carefully cing Neoma''s head on his shoulder. "It was about the time Callisto de Luca regressed to a child and grew a heart for a short period of time."

    Aruna and Arche suddenly burst outughing.

    "Grew a heart?" Aruna said,ughing while patting Arche''s shoulder. "Brother, I guess your honey trap was too much that even Lord Levi heard the news of "Callisto de Luca falling in love with Aruna de Moonasterio.""

    Arche smiled and nodded. "Commander, have you heard about how Callisto de Luca had fallen deeply in love with me back then?"

    "I''m not interested in that part," Ruto said bluntly. "I''m only curious about the part where it said Callisto de Luca regressed to a child. As far as I know, there was no de Moonasterio in history who was born with an ability rted to manipting time."

    "Oh, you''re interested in that part," Arche said, smiling while nodding. "At the time, we sought the help of someone who could turn even a demigod like Callisto de Luca into a child."

    Ruto was reminded of the time Neoma was turned into a baby against her will. "Was it a Crowell?"

    "That''s right," Aruna confirmed, smiling sadly. "It was Ramona Crowell¨C my best friend."

    ***

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 Chapter 923 THE CONSEQUENCES

    Chapter 923 THE CONSEQUENCES

    TSK.

    Niki clicked his tongue when he saw Neoma sleeping on Commander Ruto''sp.

    Nero was also sleeping on the other end of the sofa while sitting.

    It seemed like the children had other visitors, but those visitors were no longer there when Niki and Mona arrived.

    [Must be our ancestors again.]

    "The children look tired," Mona said worriedly while looking at their children. Then she turned to Niki and touched his shoulder. "My love, should we just sleep here with the kids? We''ve been away from them for too long. I know we''ll all be busy tomorrow. So, let''s at least spend the night together as a family."

    Niki nodded in agreement. "Alright. I''ll tell the knights we''ll all be sleeping here in Neoma''s bedroom tonight. Should we wake them up?"

    "I''m already awake, Mother, Father," Nero said in a sleepy voice, and it was clear that their son was having a hard time opening his eyes. But because Nero was Nero, he soon opened his eyes to re at Commander Ruto. "Hand over my sister, Commander Ruto. You''re dismissed."

    Commander Ruto carefully put Neoma in Nero''s waiting arms.

    "Oh, are you really Commander Ruto?" Niki asked, raising an eyebrow. "I didn''t expect you''d easily hand over Neoma to Nero without a fight."

    Commander Ruto stood up and bowed to them as a greeting before he opened his mouth. "I''m merely trying to earn some brownie points from my future inws, Your Lord Majesty."

    Niki and Nero both red at the unfazedmander.

    [Only this boy would have the guts to brazenly call us his inws, so I''ll give him that.]

    But both of them couldn''t say anything since they knew how important Commander Ruto was to Neoma.

    [This thief¡­]

    Mona, on the other hand, cleared her throat. "Commander Ruto, thank you for taking care of Neoma."

    Commander Ruto bowed his head politely. "It''s nothing, Your Madam Majesty."

    "Let''s talk," Niki said to the youngmander. "I need to talk to you as themander of the White Lion Knights and not as my daughter''s potential spouse."

    ***

    MONA COULD see the hundreds of Spirits inside Nero.

    And she could also clearly see that his poor son was suffering.

    Neoma was still asleep on the bed, but Nero couldn''t fall asleep even though he had his eyes shut tight.

    Niki was still talking to Commander Ruto, so it was up to her to take care of the twins.

    "Nero, you can release the souls now," Mona said worriedly because she knew her son was still awake. "I''m here, so I can help you."

    "Not yet, Mother," Nero said, then he opened his eyes and turned to her. "Neoma will wake up if I release the Spirits. I want her to get at least a few hours of sleep before she starts working again tomorrow."

    "I understand that you care about your twin sister, but how about you, son?"

    "I''m alright, Mother."

    Mona knew that her son wasn''t alright, and she could tell what could help him at the moment. "Should I summon Dahlia?"

    "Mother¡­"

    "I''ve already heard about the vow that you made with her," she said carefully. "It''s the vow that requires you to stay with Dahlia all the time. It seems like she''s required to be as physically close to you as possible."

    She didn''t want to admit this, but she was d that Hanna decided to break things off with Nero.

    [I don''t want Hanna to marry a man who cannot bepletely devoted to her.]

    Yes, even if that man was her son.

    [Hanna deserves better.]

    "Mother, will it be alright if we ask Dahlia to use the room next to Neoma''s room?" Nero asked awkwardly. "I feel like my headache would disappear if Dahlia is nearby¡­"

    [As expected, Nero really needs Dahlia.]

    "Don''t worry about it, son," Mona said softly while ruffling Nero''s hair. "I''m sure Dahlia knows her obligations as your soulpanion."

    Nero slowly got up, then he turned to her with a bitter smile. "Mother, are you not going to scold me?"

    "For what?"

    "I''ve hurt both Hanna and Dahlia."

    "I would have scolded you had you not shown remorse for hurting those two innocentdies," Mona admitted, smiling sadly at her son. "But you''re also hurting, are you?"

    "My pain is nothingpared to the pain I caused them."

    "This is not apetition of who gets hurt the most," Mona said gently, then she opened her arms. "Come here, Baby Pumpkin."

    Mona didn''t expect it, but Nero came to her and epted her hug.

    [The new emperor is still a baby at heart.]

    ***

    WOW.

    Niki''s n to spend the night with his family crumbled as he watched the sun rise from the window of his office.

    It couldn''t be helped.

    He had to n a whole strategy with Commander Ruto for the uing coronation for the new emperor.

    Yes, he decided to push through the ceremony despite the current state of the empire.

    [Nero was chosen by the throne, and the entire empire should know that.]

    "Your Lord Majesty."

    It was Geoffrey Kinsley.

    ''Your Lord Majesty'' was how the Emperor-Father was addressed in the empire.

    But, to be honest, only a few emperors had lived after they passed the throne to their son. Hence, hearing the unfamiliar title felt strange.

    However, he easily got used to it.

    [Unlike my predecessors, I''m not greedy for the throne.]

    "What is it, Geoffrey?"

    "Duke Rufus Quinzel is here."

    Niki was surprised to hear that.

    [Rufus is one of the most polite nobles in the empire. It''s rare for him toe unannounced. And although I expected him toe, I didn''t expect him to be here as soon as the sun is out.]

    Niki didn''t want to admit this, but he was nervous.

    "Let the duke in."

    "As youmand, Your Lord Majesty."

    Geoffrey left the office for a moment.

    The moment the doors opened, it wasn''t his Pdin who entered the room.

    Rufus stood in front of Niki''s desk and bowed his head politely. "Greetings, Your Lord Majesty. I apologize foring unannounced."

    [Ah, Rufus looks different today.]

    Niki could tell that Rufus didn''te there as a cousin or an ally.

    [Rufus is obviously mad, and rightfully so.]

    "It''s alright," Niki said formally. "I was nning to summon you anyway, so I''m d you''re here. After all, we need to talk about the failed engagement between my son and your daughter."

    The duke nodded. "That''s exactly why I''m here, Your Lord Majesty."

    [As expected.]

    "We will be sending a formal apology to both Hanna and House Quinzelter," Niki said, clenching his hands. "My son, the new emperor, will take all the me for the failed engagement. We will make sure that the public knows that."

    "Then we''ll be waiting for the Imperial Family''s apology."

    "We will also personally apologize to Hanna," Niki added. "At her convenience, of course."

    "Please summon my daughter to receive your apology before it gets noisy."

    "Before it gets noisy? What do you mean by that?"

    "Your Lord Majesty, I''m not only here to demand an apology from the Imperial Family," Rufus said, then he pulled out a scroll from the inside pocket of his jacket and ced it on the table. "I, Duke Rufus Quinzel, officially step down as a member of the Twelve Golden Families."

    Niki was shocked to hear that.

    [House Quinzel has withdrawn its support from the Imperial Family¡­!]

    ***

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 Chapter 924 SCAMMER THE FIRST

    Chapter 924 SCAMMER THE FIRST

    ?

    "ARE YOU Aruna or Arche?"

    "Oh, I''m Arche."

    "Why did you switch with Aruna?"

    "Because it''s dinner time. I want my twin sister to eat lots of delicious food."

    "Oh, you get along well as usual."

    In an abandoned tower in the Imperial Pce, the one infamously known as the ''Cursed Tower,'' three children were huddled together near the single window in the room.

    The moonglow passing through that window was the only source of light there.

    It didn''t matter for the children who were blessed with inhuman abilities, though.

    One was blessed by the Stars, Edna¨C the child with ming red hair, and brightvender eyes¨C also known as currently the youngest ck Witch on the continent.

    The other was the "disgrace" of the de Luca n, Ramona¨C a child with jet-ck hair, and forest green eyes¨C the anomaly that her family couldn''t get rid of.

    And finally, the Imperial Princess destined to die young¨C Aruna de Moonasterio.

    White hair, ash-gray eyes that would turn red, and pale skin.

    Only one bloodline in the entire world possessed such physical traits.

    "The Stars told me somethingst night," Edna said in a soft voice. This child was always shy and soft-spoken as if she was sharing a secret that the world shouldn''t know. "Apparently, Callisto de Luca has descended back here to the human world."

    "It''s probably because my mother is already dead," Aruna said indifferently as if it had nothing to do with her. "She killed herselfst week because she couldn''t bear living with my father anymore while longing for another man. And that man happens to be Callisto de Luca."

    Since Aruna''s mother was dead, no one would bother Callisto de Luca again.

    It was no secret that the empress had a dangerous obsession with the demigod.

    Hence, Callisto de Luca ascended back to his ce in the Upper World to avoid the empress. Surprisingly, the demigod and his people were lenient to other people in power. The group was only cruel to the Imperial Princesses.

    "Oh, right. Your mother was obsessed with Callisto de Luca," Ramona said, clicking her tongue. "Too bad Callisto de Luca is only interested in the de Moonasterios."

    "You''re way too calm," Ednained lightly, her pupils shaking with fear. "Callisto de Luca descended to k-kill Aruna! Aruna has already shed her first period blood after she turned twelve years old. F-For Callisto de Luca, this is the perfect opportunity to kill her!"

    Every female de Moonasterio would grow weak every time they had their menstrual cycle.

    Although Callisto de Luca was far stronger than the Imperial Princesses, who were never taught how to use their powers properly¨C much less how to awaken their Soul Beasts,¨C the demigod still developed the habit of killing the poor princesses the moment they shed their first period blood.

    It was to ensure that the Imperial Princesses were at their weakest.

    "Don''t worry, Edna," Arche, in Aruna''s body, said while patting the little ck Witch''s head. "Our n will work."

    Ramona pointed her thumb at herself confidently. "Trust me and my ability."

    "You two better not die!" Edna said between sobs. "Our n will only work if the two of you seed in knocking down Callisto de Luca."

    ***

    IT WAS a grandiose temple.

    But instead of the Moon God, it was a temple that worshipped Callisto de Luca as if he was a god when only half of him was divine.

    However, his devoted followers who filled the temple didn''t care about that.

    "The throne only needs one sessor, Prince Arche."

    Arche, now in his own body, didn''t even flinch when Callisto de Luca put his hand on the top of his head.

    His eyes were focused on his twin sister who was unconscious on the cold altar.

    Aruna wore a white dress¨C a dress used by the deceased, to be precise.

    Yes, the cult dressed the Imperial Princess and ced her on the altar as if she was already dead.

    All because today was the day Callisto de Luca decided to kill Aruna.

    "Princess Aruna''s death won''t be put in vain," Callisto de Luca said. "We will extract her Beads and put them to good use."

    "Uncle Callisto, is everyone here?" Arche said, ignoring everything the demigod had said ever since they arrived at the temple. "The people who belong to the cult."

    "Yes, I invited everyone," Callisto de Luca said proudly. "Even the High Executives."

    "Ah, then I''m relieved."

    "What do you mean¨C"

    The demigod stopped talking when all the doors and the windows of the temple had suddenly shut down.

    It wasn''t the wind, of course.

    Someone was behind it.

    "This aura¡­" Callisto de Luca said in disbelief. "The young ck Witch?"

    "Don''t focus on Edna too much, Uncle Callisto."

    "You¨C"

    The demigod was forced to stop talking again when he realized that everyone in the temple¨C even the strongest ones¨C began to fall one by one.

    Unconscious.

    It didn''t end there.

    The entire room had been quickly frozen while every single person, save for Arche, Aruna, and Callisto de Luca, had been turned into a block of ice.

    Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

    Callisto de Luca watched in a mix of confusion and amazement as the ice phoenix (smaller than its original size)nded on Arche''s shoulder. "Since we have you mastered using your Soul Beast, my prince?"

    "I was born a genius, it seems," Arche said confidently. "We were born a genius."

    "Argh!"

    Callisto de Luca flinched when a baby wolf bit him in the leg¨C and the demigod was confused because it was the first time he saw that Soul Beast. "Did you get another Soul Beast, Prince Arche?"

    "That little one is mine."

    It wasn''t Arche who answered the demigod.

    Callisto de Luca raised his head.

    Then, much to his shock, he saw Princess Aruna slowly getting up from the altar.

    "You awakened and got a Soul Beast?" Callisto de Luca asked in disbelief. "How could a mere Imperial Princess achieve that?"

    Aruna scoffed at the demigod. "You always look down on the Imperial Princesses, but you know what, Callisto de Luca? We are more of a god than a mere demigod like you."

    Callisto de Luca growled and moved as if he were about to charge at Aruna.

    But the demigod suddenly realized that he couldn''t move.

    The leg that the baby wolf had bitten earlier was now covered with ice.

    But it wasn''t the only reason why he couldn''t move.

    "Uncle Callisto, you''re afraid of the ck Witches, aren''t you?"

    Callisto de Luca''s eyes widened in shock when a little girl shyly stepped out of the darkness. "Who let you out?!"

    The little ck Witch flinched, then she ran towards Arche and hid behind the Crown Prince.

    "You should worry more about yourself, Callisto de Luca."

    It wasn''t Arche, Aruna, or Edna.

    Ramona, the "stain" of her family, sat on Callisto de Luca''s shoulders while holding the demigod''s head in her hands.

    Callisto de Luca clenched his jaws, but he couldn''t even lift his head. "Ramona!"

    "Yes, it''s me," Ramona said,ughing. "Say goodbye to your perfect world, Father."

    ***

    ARACHNE tried to stab the unconscious Callisto de Luca with his ice sword again and again, but it didn''t work.

    His ice sword would just hit an invisible barrier every time.

    "It must be the Moon God''s blessing," Arunained. "The Moon God loved his brother so much that he gave him the best protection in the world."

    "We know that, and that''s exactly why we asked Ramona to turn Callisto de Luca into a child."

    Yes, that was their ultimate n.

    And it happened.

    Ramona had sessfully turned Callisto de Luca back into a child¨C a child around their age.

    "We devised this n with the assumption that Callisto de Luca''s protection would weaken when he turned into a child," Ramona said, clicking her tongue. "But it''s not working. He''ll kill us as soon he wakes up."

    As if on cue, the unconscious young Callisto de Luca slowly stirred back to life.

    Arche, Aruna, Edna, and Ramona all jumped backwards¨C away from the demigod.

    Callisto de Luca, a boy who looked like he was twelve or thirteen years old, woke up while clutching his head. Then he looked around and knitted his eyebrows while looking at the kids who looked around his age. "Who are you¡­" He trailed off, then he clutched his head tight as if he were in pain. "Who am I and where is this?"

    Huh?

    Arche, Aruna, Edna, and Ramona were in disbelief.

    The children didn''t expect Callisto de Luca to lose his memories.

    But Arche quickly used his brain to use this opportunity to devise a devious n.

    [If we can''t kill Callisto de Luca, then we should use this chance to make him an ally.]

    There was one thing Arche failed to consider, though: Callisto de Luca, just like the de Moonasterios, had the tendency to get obsessed with one person for the rest of their lives.

    ***

    "ARUNA!"

    Haaah.

    Arche, in Aruna''s body, smiled "sweetly" at Callisto de Luca who was running towards him.

    It had been eight years since he raised the demigod and yet he was still alive.

    Aruna smiled at the "young" man. "Good morning, Sir Callisto."

    "Why are you being polite to me?" Callisto de Luca asked, shing his boyish grin. And then, with his cheeks flushed, he held "Aruna''s" hand shyly. "We''re lovers, aren''t we?"

    ***

    "OH MY GOD," Neoma said as soon as she opened her eyes. "Did I just watch a short BL film in my dream?"

    Arche.

    Aruna.

    Edna.

    Ramona.

    Of course, Neoma recognized the ancient twins in her "dream."

    But Edna and Ramona were new characters to her.

    New, but not really unfamiliar.

    [Edna was a ck Witch while Ramona was a Crowell.]

    "What a crazy line-up," Neoma whispered to herself. "It''s like watching a temporary group consisting of the most popr members from different top-tier idol girl groups."

    "You''re talking to yourself again, Neoma."

    Oh.

    Neoma got up and greeted her visitor. "Hi, Hanna." She knitted her eyebrows, then she tilted her head to one side while looking at her second cousin. "You''re always well dressed, but you look fancier today, Hanna. Is that your "revenge dress?""

    "Revenge dress?" Hanna asked, confused. "What does it mean?"

    "There was a certain princess from the modern world who wore a sexy ck dress after her divorce from her allegedly cheater scumbag husband."

    "Ah, I think you''ve mentioned that before," Hanna said, smiling. "I do have a reason for wearing a fancy dress, but not for revenge. I''m here to officially report to the emperor as the new Duchess Quinzel."

    "Huh?"

    Hanna justughed at her reaction.

    "You''re now the duchess? Duke Quinzel already passed his title to you?"

    "Is that so surprising, Neoma?"

    To be fair, Neoma wasn''t surprised.

    She had always known that Hanna would look better as a duchess with her own power than an empress without real power since, in the empire, the emperor held the absolute power in the monarchy.

    Plus, she knew that Duke Quinzel would make Hanna his sessor even if thew hadn''t been changed yet.

    She was just surprised by the timing.

    [Wait, the time...?]

    "Of course not, but let me ask you something," Neoma said while massaging her temples. "How long was I out this time?"

    "Three days," Hanna said, raising her three fingers. "And so many things have already happened in those three days that you were out, Neoma."

    "Other than you bing the new Duchess Quinzel?"

    "Rubin Drayton is already the new Duke Drayton now."

    "Huh?"

    Hanna chuckled as if she was enjoying Neoma''s dumbfounded reaction. "And Duke Rubin Drayton has been visiting the pce for you ever since he found out you''re back."

    Neoma pinched the bridge of her nose, already feeling stressed out.

    [Goddamnfuckingshit.]

    ***

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 Chapter 925 GENERATIONAL SHIFT (1)

    925 GENERATIONAL SHIFT (1)

    [Three days ago¡­]

    ***

    "WE WILL be sending a formal apology to both Hanna and House Quinzelter," Niki said, clenching his hands. "My son, the new emperor, will take all the me for the failed engagement. We will make sure that the public knows that."

    Rufus, who looked like he had already expected to hear that from him, nodded his head politely. "Then we''ll be waiting for the Imperial Family''s apology."

    "We will also personally apologize to Hanna," Niki added. He didn''t want to admit this, but seeing Rufus without an ounce of his usual friendliness on his face was making him nervous. "At her convenience, of course."

    "Please summon my daughter to receive your apology before it gets noisy."

    "Before it gets noisy? What do you mean by that?"

    "Your Lord Majesty, I''m not only here to demand an apology from the Imperial Family," Rufus said, then he pulled out a scroll from the inside pocket of his jacket and ced it on the table. "I, Duke Rufus Quinzel, officially step down as a member of the Twelve Golden Families."

    Niki was shocked to hear that.

    [House Quinzel has withdrawn its support from the Imperial Family¡­!] To be fair, he shouldn''t have been surprised.

    [Rufus'' world revolves around his wife and daughter, after all.]

    Even so¡­

    [I still need to salvage the Imperial Family''s rtionship with House Quinzel.]

    "Rufus, believe me, I understand what you''re feeling," Niki said carefully. "Your daughter was hurt, and her reputation would suffer a major blow once the news about her failed engagement broke out. But please understand that what happened was also beyond Nero''s control. He didn''t want to break his promise with Hanna."

    "We know that, Your Lord Majesty¨C I do," Rufus said. His face had softened up a bit. But his eyes remained a little cold. "However, like what Your Lord Majesty said earlier, Hanna''s reputation would suffer. I can already see my daughter bing high society''s newughingstock."

    He clenched his hands tighter because he knew that the duke was right.

    It didn''t matter if there was war.

    As long as the nobles were safe in thefort of their homes, they would always find time to gossip about the misfortune of others.

    Since Hanna Quinzel was the most nobledy in the empire after Neoma, there were many envious eyes waiting for the former Crown Princess'' downfall. Those hyenas wouldn''t miss this opportunity to attack the only heiress of House Quinzel.

    However¡­

    "I''m no longer the emperor, but I still have the power and the cruelty to shut the mouths of whoever dares to make fun of Hanna," Niki said firmly. "Hanna may not be the Crown Princess anymore. But she''s still my niece. She''s a part of the extended Imperial Family as you are, Rufus."

    For the first time since Rufus got there, he finally gave Niki a small smile. "Thank you for saying that, Your Lord Majesty."

    Hmm?

    It seemed like his cousin''s mood suddenly changed.

    "Your Lord Majesty, I''ll be honest with you¨C I''m upset with Emperor Nero for hurting my daughter," Rufus said, his face and stance rxing a bit. "But Hanna defended His Imperial Majesty as if her life depended on it."

    Niki felt strange after hearing that.

    Of course, he was grateful that Hanna didn''t hold a grudge against Nero even though she had all the right to be mad.

    On the other hand, he felt bad for Hanna.

    [My son lost an amazing person on his side.]

    "Moreover, my daughter said she didn''t want her failed engagement with the new emperor to be a weakness to the Imperial Family," Rufus continued. "As a duke of the empire, I agreed with Hanna''s decision. It''s a miracle that we haven''t been attacked by an outer force, but that didn''t mean it wouldn''t happen in the future. If the Imperial Family showed weakness at a time like this, then the empire would be attacked on all sides."

    He understood what the duke was trying to say.

    Hence, he was even more confused.

    "Then why are you stepping down as a member of the Twelve Golden Families?" Niki asked with furrowed brows. "Rufus, I trust you know how big of an influence the Quinzels possess as the biggest supporter of the Imperial Family. If you step down now¡­"

    "I said "I" am stepping down, Your Lord Majesty. After all, I couldn''t possibly represent House Quinzel when I''m no longer the head of the household."

    "What do you mean¡­ oh."

    Right.

    [I almost forgot about the fact that thews have changed and women are allowed to inherit their family''s noble titles now!]

    Niki raised an eyebrow. "Did you already pass your noble title to Hanna?"

    "It''s not yet official because the vassal families are being too nosy," Rufus said, sighing. "Hence, I''m here to ask for Your Lord Majesty''s help to approve Hanna''s appointment as the new Duchess Quinzel of our noble household."

    ***

    JASPER was half-surprised and half-curious when he saw the important guests who visited his mansion.

    ***

    13:34

    He had just returned home after fighting in the frontline.

    And it hadn''t been a day when he got a surprise visit from people he least expected.

    "We apologize foring unannounced, Duke Hawthorne."

    Jasper immediately shook his head. "You don''t have to apologize, Princess Hanna."

    "I''m no longer the Crown Princess, Your Grace," Hanna Quinzel said with a polite smile. "Emperor Nero is the first emperor in history to ascend the throne unmarried."

    Oh.

    He didn''t know what was more shocking.

    The fact that Hanna Quinzel was no longer the Crown Princess, or the fact that the Crown Prince had already ascended the throne without the public''s knowledge?

    But more importantly¡­

    "Is it okay for you to announce that here, Lady Hanna?" Jasper asked carefully while looking at the familiar faces in the drawing room at the moment. "With all these people here?"

    Melvin Lhesi.

    Sandie Morisley.

    And, finally, Rubin Drayton.

    Wow.

    [Rubin Drayton''s good looks haven''t gone anywhere, huh?]

    Jasper pointed at the most handsome young man in the empire. "I''m sorry, but I can''t trust Lord Rubin."

    [I want to trust Hanna Quinzel, but¡­]

    "Don''t worry, Your Grace. We''re not here to do anything dangerous," Hanna Quinzel said, smiling. "We''re only here to build Neoma''s fans'' club."

    A what?

    ***

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 Chapter 926 GENERATIONAL SHIFT (2)

    926 GENERATIONAL SHIFT (2)

    [Three days ago¡­]

    ***

    "IS NEOMA still asleep?" Niki asked worriedly when he returned to his daughter''s room and saw that Neoma was still sleeping. "It''s not a normal sleep, is it?"

    Mona and Nero were still in the room.

    But the two were already dressed for work. Even so, it was obvious that they couldn''t leave Neoma alone.

    "It looks like Neoma is dreaming," Mona said worriedly. "When Rosehearts fall asleep, our souls could travel dimensions. We can even take a peek at the past or the future. That''s how I got my ability to see the future, although that ability weakened after I gave birth to our twins."

    "Ah, so that''s probably why our ancestors keep on bothering us," Neroined while clicking his tongue. "They''re so annoying. The Afterlife must be boring since they keep oning back here."

    Mona patted their son''s back sympathetically.

    "We should just let Neoma rest," Niki said. "It seems like our daughter needs to sleep longer. She literally just came back to life, after all."

    Mona nodded in agreement. "Her children are here to guard her. We''d love to stay, but Nero and I have to deal with the Roseheart Spirits that he absorbed."

    Oh, that was right.

    Mona and Nero were busy.

    However¡­

    "Do you have time to talk?" Niki asked. "I''ll be quick."

    "Of course, my love."

    "Did something happen, Father?"

    "Rufus actually came here earlier," Niki informed the two. "He already stepped down as a member of the Twelve Golden Families."

    Mona covered her mouth when she gasped.

    Nero, on the other hand, looked like he was hit in the gut. "I''m sorry, Father. House Quinzel definitely withdrew their support from the Imperial Family because I hurt Hanna."

    "That''s what I thought at first, Nero. And Rufus admitted that it was one of the reasons why he stepped down from his position," Niki said, patting his son on the shoulder as a means to console him. "However, there was a different reason as to why Rufus stepped down."

    "What is it then, Father?"

    "Rufus already passed his noble title on Hanna."

    Mona gasped again, but this time, in delight. "That''s great news. Hanna will be a great duchess."

    Nero nodded in agreement. "But just because Hanna became the duchess doesn''t mean she''ll take Lord Quinzel''s position as a member of the Twelve Golden Families, right?"

    "We should reorganize the Twelve Golden Families," Niki said, then he gave Nero a meaningful look. "Son, you''re the emperor now."

    "Don''t worry, Father. I know what to do," Nero said confidently. "I''ve always disliked the idea that we put those people in their high positions just because they belong to the oldest families in the empire. Everything will change in my reign."

    Niki could feel the iing generational shift.

    The emperors of the Great Moonasterion Empire had always been young since most of the previous rulers had killed their predecessors. After all, most de Moonasterion Crown Princes were too impatient to wait for their fathers to die. They wanted to rule while they were in their prime, so most of them opted to seize the throne using violence,

    [I did the same, but only because I could no longer take how cruel Father was.]

    But Nero was different, so Niki knew his son''s reign would change the empire drastically.

    [It seems like the new generation will rule the empire soon.]

    Speaking of which¡­

    "Before we officially announce you as the new emperor, we should finalize Neoma''s new title first," Niki said, then he nced at his sleeping daughter before facing Mona and Nero again. "Instead of giving Neoma the duchess title, I''m thinking we should give her the Grand Duchess title."

    "That suits Neoma better," Nero agreed right away while nodding his head. "If Neoma bes the one and only Grand Duchess of the empire, then I can grant her the right of independence. Even though I''m the emperor now, I can''t see Neoma as a subject. Ruling an independent state while she''s not yet the empress regnant suits her better."

    "Then whatnd do you think our new Grand Duchess deserves?" Mona asked. It was clear that she was very happy for their daughter. "Neoma can''t have an independent state if she doesn''t have her ownnd."

    It was a question that Niki had asked himself as well when he decided to make Neoma the Grand Duchess.

    Hence, he already had an answer.

    "There''s only one territory in the entire empire that suits Neoma the best," Niki said, smiling. "I''ll bestow on our future Grand Duchess the Land of Channary¨C the only territory in the empire that''sparable to the territory owned by the Quinzels."

    Her Imperial Highness Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio would be soon known as Her Imperial Highness, the Grand Duchess of Channary.

    ***

    HANNA had just finished her morning training when their head butler informed her that she had a guest¨C a guest who came unannounced.

    It was rude, but she was curious as to why that person went to see her early that morning.

    [Rubin Drayton, huh?]

    Interesting.

    "Mydy, are you going straight to the drawing room?" her personal maid asked worriedly while following her. "Mydy''s guest is the most handsome young man in the entire empire. Mydy should at least change your clothes¡­"

    To be honest, Hanna''s upbringing gave her the urge to change her clothes, just like what her maid wanted her to do.

    Her training clothes were a bit rugged, and she was a bit sweaty from her physical training.

    She had her hair tied in a high ponytail, and he didn''t have any makeup on.

    However¡­

    "It''s Lord Rubin''s fault foring unannounced," Hanna said casually. "I don''t need to doll up for him. I''m sure he''ll understand."

    Her maid gave up and just followed her quietly.

    The butler then opened the door to the drawing room.

    "You may all leave now," Hanna said after seeing the look on Rubin Drayton''s face. When the servants left the room, only then did she open her mouth to ask. "What brings you here without a notice, Lord Rubin?"

    She wasn''t close to the young lord.

    But they had something inmon.

    [We both remember the first timeline.]

    Hence, she couldn''t dismiss the young lord even if she wanted to.

    "Please help me, Lady Hanna," Rubin Drayton said, not even apologizing first foring unannounced. However, he looked and sounded desperate. "I found out that my father ismunicating with a hostile country with the intention of helping them invade our empire."

 Chapter 927 GENERATIONAL SHIFT (3)

    927 GENERATIONAL SHIFT (3)

    [Three days ago¡­]

    ***

    "HERE ARE the pieces of evidence that I gathered while secretly observing my father''s unusual movements."

    Hanna looked at the scrolls andmunication devices that Rubin Draytonid on the table.

    "Duke Drayton ismunicating with Lahar Kingdom?" Hanna said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Isn''t that the kingdom that leads the Allied Nations?"

    The ''Allied Nations'' were the nations that the former Emperor Niki had invaded during his reign. There were only three nations in the alliance, though. After all, the former emperor wasn''t fond of wars.

    [His Lord Majesty only invaded nations that attacked the empire first.]

    "So, while the Imperial Family and the other noble families were fighting to protect the people from the Cmities, your father was busymunicating with the Lahar Kingdom?" Hanna asked bitterly. "To invade the empire while our people were suffering?"

    Rubin Drayton looked embarrassed, but he still nodded and admitted his family''s act of treason. "Father sent me to lead our private army to make it look like we''re cooperating with the Imperial Family. But while I was fighting for our family''s honor, Father was selling out information about the Imperial Family to the Allied Nations."

    "If that was the case, then why didn''t the Allied Nations attack when the Imperial Family was at their weakest?"

    It was made public that Neoma had "died" during the early cmities.

    There was even a time when only the former Emperor Niki was the one left in the Imperial Pce.

    [If I were the enemies, I would choose that timing to attack the empire.]

    "Lahar Kingdom tried to sneak into the empire using ships," Rubin Drayton said. "Coincidentally, I found out that the sea route they intended to use was in the Merfolk n''s territory. So, I personally went to visit Prince Reevo Hali."

    "Ah, the Mermaid Prince who participated in Neoma''s search for her future spouse," Hanna said, nodding when she remembered the prince. "So, the Mermaid Prince is still in the empire?"

    "He was injured during thepetition, so he was advised by the Healers to stay in the empire until he''s fully recovered," the young lord exined. "I informed Prince Reevo of my father''s allies'' n to enter the empire using their sea routes."

    "And Prince Reevo believed you easily?"

    "Well, I heard Merfolks are weak against beautiful people¡­"

    "Do you realize that you just called yourself beautiful, my lord?"

    "Yes, Lady Hanna," Rubin said as a matter-of-factly. "I''m aware that I''m the most handsome young man in the empire."

    "Oh."

    "Princess Neoma, the most beautiful woman in the empire, acknowledges my face as the best."

    Weird.

    Rubin was obviously bragging about his face, but he didn''t sound arrogant.

    [Is it because he''s just stating a fact?]

    "I decided to use my face to my advantage and convince Prince Reevo that I''m on Princess Neoma''s side," Rubin said. "Fortunately, the evidence I provided was enough for the Mermaid Prince to believe me."

    [Prince Reevo just probably fell for your face¡­]

    But Rubin probably already knew that, so she just shut her mouth.

    "Then Prince Reevo called his family and informed them of the shipsing to use their sea route to secretly enter the empire," Rubin said. "When the Merfolks confirmed that the people crossing their sea route were indeed invaders, they sank the ships before it even reached the empire''s shores."

    "If it was the sea route that Merfolks use, then there should be a naval headquarters nearby," Hanna said. "Did Duke Drayton already bribe the naval headquarters?"

    The young lord nodded. "And that''s exactly why I decided to go straight to Prince Reevo."

    That was smart.

    "But why are you here instead of reporting it to the pce?" Hanna asked curiously. "Why did you ask for my help? You should have gone to Nero."

    She didn''t address Nero as the emperor because it hadn''t been made public yet.

    "Well¡­ I''m scared of the Imperial Family."

    "You''re not scared of me?"

    "I figured you won''t kill me since we worked together recently."

    Hannaughed while shaking his head. "You''re in luck, Lord Rubin. I don''t want you to be the first person to know, but since you''re already here, let''s do this right then." She pointed at herself. "I am now Duchess Hanna Quinzel, Lord Rubin."

    Well, it wasn''t official yet because his father had to get the Imperial Family''s approval first.

    "Congrattions, Duchess Quinzel."

    "You''re not surprised?"

    "It has been a few years since thew was changed and women were allowed to inherit their fathers'' noble titles, but none of the noble households here has let their daughter inherit what they have yet," Rubin exined. "But I''ve always known you''d be the first woman in the empire to inherit her family''s noble title, Your Grace."

    Pfft.

    "Your ttery worked, Lord Rubin," she said, standing up. "Let''s go."

    "Where to, Your Grace?"

    "To the Imperial Pce," she said, raising an eyebrow at him. "Lord Rubin, I''m sure you''re here to negotiate with me. However, I don''t have the power to grant you the thing you want."

    "Your Grace knows what I want?"

    "Of course," Hanna said, nodding. "Sessors like us have responsibility towards our own people. Isn''t that why you chose them over your own father?"

    Rubin looked surprised at first, but he nodded and admitted the truth. "It''s time for my father to step down and let me lead House Drayton."

    ***

    "YOUR IMPERIAL MAJESTY, from the bottom of my heart, I congratte you for finally ascending the throne," Melvin said sincerely while cing a neat white envelope on the new emperor''s table. "Now that Your Imperial Majesty has be the new moon of the empire, I believe this servant of yours has already served my¨C woah!"

    The resignation letter that he ced on Emperor Nero''s suddenly burned to ashes.

    But¡­

    "How did Your Imperial Majesty burn my resignation letter?" Melvin asked in awe. "When did Your Imperial Majesty gain the power to control fire?"

    "Neoma shared her right to control the Eternal me with me and the others."

    Melvin blinked in surprise, wondering if he heard it right. "The Eternal me?"

    "Yes."

    "THE Eternal me that I know? The legendary me that can burn down anything in the world? The Eternal me that¨C"

    "Yes, THAT Eternal me."

    Melvin clenched his hands tight. "Your Imperial Majesty, why would you use the Eternal me for something as trivial as burning down my resignation letter?"

    Emperor Nero looked at his index finger which he used like a pistol when he burned the resignation letter. "I just wanted to see if it''s working."

    "Why would Your Imperial Majesty test the Eternal me that way? Please treat it with respect! It''s THE Eternal me!" Melvin patted his chest with his fist. "Your Imperial Majesty, are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

    "You easily get upset these days, Melvin. Are you going through puberty?"

    Melvin had to shut his eyes tight while taking a deep breath.

    [Hitting the new emperor at the back of his head is treason¡­ Hitting the new emperor at the back of his head is treason¡­ Hitting the new emperor at the back of his head is treason¡­]

    "Melvin Lhesi, go home and snatch your family''s noble title from your father."

    [Huh?]

    Melvin immediately opened his eyes and, much to his shock, Emperor Nero looked dead serious. "B-But my father is still alive and healthy, Your Imperial Majesty. Moreover, I''m too young to inherit our family¡­"

    "I just turned eighteen but I''m already the emperor."

    Oh.

    He couldn''t use the age card in front of the new emperor who ascended the throne in such a young age, huh?

    "B-But why do I need to receive my father''s noble title?"

    Emperor Nero looked at him as if he had just asked a stupid question. "You need to be at least a count to be the Royal Chambein, Melvin."

    "Your Imperial Majesty''s what?"

    "My Royal Chambein?"

    "W-Who?"

    "You," Emperor Nero said nonchntly. "I''m appointing you as the new Royal Chambein, Melvin Lhesi."

    "Nooo!" Melvin covered his ears with his hands as he fell to his knees. "Please take that back, Your Imperial Majesty!"

    The new emperor clicked his tongue while watching Melvin''s theatrics without an ounce of emotion. "Why are you being so dramatic? Did you take acting lessons from Neoma?"

    Melvin just sobbed, and he didn''t care if ignoring the new emperor was a crime.

    [I need to be banished from the pce¡­]

    "Your Imperial Majesty, may Ie in?"

    It was Sanford Devon.

    "Come in."

    Melvin immediately stood up when the doors opened.

    Sanford Devon and Raku entered the room while giving Melvin a funny look.

    Of course, he ignored the two.

    Sanford Devon and Raku greeted Emperor Nero properly before giving their report.

    "Your Imperial Majesty, Lady Hanna Quinzel is asking for an audience."

    Melvin''s eyes widened a bit.

    [I can sense the drama¡­]

    Emperor Nero immediately got up from his seat. "Bring Hanna to the drawing room."

    "The youngdy brought her friends with her, Your Imperial Majesty," Sanford Denvor said. "One of them is Lord Rubin Drayton and the other is Lady Sandie Morrisley."

    Both Melvin and the new emperor looked surprised by the unexpected names.

    He would understand why Sandie would be Lady Hanna since the two were academy friends.

    However, he didn''t expect the youngdy to bring Rubin Drayton to the Imperial Pce.

    After all, the Draytons were almost banned there because of the old duke.

    [What a strange trio.]

    ***

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 Chapter 928 GENERATIONAL SHIFT (4)

    928 GENERATIONAL SHIFT (4)

    [Three days ago¡­]

    ***

    NERO WAS actually nervous about meeting Hanna again after their break-up.

    However, as soon as he saw that look on her face, he knew she came for business and not for any personal reasons.

    Moreover, there was the fact that Hanna brought Rubin Drayton and Sandie Morrisley there.

    "Tsk," Nero said, clicking his tongue while giving Rubin Drayton a dirty look. "If you say you''re here to visit Neoma because she''s sick, I''ll kill you."

    Rubin Drayton looked surprised and worried because of what he said. "Is Princess Neoma sick, Your Imperial Highness?"

    Tsk.

    [I shouldn''t have said anything.]

    "No," Nero said bluntly. "And who gave you the right to speak of Neoma''s name?"

    Rubin Drayton just bowed his head and lowered his gaze to the floor.

    Hanna cleared her throat before she spoke. "There''s a reason why I brought Lord Rubin Drayton here, Your Imperial Majesty."

    Ah.

    Nero didn''t really like hearing Hanna address him by his title.

    But it was fun to see Rubin Drayton''s reaction.

    [His eyes almost popped out of their sockets.]

    Even Sandie Morrisley had the same reaction.

    "I apologize for revealing your ascension to the throne without your consent, Your Imperial Majesty," Hanna said, slightly bowing towards him. "I just thought we should begin by letting these friends know about your new position, sire."

    "It''s fine," Nero said casually. "We will announce my coronation soon anyway."

    Rubin Drayton and Sandie Morrisley suddenly stood up and gave Nero their formal and overly polite greetings.

    "Cut it out," Nero said, waving his hand dismissively. "Let''s get straight to business."

    Rubin Drayton and Sandie Morrisley sat down.

    Then Hanna led the conversation.

    "Your Imperial Majesty, Lord Rubin here has brought hard pieces of evidence that his father, the current Duke Drayton, hasmitted treason," Hanna said in a serious tone. "I''ve verified it already, and I can vouch that Duke Drayton has been selling out information about the Imperial Family to an enemy nation."

    Nero''s jaw clenched hard.

    If Hanna could vouch for it, then it was as good as confirmed.

    [Duke Drayton, you opportunistic bastard¡­]

    "Rubin Drayton, I''m sure you know that high treason is punishable by death," Nero said coldly. "It doesn''t matter if your father is a duke. As long as it''s proven that hemitted high treason, he''ll receive the death punishment. Are you ready to take responsibility for exposing your family''s crime to me?"

    "This is not my family''s crime, Your Imperial Majesty," Rubin Drayton said. His voice trembled a bit, and it was obvious that he was nervous. However, his eyes were determined. "Only my father and a few of our vassalsmitted treason. The others, especially the ordinary servants working for our family, are innocent."

    Nero leaned against his seat and crossed his arms over his chest.

    [Now I know why Rubin Drayton is here.]

    And he could also tell that Hanna brought the young lord here for that very reason.

    "Rubin Drayton, high treason and directly harming the Imperial Family are unforgivable crimes," Nero said. "The currentw dictates that every single family member of the traitor, along with the servants working for them, must be beheaded for betraying the empire. Are you here to beg me to spare your life and the others?"

    "My life isn''t worth that much, Your Imperial Majesty," Rubin Drayton said carefully. "But if my life is enough to save the innocent people working for our family, then I''ll dly die in their stead."

    "Your offer isn''t tempting, Lord Rubin."

    "I know, Your Imperial Majesty," Rubin Drayton. "But if you spare me and my people, I swear I''ll pay you back for your generosity tenfold."

    Hmm.

    Something felt different.

    [Is this the same dumb Rubin Drayton that I know?]

    It was even stranger to see Hanna looking at Rubin Drayton positively, as if she was expecting great things from the young lord.

    He hated it.

    "Duchess Hanna Quinzel, can we talk in private for a moment?" Nero asked. "I have something to ask you first before I give Rubin Drayton his punishment."

    ***

    "HANNA, killing the Draytons would hurt the empire, won''t it?"

    Of course, Hanna already expected Nero to get straight to the point as soon as only the two of them were left in the drawing room.

    And she was grateful.

    [I hate beating around the bush during an important time.]

    "Yes, Your Imperial Majesty," Hanna said, nodding. "I know high treason is a serious crime. However, if we expose the Draytons at this delicate time, I''m afraid the empire''s defenses might crack from the inside. We can''t afford to have an internal war when the crows are attacking us from all sides."

    "Then I suppose stripping Rubin Drayton off of his noble title would also be a bad idea."

    "It''s not necessarily a bad idea, Your Imperial Majesty," she said. "As the new emperor, Your Imperial Majesty must show the nobles that you haveplete power over us. However, right now, I believe Rubin Drayton would be far more useful as a duke who owes you his and his people''s life rather than a fallen noble."

    "Hmm. I see."

    She was relieved to see Nero considering her opinion.

    "You may punish Rubin Draytonter," Hanna added carefully. "But, for now, I believe it will be wiser to make him your pawn."

    "I agree with that," Nero said, nodding. "Then I''ll deal with Duke Drayton quietly¡­" He trailed off, then he smirked and raised an eyebrow at her. "Or would you like to handle this case, Duchess Quinzel?"

    "It would be an honor if Your Imperial Majesty entrusts me with this case."

    "Why did you bring Sandie Morrisley here?"

    "To show you, Your Imperial Majesty."

    "Show me what?"

    "The right people you should be working with," Hanna said confidently. "Your Imperial Majesty, it''s time for the new generation to take over the empire."

    Nero looked surprised at first, then heughed. "We really do think alike, Your Grace."

    ***

    "MELVIN, go and follow Duchess Hanna Quinzel," Nero said to his future Imperial Chambein. "See how she ns to handle Duke Drayton''s case, then decide whether it''s too early for you to inherit your father''s noble title or not."

    "As youmand, Your Imperial Majesty."

    He raised an eyebrow when Melvin didn''tin. In fact, his secretary looked stupidly dazed. "What''s with that look?"

    "I just think it''s a shame, Your Imperial Majesty," Melvin said, sighing while shaking his head. "Duchess Hanna Quinzel would have been a great empress."

    He also knew that.

    But this wasn''t the right time to feel remorseful.

    "Stop thinking about useless things and summon Alucard Dionisio here. And that woman named Sharon Carter."

    "Sharon Carter? The woman that Russell Spencer sent to infiltrate thepetition among Princess Neoma''s suitors?" Melvin asked curiously. "May I know why you want to summon them, Your Imperial Majesty?"

    "The Royal Faction has already lost House Quinzel, so I need the Noble Faction to lose House Spencer to maintain the power bnce here," Nero said, his red eyes glowing. "Marquis Russell Spencer must die now."

    Of course, that pervert shall die the most painful death for lusting after his mother and Neoma.

    ***

 Chapter 929 GENERATIONAL SHIFT (5)

    929 GENERATIONAL SHIFT (5)

    [Three days ago¡­]

    ***

    JASPER was half-surprised and half-curious when he saw the important guests who visited his mansion.

    He had just returned home after fighting in the frontline.

    And he hadn''t been a day when he got a surprise visit from people he least expected.

    "We apologize foring unannounced, Duke Hawthorne."

    Jasper immediately shook his head. "You don''t have to apologize, Princess Hanna."

    "I''m no longer the Crown Princess, Your Grace," Hanna Quinzel said with a polite smile. "Emperor Nero is the first emperor in history to ascend the throne unmarried."

    Oh.

    He didn''t know what was more shocking.

    The fact that Hanna Quinzel was no longer the Crown Princess, or the fact that the Crown Prince had already ascended the throne without the public''s knowledge?

    But more importantly¡­

    "Is it okay for you to announce that here, Lady Hanna?" Jasper asked carefully while looking at the familiar faces in the drawing room at the moment. "With all these people here?"

    Melvin Lhesi.

    Sandie Morisley.

    And, finally, Rubin Drayton.

    Wow.

    [Rubin Drayton''s good looks haven''t gone anywhere, huh?]

    Jasper pointed at the most handsome young man in the empire. "I''m sorry, but I can''t trust Lord Rubin."

    [I trust Hanna Quinzel, but¡­]

    "Don''t worry, Your Grace. We''re not here to do anything dangerous," Hanna Quinzel said, smiling. "We''re only here to build Neoma''s fans'' club."

    A what?

    If he heard it from someone else, he would have thought it didn''t make sense.

    [But we''re talking about Duchess Hanna Quinzel here¨C she''s not the type to say things she doesn''t mean.]

    He couldn''t trust Rubin Drayton, but he also didn''t doubt the young duchess.

    [Her Grace definitely has a n.]

    "I''m not familiar with the term that Your Grace used, but I suppose the n has something to do with Princess Neoma," Jasper said carefully. "And if it''s for Princess Neoma''s sake, you know I can''t turn down your request."

    Hanna Quinzel smiled. "I have Emperor Nero''s permission to move as I please regarding the case he entrusted with me."

    Jasper nced at Melvin Lhesi, the new emperor''s secretary, and nodded. "I can see that. So, what case are you dealing with and how can I help?"

    Hanna Quinzel politely pointed her hands at Rubin Drayton. "Duke Hawthorne, I''d like to inform you that Lord Rubin here has presented indisputable evidence that his father, Duke Drayton, hasmitted treason by leaking information regarding the current state of the Imperial Family to the enemy nation."

    Argh.

    It was disappointing to hear, but honestly, he wasn''t surprised.

    [The downfall of the greatest empires in history wasn''t caused by the enemies but by the greedy people running them.]

    "In particr, it seemed like Duke Drayton promised Neoma''s hand if the invasion seeded. That n got foiled when Neoma "died," though," Hanna Quinzel added. "I didn''t say this to His Imperial Majesty because I know he wouldn''t have let me handle the case if he heard that. But I''m letting you know about it since I know you care about Neoma like she''s your little sister, Duke Hawthorne."

    Pfft.

    Jasper could tell that Hanna Quinzel was trying to rile him up by mentioning Duke Drayton''s evil n that involved Princess Neoma.

    [And it worked.]

    "Neoma is back, and the Imperial Family will announce that along with Emperor Nero''s coronation day," Hanna Quinzel said, smiling as if she was satisfied looking at Jasper''s reaction. "I''m sure Duke Drayton will use Neoma''s revival to lure in the enemies into attacking the empire."

    "That won''t happen," Jasper said, his eyes glowing. "We shall arrest Duke Drayton as soon as possible."

    ***

    "SIR Melvin, Sandie, thank you for apanying me here. I need to talk to Duke Hawthorne in private, so may go ahead."

    What?

    Melvin was confused when Duchess Hanna Quinzel dismissed him and Sandie without giving them any tasks.

    The n to arrest Duke Drayton and his cohorts were already set in stone.

    But that n only included the duchess, Duke Hawthorne, and Lord Rubin Drayton.

    And now, the young duchess was sending off Melvin and Sandie after the young lord left Duke Hawthorne''s mansion.

    "Hanna, why did you summon us here when you''re not nning to include us in arresting Duke Drayton?" Sandie asked, knitting her eyebrows. "I thought you asked us to apany you here because you have a job for us."

    Melvin nodded in agreement with what his childhood friend said. "Your Grace, actually, His Imperial Majesty sent me here to assist you¡­"

    "You''ve seen and heard the n, haven''t you?" Duchess Hanna asked, smiling at them. "Sandie, I''m the first woman in the empire to inherit her father''s noble title. Do you see how much power I have in my hand now? I don''t even need to ask for my father''s permission to arrest a fellow duke. If I need to do something for the empire and my people, I can do it by wielding my own power instead of borrowing my father''s authority." The young duchess clenched her hands. "It''s very empowering, Sandie. As your friend, I wish you experience the same freedom I''m enjoying at the moment."

    Oh.

    It seemed like Melvin was starting to understand Duchess Hanna Quinzel''s intention.

    And it was obviously working.

    Sandie was neitherzy nor ambitious.

    But, at that very moment, Melvin saw something ignite in his childhood friend''s eyes.

    [This is the first time I saw Sandie this inspired.]

    "Sir Melvin."

    "Yes, Your Grace?"

    "Your father is the de facto leader of the Neutral Faction, and you are Count Lhesi''s only sessor," Duchess Hanna Quinzel said, smiling at him. "Sir Melvin, I know you love and respect His Imperial Majesty more than you let on."

    Melvin tried his best to maintain a poker face while Sandie snickered.

    He gave his childhood friend a nasty side-eye.

    [Shut up, you traitor.]

    Sandie just shrugged before avoiding his gaze.

    "His Imperial Majesty''s foundation as the emperor is weak because he was crowned while the empire is in turmoil," Duchess Hanna Quinzel said. "As you can see from Duke Drayton''s example, some of the old noble households are using this opportunity to weaken the Imperial Family. Hence, His Imperial Majesty needs as much support as he needs."

    "Will House Quinzel really leave your seat as a member of the Twelve Golden Families?" Melvin asked curiously. "Your power and influence will help His Imperial Majesty greatly, Your Grace."

    "I''m sorry to say this in front of His Imperial Majesty''s loyal vassal, but I already decided to only take the seat back once Neoma inherits the throne," the young duchess said honestly. "But don''t worry, Sir Melvin. I will support His Imperial Majesty''s reign in a different way."

    "I never doubted you, Your Grace," Melvin said. "Ipletely understand why you can''t openly support His Imperial Majesty now. I''m just d and thankful that Your Grace is still an ally to the Imperial Family. That''s more than enough."

    Duchess Hanna Quinzel smiled at him. "Thank you for saying that, Sir Melvin."

    After the young duchess sent them off, Melvin entered the carriage and sat across from Sandie.

    As soon as the carriage moved, his childhood friend broke the silence.

    "I''m going back home."

    "Suddenly?" Melvin asked, surprised. "Why?"

    "Isn''t it obvious? I''m going to convince my father to hand over his noble title to me," Sandie said determinedly. "I want to be someone amazing like Hanna."

    Oh.

    [Her Grace''s n really worked on Sandie.]

    "Once I inherit my father''s title, I will not choose to be on the Neutral Faction anymore," Sandie dered while giving Melvin a knowing look. "Melvin, I want to support the Imperial Family. Not for the new emperor, though. I just believe that the side Hanna chooses is the right path I must walk on for myself and my family."

    "Can you convince your father to side with the Imperial Family after your family has been on the Neutral Faction for decades?"

    "They''re already half-convinced to join the Imperial Family because of the deal that they made with Princess Neoma anyway."

    Oh, right.

    That deal.

    [Princess Neoma and Duchess Hanna are a terrifyingbination.]

    Melvin let out a frustrated sigh. "His Imperial Majesty''s biggest loss is Duchess Hanna."

    "Right?" Sandie agreed with him. "But I''m d that Hanna didn''t marry His Imperial Majesty. As Hanna''s friend, I want her to find a man who will love her earnestly as a woman and not just as an empress."

    He couldn''t refute that.

    [As long as Her Grace remains our ally, then everything is fine.]

    "Let''s go back home together, Sandie," Melvin said, shutting his eyes tight as he made a hard decision. "I''m going to talk to my father, too."

    ***

    HANNA put her teacup down and asked Duke Jasper Hawthorne, who was sitting across from her while petting the ck demon cat on hisp, the question she had been meaning to ask him. "Your Grace, I have a personal favor to ask."

    "I was wondering when you''ll ask, Duchess Quinzel," Duke Jasper Hawthorne said. "But, first, can you change the way you address me? Since you''re a duchess now, why don''t you just address me by my name? We''re business partners anyway, and you''re Princess Neoma''s closest friend. It feels awkward to hear you being formal with me."

    "Can I really do that, Your Grace?"

    "Of course."

    "Then please address me by my name as well, Jasper."

    "Alright, Hanna."

    If she was the old Hanna, she wouldn''t even dare go on a first-name basis with someone of the young duke''s status.

    But now she had the confidence to stand equal with her peers, even if they were men.

    [It''s all thanks to Neoma, of course.]

    "So, what''s the personal favor you want to ask me, Hanna?"

    "Please support Emperor Nero openly."

    "I don''t like His Imperial Majesty."

    Pfft.

    Hanna chuckled, amused by how Jasper could say something sphemous against the new emperor without even missing a beat. "But you like Neoma, don''t you?"

    "Only as a little sister."

    "Of course, let''s go with that."

    Jasper''s face turned red. "Hanna, it''s not what you think."

    Hanna just smiled and changed the topic. "My father vacated his seat from the Twelve Golden Families when he handed me our family''s noble title. However, I have no intention of filling in for him. But it''s not because I''m bitter about my failed engagement with the emperor. I just think this is the right opportunity for me to take over the empire''s economy. The merchants are gaining too much power because they know the war is about to be on arger scale."

    That was one way to help the Imperial Family.

    House Quinzel was wealthier than the monarchy, anyway.

    "I''m your business partner, Hanna. What makes you think I wouldn''t take this opportunity to expand my wealth as well?"

    "You care about Neoma more than you care about your wealth, Jasper."

    "And you don''t?"

    "You know that''s not true," Hanna said, smiling at the young duke. "Jasper, I''m not asking you to support Emperor Nero sincerely. I just need you to show the empire that you have the new emperor''s back in my stead."

    "Ah, so you want House Hawthorne to rece House Quinzel?"

    "Only you can fill our spot because you''re the only noble household here who canpare to our wealth, Jasper. In times of war, the one thing the Imperial Family needs except for power is money. And you have that."

    "But why do I have to do it?"

    "Because we can''t let the empire copse before Neoma inherits the throne," Hanna said firmly. "Neoma is my empress, so I want to build her foundation as early as now. We have to strengthen Emperor Nero''s power so that the throne''s value soars before Neoma takes it."

    "How can I turn down your request if you put it that way?" Jasper ined" lightly while smiling and shaking his head. "Alright, Hanna. Tell me what exactly you want me to do to show my support for His Imperial Majesty."

    Gin, still in his ck demon cat form that was lying down on Jasper''spzily, clicked her tongue. "You two are so weak for Princess Neoma."

    ***

    RUTO realized that the former Emperor Niki really wanted him as far away as possible from Neoma when His Lord Majesty sent him to suppress the invaders trying to enter the empire via ships.

    "Bring them to the naval headquarters," Ruto, acting as the temporarymander of the White Lion Knights, ordered the knights under his authority. "We''ll wrap up things here and move to the second location."

    "Yes, Commander!"

    After sending the knights away, he stared at the dark sea in front of him as he stood on the battleship''s deck.

    It was dark because it was alreadyte at night.

    But his glowing dark purple eyes could see the blood and the enemies'' corpses floating in the water.

    [It''s been a while since I''ve killed this many people with my hands.]

    No matter how many times he had experienced war, he would never feel great about it.

    "There you are, you damnedmander."

    Only one person had a mouth as filthy as Neoma when it came to cursing.

    Ruto turned around and found Trevor who had the sleeping baby god in his arms. "I was wondering where the Death of God has been all this time."

    "Take this thing away from me," Trevorined. "This thing keeps on cursing me."

    He was curious as to why the God of Death stuck to Trevor like glue.

    But something else caught his attention more.

    "You''ve gotten stronger, Trevor Kesser."

    "Hell yeah."

    "Good. You''ll be more useful to Neoma now."

    He expected Trevor to roll his eyes or even curse at him.

    But the demon¨C no, the new Devil¨C just stared at him nkly.

    "Hey, damnedmander."

    "Yes?"

    "I love Princess Neoma. I really do," Trevor confessed in a soft voice, showing his vulnerability. "I''ll kill you if you choose the world again over my Moon Princess, Ruto Solfrid."

    [He finally called my name properly.]

    Ruto looked up at the dim moon for a moment before his gazended on Trevor''s face. "In all universes, it''s always me and Neoma¨C except for one," he confessed. "There''s one parallel universe, that I know of, where Neoma chose you over me, Trevor."

    ***

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    Hi!

 Chapter 930: THE NEW ERA

    "IN ALL universes, it''s always me and Neoma¨C except for one," Ruto said to Trevor in a serious tone. "There''s one parallel universe where Neoma chose you over me, Trevor."

    "Huh?" Trevor asked, confused. "I know that parallel universes exist because that''s how Gavin Quinzel met Go Areum. But how do you know that you and Princess Neoma were endgame in all those universes."

    "I became a god in the first timeline, and I gained the ability to be omnipresent."

    "Ah, so you were everywhere at all times. Did you check all the universes that exist out there?"

    "No, just the ones where Neoma exists."

    "Aigoo, someone is a stalker, huh?"

    "I just wanted to see Neoma alive and living well, but since the Neoma of my universe already ceased to exist back then, I had to search for her in other universes."

    "Is that supposed to be your sob story?"

    "Trevor, sometimes, you make me want to break your nose."

    Of course, being the obnoxious person that he was, Trevor justughed. "Were you expecting me to be curious about the universe where Princess Neoma chose me over you?"

    "Are you not?"

    "No. In fact, knowing that only pissed me off even more," Trevor said in an annoyed tone. "I don''t care if it was my version in a different version. It''s still not me. The only universe where I want to be my Moon Princess'' endgame is in this universe. Because this is where I exist."

    "My condolences then."

    "Fuck you and your fake empathy."

    "My empathy isn''t fake."

    "So what? Do you want a trophy for being the best man?"

    Ruto just sighed and shook his head, then he removed his armor that was sttered with blood.

    He only used his swordsmanship because it wouldn''t be fair to use his power against weak humans. But he also needed to show off to the White Lion Knights under hismand to keep up their morale. Hence, the blood all over him.

    "Give him to me," Ruto said, opening his arms. "Thank you for bringing the God of Death here."

    Trevor carefully handed the god, in the body of a baby, to Ruto. "Do you think I''m only here to deliver that baby to you?"

    "No. But I''m not a mind reader either. I wouldn''t know why exactly you''re here if you don''t tell me anything."

    "Can you be my punching bag?"

    Pfft.

    [This is why Neoma calls Trevor a tsundere.]

    "Neoma is still asleep, so I have time to spare for you," Ruto said while carefully securing the baby God of Death in his arms. "I can be your sparring partner until she wakes up."

    "You''re not going to be my sparring partner," Trevor denied. "You''re gonna be my punching bag, okay?"

    ***

    ALUCARD looked at Sharon Carter, the petite woman dressed like a man, and checked if she was physically well enough to pull off the mission.

    [His Imperial Majesty can really be cruel sometimes.]

    "Why are you looking at me like that, sir?" Sharon Carter asked awkwardly. "Is there any change in the n?"

    The ''n'' was to assassinate Marquis Russell Spencer tonight.

    Hence, Alucard trespassed the Spencer Estate with Sharon Carter.

    [His Imperial Majesty doesn''t want to let people know that the Imperial Family has a hand in this, so he only sent me for this mission.]

    That was the right thing to do.

    After all, Emperor Nero wanted to make it look like the marquis was killed because of the people who wanted to get their revenge against him.

    And then His Imperial Majesty would reveal all the heinous crimes that Marquis Russell Spencer hadmitted. Because by doing so, people wouldn''t feel any sympathy for the marquis who was killed in his sleep.

    [His Imperial Majesty wants people to think that Marquis Spencer deserves to die.]

    "No, there''s no change in n," Alucard said, checking on Sharon Carter''s condition from head to toe. "Although Lady Avery assured me that you''vepletely recovered by now, I can''t help but hesitate. You just almost died, Miss Carter. Are you sure you really want to do this?"

    Sharon Carter frowned as if she didn''t like what he said. "Will I be pulled out of this mission safely if I change my mind?"

    "Yes."

    "Huh?"

    "His Imperial Majesty said you''re free to back out," he said. "You won''t get punished even if you do."

    To be honest, it was unlikely of Emperor Nero to say something like that.

    But it was thanks to Princess Neoma''s influence that their emperor remained humane despite his craziness.

    "B-But what will happen to the n if I suddenly change my mind?"

    "Do you think His Imperial Majesty sent me here with only one n?" Alucard scoffed. "Even if you back out, Marquis Spencer would still die at the hands of a "vignte.""

    "So, it doesn''t have to be me?"

    "It doesn''t have to be you, but His Imperial Majesty wanted to give you a chance to avenge yourself and your brother. It''s up to you whether you want to grab His Imperial Majesty''s generosity or not."

    Sharon Carter''s face suddenly turned determined. "No, please lend me the power to kill Marquis Spencer."

    "Alright," Alucard said, then he raised his hand. "May I touch you?"

    The young miss nodded eagerly.

    He then put his hand on top of Sharon Carter''s head. "Miss Carter, I''ll give you a portion of my power. You won''t feel anything at the moment. But once my power leaves your body, you''ll be put in so much pain. Will you still ept it?"

    "Yes, sir."

    "Alright."

    Alucard then passed down a portion of his power to Sharon Carter. "It''s done."

    Sharon Carter blinked. "That''s it?"

    "I already said you won''t feel anything for now," he reminded her. "Now, you memorized this mansion''s blueprint, didn''t you?"

    "Yes, sir."

    "Then concentrate and imagine the marquis'' room. Once you do, you''ll be transported there since I also lent you the ability to teleport."

    "I understand, sir," Sharon Carter said firmly, then she closed her eyes. "I''ll try hard!"

    The young miss didn''t have to try hard, though.

    It only took a moment before Sharon Carter disappeared.

    "Good," Alucard said approvingly while nodding. "I hope she got to the right ce, though."

    Hence, he followed the young miss right away.

    An agonizing scream.

    It was what greeted Alucard when he arrived at Marquis Russell Spencer''s room.

    And then he saw why.

    Sharon Carter had sessfully stabbed the weakened marquis in the heart using the Dagger of Curses that Alucard lent the young miss.

    As its name suggested, it was a dagger filled with curses.

    It was an item that belonged to the Demon Race.

    [Anyone who gets stabbed by the Dagger of Curses will experience all kinds of physical pains that you wouldn''t even wish for your worst enemy to go through.]

    But Emperor Nero was a heartless monster.

    [His Imperial Majesty wishes Marquis Spencer to die a painful death.]

    And¡­

    Alucard pulled out a portable video-recording device and captured the scene of Sharon Carter killing Marquis Russell Spencer.

    [His Imperial Majesty wants to see the marquis die.]

    ***

    "DUKE HAWTHORNE! Who gave you the right to do this?!"

    Jasper looked at Duke Drayton indifferently.

    Right now, his private knight army had seized the entire Drayton Estate. He also sent half of his knights to arrest the vassal families involved in Duke Drayton''s treason.

    Since the old duke didn''t expect his attack, the operation went smoothly.

    And now, Gin¨C in his human form¨C was holding Duke Drayton by the neck.

    But Jasper couldn''t let his guard down.

    [After all, I can''t trust the person behind me.]

    "Who gave me the right to arrest a traitor like you?" Jasper asked, smirking. "Who else can order a duke of my standing in the empire, Your Grace?"

    "The Imperial Family?" Duke Drayton asked in disbelief. "But why would His Imperial Majesty Emperor Niki suddenly use me of treason?!"

    "You got two things wrong, Your Grace. First, His Lord Majesty is no longer the empire''s Moon," Jasper said, then he unrolled the scroll that he had brought with him. "The order to arrest Your Grace came from the new Moon of the empire, His Imperial Majesty Emperor Nero."

    The scroll that he unrolled contained the emperor''s official decree to arrest Duke Drayton and all the people who participated in treason.

    Emperor Nero''s name, sign, and stamp were at the bottom of the scroll.

    Since the Imperial Family''s insignia was there, Duke Drayton and the rest of the arrested individuals in front of Jasper were forced to kneel as if the emperor himself was there.

    [At least they still know how to show respect even aftermitting treason.]

    "Second, we are not using you of treason, Your Grace," Jasper said while folding the scroll. "The investigation is over and we''ve found you guilty of treason. In cases of betraying the Imperial Family, the current monarch has the right to deliver punishments without the involvement of the Imperial Court."

    "Hah!" Duke Drayton scoffed, then he raised his head to re at Jasper. "I''m curious as to what kind of "evidence" His Imperial Majesty has found for him to believe that Imitted treason so easily!"

    "Then why don''t you ask your son, Your Grace?"

    "What did you say?"

    Jasper just shrugged, then he stepped aside.

    Rubin Drayton, who had been hiding behind Jasper all this time, stepped forward and removed his hood. "Father, it was me who sent the evidence of your treason to the Imperial Family," the young lord said firmly. "As long as I am here, I won''t let House Drayton fall just because of your greediness."

    ***

    "ARE YOU sure about this, Nero?"

    "Yes, Father," Nero said, nodding at his father''s question. "I considered what Hanna said, and I ended up with the same opinion as her." He tapped his fingers on the table as his brain worked hard. "In normal circumstances, every single member of House Drayton¨C including the servants¨C should be punished by death. But I''m going to get rid of thatw.

    Neoma wouldn''t like it if innocent people were punished for their family member''s crime."

    His father nodded in agreement. "I do agree with that. However, Rubin Drayton is Duke Drayton''s only son. He should at least get stripped of his noble title. If we don''t punish the traitors heavily, then the other nobles would think that the Imperial Family has weakened."

    "And that''s exactly why we won''t reveal Duke Drayton''s treason, Father."

    "What?"

    "We will make it look like Rubin Drayton started a revolt to steal his father''s noble title," he exined to his father. "I''ll make Rubin Drayton a duke that I can order around. Since we can always use his father''s treason against him, I''m sure he''ll be as obedient as a dog to me."

    His father fell silent for a moment, then he nodded. "Alright. Do what you think is better for you and the empire."

    "Thank you, Father."

    It was his father who tapped his fingers on the table this time. "What are you going to do to the Twelve Golden Families this time? House Spencer is no more, and I don''t think House Quinzel will openly support you after your engagement with Hanna was called off."

    "Father, the Twelve Golden Families got their position because they''re the oldest families in the empire. Am I correct?"

    "Yes, you are correct, son. What about it?"

    "Neoma won''t be needing the Twelve Golden Families once she takes the throne since she''s nning to get rid of the monarchy anyway," Nero said, shrugging. "So, I only need to keep the Twelve Golden Families around during my reign."

    His father let out a sigh. "You still need them, Nero."

    "I know, Father. And that''s why I''m going to approve these documents now."

    Nero pushed the documents to his father''s side of the table.

    Melvin handed those documents to him earlier, but he didn''t approve them yet.

    [I want to see Father''s reaction first.]

    His father picked up the documents and read them, then he turned to Nero with a small smile. "Count Melvin Lhesi? Viscountess Sandie Morrisley? Your secretary and Hanna''s academy friend have inherited the noble titles of the Lords of the North?"

    "That''s right, Father. The Neutral Faction is no more," Nero dered, then he looked at his open hands. "The Lords of the North will now serve the Imperial Family."

    "You did well, Nero," his father praised him with a proud smile on his smile. "I''m proud of you, son."

    Oh.

    Hearing those words from his usually stern father made him feel embarrassed¡­

    ¡­ and happy.

    "Thank you, Father," Nero said shyly. "Everything I do, I do it to make Neoma proud, though."

    His father chuckled while shaking his head.

    ***

    "AND THAT''s the summary of what happened while you were asleep, Neoma."

    Oh.

    Neoma massaged her temples while digesting the information that Hanna dumped on her as soon as she woke up.

    Fortunately, her brain was big enough to absorb them all well.

    "Okay. I got it. So, the generational shift has started," Neoma said, then she raised an eyebrow at Hanna. "But aside from being a duchess, I know you did something else, Hanna."

    As expected, Hanna smiled yfully.

    "Gosh, spill it already~"

    "I made at least ten noble households go bankrupt for the past three days, Neoma."

    "Huh?"

    "I''m sorry, but House Quinzel is now officially richer than the Imperial Family," Hanna said, patting Neoma''s shoulder. "Neoma, I''ll take care of you for the rest of your life. You don''t have to work or even lift a finger as long as I''m here."

    Pfft.

    "That''s so tempting, Hanna," Neoma teased Hanna. "You should include me in yourst will while you''re at it."

    "I''ve already done that," Hanna said, smiling. Then she changed the topic. "All jokes aside, are you alright now, Neoma? You''ve been asleep for days."

    "Yeah," she said, nodding. "I''m ready to work again."

    "That''s good."

    "Why? Is there a matter that requires my immediate attention?"

    "The Imperial Family has announced Nero¨C I mean His Imperial Majesty''s coronation yesterday, but people have showed up to protest," Hanna said in a serious tone. "Apparently, a bad omen has spread all over the empire."

    Neoma pinched the bridge of her nose. "Those fucking crows are behind that bad omen, aren''t they?"

    ***

    NOTE: Hi. I''m back. Thank you for waiting, and I''m really sorry for the sudden hiatus. :<

    ***

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 Chapter 931: WORK TO THE BONE

    [IT''S ALMOST over.]

    Nero secretly let out a sigh of relief while looking at the Spirits of the male Rosehearts that he took out from the Cage.

    Each malevolent Spirit was locked up in a semi-transparent "bubble" that Dahlia made.

    When they released the "bubbles" in his private training room, the Spirits inside were barely visible because of how thick the ck energy was inside.

    That ck energy was the male Rosehearts'' deep resentment.

    It only had been a few days since they began purifying the wrath of the male Rosehearts, but they had already made that much progress.

    [Mother and William are helping us, after all.]

    "The Spirits will wake up soon, Your Imperial Majesty."

    Nero turned to Dahlia, who was holding his hands, and nodded in agreement. "I can tell."

    "Your Imperial Majesty has already absorbed most of their resentments, but we don''t know if it''s enough for them to regain a bit of their sanity," Dahlia exined, still holding his hands, while observing the Spirits around them. "Some of them might still act aggressive, so we have to strengthen the barrier around this room."

    "¡­"

    Nero was listening, but he couldn''t help but stare at their hands.

    Every time he needed to absorb the wrath of the male Rosehearts in that room, Dahlia had to be there to make sure he wouldn''t lose to his Lunacy.

    And Dahlia had to hold his hands while devouring his Lunacy in return.

    [Any form of physical contact will do, but this is the safest.]

    "We might need a barrier that''s as strong as what Princess Neoma uses," Dahlia said, then she looked at Nero worriedly. "Your Imperial Majesty, any news about the Imperial Princess'' current state?"

    Oh, right.

    Neoma hadn''t woken up yet.

    "I''ll check on Neoma after we''re done here," Nero said awkwardly. "But don''t worry too much about her, Dahlia. She''s fine. She only needs to rest."

    Dahlia nodded politely, then she slowly let go of his hands. "How are you feeling, Your Imperial Majesty? You absorbed a huge chunk of ck energy today. Is your Lunacy acting up?"

    "Fortunately, it''s not. You did well, Dahlia."

    "Thank you, Your Majesty."

    The ck Witch looked proud of her work, and she had the right to feel that way.

    However¡­

    "You should rest, Dahlia."

    "I''m alright, sire. If I take a rest, I don''t know how long I''d be asleep again."

    Thest time Dahlia took a proper rest, she fell asleep for the whole day.

    [Does she still feel guilty about it?]

    "Dahlia, my mother and William are here to lessen our burden, so don''t be too harsh on yourself¨C hey!"

    Nero quickly grabbed Dahlia and carried her in his arms before she hit the floor.

    He almost had a heart attack because he thought someone bad happened to the ck Witch. But he felt relieved when he heard Dahlia''s light snoring.

    [Ah, she''s just asleep.]

    "This is why I told you to rest, dummy," Nero whispered to himself while looking at Dahlia''s peaceful yet tired face. "No one here will me you even if you rest longer."

    He didn''t know how long he was watching Dahlia sleep in his arms when he heard a knock on the door.

    "It''s me, sire."

    "Come in, Count Lhesi."

    Of course, this ''Count Lhesi'' who entered the room was the young one and not the old count who had already retired.

    "Sire, I already told you to stop addressing me by my formal title," Melvin whined right away. "Anyway, I have urgent news for Your Imperial Majesty."

    "Go ahead."

    "Princess Neoma has already woken up¨C sire!"

    Nero already bolted out of the room, with the sleeping Dahlia still in his arms, as soon as he heard Melvin''s news.

    And he didn''t listen to the rest of what his secretary was saying.

    Nero woulde to regret thatter.

    ***

    "SO, bad omens keep on happening to our people, especially the poor?" Neoma said while leaning against the chair and having coffee. She thought coffee would keep her awake better, so she asked for it instead of tea. "That''s why our people are thrown into chaos once again?"

    Her mind was clear now after taking a long bath after she woke up.

    Hanna was patient enough to wait for her.

    And while Neoma was in the bath, her best friend had already informed all the necessary people about her current state.

    That was why her "children" were already in her bedroom.

    Lewis, in particr, was standing behind Neoma.

    "It seems like the crows are testing the faith of our people in Lord Yule again," Neoma said, sighing while shaking her head. "How is Skylus dealing with the issue?"

    Skylus was the Moon Saint, after all.

    "Prince Skylus and Lord Manu are roaming around the Imperial Capital while doing prayer rallies to boost the morale of the people who are slowly losing their faith because of the bad things that keep on happening," Hanna said. "But it''s not enough, Neoma."

    Of course, it wouldn''t be enough.

    "What are the nobles doing, Hanna?"

    "Well, they''re disoriented after I manipted the economy," Hanna said as if she was embarrassed. "I made sure that themoners won''t be affected by what I did. Anyway, the nobles are busy taking care of themselves, so I don''t think we can ask for their support this time. I''m sorry. My timing was bad."

    "Nah, you did well. We can''t have the nobles gain too much power when the Imperial Family hasn''t stabilized yet after Nero''s ascension to the throne," Neoma said, tapping her fingers against her temple. "And I already made a counterattack n in my head anyway."

    The young duchess was about to ask what her n was.

    But the door suddenly burst open.

    The fact that none of them, not even Neoma, felt the presence of the "intruder" could only mean one thing.

    [It''s not an enemy.]

    And that person was very strong to be able to keep his presence hidden.

    "Neoma, how are you¡­"

    Oh.

    It was Nero¡­

    Holding (the sleeping) Dahlia in his arms¡­

    In front of Hanna¡­

    Neoma clicked her tongue, annoyed by Nero''s inappropriate appearance.

    [Talk about awkward.]

    ***

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 Chapter 932: NATURAL DISASTERS

    NEOMA cleared her throat in an attempt to lessen the awkwardness in the air.

    That awkwardness by caused by Nero barging in her bedroom with Dahlia in his arms¨C right in front of Hanna''s beautiful face.

    It had only been a few days since Nero and Hanna broke up.

    [Gosh. Have some decency, Nero. This is why I can''t me House Quinzel for withdrawing their support from the Imperial Family during your reign.]

    Neoma grabbed Hanna when Hanna tried to stand and bow. "Let''s skip the pleasantries."

    "Right," Nero agreed. "Be at ease, Hanna¨C I mean, Duchess Quinzel."

    Hanna nodded politely. "Thank you, Your Imperial Majesty."

    Wow, that was pretty heartbreaking to watch.

    [They''re addressing each other by their titles now. Gosh. From cousins to lovers turned lovers to cousins again. What a fucked up trope.]

    "Is Dahlia alright?" Neoma asked worriedly. "Why are you carrying her?"

    "Dahlia just fell asleep after using too much energy while purifying the malevolent Spirits of the male Rosehearts," Nero exined awkwardly. "Please excuse me for a moment. I''ll just bring Dahlia into her room."

    "Oki-doki~"

    Nero then awkwardly left the room with Dahlia still in his arms.

    "I''m sorry about that, Hanna," Neoma said, smiling apologetically at the young duchess. "Nero can really be silly sometimes. As the person who raised Nero to be a decent member of society, I deeply apologize."

    "It''s alright, Neoma," Hanna said, smiling while shaking her head. "Emperor Nero and I can''t be friends after our break up. But I''m still a loyal subject of the empire."

    "Really? I thought otherwise since you refuse to take your father''s seat as a member of the Twelve Golden Families. And, to be honest, I totally understand that."

    "Oh, I just refused to carry on my father''s duty because I''m not a peacemaker like him."

    Pfft.

    Neoma couldn''t help butugh at Hanna''s honesty. "So, you''re still gonna support the Imperial Family in the background?"

    "Well, Nero''s reign has to be sessful so that you can inherit the threr while the empire is thriving," Hanna said, nodding. "Hence, instead of getting involved in politics, I decided to focus on being a full-time businesswoman."

    It was a bold choice.

    The empire was at the age when merchants, despite having enormous wealth, were still frowned upon by the proud members of high society.

    But Hanna had everything¨C high education, wealth, and a prestigious bloodline.

    [And yet she''s saying she wants to be a girlboss.]

    Neoma gave Hanna a thumbs up. "I approve."

    Hanna just smiled at what she said. "But don''t worry about the politics side. I''ve already picked a recement, and he agreed to be on the new emperor''s side."

    "You mean Jasper Oppa?"

    "Yes, Jasper is one of them, too."

    "Oh, so you decided to be casual with Jasper Oppa. Nice," she said, nodding approvingly of Hanna and Jasper''s friendship. "Anyway, you said Jasper Oppa is "one of them?""

    "Duke Rubin Drayton pledged his loyalty to the Imperial Family."

    "I''m not sure how to feel about that."

    "Just use Lord Rubin however you see fit," Hanna said casually. "Although the old Duke Drayton is greedy, their name and their household still have some value in it. The empire respects old families, after all."

    Woah.

    [Hanna is really cool. She''s nursing a broken heart and yet, in just a span of a few days, she managed to turn the empire''s economics upside down. Imagine that.]

    "Why are you looking at me like that, Neoma?"

    "I just realized the power that you have, Hanna. You''re kinda scary."

    "Is that apliment?"

    "Of course~ You''re the best, Hanna."

    "It''s not like I did something great," Hanna said shyly. "All I did was create different merchant groups under different aliases. Then I bought irons and Mana Stones from the nobles monopolizing the market."

    Wait.

    "Hanna, I remember telling you about the Mana Stone mine that Regina discovered in the past," Neoma said, knitting her eyebrows. "You found it, didn''t you? So, why did you buy Mana Stones from other nobles?"

    "Because I want to monopolize the market," Hanna said, smiling. "The nobles get richer during war times because they monopolize irons and Mana Stones that are the main ingredients for creating weapons. I knew they''d raise the prices once they realized war was inevitable. So, before it happened, I already created fake merchant groups with different aliases. Then I bought their supplies.

    They didn''t know that they sold the irons and Mana Stones to me since they didn''t know those fake merchant groups belonged to me. And now that the war finally broke out, those nobles were trying their best to buy back the irons and the Mana Stones from the merchant groups that I created."

    "And you sold them back to those nobles?" Neoma asked, alreadyughing. "At a higher price, I bet?"

    Hanna raised three fingers. "I sold them the irons and the Mana Stones triple the price I paid for them."

    Gosh.

    [As expected, you cannot be rich by being goody-two shoes.]

    "The nobles who brought the irons and the Mana Stones that they bought from me tried to sell them to the market at a high price thinking they were going to make profits," Hanna said, then she sipped her tea. "Then, I released the irons and Mana Stones that House Quinzels owns to the market. Of course, I sold them at a lower price."

    "Ah, so that''s how the nobles you tricked went bankrupt."

    "I did the same thing to the wheat market," Hanna added. "After all, aside from weapons, food supply is important at a time like this. I can''t let those greedy nobles raise the price for wheat because it will make the poor starve."

    Neoma put a hand over her chest and let out a sigh of relief. "I''m d you''re not my enemy, Hanna. If you were, then this story would have ended in one volume with my defeat."

    "Huh?"

    "Nothing."

    "Anyway, I''ll let His Imperial Majesty tell you about the omen that the crows probably spread," Hanna said, already preparing to leave. "I''m sorry, but I''m quite busy today, Neoma. I just stopped by to visit you, and I''m d to see you finally awake."

    "Thank you for making time for me, Sajang-nim~"

    "''Sajang-nim? What does it mean?"

    "It''s a Korean term that means CEO or apany president. Since you own several sessful businesses, I should start calling you Sajang-nim from now on."

    Hanna smiled and nodded. "I like the sound of it, Neoma. It''s empowering."

    "Then, it''s decided," Neoma said cheerfully. "Take care, Sajang-nim."

    ***

    IT WAS a family meeting as soon as Neoma went out of her bedroom.

    Everyone already looked exhausted, so she figured out a lot of awful things happened while she was peacefully asleep.

    And that was their main agenda for today''s meeting.

    Right now, Neoma was in the conference room with Nero, Mama Boss, Papa Boss, Melvin Lhesi, Geoffrey Kinsley, and Lewis.

    And the things written on the board were giving her a headache.

    "Landslide, blizzard, wildfire, shflood¡­ and even a dormant mountain suddenly erupted?" Neoma asked in disbelief. "And all those natural disasters happened the past few days?"

    "That''s right," Nero said, nodding. "Apparently, those natural disasters are really ''natural'' and not man-made."

    "It''s the work of Nature," Mama Boss added confidently. "I would know if the disasters that urred were the works of crows."

    Of course.

    If Mama Boss was confident, then it must be the truth.

    But was it really still considered ''natural'' if someone or something was trying to trigger the disasters to hit the empire?

    [Nothing is ''natural'' about that, after all.]

    "Gosh," Neoma said, sighing. "How did the crows use Nature to make it look like it''s already the end of the world just because Nero became the emperor? I know Skylus is working hard to keep up the morale of our people, but at this rate, I won''t me those poor souls for losing faith in Lord Yule."

    After all, during difficult times, the poor would always suffer first.

    "Asking the people to trust the Imperial Family is indeed a challenge right now," Papa Boss said. "ording to Geoffrey and Count Lhes''sbined investigation, the "church" that brainwashed people from the slums was the one who spread the omen. Apparently, the disasters would only stop if Nero stepped down from the throne.

    People who were already distressed because of the previous catastrophes have been thrown into a panic again."

    The crows were working hard, huh?

    [But I didn''t expect them to work hard to remove Nero from the throne.]

    Neoma turned to Nero and teased her twin brother. "The crows have fallen out of love with you, Nero. Did you dump Calyx or something?"

    Nero just rolled his eyes at her, then he paused and knitted his eyebrows. "Come to think of it, I remember seeing Calyx before. But he didn''t do anything. Or so I thought. But maybe there was a reason why he went to see me that time?"

    Everyone fell silent because of the sudden shift in the air as soon as the new emperor dropped that question.

    "You were cursed, Emperor Nero."

    Oho?

    Neoma was surprised by the arrival of the unexpectedbination.

    [My man and my chingu are together?]

    Ruto and Trevor just appeared out of thin air just like that.

    [So cool.]

    "The curse is etched quite deeply on your soul, Emperor Nero," Trevor said while looking at Nero with glowing eyes. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. It''s a curse that got activated after you took the throne. They got you quite good, Your Imperial Majesty."

    Nero knitted his eyebrows. "I''m cursed?"

    "It''s the curse that summons natural disasters as long as you''re sitting on the throne, Your Imperial Majesty," Ruto added, his other eye glowing red while looking at Nero. "And it''s a curse from the Goddess of Misfortune."

    "Fuck," Neoma said, exasperated already. "Another evil god again?"

    ***

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 Chapter 933: GODDESS OF MISFORTUNE

    "YOUR IMPERIAL Majesty!"

    Nero, who was walking in the hallway that led to Dahlia''s room, stopped when Stephanie and Alphen¨C the head maid and head butler, respectively, who raised him and Neoma¨C stopped him in a panic.

    He could tell that Stephanie and Alphen had that reaction because of the woman in his arms.

    "Please allow me to carry Miss Dahlia back to her room."

    Nero had no reason to turn down Alphen''s request, so he carefully handed Dahlia to him.

    "Your Imperial Majesty, if something like this happens again, please call for us," Stephanie said in a polite yet firm tone. "We can''t have the other servants see Your Imperial Majesty carrying a woman, who''s not your betrothed, around the pce."

    Only Stephanie had the guts to scold Nero since Stephanie practically raised him.

    Although Nero could tell that Stephanie and Alphen were still nervous about them, he was d that they didn''t hesitate to do their jobs well.

    Hence, he decided to let it slide even though he hated being nagged.

    [They''re so cautious of the rumors circting about how I should step down, so they probably don''t want me to get into another scandal.]

    "I understand," Nero said, sighing. "Just bring Dahlia to her room safely."

    Alphen bowed to him politely. "As youmand, sire."

    "Neoma is already awake."

    Stephanie and Alphen looked pleasantly surprised by the good news.

    "Inform my mother and father about Neoma''s condition," Nero said quietly. "As discreetly as possible, of course."

    "As Your Imperial Majestymands."

    After that, Stephanie and Alphen quickly left to do their tasks.

    Nero was about to return to Neoma''s bed chamber when Melvin caught him this time.

    [Tsk.]

    "Sire, you left right away when I was not yet done with my report."

    Nero just rolled his eyes at Melvin''s nagging. "What is it?"

    "The fake church released another bad omen," Melvin reported in a frustrated voice. "They''re really hell-bent on stopping your coronation."

    Haaah.

    He couldn''t believe the crows were still dying his coronation when it was nothing but for formality''s sake only.

    [I''m already the emperor anyway.]

    "Prepare the conference hall and send a word to Mother and Father," Nero said while heading back to Neoma''s room. "Tell them we''re going to have an emergency meeting."

    Melvin looked flustered, but he immediately nodded. "As youmand, sire."

    He stopped when he remembered that his secretary made a mistake.

    "Melvin Luchessi, why didn''t you tell me Hanna was in Neoma''s room? I got myself into an awkward situation because of you."

    "Your Imperial Majesty, you didn''t let me finish my report," Melvin said while patting his chest as if he would die if he didn''t do that. "Sire, it''s pathetic to me others for your careless mistakes."

    Only Melvin would call the emperor "pathetic" in front of his face.

    [Melvin is usually a crybaby, but he''s always brutally honest with me.]

    "You''re annoying," Nero said, scoffing, before he turned his back on Melvin. "Go and do your job."

    Then his secretary, now a count, quickly left to do the task he gave him.

    When Nero reached Neoma''s room, he was fully prepared to meet Hanna again and apologized.

    But the young duchess was already gone.

    "Hanna is busy," Neoma said, getting up from her seat. "Nero, I know that you and Hanna already broke up. But that doesn''t mean you can go around the pce carrying another woman in your arms right away. I''m aware that you don''t have that kind of rtionship with Dahlia, but the others don''t."

    Nero clenched his jaw and his hands tight.

    No matter how much he loved and adored Neoma, it was still quite annoying to be lectured by his twin sister.

    And he hated it more when she was correct.

    "The society is harsh to women who got their engagements called off," Neoma continued with her lecture. "Don''t give those people a new reason to gossip about Hanna, okay?"

    Ah.

    Of course.

    [As expected, Neoma is always right.]

    "I''ll be careful from now on," Nero promised, sighing. "Get ready, Neoma¨C we have an emergency meeting."

    ***

    WHEN NERO decided to gather his family and the people he trusted, he didn''t expect to find the answers rted to the natural disasters continuously hitting the empire from the two people he didn''t even invite them.

    Commander Ruto and Trevor Kesser¨C the two men who didn''t have a concept of using the door when crashing an important gathering.

    "You were cursed, Emperor Nero."

    That was the first thing that Trevor Kesser said to him.

    [Are you sure you''re not the one cursing me, Trevor Kesser?]

    "The curse is etched quite deeply on your soul, Emperor Nero," Trevor said while looking at Nero with glowing eyes. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. It''s a curse that got activated after you took the throne. They got you, Your Imperial Majesty."

    Nero knitted his eyebrows. Only then did it finally hit him that Trevor Kesser wasn''t messing around. "I''m cursed?"

    "It''s the curse that summons natural disasters as long as you''re sitting on the throne, Your Imperial Majesty," Commander Ruto added, his other eye glowing red while looking at Nero. "And it''s a curse from the Goddess of Misfortune."

    "Fuck," Neomamented, her voice sounded exasperated already. "Another evil god again?"

    Haaah.

    Now Nero was convinced that Calyx, during thest time they saw each other, did something to him, even though the crow bastard didn''t even touch him back then.

    There were many other ways to curse someone, after all.

    "Alright. Let''s assume that I was cursed by the Goddess of Misfortune," Nero said. He hated to admit this, but he knew he could trust Trevor Kesser and Commander Ruto because those two would never betray Neoma. "Does the curse trigger the natural disasters to hit the empire one after the other?"

    "That seems to be the case," Trevor Kesser said, already back to talking informally. "The Goddess of Misfortune has a neutral evil personality."

    Nero knitted his eyebrows.

    Annoyingly, he was the only one who looked confused among his family.

    Hence, he realized that the term Trevor Kesser used was from the world they had lived in for a few years.

    "Neutral evil represents a character''sck of morals, and people with this type of personality are destructive, corrupt, and only care about themselves," Neoma exined to Nero and the others who were left confused. "To be fair, it suits the Goddess of Misfortune since based on what I remember from my past life, the Goddess of Misfortune brings chaos and bad luck wherever she goes."

    "That''s why she''s also called ''Lady Doom,''" Commander Ruto. "Unfortunately, it seems like the crows have summoned the Goddess of Misfortune and helped her settle here. After all, natural disasters always follow Lady Doom."

    Hmm.

    To be honest, it didn''t matter to Nero if the Goddess of Misfortune caused the natural disasters that hit the empire.

    After all, he already had a n.

    "They''re using the natural disasters to make me look unfit to sit on the throne," Nero said, leaning against his seat while crossing his arms over his chest. "Neoma."

    "Yes, Your Imperial Majesty~"

    He smirked when he saw the expectant look on his twin sister''s face.

    Ah.

    It seemed like they were thinking about the same solution.

    "The crows are using natural disasters to ruin my reputation. Although those disasters are "natural," it doesn''t change the fact that they''re deciving our people so that they''ll hate me," Nero said, raising an eyebrow at his twin sister. "Neoma, you''re a better scammer than them, aren''t you?"

    "I''m insulted that you had to ask, Nero," Neoma said, pointing a finger at her temple. "Let''s do it¨C let''s scam the scammers."

    ***

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 Chapter 934: SCAMMING THE SCUMS

    "WHAT''S THE next omen that the sketchy church spread this time, Sir Melvin?" Neoma asked, then she paused for a moment. "Oh. Should I address you as ''Count Lhesi from now on?"

    Melvin immediately shook his head. "You can just address me as before, Your Imperial Highness."

    Right now, only Neoma, Lewis, and Melvin were left in the meeting room in her pce.

    She sent her other "children" to the capital to check what kind of rumors were circting among themon people.

    Nero, Mama Boss, and Papa Boss had royal duties to attend to.

    Neoma was the only member of the Imperial Family who had "free" time.

    "It seems awkward to do that since you''re going to be the Imperial Chambein soon."

    "Please don''t curse me, Princess Neoma."

    "There''s no use running away from reality, my friend," she said while patting Melvin''s slumped shoulder. "You''re the only one who can serve Nero. Before I leave my position as the one and only Imperial Princess, I''ll ask Nero to give you the ''National Treasure'' title."

    "N-National Treasure?"

    "Count Lhesi, only you can work so efficiently while dealing with Nero''s tantrums and nasty temper," Neoma said firmly, giving the young count a thumbs up. "If you''re not a National Treasure, then I don''t know what else to call you."

    Melvin looked touched by what she said. "Thank you, Princess Neoma. If only His Imperial Majesty could be half as nice as you are¡­"

    She justughed it off because she could tell the young count was simply joking.

    Melvin would never insult Nero in a serious manner.

    After all, the young count was very loyal to the young emperor.

    [Melvin was loyal to Nero in the first timeline, too.]

    Neoma knew because she remembered that in the first timeline, Melvin gave up his life for Nero.

    And so did the other knights in Nero''s Order.

    "Count Lhesi, thank you for being kind and loyal to my baby brother," Neoma said sincerely, smiling at Melvin. "I mean it."

    Melvin suddenly closed his eyes.

    "Why are you closing your eyes, Count Lhesi?"

    "You''re too pretty, Princess Neoma."

    Sheughed softly while shaking her head. "Thank you."

    Melvin cleared his throat, then he opened his eyes and went back to business mode. "Princess Neoma, you asked about the next omen, didn''t you?"

    "Yep," Neoma said, nodding. "I need to know so we can scam them back."

    "Apparently, during Emperor Nero''s coronation day, dead animals would pour from the sky."

    "Ohh. That''s not a natural disaster, is it?"

    "ording to what the fake church spread, the cause of death of those poor animals was of natural cause," Melvin exined. "Apparently, those animals died after "identally" drinking water from the ck Ocean."

    Oh~

    The ck Ocean was the ce where Mama Boss was trapped for more than a decade.

    "Natural, my ass," Neoma said, scoffing. "No living things live around the ck Ocean. They must have brought those poor animals there to kill them. That''s no natural cause of death¨C that''s premeditated murder."

    "Well, our people aren''t in the right state of mind to think straight because of the fake church''s fear-mongering," the young count said. "They are easily shaken because their faith in the Moon God has weakened due to the continuous cmities hitting the empire."

    Right?

    They really couldn''t me the people for losing their faith.

    "Princess Neoma?"

    "Yes, my precious son?"

    Lewis frowned at Neoma''s teasing, but he still said what he wanted to say. "Impure Mana. You can purify it, Princess Neoma."

    "I know, right?" Neoma agreed. "But even if I purify those dead animals in order to bring them back to life, it still wouldn''t put the people at ease because the omen still happened. And the omen will definitely happen because that petty Goddess of Misfortune follows Nero¡­"

    She trailed off.

    Nero was cursed so the Goddess of Misfortune would follow him wherever he went to.

    But what if Nero left the empire?

    No misfortune would befall them then.

    "Nero can''t leave the empire on his coronation day," Neoma said out loud. "Unless I take his ce."

    Melvin looked skeptical. "Princess Neoma, I don''t mean to be rude. But I don''t think the same trick you did when you were younger would still work. The crows could tell if you switched ces with Emperor Nero. Now that the two of you have grown into adults, you don''t resemble each other as much as you do when you were younger."

    Lewis nodded in agreement. "Princess Neoma is prettier than His Imperial Majesty."

    The young count looked at the fox as if asking, "Are you serious?"

    Lewis just ignored Melvin''s judgy look, of course.

    [Funny kids.]

    Neoma, on the other hand, mmed her hand on the table when her big brain started going overdrive. "Bring Ruto and Trevor here."

    ***

    NEOMA went straight to the point as soon as Ruto and Trevor arrived.

    She felt bad because she actually asked the two men to take a rest first, and yet she already summoned her when it hadn''t even been half a day since she dismissed them.

    It couldn''t be helped since it was an emergency.

    Luckily, both Ruto and Trevor looked refreshed as if their ragged appearance when they arrived was nothing but an illusion.

    Anyway, back to work.

    "Tell me something about Nero''s curse," Neoma said while tapping her fingertips on the table. "Is it etched in his soul?"

    Trevor nodded. "That''s right, Princess Neoma. It''s like Emperor Nero''s soul was branded, so the Goddess of Misfortune will follow him everywhere."

    "But if Nero isn''t in the empire, then no misfortune will befall on us, right?"

    Again, Trevor nodded. "The natural disasters continuously hit the empire only because Emperor Nero is here."

    "If we bring Nero''s soul somewhere else while his body stays in the empire, will the Goddess of Misfortune still stay in the empire or would she follow Nero''s soul?"

    It looked like Trevor and Ruto already realized where the conversation was headed.

    "I see," Trevor said, nodding. "I don''t think we can easily fool the Goddess of Misfortune, though. After all, anyone who knows the Rosehearts must be aware that the Rosehearts can separate their souls from their physical bodies. Moreover, Emperor Nero can''t be unconscious on his coronation day since it will only scare the people even more."

    "Unless someone takes over Emperor Nero''s body," Ruto said while looking at Neoma knowingly. "Are you nning to take the emperor''s ce during his coronation day, Neoma?"

    "Soul switching," Neoma said, grinning. "Grandma Aruna and Grandpa Arche''s technique!"

    ***

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 Chapter 935: SOUL SWITCHING TIME

    TSK.

    Nero clicked his tongue inwardly after dismissing the remaining members of the Twelve Golden Families.

    This time, they were joined by the other marquis families of the empire.

    Some of them were begging him to dy his coronation day that was scheduled to happen in two days. They made the excuse of fearing that the omen the fake church spread mighte true and scare the people again.

    They made a valid point.

    But, of course, he still didn''t budge.

    [They''re scared because most of them went bankrupt because of Hanna''s maniption of the market.]

    "Your Imperial Majesty, may I go and see Princess Neoma now that she''s awake?"

    Nero''s calm yet cold ash-gray eyesnded on Duke Jasper Hawthorne''s face.

    [I was able to dismiss the scaredy-cat Rubin Drayton even though he''s a duke now, but Jasper Hawthorne is quite formidable.]

    "Neoma isn''t that well yet to receive guests."

    Jasper Hawthorne had the audacity to scoff at the emperor. "Your Imperial Majesty, I know Princess Neoma well enough to know that she''d be working as soon as she opened her eyes. I bet Her Imperial Highness is already working to prevent the omen froming true."

    "Tsk."

    This time, Nero openly clicked his tongue at the young duke.

    "Then I''ll take it as permission, Your Imperial Majesty. I''ll go and see Princess Neoma now," Jasper Hawthorne said haughtily while standing. "See you at the next assembly, Your Imperial Majesty."

    Nero scoffed. "You won''t be invited again next time."

    The young duke just smirked before leaving the conference room.

    [Neoma''s people are all cheeky.]

    But Nero could never scold her twin sister''s people because he didn''t want to upset Neoma.

    [At least I know they''re loyal to my twin sister.]

    Nero was about to leave the room when, suddenly, a cold breeze made him stop.

    Zeru and Sev, his ice phoenix and ice wolf respectively, came out without being summoned.

    And then two familiar figures upied two of the seats on his right side.

    "Hello, little emperor."

    "So, you''re the new owner of the ice phoenix and the ice wolf."

    Tsk.

    Nero inwardly clicked his tongue when Aruna and Arche de Moonasterio appeared in front of him. "I''m sorry, but I''m really busy right now¨C"

    "Neoma is headed this way," Arche de Moonasterio said, smiling. "If you still don''t have time for your precious twin sister, then you may leave."

    Nero went back to his seat immediately. "I always have time for Neoma."

    Aruna de Moonasterio scoffed. "The little emperor acts just like you, Brother."

    "Then it''s a relief," Arche de Moonasterio said. "They''ll master the soul switching technique in just a day."

    Nero knitted his eyebrows. "Does Neoma want to learn that technique now?"

    ***

    [SO FUCKING handsome.]

    Neoma couldn''t stop her shallow thoughts when she came across Rubin Drayton on her way to meet Nero in the conference hall.

    She was momentarily entranced by Rubin Drayton''s out-of-this-world beauty.

    "Greetings, Your Imperial Highness."

    Neoma raised her head. "Let''s skip the pleasantries, Duke Drayton. Congrattions on bringing down your father. You did the right thing."

    Rubin Drayton raised his head, beaming. "Thank you, Princess Neoma."

    "I heard you''ve been frequenting the pce to see me. Is there a reason why you wanted to see me?"

    Rubin Drayton''s face turned red. "Uhm, I just want to know if you''re feeling better now, Princess Neoma. I was worried about you after I heard you were asleep for the past few days."

    Ah.

    [He''s being sincere.]

    To be honest, although Neoma already knew that the one who tormented her in the past was Dn Crowell wearing Rubin Drayton''s skin, she still couldn''t help but feel awkward around her ex-fianc¨¦.

    [It''s long been over between us.]

    So long that aside from admiration for Rubin Drayton''s handsome face, Neoma didn''t feel anything else for him.

    [No anger, no pity¨C nothing.]

    Neoma simply felt indifferent.

    However, that didn''t mean she didn''t appreciate the young duke''s feelings.

    "Thank you for worrying about me, Duke Drayton. As you can see, I''m well now," Neoma said politely. "You must be busy attending to your duties as the new duke." She raised her clenched hands and gave Rubin Drayton her business smile. "Fighting."

    Rubin Drayton looked disappointed that Neoma was already dismissing him, but he nodded politely and bowed his head. "See youter, Princess Neoma."

    "Yes~"

    The young duke then finally left.

    "That was pretty cold, Princess Neoma."

    Oh.

    Neoma smiled when she saw a familiar face. "Jasper Oppa."

    Jasper smiled back at her and bowed politely. "I''m d to see you well now, Princess Neoma. I was just about to visit you in your pce."

    Aww.

    "Oppa, I really want to catch up with you. But I''m afraid I can''t do that today."

    "I realized that after seeing you here. You wouldn''te here if you don''t have an urgent business with the emperor," Jasper Oppa, quick-witted as ever, said while gently patting Neoma''s head. "Invite me for teater, okay?"

    Neoma smiled and nodded. "Will do, Oppa."

    ***

    HMM?

    [The whole party is already here?]

    Neoma looked over her shoulder. "Lewis, guard the door. Make sure no one can enter, not even Mama Boss or Papa Boss."

    Lewis bowed his head politely. "As youmand, Your Imperial Highness."

    "Thanks."

    Lewis then opened the door after he announced her arrival.

    Neoma entered the room, not surprised to see Aruna and Arche de Moonasterio there already with Nero. She was a bit surprised to see the ice phoenix and the ice wolf attached to the ancient twins, though.

    Oh, right.

    [The ancient twins used to have the ice phoenix and the ice wolf as their Soul Beasts.]

    "Hello, little princess."

    "Let''s get this done and over with, Neoma."

    Gosh, look at the opposite greetings.

    Arche was warm, while Aruna was already in business mode.

    "Neoma, did you call them here so they could teach us the soul-switching technique?" Nero asked curiously while getting up from his fancy seat. "Is it necessary for us to learn that technique now?"

    "Yep."

    Neoma then naturally took Nero''s fancy seat since it was the only reason why Nero stood up in the first ce.

    There were many other seats in the room, but that one was the fanciest.

    So, of course, Nero would only offer the best seat for Neoma.

    "What for?" Nero, who sat on the armrest of Neoma''s fancy seat, asked. "Are we going to switch souls for your n?"

    "Yep~" Neoma said, then she turned to their ancestors. "We''re ready to learn, Grandma, Grandpa."

    "Are you sure about this?" Arche asked worriedly. "You''re both grown adults now, so this technique might be a little awkward for the two of you. Aruna and I have been switching souls since we were toddlers, so we already got used to each other bodies."

    Huh?

    "It''s not like they''re going to see each other naked for long," Aruna said casually. "They just need to switch souls for a certain mission."

    Oh.

    Neoma and Nero btedly realized what Aruna and Arche were talking about.

    [Switching souls also means switching bodies¡­!]

    ***

    AUTHOR''S NOTE: I''M SO SORRY FOR THE SUDDEN HIATUS.

    February hasn''t been kind to me.

    I was scammed at work, I had to fight my bank to return my money, and five out of our six puppies passed away from parvo, and I recently sprained my wrist (thankfully, the left one and not my dominant hand).

    The loss of our puppies hit me pretty hard, so I got into a slump. I''m so sorry for wasting your coins.

    The only stories I was able to update this month were <My First Life as an S-ss Guide> and <Let''s Not Divorce> because of the MGS. I''m so sorry about that. BTW, <Let''s Not Divorce> is about to end, and it has some minor spoilers about how Royal Princess ends. You may want to check it out.

    Anyway, I''m hoping for your kind understanding.

    I''ll make it up to you. :(

    ---s_c

    ***

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 Chapter 936: NOT FAMILY FRIENDLY

    THE SOUL-SWITCHING trope was famous in the pop culture.

    There were movies where a mother and daughter switched souls/bodies.

    But it was a more popr trope in the romance genre where the female lead and her love interest would switch souls.

    It was already awkward for two strangers of opposite sexes to switch bodies.

    Imagine how awkward it would be for twins of different genders.

    [I mean, Nero and I used to take a bath together when we were toddlers so we''ve already seen each other naked plenty of times before. But it''s different now that we''re both grown adults.]

    "Why would it be awkward?" Nero asked, genuinely confused. "I get that we''d be switching bodies, too. But I really don''t care if Neoma sees my body. And even if I see her body during our switch, I don''t think I''d care much about it either. I cannot like Neoma''s vessel without Neoma''s soul in it. Without her soul in it, Neoma''s body is just an empty vessel to me."

    Oh.

    That was a relief to hear.

    Sometimes, Neoma would think that Nero''s obsession with her was borderline incest¨C wait, never mind.

    "You heard Nero, and I agree with him," Neoma said, all the awkwardness she felt earlierpletely gone now. "It''s a small sacrifice to pay for pulling off the mission I envisioned, so let''s begin now."

    "Alright," Arche said, nodding. "First, let me ask you something. Neoma, Nero, who''s more important to you? Yourself or your twin?"

    "Neoma," Nero said without missing a beat. "Neoma is more important to me than myself."

    "That''s right," Neoma said, nodding. "I am more important to me than Nero."

    She knew it was a selfish response, but Nero looked pleased by her answer.

    "Are you fine with Neoma''s answer, little emperor?" Aruna asked, raising an eyebrow at the current emperor. "She just said that she values herself more than she values you even though you put her first."

    "Neoma has no obligation to put me first just because I do," Nero said bluntly. "And I like the fact that she values herself that much. I would rather kill myself than see Neoma sacrifice herself for me."

    Aruna rolled her eyes. "Then are you fine if Neoma gets to hold the "leash" of you and not the other way around?"

    "In soul switching, the dominant twin holds the leash," Arche exined. "It means the dominant twin gets to decide when to switch. That''s the downside of our technique¨C only one of the twins has the upper hand. So, I''ll ask you again, little emperor: are you willing to give the leash to Neoma?"

    "Yes," Nero said without missing a beat, then he smirked. "I like the thought of having a leash around my neck as long as Neoma is the one holding it."

    Neoma frowned because of cringe. "That sounds like a kink. But I respect your fetishes, Nero."

    Her twin brother justughed it off.

    Arche smiled and nodded. "That reminds me of when we were young, Aruna."

    Aruna was aghast by her ancient twin''s remark. "You weren''t that obsessive with me, Brother. The little emperor''s obsession with Neoma is on a different level."

    Right?

    [If only Nero could love other people instead of giving half of his heart to me¡­]

    ***

    [WHY AM I suddenly pissed?]

    Ruto felt like he wanted to punch something, but he didn''t know what.

    "Hey, your bloodlust is leaking," Trevor, who was busy literally crushing a certain sorcerer''s heart with a mallet,ined. "I can''t concentrate because I feel like you''re going to hit me at the back of my head or something."

    "I won''t," Ruto assured the sorcerer. "I won''tmit violence while holding a baby in my arms."

    He looked at the sleeping God of Death in his arms.

    And, yes, the God of Death was still in the form of a baby.

    Right now, Ruto was in Trevor''s room located in Neoma''s pce. The sorcerer had turned his room into his personal workshop.

    In short, it was a mess there.

    "How long are you going to let the God of Death use that vessel?" Trevor asked, going back to his work. "Are you here to ask me to help you with that?"

    "No," Ruto said. "The Goddess of Life will help me separate the God of Death''s soul from this precious vessel."

    "Then why are you here?"

    "It''s about Neoma''s n after she and Emperor Nero switch souls."

    Trevor paused for a moment. "Ah, you''re talking about Princess Neoma''s n."

    "Neoma could go up there because her Divinization has already begun, but I doubt Emperor Nero''s soul could withstand it," Ruto said. "I don''t want His Imperial Majesty to damage Neoma''s vessel in any way."

    "So, you''re here to ask me to help you create a portal that could pierce through the heavens."

    "Only you could do something like that in two days, Trevor Kesser. Because I know you''ve already begun working on a Heavenly Portal since you found out that Princess Neoma might ascend one day."

    That was how Trevor Kesser was determined to follow Neoma anywhere.

    [No wonder there''s a universe where Neoma chose Trevor Kesser over me.]

    "Heavenly Portal, huh?" Trevor looked over his shoulder, his eyes glowing while looking at Ruto coldly. "Did I make that in the first timeline?"

    "Yes, you did."

    "For what?"

    "I wasn''t close to you back then, so I wouldn''t know."

    More like he didn''t like Trevor Kesser for trying to force his feelings on Neoma.

    [After all, he left as a Pir after Neoma dumped him.]

    "Commander Ruto, nothing in life is free."

    "I know," Ruto said, nodding. "So, tell me what you want in return for making the Heavenly Portal."

    "My death," Trevor Kesser said right away. "Tell me everything you know about what the evil baby meant when he asked me to choose between two horrible deaths."

    ***

    PFFT.

    Neoma, who was looking at herself while wearing Nero''s skin, couldn''t help butugh. "We did it, Nero."

    Nero, who was wearing Neoma''s skin, smiled back at her. "It''s so easy."

    ***

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 Chapter 937: BLASPHEMOUS METHOD

    ARCHE knew that Neoma and Nero could do it because of the strong bond between the two.

    But he didn''t expect the young twins to be able to master the soul-switching technique in just three hours.

    He expected at least a day.

    But the young twins seeded already.

    [Perhaps I underestimated their bond. After all, the soul-switching technique is the most effective when the two people involved deeply care for each other.]

    That seemed to be the case for the young twins.

    Neoma and Nero were standing in front of each other, their palms pressed together and their eyes shut tight.

    The little princess was enveloped with reddish lights.

    [That''s the color of her divine power mixed with her Mana.]

    The little emperor, on the other hand, was enveloped in bluish lights.

    [That''s his Moonglow.]

    Soon, the young twins exchanged the colors of the aura they produced.

    "They seeded," Aruna whispered in disbelief. "We just taught them the concept of the technique, and they already grasped it."

    "Neoma and the little emperor''s bond is stronger than we think," Arche said, nodding. "They''re the perfect twins destined to continue our legacy."

    ***

    [WHEN did Nero get a six-pack abs?]

    Neoma hadn''t seen her twin brother''s naked body the whole day they kept switching souls to practice the technique they had just learned.

    She could feel it, though.

    And she was annoyed.

    "Neoma, what are you thinking?"

    Oh, right.

    After Neoma''s tiring training with Nero and the ancient twins, she retired to her bedroom to take a rest.

    Ruto came by to bring her afternoon tea and snacks.

    Neoma weed the sight of the delicious-looking pastries spread on the table, but she hesitated to reach for one. "I think I want to go on a diet, Ruto. Can you prepare snacks that aren''t too sweet next time?"

    "Of course. But may I know why you suddenly want to go on a diet? Are you trying to lose weight?"

    "Nah. I want to gain more muscles so I decided to lessen my sugar intake," she exined, then she patted her t stomach. "And I want to have abs. So, after Nero''s coronation day, I''ll start working out."

    Ruto tilted his head to one side. "I like your determination to have a healthier lifestyle. But why did you suddenly gain the inspiration to build up more muscles?"

    "Nero has abs."

    "Okay?"

    "Six-pack abs."

    "Uhm, okay?"

    "I can''t lose!" Neoma insisted, clenching her arms. "Andpared to his arms, mine look like twigs. I can''t stand the thought that I look like a weakling next to Nero. Mypetitive spirit was provoked."

    Ruto looked at her in disbelief, then he chuckled while shaking his head. "You get worked up for all the random reasons, Neoma."

    "You wouldn''t understand because you don''t have a sibling," sheined lightly. "If you have a sibling, even though you get along well, you''ll still feel the urge topete just for the heck of it."

    "I don''t think Emperor Nero feels the same since he lets you do whatever you want."

    "Well, Nero is 90% simp and 10%petitive towards me, that''s why," she exined, then she changed the subject. "By the way, help me create a healthier diet. I really want to have abs soon."

    Ruto nodded. "Okay."

    "Gosh. I didn''t really expect Nero''s body to be that solid."

    "How did you¡­ oh. The soul-switching technique?"

    "Yes, we seeded right away," Neoma said proudly. "Nero and I exchanged souls several times as practice."

    "Then¡­"

    "Then what?"

    Ruto paused for a moment. "That means Emperor Nero¡­"

    "Yes, his soul was in my body."

    Ruto''s shoulders slumped. "Oh."

    "You''re not thinking of something indecent between me and Nero, are you?"

    "Of course, I''m not."

    "But why do you still look upset?"

    "Because Emperor Nero is still a man even if you don''t see him as one."

    She burst outughing.

    Of course, an overly jealous man wasn''t attractive.

    But Ruto rarely got jealous. It was weird that of all people, he got jealous of Nero. But since it rarely happened, Neoma enjoyed the moment.

    [As long as it''s not on a yandere level, it''s fine with me.]

    Neoma actually found it a bit cute.

    "I know it''s not attractive for a man to be jealous of his lover''s twin brother, but I can''t help it," Ruto admitted, his face turning red as if he was embarrassed. "But I can''t help it."

    Neoma stoppedughing as she gave Ruto a teasing smile. "Then do you want to see it first?"

    "See what?"

    "My wless naked body?"

    Ruto choked on his saliva. "Neoma¡­"

    Pfft.

    Neoma smiled and patted Ruto''s cheek. "I''m serious, but let''s talk about itter," she said, then she looked over her shoulder and turned to the door. "My precious guests are here."

    ***

    THE GUESTS in question were Skylus and Manu.

    Neoma held another meeting that day again.

    [Oh, it''s actually nighttime now.]

    And yet the day wasn''t over for her yet.

    This time, the meeting took ce in Neoma''s bedroom.

    Aside from Skylus and Manu, all her other "children" were already there after they hadpleted the task that they gave them.

    And her children all stood behind her.

    "ording to my children''s report, the fake church had sessfully scared the entire capital into believing that it would rain dead animals during Nero''s coronation day," Neoma said in a solemn voice. "That''s why people wouldn''t stop protesting in front of the pce while demanding Nero to step down."

    Skylus flinched as if he did something wrong. "I''m sorry, Neoma Noona. I''m doing my best to put the people at ease. But their fear is stronger than their faith in Lord Yule¡­"

    "Don''t apologize, Skylus. I didn''t summon you here to scold you."

    The young saint looked up at her with glossy eyes as if he was about to burst out crying anytime. "Y-You''re not mad at me, Noona?"

    "You''re doing a great job as a saint, so why would I be at you?"

    It seemed like Neoma''s sincere words reached Skylus because, suddenly, the young saint looked confident again.

    "I will do prayer rallies again, Noona."

    "Fortunately, the younger ones haven''t lost their faith in Lord Yule yet," Manu added carefully. "Skylus'' prayer rallies work, Princess Neoma. But it seems like you summoned us here because you have another job for us."

    Skylus'' face beamed. "I''ll do anything as long as it''s within my power, Neoma Noona!"

    "Then can you lie for me, Skylus?" Neoma said, smiling charmingly at the young saint. "Let''smit sphemy and create a fake prophecy, my little darling saint."

    ***

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 Chapter 938: WHITE LIE

    "LET''S COMMIT sphemy and create a fake prophecy, my little darling saint," Neoma said. But before Skylus and Manu faint from shock, she quickly exined herself. "Don''t worry. We have Lord Yule''s blessing."

    To be fair, Yule gave Neoma permission to use his name if she needed to.

    She knew that the Moon God wasn''t expecting her to use his holy name to create a fake prophecy, but what could she do? The situation was asking for it.

    [I''m sorry, Lord Yule.]

    "We have Lord Yule''s blessing?" Skylus asked, obviously relieved that they had permission from the Moon God. "I haven''t been hearing the Moon God''s voice these days. Moreover, I don''t see as many visions as I used to have."

    "That''s the same case with me," Manu added worriedly. "Is Lord Yule doing fine, Princess Neoma?"

    "Yep, he''s still alive and kicking," Neoma said while nodding. "Don''t worry about Lord Yule too much because he''s fine. Plus, we''re more fucked up than he is."

    Manu frowned at Neoma''s vulgar words, but he didn''tment on it.

    "Noona, my parents taught me that lying is bad."

    Neoma almost choked on her saliva as her conscience suddenly pricked her.

    "But Mother also taught me about the thing called ''white lie,''" Skylus said cheerfully. "Noona, we''re lying for the sake of the greater good, aren''t we?"

    Manu faked a cough as if he was holding back hisughter.

    Neoma couldn''t scold the Moon Priest because even Lewis and her other "children" were faking their coughs.

    [They''re making me feel more guilty¡­]

    Neoma''s heart was already getting stabbed by her conscience because of Skylus'' innocent face. "Yes, it''s a white lie to save the world."

    "I knew it," Skylus said, sping his hands together as if he was praying. "Neoma Noona wouldn''t ask me to lie and make a fake prophecy without a valid reason."

    Right?

    [I''m a good person, right???]

    RIIIGHT.

    "Ahem," Neoma cleared her throat before she changed the topic. "Anyway, the fake prophecy that we''re gonna make is simple."

    Manu scoffed. "Princess Neoma, your description of "simple" is different from normal people."

    Neoma scoffed back. "We''re just going to tell the world that Lord Yule is going to punish people who worship a fake god under a fake religion that spreads bullshit," she said casually. "Simple, right?"

    ***

    HAAAH.

    Neoma''s heart hurt the entire meeting with Skylus and Manu while they were discussing the fake prophecy that they would spread before the coronation day.

    Since the crows'' prophecy was very specific, they made theirs specific as well.

    She felt bad that she had to ask Skylus to lie, but it seemed like the young saint truly believed that it was for the greater good.

    Well, it was.

    However¡­

    [Aunt Brigitte, Uncle Dominic, I''m really sorry about making your baby lie.]

    "Neoma, are you done for today?"

    Oh, right.

    Neoma got up from the sofa when she heard Ruto''s voice.

    Herst visitor would be her lover, of course.

    But he didn''te alone this time.

    Neoma smiled while looking at the sleeping baby in Ruto''s arms. "Vitu."

    "He''s not our Vitu," Ruto said while sitting next to her. "Neoma, this is the God of Death."

    Oh, right.

    "I haven''t regained my memories yet when I named the God of Death ''Vitu,''" Neoma said, sighing. "I''m sorry, Ruto. I didn''t know I gave the God of Death our son''s name."

    "You don''t have to apologize for something you cannot help, Neoma."

    She gasped, then she swallowed hard before she asked. "Ruto, is the God of Death, perhaps¡­"

    "No, he''s not our son."

    "Oh."

    "But the God of Death is using Vitu''s vessel."

    Neoma knitted her eyebrows. "Our Vitu''s vessel?"

    "This is the vessel that our son would be born into," Ruto exined, smiling sadly at her. "However, Vitu''s soul is missing¨C and he cannot be reincarnated until we find his soul. The soul of the Vitu that we met in the Eternal me''s domain was only a piece of soul of the Vitu from the first timeline."

    "Then are you saying that when you turned back time, our son''s soul got lost?"

    "That''s right," he said, nodding. "Vitu''s soul is supposed to have been turned into a human soul instead of a god''s soul. But it''s missing. Perhaps it will appear once we decide to conceive him."

    "But it''s not certain, is it?"

    "That''s right."

    "The Goddess of Light should know the whereabouts of Vitu''s soul, though," Neoma said, then she knitted her eyebrows. "Isn''t she supposed to be here right now?"

    Ruto opened his mouth to speak, but someone else beat him to it.

    "Calm down, Neoma."

    It was the baby God of Death.

    The child had awakened and was now looking at Neoma with his one red eye.

    [Oh, that reminds me¡­]

    "Big Neoma gave me your other eye," Neoma said, her anger melting away instantly because she had a soft spot for babies. The God of Death was not a real baby, but he was using Vitu''s vessel. No wonder he looked lovely in her eyes. "Let me get your other eye, baby."

    The God of Death looked offended by what Neoma called him. "I''m not a baby, little princess."

    ***

    ARGH!

    The Goddess of Life was supposed to head towards the Imperial Pce where the God of Death was already waiting for her.

    Of course, Neoma and Commander Ruto were there.

    But, as soon as she reached the empire¡­

    [What''s this suffocating stench?!]

    The thick smell of death lingered in the air.

    As the Goddess of Life, her weakness would be death, and the mere stench of it was enough to make it hard for her to breathe.

    "It''s been a while, mydy."

    Ah.

    It was Helstor, and the God of Eternal Darkness wasn''t alone.

    The Goddess of Life squinted her eyes at the familiar goddess standing next to Helstor arrogantly. "Lady Doom."

    ***

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 Chapter 939: TWO EMPERORS

    [THAT sted Commander Ruto is still in Neoma''s room at this hour?]

    Nero wanted to go to Neoma''s pce and dragged thatmander out of his twin sister''s room.

    He didn''t care if the two were lovers.

    He didn''t care if Neoma wanted to marry Commander Ruto.

    Nero would still hate whoever his precious twin sister ended up marrying.

    [It''s okay if Neoma ends up having a child in the future because I''m pretty sure I''ll end up loving a child who looks like her. Since our blood is the strongest bloodline in the human world, it''s already certainthat Neoma''s child would inherit the de Moonasterion traits.]

    "Are you sure about that?"

    Nero frowned when he appeared again.

    By ''he,'' he meant the older Emperor Nero that Princess Neoma¨C the older version from the first timeline¨C had left for him as a "gift."

    "Why are you still here?" Nero asked, frowning. "I don''t need you."

    "I don''t care about your opinion," Emperor Nero, who was sitting on the sofa as if he owned the ce, said haughtily. The old emperor was in his Spirit form and yet, his aura and big presence filled Nero''s vast bedroom. "I do what I want. That is what it means to be an emperor."

    "If Neoma was here, she''d say that''s what you call a ''tyrant.''"

    "Well, listening to me and following my orders would always be for the sake of the empire and its people. If that is what it means to be a tyrant, so be it."

    "Neoma would hate your guts."

    "Unlike you, I did not love my twin sister so it does not matter if she ends up hating me," the old emperor said. "I may have loved her during my final moments, but not as much as how you adore the Neoma of this world."

    "It was your wish, wasn''t it?"

    "My wish?"

    "I retrieved some fragments of my memories recently," Nero said, pausing for a moment before gathering his thoughts. "And I remember your final moments."

    To be precise, he could still hear the conversation that Emperor Nero and the Neoma of the first timeline had before the old emperor drew hisst breath¡­

    ["I wish for us to be reborn as twins again, Neoma."]

    ["Are you trying to curse me?"]

    ["I promise to be a better brother to you the next time we meet again. I will love you to death, dote on you until you get tired of me, and kill anyone and everyone in the world for you."]

    ["That sounds scary."]

    ["Are you crying, Neoma?"]

    ["Shut up. I don''t need you to love me the next time we meet¨C just don''t die before me again, okay? You have to outlive me and you have to be happier than me."]

    ["Well, you have a point. We were born together, so we should also leave this world together. See youter, my baby sister."]

    "Ah, yourst didn''te true, though," Nero said to the old Emperor Nero, smirking. "You weren''t born as Neoma''s older brother, so you didn''t gain the right to call her your "baby sister.""

    Emperor Nero gave her a dire stare. "Why do you look so proud? We''re the same person. If I''m not Neoma''s older brother, then so are you."

    Nero scoffed at that stupidparison. "Unlike you, I actually grew up being a proper brother to Neoma. Hence, even though she was born first, I still gained the right to be called her older brother."

    "I''m done talking to you," the old emperor said, standing up. "Let''s go."

    "Well, I''m not going anywhere with you."

    "As I said earlier, I''m the emperor so I do what I want," Emperor Nero said, snapping his fingers. "I only have a limited time here, so I want to meet her."

    Nero immediately red at the older emperor. "The Neoma of this world is mine¨C"

    "I want to see my mother."

    Oh.

    ***

    HMM?

    Mona looked around when a sudden shift in the air blew their way.

    Even Niki, who was getting ready to join her in bed, suddenly got rmed.

    [We can''t tell whose presence this belongs to, so it''s a little worrying.]

    But both Mona and Niki were relieved when Nero suddenly appeared out of thin air¡­

    ¡­ but their precious son wasn''t alone.

    There were two Neros standing before them now.

    The first one was, of course, their young son.

    And the other one¡­

    "Greetings, Imperial Father," the older Nero greeted Niki politely, then his ash-gray eyesnded on Mona''s face. His cold face softened up as he greeted her. "This is the first time I get to greet you in person, Imperial Mother."

    Mona covered her mouth with her hands when the realization hit her.

    [This is the Nero of the first timeline!]

    In the first timeline, Mona died because no one actually knew that she was stuck under the ck Ocean.

    Hence, she had never met her children and vice-versa.

    "I apologize for greeting you at this hour," the older Nero said awkwardly. "Please excuse my rudeness¨C"

    Her older son stopped talking when Mona suddenly hugged him. "You don''t have to apologize, Nero," she whispered softly between sobs. "You''re always wee toe and see me¨C to see us, my son."

    ***

    NIKOLAI felt a pang in his chest while watching Mona hug their son.

    The one who came from the first timeline.

    [And the son I failed to protect¡­]

    "It was the other Neoma''s present for me," Nero, their young son, exined while standing next to him. "Emperor Nero will stay here for a certain period. I don''t know what he''s nning, though, for meeting you like this."

    "What do you mean by that, son?"

    "I''m sure that old emperor has an ulterior motive foring here."

    Haaah.

    [Nero is a great emperor for his age, but he still has a lot to learn about empathy and other forms of love.]

    As Nero''s father, it was his duty to teach his son some great lessons in life.

    [I can''t just rely on Neoma when ites to teaching Nero about emotions.]

    Niki gently patted Nero''s shoulder. "Son, your older version simply wants to meet your mother because you didn''t get the chance to meet her in the first timeline," he exined. "Nero, even a great emperor gets reduced to a child in front of their mother¨C and it seems like it was a good lesson that the you of the first timeline had learned in hister years."

    ***

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 Chapter 940: IMPENDING SENSE OF DOOM

    THE GODDESS of Life was supposed to head towards the Imperial Pce where the God of Death was already waiting for her.

    Of course, Neoma and Commander Ruto were there.

    But, as soon as she reached the empire¡­

    [What''s this suffocating stench?!]

    The thick smell of death lingered in the air.

    As the Goddess of Life, her weakness would be death, and the mere stench of it was enough to make it hard for her to breathe.

    "It''s been a while, mydy."

    Ah.

    It was Helstor, and the God of Eternal Darkness wasn''t alone.

    The Goddess of Life squinted her eyes at the goddess next to Helstor. "Lady Doom."

    Hair as ck as night, eyes as red as blood, a red dress under a ck robe.

    Pale skin.

    Long and sharp ck nails.

    A dark mark on her cheeks that looked like permanent tears.

    Moreover, the ck energy wrapped around the Goddess of Misfortune''s neck and shoulders like a shawl made of all the disasters in the world.

    [But worst of all¡­]

    Just looking at the Goddess of Misfortune would give anyone an impending sense of doom.

    [Hence, the moniker ''Lady Doom.'']

    "It''s been a while, Vera."

    The Goddess of Life was surprised to hear her namee out of Helstor''s mouth. "Your arrogance knows no bounds, Helstor."

    "It''s nothingpared to Princess Neoma''s arrogance, though," Helstor said, smiling. "I didn''t expect you to gather your broken pieces of soul so soon, Vera. If you were here, then the God of Death must have also been reborn right away."

    The Goddess of Life remained silent because she didn''t feel the need to respond to Helstor.

    [A child who''s not worth my time, that is who Helstor is.]

    "Lady Vera, it''s been a while."

    The Goddess of Life acknowledged the Goddess of Misfortune. "It feels like it really has been long because thest time we saw each other, I remember you as the God of Misfortune."

    "I got tired of living as a male god," the Goddess of Misfortune said, shrugging. "Moreover, humans often confused me for ady anyway because of my androgynous appearance. They call me ''Lady Doom,'' hence I decided to humor them and change my assigned sex. Not that it really matters to us."

    That was interesting.

    [I''m sure Neoma would be delighted to hear about it.]

    "Is that the only reason why you changed your assigned sex?" the Goddess of Life asked, smiling whimsically. "When a god changes their assigned sex, it''s always for the purpose of childbirth."

    The body of a female god, or a goddess as humans called them, was stronger than a male god when it came to giving birth to a new divinity.

    But it was rare for gods to change their assigned sex.

    Only androgynous beings could change it like they were only changing clothes since they didn''t have an assigned sex at birth.

    [Contrary to what most humans believe, gods couldn''t be whatever they wanted to be freely. Assigned sex among the divinity is important because Lord Levi wanted to control our poption. He even banned powerful gods from conceiving children together.]

    "I''d love to chitchat with you, mydy, but I don''t suppose we have time for that," the now-Lady Doom said. "It''s unfortunate, but I don''t think Helstor would keep you alive this time. Since I am here, Helstor''s chances of killing you increase."

    "You heard the Lady Doom, Vera," Helstor said, his red eyes glowing. "I''m really sorry about this, but I have to kill you again¨C"

    "Well, not under our watch."

    The Goddess of Life wasn''t really expecting someone to rescue her.

    However, she was relieved to see Aruna and Arche de Moonasterio.

    The Ancient Twins didn''te alone.

    A son of the God of Booze, a half elf-half fairy, and a woman from the Snake Tribe were also there.

    [Neoma''s ancestors and Yoan''s people¡­]

    "So, Callisto hasn''t lost his mind," Helstor said while looking at Aruna de Moonasterio. "You''re really back, Princess Aruna."

    "Is that dumb bastard still pretending to be confused?" Aruna de Moonasterio asked whileughing, then she patted Arche de Moonasterio''s back. "Tell Callisto de Luca that the person he fell madly in love with was my brother and not me. Homosexuality isn''t a bad thing, so we won''t judge him."

    Arche de Moonasterio smiled. "That''s right. No one would me Callisto de Luca for falling for my deadly charms, so tell him he has nothing to be embarrassed about."

    Then Aruna and Arche de Moonasterioughed in a very insulting manner.

    The Goddess of Life couldn''t help but smile while shaking her head.

    [Aruna and Arche remind me of Neoma and Nero''s evil yfulness¡­]

    "Mydy, please allow us to protect and escort you to the Imperial Pce," the Snake Woman said politely. "Aspen and Faust will create a barrier while I make a portal."

    The Goddess of Life smiled and nodded. "Thank you."

    "It''s too early to thank them, Vera," Helstor said. "Didn''t I already say you wouldn''t survive this night?"

    The Goddess of Life looked at Helstor with cold eyes.

    "This fuckface who doesn''t know his ce talks like he''s the shit, huh?"

    Hmm?

    Only one princess in the empire had such a foul mouth¡­

    Everyone there looked up and saw Neoma suspended in the air while looking down at Helstor.

    [Yoan is here, too.]

    The expression on Neoma''s face made it look like she was looking down on the God of Eternal Darkness.

    [As expected, the arrogance of a de Moonasterio is on a different level.]

    "Helstor, do you need me to humble you again?" Neoma scoffed. "Don''t talk shit around me because you can''t beat me in my own game."

    "Princess Neoma, your ego grows bigger day by day," Helstor said, smiling. Then he pointed his hands to the Lady Doom. "But I''ll have you know that I have my trump card here with me, so I don''t think I''d be eating humble pie tonight."

    "I''ll shove it down to your throat then," Neoma said, then she turned to the Lady Doom and looked at the goddess intently. "Unnie, you remind me of the gothic queens from where I came from. Too bad you chose the wrong side~"

    "The wrong side?" the Lady Doom asked, smiling. "Child, let me serve you some "humble pie.""

    Argh.

    The Goddess of Life, along with the others who swore to protect her, clutched their chests tightly when the impending sense of doom overwhelmed their system.

    Even Aruna, Arche, and Yoan clearly broke out in a cold sweat.

    That was what the impending sense of doom could do to a person, after all.

    It could make anyone feel like something bad would happen, like the world ending.

    Everyone felt that way¡­

    ¡­ except for Neoma.

    Oh.

    [Neoma isn''t affected?]

    "You," the Lady Doom growled at Neoma, the Goddess of Misfortune clearly in disbelief. "Did you receive protection from that Goddess of Luck?!"

    "The Goddess of Luck? I haven''t met that unnie yet, not even in my first life," Neoma said bitterly. "Are you wondering why I wasn''t affected by the impending sense of doom that you just released?"

    "No one, except for the Goddess of Luck, is immune to my ability to make anyone feel like something terrible was about to happen."

    "Well, I was born unlucky. Maybe that''s why I''m immune to your ability."

    "Ridiculous," the Lady of Doom said. "If you were born unlucky, then you should have been more likely to be hit by the impending sense of doom."

    "People who have so much shit going on in their lives have lived with an impending sense of doom," Neoma said nonchntly, her beautiful ash-gray eyes turning glowing red. "I''ve gone through so much shit in all my lives that living with the impending sense of doom in my chest has be the norm for me, Gothic Unnie."

    ***

    AUTHOR''S NOTE: I''M SO SORRY FOR THE SUDDEN HIATUS.

    February hasn''t been kind to me.

    I was scammed at work, I had to fight my bank to return my money, and five out of our six puppies passed away from parvo, and I recently sprained my wrist (thankfully, the left one and not my dominant hand).

    The loss of our puppies hit me pretty hard, so I got into a slump. I''m so sorry for wasting your coins.

    The only stories I was able to update this month were <My First Life as an S-ss Guide> and <Let''s Not Divorce> because of the MGS. I''m so sorry about that. BTW, <Let''s Not Divorce> is about to end, and it has some minor spoilers about how Royal Princess ends. You may want to check it out.

    Anyway, I''m hoping for your kind understanding.

    I''ll make it up to you. :(

    ---s_c

    ***

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 Chapter 941: LIKE A GACHA

    "DID Neoma and Commander Ruto leave?"

    Nero nodded in response to his mother''s question. "Yes, Mother. They left to confront the gods who entered the Imperial Capital."

    Right now, Nero was on the balcony of his office with his parents.

    They were all looking up at the dark sky, waiting for Neoma to return.

    [I don''t care if Commander Ruto doesn''t return as long as Neoma does.]

    "If the two of them don''t return in fifteen minutes, I''m following them," his father, the former emperor, said firmly. "Helstor''s arrogance is getting on my nerves already."

    Yes, people on their level had felt Helstor''s presence earlier.

    In fact, it was as if the God of Eternal Darkness did that on purpose.

    "Don''t worry, Father," Nero said confidently. "Neoma is good at putting people in their ces¨C gods or not."

    ***

    "PEOPLE who have so much shit going on in their lives have lived with an impending sense of doom," Neoma said nonchntly, her beautiful ash-gray eyes turning glowing red. "I''ve gone through so much shit in all my lives that living with the impending sense of doom has be the norm for me, Gothic Unnie."

    The Goddess of Misfortune, also called the Lady Doom, scoffed at what she said. "I don''t believe you, child."

    "So what? I''m not here to convince you," Neoma said, shrugging. "But, to be fair, we can also argue that I lucked out in life the moment my babe turned back time for me."

    "That''s me," Ruto said proudly. "I''m the ''babe.''"

    Pfft.

    Ruto really had a knack for flirting with Neoma during inappropriate times.

    No wonder his people¨C Faust, Esther, and Aspen¨C madements behind them.

    "Our captain is being gross¡­"

    "You took the words out of my mouth, Faust. This is not the captain that we know¡­"

    "Shut up, Aspen. You, too, Faust."

    "Yes, ma''am."

    [Those kids are funny.]

    Even Aruna and Arche de Moonasterioughed softly at the kids'' banter.

    "As I was saying, I lucked out this time because I found the right people," Neoma said, then she looked at Helstor. She didn''t really care about the Lady Doom, after all. "Do you know what it means, you fugly god?"

    Helstor smiled and shrugged. "I don''t know what you want me to say, Princess Neoma. Why don''t you just tell me what you meant with what you said?"

    "I''m saying your luck ended the moment Ruto turned back time for me," Neoma said in a serious tone this time. "You summoned me here, didn''t you? Did you want to make sure that I''ve alreadye back to life?"

    "You can think whatever you want, Princess Neoma."

    "If you don''t want to die, then you better get out of here while I''m still asking nicely," Neoma said. "Don''t worry, I won''t kill you yet." She turned to the Lady Doom this time. "Call me arrogant, but I want to beat you in your game. You''re nning to do a shit show during Nero''s coronation, don''t you?"

    "It''s not a show, little princess," Lady Doom scoffed at her. "I bring storm wherever I go. It''s not my fault if the new emperor gets hit by the disaster I bring."

    "Good," Neoma said, nodding. Then she turned to Helstor again. "Let''s y a game, you fugly god."

    "Do you really think this is an appropriate time to y a game, Your Imperial Highness?"

    "Yes, because I said so."

    Helstorughed in disbelief. "Alright. Let''s hear it."

    "You''re nning to sabotage Nero''s coronation day, aren''t you?" Neoma asked, smiling. "If you seed in interrupting the ceremony, then I''ll hand over the Goddess of Life to you."

    Ruto suddenly choked on his saliva.

    Even Arche and Aruna de Moonasterio looked at Neoma in disbelief.

    Ruto''s people also had the same reaction.

    On the other hand, the Goddess of Lifeughed softly. "Neoma, my child, I''m not sure if you''re confident or arrogant. Should I be scared?"

    "Don''t worry, Grandma," Neoma said confidently. "I got you."

    "The prize is too tempting for me to ignore," Helstor said in a serious tone. "You''re not going to go back on your word, are you? Princess Neoma?"

    "You have my word," Neoma said. "I''m not like you or the crows."

    "What do you want if you win, Princess Neoma?"

    "A war."

    This time, Helstor''s face darkened. "A war?"

    "A final war between you and me," Neoma said in a serious voice. "The de Moonasterion Imperial Family versus you and the crows, Helstor. Stop hiding and fight us properly. That''s what I want."

    The God of Eternal Darkness fell silent as if he was in deep thought.

    To be honest, Neoma could have asked for a better prize.

    But she knew that Helstor wouldn''t ept it if the terms were in her favor. After all, he was a coward.

    Hence, Neoma had to settle for something that Helstor might ept.

    And she seeded since she got the fugly god thinking.

    Also, Neoma couldn''t believe that she graciously allowed Helstor to think.

    After all, the scammer inside her was itching to attack Helstor while he was busy thinking about his next move.

    All is fair in love and war, after all.

    [I mean, in the anime shows I''ve seen, it has always frustrated me whenever the main character would stop and listen to the viin''s monologue. So, I can''t believe I''m leaving Helstor alone when he''s distracted.]

    And she was doing that because she wanted to Helstor to agree with the game that she proposed.

    [Gosh. It''s so hard to pretend to be a decent person in front of a shitty god.]

    "Alright," Helstor said after a while, nodding. "I ept your terms."

    "Good," Neoma said, snapping her fingers. "Trevor,e out."

    Before anyone bashed Neoma, she wasn''t treating Trevor as a ve or a dog.

    She snapped her fingers because that was how Trevor told her to activate the "Summoning Spell" that he cast over her.

    [It was his choice.]

    In short, Neoma had to snap her fingers to summon Trevor.

    "You called, my Moon Princess?"

    "Yep," Neoma said, turning to Trevor. "Helstor and I are having a bet, but I want it to be on contract to make sure their side wouldn''t go back on their word."

    "My Moon Princess, you made a bet with them¡­?"

    "Yep."

    Trevor blinked rapidly, then heughed out loud. "This is why you''re the best, Princess Neoma."

    "I know, right?" Neoma agreed with Trevor, then she turned to the Goddess of Misfortune. "Oh, by the way. Thank you, Lady Doom."

    The Goddess of Misfortune looked confused. "For what, little princess?"

    "For teaching me how to beat your ass," Neoma said, smiling. "Look forward to it, Lady Doom."

    ***

    NOTE: HAPPY NEW YEAR! I''m sorry for barely updatingst month. I''m so sorry for suddenly disappearing and wasting your hard-earned coins. There were just so many bad things going on in my life back then. But I''m back again and I promise to do better. Please look forward to more updates.

    I hope you forgive me. Thank you for being patient with me. And I''ve missed you all so much. Neoma and the rest of the characters also missed y''all. T_T

    ***

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 Chapter 942: TOTALLY NOT A SCAM

    NEOMA smiled after the signing contract between her and Helstor was done.

    The pain in her heart was proof that the contract was "notarized."

    [Of course, Trevor serves as the attorney here.]

    "You''re unexpectedly thorough, Princess Neoma," Helstormented while clutching his chest. "For someone so reckless, I didn''t expect you to be meticulous."

    "Of course, you wouldn''t understand me," Neoma said, scoffing. "Great minds think alike, but you''re not as great as me so we''re not on the same wavelength. You''re just a weakling pretending to be strong."

    It was Helstor''s turn to scoff at her. "Did you onlye here to have a verbal fight, Princess Neoma?"

    "Oh,e on. I know you summoned me here on purpose," Neoma said,ughing while shaking her head. "Were you expecting me to go batshit crazy on you? If I acted the way you wanted me to, then your fake church would spread a rumor about the new emperor''s twin sister being possessed by the Devil after she was brought back to life."

    Helstor flinched, but he didn''t say anything.

    However, that miniscule reaction was enough.

    "Wow," Trevor said while pping his hands. "I didn''t even think about that, Princess Neoma. But now I can see it. Indeed, it would have been a disaster had you fought Helstor and the Goddess of Misfortune since Princess Neoma doesn''t hold back in a fight."

    Neoma couldn''t decide whether it was apliment or a dig.

    [But since it''s Trevor, let''s just take it as apliment.]

    "Since my n has already been foiled, I''ll leave for now," Helstor said, bowing politely for show. "See you on Emperor Nero''s coronation day, Princess Neoma."

    "I know I''d be there because I''m not a coward," Princess Neoma said smugly. "I don''t know about you, though."

    Helstor ignored Neoma this time as he slowly disappeared into darkness.

    "I assure you I''ll be there, little princess," Lady Doom said threateningly. "I''ll teach you a lesson you won''t forget."

    "Many have tried but failed," Neoma said, smiling. "You''re still free to try, though. I love learning anyway¨C from the enemies'' mistakes, not mine, though."

    The Goddess of Misfortune just scoffed before disappearing.

    [Heh, I win the shit talk again.]

    Neoma only spoke again when she was 100% sure that Helstor and the Goddess of Misfortune had really left already.

    "Trevor."

    "Yes, my Moon Princess?"

    Neoma turned to Trevor, grinning. "Helstor didn''t notice, did he? The super small use that we added in the contract."

    Trevor grinned back at her. "Of course, he didn''t, Princess Neoma. I made sure that thest use that you added could only be read by the two of us. But the use would appear if Helstor tried to break the contract."

    Perfect.

    "Neoma, did you scam Helstor?"

    What?

    Neoma turned to Ruto, defensively. "I didn''t scam him, babe. It''s not my fault that he didn''t see the use."

    "Yep," Trevor agreed with Neoma, nodding his head eagerly. "It''s totally not a scam. How dare you use my Moon Princess of fraud? I''m telling you, Princess Neoma. That damnedmander doesn''t deserve you. It''s not toote to dump him for me."

    Of course, Neoma ignored Trevor''s nonsense.

    Plus, she was focused on what her man was saying at that point.

    "You scammed him," Ruto said bluntly, but he gently patted her head. "Good job, babe."

    Oh.

    She thought her man would scold her, so she was a bit surprised that he didn''t.

    [But I also like it when Ruto scolds me sometimes because he''s the only person who can do that.]

    Omo, omo.

    [Am I turning into a masochist? How scandalous!]

    She shook her head.

    [Dirty thoughts, go away!]

    "Anyway, let''s go home," Neoma said, then she nced at the Goddess of Life before looking up at Ruto. Ah, how she loved looking up at someone (who wasn''t an enemy) taller than her. "You have a lot of exining to do, Ruto."

    ***

    "ARE YOU crazy?"

    Tsk.

    Neoma clicked her tongue in annoyance when Nero scolded her as soon as she told him about the contract that she had signed with Helstor.

    Thank goodness their parents weren''t there yet.

    [Ruto said he has to talk to Papa Boss and Mama Boss first~]

    So, Neoma had to endure being scolded by Nero.

    [The audacity of a dongsaeng to scold his noona is appalling¡­]

    "A war?" Nero continued nagging at her. "With you on the frontline? You must have lost your mind. Why would you lead the war when we just got you back, huh?"

    Oh?

    She was surprised.

    To be honest, she thought Nero was scolding her because she dered war without asking for his opinion.

    But she was wrong.

    "Nero, are you mad because I said I''m leading the war and not because I started one?"

    "I don''t mind if we go on a war because that''s what I want, too," Nero said, knitting his eyebrows. "But I''d hate it if you led the war because I know Helstor and the others would immediately attack you. If I were them, I would kill you first as well for all the times that you have humiliated them."

    "Was that apliment or a dig?"

    "I''m going to dere the war and lead it," Nero said, ignoring Neoma''s nonsense. "You''re going to protect the fortress this time, Neoma."

    Tsk.

    "I''m not built for house-sitting, Nero," Neoma said stubbornly. "I cannot rest in peace unless I kill Helstor myself."

    "Neoma!"

    "Why are you raising your voice at your noona?" Neoma scolded Nero this time. "Do you want to die, huh?"

    Aigoo.

    Her inner Korean came out because of this disrespectful piece of shit.

    [Affectionately. I may curse at Nero, but I still love my baby brother.]

    "What are you two doing? So disgusting."

    Huh?

    Neoma turned around, only to be greeted by Nero¡­

    ¡­ and older Nero, to be precise.

    "You''re yelling at each other, but your eyes and voices were filled with warmth," the older Nero said, scoffing. Then he crossed his arms over his chest. "You two disgust me."

    Neoma blinked in surprise when she recognized the man. "Emperor Nero?"

    ***

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 Chapter 943: SMALL GARDEN

    TSK.

    Niki would rather be Neoma and Nero to check on his children, but Commander Ruto sunddely requested a private audience with him and Mona.

    Since his wife agreed immediately, he had no choice but to follow suit.

    Hence, the three of them were currently in his private tea room.

    [That baby¡­]

    Niki''s gazended on the sleeping baby in Commander Ruto''s arms. "Isn''t that the God of Death?"

    "Yes, Your Lord Majesty," Commander Ruto said politely. "The soul of the Death of God is still in this precious vessel, but once Neoma returns his other eye, his soul will leave this body."

    "Will the God of Death be alright?" Mona asked worriedly. "He used that vessel because his physical body was destroyed by Helstor, didn''t he?"

    "That''s right, Your Lady Majesty," Commander Ruto said, nodding. "But the God of Death only needed to use a different vessel because Helstor stole his eyes. A god who loses their eyes also loses half of their power. That''s the only reason why the God of Death couldn''t create a vessel that would suit his soul."

    "I see," Mona said, nodding. "Then what will happen to the vessel that the God of Death used."

    The air around the youngmander suddenly changed.

    And that was when the realization hit Niki.

    [He wanted to talk about that shell. Didn''t he even call it a "precious" vessel earlier?]

    "Your Lord Majesty, Your Lady Majesty, this is the vessel of the child that I had with Neoma in the first timeline."

    Niki almost threw the teacup at Commander Ruto''s face.

    Mona, on the other hand, almost choked on her tea.

    "Warn us before you say something like that," Niki scolded the youngmander while rubbing Mona''s back. "You startled my wife."

    Commander Ruto bowed his head politely "I apologize, Your Majesties."

    "It''s alright," Mona said, then she wiped the corner of her mouth with the handkerchief that Niki handed to her. "Does Neoma know?"

    "I haven''t told her directly yet, but I know that Neoma already noticed."

    Niki let out a frustrated sigh. "Don''t tell us something that Neoma should know first."

    "I understand what Your Lord Majesty means, but I figured Your Majesties should know in advance because I need your help," Commander Ruto said. "To be precise, I need Your Lady Majesty''s help once the God of Death left my child''s vessel."

    ''My'' child.

    When Commander Ruto said that, Niki was hit by the fact that Neoma really did have a child with this young man.

    As a father, he didn''t know how to feel about that.

    [After all, Neoma is still a baby to me.]

    "Once the soul leaves this vessel, the vessel will return to its original form: a seedling," Commander Ruto said. "Since Your Lady Majesty is a Roseheart who''s revered as the Daughter of Nature and regarded as the Cosmic Tree''s daughter, I believe Your Lady Majesty can recreate a small version of the Garden of Life for this little one."

    Niki, despite having nothing to do with Nature or the Cosmic Tree, understood that the youngmander just gave Mona an impossible task.

    [What is this young man trying to do here?]

    "Commander Ruto, you seem to be overestimating my abilities," Mona said in a serious tone. "I may be the Daughter of Nature and the daughter of the Cosmic Tree, but even I couldn''t recreate the Garden of Life. It''s something that only the Goddess of Life could create."

    "A Roseheart could do it, Your Lady Majesty."

    Mona gasped softly. "Did Neoma create a small Garden of Life in the past?"

    "That, she did," Commander Ruto said, nodding. "I helped Neoma create the small Garden in the first timeline. It doesn''t have to be me this time, though. Anyone who has a huge amount of divine power could help a Roseheart create a piece of the Garden."

    Ah, so that was what Niki was there for.

    [I was wondering why Commander Ruto asked for my audience when it was Mona whom he needed.]

    "So, you want me to help Mona recreate a small version of the Garden of Life?"

    "Yes, Your Lord Majesty."

    "Why does it have to be me and Mona? I''m not saying we won''t do it, but I''m curious," Niki said carefully. "If you and Neoma were able to do that in the past, then I''m sure you can also do it this time."

    Commander Ruto fell silent for a moment before he answered Niki''s question. "Once the God of Death left this precious vessel, the vessel will return to its original form: a Seedling. To be precise, a dying Seedling."

    Ah.

    Niki suddenly felt bad for asking.

    Even Mona could only cover her mouth with her hands when Commander Ruto''s face suddenly darkened.

    [It must be a painful memory for him and Neoma.]

    "I''m certain Neoma would be in so much pain if she saw how our child looked in that state," Commander Ruto asked, then he whispered: "I can''t also bear to see our child as a dying Seedling¡­"

    Hmm.

    Niki still didn''t like Commander Ruto because he would never like anyone who coveted his precious daughter.

    However, he could rte to the youngmander at that moment.

    As a father, Niki felt Commander Ruto''s pain for losing his precious child.

    "So please help us recreate a small version of the Garden of Life, Your Majesties," Commander Ruto pleaded to them desperately. "This little one won''t survive in ordinary fields, It has to be simr to the Garden, because the current Garden is already being corrupted by Helstor''s Darkness."

    Niki knitted his eyebrows. "Helstor did that to the Garden of Life? Unforgivable¨C"

    "How dare that coward of a god destroy our precious grandchild''s home?" Mona asked coldly, clenching her hands tight. "I''ll make our grandson a temporary home, but I''ll make Helstor pay for what he did."

    Commander Ruto smiled and nodded gratefully.

    Niki, on the other hand, suddenly had an epiphany.

    Right.

    Neoma''s child was Niki and Mona''s grandchild.

    [I''m already a grandfather?!]

    ***

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 Chapter 944: DYING SEEDLING

    NEOMA clutched her chest tight when she felt a pang in her heart.

    And she knew exactly what the pain was about.

    It was trauma.

    "You stabbed me in the heart with the Calypso that you inherited from Papa Boss," Neoma said bluntly. "I''ve forgotten about the pain of being stabbed by my own twin brother. But it hurts when I look at you now, Nero."

    The current Nero looked horrified.

    However, the old Emperor Nero just scoffed. "Am I supposed to feel bad about it? When we were kids, you turned a blind eye to the fact that I was being poisoned. And then yearster, I found out you were trying to bind our life forces together. You''ve done nothing for me."

    "Well, I''m sorry for being so busy surviving as a neglected princess in an empire that treats princesses as shit," Neoma said sarcastically. "Before I could get the chance to make it up to you, I was kicked out of the pce and had to be adopted by the Quinzels.

    I was mentally and emotionally abused by Duchess Quinzel there, betrayed by my fianc¨¦, and found out that bastard was nning to kill me with his mistress. I lost my mind and became desperate. Although I lived a shitty life, I didn''t want to die by their hands. Hence, I became desperate and tried to bind your life force with mine in order to force you to protect me."

    Nero looked horrified while listening to Neoma recount her shitty past life.

    The older Emperor Nero, on the other hand, remained pokerfaced.

    "But I bet you already know that," Neoma said, and then she suddenly burst outughing. "It sounds silly now, doesn''t it? We were young and stupid then. Not to mention abused. We were so busy trying to survive in a cold pce with no one to lean on."

    And that was exactly why Neoma didn''t exact revenge on Nero as soon as she came back as the neglected princess of the Great Moonasterion Empire.

    "You were a victim as much as I was," Neoma said while approaching the older Emperor Nero. "As your older sister, I apologize for failing to protect you back then."

    And then she did the thing she had always wanted to do before.

    [Finally.]

    Neoma hugged the older Emperor Nero while gently patting his back. "I know you and the other Neoma had already made up in the previous timeline. But I still want you to know that I''m really sorry. And that I don''t resent you. I love you, my little brother."

    To be honest, she was ready for the older Emperor Nero to push her away orin that she was being disgusting.

    However, it didn''t happen.

    Emperor Nero didn''t say anything, but he hugged her back and gently patted her back.

    That was enough.

    There was only one "chapter" that Neoma had to close from her first life in order topletely move on and live her full life in the present.

    [My baby¡­]

    ***

    "I HAVE his other eye, but how should I put it back?" Neoma asked nervously. "What if I identally hurt him?"

    "No, don''t be scared," Ruto said encouragingly. "Gods don''t feel physical pain. Moreover, you just have to bring the eyeball close to the socket."

    Right now, Neoma was in her bedroom with Ruto.

    The God of Death, currently inside the body of a baby, was sleeping peacefully on the bed.

    "I''ll do it now," Neoma said, then she held the eyeball that looked like a big, round ruby near the baby''s eye socket. The baby''s eye socket was covered by his hair, so it was barely visible. "Slowly, carefully¡­"

    She was doing it as carefully as possible.

    But, fortunately, she didn''t have to do more.

    The ruby eye suddenly disappeared. Then a reddish light appeared on the spot where the eye socket should have been. The pretty lights disappeared as soon as they appeared, though.

    "Is it done already?"

    "Yes," Ruto said, gently patting Neoma on the head. "Good job, babe."

    Neoma smiled proudly, but that smile quickly disappeared when she noticed that the baby god wasn''t waking up yet. "Should we wake him up, Ruto?"

    "No. The God of Death is preparing to leave the vessel that he borrowed."

    Oh.

    Hmm.

    So, it was time for THAT talk, huh?

    [I was trying to dy it as much as possible, but I guess it''s time to face the music.]

    "Ruto, this vessel is our Vitu''s Seedling, right?"

    "Yes," Ruto said softly while nodding. "Before I turned back time, I nted Vitu''s Seedling in the Garden. The Goddess of Life promised to nurture our child until it was time for him to be reincarnated. But something happened."

    Both the Goddess of Life and the God of Death were defeated.

    And there was only one person who could do that.

    "That fugly Helstor," Neoma said, clenching her hands. "Did he poison the Garden with his Darkness?"

    Ruto nodded before he proceeded. "Thend where Vitu''s Seedling was nted got infected badly. The Goddess of Life couldn''t remove it because the Seedling was empty. Hence, in an attempt to save both Vitu''s Seedling and the God of Death, she put the God of Death''s soul in the Seedling."

    She wouldn''t say she was surprised.

    After all, she already expected that during the time that she was just starting to retrieve her memories little by little.

    "That''s why I called the God of Death ''Vitu¡­''"

    Her mother instincts kicked in right away.

    "Ruto, what will happen to our Vitu once the God of Death leaves his body?"

    "We will save him."

    "What?"

    "Neoma, to be honest, our Vitu''s Seedling is dying because it was removed from the Garden too soon," Ruto said hesitantly. "But I already asked His Lord Majesty and Her Lady Majesty to help us recreate a small version of the Garden here."

    "Ruto, wait," Neoma said, clutching her chest when panic started to overwhelm her system. "Are you saying that our Vitu is dying when it''s not yet time for him to be reborn?"

    ***

    "YOU CANNOT recreate my Garden¨C you do not have the right soil for it."

    Admittedly, Mona was discouraged when she heard what the Goddess of Life said.

    The goddess appeared when Mona and Niki were in her personal garden, trying toe up with a n on how to recreate the Garden of Life in a smaller scale.

    Both Mona and her husband were startled when the Goddess of Life suddenly appeared.

    "Are you saying that it''s impossible?" Niki asked the Goddess of Life, scoffing. "Commander Ruto wouldn''t ask us to do it if he knew we couldn''t. Moreover, he said that he and Neoma were able to seed in the past."

    "It''s because they have the ingredients that they didn''t know they needed for the Garden. It was something that the two of them had, so Yoan didn''t realize that it was the main ingredient."

    "What is it then?" Mona asked. "We''ll try to procure the missing ingredient.

    The Goddess of Life paused for a moment before she responded. "You need to bury gods and use their heavenly bodies as fertilizers."

    Oh.

    ***

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 Chapter 945: DIVINE CORPSES

    [MY CHILD, who hasn''t been reborn yet, is already drying.]

    Of course, it didn''t sit well with Neoma.

    Fortunately, the Goddess of Life gave her hope.

    "Child, to recreate the Garden of Life, you need to bury celestial bodies and turn them into fertilizer," the Goddess of Life said gently. "If your child is an ordinary person, then a body or two would suffice. However, Vitu is a special existence. You need to bury at least a hundred minor gods."

    "That doesn''t sound hard," Neoma said coldly. "A hundred dead bodies of minor gods, right?"

    "Neoma," Ruto said in a scolding tone. "I know it would be easy to kill a hundred minor gods. But you can''t kill gods without justification."

    Neoma looked at her man with cold eyes. "Ruto, do you think I care about your divine father''s rule right now?"

    Ruto looked taken aback by her hostility, so he caved in. "We can look for minor gods who havemitted heinous crimes against humanity and use them as an excuse to execute them."

    "Good. Do the hunting, and I''ll do the killing," Neoma said to Ruto, then she turned to the Goddess of Life. "I remember that the Garden that we recreated in the first life was finished in just a few days. Is it the same now?"

    "You finished recreating the Garden in the past only because you used powerful gods as fertilizer," the Goddess of Life said. "But using a hundred minor gods as fertilizer would take time."

    Neoma knitted her eyebrows. "Grandma, you should have said that from the beginning."

    "I didn''t want you to use that option, child."

    "But why?"

    "Do you think the powerful gods, especially the major gods led by Lord Levi, would just let you kill their fellow gods just to turn them into fertilizer for your child?"

    "Grandma, I don''t need their permission."

    "Child¡­"

    "I''m not the Neoma of the first timeline¨C I''m choosing me and my baby this time," Neoma said firmly, then she turned to Ruto. "Babe, is Larissa still in your custody?"

    Ruto nodded. "Larissa is being held captive in Veton''s subspace."

    "Very well," Neoma said, then she turned to the Goddess of Life. "Larissa is still technically a god, right? Aside from her, I''m thinking of using Helstor and Callisto de Luca as fertilizer for my child''s Garden. And I need that Garden to be recreated as soon as possible. Will the gods I mention suffice?"

    The Goddess of Life fell silent for a moment, then she sighed before nodding. "But you need a good soil to bury the celestial bodies you''d use as fertilizer. Since your Seedling is a divine Seedling, it can''t be buried in this world."

    Right.

    Neoma remembered that she recreated the Garden in the Upper World.

    But it would be difficult for her to get into the Upper World right now.

    [Tsk.]

    "Will the soil in the Spirit World be a good alternative?" Ruto asked, causing Neoma to turn to her man. His gaze was focused on the Goddess of Life, but he held Neoma''s hand and gently squeezed it as if he wasforting her. "The Cosmic Tree''snd crossed my mind, but I thought it would be a risk since the Cosmic Tree is using hernd as her source of life.

    However, that risk doesn''t exist in the Spirit World."

    The Goddess of Life once again paused to think, and then she nodded her head thoughtfully. "The Spirit World is located between the human world and the Upper World. And the Queen of the Spirit World is considered a god herself. Since thend of the Spirit World has the Queen''s blessing, then it would work."

    Neoma was relieved to hear that, but the Goddess of Life wasn''t done talking yet.

    "However, the Spirit World is on the neutral side. If the Queen lends you the blessednd of the Spirit World, then the angry gaze of the gods in the Upper World would fall upon her. I don''t think the Queen would allow that to happen."

    Right.

    Neoma had never beenfortable around the Queen of the Spirit World even though the Queen helped Nero in the past.

    [That Queen is a greedy one.]

    "If wepensate her enough, we might change her mind," Ruto said, but even her man didn''t sound confident. "I''ll negotiate with her."

    "No, we won''t negotiate with the Queen," Neoma said, her eyes turning glowing red out of nowhere. "I''ll send Mama Boss and Papa Boss to the Spirit World."

    ***

    MONA could tell that the air around Neoma had changed.

    Her daughter was a stronger person, and Neoma had only be more powerful when her Divinization had begun.

    Even so, Neoma''s friendly demeanor didn''t change.

    Hence, it was still easy for people to approach her daughter.

    [But not anymore.]

    It took Mona all the strength (and her pride as a mother) to stand in front of Neoma without kneeling or bowing before her.

    And it was definitely the same for Niki.

    [Our daughter¡­ is really a god now.]

    "Mama Boss, Papa Boss, please go to the Spirit World," Neoma said. Her voice was calm and polite, but her request still sounded like an order. "I need you to secure enoughnd for the recreation of the Garden of Life."

    "Tara is on the neutral side, and she won''t risk her safety to lend us a hand," Mona said worriedly. "What should we do if Tara refuses to cooperate?"

    To be honest, she already knew what her daughter was going to say.

    Even so, Mona still wanted to hear it from Neoma.

    [I''m sure Neoma will ask me to take over the Spirit World¨C]

    "Kill the Queen if she refuses to cooperate, Mama Boss," Neoma said in a serious tone, her red eyes glowing menacingly. "I''ll use the Queen as fertilizer."

    Ah.

    Mona felt the chills.

    [Neoma isn''t herself¡­!]

    "Neoma de Moonasterio!"

    What?

    Mona was surprised when Niki suddenly grabbed Neoma by the shoulders. "Niki¡­"

    "Wake up!" Niki said while shaking Neoma''s shoulders. "This isn''t you, Neoma."

    ***

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 Chapter 946: WELCOME BACK

    NEOMA blinked in confusion while looking at the variety of food spread on the long table.

    It looked like a feast even though only her and her Papa Boss were at the Royal Dining Hall at the moment.

    To be honest, she couldn''t really remember how she got there.

    When she came to her senses, she was already sitting across from her father.

    "Chef Stroganoff cooked all your favorite dishes in this world, while Commander Ruto cooked all your favorite Korean food," her Papa Boss said. "Eat while the food is still warm."

    "Papa Boss¡­"

    "You''re not going to say you don''t have appetite, are you?"

    She couldn''t say anything because that was what she really wanted to say.

    [How can I eat in this situation?]

    "Your child wouldn''t magically get revived even if you starve yourself."

    Ouch.

    "Even if you kill the Queen of the Spirit World, nothing will change."

    Haaah.

    Neoma was usually fond of her Papa Boss, but not at the moment.

    "And even if you re at me with those glowing red eyes of yours, I''m still right."

    "Papa Boss, you''re making me upset."

    "I have no doubt that you deserve to be the empire''s first empress regnant," her Papa Boss said carefully. "But you still have to learn how to control your emotions. At a time like this, you must act as logically as Nero."

    "Don''tpare me to my twin brother, Papa Boss."

    "I''m notparing you to Nero¨C I''m asking you to learn from him."

    "That''s worse."

    "Then calm down and do better."

    That was annoying.

    But, at the same time, Neoma calmed down.

    Her father''s egging on her actually worked.

    "Papa Boss didn''t teach me to control my emotions," Neomained while pouting. But since she was upset, she suddenly felt hungry. And, so, she grabbed the knife and started cutting up her steak. "You always let me go wild."

    "Well, you have a child now."

    Oh.

    "Papa Boss¡­"

    "I will only talk about this once," Papa Boss said, frowning. "I know that you''re not mentally a child. You lived several lives already. And I''m happy that you weren''t totally alone during your first life. You had Commander Yoan and your child. That''s why even though I hate to imagine it in this life, I know that you still need them here."

    "Papa Boss, you''re gonna make me cry."

    Her father smiled bitterly. "You''re only eighteen, Neoma. In this life, that is. I know that I don''t have the right to say this because your mother and I had you and Nero early. Even so, it still pains me to think that you''re already worried about your child at your age. You''re still a baby to me, you know?"

    "Now you''re really gonna make me cry," Neoma said in a cracked voice. "Thank you, Papa Boss."

    "If you''re really grateful to me, then eat," Papa Boss said. "You don''t have to carry everything, Neoma. Your mother and I will always be here for you and Nero."

    ***

    "MOTHER and Father are headed to the Spirit World?" Nero asked his mother, surprised. "And you''re leaving already?"

    Who needed sleep when his dangerous coronation was approaching?

    Hence, he was still at his office in that ungodly hour while talking to his mother.

    Since their conversation was confidential, he asked everyone to leave the office earlier.

    "It''s something that we can''t dy for so long," his mother said. "We need to secure a decent piece ofnd for the Garden of Life that we''re trying to recreate."

    "Then are you going to dere war on Tara? She''s on the neutral side, and she''s pretty territorial. I don''t think she''d lend you a hand even if it''s you, Mother."

    Nero had spent his childhood in the Spirit World.

    Although the Queen was fond of him and treated him well, he never felt attached to her.

    Aside from the fact that his heart was too small to amodate people outside his family, Tara didn''t exactly make it easy for him to like her.

    [She never bothered to hide her greed.]

    In fact, Nero was actually surprised when he found out that his mother and Tara were actually "friends."

    "I know Tara as much as you know her, son," his mother said calmly. "I already expected her to shun us."

    "But you''re still going, Mother?"

    "We need to help Neoma protect the life of her precious child."

    Nero frowned.

    He already knew the situation about his unborn nephew.

    It wasn''t like he hated the child.

    [I hate the father, but half of the child belongs to Neoma. So, I can''t hate him.]

    What he hated was Neoma''s situation at the moment.

    [Why can''t those damned gods leave my twin sister alone?]

    "Nero, your father and I may not make it to your official coronation," his mother said apologetically. "We''re very sorry."

    "You don''t have to apologize, Mother," Nero said while shaking his head. "The formal coronation is only for show, anyway."

    "We hate to make you feel alone and lonely, son," his mother said softly. "We don''t want you to think that we only care about Neoma."

    "That thought never crossed my mind, Mother. I know that you and father love us equally," Nero said, and then he paused for a moment. "To be honest, I''d like it if you love Neoma a bit more than you love me. So, in case Mother and Father need to choose between me and Neoma, you''d choose her."

    He was being honest.

    But, clearly, his mother didn''t like his honesty.

    "Don''t say such things, Nero," his mother said sternly. "If your father and I were forced to choose between you and Neoma, we''d choose the two of you even if it means giving up on our lives."

    Oh.

    He really didn''t mean to make his mother upset.

    But he was moved by his mother''s warm words.

    "I''m sorry, Mother¨C I misspoke."

    "As long as you understand," his mother said, and then he hugged him while rubbing his back. "Your father and I will be back as soon as we can."

    "Neoma and I will be waiting for you and Father," Nero said, hugging back his mother. "Please take care, Mother. Use Father as a shield if you have to."

    His motherughed at his joke, hitting him on the back yfully. "Your father would cry if he heard you, sweetheart."

    ***

    HUH?

    [It''s already morning?]

    Neoma was surprised when she opened her eyes and realized that it was already morning.

    Fucking hell.

    She told herself she would only sleep for a few hours.

    "Good morning, Princess Neoma."

    Neoma got up and saw Dahlia waiting for her.

    [Oh, right. She''s my secretary, but why is she acting like she''s one of mydies-in-waiting.]

    Wait.

    [I don''t havedies-in-waiting.]

    To be honest, ever since she was finally acknowledged as the Imperial Princess, her family wanted her to havedies-in-waiting. But she refused because she didn''t like making other people do what she could do.

    [Plus, my children are attentive to me.]

    "Princess Neoma, would you like to take a bath first or have breakfast now?" Dahlia asked politely. "Actually, Prince Nero asked you to have breakfast with him if you have time."

    "I''m unemployed, so I have time. Thank you for letting me know, Da," Neoma said while stretching her arms. "I''m gonna take a bath first before having breakfast with Nero."

    ***

    "MAMA BOSS and Papa Boss already left for the Spirit World?" Neoma said while gently stirring her mushroom soup. "They should have waken me up."

    Nero scoffed at what she said. "As if our parents would do that when we all know you need sleep."

    Right.

    Neoma remembered her Papa Boss and Mama Boss tucked her into bedst night and bid her goodnight.

    [That''s probably their way of saying goodbye to me.]

    "Mother tried to open a way to the Spirit Worldst night, but the Spirit World refused to let her in," Nero said, and then he paused. "We owe Commander Ruto again."

    Ruto?

    Neoma tilted her head to one side. "Did Ruto force a door open to the Spirit World?"

    "Commander Ruto is usually reserved and calm," Nero said, clicking his tongue while shaking his head. "I didn''t know he had that side. Your violent personality probably rubbed off on him."

    "Yah," Neomained halfheartedly because she couldn''t say she wasn''t a bad influence without hurting her conscience. "What did Ruto do?"

    ***

    [Last night¡­]

    "I CAN''t believe the Spirit World is blocking our entry."

    Nero clicked his tongue after hearing what his mother said.

    His mother used her magic staff to try and open a door that led to the Spirit World.

    Of course, his mother seeded in one try.

    A whirlpool appeared on the wall of his parents'' room, a clear sign that a door had been opened.

    But, in just the blink of an eye, it disappeared.

    "The Queen probably knows why we want to go to hernd," his father said, clicking his tongue. "Should we call William?"

    "I can try opening a door if you allow me, Your Majesties."

    Hmm?

    Everyone turned to Commander Ruto.

    Since they didn''t have any better ideas left, they let themander in charge of creating a door leading to the Spirit World.

    Ruto did open a door¡­

    ¡­ with just one punch.

    This time, the door couldn''t be closed from the other side. There was a whirlpool that appeared on the space that opened up. And, inside the whirlpool, there were zigzag lines that were sparkling brightly.

    [It must be his lightning power.]

    "You may enter now, Your Majesties," Commander Ruto said politely. "The door will not close unless Queen Tara uses half of her power, which I doubt she''d do."

    Nero was in disbelief just like his parents.

    [Neoma, your man is a monster.]

    ***

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 Chapter 947: A FORMAL DUEL

    [WHAT''S happening?]

    Tara was in a panic.

    She sessfully shut down the portal that Mona Roseheart tried to open to enter the Spirit World uninvited.

    And she was also ready to close the door that William might open.

    However, the Grand Spirit didn''t step in.

    Someone else did, and that person seeded.

    [Those little bolts of lightning¡­]

    The portal that forced its way open had a dark violent whirlpool inside, and the whirlpool itself was filled with little bolts of lightning that shone so brightly.

    Each bolt was also filled with enormous of Mana.

    Hence, she couldn''t even touch it.

    [This power¡­ it belongs to Lord Levi''s son¡­!]

    Tara still tried to close the portal, but it was already toote.

    The people who wanted to get in had already stepped foot in hernd.

    [How dare they¡­!]

    "Mona Roseheart, Niki de Moonasterio," Tara said sternly. "I don''t remember inviting you to mynd."

    "Well, we don''t remember asking for your permission," Niki de Moonasterio scoffed, looking down at Tara with those chilling red eyes of his. "It''s been a while, Tara. What changed for you to be hostile against us?"

    "You are not my guests," Tara said firmly. "I don''t think a queen like me should be weing intruders like you."

    "Intruders?" Niki de Moonasterio asked sarcastically, crossing his arms over his chest. "I''m giving you a chance to reconsider if we were intruders or not, Your Majesty. You wouldn''t want us to be your enemies, would you?"

    That wasn''t a request¨C it was a threat.

    Niki de Moonasterio really did inherit the arrogance of his bloodline.

    [But Niki de Moonasterio isn''t as strong as he used to be, is he? It''s a miracle that he''s still alive after Nero de Moonasterio ascended the throne. But I can feel that his Moonglow has already weakened.]

    Hence, Tara concluded that she could take Niki de Moonasterio on a fight.

    [I''m now as big as an average human, and I grew up quickly after inhaling the air that Neoma de Moonasterio breathed. The bigger I got, the stronger I became. Hence, I''m confident that I can fight.]

    The problem would be Mona Roseheart.

    [I''ve never won a fight against Mona Roseheart in the past. And I''m sure Niki de Moonasterio would protect his wife. I might need to gather my people and¡­]

    Mona caught Tara''s gaze and smiled.

    And that smile was chilling.

    Tara was reminded why she chose to never get on Mona Roseheart''s bad side before.

    [Mona Roseheart is like a natural disaster¨C she doesn''t choose her victims.]

    "Don''t worry, Tara," Mona said "kindly." "Niki and I wouldn''t fight at the same time since it would be unfair to you. Moreover, we don''t want this fight to escte."

    Tara scoffed. "So, you''re here to fight."

    "Yes, and I''m here to ask you for a formal duel, my old friend," Mona said in a serious tone. "I know you already know why you''re here."

    Tara couldn''t refute that.

    There were spirits and fairies in the human world that would send Tara a report every now and then if it concerned the Spirit World.

    Like now.

    [I heard the Imperial Family needs a piece of mynd.]

    Tara once lent a hand to the Imperial Family when she took Nero de Moonasterio under her custody for several years.

    But it was only because she knew it wouldn''t harm her.

    It was different now.

    [Most gods have a grudge against the Imperial Family because of Neoma de Moonasterio. I must remain on the neutral side¡­]

    Tara didn''t get to finish her thoughts because Mona Roseheart threw a glove at her face.

    It happened so fast that the next thing she knew, the glove already hit her cheek.

    [That hurts¡­]

    Tara was too stunned to react.

    The fairies and the other Spirits around got upset on Tara''s behalf.

    "How dare you hit our queen!"

    "We can''t forgive you even if you are THE Mona Roseheart!"

    "Apologize to our queen!"

    "I will apologize and beg for forgiveness if I lose," Mona Roseheart said coldly, her glowing ice-blue eyes focused solely on Tara. "ept the duel, Tara. This is the most peaceful way we can solve the problem."

    Tara touched the cheek that was hit by the glove. "And if I still decline¡­"

    Mona Roseheart turned to Niki de Moonasterio.

    The emperor then snapped his fingers.

    In just the blink of an eye, Niki de Moonasterio''s Soul Beasts¨C in their human forms¨C appeared behind him.

    The ground suddenly shook, and Tara''s legs almost shook.

    [How could this be¡­!]

    Niki de Moonasterio had already lost a huge portion of his Moonglow, hence his Soul Beasts should have already weakened.

    However, that wasn''t the case.

    The ground in the Spirit World shook because it almost couldn''t handle thebined power that the Soul Beasts held.

    Right.

    The Soul Beasts couldn''t use their full power in the human world, but that rule didn''t apply to the Spirit World.

    [In short, the Soul Beasts have full control of their divine power here¡­!]

    "Are you threatening to destroy the Spirit World?!" Tara yelled angrily, her eyes glowing menacingly. "How dare you threaten my world?! You must think you''re a god because the de Moonasterios has always been hailed as one. However, you''re still nothing but mere humans!"

    "What does it have to do with our race?" Niki asked, shrugging. "It''s not my fault that I''m stronger than most of you, is it?"

    "You¨C"

    "You''ll never win a verbal fight against an arrogant de Moonasterio, my old friend," Mona Roseheart said, smiling at her. "Tara, if I win, I''ll take a piece of yournd. However, in return, we will protect the Spirit World from the wrath of the gods who want us down."

    Ah.

    Tara realized that Mona already knew why she didn''t want to get involved with the Imperial Family.

    She was close to giving in, however¡­

    "My queen, please don''t fall for their provocations!"

    "We will stand by your decision!"

    "We''re ready to fight Niki de Moonasterio and Mona Roseheart!"

    "Just give us a word, Your Majesty!"

    Ah.

    Tara was touched by his people''s support.

    However, she knew that Mona Roseheart and Niki de Moonasterio wouldn''t let her decline the duel.

    [Even if it''s only the two of them here, each one of them is worth a hundred minor gods.]

    Moreover, the Soul Beasts were also there.

    [They can definitely damage the Spirit World beyond recovery.]

    However, a duel was only between two people.

    "Alright," Tara said, taking a deep breath. "I will ept your duel¨C on one condition, Mona Roseheart."

    "Tell me."

    "You''re only allowed to summon one god or Spirit."

    Tara had countless sparring with Mona Roseheart when they were younger.

    However, she had never won against her once because she could summon gods and Spirits that were stronger than Tara in different aspects.

    "Alright, I ept your terms," Mona Roseheart said, opening her hand. In just a few seconds, Nidya appeared¨C and Nidya would be the Summoner''s famous rosegold staff. "Should we fight here?"

    ''Here'' would be the vast field at the back of the Royal Pce.

    Hence, even if they fought her, no civilians would be hurt and the damage would be minimal.

    "It seems like you chose to open a portal here for the purpose of fighting," Tara said, moving her shoulders until her beautiful golden wings protruded on her back. For a fairy like her, their source of power came from their pair of golden wings. "Mona Roseheart, I will not hold back."

    "As you should," Mona Roseheart said, stabbing her rosegold staff on the ground. And then a glowing magic circle appeared below her. "I''ll summon the Spirit that I choose to help me fight you, Tara."

    Hmm?

    Spirit?

    [I thought Mona would summon the usual goddess that she would call during a fight¡­]

    "Pleasee out, Irina."

    "Irina?" Tara asked in disbelief, letting out a gasp. "Why did you summon the Cosmic Tree?!"

    Mona smiled "sweetly." "Because I can?"

    ***

    "ARE YOU done with your training with Arche and Aruna de Moonasterio?"

    "Uh-huh," Neoma said, immediately hugging Ruto because she needed a recharge. "Nero and I already mastered the Soul Switching Technique because we''re awesome like that."

    "Good job," Ruto said, gently patting Neoma''s back. "You did well, Neoma."

    "Of course."

    They could act lovey-dovey at the moment because only the two of them were in the training hall at the moment.

    It was the training hall that Neoma owned.

    And there was a reason why she was there with Ruto.

    "Are you not going to help Emperor Nero deal with the male Rosehearts that he gathered?" Ruto asked carefully. "I thought His Majesty has finally decided what to do with them."

    "Mama Boss gave him a hint, and so did the older Emperor Nero," Neoma said, removing herself from Ruto because she was already recharged. "Nero can deal with his own shit. We have an important job to do."

    Ruto nodded silently, and then he snapped his fingers. "Veton,e out."

    Veton, the giant Thunderbird, appeared out of thin air.

    Fortunately, the training hall was big enough to amodate Veton.

    "Thank you foring, Veton," Neoma said, smiling although her eyes were cold. "Now, spit the old bitch out."

    Veton let out a purring sound that soon turned into a gagging sound.

    The process was a bit disgusting, but it worked.

    Soon, Veton sessfully spat out the soul of the former Goddess of Fertility.

    Larissa fell to the floor, covered in saliva.

    "It''s been a while, Larissa," Neoma said coldly. "Do you have ast wish before I bury you alive?"

    ***

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 Chapter 948: DIVINE PUNISHMENT

    "THANK you foring, Veton," Neoma said, smiling although her eyes were cold. "Now, spit the old bitch out."

    Veton let out a purring sound that soon turned into a gagging sound.

    The process was a bit disgusting, but it worked.

    Soon, Veton sessfully spat out the soul of the former Goddess of Fertility.

    Larissa fell to the floor, covered in saliva.

    [Eww.]

    "It''s been a while, Larissa," Neoma said coldly. "Do you have ast wish before I bury you?"

    Larissa, who tried to act elegant while standing up, raised her head arrogantly and greeted Neoma like the dignified goddess that she wasn''t. "It''s been a while, Princess Neoma."

    "You''re already dead, and you''re nothing but a Spirit," Neomamented by observing Larissa''s "body." "Babe, can we really use her as a fertilizer?"

    Because that was the only reason she let Larissa live all this time.

    "Gods who descend on the human world don''t have physical vessels, but their Spirits could still be used as fertilizer since our child only needs to absorb divine power from the corpses of gods we bury," Ruto exined. "Fortunately, Larissa hasn''t lost her divine status yet in this timeline."

    Oh, right.

    Ruto took away Larissa''s status as a god in the first timeline.

    But not in this timeline?

    "As soon as I gained enough power to take down a god in this lifetime, I punished Larissa for the crime of helping Helstor enter the Garden of Life," Ruto exined again when he noticed the confusion on Neoma''s face. "But that was just an excuse. I was hunting her down when I caught her in the Garden of Life. Hence, I used that to kill her."

    "Did she escape?" Neoma asked curiously. "Helstor probably helped that old hag."

    Ruto nodded. "It happened after Helstor took a bite of my memories. When he saw that Larissa was one of the gods I hated the most and the reason why, he sought her help by sharing my memories with Larissa. That''s why she "remembers" the first timeline."

    "I see," Neoma said, nodding. "Babe, you''ve kept so many secrets from me in this timeline."

    "I''m sorry," Ruto said, wrapping an arm around her waist while pulling her closer to him. "I wanted to kill everyone who wronged us in the past without your knowing because I only wanted you to walk the flowery path in this timeline. But I guess it''s too much even for me."

    Aww.

    She could see where Ruto wasing from.

    But she wanted to be a part of that revenge.

    "You chose to hide in the throne after barely surviving Ruto''s attack, huh?" Neoma asked, pping her hands slowly. Of course, she was being sarcastic with her actions. "I mustmend your will to live."

    Larissa scoffed at Neoma''s words. "If you''re going to ask how I got here, then don''t waste your time because I have no intention of¨C"

    "Do I look like I give a fuck as to how you got stuck in the throne?"

    Larissa looked confused by her reaction. "Are you not curious as to what I did to the now Emperor Nero while I was brainwashing¨C"

    "Nah," Neoma said, cutting off the old hag rudely once again. "Whatever you''ve done to Nero was in the past. We can always find a cure to whatever curse you put on him without your help."

    "You arrogant¨C"

    "Yeah, I''m arrogant," Neoma said proudly. "Now, kindly shut your mouth," she said, stomping her feet on the ground to cover the entire room with her barrier. "Fertilizers don''t need to speak, do they?"

    "Be careful, babe," Ruto said, letting go of her waist. "Don''t push yourself too hard."

    ***

    "THIS IS UNFAIR!"

    Mona almost had to cover her ears because of Tara''s deafening scream.

    Even the Queen''s people flinched and covered their ears.

    [Tara''s high-pitched voice could really be a weapon¡­]

    But Mona couldn''t care less.

    "What is unfair, my dear?" Irina asked calmly. "Mona is a Summoner who has the right to summon gods and Spirits. I am a Spirit, so summoning me is only fair."

    "Who would dare summon the Cosmic Tree to fight in her stead?" Tara retorted, her voice filled with resentment. "And you''re not the type of Spirit who would answer to just anyone''s call, Lady Irina. You''re only doing this because Mona is your "daughter," aren''t you?"

    "What''s wrong with that?" Irina asked, genuinely confused. "This is a fight where the only rule is Mona could only summon one Spirit. And she did."

    "How can I win against you, the Cosmic Tree herself?"

    "You just have to try really hard, my child," Irina said, smiling kindly. But, to Tara, that smile probably looked evil. "What are you so scared of, my dear? You''re the queen of the Spirit World and the fairies. On the other hand, I''m just an old woman now. I''ve been asleep for god knows how long, hence I''m not even sure if I can fight well."

    Aww.

    Mona almost felt bad for Tara because Tara was probably thinking that the Cosmic Tree was mocking her.

    But, in reality, Irina was being honest.

    "Do you still want to fight, Irina?" Mona asked carefully. "I''m giving you onest chance to withdraw the match."

    ***

    "YOUR MAJESTY, what should we do with our¡­ uhm, guest?"

    To be honest, Glenn didn''t know how to answer Nowell Elwood''s question.

    Anyway, he finally had the time to return to the Hazelden Kingdom to check on their people after things in the empire calmed down a bit.

    He had to leave Brigitte under his family''s care.

    [Because my wife and our baby need to be there in the meantime.]

    Monik was with his wife, while Skylus was with Lord Manu in the Imperial Pce.

    And, ude¡­

    "Daddy!"

    Glenn smiled and got down on one knee when he saw ude running towards him. "Come here, my little prince."

    ude giggled, and then he threw himself into Glenn''s waiting arms.

    [Thanks to my little boy, I don''t have to answer Nowell''s question.]

    That was what Glenn thought while standing up with ude in his arms.

    "Wee back, Your Majesty."

    Oh, no.

    Glenn froze in his tracks when Regina Crowell, her hands tied with iron cuffs, greeted him politely. "Ah, you''re still here¡­"

    "We tried to set her free as per Princess Neoma''s orders," Nowell Elwood whispered in Glenn''s ear. "But she refused to leave. We tied her hands using the shackles that Lady Avery sent us. ording to Lady Avery, those cuffs would stop Regina Crowell from using her powers. However, we still feel ufortable since she keeps on ying with ude."

    Now that was a problem.

    Glenn hugged ude tighter. "Miss Regina Crowell, I heard that you''d be working with Lord Trevor Kesser in the meantime, so we were told to noty a hand on you. However, if you put my child in danger¡­"

    "I have no intention of harming the little prince, Your Majesty," Regina Crowell said, shrugging. "I''m merely observing him for fun."

    That still made Glenn nervous.

    "Daddy, we yed a lot!" ude said excitedly. "Regina Noona is good at making toys!"

    Haaah.

    Glenn''s heart ached because of how innocent ude was.

    [I need to find a way to send Regina Crowell to Lord Trevor Kesser.]

    ***

    ACHOO.

    Trevor thought it was disgusting when he suddenly sneezed.

    He couldn''t help it, though.

    After all, his entire room was filled with bad odor because of all the blood and the smell of burning flesh.

    "Why don''t you just kill me?"

    That was Dn Crowell''s question.

    The perverted bastard who touched his half-sister inappropriately was currently tied on the wall with his legs minced and his arms broken.

    Every time the bastard would almost die because of his torture, Trevor would revive him.

    Making potions to bring Dn Crowell back to life was easy.

    And it was fun.

    "I''m not yet done with my experiments," Trevor said yfully. "Plus, you haven''t suffered enough. My client wants me to torture you until you''re begging to die."

    Dn Crowell paused for a moment, and then heughed. "Are you talking about Regina? Is she your client?"

    "And what if she was?"

    "Then you''re being manipted."

    "Am I?"

    "She''s seducing you, since that''s what she does best!"

    "Oh, am I being seduced?" Trevor paused, and then he suddenlyughed out loud. "That was the funniest shit I''ve heard in a while. How could I be seduced by someone I''m remotely attracted to?"

    "Then why are you helping Regina?" Dn Crowell asked back. "Are you the type of person who helps an enemy?"

    Ah.

    That slowly took away Trevor''s smile.

    Come to think of it, even though Regina''s offer was tempting, he had no reason to help her. Was it just on a whim?

    [It''s true that her power is amazing, though.]

    Dn Crowell scoffed upon seeing Trevor''s hesitation. "You''ve been duped, Trevor Kesser," he said, sneering at him. "You don''t know what Regina''s real power is, do you?"

    "Then tell me," Trevor said coldly. "Tell me before I cut your body into hundreds of pieces."

    ***

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 Chapter 949: TERRARIUM

    NEOMA hummed while adding the finishing touch to her new masterpiece: a terrarium.

    And the star?

    Of course, it was Larissa.

    The fallen Goddess of Fertility was currently lying down on the grasnd that Namoo, Neoma''s Wood Spirit in the form of a wooden capybara, created for her terrarium.

    Neoma carved the capybara from the Cosmic Tree''s branch that she inherited from Mama Boss. After making the wooden capybara from the sacred branch, she literally breathe life into it.

    Hence, Namoo became her Wood Spirit.

    Namoo proved to be a valuable Spirit because it could replicate a forest or a garden.

    That meant Namoo was able to provide Neoma with the soil, nts, and trees that she needed for her terrarium. Of course, instead of a huge ss, she used her Sphere¨C her barrier that was, well, shaped like a ball¨C to create the perfect terrarium for Larissa.

    Neoma and Ruto were currently inside the giant terrarium.

    Larissa was on the ground, her body embraced by thick and thorny veins from the trees that grewrge enough to fit in the Sphere. The fallen goddess was also surrounded by nts¨C nts that were slowly yet constantly feeding on whatever was left of her broken vessel.

    Since Neoma didn''t want to hear another word from Larissa, she put a poisonous flower in the goddess'' mouth. She also didn''t want to see the goddess'' red eyes, so she also stabbed her eyes with two long-stemmed pink roses.

    Of course, both roses were also poisonous.

    Haaah.

    Neoma let out a sigh while shaking her head. "I hate that I''m too nice sometimes, babe. Only a softie like me would make her enemy''s grave this beautiful. If this is not me being nice, then I don''t know what it is."

    Ruto turned to Neoma with a deadpan look on his face. "I think we have different definitions of being ''nice,'' Neoma."

    "If we do, then yours is wrong because I''m always right."

    "Of course."

    Pfft.

    It was really funny how Ruto could be a simp who would just usually agree with whatever she said just to make her happy.

    [But he always stands his ground if he has to during serious stuff.]

    "Namoo,e here," Neoma said, squatting down and lending her hand to the wooden capybara that was still busy spitting out seedlings. "Watching you work is really fascinating."

    Because all the seedlings that Namoo spat out immediately became trees or nts.

    And every single one was poisonous.

    "You did well, little one."

    Namoo then finally stopped "nting" trees and nts, and then it walked towards her until it was resting on her palm.

    Neoma then stood up while holding the wooden capybara close to her chest. "You didn''t have to make the terrarium beautiful, but you still did. Thank you for working hard." She then kissed the wooden capybara on the top of its head, causing it to slowly disappear in order to return to her soul. "It''s now my turn to work."

    When Namoo disappeared, she turned to Ruto.

    She didn''t have to say anything to tell him what she wanted him to do.

    "Alright, I''m going ahead," Ruto said, kissing Neoma on the forehead. "Don''t push yourself too hard, Neoma."

    "Gotcha."

    After that, Ruto simply walked through the Sphere.

    The barrier that Neoma made was designed for her and Ruto toe in and out of it freely.

    Of course, that wasn''t the same case for Larissa or anyone else for that matter.

    "It''s a pity that I should waste my breath on you, but I have no choice since I want you to die slowly, Larissa," Neoma said, gathering the air in her lungs. "But, don''t worry, even breathing will be a choir to you soon that you won''t be able to enjoy the benefits of breathing the air I breathe."

    ***

    "I CONCEDE."

    Mona wouldn''t say that she was surprised that Tara raised the white g quite easily after she summoned Irina.

    In fact, that was the oue that she wanted when she dragged the Cosmic Tree there.

    She didn''t want to fight Tara if she could make her surrender.

    [It''s not because of our shallow friendship, but because I know we can''t be making enemies left and right when our children''s hands are already full. Moreover, I can''t let the innocent Spirits living here get dragged into a war they didn''t ask for.]

    "Good thinking, child," Irina praised Tara. "It would have been a shame to fight the child that I practically raised."

    Tara scoffed at the Cosmic Tree, obviously upset by everything that was happening. "You''re only saying that because I already surrendered, Lady Irina. But I know you would kill anyone if it means saving your precious daughter."

    Mona wanted to step in, but Irina''s gentle yet intimidating voice echoed in the air.

    "If you already know that, then you better wake up now, Tara," Irina said, talking to Tara as if she was talking to a mischievous child. "You''re the Queen of the Spirit World and the fairies. It is your duty to serve and protect the Spirits under your protection. So, why are you pursuing earthy desires, my dear child?"

    Tara flinched as if she was a child caught by her parents while misbehaving.

    And that was when Mona realized it.

    [Mother Irina agreed to be summoned because she wanted to confront Tara¡­]

    ***

    "I HAVE already made a decision," Nero dered to Dahia whom he summoned to his office. "I''m going to face the male Rosehearts and swallow their resentments altogether."

    Dahlia sighed while shaking her head. "Why do Your Majesty and Her Imperial Highness always have to swallow and devour everything in your way?"

    "It must be in our blood."

    That was the only answer that he could provide.

    Because, honestly, it was the first thing that came to mind.

    [And I''m just following my instincts.]

    "When do you n to do it, Your Majesty?" Dahlia asked carefully. "Your coronation day is only around the corner."

    "Tonight," Nero said confidently. "Let''s end this tonight."

    ***

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 Chapter 950: UNEXPECTED TREASURE

    "YOU''LL rot in that beautiful terrarium until you be the perfect fertilizer for my baby," Neoma said, her hands raised while putting anotheryer of Sphere to make sure that her terrarium wouldn''t be broken both from the inside and the outside. "Goodbye, Larissa."

    She turned her back on Larissa, currently trapped inside the deadly terrarium that she made, and walked out of the training hall leisurely.

    Of course, she wasn''t done for the night yet.

    "Your children are already waiting for you," Ruto said, extending his hand to her. "Are you really sure about doing that?"

    "Uh-huh," Neoma said, grabbing Ruto''s hand. "I''ve already asked for Papa Boss, Mama Boss, and Nero''s permission in advance. Why, babe? Do you not like my pettiness?"

    "It''s not petty."

    "I knew you''d say that," she said, and then she let go of Ruto''s hand only to wrap her arms around his waist. Then she buried her face against his chest. "Ruto, what about the other thing that I asked you to do for Nero''s coronation?"

    "It''s already done."

    "Thank you¡­ and I''m sorry."

    "Why are you apologizing?"

    "You know why," Neoma said, sighing. And then she looked up at Ruto with an apologetic smile on her face. "I''m sorry for making you take the difficult path."

    "What are you talking about? Any path I take with you is the flower path,"Ruto said, wrapping his arms around her. "The paths I walk alone is what I call the difficult path."

    Aww.

    She was moved by her man''s words.

    "Ruto, you can really say the sweetest stuff," Neoma said,ughing while shaking her head. "But my head is only filled with lewd thoughts when ites to you."

    As expected, her man''s face turned red immediately.

    "Don''t say it," Ruto warned Neoma yfully, gently flicking her forehead. "I can''t afford to get distracted, Neoma."

    ***

    "PRINCESS NEOMA, we''ve cleared the entire pce."

    Neoma smiled and nodded after hearing Paige''s report. "Thanks, Paige."

    The pce that Paige mentioned was the Larissa Pce, the empress'' official residence.

    [It''s disgusting how the empress'' official residence was named after that bitch instead of the Light Goddess.]

    Neoma wanted to change that.

    "We''ve rounded the ce five times, Eomma," Greko said cheerfully. "We''re 200% sure that no single soul is inside the Larissa Pce at the moment."

    It wasn''t like she didn''t trust her children.

    But Neoma still used her power to detect life in the area.

    Fortunately, just like what Greko said, there was no one else in the area right now except for their group.

    [And everyone here can protect themselves.]

    "Alright," Neoma said, sitting on the fancy chair that Lewis prepared for her. "Go feral, my children."

    "Yes, Your Imperial Highness."

    And Neoma watched her children destroy the Larissa Pce.

    She put on a pair of dark sunsses.

    It was alreadyte at night, but it didn''t bother her because she could see well in the dark anyway.

    [Heh~]

    Neoma enjoyed watching Juri wreck the pce with her beautiful sledgehammer.

    [This is the first time I''ve seen Juri in action in a long while.]

    "y, Juri! You''re doing great!" Neoma cheered her "daughter." "Destroy everything! We''ll send the bill to Nero for the damages, so don''t hold back!"

    Nero was richer than Neoma anyway.

    [My children are doing the physical work, so he should foot the bill.]

    Anyway, her children were having fun "working."

    After Neoma praised Juri, the others suddenly felt motivated (andpetitive, it seemed).

    Lewis threw powerful kicks that easily destroyed a few pirs instantly.

    Jeno used two guns to shoot at the weak foundation of the pce.

    Xion used his daggers to cut things here and there.

    Paige, obviously, used her magic to make things explode.

    Baby Greko didn''t use violence. Instead of breaking things, he offered support by replenishing his siblings'' Mana.

    The golden dust around the children was from Greko''s healing power.

    [My children have good teamwork.]

    Although it was obvious that they werepeting, they worked well together that they avoided identally hurting each other.

    [They deserve some praise.]

    "You''re doing amazing, sweeties!" Neoma said, pping her hands enthusiastically. "One-kick Lewis hasn''t gone anywhere! Paige, your explosive spells are cool! Make it colorful next time! Xion, you''ve be more agile! Good job!

    Jeno, wow! Your shooting uracy has improved a lot! And Greko, baby, you''re doing a great job supporting your hyungs and noonas! I''m so proud of you all, my children!"

    Her "children" seemed to have been motivated because their attacks had be more powerful.

    As a result, the entire Larissa Pce copsed quicker than expected.

    It was then¡­

    Huh?

    Neoma immediately got up when she felt a strong and ominous energy threatening to explode. "Children,e here!"

    Fortunately, she didn''t have to say it twice.

    In just the blink of an eye, all her "children" were already hiding behind her.

    Neoma created a Dome as fast as she could even though she wasn''t sure yet if an explosion would really happen or not.

    But she was d that she did.

    Something from below the pce had exploded ¨C causing a pretty strong earthquake.

    Tsk.

    [I hope no one gets hurt from this!]

    The explosion didn''tst long, but the ominous feeling remained.

    And then Neoma saw it.

    A red gem the size of a basketball shot up the sky.

    [The fuck is that?]

    "Stay here, kids," Neoma said in a hurry. "I''ll be back."

    Before anyone could respond, Neoma had already disappeared.

    She left her "children" inside the Dome where they could stay safe.

    Neoma shot up to the sky, her wings protruding from her back, and then she stopped.

    She found out that she was no longer alone while suspended mid-air.

    Tteokbokki, in his human form, was on her left side.

    On the other hand, Ruto was on her right side.

    And, yes, the three of them were suspended in the air while facing a huge red gem that was sparkling like a ruby.

    [It''s pretty¡­]

    Neoma''s thoughts were interrupted when, suddenly, the red sphere "spat out" something.

    It looked like a piece of bone at first nce.

    But that "piece" of bone suddenly turned into several bigger pieces until all of them realized what it was.

    "A fucking dragon?" Neoma asked in disbelief. "What''s a dragon skeleton doing here?"

    It seemed like it was the skeleton of an adult dragon.

    [And it''s in pristine condition...]

    "Argh!"

    Neoma immediately turned to Tteokbokki and found him clutching his head as if he was in pain.

    "Shut up!" Tteokbokki said, his eyes shut tight. "SHUT UP!"

    Oh.

    It looked like something was messing with Tteokbokki''s mind.

    Neoma carefully grabbed Tteokbokki''s shoulder.

    "Neoma, no!"

    Ruto''s warning came a little toote.

    As soon as Neoma touched Tteokbokki''s shoulder, she found herself in face-to-face with the big red sphere in a dark room.

    Actually, it looked like they were floating in the gxy.

    [Woah.]

    "Neoma de Moonasterio, do you want to set the world on fire again?"

    "Oh, you can talk¡­" Neoma trailed off, and then the realization hit her. "You''re a god''s eye¡­"

    Haaah.

    Why did she only realize it now?

    The red sphere that sparkled like a ruby was too beautiful to be a mere gem.

    However, it also looked different from the other eyes of gods that she had seen so far.

    [And it gives me the creeps.]

    "Kill the Red Dragon."

    "Tteokbokki?"

    "Kill the Red Dragon and the world will end right away."

    Haaah.

    Neoma raised her clenched hand¨C ready to throw a punch. "No, thank you."

    But, all of a sudden, the red sphere exploded before she could even punch it.

    And then the broken pieces of the beautiful gem turned into letters.

    Those letters then formed words¨C words from the ancientnguage, to be precise.

    The next thing Neoma knew, she was already reading the full prophecy about the de Moonasterio''s first empress regnant and the Red Dragon who needed to die for her to ascend the throne.

    [What ancient bullshit is this?]

    ***

    AUTHOR''S NOTE: I''M SO SORRY FOR THE SUDDEN HIATUS.

    February hasn''t been kind to me.

    I was scammed at work, I had to fight my bank to return my money, and five out of our six puppies passed away from parvo, and I recently sprained my wrist (thankfully, the left one and not my dominant hand).

    The loss of our puppies hit me pretty hard, so I got into a slump. I''m so sorry for wasting your coins.

    The only stories I was able to update this month were <My First Life as an S-ss Guide> and <Let''s Not Divorce> because of the MGS. I''m so sorry about that. BTW, <Let''s Not Divorce> is about to end, and it has some minor spoilers about how Royal Princess ends. You may want to check it out.

    Anyway, I''m hoping for your kind understanding.

    I''ll make it up to you. :(

    PS: You may redeem this code. I think it''s "firste, first serve" type of thing: ABDHY9DAEFDNAFLWA

    ---s_c

    ***

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 Chapter 951: THE ANCIENT DRAGON

    "KILL the Red Dragon."

    Neoma knitted her eyebrows after hearing such bullshit. "Tteokbokki?"

    "Kill the Red Dragon and the world will end right away."

    Haaah.

    Why would this red sphere appear and just say something so stupid out of the blue?

    [The lord is testing my patience again, I see.]

    Neoma raised her clenched hand¨C ready to throw a punch. "No, thank you."

    But, all of a sudden, the red sphere exploded before she could even punch it.

    And then the broken pieces of the beautiful gem turned into letters.

    Those letters then formed words¨C words from the ancientnguage, to be precise.

    The next thing Neoma knew, she was already reading the full prophecy about the de Moonasterio''s first empress regnant and the Red Dragon who needed to die for her to ascend the throne.

    [What ancient bullshit is this?]

    <"The first woman sitting on the Throne would also be the same woman responsible for the end of the world.

    The blood of the Red Dragon she had to y would be her red carpet¨C scorching and withering the world with fire and poison.

    The toxic fumes released as the dragon decayed would choke thend and all the nearby living creatures.

    The entirendscape would then be transformed into a blighted wastnd where bleached leviathan bones loom upwards out of the ground¨C a clear warning for everyone who would dare step foot on thend that was once ruled by the de Moonasterios, the strongest bloodline in the human world.">

    LOL.

    "Is this the prophecy that scared the shit out of my ancestors?" Neoma asked, half-amused and half-irritated. "Then it seems like I already fulfilled the prophecy in the first timeline. I mean, the ying the Red Dragon part."

    After all, there were dragon bones buried under the Larissa Pce.

    It was pretty strange, though.

    [When Ruto turned back time for me, then the Red Dragon should have been revived. But I was clearly told that Tteokbokki was thest Red Dragon in the world. That''s why Lord Manu had to bring Tteokbokki to the Dead World in order to raise him faster.]

    It happened during the time Neoma found out that her Mama Boss was stuck in a huge block of ice under the ck Ocean, and the only thing that could melt the ice was a Red Dragon''s fire.

    If another Red Dragon existed in that timeline, then people around her would have informed her about it. Especially William who had a weird obsession with Mama Boss. But that didn''t happen, and so they ended up raising Tteokbokki in a hurry.

    So, Neoma''s big brain reached a conclusion.

    "The Red Dragon and I must have met in the first timeline and made a pact," Neoma said to the weird eye floating in front of her. "In the first timeline, I didn''t have a Soul Beast. Well, I thought it was only because I didn''t get to awaken. But,ter in life, I found out I was born with a dead Soul Beast."

    And she could still remember what the Neoma of the first timeline had said to her before: ["I was born with a dead Soul Beast. The red dragon with you right now was the "Soul Beast" that Commander Yoan got for me when we tried to free the Soul Beasts in the past."]

    Neoma btedly realized that her memories about getting a Soul Beast in the first timeline was still blurry, even though she had retrieved most of her memories already.

    Gosh.

    [My life is so full of mysteries.]

    Oh, well.

    [I''m sure there''s a reason why Ruto didn''t tell me.]

    The amount of trust Neoma had in Ruto was scary, but what could she do?

    [He has power over me as much as I do over him.]

    "So, what''s the point of all of this?" Neoma asked the red sphere (possibly a god''s eye)zily. "Did youe out on purpose? Or did you onlye out because we identally unburied you after destroying Larissa Pce?"

    <"Did you not understand the part that says the Red Dragon can help you destroy the world?">

    "Yes, and?"

    <"¡­">

    "Hey, do I look like a lunatic who''ll cause the world to end just because I''m bored?"

    <"Yes.">

    "Ouch," Neomained lightheartedly. "I know I already have a record for destroying the world. But, hey, I won''t kill my brother for that."

    <"We''re not talking about Nero de Moonasterio here.">

    "I''m talking about Tteokbokki, dummy. He''s my brother, too."

    <"¡­">

    "Anyway, if you have nothing else to say, can I leave now?"

    <"You''re wasting this opportunity to learn the truth.">

    "How can I trust something that I''ve just met?" Neoma asked, scoffing. "If you want to share more important stuff with me, then earn my trust first."

    She felt like she already had this kind of conversation with someone else before.

    But what could she do?

    [I attract weirdos like this.]

    Neoma''s thoughts were interrupted when she felt a sound simr to a ss breaking.

    When she looked up, she saw the dark and starry sky breaking apart.

    Long cracks appeared all over the surface, causing the entire thing to copse.

    At the same time, the red sphere that seemed to be a god''s eye, began to fade as if it would vanish anytime.

    <"See youter, Neoma de Moonasterio.">

    Neoma shrugged. "I hope you only seek me once you have worthy information to share with me."

    ***

    WHEN NEOMA opened her eyes, the first thing that she saw was Ruto''s worried face.

    Only then did she realize that he was holding her in his arms.

    And they were still suspended in the air.

    "Neoma, don''t touch things carelessly," Ruto scolded her lightly. "If you''re not eating something you shouldn''t, then you''re touching them. Let''s be careful next time, okay?"

    "Okay," Neoma said, wrapping her arms around Ruto''s neck because she wanted to be morefortable in her position. "How long was I out?"

    "For a minute?"

    "Were you the one who got me out of that weird dimension?"

    "I just hit the red sphere with a lightning bolt, and then you fainted so I caught you."

    Ah.

    So, Neoma must have been suspended in the air while unconscious.

    She looked around and realized that the both therge red sphere and the dragon''s skeleton were gone.

    And Tteokbokki¡­

    Neoma knitted her eyebrows. "Where''s Tteokbokki?"

    Ruto simply looked below them.

    When she followed her gaze, she realized that her "children" were already free from the Dome that she created to protect them.

    [The Dome probably copsed when I "fainted."]

    "Your Soul Beast fainted as soon as you got spirited away by the red sphere," Ruto exined while descending. "Your "children" caught him."

    And Neoma could see that.

    Tteokbokki was lying on the ground while Paige and Greko were busy nursing him.

    The others stood up and greeted Neoma when Ruto put her down carefully afternding.

    "Princess Neoma, don''t," Lewis said, frowning. And he really looked upset this time. "Don''t protect us when we still can fight."

    Oh.

    [It''s scary when Lewis speaks properly to air hisints.]

    Juri, Jeno, and Xion all nodded firmly in agreement with what Lewis had said.

    [If Paige and Greko weren''t busy, I''m sure they''ll scold me, too.]

    "Bad habits die hard," Neoma said as an excuse. "I''m sorry¨C I won''t do it again."

    ***

    NEOMA let out a sigh of relief after Paige and Greko said that Tteokbokki had just fallen asleep due to exhaustion.

    However, Ruto immediately shattered her delusion that her Soul Beast waspletely fine.

    "We should put a barrier in your Soul Beast''s room," Ruto said bluntly. "We''re not sure if he''s going to wake up as your Soul Beast or as the God of Wrath."

    Ah, right.

    [We have to talk about that soon.]

    "Kids, you may leave now," Neoma said to her children. "Commander Ruto and I have something important to talk about."

    "I''ll stay outside," Lewis said. "Call me if you need me, Princesss Neoma."

    [Lewis speaks well these days.]

    Anyway, since Lewis was the chosen spokesperson of the day, the other kids seemed to have been at ease after hearing theirmander speak up.

    Neoma just nodded, and then the kids finally left.

    [Such good kids.]

    So, now, only Neoma and Ruto were left in the room where Tteokbokki was currently sleeping.

    Well, it was Tteokbokki''s room in the first ce.

    "Ruto, I remember the Neoma of the first timeline saying that you "got" her Soul Beast for her," Neoma said, going straight to the point. "Did I kill thest Red Dragon in the world in the first timeline?"

    "You did," Ruto said in a quiet voice. "I know you don''t remember any of it. But I didn''t tell you about it not because of my curse¨C it was actually the pact that you made with the Red Dragon that prevented me from telling you about it."

    "I see," she said, pausing for a moment. "What would happen if I remember the pact?"

    "The problem isn''t you remembering the pact," he said, and then he nced at the sleeping Tteokbokki. "The problem is your Soul Beast remembering about it. Once he remembers the past, then he will also remember that he wants to destroy the world. After all, the God of Wrath is now the owner of the Red Dragon''s body."

    "I see," she said, nodding. "So, the problem is the God of Wrath. I met him a few times. He''s crazy, yes. But he''s not obsessed with destroying the world."

    "It''s because the God of Wrath doesn''t have the Red Dragon''s memories yet," Ruto said, making it clear that the God of Wrath and the Red Dragon were two separate beings. "If he remembers the pact, then the God of Wrath will also retrieve the Red Dragon''s memories. And if that happens¡­"

    Ah, yes.

    Thank goodness she was good at reading between the lines.

    [And my big brain is creative.]

    "Boom," Neoma said, pping her hands. "The God of Wrath will kill himself because the dead body of the Red Dragon is capable of ending the world."

    ***

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 Chapter 952: OLD PACT

    "YOUR MAJESTY, the strange skeleton dragon has already disappeared."

    Nero nodded after hearing Melvin''s report.

    Of course, he would know if a strange thing had appeared in the Imperial Pce even though he hadn''t stepped out of his office yet.

    He was actually with Dahlia earlier because of the thing that he decided to do.

    But he had to postpone it for a while when a strange red sphere and a giant skeleton dragon appeared above Larissa Pce.

    [Neoma told me that she''d destroy that pce.]

    His twin sister and her knights probably discovered something sinister after breaking the pce that (understandably) offended Neoma.

    [She hates that the empress'' pce was named after Larissa.]

    "Your Majesty, are you not going to ask Princess Neoma about the skeleton dragon and the red sphere that appeared?" Melvin asked carefully. "Everything in the pce belongs to Your Majesty, after all."

    Nero scoffed at what Melvin said. "And everything I own belongs to Neoma. Problem solved, right?"

    Melvin just only sighed while shaking his head.

    Of course, that reaction didn''t sit well with Nero.

    "Melvin, if you have something to say, just spit it out."

    "It''s not like Your Majesty will listen to me."

    "I won''t listen if you''re going to criticize Neoma or my rtionship with her."

    "That''s why I''m keeping my mouth shut, Your Majesty."

    "How dare you criticize Neoma in your head?"

    Melvin seemed to have forgotten that he was supposed to hold back because he suddenly gave Nero a piece of his mind. "Your Majesty, you were crowned in a hurry so many people aren''t convinced of your authority as the new emperor yet. It doesn''t help that cmities keep hitting the empire ever since you sat on the Throne.

    The least thing that we could do is show that the power of the Imperial Family is still as strong as ever."

    "And it is," Nero said, knitting his eyebrows. "So, what exactly is the problem?"

    "If Your Majesty keeps on showing your affections towards Princess Neoma openly by letting Her Imperial Highness do whatever she wants, then people might see Your Majesty as a mere puppet!"

    "Is that so?"

    "Yes, Your Majesty!"

    Nero grinned¨C partly because he was amused, and mostly because he wanted to annoy Melvin for his funny reactions. "Acting as Neoma''s puppet doesn''t sound so bad."

    Melvin pulled his hair as if he was frustrated. "Your Majesty, please take this seriously!"

    He couldn''tugh out loud, but he did inwardly.

    [Why is it so fun to bully Melvin?]

    "Don''t worry, Melvin," Nero assured the soon-to-be Imperial Chambein. "After the show that Neoma and I prepared for everyone, the people of our empire will immediately acknowledge me as their new emperor¨C whether they like it or not."

    ***

    "ONCE he remembers the past, then he will also remember that he wants to destroy the world. After all, the God of Wrath is now the owner of the Red Dragon''s body."

    Neoma''s brain went into overdrive again after hearing Ruto''s exnation.

    [So, the Red Dragon wants to destroy the world.]

    And, for some reason, the God of Wrath made it his mission to make the Red Dragon''s wishe true.

    [But why?]

    "So, the problem is the God of Wrath," Neoma concluded after pondering for a moment. "I met him a few times. He''s crazy, yes. But he''s not obsessed with destroying the world."

    The God of Wrath always picked a fight with her.

    [But I don''t think I ever heard him say he wanted to destroy the world?]

    "It''s because the God of Wrath doesn''t have the Red Dragon''s memories yet," Ruto said, making it clear that the God of Wrath and the Red Dragon were two separate beings. "If he remembers the pact, then the God of Wrath will also retrieve the Red Dragon''s memories. And if that happens¡­"

    "Boom," Neoma said, pping her hands. "The God of Wrath will kill himself because the dead body of the Red Dragon is capable of ending the world."

    "Oh?"

    "Why?"

    "I didn''t think that far ahead," Ruto said, tilting his head to one side. "I know that the God of Wrath would try to destroy the world, but I didn''t think he might do it by killing himself."

    "Well, I heard the prophecy about killing the Red Dragon and the effects that it would cause the world."

    And then she recited the prophecy in front of Ruto.

    Of course, she memorized the entire thing even though she had only read it once.

    But she only emphasized the part that described the consequences of killing the Red Dragon:

    [The blood of the Red Dragon she had to y would be her red carpet¨C scorching and withering the world with fire and poison. The toxic fumes released as the dragon decayed would choke thend and all the nearby living creatures. The entirendscape would then be transformed into a blighted wastnd where bleached leviathan bones loom upwards out of the ground.]

    "It''s funny how most fantasy books describe ying dragons as a noble thing to do," Neoma said,ughing softly. "But, in this reality, killing a dragon actually has catastrophic-level environmental consequences."

    Ruto fell silent for a moment before he nodded in agreement. "That actually makes sense. Killing a dragon has never been noble, in the first ce."

    "Right?" Neoma then nced at the sleeping Tteokbokki on the bed. "Ruto."

    "Yeah?"

    "That was the God of Wrath''s eye, wasn''t it?"

    The God of Wrath was still a god, but it never really showed any signs of its divinity until now.

    [It''s probably because the God of Wrath has been turned into a Soul Beast.]

    "Ruto, do you really not know the story between the God of Wrath and the Red Dragon?"

    "No. Why?"

    "I just don''t understand why the God of Wrath would want to fulfill the Red Dragon''s thirst for destroying the world. Gods are selfish beings. And the God of Wrath was not a friendly god. Yet, he wants to end the world for the Red Dragon."

    "But it''s usible, isn''t it?"

    "Is it?"

    "There was even a movie where a guy destroyed a criminal organization because one of them killed his dog, right?"

    Neoma burst outughing at Ruto''s cute justification.

    And, as someone who had seen the movie he used as a reference, she had no choice but to nod in agreement.

    [Ruto is usually the logical one between us, but this is also a cute side of him.]

    "Right," Neoma said, nodding. "If a man could go on a killing spree for his dog, a god could also do the same thing for his pet dragon."

    Ruto suddenly broke into a wide smile. "We''re talking silly, aren''t we?"

    "Well, it gets tiring if we always use our brain for the serious stuff."

    "That, I agree."

    "So, let''s talk about something else."

    "What do you want to talk about this time?"

    "Can I get pregnant with your child naturally after I be a full-fledged god?"

    Ruto almost choked on his saliva. "Are we done talking silly now?"

    "Unfortunately, we have a lot of serious stuff to deal with," Neoma said, and then she looked at her hands. They were quite trembling. It wasn''t because she was feeling weak. Actually, it was the opposite. She was shaking because his Mana and divine power kept on increasing even though she was just sitting there.

    "My Divinization has begun, and I feel like I''ll be going through the second phase very soon."

    ***

    NOW THAT Nero was sure that the Imperial Pce was safe, he headed to the ce where he was supposed to meet Dahlia.

    It was a long night, indeed.

    [I can''t stay still when Neoma is working hard for all of us.]

    "Wee, Your Majesty."

    Nero epted Dahlia''s polite greeting after he entered the room.

    Since the two of them were about to use arge amount of divine power that may hurt others, he asked everyone to leave.

    Hence, only the two of them were left there.

    [But not for long.]

    "William,e out."

    After summoning the Grand Spirit, William appeared right in front of Nero.

    He actually didn''t want to summon the Grand Spirit because he thought his mother and father needed William''s help more.

    But, in the end, he decided to call William since he wanted to end his problem quickly.

    "Have you made your final decision, Nero?" William asked. It wasn''t the first time that he asked that question, and it was clear that this was thest time that he would ask. "Whatever we''ll end up doing here will be irreversible, so don''t make careless choices."

    "I know," Nero said firmly. "And I haven''t changed my mind about the choice that I made."

    ***

    NIKOLAI had to stop helping Mona for a moment when he received a message from Nero.

    And his son did that by sending his Soul Beast.

    Hence, right now, the beautiful Ice Phoenix appeared before him.

    "What did you say again?" Niki asked Nero''s Soul Beast. "Are you sure about that, son?"

    This time, Nero''s voice came out when the Ice Phoenix opened its beak.

    <"Yes, Father¨C let''s end the Soul Beasts'' lineage now.">

    ***

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 Chapter 953: TO END AN ERA

    OF COURSE, the most fertilend in the Spirit World would be where the Queen lived.

    Hence, Niki understood why Mona chose thend where Tara''s "vi" was ce.

    In fact, his amazing wife pressured the Queen of the Spirit World to give up the entire vi for them.

    He could still remember the conversation the two had¡­

    ["Tara, you already have plenty of properties around your little kingdom. Surely, giving up a vi or two won''t hurt."]

    ["I happened to be fond of that vi, Mona."]

    ["Would you rather give up your vi or the royal pce?"]

    Of course, after Mona threatened to take over the royal pce, Tara had no choice but to give up her vi.

    Hence, right now, Niki was currently "living" in that ce with Mona.

    William was with them earlier, but the Grand Spirit was summoned by Nero.

    Only Irina (the Cosmic Tree) was there, along with the Goddess of Life.

    But the Goddess of Life couldn''t stay awake for long to join them. Hence, the Goddess of Life went back to sleep after giving them instructions on how to make sure the fertilend would remain suitable to be a mini version of the Garden of Life.

    "I''m impressed by how much the Spirit World has grown while I was asleep," Irina, the Cosmic Tree,mented while looking around at the backyard with Mona. The emptynd behind the vi was the piece ofnd that they would turn into a little Garden of Lifeter. "I understand why Tara refused to help you, my daughter."

    "I know, Mother," Mona said, smiling. As the Daughter of Nature, she had the right to address the Cosmic Tree as her ''mother.'' "Tara''s greed grew along with the growth of the Spirit World. She probably doesn''t want us to know that the Spirit World is on par with your Garden now, Mother. I wonder why she wanted to keep it a secret, though."

    Niki found the conversation interesting, but he soon realized that he couldn''t finish listening to it.

    He had to excuse himself for a moment when he received a message from Nero.

    And his son did that by sending his Soul Beast.

    Niki went inside the vi to talk to the Ice Phoenix.

    And the Soul Beast immediately sent Nero''s message.

    <"His Imperial Majesty would like to inform you that he ns to cut the de Moonasterio''s connection with the Soul Beasts tonight.">

    "What did you say again?" Niki asked Nero''s Soul Beast. "Are you sure about that, son?"

    This time, Nero''s voice came out when the Ice Phoenix opened its beak.

    <"Yes, Father¨C let''s end the Soul Beasts'' lineage now.">

    "Do you understand what you''re saying, Nero?"

    <"Yes, Father. Once I seed with what I n to do tonight, then no de Moonasterio would be born with a Soul Beast ever again.">

    "Do you n to have a sessor in the future, son?"

    <"Of course, Father.">

    "Then are you alright if your child is born without a Soul Beast?"

    He was just ying devil''s advocate.

    [I need to know if Nero really knows what he''s talking about.]

    To be honest, Niki had always wanted to end the Soul Beasts'' suffering. But when Mona disappeared, he also lost his purpose in life.

    Hence, he was d that his children were able to do things that he couldn''t aplish.

    "The de Moonasterios are hailed as the strongest bloodline in the human world, and the Soul Beasts y a huge part in it," Niki said, still ying the devil''s advocate. "If the next generation of the de Moonasterios are born without a Soul Beast, then they might struggle in maintaining the title of the strongest bloodline in the human world."

    <"It won''t be a problem since I won''t raise a loser for a sessor, Father. And I''m sure Neoma won''t have a weakling for a child, too.">

    "Nero, even weak children deserve to be loved equally."

    Niki had truly changed.

    In the past, he struggled to be stronger because he knew that his father would discard him if he was weak.

    But look at him now.

    <"I misspoke, Father.">

    "I''m d you know. Have you talked to Neoma about this?"

    <"I''ve already summoned Neoma, Father. I just wanted to hear your opinion first.">

    "I agree with your decision, son. I do believe that it''s time to end the Soul Beasts'' sufferings," Niki said. "Would you like to hear your mother''s opinion? She''s a Roseheart, after all."

    Nero paused for a moment before he answered. <"Yes, Father.">

    ***

    NEOMA wanted to take things lightly, but she knew that there were things she couldn''t downy. "Can I get pregnant with your child naturally if I be a full-fledged god?"

    Ruto almost choked on his saliva. "Are we done talking silly now?"

    "Unfortunately, we have a lot of serious stuff to deal with," Neoma said, and then she looked at her hands. They were quite trembling. It wasn''t because she was feeling weak. Actually, it was the opposite. She was shaking because his Mana and divine power kept on increasing even though she was just sitting there. "My Divinization has begun, and I feel like I''m going through the second phase very soon."

    After she retrieved her memories, she had slowlye to ept the fact that she might turn into a god again.

    It was not something that she wanted to repeat in this timeline.

    [But both Ruto and I don''t know how to stop our Divinization. And, frankly speaking, the two of us need to ascend to this level if we want to fight with the other gods. If we don''t, then we''ll surely lose the war.]

    She knew what she had to do in order to win.

    But she wasn''t sure if she was ready for the price that she had to pay just to power up.

    "Our baby is dying even though we haven''t conceived him yet," Neoma said, raising her head to meet Ruto''s worried gaze. "I wanted to have our baby naturally, but it seems to be impossible now. So, I realized that meeting Vitu in this timeline might be difficult."

    "Difficult, but not impossible," Ruto reminded her gently. "Neoma, it''s forbidden for two powerful gods to conceive a child together. But it''s not impossible."

    It was a relief to know.

    Neoma smiled and was about to tease Ruto.

    But the sudden cold breeze that filled the room stopped her.

    And then, in just the blink of an eye, Sev appeared right at her feet.

    Aww.

    [It''s Nero''s ice wolf.]

    Neoma giggled and rubbed Sev''s fluffy coat. "Did Nero summon me, child? It seems like my twin brother is doing something fun~"

    And Sev barked in a cheerful manner in response.

    ***

    NERO smiled a little when Neoma finally arrived in the same room as him and Dahlia.

    [Oh, and William, too.]

    And, much to his relief, his twin sister was alone this time.

    [That damned Commander Ruto finally left Neoma alone.]

    "What''s up, Nero?" Neoma greeted him cheerfully. "Why did you summon me here? I thought you''d deal with the male Rosehearts'' resentment on your own."

    "I need your opinion, Neoma," Nero said bluntly. "I want to cut off the connection between the de Moonasterios and the Soul Beasts, so that our future generation wouldn''t be born with a Soul Beast."

    "You want to end it in our generation?"

    "Yes, and I''m under the impression that you''ll agree with me."

    To be honest, Nero thought Neoma would agree right away.

    Hence, he was surprised when his twin sister suddenly fell silent as if she was hesitating.

    [Did Neoma change her mind?]

    ***

    "SHE''S seducing you since that''s what she does best!"

    Pfft.

    Trevor suddenly wondered if it was the right choice to keep Dn Crowell alive for this long.

    After all, the bastard was talking as if he had the right to do so.

    [Maybe I haven''t tortured him enough, but let''s humor him for now.]

    "Oh, am I being seduced?" Trevor paused, and then he suddenlyughed out loud. "That was the funniest shit I''ve heard in a while. How could I be seduced by someone I''m remotely attracted to?"

    "Then why are you helping Regina?" Dn Crowell asked back. "Are you the type of person who helps an enemy?"

    Ah.

    That slowly took away Trevor''s smile.

    Come to think of it, even though Regina''s offer was tempting, he had no reason to help her. Was it just on a whim?

    [It''s true that her power is amazing, though.]

    Dn Crowell scoffed upon seeing Trevor''s hesitation. "You''ve been duped, Trevor Kesser," he said, sneering at him. "You don''t know what Regina''s real power is, do you?"

    "Then tell me," Trevor said coldly. "Tell me before I cut your body into hundreds of pieces."

    The crazy sorcererughed as if he found his reaction funny. "Do you think that Regina Crowell''s power only involves manipting time? What if I tell you that she also has the ability to manipte emotions?"

    He raised an eyebrow. "You know that Regina Crowell can manipte time? I was under the impression that she was keeping it a secret to use as a weapon against your familyter."

    "There are things that I found out about her, but my mind gets confused when I''m with here, so I tend to forget about them. But now that I''ve spent some time apart from Regina, my mind is getting clearer."

    "So, what are you trying to say?"

    "That Regina Crowell made me obsessed with her on purpose!"

    "Ah, so you''re trying to say that you''re innocent even though you''ve touched your sister inappropriately?" Trevor asked, and then heughed. "Too bad for you, but my Moon Princess taught me to believe the victim first~"

    Dn Crowell looked at Trevor in disbelief. "I''m telling the truth!"

    "I''ll apologize if I was wrong after my OWN investigation to know who between the two of you is telling the truth," Trevor said, shrugging. "But, for now, endure the pain~"

    Because Trevor brought Dn Crowell there for his own experiment and not because of Regina Crowell.

    [There''s no way in hell that woman has affected my emotions, okay?]

    ***

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 Chapter 954: FREE WILL

    "DID you call me, my love?" Mona asked when she saw Niki waiting for her in the vi''s master bedroom. "Is it the kids?"

    She had to cut her conversation with Irina short and excuse herself when Niki subtly summoned her via telepathy.

    It wasn''t a technique that the two of them could use at any time they wanted.

    But it worked since they only had a short distance with them.

    "My love, do you remember when Nero briefly discussed about what he nned to do with the resentful Spirits of the male Rosehearts that he caught?" Niki asked while wrapping an arm around her waist. "Our son has finally made a decision, but he still wants to hear our opinion."

    Oh?

    That was a huge improvement.

    [Nero is the type of child who does whatever he wants. And now that he''s the emperor, he doesn''t really need our opinion.]

    But Mona was d that her son didn''t turn out to be a tyrant.

    "I heard Nero also summoned Neoma," Niki added. "The twins are together. Should we use amunication device to see them? Neoma gave us amunication device that Lady Paige Avery made. They said it would work even when we''re here at the Spirit World."

    Mona nodded in agreement with Niki''s suggestion. "Let''s do that," she said, a bit excited to see the twins that she had missed so much already. "I want to see our babies."

    ***

    THERE WERE only a few things that could make Nero nervous.

    And one of those things was Neoma''s silence after he made a huge decision.

    [Does she not like my idea? But I thought she would agree right away since she hated how the male Rosehearts had to be killed just for the de Moonasterios to have the Soul Beasts. Or does she have any other ideas?]

    Nero wanted to know what was going on in Neoma''s mind, but he decided to be patient because he knew that his twin sister needed time to think.

    However, someone else had gone impatient in his ce.

    "What''s there to think about, Neoma de Moonasterio?" William asked, obviously getting impatient and irritated by Neoma''s silence. "The male Rosehearts have never wished to be a mere living weapon for the de Moonasterios. This is the chance to free them. Are you hesitating because you''re afraid for the future generations to grow weak without the existence of the Soul Beasts?"

    Nero was about to scold William for picking a fight with Neoma again, but his twin sister beat him to it.

    Of course.

    [As if Neoma would lose in a verbal fight.]

    "William, I want to respect you as my former master, but shut the fuck up and stop being judgy," Neoma said, cursing and using foreign words again. However, her voice sounded ''quiet.'' And it actually sounded scarier than when she was yelling. "I understand that this is a sensitive subject for you. But don''t be narrow-minded. I''m taking this as seriously as you do."

    Nero red at William, silently telling him to back off.

    Although William flinched, the Grand Spirit still spoke his mind. "Do you have any other idea?"

    "Of course, I do."

    Nero was surprised by what Neoma said.

    But when he was just about to ask his twin sister about the idea that she had, a round mirror suddenly appeared right in front of them.

    Oh.

    [It''s the one-time usemunication device that Neoma gave our parents.]

    In an instant, the ''mirror'' was activated and showed the faces of their parents.

    Neoma''s face beamed right away. "Mama Boss, Papa Boss~"

    Nero slightly bowed his head politely. "Greetings, Father, Mother."

    Dahlia also bowed her head silently.

    On the other hand, William only greeted their mother.

    <"Neoma, Nero, I heard that we''re having this meeting to decide the fate of the Soul Beasts,"> their mother said. <"Your father informed that he agrees topletely cut off the de Moonasterio''s connection to the Soul Beasts. Once you seed in doing that, then no de Moonasterio in the world would ever be born with a Soul Beast again.">

    Nero nodded his head politely. "That''s right, Mother. I believe this is the best way to free the Soul Beasts."

    "And I strongly agree with His Majesty," William added, and then he nced at Neoma. "But it seems like the Imperial Princess has other ideas."

    <"You do, Neoma?"> their father asked curiously. <"We''d love to hear it then.">

    "Free will," Neoma said casually. "What I want to give the Soul Beasts isn''t just their freedom¨C but also their free will."

    ***

    OF COURSE, Neoma was well aware of how much the male Rosehearts had suffered when the evil de Moonasterios killed them just to turn them into living weapons.

    Worse, the male Rosehearts even lost their physical bodies as humans.

    Their souls were forcefully put inside different beasts raging from ordinary beasts up to the mythical ones.

    It was a horrible experiment, indeed.

    [That''s why I understand William''s deep-rooted anger, and that''s also the only reason I''m letting his snarkyments slide.]

    Even so, that didn''t mean she wouldn''t speak her mind.

    "Free will," Neoma said lightheartedly. She may have sounded nonchnt, but she was serious as hell. After all, the Soul Beasts were also important to her. "What I want to give the Soul Beasts isn''t just their freedom¨C but also their free will."

    "What do you mean by that, Neoma?" Nero asked, half-confused and half-curious. "I''m under the impression that setting the Soul Beasts free is already giving them their free will."

    Neoma nced at William. "This may sound offending to William, but I do believe that not all Soul Beasts hate the de Moonasterios."

    Of course, William scoffed at what Neoma said. "Only because they lose their memories once they get born as a Soul Beast. If they remember their past lives, just like the Spirits of the male Rosehearts that are here with us right now, then I assure you that those Soul Beasts would kill their master even if it means killing themselves in the process.

    You don''t know what you''re talking about, princess."

    "I do," Neoma said calmly. "I know you''re only tolerating my existence, William. But whether you like it or not, I''m still a Roseheart. I have my mother''s blood flowing in my veins. Half of me is the bloodline that you hate, but half of it is from the bloodline that you love. I know you hate me for being more of a de Moonasterio than a Roseheart, but you just gotta suck it up, bro."

    She didn''t want to speak like that in a serious situation just like that one.

    But she couldn''t help it.

    [William can be so insufferable when we''re talking about Soul Beasts.]

    "I do believe that I have the right to speak about this issue," Neoma said, trying to use more formal words this time. "Not only did I inherit my mother''s blood, but I''m also the Imperial Princess of this empire, William. You will not disrespect me in my own house, and not in front of my brother and my parents. If you refuse to listen to what I want to say, then you may leave now.

    You may be a Grand Spirit, but you don''t have the authority over the Soul Beasts."

    Mama Boss and Papa Boss looked so proud of her for standing up against William.

    Nero, the emperor, nodded earnestly in agreement. "You heard the Imperial Princess, William. We''re here to discuss what we need to do about the Soul Beasts. If you''re only here to shove your opinion down our throats, then the door is open."

    William paused for a moment before letting out a sigh, and then he acted like he was zipping his mouth shut.

    It was a quiet surrender without an apology.

    [But I''ll take that since I don''t need an insincere apology anyway. It''s enough that he knows his ce now.]

    Heh.

    "What were you saying again, Neoma?" Nero asked, nudging Neoma to pick up where they left off before William interrupted. "About the Soul Beasts'' free will."

    "Tteokbokki loves me."

    Everyone looked confused by Neoma''s im, so she exined right away.

    "I can also sense that your Soul Beasts love you, Nero. And the Ice Phoenix also loved the ancient twins before Zeru got you as their master," Neoma said, and then she turned to her father. "Your Soul Beasts also love you, Papa Boss."

    His father looked awkward.

    <"Your father doesn''t recognize love from people who aren''t us,"> Mama Boss exined. <"But I agree with you, sweetie. Your father''s Soul Beasts love him.">

    Papa Boss just coughed as if he was embarrassed.

    "Anyway, I do agree with William that it''s partly because the Soul Beasts don''t remember their lives as Rosehearts," Neoma said, pausing for a moment. "And that''s why I want them to choose if they still want to serve the de Moonasterio after they retrieve their memories."

    ***

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 Chapter 955: LET THE SHOW BEGIN

    "I UNDERSTAND why William would assume that the Soul Beasts collectively hate the de Moonasterios," Neoma continued, not allowing anyone to interrupt her while she was talking. "Of course, I also acknowledge the fact that the Soul Beasts might end up hating us even more once they remember their past."

    "And yet you still want to do it?" Nero asked carefully. "The Soul Beasts that we rescued from the Cage already have their memories intact, Neoma. And that''s exactly why they want to kill us. They only lose their memories once they get reborn. So, what memories are we talking about here?"

    "Their memories as Soul Beasts," she exined to her twin brother. "As you said, they lose their memories every time they get reborn. When I asked Lord Manu about the Soul Beasts'' rebirth before, he told me that each Soul Beast has been reborn at least three times in their lives. I know it''s too much for them to remember each lifetime, but I still want to push for it."

    William smirked bitterly. "Then don''t you think the Soul Beasts would only hate the de Moonasterios even more? Have you forgotten that most of your ancestors were the evil reincarnate?"

    "I can''t deny that," Neoma said, nodding. "Even so, not every de Moonasterio in history was bad. Just like Aruna and Arche de Moonasterio, there were other decent de Moonasterios born in our family. I''m sure some of the Soul Beasts would remember them."

    William lost his bitter smile, but he still red at Neoma. "And yet you still want to be stubborn about this?"

    "Yeah," she said, nodding. And then she turned to Nero. "Do you want to hear my n?"

    Nero nodded eagerly. "Of course."

    "If you could, please reconsider swallowing the resentment of the male Rosehearts," Neoma said carefully. She might be older than Nero. But she hadn''t forgotten the fact that her baby brother was the emperor now. "If you do that, then the Soul Beasts would disappear forever. And I''m afraid that they might disappear without drinking cider, you know?"

    Of course, her twin brother looked confused by what she said. "Without drinking cider? What is cider?"

    "Oh, it''s a Korean idiom that means tasting justice after being frustrated for so long," she said, her Korean slipping away for a moment. "I want to send them off with a cider, Nero."

    [I should really bring Nero to Korea soon.]

    "The male Rosehearts with us at the moment could barely understand what''s going on because they are consumed by their anger, and rightfully so," she exined. "However, if you ask me, I''d like it if you and Dahlia consume only half of their resentment. That''s enough to bring them back to their senses."

    "If I agree with that, what do you n to do next?"

    "I''m thinking of creating a space for them," she said. "They can ascend to the heavens, but I also don''t want to bring them to hell. Hence, I believe we should create a safe ce for them in the Spirit World because it''s the world between life and death."

    Kinda like a purgatory?

    "While they are there, I''ll ask Lord Manu to help us retrieve the Soul Beasts'' memories," Neoma continued sharing her n. "And, after that, we''ll let the Soul Beasts decide whether they want to rest in peace for eternity, or stay as a Soul Beast."

    William obviously protested right away. "Do you think any of the Soul Beast would want to stay that way and serve a new generation of de Moonasterios after they retrieved their memories?"

    "No matter how awesome I am, that''s not something I can predict," Neoma said, shrugging. "That''s why I said we should let the Soul Beasts decide."

    William was about toin again, but Nero spoke first.

    "Once the male Rosehearts regain their senses along with their memories, I''m sure the first thing they''d do is STILL try to kill us," Nero said. "We need to negotiate with them if we want to calm them down, Neoma."

    "Nero, you''re a male Roseheart¨C I''m sure they''ll listen to you."

    "In short, it''s my job to pacify them."

    "Well, I''m only giving out ideas here," Neoma said, patting Nero''s shoulder lightly. "You have the final say, Your Majesty."

    Nero smiled and put a hand on top of Neoma''s hand. "And I will do as you say, Neoma."

    [The siscon is still alive and kicking.]

    ***

    "BABE, I''m going to where Trevor is," Neoma said, and then she burst outughing after seeing Ruto frown. "Are you jealous?"

    She was back in her bedroom, and Ruto was there.

    But she had a feeling that none of them would be sleeping tonight.

    [It will be morning in a little while anyway.]

    "I''m not jealous because I know that you don''t even have an ounce of romantic feelings for Trevor Kesser," Ruto said so bluntly that if Trevor heard that, Trevor would have cried. "But I''m worried. Do you even realize that we only have three hours before sunrise? You only have that little time to sleep, Neoma."

    "Sleep is for the dead~"

    "Well, I don''t want a dead bride."

    Oh?

    It was always Neoma who would tease Ruto about getting married and starting their own family.

    Hence, it was a surprise to hear her man initiate it.

    "You always say that beauty sleep is important for the skin, so why are you being stubborn now?" Ruto scolded Neoma lightly. "Neoam, you have me. You don''t need to do everything. Let me handle the issue with the Soul Beasts while you rest."

    Neoma raised an eyebrow. "I told you about what I would suggest to Nero regarding the Soul Beasts. But I didn''t tell you anything else. How can you handle things in my ce if you don''t know my whole n?"

    "But I do."

    "You do?"

    Ruto nodded before exining. "First of all, I''m sure His Majesty would do as you say."

    "Because he''s a brocon?"

    "That, and because he''s a wise emperor," he said, nodding. "I know that His Majesty only decided to cut off the Soul Beasts to free the male Rosehearts. However, I''m certain there was a part of His Majesty who thought it was a shame if the next generation of de Moonasterios would be born without a Soul Beast."

    "I don''t like that. You make it sound like Nero only sees the Soul Beasts as mere living weapons."

    "His Majesty isn''t like you, Neoma¨C His Majesty doesn''t see his Soul Beasts as family."

    Oh.

    Ruto had a point, but she didn''t want to admit this, so she just pouted.

    "Don''t pout."

    "Or else what?"

    Ruto gently pinched her chin and raised her head, and then he nted a soft kiss on Neoma''s lips. "Or else this."

    Neomaughed, unable to believe that Ruto was being showy about his feelings. "What has gotten into you, babe? You''re not raising your death gs, are you?"

    "I''m not," he said, and then he changed the topic. "Anyway, I have an idea as to why you want to meet up with Trevor. If my hunch is correct, then I believe your next move would be sending your ''children'' to the Spirit World."

    "Oh. You really know what you''re talking about, babe."

    "I know you like the back of my hand."

    "Your big brain is brain-ing," she said, acknowledging his efforts to read her mind while nodding. "My children won''t follow your orders, that''s why I need to personally give them my orders."

    "You need to rest."

    "Ruto, I should be saying the same thing to you."

    "M Divinization is on the second phase already, so I don''t need sleep. But you''re still on the first phase, Neoma. You need plenty of sleep to stabilize your divine power."

    Again, her man was correct.

    "You should summon Lewis and discuss the n with him first," Ruto suggested, gently patting Neoma''s head. "Lewis is themander of your order, so your ''children'' will follow his orders."

    It seemed like her man wouldn''t really let her (over)work herself.

    [But if it''s Ruto, then I can leave everything to him while I get my beauty sleep.]

    "Alright," Neoma said, giving in. Then she nced at the door and raised her voice a bit. "Lewis,e in."

    ***

    "NO, WE''RE not in a hurry."

    Ruto suppressed his urge to let out a frustrated sigh when Emperor Nero, the new emperor, objected to the n that he made with Neoma.

    Lewis, who also listened to that n, seemed to agree with His Majesty.

    [And I know why.]

    "Commander Ruto, Dahlia and I can still contain the male Rosehearts in the Imperial Pce," Emperor Nero said firmly. "Why would you send Neoma''s Order away from her when the Coronation Day is here?"

    "Why are you worried about that, Your Majesty?" Ruto asked indifferently. "The war won''t take ce in this world anyway."

    ***

    [The Coronation Day¡­]

    "YOUR MAJESTY, this way, please."

    Pfft.

    Neoma found it amusing that nobody could really tell that the ''Emperor Nero'' they were looking at had a different soul inside.

    [Let the show begin~]

    ***

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 Chapter 956: THE CORONATION DAY (1)

    [The night before the Coronation Day¡­]

    HMM?

    Hanna was a bit surprised when she heard a soft knock on the balcony door a little earlier than her usual wake-up time.

    She was surprised, but not scared.

    After all, she immediately recognized the person behind the door based on their Mana.

    All the windows in her bedroom were covered with her Shadow Veil to protect her from intruders. But even though she couldn''t see the person on the other side of the door, she immediately recognized him.

    "What are you doing here at this hour?" Hanna asked softly while opening the balcony door. "Lewis?"

    Yes, Commander Lewis Crevan of the Moonrose Knights¨C Neoma''s official Order of Knights¨C came to visit her at dawn.

    "I''m leaving for an away mission, Lady Hanna."

    Hanna waited for Lewis to say more, but he didn''t¨C causing her tough softly. "Lewis, I need context. Unfortunately, no matter how awesome I am as the Quinzel Princess, I still don''t have the ability to read minds. You have to speak more if you want me to understand you."

    "Oh," Lewis said, and then he paused for a moment as if he was thinking really hard. After a few moments, he pulled out two glowing orbs from the pouch tied around his waist. "Here, Lady Hanna."

    Before she knew it, she was already extending her hand to receive the two orbs from Lewis.

    The orbs were beautiful and just the right size to fit in her hands.

    One was emerald green, and the other jet-ck.

    Hmm?

    [These colors¡­]

    "Lewis, are you giving me these orbs because they have my hair and eye color?"

    "Yes, but they are not simple orbs¨C those are my Marbles."

    Hanna almost dropped them from shock. "Am I allowed to have these?"

    "Ah, it''s not the Fox Marble. The Fox Marble is the one made from my life force that could, apparently, bring the dead back to life. I''ll die if I give anyone my Fox Marble."

    Hanna was relieved to hear that.

    [The Silver Fox n was hunted down for their Marbles, after all.]

    "Those are just Marbles that contain my Mana," Lewis exined. "You can eat them like candies." He pointed at the green Marble. "If you eat the green one, your body would be as sturdy as mine." He then pointed at the ck Marble. "If you eat the ck one, your body will undergo a slight physical change.

    Your fangs will grow, your nails will be longer and sharper, and you''ll have the senses of a Silver Fox."

    Hanna beamed. "Lewis, these are great for a fight."

    "Yes, but you can only use them for five to ten minutes. The bigger the Marble is, the longer they willst," Lewis said, scratching his cheek as if he was embarrassed. "But I gave the biggest Marble I made to Princess Neoma. I''m sorry."

    "Why would you apologize for doing the obvious?" she asked,ughing softly while shaking her head. "I''m already grateful for these, Lewis. Thank you."

    Lewis just nodded politely. "Okay. Bye, Lady Hanna."

    "Wait, what?" Hanna asked, confused. She knew that Lewis picked up a foreign word or two from Neoma, but it wasn''t what surprised him. "You''re already leaving? Did you juste here to give me these?"

    "Yes."

    "But why? I mean, I''m grateful. Even so, I don''t understand¡­"

    "Emperor Nero''s coronation."

    "Yes?"

    Lewis didn''t smile, but a glint of mischievousness sparkled in his beautiful golden eyes. "If you feel the urge to punch His Majesty, I rmend consuming the green Marble first."

    Hmm?

    Before Lewis''s funny one-liner was processed in Hanna''s mind, she already found herselfughing quite loudly.

    It was udylike of her tough that way, but she couldn''t help it.

    "It''s rare for you to joke around, but you can be funny when you want to, Lewis."

    "That wasn''t a joke," Lewis said firmly. "His Majesty hurt you, Lady Hanna."

    "I''m over it."

    "You''re not."

    "I''m already getting over it."

    "Good job," Lewis said, and then he broke into a rare, genuine smile. "I''m d to see you doing fine now, Lady Hanna."

    Oh.

    That smile.

    That pretty set of white teeth.

    Those dimples rarely appeared because the owner rarely gave a full-blown smile.

    Ah.

    [Lewis is beautiful.]

    "Take care, Lewis," Hanna said, her voice sounded like a whisper. "Come back safely¨C I''ll be waiting for you."

    Lewis bowed politely. "I''ll be back, Lady Hanna."

    ***

    "I''M ONLY doing this for my Moon Princess~"

    Ruto was relieved that Trevor Kesser immediately agreed to take the away mission even though it meant getting separated from Neoma. "I''ll inform Lewis then."

    "Hey, damnedmander."

    "What?"

    Trevor sneered, his dark purple eyes glowing in the dark menacingly. "You better not fail this time."

    "I won''t," Ruto assured Trevor. "I''ll let Neoma run wild this time."

    ***

    [NAUGHTY kids.]

    Neoma smiled while shaking her head when she saw the letters and small gifts piled on the bedside table.

    Those letters and gifts were from Lewis, Juri, Avery, Jeno, Xion, and Greko.

    [My kids left the pce while I was sleeping.]

    "Don''t scold them when they returnter," Ruto, who brought breakfast in Neoma''s bedroom, said while pushing a food cart. "They didn''t want to wake you up just to say their goodbyes. And Lewis said they''ll return soon, so there''s no need to say goodbye to avoid "raising the death g.""

    Pfft.

    Ruto looked at Neoma helplessly while shaking his head. "Lewis had picked up some weird foreign words and phrases from you, Neoma."

    "He''s my son¨C it''s only natural that he''ll end up talking like me," Neoma said, picking up a pouch that seemed familiar. When she opened it, she wasn''t surprised to see a beautiful pink Marble the size of a ping-pong ball. "Aww. Lewis really loves me."

    "Not as much as I do."

    Pfft.

    Neoma looked at Ruto, and then she opened her arms. "Come here, babe," she said while getting up. "Let''s kiss as much as possible before I switch souls with Nero. I brushed my teeth first thing in the morning for this."

    Ruto blushed, but he walked towards her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

    "Don''t kiss me while Nero''s soul is in my body, okay?"

    "Why would I do that?"

    "I''m just making sure, so don''t frown. So, did Trevor go with the kids¨C mmf."

    Neoma was pleasantly surprised when Ruto shut her up with a kiss.

    Ah.

    [My man doesn''t want to hear me mention Trevor''s name.]

    LOL.

    So red g~

    ***

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 Chapter 957: THE CORONATION DAY (2)

    [The morning of the Coronation Day¡­]

    NEOMA was d that Ruto and the others forced her to sleep.

    Thanks to that, she felt refreshed and didn''t throw a tantrum that busy morning.

    Her day started with Stephanie and the other maids (because she was yet to choose her owndies-in-waiting) giving her a long and very thorough bath.

    Then they spent hours choosing the right clothes for her.

    In the end, Neoma chose to wear trousers so that Nero would be able to move easily after their switchter.

    "Will this be alright, Your Imperial Highness?" Stephanie, the head maid of her pce and her nanny since she was a toddler, asked worriedly. "I know Your Imperial Highness will still look good in a knight''s uniform, but it''s a shame that people won''t see how beautiful Your Imperial Highness looks in a dress¡­"

    And then her nanny nced at the dresses she tried on with sad eyes.

    [She really wants me to wear a dress.]

    However, she wouldn''t be in her own bodyter so it would just be a waste.

    "It''s alright, Stephanie," Neoma said, consoling her nanny. "I''ll wear a really fancy and morous pink dress on my own coronation day."

    It was a dangerous statement because people might misunderstand and think that she was out to steal the throne from her twin brother.

    [But I said what I said.]

    ***

    PFFT.

    Neoma couldn''t help butugh when she saw Nero in his fit when she dropped by his room.

    She couldn''t really see the clothes he was already wearing the Imperial Mantle that looked pretty big on him. But he could see his Coronation Sword Belt and Coronation Gloves.

    "Don''tugh," Nero warned Neoma. "You''ll be in my ceter."

    "It''s not that I find you funny," Neoma said while shaking her head. "I just thought you were really Papa Boss'' carbon copy. For a moment, I thought Papa Boss was back."

    Nero even had half of his hair slicked back, just like Papa Boss'' signature hairstyle.

    "My baby brother is all grown up now," Neoma said, cupping Nero''s face between her hands. "I''m sure Mama Boss and Papa Boss are proud of you. But I have to say that I''m the proudest of all. I practically raised an emperor."

    Of course, the reason she was able to say that to the emperor while squishing his cheeks was because only the two of them were in the room at the moment.

    Nero rolled his eyes at what Neoma said, but he didn''t deny it. "I told our guests to dress down. But that doesn''t include you, Neoma. Why are you wearing a knight''s uniform?"

    "It''s the fancy version," Neoma insisted. "Can''t you see I''m wearing a formal gold cape?"

    "I hope you didn''t dress down in consideration of me."

    "¡­"

    "Neoma, I can move freely even if you wear a dress," her twin brother said, sighing. "I know how much you love dressing up. Go and change."

    "Nah, we''ll bete if I change my fit since I''ll be changing everything from my hairstyle to my jewelry," Neoma said while shaking her head. "I''m fine."

    "Are you sure?"

    "Yep."

    "Alright. Then let''s talk for a moment."

    "What do you want to talk about?"

    "I''m setting some ground rules," Nero said firmly, giving Neoma a firm look. "Once we swapter, don''t smile too much."

    "Why?" Neomained lightly. "You''re good at making business smiles anyway. A good politician is an excellent actor, after all~"

    "I can imitate your annoying grin and the sneer you give people you hate, but I can never imitate the soft and warm smile you give to people you''re fond of," her twin brother said. "So, don''t smile too much."

    She just rolled her eyes, not making amitment.

    "Second, don''t use foreign words. It''s fine if you don''t use overly formal words since most of our citizens don''t speak that way anymore, but refrain from using¡­ uh, what do you call it? Korean? English? Memes?"

    Right.

    Neoma and Trevor would often speak ''memes'' to each other.

    "Just don''t use ng that people from this world won''t understand anyway."

    "Okay, that sounds reasonable," Neoma said, nodding. "Anything else?"

    "If it gets too dangerous, you may abandon my body and switch with me right away."

    That wasn''t something Neoma would do.

    [I won''t abandon my baby brother.]

    "I''ll be fine," Neoma said vaguely, and then she changed the topic. "I have one ground rule for you, too."

    "What is it?"

    "Don''t even think about kissing my Ruto, okay?"

    Of course, that was just a joke.

    And, as expected, her twin brother overreacted.

    "Why would I kiss Commander Ruto?" Neroined, obviously aghast. And then it was his turn to cup Neoma''s face between his hands. "I don''t even want to imagine you kissing thatmander, but you put that idea in my head. And I hate it!"

    Gosh.

    Neoma rolled her eyes at Nero again. "Your Imperial Majesty, it''s time to let me go~"

    ***

    NIKOLAI got the message, but he was still surprised to see Trevor Kesser, Lewis Crevan, and the rest of Neoma''s Order of Knights in the Spirit World.

    Even Mona looked startled when the children appeared in front of the vi.

    "Children, is it really wise to go on an away mission when it''s Nero''s coronation day?" Mona asked worriedly. "The crows will definitely attack the Imperial Pce."

    "His Imperial Majesty Emperor Nero tried to stop Princess Neoma, but Princess Neoma didn''t budge, mydy," Trevor said, sighing while shaking his head. "Hence, we have no choice but to follow the Imperial Princess''mand~"

    Niki nced at Lewis and the other kids.

    [They look gloomy. I bet they didn''t want to leave Neoma''s side during such an important event where the enemies are sure to attack.]

    The kids'' loyalty was indeedmendable.

    "What are you all doing there?"

    It was Tara, the Queen of the Spirit World.

    [Of course, she''d know right away when there are intruders.]

    "I did not give you permission to enter the Spirit World," Tara said, frowning while ring at Trevor Kesser. "It must be you, Sorcerer. How dare you open an illegal portal¨C"

    "We''re here to take over the Abyss~" Trevor said, rudely cutting off Tara''s words in a yful manner. "Whatever my Moon Princess wants, my Moon Princess gets, so¡­" He grinned at the obviously shocked Queen. "FYI, Princess Neoma gave us permission to go wild here~"

    Niki was bbergasted.

    [Neoma wants the Spirit World''s Abyss?!]

    It was a filthy, corruptednd that not even Mona could even dream of purifying.

    [So why?]

    ***

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 Chapter 958: THE CORONATION DAY (3)

    THE ABYSS.

    It was a pretty hugend near the border that separated the Spirit World and the Afterlife.

    To be precise, the part of the Afterlife where the souls of evil people were dropped.

    ording to the legends, the Abyss became corrupted because it absorbed the resentments and the grudges of those evil souls. Hence, no amount of purifying could save the Abyss anymore.

    Mona and Tara tried to purify the Abyss when they were both in their prime.

    [But we failed.]

    To be honest, that experience gave the two of them trauma.

    [And it humbled us pretty quickly.]

    "Children, the Abyss is unlike the Unholy Land where purification is still possible," Mona said sternly. "The Abyss isn''t only terrifying¨C it''s also very dangerous."

    "We know, Your Majesty," Trevor said politely. "But don''t worry about us. We''re prepared."

    "What do you mean you''re ''prepared?''" Tara chimed in, still obviously upset. "I won''t allow you to step foot on the Abyss, so leave now while I''m still asking nicely."

    "I''m sorry to say this, but the Queen of the Spirit World doesn''t have the authority over the Abyss," Trevor said, shrugging. "ording to Princess Neoma, the Queen of the Spirit World renounced her right to own the Abyss when she ascended the throne because she didn''t want to take responsibility for it."

    Mona was shocked to hear that.

    [Tara ascended the throne a few weeks after we tried to purify the Abyss.]

    Hence¡­

    "You gave up on the Abyss after we failed to purify it?" Mona asked Tara in disbelief. "So, you abandoned the Abyss."

    Tara''s face turned red from embarrassment, but she didn''t back down. "How did Princess Neoma find out that I renounced my right over the Abyss?"

    That was something Mona couldn''t answer.

    [Because Neoma probably got that information from her previous life.]

    "Does it matter how my daughter found out about it?" Niki asked indifferently, obviously distracting Tara from the fact that Neoma knew something that she shouldn''t. "As the Queen of the Spirit World doesn''t have authority over the Abyss, then these children should be allowed to do as they please. An unimednd is and for all."

    Trevor sneered at Tara who could no longer use her authority over the Spirit World to threaten their group. "Ah, just so you know, once we seeded in purifying the Abyss, then Princess Neoma wille and im it~"

    Naturally, Tara looked shocked by that revtion. "The Imperial Princess cannot do that!"

    Mona didn''t know what to feel about that.

    [Neoma, baby, have you be a colonizer like your ancestors?]

    ***

    TREVOR easily handled Tara, the Queen of the Spirit World, with the help of Lady Mona and the former emperor.

    And, of course, it was thanks to the information that Princess Neoma gave.

    [It surely helped that we know Tara doesn''t have authority over the Abyss.]

    "Trevor, can we talk for a moment?"

    Actually, Trevor wasn''t really surprised when Lady Mona pulled him to the side while the former Emperor Niki was talking to Lewis Crevan.

    [But only the former emperor is talking while Lewis is just nodding his head.]

    It was pretty funny to watch.

    "Trevor, what''s happening?" Lady Mona asked in a soft voice. "Why does Neoma want the Abyss? And are you sure you can purify it? Tara and I tried to purify the Abyss before, but we utterly failed."

    "No offense, Your Majesty," Trevor said to his future mother-inw (only if Ruto suddenly dropped dead in a mysterious way~) carefully. "But we have what Your Majesty and the Queen of the Spirit World didn''t have, so I''m pretty sure that we''ll seed. So please don''t worry too much about us. Princess Neoma wouldn''t have sent us here in the first ce if she knew the mission would kill us."

    ''No mission was worth dying for.''

    That was his Moon Princess'' motto in life, after all.

    "Then is it safe to assume that my daughter taught you how to cleanse the Abyss?"

    "It was the damn¨C I mean, Commander Ruto, Your Majesty," Trevor exined, refusing to curse in front of his future mother-inw (if Ruto died). "Themander didn''t exin further, but it seems like that Commander Ruto and Princess Neoma seeded in purifying the Abyss in the first timeline."

    Lady Mona looked relieved, but she still looked very much stressed out. "What does Neoma n to do with the Abyss, assuming that you seed in purifying it?"

    Aww.

    [I can tell that Her Majesty is already convinced that we will seed.]

    That kind of trust felt good.

    "ording to Commander Ruto, Princess Neoma is nning to turn the Abyss into a "retirement home.""

    Lady Mona knitted her eyebrows. "Retirement home for who?"

    Trevor grinned. "For the Soul Beasts, ma''am."

    ***

    BRIGITTE had mixed emotions at the moment.

    She was worried about the cmity that might hit the empireter, but she decided to trust Princess Neoma''s words. The Imperial Princess sent their family a personal letter along with the formal invitation for the new emperor''s coronation day.

    ["The bastards will attend Nero''s coronation, but please don''t worry. Aunt Brigitte, Uncle Glenn, the cmity won''t happen."]

    Thanks to that letter, she could finally breathe a bit better.

    And, so, she could appreciate how cute her children were in their formal outfits.

    Brigitte and her family were reunited at the Exton Mansion.

    Right now, they were using the biggest guest room there.

    "My little angels, you are all adorable," Brigitte gushed while looking at her babies. Finally, all her children were with them now. "Please don''t grow up too fast."

    Monik wore an ivory white caped dress.

    [I''m matching with my daughter since I''m wearing a delicately embroidered white gown that elegantly hides my baby bump.]

    On the other hand, Skylus and ude both wore navy tunics and pants.

    "Honey, are you crying?"

    Of course, it was Glenn.

    Her husband looked so strapping in his knight-style suit with a blue sash and gold embroidery.

    [I married the right man, indeed.]

    "No, I''m not," Brigitte said, smiling while shaking her head. "I''m just happy that we''re finally together as a family."

    Glenn smiled and got teary-eyed. "I feel the same way, honey."

    Aww.

    "Mommy, Daddy," ude called them urgently. "Please look at Monik Noona and Skylus Hyung!"

    Brigitte and Glenn immediately turned to their children.

    Monik and Skylus'' eyes were both glowing.

    "The dragon!" Monik said cheerfully while pping. "It''s angry!"

    "Oh," Skylus said while pping his hands calmly. "We should bring an umbre."

    ***

    [IT''S GOOD to be back.]

    Calyx smiled while suspended in the air and looking down at the Imperial Capital.

    The coronation wouldn''t take ce in the church.

    [It''s happening in the pce, and the citizens are invited.]

    That meant the gates were open.

    "Are you being careless or are you confident?" Calyx wondered out loud. "I wonder what you''re up to, Princess Neoma."

    ***

    AH, FUCK.

    Neoma could feel it in her soul.

    Tteokbokki was awake.

    [No, I''m not sure if it''s Tteokbokki or Crimson.]

    Dammit.

    [I should have made Nero watch ''How to Tame Your Dragon¡­'']

    ***

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 Chapter 959: THE CORONATION DAY (4)

    BOOM.

    Neoma was d that she was already in her residence when the explosion happened.

    In fact, she was walking on the hallway while making her way to Tteokbokki''s room because of the unusual chest pain that she felt earlier. Hence, she cut her conversation with Nero short and headed back to her pce.

    She knew it in her heart.

    Tteokbokki was awake.

    [No, I''m not sure if it''s Tteokbokki or Crimson.]

    Dammit.

    Neoma contained the explosion by putting a Dome around the entire room.

    Hence, the st didn''t damage the entire pce. The debris kept hitting the Dome, but the barrier didn''t copse.

    "Neoma, are you alright?"

    It was Ruto, and he looked dashing in his white and gold military dress with fancy golden eupalettes. As the Commander of the White Lion Knights, it was his duty to attend the coronation in his uniform.

    [My man looks great.]

    But, anyways¡­

    "I''m fine," Neoma said, and then she knitted her eyebrows in worry. "But the servants¡­"

    "I already asked the White Lion Knights to evacuate everyone quietly," Ruto exined, and then he nced at the thick smoke trapped inside the Dome that she made to contain the explosion. "Good job."

    "Of course~"

    "It seems like the one who woke up was Crimson and not Tteokbokki," Ruto added to his earlier observation. "But, thankfully, it doesn''t seem like he has turned into his dragon form."

    "Yet," Neoma said. She might sound like she was taking it too lightly, but she was serious. "Not yet, but soon. I need to stay here and calm down Crimson first."

    "How about the coronation ceremony?"

    Right.

    Their original n was for Neoma and Nero to arrive at the pce at the same time.

    It was easier to scam¨C er, trick Helstor and the others that way.

    However¡­

    "I won''t be Neoma if I only prepared one n," Neoma said, grinning haughtily. "Lemme just call Nero first."

    ***

    "YES, I''M ALREADY on the Royal Carriage," Nero said, pressing the piercing in his ear to hear Neoma clearly. Yes, the two of them were talking using a pair ofmunication devices disguised as piercings. "You''ll bete? What happened?"

    <"My Soul Beast woke up and chose violence. Literally.">

    "That''s why I told you not to spoil your Soul Beast¨C now that dragon doesn''t know his ce."

    <"Don''t talk that way towards my baby brother.">

    "I''m your one and only ''baby brother''¨C wait, no."

    It was already toote since Neoma already burst outughing on the other end of the line.

    <"So, you admit that you''re my ''baby'' brother. No takebacks, Nero.">

    "Whatever," Nero said, rolling his eyes. "Anyway, what are we going to do about our n?"

    <"Will disregard n A and proceed to n N.">

    "n N? Ah, that one."

    <"Yes! We''ll switch to n N because Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio is always the n!">

    Nero scoffed at his twin sister''s excitement. "Don''t make it sound fancy, Neoma. n N only means you get to do whatever the hell you want while I follow through by simply observing what necessary steps to take after you go feral."

    Once again, Neoma burst outughing.

    <"That''s what it means to be twins, bro.">

    ***

    AH.

    It was Crimson.

    After the thick smoke from the explosion had disappeared significantly, Neoma copsed her own Dome and ran towards the room with Ruto.

    As expected, Tteokbokki was already awake.

    The Soul Beast was still in his human form, but his eyes were glowing red.

    [And he looks mad as hell.]

    "Neoma de Moonasterio, you''ve grown more powerful than I remember," Crimson said. It was amazing how ''quiet'' his voice sounded despite the murderous look on his face. And that actually made him sound more intimidating. "What are you doing not using the power you gained to destroy the world?"

    "Fortunately, I''m not a psychopath who wants the world to end just because I can," Neoma said, shrugging. "I have a few loose screws in the head, but that doesn''t mean I''mpletely insane. And I actually find humans tolerable enough for me to let them live."

    "That''s why I told you to let me control your body."

    "Hey, that sounds suggestive and it can be taken out of context," Neoma said, scolding the Soul Beast. "You can''t say those things in front of my fianc¨¦."

    Ruto, who was standing quietly next to Neoma, beamed. "I''m the fianc¨¦. Although I haven''t proposed yet officially."

    Pfft.

    [Cute.]

    Crimson didn''t look amused, though. "I don''t have time for this."

    "Same," Neoma said, cracking her knuckles. "I would have used words if I thought it would work, but nah. You''re not in the state to listen, so let me knock some sense into you."

    The Soul Beast sneered.

    Now Crimson looked like the crazy bastard that he was.

    [Being calm doesn''t suit the God of Wrath, after all.]

    "Do you need help, Neoma?"

    "No, but thank you for asking," Neoma said, gently patting Ruto''s nice and firm butt. Hence, her man looked at her with wide eyes. She immediately withdrew her hand. "Oops. Sorry. I swear butt pat is pretty normal in Korea between close friends¡­"

    "Don''t do it to other people," Ruto said firmly. "Only do that to me."

    "Okay~"

    Their cute moment was interrupted when that ~stupid~ Crimson threw a pretty powerful fireball at them.

    That was a wrong move.

    She already had the Eternal me within her¨C no other me could hurt her anymore.

    Of course, Neoma just caught the fireball with her bare hand. "Ah, you crazy bastard," she said, ncing at the Soul Beast who looked pretty shocked by what she did. "You should know better than to interrupt my moment with my man."

    Crimson sneered when he got over his shock. "Shut up, you cringe little princess.

    [Oh, that sounds like something Tteokbokki would say.]

    ***

    NERO WAS pretty surprised that the entire za in front of the People''s Pce was full of people despite the fear-mongering that the crows had spread.

    He expected that only the nobles and royals loyal to him would attend.

    But the citizens, who imed that they were scared of the cmity, were there.

    And not only them.

    Nero looked up when he felt someone''s gaze piercing through him, and he was greeted by a pair of glowing red eyes.

    [Calyx de Luca.]

    Ah, the crows were finally here.

    Of course, it wasn''t only those sky bastards.

    The ''dark clouds'' covering the sun and the clouds weren''t really ''clouds.''

    It was Darkness.

    Nero clenched his hands tight. "Helstor."

    ***

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 Chapter 960: PLAN N

    "IT SEEMS like Neoma won''t be a part of the ceremony," Nero said as soon as he got to the top floor of the People''s Pce. "Let''s begin right away."

    He was talking to Lord Manu.

    The Moon Priest was in charge of officiating the crowning ceremony.

    Prince Skylus of the Hazelden Kingdom was also there to observe the ceremony closer. The young prince was yet to be officially dered as the new saint, so he could only observe and not officiate the ceremony.

    [But I n to dere Prince Skylus as the new Moon Saint soon.]

    The new saint couldn''t be dered officially before the new emperor.

    But the entire empire already knew about Prince Skylus'' position since the young prince had been doing prayer rallies with the Moon Priest recently.

    [There''s so much to do.]

    "Then we''ll go ahead with the crown ceremony," Lord Manu said. "I''m worried about the ''weather,'' so we must make haste, Your Majesty."

    Of course, the ''weather'' the Moon Priest mentioned wasn''t really the weather.

    [It''s the enemies manipting the ''weather.'']

    Nero looked over his shoulder and talked to Melvin. "We''ll begin the ceremony right away."

    Melvin nodded politely, and then he paused for a moment and pressed the piercing in his ear. "Yes?"

    It must be an emergency.

    [No one would reach out to the emperor''s secretary if it wasn''t important.]

    "I understand," Melvin said, and then he turned to Nero with a serious look on his face. "It was Commander Ruto, Your Majesty. Themander has arrived with the White Lion Knights, and he told us to prolong the ceremony for as long as we can."

    Ah.

    [So it means Neoma is nning to attend the ceremony at thest minute.]

    "Alright, I got it," Nero said, nodding. And then he nced at Prince Skylus. "Your Highness, can you lead the opening prayer and make it as long as possible?"

    Prince Skylus smiled and nodded. "As Your Majestymands."

    [I wonder what Neoma is up to right now.]

    ***

    NEOMA was running like her life depended on it.

    Fortunately, her pce was already empty.

    Ruto left her side in order to attend the crowning ceremony.

    [Themander of the White Lion Knights and the Order of the new emperor cannot miss the ceremony, after all.]

    Neoma was having a good time ''ying'' with Crimson anyway.

    [It''s a good thing no one can enter my training ground.]

    Hence, the chance of identally hurting innocent bystanders was low.

    "For someone who has an inted ego like you, I didn''t expect you to run like a mouse, little princess!"

    That was Crimson''s taunting.

    Hah!

    As if Neoma, the queen of shit-talking, would fall for such a cheap provocation.

    [You cannot beat me at my own game!]

    "Why are you running away from me?!" Tteokbokki continued with his taunting. "Are you afraid, Neoma de Moonasterio?!"

    "Don''t overestimate yourself, dude," Neoma said,ughing. "I''m only afraid of my own potential!"

    [Potential in destroying the world, that is.]

    "Then why are you running away?!"

    "Because you''re chasing me, duh!"

    Well, that was actually fine with her.

    [I need a bigger space for my next move, so it''s a good thing that Crimson is chasing me.]

    And now that she was out¡­

    [It''s showtime!]

    Neoma stopped running, and then she turned around to face Crimson. "Stop, you crazy god-sh-ketchup-colored-donkey."

    Her words weren''t just a string of insults, of course.

    Crimson looked shocked when his body stopped moving against his will.

    "You''re surprised, aren''t you? It''s because I spoiled Tteokbokki a lot," Neoma said, and then she exined why Crimson''s body followed Neoma''smand immediately. "A Soul Beast is a de Moonasterio''s servant. I hate that word, but it is what it is. The Soul Beasts were created to serve my trash family. Hence, you''re programmed to follow mymands whether you like it or not."

    But she believed in free will, so she never really asked Tteokbokki to do things for her that were against his will.

    [Except during the times I wanted him to leave my side in order to protect him.]

    "Hah!" Crimson scoffed. Based on the veins popping out on his foreheard, neck, and forearms, it was obvious that he was forcing his body to move. "Do you think your mere words are enough to stop me?!"

    "Of course not, silly," Neoma said, raising a hand¨C her palm facing Crimson. "Dude, I need you in your dragon form."

    Because her grand entrance would only be possible with the Red Dragon.

    And, so, Neoma set Crimson on fire.

    ***

    [NEOMA isn''t here.]

    Hanna was surprised to see Commander Ruto leading the White Lion Knights. The Order of the White Lions surrounded the People''s Pce.

    [Neoma was supposed to enter the scene with Commander Ruto, but she didn''t show up.]

    That only meant the Imperial Princess had encountered a problem.

    Again.

    [Neoma seriously can''t catch a break.]

    "I wonder if everything is alright on Princess Neoma''s end."

    Hanna discreetly nced at Duke Jasper Hawthorne who was standing next to her.

    It wasn''t just the young duke.

    Sandie was also standing in the front row with them.

    "Neoma probably encountered another problem," Hanna whispered back, her face remaining indifferent. She barely opened her mouth either. But the young duke had sharp senses anyway. "But if Commander Ruto left her side, then I''m sure it''s just a small hitch."

    Duke Jasper Hawthorne nodded in agreement. "You''re right, Duchess Quinzel. But this means the n that Her Imperial Highness discussed with us is already useless, right?"

    "Yes, Duke Hawthorne. Neoma is probably doing whatever she wants."

    As usual.

    Duke Jasper Hawthorne broke into a wide smile. "And Princess Neoma is probably expecting us to move ordingly?"

    Hanna smiled and nodded. "Let''s suffer together under an unpredictable princess ''boss.''"

    ''Boss'' was a term that both Hanna and Duke Jasper Hawthorne learned from Neoma.

    "Duchess Unnie, Duke Oppa~"

    "Duchess Noona, Duke Hyung~"

    Hmm?

    Hanna and Duke Jasper Hawthorne both turned to the royal children who approached them.

    Both Princess Monik and Prince ude of the Hazelden Kingdom handed them an umbre.

    Ah.

    [Princess Monik probably had a vision.]

    "Thank you, Princess Monik, Prince ude," Hanna said as both she and Duke Jasper Hawthorne epted the umbres from the royal children. "Is it going to rain?"

    "Yes, Duchess Unnie!" Princess Monik said excitedly. "It''s gonna rain blood!"

    Uhm, what?

    ***

    THIRTY MINUTES.

    It was Nero''s n, but he almost fell asleep while listening to Prince Skylus'' opening prayer.

    And it didn''t help that the young prince had a soothing voice.

    [Prince Skylus'' prayers sound like a luby.]

    "I think we should end the opening prayer here, Your Imperial Majesty," Lord Manu whispered. "We can''t dy the crowning ceremony more than we already did."

    Nero nodded, and then he raised his hand. "Open the curtains¨C"

    The curtains behind Prince Skylus suddenly opened without warning.

    And then there was the disrespectful brat who was responsible for that, sitting on the railing while his hand was on top of Prince Skylus'' head.

    Calyx smiled at Nero. "I''ve missed you, Your Imperial Majesty."

    Nero made a disgusted face. "You''re as disgusting as ever, Calyx de Luca."

    ***

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 Chapter 961: NEROS GREATEST LUCK

    GLENN was ready to attack after seeing Calyx de Luca put his filthy hand on top of Skylus'' head.

    He had to move before Brigitte pulled out her gun.

    [I can''t let my pregnant wife do it all.]

    "Dad, it''s okay!" Monik said, hugging his leg. "Skylus is okay! Ruto Oppa won''t let my baby brother get hurt!"

    That put him at ease.

    And now that Glenn was looking closely, he noticed that Calyx de Luca''s hand wasn''t entirely touching Skylus'' head.

    A semi-transparent barrier with faint purple lights was protecting Skylus entire body.

    [That purple aura¡­]

    Glenn''s gazended on Commander Ruto.

    The youngmander seemed like he was only standing and looking up at the intruder.

    However, those who were born with Mana could see that Commander Ruto''s barrier was there to protect Skylus and everyone on the balcony.

    His Majesty Emperor Nero included, of couse.

    Moreover, there was a single arrow floating above Calyx de Luca''s head.

    It looked like an ordinary arrow, but Glenn could tell otherwise.

    [The amount of Mana in that little arrow is enough to destroy the Imperial Pce.]

    "Is our son safe, my king?" Brigitte asked worriedly. "Will our Skylus really be fine?"

    Oh, right.

    [My wife doesn''t have Mana.]

    Glenn turned to Brigitte, his heart breaking a little when he saw ude hugging his mother''s leg tight as if he was afraid for Skylus'' safety.

    He could also see his wife discreetly touching her baby bump while consoling ude.

    [They''re afraid.]

    And rightfully so.

    "Skylus will be fine, my queen," Glenn assured his wife and children. "Commander Ruto won''t let anything bad happen to our son."

    Because if Commander Ruto let any single person there get hurt¡­

    "Right," Brigitte said, letting out a sigh of relief. It was as if his wife could read Glenn''s mind because of what she said next. "Princess Neoma will never forgive Commander Ruto if that happens."

    ***

    NERO raised his hand, silently signaling his personal knights hiding in the shadows to not make a move.

    He could see the faint barrier around Prince Skylus.

    And, yes, he could also see the single arrow above Calyx de Luca''s head.

    [Commander Ruto is really useful to be around with.]

    "Your expression is hurting me, Your Imperial Majesty," Calyx said dramatically, removing his hand from Prince Skylus'' head. "Is that how you treat a rtive? I''m only here to enjoy the show that Your Imperial Majesty and Her Imperial Highness have prepared."

    "If you''re here to see me get crowned, then go get yourself a seat and watch in silence," Nero said, scoffing. "Don''t worry¨C the ceremony will be short."

    "Is that so? From how long the little saint did his opening prayer, I thought you were trying to dy the ceremony on purpose."

    [Quick-witted bastard.]

    "Come to think of it, I don''t see Princess Neoma anywhere," Calyx said, smiling. "I wonder what she''s up to."

    "I''m done talking to you."

    Nero didn''t have to say anything else.

    As soon as he said he was done talking, a faint purple aura surrounded the crow bastard.

    And, in just the blink of an eye, Calyx de Luca disappeared.

    It was clearly Commander Ruto''s doing.

    [Good riddance¨C clean and didn''t create an unnecessary scene that would have only scared the people even more.]

    It was a miracle that the people hadn''t panicked yet.

    [We have to seize this moment.]

    "Let''s begin the ceremony," Nero said when he nced at Lord Manu who was only waiting for his next order. "Skip the boring part and head straight to the crowning part, Lord Manu."

    Because the real show would only begin once Neoma arrived.

    ***

    NIKOLAI was d that Neoma contacted them again.

    But he was half-worried because his daughter did that using amunication device that would only let them hear each other.

    [In short, it''s a regr call and not a video call.]

    "Neoma, is everything alright?"

    <"No, Papa Boss. My Soul Beast awakened as Crimson and not Tteokbokki.">

    Okay, that was indeed some bad news.

    After all, ''Crimson'' was the God of Wrath and not the red dragon that his daughter considered as her ''younger brother.''

    "How can I help you, daughter? Do you need me there?"

    Since Tara already (reluctantly) gave them permission to stay in the Spirit World, it wouldn''t be hard to ask the Queen to open a portal for him.

    [Or I can just contact Trevor and ask him to send me back to the Imperial Pce.]

    Niki wouldn''t want to leave Mona, of course.

    But he was sure his wife would want him to prioritize their children in that situation.

    <"Nah, you shouldn''t leave Mama Boss in that ce, Papa Boss. I know that Grandma Irina is there, as well as the Goddess of Life. My children, too. Even so, I don''t trust Queen Tara. I''m sure she''d pull some bullshit as soon as you leave the Spirit World.">

    Niki nodded in agreement with Neoma.

    [It seems like Tara is afraid of my presence.]

    <"But I need you to send me an item as quickly as possible, Papa Boss.">

    And when he heard what his daughter needed from him¡­

    Niki shut his eyes tight while pinching the bridge of his nose. "Neoma, you''re giving me PTSD."

    [Did I use that term correctly?]

    Neoma''s richughter on the other end of the line answered his internal monologue.

    <"Papa Boss, you sound like a modern person now!">

    ***

    [THE SKY is bleeding.]

    That was the only way Nero could exin it.

    The clouds had turned red, and no one would get surprised if it suddenly rained blood.

    In fact, that was what everything was thinking.

    Hence, the people who watched the ceremony were now in panic.

    [Helstor¡­]

    Nero stood on the balcony, with the heavy crown on his head, while looking up at Helstor who was suspended in the air.

    The ugly God of Eternal Darkness was looking down on Nero with a sneer.

    "How unlucky of you, Your Imperial Majesty."

    Pfft.

    "You may have brought the Goddess of Misfortune here. But you know what?" Nero said, breaking into a big smile when he felt his other half. "Neoma is my greatest luck."

    Of course, Helstor looked confused.

    Until everyone heard the loud voice that seemingly pierced the bloody sky.

    "LET''S FUCKING GOOO!"

    Only Neoma would say that cringe line in that situation.

    But Nero would forgive his twin sister because she arrived while riding a roaring, angry Red Dragon.

    [How cool.]

    However...

    [What is that in Neoma''s hand?]

    Was Nero right to think that it was the...?

    ***

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 Chapter 962: THE SYMBOL OF (TRAUMA) POWER

    CALYX thought he''d find himself in a wastnd after he failed to protect himself from Commander Ruto''s attack.

    However, he was surprised to see that he just fell from the balcony.

    When he came to be, he was already standing in front of Commander Ruto¨C looking up at the demigod who towered over him.

    The threatening arrow made of the bastard''s Mana was still hovering above his head.

    Oh, there was a soundproof barrier around him and Commander Ruto, too.

    [But that''s it.]

    The White Lion Knights didn''t even surround him.

    It was as if the damnedmander was saying he wasn''t a threat at all.

    [This is hurting my pride.]

    "Are you looking down on me, Commander Ruto?" Calyxined, crossing his arms over his chest. "Or are you looking down on the White Lion Knights? You can speak freely. That''s why you set up this soundproof barrier, didn''t you?"

    "I''m not looking down on the White Lion Knights," Commander Ruto said bluntly. "But I know you''re not someone they can fight yet. There''s no need to lose their lives trying to apprehend a bastard like you when I can do the job anyway."

    "This is the first time I''ve heard you curse, Commander. It must be Princess Neoma''s bad influence."

    "It is."

    Oho?

    That wasn''t the reaction he was expecting from themander, to be honest.

    "You admit that it is your lover''s ''bad'' influence?"

    "I admit that Neoma has so much power over me."

    Pfft.

    Calyx couldn''t help butugh out loud while clutching his stomach. "I''m sorry forughing. I just didn''t expect that a boring man like you could say something so cheesy. It must be the power of love."

    "No, I''m just showing off my loving rtionship with Neoma to you."

    "Why did you feel the urge to do that?"

    "Because I want you to look at something that you cannot have," Commander Ruto said in a mocking tone. "Don''t you feel envious that you can''t have this kind of rtionship with the person you love?"

    "And who is this person I supposedly love¨C"

    "That would be His Imperial Majesty, the Emperor Nero."

    "¡­"

    "You have romantic and sexual feelings for the emperor when you im to be his uncle," Commander Ruto dered while making a disgusted face. "Having romantic feelings for someone of the same sex is fine. It''s normal. But what isn''t normal is lusting after your own nephew."

    "Stop."

    But, of course, Commander Ruto didn''t stop and just continued looking down on Calyx''s feelings for the new emperor. "As if having incestuous feelings for a rtive wasn''t bad enough, you also developed those filthy feelings when His Imperial Majesty was not even of legal age. Weren''t you already an adult back then?"

    "I said stop it."

    "Committing incest and grooming a child," Commander Ruto said, sneering. "Pick your struggle, Calyx de Luca. You cannot be this trashy."

    "I said shut your mouth!" Calyx yelled angrily. "What do you know about my feelings?!"

    "Well, I know that your feelings are disgusting," Commander Ruto said, raising his hand "And you shouldn''tsh out at me just because I was right."

    And then themander clenched his hand tight.

    Just like that, heavy pressure fell on Calyx''s back ¨C forcing him to kneel down in front of Commander Ruto. He tried to stand up immediately, but themander put his feet on his back and stomped on him until he fell face-t on the ground.

    [This insufferable bastard¡­!]

    "I can tell that you''ve sealed your power, but I won''t ask why since whether you hold back or not, I can still beat the daylights out of you," Commander Ruto said arrogantly. "However, if you''re only here to watch and wait until His Imperial Majesty is officially crowned the emperor, then shut up."

    Calyx clenched his hands, but decided to let his anger go.

    [I''ll get my revenge on this haughtymander once our ns start¡­!]

    ***

    "THE DE LUCA child was caught¨C this is why you shouldn''t have sealed his power."

    Pfft.

    That was funny.

    "Whether I seal Calyx de Luca''s power or not, he''s still no match against Lord Levi''s son," Helstor said to the Goddess of Misfortune,ughing a bit. "But I had to seal his power because the power that he got from Callisto de Luca would warrant some reaction from the Throne. He''s still a de Moonasterio, after all."

    Helstor and the Goddess of Misfortune could see the ongoing crowning ceremony while watching from above.

    They were literally suspended in the air, looking down at everyone below them.

    It was obvious that the Imperial Family didn''t bother to strengthen the security as if they were inviting them to watch the crowning ceremony.

    [I don''t know if they''re confident or just in arrogant.]

    However, having free entry was better than forcing themselves in.

    [We need to conserve our power for the big thing, after all.]

    "Oh, the crowning ceremony ended already," Helstormented. This time, he burst outughing. "The new emperor must have been in a hurry! They skipped all the traditions and went straight to the literal crowning moment."

    He could tell why the new emperor was in a hurry since their eyes already met earlier.

    [The little emperor wants to get it done and over with already.]

    "Then is it alright if we begin now?" the Goddess of Misfortune asked. "The cmities I brought are begging me to set them free already."

    To be honest, he wanted to wait for Princess Neoma.

    But it was better to do the job right away.

    "Alright," Helstor said, nodding his head. "Let''s begin now."

    The Goddess of Misfortune only nodded her head, and then she cut her palm with a fancy ancient dagger.

    But instead of dropping, the Goddess of Misfortune''s blood actually floated until it touched the sky. Just that one drop was enough to color the sky red. The drop of blood multiplied itself thousands of times nonstop until the clouds were bleeding.

    It was going to rain blood.

    Literally.

    [It''s enough to scare the people.]

    Helstor opened his mouth. "Now, let it rain¨C"

    "LET''S FUCKING GOOO!"

    That voice¡­

    Helstor sneered when Princess Neoma suddenly appeared out of nowhere, riding a Red Dragon that was obviously in berserk mode.

    However, the Imperial Princess could still control her Soul Beast.

    But that wasn''t the thing that surprised him.

    "Isn''t that the emperor''s main weapon?" Helstor asked in disbelief. "Calypso?"

    ***

    NERO clenched his hands when he recognized Calypso¨C the sword that he inherited from his father in the first timeline.

    It was also the sword that he used to kill his twin sister in the past.

    [What is it doing here?]

    Nero clearly remembered that he and his father agreed not to bring out Calypso during the crowning ceremony even though the former emperor was supposed to pass it down on his sessor.

    He should have inherited it earlier, actually.

    But both Nero and his father decided that it wasn''t a good idea for him to inherit Calypso.

    [So, why did you bring the thing that killed you here, Neoma?]

    ***

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 Chapter 963: LUCKY CHARM

    [EVERYONE is scared.]

    Hanna wasn''t surprised, of course.

    The moment the sky bled, she already knew that it was enough to frighten the people.

    She could even hear the panic in themoners'' voices as they talked among themselves quite loudly.

    [That and because I have sharp senses.]

    "I knew it was a bad idea to watch His Imperial Majesty''s coronation day!"

    "The rumors are true¨C the new emperor is cursed!"

    "We''re all going to die!"

    Hanna was about to say something to calm them down, when¡­

    "No one is going to die!"

    It was Princess Monik.

    The young princess stood out because she was floating in the air.

    [Queen Brigitte and King Glenn look very worried.]

    Prince ude, on the other hand, was pping his hands while cheering on his big sister.

    [What a nice family.]

    More importantly, the young princess was working hard.

    Aside from that, Princess Monik also used some kind of spell that allowed her voice to reach the people all the way in the back.

    Moreover¡­

    [Princess Monik''s voice is enchanted¨C it allows her to capture the attention of people hearing her voice.]

    Thanks to that, the people who were panicking a moment ago calmed down instantly.

    [It must be her power as a future saintess.]

    "Emperor Nero must have been cursed with terrible luck, but it wasn''t His Imperial Majesty''s fault!" Princess Monik said in a loud and clear voice. Although her words were a bit worrying, the enchantment in her voice kept the people calm. "The one who cursed the new emperor is the bad guy, and bad guys don''t win!"

    Ah, adorable.

    [Princess Monik is bright and brave¨C she''s really Queen Brigitte and King Glenn''s daughter.]

    Hanna wasn''t the only one who thought that way.

    "It''s the young princess from the Hazelden Kingdom¡­"

    "The young princess speaks well¡­"

    "Her Highness is right, though¨C the one who cursed our new emperor was the bad guy¡­"

    Princess Monik''s words seemed to have reached the people.

    But the young princess wasn''t done yet.

    "And it doesn''t matter even if His Imperial Majesty is cursed with bad luck!" Princess Monik said, giggling. "Our emperor has a lucky charm that can drive away the bad energy here!"

    Then the young princess pointed a finger at the bleeding sky.

    "Everyone, have you seen a beautiful princess riding on a big dragon before?"

    Of course, everyone looked up automatically.

    Princess Monik then giggled while looking up at the sky as well. "Now we all have!"

    Ah.

    Hannaughed softly when she saw Neoma riding on her Soul Beast''s dragon form.

    The Imperial Princess was yelling, but she was too far to hear it or read her lips.

    [But I bet Neoma is cursing.]

    ***

    [THESE fucking bitches.]

    Neoma saw Helstor and the Goddess of Misfortune whose name she had already forgotten suspended in the air, looking down at Nero.

    [I wanna drag those two to the ground, but¡­]

    She endured for now.

    Crimson was still kind of rebelling against her.

    In fact, she could barely control him.

    Neoma''s words worked on Crimson, so she was able to order him to transform into his dragon form and bring her to the People''s Pce where the ceremony was taking ce.

    However, she could tell that Crimson was fighting hard against her ''mind control.''

    [I must hurry.]

    Hence, Neoma flew past Helstor and the Goddess of Misfortune. "Crimson, we''rending on the balcony¨C now!"

    Crimson, in his dragon form, roared loudly¨C causing a skyquake.

    [Gosh, so nasty-tempered.]

    Fortunately, the dragon didn''t breathe fire.

    Neoma stood up properly when she was near the balcony, and then she jumped andnded on the railing gracefully.

    Crimson, still in his dragon form, suddenly stopped flying mid-air.

    The Soul Beast couldn''t move because Neoma trapped him inside a huge Sphererge enough to contain the adult dragon inside.

    Yeah, she could do that.

    [Sometimes, my own OP-ness scares me.]

    "Neoma, why do you have that?"

    "That''s the first thing you say to me?" Neoma asked, smiling at her twin brother. And then she nced at the beautiful sword in her hand¨C it was none other than Calypso, the sword that Nero used to pierce her heart in the first timeline. "This is the symbol of a de Moonasterion emperor''s power¨C so I want my baby brother to have it."

    ***

    ["NERO, it was supposed to my duty as the emperor to pass down Calypso to you as soon as you were dered the Crown Prince, but I didn''t. Do you resent me?"]

    ["No, Father. I wouldn''t have epted Calypso had you given it to me."]

    ["Why? Calypso is a part of your inheritance as the next emperor. Moreover, it''s THE Holy Sword that everyone in the empire¨C including little kids¨C recognizes. It''s the symbol of the Imperial Family''s power. Don''t you think it will help you establish yourself as the new emperor if you have Calypso in your hand?"]

    ["That''s true, Father. Even so, I wouldn''t want to wield the same weapon that I used to kill Neoma in the past. Although I would rather stab myself than stab Neoma again with that cursed sword, I couldn''t be toocent. Hence, it would be better for me not to get my hands on Calypso¨C no matter the consequences."]

    That was thest conversation Niki had with Nero regarding Calypso.

    He respected his son''s decision because even he himself didn''t want to pass down the weapon that killed his daughter in the past.

    But said daughter asked for Calypso herself.

    Niki sent Calypso to Neoma by using his Soul Beasts as ''deliverymen.''

    [Haaah.]

    "It will be alright, Niki," Mona said while patting his back. "Neoma probably has a n. She wouldn''t ask for Calypso for nothing."

    "You really think so, my love?"

    "¡­"

    "¡­"

    "Can I be honest?"

    "Of course."

    Mona sighed while shaking her head. "Neoma probably only asked for Calypso for her grand entrance."

    Pfft.

    Nikiughed softly while nodding. "I had the same thought, my love."

    ***

    "TAKE the Holy Sword, Nero."

    Right.

    Calypso was the Holy Sword.

    Nero extended his hand, reaching for the sword that Neoma was giving him.

    And when the Imperial Twins'' fingers touched¡­

    ¡­ Neoma and Nero fainted at the same time.

    [Herees the grand entrance...!]

    ***

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 Chapter 964: CALYPSO

    THE IMPERIAL Twins fainted.

    Hanna held her breath, worried that Neoma and Nero would copse on the floor.

    But it didn''t happen.

    Aside from the fact that Commander Ruto appeared right next to Neoma while Sir Sanford Denver appeared behind Nero, the Imperial Twins immediately gained consciousness.

    In fact, only a few may have noticed that Neoma and Nero fainted for a moment.

    [I''m relieved that they didn''t faint in front of everyone here.]

    "Ah."

    Hanna turned to Duke Jasper Hawthorne after he let out a soft ''ah'' as if he was surprised.

    She noticed that the young duke was looking at his feet, and so she followed his gaze.

    "Ah."

    Oops.

    She unconsciously made the same sound that Duke Jasper Hawthorne made.

    Well, she couldn''t help it.

    [It''s Neoma''s White Lion¡­]

    But the White Lion in question was the size of a kitten right now.

    <"It''s talking to you!">

    Oh.

    The one who spoke was Duke Jasper Hawthorne''s Elemental Guardian.

    [Duckie, isn''t it?]

    The duck appeared right next to the mini White Lion.

    [Why can I hear the Elemental Guardian, though?]

    Duke Jasper Hawthorne got down on one knee while talking to the Elemental Guardians politely. "Sir White Lion, I apologize but I don''t understand what you''re saying. My ability tomunicate with Spirits not bonded to me is limited."

    The White Lion ''purred'' like a cat.

    Duckie, on the other hand, nodded before he turned to the young duke. "Young man, the White Lion said the feral Imperial Princess wants us to make it rain."

    Pfft.

    Hanna almostughed when Duckie called Neoma a ''feral'' princess, but she held it in.

    Especially since Duke Jasper Hawthorne looked like he was in a dilemma.

    "I don''t want to disappoint Princess Neoma, but I can''t control the weather¡ª I''m not even a water maniptor."

    Ah.

    <"You silly goose!"> Duckie scolded the young duke. <"What do you mean you can''t control water when your Elemental Guardian is a Sea Serpent?!">

    Duke Jasper Hawthorne scratched his cheek as if he was embarrassed. "I''m sorry. I forgot about that because you only y these days¡­"

    <"Shut up, stupid master! The White Lion says we''re not doing it alone!">

    "Huh?"

    Duckie pointed at someone with his wings. <"Thest Elemental Guardian tamer is here!">

    Duke Jasper Hawthorne followed Duckie''s trail of gaze.

    Hanna did, too.

    Ah.

    [Dahlia is here.]

    ***

    NEOMA lost consciousness for a moment, but she immediately woke up.

    And when she did¡­

    [Kekeke.]

    Neoma was pleased to wake up and see the most beautiful face in the entire world¡ª of course, that would be her face.

    And it was possible to look at herself because she already possessed Nero''s body.

    Of course, that also meant that Nero already possessed her body. To simply say, the switch was a sess.

    [Now let the show begin!]

    Neoma, now in Nero''s body, grabbed Calypso tightly. Then she jumped and stood on the same railing Nero (in her body) was standing on. "It''s a shame that our Imperial Father and Imperial Mother aren''t here to witness this moment."

    Nero quickly and elegantly stood up next to her, facing the crowd this time.

    The people, obviously in a panic, stopped and looked up at Neoma.

    Unfortunately, their expressions weren''t good.

    [They''re probably wondering why I''m talking about my parents in the middle of all of this. I won''t be surprised if they''re cursing at me for being insensitive.]

    Heh.

    "Our dear citizens, worry not because Princess Neoma¡ª my very beautiful, smart, and bubbly twin sister¡ª was sent here by the former Emperor Niki to give me this precious gift," Neoma said, praising herself while raising the Holy Sword. "This is Calypso, the Holy Sword and the symbol of the de Moonasterion Imperial Family."

    It felt weird to hold the sword that killed her in the first timeline.

    But, contratry to what she initially believed, the Holy Sword didn''t feel heavy.

    [I feel bad for Nero for thinking this, but I can''t help it¡ª it feels like I''m always meant to carry Calypso instead of him.]

    Of course, that wasn''t something she would say outloud.

    "Now, I''ll show everyone what a Holy Sword is capable of," Neoma dered, her tone and demeanor serious now. "Don''t worry, my beloved citizens¡ª I''m here to drive away the so-called curse that''s scaring you at the moment."

    Nero didn''t have wings and couldn''t fly.

    Hence, she decided to stay still and use the Holy Sword in a different way.

    "You''re crazy, Neoma," Nero whispered in a low voice, his mouth barely moving in case someone was trying to read his lips. "Don''t do it."

    Neoma just let out a softugh¡­

    ¡­ and then she threw Calypso in the air as if she was throwing a spear.

    That was definitely NOT the proper way of using the Holy Sword.

    [Our ancestors are probably rolling in the grave.]

    But Neoma was satisfied to see Calypso, the Holy Sword, pierced through the bleeding clouds.

    [It will be over soon.]

    Neoma turned to Nero. Even though she was looking at her own beautiful face, she could see Nero''s reflection in her (tantalizing) eyes. "I guess this is where we part ways."

    "I suppose," Nero said, nodding. "Take care of our people and the empire."

    "And take care of my man while you''re at it."

    Her twin brother just rolled his eyes at her.

    "Wait for my signal," Neoma said, smiling while looking up at the red sky. "You and Ruto should leave in the most dramatic way possible."

    ***

    HELSTOR, the God of Eternal Darkness, didn''t want to admit this¡ª but he was pretty nervous.

    When the newly crowned Emperor Nero threw Calypso at the red sky, the Holy Sword pierced through the bleeding clouds until it stopped. It didn''t get stuck in the clouds¡ª it simply stopped as if it had already done its job.

    "What is the kid emperor doing?" the Goddess of Misfortune said, scoffing. "Even the Imperial Family''s Holy Sword wouldn''t be able to drive away the cmity that I brought here. Why would His Imperial Majesty do something so useless?"

    "That''s the thing, mydy," Helstor said, clenching his hands tight. "The Imperial Twins never do useless things¡ª not the logical Emperor Nero, not even the untamed Princess Neoma. They might be crazy, but they are always efficient."

    The Goddess of Misfortune looked like she had more to say, but she suddenly stopped as if she was choking.

    And then she clutched her chest tight.

    "What''s happening?" Helstor asked worriedly. He wasn''t worried about the Goddess of Misfortune¡ª he was worried about their n going south. "Are you alright?"

    "No," the Goddess of Misfortune answered as if she was in pain. "A strong yet invisible force is trying to drag me away from here."

    What?

    Now he understood why he was being nervous.

    "What would happen to the cmity you brought if youd disappeared?"

    The Goddes of Misfortune red at Helstor, her eyes seemingly cursing him for asking a stupid question. "What do you think?"

    Ah, those sted Imperial Twins¡­!

    Helstor turned to the Imperial Twins, his cold eyes focused on Emperor Nero.

    Of course, the brave newly-crowned emperor didn''t tear his gaze away from Helstor''s re.

    And then Emperor Nero smirked¡ª it was a familiar smirk that sent a chill down his spine.

    Helstor gasped when the realization hit him. "Princess Neoma?"

    "Everyone, watch me!" ''Emperor Nero'' said in a calm and loud voice. He wasn''t yelling¡ª his voice was simply amplified by magic. Hence, his voice reached every single person gathered there at the moment. "Watch your new emperor drive away the curse that has no business in our Great Moonasterion Empire!"

    Helstor wanted to curse out loud, but he abruptly stopped when the Goddess of Misfortune let out a screeching sound.

    And when he turned to her, the goddess already vanished into thin air.

    Of course, it wasn''t only the Goddess of Misfortune who disappeared¡ª the sky suddenly cleared, and the clouds had returned to their natural color.

    But it was only for a moment.

    Soon, the clouds darkened as if heavy rain was about to fall.

    It wasn''t a natural pour, of course.

    [It''s a man-made rain!]

    Just like how Helstor and the Goddess of Misfortune created a man-made cmity in the guise of a curse.

    Once again, a chill went down his spine.

    [Princess Neoma and Emperor Nero forced us to take the taste of our own medicine¡­]

    ***

    "THE SKY has stopped bleeding¡ª now, prepare to receive the blessing of the Moon God in the form of this downpour!"

    [How did this happen?!]

    Calyx clenched his hands tight while watching everything unfold helplessly.

    After Nero threw Calypso at the sky, the bleeding clouds suddenly returned to normal.

    And now it was raining hard.

    The fear and the panic that the people had felt earlier had beenpletely washed away by the rain.

    Everyone was celebrating now because of Nero''s lies.

    "This rain is blessed¡ª the Moon God has blessed us with Holy Water!" Nero said in a calm and firm voice. "It''s a sign that we have sessfully driven away the curse and the misfortune that has befallen onto the Great Moonasterion Empire!"

    [How can Helstor and the Goddess of Misfortune let this happen¡­!]

    Calyx looked up, frantically looking for the two gods.

    And that was when he realized something.

    [Princess Neoma and Commander Ruto has disappeared!]

    ***

    WHEN the Goddess of Misfortune came to be, she found herself suspended in the air.

    But she wasn''t in that position because of her own will.

    "You''re finally awake."

    It was the obnoxious Princess Neoma with Lord Levi''s son.

    The Goddess of Misfortune wasn''t surprised by the two''s presence, but she felt fear flood her system when she realized where they were at the moment.

    [No, it can''t be¡­!]

    "Why did you bring me here?" the Goddess of Misfortune asked in a weak, trembling voice. "What are we doing here at the Upper World?"

    Princess Neoma smiled and opened her arms. "So that you can spread the cmity you brought here, why else?"

    ***

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 Chapter 965: THE ELEMENTAL GUARDIANS

    JASPER Hawthorne let out a deep breath, grabbing Miss Dahlia''s wand tightly.

    He could see his knuckles turn white, but he didn''t let go.

    The wand was draining his Mana fast. Even so, he endured and let it do its thing in order to control the weather.

    Fortunately, it didn''t take long before the rain poured heavily.

    [What a relief.]

    "Are you alright, Duke Hawthorne?"

    Jasper turned to Miss Dahlia.

    It was embarrassing how a young miss younger than him didn''t even break a sweat while doing the same thing he did.

    Yes, Miss Dahlia was also holding the wand that belonged to her.

    The wand required their Mana in order to have enough power to control the weather and make it rain.

    [Just like what Princess Neoma wanted.]

    That was exactly why Jasper was away from the crowd with Miss Dahlia.

    "I''m alright, Miss Dahlia," Jasper said, and then he paused for a moment. "I''d like to ask you the same thing, but I can tell you''re doing well. It''s embarrassing that I''m about to pass out from having my Mana drained."

    "You''re doing well, Your Grace," Miss Dahlia said politely. "Moreover, Your Grace has nothing to be ashamed of. Even an above-average Mana user would have fainted already the moment my wand absorbed their Mana. The fact that Your Grace is standing still is a testament to how much Mana your Core contains."

    Oh.

    That helped restore his broken ego.

    To be honest, when Jasper was young, he took pride in being the youngest duke in the Great Moonasterion Empire. Thanks to his exceptional talent, he was able to protect his inheritance from his greedy rtives.

    Even the former emperor was impressed by his talent.

    However, Jasper realized that he was just an ordinary person after meeting Princess Neoma.

    The young princess humbled him pretty quickly.

    [Then Princess Neoma began to ''adopt'' individuals who are way more talented and powerful than I am.]

    Hence, he never dared to think of his existence as special again.

    [I''m satisfied as long as I can serve Princess Neoma. I don''t need to be recognized as someone exceptional or talented¡ª I just wanted to be useful to Her Royal Highness.]

    That was why he was grateful when he was chosen by Duckie as its new master.

    After gaining an Elemental Guardian, he got an ego boost. But, of course, he quickly humbled himself because the other Elemental Guardian owners were Princess Neoma, Commander Ruto, and Miss Dahlia.

    [I''m obviously the weakest among us.]

    And the fact that Jasper was the only one who struggled while trying to control the weather with Miss Dahlia was proof of his inferiority.

    But he didn''t have time for a little self-pity party.

    [And it helps that Miss Dahlia was kind enough to say encouraging words.]

    "Thank you, Miss Dahlia," Jasper said, bowing to the young miss. "I''ll work harder."

    Miss Dahlia smiled and nodded. "You''re already working hard, Your Grace. I''m sure Princess Neoma knows that."

    He smiled and was about to say something when, all of a sudden, he heard a voice in his head.

    ["Jasper Oppa, Dahlia, can you both hear me?"]

    It was Princess Neoma.

    The Imperial Princess was using telepathy.

    And, yes, Jasper and Miss Dahlia were both aware of the ''switch.''

    [We don''t know why she has to, but Princess Neoma told us in advance that she''ll switch souls with Emperor Nero. The fact that we can hear her voice even though Princess Neoma and Commander Ruto already disappeared must mean that Princess Neoma has possessed His Majesty''s body now.]

    Jasper and Miss Dahlia exchanged nces, and then they both nodded and answered politely at the same time. "Yes, Princess Neoma¡ª we can hear you."

    [It''s not easy to create a mind link in order tomunicate with another person through telepathy, but it''s something thates easy for ''monsters'' like Princess Neoma. Since she''s a strong person¡ª physically and mentally¡ª she can easily break into our consciousness.]

    "What can we do for you, Princess Neoma?" Jasper asked worriedly. "Is everything alright?"

    ["Yeah, but I feel bad for lying to our people. That rain isn''t Holy Water, but look at them."]

    Jasper and Miss Dahlia both turned to the crowd.

    The people who were almost crying in fear earlier were now dancing happily in the rain¡ª the elderly, the youth, and even the little ones.

    ["I know the Elemental Guardians aren''t meant to be used as entertainment, but can you ask Duckie and Lapiz to entertain the people by showing up?"]

    "That''s fine with us, Princess Neoma," Dahlia said politely. "However, the forms of our Elemental Guardians are a bit intimidating for most people. Will it be okay?"

    Oh, right.

    Jasper almost forgot that Duckie was a Sea Serpent and not a duck.

    [Speaking of which, where are Duckie and Miss Dahlia''s Blue Whale?]

    The two Elemental Guardians disappeared earlier, saying that they would help control the weather.

    ["It will be alright. But, to be safe, go to Hanna and ask for her help. The people trust her, so they''ll definitely believe her if she says that your Elemental Guardians won''t hurt them. Can you do that for me? I need to go and kick some ass now."]

    Pfft.

    Jasper and Miss Dahlia both smiled widely after hearing Princess Neoma talk vulgar again.

    [Some things really never change.]

    "We understand, Princess Neoma," Miss Dahlia said, bowing politely. "Your wish is ourmand."

    Jasper also bowed his head towards Princess Neoma''s direction. "We won''t disappoint you, Princess Neoma."

    ***

    HANNA received the message well.

    After it poured heavily, Dahlia and Duke Jasper Hawthorne approached her and informed her about Princess Neoma''s order.

    [We just have to entertain the people, right?]

    "Everyone, I apologize for interrupting your fun," Hanna said calmly, her voice amplified by magic. Hence, everyone there stopped and listened to her. Even though she was no longer the Crown Princess, the people of the Great Moonasterion Empire still listened to her well.

    "His Imperial Majesty Emperor Nero has a present for all of us¡ª and it''s the honor to witness the greatness of three of the Elemental Guardians alive."

    A loud murmur urred as a result of her announcement.

    Some were thrilled, the others not so much.

    "Don''t be afraid, everyone. The Elemental Guardians might have the form of magical beasts that look intimidating, but please trust me when I say this: the Elemental Guardians are our friends and allies," Hanna said, smiling. Her smile was the best weapon she could mobilize at the moment. After all, it was her duty to calm the people of their empire. "Now, let me introduce these giant friends to you."

    Just like that, the White Lion, the Sea Serpent, and the Blue Whale appeared behind and above Hanna as if she was the owner of those great Elemental Guardians.

    ***

    "THIS RAIN is blessed¡ª the Moon God has blessed us with Holy Water!" Neoma said in a calm and firm voice. She actually wanted to scream andugh like a viiness, but that would only ruin Nero''s reputation. Hence, she acted like the calm leader that she wasn''t. "It''s a sign that we have sessfully driven away the curse and the misfortune that has befallen the Great Moonasterion Empire!"

    Of course, that was bullshit.

    She felt bad, but what could she do?

    [I need to lie to give the people a reason to calm down.]

    Anyway, fortunately, she was smart enough to contact Jasper Oppa and Dahlia in advance. She asked the two to use their Elemental Guardians to distract the people. And she also asked the two to ask for Hanna''s help.

    [Because, right now, the people trust Hanna more than the Imperial Family.]

    Anyway, now that the problem regarding the people''s panic was solved, it was time for her to do her job.

    "Calypso," Neoma said, raising her hand. "Come here."

    And, just like a boomerang, the Holy Sword returned to her hand as if it was thrown back to her by an invisible hand.

    Heh.

    [It reminds me of Thor''s¡ª no, I can''t say the name.]

    "Now, it''s time for judgment," Neoma said, and then she looked down at Calyx de Luca and smirked. "Come here, crow bastard."

    Calyx looked at her coldly. "You''re Princess Neoma, aren''t you?"

    Ah, the crow bastard grew a brain during the time she hadn''t seen him, huh?

    ***

    "ARE YOU alright, Your Imperial Majesty?"

    Nero rolled his eyes at Commander Ruto''s worried question. "I''m alright."

    He wasn''t, but he had to pretend that he almost didn''t vomit after the teleportation spell that themander used to bring him there.

    By there, he meant the Upper World.

    And the two of them didn''te alone.

    The Goddess of Misfortune was also there, and¡­

    Nero let out a sigh when the Goddess of Misfortune finally opened her eyes. "You''re finally awake."

    It was time to execute Neoma''s scam.

    ***

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 Chapter 966: MONA ROSEHEARTS SON

    [A few nights ago¡­]

    "YOU found a way to fight the Goddess of Misfortune?" Nero asked Neoma. "How?"

    "Because I''m a genius."

    He rolled his eyes at his twin sister''s cheeky answer.

    Neoma, on the other hand, just silently put grapes in her mouth while sprawled on the sofa in her pink ''pajamas.''

    [So unbing of the empire''s sole Imperial Princess.]

    Nero was already used to Neoma''s antics, so he just kept his mouth shut and drank his wine while waiting for his twin sister to speak.

    And she did a littleter.

    "Nero, you''re the boy who has everything."

    "That, I am."

    "You''re so freaking annoying."

    "Well, you''re the one who gave me that ridiculous name."

    Neoma, who hated being wrong, frowned. Then she got up, sat straight, crossed her arms and legs, and looked at Nero with glowing red eyes.

    His twin sister wasn''t mad, but she still looked intimidating.

    Moreover¡­

    [Why is she sizing me up again?]

    "It''s a fact that I am more of a de Moonasterio than a Roseheart since my Moonglow is stronger than my Roseheart Blood."

    Nero nodded in agreement. "And I am more of a Roseheart than a de Moonasterio. Apparently, I''m special since I''m a male Roseheart."

    "Uh-huh."

    "So, what about it?"

    "I guess you inherited Mama Boss'' natural power as a Roseheart. You''re good at Summoning, aren''t you?"

    "I''m good at everything I do."

    "Do you want to die?"

    Neroughed at Neoma''s outburst. "You really have a nasty temper, my precious twin sister."

    "I''m being serious here."

    "And that''s why it''s more fun to tease you."

    "Nero Roseheart de Moonasterio."

    "Fine," Nero said, smiling. He briefly raised his hands in surrender before Neoma slit his throat. "What do you want me to summon?"

    Neoma wouldn''t bring up their abilities to summon Spirits or whatever it was that could be summoned for nothing.

    Hence, he ended up with that conclusion.

    "It''s not that I don''t trust you, but I haven''t seen you practicing your Summoning skills," Neoma said skeptically. "Do you even know how to Summon Spirits?"

    "Sure," Nero said bluntly. "I didn''t waste my childhood in the Spirit World sleeping, Neoma. William and even Queen Tara were there, and they helped me hone my talent as Mona Roseheart''s son."

    "Really? But I never saw you practice those skills before."

    "I don''t need to practice the things I''ve already mastered. And, no, my skills won''t get rusty. As I said earlier, I''m good at everything I do¡ª whether it''s for the first time or not."

    "Damn you."

    Pfft.

    It was really funny to see Neoma fuming.

    [She''s usually confident, but she sometimes gets insecure of me.]

    It was a rare moment, so Nero teased his twin sister more.

    "Am I wrong, though?"

    "Screw you."

    Nero burst outughing. "I can summon even those you can''t, so spill it now, Neoma."

    "Fuck you," Neoma said, rolling her eyes. "I want you to summon a god once you get to the Upper World, Nero."

    ***

    [Present¡­]

    RIGHT.

    Nero remembered what he needed to do now that the Goddess of Misfortune was awake.

    "Why did you bring me here?" the Goddess of Misfortune asked in a weak, trembling voice. "What are we doing here at the Upper World?"

    Nero smiled and opened his arms. "So that you can spread the cmity you brought here, why else?"

    That was the first part of Neoma''s n¡ª to bring the cmity to the Upper World.

    The curse that was ced in his soul attracted the cmities that the Goddess of Misfortune brought. Hence, the curse would follow Nero''s soul and not his physical body.

    That was how the Goddess of Misfortune was dragged to the Upper World.

    Of course, it was only possible because Commander Ruto managed to bring Nero to the Upper World in one piece.

    "No!" the Goddess of Misfortune screamed as if she was scared. "You can''t bring me here!"

    "Don''t worry, we''re only at the entrance of the Upper World yet," Commander Ruto said bluntly. "However, it''s only a matter of time before the gods notice our presence. I don''t know why you''re scared, but I believe you should be more scared of this person."

    ''This person.''

    [What a rude rascal.]

    "I don''t think I need to hide my identity from that goddess," Nero said, opening his left hand. Soon enough, a small ice dagger materialized above the palm. "But I can''t believe that a goddess of such caliber didn''t recognize me after the switch."

    The Goddess of Misfortune looked confused, and then she stared at Nero as if she was staring at his soul.

    [Oh, well. It''s not like I''m hiding it.]

    The Goddess of Misfortune gasped when the realization had finally hit her. "You''re Emperor Nero¡ª you''ve switched souls with Princess Neoma!"

    "You just realized it now?" Nero asked, smirking. And then he cut the palm of his hand with the ice dagger. "Toote."

    He then let his precious, royal blood drip to the floor.

    After uttering a few incantations that Nero learned from William, a magic circle was then formed below his feet¡ª with him in the middle of it.

    He usually didn''t need a magic circle to summon Spirits.

    [I can do it with just my will, but summoning a god is different¡ª I have to do it the way William and Mother taught me.]

    Moreover, he had to be careful not to disturb the souls inside him.

    [Yes, souls.]

    "Come out," Nero said in a clear and firm voice. Of course, his voice wasced with magic unique to a high-ranking Summoner like him. In the current world, he was only second to THE Mona Roseheart when it came to summoning. Yes, he was better than Neoma whether his twin sister wanted to ept it or not. "Come out, Goddess of Fortune."

    Yes, it was the goddess that Neoma wanted him to summon.

    ["The Goddess of Misfortune is hiding in the dark because it''s afraid of something¡ª and she even said that only the Goddess of Fortune could defeat her. Well, she didn''t exactly say that. But my big brain is good at reading between the lines."]

    That was the exnation his twin sister had given him.

    Nero didn''t really understand Neoma''s logic, but he just did as he was told.

    "The Goddess of Fortune?!" the Goddess of Misfortune yelled, obviously more scared than she was earlier. "How can you summon someone who has disappeared already for a long time now?! You cannot fool me! A mere child like you cannot summon that sted goddess!"

    "I''m not a ''mere'' child, though," Nero said, ignoring his bleeding nose and the blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. He didn''t expect that summoning a good would take this kind of toll on his body. However, it wasn''t like he could stop. His pride would be hurt if he failed to summon the Goddess of Fortune after teasing Neoma. Moreover, he had another reason to endure.

    "I am THE Mona Roseheart''s only son¡ª and I can summon whoever I want."

    After dering those arrogant words, the magic circle suddenly lit up¡ª golden lights ''exploding'' like fine dust, covering Nero from head to toe.

    [What is this¡­?]

    "Who dares to awaken me from my slumber?"

    Oh.

    Nero, for the first time in a long while, actually felt a chill down his spine.

    Even so, he still felt proud of himself.

    [See, Neoma? I did it. This proves I''m older than you.]

    ***

    "CALYPSO," Neoma said, raising her hand. "Come here."

    And, just like a boomerang, the Holy Sword returned to her hand as if it was thrown back to her by an invisible hand.

    Heh.

    [It reminds me of Thor''s¡ª no, I can''t say the name.]

    "Now, it''s time for judgment," Neoma said, and then she looked down at Calyx de Luca and smirked. "Come here, crow bastard."

    Calyx looked at her coldly. "You''re Princess Neoma, aren''t you?"

    Ah, the crow bastard grew a brain during the time she hadn''t seen him, huh?

    Neoma raised an eyebrow at Calyx. "What about it?"

    Calyx smirked¡ª he was angry, but he was obviously holding back since his n with Helstor had already gone south. "Did Nero run away? What a coward."

    "You can shit talk my twin brother, and you can''t do that in front of me. Did you forget that I''m better than you at verbal assault?"

    "Ahem."

    It was Manu.

    "Your Imperial Majesty, I don''t think it''s something that you should be saying," Manu said awkwardly. It was his way to subtly remind Neoma that she shouldn''t be speaking vulgar words while in Nero''s body. "Please calm down."

    [Ah, gotcha.]

    Neoma was about to assure Manu that she would act ordingly, but it happened.

    In just the blink of an eye, an ominous presence appeared behind her.

    [Dammit!]

    Neoma turned around¡ª just in time to block Helstor''s attack.

    She used her hand¡ª covered by her barrier called ''Coat¡ª to grab the ck, ancient dagger that Helstor tried to use to stab her from behind. The ck smoke covering the dagger was a mix of dead Mana and some substance that she couldn''t pinpoint yet.

    But she could tell that she shouldn''t touch it with her bare hands.

    [This bastard finally showed up, huh?]

    This time, Hesltor was in his old form¡ª the disgusting one.

    Neoma made a gagging sound. "I''m sorry¡ª my stomach gets upset when I look at ugly, vile things."

    Helstor sneered at her. "As expected¡ª it''s you, Princess Neoma."

    "Not for long, though~"

    [It''s switch time!]

    ***

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 Chapter 967: TWIN SUMMONERS

    [I HAVE to endure this. If I fail, Neoma will make fun of me. I''d rather die than have herugh at me for my failure.]

    That was Nero''s motivation to keep standing even though he wouldn''t stop coughing up blood. In fact, it wasn''t only his mouth that was dripping with blood. His ears were also bleeding, and he was even crying with blood.

    He was lucky Neoma wasn''t there or else she would have killed him for making her look ''ugly.''

    [Yeah, Neoma would care more about her appearance than her body''s condition.]

    However, the person next to Nero didn''t have the same opinion.

    "Your Imperial Majesty, with all due respect, please stop if you can''t handle it," Commander Ruto whispered harshly. His words were polite, but his tone was definitely rude. It was as if themander just forcing himself to be courteous towards Nero. "And may I remind Your Imperial Majesty that it''s Neoma''s body and not yours?"

    How dare a meremander lecture the emperor?

    "Shut up," Nero said, wiping the blood off the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. "I can do it."

    And that was when he raised his head.

    His body was still covered with the golden dust that materialized after the magic circle lit up and ''exploded'' in a blinding light.

    But the blinding light soon disappeared.

    And, right now, he was looking up at the giant image of the goddess that he just summoned.

    He said ''image'' because the Goddess of Fortune''s body was semi-transparent.

    [I can see the sky behind her.]

    Nero couldn''t really see the Goddess of Fortune''s face because it was covered by a white mask.

    The goddess'' hair, however, was pretty interesting.

    [Her hair is made of¡­ four-leaf clovers?]

    Just like most gods, the Goddess of Misfortune wore a white and gold silk robe.

    [And she''s barefoot.]

    "You dare awaken me from my slumber, little princess?"

    "It''s not my idea," Nero said, crossing his arms over his chest. "But I can see why you''d me me since I was the one who summoned you."

    The Goddess of Fortune scoffed after giving Nero a quick once-over. "Of course, you''re a de Moonasterio. Only a de Moonasterio will act so arrogant in front of a god. But since you carry the precious Roseheart Blood, I''ll forgive you this once¡­" the goddess trailed off, and then she raised an eyebrow. "Oh. Aren''t you the little princess that I met once?"

    "I''m not sure about that."

    The Goddess of Fortune looked confused, and so she looked at Nero intently once again.

    This time, the goddess'' red eyes glowed.

    [She''s literally staring at my soul, isn''t she?]

    "You''re not the little princess."

    "I am her twin brother, the current emperor of the Great Moonasterion Empire¡ª"

    "A male Roseheart," the Goddess of Misfortune said, amused. "Interesting. I can''t remember thest time I saw a male Roseheart. As the Goddess of Misfortune, it breaks my heart that your bloodline was doomed to live in misfortune. Not even my hands could reach you."

    "That''s not true, though?"

    "Huh?"

    "The ''misfortune'' that you mentioned already ended when my twin sister and I were born," Nero said bluntly. "Moreover, Neoma and I don''t depend on luck alone. If we did, we''d be dead by now."

    The Goddess of Fortune fell silent for a moment.

    He couldn''t see the goddess'' face, but he could tell that she was smiling under the mask.

    "Now I remember," the Goddess of Fortune said, nodding. "Child, don''t be offended. But I''d like to meet the little princess now. Can you bring her out for me?"

    Nero nodded. "That was the n anyway."

    ***

    ["NEOMA, let''s switch."]

    Argh.

    Neoma felt a bit dizzy after hearing Nero''s voice in her head.

    It didn''t help that it happened exactly the moment she blocked Helstor''s sneaky and cowardly attack.

    Even so, she still gave a response to her twin brother.

    ["Alright. But give me a moment. That bastard Helstor finally showed up."]

    Neoma made a gagging sound. To be fair, her stomach really felt funny after talking to Nero since theirmunicating while she was on ''earth'' while her twin brother was in the Upper World. Hence, there was bound to be some kind of recoil. However, she''d say she exaggerated a bit to annoy Helstor. "I''m sorry¡ª my stomach gets upset when I look at ugly, vile things."

    Helstor sneered at her. "As expected¡ª it''s you, Princess Neoma."

    "Not for long, though~"

    [It''s switch time!]

    Neoma, while still blocking Helstor''s ominous dagger with one hand, used her other hand to push Helstor.

    Of course, that was not a mere push.

    Arge amount of Mana was released from the palm of her hand¡ª pushing the bastard away from her.

    Then Neoma smiled and waved her hand. "Bye-bye."

    She then closed her eyes and stood still.

    Of course, she wasn''t worried that Helstor might attack her because she was standing still. After all, she trusted all the people around her.

    [Moreover¡­]

    Neoma didn''t have to close her eyes for long.

    "Neoma?"

    Oh.

    When Neoma opened her eyes, the first thing that she saw was Ruto''s handsome and neat face.

    She almost smiled.

    But she didn''t like the sticky feeling on her face.

    When she touched her ears, cheeks, and mouth, she almost screamed from frustration.

    "Oh my gosh!" Neoma yelled, still holding back. "What the hell did Nero do to my body?"

    "I''m sorry, babe," Ruto said, trying to pacify her. "You still look beautiful, though."

    Neoma was about toin when¡­

    "We met again, little princess."

    Neoma looked at the ''apparition'' in front of her.

    The beautiful goddess caught her attention, especially her pretty hair that looked like it was covered with beautiful four-leaf clovers.

    [She must be the Goddess of Fortune.]

    However¡­

    "Why are you transparent?" Neoma asked politely. "I thought I told Nero to summon you properly."

    The Goddess of Fortune shrugged. "Perhaps this is the limit of the little emperor''s ability?"

    She couldn''t believe that Nero slightly failed.

    [I honestly thought he could do it alone.]

    But perhaps, there was a reason why they were born twins.

    "That can''t be right," Neoma said, cutting her palm with her long and sharp nails. "The Twin Summoners can''t fail."

    ***

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 Chapter 968: BRING IT ON

    HANNA smiled while watching the citizens of the Great Moonasterion Empire get entertained by the flying Sea Serpent and Blue Whale above them.

    It was a sess.

    Thanks to the faith that their people had in her, everyone trusted her when she said that the Elemental Guardians were their allies.

    Now no one was really looking at the pce where Neoma (still possessing Nero''s body) was picking a fight with Calyx (still surrounded by the White Lion Knights even though Commander Ruto had already disappeared).

    But, to be sure, she put a very thin Shadow Veil around the pce.

    [With that, people can still ''see'' the pce. But they won''t really be able to see the fight happening inside.]

    "You did well, Hanna," her father, the former Duke Rufus Quinzel, said proudly while patting her back. "We''re so proud of you."

    Hanna smiled and nodded politely. "Thank you, Mother, Father."

    Her father stood in front of her while holding an umbre and keeping her mother safe from the rain.

    [I''m d they''re safe.]

    Hanna didn''t need an umbre since she was using a Shadow Veil on herself so that the rain wouldn''t touch her.

    [It will be hard to fight with a heavy dress, after all.]

    "What can we do to help, daughter?" her mother asked worriedly. "You''re working too hard, sweetie."

    "I''m fine, Mother," Hanna assured her mother with a smile, and then she looked around. "Can you guide the nobles inside the pce?" she asked, and then she turned to her father. "I put a Shadow Veil around the pce, Father. Only you can lift it since we share the same blood, so please guide everyone inside. Especially the Hazelden''s Royal Family."

    King Glenn, Queen Brigitte, Princess Monik, and Prince ude weren''t getting soaked by the rain because of the thin barrier around them. However, the members of the Hazelden Royal Family couldn''t keep their gazes away from Prince Skylus.

    [And it''s understandable, of course.]

    "Please let them meet Prince Skylus."

    Her father took a quick nce at the Hazelden''s Royal Family, and then he turned to Hanna again and nodded. "Leave it to us, daughter."

    "Are you going to stay here?" her mother asked worriedly. "Can''t youe with us?"

    "I have something else to do first, Mother. But don''t worry because I''ll be fine."

    Fortunately, her father gently convinced her mother to do her bidding.

    So, eventually, her parents approached the Hazelden''s Royal Family. After a quick exnation, the group finally entered the pce.

    [Good.]

    "Duchess Quinzel!"

    It was Duke Jasper Hawthorne, and he wasn''t looking at her.

    Hanna immediately followed His Grace''s trail of gaze¡ª then she saw it: the damned God of Eternal Darkness attacking an unmoving ''Nero.''

    [Did the twins switch already?]

    ***

    HELSTOR noticed it when Princess Neoma, possessing Emperor Nero''s body, suddenly fainted in the middle of the fight.

    He quickly took that opportunity to attack again after getting sent flying earlier.

    However, this time, another face blocked his attack by creating a barrier¡ª a barrier made from solid divine power.

    Haaah.

    "Lord Manu," Helstor said through gritted teeth, annoyed that even the Moon Priest was getting in his way now. "You''re only supposed to act as the new saint''s babysitter. Are you sure you want to fight me?"

    "No, of course not. How could I win against a sly god like you?" Manu said, scoffing. "However, I can stall time until either His Imperial Majesty wakes up, or¡­" the Moon Priest''s gaze went past him, and then he smiled haughtily. "Or help arrives."

    Manu didn''t have to say that.

    Helstor already felt the hostile presence behind him.

    When he turned around, he wouldn''t say that he was surprised to see Lady Hanna Quinzel¡ª riding on a Soul Beast, throwing a dark spear at him as soon as their eyes locked.

    Tsk.

    Helstor raised his hands to block the young duchess'' attack. "Should I teach you how to worship me again, you young Quinzel?"

    ***

    CALYX knew it was his turn to help Helstor.

    Callisto de Luca sent him there to be an ally to the God of Eternal Darkness, hence he was willing to put his life on the line.

    It was something he had to prepare for when dealing with a de Moonasterio.

    [Whether it''s Princess Neoma or Emperor Nero, I''ve already learned not to underestimate either of the two.]

    However¡­

    "You''re not going anywhere, Calyx de Luca."

    "I''m not a ''de Luca,''¡ª I''m a de Moonasterio," Calyx said, correcting Duke Jasper Hawthorne who had the audacity to block his way. "Get out of my way, Duke Hawthorne. It will be embarrassing for me to fight a small fry like you."

    <"What the fuck is this ugly bastard saying?">

    It wasn''t Duke Jasper Hawthorne.

    The one who showered Calyx with insults was the Sea Serpent floating above them.

    But, almost immediately, the gigantic beast was covered in a blinding light¡ª causing him to close his eyes forcefully. Of course, he immediately forced his eyes open since it was dangerous to keep them closed in the middle of a fight.

    What greeted Calyx was an angry duck in the young duke''s arms.

    [I don''t have the ability to understand Spirits. But the fact that I can understand him clearly must mean he''s letting me hear him on purpose.]

    <"I''ve lived long enough to confidently say that you''re the ugliest de Moonasterio I''ve seen! You should be ashamed to call yourself as one! This fucking ugly bastard doesn''t know his ce. How dare you call my new master a small fry, huh? Come at me, you little bitch! I''ll make you cry until you realize that you''re nothing but a¡ª mmmh!">

    The duck finally stopped yelling when Jasper Hawthorne closed its beak gently.

    "You''ve heard him," Jasper Hawthorne said calmly despite being insulted by Calyx earlier. "We''ll make you cry, Calyx de Luca."

    Calyx clenched his hands tight. "And I''ll make you call me a de Moonasterio after this, you foolish young duke."

    ***

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 Chapter 969: OA & NONCHALANT

    BLERGH.

    Neoma finally understood why Nero made her body bleed while summoning the Goddess of Fortune.

    The same thing happened to her.

    [Am I a disgrace to the Rosehearts?]

    Neoma received proper training from her mother¡ª the Mona Roseheart¡ª on how to summon Spirits and gods.

    William, her reluctant mentor, also taught her a thing or two about Summoning.

    But she was often toozy to follow the proper procedures.

    [Like I said before, I''m the type to throw the manual and fix or build things by solely following my gut feeling.]

    Summoning a god was different, though.

    Hence, Neoma was forced to create a magic circle using her Roseheart Blood.

    And that was when things got ugly.

    She coughed up a huge chunk of blood.

    Her ears bled because of the loud ringing in her head.

    She got a nosebleed.

    And she even cried tears.

    "Ruto."

    "Yes?"

    "Don''t look at me," Neoma said in a cracked voice. "I''m a mess right now. I don''t want you to see me in this state. You only have to remember me when I''m at my prettiest."

    "Neoma, you''re not dying so this won''t be thest time I get to see you."

    "How do you know I''m not dying?! Can''t you see that my beautiful face is covered in blood?"

    "You told me not to look at you."

    Oh, right.

    But she didn''t want to admit it when she was wrong.

    [Only for petty things, just to be clear.]

    "You''re so annoying, Ruto. You used to pacify me every time I throw a tantrum. But you''re acting so nonchnt right now," Neoma said, sulking. And then she turned to Ruto even though she just said that she didn''t want him to see her face a moment ago. But what could she do? She was feeling dramatic at the moment.

    "You don''t love me anymore, do you?"

    Ruto just remained ''nonchnt'', and then he gently caressed her blood-covered face. "I love you, Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio."

    Oh, okay.

    That was enough to melt her anger away.

    Even though Ruto looked indifferent, the love in his pretty dark purple eyes and voice were both sincere.

    It calmed her down immediately.

    "Are you done with your dramatic moment?"

    Oh.

    Neoma turned to the Goddess of Fortune, and then her face beamed. "You''re finally here¡ª the real you."

    The Goddess of Fortune was no longer transparent.

    However¡­

    "I thought gods are giants in their real form," Neoma said curiously. "But you''re just, like, around 190cm? It''s pretty normal."

    "Silly child," Goddess of Fortune said,ughing softly. "We''re here at the Upper World. Gods only take the form of a giant when they descend to the human world in their real form."

    Oh, right.

    She got confused for a moment and forgot that she was already in the Upper World.

    [After all, I was just facing Helstor a moment ago.]

    "It''s been a while since we''ve seen each other, little princess," the Goddess of Fortune said, smiling. "So, why did you summon me?"

    Right.

    Neoma turned to the other goddess behind the Goddess of Fortune.

    The Goddess of Misfortune was suspended in the air¡ª crucified by Ruto''s arrow lightning bolts.

    [She looks terrified of the Goddess of Fortune.]

    Neoma turned to the Goddess of Fortune. "My twin brother''s soul was cursed by the Goddess of Misfortune. Can you get rid of it?"

    "Aww," the Goddess of Misfortune said, tilting her head to one side. "Unfortunately, the Goddess of Fortune doesn''t favor anyone. Luck is luck, after all."

    "Nah, you''re wrong."

    "Excuse me?"

    "You will help me," Neoma dered boldly. "Because I have an offer you cannot resist."

    The Goddess of Fortune raised an eyebrow. "Let''s hear it first."

    ***

    TSK.

    Hanna clicked her tongue inwardly while avoiding Helstor''s ''hands.''

    Those little hands were made of Dead Mana and poisonous dark miasma. When those hands touched her Shadow Beast earlier, her Shadow Beast almost died even though it was already dead.

    Hence, she was forced to make her Shadow Beast return to its world.

    So, right now, she was forced to use her new technique.

    And that new technique was making a pair of hawk wings with her Shadows.

    "You''re starting to get annoying, young duchess," Helstor said, sneering. But although he was sneering, it was clear that he was starting to get annoyed for real. "I don''t want to kill you because your blood as a Quinzel is precious, but you leave me with no choice."

    Hanna stopped flying around when Helstor withdrew the little creepy hands that were trying to grab her earlier.

    She was now suspended in the air, trying to prepare herself for the god''s next attack.

    The God of Eternal Darkness stood on the railing of the balcony, creepy-looking miasma with hundreds of eyes oozing from his feet. Then the ck smoke¡ª studded with hundreds of rolling eyes¡ª started to climb up to his legs.

    Hanna felt a chill down her spine.

    Helstor was preparing to kill her with one blow, and she could feel it.

    [Will my Shadow Veil enough to block his attack?]

    Hanna wasn''t sure, but she still raised her hands and began creating a shield.

    [If pushes to shove, I know that Lord Manu and Prince Skylus will help me create a stronger shield.]

    Moreover, her father was there.

    [Everything will be alright¡ª oh.]

    Hanna''s eyes widened in shock when a sharp and shining de was pierced through Helstor''s chest.

    It was the Holy Sword.

    [Calypso!]

    And the owner of that Holy Sword¡­

    Hanna let out a sigh of relief. "Nero."

    ***

    WHEN Nero opened his eyes, the first thing that he saw was Hanna suspended in the air while in the middle of creating a barrier.

    And she was doing that to prepare to block Helstor''s attack.

    [That bastard has finally shown up, indeed.]

    Nero gripped Calypso tighter, and walked towards Helstor quietly¡ª ignoring the shocked look everyone was giving him.

    And then he casually stabbed Helstor from behind with the Holy Sword.

    "Your Imperial Majesty," Helstor greeted him when he looked over his shoulder. The bastard god smirked, blood dripping at the corner of his mouth. "Didn''t your father teach you that it''s shameful for an emperor to stab an enemy from behind like a coward?"

    "I wouldn''t know because it was Neoma who raised me and not my father," Nero said casually, twisting the de of the Holy Sword to hurt Helstor even more. "And Neoma taught me it''s okay to use dirty tricks if the opponent is an irredeemable scum like you."

    ***

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 Chapter 970: COIN FLIP

    "LET''S PLAY a game," Neoma said confidently to the Goddess of Fortune. "If the coin flips in my favor, you''ll do what I want."

    The Goddess of Misfortune raised an eyebrow. "And if the coin flips in my favor?"

    "Then I''ll offer my services to you for free," she said, still unfazed. "I''m sure even you yearn for clean air to breathe. I bet you already know that I can give you that."

    "The rumor about you being a living Aether has already spread in all worlds."

    ''In all worlds.''

    [That''s a scary thing to hear.]

    "I''ve heard that gods¡ª both minor and major¡ª are all dying to get you to get rid of the impure air in their domains. Moreover, I''ve also heard that you ask for hugepensation," the Goddess of Fortune said. "And yet you''re saying you''re offering your services to me for free?"

    "Well, deep inside, I''m a good person."

    The Goddess of Fortune suddenly burst outughing. "Little princess, if you''re a good person, then Helstor might be a saint."

    Wow.

    Why the hell was she being roasted?

    Neoma, offended, turned to Ruto for some emotional support. "Babe, I''m a good person, am I not?"

    "You don''t have to be a good person, Neoma," Ruto said bluntly while gently patting her head. "You''re already fine the way you are."

    "Bullshit."

    "No good personmits mass murder or scam people whether it''s justified or not, babe."

    "¡­"

    Ruto cleared his throat and avoided her sharp gaze. "You have pretty privilege so it''s okay."

    Only then did Neoma smile. "Right? My beauty justifies my wrongdoings, and I''m beautiful so I deserve to be forgiven."

    Of course, they were only kidding around.

    [Pretty privilege exists and I have it, but that doesn''t justify all the wrongdoings I''ve done.]

    Neoma also knew that she didn''t deserve to be forgiven.

    [But it''s nice to hear Ruto say those things to me.]

    "Children these days really say all the weirdest things."

    Oops.

    [As usual, I almost forgot about the Goddess of Fortune.]

    "What''s your decision, ma''am?" Neoma asked politely, pulling out a gold coin from her pocket. "Should I flip the coin?"

    "Very well," the Goddess of Fortune said, nodding. "I will not use my power to make it fair, so let''s test your luck, little princess."

    ***

    NERO pulled out the sword after making sure that Helstor was hurt enough.

    Calypso, the Holy Sword, was a weapon that was made to defeat both humans and gods. That was why it was the weapon that served as the Imperial Family''s symbol.

    [Because the de Moonasterios are known to be the gods among men.]

    "Your Imperial Majesty is lucky that we''re hidden behind Hanna Quinzel''s Shadow Veil," Helstor said, sneering. "The citizens of the Great Moonasterion Empire will be disappointed if they saw you attacking an enemy from behind like a coward."

    "Well, unfortunately for you, I''m good at keeping my image clean," Nero said, snapping his fingers. "Zeru,e out and grab the trash."

    Zeru, his Ice Phoenix, appeared above Helstor.

    And then his Soul Beast grabbed the God of Eternal Darkness by the cor using its ws.

    "Hah!" Helstor scoffed at Nero. "Do you think you can contain me here?"

    "Yes, I can."

    The God of Eternal Darknessughed as if he found what Nero said ridiculous.

    However, his smile immediately vanished.

    "What''s wrong, Helstor?" Nero asked. It was his turn tough at the god''s face. "You can''t leave, can you?"

    Helstor''s face darkened while ring at Nero. "What did you do?"

    "Nothing. But you made a terrible mistake."

    "I did?"

    "You signed a contract with my twin sister, didn''t you?"

    "I read and checked the contract more than twice before signing it!" Helstor argued sternly. "This can''t be happening because of the contract!"

    "Are you stupid?" Nero asked,ughing. "Why would you sign a contract with the greatest scammer on the continent without, at least, using a device that checks if the contract was tampered or not?"

    The God of Eternal Darkness looked bbergasted.

    [And I''m not done yet.]

    "But then again, even if you used such a device, the one who made the contract was Trevor Kesser¡ª the greatest Sorcerer in the world," Nero said,ughing at the dumbfounded look on Helstor''s face. It made him want to annoy the god even more. "Your first mistake is thinking that Neoma is an honorable Imperial Princess, Helstor."

    ***

    NEOMA''S ear was itching.

    [Nero is probably talking shit about me again.]

    Unfortunately, she didn''t have time to worry about her twin brother talking behind her back.

    Her eyes wereser-focused on the coin that she had just tossed in the air.

    She couldn''t control her strength that much, so the coin ended up getting tossed really high¡ª high enough to start a conversation while waiting for the coin to descend.

    "Mydy, you choose first," Neoma said confidently. "Is it the crown or the lion?"

    Those were the two sides of the coin¡ª the crown and the lion that both symbolized the de Moonasterion Imperial Family.

    "Brave of you to make me choose first, but I shall humor you, little princess," the Goddess of Fortune said, putting her hands on the hips. "I choose the lion."

    "Very well," Neoma said, putting her hands on her hips¡ª mimicking the goddess. "The crown is mine, and rightfully so."

    The Goddess of Fortune just chuckled.

    It was the end of the conversation anyway since the coin was free-falling from the sky fast.

    Neoma caught the coin in one swift movement. "Moment of truth. Are you ready, mydy?"

    The Goddess of Fortune nodded. "I am¡ª I love games that test one''s luck."

    "Me, too," Neoma said, putting the coin on the back of her hand. "I love games that test my patience. If I lose here, I''m gonna go feral."

    It was a joke that only Ruto found funny.

    [My man is so supportive.]

    "That''s not good, little princess," the Goddess of Fortune. "One must learn how to ept losing gracefully. You can''t win all the time."

    "While I agree with you, mydy, I have to say that this is a battle I can''t afford to lose," Neoma said, removing her hand covering the coin. And then she smiled. "I''m truly the main character of this world."

    Ruto gave Neoma a small smile while gently patting her head. "Of course, you are."

    "As you can see, it''s the crown," Neoma said, showing the winning side of the coin. "Do you wish to contest the results?"

    "No, I don''t think you cheated," the Goddess of Fortune said. "I rarely lose in games that determine luck, so this is quite an interesting experience. You must be a very lucky person, little princess¡ª enough to beat the Goddess of Fortune herself."

    "Fortune favors the prepared," Neoma said, shrugging. "And I''m always prepared to win."

    The Goddess of Fortune looked surprised by what Neoma said, and then sheughed. "You''re right, little princess."

    "Then do you officially ept your defeat, mydy?"

    "Yes, I lost."

    "Really? It''s rare for a god to ept their defeat without throwing a tantrum."

    "I favor people who don''t solely depend on luck."

    "That''s great," Neoma said, smiling. "Then will you remove the curse on Nero''s soul?"

    The Goddess of Fortune curled her finger. "Bring the little emperor here."

    Hmm?

    [I wonder if this is the right time to switch?]

    "Alright," Neoma said, pressing a hand on her ear. "Let me check on my baby brother first."

    ***

    NERO stepped on the railing, the ice phoenix suspended above his head while still carrying Helstor as if it was holding onto prey that it didn''t want to let go.

    It was a perfect timing to get the people''s attention first.

    After all, the rain was already about to stop.

    "Duchess Quinzel," Nero said, addressing Hanna by her formal title because they were at work. "Lift the Shadow Veil."

    Hanna, who was standing beside him, bowed her head politely. "As you wish, Your Imperial Majesty."

    Nero just nodded, and then he turned to Lord Maru and Prince Skylus¡ª his focus on the young prince. "Your Royal Highness, we''re going ahead with Neoma''s n now. Are you ready?"

    Skylus nodded politely. "I''m ready, Your Imperial Majesty."

    "Lord Maru?"

    "I''m also ready, Your Imperial Majesty," Lord Maru said while nodding. "I know Lord Yule will forgive us for this scam."

    "It''s not a scam, Lord Maru," Prince Skylus protested. "Princess Neoma said it''s called a ''white lie.''"

    "My prince¡­"

    Nero ignored Lord Maru and Prince Skylus'' bickering when the Shadow Veil was finally lifted. "Everyone."

    Just one word from him was enough to catch everyone''s attention.

    The people who were enjoying the rain all turned to him.

    Of course, everyone was shocked to see Zeru¡ª the gigantic ice phoenix¡ª carrying what looked like a ''monster'' in the form of a human.

    [Helstor''s human form isn''t pretty, after all.]

    And he nned to use that against the God of Eternal Darkness.

    "Everyone, this is the false god that some of you worship after getting tricked into believing that the Moon God has already abandoned the empire and the Imperial Family!" Nero said, raising his voice to appear passionate about his speech. He pointed the pointed de of Calypso¡ª the Holy Sword¡ª at the helpless Helstor. "Worshipping this false god will bring you nothing but tragedy!"

    It was fear-mongering.

    And it was the same tactic that Helstor and the crows did.

    [We''re just letting them taste their own medicine.]

    "Worry not, my beloved citizens!" Nero said firmly. "I, Nero de Moonasterio¡ª your emperor¡ª will save your poor souls by striking down the false god!"

    ["Nice speech, bruh."]

    Huh?

    Nero was a bit startled after hearing his twin sister''s voice ringing in his head.

    Neoma?

    ["Let''s switch, Nero!"]

    ***

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 Chapter 971: THE HIDDEN CLAUSE

    WHEN NERO opened his eyes, he was back to Neoma''s body. "Put me down."

    That was directed to Commander Ruto.

    It was because he ''woke up'' in themander''s arms.

    [Neoma probably fainted when we switched.]

    Commander Ruto carefully put Nero down (and he was probably being careful because it was Neoma''s body). "Wee back, Your Imperial Majesty."

    Nero ignored Ruto as he focused on the goddess in front of him. "It seems like my twin sister''s business with you is finished."

    "It''s really fun to watch you Imperial Twins switch as if it''s natural," the Goddess of Fortunemented. "The little princess beat me in a game that determines luck."

    Really?

    Neoma won against the Goddess of Fortune?

    It wasn''t like he was doubting his twin sister''s ability.

    However¡­

    "You''re literally the Goddess of Fortune," Neromented. "Did you let Neoma win?"

    "The little princess wasn''t born lucky, but she turned her misfortune into opportunities," the Goddess of Fortune said, smiling as if she was proud of Neoma. "I favor people like that over people who are born lucky. After all, most people who have all the luck in the world tend to take it for granted. However, people like the little princess don''t trust their luck.

    Hence, they end up working hard the most."

    "Are you saying hard work beats luck?"

    "Hard work isn''t enough¡ª but consistency is," the goddess said. "To be honest, it''s hard to beat luck. There are people out there who were born lucky just because. You can say your twin sister is special."

    Heh.

    Nero smiled proudly.

    [Of course, Neoma is special.]

    "The little princess doesn''t have tremendous luck, but when she wants something, she attracts all the positive forces in the universe to give her what she wants. Shemands everything around her to move ording to her will because of her tough mindset and tenacity," the Goddess of Misfortune said, talking as if she was a mentor who was proud of her student.

    "That''s greater than any luck in the world, and that''s why I lost to your twin sister''s very simple game."

    "It seems like you don''t regret losing to Neoma."

    "The little princess never prayed to me¡ª even in her lowest," the Goddess of Fortune said. "As a de Moonasterio and a Roseheart, she has the qualifications to summon me whether she knows it or not¡ª just like what you two did.

    But even after summoning me, the little princess asked me to y a game with her knowing that luck is on my side as the literal Goddess of Fortune instead of asking for my power. That, alone, was fun."

    Ah.

    So, the goddess let Neoma win because she found the game fun.

    [Well, as long as Neoma won, everything is fine.]

    "The little princess asked me to remove the curse carved into your soul as her prize for winning the game," the Goddess of Fortune said, extending her hand. "Come here, little emperor¡ª I''ll remove the mark of misfortune on you."

    [Since Neoma trusts this god¡­]

    Nero stepped forward. "Please make it quick¡ª I have to stop Neoma from going feral while using my body."

    ***

    "BWAHAHAHA!"

    Neoma couldn''t help butugh like a hyena while looking at Helstor who couldn''t move while being carried by Nero''s ice phoenix like a prey that he was.

    Of course, she knew very well why the God of Eternal Darkness couldn''t move.

    Helstor kept his mouth shut while looking at Neoma coldly.

    [He''s angry.]

    Neoma actually had a shiver down her spine despite Helstor''s silence.

    [I bet he has already tortured and killed me in his head one hundred times.]

    "It''s you, isn''t it?" Hanna, who appeared behind Neoma, asked. "Control your expression, Neoma. The emperor would look like a lunatic if you continue acting that way."

    Oh, right.

    [I''m inside Nero.]

    Neoma immediately stoppedughing and put a serious look on her face as she addressed the citizens looking at her. "Everyone, this is the false god who created a fake religion to trick you into abandoning the Moon God!"

    She was just going along with the bullshit that Nero spouted earlier.

    But, technically, it wasn''tpletely nonsense.

    "Witness how I punish the false god!" Neoma said, raising Calypso. "This is what happens to anyone who dares to trick my people¡­.!"

    Oh, fuck.

    Neoma was d that she didn''t stutter.

    It took her all she had to ignore the burning pain in her hand.

    [This damned Holy Sword!]

    Calypso was rejecting Neoma!

    The damned Holy Sword was trying to freeze her hand.

    Neoma grabbed the handle tighter. "Calypso, I know that I''m not your master. But you have to help me this once. And remember how I died because of you in the first timeline? Yeah, I''ll forgive you for that if you stopped being a royal pain in the ass right now."

    Fortunately, the Holy Sword stopped trying to freeze her hand.

    [I would have been forced to use my me to melt the ice if Calypso didn''t back down.]

    "Thank you, Calypso," Neoma said when the ice around her hand finally melted. "Now help me strike down the viin." She then looked up at the ice phoenix above her. "Zeru, drop the garbage."

    Zeru let out a noise simr to what birds make before dropping Helstor.

    Neoma then raised her free hand, catching the God of Eternal Darkness inside an invisible barrier that caused him to get suspended mid-air.

    Then she jumped in the air, stepping into cube-like barriers that she used like a staircase.

    She couldn''t use her wings because Nero didn''t have them.

    [Gosh. It''s hard to restrict myself like this. I don''t even like using swords.]

    Neoma had no choice but to use Calypso, though¡ª stabbing Helstor in the chest.

    The God of Eternal Darkness coughed up blood, but the sneer on his face let her know that this wasn''t over yet.

    [Of course, he wouldn''t die even if he was stabbed by the Holy Sword.]

    But that was enough to give the people of the empire a good show.

    It was a delight when Helstor started to emit smoke as if he were being burned.

    [No¡ª he''s probably getting burned for real since Calypso is a Holy Sword infused with the Moon God''s divine powers.]

    Neoma then faced the people. "The false god has been punished!"

    And then the huge crowd cheered as the sky finally cleared.

    [Splendid timing.]

    ***

    "DON''T BE afraid to admit that you''ve been tricked by the false god into abandoning the Moon God. Our new saint, Prince Skylus, will lead us to beg for Lord Yule''s forgiveness through prayer."

    After Lord Manu''s speech, Prince Skylus stepped forward and closed his eyes while sping his hands together.

    "Lord Yule, please have mercy¡­"

    [Everything is going smoothly.]

    Hanna was satisfied to see that the people in the za had already calmed down.

    After Neoma''s show of killing the ''false god,'' Lord Manu and Prince Skylus immediately took over.

    It was all ording to Neoma''s n.

    [Prince Skylus will lead the prayer, and then he''ll talk about the ''false god''ter in order to stop the innocent and gullible citizens from joining the fake religion that the crows created.]

    "Where''s the emperor, Duchess Quinzel?"

    It was Duke Jasper Hawthorne who approached Hanna after she left the pce to check on the citizens.

    "Was it the emperor?" Duke Jasper Hawthorne asked awkwardly. "I saw His Imperial Majesty''s expression when heughed earlier, and I thought it wasn''t a face that Emperor Nero would make¡­"

    "It was Neoma," Hanna said, sighing while shaking her head. "She brought Helstor to her training ground."

    ***

    NEOMA knew that a stab from Calypso wouldn''t easily kill Helstor.

    [Gods have several vital organs, after all.]

    However, it was still annoying to see the God of Eternal Darkness alive and kicking.

    After the shy ''show'' that she ''performed'' earlier, Neoma dragged Helstor to her pce. To be precise, to the training ground.

    And it was the same ce where ''that'' thing was.

    "A terrarium, I see," Helstor, who was now free from the barrier, said while looking up at the terrarium where Larissa was ''resting.'' The wound on his chest had already stopped bleeding, and his heart was probably repaired already or something. "Is that what you''re nning to do to me?"

    "Don''t be silly," Neoma said, crossing her arms over her chest. "I''ll torture the hell out of you before I kill you."

    "What did you do to me?"

    "I haven''t done anything to you yet."

    "You know what I''m talking about, Princess Neoma," Helstor said, facing Neoma with a nk look on his face. "No matter how much I try, I can''t leave. My teleportation skill has been sealed."

    "Try to make a guess."

    "Emperor Nero said it has something to do with the contract we signed."

    "You failed to disrupt Nero''s coronation day, so I won."

    "I know¡ª but what does it have to do with my situation?" Helstor asked, obviously frustrated. "ording to the contract, if you won our bet, then the war between us will officially begin."

    "So, you didn''t really see it."

    "See what?"

    "The hidden use in the contract," Neoma said, absolutely enjoying the moment as she realized that she and Trevor had sessfully scammed Helstor. "My lord, the hidden use says that if you lose, I get to decide where to send you for the war¡ª and you cannot leave the Imperial Pce until I give the specific location of the battlefield I chose."

    ***

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 Chapter 972: DISHONORABLE

    [A few days ago¡­]

    "TREVOR, I n to provoke Helstor and trick him into signing a contract with me," Neoma said while tapping her fingers on the table. "I have a feeling that Helstor will show up in the empire before Nero''s coronation day. In fact, I won''t be surprised if we find out that he''s already here with his minions."

    "That''s what I''m thinking as well, Princess Neoma," Trevor said, tilting his head to one side. "But why do you need Helstor to sign a contract?"

    "Helstor appears whenever he wants to, and disappears every time he gets his ass kicked."

    "Right¡ª he''s a major god, and yet he acts like a cockroach."

    "Helstor is indeed like a cockroach, and that''s exactly why we can''t underestimate him," Neoma said bluntly. "The cockroach is aproven survivor. You know, most researches believe that the roach''s fossil record dates back to approximately 300 million B.C or something."

    "Ah, yes. You''re getting side-tracked again, my Moon Princess."

    "It was your fault for bringing up an interesting topic."

    "Ah, yes," Trevor said, obviously holding back hisughter. "It''s my fault, Princess Neoma."

    Neoma just rolled her eyes and went back to their original topic. "Anyways, we need to literally bind Helstor to the pce. My pce, to be exact."

    "Helstor won''t sign a contract if his freedom is at stake, my Moon Princess."

    "Oh, Trevor. My sweet summer child."

    "Princess Neoma, you already have so many ''children,'' so please don''t add me to the list."

    "Do you know about hidden uses?"

    Trevor paused for a moment, and then he suddenly burst outughing. "My Moon Princess, are you nning to scam a literal god? That''s sphemy!"

    "Yes, and?"

    Once again, Trevorughed while hitting the table with his hands. "It won''t be easy to deceive a god, but I think I can put a hidden use or two and hide them with my sorcery. But how do you n to make Helstor sign a contract with you, Princess Neoma?"

    "By pissing him off."

    "Oh."

    "And giving him an offer he can''t resist," Neoma added, leaning against the chair while crossing her arms over her chest. "I''m confident that I can provoke Helstor to sign a contract with me, so don''t worry about that part. My expertise is pissing off my enemies."

    "Right. Please exin how you want the hidden use to work, my Moon Princess."

    "If I win, I''ll dere an official war against Helstor."

    "A war."

    "Yes, a war," Neoma confirmed while nodding. "And I want you to put in the hidden use that I get to decide where to send Helstor for the war. Hence, he can''t leave the Imperial Pce until I give the specific location of the battlefield. Can you do that for me, Trevor?"

    "Of course, my Moon Princess," Trevor said, bowing politely towards Neoma. "Your wish is mymand."

    ***

    TREVOR suddenly froze, and then he coughed up blood.

    A huge chunk of blood, to be precise.

    "Are you dying?"

    Trevor raised his head to re at Lewis. "You sound like you want me to die."

    Lewis just remained emotionless while looking at him with cold eyes.

    [Yep, this boy doesn''t care even if I suddenly dropped dead.]

    "You can''t die yet," Lewis said bluntly, pointing a finger at the Abyss. "Not until we''ve purified that ce yet."

    The Abyss was just a vast field with dead soil, dead grass, and dead trees.

    At first nce, it looked the same as the Unholy Land.

    However, there was a difference in the amount of corruptness between the two.

    The Unholy Land could be salvaged.

    But the Abyss looked like a lost case.

    "Everyone is doing well¡ª you don''t need me here to supervise your work," Trevor said while wiping the blood off of the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. "And Paige Avery can lead you better than I can."

    "You''re leaving?"

    "Princess Neoma won her bet against Helstor, and the effect of the contract that they signed is now in ce."

    That was the reason Trevor coughed up blood.

    After all, it was his power that was binding Helstor to the Imperial Pce.

    He overpowered the God of Eternal Darkness because the god wasn''t aware of the hidden use.

    [But it''s only a matter of time before Helstor realizes that I''m the one binding him to the Imperial Pce. Once he finds out about it, he''ll definitely resist and fight back. I don''t think I can win against him in my current state.]

    However, Trevor had a way to ''power up'' quickly.

    "Are you going to where Princess Neoma is?"

    "Nah, I''m gonna have a feast."

    Lewis knitted his eyebrows, obviously confused.

    Trevorughed at the fox boy''s reaction. "I need another heart in order to use more sorcery."

    [Gods have several organs because they help them gain more power, so the sorcerers before me have applied the same tactic in order for us to have arger Core.]

    And that was exactly why he didn''te out of his workshop for so long.

    It just so happened that Trevor had a spare heart of a power sorcerer somewhere.

    ***

    "AND THAT was how we ended up tricking you, Helstor."

    "Hah," Helstor said, scoffing at Neoma''s confession. "Aren''t you ashamed of your petty tricks, Princess Neoma? This is unbing of an Imperial Princess like you."

    "I don''t feel the urge to y fair when the enemies are ying dirty from the start," Neoma said, shrugging. "Fuck around and find out, I guess."

    "All of this just to start a war?"

    "Yep, and it worked."

    "How brave of you to start a war at such a young age, little princess."

    "I''m not brave," Neoma said sincerely. "I''m honestly scared as fuck at the moment."

    "What?"

    "I''m afraid of starting a war," she said, still being honest. "Contrary to what you think of me, I''m not a crazy bitch who enjoys starting a war just for the heck of it. Fortunately, I still have the heart to care about my citizens. After all, they''ll be the ones suffering the most. But I can''t let you bastards roam around freely anymore."

    "I didn''t expect you to be this honest with me, Princess Neoma."

    "Right? I''m such a good-hearted person."

    Helstorughed at Neoma''s sarcasm. "Have you chosen the battlefield? A fight between you and me should be held on a big stage."

    "Oh, don''t worry about that, Helstor," Neoma said, smiling. "I''ve already chosen where your grave would be, and I chose well."

    ***

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 Chapter 973: YES, AND?

    NERO suddenly felt light.

    He wasn''t in his own body, and yet he could feel his soul getting rid of the stupid curse carved into it.

    The Goddess of Fortune ''stabbed'' Neoma''s chest earlier, her hand passing through his twin sister''s physical body. And then the goddess'' hand grabbed Nero''s soul that was inside that shell. That was how the Goddess of Fortune began removing the curse in his soul.

    [Neoma''s decision to summon the Goddess of Fortune was correct.]

    Nero was actually just nning to leave his curse alone since he thought it wasn''t a big deal when they were about to start a war.

    But he realized how stupid he was.

    "It''s done," the Goddess of Fortune said, pulling her hand out of the ''hole'' in Neoma''s chest. "I''ve sessfully removed the curse carved into your soul, little emperor."

    "I can tell," Nero said, putting a hand over Neoma''s chest to make sure that the hole was truly gone. Fortunately, it was. "You did well, mydy."

    "Will it kill you to show your gratitude a bit more sincerely, little emperor?"

    "Neoma is better than me at doing things like that."

    "That seems to be the case," the Goddess of Fortune said, putting a hand on her hip. "Is that it? Is this all you want from me?"

    "I believe so," Nero said, looking up at the sky. "That thing has been quiet ever since you were summoned here."

    By that ''thing,'' he actually meant the Goddess of Misfortune.

    The god known as the ''Lady Doom'' was still suspended in the air, Commander Ruto''s thunderbolts pierced through her shoulders keeping her crucified there.

    "Ah, it''s natural," the Goddess of Fortune said while looking up at the Goddess of Misfortune who looked like she would faint at any time. "My presence is too overwhelming for Lady Doom. I bring luck wherever I go, and that''s exactly what''s killing the poor Goddess of Misfortune at the moment."

    [The Goddess of Fortune brings luck wherever she goes?]

    Aha.

    So, that was it.

    Nero smirked when he finally realized the big picture that Neoma painted. "My twin sister really ys dirty."

    "It''s called ''hitting two birds with one stone,'' Your Imperial Majesty," Commander Ruto said defensively, obviously defending Neoma''s honor. "Moreover, all is fair in love and war, sp Your Imperial Majesty can''t say that Neoma is ying dirty."

    ***

    "ALL WE need now is a divine corpse."

    Mona heard what the Goddess of Life said.

    Although she was relieved that they were halfway done with the small Garden of Life, she was still a bit worried.

    "Will Larissa''s body be enough?" Mona asked worriedly. "I know that she used to be a goddess. But Neoma''s child is going to be born a full god, so I''m afraid using one god as a fertilizer might not be enough to help my grandchild."

    "The little one is still a seedling," the Goddess of Life said. "All we need for now is to provide adequate soil for him to recover. We can worry about the restter."

    Ah.

    [That makes sense.]

    "Mona?"

    "Yes, my love?" Mona asked as she turned around. She found Niki walking towards her with a serious look on his face. "What''s wrong?"

    "I feel a strong force headed this way," Niki exined, standing next to her as he wrapped an arm around her waist protectively. "It''s a familiar aura, but I wanted to make sure that it won''t hurt us."

    Only then did Mona feel the strong force that Niki was talking about.

    She felt dumbfounded.

    It wasn''t like she thought her husband was inferior to her.

    However, Mona couldn''t believe that Niki felt it first before she did.

    [Am I too focused on my conversation with the Goddess of Life? Or are my senses getting weaker and slower for some reason?]

    Thetter was worrying.

    "My love, is everything alright?"

    Mona was just about to assure her husband that she was alright, but she got a bit distracted when she felt it first this time¡ª the strong force plummeted to the ground, creating a small crater.

    Fortunately, it didn''t hit the part of thend that they were turning into a small Garden of Life.

    "Greetings, Your Majesties."

    Oh.

    It was Trevor, but something was strange with him.

    The Sorcerer was paler than usual, and his dark purple eyes were glowing.

    [He looks unstable.]

    "Trevor, is everything alright?" Mona asked worriedly. "Were you hurt from trying to cleanse the Abyss?"

    "I''m not hurt, Your Majesty," Trevor assured her even though he was having difficulties breathing. "Please don''t worry about me¡ª I''m fine."

    Mona wanted to say that Trevor didn''t look fine, but her husband beat her to it.

    "You don''t look fine to us, but we won''t press you for details," Niki said bluntly. "You came here in that poor condition, so there must be something important that you need to tell us. Say it now and get treated as soon as possible."

    Aww.

    Mona could feel Niki''s concern for Trevor.

    [I''m d he''s not ''bullying'' a child who''s obviously in pain.]

    "Please get ready to leave, Your Majesties," Trevor said in a serious tone. "I will bring you there soon."

    ''There.''

    [He must be talking about the battlefield that Neoma chose.]

    Which also meant¡­

    "Neoma and Nero won against Helstor," Niki said, relieved and proud. "Is that right?"

    Trevor nodded, giving them a small smile. "Princess Neoma is currently dealing with Helstor but, yes, the Imperial Twins won the bet."

    Mona let out a sigh of relief. "Then we must finish the Garde of Life as quickly as possible."

    ***

    NEOMA walked towards Helstor, and it was obvious that she made the god quite nervous.

    If someone approached her the way Helstor approached her, she''d be wary, too.

    [I''m d my presence is enough to scare him off.]

    "Helstor, let''s get this done and over with," Neoma said, grabbing Helstor by the cor. Of course, her body was covered with Coat¡ª her divine barrier dedicated into protecting the user''s body and only hers. "It''s time for you to pay the price for losing the bet."

    A magic circle appeared below their feet.

    Of course, it was a magic circle created by the one and only Trevor Kesser.

    It got activated the moment Neoma demanded Helstor to pay the price for falling into their scam¡ª er, losing the bet.

    That magic circle would serve as an instant portal.

    [And Helstor knows that.]

    Helstor, who also knew he couldn''t get away with her anymore, only smirked and closed his eyes. "See you on your grave, Princess Neoma."

    ***

    HELSTOR knew that Princess Neoma would start the war in a ce where no innocent humans would get dragged into it.

    However, he didn''t expect the sted Imperial Princess to choose this ce!

    He was shocked when he realized where he was as soon as he opened his eyes.

    "Are you serious, Princess Neoma?" Helstor asked the real Imperial Princess in disbelief. "You chose the Upper World as the theatre of war?!"

    Princess Neoma raised an eyebrow at him. "Yes, and?"

    ***

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 Chapter 974: THEATRE OF WAR (1)

    [A few days earlier¡­]

    "WHAT do you think, Ruto?" Neoma asked Ruto¡ª not as her lover but as the veteranmander of an army. "Is my n feasible?"

    "It''s not," Ruto said bluntly. "Asking for other people''s permission isn''t your style, Neoma."

    "Hey, I still have my manners."

    "Is my divine father the type of person who deserves your politeness?"

    "Well, I still need the owner''s permission if I want to use his house, right?"

    "I am the sessor of the homeowner," Ruto said. His face was nk, but his voice was a bit yful than normal. "You can just ask for my permission."

    "You''re just a sessor for now¡ª you don''t own your father''s properties yet."

    "Except I do. Not everything, but a huge part of it," he said, crossing his arms over his chest. "I even own a vast, emptynd in the "countryside" of the Upper World."

    Hmm?

    There was only one ce like that in the Upper World.

    [It''s like the Abyss of the Upper World, if I remember correctly.]

    "You own the Chosen Land now?" Neoma asked, raising an eyebrow. "Yah. That used to be my residence in the first timeline."

    "Exactly why I asked Lord Levi to give it to me as soon as I awakened as a God yer," Ruto exined. "I wanted to take care of your property in order to return it to you someday. But don''t you think it''s the most suited ce for the war?"

    "It is, but isn''t it polluted right now? I remember I had to clean up the entirend before I built my mansion there."

    "I tried to clean it up, but I''m not as good as you. I''m sorry."

    "It''s alright. You did your best," Neoma said, gently patting Ruto''s cheek. "Thank you, babe. I''ll take care of the rest."

    Ruto nodded, then he held her hand and kissed the palm of her hand.

    Aigoo.

    "You''re seducing me," Neoma said, teasing Ruto. "Babe, do you know that Mama Boss and Papa Boss were my age when they conceived¡ª"

    Ruto covered Neoma''s mouth with his other hand, his face red from embarrassment. "Don''t seduce me, Neoma. This isn''t the right time and ce for¡­ for what you''re thinking."

    Tsk.

    Neoma removed Ruto''s hand that covered her mouth. Of course, she was that adamant to tease him since they rarely had time to spend with each other. She had to make the most out of it by being yful, yes. "How do we know if we''repatible in bed¡ª"

    "You already know that we''re verypatible in that aspect, don''t you?"

    [Hehe.]

    She grinned like an idiot when she remembered that the older Neoma had told her that Ruto was a beast in the sheets.

    [My man is really the perfect match for me.]

    "Why are you being impatient, Neoma?" Ruto asked nervously. "Am I making you feel lonely because I''m always busy with work? I leave your side too often, don''t I?"

    "No and yes," Neoma said, her honesty obviously made Ruto a little sad. "It''s true that you''re always away because of your duties, but you never made me feel lonely. Plus, I''m also too busy to sulk."

    "Even so, I still feel sorry that I''m almost never by your side."

    "You''re always there when I need you the most, and that''s all that matters to me."

    "I''ll make it up to you as soon as everything is over, Neoma."

    Pfft.

    Neoma let out a softugh. "You talk as if our win is certain."

    "We will win because we have the strongest people in the world as our allies."

    Oh, that was true.

    "You don''t have to carry the burden by yourself, Neoma," Ruto said, cupping her face between his hands. "We will win this time."

    Neoma smiled and nodded. "So, will you let me use the Chosen Land as the battlefield for the final war?"

    "Of course."

    "Then it''s settled."

    "Neoma, you haven''t forgotten the proper way to start a war, right?" Ruto asked carefully. "Whether you like it or not, we have protocols to follow since Helstor is a major god. You can''t do it as you did in the first timeline."

    In the first timeline, she just snapped and went on a killing spree.

    [But it was only because I was alone back then.]

    This time, she had precious people to protect.

    "I get it¡ª I won''t be reckless this time," Neoma said, nodding. And then she paused for a moment. "Before I dere war with Helstor, I should help Nero get freed from the curse of the Goddess of Misfortune."

    "It seems like you already have an idea about how to deal with it."

    "I got a clue during myst conversation with Helstor and the Goddess of Misfortune."

    "What?"

    "The Goddess of Misfortune can''t win against the Goddess of Fortune."

    "You''re going to summon the Goddess of Fortune?"

    "Nero is better at Summoning than I am since his Roseheart Blood is thicker than mine, so I''m thinking of asking him to do the job."

    "That sounds like a good idea," Ruto said firmly. "Can I help you with anything?"

    "Just keep an eye on the Goddess of Misfortune," Neoma said, giving Ruto a kiss on the cheek. "I''ll deal with Helstor while you and Nero take care of her."

    ***

    [Present¡­]

    RUTO stared at the Goddess of Misfortune who was suspended in the air¡ª unmoving, barely breathing.

    He remembered hisst conversation with Neoma about the Goddess of Misfortune and Fortune. As expected, Neoma''s expectation was turned into reality. And her n to summon the Goddess of Fortune to get rid of Nero worked.

    Her n to let the Goddess of Misfortune die naturally also worked.

    [The Goddess of Fortune is literally sucking the life out of Lady Doom.]

    "Ah."

    Hmm?

    Ruto unconsciously moved when Emperor Nero, still possessing Neoma''s body, almost copsed.

    Nero clicked his tongue, and then he closed his eyes. "This better be thest switch for today."

    It seemed like it would really be thest switch between the Imperial Twins.

    Ruto carried the unconscious Neoma in his arms.

    It only took a moment before she opened her glowing red eyes again.

    [It''s my Neoma.]

    "Babe, get ready," Neoma said in a serious tone. "I brought Helstor here."

    Ah, so it really worked.

    Neoma and Nero switching back and forth did seed.

    [Not that I ever doubted Neoma.]

    Ruto nodded, relieved that Neoma hade back safely. "It''s happening, huh?"

    ***

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 Chapter 975: THEATRE OF WAR (2)

    "COMMANDER Lewis, how do we proceed now that Trevor Kesser has left?" Paige asked Lewis. She noticed that the fox boy frowned, and that made her smile a little. "I know you don''t like the word mander'' because it reminds you of Princess Neoma''s lover, but that''s your title, Commander. Our Order has been official for quite some time now."

    Juri, who heard their conversation,ughed. "Oh, Commander. Are you still jealous of Commander Ruto?"

    Lewis just frowned further.

    "Hey, don''t put him down," Jeno scolded Juri. "Lewis is the strongest among us, but he''s still a child. Princess Neoma is his first love and first heartbreak, so don''t tease him." He then turned to Lewis and tapped his back awkwardly. "It''s alright, Commander. I''m sure you''ll find the right person for you soon."

    Lewis knitted his eyebrows, obviously starting to get irritated.

    Paige only watched the kids in amusement.

    [They''re cute.]

    "Hey, you''re the one who''s putting ourmander down," Juri teased Jeno. "You suck at consoling our poormander."

    "Shut up."

    Pfft.

    [They''re going to get married soon, and yet they still fight like children.]

    "What is that?"

    It was Xion.

    Everyone turned in the direction that Xion pointed.

    "I-It''s moving," Greko said nervously, gulping. "The Abyss is moving."

    The Abyss was just a ''burned''nd with dead soil, dead trees, dead everything.

    But the scariest thing about the Abyss was the ck ashes that were spread everywhere.

    [Apparently, that is the Abyss.]

    And the ck ashes were starting to move, creating a mild twister.

    "Everyone," Lewis said firmly. "Wear your masks."

    "Yes, Commander."

    Everyone did as theirmander said.

    Paige, who was leading the group when it was about purifying, observed the Abyss move.

    [It doesn''t look like it''s about to turn into a full twister.]

    Moreover, Trevor didn''t say that it would.

    What the Sorcerer said was¡­

    "The Abyss will take the form of the strongest person that we''ve met ording to our collective memory," Lewis said, looking straight at Paige. "Isn''t that what Trevor said?"

    It was rare for Lewis to talk this much, but it wasn''t surprising.

    [After all, Princess Neoma asked him to be more expressive if he wants to continue leading us.]

    "Yes, Commander," Paige said, nodding. "Apparently, the reason the former Empress Mona and Queen Tara lost to the Abyss before is because the Abyss took the form of the Cosmic Tree. They lost because the Abyss hadpletely copied the Cosmic Tree''s abilities."

    Lewis let out a sigh. "Then the Abyss might turn into Princess Neoma."

    Everyone nodded in agreement.

    [After all, we all think Princess Neoma is the strongest person we''ve met.]

    "Brace yourselves, everyone," Lewis warned their group. "The Abyss might take the form of Princess Neoma, but it''s not Princess Neoma."

    "I''m d I''m not an attacker," Greko "whispered," but everyone heard him anyway. "I don''t think I can attack Eomma even though I know it isn''t really her."

    Everyone flinched at the child''s words.

    After all, it was true.

    [Lewis may act tough, but I''m sure he''ll be the one who''s going to hesitate the most when it''s time to attack the fake Princess Neoma. As the oldest one here, I have to lead the group if ourmander wavers.]

    Paige was sure Princess Neoma would understand.

    "Huh?"

    The loud confused expression came out of everyone''s mouth.

    After all, the Abyss had finally taken its final form.

    The ashes slowly vanished¡ª revealing the new form of the Abyss¡­

    ¡­ but it wasn''t the person they expected.

    "Commander Ruto?" Paige asked in disbelief. "Did we all unconsciously decide that Commander Ruto is the strongest person we''ve met and not Princess Neoma?"

    "Oh, no," Juri said, cing a hand over his chest. "I feel like I''ve betrayed Princess Neoma."

    Jeno and Xion both nodded in agreement, and both were also frowning as if they couldn''t ept that they all betrayed Princess Neoma by collectively thinking that Commander Ruto was the strongest.

    "I-It''s okay!" Greko said, obviously trying to cheer them up. "I''m sure Commander Ruto is just a tiny bit stronger than Eomma! Just a little bit! And isn''t it a good thing that we''re not going to fight something that looks like Eomma?"

    Paige was just about to agree with Greko, but then she realized that Lewis was no longer with them. "Where did he go¡­ oh."

    She trailed off when she found where Lewis was.

    Theirmander had already attacked the Abyss'' human form.

    Lewis, with a nk look on his face, kicked the fake "Commander Ruto" a kick on the face that sent the fakemander flying.

    Oh.

    "That kick was personal," Paige said,ughing. "Commander Lewis is so petty."

    ***

    HAAAH.

    Creating a portal left and right was actually taking a toll on Trevor''s body.

    He might be the best Sorcerer in the world. However, opening illegal portals in ces that a mere human like him shouldn''t be still wasn''t easy.

    [This body is about to break down.]

    To be precise, his heart was about to literally burst.

    After all, everyone who had Mana had their Core stored in their hearts.

    [The more I use Mana, the weaker my Core bes. And once the Mana stored in my Core gets depleted, the Core will burst. Of course, that includes his heart.]

    But he had no choice but to power through.

    And that was why Trevor was here now.

    By ''here,'' he meant Princess Neoma''s training room where the terrarium was.

    And¡­

    "What are you doing here, Trevor Kesser?"

    It was Emperor Nero.

    [The real one.]

    The young emperor was surrounded by his own knights.

    As expected, Emperor Nero''s knights were giving him suspicious looks.

    "I''m here because of Princess Neoma''s order," Trevor said, pointing at the terrarium where the fallen goddess was slowly dying inside. "I need to bury that thing."

    [Before my heart gives out.]

    "There''s something different about you, Trevor Kesser," Emperor Nero said while crossing his arms over his chest. "Why do you have the look of death on your face?"

    Ah.

    [Was it that obvious?]

    ***

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 Chapter 976: THEATRE OF WAR (3)

    LEVI, the God Among Gods, was forcefully awakened from his short slumber because of the strong presence of the unexpected guests in the Upper World.

    His divine son was there, and so was the arrogant de Moonasterion Princess.

    The two''s presence didn''t surprise him since those children had been treating the Upper World as their personal yground since time immemorial.

    However, the presence of three powerful gods shocked him.

    The Goddess of Fortune.

    The Goddess of Misfortune.

    And the God of Eternal Darkness.

    "Helstor''s soul and body are tied here," Levi whispered through gritted teeth, clenching his hands tight. "Neoma de Moonasterio, what did you do this time?"

    ***

    HELSTOR knew that Princess Neoma would start the war in a ce where no innocent humans would get dragged into it.

    However, he didn''t expect that the sted Imperial Princess would choose this ce!

    He was shocked when he realized where he was as soon as he opened his eyes.

    "Are you serious, Princess Neoma?" Helstor asked the real Imperial Princess in disbelief. "You chose the Upper World as the theatre of war?!"

    Princess Neoma raised an eyebrow at him. "Yes, and?"

    Haaah.

    The arrogance of a de Moonasterio was really something Helstor would never get used to.

    Moreover¡­

    [Princess Neoma is the most arrogant de Moonasterio born in history.]

    "I''m assuming you want an official war," Helstor said. He had no choice but to ept the fact that Princess Neoma hadpletely tricked him into doing what she wanted. However, it wasn''t toote to turn the table. "Do you know that we have a strict protocol to follow if you want to start a war among gods?"

    He assumed the Imperial Princess didn''t know much about the protocol since in the memories that he had seen, Princess Neoma just killed the gods without dering war.

    But he also assumed that Ruto, Lord Levi''s divine son, had already educated Princess Neoma on the matter.

    [After all, it looks like Princess Neoma came here prepared.]

    But that was the thing.

    [Princess Neoma is always prepared.]

    "I wouldn''t have brought you here without knowing a thing about war among gods," Princess Neoma said, crossing her arms over her chest. "I also know that we can''t start the war right away."

    "You have to be a god in order to dere war against a fellow god," Helstor said. "You haven''tpleted your Divinization yet, Princess Neoma." He nced at Ruto. "Is the young lord the one who''s going to dere a war against me in a formal manner?"

    "The war will begin in one or two months, depending on our agreement," Princess Neoma said,pletely ignoring all the things that he just said. "During that time, you''re not allowed to leave the Upper World. You can''t. After all, the contract that you signed with me will keep you stuck in here."

    He already knew that he couldn''t run away.

    [I have no intention of running away for now.]

    "Did you choose this ce because you didn''t want innocent humans to get dragged into this war?" Helstor asked, scoffing. "Don''t be na?ve, Princess Neoma. Even if I''m stuck here, a war will still take ce in the human world."

    Callisto de Luca would take the lead now that he was gone.

    "I know that," Princess Neoma said casually. "But that''s Nero''s business."

    Hmm?

    Helstor knitted his eyebrows. "Are you saying that you''re leaving Emperor Nero in the human world?"

    "Is that a problem?"

    "You said you know the protocol," Helstor said, confused. "Then you should know that before the two of us face each other in a fight, other people must fight on our behalf first."

    In a war between two gods, each side must choose their warriors.

    [There would be three rounds of fighting. Whoever wins two rounds out of three would win. Of course, in a setting like that, Princess Neoma and I will fight in thest round.]

    Hence, he expected that Princess Neoma would bring Emperor Nero as one of her warriors.

    [But she''s saying that Emperor Nero won''t join the fight?]

    "Gosh. Nero is the emperor of the biggest and the strongest empire in the human world," Princess Neoma said, scoffing. "Do you think he has time to fight two battles at a time?"

    "The rule says that the god who dered the war and the god who epted the invitation are obligated to fight thest round, granted that the fight doesn''t end in two rounds," Helstor said, extending his patience. "The rule also says that the two of us are allowed to bring in one human as our ''weapon'' during the fight.

    I thought it only makes sense that you''d bring your twin brother as your ''weapon'' during our fight."

    He then nced at Ruto.

    "Just so you know, the young lord can''t be your weapon since he''s no longer human."

    "I know," Princess Neoma said, smiling. "Don''t worry about my human weapon¡ª you should worry about yours. Are you gonna bring Calyx de Luca?"

    Helstor smiled bitterly while shaking his head. "Princess Neoma, you can''t trick me twice."

    "I''m tricking you?"

    "Let''s follow the procedure and n the fight properly," Helstor said, looking up at the sky. "The owner of the house is here, after all."

    ***

    TSK.

    Neoma clicked her tongue when the person she wanted to see the least finally made an appearance.

    Looking up, she saw the angry face of an old man too handsome for his age.

    "Neoma de Moonasterio, what are you up to this time?" Lord Levi asked in a very angry voice. He wasn''t yelling, but his voice still sounded angry. "How dare you decide to turn my kingdom into your personal battlefield without my permission?"

    "Father-inw, don''t be too angry," Neoma said, slightly hiding behind Ruto. "Your son gave me his permission, so I''m not trespassing."

    "My lord, I don''t need your permission to use my property," Ruto said bluntly. "But if you want tosh out at someone, then yell at me¡ª don''t scold Neoma."

    Aww. <3

    ***

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 Chapter 977: WAR ETIQUETTE

    TO HAVE tea with Neoma''s enemy wasn''t in her bingo card.

    [But here I am now.]

    Levi brought them to his manor.

    Neoma had no choice but share the same table with Helstor.

    Fortunately, Ruto was also there so she was calm.

    [My man''s presence is all I need to stop myself from going on a rampage.]

    Anyways, the Goddess of Fortune was ushered to a different drawing room.

    [With the Goddess of Misfortune.]

    Neoma wondered if the Goddess of Misfortune would survive in a room with the Goddess of Fortune.

    "A war," Levi said, putting down his teacup on the table. "Neoma de Moonasterio, you wish to dere war against Helstor officially?"

    "It''s ''Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio,'' Father-inw," Neoma said, correcting her future father-inw politely. "But, yes¡ª I wish to start a war with Helstor."

    "Only a god can start a war with another god."

    It was an issue that Helstor raised earlier.

    [But I ignored him because I don''t feel like exining to him.]

    However, she had to give Levi a proper response.

    "My Divinization has started, Lord Levi," Neoma said confidently. "I''llplete my transition before the war begins. But if you won''t allow it, then¡­"

    "I''ll do it, my lord," Ruto said. "I have the right to dere war against Helstor."

    "You will not," Levi said firmly. It was clear that he was opposed to his divine son starting the war. After all, the one who dered the war would be the one responsible for it until the end. "I will allow Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio to formally start a war with Helstor since she''s technically a god."

    [Father-inw is probably talking about the fact that I''vepleted my Divinization in the first timeline.]

    "Thank you, Father-inw."

    Levi just let out a frustrated sigh, and then he nced at Helstor. "You don''t have the right to decline the young princess''s invitation to war, Helstor. Based on the curse I see on you, you''re bound to the contract that you signed with her."

    "I know, Lord Levi. I have no intention to decline Princess Neoma''s invitation in the first ce," Helstor said calmly, and then he sipped his tea quietly before he spoke again. "However, I wish to exercise my right as a major god, and a god ranked higher than the little princess. I understand that I lost the bet, but I believe I still should be treated based on my status."

    Aigoo.

    [Losers can''t really ept their defeat neatly.]

    "Let''s hear it first," Levi said. "How do you wish to exercise your right as a major god?"

    Helstor nced at Neoma while answering Levi''s question. "First, I want a temporary ceasefire between the Imperial Family and the crows. You understand why I''m making this request, right? Princess Neoma?"

    "You need to choose your warriors among the crows the same way I need to choose my warriors among our allies," Neoma said. They both needed that temporary ceasefire, so she didn''t really protest. "But we need a definite schedule. We can''t dy the ceasefire for long."

    "That''s my second request. How about two months?" Helstor said, obviously scheming already. "Two months to prepare for a war is ridiculously short already. But since both of us have been prepared for this time, I''m certain two months is decent enough for a temporary ceasefire."

    To be honest, she agreed with Helstor''s decision.

    [Two months is short by human standards, but we''re not going to fight how humans fight. So, two months it is.]

    "That sounds great," Neoma said, nodding. "Anything else?"

    "I have ast request," Helstor said, putting down his teacup on the table. "Since I''m bound to this world until the war begins, I''d like to ask Lord Levi''s permission to allow my allies toe here. I need to train them in order to prepare them for the uing war. Hence, I need my own residence."

    Neoma wouldn''t say that Helstor was being demanding.

    [All his requests were reasonable.]

    "I''ll give you your old residence, but I can''t allow just anyone toe here," Levi said, pausing for a moment. "Limit it to five people and I''ll open the gates for your allies."

    "Thank you, Lord Levi."

    "We''ll be keeping an eye on you while you''re here," Levi said firmly while looking at Helstor coldly. "Moreover, keep this in mind: if you do anything that might harm the Upper World and my people, I''ll banish you and your allies."

    "I''ll keep that in mind, Lord Levi," Helstor said, and then he nced at Neoma while giving her a knowing look. "Let''s y fair this time, Princess Neoma."

    "I y fair when the game is fair," Neoma said, smiling at Helstor the smile that she knew he hated with a passion. "My attitude will depend on your attitude, Lord Helstor."

    ***

    "I WON''T die yet, Your Imperial Majesty."

    Nero raised an eyebrow at what Trevor Kesser said.

    [He said ''yet'' so casually.]

    "I really don''t care if you drop dead or something, but do it once you''re done serving Neoma," Nero said, crossing his arms over his chest. "What did my twin sister send you here for?"

    "I''m here to fetch the fertilizer," Trevor said, cing a hand on the terrarium where the dying former goddess was locked up in. "Princess Neoma asked me to bring this to your Imperial Father and Mother."

    Ah, for the Garden of Life.

    "Then how about the war?" Nero asked curiously. "Will you still be alive by then?"

    Trevor let out a slightly bitter chuckle. "Don''t kill me off yet, Your Imperial Majesty. Do you care about me or something?"

    "I just don''t want Neoma to get distracted by your death."

    "As I said earlier, I won''t die easily, Your Imperial Majesty."

    "How are you so confident?"

    "Gods are greater than humans because they have several organs to help them avoid life-threatening injuries," Trevor said, smiling mysteriously. "Your Imperial Majesty, would you like me to tell you how I n to extend my life?"

    "No, not at all," Nero said, waving his hand. "Just get out of my sight."

    ***

    ["HANNA, you can''t kill Calyx yet."]

    What a shame.

    Hanna was ready to get rid of the crow when she received Neoma''s message.

    But she didn''t focus on that because the Imperial Princess'' second message caught her attention more.

    ["And I need you."]

    She knew what Neoma meant by that exactly, but the way she phrased it was both funny and cute.

    Hannaughed softly. "Sounds like a confession to me."

    ***

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 Chapter 978: CHOICE

    NERO didn''t want to admit this.

    But Trevor Kesser was indeed a great Sorcerer.

    [I''m d he wasn''t around when I identallyplimented him.]

    Anyway, he watched the Sorcerer turn the gigantic terrarium into a small crystal ball that fit perfectly in his hand.

    [That''s not something an ordinary Sorcerer is capable of doing.]

    "I''ll be delivering this filthy thing to His and Her Majesties to the Spirit World," Trevor said. His words were polite, but his tone? Not so much. "Your Imperial Majesty, will you be alright being the only member of the Imperial Family left here in the pce?"

    Nero scoffed at the Sorcerer''s concern. "Who are you to worry about me? I''m fine and I''ll be fine. If you''re done with your business here, then scram. I have so many things to do."

    The Sorcerer just chuckled.

    [He looks fine when he''s acting like that. But if I have to guess, then I''d say the problem may lie in his heart. His Mana is unstable, and it''s definitely because his Core is now too weak and too small to handle the new power that he gained.]

    "Your Imperial Majesty, are you done checking on my condition?"

    "You better say your farewell to Neoma now before it''s toote," Nero said, waving his hand. "And tell my parents I said ''hi.''"

    "I will, Your Imperial Majesty," Trevor Kesser said,ughing softly while bowing towards him politely. "See youter."

    And, just like that, the Sorcerer had vanished.

    [It''s time to get back to work.]

    "Where is Calyx de Luca?"

    It was hectic switching with Neoma back and forth.

    He couldn''t really focus on Calyx de Luca.

    "Duke Jasper Hawthorne apprehended Calyx de Luca, Your Imperial Majesty," Sanford Devon reported to him. "ording to the message that Melvin sent earlier, Calyx de Luca is currently being guarded by Duke Jasper Hawthorne and Duchess Hanna Quinzel."

    Hanna?

    [Why does she keep on putting her life in danger for the sake of the Imperial Family?]

    Nero sighed while shaking his head. "Send a message to Duchess Quinzel and tell her to meet me at my pce."

    ***

    "WHY the long face, Duke Hawthorne?" Hanna asked worriedly when he noticed that the young duke didn''t look happy even after sessfully apprehending Calyx de Luca. "Thanks to you, we finally put Calyx de Luca in prison."

    To be precise, Calyx de Luca was currently knocked out inside the prison cell.

    Hanna and Duke Jasper Hawthorne slipped away from the public eye while Lord Manu and Prince Skylus started a prayer rally again.

    [The new saint is really working hard.]

    That was the reason Hanna and Duke Jasper Hawthorne were together in the prison under Nero''s pce.

    [This prison has the tightest security out of all the prisons in the Imperial Pce.]

    "I didn''t apprehend Calyx de Luca because I defeated him," Duke Jasper Hawthorne said bitterly. "He suddenly stopped fighting and let himself get knocked out. I saw him smirk as if he knew that even if we caught him, we still wouldn''t be able to kill him."

    Oh.

    "Did it look like Calyx de Luca received a message in the middle of the fight?"

    "That seems to be the case."

    "Then it probably has something to do with Neoma''s business with Helstor," Hanna said, trying to console the young duke. "I just received a message from Neoma telling me that we can''t kill Calyx de Luca."

    "¡­"

    That only seemed to make the young duke even more disappointed in himself.

    "Lord Jasper, don''t be too sad," Hanna said, addressing the young duke more casually this time. "I know you want to kill Calyx de Luca yourself. But if I get the chance to do it on my own, I''ll make sure I''ll avenge you first. How do you want me to punish the bastard?"

    Duke Jasper Hawthorne turned to her with a surprised look on his face, and then he suddenly burst outughing.

    Hmm?

    [Did I say something funny?]

    "I''m sorry to say this, but cursing doesn''t suit you, Lady Hanna," Duke Jasper Hawthorne said, still smiling widely while shaking his head. And, yes, he also addressed her casually this time. "I can clearly see Princess Neoma''s "bad" influence on you."

    It was Hanna''s turn tough softly because he knew he was only joking when he called Neoma a bad influence on her.

    [Lord Jasper would rather stab himself than insult Neoma in any way.]

    ***

    TSK.

    Lewis suddenly felt irritated for some reason.

    Well, the fact that the Abyss took Commander Ruto''s form was already annoying. But it seemed like his irritation wasing from something else.

    [I hope everything is fine in Princess Neoma and Lady Hanna''s end.]

    "Commander Lewis, you''re spacing out," Paige Avery said, patting Lewis'' back. Well, she tried to. In reality, her palm barely touched his back. "Have you figured out how we''re going to take that thing down?"

    The "thing" the mage was referring to was obviously the Abyss.

    Right now, the kids were attacking the fake Commander Ruto.

    Jeno Dankworth was shooting it with his double guns.

    Juri Wisteria was trying to hit it with her sledgehammer.

    Xion Redgrave was throwing poisonous dagger at it.

    And Greko¡­

    [He''s cheering everyone energetically.]

    Sadly, their attacks didn''t even put a scratch on the fake Commander Ruto who just kept on avoiding their attacks.

    However¡­

    "That thing is gathering its power slowly yet consistently," Paige Avery said, having the same observation as Lewis. "We have to figure out how to take it down before it starts fighting back. That thing looks like its trying to analyze the kids'' power and movements, hence it''s only defending for now."

    In short, the human form of the Abyss could think.

    "Does the Abyss only copy the form of the human it transformed into?" Lewis wondered out lould. "If it can think, then¡­"

    "Oh," Paige Avery said. As expected, she was quick-witted. It seemed like she had already realized what Lewis wanted to do. "This is why Princess Neoma always tells us to think outside the box."

    Right?

    ***

    "ARE YOU sure about that Neoma?"

    "What''s wrong?" Neoma asked Ruto while looking around her man''s bedroom. "Do you have ain about my decision?"

    "I was so sure you''d choose Lewis Crevan to be your "human weapon" for your fight against Helstor," Ruto said, obviously confused and curious. "Why that person?"

    Ah.

    [So, my man is curious about my thought process behind that decision.]

    But, honestly?

    Her reason was...

    Neoma shrugged casually. "Just because?"

    ***

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 Chapter 979: A HEARTY DECISION

    NEOMA sat on the edge of Ruto''s bed and then nodded approvingly. "The mattress is soft, babe."

    "Why are you sitting awkwardly?" Ruto asked, confused. "The bed is big, so why only sit on the edge?"

    "Because my clothes are dirty. I''m already breaking the ''don''t-touch-the-bed-with-your-outside-clothes rule'' here. My Asian ass is shaking."

    "It''s fine. I''ll just change the sheetster."

    "Are you sure?"

    "Yes."

    "Okay," Neoma said, lying on the mattress. And wow. Even the ceiling in Ruto''s bedroom was pretty. "Why do you have a painting of a full moon on your ceiling?"

    "Are you asking because you really don''t know?"

    "Nah. I just want to hear it from you."

    "Because the full moon always reminds me of you, Neoma."

    Heh.

    [As expected.]

    "Is it because it''s the most beautiful phase of the moon like I''m the most beautiful girl in your eyes?"

    "No¡ª the full moon reminds me of you because you''re always so full of yourself."

    Neoma got up and yfully red at Ruto. "Yah."

    Much to her pleasant surprise, Ruto suddenly burst outughing.

    Wow.

    What a nice thing to see and hear.

    [Ruto rarely gives a full smile, so seeing and hearing himugh out loud is fascinating¡­]

    Moreover¡­

    "Babe, youugh like a trust fund kid."

    Ruto slowly returned to his usual calm face. "What does it mean?"

    "Yourugh sounds expensive," Neoma exined. "If I was working as a car salesperson and I heard youugh as you enter our shop, I''d approach you before someone else does and treat you like you pay my sry. After all, a person with an expensiveugh would surely buy the most expensive car I rmend like it only costs peanuts."

    "Well, if you were the salesperson, I''d buy anything you rmend to me."

    Aww.

    "Ruto, when did you learn to be so smooth with your pick-up lines, huh?"

    "Well, I have to have a pick-up line or two when my girlfriend is the queen of overflowing charms."

    "Aigoo. Why are you buttering me up so suddenly?"

    Ruto remained silent.

    Instead of answering verbally, he just sat down next to her.

    And then Ruto hugged Neoma, pulling her closer to him.

    [Aww. Why is my man acting like a baby?]

    "I''m sorry, I can''t go to the Spirit World with you," Ruto said apologetically. "You''ll have to take care of our little Vitu on your own."

    Ah.

    [Is he feeling guilty about that?]

    "You have to stay here to keep an eye on Helstor," Neoma said, wrapping her arms around Ruto''s waist. "Plus, I''m sure the other gods are on their way here toin about me since I chose the Upper World as the final battlefield without asking for anyone''s opinion. You''ll have to deal with them on your own."

    "I''m used to dealing with them, so I''ll be fine."

    "You''ll also deal with the Goddess of Fortune and Goddess of Misfortune since I already need to leave," Neoma said, sighing. "I feel bad about leaving the most troublesome task to you. I''m sorry, babe."

    "Neoma, you don''t need to apologize for that," Ruto said, gently rubbing her back. "I''ll take care of everything here in Upper World, so don''t worry about me."

    "Okay. But if the Goddess of Beauty tries to seduce you again¡­"

    "I''ll reject her, as always."

    "And if she tries to touch you literally¡­"

    "I''ll tell you right away."

    "Very good," Neoma said, patting Ruto''s back. "I''ll take care of our baby Vitu and meet Nero after that, and then I''ll return here as soon as I can."

    "I''ll be waiting for you," Ruto said, kissing Neoma on the forehead. "Take care, Neoma."

    ***

    "YOUR MAJESTIES, I''vee with the fertilizer."

    Mona was surprised to see Trevor in that state.

    Physically, the young Sorcerer already looked like he was in a bad condition.

    But, aside from that¡­

    [His Mana is unstable.]

    "Trevor Kesser, did my daughter ask you to do your job at the expense of your health?" Niki asked sternly. "You know very well that my daughter won''t be happy if she sees you in that horrible state."

    "Don''t worry, Your Majesty," Trevor said politely. "I''ll be fine soon. I already have all the ingredients I need to make the "medicine" I need to improve my condition."

    "Who said I''m worried about you? How cheeky."

    Mona chimed in before Niki scolded the young Sorcerer even more. "Thank you for bringing the fertilizer with you, Trevor."

    "You''re wee, Your Majesty," Trevor said, bowing towards Mona politely. "The fallen goddess is still breathing, but she''s as good as a goner."

    "That''s perfect then. Herst few breaths would make the soil of the Garden of Life more fertile," Mona said, nodding. She knew she was being cold. But she didn''t have any sympathy for the goddess who caused Neoma and her child unbearable pain. "Will you return to the Abyss now?"

    "Lewis Crevan and the kids will take care of the Abyss after I gave them a hint of how to take it down," Trevor said, and then he looked up at the sky. "Princess Neoma''s business in the Upper World finished earlier than expected¡ª she''ll be here soon."

    ***

    NEOMA already expected Trevor to greet her as soon as she crossed the portal leading to the Spirit World.

    However, she wasn''t happy with how he looked while greeting her.

    Pale skin.

    Continuously glowing eyes.

    Unstable Mana.

    To say that she was angry while looking at his condition would be an understatement.

    [I knew he was pushing himself too hard!]

    "Trevor Kesser, quit now," Neoma said, clenching her hands tight. "I''m firing you as my Contractor. Go and rest somewhere nice after you hand in your resignation letter."

    "Princess Neoma, you may not need me as a man, but you know very well that you can''t fire me as your Contractor," Trevor said, letting out a hollowugh. "I''m sorry, but I can''t allow you to get rid of me, my Moon Princess."

    "When did I ask you to die for me?"

    "I''m not dying, my Moon Princess. Not until you ascend the throne, at least~"

    "Trevor, do I look like I''m in the mood to joke around?"

    Trevor fell silent for a moment, and then his face suddenly turned serious. "My Moon Princess, will you allow me to do it?"

    Neoma knitted her eyebrows, confused as to why Trevor suddenly looked serious. "Do what?"

    "Turn into a monster who eats another Sorcerer''s heart to extend his lifespan."

    Oh.

    ***

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    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 980: BEST FRIENDS FOREVER

    TO BE HONEST, Trevor had always known that his current body couldn''t contain the power that he received as the new Devil.

    No mere human could handle such power.

    [Not even a genius Sorcerer like him.]

    "I have to give up my humanity in order to be more powerful, my Moon Princess," Trevor said in a serious tone. "No¡ª I want to do it."

    "Why?" Princess Neoma asked. Her voice was stern, but it didn''t look like she was angry. "Do you really want to give up your humanity to be more powerful?"

    "My Moon Princess, both you and I know that I stopped being a human a long time ago."

    Before Princess Neoma freed him from the Underworld, he had already been stuck there for decades.

    Living for so long in Hell already made him a demon.

    And, now, he had finally received the power and the title of the Devil.

    All he needed to do now was to get rid of his human body.

    [But I want to do it with my Moon Princess'' permission.]

    "Do you need my permission?" Princess Neoma asked as if she could read his mind at the moment. "Is that why you''re saying all of this to me?"

    "I''ll still do what I n to do even if you don''t give me your permission, my Moon Princess."

    "Then what do you want from me?"

    "Assurance," Trevor said, his voice almost pleading. "My Moon Princess, I need the assurance that you won''t throw me away once I''m no longer human."

    "Are you going to be ugly once you be a full demon or something?"

    "Uhm, no. My appearance will remain the same. Only the insides will change since I n to reorganize my guts and my vital organs¡­ wait," Trevor said, pausing for a moment. And then he burst outughing. "Is that all that matters, my Moon Princess? All I need is to stay handsome and you won''t abandon me?"

    Princess Neoma scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Of course. You should know by now that I''m obsessed with pretty faces."

    Of course, he knew that.

    [And I also know that my Moon Princess is only joking.]

    Admittedly, Princess Neoma was vain. She also liked pretty people, but it didn''t really matter because everyone was pretty in her eyes as long as they were good people.

    In short, even if Princess Neoma was vain, she wasn''t shallow.

    [And that''s just one of the things that I love about my Moon Princess.]

    "Trevor Kesser, I don''t have the right to judge you," Princess Neoma said in a serious tone. "Even though I''m wearing a very beautiful human skin, we both know that I can''t be called a decent person. I have blood on my hands, and I''ll have more after the war. So, you don''t need to worry about my opinion. You''ll always be Trevor in my eyes."

    And that was all he needed to hear.

    "I have one condition, though."

    "What is it, Moon Princess?"

    "Don''t lose your humanity," Princess Neoma said firmly. "I know you''re not a good person, but you''re not evil either. And I hope you stay that way. You don''t need to be a saint¡ª just don''t hurt innocent beings. Can you promise me that?"

    "That sounds fair," Trevor said, shrugging. "I''ll be good as long as you hold my leash, my Moon Princess."

    "Crazy bastard."

    "Don''t you already know that, Princess Neoma? I''m crazy for you~"

    Princess Neoma rolled her eyes, and then she opened her arms. "Come here."

    Trevor''s eyes widened in shock, and then he stepped backwards as if he was afraid. "Princess Neoma, you can''t do this. If you hug me now, I''m afraid I might scoop you and kidnap you and take you somewhere not even Commander Ruto could find you¡ª"

    "You know you can''t and won''t do that," Princess Neoma said, cutting him off. "Come here. This is the first andst time I''ll offer to give you a hug. If you don''t want it, then say it clearly. I won''t force my hug on you."

    "My Moon Princess, you''re very cruel," Trevorined half-heartedly, but his feet were light as he walked towards the Imperial Princess. "This is Your Imperial Princess'' way of formally turning me down, right?"

    Instead of answering verbally, the Imperial Princess just pulled him for a hug.

    Wow.

    Trevor blushed when he realized how soft Princess Neoma was despite her tough attitude.

    And, damn.

    [Princess Neoma always smells good.]

    Trevor didn''t want to have these kinds of thoughts, too.

    But what could he do?

    [I''m hopelessly in love with my Moon Princess.]

    "Trevor Kesser, no matter what form you take, I''ll still ept you with open arms," Princess Neoma said in a gentle and sincere voice while patting his back. "You''re my best friend."

    Ah.

    He was friend-zoned.

    To be honest, he wasn''t surprised because it wasn''t the first time the Imperial Princess had turned him down.

    But, this time, Trevor knew that Princess Neoma was officially rejecting his love.

    [I know that Princess Neoma doesn''t love me romantically, but it still hurts more than I thought it would.]

    Even so¡­

    "It''s an honor to be your best friend, my Moon Princess," Trevor said, wrapping his arms around Princess Neoma''s body while closing his eyes tight. His heart was aching, and although he was in pain, a part of him was still happy. "I''m d my first love and my first heartbreak was you, Princess Neoma. After all, you''ll always be worth the pain."

    Princess Neoma fell silent for a moment.

    And then he felt it.

    His Moon Princess cried in silence while patting his back.

    He felt bad that the Imperial Princess cried for him because her tears were precious.

    But a part of him was happy that she shed tears for him.

    "Thank you for loving me, Trevor," Princess Neoma said in a cracked voice. "And I''m sorry for breaking your heart."

    Trevor smiled, but tears rolled down his face in silence.

    [I don''t and will never regret loving you, Princess Neoma.]

    ***

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 Chapter 981: PRISONER OF WAR (1)

    "WELCOME back, Neoma¡­ oh."

    Neoma smiled despite Mama Boss'' awkward greeting.

    It was clear that her mother was happy to see her.

    But it was also obvious that her mother noticed her swollen eyes.

    "I''m fine, Mama Boss," Neoma said. And since only her parents were there to greet her, she gave them an honest exnation. "Trevor and I just had a heart-to-heart conversation."

    Papa Boss looked like he wanted to say something about it.

    But the quick-witted and empathetic Mama Boss elbowed Papa Boss "subtly" before he could say anything.

    [Mama Boss is really the heart of our family.]

    "Is everything okay between you and Trevor, sweetie?" Mama Boss asked worriedly. "I don''t see him¡­"

    "Trevor has some important business to attend to, Mama Boss," Neoma said. She tried to sound natural, but her voice still came out a little sad. "He won''t be joining us for quite some time. But he promised to return before the war begins."

    It would take time before Trevor could adjust to his new body.

    But, before getting a new body, Trevor had to do something that Neoma didn''t feel like sharing with her family or with anyone for that matter.

    [Trevor won''t mind, but his secret is not for me to share.]

    "The war," Papa Boss said. "Did Helstor ept your deration of war?"

    "He has no choice but to ept it since he lost to me, Papa Boss," Neoma said proudly. "But there are still a lot of things to settle. The only definite thing for now is that we''re likely to start the war in two months'' time."

    Her parents looked surprised.

    After all, two months were too short when it came to war preparations.

    "Trevor told us to get ready, so we already expect that we''ll have to go to the Upper World soon," Mama Boss said nervously. "Even so, I thought we''d stay there while preparing for war. Your father and I thought we had at least half a year to prepare."

    "Why the rush, Neoma?" Papa Boss asked worriedly. "You haven''t evenpleted your Divinization yet."

    Her mother nodded in agreement with what her father said.

    "I want to end it as soon as possible before Helstor recovers, Papa Boss."

    "Neoma, I know that you''re strong. But you''re not prepared yet," Papa Boss said firmly. "You''re not taking this war lightly, are you?"

    "I''m not that arrogant to take this war lightly, Papa Boss. After all, I''m betting not only my life but the lives of my people here," Neoma said firmly. "Mama Boss, Papa Boss, I have a n¡ª I''llplete my Divinization in two months. Please trust me."

    Mama Boss and Papa Boss exchanged looks before the two of them sighed.

    [Of course, they''ll cave in~]

    "We trust you, Neoma," Mama Boss said. "But please give us a full exnation of your n. Don''t hide anything from us."

    "Of course, Mama Boss."

    "Are you here to check on the Garden of Life?" Papa Boss asked, changing the topic. "Trevor Kesser delivered the fertilizer earlier, so the Goddess of Life buried it already."

    Oh.

    "I''mte," Neoma said, sighing. "I wanted to mock Larissa onest time."

    "The Goddess of Life told us that we can''t disturb her until she''s done burying the fertilizer, so your father and I waited for you here," Mama Boss said. "I''m not sure if you can go there while the Goddess of Life is working, sweetie."

    "It''s alright, Mama Boss. I''ll juste backter."

    "Later?" Papa Boss asked, knitting his eyebrows. "Where are you headed now?"

    "To the Imperial Pce," Neoma said, smiling. "I miss Nero."

    ***

    HMM?

    Nero looked around when he felt the shift in the air.

    He was having tea with Hanna in the drawing room when it happened.

    "What''s wrong, Your Imperial Majesty?" Hanna asked worriedly. "Is someoneing?"

    "I believe so," Nero said, nodding. "I feel Neoma''s presence."

    And he was right.

    Just a momentter, a portal literally opened up out of thin air.

    It was a portal that looked like a ck whirlpool.

    [It''s the one that Trevor Kesser created.]

    "Neoma," Hanna greeted Neoma with a big smile on her face. "You''re back."

    "I''ll only be here for a short time, so I''m d you''re here, Hanna," Neoma said, and then she turned to Nero. "Hey, you haven''t killed Calyx yet, right?"

    "I wanted to kill him right away, but Duchess Quinzel told me you need him alive."

    "Yeah. He''ll be a prisoner of war."

    "War," Nero repeated thest word he said, raising an eyebrow. "So, there will be a war."

    "Yes," his twin sister said in a serious tone that she rarely used. "The details are still up for discussion, but it''s almost definite that the war will begin in two months."

    Ah.

    That was too soon.

    [I know Neoma is impatient, but I still expected her to push for at least four months of preparations.]

    But if his twin sister said the war would start in two months, then¡­

    "You must have a n," Nero said. "What can I do to help?"

    "A lot, but let''s talk about thatter," Neoma said, and then she turned to the young duchess. "Hanna, can we talk in private?"

    Hanna turned serious, and then she nodded. "Of course, Your Imperial Highness."

    ***

    TO BE HONEST, Hanna was nervous.

    Neoma was rarely serious, so seeing the Imperial Princess with that look on her face scared her a bit.

    But only a little.

    [I know Neoma has a n.]

    "Hanna."

    "Yes?"

    "Will you fight with me in the uing war?"

    "You know you don''t have the ask, Neoma," Hanna said carefully. "I will fight with you."

    For some reason, Neoma didn''t look happy with her answer.

    [This Neoma is making me nervous.]

    "Even if it means fighting for me?" Neoma asked in a very serious tone. "Hanna, I''m asking if you''re willing to sacrifice your life for me."

    To say Hanna was surprised by Neoma''s question would be an understatement¡ª she was actually shocked.

    [Is Neoma testing my loyalty?]

    ***

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 Chapter 982: RIGHT-HAND WOMAN

    THE LAST thing Neoma wanted to ask her people was to fight or die for her.

    However, she didn''t have the luxury to uphold her principles in the uing war.

    [This is me fulfilling my promise that I''ll share my burden with them.]

    "Neoma, you know that I''ll do anything and everything for you since I know you''ll only ask me to do things for the greater good," Hanna said calmly. "However, I need context. I want to understand how I can help you better."

    As expected of the Hanna Quinzel.

    "In the first timeline, I learned that there''s a protocol that a god must follow when dering war against another god," Neoma began exining. "Since Lord Levi wants to avoid two gods shing as much as possible, he created a system called the ''Representatives'' Battle.'' As its name suggested, it''s a fight between the people or beings that support the gods who started the war.

    The Representative Battle has three rounds, and the first team to win the two rounds will be hailed the victor."

    "So, it''s possible the war will end in just two rounds."

    "Uh-huh. That was Lord Levi''s intention when he created that system¡ª he didn''t want two gods to sh since a fight between two gods usually ends in a catastrophe."

    "I''m one of the people you chose to be your representative. Is that it?"

    "I chose you for a more special role," Neoma said, and then she finally spilled the tea. "If we reach thest round, Helstor and I wouldn''t fight right away. As I said earlier, Lord Levi is really adamant about preventing a fight between two powerful gods. Hence, during thest round, each god is entitled to have one "human weapon" to fight for them."

    That was enough exnation.

    Hanna was smart and quick-witted.

    [I''m sure she already knows what I''m talking about.]

    "Why me, Neoma?" Hanna asked seriously. "If you need a "human weapon" to fight for you, why didn''t you choose Lewis? I''m not turning you down¡ª I''m just curious."

    "Ruto also said that he thought I''d choose Lewis."

    "Everyone who knows you would have expected you to choose Lewis since he''s the strongest among your "children.""

    "Lewis is undeniably strong," Neoma said, nodding. "But his abilities don''t match well with mine."

    Hanna tilted her head to one side. "Are you saying my abilities match well with yours?"

    "Why, of course. You also have the power to destroy the world, Hanna."

    "I do?"

    "The ck Hole."

    "Oh," Hanna said, a bit disheartened. "The skill that killed ended up killing me and my family¡­"

    "I need that skill, Hanna," Neoma said in a serious tone. "Let''s win this war together."

    ***

    "ARE YOU done talking to Hanna?"

    "Uh-huh," Neoma said, admiring herself in the mirror. "She already went home to prepare some stuff. Oh, she needs to talk to her parents. So, don''t summon the Quinzels in the meantime."

    After talking to Hanna, she went back to her room to take a quick bath and change clothes.

    That was how Nero found her twirling in front of the full-length mirror in her bedroom.

    She was admiring herself while wearing a pretty ck dress. Yep, she was wearing a funeral piece of clothing since she''d be attending to er.

    "Are you bringing Hanna to the Upper World?"

    "Later," Neoma said, turning around to face Nero. "I''ll go somewhere far with Hanna for our training."

    Nero raised an eyebrow at her. "You? Training? You''re already too powerful."

    "Well, I need toplete my Divinization in less than two months."

    "In two months? Are you crazy¡­" Her twin brother trailed off, and then he nodded. "Oh, yeah. You are."

    "Right? I wouldn''t have started a war if I was sane."

    "Is there anything else I can aside from protecting the empire?"

    "Where''s the old Emperor Nero?"

    "Huh?"

    "I know that the old Emperor Nero is still here," Neoma said, raising an eyebrow at Nero. "But I don''t see him anywhere. The ancient twins, too."

    Arche and Aruna de Moonasterio were nowhere to be seen.

    [But I can feel their presence in here.]

    Nero avoided her haze as if he was guilty. "Do I have to tell you everything?"

    "Aha. So, you''re up to no good," she teased her twin brother. "Hey, I remember. What was the deal with you whispering in people''s ear before?"

    She knew that it was a gift that Nero received from oveing his Lunacy before.

    However, he hadn''t told him about that specific ability that he gained.

    "Neoma, there are things that I can''t tell you even if we''re twins."

    "Ah. Then that must be an evil skill. It suits you well."

    "Is that apliment?"

    "Of course. Evil looks good on the de Moonasterios anyway," Neoma said, and then she approached Nero and whispered in his ear. "Hey, Nero. Why don''t you whisper this in Calyx''s ear while he''s staying in the pce as a prisoner of war?"

    And then she gave her beloved twin brother some idea.

    Nero smirked haughtily after listening to her, and then he swiftly change the topic. "Why are you wearing funeral clothes, my dear twin sister?"

    "You already know why," Neoma said, patting Nero''s cheek gently. "I''m gonna bury someone who should be long gone."

    ***

    NEOMA was once again indebted to Trevor even though Trevor wasn''t with her at the moment.

    After all, she used the portal in the Imperial Pce that was connected to the Spirit World.

    That was how she managed to return to the Spirit World in an instant¡ª just in time to witness the Goddess of Life finish burying the terrarium.

    Now, it was time for the most important part.

    [Vitu¡­]

    Neoma felt a pang in her chest when she saw the Goddess of Life holding the small ck Seedling in her palms carefully.

    "Little princess, do you want to nt your child with your own hands?" the Goddess of Life asked, looking up at Neoma with a soft look on her face. "You are this child''s mother, and you have the power to do so."

    "I would love to, but my hands are too dirty for me to touch an innocent life," Neoma said, smiling bitterly. "So, please nt my precious baby, ma''am."

    ***

    TREVOR locked himself up inside his Workshop.

    And, this time, he finally set Dn Crowell "free."

    He also fixed the crow bastard up, so he was good as new.

    "Why did you heal me?" Dn Crowell asked cautiously. "What are you nning to do now?"

    "What do you think?" Trevor asked, smiling. "I need you to be in a good condition for your heart to be useful to me."

    ***

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 Chapter 983: ETERNAL DAMNATION

    "IT''s done, little princess¡ª the Seedling is now safely nted in the Garden of Life."

    Neoma was relieved to hear that.

    It wasn''t like she didn''t trust the Goddess of Life. She simply wanted to make sure that her baby would survive.

    "What happened to Larissa''s body?" Neoma asked carefully. "Is she already gone for good?"

    "Larissa is already gone, little princess. Her presence remains, but that won''t be enough for her to recover. After all, her essence is being absorbed by the soil where the Seedling is nted. To simply say, Larissa has now be the source of life force for the poor being that she killed."

    She knew that she should be satisfied.

    [Justice has been served already. Larissa already paid the price for killing my baby in the past. But I''m still not satisfied.]

    Neoma, who had only been watching the Goddess of Life work from above, finally descended.

    She made sure not to step on the soil where the mini Garden of Life was.

    [I can feel Mama Boss'' Mana.]

    "Mona Roseheart''s Mana, as a Roseheart, made the soil fertile," the Goddess of Life exined. "It may not be enough to sustain your child''s life, but it''s more than enough to make sure that the soil where your baby grows will be good for him."

    "I can also feel Papa Boss'' Mana."

    "Your father, the previous emperor, gave his blessing to your child."

    Ah.

    To be honest, Neoma already expected that.

    And that''s exactly why I asked Mama Boss and Papa Boss to help the Goddess of Life recreate the Garden of Life here.

    As expected, she did well.

    "I will do my best to ensure that your child will survive, little princess," the Goddess of Life said in a trustworthy voice. "So, why do you still look dissatisfied?"

    "Can I curse her?"

    "Larissa?"

    "Who else?"

    "Little princess, is it really necessary to do that?

    "I hold grudges, mydy."

    "Are you not afraid of karma?"

    "Karma should be afraid of me."

    The Goddess of Lifeughed softly. "How do you n to curse Larissa?"

    "Eternal damnation in the hell I own," Neoma said, her eyes glowing red. "May Larissa never be reborn again and just continue suffering in the hell I''ll give her upon reaching the Afterlife."

    She said those harsh words with so much conviction that she was no longer surprised when her Pink Hellgate suddenly emerged from the ground.

    However, it was a petite version of her Pink Hellgate.

    [This one looks like a Pink Hellgate meant for a B*Brie doll.]

    Neoma almost questioned if she had gotten weaker.

    However, she could feel her own power enveloping the little gate.

    And the the gates opened.

    Oho?

    After that, a small bluish orb emerged from the Garden of Life¡ª only to be absorbed by the Pink Hellgate.

    [That must be Larissa''s soul or whatever.]

    Neoma''s thought was only interrupted when the Pink Hellgate let out a noise that seriously sounded like a burp.

    So, the Pink Hellgate must be full after eating Larissa''s soul.

    "It seems like you did it, Princess Neoma," the Goddess of Life said while sighing and shaking her head. "I hope you''re prepared for the karma that''sing to you for cursing a fellow god."

    "I''m always ready for my karma, mydy," Neoma said,ughing softly. "I will definitely not regret this."

    ***

    "NEOMA, how was it?"

    "The Goddess of Life did a splendid job, Mama Boss," Neoma said, smiling at her mother who looked worried about her. "Why are you making that face? My baby was nted safely."

    "We felt it, Neoma," her Mama Boss said carefully. "We felt it when your Pink Hellgate appeared."

    To be honest, she had almost forgotten about the Pink Hellgate.

    She only remembered about it when it appeared and absorbed Larissa''s soul.

    "Neoma, what happened?" Papa Boss asked in a serious tone. "Why did your Pink Hellgate appeared?"

    "It came out to absorb Larissa''s soul."

    Her parents didn''t look convinced by her exnation.

    Hence, she was forced to tell the truth.

    "I cursed Larissa, Mama Boss, Papa Boss," Neoma said, smiling bitterly as she saw how shocked her mother and father were. After all, cursing another god would surely earn her some bad karma. "But don''t worry¡ª I will never regret it because I hold grudges."

    And people who did would only find peace in wrath.

    [Forgiving isn''t our thing.]

    ***

    TO BE honest, Hanna was walking on eggshells around her parents.

    Well, it was easy to avoid her mother''s questioning gaze.

    That wasn''t the case for her father.

    And that was exactly why she was walking with her father in the garden of their mansion.

    The state of the empire was still chaotic.

    But Nero promised the Quinzels that he would let them rest in the meantime.

    [Neoma obviously asked Emperor Nero to do that.]

    "What''s going on, sweetie?" Her father asked carefully. "What did Princess Neoma tell you for you to say that you need me to help you master the concept of the ck Hole as soon as possible? I thought I already made it clear that you can''t have a shortcut when learning that technique."

    As expected of her father.

    To be honest, she didn''t want to hide the truth from him.

    "Father, I''m going to fight for Princess Neoma as her human weapon against Helstor," Hanna said firmly, her green eyes glowing in the dark. "I am informing you about my decision and not asking for your permission."

    She was ready for her father''s wrath.

    After all, even though she was the duchess now, she still had no right to make her father worry about her.

    And she shouldn''t be talking to him that way.

    However, instead of getting upset, his father suddenly burst out crying.

    [Oh, no!]

    "Father, please don''t cry!"

    ***

    MANU crumpled the paper in his hand.

    It was a letter that Princess Neoma sent to him via Emperor Nero.

    As expected, the letter was nonsense!

    "Crazy princess," Manu whispered through gritted teeth. "Why are all de Moonasterios born crazy?!"

    What kind of training regime was that?!

    [I only raise Soul Beasts¡ª not future gods!]

    ***

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 Chapter 984: CHEEKY CHILDREN

    "NOOO!" Greko yelled worriedly. "Noonas! Hyungs!"

    He witnessed his older siblings get struck by the fake Commander Ruto''s lightning bolts again.

    Yes, again.

    He couldn''t count how many times it had happened already.

    Whether his older siblings attacked the fake Commander Ruto individually or as a group, they would just end up getting struck by the fakemander''s lightning bolts.

    Fortunately, Paige Noona put a protective spell on all of them.

    That protective spell worked like Neoma Eomma''s Coat¡ª the barrier that wouldpletely protect the wearer from any kind of attack.

    Hence, the damage his older siblings received was lessened.

    [If not, they''d be dead by now.]

    "Noonas! Hyungs! Come back here!" Greko said. He had to yell because he was within safe distance of the fight. As always. "I''ll heal you!"

    It was his job as the group''s Support/Healer to stay safe so he could heal his family.

    He knew that it was important to keep himself safe. But although he understood the importance of his position as the Healer, he still couldn''t help but feel bad.

    After all, he was always protected by his family.

    [They still see me as a baby¡­]

    Greko''s gloomy thoughts were cut short when his older siblings suddenly appeared before him.

    [Paige Noona probably used a teleportation skill.]

    "My mist will hide for a short while," Jeno Hyung said between heavy breaths. He was bleeding from head to toe, and some part of his skin was burnt from the lightning bolt. And yet, he still forced himself to stand and extend his hands. A bluish mist came of his palms and enveloped them. "But the fake Commander Ruto is strong, so we need to hurry."

    Greko nodded immediately. "I understand, Hyung."

    He then closed his eyes tight.

    Potions worked slower than direct healing. Even if his older siblings took a potion now, it would take at least fifteen minutes to have its effect.

    Hence, direct healing was the best choice in that situation.

    Greko imagined they were inside a huge bubble, and then he filled that bubble with what he liked calling the ''golden dust.''

    It looked more like a sand, though.

    Actually, it reminded him of an hourss.

    [I can feel my healing power spreading around the ''bubble.'']

    Greko could also feel his older siblings getting stronger as minutes passed by. That was how he knew that his healing was working.

    No, it wasn''t technically ''healing.''

    ''Miracle.''

    That was what Neoma Eomma told Greko before¡­

    ["It''s not healing, Greko. I believe it''s more appropriate to call it performing a miracle."]

    ["What do you mean by that, Eomma?"]

    ["Healing doesn''t allow normal Healers to grow their patient''s severe limbs. But you can do that, can''t you?"]

    ["But only if I tried really hard, Eomma¡­"]

    ["And you always try your hardest to save people, don''t you?"]

    ["Oh."]

    ["Greko, you''re the best Healer I''ve met in all of my lives. You have the power that bad and greedy people would want to possess. Hence, your power also puts your life in danger. If you want to live a peaceful life, then you should quit now. The more miracles you perform, the more danger you''ll attract. I''ll take care of you even if you quit the Order, baby."]

    ["Thank you for worrying about me, but I love what I''m doing, Eomma."]

    ["Are you sure about that? This is a dangerous job for a baby like you, Greko."]

    ["Why would I be afraid? Eomma and my siblings will protect me, won''t you?"]

    ["When did you be cheeky, huh?"]

    ["Eomma is cheeky, so isn''t it natural for Eomma to have a cheeky "son?"]

    That day, Greko had the honor of seeing and hearing Neoma Eommaugh out loud.

    His eomma even hugged him tight¡ª earning the jealousy of his older siblings.

    "Oh, our maknae is smiling."

    Oops.

    Greko opened his eyes when he heard Juri tease him, making him blush. "Noona¡­"

    "Why are you smiling?" Juri Noona asked,ughing softly. "Are you happy that you healed us again?"

    What Greko performed was indeed a miracle.

    After all, his older siblings looked as good as new now. The golden dust that filled the area was still lingering in the air.

    Hence, making everything around them shine.

    [Eomma, I''m really good at this job so I can''t quit.]

    "I''m happy that I can protect my Noonas and Hyungs this way," Greko said, grinning. "I also remember the time that Eomma praised and hugged me really tight!"

    "Now he''s just bragging," Xion Hyung, who rarely reacted towards things he wasn''t interested in,ined lightly. "But thank you for healing us, Greko."

    His other older siblings thanked him one by one.

    Lewis Hyung, who rarely talked, put his hand on top of Greko''s head.

    Well, theirmander tried.

    Lewis Hyung hated skinship, so his palm actually just barely touched Greko''s head.

    But that was enough.

    [I''m already happy with Lewis Hyung''s effort to show his appreciation of me.]

    "I have a n," Lewis Hyung said. He looked at them one by one before his gaze focused on Paige Noona. "Paige, can you create a strong illusion?"

    Paige tilted her one at one side. "What kind of illusion, Commander Lewis?"

    "The illusion of the strongest person we acknowledge."

    ***

    NEOMA covered half of her face with her hand when she sneezed.

    Argh.

    [Of course, someone must be talking about me.]

    Gosh, it was really hard living as a famous person.

    "Sweetie, are you alright?" Mama Boss asked worriedly. "Do you want to rest for a bit before you go to your next appointment?"

    "I''m fine, Mama Boss," Neoma assured her mother. "To be honest, I''m debating whether I should go to the Abyss and help my children first. I trust them, and I know that they can take down the monster living there. But, as a mother, I can''t help but worry."

    "Your "children" must be having a hard time now. I don''t mean to discourage you, but the Abyss takes the form of the strongest person the intruders have met. That means your children might be fighting your mirage at the moment since you''re definitely the strongest person to them."

    "Then they''ll be fine."

    Her Mama Boss tilted her head to one side. "How do you say so?"

    "Because they know my weakness," Neoma said, smiling. "And they also know the weakness of the people around me."

    ***

    [IT WORKED.]

    Paige was amused and surprised that Commander Lewis'' n worked like a charm.

    Upon theirmander''s request, she created an almost perfect replica of Princess Neoma.

    And, now, the fake Commander Ruto hadpletely gone still.

    [It''s as if the fake Commander Ruto doesn''t have the heart to attack the fake Princess Neoma.]

    ***

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 Chapter 985: THE PERFECT MIRAGE

    "MAMA BOSS, did you say you and Queen Tara lost to the Abyss because it took the Cosmic Tree''s form?" Neoma asked while stirring the tea that her mother brewed and served to her. "Mama Boss and the queen were young and inexperienced back then, right?"

    "That''s right," Mama Boss said while nodding. "Tara and I hadn''te of age yet when we tried to cleanse the Abyss. We utterly lost."

    "I see~"

    Her mother red at Neoma yfully. "Baby Muffin, you want to tease me, don''t you?"

    "I don''t know what you''re talking about, Mama Boss~"

    "Trevor told me to trust you when I tried to stop your "children" from going to the Abyss," Mama Boss said. "He said you wouldn''t send the kids there if you knew they couldn''t handle it. Hence, it''s fair to assume that you know how to beat the Abyss."

    "To be honest, I sent my "children" there hoping that the Abyss would take my form."

    "I don''t understand, Neoma. The Abyss doesn''t only take your form. It also copies the memories, feelings, and even abilities that you have."

    "That''s true. However, there''s something that you failed to consider, Mama Boss."

    "What is it?"

    "It''s forbidden for any force or children of nature to replicate a god," Neoma said, finally getting serious. "The Abyss is dangerous and ominous, but it''s not evil. It just so happens that the Abyss absorbs all the bad energy from the Afterlife. Hence, Abyss is still considered a part of Nature. That''s why it shouldn''t be allowed to replicate a god. However, the Abyss doesn''t have a mind of its own.

    Hence, if the target thought of a god as the strongest being it has encountered, then the Abyss has no choice but to copy it."

    "Will Nature punish the Abyss if it replicates a god?"

    "The Nature understands the Abyss'', well, nature. Hence, the Nature won''t punish the Abyss."

    "Then what happens if the Abyss replicates a god?"

    "The replica that the Abyss creates might be "born" with a mind of its own. It happens when someone or something replicates a god."

    Mama Boss frowned. "That sounds dangerous."

    "It is. But I trust my "children,"" Neoma said confidently. "They earned the right to stand by my side, after all."

    ***

    PAIGE AVERY, as a mage, was aware that one should not replicate a god.

    However, Princess Neoma wasn''t acknowledged as a god yet.

    Hence, she dared to make an illusion that was almost a perfect copy of the Imperial Princess.

    It looked so simr to the original Princess Neoma that even the fake Commander Ruto stopped on his tracks and just stared at the fake Imperial Princess.

    Paige suddenly felt ufortable.

    [Those fakes are only fakes, but why do I feel like we''re intruding their intimate moment?]

    "Is it just me or both the fake Princess Neoma and the fake Commander Ruto are looking at each other lovingly?" Juri whispered in disbelief. "I understand that the Abyss can copy the feelings and memories of the person it copied." She then turned to Paige. "Did you give the illusion that you create her own feelings, Paige?"

    "No, I don''t have the ability to give feelings to the illusion I created," Paige said while shaking her head. "However, Princess Neoma once told me about the consequences of replicating a god. Apparently, once you try to create an illusion of a god, it might be "born" with a mind of its own."

    "How is something like that possible?"

    "I wouldn''t know since I''m not a god."

    "We don''t have the luxury to figure out how gods operate," Commander Lewis said firmly. "Now that the fake Commander Ruto is distracted, it''s our chance to attack."

    "Uhm, wait¡­"

    Everyone turned to Greko all at once.

    The Healer might be the youngest one out of all of them, but they were all attentive to their precious maknae.

    "What is it, Greko?" Paige asked gently. "Do you have a question?"

    "It looks like the mirage that Paige Noona created has a mind of its own," Greko said, his eyes shining. "Then doesn''t it mean she will listen to us?"

    "That''s the point of creating Princess Neoma''s mirage," Paige said, nodding. "But since Princess Neoma is a special existence, I don''t know if she''ll listen to us and help us win this fight."

    "Then let''s try," Greko said excitedly, and then he turned to the mirage of Princess Neoma. "Eomma!"

    Much to everyone''s surprise, the mirage turned to them.

    Paige, the creator of the mirage, felt a shiver down her spine.

    [I''m supposed the one manipting the mirage that I created, but why do I feel like the urge to kneel and bow my head towards the illusion?]

    This was probably why it was forbidden to replicate a god!

    "Eomma, please help us!" Greko pleaded to Princess Neoma''s mirage. He was even using the puppy-dog eyes that the real Princess Neoma couldn''t resist. "Please beat the fake Commander Ruto for us!"

    The fake Princess Neomaughed softly.

    And then¡­

    "I don''t want to," the mirage of Princess Neoma said in a yful tone, and then she pointed at the fake Commander Ruto. "I like that man''s face."

    Oh, no.

    "The mirage really has a mind of its own," Jeno whispered nervously, gulping. "And it even captured the real Princess Neoma''s vanity."

    "What should we do?" Xion asked in a low voice. "I feel like our n has backfired on us¡­"

    While they were worrying about their next move, Commander Lewis scoffed at them.

    "What is it?" Juri demanded while looking at theirmander expectantly. "Do you have a n, Commander Lewis?"

    "I am more handsome than Commander Ruto."

    Everyone fell silent while looking at theirmander in disbelief.

    [Lewis usually doesn''t care about his appearance¡­]

    "In Princess Neoma''s eyes, I am only second to Rubin Drayton when ites to ''visuals,''" Lewis said confidently. "And I have one more trick up my sleeve."

    ***

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 Chapter 986: MOTHER (1)

    [A few weeks ago¡­]

    "WHAT IS it?" Lewis asked Lady Hanna awkwardly. "You''re not the type to stare at other people, Lady Hanna."

    "I want to say something, but I''m afraid it might offend you."

    He avoided the youngdy''s gaze, and then he stared into the pond in front of him.

    Right now, the two of them were in Princess Neoma''s favorite pavilion by the pond. The Imperial Princess granted Lady Hanna ess to that ce.

    [Only a few are allowed here.]

    "Can I say it, Lewis?"

    "Go ahead, ma''am."

    "You don''t need to speak so formally to me, you know?"

    "I have to get used to talking formally to the future Duchess Hanna Quinzel."

    "You don''t have to do that," Lady Hanna said while shaking her head. "Of course, you must talk to me formally in front of an audience. But if it''s only the two of us, or if we''re just with our friends, then you may talk to me casually."

    "My informal speech is quite crude," Lewis said bluntly. "I learned from Princess Neoma, after all."

    The young future duchessughed softly.

    Lewis couldn''t help butpare the difference between how Princess Neoma and Lady Hannaughed.

    Princess Neoma oftenughed like a viiness.

    However, Lady Hanna''sugh always sounded expensive and elegant.

    [It''s nice to hear.]

    Of course, Princess Neoma''sugh was also music to his ears.

    "You may even call me by my first name without honorifics, Lewis," Lady Hanna said cheerfully. "Isn''t it about time for us to be on a first-name basis? You call your "siblings" by their first names."

    Hmm.

    Lewis tilted his head to one side while reminiscing a memory that he would never ever forget in his entire life. "This reminds me of the time Princess Neoma asked me to always call her by her title. Princess Neoma didn''t give me permission to call her by her first name."

    "Why?"

    "Because, back then, Princess Neoma was a neglected princess. Princess Neoma told me to always call her by her title so she wouldn''t forget that she was the empire''s one and only Imperial Princess."

    "I see. But Neoma isn''t a neglected princess anymore. If you ask, I''m sure she''ll grant you the permission to call her by her first name."

    "No, I don''t wish to call Princess Neoma without her title."

    "May I know why you don''t want that?"

    "I''m Princess Neoma''s Guardian Knight¡ª it doesn''t change whether she''s a neglected princess or a beloved one," Lewis said. "The only time I''ll stop calling her ''Princess Neoma'' is the time she ascends the throne and bes the empire''s first empress regnant."

    "I still don''t understand."

    "Calling Princess Neoma by her name is the line I wouldn''t dare cross. Because I know my ce¡ª no, I like where I am right now."

    "Have you gotten over your feelings for Neoma? You don''t have to answer if you''re notfortable talking about it."

    If someone else had asked Lewis about his feelings, he would have ignored them.

    But Lady Hanna wasn''t someone he couldn''t ignore¡ª someone that he didn''t want to ignore, to be precise.

    [Because Lady Hanna is one of the few people that makes me feel safe.]

    "I loved Princess Neoma the first time I saw her, I still love her, and I will definitely love her forever," Lewis said sincerely. "Princess Neoma isn''t just a friend or a family to me. I don''t love her the way Commander Ruto loves her, but I''m confident that my love for Princess Neoma is greater than Commander Ruto''s.

    I don''t need to turn back time like themander did because I would never choose the world over Princess Neoma in the first ce. Even though it''s not romantic love, my love for Princess Neoma is unparalleled."

    He paused for a moment.

    To be honest, it wasn''t his style to talk much.

    In the first ce, he wasn''t good at speaking.

    "I''m sorry, Lady Hanna," Lewis said when he realized that he might not be making sense. "It might be hard to believe that the love I have for Princess Neoma is no longer romantic, but it''s the truth."

    "Why would I find it hard to believe?"

    "Hmm?"

    "Romantic love isn''t the greatest love of all," Lady Hanna said, smiling. "You don''t have to put abel on the love that you have for Neoma. And you don''t have to make other people understand. Your bond with Neoma is special, Lewis."

    As expected.

    [Lady Hanna really understands me.]

    "Now that I''m done sharing my feelings, do you feel like doing the same, Lady Hanna?" Lewis asked, gently changing the topic. "I''m curious about what you want to say to me."

    "Promise me you won''t get mad."

    "I don''t think I''m capable of getting mad at you, mydy."

    Lady Hannaughed softly, and then she avoided his gaze while talking. "Lewis, you actually look pretty when you cry."

    "Huh?"

    "You make me want to protect you¡­"

    Lewis wasn''t offended, but he frowned.

    [Do I look weak?]

    "You said you won''t get mad."

    "I''m not mad, though?"

    "You''re frowning."

    "I just don''t know how to react."

    "It''s not a bad thing, you know?"

    Lewis let out a sigh. "Give me one benefit of "looking pretty" when I cry, Lady Hanna."

    "You can melt Neoma''s heart with just one cry, Lewis," Lady Hanna said, obviously teasing him. "Neoma likes pretty faces¡ª so, I''m sure a crying pretty boy is one of her weaknesses."

    ***

    [Present...]

    "ARE YOU SMILING, COMMANDER?"

    "I''m not," Lewis said indifferently in response to Juri''s question. "I just remembered something amusing."

    Talks with Lady Hanna were always amusing to him.

    [Lady Hanna makes me talk a lot.]

    "Whatever, Commander," Juri said, rolling her eyes. "So, what is this trick you''re talking about?"

    Lewis just walked towards the mirage of Princess Neoma instead of talking.

    Fortunately, the mirage neither attacked nor avoided him.

    He then stopped in front of the fake Imperial Princess, leaving a decent space between them.

    "Please help us beat the fake Commander Ruto," Lewis said, looking straight into the fake Princess Neoma''s eyes. And then a single tear rolled down his left eye. "Please protect us¡­ Mother."

    ***

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 Chapter 987: MOTHER (2)

    [DID I HEAR it right?]

    Paige wondered if she only misheard Lewis calling the fake Princess Neoma ''Mother.''

    [After all, Commander Lewis hates being called Princess Neoma''s ''son.'']

    Hence, she couldn''t believe that Lewis addressed the mirage as ''mother.''

    Judging by the shocked look on her siblings'' faces, it seemed like she didn''t hear it wrong.

    [What is happening now?]

    And the most shocking part?

    Lewis cried!

    Even the mirage of Princess Neoma looked shocked.

    [Ourmander is good at acting???]

    "Of course," the mirage of Princess Neoma said while nodding. "A pretty boy like you could only have a beautiful mother like myself."

    Then, much to everyone''s surprise once again, the fake Princess Neoma cupped Lewis''s face between her ghostly hands.

    It was a beautiful scene, but Paige kind of trembled in fear when the realization hit her.

    [I no longer have control over the mirage that I created¡­]

    It was as if the fake Princess Neoma had a life of its own now.

    "Stop crying, my beautiful son," the fake Princess Neoma consoled the "crying" Lewis. "Your mother will protect you and your siblings."

    Lewis nodded. "We''re depending on you¡­ Mother."

    The fake Princess Neoma smiled in satisfaction, and then she vanished.

    But the illusion didn''tpletely disappear.

    The fake Princess Neoma simply moved to give the fake Commander Ruto a kick in the face.

    [It''s done¡ª ourmander''s n worked!]

    "You."

    It was Lewis.

    Theirmander was giving each one of them a death re.

    "You saw nothing, you heard nothing," Lewis said threateningly. "Is that clear?"

    Pfft.

    Paige, Juri, Jeno, Xion, and even Greko all burst outughing.

    How could they take Lewis'' threat seriously when his entire face was red from embarrassment?

    It only made them want to tease theirmander even more.

    "Commander, howe you''re good at acting?" Juri asked, half-amused and half-curious. "You never used that ''trick'' before."

    "Because there was no need," Lewis said, avoiding their gazes. "And I learned from the best."

    Right.

    Because their Princess Neoma was the best in acting and scamming bad people.

    "Let''s stop teasing ourmander," Paige said, slightly pointing her staff at the fake Princess Neoma. "The fight has started."

    Well, it wouldn''t really be called a ''fight.''

    The fake Princess Neoma was attacking the fake Commander Ruto with punches and kicks, but the fake Commander Ruto was only avoiding the attacks.

    [It''s crazy how even their illusions can''t hurt each other¡­]

    "Get ready, everyone," Lewis said firmly. "We will attack the fake Commander Ruto at the same time."

    ***

    [I THINK my "children" will be fine.]

    "Neoma, I''ve already put a barrier around the Garden of Life as you instructed," Papa Boss said. "What do you need it for?"

    Oh, right.

    While Neoma was having tea with her Mama Boss, she asked her father to protect the Garden of Life.

    Of course, she could have done that herself.

    But there was a reason why she asked Papa Boss to do that for her.

    "My Soul Beasts are already guarding the garden."

    Yes.

    The ''barrier'' that her Papa Boss put around the garden was his Soul Beasts in their human forms.

    "Thank you, Papa Boss," Neoma said while standing up and cracking her knuckles. "Ruto knocked down Tteokbokki during the coronation."

    And, after Tteokbokki was knocked down, he returned to her soul.

    [Because Soul Beasts live within the souls of their owners.]

    Now, Tteokbokki was trying toe out by force.

    No, it wasn''t actually her Tteokbokki.

    "I need Crimson to shut the fuck up," Neoma said, making her Papa Boss and Mama Boss flinch because of her cursing. She pretended not to notice it, though. "I need Tteokbokki and not Crimson."

    "Good luck, sweetie," her Mama Boss said. "Drink the rejuvenating potion that I made before you work again."

    ***

    THEIR OPPORTUNITY came when the fake Princess Neoma sessfully trapped the fake Commander Ruto inside her barrier.

    But only half of the fakemander''s body was actually caught.

    Everything from the waist down was covered in the fake Princess Neoma''s barrier. Everyone knew that the Imperial Princess'' barrier was almost indestructible. They would have a hard time attacking the fakemander if his entire body was trapped inside the barrier.

    Thankfully, that wasn''t the case.

    They could attack fake Commander Ruto''s head down to his torso.

    And they did attack all at the same time.

    Paige first used her spell to tie the fake Commander Ruto''s hands with thorny vines.

    Then to make sure that the fakemander wouldn''t be able to movepletely, Xion hit him with poisoned daggers on the shoulders.

    After that, Juri hit the fakemander at the back of his head with her sledgehammer while Jeno was used his double guns to shoot the fakemander in the chest.

    And, finally, it was Lewis'' turn.

    ''One-Kick Lewis.''

    That was Princess Neoma''s nickname for themander of her Order.

    However, this time, Lewis didn''t use his signature move¡ª themander had already transformed into a fox by then.

    Six tails.

    Lewis hit the fake Commander Ruto in the face with his six, white fox tails knowing that each tail was as hard as steel.

    But that wasn''t the end.

    Lewis raised his hand, signalling his team members to get ready for another set of attacks. "Again."

    ***

    "YOU FINALLY let me out, you crazy wench."

    [Yep, it''s not my Tteokbokki.]

    Neoma let out a sigh and opened her hand.

    In just the blink of an eye, her only weapon finally materialized in the air¡ª Skewer, the deadly pink Death Scythe.

    She grabbed the weapon''s handle tightly.

    Crimson sneered, vibrant red me enveloping his entire body. "I can''t wait to kill you, little brat princess."

    Pfft.

    Neomaughed mockingly, and then she opened her arm. "You have to beat thisdy first before you get to fight me, silly donkey."

    Crimson looked confused¡­

    ¡­ until ''she'' appeared.

    Crimson then let out a gasp. "The ck Phoenix?"

    That was right.

    The ck bird engulfed in ck mes thatnded on Neoma''s arm was none other than the ck Phoenix.

    [Aunt Nichole''s former Soul Beast¡ª one of my hidden weapons.]

    "Lady Vespera," Neoma said, calling the Soul Beast''s name. "Help me teach that arrogant little god a lesson."

    The weight of the bird disappeared on Neoma''s arm when the Soul Beast also disappeared.

    But only for a moment.

    Eventually, the Soul Beast reappeared beside Neoma¡ª this time, Vespera took his human form.

    Vespera was a male (as all Soul Beasts were), but he wished to be addressed as a dy.''

    [And I respect that.]

    "I don''t like violent men," Vespera said while walking elegantly towards the confused Crimson. "Princess Neoma, is it okay if I don''t hold back?"

    Neoma grinned. "Do as you wish, Lady Vespera."

    ***

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 Chapter 988: TO BE STRONGER

    "WILL YOU please die for my ''children?''"

    Oh.

    Paige already knew that the mirage of Princess Neoma had a life of its own.

    She didn''t even bother trying to control it again.

    Even so, she was still surprised when the fake Princess Neoma asked the fake Commander Ruto to die for them.

    She didn''t want to admit this, but the Abyss was really tough.

    [It''s not fighting back, but it''s also not going down no matter how much we attack it.]

    They were already running out of Mana, and it wasn''t like they could ask Greko to replenish their Mana again and again.

    [The child has a limit, too.]

    "I know why you''re protecting the Abyss," the fake Princess Neoma continued. "But, don''t worry¡ª these children won''t destroy your resting ce."

    Oh?

    That was when Paige was hit by the realization.

    The mirage of Princess Neoma and the fake Commander Ruto¡­

    [They are the memories of the previous Princess Neoma and Commander Ruto who probably cleansed the Abyss in the first timeline.]

    No wonder the two looked really alive.

    That was actually a bit scary.

    [This is why we''re not supposed to replicate gods¡­]

    "Give it your all."

    Oh?

    The fake Commander Ruto talked for the first time!

    [And he''s mocking us¡­]

    "Come," the fake Commander Ruto said, opening his arms. "If you can take me down in one hit, I''ll give up."

    That was their best shot.

    But that wasn''t for them to decide.

    Paige, Juri, Jeno, Xion, and Greko all turned to Lewis.

    [It''s themander''s call.]

    "Everyone, lend me your strength," Lewis said while drawing his sword. "Let''s end the Abyss now."

    ***

    "ARE YOU not afraid to be cursed?"

    Pfft.

    Trevor was amused by his own talent.

    Dn Crowell, the noisy bastard, could steal open his mouth even after he ripped his heart out of his chest.

    Yes, the crow bastard was still alive.

    [And it''s all thanks to me.]

    Trevor had already prepared an artificial hear for Dn Crowell. Yep, he kept the enemy alive.

    [Because I promised a certain someone that the crow bastard''s death won''t be easy.]

    "Sorcerers are forbidden to eat the heart of their fellow sorcerers," Dn Crowell threatened him¡ª blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. He was sprawled on the floor, unable to move. "Sorcerers are arrogant, but not arrogant enough to replicate gods. But by eating my heart, your physical body is bound to change and develop extra organs that only gods should¡ª"

    "Oh, shut up," Trevor said while holding Dn Crowell''s beatimg heart in his hand. "I know what I''m doing."

    The crow bastard looked shocked by his statement. "You knew and you''re still going to do it?"

    "Why not?"

    "You greedy Sorcerer," Dn Crowell growled. "You''re a disgrace to the Kessers!"

    "Don''t talk as if you belong to our n," Trevor said,pletely crushing the beating heart in his hand until it was no longer beating. "And I don''t care if my ancestors are rolling in the grave now¡ª I''ll do anything and everything to be stronger for Princess Neoma."

    ***

    HANNA had already used the ck Hole a few times.

    She also learned the concept from his father and the notes that her Uncle Gavin had left.

    However, Commander Ruto said before that her ck Hole was still weak.

    And, just recently, Neoma said that she needed the ck Hole to end the war.

    That only meant one thing.

    [I have yet to unlock the true potential of my ck Hole.]

    "Father, have you calmed down?" Hanna asked her father who was silently wiping his tears with the handkerchief that she handed to him earlier. "You haven''t sent me to war yet, and you''re already crying."

    "Children shouldn''t be frontliners in a war," her father said in a cracked voice. "But what can I do? I know that you need to fight in order to bring peace in the empire. Even so, you can''t stop me or your mother from worrying about you, sweetie. You''re our precious only daughter, after all."

    "Maybe Mother and Father should give me a younger sibling?"

    "Hanna Quinzel."

    "It was just a joke, Father."

    Her father let out a sigh, and then he paused for a moment. "There''s a technique that I haven''t taught you yet, Hanna¡ª it''s a technique that I hid even from my brother. I abandoned it at its early stage, but it might help you master the ck Hole."

    Oh.

    Hanna''s face beamed. "Please teach me, Father."

    ***

    NERO frowned as soon as he entered the guest room where Calyx de Luca would be staying.

    Yes, the crow bastard was already out of prison.

    [Neoma told me to treat our prisoner of war properly.]

    Hence, Calyx de Luca was dressed like a noble once again.

    "Your Imperial Majesty," Calyx de Luca greeted Nero, bowing politely towards him. "I''ve missed you so much."

    Argh.

    Nero felt his skin crawl, but he had to endure.

    [I have something I need to whisper in this creepy bastard''s ear.]

    ***

    AH.

    [They''re getting stronger.]

    Ruto tapped his fingertips on the table, his eyes closed as he was checking on Neoma''s Four Pirs.

    Lewis Crevan.

    Trevor Kesser.

    Hanna Quinzel.

    Nero Roseheart de Moonasterio.

    [They''re ready.]

    "My son, you cannot fight for Neoma de Moonasterio."

    Ruto opened his eyes and met his divine father''s gaze.

    They were currently in the conference room while waiting for the other gods to arrive. After all, they needed to talk about the uing war.

    This was the first time the Upper World would be used as a battlefield, after all.

    "You''ll be a full-fledged god soon," Lord Levi said firmly. "I won''t allow you to be distracted."

    "Don''t worry too much about me, my lord," Ruto said, hiding his smile from his divine father. "Neoma''s people will be enough to fight for her."

    The Eternal me would agree so.

    [And Neoma still has a lot of tricks up her sleeve.]

    Like the ck Phoenix, for example.

    ***

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 Chapter 989: A TEST ALL ALONG

    LEWIS WAS a fox.

    A nine-tailed fox, to be precise.

    Their race was known to be ''beasts'' that would ravage their enemies with their ws.

    Hence, many people raised an eyebrow at him when he picked up the sword. He even became a Sword Master. Even Lisica and Rustin, the ancient Silver Foxes that trained him in the past, told him that he didn''t need a sword.

    That foxes just needed their bodies as a weapon.

    But Lewis loved the sword, and Princess Neoma encouraged him to be a Sword Master.

    That reminded him of the conversation that he once had with the Imperial Princess when they were children¡­

    ["You wanna learn swordmanship?"]

    ["Knight. Sword. Legit."]

    ["You think you can only be a full-fledged knight once you learn swordmanship?"]

    ["Yeah."]

    ["Then go for it. Why are you hesitating?"]

    ["Fox body. Weapon. No weapon other needed."]

    ["Who said that foxes only need their bodies as a weapon?"]

    ["All."]

    ["Don''t listen to them. Just do what do you want. Although punching the living daylights out of your enemy is satisfying, stabbing and cutting their limbs are also fun. So, go ahead and learn swordmanship. And since you chose to pick up a sword, might as well be a Sword Master while you''re at it."]

    Lewis couldn''t help but smile at the old memory.

    It wasn''t easy to be a Sword Master, but Princess Neoma asked him to be one. Not because the Imperial Princess was looking down on Sword Masters, but because she had that much faith in Lewis.

    There was no way he would disappoint Princess Neoma, so he worked hard under the training of the White Lion Knights who were in charge of him when he was a kid.

    And now¡­

    Lewis looked up, staring at the silver light that his sword emitted.

    The silver light came at the tip of his sword, and then it shot up into the sky. It glowed for a few moments before the straight line disappeared. But the silver light didn''t vanish¡ª it simply enveloped the de of his sword.

    Now, his sword was glowing in silver light.

    "We''re ready, Commander Lewis," Paige said confidently. "We will send you ourbined Mana as soon as you attack!"

    Lewis just nodded without looking back at his siblings.

    And then he swung his silver sword, a boomerang-shaped auraing out of the de.

    ***

    IT WAS OVER.

    Paige''s knees buckled as soon as she confirmed that everything was over now.

    [We won.]

    But they were all exhausted.

    In fact, only Lewis remained standing.

    [But if you look closely, you''d see that Lewis'' entire body was shaking.]

    "Good job, Commander," Paige said weakly. "You did well."

    And it wasn''t just mere lip service.

    Lewis proved that he was the strongest Sword Master in the empire with just one swing of his silver sword.

    The aura that his sword produced shed the fake Commander Ruto.

    Hence, the fakemander was now slowly vanishing.

    "You did well, too," Lewis said in a small voice. It was obvious that he was catching his breath. "We all did."

    They sent theirbined Mana to Lewis, and his silver sword absorbed it.

    As a result, their final attacked became stronger than expected.

    Paige could tell that every single one of them felt proud.

    [And rightfully so.]

    "You all did well, children."

    It was the fake Princess Neoma.

    Oh?

    All of them was surprised when the fake Princess Neoma stood next to the fake Commander Ruto¡­

    ¡­ and then the two illusions held hands.

    Ohh.

    "You passed the test," the fake Princess Neoma said with a smile on your face. "You did well when you created a fake Neoma to fight the Abyss that took Ruto''s form."

    That was when the realization hit Paige.

    They should have known!

    "The Abyss should have taken Princess Neoma''s form because the Abyss copies the strongest person in their target''s memories," Paige said. Everyone then looked at her, so she exined further. "But the Abyss took Commander Ruto''s form as if it was already programmed to be Commander Ruto."

    A collective "ah" was heard.

    Her siblings finally realized what she had just realized.

    "You''re right," the fake Princess Neoma said. "To be honest with you, the real Neoma and Ruto already owned the Abyss in the previous timeline. Ruto came by recently and returned the Abyss'' memories. And then Neoma asked themander to make it so the Abyss would take his form in order to test you all."

    That made Paige gulp nervously. "Then we would have failed the test if we didn''te up with the idea of making Princess Neoma''s illusion?"

    "Neoma wasn''t worried about that since she raised you all to think outside the box," the mirage of Princess Neoma said while pping her hands. "Congrattions, children. You earned the right to join your precious princess in the uing war."

    The war.

    Everyone flinched at the word.

    [We almost didn''t join Princess Neoma in the uing war. Thank goodness we passed the test!]

    "See youter," the fake Commander Ruto said. "You all did well."

    The mirage of Princess Neoma smiled and waved at them.

    And then the two illusions finally disappeared.

    Only then did all of them let out the breath they didn''t know they were holding.

    Then¡­

    "Lewis!"

    Their brave and strong Commander Lewis suddenly fainted.

    ***

    NIKOLAI was shocked after seeing how Neoma used Vespera, the ck Phoenix, to attack the Red Dragon (in his human form).

    Was that the reason why his daughter asked his Soul Beasts to protect the Garden of Life?

    To protect the Garden of Life, his four Soul Beasts created a ''Field Istion.''

    It was technique that covered the garden in a bluish lighting from the Soul Beasts'' pure divine power.

    Although the garden could still be seen physically, it was already in another world.

    To be precise, the Garden of Life was already in the dimension where the Soul Beasts lived.

    Fortunately.

    "Oh, dear."

    Niki heard Mona, and he could only clench his hands in agreement with his wife''s shock.

    Everything around them was burnt and turned into ashes.

    Yes, even the vi that they just borrowed from the Queen of the Spirit World.

    [Neoma didn''t even use the Eternal me¡ª she only used Vespera''s ck me.]

    However¡­

    [I don''t remember the ck Phoenix being this strong!]

    So strong that even the Red Dragon, who was supposed to be immune to fire, was burned.

    [Neoma¡­ how did you train the ck Phoenix?]

    ***

    NEOMA didn''t want to use the ck Phoenix because it was one of her secret weapons against Helstor.

    But she didn''t regret it.

    Seeing Crimson on his knees with a shocked look on his face was satisfying.

    The God of Wrath was probably confused as to how he was burned by the ck Phoenix.

    "What did you do?" Crimson asked in disbelief while ring at Neoma and Vespera who had already returned to his ck Phoenix form. "My me should have been stronger than the ck me!"

    "I would exin, but you''re not Tteokbokki," Neoma said, pointing Skewer at her Soul Beast. "Now, give me back my brother."

    ***

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 Chapter 990: NEXT DESTINATION

    "YOU DON''T have a brother."

    Neoma just rolled her eyes at what Crimson said.

    It wasn''t the first time she had heard that from the God of Wrath, after all.

    [In fact, I can recite his spiel by now.]

    So, when Crimson tried to open his mouth¡­

    "You are neither a Soul Beast nor a Roseheart because you''re the God of Wrath," Neoma said, tilting her head to one side. "Why are you so angry again?"

    She was just testing the waters.

    [I know that the God of Wrath is angry on behalf of the Red Dragon, but Crimson doesn''t remember why he wants to destroy the world for the Red Dragon.]

    Ruto said it was better to stay that way.

    Apparently, nothing good would happen if they all remembered the pact between the Red Dragon and the God of Wrath.

    [But they deserve to remember it.]

    Hence, Neoma was trying to trigger Crimson''s memories slowly.

    [It''s risky, but I have a feeling that Tteokbokki will get stronger if he remembers the pact between the God of Wrath and the Red Dragon. And if Tteokbokki gets stronger, I will also get stronger.]

    Neoma needed to ''upgrade'' all the people and the things she could in order to raise her ''army.

    [We need to win the war, after all.]

    "Do I need a reason to be angry?" Crimson asked bluntly. "I''m the God of Wrath, so I''m supposed to be mad all the time."

    Pfft.

    Neoma burst outughing. "Oh, you stupid donkey."

    She said that affectionately, of course.

    [I''m d Crimson can be silly sometimes.]

    Even now, the God of Wrath was looking at Neoma as if she had just lost her mind.

    "Thank you for making meugh, Crimson," Neoma said, raising the Death Scythe in an attempt to sh the God of Wrath. "But ytime is over now."

    Crimson immediately got up and raised his arms covered with me to block Skewer''s de.

    Heh.

    Neoma threw Skewer at Crimson instead of cutting the God of Wrath, then she ran faster than Speed and punched Crimson in the stomach.

    What?

    It was Crimson''s fault for leaving his stomach open just to block Skewer''s de from cutting off his head.

    [He should have known I wouldn''t kill him.]

    Hence, it wasn''t Neoma''s fault that Crimson coughed up blood and fainted after receiving her solid punch.

    [As expected, a de Moonasterio only needs their body as a weapon.]

    ***

    "PAIGE, how''s Lewis?"

    "Fortunately, Lewis only fainted due to exhaustion," Paige exined to Juri and their other siblings. "Lewis transformed into his fox form, and then he used his aura as a Sword Master. That depleted both his Mana and aura. He just needs to rest in order to recover."

    Her siblings looked relieved after hearing that Lewis only needed to rest.

    "Noona, I''ll make a recovery potion specifically meant for foxes to recuperate," Greko said excitedly. He looked happy that there was something he could do for his older brother. "Can you watch me work? I don''t want to make even a tiny mistake since it''s for Lewis Hyung."

    Paige smiled and nodded. "Of course, I can do that¡­"

    She trailed off when she felt a shift in the air.

    And it wasn''t just her.

    Paige, Juri, Jeno, and Xeno all surrounded Lewis and Greko protectively.

    <"It''s been a while, children.">

    Oh.

    All of them immediately calmed down when they saw the owner of the voice: the white bunny suspended in the air.

    [It''s Princess Neoma''s Wind Spirt.]

    <"Congrattions on seeding in your mission, children,"> the Wind Spirit said cheerfully. <"I''m here to pick you up, as the little princess ordered.">

    ***

    ARGH.

    Neoma felt like she was having a heartburn because of that damned Crimson.

    After knocking out the God of Wrath, she absorbed him back into her soul.

    Since it was against Crimson''s will to return, his presence caused a burning sensation in her chest.

    [I''ll smack his head if I see him againter.]

    "Neoma, will your Soul Beast return to its normal state by knocking it out?" Mama Boss asked, frowning. Clearly, her mother wasn''t happy by what she did. "I thought you''d bring out your Soul Beast."

    "That''s right, Mama Boss. And I seeded," Neoma assured her mother. "I''m 100% sure that Tteokbokki wille outter."

    "How can you say so?"

    "Instinct?"

    Neoma noticed that Crimson was disturbed when she asked her why he was angry.

    Crimson gave her a dumb answer, but she could tell that her question bothered her.

    [I''m certain Crimson will think about it again and again. It''s enough destruction for Tteokbokki to regain his control over his body.]

    Neoma had faith in her younger brother.

    "If you say so," Mama Boss said, obviously not convinced by her short exnation. "By the way, dear. The technique that you used with the ck Phoenix¡­"

    "Please keep it a secret, everyone," Neoma said not only to her mother, but also to Papa Boss and his Soul Beasts. "It''s one of the secret weapons I n to use on Helstor."

    "Neoma, I admit that it was a good use of the ck me," Papa Boss said carefully. "However, Helstor controls darkness. As far as I know, the ck me is something the darkness could swallow."

    The Soul Beasts behind her father nodded in agreement.

    "I''m not saying that it was a weak technique against Helstor," Papa Boss added. "I''m just telling you not to get toocent. Sometimes, a solid attack is better than a shy technique."

    The de Moonasterios weren''t known for their shy techniques.

    After all, their bodies were their weapon.

    The fanciest technique the de Moonasterios had was the use of their Soul Beasts.

    [Hence, I understand what Papa Boss is saying.]

    However¡­

    "Don''t worry, Papa Boss," Neoma smiled, assuring her father that she knew what she was doing. "That technique isn''tplete yet. It''s meant for another person toplete¡­"

    She trailed off when she felt the change in the air.

    They all did.

    Hence, everyone looked up.

    Ah.

    [He''s finally here.]

    "Princess Neoma, you''re the craziest de Moonasterio I have met in my long life."

    Neoma grinned at thepliment. "That''s so kind of you to say, Lord Manu."

    ***

    NIKOLAI almost choked on his saliva after hearing where Neoma''s next destination was.

    Even Mona was shocked.

    [No one saw iting.]

    "Are you being serious, Neoma?" Niki asked in disbelief. "You''re headed to the Dead World?"

    The Dead World.

    It was the world where the events of the first timeline took ce.

    [And that world died after Neoma was reborn.]

    "Yep, Papa Boss," Neoma answered cheerfully. "I''m also bringing Hanna and Lewis with me."

    ***

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 Chapter 991: COLONIZER IN THE MAKING?

    "YOU DIDN''T tell me that you''ll be destroying one of my private vis!"

    Neoma smiled at Queen Tara apologetically.

    She had already expected that the queen woulde at her angrily because she identally burned down the vis that Her Majesty graciously lent to us.

    Of course, she wasn''t nning on running away from her responsibility.

    [I''m not that kind of scum.]

    Hence, she had to dy her meeting with Lord Manu in order to pacify Queen Tara.

    "First of all, I apologize for burning down Your Majesty''s vi," Neoma said in a mncholic tone. Well, it was true that she was apologetic anyway. "I made sure that the trees, the animals, and the Spirits weren''t hurt because of the incident. And if it''spensation you want, of course, I''ll give it to Your Majesty."

    Queen Tara''s face turned red as if Neoma''s words only made her angrier. "Do you think I''m here to demand forpensation?"

    "If Your Majesty isn''t here to ask forpensation for the damages I caused, then is it safe to assume that Your Majesty is here to use this opportunity to kick us out?"

    The Queen of the Spirit World looked bbergasted by Neoma''s audacity.

    Oops.

    [I let my arrogance take the wheel again.]

    No wonder Neoma heard her Mama Boss gasp while Papa Boss and Lord Manu both sighed at the same time.

    Gosh.

    [I should be humble since I''m in the wrong here.]

    "I''m sorry for being rude, Your Majesty," Neoma said, bowing her head slightly. "However, if Your Majesty is here to tell us to leave the Spirit World, then I suggest you return to your pce. I will not leave this ce¡ª and my people are also staying here."

    "Princess Neoma, there''s a limit as to how much I can tolerate your arrogance," Queen Tara said sternly, clenching her hands. "I weed you here because of your threat. The least thing you can do is to not cause any more damage than you''ve already done."

    "I understand that, Your Majesty. That''s why I apologized and offeredpensation."

    "Do you think that will solve the problem?"

    "I can give you another option, Your Majesty."

    "Another option?"

    Neoma smiled and nodded. "I can always exercise my right as the sessor of the Spirit World."

    Queen Tara scoffed at what she said. "How can you be the sessor of the Spirit World, Princess Neoma? Only the sessor I choose can have that title."

    "Oh, dear. Your Majesty doesn''t know?"

    "Doesn''t know what?"

    "Whoever seeds in cleansing the Abyss automatically gains the right to seed the Spirit World."

    Queen Tara opened her mouth, but no words came out.

    And then the queen suddenly went pale.

    [Gotcha.]

    "Technically, it was my children who gained the right to seed the Spirit World since they were the ones who cleansed the Abyss."

    Yep.

    Neoma knew that her "children" seeded because she felt it when the Abyss'' presence disappeared.

    [That''s why I sent Mochi to pick them up.]

    "To be more precise, it was Lewis who gained the right to seed the Spirit World because it was him who killed the Abyss. It was abined effort, but it was his sword that ended the Abyss'' ''life.''"

    Yep, Neoma also knew how the fight ended.

    She borrowed the eyes of the Spirits there to check on her "children."

    [I wouldn''t have sent them there without at least checking on them once.]

    "If Lewis exercised his rights as the new sessor of the Spirit World, then Your Majesty has no choice but to treat my "son" as one," Neoma said. She was still smiling, but her eyes were getting more and more disrespectful. "Just so you know, once that happens, I''ll ask Lewis topletely take over this world."

    Queen Tara red at Neoma. "Is that a threat, young princess?"

    "Nah. I''m just giving you an option, my queen. Should we settle this peacefully? Or should I resort to violence?"

    "You''re just like your ancestors¡ª you stealnds that don''t belong to you."

    Ouch.

    "The truth hurts, indeed," Neoma said, clutching her chest. "But just because most of my damned ancestors were colonizers doesn''t make me one. My "children" gained the right to seed the Abyss fair and square."

    Queen Tara red at her. "But you shouldn''t have touched the Abyss in the first ce."

    "It wasn''t my fault that Your Majesty has left it alone for god knows how long," Neoma said, shrugging. "As far as I am concern, the Abyss was a freend. But not anymore." She put a hand over her chest. "The Abyss belongs to me now, Your Majesty. Whether you like or not, we''re now neighbors. So, let''s get along, please."

    ***

    IN THE END, Queen Tara didn''t ask forpensation.

    [Her Majesty just left without saying anything.]

    "Was I too harsh?" Neoma wondered out loud. "But I''m really sorry about what happened."

    "You didn''t sound like it, though," Lord Manu said, scoffing. When Neoma turned to him with cold eyes, the Moon Priest avoided her gaze and changed the topic. "Has Your Imperial Highness informed the people you wish to bring to the Dead World with you?"

    She was about to answer when, suddenly, there was a shift in the air.

    <"I''m back, little princess.">

    It was Mochi and her "children."

    Neoma smiled, but that smile quickly disappeared when she saw Xion carrying the unconscious Lewis in his arms. "My son!"

    ***

    "YOU''RE AWAKE, Lewis?"

    Hmm?

    Lewis was surprised when the first thing he saw was Princess Neoma''s beautiful face.

    "Princess Neoma?"

    "Yep, it''s your mother."

    [Yes, this is really Princess Neoma.]

    Lewis got up and looked around.

    There was a huge tent, and his siblings were having a feast in there. A long table was filled with different kinds of food and drinks. There were even fruits there.

    He, on the other hand, was lying on a single bed before he got up.

    "How are you feeling, Lewis?"

    "Fine," Lewis said, blinking. "Princess Neoma, we''vepleted the mission."

    "Yes, and you did well," Princess Neoma said, smiling. "Do you want to see Hanna?"

    ***

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 Chapter 992: TRIP FOR THREE

    "MAMA BOSS, PAPA BOSS, you''re not going back to the empire?" Neoma asked, surprised by her parents'' decision. "But the Goddess of Life assured us that she''ll stay here. The Cosmic Tree will return, too. You don''t need to stay here just to guard the Garden of Life."

    Tara was a problem, but¡­

    [I want to give her the benefit of the doubt. As long as Lewis has the right to seed the Spirit World, I don''t think she''d do something that she might regretter.]

    "We''re nning to return to the pce to check on Nero," Mama Boss said. "But we''re going to return here as soon as the construction is done."

    "I will leave my Soul Beasts here to rebuild the vi that burned down," Papa Boss added. "But we''ll be waiting for you here, Neoma."

    "Why?"

    "Because we want to train here," her father said. "The Spirit World is ideal for Mona and I to train since we both use Spirits. And this world is full of them."

    Oh, right.

    But¡­

    "Don''t worry, Neoma," Mama Boss said, smiling as if she could tell what Neoma was thinking. "I''ll make sure Tara would give us the permission to take longer."

    Ah, then Neoma was no longer worried.

    [I''m sure Mama Boss will take care of it.]

    "Okay, Mama Boss, Papa Boss," Neoma said, and then she paused for a moment when an idea popped up in her head. "My dear parents, I have a favor."

    ***

    NEOMA smiled at her "children" whopleted theirst mission sessfully.

    After talking to her parents, she immediately went to the tent where the kids were staying.

    Of course, Lewis was with her.

    "Greko, Juri, Jeno, Xion, Paige," Neoma said, calling her "children" one by one with a huge smile on her face. "Good job, everyone."

    As expected, the kids'' faces beamed.

    [They look proud of themselves, and rightfully so.]

    "Thank you, Eomma," Greko said cheerfully. "The mission you gave us helped us increase our team work!"

    "Greko worked the hardest. Of course, Lewis is the champion," Juri said, smiling while patting Greko''s head gently. "But Greko really saved us with his healing and potions."

    Everyone nodded in agreement while Greko blushed.

    "I''m happy to hear that," Neoma said, and then she paused for a moment before she gave her "children" a sad smile. "I want to stay with you longer, but I''m afraid I need to leave again. This time, I''m bringing Lewis with me."

    To be honest, she wanted to bring all her "children" with her.

    But Lord Manu said he could send three people at maximum.

    Hence, she chose Hanna and Lewis.

    [Hanna because I need her skill, and Lewis because I need to raise him since he''s my Guardian Knight.]

    "I''m sorry¡ª I can''t bring everyone with me."

    "It''s alright, Princess Neoma," Paige assured her. "You don''t have to apologize for that. We understand, and we support your decision."

    Aww.

    [I''m lucky to have children who don''t see each other uspetition.]

    "Is there anything we can do while you''re away with Lewis, Princess Neoma?" Jeno asked carefully. "Aside from training, of course."

    Xion nodded in agreement. "We will never stop training to be stronger and more useful to you, Princess Neoma."

    Once again, Neoma was touched.

    [I love these kids.]

    "I actually need you in different ces," Neoma said, and then she exined to her confused "children." "Juri and Jeno, I need you to return to high society. I''m taking Hanna with me, so I need people who will control the higher nobles in our ce. Can you do that for me?"

    Juri and Jeno nodded immediately. "Of course, Princess Neoma."

    "Great. I''ll give you the detailster. You''ll be working with Jasper Oppa for this mission," Neoma said, and then she turned to Xion. "I need you to return to the ''Underworld,'' Xion."

    The ''Underworld'' in this context was the world of the criminals.

    "And I need you to buy people''s ''mouths,''" Neoma said. By ''mouths,'' she meant people who would spread a gossip for her. "I''ll give you ess to my funds, so buy as many mouths as you can. I''ll also give you a shopping list. I have so many things I want you and your guild to sweep all of them at the market."

    Xion nodded politely. "I understand, Princess Neoma."

    "Very well," Neoma said, and then she turned to Paige and Greko. "You two will learn from the Cosmic Tree while I''m away."

    Paige and Greko looked shocked, understandably. "Excuse me?"

    "I''ll be cheering you on," Neoma said cheerfully. "And, oh, I''ll leave my Spirits with you to help you train while you''re doing your missions."

    Now her "children" looked even more confused.

    "I''ll leave Soju, my Water Spirit, to Juri and Jeno. Kimchi, my Fire Spirit, to Xion. Mochi, my Wind Spirit, to Paige and Greko. Then I''ll leave Namoo, my Wood Spirit, here to guard the Garden of Life," Neoma continued, checking if she had forgotten anything else. "Well, that''s it for now."

    ***

    BOOKS.

    Hanna was amazed while reading the books that her father wrote himself.

    [Father wrote everything he understood about our shadows as a Quinzel.]

    To be honest, when her father said that he knew a technique to master to ck Hole, she thought they would start with practical training.

    [But Father asked me to read these.]

    It was fine.

    Hanna loved reading, after all.

    "What are you reading, Hanna?"

    Oh, dear!

    Hanna was too focused on reading her father''s theories that she didn''t notice Neoma''s arrival.

    And the Imperial Princess didn''te alone.

    [Lewis, too?]

    "Neoma, Lewis," Hanna greeted the two while gently closing the book. "What are you two doing here at this hour?"

    "Do you want to go on a trip with us?" Neoma said, grinning. "I can''t guarantee it would be fine, though. But I promise to entertain you so you won''t get bored~"

    "With Lewis?"

    Neoma and Lewis both nodded.

    "Where are we going?"

    "To the Dead World," Neoma said, winking at Hanna. "A world that we can destroy again and again."

    Oh.

    OHH.

    [Neoma knows what I need.]

    Hanna couldn''t help but smile while shaking her head. "You''re like a ghost, Neoma."

    ***

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 Chapter 993: WORTHY NEMESIS

    "NOONA!"

    Neoma smiled at Skylus who greeted her so enthusiastically. "Hello, our baby saint."

    "Princess Neoma, please address the new saint properly," Lord Manu scolded her. "Moreover, Prince Skylus is no longer a baby."

    Not a baby?

    But look at Skylus running towards her, his plump cheeks bouncing.

    [That''s a baby.]

    Anyways, Neoma returned to the Imperial Pce after talking to Hanna and her parentsst night.

    She left Lewis with Hanna when she went to the pce.

    After all, she had a few things that she needed to do first before leaving.

    "Noona, more people are praying to Lord Yule now!" Skylus said cheerfully while clinging to Neoma''s leg. "The devotees who have gone astray for a while because of the enemies'' lies are starting to find the right path again! They''re praying diligently to Lord Yule now!"

    It was probably because of the prayer rally that Skylus and Lord Manu had been doing these past few days.

    [I feel bad that Skylus has learned to tell a white lie, but it must be done.]

    Skylus was a good boy anyway.

    "Good job, Skylus," Neoma said, gently patting the top of Skylus'' head. "You''re on a break, aren''t you?"

    "Yes, Noona," Skylus said, and then he paused for a moment. "Can I do something for you, Noona?"

    "Aunt Brigitte is still at the Exton Estate, isn''t she?"

    "That''s right, Noona."

    "Do you miss your family?"

    Uncle Glenn and Skylus'' siblings had already returned to the Hazelden Kingdom.

    [Aunt Brigitte has to stay in the Exton Estate until she gives birth, so Uncle Glenn has to return to Hazelden with Monik and ude.]

    Skylus'' face beamed upon the mention of his family. "Can I see them, Noona?"

    "Of course," Neoma said confidently. "Let''s go to Exton Estate first, then we''ll go to Hazelden with your mother."

    [I have something I need in the kingdom, after all.]

    ***

    "YOUR IMPERIAL Majesty, Princess Neoma was here earlier."

    "I know," Nero said without looking up at Melvin since he was busy stamping important documents. "She sent me a message asking to use the portal connected to the Hazelden Kingdom."

    Apparently, Neoma fetched Queen Brigitte from the Exton Estate.

    And then her group used the portal connected to the Hazelden Kingdom.

    "Your Imperial Majesty didn''te out of your office to see Princess Neoma," Melvin wondered out loud. "Did you have a fight with the Imperial Princess?"

    "If I had a fight with Neoma, you wouldn''t see me here."

    "Then why didn''t you go and see her, Your Imperial Majesty? I''m sure Princess Neoma is more important than the documents you need to sign today."

    "If I see Neoma again, it will be hard for me to watch her go again," Nero said bluntly. He decided to be honest since he was only talking to Melvin anyway. "It took me all the self-control I have to stop myself from seeing Neoma, so stop bombarding me with stupid questions."

    "Yes, Your Imperial Majesty."

    "So, did youe here just to annoy me?"

    "Of course not, Your Imperial Majesty," Melvin denied almost immediately. "The former emperor''s Pdins have reported their return to the Imperial Capital. They said they have a few errands to do before they return to the pce."

    Nero finally looked up at Melvin. "Is it safe to assume that my father''s Pdins are willing to work for me now that I have be the new emperor?"

    His father''s Pdins belonged to his father.

    After his father descended from the throne, he gave his Pdins the choice to either stay in the pce to serve the new emperor, or gain their freedom as a normal citizen of the empire.

    "It seems like the former emperor''s Pdins are willing to serve you, Your Imperial Majesty," Melvin said while nodding. "Do you need them to do something for you as soon as they return to the pce?"

    "Yeah. I need them to stay in the pce and pretend I''m here."

    "Your Imperial Majesty, are you leaving the pce?! You can''t!"

    "Shut up," Nero scolded his future Imperial Chambein. "Neoma''s "children" have already imed the Abyss. So, I need to do my job and put the souls of the male Rosehearts to rest."

    And their resting ce would be the Abyss, obviously.

    "Ah, I remember," Melvin said, sighing. "When will we be leaving, Your Imperial Majesty?"

    "I''m not bringing any of you."

    "Excuse me?!"

    "It''s the Spirit World, silly. Neoma and my parents have already terrorized Queen Tara. The queen would be upset if I bring my own Order to hernd."

    "But you can''t leave alone, Your Imperial Majesty! I know that you''re strong. But even so¡­!"

    "Who said I''m leaving alone?"

    Now Melvin looked confused. "Then who will you bring with you, Your Imperial Majesty?"

    "Who else?" Nero asked back, sighing. "I need Dahlia''s help, so I''m bringing her to the Spirit World with me."

    ***

    NEOMA wanted to spend time with Aunt Brigitte, Uncle Glenn, and the kids.

    Unfortunately, she went to the Hazelden Kingdom for business and not to y.

    Hence, as soon as she arrived at the Royal Pce, she asked for the "prisoner of war" that she wanted to see before leaving that world.

    "It''s been a while, Princess Neoma."

    "Yeah, it''s been a while, Regina," Neoma said, raising an eyebrow at Regina Crowell. "You''re still thick-skinned, huh? I heard you kepting in and out of the pce as if you own this ce."

    Regina sipped her tea before she talked back. "What can I do? The Hazelden Kingdom is too cold. On the other hand, the Royal Pce is warm."

    "You can escape anytime you want, and yet to chose to stay. I wonder if there''s something interesting in this kingdom."

    "Crows like shiny things, and there are many shiny things here."

    "Bullshit."

    Reginaughed softly while shaking her head. "Why do you want to see me, Princess Neoma? You''re not here because you miss me, are you?"

    "I''m sure you''ve already heard about the war that I started."

    "What about it?"

    "Helstor chose you as one of his representatives, didn''t he?"

    "Are you asking because you don''t know?"

    "I just wanted to confirm," Neoma said, shrugging. "That''s the only way Helstor can save you from getting killed, after all."

    Regina paused for a moment before she nodded. "That''s right. Being Helstor''s representative is a lifeline to me."

    And that was exactly why Neoma went to the Hazelden Kingdom.

    [I had to inform them that they can''t touch Regina Crowell since she''s a chosen representative.]

    "Is that really the only reason you want to see me, Princess Neoma?"

    Neoma sipped her tea first before she answered. "Trevor ate Dn Crowell''s heart."

    Regina looked shocked at first, and then she suddenly burst outughing. "Trevor Kesser is really interesting, isn''t he?"

    Oho?

    [Is that interest I see in Regina''s eyes?]

    "I asked Trevor Kesser to kill Dn Crowell as slowly and as painful as possible. It seems like he''s keeping the end of the deal," Regina said as if she was proud. "I wonder if there''s something Trevor Kesser wants in return?"

    "Don''t mess with Trevor the way you messed with Rubin Drayton, you bitch," Neoma said coldly. "Do you want me to kill you¡ª right here, right now?"

    The rules of the war be damned.

    ***

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 Chapter 994: TINY FAVOR

    "WHY ARE you so worked up, Princess Neoma? As far as I know, you''ve already chosen Commander Ruto over Trevor Kesser."

    "You''re wrong," Neoma denied bluntly. "I never "chose" Ruto over Trevor because, in the first ce, it has always been only him. Don''t make it sound like I let men fight over me. I was never a fan of the harem trope, duh."

    Regina looked at Neoma as if she didn''t understand her. "You have a weird taste, Princess Neoma."

    "Excuse me?"

    "I understand why you never considered a coward like Rubin Drayton a suitable partner. But, if you ask me, Trevor Kesser is a better choice than Commander Ruto. For once, Trevor Kesser is more handsome than themander."  for more

    "Well, objectively, you may be right. But only Ruto''s face heals my heart."

    "So damn cheesy."

    "Shut up."

    "Physical appearance aside, I think Trevor Kesser is more fun to be with," Regina continued. "Commander Ruto seems to be the boring type."

    Neoma smirked arrogantly. "Ruto only seems boring to you because my man isn''t interested in you at all. Plus, we''re the perfect match. I''m OA and he''s nonchnt. And, because my man is always calm, he has stopped me from going on a rampage many, many times. If it were Trevor, he would have supported my craziness instead of stopping me."

    "So, you just want someone who can control you?"

    "Why don''t you just go straight to the point, Regina?"

    "I''m just trying to have a small talk with you," Regina said, shrugging. "I know I''m being held as a prisoner of war right now. That means you can''t kill me anyway."

    "Oh, I can. Do you think I''m the type who cares about rules?"

    "But you need me alive, don''t you?"

    Bitch.

    "I know why you''re here, Princess Neoma."

    "Really now?"

    "You''re here to warn me not to mess with the Hazelden Kingdom and its Royal Family, aren''t you?" Regina asked,ughing softly. "Don''t worry, Your Imperial Highness. I won''t do a thing while I''m here. Moreover, I don''t think I''ll be here for longer anyway. I''m sure Helstor will summon me soon."

    "I''m sending Trevor hereter," Neoma said sternly. "If you do anything funny while you''re here, I''ll ask him to kill you. I don''t care about the rules."

    "If Your Imperial Highness doesn''t respect the rules of the war, then we''ll have a big problem."

    Tsk.

    [Regina is being a smartass, but she''s right.]

    "I''ve already said my piece, so I''m leaving now," Neoma said, standing up. "Fuck around and find out, Regina Crowell."

    "You and your vulgar words, Princess Neoma," Regina said, sipping her tea before speaking again. "I''ll miss you."

    Eww.

    ***

    HMM?

    Was it just Neoma or Aunt Brigitte''s baby bump glowing a faint ckish light?

    "I see it, too, Unnie!" Monik said cheerfully. "Our Baby Angel is surrounded by a ck light!"

    "It''s not a bad light!" Skylus added excitedly. "It protects our baby sister!"

    "I don''t see anything!" ude added whileughing. "But I''m happy that our baby sister is safe in Mommy''s tummy!"

    Pfft.

    Neomaughed softly while patting ude''s head gently.

    [ude is the most "normal" kid here, so I''m happy that he doesn''t feel inferior towards his siblings. I hope he stays this way.]

    "What does it mean, Princess Neoma?" Aunt Brigitte asked curiously while sitting on the sofa and rubbing her baby bump gently. "Do you see what the kids are seeing?"

    "Uh-huh," Neoma said while nodding. "I believe your baby is going to be born with Darkness attribute, Auntie."

    "Darkness attribute?" Aunt Brigitte asked but, this time, she was actually asking Uncle Glenn who was standing behind her. "Honey, do you have family members with Darkness attribute?"

    "I believe my great grandfather was born with Darkness attribute, but it was weak," Uncle Glenn said. "My grandfather, father, and I didn''t inherit it. But it seems like our youngest daughter did."

    "Darkness attribute is rare, but I''m sure she''ll grow up well," Neoma said, and then she turned to Monik, Skylus, and ude who were all looking at her with sparkling eyes. "Kids, can you y outside for a moment? I have something important I need to discuss with your parents."

    "Okay, Noona!"

    "We''ll just y next door, Unnie!"

    "Bye, Noona!"

    And, just like that, the three children bolted out of the drawing room.

    Neoma felt it¡ª she felt the shadow guards follow the little royals.

    [The security here is tighter than normal since Regina is here.]

    "Aunt Brigitte, Uncle Glenn," Neoma said in a serious tone. "While a war between me and Helstor will be taking ce in the Upper World, we have a feeling that the crows will also wage war against the empire at the same time."

    As soon as she mentioned ''war,'' Aunt Brigitte and Uncle Glenn became serious.

    "Do you suppose the crows will also attack Hazelden Kingdom, Princess Neoma?" Aunt Brigitte asked worriedly. "Is that why you''re here?"

    "The crows will be able to reach the empire faster if they invade Hazelden," Neoma said. "That''s why I''m sending you allies to help you win the battle. I''m not underestimating your military power. I just want to protect your kingdom because you''re all family to me."

    The queen and king of the Hazelden Kingdom looked touched.

    "We appreciate your help, Princess Neoma. Thank you very much," Glenn said in a sincere tone. "May we know who these allies are?"

    "Before that, hear me first. I have a tiny favor," Neoma said, smiling because she needed to get the royal couple''s permission for what she was about to request. "Can we blow up the Frozen Lake?"

    "The Frozen Lake?" Aunt Brigitte asked, surprised. "As in the Hazelden Kingdom''s national treasure?!"

    Te-hee~

    ***

    "YOUR IMPERIAL MAJESTY, you cannot leave the Imperial Pce when we know a war might break out any moment! What do you think will happen if the enemies realize that you''re not in the pce?!"

    Haaah.

    [Melvin is overreacting again.]

    If possible, Nero wouldn''t consult Melvin each time he had a "crazy" n he wanted to execute.

    But that wasn''t possible.

    [Melvin is too useful for me to waste his talent.]

    "The throne won''t be empty while I''m away," Nero said casually. "Someone better than Neoma will be my proxy."

    Now Melvin looked confused. "And who could "copy" you better than Princess Neoma, Your Imperial Majesty?"

    "Myself."

    And now Melvin looked like he wanted to strangle Nero because of his "nonsense" answer.

    [This guy is really disrespectful towards me.]

    ***

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 Chapter 995: LITERAL GHOSTS

    "I''VE GIVEN you enough time to prepare," Nero said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Are you all ready?"

    As expected of the de Moonasterion "scumbags"¡ª a word she learned from Neoma¡ª the three pairs of glowing red eyes looked at him coldly while scoffing. It was as if they were telling Neoma that they were offended that he even had to ask.

    By "them," Nero meant his older version: the Emperor Nero de Moonasterio from the first timeline.

    And then the "ancient royal twins"¡ª a term he also learned from Neoma.

    "Of course, we are ready?" Emperor Nero said, scoffing. "Do you think we''re ipetent?"

    "We''re the ones who taught you this technique," Aruna de Moonasterio said. "Don''t be arrogant, child."

    Arche de Moonasterio smiled and nodded. "You should thank Zeru¡ª your Ice Phoenix is just aspetent. If it weren''t for his ability, we wouldn''t have gained temporary physical bodies."

    Yes, that was right.

    Emperor Nero, Aruna, and Arche all had physical bodies now.

    Only people on the same level as Nero (when it came to power) would notice that those three had vessels made of ice.

    To be precise, those vessels were actually ice sculptures.

    Nero, using the technique that Aruna and Arche taught him in a short period of time, used his Moonglow to turn the ice sculptures into "human bodies."

    His thoughts were interrupted when Zeru materialized andnded on his shoulder. It was possible because the Ice Phoenix was only the size of a small bird. He didn''t call his Soul Beast, but it appeared as if it knew it was being praised by ? of the ancient royal twins.

    "Come to think of it, Soul Beasts are supposed to have the memories of their previous masters erased once reborn," Nero said, raising an eyebrow at the ancient royal twins. "Why does it seem like my Ice Phoenix still has memories of you two?"

    The ancient royal twins avoided Nero''s gaze at the same time.

    "Stop making small talk, child," Aruna said. "We have a lot of work to do."

    "This isn''t a "small" talk, Princess Aruna."

    "It is because I said so."

    Haaah.

    [Now I know where Neoma got her stubbornness from.]

    "My twin sister is right," Arche said. His smile and tone were both amicable. But it was obvious he was just being protective of Aruna. "Nero de Moonasterio, we''ll take care of the pce in your absence. Well, to be precise, this one will." He put a hand on Emperor Nero''s shoulder. "We''ll make sure this child won''t be caught."

    "I won''t be caught," Emperor Nero said, scoffing. "Remove your hand from my body, old man."

    Arche immediately raised his hand,ughing softly as if he found Emperor Nero amusing despite being rude.

    [Well, most de Moonasterios are rude, so it''s nothing new.]

    Nero then made eye contact with Emperor Nero.

    It was quite unnerving, honestly.

    After all, Emperor Nero got younger after Nero made an ice sculpture of himself.

    The older emperor had to look his age if he wanted him to be his proxy.

    In short, Nero and Emperor Nero looked like identical twins now.

    "I know how to run an empire better than you do," Emperor Nero said to Nero arrogantly. "You still have an empire to lead once you return."

    "You better do a good job in my ce," Nero said, scoffing back at the older emperor. "I can only hand the Great Moonasterion Empire to Neoma once it is at its strongest."

    ***

    "NO, YOUR IMPERIAL MAJESTY. DON''T LEAVE WITH THOSE GHOSTS! TAKE ME WITH YOUUU!!!"

    Haaah.

    Nero couldn''t believe that Melvin was literally on his knees while clinging to his leg.

    And, yes, the crybaby was really crying and begging him not to leave him with the "ghosts."

    "Melvin, do you want to be an actor?" Nero asked while pinching the bridge of his nose. It was a habit he got from his father. "Is this your new way of telling me you want to resign as the future Imperial Chambein?"

    "I''m really afraid of ghosts, Your Imperial Majesty!" Melvin cried while hugging Nero''s leg tighter. "Even more so when the said ghosts are your ancestors! They''re scary!"

    Nero sighed while shaking his head.

    His knights all had different reactions while watching Melvin''s dramatic performance.

    Alucard Dionisio was looking at Melvin as if he was embarrassed for the future Imperial Chambein.

    Lucien Attewell looked like he wanted to shove an explosive in Melvin''s mouth to make him shut up.

    Sandford Devon wasughing so hard he was even clutching his stomach.

    Only Raku looked genuinely worried about Melvin.

    [The team is harmonious as usual.]

    Since Melvin was acting like a loser unbing of his status and position, Nero just turned to his other knights.

    "Don''t touch Calyx de Luca. If he wants to leave, let him leave," Nero said sternly. "But don''t let that bastard take anything and anyone in the pce. If he does, tell the ancient royal twins. Don''t fight him¡ª I don''t want to foil Neoma''s n. Do you understand?"

    Alucard, Lucien, Sanford, and Raku all bowed their heads politely and answered at the same time. "As youmand, Your Imperial Majesty."

    "Good."

    He had already given orders to his knights.

    [I have faith in them, and that''s the reason why I can leave the pce with peace of mind.]

    And the person he trusted most in the pce except his family¡­

    "Stop crying, Melvin Lhesi," Nero said, clicking his tongue. "I''ll give you a two-month vacation once I return."

    Melvin immediately stopped crying, and then he stood up and bowed his head towards Nero politely. "Have a safe trip, Your Imperial Majesty."

    ***

    "I''M HERE, Your Imperial Majesty."

    Nero acknowledged Dahlia''s presence with a nod.

    Right now, the two of them were in the room with only a giant round mirror as a decoration.

    It was more than a mere decoration, of course.

    The mirror had a bluish whirlpool in ce of the ss, after all.

    [Because this mirror is actually a portal to the Spirit World.]

    "Usually, only souls and Spirits are epted in the Spirit World," Nero said while looking at the portal. "But the two of us will be fine. You have an Elemental Guardian, after all."

    Dahlia nodded weakly. "And Your Imperial Majesty has ess to the Spirit World as a Roseheart."

    "No."

    "H-Huh?"

    "It''s not only because I''m a Roseheart," Nero said, smirking. "I can take over the Spirit World and offer it at Neoma''s feet whenever I want."

    Dahlia gasped and whispered. "A colonizer through and through¡­"

    ***

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 Chapter 996: THE BELOVED BOY

    NIKOLAI looked at his hands.

    The Moonglow that he had received from the older Neoma sessfully extended his life.

    But that didn''t mean his power increased.

    [I''m no longer the strongest man in the empire.]

    "What''s wrong, my love?"

    Niki raised his head and saw Mona''s worried face.

    But, aside from his beautiful wife, he also saw Neoma''s Wood Spirit¡ª a wooden capybara sculpture¡ª working hard building a wooden fence around the small Garden of Life.

    [Neoma can control her Spirit even though she''s not physically here.]

    "I thought Neoma was more of a de Moonasterio than a Roseheart," Niki wondered out loud, and then he looked at his beautiful wife. "But seeing how Neoma can easily control her Spirits even in her absence, I guess I was wrong all this time."

    Mona fell silent for a moment before she spoke carefully. "Neoma worked and is still working hard when ites to mastering her power as a Roseheart. Summoning and controlling Spirits don''te naturally to her as it does to Nero. In fact, most Spirits feel more drawn to Nero even though Nero ignores them."

    That was actually true.

    [It''s like how Nero easily tamed William. If William truly hates all de Moonasterios, he would have at least been annoyed with Nero despite my son being a male Roseheart. However, William was still drawn to Nero.]

    "Are you thinking about our children?"

    "To be precise, I''m thinking about how our children have already surpassed me as the strongest man in the empire," Niki said. He wasn''t bitter because he didn''t care about that title. However, he was worried. "But being the strongest is a heavy burden to carry."

    "Our children have been carrying that burden on their shoulders from the moment they were born," Mona said bluntly. "The de Moonasterios are known as the gods among men, after all. But I understand how you feel, my love."

    Hmm.

    To be honest, his wife seemed to have misunderstood.

    "Mona, I am a de Moonasterio."

    "Yes, I know?"

    Nikiughed softly. "That means I''mpetitive, and our children awakened mypetitive spirit," he said, clenching his hands tight. "I''m still not ready to be left behind by our children. I want to be stronger so I can protect them and not the other way around."

    It was Mona''s turn tough. "What a coincidence. I feel the same way. Since we have lived a peaceful life for so long, my power has been stagnant. As someone who has received the ''Daughter of Nature,'' I can''t ept that this is already my peak."

    "It''s time for us to power up, my love."

    "How long has it been since west sparred with each other?"

    Niki raised an eyebrow. "Is that a challenge?"

    "I won''t go easy on you," Mona said, smiling. And then she grabbed Nydia¡ª her rosegold staff¡ª when it materialized. "Let''s start, my love."

    ***

    [THEY ARE drawn to His Imperial Majesty¡­]

    Dahlia followed Emperor Nero in silence.

    It was her first time in the Spirit World, so she was silently admiring everything she was seeing there.

    Of course, it was a world full of different Spirits.

    The majority were fairies, though.

    [They''re beautiful.]

    The trees, nts, and flowers were pretty, too.

    [And they''re alive.]

    Dahlia watched in awe as the trees, nts, and flowers followed Nero with their "gaze."

    [The Spirits¡­ they love His Imperial Majesty.]

    But Emperor Nero was ignoring everything around him.

    It was as if the young emperor was aware that he was loved in this world, and yet he didn''t care because he knew he would still be loved even if he ignored them.

    [That kind of arrogance is so different from Princess Neoma''s arrogance¡­]

    Dahlia''s thoughts were cut short when Emperor Nero stopped walking.

    And she froze on the spot.

    [That chair¡­]

    There was a simple chair right in front of them.

    It was covered with beautiful green leaves, thornless vines, and colorful little flowers that she had seen for the first time.

    Dahlia stepped back a little, swallowing a nervous gulp.

    [That chair is the Queen of the Spirit World''s throne.]

    It looked simple, and yet the pressureing from it was crushing.

    [It''s scary¡­]

    Dahlia suddenly found it hard to breathe¡ª and then her body started to tremble in fear.

    In fact, she was so scared for her life that she summoned her wand and hugged it close to her body. She was ready to defend herself if she had to.

    [It feels like the throne is rejecting me¡­]

    "How dare you show your fangs at me?"

    Hmm?

    It was Emperor Nero.

    With just one line, the pressure that was crushing Dahlia suddenly disappeared.

    Just like that, she could breathe again.

    She also noticed the faint yet beautiful faint bluish lights that were scattered in the air like fine dust.

    Ah.

    [This is His Imperial Majesty''s Moonglow¡­]

    "Are you alright, Miss Dahlia?"

    Oh.

    Dahlia was surprised when Emperor Nero called her name politely, but she still nodded her head even though the young emperor didn''t even turn to her when talking. "I-I''m alright, Your Imperial Majesty¡­"

    Nero just nodded, and then he walked towards the scary throne leisurely.

    [What is His Imperial Majesty nning¡­ oh.]

    Dahlia gasped softly when Emperor Nero suddenly sat on the throne.

    [Is he crazy¡­ ah, yes. Our young emperor has always been crazy!]

    But Dahlia had to admit that Emperor Nero suited the Spirit World''s throne.

    [It just feels natural to see him sitting there.]

    Even the Spirit and the nature around them seemed to feel the same way as her.

    After all, the Spirits surrounded Emperor Nero as if they couldn''t help themselves.

    [I can feel that the Spirits and the nature itself love Emperor Nero. Is it because he''s a male Roseheart? Everything here is so drawn to His Imperial Majesty.]

    Dahlia was already amazed by that.

    But she was even more shocked by what happened next.

    The thornless vines with vibrant flowers suddenly moved.

    "Your Imperial Majesty, please be careful!"

    Dahlia thought the vines would attack Emperor Nero.

    But she was wrong.

    The vines actually crawled on (the calm and bored) young emperor until they reached his head.

    Dahlia covered her mouth with her hands when the vines eventually turned into a crown.

    Oh, my!

    [Did the throne acknowledge Emperor Nero as its king?!]

    "NERO ROSEHEART DE MOONASTERIO!"

    Dahlia flinched when the angry voice of Queen Tara, who suddenly materialized in front of her while facing the emperor, echoed loudly.

    She took a step backwards because of the violent auraing out of the queen''s body.

    "What do you think you''re doing, you arrogant young emperor?!" Queen Tara continued yelling angrily at Emperor Nero who just smirked. "That seat is mine!"

    Emperor Nero smirked¡ª making him look so evil at the moment. "Is it?"

    ***

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 Chapter 997 UNFORGIVEN

    997 UNFORGIVEN

    HMM?

    Neoma frowned, every inch of her body screaming that Nero was up to no good again.

    She had no evidence other than her special connection to her twin brother.

    [What the hell is he up to this time?]

    "Princess Neoma, is everything alright?"

    Oh, right.

    She was in the middle of work, so she didn''t have time to worry about Nero.

    [As long as he''s not in danger, I''ll let him do his thing.]

    Anyways¡­

    Right now, Neoma was suspended in the air¡ª her purple ming wings keeping her afloat as she gazed down at the frozenke under her feet.

    Uncle Glenn was next to him, riding a crystal wyvern.

    [Since it''s dangerous for Aunt Brigitte to ride a wyvern and check the Frozen Lake because of how cold it is here, she sent Uncle Glenn with me.]

    And Neoma was done checking the Frozen Lake.

    [It''s one of the biggestkes in the empire.]

    ording to what she remembered, the Frozen Lake was 515 km long with a width of 188 km. It had a mean surface elevation of 173 meters above sea level. And it had a maximum depth of 283 meters.

    [It''s perfect.]

    "Princess Neoma, may I know why we must melt the Frozen Lake?"

    "Because we need to open a safe path for the merfolks."

    Uncle Glenn gasped. "Are the merfolks the allies you mentioned?"

    "That''s right, Uncle Glenn," Neoma said while nodding. "The crows will definitely target the Hazelden Kingdom soon. I know that your kingdom has a strong military power, but most of your people don''t have Mana. The Mana-infused weapons that you have can only do so much."

    Uncle Glenn fell silent for a moment, and then he nodded¡ª acknowledging the things that Neoma said. "You''re right, Princess Neoma. Some of the knights that I have chosen personally showed potential to be Sword Masters."

    "Oh. They can produce aura?"

    "Yes, Your Imperial Highness. However, the war is happening soon. Even if I train them harder every day, they still won''t be able to reach their full potential in just a few months."

    "Do you acknowledge that you need external help?"

    "If we''re talking about the allies that Princess Neoma trusts, then I won''t refuse them."

    Neoma chuckled, and then she opened her hand. "Eternal me, give me a drop of your power."

    She didn''t have to wait for long.

    A small red me shaped like a tear drop materialized above her palm.

    "This is enough to unfreeze the Frozen Lake," Neoma said, and then she dropped the small red me into the Frozen Lake. The part of theke that the tear-shaped me hit melted right away, and then it sunk. Nothing happened after that, and that obviously confused Uncle Glenn. Hence, she exined. "The Eternal me will melt the Frozen Lake as slowly as possible so the enemies won''t notice. But, if the timees that you need the merfolks'' help, just ask the Eternal me to swallow the Frozen Lake, Uncle Glenn."

    "Will it listen to me, Princess Neoma?"

    "The Eternal me is a sentient existence, so yes, it will listen to you."

    Uncle Glenn let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Princess Neoma."

    "You''re wee, Uncle Glenn. Please stay safe until I return."

    The king nodded, and then his face became worried. "Princess Neoma, pleasee back safely."

    "I will, Uncle Glenn," Neoma said confidently. "My family is here, after all."

    [And my man is waiting for me.]

    Uncle Glenn smiled and nodded. "We will be waiting for you, Princess Neoma."

    ***

    "HAVE YOU forgotten who took care of you when you were cursed as a child, Emperor Nero?"

    Nero raised a brow at Tara, still not moving an inch from where he was seatedfortably. "I haven''t forgotten¡ª and that''s the only reason why you''re still reigning as the Queen of the Spirit World, Tara."

    Tara let out a scoff. "You''re really no different from Princess Neoma. As expected of you, twins¡ª both of you are colonizers just like your ancestors."

    "You''re wrong," he said bluntly. "Neoma probably threatened you to steal the throne from you. But, knowing my twin sister, I know she wouldn''t do that. She always tries her best to be different from our ancestors, after all. However, I''m not as nice as Neoma."

    He pointed at the crown vines around his head.

    "Stealing the throne from you is as easy as breathing anyway," Nero said haughtily. "The throne acknowledges me. I wonder if this is one of the perks of being born a male Roseheart."

    "Why are you doing this to me?!" Tara asked, frustrated. "What did I ever do to you and your twin sister?!"

    "You became too greedy, Tara."

    Nero remembered one of the things that Neoma vaguely told him about the past.

    [Tara stabbed her in the back because this queen wanted Neoma to be an Aether.]

    He wouldn''t wait for Tara to try and betray his twin sister again.

    [Once you betray Neoma, you''re already unforgiven in my book.]

    Hence, he was here to give the queen a warning.

    "You don''t like Neoma because she isn''t as nice as my mother. Hence, my twin sister never tried to get along with you." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Tara flinched. "What does it have to do¡ª"

    "But you find Neoma''s abilities useful," Nero said, scoffing. "Tara, stay on yourne."

    "I don''t know what you''re talking about, young emperor."

    "Neoma will never take over the Spirit World¡ª but I can and I will if I have to," Nero said, standing up. He already towered over the petite queen. But, this time, he was looking down on Tara on purpose¡ª his glowing red eyes warning her to make the right choice. "If you harm my family in any way, and if you leak whatever is happening here in the Spirit World to the outside world, I will not only steal the throne from you¡ª I will also eliminate every single fairy in the entire world. I won''t stop until the fairy n is nothing but a myth to the future generation."

    That was when Tara lowered her gaze, her shoulders trembling from either anger or humiliation.

    Nero didn''t care.

    [This is enough threat to ensure the Spirit World won''t betray our family this time.]

    ***

    IT BROKE.

    Mona was shocked when Nydia¡ª her rosegold staff¡ª broke into two when she tried to block Niki''s punch.

    But her main weapon breaking wasn''t what shocked her the most.

    [My husband''s arm¡­]

    Niki''s right arm was covered with blue scales. His hand also changed¡ª it became bigger and his nails also grew longer and sharper.

    In short, her husband''s arm looked like a humanoid dragon''s arm.

    [No¡ª it''s his Azure Dragon''s features!]

    "Niki, you never borrowed your Soul Beast''s power this way," Mona said in disbelief. "You never agreed with how Neoma uses her Soul Beast before¡­"

    The de Moonasterios were known for letting their Soul Beasts fight for them, after all.

    "Well, I realized we should keep up with the times, my love," Niki said, smiling while looking at his dragon arm. "I learned something valuable from our precious daughter."

 Chapter 998 HELLO, OLD WORLD

    998 HELLO, OLD WORLD

    NIKOLAI''s excitement towards the new technique that he had used died quickly when he realized that he had broken Mona''s main weapon. "I''m so sorry, my love¡­"

    "No, don''t be," Mona said while shaking her head. "The main jewel isn''t broken, so I can still fix it."

    He was relieved to hear that.

    His wife looked like she had something to say, but stopped when the air changed.

    But it wasn''t a hostile presence.

    In fact, it was a wee one.

    "Mother, Father, we''re here."

    Niki nodded while Mona smiled when Nero materialized in front of them.

    Their son wasn''t alone.

    Dahlia bowed towards them politely. "Greetings, Your Majesties."

    Niki just nodded in response.

    "It''s good to see you again, Dahlia," Mona said, smiling. "Thank you for apanying our son here."

    Dahlia''s face turned red as if she was shy. "I-I''m just doing my job, Your Majesty¡­"

    Mona just smiled and patted Dahlia''s back as if consoling the child.

    "Father, Neoma will tease you if she sees you right now," Neromented, obviously making fun of Niki, while looking at his dragon arm. And then his son raised his head to look at him disapprovingly. "You scolded her before when she borrowed her Soul Beast''s features."

    "I know, and I''m already looking forward to it," Niki said, giving his son a small smile. "I can''t wait for your twin sister''s return."

    He could see that his son felt the same, but didn''t want to voice out his feelings.

    [My son really reminds me of my younger self.]

    "Are you headed to the Abyss?"

    "Yes, Father," Nero said, nodding politely. "Neoma and her "children" kindly cleansed the Abyss for me. I have to do a good job."

    He was happy that his children were getting along well as usual.

    [Whenever our twins work together, they create miracles.]

    "Take care, son," Niki said, patting Nero''s shoulder. "It''s important to perform your task well, but don''t forget you''re not alone. Make sure Miss Dahlia will be safe. If it gets too dangerous, your mother and I wille and help you."

    A strange emotion crossed Nero''s eyes, but it disappeared as soon as it appeared. "I''ll keep that in mind, Father."

    ***

    PFFT.

    Hanna was amused while watching Lewis'' reaction.

    Right now, she and the fox boy were in her chamber while she was busy putting all their luggage inside a dark whirlpool made of shadows.

    Lewis'' eyes sparkled every time a baggage would disappear.

    [He''s like a child sometimes.]

    "Neoma calls this Shadow Technique an ''inventory,''" Hanna exined with a smile on her face. "ording to her, in some "video games," the "yers" have an "inventory" where their weapons and other items are stored. My skill is simr to that."

    Lewis nodded as if saying he understood. "Where do the items go to, Your Grace?"

    "To the Shadow World," she said proudly. "I''m the current head of the Quinzel Household, so I hold the key. Other than me, only my father is allowed inside. So, our belongings are safe there."

    "I never doubted that."

    She just smiled and nodded.

    "Are you done packing, Hanna?"

    To be honest, at this point, Hanna was no longer surprised when Neoma just appeared out of nowhere.

    [Trevor Kesser installed a portal in my room for Neoma to use.]

    "I''m done packing our things," Hanna said to Neoma. "Where will we meet Lord Manu?"

    "We''re meeting at the Imperial Shrine," Neoma said, stretching her arms. "Apparently, that room fills him with divine power that he needs to send us to the Dead World."

    ***

    USUALLY, only members of the Imperial Family were allowed in the Imperial Shrine.

    But today was an exception.

    Neoma gave Lord Manu, Hanna, and Lewis to enter.

    [This meeting is a secret anyway.]

    "Princess Neoma, Duchess Quinzel, Commander Crevan," Lord Manu addressed them one by one. "This is the first time I''m sending people to the Dead World ahead of me, so I can''t guarantee that I can send you exactly where you need to be. But I can assure you that you''ll end up at the empire."

    Right.

    Unlike when Lord Manu and Tteokbokki went to the Dead World together, Lord Manu couldn''t join them right away.

    [Apparently, he has to ''close'' the ''door'' to this world first.]

    "You can stay in that world for a year, but only a few weeks would pass by in this world by the time you return," Lord Manu said in a serious tone. "You better make the most of what little time you have there."

    One year may sound long for some people.

    But for Neoma and the others who were about to go to war in two months, even a year of training was too short.

    [We won''t waste this opportunity, of course.]

    "We''ll take the risk, Lord Manu," Neoma said. She had already discussed that issue with Lewis and Hanna, and the two didn''t back out. "Please send us to the Dead World now."

    ***

    COUGH.

    Manu coughed up a huge chunk of blood after sending Princess Neoma, Duchess Hanna Quinzel, and Commander Lewis Crevan to the Dead World.

    Needless to say, his Mana and divine power were both depleted right away.

    In fact, he changed into his ck panther form against his will after losing his strength.

    [No¡­!]

    Manu tried to fight his consciousness fading away, but to no avail¡­

    [I can''t hold the three of them together!]

    ***

    THE "SALTY" smell of the sea.

    That was the first thing that greeted Hanna as soon as she became conscious.

    Her eyelids were too heavy for her to open, though.

    "If you don''t open your eyes in three seconds, I''ll stab you in the throat."

    Hanna, surprised that she didn''t feel the other person''s presence, immediately opened her eyes.

    A pair of glowing green eyes greeted her this time.

    Oh.

    The woman, dressed like a pirate, drew a sword made of shadows and pointed it at her. "What are you, and why did you copy my appearance?"

    Ah.

    Hanna wondered if the "Pirate Princess" in front of her would believe her if she said her name was Hanna Quinzel, too.

    ***

    "DIDN''T I send you to the South to capture the pirates who sank the Imperial Ships?"

    Hmm?

    Lewis was surprised when he saw Emperor Nero as soon as he opened his eyes.

    [No, this isn''t the Emperor Nero I know¡­]

    "Why are you sleeping here?" Emperor Nero asked, his red eyes glowing menacingly. "Do you want to die, huh?"

    Lewis immediately got up and looked around. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    He was in the pavilion by the pond¡ª Princess Neoma''s favorite spot in the Imperial Pce.

    But it looked different.

    Ah.

    [This is the Dead World¡­?]

    Emperor Nero clicked his tongue. "Are you high? Didn''t I tell you I''d kill you if you used drugs, Lu?"

    ''Lu?''

    Lewis looked up with knitted eyebrows.

    [Am I supposed to be ''Lu?'']

    ***

    "WHY DO I have a feeling that we''ve met before, Young Lady?"

    Oh, wow.

    [This Lewis speaks well.]

    That was Neoma''s thoughts while in Lewis'' arms.

    He caught her after she fell from the sky.

    [How clich¨¦.]

    Neoma raised an eyebrow at Lewis. "I wonder where you''ve met a woman as beautiful as your mother?"

    ***

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